BMW sees continued opening up in China

15:33, March 25, 2024 By Sheng Chuyi, Zhang Wenjie ( People's Daily Online

Sean Green, President and CEO of BMW Group Region China, expressed his confidence in China's economy during an interview with People's Daily Online at the China Development Forum on March 24.

Green believes that trade-ins of consumer goods, including vehicles, will be a welcome policy in the auto industry, which will stimulate consumer behaviors again.

"People have money saved up in accounts, and we need to release some of that spending into the market,"Green explained.

"I am still confident this year," Green said. "We still see China opening up. We've taken advantage of that with our shareholding in the local joint venture BMW Brilliance (BBA). So, 75 percent of shareholding that we have through BMW, and we continue to see that."

He said BMW just opened an insurance broker company last year, which is a great example of establishing new businesses in China. "So opening up continues," he said.

(Ye Jingyi, as an intern, also contributed to this video.)

(Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Wu Chengliang)
China-Europe Railway Express ensures safe, unimpeded industrial, supply chains

09:46, March 26, 2024 By He Yin ( People's Daily

Recently, amidst the frequent geopolitical risks, the surging demand for China-Europe Railway Express has attracted widespread attention globally.

As a flagship project and iconic brand of the Belt and Road Initiative, the China-Europe Railway Express has pioneered a new pattern of transportation between Asia and Europe. It has established a new platform for economic and trade cooperation along the routes, building a lifeline of the industrial and supply chains in a turbulent world.

A fully-loaded China-Europe Railway Express freight train departs from Luoyang, central China's Henan province for Malaszewicze, Poland, Feb. 16, 2024. (People's Daily Online/Zhang Yixi)

China-Europe Railway Express, which is fast, stable and reliable, offers strong support for the massive trade of goods between China and Europe, and is an important mode of land transportation in international logistics.

According to the latest statistics released by China State Railway Group Co., Ltd., the number of China-Europe Railway Express freight trips reached 2,928 in the first two months of this year, transporting 317,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of goods, up 9 percent and 10 percent, respectively. As of the end of February, the freight service had connected 120 Chinese cities and 219 cities in 25 European countries.

The surging demand for railway transportation, especially the China-Europe Railway Express, has been frequently reported by international media, which highlights the role played by these trains in stabilizing and accelerating trade between China and Europe as well as countries along the routes.

China-Europe Railway Express has significantly improved the railway connectivity between Asia and Europe, as well as the development of sea-rail, road-rail, and air-rail multimodal transportation, opening up a new channel for the supply chain across the Eurasian continent.

It has also enhanced customs clearance facilitation along the routes, continuously optimizing business environment at ports and improving cross-border transportation rules and regulations.

China-Europe Railway Express has constantly enhanced connectivity between Asia and Europe, accelerating mutual benefits and win-win outcomes.

Containers are piled in a distribution center of an international railway port in Xuzhou, east China's Jiangsu province, March 12, 2024. (People's Daily Online/Sun Jingxian)

New business models related to China-Europe Railway Express are emerging such as cross-border e-commerce trains, postal trains, and those connecting industrial parks and ports, bringing tremendous development opportunities to countries along the routes.

According to Xulio Rios, a China expert from Spain, China-Europe Railway Express combines the needs of both China and Europe in a new and complementary manner, and one of its significant values is the ability to unlock the potential for economic and trade cooperation among countries along the routes.

China-Europe Railway Express provides strong support for high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, which promotes connectivity, mutual benefit, common development, cooperation and win-win outcomes.

At the opening ceremony of the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced eight major steps China will take to support high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, among which speeding up high-quality development of the China-Europe Railway Express and hosting the China-Europe Railway Express Cooperation Forum are important measures to build a multidimensional Belt and Road connectivity network.

In recent years, with the expansion of sources of goods and an increase in high-tech products, China-Europe Railway Express is transforming from a simple "corridor economy" to a "value-added economy", driving shared benefits along the routes through high-quality development.

The busy schedules of China-Europe Railway Express reflect China's determination and actions to expand high-level opening-up. The China-Europe Railway Express network covers almost the entire Eurasian continent, effectively expanding economic and trade exchanges between China and countries along the routes, and accelerating the cross-border flow of factors and resources.

A fully-loaded China-Europe Railway Express freight train runs in Ulanqab, north China Inner Mongolia autonomous region, Feb. 22, 2024. (People's Daily Online/Xia Liang)

Statistics show that China's total imports and exports with the 25 European countries reached by China-Europe Railway Express grew from 4 trillion yuan in 2013 to 7.42 trillion yuan in 2022. The two sides have witnessed continuously expanding trade volume, as well as facilitated trade exchanges.

The "two sessions" this year, the annual sessions of the National People's Congress and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, once again released positive signals of China expanding high-level opening-up.

China is proactively aligning with high-standard international economic and trade rules, steadily expanding institutional opening-up, promoting stable growth in foreign trade in terms of both quality and quantity, increasing efforts to attract foreign investment, promoting high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and deepening multilateral, bilateral and regional economic cooperation. This will bring more opportunities for win-win cooperation to all countries.

China-Europe Railway Express, spanning across the Eurasian continent, is increasingly becoming a "road of happiness" benefiting people of all relevant countries and a "road of prosperity" contributing to the world.

China will continue to work with all relevant parties and follow the principles of planning together, building together and benefiting together, to drive the development of the China-Europe Railway Express toward higher quality, better efficiency and greater security, thus contributing to the global economy and improving the well-being of people in all countries.

(Web editor: Chang Sha, Liang Jun)
The Cherokee Indians revealed this week who can buy products at their cannabis superstore set to open April 20 in the North Carolina mountains.

April 20 is recognized by marijuana users and producers as the national cannabis holiday.

In a historic vote on Sept. 7, tribal members overwhelmingly approved adult use of marijuana on tribal land. The tribe on the 57,000-acre Qualla Boundary had already approved the use and controlled sale of medical cannabis.

Elder Cherokee women work together to trim leaves from dried cannabis stems for the flowers, so the remaining buds can be collected and used as product.

Dispensary sales, however, will be limited to those with a medical cannabis patient card, officials with Qualla Enterprises LLC, the Cherokee cannabis subsidiary, said in a news release on Monday.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians established a Cannabis Control Board that issues the cards.

We will also extend reciprocity to individuals with out-of-state medical cards, or other tribal medical cannabis cards, according to the news release.

The dispensary is in the tribes massive, refurbished old bingo hall at U.S. 19 and Bingo Loop Road, near Harrahs Cherokee Casino Resort, 46 miles west of Asheville in the Great Smoky Mountains.

Called Great Smoky Cannabis Company, the dispensary will open at 10 a.m. opening day with high-quality tested products, according to the news release.

Products on display at the Great Smoky Cannabis Company on Wednesday, September 6, 2023 during an open house.

Products include flower, vape items, edibles and topicals, officials said, and the selection will continue to grow and evolve each month.

The dispensary will be the only place in North Carolina where such sales are legal.

On an exclusive tour by The Charlotte Observer of the tribal cannabis operation in March 2023, officials with Qualla Enterprises said the dispensary would open at first only to tribal members with patient cards and eventually to N.C. residents and others with such cards.

That was seven months before the adult-use referendum passed. The vote led many in the general public to think the dispensary might open to everyone - whether they had a medical card or not.

Qualla Enterprises officials have said they may open the store to everyone someday, but announced Monday they wanted to start with those with patient cards first.

The dispensary could generate nearly $206 million in gross sales revenues in its first year if limited only to medical patients, compared with $385 million if product is available to all adult users, according to figures released by Qualla Enterprises before last years adult-use referendum.

Cannabis industry consultant HedgeRow Analysis developed the estimates for Qualla Enterprises.

In its fifth year, the dispensary could generate a respective $578 million and $843 million in gross sales revenues, according to the HedgeRow Analysis estimates.

North Carolina residents can apply for patient cards, although tribal officials have said cards are being issued at first only to tribal members with qualifying medical conditions.

Patient card applications are available at www.ebci-ccb.org.
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.
MEXICO CITY  Migrants were streaming across the U.S. southern border in record numbers, international rail bridges were abruptly shut down and official ports of entry closed.

Desperate for help in December, President Joe Biden called President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of Mexico, who told him to quickly send a delegation to the Mexican capital, according to several U.S. officials.

The White House rushed to do so. Soon after, Mexico beefed up enforcement. Illegal border crossings into the United States plummeted by January.

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As immigration moves to the forefront of the U.S. presidential campaign, Mexico has emerged as a key player on an issue with the potential to sway the election, and the White House has worked hard to preserve Lopez Obradors cooperation.

The administration says publicly that its diplomacy has been a success.

But behind closed doors, some senior Biden officials have come to see Lopez Obrador as an unpredictable partner, who they say isnt doing enough to consistently control his own southern border or police routes being used by smugglers to bring millions of migrants to the United States, according to several U.S. and Mexican officials. None of them would speak on the record about delicate diplomatic relations.

We arent getting the cooperation we should be getting, said John Feeley, former deputy chief of mission in Mexico from 2009 to 2012. Feeley said the two countries did more joint patrols and investigations to secure the border during the Obama administration.

I know what it looks like when there is genuine cooperation, Feeley said, as opposed to what we have now, which is being touted as great cooperation but I think is bupkis.

While in office, President Donald Trump used the threat of tariffs to coerce Lopez Obrador into implementing his crackdown on migration.

Biden needs Mexico just as much, but has taken a different approach, focusing instead on avoiding conflict with the powerful and sometimes volatile Mexican leader in hopes it will preserve his cooperation.

AMLO has correctly assessed his leverage and has acknowledged that were using ours, said Juan Gonzalez, Bidens former top Latin America adviser, using Lopez Obradors nickname.

Liz Sherwood-Randall, U.S. homeland security adviser, said that the White House works collaboratively at the highest levels with the government of Mexico, adding: President Lopez Obrador has been a critically important partner to President Biden.

Since 2022, Mexico has added hundreds of immigration checkpoints and increased enforcement personnel tenfold, according to figures provided by the U.S. State Department. Mexico is also detaining more migrants than at any point in recent history.

Yet, the numbers arriving at the southern border have remained stubbornly high. There were more than 2 million illegal border crossings in each of the past two fiscal years, twice as many as in 2019, the busiest year for apprehensions under Trump.

The lull at the start of this year was still one of the highest January months on record for illegal crossings, according to U.S. federal data. Apprehensions ticked up again in February.

In Mexico, officials say they have reached the limit of what they are able to achieve in the face of an extraordinary influx that has overwhelmed their country, too.

Lopez Obrador has pushed the White House to commit more development aid to Latin American countries, to address the issues that cause migrants to leave in the first place.

We do want for the root causes to be attended to, for them to be seriously looked at, he told CBS 60 Minutes in an interview that aired Sunday. When asked whether he would continue to secure the border even if the United States didnt do what he asked, Lopez Obrador said, Yes, because our relationship is very important.

Migration has spiked because of factors difficult for any one government to control: persistent poverty, raging violence, the effects of climate change and the lingering impact of the coronavirus pandemic that have left people desperate for any chance at survival.

Yet Mexican officials also blame American policies, saying migrants have an incentive to come to the United States because the asylum system is so backlogged that migrants have a good chance of staying in the country for years until their case has been decided.

This is entirely the responsibility of the United States, not ours, Enrique Lucero, the head of the Migrant Affairs Office in Tijuana, a local government agency, said in an interview, referring to the migrant crisis.

The U.S. government needs to change their entire immigration and asylum system, the legal framework, he said, otherwise we end up doing the dirty work.

In recent months, the authorities in Tijuana have raided hotels and safe houses, increased security at official crossings and installed new checkpoints along a once-deserted section of the border near the city where migrants were passing through a gap in the wall.

Nothing worked for long.

The authorities crackdown has only put migrants in greater danger, aid groups say, leading smugglers to take people on riskier routes through the vast desert, where they often get lost and are found dehydrated.

One night in February, a smuggler dropped a group of 18 people miles from the border, telling them they would quickly find a gap in the wall. In the darkness, the group got lost and walked for hours until finally crossing into California and making it to a makeshift camp where migrants often squeeze into portable bathrooms for shelter.

Two-year-old Denver Gonzalez could not stop sobbing.

I am cold, I want to sleep, the boy screamed repeatedly, as his father wrapped his tiny frame in blankets donated by a local volunteer.

You pressure them at one point, and they go to another place, said David Perez Tejada, head of the Baja California office of Mexicos National Immigration Institute, referring to the smugglers. Its all a game of cat and mouse, and it is extremely difficult to control this.

The White House has pushed the Mexican government to increase deportations, implement visa restrictions for more countries to make it difficult to enter Mexico and bolster security forces at its southern border.

Since 2022, the Mexican government has added hundreds of immigration checkpoints, bolstered security along train routes used by migrants to travel north and increased enforcement personnel tenfold, according to figures provided by the U.S. State Department. Mexico is also detaining more migrants than at any point in recent history.

Yet truckloads of migrants continue to drive up through the country, in part because smugglers often pay off the checkpoint authorities, U.S. officials say.

The Biden administration wants Mexico to increase deportations. Mexicos foreign ministry said last week it had reached an agreement with Venezuela to deport migrants and help them find jobs.

But repatriation flights are expensive, and Mexico has legal barriers to deporting people en masse. Last year, the Mexican Supreme Court ruled that migrants could only be detained for 36 hours.

Many countries ask for at least 72 hours notice before accepting flights with their citizens, said a senior Mexican official who was not authorized to speak publicly. That means the government often has to release migrants before it can negotiate their return. Deportations from Mexico dropped by more than half last year, Mexican government data show.

The White House has also pressed Mexico to do more of what some officials call decompression, which involves transporting people away from the border to somewhere deep in the country.

People are being detained by Mexican authorities and sent to random cities in the south, said Erika Pinheiro, executive director of Al Otro Lado, or To the Other Side, a humanitarian group. Forcing them to trek back north, pay bribes to authorities and take all those risks all over again is inhumane.

c.2024 The New York Times Company
A father and son were on a hike in Arizona when they stumbled upon an ammo can  with a pipe bomb inside, deputies said.

The two made the discovery March 22 near Hillside, the Yavapai County Sheriffs Office said in a Facebook post.

They found the can hidden among a pile of granite rocks, deputies said.

When they looked inside of it, they saw an improvised explosive device (IED), along with detonation cord, black powder, and another suspicious object, deputies said.

The father and son reported their findings to authorities who then came to inspect it.

A bomb squad was called and removed the items from the can, deputies said.

The team determined the pipe bomb did not have any explosive material. There were, however, other materials in the can that could be used to make a bomb, deputies said.

Another item suspected to be an additional IED, was also found within the container, deputies said.

Deputies said controlled detonations were conducted, and a bomb detection canine scoured the area. The dog didnt find any more bombs.

A suspect has not been identified.

Hillside is about a 105-mile drive northwest from Phoenix.

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NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - FEBRUARY 22: Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump, speaks during the 2024 NRB International Christian Media Convention Presidential Forum at The Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center on February 22, 2024 in Nashville, Tennessee. Trump's appearance comes shortly after judge Arthur Engoron, who is presiding over Trump's $355 million civil fraud case in New York, denied the former president's request to delay the judgment for a month. (Photo by Jon Cherry/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 776108662 ORIG FILE ID: 2023794851

MADISON  Republican former President Donald Trump will hold his first Wisconsin rally of the 2024 presidential race on April 2.

Trump will visit Green Bay on the day of the state's presidential primary election, his campaign announced Tuesday. He is scheduled to speak at 5 p.m. at a Green Bay hotel.

The announcement follows a string of visits from Biden and his surrogates in recent weeks, including Vice President Kamala Harris, first lady Jill Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. The Biden campaign officially launched canvassing efforts throughout the state earlier this month, following a visit to Milwaukee by the president.

In a statement following Biden's most recent Wisconsin visit, Trump blasted the president for arguing to voters his policies would improve economics for Milwaukee families and said Biden was "touting his failed 'Bidenomics' policies" in the Badger State.

"After many visits to Wisconsin from President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Democratic leaders, Donald Trump finally decided to make time to visit our state in between his busy schedule of hiding out in his country club, calling for cuts to Social Security, and calling into white supremacist radio shows to spew antisemitism," said Timothy White, a spokesman for Biden's Wisconsin campaign, in a statement. "This November, Wisconsin will send him packing just like we did in 2020."

Trump was last in Wisconsin in 2022, campaigning for construction mogul Tim Michels ahead of the Republican gubernatorial primary.

The former president hosted a rally in the Waukesha County fairgrounds to stump for Michels but also used the opportunity to continue to promote his false claims about his 2020 election loss in Wisconsin, pushing candidates to call for the abolition of the state elections commission over allegations of voter fraud that have not been proven in the years Trump has made them.

Biden defeated Trump in Wisconsin by about 20,000 votes in 2020  a victory Trump sought to overturn and in part prompted an attack on Jan. 6, 2021, by his supporters on the U.S. Capitol.

In 2016, Trump defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by a similar margin, making him the first Republican since 1984 to carry Wisconsin. While Clinton never campaigned in Wisconsin during the general election, Trump made repeated visits to the state.

Though his mission at the Waukesha rally in 2022 was to promote Michels and criticize his GOP opponent, former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, Trump leveled his strongest condemnation at Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, who repeatedly refused the former president's calls to overturn election results.

Despite their previous disputes and calling Trump's nomination a "suicide mission" for Republicans, Vos  the state's longest-serving Assembly speaker and the most effective Republican in the GOP-controlled state Legislature  recently endorsed the former president.

"It's going to be, do you think the policies that Joe Biden has put in place over the course of the past four years are better for the country, or were times better under Donald Trump, when we actually had low inflation, low taxes, more control at the border?" Vos told reporters.

Wisconsin is one of just a handful of states that will decide the next presidential contest and as of now, Biden and Trump are each tied at 49% among registered voters in the battleground state where races are often decided on razor-thin margins.

Just 2% of those surveyed in the most recent Marquette University Law School poll, released Feb. 7, said they haven't decided on whom to support in the November election.

The poll highlighted a potential enthusiasm gap in a Biden-Trump matchup.

Among voters who are "very enthusiastic" about the election, Trump led Biden by 19 points. But in all other categories, Biden led Trump by an average of 18 points.

Molly Beck of the Journal Sentinel contributed.

Jessie Opoien can be reached at jessie.opoien@jrn.com.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Trump to hold first Wisconsin campaign rally of 2024 in Green Bay
Its a rare thing to encounter an alligator on a beach and rarer still to stumble upon a massive one in the middle of a meal, but a Texas fisherman recently did and captured it on video.

Hunter Ham grew up fishing and surfing that exact same spot at Sea Rim State Park and took his three kids with him for a first-time visit March 23, he told McClatchy News.

It was a first for him too when he laid eyes on the huge lizard sprawled out in the sand. Hes well aware there are occasional gator sightings in the area, but hed never before seen one on the beach  and he estimates this visitor was an impressive 10 feet long.

You could tell, this was his beach, and he was chilling without a care in the world, he said.

Ham, who catalogs his fishing adventures on his YouTube channel @hamfishing, also shared the video on Instagram and TikTok, where it had racked up over 1.3 million views as of March 26.

In the video, the alligator can be seen chomping down on some prey, a large redfish, according to Ham.

His kids can be heard in the background excitedly cheering alligator, alligator, as it wolfs down the fish. That is a brute, Ham says.

Some commenters expressed concern for the kids, believing they were too close and that the encounter could have turned tragic if the alligator decided to come after them. Though the gator seemed relaxed and was just catching some rays, Ham says he and his family kept a respectful distance all the same.

To clarify the situation, my wife and 3 kids are safely behind me inside of my truck, he said. Im also close enough to jump in the back if he turned my direction.

Ham says Texas Parks and Wildlife officials showed up at the beach and he spoke with them.

Theres some fresh water on the other side of the dunes that he came out from, he said. One of the (TPWD) guys told me that they sometimes come over to the beach, briefly, to rid themselves of parasites in the saltwater.

Ham said it was a real treat coming across the gator, and the experience has done nothing to dampen his love for southeast Texas.

Yes, our beaches are brown and the waves are generally flat, but were blessed to live here, he said.

Sea Rim State Park boasts 5.2 miles of Gulf shoreline and 4,000 acres of marshlands and is a popular destination for anglers, hunters, birders and kayakers, according to TPWD.

The park is about a 110-mile drive east of Houston.

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Dane County, which includes Madison, has seen the greatest population growth of any Wisconsin county, both in the past year and since 2020.

Wisconsin's population grew by over 17,200 residents between April 2020 and July 2023, according to new estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.

This brings the state's population to over 5.91 million.

The official U.S. Census is only taken every 10 years, so estimates like these are "ballpark figures" determined by "symptomatic indicators of population change," including births, deaths, and domestic and international migration, said David Egan-Robertson, a demographer with the University of Wisconsin's Applied Population Laboratory. Still, they're likely to closely reflect reality.

The new estimates reveal that, in the 2020s, some Wisconsin counties have seen significant population growth while others have seen steep declines.

Here's a deeper look at these changes.

Dane County has the fastest-growing population in Wisconsin

Dane County, home to Wisconsin's capital city of Madison, has seen by far the greatest population growth recently of any county in the state. Since the beginning of this decade, Dane County's population has increased by 2.5%.

Dane County's population grew from an estimated 561,508 residents in April 2020 to over 575,300 in July 2023  about an additional 14,000 residents. Much of this growth occurred in one year. Between July 2022 and July 2023, the county added more than 7,500 residents, the most of any Wisconsin county during this period.

Egan-Robertson said the primary reason for Dane County's growth is the increasing number of job opportunities in the healthcare and tech fields, especially at Verona's ever-expanding Epic Systems healthcare software company and similar businesses.

Dane County has been growing steadily for about 15 years, Egan-Robertson said, but its recent growth surpassed his projections. In 2013, he produced population projections for the state government, which indicated the county's population would be about 530,000 in 2020, over 30,000 less than what was reported in the actual 2020 Census.

Census Bureau county estimates, 2023: Newly-released estimates indicate Dane County, WI has added the most residents since the 2020 Census. Other top numeric gainers are metropolitan counties; 3 of top 8 are the Milwaukee suburbs (aka WOW). pic.twitter.com/zTj1D6KZ3a  UW-APL (@AppliedPopLab) March 14, 2024

What Wisconsin counties have seen the most population growth recently?

Waukesha County, Wisconsin's third most populous county, has seen the second-greatest population growth in the state in the 2020s, adding just over 5,600 residents for a population increase of 1.4%. The county was home to just under 407,000 in April 2020 and 412,591 in July 2023.

Nearby Ozaukee and Washington counties have also seen steady growth. Ozaukee County has added nearly 2,000 residents since the beginning of the decade, for a population increase of 2.1%. Washington County added over 1,400  an increase of 1%.

Brown County, home to Green Bay, added nearly 2,700 residents between April 2020 and July 2023, a population increase of 1%. The county saw the fourth-greatest population gains in the state during that period. Like Dane County, much of Brown's growth occurred between July 2022 and July 2023 when it added nearly 1,400 residents.

St. Croix County, which borders the St. Croix River in northwestern Wisconsin, has grown 3.5% since the beginning of the decade. The county added 3,234 residents between April 2020 and July 2023, the third most of any county in the state.

Census Bureau estimates indicate that Minnesota's Hennepin and Ramsey counties, where Minneapolis and St. Paul are located, have lost between 2% and 3% of their population since 2020, Egan-Robertson said.

"That may be why St. Croix was one of (Wisconsin's) larger percentage growths ... people moving out of the central counties of the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and relocating to the suburbs like St. Croix County."

Census Bureau Wisconsin county estimates, 2023: In contrast to numeric gainers (all metros), the highest percentage gainers are what the USDA Economic Research Service defines as recreational/retirement counties. 4 of top 5 (Adams, Vilas, Burnett, Bayfield) are in this category. pic.twitter.com/ffPfKtHIND  UW-APL (@AppliedPopLab) March 14, 2024

Wisconsin's 'recreational/retirement counties' saw notable population growth

While the greatest estimated numerical population gains were seen in the larger counties above, counties defined as "recreational/retirement counties" by the USDA Economic Research Service experienced the greatest percentage gains.

Adams County's population increased from 20,647 to 21,449 between April 2020 and July 2023, a nearly 4% increase for the central Wisconsin county known for its outdoor recreation.

Vilas County grew 3.6%, adding over 800 residents. The county of almost 23,900 people (according to the July 2023 estimate) borders Michigan's Upper Peninsula and is home to a state forest and many lakes.

Egan-Robertson said population increases in these nature-loving communities are due to the large Baby Boomer generation retiring. Following retirement, many in their late 50s or 60s are moving to their "up-north" homes full-time or moving to these areas for the first time, he explained.

Milwaukee County lost more than 23,000 residents between April 2020 and July 2023, by far the largest population decline of any county in Wisconsin.

Milwaukee County has seen the biggest population losses of any Wisconsin county

Milwaukee County has seen by far the steepest population decline of any Wisconsin county in the 2020s. Between April 2020 and July 2023, the county lost 23,266 residents, a 2.5% loss. This is by far the state's biggest numerical loss and also the largest percentage loss.

Milwaukee County is still the state's most populous, with an estimated over 916,000 residents in July 2023. However, that's down from a population of 939,500 in April 2020.

As Milwaukee County's population has decreased, those of the surrounding WOW counties have increased. Egan-Robertson said this follows a long-term pattern of people moving from the city to the nearby suburbs, as they have in Minnesota's most populous metropolitan area.

The prevalence of remote or hybrid work has made it possible for more people to move to the suburbs, he said. Additionally, he added, many millennials are now reaching the age where they're looking to start families and move to homes outside of the city.

Of course, this does not encompass all the reasons people move out of a county. However, the Census estimates did not look into people's reasons for leaving.

Which Wisconsin counties have seen the biggest population declines?

Population declines have also occurred for Milwaukee County's neighbors to the south, Kenosha and Racine counties.

Kenosha County saw the second-greatest numerical loss in population between April 2020 and July 2023, losing more than 1,600 residents in that time  a 1% loss. Racine County lost over 1,100 residents in that period, the fourth-greatest loss in the state. However, Racine County gained 652 residents between July 2022 and July 2023.

Despite Dane County's top spot in the state for population growth, many surrounding counties have seen losses this decade. Dodge County to the northeast had the third-greatest population decline in the state, losing 1,163 residents between April 2020 and July 2023, a 1.3% decrease.

Columbia and Jefferson counties each lost about 400 residents in the three years, representing a 0.7% decrease for Columbia and a 0.5% decrease for Jefferson. Egan-Robertson hypothesizes many of those leaving these counties are people in their 20s or 30s heading to nearby Dane County for job opportunities.

"Madison and Dane County are drawing in lots of young people," he said. "The proximity of those counties might be a source of where those young people are coming from."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: What are the fastest growing Wisconsin counties in 2024?
NORTH PROVIDENCE  Malcolm Butler, the former New England Patriots cornerback, was arrested early Saturday morning.

Butler was charged with driving under the influence of liquor and refusal to submit to a chemical test, North Providence Police Chief Alfredo Ruggiero Jr., said Tuesday.

Butler drew attention from a North Providence officer at 3:22 a.m. on Saturday while he was at the wheel of a white Mercedes-Benz that was stopped and blocking westbound traffic on Mineral Spring Avenue, Ruggiero said.

During an encounter with Butler, the officer detected a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on Butler's breath and also observed that the driver's speech was slurred, his eyes were watery and severely bloodshot, police say.

Former Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butlers interception was the play of the game in Super Bowl XLIX against Seattle.

Warwick police release names of boy and man found dead Thursday. What we know.

Butler, who produced a Mississippi driver's license, declined to submit to a field sobriety test requested by the officer, police say.

The officer then arrested Butler and charged him.

Butler was cited with parking or stopping in a prohibited area.

The Mercedes-Benz, which had a Rhode Island license plate, is registered to Butler, Ruggiero said.

Butler told the officer he had been at a recording studio in Providence where he was making music, he said.

Arrest follows recent confirmation of retirement

Butler's arrest trails some reports earlier this month that confirmed his retirement from professional football.

"I am retired," Butler told Houston's KPRC 2 television during an interview.

In the same March 10 report, Butler said he was living in Houston and he expressed an interest in doing standup comedy and writing a book about his football career.

Storybook football fame

Butler was a defensive player with the job of preventing receivers from catching and running with the football.

His path to NFL stardom is a storybook tale.

As an unknown, undrafted rookie from Division 2 West Alabama, he made the Patriots' roster in 2014.

Later that season, with 20 seconds remaining in the Super Bowl, Butler made an interception on the goal line, thwarting a dangerous Seahawks drive for the endzone.

Butler's defense on the play secured the Patriots' victory and made him famous.

The following season, he earned All-Pro honors. And in 2017, he participated in another Patriots' Super Bowl victory.

He didn't play a single down when the Patriots returned to the Super Bowl in 2018, however.

That March, Butler signed a $61.25-million contract with the Tennessee Titans.

He played three seasons with Tennessee, signed a one-year-deal with Arizona and landed back in Foxboro in early 2022 before the Patriots released him that summer.

Butler is expected to appear Thursday morning in District Court, Warwick.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Former Patriot Malcolm Butler arrested in North Providence, RI
Sausage dogs could be banned in Germany, its national kennel club has claimed, citing a draft law that would prohibit breeding practices that inflict longterm suffering on the animals.

There is shock in Germany among dog lovers over the proposals, according to the regional newspaper HochrheinZeitung, which said the rules could cover dachshunds, beagles, boxers and schnauzers.

Germanys Kennel Club [VDH] has warned that the law prohibits our favourite dogs and has launched a petition to scrap the reform which, as of Tuesday, had some 12,000 signatures.

Torture breeding

However, Germanys agriculture ministry denied that the reform would amount to a ban on certain breeds, such as sausage dogs. A spokesman told The Telegraph that the reform was specifically about a ban on torture breeding, which it defined as breeding traits that inflict pain, suffering and damage on future generations.

The law is being introduced as part of a new draft of the Animal Protection Act, which seeks to strengthen existing laws on torture breeding, according to the German government.

Sausage dogs are popular in Germany and are often seen waddling around middleclass neighbourhoods. The dogs were first bred in the Middle Ages to have stubby legs to make them invaluable to hunters for flushing badgers and foxes out of burrows. However, their breeding also brought an increased risk of the dogs developing spinal issues.

Albert Einstein is perhaps the most famous owner of a German sausage dog - AP

Many of the proposed changes, such as regulating the trade in animals online or taking action against the illegal puppy trade, make sense...but the new animal protection law contains requirements that could mean the end of many healthy dog breeds in Germany, stated the VDHs petition.

It explained that the criteria for banning certain breeding practices were vague, in particular the use of the phrase anomalies of the skeletal system, which ran the risk of the law being used to ban sausage dogs.

Peter Friedrich, the president of VDH, said the draft law needed to be adjusted to remove ambiguity about anomalies.

Famous owners

Albert Einstein is perhaps the most famous owner of a German sausage dog, alongside  on the less illustrious end of the scale  Kaiser Wilhelm II and Erwin Rommel, the Afrika Korps commander. A dachshund called Waldi was also the mascot for the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Within Germany, the city of Passau in Bavaria can perhaps claim to be the capital of sausage dogs, having set up its own museum dedicated to them in 2018.

The Dackelmuseum [Dachshund museum] displays around 4,500 toys and other artefacts celebrating the charm of sausage dogs, in what they say is the worlds largest collection of such objects.

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.
Corrections & Clarifications: A previous version of this article misidentified the University of Arizona school Paloma Beamer is affiliated with.

Republican leaders of the Arizona Legislature joined the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry in a legal fight against the Environmental Protection Agency over a new air pollution standard they say will damage the economy.

In a petition filed Monday, Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen, House Speaker Ben Toma and the business group called the new standard for microscopic particulate matter known as PM 2.5 "arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion" and illegal, and asked the court to declare it unlawful and vacate it.

"This rule will create unnecessary hardships for job creators and hardworking Arizonans," Petersen said in a written statement. "It will detrimentally impact our power grid and create even more red tape for both small and large businesses. We have no choice but to ask the courts to provide relief from this tyrannical, arbitrary, and illegal move by the EPA."

The petition for review filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit follows a court action three weeks ago by 24 Republican state attorneys general over the same rule. Arizona's Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes didn't join the action.

What is PM 2.5 pollution?

Scientists have long recognized the danger of PM 2.5, which can seep through the lungs into the bloodstream and trigger a wide range of maladies, including strokes, heart attacks and asthma. The particles, which are 2.5 microns in diameter, are sourced mainly to smoke from wildfires, fireplaces and wood-burning ovens, but burning coal and some manufacturing processes also produce the pollution.

Several studies have shown the PM 2.5 affects people of color more than white people, possibly due to socioeconomic differences that cause emission sources like freeways, airports and manufacturing facilities to be closer to communities with more Black, Asian and Latino residents.

Air pollution spreads over the Valley.

In Maricopa County, which has some of the worst air pollution in the country, PM 2.5 levels tend to be concentrated in west and south Phoenix. Wildfires, wood-burning fireplaces, smoke from fireworks, construction activities and tailpipe emissions are some of the primary local sources.

In 2021, the EPA decided to reconsider its decision to keep the annual standard for the pollution at 12 micrograms per cubic meter. That decision led to the finalization of the new standard last month of 9 micrograms per cubic meter. At the time, the EPA noted that the counties of Maricopa, Pinal and Santa Cruz were out of compliance with the new standard.

The EPA claims, based on several studies, that the new rule will prevent up to 4,500 premature deaths annually from PM 2.5, resulting in a national savings of up to $46 billion dollars by 2032, when many affected areas will achieve compliance.

Why are business leaders fighting the new rule?

Danny Seiden, president and CEO for the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said other studies have shed doubt on those findings. Much of the PM 2.5 in metro Phoenix comes from sources the state can't control, like wildfires from other states or local residents burning wood.

Forcing the state to adhere to the new standard would cost the state billions of dollars even though compliance will be difficult or impossible to achieve, he said. The European Union, he pointed out, has an annual standard of 25 micrograms per cubic meter.

"If the stated goal under the Clean Air Act is to provide cleaner, healthier air, this decision makes no sense," he said.

Members of the business group want clean air, he said, but worry the rule will drive up manufacturing costs, leading companies to manufacture products in other countries while still failing to attain the "impossible" standard.

Reducing levels not 'impossible,' scientist says

Levels of PM 2.5 have declined nationally by 42% since 2000, according to the EPA.

University of Arizona scientist Paloma Beamer said the state can continue to reduce particulate matter without destroying its economy.

Beamer is an environmental health sciences professor and the director of the university's EPA-funded WEST Environmental Justice Center. She said focusing on trucks and trains, especially in low-income areas that see more traffic, could lead to cost-savings in terms of better health outcomes for residents.

"We are taking into account the cost on health," she said, adding that "anything that uses diesel is super-important" to the fight against PM 2.5.

Beamer said citizens can help the state determine where the problem areas are by purchasing or borrowing home air-quality detection kits that link together, displaying the problems regionally on the website map.purpleair.com.

Staffers at Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs' office are still reviewing the Arizona petition to the Washington D.C. appeals court, said spokesperson Christian Slater.

Reach the reporter at rstern@arizonarepublic.com or 480-276-3237. Follow him on X @raystern.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: GOP leaders, Arizona Chamber sue PA over new PM 2.5 standard
In our Reality Check stories, Idaho Statesman journalists seek to hold the powerful accountable and find answers to critical questions in our community. Read more. Story idea? Tips@idahostatesman.com.

The Idaho Department of Correction pursued immediate changes and continues to review its procedures for emergency medical transportation of prisoners after police said a member of the Aryan Knights gang escaped when a fellow gang member attacked corrections officers at a Boise hospital.

State prison officials are working with medical groups, including Saint Alphonsus Health System, which oversees its Regional Medical Center in Boise where the armed encounter took place, to enhance safety for prison staff, IDOC Director Josh Tewalt told the Board of Correction at a meeting Monday. He said some changes already went into effect the day of the incident last week.

Our staff had to travel a short distance in low light. There was some exposure, and it certainly put them at a tactical disadvantage and subjected them to the ambush that we witnessed, Tewalt told the state prisons board Monday. So what were continuing to work with them on is, how do we maintain the safety and security of everybody involved with those emergency transports?

Skylar Meade, 31, a prisoner at the Idaho maximum security prison south of Boise, required emergency medical care the evening of March 19 after self-inflicted injuries, prison officials said. He was treated and discharged just after 2 a.m. the next day. Former maximum security prisoner Nicholas Umphenour, 28, fired a gun at accompanying corrections officers, hitting two of them, police said. Meade and Umphenour fled in a gray sedan before their capture Thursday in Twin Falls, according to state police.

Skylar Meade, 31, left and Nicholas Umphenour, 28, appeared in Idahos 4th Judicial District via video conference Monday. Umphenour is suspected of helping Meade, a prisoner, escape at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise on March 21.

It had become routine practice, Tewalt said Monday, for IDOC medical transportation teams to avoid taking up an emergency room ambulance bay at the hospital and instead park nearby. The van that took Meade to Saint Alphonsus for treatment was parked in a designated spot for law enforcement off to the side and outside of the ambulance bay, he said.

What happened was unprecedented, Tewalt said. But now theres a precedent, so how do we take what weve learned from this event and make sure that we can prevent a recurrence through policy and practice? This is one of those areas that was quickly identified.

A Saint Alphonsus spokesperson declined to comment and referred the Idaho Statesman to the state prison system.

Meade and Umphenour were arraigned on felony charges in Ada County on Monday afternoon. They attended via video from the Ada County Jail, where both remained in custody in lieu of $2 million bonds. Idaho State Police also were investigating the two men for a pair of homicides while a statewide search was underway to locate and arrest them.

Umphenour was charged with three counts of assault or battery after shooting two corrections officers. A third corrections officer was shot by an unidentified Boise police officer when he arrived at the hospital on a report of an active shooter and saw an armed person near the hospital entrance, Boise police previously said. Only one of the corrections officers was armed, IDOC spokesperson Sanda Kuzeta-Cerimagic told the Statesman on Monday.

Two of the three corrections officers were released from the hospital, while a third who suffered multiple gunshot wounds remained under medical care, Tewalt said Monday. One of the two released will need more surgery to remove debris, he said, while the other suffered a single gunshot wound to the abdomen but was released Sunday after a successful surgery to remove the bullet.

Idaho Department of Correction Josh Tewalt said the state prison system is reviewing internal policies during hospital visits after a prisoner escaped in a high-profile incident at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise.

Certainly it wasnt just IDOCs staff that were impacted that morning, Tewalt said. Everybody that was on shift there at the hospital felt the effects of those events, and were all equally committed to ensuring a repeat doesnt happen.

FBI-led task force helped with capture

In total, four investigations related to the incident are ongoing, said Tewalt, who has helmed the state prison system since December 2018. He called the violent incident last week a defining event of his IDOC career.

State police are handling the homicide investigations of James L. Mauney, 83, of Juliaetta, and Don Henderson, 72, of Orofino. In addition, the Ada County Sheriffs Office is leading the Critical Incident Task Force investigation of the police shooting of the corrections officer; Boise police are investigating Meades escape; and IDOCs special investigation unit is conducting an internal review of Meades communications for possible information about the planned escape.

The state prison system has overseen more than 1,000 unscheduled medical transports of prisoners since the start of last year, Tewalt said. In the wake of the staged escape, IDOC is working with Centurion Health, its medical health care provider, to find ways to reduce their number of hospital transports, including the possible addition of X-rays and other body scan devices at the prison complex to help determine whether some medical visits can be delayed or do not require the ER.

The Idaho Department of Correction oversaw more than 1,000 unscheduled medical transports dating to January 2023. A prisoner escaped from Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise on March 20 during an armed ambush of corrections officers who escorted him to the hospital.

IDOC also plans to coordinate in the future with local law enforcement agencies for what are deemed high-risk transports, Tewalt said. The prison system already had added to Meades transport detail because of his prior violent criminal history, Tewalt said at a news conference last week.

IDOC, in its continued review of hospital transport policies, will not be offering specifics about other revisions it may make, for obvious security reasons, Tewalt said. Those potential policy changes will be brought back to the Board of Correction for review at a future closed-door meeting, he said.

You hate to adjust policy to add bureaucracy or make things difficult, Dodds Hayden, vice chair of the Board of Correction, told Tewalt on Monday. But what an example of the cost of a procedure in this case that arguably was devastating to two people, and could have been much more.

Tewalt offered his thanks to a group of law enforcement agencies for their assistance locating and capturing Meade and Umphenour, including several in the Treasure Valley. The Ada County Prosecutors Office and U.S. Attorneys Office also were involved, as was the Treasure Valley Metro Violent Crime Task Force, which is based in Canyon County and overseen by the FBI. IDOC is a member of the FBI-led task force, a FBI spokesperson told the Statesman, but declined to comment further.

On Monday, the Idaho State Police, Ada County Sheriffs Office, Boise Police Department and U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit provided the Statesman with no additional information about the investigations or about Meade and Umphenours capture. A third person, Tonia Huber, 52, of Filer, was arrested with the two men on suspicion of assisting with Meades escape.

Every single one of us feels responsible when we have events like this, and we should because policies and practices are our responsibility, Tewalt said of the state prisons leadership team. We have people that got hurt, we had an escape, this is a very, very serious deal. And while we cant help our staff recover, what we can do is get better as a result.
FALL RIVER  The residents at an illegal rooming house at 234 Tripp St. where a man was stabbed to death on March 15 were placed there by St. Francis House, the Boston-based agency that assists and places the homeless.

On Monday, city Building Inspector Glenn Hathaway said he served the owner of the four-unit property, Jean Ralph Prophil, a cease-and-desist order at his North Main Street home, citing both zoning and building code violations and ordering the rooming house shuttered.

Hathaway said Prophil told him the last of the residents living in the Tripp Street property were moving out on Monday, the day the owner received the cease-and-desist order.

The Herald News made several requests for an interview from St. Francis House president and CEO Karen LaFrazia, but she was unavailable.

The rooming house at 234 Tripp St. in Fall River where Pedro Fernando Orellano Alvarado is accused of stabbing Joseph Bump, who died of his injuries.

St. Francis House Vice President of Philanthropy and External Affairs Andrew Russell emailed the following statement:

"St. Francis House placed two formerly homeless people in an apartment in Fall River through the Rapid Rehousing program. Through this program, St. Francis House places people in communities throughout Eastern Massachusetts. At a time when adult shelters are overflowing, this program is designed to provide assistance and enable people to move from shelters to housing opportunities with rental assistance as they stabilize their lives. We are heartbroken at what has happened here."

The Tripp Street homicide: Fall River man accused of stabbing, stomping man to death faces murder charge

The stabbing at Tripp Street, and conditions in the rooming house

Tripp Street resident Pedro Fernando Orellano Alvarado, 42, is being held without bail for allegedly stabbing to death his roommate, Joseph Bump, 44, in the evening of March 15 after a day of drinking and arguing, according to court documents.

Alvarado is claiming he stabbed Bump in self-defense.

During his arraignment last week, Assistant District Attorney Daniel Walsh told the court that Alvarado and Bump lived in the rooming house as roommates by circumstance and not by choice.

Pedro Fernando Orellano Alvarado, left, seen with his attorney, James Caramanica, was arraigned in Fall River District Court on Monday, March 18, 2024 on a murder charge in the Friday, March 15 stabbing death of Joseph Bump at a Fall River rooming house.

Its not clear how many residents from St. Francis lived at 234 Tripp St., but including Bump, there were at least seven people living in the four-unit apartment building, according police interviews during the investigation.

Bump, Alvarado and two other men lived in one of the apartments together.

Hathaway said he observed locked bedroom doors and bunk beds at the illegal rooming house.

Fourth suspect in fatal shooting: Fall River man charged with murder and held without bail in the Rock Street homicide

Police reported that one of the Tripp Street residents who had assisted a wounded Bump used her cellphone to videotape the struggle between the victim and Alvarado and the stabbing. She provided the video to investigators.

According to an arrest report, Bump was stabbed and the blade struck his heart. Bump was pronounced dead at Saint Annes Hospital despite efforts by rooming house neighbors, police and EMTs to revive him.

Alvarado allegedly admitted to a Fall River police officer that he stabbed Bump, which Walsh said was captured on police body-worn camera.

Fall River police had visited the home at 234 Tripp St. several times for drug- and assault-related incidents.

Violence at Tripp Street multi-family not an isolated incident

March 15 wasnt the first time Alvarado and Bump interacted with police.

Alvarado was out on bail for an arrest in February, when he was charged with resisting arrest after a complaint that he threatened to stab another resident at the rooming house.

The day before the stabbing, on March 14, police were called to the rooming house. Bump had overdosed and was taken to Saint Annes Hospital. While being treated, he reported that he had been assaulted by his roommates earlier in the day.

A witness questioned on the night of the stabbing told police that she had called EMS the day before, when she found an overdosed Bump with a syringe in his hand and pill bottles around him, according to a police report.

Armed intent to murder: Man gets prison time for a vicious stabbing in 2021. He almost disemboweled his victim.

St. Francis House client said she informed authorities

Alvarado was arraigned on March 18 in Fall River District Court and charged with murder.

After the arraignment, a woman who declined to identify herself said she lived with her daughter in the apartment below Bump and Alvarado and their two roommates.

Visibly shaken, the woman indicated that there was violence at the rooming house before the stabbing.

I let St. Francis know. I want justice for Joey, because the Fall River police failed us, St. Francis failed us, said the woman.

She said she also informed the owner, Prophil, about the altercations, drinking and drug use.

She described Bump as a very nice person who had apologized to herself and daughter for the incident between the upstairs roommates the night before the stabbing.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Residents in Fall River illegal rooming house placed by Boston agency
I've stayed at all-inclusive resorts around the world and seen first-timers make the same mistakes.

Don't go overboard on the frozen drinks, and never fill your plate during the first pass at a buffet.

Pack an insulated travel mug and check out water-sport rentals and amenities at sister properties.

Vacationing at an all-inclusive resort is very appealing for many travelers  and with good reason.

Being able to budget before you arrive and not having to worry about toting around cash or credit cards can alleviate a lot of travel headaches.

As a travel writer, I've been to dozens of all-inclusive resorts in the Caribbean, Mexico, the Maldives, and more. During my stays, I see guests overlook many details that could make their sojourns much more enjoyable.

Whether you're planning your first trip to an all-inclusive resort or this is already your preferred style of vacation, here are 10 mistakes to avoid:

Not researching before booking

Some all-inclusive resorts have more amenities than others. Kelly Magyarics

Not every all-inclusive resort is designed equally. Some have gorgeous pools and underwhelming beaches, or vice-versa.

Some cater to families with dedicated kids' and teens' clubs and activities, but others prohibit guests under 18. I've stayed at resorts that run the gamut.

The point is that having everything included in and of itself isn't necessarily enough of an appeal. Think about what you're looking for in a vacation, do your research, and look beyond the slick marketing and touched-up, wide-angle pics on the resort's website.

Overlooking VIP and concierge-level room options

The term "all-inclusive" doesn't mean what it used to.

These days, some resorts offer upgraded rooms and suites in certain areas of the property, with perks that may include butler service and dedicated lounges, restaurants, pools, or beach areas for these VIP guests.

Although spending more for these amenities isn't for everyone, they can bring a sense of luxury and civility to your vacation, especially if you're staying at a crowded resort where guests are forced to set out towels before breakfast to claim lounge chairs.

Not making dinner reservations when you check in

Popular restaurants can get crowded at peak meal times. Kelly Magyarics

You may have access to a slew of restaurants at your resort, but that doesn't mean you can roll up to the host stand and automatically get a table, especially at peak dinner times (remember, everyone wants 7:30 p.m.).

To avoid disappointment, book tables for the popular spots right after you check in or before you arrive, if that's an option.

Keep in mind that depending on how many nights you're staying, you may be entitled to only a limited number of reservations for the a-la-carte concepts, so choose wisely.

My advice is to prioritize places that serve local cuisine. After all, you can get steak or pasta just about anywhere.

Filling your plate at the buffet before checking out all the options

Always scope out the buffet before diving in. Kelly Magyarics

All-inclusive resorts are often known for over-the-top buffets any time of day, with omelet and freshly-pressed-juice stations at breakfast and salad bars, local specialties, carving stations, and all the desserts at lunch and dinner.

Grabbing a plate and reaching for the serving spoons before giving the area a look-see is a rookie move and can also lead to overeating and wasting food.

Each time before tackling a buffet, take a walk around, as options can change not only from meal to meal but daily as well. And make it a point to take a spoonful of something you've never tried.

Forgetting to bring an insulated travel mug

I used to roll my eyes at resort guests who'd tote their travel mugs up to the bar to be filled with their beverage of choice.

I thought they were being overly indulgent and exploiting the concept of "all-inclusive." But now I think they're on to something.

For one thing, insulated tumblers keep drinks colder for much longer and reduce the number of trips to the bar.

Beyond that, they're more environmentally friendly than all those single-use plastic cups. If you're bringing your Stanley and asking the bartender to fill it, though, tip them for going above and beyond.

Not tipping

Speaking of tipping, I'm well aware that some all-inclusive resorts invite guests to "leave their wallets at home."

But unless the property you're staying at has a strict policy against it, small tips can go a long way. Tipping the bartender at a crowded swim-up or lobby bar when you first order, for example, can result in quicker service for your second and third rounds.

If you have a fabulous server at dinner, leaving them some cash on the table is a nice gesture. And don't forget about the housekeeping staff, who keep your room free of sand and endlessly replenish your towels.

Ordering drinks wrong

You have access to lots of drinks at all-inclusive resorts, but not all of them are good. Kelly Magyarics

Not all drinks at all-inclusive resorts are created equally.

Belly up to the lobby bar, which tends to stock top-shelf liqueur. Upgrade your pina colada by requesting it with dark or aged rum instead of white, which gives it much more flavor.

If you see Aperol or Campari on the back bar, you can be sure to get a decent spritz. Craft your own low-ABV libation by asking for sauvignon blanc or rose mixed with club soda and a dash of simple syrup, garnished with a lemon wedge.

And try the local beer or wine, if it's available.

 and going all in on fruity, frozen drinks

A pina colada is decidedly delicious  I like to have one mid-morning, which I half-jokingly refer to as a "breakfast smoothie."

But if you keep hitting the swim-up bar to order blended concoctions, you're going to end up drinking a zillion calories and probably getting a stomachache or killer hangover to boot.

If you're on a quest to keep the buzz going, maybe mix things up a bit with a spirit mixed with soda water or a wine spritzer. And don't forget to hydrate with actual water to counter the effects of all that heat and sunshine.

Not taking advantage of the amenities at sister properties

Some resorts are part of larger complexes. Kelly Magyarics

Some resorts are part of sprawling complexes with several adjacent properties owned and operated by the same parent company.

If your stay includes reciprocity (such as a "stay at one, play at three" policy), you'll have access to other facilities, including additional pools, fitness centers, beach areas, and restaurants.

Making use of them is a great way to avoid boredom and make it seem as if your vacation includes stays at multiple hotels.

Not using the non-motorized water sports

Although Jet Ski, hoverboard, and parasailing rentals can be pricey, using simpler things such as stand-up paddleboards, kayaks, floats, and even Hobie-Cats are often included in the price of an all-inclusive stay.

Yet I often see them lined up on the beach all day, barely being used.

Sign the waiver, don a life jacket, and give them a try. And if you happen to be staying at a place where these water sports are popular, add your name to the waiting list first thing in the morning.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Concept art shows what the new fighter jet might look like flying over London

Japan's cabinet has approved the export of new fighter jets it is developing with the UK and Italy, in the latest move away from its pacifist policies.

It eased arms export rules to allow the jets to be sold to countries that Japan has signed defence pacts with, and where there is no ongoing conflict.

Japan has pledged to double military spending by 2027, citing threats posed by China and North Korea.

Each fighter jet sale will require cabinet approval, authorities said.

In December 2022, Japan joined a UK-Italy collaboration, dubbed the Tempest, to develop this new fighter jet that will use artificial intelligence and advanced sensors to assist pilots.

The jets are expected to be deployed by 2035 - in what is Tokyo's first defence equipment development partnership with a country other than the US.

The latest move comes ahead of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's official visit to the US in April, where he is expected to stress Tokyo's alliance with Washington and his country's readiness to be more involved in defence partnerships.

Mr Kishida had also said that allowing the export of warplanes to third countries is "necessary" to maintain Tokyo's credibility as a partner in other future international defence projects.

"The plan to make fighter jets with capabilities essential for the security of our nation must be realised to ensure that our nation's defences won't be compromised," government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Tuesday.

But Japan's Defence Minister Minoru Kihara clarified that Japan would still remain committed to the "basic philosophy of a pacifist nation" by going through "strict decision processes" for exports.

After World War Two, the US-occupied Japan adopted a constitution which says the country renounces war and the use of force to settle international disputes. The constitution does not officially recognise the military and limits it to self-defence capabilities.

It also imposed an arms export ban, which was eased for the first time in 2014 under then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

In December 2023, Japan eased the rules further to allow the sale of lethal weapons it makes under foreign licenses to be exported to the country where the licenser is based.

This paved the way for Tokyo to send Patriot air defence missiles to the US. Patriot missiles are among the most advanced weapons supplied by the US to Ukraine.
A giant container ship struck a bridge in the Baltimore harbor early Tuesday morning, collapsing the structure and sending construction workers into the water.

Rescuers are searching for six people, officials said. Two people have been rescued, including one who is currently hospitalized in very serious condition, officials added.

The Singapore-flagged cargo ship, Dali, spans a length of 984 feet and a width of 157 feet, a VesselFinder listing showed. It holds 22 crew members, all of whom are based in India.

MORE: Baltimore Key Bridge collapse live updates: Ship lost propulsion, warned of collision, CISA report says

The ship departed from the Port of Baltimore at 1 a.m. on Tuesday, embarking on a 27-day journey to Colombo, Sri Lanka.

The ship "lost propulsion" as it was leaving the port and warned Maryland officials of a possible collision, according to officials.

The crew notified officials that they had lost control and traffic was stopped onto the bridge.

Synergy Group confirmed the collision in a statement to ABC News, saying the ship had been piloted by two individuals during the incident. The pilots of the ship were local, officials said at a press conference.

PHOTO: In this aerial image, the steel frame of the Francis Scott Key Bridge sits on top of a container ship after the bridge collapsed, Baltimore, March 26, 2024 (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

The waterway into and out of the port is closed and there is no other route into the port, which is the second busiest port in the Mid-Atlantic.

The collision took place at about 1:30 a.m., according to MarineTraffic, a maritime-tracking company.

Singapore-based company Grace Ocean is the listed owner of Dali. While the ship is managed by a firm called Synergy Group.

MORE: The history of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge

All crew members, including the two pilots, have been accounted for and there are no reports of any injuries, the company said. The collision did not result in any pollution, the firm added.

Dali had been chartered by Danish shipping firm Maersk, company listings showed. Earlier this month, the ship traveled through the Panama Canal to Newark, New Jersey, before voyaging to Norfolk, Virginia, and finally reaching the Port of Baltimore, the listings said.

"We are horrified by what has happened in Baltimore, and our thoughts are with all of those affected," Maersk told ABC News in a statement.

PHOTO: A view of the Dali cargo vessel which crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge causing it to collapse in Baltimore, March 26, 2024. (Julia Nikhinson/Reuters)

"We are closely following the investigations conducted by authorities and Synergy, and we will do our utmost to keep our customers informed." the company added, noting that no employees of Maersk were onboard.

Dali was involved in a collision in 2016 when the container ship collided with the quayside in Antwerp, Belgium, according to VesselFinder.

That incident occurred one year after the ship was built, VesselFinder data showed.

ABC News' Emily Shapiro, Aaron Katersky, Sam Sweeney, Laura Romero and Helena Skinner contributed to this report.

What to know about the massive ship that crashed into the Baltimore bridge originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
A large ship crashed into a bridge in Maryland early Tuesday morning, causing it to collapse.

A livestream captured the moment at 1:28 a.m. when the vessel appeared to strike a bridge support.

Per ship-tracking data, the vessel is Singapore-flagged and is listed at 984 feet long.

A YouTube livestream captured when a large ship struck a bridge in Baltimore, causing it to collapse in the water early Tuesday.

The vessel appears to approach a support beam of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which serves the I-695, at about 1:24 a.m. local time, according to video from StreamTime Live. The stream of the shipping channel is funded by Bay Area Mechanical Services.

In the video, the ship's lights turn off minutes before the vessel strikes the bridge. As the ship nears the bridge, the lights then turn back on.

The ship strikes the beam at about 1:28 a.m., and the bridge collapses in less than 10 seconds, with debris falling on top of the ship.

Here is a clip from the feed, shared on X by BNO News:

BREAKING: Ship collides with Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, causing it to collapse pic.twitter.com/OcOrSjOCRn  BNO News (@BNONews) March 26, 2024

When BI reviewed ship-tracking data of the area at about 2:50 a.m. local time, a Singapore-flagged container ship, the Dali, was broadcasting its signal from beneath the bridge, surrounded by several Coast Guard-listed vessels.

The Dali's owner is listed as Grace Ocean, a Singapore-based firm, and its manager is listed as Synergy Marine Group, which is also headquartered in Singapore.

The ship is also listed as 300 meters long, or about 984 feet.

A Grace Ocean staff declined a request for comment from BI when reached by phone. Synergy Marine Group did not respond to calls from BI.

The bridge has been closed off because of a "collapse due to a ship strike," the Maryland Transportation Authority wrote in a statement on X on Tuesday morning.

The Baltimore Police Department told ABC News it had been "notified of a partial bridge collapse, with workers possibly in the water."

Representatives for the Maryland Transportation Authority did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Columbus schools Superintendent Angela Chapman talks to the media before the Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023, school board meeting about the 7.7-mill levy voters passed on Tuesday. Standing with Chapman are (left to right) school board members Tina Pierce, Michael Cole, board President Jennifer Adair and member Eric Brown.

My budget has turned into the turnip. Let's repeal school levy.

I find it really strange that many of the local school levies just failed, but the outrageous November Columbus school levy passed?

I cannot believe that Columbus residents were that naive or gullible to pass that 7.7 mil levy. Did people not understand what that was going to do to the tax base, what it would add to your monthly/yearly taxes, especially with the property reassessments that were just completed, which I feel are also totally unreasonable?

Plus, just recently it has been mentioned that several years ago it was deemed unconstitutional to use tax dollars to fund schools? What happened to our elected officials fixing that?

Amelia Robinson: Columbus City Schools levy win is a wake-up call, not a reason for victory lap

I personally think there should another vote on the Columbus school levy. Maybe residents could push for an option to rescind that levy with the next election.

I am a senior citizen on a fixed income. I dislike that term fixed income because even if youre working, you still only have so much money to go around.

Do you know the saying, you cant get blood out of the turnip? Well, my budget has turned into the turnip.

Jo Anne Jenkins, Galloway

Surrounded by community donations, Gov. Mike DeWine speaks March 15 to media inside the Indian Lake High School gym after a tornado struck the area the night before.

DeWine should remember that enablers of autocrats bring down democracies

Gov. Mike DeWine endorsed Matt Dolan in the Republican Party primary for the U.S. Senate.

He supported Dolan, who at least has elected and legislative experience, over one openly MAGA candidate, and another who tried to make it harder to change Ohios Constitution and undermine last years Issue 1.

But the governor now will support the former president and the candidate he did not support in the primary.

His reasons? He is a Republican and he sees there is still plenty of room for politicians like him in the GOP.

I commend his optimism. However, I am reminded that it is the enablers of autocrats and worse that bring down democracies.

Toba Feldman, Columbus

Jan 18, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; John Rutan, a local defense attorney, is running for Franklin County Prosecutor.

John Rutan not seeing reality I witnessed

Thi is regarding the story "John Rutan, GOP county prosecutor nominee, slams 'stolen' elections, Dem opponent and more." John Rutan claims the recent elections were compromised. I seriously doubt it.

I signed on to work two recent election cycles precisely because I wanted to see for myself how votes are handled.

All workers must go through a training session. Procedures for checking each persons credentials and eligibility are clearly spelled out and overseen by trained poll workers.

Poll workers accompany voters to cast their votes.

Others watch them put their ballots in the locked boxes that two people return to the board of elections when the polls close. Voters are counted. Their ballots are counted. The machines and poll workers double and triple check the numbers. All the equipment is delivered locked and returned the same way at the end of the day.

It may be possible for someone to beat the system, but after what Ive witnessed, I find that highly unlikely.

Kathryn Haueisen, Reynoldsburg

We don't need more oil

Regarding What influences gas prices? March 21, The recent letter from the executive director of the Ohio Natural Energy Institute ignores a huge downside of increased oil production.

The Earth is steadily warming because the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas, gasoline, and diesel) emits carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Unless and until those emissions are seriously curtailed, the climate-change problems being foisted upon future generations will be even worse than it is now.

The adverse consequences of a warming planet are already evident and could eventually become unmanageable.

Unfortunately, Ohios energy policy heavily favors fossil fuels over carbon-free renewable energy. More should be done to promote solar and wind projects, the true natural energy sources, or to at least afford them a level playing field to compete with the powerful oil and gas industry.

Joe Winner, Columbus

Boeing CEO to step down amid safety concerns

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus school levy too costly and must be rescinded | Opinion
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.

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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.
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.
Ummu Kulthum Sani had been in a relationship with Frank Geng Quarong for two years before she was murdered

A Nigerian court has sentenced a Chinese businessman to death after being found guilty of murdering his girlfriend Ummu Kulthum Sani in 2022.

Frank Geng Quarong was discovered in her room after having stabbed her several times there.

The killing of the 22-year-old university student shocked Nigerians and the case was closely followed.

Death sentences are rarely carried out in Nigeria. Quarong has 90 days to appeal against the verdict.

Speaking on behalf of the family, the victim's brother, Sadiq Sani, described the sentence of death by hanging handed down by the court in Kano as justice. He said that whoever kills anyone deserved to be killed too.

"We thank God for showing us this day... I pray that my sister's soul continues to rest in peace," he told the BBC.

Her family remember the young agriculture undergraduate as kind and jovial.

Quarong, 49, and Ms Sani had been in a relationship since 2020 after having met in a shopping mall, according to Mr Sani.

He was in the country working for a Nigerian textiles firm.

Talking shortly after the killing in September 2022, family friend Ahmad Abdullahi described what had happened.

He remembered coming to the family home and seeing that "a lot of people had gathered outside the house".

"That was when we knew something bad had happened. Geng was her boyfriend and had good relations with her family prior to that day.

"Before the incident they were having issues as she was no longer interested and he didn't want to let go."

According to neighbours, on the night of the killing Quarong was heard knocking heavily on the gate to the Sani family home.

When Ms Sani's mother opened the gate he pushed her aside and rushed straight to Ms Sani's room, locking it from the inside.

Her shouts and cries attracted the family and before anyone could break down the door to help she had been stabbed several times.

She died later in hospital.

Nigeria currently has more than 3,400 people on death row and the last execution was carried out in 2012.
Many Americans are hoping to capture photos of the upcoming total solar eclipse, as the phenomenon won't take place in the United States for another two decades.

But it's not as easy as pointing your camera at the sun and clicking a button.

Here's everything we know about what you need to photograph the solar eclipse, and whether you'll be able to capture the event with your cell phone.

What you need to take photos of the total solar eclipse

HIAWATHA, KS - AUGUST 21: The sun is seen in full eclipse over a park on August 21, 2017 in Hiawatha, Kansas. Millions of people have flocked to areas of the U.S. that are in the "path of totality" in order to experience a total solar eclipse. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

According to USA Today's photographers, here's what you need to take photos of the solar eclipse:

Solar glasses to protect your eyes from the sun during the partial phases of the eclipse.

Solar filter for your camera lens, shiny side facing the sun. If shooting with a DSLR or mirrorless camera you can order a filter sheet and tape it to the front of your lens. If you attempt to focus on the sun without a filter, you could damage your camera.

A sturdy tripod with an adjustable head. The heavier the tripod the better. An adjustable head will allow you to easily adjust the frame as the sun will move across the sky. A sandbag will help stabilize your tripod.

A telephoto lens that is at least 200mm-300mm. However, the sun will not fill the entire frame the at this length. The longer the lens the bigger the sun will appear in your images. You do not need to go out and purchase a new lens for the eclipse. You can rent a lens or crop your image later.

A remote shutter release or built-in timer will help eliminate camera shake. During totality you will not need your solar filter but your camera setting will change, slowing down your shutter. A release will allow you to fire your camera without touching it. This will result in a sharper image.

Extra batteries, memory cards, tape and anything else you need to be fully prepared for the day.

Why do I need a solar filter to photograph the solar eclipse?

Photographer Carly Stocks holds a solar filter showing the partial eclipse on Oct. 14, 2023 at Sevier Lake in Utah.

Using a solar filter is imperative to protect both your device and your eyesight, Carly Stocks, a Utah-based photographer who captures images of the sky, told the Louisville Courier Journal.

Stocks recommends a solar filter that screws in front of a lens or taping one on your lens.

The filter must be kept on at all times during the viewing experience, except during totality when the sun's corona is visible.

"This is because the suns corona has a surface brightness a million times fainter than the suns visible disk or photosphere, so photographs of the corona must be made without a filter," according to Nikon USA.

Can I use eclipse glasses as a solar lens?

NASA advises against using eclipse glasses or handheld viewers with cameras. Instead they recommend using a special solar protector and to seek service from an astronomy or other expert before doing so.

Can you photograph the solar eclipse with a phone?

According to NASA, taking a photo of the eclipse "has more to do with the photographer than the camera."

Great photos can be taken during the eclipse with a DSLR camera or your cell phone, but the type of image captured will vary.

Without a telephoto zoom lens, you'll get better photos by focusing on landscape shots and the changing environment as the moon progressively covers more of the sun, NASA noted. With a cell phone camera, the sun will appear fairly small on the screen and there's only so far zooming in will get you.

Contributing: Anthony Robledo, USA Today; Leo Bertucci, Louisville Courier Journal

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: How to take pictures of the 2024 solar eclipse with your phone or camera
Kristen Clark was like a mom to many on her team at a Georgia Chick-fil-A, co-workers say.

To us she was a remarkable leader, a loyal and fierce friend, according to her colleagues at the restaurant in Bainbridge, where Clark was a co-manager. She made sure that her team was taken care of.

Now, theyre mourning after the 33-year-old was killed in a car crash in Florida over the weekend. Clarks unborn child, Asher Blaze, also died, co-workers said.

Panama City police were called around 12:15 a.m. on March 23 about an accident between a Honda sedan and a Bay County prisoner transport van near the intersection of Highway 231 and Highway 390, according to a news release.

Clark, who was a passenger in the sedan, died from her injuries at a hospital later that morning, police said.

Investigators believe the Honda was traveling behind the prisoner transport van and didnt yield, slamming into the back of it.

Clarks co-workers said the crash happened the day before her baby shower, WALB reported.

Not only are we sad that weve lost a friend and a co-worker, but weve also lost family, and not able to meet that new life is definitely heartbreaking, Krystal Apke, marketing director for the Bainbridge Chick-fil-A, told the station.

In a tribute posted on the restaurants Facebook page, Clarks colleagues shared kind words and asked the community for prayers.

She gave of her time, love, talent, and resources to make sure her team felt loved and supported, they wrote. This loss is one we will be feeling for a while as she has been a part of our team from Day 1.

It was truly our pleasure to love you back, they concluded.

Seven others, including three detainees from the prisoner van, suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the crash, according to Panama City police.

Authorities said the accident remains under investigation.

Bainbridge is about a 40-mile drive northwest from Tallahassee, Florida.

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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.
Consistent fossil fuel development in Eddy County led to continued growth from property taxes paid by individual residents and businesses in 2023, said County Assessor Rhonda Hatch.

She presented an annual update of activities conducted by her office last year to the Eddy County Board of County Commissioners on March 19. Hatch said state law requires a yearly report to commissioners.

More: Livestock values decrease by $1.4M in Eddy County during 2022

She said 988 new oil and gas wells drilled in Eddy County in 2023 and 329 new business openings led to $588 million of property tax collections.

With state assessed (property) value seeing the largest gain of over $401 million, she said.

The New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department (NMTRD) cites assessed property as an annual valuation assessment of certain non-residential properties for determined value of items being taxed.

A new house is being built on vacant property west of Artesia. Eddy County Assessor Rhonda Hatch says property values in Eddy County increased in 2023 from fossil fuel development and new housing.

Hatch said non-residential improvements were valued at $94 million and residential improvements were valued at $39 million.

She said residential improvements are the value of buildings on a residential lot.

The New Mexico Association of Realtors said 608 houses in Eddy County were sold in 2023 and the median sale price was $270,000.

More: Eddy County home listings asked for less money in February  see the current median price here

Eddy County had 86 pending housing sales in December of 2023, read a news release from the Association of Realtors.

Hatch said 1,156 building permits were issued in the City of Artesia in 2023, the City of Carlsbad issued 2,145 building permits and the State of New Mexico issued 182 building permits.

James Bo Bowen, District 4 commissioner, called Hatchs report startling.

Vacant property on U.S. 285 in Artesia was under development on March 22, 2024. Eddy County Assessor Rhonda Hatch says over 1,000 building permits were issued in Artesia in 2023 and over 2,100 were issued in Carlsbad.

Thats amazing when you think about it. Were a small county population wise and to this growth from industry creating new businesses to creating new building permits. Thats truly a testament to how fortunate we are in this part of the world, he said.

Property values may increase again in 2024

Hatch said business indications during the opening months of this year might lead to an escalation of property values.

We have not seen a decrease in many years, she said.

More: Unemployment claims in New Mexico increased last week

The New Mexico Association Realtors cited 47 homes sold in Eddy County during January of this year. The median price of a home was $303,000 as the county had 66 active listings.

The City of Carlsbad issued a total of 353 building permits for the first two months of 2024, read data from the Planning, Engineering and Regulation Department.

Eddy Countys unemployment rate remained under 3% from November of 2023 to February of this year, read data from the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions (NMDWFS).

In a news release, NMDWS stated goods-producing industries like oil and gas, mining and construction employment rose by 3.1% in February.

Mike Smith can be reached at 575-628-5546 or by email at MSmith@currentargus.com or @ArgusMichae on X, formerly known as Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Property growth values rise in Eddy County in 2023 from new developments
Vladimir Putins navy suffered a fresh double blow as Ukraine hit the Konstantin Olshansky landing ship with a Neptune missile and damaged another vessel, say military sources.

The Konstantin Olshansky was seized by Russia from Ukraine ten years ago.

Currently, this ship is not combat-capable, said Ukrainian navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk.

Ukrainian officials are also stressing that attacks on the Russian naval base of Sevastopol, in annexed Crimea, on Saturday night caused more damage than originally assessed.

The Ukrainian military initially said it hit two large Russian landing ships, the Azov and Yamal, as well as a communications centre and other infrastructure used by the Russian navy in the Black Sea.

The Yamal was said to be taking on so much water that it was having to be continuously pumped out.

The officials added that the Konstantin Olshansky was struck with a Neptune anti-ship missile, sustaining damage that Kyiv was still assessing.

The Ivan Khurs reconnaissance vessel was also reported to have been hit.

There was no immediate comment from Russia.

The Konstantin Olshansky, previously a Ukrainian warship, was captured by Russia along with much of the Ukrainian navy in 2014 when the Kremlin's troops seized control of Crimea, the traditional base of the Black Sea Fleet.

Russia cannibalised the vessel for parts for other landing ships, Mr Pletenchuk said.

But Ukrainian strikes on large landing ships created a shortage and forced the Russian navy to prepare the ship to be brought back into service over the past year, he added.

"It had gone through a renovation and was being prepared for use against Ukraine, so unfortunately the decision was taken to strike this (ship)," he explained.

"Out of 13 (large landing ships), four have been destroyed, four are being repaired, and five are in working order," he said.

The Yamal and Azov warships that were also hit over the weekend have reportedly been taken for repairs.

Ukraine also said it was improving its sea drones, making them more powerful, which have so far proved effective against Putins navy.

Russias Black Sea Fleet has been pushed back from Crimea towards Russia and away from the western Black Sea after losing a string of vessels.

The flagship of the fleet, the Moskva, was sunk in spring 2022.

The losses and attacks on Sevastopol are believed to have impacted the navys capacity, as the Crimean port is believed to be one of the few where Kalibr missiles can be loaded onto vessels.

This type of missile has been only used to a limited extent in recent months, according to Ukrainian officials.

Ukraine shot down all 12 attack drones launched overnight by Russia, Kyivs air force said in a statement on Tuesday.

It added that the Iranian-made drones were destroyed over the southern Mykolaiv and eastern Kharkiv regions.

Russian forces were reported to be gradually seizing more territory in the Donetsk province of eastern Ukraine, but to be suffering heavy losses in their advances.

Ukrainian forces, hampered by munition shortages partly blamed on Republicans blocking a huge new military aid package to Kyiv, are facing difficulties holding some defences.
A redevelopment plan for parts of Historic Commercial Street was first presented to Springfield City Council on Monday night but received a mix of reactions both from council members and nearby residents and business owners, leaving the future of the overall plan unclear.

The redevelopment plan constitutes 17 lots along and south of Commercial Street. Broken up in four phases, the project includes plans for a townhouse development, rehabilitation of the Missouri Hotel and other mixed-use and multi-family developments. All portions of the redevelopment are owned by developer Titus Williams of Prosperiti Partners.

Here's what is being planned on Springfield's Commercial Street

The four phases of development mentioned in the plan, to be activated over the next 18 months, are as follows:

Pacific South: This Midtown development has already received city approval for the construction of 72 townhouse dwellings. With an approximate $15 million investment, the townhomes would replace a single-family home and an unused building. If the redevelopment plan is approved, work could begin immediately and is estimated to be completed by Fall 2025.

Proposed townhome development at the corner of Benton and Pacific

540 E. Commercial St: Located on the corner of Commercial Street and Washington Avenue, this property has been cited as a reason for the city to consider a 'demolition by neglect' ordinance. While the building was set to be demolished earlier this year, the action was postponed by the developer. The plans for this corner include the construction of a new mixed-use building featuring retail/restaurant/office space and ADA-compliant residential apartment units on the first floor and residential apartment units on the upper floors. This phase is estimated to begin in Summer 2024.

Missouri Hotel: The historic Missouri Hotel property that had provided shelter to homeless people through The Kitchen Inc. nonprofit for the final 30 years of its operations could become a hotel once again. The redevelopment proposes renovation and rehabilitation of the building into a boutique hotel. Adjacent Commercial Street buildings would feature commercial and various hotel accessory uses. The redevelopment of the hotel has been approved for historic tax credits in 2024. Work on this is estimated to begin this fall.

Pacific North: Properties north of Pacific Street between Jefferson and Benton Avenues are the proposed location of a newly constructed multi-family residential development with off-street parking. The plan notes the development will consist of 200+ residential apartments and amenities such as a pool, fitness facilities and others. The last of the phases, this is estimated to begin Summer 2025.

How the process works

The redevelopment plan in front of council Monday covered the entirety of the area. The plan declares the area blighted, so that the developer can in the future take advantage of property tax abatement through the Chapter 353 Urban Redevelopment process outlined in city code.

While the plan covers the entire area, tax abatement approval is only included for the Pacific South project in this initial plan. For future phases, the city's Director of Financial Vitality Amanda Ohlensehlen said, amendments to this plan or new plans referencing it would be presented for approval separately. Those would still have to pass through several government bodies, including the Landmarks Board, Planning & Zoning Commission and the council before going into effect.

A map of the redevelopment project on and near Historic Commercial Street. Owned by developer Titus Williams with Prosperiti Partners, the properties in yellow are looking to take advantage of a property tax abatement for redevelopment.

Unlike Pacific South, the other three phases are all a part of the Commercial Street Tax Increment Financing district. A TIF district provides for incremental increases property tax revenue to be collected and redirected toward redevelopment projects within the district's boundaries. In order to benefit from property tax abatement, these areas have to be carved out of the TIF district and the developer must pay out the remaining years of the payments in lieu of taxes that the properties would have generated without the developments. While the price tag on the buyout is negotiated between the developer and city, it is estimated to be almost $300,000.

The tax abatement would span 25 years. During the first ten years, all of the assessed value of improvements to the property and land would be frozen, while during the remaining 15 years, half of the assessed value would be abated.

Concerns, uncertainty for future phases

The TIF has not yet been amended to exclude these areas. Combined with a lack of information and detail on future phases and preservation of the street's historic character, council members and the public were hesitant to consider the plan as a whole.

Councilwoman Monica Horton led the conversation, questioning whether this plan could be split into four different plans for each phase of the greater project. Speakers expressed support for approaching redevelopment in this way in hopes it would provide more detail and assurance for each phase.

"It feels like an omnibus plan to me," Horton said. "It feels as though this is a plan that is ready to go for Pacific South, but because the other three plans are not cleared from the various levels, it seems as though we need to put the brakes and perhaps recommend separate redevelopment plans for those three phases."

Shelby Wood, attorney with Spencer Fance, spoke as a representative of Williams on Monday. He said a single plan was being pursued due to economy of scale and the desire to do the TIF buyout as a singular transaction. Wood also noted that designating the whole area as blighted now will allow the developer to begin to remediate the properties  work that has not been done out of an "abundance of caution" to ensure the blighted designation is met as part of the abatement requirement.

"I can't say with 100% certainty that every single one will be saved, but the goal is to save as many as possible," Wood said in reference to the historic buildings along Commercial Street.

A historic Commercial Street building located at 540 East Commercial Street had its demolition request shot down by the city Landmarks Board last December.

All seven nearby residents were supportive of the Pacific South project, wanted it to move forward swiftly and commended the developer for engaging with the community throughout the planning process. They asked that the same communication be open for the rest of these projects and were concerned about phases being included in the plan without explicit details and concerns about how the redevelopment or demolition of buildings could impact the street's historic designation.

"Many in the area want to see the remaining development proposal evaluated more extensively, as far as its effects on the TIF districts, the historical district status, the blighting and abatement specifications, with more transparency for all of the residents and business interests and affiliate groups," said Danny Crisp, Midtown resident and Commercial Street property owner.

Irene Schaefer, a business owner, said splitting the plan up into separate plans for each phase would give better opportunity to address issues of those specific areas and development plans.

More: Fassnight neighbors split on new multi-family housing proposal from local family

P&Z unanimously approved the plan, though no one from the public spoke on the topic at the hearing.

City Attorney Jordan Paul said he will look into the logistics of council's options for approaching the plan as it only pertains to the Pacific South portion. Currently, the council is scheduled to vote on the plan at its April 8 meeting.

Marta Mieze covers local government at the News-Leader. Have feedback, tips or story ideas? Contact her at mmieze@news-leader.com.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Commercial Street redevelopment plan declares entire area blighted
This story was updated at 3:50 p.m. Tuesday

Salem budget meetings spurred outrage over the potential closure of the Salem Public Library.

Emails and comments filled the Salem City Council's inbox and social media, with many wondering if Oregon's capital city would soon be left without a public library.

Groups filled the council chambers Monday to urge the council to keep the library open and funded.

City officials stressed Monday that they were not proposing closing the library.

"I agree that the library is an incredibly important part of the cultural backbone of the city," Salem City Manager Keith Stahley said during Monday's meeting. "Closing it would be a terrible loss at this point. No one is proposing the library should close."

Discussions about budget options started last year.

The Salem Public Library announced the elimination of Sunday service three months ago at the downtown main branch, cutting West Salem service to two days and the reduction of hours at both locations to match staffing levels.

The reductions were anticipated to be the first of many cuts to city services due to the city's budget deficit and failure of the payroll tax.

City officials said in a report that the decision was made as a result of staffing limitations. Leaders have not hired people for most vacancies in anticipation of the revenue shortfall in the general fund.

City leaders said action would need to be taken before the June 30, 2024, deadline to address the $15 million General Fund shortfall expected in 2026.

"We cannot continue to deliver services at the same level without additional revenue in the next 18 months," Stahley said. "We will be forced to make some difficult decisions."

Scenarios discussed at Salem's city budget committee meeting

Two of four options  Option 3 "making no reductions to public safety" and Option 4 "funding all sheltering services"  would entail closing the main branch of the Salem Public Library this year and the Center 50+ next year.

The other options, such as the staff-recommended Option 1, include serious cuts, like cutting eight library positions, eliminating city funding for the microshelter villages for the homeless, and slashing the Center 50+, recreation and parks services and other sheltering services.

Avoiding reductions in public safety means no fire station reductions and no police position reductions. The tradeoff comes with the closure of the main library branch in fiscal year 2025, which starts on July 1, 2024.

The move would save $3.9 million. The closure of the Center 50+ would result in saving $1.2 million. Both savings are a fraction of the fire and police budgets, which accounted for $60.29 million for police and $48.69 million for fire in the FY 2024 general fund budget.

"City Council reviewed four possible options that would result in a balanced budget," city officials said in a statement. "While Options 2, 3 and 4 were presented in a City Council Work Session last year, the City Manager is basing his proposed 2025 Budget on Option 1."

During the March 21 meeting, Councilor Julie Hoy asked when she could put forth a motion to prioritize public safety funding. When asked whether closing the library would be an acceptable tradeoff for prioritizing public safety funding, she said it was lazy to let budget conversations devolve into pitting public safety against the library.

"I believe we need to completely change how we prioritize spending as a community, so that instead of people feeling disenfranchised once a decision is made, they can actually influence the decisions upstream," she said. "This is much bigger and involves doing the hard work to have a more inclusive process to help the residents of Salem feel like their voices matter and are being heard."

Councilor Virginia Stapleton said she did not foresee Option 3 getting enough votes to pass. She saw a more likely future with Option 1, which had across-the-board cuts for various departments.

Library services will not be spared in those cuts. It'll likely see a reduction in hours and services and more could be on the chopping block if the deficit is not resolved.

"The reality is that all our city services will be cut," she said.

Children dig for fossils in the library's Discovery Room in October 2023.

Budget discussions spur public outcry over closing the library

The recent budget discussions and the looming decision date spurred public outcry over closing the library. People took to social media and urged others to attend the Monday Salem City Council meeting and write to their councilor and the mayor.

"A capital city without a library is tragic, embarrassing, and horrifying," one commenter wrote.

Local artist and library employee Kelsey Dawn Lamme included a call to action paired with her art.

Embedded content: https://www.instagram.com/p/C458sMbJq0C/?img_index=1

"The public library for the capital city of Oregon being defunded and closed could cause normalization of public libraries being defunded across the nation, so its important we speak up," she said.

She spent the weekend pairing her art with information about the options presented during the meeting.

"Even with the best-case scenario currently discussed, the library will be reduced to minimum programming, services, and hours," she said. "The options presented are not acceptable. The SPL staff are what makes our library so amazing, and we cant keep reducing an already severely understaffed library."

She said she would support a levy or tax district to fund the library.

The Freckled Bee owner Bee Decker called the option pathetic and ridiculous.

"The importance of library funding over police funding lies in investing in education, community development, and proactive measures for societal well-being," Decker said. "Libraries provide resources for learning, literacy, and access to information, fostering a more informed and engaged citizenry. This can lead to long-term benefits such as reduced crime rates, improved mental health, and increased economic opportunities, whereas solely relying on policing often addresses issues reactively rather than addressing root causes."

During the Monday meeting, Jane Miramontes said even considering closing the library or cutting back was unacceptable.

"If you go to the library on any given day, you'll see families sharing stories, kids playing in the Discovery Room, teens hanging out after school and getting help with homework and the adults using the free Wi-Fi and computers to do work and find jobs," Miramontes said.

"You'll notice it's not silent like in the movies. People are talking, laughing and building connections in a safe and welcoming environments," she said. "A public library is not just a building full of books. It is one of the few places that anyone could go to spend time and build connections without spending money."

Several current and former library employees spoke Monday night, highlighting current services at-risk like early literacy programs, free internet and book access for visitors and a safe place for teens and children.

Salem Public Library librarian Hannah Bostrom said the recent comments made during the budget meeting inspired the outpouring of public support.

Bostrom pointed out bond funds would still have to be paid if the library closed its doors. It would take years for the community and staff to recover from a closure.

"During a closure, we will be failing people of all ages, especially those most vulnerable in our community," she said.

State Librarian of Oregon Wendy Cornelisen urged the council to support and invest in the library.

"Salem has already shown that they, like people throughout Oregon and across the nation, value their libraries," she said. "In November of 2017, 63% of residents voted in favor of upgrading the main library."

Cornelisen offered the State Library's assistance in pursuing a special library district to obtain more stable funding.

More discussions, town halls before June vote to adopt the budget

Stapleton said she received about 200 emails concerned about the library closure over the weekend.

"I'm glad people are paying attention," she said. "The library is a vital part of our community."

She said she hopes people carry this passion into the budget discussions and the process for finding new revenue to address the budget deficit.

Budget discussions and deliberations will continue into April and May. In June, the Salem City Council will hold a public hearing and hold a vote to adopt the annual budget.

The city is also hosting Revenue Town Halls as part of its process in identifying new revenue sources.

The town halls will be held on:

April 10, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.: In-person at Baxter Hill Community Hall at 1780 Baxter Road SE

April 16, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.: Virtual

April 23, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.: In-person at Center 50+ at 2615 Portland Road NE

For questions, comments and news tips, email reporter Whitney Woodworth at wmwoodworth@statesmanjournal.com, call 503-910-6616 or follow on Twitter at @wmwoodworth

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Residents push to save Salem Public Library amid budget cuts
About a 10-minute walk from where dozens of media members were assembled within sight of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge, Pastor Rashad Singletary of the Mount Olive Baptist Church was in the sanctuary coordinating a prayer vigil for that evening.

Myself, several of our congregants use that bridge to come to church, Singletary said. He first received text messages from members in the community around 4 a.m. who had felt and heard the bridges collapse hours earlier.

It was disbelief at first, said Singletary, of learning of the collapse, but secondly, it was reaching out to members to make sure folks are okay.

Pastor Rashad Singletary stands at his church in the Turner Station community near the Port of Baltimore and the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse on March 26, 2024, in Dundalk, Maryland. After the crash at the bridge, the church is scheduled to host a prayer vigil today, Singletary said.

Maryland Secretary of Transportation Paul Wiedefeld said six individuals, all related to construction work that had been taking place on the bridge, were unaccounted for as of about 10 a.m. on Tuesday morning. During an afternoon press conference, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said there is an investigation going on related to the crash.

Wednesday's live updates: Search begins for bodies of missing workers after Baltimore bridge collapse

Earlier in the day, the governor indicated that the ship traveling at a very rapid speed issued a Mayday distress signal before the crash that occurred at about 1:20 a.m. Officials were able to stop the flow of traffic so more cars were not on the bridge, he said.

Federal officials, including the United States Secretary of Transportation, the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board and members of the states congressional delegation, descended on the Baltimore-area Tuesday afternoon.

Cardin: federal, local agencies working together after bridge collapse

U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., speaks near the site of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Dundalk, Maryland on March 26, 2024.

United States Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., a Baltimore native, said its hard to put into words what the bridge means to the community.

All the federal agencies, all the local agencies are absolutely coordinated working together, said Cardin, in an interview near a Maryland Department of Transportation outpost in Dundalk near the site of the fallen bridge. The special agent in charge of the Baltimore Field Office of the FBI indicated on Tuesday morning there were no ties to terrorism in the incident.

How Baltimore bridge collapsed: A giant ship. A power blackout. A scramble to stop traffic:

Originals story on bridge collapse: Gov. Moore: Ship traveling at high speed in Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore

National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy did not provide additional information about those on the Singapore-registered 985-foot container ship that crashed earlier that morning during a 2:30 p.m. press conference at the Dundalk site near the port.

The focus is on the families and the people, she said. Homendy did not take reporters' questions about injuries in the crash, as helicopters flew overhead.

What's next for the Francis Scott Key Bridge after collapse

News of the early morning disruption at the bridge spread across the East Baltimore community.

Having worked in that area most of my life, I understand the bridge's vital role for Baltimore's Port and commuters, said state Sen. Johnny Ray Salling, R-Baltimore County, in a press release.

One of those commuters is Greg Carrick, who works at a school on the other side of the bridge. He along with several other area residents were among those who came near the Maryland Transportation Authority police headquarters in Dundalk to try to see the fallen bridge. A police line and caution tape along with a neighborhood community barrier wall obstructed the view towards the bridge site.

This bridge connected family, communities, jobs, everything, Carrick said. Id (have) never found that job if I couldn't travel over that bridge.

Carrick said he took his granddaughter home from school every day across the bridge. His commute was 20 to 30 minutes, but now he said he anticipates a commute of 45 to 50 minutes, rerouting through the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel.

Alison Dimick, a Dundalk resident, recalled her excitement when the bridge was opened in March of 1977.We could get to Glen Burnie really quickly, she said.

This morning, she said she got a text message that the Key Bridge was closed indefinitely.

We just drove down here to see what we could see, said Dimick, in an interview near the Maryland Transportation Authority police headquarters.

Singletary, the pastor, indicated his hope that with support from various levels of government the bridge could be rebuilt.

President Biden vows bridge will be rebuilt in Baltimore

President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the collapse of Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on March 26, 2024 in Washington, DC. The bridge collapsed after its support column was hit by a container ship overnight.

That same afternoon, President Joe Biden spoke from the White House about the situation, indicating his intent for the federal government to help pay to rebuild the bridge.

Federal officials from several agencies, including those with the National Transportation Safety Board, were already on site near the police headquarters near the Port of Baltimore.

The Mayor of Baltimore, the Baltimore County Executive and area congressmen attended press conferences in the morning and afternoon along with the states governor, who indicated about 30,000 people use the bridge daily.

This state has been able to show what it means to be Maryland tough, and Baltimore strong, said Moore, during the afternoon press conference.

Dwight A. Weingarten is an investigative reporter, covering the Maryland State House and state issues. He can be reached at dweingarten@gannett.com or on Twitter at @DwightWeingart2.

This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: Baltimore bridge collapse: Biden promises to rebuild 'vital' connector
The Clapham chemical attack suspect was granted asylum after convincing a judge he was a Christian convert  despite concerns he had fabricated parts of his claim.

A tranche of immigration documents has revealed a judge had already refused Abdul Ezedis application for asylum in 2017 because they did not believe his conversion  which happened in a matter of weeks  was genuine.

However, he was granted leave to remain after successfully convincing a different judge on appeal three years later, arguing his new Christian faith could lead to his persecution if he was returned to Afghanistan.

His successful claim was supported by a Baptist minister from a church in Jarrow, Tyne and Wear, which he joined shortly after arriving in Britain in 2016.

Shockingly, the appeal ruling allowing him to stay  dated 10 November 2020  made no reference to his convictions for sex offences two years earlier.

He was handed a suspended sentence and put on the sex offenders register in 2018 after pleading guilty to one charge of sexual assault and one of exposure.

The former car mechanic, who suffered from depression and anxiety and told immigration officials he talked to himself, is feared to have gone on to commit a horrific chemical attack on his ex-partner and her two young children in Clapham, south London, in January this year.

Abdul Ezedi, a convicted sex offender, was granted asylum in the UK on his third attempt after converting to Christianity (Metropolitan Police)

His body was later pulled from the Thames after he is thought to have plunged from Chelsea Bridge hours after the attack.

According to tribunal documents obtained by media organisations, Ezedi arrived in the UK on 8 January 2016 and applied for asylum.

Originally a Shia Muslim, he told immigration officials that his interest in Christianity began shortly after he arrived in Britain when he was housed with an Iranian man who attended church and read the Bible.

He started attending Grange Road Baptist Church in February and went on to complete an Alpha course in Christianity, before he was baptised in June 2018.

Since then, he said, he had actively been engaged in street ministry, handing out religious leaflets in Newcastle.

During a Home Office interview in 2019, Ezedi was unable to explain his understanding of the Bible or its meaning to immigration officials, despite claiming to have read it for three years.

According to his account, he was shot in the leg by the Taliban at home in Afghanistan and his family home was bombed  adding that the punishment for converting in sharia law is execution.

But in 2017, Judge Gribble of the First-tier Tribunal found that inconsistencies in his account painted a wholly unreliable and inconsistent picture, and one which lacked credibility.

Ezedi was handed a suspended sentence and put on the sex offenders register in 2018 after pleading guilty to one charge of sexual assault and one of exposure (PA Wire)

Judge Gribble said he did not believe his conversion was genuine and refused his asylum bid, adding that his church attendance and baptism did not amount to compelling evidence that he would face a real risk of persecution if returned to Afghanistan.

However, at a fresh appeal hearing in 2020, a different judge concluded Ezedis conversion was genuine despite concerns about his honesty.

The tribunal also heard oral submissions from Reverend Roy Merrin, of the Grange Road Baptist church, in support of Ezedi.

In his evidence, Rev Merrin stated that he had previously attended tribunals on four occasions in support of applicants for asylum based upon Christian conversion  but insisted he only supported those whose conversion was genuine.

In his ruling, Judge OHanlon said: Having considered all of the evidence before me in the round, notwithstanding my concerns as to the honesty of the appellant in relation to certain aspects of his account, I find that the appellant had been consistent in his evidence with regard to his conversion to Christianity.

I found that the appellants account of his conversion to Christianity was supported by the former Reverend Merrin who had known him for more than four years and who having seen the appellant on a regular basis throughout that period was satisfied that the appellant was a genuine Christian convert.

Ezedi submitted pictures of his baptism in a bundle of documents for his asylum case (Supplied)

Former Reverend Merrin was alive to the possibility of unjustifiable claims to Christian conversion being made but did not consider that this was the case with regard to the appellant.

Having taken all of these factors into account, I am satisfied to the lower standard of proof that the appellant has undergone a genuine conversion from his former Muslim faith to Christianity and that accordingly, as was accepted by the respondent in the refusal letter, would be at risk in the event of return to Afghanistan. I therefore allow his asylum appeal.

A nationwide manhunt was launched for Ezedi after his former partner and her two daughters, aged three and eight, were doused in corrosive liquid in the horrifying chemical attack in Clapham.

In all, 12 people needed hospital treatment after the targeted attack with an alkaline substance in Lessar Avenue on 31 January, which left the mother, 31, with injuries likely to be life-changing.

He is thought to have travelled to the capital from Newcastle to carry out the attack, which also left him with serious injuries to his face.

Searches were eventually called off after detectives tracked the suspect to Chelsea Bridge on CCTV, where he was seen leaning over the railings before he is believed to have plunged into the Thames.

The attack on a mother and her two young children occurred near Clapham Common on 31 January (PA Wire)

Last month, police confirmed a body pulled from the water was the 35-year-old suspect. The body was found near Tower Bridge on 19 February and he was later formally identified at a post-mortem.

However, questions have been raised over why Ezedi, originally from Afghanistan, was granted asylum despite being convicted of a sexual offence in 2018.

The Crown Prosecution Service confirmed he was handed a suspended sentence on 9 January 2018 after pleading guilty to one charge of sexual assault and one of exposure at Newcastle Crown Court. The 35-year-old was put on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years but was allowed to stay in the UK because his crimes were not serious enough to meet the threshold for deportation.

In the wake of the Clapham attack, former immigration minister Robert Jenrick called for the home secretary to review Ezedis asylum case and look at what may have gone seriously wrong.

The right-wing Tory hardliner claimed on BBC Radio 4s Today programme: Im afraid we do see, regularly, cases of people making spurious claims of converting to Christianity, aided and abetted by often well-meaning but naive vicars and priests.

Ezedis body was pulled from the Thames near Tower Pier on 19 February (PA)

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper also wrote to James Cleverly about the very serious questions which need to be answered about decision-making at the Home Office and the way his case was handled.

Ms Cooper asked whether the Home Office had considered deportation in 2018 following Ezedis conviction, or if it made representations about his offending history when he was granted asylum.

She added: It is of real concern that a convicted foreign national sex offender has been allowed to remain in the UK in these circumstances.

However, Amnesty Internationals UK chief Sacha Deshmukh warned the attack should not be used as a pretext to target people seeking asylum.

A Home Office spokesperson said: All asylum claims are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with the immigration rules. This means that religious conversions do not guarantee a grant of asylum.

We have engaged with a wide range of stakeholders to help us to improve our policy guidance, training for asylum decision-makers, and to ensure we approach claims involving religious conversion in the appropriate way.
SACRAMENTO, California  It's the first time in more than 50 years that both of California's legislative leaders hail from rural districts. Local politicians accustomed to being on the outskirts of Sacramento policymaking are enjoying the view from the inside.

Rural interests, particularly agriculture but also forestry and local government, see an opening to finally make their mark on nation-leading policies, especially on the environment.

The reality is that most of Californias rural and agricultural communities have long been marginalized in Sacramento, so just having a friendly ear in a position of influence makes us hopeful, said Alex Biering, a lobbyist for the California Farm Bureau.

Sen. Mike McGuires sprawling North Coast district encompasses some of the states most famous redwood forests, salmon fisheries and Sonoma County wineries. Speaker Robert Rivas represents a Central Coast region known as the salad bowl of America and grew up in farmworker housing. They're both a far cry from their immediate predecessors, Sen. Toni Atkins of San Diego and Assemblymember Anthony Rendon of south-central Los Angeles.

For Chris Lopez, the current chair of the Rural County Representatives of California, which includes 40 of California's 58 counties, the representation alone is powerful.

When Robert was sworn in as speaker, having a mariachi on that floor playing music spoke to my heart, said Lopez, who has close ties with the speaker because both came up through San Benito County politics. It wasn't just about having a Latino, but having a Latino who grew up rural in farmworker housing.

Lopez is hoping those good vibes will translate into specific budget and policy wins.

One example: RCRC has long sought an exemption from CA SB1383 (15R), former Sen. Ricardo Lara's 2016 law requiring counties to reduce the amount of organic waste that goes into landfills and decomposes into methane, a potent global warming gas. Lopez argues that remote areas don't have enough access to composting facilities and is sponsoring Assemblymember Jim Wood's CA AB2902 (23R), which would indefinitely extend the exemption for rural jurisdictions.

The law is one instance of how cities grip on political power has made some of Californias most iconic climate policies not work as well for rural areas, Lopez said.

Our communities need longer runways, they need a little bit more assistance on the technical advisory side," he said. "I know we have got folks there now who understand that.

The last time both leaders hailed from rural districts was in 1969, when Democrat Hugh Burns of Fresno County led the Senate and Republican Bob Monagan of San Joaquin County led the Assembly, according to Alex Vassar, California State Library communications manager. The most recent rural Assembly speaker was Cruz Bustamante, a moderate Fresno Democrat who led the Assembly from 1996 to 1998 before becoming lieutenant governor.

Urbanites' dominance in California state politics is unsurprising given the concentration of people in Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco and the tendency of rural voters to elect Republicans, who have little chance of succeeding on the statewide stage.

But McGuire and Rivas, both 44, are young and ambitious. They're taking the helm of the Legislature in a down budget year, which will make it harder to please their caucuses  but they're careful to emphasize they're representing everyone, including their urban counterparts.

"No matter if you live in Eureka or Encino, the priorities are similar," McGuire said in a statement. "While Ill always have country roots, Im going to fight like hell to lift up every Californian, no matter if you live in the big city or a one traffic stop light town.

McGuires comments come after Assemblymember Isaac Bryan before his ouster as majority leader referred to himself as Los Angeles voice, while noting to an LA business group that Rivas is not from here.

McGuire has made wildfire preparedness a priority, and has outlined the most detailed plan of any lawmaker to right the states troubled property insurance industry after catastrophic losses, some to fires in his district. (He has an open campaign account for an insurance commissioner run in 2026.)

Rivas, for his part, is one of the Legislatures biggest champions of the potential climate benefits of landscapes like farms and forests to absorb carbon. He co-authored a bill in 2022 requiring the state to set first-in-the-nation emissions targets for natural and working lands.

Laurie Wayburn, the president of the conservation nonprofit Pacific Forest Trust, is hoping that track record translates into additional policy and money  especially in the climate bond that's vying for the November ballot.

There is really the opportunity to shift the emphasis in our climate investments to really reflect the value of natural and working lands, said Wayburn.

Rivas named climate resilience as one of his top priorities at a conference last week put on by the Climate Center, giving land management a particular shoutout. He also noted the need for climate advocates to embrace the states diverse communities if they want to keep notching political wins.

Climate issues and impacts in San Francisco are much different than the climate emissions and impacts of Bakersfield in the Central Valley, Rivas said. Trying to organize regionally and having a very strategic approach, that's why I want to always preach and encourage collaboration.

This story first appeared in POLITICO Pros California Pro newsletter. Sign up for POLITICO Pro.


Russian spy chief makes bizarre claim that the US, UK and Ukraine were involved in Moscow attack

In a sign of the Kremlins increasing desperation to drag its invasion of Ukraine into the Moscow concert hall attack, the director of Russias powerful Federal Security Service (the FSB) has claimed that Kyiv, the US and the UK were behind the incident.

The bizarre claim comes despite a branch of the Isis terror group having claimed responsibility for the attack and published graphic video footage of the shooting, and the US, France and a number of other nations saying they believed the jihadists were behind it. Russia says 139 people were killed when four armed men burst into the Crocus City Hall concert complex on Friday evening. Another 22 remain in a serious condition, including two children, officials say.

The claim that Ukraine and two of its allies orchestrated the incident becomes even less believable given that the US issued a warning to Russia earlier this month of an imminent attack.

But with the Kremlin wanting to deflect questions about how Russian security services failed to prevent the incident, and seeking justification for Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine, allies of the Russian president have sought to accuse Kyiv.

Officials in Ukraine have been clear that these claims are unfounded. We believe that the action was prepared by both the Islamist radicals themselves and was facilitated by Western special services, Alexander Bortnikov, the director of the FSB, said on television. The special services of Ukraine are directly related to this, he added.

When asked by Russian reporters if Ukraine and two of its allies, the United States and Britain, had been involved in the attack on the concert hall, Mr Bortnikov said: We think thats the case. Mr Bortnikov, 72, who has served as head of the FSB since 2008, said that Russia had yet to identify those who had specifically ordered the deadliest attack inside Russia for two decades, but he assured the reporters that retaliatory measures would be taken.

Since Mr Putin sent forces into Ukraine in 2022, the Kremlin has cast the West  and particularly the United States and Britain  as enemies whose decision to support Ukraine essentially outs them as parties to war with Russia.

Earlier, Russian news outlet SHOT published a video of an exchange in which a reporter asked Nikolai Patrushev, the secretary of Russias Security Council, whether the attack had been perpetrated by Isis or Ukraine?

Of course Ukraine, Mr Patrushev replied. Asked about his remark later, he said there were many indications of Ukrainian involvement.

The lies are officially spread by Patrushev, and after that by the head of the FSB Bortnikov, Mykhailo Podolyak, senior presidential aide to Volodymyr Zelensky, said on X, formerly Twitter.

US National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said Washington had shared intelligence with Russia earlier this month about a planned attack in Moscow. Mr Bortnikov said Russia was thankful for the warning but described it as very general.

The information about preparations for terror attacks in large gatherings of people was of a general nature, he said. Of course, we reacted to that information and took corresponding measures to prevent such incidents.

Mr Putin claimed over the weekend that Ukraine had prepared a window for the attackers to cross the border, but on Tuesday that was undermined by Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko, who said the gunmen had tried initially to flee to Belarus.

Mr Lukashenko, a close ally of Mr Putin, told journalists that Belarusian and Russian security services had coordinated their actions as the suspects car fled southwest from Moscow to the Bryansk region, bordering both Ukraine and Belarus, where it was apprehended. He said Belarus had quickly set up checkpoints at the border.

Thats why they couldnt enter Belarus. They saw that, so they turned away and went to the area of the Ukrainian-Russian border, he was quoted as saying by the state news agency Belta.

The four men accused of carrying out the attack appeared in a Moscow court on Sunday on terrorism charges and showed signs of having been severely beaten. One appeared to be barely conscious during the hearing. The men are citizens of Tajikistan, authorities said, and were identified as Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, 32; Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, 30; Shamsidin Fariduni, 25; and Mukhammadsobir Faizov, 19. They were charged with committing a terrorist attack resulting in death, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

On Monday, having been quick to blame Ukraine over the weekend, Mr Putin said for the first time that radical Islamists had carried out the attack, adding that Moscow wants to know who ordered it.

Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report
On the 21st day of Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi student Caleb Harris' disappearance, search and rescue crews deepened their search of the Oso Bay Wetlands Preserve for the missing New Braunfels man.

He was last seen walking his dog in the early morning hours of March 4 at his off-campus apartment complex on Ennis Joslin Road.

Members of one group, Search and Rescue SATX, spent Monday gathered next to the fields of prairie grass and wetland surrounding the Coastal Bend Pain Management Center near the intersection of Williams and Rodd Field Road to look for clues, including Harris' phone.

A helicopter hovers above an open field near the Oso Bay Wetlands Preserve during an investigative search on Monday.

Wearing rubber boots, two volunteers climbed a donated rescue ladder down a utility hole to search for the phone in a storm sewer. Though the search didn't turn up a device, the group's founder, Nina Glass, stressed that the effort will continue.

"This case is heartbreaking," she said. "A lot of the searchers are parents. Local residents have been helping, and a bunch of people have made recommendations online about where to look. We're going to keep searching."

More people have gotten involved in looking for Harris since the Corpus Christi Police Department conducted a preliminary search March 6 outside his residence, The Cottages at Corpus Christi.

Texas Search and Rescue, a nonprofit first-responder organization headquartered in Austin, began sending out K-9 units and dirt bikes in coordination with the Corpus Christi police the week Harris disappeared.

Nina Glass, founder of Search and Rescue SATX, hosts a TikTok live chat Monday morning to give an update on the search for Caleb Harris.

Search and Rescue SATX has employed all-terrain vehicles to cover a wide ambit of roads, shorelines, nature preserves, and heavily vegetated and secluded areas of North Padre Island and Corpus Christi, sending boats and underwater drones 300 feet into the waters of Oso Bay and walkers into the mudflats of Cayo de Oso.

Many searches are being coordinated through social media. College students, residents, friends and family interact frequently to share news, pictures, snaps and chat logs intimating details of the case.

Priscilla Carlisle, who helps run a missing persons group discussion on Facebook, "Missing: Talk of Caleb Harris," encourages people to visit the page if they want to organize a group search or join an upcoming one.

"We want to publicize the callouts to get more people involved in searches, to come out on weekends, if they're available," she said.

"We've gotten suggestions from people about places that need searching and to let them know where we've looked," Carlisle said. "We're working to cover as much ground as possible while making sure people are prepared, come in protective clothing and don't search alone."

She said several people are monitoring and adding information to the site, so someone will respond to a request to participate in a search.

A helicopter flies over the intersection of Williams and Rodd Field roads during an investigation Monday afternoon.

Around 11 a.m. Monday, a helicopter carrying Randy Harris, the father of the missing man, descended on a patch of field near the waterway at Rodd Field and hovered to search the area below.

The Harris family posted a $25,000 reward last week for any information leading to the safe return of their son by March 31 in hopes of generating leads.

Detectives from the CCPD Criminal Investigation Division continue to interview Harris' roommates, friends, family members and acquaintances. At this point, they have found no reason to suspect these individuals were involved in the students disappearance.

An investigative team consisting of CID detectives, the CCPD Organized Crime Unit, the FBI, U.S. Marshals and several civilian crime analysts formed within days of Harris vanishing and continues to work full time to solve the case.

CCPD reassured the public that the police investigation is rigorous and ongoing. Teams of detectives are persisting to interview potential witnesses in Corpus Christi, San Antonio and New Braunfels.

A light-emitting diode (LED) sign at the Saratoga Station Shopping Center on Saratoga Boulevard displaying a missing person notice about Caleb Harris.

Located at the Saratoga Station Shopping Center, a billboard displaying an LED sign of Harris is visible from the road to encourage drivers or pedestrians to engage in the search and report what they know to 214-244-0553.

Harris was last seen wearing teal pants and a white shirt. He is 21 years old, weighs 180 pounds, and is 5 feet, 11 inches tall. He did not have his shoes or his wallet. Family members reported the student missing when his roommates were unable to locate him.

CCPD encourages anyone with information concerning Harris to call (361) 826-2950. Those who would like to keep their identity secret and still provide information to detectives should call Crime Stoppers at 888-TIPS (8477) or submit the tip online at https://www.p3tips.com/TipForm.aspx?ID=343&C=&T=.

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Search for missing A&M student deepens in Oso Bay Wetlands Preserve
The News

Bassirou Diomaye Faye, a Senegalese political newcomer who is set to be declared the countrys next president, has vowed to govern with humility and transparency.

Provisional results from Sundays presidential election suggest Faye, an opposition candidate, secured 53.7% of the vote, followed by former prime minister Amadou Ba, of the ruling coalition, on 36.2%. The electoral commission said those results were based on tallies from 90% of polling stations.

Faye spoke of his proposed style of government in a speech delivered after Ba called him to concede defeat.

He said Senegalese voters had decided on a break from the past by choosing him. I pledge to govern with humility and transparency, and to fight corruption at all levels, he told a press conference.

Know More

Faye, a 44-year-old former tax inspector, will become Africas youngest democratically elected head of state. And judging by his policy promises  which include reforming the euro-pegged CFA currency system  Senegal could be headed towards a divergent relationship with France.

Winning the contest in the first round and at his first attempt suggests Faye is a popular candidate whose 18 competitors never stood a chance. In reality, Faye owes his rise to 49-year-old Ousmane Sonko, Senegals best known opposition politician.

Sonko has been the governments loudest critic since finishing third in the 2019 elections when Sall was re-elected. His political machine tapped into youth disillusionment over Salls struggle to solve an unemployment crisis that has accelerated a deadly migration-by-boat wave to Europe.

Faye met Sonko during their time as tax officials, and joined the latter in politics after the political party PASTEF was formed in 2014, according to Fayes campaign biography, climbing to the role of general secretary.

Chosen to inherit this movement after Sonko was disqualified from running for the presidency, Faye will enter the top job as a relatively unknown politician. Diomaye is Sonko was his campaigns slogan in the lead up to Sunday. But it will be Faye who takes the oath of office when Sall leaves on April 2.

A campaign picture showing Bassirou Diomaye Faye and Ousmane Sonko, by John Wessels/AFP via Getty Images

Alexiss view

Two weeks ago, he was in prison. Thats been the remarkable trajectory of Fayes life over the last fortnight. He was behind bars on various charges, including defamation, prior to his release on March 14.

Senegal, usually lauded as one of Africas most stable democracies, was still reeling from President Macky Salls move to delay the vote to select his successor. But, following Sundays vote, 44-year-old Faye is set to become Senegals youngest ever president  and the country could be on the brink of a generational shift.

Fayes rapid ascent and relative youth suggest he could genuinely become an agent of change. His age clearly sets him apart on a continent dominated by elderly leaders. For example, hes less than half the age of Cameroons 91-year-old president. With that comes an entirely different perspective that should make him more attuned to the experiences of young people in Senegal, 60% of whom are aged under 25.

Some young people are so desperate for a brighter future that, faced with a lack of job opportunities, they try to reach Europe in small boats. Many dont make it. Faye campaigned on his vow to shake up the established order through policies such as a currency change and renegotiating oil and gas contracts.

The scenes of rapturous celebrations following the election are heartwarming. But Ive seen similar outpourings of joy after other elections, so Im all too aware that it doesnt necessarily end well. I recall the fanfare in Senegal 12 years ago when Sall defeated his predecessor, Abdoulaye Wade, who was chasing an unconstitutional third term. But, under Sall, wealth hasnt been distributed across Senegals relatively strong economy.

The hope is that Faye will bring a genuinely fresh approach. Unlike Sall  who had already served as prime minister when he became president  he is a political neophyte. That novice status could prove to be his biggest strength.

Notable

Fayes victory is a triumph, a shock and a wake-up call, writes Le Monde in an editorial. It argues that the undisputed first round victory was a good democratic surprise following the coups that have transformed a number of West African countries in recent years.
Nate Carman, the outgoing superintendent of Socorro ISD, is absent from a meeting of the Board of Trustees on Monday, March 25. The board placed him on paid leave after hearing a critical audit report.

Socorro Superintendent Nate Carman took several steps shortly after arriving in the district in 2022 that led to the award of contracts to a company he had previously done business with in South Texas, an external auditor hired by the district told the school board Monday.

After a presentation from the auditor and a lengthy closed-door discussion, the board voted 6-0 to place Carman on administrative leave with pay. Board Chair Michael Najera abstained from the vote without explanation.

Mondays meeting added to the turmoil surrounding El Pasos second-largest school district: Carman is taking a new job as superintendent of a small Arizona school district, the district faces a $33 million budget deficit, and the Texas Education Agency is preparing to place one or more conservators to help oversee the district after a four-year investigation found numerous governance problems in Socorro.

In a report discussed Monday, external auditors hired by the district said that Carman was involved in a potential conflict of interest by steering the district to contract with ADM Group, an architectural consultant services out of Tempe, Ariz.

School board members have received a draft version of the audit by the firm Weaver & Tidwell of Houston, and heard a presentation on Monday from the firms Travis Casner. The audit report wont be available to the public until after a final version is presented to the school board.

More: TEA report exposes widespread failings at Socorro ISD

Nate Carman greets an attendee at the reception honoring his hire as the next Socorro ISD superintendent in 2022.

Casner said Carman directed a change in the scoring criteria to make it easier for ADM Group to be selected. At Carmans recommendation, the board also gave the superintendent deeper involvement in reviewing contracts in the bidding process. Those changes came within Carmans first weeks on the job in the spring of 2022.

ADM Group was contracted by administrators in May 2022 to complete a facilities analysis on 16 gyms throughout the district without needing trustee approval, under the districts policy that only requires purchases to go before the board if they are worth over $100,000. The contract amount was set at exactly $100,000.

The audit  conducted by Weaver & Tidwell of Houston  found that Carman had communicated with the client relations director for ADM Group through his work email while he was superintendent of the San Benito Consolidated Independent School District.

This included a discussion to plan an itinerary for the ADM Group representative to visit South Texas, to introduce them to other superintendents and attend a conference together, and for the representative to review Carmans portfolio to apply for the superintendent position with Socorro ISD.

After Carman was selected as Socorro ISDs superintendent in February 2022, he also told the representative that an analysis of the districts gyms may be in store sooner rather than later, according to the auditor, Travis Casner.

Shortly after Carman joined the district, the school board voted to allow administrators to find an architectural firm to conduct the facilities analysis, in March 2022. Less than a month later, Carman and several board members attended a National School Boards Association conference in San Diego and attended an event hosted by ADM Group.

Days after the event, on April 7, Carman revised the scoring criteria for the bid proposal to remove 20 points previously given to companies that had done work with the district in the past. ADM had not previously worked for Socorro.

More: El Paso City Council renews emergency ordinances to address ongoing border crisis

Casner said auditors interviewed Carman to ask him about these changes.

Casner said that Carman told auditors that members of the school board executive committee did not want the district to select firms that had previously done architectural services for the 2017 bond project.

Under questioning by Trustee Richard Castellano, Casner said Carman identified the members of the executive committee who made the recommendation as Eduardo Mena and David Morales, who lost re-election bids in 2023 and did not respond to requests to meet with the auditors. Casner said the two trustees received campaign contributions in 2023 from people associated with ADM Group.

Carman was made chair of the committee that reviewed bids on April 19, 2022, after the board adopted a policy to give the position to the superintendent or a designee.

The committee then met in late April 2022 to evaluate proposals from 10 different architecture firms. ADM Group ended up receiving the highest scores in the evaluations, according to the presentation.

Carman was among the four evaluators, and signed a form saying he didnt have a conflict of interest, Casner said.

The contract was awarded to ADM Group on May 17, 2022.

Administrators also awarded a $49,000 contract to the company in December 2022 for a safety and security audit, without getting bids from other vendors.

More: 'Just put it down, dude.' Body cam video shows fatal El Paso police shooting at car wash

In response to the finding, Weaver & Tidwell recommended changes to the districts purchasing procurements practices, including reviewing the policy that allowed Carman to chair the bid review committee.

Weve noted the standard industry practices for the superintendent is to review the recommendation that is formed coming out of the evaluation committee before taking it to the board, whereas the current policy and the process that we observed involved the superintendent not only chairing the committee but also being one of four evaluators, which could cause different concerns, Casner said.

Auditors also recommended the district review its policy that allows administrators to approve purchases under $100,000 without board approval.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Outgoing SISD superintendent placed on administrative leave with pay
Robert A. Eikhoff has been named as the special agent in charge of the FBI Jackson Field Office in Mississippi by Director Christopher Wray, according to an FBI press release.

Jackson's field office covers the state of Mississippi.

The news release states Eikhoff most recently served as a section chief in the Operational Technology Division at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

"Mr. Eikhoff joined the FBI as a special agent in 2004 and was assigned to the Columbia Field Office in South Carolina, where he investigated public corruption and civil rights violations," the release states. "He transferred to the Washington Field Office in 2008 and worked on the first squad dedicated to investigating terrorists use of the internet."

Robert A. Eikhoff has been named as the special agent in charge of the FBI Jackson Field Office in Mississippi.

In 2016, Eikhoff was promoted to lead a team of investigative and analytic professionals in the Washington Field Office that investigated counterintelligence-related computer intrusions. Four years later, Eikhoff was selected to serve as one of the Washington Field Offices assistant special agents in charge, overseeing the Human and Signals Intelligence programs and Language Services.

In 2022, Mr. Eikhoff was promoted to chief of the Cyber Operations Section of the Operational Technology Division at Headquarters, leading the FBIs primary computer and vehicle network exploitation and covert infrastructure operations.

Eikhoff predecessor was Jermicha Fomby, who announced his official retirement from the Jackson FBI at a December 2023 press conference.

Fomby assumed the role as special agent in charge in September 2021 and had also worked within the FBI for more than 20 years.

Former FBI Special Agent in Charge Jermicha Fomby at the Thad Cochran United States Courthouse in Jackson, Miss.

Fomby, former lead agent retires: Lead agent in charge of Jackson, MS FBI announces retirement

During the press conference, Fomby extended his thanks to the public for trusting in him, the media for pushing law enforcement to be accountable and officials for working alongside of him.

"The things we really wanted to focus on when coming here to Mississippi were to be outward facing, have more active engagement, and make Mississippi feel like  the FBI was their neighbor but also someone that they can trust," Fomby said. "I hope that the people of Mississippi have the confidence in knowing that you can continue having that as something you can count on, on the days going forward past my time of being here."

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: FBI names new special agent in charge in Jackson MS
For more than a century, Mississippi has imposed a lifetime voting ban on people convicted of various offenses, including arson, forgery and bigamy. Called disenfranchisement, the removal of a citizens right to vote through conviction is rooted in the states 1890 constitution.

The constitutions drafters freely admitted that the disenfranchisement clause targeted Black voters to reduce their political power following the end of Reconstruction. The list of offenses has expanded over the years.

For many, the disenfranchisement laws can be confusing. Contact your countys election administrator to determine if you can vote or register to vote based on your conviction.

Now, for the first time in over a decade, a bipartisan group of legislators wants to restore voting rights to thousands of state citizens, with the conservative leadership of the state House of Representatives backing the effort.

Also, multiple lawsuits in recent years in federal court sought to overturn disenfranchisement, so far without success.

An estimated 50,000 people from 1994 through 2017 have lost their voting rights through conviction in state court, according to a 2018 study commissioned by plaintiffs who sued to overturn the disenfranchisement law.

Nearly 60% of people who lost their right to vote are Black, the study found. Mississippis adult Black population was at 36% in 2020, according to the U.S. census.

How does Mississippis current disenfranchisement system work? And how could lawmakers change it? The Marshall Project - Jackson interviewed experts and lawyers, and reviewed documents to answer key questions.

If I am convicted of a felony in Mississippi, do I lose my right to vote?

Only some convictions in state court will take away a persons right to vote, even after they are released from prison. Many other felony convictions, however, do not remove voting rights, including assault, burglary and drug-related crimes.

Which felony crimes will lead to the loss of voting rights?

The Mississippi Constitution lists 10 general crimes that are disenfranchising: murder, rape, bribery, theft, arson, obtaining money or goods under false pretense, perjury, forgery, embezzlement and bigamy.

Today, state officials interpret that constitutional list to include 22 broad criminal categories and about 100 different specific charging statutes, including timber theft, felony shoplifting and writing a bad check. See the full list of offenses here.

If I have been convicted but I think I can vote, or register to vote, who would I contact to be sure of my rights?

Each countys circuit clerk administers the voter registration process and makes the final determination about a persons eligibility to register to vote. You can find your countys election administrator through the state Secretary of States office.

Has disenfranchisement been challenged in court?

Several lawsuits have asked federal judges to find all or parts of the states disenfranchisement system unconstitutional. One lawsuit remains active, and a ruling from the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is pending.

If I have been disenfranchised, is there any way I can regain my right to vote?

A persons voting right can be restored by The Mississippi Legislature. This has historically meant that a lawmaker must file a restoration bill for the individual, and then the bill must be passed by both houses of the Legislature and approved or allowed to become law by the governor. Since 1997, only about 200 people have had their voting rights restored through this process.

Do some state lawmakers want to change the states disenfranchisement system?

The Mississippi House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill in March 2024 to allow people who are convicted of some disenfranchising crimes to automatically regain their right to vote either five years after conviction or five years after release from prison, whichever is later. To become law, the bill must be approved by the state Senate, where support for the bill is unclear. If it passes the upper chamber, the governor could sign it, allow it to become law without his signature or veto it.

Under the House plan, would some crimes still be disenfranchising?

Yes, the House bill would retain permanent disenfranchisement for the following crimes: Arson, armed robbery, carjacking, embezzlement of $5,000 or more, murder, rape, statutory rape and vote fraud. The Legislature would still have the power to individually restore voting rights.

If Im convicted of a crime that is not disenfranchising, can I vote from prison while serving my sentence?

Legally, yes. In practice, however, the process can be difficult to navigate, according to advocates who have done voter education work in state prisons. This guide from voting advocates has more detail on how to cast a ballot from prison.

What if my conviction has been expunged?

Some local election officials treat expungements as restoring a persons right to vote, and some do not, according to a former state Rep. Nick Bain, who fought for a law to clarify that issue. The Legislature passed a bill in 2022 to clarify that expungement should restore someones voting rights, but Gov. Tate Reeves vetoed it. The issue remains legally murky and continues to be handled inconsistently, according to attorneys. Many of the disenfranchising crimes noted below are not eligible for expungement.

The Mississippi State Capitol building

What if I am convicted of a crime in federal court? Or outside the state of Mississippi?

A felony conviction in federal court or a state court outside Mississippi will not take away the right to vote, even if the federal crime would be disenfranchising if the conviction occurred in state court.

What if I have been charged with a disenfranchising crime, but not yet been convicted?

A person is not disenfranchised unless convicted.

List of disenfranchising statutes

Below is the list of Mississippi disenfranchising statutes compiled by The Marshall Project - Jackson, based on information from the Mississippi Center for Justice, Southern Poverty Law Center, Mississippi Votes and the Mississippi Secretary of States disenfranchisement list.

If you were convicted of one or more of these offenses, you likely would not be able to vote or register to vote in a Mississippi election. Check with your countys election administrator, who can be found through the state Secretary of States office.

Help The Marshall Project - Jackson tell your story

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North Carolina canceled over $2 million in tax incentives Tuesday for one the largest information and technology companies in the country after it failed to meet its promise of creating 300 jobs in Charlotte.

The states Economic Investment Committee on Tuesday voted to cancel the Job Development Investment Grants for Cognizant Technology Solutions.

Cognizant said due to economic uncertainty and decreased demand the company would not meet its job creation goals, according to a letter sent to the committee last month seeking to terminate the grant.

It was not immediately clear how many, if any, jobs had been created.

The company is re-evaluating its real estate needs, the letter stated, which includes plans to close its Charlotte delivery center. That center is at 8520 Cliff Cameron Drive in University City area. It was not immediately known how many employees work there now.

Cognizant has more than 1,900 employees based in North Carolina, Cognizant chief human resource operation officer Felix Weitzman said in the letter

We remain committed to our presence in Charlotte, but as we adjust our ways of working and embrace our new model, more work will be delivered directly from client sites and/or through remote work, Weitzman said.

Cognizant officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

The N.C. Economic Investment Committee on Tuesday voted to cancel the $2 million Job Development Investment Grants for Cognizant Technology Solutions.

What Cognizant said in 2018

In 2018, Cognizant said it would add 300 jobs in Charlotte, thanks in part to a state grant for just over $2 million spread over 12 years, provided that the company meet its job hiring goals. Jobs included IT application developers and business consultants with average salaries at $68,317.

That was the potential. Companies have to perform before they are reimbursed, David Rhoades, spokesman for the North Carolina Department of Commerce, told The Charlotte Observer Tuesday. No payment has ever been made.

Separately, in 2014, the state awarded the company up to $5.1 million over 12 years for expanding in North Carolina, including hiring 150 workers in Charlotte and 350 around the state. That grant is still active, Rhoades said.

Cognizant, a Fortune 500 company, is based in New Jersey and specializes in providing tech and consulting services.

In 2020, Cognizant acquired Bright Wolf, a company founded by alumni from N.C. State University and UNC Chapel Hills computer science departments. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

NC Reality Check reflects the Charlotte Observers commitment to holding those in power to account, shining a light on public issues that affect our local readers and illuminating the stories that set the Charlotte area and North Carolina apart. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email realitycheck@charlotteobserver.com
The head of the public transit system in the Tri-Cities is leaving after two years on the job.

Ben Franklin Transit announced Monday that General Manager Rachelle Glazier will step down on April 1. She plans to stay on in a limited consulting capacity as needed until a successor can be found.

I am very grateful to have been given this opportunity by our Board of Directors, and it has been my honor to serve our community alongside the dedicated BFT staff. Working for this board has been the best experience of my career, Glazier wrote. However, a family issue must take priority at this time in my life. It was not an easy decision, but it is the right one.

Rachelle Glazier

She joined BFT in July 2022, after a year with the Tri-Met transit system in Portland, Ore. Prior to that she spent about two decades in various leadership positions with national railroads.

She was general manager of U.S. network operations for the Canadian National Railway and chief officer of stations and operations at New York City Transit. Before that she worked for Union Pacific Railroad in Hermiston from 2005 to spring 2018, according to her LinkedIn profile.

I am sad to see Rachelle leave, but family comes first, Board Chair Will McKay said in the news release. She was great to work with and improved so many aspects of Ben Franklin Transit to make it more efficient and better serve the community.

BFT Chief Financial Officer Sarah Funk has been tapped to serve as interim general manager as the board searches for Glaziers replacement.

They expect the process to take several months.

Glaziers time at BFT has been marked by extensive cost savings measures and controversial cuts.

Most recently she found herself in a heated debate with the transit systems drivers over whether changes to Dial-A-Ride are an attempt to push out drivers. The $3 million agreement with Via will allow the on-demand van service to take overflow calls for the service.

A Ben Franklin Transit Dial-A-Ride sits in the parking lot near the Toyota Center in Kennewick.

Glazier and BFT leaders said it was a necessary move to ensure service standards are being met amid high callouts and increased overtime demand. Drivers told the Herald that those conditions are due to open positions not being filled by the transit agency.

BFT eliminated at least 14 open Dial-A-Ride driver positions, and Glazier told the board at its February meeting she expected to come back with more proposed general service cuts this summer.

Glazier also was recently accused of discrimination in a lawsuit against the transit company after a longtime executive was fired. Although she was mentioned in the lawsuit, Glazier is not a defendant.

When she joined the transit agency, its board was moving on from a failed attempt to cut the agencys sales tax collection.

At a recent presentation, Glazier said she was able to find millions in cost savings, helping the transit system amass a substantial reserve.

Shes also been overseeing the construction of a $10 million transit headquarters at the Richland Wye off Highway 240 to replace the current operations building.
The U.K. government has blamed China for a 2021 cyberattack that compromised the personal information of millions of U.K. voters.

In a statement to lawmakers in Parliament on Monday, U.K. deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden attributed the 2021 data breach at the Electoral Commission to hackers working for the Chinese government.

Dowden told lawmakers that the U.K. government "will not hesitate to take swift and robust actions wherever the Chinese government threatens the United Kingdom's interests."

It's the first time the United Kingdom has attributed the breach since the cyberattack was first disclosed in 2023.

The Electoral Commission, which maintains copies of the U.K. register of citizens eligible to vote, said at the time hackers took the names and addresses of an estimated 40 million U.K. citizens, including those who were registered to vote between 2014 and 2022 and overseas voters. The data breach began as early as 2021 but wasn't detected until a year later.

In a statement Monday, the U.K. National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said it is "highly likely" that the Chinese hackers accessed and exfiltrated emails and data from the electoral register during the hack.

The NCSC said Chinese intelligence could use the data for "large-scale espionage and transnational repression of perceived dissidents and critics in the U.K."

When reached by TechCrunch, a spokesperson for the NCSC declined to attribute the Electoral Commission's data breach to any specific China-backed threat actor.

Dowden said that a separate attempted cyberattack by a China-backed hacking group targeted the email accounts of U.K. lawmakers in 2021, but that parliamentary authorities mitigated the attempted breaches before any email accounts were compromised.

The NCSC attributed those attempted email hacks to a group of Chinese hackers dubbed APT31, which is known for targeting the online accounts of foreign government officials. Security researchers say APT31 uses malware capable of creating backdoors into systems and exfiltrating sensitive information. The Norwegian government previously attributed a 2018 data breach on its systems to APT31.

The U.K. did not say which lawmakers' email accounts were targeted, but the NCSC said most of the affected lawmakers have been "prominent in calling out the malign activity of China."

Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in the U.K., denied the allegations, and said that China "does not encourage, support or condone attacks launched by hackers," but added that China will "resort to lawful methods" to counter cyberattacks.

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," said Paul Chichester, director of operations at NCSC. "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 Biden administration, also Monday, accused several Chinese hackers of involvement with APT31's efforts to target U.S.-based companies. In 2020, Google security researchers linked APT31 to the targeting of email accounts belonging to the Trump and Biden presidential campaigns.

Last month, a set of leaked documents from Chinese government contractor I-Soon revealed how the private contractor targets and hacks other governments at the request of Chinese authorities.
MADISON  Wisconsin state park passes will be valid for a full year from the date of purchase starting January 2025 under a new law that went into effect this month, and discussions are underway about creating a recreational "passport" program patterned after one in Michigan.

Yearly passes purchased to enter state parks and trails will last for a full 12 months from the time they're purchased, instead of expiring at the end of the year.

Gov. Tony Evers signed the bill that changes how the Department of Natural Resources handles park passes for the first time in years.

Steven Schmelzer, the state parks director, said the change is "definitely a benefit for all of our customers and visitors."

"It's going to require a little more work on our part, you know, we're going to have to validate those," he said. "It might require a little bit more staff time to punch some of those, but in the end I think it's really good."

People take in the views from Peninsula State Park's Eagle Tower in Door County on May 22, 2021.

More: This Wisconsin campground is among the best glamping sites in the U.S., a new survey says

The agency is likely going to create stickers with the months listed on them, so the month of purchase can be hole punched or blacked out when someone makes a purchase. The new process will require more manual work than before, especially if a sticker is ordered online.

Passes will still be available for purchase at the pay stations at most parks, but instead of dispensing the stickers at the time of payment, they will likely dispense a receipt, which can be exchanged at an office for a punched sticker. The stations may eventually get the technology to punch the stickers, or the roll of stickers could be changed out each month with a different punch, Schmelzer said, but nothing has been finalized.

The DNR estimated the new change would likely cost about $158,000 a year, most of that cost coming from the work needed by state employees.

Currently, park passes are available to residents at $28, or $15.50 for a second vehicle. Nonresident stickers are $38, and $20.50 for the second vehicle. Passes for Wisconsin senior residents are $13. Prices will remain the same.

Other states, such as Minnesota, have instituted similar changes with their state park passes, Schmelzer said, and have seen gains in revenue.

"I don't think that there's going to be a long-term drop in revenue," he said. "If anything, I think there would be an increase, you know, as people become more used to doing that."

Wisconsin has 50 state parks and 39 state trails, making up about 156,000 acres of public land. Wisconsin's park system is one of the few in the U.S. that are mostly self-supporting through the sale of park passes and campsite fees. But funding has been an issue in recent years, according to the nonpartisan Wisconsin Policy Forum, with Wisconsin spending less than any other state on park costs, and ranking among the lowest in spending on park projects.

People walk on a path at Harrington Beach State Park in Belgium on Oct. 22, 2022.

Recreational passport could be implemented in Wisconsin

Schmelzer said the conversation about the length of the validity of park passes has been a stepping stone in getting lawmakers to also talk about creating a recreational passport program, like Michigan currently has.

In Michigan, residents are able to choose to renew their recreational passport at the time they renew their license plate. After renewal, they just add a sticker to their plate for the passport at the same time they place their yearly renewal sticker.

"We've heard from both people in the public, our visitors but also from legislators. They've had outreach from their constituents on this and 'Hey, why don't we do a system like Michigan has it has?'" Schmelzer said. "It's one less step they'd have to do."

Schmelzer said the department is working with lawmakers on putting together a framework for the program, but it depends on if and when legislation would be introduced. But there are incentives to get Wisconsin on the same program, especially in a state where parks are self-funded.

About 15% of residents in the state purchase passes yearly under the current program, he said. But in Michigan, where purchase is as easy as checking a box during plate renewal, about 40% of residents participate.

"As the percentage goes up, you can make (park passes) a little bit less expensive," Schmelzer said. "And if someone already has a pass on their vehicle, they might be more apt to go."

Laura Schulte can be reached at leschulte@jrn.com and on X at @SchulteLaura.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Park passes will last for 12 months after purchase starting in 2025
A Russian Rosguardia (National Guard) officer stands guard as fire engulfs the Crocus City Hall following the terrorist attack - Dmitry Serebryakov/AP

Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, has dismissed Oleksiy Danilov, Ukraines security council secretary, in a surprise reshuffle.

Mr Danilov, who has held the post since October 2019  a few months after the president took office  was replaced by Oleksandr Lytvynenko, the foreign intelligence service chief, under a decree published on the presidential website. No reason was given for the change.

Ukraines national security and defence council co-ordinates national security and contains the countrys top political, security and defence chiefs.

The move comes as Mr Zelensky continues to rotate high-ranking security and defence officials, with last months dismissal of Ukraines top general presaging a wider clear-out of the militarys top brass.

03:12 PM GMT

Thats all for today

Thank you for tuning in to todays live blog. Well be back tomorrow to bring you all the latest from the Russia-Ukraine war.

Key moments from today:

Russias internal security chief has accused Britain and the United States of being behind Fridays terrorist attack on Crocus City Hall, writes Roland Oliphant.

The Kremlins insistence that Ukraine is to blame for the Crocus City Hall massacre, the countrys worst terrorist attack in a generation, may be putting Russian lives at risk, the Institute for the Study of War reported.

Russia has started supplying oil directly to North Korea in defiance of UN sanctions as part of an arms-for-oil exchange, the Financial Times reported.

More than 20 of the people wounded in the Moscow terror attack, including two children, remain in a serious condition in hospital, Tass, Russias state-owned news agency, reported.

Kyiv has destroyed two Russian warships with missiles, including one stolen from Ukraine, the ministry of defence reported.

Nato is considering shooting down Russian missiles that stray too close to its borders, Andrzej Szejna, Polands deputy foreign minister, has claimed.

A Russian working for Ukrainian security services died when an explosive in his possession detonated while he was being arrested, Moscow has claimed.

Three more suspects have been arrested in connection to Fridays terrorist attack in Moscow that left 137 people dead.

Kyiv will carry out more attacks in Russia and will adapt its tactics to remain one step ahead, Vasyl Maliuk, the head of security service, has said.

Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter accused by Russia of spying, had his pre-trial detention extended by three months by a Moscow court.

Ukraines foreign minister has demanded that the West supply Kyiv with Patriot air defence missiles in a sign of growing impatience at Western aid delays.

Any global peace summit on Ukraine that excludes Russia is simply absurd and will fail, Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, has said.

03:08 PM GMT

Pictured: Russian and Ukrainian troops pay tribute to the dead

Russian Emergency Ministry cadets lay flowers at a makeshift memorial in front of the burnt-out Crocus City Hall concert venue in Krasnogorsk - NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AFP

Ukrainian servicemen carry the coffin of a fallen soldier in front of St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery in Kyiv - Vadim Ghirda/AP

03:05 PM GMT

Russian security chief accuses Britain of concert hall terror attack

Russias internal security chief has accused Britain and the United States of being behind Fridays terrorist attack on Crocus City Hall, Roland Oliphant writes.

Alexander Bortnikov, the head of the Federal Security Service, the main successor to the KGB, said investigators had not yet established who ordered the attack but insisted that the West and Ukraine were linked to it.

Russian news agencies cited Mr Bortnikov as saying: We believe the action was prepared both by the radical Islamists themselves and, of course, facilitated by Western special services, and Ukraines special services themselves have a direct connection to this.

The one who ordered it has not been identified yet. We understand and see those who organised this process, who recruited and set specific tasks.

However Mr Bortnikov went on to declare: The USA, Britain and Ukraine are behind the terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall.

Read Rolands full report here.

03:00 PM GMT

EU has delivered 500,000 shells to Ukraine, says chief diplomat

The European Union has delivered half a million shells to Kyiv, Josep Borrell, the blocs chief diplomat, said as he renewed his promise to provide a million by the end of the year.

We have donated 500,000 artillery shells to Ukraine and by the end of the year it will be more than one million, Mr Borrell said in a blog post.

On top of the million donated shells, another 400,000 shells will be provided to Ukraine through commercial contracts with the European defence industry, Mr Borrell said.

The Czech initiative to buy ammunition outside the EU comes in addition to these efforts, he said, referring to the 800,000 shells in countries around the world that Prague identified as potential supplies for Ukraine.

However, Mr Borrell stressed that Europe providing the shells it has promised to Ukraine by the end of the year is a minimum requirement. It is far from being enough and we have to increase both our capacity of production and the financial resources devoted to support Ukraine, he said.

02:58 PM GMT

Kremlin blaming terrorist attack on Ukraine may cost further civilian lives

The Kremlins insistence that Ukraine is to blame for the Crocus City Hall massacre, the countrys worst terrorist attack in a generation, may be putting Russian lives at risk, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported.

Kremlin officials and Russian ultranationalists continued insistence on blaming Ukraine for an attack that IS-K very likely committed may come at the expense of Russian internal security and civilian lives, the ISW said.

The think tank added that Moscow has likely decided that blaming Ukraine for the attack is worth the security risks and civilian casualties that may stem from failing to address Jihadist terrorist threats within its borders.

The ISWs analysis comes as Kremlin officials, including Vladimir Putin himself, continue to lay the blame at the feet of Ukraine despite Islamic State militants claiming responsibility for the attack.

02:57 PM GMT

Franco-Polish curbs on Ukrainian imports risk extending war, says Kyiv

A Franco-Polish drive to increase curbs on Ukrainian food imports into the EU risks prolonging Russias war in Ukraine, Kyivs agriculture minister told the Financial Times.

Mykola Solskyi said that the additional restrictions, designed to placate farmers taking part in protests against EU rules, which permit cheap grain imports from Ukraine, would hit Kyivs revenues and increase the chances that the war will drag on.

Eighty per cent of the problems that are usually connected to Ukrainian exports do not exist. They are imaginary, he added.

Warsaw and Paris have led the charge on efforts to cap many Ukrainian imports in return for extending a tariff-free regime adopted after Moscows full-scale invasion in 2022.

02:32 PM GMT

UN sanctions regime nears collapse amid arms-for-oil trade between Pyongyang and Moscow

Russia has started supplying oil directly to North Korea in defiance of UN sanctions as part of an arms-for-oil exchange, the Financial Times reported.

At least five North Korean tankers travelled this month to collect oil products from Vostochny Port in Russias Far East, according to satellite images shared with the Financial Times by the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi), a UK think-tank.

These oil deliveries constitute a full-frontal assault against the sanctions regime, which is now on the brink of collapse, said Hugh Griffiths, a former co-ordinator of the UN panel that monitors sanctions on North Korea.

Vostochny Port has been used as a hub for Russian ships involved in trading arms between the countries, Rusi reported.

What we can see now is a clear arms-for-oil bartering arrangement in open contravention of sanctions that Vladimir Putin signed off on personally.

02:25 PM GMT

Kremlin calls Zelensky a peculiar kind of Jew

The Kremlin has Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, a peculiar kind of Jew, when asked how he could be linked to the Moscow terror attack for which Islamic jihadists have claimed responsibility.

Well, there is a peculiar kind of Jew over there, Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, said in response to a question about how the Ukrainian president, who is Jewish, might be implicated in the massacre at a concert venue outside Moscow.

A Jew who in many ways shows sympathy and inclination to the nationalist spirit that has permeated the leadership of the Kyiv regime.

When prompted, Mr Peskov declined to elaborate on his reasoning, citing an ongoing investigation into the concert hall attack.

Moscow has repeatedly tried to depict Mr Zelenskys pro-Western government as neo-Nazis and used this as a pretext for its invasion of Ukraine.

Last June, Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, called Mr Zelensky a disgrace to the Jewish people, a comment that drew a swift backlash from Jewish groups.

02:18 PM GMT

Pictured: Russia launches hypersonic missile at Kyiv

Ukrainian armed forces yesterday claimed to have shot down a Zircon hypersonic missile over Kyiv - DEFENSE EXPRESS

The alleged incident was just the second time the missile, which can travel at speeds of up to 3,800mph, has been used in the conflict - DEFENSE EXPRESS

02:01 PM GMT

Moscow terrorists entered Russia from Turkey, says Ankara official

Two of the Moscow attackers allegedly spent a short amount of time in Turkey before travelling together to Russia on March 2, a senior Ankara security official confirmed.

One of the attackers, Shamsidin Fariduni, reportedly entered Turkey on Feb 20, checked into a hotel in Istanbuls Fatih district the next day and checked out the following week, the official said. The other, Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, checked into a hotel in the same district on Jan 5, checking out on Jan 21.

Turkish authorities believe that the two suspects became radicalised in Russia because they were not in Turkey for long. There was no warrant for their arrest so they were allowed to travel freely between Russia and Turkey, the official told AP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

01:33 PM GMT

Moscow terror attack victims remain in critical condition

More than 20 people wounded in the Moscow terror attack, including two children, remain in a serious condition in hospital, Tass, Russias state-owned news agency, reported.

Russian officials said they detained a total of 11 people over the attack, including Alisher Kasimov, a 32-year-old Kyrgyzstan native with Russian citizenship, who appeared in court today, charged with renting an apartment to the men accused of carrying out the attack.

According to the defendant, he has three young children and runs a cafe in Moscow, Interfax, the independent Russian news agency, reported.

Answering the judges question whether he understood the charges, Mr Kasimov said that he was not familiar with the defendants accused of committing the terrorist attack and was simply looking for tenants, Interfax said.

01:01 PM GMT

Ukraine strikes ship captured by Russia in 2014

Kyiv has destroyed two Russian warships with missiles, including one stolen from Ukraine, the ministry of defence reported.

Ukraine used a Neptune missile to hit the Konstantin Olshansky, a landing ship which, along with most of Kyivs navy, was captured by Russia from Ukraine in 2014, when Moscow annexed Crimea.

Currently, this ship is not combat-capable, Dmytro Pletenchuk, a Ukrainian navy spokesman, reported. It had gone through a renovation and was being prepared for use against Ukraine, so unfortunately the decision was taken to strike this [ship].

In addition to the landing ship, built in 1985, Ukrainian forces also claimed to have hit the Ivan Hurs, a modern radio ship reportedly added to the Russian navy in 2018.

12:35 PM GMT

Nato may shoot down Russian missiles near its borders, says Polish official

Nato is considering shooting down Russian missiles that stray too close to its borders, Andrzej Szejna, Polands deputy foreign minister, has claimed.

[Russia] knew that if the missile moved further into Poland, it would be shot down, Mr Szejna told Polish media, referring to a Russian cruise missile that entered Polands airspace for 39 seconds last week, forcing Nato fighter jets to scramble.

Various concepts are being analyzed within Nato, including for such missiles to be shot down when they are very close to the Nato border, he added.

Sergei Andreev, Russias ambassador to Warsaw, was summoned by the countrys foreign ministry over the incident, but he failed to show.

12:13 PM GMT

Pictured: Russian warships sunk by Ukraine

The Konstantin Olshansky was struck by a Ukrainian missile off Crimea, Kyiv claims - Sergii Popsuievych

The Ivan Hurs radio ship was struck by a missile on 24 march, Ukraine claims - Sipa US

11:51 AM GMT

Pro-Kyiv Russian died in blast during arrest, says Moscow

A Russian working for Ukrainian security services died when an explosive in his possession detonated while he was being arrested, Moscow has claimed.

The suspect was a member of the Russian Volunteer Corps, one of several groups of pro-Kyiv Russian soldiers who have recently launched raids into the Belgorod and Kursk border-regions, Russias security service, the FSB, reported.

When the perpetrator was apprehended, the IED he had seized detonated, leaving him with fatal injuries. Neither security personnel nor civilians were injured, the FSB said in a statement reported by Russian news agencies.

The FSB said the man who died in Samara, around 600 miles from the Ukrainian border, was born in 1994 and had planned to plant an bomb at a collection point for humanitarian aid.

It said they had found more explosives and materials for producing bombs at the suspects home as well as contacts for Ukrainian special services in his phone.

11:31 AM GMT

Three more suspects detained over Russia terrorist attack

Three more suspects have been arrested in connection to Fridays terrorist attack in Moscow that left 137 people dead.

Brothers Aminchon and Dilovar Islomov, as well as their father, Isroil Islomov, today attended Basmanny Court accused of aiding and abetting terrorism and were sentenced to pre-trial detention at a maximum security facility until May 22.

The defendants, who protested their innocence, are accused of being part of the ISIS Cell that conducted the attack and assisting in planning the escape of the gunmen who opened fire at concert-goers at Crocus City Hall outside Moscow.

Dilovar Islomov is the previous owner of a white Renault car with a black roof that authorities claim was the getaway vehicle for the Crocus City Hall shooters. The family trio are accused of conspiring with one of the other alleged attackers, Shamsidin Fariduni.

11:05 AM GMT

Russia should expect more attacks, warns Ukrainian spy chief

Kyiv will carry out more attacks in Russia, and will adapt its tactics to remain one step ahead, Vasyl Maliuk, the head of security service (SBU), has said.

Mr Maliuk said the nature of the strikes will change because Ukraine never repeats itself, adding that since the beginning of the full-scale war, Ukraine has destroyed over 800 Russian tanks.

He also said Russia no longer uses the Crimean Bridge to supply weapons to the front following repeated Ukrainian strikes on the crossing.

Before the bridge came under attack, 42 to 46 trains carrying weapons and ammunition passed there per day, he said. Today there are four or five in a day, of which four are for passenger traffic, and one is for consumer goods.

The Telegraph spoke to one of the generals behind the original Crimean bridge strike here.

Although Russia is currently restoring the bridge, Mr Maliuk hinted that Ukraine plans to then carry out another attack. Everything has its time, he said.

Based on his comments, Mr Maliuk was today charged in absentia with terrorism by a Moscow court.

10:50 AM GMT

Pictured: Damage caused by missiles strikes on Odesa

A local woman stands next to an apartment building damaged during a Russian missile strike - REUTERS

Local residents collect glass from broken windows at a site of a Russian missile strike - REUTERS

10:13 AM GMT

Five wounded by Ukrainian shelling on Russian border region

Ukrainian bombardments have left five people wounded in the Russian border region of Belgorod, the regional governor said, in the latest exchange of fire in cross-border attacks inside Russia.

Recent weeks have seen a sharp uptick in Ukrainian attacks on the frontier territory amid incursions by rogue Russian soldiers in support of Kyiv.

Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of the Belgorod region, posted on Telegram that five people had been wounded in separate bombardments of two villages.

Russias defence ministry said air defence systems had downed 13 Vampire rockets fired by Ukrainian forces.

09:48 AM GMT

US journalist imprisoned in Russia has detention extended

Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter accused by Russia of spying, had his pre-trial detention extended by three months, a Moscow court has ruled.

Mr Gershkovich, his paper and the US government all strongly deny the charges, which carry a sentence of up to 20 years.

Evan Gershkovich stands behind a glass wall of an enclosure for defendants as he attends a court hearing in Moscow - REUTERS

Russia Lynne Tracy, the US ambassador to Moscow, told reporters outside the courthouse: They are not a different interpretation of circumstances. They are fiction.

No justification for Evans continued detention, and no explanation as to why Evan doing his job as a journalist constituted a crime. Evans case is not about evidence, due process or rule of law. It is about using American citizens as pawns to achieve political ends.

Friday will mark the first anniversary of the 32-year-olds arrest while on a reporting trip in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg.

Mr Gershkovich is being held at Moscows Lefortovo prison, which is notorious for its harsh conditions, and his detention has already been extended several times. No date has been set for his trial.

09:24 AM GMT

275,000 without power in Ukraines second largest city

Around 275,000 people are without power in Kharkiv as officials have warned that repairs are not a task of just a few weeks, or even months.

Oleh Syniehubov, the regional governor of Kharkiv, has issued a stark warning about the state of damage to Kharkivs energy grid following a massive wave of targeted Russian strikes last week.

Mr Syniehubov said the restoration process may take quite some time, adding that specialists are working on sites around the clock. We are bringing in experts from other region.

Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, the head of Ukrenergo, which operates Ukraines transmission lines, described the situation as critical in Kharkiv where the enemy with ballistic missiles has been trying to destroy all sites of trunk lines supplying the city.

Volodymr Zelensky urged residents of Kharkiv to look after themselves and their neighbours in his nightly address.

09:10 AM GMT

Four injured in Russian missile strikes on Odesa

Four people have been wounded following a Russian ballistic missile attack on Odesa, regional officials reported.

The strikes, which took place at around 5.20pm yesterday, destroyed two buildings and shattered the windows in the surrounding area.

Oleh Kiper, the regional governor of Odesa, said the wounds of three women were not serious, adding that 300,000 people are currently cut off from electricity in Odesa due to previous strikes on the citys energy grid.

The attack comes as Kyiv shot down all 12 Shahed drones launched by Russia overnight, the air force reported.

The drones - launched from Crimea, along with two S-300 anti-aircraft guided missiles - were downed over the Mykolaiv and Kharkiv regions.

Elsewhere in Sumy, Russian forces launched five strikes targeting border settlements with artillery and mortar shelling. No casualties were reported.

08:54 AM GMT

Give us the damn Patriots, says Ukraine

Ukrainies foreign minister has demanded that the West supply Kyiv with Patriot air defence missiles in a sign of growing impatience at Western aid delays.

Dmytro Kuleba told Politico: Give us the damn Patriots. If we had enough air defence systems, namely Patriots, we would be able to protect not only the lives of our people, but also our economy from destruction.

His comments come after Russia launched a suspected hypersonic missile strike on Kyiv yesterday that left 10 people injured, including a teenage girl.

Mr Kuleba added that the missiles would improve the situation on the frontlines, where Russian aircraft have used guided bombs on a massive scale to help infantry troops advance.

He said: It just falls on your head and destroys everything. This is how were losing positions and the only way to prevent this is to shoot down the planes carrying the bombs. We need air-defence systems on the frontlines.

08:44 AM GMT

Ukraine peace talks without Russia will fail, says Kremlin

Any global peace summit on Ukraine that excludes Russia is simply absurd and will fail, Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, has said.

Mr Peskov said: Can the Ukrainian problem be resolved without Russias participation? The reply is clear - it cannot.

He added: Ukraine has been turned into an instrument in the hands of the collective West with whose help it intends, so it seems to them, to put more pressure on Russia.

Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, has called for an international peace summit to end the war in Ukraine, with Switzerland earlier this year agreeing to host the meeting.

Kyiv has previously suggested that the terms of a peace agreement could be brokered at the meeting and then presented to Russia.

However, Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, has denounced any settlement that calls for the withdrawal of Russian troops and the restoration of Kyivs 1991 borders as unworkable.

08:33 AM GMT

Pictured: Father and two sons charged over Moscow terror attack

Dilovar Islomov - TATYANA MAKEYEVA/AFP

Isroil Islomov - Basmanny District Court press service

Aminchon Islomov - Basmanny District Court press service

08:15 AM GMT

Stolen Russian warship hit with missile, says Ukraine

Ukraine has struck a Russian landing ship with a neptune missile, Dmytro Pletenchuk, a Ukrainian navy spokesman, reported.

The Konstantin Olshansky landing ship was captured by Russia from Ukraine, along with most of Kyivs navy, in 2014, when Moscow annexed Crimea.

Currently, this ship is not combat-capable, Mr Pletenchuk said on national television. It had gone through a renovation and was being prepared for use against Ukraine, so unfortunately the decision was taken to strike this [ship].



The strike last night, which also targeted Black Sea Fleet infrastructure in Crimea, marks the third Russian landing ship Ukraine has hit this week.

08:03 AM GMT

Putin acknowledges radical Islamists carried out attack

Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, 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 that the murderous attack is 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 added: 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?

The Islamic State terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the Friday night attack that killed at least 139 people.

Read Roland Oliphants report here.

08:00 AM GMT

Moscow concert hall accused of locking emergency exits before attack

Emergency exits at the Moscow concert hall where gunmen killed 137 people could not be opened, some of the survivors have claimed.

Russian media have reported that more people may have died from smoke inhalation than gunshot wounds during the attack on Friday.

Some 28 bodies are thought to have been found in a lavatory 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.

James Kilner has the full report here.

07:55 AM GMT

Hello and welcome to our live coverage

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If you're headed for Europe this summer and expect to move around a bit, chances are there's a train trip in your future. The Europeans are intense about minimizing carbon emissions by airlines: Some countries have banned short-haul flights entirely, and others are using various techniques to get you onto trains rather than planes for all but the longest local travel hops.

Your rail experience may well begin as soon as you arrive. Most European international airports provide direct rail service from the airport to the city center. In many cases, you have a choice of dedicated nonstop trains such as Heathrow Express with lots of space for your carry-on and slightly slower stopping commuter trains, such as Heathrow's Elizabeth Line, that are less expensive but can be crowded in the morning peak commute period when many flights from the US arrive. The easiest way to get all the information you need is to Google your arrival airport before you leave home and check the "ground transport" or equivalent button. Or check Terravision (https://www.terravision.eu/) for a range of options. In my experience, the train system is almost always the best way to get into town.

An important development in long-haul travel is the growing number of "open access" operators over various national systems. The idea is that the individual countries own and maintain the infrastructure  tracks, roadbed, stations, and such  and individual operators buy "paths" for their trains. Already, the French system is operating in Spain and the Italians operate in France, along with a bunch of independent private operators on various routes.

The renaissance of night trains is another important trend. Not only are the rail systems  national and private  operating more trains, they're also adding new equipment. The latest trains include a mix of sit-up cars, multiple-occupancy couchette cabins, and some private cabins for one or two that even include showers. This blog (https://interrailplanner.com/blog/exciting-new-train-routes-in-europe-for-2024-and-beyond/ ) does a nice job of summarizing developments.

For travel within Europe, after all these years, it's still hard to beat Eurail Pass. Sample prices this year for the highly popular pass providing seven days unlimited of travel over a period of 30 days are $311 second class, $385 first class for most adults and $281 second, $355 first for seniors 60 or over. Lots of other options are available, from four to a full month of travel.

This year, the pass includes a few private-rail trips that once required a separate ticket, most notably the Interlaken-Grindelwald/Lauterbrunnen line. And Eurail now includes many but not all of the open access trains. The main gotcha is that quite a few of the best high-speed trains aren't really "free;" you have to pay a stiff co-pay disguised as a "seat reservation" charge far in excess of the cost on a regular ticket. Check it out here ( www.eurail.com ).

If you decide on individual tickets rather than a pass, the general consensus of the blogosphere is that the three best websites for schedule search and ticket purchase are Trainline ( https://www.thetrainline.com/en-us ), Omio (https://www.omio.com/trains ), and Rail Europe (https://www.raileurope.com/), with most giving a slight preference to Trainline as having the widest scope of train choices. Check them out for yourself.

Seniors age 60 or over and youth get deals on many European rail systems beyond Eurail Pass. For ordinary tickets, they can also score discounts by buying on the national rail site of each country.

Another approach is to buy yearly passes for individual-country systems. Trainline handles a handful of such Railcards for the UK, including cards for seniors, young people, couples, and groups that typically cost 30 (about $38) for a year and give 30 percent discounts on almost all tickets. You find similar passes in France, Italy, and Spain, but no US-based agency sells them  buy after you get there. Of note is the Carta d'Argento in Italy, offering 10 percent to 15 percent discount on most trains; 30 (about $32) for a year; free for seniors 75 or over.

However you get your tickets, trains are the way to go around Europe. Enjoy.

(Send e-mail to Ed Perkins at eperkins@mind.net. Also, check out Eds new rail travel website at www.rail-guru.com.)
An area of about 93 acres on Virginia 210 in Madison Heights recently was rezoned from a public lands, P-1, zoning district to Industrial, M-1, at the request of the Economic Development Authority of Amherst County.

The Amherst County Board of Supervisors and planning commission each voted in favor of the rezoning during a joint meeting March 19. Tyler Creasy, director of community development, said the property is vacant and the EDA is applying for a Virginia business readiness grant.

The money from the grant will allow the EDA to investigate the use of the property, Creasy said. The grant will also pay for the due diligence that is needed to mitigate any risk for a developer.

The EDA has made it to the third round of the grant process and one of its requirements is the property must be zoned M-1, Creasy said.

The future land use map does not indicate industrial for this property but does for surrounding properties, Creasy said. Part of the economic development goals, objectives and strategies is to continue business growth and investment on Route 210.

Commissioner Michael Bryant said he feels the rezoning is suitable when considering the propertys layout.

Just given the topography for the land, it is not much development to be suited for, Bryant said. Industrial will be good because youve got companies with whole bigger pockets and will be able to work with the topography better and be able to manage and put something there.

The propertys close access to the U.S. 29 bypass and U.S. 460 nearby would mean heavy industrial-related traffic would not have to go through the U.S. 29 Business corridor, Bryant said.

It puts the traffic burden closer to the main highway, which is what we want for industrial, Bryant said.

Commissioners Leslie Gamble and Beverly Jones also spoke of the sites location and proximity to the bypass serving as a benefit.

I think its a good idea because its opening up once again for more industries and business to come in and giving them access as well, Jones said of the rezoning.

Commissioner Jim Thompson said the county and commission has been looking for land uses to supplement the ingress and egress of the U.S. 29 bypass and its connection to U.S. 460.

This looks like a good option to do that, Thompson said.

The property is in a stretch near the Amherst Adult Detention Center and the former Central Virginia Training Center that county officials have examined for development potential. Supervisor Tom Martin said the area rezoned is unique in its close proximity to U.S. 460.

Supervisor Claudia Tucker said when she recalls 14 years prior when she first joined the board talking about ways to promote growth on the Virginia 210 corridor.

Im tickled to death that the EDA has cast their net far and wide and we have this opportunity, Tucker said.
TOKYO, Mar 26 (News On Japan) - UNIQLO has long confronted the refugee crisis. In February, it released the charity T-shirt collection "HOPE AWAY FROM HOME," dedicating the proceeds to refugee assistance.

Expanding the potential of "the power of clothing," UNIQLO is also committed to the self-reliance support of refugees, hiring them in stores across Japan and the West. This initiative is a part of UNIQLO's efforts not to let the refugee crisis be just "a story from a distant world."

Source: FNN
TOKYO, Mar 26 (News On Japan) - As of January 1 this year, land prices across Japan have increased for the third consecutive year, with the rate of increase also expanding, indicating a clear recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

According to a land price survey released by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the national average rose by 2.3%.

Both residential and commercial land prices have risen for three consecutive years, with the rate of increase also growing.

The recovery in people's movement from the coronavirus pandemic has caused an increase that started in urban areas to spread to surrounding regions.

Areas experiencing growth include tourist destinations that have seen the return of visitors, commercial areas undergoing redevelopment, regions where semiconductor manufacturers are expanding their factories, and logistics hubs with high transport convenience.

The highest land price was in Ginza 4-chome, Tokyo, for the 18th consecutive year, at 55.7 million yen per square meter.

Source: ANN
MIE, Mar 27 (News On Japan) - The eldest daughter of Emperor and Empress, Princess Aiko, made her first solo visit to Ise Shrine's Inner Shrine on Tuesday, her first visit since her junior high school days, 10 years ago.

Princess Aiko arrived at Kintetsu Toba Station around 1 PM, where she was greeted by the station master and the governor of Mie Prefecture.

At Toba Station, the crowd cheered enthusiastically for the princess.

A man who recorded the event said, "Even watching the video, she looked truly wonderful."

This was Princess Aiko's first time visiting a region alone. She arrived at Ise Shrine's Outer Shrine around 2:40 PM, where onlookers welcomed her by waving the national flag.

A visitor from Mie Prefecture commented, "She looks stunning, so delicate, it was quite emotional."

After 3 PM, Princess Aiko, in a white long dress and hat, greeted local kindergarten children with a smile and proceeded slowly down the serene pathway of the Outer Shrine to pay her respects.

Later, after 4:30 PM, she visited the Inner Shrine, the central sanctuary of Ise Shrine.

At the entrance to the Inner Shrine, cheers of "Congratulations on your graduation!" were heard.

Facing the main hall, where the ancestral deity of the imperial family, Amaterasu Omikami, is enshrined, she offered a tamagushi, made from a sakaki-tree branch, and bowed deeply.

This visit was to report her graduation from Gakushuin University and her employment at the Japanese Red Cross Society.

Princess Aiko stayed in a hotel in Toba City on Tuesday night and is planning to visit the tomb of Emperor Jimmu, considered the first emperor of Japan, in Nara Prefecture the following afternoon before returning to Tokyo.

Source: FNN
Spring can be pretty with flowers and trees in bloom, birds chirping and children once playing outdoors without heavy coats.

But warming temperatures can have a harsh, ugly side  the potential for severe weather.

This week is Severe Weather Awareness Week across Iowa. State and local emergency management officials agree on its important message.

Its a good time to focus on severe weather and to come up with a (preparedness) plan or if they have one review it, said Gabriel Barney, deputy director of planning and operations for the Pottawattamie County Emergency Management Agency.

Severe weather happens here, said John Benson, director of the Iowa Department of Homeland Securing and Emergency Management.

"We frequently see tornadoes, flooding, straight-line winds and even derechos," Benson said. "So take the time now to prepare yourself and your family so you know what to do if severe weather is headed your way.

Travis Hitchcock, director of Mills County EMA, offered three suggestions, echoed by others: Build a kit, make a plan, be prepared, he said. It does help.

A properly supplied emergency kit should include nonperishable foods for several days plus water, flashlight, first aid kits, extra batteries, a weather radio, and toiletries, emergency officials said.

Throughout this week, state and county emergency management agencies  as well as the National Weather Service  are providing information on preparedness on social media sites.

Each day, a particular type of severe weather will be focused on these sites.

Tuesday's theme will be tornado safety. Wednesday will share general severe weather preparedness tips, on Thursday will focus on hail and wind safety. Friday's message is flood safety.

As part of this weeks focus, emergency sirens will go off on Wednesday at 10 a.m. all over the state.

Schools, businesses, health care facilities, state and local governments, and individuals are strongly encouraged to participate in this drill by practicing the actions they would take if an actual tornado warning for their area was issued.

Though many area schools are out this week for spring break, Council Bluffs Community Schools Chief Communications Officer Diane Ostrowski said.

We have several drills every year, mostly on sheltering," Ostrowski told The Nonpareil. "We require our schools to conduct drills every year.

Folks should also become part of a statewide alert system, Hitchcock said.

They should sign up for Alert Iowa, the states emergency notification system, he said.

This system allows people to indicated what types of alerts they want  be it weather, traffic, emergency or more. They can also request being notified by text, email or voice message.

To sign up, visit pcema-ia.org/alert-iowa or your county's EMA website. You can also text 67283 with your county name followed by IA, such as MillsIA. Alerts can also be enabled by downloading the Smart911 app.
Council Bluffs incumbents in both parties face tough reelection fights to return to the Iowa Legislature, but they'll get a pass in the June primary contests.

Sen. Dan Dawson, R-Council Bluffs, will square off against Council Bluffs City Council member Steve Gorman, a Democrat, in the general election for Senate District 10.

Neither is being challenged by another candidate from their party. The district is one where Democrats see potential to flip. Republicans hold a 2,220 active registered voter advantage with 6,076 active independent registered voters.

Democrats also hope to hold onto House District 20, where Rep. Josh Turek of Council Bluffs won election in 2022 by a razor-thin margin of six votes.

Turek faces no Democratic primary challenger but will watch the outcome of a Republican primary contest between August Gibbons and James Wassellto, both of Council Bluffs, who are competing to run against Turek in the general election.

Rep. Brent Siegrist, R-Council Bluffs, will face Democrat Roger Petersen of Council Bluffs, the organizer of Common Sense Power networking events.

Outside of Council Bluffs, area incumbents won't have anything to worry about during the primary election either, but they will have challengers in November.

Sen. Jason Schultz, R-Schleswig, drew no primary challenger, and no Democrat filed for Senate District 6. Libertarian David M. Davis of Harlan is running for the seat, but the district only has 154 active Libertarian registered voters.

Sen. Mark Costello, R-Imogene, will face Democrat Ryan Lee Roenfeld of Glenwood in Senate District 8.

Democrat Benjamin Schauer of Dunlap will contest Rep. Matt Windshitl, R-Missouri Valley, who serves as the Iowa House Majority Leader and represents House District 15.

Rep. David Sieck, R-Glenwood, will face Democrat Candella Foley-Finchem of Glenwood in the general election for House District 16.

Republican Craig Steven Williams of Manning and Democrat Jeff Rich of Gidden will compete in the general election to replace Rep. Brian Best, a Glidden Republican, who isn't seeking reelection in House District 11.

While the deadline for county candidates passed Friday, the Pottawattamie County Auditor's Office was still awaiting certification of the primary candidate list Monday afternoon. The list will be publicized once certified.
A power outage occurred in parts of Pierce, Cedar and Wayne counties on Monday. Seen here is the the Highway 81/20 junction west of Randolph at 8 p.m. on Monday. The traffic light and light poles were not functioning at that time.
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP)  Rebuilding Baltimores collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge could take anywhere from 18 months to several years, experts say, while the cost could be at least $400 million  or more than twice that.
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Nigerian army has, over the past two days, successfully rescued more than 150 unharmed pupils and teachers who were abducted by gunmen from a school in the countrys northeast earlier this month.

The kidnapping in Kaduna state on 7 March, one of the biggest such attacks in years, has prompted a national outcry over security. The 137 individuals, including 61 males and 76 females, from LEA School Kuriga in Kaduna have been released days before a ransom 27 March deadline for a $620,000 ransom to be paid in exchange for their release, officials say. This comes after another 16 victims were rescued a day earlier in the same region. According to government spokesman Abdulaziz Abdulaziz, it took a lot of backchannel engagement to release the students abducted in Kuriga, the first mass kidnapping in Nigeria since 2021.

Uba Sani, governor of the northwestern state of Kaduna, said in a statement on Sunday (24 March) that the hostages were released after security operations coordinated by the countrys national security adviser. He also hailed the role of the Nigerian Army that deserves special commendation for showing that with courage, determination and commitment, criminal elements can be degraded and security restored in our communities, the governor added. Experts and observers say that this rescue operation succeeds previous efforts, which may mark a significant progress in addressing kidnapping challenges in northern Nigeria.
Opposition members in Guinea-Bissau have accused the West African head of state of plotting to establish a dictatorship, claiming that the incumbent, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, is bringing, step by step, the countrys most important powers under his control.

Since elected president of Guinea-Bissau three years ago, Sissoco, as he is popularly known, has systematically clashed with political opponents, parliament and other state institutions, plunging the West African country into a grave political crisis. At first, he responded to a failed coup attempt in 2022 with a wave of arrests of key opposition figures, later he dissolved the countrys parliament and dismissed the elected government following clashes between members of the National Guard and special forces of the presidential guard in December 2023. But at the same time, Sissoco is trying to polish his image on the international stage, including as a chairman of the West African bloc ECOWAS in 2022, for which he received much praise and respect from heads of state of powerful countries.

But the actions on the domestic political front by the 51-year-old former Brigadier General are seen by many citizens as jeopardizing freedom and democracy that raise widespread concerns that Guinea-Bissau heading towards dictatorship. But only few dare to openly criticize the president, one of them being former Minister of Justice, Carmelita Pires, who speaks out without reservation. Sissoco disregards all principles of our rule of law by consolidating all powers, Pires said, suggesting the president clearly exhibits dictatorial behavior. But Sissoco rejected these concerns, saying that this is typical for Africa: If someone, like me, ensures order and discipline, he is immediately called a dictator. In a video message he spread via Facebook in late 2023, he also asserted that I am nothing like a dictator! I am a man of the people!
Mauritania is expected to report the highest growth rate in Africa by 2025 at 14.5% as the west African country taps into newly found gas, phosphates, and uranium resources, the IMF said.

In 2024, the IMF expects the Mauritanian economy to grow by 4.3% with the beginning of production in the Grand Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) gas field.

The GTA project, under the management of global giants BP and Kosmos Energy, is targeting initial production of 2.5 million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year, with plans to increase this to 5 million tons per year in 2027 and 10 million tons from 2030.

Next year, gas would represent 11.5% of the Mauritanian GDP which has for decades been dominated by farming, iron, and fisheries.

Already one of the poorest countries in Africa, Mauritania hopes the newly found resources would help increase GDP per capita and improve the living conditions for its 5 million people.
Moroccos tourism arrivals will continue to expand in 2024, building on the markets ability to recover to its pre-pandemic arrival (2019) levels in 2023, says Fitch Solutions in its latest business monitoring report.

Over the medium term (2024-2028), a projected annual growth of 4.4% will be supported by the governments 2023-2026 Tourism Strategic Roadmap, adds the Fitch Company.

It expects Moroccos arrivals to grow by 6.2% y-o-y in 2024 to reach 15.4 million. This is an upward revision from a previous 2024 forecast of 13 Mln arrivals. This marks a 112.1% increase on the pre-pandemic (2019) level and outpaced our projection for 2023, that Morocco would welcome 11 Mln arrivals for the year.

European markets such as Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, and the Netherlands make up the largest share of Moroccos arrivals and Marrakech and Agadir are popular destinations, particularly during winter for travelers from the European region seeking a beach holiday.

Morocco is also a popular destination for travelers from Middle East such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE seeking luxury and leisure holiday experiences, says Fitch Solutions.

Moroccos arrivals will continue to grow during the 2024-2028, adds the report, forecasting Moroccos arrivals to reach 17 million in 2026, 17.6 Mln in 2027 and 18 Mln in 2028.

In March 2023, Moroccos PM Aziz Akhannouch chaired the signing of the 2023-2026 Tourism Strategic Roadmap. The $600 Mln plan seeks to attract 17.5 Mln tourists to the country by 2026, making tourism as a key sector in the national economy.

The North African Kingdom, which is a relatively affordable travel destination and will remain attractive to low-budget consumers as there are low-cost carriers flying directly between Morocco and its key source markets in Europe, reducing the cost and time of travel.
Human Rights activists alerted at an international gathering in Geneva to the gruesome practice by the Polisario in forcing women held in the Tindouf camps in southwestern Algeria to procreate against their will.

A Geneva based NGO that promotes economic and social development rights (PDES) launched the alert at the 55th session of the Human Rights Council.

In full sight of Algerian authorities, the Polisario separatist militias have violated the rights of scores of women to family planning forcing them to procreate.

Analysts believe forcing women to have offspring indicates the need for the Polisario to recruit fighters. After many years of selling illusions, many Sahrawi youth are either fleeing the camps at the risk of being shot at or joining militant groups in the wider Sahel.

The Polisario is also accused of abdicating children to countries like Cuba where they undergo indoctrination in pursuit of a separatist chimera, nurtured by Algiers.

Mothers who have been forced to give birth suffer later when their kids are taken away from them, said the NGO.

In addition to forced procreation, the population held against their will in the camps have endured all sorts of degrading treatment far away from media spot lights, due to Algerias intransigence to open the camps to international observers and independent media.

In 2009, two Australian journalists with the Sydney Morning Herald were invited to the camps by the Polisario representative in Australia with the aim to carry out a propaganda coverage in favor of the polisario leadership. While in the camps, the two journalists noticed slavery practices and decided to secretly film a documentary on the ordeal of black people in the camps.

The film, dubbed Stolen, exposes modern-day slavery in the refugee camps of Tindouf through telling the story of a Sahrawi girl called Fatim Sellami, herself a slave, who was reunited with her mother after 35 years of separation with the help of the United Nations.

The Geneva-based NGO held Algeria responsible for the rights violations in Tindouf, an area that was attached by French colonialism to modern day Algeria.
A visiting delegation of the US Congress commended, Monday, the leadership of King Mohammed VI in promoting regional peace and stability.

Morocco and the United States are working together to promote a more stable and secure region, US Congressman (R-Texas) August Pfluger told the press following talks in Rabat with Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Bourita.

Morocco and the United States are linked by extremely important historical relations, he said, highlighting the Morocco-USA strategic partnership which benefits the national security of both countries.

The Congressman also welcomed the free trade agreement and cooperation between Morocco and the United States, particularly in security, including the most important multinational exercise on the African soil, African Lion. He added that talks with Bourita focused on several issues, notably collaboration in the fight against all forms of threats.

He extended his thanks to the Kingdom for its endeavors, as a regional and global leader, noting that the two countries work together to promote peace, prosperity, and security in the world.

For his part, US congressman (D-California) Lou Correa highlighted the excellent Moroccan-US partnership, and called to further consolidate cooperation between the two countries in various areas, particularly in the fight against cross-border crime and terrorist organizations.

Morocco is a strategic ally and a source of stability throughout the region, he underlined, adding that Morocco and the USA, which are linked by common interests and goals, work to promote regional security and prosperity.

The Kingdom of Morocco was the first country to recognize the independence of the United States of America, he recalled, and highly welcomed the centuries-old relations and historical ties between the two countries.

The delegation, made up of six deputies representing both the Republican and Democrat parties, was received earlier on Monday by the Head of Government, Aziz Akhannouch.

This visit aims to examine ways to strengthen strategic relations between Morocco and the United States.
From alcohol to cigarettes, most adults have tried some form of recreational drug. Fewer people have experimented with prescription medication for recreational reasons, but certain areas of the country are experiencing a serious problem with opoid addiction. Other drugs like cocaine and LSD, are used sporadically among adults in the U.S.

Using data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Data Archive, the experts at HealthGrove, a health data site, ranked the 25 most commonly used recreational drugs. The substances are ordered by the increasing percentage of people age 12 and over who used the drug recreationally in 2015. In the case of a tie, the drug with a higher classification by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is ranked higher.

To collect this data, SAMHDA conducts the annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health, in which they record use of illicit drugs, alcohol and tobacco in the U.S. population aged 12 or older. It is important to note that this data only includes recreational use of drugs, not proper medical use.

Drugs that are legal, alcohol and tobacco, have the highest recreational use. According to the survey, nearly one in five people over the age of 12 also used marijuana in 2015. As the drug becomes legal in more states, recreational use is likely to increase. Other Schedule I drugs (drugs determined to have no medical benefit by the DEA) including heroin and DMT had a recreational prevalence rate of less than 1 percent in 2015.

Note: Not all images in slideshow depict the exact drugs.
Photo: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

Early Tuesday morning, a container ship struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, causing the structure to collapse into the Patapsco River below. In the hours after the collapse, search teams combed the frigid waters for members of a construction crew that was working on the bridge when the ship struck. Two of the men were rescued in the immediate aftermath of the collapse, but six of their still missing colleagues are presumed dead. Heres what we know so far about the incident.

What happened?

At 1:27 a.m., the U.S. Coast Guard was notified that a 948-foot container ship had struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge, resulting in a collapse of the bridge. During an initial press conference, fire officials said the department received a call at 1:40 a.m. about a water rescue in the area of the bridge with more reports continuing to come in. Units began to arrive on the scene at 1:50 a.m.; they reported that the bridge had fully collapsed and that there were likely several people on it when the ship struck the structure.

Here's video of the collapse of the Francis Key Scott Bridge from this morning. The bridge was struck by a cargo ship just before 1:30 a.m. A search is underway for at least seven people. pic.twitter.com/FRGHeJ1gIe  The Baltimore Banner (@BaltimoreBanner) March 26, 2024

The Coast Guard is taking part in the search, providing three small boats, an 87-foot-long patrol boat, and a helicopter. The FBIs Baltimore office said on social media that its personnel are on the scene alongside its local, state and federal partners. National Transportation Safety Board chair Jennifer Homendy told reporters Tuesday that a team of 24 experts will be taking part in the agencys investigation. Homendy said the search-and-rescue mission, which the NTSB isnt apart of, is currently taking priority, but that the agency will be looking into a number of things including the ships recorder and whether the vessel dropped anchor.

In the immediate aftermath of the collapse, search-and-rescue teams were able to save two people. One person was unharmed and refused treatment while another was transported to a nearby trauma center in very serious condition.

During a subsequent press conference, officials confirmed that eight people were on the bridge at the time of the collapse, with two of them now accounted for. The men were members of a construction crew contracted by Brawner Builders that were working on the bridge repairing potholes when the ship struck.

After several hours of searching, the U.S. Coast Guard ended its active search-and-rescue operations at 7 p.m. Tuesday, transitioning into a recovery phase. At this point, we do not believe we are going to find any of these individuals still alive, Rear Adm. Shannon Gilreath told reporters Tuesday evening.

Jeffrey Pritzker, executive vice president of Brawner Builders, told theBaltimore Banner in an interview that his six missing employees are presumed dead due to the hazardous conditions following the collapse.

Were presuming that they are not alive because they were thrown into the bay in an area thats 50 feet deep, with 46 degree temperature, probably buried under tons of steel, he said. The company is in mourning and its a terrible, unanticipated tragedy.

Jesus Campos, another employee of the company told the outlet that the missing crew members are married fathers in their 30s-40s who hail from Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.

Guatemalas Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that two of the men hailed from the country. The agency didnt formally identify them, but said they were a 26-year-old from San Luis, Peten and a 35-year-old from Camotan, Chiquimula.

Photos of the Francis Scott Key bridge after it was hit by a cargo ship.



Photos from the Baltimore City Fire Department Rescue 1 Team pic.twitter.com/uwel018jkM  philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) March 26, 2024

Governor Moore issued an official state of emergency, saying in a statement that his office is working to quickly deploy federal resources from the Biden Administration. The governor told reporters that the incident did not appear to be the result of a deliberate attack. The preliminary investigation points to an accident. We havent seen any credible evidence of a terrorist attack, he said.

President Joe Biden commented on the collapse this afternoon, offering his prayers to everyone involved in the incident and indicating that he intends to travel to Baltimore as soon as possible. Its my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge and I expect the Congress to support my effort, he said. This is going to take some time and the people of Baltimore can count on us though to stick with them at every step of the way until the port is reopened and the bridge is rebuilt.

What caused the crash?

The ship involved in the incident is the Singapore-flagged cargo ship Dali, which was bound for Colombo, Sri Lanka. An unclassified memo from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said the Coast Guard reported that the Dali had lost propulsion as it was leaving Baltimore Harbor, per CBS News. The ship notified the local transportation department that it had lost control of the vessel.

The 948-foot-long cargo ship, named Dali, was seen covered in fragments of Baltimores Francis Scott Key Bridge early Tuesday morning after it ran into a column, causing it to collapse. https://t.co/rgySHGyRul pic.twitter.com/jNHSnh2JAm  CBS News (@CBSNews) March 26, 2024

Moore said that the ship was able to issue a mayday call which allowed officials to halt traffic prior to the bridge collapse, likely saving more lives.

Synergy Marine Group, the company operating the ship, said in a statement that its two pilots and its entire crew have all been accounted for and there are currently no reports of injuries. CNN reports that the ship was using local pilots to navigate the ship, a common occurrence that is meant to minimize situations like this.

The New York Times reports that an inspection of the Dali at a Chilean port last year found an issue concerning propulsion and auxiliary machinery, relating to thermometers and gauges on the vessel.

Whats the local impact?

The 1.6-mile-long bridge was part of I-695 and was one of Baltimores toll crossings. The Baltimore Sun reports that the Francis Scott Key Bridge transported 12.4 million passenger and commercial vehicles in 2023.

The Maryland Transportation Authority is diverting traffic from the area of the bridge, urging commuters to use I-95 or I-895 instead. The Port of Baltimore announced that vessel traffic in and out of the port is suspended indefinitely following the collapse, but said that trucks are still being processed within its terminals.

The FAA has implemented flight restrictions around the site of the collapse, issuing a warning on social media to drone pilots to not interfere with emergency operations.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg told reporters Tuesday afternoon that the loss of the bridge in a major port city like Baltimore will greatly affect trade. There is no question that this will be a major and protracted impact to supply chains. Its too soon to offer estimates on what it will take to clear the channel and reopen the port, he said.
Trump saluting the J6 hostages at a rally in Ohio. Photo: Jeff Dean/AP

From a very basic point of view, theres nothing especially mysterious about Donald Trumps MAGA movement. Its a classic reactionary political uprising that has both attracted and mobilized many millions of Americans disgruntled, for one reason or another, with the unsettling economic, cultural, and political developments of late 20th and early 21st centuries. Its Make America Great Again packaging makes it abundantly clear that the movements adherents believe there was a time in living memory when those unsettling trends were at least held in abeyance  whether its the decline of the traditional patriarchal family structure; or the grinding effect of globalization on manufacturing jobs; or the steady increase in the size and visibility of non-white elements of the population (especially immigrants); or woke sensitivities that make it impossible to freely express ones racist or sexist views; or imaginary but deeply felt threats to the right to stockpile guns.

But if you look at and listen to Trumps 2024 presidential candidacy, you will notice its not really focused on any of these perceived maladies. Its focused on itself, and on its leader, with a monomaniacal grievance surrounding the termination of the 45th presidency increasingly taking center stage. And as New York Times columnist Charles Blow has accurately suggested, there is a strong aroma of the neo-Confederate Lost Cause now emanating from the MAGA movement:

The Pulitzer Prize-winning Yale historian David Blight, who has written on several occasions about Trumps Lost Cause, told me that Trumps iteration has all the necessary elements: a story of loss, culprits, ready-made villains and an enormous narrative of grievance. As Blight explained, Trump feeds on this imagined tale of what could have been, should have been, might have been and once again can be retrieved; the glory can be retrieved.

The sense of lost glory associated with every reactionary movement on the planet has been concentrated by Trump into a single incident: the attempted insurrection of January 6, 2021, when the restoration of American Greatness was interrupted not by the thugs assaulting the U.S. Capitol, but by the politicians within it who confirmed the monstrous crime of a stolen presidential election. This is why Trump has moved from treating the insurrectionists as Antifa agents provocateurs seeking to discredit him into hailing them as heroes. He now begins his rallies saluting as a recording of the J6 Prison Choir singing the national anthem is played, mashed up with his own recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.

A lost cause needs its martyrs, and the J6 hostages imprisoned by the Biden administration fit the bill marvelously for Trump, signifying that January 6 wasnt the low point of his presidency but its summit, and the beginning of his and his movements redemption. Everything that stands in the way of his comeback  particularly Democratic lawfare seeking his imprisonment and financial ruin, Democratic open borders policies aiming at transforming the electorate, and Democratic voter fraud rigging the election once again  is part of an immense conspiracy focused on Trump as much as Trump is focused on himself. Its a narcissists dream world.

In this fantasy, by definition the Trump administration was the high point of American history, with the greatest economy ever, with a military and a commander in chief that no one would dare cross, with a border hermetically sealed against swarthy invaders, and with all the ancient verities cherished by conservative patriots fully restored and secured. That was, until that fateful day in Washington when the bad guys won, or seemed to have won, and the patriots who tried to stop them were rounded up and locked away.

Theres obviously no reasoning or compromising with people who think this way. But aside from providing an alternative universe immune from adverse persuasion or inconvenient facts, Trumps cult of January 6 allows anyone with a grievance against American life as it exists today to identify with his defiant resolve to overthrow it all. Like the neo-Confederates of my childhood in the Deep South for whom the emblems of that evil slave-holding enterprise represented a cherished way of life that was gone with the wind, MAGA folk today can hold together a host of resentments under those red hats and make Trumps comeback their own. Its a powerful set of emotions this peculiar man has harnessed to his cause, and its clear he is no more likely to accept defeat in this election than he did in November of 2020 or on January 6. His is the cause that cannot be lost, only betrayed  until it inevitably rises again.
Photo: AP Photo/Seth Wenig

For a defendant who is facing four separate criminal indictments, Donald Trump has recently had a great run of luck with the law. One criminal case, over offenses he is alleged to have committed in trying to overturn the 2020 election, has been stalled by his appeal on the grounds of absolute presidential immunity, which has been accepted by the justices of the Supreme Court. In Florida, the federal judge handling a second prosecution, for hoarding and refusing to return classified documents, has made rulings and courtroom comments that sound favorable to Trump (who appointed her). The state judge handling a third case in Georgia allowed that prosecution to be derailed by the soap-opera subplot involving District Attorney Fani Willis. And while Trump still owes half a billion dollars for judgments in recent civil fraud and defamation trials, a New York State appeals court just delivered him a last-minute reprieve, reducing the size of a bond he has to put up to a manageable level and allowing him to set aside talk of financial doomsday scenarios. Trumps strategy has been to litigate, delay, and attack corrupt judges and a broken legal system. But it is that system, and its judges, that keep saving him for another day.

On Monday, though, Trumps legal momentum appeared to meet an equal and opposite force in the form of Juan Merchan, the New York State judge overseeing his scheduled trial on 34 felony counts related to hush-money payments he directed to Stormy Daniels. This is a witch hunt and a hoax! Trump shouted to a group of reporters and photographers penned in a dingy fluorescent-lit hallway as he headed to Merchans courtroom on the 15th floor a little before 10 a.m. He entered like a star, trailed by his entourage of attorneys and aides, flashing the haughty look of an overconfident card player holding an inside straight.

Trump had reason to feel like he had a good hand. March 25 was supposed to be his trial date, but just as in all his other cases, the prosecutors in Manhattan had hit an unexpected snag. This one was at least in part self-inflicted, and seemed like it might be serious. Two weeks before the trial was set to begin, District Attorney Alvin Bragg had disclosed that his office had received thousands of pages of new documentary evidence related to the case. The documents had previously been held by the federal prosecutors office for the Southern District of New York and related to the investigations that led to former Trump attorney Michael Cohens 2018 guilty plea to various crimes, including some related to the Daniels payoff. For some unexplained reason, though, the evidence had never been previously shared with the DAs office, and as a result, it had never been given to the defense in the discovery process as required by law. At Braggs request, Merchan had postponed the trial until April 15 in order to give both sides time to go through the document dump. He also scheduled Mondays hearing over the evidentiary issues, which in theory could offer grounds for dismissal  though that seemed unlikely, given the judges prior history.

Merchan had previously presided over a criminal tax-fraud prosecution of the Trump Organization, which had resulted in a $1.6 million fine for the company. Trumps longtime chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, served 100 days in the prison on Rikers Island in connection with his role in the illegal scheme. Last August, Trumps attorneys filed a motion asking Merchan to recuse himself from this second case, citing the judges treatment of Weisselberg, his donations to Democratic groups totaling $35 in 2020, and his daughters employment with a firm that did digital marketing for the Biden campaign. Trump posted on Truth Social that the judge HATES ME. Merchan rejected the recusal call, and at a hearing in February, turned aside a defense motion contesting the prosecution theory that elevated the crime of falsifying business records  typically a misdemeanor when charged on its own  into a felony.

Despite all that, though, it seemed as if the defense had good reason to think the judge might have questions about the late disclosure, particularly when it came to evidence regarding Cohen, a key prosecution witness and professional Trump enemy. (His most recent book is titled Revenge.) Trumps legal team was asking for a 90-day delay, which would serve their overarching goal of running out the clock on all his legal proceedings. At the very least, it seemed likely the judge would call the DAs office on the carpet, giving Trump something to crow about on the campaign trail. Trump lawyer Todd Blanche had filed a motion for sanctions, claiming that the material contained voluminous exculpatory evidence and alleging extremely serious issues relating to prosecutorial misconduct.

The judge, a silver-haired former state prosecutor, entered the spare wood-paneled courtroom, which was kept at uncomfortably chilly temperature. He briskly made it clear that he was having none of Trumps arguments. This court is of the opinion that there really are not significant questions of fact to be resolved, Merchan said. He shot a series of rapid-fire questions to both parties.

How many documents were actually relevant to this case? Merchan asked.

The number of relevant, usable documents is quite small, said Matthew Colangelo, a prosecutor from the DAs office. Around 300.

We very much disagree, Blanche replied, saying the number was large and had grown since last week.

How many? Merchan asked. The judge kept pressing Blanche for a narrow estimate of the documents he thought might potentially be used as evidence in Trumps criminal trial.

Your honor, thousands, Blanche said.

Im just asking for ballpark, Merchan replied.

I think there are tens of thousands of documents that we have to study.

So youre not answering my question, the judge said curtly.

Trump  who had been relaxed at a hearing I attended a couple weeks before in Florida, laughing and joking with Blanche  began to mutter and shot jagged looks around the defense table.

Colangelo assured the judge that the DAs office had obtained and turned over everything it could, but claimed it had no control over the federal prosecutors of the Southern District  an office colloquially known as the Sovereign District. Why they had waited to turn over the material was anyones guess. In his court papers, Blanche had raised the possibility that the DA had chosen not to press for certain documents, because they didnt want to have them, because they would undermine their case when turned over to the defense. Merchan didnt seem to be be interested in figuring out why the lapse had occurred. But he did express outrage at the suggestion of misconduct on the part of the DAs office. He demanded that Blanche, a former Southern District prosecutor, tell him if he knew of any court case in which local authorities were held responsible for obtaining evidence held by the Feds. Blanche couldnt cite a precedent.

If you dont have a case right now, that is really disconcerting, Merchan said, his voice rising. You are literally accusing the Manhattan District Attorneys office of engaging in prosecutorial misconduct, and trying to make me complicit in it. Before taking a brief recess, the judge scolded Trumps team for what he described as a pattern of misinterpretation of information. Rather than committing prosecutorial misconduct, he said, to me, it was the people went so far above and beyond what they were required to do, its really odd that were even here.

Trump left the courtroom with a scowl on his face. When Merchan came back, he delivered his ruling from the bench: The trial would proceed without further delay, commencing on April 15. If the hearing proved anything, it was that Trump will get no future favors in Merchans courtroom. Judges cannot determine a jurys verdict, but they set the pace of the proceedings and decide what evidence is allowed in. They guide the selection of the jury and give it the instructions it uses as it deliberates on a verdict. And judges control the temperature inside the room. As much as he might dominate the discourse outside the courthouse, in a month, Trump will no longer dictate events inside it. The first president ever to be criminally prosecuted will have to leave the campaign trail to place himself in the hands of a dozen ordinary New York citizens  and a judge that hates him, he thinks. He is leading in the polls, but could Americans really elect a convicted felon?

All right, Merchan said before exiting the courtroom, see you all on the 15th.
Photo: Ira L. Black - Corbis/Getty Images

In January, I asked a member of Tammy Murphys inner circle a question: If polls started looking shaky, or fundraising was unexpectedly paltry, or some other weakness befell her campaign, would New Jerseys First Lady consider dropping out of her U.S. Senate race before the June primary? No chance, the adviser told me. Back then, my premise seemed hard to believe. Murphys front-runner status, thanks entirely to her position as wife of Governor Phil Murphy, was the defining aspect of her candidacy. So much so that her identity as an entrenched, anointed Democratic Party insider wound up overshadowing her previous identity as an investment banker and prodigious donor to the Republican Party. Her victory, however ickily achieved, seemed inevitable.

Within a couple of months, though, her supposed advantage turned into a weakness. Tammy Murphy never shed the nepotism narrative that dogged her campaign  an especially damning narrative in a race for a seat occupied by the indicted Bob Menendez, whose own son serves in Congress. (My profile of Murphy, published in late January, was titled The Nepo State.) Policy hardly surfaced during the primary. Instead, Murphys primary opponent U.S. Representative Andy Kim went from long shot to favorite simply by appearing to be her opposite: a good-government mensch with a sparkling public-service CV and zero support from party bosses.

Kims unexpected grassroots potency became evident in February and March, when New Jerseys 21 counties held endorsing conventions. The winner of almost all these conventions received placement on New Jerseys almighty sui generis county line that grants candidates prime ballot real estate. A pattern emerged: Kim was victorious when delegates voted democratically by secret ballot. Murphy, by contrast, tended to win the conventions in which party chairs whod already endorsed her did so again behind closed doors or, dubiously, counted the audience members raised hands. The negative press that followed each convention only underlined her growing weaknesses, and the specter of an embarrassing loss in June was apparently too much for Murphy to bear. On Sunday, in a bombshell video posted to X, she dropped out of the race.

Two things explain the timing of her announcement. The first is that Monday was the official Senate filing deadline. (And now that it has passed, she cant  ha ha  run as a Republican instead.) The second is Andy Kims federal lawsuit against the constitutionality of the ballot line. U.S. District Court judge Zahid Quraishi could rule from Trenton as soon as this week, ordering an injunction that would suspend its use in the primary. New Jerseys own attorney general, close Phil-and-Tammy ally Matt Platkin, said recently that even he couldnt defend the line in court. If Murphy were to drop out after the line had been killed, it might look like an admission that appearing beneath the name Joe Biden on a ballot really was the only thing she had going for her.

Perhaps there were other factors. Maybe she and her allies had trouble making her case to donors. (The Super-PAC supporting her has reported raising only $1 million from just 18 donors. I hear Murphy recently held a fundraiser in California that was notable for its sparse attendance.) Maybe a big negative story was on the way. Maybe her internal polls looked horrible.

There is one ironic aspect to Murphys withdrawal. However grassroots-y Kims support was compared to hers, the convention battles he won were determined by political diehards. Delegates who voted for Kim in Monmouth or Mercer County were not random voters pulled off the street, but themselves plugged-in activists and insiders. The fact that so many of these types voted overwhelmingly for Kim may, of course, have been a harbinger of Tammys doom. But it also leaves open the question of what ordinary, low-to-medium-information voters would have actually done in June.

The only public head-to-head poll in the race, conducted in January by Fairleigh Dickinson University, had Kim up on Murphy by 32 percent to 20 percent with another 9 percent still backing Menendez, and about one third undecided. (Menendez wont be running as a Democrat, and would have to declare as an independent to appear on the ballot in November.) Kim was up with white and Asian voters; Murphy led with Black and Latino voters. If there was a path to victory, it was this: Win a vast swath of middle-of-the-road minority voters while conceding the progressive vote and the media contest to Kim. Just a few weeks ago, Murphy sacked her first campaign manager and replaced him with Maggie Moran, who ran Andrew Cuomos 2018 gubernatorial campaign. Cuomos primary victory against Cynthia Nixon followed that basic game plan: Dominate among moderates, riding a Black voter base and the support of the party Establishment. Maybe no volume of TV ads would have won Murphy the necessary margins; she doesnt appear to have built a robust turnout machine to mobilize voters in Newark or Camden. But she could always have donated millions to herself to blanket the airwaves, as her husband did in his successful 2017 gubernatorial run. And directionally at least, her demographic roadmap made sense.

Theres also the question of whether she might have been able to overcome the bad optics. In a campaign defined on all sides by a pressing need for reform  ballots, cash bribes, you name it  the spouse of the sitting governor was congenitally unable to position herself as a reformer. Could she have pulled off a Dark Brandonstyle reappropriation? At least one of Murphys Wall Street allies suggested  to little effect, apparently  that instead of running away from the nepotism label, she embrace it and position herself and Phil and a dynastic force for good like the Kennedys or the Clintons.

A final what-if: Imagine the line is preserved this primary season, either thanks to a U.S. District Court ruling or an appeal by the defendants (in this case, 19 of the states county clerks) that kicks a decision down the road. Despite Kims surprise convention strength, Murphy was still awarded the line in New Jerseys populous urban counties, including Bergen and Essex. In total, she would have appeared there on two-thirds of all primary ballots in the state. Had she stuck it out, Murphys campaign would have at least been a fascinating test case for the efficacy of the existing system. How many Democratic voters would have reflexively pulled the lever for an unpopular and underqualified candidate simply because her name showed up next to the names of a bunch of other party-approved candidates?

In the video she released Sunday, Murphy said that in order to compete with Kim she would have had to go negative and that she didnt want to tear down a fellow Democrat with Donald Trump on the ballot. That noble rationale seems hard to believe; there would be plenty of time between June and November for the winner to rally around the party. Could Murphy have felt some pressure from allies? Before she dropped out on Sunday, she met at a Newark law firm with several of the county chairs who had backed her campaign. Some have theorized that they heartily encouraged Murphys decision to withdraw, in an effort to maintain their electoral power a little while longer. Perhaps they worried that her unpopularity would hurt their down-ballot candidates or that she had simply drawn too much attention to the workings of the party machinery. According to various insiders, party leaders now hope that with Murphy off the ballot  and Andy Kim winning her lines instead, which he has, even as he sues to abolish them  Judge Quraishi will have less rationale to strike the system down this year. (Which is exactly what New Jerseys county clerks will try to argue in court today, in their bid to preserve the line.)

Whether the decision was entirely her own, or influenced by party elites, Murphy ended her bid the way she started it: surrounded by, and with the support of, unelected political bosses.
This movie hurting Maga Christians feelings is the only reason i know it exists and tbh if I'm bored enough I might buy a ticket this weekend.

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Is this OP the same as the Yorkie?









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How was it? Bc apparently this was good enough to deem her the new Scream Queen now. That makes sense. I can see it. Curious how this movie turns out if it goes in her favor.



Also, playing a nun in a horror movie? Groundbreaking

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last 20 mins of the movie is honestly an acting masterclass from her



before that she's fine but nothing special

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It wasnt very good and she wasnt amazing in it. She was fine. She literally screamed quite a bit near the end, but apart from that, she didnt do anything of note.

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The whiplash from reading this right after the comment above you

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It was....fine. Could have been scarier, could have been more artsy....could have been more nudity....but it was watchable

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I try really hard not to be *that* person, but...a post about "quotes from angry Christians" without any quotes? 

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right like are we supposed to click the link and READ the article?

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More like click the links and hunt for these angry quotes in Twitter and Instagram threads!

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Reading?! Not on my ONTD!

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Right, I was told there were angry Christians, thats why I came into the post.

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The first 2/3 of the movie was ehh but the third act was good.

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From what I heard the plot is a bit clunky but Sydney is good.

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Echoing the "the ending was great" comments, but I was underwhelmed by the rest, and after seeing that Jessica Barden was thanked in the credits, I realllllllllly wish she had been cast as the lead instead, because boy, this is the first time I've heard that girl speak and.....yikes.



Edited at 2024-03-26 05:29 am (UTC)

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Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in Hello! Your entry got to top-25 of the most popular entries in LiveJournal!Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in FAQ

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i was looking for reviews of this film and stumbled on conservatives who decided to stan sydney one week ago because of that dumb article about her "boobs killing wokeness" unstanning her because of this movie being "anti-christian" so hey at least she's breaking people's brains.



maybe i'll check out the film this weekend.

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lbr she looks like MAGA Barbie (and she's allowed to but again .... lbr) and they think she shares their values.

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To be fair, her family had a party where they were all wearing maga shirts\hats

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Edited at 2024-03-26 06:27 am (UTC) How very Gossip Girl of them!

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BTW I always thought that first poster with Serena was supposed to be her having a threesome. It wasn't until I saw the full picture that I realized the skin colored patch on the right side is her own hand, not another person.

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And here I was wondering for all those years when Serena ever had a threesome.

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 TIL that this poster was not displaying a threesome despite having seen this scene LOL.

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lmao what is even the point??

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wait i did not know that

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One of my all time favorite pieces of marketing.

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Fuck Christians

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She fits slasher flicks and gory horror movies that need a hot chick who can cry and scream convincingly. Outside of that though, she's middling. Fine, but nothing special.

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oh good does this mean no more maga assholes on twitter going off about how Sydney Sweeney's rack is singlehandedly ending "woke culture" or whatever the hell theyre talking about, yeah put this in your spank bank you fundie fucks. lmao.



Edited at 2024-03-26 12:12 pm (UTC)

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Anything that riles up ultra-moralistic people is something I want to see!

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A more dynamic price cap could be introduced by Ofgem based on the time of day households use its energy, it has been revealed.

The energy regulator has launched a consultation on a range of options for the future of the price cap including on with a time-of-use dependent unit rates to encourage consumer flexibility.

Ofgem is also considering introducing a targeted cap which could be based on a variety of factors such as vulnerability, and more flexible, market-based price protections such as setting a limit between a suppliers default tariff and tariffs available in the market, capping the margin suppliers are able to make, or replacing the cap with a ban on acquisition-only tariffs.

The regulator said the price cap, along with the temporary ban on acquisition-only tariffs, had worked well to protect customers from the loyalty penalty where customers on default tariffs paid higher prices, and from the worst of the recent volatile markets and wholesale price surges as a result of the energy crisis.

But it said energy retail markets were changing as increasing numbers of consumers changed their energy consumption and began using electric vehicles, heat pumps, and solar panels.

Ofgem added that as customer diversity grows, and more households adopt time-of-use tariffs, it could become harder to retain a universal price cap that is suitable for everyone.

It also said that while price protection will remain an important part of the energy market, it is asking charities, consumer groups, businesses, bill-payers and suppliers for their views as well as proposals for future alternatives.

Tim Jarvis, Ofgems director general of retail and markets, said: While the price cap played an important role in protecting consumers from the loyalty penalty that existed before its introduction, the energy market is changing as we move to net zero, and we recognise the systems we have in place may need to change too.

Were looking in detail at the elements of the price cap that have worked well and the challenges weve identified in recent years, while also considering how a wide range of future consumers will use and pay for energy, to make sure we develop the right measures that will protect and benefit consumers across the board.

We will continue to work with government, industry, consumer groups, charities and the public on the future of pricing regulation. Our aim is ensure the market works for everyone.

The deadline for the consultation has been set for 6 May.

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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.

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

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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.

By RFE/RL

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French lender Credit Agricole has declared it will no longer finance the Rovuma LNG project in Mozambique and the Papua LNG project in Papua New Guinea.

The bank cited its commitments to reduce exposure to the oil and gas industry as the basis for its decision, according to a Reuters report on the news.

Rovuma LNG and Papua LNG are two of the largest liquefied natural gas projects in progress, with the companies involved including Exxon, TotalEnergies, Eni, and Australias Santos.

Environmentalists welcomed the decision, commenting that it would be challenging for the energy companies to find an alternative bank to step in.

Exxon, the leader on the Rovuma project was expected to make the final investment decision on the project next year but this could change now. TotalEnergies, which leads the Papua LNG project had also planned on making the FID on the venture next year.

Credit Agricole is moving away from LNG just as demand forecasts for the superchilled fuel brighten, with Shell recently forecasting demand will surge by 50% in the next 16 years. Africa has abundant but underdeveloped gas resources that projects such as Rovuma and Papua were going to tap, helping the economies of Mozambique and Papua with a new and potentially huge revenue stream.

Credit Agricole, however, announced last December it was going to stop funding new oil and gas ventures in line with its net-zero commitments. The bank also said it would triple the amount of money it invests in transition-related technologies. Plans are to boost its exposure to alternative sources of energy by 80% over this year and next, expanding it to $13.3 billion euro.

We need to massively invest in renewable energy and the energy sobriety in order to decarbonize the economy, the banks chief executive Phillippe Brassac said at the time.

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By Irina Slav For Oilprice.com

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Indian state and private refiners have suspended purchases of crude from Venezuela as the U.S. sanctions waiver on Venezuelas oil exports expires on April 18 and could lead to complications if not renewed, sources familiar with the purchases have told Bloomberg.

Private refiner Reliance Industries, which is Indias largest buyer of Venezuelan crude grade Merey, looks to avoid complications with cargoes if the U.S. were to re-impose the sanctions that were temporarily lifted for six months in the middle of October 2023. As the deadline for the waiver expiry nears, state refiner Indian Oil Corporation has also halted buying Venezuelan crude, according to Bloombergs sources.

At the end of last year, the U.S. introduced a temporary sanctions relief from October 2023 to April 2024, which now allows the production, lifting, sale, and exportation of oil or gas from Venezuela, and the provision of related goods and services, as well as payment of invoices for goods or services related to oil or gas sector operations in Venezuela.

As a result, the top international oil trading houses are back in the business of trading with oil from Venezuela, and refiners in India returned at the end of last year to the market of purchasing Venezuelas crude.

In December, India resumed imports of crude oil from Venezuela for the first purchases since 2020 after the U.S. lifted most of the sanctions on Venezuelas oil industry in October.

For India, the worlds third-largest crude oil importer, Venezuelan oil is welcome as some refineries are designed to process the South American countrys heavy crude. The biggest refiners, including Reliance Industries, Indian Oil Corporation, and HPCL-Mittal Energy started securing crude cargoes from Venezuela as soon as the sanctions were lifted temporarily in October.

Most refiners have resumed the purchases via intermediaries, sources familiar with the development told Reuters at the time. Reliance is also looking to discuss direct sales with Venezuelas state-owned oil firm PDVSA, according to Reuters sources.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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The oil industry will need cumulative investments of $11.1 trillion in exploration and production by 2045 to keep pace with growing energy demand and ensure stable supply, OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais has told Emirati news agency WAM in an interview.

Allocating more investments in the oil industry will contribute to promoting the sustainability of the global energy sector, securing sufficient and reliable supplies for the world as a whole, and ensuring secure supplies for future generations, OPECs chief told the news agency.

Investment in oil is critical for the global energy security, Al Ghais added.

OPECs latest annual World Oil Outlook from October 2023 calls for $14 trillion in cumulative investments in the oil sector by 2045, including in the upstream, midstream, and downstream segments.

The annual investments need to be around $610 billion on average, the bulk of which should go to the upstream segment, the cartel said, rebuffing calls for a halt in investments in new supply.

In November, OPEC and its Secretary General Al Ghais criticized the International Energy Agency (IEA) for vilifying the industry and for playing down energy security and affordability. Days earlier, IEA had said that the oil and gas industry faces a moment of truth in choosing between fueling climate change and becoming a part of the solution.

Last month, Al Ghais said that OPEC stands firmly behind its latest long-term outlook on oil demand from October, when the cartel raised significantly its long-term demand estimate and now expects global oil demand at around 116 million bpd in 2045, up by 6 million bpd compared to the previous assessment from 2022.

This month, OPECs chief wrote If oil disappeared tomorrow, millions of jobs would be lost. Tax revenues would be depleted. Industrial production would crimp. Economic growth would go into reverse. The plight of the fuel poor would be worsened.

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We need to be cautious of endangering the present, in the name of saving the future, Al Ghais concluded.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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Russia has supplied oil directly to North Korea this year as both regimes are openly defying UN sanctions on sales of petroleum to Pyongyang in response to its nuclear weapons tests, satellite images shared exclusively with the Financial Times have shown.

North Korea has been under UN Security Council sanctions since 2017, but Russia is said to have supplied and smuggled oil to the country since then.

In August 2018, The Asian Institute for Policy Studies said while most of the sanction-bypassing oil trade with North Korea is thought to be originating from China, oil sales from Russia to Kim Jong-Uns regime may be much larger than official figures suggest, as shell companies have been set up for illicit oil flows to Pyongyang.

With a suspected oil-for-weapons deal with North Korea, Russia appears to have boosted its oil deliveries to Kim Jong-Un in exchange for munitions and other military equipment from North Korea to use in its war in Ukraine.

Now the satellite images, which UK think-tank Royal United Services Institute has shared with FT, have shown that in March alone, at least five tankers of North Korea have traveled to load petroleum products from the Vostochny Port, the biggest port in Russias Far East.

These deliveries are the first documented direct seaborne shipments of oil from Russia to North Korea since the UN sanctions were imposed in 2017, FT notes.

These oil deliveries constitute a full-frontal assault against the sanctions regime, which is now on the brink of collapse, Hugh Griffiths, a former coordinator of the UN panel monitoring North Korea sanctions, told the British newspaper.

The Russian and North Korean regimes have grown closer in recent years and have been exchanging supplies to help each other.

Last month, South Koreas Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said that some factories in North Korea are working full-time to produce weapons for Russia in exchange for food and other supplies.

While North Korea's arms factories operate at 30 percent capacity due to shortages of raw materials and power, certain factories are operating at full capacity, which primarily produce weapons and shells for Russia, Shin said at the end of February, as carried by South Korean news agency Yonhap.

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By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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The Russian government has decided to sell Shells minority stake in the Sakhalin LNG project to state-controlled giant Gazprom for $1 billion, reversing a previous decision to have LNG producer and exporter Novatek have the stake which Shell abandoned after the invasion of Ukraine.

In 2022, a decree from Vladimir Putin stipulated that a newly set up state Russian company would take over the rights and obligations of Sakhalin Energy Investment Co., the joint venture running the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project.

Shell and Japans Mitsui and Mitsubishi were minority shareholders in Sakhalin Energy Investment Co, whose biggest shareholder was Gazprom.

Shell had a 27.5% in the project, but it had already announced it would withdraw from Sakhalin-2. After Russia invaded Ukraine, Shell said in early 2022 it would exit its equity partnerships with Gazprom and related entities, including its 27.5% stake in the Sakhalin-2 liquefied natural gas facility, its 50% stake in the Salym Petroleum Development, and the Gydan energy venture.

Last year, Novatek applied to buy Shells stake in the Sakhalin-2 project. The Russian firm has asked the government for consent that the payment be made to Shell and allowed to be received in a foreign account.

Reports emerged in April 2023 that Putin had approved the request by Novatek to allow Shell to receive $1 billion (94.8 billion rubles) from the Russian gas producer for its 27.5% stake in the Sakhalin-2 LNG project.

But now the Russian government has ordered, with a decree, that the stake be acquired by Gazprom. Russia voided the previous order for Novatek to buy the stake held by Shell without giving any reasons why.

According to Russian newspaper Vedomosti, Novatek has deemed its participation in the Sakhalin project to have high legal risks.

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Last year, U.S. sanctions were imposed on Novateks Arctic 2 LNG export project, which has pushed back the timeline for first LNG shipments.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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The amount of Russian oil refining capacity that has been taken offline due to Ukrainian drone strikes is 14% of Russias total refining capacity, according to Reuters calculations.

Calculations show that 900,000 barrels per day of refining capacity has been taken offline by drone strikes, Reuters said on Tuesday. This includes Lukoils Norsi and Volgograd refineries, and Rosnefts Kuibyshev and Ryazan refineries, among others.

Ukraine has stepped up its drone attacks on Russian refineries in recent weeks, which have reduced Russias overall refinery capacity, cutting into Russias refinery output, including gasoline and diesel production for its own domestic market.

The United States has urged Ukraine to stop its attacks on Russias refineries on concerns that any Russian retaliation could result in a spike in crude oil prices. Rising crude oil prices, which leads to higher gasoline prices, are problematic for sitting U.S. presidents in election years.

Brent crude oil prices are up almost $5 per barrel from this same time last monththe highest level in nearly five months partially buoyed by Ukraines strikes and continued concerns with safe oil shipments through the Red Sea as the Houthis target vessels.

JP Morgan had estimated earlier that Russias refinery capacity outages could add a significant risk premium to the middle distillates market, banking on it taking weeks or even months to restore the capacity. Bank analysts have estimated that risk premium at $4 per barrel.

Analysts have predicted that Russias crude oil production will fall in the second quarter as a result of the refining capacity outages, as Russias oil storage capacity is already quite tight.

Brent crude oil was trading down on Tuesday afternoon at $86.11 per barrel.

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By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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If youre expecting South Africa will make a quick shift away from coal-fired power in favor of green energy, prepare to be disappointed.

Expecting South Africa to quickly give up on coal-fired power would be very wrong, South Africas energy minister Gwede Mantashe told Bloomberg this week.

Instead, South Africa will continue to rely on coal and other fossil fuel-generated power, even as richer nations push the country towards greener forms of energy, because it is less intermittent than green energy, Mantashe said, and the country is already grappling with electricity shortages.

This belief that you can leave coal and move to renewables: theres a technical mistake, very wrong, it will never work, Mantashe told Bloomberg.

South Africas coal-fired power isnt without problems, however. Its state-run electric company, Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd, is already struggling with electricity outages because the countrys coal-fired power stations arent all operating 24 hours a day like they could be. Breakdowns and extended impromptu maintenance have put a serious crimp in the countrys power generation thanks to load shedding for as much as 12 hours a day in some cases.

Nevertheless, coal-fired power will have a long life in South Africa, Mantashe has vowed.

Mantashe acknowledged the errors the country has made in its power industry, citing delays in building out new power plans and a critical design flaw in the current plants.

That is one of those mistakes and we are learning out of it, Mantashe explained.

South Africa has been reluctant to jump onto the green energy transition train for quite some time, saying last October that the country had no plans to curtail its oil and gas operations in favor of green energy, and even announced plans to boost its oil and gas exploration activity in the future as it tries to shore up energy security and reduce its energy imports.

Coal currently accounts for roughly 80% of the countrys energy mix and is the worlds fifth-largest coal exporter.

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By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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Chinese EV exports to the European Union slumped by 19.6% in January and February 2024 compared to the same period last year as the EU continues its investigation into whether Chinas subsidies are giving its auto manufacturers an unfair advantage over other EV makers.

In the first two months of 2024, China exported around 75,600 EVs to the EU, according to official Chinese customs data reported by Bloomberg on Tuesday.

In October, the EU launched anti-subsidy investigations into EU imports of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) from China to determine whether BEV value chains in China benefit from illegal subsidization and whether this subsidisation causes or threatens to cause economic injury to EU BEV producers.

The findings of the investigation, which is expected to be completed by the autumn of 2024, will establish whether it is in the EU's interest to remedy the effects of the unfair trade practices found by imposing anti-subsidy duties on imports of battery electric vehicles from China, the European Commission said.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in her State of the Union Address in September that global markets are now flooded with cheaper Chinese electric cars. And their price is kept artificially low by huge state subsidies.

This is distorting our market, von der Leyen added.

Earlier this month, the European Commission made imports of new battery electric vehicles from China subject to registration, so that measures may subsequently be applied against those imports from the date of such registration.

The EU probe into the Chinese subsidies is ongoing and set to conclude by November, but the bloc could impose tariffs as early as in July.

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Announcing the registration of China-originated EVs, the Commission also said that as regards subsidies, it has at its disposal sufficient evidence tending to show that imports of the product concerned from the PRC are being subsidised.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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Dawn Grimshaw, M: 402-305-8631, dgrimshaw@betteromaha.com, www.betteromaha.com - Gorgeous 1.5 story home with lots of updates. Ceramic tile floors throughout much of the main floor. Fresh paint on the interior. Main floor bedroom plus office/library and large open living room and kitchen. Abundant natural light and tall ceilings. 2nd floor has 3 bedrooms, plus a bonus room for a 5th bedroom, loft, or whatever you want to use it for! Currently does not have a closet, seller is willing to add if needed for buyer to use as bedroom. Home is situated on a large corner lot. Out building that is 26 x 48 (shop) with 9'4" x 10' garage doors for extra car/toy storage shop with rough in gas/sewer/water. What a great opportunity to own this home with so many possibilities with the outbuilding, while located in town! No flood insurance, not in a flood plain in this location.

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Lewis & Clark Middle School in Bellevue invited community members to step into the life of Anne Frank on Thursday, March 21, when the school opened the Anne Frank: A History for Today traveling exhibit to the public.

Its visit to Lewis & Clark was made possible through a partnership with the Institute for Holocaust Education in Omaha, University of South Carolinas College of Education and the Anne Frank House.

The display takes viewers through the rise of Adolf Hitler, Nazi persecution of political adversaries, Jews and other minorities and the Frank familys efforts to hide from Nazi troops. The panels in the collection bear photographs from the period and excerpts from Anne Franks famous diary.

The exhibit arrived at the school on Feb. 26, according to Kati Larson, English, reading and Holocaust Studies teacher at Lewis & Clark. Fifteen eighth-grade students were chosen through an application process to be trained as docents who would guide visitors through the exhibit. After two days of training by staff members from the Institute for Holocaust Education, the students practiced by giving tours to staff and students for two weeks.

All of that paved the way for the community night on March 21. The event was the culmination of almost a year of efforts to reserve the exhibit and prepare for its display, Larson said.

This would not have been possible without the incredible support from the administration and staff here at Lewis & Clark, she said.

The exhibit begins with Treaty of Versailles that marked the end of World War I. The terms for peace, negotiated without representation by Germany or the other defeated countries and signed in 1919, saddled Germany with huge reparations payments. This led to economic disaster for the country, and the governments response of printing more money left its currency almost worthless. Germans resented the treaty and began to gravitate towards political extremists.

Anne Frank was born on June 12, 1929, to Otto Frank and Edith Frank-Hollander. She had an older sister named Margot.

By 1932, 6 million Germans were unemployed. Hitler, a veteran wounded in World War I, promised to make Germany powerful again. After rising as a member of the extreme National Socialist German Workers (Nazi) Party, he became chancellor of Germany on Jan. 30, 1933. On March 23, 1933, after members of most other political parties had either been arrested or fled the country, parliament voted to give Hitler the authority to rule without Democratic consent.

The exhibit describes Kristallnacht  the night of broken glass  when Nazis destroyed 177 synagogues; damaged Jewish homes, schools and businesses; murdered 236 Jews; and arrested 30,000 Jewish men and sent them to concentration camps. The incident from Nov. 9-10, 1938, marked a turn from nonviolent repression to deadly violence.

In 1939, Germany invaded Poland, starting World War II. The Frank family decided to prepare to leave Germany. Otto was able to find a job in Amsterdam so, in 1942, the family moved there and hid from the Nazis with four other people in an annex at the back of his office building.

Annes family was able to avoid detection for two years. In 1944, they were discovered by the Gestapo, according to amsterdamsights.com. They were taken to Auschwitz, where the family was separated. Margot and Anne were sent to a work camp, Bergen-Belsen, where Anne died of typhus a month before the war ended. Annes mother died at Auschwitz.

From 1933 to 1945, German Nazis and their allies killed 6 million Jews, 3.3 million Soviet prisoners of war, 1.8 million non-Jewish Poles, 250,000 to 500,000 Romani people of all ages (labeled gypsies), 310,000 Serb civilians, tens of thousands of political opponents or dissenters, 1,700 Germans confined as professional criminals or asocial, hundreds to thousands of men who were, or were accused of being, gay or bisexual and hundreds of Black people living in Germany, according to the Holocaust Encyclopedia of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Annes father survived and published her diary in 1947 as The Diary of a Young Girl, a description on amsterdamsights.com states. He later found other ways to educate people about the Holocaust.

Anne left a parting message of hope, penned on July 15, 1944: I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart. When I look up at the sky, I somehow feel that everything will be change for the better, that this cruelty too shall end, that peace and tranquility will return once more.

The exhibit attracted more visitors than expected. Larson said she was thrilled with the turnout.

We didnt know what to expect, she said. The kids worked very hard, so its good to see the community come to support it.

The experience had an impact on the students.

It definitely was a different experience to learn how to educate others about it, said Natalie OToole, a student docent. It gave us a duty to teach others about these important things that happened in history.

Pondering whether it could ever happen again is sobering, she said.

It definitely adds a heaviness to the subject, but I think teaching people about the subject helps people to realize why it can never happen again, OToole said.

Docent Tim Bogatz thought it was a good learning experience.

It was really interesting, he said. It was a little bit depressing learning about this, but I think its important that we learn it so we dont repeat it. Right now, I dont worry about that; but I guess theres a possibility that there could be a genocide sometime in the future.

Learning about how people were persecuted evoked empathy in him, Bogatz said.

I did feel empathy for the Jews, he said. That really inspired me to educate other people about it as well, so they could feel empathy, too.

Some of it came as a shock to docent Maggie Rohlfs.

It felt very overwhelming learning all of this to see that all that inhumane stuff really happened, she said.

Rohlfs, too, said its important for people to learn so hate doesnt get so out of hand, she said. The people who were persecuted didnt deserve any of this.

Rohlfs said she hadnt thought about something like that happening again, but she felt there was a surge in hatred in 2020  when George Floyd was killed by police officers in Minneapolis, prompting mass protests.

You cant control the color of your skin, she said. Its really nerve-wracking to see the world coming together and then sort of falling apart because some people are different. Thats always the way its going to be, and people need to accept it.

Still, Rohlfs enjoyed learning about the exhibit and serving as a guide.

It was really nice to share something that I really loved learning about, she said. This is an important topic for people to learn about.

My passion for teaching the Holocaust comes from my desire to try and teach lessons of empathy and understanding, Larson said. We are not that different, and when we understand each other, we are better for it as a whole. Teaching the Holocaust is a platform to not only teach this important history, but it allows me the opportunity to teach my students about empathy, compassion, respect and understanding.
A 27-year-old man notified the U.S. District Court of Nebraska that he intends to plead guilty to selling fentanyl-laced pills that killed an Omaha man.

Patrick J. Hoshor, according to federal court documents, will change his plea at a hearing in April. His trial was slated to start this week.

Hoshor, an Omaha resident, was charged with providing two pills laced with fentanyl to Brandon Revere, 36. According to an affidavit, Revere died April 1, 2023, at his home near 99th and Maple Streets after purchasing the pills from Hoshor on the previous day.

Reveres wife called the police just before 5 a.m. to say she found her husband down in their bathroom with a needle on his thigh. The affidavit said that Revere had gotten out of bed to change the diapers of a baby while his wife went to the kitchen.

The wife noticed her husband had gone into the bathroom and locked the door. She was able to unlock the bathroom door, call 911 and begin performing CPR. Omaha Fire Department paramedics took over lifesaving measures and transported Revere to Methodist Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Investigators at the scene noticed a small plastic bag that was empty on the bathroom counter. Nearby was an unopened beer can that had a light-blue crushed substance on its top. Fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills are most commonly light blue in color, the affidavit said.

Texts on Reveres phone were found asking about meeting up with a man called Patrick to buy drugs. The two men, according to the texts, were to meet at the Mega Saver near 108th Street and West Maple Road where Patrick agreed to sell Revere drugs. Security video at the store recorded the meeting.

Hoshor was arrested four days later after federal agents, using Reveres phone, arranged for another drug buy to be conducted at the Caseys at 5718 Northwest Radial Highway. Officers made contact with Hoshor, who was driving the same silver Chevrolet Suburban recorded in the Mega Saver meeting with Revere.

After being read his Miranda rights, Hoshor, who did not have any drugs on him, told officers that he had intended to take Revere to an Elkhorn neighborhood home to obtain pills.
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  Nebraska lawmakers took another step Monday toward putting the states 146-year-old historical agency under the control of the governor.

Senators voted to send Legislative Bill 1169, introduced by State Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard, to the final round of consideration. The bill advanced with an amendment aimed at protecting academic freedom and freedom of expression within History Nebraska following the change.

Erdman said he introduced the bill because of nearly two decades of controversy and financial concerns within the agency, formerly known as the Nebraska State Historical Society. He said he wanted to restore confidence to the agency and argued that it would take a change of governance to fix the malfeasance.

This is not an opportunity for the governor to grab more power, he said.

History Nebraska currently is an independent state agency governed by a 15-member Board of Trustees, of which 12 are elected by society members and three are appointed by the governor. The board currently hires the agency head and oversees operations.

Under LB 1169, the governor would name the director, who would be subject to legislative approval. The board would become an advisory panel.

Erdman said former Adjutant General Roger Lempke testified in favor of the change, citing input from a number of current and former employees. He also listed several problems at the agency over the years.

Most recently, Trevor Jones, who resigned as executive director and CEO in 2022, has been charged with felony theft by deception. The charges involved his diversion of money intended to help the agency deal with COVID losses into a private foundation.

Another top agency official, Tony Schmitz, the chief financial officer, was sentenced to prison in 2008 for embezzling $73,000 from the agency. A 2007 state audit of the agency, released after Schmitz arrest, uncovered more than 30 instances of mismanagement and sloppy record keeping.

There also was conflict between Jones and Nebraska State Historical Society Foundation, an independent nonprofit foundation, and high turnover under his leadership. Other controversies focused on decisions about keeping or destroying artifacts that had been donated to the agency.

This is a pattern that is not correcting itself, said Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon, who backed the bill.

Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln opposed the change, saying there was no doubt the agency has had problems but LB 1169 proposed the wrong remedy. She noted that some of the states most troubled agencies are under the governors control.

Simply by moving an agency classification does not inoculate a state agency against waste, fraud and abuse, she said.

During first-round debate, she raised concerns about the governor exercising content censorship of History Nebraska. On Monday, she offered an amendment that requires the director to protect freedom of expression and academic freedom essential for the appreciation and understanding of the history of Nebraska.

She also asked Erdman whether the governor should be able to veto an exhibit on redlining, a practice in which home loans were based on race or immigration status, or whether the governor should bar History Nebraska from attending a gay pride event. Erdman said no in both cases.

Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of March 2024
LINCOLN  Gov. Jim Pillen will once again deploy members of the Nebraska National Guard and Nebraska State Patrol to the southern border.

The mission is in response to a request for emergency assistance from Texas, the Governors Office said in a press release, and was made through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact.

A total of 35 Nebraska National Guard soldiers and airmen will be called up to active-duty status and sent to aid operations in the area of Eagle Pass, Texas, beginning in early April for 90 days.

Ten state troopers will be sent to the El Paso area for two weeks in mid-April, the Governors Office said.

Pillen said he decided to answer Texas call because what happens along our nations southern border affects us right here in Nebraska, putting the blame on President Joe Biden for what he described as disastrous border policies.

I am extremely grateful to the soldiers, airmen and state troopers who volunteered for this important mission, he said. Their skills will help stem the tide of illegal immigration and keep deadly drugs off our streets.

Pillen has made multiple visits to the Eagle Pass area to meet with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott  including as recently as February  during which he has expressed his support for Operation Lone Star.

Last August, he appeared with several other governors, including Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, for a press conference last August. All are Republicans.

According to the Governors Office, the Omaha division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration reported an 83% increase in the number of fentanyl pills seized in 2023 compared to 2022, a figure Pillen attributed to a rise in border crossings.

Maj. Gen. Craig Strong, adjutant general of the Nebraska National Guard, said the organization was ready to continue supporting Operation Lone Star.

The Nebraska National Guard is always ready to respond when our fellow Americans are dealing with an emergency, whether it is here in our own backyard, in another state, or overseas, Strong said.

Col. John Bolduc of the Nebraska State Patrol said sending state troopers to the border helps keep American communities safe.

This deployment is a continuation of that support and an affirmation that when our law enforcement partners call for help, they can count on the Nebraska State Patrol, Bolduc said.

While the cost of providing assistance through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact typically has been paid by the requesting state, Nebraska has picked up its own tab sending members of the National Guard and State Patrol to the border in recent years.

Pillen last deployed 61 National Guard soldiers to the southern border between August and September 2023, at a cost of roughly $2 million, which came out of the state military departments budget, while the cost of sending state troopers ran to nearly $600,000.

Former Gov. Pete Ricketts also sent 32 state troopers south to Texas in the summer of 2021 at a cost of $334,000.

Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of March 2024
The Director, Field Operations, of the President Muhammadu Buhari Campaign Organisation, Nuhu Ribadu, has described the reelection of President Muhammadu Buhari as a reward to Nigerians.

Ribadu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Yola, the Adamawa State capital, that Nigerians sacrificed their time and energy to vote in a free and fair election and were rewarded with a man committed to selfless service.

As Director, Field Operations, of a successful candidate, I will, first of all, congratulate our candidate; a good and honest man has been reelected and Nigeria will continue to change for better, Mr Ribadu said.

Mr Ribadu urged opponents of Mr Buhari to accept the outcome in the spirit of sportsmanship.

The former boss of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) added that everyone participating in Nigerias democratic process was a winner.

No winner, no vanquish, Nigeria is the winner, Mr Ribadu said.

Also speaking, the Adamawa Coordinator of the operations, Shehu Umar, lauded Nigerians for their faith in Mr Buhari and assured citizens that they would not be disappointed.

Mr Umar said the second coming of the reelected president would enable him to consolidate on people-oriented projects and programmes for the country. (NAN)
The Nigeria Police Force on Tuesday bowed to pressure from the public by publishing the names and photographs of the alleged killers of Kolade Johnson who was gunned down in Mangoro area of Lagos on Sunday.

The police identified the suspects as Inspector Olalekan Ogunyemi and Sergeant Godwin Orji both attached to the Anti-Cultism Squad.

The police said on Twitter, The men suspected to have carried out the shooting of Kolade Johnson have been apprehended and subjected to internal disciplinary procedures. The CP has revealed their names as (1) Insp Ogunyemi Olalekan and (2) Sgt Godwin Orji attached to Anti Cultism Squad.

A police team led by the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Zubairu Muazu, also paid a condolence visit to the family of Johnson and assured his family that justice would prevail.

See tweet:
The Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, has pleaded with Nigerias President Muhammadu Buhari, to allow one million Nigerians enter Canada under a new Employment and Migration Programme designed for immigrants.

According to CBTV, Trudeau said that immigrants from Nigeria have been a strong force in Canadas growth in all sectors of its economy. He said:

We cant undermine or overlook the contribution of immigrants in Canadas development especially our brothers and sisters from Nigeria.

The Prime Minister added that, over the past three years, Canada has granted residency to all Nigerians who were illegally living in Canada and applied to remain. He said:

We granted them and urging everyone to apply. Its good we document everyone to know how many people we are to cater for.

In a memo sent to the Nigeria High Commission in Canada, the Employment and Migration Programme will allow Nigerians wishing to live in Canada to first obtain job before traveling to the country.

The programmes website will be launched next week and all available jobs will be listed. Currently there are over 6 million vacancies and we are hoping that Buhari allows at least one million people from Nigeria, a spokesperson for the Canadian Labour Department, Shadrack Scott said.

Earlier this year, the Canadian Parliament announced plans to add more new permanent residents in the next three years.

Canada welcomed more than 286,000 permanent residents in 2017 and projects that number could reach 350,000 this year in addition to one million seeking from the West Africa nation.

Thanks in great part to the newcomers we have welcomed throughout our history, Canada has developed into the strong and vibrant country we all enjoy, said Ahmed Hussen, Canadas minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship (IRCC).

Hussen, himself an immigrant from Somalia, said the influx will help offset Canadas aging population and declining birth rate while growing its labor force.

Canadas friendly stance towards new residents comes as many other Western nations, including the United States, are adopting more restrictive immigration policies.

Canada is especially dedicated to offering protection to refugees. The United Nations Refugee Agency reported unprecedented levels of refugees in 2017, with the number of forcibly displaced people reaching 68.5 million.




The school students who were rescued by troops on Sunday, after they were kidnapped from Kuriga, Chikun Local Government Area, Kaduna State, have arrived at the Government House in Kaduna.

It was earlier reported that the Kaduna State Government had announced the release of the 137 schoolchildren.

The development was contained in a statement on Sunday, signed by the state governor, Uba Sani.

The statement partly read, I wish to announce that our Kuriga school children have been released.

However, the governor clarified that 137 schoolchildren were abducted on March 7, 2024, and not 287 schoolchildren, as previously reported.

Below are pictures of the children in the government house;




Your Excellency sir,

I am very hopeful and confident that this letter will get to your attention. I am writing you as a citizen and in my capacity as an Independent Advocate of Anonymous Mail-in Crime Report (AMICR) I am a patriotic commoner who has been researching on how to use non-kinetic approach to Preventing organised crimes in Nigeria, to make the Job of a sitting President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of The Federal Republic of Nigeria(C-in-C) Effective and Efficient; which by the grace of God you are. This epistle becomes imperative as I believe in your capability, capacity and intelligence to move Nigeria forward.

Your Excellency sir, there is no doubt that your administration is committed to ending the insurgency plaguing the country today, going by the round peg in a round hole appointments you made in the security sector. I can say for sure, there is no iota of nepotism in this critical sector on appointments your Excellency made. The combined effort of the security agencies in tackling insecurity in Nigeria has yielded and still churning out results. However, the effort can be complemented by non-kinetic approach to containing and fighting the monster.

Going forward, it is important we look at how United State of America (USA) responded and still responding to Organised Crimes (Insurgency) after 9/11 terrorist attacks that left about 4,000 Americans and non-Americans alike dead; as a guide to understanding the issue at hand. There is no doubt that when it comes to use of Technology in fighting crime, USA ranks probably number 1 in the world. In fact, American believe in fighting insecurity with Technology, brought about what I call Technology can do everything Delusion of Americans. It is an established fact that they, Americans automatically cured themselves of this delusional inclination that Technology can do everything, after 9/11 terror attacks. The then President, George W. Bush Junior, even lamented the shortcoming of the use technology in containing terrorism.

Your Excellency sir, you are not short of intellectuals around you in Aso-Villa. You can detail some of them to get you comprehensive report on why Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was established despite plethora of security agencies at the disposal of USA. The result Google showed me on the reason behind the formation of DHS is this: The Department of Homeland Security was formed in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, as part of a determined national effort to safeguard the United States against terrorism. Now, it will be seen that the term, Safeguard as used here denotes a precautionary measures warding off impending dander or damage or injury etc. In other words, DHS was established to take preventive actions towards making USA safe.

Your Excellency sir, Google further revealed five major mission areas of Department of Homeland Security. These are, preventing terrorism, securing borders, enforcing immigration law, safeguarding cyber systems, and ensuring resilience when disasters occur. If we interrogate further, the reason behind the establishment of DHS in USA, despite all the security agencies in the country, it will be seen that there was clear absence of inter agency collaboration, as well as lack of central security clearing house or security hub. So, DHS was established as security coordinating hub, combining 22 different federal departments and agencies into a unified, integrated cabinet agency. Your Excellency sir, if USA can reassess its security architecture, after 9/11 attacks, I think Nigeria should emulate their footstep in this regard.

Perhaps your Excellency may want to know that the issue of human intelligence, in place of signals intelligence, re-echoed fifteen years after 9/11 terror attacks in US. Matt A. Mayer who incidentally was a senior official at DHS, in a detailed research report, published in the website of American Enterprise Institute (AEI) on June 16, 2016; made an interesting submission. In his report, entitled, Enhanced Human Intelligence Is Key To Defeating Terrorists, he has this to say in the first paragraph: As the barbaric attacks in Paris, San Bernardino, Brussels, and Orlando have demonstrated, we need to enhance our capabilities to detect and thwart terrorists as they plan attacks. With the proliferation of off-the-shelf encryption technologies and other operational security measures, terrorists are becoming harder to find by traditional technical collection methods such as wiretaps and signals intelligence (SIGINT). Meeting this threat means investing in human intelligence (HUMINT) capabilities at homenot just at the federal level, but also at the state and local levels.Your Excellency, Matt A. Mayers research report speaks to the heart of the proposal on Scientific Intelligence Gathering System (SIGS) I am writing to you about.

Your Excellency sir, as you know, there are basically two types of Insurgency, asymmetric and symmetric variants. In the case of USA, the main threat confronting it was/ is terrorism and they; USA seems to know the source. And so, America is battling symmetric Insurgency. In Nigeria situation, we are talking about asymmetric Insurgency. A brief definition of Insurgency will suffice here. It is defined as: An organised rebellion aimed at overthrowing a constituted government through the use of Subversion and Armed conflict. We can see that in both symmetric and asymmetric Insurgency, two factors stand out, and that is subversion as well as armed conflict. US was successfully subverted from within before the 9//11 attacks. But US knew or were able to identify the terrorists, that makes 9/11 terror attacks a symmetric one. Your Excellency sir, Nigerian variant of Insurgency is at best, asymmetric in nature, and that makes it difficult to be effectively tackled by the security agencies. While America believes the 9/11 terror attacks was masterminded outside America, but planned within, the terror attacks in Nigeria are planned within the country, masterminded right in Nigeria as well.

What makes asymmetric Insurgency worrisome in Nigeria is that the insurgents dont seem to spear men of the security agencies in their attacks. Your Excellency sir, a rough statistics shows that in every 10 Nigerians killed from organized crime like kidnapping, at least, 3 of them are policemen. Similarly, for every 10 Nigerians killed from Unknown Gunmen attacks, in fact, 10 of them are policemen. The military men are no speared by Bandits in the northern part of Nigeria. In these instant cases, it is a no win situation for anyone.

Your Excellency sir, the truth remains that no country in this world has won the war against Insurgency on the battle field alone. It has always being a combination of kinetic and non-kinetic approach. The country that had nearest to what we are experiencing in Nigeria is the Philippines. When Philippines was under hostage by Luis Taruc-led Hukbalahp Insurgency group, the then government of Elpidio Quirino, elected to deploy kinetic approach to crouch the insurgents, but could not succeed. But when Ramon Magsasay took over from Quirino, he decided to engage General Edward Lansdale who was an expert in counterinsurgency. General Lansdale was regarded as the best expert in the world. After taking a critical look at issues in Philippines, General Lansdale advised President Ramon Magsaysay to, among other things, bring his government nearer to the people of the Philippines. Magsaysay followed Lansdales advice to the last and HUK guerilla movement became a thing of the past. Your Excellency, the point I am trying to make here is that, when a country is fighting insurgency, the best and easy way to contain it, is by mobilising and deploying the Collective Will of the citizens, as Philippines option had shown. In fact, this option was later used by General David Petraeus in Iraq and it worked perfectly well.

You will agree with me, your Excellency that when you were the executive Governor of Lagos State, your administration eliminated insecurity in the State. The strategy your Excellency adopted in fighting crime to submission was simple. As the Chief Security Officer (CSO) of the state, you summoned the then Commissioner of Police (CP) Sir Mike Okiro to Alausa, the seat of power. You told him of your governments determination to end insecurity in Lagos state. You further asked him to tell you what the Police needed to effectively fight and contain insecurity. The first thing CP Okiro demanded was daily fueling of Police operational vehicles. Your Excellency responded by creating fuel dump in Alausa. The next was provision of more operational vehicles to augment the existing ones. Your government wasted no time in providing those vehicles as well. And of course, your government motivated the Police as well. And when Police demanded support from the military, Lagos state government under your leadership, gave standing order to provide military support to the then GOC. This too, was done. Your Excellency sir, when your supporters were saying you fought insecurity to stand still as Governor of Lagos state; many doubted it, until Sir Mike Okiro gave a graphic detail of how your government wrestles Lagos state from criminals.

Your Excellency, as CSO of Lagos state, you never went to Europe or USA to buy AK-47s and RPGs for the Police to end insecurity in Lagos state, you simply boosted the operational capacity of the Police in your state, and the great feat was achieved. Now that your Excellency is both the Chief Security Officer (CSO) and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of The Federal Republic of Nigeria(C-in-C); the strategy of fighting crime has not changed. What has changed is dimension of crime. In Lagos state, the Police was dealing with unorganised crimes, now Nigeria is dealing with organised crimes, also known as insurgency. The insurgency we are talking about here is a complicated one because of its asymmetric nature. Just as I said earlier, both military and policemen are victim of this variant of insecurity. Even if they are not victim, force of arm alone has never defeated asymmetric insurgency anywhere in the world that this writer knows.

In the course of my research, I discovered that because of Democracy and Human Rights issues in Presidential democracies, policies and programmes have never been developed anywhere in the world to Enhance or make the Job of a C-in-C Efficient and Effective. And that is the greatest problem confronting Presidents in Presidential Democracies, in attempt at tackling insurgency, particularly, the asymmetric type in a multi-ethnic country. Your Excellency, as it is now, only you as the C-in-C of the armed forces of the federal republic of Nigeria can lead the charge to end insurgency in Nigeria. The current protocol situation where the service chiefs come to brief you on progress in the fight against insecurity alone, cannot solve the problem totally. Your Excellency, there is the need for you to strategically mobilize and deploy the Collective Will of Nigerians to contain the current insurgency in the country via Scientific Intelligence Gathering System (SIGS).

Your Excellency, permit me to explain what I mean by strategic mobilization and deployment of the Collective Will of Citizens of Nigerians to contain insurgency. Everybody in the country believes that security should be and is everyones business, but no one has put up a realistic and sustainable way Nigerians will be involved. It is easy to say Nigerians should report the kidnappers and bandits to the security agencies, but the real issue remains, how the safety of an intelligence supplier will be guaranteed afterwards. The TRUST problem between citizens and lead security agency, Police, is the greatest obstacle here. Only recently, the current Chairman of Police Service Commission (PSC), Solomon Arase, at an International Symposium On Countering Organised Crimes in Africa, themed, Drug Crimes, Terrorism, Arms Trafficking, Marine Crimes, Environmental Crime, and Auto Theft; which was organized by the Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Integrity Watch; said, Citizens must fight against those threatening Nigerias sovereignty. These were his exact words: As a people, we must rise and stand firm against those who threaten the sovereign integrity of the Nigerian State, as no security agency can deliver on its mandate without the support of the people. Arases address touches on citizens involvement in containing organised crimes.

Unfortunately, Arase failed to answer the simple question of How? Nigerians should rise and stand firm against those elements he talked about in a realistic manner; bearing in mind, the vexed problem of TRUST between Police and citizens when it comes to offering intelligence on crime. To this writer, citizens can only fight realistically if Nigerians are to be allowed to bear arms, and that will only mean incubation of anarchy in the country. Even if Nigeria elects to embrace State Police, it will still not solve the problem of insurgency because it is mostly political in nature, which is why its an organised rebellion aimed at overthrowing a constituted government.

On 14th April, 2014, your Excellency twitted on your X handle as citizen Bola Tinubu thus: Nigerias security outlook is depressing. The unending attacks suggest a failure of intelligence. Government must rethink its strategy now. Clearly, there was failure of intelligence, exacerbated in part, by issues of Democracy and Human Rights. Also, there was no creative strategy the then government can possibly put in place, probably because the President in power doesnt know in practical terms, he was also the C-in-C of the armed forces of the federal republic of Nigeria, as such, he was duty bound to strategically mobilise and deploy the Collective Will of Citizens of Nigeria to end the bloodletting. Perhaps, the President then didnt know that the most important reason a sitting President is called the C-in-C of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic Nigeria is that, he is the Supreme Commanding Officer particularly, in charge of the Operational Component of all the Arms Bearing Security Establishments in Nigeria. Your Excellency, it is only when you take over the operational component of Police as the Supreme IGP of Nigeria, by the virtue of being the C-in-C, that you can rethink security strategy, as far as asymmetric insurgency is concerned in Nigeria.

Under the immediate past President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, the issue of intelligence failure cropped up. When the President visited the scene of the unfortunate Kuje correctional centre terrorist attack, he blamed it on failure of intelligence system. Your Excellency, it could be seen that the two Presidents before your Excellency apparently failed in the area of intelligence System management. And the reason for their failure is simple  treating insurgency induced insecurity as conventional insecurity. They also forgot that insurgency is an organized rebellion involving subversion before conflict manifestation. It was the realization that terrorism is an existential threat that made President George Bush Junior-led government to establish DHS to PREVENT further terrorist attacks in America. In Nigeria of today, there are dimensions of organized crime: Kidnapping, Banditry, Unknown Gunmen etc. These crimes are carried out by more than one person and involve long time of planning and coordination.

Your Excellency sir, the easiest and most effective way to strategically mobilise and deploy the Collective Will of Citizens of Nigeria to contain insurgency is through Scientific Intelligence Gathering System (SIGS). Under SIGS, Data will be generated and it can be verified by your Excellency as the Supreme IGP in charge of Police operations, right inside Aso-Villa. Your Excellency, SIGS will greatly enhance your Job as the C-in-C, as you will mention simultaneous presence in every community in Nigeria. This automatically implies that all intelligence supplied on organized crimes by Nigerians from all the communities in the country, will be available to your Excellency in Aso-Villa in real time. It will interest your Excellency to know that SIGS is made possible by the Data Harvesting and Management (DH&M) component of Anonymous Mail-in Crime Report (AMICR). Your Excellency will agree with me that Kuje correctional centre terrorist attack wouldnt have taken place if there was Scientific Intelligence Gathering System (SIGS) in place because the C-in-C then, would have gotten all the intelligence supplied before the attack. Honourable Idris Wase, the Deputy Speaker of the 9th House of Representatives, disclosed after Kuje correctional centre terrorist attacks that DSS frontloaded 44 intelligence reports to relevant security agencies for action.

Your Excellency sir, since every Nigerian, from the security circle, to ordinary man on the street, believes that the key to defeating insurgency in the country is for citizens to come together to contain the menace; what is lacking is a realistic strategy on How? Nigerians can come together to achieve this task. Your Excellency sir, only you as the C-in-C of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria can strategically mobilise and deploy the Collective Will of citizens to End INSURGENCY in the country. In doing this, Your Excellency may order Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) to establish a Community Based Strategic Security Ecosystem (CBSSE), within which Anonymous Mail-in Crime Report (AMICR) will be complementing other existing intelligence gathering channels in every community in Nigeria. AMICR is an intelligence gathering system aimed at preventing organized crimes in every community in Nigeria. AMICR will complement the efforts of: Traditional Rulers, Community Leaders, Religious Leaders and other stakeholders in security management in our various communities in Nigeria.

CBSSE will automatically mean that no community in Nigeria can genuinely complain of organised crimes induced insecurity again. CBSSE can automatically stop or drastically reduce Kidnapping, Banditry, Unknown Gunmen and other organised crimes in Nigeria. Why would any community in Nigeria complain of insecurity when they can directly or indirectly supply information on crime to Police under CBSSE? With AMICR, every community in Nigeria will have a full complement of information supply system (direct or indirect) intelligence supply system. The good aspect of AMICR is that your Excellency can monitor it from Aso-Villa because it is a Data based programme. Exact primary Data, they say, dont lie. Your Excellency sir, AMICR complemented CBSSE represents a classical case of thinking out of the box, as far as fighting the current asymmetric insurgency in Nigeria is concerned.

Your Excellency, history supports a king Hieron of Syracuse in Sicily using exact primary Data to prove to his subjects that his goldsmith stole his gold while turning the gold bar given to him to a golden crown. When the goldsmith delivered the crown, the king suspected his gold was stolen by the goldsmith, but could not prove it. The king then turned to his friend, Archimedes to help him out. Archimedes took up the challenge. It was in the bathroom that Archimedes stumbled on the solution to king Hierons suspicion. According to Archimedes, when I got into the tub, my body displaced a lot of water. Now there must be a relationship between my volume and the volume of water that my body displaced-because if I werent so big, less water would have spilled on my floor. Archimedes thereafter questioned  what if he put the crown in water? How much water would it displace? And could he apply this to prove that the crown was made of pure gold? Archimedes realized that the crowns density was the key. In a nutshell, Archimedes was able to proof with Data that indeed, the goldsmith stole king Hierons gold. What is known as Archimedes principle today was brought about by the kings quest to democratically prove his case. Your Excellency sir, as the Head of State (King) of Nigeria, by virtue of you being the C-in-C of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, AMICR affords you the opportunity of using Date to complementarily prevent and fight organised insecurity in Nigeria.

It may interest your Excellency to know that the task before you under AMICR, as the C-in-C and the Apex Chief Security Officer of Nigeria, is simple, ask Police authorities Data based questions and demand answers. Your Excellency sir, AMICR is so well designed to make your job as C-in-C effective and efficient. Based on the design of AMICR, your Excellency is to establish situation room in Aso-Villa for monitoring, analyzing and evolution of Data harvested from the programme. Your Excellency may appoint a Data analytic expert who will be availing you update on how Police is handling and processing intelligence they gathered on organised crimes from every community in Nigeria. The situation room will be equipped with a giant smart television or projector. Good enough, Nuhu Ribadu-led ONSA may coordinate the Data Harvesting, Management and Evaluation component of AMICR, for efficiency and effectiveness.

It may interest your Excellency to know that Anonymous Mail-in Crime Report (AMICR) is a hybrid version of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in US and National Council for Crime Prevention (NCCP) in Sweden. As I have already explained, DHS was established in US to among other things, Prevent terrorism which is an organized crime. AMICR however, has some advantages over DHS. In the first place, the President of USA has to depend on what DHS gives him as intelligence report without verification, but in AMICR, your Excellency can verify every intelligence supply to the Police on organized crimes. Secondly, DHS is excessively bureaucratic in nature with 240,000 employees; such will not apply under AMICR.

Research by statista.com on Trust in Police by country shows Denmark, Netherlands and Sweden as the top three (3) countries in the world. The citizens of these three countries have high Trust in operation of their Police. In Sweden, however, it was discovered that the country has National Council for Crime Prevention (NCCP). The Councils mission is to reduce crime and improve levels of safety in society by producing data and disseminating knowledge on crime and crime prevention work. It also produces Swedens official crime statistics, evaluates reforms, conducts research to develop new knowledge and provides support to local crime prevention work. This is exactly what Anonymous Mail-in Crime Report (AMICR) under ONSA will be saddled with. Like DHS, NCCP is bureaucratic in nature and the Prime Minister of Sweden has to depend on report from it for action, unlike AMICR where the C-in-C can verify every report on organised crimes, if he so desires.

Your Excellency sir, I know you are a leader that has ear, eye on the ground for any creative proposal that will make your administration successful. You demonstrated this in Minna, Niger State, not too long ago as presidential candidate of APC. During your campaign interaction in the state, with agricultural stakeholder for the development of agricultural policy for the Renewed Hope Agenda, your Excellency took everyone by surprise with a decision you made. When the governor of Kebbi state, Atiku Bagudu, finished his submission on Agricultural Roadmap, you took to the podium, but instead of giving your submission, you simply said there was nothing to say again, as Bagudus roadmap had taken the shine out of your own. There and then, you ordered a committee be setup with Bagudu as the Chairman to coordinate Agricultural policy of APC.

Your Excellency sir, I know your Government will not shy away from any SCIENTIFIC solution that can help in ending organised insecurity in Nigeria, on the basis of this fact, I propose that Anonymous Mail-in Crime Report (AMICR) be adopted as auxiliary National Security Policy immediately. AMICR is purely Intelligence Gathering Action Plan that seeks to make every Nigerian a Whistle Blower on Insecurity in the country. It ensures the safety of any Nigerian offering intelligence on crime in his community; as their identity will not be known. It is designed to prevent organized crimes in our various communities in Nigeria. It is non kinetic in nature. It ensures equality of access to intelligence offering process in Nigeria. It gives the Chief Security in command (CSOs), the President and C-in-C, at the national level and Governors at the sub-national levels, gilt-edged opportunity to oversight Police managers via Exact Primary Data. It is capable of enhancing professionalism in Policing in Nigeria. It ensures the safety of Policemen, in and out of duty, as they will be harvesting intelligence on crime on 24/7 because it is anchored on Sun Tsus maxim: if you know your enemy, in hundred battles, he will be defeated.

AMICR will eliminate Misinformation around insecurity like Insecurity tag & Profiling, Hate Speech and Fake news. Most of, if not all the reports linking Kidnapping, Assassination, Banditry etc to activities of Fulani herdsmen, are not entirely true, but because Nigerians dont have the opportunity of utilizing a Secured and Protective intelligence gathering channel, to report criminal activities within their immediate environments; ethnic profiling has become the order of the day. When AMICR comes on board, Nigerians will have the opportunity of divulging accurate information about Insecurity Masterminds and Perpetrators unhindered. This will render Hate Speech, Fake and Hate news purveyors irrelevant, as they will be ignored for good.

The Fundamental reason behind AMICR is Trust: It appears the mindset of Nigerians on Police is that of mistrust. This Trust problem leads to apparent lack of Confidence in the police in the area of supplying information on criminality. Confidentiality Hazard: In effort at offering intelligence via phone, the problem of trace back to source occasioned by wire tap and hacking becomes another impediment. Fear that useful information supplied may be swept under the carpet or complainant becoming an accused; generally militate against effective policing in Nigeria. Thus in AMICR, NIPOST will serve as Intermediary or go-between the citizens and Police towards intelligence gathering for crime prevention and fighting in Nigeria. In terms spread, NIPOST and Police run neck and neck, as far as presence in the nooks and crannies of Nigeria is concerned. With NIPOST having about 5000+ outlets scattered all over Nigeria, and with Police having even more outlets, hence the imperativeness of AMICR.

Your Excellency sir, work on AMICR is 98% completed. I have interfaced with both Police and NIPOST, in line with directive from OSGF, and report on the interface had since been submitted to Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF). The remaining 2% work left on AMICR has to do with Your Excellency issuing an Executive Order on AMICR. What is needed now, Your Excellency is for Mallam Nuhu Ribadu-led ONSA or any other office of your choice, to coordinate this final part of AMICR action plan. Once Executive Order was issued, AMICR will automatically become law in Nigeria. This will galvanize the interest of Nigerians on the programme. An Executive Order proclamation on AMICR will also give meaning to FG-led Community Policing, as every Nigerian will automatically take charge of security within their community. I sincerely believe that AMICR a Scientific Intelligence Gathering System (SIGS) needed in Nigeria now. The realistic missing link in, Nigerians should unite, come together, speak with one voice etc, against insecurity is SIGS!

Thank you for your attention to this matter, and I wish you the best in your endeavors for the betterment of our beloved country.

Emeka Oraetoka,

Is an Independent Advocate of Anonymous Mail-in Crime Report (AMICR)

09039094636, 08056031187.

E-mail: giltsdaimesion@gmail.com.

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A young man from Ebonyi State popularly known as

3quater has been allegedly Killed by some Vigilante boys at Angwan Fulani Dei Dei in Abuja yesterday.

According to report, he was accused of stealing a phone that belongs to the girlfriend of a Vigilante member that killed him and the phone was later found.

Speaking with newsmen, Nollywood who shared the pictures of the ugly incident said is enough in Killing our innocent citizens of Nigeria.

According to him, This is our beloved brother from ebonyi state his name is 3quater he was Killed by some Vigilante boys at Angwan fulani Dei Dei Abuja yesterday.

He was accused of steeling a phone that belongs to the girlfriend of the Vigilante guy that Killed him and the phone was later found

This issue of Kill!ng an innocent people by Vigilante men must stop, enough is enough of kill!ng our innocent citizens of Nigeria by so called our Nigeria.

Security men I dont know why the people that are made to protect us are the once K!lling us.

Please, I am calling on Commissioner of police f.c.t and Inspector General of police to go into action to give our brother justice.

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Governor Alex Otti of Abia State has said that anger that propelled the issuance of a release by Dr. Okezie Ikpeazus aide suggests that the former Governor was actually expecting to be paid pension.

Otti made this known while reacting to a press statement issued by the immediate past Governor of Abia State, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu through his Spokesman, Onyebuchi Ememanka.

Recall, Impartial Observers had reported that Governor Otti has signed a bill into law stopping payment of pension to Former Governors and Deputy Governors in the state.

Reacting, Otti in a statement signed by Ferdinand Ekeoma, Special Adviser Media and Publicity to the Governor said infantile release and the tone thereof suggests that Ikpeazu is angry over Ottis decision to repeal the law which has since attracted massive accolades and support from the people.

He further said that Ikpeazu didnt need to remind Abians that he has not received a dime as pension since leaving office because he is not in a position to pay himself

The statement reads in parts,

We therefore state as follows:

1. At no time did Abia State government or her Spokespersons issue any statement mentioning Dr. Ikpeazu or any former Governor with respect to the repealed law. The law is a state policy that would outlive every Governor and Deputy Governor. It is not targeted at any individual or individuals.

2. The infantile release and the tone thereof suggests that Ikpeazu is angry over Ottis decision to repeal the law which has since attracted massive accolades and support from the people.

3. Ikpeazu didnt need to remind Abians that he has not received a dime as pension since leaving office because he is not in a position to pay himself. Of course, Governor Otti could not have paid him when the Governor has been busy grappling with the task of trying to clean the mess and clear years of accumulated arrears running into several billions which the former Governor left behind.

4. The anger that propelled the issuance of that release suggests that the former Governor was actually expecting to be paid by Governor Otti, just like he, Ikpeazu paid his predecessors. As much as we do not begrudge the former Governor for having that expectation that has now been dashed, it is important to remind him that it would be a clear act of injustice for him to be paid when he did not deem it fit as Governor to prioritise the pensions of thousands of senior citizens who are hoping on the intervention of the present Governor for the payment of their accumulated arrears, some of them dating back to 2015. Governor Alex Otti is simply thinking Abians first, hence the luxury of politicians remains secondary.

5. Dr. Ikpeazu and his aides know very well that Governor Otti is facing governance with seriousness, sincerity and tenacity which is why the state is swiftly becoming a positive reference point, therefore Governor Otti does not require such unsolicited admonition from the former Governor to realise the need to face governance.

6. Just the way Dr. Ikpeazu issued a needless controversial and distortional press statement before the Commissioning of the Geometric Power Plant, and many others he had issued before then, its now obvious that these releases are a creation of a complex predicated on the false assumption that he is on a performance contest with Governor Otti.

7. As much as the present government is poised and prepared to correct every wrong that was done by the previous government and recover whatever that was allegedly looted, we have however refused to personalise our policies and actions, just as we have intentionally refused to make Ikpeazu or any other former Governor a subject of public discourse. We therfore wonder why Ikpeazu is consistently on this panic mode which has created an infantile obsession that sees him either churning out false data of what he left behind or laying claim to what he never did.

8. Finally, we wish to assure Dr. Ikpeazu and others with similar mindset that Governor Otti is here to serve all citizens equally, irrespective of class.

We wish to also remind him that no leader can perpetually convince the people of his performance by mere rhetoric, no matter how much he intends to distort facts, so he should quit struggling to convince Abians that he did wonders as Governor, but should rather allow Abians be the Judge, after all, Late Dee Sam Mbakwe has no spokesman that reminds the people of his achievements as Governor, yet the people consistently remember his achievements and are celebrating him unconditionally.

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President of Nigerias Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, CON has in faraway Geneva, Switzerland at the ongoing 148th Session of the International Parliamentary Union (IPU) took the bull by the horns when in an audacious display of depth and the Nigerian spirit called for action towards an enduring ceasefire and peace in Gaza. Akpabio was unequivocal in declaring that the time to end the carnage in Gaza is now and all hands must be on the deck.

According to the President of the Senate, there is time for everything and the present circumstances demand all nations to rise above sentiments and invoke the spirit of humanity, by doing all it requires to bring sustainable peace to the region.

Akpabio, whose contributions evoked a whirlwind of emotions at the session, attracted comments from a wide spectrum of the global community. As the head of Nigerian delegation, which included the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Kalu and other lawmakers from both the Senate and House of Representatives, Akpabio unequivocally spoke with clarity of mind and certain terms, setting the tone for robust and fruitful deliberations on the war in Gaza, which has so far left children and women killed, shelling of more than two-thirds of Northern Gaza and annihilation of the entire population.

This contribution has brought out the best of humanity in Senator Akpabio; his milk of kindness and compassion was brought to bare as he sought for the return of humanitarian aid, and restoration of normal life to Gaza, as well as meetings on a permanent truce.

Akpabios presentation at the IPU is a testimony to the fact that Nigeria has regained her voice in the comity of nations and is poised to take her pride of place as the giant of Africa. The era of playing second fiddle and being muzzled by smaller nations on the continent is effectively over, courtesy of the ostentatious, courageous and purposeful leadership exemplified in the ilks of the Akpabios.

His presentation was awe-inspiring words and like John the Baptist, the voice of one nation crying in the wilderness that the world should rise up and take a proactive decision. He said Madam President, this is a lone voice from Nigeria. We tried our best in Angola and we failed to lend a collective voice to 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 the proposal. The basic tenets of humanity demands that we leave here with a resolution for the rest of the world, to show that we have human feelings in us.

The issues are very clear. If you notice the proposal for 12 blocs; they attempted to even marry the proposals from South Africa. Yes! 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 do not have water to drink even as we are talking now. We have people who are going to suffer infection from gunshots.

Hitting the nail on the head, the leader of the Nigerian delegation submitted that humanity must not be lost on the altar of emotions. Humanity must be expressed, demonstrated and its impact felt. According to Akpabio, We have to show the world that we are human beings. The cessation of hostilities must be a part of our resolutions. Access to humanitarian aid must be a part of our resolutions. At the same time, release of hostages and even those who are Prisoners of War, because if both sides take steps in releasing the hostages, releasing the Prisoners of War, it means that both sides have agreed that the International Community can go to the next stage, which is negotiation for sustainable peace.

If they cannot agree, I would urge that from here, we have a three-man drafting committee to come up with those resolutions which we must make before we leave here. We can no longer allow a child to die tonight, without lending our voice. It doesnt matter which side. We are all parents. If we come here to look for ego and then try to be emotional, its not affecting them.

Nothing is affecting Denmark, theres nothing affecting South Africa. The people affected are over there and 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 would be my plea.

Let them go aside, meet and remove those vexatious items. In the course of their discussions, we can have amendments, we can add items that we should add but we must discuss the Gaza issue in this 148th IPU Assembly. That is my position, he declared.

This is incisive and denotative. It means Nigeria is no longer playing at the periphery but in the mainstream of global legislative politics and it must be heard loud and clear. As the 148th Session of the IPU comes to a close, delegates from the member nations would depart with an indelible message, the call by Senator Godswill Akpabio that sanity must return to Gaza.



Rt. Hon Eseme Eyiboh is the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity and the official Spokesperson to the President of the Senate

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From Joshua Chibuzo Andrew

Imo foremost philanthropist, and the owner of Ruudo construction and engineering company has become the latest Victim of haphazard Journalism, following the allegation against him, of looting one billion naira made for road construction in Imo.



The blackmail against the respected okigwe born business mogul is said to have generated serious concern in the State, following the recent announcement of New government functionaries by the Governor, Hope Uzodimma over the weekend.

In the character assassinating publication on Friday, titled Imo Traders Call Out Tony Chukwu Over Abandoned Ogbo-Osisi Road Project, Allege Money Meant For Construction Pocketed. Tony Chukwu, popularly known as Onwehu Ihe Kariri Chineke was wrongly blackmailed by suspected Political rivals who are impersonating traders in Imo.

On investigation, our correspondent gathered that the Purported road contract was awarded to Ruudo construction and engineering company by former Governor of the State, Dr. Ikedi Ohakim in 2011. unfortunately, when Ohakim lost his second term election to Okorocha, the contract was reviewed.

Impartial Observers reliably gathered that Okorocha led administration slashed sum of N200M against N1bn awarded by Ohakim government, still yet did not Mobilized the contractor, Ruudo to site.

Ruudo construction, a well known engineering company has never involved in contract Scam in Imo. Ogbo-Osisi Road Project failed as a result of politics and Okorocha High-handedness.

I have been in this ministry for years. Those writing to blackmail the innocent Man should get ready to face the consequences because there is no evidence of reality in their Allegations.

After the road contract was reviewed during Okorocha first term. He did not Mobilize for the contract. It was during his second term that he wanted to use the road contract to seek support for his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu just like he did to others, but Chukwu never accepted. A senior staff in the ministry told Impartial Observers.

On a chat with our correspondent who visited the road on Monday for a fact finding mission, traders in their groups, revealed that they have never authorized any press interview against Chukwu nor his company.

Ogbo-Osisi Imo traders alleged that those behind the false publication were targeting to destroy the good image of the philanthropist whose good name is a pride to Imo people.

Traders promised to fish out those behind the character assassinating publication for a possible Prosecution inline with the law.

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Tukur Mamu

Tukur Mamu, the publisher of Kaduna-based Desert Herald Newspaper, is demanding a retraction from the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, for profiling him as a terrorist financier.

This was contained in a letter dated March 25, 2024, written on his behalf by his lawyer, J.J. Usman (SAN), addressed to the AGF.

Recall that the Federal Government unveiled the identity of 15 entities, including nine individuals and six Bureau De Change operators and firms, allegedly involved in terrorism financing.

Details of the development were revealed by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit in an email sent to The PUNCH entitled Designation of Individuals and Entities for March 18, 2024.

However, counsel for Mamu, who has been in detention since 2022, noted that the Nigerian Sanctions Committee lacks the statutory mandate to pronounce on, and to designate Mr. Tukur Mohammed Mamu as a terrorist financier.

Consequently, according to the letter, a seven-day ultimatum was handed down for the retraction of Mamu as a terrorist financier to prevent litigation.

The lawyer noted that the office of the AGF is currently prosecuting his client on allegations concerning terrorism.

He said it was lamentable that while the case was still pending in court, the social media was saturated by a publication allegedly emanating from and authorised by your good office.

The letter partly read, However, the said publication was specifically made by the Nigerian Sanctions Committee wherein our client was profiled and designated as a terrorist financier.

As at the time of this missive, no court of competent jurisdiction in Nigeria has designated our client as such.

It is a common knowledge that the administration of the criminal justice system in Nigeria is not only antithetic to, but forbids media trial in whatever guise.

We vehemently condemn the actions of the Nigerian Sanctions Committee same being a violation of the rule of natural justice and prejudicial to our client who is undergoing trial, and whose trial is still pending in Suit FHCIABJ/CR/96/2023

The Nigerian Sanctions Committee lacks the statutory mandate to pronounce on, and to designate Mr Tukur Mohammed Mamu as a terrorist financier; even when it is a notorious fact that Mr Tukur Mohammed Mamu is undergoing trial. It is so, particularly that the court has not made any pronouncement detailing him to be one.

Based on the aforesaid, we demand in very clear and unequivocal terms, the immediate retraction of the said publication within seven days from the receipt of this letter dated 25h March 2024.

Failure to comply with our clients demand. we will have no hesitation in seeking redress in the court of law for the ventilation of our clients grievances.


Adetayo, a former Department of State Security staff member , disclosed this during an interview on Channels Television on Tuesday.

A National Security and Intelligence Expert, Seyi Adetayo has expressed shock over the escape of Binance Executive Nadeem Anjarwalla from custody.

He said the incident is an embarrassment to the country.

Adetayo, a former Department of State Security staff member, disclosed this during an interview on Channels Television on Tuesday.

Recall that the office of the National Security Adviser confirmed that Anjarwalla escaped from custody in Nigeria.

The Nigerian government said it had launched a manhunt for the suspect.

However, Adetayo said a contract organization or foreign government intelligence sponsored the escape.

He noted that the Nigerian security agents on duty when the escape was carried out were either bribed with money or through religion.

A contract organization or foreign government intelligence asset operated the extraction.

This is a well-planned extraction operation; for a company like Binance, it is the least they can sponsor. This is a big embarrassment to us as a nation, he said.

Anjarwalla escaped lawful custody while under a 14-day remand order by a court over tax evasion and other offences. He was scheduled to appear before it again on April 4, 2024.

Recall that the Nigerian government and Binance had been at loggerheads over the latters alleged illegal financial activities in Nigeria.
Ahmad Gumi

Controversial Islamic cleric and tutor, Ahmad Gumi, has been invited for questioning over his controversial statements on the activities of bandits in the country.

This was disclosed by the Minister of Information and Orientation, Mohammed Idris, who stated that Gumi is not above the law.

Addressing state house correspondents on Monday, March 25, the minister commented on Gumis claim of the federal government acting recklessly by tagging those yet to be tried in court as terrorism financiers.

The Kaduna-based cleric had made the claim in reaction to the identities of 15 entities released by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) for alleged terrorism.

Reacting to the claim, Idris said;



The government will stop at nothing to get any kind of information that is required to solve our problems. The security agencies are up and doing.

Sheik Gumi and any other individual are not above the law, if he has suggestions that are good enough and that are constructive enough for the security agencies to take, they will take.

But if they think that he is also making some statements that appear to be reckless, he will also be reprimanded. There is nobody above the law. Let me put it here. And Im aware that he has also been a guest of security agencies to answer questions.

When you make remarks, especially those that border on our national security it is incumbent on our national security to think further, and they are doing just that, no one is above the law.
Peter Obi, the Labour Party, LP, candidate in the 2023 presidential elections, arrived Kano on Monday, in continuation of his tour of the country.

Obi visited Sheikh Jibril Umar Jibril Mosque popularly known as Triumph Mosque located in the Fagge Local Government Area of the state and broke fast with Muslim faithfuls in the area.

The LP presidential candidate arrived at the mosque minutes before the time to break fast with the Muslims at the mosque.

Speaking shortly after the breaking of the fast, the former Anambra State Governor said he is committed to one Nigeria project.

He said: I am here to break fast together and I am happy to be here. I believe in being together as one regardless of religious or ethnic background.

I hope our prayers during this blessed month of Ramadan are answered. We are all Nigerians, we are one and I believe we must pray for our country.

I assure you of our commitment that we have in Nigeria where all people can live a better life and have peace of mind. And will live together as one. We are one. This country belongs to all of us. So thank you for the opportunity.

Earlier in the day, the former LP Presidential candidate had drilled a borehole at the Sheikh Aminu Daurawa mosque in the Dandalin Fagge area of the state.

The former governor also visited the Emir of Kano, HRH Aminu Ado Bayer, at his palace.

See photos from the visit below;
The Actors Guild of Nigeria, AGN, has debunked the report that Nollywood actor, Zack Orji is dead.

The news emerged on social media on Tuesday that the ailing thespian had passed away.

However, the National President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, Emeka Rollas, has urged the general public to disregard the rumours, saying the actor is alive.

He wrote on his Instagram account.

Mr Zack Orji is alive 

Please ignore misschief makers who enjoy circulating fake news.

This is to show how wicked some people can be. It is totally unacceptable.

He will not die but live to declare the good works of God in Jesus name.

The rumour came few days after another veteran actor, Amaechi Muonagor, passed away due to kidney failure.
Justice Sanusi Ado Maaji of Kano state high court sitting at Miller road, Bompai, has found Quandong Geng, a Chinese national, guilty of killing his girlfriend, Ummulkusum Sani Buhari (Ummita).

Geng had invaded the residence of Ummita in September 2022 and stabbed her to death during an argument.

He had fled the scene but was subsequently arrested by the police and arraigned.

During cross examination in court, he had said Ummita broke his heart by getting married to another person as he had plans of settling down with her.

Geng added that when they started preparation for their wedding, he bought her wedding dresses worth N1.5 million, sweets and other dresses they will wear on their wedding day and Asoebi for her friends and N700,000 new notes for spraying on the wedding day.

I went to Sokoto to see her family members where I spent N700,000.

On the 13th September 2022, she requested some money to be used in the house she is building in Abuja but I didnt give her because I dont have money then.

Since then, she stopped answering my calls because she thought I am broke.

He said Ummita deceived him and got married to another person but continued to request money from him and there was a time she came to Kano, and she made sure that they met.

He had said, Besides huge amounts of money I used to spend on her, I used to take her out to places like Bristol Palace and Central Hotel to eat food.

I bought her house worth N4 million, a car worth N10 million. N18 million as capital to start business, and spent N500,000 worth of bags and shoes on her new shop and N1 million worth of laces and wrappers and a house in Abuja which she started building.

He added that he bought her gold wears worth N5 million, N6 million to go and process her certificate at Sokoto University and N1 million to install the solar system in their house.

On Tuesday, the judge convicted Geng and sentenced to death.
Russia has continued to grow the number of its African partners in nuclear projects with Burkina Faso being the latest addition to the list.

The West African country is set to sign a roadmap with Rosatom, A Russian state corporation that will lead to the construction of a nuclear power plant in the country.

This was revealed to Sputnik, by Burkina Fasos Minister of Energy, Mines and Quarries, Yacouba Zabre Gouba, in an interview on the sidelines of the International Forum on Nuclear Energy (Atomexpo-2024), which was held on the Russian territory of Sirius.

The establishment of this power plant will initially help reduce the energy deficit and eventually support all sectors of Burkina Fasos socio-economic life, Gouba said.

Rosatom initially signed a memorandum with Burkina Faso in October on the construction of a nuclear-powered facility in the West African country.

This was followed by the recently proposed signing of a roadmap that will lead and guide the construction of a nuclear power plant in the country.

Russia has recently signed similar deals and entered nuclear partnerships with other African countries.

Rosatom, a Russian state corporation specializing in nuclear energy and high-tech products has increasingly looked to penetrate the African market, establishing relations with various African countries.

This aligns with the companys goal to take advantage of the continents enormous potential and expand Russias influence in Africa.

READ ALSO: Russias ballistic missiles attack causes havoc in Kyiv

African countries that have worked towards partnering with Russia on Nuclear projects include Nigeria, Tanzania, Egypt, Rwanda, Uganda, Mali, Zimbabwe, and Burundi.

In Nigeria, a recent report suggests that Russia and Nigeria are taking steps to foster a nuclear partnership and also train individuals. The Nigerian Atomic Energy Commission and Russias Rosatom are striving to speed up the process.

In Egypt, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Egypts Abdel Fattah al-Sisi formally began work on the fourth unit of Egypts Dabaa nuclear power plant in January 2024.

In Rwanda, a deal to establish nuclear plants in the country by Russias nuclear agency, Rosatom, faced stiff resistance owing to safety concerns.

In Uganda, Rosatom signed a deal with Ugandan state officials in 2016 to build a nuclear facility. The project was never carried out.
Feature: Ethiopian artist's artwork takes inspiration from Chinese classic I Ching

Xinhua) 09:52, March 26, 2024

ADDIS ABABA, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Standing in front of a canvas in an art gallery in the heart of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital, 50-year-old artist Dawit Muluneh is fully absorbed in the painting of ancient Chinese characters.

Surrounding him are collections of his artwork based on the Chinese classic "I Ching," or the "Book of Changes." The book has existed for more than 2,000 years and remains a source of Chinese culture.

"I Ching means truth and is founded on the eight gifts of nature, namely heaven, earth, thunder, wind, water, fire, mountain, and lake. In general, I Ching explains the wisdom of nature," said Muluneh in a recent interview with Xinhua at the art gallery called Medemer Africa Art and Sculpture Space.

The artwork collection, consisting of 64 paintings that represent 64 divinatory symbols in the book, portrays the day-to-day interaction between man and nature, and imparts knowledge and feelings to visitors with descriptions written in Chinese, English, and Amharic (Ethiopia's working language).

Although Muluneh does not speak Chinese, he became immediately interested in I Ching a few years ago after his friend Gossa Oda, also the gallery owner, introduced him to "The Complete I Ching," a book that explains the ancient Chinese masterpiece in English.

"The paintings, among others, express delight, hindrance, relief, encountering, courage, childhood, and union," said Muluneh, who was inspired first and foremost by the Chinese characters known as Qian and Xian, which translate as humbleness and mutual influence, respectively.

In the one-year process of painting creation, the artist resorted to the internet for more information on these Chinese characters. He has surprisingly found similarities between Ethiopian and Chinese ancient civilizations, painting styles, landscapes, and their peoples' attitudes toward nature.

"Both Ethiopia and China have ancient history in clay and bamboo works, traditional medicines, and musical instruments," said the artist, stressing that cultivating such ancient knowledge would help the countries prosper in the right way.

In explaining the book, the artist said it not only tells about the present situation and future potential but also gives instructions on what to do and what not to do to achieve good fortune and avoid misfortune.

According to the artist, the book gives guidance based on comprehensive observation of natural laws by ancient Chinese philosophers and their profound experiences.

Noting that Ethiopia and China have greatly contributed to the current world civilization, Muluneh said I Ching helps cultivate and produce well-disciplined citizens and promotes a good way of life.

He also draws similarities between Ethiopian letters and Chinese characters as well as their tea makings and coffee ceremonies, house construction, monasteries, and tombs. "The paintings are done in ways that portray those similarities."

The Medemer Africa Art and Sculpture Space, launched in May 2023, is frequently visited by schoolchildren, fellow Ethiopian artists, and some members of the Chinese community in Addis Ababa.

"Visitors to our gallery space will be introduced to the basic concepts of I Ching, and these complicated Chinese concepts will also be translated into English and Amharic," said Oda.

According to Oda, the paintings are unique in their beauty, variation, and composition, and they share an aesthetic sensibility and cultural correlations between Ethiopia and China.

Ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius and his disciples are believed to have written a book, several hundred years after I Ching, to interpret this ancient Chinese masterpiece. According to researchers, it would have been difficult to understand I Ching without Confucius' annotations or comments.

"After viewing the I Ching paintings, visitors will learn about Chinese civilization and delve deeper into the book. By reading Confucius's commentaries, they will understand China's cultural and aesthetic influence, such as the virtues of duty and piety, on world civilization," Oda said. "I Ching would help visitors know their future potential as well as their present circumstances, and each painting can be interpreted differently. It is associated with the divinatory symbol, which indicates future potential or tendency."

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
Social commentator, Solomon Buchi has queried the federal government.

In a Twitter post, he wondered why the federal government has refused to move against Bobrisky with his boasts that he has connection.

He also accused FG of acting as the crossdressers puppet.

He wrote;

Bobrisky must have friends in high places in Nigeria. Probably in the police, judiciary and random politicians, because his confidence to say and do certain things publicly shows that hes got political assurance.

Who is Bobriskys political godfather in Nigeria?

Why is the Nigerian government a puppet to Bobrisky?

If Bobrisky were a poor man, shim would have been prosecuted a long time ago. Whos covering Bobrisky?
Provisional results showed Faye, with about 53.7% and Ba with 36.2% based on tallies from 90% of polling stations in the first-round vote, the electoral commission said.

Senegalese opposition candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye has won the presidential election.

The win has seen his main opponent and former Prime Minister of the ruling coalition candidate Amadou Ba concede defeat.

Provisional results yesterday showed Faye, with about 53.7% and Ba with 36.2% based on tallies from 90% of polling stations in the first-round vote, the electoral commission said.

On Monday, ruling coalition candidate Ba, called Faye to offer his congratulations, a government spokesman told journalists.

In light of presidential election result trends and while we await the official proclamation, I congratulate Faye for his victory in the first round, Ba said in a statement.

Senegals outgoing President Macky Sall also congratulated opposition candidate Faye as his successor on Monday, hailing a victory for Senegalese democracy.

Sall, who did not stand after wins in 2012 and 2019, said he salutes the smooth running of the election and congratulates the winner, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who the poll trends show as winning.

Several opposition contenders had also conceded defeat to Faye during the night, including Anta Babacar Ngom, the only woman running.
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has raised an alarm.

NAPTIP some suspected human traffickers lure Nigerians with fake jobs in Ghana, Ivory Coast, and other countries in West Africa.

The Agency explained that the suspected traffickers exploit coordinated global brand trademarks and present unrealistic oil and gas job offers to traffic youths and other groups of people to neighbouring countries in the region for various forms of exploitation.

NAPTIP said victims are enticed with promises of monthly incomes of $900 under the guise of lucrative employment opportunities in gold mining and oil companies.

According to the agency, the victims are trafficked through the waterways of Ode Jetty in Lagos en route to Benin Republic and other parts of the West African region

It added that some victims are also trafficked through the land routes.

The Director-General of NAPTIP, Prof Fatima Waziri-Azi, revealed this at the Agencys Headquarters in Abuja while discussing emerging trends in human trafficking for the year 2024.

Giving details of how the traffickers operate, Waziri-Azi in a statement in Abuja by the Communication Officer of NAPTIP, Adekoye Vincent stated: NAPTIP has uncovered a new ploy by some suspected human traffickers who are 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.

In recent times, NAPTIP has redoubled its efforts 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.

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.

WaziriAzi added: Under the guise of lucrative employment opportunities in gold mining and oil companies, victims are enticed with promises of monthly incomes as high as $900.00, which, as always, are blatant lies.

Victims are often instructed to bring up to 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.

On the category of people targetted, she 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.

Prof. Waziri-Azi while calling on Nigerians to be careful, stated: I urge you to exercise caution, ask questions, and seek a second opinion before accepting any tempting offers. Do not allow desperation to cloud your judgment.

She expressed NAPTIPs commitment to combating human trafficking and protecting the rights and dignity of all Nigerians.
A notorious bandit has been arrested.

The bandit identifeid as Nasiru Mohammed Aka Danger was arrested in Jibi forest bordering the Dei-dei area of Abuja on Saturday.

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
Nigerian comedian, Atunyota Akpobome, popularly known as Ali Baba, has issued a warning to Nigerians.

This is as he condemned the recent killing of 17 officers of the Nigerian Army in Delta, describing it as highly abominable.

The comedian said its a crime to attack soldiers.

He stated this an interview with newsmen in Lagos.

Ali Baba said the gruesome murder of the soldiers smacked of eroding societal values.

According to the comedian, the murder of soldiers showed that the nation is suffering from poor moral education in the country.

Killing another human being is bad, the killing of anybody that works for an institution, especially an institution like the army that protects the people, is worse

Overseas, when you are travelling, they (airport authorities) board the military personnel first as well as retired officers.

What it means is that we need to begin to know our values totally in the country. This is unfortunate.

You do not respect the military that protects you, you went ahead to then kill them, whatever the reason you have, it is a huge crime.

You dont kill a soldier man, you dont even push him, slap him or resist an arrest. It is a crime, the comedian, who is also from Delta, said.

He said anybody hurt by the misdemeanours of any public officers including soldiers is expected to take evidence and approach relevant authorities for redress.

Akpobome, however, called on the Public Complaints Commission, the National Orientation Agency and other institutions established to douse tensions and restore public confidence.

Recall that on March 14, at least 17 senior military officers and soldiers of the 181 Amphibious Battalion, deployed to quell clashes between Okuoma and Okoloba communities in Delta, were ambushed and killed in Okuama Ughelli South Local Government Area of the state.
Vladimir Putin has shown Russias military might with its latest combat surveillance weapon  a new drone disguised as a snow owl.

The aviation impostor  dubbed as Harry Potters owl, Hedwig  is aimed to confuse the enemy, allowing the unmanned flying vehicle to get closer to key targets in war zones.

The owl drone features a distinctive face, wings and a tail and is equipped with a laser beam to guide artillery and aviation.

It then enables other military assets to attack the target.

According to reports, military designers have seized a similar prototype designed by students at Zhukovsky academy.

The drone is slightly bigger than a real snowy owl which has a wingspan of almost five feet, and its makers claim it will be less visible than conventional unmanned aircraft.

The unmanned flying vehicle was revealed at the defense Ministrys annual expo, Army 2019 Forum, in Moscow region which opened on Tuesday.

A second drone for use by the Russian military machine  not seen yet  is a mock falcon which makes bird-like noises, it was reported.

The polar owl drone was created by military Innovation Technopolis ERA in Anapa, set up by a Putin presidential decree last year.

The aim is to develop and fast track ingenious innovative technology for use by the Russian military, and Putin is known to take a personal interest in its work.

The drone weights five kilograms  or 11 lbs  and has a flying time of 40 minutes. It can be launched and operated by one person.

The snowy owl drone is likely to be deployed as part of an increase in Russian military operations in the Arctic.

It is unclear when the falcon drone will be unveiled.
Prof. Wole Soyinka

Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, has warned the Federal Government against the proposed establishment of Ruga settlements across the country for herdsmen.

He warned that the move, if not checked will set the country on fire.

Speaking in Lagos on Tuesday at the launch of United Nations Solutions 17 SDG programme, Soyinka berated the federal government for the idea, which will said can cause Nigeria to explode.

According to him: Ruga is going to be an explosion if not handled with care. But why do we not take our policies from good models? This is not the way people and countries deal with issues of cattle.

I travel everywhere. It has to be handled in a way that is logical, comprehensible to the environment. When a cattle walks up to the window of my house in Abeokuta, a house which is located in a residential area, then theres a problem.

When cattle goes to Ijebu Ode and eat up their plant seedlings and so on and you expect people to be quiet?

He stated the handling of the herdsmen issue by President Muhammadu Buhari was enough to make him lose re-election.

President Buhari deserved to have lost the last election for the lackadaisical attitude he took to the issue of cattle rearing in the country.

People have been killed in hundreds just because of the failure of leadership at a critical time. And the cattle herders have been given a sense of impunity. They kill without any compunction, they drive away the farmers who have been contributing to the food solutions in the country, the cattle eat their crops and then you come up with Ruga.

I think that there is going to be trouble in this country if this Ruga thing is not handled imaginatively and with humanity as priority. Any country where cattle takes priority over human life is definitely at an elementary stage, he maintained.
Omo-Agege

Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege on Wednesday approved the appointments of five Special Advisers to take charge of critical departments in his office.

According to TheNation, those appointed are: Deputy Chief of Staff Mr. Alex Onwudiamu; SA Political Affairs Mr. Godwin Anaughe; SA Special Duties Prince Efe Duku; SA Legislative and Plenary Matters and SA, Administration Mrs. Estella Nwene.

According to a statement by the Special Adviser to the Deputy President of the Senate on Media and Publicity, Mr. Yomi Odunuga, a letter confirming the appointments has been conveyed to the Clerk of the National Assembly.

The appointments are to take immediate effect.

Onwudiamu, a lawyer with over 28 years practice, is from Illah in Oshimili North Local Government of Delta State.

He was first appointed to the board of the Rural Development Agency in Delta in 2007. He was also the third executive member representing Delta North on the board of Universal Basic Education (SUBEB).

He was the former Secretary under the Chairmanship of Prof. B. I. C. Ijeoma of Anioma Political Forum. He chairs the Anioma Agenda-a political pressure group for the Anioma people. He is currently the Principal Partner in the law firm of Chibuzo, Nnamdi and Co with offices in Asaba and Lagos. He is married with four children.

Sobotie is a veteran political leader and a former Students Union Government President at the Federal Polytechnic, Auchi.

He worked in Shell for several years and was, at different times, a political adviser to governors of Delta State.

He joined the ruling All Progressives Congress last year and campaigned vigorously with the partys governorship candidate, Chief Great Ogboru. He also played critical role in the reelection of Senator Omo-Agege.

Anaughe, a graduate of Economics from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, has extensive experience in banking, investigative reporting in Nigerias oil and gas sectors.

He is also a political strategist who until his new appointment served as SSA, Communications and Strategy to the Deputy President of the Senate.

He was, for several years, the Economic, Financial and Energy correspondent/ Staff writer at the defunct Financial Post, the first weekly financial tabloid in Nigeria.

In 1990, he joined Nationwide Merchant Bank and worked in Strategic Planning, Financial services, Treasury/ Investment banking departments and rose to become the Deputy Head of Treasury.

He is married to Victoria Agbo Anaughe and blessed with many children.

Duku holds first degrees in Electrical Electronic Engineering and Law from the University of Benin and Robert Gordon University, Scotland respectively. He also holds an MBA degree in Human Resources Management. He was appointed as Senior Legislative Aide to Senator Omo-Agege in 2016, having worked very closely for over a decade with the 2019 Governorship Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Chief Great Ogboru.

An experienced hand in legislative matters with close to two decades at the National Assembly, Mrs. Estella Obukowho Nwene hails from Oria Abraka in Ethiope East LGA of Delta State. She was first appointed into the National Assembly service as a Legislative Aide attached to Late Senator Fred Aghogho Brume from Delta Central Senatorial District. She became a Permanent staff of the National Assembly in 2005.

Nwene holds two masters degrees in Public Administration and Legislative Studies. She has worked in several Committees in the National Assembly including Senate Committee on Appropriations.

She was the Assistant Clerk, Senate Committee on Women Affairs for Seven years, also acting Secretary, Tables Duties Department in the Senate.

She is married to Engr Obi Odilichukwu Nwene from Anambra State and their union is blessed with a son.
All is not well with the PDP as its governorship campaign in Zamfara State had to be halted following fresh attacks on communities by bandits in the state.

The partys governorship candidate, Bello Matawalle, announced the decision at a news briefing in Gusau on Tuesday.

I want to announce that I have suspended all my campaign programmes due to the renewed rising bandits activities in the state.

I also wish to call on the government and security agencies to come up with practical measures that will adequately bring the bandits activities to an end, he said.

Matawalle, who expressed concern over the attacks, lamented that the situation was now taking a new dimensions where victims were particularly identified before being either killed, kidnapped or maimed.

The bandits had, on Monday, stormed Ruwan Bore community in Gusau local government, killing the elder sister of a serving Senator, Kabiru Marafa; and several others.

An eye witness, Usman Makama, told NAN that the hoodlums attacked the village heads house, where they killed one of his wives before moving into the village.

They put the gun in her mouth and blew up her head, after which they abducted the village head and one other person and then moved inside the village.

This morning, we carried out the burial rites of 13 persons, including Ade, the district heads wife; and we were told that the bandits attacked two other villages of Tudun Wadan Mai Jatau and Takoka where they killed scores, he said.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Mohammed Shehu, said the Police were on top of the situation but that details were still scanty.
File Photo

A 24-year-old man, Seidu Abdulahi, who allegedly stole a 3.9 gram gold chain worth N250,000, on Wednesday appeared before a Surulere Chief Magistrates Court in Lagos.

Abdulahi, of no fixed address, is facing a charge of stealing.

The Police Prosecutor, Sgt. Anthonia Osayande, told the court that the defendant committed the offence sometime in the month of January, at Tejuosho Market, Yaba, Lagos.

Osayande alleged that the defendant, who got tips for bringing customers to shop owners in Yaba, tricked the complainant, one Bashiru Mumini, into believing that someone wanted to buy a gold chain, and immediately absconded with it.

She said that Abdulahi was arrested weeks after, when he was spotted again at the market.

The prosecutor said the offence contravened Section 287 (1) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

Abdulahi, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The Chief Magistrate, Mrs Oluyemisi Adelaja, granted the accused bail in the sum of N50,000 with two responsible sureties in like sum.

Adelaja adjourned the case until March 25, for trial.

[NAN]




Senate

Nigerians have rejected a bill seeking to amend section 308 of the 1999 Constitution to provide immunity for presiding officers of the National Assembly including the Senate president, speaker, deputy Senate president and deputy speaker yesterday scaled through second reading at the House of Representatives. Section 308 of the countrys constitution provides immunity to the president, vice president, governors and their deputies.

The proposal is to amend the section to accommodate the presiding officers of both national and state assemblies. Daily Trust reports that thunderous rejection is trailing the proposal. This is the second time that the proposal would be made during President Muhammadu Buharis administration.

At the eighth assembly, a similar bill sponsored by the then House Minority Leader, Leo Ogor did not see the light of the day.

The proposal, Daily Trust reports was against item five on the 2014 manifesto of the All Progressives Congress (APC) that reads, Amend the constitution to remove immunity from prosecution for elected officers in criminal cases.

The parliament is populated by the APC members. Section 308 of the constitution reads: (1) (a) no civil or criminal proceedings shall be instituted or continued against a person whom this section applies during his period of office, while (b) provides that, a person to whom this section applies shall not be arrested or imprisoned during that period either in pursuance of the process of any court or otherwise, and (c) says no process of any court requiring or compelling the appearance of a person to whom this section applies shall be applied for or issued.

Consequently, subsection (3) provides that This section applies to a person holding the office of President, or Vice-President, Governor or Deputy Governor; and the reference in this section to period of office is a reference to the period during which the person holding such office is required to perform the functions of the office.

At plenary yesterday, the bill, sponsored by Rep Olusegun Odebunmi (APC, Oyo) tagged, An Act to Alter Section 308 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Extend Immunity to Cover Presiding Officers of Legislative Institutions, scaled second reading. Odebunmi, argued that the immunity bill was to protect the presiding officers from distraction and to make them to fully concentrate on their legislative duty without compromise. The Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila urged the sponsor to make the implementation of the bill futuristic.

He said being one of the presiding officers, he will not be the judge in his own case, and he was not willing to benefit from the privilege of the bill when passed into law.
Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High Court, Asaba has sentenced an internet fraudster Tonwerigha Oyintonbra Tombrown to 66 years imprisonment without an option of fine.

Tombrown was jailed Tuesday for defrauding one Izabela Glogowska to the tune of ( 55,000) Fifty Five Thousand Euros under the pretext of paying it into her Perfect Money online account.

The convicted fraudster had pleaded not guilty upon arraignment by the Port Harcourt Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in Federal High Court, Asaba, Delta State, on November 9, 2016.

He was prosecuted on thirty-three count charge, bordering on impersonation and obtaining money by false pretence. However, at the resumed hearing on the matter on February 13, 2020, he switched gear and pleaded guilty to all the charges.

One of the charges reads: That you Tonweirigha Oyintonbra Tombrown (alias Michael Freeman, Yoshinaka corporation) on or about the 8th day of May 2015, at Warri, Delta State, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, with intent to defraud, did present yourself as one Michael Freeman a famous online trader and obtained the sum of (5800) Five Thousand Eight Hundred Euros from Izabela Glogwoska under the false pretence that you were going to pay the said sum into Izabela Glogwoskas Perfect Money account, a pretence you knew to be false, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(1) (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the said Act.

Prosecuting counsel, A.I Arogha reviewed the facts of the case and urged the court to convict him accordingly.

Justice Dimgba convicted and sentenced the defendant to two years imprisonment on each of the thirty three count charges without an option of fine. The sentence is, however, to run concurrently from August 11, 2018, the date the convict was taken into custody.

The judge further ruled that the EFCC should remit to the victim of the fraud, the sum of 30,475, being part of the proceeds of crime, which the convict had returned through the Commission in the course of investigation and prosecution of the case
Pete and Yul Edochie

Yul Edochie, Nigerian actor, appeared to have taken a contradictory stance to a recent opinion by Pete Edochie, his father, on marriage proposals.

Pete, who clocked 73 on Saturday, recently caused a stir on social media when he called out Nigerian men who kneel down to propose to their women, branding them idiots and bloody fools.



The veteran movie star had argued that such practice was not only strange to Africas way of life but also suggestive that men were handing their supposed authority in marriage to their wives.

Any young man who gets on his knees to propose to a girl, is not just an idiot, hes a bloody fool, a compound buffoon, he had said.



We are trying to copy white people, right? I believe in the sacrosanctity of our culture, the essence and the core of our culture.

His comments had been trailed by heated arguments with many taking sides with his view while others disagreed.

Nearly three weeks after the lingering dispute over Petes opinion, Yul took to his Instagram page to share a video clip of himself kneeling down to propose to a lady.

The video  a clip from one of the movies he featured in the past  which was posted on Sunday, was accompanied by a terse post which read steady kneeling since 1900.

The 37-year-old actor has made the headlines on several occasions for his often controversial views on societal issues.
The death of Abba Kyari, Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday is perceived to have created power vacuum in the Presidency. Many considered Abba Kyari to be governing Nigeria on behalf of President Buhari. Kyari was construed in some quarters as Nigerias de facto President while Buhari was de jure but passive President.

More so, Abba Kyari was considered the stronghold of the cabal in the Nigerian presidency. He was recommended to President Buhari by Mamman Daura, another strong man in the Nigerian presidency.

Some stakeholders envisage that Mamman Daura, a nephew of the President, would want to play himself deeper into the power structure in the Presidency to consolidate his hegemony of the State House.

Meanwhile, Daura is being isolated from President Buhari since Kyari tested positive to coronavirus on his return from Germany. Also, it is conceived that age may be catching up with Daura who was said to be in his early 80s.

Then, Babagana Kingibe, who has been acting as Chief of Staff to President Buhari while Abba Kyari was on Coronavirus treatment may be ambitious to grab the power in the Nigerian presidency. Though, Babagana Kingibe is also old like others in the seat of power, his machination skills in power struggle may make up for the age deficiency.

This could throw the Nigerian presidency into the dynamic vibrancy of the younger generation led by the wife of the President, Hajia Aisha Buhari, who has over the years schemed to the outskirt of the power structure in the Abba Kyari regime.

Aisha had at different times raised alarm about the cabal in the Presidency. She has persistently refused to be silenced.

Aishas advocacy for good governance and critics of government failures endeared her to the love of majority Nigerians.

Aisha Buhari is being perceived to have began the struggle for a new power structure in the Presidency the moment Kyari departed the State House for coronavirus treatment. She is believed to have influenced the redeployment of the Permanent Secretary, State House, Jalal Arabi, to another department. The perm sec was conceived a protege of Abba Kyari.

Furthermore, the remains of the cabal may rise to fight back. There are indications that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, may lead the remains of the cabal Kyari left behind to hold on to the hegemony of the State House. The Presidents media aides may have real battle to fight to sustain the Kyari cabal for personal survival.

Some stakeholders were of the view that the SGF, Boss Mustapha, was already acting like the apparent heir to the throne of the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari in subtle ways.

Some project the subsequently, the conflagration in the Presidency may open cracks in Buharis power bloc. Then, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and/or the All Progressives Congress national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, may take advantage of the cracks to build inroads and possibly inherit the throne.
The National Assembly has warned all the revenue generating federal ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) engaging in diversion of revenues to desist from the act.

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Finance, Sen. Solomon Adeola, gave the warning after a meeting with the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Finance.

Adeola, in a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja by his Media Adviser, Chief Kayode Odunaro, said that the era of diversion of revenues generated by MDAs was over.

According to him, the National Assembly will ensure that the Federal Government generates enough revenue to implement people-oriented policies and programmes.

It has been observed that year in year out, the Federal Government has not been able to meet its targets on independent revenue sources.

Findings indicate that the major culprit in this shortcoming is the inadequacies of MDAs, coupled with their penchant for diversion of revenue on recurrent expenditure under frivolous excuses, he said.

Adeola said that the National Assembly would not tolerate unauthorised expenditure by the ministry of finance or agencies of government not backed by law or relevant acts of the National Assembly guiding such expenditure.

He said that every expenditure must henceforth be in compliance with the Fiscal Responsibility Act and other applicable laws in Nigeria.

Reports show that over the years, the Federal Government has not been able to surpass 30 per cent of its revenue targets.

This has resulted in low level of budget implementation for critical capital projects.

We need to reverse this trend. Indeed, we intend to introduce quarterly review of targets so that needed revenue can come to the federal purse he stated.
EUREKA  The Carle Eureka Hospital will host a community blood drive with ImpactLife from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesday, April 2, at their donor bus, 101 S. Major St., Eureka.

Donors must be at least 17 or older, or 16 with parental permission form, and weigh more than 110 pounds. A photo ID also is required. Donors who last gave blood on or before Feb. 6 are eligible to participate in this drive.

The procedure takes about 45 minutes to one hour. Those with diabetes or controlled high blood pressure are able to donate.

To donate, contact Brian Wettstein at 309-467-2371 or visit bloodcenter.org and use the code 61537 to locate the drive.

For questions about eligibility, contact ImpactLife at 800-747-5401. ImpactLife is the exclusive provider to Carle Eureka Hospital and 125 other hospitals and emergency medical services throughout four states.

Photos: Deer Creek-Mackinaw girls vs Eureka during the McLean County/HOIC Tournament championship
BLOOMINGTON  A Chicago man was released from McLean County custody after authorities said he tried to drain a bank account in Bloomington using a false name.

Jay B. Dickens, 57, is charged with burglary and identity theft, accused of entering a bank with the intent to commit identity theft by fraudulently using someone elses name to obtain $300 to $2,000.

Assistant States Attorney David Fitt said on Nov. 9, 2023, Dickens went into First Financial Bank in Bloomington and used a bank-supplied countercheck to withdraw $1,000. He presented a photo ID that identified him as a resident of West Terre Haute, Indiana, and responded with accurate information for that person when asked for further identifying information, including Social Security number, residence address and mothers maiden name.

Upon learning the remaining balance in the account was $2,000, Dickens then requested to withdraw the rest, Fitt said, noting this made the bank employee more suspicious of the defendant.

Dickens told the employee he would bring his wife into the bank to confirm his identity, but he did not return, Fitt said.

Hours later, Dickens was arrested in a First Financial Bank in Danville, and police learned the defendant had obtained $24,000 from several different First Financial Bank locations by fraudulently using the identifying information of several different persons, Fitt said.

A McLean County grand jury returned a bill of indictment charging him in January.

Fitt petitioned for Dickens to be detained on the burglary and identity theft charges, arguing that the defendant committed offenses in multiple states and would be likely to flee from prosecution if released.

The prosecutor argued Dickens had used the same scheme numerous times, after reading a long list of prior cases that include the most thefts Ive ever seen in my 10 years of working here.

Defrauding banks seems to be pretty much his occupation for the last 20 years, Fitt said.

Arguing for her client's release, Assistant Public Defender Hannah Katavich said Dickens is caretaker for a child and receives treatment in Chicago for combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder from his previous military service.

Katavich argued the list of resolved prior cases showed Dickens sees his cases through and shows up to court.

Judge Scott Black noted he had ruled in a previous case to detain a defendant who appeared to have taken great steps to avoid being arrested in the case. I thought that thwarted the judicial process  as required to make a ruling on willful flight as defined by the Pretrial Fairness Act  but the appellate court disagreed with me.

In Dickens' case, he denied the states petition, noting there was no evidence the defendant had tried to run or flee police when he was confronted.

Black said he had no doubt that under the previous cash bail system, Dickens would have received a high bond, and the long list of prior charges shows hes probably going to commit another crime, (but) thats not the standard theyve given us, like it or not.

He ordered Dickens to be released with the statutory conditions of release as well as an additional condition that he report to and comply with McLean County pretrial services.

An arraignment was scheduled for April 12.

Data breaches skyrocketed in the first half of 2023. See where they happened most Data breaches skyrocketed in the first half of 2023. See where they happened most Health care, financial services top the list
BLOOMINGTON  A Pontiac man was sentenced this week to 14-and-a-half years in the Illinois Department of Corrections after being convicted of a 2021 sexual assault.

Geno A. Borrego, 25, was found guilty of two counts of criminal sexual assault, a Class 1 felony, by a McLean County jury in November. According to charging documents, he was accused of committing sexual acts while "knowing that (the victim) was unable to give consent" on Dec. 10, 2021.

The case had been tried first in August 2023 but resulted in a hung jury.

During Monday's sentencing hearing, Judge Jason Chambers denied multiple post-trial motions filed by the defendant, including one seeking judgment of acquittal notwithstanding the verdict.

Borrego argued there were inconsistencies and in some instances, perjury, in the witnesses' testimonies. He subpoenaed one of the witnesses on Monday to discredit a portion of his testimony in which he said he was unaware of cocaine being at the party where the incident occurred. Borrego also argued the prosecution's claims that the woman had been "blackout drunk" or unconscious were invalid.

However, Chambers said inconsistencies don't necessarily amount to perjury, and it is up to the jury to determine the weight of the witness testimony. He added that the state had not sought to hide any inconsistencies in prior testimony. Chambers also noted the jury had other evidence to consider, including DNA evidence.

Assistant State's Attorney Ashley Scarborough said the woman's testimony was corroborated by numerous witnesses at the party where the assault was reported.

During her victim impact statement, the woman Borrego is convicted of assaulting said she initially did not want to go to the hospital after the incident because it meant moving forward with a trial and having to relive it all over again. But with the encouragement of her parents, she agreed to be tested for sexual assault.

She said the incident caused her to develop post-traumatic stress and depression as well as physical illness.

"My first thought when I heard the word guilty, were thank God it's finally over, I had been telling myself ever since the initial assault that I just had to get through the legal process and then I would have closure and I would feel better, (but) this could not have been further from the truth," the statement read. "I realized that what Geno did to me had truly affected my mental health and the end of the legal battle was only the beginning of the healing process for me."

Scarborough asked Chambers to sentence Borrego to a total of 12 years in prison. Borrego requested the minimum sentence of 8 years.

Instead, Chambers issued a sentence that exceeded the state's recommendation. He sentenced Borrego to seven and a half years for one sexual assault count and seven years for the second, to be served consecutively. The judge also ruled that Borrego must register as a sex offender.

Borrego has credit for 753 days already served.

Near the end of the hearing, Chambers addressed the gallery. He told those in attendance that anyone who was present during the incident and thought they didn't try hard enough to get Borrego to leave are not at fault for what happened to the woman.

In a statement provided to The Pantagraph after the sentencing, Scarborough said: "I know that no sentence will take away the pain and the trauma that the victim suffered in this case, and I hope that it will deter others from committing this type of crime. And I hope it will encourage other victims to come forward and make a report when they have been assaulted."

Editor's note: This story has been updated to remove personal information and add statements from the prosecutor and victim in this case.

Updated mug shots from The Pantagraph Bryant Lewis Derek Roesch Justin M. Mata Marcus D. Wesley Phillip Tinch Trisha L. Hanke William B. Givens David L. Oliver Kenneth E. Funk Jordan R. King Holly M. Isaacson Kenneth L. Minton Tony L. Jackson Britley L. Hilger Jasmine L. Smith Jackie S. Claypool Noah R. Demuth Brandon L. Parsano Alexander N. Williams Carlos Sanchez-Solozarzano Jaylin S. Bones Jordan R. King Dominique M. Banks Austin T. Daugherty Sandra M. Lewis Samantha E. Morris Nolan C. Love Nikkita L. Sandefur Katlin M.B. Wilson Eli C. Garozzo Tysean T. Townsend Curtis J. Byrd Noral K. Nelson Charles J. Tankson Davis, Micah S Livingston, Joshua D. Kevin L. Ewen Emmanuel K. Mpay Ahmad S. Manns Dylan R Mann Tony L. Jackson William R. Linden Zadek U. Moen Zachary T. Willis Cecily M. Sexton Tonisha A. Jackson James A. McConnaughay Jessica M. Longberry Barry D. Guyton Keon E. Spiller Melina Aguilar Carlos D. Cregan Wayne M. Damron Terrance L. Ford Stanley M. Miller Darryl R. Vinson Jarvis K. Heads Wesley M. Noonan Brad Carter Brian K. Burnett Kenneth D. Downey Kenyon J. Bones Brittany N. Greiner Maylon Tate III Maylon Tate IV
NORMAL  Eastern Illinois Foodbank will distribute food to area families in Normal, Farmer City and throughout McLean County next month.

The Normal distribution will be held 9:30-10:30 a.m. Saturday, April 13 at Normal West High School, 501 N. Parkside Road, and is open to McLean County residents.

The Farmer City distribution will be held from 9-10 a.m. Saturday, April 13 at the Trinity Community Fellowship, and is open to residents of DeWitt, Piatt, and McLean counties.

The foodmobile will also travel through McLean County on Monday, April 22 and Wednesday, April 24. Distribution sites and times can be found at eifoodbank.org/help/mobile/html.

Attendees are asked to bring bags or boxes to transport food. Pre-registration can be completed at EIFclient.com but does not guarantee a spot in line as income guidelines apply.

Watch now: Energy bars created for Central Illinois Foodbank
The event will take place on the east steps of the McLean County Museum of History in Bloomington.

The recognition ceremony will commence with a flyover at 11 a.m., followed by an introduction and invocation. Two Vietnam veterans will talk about some of their experiences during the war. The event will conclude with a three-volley rifle salute, taps and a bagpiper playing "Amazing Grace."
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PONTIAC  The Illinois State Police announced troopers will conduct several focused patrols in Central Illinois next month.

Distracted driving enforcement program patrols will take place April 1, 3 and 5 throughout Kankakee, Iroquois, Ford, Livingston and McLean counties.

Nighttime enforcement patrols will be held between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. on April 20 and 27 in Kankakee and McLean counties.

Occupant restraint enforcement patrols will be conducted on April 8 and 23 in Ford, Iroquois, Kankakee, Livingston and McLean counties. Illinois law requires all vehicle passengers in front and back to be buckled up.

Roadside safety checks will be conducted in McLean County on April 6 and in Kankakee County on April 13.

All of these projects are funded through the Illinois Department of Transportation.

Timeline of Choate employees' arrests and outcomes 2014: Mark Allen, Curt Ellis, Justin Butler and Eric Bittle 2016: Chayla Brown 2017: Cheryl Muckley 2017: Victor Metzger 2017-2018: John Lingle, Cody Barger 2018: Stacy Thomas 2019: Greg Johnson, Ruth Massie and Paris Ferguson 2020: Kevin Jackson, three others 2020: Charles Mills 2020: Dalton Anderson, Bobby Lee, Johnny Brimm, Mat Wiseman 2021: Brad Cross
In the holiday classic film "A Christmas Story," Ralphie states, In our world, you were either a bully, a toady, or one of the nameless rabble of victims.

The same can be said with Donald Trump. Trump is obviously a bully  he picks fights with others -- ask all of his former White House staff and cabinet members; he calls others names, such as Biden, Obama, McCain; and he makes fun of others ailments such as Bidens stuttering.

Trumps closest allies are other bullies such as Kim Jung Un  who Trump said is an OK guy; Xi Jinping  who Trump describes as brilliant; Viktor Orban  who Trump said is fantastic; and Vladimir Putin  who Trump described as a savvy genius. Trump even says former bully Adolph Hitler did some good things.

The Trump sycophants who endlessly support him are the toadies. They are either so bullied by him, they fear retaliation, or they are loyal to better their social standing. Most toadies, one should note, are usually people who are cowards and lack moral convictions.

A reminder to the toadies, he says he wants to be a dictator  not really a rallying cry in a democracy. Remember toadies, he has been indicted four times with over 90 counts of criminal behavior  again not a rallying cry in a democracy.

Then, the rest of us, the nameless rabble, are victimized by the bully. In this case, however; we can exercise control and not vote for the bully. We can stand up to the bully and not have to tolerate the fear, the behavior, and the taunts of Trump by simply refusing to elect him.

We know the bully  are you a toady, or someone who stands up to the bully and stops him from victimizing others? This is your choice.

Eric Sweetwood, Normal
Bitcoin, introduced in 2009 as a decentralized digital currency on a peer-to-peer network, relies on blockchain technology for transparent and secure transactions. The expanding adoption of Bitcoin necessitates a detailed examination of its legal implications. As Bitcoin transcends borders, it prompts complex legal scrutiny explored in this guide, covering regulatory frameworks, compliance considerations, and evolving jurisprudence. Recognizing the importance of comprehending these legal intricacies is crucial for users, businesses, and policymakers. This understanding not only encourages responsible engagement but also contributes to cultivating a secure environment within the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Amidst these considerations, it's noteworthy that online trading solutions like "https://matrix-trader.org/" offer additional avenues for users in navigating the cryptocurrency landscape effectively.



Regulatory Frameworks and Jurisdictions



Global Perspectives: Varied Regulatory Approaches

United States

The U.S. exhibits a multifaceted approach to Bitcoin regulation, involving multiple regulatory bodies such as the SEC and CFTC. Legal definitions and classifications significantly influence the regulatory landscape.



European Union

The EU grapples with harmonizing regulations among member states. Initiatives like the Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (5AMLD) strive to establish a unified framework for cryptocurrency services.



Asia-Pacific Region

Diverse regulatory approaches in the Asia-Pacific region showcase the challenges of consensus. Countries like Japan and Singapore have established clear regulatory frameworks, while others are in the process of formulating guidelines.



Jurisdictional Challenges: The Borderless Nature of Bitcoin

Bitcoin's borderless nature challenges traditional jurisdictional boundaries, creating complexities in legal enforcement. The lack of a standardized global approach necessitates vigilance in navigating the varied regulatory terrain.



Compliance and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Regulations



The Nexus Between Bitcoin and AML

The decentralized nature of Bitcoin transactions poses challenges for AML efforts. Regulatory bodies globally are adapting to address the unique characteristics of cryptocurrency transactions and mitigate illicit activities.



Regulatory Requirements for Cryptocurrency Exchanges

Cryptocurrency exchanges play a pivotal role in the Bitcoin ecosystem. Regulatory requirements, including KYC (Know Your Customer) and AML measures, are essential to ensure the integrity of these platforms.



Implementing AML Practices: Challenges and Solutions

Implementing effective AML practices in the Bitcoin realm involves overcoming technological challenges. Solutions such as blockchain analytics and collaborative efforts between industry stakeholders and regulators aim to enhance compliance.



Tax Implications of Bitcoin Transactions



Taxation Frameworks Across Different Jurisdictions

Taxation of Bitcoin transactions varies globally, with countries adopting diverse approaches, including capital gains taxation and VAT considerations. Understanding these frameworks is imperative for tax compliance.



Reporting Bitcoin Income and Capital Gains

Reporting Bitcoin-related income and capital gains is essential for tax compliance. The emergence of tax reporting tools and increased regulatory clarity contributes to a more transparent tax landscape for cryptocurrency users.



Navigating the Complexities of Tax Compliance

The evolving nature of Bitcoin transactions presents challenges in tax compliance. Ongoing communication between tax authorities and the cryptocurrency community is crucial for addressing emerging issues and refining regulatory frameworks.



Smart Contracts and Legal Enforceability



Understanding Smart Contracts in the Bitcoin Ecosystem

Smart contracts, self-executing agreements coded on the blockchain, revolutionize traditional contracting. Examining their integration with Bitcoin requires assessing their functionality and potential legal implications.



Legal Challenges and Enforceability Issues

Despite their efficiency, smart contracts face legal challenges regarding enforceability. Ambiguities in contract language and divergent legal interpretations require careful consideration in the evolving legal landscape.



Potential Solutions and Emerging Best Practices

Addressing legal challenges related to smart contracts involves collaboration between legal experts and technologists. Establishing standardized frameworks and enhancing contract clarity contribute to legal enforceability.



Consumer Protection in the Bitcoin Space



Risks and Scams in the Cryptocurrency World

Bitcoin users are susceptible to various risks, including scams, fraud, and phishing attacks. Understanding these risks is paramount for individuals navigating the cryptocurrency space.



Regulatory Safeguards for Bitcoin Investors

Regulatory bodies worldwide are implementing measures to safeguard Bitcoin investors. From disclosure requirements to investor education initiatives, these safeguards aim to protect users from fraudulent activities.



Educating Users: Promoting Responsible Practices

Promoting user education is a proactive approach to enhancing consumer protection. Initiatives to inform users about security best practices and risk mitigation contribute to a safer Bitcoin environment.



Intellectual Property and Bitcoin



Patenting Blockchain Innovations

In the realm of Bitcoin, patenting blockchain innovations is a strategic consideration for companies and individuals. Examining patent trends and legal precedents provides insights into protecting intellectual property.



Trademarks and Copyright in the Crypto Space

Navigating trademarks and copyright issues in the cryptocurrency space is essential for maintaining brand integrity. Understanding how intellectual property laws apply to blockchain technologies ensures legal compliance.



Navigating Intellectual Property Challenges in Bitcoin Development

As the Bitcoin ecosystem evolves, intellectual property challenges arise. Collaborative efforts between developers, legal experts, and regulators are crucial for addressing these challenges and fostering innovation.



Legal Trends and Future Considerations



Evolving Regulatory Landscape: Projections for the Future

Anticipating the trajectory of Bitcoin regulation involves analyzing current trends and regulatory developments. Proactive engagement with regulators and industry stakeholders contributes to shaping future legal frameworks.



Technological Advancements and Legal Responses

As Bitcoin technology advances, legal frameworks must adapt. The legal community's responsiveness to technological changes ensures a harmonious integration of innovation and regulatory compliance in the Bitcoin space.



The Interplay Between Legal Developments and Bitcoin's Evolution

The interplay between legal developments and Bitcoin's evolution is dynamic. Monitoring this relationship facilitates a proactive approach to legal challenges, fostering an environment conducive to responsible cryptocurrency use.



Conclusion

In conclusion, a recapitulation of the key legal aspects covered underscores the significance of informed engagement within the Bitcoin ecosystem. Continuous legal education proves paramount in a rapidly evolving regulatory space, emphasizing the need for ongoing learning and collaboration between legal professionals and the Bitcoin community to foster a resilient and adaptable legal landscape. Ultimately, achieving a balance between responsible use and legal compliance is indispensable for the sustained growth and acceptance of Bitcoin. Vigilance, collaboration, and ongoing education stand as pivotal elements in navigating the intricate legal landscape surrounding this revolutionary digital currency.









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Amidst a wave of power outages casting a shadow over Ghana, Director-General John Boadu of the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA) launched a comprehensive investigation into the nation's energy infrastructure. With a mandate enshrined in the SIGA Act to oversee all state entities, Boadu left no stone unturned as he delved into the operations of key players in the sector.



Prior to his visit to GRIDCO today, John Boadu had already engaged with both the Volta River Authority (VRA) and the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), seeking to understand the challenges plaguing the power generation and distribution process.



Upon arriving at GRIDCO, John Boadu was met by the company's technical advisor, who provided invaluable insights into their operational landscape. Highlighting the significance of the Cash Waterfall mechanism, the advisor proposed it as a solution to GRIDCO's major challenges, emphasizing its potential to enhance financial stability and operational efficiency.



As the tour progressed, Boadu and his team were granted access to GRIDCO's system control rooma hive of activity where the intricate dance of power transmission unfolded before their eyes. Witnessing firsthand the meticulous management and control of power from various generators, John Boadu gained a deeper appreciation for GRIDCO's pivotal role in Ghana's energy ecosystem.



In a moment of pride, the technical advisor shared a remarkable achievement: for five consecutive years, GRIDCO had maintained its status as the best transmitter of power in Sub-Saharan Africaa testament to their dedication and expertise.



Fueled by a sense of duty and determination, D-G John Boadu reaffirmed the government's unwavering commitment to addressing GRIDCO's challenges. Recognizing the critical importance of a stable power supply for the nation's prosperity, he pledged to expedite efforts to restore reliability to Ghana's grid.



In closing, John Boadu commended GRIDCO for their unwavering dedication to duty, holding high the flag of Ghana even in the face of adversity. With a shared vision for a brighter energy future, Boadu and GRIDCO forged ahead, united in their resolve to overcome challenges and serve the best interests of all Ghanaians.







Source: Peacefmonline.com









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Energy Minister, Matthew Opoku Prempeh has bemoaned the image painted of him by the public following his comments on the irregular power supply by the Electricity Company of Ghana.



Media reports yesterday indicated the Minister telling Ghanaians to provide their own load-shedding timetable in reaction to the public outcry about the power cuts.



The Minister is quoted as saying let those who want the timetable bring it. I dont know of any timetable because the ECG has said it is not necessary. Why would someone just wish evil for the country?...I have promised you that we are going to work on it and its not a single event. Its a process.



These comments have attracted bitterness for Hon. Matthew Opoku Prempeh who doubles as Member of Parliament for Manhyia South, therefore calling for his response.



Hon. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, popularly called "NAPO", has rebutted the media representation of his statements, stressing there is a spin on his interview which he granted Joy News.



The Minister clarified that he "dismissed the need for a load shedding time table because in his view and as indicated by the Electricity Company of Ghana, the causes of the temporary power challenges are being addressed".



He further said, in a statement signed by his Spokesperson, Kofi Abrefa Afena, and copied to Ghmessenger, his comparison of the current energy sector to the one under former President John Mahama, where Ghanaians reeled under pervasive Dumsor for 4 years, comes on the back of recent similar calls in the media space by the NDC Flagbearer for a load management time table. This call, in the view of the Minister is borne out of the quest to score cheap political points.



He refuted claims of him being insensitive to the situation Ghanaians are currently facing, asserting that the Honourable Minister has always been sensitive to the plight of the Ghanaian people and continues to ask for their forbearance, as has always been the case when challenges relative to power stability emerge.



Read full statement below:

Your browser does not support iframes.

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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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-













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Tubong, a community in the Tempane District in the Upper East Region, was thrown into a state of mourning last Saturday when two members of the community drowned in a dam.



Information gathered indicated that an 11-year-old boy drowned in the dam around 2 p.m. and an attempt by a 30-year-old man identified as Pakinyedu to rescue him was unsuccessful and he also drowned in the process.



The 30-year-old man and the boys father were having a conversation in the house when the sad news of the boy's drowning was brought to them.



The two immediately rushed to the scene to ascertain the veracity of the information and to rescue the little boy.



Upon reaching the bank of the dam, the fathers friend, who did not know how to swim, out of desperation and anxiety, jumped into the dam to rescue the boy, but he also drowned in the process.



The tragic incident attracted hundreds of residents to the scene, some of whom wept uncontrollably after a combined team of rescuers in the community managed to retrieve the lifeless bodies of the two individuals from the dam.



After the necessary traditional rites were performed, the two were buried the same day around 7 p.m.



The dam was constructed by World Vision Ghana (WVG), a non-governmental organisation, a few years ago, to provide all-year-round water to assist farmers in cultivating vegetables such as onions, okra and carrots, among others.



Confirmation



Confirming the incident to the Daily Graphic yesterday, the Assembly member for the Tubong-Konkomada Electoral Area, Simon Moyom Laar, said so far, they had not been able to establish what the little boy went to do at the dam, which led to his death.



He noted that since the dam was constructed, no resident had drowned in it, saying It is shocking and sad that two people had drowned in the water.



He urged parents not to allow their children to get close to the dam, to prevent a recurrence of the incident.

Source: graphic.com.gh









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The Ellembele constituency of the New Patriotic Party in the Western Region has massively endorsed the DCE for the area, Kwasi Bonzoh, as its parliamentary candidate for the 2024 general election after three unsuccessful attempts to snatch the seat for the party previously.



In all, 523 out of the 790 delegates who participated in the constituencys primaries last Saturday voted for Mr Bonzoh, giving him 66.4 percent of the total valid votes cast.



Abeka Dauda Anvergyene, his sole contender, obtained 264 votes, with three ballot papers being rejected. Some 823 delegates were expected to cast their votes, but 780 showed up for the exercise which took place at Esiama.



Some of the jubilant delegates who spoke to the Daily Statesman, after the declaration of the results by EC officials, reiterated their confidence in Mr. Bonzoh as the only NPP member in Ellembele capable of wrestling the seat from Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, the incumbent NDC MP.



They said it was this confidence in Mr Bonzoh which always influence their decision to vote massively for him at primaries, adding that No Bonzoh, no NPP Member of Parliament for Ellembelle.



Sabotage



The delegates indicated that but for a sustained sabotage by some of their wicked and selfish former constituency executives, Mr Bonzoh would have been in Parliament long ago. They urged these executives to bow down their heads in shame.



According to them, it was this sabotage which infuriated them to vote all the 10 former constituency executives, led by Samuel Akainyah, out of office.



Popularly called Chairman Atito, Samuel Akainyah once reportedly said in the presence of some journalists that he would continue sabotaging DCE Bonzohs parliamentary ambition by preaching skirt and blouse and ensure that the ball goes the corner instead of going straight into the net.



One of the female delegates also recalled how Samuel Akainyah told her during the last general election to concentrate on her personal interest and stop fighting for someone who wanted to become an MP or minister of state and relocate to Accra.



However, the delegates have expressed their readiness to go all out to ensure a resounding victory for the NPP, both in the presidential and the parliamentary elections, come December 7.



They said Mr. Bonzoh had really suffered in achieving his parliamentary ambition, and should consequently be allowed to enter Parliament in January next year.



Commendation



The DCE commended them for solidly rallying behind him all these years and massively voting for him during primaries, as practical demonstration of their confidence in him.



He attributed their support and preference for him to hard work and achievements in the area over the years. He pledged to even do more as Member of Parliament.



Seen as the face of NPP in Ellembele, Mr. Bonzoh bemoaned his inability to snatch the seat for the party during the 2012, 2016 and 2020 general elections.



Victory ahead



He, however, expressed optimism that the story would be different this year, and that come 2025, he would be in Parliament to help next President Mahamadu Bawumia govern the country.



Mr. Bonzoh intimated that his victory in December would largely depend on unity within the party. He therefore spoke of plans to embark on a reconciliation exercise to bring all members on board after going to church and the mosque to thank God for the honour done him.



He disclosed that this exercise would start from Kamgbunli, his contenders hometown, and would be extended to other communities in the constituency.

It is after this planned reconciliation exercise that I will hit the ground running with my campaign, he further disclosed.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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Chairman of the National Campaign for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dan Botwe, has expressed his displeasure over some party members and party executives from the Ashanti Region airing their grievances through the media instead of utilizing internal party structures laid down by the party.



Mr. Dan Botwe contends that such actions not only undermine the unity of the party but also violate the partys constitution.



The former Local Government and Rural Development Minister's comments follow a recent petition by six elected Ashanti Regional executives of the party to the national leadership over the conduct of the Regional Chairman, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi.



The executives in their petition claimed the chairmans alleged negligence of duty is negatively affecting the partys progress in the region.



The NPP's 2024 campaign chairman stressed the essence of aggrieved party members utilizing internal structures to address their concerns.



He said, If you have a grievance, talk to people to solve it. If you go to the radio station and discuss it, what do you achieve by doing that? Were in a contest with others, and we have to send a message that we are disciplined and focused, and its important that we apply all those things to resolving our problems.



The Chief of Staff at the Presidency, Hon. Akosua Frema Osei Opare, mentioned that the unrest in the Ashanti region has been addressed by the leadership of the party.



I have noticed a lot of happenings, but I have noticed that its been resolved; as people have sat down and jaw jaw and have understood each other, theres no problem. Im strongly convinced that the conviction and love for the party are so supreme that people were willing to put away all differences, rally together, and put Ashanti forward to become the biggest contributor to breaking the 8, she said.



The Ashanti regional chairman of the NPP, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, called on the all-party faithful and executives and urged unity among the executives going into general elections.



He said, In our companies and offices, sometimes we have some misunderstandings, but that doesn't mean we are not united. NPP, we are poised to unite and win the 2024 elections; winning is not negotiable; we are united forever. We are united as a strong party to break the 8; we cannot disappoint Ghanaians and the Ashanti region.





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.

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The Minority Caucus in Ghanas Parliament led by the leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, has condemned Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the 2024 Presidential candidate for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) over his recent alleged attack on the Ghana revenue authority (GRA).



According to the minority, the Vice President, who is the head of the Economic Management Team (EMT) for the Akufo Addo-led government should take responsibility for Ghanas high tax regime.



The Minority Caucus in Ghanas Parliament led by the leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, has condemned Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the 2024 Presidential candidate for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) over his recent alleged attack on the Ghana revenue authority (GRA).



The Minority Caucus asserted that, Dr. Bawumia should take full responsibility rather than shifting it onto the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).



The Minority expressed shock over the manner in with which the Vice President dared attack the GRA for the higher taxes imposed on businesses and Ghanaians.



It is recalled that on March 20, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, in an engagement with members of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the business community is being harassed by the GRA for setting unrealistic revenue targets.



But his comments appeared to have incurred the displeasure of GRA Workers' Union, who in a statement dated Friday, March 22, 2024, interpreting them as a discredit to the dedicated efforts of GRA employees.



They cautioned that such remarks could breed worker dissatisfaction, impede revenue collection, and provoke industrial unrest.



We would like to state unequivocally that, we the workers of GRA find this statement unfortunate and consider it as an attack on the efforts of the hard-working staff of the Authority which if not discontinued, would incur the displeasure of workers, disrupt revenue collection efforts and breed industrial disharmony, portions of the statement read.



Wading into the discussion, the Minority in a statement on Tuesday, March 26, stated that it is both hypocritical and deceptive for the Vice President to blame innocent GRA workers for the fallouts of a high tax regime after his government has sponsored, motivated and marshalled the numbers of the Majority Caucus in Parliament to fight tooth and nail to pass regressive, punitive, draconian and insensitive taxes.



The statement signed by the MP for Ajumako Esian Enyan in the Central region added, it is absurd that Alhaji Bawumia, who approves economic policies including tax proposals at meetings of the Economic Management Team as well as justifies them at Cabinet meetings, has turned round to blame workers of GRA for the countrys high tax regime.



It is shocking to note that Alhaji Bawumia had the audacity to single out GRA workers for attack and condemnation after the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government had imposed a lot of taxes on businesses and Ghanaians.



The governments huge appetitie for taxes has created a high tax regime which has made the country unattractive for doing business. It is therefore not surprising that many businesses in Ghana are relocating to other countries in the West African sub-region. This spells doom and gloom for Ghanaian employees as jobs which would have otherwise been filled by them get exported as a consequence of the relocation of businesses from the country," the Minority said.





Below is the full statement.



Our attention has been drawn to news publications in which Vice President Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia launches scathing attacks on workers of Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and condemns them for merely performing their statutory duties.



It is shocking to note that Alhaji Bawumia had the audacity to single out GRA workers for attack and condemnation after the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government had imposed a lot of taxes on businesses and Ghanaians.



The governments huge appetite for taxes has created a high tax regime, which has made the country unattractive for doing business. It is therefore not surprising that many businesses in Ghana are relocating to other countries in the West African sub-region. This spells doom and gloom for Ghanaian employees as jobs which would have otherwise been filled by them get exported as a consequence of the relocation of businesses from the country.



Instead of blaming GRA workers, Alhaji Bawumia should take responsibility for the regressive and crippling taxes that his government has imposed on his watch as the Chairman of the governments Economic Management Team.



It is hypocritical and deceptive on the part of Alhaji Bawuima, the key architect of the governments economic policies, to blame innocent GRA workers for the fallouts of a high tax regime after his government has sponsored, motivated and marshalled the numbers of the Majority Caucus in Parliament to fight tooth and nail to pass regressive, punitive, draconian and insensitive taxes.



It is absurd that Alhaji Bawumia, who approves economic policies including tax proposals at meetings of the Economic Management Team as well as justifies them at Cabinet meetings, has turned round to blame workers of GRA for the countrys high tax regime.



It was precisely because of the adverse impact of these taxes on businesses and the people that the NDC Minority Caucus in Parliament resisted the draconian taxes and voted en bloc against them.



Already, we have served notice that the NDC Minority Caucus will bring a Private Members Bill to remove e-levy, emission tax and betting tax.



The government has finally agreed with us to abolish these taxes, except that while Dr Bawumia wants that done in the future, the NDC Minority Caucus wants the removal of the taxes now!









Source: Kobina Darlington/peacefmonline.com









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Following the provisional result of the 2024 Senegal presidential elections on Sunday and after a conceding call from former Senegalese prime minister, Amadou Ba, 44-year-old Bassirou Diomaye Faye is set to be the next president of Senegal.



The presidential elections held on Sunday, March 24, saw Faye leading in the polls against seventeen contenders, including prominent figures like Amadou Ba (age 62), a former minister of economy and finance and then foreign affairs, and also the Salls preferred successor, Idrissa Seck (age 64), a former prime minister and a 4-time presidential candidate and Khalifa Sall (age 68), the leader of the Taxawu Senegal coalition.



Early tallies from the Senegal Electoral Commission indicated Fayes nearing victory, prompting a wave of congratulatory messages from opposition candidates. Notably, outgoing President Macky Sall praised the smooth running of the election, calling it a victory for Senegalese democracy.



Amadou Ba also called Faye to concede defeat and congratulate him on his victory. With regard to the provisional results and awaiting the official proclamation, I congratulate President Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye for his victory in the first round. I wish him lots of success and success for the well-being of the Senegalese people. Ba said in a statement.



Responding to the congratulatory messages in an address in Dakar, Faye said I salute the approach of the other candidates who, without exception, have honoured a very Senegalese tradition without even waiting for the official results to be announced by the authorised state bodies. Their congratulatory messages are eloquent testimony to their greatness.



At 44, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, is the youngest person to be the president of Senegal, below are more facts about him:



Born: March 25, 1980, in Ndiaganiao, Senegal.

Education: Earned a baccalaureate and a masters degree in law. Enrolled at the prestigious National School of Administration (ENA) in 2004.

Early Career: Began his career as a tax inspector.

Political Ally: Close friend and ally of Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko.

PASTEF: Served as General-Secretary of the PASTEF party (Patriotes africains du Senegal pour le travail, lethique et la fraternite) founded by Sonko in 2014 (dissolved).

Imprisonment: He spent over 11 months in prison in 2023 for a social media post deemed subversive. Released 10 days before the presidential election.

Presidential Bid: Endorsed by Sonko as a presidential candidate in November 2023.

Campaign Promises: Focused on job creation, fighting corruption, and renegotiating energy contracts. Slogan: Diomaye mooy Ousmane (Wolof for Diomaye is Ousmane) to connect with Sonkos youth base.

Electoral Victory: Won the 2024 presidential election, defeating incumbent president Macky Sall.

Personal Life: He is married to Marie Khone Faye and Absa Faye, and has four children.

Source: Bellanaija









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The U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. Credit: Matt Cashore/University of Notre Dame

Following the events of Jan. 6, 2021when a violent mob stormed the U.S. Capitol building in an effort to interrupt the certification process of the 2020 presidential electionexperts began to question how to protect the next presidential election from a similar threat. To that end, University of Notre Dame political scientists have partnered with preeminent scholars of democracy from across the country to produce a set of recommendations to strengthen and safeguard democracy in America.

The University's Rooney Center for the Study of American Democracy established the January 6th, 2025, Project in an effort to understand the social, political, psychological and demographic factors that led to that troublesome day in the capital.

By pursuing research, teaching and public engagement, the project offers insight into how American democracy got to this point and how to strengthen and protect it, while emphasizing how to prepare for a similar attack many deem imminent on Jan. 6, 2025, when Congress seeks to certify the 2024 presidential election results. The project includes 34 members who represent various disciplines and leading universities10 of whom hail from Notre Dame's faculty.

Matthew E.K. Hall, director of the Rooney Center, said one of the project's first goals was to create a collection of essays written by its members to be included in a special issue of The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, which was published this month. These essays aim to draw attention to the vulnerabilities in our democratic system and the threats building against it, and to create consensus on ways to remedy both problems.

The authors set out to tackle the following tough questions, but from different perspectives: How serious are the threats to our democracy, how did we get to this point, and what can we do to fix the situation? The 14 essays are broken down into categories, falling under the headings of "'Us' Versus 'Them,'" "Dangerous Ideas" and "Undermining Democratic Institutions." With most pieces being co-authored by faculty from multiple institutions, the collection offers a collaborative approach to evaluating what led America to this crisis and how to avert it.

David Campbell, director of the Notre Dame Democracy Initiative and the Packey J. Dee Professor of American Democracy in the Department of Political Science, described the project as "an example of how Notre Dame can be a national leader on the issue of preserving American democracy. Not only do we have top scholars working on the issue, but we can provide a forum for a community of scholars across many leading universities. Maintaining democracy will require all hands on deck."

In the collection's introduction, Hall explained the backdrop of what led America to this point and why these essays help acknowledge the challenges we are facing as a nation.

"We are basically living through a revival of fascist politics in the U.S.," Hall wrote, "where politicians are using divisive rhetoric to separate us into an 'us' versus 'them' paradigmleft versus right, white versus Black, rich versus poor, urban versus rural, religious versus secularthe divisions go on and on."

Hall estimated that between 25 and 30% of Americans have consistently endorsed some fascist ideas such as racial oppression, conspiracy theories and authoritarianism. "Ordinarily, this consistent minority is held in check by the democratic process," Hall explained.

"These candidates don't even get nominated for major political positions because their co-partisan allies don't want to lose the general election.

"But when our politics become this intensely polarized, most partisans will support their party no matter who is nominated," he continued. "As a result, politicians pushing these fascist ideas can gain power by taking over one political party and then exploiting the polarization to win elections. Once taking power, they will likely manipulate the electoral process to remain in power."

Consequently, Hall said, fascist leaders are able to exploit these social divisions to break down basic social norms and shared understandings about American politics. This pushes huge swaths of society toward accepting dangerous ideas that would normally be rejected, such as expanded executive power, intense animosity toward political opponents, a wavering support for free speech, and political candidates who deny election losses.

This weakened support for democratic norms enables attacks on our democratic institutions, such as ignoring court rulings, enacting voter suppression laws andmost shockingly (as in the case of Jan. 6)openly subverting elections.

With the political situation as dire as many feel it to be, the January 6th, 2025, Project's essays outline a few practical steps that can be taken to strengthen and safeguard democracy in America.

For example, Hall said, as the nation moves forward into this next election year, American voters have to stay focused on the "deliberate denial of reality" on the part of some politicians so that they can discern the difference between lies, truths and just plain distractions.

"The more we lose touch with basic facts and accept misinformation, conspiracies and contradictory claims as the norm in our society," he said, "the more vulnerable we are to losing our democracy.

"Even more importantly, we have to be willing to sacrifice short-term political gains in order to preserve the long-term stability of our democracy. That might mean holding your nose to vote for candidates that you would not otherwise support."

Hall added that Americans must redouble their devotion to democratic principles such as open elections and free speech, and states should adopt institutional reforms that remove partisans from the electoral process (for example, employing nonpartisan election commissions). He also noted the importance of paying close attention to efforts that divide groups of Americans, especially those that portray outgroup members as evil or less than human.

The members of the project hope that by honestly acknowledging the challenges our nation is facing, understanding the mistakes that were made and recognizing the vulnerabilities in our system that led us to this situationand by resolving to fix these issueswe can pull our country's political system back from the edge of the cliff before it's too late.

"The public needs to take these critical threats seriously and we're hoping that these essays draw attention to them, and help to build consensus about the underlying problems in our politics and potential remedies," Hall concluded.

Democracy is one of several University-wide initiatives emerging from Notre Dame's recently released Strategic Framework. The Democracy Initiative will further establish Notre Dame as a global leader in the study of democracy, a convenor for conversations about and actions to preserve democracy, and a model for the formation of civically engaged citizens and public servants.

More information: Matthew E.K. Hall, The January 6th, 2025, Project: Fascist Politics and the Rising Threats to American Democracy, The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (2024). DOI: 10.1177/00027162241234174
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New University of Liverpool research has shown fridge magnets are more than just tourist souvenirs providing holidaymakers with an important aide for memory recall.

Research from University of Liverpool Management School found that these holiday trinkets can be unique in evoking a diverse range of memorieswith magnets found to boost travelers' moods long after a holiday has ended.

Within the study, published in the journal Annals of Tourism Research, one participant said, "If you go to any place, obviously in a day you could take 50 to 100 photosWhereas now I don't tend to take a picture of anythingI'll just get a fridge magnet at the end, and I can remember it all from [that]How many people flick through their old photos on their phone? You couldn't. Unless you've got an electronic, sort of photo thing you can have on the side constantly changing the images on a daily basis or whatever. It's a fridge magnet for me."

Of the 19 participants who were interviewed, many said they were reminded of their holidays every time they opened the fridge door. Some magnets had become attached to more poignant memories over the years, serving as a reminder of trips taken with friends or family members who had since died.

Dr. John Byrom Associate Dean at the University of Liverpool Management School said, "Far from being banal 'tat,' our study found fridge magnets can bring a past holiday experience to life more powerfully than many other types of tourist souvenir.

"Little research has taken place looking at what happens to fridge magnet souvenirs after people come back from holiday, so it was really interesting to talk to participants about their different experiences. It was clear that when people talked through what their magnets meant to them, they were very easily able to generate these memories and responses of very specific events or people, including quite poignant examples of holidays that they've had with people who have died or children who have grown up and moved away.

"It was also very interesting how fridge magnets can be used as a means of forgetting things that had been bad in your life, to reflect on how things got better."

More information: John Byrom et al, Post-holiday memory work: Everyday encounters with fridge magnets, Annals of Tourism Research (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2024.103724
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Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Samples taken from White Rock Lake showed elevated levels of E. coli after 1.5 million gallons of raw sewage spilled into water from Plano, according to a memorandum from the city of Dallas.

In the memo sent to the Dallas City Council on Friday, city staff said levels of E. coli remained high on March 21, one week after the spill began. The memo did not specify the extent of the contamination, and the city did not immediately provide results to The Dallas Morning News. Samples came from the water from White Rock spillway to Frankford Road.

Last week, Dallas officials suspended water-related activities at White Rock Lake and advised visitors not to fish or enter the water. The order was lifted over the weekend after Dallas Water Utilities reported samples had returned to normal, pre-incident levels.

The spill began March 14 when the valve at a water lift station in Plano failed, flooding the station and shuttering mechanical equipment. Sewage then overflowed from three manholes near 5510 West Plano Parkway.

That sewage rushed into White Rock Creek, which feeds into White Rock Lake. At one point, Plano officials estimated roughly 500 gallons of sewage were flowing into the creek per minute. Shortly before 5 a.m. Saturday, about 38 hours later, the spill ended.

A spokesperson for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, which is responsible for overseeing such incidents, said the agency is investigating the spill. It is not yet clear whether any fines will be levied.

Dallas has shared results E. coli test results with TCEQ, according to the memo.

Symptoms of E. coli infections vary but usually include severe stomach cramps, bloody diarrhea, vomiting and sometimes a mild fever. Most people get better within five to seven days, but some cases are severe or life-threatening.

The water lift station, operated by the North Texas Municipal Water District, has resumed operations with some temporary pumping in place. Final repairs to the lift stationwhich moves wastewater to a higher elevation on its way to a treatment plantare nearing completion.

"The recent mechanical failure that led to the overflow in Plano was unfortunate, and we're working around the clock to remedy the situation with the City of Plano and the appropriate regulatory agencies," the water district said in a statement.

This is not the first time untreated sewage has flowed from Plano into White Rock Creek. More than 320,000 gallons of sewage spilled into the creek after a storm in November 2021 downed a tree, which fell on an aerial sewage line. And in June 2018, a ruptured wastewater pipe in Plano dumped 1 million gallons of raw sewage into the creek, forcing Dallas to suspend all recreational activities at White Rock Lake.

To reduce overflows, the city of Plano said it is replacing and relining aging sewer pipes, improving lift stations and conducting routine inspections of facilities and sewer lines.

2024 The Dallas Morning News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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In image 5, a Swedish speaker produces a representational gesture with her palms pointing down, fingers bending slightly around a loose, round shape. The gesture represents the action of pressing the molds for shaping the dough. Credit: Dr. Maria Graziano.

When we talk, we often use our hands in addition to words. Gesturing is a phenomenon that has been observed across languages and cultures. Some cultures are typically thought to use more gestures than others.

To find out if the deeply rooted stereotype of Italians gesturing more than other cultures is true, researchers in Sweden have examined the differences in gesture rate and function between Italians and Swedes who were telling a story to a friend.

"We show that Italians do gesture more than Swedes, which was expected," said Dr. Maria Graziano, the first author of the Frontiers in Communication article and associate professor at Lund University Humanities Lab. "More interestingly, we demonstrate that people from different cultures use gestures differently due to varying rhetorical styles and different ways of constructing a story."

Talking hands

Together with Prof Marianne Gullberg, a psycholinguist at the same lab, Graziano had 12 Italian and 12 Swedish participants retell the story of a 90-second clip from the cartoon 'Pingu' to a friend who had not watched the cartoon. Researchers who study gestures commonly use cartoons because the characters often do not speak, and viewers can retell the story using their own words without input from the source.

As expected, the findings showed that Italian speakers did gesture more frequently overall. Per 100 words, Italians used an average of 22 gestures, whereas Swedes used just 11.

In images 3 and 4, an Italian speaker opens her hands, with the palms facing up with a slight inward rotation and brings her hands up and down in the space immediately in front of her. The gestures follow each other rapidly. This pragmatic gesture is used to present what she is saying to the listener. Credit: Dr. Maria Graziano.

In addition to gesture frequency, the researchers observed who used which gestures to what end. "When we tell stories we combine several kinds of information: we introduce characters and events, describe actions, and explain why. We check that our listener understands what we're saying. And if we are telling a story based on cartoon, we refer to the act of watching, too," Graziano explained.

"When we describe an action, it is more likely that we produce a gesture that represents that action; while if we talk about characters or settings, it is more likely that we make a gesture that 'offers' this information to the listener."

Italians tended to use more pragmatic gesturesthose that mainly comment on the story and present new parts of it to the listener. Swedes, instead, tended to use more representational gestures, which mostly represent the events and actions of the story. "This indicates that Italians and Swedes adopt different rhetorical styles in telling a story and that they conceptualize it in a different way," Graziano pointed out.

How cultures think about stories

Currently, it is unclear why Swedes and Italians may conceptualize narratives differently. A possible explanation is that some cultures attribute different values to narration than others, which could lead to varying ways of organizing speech content and impact gesturing. This, however, needs to be confirmed by further studies, the researchers pointed out.

Future studies should also include more participants, including participant pairs who do not know each other, as familiarity may impact rhetorical choices made by speakers. Taking an approach that looks closely at both the content of the speech and the function of gestures can also help understand why cultures differ in narrative production, the researchers said.

"I hope that this study helps people consider gestures from a different perspective and go beyond stereotypical and folkloristic views. Gestures are produced in all languages and cultures, and they are not a mere embellishment of speech; they are closely related to what we are saying and how we want to say it," Graziano concluded.

More information: Maria Graziano et al, Providing evidence for a well-worn stereotype: Italians and Swedes do gesture differently, Frontiers in Communication (2024). DOI: 10.3389/fcomm.2024.1314120

Provided by Frontiers
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Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Japan's space agency said on Tuesday it will try to revive its moon lander after a second frigid, two-week lunar night, following a surprising awakening last month.

The unmanned Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) touched down in January at a wonky angle that left its solar panels facing the wrong way.

As the sun's angle shifted, it came back to life for two days and carried out scientific observations of a crater with a high-spec camera.

But the probe, which was not designed for the freezing, two-week-long lunar nights, when the temperature plunges to minus 133 degrees, was shut down in early February.

It was then woken up weeks later before being put back to sleep in early March, ahead of another scheduled operation attempt.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said on Tuesday that it hoped "there will be enough sunlight on the solar cells to start up SLIM around this evening".

"The project team will begin operations today to restart SLIM after the second lunar night," it said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

JAXA added that it is uncertain if SLIM would respond on Tuesday night as it has been exposed to extreme temperatures.

An uncrewed American lander called Odysseus, which became the first private spaceship on the moon, was unable to wake up, its manufacturer said on Saturday, even after its solar panels were projected to receive enough sunlight to turn on its radio.

SLIM, dubbed the "Moon Sniper" for its precision landing technology, touched down within its target landing zone on January 20.

The feat was a win for Japan's space program after a string of recent failures, making the nation only the fifth to achieve a "soft landing" on the moon, after the United States, the Soviet Union, China and India.

The aim of the mission is to examine a part of the moon's mantlethe usually deep inner layer beneath its crustthat is believed to be accessible.

NASA is planning to return astronauts to the moon later this decade.

The US, along with international partners, wants to eventually develop long-term habitats in the region, harvesting polar ice for drinking waterand for rocket fuel for eventual onward voyages to Mars.

 2024 AFP
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Fulgimide photoswitches can exist in three different forms. This study developed a method to quantitatively switch between the different forms by controlling the multiplicity and photoisomerization conditions. Credit: Lucie Wohlrabova / IOCB Prague

Some molecules respond to external light pulses by changing their structure and holding certain states that can be switched from one to another. These are commonly referred to as photoswitches and usually have two possible states. Recently, however, scientists from the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IOCB Prague) have developed a molecule that takes the possibilities of photoswitches a step further.

The new molecule can be switched not between two but between three distinct states. This gives it the ability to hold much more complex information in its molecular structure than has been possible so far. A paper on the topic, co-authored by Ph.D. student Jakub Copko and Dr. Tomas Slanina, has now been published in Chemical Communications.

Although scientists had known that similar molecules could enter a third state, they opted not to study it. The reasoning was that they could not maintain control over the transitions between the individual molecular forms and that the presence of a third form only complicated the behavior of molecules. Now, researchers from the group led by Dr. Slanina have overcome this obstacle.

"We are able to precisely and selectively switch molecules between three states as we please," says one of the authors of the paper, Jakub Copko.

Structural changes in photoswitches are usually manifested as alterations of their macroscopic properties. When exposed to light of certain parameters, a molecule can, for example, change its color, which can even be visible to the naked eye. For instance, blue can turn into yellow and vice versa, and the two colors can be treated as zeroes and ones, respectively. Individual molecules thus function in the same way as memory bits and are also easy to read.

"There is, however, one difference, namely that thanks to their minuscule size, they can store an order of magnitude more information than silicon-based chips," says Dr. Slanina. "This all works only with photoswitches that are stable enough so as not to switch between individual states spontaneously in the absence of light."

"It was this very requirement which has so far been so difficult to meet, so experts had never even attempted to achieve a transition into a third state within one molecule. This is only possible thanks to our current discovery."

Credit: Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IOCB Prague)

Upon the transition from the second state to the third, it is not the color, but the geometry of the molecule that changes significantly. This is especially convenient whenever it is suitable to 'shape' a molecule so that it either fits into a target active center or, conversely, so that it is pushed out of it.

A light pulse of a specific wavelength triggers all this. The range of possible practical applications is wide. However, because it is such a recent discovery, experts are only beginning to discover its potential.

Scientists from the Slanina Group have been researching photoswitches for a long time. Specifically, they have been focusing on substances known as fulgides, which are being studied by only a handful of laboratories around the world, even though they generally have better properties compared to other photoswitches. The reason is straightforward: Their preparation has so far been greatly complicated.

However, Copko has managed to remove this obstacle, too. He explains, "When I started my doctoral studies, it took me up to a month to prepare a single fulgide. Now, thanks to our chemical shortcut, it's ready in an afternoon."

He uses what is called a one-pot reaction, which means that all chemical transformations take place in a single flask, eliminating the need to isolate and purify all intermediate products. This not only markedly expedites the preparation but also results in a cleaner reaction with a greater yield and decreases the environmental impact.

Slanina adds, "We are striving to ensure that fulgides are not merely a group of substances that is relegated to the textbooks, but one that receives wider exposure. It can advance the field of photoswitches globally." Thanks to the work of his group, the preparation of this type of photoswitch is now so simple that it can be done at any synthetic chemistry lab, even without any previous experience with photoswitch chemistry.

More information: Jakub Copko et al, Multiplicity-driven photochromism controls three-state fulgimide photoswitches, Chemical Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1039/D3CC05975H Journal information: Chemical Communications

Provided by Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IOCB Prague)
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Conservation and reforestation of tropical forests are two well-proven nature-based climate solutions that can reduce atmospheric carbon. Here, a recently cut section of the Peruvian Amazon. Credit: Kevin Krajick/Earth Institute

A new study finds that four nature-based climate solutionsthe ones that companies and other entities use most often to claim carbon creditshave robust scientific foundations. The four pathways are conservation or reforestation of tropical forests; and conservation or reforestation of temperate forests.

The majority of other such methods need additional research before their potential can be assessed, say the authors. The research was just published in the journal Nature Climate Change.

Nature-based climate solutions are conservation, restoration or management strategies whose primary purpose is to mitigate greenhouse-gas emissions or remove carbon from the atmosphere. More than 100 of the 167 signatories to the Paris Accords include them as part of their mitigation plans. Many, including Indonesia, Colombia and China are already using them to demonstrate progress on their climate commitments.

The study looked at the scientific basis of, and expert confidence in, 43 solutions. It did not examine implementation of individual projects, methods of calculating carbon credits or co-benefits of carbon-reduction projects.

Carbon-crediting protocols exist for 35 of the solutions that the researchers considered, and various entities have used 28 of the solutions to garner credits. The good news: Some 70% of nature-based credits tracked by the researchers have been for projects in the four forest-based categories that they found most credible. Other methods, such as agroforestry, conservation of mangroves and peatlands, and restoration of grasslands, need more research, said the authors.

Study co-author Ruth DeFries, chief academic officer of the Columbia Climate School, said, "The urgency for climate mitigation demands approaches based on sound science that can deliver effective action. The study is a call for ensuring that nature-based climate solutions focus on those actions that can deliver true mitigation, while continuing to develop the technical and scientific foundation for other types of nature-based actions."

Another co-author of the study, Steven Hamburg, chief scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund, said, "Nature-based climate solutions are critical for meeting our climate goals. This study reaffirms the strength of the science underlying four major types of nature-based solutions, and emphasizes the need to engage in additional research to clarify the mitigation potential of others."

More information: B. Buma et al, Expert review of the science underlying nature-based climate solutions, Nature Climate Change (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41558-024-01960-0 Journal information: Nature Climate Change

Provided by State of the Planet
WASHINGTON, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Monday signed into law a bill that prohibits children under the age of 14 from possessing their own social media accounts, according to a statement from the U.S. state governor's office.

The law also requires 14- and 15-year-olds to get parental consent in order to have social media accounts.

"Social media harms children in a variety of ways," said the Republican governor, noting that the "landmark" legislation "gives parents a greater ability to protect their children."

In addition, the bill requires pornographic or sexually explicit websites to use age verification to prevent minors from accessing sites that are inappropriate for children.

The bill goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2025.

The new law makes Florida the most recent state among many, including Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Ohio and Utah, to implement regulations limiting children's access to social media platforms.

Advocates argue that the law will curb the negative impact of excessive social media usage on children's mental health.

Opponents, however, believe that the legislation infringes upon the First Amendment that protects the right to free speech, which means the new law is expected to face legal opposition akin to challenges already underway in other states. 
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The reconstructed skeleton of the famous giant ground sloth Megalonyx jeffersonii. Credit: The Ohio State University

When the skeletal remains of a giant ground sloth were first unearthed in 1796, the discovery marked one of the earliest paleontological finds in American history.

The animal, named Megalonyx by Thomas Jefferson in 1799, was the first genus of fossil named from the United States. Thought to have roamed North America during one of the last ice ages, the extinct giant ground sloth was an herbivorous mammal resembling a large bearat full size, it likely reached nearly 10 feet tall (3 meters) and weighed about as much as a small elephant.

The report made by Jefferson, an avid fossil collector who was known to keep bones at the White House, was among the earliest papers in the scientific field that would eventually become paleontology, and may have played a role in the development of certain zoological naming conventions.

Though Jefferson named only the genus Megalonyx, public misinterpretation of the spelling of the scientific name began with the second published paper on this giant ground sloth. Later on, confusion about the true author and timing of the report caused paleontologists to debate over what the specimen's true name should be.

In an effort to settle the dispute, Loren Babcock, a professor of Earth sciences at The Ohio State University, reviewed the nomenclatural history of the animal and argues that misinterpretation or spelling errors of the original harm the scientific process and disregard the importance of early paleontological work.

In an article published recently in the journal ZooKeys, Babcock asserts that since Jefferson fulfilled all the necessary requirements for establishing the formal zoological name of the giant ground sloth, he should be recognized as the true author of the genus.

And because Jefferson's original moniker was spelled as Megalonyx, any other subsequent spellings of the name, like some that utilize the -onix suffix, are incorrect. Additionally, the report notes that the original spelling of the animal's species-group name, Megalonyx jeffersonii, is only correct when written with an ii ending.

"At the time, there were no standards for publication of new names in zoology," said Babcock. "There was a binomial system of nomenclature, a genus and species name that would be attached to things, but there were no rules other than that."

Today, when a new species is discovered, scientists give it a name with two parts: The first name describes the animal's genus, or group, and the second is its species name. Until the mid-1800s, it was common practice to label animals with only a genus name, which is how Jefferson's original paper described Megalonyx.

Although his observations were published more than a quarter century before paleontology was considered a formal science, it does meet modern naming requirementsmeaning his authorship of it is valid, said Babcock.

"We have rules in science just like we do in other aspects of our culture," said Babcock. "They ensure that the correct procedures are followed and we can give credit where it is due."

Resolving some of these long-standing issues is important, Babcock said, and it's worth setting the record straight. "I want to set the original usage in stone because Jefferson had done it correctly from the start," said Babcock. "It's pretty black and white. There's not much room for ambiguity when you go back and read the original manuscripts."

In the long run, having strict naming conventions also helps scientists accurately document the history of life on Earth, because what paleontologists choose to call a specimen can have profound implications for how it's studied and how those findings are communicated.

Megalonyx jeffersonii, for instance, was initially mistaken as a carnivore when its "giant claw" was compared to that of a large African lion. Jefferson soon corrected this, but his initial observations of the giant ground sloth's remains contributed to the way that Megalonyx would later be reconstructed and influenced some of the earliest developments of the discipline, and earned him the title of father of American paleontology, said Babcock.

Decades later, the first relatively complete skeleton of Megalonyx jeffersonii was found in 1890 in Holmes County, Ohio. "This skeleton has had a major impact on the history of science," Babcock said. "It's really influenced so much of the perception of paleontology and paleontological art over time."

As one of the earliest free-standing prehistoric specimens to be mounted and displayed in an American museum, it's been used as a unique learning tool for past and future paleontologists alike. It was also a model that was later applied for dinosaur skeleton reconstructions, said Babcock. This popularity has led many other versions of Megalonyx jeffersonii to appear across digital media and pop culture throughout the past century, most notably in the "Ice Age" films as Sid the ground sloth.

Today, the reconstructed skeleton of Megalonyx jeffersonii resides in Ohio State's Orton Geological Museum, where it has been on display since April 13, 1896. And for decades, it's been known by many as simply "Jeff" for short.

Although few truly know all the details of its backstory, Babcock, who is the current director of the Orton Museum, remains confident that the legacy of Thomas Jefferson's Megalonyx jeffersonii will stand tall for centuries to come.

"Understanding the history of paleontology casts light not just on the evolution of organisms, but on the evolution of science and how we interpret that evolutionary history," he said. "So names are something that I think historians will always pay attention to."

More information: Loren E. Babcock, Nomenclatural history of Megalonyx Jefferson, 1799 (Mammalia, Xenarthra, Pilosa, Megalonychidae), ZooKeys (2024). DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1195.117999 Journal information: ZooKeys
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Spatial distribution of isoprene emission trends from 2001 to 2020. Credit: Wang Hao et al.

Biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) emitted by vegetation are important precursors of ozone and secondary organic aerosols in the atmosphere, affecting air quality, clouds, and climate. However, BVOC emissions remain highly uncertain because they depend on a variety of factors, and the relative importance of different factors is still unclear.

In a study published in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, a team of scientists from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Texas A&M University has simulated regional to global changes in BVOC emissions over the past two decades using the latest BVOC emission model, MEGANv3.2.

The researchers quantified the contributions of different drivers, such as vegetation, meteorological parameters, and carbon dioxide concentration, to BVOC emission trends, and they found that BVOC emission trends vary among different regions.

While global greening trends significantly boost BVOC emissions, deforestation, coupled with the rapid agricultural expansion, reduces BVOC emissions in South America and Southeast Asia.

In addition, elevated temperatures in Europe and increased soil moisture in East and South Asia contribute to the increase in BVOC emissions in these regions.

"This study improves our understanding of long-term BVOC emission trends at regional to global scales," said Prof. Liu Xiaohong, corresponding author of the study. "These findings also provide an important reference for the projection of future BVOC emission trends."

More information: Hao Wang et al, Regional to global distributions, trends, and drivers of biogenic volatile organic compound emission from 2001 to 2020, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (2024). DOI: 10.5194/acp-24-3309-2024 Journal information: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Several thousand sensors distributed over a square kilometer near the South Pole are tasked with answering one of the large outstanding questions in physics: does quantum gravity exist? The sensors monitor neutrinosparticles with no electrical charge and almost without massarriving at the Earth from outer space. A team from the Niels Bohr Institute (NBI), University of Copenhagen, has contributed to developing the method that exploits neutrino data to reveal if quantum gravity exists.

"If as we believe, quantum gravity does indeed exist, this will contribute to unite the current two worlds in physics. Today, classical physics describes the phenomena in our normal surroundings such as gravity, while the atomic world can only be described using quantum mechanics.

"The unification of quantum theory and gravitation remains one of the most outstanding challenges in fundamental physics. It would be very satisfying if we could contribute to that end," says Tom Stuttard, Assistant Professor at NBI.

Stuttard is co-author of a article published by the journal Nature Physics. The article presents results from a large study by the NBI team and American colleagues. More than 300,000 neutrinos have been studied.

However, these are not neutrinos of the most interesting type originating from sources in deep space. The neutrinos in this study were created in Earth's atmosphere, as high-energy particles from space collided with nitrogen or other molecules.

"Looking at neutrinos originating from the Earth's atmosphere has the practical advantage that they are by far more common than their siblings from outer space. We needed data from many neutrinos to validate our methodology. This has been accomplished now. Thus, we are ready to enter the next phase in which we will study neutrinos from deep space," says Stuttard.

Traveling undisturbed through Earth

The IceCube Neutrino Observatory is situated next to the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica. In contrast to most other astronomy and astrophysics facilities, IceCube works the best for observing space at the opposite side of the Earth, meaning the Northern hemisphere. This is because while the neutrino is perfectly capable of penetrating our planetand even its hot, dense coreother particles will be stopped, and the signal is thus much cleaner for neutrinos coming from the Northern hemisphere.

The IceCube facility is operated by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, U.S. More than 300 scientists from countries around the world were engaged in the IceCube collaboration. University of Copenhagen is one of more than 50 universities with an IceCube center for neutrino studies.

Since the neutrino has no electrical charge and is nearly massless, it is undisturbed by electromagnetic and strong nuclear forces, allowing it to travel billions of lightyears through the universe in its original state.

The key question is whether the properties of the neutrino are in fact completely unchanged as it travels over large distances or if tiny changes are notable after all.

"If the neutrino undergoes the subtle changes that we suspect, this would be the first strong evidence of quantum gravity," says Stuttard.

The neutrino comes in three flavors

To understand which changes in neutrino properties the team is looking for, some background information is called for. While we refer to it as a particle, what we observe as a neutrino is really three particles produced together, known in quantum mechanics as superposition.

The neutrino can have three fundamental configurationsflavors as they are termed by the physicistswhich are electron, muon, and tau. Which of these configurations we observe changes as the neutrino travels, a truly strange phenomenon known as neutrino oscillations. This quantum behavior is maintained over thousands of kilometers or more, which is referred to as quantum coherence.

"In most experiments, the coherence is soon broken. But this is not believed to be caused by quantum gravity. It is just very difficult to create perfect conditions in a lab. You want perfect vacuum, but somehow a few molecules manage to sneak in etc.

"In contrast, neutrinos are special in that they are simply not affected by matter around them, so we know that if coherence is broken it will not be due to shortcomings in the man-made experimental setup," Stuttard explains.

Many colleagues were skeptical

Asked whether the results of the study published in Nature Physics were as expected, the researcher replies, "We find ourselves in a rare category of science projects, namely experiments for which no established theoretical framework exists. Thus, we just did not know what to expect. However, we knew that we could search for some of the general properties we might expect a quantum theory of gravity to have."

"While we did have hopes of seeing changes related to quantum gravity, the fact that we didn't see them does not exclude at all that they are real. When an atmospheric neutrino is detected at the Antarctic facility, it will typically have traveled through the Earth. Meaning approximately 12,700 kma very short distance compared to neutrinos originating in the distant universe. Apparently, a much longer distance is needed for quantum gravity to make an impact, if it exists," says Stuttard, noting that the top goal of the study was to establish the methodology.

"For years, many physicists doubted whether experiments could ever hope to test quantum gravity. Our analysis shows that it is indeed possible, and with future measurements with astrophysical neutrinos, as well as more precise detectors being built in the coming decade, we hope to finally answer this fundamental question."

More information: Search for decoherence from quantum gravity with atmospheric neutrinos, Nature Physics (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41567-024-02436-w Journal information: Nature Physics
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An array of photomultiplier tubes, used to detect faint sources of light, mounted inside the steel tank of the Eos detector. The photomultiplier tubes will eventually be submerged in water admixed with a novel scintillator that serve as targets for particles such as neutrinos passing through. The particle interactions produce bursts of light that will be captured by the photomultiplier tubes. Credit: Thor Swift/Berkeley Lab

Neutrinos and antineutrinos are nearly massless particles produced in many nuclear reactions, including the fission of uranium in nuclear power plants on Earth and the fusion reactions at the core of the sun.

But they are devilishly hard to detectmost pass through Earth without stoppingmaking it difficult to study the nuclear reactions taking place at the core of stars or in stellar explosions or to monitor nuclear power plants for illicit production of bomb material.

A new type of neutrino detector now being tested in a vast underground lab at the University of California, Berkeley, is designed to leverage the latest technologies to enhance the sensitivity and capabilities of antineutrino detectors. Such improved detectors would not only help detect, localize and characterize undeclared special nuclear material being used contrary to federal or international regulations, but also help scientists explore the fundamental physics of particles and their interactions deep in the nucleus of the atom.

Called Eos, for the Titan goddess of dawn, the apparatus signals "the dawn of a new era of neutrino detection technology," according to Gabriel Orebi Gann, a UC Berkeley associate professor of physics and the leader of the Eos collaboration.

The prototype detector may detect and characterize nuclear activities and materials remotely, that is, at distances greater than about 100 meters. While radioactivity from nuclear material can be shielded from detection, antineutrinos produced in fission reactions cannot. Because billions are produced in a reactor each nanosecond, Eos should be able to detect enough antineutrinos to identify clandestine production of bomb-grade material.

"The idea of neutrino detection is you can't spoof it, you can't shield it, you can't fake it. Neutrinos travel at almost the speed of light, so they provide near-instantaneous detection, even at distance. They offer a unique signature of nuclear activity," said Orebi Gann, who is also a faculty scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab).

"If you're either a long way away or you've got a very weak signature, then you need a big detector. And for a big detector, you need liquid."

Eos is a 10-meter-tall, 5-meter-wide cylinder filled with water and an organic scintillator and surrounded by light detectors three times more sensitive than those used in physics experiments today. Eos's improved sensitivity and higher resolution come from combining two of today's best techniques for detecting neutrinos: scintillation and Cherenkov emission.

The improvements could be a game-changer for future neutrino physics projects, such as the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) now being constructed in an abandoned gold mine in Lead, South Dakota, to detect neutrinos emitted by a particle accelerator at Fermi National Laboratory, 500 miles away in Illinois. UC Berkeley and Berkeley Lab are members of the DUNE collaboration.

"What we would ultimately like to build is a much bigger detector called Theia," she said. "Theia is the Titan goddess of light and Eos's mother in the pantheon of gods. The ideal location for Theia is in that mine in South Dakota, seeing those neutrinos from Fermilab."

It remains to be seen whether Theiawhich would employ a tank large enough to nearly swallow the Statue of Libertywill replace one of DUNE's four planned liquid argon "far" detectors.

Orebi Gann argues that a hybrid detector like Theia, while providing comparable sensitivity for studying the high-energy beam of neutrinos that is the primary target of DUNE, would add new capabilities beyond an argon detector, including the ability to detect antineutrinos. Theia also would have a 2-degree pointing accuracy for the location of a supernova via the neutrino burst and would have the capacity to search for low-energy solar neutrinos and Majorana neutrinos.

A hybrid neutrino detector

Eos is unique in being a hybrid of the two main types of liquid neutrino detectors, both of which start with a tank of liquid.

One technique is based on a scintillatorin this case, linear alkylbenzenethat emits light in response to the charged particles produced during interactions with a neutrino or antineutrino.

Neutrinos and antineutrinos can also interact with other materials, such as water, to produce an electron, which then emits its own light, though much fainter than scintillation light. The latter is called Cherenkov radiation and is emitted when the electron plows through the liquid faster than the speed of light in the liquid, akin to the acoustic energy of a sonic boom produced by a plane traveling faster than the speed of sound.

UC Berkeley physicist Gabriel Orebi Gann and Berkeley Lab engineer Joe Saba inspected the Eos detector242 photomultiplier tubes surrounding an acrylic tankas it was lowered into a steel tank on Jan. 26, 2024. During testing, the tank will be filled with water and eventually a scintillator that will generate pulses of light when neutrinos or antineutrinos pass through. The photomultiplier tubes detect the light and help determine the energies of the particles and the direction from which they arrived. Credit: Zara Bagdasarian/UC Berkeley

In both techniques, sensitive light detectors called photomultiplier tubes are arrayed around the tank to record the intensity of the faint light. The intensity of the scintillation provides information about the energy of the neutrino or antineutrino.

Cherenkov radiation, however, is emitted in a cone, so it can provide information on the direction from which the neutrino came, a critical piece of information for studying nuclear reactor sources as well as cosmic neutrino sources.

"Photomultiplier tubes are sensitive to single photon levels of light," Orebi Gann said. "But a liquid scintillator gives you a lot more light: If you've got an electron at the same energy, you'll get 50 times more light, depending on the scintillator, than from Cherenkov emission. That means you get better precision for understanding where the energy was deposited and how much energy there was."

"We said, OK, we don't want to pick and choose. We don't like compromise. We want both. And that's the goal here. We want the topology of Cherenkov light, but the resolution of scintillation," she said.

The problem is that light from scintillation is so bright it overwhelms the Cherenkov light.

Luckily, Cherenkov light comes out in a picosecond burst, whereas scintillation light lingers for nanoseconds.

"If you have very fast photon detectors, you can use the time difference to help separate those two signatures," she said. Eos will surround the liquid tank with 242 photomultiplier tubes made by the Japanese firm Hamamatsu that are three times faster than current photomultipliers.

The visible region of Cherenkov light has a redder color spectrum than scintillation light, which is mostly blue. The team takes advantage of this by surrounding the front row of photomultipliers with a "dichroic" filter that reflects red Cherenkov light into the photomultiplier but lets blue scintillation light pass through to photomultipliers in the back.

"You're basically sorting your photons by wavelength and directing them to different photon detectors based on the wavelength," she said.

Orebi Gann and her team began assembling Eos in September, delayed for six weeks by the destruction of the first steel tank when the truck carrying it collided with an overpass. The tanks are so large that the researchers had to house the experiment in a large basement labformerly occupied by a nuclear reactoroperated by UC Berkeley's Department of Nuclear Engineering.

They surrounded the acrylic tank with the photomultiplier tubes, then lifted the whole assembly into a cylindrical steel tank. The internal acrylic tank and the gap between the acrylic and steel tanks were then filled with pure water, submerging the photomultiplier tubes in the gap.

Once the team tests the ability of Eos to detect Cherenkov light from artificial radioactive sources and natural, cosmic muons, they will gradually add scintillator material to test the experiment's ability to discriminate between the two types of light emissions.

"We have also designed our detector so we can deploy pure liquid scintillator," Orebi Gann said. "This would be the ultimate test: if we can still see the Cherenkov signature even with the maximal scintillation component."

Plans call for exploring how well Eos can monitor small modular reactors and nuclear-powered maritime vessels and check test site transparency.

Orebi Gann is eager also to employ the Eos design in general neutrino physics studies, such as measuring the flux of neutrinos from the core of the sun to verify the predicted nuclear reactions powering it; investigations of terrestrial sources of neutrinos; mapping the diffuse supernova neutrino background in the Milky Way and beyond; and the ongoing search for neutrinoless double beta decay, which would indicate that a neutrino is its own antiparticle.

All of these questions are already being explored with either the scintillator or Cherenkov detectors, but Orebi Gann is hoping that a hybrid detector will speed progress.

"The same kind of physics that each of those detectors has done in the past, we could do better," she said. "That's the goal. It's R&D for the next generation."
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Credit: Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

A team of community health specialists at the Boston University School of Public Health, working with a psychiatrist from Brown University, has found evidence that suggests workers who have more job flexibility and security tend to have better mental health overall.

In their study, published in JAMA Network Open, the group surveyed more than 18,000 employed people across the U.S. to learn more about their jobs and their mental health.

Over the past several years, as white-collar workers and employers have negotiated return-to-office policies after the pandemic, mental health specialists have used the opportunity to learn more about job satisfaction. In this new study, the research team wanted to know what sort of impact job flexibility and security had on worker's well-being, most specifically, their mental health. To learn more, they sent out thousands of standard mental health surveys to employed people in the U.S. that also included questions regarding their level of job security and degree of flexibility.

For their study, the researchers defined flexibility as having the ability to adjust their own work schedule to meet personal demands, such as taking time off when sick or scheduling a vacation. It also included scheduling changes made by employers. Job security, on the other hand, was a measure of how confident an employee was that they would not lose their job in the near future.

The researchers found that people who reported greater job flexibility also reported 26% lower odds of experiencing psychological stress. They also were 13% less likely to experience daily anxiety, 11% less likely to experience weekly anxiety and 9% less likely to experience anxiety several times a year.

The research team also found that people with high job security were 25% less likely to experience psychological stress and were also less likely to experience anxiety regularly or over the course of many weeks or years. The researchers also found that more flexibility and job security led to reduced absenteeism, while also allowing workers to feel comfortable taking time off when they were sick.

More information: Monica L. Wang et al, Job Flexibility, Job Security, and Mental Health Among US Working Adults, JAMA Network Open (2024). DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.3439 Journal information: JAMA Network Open

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As shown on this non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) plot, researchers found that Streptococcus and Pedobacter bacteria species were the most prevalent microbes in healthy eyes (blue) while more Acinetobacter species were present in their eye microbiome of people with dry eye (red). Credit: Pallavi Sharma, Stephen F. Austin State University

Researchers have used advanced sequencing technology to determine how the mix of microbes present in patients with healthy eyes differs from the mix found in patients with dry eye. The new work could lead to improved treatments for various eye problems and for diseases affecting other parts of the body.

Microbial communities in and on our bodycollectively referred to as the human microbiotaplay an essential role in keeping us healthy. Although many studies have focused on microbial communities in our gut, understanding the microbiota present in other body sites is critical for advancing our knowledge of human health and developing targeted interventions for disease prevention and treatment.

"Once we understand the eye microbiota properly, it will improve disease diagnosis at an early stage," said research team leader Alexandra Van Kley, a professor at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. "This knowledge can also serve as a catalyst for developing innovative therapies aimed at preventing and treating ocular disease as well as those that affect the central microbiome site: the gut."

Pallavi Sharma, a graduate student in Van Kley's lab, will present the research at Discover BMB, the annual meeting of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, held March 2326 in San Antonio.

"Human microbiome research suggests a strong connection between the gut microbiome and the brain and eyes," said Sharma. "Any alteration in the gut microbiome affects other organs and can lead to disease. Therefore, we are trying to identify patterns of an imbalance between the types of microbes present in a person's ocular microbiome for people with different health problems."

For the study, the researchers collected eye samples from 30 volunteers using a swab and then performed 16S rRNA sequencing and bioinformatic analysis to determine the microbiome distribution for patients with healthy eyes and those with dry eyes.

The analysis showed that Streptococcus and Pedobacter bacteria species were the most prevalent microbes in healthy eyes while more Acinetobacter species were present in the eye microbiomes of people with dry eye.

"We think the metabolites produced by these bacteria are responsible for dry eye conditions," said Sharma. "We are performing further research to understand the metabolic pathways associated with the Acinetobacter to better understand the disease."

Next, the researchers would like to explore the gut microbiome of the patients with dry eye to better understand how it related to the eye microbe differences they observed.
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The Saharan air layer shown at elevation during its journey to North America. Credit: Dr. Jason Dunion

When allergy season hits, many blame their reactions on the local flora in the spring. However, African Saharan-Sahelian dust plumes, large enough to register on weather radar, travel around the globe every summer, bringing their own form of air pollution.

Dr. Shankar Chellam, professor in the Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and A.P. and Florence Wiley Professor III at Texas A&M University, and his now former student Dr. Sourav Das have furthered previous research to identify microorganisms that might have hitched a ride in the dust plumes across the Atlantic. Dr. Daniel Spalink, assistant professor and director of S.M. Tracy Herbarium at Texas A&M, helped analyze the biology and identify bacteria and fungi in the samples.

"We all get allergies and potentially other more severe health effects when we breathe in dust, and it's not fully known as to what causes those allergies," said Chellam. "Some people may think it is just the sand or clay minerals in the dust. Others think it is the metals or organics in the dust, and then some think it's the bacteria and fungi."

Dirt, bacteria and fungi

This research, published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, is the first to study the association of bacteria and fungi with North AmericanSaharan dust storms.

"A few groups have studied bacteria and fungi in Africa and Europe, but no one has studied metals, bacteria and fungi together in an African dust event," said Chellam.

Samples were taken during a Saharan dust event in Houston, Texas, in August 2018. Elemental, bacterial and mycobiome (fungal communities) compositions were measured.

A huge dust cloud leaving Africa on its way across the Atlantic Ocean to North America. Credit: NASA Worldview

Chellam noted that dust events can vary annually, with different elemental compositions each year. Determining the exact source of the dust that travels to Houston is challenging. Even satellite imaging of the events may not accurately pinpoint the source. Dust moves north to Europe, crosses the Atlantic and travels east to Asia. The probable source area for this study is the desert itself because images showed substantial dust clouds from the Sahara region in early August.

Spalink explained that the biodiversity of bacteria and fungi in metropolitan and industrial areas like Houston is highly dynamic, often changing daily. Many bacteria and fungi are found worldwide.

"A key takeaway from this study is that a lot of biodiversity is not scientifically described," said Spalink. "It doesn't have a name, it can't be cultured, and because it can't be cultured, it's difficult to study."

However, microbiota was detected by extracting DNA from filters. Meticulous sequencing techniques detected bacterial genomes from 117 families and fungal genomes from 164 families. The technique did not show whether the microbes were alive, but it did detect several pathogenic bacteria and fungi, many of which are listed in the World Health Organization's global priority list of human pathogens.

"It doesn't tell us if they are going to be able to infect us and make us sick," Spalink said. "But at least the DNA of several pathogenic bacteria and fungi were identified in the African dust."

Elemental impact

The biodiversity of bacteria and fungi was strongly correlated to a few elements, most notably calcium. The study showed that calcium and zirconium are important for explaining bacterial and fungal beta diversity, the ratio between regional and local species diversity.

The huge dust storm of 2020, affectionately nicknamed Godzilla, arrives on the east coast of Barbados on its way to the U.S. Credit: Dr. Joseph Prospero

"The metals we emphasized in this study are not the same metals we emphasized in the previous study," said Chellam.

While these elements can be found in Saharan dust, they are also found locally in Houston.

A similar caveat was found in biota detections. Over 2,000 different organic groups were detected. Only 17 increased in abundance as the Saharan dust entered Houston. All 17 of these are found worldwide, and several were detected in smaller amounts before the dust event.

"There's a chance that you will always get some kind of correlation with some metals," said Das. "That doesn't mean that it's not coming from African dust."

Future dust forecasts

Future studies could expand on this work by sampling before, during and after dust storms over multiple years. Sampling could also expand geographically across dust plume travel areas.

Driving factors like climate change and other meteorological effects will also be important for future research.

Dr. Shankar Chellam generated this image for a 2017 African dust episode reaching Houston using NASA web resources. Credit: NASA Worldview

"The whole dynamics of the Saharan dust coming to Houston is primarily driven by atmospheric processes," said Das.

"This highlights the importance of having these baseline data sets," added Spalink. "It's really hard to predict how the biota is going to change if you don't know what's happened in the past or what's happening at the present."

Chellam explained that the biggest storm on record in Houston was measured in 2020, highlighting a potential area for future research.

"It was so big that it earned a nickname, and it is now referred to as the Godzilla dust storm," said Chellam. "I just happened to be sampling then, so hopefully, we can get some good data and publications from that as well."

Alyvia McEwan, one of Chellam's undergraduate students, and Dr. Joseph Prospero, professor emeritus at the University of Miami in Florida, made significant contributions to this research. Chellam credits Prospero, who has worked on African dust since the early 70s, for inspiring his research.

"He is the guy who first brought this African dust into the scientific community's consciousness," Chellam said of Prospero.

McEwan is credited for a large portion of the data analysis and interpretation and for generating many of the graphical representations.

"It's crazy how much the average human is exposed to in terms of what kinds of elements, fungi and bacteria that have all these potentials attached to them," said McEwan.

More information: Sourav Das et al, Respirable Metals, Bacteria, and Fungi during a SaharanSahelian Dust Event in Houston, Texas, Environmental Science & Technology (2023). DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c04158 Journal information: Environmental Science & Technology
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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Queensland University of Technology researchers have homed in on AI-powered chatbots in the local government sector to look at their benefits and risks, what they are used for and why, and how users view them.

The study conducted by an international research team including QUT Ph.D. student Sajani Senadheera, Professor Tan Yigitcanlar from the QUT School of Architecture and Built Environment and Professor Kevin Desouza from the QUT School of Management provides a comprehensive overview of the impact of chatbots in local government.

QUT Ph.D. student Sajani Senadheera said the study, appearing in the Journal of Urban Technology, highlighted that chatbots could significantly transform and improve citizen-government communication, which had long been problematic for local governments.

"Currently, chatbots in local governments serve purposes such as providing information, facilitating consultations, handling transactions, and addressing complaints, thereby create a greater opportunity to enhance outreach and engagement with its citizens," Senadheera said.

"The key benefits of using chatbots in local governments include reduced workload, delegation of often requested tasks, enabling human personnel to focus on more complicated duties, optimized daily routines, timesaving, and enhanced cost-efficiency in public expenditure."

In the study the researchers referenced a real-world applicationthe Microsoft Azure chatbot called "CHIP" deployed by local government in Los Angeles that CEO of cFocus Software, Jasson Walker Jr said, "had shown remarkable results, with a 50% reduction in received emails."

"Despite the benefits of an exemplary chatbot like that one, concerns related to accuracy, accountability, exclusionary assumptions, and ethical considerations do pose challenges to the widespread adoption of AI-powered chatbots in local government settings," Senadheera said.

Senadheera gave the example of a chatbot "Ask Jamie," which was deployed by the Singapore Ministry of Health during the COVID-19 pandemic and discontinued after several complaints of inappropriate and offensive answers to residents' inquiries.

"Incidents such as that underscores that a meticulous evaluation on government readiness is a critical factor for adoption success," Senadheera said.

"While the initial public trust in such emerging technologies as chatbots is unpredictable, their acceptance among users can be influenced by the perceived humanness of a chatbot."

Professor Yigitcanlar said interactions and chatbot adoption by governments is a relatively understudied area of research and the study highlighted their potential to enhance communication, transform citizen-government interactions, and adapt to the changing expectations of users in a digital society.

"Chatbots are computer programs that can understand client inquiries and respond automatically, leveraged by a range of technologiesincluding Natural Language Processing (NLP), Machine Learning (ML), Dialog Management, Application Programming Interface (API), and Natural Language Generation (NLG)," Professor Yigitcanlar said.

"Once an inquiry is posted, NLP enables a chatbot to comprehend the sentence structure and user intent by breaking it down into individual phrases and words.

"Then, ML algorithms allow chatbots to learn without explicit programming to generate responses and the flow of discussion between the chatbot and the user is controlled by dialogue management."

Professor Yigitcanlar said chatbots can communicate with other software programs and services via APIs while NLG allows chatbots to create plausible human-sounding responses.

"These technologies' collaborative efforts enable chatbots to imitate human-like conversations, learn from prior interactions, and give customized support to the users," he said.

Senadheera said the incorporation of user suggestions and institutional implications in the design thinking process could improve the service quality of chatbots in local governments.

"As users' expectations of capabilities evolve towards more personalized interactions and faster response times, the trend towards self-service and on-demand services will further advance the adoption of chatbots in local governments," Senadheera said.

Professor Yigitcanlar said the evolution of changing public behaviors and the shift towards a digital society will significantly welcome the chatbot adoption in future for local governments.

"Our study offers a novel chatbot adoption conceptual framework for local governments, and our prospective studies with local governments from Australia and overseas will involve real-world application of the consolidated framework," Professor Yigitcanlar said.

Professor Yigitcanlar highlighted the evolution of research on local government chatbots, noting a shift from traditional chatbots known for their simplicity and reliability in providing planned answers to the emerging focus on ChatGPT for local government.

"This new generation of chatbots can engage in human-like conversations, understand natural language inputs, and is the focal point of our prospective studies."

More information: Sajani Senadheera et al, Understanding Chatbot Adoption in Local Governments: A Review and Framework, Journal of Urban Technology (2024). DOI: 10.1080/10630732.2023.2297665
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Credit: CC0 Public Domain

One in three birders experiences accessibility challenges to participation in birding, according to Virginia Tech researchers Emily Sinkular and Ashley Dayer.

"I like to think of our research as blending together two previously unconnected fields: disability studies and wildlife recreation," said Sinkular, a Ph.D. student and lead author of the study published March 26 in the journal Human Dimensions and Wildlife. "There's been quite a lot of research on disability and lots of research on birding, but very few researchers have combined these two topics together."

The researchers used a nationwide survey of U.S. wildlife viewers to compare the challenges and needs of birders with and without disabilities. Along with co-authors Freya McGregor, research associate in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, and Morgan Karns, they analyzed open-ended responses using models of disabilities, or different frames of reference, to understand better how to talk about and think about disability so it resonates with disabled people.

Dayer's Human Dimensions Lab has partnered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Multistate Conservation Grant Program to increase research on wildlife viewers with disabilities and to support state fish and wildlife agencies in learning how to support these populations better. Her lab specializes in enhancing conservation success through applying social science to engage people effectively and works to ensure that all voices are represented in research and conservation.

Dayer, an affiliated faculty member of Fralin Life Sciences Institute's Global Change Center, said she hopes the work broadcasts a message of both inclusion and hope.

"My message for neurodiverse or disabled people: you are not alone in experiencing a desire to access nature and also facing additional challenges to doing so," Dayer said. "And your challenges are increasingly being seen and addressed."

"We suggest agencies and organizations reflect on how to make their programs more accessible and train staff or volunteers to do so as well," said Dayer, associate professor in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation. "Acknowledging that the responsibility to support the participation of disabled birders rests on society and institutions, not on disabled people themselves, is essential."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in four Americans has a disability, and that number is expected to rise with an aging population. Evidence further shows that people with disabilities are also historically underserved in wildlife-related recreation, including birding.

While the researchers found that birders with disabilities experienced more constraints than their peers, including lack of accessible features, safety concerns, and crowds at birding sites, commonalities in their needs for support of their recreational activity were also shown.

Birders with and without disabilities expressed interest in access to more high-quality birding locations and information about where and when to view wildlife. This suggests strategies to improve wildlife viewing opportunities can benefit both groups.

"This shows us that agencies or organizations making changes to better include birders with disabilities can actually benefit everyone," said Sinkular, who is also a student in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation.

Ultimately, studying and planning for including people with disabilities in recreation will support broader social inclusion for this large population. The benefits of birding are multifaceted, including mental well-being, social connections, and, ultimately, conservation actions. This research helps to bring these benefits to people with disabilities.

More information: Human Dimensions of Wildlife (2024)
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Map (A) showing the locations of Mid- and Late Pleistocene marine mollusks. Sampling points (BC) around the Ariane 6 launch pad. Composite stratigraphic column (D) from Kourou, French Guiana, with descriptions of the sediment layers. Credit: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2024). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2311597121

In what is an intriguing mix of past and future, an international team of researchers, including some from the University of Bonn, has stumbled upon a surprising window to the past in Kourou in French Guiana. In the clay underneath the new launch pad for the forthcoming Ariane 6 launch vehicle, the interdisciplinary team has uncovered a remarkable collection of fossils stretching back 130,000 years.

Covering over 270 species in total, including bony fish, sharks and numerous plants, they reflect the kind of climatic conditions that calculations suggest are set to reoccur in the year 2100. The team's findings have now been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Consisting of more than 270 animal, plant and micro-organism species, these coastal fossils are the first to have been unearthed in the equatorial Atlantic. They provide information about the prevailing environmental and climatic conditions in the region, both during a very warm period in the last interglacial between 128,000 and 116,000 years ago and during the subsequent glacial, i.e., the most recent ice age from 100,000 to 15,000 years ago.

The fluctuations in the climate over the past 2.5 million years have brought about drastic changes in the distribution of organisms across the globe. The last interglacial in particular, which occurred between 128,000 and 116,000 years ago, was characterized by higher sea levels and warmer temperatures than nowadays. This period matches the global conditions being predicted for 2100.

Little if anything was known about the flora and fauna from the equatorial coastal regions of the last interglacial until fossils were discovered in the clay during the construction of Ariane 6's launch pad at Europe's Spaceport in Kourou in French Guiana.

Tens of thousands of fossils were excavated at the site between 2017 and 2021 with the express permission of the Center national d'etudes spatiales (CNES), France's national space agency. By pooling their expertise, paleontologists, geologists and biologists succeeded in reconstructing the ecosystems that used to exist in French Guiana in precise detail for the first time. The researchers began by characterizing a collection of coastal fossils dating from around 130,000 to 115,000 years ago.

Fossiliferous clays in Kourouand an overview of the rich 125,000-year-old fossil assemblage, including fish, mollusks, crabs, and sea urchins among others. Credit: Pierre-Olivier Antoine

According to the study's two leads, Pierre-Olivier Antoine from the Universite de Montpellier and Arnauld Heuret from the Universite de Guyane, the reconstructed marine and terrestrial fossil communities contained over 270 species, including foraminifera, mollusks, bony fish, bryozoa, decapods, sharks and numerous plants. All of the fossil specimens found in Kourou belong to modern-day species, some of which are now at risk of extinction.

The findings provide evidence of a brief period of high sea levels during the last interglacial, when the area was home to a mangrove ecosystem and shallow-water habitats that also included some highly diverse communities of mollusks.

According to Austin Hendy from the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles, this diversity shows that there were very strong affinities between the coastal waters of the Caribbean and the Guianas, probably with less influence from mega-currents of Amazonian origin.

Carina Hoorn from the University of Amsterdam explains that the plant fossils discovered on site, including pollens, phytoliths and charcoals, that date from the period after the ocean receded around 110,000 years agoas the last ice age cooled the planetsuggest that there existed savannas and drier local conditions punctuated by natural fires until around 50,000 years ago.

The investigations by Professor Martin Langer from the Paleontology team in the Institute of Geosciences at the University of Bonn focused on the marine microfossils known as foraminifera, or "forams" for short. These act as a kind of archive for reconstructing the environment, sea levels and sedimentation conditions during the last interglacial between 128,000 and 116,000 years ago.

"Analyzing the microfossils has enabled us to show that sea levels were around 4 to 6 meters higher than they are now, temperatures were about 2C to 4C hotter, and the coastline in French Guiana was lined with mangrove forests," the University of Bonn researcher says.

He suggests that the pollensprimarily from grasslandas well as the plant remains and charcoals from younger sediment layers are evidence of the sea receding and conditions becoming drier toward the beginning of the most recent glacial period some 110,000 to 50,000 years ago. The landscape would have been mainly savanna, with occasional wildfires. The charcoals dating from the last few millennia suggest the presence of humans.

"Our findings provide key insights into the ecology and biogeography of undisturbed Pleistocene coastal ecosystems, which are particularly important in view of human-made global heating," Langer explains.

The authors believe that their results will enable a better understanding of the ecology and biogeography of equatorial Atlantic tropical coastal ecosystems prior to any human influence and teach us more about the potential long-term effects of ongoing climate change on the species that are currently endangered. Pierre-Olivier Antoine hopes that "this work will contribute to a better understanding of the major environmental upheavals that the region could experience by 2100."

More information: Pierre-Olivier Antoine et al, A Late Pleistocene coastal ecosystem in French Guiana was hyperdiverse relative to today, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2024). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2311597121 Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Sonam Tashi shows his certificate of ferrying in Dranang County of Shannan City, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, Feb. 23, 2024. (Xinhua/Tenzing Nima Qadhup)

by Liu Zhoupeng

LHASA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- It was a serene and sun-drenched afternoon when I met former ferryman Sonam Tashi along the majestic Yarlung Zangbo River. Clad in a traditional Tibetan robe and a broad-brimmed felt hat, he was tending to his flock of sheep near his Tibetan-style villa.

Our meeting quickly evolved into a captivating journey through history.

Sonam Tashi, who is now 67 years old, joined me in my car, and within minutes, we journeyed from the northern bank of the Yarlung Zangbo to its southern counterpart. During our journey, we crossed a major bridge in Dranang County, situated in the city of Shannan, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region.

Upon reaching Samye Ferry, my gaze fell upon a scene -- a damaged iron gate, an abandoned sweet tea house, and a flock of sheep calmly grazing on the untamed grass nearby. The fading graffiti on the tea house walls, marked with dates, hinted at its bustling past, which seemed to have faded away around 2015.

Yet, the once-thriving ferry was cloaked in silence and dust. The abandoned wooden boat on the shore stood as a silent witness to the tales of ferrymen like Sonam Tashi, who once navigated the river's currents with purpose and pride.

Sonam Tashi reminisced about the era before the 1980s when the winding waterway was the sole lifeline connecting Tsethang Subdistrict and Dranang County. The latter is home to the famed Samye Monastery.

"During that time, ferrying was not merely a profession but a way of life," Sonam Tashi recounted. His father, equipped with a yak skin boat, once ferried passengers across the river, braving its unpredictable currents.

In 1985, Sonam Tashi acquired his first boat -- a small wooden vessel converted from an old diesel engine, capable of accommodating around 20 passengers. Despite the need for frequent repairs, he navigated the shallow and sandy riverbed, ferrying passengers twice a day, undeterred by the harsh weather conditions.

"Being a ferryman demanded not only skillful boatmanship but also extraordinary courage and wisdom," he told me. From adjusting courses based on wind direction and current speed to navigating treacherous sand ridges, every journey was a testament to his skill and determination.

Three years later, Sonam Tashi upgraded to a new, brightly painted boat, which quickly became the preferred mode of transport for passengers and livestock alike.

Many passengers still hold fond memories of crossing the river by boat.

Pasang Tsering, 44, the deputy director of the Surkhar community, where Sonam Tashi resides, recalls his teenage years when he would cross the river every two weeks on his way back from school. The fierce winter winds made the boat sway dangerously, filling him with anxiety and unease.

"Yet, lively Tibetan songs on Sonam Tashi's radio eased everyone's nerves," he told me.

At a sweet tea house in the Surkhar community, Tashi Phuntsok, a 78-year-old resident, recounted his routine of taking a ferry from the north bank every three days to exchange potatoes and woven goods for daily necessities. He nostalgically recalled the anticipation of returning home in the afternoon if the ferry set off early, or the inconvenience of having to stay the night at a relative's house if it was late.

With the advent of modern highways and bridges in Shannan, and throughout Xizang, the demand for ferry services gradually waned. By early 2022, the total road length in Xizang exceeded 121,400 km, including 1,105 km of high-grade highways.

In 2001, a gravel road connecting Tsethang and Dranang was completed, providing an alternative to the ferry crossing. Nearly a decade later, the road was upgraded to a blacktop one.

"After the road opened to traffic, I also helped transport motorcycles and cars across the river," Sonam Tashi said. The ferry business experienced a decline at that time, leading to a reduction in the number of boats.

In 2015, the Dranang bridge, spanning 4,700 meters, was inaugurated, drastically reducing the hours-long river crossing to a few minutes' drive. This subsequently marked the end of an era for the ferrymen. Around 96,000 vehicles passed through the bridge last year.

Sonam Tashi's children now pursue endeavors beyond these familiar shores, while he himself finds that a mere five minutes on a motorcycle are all it takes to cross the river.

As I bid farewell to him, I couldn't help but marvel at the resilience of the human spirit in the face of changing times. While the river may stand as steadfast as ever, the tales of those who once navigated its currents persist, echoing through the ages. 

An aerial drone photo taken on Feb. 23, 2024 shows the Dranang bridge in Dranang County of Shannan City, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Tenzing Nima Qadhup)
"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.
GLENS FALLS  The Glens Falls Senior Center is looking for donations to help renovate the historic Sherman House, which has hosted the organization for more than 60 years.

People feel its their home away from home because its very warm and welcoming when you come into the building, explained Kim Bren, executive director of the center.

Phase 1 of the restoration occurred from 2017 through 2019. That included updates such as replacing the roof of the building, purchasing new furnaces, and painting the exterior of the building. Through state funds and donations from local businesses and individuals, the facility was able to secure around $500,000 for the first round. During the pandemic, restoration efforts were paused, but now the facility is ready for more upgrades.

After a visit of the facility in August, 2023, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Assembly member Carrie Woerner were able to secure $620,000 of state funds to help bring the historic building into the 21st Century. The board is still looking for $180,000 from the community to complete the upgrades.

On behalf of our Board of Directors, I extend our appreciation to everyone who can help us reach our $800,000 fundraising goal over the next year, Senior Center Board president Harold McKinney said in a press release, A very special thank you to NYS Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Assembly member Carrie Woerner for the $620,000 New York State award to go towards our goal.

In an interview with The Post-Star on Monday, McKinney explained some of the restorations to the building would include an ADA compliant restroom, elevator, storm windows, new HVAC and exhaust systems, parking lot, sidewalk, and step restorations, as well as enhancing the buildings Wi-Fi and audio system.

Mr. Heastie and Ms. Woerner, when they were here, got right in with our line dancers, McKinney recalled. When they finished, they said, well how do you get your music, and the leader of the group pointed to a boom box over on the corner of the dresser. They said, well, we can help out there.

The center has over 400 members. Bren said many of the seniors are members of other centers in the area, but one of the things that makes the Sherman House so special is the buildings rich history and the facilitys unique offerings.

We all try to meet and have different programming, she said of the other centers. We have a senior service specialist on staff He works closely with the Office of the Aging and basically, what they can do, he can do here.

Along with the centers annual basket raffle on April 12, Bren said a new event will be introduced to help raise funds for the renovations. A drive-thru pancake breakfast will be held from 8-11:30 a.m. on April 6.

Weve gotten really good at drive-thru stuff, Bren said with a laugh.

Both Bren and McKinney invited the public to visit the centers website, or call (518) 793-2189 to make donations, or arrange a tour of the facility.

Or they can stop in and we can give them a tour, and they can see where their money is going, she said.
From a press release: The Saratoga Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program, a collaboration with Albany Medical Center and Hudson Headwaters Health Network, has successfully matched its second class of six medical residents who will begin their three-year residency training on July 1, 2024. Six inaugural residents launched the program in 2023, and six are added to the residency each year, with a goal of 18 total residents by 2025.

Match results were announced by the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) on Friday, March 15. The Class of 2027 family medicine residents are:

Marie Chin Day, MDDr. Francisco Q. Duque Medical Foundation College of Medicine, Philippines.

Meghan Pentak, MDAmerican University of Antigua College of Medicine.

Farhan Rana, MD  Royal College of Surgeons in IrelandMedical University of Bahrain.

Marina Rozik, MD  St. Matthews University School of Medicine, Cayman Islands.

Troy Selvaratnam, MDSt. Georges University School of Medicine.

Ankit Singh, MDCollege of Medical Sciences, Bharatpur, Nepal.

We are pleased to welcome our next class of talented family medicine residents to our communities, said Ephraim Back, MD, Saratoga Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program director and chief of clinical initiatives at Hudson Headwaters Health Network. Since arriving last summer, our inaugural residents have cared for a wide range of patients while working closely with our exceptional faculty. Together, weve built an enriching 21st-century family medicine training program that has fully filled with residents in its first two years. This is a testament to the quality of the program and faculty and the unique and rewarding opportunities to practice medicine in our region.

The Class of 2027 includes four residents who are from the Saratoga/Capital region. The residency program is designed to provide excellent clinical training in both hospital and ambulatory medicine, with a special emphasis on behavioral health, addiction treatment, population and community health, rural health and state-of-the-art technology. Residents see patients at the Saratoga Hospital campus and the Saratoga Hospital Community Health Center, along with the Saratoga Hospital Backstretch Clinic at the Saratoga Race Course. They also train at Hudson Headwaters Glens Falls Family Health and Ticonderoga Health Center.

Saratoga Hospital Family Medicine Residency leadership includes Robert Donnarumma Jr., MD, designated institutional official; Deidre Cirillo, RN, executive director of medical education; Ephraim Back, MD, program director; Colleen Quinn, MD, associate program director; Renee Rodriguez-Goodemote, MD, medical director, community health center and director of community medicine; Tim Reed, MD, director of residency inpatient medicine; and Cindy Pratt, MSEd, program coordinator.
From a press release: On Wednesday, March 20th, the Vermont Family Networks Puppets in Education partnered with Ross Hometown Chevrolet to provide of day of Bullying Prevention puppet presentations for Fort Ann Elementary School.

For the kindergarten through fourth grades, Puppets in Education presented the Bullying Prevention puppet presentation. The schools fifth grade participated in the new Bullying Prevention Workshop. The puppet presentation follows Eddie and Claire as they talk about unkind behavior and share tips to help everyone be safe in their school. The workshop discusses the difference between bullying, harassment, mean moments, and conflicts, and gives students strategies to remove themselves from tough situations.

Students shared that many of them had been called mean names, had been left out by classmates, and had toys taken or broken. They also brainstormed things they could say or do when they find themselves in an unkind situation. One student shared, You could say, That really hurt my feelings. Dont do that again. After, a teacher told us, Students always need tips of what to do when someone is being mean or bullying. I will encourage them to use the strategies presented.

Thanks to Ross Hometown Chevrolets continuing generosity, in addition to receiving this virtual programming, the school will also be receiving five brand-new silly puppets to live at their school. Students and teachers alike will have the opportunity to use these puppets to create shows of their own and talk about important topics.

Year after year, Puppets in Education visits schools across upstate New York and we continue to be amazed at school staffs hard work and dedication. The students continue to share their stories, kindness, and empathy, as well as their joy as they experience a puppet show, many for the first time.

Puppets in Education is in its 42nd year serving over 10,000 children and adults annually with programs addressing many societal concerns, including bullying, abuse, mental health, disability awareness, anxiety, drug use, and other topics. Puppets in Education is a program of Vermont Family Network, who empowers and supports all Vermont families of children with special needs.
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. The judge earlier had scolded the former presidents lawyers as he weighed when to reschedule the trial after a last-minute document dump caused a postponement of the original date.

Merchan had bristled at what he suggested were baseless defense claims of prosecutorial misconduct, appearing unpersuaded by Trump team arguments that prosecutors had until recently concealed tens of thousands of pages of records from a previous federal investigation.

Prosecutors said only a handful of those newly records was relevant to the case, while defense lawyers contended that thousands of pages are potentially important and require a painstaking review. Merchan, who earlier this month postponed the trial until at least mid-April, told defense lawyers that they should have acted much sooner if they believed they didnt have all the records they felt they were entitled to.

That you dont 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. Youre accusing the Manhattan district attorneys office and the people involved in this case of prosecutorial misconduct and of trying to make me complicit in it. And you dont have a single cite to support that position.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee arrived in court for a hearing scheduled in place of the long-planned start of jury selection in the first of his four criminal cases to go to trial. It took place on a uniquely consequential day for Trump and his legal and political affairs as, besides a likely determination of a trial date, a New York appeals court on Monday granted him 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 hush money case, filed last year by prosecutors in Manhattan, has taken on added importance given that its the only one of the prosecutions against Trump that appears likely for trial in the coming months.

The district attorneys office said there was little new material in the trove and no reason for further delay, with prosecutor Matthew Colangelo saying in court Monday that the number of relevant, usable, new documents is quite small  around 300 records or fewer.

We very much disagree, countered defense lawyer Todd Blanche, who said the number totaled in the thousands and continues to grow. Trumps lawyers argue that the delayed disclosures warrant dismissing the case or at least pushing it off three months.

Were not doing our jobs if we dont independently review the materials, Blanche said. Every document is important.

But Merchan seemed unmoved, asking Blanche why the defense team, which subpoenaed for the records in January, didnt bring up concerns about potentially missing documents weeks earlier.

Why did you wait until two months before trial? Why didnt you do it in June or July, Merchan said.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to charges that he falsified business records. 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. 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 companys books to disguise his and others criminal conduct, as Braggs deputies put it in a court document.

The money went to Trumps then-personal attorney Michael Cohen, but prosecutors say it wasnt for actual legal work. Rather, they say, Cohen was just recouping money 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 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 Braggs 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 Trumps lawyers said in a court filing that some of it is exculpatory and favorable to the defense, adding that theres information that would have aided their own investigation and consequential legal filings earlier in the case.

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. 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.

Trumps 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.

Where each Trump case stands Classified documents case Election interference Hush-money scheme Georgia election indictment Civil cases
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The long-awaited solar eclipse occurs April 8, two Mondays from now. Most of my columns that have concentrated on it have discussed seeing it as a stunning total eclipse of the sun in a 100-plus-mile-wide strip of land from Texas to Ohio, northwestern Pennsylvania, northern New York and northern New England.

Ill end todays column with a last blast of wonder about the total eclipse. But most of this weeks column will be about what and how to observe the large partial eclipse of the sun as seen from New Jersey.

During the total stage of a total solar eclipse, the blindingly bright part of the sun is completely hidden by the moon, and in the deep dark, the delicate outer gases of the sun can be seen safely without eye protection. However, in New Jersey on the afternoon of April 8, all parts of the eclipse will be dangerous to look at directly without special eclipse glasses or shade number 14 welders glasses. The special eclipse glasses are widely available online, but more and more of them will be sold out as we approach the day of the eclipse. These glasses typically have lenses made of aluminized mylar. Each time before fresh use, hold the glasses up to a bright indoor lamp to make certain there are no pinholes through which direct light can pour.

The other way to observe a partial solar eclipse safely is by using solar projection. The simplest way to project an image of the sun is with two pieces of cardboard, one of which has a pinhole in it. But do not look through the pinhole in the cardboard at the sun. Instead, stand with your back to the sun and let the sunlight come through the hole and project an image onto the second, shaded piece of cardboard. You might think the image is just a circular patch of light, but if you line up the pieces correctly and adjust the distances between them, youll find the patch of light is an accurate image of the sun. During an eclipse, you can see a bite out of the image, a bite that is the silhouette of the moon.

Upcoming solar eclipse will be a thing of awe: Sky Watch This is my last major chance in this column to urge you readers to try to get to the "zone of totality" where the truly wondrous sights will be when the total eclipse occurs on the afternoon of April 8.

Another fascinating mechanism for solar projection is the spaces between the leaves on the trees. This can produce patches of dappled sunlight on the ground in the shape of crescent suns. Such a view was remarkable during the big partial eclipse in August 2017, but of course there really wont be leaves on the trees in New Jersey during this 2024 eclipse.

The best method of solar projection is using binoculars or a telescope. But you must make certain that the sunlight comes out of the eye piece away from anyones view and onto a piece of cardboard or a larger screen, including the side of a building. With a telescope you also may be able to see amazing sunspot groups on the image of the sun, and the slow progress of the moons silhouette passing over one sunspot after another.

Eclipse timetable

The times for the eclipse are quite similar for all parts of New Jersey, but I will quote the specific times for Atlantic City. The start of the eclipse, and first tiny bite out of the suns edge, will occur at 2:09 p.m., the end at 4:35 p.m. But the climax, the maximum, of the eclipse will occur at 3:24 p.m. At this time, the moon will extend 0.875% of the way across the sun, and the sun will shine only about 12% as bright as its uneclipsed state. Also starting before this time, the color of the sunlight and sky will have changed very noticeably. For several reasons, the sky high up will be more violet than normal, and the overall lighting will be more silvery. It will be very eerie.

The drop in temperature during the eclipse in New Jersey may be 5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit. But during a total eclipse of the sun, the temperature can drop as much as 30 degrees.

After the maximum of the eclipse, it may just be possible to see from South Jersey as a dark patch, like a storm, very low in the northwest, the central shadow of the moon over New York State, throwing several million people into deep darkness more than 300 miles away.
A former corrections officer from Linwood pleaded guilty Monday to securities fraud for leading two schemes, including a cryptocurrency scheme that cost law enforcement more than $600,000, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Tuesday.

John DeSalvo, 47, faces 20 years in prison and a fine of $5 million when sentenced Aug. 6.

DeSalvo was the creator of a digital token known as Blazar Token, which he marketed to police, firefighters, EMTs, and other first responders as a way to supplement existing pension plans.

He promised investors Blazar would provide better stability than other tokens and the value would increase at a higher rate compared to other investment funds, according to a news release.

DeSalvo used social media in late 2021 to fraudulently solicit investments. He claimed Blazar was approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, could be purchased through payroll deductions, was included on known cryptocurrency exchanges and guaranteed investors a 20% rate of return with no risk, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Between January and May 2021, DeSalvo managed and solicited investments through Brokerage-1, an online trading platform, according to court records.

More than $620,000 was raised from 200 investors in Blazar. DeSalvo used the money on personal expenses, to trade cryptocurrency and to pay back investors affected by a prior Ponzi scheme.

Ex-corrections officer from Linwood faces more charges in crypto scandal A former South Jersey corrections officer and Upper Township political candidate faces additional charges in a cryptocurrency scheme to lure investments from first responders and use their money for personnel expenses.

DeSalvo sold off more than 41 billion Blazar tokens in May 2022, causing their value to drop to the point where they never recovered and cost investors most of their investments, documents filed in the case show.

This defendant preyed on unwitting public servants to trick them into investing their hard-earned savings in a sham token he dubbed the crypto pension, which he then stole for his personal use, U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger said.

From January through May 2021, DeSalvo also solicited investment in a group through Brokerage-1.

During that time, he used social media to lie to potential investors about his success, claiming he averaged 1,200% gains in two years and was among the top investors in the world, according to Sellinger.

DeSalvo transferred about $100,000 from 20 people in the investment group into his personal Brokerage-1 and CoinBase accounts. He used the money to pay off credit cards, trade cryptocurrency and pay a contractor for work done at his house.

Once the investment group's account was drained, DeSalvo told investors the funds were lost due to poor marketing conditions.

Investors also were given fake trading records from DeSalvo that showed the trading activity he was engaging in on the group's behalf, Sellinger said.
More than $300,000 was raised during last Thursday's 41st Annual Restaurant Gala at the Harrahs Waterfront Conference Center in Atlantic City.

The gala, put on by Atlantic Cape Community College, drew more than 840 guests. The theme was "Springtime in Paris," and guests were treated to live music, raffle ticket packages, a cocktail reception featuring hors doeuvres prepared by the students of the Academy of Culinary Arts and a formal dinner.

Funds from the event will help assist culinary students and emergency relief, organizers said.

As part of the gala, several guests were honored, including Travis Lunn, President and Chief Operating Officer, Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa; and Academy of Culinary Arts (ACA) Honoree, Chef Demetrios Haronis, a 1990 ACA graduate and current executive chef at Tropicana Atlantic City.

Since its inception in 1984, the Atlantic Cape Restaurant Gala has raised more than $4 million for scholarships for students attending the Academy of Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management program, an emergency fund, special projects and Atlantic Cape Foundation operations.
Wolf trees occur throughout most forest types across America. They are typically large, older trees left as a legacy from past land use activities such as agriculture or timbering. When left to grow freely in the open, these trees develop an extensive spreading, large branching condition, not typical of cedar trees growing in a stocked forest. As the trees mature, their branches are typically numerous and gnarly. They usually are found as single trees that are scattered in a larger forested landscape.

It is rare to see a wolf tree forest. The wolf tree forest found in southern New Jersey is a large section of the once extensive Atlantic white cedar resource of Wharton State Forest, New Jerseys largest state forest.

Wharton State Forest was purchased in the mid-1950s and contains around 125,000 acres. This forest experienced repeated timbering starting in the late 1600s into the 1900s. The land also experienced heavy industrial use for many centuries, when the forest supplied the fuel for industry as well as the lumber and fuel for the development of the colonial cities of New York and Philadelphia.

The cedar resource was exploited into the 20th century, with the last cedar harvests in the 1930s and 1940s. It is important to understand the centuries of cedar cutting were not based on any standards of ecologically sustainable forest management. There was little to no effort to cut or control the cedar competitors of red maple, black gum or pitch pine, which allowed those species to continually gain dominance, gradually replacing the cedar on many sites. The shade-intolerant cedar has been unable to regenerate under the shade of these species, including the woody brush species understory that followed as well.

As the cedar exploitation ceased, the wood cutters arbitrarily left individual cedar trees or small groups in a random pattern across the cedar swamp areas. Small cedar trees, defective cedar trees and trees that simply were too hard to reach in these swamp conditions were left to continue growing in the resulting open conditions. This led to the development of a forest of wolf trees across many of the cedar swamps, resulting in the wolf tree forest.

Having grown in the open, these trees are now the largest cedar trees in the forest. They have unique physical character and high ecological value. For the lost cedar forests in this region, the wolf tree forest provides a unique seed source for needed Atlantic white cedar restoration efforts that could return cedar to the landscape.

These large cedar trees stand tall above an ocean of woody brush and greenbriar, which continues to prohibit natural cedar regeneration from occurring.

Maple syrup from New Jersey: You got a problem with that? 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. Located near Atlantic City, Stockton University is using $1 million in federal grants to explore whether a viable syrup industry can be created using a species of maple tree common to southern New Jersey. The trees produce only half as much sugar as the maples of Vermont, the nations maple syrup capital.

Atlantic white cedar is a declining forest ecosystem across the East Coast, with less than 5% of the original forest cover left intact.

The large, old white cedar trees in the wolf forest are in a state of decline. Heart rot is causing many trees to snap off at their crowns while other trees are falling from wind throw annually. After more than 85 years of no forest management, viable cedar regeneration remains absent.

The decline of this important cultural and ecological forest ecosystem continues across its entire range from Maine to the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. However, the wolf tree forest still offers an opportunity to restore thousands of acres of this once magnificent Atlantic white cedar forest ecosystem.

Active forest management is needed before this natural seed source is lost, as is the case in many states. The science on Atlantic white cedar management is well established, with extensive research as well as the numerous examples of cedar regeneration by foresters on both public and private lands over the last 30 years across southern New Jersey. Today, the most viable cedar regeneration is found only where foresters and loggers have applied the needed forest management based on science and experience.

The wolf tree forest is at a critical juncture; its restoration can be one of the most significant forest conservation efforts in the United States, resulting in reversing the long-term decline of this globally threatened forest ecosystem. Restoration efforts can conserve the critical cultural, economic and ecological services this forest has provided throughout the history of the United States. Wolf trees can play a critical ecological role in all forests  look for them in your forests.

Robert R. Williams is the owner and founder of Pine Creek Forestry LLC. He has worked for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Forest Service in Alaska and Washington, and Scott Paper Company as a logging engineer. Since 1985, he has worked as a consulting forester in New Jersey.
Action needed on child tax credit

How long must families wait? Its been nearly two months since the House has passed a bipartisan expansion of the Child Tax Credit and sent it to the Senate. Estimates are that this bill will benefit 16 million children in families with low incomes, including 5.8 million kids under the age of 6.

You would think that in an election year, Congress would be eager to pass a tax cut for families (and small businesses). But a few senators are blocking it for political gain. Families should not have to wait months for Congress to pass something that is both popular and necessary.

It is time for senators to show us their hands. If the bill passes, families win. If it fails, senators can explain to voters why they chose to keep children in poverty.

When the Senate returns to Washington after Easter, I urge our senators to demand an immediate vote and then vote YES on the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act.

Tracy Foster

Egg Harbor Township

Kudos for Atlantic City police promotions

I want to congratulate Captain Benjamin, Captain Holland, Captain White Jr., Captain Fair and Captain Dooley on their recent promotion.

These gentlemen represent over 100 years of dedicated service to the Atlantic City Police Department. Needless to say, their promotions are well deserved. All of Atlantic City, from Wards 1 to 6, should be proud of Mayor Smalls historical decision.

This is also historic because it is the first time any Atlantic City mayor has promoted three Black officers at the same time.

Prior to this, there were three Black captains on the Atlantic City Police Department in the 1960s, but they had been appointed at different times. That was more than 60 years ago!

Kudos, Mayor Small. Also, thanks to Rick Richardella and the state for their approval of these promotions. Finally, a nod to late Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, who I am sure would say Im so proud of AC! and is beaming from heaven above.

Her input and support in this matter was highly valued. Im so proud of Atlantic City!

Charles Goodman

Atlantic City

Youre praying for the wrong things

The March 7 letter Democracy or Trump made me chuckle. After a long rant about President Trump, the letter ends with Vote for Democracy, Pray for Peace.

Didnt we have four years of peace (no wars) under the man with the brash personality that made other countries scared to death to try anything? Since the pray for peace prayer was answered for four years, maybe its time to pray about grocery prices. And victims of crime by gangster migrants. Hmmmm

Frank Murphine 3rd

Millville

Van Drew lying about Social Security cuts

Jeff Van Drew is lying. That is a harsh, hard statement, but it is true. Congressman Pinocchio just said this in a press release: I want to make it very clear: I outright reject any proposed cuts to Social Security, regardless of who proposes these cuts.

Van Drew put this out because he is hoping that the voters in his district do not find out that as a member of the conservative Republican Study Committee he agreed to and signed on to a budget proposal last week that cuts Social Security AND privatizes portions of Medicare. Make no mistake, he and his RSC buddies spent a lot of time and effort on this proposal to cut Social Security and Medicare.

Van Drew knew very well what he was supporting!

Van Drew has a habit of saying one thing and then doing another. On March 3, 2022, Van Drew voted no on the all-important Burn Pit Bill that was critical in helping our veterans get medical treatment to fight the ravages of chemical poisoning during combat. When confronted, Van Drew said he voted yes. He lied. Van Drew was the only New Jersey congressman to vote no.

Calling out a congressman is difficult. They have the bully pulpit, and most people do not have the time or means to fact check.

It is my hope that the seniors and veterans in his district see just the type of person Van Drew really is ... unreliable and untruthful.

Michael J. Makara

Mays Landing
Welcome to the home you have been waiting on! This ranch style home has so much to offer! Sitting on just shy of three quarters of an acre. You will find the true meaning of finding your dream home. As you walk in you will be invited by Brazilian Cherry Wood floors throughout. Open floor plan with a gas fireplace in the living room. Cherry finish cabinets in kitchen with granite countertops. Main level laundry with all bedrooms on the main level. Walk into the main bedroom with a walk in closet and your own private bathroom! Jetted tub, double vanity and stand up shower! Enjoy the backyard from the two tier deck or from the walk-out basement that was completely finished! You HAVE to see this basement as the pictures do not do it justice. Basement has 10 foot ceilings that offers a movie theater, wet bar, gym, pool area AND a full bathroom! What are you waiting on? Book your showing before it's too late!

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Three local Jersey Mike's Subs locations will donate 100% of sales on Wednesday to Junior Achievement of the Heartland.

The following Quad-City area Jersey Mike's locations will donate each dollar in sales  not just profits  to JA, as part of the nationwide "Day of Giving" on Wednesday, March 27.

3918 16th St., Moline.

2124 E Kimberly Road, Davenport.

4451 E 53rd St., Davenport.

Jersey Mike's has partnered with JA of the Heartland in this initiative for the past six years, raising more than $325,000 to date.

JA of the Heartland is based in Moline and supports youth throughout western Illinois and eastern Iowa with initiatives on topics like financial literacy and entrepreneurship.

Jersey Mikes has gathered customer donations all month for its 14th-annual "Month of Giving" fundraiser at nearly 2,500 locations nationwide  benefiting more than 200 local charities.

This year, Jersey Mikes aims to surpass last years record-breaking $21 million fundraising total.

Photos: Campaign kickoff for the month of giving 022720-qc-nws-jajerseymike-004.jpg 022720-qc-nws-jajerseymike-001.jpg 022720-qc-nws-jajerseymike-002.jpg 022720-qc-nws-jajerseymike-003A.jpg 022720-qc-nws-jajerseymike-006.jpg 022720-qc-nws-jajerseymike-007.jpg 022720-qc-nws-jajerseymike-008.jpg 022720-qc-nws-jajerseymike-009.jpg 022720-qc-nws-jajerseymike-010.jpg 022720-qc-nws-jajerseymike-011.jpg 022720-qc-nws-jajerseymike-012.jpg 022720-qc-nws-jajerseymike-013.jpg 022720-qc-nws-jajerseymike-014.jpg 022720-qc-nws-jajerseymike-015.jpg 022720-qc-nws-jajerseymike-016.jpg 022720-qc-nws-jajerseymike-017.jpg 022720-qc-nws-jajerseymike-018.jpg 022720-qc-nws-jajerseymike-019.jpg 022720-qc-nws-jajerseymike-020.jpg 022720-qc-nws-jajerseymike-021.jpg 022720-qc-nws-jajerseymike-022.jpg 022720-qc-nws-jajerseymike-023.jpg 022720-qc-nws-jajerseymike-024.jpg 022720-qc-nws-jajerseymike-025.jpg 022720-qc-nws-jajerseymike-026.jpg 022720-qc-nws-jajerseymike-027.jpg
Talks about advocacy, funding and outreach filled the halls of The Project of the Quad Cities on Monday.

Congressman Eric Sorensen (IL-17), the first openly LGBTQ+ person elected to federal office for Illinois, visited The Project of the Quad Cities, 4101 John Deere Road, Moline. The nonprofit organization serves the LGBTQ+ community and those living with HIV.

The Project has been operating in the Quad-Cities since 1986 and recently moved into its new, larger building. More space allows for more services and the chance to assist a larger group of people, CEO Caitlin Wells said.

She took Sorensen on a tour of the new facility, highlighting Two Rivers Pharmacy located inside the building, that fills prescriptions for clients on-site in collaboration with case managers. Services for individuals with HIV/AIDS, behavioral health and LGTBQ+ healthcare are all provided as well.

Sorensen has previously served on the board of directors for The Project and is familiar with their mission, he said. Monday's tour, however, allowed for the realization that the need and services have increased significantly.

"I was able to understand what the needs were in the Quad-Cities and see the services that The Project gives," he said. "Now to see the new space, that has doubled or tripled in size, it tells me not just that we live in a caring community ... but there is a place here for people before they get to a crisis."

Wells said behavioral health is a service that is often in demand, with a wait list to see counselors. Group counseling sessions have been offered instead to help get clients in to see someone right away instead of waiting for availability.

In its new space, The Project has more rooms for behavioral health and more exam rooms for physical health. Having an advocate in Congress who understands how important their mission is, and having him tour, Wells said, is crucial to showing the importance of having The Project in the Quad-Cities.

"We're really happy to be able to show him the growth in the new space and continue to talk up the work that we do," she said. "I think the importance of having him here is also to advocate for both the HIV and LGBTQ community because that is at the core of who we are."

Continued funding for fighting HIV is "mission critical," she said, noting society is 40 years past the initial start of the HIV/AIDS epidemic but the issue remains.

"Today it can feel less important because it doesn't feel like as much of a crisis, so I really hope Rep. Sorensen is able to take back (to Washington) that not only (do we need) level funding to the HIV programs, but increased funding to account for more costs. It's critical to ensure we have no more new infections."

Sorensen said the whole goal of The Project is to help connect people to healthcare, in whatever capacity they need that. During Monday's tour, Sorensen spoke about the importance of securing federal funding and advocating for federal dollars to help continue the mission.

Wells said the operating budget for The Project went from approximately $3 million seven years ago to now being approximately $10 million, thanks to the expanded services. Additionally, with Iowa making the decision to ban gender-affirming care for minors the amount of resources for Iowans have shrunk.

Sorensen said despite his position being in Illinois, he sees the need for all people to access the care they need and The Project, he said, is that beacon.

"Just look at the geography of where we are being here in Moline and understanding its a short drive to the State of Iowa where we are seeing these laws at the state level that take away a parent's right," he said. "We have to make sure that families have the ability to make decisions and this is a place where they can do that."

Sorensen is up for reelection this year, running as a Democrat. Challenging him is Joe McGraw, a retired judge and former prosecutor who sat on the bench in the 17th Judicial Circuit, which covers Boone and Winnebago counties, according to previous reporting. McGraw defeated Scott Crowl, a farmer from Milan, in the primary last week.

Photos: Gov. Pritzker holds press conference with Eric Sorensen
DES MOINES  Iowans could get a direct vote on the states income tax policy under a pair of constitutional amendments making their way through the state legislature.

On Tuesday, Iowa House Republicans passed a resolution to add an amendment to the Iowa Constitution requiring a two-thirds majority of the Legislature to increase income taxes on individuals and corporations.

The bill, House Joint Resolution 2006, passed the House 61-35 on a party-line vote.

Another resolution in the Senate, which has advanced out of committee and is eligible for a vote in the full chamber, would require a flat individual income tax in the state, prohibiting a progressive tax system that imposes a higher rate on higher earners.

Both chambers are expected to pass the resolutions, said Rep. Bobby Kaufmann of Wilton, the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee. The two initially started as one resolution, but Kaufmann said they were split up to avoid confusion on the ballot.

If approved by voters, the amendments would enshrine Iowa Republicans tax-cutting agenda into the Constitution and make it far more difficult for future lawmakers to raise tax rates.

The proposals will need to clear a few more hurdles to be added to the states constitution. Constitutional amendments must be passed in multiple years by two separate general assemblies, and then they are placed on the ballot and subject to a popular vote. If the amendment gains majority approval from voters, it is added to the constitution.

This would be the first time the amendments pass the Legislature. If they pass a second time, voters will likely see them on the ballot in 2026, Kaufmann said.

Several top Republican decision-makers have set eliminating Iowas income tax as a long-term goal. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said last year she hopes to reduce Iowas income tax to zero by the end of her term, which ends in 2026.

Amendment sets high bar for tax increases

The proposal passed by the House on Tuesday would require that two-thirds of the members in each chamber  67 in the House and 34 in the Senate  agree on any legislation that increases Iowa's income tax on individuals or corporations.

Democrats have been critical of Republican efforts to lower income taxes in recent years, saying their tax cuts disproportionately benefit the wealthy and do not do enough to lower costs and living expenses for low-income Iowans.

Democrats argued on Tuesday that constraining the ability of the Legislature to increase taxes could backfire if the state experiences an economic downturn and lawmakers are not able to quickly respond and raise revenues for vital services.

Adam Zabner, a Democrat from Iowa City, said that if lawmakers are not able to raise income taxes when more revenue is needed, they will turn to other, more regressive taxes like a sales tax. Lower-income people spend a higher portion of their income on sales tax than high earners.

What this constitutional amendment does is to say next time theres a budget crunch, were going to shift that burden onto the poorest Iowans either by taking away services they rely on or increasing regressive taxes, Zabner said.

Democrats also said the amendment elevated the short-term interests of Iowa Republicans without taking into account how the state could look in 50 or 100 years.

"The mark of good lawmaking is having that long-term vision because we've been selected by the people of Iowa not only to take care of today, but to take care of the generations that come after us," said Rep. Austin Baeth, a Democrat from Des Moines.

More than a dozen other states require a supermajority to pass some tax increases. Kaufmann pointed to Democratic-led states that have similar rules in place and said they have fared well even with the restriction. States have had those rules in place for decades and avoided consequences, Kaufmann said.

The sky did not fall, every example of dystopian future did not happen, he said. There were no grave consequences.

Flat tax amendment also being considered

The resolution to require a flat tax rate in Iowa's constitution passed out of the Senate tax policy committee on March 20 with only Republican support. The bill is eligible for a vote in the full chamber.

The resolution would require individual income taxes to be imposed at a single rate for all taxpayers.

For now, Iowa has a progressive income tax system with brackets ranging from 4.4% to 5.7%. Under tax cuts Reynolds signed in 2022, the income tax will reach a flat 3.9% for all earners by 2026.

Republican lawmakers are likely to speed up that schedule this year, though no plan has been agreed to. Kaufmann said they will likely set a flat tax that will take effect this year at a rate that keeps the state's revenue sustainable.

"If we can get down to 3.9 this year, we will, but I suspect there's a chance that we'll be closer to 4 or 4.1," he said.

Reynolds has proposed a bill to set a flat 3.65% income tax this year and lower it to 3.5% in 2025.

It's tax season: Here are the simple rules to file correctlyand on time It's tax season: Here are the simple rules to file correctlyand on time
Jason Zeitler takes readers on an adventure across the world in his debut historical novel, The Half-Caste." A tale about standing up to fascism in 1930s Britain and Ceylon  now Sri Lanka  has deeply personal ties for the South Dakota native.

Zeitler was born in Tyndall and grew up in Mitchell and Rapid City. A graduate of Rapid City Stevens High School, Zeitler said an English teacher introduced him to the work of William Faulkner and sparked the beginning of Zeitlers lifelong fascination with literature from the 1920s and 1930s.

After graduating from Stevens High School in 1989, Zeitler earned an undergraduate degree at the University of Virginia. He majored in English and was able to study interdisciplinary curriculum that incorporated philosophy, Russian literature, the work of authors such as Virginia Woolf and George Orwell, and more.

It was really focusing on the turn of the 20th Century and different ideas that were current then. I was fascinated with a lot of modernist authors in the 1920s and the anti-modernists responding in the 1930s, Zeitler said.

After I graduated, I kept reading different authors from that era, and I got to the point seven or eight years ago where I felt like I needed to write my own story and recreate that era on my own, he said.

The Half-Caste begins in 1930s London, following Vernon Price, a half-caste man whose heritage is half Dutch, half Ceylonese. Price is a college student working on his thesis who pretends to be part of a fascist group, the Jackboots, but who is actually a spy reporting to the opposition.

Price meets his future love, a nurse named Zoe. When Price is forced to take a sabbatical and return to Ceylon to face the impending death of his father, hes accompanied by his best friend, Saul Maccabee. Maccabee is a writer whos speaking out against fascism and who ultimately plays a role in the anti-imperialist movement in Ceylon, according to a press release about The Half-Caste.

The novel weaves together historical facts with fictional lives to give an immersive understanding of the era, racial prejudice, and what drives people to push back against the worst of humanity.

Zeitler also strives to give his readers a rich understanding of Ceylon, better known as Sri Lanka, the island nation colonized by the British.

Setting the novel in Ceylon was inspired by Zeitlers family. His wife is Sri Lankan, and their 17-year-old son who looks Caucasian is a half-caste  half European descent, half Asian.

The title of the book means something specific in southern Asia. Its the mixed-race people coming from European and Asian descent, Zeitler said. Because my own son is half-caste, I just wanted to explore what he might have gone through if he were living in that time.

Sri Lanka is located in the Indian Ocean off the southern coast of India. Zeitler has visited there about 20 times, he said, describing it as a tumultuous country that is rich in diversity.

Its in turmoil right now. Theyve had corruption going on for a long time, more or less since the 1970s, Zeitler said.

Sri Lanka pushed to gain independence and move away from colonial rule, he said. After gaining independence, Sri Lanka experienced a tendency to promote nationalist politics and attempts to exclude minority groups. Until about 10 years ago, Sri Lanka was in a civil war. Corrupt government and the COVID-19 pandemic have also taken their tolls on the nation.

Sri Lanka was formerly colonized by the British, Dutch and Portuguese, Zeitler said. The island was part of major routes traveled by Europeans and Arab nations. Sri Lanka today has a culinary heritage with many Dutch and Portuguese origins, and a population of Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim and Christian citizens.

Because there is the diversity and even though the country is having difficulties, if you look closely enough you can see all of it and enjoy it, Zeitler said.

Zeitler has written and submitted essays and short stories to magazines and publications for about a decade. Most recently, one of his short stories was published by Stockholm University.

Writing a novel, however, was a project of a grander scope. Zeitler spent a year reading and taking copious notes. He read many biographies and autobiographies, and one of the characters in The Half-Caste is inspired by Virginia Woolfs husband, Leonard.

As a writer, you have to always be in research mode. Its particularly true for historical novels, Zeitler said. A lot of details you see in The Half-Caste I gleaned from autobiographies about Leonard Woolf.

For a while I was looking for authors from Sri Lanka to understand the culture, he said. Its so much to have to tackle in a novel. You have to understand so much, especially something specific like half-caste.

The Half-Caste was released in December 2023 and is available in print and as an e-book through major booksellers including Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Since its release, "The Half Caste" was named a winner in the Best New Voice: Fiction category for the 2024 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards, presented by the Independent Book Publishers Association.

The Half-Caste also was shortlisted for the 2022 JEF Books novel competition. JEF Books is the book publishing arm of the Journal of Experimental Fiction.

Go to Jason Zeitlers author page on Amazon for more information about him and The Half-Caste. Zeitler is currently working on his second novel.
One chilly morning, over 30 Indigenous people gathered to hike Black Elk Peak  the tallest point in the Midwest, and a seven-mile loop. As she walked, 74-year-old Verlyn Long Wolf prayed. The Oglala Lakota woman said she prayed for the air, the water and all living things.

On the way up, all I could think of was my ancestors, Long Wolf said. My relatives endured so many hardships for me to be alive today. Surviving those taught me how to survive, how to be resilient and keep ourselves going.

It was the first day of spring, Sylvan Lake had begun to thaw, the sun peeked through the thick evergreen trees, and people of all ages gathered together. It was the time when traditionally the Oceti Sakowin would participate in Wakinyan Aku Iyekiya Pi, or acknowledging the return of the thunder beings.

After lining up in a circle from youngest to oldest, an elder prayed for safe travels and the return of the thunder beings before beginning the trek up Black Elk Peak.

Our ancestors believed in these ways, in these ceremonies, Long Wolf said. (This is) to keep life going. We acknowledge that everything has a life, and were just a little, itty bit part of it. Its about creating a balance.

Typically, the ceremony takes place during the spring equinox, when the thunder beings are set to wake up plants, hibernating animals and even people. Many different Native nations have springtime ceremonies.

For the Oceti Sakowin historically, relatives would travel together to the Black Hills for the ceremony and gather at the highest point; however, some bands honor the thunder beings in different ways.

A big component of the ceremony was identity. It involved being Lakota and being proud to be Lakota, Long Wolf said.

We get to claim our identity, who we are and what we need to do to stay focused, Long Wolf said. We were Lakota for thousands and thousands of years and then suddenly we got introduced to something that took our way of life. Now we get to say this is me, this is a part of me and I want to live this way.

While several different families and tribes held hikes, this specific hike was led by Oaye Luta Okolakiciye (Moving Forward in a Sacred Way) or OLO. OLO is a cultural, community-based approach to treating substance abuse disorders and behavioral health located in Rapid City.

Long Wolf, the program manager for OLO, works to organize different programs offered such as Narcotics Anonymous, Alcoholics Anonymous, a mens support group and different talking circles. Participants from the 12-week wellbriety support group were brought on the hike as part of the programs cultural healing component.

The OLO wellbriety program emphasizes the importance of cultural ceremonies and healing on the path to a sober, healthy lifestyle.

Participants from the middle school/youth talking circles also joined the hike. The Rapid City Area School District allowed OLO to use a school bus to bring about a dozen Indigenous children from the local middle schools to participate in their culture. Teenagers in vibrant ribbon skirts, graphic hoodies and Nike sneakers ascended the mountain together alongside elders and community members.

Were taking steps to promote the culture and utilizing our beliefs, Long Wolf said. People go (to OLO) a lot to just feel good about themselves and being Lakota. Its okay to ask about ceremonies, its okay to talk about a way of life that was taken away. Im happy to be a part of OLO.

Culturally based programming has been shown to be effective in substance abuse disorder recovery and mental health support. A connection to one's culture and a supportive group of people can be extremely beneficial in recovery, Long Wolf said.

Its our way of helping each other heal, Long Wolf said. Weve tried the western concept and it works for a little bit but then they still have to figure out who they are and that they have a choice to believe in whatever they want to believe instead of conforming to a way of life they have a really hard time with. Everyone needs a place to go and get different perspectives. One sponsor told me, If you have a problem and you go to a meeting and theres 10 people there, you have 10 solutions.

For program participants and leaders alike, the hike was an enlightening experience, Long Wolf said.

I accomplished something really great. Im almost 75 years old and I climbed all the way to the top, Long Wolf said. It has an exhilarating effect, people are really proud of themselves, theyre owning who they are and what they want to do in life. Theyre just happy to have life.

OLO is planning on holding more cultural events throughout the year and launching a womens and elders talking circle. Those interested in the middle school talking circle can sign up at the OLO website.
An Easter Eggstravaganza event is planned for Star Village on Saturday, March 30.

The Rapid City Community Relations Commission and the Rapid City Police Department's Community Outreach Team are collaborating to host the festive event. Starting at 10 a.m., the celebration will take place near the Star Village leasing office at 27 Signal Drive.

Open to the public, the Easter Eggstravaganza will feature an array of activities including an Easter egg hunt, bunny hop races, face painting, yard games, potato sack races, and a chalk art contest. Attendees can also enjoy music, prizes and food throughout the event.

Directional signs will be posted to guide visitors to the activity area.

Event organizers are currently seeking volunteers and donations to support the festivities. Those interested in volunteering or contributing can reach out via email to tyler.read@rcgov.org or lafawn.janis@rcgov.org for more information.
Despite the mounting chaos of an election year and the recent frenzy to fund the federal government, South Dakota's lone Rep. Dusty Johnson says he has continued to focus on some big priorities  like China and the southern border.

It took six months of delays and four stopgap measures, but as of early Saturday morning, the U.S. government is fully funded  at least until September.

South Dakota's all-Republican congressional delegation  Sens. John Thune and Mike Rounds, along with Rep. Johnson  all voted in support.

The $1.2 trillion funding bill passed the House Friday morning with a 268-to-134 vote before heading to the Senate, where it passed 74-to-24 just after the midnight shutdown deadline. This second round of legislation funds departments like State, Defense and Homeland Security. Combined with the $459 billion partial-appropriations bill passed March 8, total spending for the fiscal year comes to about $1.65 trillion.

Johnson was cautiously optimistic, saying Congress won't be able to right-side federal government spending all in one take, but should work to make progress each year.

"The spending bills cut $2 trillion over the course of the next five years. We are finally getting back into a situation where we are reducing non-defense, non-V.A. spending," Johnson said. "It's been...I can't even remember the last time government in D.C. cut non-defense spending. But we did it."

Funding for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan was not part of the legislation. The $95 billion, Senate-passed national security bill that would provide funding to those allies has yet to be considered in the House.

Johnson said there is broad bipartisan support to provide "lethal aid" to American allies, but funding for their governmental operations is harder to shore up support for.

"When it comes to helping Ukraine, Taiwan, Israel defend their borders with ammunition  with bullets and missiles? That is still broadly supported in D.C.," he said. "I have every expectation that Congress is going to provide lethal aid  bullets and missiles  for our allies here in the next few weeks."

Defending borders is a top priority for Johnson and many of his House colleagues.

Johnson has repeatedly called the U.S. southern border situation an "abject disaster," all while recognizing Republicans aren't likely to get "the perfect solution."

H.R. 2, the most comprehensive and conservative border policy to pass a chamber of Congress, Johnson said, is that solution.

It passed the House in 2023 without any Democratic support and features provisions like requiring the use of an E-Verify system for employers to confirm the legal status of their employees, changing the process to seek asylum and building a 900-mile section of border wall while providing funding to border forces being set up in states like Texas.

"We do have to figure out a way to work with the Senate to be able to get something done," said Johnson, who helped author the legislation. "I mean, we have an absolute crisis at the southern border, and shame on us if we don't figure out a way to stop the insanity down there."

The House voted to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in February, with Johnson voting twice in favor of impeachment. At the time, Johnson told the Journal Mayorkas had "disregarded his duty," adding his belief that "our country has been less safe because of the decisions of Secretary Mayorkas."

Mayorkas' articles of impeachment are set to go to the Senate for a trial; reporting by The New York Times said House Republicans have waited to deliver those articles until the government funding bills were resolved.

While government funding may be out of minds and headlines at least for a while, the House still has immediate issues to address.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-G.A.), an outspoken and hardline conservative, filed a motion to vacate against House Speaker Mike Johnson following Friday's vote, which required significant cooperation with Democratic colleagues.

Mike Johnson, the Louisiana Republican elected to succeed Kevin McCarthy after his own ouster last October, will likely have to deepen that bipartisan cooperation going forward, as two departures  Ken Buck of Colorado and Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin  will whittle the Republican majority to 217-213.

That razor thin line would mean the Speaker could only afford to lose a single Republican vote in any legislation Democrats unite against.

Dusty Johnson called McCarthy's ouster "a giant waste of America's time," and slammed his House contemporaries for distracting from their priorities. When asked to take the temperature of another ouster, Johnson seemed skeptical, saying the motion to vacate "isn't all that different" from what his colleagues do on a regular basis.

"In any given day, you've got plenty of members of Congress who are trying to make a point," Johnson said. "And Marjorie (Taylor-Greene) has certainly been comfortable making points, whether it's at the State of the Union address, or by filing legislation, or by filing this motion to vacate."

He hasn't read the motion, but said another ouster would again throw the House into chaos and handicap their ability to pass meaningful legislation.

"We've got real big boy, big girl work to do," Johnson said. "I think we need to stay focused on securing the border."

Countering China

Johnson, who sits on the Select Committee on China, has made corralling the Chinese Community Party a hallmark in his congressional career. He introduced the Block the Tok Act in Sept. 2022, which would have prohibited the app from accessing U.S. user's data from within China, and expressed support for Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley's No TikTok on Government Devices Act, banning the download or use of the app on government-issued devices.

The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, legislation Johnson co-sponsored, would remove the app from U.S. stores and web services unless its owners divest from parent company ByteDance, which is owned by the CCP.

It isn't a ban, Johnson clarified, saying it's more about control and malign influence rather than the app's content.

"During the height of the Cold War, we never would have allowed the Soviets to purchase the Rapid City Journal, the CBS Evening News, KOTA and the L.A. Times," Johnson said. "We just would have understood how wrong it would be to give a foreign adversary that kind of control over the American public square."

Johnson even went so far as to say he hopes and expects TikTok will continue as a platform  just not under the control of the Chinese Communist Party. That sentiment is a shift from earlier this month, when he wrote in a column, "TikTok is a bad app, and many agree with me that it is malware from the Chinese Communist Party."

Thirty-nine states have enacted legislation restricting TikTok on government devices to some degree, including South Dakota.

In Nov. 2022, Governor Kristi Noem issued an executive order banning the app on state-owned devices, writing at the time on X, "South Dakota will have no part in the intelligence gathering operations of the Chinese Communist Party."

Noem, Johnson and the rest of South Dakota's congressional delegation have been regularly outspoken about Chinese influence, not only in terms of data-gathering but in land ownership and global shipping markets as well.

Last week, Noem testified in front of the House Ag Committee regarding the danger Chinese influence poses in American agriculture. She had harsh words for the CCP, reiterating they are neither friends nor allies, instead a "rapidly expanding national security threat."

According to reporting by South Dakota News Watch, China spent roughly $1.4 billion a year to purchase soybeans, dairy products and meat raised in the state in 2022.

"Let me be clear. China is buying up our entire food supply chain. When America cant feed itself and relies on another country to feed us, it becomes a national security issue," the governor testified. "The country that feeds us controls us."

Johnson highlighted his working relationship with the governor, saying, "I think governing your country has to be a team sport." Noem and Johnson worked together in 2023, with the governor endorsing Johnson's PRC Accountability and Divestment Act, legislation that would give state governments the ability to divest taxpayer funds from China.

Beyond apps and ag, Johnson has looked to the sea to counter Chinese influence.

His Ocean Shipping Reform Act became law in June 2022, providing for more transparency in Federal Maritime Commission operations and protecting U.S. shippers from discrimination in cargo space accommodations.

The Ocean Shipping Reform Implementation Act  or Ocean Shipping Reform 2.0  was introduced last spring and builds upon OSRA's foundation. It passed the House last week with a vote of 393-to-24.

The bill prohibits U.S. ports from using Chinese state-sponsored LOGINK software and allows the FMC to investigate foreign shipping exchanges like the Shanghai Shipping Exchange to preempt improper business practices.

Americans need to be smarter about how we use data and protect it, Johnson said about the Chinese push to implement LOGINK software worldwide.

"Once American shippers and ocean carriers are on this data system, all that data is collected. I mean all of the information about cargo  where it's going, when it's delivered, who the customers are," Johnson said. "It is an incredible amount of information that we would be turning over to the Chinese Communist Party."

Despite being land-locked, South Dakota is deeply invested in international shipping. The Rushmore State exports about $6.7 billion worth of goods and services to foreign countries each year, the overwhelming majority from agricultural products, according to reporting by South Dakota News Watch.

Johnson vs. Johnson

A Sioux Falls Democrat announced her intention to run against Johnson for his lone House seat this year.

Sheryl Johnson, the Democrat Chair of District 11 and a former area educator, cited the "do-nothing" nature of Congress in her March 6 announcement. She also lamented a lack of decisive action on immigration issues and attacks on women's reproductive rights.

In addressing the incumbent, Johnson said she believes the Congressman has stopped listening to his constituents and is instead parroting the Republican Party line.

Rather than directly address her remarks, the third-term Representative said he'd prefer to let his record speak for itself  voting 72 times to secure the border, voting against $13 trillion in unnecessary spending and voting "hundreds of times to rollback this ridiculous regulatory state," he said.

"I think you see from Sheryl Johnson's announcement that she is interested in having a federal government that is more and more involved in people's life. That's what I've been fighting against," Johnson said. "I think we've got too much federal government. And I think voters in South Dakota are going to have an opportunity to decide what worldview they are more comfortable with."

Sheryl Johnson is the only Democrat to announce for the race. So far, Dusty Johnson is the only Republican to announce a run for House.

South Dakota's primary is June 4. The U.S. general election is Nov. 5.

The U.S. House of Representatives will reconvene April 9.
The Montana Community Foundation, Inc. (MCF) has announced $7,780 in grant awards to four organizations that benefit the Darby community.

Grants were made from the Darby Town Endowment Fund, established at MCF by Richard and Barbara Ackerman in 1999 and enhanced through generous contributions from community members.

Grant requests were reviewed by the Darby Town Endowment Fund Committee. Awardees include:

 $660 to the Darby Bread Box to purchase fresh produce year-round for the food banks clients.

 $4,500 to Darby Rural Fire Department to purchase a thermal imaging camera, allowing the organization to provide a quicker and safer response to emergencies in the area.

 $1,000 to Painted Rocks Fire and Rescue for a paramedic course so their EMT can upgrade their medical response to Advance Life Support, allowing them to provide additional emergency services.

 $1,620 to the Town of Darby to purchase three picnic tables for Main Street Park, which is the most utilized park in Darby due to events like the Farmers Market and Last Fridays Music in the Park.

The Darby Town Endowment Fund Committee is pleased to award grants to these wonderful organizations, Barbara Ackerman said. Thank you to the south valley community for your support in making this happen. We are very fortunate to have the following committee members: Juli Winthers, Teri Mountford, Andy Massie and Steve Sampietro.

In the past five years, the Darby Town Endowment Fund has awarded more than $31,000 to 12 organizations that improve the quality of life in the Darby community.

To support the Darby Town Endowment Fund, donations can be made online at mtcf.org/local-cfs/darby-town-endowment-fund or mailed to the Montana Community Foundation at P.O. Box 1145, Helena, MT 59624-1145. Please write Darby Town Endowment in the memo line.

For questions, please contact Local Community Foundation Program Officer, Taylor Crowl, at 406-603-4913 or taylor@mtcf.org.
ISLAMABAD, March 26 (Xinhua) -- At least five people were killed in a suicide bombing attack in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, official sources told Xinhua on Tuesday. 
Twenty-one new electric school buses will soon be transporting students in the Bitterroot Valley thanks to a bus grant, and a willingness to take a risk and make a commitment.

Mike Krout, owner of Majestic Bus Services, provides transportation for seven school districts in Montana including Hamilton, Victor and Florence. He will receive 11 electric school buses in Hamilton on Aug. 15 and 10 in Florence in the spring of 2025.

He said having electric school buses is exciting and there will be all sorts of positive hoopla about it.

Whats exciting are the green energy ideas and also these new buses will come with full lap/shoulder belts for the kids, which is a new safety thing, Krout said. Theyll come with improved audio/video systems and all brand-new surveillance systems. They will be the safest buses out there coming to these communities.

In January, U.S. Senator Jon Tester secured 41 new school buses for public schools across Montana to deliver cleaner air for schools and communities in Montana. The funding came from Testers bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and was awarded from the Clean School Bus Programs 2023 Grants Competition.

Krout said the new buses will improve air quality as they have zero tailpipe emissions.

Electric school buses reduce students exposure to harmful health impacts of pollutants found in diesel exhaust pollution  including increased risk for cancer, asthma and heart disease, he said. Reducing students exposure to air pollution from diesel school buses can have positive and significant effects on student test scores  in some cases, on par with increased teacher experience levels.

He said that, additionally, the buses will have all brand-new winter drop down chains for traction and better lighting for improved driver visibility.

According to the Electric School Bus Initiative, "Electrifying the full U.S. school bus fleet by 2030 would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 9 million metric tons per year, the equivalent of taking 2 million cars off the roads. Research suggests, that compared to a diesel-burning school bus, electric school buses can save an average of $6,000 every year on operational expenditures, depending on circumstances.

Krout applied for the grants awarded to Hamilton and Florence, but it was a long journey for him to reach the decision to accept the buses.

It is a partial grant that doesnt pay for the very expensive infrastructure that it takes to have electric buses, Krout said in February while weighing the decision. There is a crazy amount of money that comes into this project that isnt covered by the grant. It is such an expensive venture, upwards of $13 million.

Since the announcement of the awards in January, Krout had been looking at possible sources of matching funding. He spoke at school board meetings and commissioner meetings.

Thats been a real rough idea to overcome because these are very, very expensive buses, Krout said. Ive had to put the pencil to it to see if it works out business wise. In the end it needs to be a good business decision. Weve been trying, these last couple of months to see if we could do it.

He said his financing hopes include some low interest loans.

It could help us through the process of coming up with 50% matching," Krout said. I cant say who will be my matching funder but were working on it  weve decided to place our order for 21 electric school buses and that is exciting.

He said that no additional funds from the Hamilton or Florence-Carlton school district will be necessary to bring the electric buses to their communities.

Through solar panels, we will be generating the needed electricity to charge our buses." Krout said. "Majestics transition to electric school buses can boost our local economies, and create or help retain, meaningful, well-paying jobs in the Florence to Hamilton communities.

Hamilton Superintendent Tom Korst said he supports the electric school buses for Majestic Bus Services, and that the buses are ideal for Hamilton.

We are geographically smaller, he said. They cant go hundreds of miles. Mike anticipates some long-term cost savings which means our transportation budget might not go up so much in the future.

Other Montana schools receiving electric buses are Thompson Falls Public School, Trout Creek Public School, St. Regis School District and Dixon Public Schools.

In rural Montana, school buses are the vital link between families and the nearest school  and its critical that these buses are safe, up-to-date, and efficient, Senator Jon Tester said in a written statement. Im proud to see my bipartisan infrastructure law deliver these important funds to get kids to school safely and keep the air in our communities clean.
Montana's Republican Attorney General on Monday submitted his preferred language for a pro-abortion access ballot initiative, immediately drawing the ire of the initiative's supporters.

As anticipated, the groups backing Ballot Issue #14, which would explicitly enshrine abortion access in the Montana Constitution, said a lawsuit would be filed Tuesday over the attorney general's submission. The clock is ticking, however, with signature gathering efforts in the wings until the new dispute is resolved.

Attorney General Austin Knudsen's proposed language meant to mislead voters, said Martha Fuller, CEO and president of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Montana, alongside the directors of the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana and Forward Montana in a statement shared Monday evening with the Montana State News Bureau. Together the groups spoke on behalf of Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights, the initiative's campaign organization.

"The Attorney Generals strategy here is obvious and desperate: to force MSSR to go to court again, causing more delay in hopes of denying Montanans the opportunity to secure their right to abortion," the statement said. "Montanans deserve better and MSRR is determined to give voters a shot at a fair, sensible abortion rights initiative."

Knudsen had previously attempted to end what's known as Ballot Issue #14 altogether but was overturned last week by the Montana Supreme Court.

Knudsen was then charged with writing the language that would appear on the ballot statement, which abortion access advocates quickly saw as another opportunity for the Republican to squander the campaign's efforts. Fuller said MSRR would again litigate the matter if Knudsen's proposed language was misleading.

Any additional lawyering over the issue threatens the campaign's ability to gather the some-60,000 signatures it needs by June 21 in order for the constitutional amendment to be placed on the ballot.

The statement of purpose and implication proposed by MSRR said the initiative would affirm "The right to make and carry out decisions about one's own pregnancy, including the right to abortion, in the Montana constitution. This constitutional amendment prohibits the government from denying or burdening the right to abortion before fetal viability. Additionally, the amendment ensures that the government cannot deny or burden access to an abortion when it is necessary to protect the pregnant patient's life of health. (The initiative) prevents the government from punishing patients, healthcare providers, or anyone who assists someone in seeking reproductive care, including abortion care."

In a letter to Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen, Knudsen said the MSRR's proposed language did not comply with state law. In part, he said the initiative would prevent the state from enforcing medical malpractice standards or other state policies in instances like when babies are "born drug-addicted."

"The proponents' statement fails to give voters an accurate understanding of how the proposed initiative will change current law," Knudsen wrote. "The proponents' statement also fails to give voters notice that the measure leaves key terms undefined and leaves many terms to the subjective judgement of individual abortion providers."

Knudsen's language is as follows:

"(The initiative) amends the Montana Constitution to allow-post viability abortions up to birth and prohibits any state requirement for parental notice for a minor girl's abortion. (The initiative) leaves 'fetal viability' and 'extraordinary measures' to the subjective judgement of an abortion provider rather than objective legal or medal standards. (The initiative) prohibits the state, or the people by referendum, from enacting health and safety regulations related to pregnancy care, except upon a narrow set of compelling interests. (The initiative) eliminates the state's compelling interest in preserving prenatal life. The state or the people may not enforce post-viability abortion regulations if an abortion provider subjectively deems the procedure necessary. (The initiative) prohibits the state and the people from enforcing medical malpractice standards against providers for harms caused in providing pregnancy/abortion care. (The initiative) may increase the number of taxpayer-funded abortions."

Planned Parenthood Advocates of Montana and the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana said in a statement provided to the Montana State News Bureau Monday evening litigation would begin Tuesday over Knudsen's proposed language.

"Lets be clear: after filing our original language a year in advance of the 2024 election, the politically-motivated attempts from the Attorney General to delay or outright stop Ballot Issue #14 are threatening Montana voters ability to have their voices heard on this critical abortion care rights initiative," the groups said. "No politicians can make these personal decisions for Montanans  the ability to control their own bodies, plan their futures, and make private medical decisions is on the line. MSRR will continue to do everything we can, including challenging this intentionally deceptive statement from the Attorney General in court, to ensure Ballot Issue #14 moves forward to signature gathering."

This article has been updated to clarify that Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights plans to litigate the attorney general's language on Tuesday.
When Lona Running Wolf started working with Hutterite schools, she was struck by what she saw unfolding on the colonies. She felt it was reminiscent of what transpired among her own community, the Blackfeet Nation. She saw a group with rich culture and language traditions that, she felt, risked being disenfranchised, bit by bit, by a system designed without their specific needs and history in mind.

I was one of those people that, you know, believed the stereotypes of Hutterites, Running Wolf said. I just didnt realize the similarities between the disparities we have both faced. I told them, I dont want what happened to us and our language to happen to you guys.

Running Wolf oversaw American Indian Student Achievement at the Office of Public Instruction before she became an educational consultant with a focus on instruction support. Shes dedicated much of her career to building programs that use language and culture lessons to help students from different backgrounds learn more. Her hope, she says, is that this type of structure leads to increased success and prevents students identities from being diminished.

Thats what equity is to me, she said. Its designing a system thats specific for those types of learners.

The 1972 Montana Constitution guarantees the right to a free, quality and equal education through high school to every person in the state. When the state Supreme Court identified ambiguity in that promise, the Legislature was forced to go further in crafting a definition. It wrote that the states public education system should develop the full educational potential of each person, what Lance Melton, a longtime education legal expert in Montana, called a tall order.

For many years, schoolhouses on Hutterite colonies have been part of the local public school district and overseen by the school board. Instruction has occurred onsite at the colonies. Recent legislation attempting to simplify the management and operation of these offsite Hutterite schools has made some districts reluctant to continue this arrangement. A few say they can no longer provide public education services to colony schools, but will happily provide Hutterites with transportation to public schools in town.

When that happened, one Hutterite-run school district applied  unsuccessfully  to become a public charter school under House Bill 549 passed during the last legislative session. The application asserted that a charter run by Hutterites for Hutterites would allow families to exercise their rights to choose the public school systems and programs which meet the unique needs of the children.

Most Hutterites insist traditional public schools arent equipped to handle the cultural and linguistic differences their children bring. They say the way their students are taught  with a focus on incorporating skills used on colonies, a sensitivity to German as their first language and an awareness of cultural nuances  serve young Hutterites better than a traditional classroom. Parents also fear bullying of their children who stick out among their non-Hutterite peers.

Running Wolf uses the example of test questions on annual evaluation exams to illustrate how traditional public education doesnt work for Hutterite students. Imagine trying to answer math questions that refer to city blocks. What if youve never seen those because you live on a colony, where there are no roads except for the gravel one leading into the property? Its not that a student isnt smart enough to answer the question; its that they have no context for what its asking.

Recalling a time she watched a Hutterite student struggle with this circumstance during a yearly evaluation exam, Running Wolf says, She didnt know what it was, and I couldnt help her. It was excruciating. She couldnt even maneuver that question because it was so far outside her worldview.

When a school district offers to bus Hutterite students into town to attend school, does that meet its responsibility under the law? Or does a quality education mean one that is tailored to the needs of every student, even those who arent part of the mainstream? And what happens when people disagree?

These bright-line questions frame the controversy over what the local public school districts and, by extension, the state owes Hutterite students. But the issues they raise extend far beyond colony communities. As the states public education landscape transforms with a growing parental choice movement and an increasing awareness of the vast impact of a students background on learning, how the state views its responsibility to provide education will be a defining part of Montanans future.

What is quality education?

Lee Montana asked more than a dozen people, including community members and education officials, to define a quality education under state law. Some people focused on equal access to resources. Others spoke of setting up students for success in higher education or a future career. A few said it was about making sure every kid felt seen.

When it comes to funding, Montanas system has safeguards in place designed to ensure smaller districts arent disadvantaged by smaller tax bases. Details of the complicated mechanism elude even the most government finance savvy, but its supposed to guarantee students all across the state receive enough resources to thrive academically.

On the instructional side, the Montana Every Student Succeeds Act plan guides its equity strategy. Students are grouped based on socioeconomic status, first language and whether they have a disability, all starting from a distinct academic baseline. Every group should improve year-over-year in language arts and mathematics as shown by standardized test scores. Institutions that fail to steward students to success receive additional resources to help achieve those goals.

Montanas ESSA plan specifically notes that Hutterites, whose first language is German, account for the largest share of English language learners in the state, albeit a small one at .34% of all students.

Data from the 2021-2022 school year, the most recent available from the Office of Public Instruction, shows Hutterite schools continue to lag behind statewide averages, despite being considered some of the most vulnerable learners.

For example, students in Liberty Elementary School District, headquartered on the Eagle Creek Hutterite Colony about 80 miles northwest of Havre, made less progress in reading and math. A larger share of their students tested as novices in mathematics and the sciences.

But the achievement gap isnt a gap of intelligence, according to Running Wolf. The system itself is built for a specific type of learner. And then its pushed for that type of learner all throughout the United States.

The Legislatures definition of quality under the Constitution is supposed to address such gaps.

What remains is a relevant and worthy definition of the types of adjustments that we need in order to make sure we can serve kids where they are and in a variety of circumstances and give each and every one of them what they need to develop their full educational potential, Melton said.

Lee Montana inquired with statewide and local education officials about whether a public districts offer to bus Hutterite students into town to attend school cleared the constitutional bar. It found no clear answer.

Two public school superintendents told Lee Montana that they understand the law to mean an offer to provide busing into town satisfies their obligation. They also said they could provide online English language resources to Hutterite students who speak exclusively German until they start kindergarten.

According to a number of Hutterites on the Hi-Line, this proposal doesnt meet the constitutional rights of their students.

OPI pointed to a decades-old Montana Attorney General opinion which allows a local school board to close a colony school.

Parallels with Native students

Other than Hutterites, American Indian students, who account for about 14% of all K-12 students in Montana, are named in the ESSA plan as needing specific support.

Native people have endured generations of systemic roadblocks in the public education system that have hindered their ability to reach their full potential. Through the 1960s, they were removed from their homes and told their ways of learning were wrong. Once rich with Indigenous languages, Native communities were forced to disavow those languages. Public schools perpetuate national origin stories that erase the presence of Native people in this country and often fail to include Native viewpoints in history and culture lessons.

Montana has taken some strides. The 1972 Constitution includes a provision that encourages all public schools to incorporate Indian Education into all grades and subjects. The Indian Education for All Act passed in 1999 by the state Legislature was supposed to give teeth to the aspirational language of the Constitution. It allocated funding to every district to be used for IEFA instruction and to develop a curriculum in concert with Native community members.

But, in 2021, a class action lawsuit was filed against OPI and the Board of Public Education on the premise. It alleged state agencies had failed to ensure school districts were providing Indian Education. School districts were using IEFA-specific funding for other things and neglecting their responsibility to incorporate Native history and culture into their instruction. A hearing is set for August 2024.

Montana also gives school districts an additional $200 per American Indian student enrolled in an effort to close the educational achievement gap with more resources.

Running Wolf tried to create cultural and linguistic programs in tribal schools during her time at OPI given this stated priority. Research shows positive self-identity is correlated with improved academic outcomes. More simply put, students whose culture is reflected in their teaching do better.

Thats why she pushes back on the notion that Native students are destined to perform poorly.

According to the 2022 American Indian Student report from OPI, 55% of Native students scored at the lowest proficiency level in reading compared with 24% of non-Native students. In math, these scores were 64% and 29%, respectively.

These scores come from the annual standardized state assessment, the same test that Hutterites take.

I dont know how this tool could ever be looked at as reliable with students like Hutterite and Native American students, said Running Wolf, who consults for Liberty Elementary. When the language itself is not written in the worldview of a student, theyre not going to perform well.

Charter school plan denied

When these principles of prioritizing worldview are taken to their natural endpoint, a clear argument emerges: Montanas Constitution guarantees a tailored learning environment to every subset of the student population with culture, background or beliefs that diverge from the mainstream.

Thats the charter school movement in a nutshell. Students are entitled to an education that best serves them. If they arent receiving it in a traditional classroom, alternatives should be made available.

Melton agreed public charters are the natural next step for these students.

You cant develop the full potential of each person on the average, he said. Theres been a lot that we have done to implement these ideas. But (charters) allow you to encapsulate it, label it, let people know its open for business.

Liberty Elementary School District's charter application called for the creation of a network that would encompass seven colony schools across north-central Montana, drawing from various school districts and crossing counties. All would be overseen by Liberty Elementary, while schooling would take place onsite at each colony.

It outlined a vision of a hospitable, holistic K-8 educational environment that would cater to the needs of Hutterite students as English language learners and incorporate pedagogy reflective of their values, traditions and lived experiences.

Liberty's proposal was denied by the Board of Public Education, one of only a small handful to not get the green light earlier this year. BPE said it failed to demonstrate how its academic program, business operation or community support would lead to a high-quality charter.

Much of what the charter application proposed as alternative teaching methods include strategies already used in Hutterite schools. Students from multiple grades would be located in the same classroom. German materials would be used alongside traditional English-based content to ease the transition between languages. Peer-to-peer mentoring was central with older students helping younger students understand instruction and learn English.

On assessment, the application acknowledged the obligation to adhere to state standardized exams. However, it also called for more frequent testing to measure student progress in a way that more closely mirrors how Hutterites use their education through experiential learning and testing.

The seven colonies that would be part of this colony network were so invested in this charter idea that they each agreed to contribute up to $2,500 per student enrolled at the charter location.

How much religion?

Public charter schools in Montana are legally required to be secular, but there are examples in Montana and elsewhere that show how the ostensible dividing line between church and state can be blurred.

A Catholic public charter was approved in Oklahoma last year, and a North Carolina charter tried to require a dress code for female students as part of building a culture of chivalry. The United States Supreme Court ruled that Montana couldnt exclude religious schools from an education tax credit donation program.

Under HB 549, all students in a public charter must receive instruction that complies with state standards, and the Board of Public Education has oversight authority as the authorizer. But the charters school board and parent community have great influence over curriculum and culture.

Hutterites from Liberty Elementary School District did tell Lee Montana that one thing that drew them to the charter model was the ability to have a little more influence over what their students learn day-to-day and weave their traditions and language into the curriculum.

For example, the proposed class schedule in the application included a daily Value Meeting every morning for 20 minutes and 45 minutes of dedicated German language integration four days each week.

Hutterites are deeply religious and abide by more conservative cultural values. On whether a colony charter or any other, for that matter, could end up being a way to direct public dollars toward religious educational institutions, Running Wolf is adamant its a red herring. She likens the suggestion to how Native peoples' belief systems were targeted as a way to sanitize their culture. Running Wolf said that teachers across traditional public schools incorporate values into their instruction, but are rarely accused of teaching religion, because those ethical lessons tend to be seen as part of the mainstream.

Its (Hutterite) culture, Running Wolf said. And who has the right to go in and tell somebody that their culture is wrong?

Liberty Elementary School District 10 says it plans to re-apply as a public charter under HB 549 for the 2024-2025 school year. Applications are due to the Board of Public Education in June.
The 2023 Legislature ended almost a year ago. However, a couple weeks ago, Judge Mike Menahan issued a decision directing the Montana Secretary of State to conduct a veto override poll on SB 442 to determine if the bill will become law. I will not be supporting the veto poll override.

Like many Montanans, I live in a rural area and I know we could benefit by improving maintenance of county roads. However, SB 442 is not the solution to our problem. SB 442 is a bill written for the benefit of a small number of people at the expense of everyone else.

The primary sponsor of SB 442 is Sen. Mike Lang. If SB 442 goes into effect, the seven counties (Blaine, Daniels, Hill, Phillips, Roosevelt, Sheridan, and Valley) represented by Sen. Lang will receive nearly $1.6 million dollars a year in distributions to pay for road maintenance, nearly 17% of the statewide total, even though the seven counties represented by Sen. Lang only comprise 4.6% of the state population.

In contrast, the county I represent (Cascade) will only receive $235,000 in distributions annually even though our population is greater than the combined population of the seven counties represented by Sen. Lang. Cascade County also pays more in marijuana taxes too.

That is one example, but there are many more. For example, Cascade County will get more in distributions than Yellowstone County even though Yellowstone County pays over 2.5 times more in marijuana taxes and has a population nearly double the population of Cascade County. As much as I love Cascade County, I am struggling to justify why Yellowstone County should get less than we do. At a very minimum, Yellowstone County probably has twice the amount of traffic on its public roads and many more needs. Getting such a paltry amount is not right.

There is no nice way of saying it. SB 442 is a redistribution of wealth scheme. SB 442 takes marijuana tax money and gives it to a favored few. As a legislator, I have a duty to my constituents, but I also have a duty to the people of the State of Montana. Its not right to come up with a scheme which extravagantly favors some parts of the state at the expense of everyone else. We have a responsibility to do our best to treat everyone in our state fairly. SB 422 fails this basic test. On these grounds alone, the governor was justified in vetoing the bill.

I am a Republican because I believe in fiscal responsibility and limited government. Redistribution of wealth is not part of the party platform. If the members of the Legislature want to draft a plan to assist counties in paying for road maintenance, the Legislature needs to draft a bill which takes into consideration the population and the amount of marijuana taxes paid. We can do that in the 2025 session. There is no reason to pass the bill to find out how it works and no reason to start giving special treatment to certain parts of the state at the expense of everyone else.

We can do better than SB 442.
When the big game season ends in November, there is a guaranteed influx of goose hunters along the Yellowstone River east of Billings.

Since 1958, a portion of the river has been closed to waterfowl hunting. From the junction of the Yellowstone and Bighorn rivers, downstream to the Rosebud-Custer county line, the river has been off-limits to waterfowl hunting.

The closure was initiated when goose and duck numbers were low in the region. A survey in 1961 found only 500-some geese. By 2013 the same section held almost 40,000 geese. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks has proposed reopening the river section to hunting.

The Fish and Wildlife Commission will consider the idea at its April 17 meeting.

Brett French, Billings Gazette outdoor editor, recently wrote about the issue and is here to discuss what he found out.

This podcast is created in partnership across five newsrooms  the Billings Gazette, Helena Independent Record, Missoulian, Montana Standard and Ravalli Republic. You can support this podcast, and our efforts, by becoming a subscriber.

FWP proposes lifting 66-year-old waterfowl hunting closure on stretch of Yellowstone River The proposition will be considered by the Fish and Wildlife Commission at its April 17 meeting in Helena. Public comments on the proposal will be taken until March 28.
Hanover County authorities on Monday released details about a Mechanicsville man who they said fired shots at deputies on Sunday night.

Police said they were contacted at about 11 p.m. when a doorbell camera in the 6200 block of Queens Lace Road in Mechanicsville showed a suspicious person. Deputies found a man wearing dark clothing and a mask hiding in a pile of leaves in a yard, the Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

"As deputies began to give the suspect commands, he retrieved a firearm from his waistband and began firing at the deputies," the statement said. "The deputies were able to safely seek cover and take up defensive positions to request assistance before the suspect turned the weapon on himself."

The man, identified as David Eric Burnett, 39, was found unconscious with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, police said. He was taken to a hospital and was on life support on Monday, the statement said.

The deputies, who were not injured, did not return fire, police said.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the Hanover County Sheriffs Office at (804) 365-6140 or the Metro Richmond Crime Stoppers at (804) 780-1000.
A Mechanicsville man is in critical condition after he fired a gun at Hanover County sheriff's deputies before shooting himself in the head, police said.

Hanover Sheriff's Office spokesperson Steve Wills said deputies responded to the 6200 block of Queens Lace Road at around 11 p.m. Sunday for reports of a suspicious person who had been seen on a Ring camera. At the scene, deputies encountered a man, identified as David Eric Burnett, 39, of Mechanicsville, hiding in a pile of leaves in the backyard of a house. Burnett was wearing dark clothing and a mask, authorities said.

As deputies were giving Burnett instructions, he retrieved a firearm from his waistband and began shooting in their direction, Wills said. The deputies took cover and requested backup.

As the deputies were taking defensive positions, Burnett "turned the weapon on himself," Wills said. Deputies found him unconscious and suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Burnett was transported to VCU Medical Center, where he remains on life support, Wills said.

No additional injuries were reported. The incident remains under investigation.

The best cookbooks of early 2024 1. Make More with Less by Kitty Coles 2. Saucy by Ashley Boyd 3. Vegan Chinese Food by Yang Liu and Kathi Pinczolits 4. 15 Minute Meals by Ali Rosen 5. Islas: A Celebration of Tropical Cooking by Von Diaz
On Feb. 24, 1977, a 612-foot sulfur tanker, the Marine Floridian, crashed into the Benjamin Harrison Bridge, a steel and concrete span near Hopewell, knocking out a 113-foot section of the bridge and leaving a 241-foot steel span on the tankers deck. The bridges north tower collapsed days later.

No one was killed in that bridge collapse. Drivers of two trucks on the bridge, Clarence R. Johns of Mechanicsville and Frederick ONeal of Virginia Beach, got out and ran to safety before the 25,000-ton tanker rammed the bridge, according to Prince George County Sheriff John F. Atwood.

Coast Guard officials quickly reported that the tanker was experiencing a malfunction in its steering mechanisms. The ship veered to the left as it neared the bridges opening and it rammed into the north abutment.

The bridge tender, Harry C. Frazier of Hopewell, later told a Coast Guard Board inquiry that he was sitting in the control house atop the north tower when the ship hit the bridge. He was unhurt.

For a while it looked like I was going to eat breakfast off the captains table, he said.

The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause was inadequate maintenance and inspection of a manual transfer switch in an electrical circuit which opened by the force of gravity and thus interrupted electric power to the steering motor when the vessel was in a position from which it could not be stopped, or steering gear power restored before it collided with the bridge.

It found that another contributing factor was the operation of the vessel at a speed higher than necessary for a safe passage through the bridge opening.

The Allied Chemical Plant was the last stop for the Marine Floridian before it crashed into the bridge. The crash came as Virginia continued to respond to the Kepone disaster, in which Allied Chemical, a major nationwide chemical corporation, would pay more than $13 million in a one-of-a-kind legal settlement that birthed the Virginia Environmental Endowment.

The crash closed the lower James River to traffic between Hopewell and Richmond and added to drive times by closing a link between Charles City and Prince George counties. Although only about 3,000 cars a day used the bridge, it was then the only link across the James between Hampton Roads and Richmond. A boat shuttle service offered a short-term fix, featuring two fishing boats  The Capn Mad and The Big Buddy.

Ferry traffic had been an option for commuters for about 35 years before the 4,463-foot bridge opened in 1967.

About two weeks after the crash tug boats pushed and pulled the Marine Floridian down the James River to an industrial facility in Newport News, where it underwent inspection and repairs.

The ramming of the bridge had repercussions for businesses because barges moved under the bridge to carry supplies to businesses in the area.

Reconstruction of the bridge took 20 months and cost $9.5 million. The bridge reopened to traffic in the fall of 1978.

The Benjamin Harrison Bridge is named for a governor of Virginia and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was the father of President William Henry Harrison and the great-grandfather of President Benjamin Harrison.
Virginia officials scrambled on Tuesday to help neighboring Maryland with maritime commerce disrupted by the early morning collapse of a bridge in Baltimore in the main shipping channel to the citys busy port.

Aubrey Layne, chairman of the board at the Port of Virginia, said the port in Hampton Roads would not be directly affected by the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge over the Patapsco River after it was struck by a freight ship early on Tuesday.

But Layne, a former state transportation and finance secretary, said the Virginia port would assist the Port of Baltimore and shipping companies to divert cargo.

The bottom line is well work with them to help them through this, he said. We have the capacity.

The cargo ship Dali, carrying a Singapore flag, had arrived in Baltimore from Norfolk. The Port of Virginia posted on X that the Dali called at Virginia International Gateway terminal and departed March 22 for Baltimore as its next port of call. It said the ships call at the terminal and its departure from Norfolk were without incident.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin posted on X Tuesday morning that he had spoken with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and offered Virginias assistance following the bridge collapse in Baltimore.

Virginia Secretary of Transportation Shep Miller said the Port of Virginia on Tuesday unloaded the first shipment of containers that were bound for Baltimore. The Virginia Department of Transportation is using electronic message boards on the Capital Beltway and other major highways to warn motorists to divert their travel route away from Interstate 695, also known as the Baltimore Beltway, which includes the stricken bridge between Glen Burnie and Dundalk.

I think Virginias whole story is were doing everything we can to help our folks and friends in Maryland, he said.

Benjamin Harrison Bridge struck in 1977

Miller said Virginia officials are aware that the state has an inventory of bridges that, like the Key Bridge, are considered fracture-critical, meaning that if one section fails another will follow.

Seeking to reassure Virginians, he noted: That doesnt mean theyre not safe. Theyre constructed of these sections that are interconnected with one another.

Most of those Virginia bridges span rivers  including the James, York, and Rappahannock  that do not carry large, ocean-going vessels. Those types of vessels go into Hampton Roads, a deepwater port with no overhead obstructions, in large part because of the U.S. Navys presence there.

In Virginia, vehicle traffic crosses the harbor through the Hampton Roads Tunnel and the Monitor-Merrimac tunnel.

When you have a port where you have an overhead obstruction, you run those risks, Layne said. In Virginia, you can hit a tunnel, but you dont close a shipping lane.

The state annually inspects all of bridges considered fracture-critical, but Miller said they are not designed to withstand the impact of a fully loaded cargo ship.

You dont construct bridges like these to take a direct impact from something as large as these ships, he said.

Even a smaller cargo ship can damage such a bridge. In February 1977, a 612-foot tanker, the Marine Floridian, lost control of its rudder and rammed the Benjamin Harrison Bridge, which crosses over the James River between Charles City County and Prince George County near Hopewell.

Two drivers whose trucks were on the bridge got out and to safety before the collision. The bridge, completed in 1966, was closed for repairs for 20 months.

The Baltimore accident does not directly affect Virginia drivers, although AAA Virginia recommends that travelers plan around using I-695 and expect heavier peak-hour traffic on alternative routes such as Interstates 95 and 895 in the region.

The impact of the Key Bridge collapse will be felt throughout the region for some time to come, AAA Virginia spokesman Morgan Dean said Tuesday.

I have spoken with @GovWesMoore this morning, and Virginia stands ready to assist and support our neighbor Maryland. Our prayers are with the families affected and the courageous rescue efforts underway following the tragic incident at Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge.  Governor Glenn Youngkin (@GovernorVA) March 26, 2024

Layne said the Virginia Port Authority would work with two major railroad companies, Norfolk Southern and CSX Corp., to divert shipped goods that cannot reach the Port of Baltimore, such as imported automobiles.

To an extent, that gives us options to get cargo up to the Northeast, he said.

CSX said in a statement that customers should anticipate potential shipment delays following the bridge collapse in Baltimore.

While freight traffic has not been entirely halted in the region, certain commodities have been affected by the incident. CSX is actively communicating with customers to provide updates on their shipment statuses as the situation evolves.

CSX said it currently has the capacity to dispatch additional trains to CSX-served coal terminals in Baltimore.

Given that the bridge collapse affects vessel access to the Baltimore port, all international intermodal shipments destined for Baltimore have been temporarily suspended and In-gated traffic originating from other locations and destined for Baltimore is on hold until further notice.

CSX said it is working with international customers to identify alternative solutions to support cargo movement to and from Baltimore. It noted that domestic intermodal traffic on CSX destined for local Baltimore remains unaffected.

Port official: We have a lot of experience in this area

Representatives for the Port of Virginia sought to allay concerns that an overflow of ships will now put pressure on the Hampton Roads region.

Joe Harris, a spokesperson for the Port of Virginia, said it is already working with carriers whose plans have been scrambled by the bridge collapse. On Tuesday afternoon, however, he said it was way too soon to tell if the tragedy would lead to a backup in Virginia.

Its very hard to say. We will see more cargo, but how much? Its way too soon to tell, said Harris. He said new demand is unlikely to surge beyond what the port can handle.

Harris said that during Hurricane Sandy, which hit in October 2012, the Port of Virginia saw a similar overflow situation when the storm shuttered the Port of New Jersey. The COVID-19 pandemic also caused backups in Virginia.

We have a lot of experience in this area. Were confident in our terminals, in our team. And our capability to help out Baltimore however we can, Harris said.

The Port of Virginia recently widened its channel to handle two-way traffic of what are called Ultra Large Container Vessels  ships that can handle twice as much cargo as the Dali. The port can now handle two of these vessels at the same time, one inbound and one outbound.

Richmond Times-Dispatch meteorologist Sean Sublette said data from early Tuesday show winds were calm, with no significant waves. The water temperature was 48 degrees at the time of the crash.

So at first glance, it does not look like weather, water or waves were in a factor, but a complete investigation still needs to take place, he said.

At Virginias state Capitol on Tuesday morning, Democratic leaders held a news conference about the state budget. Del. Luke Torian, D-Prince William, chair of the House Appropriations Committee and a minister, started the gathering by calling for a moment of silence for those affected in Maryland.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., was among a number of Virginia office holders who expressed concerns on social media.

The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore is devastating. My heart is with our neighbors in Maryland today, he said.
In the wake of the highly publicized resignations of two Ivy League university leaders, the national press posed this resounding question: Who would want to be a college president in this day and age?

Its not just the fraught politics, which felled the likes of Harvard's Claudine Gay and University of Pennsylvania's Liz Magill. Its the increasingly difficult economics of higher education, especially at a time when the pool of college-age students is shrinking and respect for the value of a college education is diminishing.

Well, I sought the job. Just over three months ago, I was chosen as the 14th president of Sweet Briar College, a liberal arts college for women founded in 1901 in the heart of Virginia, and my alma mater. I assure you that I am neither crazy nor a masochist  though Im always game to rise to a challenge.

So why did I accept this presidency? For a number of compelling reasons.

The importance of education was instilled in me as a child. My father served as head of school for a number of secondary schools, and he always told me the greatest gift a person can receive  and pass on to others  is a good education.

The American system of higher education is a great achievement and the envy of the world. Its the engine for social mobility and increased earnings over a lifetime. A liberal arts education, in particular, turns a student into a lifelong learner with the skills to change and adapt  invaluable in our rapidly changing, globalized world.

I can attest to that. My international relations degree from Sweet Briar led me to a disaster relief position in the U.S. territories, to a State Department posting in Nairobi, Kenya, to a congressional lobbying effort that secured permanent tax incentives for land conservation, and finally back to Sweet Briar College  one of many alumnae who returned to secure its future. I spent eight years leading development and alumnae relations efforts before being named president. This college has given so much to me, and Im honored to give back.

In a recent Wall Street Journal article, a search firm consultant described the presidents role as professional fundraiser and public relations executive combined with the mayor of a city. Ive mastered the first two. In my new role as mayor, I continue to emphasize the importance of education for women and the unique dimensions and advantages of womens leadership.

Our nation recently celebrated the 19th Amendments ratification, and certainly women have made gains since 1920. They currently comprise more than one quarter of all members of Congress, serve as governors of 12 states, and lead more than 10% of Fortune 500 companies. Yet these milestones also demonstrate women have a long way to go to achieve equity in leadership. Thats a serious issue. Women make up half the worlds population, and we could use more of this brand of leadership.

Perhaps because we were shut out of the corridors of power for so long, women developed less hierarchical ways of getting things done. Research and experience tell us that women often bring a more collaborative, less confrontational approach to resolving issues. I see that at Sweet Briar. For instance, while the Israel-Hamas conflict roiled many campuses, our students sat down last December for a moderated discussion, breaking into small groups to talk about the many dimensions of the conflict.

Historically, womens colleges have educated women in learning spaces free from misogyny, empowering them to find their life paths. Their graduates have gone on to lead in various fields. At Sweet Briar, weve taken this one step further by intentionally cultivating students leadership skills. Six years ago, we revamped our curriculum to emphasize the role that women play in society, replacing the typical general education requirements with a Womens Leadership Core comprised of 10 interdisciplinary courses that focus on developing the next generation of ethical leaders.

These are the sort of things that inspire me as a college president. Im not saying the job is without difficulties. Many colleges have closed in recent years, and Sweet Briar faced its own crisis in 2015, only to be saved by the intervention of our own incredibly strong alumnae network. We have been rebuilding the colleges finances and its enrollment in the years since. Were about to launch a capital campaign to prepare our historic campus for another 123 years of educating women.

Weve positioned this college for success in the 21st century and beyond. My goal is to ensure that Sweet Briar College will continue to educate succeeding generations of women, inspiring them to find their voices and preparing them for leadership roles in all sectors of society. That seems like a pretty good reason to be a college president these days.

Close 04-08-1962 (cutline): Mrs. Roger Buck, YWCA tour director, discusses itinerary with Mrs. Helen Murphy, right. 05-03-1977 (cutline): YWCA Reopens With New Look. The downtown YWCA is reopening its doors with a new interior. Above, Mrs. Frankie King (left), president of the board of directors, and Mrs. Minnie Lee Rice, executive director, look over the newly-decorated library in the building. The YWCA reopened yesterday with full staff of nine and served lunch in the cafeteria to about 60 people. 05-14-1987 (cutline): Birthday Block Party. People passing by the 6 N. Fifth St. yesterday walked into a street festival celebrating the Richmond YWCA's 100th birthday. Staff members passed out cake and ice cream sandwiches and radio personalities gave away key chains and bumper stickers. "We're on the move" is the YWCA's centennial year theme. 01-07-1972 (cutline): Beginnings of beauty won prizes for the landscape planning and planting for three garden clubs today at the Richmond Council of Garden Clubs luncheon. Winners were the Garden for the Blind. 10-31-1954 (cutline): The YWCA building on North Firth Street, built in 1914. 10-13-1963 (cutline): Redecorated Library-Reception room offers warm welcome to visitors. New draperies, refinished and newly upholstered furniture lend beauty to room. 05-23-1971 (cutline): Mrs. Myrtle Palmer teaches exercises to Mrs. Irving Bonett (left), Mrs. I.S. Greentree, Mrs. Mary Smith. Others are Mrs. Frank H. Nalls Jr., Mrs. George T. Georges, Mrs. Lewis W. Thompson. 05-30-1968 (cutline): Learn Mechanics. YWCA-sponsored classes to teach women the mechanics of an automobile and a basic understanding of preventative maintenance and on-the-road repairs have been conduced weeking in Richmond since March. Recognize these archive photos of the Richmond Y.W.C.A.? The Young Womens Christian Association, or YWCA of Richmond, is the oldest branch in the South. The group was first organized in a parlor meeting of eight women in Richmond in the late 1880s. Soon after, the group opened a boarding home to assist women moving to the area for work. In the century to come and into present-day, the YWCA of Richmond has hosted countless programs to assist and educate area women and children. Today, a look back at the YWCA of Richmond from the Times-Dispatch archives. 04-08-1962 (cutline): Mrs. Roger Buck, YWCA tour director, discusses itinerary with Mrs. Helen Murphy, right. 05-03-1977 (cutline): YWCA Reopens With New Look. The downtown YWCA is reopening its doors with a new interior. Above, Mrs. Frankie King (left), president of the board of directors, and Mrs. Minnie Lee Rice, executive director, look over the newly-decorated library in the building. The YWCA reopened yesterday with full staff of nine and served lunch in the cafeteria to about 60 people. 05-14-1987 (cutline): Birthday Block Party. People passing by the 6 N. Fifth St. yesterday walked into a street festival celebrating the Richmond YWCA's 100th birthday. Staff members passed out cake and ice cream sandwiches and radio personalities gave away key chains and bumper stickers. "We're on the move" is the YWCA's centennial year theme. 01-07-1972 (cutline): Beginnings of beauty won prizes for the landscape planning and planting for three garden clubs today at the Richmond Council of Garden Clubs luncheon. Winners were the Garden for the Blind. 10-31-1954 (cutline): The YWCA building on North Firth Street, built in 1914. 10-13-1963 (cutline): Redecorated Library-Reception room offers warm welcome to visitors. New draperies, refinished and newly upholstered furniture lend beauty to room. 05-23-1971 (cutline): Mrs. Myrtle Palmer teaches exercises to Mrs. Irving Bonett (left), Mrs. I.S. Greentree, Mrs. Mary Smith. Others are Mrs. Frank H. Nalls Jr., Mrs. George T. Georges, Mrs. Lewis W. Thompson. 05-30-1968 (cutline): Learn Mechanics. YWCA-sponsored classes to teach women the mechanics of an automobile and a basic understanding of preventative maintenance and on-the-road repairs have been conduced weeking in Richmond since March.
CANBERRA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- One person died and two more went missing after a fishing boat capsized off the coast of South Australia (SA).

Five people were on board the boat when it capsized on Monday afternoon local time near Spilsby Island -- 200 km west of Adelaide -- prompting an emergency search and rescue operation.

"A short time ago we located a deceased person in the water in the same location," SA Police Superintendent Paul Bahr said at a press conference on Tuesday morning.

"At this stage we don't know who that person is, they're yet to be identified."

Two survivors -- a 44-year-old man and 13-year-old boy from Adelaide -- were found on a reef at approximately 2:00 a.m. local time on Tuesday and told police that the boat, which was found at the same time, was upturned by a wave.

Police said those on the boat were a group of family members and close friends. 
(Image: The Malaysian Reserve/Razak Ghazali)

Bursa Malaysia has said that it has no plans to begin offering cryptocurrency on its multi-asset exchange.

According to the chief executive officer of Bursa Malaysia, Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift, the exchange had already looked into the asset class, along with its exchange traded funds (ETFs). Following that, it made the decision to exclude the offering as it does not comply with Bursa Malaysias mission to support the creation of opportunities and to grow value.

Our purpose is to help companies raise capital, expand, employ people and make profit. Crypto does not do that, it does not fulfil that basic premise. It is trading for the sake of trading. I understand that people are attracted to it, but we get back to our purpose, and our purpose is the bigger market, explained Datuk Muhamad Umar, adding that cryptocurrency is not a real asset as it does not have any intrinsic value.

(Image: The Malaysian Reserve/Arif Kartono)

Bursa Malaysia had recently rebranded itself as a multi-asset exchange, listing new offerings like gold investment (through Bursa Gold Dinar), carbon credit trading (through Bursa Carbon Exchange), and debt fundraising for eligible issuers (through BR Capital). It is also preparing to introduce Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) by the third quarter of 2024.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin  which is the worlds largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation  recently surged to a new all-time high, soaring up to approximately US$73,800. In Malaysia, Bitcoin price hit a new all-time high in early March after breaching the RM300,000 mark.

(Source: News Straits Times)

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FGE begins investigation into murder of Cancun Uber driver

Cancun, Q.R.  A group of Cancun Uber drivers protested outside the building of their office after the death of one of their own. A 40-year-old Uber driver who was shot while picking up clients outside a Cancun motel Sunday, has died.

The protest came after the confirmation of the shooting death of Luis A. According to available information, Luis A had arrived at a Cancun motel on Jose Lopez Portillo Avenue shortly after 1:00 a.m. Sunday to pick up two females requesting an Uber.

Upon leaving, the driver was hit at least twice. Details surrounding the shooting that eventually claimed the life of Luis A are unknown. Local authorities have not provided any official information surrounding the deadly shooting.

They did, however, post a brief note acknowledging the death and subsequent investigation.

The FGE of Quintana Roo reports that it initiated an investigation for the events that occurred in the municipality of Benito Juarez against a platform transportation service operator.

This autonomous body announces that the first lines of investigation presume that it was a personal situation, so, in coordination with the security authorities, it works to clarify the facts and find those responsible, the Fiscalia General del Estado (FGE) posted on their social media Monday afternoon.

The drivers side of the Uber car was riddled with bullets. Photo: March 24, 2024.

However on Monday morning amid shouts, angry Cancun Uber drivers demonstrated saying They are killing us! in their to demand greater security.

Uber drivers protest Monday after the death of a Cancun driver. Photo: March 25, 2024.

The group of around two dozen rideshare drivers began their protest just before 8:30 a.m. after learning of the death of their colleague hours before.

Cancun Uber drivers are demanding greater security. Photo: March 25, 2024.

One of the protesters, who went unnamed, said that there have been seven recorded attacks against Uber operators in recent days, including the driver who died Sunday after being shot.
Former Cancun cell company fined by U.S. Treasury for fentanyl-related money laundering

Cancun, Q.R.  A former Cancun company has been singled out as part of a group known to launder money from the sale of fentanyl. The Cancun company, one of six around the country, was fined after a lengthy investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

The six companies are reported to have been part of a multi-million dollar black market scheme to launder illicit fentanyl proceeds for the Sinaloa Cartel.

On March 22, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) fined six Mexican companies for fentanyl-related money laundering.

The sanctions were part of operatives in a Black Market Peso Exchange (BMPE) scheme to launder millions in illicit fentanyl proceeds for the Sinaloa Cartel. The announcement was made by U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo alongside Arizona law enforcement leaders.

According to the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration), the OFAC designated 15 Sinaloa Cartel members, several of whom are fugitives, and six Mexico-based businesses pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14059.

The Sinaloa Cartel, which is one of the most notorious and pervasive drug trafficking organizations in the world, is responsible for a significant portion of the illicit fentanyl and other deadly drugs trafficked into the United States.

Smart Depot was located in high-end Puerto Cancun.

The Biden Administration will continue to use every tool at our disposal to target the violent drug cartels that profit from deadly fentanyl sales in our country, said Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo.

Using Treasurys unique authorities to disrupt illicit fentanyl networks, particularly in coordination with our law enforcement partners, are among Secretary Yellen and the Departments top priorities.

These sanctions supplement efforts by Treasurys Counter-Fentanyl Strike Force, which leverages Treasurys unique expertise and capabilities to interdict and disrupt the illicit financial networks upon which the cartels rely.

The recent sanctions are the result of collaboration with Phoenix and Scottsdale DEA Task Force who coordinated closely with the Government of Mexico, including La Unidad de Inteligencia Financiera (UIF), Mexicos Financial Intelligence Unit.

The OFAC sanctioned Mexico-based cell phone business Smart Depot and several related actors including brothers Arturo DArtagnan Marin Gonzalez and Porthos Marin Gonzalez, who are responsible for operating a BMPE scheme for the Sinaloa Cartel.

The company quickly announced its permanent closure after the U.S. investigation began.

In coordination with Sinaloa Cartel fentanyl suppliers, the Marin brothers brokered fentanyl sales in the United States and used the proceeds of the illicit sales, which were in bulk U.S. dollars, to purchase cell phones from U.S. companies.

After the phones were transported to Mexico, they were sold in Smart Depot stores located in Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mazatlan, Sinaloa and Cancun. As Smart Depot thrived and expanded, the Sinaloa Cartel traffickers received their illicit proceeds in their national currency.

The OFAC also fined four businesses established by Adilene Robledo and Ivan Robledo for using illicit drug proceeds and Smart Depot profits.

Based in Culiacan, Sinaloa, the businesses include Bufaluss and Dulce Volcan, which are involved in food services, as well as clothing/formalwear retailers, Royal Room Dress and Total Look.

In April 2023, a grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York returned an indictment charging numerous Sinaloa Cartel members, including Alan Nunez and Jesus Tirado, with a variety of drug trafficking, money laundering, and weapons-related charges.

On August 4, 2022, DEA Phoenix seized approximately 1,175,000 fentanyl pills supplied by Rolando Verduzco in the Phoenix area.

Photo: DEA Phoenix

To date, Alan Nunez and Jesus Tirado are fugitives. Through its Narcotics Rewards Program, the U.S. Department of State offers rewards of up to $1 million for information leading to the arrests and/or convictions of Alan Nunez and Jesus Tirado.
Tren Maya investigating derailment cause at Yucatan station

Merida, Yucatan  Tren Maya authorities say they are investigating the cause of a car derailment that happened Monday morning at the Tixkokob station. According to an official Tren Maya statement, the derailment happened around 9:30 a.m. when the four-car train was pulling into the Yucatan station.

Three cars passed over the tracks normally, while one did not. The train was traveling at around 10 kms/h at the time of the incident. There were no injuries reported.

The derailment happened on a route heading to Cancun. Maya Train passengers were escorted off the train at the Tixkokob station and transferred to Cancun via another means which was not specified in the official Tren Maya statement.

However, they did report that this incident did not affect the scheduled operation of the rest of the trains.

Numerous passengers on board the train at the time of the derailment videoed the incident, as did others passing the derailed car at the Tixkokob station in Yucatan.

Sedena engineers take photos of the car derailment. Photos: March 25, 2024.

National Guard were part of the responders to the early morning incident along with the Secretaria de la Defensa Nacional (Sedena) engineers who were seen taking notes and photos.

National Guard were first on scene of the early morning derailment.

Photo: March 25, 2024.

In an official statement, authorities said the company Tren Maya informs the media, users and society in general that the fourth car of train D006 experienced an interruption of flow on the track at the Tixkokob station, Yucatan, without registering human or material damage.

The incident occurred at 9:30 a.m. when, entering the Tixkokob station, the first three cars of train D006 passed a track change at a speed of approximately 10 km/h, with the fourth car leaving the tracks.

Given this situation, we proceeded to evacuate our passengers to provide them with transfer care so that they could continue their trip to Cancun. This incident did not affect the scheduled operation of the rest of the trains.

One of the cars derailed while changing tracks. Photo: March 25, 2024.

Likewise, a Ruling Commission was formed that is already carrying out an exhaustive investigation of the incident to determine its causes and prevent any similar situation that could compromise the Mayan Train service.

It is the second known incident involving the Maya Train since inauguration in late 2023. On March 11, two men who fell asleep on a section of Tren Maya tracks were hit. One of the two men, both of whom are reported to be Honduran migrants, died.
A Blue Ridge man has been charged in the death of a 5-year-old boy, the Botetourt County Sheriffs Office confirmed Monday.

Zachary Alan Bishop, 33, was indicted by a Botetourt County Circuit Court grand jury March 4 on two felonies, child endangerment and murder, in connection with an Aug. 2 incident.

At about 10:15 p.m. that day, the countys 911 center got a call about a 5-year-old boy being unresponsive, according to a sheriffs office news release.

Deputies and emergency medical personnel responded to the 2900 block of Blue Ridge Springs Road and found the child, who was transported to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital for treatment.

Detectives began investigating what events led to to the childs hospitalization, but two days later, on Aug. 4, he was pronounced dead, according to the release.

The regional medical examiners office performed an autopsy on the boy and found the manner of his death was homicide.

County detectives presented evidence from their preliminary investigation to the March 4 grand jury, which returned true bills on the two felony charges, the release reads. Bishop was arrested that same day, according to online court records.

Bishop was being held Monday at the Botetourt-Craig Regional Jail. His bond hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, according to online court records.
In November last year, I co-presented a tutorial on waveform-based music processing with deep learning with Jordi Pons and Jongpil Lee at ISMIR 2019. Jongpil and Jordi talked about music classification and source separation respectively, and I presented the last part of the tutorial, on music generation in the waveform domain. It was very well received, so Ive decided to write it up in the form of a blog post.

ISMIR used to be my home conference when I was a PhD student working on music information retrieval, so it was great to be back for the first time in five years. With about 450 attendees (the largest edition yet), it made for a very different experience than what Im used to with machine learning conferences like ICML, NeurIPS and ICLR, whose audiences tend to number in the thousands these days.

Our tutorial on the first day of the conference gave rise to plenty of interesting questions and discussions throughout, which inspired me to write some of these things down and hopefully provide a basis to continue these discussions online. Note that I will only be covering music generation in this post, but Jordi and Jongpil are working on blog posts about their respective parts. I will share them here when they are published. In the meantime, the slide deck we used includes all three parts and is now available on Zenodo (PDF) and on Google slides. Ive also added a few things to this post that Ive thought of since giving the tutorial, and some new work that has come out since.

This is also an excellent opportunity to revive my blog, which has lain dormant for the past four years. I have taken the time to update the blog software, so if anything looks odd, that may be why. Please let me know so I can fix it!

Presenting our tutorial session at ISMIR 2019 in Delft, The Netherlands. Via ISMIR2019 on Twitter.

Overview

This blog post is divided into a few different sections. Ill try to motivate why modelling music in the waveform domain is an interesting problem. Then Ill give an overview of generative models, the various flavours that exist, and some important ways in which they differ from each other. In the next two sections Ill attempt to cover the state of the art in both likelihood-based and adversarial models of raw music audio. Finally, Ill raise some observations and discussion points. If you want to skip ahead, just click the section title below to go there.

Note that this blog post is not intended to provide an exhaustive overview of all the published research in this domain  I have tried to make a selection and Ive inevitably left out some great work. Please dont hesitate to suggest relevant work in the comments section!

Motivation

Why audio?

Music generation has traditionally been studied in the symbolic domain: the output of the generative process could be a musical score, a sequence of MIDI events, a simple melody, a sequence of chords, a textual representation or some other higher-level representation. The physical process through which sound is produced is abstracted away. This dramatically reduces the amount of information that the models are required to produce, which makes the modelling problem more tractable and allows for lower-capacity models to be used effectively.

A very popular representation is the so-called piano roll, which dates back to the player pianos of the early 20th century. Holes were punched into a roll of paper to indicate which notes should be played at which time. This representation survives in digital form today and is commonly used in music production. Much of the work on music generation using machine learning has made use of (some variant of) this representation, because it allows for capturing performance-specific aspects of the music without having to model the sound.

Left: player piano with a physical piano roll inside. Right: modern incarnation of a piano roll.

Piano rolls are great for piano performances, because they are able to exactly capture the timing, pitch and velocity (i.e. how hard a piano key is pressed, which is correlated with loudness, but not equivalent to it) of the notes. They are able to very accurately represent piano music, because they cover all the degrees of freedom that a performer has at their disposal. However, most other instruments have many more degrees of freedom: think about all the various ways you can play a note on the guitar, for example. You can decide which string to use, where to pick, whether to bend the string or not, play vibrato,  you could even play harmonics, or use two-hand tapping. Such a vast array of different playing techniques endows the performer with a lot more freedom to vary the sound that the instrument produces, and coming up with a high-level representation that can accurately capture all this variety is much more challenging. In practice, a lot of this detail is ignored and a simpler representation is often used when generating music for these instruments.

Modelling the sound that an instrument produces is much more difficult than modelling (some of) the parameters that are controlled by the performer, but it frees us from having to manually design high-level representations that accurately capture all these parameters. Furthermore, it allows our models to capture variability that is beyond the performers control: the idiosyncracies of individual instruments, for example (no two violins sound exactly the same!), or the parameters of the recording setup used to obtain the training data for our models. It also makes it possible to model ensembles of instruments, or other sound sources altogether, without having to fundamentally change anything about the model apart from the data it is trained on.

Digital audio representations require a reasonably high bit rate to achieve acceptable fidelity however, and modelling all these bits comes with a cost. Music audio models will necessarily have to have a much higher capacity than their symbolic counterparts, which implies higher computational requirements for model training.

Why waveforms?

Digital representations of sound come in many shapes and forms. For reproduction, sound is usually stored by encoding the shape of the waveform as it changes over time. For analysis however, we often make use of spectrograms, both for computational methods and for visual inspection by humans. A spectrogram can be obtained from a waveform by computing the Fourier transform of overlapping windows of the signal, and stacking the results into a 2D array. This shows the local frequency content of the signal over time.

Spectrograms are complex-valued: they represent both the amplitude and the phase of different frequency components at each point in time. Below is a visualisation of a magnitude spectrogram and its corresponding phase spectrogram. While the magnitude spectrogram clearly exhibits a lot of structure, with sustained frequencies manifesting as horizontal lines and harmonics showing up as parallel horizontal lines, the phase spectrogram looks a lot more random.

Top: magnitude spectrogram of a piano recording. Bottom: the corresponding phase spectrogram.

When extracting information from audio signals, it turns out that we can often just discard the phase component, because it is not informative for most of the things we could be interested in. In fact, this is why the magnitude spectrogram is often referred to simply as the spectrogram. When generating sound however, phase is very important because it meaningfully affects our perception. Listen below to an original excerpt of a piano piece, and a corresponding excerpt where the original phase has been replaced by random uniform phase information. Note how the harmony is preserved, but the timbre changes completely.

Audio with original phase Audio with random phase Left: excerpt with original phase. Right: the same excerpt with random phase.

The phase component of a spectrogram is tricky to model for a number of reasons:

it is an angle : \(\phi \in [0, 2 \pi)\) and it wraps around;

: \(\phi \in [0, 2 \pi)\) and it wraps around; it becomes effectively random as the magnitude tends towards 0, because noise starts to dominate;

as the magnitude tends towards 0, because noise starts to dominate; absolute phase is less meaningful, but relative phase differences over time matter perceptually.

If we model waveforms directly, we are implicitly modelling their phase as well, but we dont run into these issues that make modelling phase so cumbersome. There are other strategies to avoid these issues, some of which I will discuss later, but waveform modelling currently seems to be the dominant approach in the generative setting. This is particularly interesting because magnitude spectrograms are by far the most common representation used for discriminative models of audio.

Discretising waveforms

When representing a waveform digitally, we need to discretise it in both time and amplitude. This is referred to as pulse code modulation (PCM). Because audio waveforms are effectively band-limited (humans cannot perceive frequencies above ~20 kHz), the sampling theorem tells us that we can discretise the waveform in time without any loss of information, as long as the sample rate is high enough (twice the highest frequency). This is why CD quality audio has a sample rate of 44.1 kHz. Much lower sample rates result in an audible loss of fidelity, but since the resulting discrete sequences also end up being much shorter, a compromise is often struck in the context of generative modelling to reduce computational requirements. Most models from literature use sample rates of 16 or 24 kHz.

Digital waveform. The individual samples become visible as the zoom level increases. Figure taken from the original WaveNet blog post.

When we also quantise the amplitude, some loss of fidelity is inevitable. CD quality uses 16 bits per sample, representing 216 equally spaced quantisation levels. If we want to use fewer bits, we can use logarithmically spaced quantisation levels instead to account for our nonlinear perception of loudness. This mu-law companding will result in a smaller perceived loss of fidelity than if the levels were equally spaced.

Generative models

Given a dataset \(X\) of examples \(x \in X\), which we assume to have been drawn independently from some underlying distribution \(p_X(x)\), a generative model can learn to approximate this distribution \(p_X(x)\). Such a model could be used to generate new samples that look like they could have been part of the original dataset. We distinguish implicit and explicit generative models: an implicit model can produce new samples \(x \sim p_X(x)\), but cannot be used to infer the likelihood of an example (i.e. we cannot tractably compute \(p_X(x)\) given \(x\)). If we have an explicit model, we can do this, though sometimes only up to an unknown normalising constant.

Conditional generative models

Generative models become more practically useful when we can exert some influence over the samples we draw from them. We can do this by providing a conditioning signal \(c\), which contains side information about the kind of samples we want to generate. The model is then fit to the conditional distribution \(p_X(x \vert c)\) instead of \(p_X(x)\).

Conditioning signals can take many shapes or forms, and it is useful to distinguish different levels of information content. The generative modelling problem becomes easier if the conditioning signal \(c\) is richer, because it reduces uncertainty about \(x\). We will refer to conditioning signals with low information content as sparse conditioning, and those with high information content as dense conditioning. Examples of conditioning signals in the image domain and the music audio domain are shown below, ordered according to density.

Examples of sparse and dense conditioning signals in the image domain (top) and the music audio domain (bottom).

Note that the density of a conditioning signal is often correlated with its level of abstraction: high-level side information tends to be more sparse. Low-level side information isnt necessarily dense, though. For example, we could condition a generative model of music audio on a low-dimensional vector that captures the overall timbre of an instrument. This is a low-level aspect of the audio signal, but it constitutes a sparse conditioning signal.

Likelihood-based models

Likelihood-based models directly parameterise \(p_X(x)\). The parameters \(\theta\) are then fit by maximising the likelihood of the data under the model:

\[\mathcal{L}_\theta(x) = \sum_{x \in X} \log p_X(x|\theta) \quad \quad \theta^* = \arg \max_\theta \mathcal{L}_\theta(x) .\]

Note that this is typically done in the log-domain because it simplifies computations and improves numerical stability. Because the model directly parameterises \(p_X(x)\), we can easily infer the likelihood of any \(x\), so we get an explicit model. Three popular flavours of likelihood-based models are autoregressive models, flow-based models and variational autoencoders. The following three subsections provide a brief overview of each.

Autoregressive models

In an autoregressive model, we assume that our examples \(x \in X\) can be treated as sequences \(\{x_i\}\). We then factorise the distribution into a product of conditionals, using the chain rule of probability:

\[p_X(x) = \prod_i p(x_i \vert x_{

These conditional distributions are typically scalar-valued and much easier to model. Because we further assume that the distribution of the sequence elements is stationary, we can share parameters and use the same model for all the factors in this product.

For audio signals, this is a very natural thing to do, but we can also do this for other types of structured data by arbitrarily choosing an order (e.g. raster scan order for images, as in PixelRNN and PixelCNN).

Autoregressive models are attractive because they are able to accurately capture correlations between the different elements \(x_i\) in a sequence, and they allow for fast inference (i.e. computing \(p_X(x)\) given \(x\)). Unfortunately they tend to be slow to sample from, because samples need to be drawn sequentially from the conditionals for each position in the sequence.

Flow-based models

Another strategy for constructing a likelihood-based model is to use the change of variables theorem to transform \(p_X(x)\) into a simple, factorised distribution \(p_Z(z)\) (standard Gaussian is a popular choice) using an invertible mapping \(x = g(z)\):

\[p_X(x) = p_Z(z) \cdot |\det J|^{-1} \quad \quad J = \frac{dg(z)}{dz}.\]

Here, \(J\) is the Jacobian of \(g(z)\). Models that use this approach are referred to as normalising flows or flow-based models. They are fast both for inference and sampling, but the requirement for \(g(z)\) to be invertible significantly constrains the model architecture, and it makes them less parameter-efficient. In other words: flow-based models need to be quite large to be effective.

For an in-depth treatment of flow-based models, I recommend Eric Jangs two-part blog post on the subject, and Papamakarios et al.s excellent review paper.

Variational autoencoders (VAEs)

By far the most popular class of likelihood-based generative models, I cant avoid mentioning variational autoencoders  but in the context of waveform modelling, they are probably the least popular approach. In a VAE, we jointly learn two neural networks: an inference network \(q(z \vert x)\) learns to probabilistically map examples \(x\) into a latent space, and a generative network \(p(x \vert z)\) learns the distribution of the data conditioned on a latent representation \(z\). These are trained to maximise a lower bound on \(p_X(x)\), called the ELBO (Evidence Lower BOund), because computing \(p_X(x)\) given \(x\) (exact inference) is not tractable.

Typical VAEs assume a factorised distribution for \(p(x \vert z)\), which limits the extent to which they can capture dependencies in the data. While this is often an acceptable trade-off, in the case of waveform modelling it turns out to be a problematic restriction in practice. I believe this is why not a lot of work has been published that takes this approach (if you know of any, please point me to it). VAEs can also have more powerful decoders with fewer assumptions (autoregressive decoders, for example), but this may introduce other issues such as posterior collapse.

To learn more about VAEs, check out Jaan Altosaars tutorial.

Adversarial models

Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) take a very different approach to capturing the data distribution. Two networks are trained simultaneously: a generator \(G\) attempts to produce examples according to the data distribution \(p_X(x)\), given latent vectors \(z\), while a discriminator \(D\) attempts to tell apart generated examples and real examples. In doing so, the discriminator provides a learning signal for the generator which enables it to better match the data distribution. In the original formulation, the loss function is as follows:

\[\mathcal{L}(x) = \mathbb{E}_x[\log D(x)] + \mathbb{E}_z[log(1 - D(G(z)))] .\]

The generator is trained to minimise this loss, whereas the discriminator attempts to maximise it. This means the training procedure is a two-player minimax game, rather than an optimisation process, as it is for most machine learning models. Balancing this game and keeping training stable has been one of the main challenges for this class of models. Many alternative formulations have been proposed to address this.

While adversarial and likelihood-based models are both ultimately trying to model \(p_X(x)\), they approach this target from very different angles. As a result, GANs tend to be better at producing realistic examples, but worse at capturing the full diversity of the data distribution, compared to likelihood-based models.

More exotic flavours

Many other strategies to learn models of complicated distributions have been proposed in literature. While research on waveform generation has chiefly focused on the two dominant paradigms of likelihood-based and adversarial models, some of these alternatives may hold promise in this area as well, so I want to mention a few that Ive come across.

Energy-based models measure the energy of examples, and are trained by fitting the model parameters so that examples coming from the dataset have low energy, whereas all other configurations of inputs have high energy. This amounts to fitting an unnormalised density. A nice recent example is the work by Du & Mordatch at OpenAI . Energy-based models have been around for a very long time though, and one could argue that likelihood-based models are a special case.

Optimal transport is another approach to measure the discrepancy between probability distributions, which has served as inspiration for new variants of generative adversarial networks and autoencoders .

Autoregressive implicit quantile networks use a similar network architecture as likelihood-based autoregressive models, but they are trained using the quantile regression loss, rather than maximimum likelihood.

Two continuous distributions can be matched by minimising the L2 distance between the gradients of the density functions with respect to their inputs: \(\mathcal{L}(x) = \mathbb{E} [\vert\vert

abla_x \log p_X(x) -

abla_y \log p_Y(y) \vert\vert ^2]\). This is called score matching and some recent works have revisited this idea for density estimation and generative modelling .

Please share any others that I havent mentioned in the comments!

Mode-covering vs. mode-seeking behaviour

An important consideration when determining which type of generative model is appropriate for a particular application, is the degree to which it is mode-covering or mode-seeking. When a model does not have enough capacity to capture all the variability in the data, different compromises can be made. If all examples should be reasonably likely under the model, it will have to overgeneralise and put probability mass on interpolations of examples that may not be meaningful (mode-covering). If there is no such requirement, the probability mass can be focused on a subset of examples, but then some parts of the distribution will be ignored by the model (mode-seeking).

Illustration of mode-seeking and mode-covering behaviour in model fitting. The blue density represents the data distribution. The green density is our model, which is a single Gaussian. Because the data distribution is multimodal, our model does not have enough capacity to accurately capture it.

Likelihood-based models are usually mode-covering. This is a consequence of the fact that they are fit by maximising the joint likelihood of the data. Adversarial models on the other hand are typically mode-seeking. A lot of ongoing research is focused on making it possible to control the trade-off between these two behaviours directly, without necessarily having to switch the class of models that are used.

In general, mode-covering behaviour is desirable in sparsely conditioned applications, where we want diversity or we expect a certain degree of creativity from the model. Mode-seeking behaviour is more useful in densely-conditioned settings, where most of the variability we care about is captured in the conditioning signal, and we favour realism of the generated output over diversity.

Likelihood-based models of waveforms

In this section, Ill try to summarise some of the key results from the past four years obtained with likelihood-based models of waveforms. While this blog post is supposed to be about music, note that many of these developments were initially targeted at generating speech, so inevitably I will also be talking about some work in the text-to-speech (TTS) domain. I recommend reading the associated papers and/or blog posts to find out more about each of these works.

WaveNet & SampleRNN

Animation showing sampling from a WaveNet model. The model predicts the distribution of potential signal values for each timestep, given past signal values.

WaveNet and SampleRNN are autoregressive models of raw waveforms. While WaveNet is a convolutional neural network, SampleRNN uses a stack of recurrent neural networks. Both papers appeared on arXiv in late 2016 with only a few months in between, signalling that autoregressive waveform-based audio modelling was an idea whose time had come. Before then, this idea had not been seriously considered, as modelling long-term correlations in sequences across thousands of timesteps did not seem feasible with the tools that were available at that point. Furthermore, discriminative models of audio all used spectral input representations, with only a few works investigating the use of raw waveforms in this setting (and usually with worse results).

Although these models have their flaws (including slow sampling due to autoregressivity, and a lack of interpretability w.r.t. what actually happens inside the network), I think they constituted an important existence proof that encouraged further research into waveform-based models.

WaveNets strategy to deal with long-term correlations is to use dilated convolutions: successive convolutional layers use filters with gaps between their inputs, so that the connectivity pattern across many layers forms a tree structure (see figure above). This enables rapid growth of the receptive field, which means that a WaveNet with only a few layers can learn dependencies across many timesteps. Note that the convolutions used in WaveNet are causal (no connectivity from future to past), which forces the model to learn to predict what values the signal could take at each position in time.

SampleRNNs strategy is a bit different: multiple RNNs are stacked on top of each other, with each running at a different frequency. Higher-level RNNs update less frequently, which means they can more easily capture long-range correlations and learn high-level features.

Both models demonstrated excellent text-to-speech results, surpassing the state of the art at the time (concatenative synthesis, for most languages) in terms of naturalness. Both models were also applied to (piano) music generation, which constituted a nice demonstration of the promise of music generation in the waveform domain, but they were clearly limited in their ability to capture longer-term musical structure.

WaveNet: paper - blog post

SampleRNN: paper - samples

Parallel WaveNet & ClariNet

Sampling from autoregressive models of raw audio can be quite slow and impractical. To address this issue, Parallel WaveNet uses probability density distillation to train a model from which samples can be drawn in a single feed-forward pass. This requires a trained autoregressive WaveNet, which functions as a teacher, and an inverse autoregressive flow (IAF) model which acts as the student and learns to mimic the teachers predictions.

While an autoregressive model is slow to sample from, inferring the likelihood of a given example (and thus, maximum-likelihood training) can be done in parallel. For an inverse autoregressive flow, its the other way around: sampling is fast, but inference is slow. Since most practical applications rely on sampling rather than inference, such a model is often better suited. IAFs are hard to train from scratch though (because that requires inference), and the probability density distillation approach makes training them tractable.

Due to the nature of the probability density distillation objective, the student will end up matching the teachers predictions in a way that minimises the reverse KL divergence. This is quite unusual: likelihood-based models are typically trained to minimise the forward KL divergence instead, which is equivalent to maximising the likelihood (and minimising the reverse KL is usually intractable). While minimising the forward KL leads to mode-covering behaviour, minimising the reverse KL will instead lead to mode-seeking behaviour, which means that the model may end up ignoring certain modes in the data distribution.

In the text-to-speech (TTS) setting, this may actually be exactly what we want: given an excerpt of text, we want the model to generate a realistic utterance corresponding to that excerpt, but we arent particularly fussed about being able to generate every possible variation  one good-sounding utterance will do. This is a setting where realism is clearly more important than diversity, because all the diversity that we care about is already captured in the conditioning signal that we provide. This is usually the setting where adversarial models excel, because of their inherent mode-seeking behaviour, but using probability density distillation we can also train likelihood-based models this way.

To prevent the model from collapsing, parallel WaveNet uses a few additional loss terms to encourage the produced waveforms to resemble speech (such as a loss on the average power spectrum).

If we want to do music generation, we will typically care more about diversity because the conditioning signals we provide to the model are weaker. I believe this is why we havent really seen the Parallel WaveNet approach catch on outside of TTS.

ClariNet was introduced as a variant of Parallel WaveNet which uses a Gaussian inverse autoregressive flow. The Gaussian assumption makes it possible to compute the reverse KL in closed form, rather than having to approximate it by sampling, which stabilises training.

Parallel WaveNet: paper - blog post 1 - blog post 2

ClariNet: paper - samples

Flow-based models: WaveGlow, FloWaveNet, WaveFlow, Blow

Training an IAF with probability density distillation isnt the only way to train a flow-based model: most can be trained by maximum likelihood instead. In that case, the models will be encouraged to capture all the modes of the data distribution. This, in combination with their relatively low parameter efficiency (due to the invertibility requirement), means that they might need to be a bit larger to be effective. On the other hand, they allow for very fast sampling because all timesteps can be generated in parallel, so while the computational cost may be higher, sampling will still be faster in practice. Another advantage is that no additional loss terms are required to prevent collapse.

WaveGlow and FloWaveNet, both originally published in late 2018, are flow-based models of raw audio conditioned on mel-spectrograms, which means they can be used as vocoders. Because of the limited parameter efficiency of flow-based models, I suspect that it would be difficult to use them for music generation in the waveform domain, where conditioning signals are much more sparse  but they could of course be used to render mel-spectrograms generated by some other model into waveforms (more on that later).

WaveFlow (with an F instead of a G) is a more recent model that improves parameter efficiency by combining the flow-based modelling approach with partial autoregressivity to model local signal structure. This allows for a trade-off between sampling speed and model size. Blow is a flow-based model of waveforms for non-parallel voice conversion.

WaveGlow: paper - code - samples

FloWaveNet: paper - code - samples

WaveFlow: paper - samples

Blow: paper - code - samples

Hierarchical WaveNets

For the purpose of music generation, WaveNet is limited by its ability to capture longer-term signal structure, as previously stated. In other words: while it is clearly able to capture local signal structure very well (i.e. the timbre of an instrument), it isnt able to model the evolution of chord progressions and melodies over longer time periods. This makes the outputs produced by this model sound rather improvisational, to put it nicely.

This may seem counterintuitive at first: the tree structure of the connectivity between the layers of the model should allow for a very rapid growth of its receptive field. So if you have a WaveNet model that captures up to a second of audio at a time (more than sufficient for TTS), stacking a few more dilated convolutional layers on top should suffice to grow the receptive field by several orders of magnitude (up to many minutes). At that point, the model should be able to capture any kind of meaningful musical structure.

In practice, however, we need to train models on excerpts of audio that are at least as long as the longest-range correlations that we want to model. So while the depth of the model has to grow only logarithmically as we increase the desired receptive field, the computational and memory requirements for training do in fact grow linearly. If we want to train a model that can learn about musical structure across tens of seconds, that will necessarily be an order of magnitude more expensive  and WaveNets that generate music already have to be quite large as it is, even with a receptive field of just one second, because music is harder to model than speech. Note also that one second of audio corresponds to a sequence of 16000 timesteps at 16 kHz, so even at a scale of seconds, we are already modelling very long sequences.

In 10 years, the hardware we would need to train a WaveNet with a receptive field of 30 seconds (or almost half a million timesteps at 16 kHz) may just fit in a desktop computer, so we could just wait until then to give it a try. But if we want to train such models today, we need a different strategy. If we could train separate models to capture structure at different timescales, we could have a dedicated model that focuses on capturing longer-range correlations, without having to also model local signal structure. This seems feasible, seeing as models of high-level representations of music (i.e. scores or MIDI) clearly do a much better job of capturing long-range musical structure already.

We can approach this as a representation learning problem: to decouple learning of local and large-scale structure, we need to extract a more compact, high-level representation \(h\) from the audio signals \(x\), that makes abstraction of local detail and has a much lower sample rate. Ideally, we would learn a model \(h = f(x)\) to extract such a representation from data (although using existing high-level representations like MIDI is also possible, as well discuss later).

Then we can split up the task by training two separate models: a WaveNet that models the high-level representation: \(p_H(h)\), and another that models the local signal structure, conditioned on the high-level representation: \(p_{X \vert H}(x \vert h)\). The former model can focus on learning about long-range correlations, as local signal structure is not present in the representation it operates on. The latter model, on the other hand, can focus on learning about local signal structure, as relevant information about large-scale structure is readily available in its conditioning signal. Combined together, these models can be used to sample new audio signals by first sampling \(\hat{h} \sim p_H(h)\) and then \(\hat{x} \sim p_{X \vert H}(x \vert \hat{h})\).

We can learn both \(f(x)\) and \(p_{X \vert H}(x \vert h)\) together by training an autoencoder: \(f(x)\) is the encoder, a feed-forward neural network, and \(p_{X \vert H}(x \vert h)\) is the decoder, a conditional WaveNet. Learning these jointly will enable \(f(x)\) to adapt to the WaveNet, so that it extracts information that the WaveNet cannot easily model itself.

To make the subsequent modelling of \(h = f(x)\) with another WaveNet easier, we use a VQ-VAE: an autoencoder with a discrete bottleneck. This has two important consequences:

Autoregressive models seem to be more effective on discrete sequences than on continuous ones. Making the high-level representation discrete makes the hierarchical modelling task much easier, as we dont need to adapt the WaveNet model to work with continuous data.

than on continuous ones. Making the high-level representation discrete makes the hierarchical modelling task much easier, as we dont need to adapt the WaveNet model to work with continuous data. The discreteness of the representation also limits its information capacity, forcing the autoencoder to encode only the most important information in \(h\), and to use the autoregressive connections in the WaveNet decoder to capture any local structure that wasnt encoded in \(h\).

To split the task into more than two parts, we can apply this procedure again to the high-level representation \(h\) produced by the first application, and repeat this until we get a hierarchy with as many levels as desired. Higher levels in the hierarchy make abstraction of more and more of the low-level details of the signal, and have progressively lower sample rates (yielding shorter sequences). a three-level hierarchy is shown in the diagram below. Note that each level can be trained separately and in sequence, thus greatly reducing the computational requirements of training a model with a very large receptive field.

Hierarchical WaveNet model, consisting of (conditional) autoregressive models of several levels of learnt discrete representations.

My colleagues and I explored this idea and trained hierachical WaveNet models on piano music. We found that there was a trade-off between audio fidelity and long-range coherence of the generated samples. When more model capacity was repurposed to focus on long-range correlations, this reduced the capability of the model to capture local structure, resulting in lower perceived audio quality. We also conducted a human evaluation study where we asked several listeners to rate both the fidelity and the musicality of some generated samples, to demonstrate that hierarchical models produce samples which sound more musical.

Hierarchical WaveNet: paper - samples

Wave2Midi2Wave and the MAESTRO dataset

As alluded to earlier, rather than learning high-level representations of music audio from data, we could also use existing high-level representations such as MIDI to construct a hierarchical model. We can use a powerful language model to model music in the symbolic domain, and also construct a conditional WaveNet model that generates audio, given a MIDI representation. Together with my colleagues from the Magenta team at Google AI, we trained such models on a new dataset called MAESTRO, which features 172 hours of virtuosic piano performances, captured with fine alignment between note labels and audio waveforms. This dataset is available to download for research purposes.

Compared to hierarchical WaveNets with learnt intermediate representations, this approach yields much better samples in terms of musical structure, but it is limited to instruments and styles of music that MIDI can accurately represent. Manzelli et al. have demonstrated this approach for a few instruments other than piano, but the lack of available aligned data could pose a problem.

Wave2Midi2Wave: a transcription model to go from audio to MIDI, a transformer to model MIDI sequences and a WaveNet to synthesise audio given a MIDI sequence.

Wave2Midi2Wave: paper - blog post - samples - dataset

Manzelli et al. model: paper - samples

Sparse transformers

OpenAI introduced the Sparse Transformer model, a large transformer with a sparse attention mechanism that scales better to long sequences than traditional attention (which is quadratic in the length of the modelled sequence). They demonstrated impressive results autoregressively modelling language, images, and music audio using this architecture, with sparse attention enabling their model to cope with waveforms of up to 65k timesteps (about 5 seconds at 12 kHz). The sparse attention mechanism seems like a good alternative to the stacked dilated convolutions of WaveNets, provided that an efficient implementation is available.

Sparse Transformer: paper - blog post - samples

Universal music translation network

An interesting conditional waveform modelling problem is that of music translation or music style transfer: given a waveform, render a new waveform where the same music is played by a different instrument. The Universal Music Translation Network tackles this by training an autoencoder with multiple WaveNet decoders, where the encoded representation is encouraged to be agnostic to the instrument of the input (using an adversarial loss). A separate decoder is trained for each target instrument, so once this representation is extracted from a waveform, it can be synthesised in an instrument of choice. The separation is not perfect, but it works surprisingly well in practice. I think this is a nice example of a model that combines ideas from both likelihood-based models and the adversarial learning paradigm.

Universal music translation network: paper - code - samples

Dadabots

Dadabots are a researcher / artist duo who have trained SampleRNN models on various albums (primarily metal) in order to produce more music in the same vein. These models arent great at capturing long-range correlations, so it works best for artists whose style is naturally a bit disjointed. Below is a 24 hour livestream theyve set up with a model generating infinite technical death metal in the style of Relentless Mutation by Archspire.

Adversarial models of waveforms

Adversarial modelling of audio has only recently started to see some successes, which is why this section is going to be a lot shorter than the previous one on likelihood-based models. The adversarial paradigm has been extremely successful in the image domain, but researchers have had a harder time translating that success to other domains and modalities, compared to likelihood-based models. As a result, published work so far has primarily focused on speech generation and the generation of individual notes or very short clips of music. As a field, we are still very much in the process of figuring out how to make GANs work well for audio at scale.

WaveGAN

One of the first works to attempt using GANs for modelling raw audio signals is WaveGAN. They trained a GAN on single-word speech recordings, bird vocalisations, individual drum hits and short excerpts of piano music. They also compared their raw audio-based model with a spectrogram-level model called SpecGAN. Although the fidelity of the resulting samples is far from perfect in some cases, this work undoubtedly inspired a lot of researchers to take audio modelling with GANs more seriously.

WaveGAN: paper - code - samples - demo - colab

GANSynth

So far in this blog post, we have focused on generating audio waveforms directly. However, I dont want to omit GANSynth, even though technically speaking it does not operate directly in the waveform domain. This is because the spectral representation it uses is exactly invertible  no other models or phase reconstruction algorithms are used to turn the spectograms it generates into waveforms, which means it shares a lot of the advantages of models that operate directly in the waveform domain.

As discussed before, modelling the phase component of a complex spectrogram is challenging, because the phase of real audio signals can seem essentially random. However, using some of its unique characteristics, we can transform the phase into a quantity that is easier to model and reason about: the instantaneous frequency. This is obtained by computing the temporal difference of the unwrapped phase between subsequent frames. Unwrapping means that we shift the phase component by a multiple of \(2 \pi\) for each frame as needed to make it monotonic over time, as shown in the diagram below (because phase is an angle, all values modulo \(2 \pi\) are equivalent).

The instantaneous frequency captures how much the phase of a signal moves from one spectrogram frame to the next. For harmonic sounds, this quantity is expected to be constant over time, as the phase rotates at a constant velocity. This makes this representation particularly suitable to model musical sounds, which have a lot of harmonic content (and in fact, it might also make the representation less suitable for modelling more general classes of audio signals, though I dont know if anyone has tried). For harmonic sounds, the instantaneous frequency is almost trivial to predict.

GANSynth is an adversarial model trained to produce the magnitude and instantaneous frequency spectrograms of recordings of individual musical notes. The trained model is also able to generalise to sequences of notes to some degree. Check out the blog post for sound examples and more information.

Top: waveform with specrogram frame boundaries indicated as dotted lines. Middle: from phase to instantaneous frequency. Bottom: visualisations of the magnitude, phase, unwrapped phase and instantaneous frequency spectra of a real recording of a note.

GANSynth: paper - code - samples - blog post - colab

MelGAN & GAN-TTS

Two recent papers demonstrate excellent results using GANs for text-to-speech: MelGAN and GAN-TTS. The former also includes some music synthesis results, although fidelity is still an issue in that domain. The focus of MelGAN is inversion of magnitude spectrograms (potentially generated by other models), whereas as GAN-TTS is conditioned on the same linguistic features as the original WaveNet for TTS.

The architectures of both models share some interesting similarities, which shed light on the right inductive biases for raw waveform discriminators. Both models use multiple discriminators at different scales, each of which operates on a random window of audio extracted from the full sequence produced by the generator. This is similar to the patch-based discriminators that have occasionally been used in GANs for image generation. This windowing strategy seems to dramatically improve the capability of the generator to correctly model high frequency content in the audio signals, which is much more crucial to get right for audio than for images because it more strongly affects perceptual quality. The fact that both models benefited from this particular discriminator design indicates that we may be on the way to figuring out how to best design discriminator architectures for raw audio.

There are also some interesting differences: where GAN-TTS uses a combination of conditional and unconditional discriminators, MelGAN uses only unconditional discriminators and instead encourages the generator output to match the ground truth audio by adding an additional feature matching loss: the L1 distance between discriminator feature maps of real and generated audio. Both approaches seem to be effective.

Adversarial waveform synthesis is particularly useful for TTS, because it enables the use of highly parallelisable feed-forward models, which tend to have relatively low capacity requirements because they are trained with a mode-seeking loss. This means the models can more easily be deployed on low-power hardware while still performing audio synthesis in real-time, compared to autoregressive or flow-based models.

MelGAN: paper - code - samples

GAN-TTS: paper - code (FDSD) - sample

Discussion

To wrap up this blog post, I want to summarise a few thoughts about the current state of this area of research, and where things could be moving next.

Why the emphasis on likelihood in music modelling?

Clearly, the dominant paradigm for generative models of music in the waveform domain is likelihood-based. This stands in stark contrast to the image domain, where adversarial approaches greatly outnumber likelihood-based ones. I suspect there are a few reasons for this (let me know if you think of any others):

Compared to likelihood-based models, it seems like it has been harder to translate the successes of adversarial models in the image domain to other domains, and to the audio domain in particular. I think this is because in a GAN, the discriminator fulfills the role of a domain-specific loss function , and important prior knowledge that guides learning is encoded in its architecture. We have known about good architectural priors for images for a long time (stacks of convolutions), as evidenced by work on e.g. style transfer and the deep image prior . For other modalities, we dont know as much yet. It seems we are now starting to figure out what kind of architectures work for waveforms (see MelGAN and GAN-TTS, some relevant work has also been done in the discriminative setting ).

Adversarial losses are mode-seeking , which makes them more suitable for settings where realism is more important than diversity (for example, because the conditioning signal contains most of the required diversity, as in TTS). In music generation, which is primarily a creative application, diversity is very important . Improving diversity of GAN samples is the subject of intense study right now, but I think it could be a while before they catch up with likelihood-based models in this sense.

The current disparity could also simply be a consequence of the fact that likelihood-based models got a head start in waveform modelling, with WaveNet and SampleRNN appearing on the scene in 2016 and WaveGAN in 2018.

Another domain where likelihood-based models dominate is language modelling. I believe the underlying reasons for this might be a bit different though: language is inherently discrete, and extending GANs to modelling discrete data at scale is very much a work in progress. This is also more likely to be the reason why likelihood-based models are dominant for symbolic music generation as well: most symbolic representations of music are discrete.

Alternatives to modelling waveforms directly

Instead of modelling music in the waveform domain, there are many possible alternative approaches. We could model other representations of audio signals, such as spectrograms, as long as we have a way to obtain waveforms from such representations. We have quite a few options for this:

We could use invertible spectrograms (i.e. phase information is not discarded), but in this case modelling the phase poses a considerable challenge. There are ways to make this easier, such as the instantaneous frequency representation used by GANSynth.

We could also use magnitude spectrograms (as is typically done in discriminative models of audio), and then use a phase reconstruction algorithm such as the Griffin-Lim algorithm to infer a plausible phase component, based only on the generated magnitude. This approach was used for the original Tacotron model for TTS , and for MelNet , which models music audio autoregressively in the spectrogram domain.

Instead of a traditional phase reconstruction algorithm, we could also use a vocoder to go from spectrograms to waveforms. A vocoder, in this context, is simply a generative model in the waveform domain, conditioned on spectrograms. Vocoding is a densely conditioned generation task, and many of the models discussed before can and have been used as vocoders (e.g. WaveNet in Tacotron 2 , flow-based models of waveforms, or MelGAN). This approach has some advantages: generated magnitude spectrograms are often imperfect, and vocoder models can learn to account for these imperfections. Vocoders can also work with inherently lossy spectrogram representations such as mel-spectrograms and constant-Q spectrograms .

If we are generating audio conditioned on an existing audio signal, we could also simply reuse the phase of the input signal, rather than reconstructing or generating it. This is commonly done in source separation, and the approach could also be used for music style transfer.

That said, modelling spectrograms isnt always easier than modelling waveforms. Although spectrograms have a much lower temporal resolution, they contain much more information per timestep. In autoregressive models of spectrograms, one would have to condition along both the time and frequency axes to capture all dependencies, which means we end up with roughly as many sequential sampling steps as in the raw waveform case. This is the approach taken by MelNet.

An alternative is to make an assumption of independence between different frequency bands at each timestep, given previous timesteps. This enables autoregressive models to produce entire spectrogram frames at a time. This partial independence assumption turns out to be an acceptable compromise in the text-to-speech domain, and is used in Tacotron and Tacotron 2. Vocoder models are particularly useful here as they can attempt to fix the imperfections resulting from this simplification of the model. Im not sure if anybody has tried, but I would suspect that this independence assumption would cause more problems for music generation.

An interesting new approach combining traditional signal processing ideas with neural networks is Differentiable Digital Signal Processing (DDSP). By creating learnable versions of existing DSP components and incorporating them directly into neural networks, these models are endowed with much stronger inductive biases about sound and music, and can learn to produce realistic audio with fewer trainable parameters, while also being more interpretable. I suspect that this research direction may gain a lot of traction in the near future, not in the least because the authors have made their code publicly available, and also because of its modularity and lower computational requirements.

Diagram of an example DDSP model. The yellow boxes represent differentiable signal processing components. Taken from the original blog post.

Finally, we could train symbolic models of music instead: for many instruments, we already have realistic synthesisers, and we can even train them given enough data (see Wave2Midi2Wave). If we are able to craft symbolic representations that capture the aspects of music we care about, then this is an attractive approach as it is much less computationally intensive. Magentas Music Transformer and OpenAIs MuseNet are two models that have recently shown impressive results in this domain, and it is likely that other ideas from the language modelling community could bring further improvements.

DDSP: paper - code - samples - blog post - colab

Music Transformer: paper - blog post

MuseNet: blog post

Whats next?

Generative models of music in the waveform domain have seen substantial progress over the past few years, but the best results so far are still relatively easy to distinguish from real recordings, even at fairly short time scales. There is still a lot of room for improvement, but I believe a lot of this will be driven by better availability of computational resources, and not necessarily by radical innovation on the modelling front  we have great tools already, they are simply a bit expensive to use due to substantial computational requirements. As time goes on and computers get faster, hopefully this task will garner interest as it becomes accessible to more researchers.

One interesting question is whether adversarial models are going to catch up with likelihood-based models in this domain. I think it is quite likely that GANs, having recently made in-roads in the densely conditioned setting, will gradually be made to work for more sparsely conditioned audio generation tasks as well. Fully unconditional generation with long-term coherence seems very challenging however, and I suspect that the mode-seeking behaviour of the adversarial loss will make this much harder to achieve. A hybrid model, where a GAN captures local signal structure and another model with a different objective function captures high-level structure and long-term correlations, seems like a sensible thing to build.

Hierarchy is a very important prior for music (and, come to think of it, for pretty much anything else we like to model), so models that explicitly incorporate this are going to have a leg up on models that dont  at the cost of some additional complexity. Whether this additional complexity will always be worth it remains to be seen, but at the moment, this definitely seems to be the case.

At any rate, splitting up the problem into multiple stages that can be solved separately has been fruitful, and I think it will continue to be. So far, hierarchical models (with learnt or handcrafted intermediate representations) and spectrogram-based models with vocoders have worked well, but perhaps there are other ways to divide and conquer. A nice example of a different kind of split in the image domain is the one used in Subscale Pixel Networks, where separate networks model the most and least significant bits of the image data.

Conclusion

If you made it to the end of this post, congratulations! I hope Ive convinced you that music modelling in the waveform domain is an interesting research problem. It is also very far from a solved problem, so there are lots of opportunities for interesting new work. I have probably missed a lot of relevant references, especially when it comes to more recent work. If you know about relevant work that isnt discussed here, feel free to share it in the comments! Questions about this blog post and this line of research are very welcome as well.

References
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As the agricultural sector becomes more specialized and commercialized, our world has seen a surge in demand for well-trained agriculture business degree graduates.

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As a candidate for our Ed.D. degree, you must successfully complete and defend a dissertation in the field of educational administration that exhibits evidence of scholarship in accordance with our policies and procedures. Your dissertation must meet all requirements established by South Carolina State.

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SC States four-year teaching of English program includes 39 hours of coursework focused on English education. As an English Education major, youll prepare to pursue a career path as a K12 English teacher, higher education English instructor, or English language teacher in tutorial or other career roles outside the classroom.

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Our English for teaching program is designed to provide you with the skills, insights, and knowledge to pass the state teaching certification required to become an English teacher. Youll also be well-prepared to embark on your career path in the teaching of English in K12 schools, higher education institutions, and other related career paths. Highlights of our English Education major program include:

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As a student in our English Education major, youll benefit from access to numerous student resources to help you achieve success during your education and once you graduate. South Carolina States student success and retention programs and related services include:

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The Civil Engineering (CE) program prepares graduates to apply knowledge of mathematics and physics for analysis, design, and management of the civil infrastructural systems and assume careers as professional engineers. Along with a traditional civil engineering degree, SC State offers a concentration in fire protection engineering.

Why Fire Protection Engineering?

The fire protection program will prepare one to use the knowledge of fire prevention and suppression to design and recommend equipment to assist multiple organizations in safeguarding life and property against fire and related hazards.

The addition of the concentration was prompted by needs expressed by officials at Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) for engineers with expertise in fire protection.

The concentrations objective is twofold:

To produce graduates in fire protection engineering who are qualified to meet the staffing needs of SRNS, leaders of which pledged to work with the university to develop the program.

To produce graduates to fill the ever-growing need in South Carolina and across the nation.



The Society for Fire Protection Engineers defines FPE as the application of the principles of engineering and science to protect people and their environment from destructive fire. Fire Protection Engineering includes analysis of the hazards, mitigation of fire damage by proper design, construction, and arrangement of buildings, materials, structures, industrial processes, and transportation systems. It also includes design, installation, maintenance of fire detection and suppression, communication systems, post-fire investigation and analysis."

Civil Engineering Program Educational Objectives:

Graduates are acknowledged in their profession as capable designers, developers, implementers, and professionals who are able to improve integrated systems that include people, materials, information, equipment, and energy using appropriate analytical, computational, and experimental practices.

Graduates continue to apply information technologies in post-graduate work and their professions to the practice of civil engineering.

Graduates are able to conduct themselves in a professional and ethical manner and provide meaningful contributions to graduate work and industry.

Work and communicate effectively with colleagues at every level in the organization.

Civil Engineering Student Outcomes

A graduate with a Civil Engineering degree from SC State has the ability to:
Explore the World of History at South Carolina State Universitys History/African American Studies Program

The History/African American Studies program offers an interdisciplinary approach to the history of, culture, and contemporary situations of African Americans. It draws its unique insight of other social sciences (psychology, sociology, political science, economics, and criminal justice).

South Carolina State Universitys bachelors degree in History/African American Studies can offer you a career in teaching, business, politics and international relations.

The History program has excellent faculty highly recognized for their great scholarship. It offers small class sizes with a length program of four years.

Why You Should Major in History/African American Studies at South Carolina State University

South Carolina State University is an HBCU that has operated since 1896, which makes it the perfect location to study African American history, especially given the universitys place in civil rights history.

The Orangeburg Massacre is an important chapter in the universitys history. It occurred on SC States campus in 1968, in which three young men were killed and 28 protestors were wounded. During this tragic event, police opened fire on some 200 unarmed Black students who were demonstrating in the name of integrating a local bowling alley. Each year on Feb. 8, the university honors the ones who were killed, their families and Orangeburg Massacre survivors.

Notable SC State alumni include Benjamin E. Mays, the civil rights pioneer who was the spiritual guide to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., as well as civil rights icon Gloria Blackwell, groundbreaking chemist Alma Levant Hayden. U.S. Congressman James E. Clyburn, educator and activist Celia Dial Saxon, South Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Donald W. Beatty, former Miss USA Kara McCullough Temple and many others.

SC State is determined to keep its history alive while enriching the minds of students with advanced, unique courses in history and African American studies.

What Will You Study as a History/African American Studies Major?

South Carolina States bachelors degree in history/African American studies is a 122-hour program that is typically completed in four years. Marketing degree courses include:

Hip Hop Culture

The African Diaspora

History of South Carolina

African Womens History

African American Experience

African American History

Latin American History

Student Organizations Connected to the Program

Our department partners with student life organizations on campus. Those organizations include Phi Alpha Theta International Honor Society in History, Asa Gordon Historical Society, and Pi Gamma Mu Social Sciences Honor Society.

What Can You do with a History/African American Studies Degree?

Earning your bachelors in history/African American studies from South Carolina State will prepare you for various career paths related to history and advanced degrees in other fields. Youll be primed for such positions as:

History professor

Historian

Politician

Archivist

Librarian

Archeologist

Anthropologist

Paying for school

Our department provides scholarships specific to the History/African American Studies program. Those scholarships include:
Translate Your Interest in History into a Career with a Bachelor of Arts from SC State

As an institution with more than 125 years of history, South Carolina State University is the perfect place to study the history of America, South Carolina and the world, especially the Civil Rights Era and the ongoing effort to secure those rights.

SC States History Program provides a solid liberal arts background. In addition to acquainting students with fundamental development in the human past. the program offers students the opportunity to develop skills in analysis, synthesis, research and critical thinking.

Living History

South Carolina State University is an HBCU that has operated since 1896 and has transformed over generations from a small teachers college to a four-year university with a variety of programs in the sciences, business and the humanities.

Our campus was the site a pivotal moment in American history. The Orangeburg Massacre occurred on SC States campus in 1968, in which three young men were killed and 28 protestors were wounded.

What Can I Do with a History Degree?

Graduates typically work in teaching, business, government, law and international relations. Many go on to law school and other graduate degree programs.

The program provides you the preparation to enter graduate studies or pursue professional degrees and careers in history, political science, sociology or politics and journalism.

Our graduates include civil rights pioneers, military generals and admirals, groundbreaking scientists, attorneys and judges  all of whom have made history in their own right starting on this very campus.

The SC State History Program has excellent faculty highly recognized for their scholarly pursuits. It offers small class sizes with a program length of four years.

Along with a general Bachelor of Arts in History, SC State offers history students to delve into two specializations: African American Studies and International Studies.

What will you study?

Examples of courses in the history program include:

The African Diaspora.

History of South Carolina.

European History.

The African American Experience.

US Constitutional History.

History Concentrations African-American Studies The History/African American Studies program offers an interdisciplinary approach to the history of, culture, and contemporary situations of African Americans. It draws its unique insight of other social sciences (psychology, sociology, political science, economics, and criminal justice).



South Carolina State Universitys bachelors degree in History/African American Studies can offer you a career in teaching, business, politics and international relations.

Learn more The History/African American Studies program offers an interdisciplinary approach to the history of, culture, and contemporary situations of African Americans. It draws its unique insight of other social sciences (psychology, sociology, political science, economics, and criminal justice).South Carolina State Universitys bachelors degree in History/African American Studies can offer you a career in teaching, business, politics and international relations. International Studies Have an interest in global dynamics? Want to know more about how the worlds cultures have developed? SC States Bachelor of Arts degree in History with a concentration in International Studies can meet your needs.

The History/International Studies Program offers you a view of the increasing internationalization of the worlds economic, political, social and cultural affairs.

Learn more

Student Organizations

Our department partners with student life organizations on campus. Those organizations include Phi Alpha Theta International Honor Society in History, Asa Gordon Historical Society, and Pi Gamma Mu Social Sciences Honor Society.

Scholarship opportunities

Thurgood Marshall College Fund

SC State University Foundation Scholarships

SC State Title II scholarship.

Enid Hall Griswold Memorial Scholarship

Platt Family Essay Contest.

Colonial Ghosts Scholarship.

Boren Scholarships.

Michael T and Mary L. Cloyd Scholarship.

Contact Us

Have questions about our History programs? Contact our team today, and we will guide you through our offerings.

Dr. Dior Konate

Program Coordinatror

dkonate@scsu.edu

(803) 536-7946

Nance Hall




Improve Efficiency in Everyday Work With an Industrial Engineering Major

Industrial engineers are the backbone of many businesses and industries  from manufacturing and transportation to health care and government. These highly sought-after professionals are adept at increasing productivity, creating more efficient products and workplaces, and simply put  making everything better.

Gain the knowledge and skills to help tackle the most pressing needs of your employer  and help lead them to optimal performance  through South Carolina State Universitys bachelors in industrial engineering degree. At SC State, our industrial engineering major takes a deep dive into the contemporary tools and techniques used in solving engineering problems.

Youll have the broad-based, interdisciplinary knowledge to work with individuals in areas ranging from the production line to upper management and pursue industrial engineering careers here in South Carolina and beyond.

Gain the essential skills of an industrial engineer at an accredited institution

SC States industrial engineering degree is accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology and is the only such program of its kind at a historically black college or university (HBCU) in South Carolina.

Method of Instruction

Face-to-face

Industrial Engineering Degree Program Highlights

Be equipped with the tools and techniques to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems. At SC State, we help aspiring professionals gain the skills of an industrial engineer who can develop informed solutions  all the while considering the impact on economic, environmental, global, and societal contexts.

When you pursue an industrial engineering major here at SC State, you can also expect to:

Take your learning beyond the classroom

During your senior year, every industrial engineering major uses their knowledge and skills on a real-world project. These are great opportunities to put your learning to work and produce solutions to problems that business and industry are facing.

Learn  and study  in state-of-the-art facilities

Our 86,500-square-foot Engineering and Computer Science Complex is filled with high-tech classrooms, research centers, laboratories, and more. Youll have the necessary space to thrive and compete  on a global level  in industrial engineering careers that span business and industry.

Grow in a supportive campus community

Youll pursue the skills of an industrial engineer alongside accessible faculty members and academic advisers who are always available. Our team will help you during your coursework, answer your questions, and help you discover industrial engineering careers that fit your interest.
Welcome to the Counselor Education Program

The Professional Educator as an effective performer, reflective decision maker and humanistic practitioner.

The Counselor Education Program in Department of Human Services offers a graduate program leading to the Master of Education (M.Ed.) degree in Counselor Education (with options in elementary and secondary school counseling). The fundamental purpose of the program is to produce individuals who are well-qualified personally and professionally to perform effectively as professional school counselors in educational settings in a multicultural society. Faculty members of the Department are, therefore, individually and collectively committed to helping students obtain the skills and competencies and the knowledge base required to achieve this purpose.

Help Others Thrive: Build a Rewarding Career in Counselor Education

Each year, nearly 120,000 guidance and school counselors help U.S. students in their academic, emotional, and psychosocial growth and potential.

At South Carolina State University, our Master of Education in counselor education degree gives you the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary for effective practice as a professional school counselor here in South Carolina and beyond.

Our guidance counseling degree is known for small classes, experts who instill in you the knowledge to succeed, and ample hands-on experiences through internships and practicums. Youll be equipped with the counselor education requirements to pass licensure exams and better support elementary and secondary students who are facing challenges in school and life.

Gain a counselor for education degree at a top program in the Palmetto State.

At SC State, graduates of our CACREP-accredited guidance counseling degree program are eligible for initial South Carolina State certification as professional school counselors.

Method of Instruction

The counselor education program courses are offered in a face-to-face format.

Classes meet one time per week, and students benefit with weekly live interaction with their instructor and peers.

The courses are delivered in the evening for working students, usually from 6-9 p.m. with some courses meeting from at 5:30-8 p.m.

Some classes are weekend courses offered 9 a.m.-12 p.m. and 1-4 p.m.

Counselor Education Program Highlights

At SC State, our 60 to 63 credit-hour Master of Education in counselor education program provides you with the knowledge and support to become an effective school counselor in elementary or secondary schools. Our graduate degree will help you achieve counselor education requirements and licensure through:

Faculty who are experts in the field

SC State faculty members in counselor for education courses are licensed in the state and bring ample expertise to your studies. Youll work closely with these experts as you unearth new knowledge and master critical skills, and theyll be there to help you pursue internships, practicums, and rewarding professional careers.

Internships that provide hands-on learning opportunities

SC State guidance counseling degree students take part in 600 hours of internships and 100 practicum hours with schools throughout the Palmetto State. Youll have the relevant skills and experience to succeed in elementary and secondary schools, and many of our graduate students are hired by their internship or practicum sites.

Unique learning opportunities beyond your coursework

Get to know your classmates beyond the classroom through professional organizations such as the Palmetto State School Counselor Association, the American School Counselor Association, and Rho Lambda Mu, our counselor education honor society. These are great opportunities for you to network and connect with classmates, other aspiring school counselors, and experts in the field.
Explore how the universe works with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Physics

Regardless of whether youre interested in majoring in physics or just taking a few introductory courses to satisfy your curiosity, SC State offers a wide selection of courses and activities to fit your needs.

Physics is one of the most fundamental of the scientific disciplines, encompassing the studies of matter, energy and the properties that govern them. Physicists seek to understand how the universe works at every level from the sub-atomic scales (particle physics) to the entire universe (cosmology).

Physicists can be experimentalists, theorists or both. They are explorers with a strong desire to understand why the universe behaves the way it does. Physics is central to all the natural sciences, applied sciences and technology, and thus plays a crucial role in finding solutions to the many problems and interests of society.

What you will learn

The Physics Program at SC State is a student-centered program with faculty and students interacting from the moment a student arrives on campus. In addition to coursework that builds technical and analytical skills, the program supports a strong, hands-on, research-oriented environment for both its faculty and students. It is expected that all physics majors will be involved with some sort of research activity over their four-year progress in the discipline of physics. This can take the form of coursework projects as well as summer internships both on campus and at national laboratories or other universities.

The ability to put into practice what is learned in the classroom is essential to a students growth as a scientist, teacher or for any career. In the research laboratory, you will learn to ask questions, design and perform experiments to answer those questions, analyze data using computational methods, and draw appropriate conclusions. Students taking physics as majors or as courses supporting other majors will be exposed to the interface of physics with other fields such as biology, chemistry, computer science and engineering, thus developing an understanding of how the methods of physics are central to addressing key problems in other disciplines.

Physics majors at SC State acquire the background to pursue graduate studies or a number of career options including medical physics, astrophysics, electrical engineering, computer systems engineering, materials science, and technical business management. Courses in nuclear engineering combined with a physics degree can lead to careers in fields such as environmental science, reactor engineering, and nuclear medicine.

Degree Options

B.S. in Physics  this standard degree option leads to a graduate school or employment in a wide range of technical fields in industry, government, education, academia, and the private sector.

 this standard degree option leads to a graduate school or employment in a wide range of technical fields in industry, government, education, academia, and the private sector. B.S. in Physics with Medical Physics Option  this option leads to medical school, graduate school, or employment at hospitals, government laboratories and other medical facilities.

 this option leads to medical school, graduate school, or employment at hospitals, government laboratories and other medical facilities. B.S. in Physics with Health Physics Option  this option leads to graduate school or employment at nuclear laboratories, power plants, hospitals, and similar facilities.

 this option leads to graduate school or employment at nuclear laboratories, power plants, hospitals, and similar facilities. B.S. in Physics with Astronomy Option  this option leads to graduate school in astronomy or employment in science education such as a K-12 teaching position or a job at a planetarium or science museum.

 this option leads to graduate school in astronomy or employment in science education such as a K-12 teaching position or a job at a planetarium or science museum. B.S. and M.S. in Physics in Collaboration with Clemson University  this option is the first-of-its-kind program between the 2 schools that leads to a B.S. from SC state and the M.S. from Clemson in only a 5-year period of time.



Beginning Courses

Beginning physics courses are taken in either the first or second year, depending upon the students preparation in calculus. The language of physics is mathematics and to pursue any of the exciting physics careers like those above, it is important for students to take the full sequence of calculus.

Exploring Careers

After the first physics course, a major should seek out faculty members for assignment to a research project. In recent years, projects have included studies of pulsating stars, alternative energy sources, atmospheric ozone content, cosmology, variable star work with NASAs Kepler Observatory and technology enhancement in the teaching of physics.

Objectives

The program and course offerings in the area of Physics undergird the goals of the College of Science, Mathematics and Engineering Technology. The objectives of these programs and course offerings are to provide appropriate learning experiences that enable students:

To understand the fundamental importance of science in daily life through basic, general course offerings.

To develop an appreciation for the natural sciences and scientific endeavors.

To develop scientific attitudes and skills in evaluation and problem solving as a basis for pursuing knowledge.

To pursue research opportunities in the natural sciences.

To obtain basic, quality training necessary for entering medical and allied health careers.

To obtain training necessary to become professional scientists, science teachers, or to pursue advanced graduate work.



Requirements

All students are required to earn a grade of at least C in each of their major courses.



Student Internships

SC State physics faculty members manage numerous grants. Physics majors and faculty members participate in nuclear, computational, laboratory and space-based projects. Scholarships and internships are available to SC State physics majors. SC State physics majors are also encouraged to seek summer internships outside of SC State. Examples of recent summer internships held by physics majors at SC State:

Microsoft Corporation

Kitt Peak National Observatory

Medical University of South Carolina

National Radio Astronomy Observatory

National Solar Observatory

Space Telescope Science Institute



After you graduate from SC State

The Job Market

Graduates from the SC State physics program have been very successful in pursuing their career goals nationally as well as within the state. Recent placements include:

Siemens Inc.

Holcim of Alabama

Springs Mills of South Carolina

The Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland

Honeywell, Inc. in Virginia United States Air Force, Army and Navy

Savannah River National Lab

Space Telescope Science Institute

Roper Mountain Science Center

ITT Technical Institute in South Carolina



Graduate School Opportunities

SC State physics graduates also have advanced their learning at such graduate schools as:

Wake Forest

Clemson University

University of Illinois  Urbana

University of North Carolina

University of South Carolina

University of Florida

Texas A&M University

University of Wisconsin University of Washington

Hampton University

University of Pittsburgh

East Carolina University

Fisk University

Idaho State University

University of Cincinnati

Appalachian State University



Faculty and Staff
The Rehabilitation Counseling program at South Carolina State University is committed to improving the lives of people with disabilities by producing qualified professional rehabilitation counselors (i.e., Certified Rehabilitation Counselors (CRC),

National Certified Counselors (NCC), and /or Licensed Professional Counselors(LPC)) trained in the current best practices of rehabilitation services to work in public, private, state and federal agencies serving a diverse state and nation.

The Rehabilitation Counseling Program is designed to be flexible so that it may meet the needs of individual students. All courses are offered in a face-to-face format with the option of four approved online courses.

What are my options in the program?

SC State offers four tracts for students in the Rehabilitation Counseling graduate program:

Licensed Professional Counselor

Multicultural and Diversity Counseling

Addictions Counseling

Community Mental Health Agency Counseling

Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP)

How can I use my degree?

Upon completion of the program, you are eligible to sit for the Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), and National Certified Counselor (NCC).

Career opportunities include:

State rehabilitation agencies

Federal Vocational Rehabilitation agencies

Mental health centers

Schools

Insurance companies

Hospitals

Substance abuse agencies

Independent-living centers

Correctional facilities

Private practice

How can I get professional experience?

The Rehabilitation Program includes a 100-hour practicum and a 600-hour internship, typically at the same site.

Specialized activities include providing evaluation, personal and vocational counseling, referral and support for independent living and advocacy.
China urges Philippines to immediately stop infringing on its sovereignty and rights: FM

Xinhua) 10:05, March 26, 2024

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.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
BEIJING, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The Pacific island nation Nauru on Monday signed up for the Belt and Road Initiative in the presence of its president, David Adeang, who is on a state visit to China on March 24-29, and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

It is Adeang's first China trip since the two countries restored diplomatic ties earlier this year.

During talks with the Nauruan leader, Xi pledged that the Chinese side is ready to work with the island nation to expand cooperation in economy and trade, climate change, as well as in infrastructure, among other sectors.

As the two presidents are charting the course for further growth of bilateral ties, a Chinese-aided solar power project being built with the participation of nearly 100 Nauruan workers has already begun to make a difference to local communities, a living testament to the fast-growing win-win cooperation between the two countries.

FROM BLUEPRINT TO REALITY

Nauru, with its beautiful tropical scenery and brilliant sunshine, is endearingly dubbed as a "pearl of the Pacific." In the southwestern part of the island nation, rows of blue photovoltaic panels are neatly arranged close to the azure sea, reflecting the dazzling tropical sunlight.

Once connected to the grid, the photovoltaic power generation and energy storage project being constructed by a Chinese company can meet the electricity demand of the entire island.

The project will reduce Nauru's dependence on diesel, bringing down the costs in electricity generation, improving local power supply and increase the share of renewable energy generation. Most importantly, it will significantly add to Nauru's environmental protection efforts, thereby achieving its sustainable development goals.

"Now Nauru's power generation mainly relies on diesel. That's expensive and would pollute the environment," said John Scott, who has been working for the project since 2022.

"There is a lot of sunshine here and it's good for solar power. I believe electricity supply here will be much better when the project is completed," Scott told Xinhua.

On top of building the power project, China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd is also undertaking the redevelopment of Nauru's largest harbor, Aiwo Harbor.

Starting in 2019, the project to be completed in 2025 includes harbor dredging and the construction of a new wharf, a desalination system and a container yard, among other facilities. And in September 2022, the new wharf was put into operation.

The modern seaport has also brought cutting-edge technologies and job opportunities to the island country, facilitating local economic growth by expanding its connectivity with the rest of the world.

Zhu Wei, the contractor's deputy manager and construction manager of the project, has witnessed the development of Aiwo Harbor over the past five years.

"In the past, the old wharf was too small for container ships to dock directly, and they only came once every two months. Now the containers can dock directly at the new wharf, and they come every month or even every 20 days," Zhu told Xinhua.

As the facilities are gradually taking shape, Zhu is proud of his efforts over the past years. "I'm looking forward to seeing the projects I have personally participated in contribute more to the economic development of Nauru."

The rationale behind Nauru's decision to resume diplomatic ties with China "of course is about Nauru's development strategy," Lionel Aingimea, Nauru's foreign minister, said when visiting China in January.

"No developing country wants to be left behind," he said.

"GRASS OF HAPPINESS"

Being a Pacific island nation, Nauru is struggling to cope with such pressing challenges as rising sea levels and land erosion brought about by climate change. Worse still, the meager resources of fresh water for daily life is a persistent concern for local residents.

Due to its unfavorable natural conditions for cultivation, Nauru heavily relies on imports of agricultural products, vegetables and fruits, resulting in high prices in the market, said Joanna Olsson, director of the Government Information Office of Nauru.

Juncao, a hybrid grass developed by Chinese scientists as a major multi-functional agricultural resource, offers a feasible resolution to these woes. Translated literally as mushroom grass, Juncao can be used for mushroom farming, or as livestock forage and poultry feed, and a green barrier to forestall desertification.

When working in east China's Fujian Province more than two decades ago, Xi Jinping introduced the Juncao technology to a visiting provincial governor from Papua New Guinea, another island nation in the Pacific, marking the beginning of international cooperation on Juncao technology.

Having taken root in over 100 countries and regions around the globe, Juncao has been hailed by the locals as the "Chinese grass" or "grass of happiness."

Last month, Hess-Tekai Foilape, an agricultural extension officer for Nauru's Department of Environment, Management and Agriculture, became the first person from Nauru to attend a Juncao technology training course held by Chinese scientists in Fiji.

"I believe that adopting Juncao technology in Nauru would be highly beneficial for our country. Potential impacts include improved food security, increased resilience to climate change, and enhanced economic opportunities through the development of new industries," Foilape told Xinhua.

GROWING TOGETHER

Both developing countries, China and Nauru face the common tasks of growing the economy, improving people's wellbeing and realizing modernization.

China has won the hearts of the people of Nauru with its own deeds, Foreign Minister Aingimea said.

Recalling his visit to a waste-to-energy plant and an electric vehicle factory in China, he said what impressed him most was "how advanced it is."

"The technology blew my mind, absolutely amazing," he said, depicting China's path towards modernization as "fast and visionary."

The Belt and Road Initiative brings development opportunities to Pacific island nations, said Olsson, who is optimistic about future cooperation between the two nations, particularly on climate change, water supply and agriculture.

In his meeting with Adeang, Xi said China is ready to provide assistance to Nauru for its independent and sustainable development without political strings attached.

Friendship, old or new, will have a bright future as long as it is started. Cooperation, whatever its size, will be productive as long as it is sincere, Xi said. 
Be an Advocate and Change Lives With Your Social Work Degree

Everyone deserves the opportunity to lead a happy and fulfilling life. However, difficult circumstances sometimes prevent families and communities from thriving. At-risk populations need a voice to advocate for them and push for equal opportunities for success.

With your social work degree from South Carolina State University, you can be the advocate who will make a tangible difference in someones life. You will lead the charge. Youll learn and practice skills to effect change at the local, state, and national levels.

South Carolina State University graduates enhance the well-being of communities and empower vulnerable populations, including those who are oppressed or live in poverty. Work directly with individuals to help them solve problems and cope with the hazards of daily life and advocate for social and economic justice for all members of a community.

Get firsthand experience in your community

At SC State, every Social Work major will complete a one-year internship and no less than 30 community service hours to satisfy the social worker degree requirements and prepare for a career in social work. The internship gives students relevant experience in supporting and serving their communities and often leads directly to employment after graduation.

Method of Instruction

Face-to-face

Social Work Degree Program Highlights

South Carolina States social work degree program will prepare you for a career in social work and provide you with many opportunities to learn and practice skills to effect change within your communities and the world.

Experiential learning

To satisfy the social work degree requirements, you will complete a two-semester supervised field experience in a social service agency. The primary intervention focus of the field experience is with individuals and small groups. In your second semester, you will engage in macro-level intervention (community, organization, and society).

Scholarship and financial aid opportunities

Students in their junior year of the program are eligible for the BSW Tuition Assistance Program, which provides financial tuition assistance to selected undergraduate-level Social Work majors who are committed to working with the children and families served by the South Carolina Department of Social Services for at least two years after graduation.

Networking and career-building opportunities for Social Service majors

South Carolina State University offers student life and networking opportunities specifically for Social Work majors. Interested students can join the Phi Alpha Honor Society or the Social Work Club to network with other students who share an interest in a career in social work.

Expert advising and faculty support

Learn one-on-one from experts with a career in social work who have participated in research and written publications. The faculty at South Carolina State University will support you through academic and career advising to ensure you satisfy the social worker degree requirements and are on track to graduate with a degree that aligns with your career choice.
Gain Marketable Skills and Better Understand Humankind with a Bachelors in Sociology

Do you have a curiosity for how individuals interact? Are you interested in creating change within social structures? Do you want to help communities and organizations operate more effectively?

Gain the tools and techniques that you need for success in a variety of careers with a bachelors in sociology degree from South Carolina State University. Here at SC State, youll take a deep dive into the study of sociology and learn how demographic variables such as age, ethnicity, occupation, race, and social class impact how people think and behave. Youll also learn how cultures and lifestylesboth here in the U.S. and around the worldimpact society and human relationships.

Youll be ready to apply knowledge and skills to real-life issues in nearly any industry or sector.

Find success at a leading HBCU institution

SC State is the only public land-grant historically black college and university (HBCU) in South Carolina and is frequently rated as one of the most affordable four-year schools in the Palmetto State. Know that when you choose one of our sociology programs at SC State, youll be doing so at an affordable and accessible institution.

Method of Instruction

Face-to-face

Sociology Studies Program Highlights

Todays world needs critical thinkers like you who can address some of the most complex challenges of our time. At SC State, our program helps you build a better world through the study of sociology.

So, why take on sociology studies at SC State? Youll find what sets us apart is our ability to offer:

Close-knit classroom experiences

As youre pursuing sociology studies, you want to be more than just a number. At SC State, youll be able to build meaningful and rewarding relationships with both your faculty and fellow classmates. In fact, our bachelors in sociology courses have a 14:1 student-to-faculty ratiowith 20 students or fewer in 60% of classes.

Learning opportunities beyond your coursework

Whether its our Psychology and Sociology Club or the Student Union Board, SC State students have more than 50 clubs and organizations to get involved in beyond the study of sociology. These groups are a great opportunity for you to get to know your classmates and make lifelong connections as you consider the question, What can you do with a sociology degree?

Faculty with varying expertise and backgrounds

Within our sociology programs, youll learnand thrivealongside faculty members who are experts in the field. Our faculty bring experiences that span the study of sociologyranging from medical sociology to human sexuality, neurological study to social problems. Our educators are also leading in the field. For instance, Assistant Professor Alison McLetchie is president of the Society of Ethnomusicologys Southeast and Caribbean chapter, which promotes the research, study, and performance of music in all historical periods and cultural contexts.
Make Your Mark on the Creative Economy: Build a Career as a Practicing Artist With a Studio Art Degree

Prepare to creatively contribute to the cultural and social discussions that shape our society.

At South Carolina State University, youll discover an inspiring environment for expressing your talents and advancing and honing your craft. With our Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art degree, youll develop techniques in a field chosen by you  ceramics and sculpture, digital media, painting and drawing, or printmaking and photography  while learning from expert professional artists.

Youll also be introduced to a greater understanding and appreciation for the history of art and how art relates to  and impacts  our world. When you graduate with an SC State studio art degree, youll have the cross-disciplinary skills that set you up for success in design and studio art careers here in the Palmetto State and beyond.

Pursue a fine and studio arts career at an accredited institution

South Carolina State University is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design and is one of only two HBCUs in the state with this designation. Were known for helping aspiring artists mold their career paths in:

Ceramics and sculpture

Digital media

Painting and drawing

Printmaking and photography

Method of Instruction

Face-to-face

Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art Program Highlights

Our studio art degree gives you every opportunity to express yourself, experiment with various modes and media, and develop and refine your creative passion. While gaining a broad-based liberal arts education, youll also build solid foundational skills and a thorough knowledge of art and its history.

Youll find what makes our design and studio art courses unique is our:

Top-notch, expansive facilities

SC States Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art courses are held in the state-of-the-art Fine Arts Building, which houses a digital media lab, a painting and drawing studio, a ceramics and sculpture studio, and a space used for professional and student exhibitions. Youll have access to a variety of fine and studio art tools and equipment, including digital cameras and video equipment, drawing and cutting tables, iMac workstations, kilns and electric pottery wheels, large-format printers, a wood shop, and much more.

Dedicated faculty who are also working artists

At SC State, youll discover a close-knit, collaborative community of bright, innovative peers and dedicated educators. Your design and studio art instructors draw from a wealth of experience in academia, creative activities, and teaching and are actively engaged as presenters at professional conferences, peer reviewers for scholarly journals, and more. You can expect these creative minds to help you grow as an artist and build a career that works for you.

Ample opportunities to grow beyond lectures

You wont be limited in the number of ways you can express your creativity beyond the classroom at SC State. Thats why our Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art students attend professional art conferences through the College Art Association, participate in workshops with professional artists, pursue internships with the on-campus I.P. Stanback Museum & Planetarium, and join student groups such as the Gallery 1896 art club or the Kappa Pi honor society. Youre also encouraged to take part in the annual spring student art exhibition, where you can have your work critiqued and judged by visiting professional artists.

Scholarships specifically for majors

SC State studio art degree students are eligible for the Visual Arts Merit Scholarship, helping make your education more affordable. Our students also earn additional awards through the annual spring student art show.
Since 1946, South Carolina State University's College of Graduate and Professional Studies has continuously served high-performing graduate students, helping them to achieve their professional and leadership goals. To continue our tradition of excellence, we offer 12 graduate degree programs including Agriculture & Public Service, Education, Human Services, Accounting, and moremany of which have been accredited by SACSCOC and other corresponding national professional accrediting associations.

Graduate Catalog

Are you passionate about innovation and entrepreneurship? Looking to advance your career in healthcare, education, counseling, or something else? Or maybe you're looking to switch career paths and start anew. Now is the time to invest in your future and earn a graduate degree or certificate to kickstart your academic and career goals. Discover how SC State can transform your career and help you to reach new heights.

Begin your journey by applying today!

Fill out the Graduate Application

Dare to Achieve Excellence in a Graduate Program at SC State

A graduate degree from SC State can do more than help you begin or advance your careerthe Bulldog experience can empower you to step out of your comfort zone, realize your potential, and flourish in your future endeavors. As a graduate student from SC State, you will learn at exceptional facilities and from highly qualified instructors with real-world experience. Our faculty invests in your success, helping you navigate the post-graduate world and make informed decisions that can lead you toward success in your chosen field.

Throughout your time at SC State, you will be exposed to a wide variety of experiential learning opportunities, including internships, practicums, and other hands-on classroom learning experiences. You will also have access to several graduate programs that are exclusive to our university. We offer unique programs like a Master of Science degree in transportation, a Master of Business Administration degree with a concentration in agribusiness, as well as the only Doctor of Education degree in the state of South Carolina with a concentration in educational administration. Additionally, we are ranked third in the nation in graduating minority students with a Doctor of Education degree.

Discover your perfect match as you explore our exceptional programs.

Explore Graduate Admissions Requirements and Deadlines

Want to know exactly what it takes to become a Bulldog? Learn more about the process and how SC State can help you kickstart your journey toward earning a graduate degree.

Admission Requirements

Application & Application Fee

Transcripts

Enrollment Objectives & Current Resume

Proof of Residency Questionnaire and Supporting Documents

English Proficiency Examination (EPE) Score

Standardized Test Score Report

Teaching Certificate

Recommendation Forms

Application Deadlines

Fall Semester: June 15th

Spring Semester: November 1st

Summer Term: April 1st

Schedule a Tour

Want to get a taste of life on the SC State campus before you apply? Schedule a campus tour today and see how you could fit in here.
Kenard Holmes and Victoria Jordan

Kenard Holmes and Victoria Jordan were selected for their achievements in academics, leadership and civic engagement.

ORANGEBURG, S.C.  South Carolina State University students Kenard Holmes and Victoria Jordan are among 102 students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) recently named 2023 White House HBCU Scholars.

Holmes, a rising junior from Blythewood, South Carolina, is a business management major at SC State. Jordan, a rising junior from Fort Mill, South Carolina, is a biology major with a minor in chemistry.

On behalf of the entire SC State family, I congratulate Mr. Holmes and Ms. Jordan on earning this important national distinction from the White House, SC State President Alexander Conyers said. Both students are fine examples of the intellectual promise, leadership and determination present in SC States student body.

We already have taken great pride in their numerous successes during their time on campus, and I look forward to seeing how they grow in the years to come, Conyers said.

The White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity announced its ninth cohort of HBCU Scholars, recognizing undergraduate, graduate, and professional students from 29 different states and countries for their accomplishments in academics, leadership, civic engagement and more.

Our 2023 HBCU Scholars are talented students who embody the culture of excellence and inclusion championed by our nation s Historically Black Colleges and Universities, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a news release. On behalf of the U.S. Department of Education and everyone across the Biden-Harris Administration, I congratulate each of our 2023 HBCU scholars on this prestigious recognition and thank them for their commitment to serving their communities.

Im thrilled to see the HBCU Scholars program continue to expand its reach and provide such exciting professional development, networking, and educational opportunities to some of our nations brightest and most promising young leaders, Cardona said.

Over the course of an academic school year, HBCU Scholars will serve as ambassadors of the White House Initiative on HBCUs, the U.S. Department of Education, and their respective HBCUs.

Holmes and Jordan are among five White House HBCU Scholars in South Carolina, with the others representing Voorhees University, Allen University and Denmark Technical College.

The two SC State students formed a friendship soon after they arrived on campus in 2021 as a result of their work together in several campus organizations, including the Dr. Emily England Clyburn Honors College and Golden Key International Honor Society. As freshmen, both resided in Battiste Hall.

As sophomores, they were inducted as Clyburn Scholars. Holmes and Jordanalso served as Mr. and Miss Golden Key International Honors Society, as they are both in the top 15% of their class.

Kenard Holmes

Kenard Holmes At SC State, Holmes has embedded himself in campus traditions and groups. In addition to the Honors College membership, he serves as a Student Orientation Leader (SOL) and a Career Center ambassador. He holds membership in the 101 Black Men peer mentoring organization, serving as president, and the Knowledge is Power Mentoring organization.

In the Fall 2022 Semester, the Beaufort native was part of the first-place team in the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) 2022 Stanley Black & Decker Innovation Challenge, which came with a $10,000 prize. As one of four students on the team, he received $2,500. He has interned with First Citizens Bank and Tyson Foods.

I am honored to be a White House HBCU Scholar and represent my university, family, friends, and organizations, he said. My journey may not be the most traditional, but I wear it with pride, knowing that every step has shaped me into the man I am today. I am excited about the opportunities that lie ahead and look forward to positively impacting the world.

Victoria Jordan

Jordan serves as the Miss Junior Elect 2023-2024 on SC States Royal Court. She is the newly appointed president of the Health Professions Society in the Department of Biological and Physical Sciences as well as the president of the Dedicated. Ladies. Living. Strong. (D.O.L.L.S) campus organization.

Victoria Jordan

Jordan has served the 1890 Research and Extension Program as a research intern, the Student Government Association, NAACP and the Campus Activities Board. She was named the SC State University Foundations 2023 Shining Star Scholar for the College of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Transportation last spring.



In the Department of Biological and Physical Sciences, Jordan is U54 SC CADRE Scholar. The U54 SC CADRE program is a partnership with the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and is funded through a National Institute of Health Research Grant.

In 2022 she was one of six presenters at MUSCs annual LOWVELO Trainee Presentation Symposium in October 2022. Jordan conducted pancreatic cancer research as an intern at MUSCs Hollings Cancer Center over the previous summer. Jordan specializes in studying pancreatic cancer and the tumor microenvironment. Her work will be published in a scientific publication later this fall, as she is a co-author through the Dr. Michael Ostrowski Lab at MUSC. Miss Jordan is the youngest African American female from MUSC and SC State to be published with a significant scientific discovery.

More about White House HBCU Scholars

According to the White House Initiative on HBCUs, students in the program are encouraged to lift their communities, unite others around student success, work to strengthen our democracy and grow our economy. HBCU Scholars will be offered professional and personal development, and cross-university networking opportunities with an opportunity to explore, discuss, and improve issues specifically related to the HBCU community.

The 2023 HBCU Scholars are the largest cohort since the programs inception in 2014 and represent a record number of institutions, with the HBCU participation rate now over 70 percent.

Enrolled at 70 HBCUs, this group of HBCU Scholars was selected from a competitive pool of over 300 applicants.

A critical component of the HBCU Scholar Program is a partnership with NASA to foster innovation and opportunity for the cohorts. This partnership with NASA makes the Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP) Innovation Tech Transfer Idea Competition (MITTIC), Mini MITTIC part of the HBCU Scholar Program. Through the Mini MITTIC program, HBCU Scholars will partner with one another to develop ideas to commercialize technology derived from NASA intellectual property that can improve their campus and surrounding communities.

HBCU Scholars will have the opportunity to present their IP ideas in-person at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland during the National HBCU Week Conference in September.

NASAs MUREP is thrilled, once again, to engage with the White House Initiative on HBCUs to enhance the learning experience for this years cohort of White House Scholars, said MUREP manager Torry Johnson. We are looking forward to the new ideas that the Scholars develop at the MITTIC Hack-a-thon using NASAs technology portfolio and our continued overall support of the HBCU community.

HBCU Scholars will also be invited to the 2023 HBCU Week National Annual Conference, which will be held on September 24-28, 2023, at the Hyatt Regency in Crystal City, Virginia.

This years conference themes are, Raising the Bar: Forging Excellence Through Innovation & Leadership. During the conference, HBCU Scholars will participate in conference sessions designed to engage a spirit of innovation, leadership, and personal and professional development. Most importantly, HBCU Scholars will have opportunities to engage with one another, initiative staff and partners all to further showcase their individual and collective talent.

Following the conference HBCU Scholars will be invited to participate in programs, events and monthly master classes designed to enhance HBCU Scholars professional development and create greater access to post-graduation opportunities within nonprofit, business, and federal agency partners to ensure that as a nation we remain globally competitive.
ORANGEBURG, S.C.  The Black Women Lead luncheon will be held at the South Carolina State University IP Stanback Museum on Thursday, March 28, at 11 a.m.

Dr. Ilyasah Shabazz, an award-winning author, educator and producer, will speak to SC State students about women empowerment. It will be a day of empowerment for women to network, learn and to get inspired. Shabazz is a daughter of slain civil rights icon Malcolm X and his late wife, Dr. Betty Shabazz.

The luncheon is a collaborative effort of the SC State Office of Student Life and Leadership and Dedicated Outstanding Ladies Living Strong (D.O.L.L.S.).

Shabazz holds a Master of Science degree in education and human resource development from Fordham University and a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from State University of New York at New Paltz (SUNY New Paltz). She is an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

She has authored five historical novels and served as project advisor for the PBS award-winning documentary, Prince Among Slaves. She is producing a television series based on her latest publication, The Awakening of Malcolm X, with Sony Pictures Televisions TriStar.

Shabazz is chairperson of the Malcolm X & Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center Board of Trustees. In her work to preserve the legacy of her parents, she has dedicated herself to institution-building and intergenerational leadership development with the tenants of diversity, equity, and inclusion. She has furthered her community impact with the SUNY New Paltz Office of Academic Affairs, where she created curriculum to encourage higher education for underserved, inner-city, and marginalized high school dropouts.

She has worked with the Office of the Mayor in Mount Vernon, as Director of Public Affairs & Special Events. She founded and produced a young adult development program to provide historical context on social justice  encouraging personal empowerment and community service as a way of life. As president and founder of Ilyasah Shabazz Enterprises, she produces a variety of forums dedicated to power, possibility and sovereignty.

Shabazz is a member of the Soar Higher Cabinet Committee for SUNY New Paltz College, the Advisory Council for the Equal Rights Amendment Coalition, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc, and she serves as a trustee for the Harlem Symphony Orchestra.

In recognition of her outstanding achievements in public service, education, and the arts, Worcester State University granted Shabazz with a degree of Doctor of Humane Letters. As the inaugural Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Fellow, Shabazz teaches the course, We the People. Grounded in the commitments of her parents, Shabazz emphasizes empowerment and inclusion in her teaching and scholarship.
The Center for Online and Distance Education (CODE) is an administrative unit within the Division of Academic Affairs. CODE provides administrative leadership for online and distance education, faculty development and continuing education. SC State Universitys Blackboard Learning Management System is also administered under the direction of CODE.

Earn Your Degree at SC State Online

South Carolina State University is South Carolina's only historically black college and university (HBCU), empowering leaders and highly-skilled graduates since 1896. With an emphasis on excellence, our high-quality programs offer convenient and flexible access to courses that can help you reach your goals.

We offer a variety of online courses that can help you earn undergraduate and graduate certificates and degrees that can propel you into a successful and fulfilling career in fields like business, education, public administration, and more. Start the path to your career through remote learning at South Carolina State University!

The next chapter of your life is calling. Now's the time to answer!

Apply to SC State Today!

Invest in Your Future with a Quality Online Education

We get ityou're busy. And investing in your education isn't always easy with roadblocks like distance, jobs, and other commitments in the picture. Thankfully, SC State Online offers a variety of undergraduate and graduate certificates, degrees, and specialized training that you can complete from your own home. Looking to launch into a successful and fulfilling career, or want more out of your current job? Whether you're a first-time college student or a returning student, our instructors and quality programs can empower you to reach your goals and achieve more than you ever thought possible.

As a student, you'll learn from experts in your desired field who want to invest in your future success, and at a University with a history of demonstrated academic excellence. Our online classes are designed to work for your busy lifestyle, making it possible to further your career without having to give up the things that are important to you.

Explore our programs to find your perfect fit.

Master of Business Administration

Learn more Earn your master's degree in Business Administration at SC State Online and develop the tools you need to be a successful leader in today's rapidly changing business environment. Education Specialist (Ed. S.) Looking to further your career in education? Earn your principal and superintendent certification through the Education Specialist (Ed. S.) Program at SC State Online and gain the skills you need to empower students to realize and achieve their full academic potential.

Learn more Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) The Doctorate in Educational Administration (Ed.D.) program at South Carolina State University is designed for educators who are interested in obtaining a terminal degree.

Learn more The Doctorate in Educational Administration (Ed.D.) program at South Carolina State University is designed for educators who are interested in obtaining a terminal degree.

Graduate Certificate in Addiction and Trauma Have a bachelor's degree in counseling, psychology, social work, or another related field? A Certificate in Addiction and Trauma can open doors in your career, help you to change lives, and create a happier, healthier world. Upon graduation, you'll have the skills and qualifications you need to provide high-quality counseling to those dealing with substance abuse, addiction, and trauma.

Learn more Have a bachelor's degree in counseling, psychology, social work, or another related field? A Certificate in Addiction and Trauma can open doors in your career, help you to change lives, and create a happier, healthier world. Upon graduation, you'll have the skills and qualifications you need to provide high-quality counseling to those dealing with substance abuse, addiction, and trauma. Undergraduate Certificate in Professional Writing The Professional Writing Certificate Program provides students the opportunity to strengthen their written communication abilities, skills highly valued by employers and graduate programs. Students in the program engage in advanced writing that combines creative thinking, analysis, and practical application within traditional and digital environments.

Learn more The Professional Writing Certificate Program provides students the opportunity to strengthen their written communication abilities, skills highly valued by employers and graduate programs. Students in the program engage in advanced writing that combines creative thinking, analysis, and practical application within traditional and digital environments. Bachelor of Arts in Political Science/Public Administration A bachelor's degree in Political Science from SC State Online can prepare you for a successful career in local, state, and national government organizations, as well as non-profit work. With a concentration in Public Administration, you'll be fully equipped to land a job in your field upon graduation.

Learn more A bachelor's degree in Political Science from SC State Online can prepare you for a successful career in local, state, and national government organizations, as well as non-profit work. With a concentration in Public Administration, you'll be fully equipped to land a job in your field upon graduation.

Visit the Center for Online & Distance Education
The Marketing Department

marketing@scsu.edu

Our team of Marketing Ninjas cannot be matched in its creativity and passion for showing what SC State has to offer the world. We provide breathtaking visual elements to market the university to students, parents and other stakeholders with flair. We also offer other SC State departments with their marketing efforts, event management, and adherence to branding requirements.

Our services:

University brand development and protection.

Advertisements.

Graphic design.

Photography & Videography.

Campus television messages.

Events.

Social media.

Marketing service request form

Faculty and staff: To request services: Please complete and submit this form: https://forms.office.com/r/rJiG0JH752

Marketing Team Members

Office of University Relations

We tell your story.

universityrelations@scsu.edu

The Office of University Relations is the worlds conduit to South Carolina State University. Our office is responsible for making sure the SC State brand is well known with a positive vibe not only in South Carolina but also across the United States and around the globe.

We publicize SC States programs, services and achievements to important stakeholders to drive the publics appreciation for what this university does for its students, families and communities. Our University Relations team assists administrators, faculty and staff members with writing and distributing their internal and external communications.

Our staff works in concert with the Marketing Department to ensure that SC State always has its best foot forward, particularly during such key events as Homecoming, Founders Day, and Fall and Spring Commencement.

Our services:

Safety alerts

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Newsletters

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Camp Harry E. Daniels: An immersive nature center for youth and adult learners

Camp Daniels features over 260 acres of rustic and tranquil camp and retreat setting, situated several yards from Lake Marion; a 150,00 sq. ft leadership center that includes a multipurpose meeting space, research laboratory, art studio, food demonstration lab, classrooms, computer room and offices; and an on-site pond for aquatic activities such as swimming, fishing and kayaking.

Camp Harry E. Daniels officially opened on June 8, 1949. The historic campsite was developed as a permanent site for South Carolinas Black 4-H youth. Located in Elloree, South Carolina, the camp bears the name of Harry E. Daniels, who served more than 25 years as state supervisor of Negro Agricultural Extension Work for then-South Carolina State College.

From its inception, Camp Daniels provided resource-limited and underserved youth of South Carolina unforgettable educational and recreational experiences designed to empower and inspire them as influential change-makers in their communities.
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BANGKOK, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's exports expanded for the seventh consecutive month in February thanks to a recovery in the global manufacturing sector and consumer confidence, official data showed on Tuesday.

Exports, a key driver of the Southeast Asian country's economic growth, rose 3.6 percent last month from a year earlier to 23.38 billion U.S. dollars, slowing from a 10-percent jump in January, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce.

A breakdown of the data revealed that exports of agricultural products increased 7.5 percent from a year earlier last month, owing to 53.6 percent growth in rice and 31.7 percent gain in rubber shipment values, while agro-industrial goods shrank 9.2 percent.

Industrial product shipments rose 5.2 percent year on year in the cited month, driven by a 24.9-percent rise in computer, equipment and parts exports.

The data also indicated that Thailand's imports rose 3.2 percent from a year earlier to 23.93 billion dollars in February, resulting in a trade deficit of 554 million dollars.

Looking ahead, demand for food security will continue to support Thai agricultural export growth. However, uncertainties stemming from the slow recovery of major trading partners, drought affecting agriculture, geopolitical risks, and exchange rate fluctuations pose additional challenges, the ministry said in a statement. 
Batches of Bibigo Mandu Prawn Dumplings (350g) (left) and Mini Mandu Prawn Dumplings (360g) were ordered for a recall due to undeclared egg allergen. (Photos: Singapore Food Agency)

SINGAPORE  Food importer, CJ SE Asia Pte Ltd, was directed to recall batches of Bibigos Mandu Prawn Dumplings (350g) and Mini Mandu Prawn Dumplings (360g) for containing egg, which was undeclared on its packaging, according to the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) in a media release on Monday (25 March).

Food manufacturer, CJ Cau Tre, has voluntarily recalled the affected batches of the prawn dumplings.

As egg is an allergen, traces of it may cause an allergic reaction in individuals who are sensitive to it.

Under Singapores food regulations, food products containing ingredients that are known to cause hypersensitivity, must be declared on food packaging labels to protect consumers with food allergies.

The affected Mandu Prawn Dumpling 350g batches have best-before dates of 20 May, 15 September, 3 November and 16 November in 2024, and 20 February 2025.

The affected Mini Mandu Prawn Dumping 360g batches have best-before dates of 22 May, 19 September, 4 November and 16 November 2024, and 21 February 2025.

What to do if you have bought or eaten the dumplings

Consumers who have purchased the affected batches, and are allergic to egg, should not consume them.

If they have eaten the prawn dumplings, they should seek medical advice if they have health concerns, according to SFA.

Consumers can also contact their point of purchase for further information.

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.
The man had fired a slingshot he had bought online at pigeons in Jurong West and made a hole in his neighbour's window. (Photo: Getty Images)

SINGAPORE  A Singaporean man's attempt to shoot some pigeons with his slingshot did not go as planned when he instead damaged the kitchen window of a nearby flat. Yu Xueyao, 37, pleaded guilty to one count of a rash act endangering personal safety on Monday (25 March).

For his offence, Yu was fined $1,500 by the Singapore court. Two other charges of possessing an offensive weapon and cruelly terrifying birds were taken into consideration, local media CNA reported.

Yu first purchased his slingshots - as well as clay and steel ammunition - online from Chinese web marketplaces in November 2022.

After he received the items, he would practice taking shots at a multi-storey car park near where he lived. CNA reported that he usually ensured there were no vehicles around when he fired his shots.

On 11 February 2023, at around 12.40pm, he decided to shoot some pigeons that were at Block 645 Jurong West Street 61.

The pigeons flew away after he shot at them, but the pellet ricocheted, hitting the kitchen window of a second-floor flat instead, according to CNA.

When the owner of the flat returned from lunch, he discovered a hole in his window and lodged a police report. Yu was arrested and his two slingshots were confiscated.

Victim spent $1,030 to replace window

The prosecutor, in asking for a fine between $1,500 and $2,500, said that a message had to be sent to buyers that the duty is on them to ensure that what they buy online and what they do with it is legal in Singapore, rather than just assume that it is.

He did note that the damage wasnt serious, and the cost of $1,030 was high because the victim had replaced the whole window. Yu also paid the victim the amount in full.

Defence lawyer Kalaithasan Karuppaya said his client accepts that what he did is wrong in the laws of Singapore and was cooperative throughout the investigations.

He also said that Yu did not set out to deliberately cause property damage and would not do such an offence again.

Story continues

For the offence of committing a rash act that endangered the personal safety of others, Yu could have been jailed for up to six months, fined up to $2,500, or both.

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.
LOS ANGELES  To play a woman on the run in the 18th century adventure series Renegade Nell, Louisa Harland had to learn how to ride a horse, shoot a gun and fight.

It has every element under the sun, the Irish actress says. Theres comedy, adventure, fantasy, magic and, surprisingly, its moving at times.

To pull it off, she was in stunt training throughout the shoot, working with trainers in every discipline. There was so much to learn and it was so incredibly physical, the former Derry Girls star says.

Shes like the female Tom Cruise, says co-star Joely Richardson. She can do every stunt.

Ted Lasso star Nick Mohammed, who plays Nells adviser Billy Blind, had his own shot at action. Its always been a dream of mine to do (stunt work on wires), he says. I was really excited about it and kind of went for it on the first day. And then, in the car on the way home, I was just sick. I threw up.

Nonetheless, the illusion worked, helping create a world where Nell Jackson has been framed for murder and becomes the most feared highwaywoman in 18th-century England. She tussles with a variety of characters and shows how much of a shapeshifter she really is. Every member of the family will connect with this, Harland says. Its really, really refreshing to see such strong, funny, flawed women portrayed onscreen.

Written by Happy Valleys Sally Anne Wainwright, the series views women differently than most historical dramas.

I didnt know parts like this existed for women, Harland says. And everything about the character was a challenge for me.

On that list of challenges: a Cockney accent. Im not English and I cant even ride a bike, let alone a horse. I could definitely not throw a punch. I have all these incredible skills now that will stay with mehopefully.

Co-star Alice Kremelberg, who plays Sofia Wilmot, an ambitious widow, shared a similar learning curve. Im from New Yorkand I had to learn to ride sidesaddle. All of that was a crazy, huge checklist of items. Its so unlike anything Ive ever read or seen before.

For Mohammed, it was career-altering. Sally Wainwright is a genius, he says. The last thing I saw of Sallys before doing Renegade Nell was the final season of Happy Valley, which is incredibly dark and serious and gritty. Thematically, its sort of linked to Nell. Its about injustice and, to a degree, class warfare.

That hes a supernatural character only added to the stretch. It was a world away from Ted Lasso, Mohammed says. And to be honest, it was a world away from anything else Id ever done.

For director Ben Taylor, Nells TV home  Disney+ -- brought its own challenges. You come in and say, I want it to be the darkest, the scariest, the most violent version of anything youve ever seen. But we knew that we were doing it for this platform, so we pushed.

The result was a story that immediately sets up the stakes for Nell.

We found a really happy balance, Taylor says. We got a really fantastic fight designer (who made it) as spectacular and violent as possible but with humor and improvisation. We knew wed go in for this sort of hard-ish 12 rating, but it was a real puzzle to sort of unpick.

Instead of sex  which was key to his last series, Sex Education  Taylor turned to superpowers. You can imagine a world where that isnt the addition, but its such an excellent addition, he says. Its what makes it sort of the Disney fantasy DNA. Sally writes brilliant real heroes but the idea that she chose to do that with a supernatural element makes it just irresistible.

Renegade Nell airs on Disney+.
SIOUX CITY  A Sioux City man who pleaded guilty of raping a 14-year-old girl has been placed on probation.

Xaythavone Keoviseth, 24, pleaded guilty in February in Woodbury County District Court to one count of third-degree sexual abuse.

On Monday, District Judge Robert Tiefenthaler sentenced him in accordance with terms of a plea agreement to a suspended 10-year prison sentence and three years probation. Keoviseth will be required to register with the Iowa Sex Offender Registry for life and he also was given a lifetime special sentence in which he will be under court supervision as if on parole. Violations of the special sentence could result in prison sentences.

A second count of third-degree sexual abuse was dismissed as part of his plea agreement.

Keoviseth met the then-14-year-old on the Snapchat social media application on Dec. 20, 2021, and the girl invited him to her Sioux City home to watch a movie. Keoviseth, who was 21 at the time, forced himself on the girl and slapped her in the face before raping her. The girl was able to kick him away and retrieve a weapon, and Keoviseth left the house.

Prosecutors also dismissed a charge of indecent contact with a child, a charge stemming from a March 1, 2022, incident in which Keoviseth was accused of inappropriately touching an 11-year-old girl.
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DES MOINES  The two candidates running for the open seat in Northwest Iowa's House District 13 will remain on the ballot.

Tuesday, the Iowa State Objection Panel rejected challenges to the candidacies of Le Mars resident Travis Sitzmann and Sioux City resident Noah Wieseler who are both running in the GOP primary for the seat being vacated by Ken Carlson of Onawa.

The challenge put before the panel, which includes Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, Iowa Auditor Rob Sand and Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, involved a question of residency, according to the auditor's office. District 13 encompasses all of Monona County, most of central and northern Woodbury County, southern and eastern Plymouth County and portions of western Cherokee County. Addresses for Sitzman and Wieseler on the Iowa Secretary of State's primary election candidate list place both men outside the district.

"The Code of Iowa does not require a legislative candidate to live in the district until 60 days prior to the election," the auditor's office said. The Iowa Secretary of State's website states that the residency requirement is "one year in Iowa. 60 days in the district at the time of the election."

"Ive lived in the district for 26 years. I was born and raised in the district. (My) intent is to move within the district once the primary is over," Sitzmann told The Journal Tuesday. "Part of the reason why I got into the race is to be a better voice for the district." Wieseler was reached for comment as well and did not respond as of 4:50 p.m., Tuesday.

"The Iowa State Objection Panel unanimously reached the correct decision," Wieseler wrote in an email to The Journal. "The challenges to my candidacy were unfounded because the Iowa Constitution is clear on the requirements for state representatives. I meet those requirements."

Wieseler works in construction and property maintenance and has said he's running because "Iowa at its core is rooted in conservatism and limited government."

Sitzmann, a risk control technical consultant for Travelers Insurance and a former reserve deputy for Plymouth County, has said he's running because he wants to "bring common sense back to politics."
Blizzard warnings are in effect for Central Nebraska, while winter weather advisories are in effect for other parts of the state. Meteorologist Joe Martucci explains how much snow will come and the frigid air to come, while also recapping what has occured.
DES MOINES  State general funding for Iowas K-12 public schools would increase by 2.5 percent, beginning public teachers salaries would be boosted and the funding and structure of Iowas nine area education agencies would be altered under sweeping education legislation that will soon be signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds.

Iowa Senate Republicans approved the bill Tuesday, giving final legislative approval to a proposal that realizes  at least partially  a goal set out by Reynolds during her Condition of the State address nearly three months ago.

Shortly after, Reynolds office announced she will sign the bill into law Wednesday at the Iowa Capitol.

Area education agencies oversee education of Iowa students with disabilities and offer media and consulting services to schools and students within their boundaries.

The approval sends a strong message: every Iowa student deserves a world class education, and the compensation of every Iowa teacher should reflect the importance of their role, Reynolds said in a statement. Over the last several weeks, this bill has been the focus of much discussion and debate. Change is seldom easy, but it is necessary to achieve better results. Reforming the AEA system creates accountability, transparency, consistency, and most importantly, better outcomes for all Iowas students.

Only Republicans in the Iowa Legislature voted in favor of the proposed legislation, and a few in each chamber voted against it.

Democrats said they support the boost in teacher pay but voted against the bill because of how it would alter area education agencies and because they believe the 2.5 percent increase in state funding to schools is too low.

AEA changes

Currently, federal and state special education funding goes directly to the area education agencies, which provide support services to schools. AEAs also receive property tax funding for media services and other education services for schools.

Under the bill, House File 2612, 10 percent of state funding at full implementation would remain with school districts for them to use how they see fit, while 90 percent would continue to be allocated directly to the AEAs.

In the second year, all state funding for other education services and media services would go directly to schools, which could use that funding on AEA services or through another entity instead.

The proposal also creates a division in the Iowa Department of Education  up to 53 new full-time equivalent positions  to provide oversight of special education services provided by the AEAs and establishes a task force to study AEA structure and funding and recommend future changes.

The plan has drawn strong opposition from educators and parents of students with disabilities who worry it will hurt special education in the state.

Most school superintendents also expressed opposition to the legislation, although some said they are in favor of having more control of their special education dollars.

Public school funding

The 2.5 percent increase in state general funding for public school districts means an additional $119 million in the 2024-2025 school year, for a total of $3.8 billion, according to the states nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency.

Warmly, Warmly,

Teacher salaries

The minimum salary for first-year teachers in Iowa would increase from the current $33,500 to $47,500 in the 2024-2025 school year and $50,000 the next year.

And the minimum salary for teachers with at least 12 years of experience would be set at $60,000 in the upcoming school year and $62,000 the following year.

The bill also includes $22 million in the upcoming school year and $23 million the next year to address other veteran teachers salaries, and $14 million to help boost the pay of educational support staff, like para educators.

Caleb McCullough of The Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau contributed.
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.
DES MOINES  Counties and cities would be prohibited from adopting regulations stricter than what the state permits for topsoil management at construction sites under legislation that is on its way to Gov. Kim Reynolds for her consideration.

Iowa Senate Republicans approved the proposal Monday at the Iowa Capitol, giving it final approval in the Iowa Legislature.

The bill also would restrict the regulations local jurisdictions can place on the stormwater infrastructure required for new developments.

Only Republicans voted for the bill as it passed out of the Iowa Senate, 29-18. Two Republicans joined all Democrats in voting against the bill.

Warmly, Warmly,

Republicans argued the bill will constrain a local regulation that could drive up the cost of home construction, thus creating more affordable housing options for Iowans.

Iowa Sen. Scott Webster, a Republican from Bettendorf who co-owns a home building business, said local regulations like the ones that would be limited by the bill can add thousands of dollars in costs to home construction projects. And he argued those regulations do not effectively make the projects safer.

Democrats argued that cities and counties should not be restricted by the state when it comes to local regulations, and that stormwater regulations can prevent catastrophic flooding damage to homes.

The bill, Senate File 455, previously passed the Iowa House on a 53-46 vote  just days after, on a first attempt, it was defeated in the House on a 49-44 vote.

Having now passed the House and Senate, the proposal heads to Reynolds for her consideration.
MANILA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Three suspected rebels were killed in a clash with government forces in Batangas province, south of Manila, on Tuesday, the Philippine military said.

The military said a 30-minute gunfight broke out around 6:30 a.m. local time after the troops ran into a group of New People's Army (NPA) rebels in Rosario town.

The troops recovered three rifles, six jungle packs, and some materials for an improvised explosive device from the site.

No soldiers were killed or wounded in the encounter.

The NPA rebels have been fighting against the government forces since 1969. They concentrate their attacks on rural areas and have skirmishes with the military. 
DES MOINES  State general funding for Iowas K-12 public schools will increase by 2.5%, beginning public teachers salaries will be boosted and the funding and structure of Iowas nine area education agencies will be altered under sweeping education legislation that soon will be signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds.

Iowa Senate Republicans approved the bill Tuesday, giving final legislative blessing to a proposal that realizes  at least partially  a goal set by Reynolds almost three months ago during her Condition of the State address.

Shortly after the bill passed the Senate, Reynolds office announced she will sign it into law on Wednesday at the Iowa Capitol.

Area education agencies oversee education of Iowa students with disabilities and offer media and consulting services to schools and students within their boundaries.

The legislative approval sends a strong message: Every Iowa student deserves a world-class education, and the compensation of every Iowa teacher should reflect the importance of their role, Reynolds said in a statement Tuesday.

Over the last several weeks, this bill has been the focus of much discussion and debate. Change is seldom easy, but it is necessary to achieve better results, Reynolds statement added. Reforming the AEA system creates accountability, transparency, consistency and most importantly, better outcomes for all Iowas students.

Only Republicans voted in favor of the legislation, and a few in each chamber voted against it.

Democrats said they supported the boost in teacher pay but voted against the final version of the bill because of how it would alter area education agencies and because they believed the state school funding increase was too low.

AEA changes

Currently, federal and state special-education funding goes directly to Iowas nine area education agencies. AEAs also receive property-tax funding for media services and other education services for schools in their region.

Once the bill, House File 2612, is fully implemented in the second year, 10% of state funding for special-education services will remain with school districts for them to use how they see fit, while 90% will continue to flow directly to the AEAs.

In the second year, all state funding for other education services and media services will go directly to schools, which could use that for AEA services or for another entity.

The proposal also creates a division in the Iowa Department of Education  up to 53 new full-time equivalent positions  to provide oversight of special-education services provided by the AEAs. The bill also establishes a task force to study AEA structure and funding and recommend future changes.

The plan has drawn strong opposition from educators and parents of students with disabilities who worry it will hurt special education in the state.

Most school superintendents also expressed opposition to the legislation, although some said they are in favor of having more control of their special-education dollars.

Cindy Yelick, chief administrator of the Heartland AEA in Des Moines, was on hand for the Senate debate and vote at the Iowa Capitol. Afterward, she said she expects a bumpy few years ahead for area education agencies.

I cant really tell you what its going to look like long-term. The timeline (to implement the changes) is short, the changes are significant, Yelick said. As always, the AEAs will be focused on doing their very best to deliver supports and services to children and families and students and teachers and schools. That is who we are. And we will remain focused on that, and do our best to preserve that level of service that weve been known for.

Yelick said other AEAs already had seen staff leave because of uncertainty.

Theres a lot of unknowns. And I cant stand here today and say that people arent going to feel a difference in the next three months, six months, a year, Yelick said. But as I say, our long-term goal will always remain with the students.

What lawmakers said

One Republican senator who voted against the bill was Charlie McClintock, of Alburnett. He called the proposal universally disliked by both parties.

Based on the content and input that I receive, I can say with some confidence that no one really likes this bill, McClintock said during Senate debate. The very idea of dismantling and defunding the area education agencies has upset and offended the people in Iowa to a whole nother level.

Democrats also expressed heavy criticism of the bills AEA provision, and accused Republicans of siding with the governor despite pleas from the public.

By doing this bill today, what you are saying to your constituents is they dont matter, what they say doesnt matter, that you serve the governor and not the people, Sen. Molly Donahue, D-Cedar Rapids who has worked for 43 years as a special-education teacher, said during debate.

Democrats also criticized Republicans adding multiple elements to one bill  AEAs, school funding and teacher pay  saying each should have been debated separately.

Sen. Lynn Evans, R-Aurelia and a former teacher, principal and superintendent, said the bill returned special-education oversight to the state and would attract more teachers to work in Iowa.

This bill in its entirety will not only improve student achievement in special education, it will not only help improve the AEA system, which is a support system for special (education) and general education, but its going to raise student achievement in its entirety in our state, Evans said.

Public school funding

The 2.5% increase in state general funding for public school districts means an additional $119 million in the 2024-2025 school year, for a total of $3.8 billion, according to the states nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency.

At that funding level, the number of school districts on the state funding programs budget guarantee  which allows districts to receive funding that would ensure a budget at 101% of the previous year, funded by local property taxes  roughly doubles, from 71 districts to 140, more than 43% of districts in the state, according to agency.

We are consistently and continually underfunding our public schools every year, and this bill just makes it worse, Sen. Claire Celsi, D-West Des Moines, said during debate.

Teacher salaries

The minimum salary for first-year teachers in Iowa would increase from the current $33,500 to $47,500 in the 2024-2025 school year and $50,000 the next year.

And the minimum salary for teachers with at least 12 years of experience would be set at $60,000 in the upcoming school year and $62,000 the following year.

The bill also includes $22 million in the upcoming school year and $23 million the next year to address other veteran teachers salaries, and $14 million to help boost the pay of educational support staff, like paraeducators.

Those paraeducators work directly with those children, and they form a bond with those children and their childrens families, Evans said. These are important, critical people that work with our kids on a daily basis. This is a good addition.

Caleb McCullough of the Lee-Gazette Des Moines Bureau contributed.
A bill that would criminalize pornographic images and videos that have been digitally altered to look like a specific person, known as deepfakes, is headed to Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds for her signature.

House File 2240 would make a person who distributes a digitally altered image or video that portrays a person fully or partially nude or engaging in a sex act guilty of harassment. The bill builds on a law passed in 2017 that criminalized revenge porn, the distribution of porn images or videos of a person without their consent.

The bill, which passed the House unanimously, was amended by the Senate to require anyone 18 years or older convicted of the new crime to register as a sex offender. The House concurred with the Senate amendment, sending the bill to the governor for her signature. It previously passed the Senate, also unanimously.

Warmly, Warmly,

In 2023, the FBI warned of a sharp increase in deepfakes being used in sextortion schemes, in which a person threatens to distribute sexually explicit images and videos of a person unless the victim pays.

A harassment charge under the proposal would constitute an aggravated misdemeanor, punishable by up two years in prison and a fine between $855 and $8,540.

Other states have moved to crack down on deepfake pornography in recent years. Some allow victims to sue a person who creates fake images of them.
DES MOINES  McKenzie Snow, a former Trump administration education official and Gov. Kim Reynolds nominee to direct the Iowa Department of Education, was praised by some Iowa public school leaders  including from the states largest district  but also criticized for her dearth of public education experience during a public hearing Tuesday.

The hearing at the Iowa Capitol  a procedural rarity in the Iowa Legislature for gubernatorial nominees  was requested by Iowa Senate Democrats. The Senate later this year will vote on whether to confirm Snow as state education director.

Reynolds appointed Snow, the former deputy secretary of education for Virginia, on June 22, 2023. Snow, who is paid $200,000 a year, was appointed to replace Chad Aldis, who resigned after just three months on the job. He left for unspecified family reasons.

Snows appointment is subject to a two-thirds confirmation in the Senate during the current legislative session; if all 34 Senate Republicans vote for her, that would be enough. The two Republicans on the three-member panel that conducted Tuesday mornings hearing said they plan to support her nomination.

Since we first met last summer, I have witnessed her collaboration. Her knowledge level is broad and advanced, Sen. Ken Rozenboom, a Republican from Pella, a member of the panel and chair of the Senate Education Committee, said during the hearing. And we share this passion for early childhood literacy, which is absolutely foundational to any childs experience in school.

Sen. Herman Quirmbach, a Democrat from Ames and a retired professor at Iowa State University, said he does not plan to vote in support of Snows nomination because of her lack of experience in public education and what he said was her unwillingness to answer his questions about her resume and public education funding.

I think that our teachers, our parents, our students in Iowa public education need to have greater degree of confidence in the experience of our leaders in the Department of Education, feeling that the leaders have had a shared experience, that they have gone through the process, that they have developed the skills, that they have the requisite professional credentials, Quirmbach said during the hearing. And that theyre willing to take clear positions as far as maintaining the strength of our schools, and the funding related to that. I have not had any indication (of that) today.

Aldis was confirmed last year largely along party lines, with the support of all Republicans and three Democrats, including Quirmbach. Aldis faced opposition by other Democrats because, similar to Snow, he had never worked as an educator or school administrator. Snow previously worked in then-President Donald Trumps administration as a K-12 policy director under his secretary of education, Betsy DeVos.

Snow also has worked as a division director for the New Hampshire Department of Education, and as a policy director for the Foundation for Excellence in Education, an education think tank founded by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. The foundation has advocated for expanding charter schools and taxpayer assistance for private schools.

But multiple Iowa public school leaders spoke at the hearing in support of Snows nomination, including the superintendent of the Des Moines Public School District, another superintendent who oversees three small districts in rural Eastern Iowa, the dean of the University of Iowas College of Education, the president of Des Moines Area Community College and the president of the Iowa Board of Education.

Ive had the pleasure of working as a dean for over 15 years in three different states and worked with many state department of (education) directors, and I would say in our time that weve worked together, I would put Director Snow at the very top, Dan Clay, the UI dean, said while listing examples of his experience working with Snow.

Director Snow is highly collaborative and the kind of leader Iowa schools need, Clay said. She listens very carefully. She asks the right questions. She understands the challenges and opportunities. I will say this: After all of the state department of (education) directors I worked with, I look for three things: Does she have the knowledge and the skills and the disposition to lead our schools in Iowa? And I think thats a resounding yes.

Snows nomination also will be considered in the Senate Education Committee before receiving the confirmation vote from the full Senate.

Caleb McCullough of The Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau contributed.
It was still drizzling in Wood River as the sun rose, but the sandhill cranes passing through the area didnt mind the rain. And neither did Vernon Williams.

The 90-year-old Lincoln man watched in awe as hundreds of cranes came into view as dawn broke above the riverfront blind he was sitting in. His amazement only grew as the birds  known for their migration through Nebraska this time of year  slowly lifted their wings and flew off in pairs, barely grazing the water below them.

Williams had been waiting for this moment, the chance to see the cranes take flight, since he first caught a glimpse of the birds in Kearney years ago. A dream more than 30 years in the making had finally come true.

And it was everything he imagined it would be. It was breathtaking, beautiful, special.

In fact, it was more than that, it felt spiritual.

It's not possible to express the feelings that I had, he said. Just as the title of the program tells you, it was a wish of a lifetime.

Williams wish to see the famous sandhill crane migration in central Nebraska was granted on March 14 by AARPs Wish of a Lifetime program that helps people in older generations live out their dreams.

Kristin Johnson, the life enrichment director at AVIVA Woodlands assisted living in Lincoln where Williams lives, nominated him for the program last fall after learning of his wish to see the crane migration in his lifetime.

At first, she hoped she would be able to take a group of residents to view the sandhill cranes, but she realized it would be too complicated logistically. So, she kept Williams dream in the back of her mind and started looking at other solutions. Then, about six months later, she came across Wish of a Lifetime.

Vernon's wish from several months prior flashed in my mind, she said.

In October, Johnson got the call informing her that Williams wish had been selected and in just less than five months, he would be able to spend two nights at Crane Trust in Wood River.

The months in between were long, though, as Williams anticipation grew. He was so excited the week of his trip that he was ready to go a full day before his departure.

While there, Williams woke before dawn each morning and embarked on a quarter-mile hike to the riverfront blinds where he watched cranes wake up, dance, display their wings and take off.

"It didn't disappoint me," he said. "It was everything I could have expected."

To top it off, he was able to share the experience with some of the people who made the trip possible. He spent the first day viewing cranes with Johnson, and then a longtime friend from his days as a professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln joined him the second day. When it was time to go home, a driver from AVIVA Woodlands was there to pick him up.

That made it so much better, he said.

After the final day of his trip, Williams returned to his apartment exhausted, but happy.

I feel like I'm still flying with the cranes, he said.

Williams has a couple of bucket list items he still wants to check off like watching his grandson graduate from Lincoln Southeast in May and seeing a large herd of buffalo in person, a dream he hopes to fulfill this summer at Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge with his son.

But until then, hes content reminiscing on his time with the sandhill cranes.

I feel blessed. I have really had a life that I wouldn't have asked for anything different. It has just been great, and certainly this visit with the cranes has been, so far, topping it off, he said. Something else may come along, but right now, this is the top. Its the best thing I have ever experienced in my life.

Check out these photos from the 2024 sandhill crane migration through Nebraska
Human fingerprints on climate change rule out natural cycles

What the science says...

Select a level... Basic Intermediate No known natural forcing fits the fingerprints of observed warming except anthropogenic greenhouse gases.

At a glance

The passage of time reveals many things. Consider for a moment the myth in the box above. It is dated 2008 and says, "Global warming (i.e, the warming since 1977) is over." Fifteen years on from that date and we can say, with complete confidence, "utter rubbish" (or words to that effect).

In a temperature record stretching back into the late 19th Century, the ten hottest years have all occurred since 2010. The hottest by a large margin (at the time of writing - early 2024) was 2023, with 2016 in second place. In both cases manmade global warming augmented by El Nino nudged these years into pole position. The opposite to El Nino, La Nina, is a phenomenon that cools the planet. One of the top ten, 2022, was also the warmest La Nina year on record. Starting to see a pattern here?

There are many natural cycles out there that do affect the climate. Consider the Milankovitch orbital cycles that are strong enough to trigger the switches between glacials and interglacials. These cycles operate over tens of thousands of years so their year-to-year effects are barely discernible.Yet they can cause ice-sheets to wax and wane over vast areas of the planet, especially in the Northern Hemisphere where the vast majority of landmasses currently reside. At the other end of the spectrum is the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) that most folk have heard of because it causes newsworthy weather events. Climate scientists know all about these cycles and their effects. It's part of the job description.

Those of you who click on the myth's link will find a lot about a cycle known as the 'Pacific Decadal Oscillation' (PDO). That's not a regular cycle that turns up on time, as buses and trains ought to. But yes, it does influence climate as it has warm and cool phases, just like ENSO but in a different part of the Pacific Ocean and over longer periods. And yes, climate scientists monitor the PDO, just like everything else. The PDO is expressed as an Index: values above 0 are positive (warm) and those below 0 are negative (cool). And here's the rub. Since autumn 2019, the PDO Index has been negative, often strongly so. Yet the planet's temperature continues to rise unchecked.

The problem is that in climate more than one thing can happen at once. And since 1950, our CO 2 emissions have surged ever-upwards and the climate is responding to that, too. In other words, human-caused global warming is now overdubbing the effects of such cycles. They used to count for a lot more than they do now.

The carbon cycle describes the way in which carbon moves around the planetary system comprising the atmosphere, the oceans, the biosphere and the solid Earth. The first and last components are where the problem lies. In burning fossil fuels, we have accessed carbon that by rights should have stayed in the solid Earth for untold millions of years. In doing so, that carbon has been dumped into the atmosphere. It represents a disturbance to the carbon cycle rarely seen in the geological record. And the planet is responding to that by heating up.

There's only one cycle we need to worry about and that's the carbon cycle.

Please use this form to provide feedback about this new "At a glance" section. Read a more technical version below or dig deeper via the tabs above!

Further details

Global warming refers to the long-term increase in global temperature since the 1850s. The only plausible mechanism for global warming is a planetary energy imbalance. In other words, our climate system is accumulating heat. Let's take a look.

Fossil fuel burning is causing recent global warming

Two factors drive any global climate change. One is internal variability and the other is external forcings. Internal variability refers to the processes moving heat around within the climate system. External forcings differ because they cause an energy imbalance, in which heat is either added to or removed from the climate system. They can have both natural and human causes. In the case of the current warming, scientists have long since concluded that the main cause is the increase of atmospheric CO 2 due to fossil fuel burning. That's been known since the mid 1950s, following decades of investigations.

Internal variability moves heat around the climate system

Global warming has been likened to the motion of water in a kitchen sink. There's an inflow from the tap and an outflow through the drain. The motion has two components. Firstly, there's the water sloshing around. That's what scientists call 'internal variability'. Secondly, there's the increase or decrease in water volume, depending on the relative amounts of inflow and outflow. That's what scientists call 'external forcings'.

Internal variability includes important oceanic cycles. Examples are the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) or the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). These well-understood phenomena move heat around, causing regional climatic fluctuations. Such regional effects occur on timescales ranging from years to decades. But like the water sloshing around in the sink, internal variability doesn't add to or take away the total amount of heat in the climate system.

The single cause fallacy committed by the natural cycle myth

This myth, from Don Easterbrook, contended that recent global warming is caused by natural cycles rather than human activity. The fact that it was put forward in 2008 and ten of the warmest years on record have happened since 2010 rebuts Easterbrook's contention all on its own. Easterbrook fell foul of the 'single cause fallacy', by proposing there is only one driver of climate change (e.g. natural factors) when there may be others (e.g. human activity). In fact, there are always many things going on at once when it comes to climate.

Various variants of this myth are out there in the wild, unsurprisingly. Sometimes a particular cycle is picked but quite often it's just an arm-waving 'natural cycle', hoping the reader/listener/viewer doesn't ask for specifics. The best cycles of all, if you want to pretend to your layperson audience that climate change has nothing to do with us humans, are imaginary ones of medium to long duration. These have the great advantage that, for the denier, they will not repeat during their lifetime - most deniers are men who are past to well-past middle age. Ideally, therefore, they want such a cycle to repeat every 50-100 years, so if they are shown to be 100% wrong, natural processes will have ensured they are not around to face the music.

Easterbrook did focus on a specific cycle, the PDO. The Pacific Decadal Oscillation is an irregular cyclical variation in sea surface temperature anomalies over the North Pacific Ocean. It influences weather patterns, importantly including precipitation, across large parts of Asia and North America. That gives us grist to grind because, as with all known cycles, it has been studied in detail and is monitored. The data gathered mean we can index the state of the PDO and plot negative - or cool - phases and positive - or warm - ones against time, just as we do with temperature and other parameters (fig.1).

Fig. 1: the Pacific Decadal Oscillation Index from 1864 to October 2023. Even eyeballing this plot suggests the cool and warm phases more or less cancel one another out. Source: NOAA.

In another in-depth Skeptical Science piece purely about the PDO, ironically dating to around the time that Easterbrook made his claim, the truth was revealed when the trends of global temperature and the PDO Index were plotted on the same graph (fig. 2).

Figure 2: Pacific Decadal Oscillation index (blue - University of Washington) versus Global Temperature Anomaly (Red - GISS Temp). Smoothed data (thicker blue and red lines) and trend lines (thick straight line) are added.

Since then of course, global temperatures have continued to rise with 2023 having been the hottest year on record. Natural oscillations like the PDO don't have the ability to either create or retain heat. They simply move heat around from oceans to air and vice-versa. That means they are not capable of causing a long-term warming trend like the one we are witnessing. When you think about it, if the PDO (or some other internal cycle) was responsible for warming the surface, the oceans would be cooling, which is not the case.

Before the 19th Century, human influence on climate was a fraction of what it is now. Natural cycles were the dominant drivers of global temperature changes. But now, that record has been overwritten. The colossal quantities of carbon released from the solid Earth through fossil fuel burning have made certain of that. Natural cycles can still explain the noise along the upwards curve that is human-caused global warming. However, they utterly fail to explain the continuously upward trend itself. The cause of that is the 50% increase in CO 2 in Earth's atmosphere and that's mostly down to us.

Last updated on 17 March 2024 by John Mason. View Archives
Early Tuesday morning, at around 1:30 a.m., a 948-foot-long cargo ship left the Port of Baltimore and headed toward open water, en route to Sri Lanka. Within minutes, the ship slammed into a pillar holding up the Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing its superstructure to tumble into the Patapsco River. Rescuers rushed to the bridge and plucked at least two people from the water, one in critical condition. As of midday Tuesday, at least six highway workers were missing.

Saving lives is (and should be) the immediate priority. But the shocking incident raises other concerns too. The destruction of the bridge, a part of Baltimores Interstate 695 beltway, could seemingly doom Marylanders to hellish gridlock for the foreseeable future. Early on Tuesday, the New York Times noted that multiple news anchors [have] suggested the morning commute will be disastrous for thousands of drivers. WJZ News, Baltimores local CBS station, warned, The impacts are going to be felt not only here in the local neighborhoods but for all of those people who normally dont even travel that southeast corridor of 695.

I will offer an optimistic prediction about a narrow aspect of the disaster: Its ongoing impact on congestion wont be nearly as catastrophic as some might fear. American politicians, journalists, and civil engineers have consistently underestimated the malleability of individual travel decisions. That blind spot has distorted transportation policy for decadesand it has led Americans to overstate the disruption when a chunk of highway goes unexpectedly offline.

Ask yourself: What happens to traffic when a major urban roadway closes? Perhaps the answer seems obvious: All those cars and trucks have to go somewhere, just as water flowing downhill must find another path if its initial one is blocked. With their typical route unavailable, drivers will divert toward other roadways, creating congestion that radiates outward from the blocked roadway. Such expectations underpin regular predictions of traffic disaster when an important highway or bridge shuts down, as is happening in Baltimore.

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But there is another possibility. Once drivers digest news of the closure, they can adjust their plans. Some can leave earlier or later in the day, avoiding peak hours, when traffic is thickest. Instead of driving to a distant restaurant or store, they could patronize nearby ones. They might even forgo driving entirely, choosing to travel by public transit or simply stay put, calling in to meetings from home and ordering products online. If enough people change their travel plans, the closure of even the most seemingly essential roadway might barely affect congestion at all.

In the past, public officials and the media have downplayed, if not ignored, the potential for behavior change to soften the blow of roadway disruptions. Remember the I-95 collapse in Philadelphia last June, which seemed poised to snarl East Coast traffic in a Gordian knot? After travelers had a few days to absorb the news, congestion on nearby roadways was actually close to normal. Or consider what happened in Los Angeles during the 2011 Carmageddon, when 10 lanes of the 405 shut down for repairs. Rather than creating chaos, the first closure greatly reduced traffic congestion, researchers subsequently concluded. Most people chose to cancel trips rather than to reschedule them. Journalists were particularly flummoxed: The contrast between the perceived threat and reality was so stark that it left the media scratching their heads.

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Notably, the effect of roadway capacity on travel behavior cuts both ways. Just as a sudden reduction in available lane space can shrink total traffic, an expansion of highway capacity leads more people to drive, especially at peak times. This process is known as induced demand, and its logic continues to elude many of the engineers toiling within state transportation departments. For a textbook example, consider the Texas DOTs widening of Houstons Katy Freeway to as many as 26 lanes in 2011, at a cost of $2.8 billion, in an attempt to banish gridlock for good. Just three years later, traffic on the freeway was as bad as ever. The roadways added capacity had been completely gobbled up by drivers who treated the expansion as an invitation to drive more, spewing pollution as they go.

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Right now, the sudden collapse of the Key Bridge is a major disruption for Baltimore and for the mid-Atlantic (as well as for the country, when considering the impact on shipping that passes through the immense Port of Baltimore). With over 30,000 vehicles typically traversing the Key Bridge daily, dejected Marylanders may presume that traffic on major roadways near the bridge will now grind to a standstill for months to come. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said Tuesday that reconstructing the bridge would be a long-term build.

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I suspect that it wont be nearly so bad. For one thing, motivated public officials will race to repair the bridge as quickly as possible. By early Tuesday morning, state officials were already congregated at the bridge, with top federal officials en route, including Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy, and Federal Highway Administration Chief Shailen Bhatt. (As the journalist Aaron Gordon has noted, Nothing unites Americans like a highway in distress.)

In the interim, many Marylanders will, for entirely rational reasons, respond to the closure by canceling some car trips and shortening others. Counterintuitive as it might seem, congestion on I-695 and nearby roads could change little from what it was before the bridge collapsed.
There are always a couple of tells when the most conservative Supreme Court in more than a century finds itself adjudicating a truly mortifying and meritless case. One is that its coming up by way of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, a court that so consistently shovels its worst constitutional garbage upward that the high court conservatives are often forced to reluctantly lob it back. Another tell is when the facts of the case are so laugh-out-loud insane that even conservative justices cant bring themselves to adopt them or the underpinning legal reasoning with a straight face. Theres yet a third tell: when the conservative justices start injecting a bunch of nonsense and randomized pet peeves into oral argument to distract from how embarrassing it would be to discuss the merits of the actual case.

All three tells were present Tuesday morning, when the court heard FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, a challenge to the current medication abortion regime nationwide. This case is about a handful of physicians seeking to wield their conscience objections to abortion as a cudgel against everyones access to safe reproductive care throughout the country. So, it was heartening to see that the majority of the Supreme Court doesnt have the conscience to take it seriously. It was harrowing, however, to hear at least two justices embrace the plaintiffs foundational theory: that a long-defunct federal law already bans medication abortion, and maybe procedural abortion as welland that the courts can revive this ban once they get their hands on the right case.

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Before we reach the doomsday scenario, lets start with the case at hand, which is laughable to the point of frivolity. In 2000 the Food and Drug Administration approved mifepristone, the first drug in a medication abortion. Initially, and under huge pressure, the agency imposed tight restrictions on the drug, including mandatory doctors visits, in-person dispensing requirements, and strict limits on pharmaceutical availability. Over the next 23 years, the FDA loosened these rules, concludingbased on extensive studiesthat they did not improve health outcomes for patients. Today, in blue states, mifepristone can be prescribed via telemedicine and mailed to a patients home. It remains almost entirely illegal in the 14 states that have outlawed abortion.

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The plaintiffs in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine are a group of anti-abortion physicians who do not prescribe mifepristone. Rather, they worry that someday, some patient who has taken mifepristone prescribed by a different doctor might have serious adverse complications and end up in their careforcing them to be complicit in abortion simply by treating the patient. These physicians claim that the only solution to their speculative fear is a nationwide ban on mifepristone, achieved through a judicial order that revokes the FDAs approval of the drug for everyone. As Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson put it Tuesday, the case reflects a mismatch between the harms alleged and the remedy demanded: Theyre saying, Because we object to having to be forced to participate in this procedure, were seeking an order preventing anyone from having access to these drugs at all. 

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In a saner judiciary, the case would have been booted out of the courthouse with prejudice, because the plaintiffs have neither sustained nor suffered an injury: They are merely speculating about the possibility of a future harm, which does not establish standing under Article 3 of the Constitution. And that possibility really is quite remote, since mifepristone has been proved safe in more than 100 scientific studies.

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Alliance Defending Freedom, the far-right, Christian nationalist organization that represents the plaintiffs, knows that this theory of standing violates every rule in the book. So it brought the lawsuit in Amarillo, Texas, where it was guaranteed to draw Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Donald Trump appointee who has devoted his life to criminalizing abortion, along with other theological battles. Kacsmaryk attempted to issue a nationwide ban on mifepristone, which the 5th Circuit whittled down, allowing the drug to remain legal while reimposing the immense burdens that would put it out of reach for countless patients. But the Supreme Court froze the 5th Circuits order last year, sending a signal that a majority would not play ball with this humiliating mess of a case. Arguments on Tuesday confirmed that most justices remain skeptical toward ADFs Were scared we might have to treat abortion providers patients theory of cognizable harm and standing.

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Lurking under the embarrassment of these standing arguments about wholly speculative harms lies the embarrassment of the scientific claims proffered to support them. To show that mifepristone is actually super dangerous, Kacsmaryk and the 5th Circuit relied on junk science peddled by shameless hucksters. As Jessica Ellsworth, representing the maker of mifepristone, told the justices: You have a district court that, among other things, relied on one study that was an analysis of anonymous blog posts. You have another set of studies that he relied on that  have since been retracted for lack of scientific rigor and for misleading presentations of data.

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Lurking beneath that embarrassment lies the fact that if the plaintiffs were allowed to prevail in this case, pharmaceutical companies and the FDA would be subject to fanciful challenges by anyone who has ever objected to a drug. Mifepristone, recall, has been safely used by millions of Americans and is less dangerous than Tylenol and Viagra. Thousands of other drugs pose greater safety risks yet remain on the market, indeed sold over the counter, because experts have concluded that the benefits outweigh the dangers.

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If Kacsmaryk and the 5th Circuit are correct, then any doctor can waltz into court and secure a nationwide injunction against a drug they dislike on the grounds that they might one day treat a patient who takes it. Further, the FDAs review process, the global gold standard for drug approval, would fall apartwhich is why the biopharma industry has lined up on the governments side. The consequences for development and testing of new drugs would be catastrophic. Jackson acknowledged as much when she asked Ellsworth to describe concerns about judges parsing medical and scientific studies without any specialized scientific knowledge with respect to pharmaceuticals.

Related From Slate The Anti-Abortion Movements Biggest Fear Read More

In the face of this skepticism, Erin Hawleyan ADF lawyer and wife of Jan. 6 rally boy Sen. Josh Hawleystruggled to explain the reason why a handful of activist physicians should be able to ensure that every woman in America is denied access to mifepristone. Her answer? They dont want to be complicit in abortion. The problem here is that these doctors are already amply protected from coercion in abortion care by federal and state conscience laws, as Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar assured Justice Brett Kavanaugh. They are welcome to walk away from an abortion patient in need of their follow-up care. Even Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett and Chief Justice John Roberts appeared to be embarrassed with the slurry of bad plaintiffs and worse evidence that Hawley paraded before them as a serious legal challenge. As usual, when it was clear that the case was too asinine to contemplate, what surfaced instead was a protracted gripe about nationwide injunctions from Gorsuch and aggrieved grousing from Justice Samuel Alito, who sounded annoyed that ADF hadnt cooked up a more plausible case.

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Alito and Justice Clarence Thomas are never ones to let an embarrassment of a lawsuit go to waste. And they were openly eager to embrace the chilling argument at the heart of ADFs case: the notion that the Comstock Act of 1873 prohibits the distribution of abortion pills and perhaps even equipment used for procedural abortions. Under this theory, abortion is already a criminal offense under federal law, and every abortion provider in the country may be prosecuted and imprisoned immediately. Conservative groups like the Heritage Foundation are already urging Trump to issue an executive order on Day 1 banning medication abortion. Republican lawyers are preparing to use the Comstock Act to prohibit all abortions, not just pills. This reading of the zombie relic is so broad that a Justice Department and judiciary hostile enough to reproductive freedom could contort it to make all abortion care a felony.

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Predictably on Tuesday, and with a case built of vapors to work with, Alito and Thomas went full Comstock. Alito scolded the FDA for letting providers mail abortion pills despite the existence of the law. This is a prominent provision, the justice told Prelogar. Its not some obscure subsection of a complicated, obscure law. They knew about it. Everybody in this field knew about it. Thomas warned Ellsworth that her client, the maker of mifepristone, lacked a safe harbor from prosecution over Comstock. Its fairly broad, and it specifically covers drugs such as yours, he told her. (That claim is very much in dispute.) Alito and Thomas know they will likely lose this case, so theyre preparing for the next one. Maybe Trump will win and commence Comstock prosecutions. Maybe Kacsmaryk will issue a new ban on mifepristone at the behest of red states, as he is currently threatening to do. Either way, Comstock is racing toward the Supreme Court. And two justices have already aligned themselves with a sweeping interpretation of its puritanical prohibitions.

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The FDA looks poised to win this silly case at the Supreme Court in June, but we cannot let the cases silliness obscure all the future damage it tees upto the practice of medicine, to womens health, and to the credibility of a Supreme Court that once cared about credibility. Whenever a door closes on the worst MAGA toxins at this court, an Overton window opens to something so much worse. Health care professionals, biopharma companies, and reproductive rights advocates can cheer the probable outcome of Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine. But they can spare only a moments rest because Thomas and Alito, with the help of bad actors like ADF and Kacsmaryk, are already bringing the next battle to their doorstep.
It was Friday night when reports started coming in about a concert outside Moscow that had been targeted by terrorists. At first, the only images on social media were of the outside of the mall where the attack had happeneda shooting and a fire. Then, there were videos from inside the venuethe sounds of gunshots and panic.

All weekend long, the Washington Posts Shane Harris (no relation) was sorting through this evidence and trying to understand what exactly had taken place. He told me, Were seeing obviously a lot of reports via social media, including by people who were in the concert hall when it was attacked. Were hearing from Russian officials who were on the scene investigating it, and who are issuing statements about body counts and sort-of objective things, and then maybe a separate category of not-so-objective information.

Not all of those different sourcesfirsthand accounts, Russian investigators, American officialsagree about what happened.

At latest count, 137 people were killed, and more than 100 were injured. American officials say that Fridays attack has all the hallmarks of ISIS, specifically ISIS-K, a branch of the Islamic State based out of Afghanistan. The Kremlin disagreed. What were hearing coming out of President Putin and Russia as well as [from] Kremlin-backed or -supportive broadcasters and journalists is an effort to try to blame this attack on Ukraine, Harris said. But at the same time, ISIS itself is taking credit.

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In social media posts via ISIS-Ks own news agency, the terror group released gruesome footage allegedly filmed by the shooters themselves in the concert venue as proof of their responsibility. Its almost as if ISIS is responding in some way to Putins unwillingness to give them credit for the attack, because part of what ISIS wants here is to undermine Putin and Russias security apparatus, Harris told me. If the president of Russia in his public address refuses to acknowledge who actually did the attack, its not giving ISIS the kind of public relations victory it was hoping for.

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On a recent episode of What Next, we spoke about the importance of this blame game. A portion of our conversation is transcribed below; it has been condensed and edited for clarity.

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Mary Harris: This was in a concert venue, also a mall, called Crocus City Hall, on the outskirts of Moscow. What was this place?

Shane Harris: So, this is a big, kind of glitzy concert hall and public event space, northwest of central Moscow, out in a suburb. Sia played there at one point; other big bands have played there. Folks were there on Friday to see an older Russian rock band called Picnic.

How did the attack start?

From what we understand, these gunmen walked into the event space, then got into the concert hall and started shooting concertgoers. There have been these very gruesome photos that show them killing people, including one of them cutting a persons throat, reportedly. From what we can see from the videos that have been posted, the gunmen were met with no resistance. There wasnt a big security presence at the hall; there werent guards there fighting back against them. These terrorists were able to just go in and essentially, with free rein, terrorize this place. They appeared to spread some kind of flammable liquid that then set the concert hall ablaze and ultimately brought down the roof. So the attack really destroyed this venue too.

How quickly did ISIS claim credit for what had happened?

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It was a matter of hours. As soon as I saw reports of this attack, I immediately started contacting sources who said, You know, this looks like ISIS-K. You could kind of read the reporting and even see some of the initial imagery, and see that this gunman style of attack fit with their M.O.

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Some people might be confused here, because U.S.backed forces claimed that the Islamic State caliphate was defeated back in 2019. The caliphate isnt ISIS, but stillI think some people may be surprised to hear ISIS.

Yeah, youd be forgiven if you thought, Wait a minute. I thought U.S. forces killed the leader of ISIS? And that this group was no more.

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What were talking about here, in this Moscow attack, is a branch of ISIS thats often known as ISIS-K, which stands for Khorasan. This groups efforts have been focused on fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, which they do not see as sufficiently committed to pure Islamic law, Shariah, or Islamic rule.

It hasnt gotten the level of attention that core ISIS got and that the United States was so committed to in its fight, but its an active division that has been doing a number of terrorist attacks. Folks may remember, a few months ago, there was this massive bombing in Iran that killed around, I think, 90 people. That was ISIS-Khorasan. In January, there was an attack on a church in Turkey. That didnt get a lot of attention.

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There have been attacks in Russia going back to 2019 by this group.

I dont understand where Russia and Iran and Turkey come into play if ISIS-K is primarily concerned with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Can you explain?

Yeah. ISIS-K sees Russia as essentially having the blood of Muslims on its hands and is particularly targeting Russia over its support of the [Taliban] regime and Syria. In some sense, ISIS-K even blames Russia for helping to deny it the caliphate that it wanted. You can go back all the way to jihadist struggles with Russia in Afghanistan in the 1970s. There is a long-standing feud between Russia and different militant groups like this.

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It seems to me like ISIS-K is a group that the U.S. is paying particular attention to. A day before this attack in Russia, U.S. Central Command was warning Congress that ISIS retains the ability and the will to attack the U.S. and Western interests abroad with little or no warning.

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So thats one thing. It was clearly on someones mind. But then there was this very specific warning. On March 7, the U.S. government told Americans in Russia that the embassy is monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, including concerts.

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So, tell me a little bit about what your contacts inside the government are saying about ISIS-K, and why they are turning their attention to this group.

I think theyve never stopped paying attention to it. When the U.S. pulled out of Afghanistan a few years ago, youll recall that a lot of people who were opposed to that withdrawal said, We need a U.S. presence on the ground to continue monitoring terrorist activities, of whichyou would put ISIS-K in that group.

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The proposal that the Biden administration made was that: We think we can do this kind of intelligence gathering and monitoring of potential threats emanating out of Afghanistan and the region without having boots on the ground. Well, this [attack in Moscow] is kind of evidence of that, insofar as the United States did get some degree of intelligence. We dont know exactly how specific it was, but it was fairly specific as to concert halls, about what ISIS-K was planning. Clearly, in this case, there were indications that were pointing back to some group that was either in Russia or was targeting Russia.

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Related From Slate Why ISIS-K Hates Putinand Went After Moscow Read More

Do we know what was in the intelligence reports that led to that March 7 warning?

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Well, we can see the public warning about avoiding large gatherings, concerts. Beyond that, we still dont know. And in talking to some sources, it seems like it might not have been very specific. Look, Russia is an adversary country, but the United States does still share information about threats to civilians. The question really, I think, to use the intelligence terminology, is: How actionable was this information? Did it say The Crocus City Hall is going to be targeted or did it say There are threats against large gatherings at places like concert halls?

What we do know is that there was no security around that very public venue. And only a few days ago, Putin publicly was very dismissive of the warnings that the United States and other governments had made through these public and diplomatic channels, essentially saying, Theyre trying to scare us. Its just false information.

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As soon as this attack occurred, it seemed as if the narrative inside Russia was really pushing people to consider that Ukraine was involved somehow, as far as I can tell, without evidence. Putin gave a speech where he talked about how there was an open door for the terrorists who had staged this attack and that they were heading to the Ukrainian border.

Yeah, so Putin gives this speech in which he tells people that these attackers, as they were fleeing, were heading towards Ukraine. And he never says Ukraines behind it, but he also talks about Nazis and their tactics of harming civilians in the occupied territories, which is essentially a reference to Ukraine.

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Because he refers to Ukrainians as Nazis.

Thats right. So, in this fairly unsubtle way, he is saying to the Russian public that the Ukrainians did this. They put these people up to it. Maybe they hired them.

The Russians have been putting out video of two of the supposed suspects, one of whom says he was actually hired to do this. Weve seen reporting in recent days of the Russian government telling state-backed journalists in Russia to go with the line that Ukraine is behind this. And were now seeing prominent pundits and newscasters in Russia saying, Ukraine did this. Ukraine is responsible for this.

None of that is surprising to me. I mean, when I first saw the news come across, my first thought was: Theyre going to blame Ukraine for this and use it as some kind of pretext for escalation.

Whats the response been from the Ukrainian government?

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Oh, that its absurd. They say they had absolutely nothing to do with this. I was talking, within the first hour of the attack, with a Ukrainian official who I just pointedly asked if your government was involved in this. And he responded, Well, what would we have to gain from this? Why would we kill civilians in this way? This does nothing for us strategically. And Ukrainians, including President Zelensky and other senior officials, have been putting out public statements saying, This is ridiculous, I mean, Putin invades our country, slaughters our civilians, and then turns around and blames us for killing his civilians when really its his weak and ineffective security apparatus that let this happen. So, both sides are taking rhetorical advantage of this moment.

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On Friday, a prominent Russian oligarch called for a nuclear strike on Ukraine. Do you think something like that could actually happen?

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In the first hours after this attackand I think this is probably still truemy great concern was that Putin would use this attack as pretext for doing something truly escalatory and awful. And because Putin has openly flirted with using tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine, I admit, my mind kind of went there first.

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I think it would be a huge strategic blunder. But you have to think about it from his perspective; hes not going to let a crisis like this go to waste. Is there something he could do to build a case for some more dramatic kind of action or possibly to build the case for mobilization of more forces, which would not necessarily be popular in Russia? But if he could say, Look, the Ukrainians are slaughtering people in Moscow, maybe citizens who actually believe that line hes peddling might be willing to go ahead with the rather unpopular mobilization of forces.

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This attack happened just a week after Vladimir Putin ran away with a presidential election in Russia, and one of the things that Putin promises Russians in exchange for his ultimate control of the country is security. The New York Times called this attack a searing counterpoint to Putins promise. Do you think Russians are going to see it that way?

I wish they would. Im not optimistic of that because weve seen terrorist attacks in Russia and opposition to Putin or rejection of Putin does not follow from them. Rather, what happens is you see Putin strengthening his stranglehold on information, implementing more onerous security measures domestically, embarking on foreign adventures like the invasion of Ukraine.

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Youre absolutely right that the fundamental compact that he is making with Russians is: I am a strong leader. I will protect you.

Its precisely why, when they are hit in this way, in large measure because of the failure of his security apparatus, he rushes immediately to blame someone else for it. He will never accept blame himself. In fact, he cannot accept blame. He has to do everything he can to push the narrative the other way and convince people that his version of the story is true, or to at least confuse people to a sufficient degree that maybe they throw their hands up at it. This is what hes done after every attack. And so I dont anticipate this is going to be any different this time.
In Texas and a number of other states, voters age 65 and older have the right to vote by mail for any reason, while younger voters generally have to cast ballots in person. As a result, it is harder than it should be for millions of voters to cast a ballot, solely because of their age. Cascino v. Nelson, the case challenging Texas second-class treatment of younger voters, is one of the most important voting rights cases before the courts, yet it has flown under the radar. Next month, the Supreme Court will consider whether to add it to its docket.

In Cascino, the plaintiffs urge the Supreme Court to strike down Texas discriminatory law as a violation of the 26th Amendments guarantee that the right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age. SCOTUS has never interpreted the meaning of the amendment, which was ratified more than half a century ago.

This is exactly the kind of case the court should hearparticularly for the justices who insist that a judges duty is to enforce the Constitutions text and history. Cascino involves a key part of the Constitution that has never been given a comprehensive construction, a blatant denial of equal voting opportunities to millions of citizens, and a powerful originalist argument for vindicating the constitutional promise of an inclusive democracy. The case gives the Supreme Court the opportunity to make clear that the 26th Amendment means what it says: Laws that make it harder for younger citizens to exercise their fundamental right to vote violate the amendments promise of voting equality.

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As its text and history make clear, the 26th Amendment forbids state-sponsored voting discrimination against younger citizens. As many young Americans were being sent off to fight in Vietnam, the American people insisted that the young adults who were old enough to fight in a war were old enough to vote for the government officials who would send them to that war. In other words, they were entitled to participate in our democracy as equals.

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To effectuate this design, the text of the 26th Amendment establishes a broad constitutional prohibition on all forms of voting discrimination against adult voters on account of age. Rather than merely lower the voting age to 18, the authors of the amendment demanded a broad constitutional rule of voting equality by proscribing governmental denial and abridgment of the right to vote on account of age. A first-time voter who has just turned 18 must be treated the same as the oldest members of the electorate. Together, the constitutional ban on age-based denial and abridgment of the right to vote established a plenary right on citizens 18 years of age or older to participate in the political process, free of discrimination on account of age, as the report of the House Judiciary Committee described the amendment.

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The Framers of the 26th Amendment consciously wrote it to parallel the Constitutions separate prohibitions on racial and gender discrimination in voting contained in the 15th and 19th amendments, respectively. Transcending partisan divisions, Democrats and Republicans agreed that discrimination against younger voters had no place in our democracy. As Rep. Richard Poff, a Republican congressman from Virginia, insisted: Just as the 15th amendment prohibits racial discrimination in voting and just as the 19th amendment prohibits sex discrimination in voting, the proposed amendment would prohibit age discrimination in voting. In short, these three amendments prohibit all voting discrimination on account of the protected characteristicrace, sex, or agewithout exception.

Related From Slate The Fight Against Birth Control Is Already Here Read More

If a state sought to confer the right to vote by mail solely on white persons or men, it would be quickly struck down as a stark violation of the 15th and 19th amendments. Under the 26th Amendment, age discrimination in voting is equally suspect. The amendment forbids laws that classify voters on account of age and deny equal voting opportunities to younger voters. Texas two-tiered voting system is precisely what the 26th Amendment forbids.

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What does Texas say in defense of its discriminatory regime? Its main justification is that the right to vote does not include the right to vote by mail. But nothing in the text of the 26th Amendmentlike that of the 15th Amendment and other voting rights amendmentscarves out voting by mail from its coverage and permits blatantly discriminatory voting laws. Having chosen to allow voting by mail, Texas cannot discriminate against voters on the basis of age and deny them the right to cast mail-in ballots. Younger voters, no less than voters 65 and older, are entitled to exercise their fundamental right to vote without having to endure countless hours of waiting at a crowded polling place.

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Vindicating the text and history of the 26th Amendment in Cascino is important in its own right. It can also help redress one of the pathologies of our democracy: long waiting lines at the polls. This problem, fueled in part by polling place closures, has been particularly pronounced in communities of color. In 2020, for example, voters at Texas Southern University, a historically Black college in Houston, had to endure waiting times as lengthy as seven hours in order to exercise their fundamental right to vote. In Texas and elsewhere, long waiting in lines disrupts the electoral process, discourages voter participation, and ends up disenfranchising those wishing to cast a ballot. A constitutionally faithful reading of the 26th Amendment can help ensure that all voters, regardless of age, take advantage of the opportunity to vote by mail and avoid the crushingly long lines many Texans have experienced in recent elections.

The justices on the conservative-dominated Supreme Court repeatedly insist that they take text and history seriously. Cascino offers them an opportunity to make good on that claim. The court should take up Cascino and enforce the promise of voting equality enshrined in the text and history of the 26th Amendment.
U.S.Israel relations have hit an all-time low, and the main cause is the refusal of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to modify his stance on the war in Gaza even slightly or just rhetorically. This, in turn, stems from his dependence on a handful of Israels most far-right politicians, without whose support his government would collapse. The collapse would result in new elections, which Netanyahus Likud party would almost certainly lose, thus ousting him from the post he has held for 17 of the past 23 years.

In short, Netanyahu is placing his own political survival over the health of Israels ties to its most important allyas well as its reputation in the world and the once-blooming prospects for normal relations with its Sunni Arab neighbors, which would thus greatly enhance Israels security in a dangerous region and an increasingly anarchic world.

Two dramatic things happened on Monday, neither quite unprecedented by itself but uniquely striking in their back-to-back timing.

First, the United States did not veto but rather abstained fromand thus allowed to passa U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in the war on Gaza.

It wasnt the first time the United States has turned away from its usual practice of protecting Israel by vetoing resolutions that criticized the country. In fact, every president from Richard Nixon to Barack Obama abstained at least once on resolutions condemning IsraelRonald Reagan did so seven timesfor expanding settlements, invading Lebanon, permitting the murder of Palestinians, or other crimes and malfeasances.

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Still, the abstention on Monday was unusual, given the war that Israel is waging and the fact that President Joe Biden had instructed his ambassador to veto similar resolutions three times in recent months.

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The second dramatic thing that happened was that, in response to the vote, Netanyahu canceled a trip to Washington, where five of his top advisers were going to discuss possible ways to eradicate the remaining Hamas leaders in the southern Gaza town of Rafah without mounting a massive ground assault, a move that would likely kill thousands more civilians. Bidens national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, had called for the meeting, saying he had less destructive ideas for how to accomplish Israels strategic goal of rooting out Hamaswith which he said he agreed.

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In other words, Netanyahu dissed Biden and his national security adviser in a way that few U.S. allies had ever done before.

As Alon Pinkas, a columnist for Haaretz, wrote Monday, the actions of the past two days have put Israel on a collision course with the U.S. Reciting several rounds of Netanyahus dismissive demeanor or obstructive behavior in the face of Bidens several attempts at constructive diplomacy, Pinkas concluded:

When you ignore U.S. requests, dismiss a presidents advice, inundate the secretary of state with endless spin, casually deride American plans, exhibit defiance and intransigence by refusing to present a credible and coherent vision for postwar Gaza, and actively pursue an open confrontation with the administrationtheres a price to pay.

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The U.N. resolution that passed Monday was hardly derogatory toward Israel. The text demands an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan, respected by all parties, leading to a lasting sustainable ceasefire, and also demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, as well as the lifting of all barriers to the provision of humanitarian assistance.

The U.S. declined to vote along with the other 14 members of the council in favor of the resolution because it failed to mention Hamas Oct. 7 rampage, which instigated the conflict. Yet, officials explained, the resolution didnt contain any objectionable language either. An early draft had called for a permanent ceasefire, which Biden (like Israel) opposes until after all hostages are released. The U.S. mission got the language changed so that the cease-fire would last only through Ramadan, with the hope that it might then lead to a lasting sustainable ceasefire. Since Ramadan is only for another two weeks, the terms arent even as long-lasting as the six-week cease-fire that U.S., Israeli, Egyptian, and Qatari diplomats have proposed in separate negotiations.

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Still, Netanyahu condemned Biden for not vetoing the measure, saying that it made the cease-fire not dependent upon the release of hostages. But this objection seems bogus. The resolution demands an immediate ceasefire and an immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. An immediate cease-fire, an immediate release of hostagesthat sounds simultaneous.

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Anyway, it isnt likely to happen, at least not by the end of Ramadan. Security Council resolutions are supposedly binding, but the U.N. has no enforcement police. Both Israel and Hamas are likely to ignore the demand.

So why was Netanyahu so bent out of shape by the U.S. abstention? Because one token of U.S. support for Israel, over the years, is its practice of vetoing Security Council resolutions meant to condemn or punish Israel, even when the resolutions have substantive merit. In this light, the abstention sends a powerful signalthat the U.S. is no longer going to kowtow to Israel just for the sake of kowtowing. The message is particularly potent, coming on top of other recent acts of signal-sendingBiden calling Israels bombing of Gaza over the top, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin urging his Israeli counterpart not to launch an offensive into Rafah, and Sen. Chuck Schumers call for new elections, warning that Netanyahus far-right coalition threatens to turn Israel into a pariah state.

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But Netanyahus responsecanceling a trip to Washington by a five-man delegation that he had previously authorizedis another instance of over-the-top behavior. He was saying he doesnt care what Biden or his national security aide has to say, he doesnt care what the worldeven the United Statesthinks about Israels actions. A few days earlier, Netanyahu said hed recently told Secretary of State Antony Blinken that he hoped Israel will go into Rafah with U.S. support, but if we have to, we will do it alone. Now Netanyahu was saying, in effect, Screw it, I dont care what you thinkwere going in alone.

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Netanyahu even charged that Hamas had rejected the most recent cease-fire proposal because of Americas abstention on the U.N. resolution. He then pulled Israeli negotiators out of the peace talks, fuming that Hamas wasnt going to make any concessions now that the United States has thrown Israel under the bus.

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Biden was so outraged by the accusation that he had his national security spokesman, John Kirby, call a press conference to rebut the charge. Hamas rejected the cease-fire proposalthe one negotiated by the U.S., Israel, Egypt, and Qatarbefore the resolution came before the Security Council on Monday. The really appalling thing about this, which Kirby didnt mention, is that Netanyahu threw away a chance to condemn Hamas on very legitimate groundsto say that Hamas, not Israel, is the chief obstacle to a cease-firein order to take a whack at Biden, who remains the most powerful ally he and Israel have.

Thats because Netanyahu doesnt want to look like a peacemaker, even though he did authorize his officials to negotiate the six-week deal with Egypt and Qatar. He wants to stress his determination to plow into Rafah, damn the rest of the worlds resistance, damn Bidens and Schumers warnings, damn Sullivans alternative ideas. And he needs to do this in order to impress his coalition partners, all of whom are far to his right on the political spectrum. For to make the slightest public concession to peace, to even the theoretical idea of a Palestinian state, would alienate some of those partners. Only a few need to quit the coalition for his government to collapse, then there will be new elections, which, the polls indicate, Netanyahu would lose.

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Related From Slate Why Chuck Schumers New Stance on Israel Is Such a Big Deal Read More

Linda Dayan, another columnist for Haaretz, wrote recently of Israels problem of hasbarathe Hebrew word for public diplomacy. Netanyahus political allies, she wrote, have embraced a populism that eschews such elitist indulgences as understanding what people in other countries are talking about and communicating with anyone outside of your ideological bubble. 

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This tendency ties in with a long-standing tendency among Israelis. Recognizing that much of the world is hostile toward their country and their religion, they proudly proclaim a determinationeven a defianceto go it alone if necessary. They are bolstered in this attitude by their transformation of the country into an economic powerhouse and by their improbable victories in multifront wars.

And yet these triumphspolitical, economic, and militarywould not have occurred without the bountiful support of outside powers, especially the United States. Netanyahu is now actively, deliberately, alienating those powers, including politicians and masses of citizens who have supported Israel.

He seems enamored of the myth of Masada, the ancient fortification in southern Israel, where, in the 1st century A.D., almost 1,000 rebels battled off Roman invaders. Its a great, and possibly fictitious, myth that ennobles an ethos of isolated bravery. The problem, of course, is that the Jews lost the battle of Masada; the last holdout of rebels died by mass suicide rather than surrender. That ultimate lesson should not be forgotten.
A drone photo taken on March 26, 2024 shows buildings along the Xiangjiang River illuminated to celebrate the first anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Honduras, in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province. (Xinhua/Xue Yuge)

CHANGSHA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Changsha, the capital of central China's Hunan Province, on Tuesday evening staged an elaborate light show to celebrate the first anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Honduras.

The iconic buildings along the Xiangjiang River in Changsha were illuminated in a spectacle that mirrored the colors of the Honduran flag.

The show was also held to celebrate the recent signature of a letter of intent to begin an official sister city relationship between Changsha and San Pedro Sula, Honduras' largest commercial and economic hub known for its textiles, sugar, brewing, clothing and tobacco industries.

Zhou Haibing, vice governor of Hunan Province and mayor of Changsha, said that Changsha is a vibrant city where historical culture and modern styles blend perfectly, a charming city where natural and urban landscapes coexist harmoniously, and a hub where industrial development and innovation resources complement one another.

Zhou expressed optimism about the vast potential for mutually beneficial cooperation between Changsha and San Pedro Sula, and said he hopes the two cities will write a new chapter in their friendship and work toward a prosperous future of win-win cooperation.

On March 26, 2023, China and Honduras signed a joint communique in Beijing on the establishment of diplomatic relations. 

An aerial drone photo taken on March 26, 2024 shows a building illuminated to celebrate the first anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Honduras, in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province. (Xinhua/Li Bo)
Content marketing is a powerful strategy for small businesses to connect with their audience, build brand awareness, and drive growth. In this article, well explore 40 up-to-date content marketing statistics that highlight its impact and significance. Whether youre a seasoned marketer or just starting out, these stats will provide valuable insights to enhance your content strategy.

Understanding Content Marketing

Content marketing is a strategic strategy that involves creating and sharing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a specific audience. Its an inbound strategy, focusing on engaging and educating the audience through digital assets like text, images, and videos rather than direct promotional messages.

What is Content Creation?

Content creation is crucial for businesses to attract and engage audiences, build authority and trust, drive traffic and SEO, fuel social media and email campaigns, and support sales and conversions. By consistently producing high-quality content, businesses can attract potential customers, build authority, drive organic traffic, engage subscribers, and guide potential customers through their buying journey, ultimately fostering brand loyalty and success.

The Evolution of the Content Marketing Industry

Content marketing has come a long way, adapting to changing consumer behavior, technological advancements, and market dynamics. Here are some key milestones in its evolution:

Early Days (Pre-Internet) : Content marketing existed even before the internet. Brands published newsletters, brochures, and magazines to educate and engage their audience. John Deeres The Furrow magazine (first published in 1895) is a classic example of early content marketing.

: Digital Revolution (1990s-2000s) : The rise of the internet transformed content marketing. Websites, blogs, and email newsletters became popular channels. Brands started creating online content to attract and retain customers.

: Social Media Era (2000s-2010s) : Social media platforms emerged, providing new avenues for content distribution. Brands leveraged platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to engage with their audience directly.

: Content Diversity (2010s-Present) : The proliferation of content formats expanded options for marketers. Video, podcasts, webinars, and interactive content gained prominence. User-generated content (UGC) and influencer marketing became essential.

: Personalization and AI (Present and Beyond) : Personalized content experiences using data-driven insights became crucial. Artificial intelligence (AI) now assists in content creation, distribution, and optimization.

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Why Small Businesses Should Invest in Content Marketing

Content marketing is a crucial strategy for small businesses due to its cost-effective reach, building brand awareness, establishing authority and trust, driving organic traffic, nurturing customer relationships, supporting other marketing efforts, driving conversions and sales, being adaptable and diverse, offering various formats like blog posts, infographics, podcasts, and videos, and providing measurable results through metrics like website traffic, engagement, and conversion rates. It also helps small businesses maintain a consistent brand experience by responding to comments, addressing customer pain points, and providing solutions. Content marketing also supports other marketing efforts, such as social media campaigns, email newsletters, and paid advertising, creating a cohesive brand experience. It also drives conversions and sales by guiding potential customers through their buying journey. Unlike paid ads, content remains accessible over time, providing ongoing value. Overall, content marketing is a cost-effective and effective way for small businesses to reach a wide audience and build a strong brand presence.

Diving into Content Marketing Stats

There are over 600 million blogs online. Blogging has grown 12% since 2015. Over 6 million new posts are published every day WordPress is home to approximately 60 million blogs, and 43% of websites on the Internet are powered by WordPress 70% of consumers would rather read a blog post than view an ad 30% of readers prefer to read and share blog posts that have numbers in the title

Content Marketing Strategy Statistics

82% of marketers are actively investing in content marketing, 10% report not using content marketing, and 8% are unsure if their company uses content marketing. 69% of marketers actively invest time in SEO. 76% of marketers report that content marketing generates demand/leads (a 9 percentage points increase since last year). In addition, 63% of marketers say that content marketing helps to nurture the audience/customers/leads, and 50% say that it helps build loyalty with existing clients/customers (a 13 percentage points decrease). 40% of B2B marketers have a documented content marketing strategy. That percentage is higher among the most successful B2B marketers  64% have a documented content marketing strategy.

Content Marketing Budget Statistics

Almost 50% of professionals involved in content marketing expected their content budgets to increase over the next year, 26% expected them to stay the same, and 19% expected them to decrease. Content marketing revenue amounted to 63 billion U.S. dollars in 2022. The content market industry is set to reach 107 billion U.S. dollars by 2026.

Successful Content Marketing Campaigns Statistics

82% of marketers are actively investing in content marketing. 40% of B2B marketers have a documented content marketing strategy. That percentage is higher among the most successful B2B marketers  64% have a documented content marketing strategy. 76% of marketers report that content marketing generates demand/leads (a 9 percentage points increase since last year). Video was the primary form of content being created in 2023 (50%), followed by images (47%), and blogs (33%). Almost 80% of respondents had already adopted AI tools in their content marketing strategies.

Long Form Content Statistics

Long-form content attracts an average of 77.2% more links than shorter articles. Articles with a word count of over 2,500 earn the most links. Long reads of 3000+ words get 3 times more traffic than articles of average length (901-1200 words). : Long-form articles generate 2 times the engagement of short articles on mobile devices. The average blog post is 1236 words long.

Content Marketing ROI Statistics

54% of marketing professionals stated their organizations measured the return on investment of content marketing activities. 20% of marketers stated that they spent between three and five thousand U.S. dollars on content marketing every month in 2022. Content marketing generates over 3x as many leads as outbound marketing and costs 62% less. On average there is a content marketing ROI of 2.77 dollars for every dollar spent.

Statistics on Content Marketing Impact

76% of marketers report that content marketing generates demand/leads (a 9 percentage points increase since last year). In addition, 63% of marketers say that content marketing helps to nurture the audience/customers/leads, and 50% say that it helps build loyalty with existing clients/customers (a 13 percentage points decrease). 51% of the businesses that invest in content marketing publish content every day. 73% of respondents prefer to learn about a product or service from a short video. 11% prefer to read a text-based article, website, or post. 4% prefer to view an infographic. 3% prefer to download an ebook or manual. 3% prefer to attend a webinar or pitch. 3% prefer to receive a sales call or demo.

Statistics on Content Marketing Trends

Online videos have an audience reach of around 92.3% among internet users worldwide. 91% of people say they want to see more video content from brands. Video accounts for 82.5% of global internet traffic. 91% of marketers use video as a marketing tool. 66% of consumers report short-form videos as the most engaging content . 89% of people say watching a video has convinced them to buy a product or service. The average user spends 88% more time on websites that have videos. 85% of internet users in the United States watch online video content. YouTube is the most widely used video marketing platform, with 90% of video marketers trusting it. Only 36% of marketers have published live video content, such as live streams on social media channels.

Content Marketing Strategies

Content marketing is a crucial aspect of many businesses marketing strategies, with 82% of marketers actively investing in it. 40% of B2B marketers have a documented strategy, with 64% having a successful one. SEO is a crucial aspect of content marketing, with 69% actively investing in it. 76% of marketers report content marketing generates demand, and almost 80% have adopted AI tools.

The Role of Content Marketers

A content marketer is a professional who plans, researches, creates, distributes, and analyzes content to attract and engage potential customers. They typically create blog posts, how-to guides, videos, infographics, white papers, and more. Depending on their experience, content marketers may also be expected to conduct market research and analyze content performance.

Here are some common roles within the content marketing industry:

Content Strategist: Content strategists have a clear overview and understanding of a brands goals, messaging, and values. They develop a content strategy that is aligned with the overarching business objectives and oversee its implementation.

Content strategists have a clear overview and understanding of a brands goals, messaging, and values. They develop a content strategy that is aligned with the overarching business objectives and oversee its implementation. Content Creator: Content creators are responsible for producing a huge range of content types, from social media posts, video scripts, and long-form articles to guides, emails, downloadable content, and more. Their day-to-day work involves researching and writing engaging, accurate, and valuable content for specific audiences.

The Art of Creating Content

Creating content within the context of a content marketing strategy involves several key steps:

Understanding Your Audience: The first step in creating content is understanding who your audience is. This involves creating buyer personas, understanding their needs, and identifying the type of content they consume.

The first step in creating content is understanding who your audience is. This involves creating buyer personas, understanding their needs, and identifying the type of content they consume. Setting Clear Goals: Your content should have clear goals. Whether its to drive traffic, generate leads, or increase brand awareness, having clear goals will guide your content creation process.

Your content should have clear goals. Whether its to drive traffic, generate leads, or increase brand awareness, having clear goals will guide your content creation process. Brainstorming Content Ideas: Once you understand your audience and have clear goals, the next step is brainstorming content ideas. This can involve keyword research, competitor analysis, and using tools like Google Trends.

Once you understand your audience and have clear goals, the next step is brainstorming content ideas. This can involve keyword research, competitor analysis, and using tools like Google Trends. Creating the Content: The next step is creating the content. This involves writing the content, creating graphics, recording videos, etc. The content should be high-quality, engaging, and valuable to your audience.

The next step is creating the content. This involves writing the content, creating graphics, recording videos, etc. The content should be high-quality, engaging, and valuable to your audience. Promoting the Content: Once the content is created, the next step is promoting it. This can involve sharing it on social media, sending it to your email list, or using SEO to drive organic traffic.

Once the content is created, the next step is promoting it. This can involve sharing it on social media, sending it to your email list, or using SEO to drive organic traffic. Analyzing the Results: The final step is analyzing the results. This involves using analytics tools to measure the performance of your content and see if its achieving its goals.

Aspect Understanding Your Audience Setting Clear Goals Brainstorming Content Ideas Creating the Content Promoting the Content Analyzing the Results Objective Identify who the audience is and what they need Define what success looks like for your content Generate a list of topics and formats that will resonate with your audience Produce the actual content pieces Increase visibility and reach of your content Measure the impact of your content and its effectiveness Key Activities - Creating buyer personas

- Understanding audience needs

- Identifying content preferences - Setting specific, measurable goals

- Aligning goals with business objectives - Keyword research

- Competitor analysis

- Utilizing Google Trends - Writing, designing, and/or recording

- Ensuring quality and engagement - Social media sharing

- Email marketing

- SEO optimization - Using analytics tools

- Evaluating content performance against goals Tools & Techniques - Surveys

- Market research

- Social media listening - SMART goal framework

- Content strategy documents - SEO tools

- Social media analytics

- Content brainstorming tools - Content management systems (CMS)

- Design and video editing software - Social media platforms

- Email marketing software

- SEO tools - Google Analytics

- Social media insights

- Conversion tracking tools Outcome A deep understanding of the target audience's preferences and behaviors A roadmap for what the content should achieve A creative and strategic plan for content topics and formats Engaging and valuable content ready for distribution Expanded audience reach and engagement with the content Insights into content performance and areas for improvement Challenges - Accurately identifying audience segments

- Keeping up with changing audience preferences - Setting realistic yet challenging goals

- Aligning goals with larger business objectives - Coming up with original ideas

- Predicting content trends - Maintaining consistent quality

- Resource and time constraints - Cutting through the noise to reach the audience

- Platform algorithm changes - Interpreting data accurately

- Linking content performance to business outcomes

What The Latest Content Marketing Statistics Mean for Your Business

The latest content marketing statistics have several implications for your small business:

Investment in Content Marketing: With 82% of marketers actively investing in content marketing, its clear that content marketing is no longer optional. Its a crucial part of any marketing strategy.

With 82% of marketers actively investing in content marketing, its clear that content marketing is no longer optional. Its a crucial part of any marketing strategy. Documented Content Marketing Strategy: The fact that 64% of the most successful B2B marketers have a documented content marketing strategy highlights the importance of strategic planning in content marketing. If you dont have a content marketing strategy yet, now is the time to create one.

The fact that 64% of the most successful B2B marketers have a documented content marketing strategy highlights the importance of strategic planning in content marketing. If you dont have a content marketing strategy yet, now is the time to create one. Content Marketing for Lead Generation: Content marketing generates over 3x as many leads as outbound marketing and costs 62% less. This means that investing in content marketing can help you generate more leads while saving money.

Content marketing generates over 3x as many leads as outbound marketing and costs 62% less. This means that investing in content marketing can help you generate more leads while saving money. Use of AI Tools in Content Marketing: The widespread adoption of AI tools in content marketing points to the growing role of technology in optimizing content creation and distribution. If youre not already using AI tools in your content marketing, it might be worth exploring.

The widespread adoption of AI tools in content marketing points to the growing role of technology in optimizing content creation and distribution. If youre not already using AI tools in your content marketing, it might be worth exploring. Long-Form Content: Long-form content attracts an average of 77.2% more links than shorter articles. This suggests that creating long-form content can help you attract more links and generate more traffic.

FAQs: Content Marketing Statistics

How effective is content marketing?

Content marketing is highly effective, with 76% of marketers reporting that it generates demand and leads. Its a cost-effective strategy that drives organic traffic, nurtures customer relationships, and supports other marketing efforts.

Is content marketing in high demand?

Yes, content marketing is in high demand, with 82% of marketers actively investing in it. Its a crucial aspect of many businesses marketing strategies due to its effectiveness in generating leads and building brand awareness.

How big is the content marketing market?

The content marketing market revenue amounted to 63 billion U.S. dollars in 2022 and is projected to reach 107 billion U.S. dollars by 2026, indicating significant growth and opportunities in the industry.

What is the most important content marketing statistic for small businesses?

For small businesses, the most important content marketing statistic is that it generates over 3 times as many leads as outbound marketing and costs 62% less. This highlights its effectiveness and cost-efficiency in lead generation.

How do content marketing statistics influence marketing strategies?

Content marketing statistics provide valuable insights that help businesses make content marketing work. For instance, the widespread adoption of AI tools in content marketing indicates the importance of leveraging technology for optimization. Additionally, the preference for long-form content underscores the significance of creating comprehensive, engaging content.

What content marketing statistic is most surprising and why?

The statistic that long-form content attracts an average of 77.2% more links than shorter articles is surprising because it emphasizes the impact of content depth and quality on link generation. It underscores the importance of investing in comprehensive, in-depth content to enhance online visibility and authority.

How can a small business use content marketing statistics to improve their marketing?

Small businesses can use content marketing statistics to inform their strategy and decision-making processes. For example, they can allocate resources toward creating long-form content to maximize link generation and organic traffic or even learn ways to improve writing and SEO. Additionally, they can leverage AI tools to optimize content creation and distribution, thereby enhancing efficiency and effectiveness.

What strategies do successful content marketers commonly use?

Successful content marketers commonly employ strategies such as having a documented content marketing strategy (adopted by 40% of B2B marketers), investing in SEO (69% of marketers), and utilizing AI tools in content marketing (almost 80% adoption rate). You can also step up your marketing strategy and make your content marketing more productive by creating targeted, high-quality content that resonates with your audience and drives results.
The museum of the historic Von Roll cable car is accessible to visitors free of charge.

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The slopes of the third highest peak of the Low Tatras are currently full of skiers. Especially on its upper half, skiers cannot complain about the lack of snow even a few days before Easter. And it is precisely on one of the slopes, specifically the southern one, that a treasure is hidden.

Detailed travel guide to the Tatras introduces you to the whole region around the Tatra mountains, including attractions on the Polish side.

Some visitors to the sought-after tourist resort discover it by chance when they visit the Kosodrevina restaurant for refreshments, not far from the iconic mountain hotel of the same name.

Only a few metres separates the modern Funitel cable car, which can withstand even a hurricane, from the old Von Roll cable car.

More than half a century ago, it was the first one to connect two regions located on opposite sides of Chopok - Horehronie and Liptov. At that time, it was a European rarity.

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No cell phones, just a field phone

Whoever steps behind the doors of the Von Roll Cable Car Museum, located at an altitude of 1,494 metres, feels like they are travelling back in time. A valuable part of history is unveiled before their eyes, unimaginable for many today.

Thousands of tourists from different parts of the world used to travel to Chopok in this way. The Von Roll cable car was once a huge attraction in both winter and summer. It approximates the time when mobile phones did not exist, communication was ensured by a field military telephone.

The impossible became reality

The cable car was built by enthusiastic builders from the Horehronie, Liptov and Orava regions. Engineers from Podbrezova and nearby factories joined in, and hiking enthusiasts helped as well.

Based on his visit to Swiss mountain resorts in 1947, Alojz Lutonsky returned with an idea of building a chair lift to Chopok. It was supposed to be the first of its kind in Slovakia. Two years later it was in operation.

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The Von Roll transport cable car system is a historical landmark in mountain transport in Slovakia and deserves due attention. At the time, the cable car was characterised by safe and comfortable boarding, thanks to detachable carriages attached to the transport rope only after passengers had safely boarded.

"The strange thing was that the passengers were sitting sideways. The carriages were two-seaters and the travel speed was 2.5 metres per second," reads the information.

The museum of the historic Von Roll cable car is accessible to visitors free of charge from Monday to Sunday from 9:00 to 15:30.

My Novohrad

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Spectacular Slovakia travel guides
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This story was produced in partnership with Reporting Democracy, a cross-border journalism platform run by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico appears not to have gotten over a question that foreign correspondent Katarina Vitkova of RTVS, the Slovak public service broadcaster , posed at the Visegrad Group summit at the end of February in Prague.

The journalist asked Fico whether he feared that Slovakia would face isolation given his harsher rhetoric on, say, the war in Ukraine, giving Hungary as an example of this.

She lied and attacked the Slovak government, Fico claimed in a recent interview with the online conservative daily Standard , criticising RTVS and labelling it as a problem.

The interview came out a day after Slovakias Culture Ministry, which oversees the media in the country, presented a new bill on the broadcaster on March 11. Led by Martina Simkovicova (SNS nom.), a former TV presenter and notorious star of her own pro-Russian channel on Facebook, the ministry proposes to rename the public service broadcaster STaR (short for Slovak Television and Radio); change the way members of the RTVS Board are elected in order to take full control over the body; dismiss the current RTVS director, Lubos Machaj, without providing a reason; and establish a Programme Board to control and co-create RTVS content, both in television and radio.

RTVSs news reporting doesnt shy away from reporting stories in a tabloid fashion, and deploying personal attacks that many times border on violating human and civil rights in RTVS broadcasts, the Culture Ministry wrote in its proposal, failing to list a single example of this alleged practice.

Despite the state-funded broadcaster enjoying a high level of public trust , according to the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism and the Median SK research institute, the prime minister is convinced that RTVS journalists come from the liberal media, spread hatred against his coalition government, and threaten human rights because the broadcaster is, Fico claims, biased in its reporting.

Whats happening in RTVS is unseen  it has nothing to do with public service, Fico often repeats.

But the public service broadcaster itself, the opposition, media watchdogs and the public protesting on the streets disagree with the three-party coalition, accusing it of trying to turn RTVS into a state propaganda channel.

From left to right: Slovak PM Robert Fico, Polish PM Donald Tusk, Czech PM Petr Fiala, and Hungarian PM Viktor Orban during a press conference in Prague on February 27, 2024. (Source: TASR)

Fired without grounds

The leader of the opposition Progresivne Slovensko party, Michal Simecka, believes the coalition plans to use the public service broadcaster as its tool for spreading government propaganda.

It wouldnt be the first time that the broadcaster has been exploited by a Slovak government: in the 1990s, then semi-autocratic premier Vladimir Meciar was first to try it  and succeeded; and Fico himself wanted to gain influence over the broadcaster when his Smer party took power for the first time in 2006.

Well demand the withdrawal of this harmful legislation and also inform our partners in the EU, vowed Simecka.

The government was supposed to submit the bill to parliament this week so that coalition lawmakers could adopt it in April. However, the government decided to delay the bill. The reason may be the presidential election. Given the alleged violation of human rights, Fico wants to see the bill passed in a fast-track legislative procedure and thus without proper debate. The coalition also used this extraordinary method to pass a widely criticised  and currently suspended  amendment to the Penal Code in February.

However, the two other coalition parties, Hlas and the far-right Slovak National Party (SNS), have said in recent days that a parliamentary debate on the media bill should last until the start of the summer.

The legislative process, I can assure you, wont be a fast-track legislative procedure, Culture and Media Parliamentary Committee Chair Roman Michelko (SNS) told RTVS.

Yet a few days later, Michelko was no longer so sure: If there were such a thing [fast-track procedure], itd be a political decision.

Whats already certain is that the bill will have to undergo several changes because it isnt in line with EU legislation after the recent adoption of the European Media Freedom Act . Among other things, the new EU legislation doesnt allow politicians to sack the head of the public service media arbitrarily.

This regulation is a response to Orban, Fico, Jansa, Putin and those who want to transform media into their own propaganda tools or spread fake news and destabilise our democracies, MEP Ramona Strugariu was quoted in the European Parliaments press release as saying.

As such, the proposed provision that would allow the new seven-member RTVS Board, a body now to be selected by the coalition-controlled parliament and the culture minister, to dismiss the public-service broadcasters director without any reason will likely have to be removed from the bill.

The bill also has the RTVS Board assuming the power to elect the director. Until now, the director and members of the RTVS Board have been elected by parliament with a simple majority.

The bill is in accordance with EU legislation, except for the provision that the RTVS Board can dismiss the director without giving a reason, and we will respect that, the Culture Ministrys chief of staff, Lubos Machala, said.

Machala, who openly expresses his admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin on Telegram, helped draft the bill.

Several opposition parties had submitted collective comments by the time a shortened inter-department comment procedure ended earlier last week. For example, more than 11,000 people signed under the SaS partys collective comment, which the ministry will now have to deal with.

The bill turns the public service radio and television into a state medium, said the SaS partys culture expert Rene Parak.

In total, over 40 collective comments and almost 400 individual comments on the draft legislation had been submitted by March 19. The ministry claims that this is the reason why it had to delay the submission of the bill. The opposition doubts this.

Moreover, four days after the ministry unveiled the bill, around 15,000 people took part in opposition-led protests in Bratislava and Kosice, the two largest Slovak cities, in support of RTVS.

An anti-government protest in Bratislava in mid-March 2024. (Source: SME - Marko Erd)

Programme Board as censor

European Commission Vice-President Vera Jourova, who is responsible for values and transparency in the bloc, said shes been following the situation concerning the Slovak public service broadcaster very closely.

In every country there should be strong public service media, and not media that will serve as mouthpieces of a party and a government, Jourova said, adding that she wants to meet Culture Minister Simkovicova to discuss the bill.

Last year, the European Commission wrote in its annual rule of law report on Slovakia that the country should improve the independent governance and editorial independence of public-service media. Yet various media watchdogs and organisations point out that the opposite is now happening. The European Broadcasting Union has called the presented bill a thinly veiled attempt to turn the Slovak public service broadcaster into state-controlled media. Reporters Without Borders and seven other international organisations have called on the government to withdraw the bill, as have more than 40 organisations in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. More than 60,000 people have, moreover, signed an open letter, initiated by six Slovak media and anti-corruption organisations, that will be sent to EU institutions in the near future.

Media watchdogs all see a problem with the proposed Programme Board, an 11-member body to be elected by parliament. As the legislation stands, this Programme Board could intervene in RTVS broadcasts, including its news programmes.

Media analyst Ivan Godarsky from the Memo 98 organisation told Dennik N that the body would essentially serve as a censor, pointing out that the coalition used totalitarian language when describing the job of the Programme Board in the bill.

Smers former culture minister Marek Madaric shares Godarskys view. Considering the style of changes and the way in which these bodies of the public service broadcaster will be created, we can safely perceive the Programme Board as a political censorship body of the government, Madaric told Dennik N.

Although the coalition parties have criticised the public service broadcaster for allegedly being liberal and biased, the SNS party is now claiming that it couldnt care less about its news programmes. Our videos on social networks have a bigger reach than RTVS news programmes, Environment Minister Tomas Taraba (SNS nom.) told the press, describing RTVS as a junk broadcaster.

Hlas leader Peter Pellegrini, who is on course to become the next Slovak president, said this week that hed never allow someone from the politburo to censor what should be broadcast in the news. Yet Pellegrini also doesnt think there is anything wrong with the government wanting to influence the operation of certain institutions, and has asked RTVS employees to wait for the final version of the bill.

More than 1,200 employees, supported by several hundreds of journalists from other Slovak media outlets, have called on the government to withdraw the bill. The directors of Czech Radio and Czech Television, the public service broadcasters in next-door Czechia, have also stood up for RTVS.

This [bill] is undoubtedly an initial step towards the nationalisation of the public service media in Slovakia and the suppression of its free and objective broadcasting, the director of Czech Radio, Rene Zavoral, said.

Slovak President Zuzana Caputova said in a statement that she sees no real reason to cancel RTVS and rebrand it as STaR, other than an effort to take over the public service broadcaster politically.

The Slovak Public Television building in Bratislava. (Source: SME - Marko Erd)

Coalition wants better RTVS, yet cuts its budget

The coalition, needless to say, doesnt see it that way, arguing that it only wants to transform the underfunded public service broadcaster from an open-air museum into a prosperous institution with better working conditions for employees and objective reporting.

At a recent press conference, SNS leader Andrej Danko said that journalists from commercial media wouldnt even have the courage to go to the loo in RTVS, referring to the dilapidated state of the broadcasters headquarters in Bratislava. He then went on to attack RTVS director Lubos Machaj  a frequent target of the coalition. Dankos environment minister, Tomas Taraba, referred to Machaj as an indebted homeless person and criticised RTVS contracts that he has struck with external suppliers.

Machaj has been open about his personal bankruptcy situation, which is linked to a loan that he took out many years ago to save Radio Twist  a station that played a key role in defending democracy in the 1990s when the semi-autocratic premier Vladimir Meciar ruled the country and controlled the public service broadcaster.

I rule out that, as [Environment Minister Tomas] Taraba has suggested, I would exploit external firms to solve my situation, Machaj told Dennik N.

In fact, without these firms, the underfinanced RTVS wouldnt have produced many of the popular programmes and films that it has in recent years. As of July 2023, the 4.64-euro monthly licence fee, which hadnt been raised for two decades, was eventually scrapped and RTVS was supposed to receive 0.17 per cent of GDP every year instead. The current government, however, reduced this to 0.12 per cent last December, citing the need to consolidate the public finances.

The new bill doesnt change the percentage. Instead, the coalition mentions increasing the advertising share for RTVS and the reintroduction of a contract with the state, through which the state would order production of a certain number of programmes in the public interest and pay for them. The latter is said to be removed from the bill.

Nor do reports attached to the bill explain in what way European countries such as Italy and Norway have inspired the bill, something the coalition boasts about. The coalition also claims the bill is in response to discontent voiced by various groups, but it has mentioned no specific organisation or name to date. Machaj says that the Council for Media Services, a national oversight body for the media sector, has identified only two minor issues under his management since he took office two years ago.

Im convinced that the coalition is not trying to solve problems based on facts, but only on assumptions, Machaj said .

In fact, he believes that 95 per cent of the bill is identical with the current one and the only goal of the bill is to get rid of him. Only the instruments of power influence have changed [in the bill]. I experienced censorship under Communism, and this is close to it, the RTVS director said.

He added that he wont give up: I will fight for the independence of RTVS until the last possible moment.

If the coalition gets its way, that moment will come sooner than later.
An anti-corruption foundation says Matus Sutaj Estok plans to cut the number of NAKA officers.

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Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok of the Hlas party is said to be restraining the investigation of corruption by reducing the staff working on the most serious economic and organised crimes after the presidential election.

Zastavme Korupciu, an anti-corruption foundation, reports that the reorganisation within the National Crime Agency (NAKA), a police branch, was discussed at a meeting of a police union in mid-March. The entire process should be launched in May, one month after the second round of presidential elections.

Speaker of Parliament Peter Pellegrini, who is the leader of the coalition party Hlas, is running for president. He promises in his campaign that Slovakia will remain a safe country. The leader of the party finished second with 37.02 percent in the initial round.

The Fico government, which includes Hlas and the SNS parties, abolished the Special Prosecutors Office last week. The body oversaw the investigation of serious crimes, including corruption cases linked to the coalition parties. At the end of last year, the interior minister sacked then-police chief, Stefan Hamran, as well as his close colleague and National Crime Agency chief, Lubomir Danko. Under their management, the police began to investigate high-level corruption.

Danko works with Zastavme Korupciu today.

Skull hunters

According to the foundation, the number of NAKA police officers should be reduced from 600 to 250. The changes should also affect the National Central Office For Special Types of Crime (NCODK). The office investigates cybercrimes and environmental crimes. Skull hunters, who search for the most wanted criminals, often hiding abroad, also work at the NCODK, the foundation points out.

Last year, drug dealer and one of the most wanted Slovaks, Michal Pis, was arrested in the Colombian city of Cartagena.

Moreover, three former members of the security forces are currently hiding in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Jan Kalavsky, Marian Kucerka and Peter Gasparovic. They were all charged with corruption. In the case of Kalavsky and Gasparovic, verdicts are not yet final.

PM Robert Fico (Smer) appears to be on good terms with Bosnian Serb separatist leader Milorad Dodik.

What NAKA does

The interior minister announced his ambition of further reshuffles at NAKA in a January interview with the conservative misinformation daily Standard.

Today, NAKA has four branches headquartered in Bratislava, Nitra, Banska Bystrica and Kosice. Except for Bratislava, each of these branches has 11 departments that cover investigations, analytics, undercover operations, and financial crime investigations. Bratislava has 12 departments.

Apart from organised crime, economic and tax crimes, extremism and terrorism, they also investigate corruption and crimes concerning the misuse of European funds.
A children's art gallery director sacked without reason.

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One day after Culture Minister Martina Simkovicova dismissed Zuzana Liptakova as director of Bibiana, a childrens art gallery in Bratislava, the minister has found a replacement with no previous experience in cultural management.

Economist Petra Flachova, the new director, used to work for IBM. She was a yoga instructor, according to the Sme daily. She lives in the Austrian town of Kittsee - like the culture minister herself - just a stones throw from the Slovak capital. Flachova and Simkovicova (SNS nom.) should be neighbours, the daily notes.

The two are also friends on Facebook.

In addition, Flachova has shared disinformation posts on her social media, including videos from the pro-Russian and misinformation Facebook channel TV Slovan, which has been renamed Martina a Peter. The minister is one of the stars of this channel.
According to Jaroslav Nad, the contract on US jets includes such a clause.

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Speaker of Parliament and presidential candidate Peter Pellegrini, who promises in his campaign that he will be a pro-Slovak president and will protect the countrys sovereignty, has been accused of transferring a military airport area located in central Slovakia to the United States.

The contract for the procurement of 14 F-16 fighter jets, approved by Pellegrini's government and signed by then-defence minister Peter Gajdos (SNS) in late 2018, is said to contain a provision that transfers a portion of Sliac airport to the USA.

Former defence minister Jaroslav Nad (Demokrati) and analyst Monika Podhorany Masarikova assert that according to the contract, only Americans have exclusive access to that part of the airport. Slovak citizens can enter it if they obtain prior approval of the US government, they say.

Nad, the leader of the non-parliamentary Demokrati party, claims that this is another case of a pharisaic approach by the presidential candidate.

Peter Pellegrini frequently mentions sovereignty. He called us traitors and, along with Fico, claimed that we [previous OLaNO-led governments] were going to hand over Sliac airport to the Americans. It was his government that agreed to hand over sovereignty of part of the Sliac military airport to the US government, said the ex-defence minister.

When speaking of traitors, the ex-minister refers to the signing of the Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA) with the USA two years ago. Hlas, headed by Pellegrini, and Smer, criticised the then Heger government for signing the agreement at that time.

From criticising DCA to calling Korcok a warmonger

In 2022, Slovakia even became dotted with billboards portraying the faces and names of MPs who supported the agreement, including President Zuzana Caputova. Hlas criticised this Smer-launched initiative. The opposition, moreover, wanted to hold a referendum on the agreement, arguing that it would violate Slovakias sovereignty.

Instead, Sliac, a spa town, held a local referendum on a US military base, though there was no plan to build such a base in the town. The referendum was invalid, and later declared unlawful.

After the 2023 parliamentary elections, Smer planned to cancel the defence agreement. Recently, the party admitted that the contract could not be cancelled in the next 10 years. Still, the government would like to amend the agreement.

In terms of the war in Ukraine, Pellegrini continues to spread a false narrative that his rival, former diplomat Ivan Korcok, would send Slovak soldiers to Ukraine. The president, unlike the government and the parliament, doesnt possess such powers.

PM Robert Fico (Smer) calls Korcok a warmonger working for the West.
Presidential election updates, Star Wars at RTVS, wind warnings, and NME interviews a Slovak singer.

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Good evening. Here is the Tuesday, March 26 edition of Today in Slovakia - the main news of the day in less than five minutes.

Smer MP appears on anti-Semites show

Daniel Bombic (l), Tibor Gaspar (c) and Judita Lassakova (r). (Source: YouTube)

On Tuesday, opposition MPs wanted to know why Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok appeared last week on a show hosted by prosecuted hoaxer Daniel Bombic.

However, the defence and security committee didnt start as many lawmakers were absent. Its chair Tibor Gaspar (Smer), who is a former police chief facing criminal charges, promised to raise the matter at the committee next week. The minister will thus have to show up again.

Unsurprisingly, Gaspar was also Bombics guest tonight. The Smer MP told the Sme daily that he got an invitation from Judita Lassakova, one of Smers candidates for the MEP. He added that he didnt know if Bombic, also known as Danny Kollar, would join in. (The interior minister used a similar argument last week and said it was important to address people who follow alternative media.) The discussion was streamed on Bombics channel.

Like the interior minister, Gaspar argued that Bombic isnt a convict, adding that his prosecution is purposeful. Gaspar also appeared on the show in April of last year.

They threaten the security of the country, but they also undermine the trust of our allies, said SaS MP Juraj Krupa.

Related: The extradition proceedings on Bombics extradition to Slovakia were supposed to take place on Tuesday, but were postponed again. The anti-Semite has been hiding in the UK.

FEATURE STORY FOR TUESDAY

Slovakias public broadcaster: Star Wars

The Slovak Public Television building in Bratislava. (Source: SME - Marko Erd)

Whats happening in RTVS is unseen  it has nothing to do with public service, PM Robert Fico says. Many disagree and accuse Fico and his government of trying to turn RTVS into a state propaganda channel.

More stories from The Slovak Spectator website

Politics: Former PM Peter Pellegrini handed over a Slovak military base to the USA, says ex-defence minister Jaroslav Nad.

Former PM Peter Pellegrini handed over a Slovak military base to the USA, says ex-defence minister Jaroslav Nad. Police: Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estoks further changes to the police will limit corruption investigation, an anti-corruption foundation says.

Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estoks further changes to the police will limit corruption investigation, an anti-corruption foundation says. Culture: Culture Minister Martina Simkovicova appoints her Kittsee neighbour as childrens art gallery head.

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.

MUSIC FOR TUESDAY

Karin Ann - false good

video //www.youtube.com/embed/k6f1HyGx8sw

Slovak artist Karin Anns debut album Through The Telescope will be released on May 10. But you can explore more about her life and music in an interview run by NME. It was published yesterday.

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION UPDATES:

The Slovensko party is ready to meet with presidential candidate Ivan Korcok. Korcok said on Monday that he is communicating with Slovensko leader Igor Matovic.

Korcok said on Monday that he is communicating with Slovensko leader Igor Matovic. The opposition KDH party unequivocally supports candidate Korcok in the second round of the presidential election, said KDH chair Milan Majersky.

of the presidential election, said KDH chair Milan Majersky. The coalition parties Slovenska Narodna Strana (SNS) and Smer will fully endorse presidential candidate and Speaker of Parliament Peter Pellegrini in the second round. PM Robert Fico has called Korcok a warmonger, claiming that Korcok would send Slovak soldiers to Ukraine. Korcok has repeatedly refuted this claim.

PM Robert Fico has called Korcok a warmonger, claiming that Korcok would send Slovak soldiers to Ukraine. Korcok has repeatedly refuted this claim. Hlas politicians continue to claim that Korcok, as president, would help abolish the right of veto in the EU. However, it is a lie. He would not have the competence to do so. After Brussels, the Slovak parliament would have to decide on narrowing or cancelling the right of veto.

However, it is a lie. He would not have the competence to do so. After Brussels, the Slovak parliament would have to decide on narrowing or cancelling the right of veto. The Extra plus magazine, which supported Pellegrini and criticised Korcok, was sent to every fifth household , said Transparency International Slovakia.

, said Transparency International Slovakia. Korcok and Pellegrini will meet in the first debate ahead of the second round in RTVS. The debate will be broadcast by Radio Slovensko and RTVS:24 at 12:30 on Thursday. On social media, the two candidates accuse one another of avoiding the pre-election debates.

The debate will be broadcast by Radio Slovensko and RTVS:24 at 12:30 on Thursday. On social media, the two candidates accuse one another of avoiding the pre-election debates. On Tuesday, the Labour Ministry presented a new tool to help unemployed young people. Pellegrini also attended the press conference of the ministry, and spoke for about 10 minutes. He did not hide the fact that it is part of his campaign.

Pellegrini also attended the press conference of the ministry, and spoke for about 10 minutes. He did not hide the fact that it is part of his campaign. Pellegrini met mayors from southern Slovakia yesterday. He promised them good relations with Viktor Orban.

Presidential candidate Ivan Korcok in Banska Bystrica on March 26, 2024. (Source: Facebook/Ivan Korcok)

WEATHER FOR WEDNESDAY: The weather is expected to be mostly cloudy with occasional showers throughout the day. Strong winds are forecast for most regions of Slovakia. Wind warnings are in place. Temperature-wise, the daily range is forecast to be between 14 to 19 degrees Celsius. (SHMU)

MARCH 27 NAME DAY IN SLOVAKIA: Alena.

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).
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240325/iran--russias-collaborative-success-bushehr-nuclear-power-plant-1117550460.html

Iran & Russia's Collaborative Success: Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant

Iran & Russia's Collaborative Success: Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant

Sputnik International

Building the first unit of Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in cooperation with Russia has been one of the most important achievements in Irans energy sector, Deputy Chairman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Hossein Derakhshandeh told Sputnik in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of ATOMEXPO-2024 international forum.

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"Iran has made significant achievements in the energy sector, one of which was the commissioning of the first power unit of Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in cooperation with Russian specialists. Last year we celebrated the 10th anniversary of the operation of the first unit of Bushehr NPP, and during these 10 years the power plant has achieved record figures in producing electricity without the use of fossil fuels," the deputy chairman said.According to Derakhshandeh, the first unit of Bushehr NPP is a good example of international cooperation and, among other things, a creative approach to cooperation in the nuclear field."We are currently building the second and third units of Bushehr NPP in cooperation with the Russians and given the pace of the project, we expect that they will be commissioned on the scheduled dates," he said.He said the Iranian delegation held meetings with representatives of various companies, including Russian companies, on the sidelines of the exhibition. "We hope that these meetings will lead to the conclusion of new agreements and contracts in the near future," Derakhshandeh stressed.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230827/iran-takes-giant-step-toward-nuclear-self-sufficiency-with-homegrown-cesium-137-1112931550.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240326/airstrikes-hit-headquarters-of-allied-forces-of-syrian-army-in-deir-ez-zor---source-1117551161.html

Airstrikes Hit Headquarters of Allied Forces of Syrian Army in Deir ez-Zor - Source

Airstrikes Hit Headquarters of Allied Forces of Syrian Army in Deir ez-Zor - Source

Sputnik International

Airstrikes were carried out on the headquarters of forces allied to the Syrian army in the province of Deir ez-Zor in eastern Syria, killing and injuring civilians and military personnel, a source told Sputnik.

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"Unknown aircraft struck the headquarters of the allied forces in the central part of the city of Deir ez-Zor, as a result, 15 civilians, including women and children, and several soldiers were injured," the source said. The source also noted that several soldiers were killed in an attack on the headquarters of the allied forces in the city of Al Mayadin in Deir ez-Zor. In addition, the headquarters of allied forces in the city of Al Bukamal on the border with Iraq were also attacked, the source said.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20231229/russian-forces-destroy-10-air-bombs-3-cruise-missiles-fired-by-israel-on-syria-1115881500.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240326/biden-administration-slammed-for-pr-stunt-as-backing-of-israeli-killing-continues-1117550907.html

Biden Administration Slammed for PR Stunt as Backing of Israeli Killing Continues

Biden Administration Slammed for PR Stunt as Backing of Israeli Killing Continues

Sputnik International

The US president has continued to provide the Netanyahu regime with lethal aid even while occasionally signaling public opposition to Israels bloody campaign.

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Six House Democrats sent a letter to US President Joe Biden Saturday calling continued US aid to Israel into question as the embattled Netanyahu government continues to block humanitarian aid from entering the besieged Gaza Strip. The countrys conduct, the lawmakers warned, risked putting Israel in violation of Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act which forbids US support for regimes blocking access to humanitarian assistance.The move comes as the Biden administration allowed a United Nations resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza to pass after having blocked similar statements multiple times. The Israeli government, in turn, canceled a pair of Netanyahu advisors planned trip to Washington.The developments have caused some to conclude that Bidens position on Israels Gaza campaign has evolved after months of lockstep support. But analyst Misty Winston threw cold water on such claims during an appearance Monday on Sputniks The Critical Hour program.Winston cited the recent campaign among progressive activists to urge voters to mark uncommitted on their Democratic Party primary ballots as an act of protest against Bidens handling of the issue. Polling has shown the president risks losing Novembers election after angering large portions of his partys base, including Arab American voters in swing states like Michigan.The Biden administration has continued to supply the Netanyahu regime with lethal aid even while occasionally citing opposition in public. A recent report revealed the White House has secretly sent over 100 aid packages to Israel, packaging the aid and weapons shipments in such a way as to avoid public and congressional scrutiny.We all know that Israel is going to break the ceasefire, Winston said, noting the Netanyahu government returned to killing civilians in Gaza after a temporary ceasefire ended in November. We know that they are going to continue to slaughter Palestinians. And I'm just curious, what are the repercussions when that inevitably happens?Winston also slammed allegedly progressive Democratic Party members like Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who only recently admitted that Israels campaign in Gaza is genocidal after an embarrassing encounter with protesters. The International Court of Justice ordered Israel to take steps to cease acts and statements from officials encouraging genocide in a case brought by South Africa earlier this year.Ocasio-Cortez has frequently demonstrated ignorance on matters of foreign policy, once parroting the US State Department line on Chinese oppression of people in Tibet. The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has used the Dalai Lama and supporters of Tibets former slaveholding class as paid assets for decades. Living standards in the autonomous region have improved dramatically after Chinese leader Mao Zedong liberated Tibet from its feudal system.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240310/with-us-backing-israel-is-starving-22-million-palestinians-in-gaza-1117237324.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240319/israel-may-use-starvation-as-method-of-war-in-gaza-strip---un-human-rights-chief-1117424516.html

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Search and Rescue (SAR) team members search for victims after a landslide at Cibenda village in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia, March 26, 2024. Rescuers continued the search operation on Tuesday for 10 people missing in a landslide in Indonesia's West Java province on Sunday evening, said local disaster mitigation agency. (Photo by Septianjar Muharam/Xinhua)

JAKARTA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Rescuers continued the search operation on Tuesday for 10 people missing in a landslide in Indonesia's West Java province on Sunday evening, said local disaster mitigation agency.

In its earlier report issued on Monday, West Bandung Disaster Mitigation Agency said nine villagers had gone missing in the disaster. The agency has revised the total number of missing villagers from nine to 10 as search and rescure operation unfolds.

The agency chief Meidi said that a joint rescue team has expanded its search operations to find the 10 missing locals, including four children.

He also said that more than 400 villagers were temporarily accommodated in the village's hall and schools.

Disasters like floods and landslides often occur in the Southeast Asian country during the rainy season. 

This photo taken on March 26, 2024 shows a view of a landslide site at Cibenda village in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. Rescuers continued the search operation on Tuesday for 10 people missing in a landslide in Indonesia's West Java province on Sunday evening, said local disaster mitigation agency. (Photo by Septianjar Muharam/Xinhua)
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240326/budget-passed-amidst-controversy-over-aid-to-ukraine-and-israel-1117545507.html

Budget Passed Amidst Controversy Over Aid to Ukraine and Israel

Budget Passed Amidst Controversy Over Aid to Ukraine and Israel

Sputnik International

On this episode of The Final Countdown, hosts Angie Wong and Ted Rall dissect critical events shaping domestic and international landscapes, featuring expert analysis.

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the final countdown

radio

us budget

donald trump

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crocus city hall

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Budget Passed Amidst Controversy Over Aid to Ukraine and Israel Sputnik International On this episode of The Final Countdown, hosts Angie Wong and Ted Rall dissect critical events shaping domestic and international landscapes, featuring expert analysis.

In the first hour, the show explores the implications of the US passing the budget while foreign funding remains unresolved. Finance expert Aquiles Larrea offers insights into the financial intricacies at play.Simultaneously, the discussion turns to former President Trump's involvement in a hush money trial and the looming deadline for a $457 million bond. Tax attorney Steve Hayes provides his analysis on the fate of the former US President as he faces several charges.In the second hour, attention shifts to the tragic Moscow concert hall massacre and Russia's response. International relations and security analyst Mark Sleboda offers insights into the geopolitical implications and potential security measures in response to the attack.Later, the show discusses the resignation of Boeing's CEO amid the Max-9 crisis. Lawyer and political commentator Steve Gill weighs in on the aviation industry's response and the potential ramifications for Boeing's future.The views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the position of Sputnik.We'd love to get your feedback at radio@sputniknews.comCatch us in the US at 105.5FM, 104.7FM, 102.9FM, 1390AM, 1140AM

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240326/eu-not-sanctioning-russian-nuclear-sector--official-on-russia-hungary-nuclear-cooperation-1117564106.html

EU Not Sanctioning Russian Nuclear Sector  Official on Russia-Hungary Nuclear Cooperation

EU Not Sanctioning Russian Nuclear Sector  Official on Russia-Hungary Nuclear Cooperation

Sputnik International

The European Union has no comments concerning Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjartos visit to Russia for a nuclear energy forum, European Commission spokesman Tim McPhie said on Tuesday, adding that the EU imposed no sanctions against Russia's nuclear sector

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On Monday, Szijjarto participated in the 2024 Atomexpo International Forum in Russia's Sirius Federal Territory and held a meeting with the head of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, Alexey Likhachev. Russia and Hungary have long been cooperating in the nuclear energy sector. Hungary's only nuclear power plant, the four-reactor Paks NPP, was built on a Soviet design and uses Russian-made reactors, with Russia supplying nuclear fuel for the plant. Budapest plans to expand the plant by adding two more reactors with the help of Rosatom under the Paks-II project.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240325/hungary-interested-in-continuing-nuclear-energy-cooperation-with-russia-1117540103.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240326/initial-information-from-crocus-city-hall-attack-suspects-proves-ukrainian-link---fsb-1117564739.html

Initial Information From Crocus City Hall Attack Suspects Proves Ukrainian Link - FSB

Initial Information From Crocus City Hall Attack Suspects Proves Ukrainian Link - FSB

Sputnik International

Initial data received from those detained in the case related to the terrorist attack in Moscow Concert Hall confirms links to Ukraine, Federal Security Service (FSB) Director Alexander Bortnikov said on Tuesday

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2024-03-26T15:22+0000

2024-03-26T16:41+0000

russia

moscow concert hall attack

alexander bortnikov

moscow

ukraine

federal security service

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The primary data we received from the detainees confirms this. Therefore, we will further finalize the information that should show us whether the presence and participation of the Ukrainian side is real or not. In any case, for now there is reason to say that this is exactly the case, Bortnikov said in an interview with Rossiya 1 reporter Pavel Zarubin.Earlier today, Bortnikov noted that perpetrators of the attack tried to escape after committing the act, the FSB head said, adding that it is a fact that they were planning to escape to Ukraine, but the Russian special services did everything to prevent this from happening.He also went on to elaborate that the Ukrainian special forces are involved in the terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall concert venue, while ISIS* militants prepared it.The Russian special services are actively working with the 11 people detained in connection with the terrorist attack and the circle of identified accomplices will be larger, the FSB head clarified.The head of Russias main investigative body earlier clarified that 139 people died in the attack. At least 40 victims died from gunshot wounds and 45 lost their lives in the fire that erupted during the attack. Alexander Bastrykin added that other 182 people were injured.* ISIS (also known as ISIL/IS/Islamic State) is a terrorist group outlawed in Russia and many other countries.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240326/west-ukraine-needed-moscow-concert-hall-attack-to-create-panic-in-russia---fsb-head-1117559942.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240326/japanese-cabinet-approves-easing-of-rules-for-new-fighter-jet-exports-to-third-countries-1117554800.html

Japanese Cabinet Okays Relaxing Rules for Exporting New Fighter Jets to Third Countries

Japanese Cabinet Okays Relaxing Rules for Exporting New Fighter Jets to Third Countries

Sputnik International

Japan's cabinet of ministers on Tuesday approved the easing of defense export rules, which will enable the country to ship new generation fighter jets developed together with the United Kingdom and Italy to third countries.

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2024-03-26T09:35+0000

2024-03-26T09:56+0000

military

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japan

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The cabinet's decision came after the ruling coalition of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its partner, the Komeito party, on March 15 reached an agreement to ease export regulations to allow the sale of the cutting-edge stealth fighter jointly developed with the UK and Italy. Under the new rules, approval will be needed not only from the Japanese government, but also from the cabinet of ministers to export the jets. Moreover, the planes can be transferred only to countries that have signed deals for the supply of military equipment with Japan. The list includes 15 nations at the moment. The jets also cannot be exported to countries that are involved in an active military conflict. "We intend to keep taking our basic position as a peaceful nation by implementing a carefully considered solution," Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said, following the government meeting. Tokyo aims to "build a fighter jet that matches the security situation around Japan," he added. In December 2022, the leaders of Japan, Italy and the United Kingdom agreed on a joint development of a new generation fighter jet. It will replace the F-2 jets in Japan, and the Eurofighter Typhoon jets in Italy and the UK. In December 2023, the UK, Italy and Japan inked an international deal within the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) military program to develop a stealth fighter with supersonic capability that is expected to enter service by 2035. The supersonic stealth jet will be equipped with "a powerful radar" able to provide 10,000 times more data than current systems and deliver "a battle-winning advantage," the UK government said. The joint development phase within the program is expected to launch in 2025, the UK authorities said.Earlier the head of the Russian General Staff's Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) Igor Kostyukov exposed US plans to establish a network of Washington-controlled alliances in the Asia-Pacific region and reshape the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' (ASEAN) security systems to deter Russia and China.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230604/china-warns-nato-like-alliances-in-asia-may-plunge-region-into-whirlpool-of-conflicts-1110897321.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240326/london-high-court-ruling-considered-triumph-for-assange-but-battle-far-from-over--1117561168.html

London High Court Ruling Considered 'Triumph' for Assange But Battle Far From Over

London High Court Ruling Considered 'Triumph' for Assange But Battle Far From Over

Sputnik International

The court has allowed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to continue to challenge the decision on his extradition to the United States in UK courts. What does this mean for Assange's legal fight?

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Julian Assange will not be extradited immediately to the US, a London High Court has ruled.Likewise, Washington has been given three weeks to provide "satisfactory assurances" that the WikiLeaks founder will face a fair trial, could rely on the First Amendment, and will not be subject to the death penalty.The Tuesday ruling by the London court grants the WikiLeaks founder an opportunity to continue his fight against extradition to the US where he faces a whopping 18 charges, all bar one under the Espionage Act, Sputnik interlocutors have explained."The court decision is a great triumph for freedom of speech and journalism conduct," Andy Vermaut, a Belgian human rights activist and the president of the World Council for Public Diplomacy and Community Dialogue, told Sputnik. "This ruling illuminates the enduring struggle for freedom of the press and the rights of individuals to uncover truths that are in the publics best interest."Assange's Limited Ability to Appeal is InjusticeWhile the court's ruling spells a victory for the Assange legal team, the WikiLeaks founder is being granted permission to appeal on only three of the nine grounds, remarked Taylor Hudak, an independent investigative journalist. She noted that people "do feel that this was somewhat of an injustice.""Another point to make is that he will not be immediately extradited, obviously, and this again gives him an opportunity to prevent spending the rest of his life in a US prison. So that is always welcome," the independent journalist continued.The battle is far from over, pointed out Dr. David William Norris, a political commentator and former teaching fellow at a college in Birmingham.Assange, 52, has been held in a UK high-security prison since 2019. He was detained after the Ecuadorian government annulled the asylum granted to him by the previous cabinet in 2012. The US is seeking to bring Assange to trial for publishing thousands of classified documents concerning Washington's alleged military crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq in 2010. These damning materials had been provided to WikiLeaks by then-US Army private and whistleblower Chelsea (born Bradley) Manning.Assange's Extradition Will Set Dangerous PrecedentInternational human rights groups and journalists warn that Assange's possible extradition to the US would become an ominous signal for freedom of speech and freedom of press across the world."In a genuine democracy criticism should be allowed," argued Norris. "To allow the United States to have their way, not only would it be a personal tragedy for Julian Assange, but would bite deeply into every understanding of press freedom. Public Overwhelmingly in Favor of AssangeDespite the US government's efforts to depict Assange as a criminal, people in many countries are inclined to see the WikiLeaks founder as a hero and martyr, according to Sputnik's interlocutors. The public is overwhelmingly in favor of Assange with supporters of him ranging across the political spectrum.According to the observers, the UK court took into account the overwhelming public support for Assange and freedom of speech, hence the decision granting his legal team an opportunity to continue the fight. There could also be other underlying reasons behind the Assange defense team's victory, according to Norris."Whilst the Assange case has not widely gripped the public imagination as far as I can tell, were Julian shipped off to the USA hooded in a CIA plane like a terrorist, there would be outrage and there can be little doubt this would spill out onto the streets," the political commentator suggested."Yet another cause demonstrating on the streets is the last thing our weak and declining government would want in an election year. Again, the High Court is not known for granting government wishes at the drop of a hat and may simply wish to underline its authority in not giving way to UK government wishes, scoring thereby political points," he continued.Sputnik's interlocutors bemoaned the fact that the WikiLeaks founder remains behind the bars of the Belmarsh prison despite obvious problems with mental health and his deplorable physical condition.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240326/london-court-allows-assange-to-continue-challenging-decision-on-his-extradition-to-us-1117556452.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240221/ex-un-expert-if-assange-is-extradited-to-us-no-journalist-in-world-will-be-safe-1116904070.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240326/assanges-wife-holds-presser-after-london-courts-extradition-ruling-1117557567.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240326/pelosi-accused-of-insider-trading-makes-major-stock-move-1117552058.html

Pelosi, Accused of Insider Trading, Makes Major Stock Move

Pelosi, Accused of Insider Trading, Makes Major Stock Move

Sputnik International

Last week also saw the arrest of a protester who demonstrated at the powerful US lawmakers home. The activist is being held on felony charges.

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Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) raised eyebrows recently with the revelation the former US House Speaker placed a big bet on a little-known San Francisco tech startup.A disclosure made last week showed the powerful Democratic Party politician purchased $5 million in stock of the privately-held company Databricks, a cloud data company.The stake is one of dozens Pelosi holds in US tech companies, some obscure and some well-known such as Tesla and Microsoft. The lawmaker has reportedly invested more than $120 million in stock purchases since entering federal government in 1987. Her net worth is thought to be over $100 million, although her current salary as a US congresswoman is just over $220,000.Pelosi has never been convicted of criminal wrongdoing in her investment activity, although her portfolios impressive return of 65% last year might suggest the legislator is more informed than average traders. US stock indices grew an average of 26% in 2023.Pelosi opposed attempts to ban lawmakers from buying and selling stocks in 2021 under the claim such activity could be viewed as insider trading. We are a free-market economy, she said at the time. They [Congress members] should be able to participate in that.Former director of the US Office of Government Ethics Walter Shaub slammed the argument as ridiculous.She might as well have said 'let them eat cake, said Shaub, referring to famous comments by the French queen Marie Antoinette. Sure, it's a free-market economy. But your average schmuck doesn't get confidential briefings from government experts chock full of nonpublic information directly related to the price of stocks.Late last week it was announced that an activist involved in pro-Palestine protests at the California lawmakers home had been arrested on felony vandalism charges. Cynthia Papermaster, 77, is reportedly being held on a $50,000 bond.Pelosi called for the anti-war activists to be investigated by the FBI in an appearance on US television after the incident earlier this year. Pelosi first claimed the demonstrators were being paid by China, then later clarified she believed Russia was behind the act of civil disobedience.The former House speaker joins the ranks of opponents of US civil rights with her comments; detractors frequently claimed racial justice protests in the 1960s and 70s were fomented by Russia to sow discord in the United States.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230226/video-heckler-asks-pelosi-for-stock-tips-quizzes-her-on-aid-for-ukraine-1107818845.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20180809/New-York-RepToutsJobCreationinSpeechAfterInsiderTradingArrest-1067059897.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240129/russians-under-the-bed-pelosi-says-moscow-funding-pro-palestine-protests-1116457006.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240326/russia-to-conduct-moscow-concert-hall-attack-investigation-on-its-own---lavrov-1117558885.html

Russia to Conduct Moscow Concert Hall Attack Investigation on Its Own - Lavrov

Russia to Conduct Moscow Concert Hall Attack Investigation on Its Own - Lavrov

Sputnik International

Russia will conduct an investigation into the terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall concert venue on its own, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday when discussing Interpols readiness to support the investigation.

2024-03-26T11:33+0000

2024-03-26T11:33+0000

2024-03-26T11:33+0000

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Interpol Secretary General Jurgen Stock said on Saturday the the international organization is ready to assist the Russian authorities in the relevant investigation. "I do not recall such an initiative from Interpol in previous cases, which also required the closest international attention. The most obvious example is the North Stream [pipelines]. No one volunteered to help us investigate .... On the one hand, I am sure that we can handle this investigation. On the other hand, we will hardly need such assistance, which will obviously be a manifestation of double standards and, most likely, will be aimed at promoting the theory convenient for the West that the Islamic State [banned in Russia] did it and Ukraine had nothing to do with it. I will say once again: we can manage on our own," Lavrov told a press conference.On March 22, a group of camouflaged men armed to the teeth stormed the Crocus City Hall concert venue outside Moscow, murdering over 130 people in cold blood and then setting the building ablaze. The gunmen who carried out this carnage were later apprehended not far from the Ukrainian border and were promptly and thoroughly interrogated. The investigation has shown that the perpetrators were adherents of jihadist ideology. However, officials believe that this savage act of terrorism may have been masterminded by another group or force.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240323/terrorist-attack-in-moscow-does-not-look-like-isis-handiwork-expert-1117512832.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240326/russian-intelligence-services-kept-eye-on-wests-effort-to-weaponize-isis--1117565239.html

Russian Intelligence Services Kept Eye on West's Effort to Weaponize ISIS*

Russian Intelligence Services Kept Eye on West's Effort to Weaponize ISIS*

Sputnik International

Over the past two years, Moscow has collected evidence of Western involvement in training and arming jihadi terrorists to weaponize them on the Ukrainian battlefield and Russia's rear.

2024-03-26T16:58+0000

2024-03-26T16:58+0000

2024-03-26T17:16+0000

russia

world

moscow concert hall attack

vladimir putin

ukraine

syria

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The Crocus City Hall terror attack has raised questions about the West's repeated use of jihadist elements, starting from arming Mujahideen in Afghanistan during the Cold War era to most recent reports of Islamists fighting on the side of the Kiev regime.Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) stated on February 13, 2023, that it obtained intelligence indicating that the US military was actively recruiting militants from jihadist groups affiliated with ISIS* and al-Qaeda* to carry out terrorist attacks in Russia and the CIS countries. According to the SVR, particular attention is paid to attracting people from the Russian North Caucasus and Central Asia to cooperate.The Russian intelligence service revealed that in January 2023, 60 terrorists with experience of participating in hostilities in the Middle East were recruited by the West, adding that they were undergoing training at the American base in Al-Tanf, Syria, to conduct terrorist and subversive attacks. The SVR noted at the time that the militants would be dispatched in small groups to the territory of Russia and the CIS countries in cooperation with underground cells of international terrorist groups, including Hizb ut-Tahrir*, Jamaat Ansarullah* and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan*.Intel data confirming the plans described by the SVR started to emerge later in the year. Russian Security Service (FSB) Director Alexander Bortnikov stated at the October 2023 meeting of heads of Russian security agencies and special services that ISIS and other terrorist groups were fighting against Russia as part of the Ichkerian and Crimean Tatar mercenary units in Ukraine. ISIS is also part of sabotage and reconnaissance groups sent to Russian territory to carry out attacks and terrorist attacks, Bortnikov emphasized.According to Bortnikov, the US and its NATO allies have turned Ukraine into nothing short of a terrorist hotbed.The FSB chief likewise drew special attention to the US and British intelligence services' efforts to create a "belt of instability" in Afghanistan near the southern borders of the CIS, where al-Qaeda and the ISIS groups are becoming stronger. To that end, the Western intelligence services were recruiting militants from international terrorist organizations operating in Iraq, Syria, and a number of other Asian and African countries, and transferring them to northern Afghanistan.Islamic Terror Groups Flocking to UkraineFrom the very beginning of the Russian special operation in Ukraine, reports started to emerge in international media outlets and blogs, shedding light on jihadists of all stripes flocking to the combat zone in Ukraine. In early March 2022, the BBC quoted Syria-based terrorist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham* (HTS) explicitly expressing solidarity with the Kiev regime. High-profile HTS member al-Shamali al-Hurr took to Telegram to cheer Ukrainian victories by sharing footage and graphic images of damaged Russian military hardware and dead soldiers.In April 2022, reports emerged claiming that the White Helmets, a Western-backed so-called "humanitarian" Syrian group, had arrived in Ukraine. Prior to this, the group, officially known as the Syrian Civil Defense, pledged to provide "tutorials" to the Ukrainian forces. The group was accused by Syrians of being connected to al-Qaeda offshoots operating in the Middle Eastern country and staging chemical attacks. What's more, initial training and financial support to the White Helmets was provided by the Mayday Rescue Foundation, a non-governmental organization established by ex-British Army officer James Le Mesurier. Le Mesurier's group was instrumental in the West's long-standing effort to topple the government of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, according to Grayzone investigative journalists' account of events in 2016.The SVR announced in May 2022, citing obtained evidence, that about 60 ISIS terrorists were released from prisons controlled by the US-backed Syrian Kurds a month earlier with the aim of dispatching them to Ukraine as sabotage units. The SVR highlighted that the US Al-Tanf base in Syria's Homs province was turned into a terrorist hub where militants were trained to be deployed to Ukraine.On October 22, 2022, Al-Monitor reported that it had learned that members of Ajnad al-Kavkaz, a Chechen-led Islamist group, left the Syrian province of Idlib and headed to Ukraine to fight against the Russian military.Who Masterminded the Crocus City Hall Attack?The Crocus City Hall terror attack was carried out by the hands of radical Islamists, but it is necessary to find the masterminds and those who benefitted from the hideous crime, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated on Monday.In the wake of the attack four alleged perpetrators  Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, Shamsidina Fariduni, Saidakrami Rachabalizoda and Muhammadsobir Fayzov  were caught in the Russian Bryansk region on the way to the Ukrainian border. According to the FSB, the jihadists had connections in Ukraine and sought to hide in the Eastern European country after committing the crime. The fifth suspect, Dilovar Islomov, was detained on March 25."We also need to answer the question of why the terrorists tried to leave for Ukraine after committing the crime and who was waiting for them there," Putin underlined during the conversation with Russian authorities on security measures taken after the terrorist attack.The Russian president specifically referred to the Biden administration's effort to divert public attention from Ukraine's possible involvement immediately after the tragedy.* terrorist groups banned in Russia and many other countries.

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/20240325/how-us-facilitated-creation-of-terror-groups-like-isis-1117546249.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20210510/how-white-helmets-cashbox-mayday-profited-off-syrian-regime-change-op-at-expense-of-eu-taxpayers-1082847172.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240325/in-bed-with-jihadists-and-neo-nazis-why-crocus-city-hall-terror-attack-cast-slur-upon-west-1117544799.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240326/crocus-city-hall-terror-attack-wont-avert-russias-victory-in-ukraine-1117563055.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240326/taiwanese-military-conducts-drills-involving-us-patriot-system-1117556226.html

Taiwanese Military Conducts Drills Involving US Patriot System

Taiwanese Military Conducts Drills Involving US Patriot System

Sputnik International

The Taiwanese armed forces have conducted anti-aircraft drills involving US-made Patriot missile defense systems, the island's defense ministry said on Tuesday.

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The exercise was carried out from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. local time (21:00-23:00 GMT, March 25), the ministry said in a statement. The goal of the drills was to improve the all-round combat capability of military defense operations. The Taiwanese air force will continue to step up the intensity of drills, the statement said. The statement quoted alleged incursions by Chinese Communist Party aircraft and ships into the sea and airspace around Taiwan and added that the air force will continue to increase the intensity of drills in order to respond to these alleged threats.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.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240326/trumps-fate-in-nys-454m-fraud-case-hangs-in-the-balance-monday-showdown-looms-1117543926.html

Trump's Fate in NY's $454M Fraud Case Hangs in the Balance: Monday Showdown Looms

Trump's Fate in NY's $454M Fraud Case Hangs in the Balance: Monday Showdown Looms

Sputnik International

On this episode of Fault Lines, hosts Jamarl Thomas and Melik Abdul delve into pressing global issues with insights from a diverse panel of experts.

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2024-03-26T04:16+0000

2024-03-26T09:16+0000

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Trump's Fate in NY's $454M Fraud Case Hangs in the Balance: Monday Showdown Looms Sputnik International On this episode of Fault Lines, hosts Jamarl Thomas and Melik Abdul delve into pressing global issues with insights from a diverse panel of experts

In the first hour, the focus is on the recent terrorist attack in a Moscow concert hall. International relations and security analyst Mark Sleboda provides analysis on the security implications and potential ramifications of the attack.In the second hour, two critical topics are explored. First, the show discusses the passage of the budget, yet the approval of foreign funding to Ukraine, Taiwan, and Israel remains uncertain. Constitutionalist and independent journalist Daniel Lazare offers insights into the political dynamics at play.Secondly, the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where the death toll has surpassed 32,000, is examined. Journalist and editor of The Cradle Esteban Carrillo sheds light on the dire situation and potential avenues for international intervention.In the final hour, attention turns to the fate of the $454 million bond concerning former President Trump. Lawyer and political commentator Steve Gill discusses the legal complexities surrounding the issue and the potential outcomes for Trump.The views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the position of Sputnik.We'd love to get your feedback at radio@sputniknews.comCatch us in the US at 105.5FM, 104.7FM, 102.9FM, 1390AM, 1140AM

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ISLAMABAD, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Six people were killed and several others injured in a suicide attack in Pakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Tuesday, officials said.

The incident happened in the Shangla area of the province, where the attacker rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a convoy escorted by five vehicles of security forces, sources from the province's police told Xinhua.

One of the vehicles of the 13-vehicle convoy caught fire and fell into a ravine, following the attack, the sources added.

The area was cordoned off for investigations and the injured are being shifted to hospital. 
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240326/two-week-gaza-ceasefire-not-enough-to-meet-humanitarian-needs---doctors-without-borders-1117562810.html

Two-Week Gaza Ceasefire Not Enough to Meet Humanitarian Needs - Doctors Without Borders

Two-Week Gaza Ceasefire Not Enough to Meet Humanitarian Needs - Doctors Without Borders

Sputnik International

Medical NGO Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), which translates as Doctors Without Borders, said on Tuesday that a two-week ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, which is urged in the recently adopted UN resolution, is not enough to meet the humanitarian needs of the enclave's population

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On Monday, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution calling for an immediate Ramadan ceasefire in Gaza leading 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. At the same time, she urged the UN Security Council members to ensure that "the ceasefire is put into action immediately and doesn't end up being merely words on paper."

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240325/is-israels-secret-plan-on-gaza-aid-feasible-1117536224.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240326/uk-court-set-to-unveil-verdict-on-assange-extradition-case-1117552959.html

UK Court Set to Unveil Verdict on Assange Extradition Case

UK Court Set to Unveil Verdict on Assange Extradition Case

Sputnik International

If convicted  which is almost sure thing given the outrage of US security community  Julian Assange may face up to175 years in prison.

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Sputnik comes to you with a live broadcast from London, where an announcement regarding the final decision on the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will be made by the high court.Since 2019, Assange has been fighting against extradition to the US. He was transferred to London's high-security Belmarsh prison on bail breach charges. In the US, the founder of WikiLeaks is facing espionage charges for the mass publication of leaked documents concerning US activities in Afghanistan and Iraq.Assange's legal team argues that his extradition would blatantly violate a US-UK treaty that prohibits extradition for political offenses. They emphasize that all Julian Assange and his team did was expose criminal actions by the US government, such as the torture of prisoners of war and political assassinations.Follow Sputnik's live feed to find out more.

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UK Court Set to Unveil Verdict on Assange Extradition Case Sputnik International UK Court Set to Unveil Verdict on Assange Extradition Case 2024-03-26T09:23+0000 true PT1S

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240326/un-vote-unlikely-to-signal-change-in-us-policy-towards-israel-1117551594.html

UN Vote Unlikely to Signal Change in US Policy Towards Israel

UN Vote Unlikely to Signal Change in US Policy Towards Israel

Sputnik International

The public spat between Biden and Netanyahu shouldnt be seen as an indication of a broader shift in the alliance, according to one analyst.

2024-03-26T04:07+0000

2024-03-26T04:07+0000

2024-03-26T04:24+0000

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The Biden administration signaled passivity, but not support towards a proposed ceasefire in Gaza during a vote on the matter at the United Nations on Monday. The move made headlines as the United States abstention marked a shift from the countrys previous three vetoes of similar Security Council resolutions.But analyst Mark Sleboda warns of reading too far into the incident, claiming the current rift in US-Israel relations is more of a matter of animosity between the countries leaders than a genuine change in their military relationship.Everything we've heard in the Western press is that Biden personally has problems with Netanyahu, added Sleboda. It seems [to be] not so much what he's doing, but the way he's going about it and his complete lack of political damage control which is making Joe Biden's life and his reelection more difficult.The analyst said a halt in US lethal aid flowing to Israel would be evidence of a genuine shift in relations between the two longtime allies. The death toll in Gaza currently stands at over 32,000, with the majority of casualties thought to be of Palestinian civilians. Israel has been engaged in an assault on the enclave since early October.Bidens antipathy toward Netanyahu likely extends back to the administration of former US President Barack Obama, when Biden served as vice president. Netanyahu opposed Obamas attempts to pursue diplomacy with Iran, preferring military confrontation with the country of 88 million. Netanyahus attempts to undermine Obama extended as far as giving a televised address to a session of the US Congress blasting the US presidents policy.Despite the open hostility, Obama still provided Netanyahu with Israels largest military aid package in history before leaving office.Whatever rift existed between the current US president and Netanyahu seemed to have briefly healed as a sobbing Biden embraced the Israeli Prime Minister in Tel Aviv in the aftermath of Hamas October 7 uprising. But Netanyahu has repeatedly embarrassed Biden in recent months with his blatant defiance of US calls for restraint.Sleboda stated the primary concern for Biden currently is that Israel will undertake a violent incursion into Rafah, where over 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering. Besides generating public opposition, such a move would likely also damage the United States relationship with Egypt if Palestinians are forced to seek refuge in the Sinai Desert.Egypt has been one of the largest recipients of US foreign aid dating back to the late 1970s, when US President Jimmy Carry oversaw the signing of the Camp David Accords which guaranteed Egyptian backing of Israel. The United States has stifled Egyption democracy in the decades since, supporting a coup against elected President Mohamed Morsi to ensure a pro-Israel leader holds power in the country.US support for Israel has apparently done little to generate gratitude among average Israelis. A 2009 video filmed by journalist Max Blumenthal demonstrated widespread racist attitudes among the Israeli public, with Israelis calling then US President Obama the N-word among other racial slurs.The video was taken down by YouTube, Vimeo, and other online platforms amidst opposition from Zionist groups, who opposed drawing attention to the pervasive bigotry within Israeli society.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240326/biden-administration-slammed-for-pr-stunt-as-backing-of-israeli-killing-continues-1117550907.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20231201/blinkens-diplomatic-blitz-went-bust-due-to-us-slavish-servility-to-israel-1115331473.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240326/us-investigators-examine-jim-bidens-transactions-as-part-of-criminal-probe---reports-1117566114.html

US Investigators Examine Jim Biden's Transactions as Part of Criminal Probe - Reports

US Investigators Examine Jim Biden's Transactions as Part of Criminal Probe - Reports

Sputnik International

US federal investigators in south Florida recently scrutinized the transactions of President Joe Biden's brother Jim Biden as part of an ongoing criminal investigation, Politico reported on Tuesday

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The investigation is focused on his alleged attempts to secure Middle Eastern investments for Americore and other US ventures, the report said. According to the report, Florida investigators are delving into Jim Biden's involvement in particular agreement and are scrutinizing loans Americore received from a fund managed by his associate. Last month, Jim Biden admitted to Congress that he played a role in arranging those loans. Biden's legal representatives told Politico that the president's brother is not the subject of any ongoing investigations in either Florida or Pennsylvania, the report added.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240326/us-possible-ban-of-russian-uranium-imports-in-contrast-to-practical-needs---rosatom-head-1117562630.html

US Possible Ban of Russian Uranium Imports in Contrast to Practical Needs - Rosatom Head

US Possible Ban of Russian Uranium Imports in Contrast to Practical Needs - Rosatom Head

Sputnik International

A political signal from Washington on a possible refusal of purchasing Russian uranium differs from the United States' practical needs, the head of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, Alexey Likhachev, said on Tuesday.

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A political signal from Washington on a possible refusal of purchasing Russian uranium differs from the United States' practical needs, the head of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, Alexey Likhachev, said on Tuesday.Rosatom chief said that unfriendly countries continued to cooperate with the Russian nuclear corporation, adding that Washington's announcements of possible restrictions related to phasing out Russian uranium supply harmed the global market and pushed uranium prices up. At the same time, Rosatom fulfills its commitments to foreign customers, Likhachev said, adding that possible external restrictions against the corporation would not deter its presence on friendly countries' markets. Russia currently controls nearly 50% of the global uranium enrichment capacity. Official US figures show that the United States imported $1.2 billion worth of enriched uranium from Russia in 2023, an all-time record.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240326/why-does-zelenskys-cabinet-reshuffle-bring-focus-on-crocus-city-hall-attack-1117567990.html

Why Does Zelensky's Cabinet Reshuffle Bring Focus on Crocus City Hall Attack?

Why Does Zelensky's Cabinet Reshuffle Bring Focus on Crocus City Hall Attack?

Sputnik International

Volodymyr Zelensky has sacked Oleksiy Danilov from the position of secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine. What's behind the overhaul?

2024-03-26T19:05+0000

2024-03-26T19:05+0000

2024-03-26T19:10+0000

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Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky reshuffled his cabinet on March 26 by firing Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov and replacing him with Oleksandr Litvinenko, who previously held the position of the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service.Danilov has long been known for controversial and chauvinist rhetoric. Earlier this month, the Ukrainian official made obscene remarks insulting China's special representative on Eurasian affairs, Li Hui, during a live interview on national TV. Danilov's comments came as Beijing is rallying global support for peace negotiations of the Ukrainian conflict.Earlier, Danilov targeted people using the Russian language in Ukraine, claiming that Russian speakers should be "stamped out" and "thrown out" of the country. On another occasion, he said that the Russian language should disappear from the territory of Ukraine as "an element of hostile propaganda," while insisting that the English language is mandatory in the Eastern European state. Danilov's slurs prompted Stephane Dujarric, the representative of the UN secretary-general, to raise the issue of "unhealthy rhetoric" among Ukrainian government officials.The Crocus City Hall terror attack, which took place on March 22, prompted some observers to revisit Danilov's brags about the Kiev regime's ability to bring "the war" inside Russia."I want to say that if Putin believed that the war would not come to Russia, he is deeply mistaken. It will come and it will come quite far. And if today they are already beginning to suffer at a distance of 800-900 kilometers, believe me, in the near future it will be thousands of kilometers," Danilov said on March 14 during the Ukrainska Pravda talk show, while commenting on the Russian border incursions by the so-called Russian Volunteer Corps* and other mercenary units fighting on the side of the Kiev regime.However, initial data received from those arrested for the terror attack confirms links to Ukraine, Federal Security Service (FSB) Director Alexander Bortnikov said on March 26."The primary data we received from the detainees confirms this. Therefore, we will further finalize the information that should show us whether the presence and participation of the Ukrainian side is real or not. In any case, for now there is reason to say that this is exactly the case," Bortnikov told reporter Pavel Zarubin on Tuesday.Zelensky's decision to reshuffle his cabinet is yet another "dumb political move" amid a string of defeats sustained by the Ukrainian military on the ground, according to Johnson.*a terrorist organization banned in Russia.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240326/zelensky-dismisses-secretary-of-national-security-and-defense-council-of-ukraine-1117562118.html

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Del. Nick Freitas, R-Culpeper, appeared with the governor Monday in Richmond to champion passage of the so-called cake pop bill.

The local delegate was chief sponsor of House Bill 759, initially dealing with homemade pickles, that updates regulations for small food entrepreneurs.

The measure originated when a Richmond-area home baker was cited last year by the state for selling her cake pops at a local holiday market (not technically a farmers market) and for advertising the event on social media.

State law prohibits uninspected food from being offered for sale on the internet, and officials originally interpreted that rule to apply to advertising as well, according to the Virginia Mercury.

After media outlets reported her story, Freitas amended a bill he had filed dealing with homemade pickles to also address the cake pop controversy.

The amended law increases from $3,000 to $9,000 the cap in gross sales for pickle operations, will allow people who sell low-risk homemade food to promote their products online and expands their ability to sell at local fairs and events.

The bill streamlines and modernizes regulations for small food entrepreneurs, making it easier for them to thrive in Virginia, Gov. Glenn Youngkin stated in a release Monday.

Were thrilled to support small businesses like K.P.s Kake Pops and the countless Virginians just like her in the cottage food industry, he said. This legislation represents our commitment to cutting through red tape and creating an environment where entrepreneurs can succeed across the commonwealth.

More and more consumers throughout the commonwealth are looking for ways to purchase food products locally, added Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Matthew Lohr.

HB759 will enable small scale food manufacturers the ability to sell and advertise their low-risk food products to a broader audience, he said.

Freitas, in a statement, said the cake pop bill is proof some of the best work done in the general assembly is getting rid of burdensome regulations that stand in the way of inspiring entrepreneurs and their customers.

We have a thriving cottage food industry in Virginia and this bill is a great step in paving the way to expand opportunity and consumer choice, he said.
A Gering man has been arrested after allegedly leading authorities on a pursuit that spurred a search for the man in rural Scotts Bluff County Tuesday morning.

Scotts Bluff County Sheriff Mark Overman said in a press release that Cresencio Castillo, 25, of Gering, was taken into custody. Overman said an emergency lookout had been issued for Castillo as law enforcement searched for him in rural Scotts Bluff County, but cancelled at about about 10:41 a.m.

Authorities began looking for Castillo after Scottsbluff Police Department took an auto theft report shortly before 7 a.m. At approximately 7:15 a.m., a Scotts Bluff County deputy spotted the vehicle on Highway 26. A pursuit ensued, Overman said, with the man eventually abandoning the vehicle and fleeing on foot.

Officers from multiple agencies searched the area. A citizen spotted the man running, leading deputies to arrest him without incident.

Charges are currently pending.

Agencies involved included the Scotts Bluff County Sheriffs Office, Scottsbluff Police Department, Nebraska State Patrol, Minatare-Melbeta Fire Department and Regional West Ambulance Service.
Gering residents took the floor in favor and in opposition to a workforce housing development during a public hearing on Monday evening.

The development is being proposed by Oikos Development Corporation, a 5013 based in Kansas City, Missouri, focused on building affordable housing in communities across the United States. Oikos already owns the roughly 30 acres of land northeast of McLellan Park between K Street and D Street where development would take place.

ODC President Michael Snodgrass discussed his company and vision for the project at an open house event last week, where he also answered questions related to the safety, design and potential tenants of the rental development, among other subjects.

Mondays public hearing was specifically related to the proposed rezoning that is needed to make the project viable from the developers perspective. The majority of the land is currently zoned as medium density residential, and ODC is seeking a rezone to high density in order to construct duplexes and fourplexes with smaller yards than what the current zoning requires.

The public hearing lasted around 1 hour and 40 minutes, with residents on both sides of the issue coming forward to give their perspectives.

Supporters included Twin Cities Development Executive Director Jordan Diedrich and 21st Century Equipment CEO Owen Palm, who both spoke on the difficulty of driving development and recruiting workers to the area due to housing shortages.

Housing is the biggest barrier to economic development, Diedrich said. Its a barrier here in Gering, in Nebraska and nationwide. Having something like this on your doorstep is huge, and we need to push it forward and make something happen.

Diedrich also brought up a regional housing study conducted by Western Nebraska Economic Development in August 2022, which showed that Scotts Bluff County needed to construct 500 additional homes within five years to house its current population and also facilitate growth.

Palm recognized the difficulty of retaining young individuals and families in the Gering area due to a current lack of affordable housing options. He said that any of the communities his company serves would be happy to host such a development, and that it will make recruitment easier for him and other business owners.

It allows us, as a larger company, to recruit and retain people from outside the area and increase the number of people who live in Gering, Palm said.

Opponents of the rezoning focused on how they felt the development would impact their neighborhoods and property values. One common theme was traffic and safety, about which Fifth Street resident Kim Graslie and others expressed concern.

Im looking at my little neighborhood, and the only reason you go into that neighborhood is if you live there, Graslie said. Traffic is going to be a whole new ballgame for that neighborhood.

That sentiment was shared by I Street resident Jeff Brun.

Its going to turn I Street and Pappas Boulevard into a thoroughfare, Brun opined. Those streets arent built for that.

Second Street resident Curt Richter made some suggestions to the council regarding ways to allow the development without rezoning the land, which he and others worried would open the door to more intense development in the future.

Its not that I dont trust Mr. Snodgrass. I dont trust anybody, Richter said. They could sell this property off, and if its (zoned as) high density, they can essentially do whatever they want as long as theyre following the zoning regulations.

City engineer Annie Folck pointed out that part of why the council was delaying its vote on the rezoning until April 8 was to pursue an offer made by ODC to place a covenant on the land through the Register of Deeds that would prevent them or any subsequent owner from constructing anything larger than two-story townhomes on the land for up to 99 years.

Folck also explained how the rezoning and subsequent development conform with the citys comprehensive plan, She spent around 10 minutes responding to some common questions and comments at the end of the hearing.

Echoing Diedrichs comments, Folck said the need for additional and more varied housing in the City of Gering had been identified previously. That need was noted in the 2019 revision to the citys comprehensive plan.

People need different types of housing based on where they are in their current phase of life, Folck said. For a community of our size, we have very little multi-family housing and very little multi-family zoning currently.

The comprehensive plan also identifies the East Gering Neighborhood District where the land in question is located as appropriate for rezoning to facilitate construction of that type of housing.

One speaker pointed out other parcels of land in the city that they felt would be better sites for such a development. Folck responded that sites for potential development are few and far between in the city because the owner of the land must be actively interested in developing it and city utilities must already be accessible at its boundaries.

Its simply not true that theres plenty of land elsewhere, Folck said.

Folck addressed a few other comments, such as refuting an assertion made that a 5013 such as ODC would not pay property taxes on the buildings they construct. She and City Administrator Pat Heath both stated that Gering would see benefits from property taxes and utility payments from the development.

Those in opposition to the rezoning proposal also submitted a protest, as outlined in the citys zoning regulations. With more than 20% of homeowners  or 46 of the residents  neighboring the land represented via verified signature, the protest was acknowledged and confirmed by the council.

Due to that protest, approving the rezoning request will take a three quarter majority vote from the city council when the matter returns to the agenda on April 8. That means six of the eight council members must vote in favor or the rezoning will fail.
The Box Butte Development Corporation is pleased to announce the appointment of Hannah Robinson as its new executive director. Robinson will lead the non-profit organizations efforts in economic development. Her first day was March 11.

Robinson brings a dynamic career history that will inform best practices for economic development in Box Butte County. Her professional journey began as the Marketing Director for the Laramie Chamber Business Alliance (LCBA), a combined Economic Development and Chamber of Commerce non-profit in Laramie, Wyoming.

Subsequently, she served as the Senior Social Media Coordinator at Buckle, based at their headquarters in Kearney, Nebraska. Most recently, Robinson focused on business development and proposal coordination in Los Angeles, California.

Excited to return to her hometown of Alliance, Robinson is eager to apply her varied professional experiences and diverse view of economic and business development. She expressed her enthusiasm, stating, I am thrilled to bring my passion for making connections and building communities to this position. I look forward to helping businesses in the region thrive and using my unique background in a way that benefits the community I was raised in.

Robinson also acknowledged the work of the previous executive director, Chelsie Herian, saying, I look forward to building upon the foundation laid by Chelsie Herian and collaborating with the board members.

The Box Butte Development Corporation is a non-profit organization focusing on business development, talent attraction, and community affairs. Over the next three years, its strategic goals include supporting businesses in Box Butte County and bolstering these efforts with initiatives related to affordable housing and early childcare. The corporation is excited to welcome Robinson as she leads the charge toward achieving these goals.
Artist Dawit Muluneh works on one of his Chinese-character paintings at an art gallery in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, March 18, 2024. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

ADDIS ABABA, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Standing in front of a canvas in an art gallery in the heart of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital, 50-year-old artist Dawit Muluneh is fully absorbed in the painting of ancient Chinese characters.

Surrounding him are collections of his artwork based on the Chinese classic "I Ching," or the "Book of Changes." The book has existed for more than 2,000 years and remains a source of Chinese culture.

"I Ching means truth and is founded on the eight gifts of nature, namely heaven, earth, thunder, wind, water, fire, mountain, and lake. In general, I Ching explains the wisdom of nature," said Muluneh in a recent interview with Xinhua at the art gallery called Medemer Africa Art and Sculpture Space.

The artwork collection, consisting of 64 paintings that represent 64 divinatory symbols in the book, portrays the day-to-day interaction between man and nature, and imparts knowledge and feelings to visitors with descriptions written in Chinese, English, and Amharic (Ethiopia's working language).

Although Muluneh does not speak Chinese, he became immediately interested in I Ching a few years ago after his friend Gossa Oda, also the gallery owner, introduced him to "The Complete I Ching," a book that explains the ancient Chinese masterpiece in English.

"The paintings, among others, express delight, hindrance, relief, encountering, courage, childhood, and union," said Muluneh, who was inspired first and foremost by the Chinese characters known as Qian and Xian, which translate as humbleness and mutual influence, respectively.

In the one-year process of painting creation, the artist resorted to the internet for more information on these Chinese characters. He has surprisingly found similarities between Ethiopian and Chinese ancient civilizations, painting styles, landscapes, and their peoples' attitudes toward nature.

"Both Ethiopia and China have ancient history in clay and bamboo works, traditional medicines, and musical instruments," said the artist, stressing that cultivating such ancient knowledge would help the countries prosper in the right way.

In explaining the book, the artist said it not only tells about the present situation and future potential but also gives instructions on what to do and what not to do to achieve good fortune and avoid misfortune.

According to the artist, the book gives guidance based on comprehensive observation of natural laws by ancient Chinese philosophers and their profound experiences.

Noting that Ethiopia and China have greatly contributed to the current world civilization, Muluneh said I Ching helps cultivate and produce well-disciplined citizens and promotes a good way of life.

He also draws similarities between Ethiopian letters and Chinese characters as well as their tea makings and coffee ceremonies, house construction, monasteries, and tombs. "The paintings are done in ways that portray those similarities."

The Medemer Africa Art and Sculpture Space, launched in May 2023, is frequently visited by schoolchildren, fellow Ethiopian artists, and some members of the Chinese community in Addis Ababa.

"Visitors to our gallery space will be introduced to the basic concepts of I Ching, and these complicated Chinese concepts will also be translated into English and Amharic," said Oda.

According to Oda, the paintings are unique in their beauty, variation, and composition, and they share an aesthetic sensibility and cultural correlations between Ethiopia and China.

Ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius and his disciples are believed to have written a book, several hundred years after I Ching, to interpret this ancient Chinese masterpiece. According to researchers, it would have been difficult to understand I Ching without Confucius' annotations or comments.

"After viewing the I Ching paintings, visitors will learn about Chinese civilization and delve deeper into the book. By reading Confucius's commentaries, they will understand China's cultural and aesthetic influence, such as the virtues of duty and piety, on world civilization," Oda said. "I Ching would help visitors know their future potential as well as their present circumstances, and each painting can be interpreted differently. It is associated with the divinatory symbol, which indicates future potential or tendency." 

Artist Dawit Muluneh poses for a photo at an art gallery in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, March 18, 2024. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

Artist Dawit Muluneh hangs one of his Chinese-character paintings on the wall for exhibition at an art gallery in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, March 18, 2024. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

Artist Dawit Muluneh works on one of his Chinese-character paintings at an art gallery in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, March 18, 2024. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)
A Gering man has been arrested after allegedly leading authorities on a pursuit that spurred a search for the man in rural Scotts Bluff County Tuesday morning.

Scotts Bluff County Sheriff Mark Overman said in a press release that Cresencio Castillo, 25, of Gering, was taken into custody. Overman said an emergency lookout had been issued for Castillo as law enforcement searched for him in rural Scotts Bluff County, but canceled at about about 10:41 a.m.

Authorities began looking for Castillo after Scottsbluff Police Department took an auto theft report shortly before 7 a.m. At approximately 7:15 a.m., a Scotts Bluff County deputy spotted the vehicle on Highway 26. A pursuit ensued, Overman said, with the man eventually abandoning the vehicle and fleeing on foot.

Officers from multiple agencies searched the area. A citizen spotted the man running, leading deputies to arrest him without incident.

Overman said Castillo was arrested on the following charges: flight to avoid arreest, leaving the scene of an accident, first-degree trespassing, obstruction of a peace officer, possession of a stolen stolen vehicle, criminal mischief, third-offense driving during revocation. Officers determined he had two active Scotts Bluff County warrants.

Agencies involved included the Scotts Bluff County Sheriffs Office, Scottsbluff Police Department, Nebraska State Patrol, Minatare-Melbeta Fire Department and Regional West Ambulance Service.
Seven local veterans were honored for their service during Quilts of Valor ceremonies over the weekend.

Six women were honored in a unique Quilts of Valor ceremony on Sunday afternoon at the Legacy of the Plains. The Panhandle Blocks Chapter of Quilts of Valor presented the veterans with their quilts.

Chris Wolf, the area coordinator for the chapter, said she was especially excited for the ceremony.

Itll be really, really special, not that the other ones arent special, but this is just, really touching my heart today, Wolf said.

The veterans honored in Sunday afternoons ceremony were Staci Bowers, Mary Bowman, Kendra Lauruhn, Megan Macy, Marci Meyers and Carol Sinner.

Bowers served in the Nebraska Army National Guard from May 2000 to 2004. She worked with a transportation unit in Scottsbluff and was also stationed in Lincoln.

Bowers highlighted the significance of ceremony consisting entirely of women veterans.

Its rare, sometimes, when youre a female in the military, Bowers said. Its rare to have a moment for yourself.

In 2006, Bowers was dispatched to aid with Operation Gulf Coast cleanup in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. She was honorably discharged in 2014 as an E-5.

Bowman served from 1972 to 1980 in the Air Force, discharged as an E-5. She enlisted in the Air Force at the age of 19 and became one of the first Air Force service members to be awarded a joint spousal assignment at their duty stations. She and her spouse were stationed at a number of Air Force bases, including in South Korea.

She was also one of the first servicewomen to be permitted to continue serving during her pregnancy, she said, while she was stationed at Luke AFB in Arizona as a key punch operator.

Bowman was also recognized with a special award for serving during the Vietnam era.

Lauruhn joined the Air Force in 2001, receiving her training at Lackland and Sheppard AFB as a dental assistant. She eventually became a dental hygienist after being discharged in 2014 as an E-6.

While serving, Lauruhn was dispatched to Alaska with a Navy Rescue Unit on a humanitarian mission to provide dental care to Alaskan natives in some of the most remote parts of the country.

Macy joined the Nebraska Army National Guard in 1997, serving until 2009 when she was discharged as an E-7. While in the National Guard, she was stationed in Scottsbluff and Lincoln and deployed to Iraq from 2003 to 2004.

Macy said she was appreciative of all the support the women received from friends and family during the ceremony.

It was heartfelt, first of all, just knowing how many people just care so much about veterans and then just having our personal families here is just amazing, Macy said.

She also echoed Bowers sentiments about the recognition that they were receiving.

We get overshadowed quite often, especially with our abilities and our contributions so this was really nice, Macy said.

Meyers served in the Air Force from 1992 to 1995 where she was in charge of ordering meals for airmen and working in the commissary.

She was discharged in 1995 as an E-3.

She received an Air Force Training Ribbon and a National Defense Service Medal for her support during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

Sinner enlisted in the Navy in 1975 where she was trained and stationed at the Naval Communication Center in Japan and the Naval Submarine Base at Pearl Harbor.

She was honorably discharged in 1981 as an E-5.

Also, World War II veteran Udell L. Hughes, 97, received Quilt of Valor honors in a smaller, more personal ceremony at the Elks Lodge on Saturday.

Hughes served as an electrician on the light cruiser the USS Vincennes which was involved in nine different battles in the Pacific theater of World War II including the battles of Okinawa and Iwo Jima.

He spoke about his experiences in the military and his life in Nebraska and elsewhere.

Hughes said he was thankful for the support and appreciation of the family and friends in attendance during his ceremony.

Hughes said the experience was wonderful, and that once he returned home he planned to keep his quilt and treasure it.

Those interested in nominating a friend or family member to receive a quilt can fill out the nomination form online at qovf.org/nominations-awards/.
The Iredell County Extension and Community Association (ECA) club recently celebrated its first Achievement Day since merging into one club in 2023. Led by President Judy Athey, the event showcased the clubs dedication to literacy, community service and member recognition.

A highlight of the event was the presentation of the Reading Awards, which honored the top three club members.

Among a total of 316 books read by 11 members, Joyce Dobson secured first place by reading 103 books, earning her a $25 award. Brenda Campbell claimed second place with 84 books, winning $15, while Charlene Overcash clinched third place with 35 books, earning a $10 award.

Another significant aspect of the event was the Volunteer Hours Awards, which recognized members who contributed their time and effort to various community initiatives.

With a collective volunteer effort amounting to 1,837 hours and donations totaling $1,068, the club made a substantial impact.

Marina Tyler stood out, dedicating 693 hours and earning the top spot along with a $25 award. David Tyler followed closely with 630 hours, securing second place and a $15 award, while Kim Dobson contributed 162 hours to claim third place and a $10 award.

Certificates of Achievements were presented to all winners, acknowledging their outstanding accomplishments and commitment to the clubs values.

A solemn moment during the event was the memorial tribute to Barbara Blackwelder, a beloved member who passed away the previous year. Robin Crawford, Mary Lou Goodman, and Sandra Overcash led the tribute, honoring Blackwelders legacy and contributions to the club.

Guest speaker Kathy Tunstill, MSN, RN, CCM, delivered a presentation titled Mental Health 101, emphasizing the importance of mental well-being as we age.

In a gesture of support for higher education, the club announced the availability of two $500 scholarship awards for college-bound Iredell County residents. Applications for these scholarships are open until May 1 and can be obtained by contacting Andrea Sherrill, FCS agent at The Agricultural Resource Center (Phone: 704-878-3157).

Furthermore, the club extended an invitation for new members to join its ranks, highlighting opportunities for community engagement and personal growth. Interested individuals are encouraged to reach out to the Agricultural Resource Center, 444 Bristol Drive in Statesville.

The Achievement Day was a success, reflecting the Iredell County ECA clubs unwavering dedication to literacy, community service, and member enrichment.
Athr Press reports an observed increase in the value of remittances sent by expatriates, particularly those in the Gulf.

During the onset of Ramadan this year, the Syrian Lira has shown a notable stability in its exchange rate, achieving a convergence between the official and market prices. Economists attribute this improvement primarily to the increase in foreign remittances, a departure from the norm of the past years. Interestingly, this period contrasts sharply with the same time last year when the exchange rate experienced significant fluctuations, particularly post-Eid al-Fitr. This variance prompts a series of questions: What has caused the increase in foreign remittances this year? And how have Syrias improved relations with Arab states, especially the Gulf countries, influenced these changes?

Factors Behind Growth:

My research into the dynamics of foreign remittances during the years of conflict, especially post-2013, highlights two main factors. First, the diasporas growthSyrians living abroad as immigrants and workers, now numbering over one and a half million outside the Arab region, has significantly impacted remittances. This expatriate community, engaged in diverse global workplaces, contributes regularly, albeit intermittently, to their homeland, reflecting on the political scenario back home.

Secondly, theres an observed increase in the value of remittances sent by expatriates, particularly those in the Gulf. Driven by Syrias challenging economic situation, many have expanded their financial support to include a broader circle of family and relatives. Dr. Abed Fadliyeh, a professor at the Faculty of Economics, University of Damascus, notes that the surge in remittances during Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr, and other festive periods is a historic trend, bolstered by the increased number of Syrians abroad due to the conflict. However, this surge in remittances does not translate to a long-term appreciation of the Lira but offers a temporary cushion against foreign exchange losses.

Impact of International Relations:

The actual value of financial remittances remains speculative, as the Central Bank has not released recent data. Moreover, a significant portion of these remittances flows through informal channels, making it difficult to assess their full impact. Dr. Fadliyeh points out that estimates on the volume and size of these remittances are at best speculative, arrived at through logical and objective assessments rather than hard data.

The question arises: has Syrias renewed diplomatic ties with Arab nations, notably the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, facilitated an improvement in financial inflows? While political relations between nations undoubtedly influence economic exchanges, several factors, including U.S. sanctions on Syria, restrict this dynamic. However, Syrias re-engagement with certain Arab countries has likely had a positive effect, as these states exert control over financial transactions that can now flow through regular channels.

In conclusion, the interplay between political openness and economic stability, as evidenced by Syrias experience, underscores the complex relationship between diplomatic relations and financial flows. While obstacles remain, the positive trajectory suggests a potential pathway to economic recovery through regional collaboration.

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.
This invitation marks a noteworthy moment in the ongoing efforts to restore Syria's relations with its Arab nation.

President Bashar al-Assad of Syria has received a formal invitation from King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain to attend the 33rd regular session of the Arab League Summit. This significant event is scheduled to take place on May 16 in Manama, the capital of Bahrain.

The official invitation was delivered to President al-Assad by Waheed Mubarak Sayyar, the Bahraini Ambassador to Damascus, signifying a gesture of diplomatic outreach ahead of the upcoming summit.

This invitation marks a noteworthy moment in the ongoing efforts to restore Syrias relations with its Arab nation. The Arab League Summit provides a pivotal platform for addressing pressing regional issues, fostering cooperation, and promoting unity among member states. Syrias participation in the summit underscores a gradual shift towards reconciliation and potential reintegration into the Arab diplomatic fold, reflecting broader regional dynamics and the pursuit of stability in the Middle East.

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.

The Israeli Air Force was responsible for overnight airstrikes in eastern Syria, which reportedly killed several Iranian-linked operatives, The Times of Israel has learned.

The strikes in the Deir-ez-Zor or and al-Boukamal area targeted assets belonging to Irans Unit 4000, the Special Operations Division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Intelligence Organization, and the special operations unit of the IRGCs Quds Force in Syria, known as Unit 18840, according to Israeli defence sources.

Yesterday, the Shin Bet announced that it had foiled attempts by those two Iranian units to smuggle advanced weapons to West Bank Palestinian terrorists.

The strikes overnight, defence sources say, were a response to the smuggling attempts and targeted assets related to the Iranian plot.

Israel is aware that several Iranian or Iran-linked operatives were killed in the strikes. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, previously accused of inflating tolls and false reporting, claims nine were killed in the strikes.

Israel targets sites belonging to IRGC units involved in attempts to smuggle advanced arms to West Bank terrorists; Quds Force officer among the dead

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, previously accused of inflating tolls and false reporting, claimed 15 people, most of them pro-Iran fighters including an IRGC official, were killed in the strikes.

The Observatory said that an IRGC adviser, his two Iranian security escorts, two Syrian fighters and five other combatants belonging to pro-Iran groups were killed in a villa in Deir Ezzor city.

The Observatory also said that a few hours earlier, an Iranian cargo plane flew from Damascus to the eastern city of Deir Ezzor carrying technical equipment and IRGC soldiers.

Syrian-Saudi normalization seeks political re-emergence, regional influence

Syria is actively pursuing Arab and Saudi normalization with the aim of breaking free from its political isolation within the Arab and international communities, according to a Syrian politician.

Issam Dimashqi, politician and member of the executive office of the Citizenship Movement in Syria, an opposition civilian-political organization, told North Press that the Syrian government was seeking to normalize relations with Arab states in general and Saudi Arabia in particular to put an end to its political isolation and secure much-needed funds for reconstruction.

On March 14, Faisal Mekdad, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of Syria, met with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan in Saudi Arabia to enhance dialogue between the two countries.

In an exclusive statement to North Press, Dimashqi explained that the country is also keen on addressing its ongoing economic problems, which are rapidly pushing it towards a state of total collapse.

In contrast, Saudi Arabia has displayed a strong desire to adopt a new policy in the region, especially in Syria to obtain regional influence in the fragile country where the influence of other major players such as Iran, Russia, Turkey, and the United States, is steadily growing.

The politician indicated that Saudi Arabia is keen on playing a role in finding a solution to the Syrian crisis to mitigate the negative consequences that have spilled over into neighboring countries and to address the problem of drug smuggling which has become a significant social issue both in Saudi Arabia and the wider region.

Syrians missing, dying from torture in jihadist-run prisons

France 24 published a report on the dire situation of the prisons run by HTS and other radical groups in Northern Syria.

The report says in Syrias Idlib province, controlled by the jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a crackdown on alleged agents has led to accusations of torture and rights abuses.

The death of Abdel-Kader al-Hakim in custody has sparked protests against HTS, an alliance led by Syrias former Al-Qaeda affiliate, now designated a terrorist organization by several Western countries.

Despite promises of reform by HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, residents and activists demand the release of detainees amid growing evidence of torture reminiscent of practices in Syrian government prisons.

The UN has indicated that HTS may have committed war crimes, including torture and unlawful deprivation of liberty. The situation has led to a rare public outcry in a region scarred by a conflict that has claimed over 500,000 lives and displaced millions.

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.
Unidentified warplanes struck approximately ten sites belonging to Iran-backed militias across various areas of Deir-ez-Zor.

The media office of the US Central Command (CENTCOM) responded to inquiries electronically, citing a US Department of Defense official on Tuesday, stating that the United States had not conducted any attacks in Syria within the past 24 hours.

Unidentified warplanes struck approximately ten sites belonging to Iran-backed militias across various areas of Deir-ez-Zor governorate in eastern Syria, resulting in casualties, including an official from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

Irans Mehr news agency reported that a US strike had hit sites associated with the axis of resistance in Syrias Deir-ez-Zor governorate, resulting in the death of Behrooz Vahidi, an adviser to the Revolutionary Guards.

Despite the passage of several hours since the strikes, the Ministry of Defense of the Syrian government has yet to issue a statement regarding the bombings at the time of this report.

According to the Deir EzZor 24 website, which specializes in covering news from the governorate, one of the raids in the village of Sukkariyeh, west of the city of al-Bukamal in eastern Deir-ez-Zor, resulted in the severe injury of a prominent commander within the Revolutionary Guards known as Hajj Askar, who was subsequently transported to a hospital.

Hajj Askar leads Iranian militias in and around al-Bukamal, holds Iranian nationality, and is affiliated with another Iranian commander named Hajj Mahdi, who oversees all militias in Deir-ez-Zor.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that seven members of the Iranian militias were killed in initial assessments due to the airstrikes, with indications suggesting the death of a prominent figure in the Villas neighborhood of the city.

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 Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator resigned three years after being nominated to that position.

The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, announced his resignation after three years in the position. During his tenure, he supported early recovery projects in regions under the control of the Assad regime and acknowledged shortcomings in response to the February 2023 earthquake in northern Syria, stating he had betrayed the affected population.

In a tweet from his official X account on Monday, Griffiths stated, After three years of service, I have informed the Secretary-General of my decision to step down next June.

To all my colleagues at OCHA, this has been the greatest privilege of my life, and I am deeply indebted to you. To all our partners and supporters, your relentless advocacy for those facing crises has made a profound impact.

U.N. spokesperson Farhan Haq attributed Griffiths resignation to health reasons. In a statement, Haq highlighted Griffiths unwavering commitment to ensuring life-saving aid reaches those most in need and his advocacy for providing necessary resources for humanitarian efforts.

Early recovery and earthquake failure

Griffiths assumed his role as an official of the OCHA in 2021 and engaged in multiple visits to Syria, where he held meetings with both regime and opposition officials.

His prominence increased notably following the February 2023 earthquake that struck Turkey and northern Syria, resulting in the loss of tens of thousands of lives.

Acknowledging the United Nations failure to promptly assist those affected in northwestern Syria after the earthquake, Griffiths expressed remorse, stating in a tweet from his official account, They are right to feel abandoned by us; it is our duty to rectify this failure promptly.

Furthermore, Griffiths played a pivotal role in brokering an agreement with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad regarding the facilitation of cross-border humanitarian aid to northwestern Syria.

In the aftermath of the earthquake, Griffiths made three visits to Syria, meeting with Assad on February 13, March 21, and June 25, 2023, respectively.

He is widely recognized as a key advocate for the implementation of early recovery initiatives spearheaded by the United Nations within territories controlled by the Assad regime.

Griffiths has consistently emphasized the imperative of advancing early recovery efforts and ensuring adequate support for them, underscoring the existence of an action plan aimed at bolstering these projects.

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.
CAIRO, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Tuesday held phone talks with his Irish counterpart Micheal Martin on efforts to implement an immediate ceasefire in the conflict-torn Gaza Strip.

The talks, which came a day after the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) adopted a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, also covered the prospect of turning an expected truce into a permanent ceasefire and ending the Gaza war, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Shoukry and Martin, also Ireland's deputy prime minister and defense minister, addressed means to prevent any Israeli moves to launch a military operation in the southern Gazan city of Rafah, which is now home to about 1.5 million internally displaced Palestinians.

Shoukry updated Martin on Egypt's latest efforts to mediate a truce between Israel and Hamas that hopefully leads to a permanent ceasefire, in addition to Egypt's endeavors to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza.

For his part, Martin elaborated on Ireland's recent communication with several European countries to consider recognizing the State of Palestine.

"The only way to achieve security and stability in the Middle East region is through implementing the two-state solution and establishing an independent Palestinian state living side by side with Israel in peace and security," Martin was quoted by the statement as saying.

The UNSC on Monday adopted Resolution 2728 demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza during Ramadan and calling for the release of all hostages.

The resolution won 14 votes in favor among the 15 UNSC members. The United States, which had previously vetoed three draft resolutions that would have called for or demanded a ceasefire in Gaza, abstained, making it possible for the resolution to pass.

Israel has been launching a large-scale offensive against Hamas in Gaza 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. The Israeli strikes in Gaza have so far killed 32,414 Palestinians and injured 74,787 others, said Gaza's Health Ministry on Tuesday. 
The US envoy underscored the importance of maintaining an open dialogue and fostering inclusivity among all parties involved in the region to ensure stability and progress.

The US State Department has issued a stern warning to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) regarding the potential closure of the offices belonging to the Kurdish National Council (ENKS) and the prohibition of its activities in northeastern Syria.

According to a source cited by Syria TV, a representative from the US State Department reached out to SDF commander Mazloum Abdi from Washington, emphasizing the repercussions of such actions. The warning highlighted the potential negative impact on the SDFs standing and regional stability, while also undermining the ongoing dialogue process among various stakeholders in northeastern Syria.

The US envoy underscored the importance of maintaining an open dialogue and fostering inclusivity among all parties involved in the region to ensure stability and progress.

SDF Conflict Undermines US Influence

A source close to the SDF disclosed to Syria TV a rift between a faction affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and its ideologies, and another faction led by Mazloum Abdi, which aligns more closely with Washington and espouses a national discourse.

The source highlighted that since the beginning of 2021, the PKK faction has been diminishing the authority and influence of Mazloum Abdi and his associates within the SDF, leading to repeated awkward situations for them in their dealings with Washington. The US has expressed its displeasure and apprehension regarding ongoing violations within areas under SDF control, as well as the escalating influence of the PKK.

Furthermore, the source underscored Washingtons unease over the strengthening ties between Iran and the PKK, fearing that this alliance may lead to the advancement of Iranian interests conflicting with the SDFs orientation and the objectives of the international coalition forces in northeastern Syria.

The source argued that these dynamics explain the failure of the SDF commander and the Asayish forces to curb violations such as the recruitment of children and minors, as well as the detention of journalists and political activists. Additionally, incidents like the burning of the Kurdish National Council headquarters and the constraints imposed on its activities further illustrate this failure.

Following the arson attacks on two Kurdish National Council headquarters, the Internal Security Forces, known as the Asayish, issued a statement earlier this month announcing the commencement of thorough investigations to apprehend the perpetrators and bring them to justice. This action was reportedly prompted by US pressure, as indicated by a confidential source to Syria TV. Despite these efforts, the SDF was unable to prevent subsequent attacks on two additional headquarters by the Revolutionary Youth organization or apprehend those responsible.

In response to these incidents, the US embassy in Syria tweeted from its official account expressing concern over the ongoing attacks on Kurdish National Council offices in northern Syria and urging an immediate cessation of such violence.

In light of the continued assaults on Kurdish National Council facilities, the Autonomous Administration, operating within SDF-controlled areas in northeastern Syria, has threatened to pursue legal action against unauthorized parties in their jurisdiction, particularly in the aftermath of the second arson attack perpetrated by the Revolutionary Youth in early March.

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.
According to a statement from the Saudi Foreign Ministry, bin Farhan received a call from Pedersen, during which they exchanged views on the current situation in Syria.

The UN envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen, and Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan discussed the latest developments in the Syrian issue during a phone call on Monday.

According to a statement from the Saudi Foreign Ministry, bin Farhan received a call from Pedersen, during which they exchanged views on the current situation in Syria.

Reports have emerged suggesting that during Pedersens recent visit to Damascus, he proposed Riyadh as a potential venue for hosting meetings of the Constitutional Committee, given Russias objection to holding them in Geneva.

Badr Jamous, the head of the Syrian Negotiation Commission, has confirmed the oppositions willingness to hold the meetings in Riyadh, urging Pedersen to engage in discussions with Saudi Arabia on this matter in a statement to Asharq al-Awsat newspaper.

As of now, Saudi Arabia has not clarified its stance on hosting the meetings of the Syrian Constitutional Committee, and Pedersen has not provided any comment on the issue.

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.
Local activists plan to hold a silent rally outside the Cowlitz County Hall of Justice on the same day the U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments over mail order access to medication that facilitates medically induced abortions.

Lower Columbia Indivisible is sponsoring the event on Tuesday from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in the Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine case on Tuesday. This case is the first significant abortion-related case since the court overturned Roe v. Wade.

It could determine access to mifepristone, a medication that stops a hormone that is needed for a pregnancy to continue; the Food and Drug Administration approved it in 2000. In 2016, the federal agency expanded access to people who are 10 weeks into their pregnancy and can receive the pills in person or by mail.
The same local organizations since 2019 will continue to receive county funds to help people stay housed, while the state recently increased document recording fees to finance such assistance.

Cowlitz County commissioners voted earlier this month to continue funding the three programs that make up Cowlitz Countys coordinated entry:

Emergency Support Shelter, for those escaping domestic violence;

Community House on Broadway, a shelter that provides drug and alcohol recovery services; and

Cowlitz Family Health Center, which offers affordable healthcare and addiction treatment across the county.

Coordinated entry is required by the state and acts as a guide for people in need of housing to connect with the local programs that will best serve them.

Commissioners OKd the same amount of money, to be reimbursed through document recording fees, to the nonprofits as their last vote in 2023. Emergency Support Shelter will receive no more than $35,000, Community House on Broadway will receive no more than $53,568 and Cowlitz Family Health Center, no more than $53,548 through to the end of the year.

Where do doc fees go?

Document recording fees are added to certain local licenses and documents, such as real estate transaction documents, easements, liens and deeds. These fees are collected for the state Department of Revenue, and Cowlitz County receives back a portion to fund housing and homeless programs.

Not all of the funds allocated to each of the three agencies gets spent every year, said Health and Human Services Deputy Director Gena James. Those numbers are just the amount allocated, and there have been years where one or more agency uses less than the maximum amount of allotted funds. In 2022, for example, Cowlitz Family Health Center only spent $14,775 of the $53,548 it was allotted.

Not all of the revenue from document recording fees stays in the county. Some is distributed to state programs such as the states Home Security Fund and Affordable Housing Fund, among others.

This year, recording fees increased by $100 over last year, making the new fee for most documents $303.50. The purpose of the increase was to raise money for a homeownership assistance program, called the Covenant Homeownership Fund, with the intent to reduce racial disparities in homeownership in Washington through down payment and closing cost assistance to qualified home buyers.

The portion of document recording fees that go toward the countys response to homelessness makes up about 15% of the total amount collected by the county.

How does coordinated entry work?

James said most new people entering coordinated entry come through Community House and Family Health Center. Last year, 133 people were given referrals to housing programs through one of these three entry points.

The bulk of those referrals are for the Housing and Essential Needs referral program, James said, which provides people with rent vouchers, health and hygiene items and transportation assistance, among other services.

Securing a housing voucher is not as easy as walking off the street into a shelter. Sometimes, the circumstances that led a person to become homeless are the same that create barriers to them receiving housing aid.

If someone who is experiencing homelessness wants to try to secure housing, the state requires them to connect with one of those three providers first, who will enter their information into the countys homeless management information system. This puts them on a waitlist, and when a participating housing program has an opening, they may be contacted for a referral if they meet the housing options qualifications.
Mariah Welch made it through a stressful few months of finishing law school and taking the bar exam.

She decided to celebrate with a trip to Italy, where her boyfriend surprised her and proposed. The two were looking toward to their future when Welch got devastating news: she didnt pass the bar exam.

Five months of anxiety, uncertainty and financial woes ensued, Welch said, before she found a job in Montana, where the score needed to pass the bar was four points lower than in Washington.

Last week, Welch found out all that struggle was in vain when the Washington State Supreme Court lowered the score needed to pass the exam from 270 to 266.

It was such a surreal moment, Welch said.

Welch was one of 32 applicants who spent months thinking they failed the exam only to find out they could get licensed following the score reduction, according to the Washington State Bar Association.

Nineteen states consider a score of 266 or above passing, according to the National Conference of Bar Examiners. A score of 270 is the minimum requirement to pass in 19 states. There are 11 states that have their own bar exams.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Washington temporarily accepted a score of 266. The requirement returned to the previous requirement at the start of 2023.

The new minimum score was one of a handful of major changes to lawyer licensure announced last week.

Alternative pathways

Along with changes to the bar exam, the state Supreme Court announced the creation of three alternative pathways to become a licensed attorney without taking the exam.

All three, while slightly different, center around 500 hours of legal work under the supervision of a licensed attorney and a portfolio showing proficiency.

The details of the pathways and their implementation remain up in the air, the bar association said. The Spokane County Bar Association declined to answer questions about how the changes would affect Spokane attorneys.

Jeffry Finer, a longtime civil rights attorney in Spokane and instructor at Gonzaga University School of Law, said he thinks opening up the profession to a more diverse group of people is great, but the alternative pathways are just one part of that process.

He doesnt expect the new processes to be a breeze. A lot of law students drop out or need multiple attempts to pass the bar exam, and Finer expects similar difficulties in the alternative programs.

The alternative pathways could be good for people who plan to focus on a niche area of law, he said.

Theres not a lack of lawyers, theres a lack of people doing specific types of work, Finer said.

There is a dire need for public defenders, prosecutors and people practicing family law, he said.

Those are all areas of the law that often require courtroom work, which Finer said is also diminishing.

The legal profession is already known for a kind of snobbery that looks down on certain types legal work, even for attorneys who have passed the bar exam, Finer said.

Ultimately, the most important thing is an attorneys understanding of the law and willingness to work hard to learn the practicalities of the profession, he said, which often arent taught in law school.

It is really difficult to situate yourself in the culture of legal thinking, Finer said. Its more like learning a language, where there is an entire history and culture that comes with it.

The bar association plans to work closely with the court, Washington law schools and other stakeholders to propose specific amendments and new rules for admittance to the bar, Sara Neigowski, chief communications and outreach officer for the bar association said in an email.

The Bar Licensure Task Force already took feedback and comments from the legal community, Neigoswki noted, before making recommendations to the Supreme Court.

The task force received about 70 comments on the proposed pathways. More than half were in favor of alternative pathways, while about 20 were in favor of keeping the bar exam as the only way to become licensed.

The bar association has not done any surveying or study of how law firms feel about hiring attorneys who used an alternative pathway to get licensed.

Washington has long allowed people to complete a law clerk program where they are mentored by an attorney, then pass the bar and get licensed without completing law school.

There are 182 active attorneys in the state who received their license this way, and about 100 people in the law clerk program currently.

While the task force, which included representatives from more than 30 legal groups, was supportive of the changes, some attorneys are concerned.

The bar exam is a tradition of ensuring some minimum competence in a broad area of law, said Steve Graham, a Spokane attorney.

It seems like a little risky move to throw the whole system out of bar exams, he said.

Graham said its established that the bar can be an impediment to more diversity, especially with the financial burden of taking six weeks off to study for it. Graham said its basically impossible to work while studying for the exam and still pass.

People are already hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt and have to pass the exam to make it into the profession, Graham said.

Psychologically, it weighs heavily on young people, he said.

Still, the exam is a huge part of ensuring competent attorneys, he said.

It just seems a little bit like the Marine Corps without boot camp, Graham said.

He prefers a solution in the vein of financial aid to help lower-income bar applicants survive the summer after law school.

That would seem to be a better solution, he said.

NextGen Bar Exam and reduced passing score

Since 2020, a Bar Licensure Task Force has been examining the bar exam and licensure requirements.

The task force found that the traditional exam disproportionally and unnecessarily blocks marginalized groups from becoming practicing attorneys and is at best minimally effective for ensuring competency, according to a news release from the Washington Administrative Office of the Courts.

The exam focuses on specific legal questions in varied areas of the law not on practical skills, which the National Conference of Bar Examiners hopes to fix with the NextGen Bar exam set to debut in July 2026. The exam will focus more on demonstrating practical skills than memorization.

So far, 17 jurisdictions, including many states, have announced their intention to adopt the exam.

In Welchs mind, thats a step in the right direction.

She always wanted to be a lawyer. And with a civil rights organizer for a mother and a father who was very involved in his union, it made sense.

Welch worked hard to achieve that goal, volunteering and serving in student government while an undergraduate at the University of Montana. From there, she attended Gonzaga Law School.

Welch, who is Northern Cheyenne, got high-profile internships, including one at the Native American Rights Fund in Washington, D.C.

Then came graduation and six brutal weeks of studying for the bar exam.

Planning for it was absolutely awful, she said. It was really difficult and very cost prohibitive.

But Welch said it all felt worth it after accepting a job at the Washington Attorney Generals Office, where she became a law clerk. The offer was conditional on Welch passing the bar.

Welch took out loans to pay for normal expenses during exam preparation and the two months after the test waiting for her grade.

During her trip to Italy in September, she got her results: a 266, four points lower than the 270 needed to pass in Washington.

That was heartbreaking, Welch said. I immediately had to call my boss and tell him to fire me.

When she got home, one of the first things she did was apply for food stamps.

I have a doctorate degree and Im applying for food stamps, Welch said. I had to take an additional bar study loan to pay for my life.

She applied to 70 jobs, from attorney positions to waiting tables, and signed up to take the exam again in February. But studying again felt like an impossible mountain to climb, she said.

Honestly, after the first time studying, your mentality is not there, Welch said. I would cry every time I studied because I thought I had failed. I was not in the space to take it again.

She finally got an interview and eventually a job offer from the Montana Office of the Public Defender, which she accepted.

Welch and her fiance are now in the midst of selling their home as he looks for a new job. Their rent in Montana is double what their mortgage was in Spokane, she said.

Theres a lot of really big decisions that had to be made due to me not passing in Washington, she said.

Even after getting the job in Montana, it took four months to transfer her score. Welch also had to pay to go before the Montana character and fitness board, something she had already paid for twice in Washington.

Hearing about the score reduction, Welch was happy for her friends who were in the same boat but also was upset it took this long to see change.

Its about time that Washington lowers the score and makes the bar more accessible and makes the legal field accessible, Welch said.

She hopes the Washington State Bar Association will offer some kind of financial support or an apology to people in her position.

After the ordeal of the last few months, the great irony, Welch said, is that all the things she studied for to pass the bar, she hasnt used.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Chinese e-commerce titan Alibaba is withdrawing a planned initial public offering for its logistics arm Cainiao, the company said Tuesday, as a major company overhaul faces setbacks.

The leading tech firm faces fierce competition from rivals such as JD.com, Pinduoduo and Douyin, China's version of video app TikTok.

Cainiao has "withdrawn its initial public offering and listing application on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange," Alibaba Group said in a filing on Tuesday.

The group, which currently owns 63.7 percent of shares in Cainiao, will instead offer to buy back the remaining equity held by minority shareholders, for a total of $3.75 billion.

Alibaba said on Tuesday it had called off the listing, announced in September last year, to "support Cainiao to execute a long-term strategic expansion of its global logistics network".

The decision comes after Alibaba announced in November the cancellation of a planned spin-off of its cloud computing businessalso part of its company restructuring program.

A pioneer in Chinese online shopping, the group is listed in New York and Hong Kong.

Based in eastern China's Hangzhou, Alibaba is a key player in the country's digital sector and is considered a barometer of consumer spending in the world's second-largest economy.

The company published disappointing quarterly results last month, recording a 77 percent drop on-year of its net profit in the quarter ending December 31.

 2024 AFP
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Reactor where the catalyst is tested for turning CO 2 to methanol. Credit: University of Nottingham

Researchers have successfully transformed CO 2 into methanol by shining sunlight on single atoms of copper deposited on a light-activated material, a discovery that paves the way for creating new green fuels.

An international team of researchers from the University of Nottingham's School of Chemistry, University of Birmingham, University of Queensland, and University of Ulm have designed a material made up of copper anchored on nanocrystalline carbon nitride.

The copper atoms are nested within the nanocrystalline structure, which allows electrons to move from carbon nitride to CO 2 , an essential step in the production of methanol from CO 2 under the influence of solar irradiation. The research has been published in the Sustainable Energy & Fuels journal.

In photocatalysis, light is shone on a semiconductor material that excites electrons, enabling them to travel through the material to react with CO 2 and water, leading to a variety of useful products, including methanol, which is a green fuel. Despite recent progress, this process suffers from a lack of efficiency and selectivity.

Carbon dioxide is the greatest contributor to global warming. Although it is possible to convert CO 2 to useful products, traditional thermal methods rely on hydrogen sourced from fossil fuels. It is important to develop alternative methods based on photo- and electrocatalysis, taking advantage of the sustainable solar energy and abundance of omnipresent water.

Dr. Madasamy Thangamuthu, a research fellow in the School of Chemistry, University of Nottingham, who co-led the research team, said, "There is a large variety of different materials used in photocatalysis. It is important that the photocatalyst absorbs light and separates charge carriers with high efficiency. In our approach, we control the material at the nanoscale. We developed a new form of carbon nitride with crystalline nanoscale domains that allow efficient interaction with light as well as sufficient charge separation."

The process of CO 2 conversion to methanol (fuel) by light. Credit: University of Nottingham

The researchers devised a process of heating carbon nitride to the required degree of crystallinity, maximizing the functional properties of this material for photocatalysis. Using magnetron sputtering, they deposited atomic copper in a solventless process, allowing intimate contact between the semiconductor and metal atoms.

Tara LeMercier, a Ph.D. student who carried out the experimental work at the University of Nottingham School of Chemistry, said, "We measured the current generated by light and used it as a criterion to judge the quality of the catalyst. Even without copper, the new form of carbon nitride is 44 times more active than traditional carbon nitride."

"However, to our surprise, the addition of only 1 mg of copper per 1 g of carbon nitride quadrupled this efficiency. Most importantly, the selectivity changed from methane, another greenhouse gas, to methanol, a valuable green fuel."

Professor Andrei Khlobystov, School of Chemistry, University of Nottingham, said, "Carbon dioxide valorization holds the key for achieving the net-zero ambition of the UK. It is vitally important to ensure the sustainability of our catalyst materials for this important reaction. A big advantage of the new catalyst is that it consists of sustainable elementscarbon, nitrogen, and copperall highly abundant on our planet."

This invention represents a significant step towards a deep understanding of photocatalytic materials in CO 2 conversion. It opens a pathway for creating highly selective and tunable catalysts where the desired product could be dialed up by controlling the catalyst at the nanoscale.

More information: Tara M LeMercier et al, Synergy of Nanocrystalline Carbon Nitride with Cu Single Atom Catalyst Leads to Selective Photocatalytic Reduction of CO 2 to Methanol, Sustainable Energy & Fuels (2024). DOI: 10.1039/D4SE00028E
ACCRA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The government of Ghana has launched a project to distribute 1.3 million free computer tablets to high school students to accelerate digital literacy in the country.

Launching the Ghana Smart Schools Project Monday, Ghanaian President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said the initiative is part of the government's measures to ensure that all sectors of the country are digitalized. Starting with 15 schools during the first phase, the project aims to distribute free tablets to students in all senior high schools across the country.

He said the government is convinced that digitalization is what would propel the next phase of the free senior high school program, as it would allow a seamless online and offline teaching and learning experience and enhance an environmentally friendly learning environment.

Akufo-Addo also announced plans to construct at least 30 smart schools across the country by the end of the year. The president said the government also planned to provide tablets and laptops for students and teachers at tertiary levels at discounted prices to facilitate academic work as part of the smart learning project.

"Education is at the center of poverty eradication, and as we gather here today, let us reflect on the crucial role education plays in shaping the future of our nation," Akufo-Addo added. 
Several dozen students assembled on Texas A&M Universitys campus Monday afternoon to protest in favor of the diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that were outlawed at the beginning of this year.

On Jan. 1, Senate Bill 17 went into effect, banning all DEI initiatives at publicly funded institutions of higher education in Texas  including those designed or implemented in reference to race, color, ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation, according to the law. At Texas A&M, this resulted in the closure of the universitys office of diversity and the LGBTQ Pride Center.

The protest was hosted by Rosies  an intersectional feminist student organization that supports inclusivity. The protest began in Rudder Plaza as participants marched to the Sterling C. Evans Library holding handmade signs and chanting phrases such as DEI till we die or Black, white, gay, straight, love does not discriminate.

Autumn Borowski, the philanthropy executive for Rosies said DEI is fundamental to their organization.

We deal with issues that arent specific to women, she said. We believe that women are impacted by different things in different ways. Included in that are things like diversity, equity and inclusion. When SB 17 went into effect this past January, it precisely affected everyone in our organization and we want people to know that just because this bill is now a law, it doesnt mean we cant do anything about it.

After the closure of the Pride Center in January, Borowski said the university felt less inviting to many students on campus.

We have hundreds and thousands of students that are of minority identity and places like the office of diversity and the LGBTQ center especially were huge places where people could try to find solace or support or resources, especially in a new place and a place as big as A&M, she said. Now, without those things, the university has put the responsibility of finding those resources and having that support on the students needing that support.

Despite SB 17 carving out exceptions for student organizations, Borowski said some still feel threatened now that the bill has become law.

For organizations that are more DEI positive, they have felt personally attacked by this bill and the implementation of it, she said. I also think universities  not only ours but across the state of Texas  are over-implementing this bill and so a lot of people are misinformed or they dont know really the extent of it. So, a lot of people probably think, and do think, that this bill extends to student organizations.

Allison Kemeny, the president of Rosies, said she was the representative who authorized the protest with the university.

I did more of the administrative behind-the-scenes [things,] Kemeny said. Autumn came to our executive meeting and said we had some members who were thinking about organizing a protest. So, I went to Rudder and let them know we were hoping to plan a protest and we had to just get the space approved.  Im just here to make what they want happen.

Kemeny said the march was intended to draw attention from students who might now be fully aware of SB 17.

The ultimate goal would be to either change the language of the bill or to get it repealed completely, she said. We are just trying to start that process, start a conversation, and get people to talk about it so they know that these resources they had in the past are no longer available to them.

Before the march began, Borowski gave a short speech and said there are members of A&Ms faculty, staff and administration who support them.

Even the people that I talked to to organize this protest want this to happen, they want to support us, she said. They want to see us thrive and grow in their community and they want to be the ones to help us get the level of support that we need. We are powerful, we are committed, we are determined and we ourselves will figure out positive ways to create a positive environment for those that need it.

In a January statement to The Eagle following the closure of the LGBTQ center, Chuck Glenewinkel, the director of Student Affairs Division of Marketing & Communications, said the department will continue to provide services for all students while maintaining compliance with SB 17.

The space will continue to be a welcoming environment for all Aggies, Glenewinkels statement said. Events and programs like Late Night and Craft & Cram will be transitioned to the new Student Life Center this semester.  Student Affairs and [the] Student Life Center will continue to explore avenues to provide needed services and resources for all Aggies.
Aprio Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF (NYSEARCA:SUSA  Free Report) by 10.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,565 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 1,423 shares during the period. Aprio Wealth Management LLCs holdings in iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF were worth $1,564,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its position in shares of iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF by 4.6% during the first quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 2,748 shares of the companys stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. McAdam LLC increased its holdings in iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 2,838 shares of the companys stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,464 shares of the companys stock worth $1,481,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,196 shares of the companys stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Group LLC increased its holdings in iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 1,186 shares of the companys stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter.

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iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF Stock Performance

SUSA traded down $0.47 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $108.34. 73,141 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 567,763. The companys fifty day moving average price is $104.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $97.75. The company has a market cap of $4.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.19 and a beta of 1.02. iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF has a one year low of $84.30 and a one year high of $109.43.

iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF Company Profile

The iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF (SUSA) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MSCI USA Extended ESG Select index. The fund tracks an index of US companies with high environmental, social and governance (ESG) factor scores as calculated by MSCI. SUSA was launched on Jan 24, 2005 and is managed by BlackRock.

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ICL Group (NYSE:ICL  Get Free Report) and PureBase (OTCMKTS:PUBC  Get Free Report) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for ICL Group and PureBase, as provided by MarketBeat.

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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

ICL Group currently has a consensus price target of $5.75, indicating a potential upside of 8.49%. Given ICL Groups higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe ICL Group is more favorable than PureBase.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

Profitability

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 hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

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

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares ICL Group and PureBases gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio ICL Group $7.54 billion 0.92 $647.00 million $0.51 10.39 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.

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.

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Dash Acquisitions Inc. grew its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH  Free Report) by 8.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 623 shares of the healthcare conglomerates stock after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc.s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $335,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 46,313,751 shares of the healthcare conglomerates stock worth $22,260,241,000 after acquiring an additional 764,872 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,220,234 shares of the healthcare conglomerates stock worth $12,715,790,000 after acquiring an additional 527,526 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 15,635,038 shares of the healthcare conglomerates stock valued at $8,289,386,000 after buying an additional 1,893,192 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 100,076.4% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,823,820 shares of the healthcare conglomerates stock valued at $6,268,753,000 after buying an additional 11,812,017 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 11,749,819 shares of the healthcare conglomerates stock valued at $5,647,433,000 after buying an additional 399,739 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the companys stock.

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UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH traded down $4.14 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $485.93. 2,785,615 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,144,438. The firm has a market capitalization of $447.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.54. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $445.68 and a 52 week high of $554.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $504.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $518.70.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

UnitedHealth Group ( NYSE:UNH Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 12th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $5.98 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $94.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $92.13 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.39% and a net margin of 6.02%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.34 EPS. Analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.82 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a $1.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. UnitedHealth Groups payout ratio is 31.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total value of $597,581.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,364 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,527,306.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total value of $597,581.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,364 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,527,306.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total value of $451,127.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,289 shares in the company, valued at $16,977,233.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an overweight rating and a $551.00 target price for the company. Stephens reaffirmed an overweight rating and set a $605.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. HSBC reaffirmed a reduce rating and set a $480.00 price objective (down previously from $550.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Monday, December 18th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $610.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, November 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an overweight rating and issued a $591.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $579.33.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on UNH

About UnitedHealth Group

(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.

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Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. (OTCMKTS:HTZZ  Get Free Report)s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $7.36 and last traded at $7.70, with a volume of 4540291 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $7.30.

Hertz Global Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $8.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.69. The company has a current ratio of 2.91, a quick ratio of 2.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07.

About Hertz Global

(Get Free Report)

Hertz Global Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides airport and off airport vehicle rental and leasing services. It operates through three segments: U.S. RAC, International RAC, and All Other Operations. The company provides its vehicle rental services under the Hertz, Dollar, Thrifty, Firefly, and Flexicar brands from approximately 12,000 corporate and franchisee locations in North America, Europe, Latin America, Africa, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, the Middle East, and New Zealand.

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Aprio Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE  Free Report) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 39,664 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after selling 1,493 shares during the period. Aprio Wealth Management LLCs holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,142,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Front Street Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Front Street Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,168 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Graves Light Lenhart Wealth Inc. lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,751 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $211,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 12,207 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $498,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Bank lifted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 46,671 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $2,416,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the companys stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an overweight rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Pfizer from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 14th. TD Cowen lowered Pfizer from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and set a $32.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Guggenheim started coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. They issued a buy rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Finally, 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. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $36.88.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of Pfizer stock traded up $0.07 during trading on Monday, reaching $27.43. 31,099,552 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 44,150,801. The company has a market capitalization of $155.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.69. Pfizer Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.61 and a 52-week high of $42.22.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by $0.29. Pfizer had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 3.62%. The business had revenue of $14.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 41.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Pfizer Profile

(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.

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BOAO, Hainan, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Regional economic integration continues to move forward in Asia, according to a report released on Tuesday by the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), which will convene its 2024 conference in Boao, a resort town in Hainan Province, south China.

The forum's Asian Economic Outlook and Integration Progress Annual Report 2024 states that global dependence on Asian trade in goods stayed stable, and the trade dependence between Asian economies remained at a high level in 2022. Both China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) continued to enjoy their status as regional hubs for trade in goods.

Due to the rise of trade protectionism worldwide, the dependence of global value chain products on Asia experienced a drop in 2022. "Trade dependence over China, Japan and Republic of Korea declined from 2021, but the figure in China's case was still higher than that in 2019 before the pandemic, pointing to resilience and competitive edge of Chinese factories," said the report.

In 2022, Asia reported a surplus of trade in services for the first time, reflecting optimized mix of trade in services and enhanced capacity of service exports in Asia, according to the report.

Asian economies have received an increasing number of inbound tourists over the past two years. In 2022, Laos, Malaysia and Singapore ranked top three in terms of year-on-year growth of inbound arrivals in Asia and the Pacific, and in 2023, international arrivals in Asia and the Pacific increased by 155 percent.

In 2022, Asian economies also demonstrated strong resilience in investment activities. The foreign direct investment (FDI) flows into Asia-Pacific economies amounted to 809.4 billion U.S. dollars, growing by 6.76 percent over the previous year and accounting for 62 percent of international FDI inflows, according to the report.

In 2022, Asian economies allocated 18 percent of their total portfolio investment assets within Asia. Japan maintained its position with the highest stock of portfolio investment among Asian economies, and China's stock of portfolio investment surpassed 1 trillion U.S. dollars for the first time, said the report.

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 annual conference 2024 will take place from March 26 to 29. 
Red Door Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO  Free Report) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,892 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLCs holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $403,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pacific Center for Financial Services boosted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pacific Center for Financial Services now owns 270 shares of the companys stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 282 shares of the companys stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 79.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 286 shares of the companys stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Citizens National Bank Trust Department boosted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens National Bank Trust Department now owns 300 shares of the companys stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tyler Stone Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 292 shares of the companys stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.54% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on NVO shares. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an overweight rating and a $120.00 target price for the company. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. They issued a neutral rating for the company. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Monday, December 4th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an overweight rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $126.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NVO traded up $0.29 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $129.05. The companys stock had a trading volume of 3,317,713 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,300,013. The businesss 50 day simple moving average is $120.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $103.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company has a market cap of $579.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.41. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 12-month low of $75.56 and a 12-month high of $138.28.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $9.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.14 billion. Novo Nordisk A/S had a net margin of 36.03% and a return on equity of 90.36%. On average, analysts forecast that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.35 EPS for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $0.664 per share. This is a boost from Novo Nordisk A/Ss previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.22. This represents a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. Novo Nordisk A/Ss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.17%.

About Novo Nordisk A/S

(Free Report)

Novo Nordisk A/S, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the research and development, manufacture, and distribution of pharmaceutical products in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, North America, and internationally. It operates in two segments, Diabetes and Obesity Care, and Rare Disease.

Further Reading

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Tokuyama Co. (OTCMKTS:TKYMY  Get Free Report)s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $8.71 and last traded at $8.71, with a volume of 0 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $8.71.

Tokuyama Price Performance

The firms 50 day simple moving average is $8.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.09. The company has a market cap of $1.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.05 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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Tokuyama (OTCMKTS:TKYMY  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $569.86 million for the quarter. Tokuyama had a net margin of 3.65% and a return on equity of 5.04%.

About Tokuyama

Tokuyama Corporation produces and sells various chemical products in Japan. The company operates through six segments: Chemicals, Cement, Electronics and Advanced Materials, Life Science, Eco Business, and Others. The Chemicals segment offers caustic soda, soda ash, calcium chloride, sodium silicate cullet, sodium bicarbonate, purified, vinyl chloride monomer, polyvinyl chloride resin, propylene oxide, methylene chloride, and chloroform.

Further Reading

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VinaCapital Vietnam Opp Fund (LON:VOF  Get Free Report) declared a dividend on Monday, March 25th, Upcoming.Co.Uk reports. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.07 per share on Monday, May 13th. This represents a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. The official announcement can be viewed at this link.

VinaCapital Vietnam Opp Fund Stock Performance

VOF traded down GBX 5 ($0.06) during trading on Monday, reaching GBX 456.50 ($5.77). 245,550 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 241,867. VinaCapital Vietnam Opp Fund has a fifty-two week low of GBX 413.77 ($5.23) and a fifty-two week high of GBX 475.50 ($6.01). The company has a quick ratio of 55.38, a current ratio of 41.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The business has a 50 day moving average price of GBX 453.48 and a 200 day moving average price of GBX 451.55. The company has a market capitalization of 700.45 million, a P/E ratio of -262.36 and a beta of 0.47.

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About VinaCapital Vietnam Opp Fund

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VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity Fund Limited specializes in private equity investments. The fund seeks to invest 80 percent of its portfolio in private equity and 20 percent in equitization projects will be re-allocated to listed shares. The fund also makes private investments. It invests in stocks of companies operating across the diversified sectors.

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Shares of A.P. Mller  Mrsk A/S (OTCMKTS:AMKBY  Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of Reduce from the twelve analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company.

AMKBY has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on A.P. Mller  Mrsk A/S in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. They issued an underperform rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised A.P. Mller  Mrsk A/S from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised A.P. Mller  Mrsk A/S from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. BNP Paribas downgraded A.P. Mller  Mrsk A/S from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded A.P. Mller  Mrsk A/S from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th.

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A.P. Mller  Mrsk A/S Stock Performance

Shares of AMKBY stock opened at $6.57 on Tuesday. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $7.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.30. A.P. Mller  Mrsk A/S has a twelve month low of $6.38 and a twelve month high of $11.74. The company has a market capitalization of $24.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 1.32.

A.P. Mller  Mrsk A/S (OTCMKTS:AMKBY  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The transportation company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of ($0.17) by $0.03. A.P. Mller  Mrsk A/S had a negative return on equity of 0.22% and a net margin of 7.48%. The business had revenue of $11.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.32 billion. On average, analysts forecast that A.P. Mller  Mrsk A/S will post 0.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A.P. Mller  Mrsk A/S Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.2412 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 15th. A.P. Mller  Mrsk A/Ss payout ratio is presently 21.62%.

About A.P. Mller  Mrsk A/S

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A.P. Mller  Mrsk A/S, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the ocean transport and logistics business in Denmark and internationally. It operates through Ocean, Logistics & Services, Terminals, and Towage & Maritime Services segments. The Ocean segment is involved in container shipping activities, including demurrage and detention, terminal handling, documentation and container services, and container storage, as well as transshipment hubs.

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AKITA Drilling (TSE:AKT.A  Free Report) had its target price decreased by ATB Capital from C$3.30 to C$2.80 in a research note published on Friday, BayStreet.CA reports.

AKITA Drilling Price Performance

Shares of TSE AKT.A opened at C$1.55 on Friday. AKITA Drilling has a 1-year low of C$1.08 and a 1-year high of C$1.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 51.10, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.54. The businesss fifty day moving average price is C$1.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$1.55. The firm has a market capitalization of C$58.90 million, a PE ratio of 2.18, a P/E/G ratio of -0.69 and a beta of 1.99.

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AKITA Drilling Company Profile

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AKITA Drilling Ltd. provides provides contract drilling services in Canada and the United States. The company is involved in the drilling of oil and gas wells; other forms of drilling related to potash mining; and development of storage caverns. It specializes in pad and other purpose-built drilling rigs; and conventional, directional, horizontal, and underbalanced drilling, as well as provides specialized drilling services.

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Crane (NYSE:CR  Get Free Report) has received an average rating of Moderate Buy from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $113.67.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America increased their price target on Crane from $110.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. StockNews.com cut Crane from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Crane from $124.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd.

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Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crane

Crane Trading Up 0.7 %

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CR. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Crane by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,894,887 shares of the conglomerates stock worth $578,282,000 after acquiring an additional 16,167 shares during the period. SageView Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Crane during the 4th quarter worth $443,000. Congress Asset Management Co. MA increased its stake in Crane by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 1,322,850 shares of the conglomerates stock worth $156,282,000 after acquiring an additional 6,605 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Crane during the 4th quarter worth $237,000. Finally, Covenant Partners LLC increased its stake in Crane by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Covenant Partners LLC now owns 3,456 shares of the conglomerates stock worth $408,000 after acquiring an additional 585 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.91% of the companys stock.

NYSE CR opened at $134.28 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $124.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $108.59. The company has a market capitalization of $7.67 billion, a PE ratio of 36.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Crane has a 12 month low of $67.28 and a 12 month high of $135.67.

Crane (NYSE:CR  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $532.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $519.55 million. Crane had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%. Research analysts forecast that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were paid a dividend of $0.205 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. This is a positive change from Cranes previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Cranes dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.22%.

About Crane

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Crane Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells engineered industrial products in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, and internationally. The company operates in three segments: Aerospace & Electronics, Process Flow Technologies, and Engineered Materials.

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Anderson Hoagland & Co. decreased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX  Free Report) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 153,106 shares of the natural resource companys stock after selling 1,201 shares during the period. Anderson Hoagland & Co.s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $5,956,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. KB Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Retirement Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 97.1% in the second quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 670 shares of the natural resource companys stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the companys stock.

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Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FCX traded up $0.24 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $45.35. 7,752,674 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,954,124. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a one year low of $32.83 and a one year high of $46.49. The stock has a market cap of $65.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.70 and a beta of 2.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stocks 50-day moving average price is $39.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.53.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Freeport-McMoRan ( NYSE:FCX Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The natural resource company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.85 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 8.09% and a return on equity of 8.41%. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A number of research analysts recently commented on FCX shares. Eight Capital set a $55.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a sector perform rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Thursday, January 25th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $41.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 7th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $44.95.

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About Freeport-McMoRan

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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.

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AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU  Get Free Report) and Osisko Mining (OTCMKTS:OBNNF  Get Free Report) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares AngloGold Ashanti and Osisko Minings net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

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Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets AngloGold Ashanti N/A N/A N/A Osisko Mining N/A -1.37% -1.08%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for AngloGold Ashanti and Osisko Mining, as reported by MarketBeat.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score AngloGold Ashanti 1 4 2 0 2.14 Osisko Mining 0 0 1 0 3.00

Earnings and Valuation

AngloGold Ashanti presently has a consensus price target of $22.50, indicating a potential upside of 3.16%. Osisko Mining has a consensus price target of $3.50, indicating a potential upside of 77.22%. Given Osisko Minings stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Osisko Mining is more favorable than AngloGold Ashanti.

This table compares AngloGold Ashanti and Osisko Minings gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio AngloGold Ashanti $4.50 billion 2.02 $297.00 million N/A N/A Osisko Mining N/A N/A $165.47 million $0.42 4.70

AngloGold Ashanti has higher revenue and earnings than Osisko Mining.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

36.1% of AngloGold Ashanti shares are held by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

AngloGold Ashanti beats Osisko Mining on 6 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About AngloGold Ashanti

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AngloGold Ashanti plc operates as a gold mining company in Africa, the Americas, and Australia. The company primarily explores for gold, as well as produces silver and sulphuric acid as by-products. Its flagship property is a 100% owned Geita project located in the Lake Victoria goldfields of the Mwanza region in north-western Tanzania. The company also owns 100% interest in the Iduapriem mine which covers 137 square kilometers located in the western region of Ghana; Obuasi project located in Ghana; AGA Mineracao in Brazil; Serra Grande located in central Brazil in the state of Goias; Greenfield Projects in the Beatty district in Nevada; and Sunrise Dam in Australia. It also holds 92.5% interest in the Cerro Vanguardia project situated in Argentina; 70% interest in the Tropicana property in Australia; and 85% interest in the Siguiri project in Guinea. The company also explores for silver and sulphuric acid. AngloGold Ashanti plc was incorporated in 1944 and is headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado.

About Osisko Mining

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Osisko Mining Inc., a mineral exploration company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of gold resource properties in Canada. Its flagship project is its 100% interest in the Windfall Lake property that consists of 286 mining claims covering an area of approximately 12,523 hectares located in the Abitibi greenstone belt, Urban Township, Eeyou Istchee James Bay, Quebec. It also holds 100% interest in the Quevillon Osborne-Bell property, which includes the Osborne-Bell Gold deposit, comprising 2,621 claims covering an area of approximately 140,207 hectares located in the Lebel-sur-Quevillon area of Quebec; and holds 100% interest in the Urban-Barry property that consists of 1372 individual claims covering an area of approximately 74,135 hectares located in the Abitibi greenstone belt, Eeyou Istchee James Bay, Quebec. The company was formerly known as Oban Mining Corporation and changed its name to Osisko Mining Inc. in June 2016. Osisko Mining Inc. is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

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Artemis Investment Management LLP trimmed its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES  Free Report) by 75.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 154,064 shares of the oil and gas producers stock after selling 478,251 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP owned approximately 0.05% of Hess worth $22,210,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of HES. Raymond James Trust N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Hess in the first quarter worth approximately $446,000. Blair William & Co. IL increased its holdings in Hess by 17.1% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 4,276 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $458,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in Hess by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 114,120 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $12,216,000 after purchasing an additional 4,027 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers purchased a new position in Hess during the 1st quarter worth $410,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Hess by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,928,530 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $3,310,590,000 after purchasing an additional 667,979 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on HES shares. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Hess from $152.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Hess from $169.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com began coverage on Hess in a research report on Sunday. They set a sell rating on the stock. UBS Group dropped their target price on Hess from $210.00 to $195.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 14th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Hess from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $175.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 73,885 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.87, for a total transaction of $10,777,604.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 138,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,234,794.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Timothy B. Goodell sold 2,701 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.52, for a total transaction of $390,348.52. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 162,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,433,050.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 73,885 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.87, for a total value of $10,777,604.95. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 138,718 shares in the company, valued at $20,234,794.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 155,798 shares of company stock worth $22,811,166. Corporate insiders own 9.91% of the companys stock.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HES traded down $0.98 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $150.40. 216,658 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,780,333. The firms fifty day simple moving average is $145.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $147.11. The stock has a market cap of $46.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.64 and a beta of 1.27. Hess Co. has a 12-month low of $122.71 and a 12-month high of $167.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

Hess (NYSE:HES  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.20. Hess had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 12.98%. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.78 EPS. Hesss revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 7.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.4375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 15th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. Hesss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.89%.

Hess Company Profile

(Free Report)

Hess Corporation, an exploration and production company, explores, develops, produces, purchases, transports, and sells crude oil, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and natural gas. The company operates in two segments, Exploration and Production, and Midstream. It conducts production operations primarily in the United States, Guyana, the Malaysia/Thailand Joint Development Area, and Malaysia; and exploration activities principally offshore Guyana, the U.S.

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StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Barnwell Industries (NYSE:BRN  Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Saturday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the stock.

Separately, TheStreet downgraded Barnwell Industries from a c rating to a d+ rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th.

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Barnwell Industries Trading Up 0.4 %

BRN opened at $2.38 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $23.87 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.81 and a beta of 0.19. The stocks 50-day moving average price is $2.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $2.46. Barnwell Industries has a 12-month low of $2.06 and a 12-month high of $3.10.

Barnwell Industries (NYSE:BRN  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The company reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $6.16 million during the quarter. Barnwell Industries had a negative net margin of 11.35% and a negative return on equity of 14.70%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Barnwell Industries by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 62,447 shares of the companys stock valued at $152,000 after acquiring an additional 4,591 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP purchased a new position in Barnwell Industries during the 1st quarter worth approximately $75,000. Stilwell Value LLC purchased a new position in Barnwell Industries during the 1st quarter worth approximately $220,000. Two Sigma Investments LP purchased a new position in Barnwell Industries during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in Barnwell Industries by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 637,622 shares of the companys stock worth $1,639,000 after buying an additional 83,286 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.71% of the companys stock.

Barnwell Industries Company Profile

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Barnwell Industries, Inc acquires, develops, produces, and sells oil and natural gas in Canada. The company operates through three segments: Oil and Natural Gas, Land Investment, and Contract Drilling. It also acquires and develops crude oil and natural gas assets in the province of Alberta, as well as invests in land interests in Hawaii.

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Chinese premier holds talks with Dominican PM

Xinhua) 10:35, March 26, 2024

Chinese Premier Li Qiang holds a welcome ceremony for Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica Roosevelt Skerrit in the Northern Hall of the Great Hall of the People prior to their talks in Beijing, capital of China, March 25, 2024. Li held talks with Skerrit, who is on an official visit to China, in Beijing on Monday. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao)

BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang held talks with Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica Roosevelt Skerrit in Beijing on Monday.

Noting that this year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Dominica, Li said the two sides have been treating each other with mutual respect and equality over the past 20 years.

Bilateral ties have made substantial progress and seen fruitful cooperation in various fields, setting a good example for countries of different sizes to achieve mutual benefits, he said.

Li said China is ready to work with Dominica to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, strengthen political mutual trust further, and push for the new and greater development of bilateral relations and cooperation.

Li said China has always supported Dominica in safeguarding its national sovereignty and independence, and in following a development path suited to its national conditions. China is willing to enhance cooperation with Dominica continuously in areas such as infrastructure construction, agriculture and trade under the framework of the joint construction of the Belt and Road, Li said. It is also ready to develop new highlights in cooperation on new energy and the digital and blue economies, help Dominica improve its disaster prevention and mitigation capabilities, and share more development opportunities, he added.

He noted that China supports its enterprises in investing and doing business in Dominica, and it also welcomes Dominica and other Caribbean countries to actively participate in the fourth China-Caribbean Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum to open broader prospects for China-Dominica economic and trade cooperation.

For his part, Skerrit said that Dominica and China have always respected each other, cooperated closely, forged a profound friendship and set a good example for the Latin America-China friendship. Dominica abides firmly by the one-China principle, and resolutely opposes the interference of any country in China's internal affairs and the infringement of any country on China's sovereignty.

Skerrit said China is committed to safeguarding world peace and promoting common development, and noted that the global initiatives proposed by China are receiving more and more support from the international community. Dominica is willing to strengthen communication with China further, increase personnel exchanges, expand cooperation, work together to deal with climate change, and promote the construction of a Dominica-China community with a shared future.

After their talks, Li and Skerrit witnessed the signature of a number of bilateral cooperation documents on the joint construction of the Belt and Road, agriculture, green development, infrastructure construction and the implementation of the Global Development Initiative.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang holds talks with Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica Roosevelt Skerrit, who is on an official visit to China, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao)

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
BELGRADE, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Twenty-five years on, people in Serbia are still feeling the pain after NATO's bombing of then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, while justice has yet to be done in the case of the aggression.

On March 24, 1999, NATO started an aerial bombing campaign against Yugoslavia without the authorization of the UN Security Council. During the 78-day bombings, Serbia lost thousands of policemen, soldiers, and civilians, and suffered immense damage to its transport and energy infrastructure.

Among NATO's targets were houses and apartment buildings, schools, hospitals, and even kindergartens, while the weapons deployed included missiles containing depleted uranium and cluster bombs.

Three Chinese reporters, including one from Xinhua, were killed during bombardments against the Chinese embassy in Belgrade.

Serbian people mark March 24 as Remembrance Day for the Victims of NATO Aggression by laying wreaths or framed photos of their loved ones whose lives have been taken either directly by NATO's projectiles or indirectly by chaos and ethnic conflict, largely instigated by NATO.

This year, the ceremony of the remembrance day was held at the main square of Prokuplje, a city some 250 km south of Belgrade, in the presence of President Aleksandar Vucic, government officials, policemen, soldiers, and thousands of civilians.

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

Verica Tomanovic, president of the Association of Families of Kidnapped and Missing Persons in Kosovo and Metohija, recalled the arduous journey of hundreds of families. Representing 570 families who are still pining for their loved ones, her life journey over the past 25 years has been an unrelenting quest for truth and justice.

"Every passing day becomes heavier," said Tomanovic. In a poignant retelling of her personal tragedy, she shared the story of her husband Andrija, a dedicated doctor, and head of the surgical department in Pristina, whose life was abruptly halted by abduction.

"The assurances of NATO officials about safety and security crumbled as violence engulfed the region. People were targeted and killed on the streets based on ethnic affiliation," recalled Tomanovic, her voice filled with sorrow.

Despite promises of protection, her husband became a victim of the conflict, abducted in broad daylight while bystanders, including NATO soldiers, looked on.

"He was a man of deep empathy," she said, explaining how her husband stayed at his post out of dedication to his profession. The abduction of her husband, amidst the chaos following the NATO intervention, remains an open wound. With each passing year, the pain deepens.

Verica Tomanovic's relentless quest for truth has led her to the doors of international institutions, seeking answers that seem perpetually elusive. "We demand that the truth be uncovered," she said, clutching letters addressed to world leaders.

She mourns the absence of humanitarian rights in Kosovo and Metohija, where, despite tireless appeals to domestic and international bodies, answers remain beyond reach, "without exhumations, without identification, without accountability."

Standing amidst walls adorned with the faces of hundreds of kidnapped or missing individuals, including her husband Andrija, her determination remains unwavering after a quarter of a century.

"We have the right to know the truth," she said.

TOXIC LEGACY

With similar unwavering determination, Srdjan Aleksic, a lawyer from Nis, leads the charge in seeking redress for the victims of depleted uranium contamination, a legacy of warfare that has left a trail of devastation in its wake.

Born in Bustranje, a village nestled within the Presevo municipality, Aleksic's personal connection to the plight of his community runs deep. His mother, relatives, and neighbors succumbed to the ravages of cancer, a consequence of depleted uranium exposure during the 78 days of relentless bombardments.

For Aleksic, the pursuit of justice transcends legal advocacy; it is a deeply personal crusade. With over 4,000 individuals seeking solace and restitution through his legal counsel, Aleksic stands as a beacon of hope for those afflicted by the silent killer.

There were two analyses conducted in Turin, Italy, which confirmed that Colonel Dragan Stojcic of the Serbian Army and Ksenija Tadic have 500 times more depleted uranium in their bodies than in any other person, Aleksic said.

Colonel Dragan Stojcic, a respected member of the Serbian Army, tragically died from three types of cancer, underscoring the dire consequences of the toxic legacy.

Collaborating with legal counterparts in Italy, where landmark judgments have been handed down over the illness of Italian peacekeepers who spent time in Kosovo, Aleksic aims to replicate their success in Serbia.

"If we have in Italy 400 cases with final, confirmed judgments, where they managed to prove the causality, and this was confirmed by the Supreme Court of Italy -- why wouldn't we do the same in Serbia?" said Aleksic.

The use of depleted uranium is a war crime against civilians, said Aleksic. With its enduring half-life of 4.5 billion years, the toxic legacy of depleted uranium continues to cast a shadow over future generations.

CRIPPLED INT'L LAW

"It's evident that on that fateful day, justice was undermined, and fairness was compromised," said Milos Vucevic, Serbian deputy prime minister and minister of defense, during the international conference "From Aggression to New Just Order" held in Belgrade on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the bombing.

"From the onset of terrorist attacks and NATO aggression to the present day, we've witnessed numerous humanitarian catastrophes stemming from the pursuit of power and the delusion of one's supremacy, a delusion that disregards eternal truths, namely, that justice will inevitably prevail," he said.

Speaking at the conference, Nikola Selakovic, minister in charge of veteran affairs, condemned NATO intervention in 1999 "a crime against the then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia."

"The balance sheet of this entire period is marked by hundreds of killed, missing, hundreds of thousands of exiles and displaced persons, dozens of destroyed and burned churches and monasteries, crimes without punishment," said Selakovic.

Everything raises the question of whether the aggression that began on March 24, 1999, really ended on June 10 of that year or is still ongoing, he added. 
BlackRock Capital Allocation Term Trust (NYSE:BCAT  Get Free Report)s share price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $16.39 and last traded at $16.39, with a volume of 87877 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.32.

BlackRock Capital Allocation Term Trust Stock Down 1.1 %

The businesss fifty day moving average price is $15.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.92.

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BlackRock Capital Allocation Term Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.127 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock Capital Allocation Term Trust

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock Capital Allocation Term Trust

In related news, major shareholder Saba Capital Management, L.P. acquired 1,061,017 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $15.78 per share, with a total value of $16,742,848.26. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,333,600 shares in the company, valued at $257,744,208. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website . Insiders purchased a total of 1,902,871 shares of company stock valued at $29,673,698 in the last three months.

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of BlackRock Capital Allocation Term Trust by 93.8% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 260,872 shares of the companys stock worth $4,320,000 after acquiring an additional 126,252 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its stake in BlackRock Capital Allocation Term Trust by 56.1% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 35,747 shares of the companys stock valued at $592,000 after purchasing an additional 12,848 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock Capital Allocation Term Trust during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $178,000. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC increased its stake in BlackRock Capital Allocation Term Trust by 34.0% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 23,611 shares of the companys stock valued at $391,000 after purchasing an additional 5,995 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock Capital Allocation Term Trust by 30.6% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 17,073 shares of the companys stock valued at $283,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 31.63% of the companys stock.

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Capstone Copper (TSE:CS  Get Free Report) received a C$9.00 price target from analysts at Stifel Nicolaus in a report released on Tuesday, BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the mining companys stock. Stifel Nicolaus price objective would suggest a potential upside of 9.49% from the stocks previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Eight Capital set a C$9.00 price objective on Capstone Copper and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 6th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Capstone Copper from C$7.50 to C$8.00 in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. TD Securities boosted their price objective on Capstone Copper from C$8.50 to C$9.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. National Bankshares boosted their price objective on Capstone Copper from C$8.25 to C$8.75 in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, CIBC boosted their target price on Capstone Copper from C$7.75 to C$8.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Buy and an average price target of C$8.56.

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Capstone Copper Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of TSE CS traded up C$0.25 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching C$8.22. 876,513 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,621,966. Capstone Copper has a 52-week low of C$4.40 and a 52-week high of C$8.37. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of C$7.02 and a 200-day moving average price of C$6.11. The company has a market capitalization of C$6.19 billion, a P/E ratio of -41.05, a P/E/G ratio of -0.09 and a beta of 2.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.25.

Capstone Copper (TSE:CS  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The mining company reported C$0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of C$0.02. The company had revenue of C$481.57 million during the quarter. Capstone Copper had a negative net margin of 7.56% and a negative return on equity of 3.99%. Equities research analysts expect that Capstone Copper will post 0.4604439 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Darren Murvin Pylot sold 83,600 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$8.14, for a total transaction of C$680,228.12. In related news, Director Gordon James Bell purchased 20,000 shares of Capstone Copper stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of C$7.06 per share, with a total value of C$141,140.00. Also, Director Darren Murvin Pylot sold 83,600 shares of Capstone Copper stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$8.14, for a total transaction of C$680,228.12. 17.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Capstone Copper

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Capstone Copper Corp. operates as a copper mining company in the United States, Chile, and Mexico. It primarily explores for copper, silver, zinc, and other metals. The company owns 100% interests in Pinto Valley copper mine located in the Arizona, the United States; Mantos Blancos copper-silver mine located in the Region of Antofagasta, Chile; Santo Domingo copper-iron-gold-cobalt project located in the Atacama region, Chile; Cozamin copper-silver mine located in the Zacatecas, Mexico.

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CCL Industries Inc. (TSE:CCL.B  Get Free Report) Director Derek Cumming sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$70.80, for a total value of C$226,560.00.

Derek Cumming also recently made the following trade(s):

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On Wednesday, February 28th, Derek Cumming sold 700 shares of CCL Industries stock. The stock was sold at an average price of C$69.51, for a total value of C$48,653.50.

CCL Industries Stock Down 0.1 %

CCL Industries stock traded down C$0.04 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting C$70.00. 30,738 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 270,846. The company has a market cap of C$11.62 billion, a PE ratio of 23.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 0.55. The companys fifty day moving average price is C$63.64 and its 200-day moving average price is C$59.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 49.37, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.31. CCL Industries Inc. has a fifty-two week low of C$52.82 and a fifty-two week high of C$74.49.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on CCL Industries from C$72.00 to C$81.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Pi Financial increased their price objective on CCL Industries from C$74.00 to C$75.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Scotiabank raised their price target on CCL Industries from C$72.00 to C$79.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. National Bankshares raised their price target on CCL Industries from C$79.00 to C$81.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised CCL Industries from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their price objective for the company from C$65.00 to C$79.00 in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CCL Industries currently has an average rating of Buy and an average price target of C$78.80.

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About CCL Industries

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CCL Industries Inc manufactures and sells labels, containers, consumer printable media products, technology driven label solutions, polymer bank note substrates, and specialty films. The company operates through four segments: CCL, Avery, Checkpoint, and Innovia. The CCL segment offers pressure sensitive and specialty extruded film materials for decorative, instructional, functional, and security applications in the consumer packaging, healthcare, chemicals, consumer electronic device, and automotive markets.

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Centerra Gold Inc. (TSE:CG  Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of Buy from the seven brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$10.21.

A number of research analysts recently commented on CG shares. BMO Capital Markets set a C$10.00 price objective on shares of Centerra Gold and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Cormark cut their price objective on Centerra Gold from C$11.50 to C$11.00 in a report on Monday, February 26th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Centerra Gold from C$11.00 to C$12.00 in a report on Friday, January 12th. CIBC reduced their price objective on shares of Centerra Gold from C$11.00 to C$9.50 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on shares of Centerra Gold from C$11.75 to C$10.75 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 21st.

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Read Our Latest Analysis on CG

Insider Activity

Centerra Gold Trading Up 0.4 %

In other Centerra Gold news, Senior Officer Darren Millman sold 110,274 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$6.96, for a total value of C$766,955.67. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Shares of TSE CG opened at C$7.73 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of C$1.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.16. Centerra Gold has a 12-month low of C$6.07 and a 12-month high of C$10.28. The company has a current ratio of 3.25, a quick ratio of 3.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is C$7.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$7.36.

Centerra Gold (TSE:CG  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported C$0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of C$0.39 by C($0.01). Centerra Gold had a negative net margin of 7.42% and a negative return on equity of 4.66%. The firm had revenue of C$462.92 million during the quarter. Equities research analysts expect that Centerra Gold will post 0.4803493 EPS for the current year.

Centerra Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 12th. Centerra Golds dividend payout ratio is currently -54.90%.

Centerra Gold Company Profile

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Centerra Gold Inc, a gold mining company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and operation of gold and copper properties in North America, Turkey, and internationally. The company explores for gold, copper, and molybdenum deposits. Its flagship projects include the 100% owned Mount Milligan gold-copper mine located in British Columbia, Canada; and the Oksut Gold Mine located in Turkey.

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Chatham Lodging Trust (NYSE:CLDT  Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, March 13th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of 0.07 per share by the real estate investment trust on Monday, April 15th. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th.

Chatham Lodging Trust has raised its dividend payment by an average of 8.4% annually over the last three years.

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Chatham Lodging Trust Stock Performance

Chatham Lodging Trust stock opened at $10.02 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 3.08 and a current ratio of 3.08. Chatham Lodging Trust has a 52-week low of $8.92 and a 52-week high of $11.32. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $10.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.16.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Chatham Lodging Trust ( NYSE:CLDT Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.38). The company had revenue of $72.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.46 million. Chatham Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 0.33% and a net margin of 0.85%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.20 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Chatham Lodging Trust will post 1.15 EPS for the current year.

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Chatham Lodging Trust from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 5th.

View Our Latest Stock Report on Chatham Lodging Trust

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Chatham Lodging Trust

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CLDT. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in Chatham Lodging Trust by 10.2% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,471,592 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $99,357,000 after purchasing an additional 874,031 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Chatham Lodging Trust by 275.5% in the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 890,825 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $9,309,000 after buying an additional 653,584 shares in the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Chatham Lodging Trust by 85.8% in the first quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 965,283 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $13,311,000 after buying an additional 445,640 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Chatham Lodging Trust by 84.5% in the second quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 598,455 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $5,602,000 after buying an additional 274,018 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Chatham Lodging Trust by 3.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,892,614 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $58,160,000 after buying an additional 186,288 shares in the last quarter. 88.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Chatham Lodging Trust

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Chatham Lodging Trust is a self-advised, publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) focused primarily on investing in upscale, extended-stay hotels and premium-branded, select-service hotels. The company owns 39 hotels totaling 5,915 rooms/suites in 16 states and the District of Columbia.

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Anderson Hoagland & Co. lessened its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL  Free Report) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 75,562 shares of the transportation companys stock after selling 1,052 shares during the period. Anderson Hoagland & Co.s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $2,831,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of DAL. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the 1st quarter valued at about $217,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 41.8% during the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,838 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $1,022,000 after acquiring an additional 7,616 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the 1st quarter valued at about $243,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 20.7% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 9,918 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $392,000 after buying an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 29,508 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $1,168,000 after buying an additional 891 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the companys stock.

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Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

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 transaction of $2,816,128.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 428,768 shares of the companys stock, valued at $16,807,705.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DAL traded down $0.17 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $45.42. The stock had a trading volume of 8,698,126 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,248,240. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $40.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.57. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.60 and a 1 year high of $49.81. The company has a market capitalization of $29.22 billion, a PE ratio of 6.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.42.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 12th. The transportation company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.11. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 46.35% and a net margin of 7.94%. The business had revenue of $14.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.48 EPS. The companys quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. Delta Air Liness payout ratio is currently 5.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on DAL shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Delta Air Lines from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a buy rating and a $59.00 target price on the stock. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Buy and an average target price of $55.79.

Read Our Latest Research Report on DAL

Delta Air Lines Company Profile

(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.

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Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN  Free Report) had its target price cut by Stifel Nicolaus from $75.00 to $65.00 in a report issued on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the energy companys stock.

DVN has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Devon Energy from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Devon Energy from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Devon Energy from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a sector perform rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Devon Energy in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Devon Energy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $55.38.

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Devon Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DVN opened at $49.05 on Friday. Devon Energy has a fifty-two week low of $40.47 and a fifty-two week high of $56.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.41 and a beta of 2.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The business has a 50-day moving average of $43.96 and a 200-day moving average of $45.43.

Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The energy company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.88 billion. Devon Energy had a return on equity of 31.72% and a net margin of 24.56%. The businesss quarterly revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.66 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Devon Energy will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Devon Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.59%. Devon Energys dividend payout ratio is presently 15.09%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Devon Energy

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Devon Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in Devon Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. KB Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Devon Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Devon Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Devon Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. 69.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Devon Energy

(Get Free Report)

Devon Energy Corporation, an independent energy company, engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States. It operates in Delaware, Eagle Ford, Anadarko, Williston, and Powder River Basins. The company was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

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Dunelm Group plc (LON:DNLM  Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of Hold from the six research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is GBX 1,209 ($15.28).

Several equities analysts have recently commented on DNLM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a GBX 1,190 ($15.04) price objective on shares of Dunelm Group in a research note on Thursday, December 14th. Berenberg Bank restated a buy rating and issued a GBX 1,410 ($17.82) price objective on shares of Dunelm Group in a report on Wednesday, February 14th.

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Dunelm Group Stock Performance

Dunelm Group Increases Dividend

Shares of LON:DNLM opened at GBX 1,073 ($13.56) on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of 2.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,469.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of -10.32 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50-day moving average price of GBX 1,102.93 and a 200-day moving average price of GBX 1,075.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 169.49. Dunelm Group has a 12 month low of GBX 964.87 ($12.19) and a 12 month high of GBX 1,335.54 ($16.88).

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of GBX 51 ($0.64) per share. This represents a yield of 4.7%. This is a boost from Dunelm Groups previous dividend of $27.00. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. Dunelm Groups dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5,890.41%.

About Dunelm Group

(Get Free Report

Dunelm Group plc retails homewares in the United Kingdom. The company offers furniture and beds products, which include bedroom, living room, dining room, and other furniture, as well as bed and mattresses, and sofas and armchairs; bedding products comprising bed linen, dorma, baby and kid's bedding, and duvets, pillows, and protectors; curtains and rugs; and venetian, roller, roman, vertical, and made to measure blinds.

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Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP  Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $200.00 to $265.00 in a report issued on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the construction companys stock.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital raised shares of Eagle Materials from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Eagle Materials from $215.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Eagle Materials from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Eagle Materials from $234.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Eagle Materials from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $232.50.

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View Our Latest Report on EXP

Eagle Materials Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE EXP opened at $268.15 on Friday. Eagle Materials has a 12 month low of $135.17 and a 12 month high of $268.90. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $9.24 billion, a PE ratio of 18.92 and a beta of 1.34. The stocks 50 day moving average is $240.63 and its 200 day moving average is $200.39.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The construction company reported $3.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $3.56 by $0.16. Eagle Materials had a return on equity of 40.05% and a net margin of 22.24%. The firm had revenue of $558.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $537.23 million. Research analysts predict that Eagle Materials will post 14.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.37%. Eagle Materialss dividend payout ratio is presently 7.06%.

Insider Activity at Eagle Materials

In other Eagle Materials news, EVP Matt Newby sold 2,940 shares of Eagle Materials stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total value of $738,381.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 21,819 shares of the companys stock, valued at $5,479,841.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Matt Newby sold 2,940 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total transaction of $738,381.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 21,819 shares of the companys stock, valued at $5,479,841.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David B. Powers sold 3,347 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.52, for a total transaction of $805,020.44. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 655 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $157,540.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,444 shares of company stock worth $4,414,889 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.70% of the companys stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eagle Materials

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EXP. Meritage Portfolio Management grew its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 2,259 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $458,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 77.6% during the 2nd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 151 shares of the construction companys stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 3,793 shares of the construction companys stock worth $632,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 12,674 shares of the construction companys stock worth $2,110,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd boosted its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 3,285 shares of the construction companys stock worth $666,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. 96.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Eagle Materials Company Profile

(Get 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.

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Finsbury Growth & Income (LON:FGT  Get Free Report) declared a dividend on Tuesday, March 26th, Upcoming.Co.Uk reports. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th will be given a dividend of GBX 8.80 ($0.11) per share by the investment trust on Friday, May 17th. This represents a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. The official announcement can be viewed at this link.

Finsbury Growth & Income Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. Finsbury Growth & Income has a 12-month low of GBX 788.71 ($9.97) and a 12-month high of GBX 923 ($11.66). The firm has a market cap of 1.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,222.86 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average of GBX 848.71 and a 200-day moving average of GBX 839.93.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Katherine Cornish-Bowden bought 139 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of GBX 853 ($10.78) per share, for a total transaction of 1,185.67 ($1,498.38). In related news, insider Simon Hayes purchased 3,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of GBX 838 ($10.59) per share, with a total value of 25,140 ($31,770.50). Also, insider Katherine Cornish-Bowden acquired 139 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of GBX 853 ($10.78) per share, with a total value of 1,185.67 ($1,498.38). Insiders have bought 7,139 shares of company stock worth $5,976,567 in the last quarter. 4.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Finsbury Growth & Income

Finsbury Growth & Income Trust PLC is a closed ended equity mutual fund launched Frostrow Capital LLP. The fund is co-managed by Lindsell Train Limited. It invests in public equity markets of the United Kingdom. The fund seeks to invest in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors.

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MOSCOW, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Russian lawmakers are discussing lifting the moratorium on the country's death penalty, following a recent deadly terror attack at a Moscow concert hall.

"Today, there is no other form of punishment for these scumbags other than capital punishment," said Leonid Slutsky, head of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, referring to the suspects of the terrorist attack, at a plenary session of the State Duma, or lower house of the parliament.

Slutsky also noted that incitement to terrorism should be punished by imprisonment.

State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin proposed creating an inter-factional working group to analyze legislation regarding the use of the death penalty and migration policy.

Chairman of the State Duma Committee on State Building and Legislation Pavel Krasheninnikov said the committee is ready to discuss various proposals and bills on the moratorium on the death penalty, adding that it is ultimately important to "keep a cool head" when making such decisions.

According to current legislation, capital punishment remains legal in Russia, however, a moratorium on the death penalty was instituted in 1996, after the country had joined the Council of Europe. Russia's Constitutional Court imposed a ban on the death penalty in 1999.

The Kremlin said Monday that it is currently not taking part in any discussions on the potential return of the death penalty.

A shooting occurred last Friday in the Crocus City Hall concert venue in suburban Moscow, followed by a massive fire. The Russian Investigative Committee said that at least 139 people were killed as a result of the terrorist attack. 
Shares of Global Business Travel Group, Inc. (NYSE:GBTG  Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $5.97, but opened at $6.19. Global Business Travel Group shares last traded at $6.19, with a volume of 210,169 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Citigroup raised shares of Global Business Travel Group from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their price target for the stock from $7.50 to $8.00 in a research report on Friday, December 15th.

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Global Business Travel Group Price Performance

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Business Travel Group

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $5.80 and a 200 day moving average of $5.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. American Express Co acquired a new position in Global Business Travel Group in the 4th quarter valued at $1,017,721,000. Apollo Management Holdings L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Global Business Travel Group during the 1st quarter worth $170,437,000. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Global Business Travel Group by 1,169.4% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,564,661 shares of the companys stock worth $11,312,000 after purchasing an additional 1,441,400 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Global Business Travel Group during the 1st quarter worth $6,173,000. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Global Business Travel Group by 614.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 481,121 shares of the companys stock worth $3,479,000 after buying an additional 413,802 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.46% of the companys stock.

About Global Business Travel Group

(Get Free Report)

Global Business Travel Group, Inc provides business-to-business (B2B) travel platform in the United States and internationally. The company's platform offers a suite of technology-enabled solutions to business travelers and clients; travel content suppliers including airlines, hotels, ground transportation, and aggregators; and third-party travel agencies.

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Hippo Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HIPO  Get Free Report) CRO Yuval Harry sold 14,938 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.20, for a total transaction of $256,933.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now directly owns 145,162 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,496,786.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Hippo Price Performance

NYSE:HIPO traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $17.76. 81,070 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 169,993. Hippo Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $6.64 and a twelve month high of $20.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $12.61 and a 200 day moving average of $9.94.

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Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hippo

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Hippo by 135.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,042,378 shares of the companys stock worth $29,934,000 after acquiring an additional 8,655,415 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Hippo by 157.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,045,702 shares of the companys stock worth $3,555,000 after buying an additional 2,475,532 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Hippo by 69.5% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,533,200 shares of the companys stock worth $3,104,000 after buying an additional 1,449,094 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Hippo by 237.3% during the 2nd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,473,055 shares of the companys stock worth $2,174,000 after buying an additional 1,739,907 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hippo by 4.0% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,877,537 shares of the companys stock valued at $3,737,000 after purchasing an additional 72,492 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 43.01% of the companys stock.

About Hippo

Hippo Holdings Inc provides property and casualty insurance products to individuals and business customers primarily in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Services, Insurance-as-a-Service, and Hippo Home Insurance Program. Its insurance products include homeowners' insurance against risks of fire, wind, and theft, as well as other personal lines policies from third party carriers; and personal and commercial, as well as home, auto, cyber, small business, life, specialty lines, and other insurance products.

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Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW  Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 9th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be paid a dividend of 1.40 per share by the industrial products company on Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th.

Illinois Tool Works has increased its dividend payment by an average of 7.0% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 54 years. Illinois Tool Works has a payout ratio of 51.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Illinois Tool Works to earn $10.90 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 51.4%.

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Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ITW opened at $265.86 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Illinois Tool Works has a 12 month low of $217.06 and a 12 month high of $271.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.44 billion, a PE ratio of 27.30, a P/E/G ratio of 4.62 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50-day moving average of $259.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $247.50.

Insider Activity

Illinois Tool Works ( NYSE:ITW Get Free Report ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.01. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 96.60% and a net margin of 18.36%. The business had revenue of $3.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.34 earnings per share. The companys revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current year.

In other news, Chairman Ernest Scott Santi sold 50,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.44, for a total value of $12,722,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 221,015 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,235,056.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Illinois Tool Works news, EVP Sharon Szafranski sold 801 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.42, for a total transaction of $205,392.42. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,870 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,505,185.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Ernest Scott Santi sold 50,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.44, for a total value of $12,722,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 221,015 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,235,056.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 189,471 shares of company stock worth $48,712,316. Company insiders own 0.78% of the companys stock.

Institutional Trading of Illinois Tool Works

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 9,666 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $2,024,000 after buying an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 9,070 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $1,899,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 54.7% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,859 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $599,000 after purchasing an additional 1,011 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 2,407 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $504,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 70.7% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 746 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $156,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.77% of the companys stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ITW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America lowered 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. Citigroup raised their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $244.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Illinois Tool Works from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating and cut their target price for the company from $277.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Barclays lifted their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $215.00 to $224.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $238.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Illinois Tool Works currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $245.50.

View Our Latest Analysis on ITW

Illinois Tool Works Company Profile

(Get 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.

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StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Invitae (NYSE:NVTA  Free Report) in a research note released on Friday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the medical research companys stock.

Invitae Price Performance

NVTA opened at $0.01 on Friday. The companys 50-day moving average is $0.13 and its 200 day moving average is $0.45. Invitae has a fifty-two week low of $0.02 and a fifty-two week high of $0.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.74 million, a P/E ratio of 0.00 and a beta of 1.59.

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Institutional Trading of Invitae

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in Invitae by 9.7% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 32,282 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 2,845 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Invitae by 2.9% in the second quarter. FMR LLC now owns 112,499 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $275,000 after purchasing an additional 3,175 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Invitae by 6.2% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 75,269 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $185,000 after purchasing an additional 4,386 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC increased its stake in shares of Invitae by 22.9% in the first quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 26,594 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $212,000 after purchasing an additional 4,954 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Equity Partners increased its stake in shares of Invitae by 22.0% in the first quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 28,325 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $226,000 after purchasing an additional 5,100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.28% of the companys stock.

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.

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Kingdom Financial Group LLC. increased its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY  Free Report) by 21.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 571 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Kingdom Financial Group LLC.s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $333,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LLY. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,575,602 shares of the companys stock valued at $37,908,273,000 after purchasing an additional 659,838 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,878,417 shares of the companys stock valued at $15,888,300,000 after acquiring an additional 642,274 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,545,572 shares of the companys stock valued at $6,738,605,000 after acquiring an additional 83,915 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,158,275 shares of the companys stock valued at $5,456,314,000 after acquiring an additional 355,317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Eli Lilly and Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,416,206,000. 82.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America upped their price objective on Eli Lilly and Company from $800.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Truist Financial reissued a buy rating and issued a $850.00 target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price 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. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $680.00 to $810.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Eli Lilly and Company from $775.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Three research 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, Eli Lilly and Company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $689.52.

Eli Lilly and Company Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE LLY traded up $2.06 on Monday, reaching $772.67. 1,805,625 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,272,557. Eli Lilly and Company has a fifty-two week low of $323.26 and a fifty-two week high of $800.78. The company has a 50 day moving average of $722.56 and a 200 day moving average of $633.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $734.16 billion, a PE ratio of 133.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.34.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY  Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.19. Eli Lilly and Company had a return on equity of 51.22% and a net margin of 15.36%. The business had revenue of $9.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $8.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 28.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Eli Lilly and Company will post 12.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eli Lilly and Company news, major shareholder Lilly Endowment Inc sold 78,573 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $648.07, for a total value of $50,920,804.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 99,333,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,375,262,246.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 195,055 shares of company stock worth $125,254,657 in the last 90 days. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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Legacy Bridge LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR  Free Report) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,740 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock after selling 445 shares during the period. Legacy Bridge LLCs holdings in Digital Realty Trust were worth $1,176,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Digital Realty Trust by 2.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 47,390,848 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $5,735,240,000 after purchasing an additional 971,032 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 30,815,132 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $3,508,919,000 after buying an additional 3,245,264 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 2.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,596,456 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $2,345,318,000 after buying an additional 464,694 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 4.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,647,509 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $1,046,522,000 after buying an additional 394,682 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Digital Realty Trust by 0.4% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,032,301 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $591,734,000 after acquiring an additional 24,736 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.71% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on DLR shares. Raymond James increased their target price on Digital Realty Trust from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, December 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $144.00 target price on shares of Digital Realty Trust in a research report on Friday, February 16th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Digital Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, December 6th. They issued a sector weight rating on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Digital Realty Trust from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Digital Realty Trust presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $137.87.

Insider Buying and Selling at Digital Realty Trust

In other Digital Realty Trust news, Director Jean F. H. P. Mandeville sold 3,400 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were 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 owns 8,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,224,091.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Digital Realty Trust Stock Down 0.5 %

Digital Realty Trust stock traded down $0.68 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $137.83. The stock had a trading volume of 1,746,371 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,112,724. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $142.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $133.89. Digital Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $86.33 and a 12 month high of $154.18. The stock has a market cap of $43.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.54.

Digital Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $1.22 per share. 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%.

Digital Realty Trust Company Profile

(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.

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Mammoth Resources Corp. (CVE:MTH  Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as C$0.01 and last traded at C$0.02, with a volume of 50000 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$0.02.

Mammoth Resources Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of C$1.35 million, a PE ratio of -4.38 and a beta of 1.58. The businesss 50 day moving average is C$0.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$0.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 5.53 and a current ratio of 1.67.

About Mammoth Resources

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Mammoth Resources Corp., an exploration stage company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and evaluation of mining properties in Mexico. It holds a 100% interest in the Tenoriba property consisting of four concessions, including Mapy, Mapy 2, Mapy 3, and Fernanda covering a land package of totalling 5,333 hectares located in the Sierra Madre precious metal belt in southwestern Chihuahua State, Mexico.

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PVH (NYSE:PVH  Get Free Report) and Moncler (OTCMKTS:MONRF  Get Free Report) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and valuation.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares PVH and Monclers top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

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Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio PVH $9.02 billion 0.89 $200.40 million $8.48 15.89 Moncler N/A N/A N/A $0.42 176.84

PVH has higher revenue and earnings than Moncler. PVH is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Moncler, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score PVH 0 4 11 0 2.73 Moncler 0 0 0 0 N/A

This is a summary of current recommendations for PVH and Moncler, as provided by MarketBeat.

PVH presently has a consensus price target of $114.07, indicating a potential downside of 15.37%. Given PVHs higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe PVH is more favorable than Moncler.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

97.3% of PVH shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 12.2% of Moncler shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of PVH shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares PVH and Monclers net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets PVH 5.76% 11.63% 5.12% Moncler N/A N/A N/A

Dividends

PVH pays an annual dividend of $0.15 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.1%. Moncler pays an annual dividend of $0.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.1%. PVH pays out 1.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Moncler pays out 23.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Summary

PVH beats Moncler on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About PVH

(Get Free Report)

PVH Corp. operates as an apparel company in the United States and internationally. The company operates through six segments: Tommy Hilfiger North America, Tommy Hilfiger International, Calvin Klein North America, Calvin Klein International, Heritage Brands Wholesale, and Heritage Brands Retail. It designs, markets, and retails men's, women's, and children's apparel and accessories, include branded dress shirts, neckwear, sportswear, jeans wear, performance apparel, intimate apparel, underwear, swimwear, swim-related products, handbags, accessories, footwear, outerwear, home furnishings, luggage products, sleepwear, loungewear, hats, scarves, gloves, socks, watches and jewelry, eyeglasses and non-ophthalmic sunglasses, fragrance, home bed and bath furnishings, small leather goods, and other products. The company offers its products under its own brands, such as Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Van Heusen, IZOD, ARROW, Warner's, Olga, Geoffrey Beene, and True&Co., as well as various other owned, licensed, and private label brands. The company distributes its products at wholesale in department, chain, and specialty stores, as well as through warehouse clubs, mass market, and off-price and independent retailers; and through company-operated full-price, outlet stores, and concession locations, as well as through digital commerce sites. PVH Corp. was founded in 1881 and is based in New York, New York.

About Moncler

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Moncler S.p.A., together with its subsidiaries, designs, produces, and distributes clothing and related accessories for men, women, and children under the Moncler and Stone Island brand names. Its product portfolio includes footwear products; leather goods, such as bags, backpacks, and accessories; and sunglasses and eyeglasses under the Moncler Lunettes brand. The company also offers perfume for men and women. It operates directly operated stores and wholesale shop-in-shops. The company also sells its products through moncler.com, an online store. It serves in Italy, other European countries, Japan, the rest of Asia, and the Americas. Moncler S.p.A. was founded in 1952 and is headquartered in Milan, Italy.

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NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG  Get Free Report) had its price target boosted by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $51.00 to $63.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an equal weight rating on the utilities providers stock. Morgan Stanleys price target would suggest a potential downside of 5.72% from the stocks current price.

NRG has been the topic of several other research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of NRG Energy from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of NRG Energy from a c+ rating to a b rating in a report on Friday, December 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $59.50.

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NRG Energy Price Performance

NRG traded down $1.31 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $66.82. 1,262,389 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,642,958. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.49, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.35 billion, a PE ratio of -62.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.11. The businesss 50-day moving average price is $56.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.88. NRG Energy has a 1-year low of $30.52 and a 1-year high of $68.57.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $6.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.51 billion. NRG Energy had a negative net margin of 0.70% and a positive return on equity of 44.03%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that NRG Energy will post 5.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Rasesh M. Patel sold 49,092 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.59, for a total transaction of $3,072,668.28. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 356,962 shares in the company, valued at $22,342,251.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NRG Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in NRG Energy by 4,030.0% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,239 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,209 shares during the period. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in NRG Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its holdings in NRG Energy by 1,005.5% during the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 807 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 734 shares in the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About NRG Energy

(Get Free Report)

NRG Energy, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy and home services company in the United States and Canada. It operates through Texas; East; West/Services/Other; Vivint Smart Home; and Corporate Activities segments. The company produces and sells electricity generated using coal, oil, solar, and battery storage; natural gas; and a cloud-based home platform, including hardware, software, sales, installation, customer service, technical support, and professional monitoring solutions.

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Shares of Parker-Hannifin Co. (NYSE:PH  Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of Moderate Buy from the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $504.56.

PH has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Parker-Hannifin from $505.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a peer perform rating on shares of Parker-Hannifin in a research note on Monday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Parker-Hannifin from $450.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a buy rating and set a $588.00 price target on shares of Parker-Hannifin in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on Parker-Hannifin from $500.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd.

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Parker-Hannifin Stock Performance

PH opened at $550.72 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $70.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.52. Parker-Hannifin has a 52-week low of $308.26 and a 52-week high of $561.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.90. The businesss fifty day moving average is $512.87 and its 200-day moving average is $450.98.

Parker-Hannifin (NYSE:PH  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $6.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.26 by $0.89. The business had revenue of $4.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.82 billion. Parker-Hannifin had a return on equity of 29.91% and a net margin of 13.28%. Parker-Hannifins revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.76 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Parker-Hannifin will post 24.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Parker-Hannifin Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 9th were issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. Parker-Hannifins dividend payout ratio is 29.31%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Mark J. Hart sold 5,197 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $502.94, for a total transaction of $2,613,779.18. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,063 shares in the company, valued at $3,552,265.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, VP Thomas C. Gentile sold 2,978 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.72, for a total transaction of $1,494,122.16. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,465 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,741,899.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Mark J. Hart sold 5,197 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $502.94, for a total value of $2,613,779.18. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,552,265.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,079 shares of company stock worth $6,099,566 over the last quarter. 1.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Parker-Hannifin

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Beaumont Asset Management L.L.C. lifted its holdings in Parker-Hannifin by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Beaumont Asset Management L.L.C. now owns 3,071 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $1,415,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Parker-Hannifin by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC now owns 3,637 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $1,417,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Parker-Hannifin by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 125 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in Parker-Hannifin by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 3,755 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $1,730,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keel Point LLC increased its stake in Parker-Hannifin by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 842 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $388,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.25% of the companys stock.

About Parker-Hannifin

(Get Free Report

Parker-Hannifin Corporation manufactures and sells motion and control technologies and systems for various mobile, industrial, and aerospace markets worldwide. The company operates through two segments: Diversified Industrial and Aerospace Systems. The Diversified Industrial segment offers sealing, shielding, thermal products and systems, adhesives, coatings, and noise vibration and harshness solutions; filters, systems, and diagnostics solutions to ensure purity and remove contaminants from fuel, air, oil, water, and other liquids and gases; connectors used in fluid and gas handling; and hydraulic, pneumatic, and electromechanical components and systems for builders and users of mobile and industrial machinery and equipment.

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In a significant move, the Supreme Court of Pakistan has directed the countrys top Islamic body to advise on whether content that has left a Catholic on death row for 22 years was in fact blasphemous, sources said.

Attorney Rana Abdul Hameed said the top court on March 12 sought the opinions of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) and two Christian religious bodies on whether a letter by a 70-year-old former government employee, Anwar Kenneth, falls within the definition blasphemy under Section 295-C of Pakistans controversial of statutes. The section calls for a mandatory death sentence for insulting Islams prophet, Muhammad.

The three-judge bench comprising justices Jamal Khan Mandokhel, Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi and Musarrat Hilali gave the direction after a long-awaited hearing of Kenneths appeal against the Lahore High Courts 2014 decision to uphold his death sentence by the trial court, Hameed told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News.

Kenneth, a former senior officer in the Punjab Fisheries Department, was convicted for sending a letter to Muslim religious scholars, Muslim heads of state, foreign diplomats in Pakistan, the United Nations secretary-general, and Christian theologians in 2001 in which he rejected Muhammads prophethood, Hameed said.

The lawyer argued that the rejection of Muhammads prophethood by non-Muslims could not be considered blasphemy.

Though Islam is one of the three Abrahamic faiths, and Muslims believe in all prophets, including Jesus Christ, Christians and Jews dont believe in Prophet Muhammad, Hameed said. In his open letter, Kenneth merely stated that his Christian belief does not endorse Islam. He hasnt used any derogatory language for Prophet Muhammad that warranted a conviction under blasphemy.

He added that the court had directed the Council of Islamic Ideology, the Pakistan Church Council, and the United Church Council of Islamabad to submit their opinions at the next hearing expected on April 10.

A three-member Supreme Court bench in January 2023 noted the need for legal representation for Kenneth, who has been in prison since his arrest in September 2001, and requested the Pakistan Bar Council to provide a defense attorney after five state-provided lawyers recused themselves from the case.

Hameed, a Muslim attorney who has successfully defended several persons falsely charged with blasphemy, agreed to represent the Christian with the support of advocacy group Jubilee Campaign Netherlands.

It is now up to the religious institutions from both sides to analyze the matter in light of their respective teachings and jurisprudence and inform the court, he said. Kenneth is suffering from mental and physical ailments and has already spent 22 years in solitary confinement in various prisons in Punjab Province. I believe its high time he gets the justice he deserves and reunites with his family.

In July 2002, an additional sessions judge in Lahore handed the death penalty and a fine of 500,000 rupees to Kenneth. Despite the conviction, the Christian refused the assistance of a defense lawyer, saying God was his counsel.

On June 30, 2014, the Lahore High Court upheld the verdict of the trial court, confirming his death penalty. Due to the absence of legal counsel, however, the case faced challenges in proceeding.

I Wish to See My Brother Before I Die

Kenneth worked as a deputy director in the fisheries department when he was arrested. His family members say hes a well-educated man with a deep interest in his Christian faith.

My brother was a Bible scholar and often engaged in scholastic discussions with his Muslim friends and religious leaders, said Kenneths 83-year-old elder sister, Reshma Bibi. He also communicated his religious ideas and values through his letter-writing, but he was never disrespectful towards any holy personality. It was one of these letters that was used to silence him.

She expressed her deep desire to see her brother walk free in her lifetime.

Its been years I havent been able to see my brother in prison due to my weak health, Bibi said as tears welled in her eyes. I miss him every day of my life, and I just hope that God will give me a chance to spend time with him before I die.

Haroon Gill, a nephew of Kenneth, said he had last met his uncle in February.

He is very weak and under a lot of stress, Gill told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. We can only visit him twice a month, but for the last five months, we werent allowed to meet him.

He added that Kenneths 65-year-old wife also hadnt seen her husband for a long time due to health reasons.

My uncles only son permanently left Pakistan soon after his arrest due to threats to his life, Gill said. We have also suffered a lot of difficulties due to this case. The attitude of our Muslim neighbors is still very hostile after all these years. Several people have attempted to stir religious tension in a bid to grab our ancestral agricultural land.

The young Christian said that he hoped that the Supreme Court would consider the appeal on humanitarian grounds and acquit Kenneth of the charge.

We can only pray and hope for justice for my uncle, he said. He has suffered enough, and its our greatest wish that hes able to spend whatever years are left of his life in peace and comfort of his family.



Pakistan ranked seventh on Open Doors 2024 World Watch List of the most difficult places to be a Christian, as it was the previous year.
Shares of Physicians Realty Trust (NYSE:DOC  Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of Hold from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $16.44.

Several analysts have commented on DOC shares. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on shares of Physicians Realty Trust in a research note on Friday, March 8th. They issued an outperform rating and a $21.00 price target on the stock. Compass Point reduced their target price on shares of Physicians Realty Trust from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Physicians Realty Trust from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Saturday, March 16th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Physicians Realty Trust in a report on Monday. They issued an equal weight rating and a $19.00 target price on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp restated a sector weight rating on shares of Physicians Realty Trust in a report on Friday, January 5th.

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Institutional Investors Weigh In On Physicians Realty Trust

Physicians Realty Trust Price Performance

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Physicians Realty Trust during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in Physicians Realty Trust by 274.6% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,072 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 2,985 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Physicians Realty Trust by 42.4% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,750 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 1,712 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in Physicians Realty Trust by 99.7% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 5,237 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 2,614 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. increased its stake in Physicians Realty Trust by 52.1% during the 2nd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 6,426 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.57% of the companys stock.

Shares of DOC stock opened at $17.54 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $12.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.31 and a beta of 1.01. Physicians Realty Trust has a 52 week low of $15.24 and a 52 week high of $22.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $13.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.74.

About Physicians Realty Trust

(Get Free Report

Physicians Realty Trust is a self-managed health care real estate company organized to acquire, selectively develop, own, and manage health care properties that are leased to physicians, hospitals, and health care delivery systems. The Company invests in real estate that is integral to providing high quality health care.

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Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS  Get Free Report) shares fell 4.4% during trading on Tuesday after Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on the stock from $21.00 to $19.00. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Provident Financial Services traded as low as $14.19 and last traded at $14.26. 231,190 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 615,673 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.92.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Provident Financial Services from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. TheStreet downgraded shares of Provident Financial Services from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $18.67.

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Insider Buying and Selling

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Provident Financial Services

In other news, Director Robert Mcnerney sold 5,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.86, for a total transaction of $89,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $169,223.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link . 4.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 35.7% during the first quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 1,785 shares of the savings and loans companys stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 19.3% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 12,296 shares of the savings and loans companys stock worth $288,000 after purchasing an additional 1,986 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 6.4% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 67,130 shares of the savings and loans companys stock worth $1,571,000 after buying an additional 4,031 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its stake in Provident Financial Services by 45.3% in the first quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 15,646 shares of the savings and loans companys stock valued at $366,000 after purchasing an additional 4,877 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 69.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 36,093 shares of the savings and loans companys stock worth $855,000 after acquiring an additional 14,853 shares during the period. 71.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Provident Financial Services Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.73 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company has a fifty day moving average of $15.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.83.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The savings and loans company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $114.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $114.30 million. Provident Financial Services had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 18.46%. The businesss revenue for the quarter was down 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.73%. Provident Financial Servicess dividend payout ratio is presently 56.14%.

Provident Financial Services Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Provident Financial Services, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Provident Bank that provides various banking products and services to individuals, families, and businesses in the United States. Its deposit products include savings, checking, interest-bearing checking, money market deposit, and certificate of deposit accounts, as well as IRA products.

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Reinhart Partners LLC. raised its stake in shares of First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF  Free Report) by 10.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 552,755 shares of the insurance providers stock after purchasing an additional 52,311 shares during the period. First American Financial makes up 1.6% of Reinhart Partners LLC.s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Reinhart Partners LLC.s holdings in First American Financial were worth $35,620,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 78.8% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 15,507 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $999,000 after acquiring an additional 6,832 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 52.0% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,653 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 0.8% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 92.6% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 35,740 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $2,019,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. 89.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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First American Financial Price Performance

Shares of First American Financial stock opened at $57.76 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $5.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.77 and a beta of 1.27. The firms 50-day moving average is $58.51 and its 200 day moving average is $58.22. First American Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $49.55 and a 1 year high of $65.54.

First American Financial Announces Dividend

First American Financial ( NYSE:FAF Get Free Report ) last posted 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). The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.47 billion. First American Financial had a net margin of 3.61% and a return on equity of 8.27%. First American Financials revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.35 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that First American Financial Co. will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. First American Financials dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on FAF shares. TheStreet downgraded shares of First American Financial from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Stephens reaffirmed an overweight rating and issued a $73.00 target price on shares of First American Financial in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of First American Financial in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a buy rating on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of First American Financial from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, First American Financial currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $68.00.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on First American Financial

First American Financial Company 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.

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Shares of Rio Tinto Group (NYSE:RIO  Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of Moderate Buy from the ten ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $72.00.

Several research firms have issued reports on RIO. StockNews.com upgraded Rio Tinto Group from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Rio Tinto Group in a report on Friday, January 12th. They set a buy rating on the stock. BNP Paribas upgraded Rio Tinto Group from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, December 5th. Finally, Liberum Capital restated a hold rating on shares of Rio Tinto Group in a report on Tuesday, March 5th.

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Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Rio Tinto Group Stock Up 0.6 %

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Rio Tinto Group by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,732 shares of the mining companys stock worth $556,000 after buying an additional 858 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Rio Tinto Group by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 721,662 shares of the mining companys stock worth $45,926,000 after acquiring an additional 111,623 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Rio Tinto Group by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,464,344 shares of the mining companys stock worth $284,111,000 after acquiring an additional 118,706 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in Rio Tinto Group by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 369,931 shares of the mining companys stock worth $23,542,000 after acquiring an additional 14,083 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Rio Tinto Group by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 404,189 shares of the mining companys stock worth $25,723,000 after acquiring an additional 57,818 shares during the period. 19.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Rio Tinto Group stock opened at $63.39 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.69 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Rio Tinto Group has a one year low of $58.27 and a one year high of $75.09. The stocks 50 day moving average price is $66.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.89.

Rio Tinto Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 18th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th will be paid a dividend of $2.58 per share. This is an increase from Rio Tinto Groups previous semi-annual dividend of $1.77. This represents a yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 7th.

Rio Tinto Group Company Profile

(Get Free Report

Rio Tinto Group engages in exploring, mining, and processing mineral resources worldwide. The company operates through Iron Ore, Aluminium, Copper, and Minerals Segments. The Iron Ore segment engages in the iron ore mining, and salt and gypsum production in Western Australia. The Aluminum segment is involved in bauxite mining; alumina refining; and aluminium smelting.

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Aprio Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Rio Tinto Group (NYSE:RIO  Free Report) by 25.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,317 shares of the mining companys stock after purchasing an additional 888 shares during the quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLCs holdings in Rio Tinto Group were worth $321,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in RIO. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Rio Tinto Group by 23.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 61,529 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $4,947,000 after acquiring an additional 11,879 shares during the period. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC raised its stake in shares of Rio Tinto Group by 33.8% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 6,549 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $527,000 after acquiring an additional 1,654 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in shares of Rio Tinto Group by 19.4% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,539,846 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $123,803,000 after acquiring an additional 250,480 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Rio Tinto Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $499,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of Rio Tinto Group by 141.7% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 13,466 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $1,083,000 after acquiring an additional 7,894 shares during the period. 19.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on RIO. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Rio Tinto Group in a report on Friday, January 12th. They set a buy rating for the company. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Rio Tinto Group from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, December 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Rio Tinto Group from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Liberum Capital restated a hold rating on shares of Rio Tinto Group in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Rio Tinto Group currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $72.00.

Rio Tinto Group Price Performance

NYSE RIO traded down $1.19 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $62.22. The companys stock had a trading volume of 2,459,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,818,595. Rio Tinto Group has a 52-week low of $58.27 and a 52-week high of $75.09. The stocks fifty day simple moving average is $66.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Rio Tinto Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 18th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th will be paid a $2.58 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Rio Tinto Groups previous semi-annual dividend of $1.77.

About Rio Tinto Group

(Free Report)

Rio Tinto Group engages in exploring, mining, and processing mineral resources worldwide. The company operates through Iron Ore, Aluminium, Copper, and Minerals Segments. The Iron Ore segment engages in the iron ore mining, and salt and gypsum production in Western Australia. The Aluminum segment is involved in bauxite mining; alumina refining; and aluminium smelting.

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Sanchez Wealth Management Group boosted its stake in shares of John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF (NYSEARCA:JHMM  Free Report) by 12.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 170,694 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 18,356 shares during the period. John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF makes up approximately 3.3% of Sanchez Wealth Management Groups portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Sanchez Wealth Management Groups holdings in John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF were worth $8,989,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Money Concepts Capital Corp grew its position in shares of John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF by 139.3% during the 4th quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 718 shares of the companys stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF by 300.0% in the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,148 shares of the companys stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 861 shares during the last quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its holdings in John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF by 33.6% in the 3rd quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 1,442 shares of the companys stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF by 23.4% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,779 shares of the companys stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, City Holding Co. acquired a new stake in John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF in the 4th quarter worth about $104,000.

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John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF Trading Down 0.1 %

JHMM stock opened at $56.40 on Tuesday. John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF has a 12-month low of $44.07 and a 12-month high of $56.97. The stock has a market cap of $3.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.93 and a beta of 1.08. The businesss 50-day moving average is $53.86 and its 200 day moving average is $50.53.

John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF Company Profile

The John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF (JHMM) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the John Hancock Dimensional Mid Cap index. The fund tracks an index of US firms ranked 200-950 by size, weighted by multiple factors relative to their sector peers. JHMM was launched on Sep 28, 2015 and is managed by John Hancock.

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Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lessened its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV  Free Report) by 11.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 53,861 shares of the airlines stock after selling 6,969 shares during the quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLCs holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,556,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 247.5% in the 1st quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC now owns 702 shares of the airlines stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Pacific Center for Financial Services acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the first quarter worth $33,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Tyler Stone Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the companys stock.

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Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE LUV traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $28.53. 1,912,599 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,307,969. The stock has a market cap of $17.02 billion, a PE ratio of 38.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.16. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $21.91 and a fifty-two week high of $39.53. The companys fifty day moving average is $31.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.14.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

Southwest Airlines ( NYSE:LUV Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The airline reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $6.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.75 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 9.40% and a net margin of 1.91%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.38) EPS. On average, analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.52%. Southwest Airliness dividend payout ratio is currently 96.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an underperform rating to a market perform rating and upped their price target for the company from $26.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a buy rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup boosted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, December 18th. Argus raised Southwest Airlines from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an underperform rating to a hold rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $32.24.

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About Southwest Airlines

(Free Report)

Southwest Airlines Co operates as a passenger airline company that provides scheduled air transportation services in the United States and near-international markets. As of December 31, 2023, the company operated a total fleet of 817 Boeing 737 aircraft; and served 121 destinations in 42 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as ten near-international countries, including Mexico, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Aruba, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Belize, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos.

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StockNews.com cut shares of VAALCO Energy (NYSE:EGY  Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report published on Saturday morning.

VAALCO Energy Stock Up 12.6 %

VAALCO Energy stock opened at $6.95 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $717.75 million, a PE ratio of 12.41 and a beta of 1.23. VAALCO Energy has a twelve month low of $3.51 and a twelve month high of $7.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a 50 day moving average of $4.58 and a 200-day moving average of $4.47.

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VAALCO Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th will be given a $0.063 dividend. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 7th. This is a positive change from VAALCO Energys previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. VAALCO Energys payout ratio is currently 44.64%.

Institutional Trading of VAALCO Energy

VAALCO Energy Company Profile

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in VAALCO Energy by 16.0% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,358,016 shares of the energy companys stock worth $31,426,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151,028 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in VAALCO Energy by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,899,292 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $26,488,000 after buying an additional 232,757 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in VAALCO Energy by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,606,958 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $17,322,000 after buying an additional 454,590 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in VAALCO Energy by 122.3% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,701,191 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $12,317,000 after buying an additional 1,486,093 shares during the period. Finally, Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS increased its holdings in VAALCO Energy by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 2,196,895 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $9,644,000 after buying an additional 79,755 shares during the period. 48.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

(Get Free Report)

VAALCO Energy, Inc, an independent energy company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in Gabon, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, and Canada. The company holds 58.8% interest in the Etame production sharing contract related to the Etame Marin block covering an area of approximately 46,200 gross acres located offshore in the Republic of Gabon in West Africa.

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Taseko Mines (NYSE:TGB  Get Free Report) had its price target boosted by investment analysts at TD Securities from $3.25 to $3.50 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a buy rating on the stock. TD Securities price objective would suggest a potential upside of 67.46% from the companys current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on TGB. TheStreet upgraded Taseko Mines from a d rating to a c rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on Taseko Mines in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a buy rating on the stock.

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Taseko Mines Trading Down 2.3 %

TGB traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $2.09. 1,701,158 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,608,554. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $1.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $607.10 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.50 and a beta of 1.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 0.90. Taseko Mines has a 52 week low of $1.05 and a 52 week high of $2.18.

Taseko Mines (NYSE:TGB  Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.01). Taseko Mines had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 15.66%. The firm had revenue of $112.90 million for the quarter. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Taseko Mines will post 0.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Taseko Mines

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TGB. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Taseko Mines by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,576,072 shares of the companys stock worth $2,207,000 after buying an additional 197,287 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Taseko Mines by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 197,732 shares of the companys stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 12,200 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Taseko Mines in the 4th quarter worth $350,000. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of Taseko Mines by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 357,590 shares of the companys stock worth $501,000 after buying an additional 33,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of Taseko Mines by 3,287.4% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 43,392 shares of the companys stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 42,111 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 17.94% of the companys stock.

About Taseko Mines

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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.

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Unicorn Mineral Resources Public Limited (LON:UMR  Get Free Report) insider Patrick Doherty bought 150,000 shares of Unicorn Mineral Resources Public stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of GBX 8 ($0.10) per share, with a total value of 12,000 ($15,164.92).

Unicorn Mineral Resources Public Stock Performance

Unicorn Mineral Resources Public stock opened at GBX 8.50 ($0.11) on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of GBX 6.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of GBX 6.03. The company has a market capitalization of 2.96 million and a P/E ratio of -388.75. Unicorn Mineral Resources Public Limited has a fifty-two week low of GBX 4 ($0.05) and a fifty-two week high of GBX 11 ($0.14).

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Unicorn Mineral Resources Public Company Profile

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Unicorn Mineral Resources Public Limited Company operates as a mineral exploration company in Ireland. The company focuses on the exploration for deposits of Irish type carbonate hosted copper/lead/zinc, and silver mineral deposits in the Irish midlands Orefield. Its flagship property is the Kilmallock block covering an area of approximately 137 square kilometers located in the Limerick Province.

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Authorities in Belarus this month sentenced a pastor to 15 days in jail for calling for prayer to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine after arresting him on Feb. 22, sources said.

The Rev. Alyaksandr Zaretski, who leads an evangelical church in Novolukomly, Chashnitsy District, Vitebsk Region, had spent two weeks in jail after his arrest for a sermon on Feb. 18 calling for the end of the invasion. Authorities had placed him under administrative arrest under Article 19.11 of the Administrative Code, which pertains to distribution of extremist materials.

Pastor Zaretski was due for release on March 8, but police re-arrested him on March 5 or 6 (sources differ) under a law pertaining to violation of the order of organization and holding of mass events.

At his second hearing at Chashnytsky District Court around that time, he was sentenced to 15 days in jail, according to a Guards On the Walls report by Christian Evangelical City Church in Tallinn, Estonia. The state website listing court decisions confirmed on March 18 that Pastor Zaretski received the jail sentence at the court hearing in early March.

Pastor Zaretski reportedly said in his sermon, Lets pray for those who are in prisons for falsified reasonsLets pray for Ukraine, come to prayers for Ukraine.

Other comments attributed to Pastor Zaretski during his sermon were, Look at the way higher officials say one thing, but people see another in the streets, and they tell us to say that everything is fine, that everything is nice and satisfactory, and sometimes it is easier to agree.

Pastor Zaretsky reportedly told the court that his sermon words were taken out of context. He did not deny speaking about political prisoners.

After his call for prayer, officials from the Chashnytskyi District Executive Committee had reported him to police. Three witnesses testified about the pastors sermon, and they reportedly passed information to court authorities.

Court documents also implied the pastor criticized those supporting the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Prosecutors in court suggested Pastor Zaretski took part in an unauthorized mass event  picketing, without the appropriate permission from the administration of the district executive committee.

He pleaded not guilty to charges of violating regulations of holding public gatherings.

Pastor Zaretsky previously faced opposition and imprisonment from Belarusian authorities. On April 20 he was detained for liking and commenting on materials from internet resources recognized as extremist, according to the Estonian church report.

Police arrested him under Article 19.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Belarus, and he spent a month in prison, serving two sentences of 15 days.

In 2020, the pastor signed a collective open letter against violence with Christians of Belarus, according to Charter 97, a pro-human rights body for Belarus, based in Warsaw. Afterwards, he and his community were repeatedly harassed by law enforcement officers, according to the organization.

In July 2021, security forces stopped and searched Pastor Zaretsky. He faced an administrative case in November of that year for minor inaccuracies in the registration of humanitarian cargo, according to the Guards On The Walls report.

The jailing of the pastor this month followed an official crackdown against religions by the government in Belarus, as reported previously by Christian Daily International.

President Alyaksandr Lukashenka signed legal amendments on Dec. 30 forcing religious groups to act within state control. This included a requirement for churches to register or face criminal or administrative punishments.

Another recent case involved the arrest of the Rev. Igor Kovalchuk, jailed for 15 days in February. Kovalchuk is the former rector of the parish of the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Upon his return from a visit to Italy, police arrested him for allegedly subscribing to extremist websites on his cell phone. Christian Vision reported the arrest occurred under Article 19.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Belarus.

Just under 60 percent of Belarusians identify as as Christians, according to a Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs report, for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. That includes 82 percent identifying as Orthodox, 12 percent Roman Catholics and 6 percent from other denominations.

The report notes 1,005 religious communities representing Protestant Christians, alongside 21 associations, 22 missions and five religious schools comprising 14 religious movements.

On Dec. 4, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released a report on religious freedom in Belarus.

The religious freedom situation in Belarus continues to deteriorate as Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka subjugates every aspect of social life to the states security and bureaucratic apparatuses, the USCIRF report noted.

The report also acknowledged the stricter conditions under the new religion legal amendments in 2023.

Law enforcement agencies harass Protestants who conduct ordinary religious activities without state approval, and local authorities pressure Roman Catholics by targeting their houses of worship, including Minsks iconic Church of Saints Simon and Helena (also known as the Red Church), the report stated. Christian religious leaders of all denominations are often detained, fined, imprisoned, and forced into exile for activities that the state perceives as political in nature.
WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC  Get Free Report) issued an update on its first quarter 2024 earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 1.890-1.910 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 1.770. The company issued revenue guidance of -. WEC Energy Group also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 4.800-4.900 EPS.

WEC Energy Group Stock Down 0.3 %

WEC Energy Group stock traded down $0.24 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $79.66. The company had a trading volume of 464,032 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,288,300. The company has a market capitalization of $25.13 billion, a PE ratio of 18.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. WEC Energy Group has a 12 month low of $75.13 and a 12 month high of $99.26. The stocks 50 day moving average price is $79.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.81.

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WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 14.98%. WEC Energy Groups quarterly revenue was down 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America reissued an underperform rating and set a $78.00 price target (down previously from $84.00) on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $86.17.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on WEC Energy Group

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.89, for a total value of $223,258.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 43,125 shares in the company, valued at $3,402,131.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other WEC Energy Group news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.89, for a total transaction of $223,258.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 43,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,402,131.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total value of $2,925,694.20. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 274,782 shares of the companys stock, valued at $21,622,595.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.34% of the companys stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Achmea Investment Management B.V. purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. First Manhattan Co. boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 102.0% in the 4th quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 303 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $44,000. Quarry LP grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 373.3% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 549 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the second quarter worth $57,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the companys stock.

About WEC Energy Group

(Get Free Report)

WEC Energy Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides regulated natural gas and electricity, and renewable and nonregulated renewable energy services in the United States. It operates through Wisconsin, Illinois, Other States, Electric Transmission, and Non-Utility Energy Infrastructure segments.

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Thompson Investment Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC  Free Report) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 114,376 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 1,423 shares during the quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc.s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $5,630,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WFC. First Financial Corp IN grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 4,595 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 20,280 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $998,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 31,571 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,347,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 1,523 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank now owns 5,625 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $232,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.90% of the companys stock.

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Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

WFC opened at $56.73 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $52.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $36.27 and a 52 week high of $58.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $200.85 billion, a PE ratio of 11.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

Wells Fargo & Company ( NYSE:WFC Get Free Report ) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. Wells Fargo & Companys revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 4.72 earnings per share for the current year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. Wells Fargo & Companys dividend payout ratio is presently 29.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Odeon Capital Group lowered shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $48.80 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Robert W. Baird restated a neutral rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $54.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a hold rating and issued a $51.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $53.37.

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Wells Fargo & Company Profile

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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.

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As it celebrates its 75th anniversary, everything is on target for Hornady Manufacturing.

Were very fortunate. Things are going really well, says Vice President Jason Hornady. We like being in Nebraska. We love being in Grand Island. Weve been very fortunate and had a really good run.

Hornadys grandfather, Joyce, started the company in 1949. His father, Steve, is Hornadys president.

The company marked its anniversary at a Las Vegas show along with Ruger Firearms, which is also 75 years old. Hornady hosted a couple of smaller events at other trade shows, he said.

Hornady will celebrate locally with a big party on June 22.

Since its founding, Hornady has become a world leader in manufacturing bullets, ammunition, security products, reloading tools and accessory designs.

Hornady has more than 500 employees.

Having this many employees is what keeps you awake at night, making sure everybodys taken care of, he said. But you know what? Having a bunch of great, hard-working employees is also what makes you sleep better.

Why is Hornady ammunition so accurate?

Well, I would tell you that we spend far more time paying attention to quality and detail, and thats also why ours isnt cheap, Hornady said. Were not the Yugos of the ammo business. Were the Cadillac. So we spend a lot of time on making the bullets better. We spend a lot of time making sure the loads are right, and quality is paramount.

The companys most popular product is anything related to the 6.5mm Creedmoor. That is a cartridge we designed and developed here. And its one of the most popular in the world, he said.

Some of Hornadys products are used by law enforcement. For the military, we do a bunch of specialty stuff, Hornady said.

We have the FBI duty contract for their sidearms, which is a big deal, especially for somebody as small as we are, he said.

The FBI uses both training and duty ammunition. Duty ammunition is what FBI employees carry in their guns when theyre working, on duty. Training is when theyre just shooting, he said.

The companys products are used all over the world. Hornady recently returned from a trade show in Nuremberg, Germany.

So Europeans still do go hunting?

Yeah, they have lots of crazy laws. They make California look like amateurs, he said.

Because of trade secrets, Hornady no longer allows the public to tour its facilities.

Its unfortunately very disruptive and hard to control who comes through. And weve come up with enough different technologies that letting people in is not as practical as it used to be, he said.

Hornadys manufacturing facilities remain right here in Grand Island. Although technically, you could say that one of thems in Alda, he said.

Why has the company stayed in Hall County?

Well, this is home. This is where we want to be. This is where we were born and raised and we like nothing better than being from Nebraska, where we dont have to worry about people from California moving here.

In todays political climate, is it difficult to own an ammunition company?

No, not particularly, he said. We have certain rules and regulations that we have to follow, just like every industry. So you learn. There are some rules that are certainly quirky. Theres definitely some rules that are biased against us. But probably most industries have similar problems. The government makes it difficult to own a business, period.

Does Hornady want to add anything in reflecting on 75 years?

We love our community, he said. We love being here.

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
The Grand Island Police Department is revitalizing its Blue Hands Project, a registry program for people with autism and other developmental disabilities.

Under the program, parents, relatives and guardians provide police with detailed information about the routines, behavior and needs of those with disabilities, including Alzheimers, dementia and Down syndrome.

That information is of great benefit to officers who encounter those individuals on traffic stops and calls for service.

On the Blue Hands Project registration forms, people are asked the best method to approach individuals with special needs, and how to best de-escalate a situation if the person is excited or upset. Among other things, people are asked to list the vehicles the family normally uses.

The information provided in this registry can provide timely and pertinent information on ways to communicate and assist with these persons during emergency situations, says a handout from GIPD.

This service is free of charge and is a way for our community and their loved ones to know that the Grand Island Police Department and its officers care about their safety when assisting with persons with autism and disabilities, says the handout.

Grand Island police offered the Blue Hands Project previously but it fell by the wayside, said GIPD Officer Bradley Brooks. Police Chief Kevin Denney would like to see the program started back up, Brooks said.

Brooks spoke at a gathering Thursday organized by The Arc of Central Nebraska in honor of March being Disability Awareness Month.

Brooks has a particular interest in helping people with disabilities and special needs. He and his wife have a 7-year-old daughter, Callie, who has Down syndrome.

Brooks encouraged people to list as much detail as possible when filling out a Blue Hands Project form.

Having that information reduces the time it takes to find people, he said.

A key piece of information is listing anything that the young people or adults are attracted to. They might be drawn to water, for instance, or lights and sound.

If someone is missing near a lake, Thats the first place were going to go, Brooks said.

His daughter is a great swimmer, so if she goes missing, water is the first place they check.

Callie, one of Brooks three children, also likes to sing. So if theres music going on somewhere, thats another good place to check.

People with disabilities might head to a grocery store that the family regularly visits, especially if a person at the store hands out free lollipops.

Some people with special needs also head for parks.

A couple of years ago, a child went missing, Brooks said. His mother said he might head for a red slide in a nearby park, which he liked.

Sure enough he was just tucked up in there, Brooks said.

When people call 911 about a missing person, the dispatcher will ask a few things right away, such as how long has the person been missing and what he or she was wearing. The caller will also be questioned about the missing persons medical history.

If a person is diabetic, the dispatcher will want to know if he or she has an EpiPen with them because theyre prone to bee stings, things like that, Brooks said.

Its also good to know if the missing person doesnt like sirens. Officers wont arrive with their lights and sirens on if they know those things should be avoided.

Brooks stressed how important it is to provide current photos. The appearance of young people can change quite a bit from month to month or year to year, said Brooks, who was speaking on Down syndrome Awareness Day.

Over the past 12 years, Brooks has gotten to know a young man with autism and his mother.

And to this day, anytime he sees me, on duty, off duty, I always give him a hug, he always gives me a hug. We always check in with each other, Brooks said.

On his first encounter with the young man, Brooks had to put him in the backseat of his patrol car to calm him down. Theyve been good friends ever since.

Once the young man got the help and the medication he needed, It helped him out a lot, he said.

Brooks is glad that new officers are receiving training in how to deal with people with special needs.

People not familiar with the challenges of raising such an individual may be quick to judge. On arrival, they might assume that the parents arent doing their jobs.

Those people dont understand the full picture, he said. They might be seeing only 20 or 30 minutes of something the parent deals with all day long. Sometimes, were worn out. Sometimes we need that reset, Brooks said.

At a store, other shoppers might wonder why Brooks isnt doing something when his daughter is causing a fuss. But he knows that after she has a moment, shell be fine.

Down the road, Brooks would like to see the Blue Hands program help parents have time for themselves. Hed also like to see a movie night for people with special needs.

When people have a child with Down syndrome, theyre often overwhelmed. Its good for those parents to hear from others that its going to be all right, Brooks said.

Brooks would like to be overloaded with people signing up for the Blue Hands Project.

He also talked about a program called Project Lifesaver, which is used by the Hall County Sheriffs Department. In that program, an electronic bracelet helps officers quickly locate a person with special needs.

Its important for parents and caregivers to keep information updated, Brooks said. People should call in if they have a change of address, either within Grand Island or to a different city.

Having the information in the system will help find someone even if theyre in a different city, he said.

We want to make sure your kiddo is taken care of, Brooks said.

For information, call the Grand Island Police Department at 308-385-3400 or the Hall County Sheriffs Department at 308-385-5200.
Artificial Intelligence

Los Angeles Unified and AllHere Partner to Launch AI-Driven Learning Acceleration Platform

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and Harvard Innovation Labs venture AllHere have released the AI-driven "educational co-pilot" digital platform Ed, a tool available 24-7 to help support student learning beyond the school day.

The platform "provides students and families with an ecosystem of valuable resources and support for fast-tracking student achievement," according to LAUSD's news release. Ed is accessible in multiple languages and is currently available to students and families at select LAUSD schools, but is being phased into the rest of the district.

Ed has undergone pilot testing with LAUSD students and families and has received positive responses, the district said. The district formed a task force of technology experts, educators, families, and students to develop policies and training to use the platform. The district also provided professional development for teachers to help students use AI and other technology responsibly.

Ed utilizes and analyzes district data, which includes grades, attendance, and other district information, to suggest resources, programs, and at-home practices for each individual student to accelerate learning. Ed can also engage with students and families to provide reminders, prompts, and suggestions for social and emotional well-being.

Its key features are:

Streamlined, personal access to resources in a single platform;

Interactive, personalized learning paths, including reading, math, computer science and other subjects to engage in beyond the school day, according to student interests or needs;

Alerts on steps students and families can take to assist learning;

Progress reports on academic performance, such as grades, attendance, and graduation readiness;

Information on support resources to assist students;

AI intuitive adaptability based on interactions with students and families to provide better help; and

Approved and aligned content from curriculum providers.

"We understand that one size fits none when it comes to education," Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho said. "This resource is a game changer. By leveraging the power of AI, we are creating a tool for all students that maximizes resources beyond the school day by individualizing their education and integrating information for accelerating learning at a level never before seen."

Visit AllHere's Ed page for additional information.
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South Carolina 4-year-olds who participate in a state-funded, full-day 4K Child Early Reading and Development Education Program (CERDEP) are more likely to demonstrate readiness on the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment, according to the South Carolina Education Oversight Committees annual CERDEP evaluation and report.

State-funded 4K is beneficial for kindergarten readiness for pupils in poverty, which is the target population of students identified as at-risk pursuant to Section 59-156-110 of the SC Code of Laws the report states.

The EOCs evaluation included 57,804 kindergarten students who were enrolled during the 2023-24 school year. Of those students, 34,878 were designated as pupils in poverty (students who are transient, a runaway, in foster care, homeless, or have been Medicaid-eligible or qualified for SNAP or TANF services within the last three years).

Of the designated pupils in poverty, 14,294 participated in CERDEP during the 2022-23 school year.

Of those students, 37% demonstrated readiness on the KRA  an assessment used to determine if a child entering a SC public Kindergarten/5K classroom has the knowledge and skills to meet South Carolinas kindergarten academic standards. Of the pupils in poverty who did not participate in CERDEP, only 27% demonstrated readiness on the KRA.

The report also assessed state-funded, full-day 4Ks impact on preparing students with disabilities for kindergarten.

It was found that 19% of students with a disability who participated in CERDEP demonstrated readiness on the KRA, compared to 16% of students with disabilities who did not participate in CERDEP.

South Carolina's investment in state-funded, full-day 4K continues to grow as does the number of students participating in CERDEP. $106,698,962 was spent on 4K for the 2022-23 Fiscal Year, which was the largest investment to date. Tenell Felder EOC Communications Manager 803.734.6157 ftenell@eoc.sc.gov.

The EOC commends the General Assembly in prioritizing 4K education through increasing funding to help prepare our states children for kindergarten, EOC chairperson April Allen said.

The EOC is charged with evaluating CERDEP in accordance with Provisos 1.48 and 1A.26 of the 2023-24 General Appropriations Act.

To continue improving state-funded, full-day 4K  the EOC recently recommended that $14.1 million of funding be used to expand CERDEP to accommodate more students as well as providing Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling training for early childhood teachers and assistants.

The EOC has also requested access to data regarding students who attend half-day CERDEP to more thoroughly evaluate CERDEPs impact.

If interested in finding a publicly funded program for your preschooler, visit https://palmettoprek.org/
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
COLUMBIA -- SC Housing is proud to announce the launch of SCHousingSearch.com, a user-friendly rental search website designed to streamline the process of finding rental properties across South Carolina. The free platform provides an extensive database of available rental units, offering a valuable resource for both landlords and tenants alike.

SCHousingSearch.com allows property owners and/or management companies to list their properties for rent, providing a centralized hub for tenants seeking their next home. With an array of search filters including home size, cost, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and more, users can easily customize their search to find the perfect rental property to suit their needs.

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Prospective tenants can begin their search at SCHousingSearch.com. Landlords that would like to register their property on the website may visit SCHousingSearch (https://schousingsearch.com).

Buying and selling homes in SC may change forever after historic realtor settlement. Heres how How folks buy and sell homes in South Carolina may soon change because of a historic lawsuit settlement announced Friday. The $418 million settlement, announced by the National Association of Realtors, effectively ends the standard 6% sales commission  possibly changing who must pay any such commission as well. Some South Carolina housing market industry experts say the changes from the ...

The ability of landlords to independently list their properties on SCHousingSearch.com provides tenants in search of housing with a robust catalog of available properties when combined with SC Housings funded and monitored public developments.

Our goal with SCHousingSearch.com is to simplify the rental property search process for both landlords and tenants, said Lisa Wilkerson, Director of Rental Assistance and Compliance at SC Housing. By offering a user-friendly platform with dynamic search filters, we aim to create a seamless experience that connects renters with available properties across the state.

Is it time to buy a SC home? Sales are accelerating after a slump year. Heres whats happening For South Carolinians who have held off on buying a home for the past year, it may be time to take the plunge. Most South Carolina housing markets saw strong year-over-year home sale gains in February  a first for such growth in more than a year, industry data shows. The state is part of a nationwide trend in improvement as more housing supply finally hits the market and mortgage interest ...

The launch of SCHousingSearch.com comes at a critical time, providing an essential tool for individuals and families seeking housing in South Carolina. With the rental market experiencing high demand, the platform offers a valuable resource for tenants looking to secure their next home.

Owners and/or management companies interested in listing their properties on SCHousingSearch.com can easily sign up and create listings on the platform. The website also offers resources and support for landlords, including tips for maximizing property listings and attracting potential tenants.
Orangeburg City Council is delaying plans to close the portion of Goff Avenue by Claflin University.

I just think some conversation needs to happen prior to the third reading of this ordinance, Councilwoman Sandra Knotts said during a recent meeting.

Numerous individuals who live in that area have expressed ... that they have not heard anything from the university, she said. Wouldn't you think that before we move forward with this third reading that you would at least put that in place so that you can actually hear from the property owners, because they are property owners?

Council had previously given two of three required readings to an ordinance that would allow the city to accept ownership from the state of Goff Avenue from Clark Street to Magnolia Street.

The city could then close that portion of the road and turn it over to Claflin, which would allow the university to control the area along its campus.

The final vote was tabled last week after concerns were raised by some council members that residents near the road closure have not been properly made aware of the closure and its rationale.

Knotts said that while many people she talked to are concerned about safety and may not disagree with plans to close the road, that does not take away the fact that these are property owners and you have to hear from them.

Claflin University President Dr. Dwaun Warmack said, We need to know who they are so we can engage with them in that conversation.

Warmack said there was a meeting months back with neighboring property owners about the road closure, although he noted only two properties are going to be directly impacted by the road closure.

Knotts said while she understands only two properties will be directly affected, neighboring property owners need to be assured that they will not be impacted.

Warmack asked Knotts for specific names of individuals who expressed concerns so the university can talk with those individuals.

Council tabled the vote with the expectation council and the university administration will meet with surrounding property owners. Councilwoman Annette Dees Grevious abstained because of a conflict of interest, as she is a professor at the university.

We can have a meeting  we can all be there  with the people who are concerned about it and we can sit down talk with them and let them know what is going on, Orangeburg Mayor Michael Butler said.

We are going to have a meeting of peace so people can understand that they can get in and out of their property, he said.

We don't want to be ugly, Butler said. I just want to do it peaceful so everybody can get their saying out.

Claflin officials say that allowing the university to close the stretch of the street about .35 miles  to public access will improve safety.

Although details have not been worked out, Claflin Department of Public Safety Chief Melvin Williams said there is a plan to have a gate at Clark and Magnolia streets.

We want to be able to control who comes through that gate and what time, Williams said. The closures would primarily be at night.

Williams said that emergency, fire and law enforcement services will have unimpeded access to the road.

Two private homes stand on the stretch of Goff Avenue in question, including one owned by Norma Murdaugh. The other private residence is uninhabited.

Murdaugh has consistently been opposed to the road closure. She has raised concerns that restricting access would negatively impact her ability to take in rental revenue from the property.

Murdaugh has also questioned the feasibility of closing the road and the university's ability to control college students actions.

Prior to the motion to table the vote, Murdaugh reiterated her opposition.

What type of notice was given to me about the closing of Goff Avenue? she said. Was it by certified personal mail or snail mail? If so, what proof do you have?

I want the record to reflect that I am objecting because proper notice was not sent to me, Murdaugh said. I want you to be clear: I object to the closing of Goff Avenue, but if you insist on doing this over my objection I want the record to reflect that I want an easement to my property.

Murdaugh suggested less restrictive ways for the city to deal with Goff Avenue.

These include:

 A greater police presence.

 The closure of the street only when problems occur.

 The university advising students to not come out during troubled times.

Let's be clear: you are establishing a precedence that any time the president of the university or college feels it is unsafe for his students to come to a street and you feel you need to close the street down, that is a problem because if you do so you are unjustly discriminating against us to accommodate the college students, Murdaugh said.

Murdaugh also claimed the university's ultimate goal is to, take over the residents and the property of Goff Avenue.

Council members denied thats the case.

Councilman Kalu Kalu noted the university has promised Murdaugh that an easement would be provided.

If it is not provided, there is no plan, Kalu said.

Butler assured Murdaugh, You will never be kept away from your property.

We want you to have an easement to your house, Butler said. We want to establish that here.

We are only after those people who go in with those guns, Butler continued. The times have gotten very bad.

You hear shootings all over the world. The killings all over the world. The universities all over, Butler said. We can't take a chance with this. This is serious. These are people's children. They want their children safe.

Warmack said the closure of the road is also personal to him.

I live there, he said. I have a 12-year old daughter that lives in that community.

Warmack said he promised parents at the universitys orientation that their babies would be safe.

Claflin University sophomore Promise Joseph offered her support of the road closure.

We must be proactive rather than reactive, Joseph said. We cannot wait and continue to witness brazen acts of car break-ins, gunfire erupting dangerously close to our dormitories and unauthorized individuals freely entering our campus grounds due to unrestricted access provided by Goff Avenue being public.

I ask you: Should we continue to be at the risk of paying the ultimate price? Joseph said. Our students, faculty and staff live in a state of constant apprehension and fear the sanctity of our college campus, once a beacon of learning and community, has been shattered by the relentless onslaught of criminal elements exploiting the vulnerabilities of our neighborhoods infrastructure.

I am a sophomore who deserves to become a junior one day, she said.

Orangeburg resident William Green says closing a public road is not fair.

It is just not fair to point the finger at taxpaying citizens of Orangeburg, Green said. The Murdaugh family, should be allowed to have freedom to go in and off their property like they have been doing all these years.

Students come, students go, families are here for a lifetime, Green said. If anybody up there votes to close that road off, I think we really need to get out and vote and replace some of the members on council. These are families. They have been here a long time.

Would any of you sitting up here want your road to be closed off? Green continued. If you want to have a Christmas party or a birthday party, your friends and families can't come visit you? Nobody sitting up there would tell me you would want to live in that kind of cage. That is like living in a prison.
Members of the Holly Hill Branch of the NAACP have chosen Samuel A. Sam Daily as their Black History Man of the Year for 2024.

NAACP Sam Daily Retired Orangeburg County Magistrate Samuel Daily stands with well-wishers after being chosen as the Holly Hill Branch of the NAACPs Black Hi

Daily, a native of Holly Hill, joined the branch in 1988. He served as president for eight years and as vice president for eight years.

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He was instrumental in the NAACPs lawsuit in 1991 that ended at-large elections for all of the seats on the town council. Now each council member is elected from a single-member district.

NAACP presents Black History Calendar Tea The annual Orangeburg Branch NAACP Black History Calendar Tea was held Sunday, Feb. 18, at St. Paul Baptist Church, 2259 Rowesville Road, in Orangeburg.

In 1993, Daily was appointed to serve as one of Orangeburg Countys 11 magistrate judges.

Daily graduated from South Carolina State University in Orangeburg with a bachelor of science degree in criminal justice in 2002.

'How far have we come?': Sellers speaks at PC CNN analyst and former South Carolina lawmaker Bakari Sellers asked two critical questions during his speech recently at Presbyterian College.

Daily was appointed as the countys chief magistrate by South Carolina Chief Justice Jean Toal in 2007.

He retired after 28 years of service on the bench.

NAACP urges student-athletes to reconsider Florida colleges Black student-athletes should reconsider attending public colleges and universities in Florida, the NAACP said in a letter to NCAA President Charlie Baker on Monday.

Daily is a member of New Galilee Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Holly Hill, where he serves as an Elder.

He is married to Lue G. Murrell/Daily. They have four children, 16 grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren.

The Holly Hill Branch of the NAACP chooses a Black History Man of the Year as part of its Black History Month observance every February. Daily received his plaque on Sunday, March 17.

For more information on the Holly Hill Branch of the NAACP, contact Branch President Gwenn Wright Barksdale at gbarksdale06
The front of the Orangeburg Tobacco and Vape Shop, located at 2565 North Road, was turned into a memorial for a few days last week following the killing of Yousef Mohammad Alsayidi.

Flowers, cards, candles and other expressions of sympathy filled the exterior storefront.

They were placed there in remembrance of Alsayidi. The 21-year-old managed his fathers store.

Someone shot and killed him there on March 17 at 4:39 p.m.

The store was closed for a week following Alsayidis death, but has since reopened.

Neal Whisenhunt, one of Alsayidis cousins who works at the shop, said on Monday that Alsayidi was a wonderful man.

He was great to the core because that man, if you asked for anything, he would give it to you, Whisenhunt said.

If people came in here and didnt have three or four dollars on their order, it was OK. He did not care. Ive seen him take his own card out and tap for people to get whatever they needed, he said.

Whisenhunt said his cousin was especially generous when it came to drinks.

If people didnt have money for drinks, he would say to just take it. Its not that big of deal. Everyone needs water. Everyone needs food, he said.

He said hes seen Alsayidi give clothes to those who were in need.

Whisenhunt said Alsayidi was, super sweet to everyone who came in and had super high energy.

He was a genuine person. He had a lot going for him. He was getting ready to get married soon. He had big, big plans for his future, he said.

Alsayidi and his younger brother were exceptionally close, Whisenhunt said.

His brother is torn up about it because he was so close to Alsayidi, Whisenhunt said.

Alsayidi was a big role model for his little brother. They were the closest people in the world. They did everything together. Yousef was basically like a second dad, even though they already had a great one, Whisenhunt said.

Now Yousef got taken from us, Whisenhunt said.

He noted that Alsayidi was born in Yemen, but had lived in New York and North Carolina before moving to Orangeburg a couple of years ago.

Alsayidi spoke five languages: Turkish, Arabic, English, Spanish and a small bit of French.

He was constantly learning English.

Whisenhunt said there was an occasion when Alsayidi rang up a customer and the customer attempted to pay using a bank card.

The transaction showed, card declined, Whisenhunt said.

He said Alsayidi asked loudly what card declined meant and Whisenhunt told him. He also told him not to say loudly that a customers card was declined.

As a result of the incident, Alsayidi had a longtime joke saying, card declined to many customers  even those who paid in cash, Whisenhunt said.

Whisenhunt said Alsayidi and his family are devoted Muslims.

They follow the Quran very seriously. They dont believe in any hate or forced religion, he said.

Alsayidi was buried in Raeford, North Carolina, on March 21.

Zakariyah Alsaidi, one of Alsayidis cousins who works at the shop, said that the family appreciates everything the community is doing to remember him.

Yousef was a very kind person, Alsaidi said.

Many of Alsayidis customers, and others who knew him in the community, have been remembering him in the days following his slaying.

Christy Costello brought a bouquet of flowers on Wednesday to place at the storefront.

He was a really cool guy. He definitely had a personality about himself, she said.

Costello was one of Alsayidis customers. Shed known him for about a year.

When she heard the news of Alsayidis death, I dont think nobody could express what they heard. It was unbelievable. I couldnt believe it.

Customer James Frazier also visited the storefront to remember Alsayidi.

He was a very nice guy. He was a very cool guy, Frazier said.

Frazier said he knows Alsayidis father and that Alsayidis father would call him Son every time hed visit the business.

They were like family to me. Prayers go up for the family, Frazier said.

Devante Butler, another Orangeburg customer, said hed known Alsayidi for about two or three months.

Every time I came (to the store), he always had a big smile on his face, Butler said of Alsayidi.

Just in that short amount of time, he had a positive impact on me, he added.

Desiree Ross, owner of Coffee & Things in Orangeburg, said Alsayidi was a regular customer.

He would come by and get coffee for himself and his dad on the regular, she said.

She knew Alsayidi for a good year-and-a-half, she said.

He had the best smile, Ross said.

He was trying to learn English. Just a great personality, just awesome, she added.

Hed light up a room. Just amazing. So friendly and always eager to help. Always clowning, making jokes. Just a great young man, Ross added.

Ross was devastated when she learned of Alsayidis death on the afternoon of March 17.

Its just so sad and senseless. He would personally go out of his way to help somebody, she said.

Can you imagine a 21-year-old leaving such an impact? Its just gut-wrenching that it happened like this. You would never anticipate that, Ross said.

Aretexasis Lafontae Murray, 19, of Jasper Street, Orangeburg, is charged with murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, according to the Orangeburg County Sheriffs Office.

Warrants claim Murray and Alsayidi got into a physical altercation over a transaction.

Murray allegedly pulled a pistol from his left jacket pocket and shot Alsayidi.

Investigators claim Murray surrendered to law enforcement. He allegedly provided a video and audio confession of the crime.

In addition, the shooting was recorded on surveillance video, according to warrants.

A circuit judge may consider setting Murrays bond later.

If Murray is convicted, he faces up to life in prison.
The South Carolina State University Foundation honors this years two esteemed Dr. M. Maceo Nance, Jr. North Star Award Honorees and six Shining Star Scholarship Award recipients at the 33rd Gala & Tribute celebration on April 20, 2024, at 7:30 p.m. at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center.

More than 800 guests expected for the annual black-tie event. Area dignitaries, community leaders, supporters, alumni, faculty, and staff are to be in attendance. The events mission is to raise funds for the universitys ongoing scholarship fund initiative, which strives to make education more affordable for its students and serves as a community-wide philanthropic mission.

Our annual scholarship gala has provided over $4M in scholarships through the years. These funds have helped make college more affordable to SC State students. Our board of directors is extremely proud to host this great annual event in support SC States mission to prepare its students to make a significant impact on the nation. This year, we are honoring two excellent examples of that, says SC State Foundation Chairman of the Board of Directors, Stephen Beatty.

2024 North Star honorees:

Congressman James E. Clyburn serves as the Assistant Democratic Leader in the United States House of Representatives and Chairman. He served in the post from 2011 to 2018 and as Majority Whip from 2007 to 2010 and 2019 to 2022, making him the first African American to serve multiple terms as Majority Whip. A native son of South Carolina, Clyburn has represented the states Sixth Congressional District since 1993.

TV writer-producer to hold fireside chat at SCSU South Carolina State University will screen the Lifetime movie Single Black Female 2 followed by a fireside chat with screenwriter and S.C. State alumna SaRah Jones on Wednesday, March 27.

Clyburns humble beginnings in Sumter, South Carolina, as the eldest son of an activist, fundamentalist minister, and an independent, civic-minded beautician, grounded him securely in family, faith, and public service. He began his professional career as a public-school teacher.

The recipient of 36 honorary degrees, Clyburn has garnered numerous awards including: the Lyndon Baines Johnson Liberty and Justice for All Award in 2015; the Harry S Truman Foundations Good Neighbor Award in 2021; and the NAACPs highest honor  the Spingarn Medal  in 2022. His endorsement of Joe Biden for president in 2020 is credited with boosting him to an overwhelming victory in the South Carolina and subsequent primaries and setting Biden on path to the presidency.

SC State marks Business Week South Carolina State Universitys College of Business and Information Systems (CBIS) will celebrate its annual Business Week March 25-29.

After graduating from South Carolina State University, Chief Justice Donald W. Beatty served in the military as a commissioned officer, and then earned a Juris Doctorate degree from the University Of South Carolina School Of Law, Columbia,

Beatty began his legal career by working for the Neighborhood Legal Assistance Program, thus fulfilling a personal commitment to use his legal training to benefit those who could not afford paid legal representation. Following his tenure with the Neighborhood Legal Assistance Program, he established a private practice in his hometown, Spartanburg, later moving to the state legislature with his election to the South Carolina House of Representatives.

SC States SSC partners with USC scholars to educate University 101 students on antisemitism The South Carolina State University Student Success Center (SSC) has partnered with esteemed scholars from the University of South Carolina (USC) to educate University 101 students on the historic connections and relationships between Black and Jewish communities.

Beatty has reached the highest attainable position within the State of South Carolina's Judicial Branch, Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court. In May 2016, Beatty was elected by the South Carolina General Assembly to become only the second black person to serve as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of South Carolina since reconstruction. He began serving as Chief Justice of South Carolina on Jan.1, 2017.

2024 Shining Star Scholarship recipients

(one recipient from each college was selected):

Janiya Blyther, Junior, College of Agriculture and Family and Consumer Science:

Kenard Holmes, Junior, College of Business, and Information Systems

Bailey Scott, Junior, Dr. Emily England Clyburn Honors College

Aaron D. Smith, Senior, College of Graduate and Professional Studies

Maliya Taylor, Sophomore, College of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics

Lataye Walker, Sophomore, College of Education, Humanities, and Social Studies
COLUMBIA  AESC, a world-leading battery technology company, announced Tuesday the expansion of its lithium-ion electric vehicle battery manufacturing operations in Florence County.

The companys $1.5 billion investment will create 1,080 new jobs.

The investment follows AESCs initial announcement in December 2022 and expansion announcement in December 2023, resulting in a total investment of $3.12 billion and supporting 2,700 new jobs across the local community.

In 2022, the company announced a multiyear partnership with BMW to supply technology-leading battery cells to be used in the next generation electric vehicle models produced at Plant Spartanburg.

AESCs latest expansion will extend the partnership to additionally provide electric vehicle battery components for BMW Groups Mexico Assembly Operations.

BLDG AESC A sign along SC 327 near US 76 indicates that AESCs training center will be built there.

With this expansion of AESCs strong production footprint in the United States, the company will construct a second state-of-the-art electric vehicle battery manufacturing facility adjacent to the first building. which broke ground in June 2023. The AESC campus is located in the more than 1,000-acre Florence Global Technology Park.

Operations are expected to be online in 2027.

Individuals interested in joining the AESC team should visit readySCs recruitment website to learn about future opportunities or visit the companys careers page to explore current opportunities.

Companies interested in becoming an AESC supplier should complete S.C. Commerces online interest form.

At meetings on March 20 and March 26, the Joint Bond Review Committee and the State Fiscal Accountability Authority authorized the issuance of up to an additional $111 million in state general economic development bonds in support of the expanded project, as well as the costs of issuance.

The bond proceeds will be used to offset the costs of a county-owned warehouse building, site preparation, on-site roads, off-site road and water improvements, and additional expansion of the training center that will serve both manufacturing facilities at the Florence site.

The Coordinating Council for Economic Development also approved job development credits related to the project.

Quotes

We greatly value our partnership with South Carolina and Florence County as we strengthen our work together through this latest expansion that enhances our commitment to create high value jobs in the region and invest in the state. South Carolina is a crucial part of our strategy to power next generation electric vehicles for customers across the U.S. by manufacturing high-performance, longer-range EV batteries locally. Through our collaborative efforts, I am excited that we are able to support thousands of new workers and increase both AESC and South Carolinas leadership in providing advanced clean energy transportation solutions. -- AESC CEO Shoichi Matsumoto

AESCs second expansion in less than four months in Florence County signals yet another vote of confidence in our state and our people. This investment is another monumental win for Florence County, and we look forward to the substantial impact this will have throughout South Carolina. -- Gov. Henry McMaster

South Carolina is proud to have AESC as a key player in our states burgeoning electric vehicle industry. Its expanding presence has helped our state assemble the backbone of the ecosystem that will take us through the entire life cycle of the electric vehicle battery. -- Secretary of Commerce Harry M. Lightsey III

AESC's unwavering dedication to Florence County marks a transformative moment, now bringing forth a total creation of 2,700 jobs and injecting over $3.12 billion in capital investment into the local economy. As a global leader in advanced lithium-ion battery technology, AESC's expansion signifies more than just economic growth  it symbolizes a commitment to sustainable innovation. Beyond the immediate impact on job creation, AESC's presence will catalyze a ripple effect across our local economy. -- Florence County Council Chair William Schofield

As we continue to move Florence forward, we celebrate AESCs expansion and continued growth in Florence. Todays announcement signifies increased opportunity for our citizens to obtain one of the 2,700 new jobs AESC will create in our community. -- Florence Mayor Teresa Myers Ervin

Todays announcement by AESC is a truly remarkable economic development achievement. The continued momentum of AESCs presence in Florence County brings even more high-level jobs and opportunities to residents of the region. This landmark initiative epitomizes the strength of our regions business climate, and we commend AESC for their commitment to South Carolina. -- NESA Executive Committee Chairman Yancey McGill

Our states economy is booming and projects like this continue to show the world that South Carolina and Florence County are thriving and open for business. Duke Energy is excited to continue to work with AESC to provide them with the reliable, affordable and sustainable energy they need to ensure their success here in the Palmetto State for many years to come. --Duke Energy South Carolina President Mike Callahan
(TBTCO) - Su kien Ngan hang TMCP Viet Nam Thinh Vuong (VPBank) uoc Mastercard va Visa xuong ten o vi tri so 1 cho 10 hoat ong the nam 2023 them mot lan khang inh vi the VPBank luon ung au ve viec cung cap cho khach hang cac giai phap toi uu trong thanh toan va luon uoc khach hang uu tien lua chon trong cac chi tieu tren the cua minh.
(TBTCO) - Chi can co ien thoai di ong, gui cau hoi en Cong giao tiep cua Cuc Thue Binh inh hay cac trang mang xa hoi nhu Zalo, Facebook, nguoi nop thue se uoc ho tro quyet toan thue tren moi truong ien tu theo nguyen tac 24 gio/7 ngay va theo chuan dich vu ho tro thue 5 sao. Mua quyet toan thue tai Binh inh ang dien ra suon se, thuan loi va hieu qua.
(TBTCO) - Sang nay, gia vang the gioi a tang gan muc cao ky luc khi cac nha giao dich tich cuc mua vao truoc nhieu tin hieu ve lam phat va lai suat cua My. Trong nuoc, cac doanh nghiep cung khong ngoai le, khi cung ong loat tang. Hien vang SJC a vuot moc 81 trieu ong/luong, at hon gia vang the gioi tren 13 trieu ong/luong.
Minority Report Reveals Federal Indian Policies Soaked in Critical Race Theory

NEWS PROVIDED BY

Christian Alliance for Indian Child Welfare

March 26, 2024

WASHINGTON, March 26, 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


In the days since the mass killing in Moscow, Tajik migrants across Russia have been subjected to threats and increased harassment from law enforcement. From Eurasianet.

Panic is mounting  not just among Tajiks, but other Central Asian expatriate diasporas too  about the potential long-term fallout of intensified discrimination fueled by rage over an attack that has left almost 140 people dead.

Atovullo, a 35-year-old Tajik living in Moscow, told Eurasianet that his landlord summarily evicted him without explanation immediately after the Crocus attack, which investigators say was perpetrated by a gang of Tajik gunmen. It has always been difficult for people of non-European backgrounds to find apartments in the Russian capital  now it may become almost entirely impossible.

Over the past year, the situation in Russia has been difficult. Constant [police raids on migrants], they treat you like youre a criminal. Now its impossible to walk down the street, everyone is wary of you, avoiding you. They can just simply evict you, like youre a dog, Atovullo said.

The surnames of people interviewed for this article are not being published to preserve their anonymity.

Atovullo said he has now resolved to return to Tajikistan, mainly because he does not want his young children to be bullied.

There is little awaiting returnees back home. Tajikistan has the weakest economy anywhere in the former Soviet Union. Joblessness is rife. Remittances sent home by migrant laborers account for [one-third or more] of the economy. Petty corruption and poverty often make starting a business a fruitless endeavor. Anybody complaining vocally about how things are run is liable to be jailed or called in for hostile interrogations by law enforcement.

A handful of individuals has brought shame on an entire people. Now they look at us like were cursed.

According to official figures from 2023, around 1.3 million Tajiks live in Russia. This may be a major undercount, though, since an unknown number of migrant laborers do not appear in the official data. Tajiks do not need visas to enter Russia. For that reason, it is common for expat laborers to enter the country for seasonal work. Also complicating the data is the fact that growing numbers of Tajiks are obtaining Russian citizenship.

People volunteering in migrant solidarity networks in Russia have since the weekend been urging fellow expatriates to avoid leaving their homes unless necessary. The Embassy of Tajikistan in Moscow has in a similar vein urged Tajik citizens to refrain from visiting crowded places.

Russian media have reported on the adoption of heightened security measures directed specifically at foreigners. Baza, a Telegram news channel, cited its sources as saying that police patrols and criminal investigation officers have been ordered to step up random checks on non-Russians. Squads of police have been dispatched to inspect hostels and other locations where foreigners might congregate.

Aggressive raids by migration officials were already routine. Russian media often carry reports of police swooping on apartments, workplaces, and canteens used by foreign workers. From time to time, footage surfaces online showing detained migrants being subjected to degrading and violent behavior.

Officials like Alexander Bastrykin, the head of the Investigative Committee, a Russian analog of the FBI, have fanned anti-migrant sentiment by linking the rising incidence of murder and rape cases to foreign nationals.

The majority of incomers do not integrate into Russian society. They do not study the Russian language and culture, they try to isolate themselves and keep to their own traditions, he said at a conference in May.

Fresh calls for the mass deportation of migrants  and even their killing in more extreme cases  circulated on social media over the weekend. People ordering rides on taxi apps inquire before agreeing to take an order whether the driver is a Tajik. Drivers using taxi apps in major Russian cities are overwhelmingly foreign nationals, often from Central Asian countries.

Nekruz, a 23-year-old Tajik who works part-time for Yandex Taxi in St. Petersburg, said he has been asked by dozens of potential clients about where he is from. When they learn he is Tajik, they cancel the order, he said.

A handful of individuals has brought shame on an entire people. Now they look at us like were cursed, Nekruz told Eurasianet. There is no sense of safety when you walk around the city. On closed groups on social media, you see comments about people wanting to form groups and take revenge.

This dark climate has left some fearing for their lives.

Dilorom, another native of Tajikistan living in Russia, says she constantly looks over her shoulder.

I am not going outside, and I wont go to work on Monday, she told Eurasianet over the weekend.

If I fall into the hands of embittered [xenophobes], there is no way of knowing that I can escape alive or have my rights upheld through the law.

Four men suspected of carrying out the mass killings at the Crocus City Hall arena were hauled into a Moscow court on 24 March bearing signs of extensive beating and torture. Russian authorities have made no pretense of abiding by legalities as they pursue their investigation into the massacre. Upright Tajik expatriates worry that they too will fall foul of this abandonment of legal niceties.

When Russia invaded Ukraine, conditions immediately worsened for any activists working on human rights issues. That included groups working to protect the rights of long-suffering migrant laborers. Almost all formal activists have left Russia, meaning that victims of abuse and fraud have nobody to turn to.

What little public solidarity there has been for Tajik communities has come from social media influencers. Russian rapper Timati, who has used his platform in the past to voice support for President Vladimir Putin and the invasion of Ukraine, posted a filmed appeal on Instagram to call on his supporters and fellow social media celebrities to refrain from inflammatory racist rhetoric and behavior.

This is not acceptable, and it is not right. Dear influencers and opinion-shapers. Please turn on your brain. Who needs all this? he said.

Atovullo, the Tajik expat living in Moscow, said he is seeing a surge of online social media activity attributing the Crocus City Hall mass murder to uncontrolled migration. The consequences feel inevitable, he said.

This has come as a massive blow for migrants. We will need to find work in other countries. If we cannot get jobs and we cannot get apartments, what are we to do? How can we stay in this country? he said.



This article originally appeared in Eurasianet.org and is republished by permission.
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.
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.
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.
4,600 culturally important Peruvian artifacts, comprising textiles, clothing, and ceramics retrieved from various collections across the United States and Europe have been returned to Peru, according to a statement by the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs last Wednesday, March 20.

Particularly, in Europe, the items were reacquired from numerous institutions in Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Switzerland. The ministry said they worked alongside consulates and embassies within the concerned nations to eventually facilitate the objects' repatriation.

Details on the Repatriated Peruvian Cultural Artifacts

Of the 4,600 assets returned to the South American nation, 4,556 were from the personal collection of the late American archaeologist and anthropologist John Howland Roe, who was also known to be the preeminent scholar surrounding the Inca civilization.

The statement added that 33 were retrieved from Italy and 22 of those were confiscated by the country's authorities from an art gallery, including clothing and ceramic items from the cultures of the Nazca, Wari, Inca, Paracas, and Chimu people.

An artifact of note is a silver incense burner dated back around the 18th or 19th century, which was retrieved from Portugal. Objects recovered from Germany and the Netherlands, on the other hand, were turned over voluntarily.

Authorities from Switzerland were also instrumental in the seizure and repatriation of a four-piece pre-Hispanic ceramic set, the statement said.

The country's Foreign Minister, Javier Gonzalez-Olaechea, was quoted during the return ceremony saying that it has recovered over 7,000 culturally significant artifacts of heritage since 2019. Because of this,

the country has "[established] itself as an international benchmark in the fight against illicit trafficking of cultural property," the Minister continued.

Similarly, in a post on the Peruvian Ministry of Culture's X (formerly Twitter) account, Culture Minister Leslie Urteaga said: "We will continue on this upward path in strengthening sovereignty over our precious heritage."

Because the cultural legacy of Peru is a fundamental pillar for the formation of our identity as Peruvians," she added.

Read Also: Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix-Led 'Joker' Sequel Will Mostly be a 'Jukebox Musical,' Covering at Least 15 Songs

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Kathy Griffin went from Hollywoods D list to the international no-fly list with the click of a camera.

One photo, meant to be shared with a few friends.

She imagined it would live on a gay website for a day or two.

Instead, it went viral.

Within 12 hours in late May 2017, the photo of the red-haired comedian  famous for being not as famous as the celebrities she riffed on  holding a Halloween mask of then-President Donald Trump dripping with fake blood was the top headline worldwide.

They had it in Iran. They had it in Russia. Within 12 hours, around the world, they were calling me the first lady of Isis, Griffin recalled. Im 57 years old, menopausal and a redhead comedian  but no, Im the face of Isis! It was crazy.

It was the beginning of a 6-year nightmare from which Griffin is just now waking up.

I am so back on the D list. I cant even tell you, she said excitedly. I have yet to get a (comedy) special because people are afraid of me in my beloved industry, but I think there might be like a sea change after that bull(expletive) Trump thing.

Early last month, Griffin set out on her first tour since the 27-stop Laugh Your Head Off in 2018. My Life on the PTSD-List pulls into Fox Tucson Theatre on Wednesday, April 3.

But the road back has been anything but smooth.

Im not going to lie; Ive been to (expletive) hell and back! the 63-year-old Griffin said, her tone sprinkled with exclamation points during a phone call last week.

That one photo, taken on a day that she did photo spoofs on Kim Kardashian and other A-list celebrities she mocks and celebrates in her comedy, turned into a nightmare.

Trumps U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the Secret Service investigated her for conspiracy to assassinate the president.

She spent months on the no-fly list reserved for suspected terrorists.

She became addicted to prescription pills, which led to a suicide attempt that landed her on a three-day 5150 hold in a psych ward.

She was diagnosed with lung cancer  I never smoked and I got lung cancer! she said  and had half of a lung removed. Her once bright voice is forever changed to a deeper, slightly breathless octave.

She lost her sister to cancer and her 99-year-old mother, Maggie, who costarred in Griffins Bravo reality show My Life on the D-List.

Four months ago, Griffin filed for divorce from Randy Bick, her husband of nearly four years.

Thats what we call the luck of the Irish because youre born with bad luck, said Griffin, the daughter of first-generation Irish Americans. And let me just say, I never believed in those things, but in the last 6 years, you have to admit, Ive had some pretty (expletive) bad luck. Now granted, some of it was my own doing; its not like anyone forced me to take that picture. And by the way, if he wins again, Im taking another one.

A few months ago, things started to look up.

All of a sudden out of the blue, I get a call from this manager and hes going, You know I think you got a raw deal with that whole Trump thing and I think its about time you got back to work, she said.

The manager led her to an agent, and two weeks later, she had 40 shows booked around the country.

They know I can sell tickets and thank God ... my audience is coming back in droves and I couldnt not be more grateful, she said.

Her show will start off with stories about her celebrity encounters, including Paris Hiltons Christmas party last December.

It was like walking into 2008; it was like a time capsule, she recounted. Paris still looks the same; she still dresses like shes 14. Everybody had to wear something pink and sparkly. I went with Rosie ODonnell who has nothing that is pink or sparkly. It was hilarious.

She might even recount how her oncologist mixes her up with another celebrity Kathy.

If one more oncologist goes, Yes, appointment for Ms. Gifford, Ms. Kathy Lee Gifford, she said. I just laugh. What am I gonna do, go off on the oncologist?

One thing she wont talk about is Trump.

They already know how I feel about Trump, she said, adding that if he does something particularly egregious, then of course I will address it.

But you might hear her go off on Trump-aligned failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and once Democratic now Independent Arizona Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema.

Dont get me started on that turncoat, she said. Look, either be a Democrat or be honest and say youre a Republican who has a crush on Rob Portman, which I didnt think was possible. But thats me.

Griffins concert on Wednesday is her first in Tucson since March 2017. We get her 15 shows into the tour, which will run through early summer before resuming in the fall.

So far, she said, she has been getting standing ovations.

Maybe they are just standing up because I have one vocal chord; I dont care, she said. All I know is they are standing and I drink it in like a cold glass of water. ... I cant wait to hit that stage.
The University of Arizona class of 2024 will graduate without ever having experienced one of the universitys most iconic traditions: Spring Fling.

In fact, no one admitted to the University of Arizona since the class of 2019 has a clue about the week-long student-planned-and-run carnival that Associated Students of the University of Arizona and the Wildcat Events Board hosted on campus from 1974 until 2019.

On Monday, March 25, ASUA and the Wildcat Events Board made it official; Spring Fling is gone and in its place, the students are hosting a music festival.

The inaugural Bear Down Music Festival on April 12 will feature the Nashville pop band Coin, underground rapper Redveil and Tucson bands Desert Child and The Hawthorne Experience.

The festival will be held on the UA Mall on campus and admission is free, although for $7, you can get a wristband that will get you full festival access including rides and a free non-alcoholic beverage. (Details at asuatoday.arizona.edu.)

Our goal is to give back to the student body with events that are free, fun, informative, educational and entertaining, Events Board member and UA junior Maya Kostov said in a written release.

The festival also includes interactive mural painting, food trucks, photo booths, rides and inflatables, face-painting, henna art, airbrush tattoos and a drink tent sponsored by Coca-Cola and Arizona Student Unions.

The UA launched its first Spring Fling in 1974 as a single-day fundraising event at Bear Down Field north of Arizona Stadium. Over the years, it grew to become the largest student-run carnival in the country.

Spring Fling was canceled in 2020 courtesy the COVID-19 pandemic and every year since, there have been talks and quiet moves to resurrect it to no avail. Last year, student organizers strongly hinted that ASUA and the Events Board were moving beyond the carnival and into the music festival arena when they replaced Spring Fling with the one-day Bear Down Music Festival.

A UA spokesman said last years concert, featuring rappers 070 Shake and Tkay Maizda and Desert Child and The Hawthorne Experience, was a test run for the official festival launch on April 12.
With an 11th-hour infusion of federal funds on the way, leaders of Pima Countys migrant-aid coalition are optimistic they will be able to avoid the predicted releases of migrants onto Tucsons streets when existing federal support runs out on April 1.

While the plan is still uncertain, local leaders were hopeful late Monday afternoon that sufficient funds would arrive in time to extend Pima Countys migrant-aid coalitions efforts for another three months.

It sounds like everyone is confident were going to have the federal funds to avert street releases, and the layoffs of staff across Casa Alitas, said Diego Pina Lopez, director for Casa Alitas, the Tucson migrant-aid program of the nonprofit Catholic Community Services.

Casa Alitas had already told 30 staff members that their last day would be March 31, and informed 10 more that theyd lose their positions mid-April, due to the loss of federal funding.

On Friday, Congress approved a $1.2 trillion U.S. spending package, allocating $650 million to the federal Shelter and Service Program, which supports local communities migrant-aid efforts.

Thats a nearly 20% decrease from the prior years funding level. But compared to the complete funding loss that was expected on April 1, its a game-changer for local officials who had been bracing for a dramatic reduction in services for legally processed migrants released here by the Border Patrol.

Tucson and Pima County leaders spent Monday in a flurry of meetings, trying to determine whether they can maintain services for newly arrived migrants seamlessly, or if bureaucratic delays would mean the new funding would arrive too late to avoid street releases of unsheltered migrants next week.

There are two questions: how much, and when? said Pima County spokesman Mark Evans early on Monday. Everything is in flux right now.

In recent days, border agents have been releasing fewer migrants to Casa Alitas, Evans said.

Casa Alitas received about 500 legally processed migrants each day over the weekend, Evans said. Thats about half the volume the program has been seeing in recent weeks, and less than a third of the volume of a few months ago.

Migrant arrivals at the southern border have slowed since reaching record levels in December, but Tucson has remained the busiest of the southern borders nine sectors since July.

In February, border agents in the Tucson sector apprehended 49,452 people between ports of entry, compared with more than 80,000 in December, according to the latest figures from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Since the start of the fiscal year in October, through February, Tucson sector border agents have apprehended 300,000 people between ports of entry.

The $1.2 trillion U.S. spending package continues to prioritize border enforcement  with $19.6 billion going to CBP, a 19% increase  while other critical areas are cut, said Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh, associate policy analyst for the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute.

Legislators also recently reduced the funding appropriation for U.S. immigration courts under the Executive Office for Immigration Review, from $860 million last year to $844 million, at a time when immigration courts are facing a backlog of 3 million cases.

Too-few asylum court officers means asylum seekers released by the Border Patrol can face years-long waits for their asylum hearings, migrant advocates say.

What were seeing is this continued mismatch in funding, where Border Patrol gets a lot of funding ... but that similar funding increases arent seen across the entire immigration system, Putzel-Kavanaugh said. That mismatch creates a lot of the problems downstream that we continue to see today.

SSP funding, reduced from $800,000 last year, will probably be insufficient for the need, Putzel-Kavanaugh said.

It creates a smaller pot of money, when more and more groups are actually going to try to access that funding, she said. Its going to create either a scenario where some organizations dont receive funding at all, or many organizations receive far less funding then theyd need to keep operations at the level theyve been.

Pina Lopez said he stayed up late Friday night to see if the funding bill would pass both chambers of Congress.

Its exciting, but also stressful, he said on Monday.

The anticipated loss of federal funds on April 1 meant that partnerships with vendors and other contractors  such as ties to food vendors, local hotels, security and janitorial services  were set to be paused or canceled. Getting those partnerships back up and running could take some work, but Casa Alitas is well-practiced at adjusting on a dime, he said.

All of those relationships play a vital role in our operations, Pina Lopez said. Thats the thing weve always done a good job of; we can pivot and adjust based on whoever we see coming to our shelter.  Its us working as a team.

Impact on homelessness

Pima Countys migrant-aid coalition has aided more than 400,000 legally processed migrants since 2019, after theyve been released from Border Patrol custody with a notice-to-appear in court.

Thousands of travelers have passed through Tucson on their way to their final destinations, with little to no noticeable impact for most Tucson residents, thanks to Casa Alitas work, local officials say.

Migrants typically stay just one or two nights at Casa Alitas  getting a shower, medical care, charging their cell phones and utilizing the WiFi to purchase plane tickets  before joining family or sponsors in the interior of the country. About 97% of migrant arrivals at Casa Alitas pay for their own travel from Tucson.

Last year, the program spent $1.6 million in federal funding to buy plane tickets for 2.4 percent of its migrant arrivals, totaling 5,300 flights, according to a February county memo.

When federal funding for the $1 million-per-week migrant-aid effort wasnt renewed by last month, Casa Alitas and its Pima County partners began making plans to scale back services to a level that could be sustained on donations alone, anticipating serving just 100 people per day.

That reduction was expected to result in up to 400 migrants each day released without any supports in downtown Tucson, and 500 more released in rural border communities each day.

In late February, Pima County Administrator Jan Lesher warned of homelessness on steroids if more federal funding didnt come through.

Local homeless shelters are already overburdened, and are usually set up to serve specific populations, such as people struggling with substance abuse or mental health issues. Integrating migrants, particularly families with children, who mostly only need a helping hand in getting to their final destinations, is not what those providers are geared towards, agency leaders say.

Sister Jose Womens Shelter in Tucson, which serves single women experiencing homelessness, is already sheltering one migrant woman from the Congo, as she waits for her asylum hearing in September, said Nicola Hartmann, the shelters CEO. The woman entered the U.S. between ports of entry near Lukeville in December, and doesnt have any relations in the U.S., so she had nowhere to go to wait for her hearing, Hartmann said.

Sister Jose has recently seen a significant increase in the number of women it serves, who are increasingly older women struggling with rising housing costs in Tucson, she said.

Like the rest of the city, weve seen huge increases, Hartmann said. We want to help (migrants), were just concerned about what that volume could look like. ... Most nights were at capacity anyway. We can always do a bit more with food and some clothing, but were concerned about what that will mean for us, and the community.

Arizona Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly have been pressuring their colleagues to approve $752 million in SSP funding, to avoid a catastrophic situation, they wrote to legislators in late February.

Replenishing these funds has been a critical need for Arizona border communities, Kelly said in a Saturday news release after announcing the $650 million secured in SSP funds. Thats why Senator Sinema and I urged congressional leaders to not leave our border communities behind and fought hard to include this and other resources in the final government funding bill. While I believe there is more the federal government must do, this assistance will help local governments and nonprofits in Arizona bearing the cost of the crisis.

Gov. Katie Hobbs also wrote to Congress in support of Kelly and Sinemas request. Her office said last week they expect to continue with state-funded transportation of migrants released in smaller border communities, such as Douglas and Nogales, to bigger cities like Tucson and Phoenix.

Gov. Hobbs has provided tens of millions of dollars to local governments struggling with the increase in migration, Hobbs spokesman Christian Slater wrote in a Thursday email. She will continue with her current work to meet the needs of our border communities to keep the border secure while making sure they have the capacity needed to deal with the influx of asylum seekers and other migrants in a safe, secure and humane way.

Arizonas Department of Emergency and Military Affairs, or DEMA, coordinates those state-sponsored buses from rural border communities, where even fewer resources for migrants exist.

DEMA has transported more than 38,000 legally processed asylum seekers, via 840 buses, since January, DEMA spokeswoman Judy Kioski said. In 2023, the state spent more than $7 million in state Border Security Fund resources on those transportation services.

The state-sponsored bus mission will continue to provide bus transportation while funding exists, an agency statement said. DEMA will only transport legally processed asylum seekers at the request of local jurisdictions to an NGO that has the capacity to support them with temporary sheltering and onward travel arrangements.
A federal judge has given the go-ahead to let the Mexican government sue five Arizona gun dealers over claims they contribute to violence in that country.

In an extensive ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Rosemary Marquez rejected arguments by attorneys for the dealers that they were engaged in lawful commerce in Arizona and that there was no evidence that the weapons they sold ended up being used by cartel members. There is enough in the complaint to let a jury decide if the dealers sold firearms despite what could be considered red flags that these were merely straw purchases really designed to get the guns into the hands of those who could not legally purchase them, the judge said.

Marquez also noted that Mexico claims to have evidence that weapons seized in Mexico  where their possession and ownership is severely restricted  can actually be traced back to the dealers who are being sued, three in Tucson, one in Yuma and one in Phoenix.

Most notably, the judge rejected arguments by the dealers that their activities are protected by the U.S. Constitution. She said that ignores the fact that there are federal laws here dealing not only with the exporting of weapons but also statutes that outlaw sales made in ways designed to conceal that a weapon ultimately will wind up in the hand of someone who should not have it.

The Second Amendment does not protect unlawful firearm sales, Marquez wrote.

And the judge was no more impressed by claims by the dealers they are protected by a state law specifically designed to shield gun manufacturers, distributors, dealers and importers of firearms from lawsuits even if they are misused. She said the law is intended to protect from liability businesses engaged in the lawful, rather than the unlawful, sale of firearms.

The new ruling does not mean Mexico will win its lawsuit. It just clears the way for Mexico to present evidence to a jury that the gun shops knew or should have known that the weapons they were selling were being illegally exported.

As to legal relief, even attorneys for Mexico appear to concede that is is unlikely they would ever be able to recover the $238 billion in claimed damages just in one year even if they eventually win the case filed two years ago. But they said that a favorable decision would reduce the risk of harm to some extent.

There was no immediate response from the lawyers representing the dealers.

But in a prepared statement, Jonathan Lowy, an attorney for Mexico, called the ruling a huge step forward in holding the gun industry accountable for its contribution to gun violence, and in stopping the floor of trafficked guns to the cartels. He also is the president and founder of Global Action on Gun Violence which seeks to deal with the issue through litigation.

At the heart of the case are claims by Mexico it already has evidence that the five stores were engaged in unlawful sales.

On example cited in the lawsuit is that SnG Tactical in Tucson made a cash sale of an individual of six AK-47 rifles, including give of the same model, over the course of approximately one week in September 2018. It also says that the same store sold more than $80,000 firearms to another individual, including 11 over a two-week period in March 2019, many paid for in cash.

There also are claims against the other stores.

And Mexico says that over the past five years, each of the Arizona stores has been among the 10 deals with the most crime guns recovered in Mexico and traced back to a dealership in Arizona. And it estimates that each of the five stores is involved in trafficking between 55 and 822 guns to Mexico annually.

In seeking to have the case dismissed, lawyers for the gun shops said there is no evidence that any weapon they sold was used by Mexican cartels in commission of a crime. In fact, they said, the allegations never even claim that any of the dealers sell their firearms to cartels.

Instead, Mexicos theory is that through a series of unspecified events, third-party criminals acquire, sell, and smuggle the firearms originally sold by defendants into Mexico, where they are eventually used by drug cartels to commit crimes, the dealers argue. And it is these intervening and superseding acts that may cause the financial harms Mexico says it suffers from fighting cartels, to the tune of $238 billion, not anything the dealers did.

The lawyers also said that even if the dealers had sold guns to Mexican citizens, there is no duty under U.S. law to protect foreign governments from harm.

But Marquez said there is enough in the complaint to let all that be decided by a jury.

The complaint plausibly alleges that, as a result of red flags including straw sales, bulk sales, cash sales, and repeat sales of military-style weapons favored by Mexico cartels, defendants knew or should have known that firearms they sold would ultimately be provided to and used by cartel members for unlawful purposes, the judge wrote.

What the dealers hoped would protect them  aside from those Second Amendment claims  is the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act.

Approved by Congress in 2005 at the behest of the gun industry, it is designed to protect firearms manufacturers and gun deals from any liability when crimes have been committed with their products.

Marquez did rule that the law  and its immunity  can apply to crimes committed outside of the United States. But she said that doesnt end the discussion, pointing out there are several exceptions from that immunity.

One involves any actions in which a manufacturer or seller of a qualified product knowingly violated a state or federal statutes applicable to the sale or marketing of the product, and the violation as a proximate cause of the harm for which relief is sought.

Here, the judge said, Mexico is alleging that the gun shops aided and abetted the purchasers who were making false statements on the federal form required when a licensed dealer sells a gun. That information includes identifying information on the buyer and an affidavit that the purchaser is eligible to have a firearm.

And then theres the link between the actions of the gun dealers and the harms that Mexico says it has incurred.

Specifically, the complaint alleges that defendants know military-style assault weapons are preferred by violent cartels in Mexico and routinely trafficked into Mexico but that, despite this knowledge, defendants profit by continuing to engage in straw sales, multiple sales, and repeat sales to buyers who are in essence agents of the cartels, with such conduct foreseeable resulting in harm from gun violence in Mexico, the judge wrote.

Marquez, however, said she wasnt buying all of the legal theories advanced by Mexico.

She tossed a claim that the sales somehow violated Arizonas Consumer Fraud Act, saying there was no evidence that any of the advertisements by the dealerships about their weapons contained misrepresentations.

Marquez also dismissed an argument that the activities of the gun dealers fit within racketeering laws.
Authorities have identified the woman whose body was found Sunday southwest of Tucson.

The body of Felicia Novak, 30, was found about 10:00 a.m. in a desert area near South Marstellar and West Park roads, the Pima County Sheriff's Department said in a news release. The area is west of Ryan Airfield.

No further details about Novak's death have been released, but it is being investigated as "suspicious," the release said.

Anyone with information is asked to call 911 or 88-CRIME, the anonymous tip line.
PHOENIX  In a sudden shift, Kari Lake is now admitting she defamed Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, her fellow Republican.

What that leaves is the question of how much she and her campaign will have to pay him.

Richer said the figure is yet to be determined, but will be a lot.

She has been lying the entire time, we have told her she has been lying the entire time, he said.

Lakes surprise court filing Tuesday came as Richers attorneys were preparing to ask a judge to declare her in default for failing to file an answer to his complaint first filed last June.

Lake, in essence, beat them to the punch by conceding everything Richer first alleged.

That specifically includes that she knew it was false when she claimed he sabotaged the 2022 election by having ballots printed on the wrong side and that he inserted more than 300,000 phony early ballots into the system.

Richer declared her decision a total victory for him and his fight to clear his name of the charges she made.

It is now official that she accepts that all of that is a lie, he told Capitol Media Services.

He said Lake knew she was lying because judges in other election cases she filed, challenging her loss in the 2022 race for governor, found no basis for either of her claims about deliberately missized ballots or fraudulent ballots inserted into the count. Democrat Katie Hobbs defeated Lake by 17,117 votes.

And now she officially will have a judgment entered against her for lying about me in connection with the 2022 election, Richer said. Thats pretty rarified air. I dont think that many people have against them. So thats special.

Yet in a video statement explaining her decision, Lake insisted her legal capitulation has nothing to do with conceding that her statements were wrong  even though her court papers admit that they were. Instead, she said it was a strategic move allowing her to focus her attention on her campaign for the U.S. Senate.

She said Richer and his attorneys were trying to tie her time up in lawsuits and keep her off the campaign trail.

Its called lawfare: weaponizing the legal system to punish, impoverish and destroy political opponents, Lake said. Weve all seen how theyre doing it to President Trump. And here in Arizona, theyre doing the exact same thing to me.

In filing suit, Richer said Lake, her campaign and the Save Arizona Fund, a political action committee she has used to raise money, acted with actual malice.

That is crucial because, in general, people who are considered public figures like Richer cannot get a defamation judgment unless they prove by clear and convincing evidence that the person making the statement knew it to be false or that the statement was made with reckless disregard for the truth.

Lake initially sought to have the case thrown out, claiming her comments were mere rhetorical hyperbole that were never meant as statements of fact. A trial judge rejected that assertion, a decision upheld earlier this month by the Arizona Supreme Court.

That left only two options for Lake: go to trial or concede.

With Lake admitting liability, whats left is figuring out how much she owes Richer, something Lake wants determined by a jury.

Richer has claimed expenses, such as additional security for his home and family he said was necessary because of threats they received, including calls for their execution. He also claims damages to his reputation.

In admitting that she acted with actual malice, Lake also opens herself up to having to pay punitive damages. These are awards designed not so much to compensate victims but to punish those who are liable.

That could involve subjecting Lake to depositions to answer questions about her decisions to make the comments.
The San Carlos Apache said Monday that the federal government owes it $3 million for health care services, one of two tribes arguing before the Supreme Court for more support from the Indian Health Service.

But attorneys for the government argued that allowing tribes to claim additional overhead costs for the health care they provide their members would strap the system, and end up siphoning away money for care of Native Americans in other tribes.

Caroline Flynn, an assistant to the U.S. solicitor general, told the justices that the tribes argument would work a sea change in the law that sets out how tribes are compensated for costs they incur in providing care to their members.

Flynn said that if the court were to side with the tribes, it would upend how the statute has been administered for 35 years. What the tribes are asking for is potentially tripling the federal governments contract support cost obligation and eventually transforming what the statute designates as mere support costs into the primary component of contract funding, Flynn said.

That was disputed by Adam Unikowsky, who argued on behalf of the Northern Arapaho Tribe of Wyoming, which he said is seeking reimbursement of $1.5 million from 2016 and 2017. He said the Indian Self-Determination and Education Act (ISDA) entitles the tribes to recover the disputed contract support costs in this case from the Indian Health Service.

In the ISDA contract, IHS transferred to the tribe the responsibility both to collect and to spend the program income on health care, Unikowsky said. So when the tribe carries out health care services using program income, it does so as a means of fulfilling its contractual obligation to further the general purposes of the contract. So, its acting pursuant to the contract.

At issue is the interpretation of the contract that IHS enters into with tribes that agree to take on the job of providing health care to their members in lieu of the federal government. Under that deal, the government gives tribes the money it would normally spend on health care, along with additional funding to compensate tribes for the overhead costs of administering such care.

Flynn said that IHS currently spends about $1 billion a year on contract support costs out of a total program budget of about $8 billion.

It stands to reason that if all of a sudden contract support costs just explode, Congress is going to have to find the cuts elsewhere to keep the budget under the discretionary spending caps, she said.

Several justices picked up that thread during arguments, with Justice Brett Kavanaugh asking if such an increase in costs to the IHS would end up hurting the overall program.

Because Congress couldnt cut, without changing its rules, mandatory spending, correct, so it would have to come out of the other discretionary funding? Kavanaugh asked.

But Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson asked whether the government couldnt simply renegotiate its contracts with the tribes in such a situation.

If the costs balloon, which seems to be a lot of your concern, you explored with Justice Kavanaugh where the cuts might have to come from, Jackson said. But Im wondering if theres something that precludes renegotiation of the contracts in light of potential cost escalations of the nature that youre talking about.

The government said the added costs could ultimately range from $800 million to $2 billion  a number the tribes said was taken out of nowhere and of which Justice Neil Gorsuch appeared skeptical.

Gorsuch also questioned the government claim that a ruling in favor of the tribes would open the door to the potential for non-Indian individuals to have their health care funded by IHS  something attorneys for both the San Carlos Apache and Northern Arapaho flatly denied.

You raised the specter that theyre going to expand their programs to help non-Indians, Gorsuch said. Maybe theyre free to do that  youre right  statutorily. But, in terms of the contract support services that would be required to be paid from the government, it would seem to be limited.

Gorsuch also pointed out the larger stakes at issue in the tribal health care coverage that he said has long been underfunded.
One of America's most notorious outlaws of the 1930s gangster era was a bootlegger in Tulsa before he began a short-lived big-time criminal career that ended with his conviction for kidnapping an Oklahoma City oilman.

Although his name was George Kelly Barnes, he changed his name to George Kelly early in his criminal career to protect his family, and then became known as "Machine Gun Kelly," a name some say his wife made up to boost his image in the underworld.

His wife, Kathryn, is said to have bought Kelly his first machine gun and to have collected spent shells from his practice shooting to give away as souvenirs.

"He's been on the front page so much that he finally believes he's tough," a federal agent said during the search for Kelly after he kidnapped oilman Charles Urschel from his Oklahoma City home July 22, 1933, by two armed men.

Urschel was freed after a ransom was paid and gave such a good description of the Texas ranch where he had been held that lawmen were able to find it. It was owned by Kathryn's mother and stepfather, R. G. "Boss" Shannon and Mrs. Ora Shannon.

Born in Tennessee, Kelly's first brush with the law was while he was still in high school when he was arrested in a bootlegging investigation.

He later served a couple of prison terms for Prohibition law violations.

A 1933 Tulsa World story published while Kelly was being sought for the Urschel kidnapping said Kelly, while living here for five years, worked for bootlegger R. L. "Little Steve" Stephens, identified as the city's leading bootlegger.

Tulsa businessmen who bought illicit liquor from the affable Kelly joked with him about the risks he took by selling liquor from his briefcase.

Kelly's sleek black hair and pleasant personality also endeared him to Little Steve's wife, Kathryn.

"One day Steve returned home to find that Kelly had taken his wife, expensive automobile and pedigreed bulldog and left Tulsa," the World story reported. Stephens told a World reporter "I don't mind the dirty so-and-so taking my wife and my car but I wish he had left that dog."

Kathryn was identified in subsequent news stories as Kelly's wife although there was no mention of a divorce from Stephens or of a wedding to Kelly.

While Kelly and his wife were being sought nationwide, they sent threatening letters to Urschel and to the U.S. district attorney in Oklahoma City who was to prosecute him.

Kelly also was suspected of being the machine gunner who killed four officers and a fugitive in their custody in the Kansas City train station, but he later denied that crime while admitting the Urschel kidnapping.

There are several versions of Kelly's arrest in Memphis, Tenn., on Sept. 25, 1933, and many, including one on the FBI's Internet site, give him credit for adding the term "G-men" to America's vocabulary. According to those versions, Kelly shouted "Don't shoot, G-men; don't shoot" as heavily armed FBI agents made the arrest.

But the Sept. 26, 1933, Tulsa World story about the arrest reported that Kelly was arrested by Memphis Police Sgt. Bill Raney after he knocked on the door of the house where Kelly and Kathryn were staying.

Kelly answered the knock with a .45-caliber pistol in his hand, but Raney had a shotgun that he stuck in Kelly's chest as he ordered, "Drop that gun, Kelly," and Kelly's gun clattered to the floor, according to the World story that day.

Kelly later claimed that he was unarmed, having left his pistol in the bathroom before going to the door.

Some sources also point out that FBI agents were not allowed to carry weapons until nearly nine months later.

The Kellys were returned to Oklahoma City, where they were convicted Oct. 12, 1933, of kidnapping Urschel and sentenced to life in prison. Seven defendants also were convicted in the Urschel kidnapping and sent to prison.

Kelly at first was imprisoned at the federal prison in Leavenworth, Kan., but later became one of the first prisoners to be housed in the new Alcatraz federal prison on an island near San Francisco.

Kelly was transferred back to Leavenworth in 1951 and died of a heart attack July 18, 1954 -- his 59th birthday.

Kathryn was released from prison in 1958 and was said to be living somewhere in Oklahoma several years ago.

Photograph research by Rachele Vaughan.

Like this column? Read all the columns in the Only in Oklahoma series from the Tulsa World Archive.
The Cherokee Nations 10th Cherokee Warrior Flight departed Monday for Washington, D.C., with eight veterans  including one from Sand Springs  who served during the Vietnam War.

The Cherokee Nation funds the flight for Cherokee veterans to see the national war memorials erected in their honor at the nations capital.

This trip is one small way for us to say thank you to our Cherokee veterans. Im proud to say that Cherokees serve in the U.S. military at greater rates per-capita than any other ethnicities, Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said.

The courage, commitment, accountability and integrity that these veterans showed through their service is something we could never fully pay back, but we will continue to honor them in ways that we can, and this trip is just one of those few ways.

Air Force veteran James LeRoy Locut, 83, of Sand Springs, joined other Oklahoma veterans, including Dru Ella Pratt, 88, Navy, of Claremore; Charles Eugene Tritthart, 77, Army, of Edmond; Jeffrey Simpson, 81, Army, of Stilwell; Larry Junior Parker, 72, Army, of Chelsea.

Those from out of state included: William Adams Jr., 68, Army, of Lowry City, Missouri; Johnnie P. Walker, 78, Air Force, of Bartonville, Illinois; and Jimmy Cochran, 74, Army, of Houston, Texas.

On Monday, a luncheon was held at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa to present the warriors with vests and caps ahead of their flight to Washington, D.C.

During the four-day trip, Cherokee Warriors will tour the World War II Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial Vietnam Wall Memorial, and a number of other sites.

Veterans will return to Tulsa International Airport on Thursday, March 28.
Maurizio Pollini, a world-renowned, Grammy-winning Italian pianist and frequent performer at the prestigious La Scala theatre in Milan, has died at age 82. The news was first announced by the opera house last Saturday, March 23, but a cause of death was not shared.

However, Pollini had been suffering from heart problems, with symptoms most pronounced in 2022 as the complications forced him to cancel a concert slated for that year at the Salzburg Festival in Germany.

Maurizio Pollini's Expansive Six-Decade-Long Career as a Pianist

Pollini was born in Milan in 1942 to a man named Gino, who was also renowned in his own right as one of Italy's most celebrated modernist architects at the time. The pianist himself started fiddling with the keys as a young boy and eventually won prestigious competitions all around Europe.

Since he grew up in a family whose principal outlook was modernism, Pollini would go on to champion the experimental works of 20th-century composers like Pierre Boulez and Stockhausen.

By the 1960s and '70s, the pianist broke out into international renown as one of the leading interpreters of music by legendary masters Beethoven and Chopin. In terms of his approach to music, Pollini was always experimenting and trying out new innovative ways to play the classics of the canon.

During the last four decades of his endeavor to record works made by these two composers, he eventually produced what is regarded as some of the most definitive performances of the masters' pieces.

In the latter part of his life, Pollini once again found himself knee-deep in the piano sonatas of Beethoven, which culminated in his momentous 2019 performance of the German's final sonata in Munich.

As can be heard below, Pollini fully captures the full breadth of artistry that Beethoven possessed and projected through his "Piano Sonata in C minor, op. 111" arietta, which is symbolically the German composer's last "breath" as a musician.

In 2007, Pollini was given the Best Instrumental Soloist Grammy Award for his performances of several of Chopin's Nocturnes, and by 2012, the pianist was inducted into the Gramophone Hall of Fame.

Pollini was an incredible musician who understood the classical canon's masterpieces beyond their sonic quality and his artistry that rivaled the composers themselves will forever be missed.

Read Also: Julianna Margulies and Peter Gallagher to Make Broadway Return in Stage Adaptation of Delia Ephron's 'Left on Tenth'

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Curtis Killman Tulsa World Staff Writer Follow Curtis Killman Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

A woman pleaded guilty Tuesday in Tulsa federal court to tax evasion and bank fraud linked to the embezzlement of nearly $300,000 from a now-closed Bartlesville domestic violence shelter.

Deanna Rachel Long, 59, admitted that she participated in a scheme whereby she authorized payments totaling $278,257 to herself from a bank account of Family Crisis and Counseling Center, where she worked as a bookkeeper.

The illegal payments, prosecutors claimed, allowed Long to live beyond her means and to fund her gambling addiction.

Specifically, using my managerial position at FCCC, I knowingly caused checks to be written from the FCCCs operating account to myself in amounts exceeding my authorized salary, Long wrote in her plea agreement. Once deposited, I used the unlawfully obtained funds for various unauthorized personal expenditures, including gambling.

A state multicounty grand jury originally named Long in an indictment made public in May 2019.

State prosecutors dropped the charges against Long in July 2019 to clear the way for a federal prosecution, according to court records.

The U.S. Attorneys Office in Tulsa charged Long in a two-count information dated Feb. 15.

In pleading guilty, Long also agreed to pay restitution to both the Internal Revenue Service and FCCC, according to court records.

Long agreed to pay the IRS $96,622 in restitution for the years 2014 to 2022. Long also agreed to repay the funds she took from FCCC, according to court records.

Hired in about 2012, Long dealt with many aspects of the Family Crisis and Counseling Centers accounting and finance functions, including handling the financial books and records, paying bills and preparing checks for legitimate business purposes, according to prosecutors.

The sexual assault and domestic violence shelter, founded in 1982, relied on state contracts, state grants and donations before its sudden closure in December 2018, according to Tulsa World archives.

The Oklahoma Attorney Generals Office served as a major funding source for the shelter.

Long will be sentenced at a later date.

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Curtis Killman Tulsa World Staff Writer Follow Curtis Killman Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

A former OU regent and Claremore businessman was sentenced to prison in Tulsa federal court Monday after pleading guilty earlier to tax evasion linked to an embezzlement scheme at his former job.

Phillip Barry Albert will serve 2 years behind bars followed by one year of post-custody supervision.

Albert had requested probation, while prosecutors had sought a three-year prison term.

Albert, 64, pleaded guilty March 10, 2023, to one count of tax evasion as part of an agreement with prosecutors. The agreement includes a provision that requires Albert to repay $2.6 million to Pelco Structural LLC, the Claremore business where he was a former president, in addition to repaying the Internal Revenue Service $1,000,232 in back taxes on the ill-gotten funds.

Prior to being sentenced, Albert told U.S. District Judge Terence Kern that he took full responsibility for his actions and would be spending the rest of my life making amends to the people that I hurt.

U.S. Attorney Clint Johnsons office charged Albert with one count of tax evasion on Jan. 23, 2023, in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma.

Albert admitted in his plea that between sometime in 2014 and May 2021 he coordinated with a third party to have company checks sent to his personal bank account in a manner so that it would not appear on a W-2 tax form or cause him to owe taxes.

Albert faced a prison term ranging from 24 months to 30 months in prison, according to federal sentencing guidelines, a judge at Alberts plea hearing said.

Albert asked through his attorney that Kern vary downward from sentencing guidelines and order Albert to serve a period of probation or a term of probation with home confinement.

He cited complex and progressive medical conditions for the probation request, which include Parkinsons disease, Type II diabetes, cardiac disease and neuropathy, among other issues.

Paul DeMuro, one of Alberts attorneys, told Kern that the core issue was Alberts health.

DeMuro said the government had not countered a filing made on behalf of Albert that cast doubt on the Federal Bureau of Prisons ability to care for Alberts medical needs.

DeMuro said the court filing, which quoted a retired Bureau of Prisons physician, stated that Alberts medical conditions would deteriorate more rapidly if he were sentenced to prison versus sentenced to home confinement.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, had sought a three-year prison term followed by post-custody supervision, calling Alberts actions more egregious than the average tax offense resulting in a $1 million tax loss to the IRS, because of his extensive fraud while serving as the president of Pelco Structural.

A stiff sentence is needed in this case to deter similar wrongdoing by would-be tax cheats in the future, prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Duncombe countered that Alberts health was not the core issue but rather that prison time was needed for general deterrence.

This was not one mistake in an otherwise blameless life, Duncombe said. Rather, Albert participated in a series of conscious choices over a number of years.

As noted, this fraud included paying himself phony reimbursements and structuring the payments so they would come to him tax-free, making illicit purchases with the company credit card and then covering up the illicit purchases with accounting gimmicks and materially misrepresenting the companys financial well-being to his bosses at Pelcos parent company, Pelco Products, the government said in a sentencing memo.

Should the Bureau of Prisons prove not able to treat Albert while in prison, he could seek a release under compassionate release statutes, Duncombe said.

Pelco, meanwhile, claims that its losses due to Alberts actions total more than $10 million, excluding the loss of business opportunities because of the stain Alberts conduct has left on the company, according to a government filing.

Steve Parduhn, co-owner of Pelco Structural LLC, told Kern that Alberts theft of funds has severely injured both his family and the business.

This is not a victimless crime, Parduhn said while asking for the maximum prison term.

Kern ordered Albert to report to a federal prison in Missouri by May 8 to begin serving his sentence.

A federal tax-evasion conviction carries no minimum prison term, a statutory maximum prison term of five years and a fine of not more than $100,000.

Albert was a member of the Board of Regents at the University of Oklahoma from 2016 until he resigned in January 2022.

He is the second former Pelco Structural employee to be found guilty in federal court in the past year.

In February, a judge sentenced former Pelco Structural controller Donald Eagleton Jr. to serve three years probation with the first six months under home confinement after admitting that he failed to notify law enforcement of Alberts scheme.

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Tim Stanley Tulsa World Staff Writer Follow Tim Stanley Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

A group trying to rally support against state leaders efforts to limit the teaching of race and gender in schools says the time is long overdue for those directly affected to have a chance to share their stories of personal impact.

Freedom 2 Learn, described as a coalition of educators, parents, students and advocates, hosted a community conversation Monday evening that members hope will serve to break the ice and become the catalyst for a bigger discussion.

The event, held at the Greenwood Cultural Center, is part of the coalitions larger effort to push back against recent Oklahoma laws such as House Bill 1775, which it argues are too restrictive and violate students rights.

Coalition leaders, who are calling for federal intervention, say laws like that one, together with ongoing threats from state leaders against public school districts, are hindering educational opportunities for students statewide while creating a hostile environment for minority groups.

With the escalating polices out of our state government, its pushed us to realize that we need to band together. Theres power in being together, Ashley Daley, a coalition leader and parent of a Tulsa Public Schools second-grader, said at the Monday event.

These conversations have been happening in back rooms or on coffee breaks. So its exciting to just start talking about things that we feel like were not safe to talk about.

Ana Barros, a coalition leader who teaches seventh grade at Tulsa School of Arts and Sciences, said: Ive seen the role (House Bill 1775) has played in my teaching, my students ability to learn, their ability to feel safe at school and my ability to feel safe at school.

Its time for us to come together and actually talk about these things. The intention for tonight is to start to build community, to be able to share whats on your heart and through that to start a conversation.

The event drew an attendance of more than 50. The attendees sat in groups at round tables, where they were encouraged to share.

One of them, Salvador Segovia Jr., is a Spanish interpreter who provides language services to public schools.

People are scared, he said. They are not comfortable speaking. They feel like they are being silenced. When teachers feel like that, thats a problem.

But bringing each other together  thats empowering. Theyre finally speaking out about injustice, the things that theyre not able to speak in schools. Im pretty excited about whats to come.

House Bill 1775, which has been challenged by the ACLU in a federal lawsuit, was adopted in 2021 and bans teaching that one race or gender is inherently superior. It also prohibits causing a student to feel guilty or uncomfortable because of their race or gender, as well as teaching that anyone is inherently racist or sexist, whether consciously or otherwise.

Both Tulsa Public Schools and Mustang had their accreditations downgraded in 2022 over violation allegations.

The coalition has organized a petition calling for a federal investigation, arguing that the law violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as well as the U.S. Constitutions 1st and 14th amendments.

Attendees on Monday had the opportunity to sign the online petition.

Although House Bill 1775 does not include the phrase critical race theory, many have construed its provisions as a ban on the concept.

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For many Oklahomans, including Department of Transportation Secretary Tim Gatz, Tuesdays news of a bridge collapse in Baltimore brought back sickening memories of a similar tragedy in 2002.

On May 26 of that year, barges being towed along the Arkansas River drifted into a pier supporting a bridge on Interstate 40 in Oklahoma. A portion of the bridge plunged into the river, taking with it eight passenger vehicles, a horse trailer and three tractor-trailer rigs. Fourteen people died, and 11 more were hurt.

Gatz recalled the tragedy and spoke about the latest accident in Baltimore on Tuesday when he met with lawmakers on the Senate Aeronautics and Transportation Committee. He said that while concerns remain about the design, age and condition of some bridges in Oklahoma, bridges systemwide are in vastly better shape now than they were in 2002.

The ODOT director opened his comments by calling for the support of people affected by Tuesdays collapse of the nearly half-century-old Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, a truss bridge Gatz described as fracture critical because it lacked structural redundancy in its design.

Such bridges used to be common in Oklahoma, he said.

Twenty years or so ago we had a couple of hundred of those truss bridges on the highway system, Gatz said. With the support of the Legislature and our focus on bridge infrastructure, weve replaced many. (Now) we have nine left. All of them are in the eight-year construction work plan scheduled for replacement. Several of them are under construction as we speak.

The collapsed I-40 bridge, which was repaired and reopened later in 2002, is also among structures currently scheduled for reconstruction.

Gatz was asked specifically about potential vulnerabilities of bridges along commercially trafficked waterways.

When it comes to navigation structures, Oklahoma has 16 that we would call navigation bridges, he said. Those are over the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas Navigation System.

Several are scheduled for replacement, Gatz said. A major project to replace both eastbound and westbound bridges over the Arkansas River on U.S. 62 in Muskogee is underway. A bridge on Oklahoma 100, which crosses the river between Gore and Webbers Falls, is on the ODOT schedule.

Gatz noted that after the Arkansas River bridge disaster in 2002, the Transportation Department conducted a comprehensive risk assessment of structures traversing bodies of water and eventually equipped many with extra pier protections.

He said Oklahoma currently ranks among the top 10 states for the condition of its bridges.

But that doesnt mean theres not a lot of work left to do, Gatz said: Forty-nine bridges in the state highway system are currently classified as structurally deficient, subject to close monitoring and imminent replacement.

About 1,100 bridges on the highway system are potentially one inspection cycle away from being structurally deficient, he said, so we monitor them very closely. Many of those bridges are also in the eight-year work plan.

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OKLAHOMA CITY  The secretary of state on Monday set and then canceled a start date for the collection of signatures on an initiative petition that could set the stage for a vote on whether to raise the minimum wage in Oklahoma.

According to a notice filed on the website of Secretary of State Josh Cockroft, advocates would have had from April 8 until July 6 to try to collect 92,262 signatures of registered voters. If they succeeded, and barring legal challenges, a statewide vote would then have been scheduled on State Question 832 to decide whether the minimum wage should be bumped to well above the current $7.25 an hour.

That odd number of signatures required to warrant a referendum represents 8% of the number of votes cast in the last gubernatorial election. Its the percentage required by law to justify a vote on a state question proposing a change in law but not a constitutional amendment.

Later in the day, Cockroft notified petition organizers that he was canceling the signature collection dates until a legal challenge can be resolved.

Amber England, a representative of the advocacy organization Raise the Wage Oklahoma, said in a statement Monday afternoon that an attorney for the State Chamber of Oklahoma filed a petition Monday morning for a rehearing of a previous legal challenge heard by the Oklahoma Supreme Court.

Unfortunately, the corporate monied interests behind the State Chamber have thrown a hail Mary pass at the last minute to once again try to delay this effort, England said.

She said Raise the Wage Oklahoma will ask the court to clarify as soon as possible the date to begin collecting signatures.

Were eager to get to work on behalf of the nearly 350,000 Oklahoma workers who will see an increase in their paycheck once this passes at the ballot box, England said.

If voters were to answer yes to SQ 832, Oklahomas minimum wage would be decoupled from the federal minimum wage and state employers would have to pay employees at least $9 per hour beginning in 2025.

The minimum wage would increase to $10.50 beginning in 2026, then to $12 per hour in 2027. It would increase to $13.50 in 2028 and to $15 per hour beginning in 2029.

Thereafter, further increases to the states minimum wage would be linked to the cost of living as measured by the U.S. Department of Labors Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers.

Opponents of the question, including the State Chamber of Oklahoma, have asserted that setting a new schedule and formula for determining the minimum wage would amount to an unnecessary solution in search of a problem that doesnt exist in Oklahoma.

Chamber President Chad Warmington has said the market rate for hourly jobs in the Sooner State is already significantly above $7.25. The chamber and the Oklahoma Farm Bureau also have asserted that a mandate to more than double the minimum wage over a span of five years would kill jobs, especially in smaller businesses in rural parts of the state.

Raise the Wage Oklahoma has countered that Oklahoma currently ranks 47th in the nation for wages and that at least 170,000 working Oklahomans make less than $11 an hour.

England previously told the Tulsa World that she expects a robust signature collection effort in all 77 counties of the state.

Oklahoma is one of 20 states that currently maintain the minimum wage at the federally mandated $7.25 an hour.

The new Tulsa World app offers personalized features. Download it today.
The Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HoSE) and Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) on Monday announced separate decisions to temporarily suspend connections with local stock brokerage VNDirect as the company said it had been under cyberattack since Sunday.

The suspension will last until VNDirect completes handling the incident.

The move is aimed at ensuring safety for all transactions on the bourses, HoSE and HNX said.

Transactions via other stock companies will be conducted as normal.

VNDirect said on Monday that its system had been attacked by an international organization since 10:00 am on Sunday, causing its website to be inaccessible.

As of Tuesday morning, VNDirects website remained inaccessible. The company made an announcement saying that its system is in the process of repair and re-connection.

The company affirmed that the information and assets of its customers are safe and not affected by the cyberattack. The incident affects only customers transactions.

The company did not set a specific time for its operation resumption.

We are resuming the system, but it takes more time than expected due to the huge amount of data," VNDirect informed.

We will try our best to resume transactions at the earliest possible time.

A VNDirect representative said the company was working with its partners, which are Vietnams leading tech groups, and local cybersecurity and hi-tech crime prevention police officers to deal with the incident.

VNDirect was the third-largest stock brokerage company on HoSE last year with 7.01 percent of the total accounts on the bourse, only behind SSI Securities Corp and VPS Securities.

In other words, a large number of investors were conducting share trading transactions via the company.

Companies associated with VNDirect, including People Trust Insurance, investment firm IPA and stock investment fund IPAAM, face the same fate, news site VnExpress reported.

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There are ample investment opportunities for Dutch companies in Vietnam as the Southeast Asian country is appealing thanks to its growing economy and strategic geographical position in the region, according to Dutch Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management Mark Harbers.

In an exclusive interview with Tuoi Tre News last week, Harbers shared his thoughts on the cooperation between the two countries on environmental issues, such as water management, sand mining, and the 'nature-based solution' model.

The interview was conducted on the sidelines of the Vietnam visit by the Dutch economic mission, consisting of 140 business entrepreneurs, from March 18 to 22, led by Harbers, Minister at the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality Christianne van der Wal and President of the Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers Ingrid Thijssen.

I've heard from friends in the Netherlands about Vietnam, but I'm really amazed at what I saw this week, Harbers told Tuoi Tre News.

Last year, we celebrated 50 years of friendship between Vietnam and the Netherlands.

"And in this week, every day I saw what 50 years of friendship means.

"That is all the fruits of 50 years of partnership between Vietnam and the Netherlands.

A big economic mission from the Netherlands is visiting Vietnam. What would this visit tell about our cooperation both in economic and political aspects? What would be the Netherlands top investment opportunities in Vietnam, especially when it comes to infrastructural and environmental issues?

What you see is that investment opportunities are divided. There are investment opportunities not only for Dutch companies in Vietnam but also for Vietnamese companies to cooperate with the Dutch companies. And after four days in Vietnam, I can easily tell we share the same challenges and we have the same opportunities.

We share the same concerns when it comes to water management, as we are low-lying delta countries. So when climate changes, we are both very vulnerable, for instance, to the rising of the sea level.

However, we both have a strong will to overcome these challenges and to come up with the best solutions. That's where our companies and knowledge institutions start partnering together, be it universities or companies in Vietnam and the Netherlands.

Companies from both countries can bring something and take something. That's a 50-50 division. So that's really strong cooperation.

Vietnam is interesting for the Netherlands because of its strongly growing economy and strategic geographical position in Asia.

The Netherlands, I think, is interesting for Vietnam because we are the largest export destination for Vietnam in Europe, and also its second-largest trading partner in the European Union.

You have attended a series of meetings during the trip so far. How do you assess the results of these meetings?

It was a big success. This week, new contracts and new memoranda of understanding have been signed. And the new contacts that have been established this week will be used in cooperation in the forthcoming years.

From the view of the Netherlands, I think it's almost a record number of new documents and new contracts that have been signed and that's proof of the good relationship between Vietnam and the Netherlands. And part of that, it's also new opportunities being explored.

For instance, here in Ho Chi Minh City, a new partnership is established with the city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. It's my hometown. It's the biggest port in Europe, a gateway to the continent. But when climate changes, it's also vulnerable to flooding. So there's a new partnership between Rotterdam and Ho Chi Minh City on water management and on the combination of technical and nature-based solutions to make the cities more resilient.

Also, we can learn from the developments here because we were not used to drought. But in recent years, four of our last six summers have shown drought in the Netherlands. And that's where we can learn from countries such as Vietnam. So it works both ways.

The Netherlands is widely considered a global leader on sustainable development and water management, and also the founder of nature-based solutions. What exactly is a nature-based solution model, and what is the best way to understand nature-based development models?

Nature-based solutions are those that work with nature instead of against nature. Because sometimes nature is so powerful, it can help us, for instance, to prevent floods or to deal with an enormous amount of water.

Back in the Netherlands, for instance, we have sandy dunes to protect us from the sea, along the coast. And we invented the way of having nature to supply the coast with sand. We just put one part of sand in the sea, and because of the currents, that would change, there is more sand being transported to the coastline. So we don't have to have manpower to bring the sand to the coast to have a stronger coastline.

Here in Vietnam, I think it is a very good example: the cooperation between the Vietnamese Thuy Loi University and the Dutch Delft University of Technology. Based on their data, they found that the mangrove forests protect better against flooding.

Therefore, these universities are researching under which circumstances mangroves will grow best. In this way, they can enlarge the amount of mangrove forest in the Mekong Delta, which will lead to more water security. I think that is the perfect example of a nature-based solution. Mangroves are nature but you have to find out how to use them best.

And the Room for the River program in the Netherlands, I think, is a very excellent example of working with nature instead of controlling nature or working against it.

In your opinion, what is the toughest challenge for Vietnam and the Mekong Delta in terms of water management?

Actually the Netherlands and Vietnam are very much alike concerning the challenges we face when it comes to water. We have to confront common issues such as sea level rise and the availability of drinking water, especially when more and more people go to live in cities.

Salination, subsidence, prolonged droughts, and increasingly severe rainfall  many of these issues are caused by climate change.

That's also why we are cooperating on several levels to tackle these problems, especially for water management. We have had a special partnership between Vietnam and the Netherlands for 14 years now. I already look forward to next year when we celebrate 15 years of the special partnership.

The primary challenges lie in addressing floods, extreme rainfall, rising sea levels, and ensuring water reserves for periods of drought.

We require high-quality water for producing drinking water and supplying households, as well as for various sectors like the food industry.

So we have to handle the same issues, and no country can do this on their own. We always need each other to have the best exchange of expertise and knowledge. There are so many knowledge institutions and so many companies that have all the expertise available to help us out.

A total of 140 representatives from businesses and organizations from the Netherlands participated in the Vietnam  Netherlands Mekong Delta Business Forum & Exhibition 2024 in Ho Chi Minh City on March 21. The forum was part of the activities of the Dutch economic and trade delegation to Vietnam. At the forum, businesses from both countries signed 18 agreements in various fields, with the primary aim of promoting green growth and sustainable development. These fields include sustainable agricultural value chains, organic shrimp farming, sustainable rice cultivation, alternative sweeteners to sugar, and sustainable food supply chains. In recent years, Vietnam and the Netherlands have had extensive cooperation in the Mekong Delta region. The delta planning for the 2021-30 period, with a vision to 2050, has received significant support from the Netherlands.

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Global bank messaging network SWIFT is planning a new platform in the next one to two years to connect the wave of central bank digital currencies now in development to the existing finance system, it has told Reuters.

The move, which would be one of the most significant yet for the nascent CBDC ecosystem given SWIFT's key role in global banking, is likely to be fine-tuned to when the first major ones are launched.

Around 90% of the world's central banks are now exploring digital versions of their currencies. Most don't want to be left behind by bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, but are grappling with technological complexities.

SWIFT's head of innovation, Nick Kerigan, said its latest trial, which took 6 months and involved a 38-member group of central banks, commercial banks and settlement platforms, had been one of the largest global collaborations on CBDCs and "tokenised" assets to date.

It focused on ensuring different countries' CBDCs can all be used together even if built on different underlying technologies, or "protocols", thereby reducing payment system fragmentation risks.

It also showed they could be used in highly complex trade or foreign exchange payments and potentially be automated so to both speed up and lower the costs of the processes.

Kerigan said the results, which had also proven banks could use their existing infrastructure, had been widely regarded as a success by those who took part and given SWIFT a timeline to work to.

"We are looking at a roadmap to productize (launch as a product) in the next 12-24 months," Kerigan said in an interview. "It's moving out of experimental stage towards something that is becoming a reality."

Although the timeframe could still shift if major economy CBDC launches get delayed, getting out the blocks for when they do would be a major boost for maintaining SWIFT's incumbent dominance in the bank-to-bank plumbing network.

Countries such as the Bahamas, Nigeria and Jamaica already have CBDCs up and running. China is well advanced with real-life trials of an e-yuan. The European Central Bank has digital euro one underway too, while the Bank for International Settlements, the global central bank umbrella group, is running multiple cross-border trials.

SWIFT's main advantage though is that its existing network is already usable in over 200 countries and connects more than 11,500 banks and funds who use it to send trillions of dollars every day.

Scalable option

The firm has gone from being virtually unknown outside banking circles to a household name since 2022 when it cut most of Russia's banks off from its network as part of the West's sanctions for the attack of Ukraine.

Kerigan said that kind of move could still happen in a new CBDC system, but doubted whether it would stop countries from joining one.

Its latest trial involved central banks from Germany, France, Australia, Singapore, Czech Republic and Thailand as well as a number that requested to remain anonymous.

A raft of heavyweight commercial banks including HSBC, Citibank, Deutsche Bank, Societe Generale, Standard Chartered and the CLS FX settlement platform all took part too, as did at least two banks from China.

The idea is that once the interlink solution is scaled-up, banks would have one main global connection point able to handle digital asset payments, rather than thousands if they were to set up an individual one with every counterparty.

As well as the advance towards CBDCs, Kerigan pointed to a forecast from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) that by 2030 around $16 trillion worth of assets could be "tokenised" - a process where assets like stocks and bonds are transformed into digital chips that can then be issued and traded in real-time.

"If we can plug in any number of networks (into the SWIFT system) it becomes a much more scalable option for the industry," he said.
Catch up on the news in Vietnam today:

Society

-- The Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security attaches great importance to cooperation and exchange activities with research institutes and centers of Harvard University, Minister To Lam said during a reception for Professor Thomas J. Vallely, senior advisor for mainland Southeast Asia at Harvard Kennedy School, in Hanoi on Monday.

-- Vietnamese army engineers have repaired a road in the center of Africa's Abyei despite temperatures of over 40 degrees Celsius and sandstorms to facilitate locals travel as the rainy season is coming.

-- The administration in Son Tra District, Da Nang City, central Vietnam will cease the operation of a night market near the iconic Dragon Bridge in July this year. The district is seeking another location for the night market, said a local official.

-- Vietnams Acting State President Vo Thi Anh Xuan received delegates from the Vietnam Young Entrepreneurs Association in Hanoi on Monday in celebration of the 93rd establishment anniversary of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union (March 26, 1931 - March 26, 2024).

-- South Korea will always pay attention to and provide continuous support for the healthcare sector of Vietnam, Speaker of the South Korean National Assembly (NA) Kim Jin Pyo pledged in a video sent to the Hue Central Hospital in Thua Thien-Hue Province, central Vietnam on the occasion of a South Korean NA visit to the hospital on Monday.

-- Many Russian and Vietnamese people in Da Nang on Monday laid bouquets of flowers outside the Russian Consulate General in the city to commemorate victims of a terrorist attack on a concert hall in the Crocus City Hall near Moscow on Friday last week (local time). Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha and many high-ranking Vietnamese officials wrote in the condolence book for the victims at the Russian Embassy in Hanoi, while Ho Chi Minh City officials did the job at the Russian Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City on the same day. The attack left at least 137 people dead and 182 injured.

Business

-- The Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange on Monday announced the temporary suspension of connection with local stock brokerage VNDirect as the company said it had been under cyberattack since Sunday.

-- Binh Dinh Province in south-central Vietnam will hold an investment promotion conference on Friday this week, with the participation of some 1,000 delegates, including leading billionaires.

World News

-- 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, according to Reuters.

-- The United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution on Monday demanding an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas after the United States abstained from the vote, sparking a spat with its ally Israel, Reuters reported.

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Nguyen Ngoc Thuy, board chairman and general director of Egroup and Egame Investment and Distribution JSC, has been arrested for his alleged involvement in asset misappropriation fraud.

Thuy, alias Shark Thuy, is also board chairman of Egroups Apax Holdings JSC, the owner of the APAX Leaders English language center chain.

Dang Van Hien, head of Egames investor relations department, was also detained on the same charge.

Investigators of the Ministry of Public Security made the arrests on Monday evening, Lieutenant General To An Xo, spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Security, announced on Tuesday.

Lieutenant General To An Xo, spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Security, announces the arrest of Nguyen Ngoc Thuy, alias Shark Thuy, March 26, 2024. Photo: Nguyen Khanh / Tuoi Tre

Shark Thuy previously made his name on the investment reality show Shark Tank Vietnam.

Last year, many people accused Shark Thuy of misappropriating trillions of Vietnamese dong.

Lots of parents complained that the chain received tuition fees for long-term courses but then a host of APAX Leaders centers were closed without advanced notice or switched to online courses.

Many parents in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang City, and Dak Lak Province in the Central Highlands said that the centers also failed to provide educational services of good quality as they previously guaranteed, so the parents demanded tuition refunds.

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, the Apax Leaders English language center systems unpaid tuition refunds to parents in Ho Chi Minh City total around VND93.8 billion (US$3.8 million).

The chain, in a report sent to the department on February 26, proposed extending the closure of two centers until June this year, offering online classes to students of these two centers, shutting down 26 venues, and relocating 13 others.

Nguyen Ngoc Thuy, alias Shark Thuy, is seen at a police agency. Photo: Supplied

Dang Van Hien, head of the investor relations department at Egame Investment and Distribution JSC. Photo: Supplied

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South Korea will always pay attention to and provide continuous support for Vietnams healthcare sector, Speaker of the South Korean National Assembly (NA) Kim Jin Pyo pledged in a video sent to the Hue Central Hospital in Thua Thien-Hue Province, central Vietnam on the occasion of a South Korean NA delegations visit to the hospital on Monday.

The South Korean NA delegation, led by deputy Choi Younsuk, visited the second campus of the hospital funded by South Korea.

Choi said she and the South Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare and government were impressed by the hospitals achievements.

The second campus of the Hue Central Hospital has become a large medical facility in Thua Thien-Hue Province and the central region as a whole.

Leaders in Thua Thien-Hue Province pose for a photo with the South Korean National Assembly delegation at the second campus of the Hue Central Hospital. Photo: Nhat Linh / Tuoi Tre

The establishment has 500 beds and offers modern medical techniques.

Professor Dr. Pham Nhu Hiep, director of the Hue Central Hospital, said its second campus has been overloaded.

Therefore, it will be expanded this year.

Hiep expected the South Korean government to continue accompanying and supporting the hospital in training high-quality medical workers and providing medical equipment and supplies to help the hospital meet international standards.

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The Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper hotline recently received many complaints from readers about uneven manhole covers on multiple streets of Ho Chi Minh City being a nuisance to vehicle users.

There are reports of routes where manhole covers are significantly raised or lowered by more than four to five centimeters compared to the road surface.

This issue is particularly noticeable on streets like Vo Van Ngan, Kha Van Can, and Do Xuan Hop in Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City.

Similarly, instances of this issue have been observed on streets such as Hoang Van Thu and Phan Dang Luu in Phu Nhuan District, Phan Van Tri Street in Go Vap District, Nguyen Van Dau Street in Binh Thanh District, and several others within Ho Chi Minh City.

Tran Minh Phuong, a 52-year-old resident of Thu Duc City who sells drinks on Vo Van Ngan Street, said that this road had many uneven manhole covers that traffic participants had to go out of their way to avoid.

A motorcycle runs over two visibly protruding manhole covers on Kha Van Can Street in Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Ngoc Nhi / Tuoi Tre

Although this road is regularly maintained, the protruding manhole covers remain, leaving rush-hour vehicles that are unable to avoid them in time at risk of crashing into others, said Phuong.

In the event of rain and flooding, these uneven drain and manhole covers become even more hazardous, causing people to slip and fall from being unable to see where these covers are to dodge them.

Vu Van Diep, chairman of Ho Chi Minh City Infrastructure Management Center, shared that in principle, when constructing water supply and drainage works, manhole covers must be level with the road surface.

However, construction units might have overlooked this requirement during road repairs or upgrades, resulting in the uneven installation of manhole covers. In the event of encountering uneven manhole covers, people are encouraged to call 1022 to report the issue.

The Ho Chi Minh City Infrastructure Management Center will promptly address the situation to ensure safety and convenience for everyone.

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Many Russian and Vietnamese people in Da Nang, central Vietnam on Monday laid bouquets of flowers outside the Russian Consulate General in the city to commemorate the victims of a terrorist attack during a concert in the Crocus City Hall near Moscow on Friday last week (local time).

The attack left at least 137 people dead and 182 injured.

The consulate general arranged a table, flowers, a condolence book, and candles so that Russian citizens and Vietnamese people in Da Nang could extend condolences.

Thanh Thuy, a Da Nang resident, wrote in the condolence book that [she] would like to extend [her] deepest condolences to the families of the victims and express her heartfelt wishes for peace for all mankind."

The activities to commemorate the victims of the terrorist attack will continue throughout their state funeral in Russia.

Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha writes in the condolence book for the victims of the terrorist attack in Russia at the Russian Embassy in Hanoi on March 25, 2024. Photo: Danh Khang / Tuoi Tre

Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha and many high-ranking Vietnamese officials wrote in the condolence book for the victims at the Russian Embassy in Hanoi, while local officials did the same at the Russian Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City on the same day.

We were extremely shocked upon receiving the news about the terrorist attack on March 22, 2024 that claimed the lives of many innocent people in the Crocus City Hall near Moscow, Russia, Deputy PM Ha wrote.

He sent the deepest condolences and sympathies to the Russian government and people, as well as the victims' families.

He added that Vietnam strongly condemns terrorism in all forms and believes that the perpetrators will be strictly punished.

We hope the families of the victims will overcome the pain soon, the injured recover quickly, and Russia and its people will be safe and progress, Ha wrote.

Chairman of the Peoples Committee of Ho Chi Minh City Phan Van Mai writes in the condolence book for the victims of the terrorist attack in Russia at the Russian Consulate General in the city on March 25, 2024. Photo: Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu and Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism Ta Quang Dong also wrote in the condolence book at the embassy the same day.

Representatives of Vietnam-Russia friendship organizations, enterprises, and hundreds of Vietnamese people have placed flowers and extended their condolences at the embassy.

Vietnam's Acting State President Vo Thi Anh Xuan, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son had earlier sent their separate condolences to their Russian counterparts.

A Hanoi woman lays a bouquet of flowers with a ribbon having colors of the Russian flag in front of the Russian Embassy in Hanoi. Photo: Danh Khang / Tuoi Tre

The terrorist attack in the Crocus City Hall is the deadliest inside Russia for two decades, according to Reuters.

The Islamic State said it was responsible for the attack and has released what it says is footage from the massacre.

Eleven people have been detained, including the four suspected gunmen.

Flower wreaths, flower bouquets, and candles sent by Vietnamese officials and people to the Russian Embassy in Hanoi. Photo: Danh Khang / Tuoi Tre

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The Vietnamese sapper unit at the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) in Africa recently repaired and upgraded the main route that runs through many important agencies in the middle of the area to help improve travel conditions for locals there.

The repair was launched in welcoming the 93rd anniversary of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union on March 26, according to the unions Vietnamese sapper unit chapter.

The work was aimed at facilitating people's travel in Abyei, a disputed region between Sudan and South Sudan, covering about 10,000 square kilometers.

This main route has a large traffic volume, linking key agencies such as Abyei Youth Center, Abyei Womens Association, and the Abyei Relief and Rehabilitation Committee, according to the online newspaper of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

Despite the harsh hot weather at over 40 degrees Celsius and sandstorms, the repair work was completed and the road put into use recently, after only three working days.

This image depicts the central route to the Abyei region in Africa undergoing repairs and upgrades by a Vietnamese sapper unit as part of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA). Photo: Vietnamese sapper unit

The road was widened to eight meters with two lanes, and its surface was upgraded and elevated by 50cm from the original state to strengthen its resilience during the coming rainy season.

Deng Aguer, chairman of the Abyei Youth Association, expressed his joy over the road upgrade by Vietnams peacekeeping sapper force.

He extended deep and sincere thanks to all the sappers and wished them well to fulfill their tasks and keep giving support to the Abyei region.

Besides the road repair, the young Vietnamese have made the best use of their holidays or free time to help fix and build tables and chairs at schools, assist farmers in planting agricultural crops, and supply clean water to residential areas, hospitals, churches and other places, said Senior Lieutenant Le Huu Khanh, secretary of the chapter.

The chapter members have also actively created connections with the local young communities and played a key role in the implementation of humanitarian activities in the region.

Most of the members are young and have volunteered to join the Vietnamese peacekeeping forces right after they completed their education at school, Khanh added.

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Tien Dung, a resident of Thanh Hoa Province in north-central Vietnam, recently inquired whether his wife, a foreigner who just entered the country, is eligible for household health insurance.

For that question, lawyer Hoang Van Chien from the Hanoi Bar Association clarifies that household health insurance is coverage extended to a household, encompassing all individuals listed in the family register or temporary residence book, and organized by the state for non-profit purposes.

Therefore, if Dungs wife is registered as part of the household, either temporarily or permanently, she is eligible for household health insurance as stipulated by law.

This pertains to Clause 5, Article 12 of the Law on Health Insurance, as amended and supplemented by the Law revising certain articles of the Law on Health Insurance, and also Clause 1, Clause 2, Article 2 of Decree No. 104/2022/ND-CP issued on December 21, 2022 by the Vietnamese government to amend and supplement several articles of decrees concerning the submission and presentation of household registration books and temporary residence papers.

In Vietnam, household health insurance will fully cover medical expenses for outpatient treatment at communal health clinics if the costs are below 15 percent of the participants basic salary.

Moreover, it will cover 80 percent of the hospital fees for health examinations or hospital beds in other instances of treatment at communal health clinics.

Health insurance participants can receive full coverage for medical expenses at district-level hospitals for outpatient treatment and at provincial or district-level hospitals for inpatient treatment, even without a referral document, provided they complete health insurance procedures.

They will also entitled to 40-percent coverage for inpatient treatment at central-level hospitals.

What do you want to know about Vietnam? Ask us at VietQ by Vietnam Life.

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Supernatural horror Baghead, from director Alberto Corredor, will premiere on Shudder, AMC+ next week.

Produced by StudioCanal and The Picture Company, Baghead is a full-length feature adaptation of Corredors indie short of the same name and will debut as part of the streamers Halfway to Halloween annual, month long horror-thon lineup.

Following the death of her estranged father (Peter Mullan), Iris (Freya Allan) learns she has inherited a run-down, centuries-old pub. She travels to Berlin to identify her fathers body and meet with The Solicitor (Ned Dennehy) to discuss the estate. Little does she know, when the deed is signed, she will become inextricably tied to an unspeakable entity that resides in the pubs basementBagheada shape-shifting creature that can transform into the dead. Two thousand in cash for two minutes with the creature is all it takes for desperate loved ones to ease their grief. Neil (Jeremy Irvine), who has lost his wife, is Iris first customer. Like her father, Iris is tempted to exploit the creatures powers and help desperate people for a price. But she soon discovers breaking the two-minute rule can have terrifying consequences. Together with her best friend Katie (Ruby Barker), Iris must battle to keep control of Baghead and figure out how to destroy her, before she destroys them.

Baghead was produced by StudioCanal and The Picture Companys Alex Heineman and Andrew Rona through their long-term deal with the European giant. Roy Lee and Jake Wagner are Executive Producers along with Alberto and Lorcan Reilly.

Friday, April 5 on Shudder and AMC+

Horror themes.
Seven will tonight screen The 1% Club UK hosted by comedian Lee Mack.

There have been three seasons in the UK and Seven will kick off with the very first episode from 2022. Im not sure its always wise to give viewers access to the original, in case it is better than the Aussie version.

There may also be general knowledge questions which pertain to Britain, of course.

Given it is a non-ratings fortnight, Seven may later opt to move it to another slot or multichannel.

7:30pm tonight on Seven.
2024 UK drama Truelove will premiere on BBC First in April.

The series is a love story mixed with a big moral question, starring Lindsay Duncan (Under the Tuscan Sun, Made in Italy) and Clarke Peters (The Wire, Treme).

The cast also includes Sue Johnston (Brookside, Barbara Royle), Phil Davis (Trying), Peter Egan (Downton Abbey), Karl Johnson (Mum), Fiona Button (The Split) and Kiran Sonia Sawar (Murdered by My Father, Danny Boy).

This is a 6 part series which premiered in the UK in January.

Truelove centres around a gang of older friends that makes a pact that, if and when the time comes, rather than let each other suffer a dreadful decline, they will engineer a more dignified death. From the team behind The End of the F***ing World, this smart thriller makes us rethink the meaning of love and friendship when we enter our twilight years.

Britains first high-ranking female police officer, Philippa Leach is now retired and very, very bored. Old flame and SAS veteran Ken Holding feels similarly lost. When the two reunite at a funeral, their group of 70-something friends imagine what a dignified death might look like. They joke that Ken and Phil would be the perfect team to do the deed. But what starts out as a bit of fun quickly morphs into a shocking reality.

With a core cast in their 70s, Truelove breaks the rules for older characters on screen, flipping ageist tropes on their head in a series which promises thrilling twists and turns, irreverent humour and passionate romance.

Truelove wrestles with the knottiest of ethical questions out there  is it ever right to help end a life? Its also a love story, as a long-extinguished romantic flame is rekindled between two people who missed out on each other when they were younger, offering them a second chance to experience the love of their lives before time runs out.

Sundays at 7.30pm from April 7 on BBC First / Binge and On Demand.
Hundreds of friends, family and colleagues gathered together at a memorial in Plenty, in Melbournes north, in honour of the late Jesse Baird.

It was a packed house who remembered the Network 10 reporter, tragically killed last month along with partner, Qantas flight attendant Luke Davies.

Jesse Baird worked for Channel 10 for 6-7 years primarily in the childrens TV department in Brisbane including Totally Wild before Studio 10, and also served as an AFL goal umpire.
The Australian Community Television Alliance has welcomed the Federal Governments passing of the Broadcasting Services Amendment (Community Television) Bill 2024.

The Bill repeals previous legislation, under which both stations broadcasting licences were due to expire on 30 June this year. Now, C44 Adelaide and C31 Melbourne and Geelong will continue broadcasting until an alternative use for the radiofrequency spectrum they use has been confirmed by the Australian Communications and Media Authority.

The Albanese Government recognises that community television services Channel 31 Melbourne and Channel 44 Adelaide provide an important platform for local news and content and local businesses and [they are] a training ground for talent, said Communications Minister Michelle Rowland. We want the engaging, informative programs these services create to be accessible for their communities to enjoy over terrestrial broadcast.

Today punctuates the culmination of a long and uncertain journey for community TV, said Shane Dunlop, President of ACTA and General Manager of C31 Melbourne and Geelong.

After enduring a tumultuous period of detrimental federal policy, the bi-partisan support seen for the CTV Bill signifies a landmark moment in the journey to secure community TV services in Melbourne and Adelaide.

The sector has weathered significant challenges since 2014 and this result not only acknowledges the unwavering resilience demonstrated by C44 Adelaide and C31 Melbourne in representing their communities but also underscores the indispensable role of community TV in the Australian media landscape. As we embrace this milestone, we look forward to embarking on the next steps toward revitalising and fortifying community TV as a vital platform and conduit for diverse voices and burgeoning media talent.

What a monumental day for community TV, said Lauren Hillman, General Manager of C44 Adelaide. The passing of the CTV Bill is a historical and pivotal moment. Continued free-to-air broadcasting is a significant step towards the stability and certainty so desperately needed by the community TV sector after a decade-long fight for survival.

This bill shows that the Australian Government recognises the vital role played by community TV in not only serving local communities but in the broader media landscape, too, as a platform for cultural diversity and inclusivity, and as a training ground for emerging creators.

We know community TV is loved by thousands of Australians and we want to thank everyone for their tireless support in campaigning over many years to preserve our important and independent home of local content and local stories.

Senator Marielle Smith, Senator for SA, said: My community loves community television. There is so much to value in this bill. This bill is about giving transparency and security in the future of community television. I know it means a hell of a lot to the people who work in community television, to volunteers within community television, to people in Adelaide and Melbourne who watch community television and love community television.

Steve Georganas MP, Member for Adelaide, said: [C44 Adelaide and C31 Melbourne] play an important role in our community and we want to make sure that they are viable, and they continue to service the very diverse community that they serve. Community TV plays a vital, important role in the diverse migrant community, and I saw it firsthand in my electorate and I still see it.

James Stevens MP, Member for Sturt, said: The service that they [Channel 44] provide is very important and its community-led, its volunteer-led. They obviously work very hard to finance and fund the service that they provide. Theres a lot of volunteerism associated with what they do and of course a lot of people learn great skills and get excellent early opportunities in the sector as well.

Ive got the South Australian Film Corporation in my electorate [too] and we in South Australia are very proud of our history more broadly in broadcasting, in film and in screen, and the sorts of both on-camera and technical expertise needed to produce broadcast-quality product like Channel 44 are also very important skills that are supported in that broader ecosystem in South Australia.

Kate Thwaites MP, Member for Jagajaga, said: My first role on TV when I was studying to become a television journalist was on Channel 31. For me it was an invaluable experience, being able to have that real-life experience of having your story go on to community television. I know there are many more famous people than me who have had their start on Channel 31, and it is really important that we continue to give people that training ground that community TV provides.

Dr Michelle Ananda-Rajah MP, Member for Higgins, said: Young people use community television as a means to hone their skills and spread their wings often to other arenas with a much bigger stage, like commercial TV, either in Australia or internationally.
Danish crime drama Fallen (pictured) and Norwegian dramedy series In the Name of Love screen next week at SBS on Demand.

Fallen

Thursday, 4 April

All six episodes available, in Danish with English subtitles.

Police inspector Iris had worked at the NOA in Stockholm for over 20 years when her husband Christian was shot dead. Reeling from the tragedy and furious that the case remains unsolved, she leaves Stockholm and becomes the new head of the Cold Case team in Malmo. When a skull is found in the forest and linked to a cold case, Iris is called in to investigate. But with the discovery, ominous questions as to the identity of the killer are raised  what is the truth, and how far will Iris go to find it? From the makers of The Bridge and starring Sofia Helin.

In the Name of Love

Thursday, 4 April

All eight episodes available, in Norwegian with English subtitles.

Balder and his wife welcome their entire family to their daughters baptism well, almost the entire family. Balders father shows up uninvited and the familys slightly questionable past is brought to light. This takes the family back to the 70s, when his father Lars starts his porn empire to acquire wealth in order for his wife and children to live a happy and joyous life, unbeknownst to any outside his immediate family. Based on the real and untold story of Bard Breien, the directors own life.
SBS has released a cheeky trailer, to screen in cinemas and social media, ahead of Alone Australia.

It teases an Alone Cologne, built around the idea of an ode to odour.

Perfumer, Ainslie Walker describes Alone Cologne as: stale notes of campfire soot, rain-soaked dampness and earthy moss. This is followed by overwhelming notes of rotten game flesh, which sing in harmony with smoked fish skin, unwashed skin and greasy hair. This pungent prelude is followed by a serenade of soured sweat and halitosis, bodily fluids and a light after-whiff of the New Zealand wilderness.
When Alone producers learned they could use a bow and arrow at a New Zealand location it soon became very clear where a second season of the hit SBS series would film.

Its a lot trickier in in parts of Australia to be able to hunt with bow and arrow freely on on land, whereas in New Zealand hunting is done a lot by locals, says Executive Producer Riima Daher.

There are lots of people, especially on the South Island, who sustain themselves in an urban environment who will go out and hunt deer and basically have that entire deer butchered and it will provide their food source until they run out and hunt again. And same with fishing. So its quite accepted.

Its legislated and run really well and because of that its a lot easier to get a bow and arrow licence and go hunting in New Zealand that is in Australia.

Daher wont disclose exactly where on the South Island (Aotearoas Te Waipounamu) filming took place last winter, but confirms an inland freshwater and stunning, stunning location.

We are generally looking for a connected waterway, so that we can easily access all 10 people but also spread them out far enough that theyre not going to bump into each other and that they are truly isolated, she explains.

Were looking for somewhere that offers enough resources

Were looking for a large piece of land that sits around a large lake. Then were looking for somewhere that offers enough resources so that a survivalist can keep themselves fed and warm and dry, and build a shelter, hunt and fish.

She adds, I cant say exactly what the land tenure is. But the land is accessible to the public that were on.

10 more Australian survivalists are stripped of modern possessions, contact and comforts, to self-document their experience  the last one standing winning $250,000. With no camera crews or help from the production team, they must fend for themselves, sourcing food, water, shelter, and warmth using only their wits, 10 survival items, and the natural resources at hand.

Even the word cast feels weird when youre referring to these participants because these are almost the anti-cast and the anti-TV person. Theyre all in it for the experience rather than the Instagram followers or the fame. Even something like a media launch (last week) is really foreign to them and really quite uncomfortable, says Daher.

Theres a good age range in there. But generally speaking, theres a lot of older people and I think thats because this is an experience or an experiment that really benefits from experience, wisdom, life experience. from having tried and done it and tried again.

The money almost feels like a bonus

I often asked myself if we didnt have prize money attached to the series would we have as many participants? I honestly think that we would! Theres a kudos that comes with being part of this series and theres a kudos that comes with winning. The money almost feels like a bonus, rather than the goal for most of these people.

While New Zealand may be famously snake-free, there are still local perils to test the participants.

I dont think anything compares to Australia in terms of dangerous wildlife when it comes to the small things. In New Zealand you do have the boars, youve got wild deer going through the place, youve tahr and goats, she continues.

But in terms of really dangerous things honestly, the sandflies are probably the most frustrating, difficult thing to put up with. And dont underestimate them. Theyre tiny but they form in the hundreds and thousands and they dont make a sound. So you dont know youre being attacked until theyve done their job.

It becomes a mindset to have to get over the fact that youre being attacked by these things around the clock

Its a nasty bite and it itches for weeks and weeks afterwards. Its never just one. Theyre unrelenting and its not like the sun goes down and they go away. Theyre there around the clock. Theyre nasty and they dont respond to swatting. So it becomes a mindset to have to get over the fact that youre being attacked by these things around the clock.

But the landscape is providing the biggest dangers. Your chances of deadfall go up when youre in this environment. Large branches and entire trees are just dropping because of the wet soil. As soon as you get wind youre more likely to have a tree fall over. Theres tree avalanches, mudslides, landslides, and were in New Zealand so earthquakes we were also worried about.

The unexpected just happens so often throughout this series

But the drama from the participants begins from the very first episode.

It is so unpredictable. The unexpected just happens so often throughout this series and Episode One is the episode to launch that, she teases.

This series just keeps turning itself on its head. We had no idea which way it was going to go, all the way through to the end.

Alone Australia premieres 7:30pm Wednesday on SBS.
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Dublin, March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Medical Tourism: Numbers, Prospects and Problems" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Medical tourism has been touted as the next big thing for many years. Does medical tourism offer potential for countries? This groundbreaking report looks at the real numbers, opportunities and problems.

Medical tourism refers to the practice of individuals traveling across borders to receive medical treatment or healthcare services. Does medical tourism offer potential for countries or is it one big hype?

This global phenomenon has gained significant traction in recent years due to various factors such as cost savings, high-quality healthcare facilities, and accessibility to advanced medical treatments. There are several benefits to a local economy from medical tourism: revenue generation, job creation, infrastructure development, increased tax revenue, promotion of local businesses, and enhanced reputation.

ADVERTISEMENT

Patients seek medical tourism for procedures ranging from elective surgeries and cosmetic treatments to complex medical interventions

Some countries have been successful while others have been so then faded, while others have failed. Many have made promises about becoming profitable and popular destinations but few have succeeded. Success does not happen by accident needs large amounts of state time, money, and a real strategy.

This report explains why some will be winners and others will be losers. It also highlights key safety problems that need to be solved rather than ignored. Country profiles and tables offer statistics not available elsewhere

Key Trends

The greater proportion of medical travel is regional or domestic within a country.

The increasing cost of air travel and decreased wish to travel a long distance combined means long-distance medical tourism is fading.

Many medical tourists do not seek out the cheapest destination.

Much medical tourism is for cosmetic, fertility, or dental treatment.

Medical tourists are increasingly being courted by nations in an organised way.

The key drivers for medical tourism are the lack of insurance and services (in the patient's home country), lower costs, better quality care, procedures unavailable at home, and shorter waiting periods.

Practices like opening offices in source markets; raising awareness about their competitive edge, effective communication, and offering ease of visa and travel bundled with tourism and treatment are popular strategies.

Healthcare businesses are setting up physically in another country.

Domestic medical tourism is often ignored

Story continues

Overview

Most medical tourism reports tell you that it will grow 20% a year as if it is all one.

In reality, some countries succeed and some fail.

Some types of medical tourism do better than others.

Many countries and businesses have failed badly.

This report has the latest information, trends, facts, and figures on medical tourism.

Most reports fail to tell you that medical tourism is not one big global market but is made up of sub-segments with differing reasons for medical travel.

What they also ignore is that while a handful of countries are making money, the amount of time and money the state has spent to make that happen is massive.

Many countries and businesses have entered medal tourism only to fail after costly expenditure as they believed the hype from so-called experts.

Some try to tell you that it is all based on US patients, but apart from Mexico, that is not true.

Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, and India get the most business from Asia and Africa, while China and Iran get the most business locally.

Key Topics Covered:

Key trends

History of medical tourism

Wellness and medical tourism

Defining medical tourism

UNWTO definitions

Market size

International patients

Global medical tourism figures by country

Global medical tourism country figures illusions

UNWTO/ETC report on health tourism

Global potential of health and wellbeing tourism

European Parliament report on health tourism

Medical tourism revenue

Medical tourism global numbers

Global medical tourism potential

Medical tourism in the future

Medical tourism traditional

Medical Tourism New definitions

How medical tourism is changing

How medical tourism needs to change

Medical tourism strategy and planning

Regional promotion Latam

Diasporic medical tourism

Value state paid patients

Taking hospitals to the patients

How medical tourism will evolve

How to build a medical tourism destination

Moving away from the price

Price versus quality

Domestic medical tourism

Hotels and medical tourism

Artificial intelligence

USA Insurers restrict treatment in Mexico

Geopolitical problems

Global overview

Medical tourism winners

Dubai

Hainan

Iran

Malaysia

Thailand

Medical tourism losers

Abu Dhabi

Germany

Hungary

Jordan

Philippines

Medical tourism hopefuls

Egypt

Ethiopia

Ghana

Pakistan

Saudi Arabia

Problem areas and countries

Surgery in Mexico

Disease in Mexico

Safety

Legal and ethical issues

Medical negligence

Dental tourism problems after going to Mexico

USA medical tourism deaths after going to Mexico

UK medical tourism deaths after going to Turkey

Ireland medical tourism deaths after going to Turkey

Irish Medical Journal bariatric medical tourism

Medical tourism does not allow for complications

London experience of gastric surgery tourism

Cosmetic surgery problems study

Organ transplant rackets in India

American deaths - cosmetic surgery in the Dominican Republic

Dangers of cosmetic surgery in South Korea

Medical tourism fraud in Turkey

Medical spa warning

Medical travel agents

Distribution

Agents

Agency regulations

Agency requirements of hospitals

Travel agencies and tour operators

Medical tourism treatments and types

Addiction treatment

Birth tourism

Cancer

Child medical tourism

Cosmetic surgery

Dental implants

Dental tourism

Dental care in Europe

Diabetes treatment

Elderly care

Eye care

Fertility treatment

Hair transplant surgery

Medical spas

Obesity treatment

Organ transplants

Procreation tourism

Sex change tourism

Spas

Spas and medical tourism

Sports medical tourism

Stem cell treatment

Surrogacy

Insurance

Medical tourism and insurance

Travel Insurance

Compulsory travel health insurance

Medical tourism insurance

Medical negligence and insurance

Medical negligence - medical complications insurance

Insurers as medical tourism agents

Prudential cross-border cashless cancer treatment

European Health Insurance Card

Medical tourism customers

Advertising regulation

Airlines

Apps

Carers

Cultural sensitivity

Diaspora

Direct chat

EU cross-border healthcare

EU cross-border healthcare in EFTA countries

European standards on cosmetic surgery

European standards on non-surgical medical procedures

Hotels and medical tourism

LBGTX

Luxury travel

Medical price comparison sites

Mobile technology

Muslims

Older patients

Price comparisons

Price regulation

Security and terrorism

Smartphones

Social media

Taking time to be a tourist

Videos

Waiting times

Why do people become medical tourists

Accreditation

International medical accreditation

Accreditation news

ACHC International

ACHSI

Acreditas Global

Accreditation Canada

American Accreditation Commission International

Accreditation Commission for Health Care

COHSASA

Global Healthcare Accreditation

Joint Commission International

KTQ International

QUAD A

Temos International

Accreditation organisations

American Accreditation Commission International

Accreditation Canada

ACHC International

ACHS International

Acreditas Global

CHKS

COHSASA

DNV-GL Healthcare

Global Healthcare Accreditation

International Society for Quality in Health Care External Evaluation Organisation

International Society for Quality in Health Care

Joint Commission International

KTQ International

QUAD A

Temos International

Medical Tourism Country Profiles 2024

The world's only detailed country profiles of 172 countries involved in medical tourism.

Inbound medical tourism 2019/2020/2021/2022/2023

Inbound health and wellness

Outbound medical tourism

Tourists 2019/2020/2021/2022/2023

Medical tourism revenue USD 2019/2020/2021/2022

Population 2024

Diaspora

Overview

Potential

Medical tourism numbers in

Reliability of numbers

Medical tourism numbers targets

Health tourism numbers in

Health tourism numbers targets

Medical tourism visas

Where medical tourists come from

Why inbound medical tourists go there

Inbound medical tourism treatments

Hospitals and clinics in medical tourism

Target markets by country

Medical tourism promotion

Medical tourism financial incentives and grants

Medical tourism at airports and airlines

Health tourism

Health tourism promotion

Health tourism financial incentives and grants

Medical tourism revenue

Medical tourism revenue targets

Health tourism revenue

Health tourism revenue targets

Medical tourism numbers out

Medical tourism outbound spending

Where medical tourists go

Why outbound medical tourists go abroad

Health insurers and medical tourism

Domestic medical tourism

Medical tourism regulation

Medical tourism price regulation

Promotional organisations



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/i6bbrb

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

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SWNS

Oxford is home to the sleepiest residents in the UK, according to a study. Research, of 2,000 adults from the top 20 cities, found those in the city of dreaming spires feel tired the most often (67 per cent)  putting it straight in the top spot. People in Cardiff followed closely behind, with 63 per cent of locals regularly feeling tired, and Cambridge came in third place at 62 per cent. Plymouth and Birmingham completed the top five sleepiest cities, while Newcastle came bottom of the list with just 48 per cent of its residents frequently feeling fatigued. In response to these findings, an on-the-street test has appeared in Oxford challenging residents on their responsiveness to see how many lights they can hit in 30 seconds  rating them from practically snoring to top snoozer. Silentnight was behind the sleep-o-meter test and also commissioned the study. Its team were on hand to giveaway free mattresses to some of the sleepiest on the day, and offer advice to help them as the clocks go forward for British Summer Time. Hannah Shore, sleep expert at Silentnight, and who studied sleep medicine at Oxford University, said: Its not hugely surprising to see some of the most well-known university cities in the top spot for sleepiest residents, but there are some simple steps locals can take to feel more well rested. Comfort and routine are key, so be sure to create a wind-down routine in the evening and ensure your space is as restful as it can be  with comfortable bedding, dim lighting, and the right temperature. Just one night of bad sleep can have a big impact on our day-to-day, whether thats slower reaction times, reduced concentration levels, or even making us a little more snappy than usual. With 56 per cent of the nation often feeling tired, 31 per cent dont think they typically get enough sleep. Nearly a quarter (24 per cent) blame always being on the go for their exhaustion, while long working hours and the weather are also cited as the main causes for feeling this way. Late afternoon is when the average person feels the most lethargic (3.47pm), and drinking coffee seems to be the go-to solution to help people feel more awake. This is followed by having a nap, going for a walk, and splashing their face with water. The average adult says Im tired three times a day, with 36 per cent finding themselves yawning on a regular basis. However, 42 per cent agree they are generally just a tired person. Lack of sleep seems to be a big mood trigger for 20 per cent and has led to 34 per cent forgetting what they were going to say during a conversation. Whats more, 28 per cent are more likely to eat junk food if they are tired, and 24 per cent admit to having previously cried without any explanation. The OnePoll.com study also found 40 per cent are alarm snoozers, with the average person hitting snooze three times before finally getting out of bed. It takes an average of 30 minutes before those polled feel human again after waking up in the morning. With a hot shower, making the bed, and a cup of tea voted among the absolute musts within the first hour of getting up to help set them up for the day. Hannah Shore added: Sleep is so important for physical recovery but its also vital for our brains. Light sleep in particular, helps our memory, learning and with processing our emotions, but its often the stage we lose out on when were not getting enough sleep. As people across the UK adjust to the clocks going forward, Hannah has shared her three top tips for the sleepiest Brits: 1. Brush up your bedtime routine  Whether its taking a warm shower, reading a good book or meditating, taking time to unwind after a busy day will make it easier for you to get to sleep. When you have a consistent routine in place, youll see that your sleep patterns are more stable and youre able to have a decent nights sleep more often. 2. Skip the snooze  Pressing snooze and trying to squeeze in those few extra minutes can actually leave you feeling worse as you repeat the interrupted sleep cycle again. Instead, pop a light on to prompt your body to stop producing sleep hormones and start producing wake hormones. 3. Let the light in  If you feel yourself battling to keep your eyes open during the day, bright light can really help to wake you up, so try to get outside for ten minutes or sit by a window. THE UKS 20 SLEEPIEST CITIES 1. Oxford 2. Cardiff 3. Cambridge 4. Plymouth 5. Birmingham 6. Liverpool 7. Southampton 8. Sheffield 9. Edinburgh 10. Brighton 11. Norwich 12. London 13. Bristol 14. Glasgow 15. Leeds 16. Leicester 17. Manchester 18. Belfast 19. York 20. Newcastle
Bournemouth bound: Jet2 aircraft taking off from Tenerife, the first destination from the Dorset airport (Getty Images)

Bournemouth airport is set to become the location for intense competition between airlines. Jet2 has announced the Dorset airport will become its 12th UK base from next spring.

Jet2 will deploy two aircraft on a range of Mediterranean and Atlantic island routes.

The inaugural flight from Bournemouth to Tenerife on 1 April 2025, will be followed by 15 other new links  almost all of which are already flown by other carriers, Tui and Ryanair. It signals intensified competition against Tui  which Jet2 Holidays overtook in terms of package passengers last year.

The only two Jet2 routes with no competition are Fuerteventura in Spains Canary Islands and Funchal, Madeira.

On four of the routes  Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Palma and Tenerife  the new arrival will compete with both Ryanair and Tui.

Other Jet2 links are up against Tui competition:

Antalya and Dalaman in Turkey

Corfu, Heraklion, Rhodes and Zante in Greece

Ibiza and Menorca in Spains Balearic islands

In addition, Jet2 will take on Ryanair to Alicante and Faro.

Jet2s chief executive, Steve Heapy, said: We know that customers and independent travel agents have been asking us for a long time to make this move, so we are absolutely delighted to be announcing today that Bournemouth airport will become our 12th UK base airport.

As Which? Travel Brand of the Year, we know that our award-winning flights and holidays will be enormously popular across the region, and we cannot wait to show everyone what we are all about.

This latest expansion is a further demonstration of our confidence, and it reflects our long-term strategy to be the UKs leading and best leisure travel business. We know that customers want to be properly looked after throughout their holiday experience.

Bournemouth airport handled fewer than one million passengers last year, placing it 18th in the table for UK gateways. Manchester airport, a big Jet2 base, handles 30 times as many travellers.

Andrew Bell, chief executive of Regional and City Airports, which owns Bournemouth airport, said: It will create new employment locally, add 16 fabulous new destinations from Bournemouth, up to 27 extra flights a week and will see an estimated additional 300,000 passengers using their local airport.

Story continues

This exciting partnership with Jet2 and Jet2holidays represents a step-change in establishing Bournemouth airport as a nationally significant regional hub for passenger air operations.

The aviation schedule analyst, Sean Moulton, said: Following Jet2s expansion into London Stansted in 2017 and Bristol in 2021, the south has been a growing market for Jet2.

Whilst Bournemouth will be the smallest of Jet2s 12 bases, it will go head to head with Tui on several routes. Just two of the 16 routes being exclusive to Jet2 at Bournemouth demonstrates Jet2s desire to compete head to head with Tui and to a certain extent Ryanair.

If successful, this could lead to several smaller bases being opened up across the UK.
The family were at Pomponette lagoon, in Mauritius (Unsplash/Xavier Coiffic)

A British dad is feared dead after he vanished in the sea while trying to save his son from drowning while on holiday in Mauritius.

The 15-year-old boy found himself in trouble on Saturday morning in the Pomponette lagoon, a popular tourist spot in the east African island.

His father, 49, tried to rescue his son but he was swept away by large waves and ended up disappearing, local media reported.

Police were called to the beach and carried out a search well into Saturday night but they were unable to find him.

The teenage boy escaped the ordeal alive.

Mr Marshall had arrived in Mauritius for a holiday with his partner and son the day before.

Weather forecasts showed a storm approaching Mauritius over the weekend.

Local agencies had warned of strong winds and high swell, with three-metre waves expected on Friday.

A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: We are supporting the family of a British man who has died in Mauritius and are in contact with the local authorities.
Signage for Memorial University in St. Johns is shown on Monday, January 30, 2023. (Paul Daly/The Canadian Press - image credit)

Signage for Memorial University in St. Johns is shown on Monday, January 30, 2023.

Signage for Memorial University in St. Johns is shown on Monday, January 30, 2023. (Paul Daly/The Canadian Press)

A new cut to to the tuition offset grant to Memorial University will be a tougher burden for people enrolled in courses, student leaders say.

The Newfoundland and Labrador budget included $298 million to be allocated to MUN for its core operating grant, $70 million for the Faculty of Medicine, and the continuation of three satellite sites from the Faculty of Nursing.

Memorial University said the decrease to the tuition offset grant "aligns with the planned $68.4-million reduction over five years announced in 2021."

However, student unions responded with frustration.

"I think it is an extremely disappointing budget for students," said John Harris, Memorial University Student Union's director of external affairs.

"What we're looking at is an almost $14-million cut to the tuition offset grant, continuing the Liberal's plan to defund the only public university and pass on the debt of this province to students."

Mary Feltham, the chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students-Newfoundland and Labrador, said that the budget was disheartening.

"We see that the government of Newfoundland and Labrador is continuing to commit to the destruction of post-secondary education by taking money away from students with the tuition offset grant, and putting it into the hands of Memorial administration," she said.

Mary Feltham chairs the Canadian Federation of Students-Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mary Feltham chairs the Canadian Federation of Students-Newfoundland and Labrador. (Submitted by Mary Feltham)

In July 2021, after the provincial government announced it would phase out just over $68 million allocated for tuition, the university announced it would end its 22-year-long tuition freeze. During the freeze, full-time tuition for students in Newfoundland and Labrador was $2,550 per year, which was among the lowest amounts in Canada.

Now, yearly tuition for domestic undergraduates is $6,240.

Story continues

MUN says 'no surprises'

In a statement, Memorial president Neil Bose said the new budget "did not include any surprises" for the university. "There is no intention to change the current tuition structure for students," he said.

John Harris is Memorial University Student Unions director of external affairs.

John Harris is Memorial University Student Unions director of external affairs. (Submitted by John Harris)

Chad Pelley, Memorial's manager of communications and media relations, said the fees are "designed to build up and replace the planned cuts to the university's operating budget."

To deal with the shortfall, the university is now asking its leaders to "find additional savings" in their budgets.

"As part of that work, we've asked units to model what a 3 per cent decrease would mean in their unit for the upcoming year."

Harris said Bose and other university leaders "should be honest with the situation the provincial government is putting them in," and recognize the burden that students will need to carry.

"I think the president should be advocating for his students," he said. "Presidents of Memorial in the past have advocated for more funding and a more student-positive approach."

Feltham said MUN's response is infuriating. "We've already seen a drop in enrollment at Memorial University."

After the tuition hike in 2022, MUN saw a 19 per cent decrease in new students.

Feltham also thinks that the university might impose more fees even though it has stated it won't be raising tuition any further.

Furey promised re-evaluation

In April 2023, Premier Andrew Furey promised to re-evaluate tuition freeze funding.

Feltham said that this promise did not come to fruition.

"They are remaining to their commitment to defund," she said. "They have continued this trend of saying they will work with us and re-evaluate and listen to our concerns, but then they don't come through on their promises or commitments."

Harris said post-secondary education is becoming "something that only a few can afford," and that society is becoming less equal.

Harris said, "I think that if the revaluation has happened, it has not been thought through well enough. Andrew Furey needs to imagine what the legacy of his government is. The government doubled tuition for young people, and made it harder for people to get an education."

MUNSU is planning a town hall with the president and the leaders of all political parties to discuss issues related to funding.

Feltham also said that the government can expect that CFS-NL will continue to hold it accountable.

"We will ensure that decision-makers know that they have no option but to fund education," Feltham said.

Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Click here to visit our landing page.
Charlie Lawson's father, Quintin in a Thunderbolt in Burma. Inset, right, Charlie Lawson; inset, right, Quintin's P47 with 79 Squadron in Burma. (Image: Belfast Telegraph.)

A former Coronation Street star from Fermanagh said that his father, who fought in the Far East during the Second World War, would ask him to smother him because 'dying in care home was worse than war'.

Charlie Lawson, who famously played Jim McDonald on Corrie, opened up about his familys wartime history when he joined historian James Holland and comedian Al Murray on a recent episode of their acclaimed podcast We Have Ways of Making You Talk.

During the podcast, Mr. Lawson revealed that the Second World War also claimed the lives of two of his uncles.

Speaking about his uncle Gordon Glennie, Charlie said: He had a good education and became a very devout Christian, even as a young man.

He tried to join up and was found out  he was too young. The following year, he joined the Fogs, the Royal Irish Fusiliers.

My father Quintin was in Belfast with his brother George at Campbell College, studying biology. He went to do his interview in Dublin at the famous university.

On the way back up, he threw his papers out the window, got off the train and joined the RAF.

In 1944, he ended up, having trained in Stratford-upon-Avon at Long Marston aerodrome, (in) South Africa to finish his training.

From South Africa, he went to Burma and was in 79 Squadron, which was sponsored by the presidency of Madras. He was up the Irrawaddy River flying Hurricanes and Thunderbolts  they took what they could get. He flew 116 missions.

The 64-year-old TV star said his father and fellow pilots would forego the option of a parachute because the prospect of landing in the impenetrable Burmese jungle due to the risk of being captured by the Japanese.

Charlie also revealed his father didnt mind saying he had a good war, adding: He said the worst part of the war was having eight rabies injections a day, but he had a good war and he enjoyed it.

Meanwhile, Quintins brother George was serving on convoy escorts in the Atlantic, and Gordon - known as Gordy - was fighting his way up Italy.

Story continues

Gordy, a lieutenant, was killed in action in October 1943, while another uncle, Gordys brother Fred, died while serving with a bomb disposal unit as he attempted to defuse a German mine in Skegness.

Charlie recalled: Mum would quite often talk about Gordy, but she never really got over his death. When your brother goes off to war, hes a hero. When hes killed, hes even more of a hero. She would talk for a bit, get a bit upset and that would be the end of it.

"Dad, with the Cream of the Barley, he would quite happily talk about it.

When I was very young, he taught me to fire his service automatic. He somehow managed to bring it back to Northern Ireland of all bloody places.

He used to keep it by the bed. I have the case at the other end of the room, but the automatic .22 disappeared. More I cant reveal.

Although he had a pretty tough war, Ill never forget when he was in a home. I was away working, he was in Scotland, Mum had died years before and he was on his own.

He made the decision to go into this home. We all know the horrendous stories, but I am not casting aspersions on the home.

I remember sitting with him one day, talking about the war. I remember him talking about when he got four paddles on the Thunderbolt instead of three. It was fascinating the stuff they used to make the aircraft do in action.

Visiting him about two or three days later, he was there, a war hero  though he never called himself one, he was to me  sitting in a nappy on his last legs, so to speak.

He said to me If I could ask you to smother me, I would because this is worse than Burma. Unfortunately, he died a few days later in my wifes arms.
Democracy comes in many forms in richly diverse world

10:52, March 26, 2024 By He Yin ( People's Daily

The third International Forum on Democracy: The Shared Human Values was held in Beijing on March 20.

Chinese and foreign guests engaged in discussions on topics including "Democracy and Modern Governance," "Democracy and the Rule of Law in the Digital Times," "AI and the Future of Democracy" and "Democracy and Global Governance in a Multipolar World."

The closing meeting of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) is held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 11, 2024. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)

They fully recognized China's practices in implementing whole-process people's democracy, saying China's democracy works and works well and has explored new paths for humanity's cause of democracy.

Democracy is an important hallmark of the progress and development of human civilization and an ideal that has always been cherished by the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese people.

China keeps to the path of socialist political advancement with Chinese characteristics, and follows whole-process people's democracy. Whole-process people's democracy integrates process-oriented democracy with results-oriented democracy, procedural democracy with substantive democracy, direct democracy with indirect democracy, and people's democracy with 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.

The annual sessions of the National People's Congress (NPC) and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), also known as the "two sessions," exactly mirror the effectiveness of China's democracy.

During the "two sessions" this year, nearly 5,000 NPC deputies and CPPCC National Committee members from all walks of life across the country gathered in Beijing, integrating aspirations and expectations of the people into the nation's top-level policy design.

The government work report, compiled through extensive consultation, was modified by about 10,000 people directly. Besides, officials from multiple ministries and departments responded intensively to public concerns on the sidelines of the sessions.

Residents of Wanggao village, Nanmachang neighborhood, Huai'an, east China's Jiangsu province vote in an election for deputies to the local people's congress, Dec. 27, 2023. (People's Daily Online/Zhao Qirui)

Through the "two sessions," foreign journalists witnessed that China's democracy gives full expression to people's will, protects their rights and interests, and works in concert with the people. They said that China's democracy is an important chapter in the story of democracy for humanity.

As a populous country long plagued by weak economic foundations, China always draws wisdom and strength from its 5,000-year-old culture and fine traditions in developing democracy. Based on a correct understanding of its current development stage and its economic and social conditions, it focuses on identifying and resolving each and every problem and presses ahead with democracy step by step.

After long-term exploration, China has developed a path to democracy with Chinese characteristics, which ensures adequate democratic rights for all of its 1.4 billion people, unleashes their enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity, and builds a "Chinese miracle" of rapid economic development and long-term social stability.

China's whole-process people's democracy takes root in the vast land of China, aligns with China's national conditions and enjoys wholehearted support from the Chinese people.

A poll by Harvard Kennedy School showed that over 90 percent of Chinese citizens have consistently expressed satisfaction with their government.

Developing whole-process people's democracy is one of the essential requirements of Chinese modernization. As Chinese modernization advances, whole-process people's democracy has been constantly expanding and deepening. It has ignited the enthusiasm of all people to participate in the country's modernization drive, translating institutional strength into effective governance. It has become the solid foundation for the "governance of China."

The working committee of the Lianyun District Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference holds a consultative meeting in Taoyuan community, Lianyungang, east China's Jiangsu province, to discuss opening a community cafeteria to address the dining needs for senior residents, June 2, 2023. (People's Daily Online/Zhu Huanan)

International observers believe that as whole-process people's democracy continues to develop, the Chinese people are enjoying increasingly extensive rights and freedom. Whole-process people's democracy has created new forms of human civilization, providing a science-based reference for other countries in the development of democracy.

Democracy is a concrete phenomenon that is constantly evolving. Rooted in history, culture and tradition, it takes diverse forms and develops along the paths chosen by different peoples based on their exploration and innovation.

The purpose of democracy is to safeguard and promote the well-being of all humanity. It should not become a barrier dividing people, nor should it become a tool for a few countries to serve their own narrow political agendas.

As the largest developing country in the world, China fully respects other developing countries' efforts to pursue, develop and realize democracy, and the rights of all peoples to independently choose their own development paths. It opposes the acts of triggering division, spreading prejudice and undermining peace in the name of democracy.

In the richly diverse world, democracy comes in many forms. China is willing to work together with all countries to carry forward the common values of humanity - peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, and freedom. In a spirit of mutual respect and following the principle of seeking common ground while setting aside differences, countries will add new elements to the world's political structure, and make new contributions to humanity's cause of democracy.

(Web editor: Chang Sha, Liang Jun)
Under President Emomali Rahmon, Tajikistan has taken radical measures to crack down on religious fundamentalism (Alexander KAZAKOV)

The alleged involvement of four Tajiks in a deadly attack in Moscow has shaken Tajik society, highlighting the risks posed by Central Asia's jihadist legacy.

The region's five former Soviet republics, led by Tajikistan, have had thousands of their citizens going to Syria and Iraq in the 2010s to fight for the Islamic State group (IS).

Friday's attack in Moscow, which killed 139 people and was claimed by the Islamic State in Khorasan (IS-K) in Afghanistan, Tajikistans neighbour that regularly supplies fighters to IS.

"This is a great tragedy for our country," artist Daniel Rustamov told AFP in the capital Dushanbe.

Rustamov fears that "a few criminals will harm the entire Tajik people" and that "Tajiks will be persecuted in Russia," where millions of them work to feed their families back home, against a backdrop of rising anti-migrant rhetoric.

Tajikistan, home to 9.7 million people, made the fight against terrorism a priority after it was bruised by a civil war between 1992 and 1997 involving Islamist fighters.

Cross-border clashes from Afghanistan involving jihadist groups continue to plague the mountainous country, which has also suffered several attacks claimed by IS.

Since the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan in 2021, Tajikistan has been one of the regime's main critics, concerned about the potential spread of its ideology.

Several million ethnic Tajiks live in Afghanistan.

Dushanbe has regularly highlighted the upsurge in jihadist activity along its 1,375-kilometre (850-mile) border with Afghanistan and has organised anti-terror exercises with the Russian and Chinese armies.

Last year, Tajik authorities announced that they had shot dead five members of the Jamaat Ansarullah jihadist group on the Afghan border.

- 'Tajiks are in mourning' -

For businessman Bakhtior Akhmedov, 32, "a terrorist has no nation or religion".

"All the people of Tajikistan are in mourning," he told AFP.

Story continues

President Emomali Rahmon echoed this in an official message broadcast by media in Tajikistan, where information is tightly controlled.

Tajiks support their "brotherly Russian people... terrorists have no nationality" said the leader, who has been in power since 1992 and whose giant portraits are displayed across the country.

This is a mantra often repeated by the regime when Tajiks are involved in attacks, including an early January attack in Iran that killed more than 90 people and was also claimed by IS-K.

A June 2023 UN report described the IS-K branch as the greatest terrorist threat in Afghanistan and Central Asia and estimated it comprised of between 4,000 and 6,000 jihadists, including their families.

Tajikistan has taken radical measures to crack down on religious fundamentalism, such as banning women from wearing the hijab.

According to Rahmon, 2,300 Tajiks have joined IS since 2015, including the high-profile case of a former Tajik police commander who defected to IS.

"Over the past three years, 24 of our citizens have committed terrorist acts in 10 countries," the Tajik leader said in early March.

"The number of young people who have joined terrorist organisations, including IS, has increased."

Rahmon pointed to "extremist propaganda" that strikes "when these young people work abroad".

Around one million Tajiks travel to Russia every year, and the number is growing.

Vulnerable migrants are also used by the Russian army, with many reports of Central Asians being recruited to fight against Ukraine.

bk/rco/spb/bc/ach
Romanian agency uses AI to help farmers get EU funding

Romania is now using artificial intelligence (AI) to help farmers access grants and funding from European bodies.

The governments Rural Investing Finance Authority (AFIR) said in a press release last week that they are partnering with UiPath, a Romanian business automation and AI software, to streamline the submission process for them.

The move is supposed to save farmers time in processing financial files and lower costs for obtaining and submitting the right approvals and authorisations for their products.

It will also give farmers easier access to funding from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), which improves the competitiveness of agriculture.

Automation based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) plays an extremely important role in accelerating and streamlining key processes for farmers," George Chirita, Director-General of AFIR, said in a press release.

AFIR started using robots for software in 2020, the press release continued.

Chirita told Reuters that the agency handled financing requests worth 5.32 billion from more than 50,000 farmers, companies and local institutions. Overall the software saved 784 hours of document searches for government staff.

Romania is the lowest-ranking of all the EU states on digital transformation, according to a 2022 report from the European Commission.

The country is lagging behind because of a lack of digital skills compared to other EU states despite having a high ranking of information and communications technology graduates and good performance on internet connectivity.

The country passed a recovery and resilience plan in 2021 that included 1.4 billion for digitalising the governments public administration.

AFIR claims to be the first Romanian ministry to work with EU funds to use AI in this ongoing digitalisation process.
American business school infuses Artificial Intelligence throughout curriculum



The Kogod School of Business at American University announced today that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is now infused into its academic curriculum and day-to-day practices. Read More

Tuesday March 26, 2024 8:19 PM , ummid.com News Network

Washington: The Kogod School of Business at American University announced today that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is now infused into its academic curriculum and day-to-day practices.

The full rollout of more than 20 new and updated courses in the fall 2024 semester ensures incoming and existing Kogod students graduate with industry-leading expertise in AI and machine learning (ML).

Kogod's plan also includes faculty and staff trainings, new certificate offerings for students, private sector engagement and partnership, and operational overhauls to remain current as new technology develops.

Redesigned AI courses

With the new curricular changes, Kogod students will master prompt engineering and programming - essential AI concepts and tools, and will gain experience with R, Python and AI/ML Models.

The redesigned curriculum consists of "AI Sage" courses, which include deep immersion into the use of AI in a real-world context, and "AI Artisan" courses, which discuss the application of AI in a more abstract and theoretical way.

AI courses and workshops are also now requirements of the undergraduate core curriculum for incoming students. Not only will students learn how to use different AI platforms and tools, but they will also learn about the inherent risks and ethical challenges underlying AI technology.

"Artificial intelligence is here to stay, and business students need to be prepared to utilize applications for generative AI on day one of their future jobs," said Kogod School of Business Dean David Marchick.

"To prepare our students to enter the global marketplace, we are being aggressive and bold with our curriculum. American University, like many others, is accelerating its AI-focused research agenda. But the driving force behind the changes we announce today is the impact we will have on the student experienceand on student outcomes after they leave us", he said.

Expert Faculties

Kogod has made deep investments in hiring faculty with AI/ML expertise. Angela Virtu and Shawn Janzen joined Kogod in 2023, and two additional experts in AI/ML will join the full-time faculty this fall.

A significant number of Kogod's faculty currently use AI tools in their coursework, and real-time learning for faculty and staff ensures coursework and the school's day-to-day practices are aligned with the rapidly changing field of AI.

In April, Kogod will host the first of many industry panels featuring executives across sectorsfrom marketing to finance to techwhere AI is driving business change.

"Digital transformation is not new, but to see it at such scale is very telling," said Gwanhoo Lee, chair of Kogod's Department of Information Technology & Analytics.

"Kogod is moving swiftly to adapt to the market, and we are eager to continue updating and improving our approach as the AI landscape continues to change at pace", Lee said.

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QUANG NGAI  South Korea Doosan Enerbility Vietnam (Doosan Vina) has shipped a cargo of made-in-Viet Nam steel structures to the Golden Triangle Polymers Plant, an integrated polymers facility being developed in Orange County, Texas in the US, after more than 10 months of production.

Doosan Vina said the nine steel structure modules weighing 1,900 tonnes were a part of the Golden Triangle Polymers project (GTPP) that was signed between Doosan Vina and the joint venture ZDJV and investor CP Chem in 2023, including 18 modules with a total weight of 4,589 tonnes.

It said the remaining nine modules had also been almost completed and were in the process of pressure testing, installing electrical troughs and related parts for timely handover to customers on April 16.

Doosan Vina General Director Kim Hyo Tae said: We are very proud winning the contract to supply 18 modules for the US market for the first time and this is the first project that all of the steel structures are galvanized and fireproof painted with the participation of the joint venture ZDJV and investor CPChem.

Also, moving towards sustainable development and a low-carbon future, we are proud to contribute to creating products that generate 25 per cent lower greenhouse gas emissions compared to similar facilities in Europe and the US, Kim Hyo Tae added.

Quang Ngai province-based Doosan Vina has been producing 140 modules for international customers, including 39 modules for the Ruwais Refinery in the UAE, 35 modules for the Sarawak Methanol Plant in Malaysia, 26 modules for the Cariflex IR Latex Asia project phase one in Singapore, 18 modules for the Golden Triangle Polymers project in the US, and is currently producing four modules for the North Field Expansion Project EPC-2 in Qatar and 18 modules for the Ras Laffan Petrochemical project, also in Qatar.

Doosan said the Golden Triangle project was expected to be put into operation in 2026, and it would become one of the largest integrated polymers facilities in the world with one ethylene cracker unit with processing capacity of 2.08 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) and two high-density polyethylene units with a combined capacity of 2mtpa.

Doosan Vina is a high-tech industrial complex in the Dung Quat Economic Zone in the central Quang Ngai Province.

The company supplies mega infrastructure products including boilers for thermal power plants, desalination plants, cargo container crane for seaports, fired heaters, modules and structural steel for petrochemical refineries, buildings and infrastructure developments. VNS
HA NOI Vietnamese overseas business communities play an important role in Viet Nam's nation-building efforts, heard participants at the business forum: Enhancing Viet Nam-Canada Economic Relations within the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), held yesterday.

Nguyen Manh ong, deputy chairman of the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs, under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Vietnamese overseas business communities have been growing strong in recent years, along with Viet Nam's rapid economic and trade development.

He said the Vietnamese business community is present in over 130 countries and territories, with 30 business associations, serving as an important bridge to promote economic and trade relations between Viet Nam and other countries.

Attending the forum were representatives from the leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs, central and local government departments, former Consul General of Vietnam in Vancouver - Canada, VCBA leadership, members of associations, as well as entrepreneurs and businesses in the fields of export and construction.

The Vietnamese overseas business community in Canada, in particular, has made important contributions to strengthening Viet Nam-Canada economic cooperation across all fields. For example, the Viet Nam-Canada Business Association (VCBA) has organised numerous trade and investment promotion events to help build stronger trade ties between the two nations.

He said the forum is an opportunity to network and cooperate, and find ways to unlock trade potential between two member countries of the CPTPP, as well as being a platform to share information between both sides.

Delegate discussed opportunities to export Vietnamese products to the Canadian and North American markets across numerous fields, including construction, textiles, footwear, furniture, wood products, iron and steel, machinery and electrical equipment.

They said the Southeast Asian economy has so far effectively utilised the CPTPP to accelerate exports to Canada, enjoying major benefits such as the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) and the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). However, they advised the Vietnamese business community to pay attention to challenges from strict requirements and trade barriers in the Canadian and North American markets.

The forum was jointly organised by the Vietnam-Canada Business Association (VCBA) and the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs, under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. VNS
HA NOI  The Import-Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), in collaboration with the ASEAN Secretariat, on Monday convened a session of ASEAN-Korea Experts to discuss the Transposition of AKFTA Product Specific Rules from Harmonised System Codes HS 2017 into HS 2022.

Representatives from South Korea and all 10 ASEAN countries, along with several delegates from member countries participating online, attended the conference.

The conference is scheduled to span three days in Ha Long City, Quang Ninh Province.

During the joint session, delegates will review and strive to convert nearly 7,000 tariff lines of the Product Specific Rules (PSR) transposition list in the ASEAN-Korea Free Trade Agreement (AKFTA) from the commodity classification code HS 2017 to HS 2022. Additionally, they will discuss the progress and mechanisms for implementing rules of origin according to the new HS code.

According to the regulations of the World Customs Organization (WCO), the HS code of the harmonised commodity description and coding system is updated regularly every five years to ensure compatibility with international types and commercial needs.

This update also requires that the criteria for determining the origin of goods in free trade agreements, including the ASEAN-Korea Free Trade Agreement, be transformed.

Converting PSR in the AKFTA on time will ensure transparency, helping import-export businesses benefit from the free trade agreement.

Speaking at the conference, Nguyen Anh Son, director of the Import-Export Department, emphasised that converting PSR on time would ensure estimates and transparency for businesses.

Delaying PSR transposition will lead to increased costs and loss of benefits of the ASEAN FTA. A line-by-line review of 7,000 tariff lines will require high focus and great consensus from ASEAN countries and Korea.

ASEAN and South Korea signed the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Co-operation in 2005, and the Trade in Goods Agreement took effect from June 2007.

To ensure that goods were eligible for preferential tariffs, AKFTA regulated how to determine origin, said Son.

In order to implement the AKFTA, the ASEAN - Korea Economic Cooperation Subcommittee deployed the session on origin of goods to convert the list of product rules according to the HS Harmonised System of the WCO.

This conversion will enable importers to conveniently utilize certificates of origin to benefit from special AKFTA preferential tax rates, he added.

Recently, South Korea has continuously been among the leading markets for importing goods from Viet Nam with the highest rate of using FTA preferences.

The Korean market had a preferential certificate of origin usage rate of 52.1 per cent last year, with the turnover of goods with certificates of origin exported to Korea reaching $12.2 billion.

The group of Vietnamese goods exported to Korea with the best rate of using FTA preferences includes seafood (96.32 per cent). Agricultural products such as vegetables, coffee and pepper all have very high rates of using preferential certificates of origin, reaching 91.18 per cent, 94.54 per cent and 100 per cent, respectively; wood and wood products hit 73.76 per cent; and footwear and textiles have a rate of nearly 100 per cent.  VNS
HA NOI  The Republic of Korea (RoK) and Taiwan have increased the inspection on imported chili, including from Viet Nam, with aims to ensure safety and quality of these food items entering the markets.

The Viet Nam Trade Office in RoK said that it has received a notice from the South Koreas Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) about the re-designation of imported food that must be inspected when entering this market due to high rates of nonconformity.

Accordingly, chili products from Viet Nam will be subject to inspection, including cayenne, capsicum, chili pepper, red pepper, tabasco, for the residues of seven pesticides including diniconazole, tolfenpyrad, tricyclazole, permethrin, dimethoate, isoprothiolane and metominostrobin.

MFDS will extend the inspection order from March 30, 2024 to March 30, 2025 due to imported foods continuously failing to comply with standards and specifications.

Importers must have testing results from MFDSs approved labs in order to import into RoK.

As of February 2, there are 2024 MFDS-approved laboratories in and outside Korea.

In Viet Nam, there are eight facilities approved by MFDS including: Center for Agroforestry and Fisheries Quality Region I (NAFIQAD I); NAFIQAD II; NAFIQAD III; NAFIQAD IV; NAFIQAD V; NAFIQAD VI; Intertek Vietnam Co., Ltd. - Can Tho branch laboratory; SGS Vietnam Co., Ltd.  Food laboratory.

Viet Nam Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei also received a notice from the Taiwanese authority on increasing inspection on all imported chili.

The move, starting from this month, aims to tighten quality management on imported chili amid safety concerns after some shipments from China were found to contain the banned cancer-causing dye additive Sudan Red III.

Products under increased inspection include fruits of the genus capsicum, crushed or ground, and other fruits of the genus Capsicum, dried, neither crushed nor ground.

According to TFDAs notice, Taiwan has banned the customs clearance of chili from 21 enterprises from China, one from Viet Nam, one from Thailand and one from Mexico.

The General Department of Customs statistics showed that Viet Nams chili export totalled US$72 million in 2023, up 34.5 per cent against 2022, making chili one of the most important export vegetable products.  VNS
HA NOI  The State Securities Commission (SSC) issued a security warning late Monday regarding the online securities trading system of VNDirect Securities Company (VNDirect).

The document, signed by oan Thanh Tung, Director of the Information Technology Department of the State Securities Commission, stated that a securities company recently experienced an attack on its information technology system, resulting in the temporary suspension of its securities trading system.

To ensure the safe, stable and smooth operation of the securities market, the State Securities Commission has instructed the company to ensure the security and continuous operation of its information technology systems and backup databases in accordance with Article 89, Clause 10 of the Securities Law 2019.

Additionally, the company is urged to proactively review and examine security measures for its information technology systems, particularly the securities trading system and internet-connected systems, to promptly address any security vulnerabilities.

The State Securities Commission emphasised the importance of conducting online transaction process checks, risk control procedures, system and data backup procedures, as well as implementing measures to mitigate potential security risks.

"In the event of any signs of compromised security, the company must take immediate and focused action to resolve and rectify the situation, promptly reporting to the State Securities Commission, stock exchanges and relevant authorities for coordination and resolution," the document stated.

The State Securities Commission further requested the company to diligently and expeditiously conduct a review, examination and provide a plan for remedial actions (if necessary) to the State Securities Commission and related entities before April 1st.

As previously reported, on March 25, VNDirect Securities Co submitted a report to the State Securities Commission regarding the incident.

According to the report, the incident occurred on March 24 at 10am at the DC Fornix Duy Tan. The system was attacked by an international hacker organisation, resulting in the temporary inability to log in to the entire trading platform.

The company confirmed that the incident caused disruption in trading activities but assured that it did not affect the status of customer securities accounts.

Assessing the risks, VNDirect stated that the incident impacted the market, customers, the trading system, and related systems. Customers were unable to log in for online transactions. However, the company affirmed that no actual damages have been incurred.

To address the incident, on the morning of March 25, VNDirect collaborated with partners FPT and Viettel to handle and rectify the situation, ensuring the safety of customer information and assets.

Currently, as of the morning of March 26, the trading system is still not reconnected.

On the afternoon of March 25, the HCM Stock Exchange (HOSE) temporarily suspended VNDirect's trading connection with HOSE until the company fully resolves the incident.

Similar incidents also affected Post and Telecommunication Joint Stock Insurance Corporation (PTI), which is related to VNDirect. PTI announced on their official website that their system was attacked starting from 10am on March 24.

Additionally, I.P.A Securities Investment Fund Management Limited Company (IPAAM), also connected to VNDirect, experienced a similar issue of being unable to access their system.

Both PTI and IPAAM have significant shareholders, including VNDirect and authorised shareholders (accounting for 42.33 per cent), as well as DB Insurance Company from South Korea (accounting for 37.32 per cent).

IPAAM was established in 2008 and was wholly owned by VNDirect. However, as of December 2023, VNDirect completed the transfer of 100 per cent of its capital contribution in IPAAM to the IPA Investment Group.

Similarly to VNDirect, as of the morning of March 26, the systems of PTI and IPAAM are still inaccessible.  VNS
HA NOI  Eight Vietnamese enterprises are showcasing their food and beverage products at the International Food and Drink Expo (IFE) 2024 in London, the UK from March 25  27.

IFE, held from Monday to Wednesday at ExCel, the largest national exhibition centre in London, is renowned as the UK's largest annual international trade fair dedicated to the food and beverage industry.

This year's event has attracted nearly 1,000 businesses from 102 countries and has garnered the attention of 27,000 British and international traders.

The Vietnamese booths at the expo are showcasing an array of enticing products. Fresh fruits like pomelos, guavas, durians, red-fleshed dragon fruits, and Lai Thieu mangosteens are on display. Additionally, visitors can explore frozen seafood, various types of dried noodles, coffee and tea, coconut products such as coconut water, dried coconut, and coconut oil, as well as ginger-based products.

Hoang Le Hang, the First Secretary of the Viet Nam Trade Office in the UK, recognised the significance of IFE, a event that has been connecting leading food businesses for over four decades. She said that participating in this expo provides enterprises with a valuable opportunity to meet potential customers face-to-face, gain insights into market trends, and showcase their products.

Hang said that businesses unable to attend the expo physically can still promote their products by sending samples to be displayed at the VIet Nam Trade Office booth.

The UK market holds immense potential for Vietnamese exporters, as evidenced by the continuous growth in Viet Nam's exports to the UK over the past three years. Hang urged Vietnamese businesses to seize such opportunities to exhibit their stable, high-quality, environmentally friendly, diverse, and abundant products.

Marina Stewart, the International Sales Manager of the IFE organising committee, underscored the importance of IFE for companies seeking entry into the UK market. This event served as a crucial bridge connecting manufacturers with retailers, distributors, and major supermarket chains in the UK, including Sainsbury, Tesco, Iceland, and Aldi.

IFE was the only fair that covers the entire food supply chain, encompassing raw material production, product manufacturing, packaging, and dining services. It offered abundant opportunities for companies to find business partners across all sectors of the food industry, she said.

Stewart expressed her desire to witness a greater presence of Vietnamese products at IFE in the future, particularly plant-based, organic, and healthy products, given the rising demand for such offerings in the UK market.

Among the participating Vietnamese companies, Nguyen Thi Hanh Huong, CEO of Ben Tre Betrimex Import-Export Company, said IFE was a significant opportunity to engage with potential customers, including major retail chains in the UK.

Betrimex currently exports its products to over 70 countries worldwide, with more than 20 major customers in the UK. The company acknowledged the untapped potential for its coconut products in the UK market, considering the increasing demand for plant-based alternatives, Huong said.

With a population of 68 million people and high per capita income, the UK presents promising opportunities for Vietnamese businesses to export agricultural products and food. The country's food and beverage imports account for approximately 40 per cent of its total demand, with significant figures allocated to fruits and vegetables, beverages, grains, and coffee. The Vietnamese businesses participating in IFE are well-positioned to tap into this lucrative market.

Huynh Van Tan, general director of Camimex - a seafood export company in the Mekong Delta province of Ca Mau, said he hopes to receive additional support from the Vietnamese Trade Office in the UK in connecting Canimex in particular and firms in Ca Mau in general with distributors in the UK.

In January, Viet Nams export turnover to the UK reached nearly US$780.5 million, up over 57 per cent year-on-year. Most export items experienced stable growth, particularly agricultural products, with coffee increasing by 218.5 per cent, cashew nuts (nearly 61 per cent), pepper (over 60 per cent), fruits and vegetables (over 56 per cent), and seafood (over 26 per cent).  VNS
Thanh Hoa  Panasonic Vietnam in collaboration with local authorities and residents, planted 15,000 trees at Xuan Lien Natural Reserve, Thanh Hoa Province as part of the companys Eco Relay Tree planting programme.

The annual social responsibility activity aims to realise the company's vision of bringing wellness to the lives of people and contributing to the sustainable development of the country. Specialised forest planting also contributes to the promotion of carbon credits towards the commitment to carbon emission reduction.

From 2013 until now, Panasonic has donated and planted more than 270,000 trees in 10 provinces and cities with the participation of the companys employees to convey the message "Panasonic for a Green Vietnam." In the last two years alone, Panasonic has contributed a total of 23,000 trees in 33 hectares of forestry in Xuan Lien Nature Reserve.

Eco Relay is the global initiative of Panasonic aimed at inspiring each employee to be a sustainable ambassador, to convey the message of environmental protection and the inspiration of sustainable development to communities. Besides planting new trees, Panasonic's members re-visited to take care of their planted trees in last year's programme to understand more about the importance of forestry development and protection.

Panasonic has declared our new vision towards the next 50 years as our passion and solid commitment, to further contribute to the Wellness life of Vietnamese people and sustainable development of Viet Nam, through our business growth and SCR activities. However, the power and impact will be quite limited if just by only one enterprise. We need to increase awareness and invite more companies, and more Vietnamese people, especially the young generation, to have an impact on green activities. That's why we have dedicated ourselves to organise the tree planting programme for more than 10 years while offering opportunities for employees to "relay" the spirit of protecting the environment for a Green Vietnam and inspire communities to create a green impact together, said Marukawa Yoichi, Director of Panasonic Vietnam.

Vi Manh Hung, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Van Xuan Commune, Thuong Xuan District, Thanh Hoa Province, said: "Activities carried out by Panasonic help raise awareness of environmental protection for local residents, while inspiring and providing knowledge to local future generations to contribute more to sustainable development.  VNS
HA NOI  The Viet Nams capital city Ha Noi has topped the list of the Best Food Destination 2024 voted by readers of the world's largest travel guidance platform TripAdvisor.

The city has successfully surpassed several other famous food destinations across the world such as Rome of Italy, Paris of France, and New Delhi of India to win the prize.

Along with plenty of sightseeing spots, the capital is also known for its rich and diverse range of culinary culture. For most of visitors to Ha Noi, their trip cant be completed without sampling some of its famous dishes, such as pho (noodle soup), bun cha (grilled pork with vermicelli), and banh mi (baguettes). Other renowned dishes of Ha Noi include egg coffee, cha ca La Vong (charcoaled grilled fish), and bun au mam tom (vermicelli with fried tofu and shrimp paste).

In the list, the top 10 Best Food Destinations also includes Rome (Italy) Crete (Greece), Cusco (Peru), Florence (Italy), New Delhi (India), Barcelona (Spain), New Orleans (the US), Lisbon (Portugal), and Phuket (Thailand).

The Travelers Choice Awards Best of the Best title celebrates the highest level of excellence in travel. Its awarded to those who receive a high volume of above-and-beyond reviews and opinions from the Tripadvisor community over a 12-month period. Out of our 8 million listings, fewer than 1% achieve this milestone, Tripadvisor wrote on its website.

Ha Noi's food and drinks have been presented in different reality shows of late celebrity chef Anthony Bourdin, who visited Ha Noi four times to film season 2 (Episode 12) of A Cooks Tour, season 1 (Episode 3) and season 6 (Episode 1) of No Reservations, and season 8 (Episode 1) of Parts Unknown.

The famous chef tasted several famous street food and drink of the city including bun cha, bun oc rice vermicelli soup with snails), bun suon chan gio (rice vermicelli soup with pork rib and taro stems), banh cuon (steamed rice rolls), and bia hoi (draught beer).  VNS
MACAU The Vietnamese Association in Macau has for the first time joined the 2024 Macau International Parade held by the local Cultural Affairs Bureau on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Macau's return to China.

Taking place on March 24, the parade highlighted the theme of love, peace, and cultural integration.

According to Nguyen Thi Hue, who is in charge of the Vietnamese associations cultural board, after eight days of practice after work hours, 46 amateur artists from the association showcased their performance at the event, dressed in ao dai (traditional long dress), conical hats, and ethnic costumes representing different regions across Viet Nam.

This year's parade saw the participation of over 80 teams with approximately 1,800 artists from Macau and many countries around the world.

The 10th edition marked its resumption after a four-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. VNA/VNS
BANGKOK The first "Vietnamese language and culture camp" opened in the campus of Pathumthep Wittayakarn High School in Thailand's Nong Khai province on March 25, attracting teachers and students from 14 high schools in the country.

The two-day camp also saw the participation of representatives of local authorities, schools, and the Vietnamese overseas community in Thailand.

Speaking at the event, the Vietnamese Consul General in Khon Kaen Chu uc Dung appreciated the idea of organising the camp, during which students not only participated in activities to improve their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills but also exchanged with and helped each other better understand the beauty of Vietnamese culture, history, and people.

Emphasising that Thailand and Viet Nam are major trading partners of each other in ASEAN, the diplomat said that mastering the Vietnamese language and culture is very helpful for Thai students when looking for jobs related to Viet Nam.

He believed that organising the camp annually will open a new stage in turning Vietnamese into one of Thailand's foreign language subjects in the coming time, and bring Vietnamese language and culture closer to Thai students.

On the first day of the camp, overseas Vietnamese people in Thailand performed songs praising the homeland and the growing friendship between Viet Nam and Thailand and between their people. VNA/VNS
HCM CITY  Dozens of new books by Vietnamese young writers have been released this month as part of the Thang 3 Sach Tre (Book for Youth Month) programme.

The programme is annually launched by the Tre (Youth) Publishing House to introduce quality books by Vietnamese and international authors to readers, especially works by young writers.

The highlight is a science fiction novel titled Bien The Cua Co on (Variants of Loneliness) written by Yang Phan of HCM City.

The book depicts the loneliness of people living in the digital age. They just talk to AI or robots, forgetting how to connect with other people and themselves.

Yang Phan, 30, whose real name is Pham Anh Tuan, won the highest prize at the Literature for 20s writing contest in 2022 with a novel titled Vun Ky Uc (Crumbs of Memory).

The contest is among the countrys most prestigious writing competitions for young authors, initiated by the HCM City Writers Association and the Tre Publishing House in 1994.

He has released several books such as anh oi (Exchange), Bay (Trap), and Ngay Buon Se Tam Biet Ta Ma i (Farewell to Sadness).

A new short story collection by young writer Vo ang Khoa of An Giang Province is featured as well.

The book titled Lac a Bay (Flying Camal) consists of 10 stories, and portrays different people and what they suffered from life.

Khoa, 23, wrote his short story when he was 16. He has received many top prizes at writing contests launched by the HCM City Van Nghe (Literature and Arts) Magazine, and the Van Hoa - Van Nghe (Culture - Literature and Arts Publishing House).

The programme also introduces two novels, Be Trang Coi (Lonely Moon) and Noi Khong Co Tuyet (A Place Has No Snow) by Huynh Trong Khang, and Hai Nguoi Trong Mot Ngan Tu (Two People in A Drawer) and Di Ban (Variant) by Nguyen inh Khoa.

The publisher will host a talk show with five young writers and introduce their new books at the HCM City Book Street in District 1 on March 31.

As part of the programme, the publisher released over 100 reprinted editions of famous local and foreign writers, offering a 20 per cent discount on all its published titles at bookstores nationwide. VNS
Director of the Drug Administration of Viet Nam, Vu Tuan Cuong, spoke to with Vietnam Television regarding the future development trajectory of the pharmaceutical industry.

As the leading advisory body on pharmaceuticals and cosmetics legislation for the Government and the Ministry of Health, could you assess the notable achievements of the pharmaceutical industry in recent years?

Over the past few years, with the guidance of the Party Committee and the Minister of Health, the pharmaceutical industry has made significant strides forward. Foremost among these achievements is the consistent provision of quality medicines at reasonable prices to the populace.

Especially amid the recent challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, we have successfully procured over 250 million doses of vaccines and tens of millions of doses of medication, bolstering public health efforts.

The industry has diligently constructed a robust legal framework, pivotal for its sustained growth. We've played a pivotal role in advising on the enactment of 31 legislative instruments, including the Pharmaceutical Industry Development Strategy, Pharmaceutical Industry Development Project, and an array of legislative statutes, thereby fostering an environment conducive for production, trade and advancement.

We've prioritised administrative streamlining, reducing regulatory hurdles, and catalysing digital transformation. Substantial transformations have been witnessed across all facets of the industry. Presently, retail systems interlink 61,000 pharmacies and 100 per cent of public service procedures have achieved Level 4 status. Notably, drug quality is rigorously assured, with the incidence of substandard drugs consistently held below 1 per cent.

Could you please outline the strategies to enhance the utilisation of domestically produced and exported drugs in Viet Nam in the foreseeable future?

We advocate for a comprehensive approach. Firstly, it's imperative to bolster the capabilities of domestic production entities. Presently, we've attained over 50 per cent domestic drug production.

Effective communication campaigns are essential to underscore the quality of domestically manufactured drugs, thereby fostering increased adoption. Additionally, we must incentivise investment and foster a conducive environment for the growth of localised pharmaceutical industries.

Strategically, we need to formulate policies that prioritise the procurement of domestic drugs, aiming to achieve an 80 per cent domestic drug usage target by 2030.

What strategic directions and initiatives are imperative for the future advancement of the pharmaceutical industry?

Confronted with global adversities, our pharmaceutical sector encounters challenges such as disrupted supply chains and the deficiency in producing certain specialised drugs.

Our reliance on imported raw materials underscores the necessity for strategic interventions for future industry development.

Primarily, we must intensify efforts to attract investment and facilitate technology transfer, crucial for mitigating our reliance on imported raw materials.

We must leverage our indigenous herbal resources and prioritise the development of herbal-based pharmaceutical products.

Strategic integration into the global value chain, coupled with the promotion of drug exports where Viet Nam holds competitive advantages, is paramount.

Lastly, continuous administrative reforms, digital transformation initiatives, and the enactment of investor-friendly policies are vital to propel our industry towards the goal of achieving parity with advanced regional counterparts by 2030, attaining a Level 4 classification per the World Health Organization's pharmaceutical industry development scale.

Could you elaborate on the key policies proposed in the upcoming amendments to the Pharmacy Law?

In our efforts to amend several articles of the Pharmacy Law, we have made the draft available on both the Government and Ministry of Health websites, adhering to the timeline for submission to the National Assembly by May 2024. It is anticipated that the Assembly will review and potentially approve it during the October 2024 session.

The forthcoming amendments to the Pharmacy Law will centre around five pivotal policies aimed at fostering administrative procedural reforms and enhancing the investment climate, propelling the pharmaceutical industry towards greater growth and development.

Concerning registration procedures, our focus will be on facilitating the automatic renewal of conditional registration numbers, fostering a conducive environment for businesses to seamlessly access the Vietnamese market.

We will introduce a dedicated chapter on pharmaceutical industry development, outlining comprehensive preferential policies pertaining to technology, taxation and innovation. Notably, emphasis will be placed on policies incentivising the production and sourcing of raw materials for pharmaceutical chemistry, ensuring a robust and self-sufficient supply chain for the future development of the pharmaceutical sector. VNS
GENEVA  Vice Chairman of the National Assembly (NA) Tran Quang Phuong and NA Secretary General Bui Van Cuong had a meeting with First Vice President of the Grand Council of the Swiss canton of Bern Dominique Buhler and Secretary General of the Grand Council Patrick Trees on March 25.

The meeting was part of the Vietnamese NA delegations working trip to Switzerland.

The two sides discussed parliamentary cooperation and partnerships between the two countries localities, including Bern, to help develop the Viet Nam - Switzerland relations in a result-oriented manner in all spheres.

Phuong called on Bern to continue supporting and creating optimal conditions for the Vietnamese community in Switzerland to settle down, integrate into the local society, and promote their role as a bridge for enhancing bilateral ties.

At the session, Trees shared the functions, tasks, and experience of the Bern Grand Councils Secretariat in advising the Secretary General about relevant issues to ensure transparency, modernity, and professionalism in performance.

Also on March 25, the Vietnamese delegation had a working session with Mayor of Bern city Alec von Graffenried.

The NA Vice Chairman of Viet Nam briefed the hosts on the countrys socio-economic development achievements over nearly 40 years of oi moi (Renewal), along with its development targets and strategy.

He expressed his hope that relations between the two countries, their capital cities, and other localities will keep reaping fruitful results to contribute to peace, stability, prosperity, and development.

Mayor Graffenried noted he is impressed with the beauty of the Vietnamese land, people, and culture, adding he hopes to visit Viet Nam, its NA building, and Ha Noi City in the near future.

Earlier, Vice Chairman Phuong and the NA delegation visited and met with members of Viet Nams Permanent Mission in Geneva and the Vietnamese Embassy in Switzerland.  VNS
HA NOI  The Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security (MoPS) is very interested in cooperation and professional exchange programmes with institutes and research centres of Harvard University, Minister General To Lam has said.

During a reception for Professor Thomas J. Vallely, Senior Advisor for Mainland Southeast Asia at the Harvard Kennedy Schools Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation on Monday, Minister Lam said that cooperation between the MoPS and US IT companies can bring significant benefits in improving capacity to prevent and combat cyber threats, developing cyber security measures and enhancing the effectiveness of fighting cybercrime in Viet Nam.

The two sides agreed that the relevant agencies of Viet Nam and the US have held many dialogue sessions, focusing on promoting cooperation on cybersecurity such as initiatives on improving capacity in cyber security and foreign languages as well as professional coordination between them.The two sides have hastened the signing of documents on cybersecurity between the MoPS and the US National Security Council authorities as well as the US-ASEAN Business Council.

The MoPS has proactively contributed opinions to the development of a comprehensive international convention on countering the use of information and communications technologies for criminal purposes of the United Nations (UN) as well as a UN General Assembly resolution on promoting safe, secure and trustworthy artificial intelligence (AI) systems initiated by the US, Lam said.

Collaborative activities between the MoPS and Harvard University will be a demonstration of cooperation efforts between Viet Nam and the US in the context of the two countries upgrading their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, he added.

Vallely, for his part, spoke highly of fruitful cooperation between US law enforcement agencies and the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security, emphasising that Viet Nam has many opportunities to deploy and develop AI infrastructure.

He expressed his delight that Viet Nam and the US have shared good collaboration in the fight against cybercrime and wished that their cooperation will be expanded in the coming time.  VNS
WASHINGTON DC  Viet Nam's Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son and United States' Secretary of State Antony Blinken co-chaired the first Viet Nam-US Dialogue at the foreign ministerial level in Washington DC on March 25 (local time).

This was also the first ministerial-level dialogue between the two countries since they established their comprehensive strategic partnership in September 2023 when US President Joe Biden visited Viet Nam at the invitation of Vietnamese Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

Describing the dialogue as an important opportunity to review and promote the implementation of high-level agreements, Blinken affirmed that the US valued its comprehensive strategic partnership with Viet Nam, and supported a strong, independent, resilient, and prosperous Viet Nam that bolsters regional prosperity and stability and takes on an increasingly important role in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as well as in the region and the international arena.

He emphasised the USs commitment to implementing the new relationship framework and agreements of the two countries' high-ranking leaders.

Son, for his part, asserted the US was a strategically important partner of Viet Nam, emphasising that the upgrade of the bilateral relations was a right decision demonstrating the strategic vision of the two countries' high-ranking leaders and efforts to strengthen bilateral cooperation in accordance with the interests of the two peoples, contributing to peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region.

Viet Nam would continue working with the US to implement the comprehensive strategic partnership in an increasingly effective, substantive, and stable direction, while expanding the room for cooperation on the basis of respect for each other's independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity and political institutions to maintain development momentum for decades to come.

Economic, trade, and investment cooperation would continue to be a crucial driving force in bilateral relations, the two sides agreed.

Cooperation in areas such as security-defence, education-training, healthcare, science-technology had seen positive developments, with efforts to address the lingering consequences of war being a bright spot (with notable example being the dioxin cleanup project at Bien Hoa airbase).

New areas of cooperation, such as climate change adaptation, energy transition, science-technology, innovation, technology transfer, and semiconductor industry workforce training, were receiving attention from both sides and were being actively promoted.

The two officials discussed measures to deepen relations between the two countries. They agreed to promote the foreign ministerial-level dialogue to strengthen the close collaboration between the two foreign ministries in implementing high-level agreements, effectively implement existing bilateral cooperation mechanisms, and actively coordinate with each other to hold activities to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the normalisation of the two countries' relations in 2025.

They also exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual concern. Minister Son proposed the US continue to play an active role contributing to maintaining peace, stability, cooperation and development in Asia-Pacific and the Indian Ocean as well as in the world.

Blinken affirmed that the US supported ASEAN's central role in the region and would maintain cooperation within the framework of the ASEAN-US comprehensive strategic partnership. He also stressed his countrys backing for the Mekong - US cooperation.

The two sides then discussed the East Sea (known internationally as the South China Sea) issue and agreed on the importance of peace, security, stability, freedom of navigation and overflight in the East Sea; solving disputes through peaceful means, in accordance with international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS); fully implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC); and working towards an effective and substantive Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).  VNS
WASHINGTON  Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son held a working session with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in Washington D.C. on Monday (local time) as part of his US trip to co-chair the first annual dialogue between the foreign ministers of Viet Nam and the US.

Sullivan reaffirmed that the US attached great importance to relations with Viet Nam and supported a strong, independent, self-resilient and prosperous Viet Nam with increasingly important role in the region and the world.

He expressed delight at the two sides actively and proactively implementing their comprehensive strategic partnership and high-level agreements reached by US President Joe Biden and General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam Nguyen Phu Trong during the formers visit to Viet Nam in September 2023.

For his part, Son said he was pleased with the specific and positive results recorded during the implementation of the Viet Nam-US comprehensive strategic partnership so far, especially the regular high-level delegation exchanges.

Affirming Viet Nams external policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, friendship, multilateralisation and diversification, the FM underlined that Viet Nam considered the US a partner of strategic importance, and highly valued the USs support to a strong, independent, self-resilient and prosperous nation of Viet Nam.

He extended regards of Party General Secretary Trong and senior leaders of Viet Nam to President Joe Biden, and invited Sullivan to visit Viet Nam.

The Vietnamese FM suggested that the two sides continue promoting cooperation across all key pillars of the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership, with priority to making preparations for delegation exchanges and meetings between the two countries, especially at high levels, maintaining existing dialogue mechanisms and seeking new ones, especially in issues of differences. The two sides should continue expanding economic-trade and science-technology cooperation, especially in innovation and human resources training, he said, proposing the US recognise Viet Nams market economy regulations soon, and strengthen cooperation in overcoming war consequences.

Sullivan pledged that the US would continue realising agreements reached by leaders of the two countries, and supporting Viet Nam in developing high technology industries, energy transition, climate change response, overcoming war aftermaths, and making bilateral relations more intensive, extensive, substantial and effective.

The two sides also discussed a number of regional and global issues of shared concern.

The same day, FM Son also had a meeting with Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Samantha Power who affirmed that the agency always prioritised the development of relations with Viet Nam, and vowed that the USAID would continue working for the implementation of the US-Viet Nam comprehensive strategic partnership and agreements reached by senior leaders of the two countries.

Reviewing the partnership between Viet Nam and the USAID in overcoming war consequences, supporting persons with disabilities, education-training, and health care, Son highly valued the USAIDs assistance to Viet Nam, and expressed his hope that the agency would continue providing resources for the implementation of dioxin detoxification in Bien Hoa Airport, searching for missing Vietnamese soldiers, enhancing Viet Nams capacity in DNA analysis, supporting persons with disabilities, and war victims. At the same time, the US should consider new areas of cooperation such as high-quality human resources training, climate change response, energy transition, while turning Fulbright University into a regional training centre.

Power briefed the Vietnamese FM on the situation of USAID projects in Viet Nam, underlining that the agency would continue focusing on cooperation in dealing with war aftermath, including dioxin detoxification in Bien Hoa, enhancing the DNA analysis for Vietnamese scientists, improving health care and social services in order to enhance the living conditions for persons with disabilities, and support Viet Nam in mitigating climate change impacts and promoting sustainable development, human resources training, health care infrastructure, and disease prevention and control.

The two sides concurred to continue to work closely together in approving and effectively developing USAID projects in Viet Nam, contributing to fostering the Viet Nam-US comprehensive strategic partnership.  VNS
NEW YORK  Viet Nam has co-sponsored the UNs first resolution on artificial intelligence (AI), which highlights the promotion of safe, secure, and trustworthy AI systems that will also benefit sustainable development for all.

Proposed by the US and co-sponsored by over 120 other nations, the resolution was adopted by the UN General Assembly in New York on March 21.

The text recognised AI systems potential to contribute to efforts towards the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, promoting peace and human rights, and narrowing the digital divide between nations.

It calls on nations to coordinate in establishing AI governance mechanisms at both national and global levels in line with international law, thus promoting sustainable AI research and applications while effectively controlling risks and enhancing support for developing countries to access technology and improve digital capabilities.

During the more-than-three-month negotiations, the Permanent Mission of Viet Nam to the UN actively partook in related consultations. Based on the principles of ensuring of national interests and aligning with the perspectives of developing countries, Viet Nams opinions aimed for the construction of a balanced resolution laying the groundwork for building governance frameworks and international cooperation on AI.  VNS
HA NOI  General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong emphasised that Viet Nam considers the comprehensive strategic partnership with Russia as one of the top priorities in the countrys foreign policy.

He made this statement during high-level phone talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday at the Party headquarters in Ha Noi.

General Secretary Trong warmly congratulated President Putin on being re-elected as President of Russia for the 2024-2030 term with a record-high number of votes. This reflected the trust and support of the Russian people for President Putin in leading the country's development in the new era, he said.

He also conveyed deep condolences to President Putin, the Russian people, and the families of victims of the terrorist attack in Moscow on the evening of March 22, 2024.

The Vietnamese leader said Viet Nam appreciated Russias significant assistance during the Soviet era as well as today, for Viet Nam and its people. He stressed that Viet Nam viewed its comprehensive strategic partnership with Russia as a primary focus in its foreign policy.

President Putin expressed his gratitude for the congratulatory message from General Secretary Trong and the timely condolences and sharing of the Party, State and people of Viet Nam regarding the losses suffered by the Russian people in the terrorist attack.

Affirming that Viet Nam is always a reliable friend and partner of Russia, President Putin expressed delight at the positive development of bilateral relations across all fields.

The two leaders agreed on several major directions and measures to promote bilateral cooperation in areas such as security-defence, economy-trade, culture and tourism.

General Secretary Trong took the occasion to extend an invitation to President Putin to visit Viet Nam in the near future, which the latter accepted with pleasure.  VNS
Texas Governor Greg Abbott visits NASA's Johnson Space Center to announce the inaugural members of the Texas Space Commission Board of Directors and the Texas Aerospace Research and Space Economy Consortium Executive Committee alongside Rep. Greg Bonnen, Speaker Dade Phelan and NASA's Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Houston . Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Mission Control at NASA's Johnson Space Center moments before Governor Greg Abbotts visit in which he was greeted by Rep. Greg Bonnen and NASA's Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche and spoke to NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara, a Houston native currently on the International Space Station, on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Houston . Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Mission Control at NASA's Johnson Space Center moments before Governor Greg Abbotts visit on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Houston . Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Texas Governor Greg Abbott visits NASA's Johnson Space Center to announce the inaugural members of the Texas Space Commission Board of Directors and the Texas Aerospace Research and Space Economy Consortium Executive Committee alongside Rep. Greg Bonnen, Speaker Dade Phelan and NASA's Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Houston . Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Governor Greg Abbott speaks to NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara, a Houston native currently on the International Space Station, at NASAs mission control at Johnson Space Center on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Houston . Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Governor Greg Abbott arrives at Mission Control at NASA's Johnson Space Center and is greeted by Rep. Greg Bonnen and NASA's Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche just before speaking to NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara, a Houston native currently on the International Space Station, on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Houston . Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Texas Governor Greg Abbott visits NASA's Johnson Space Center and speaks to NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara, a Houston native currently on the International Space Station, ahead of announcing the role Texas will play in advancing space exploration alongside Speaker Dade Phelan, Rep. Greg Bonnen and NASA's Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche at a press conference on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Houston . Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Mission Control at NASA's Johnson Space Center moments before Governor Greg Abbotts visit on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Houston . Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer

The states booming space industry got a boost Tuesday as Gov. Greg Abbott launched a new Texas Space Commission and challenged state universities to step up their space game.

The commission, which is receiving $350 million in state funding, is intended to promote innovation in civil, commercial and military aerospace activity.

Texas will be the launch pad for Mars, Abbott said in an event at NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston, where the new commission will be based. As we look to the future of space, one thing is clear: Those who reach for the stars do so from the Lone Star State.

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To bring along institutions of higher education, he challenged them to a space race of their own to start the states first degree program in space engineering.

Will it be Texas A&M? Will it be the University of Texas? Will it be the University of Houston? Abbott said. I have no idea.

There was no mention of space studies or NASA-funded work already being done at the University of Texas at San Antonio, which offers a certificate program in aerospace engineering. There also are a growing number of space research projects underway at Southwest Research Institute and Port San Antonio.

Economic windfall

Abbott was joined by Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche, house Speaker Dade Phelan and state Rep. Greg Bonnen to discuss the impact of the space business on Texas.

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Phelan said the state already has 1,800 aerospace companies providing more than 150,000 jobs. Those with operations in Texas range from Elon Musks SpaceX and Jeff Bezos Blue Origin to Intuitive Machines and Firefly Aerospace.

And thats just the direct jobs, he said. Lets talk about the technology that this space has created in Texas  telecommunications, transportation, healthcare, broadband  you name it, this space has created an economic windfall for the state.

The new Space Commission was created by a bill Abbott signed into law in June. Its predecessor, the Texas Aerospace Commission, was shuttered in 2003.

The same measure also created the states Space Exploration and Aeronautics Research Fund and the Texas Aerospace Research and Space Economy Consortium.

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The Space Commission is governed by a nine-member board of directors who will also administer the Research Fund to provide grants to eligible entities. The consortium, which is governed by an executive committee and will be composed of representatives of each higher education institution in the state, is to identify research opportunities.

Of the $350 million the Space Commission is receiving, $200 million will go to Texas A&M to build a home for the commission next to Johnson Space Center.

Texas has been the hub of human space exploration since its inception. And we are entering into a time where space exploration is really entering a golden age, Bonnen said. The cost of getting into orbit is falling precipitously and things that I think our parents could have only dreamed about are starting to become a reality and its happening at an accelerated rate.

Board members

Abbott, Phelan and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick also announced the appointment of nine members to the Texas Space Commission Board of Directors. They are:

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Gwen Griffin of Houston. She is is CEO of Griffin Communications Group and executive director of the Club for the Future. Her term expires Jan. 31, 2025.

Kathy Lueders of Brownsville. She is general manager of SpaceXs Starbase at Boca Chica Beach. Her term expires Jan. 31, 2027.

John Shannon of Houston. He is vice president of Exploration Systems at Boeing, where he is responsible for human spaceflight. His term expires on Jan. 31, 2029.

Sarah Sassie Duggleby of Friendswood. She is CEO and co-founder of Venus Aerospace Corp.

Kirk Shireman of Pearland. He is vice president of Lunar Exploration Campaigns at Lockheed Martin.

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Evan Loomis of Austin. He is co-founder of ICON, a general partner in Overmatch Ventures, a founding partner of Saturn Five, a venture partner for Audere Capital LLC, and an adjunct professor at Texas A&M.

Heather Wilson of El Paso. The former secretary of the U.S. Air Force and congresswoman is president of The University of Texas at El Paso.

Nancy Currie-Gregg of College Station. She is director of the Texas A&M Space Institute.

Brad Morrison of Boerne. He is the founder and CEO of Atlantis Industries, member of the Boerne Kendall County Angels Network and the Texas National Security Innovation Council.

They join other members of the commission:

Stephanie Murphy of Seabrook. She is CEO and executive chairman of Aegis Aerospace, Inc.

Matt Ondler of Houston. He is president and former chief technology officer at Axiom Space, which is building the first commercial space station and the next generation space suit.

Bill Weber of Austin. He is CEO of Firefly Aerospace and vice chair of the board for Americas Warrior Partnership.

Jack 2fish Fisher of Houston. He is vice president of production and operations at Intuitive Mechanics.

Brian Freedman of Friendswood. He is president of the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership.

Shey Sabripour is founder and CEO of CesiumAstro Inc. and previously worked for Lockheed Martin Space Systems for more than 24 years.

Robert Ambrose is a professor of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M who previously worked for NASA for more than 20 years.

Daniel T. Jaffe is vice president for research, professor of the Office of the Executive Vice President and the provost of the Department of Astronomy at the University of Texas.
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 Director of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Workers Party of Korea (WPK) Kim Song Nam in Ha Noi on Tuesday.

The Vietnamese Party official warmly welcomed the DPRK delegation to visit Viet Nam from March 25 to 28 in the context that the two sides are looking forward to commemorating the 75th founding anniversary of the diplomatic relations.

Mai congratulated the Party, government, and people of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on achievements they have made since the WPKs 8th Congress, expressing her belief that under the leadership of the Central Committee of the WPK, the country will achieve more successes in developing the economy and improving the people's lives.

She stressed that the Party, State, and people of Viet Nam always attach importance to the traditional friendship and cooperation with their DPRK counterparts, and always remember and appreciate the support and solidarity of the DPRK for the national liberation and construction cause of Viet Nam.

Highly valuing the results of the talks between the DPRK Party official and head of the Communist Party of Viet Nam (CPV) Central Committees Commission for External Relations Le Hoai Trung, Mai mentioned some orientations for cooperation between the two sides in the coming time, including to continue enhancing the advisory role of the Commission for External Relations and the International Department of the two Parties in promoting the relations between the two parties and two countries.

For his part, Kim expressed his pleasure to witness Viet Nams great socio-economic development achievements under the leadership of the CPV, with General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong at the helm.

He affirmed that the Party and government of the DPRK always value and aspire to further develop the traditional friendship with Viet Nam, which was founded and nurtured by President Ho Chi Minh and Chairman Kim Il Sung, and leaders of the two countries.  VNS
HA NOI  Vice President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee Hoang Cong Thuy hosted a reception in Ha Noi on Tuesday for Vice Chairman of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Wu Xinbao, affirming the construction and development of Viet Nam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership as a top priority in Viet Nams foreign policy and long-term strategy.

Thuy expressed his belief that the Chinese people, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, with General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping as its core, will continue to achieve even greater victories, building China into a prosperous, modern, civilised and democratic socialist country with an increasingly important position on the international stage.

He highlighted the growing bilateral economic, trade and investment ties, increased exchanges between Party and Government agencies in diplomacy and national defence, and favourable relationship between border localities of the two countries.

Wu, for his part, informed the host about his talks with the Viet Nam Fatherland Front (VFF) Committees of HCM City and Ha Noi, and the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on bilateral cooperation for the 2024-26 period. He said the delegation had also surveyed the business environment in Viet Nam as a number of Shanghai enterprises are keen on expanding cooperation with the world and Viet Nam is a destination of particular interest to them.

At the talks with Chairwoman of the VFF Committee of Ha Noi Nguyen Lan Huong, Wu said the MoU will establish a long-term framework for collaboration between the two committees. He expected that Shanghai and Ha Noi would continue fostering economic and trade collaboration, thereby strengthening exchanges and mutual understanding.

Huong hoped that both sides would engage in more activities to share experiences in fulfilling the political tasks of the two cities, contributing to further consolidating their friendly and cooperative ties.

In the morning of the same day, Vice Secretary of the Ha Noi municipal Party Committee Nguyen Van Phong held a working session with the Chinese delegation, during which they shared experiences in the front affairs and city development, including building infrastructure and improving citizens well-being.  VNS
HA NOI  Speaker of the Parliament of Finland Jussi Halla-aho on Tuesday visited the Temple of Literature, a special national relic, and Hoa Lo prison relic in Ha Noi.

At the Temple of Literature, considered as Viet Nam's first university, Halla-aho and his entourage were briefed on its history of formation and development, and contemplated ancient architectural structures there.

To mark his visit, the Speaker wrote in a golden guestbook and received a book about the temple from a leader of the Van Mieu-Quoc Tu Giam Culture and Science Centre.

Constructed under the Ly Dynasty (1010-1225), the temple stands as one of Ha Noi's most popular landmarks and a significant symbol of knowledge and education in Viet Nam.

At the Hoa Lo prison relic, the Finnish leader delved into Viet Nam's revolutionary past through valuable documents and artifacts, gaining an insight into the courage and unwavering spirit of Vietnamese revolutionaries.

Also on Tuesday, the Finnish delegation paid a working visit to Tan Thoi ai School in Ha Noi's Ha ong District, which is the first primary school in the capital city that has wholly applied the education method of Finland.

The Speaker and his entourage attended the inauguration ceremony of the consular office of the Finnish Embassy in Ha Noi.

In the morning of the same day, the delegation attended a ceremony marking the completion of Thang Long - Bac Ninh waste-to-energy plant project in the northern province of Bac Ninh.

He then toured the facility and learnt about its operations and waste treatment process which uses Finnish technology, hailing it as a testament to the successful bilateral cooperation in environmental protection, climate change mitigation, and the pursuit of a sustainable future.

Speaker of the Parliament of Finland Jussi Halla-aho and his entourage left Ha Noi on March 26 night.  VNS
HA NOI  Speaker of the Parliament of Finland Jussi Halla-aho and his entourage left Ha Noi on March 26, concluding their three-day official visit to Viet Nam at the invitation of National Assembly Chairman Vuong inh Hue.

This is the first official visit of the Speaker outside Europe since he took office, demonstrating Viet Nam's special position in Finland's foreign policy and the excellent friendly relations between the two legislatures. It was also a high-level exchange activity marking the 50th anniversary of Vietnam-Finland diplomatic ties (1973-2023).

During his stay, Halla-aho held talks with NA Chairman Hue and met with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and permanent member of the Party Central Committees Secretariat and head of the Party Central Committees Organisation Commission Truong Thi Mai.

The two sides concurred on the need to explore new directions, approaches and impetus to further deepen bilateral relationship. They agreed to promote the exchange of delegations at all levels and across the Party, State and NA channels to enhance political trust while strengthening collaboration at multilateral forums in pursuit of stability, peace and sustainable development.

Within the framework of multilateral cooperation, they agreed to maintain contact, coordination and mutual support at global and regional parliamentary forums such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the Asia-Europe Parliamentary Partnership Meeting (ASEP).

They vowed to enhance the monitoring of the effective implementation of international treaties and cooperation agreements signed between the Governments, ministries, agencies and localities of the two countries; as well as facilitate stronger business-to-business and locality-to-locality connections.

The two countries will fully tap the benefits from the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), especially in areas of their demand and strengths such as hi-tech, green development, environment, agriculture, forestry and information technology.

On global and regional issues of shared concern, the two sides affirmed their readiness to cooperate bilaterally and at multilateral forums based on respect for international law and the United Nations Charter, for the sake of peace, stability and development in the region and the world, including the East Sea.  VNS
HCM CITY  Three Vietnamese donors with a rare blood type have helped save the life of a 64-year-old British man with immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP).

The man was taken to Cho Ray Hospital in HCM City for emergency treatment on March 17. Doctors said as he suffered the ITP and high blood pressure and was at risk of intracerebral hemorrhage, he needed an urgent platelet transfusion.

The man has a rare blood type of O Rh(-) with just one in 1,000 Vietnamese people having a match while the hospital ran out the platelet at that time. It then called out for donors to roll up their sleeves.

Six donors came, with three suitable identified.

Getting the blood transfusion and suitable treatment, the man made a good recovery and was discharged from hospital on March 23.

He thanked the donors and the medical team for their timely noble act.  VNS
BAC NINH  Measures to remove bottlenecks in bidding for purchasing drugs and medical equipment was the main topic of discussion at a conference held by the National Eye Hospital recently in Bac Ninh Province.

At the event, representatives of public hospitals said that it was necessary to soon complete a guiding policy to implement the revised Bidding Law, effective from January 1, 2024.

Many public hospitals are currently experiencing a shortage of drugs and medical supplies because the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Planning and Investment are in the process of finalising policies to guide the implementation of new regulations from the new Bidding Law that took effect on January 1, 2024.

Although the Government issued Decree No. 24/2024/ND-CP guiding the selection of contractors on February 27, the deputy director of the Department of Health of Bac Ninh Province ao Khac Hung said that Bac Ninh Provinces public service agencies currently were still unable to carry out bidding for purchasing drugs, chemicals and medical equipment because there was no guiding circular.

According to Hung, Bac Ninh healthcare has had difficulties with the bidding process similar to those of the health industry nationwide. Bac Ninh's health sector is waiting for specific circulars to guide the bidding process.

However, many bidding packages for the 2023-24 period are currently still valid, so the province is not yet short of drugs and supplies.

Deputy Director of the National Eye Hospital Pham Ngoc ong said that up to now the hospital's basic bidding packages had yielded results and the hospital had received supplies to be able to perform surgeries such as for cataracts and vitrectomy. However, some bidding packages did not have contractors participating or had contractors that participated but did not win the bid, so there was still a shortage of materials. There were even goods that did not meet quality standards after winning the bid, so the hospital had to refuse to accept the supplies to ensure patient safety.

Decree 24 coming into effect is good news for hospitals as we have basic instructions for bidding, but during the process, we need more detailed instructions. For example, the new law allows facilities to choose medical supplies and equipment by country or territory. However, we need guidance on how to select appropriate groups of countries and territories to follow the law, said ong.

According to Director of HCM City Eye Hospital Le Anh Tuan the amended Bidding Law and Decree No. 24/2024/ND-CP have many new points on bidding, especially in the medical field, which contribute to solving shortcomings. However, in practice, the bidding process has many difficulties because hospitals still cannot fully understand the new regulations.

Tuan emphasised three issues that would need further guidance from the authorities through circulars, as well as measures to support medical facilities in implementing the new bidding law accurately and synchronously, to avoid problems of different understandings of definitions and terms among relevant agencies when working with hospitals.

First, there is a need for circulars and instructions on the issue of selecting country groups and production origins in general in bidding. Current laws and decrees are still not clear enough for us to make the right choice according to the regulations and needs of specialist doctors, said Tuan.

Second," Tuan said, "there is a need for guidance on the new forms of bidding that hospitals do not have experience with, such as bidding on full-service provision packages. With this form of bidding, medical facilities can choose a complete supplier of equipment, chemicals and all accompanying warranty policies and supplies. This is a very good point of the law to avoid dependence on exclusive sources of materials. However, there currently are no hospitals nationwide with experience in this and we need guidance from ministries."

The third aspect, according to the director of the HCM City Eye Hospital, is that the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Health need to have a preliminary review or evaluation after implementing the new regulations on bidding for about six months or a year, so that hospitals can report their difficulties and problems encountered in practice and receive guidance on troubleshooting.

While representatives of hospitals said that there were still many bottlenecks in bidding for purchasing drugs and medical supplies, especially in the eye care field, a representative of the Bidding Management Department affirmed that the new bidding law had given more power to directors of public hospitals.

Head of Policy Division, Bidding Management Department under the Ministry of Planning and Investment Hoang Cuong said that investors currently have enough legal framework to conduct bidding in the health field.

The new bidding law has created a legal corridor to carry out bidding, which gives more power to public hospital directors. However, to carry out bidding work easily and synchronously, the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Health are also urgently developing circulars and instructions to concretise Bidding Law No. 22/ 2023/QH15 and Decree No. 24/2024/N-CP," said Cuong.

Decree No. 24/2024/N-CP, which details many articles and measures to implement the Bidding Law on selecting contractors, was recently issued by the Government and has new points to resolve difficulties and problems with bidding in the health sector, according to Cuong.

"During the process of developing the law, we basically recognised the problems and difficulties in bidding in general and especially bidding in the health sector in particular, in order to have solutions in future laws and decrees," said Cuong.

"The new law completely decentralises and essentially puts the investor in charge. The Ministry of Health will also decentralise public hospitals in the direction that in the near future hospital directors will make all decisions and be responsible for their own decisions, stressed Cuong.

Cuong also emphasised the need for mechanisms to give full authority to hospital directors to ensure flexibility and autonomy of public medical facilities. However, this work needs to ensure compliance with State regulations.

Cuong said that soon, the Ministry of Health would issue three circulars guiding the process of price negotiation, centralised procurement and drug bidding. The Ministry of Planning and Investment would also issue a directive on enhancing the role and responsibility of public service units in self-determination and self-responsibility in procurement work.  VNS
NEW YORK  The United Nations (UN) General Assembly on Monday passed a draft resolution proposed by Viet Nam and some other countries designating June 11 as International Day of Play.

The resolution was co-sponsored by 138 countries, with Viet Nam, Bulgaria, El Salvador, Jamaica, Kenya and Luxembourg as co-authors.

Representatives from the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) applauded the initiative and pledged to facilitate the observance.

Ambassador ang Hoang Giang, Viet Nam's Permanent Representative to the UN, stressed the importance of play and recreation to human development, and promoting the culture of dialogue, solidarity and cooperation, thus contributing to conflict prevention and peace building.

For Viet Nam, the resolution is expected to help the country step up activities to protect childrens rights and interests, according to the ambassador.

The ambassador thanked other UN member countries for their support, and expressed his hope that the initiative would be spread to contribute to maximising human potential and pushing ahead with the implementation of the UN 2030 agenda on sustainable development.

The resolution calls on all UN member countries and agencies, and other stakeholders, including non-governmental organisations, research institutes and the private sector, to celebrate the day in order to raise public awareness of play and recreational activities.  VNS
HA NOI  The Empower Youth4Food Campaign (EY4F) has recently been launched in Ha Noi with the objective of reshaping young people's perspectives on agriculture and fostering their engagement in building sustainable food systems.

Supported by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency and co-ordinated by the Southeast Asia office of Nuffic, a Dutch organisation promoting international education, the campaign addresses the pressing challenges that Viet Nam faces due to climate change and an aging farming population, putting the nation's self-sufficiency at risk.

Many young individuals perceive farming as outdated and unsuitable for modern times, prompting the EY4F campaign to showcase the appealing aspects of the agricultural sector to youths aged 16-35.

Recognising the importance of preparing future leaders to tackle agricultural and environmental issues, Christianne van der Wal, the Dutch Minister for Nature and Nitrogen Policy, emphasised the significance of investing in sustainable agriculture and involving young people in shaping a resilient food industry.

"As we gear up for the challenges we are facing, investing in tomorrow's leaders is crucial. 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," she said.

Taking cues from countries like the Netherlands, renowned for its advanced agricultural practices incorporating technologies such as hydroponics and drones, the campaign aims to illustrate that farming can be contemporary, innovative, and promising.

The initiative, not limited to Viet Nam, spans across Southeast Asia, with chapters in Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore.

As part of the inaugural Empower Youth4Food campaign, the 'Changemaker Challenge' stood out, where over 200 students and 50 young professionals from the region presented inventive solutions to practical challenges faced by agri-food companies.

Tailored events in Viet Nam will cater to diverse age demographics, offering platforms such as social media contests and online seminars to educate on sustainable food production. Success stories of Vietnamese professionals, particularly those with educational backgrounds in the Netherlands, will be highlighted to showcase rewarding career opportunities within agriculture.

The 'Changemaker Challenge' will further engage students in addressing real-world issues encountered by agri-food businesses, with seed money awarded to winning teams for implementing their innovative solutions.

Moreover, the campaign will facilitate connections between Vietnamese students, young professionals, and career prospects through collaborations with the Dutch Business Association Vietnam, featuring guest lectures, company visits for students aged 16-21; and promoting job openings and internships for young professionals aged 22-35.  VNS
HA NOI  The youth play a critical role in Viet Nams transformation and development in the digital age, said Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at a conference with young people on Tuesday.

Focusing on the role of Vietnamese youth in national digital transformation, the event was held to commemorate the 93rd anniversary of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union.

Answering a young delegates questions on protection measures for data and cyber security, PM Chinh said that the Government was perfecting legal frameworks on the matter and had assigned ministries and departments for troubleshooting, alongside awareness and capacity-building projects.

Regarding solutions to connect public services and the national database, he emphasised the importance of databases for digital transformation and artificial intelligence development.

In addition to the establishment of databases at public agencies, businesses, organisations and at the individual level, the Vietnamese Government had also urged the completion of databases on land, environment and activities related to people and businesses to facilitate database accessibility.

PM Chinh stressed that as technology application increases, digital transformation could lead to a decrease in traditional labour demands.

Therefore, specific policies and measures to diversify the labour market and increase efforts were necessary, especially in improving digital skills, capacity and qualification among young people in rural areas.

Speaking to PM Chinh and other government leaders, the young delegates said that cyberculture would be the core issue for youth in the digital era, suggesting that the legal frameworks and codes of conduct should be completed for not only young people but also public employees in the digital sphere.

Convenience for the people through technology would be one of the key goals of digital transformation, and the government needed to perfect platforms and establish feedback channels with the public for the national digital transformation process, they said.

Highlighting Vietnamese youths contribution to the countrys transformation and international integration, PM Chinh said that this conference was a valuable opportunity for government leaders to engage in conversation with young people and listen to their opinions and recommendations.

He reiterated that to achieve the national goal of becoming a developed, high-income country by 2045, all resources were needed to accelerate new growth drivers, including digital transformation, development of a green economy, circular economy and sharing economy, as well as other emerging industries.

Viet Nam is no exception to global digital development trends, and the Party and State aim that the country will become a digital nation by 2030, with the digital economy accounting for 30 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP), according to the government leader.

In this growth process, PM Chinh stressed that young people must be pioneers in increasing social digital literacy and capacity, recommending policies related to digital transformation and digitalisation, applying technology in administrative reforms, as well as in development research and innovation.

They must also have the aspiration of contribution, self-development, innovation and entrepreneurship, as well as international integration and collective growth, he added.

Speaking at the event, the PM also requested that ministries, departments and localities look into young delegates recommendations and facilitate youth engagement in national digital transformation through innovative experimental platforms and activities.

Quoting the speech of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong at the 12th National Congress of Ho Chi Minh Youth Union Communist for the 2022-27 tenure, PM Chinh hoped that Vietnamese youth continue to pioneer in all aspects of national development and protection for the countrys prosperity.  VNS
HA NOI  The Conference on Sustainable Mariculture with a View from Quang Ninh will be organised from March 31-April 1 in Ha Long City of Quang Ninh Province, said Nguyen Minh Son, director of Agriculture and Rural Development Department of Quang Ninh Province.

The conference with the theme "Mariculture for a Green Source of Life for Future Generations" organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the People's Committee of Quang Ninh Province and Nong Nghiep Viet Nam (Viet Nams Agriculture) newspaper, expects to welcome 300-350 Vietnamese and international participants.

The conference aims at accelerating the implementation of the project on marine farming in Quang Ninh Province, identifying the current situation of mariculture in the world and in the country, removing difficulties in licensing and assigning marine areas for aquaculture in Quang Ninh and the whole country.

The conference will also introduce the potential, strengths, mechanisms and policies to attract investment in developing marine farming in an industrial, modern and multi-value direction, and consult with experts and scientists, and domestic and foreign businesses to promote the sustainable development of marine aquaculture in Quang Ninh Province.

Tran inh Luan, director of Fisheries Department, hoped that the conference will be a bridge for management agencies, experts, scientists, businesses, organisations and individuals to evaluate the overall situation of marine farming in Viet Nam as well as in the world with the goal of contributing to the development of a sustainable marine farming industry.  VNS
Alyssa Andersons service dog Pooh Bear does a trick for a treat Tuesday in San Antonio. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News Alyssa Anderson and her service dog Pooh Bear, a 6-year-old golden retriever, on Tuesday in San Antonio. She has filed a disabilities discrimination lawsuit against her former employer, K9s for Warriors, for not allowing her to bring her dog to work. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News Alyssa Andersons service dog Pooh Bear, a 6-year-old golden retriever, patiently waits for a command to be able to eat the treat balanced on his nose Tuesday. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News Alyssa Anderson and her service dog Pooh Bear, a 6-year-old golden retriever. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News Alyssa Andersons service dog Pooh Bear, a 6-year-old golden retriever, lies in the grass as he waits for another command Tuesday. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News Alyssa Anderson and her service dog Pooh Bear, a 6-year-old golden retriever, pose for a portrait together Tuesday in San Antonio. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News

A San Antonio woman who worked at a nonprofit that trains service dogs for veterans says she was fired  for wanting to bring her own service dog to work.

Alyssa Anderson has filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against K9s for Warriors for alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act and state discrimination laws. Shes seeking unspecified financial damages.

Anderson, 24, says she worked as a trainer liaison for nearly 1 years with the organization in San Antonio before it denied her ADA request to have her service dog, a 6-year-old golden retriever named Pooh Bear, present for public access work on campus as needed during her employment.

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Anderson has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, according to her lawsuit, which was filed Monday in U.S. District Court in San Antonio. She provided the employer a physicians certification supporting her need to use her service dog at work.

Its pretty disappointing, Anderson said of her former employers action. Some of the classes we taught were specifically regarding employers and how the veterans  can advocate for their dog and bringing their dog to work.

Service dogs are considered a reasonable accommodation under the ADA.

K9s for Warriors has not been served with the lawsuit but emailed a statement Tuesday.

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While we do not comment on ongoing litigation, K9s For Warriors is a knowledgeable advocate for the use of Service Dogs in the employment setting in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and provides programmatic instruction, training, and advocacy on the subject to its graduating Warrior and Service Dog teams, it said. K9s strictly adheres to the ADA law in its own employment practices as well.

No positions

The Florida-based nonprofit in 2021 opened a facility in San Antonio where it trains shelter dogs as service dogs. K9s for Warriors describes itself as the nations largest provider of service dogs to military veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury or sexual trauma that occurred while serving.

Michael V. Galo Jr., a San Antonio employment lawyer representing Anderson, provided a copy of a letter that K9s for Warriors sent her about the time of her termination.

After a careful review, we have determined that we cannot accommodate the requested modifications to your Essential Job Functions, Beth Jenkins of the nonprofits human resources department wrote in the letter. As discussed, at this time we have no other relatable positions that would allow you to have a service dog on campus as prescribed by your physician.

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Anderson relies on Pooh Bear to perform medical alerting, counterbalancing (when Plaintiff gets dizzy), psychiatric tasks, retrieval tasks, and other tasks that assist her, the lawsuit says.

Its really ironic that this is an organization that says they help veterans, disabled people, by providing them with trained service dogs, but here is a young lady who is an extraordinary dog trainer  who has her own disabilities, and they wont let her use the very type of animal that they provide to disabled veterans, Galo said.

Anderson said she now works at UT Health as a research coordinator.

No interference

Anderson has been a professional dog trainer since 2020 and joined K9s for Warriors as an apprentice canine trainer in September 2021, her suit says. Less than six months later, it promoted her to canine trainer and then, in August 2022, to training liaison.

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In that position, the complaint says, she worked with veterans and their dogs to correct such behaviors as jumping, pulling and refusing to sit. She did not handle the veterans dogs and instead verbally explained or physically showed the expected behaviors using her own dog, the lawsuit says.

About the time of her promotion to training liaison, Anderson requested to bring her service dog to work on an ongoing basis as a reasonable accommodation for her disabilities, the complaint says. She made the request because she was starting to have panic attacks and getting hyper-vigilant at work.

Anderson didnt expect it to be a problem because other trainers brought their service dogs to work. K9s for Warriors granted her an accommodation on a 60-day trial basis, the suit says.

To the best of Plaintiffs knowledge, her dog never interfered with job duties, according to the complaint. Anderson would bring her dog with her when she worked with veterans groups in public spaces, but her dog would stay in the office when she was training on campus, the suit adds.

Anderson believed the trial period had been extended when she didnt hear from her employer. But in January 2023, she says in the suit that she was told she could no longer go in public with her dog.

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When she questioned why she couldnt bring her dog when other trainers could, the suit says, she was told that the other trainers had dogs that were trained by K9s for Warriors. She could continue to take her Pooh Bear on campus but he would have to be contained in a crate when she wasnt interacting with him, the complaint adds.
by Divya Karyza

JAKARTA  The emergence of a food-versus-fuel dilemma in Indonesia has added to concern that a push for palm oil-based biodiesel will drive deforestation.

Consumption of palm oil for biodiesel in Indonesia surpassed that for food for the first time last year, Indonesian Palm Oil Association (GAPKI) data show, with 46 per cent of a total 23.2 million tonnes going to biodiesel and 44 per cent to food production. Ten per cent was used for oleochemicals.

Eliza Mardian, a researcher at the Centre of Reform on Economics (CORE), said the continuing rise in domestic demand for biodiesel might see new land cleared for oil palm to increase output of the commodity.

The increasing demand for palm oil for fuel and food may encourage deforestation, especially in eastern Indonesia, to increase production, she told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

The massive push for biodiesel usage, supported by Rp 30 trillion (US$1.9 billion) to Rp 50 trillion in annual funding from the Indonesian Oil Palm Plantation Fund Management Agency (BPDPKS), had long been predicted to have side effects, Jakarta-based think tank Energy Shift Institute said in a report published on February 9.

Thats because it [is expected to] rapidly increase domestic palm oil consumption, which could result in an overlap with the use as a food source, considering that the government is subsidizing biodiesel [], not to mention the risk of expanding plantations, Energy Shift Institute managing director Putra Adhiguna told the Post on Friday.

The Indonesian Biodiesel Producers Association (APROBI) did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

GAPKI secretary-general Eddy Martono took no issue with the governments plan to keep increasing the palm oil-derived fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) share in the mandatory biodiesel program, explaining that Indonesias palm oil stock was still sufficient for the 40-per cent biodiesel mix (B40).

Nevertheless, he stressed that Indonesia had to consider the declining palm oil production if it wanted to increase the bio share for the biodiesel programme beyond 40 per cent. In that case, companies would have no choice but to ramp up refinery productivity, he added.

The government introduced a moratorium on new palm oil plantations based on Presidential Instruction No. 8 of 2018 as part of its commitment to slash Indonesian greenhouse gas emissions by 32 per cent by 2030.

But the moratorium ended after just three years, in September 2021, without any official explanations about whether it would be renewed, extended or stopped altogether.

Increasing productivity or utilizing degraded land will cause no harm to the environment, Eddy told the Post on Friday in response to a question about the possible environmental damage driven by the increasing use of palm oil for biodiesel.

He went on to say that ensuring palm oil producers abided by the mandatory Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) certification and getting more producers to obtain Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certificates voluntarily was key to sustainable palm oil production.

Southeast Asias largest economy aims to get more oil palm companies RSPO- or ISPO-certified to ensure sustainability compliance, but only 33,000 hectares of oil palm plantations had ISPO certification in 2023, according to the Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil Farmers Forum (Fortasbi), a mere 0.2 per cent of Indonesias total palm oil plantations of 16.38 million ha.

Dawdling PSR programme

Indonesian Oil Palm Farmers Association (Apkasindo) chairman Gulat Manurung suggested the government improve the productivity of smallholder palm oil plantations, which make up 42 per cent of the countrys total palm oil plantations.

Palm oil production in Indonesia is low because [the country] only manages to make use of 25 to 30 per cent of the smallholder plantations potential, he told the Post on Friday.

Gulat suggested the government aim to make it easier for smallholder farmers to join the Peoples Oil Palm Replanting (PSR) program run by the BPDPKS.

The PSR [will help] smallholders to double or triple their plantations productivity without expanding land, so it is sustainable, he said.

Under the PSR programme, the Agriculture Ministry has set a target of replanting 180,000 ha of the smallholder oil palm plantations annually since 2017. However, as of January this year, only 306,490 ha had been replanted, BPDPKS data show.

Last year, the BPDPKS disbursed Rp 1.59 trillion, 26.5 per cent of a total of Rp 6 trillion allocated for the PSR programme in 2023, to 21,910 smallholders, covering a total acreage of 53,012 ha.

London-based nonprofit CDP in a 2021 report anticipated that the governments push for greater use of palm-based biofuel may drive deforestation across the country.

The palm oil industry is already a major driver of deforestation in Indonesia. A 2019 study shows that oil palm plantations were the single largest driver of deforestation between 2001 and 2016, accounting for 23 per cent of total deforestation nationwide.

Even though new plantations are increasingly being developed on non-forested land, 18 per cent of those established between 2010 and 2015 were still in forested areas, according to a 2017 study.

And unless the palm oil that goes into biodiesel can be shown to be deforestation-free, it was misleading to claim that the biodiesel was green fuel, the CDP report says.

Food vs. fuel

COREs Eliza highlighted the importance of a strict monitoring mechanism from the government as well as transparent, real-time reporting from palm oil industry players regarding stocks for cooking oil and biofuel to prevent future cooking oil crises in the country.

We need to prevent businesses whose crude oil should be processed into cooking oil diverting it [for] biofuel [production] because the price is more attractive, she said.

A cooking oil crisis may happen again, but prevention [measures] could be carried out systemically, starting now, Ahmad Rahma Wardhana, a researcher at Gadjah Mada Universitys Centre of Energy Studies (PSE UGM), told the Post on Thursday, adding that the government should also consider encouraging a diversification of food products from palm oil, such as red palm oil.  The Jakarta Post/ANN
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Every hobbyist and crafter knows that a cutting mat is essential for protecting surfaces from damage while you are cutting different materials. These mats ensure that a slip of the blade will not gouge or score the underlying surface you are using for support, like a desk, counter, or tabletop. There are several different types of mats currently available to choose from, and each has its own particular characteristics. Cutting Mats for Crafts A cutting mat is typically used as both a protection item, a guide, and a measurement item. Most come with a mat grid pattern for precise alignment and to guide your blade while you are cutting. These mats come in a wide variety of mat sizes and materials, making it easy to choose the type and style of mat that is best for your needs. Self-Healing Cutting



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Excel Blades Precision Cutting Mat Kit 90001 Excel Blades Precision Cutting Kit is the quintessential beginners set for any artist. Each set comes with a 8.5 x 12 cutting mat and an Excel Blades K1 Aluminum Knife, and 5 pack of #11 replacement blades.

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SAN MARCOS  Carlos Espindola carefully filled up a plastic cup, watching as clear water reached the brim.

He held it at eye level, analyzing the color and clarity under the watchful eye of Keisuke Ikehata, who agreed: It looked good  almost good enough to drink.

Espindola was holding a cup full of treated sewage effluent, which was on its way through a lengthy process intended to make it safe, potable drinking water.

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Ikehata, an assistant professor of civil engineering at Texas State University, is leading research into whats known as direct potable reuse  which in common terms means the process of turning wastewater into drinking water. In drought-stricken Central Texas, with the growing population putting increasing pressure on water sources, Ikehata says he sees it as an opportunity to reduce reliance on aquifers and surface water.

Carlos Espindola, a graduate student at Texas State University, smells partially treated wastewater at the San Marcos Wastewater Treatment Plant. Espindola is part of a pilot project that aims to turn wastewater back into safe drinking water. Jessica Phelps/San Antonio Express News Keisuke Ikehata, an assistant professor at Texas State University, is working with graduate students on a pilot project at the San Marcos Wastewater Treatment Plant that aims to turn wastewater back into safe drinking water. Jessica Phelps/San Antonio Express News

At the San Marcos Wastewater Treatment Plant, Ikehata and his students are running a pilot project, testing ways to produce drinking water thats both safe and appealing to drink  and free of any smells, tastes or colors that hint at its source.

READ MORE: San Antonio joins fight against plan to dump wastewater into Helotes Creek

The underlying goal is to stop putting treated wastewater into rivers and creeks  a practice that is often controversial in Central Texas  and reuse it instead, which could both cut down on demand for on other sources of drinking water and help keep existing waterways cleaner.

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Our process will be hopefully reducing or eliminating the environmental discharge of wastewater, Ikehata said. By doing direct potable reuse, we are preserving natures water, he said.

Water reuse is being done elsewhere, using varying methods. San Antonio recycles its treated wastewater, selling it to customers including Toyota, which uses it for manufacturing, and Microsoft, which uses it for cooling data centers, as well as the city, which relies on it to keep the San Antonio River full. But the treated effluent is moved through a separate set of pipes for nonpotable water, unlike potable reuse systems.

Since 2013, the Colorado River Municipal Water District has operated a direct potable reuse system in Big Spring, a city with about 28,000 people near Midland. Wastewater is treated, then put through a second set of processes to clean it further before its mixed with fresh water from a city reservoir. That water is then treated yet again at the citys water treatment plant before its delivered to customers.

But Ikehata says he wants to see it used directly, without intermediate steps like dilution and even more treatment.

No utilities in Central Texas are using direct potable reuse yet, Ikehata said. He said he hopes his pilot project and the research around it will help spur them to consider implementing larger, full-scale systems.

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San Marcos discharges its treated wastewater into the San Marcos River, typically 5 million to 7 million gallons per day. A small amount of that effluent, which already has been through a multistep cleaning process, is diverted into the pilot system, which can produce about 1,000 gallons per day.

Texas State University graduate students Rasha Khan and Carlos Espindola are working on a pilot project at the San Marcos Wastewater Treatment Plant that aims to turn wastewater back into safe drinking water. Jessica Phelps/San Antonio Express News

There, the water goes through a five-step advanced treatment process: ozonation, biological filtration, ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis and ultraviolet disinfection.

In ozonation, ozone  a reactive gas  is injected into the water, where it reacts with and removes contaminants. The biological carbon filtration process essentially acts like a large Brita filter, removing more organic compounds. Then ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis systems are used to further clean the water, both using semi-permeable membranes to remove small contaminants in the water. In the final stage, ultraviolet light is used to disinfect the water, polishing it at the very end of the process.

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The system is designed to be redundant: If any one of the processes fails, the contaminants would still be removed in other steps. The numerous phases also are intended to ensure that any byproducts are removed. For example, while the ozonation is removing some compounds, it can create another, bromate, which must be monitored and removed.

Currently, the pristine, highly treated water created by the pilot project is then put back into the beginning of the citys wastewater treatment plant and ultimately discharged into the river, because the team doesnt have a permit to discharge it directly or use it in other ways.

Two graduate students in civil engineering, Espindola and Danny Leontieff, designed and built the advanced treatment system with Ikehatas instruction, spending much of 2022 putting it together and testing each component before starting it up in January 2023. More than half a dozen undergraduate students also have been involved in the project.

The system was up and running for about a year until the cold snap in January damaged the reverse osmosis equipment. Ikehata is looking for funding to repair that component, which will cost about $12,000, but the other components are still functional, allowing research to continue.

For now, there are two ongoing research efforts at the site, focused on the aesthetics of the treated water and on a monitoring system, which would notify them instantly if there are any water quality issues.

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We have to meet the drinking water standards 100% of the time, 24/7, 365 days, Ikehata said. Because the goal is to produce water that can be immediately provided to customers without any additional treatment or dilution with other water, they need to be able to immediately detect issues and shut down the system, without waiting for lab tests, which can take longer.

The goal is to implement sensors that can provide real-time monitoring of certain pathogens and chemicals in the water, said graduate engineering student Rasha Khan, who has worked on that project since last fall.

Carlos Espindola, a graduate student at Texas State University, explains a pilot project at the San Marcos Wastewater Treatment Plant that aims to turn wastewater back into safe drinking water. Jessica Phelps/San Antonio Express News

That also could help make the entire system more efficient, Ikehata said. While theyre currently using five different processes to treat the wastewater, the monitoring system could allow them to reduce the number of processes needed, making it less expensive and more feasible to implement.

We dont want to build a system thats only affordable for rich cities, he said. If we use all five, we can ensure the water is 100% safe, but that is going to be very, very expensive, he said, so a strong monitoring system could reduce the number of steps needed without affecting quality.

Some of the funding for the project, including the work focused on monitoring contaminants and trying to optimize the process, came from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which awarded Ikehata $150,000 in 2021 for the pilot program.

Ikehata said direct potable reuse costs more than conventional water, at about $2 to $3 per 1,000 gallons, compared with $1 to $2 per 1,000 gallons to produce drinking water from typical sources. But its less expensive than another approach thats gained a following: saltwater desalination, or removing salt from seawater or groundwater to make it potable. That process costs about $3 to $4 per 1,000 gallons, Ikehata said. Thats primarily because of the power needed to push saltwater through reverse osmosis, he said, and thats not including the cost of moving saltwater to inland cities like San Marcos, which would be super expensive, he said.

The other focus at the San Marcos project is the aesthetics of the water. Espindola is conducting research on how the treated wastewater looks, smells and tastes, which is vital to appealing to potential customers.

Keisuke Ikehata, an assistant professor at Texas State University, is working with graduate students on a pilot project at the San Marcos Wastewater Treatment Plant that aims to turn wastewater back into safe drinking water. Jessica Phelps/San Antonio Express News

Even if the treated water is completely safe, if it doesnt look or smell good, it does lead to public mistrust in that drinking water, he said, pushing people to buy bottled water over using recycled water. To encourage people to use the treated water, they need to change the perception of it, he said.

His research focuses on analyzing water samples and determining which processes are best for producing the cleanest, most appealing water. Certain compounds give an earthy smell to the water, for example, but theyre removed well through reverse osmosis, while another compound leaves a musty smell, so hes experimenting with activated carbon treatment to remove it, he said.

The end product needs to be more than just scientifically safe, Khan said. It needs to be truly good enough to drink.

Ikehatas long-term vision is ambitious. He wants direct potable reuse to be a viable alternative water source for fast-growing Texas cities. Hed like Texas State University to be able to rely on it, too, he said.

He and his students have drank some of the treated water, and he keeps a bottle of it on his desk to show off, but hes also got a bigger personal target in mind: an avid swimmer, hes eyeing the universitys pool.
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Provincial leaders are planning for vast investment in infrastructure, seaports and logistics, tourism, and much more

From the efforts and results of investment attraction achieved in recent years, Binh Dinh is increasingly showcasing its stellar position in the central coast and Central Highlands regions.

An upcoming investment promotion conference on March 29 is being deemed a promising forum to gather new and potential financial backers to Binh Dinh in the near future, according to provincial leaders.

It follows hot on the heels of the December unveiling of the provinces official planning, at which Binh Dinh Peoples Committee gave the green light to over 20 projects worth over $540 million in total.

In particular, Nguyen Bay, director of Binh Dinh Investment Promotion Centre, said that Binh Dinh Peoples Committee has recently worked with many businesses in the United Arab Emirates, such as Supercool Company, DMCC Group, Ghassan Aboud Group, and GBE Prime Group.

Along with that, Binh Dinh has worked with visitors from embassies, consulates, and business delegations of such countries as Japan, China, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Italy, and the United States, Bay said. The locality also organised many provincial promotion campaigns in the likes of Thailand, South Korea, Canada, the US and more to celebrate investment, trade, and tourism promotion activities and attempt to engage with more foreign capital inflows.

Exploiting potential

Binh Dinh is located at the midpoint of the North-South railway and road transport axis and is the closest gateway to the sea in the Central Highlands region, southern Laos, northeast Cambodia, and Thailand.

With its planning strategy towards 2030, Binh Dinh aims to become a developed province for the region, and targets being a southern centre for processing, manufacturing, services, tourism, and culture.

In particular, Binh Dinh strives to be a major centre of the country for marine economic development, and a key national and international tourism centre with a synchronous and modern economic infrastructure system.

Ho Quoc Dung, Secretary of Binh Dinh Party Committee, declared that to achieve the set goals, the province needs to rely on the pillars of industrial growth, tourism services, seaports and logistics, high-tech agriculture, and urbanisation.

For urban development, we will focus on developing a modern Quy Nhon urban area in terms of space and architecture, exploiting the potential and special advantages of the landscape and climate in the area along Thi Nai Lagoon, Dung said. At the same time, Binh Dinh will plan to build a new administrative centre of the province in Nhon Hoi Economic Zone and develop a national scientific urban area.

According to Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai, Binh Dinhs planning has been built with breakthrough thinking, long-term vision based on distinct potential, outstanding opportunities, and competitive advantages.

To successfully implement the plan, the province is required to continue to strongly improve the business investment environment, with a focus on creating a breakthrough in administrative procedure reform, creating an open, transparent, and equitable business environment, creating better conditions for businesses to set up projects, DPM Khai emphasised.

Khai also stated that the plan will open up new opportunities and development space for Binh Dinh, and is expected to create new impetus for it to create a miracle in socioeconomic development.

From an expert perspective, Dr. Tran Dinh Thien, former director of the Vietnam Institute of Economics, assessed that the plan will build Binh Dinh into a world-class destination and the regions leading destination.

This planning is a particularly effective tool to entice investment and help Binh Dinh create a development breakthrough in its efforts to get ahead, Thien said.

Economist Tran Du Lich, however, said that while building plans can difficult, actually realising them can be much more complex. To realise Binh Dinhs aims not only for 2030 but also towards 2040, the province needs to solve a raft of issues that will requires the governments support in policymaking.

The most important thing is that the government soon plans and directs investment in Quy Nhon-Gia Lai Expressway, of which phase 1 is the Quy Nhon-Pleiku section. Then, it is necessary to take advantage of the marine economic zone, as industrial development is the key to create a breakthrough, said Lich.

Welcoming the wave

In 2024, Binh Dinh Peoples Committee assigned a target of attracting 100 projects. Of which, Binh Dinh Department of Planning and Investment attracted 70 new ones, and Binh Dinh Economic Zone Management Board attracted the remainder. At the same time, Binh Dinh guaranteed 1,000 newly established businesses valued at $416.7 million.

Le Hoang Nghi, director of Binh Dinh Department of Planning and Investment, said that the locality will continuously review the list of projects calling for funding, and additional adjustments will be made to remove initiatives that already have investors or are not feasible.

At the same time, the province will collect, update, adjust, and supplement projects calling for investment, build a database and provide information on attractive policies, and introduce and hold connection activities. Nghi said.

According to Nghi, the locality is proactively seeking investment from large and reputable financiers in the EU, the US, Japan, and South Korea. In 2024, the province will invite reputable organisations such as the commerce chambers from Europe, Japan, the US, and others to conduct field surveys in the province, thereby serving as a bridge to potential investors around the world, Nghi said.

Pham Anh Tuan, Chairman of Binh Dinh Peoples Committee, said that in addition to promotion by the local authorities, the province also requires industrial parks (IPs) and clusters in the area to proactively draw in investors.

According to Tuan, the province requires Becamex Binh Dinh JSC to allure at least 15 projects, with each being worth at least $4.15 million; Hoa Hoi IP and Nhon Hoi A IP attract 10 ventures of the same value. For industrial clusters, 2-3 projects must be attracted, with each valued at no less than $1.25 million.

We must focus on having large, key initiatives, because they will fundamentally change the provinces prospects. For example, they could be wind power schemes, port system projects, or new production such as steel factories, Tuan said.

In 2023, Binh Dinh attracted six newly registered foreign-invested projects, capitalised at more than $46 million. It adjusted five projects, with a total capital increase of $46.5 million. To date, the province boasts 91 foreign-led schemes, with the total registered capital of $1.2 billion.

Regarding domestic investment, Binh Dinh last year attracted 79 projects worth of more than $640 million. Including both domestic and foreign investment, Binh Dinh attracted 85 new ventures with the registered capital of more than $685 million, over 40 per cent higher than the plan assigned in early 2023. The province also adjusted 64 projects (five foreign-invested ones) with the additional capital of more than $145 million.

Binh Dinh province seeks investment from RoK A delegation from the central province of Binh Dinh led by Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Ho Quoc Dung on November 3 organised an investment promotion conference in the Republic of Korea (RoK) as part of their visit to the country.

Over 100kg bomb successfully deactivated in Binh Dinh A 115kg bomb that remained intact and had high dangerousness has been successfully deactivated in the central province of Binh Dinh.
District 10 Councilman Marc Whyte listens to discussion during the City Council meeting held in Council Chambers on Thursday, March 21, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News

Council Member Marc Whyte on Tuesday was scheduled to make his first court appearance on a charge of driving while intoxicated  but his defense attorney punted for the second time this year.

Whyte, who was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving on Dec. 29, is now scheduled to appear in Bexar County Court 11 on May 14.

The District 10 councilmans arraignment was originally slated for Jan. 30, but Whytes attorney, David Christian, rescheduled it for this month because the Texas Department of Public Safety at the time hadnt returned the results of Whytes blood alcohol concentration test.

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The results, released in February, showed Whyte was just over the legal limit a little more than two hours after his arrest.

Christian, who declined to comment for this article, told KSAT News that Tuesdays hearing was pushed because the defense is still reviewing the BAC results.

An officer with the San Antonio Police Departments DWI unit pulled over the Northeast Side council member just after 11 p.m. Dec. 29. In a police affidavit, the officer said hed observed Whyte speeding and changing lanes without signaling on a Northeast Loop 410 frontage road near the San Antonio International Airport.

Whyte, 43, refused to take a breathalyzer test or have his blood drawn to determine his BAC, according to the affidavit. Police obtained a warrant from a magistrate judge ordering Whyte to comply, and a nurse drew his blood at 1:30 a.m. Dec. 30.

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DPS found that his BAC was 0.089 grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood.

DWI is defined in the Texas Penal Code as driving with a BAC of 0.08 or higher. Its a Class B misdemeanor punishable by up to 180 days in jail.

Whyte has maintained that he did not feel intoxicated when he drove home that night from the Thirsty Horse Dance Hall & Saloon on Northwest Military Highway.

According the affidavit, Whyte told the officer that hed consumed three beers that night: one at El Mirasol, a Mexican restaurant; a second at Myrons Prime Steakhouse next door; and another at the Thirsty Horse Dance Hall & Saloon.

Whyte met up with friends at El Mirasol, including District 6 Council Member Melissa Cabello Havrda, who also visited Myrons with Whyte. However, she told the San Antonio Express-News that when the group decided to go to the Thirsty Horse, she was suffering from allergies and decided to go home. She had taken an Uber to El Mirasol, but Whyte drove her home, dropping her off between 9 and 9:30 p.m. before meeting his other friends at the Thirsty Horse.

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The City Council censured Whyte for his actions in January, but the formal reprimand carries no tangible consequences.

Mayor Ron Nirenberg temporarily removed Whyte from three council committees he sat on, making it more difficult for him to influence city policy on their way to the dais. Nirenberg hasnt said when he will reinstate Whyte to those committees.

Whytes predecessor in District 10, Clayton Perry, pleaded no contest in April to misdemeanor charges of DWI and fleeing the scene of an accident. On the night of Nov. 6, 2022, an intoxicated Perry crashed his Jeep head-on into a Honda Civic that was stopped at a traffic light at Jones Maltsberger and Redland roads on the North Side. The three-term council member then sped away.

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Mastercards Center for Inclusive Growth and CARE, an international humanitarian organisation, announced the launch of Mastercard Strive Women in Vietnam on March 26, a new programme that aims to strengthen the financial health and resilience of businesses, with a focus on micro and small businesses led by women.

Strive Women builds on the success of the Ignite programme, also funded by the Mastercard Impact Fund, which unlocked more than $64.1 million in loans in Vietnam and directly supported over 47,000 Vietnamese entrepreneurs, 99 per cent of them women.

Thanks to the programme, 80 per cent of Vietnamese participants increased their sales, and 86 per cent reported increased confidence in running their businesses.

Winnie Wong, country manager for Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia at Mastercard, said, Mastercard and CARE have been partners since 2019, and together have rolled out numerous initiatives such as the Ignite programme in Vietnam. The latest Strive Women initiative is part of both organisations shared mission to create a more inclusive economy in the country, by providing solutions and support to Vietnamese female entrepreneurs that will help them stay resilient and thrive amidst current economic uncertainties.

Strive Women joins Mastercards portfolio of philanthropic small business support programmes, called Mastercard Strive, which helps small businesses thrive in the digital economy.

With long experience working to support women around the globe, CARE understands that female entrepreneurship is a critical avenue through which we can support womens economic empowerment. Women also put their profits back into their families, create more jobs and bring greater prosperity for their communities. Were thrilled to embrace this newly launched Strive Women program to continue fueling the growth engine of women-owned businesses with tools and financial resources that better suit their needs, said Le Kim Dung, country director of CARE in Vietnam, shared.

Womens entrepreneurship is a core component of CAREs women economic empowerment programme and a crucial tool to fight poverty and gender inequality through addressing structural and social barriers and decision-making. as well as investing in the capability, agency and business opportunities for women to have a sustainable impact on both gender equality and their economic status.

Strive Women, a global programme that runs in Peru, Pakistan, and Vietnam, recognizes that women-led small and micro businesses are critical contributors to economies, communities, and households worldwide. The programme will focus on strengthening the financial health of these micro and small businesses by working with local partners in each market to deliver tailored financial products and support services, while addressing unique gender barriers that women-led businesses face.

Micro and small businesses are the backbone of the Vietnamese economy. Women entrepreneurs, in particular, are often better credit customers with lower default rates than their male counterparts (IFC report), fast adopters of ecommerce, and proven to reinvest in their households and local communities.

In partnership with local financial service providers, business incubators and fintech partners, Strive Women in Vietnam takes a women-centred design approach to understand the needs of women entrepreneurs and deliver financial products and support services, such as capacity building, digital skills enhancement, and network strengthening.

Additionally, the programme innovates in areas such as climate crisis adaptation and childcare support, recognising their disproportionate impact on women. Over four years, the programme aims to reach 2 million entrepreneurs in Vietnam through campaigns, while directly supporting over 90,000 entrepreneurs-the majority being women-to grow their businesses and increase their economic potential.
Ming and award-winning Si Chuan Dou Hua join forces to present the exquisite 'Dance of Flavours

Get ready for a flavour-packed joyride from the roaring Lion City as Ming Restaurant takes your taste buds on a wild journey with an exclusive fusion feast, in collaboration with executive Cantonese chef Hoo Chee Keong from the renowned Si Chuan Dou Hua, an award-winning Chinese restaurant in Singapore.

Si Chuan Dou Hua, with more than two decades of culinary excellence, brings award-winning expertise and a reputation for authenticity to the collaboration. Chef Hoo, who has ascended through the ranks of esteemed culinary establishments, showcases his mastery of Cantonese culinary artistry by infusing each dish with a precise and passionate touch.

Adding an extra dimension of authenticity to this culinary adventure is Sichuan chef Zhao Yong, a proficient artisan from Chengdu who will be working in tandem with Hoo to create a symphony of flavours that captivates the senses.

Sichuan cuisine is renowned for its meticulous and patient approach to culinary preparation. Embrace the age-old adage of "one dish, one character, and a hundred flavours in a hundred dishes". The extended preparation time results in dishes brimming with complex, layered flavours.

Diners can expect dishes that go beyond the "mala" numbing sensation, emphasising culinary intricacy through marinating, simmering, braising, and slow-cooking ingredients to perfection. Discover the rich and diverse world of Sichuan cuisine, characterised by numbing, spicy, fresh, and aromatic flavour profiles. The menu showcases the seven key tastes and eight flavours unique to Sichuan cuisine, providing a sensory exploration for your palate.

The adept Tea Master Yu Wei will enhance your dining adventure by infusing a mix of martial arts, dance, and captivating showmanship into the age-old tradition of tea pouring, skilfully performed with a long-nosed bronze kettle.

Ming and award-winning Si Chuan Dou Hua join forces to present the exquisite 'Dance of Flavours

Pan Pacific Hanoi & Hope Centre present Heart For Autism art exhibition The exhibition featuring 15 paintings by children with autism will open from June 2-4 at Pan Pacific Hanoi.

Pan Pacific Hanoi launches mooncake collection 2023 Pan Pacific Hanoi is showcasing its 25-year legacy with its 2023 Mooncake collection, unveiling a special story through exquisite packaging and delectable products.

Welcoming guests to La Vie En Rose wedding show Visitors are invited to the West Lake Room at Pan Pacific Hanoi on August 26 to enjoy the La Vie en Rose wedding shows spectacular party venue, exciting activities, and complementary gifts.

Pan Pacific Hanoi launches painting contest in collaboration with Vietnam University Fine Arts The Pan Pacific Hanoi introduces 2024 Art Award along with the launch of the "Inspiring Tradition" painting contest, in collaboration with Vietnam University of Fine Arts, aiming to recognise and celebrate the talents of Vietnamese artists with special needs aged 19 to 35.
Dak Nong hosted a conference on March 23 to highlight the province's investment promotion plans.

Within the framework of the conference, the province granted investment certificates and memoranda on investment cooperation for projects in minerals, renewable energy, high-tech agriculture, healthcare, and real estate.

The investment certificates were granted to four projects with total investment of VND1.7 trillion ($68.6 million).

Vietnam ARABICA Coffee JSC will invest VND440 billion ($17.76 million) to develop the Cao Nguyen hotel and commercial Complex.

Gia Nghia Real Estate JSC will develop a residential area in Nghia Trung ward with VND880 billion ($35.5 million), and Trans-Asia Hospital Investment JSC will build the Trans-Asian Hospital, Gia Nghia, worth VND260 billion ($10.5 million).

SEJIN F&S INC. also plans to invest VND150 billion ($6 million) in a factory to produce frozen sliced sweet potatoes in Tam Thang Industrial Park.

In addition, Dak Nong awarded memoranda on investment cooperation to four companies with total registered capital of $8.4 billion.

Specifically, TH Group will invest in minerals, renewable energy, high-tech agriculture, with $3.6 billion.

Duc Giang Chemical Group JSC has committed to making a $2.3 billion investment in minerals and other fields. Meanwhile, Viet Phuong Investment Group JSC plans to inject $1.5 billion into minerals and renewable energy.

Vietnam Mining Company Limited has also pledged $1 billion.

TH Group is the largest investor in Dak Nong, with $3.6 billion. The group plans to apply high-tech solutions towards sustainable development, and transform Dak Nong into its second hub for high-tech dairy farming and processing, after Nghe An.

Dak Nong to accelerate land clearance for wind power projects Dak Nong Peoples Committee has promised to thoroughly deal with bottlenecks in land clearance to unlock wind power project development.

Chon Thanh-Dak Nong railway calls for investors The $715 million Chon Thanh-Dak Nong railway project is expected to be developed under the public-private partnership model.
Export risks could be tamed with market economy status, illustration photo/ Source: freepik.com

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that during the working visit over a week ago to the US by Vietnamese Vice State President Vo Thi Anh Xuan, who is now the acting state president, she met with Patty Murray, president pro tempore of the US Senate.

Vietnam stands ready to hold dialogue and exchanges with the US side on remaining differences, and Vietnam suggests that the US government and congress continue prioritising cooperation in facilitating trade and investment relations with the country, and promptly recognising Vietnam as a market economy, acting State President Xuan said.

Murray stated her strong support for US efforts to promote its friendship and cooperation with Vietnam over recent times, and took notes of Vietnams proposals.

The Ministry of Industry and Trades (MoIT) Department for European and American Markets also reported that during the visit, MoIT Deputy Minister Phan Thi Thang met with Sarah Elleman, deputy assistant US trade representative for Southeast Asia-Pacific, to mobilise the US to soon lift Vietnam out of its list of nations having a non-market economy.

Thang continues reiterating the importance for relevant agencies of the US government to have a substantive voice and support Vietnams early removal from the list of countries with a non-market economy, said the department. She also stated that recognising Vietnam as a market economy will allow Vietnamese firms to be treated more fairly, without affecting the legal rights of the US domestic manufacturing industry.

In addition, according to the MoIT, the US recognition of Vietnams efforts in economic reform will create motivation for other economies as well as produce bigger momentum for Vietnam in improving the domestic investment and business climate, creating a stable supply chain for the import and consumption needs of US businesses and individuals.

Last week, Vietnamese National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue welcomed the first Vietnam visit by a high-ranking delegation from the US-ASEAN Business Council (USABC). He spoke highly of the US governments commitment to consider granting the market economy status to Vietnam, while also calling it a practical and significant step that will lay a premise for all-around cooperation and benefit businesses and citizens of both countries.

USABC President and CEO Ted Osius said the USABC has provided evidence of Vietnams market economy and submitted recommendations and reports to the US Department of Commerce (DoC).

In September, Vietnam filed an official request that the DoC consider it a market economy, citing the countrys economic reforms made in recent years. The following month, the DoC announced it will begin reviewing the non-market economy status of Vietnam.

The DoC will carefully review the information submitted by the Vietnamese government concerning its market reforms, and will complete a review as expeditiously as possible, in accordance with US law. The DoC has 270 days to complete this review, which includes a public comment period before a determination is made, it said.

Since the first anti-dumping investigation involving Vietnam in 2002, the US has considered Vietnam a non-market economy. According to US regulations, the determination of a market economy status is based on six criteria set by the DoC.

These criteria include the currency conversion rate, wage and labour negotiation issues, foreign investment levels, state and private ownership, government control over resources and prices, and other relevant factors.

At present, the US categorises 12 countries, including Vietnam, as non-market economies in trade defence cases, which has a significant impact on Vietnamese businesses, especially in anti-dumping investigations.

The US assesses a Vietnamese products value based on what it is worth in a third country (a market economy) and then assumes this is the likely production cost to a Vietnamese company, rather than using data provided by the company itself.

This calculation causes the dumping margin to be pushed up very high and does not actually reflect the status of Vietnamese companies.

If recognised, the market economy status will help Vietnam avoid anti-dumping duties by the US, and Vietnam would be able to make their products more competitive in the US market, also meaning that Vietnams export-oriented manufacturing sector will develop further.

Currently, the US is among the key export markets of Vietnam. Two-way trade between Vietnam and the US soared from $450 million in 1995 when the two countries established their diplomatic relations, to $110.6 billion last year. The figure hit $19.6 billion in the first two months of 2024, up from $15 billion recorded in the same period last year.

While there may be some disagreement over whether Vietnam has adequately addressed each of the statutory criteria commerce uses to evaluate a countrys market economy status, it is certain that Vietnams economy is very different to the other 11 countries on the non-market economy list, Adam Sitkoff, executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hanoi, told VIR.

We believe that sufficient progress has been made and that promoting Vietnam to market economy status serves the interests of both of our great countries, he said.

According to Vietnams Ministry of Planning and Investment, cumulatively as of February 20, the US was Vietnams 11th largest foreign investor with total registered capital of over $11.83 billion for nearly 1,350 valid ventures.

Chairman Hue stated that Vietnam encourages US businesses to increase investment and cooperation with Vietnamese counterparts in the sectors of green transition, clean and renewable energy, transport infrastructure, digital economy, high technology, healthcare and pharma, electronics, manufacturing, finance-banking, logistics, and quality workforce training.
The signing ceremony marked a significant milestone towards formalising the relationship between the two key ports in the ASEAN region, opening up opportunities for cooperation, sharing experiences in port management, and market connectivity to enhance cargo throughput and promote global trade.

Vo Quoc Huy, chairman of Long An Port JSC, shared the strategic vision and long-term cooperation aspirations of Long An International Port with OPASCOR.

"We aspire to establish and nurture a strong cooperative relationship with the leadership of OPASCOR. As neighbouring countries in the ASEAN region, Long An International Port seeks to foster cooperation opportunities between the two ports and the business communities of both localities, thereby building beautiful relationships for the future, co-development, and sharing and learning in port operation and management activities," he said.

Tomas Riveral, chairman and CEO of OPASCOR, said, "We are very excited about the emergence of Long An International Port, a new player in the maritime and logistics industry in the region."

"OPASCOR is a port formed and operated by Filipino workers, under the supervision of the local port authority. We strive for further development and are particularly delighted to connect and collaborate with partners like Long An International Port. We will arrange a visit to Vietnam at the earliest opportunity for more specific discussions, and we hope that the cooperative relationship between the two parties will continue to grow," he said.

Previously, Long An International Port had signed an MoU with the Port of Long Beach and Port of Oakland (US), both prestigious ports worldwide. Signing with OPASCOR will bring mutual benefits and cooperative activities in areas of common interest, including commitments to develop smart ports, green ports, and sustainable development.

This will be an opportunity for Long An International Port on its journey to become an internationally recognised and preferred port in Asia.

Participating as a speaker at the Philippines Ports and Logistics 2024 Conference and Exhibition, Long An International Port left a lasting impression on the international attendees for its investment scale, vision, development strategy, and potential integration into the logistics chain and Southern region's maritime port, while promoting economic development in the Mekong Delta.

As part of the conference, the booth of Long An International Port attracted a significant number of delegates who came to explore, learn, exchange ideas, and network.

In particular, Undersecretary of the Department of Transportation Elmer U. Sarmiento recognised and conveyed appreciation of the potential for logistics development in Long An province and Long An International Port. Sarmiento highlighted that the port had the capability to effectively integrate with the regional transportation system.

He also emphasised that its substantial investment, comprehensive equipment, and diverse cargo handling capacity would deliver optimal services for import and export activities in the region.

At the conference, Long An International Port made a presentation on "Initiatives of Long An International Port for the Economic and Logistics Development of Vietnam's southern key economic region."

As a new port in the maritime community, Long An International Port is striving to connect with ports in the region and around the world, promoting the image of Vietnam to international friends.

The Philippines Ports and Logistics Conference and Exhibition is organised in coordination with the Philippines Department of Transportation and the support of the Philippines Maritime Industry Authority and Port Authorities, the Philippines Ports Authority, and the ASEAN Ports Association.

The biennial event, the largest in the region for the East ASEAN Growth Area, took place from March 19 to 21 in Manila, with over 350 delegates including high-level government officials, industry leaders, businesses, and shipping companies from ASEAN countries and neighbouring regions.

Long An International Port inks deal with Port of Long Beach On November 15, Long An International Port (Vietnam) and the Port of Long Beach (US) signed a letter of intent to establish a sister port relationship. This coincided with an event to welcome Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation partners organised by the California Association of Port Authorities (CAPA).

Long An province enhances investment ties with US firms A business mission from the southern Vietnamese province of Long An, accompanying Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong's working trip to attend the ongoing APEC 2023 Summit Week in the United States, met with major US companies to promote investment relations between the two sides.
Intel Products Vietnam joined a huge business delegation to Vietnam last week, led by its vice president and general director Kim Huat Ooi, to meet with Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Nguyen Sinh Nhat Tan.

The delegation included well-known names such as 3M, Abbott, Amazon, Bell, Chubb Life, Coca-Cola, and many others.

Ooi said that Intel has carried out initiatives to reduce power use at its factory and wants to do more, but is waiting for more specific support to improve the companys operational efficiency in Vietnam.

Having been operating in Vietnam since 2006 with a total investment of $1.5 billion, its chip factory has seen success, with total export value at $10-11 billion in 2023, contributing to enabling Vietnam to join the global semiconductor supply chain.

American businesses want to promote cooperation with Vietnam in many fields to benefit both sides, photo Le Toan

Semiconductor production is among the most appealing areas for US businesses in Vietnam currently. While Intel, Meta, Synopsys, and Qualcomm are also making strong moves in the local industry, the list of interested US companies continues to expand. For example, semiconductor manufacturing equipment provider Lam Research and Seojin of South Korea announced a collaboration in chip production in Vietnam on March 20.

Vietnams growing attention to developing AI, the vehicle industry, and semiconductors, as seen through a number of new policies and strategies, gives motivation for foreign-led enterprises.

At last weeks Vietnam Business Forum, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said, Vietnam aims to prioritise high-tech and environmentally friendly projects in its attraction to create motivation for digital transformation, green transformation, and circular economy development. This is in addition to emerging fields such as semiconductor chips, AI, hydrogen, and others to deeply participate in regional and global production and supply chains.

According to the US-ASEAN Business Council, US companies are eager to explore new opportunities and potential in Vietnam. Moreover, the US business community seeks to identify ways to support the implementation of initiatives and deliverables outlined in the upgraded Vietnam-United States relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership, which occurred last September.

US Ambassador to Vietnam Marc Knapper said the US business delegation to Vietnam last week not only reflected the commitment of the government but also the initiative of the US private sector.

Vietnam has a crucial position in the global supply chain to ensure peace, security, and prosperity for the region, he said. US businesses are interested in Vietnam and want to promote cooperation in many fields to have good products that serve the interests of both countries. Now is a critical time in the relationship between the two countries, and towards the goal of enhancing long-term relations.

US-Vietnam relations in the past six months have already helped to deepen commercial, economic, and tech ties between the two countries.

Vietnam attracted $626.32 million worth of US funding in 2023, being among the top 10 foreign investors in the country. More importantly, despite considerable challenges posed by headwinds in the global economy, the US remains Vietnams biggest export market, driving growth throughout Vietnam.

Le Net, a lawyer at LNT & Partners said, US businesses have taken the last few months to seek more ways to support future initiatives. I have been working with a number of new clients from the US who want to enlarge investment in the country, while some others are studying the market. There will probably be a big rise in US funding in the future.

While making new plans, US corporations are proposing supporting policies to facilitate their next steps ahead.

Specifically, Intel suggests that tax certainty is important to make long-term business decisions, so a competitive tax landscape that supports manufacturing and innovation (including tax rate relief) remains important.

We would encourage the government to consider modernising business support incentive programmes that maintain and increase Vietnams competitiveness and its ability to draw in and retain large-scale financiers, said Phung Viet Thang, country manager of Intel Vietnam.

Joseph Uddo, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hanoi, also said, Government action can help the country maintain its competitive edge as global investors seek manufacturing destinations throughout the world. In this regard, our focus is on Vietnams priorities of removing bottlenecks in resource mobilisation, production, and business; addressing energy development needs and accelerating the transition to clean and renewable energy; unlocking the full potential of the digital economy, and more besides.

Le Nhan Tam, chief technology officer Microsoft Vietnam Recent findings from a PwC survey indicate that Vietnam is among the top 10 countries in the Asia-Pacific region with a strong interest in AI, with 63 per cent of respondents stating they are in the process of exploring or piloting this technology. However, only 24 per cent have implemented AI on a large scale, a figure lower than the regional average of 35 per cent. The main challenges for AI adoption in Vietnam include insufficiently standardised data infrastructure, limited data quality, a lack of AI skills, and computational infrastructure for AI applications, along with high deployment costs and complexity. Several prominent investment trends in the generative AI sector are focusing on applying AI to business, investing in capabilities, and enhancing investment in related infrastructure. From an industry perspective, high-tech, banking, pharma, education, and telcos have the highest potential impact to drive high productivity across key business functions. Within the technology sector, Viettel has developed a chatbot application utilising Microsoft Azure OpenAI technology  a platform that provides Microsofts generative AI services. This has been integrated into the MyViettel mobile app and implementing intelligent chatbots to assist judges and citizens in searching for legal information. Meanwhile, FPT Software has been experimenting with the GitHub Copilot, another Microsofts generative AI product, to assist programmers for optimising their source code and improving productivity. In the financial sector, Trusting Social developed its Agent Foundry, a generative AI platform empowered by Microsoft Cloud and AI technologies that provides trainable, AI-powered autonomous agents to enterprises, delivering financial access to all. Elsewhere VinBrain, a subsidiary of Vingroup, has developed DrAid, one of the Vietnams first comprehensive AI platform aiding medical professionals in various domains, including chest X-ray and abdominal CT screening, cancer diagnosis and treatment, and managing endemic diseases like tuberculosis and thalassemia. It is the only AI-driven X-ray diagnostic tool in Southeast Asia to receive US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) certification, propelling Vietnam into the top six nations globally with FDA-approved AI products for chest X-ray diagnostics. Michael Nguyen, managing director Boeing Vietnam As part of the 2024 US-ASEAN Business Councils business mission to Vietnam, Boeing highlighted the companys growing partnership with Vietnam and opportunities to strengthen the countrys aerospace capabilities. Vietnam is an important partner for Boeing due to its growing economy, expanding aviation industry, emerging role in global supply chains, and commitment to achieving net-zero carbon emissions. Boeing sees Vietnam as a strategic partner, and we continue to strengthen our presence and relationship with our customers and partners in Vietnam. Boeing has been active in supporting regional and domestic companies in developing capabilities in aerospace manufacturing in Vietnam. Boeings suppliers in the country manufacture aircraft parts, including aero structures, electronic components and composites, and software services. Boeing is providing formal training for several Vietnamese companies so they can be part of the global supply chain in the future.

Game-changing ESG initiatives expected With the Vietnamese government last week boosting commitments to supporting foreign-invested enterprises, more green business and funding initiatives are expected in the coming months.

Vietnam can become major semiconductor player During VinFuture Prize 2023, Dr. Sadasivan Shankar, research technology manager at SLAC National Laboratory and Adjunct Professor in Stanford Materials Science and Engineering, spoke with VIRs Tuan Minh about his insights into Vietnams chances in the semiconductor industry.

Semiconductor development surge keenly anticipated Vietnam will look to build on its semiconductor diplomacy with the formulation of a strategy on developing the much-needed products.

Consistency required for developing chip industry The Vietnamese government is now paying more attention to promoting research and development (R&D) and developing the semiconductor chip industry. However, to achieve this, depends on many factors, of which R&D, human resources, and others are critical.

Bac Giang makes its play for investment in semiconductors Vietnam is hoping to emerge as a top market for semiconductor production. Luong Van Nghiep, deputy director of Bac Giang Department of Planning and Investment, told VIRs Minh Oanh about the northern provinces potential and its strategies to draw in foreign investors in the sector.
Origin rules must be tightened to benefit from global trade, illustration photo/ Source: freepik.com

According to a report assessing how the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) has impacted on the Vietnamese economy, released this month by the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM), while some Vietnamese businesses have taken advantage of incentives in free trade agreements (FTA) and the RCEP in particular, it is not that significant, and some progress has even reversed in the 2019-2022 period.

Businesses will eventually have to face numerous issues in making the most of incentives from the RCEP, the report stated.

Inked in November 2020 by 15 countries, the RCEP began taking effect in January 2022. According to the CIEM, the RCEP may increase Vietnams trade deficit.

There may be an increase in pressure for the domestic manufacturing industries as goods from regional markets enter Vietnam at lower import tariff rates. [] In fact, pre-2020 trade deficit figures with RCEP economies reflected this concern (see box), the CIEM noted.

Figures from the General Department of Vietnam Customs showed that Vietnams total export and import turnover with RCEP markets has been on a downward trend. Its total export and import value from and to these markets in its total trade value increased from 45.7 per cent in 2012 to 44.2 per cent in 2018, before declining to 39.5 per cent in 2022. Figures for 2023 are not yet available.

Vietnam recorded a trade deficit of $13.6 billion in 2022 and $8.3 billion last year with ASEAN member states. In 2022, it did so with RCEP partners at $118.9 billion.

Under the RCEP, member countries committed to providing duty-free access to goods that represent 92 per cent of tariff lines.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Developments (UNCTAD) analysis indicates that Japan would benefit the most from RCEP tariff concessions, largely because of trade diversion effects. The countrys exports are expected to rise by about $20 billion, an increase equivalent to about 5.5 per cent relative to its exports to RCEP members in 2019.

The UNCTAD report also finds substantial positive effects for the exports of most other economies, including Australia, China, South Korea, and New Zealand. On the other hand, calculations show RCEP tariff concessions may end up lowering exports for Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

This would stem primarily from the negative trade diversion effects, as some exports of these economies are expected to be diverted to the advantage of other RCEP members because of differences in the magnitude of tariff concessions.

For example, some of the imports of China from Vietnam will be replaced by imports from Japan because of the stronger tariff liberalisation between China and Japan, the UNCTAD said.

According to experts, a big challenge for ASEAN businesses in general and for Vietnams in particular is that the RCEP could create a risk of trade diversion.

Meanwhile, the export structure of these industries in Vietnam is similar to ASEAN countries and China, and Vietnams export similarity with South Korea is also increasing.

Thus, the competitive pressure between Vietnam and RCEP countries may increase. Additionally, these countries, including China, also issue new, strict regulations with higher standards, affecting the penetration of imported goods including those from Vietnam, the CIEM said.

According to Vietnams Ministry of Industry and Trade, studies have revealed that the main cause behind Vietnams trade deficit with RCEP markets is that Vietnamese businesses fail to clearly understand the criteria and conditions for their exported goods to receive incentives.

At present, so as to enjoy incentives under FTAs, exports must ensure rules of origin through dedicated certificates.

However, many businesses encounter difficulties proving the origin rate according to regulations due to not having collected enough certificates when purchasing input materials for production and business, and therefore they do not enjoy preferential tax rates, the CIEM stated.

In fact, many Vietnamese production chains of many goods still depend on it raw material supply - such as electronic products, textiles, footwear, and processed foods - from many RCEP countries such as China and South Korea.

For example, in the textile and garment production chain, 80 per cent of raw materials must be imported from abroad, mostly from China, Taiwan, and South Korea.

Even though Vietnam currently can produce yarn, it still has to export raw yarn to China and then import from this market finished yarn and fabric for domestic production.

For instance in 2019, Vietnam exported $4.2 billion of yarn and $2.1 billion of assorted fabric, but must import up to $13.2 billion of fabric. Of which, $1.3 billion of fibre and $7.7 billion of fabric were imported from China.

Meanwhile, under the ASEAN-Japan FTA commitments, if the product contains fabric made by Japan and ASEAN countries and sewn in Vietnam, it will be tax exempt when exported to Japan. If the fabric is produced outside the RCEP bloc and sewn in Vietnam, the finished product exported to Japan will be subject to a tax rate of 9-10 per cent.

In other words, the textile industry can hardly take advantage of these tax preferences, the CIEM said. Therefore, joining the RCEP will help reduce problems regarding origin, thereby contributing to the creation of new value chains and helping businesses take advantage of important tax incentives.

Under the RCEPs commitments, member states pledged to remove 87.8-98.3 per cent of tariff lines for Vietnam, and ASEAN nations vowed to do that with 85.9-100 per cent of tariff lines. The longest roadmap for tariff elimination is 15-20 years as from the RCEP became valid.

Rules of origin pose questions for sectors jostling for position Although the free trade agreement between the European Union and Vietnam will offer great opportunities for wood investors and exporters, its rules of origin may not provide a big boon to local textile and garment businesses.
The annual social responsibility activity aims to realise the company's vision of bringing wellness to people and contribute to the sustainable development of the country. Besides that, specialised forest planting will contribute to the promotion of carbon credits and carbon emission reduction.

From 2013 until now, Panasonic has planted and donated more than 270,000 trees in 10 cities and provinces, with the active participation of the company's employees.

This year, more than 100 Panasonic employees travelled hundreds of km to the specialised forest area in Xuan Lien Nature Reserve, collaborating with authorities and local people to plant 15,000 trees. These are mainly large timber native tree species that have value in restoring impoverished forest land and contributing to the development of specialised forests to improve watershed protection, absorb CO 2 and protect against climate change.

With the support from the Management Board, Panasonic has contributed a total of 33 hectares of forestry in the last two years. In 2023, Panasonic planted 13,000 trees in its annual the Eco Relay programme, and another 10,000 trees in another programme Live Wellness Contribute Green at Xuan Lien Nature Reserve.

Eco Relay is the global initiative of Panasonic aim at inspiring each employee to be a sustainable ambassador to convey the message of environment protection and the inspiration of sustainable development to communities.

Besides planting new trees, Panasonic's members had offered memorable experiences to re-visit and take-care of their planted trees in last year's initiative to understand more about the importance of forestry development and protection.

They also joined various activities to support the local community, such as environmental and STEM learning classes for students, and work on organic waste treatment.

In 2022, Panasonic Holding declared our vision as our commitment, to reduce over 300 million tonnes of CO 2 , equivalent to 1 per cent of global CO 2 emissions, in the whole value chain for our whole global business before 2050. But in Vietnam, the environment protection is a more critical and urgent matter, as you can see that there have many disasters in our country recently, said Marukawa Yoichi, director of Panasonic Vietnam.

This year, Panasonic will to plant trees in Xuan Lien as this area plays a vital role in the upper forested watershed of the Chu River, covering a large area including natural forests, rivers and lakes that help protect water sources for domestic use and irrigation for millions of people in Thanh Hoa province and surrounding areas, while also preventing erosion and landslides, as well as reducing floods.

Thanh Hoa has being one of six critical provinces participating in the forest carbon credits sale as part of Emission Reductions Payment Agreements in the north central region, signed in 2020 between the World Bank and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. 2023 marked a significant milestone for the forestry sector, as Vietnam successfully sold 10.3 million forest carbon credits.

Vi Manh Hung, Vice Chairman of Van Xuan People's Committee, said, "Activities carried out by Panasonic help raise awareness of environmental protection for residents, while inspiring and providing knowledge to future generations to contribute to sustainable development.

Panasonic rewards cinematic artworks created through the eyes of students On August 25, Panasonic Vietnam held an award ceremony for the Kids Witness News 2023 programme, drawing the participation of more than 100 students, parents, and teachers.

Panasonic inspires at Mottainai Run Hundreds of employees, from the board of directors to employees from the seven different companies under the Panasonic Vietnam Group umbrella, and their families gathered at Hoan Kiem Lake in the early morning of October 21, full of enthusiasm to participate in the Mottainai Run.
Over a dozen projects were given the go-ahead or research approval at the planning ceremony

Chairman of Quang Nam Peoples Committee Le Tri Thanh said that Quang Nam had coordinated with ministries, central branches, and other localities in the region to evaluate the potential and limitations of the province.

The planning demonstrates the will of Quang Nam to become a well-developed province by 2030, have a modern infrastructure network, and develop airports, seaports, logistics services, tourism, heavy industry, electricity, and gas at a regional level, Thanh said.

To complete the draft planning, the province also organised conferences and seminars to consult local and foreign experts and businesses.

As an investor, Don Lam, general director of VinaCapital, said that the provincial plan was an important milestone, creating motivation for the province itself, and the whole eastern region to continue to develop.

We believe in the potential for economic development of marine tourism in the east of Quang Nam, with the cultural and historical advantages of Hoi An and increasingly clear driving forces such as Cua Dai Bridge and the coastal road connecting Chu Lai Airport, said Lam.

Quang Nam boasts superb connections thanks to its central location and coastal access

The upcoming new laws on land and real estate business also illustrate the governments determination and direction on the development and diversification of tourism products and tourism real estate, Lam added.

To continue creating momentum for the eastern economic region of Quang Nam, Lam has proposed to promote the general and zoning planning for businesses to continue investing in construction and local socioeconomic development; as well as create conditions to turn the Hoiana project in southern Hoi An into a multi-functional coastal resort urban area.

We want Hoiana to become a model project, piloting golden visas for high-end and long-stay tourist groups, Lam explained.

At the planning announcement ceremony, Quang Nam approved a handful of ventures and research agreements with the total registered capital at over $830 million. Truong Hai Group (THACO) was awarded investment certificates for seven projects in the industrial sector, while Bin Corporation JSC was given in-principle agreement to study Southern Thang Binh Industrial Park for infrastructure investment.

Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang said that Quang Nam had been diligent, overcome difficulties, and created a favourable environment for investors.

For localities that develop strongly and quickly, there are consequences. Maybe we will have shortcomings and sacrifices, but I hope that Quang Nam will overcome these and maintain a strong mindset to break through, DPM Quang said.

Regarding logistics development, Tran Ba Duong, chairman of the board at THACO, said that the company was conducting research on the Cua Lo route at a cost of around $274 million. The company will research the opening of short routes, investing in the form of build-operate-transfer, and focusing on transport routes from southern Laos, northern Cambodia, and the Central Highlands to Chu Lai.

The provincial planning is part of the vision to form a logistics centre in the region, which is feasible if the Cua Lo route is invested in and completed soon. We have high expectations for the logistics centre and I think we can do it, Duong said.

Projects awarded policy approval, registration, or research agreements - Expand and upgrade Chu Lai port ($66.2 million) - Refrigeration electromechanical factory ($17 million) - Passenger car electric wire factory ($19.42 million) - High-end auto glass factory ($16.23 million) - Automobile body frame components factory ($33.3 million) - Tourist car interior factory ($22.7 million) - Tourist car seat factory ($41.67 million) - Thaco Industries research and development centre ($12.5 million) - Cleaning equipment factory ($20.9 million) - Super white floral glass factory ($34.25 million) - Magnet manufacturing facility ($80 million) - Guoguang Electric Co., Ltd. audio equipment manufacturing complex ($40 million) - Solid plastic and metal products factory ($1 million) - Arena Technologies video game chair and car seat production ($783,000) - Infrastructure of subdivision 1 of Nam Thang Binh Industrial Park ($285.3 million) - Industrial park infrastructure west of highway section through Thang Binh district ($145.8 million)

Quang Nam stresses feasibility of new provincial planning Quang Nams planning is highly feasible, leveraging clear scientific arguments and demonstrating the strong aspirations of the province, according to People's Committee Chairman Le Tri Thanh.

Quang Nam approves projects worth over $800 million The central province of Quang Nam has issued approval to developers of 16 projects worth over $809 million in total.

VinaCapital to inject $1 billion into Quang Nam Holding trust in the provincial potential for marine tourism development, Vietnam-focused venture fund VinaCapital pledges to continue investing $1 billion in the locality.
Leveraging its international expertise in industrial property development, Frasers Property Vietnams built-to-suit facility will serve as SPXs largest and most advanced automatic sorting centre in south Vietnam.

When fully completed, the centre will span a total area of up to 106,000 square metres with a processing capacity of over 2.5 million parcels per day and feature the latest automated goods sorting system.

The first phase of construction is scheduled for completion in 2025 with operations commencing within the same year. When launched, the centre is expected to contribute thousands of new jobs and economic opportunities to surrounding communities, aiding the overall development of Binh Duong province and improving logistics infrastructure in Vietnam.

From left, Chung Ngo Huy, SPX senior manager, Nguyen Kim Anh, director of SPX and Chong Chee Keong, general manager of Industrial and Edwin Tan, deputy CEO of Frasers Property Vietnam at the signing ceremony for SPX new built-to-suit logistics facility in Binh Duong Industrial Park

At the signing ceremony, Nguyen Kim Anh, director of SPX said that the company was pleased to partner with Frasers Property Vietnam on its Binh Duong automated sorting centre project.

"With its extensive proven track record in developing sustainable and high-quality real estate development globally, Frasers Property is a trusted partner that can provide us with state-of-the-art industrial facilities to build the largest and the most advanced SPXs automatic sorting centre project in South Vietnam. We are confident that the centres strategic location in BDIP with easy access to key transport infrastructure will enable SPX to expand our scale of logistics operations quickly, professionally, and efficiently in Vietnam, said Anh.

Anh also shared more about the companys key objectives for 2024.

In addition to strengthening the infrastructure network, SPX will continue to prioritise improving the customer experience by simplifying the process of handling customer support requests, shortening delivery times, and improving the quality and stability of services during seasonal peaks. All of these will contribute to cost optimisation, increase operational efficiency, and fulfil the goal of making SPX a reliable supplier with fast, accurate logistics services in Vietnams e-commerce industry, she said.

Chong Chee Keong, general manager of Industrial at Frasers Property Vietnam said that the partnership with SPX underscored Frasers Propertys commitment to providing unique customer experiences through modern and sustainable premium industrial estate design, which is complemented by dedicated support services throughout the customer lifecycle.

BDIPs Premium Estates concept positions Frasers Property to meet the evolving requirements of tenants and will enable us to capitalise on favourable demand drivers for industrial space in Vietnam, said Keong.

Frasers Propertys BDIP is the companys first industrial park in Vietnam to incorporate its innovative industry-first Premium Estates concept.

In addition to high-quality industrial and logistics infrastructure, Premium Estates offer amenities and green open spaces to support the wellbeing of building occupants with best-in-class sustainability and technology, providing assurance for the future-readiness of businesses. The industrial park is one of few developments in Vietnam to be LEED certified, which recognises healthy, efficient, carbon and cost-saving green buildings.

Frasers Property Ltd. together with its subsidiaries, the Frasers Property Group, is a multinational investor-developer-manager of real estate products and services across the property value chain.

Listed on the Main Board of the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited SGX-ST and headquartered in Singapore, the Group has total assets of approximately S$39.8 billion as at September 30, 2023.

Frasers Property's multinational businesses operate across five asset classes, namely, commercial and business parks, hospitality, industrial and logistics, residential and retail.

The Group has businesses in Southeast Asia, Australia, Europe and China, and its well-established hospitality business owns and/or operates serviced apartments and hotels in over 20 countries and more than 70 cities across Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

In Vietnam, Frasers Property has a well-diversified portfolio across asset classes, including commercial signature developments such as Melinh Point, a Grade A boutique office building in Ho Chi Minh Citys commercial District 1.

More than 180 hectares of industrial land area, within strategic locations in both the north and south of Vietnam, with almost a million sq.m of international grade and green certified industrial facilities will be developed to support the countrys growing manufacturing economy.

Frasers Hospitality also maintains a country presence with Fraser Suites Hanoi and Fraser Residence Hanoi.

Officially launched in 2020, SPX is a provider of reliable and cost-effective logistic services throughout the region, contributing to the support of effective businesses, sellers, and business brands. In Vietnam, SPX currently operates a freight logistic network spread across 63 cities and provinces across the country.

Frasers Property Vietnam and GELEX Group break ground on Bac Ninh project Frasers Property Vietnam (FPV) and GELEX Group jointly broke ground on the Industrial Centre Yen Phong 2C in Bac Ninh province on September 19, to make their first industrial and logistics project in North Vietnam since the signing of a partnership agreement in March.

Frasers Property Vietnam takes long view on industrial and logistics sector The industrial and logistics sector is now one of the most interesting aspects of Vietnam's economy, thanks to the number of international manufacturers expanding their businesses here, according to Truong An Duong, general manager of North Vietnam and Residential at Frasers Property Vietnam.

Melinh Point awarded highest attainable LEED certification Frasers Property Vietnam (FPV) on February 22 announced that its commercial building in Ho Chi Minh City, Melinh Point, has received the highest attainable LEED Platinum certification in Operations and Maintenance v4.1 (O+M) from the US Green Building Council (USGBC).
Dignitaries join a press conference on Oct. 13, 2023, as greater:SATX announces that Britains JCB will open a manufacturing plant in South San Antonio. The plant will build industrial equipment and hire 1,500 workers in the next five years. Pictured, from left, are Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai, County Commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores, JCB North America President and CEO Richard Fox-Marrs, State Rep. John Lujan, City Council Member Adriana Rocha Garcia and Mayor Ron Nirenberg. Jerry Lara/San Antonio Express-News Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai speaks during a press conference at the Briscoe Western Art Museum on Oct. 13, 2023. Dignitaries were on hand as they announced that Britains JCB will open an industrial equipment plant in South San Antonio. The company is expected to hire 1,500 workers in the next five years. Jerry Lara/San Antonio Express-News JCB North America President and CEO Richard Fox-Marrs smiles as he speaks during a press conference at the Briscoe Western Art Museum on Oct. 13, 2023. The British company will open a manufacturing plant in South San Antonio and is expected to hire 1,500 workers in the next five years. Jerry Lara/San Antonio Express-News

Bexar County will offer almost $12 million in tax breaks and grants to JCB Manufacturing, a British maker of construction and agricultural equipment that plans to build a plant on the South Side.

Bexar County Commissioners Court unanimously approved the package of subsidies Tuesday.

JCB, which announced in October that it would come to San Antonio, will spend $269 million to build a 72,000-square-foot plant and employ 1,580 workers to build telescopic handlers and aerial work plats, according to a briefing Tuesday for commissioners.

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Were really excited about opportunities that our constituents are going to have to continue to become educated and get paid while theyre trained, said County Commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores, whose precinct includes the plant site.

Bexar County has agreed to waive county property taxes on the companys facilities for 10 years, a subsidy valued at $6.49 million. The county will also give the company $5.25 million in grants. At least one is for infrastructure improvements. Another requires JCB to hire 250 people at a minimum pay of $28 per hour.

The San Antonio City Council will vote on the citys subsidy package for the company April 4, said Sarah Carabias Rush, chief economic development officer for Greater: SATX, the regions public-private economic development group.

The city has not disclosed what its package will include, but county documents show that JCB applied for a city property tax break in addition to city economic development grants or loans.

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The state is kicking in a $5.68 million grant through the Texas Enterprise Fund and a $42,000 bonus for creating jobs for veterans.

The City Council on March 21 approved rezoning about 400 acres at 13610 Texas 16 S. for JCBs planned factory. That site is northwest of Toyotas San Antonio plant.

The countys package is also about bringing much needed infrastructure to the southern sector of Bexar County, said Clay-Flores, who has represented that part of the county since 2021.

JCB aims to break ground on the facility in May, said JCB Texas operations director David Carver, who moved from the United Kingdom to San Antonio earlier this year. The facility will likely be operational by May 2026.

The land acquisition process is still underway, Carabias Rush said.

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JCB will pay property taxes to the Southwest Independent School District, University Health and the Alamo Colleges District.
Examples of vaporisers that feature designs of popular cartoon characters. (Photo: Coutesy of Srirach Lapyai)

Bangkok  Thai Academics are warning about a new type of e-cigarette called "toy pods" which look like replicas of popular cartoon characters to target school and university students.

Srirach Lapyai, a project manager at Tobacco Control Research and Knowledge Management Centre (TRC), said e-cigarette businesses have adjusted the appearance of their products to look more like figurines of famous cartoon characters or cute miniatures of toys, food, stationery items, and so forth.

They are the fifth generation of e-cigarettes called "toy pods", Srirach said, adding each one contains up to 5% synthetic nicotine and yields up to 15,000 puffs.

The e-cigarettes in the form of toy pods have been so widely popular that they have spread to primary school students. Many first graders were recently found carrying them, she said.

Srirach explained that the mouthpiece of the toy pods is designed to mimic a cute figurine, making them almost unrecognisable as e-cigarettes.

Dr Vijj Kasemsup, director of the TRC, said businesses that produce new-generation e-cigarettes target younger customers by opening shops and launching promotions on social media that suit their preferences and lifestyles.

According to a recent report, 309 online vendors were found to be illegally selling e-cigarettes through social media channels, including X, Facebook, and Instagram, between January and February.

Nicotine from e-cigarettes can affect children's hearts, brain cells, memories, concentration, and respiratory system and can cause seizures and heart failure, Vijj said, urging the Thai government to continue banning e-cigarette sales and imports as well as proactively enforce regulations against such products.

Thai authorities have recently found 70 e-cigarette shops located within 500-metre radiuses of schools and universities in Bangkok. Legal action against e-cigarette shops has been proposed to develop a safety mechanism.

Bangkok implements AI for weather forecasts Bangkoks authorities have cooperated with Weathernews Inc., Japan to implement the AI Nowcast system, aiming to provide accurate forecasts of rainfall in the Bangkok region three hours ahead of time.
US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken met with Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son in Washington, D.C. for the inaugural Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) foreign ministerial meeting on March 25, where both sides pointed out the positive progress that was being made.

Blinken and Son reaffirmed the strength of the US-Vietnam relationship and reflected on progress since the elevation of ties during President Bidens historic visit to Hanoi in September 2023.

"In the time since President Bidens visit, we have moved forward together  moved forward together in strengthening and deepening our collaboration in critical areas, everything from semiconductors to supply chains to educational and technological exchanges, people-to-people contacts, and of course, our ongoing commitment to war legacies. So I think this is a demonstration of not only our commitment to the Indo-Pacific but our commitment to the central role that Vietnam and the relationship between our countries plays in the Indo-Pacific," Blinken said.

In the same vein, Minister Son said, "For this year, we celebrated 30 years of the lifting of US embargo against Vietnam. Next year would be the 30th of our bilateral relations, of normalisation of relations. And more than that, as President Joe Biden has said, that CSP would help us to move our relationship in the next 50 years, not one or two years."

"We continue to attach great importance to the relationship with the US, and we want with you to make  complete a plan of actions to move our relationship forwards in accordance with CSP, not only the high political exchange between our two countries to continue to foster our bilateral mutual trust and also to deepen our relationship not only in trade, investment, science, technology, innovation, education, but more than that is in semiconductor and chips," he said.

In the six months since the historic upgrade of the US-Vietnam relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, announced by President Biden and General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong, both countries have built on the momentum of their elevated relationship.

Through a package of $4 million in dedicated programmes, the US Mission to Vietnam is enhancing technical skills training and workforce development at every level through expanded US-Vietnam institutional and public-private partnerships.

The US Department of State has signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Training to promote cooperation with US institutions and to internationalise Vietnams higher education sector.

Since the upgrade, the Semiconductor Industry Association visited Vietnam twice, bringing a business delegation during their second visit. The 2024 US-ASEAN Business Council Delegation to Vietnam was the largest in 40 years.

The US' Export-Import Bank and Vietnam Development Bank signed a $500 million MoU to support US export financing to advance Vietnams green economy transition, infrastructure development projects, and climate-related projects.

Building on 30 years of US-Vietnam advancements This year marks the 30th anniversary of the American Chamber of Commerce and the beginning of US-Vietnam economic relations, and our members now account for billions of US dollars in foreign investment, tens of thousands of direct employees, hundreds of thousands of indirect employees, and a significant share of Vietnams exports and tax revenues.

Major US groups taking long-term investment view As Vietnam and the US enter a new phase of economic relations, American companies are preparing to offer an expansion in investments.
The Vietnam Industrial Parks Finance Association officially organised the first term congress

The delegates combined leaders of central and local agencies, representatives of management boards of economic zones, industrial parks (IPs), export processing zones, businesses, international experts and many others.

The VIPFA was established in 2023 through a resolution created by the Executive Committee of the Vietnam Financial Consulting Association (VFCA).

Being a grassroots organisation, the VIPFA gathers and represents units, organisations, and individuals operating in IP economics and finance, as well as all members of the Vietnamese economy.

At the congress, delegates approved the operation regulations, and financial management regulations, reported on directions, tasks, and solutions for the term of 2024-2029, and elected the first-term executive committee of the association, which consists of 51 members led by Dr. Phan Huu Thang, former director general of the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

The delegates also discussed and agreed to approve the first-term work plan and the 2024 key task programme of the association.

Le Minh Nghia, chairman of the VFCA

The influx of foreign-invested capital in IPs is increasing, accounting for a significant proportion of the total investment capital for the development of the entire society. Along with the achieved results, the development of IPs is facing several problems in terms of legal framework, institutions, policies, and especially financial issues. Recent practice has shown that financial difficulties and limitations need to be removed so that IPs can continue to develop, commensurate with the great potential of this model, said Le Minh Nghia, chairman of the VFCA.

The VIPFA will be the intermediary party to satisfy the needs to protect the rights and interests of member businesses.

The association has an active intermediary role, contributing to satisfying the needs of protecting the rights and interests of member businesses. It is directed to be a bridge between the state management agencies and member businesses, and simultaneously become a source to update and provide information on policy and legal mechanisms related to the operations of IPs, economic zones, and industrial clusters.

The association will also make recommendations to state management agencies on pending issues of businesses related to policies, management mechanisms, and operations of IPs and economic zones. It is also a forum for industrial real estate developers to share and exchange experiences in improving production and business efficiency, and to propose solutions to improve the investment and business environment.

Another important mission of the VIPFA is to become a bridge between domestic and foreign financial and credit institutions and investment funds with member businesses in supporting them in developing IP infrastructure and investing in production and business in IPs.

Ngo Cong Thanh, vice chairman of study and collection of the VIPFA

Regarding the key mission for the 2024-2029 term, the VIPFA will strive to reach at least 300 members by 2029 with annual membership growth of from 20 to 30 per cent.

The association will establish and develop cooperative relationships and links with state management agencies, relevant industries, associations, and domestic and foreign partners for the development goals of member businesses.

The VIPFA will ensure the equality of members in civil, economic, and political relationships according to the law and strengthen the position and voice of members in society, ensuring that all members receive support and advice to solve problems that arise during the investment production and business development process.

Phan Huu Thang, chairman of the VIPFA

Phan Huu Thang, chairman of the VIPFA said that the association would promote research activity, closely follow practical problems of businesses and development trends of the economy as well as the country's integration process to find solutions for each issue being raised in investment and development of IPs in Vietnam today.

For example, we will work with members to look for reasons for the delay in construction of IPs. We see many long delays in their construction, which last for more than three years. Some IPs just have around 100 hectares, but the construction of infrastructure has been taken more than five years, Thang said. "The VIPFA's mission is to arouse and promote the creativity, and the desire to grow of member businesses, towards developing a system of ecological, green, and sustainable IPs."

IKO Thompson to build a $57 million factory in Quang Ninh IKO Thompson Vietnam signed a land lease agreement with Amata City Ha Long on March 11 to build its factory across three hectares of Song Khoai Industrial Park (IP) in the northern province of Quang Ninh

XCE Energy and Goldwind sign industrial park renewables deal On March 8, XCE Energy Holdings and Goldwind International Vietnam entered into a strategic partnership through the signing of a MoU on renewable energy power system solutions for Xuan Cau Industrial Park and Free Trade Zone project (LHF) in Lach Huyen of the port city of Haiphong.

Binh Duong aims to attract investments for new-generation industrial parks This year, Binh Duong province plans to attract 130-140 investment projects to industrial parks (IP), securing 1.2-1.3 billion USD from foreign capital and 1.1-1.2 trillion VND (about 48.535 million USD) from domestic investors.

Yen Phong 2C ranked in Top 10 potential industrial park real estate projects Industrial Centre Yen Phong 2C has been ranked one of the Top 10 most potential industrial park real estate projects in 2024.
The Latest on the ship crash that collapsed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore (all times local):

The cargo ship that caused the Baltimore bridge collapse was carrying hazardous materials, the National Transportation Safety Board said.

NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said there are 56 containers aboard containing hazardous materials, including corrosives, flammables and lithium ion batteries. She said some containers were breached and a sheen was identified in the water that will be dealt with by authorities. She said the voyage data recorder has been recovered.

Homendy said the investigation could take 12 to 24 months but that the NTSB will not hesitate to issue urgent safety recommendations during that time. She said a preliminary report should be released in two to four weeks.

Its a massive undertaking for an investigation, Homendy said. "Its a very tragic event.

Currently:

 Cargo ship underwent engine maintenance before it crashed into the Baltimore bridge

 What we know about the Baltimore bridge collapse

 Central American and Mexican families mourn the missing

 What's it like to survive a bridge collapse? Past survivors tell

 Ships carrying cars and heavy equipment must find a new harbor

 A list of major US bridge collapses caused by ships and barges

 Find more of APs coverage at https://apnews.com

More of the latest:

AUTHORITIES IDENTIFY THE TWO BODIES RECOVERED AT SITE OF BRIDGE COLLAPSE

Authorities have released the identities of the two people recovered from the water Wednesday morning at the site of the Baltimore bridge collapse.

Maryland State Police Superintendent Col. Roland L. Butler said 35-year-old Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes and 26-year-old Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera were recovered from a red pickup truck submerged in about 25 feet (7.62 meters) of water near the bridges middle span.

Jesus Campos, who has worked on the bridge for Brawner Builders and knows members of the construction crew who died, said he was told they were on a break and some were sitting in their trucks to warm up when the bridge collapsed.

Butler said it was no longer safe for divers to continue operations in the area.

We have exhausted all search efforts in the areas around this wreckage, and based on sonar scans, we firmly believe that the vehicles are encased in the superstructure and concrete, Butler said.

SHIP WAS UNDERGOING ENGINE MAINTENANCE BEFORE IT CRASHED INTO BRIDGE, COAST GUARD SAYS

The ship that crashed into a bridge in Baltimore was undergoing routine engine maintenance in the port beforehand, the Coast Guard said.

U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath said at a news conference on Wednesday that authorities had been informed that the ship was going to undergo routine engine maintenance before it lost power. But he said authorities were not informed of any problems.

TWO BODIES HAVE BEEN RECOVERED AT SITE OF BRIDGE COLLAPSE, AUTHORITES SAY

The bodies of two people have been recovered from the site of the Baltimore bridge that collapsed into a river early Tuesday when a ship crashed into it, said Col. Roland L. Butler Jr., superintendent for Maryland State Police.

Butler said Wednesday that a 35-year-old and a 26-year-old were recovered from a red pickup truck in the Patapsco River near the mid-span of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge.

The six construction workers who were missing and presumed dead were from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, Butler said.

Gov. Wes Moore told the families of the victims in Spanish, Estamos contigo, ahora y siempre which means, We are with you, now and always.

MARYLAND GOVERNOR TAKES A CLOSER LOOK AT DAMAGE IN BALTIMORE

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is taking a closer look at the aftermath of the bridge collapse in Baltimore.

Moore boarded a Coast Guard ship with federal and local officials Wednesday to better understand the path the ship that caused the collapse took and how the crash happened, the governors office said. His office said his goal was to support the Coast Guard and other federal partners, thank first responders, and learn more about what happened.

BROTHER DESCRIBES MISSING CONSTRUCTION WORKER AS ALWAYS HAPPY

One of the construction workers presumed dead in Baltimore was a 38-year-old father of two who dreamed of someday returning to his native Honduras, his brother says.

Carlos Suazo says his brother, Maynor Suazo, had been in the United States for 18 years but always dreamed of, in his old age, retiring peacefully in Honduras. He describes him as the beloved youngest sibling among four girls and four boys.

He was someone who was always happy, was always thinking about the future. He was a visionary, Carlos Suazo says.

He last spoke to his brother Sunday, when they had lunch to discuss planning for a family birthday party.

He says the family hasnt lost hope his brother will be found alive.

BUTTIGIEG URGES BIPARTISAN SUPPORT FOR BALTIMORE FUNDING

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Wednesday at a White House news briefing that its too soon to say if regulations would be waived to rebuild the bridge and reopen the port.

But he said President Joe Biden has said the federal government should tear down any barriers, bureaucratic as well as financial that could affect the timeline of any rebuild.

Buttigieg also had a message for Republicans in Congress who might oppose having the federal government pay for the effort. Infrastructure should be a bipartisan issue, he said.

Today this is happening in Baltimore, tomorrow it could be their districts, he said. We really need to stand together, red blue and purple, to get these things done.

BUTTIGIEG OFFERS NO TIMELINE FOR BRIDGE REPLACEMENT, PORT REOPENING

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says its too soon to say how long it will take to reopen the Port of Baltimore or replace the destroyed bridge.

Buttigieg noted at a White House news briefing Wednesday that the bridge took five years to construct.

That does not necessarily mean it will take five years to replace, he said.

Coast Guard Vice Adm. Peter Gautier says hazardous materials aboard the damaged ship pose no threat to public safety.

Gautier said at the briefing that the ship is holding over 1.5 million gallons of fuel, and that more than 50 of the cargo containers on board contain hazardous material. But he says that the ship is stable and that authorities have determined there is no safety risk.

There is no threat to the public, he says.

BUTTIGIEG CITES 4 TRANSPORTATION FOCUSES

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says the Biden administration is focused on four areas related to transportation as the investigation continues in Baltimore.

Speaking at a White House news briefing Wednesday, Buttigieg said officials are focused on reopening the port, dealing with supply chain issues, rebuilding the bridge and addressing surface transportation.

Buttigieg said he will meet with shipping and supply chain officials Thursday.

We are going to help to get it open as soon as possible, he said.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says President Joe Biden has instructed his team to move heaven and earth to aid in recovery and rebuilding.

SINGAPORE PLANS ITS OWN INVESTIGATION

Officials in Singapore say they will conduct their own investigation into the bridge collapse, in addition to supporting U.S. authorities.

The ship that struck the bridge, the Dali, was traveling under a Singaporean flag. The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore said Wednesday it was working with the ships management company, Synergy Marine Group, to get information to the U.S. Coast Guard for its investigation.

The agency also said Singapores Transport Safety Investigation Bureau will independently investigate, not to determine liability, but to identify lessons for the future.

SHIP'S FUEL HEATER PRESSURE GAUGES HAD PROBLEM IN 2023

A 2023 inspection of the ship in a Chilean port turned up a problem with the fuel heaters pressure gauges, but it was corrected before the ship left the port, the Maritime Authority of the Chilean Navy says.

Previous reports had indicated the June inspection of the Dali in Chile identified a problem with the ships propulsion and auxiliary machinery, according to the shipping information website Equasis, but the records didnt elaborate.

The Chilean Navy said in a statement Wednesday that the ship had been inspected in the port of San Antonio on June 27, 2023, and that the pressure gauges of the fuel heaters were detected to be illegible.

The problem was corrected the same day, and the ship was able to depart, the Chilean Navy says.

The Dali was most recently inspected by the U.S. Coast Guard in New York in September 2023, and no deficiencies were detected, according to Equasis.

MEXICAN PRESIDENT HIGHLIGHTS CONTRIBUTIONS OF MIGRANT WORKERS

The president of Mexico says three Mexicans were among the workers on the bridge when it collapsed.

Two of the Mexican workers are missing. The third was injured and rescued.

He is safe now, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Wednesday.

Lopez Obrador also highlighted the contributions migrant workers make to the U.S. economy.

This demonstrates that migrants go out and do risky jobs at midnight, and for this reason they do not deserve to be treated as they are by certain insensitive, irresponsible politicians in the United States, he said.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP)  A 30-year-old woman in the U.S. on a student visa has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison for setting fire to First Baptist Church in Montgomery in 2021, federal prosecutors said Monday.

Xiaoqin Yan, a citizen of China, was convicted last year on charges of arson and illegal possession of a firearm. At the time of her arrest, Yan had overstayed her non-immigrant visa and, therefore, could not lawfully possess a firearm. Her visa was revoked after her arrest.

Acting U.S. Attorney Jonathan S. Ross of Alabama's Middle District said in a news release that Yan was sentenced to 102 months in prison on Friday. The statement didnt specify how long Yan had overstayed her visa.

According to court records and evidence presented at Yans June 2023 trial, Yan entered a church in downtown Montgomery on Sept. 30, 2021 and ignited multiple fires inside the building. The church sustained at least $25,000 in damage, al.com reported.

Yan was captured on surveillance video. Investigators also found items identical to those seen in the video, as well as clothing the type worn by Yan when setting the fires.

Evidence presented during the trial also showed that Yan had multiple encounters with church staff prior to the arson and had exhibited odd behavior.
CEDAR FALLS  The school board will soon host the first of two hearings on the fiscal year 2025 budget.

The April 8 hearing is one of the new changes brought forth by House File 718 and will be when the board is introduced to more details about the proposed budget.

The actual document would be up for adoption at a second hearing April 22.

Property owners should have received a notice showing the property tax levy projected to rise to $35.22 million, up 1.85% from $34.58 million in the current fiscal year.

Thats a difference or an increase of about $642,798. The majority of that, if not all of that, pertains to our management fund, Denelle Gonnerman, chief financial officer, told the board last week.

The tax rate would go from $15.27 per $1,000 of taxable valuation to $14.79. The proposed levy, rate and other details are provided in the far right column of the new notices sent out recently.

Theyre based on various assumptions for now, Gonnerman notes. Administration and the board could reduce the total levy once more information becomes available.

For now, she anticipates the management fund levying $1.95 million more than the current year. The districts insurance agent reportedly said to expect sizable increases in premiums and building values on the books.

We do know, new this year, that there is a new 1% wind and hail deductible. This is new, she said about whats causing insurance costs to rise.

The new high school and natatorium will be added to the insurance policy, as well.

Among the additional assumptions, for example, are taxable valuations increasing by 4.21%. Supplemental state aid is more of an unknown as thats not yet been determined.

Gov. Kim Reynolds proposed districts seeing a 2.5% increase versus the Iowa Houses figure of 3%, Gonnerman said. The 1% instructional support income surtax will remain the same and the cash reserve levy of $491,656 is based on previous action by the board.

The district will levy for debt service of $7.4 million  similar to last year  for the construction of the new high school and Bess Streeter Aldrich Elementary School, as well as the remodel of Orchard Hill and North Cedar elementary schools.

This story has been updated to correct the current and proposed property tax rates.

Reduced interest rates affect mortgage costshere's what to know Reduced interest rates affect mortgage costshere's what to know Is the federal reserve expected to cut rates in 2024?
Melanie Salazar of the group Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising holds up a mock box of pills during a rally outside the Supreme Court, Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Washington. The Supreme Court is hearing arguments in its first abortion case since conservative justices overturned the constitutional right to an abortion two years ago. At stake in Tuesday's arguments is the ease of access to a medication used last year in nearly two-thirds of U.S. abortions. (AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades) Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/Associated Press WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 26: Demonstrators gather in front of the Supreme Court as the court hears oral arguments in the case of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine on March 26, 2024 in Washington, DC. The case challenges the 20-plus-year legal authorization by the FDA of mifepristone, a commonly used abortion medication. (Photo by Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images) Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images Anti-abortion activist Elise Ketch wears face paint outside the Supreme Court, Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Washington. The Supreme Court is hearing arguments in its first abortion case since conservative justices overturned the constitutional right to an abortion two years ago. At stake in Tuesday's arguments is the ease of access to a medication used last year in nearly two-thirds of U.S. abortions. (AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades) Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/Associated Press WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 26: Demonstrators gather in front of the Supreme Court as the court hears oral arguments in the case of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine on March 26, 2024 in Washington, DC. The case challenges the 20-plus-year legal authorization by the FDA of mifepristone, a commonly used abortion medication. (Photo by Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images) Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images Anti-Abortion and Abortion-rights activists rally outside the Supreme Court, Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Washington. The Supreme Court is hearing arguments in its first abortion case since conservative justices overturned the constitutional right to an abortion two years ago. At stake in Tuesday's arguments is the ease of access to a medication used last year in nearly two-thirds of U.S. abortions. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) Jose Luis Magana/Associated Press Anti-abortion and abortion rights activists, rally outside the Supreme Court, Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Washington. The Supreme Court is hearing arguments in its first abortion case since conservative justices overturned the constitutional right to an abortion two years ago. At stake in Tuesday's arguments is the ease of access to a medication used last year in nearly two-thirds of U.S. abortions. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) Jose Luis Magana/Associated Press Molly Gaebe of the Abortion Access Front holds up a sign outside the Supreme Court, Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Washington. The Supreme Court is hearing arguments in its first abortion case since conservative justices overturned the constitutional right to an abortion two years ago. At stake in Tuesday's arguments is the ease of access to a medication used last year in nearly two-thirds of U.S. abortions. (AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades) Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/Associated Press WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 26: Karon Hardy of Amirillo, Texas is placed in a Capitol Police van after after she and 11 other members of the Woma's March were arrested during the "Bans Off Our Mifepristone" action organized by the Woman's March outside of the Supreme Court on March 26, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Women's March) Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Women's March

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday appeared unlikely to roll back mifepristone access after hearing arguments from the federal government and anti-abortion groups challenging the medications availability nationwide.

Chief Justice John Roberts suggested granting relief only for the doctors who raised an issue with the drug. Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Neil Gorsuch also expressed doubts about triggering nationwide change when only a small number of doctors contend that the medications availability harms them.

This case seems like a prime example of what could be a small lawsuit into a nationwide assembly on an FDA approval or any other federal government action, said Gorsuch, noting a recent rash of broad court actions.

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Tuesdays hearing was the first time the Supreme Court took up the issue of abortion since overturning Roe v. Wade almost two years ago. The case stemmed from a federal lawsuit challenging the drugs safety and was filed in Texas by the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, and anti-abortion doctors and medical groups.

At the hearing, the courts scope was limited to whether the FDA improperly made procedural changes that increased access to mifepristone nationwide in 2016 and 2021, and whether the plaintiffs showed evidence of harm related to those changes.

The courts decision, not expected until June, could roll back access to the drug nationwide by reinstating requirements for patients to visit a physician in person and attend multiple clinical appointments, among other restrictions. Right now, patients can get a prescription for mifepristone via telehealth and have the medication mailed to them. Even in Texas, which banned medication abortion, some women are receiving prescriptions via telehealth from doctors in states where abortion is legal.

The plaintiffs have argued that the increased availability of mifepristone forced anti-abortion physicians to violate their conscience by treating patients who experienced complications from the drug. One Texas physician, Dr. Ingrid Skop, who also testified on behalf of state legislation banning abortion, said she has cared for at least a dozen women who needed surgery to remove residual tissue after a medication abortion.

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But the U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, representing the Food and Drug Administration, argued that Skop was one of only two physicians who expressed any details about their conscience objections, and that federal law already protects those objections.

Justices Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett also appeared skeptical of whether key testimony from Skop and the other anti-abortion physician, Dr. Christina Francis, was strong enough to show how mifepristone violated their conscience.

Francis had previously testified that her partner was required to complete an abortion for a patient who had taken mifepristone. She said she had performed an abortion herself on another patient who developed an infection after using the medication. In the latter case, it wasnt clear whether the fetus or embryo had a detectable heartbeat, Barrett said.

The difficulty here is that, at least to me, these affidavits do read more like the conscience objection is strictly to actually participating in the abortion to end the life of the embryo or fetus, Barrett said. And I dont read either Skop or Francis to say that they ever participated in that.

The plaintiffs lawyer, Erin Hawley, of the conservative Christian legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, argued her clients have broader conscience objections against completing any elective abortions, regardless of whether an embryo or fetus shows signs of cardiac activity. She cited FDA data showing that between 2.9% and 4.6% of women will need to visit an emergency room, and 7.9% will need surgical care after taking the medication.

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Prelogar called it speculative to claim that an exceptionally small number of women who suffer complications from mifepristone would seek care from either Skop or Francis  an argument that Kagan appeared to support based on her questions.

Other justices closely scrutinized the FDAs position that the plaintiffs lacked standing in the case. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas questioned Prelogar over whether anyone can sue the FDA over modifications to mifepristone access.

 Maybe what they did was perfectly lawful, but shouldnt somebody be able to challenge that in court? Alito said.

Prelogar said it would be hard to identify anyone who has standing to sue over the regulatory changes for mifepristone, adding that the plaintiffs dont come within a hundred miles of the legal standard.

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Alito and Thomas also asked about the Comstock Act, which plaintiffs say prohibits the mailing of abortion pills. The federal law, created in 1873, prohibited the mailing of obscene and lewd materials, including abortion drugs and birth control. Alito suggested that the FDA should have considered the law when making changes to mifepristone access.
WATERLOO  Netflixs Barbecue Showdown champ Thyron Mathews of Oelwein will join other Iowa chefs, artisans and food producers for the second annual Iowa Eats on April 6.

The one-day celebration of all-Iowa food and drink products, chefs, artisans and agriculture-related items takes place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Waterloo Convention Center, 200 W. Fourth St.

Proceeds from the event benefit the Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area.

Last years event drew about 1,200 people to downtown Waterloo from more than 40 surrounding communities. It far exceeded our expectations, said Jori Wade-Booth, communications and marketing director for Silos & Smokestacks.

There will be guest speakers, food and drink demonstrations and live music throughout the day. More than 50 vendors will be offering samples and selling products representing dairy farms, meat lockers, restaurants, catering businesses, specialty food products and more.

New this year is the Jim Walsh Firefighter Cookoff begins at 11 a.m., with awards presented at 1 p.m. JSA Development is sponsoring the event in honor of its founder, who died in October 2023. Four Waterloo firefighters have already signed up for the competition.

It was Jims idea to have a firefighter cookoff, so we wanted to do it this year in his honor, said Wade-Booth. Registration is still open for Waterloo firefighters to compete.

Featured main stage presenters are JayJay Goodvin, Eating Your Way Through the Heritage Area, 11:20 a.m.; Taufeek Shah, Hometown Hot Sauce, noon; The Bares, Craft Whiskey: 2 Engineers Redefining Fields, 1 p.m.; Thyron Mathews, Barbecue Showdown, at 2:30 p.m.; Chef Jessica Baldus, Stories from a Game Show Host, at 3:20 p.m.; and Chef George Formaro, Secrets to a Successful Restaurant, at 4:30 p.m.

Better known as the Iowa Gallivant, Goodvin is an Iowa-based food and travel blogger. Born in Marshalltown, he grew up in Grundy Center, Marion and Iowa City. An 11-year culinary crusade led him to Arizona, Montana, Cape Cod, the Florida Keys, the Black Hills of South Dakota, Austin, Texas, central Illinois, and back to Iowa City. His love of traveling, food and family drives his passions.

Shah is founder and CEO of Lolas Fine Hot Sauce, now available in over 14,000 retailers and restaurants across North America, the Philippines and the Virgin Islands. The all-natural product line also includes gourmet salsas, drink mixers and more. Shaw was recipient of the 2023 Iowa Small Business Minority Champion of the Year.

Iowa natives Ryan and Amanda Bare, both mechanical engineering graduates from Iowa State University in Ames, moved to Texas after graduation. Fifteen years later, they returned to Iowa. They founded Century Farms Distillery in Spencer and began making craft whiskey using locally-sourced corn and grains.

Oelweins Mathews, founder of T&T BBQ and a pit master, brought the southern flavor to Northeast Iowa. He is season two winner of Netflixs Barbecue Showdown and specializes in the total barbecue experience.

Chef Baldus is owner and operator of Taste, Piggyback Smoke Shack and the Bakery in Osage. She has competed on Food Networks Guys Grocery Games and Supermarket Stakeout.

Formaro is the accomplished restaurateur behind such Des Moines eateries as Zombie Burger + Drink Lab, Centro, Django, Mao and Gateway Market & Cafe. He is also founder of the first artisan bakery in Iowa, South Union Bakery, which opened in 1996.

A variety of demonstrations are planned. In The Kitchen, demonstrations include 11 a.m. Pasta Making, Pasta on the Prairie from Marion; 11:40 a.m. Cooking with Stainless Steel, The Brick Kitchen Store from Independence; noon, Fry Bread, Kassi Lasso Whitebreast; 1 p.m., Lolas Hot Sauce Showcase, Taufeek Shah; 1:40 p.m. Renegade Kombucha, Sarah Umderberg; 2:20 p.m., Baking with Lard, DonnaLonna Kitchen, podcasters; 3:40 p.m., Mix It Up Dessert Mixology; and 4:20 p.m., To Gluten or Not to Gluten Sourdough Starter, featuring Charlene Wyatt Sauer.

In the Meatlocker, demonstrations begin at 11:20 a.m. with Montage; noon, One Chicken 5 Meals, Beth Hoffman and John Hogeland, and at 1:30 p.m., Sausage Making; 2:40 p.m., One Pork Loin, 3 Meals, Val Plagge; and 3 p.m. Thyron Mathews, Netflix Barbecue Showdown Winner Showcase.

The Bars demonstrations begin at 11:40 a.m. with 3 Cocktails All Good Hosts Can Make featuring Deanna Rustad; 1 p.m., Wine 101, Sommelier Dana Swasand; 1:40 p.m. The Brown Bottle Special, Clayton Streed; 2:15 p.m. Century Farms Distillery; 3 p.m. Happy Together: Pairing Liquors and Meats, Ariz Martini Bar; and 3 p.m. Wine Down with Quan podcast, DaQuan Campbell.

Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area tells the story of farm life and agribusiness, both past and present. Visitors can learn about and experience agriculture at museums, historic sites and farms. The heritage area covers 37 counties in the northeast quadrant of Iowa. One of 55 federally designated heritage areas in the nation, Silos & Smokestacks works in partnership with the National Park Service.

We always say there is agriculture for everyone. People want to know where their food comes from. We get caught up in the idea that Iowa is about big farms and big corn, seed corn and pork, but we need large farms and small farms, large producers and small producers. We need to support all of Iowas producers, said Wade-Booth.

Its also important to recognize our heritage area in Northeast Iowa where so many innovations have been made affecting agriculture around the world.

For a complete list of food and drink vendors, visit www.iowaeatsfestival.com.

Tickets are $10 per person; children 5 and under are free. All children 13 and under must be accompanied by an adult. Proof of age and a valid ID are required for sampling or purchasing alcoholic beverages. Tickets can be purchased online at https://iowaeatsfestival.com/, at Waterloo, Cedar Falls and Waverly Hy-Vee stores, and at the door (cash or card/no checks).

Where in the world do your groceries come from? Where in the world do your groceries come from? Where domestic food production is concentrated
He said he didnt hit her multiple times. She climbed on the bed and ran across the bed to get away from him and fell.
If you dread the epic return of billions of loud, buzzing cicadas this spring, heres something to consider:

What better way to battle the drone than to eat them?

Scooping up these beady-eyed little insects as soon as they emerge from the earth and popping them into the oven to roast isnt that crazy. More than 2 billion people eat insects on a daily basis around the world.

Entomophagy, or the intentional consumption of insects as food, remains rare in the U.S.

But with billions of cicadas up for grabs this spring in a historic emergence not seen in more than two centuries, Dr. Jenna Jadin, a climate smart agriculture specialist, is calling attention to the nutritional benefits of insects when used more widely on a global scale.

In a recent interview with Lee Enterprises, Jadin revisited recipes from her 2004 cookbook, Cicadalicious, and offered up tips in the kitchen. The book includes recipes for dumplings, tacos and other treats starring the alien-like bugs as protein.

This is an ideal time to test out new cicada recipes in the kitchen. For the first time since Thomas Jefferson was president, billions of two particular periodical cicada broods are set to surface in the Midwest and southeastern United States this spring.

When Jadin was a 21-year-old graduate student at the University of Maryland in 2004, she thought the idea of eating cicadas was interesting and gross. But she has since traveled around the world eating all kinds of insects and sees them through a completely different lens.

A safe, sustainable global food source?

Jadin became interested in entomophagy during her years working for the USDA in Washington D.C.

At the time, the USDA was exploring how to support studies or practice on people eating insects as food, so thats when I started getting into this as an academic topic, an intellectual love, she said.

She said the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has studied entomophagy for quite some time  since 2003.

They do a lot of research and also policy advancement on using insects as food  The approach is not to promote people eating grasshoppers, but its grinding down the insects into protein powder and then using that to form other types of food, Jadin said.

For example, the FAO has found success in providing low-cost protein patties for children in Sub-Saharan Africa. Insects provide as much protein pound per pound as lean beef, Jadin writes in her 2004 cookbook.

Thats where there is insufficient protein, and these kids really need it. And so thats a way to get them protein thats way cheaper, way more environmentally friendly, and better on land use  and better on water use than beef or any other meat would be, she said.

Quite a few brand brands throughout Europe also use insect protein as the basis for food products sold widely in Germany and the Netherlands, she said.

Tyson Foods, a big-name meat producer in the U.S., is also investing in edible insects, but not necessarily for human consumption. The food company announced last fall that the company was investing in Protix, a Netherland-based company, as they further their reach globally, Jadin said. The goal is to expand the use of high-quality insects primarily in pet food, aquaculture and livestock industries.

Today, Jadin said she works with various organizations in the U.S. and internationally on land rehabilitation and ecologically-focused agricultural issues.

Jadin said shes also reworking her "Cicadalicious" cookbook and expanding the recipes to include other insects.

Tips, tricks

As rare as periodical cicadas emerge (every 13 or 17 years), they are quite the delicacy, Jadin said. They also are protein-packed, low-carb, low-fat, and gluten free. Some say the bugs have a nutty flavor or that they taste like asparagus.

Jadin suggests scooping the cicadas up when they're freshly emerged with a paper bag and blanching (quickly boiling) them to remove any potential soil and bacteria.

If you plan to cook them right away, season them and pop them in the oven. Otherwise, freeze them until youre ready to cook up a dish.

Oh, and dont forgot to rip off the legs and wings.

Jadin also warned that people with shellfish allergies should avoid consuming cicadas because similarities between the bugs and crustaceans.

Since the cookbook came out in 2004, Jadin has discovered roasting the cicadas longer to dry them out is optimal.

She has since also experimented with mixing cicadas  "Chex mix style"  with fried okra and other vegetables as a flavorful snack. Jadin suggested experimenting with different breaded coatings and a variety of seasonings to see what works best for you.

Using cicadas as a nut replacement, a pizza topping or as a crouton with your favorite soup are also fun ways to enjoy cicadas, she said.

"I think the nicest way to eat them is to deep fry them with breaded coating," she said.

Jadin's is still in the research stage of writing her new book. Once finished, it will include recipes and serve as a tool to educate people on the benefits of other insects as a global food source, she said.

What Ive been doing is reviewing the data on insect-eating around the world. Ive also been sampling wherever Im traveling, and now Im starting to put together better recipes. Im still in the literature research part, she said.

Where it all started

Jadin said she was a graduate student at the University of Maryland in 2004 studying evolutionary biology and ecology when her professor, Mike Raupp, a well-known cicada expert at the time, was getting bombarded with phone calls from journalists about an upcoming cicada emergence.

Because people were freaking out about these bugs, these quite large, slow-moving bugs that kind of bump into you and fly into your hair. Even though these bugs are harmless, people would get scared, Jadin said.

Jadin said Raupp created a public outreach class for the purpose of graduate students helping him field press inquiries. Jadin was assigned to research cicadas nutritional value and environmental impact.

There was evidence that birds had a higher fledging rate, and some other small birds had more offspring in those (emergence) years, because there was more food availability  And then while I was going down a rabbit hole in the early days of the internet, I started coming across research about people eating cicadas, she said.

She learned Native American tribes historically ate them  and that it was quite common in some cultures and in other countries.

So the cookbook wasnt necessarily because I was fascinated with cicadas. It was just that they were out, and it was more of my fascination with cooking and insect eating, she said.
For the past two decades, people seriously injured and in need of immediate trauma care have been brought to La Crosse for stabilization and treatment.

As the only level two trauma center in the area, Gundersen Health admits about 1,400 patients a year with injuries ranging from hip fractures because of falls to stab wounds or injuries from multi-vehicle crashes. Patients from as far as Winona and Wabasha in Minnesota, Black River Falls, Friendship, Prairie du Chien and Boscobel in Wisconsin and Decorah, West Union and Elkader in Iowa travel to La Crosse to have life-threatening conditions treated.

The next nearest hospital to La Crosse that offers equal or higher trauma level care is in Rochester.

Every minute counts

Every minute counts when that care is needed, said Dr. Mason Fisher, the medical director for Gundersen Trauma Services.

Time is the enemy when you are traumatically injured, he said.

As a level two center, Fisher said Gundersen is able to care for a range of injuries, even the most life-threatening. Gundersen trauma team members are available to care for patients whenever needed.

"Every day of the week. Every hour of the day. Nights, weekends, holidays," Fisher said.

The trauma team includes a wide variety of staff, including first responders, surgeons, nurses, specialists, radiologists, techs, physical therapists and social services.

If all the departments didnt work together to be part of the trauma team, we wouldnt be able to be a level two trauma center," said Gundersen Trauma Services manager Tammy Aspeslet.

Advance preparation

A trauma team is assembled before a patient even arrives at the hospital.

Surgeons specifically are expected to be ready 15 minutes after a patient's arrival, but Fisher said they are usually ready before the patient's arrival. Subspecialists, when needed, are usually ready to help care for the patient within 30 minutes after arrival.

Gundersen works with level three and four trauma centers to ensure injured patients who are transferred from those hospitals receive the care they need before they are moved.

For example, if a patient comes to Winona Health with severe injuries, staff at that hospital will work to stabilize the patient while coordinating with Gundersen to transport the patient to the La Crosse hospital if needed, Aspeslet said.

Recovery coordination

Some of the injuries the Gundersen trauma team sees and the stories that led to them can impact those who care for the patients during their recovery. Because of this, briefings are held when needed for everyone involved in the care of the patient.

During these briefings, people are able to share their emotions and thoughts in a controlled environment with others who have experienced similar situations. Many of the people involved are used to patients that need a high level of care.

As a surgeon, Fisher said he expects to handle everything from routine surgeries to unexpected surgeries, like stopping an organ from bleeding after a car crash.

I think a lot of us function well under that day-to-day stress when it does occur," Fisher said.

The trauma team members are focused on trying to do what is best for the patients, he said.

The wins of the medicine field help staff make it through the hardest times, Aspeslet said.

"I think also theres an awful lot of wins," she said. "When you have a patient and you care for them and they do heal and they make it through terrible things, I think that just gives you the energy to continue on because it is a win and you were a part of it.

Fisher said it is a great feeling to see people recover from traumatic injuries. Sometimes, he said, the trauma team will receive letters from patients or they will visit and chat with those who cared for them.

Additionally, Fisher sometimes has the chance to see patients in follow-up appointments after surgeries.

"Thats a great feeling, because the goal is to get somebody back to their pre-injury state or as close to it as possible functionally and give them the opportunity to continue with a high quality of life," Fisher said.

Gundersen's trauma team also focuses time on educating people before injuries occur. Injury prevention classes, focusing on a variety of topics, are available through the health organization.
Two historical societies in Winona County and two organizations in Wabasha County have received Minnesota Historical and Cultural Heritage Small Grants, the Minnesota Historical Society announced late last week.

The Winona County Historical Society received $3,095 to add 38 rolls of microfilmed newspapers to make primary records more accessible to the public and $9,861 to digitize a collection of reel-to-reel audio recordings, circa 1955-1975, allowing for greater public access to these historic resources. The Rushford Area Historical Society received $3,750 to document in 10-15 oral history interviews the history of businesses in the Rushford area.

In Wabasha County, Project Get Outdoors Inc. received $10,000 to document in 10-15 oral history interviews the unwritten history of abolitionists in southeast Minnesota, as told by the descendants, and the Plainview Area History Center received $2,361 to add 29 rolls of microfilmed newspapers to make primary records more accessible to the public.

In Red Wing, the Red Wing Collectors Society Foundation received $10,000 to hire a qualified architect to conduct a structural assessment of the 1926 Harrop tunnel kiln and St. Paul Lutheran Church received $10,000 to hire a qualified architect to conduct a conditions assessment of the church.

The small grants, which were approved March 14, are awarded quarterly to help nonprofits, educational organizations, government units and federally recognized tribes to preserve and share Minnesota history, a press release says. In total, the Minnesota Historical Society awarded $214,476 in grants across 14 counties.
FILE - Dairy cattle feed at a farm on March 31, 2017, near Vado, N.M. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Monday, March 25, 2024, that milk from dairy cows in Texas and Kansas has tested positive for bird flu.
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Jeremy Wallace has covered politics and campaigns for more than 20 years. Before joining the Hearst Texas newspapers in 2017 he covered government and politics for the Tampa Bay Times, The Miami Herald and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Previously he covered Congress for the Boston Globe and Detroit Free-Press. Originally from San Antonio, he attended the University of North Texas and earned his bachelors degree from the University of Missouri.

Jeremy also authors the Texas Take with Jeremy Wallace newsletter, where he shares insights from inside the Capitol along with the occasional Willie Nelson reference. You can sign up here.

You can follow him on Twitter, @JeremySWallace, or email him at Jeremy.wallace@chron.com.
In recent years, several Italian towns have sold properties for as cheap as 1 to reinvigorate their economies as their populations age. This has prompted other communities to do the same, including Patrica, in Frosinone. However, the mayor is finding the task to be more difficult than initially anticipated  and not because theres not interest. Its the owners of the abandoned homes that are causing problems.

Patrica, located 70 km southeast of Rome, is a medieval town home to around 3,000 residents. According to CNN Travel, there are over 40 homes that have been abandoned since the early 1900s and, following in the footsteps of the likes of Mussomeli and Zungoli, Mayor Lucio Fiordaliso hoped to sell them to new owners whod not only fix them, but also revitalize the community.

Speaking with the publication, he explained, We first mapped all abandoned houses and made an official call out to the original owners to invite them to hand over their dilapidated family properties, but we managed to sell just two homes for one euro.

The reason for their lack of success: the owners of these abandoned homes refuse to sell their crumbling properties. While 10 initially showed interest, they withdrew their consent at the last minute. Everyone else refused to answer the call.

We first need the availability of owners, or their heirs, in disposing of their old houses, Fiordaliso told CNN. Only then can we place these properties up for sale with their consent, which makes the process very complicated. Almost impossible.

As the publication explains, one of the reasons for the lack of interest could be that more than one family member owns shares in the same property  a common occurrence in Italy. Unlike other Italian cities that have seen their populations decrease as a result of natural disasters, Patrica is required to get owner permission to put any abandoned structures on the market.

Theres also the issue that some owners simply cant be tracked down, as they left the country or have changed their names. Given they likely owe back-taxes, the odds of them calling back are slim-to-none. Its like looking for a needle in a haystack, Fiordaliso explained to CNN.

Aside from issues with the owners, theres concern over the sorry state of the majority of the houses the town has its eye on. The majority need to be renovated before theyd be ready for someone to live in.

With the home scheme failing to gain traction, Patricas government has had to look into other measures to attract new residents. This includes the opening of new businesses  a restaurant and two B&Bs  and tax benefits for foreigners who move to the town and start their own business.

More from us: The Lonely Mojave Phone Booth Is the Only One to Have Its Own Tombstone

According to The Independent, 25 Italian communities are currently selling properties for 1.
Interview: AU officials laud China's support to promote health in Africa

Xinhua) 10:52, March 26, 2024

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!"

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton appears at a pretrial hearing in his securities fraud case before state District Judge Andrea Beall, 185th District Court, Tuesday, March 26, 2024 at Harris County Criminal Courts at Law in Houston. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton appears at a pretrial hearing in his securities fraud case before state District Judge Andrea Beall, 185th District Court, Tuesday, March 26, 2024 at Harris County Criminal Courts at Law in Houston. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton appears at a pretrial hearing in his securities fraud case before state District Judge Andrea Beall in the 185th District Court Tuesday, March 26, 2024 at Harris County Criminal Courts at Law in Houston. Paxton will have his charges dismissed in exchange for doing 100 hours of community service and meeting other requirements, according to a last-minute deal announced Tuesday. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton appears at a pretrial hearing in his securities fraud case before state District Judge Andrea Beall in the 185th District Court Tuesday, March 26, 2024 at Harris County Criminal Courts at Law in Houston. Paxton will have his charges dismissed in exchange for doing 100 hours of community service and meeting other requirements, according to a last-minute deal announced Tuesday. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton signs documents at a pretrial hearing in his securities fraud case before state District Judge Andrea Beall in the 185th District Court Tuesday, March 26, 2024 at Harris County Criminal Courts at Law in Houston. Paxton will have his charges dismissed in exchange for doing 100 hours of community service and meeting other requirements, according to a last-minute deal announced Tuesday. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will have his felony securities fraud charges dismissed in exchange for doing 100 hours of community service and meeting other requirements, according to a last-minute deal announced Tuesday.

The agreement requires Paxton, 61, to complete 15 hours of legal ethics classes and pay about $300,000 in restitution to the victims. Over the coming 18 months, Paxton cannot violate the law or he could again face trial, and he will have to check in with special prosecutors every 60 days in a virtual appointment.

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The resolution  altogether announced, signed and entered within a seven-minute hearing in a Houston court  marks a sudden conclusion to a nearly decadelong legal battle that has clouded the third-term Republicans tenure as the states top lawyer and threatened to scuttle his political ambitions. And it comes less than a year after he survived an impeachment attempt on unrelated corruption claims that the FBI is reportedly still investigating.

Paxton was present Tuesday alongside his lawyers, and calmly watched as the Harris County judge agreed to the terms, saying nothing other than to confirm his signature. The deal does not require him to admit any wrongdoing.

I am grateful to reach this agreement, to get this matter behind me, so I can get back to the work representing the state of Texas, Paxton said in a statement Tuesday.

The culmination of one of the longest-running cases in Texas history came roughly three weeks before Paxton was set to go to trial April 15.

Paxton was indicted in July 2015 for failing to inform friends that he would make a commission off their investment in a North Texas tech company and for neglecting to register with the state as an investment adviser.

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The trial had been delayed repeatedly, including over disputes about prosecutor pay and where Paxton should be tried, as well as slowdowns that affected all court cases due to Hurricane Harvey and the COVID-19 pandemic.

If convicted, Paxton could have faced serious penalties, including decades in prison, an inability to run for office and the possible loss of his law license.

At the end of the day, its not a plea bargain, Dan Cogdell, one of Paxtons defense attorneys, told reporters after the hearing. There is no admission of guilt and there will never be an admission of guilt because he is not guilty.

Cogdell said it was a case we knew, from day one, they couldnt prove, adding that the restitution Paxton will pay is less than hed pay for his defense team to go to trial.

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Special prosecutor Brian Wice said he agreed to a deal because it would bring justice to the victims, and his obligation was always to find a fair resolution, not necessarily to convict Paxton.

While I think the case could be made that justice was certainly delayed, Wice said, I think the agreement that weve reached today underscores the fact that justice was not denied.

Political future

With the possibility of jail time behind him, Paxtons political influence is only expected to grow.

A close ally of former President Donald Trump, who is making another run for the White House, Paxton is not up for reelection until 2026.

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But his approval rating has edged up to 41% since October, a month after he was acquitted by the Texas Senate on the impeachment charges, according to Texas Politics Project polling.

He is also fresh off an election cycle in which he campaigned successfully to oust three justices on the states highest criminal appeals court and help 15 of the 35 candidates he endorsed against pro-impeachment lawmakers to either win or force a runoff. That included House Speaker Dade Phelan, who oversaw the impeachment inquiry and who will have to enter into a rematch with challenger David Covey this May.

READ MORE: Inside the deliberations that led to Ken Paxtons impeachment acquittal

Hes 10 feet tall and bulletproof the way hes looking, Jon Taylor, a political science professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio, said of Paxton. This is a guy who is positioned to have tremendous political influence.

That is, Taylor said, if he can avoid any new criminal charges. The agreement Tuesday will not rid Paxton of all his legal woes.

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The same allegations of bribery and abuse of office that spurred his impeachment are reportedly being investigated by a federal grand jury in San Antonio. Paxton also continues to face a whistleblower suit filed by four of his former top aides who claim he fired them out of retaliation for reporting him to the FBI for those allegations.

In another case still winding its way through the courts, a committee of the State Bar of Texas is seeking to take disciplinary action against Paxton for filing a dishonest petition before the U.S. Supreme Court that sought to overturn the 2020 presidential election result.

If Paxton can continue to eke out more legal victories, Taylor said he will likely be able to parlay his popularity among Texas Republicans into a move toward higher office, possibly in a challenge to U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, with whom hes been publicly sparring, or a place in Trumps Cabinet if the Republican wins the presidency in November.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a fellow Republican, rushed to Paxtons defense Tuesday, writing on social media that he had suffered 9 years of political harassment.

The prosecution was wise to save themselves the embarrassment of a courtroom defeat, said Patrick, who presides over the state Senate.

'Very complicated legal matter'

Paxtons securities fraud charges trace back to his time in the Texas Legislature, years before he became attorney general.

In the 2015 indictment, Paxton was accused of persuading his friends, former state Rep. Byron Cook and Florida businessman Joel Hochberg, to buy more than $100,000 worth of stock in Servergy, a McKinney technology company, without disclosing that he was being compensated by the company for their investment and that he hadnt personally invested in the company.

Hochberg has since died, but the restitution will be paid to his estate.

Paxtons work with Servergy was also the subject of a federal civil complaint filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, but a federal judge tossed the suit in March 2017.

The Cooks and the Hochbergs are grateful that they will receive restitution in full in connection with their Servergy investments, their attorney, Terry Jacobson, said in a statement read by Wice after court. This has been a long journey and both the Cooks and Hochbergs appreciate the diligent legal work by Brian Wice and Jed Silverman to bring this very complicated legal matter to a conclusion.

The special prosecutors were brought on to try the case against Paxton when his hometown district attorney, who is friends with the attorney general, recused himself.

TIMELINE: Allegations against Texas AG Ken Paxton through the years

Though they litigated the securities fraud case for years, it was always going to be a difficult one to win in court, said former special prosecutor Kent Schaffer, who withdrew from the case last month. Most of the witnesses in the case were hostile to the prosecution and friendly with Paxton, he said. Silverman replaced Schaffer.

Wice said that he and Silverman have been besieged by a torrent of phone calls, and he understands that some people are angry to see the case end with no jail time for Paxton. He said those people know one half of 1% about the facts of the case.

The fact that all of these people have registered their monumental displeasure at what happened in these cases I submit probably should have been directed at the ballot box, he said. Paxton won reelection in 2018 and 2022 with the charges hanging over his head.

Paxtons community service, the particulars of which prosecutors and defense attorneys will decide together, will be completed in Collin County, where Paxton lives. Wice said it will likely involve a soup kitchen or food pantry.

Paxton will take 15 hours of continuing legal education as part of the agreement  five times more than what an attorney licensed in Texas is required to do, Wice said.


Port Location Selected for Spodumene Import to Refinery

Melbourne, Mar 26, 2024 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Lithium Universe Limited ( ASX:LU7 ) ( ESMAF:OTCMKTS ) is pleased to announce the successful completion of a port study aimed at determining the most efficient import scenario for lithium-rich spodumene to supply the Becancour Lithium Refinery. The proposed refinery, which will rely on spodumene feed, may source this material from within Canada or external locations proximal to the Atlantic Ocean such as Brazil, Africa, or even further abroad to Australia. The crucial aspect is the ability to directly import spodumene into the Becancour Lithium Refinery.



The study systematically evaluated the capabilities of key ports, including Trois-Rivieres, Sorel, Quebec, Montreal, and Becancour, to manage the importation and storage of spodumene. This comprehensive analysis focuses on assessing the logistical framework essential for supporting spodumene importation. It encompasses an in-depth examination of infrastructure, specific capabilities, and available equipment of each target port, ensuring the selection of optimal routes and storage solutions in alignment with the project's logistics requirements.



Additionally, the study thoroughly explores the detail within the logistics chain, with a focus on offering an understanding of the inherent risks and challenges linked to spodumene transportation. This includes a comprehensive examination of factors such as the management of dust emissions, adherence to regulations, safeguarding workers and community health and safety, as well as addressing environmental concerns.



The company has determined that the preferred port for the project will be the Becancour Port. The delivery plan for the product involves bulk shipments, with vessels ideally carrying a cargo quantity of 30,000 tonnes and a minimum shipment requirement set at 10,000 tonnes per vessel. The processing site is anticipated to consume 10,000 tonnes of spodumene every four weeks. The annual transportation volume is estimated to be around 140,000 tonnes of spodumene. To facilitate this logistical operation, the spodumene will be transported to the site exclusively by road. This comprehensive approach ensures a strategic and efficient supply chain for the delivery and consumption of spodumene at the processing site.



The Becancour Port, under the management of SPIPB and operated by Quebec Stevedoring Limited (QSL), plays a pivotal role as a strategic transportation hub situated along the St. Lawrence River. Owned by the Quebec government, the port encompasses five berths, ranging from 150 to 292 meters in length, and includes a ro-ro ramp. Its freshwater location ensures optimal conditions for shipping activities. The port's year-round accessibility is facilitated by its deep-water status, with a water depth of 10.67 meters, accommodating large-capacity merchant vessels consistently.



Positioned halfway between Montreal and Quebec City, the Becancour Port serves as a critical link in the transportation network, providing seamless connectivity to road and rail. Handling a substantial volume, it manages over 3,600,000 tonnes of cargo annually, affirming its significance in the region's trade and logistics landscape. The Becancour Port's importance is further underscored by its capacity to host nearly 200 ships each year.



Preliminary ongoing discussions regarding the expansion of the terminal emphasize the port's acknowledgement of the evolving needs of its growing customer base in the region. The preliminary discussions extend to acquiring specialized equipment, particularly bulk unloading equipment, tailored to the requirements of various companies establishing a presence in the Becancour Industrial Park.



In summary, the Becancour Port, with its strategic location, extensive facilities, and plans for expansion, is a vital component of the Lithium Universe's refinery. Discussions will commence with the Port Authority.



*To view images, please visit:

https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/4575805V





About Lithium Universe Ltd





Lithium Universe Ltd (ASX:LU7) (OTCMKTS:ESMAF), headed by industry trail blazer, Iggy Tan, and the Lithium Universe team has a proven track record of fast-tracking lithium projects, demonstrated by the successful development of the Mt Cattlin spodumene project for Galaxy Resources Limited.

Instead of exploring for the sake of exploration, Lithium Universe's mission is to quickly obtain a resource and construct a spodumene-producing mine in Quebec, Canada. Unlike many other Lithium exploration companies, Lithium Universe possesses the essential expertise and skills to develop and construct profitable projects.

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Crown BarangarooMonday, August 26, 2024The Australian Gold Conference 2024 is the ONLY event in Australia that brings together all aspects of the precious metals sector and gives people the chance to fully understand the place that precious metals should take in portfolios. The dates for 2024 are Monday 26th August to Wednesday 28th August The Australian Gold Conference 2024 is a 2 1/2 day fully immersive experience where you will hear from internationally renowned keynote speakers, ASX listed companies and panel discussions on wh...
Skies on began clearing over Texas, seen here in this weather satellite photo taken around 4 p.m. Monday, after a cold front dragged a dry air mass behind it. Sunny skies and dry weather are expected Tuesday across the state. NOAA/National Weather Service

San Antonio will enjoy blue skies and comfortable temperatures this week, but Texas weather being what it is means that sunshine also comes with an elevated threat of wildfires in the Hill Country and the Edwards Plateau.

A dry air mass that has moved into Texas and fierce winds on Tuesday will make it easier for any outdoor fires to spread quickly, the National Weather Service warned in a forecast bulletin Monday. The fire weather threat will persist in Val Verde, Edwards and Kinney counties, where relative humidity levels will sink into the teens and sustained winds could be as strong as 15 mph.

Elevated to near-critical fire weather conditions may continue over portions of these same areas both Wednesday and Thursday afternoon as afternoon temperatures climb, the weather service said in its bulletin.

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In San Antonio, we can expect sunny skies and north winds of 5 to 10 mph becoming westerly in the afternoon, forecasters said. A day after the passage of a cold front, morning temperatures on Tuesday will start as low as 49 degrees at daybreak before rising to 75 in the afternoon.

Whats the Wednesday forecast?

An upper-level trough of rain-friendly low atmospheric pressure was expected to swing across South and Central Texas on Wednesday.

This may induce some spotty morning shower activity, most concentrating from the southern Edwards Plateau into the Hill Country, the weather service said in its forecast. During Wednesday afternoon, just enough weak instability builds to where isolated thunderstorms could also develop over portions of the Hill Country into the northern half of the I-35 corridor, thanks to the help from a residual surface boundary and/or dry line.

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For San Antonio on Wednesday, that translates into a 20% chance of rain after 1 p.m. Otherwise, we can expect mostly sunny skies and cooler north winds becoming warmer southerly winds. Morning temperatures start in the low 50s before reaching 75 in the late afternoon. At night, skies will stay mostly clear, which will allow radiant heat to escape and help temperatures sink to the upper 40s before dawn Thursday.

The extended forecast from the National Weather Service shows a gradual increase of temperatures this week. National Weather Service

Warmer end to the week

Warmer and quieter weather, thanks to an upper-level ridge of high atmospheric pressure, is expected to settle in through the weekend.

Within the lower levels of the atmosphere, including at the surface, light to moderate south to southeasterly breezes will prevail as surface high pressure stays displaced to our east, the weather service said. The winds will be occasionally breezy at times.

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In San Antonio, Thursday is shaping up to be sunny with a high near 77. Light southerly winds will shift to come from the southeast, and the breezes will kick up to become 10 to 15 mph winds with gusts as strong as 20 mph.

Friday similarly will be mostly sunny with a high near 79. Blustery south winds of 10 to 20 mph could include gusts as strong as 30 mph.
(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.
Some seaweeds, like the one shown here, are a source of essential nutrients but may also expose consumers to unsafe levels of heavy metals.

Seaweeds accumulate elements from the environment theyre grown in. Scientists know that factors such as the species or growing conditions impact the essential minerals, nutrients, and nonessential or toxic heavy metals in a serving of seaweed. However, not much is known about the balance of helpful versus potentially harmful compounds in many of the varieties traditionally eaten in Hawaii. Furthermore, the U.S. has not established safe regulatory limits for toxic substances such as arsenic and lead in whole pieces of edible seaweed, meaning that some products available for sale may not be tested for these compounds. So, Kacie Ho and colleagues decided to analyze key nutrients and metals in seaweed species grown around Hawaii.



The researchers obtained six types of seaweed that were either cultivated or collected in the wild. They measured the beneficial nutrients and toxic elements in each species and used statistics to differentiate between samples. They found that:

Four of the six tested seaweeds were excellent sources of at least one essential mineral  with greater than 20% of the recommended daily value per serving of either iron, manganese, or both calcium and magnesium.

The amounts of protein, fat, carbohydrates and fiber varied significantly across the tested species, and generally aligned with previous nutritional assessments for three of the seaweeds.

Two wild species that are not commonly consumed, S. aquifolium and S. echinocarpum, had the highest levels of arsenic-containing compounds  far exceeding safe consumption limits established by other countries.

and had the highest levels of arsenic-containing compounds  far exceeding safe consumption limits established by other countries. Two farmed species, H. formosa and G. parvispora, contained elevated lead levels, which are above those recommended for safe eating in Taiwan.

Overall, the researchers found that Hawaiian seaweeds provide many essential minerals and nutrients, but may also expose consumers to unsafe levels of heavy metals, depending on factors such as seaweed type and growing conditions. Previously published studies suggested that boiling or rinsing other seaweed species, which werent included in this work, could remove some harmful substances. But these techniques may also strip away beneficial nutrients. So, Ho and colleagues are collaborating with seaweed growers to study the impact of growing location and common cooking practices on levels of heavy metals and nutrients in Hawaiian seaweeds. Their findings could inform future regulations and ensure nutritious and safe seaweed food products.

The authors acknowledge funding from the United States Department of Agricultures National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Multistate Project.
We all want to live in our dream space. Interior designers offer a range of benefits to help you achieve your dream space. They can transform your home, office, or business by expertly planning the interior, ambiance, and style. Are you also looking for interior designers in Bangalore? Stay tuned for today's article. We will let you know 7 Steps To Choose The Best Interior Designers In Bangalore. When we talk about the best interior designers, Asense Interior's name comes first. Their keen eye for aesthetics helps craft a space that reflects your personality through furniture, fabrics, and color palettes etc which are important components of interior designing. By utilizing their expertise, you can save time, money, and stress, resulting in a beautiful and functional space you'll adore. But you can choose any Firm or Interior Designer company following below details and 7 Steps To Choose The Best Interior Designers In Bangalore.

With the ample number of options available, it's essential to navigate through the list of choices to find the right interior designer that fits your project. Whether you're revamping your home or office, selecting the best interior designers like Asense interior can make all the difference in achieving your vision. Here are 7 crucial steps to help you choose the best interior designer in Bangalore:

1) Decide Your Style and Requirements:

Before your search for an interior designer, take the time to define your style preferences and project requirements. Consider factors such as the purpose of the space, your personal aesthetic, and any specific needs or challenges you may have. Whether you prefer minimalist elegance or vibrant eclectic designs, having a clear vision will guide you in selecting a designer whose style aligns with your own.Asense Interior's diverse portfolio ,Style catalogue, and the new Design Experience centre spread across 6000 square feet serves as a hub for creativity, inspiration, and collaboration, allowing clients to explore a wide range of design possibilities under one roof.

2) Research and Gather Reviews & Recommendations:

Begin your search for the perfect interior designer by researching firms in Bangalore, and Asense Interior is sure to top your list. Renowned for their affordability without compromising on quality, Asense Interior has garnered glowing recommendations from satisfied clients over the years. Start your search by researching Best interior designers in Bangalore. Utilize online platforms, such as websites, social media, and design directories, to explore portfolios and gather information about different designers' styles and expertise. Additionally, seek recommendations from friends, family, or colleagues who have worked with interior designers in the past. Their insights and experiences can provide valuable guidance in your selection process.

3) Review Portfolios and Previous Work:

Once you've compiled a list of potential & top interior designers in Bangalore, carefully review their portfolios and previous work. Pay attention to the diversity of their projects, design aesthetics, and attention to detail. Look for projects that resonate with your style and demonstrate the designer's ability to transform spaces effectively. A comprehensive portfolio will give you a glimpse into the designer's creativity, skillset, and consistency in delivering quality results.Asense Interior's extensive portfolio and previous work to gain insight into their design aesthetic and expertise.You can find several Review and articles about Asense Interior. This helps you to build faith on Firm whom you are going to select for interior designing.

4) Check Credentials and Experience:

Verify the credentials and experience of the interior designers on your shortlist. Ensure that they are professionally trained and certified in interior design. Experience plays a crucial role in understanding the core of design and navigating various challenges that may arise during the project. Opt for designers who have a proven track record of successful projects and positive client testimonials.Rest assured in Asense Interior's credentials and experience, knowing that you're partnering with a team of professionals dedicated to exceeding your expectations. With a rigorous 45-step quality control process in place, quality is non-negotiable at Asense Interior. Their track record of delivering exceptional results and their unwavering commitment to customer satisfaction speaks volumes about their expertise and professionalism.

5) Schedule Consultations with the Interior Designer Firms:

Narrow down your list of potential interior designers and schedule consultations with your top choices. Use this opportunity to discuss your project requirements, budget constraints, and timeline expectations. Pay attention to how well the designer listens to your ideas and communicates their own vision for the project.For Example, if you select Asense Interior then take the next step in your journey by scheduling consultations with Asense Interior's team. Utilize this opportunity to discuss your project requirements, budget constraints, and timeline expectations. Asense Interior's dedication to customer satisfaction ensures that every client's needs are heard and addressed, fostering a collaborative partnership built on trust and transparency.

6) Evaluate Communication and Compatibility:

During the consultations, assess the designer's communication style, professionalism, and compatibility with your personality and preferences. Effective communication is essential for ensuring that your vision is understood and executed accurately.During your consultations with Asense Interior, evaluate their communication style and compatibility with your vision. Their commitment to listening to your ideas and offering creative solutions ensures that your design journey is as seamless and enjoyable as possible. Trust in Asense Interior to communicate effectively and establish a rapport that lays the foundation for a successful partnership.

7) Review Contracts and Budget Proposals:

Before finalizing your decision, carefully review the contracts and budget proposals provided by your selected interior designers. Ensure that all terms, timelines of project competition, and payment schedules are clearly outlined and aligned with your expectations.Asense Interior's dedication to excellence ensures that your design journey is not only fulfilling but also exceeds your every expectation. Asense Interior gives payment flexibility , proposes client friendly budget wrc. These are factors which makes them one of the Best interior Designers in Bangalore.

In conclusion, navigating your interior design journey with Asense Interior is a testament to creativity, affordability, and the commitment to client satisfaction. By following these 7 Steps To Choose The Best Interior Designers In Bangalore , you can rest assured that you're choosing the best interior designer in Bangalore to bring your vision to life. You can Trust in Asense Interior to transform your space into a masterpiece that reflects your unique personality and style. To schedule a visit or learn more about Asense Interior's design services, please visit their website at asenseinterior.com For media inquiries, please contact +917676375901 at adminasense@asenseinterior.com..
Admatazz, a Mumbai-based digital agency that uses creative, media, and technology to solve marketing problems, has bagged the integrated social media and SEO marketing mandate of Boss Appliances. Boss Appliances has partnered with Admatazz to strengthen its presence in the digital space.

As part of the mandate, Admatazz will handle the creative communications of the brand across social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn to elevate social presence along with boosting organic traffic.

Boss Appliances is one of the leading manufacturers of home appliances and pioneers in launching the hand blender, which was first launched by them in 1985. They are known for incorporating innovation into the industry and hold a strong brand legacy spanning over four decades.

Speaking on the account win, Yash Chandiramani, Founder and Chief Strategist at Admatazz, said, We are glad to add Boss Appliances to our roster. As we grow as a company, we look to partner with brands who believe in our methods and approach, and we are glad Boss Appliances entrusted their digital presence duties to us. Our key aim is to strengthen the brand's digital presence by curating interesting content that can be made in this category and increasing the brand's reach and audience engagement.

Vidhi Gala, Director of Marketing at Boss Appliances added, "As a brand that has been present for over four decades, we have always moved forward with the times, and as we see the digital and social media space grow rapidly and consumers become more active, we realise the need to strengthen our online presence. With Admatazz, we are glad to find like-minded agency partners who are enthusiastic and excited to build our brand as we do. We look forward to our association with them.
In todays rapidly evolving digital landscape, the role of smart tech and data analytics has become paramount across industries. Just as advertising and marketing have embraced these technological advancements, PR professionals are leveraging data expertise to revolutionise their strategies. The integration of data analytics is reshaping PR, media, and tech strategies, offering businesses key advantages in navigating the dynamic business environment.

With the lines of marketing, PR and communications blurring, the need to bring evaluation and due diligence to campaign strategy has been amplified by leaps. The only way to tackle this is to embrace smart technologies like AI, ML that bring the true value of ROI deep diving to extract where the money spent is really demonstrating results  be it connections or leads, media buy in, share of voice , social media trend analysis, SEO or even thought leadership positioning, noted Mou Chakravorty, Associate Director - Marketing Communications, Deloitte India.

AI applications also bring in ways to cut through mundane tasks, bringing automation for efficient use of talent at a time when balancing client demand, processes and people crunch have become challenging due to the fast pace digital movement, she added.

Integration of data expertise reshaping PR, Media & Tech strategies

According to Jyotsna Dash Nanda, AVP - Corporate Communications, Dharampal Satyapal Group (DS Group), Data is the new PR gold. Traditionally seen as an art, PR is becoming a science with data analysis. The integration of data expertise is revolutionizing PR, Media, and Tech strategies. Data analysis allows for smarter targeting, measurable success through campaign tracking, and crafting messages that resonate with audiences. Data shows the impact of campaigns, allowing for adjustments and resource allocation based on what's working. PR professionals armed with data expertise can adapt and evolve their strategies. This shift from intuition to data-driven insights empowers businesses to navigate the evolving landscape with a competitive edge.

Akanksha Jain, Head - Public Relations & Corporate Communications, BharatPe, explained, The integration of data expertise helps PR and Communications professionals to better understand the impact created by the PR campaigns. Communication leaders can have access to data not only in terms of number of stories, but also in terms of more holistic impact like sentiment check, effectiveness in terms of messaging, tonality of the stories, and reach across locations. Today, there are tools available that can help Communication leaders understand the efficacy of a campaign or an announcement, or get a sense of what did not work for them, so they can make the required iterations.

Ajey Maharaj, Head of Corporate Communications & PR, Fortis Healthcare Ltd, too, considered the incorporation of data analytics into Public Relations (PR), Media, and Technology strategies to be a significant shift in the way businesses strategize their communication and establish their market presence. He added, In an era where information is abundant and consumer attention spans are short, the application of data analytics offers businesses a distinct competitive advantage. This approach enables them to traverse the dynamic business environment with unmatched precision and foresight.

With the advent of AI and similar technologies, data takes the centre stage in PR like it does in many other professions, noted Tanmana Rath, Lead Communications and Stakeholder Management at TERI, adding, In todays rapidly evolving PR landscape, precision is paramount. Creating effective PR strategies demands a profound understanding of the target audience, their preferences, and the dynamic media environment. Here, data analytics emerges as a transformative force, equipping PR professionals with a treasure trove of insights to drive informed decisions. The advantages are manifold. Through harnessing data analytics, PR experts can pinpoint emerging trends, dissect consumer behaviour, and tailor their messaging with precision. The ability to foresee and promptly react to market fluctuations is priceless. Whether its adapting to shifts in media consumption patterns or refining communication strategies based on audience sentiment, data-driven PR approaches are reshaping the rules of engagement.

The advantages

Data-driven decision making helps Communication leaders craft a more robust and impactful strategy that can help get the required results, pointed out Akanksha Jain. Communication leaders can also be better prepared in case of a crisis as these tools can help them map the overall digital universe and observe outliers, if any. One can also understand who are media friends and which media houses are constantly publishing negative reportage about the company. Also, by using data analytics, Communication leaders can talk in terms of micro as well as macro-impact across a range of cohorts, and not only limit to number of stories or AVE. This resonates better with the management of a company, Jain added.

Fortis Healthcares Ajey Maharaj listed the following key advantages and benefits:

Advantages for Businesses:

Targeted Communication: Through data analytics, businesses can segment their audience by demographics, preferences, and behaviours, crafting messages that resonate deeply and foster engagement.

Through data analytics, businesses can segment their audience by demographics, preferences, and behaviours, crafting messages that resonate deeply and foster engagement. Measurable Outcomes: Data expertise allows companies to define clear, quantifiable objectives for their PR and media campaigns, evaluate performance, and fine-tune their strategies for maximum effectiveness.

Data expertise allows companies to define clear, quantifiable objectives for their PR and media campaigns, evaluate performance, and fine-tune their strategies for maximum effectiveness. Strategic Decision Making: Insights derived from data analytics equip businesses with the knowledge to make informed choices, efficiently allocate resources, and stay ahead of market trends and opportunities.

Benefits for PR Professionals:

Enhanced Campaign Efficiency: Leveraging data-driven insights, PR professionals can pinpoint the most impactful channels and messages, leading to campaigns that not only reach, but resonate with their intended audience.

Leveraging data-driven insights, PR professionals can pinpoint the most impactful channels and messages, leading to campaigns that not only reach, but resonate with their intended audience. Improved Crisis Management: The capability for real-time monitoring of data enables PR experts to swiftly identify and address potential issues or negative perceptions, safeguarding the brands reputation.

The capability for real-time monitoring of data enables PR experts to swiftly identify and address potential issues or negative perceptions, safeguarding the brands reputation. ROI Measurement: Data analytics plays a crucial role in quantifying the return on investment for PR activities, underscoring their value and supporting the case for future budget allocations.

Through the analysis of data, PR professionals gain valuable insights into audience behaviour, media landscape, sentiment trends, and emerging patterns, noted TERIs Tanmana Rath, adding, this enables them to enhance their strategies, showcasing the tangible value of PR initiatives to stakeholders. Leveraging data-driven decision-making, communication experts can take a deep dive into customer behaviors, preferences, and needs. By dissecting customer data, they refine their strategies to ensure precise message delivery to the intended audience, crafting bespoke communication strategies tailored to specific demographics and timing for optimal impact, she said.

Highlighting the advantages, Jyotsna Dash Nanda of DS Group shared:

Sharper Targeting: Traditionally, PR relied on intuition and experience to target audiences. Data analytics provides a more scientific approach. By analyzing demographics, social media engagement, and media consumption habits, PR teams can identify the exact audience segments most receptive to their message. This laser focus ensures resources are directed towards those who matter most.

Content Optimization: Data analytics helps craft compelling content. By understanding what resonates with target audiences (preferred topics, keywords, content formats), PR professionals can tailor messages to generate higher engagement. This data can also reveal sentiment around certain topics, allowing PR teams to address concerns or adjust messaging accordingly.

Campaign Measurement & Improvement: The true impact of PR efforts can be elusive. Data analytics offers a solution. By tracking website traffic, social media mentions, media coverage sentiment, and brand awareness metrics, PR teams can measure the effectiveness of campaigns. This data allows for adjustments and optimizations throughout the campaign lifecycle, maximizing its impact.

Crisis Communication: Social media and the 24/7 news cycle can quickly turn a minor issue into a major crisis. Data analytics allows for real-time monitoring of online sentiment and media coverage during a crisis. This empowers PR teams to identify emerging concerns, respond swiftly, and shape the narrative effectively.

Data-Driven Decisions: Intuition and experience are valuable assets, but data provides a powerful foundation for decision-making. PR professionals can leverage data insights to choose the most appropriate communication channels, craft stronger media pitches, and tailor messaging for maximum impact. This data-driven approach ensures PR strategies are relevant, timely, and deliver measurable results.

Akanksha Jain added here, Data analytics empower PR professionals with a single-window view that helps them understand the challenges with reference to specific media houses/ locations that may not be reporting in line with the narrative they want to build. The leaders can accordingly focus on building relationships and try and drive a positive narrative building.

Jyotsna Dash Nanda concluded by saying, In todays dynamic market, where audience preferences and media consumption habits are constantly evolving, data analytics equips PR professionals to navigate this complexity. By leveraging data, PR teams can develop targeted, impactful campaigns that resonate with their audiences and achieve their desired outcomes.
Content production company Freemantle has acquired global production studio Asacha Media Group and its portfolio of award-winning labels based in France, Italy and the UK. The deal sees Fremantle acquire the Group from Asachas founding partners, managers and funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, L.P.

Asacha is made up of eight distinct and individually successful labels across scripted, unscripted and feature films. These labels are Kabo Family, Mintee and Srab Films in France; Picomedia and Stand By Me in Italy; and Arrow Media, Red Planet Pictures, and Wag in the United Kingdom.

The acquisition of Asacha was spearheaded by Fremantles Group COO and CEO Continental Europe, Andrea Scrosati, and underlines Fremantles strategic plan to invest in and develop premium production companies and creative talents from around the world.

Headquartered in Paris, France, Asacha will continue to be run by Co-Founder and Group CEO Gaspard de Chavagnac who will report to Andrea Scrosati. Gaspard de Chavagnac will continue to be supported by Marina Williams, as Chief Content Officer of Asacha. The portfolio of award-winning Asacha labels in France, Italy and the UK will continue to report to Gaspard de Chavagnac.

The multi award-winning slate of international IP from Asacha includes: Death in Paradise and Beyond Paradise (Red Planet Pictures, BBC One); Mare Fuori and La Storia (Picomedia, Rai 1); Saint Omer (Srab Films); Cimetiere Indien (Mintee Studio, Canal Plus France); Dont Pick up the Phone (Wag, Netflix / Paramount); Instagrams Worst Con Artist (Wag, ITVX); See no Evil (Arrow Media, Discovery ID); Magic of Disneys Animal Kingdom (Arrow Media, Disney+ / Nat Geo); Its Lunch Time (Stand By Me , Rai1); Diaries (Stand by Me, Netflix); Scenes de Menages (Kabo) and General Men (Stand by Me, Rai 1).

Fremantles existing businesses in the regions in which Asacha operates, includes Talkback, Thames, Naked, Label 1, Euston Films, Dancing Ledge Productions, Wildstar Films and 72 Films (UK); Fremantle France, Kwai (France) and Fremantle Italy, The Apartment Pictures, Wildside and Lux Vide (Italy). These will be unaffected by the deal and will continue to operate and report to the current Fremantle structure as before.

Andrea Scrosati, Group COO and CEO Continental Europe, Fremantle, said: We are pleased to welcome Asacha and its incredible labels, producers and creative talent, under Gaspard de Chavagnac to the Fremantle family. With the completion of the acquisition, we look forward to working closely with Gaspard, Marina and all of the label MDs and talent to achieve bigger things together within our new group.

Gaspard de Chavagnac, Co-Founder and Group CEO, Asacha Media Group, said: I am thrilled about this deal with Fremantle which is opening a new phase of Asachas journey as part of one of the leading production and distribution groups in the world. We  all Asacha talents and myself  are very excited to start working closely with Andrea Scrosati and all the Fremantle team to grow our labels and IPs.

Advising for Asacha Media Group and Oaktree has been Lazard, Mayer Brown, Duroc partners and Arsene and for Fremantle has been CMS.
Today, Adobe announced an expanded partnership with German multinational company Henkel. Henkel will use Adobe Firefly and Adobe Experience Cloud to advance its content supply chain with the power of generative AI, delivering personalization at scale across its global brand portfolio.

Henkel operates with a diversified portfolio, holding leading positions in industrial and consumer businesses through brands such as Loctite, Persil and Schwarzkopf. Like many global organizations, Henkel has seen exponential growth in the demand for high quality and personalized content that meets the needs of digital marketing and omnichannel campaigns and product launches.

With Adobe Firefly Custom Models, Henkel will be able to train and fine-tune Firefly generative AI models using its own assets to create on-brand content, accelerating content production and streamlining repetitive tasks. For example, teams behind Henkels hair care brand Schwarzkopf will be able to create a variety of visual assets to support true one-to-one personalization around product recommendations, based on a customers hair color, style or length.

As a pioneer in delivering personalized customer experiences through its existing digital business platform RAQN  powered by Adobe enterprise applications including Adobe Experience Platform and Adobe Real-Time Customer Data Platform  Henkel has a single, unified view of B2B and B2C customers.

With that, Henkel will be able to leverage generative AI capabilities embedded in Adobe Journey Optimizer, built on Adobe Experience Platform, to orchestrate journeys with auto-generated message variations that drive customer engagement. When combined with visual assets created in Adobe Firefly, Henkel can quickly deliver personalized marketing campaigns, website creative, and mobile experiences that strengthen customer loyalty and prevent messaging fatigue.

In the past, digital marketing campaigns were often restricted to limited variations of assets and copy variations. With the power of generative AI, Henkel can combine and tailor content for different channels and increase the volume of tailored messages. Content production tasks that would have taken hours or days, can be brought down to minutes, helping Henkel quickly create consistent, on-brand, compliant, and commercially-safe content.

Generative AI is disrupting the economy and society similar to the internet  but at lightspeed. We must adopt to and capture these new technologies early on to drive innovation and open up new opportunities for Henkel, said Michael Nilles, Chief Digital & Information Officer at Henkel. Together with our strong partner Adobe, we will significantly advance our content and marketing workflows using responsible generative AI, innovating how we produce assets at scale and deliver personalized, omnichannel experiences.

Generative AI is reshaping what we thought possible to deliver personalization at scale across data, content and customer journeys, said Luc Dammann, President of EMEA at Adobe. With Adobe Firefly and Adobe Experience Cloud, Henkel is leveraging natively integrated generative AI capabilities to power its digital strategy and set a new standard around efficiency, reshaping how its iconic brands approach content production, campaign optimization, and personalized customer experiences.
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.
The eighth edition of Adgullys flagship event  DIGIXX Summit and Awards 2024  saw an interesting panel discussion on The Measurement Maze: Navigating Metrics and Proving ROI in a MultiChannel World. The session was chaired by Vishal Singh, Country Head - India, Xapads Media, and the distinguished panellists included:

Akhil Nair, Founder & CEO, Big Trunk Communications

Ashish Tiwari, Chief Marketing Officer, Homecredit

Govind Sharma, CMO - Marcom Head, KEI Industries

Sahiba Sachdev, VP - Media Planning & Buying, Interactive Avenues

The session commenced with Vishal Singh sharing his thoughts on how the marketers have evolved over the years. He mentioned, A decade and a half ago, when we began our marketing careers, it was simpler. We launched campaigns with 90 or 60-second ads, focusing on traditional media. Digital was limited to platforms like Meta and Google, with discussions revolving around likes, shares, and basic search metrics. However, consumer behavior has evolved significantly. Consumers are now active across multiple platforms and screens, leading marketers to adapt and evolve. This shift has made marketing both interesting and challenging today.

Further he coined a question to the panelists, When we talk about multi-channel marketing and measurement, the first thing I want to understand is why do we want to measure?

Ashish Tiwari from Homecredit acknowledged that in business, profit is the only language that matters. He said, If you are not in business to make a profit, then it's charity. Anyone saying otherwise is not being realistic. Profit is achieved by investing and expecting returns, and the only way to calculate that is through measurement; it's not guesswork. Trust in Jesus, but everyone else comes with numbers, as they say, and that's the eternal truth.

Continuing further, he said, Now, why multi-channel marketing? It's because of how consumer behavior has changed. Remember cyber cafes? They used to offer an hour of undivided attention for a fee, but now, with the internet on mobiles, that's a distant memory. The evolution of technology has transformed how consumers interact with brands, making multi-channel marketing essential in today's dynamic landscape.

Govind Sharma shared his insights, saying, Measurement is crucial to substantiate your arguments. It's like planning to reach a venue in the morning without knowing where it is, what time to go, or what to wear. Similarly, in business, you must provide data-driven insights to convince stakeholders. However, the challenge lies in technological advancements outpacing many business owners' understanding.

According to him, as a marketer, the struggle is real when presenting data to busy business owners who may not be familiar with or invested in the latest technologies, leading to misconceptions about the relevance of certain platforms like Instagram.

When asked what exactly they measured in a multi-platform world, Sahiba Sachdev replied, Measurement varies significantly across different categories. For some clients, the upper funnel drives the lower funnel, with views on platforms like YouTube influencing conversions. Auto clients prioritize lead generation through platforms like Google, Facebook, and affiliate channels. Others focus on impactful properties tailored to their brand's needs, assessing likability and fit before measuring post-campaign impact. Marketers often emphasize lower-funnel metrics, but holistic measurement considers brand awareness, consideration, and user experience, recognizing that lead generation strategies must align with consumer behaviour for optimal results.

Akhil Nair, Founder & CEO, Big Trunk Communications, added here, A crucial aspect of any campaign is defining what you want to measure before going live. Setting up the backend analytics correctly is essential to understand the impact of your spending. It's crucial to determine upfront what metrics matter and how they will be measured. Google Analytics is a widely used tool for this purpose, offering insights into campaign performance across multiple channels. Other analytics platforms like Adobe Analytics also exist, but starting with a familiar tool like GA4 simplifies measurement and analysis.
The third and final WARC Rankings is now unveiled. The WARC Effective 100 is the ultimate independent global benchmark of the worlds most awarded campaigns and companies for effectiveness.

Compiled by WARC Creative, helping companies deliver creative marketing that works, the annual Effective 100 Ranking reflects the work that was awarded by the most important global and regional shows celebrating effectiveness in 2023. The awards tracked are determined by a yearly global panel survey and in consultation with the WARC Rankings Advisory Board.

Amy Rodgers, Head of Content, WARC Creative, said, The WARC Effective 100 league tables act as a benchmark for excellence in effectiveness. They showcase the most successful work and highlight the companies that have driven impact. Reflecting on the top campaigns, many committed to addressing important social issues. Whisper focused on the challenges young girls face due to a lack of period education, Partners Life emphasised the importance of life insurance for loved ones security, Flutwein highlighted the damages suffered by wineries due to flooding, Vaseline tackled systemic racism and healthcare inequities, and Home Centre challenged social taboos around adoption in the Middle East.

#1 Campaign for effectiveness: Shah Rukh Khan-My-Ad by Ogilvy Mumbai / Wavemaker Mumbai for Cadbury

The most effective campaign of 2023 was Shah Rukh Khan-My-Ad, created by Ogily Mumbai and Wavemaker Mumbai for Cadbury. The confectionary company increased sales of its Celebrations product by 35% during Diwali, with an interactive, geotargeted campaign that made Indian superstar Shah Rukh Khan the ambassador for small, local stores.

Sukesh Nayak, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy India, said, We are thrilled that Cadbury Celebrations SRK My Ad has been recognised as the most effective campaign in the WARC Effective 100. This innovative hyper-localization, hyper-personalization idea has brought so much joy and happiness to millions of small shop keepers across India by making Indias biggest superstar - Shah Rukh Khan, their brand ambassador in their time of need. The most effective campaign in the world is also the most happiest campaign in the world.

Ajay Gupte, CEO - South Asia, Wavemaker, added here, We are delighted our campaign Shah Rukh Khan-My-Ad for Mondelez is recognised as #1 by the WARC Effective 100 rankings. This campaign is a testament to the innovative work done along with our creative partner Ogilvy. Our campaign has successfully created a tangible impact that has been widely appreciated across several platforms. This ranking showcases our commitment to innovation and creating work that leaves a lasting impression on the audience. Massive thanks to our incredible team, clients, and partners for making this achievement possible.

In second place is Keep Girls in School by Leo Burnett Mumbai, EssenceMediacom Mumbai, Leo Burnett Gurgaon and EssenceMediacom London for femcare brand Whisper, which launched a long-term initiative to reduce the rate at which girls drop out of school due their periods, which included the highly awarded The Missing Chapter execution.

In third place is McDonalds Famous Orders by Wieden+Kennedy New York, Narrative Los Angeles, Alma Miami, and Burrell Chicago. The fast food chain released various celebrities orders as meals to engage with young multicultural consumers.

#1 Creative agency for effectiveness: Leo Burnett, Dubai

After ranking for the first time last year at #26, Leo Burnett Dubai has stormed up the list to secure 1st place this year. The agencys best performing campaign was The Homecoming for Home Centre, which ranked in 9th place and was amongst four other campaigns that ranked in the top 100.

Bassel Kakish, CEO, Publicis Groupe Middle East & Turkey, said, We have consistently created fame-worthy work that has worked for our brand partners across the region. This has enabled us to create world-class and world-beating work that has been entered into all the top-tier awards and enabled us to win at those awards. Ranking #1 globally to represent the region and our brands is a privilege and a testament to our strategic leadership, creative effectiveness and incredible talents.

Ogilvy Mumbai moves up to second place, from fifth last year, largely due to its work on the #1 ranked campaign. With two campaigns in the top 100, AlmapBBDO Sao Paulo, has had a meteoric rise to claim third place, after ranking #49 last year. Four of the top 10 agencies are newcomers to the ranking: Edelman New York, Leo Burnett Mumbai, GUT Buenos Aires, which also ranks as the highest independent agency, and Africa Sao Paulo.

#1 Media agency for effectiveness: Mindshare New York

For the first time, Mindshare New York is crowned the most effective media agency in the WARC Rankings, up from 2nd place last year. This success is largely attributed to its campaigns for Unilever brands, the most successful being See My Skin, for Vaseline, which ranked 7th.

Nancy Hall, North America CEO, Mindshare, said, True effectiveness isnt just about clicks or short-term growth. Its about helping brands create business growth thats enduring and sustainable for the long-termand its the type of work our teams are dedicated to doing with our clients every day. Were thrilled to be recognized by WARC as both the top media agency for effectiveness, and one of the top ten global networks.

Wavemaker Mumbai takes second place, followed by Starcom Chicago in third. Two other agencies have retained their top 10 ranking - EssenceMediacom New York and Zenith Bogota. The most improved agency was OMD Lima, rising 34 places to rank 7th.

#1 Network for effectiveness: Ogilvy

Ogilvy has retained its top position as the best performing network for effectiveness. The network has 11 campaigns in the top 100, including the #1 campaign Shah Rukh Khan-My-Ad. It also has 8 agencies in the creative agency ranking.

Mick McCabe, Global Chief Strategy Officer, Ogilvy, said, Being recognized as the worlds most effective network for the second straight year is a testament to Ogilvys vibrant thinking culture thats alive and well in all our offices worldwide and in our creative problem solvers, bringing ambition, precision, and strategic imagination to our clients challenges. This award celebrates our people, that Ogilvy spirit, and our incredible client partnerships.

Not far behind in points is DDB Worldwide, which has an impressive 19 campaigns in the top 100 and seven agencies in the creative agency ranking. Leo Burnett retains its 3rd place with 13 campaigns and 5 agencies ranked. Special tops the independent network for effectiveness, largely attributed to Special Aucklands 3 campaigns in the top 100.

#1 Holding Company for effectiveness: Omnicom Group

After five years of being the runner up in the holding company table, Omnicom Group has moved up one place to become the most effective holding company this year with 13 creative agencies and 15 media agencies in the top 50.

John Wren, Chairman and CEO, Omnicom, said, Omnicoms performance in this ranking showcases the power of our ideas and our strong partnership with clients. The recognition from WARC is a testament to our amazing teams around the globe and their ability to consistently deliver the most creative and effective work that drives outcomes for our clients.

WPP is in 2nd place after a tight race with Omnicom, with 10 creative and 10 media agencies ranked. Publicis Groupe is 3rd, up one place from last year with 7 creative agencies and 11 media agencies.

#1 Brand for effectiveness: McDonalds

McDonalds tops the effectiveness ranking for the 5th year in a row. The fast food brand has three campaigns in the top 100, including Famous Orders which has ranked 3rd for the second year in a row. In total, it had 40 campaigns contributing to its points total in the full rankings database, across 23 different countries.

Morgan Flatley, Global Chief Marketing Officer and Head of New Business Ventures, said, McDonalds culture of creative bravery transcends marketing and has become a global touchpoint fueling transformative ideas. This honour is a testament to how our amazing talent worldwide continues to take big creative swings with insights-driven work that shapes culture, transforms the business and drives growth. From our most senior leaders to our newest team members, were fostering a culture where bold ideas thrive and redefining whats possible.

Cadbury moves up one to take 2nd place, largely due its top ranked campaign Shah Rukh Khan- My-Ad. KFC is in 3rd place. The most improved brand is Samsung, rising from 22nd to 7th, with two campaigns ranked in the top 100.

#1 Advertiser for effectiveness: AB InBev

Anheuser Busch InBev is the highest ranked advertiser for effectiveness for the third year in a row. 32 brands contributed to its points total, 5 of which ranked in the top 50.

Marcel Marcondes, Chief Marketing Officer, AB InBev, said, It is an honor to again be recognized as the most effective advertiser. In marketing, creativity means nothing unless its used to address real problems and drive growth for our business. So, Im especially proud of this recognition of our teams work making a real impact to create a future with more cheers.

Unilever moves up to claim 2nd place with 3 brands ranked - Dove, Vaseline and Hellmanns. McDonalds is in 3rd place. The most improved advertiser is The Coca Cola Company, rising 10 places to 7th. While only one of its campaigns ranked in the top 100, it won awards for 22 campaigns in total.

#1 Country for effectiveness: USA

The USA remains the most awarded country for effectiveness, with 24 campaigns in the top 100. India has risen to 2nd place with seven campaigns ranked. Brazil moves up three places to rank 3rd. Argentina and New Zealand are the most improved countries, both rising 11 places to 7th and 8th, respectively.
In an exclusive interaction with Adgully, Shweta Jain, Chief Business Development Officer at Diageo, speaks at length about how the collaboration between Smirnoff Lemon Pop and the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival transcends traditional branding strategies. This partnership is a testament to Smirnoff's commitment to leaving a lasting legacy of positive change and amplifying the voices of marginalized communities.

Additionally, Shweta delves into Smirnoff's innovative marketing initiatives and strategies in the digital era, highlighting their focus on authenticity and meaningful engagements with consumers.

How does the collaboration between Smirnoff Lemon Pop and the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival go beyond conventional branding?

Smirnoff Lemon Pop, as a brand, has always been at the heart of various cultural narratives. It is, as we call it, the original brand that started conversations on inclusivity and representation across various cultures, kind of a protagonist leading in culture. This is also true for Kala Ghoda at the festival. It has been an iconic platform for creators and artists of various genres to come forward and express themselves for the world to see and immerse in.

The two original brands, Smirnoff and Kala Ghoda, came together to show how we can provide a unique presentation of a community that has been very integral to our culture but has never had such an amazing platform where their stories could be told and their lives could be represented."

Could you tell us about Smirnoff Lemon Pop's commitment to leaving a lasting legacy, ensuring that the positive change initiated during the festival extends far beyond the event dates?

Our rallying cry is 'We Do We,' representing various communities on the fringes of society. Smirnoff Lemon Pop aims to bring these communities and their work from the margins to the mainstream. Our collaboration with the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival was a tribute to unity fostering positive change. The core idea behind our showcase was to visually represent the hijra community and their concept of families, sparking conversations about positive representation. We are expanding beyond the exhibition at Kalanjee House, taking this celebration nationwide through the CLAP project. This initiative involves bringing people together in solidarity, symbolized by clapping, and the funds raised will support the community's voice and representation. We will take the CLAP project to platforms where Smirnoff and Smirnoff Lemon Pop are present, contributing the funds raised back to the community for greater representation and empowerment."

Going forward, what will be the dominating force behind Smirnoffs marketing initiatives? How are you looking at targeting the untapped market this year?

I believe we've centered our brands' purpose around the rallying cry 'We Do We.' Our purpose, as we've defined it, is to amplify the original voices of the community, providing them with scale and representation. KALA GHODA was one platform where we achieved this, and we also participated in the Jaipur Lit Fest, hosting conversations with voices championing inclusivity for marginalized communities. Moving forward, we'll continue partnering with various cultural platforms in socializing, literary, and art spaces. Additionally, we're collaborating with F&B and socializing outlets nationwide, creating platforms for communities to celebrate their authentic selves. In 2024, expect Smirnoff to offer original, authentic voices a larger, bolder, and more scaled-up platform for self-expression. We aim to foster connections among like-minded communities, sparking meaningful conversations and celebrating diverse representation.

What are the various ways in which Smirnoff engages with its consumers in the digital era? Could you elaborate on some innovative strategies employed?

As you're aware, Smirnoff is part of the larger Diageo ecosystem, with many of our brands leading meaningful community conversations and responsible partnerships with key opinion leaders. In Smirnoff's case, authenticity is key. We collaborate closely with the digital creator community, as showcased at Kalanjee House where we partnered with LGBTQ+ photographers. Our commitment lies in meaningful engagements and utilizing digital mediums to amplify the voices of partnered communities. The idea of non-biological families stemmed from social listening, reflecting the evolving forms of expression in today's world. We prioritize authentic creators who are genuinely dedicated to their craft rather than chasing followership. Whether in the digital or real world, Smirnoff values original voices and authenticity above all. We leverage our platforms and partnerships to amplify these voices on a larger scale."
Upstox, India's fastest-growing and highest-rated trading and investment platform, today unveiled its innovative brand campaign, 'Cut the Kit Kit, Get in the Market'. With this campaign, Upstox aims to help retail investors cut through the clutter, noise, and overload of information to invest right.

Through its research, Upstox has recognised that the journey to investment success is often cluttered with challenges - mis-selling financial products, misleading advice, information overload, and complex jargon. This can often lead to decisions that may not align with an individuals financial goals.

For example, users often prioritise returns over essential risk and expense metrics when investing in mutual funds. Similarly, they might opt for a Rs. 1 crore term insurance plan without proper assessment, succumbing to a one-size-fits-all approach. Such practices result in poorly informed decisions, leading to underconfidence among investors. Recognising these challenges, Upstox has taken the initiative to handle the heavy lifting and complexities for its users. The company wants to Cut the Kit-Kit (noise) of the market and encourage users to start creating wealth by investing in whats right for them.

To effectively communicate its message to investors, Upstox has launched a campaign film encapsulating the theme "Cut the Kit Kit, Get in the Market." The film takes place in a theatre setting, where an individual expresses interest in mutual fund investing. This query triggers a cacophony of comical "kit kit" responses from others, symbolising the overwhelming banter and noise prevalent in the market. This noise serves as a metaphor for the confusion caused by the deluge of information available to investors. The plot progresses until the protagonist, initially bewildered by the array of advice, is introduced to the Upstox Mutual Fund interface. This moment marks a turning point, offering the protagonistand, by extension, the viewerclarity and simplicity in the investing process. Similarly, the second ad film features a salon situation, and the third film features a waiting area at a hospital.

The company is also planning to launch two more campaign videos over the next few weeks. The films will depict how people often struggle with the right information when it comes to investing, but with Upstox; users can cut to the chase and get the guidance that lets them Invest Right.

Speaking on the launch of the campaign, Kavitha Subramanian, Co-Founder of Upstox, said, "India has traditionally been a nation of savers rather than investors. A significant barrier has been the lack of clear, accessible information, leading to poor investment decisions. Upstox's mission is to empower every Indian with the right knowledge and tools to invest wisely across all asset classes, avoiding common pitfalls."

Upstox has partnered with Lowe Lintas for conceptualization of the campaign. The campaign spotlights Upstox's robust platform offerings, including:

Curated Top Funds: A selection of mutual funds in popular categories, balancing returns and risk.

Goal-Based Investing : Personalised investment solutions tailored to individual life goals.

Informed Stock Choices : Features like Analyst Ratings and Stocks Smartlists guide users in making confident stock investments.

Diverse Investment Options : From Mutual Fund Baskets to Gold investments and Fixed Income opportunities, Upstox offers a wide range of investing avenues.

Simplified Investing with SIPs : Systematic Investment Plans in Stocks, ETFs, and Mutual Funds for disciplined investing.

Comprehensive Wealth Tracking : The Wealth Tracker feature enables users to consolidate their financial portfolio by synchronising bank accounts, external stocks, and mutual funds, allowing for a unified view of all savings and investments on a single app.

With its platform, Upstox wants to help users cut through the market noise and make wise investing decisions and aims to transform into a holistic wealth creation platform with everything one needs to save, invest, trade, and build their wealth.

As the campaign rolls out across digital, TV and social media platforms, including a partnership with JioCinema and Star for the IPL, Upstox is set to reach audiences nationwide, from metros to Tier 3 cities. With over 1.3 crore customers, Upstox continues to innovate, offering 'Invest' and 'Pro' modes to cater to both novice investors and advanced traders.
Companies locating and expanding operations in Alabama last year pumped about $6.4 billion into the states economy, according to a new report out by the states Department of Commerce.

In all, 184 projects in 43 counties will create 8,095 jobs, according to the 2023 Alabama New and Expanding Industry Report, out today.

Gov. Kay Ivey, in a statement, said the report was no occasion for a victory lap.

We continue to make significant progress in our mission to create solid career opportunities for Alabama citizens and to inject economic vitality into cities and communities across the state, Ivey said. Im proud of the fact that since I have been governor, we have seen $49 billion invested in Alabama, which has created some 87,000 new jobs.

Ivey also set a deadline of Oct. 1 for Commerce Secretary Ellen McNair to develop a new economic development strategic plan.

Technology is changing all the time, and we need to be prepared for whats next in a world moving at digital speed, Ivey said. We need new strategies and bold approaches that keep us in the drivers seat for the next 10 years and beyond.

Alabamas automotive sector continues to grow, with 1,700 new jobs added last year, along with 1,000 in metals and 700 in information technology.

Foreign direct investment is also surging, with about $3 billion - almost half of last years investment total - coming in from companies based in South Korea, Sweden, Germany and other countries.

According to the report, Lee County attracted $689 million in new investment, followed by Montgomery County at $629 million, Walker County at $525 million and Cullman County, with $489 million.

Lee was also the top county for job creation, with 1,251 new positions, ahead of Mobile (743), Jefferson (717) and Cullman (643).

But development wasnt just restricted to urban areas. About $1.7 billion went into the states targeted rural areas, creating more than 1,700 jobs. That includes Clarke, Russell, Escambia, Fayette, Macon and Dallas counties, according to the report.

Im confident that were helping build a more dynamic economy that spreads opportunity far and wide across the state, McNair said. While we still have a lot of work to do, we have the tools needed for the job, and were fully committed to creating 21st Century jobs across Alabama.
After a long fight for a loan from the Alabama legislature, Birmingham-Southern College announced Tuesday that it will close its doors on May 31.

The Board of Trustees voted unanimously today to close the College after a 2024 bill designed to amend the 2023 legislation that established the loan program on which our future depended failed to win sufficient support in the Alabama House of Representatives. Without that funding, the College does not have the resources to continue, a letter from the Rev. Keith D. Thompson, the chair of BSC Board of Trustees, states.

This is a tragic day for the College, our students, our employees, and our alumni, and an outcome so many have worked tirelessly to prevent. We understand the devastating impact this has on each of you, and we will now direct our efforts toward ensuring the smoothest possible transition for everyone involved.

Rep. Juandalynn Givan, D-Birmingham, represents the Bush Hills area near the college and, for more than a year now, has worked on legislation to help give the school a lifeline. She told AL.com Tuesday morning that it was unlikely that a revised loan bill will pass through the House when lawmakers come back from spring break next week.

If they had to vote on the bill today, I can honestly tell you they would not have the votes in the House, she said.

The small, private liberal arts college announced last winter that, after years of financial troubles, it would need support from the state to stay open. Officials initially asked for $30 million in funding from the state legislature, $5 million from the city and considered a $2.5 million request from the county government.

Throughout last years legislative session, leaders worked with local and state officials to stave off closure -- and recruit new students. In April, Birmingham-Southern announced plans to keep the college open, citing encouraging news from the legislature.

A few months later, Gov. Kay Ivey signed a bill that would create a new loan program for struggling public and private universities. The program would provide just enough money, $30 million, to keep the school running.

But by the fall, school officials and lawmakers were back at square one.

State Treasurer Young Boozer III, the loan administrator, had denied the schools application, claiming the school could not provide first-security interest in its collateral assets, which include its 192-acre campus. Boozer also said the colleges financial restructuring plan did not adequately provide for repayment of the loan. The college has disputed that.

The college sued Boozer in October. A judge later dismissed the suit.

Now, in a final attempt to keep the schools doors open, lawmakers are seeking to make changes to the original legislation.

SB31, by Sen. Jabo Waggoner, R-Vestavia Hills, would move control of the Distressed Institutions of Higher Education loan program from Boozer to Alabama Commission on Higher Education Executive Director Jim Purcell.

If we dont get this done and get it done in a timely manner, then the school will close, Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, said on the Senate floor in early March.

The bill passed the Senate on a 22-5 vote and recently moved out of a House committee with a few changes. Meanwhile, Boozer has continued to voice his opposition.

In a public hearing last week, Coleman, president of Birmingham-Southern for the last five years, told the committee the college would offer adequate collateral for a $30 million loan, including $15 million in U.S. Treasuries and first-priority claim on the college campus, which he said has a liquidation value of $22 million.

Boozer, speaking later, told the committee SB31 would change the loan program to a grant. He disputed that it provided for adequate collateral to protect the state funds.

My warning to this committee, the public, and especially to taxpayers, if you loan it, you will own it, Boozer said. It is a falling knife.

Givan said Tuesday morning that she wasnt sure if the bill will even hit the floor when lawmakers return next week. It will be difficult to convince the 102-member House to strike Boozers name from the program, she said. And the tumultuous relationship between Boozer and the schools leaders, Givan added, has not helped.

Many of them feel that that move was really a slap in the face to the state, to the process, she said, adding a moment later: I would be surprised, even if this bill passes, if the governor signed off on it.

Whats next?

BSC leaders said they exhausted every option to obtain the loan, and in recent conversations with House leadership, confirmed that the bill did not have enough support to move forward. The college decided to schedule a board meeting Tuesday to ensure that trustees could have time to review all of their options.

In a letter to students Tuesday afternoon, Thompson said the loss of the school -- which he said has brought millions of dollars of economic impact to the state, was incalculable.

It is also a terrible day for Birmingham, for the neighborhoods who have surrounded our campus for more than 100 years, and for Alabama.

The school is now planning to help students with their transfer plans. Seniors who plan to complete their degrees in the summer of 2024 will be able to finish their course requirements online or through agreements with other institutions.

We are putting students first, and we will do everything we can to help them find the best place to continue their path to graduation, said Provost Dr. Laura K. Stultz.

We are working with other institutions  including those in the Associated Colleges of the South as well as some in-state colleges and universities -- on agreements that will help maximize the transfer of credits to keep them on track.

In the meantime, leaders say they will hold individual meetings for current students and employees to assess their options.

Givan, after the announcement Tuesday afternoon, said the closure was a result of a breakdown of communication between state and school leaders, and a lack of local support. She is confident, however, that the property will not stay vacant for long.

It is a loss for the community, its a loss from many different standpoints, she said.

This story was updated to reflect that Birmingham-Southern never made a formal request for funding from the Jefferson County Commission.
Slice Pizza & Brew will open their fifth location, the newest space in Homewood, on Wednesday, March 27.

The pizzeria known for their variety of pizza options, smoked wings, baked ziti, and stuffed tater tots, has locations in Lakeview (flagship location), Crestline, Vestavia, Montevallo, and now Homewood.

We are extremely fortunate to be joining so many other well-known and established Birmingham businesses on the Edgewood strip and are incredibly thankful for their support as we have worked to open this location, Chris Bajalieh, co-owner and co-founder of Slice Pizza & Brew, said in a press release. Our vision goes beyond serving great pizza. Its about embedding ourselves in the fabric of Homewood, supporting local causes, and being part of the community. We welcome everyone in the Homewood area and surrounding communities to stop in and visit our newest location.

The restaurant has become a pizza staple in the Birmingham metro over the last 10 years. Here are a few things you may not know about Slice.

READ: Birminghams best pizza: Our top 5

1. New Homewood (Edgewood) Location

The new Slice location in Homewood is located in the Edgewood neighborhood at 1010 Oxmoor Road, taking over for the New York Pizza restaurant that stood there for over 40 years. It has plenty of company surrounded by other restaurants like Ruby Sunshine, Oteys Tavern, Saws BBQ, Taco Mama, Sams Deli and Grill, Edgewood Creamery, Local 39, Ono Poke and Honest Coffee Roasters.

Opening this location are Slice co-owner and co-founder Chris Bajalieh and with Homewood residents and entrepreneurs J.J. and Whitney Thomas.

The inside of the restaurant still has an old school pizzeria feel with the decades-old interior brick and a central pizza oven duo visible from all perspectives. Theres also a private dining room space that will be available for events, school parties, family gatherings or birthday celebrations.

The new location will offer an exclusive pie called the Homewood Pizza, which comes from a community competition.

2. Wood Stone Ovens

According to Slice spokesperson Abigail Grillo, when the restaurant first opened in 2011, it was home to the first stone pizza oven in Birmingham. This special Wood Stone oven was shipped from Seattle, Washington, weighs over 6,000 pounds, and takes only three minutes to cook a pizza. All of Slices locations feature this same Wood stone oven.

3. Giving Back to the Community

This spring, Slice will give back to the community with their tradition of hosting regular Dough Raisers for local charities and schools, beginning with the inaugural Homewood Helps Dough Raiser on April 16. This coincides with the We Love Homewood Day on May 4, with plans to offer special menu items and beverages during the street party that follows the parade.

As Homewood residents, we are so excited that Slice will be open in our community, stated J.J. and Whitney Thomas, partners of Slice Homewood in a press release. This is even more special to us since the Slice family welcomed us to become partners in this new location.

MORE: 5 things to know about Culinary Dropout in Birmingham
(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.
When Brad Emmons met Jane Kilbride in the early 2000s, he was in his early 20s and she was in her early 60s. They were in a van headed from Huntsville to Washington, D.C., to protest the Iraq War buildup. Brad and some other young people in the van started calling Jane their peace grandma. She ate that up, he says. She loved it.

In the family that emerged from the grassroots North Alabama Peace Movement, Jane was their peace grandma, and they were her peace kids. After the trip to the capital, they started meeting on Fridays at Old Town Coffee in Huntsville, a place that attracted misfits and hippies, he says. Misfits and hippies were among Janes people.
A 64-year-old man was killed when he was struck Monday evening by a falling tree limb in Bibb County.

Bibb County Coroner Patrick Turner identified the victim as Raymond Howard. He lived on Church Street in Centreville.

Authorities said Howard had just arrived home about 6:30 p.m. and exited his vehicle.

As he was walking up a flight of stairs in his front yard, a large limb snapped and fell onto Howard, hitting him in the head.

It was not storming at the time, but winds had been high for much of the day, Turner said.

A neighbor was also coming home from work, saw Howard on the ground and called 911, said Centreville Mayor Mike Oakley.

Howard was pronounced dead on the scene.

No one else was at the home at the time of the accident.

Centreville police encouraged residents with dead or dying trees on their property to please be proactive in getting them removed.
The union that organized the longest strike in Alabama history, along with the AFL-CIO, is urging stockholders of Warrior Met Coal to support a package of proposals it says would eliminate some of the conditions that resulted in the strike.

The United Mine Workers of America today announced the slate of proposals for the companys April 25 shareholders meeting.

The UMWAs members conducted a strike against Warrior Met between April 1, 2021, and February 16, 2023, when the union issued an unconditional return to work. The union and company are continuing to negotiate a new contract, after the old one expired three years ago.

Last year, an NLRB Administrative Law Judge found that Warrior Met had engaged in unfair labor practices in contract negotiations leading up to the strike.

In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, the UMWA and AFL-CIO estimate that Warrior Met had $1.3 billion less potential revenue between 2021 and 2023 compared to the companys levels of production before the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020. The union also estimates the company incurred a little less than $100 million in idle mine and business interruption expenses associated with the strike, all at a time when the price of metallurgical coal surged globally.

Among the proposed policies, all of which would be non-binding and advisory, are a requirement for stockholder approval of golden parachutes for executive severance, and an independent assessment of the companys respect for workers rights and collective bargaining.

In our view, Warrior Mets poor labor relations have cost the companys stockholders and coal miners dearly while its management has been insulated from these costs, UMWA International President Cecil E. Roberts said.

We believe that the strike could have been avoided had Warrior Mets management negotiated in good faith to reach a mutually beneficial agreement with the UMWA and its unionized workforce.

Other reforms include a policy requiring stockholder approval of poison pill provisions to discourage acquisitions, and stockholder approval of blank check preferred stock for antitakeover purposes. The policy would also include a proxy access bylaw provision.

Having an entrenched corporate management is never a good thing for the sustainable financial performance of a company, Carin Zelenko, Director of Capital Strategies for the AFL-CIO. Our stockholder proposals seek to better align the interests of Warrior Mets management with the long-term interests of the company, its investors, and employees.

In February, the companys board of directors adopted new limits on its executive severance benefits.
One minute Brandon Roller was playing outside with friends, and the next he was on the floor of his east Birmingham apartment with a gunshot wound to the back.

Neither he nor his mother, Courtney Chestner, ever saw it coming.

Though doctors say Brandon, a Smith Middle School seventh grader who plays the baritone horn in the school band, will never walk again, the family is praying their faith will yield a different outcome.

Brandon hasnt shed one tear since the Friday shooting and is remaining positive.

Dont be sad, because Im alive, Brandon said Tuesday in a phone interview from his bed at Childrens of Alabama. I made it. I pulled through it. Im OK.

Brandon Roller, 12, was paralyzed when he was shot in the back on March 22, 2024, while playing with friends outside his east Birmingham apartment.(Special to AL.com)

The shooting happened about 3:15 p.m. Friday at a small apartment complex in the 1800 block of Carson Road.

Chestner said Brandon asked her if he could go outside to play.

I told him he could, she said. Im always telling him no, but for some reason this time I told him he could.

Chestner was upstairs in her bathroom and her other three sons, all younger than Brandon, were in their room watching television. It was then that Chester heard a commotion.

I thought maybe one of the younger boys had stuck something in the socket because it was a popping noise, like fireworks, she said.

She went downstairs and saw a boy run into her home. He came in the back door and was running out the front door.

I turned towards the back door, and thats when I saw my son laying on the floor, Chestner said. He said he was shot.

A 12-year-old boy was shot Friday, March 22, 2024, while playing outside of his apartment on Carson Road.(Carol Robinson)

I dragged him from the back door to the kitchen because I didnt know if they were still shooting, she said. I called 911 and put some towels on his back.

When Brandon was able to talk to her, he told her some teens approached him and the others and asked if they knew somebody. Brandon told them they didnt, and they said something to the effect of thats good because if yall did, yall were going to die today.

Another boy asked the teens, Yall straight? and thats when gunfire erupted.

Brandon ran and made it just inside his apartment when he was struck. The bullets went through the back door and into his back, his mother said.

Chestner said the bullet hit Brandons spinal cavity, went through one of the bones, traveled through his right lung and fractured his rib.

He was just moved from the Intensive Care Unit to the hospitals surgery floor because he still has in his chest tube.

They say there is a zero percent chance of him ever walking again but our faith is so strong that we know that its going to take a lot of hard work and dedication, she said. He is so strong, so strong.

The family had just recently moved into the Carson Road apartment. They had lost their lease on their previous home and spent all of last year moving from place to place while looking for permanent housing.

We stayed in hotels, we even stayed in a place with no water, so we had to go to the gas station to use the bathroom, Chestner said. 2023 was hell.

For Christmas we ended up getting a place, she said. We just got their beds. We were just getting life together when this happened.

My other son said, We just cant catch a break, they just destroyed our family,' Chestner said.

Up until the shooting, Chestner was a team leader at Kamtek, working the 5 p.m. to 5 a.m. shift overseeing the manufacturing of parts for Hyundai, Nissan, and Volkswagen.

Shes now not sure when, or if, shell be able to return. The future is uncertain except they know Brandon will have a long, extensive recovery.

Brandon Roller, 12, was paralyzed when he was shot in the back on March 22, 2024, while playing with friends outside his east Birmingham apartment. He his shown here with his three younger brothers. (Special to AL.com)

A GoFundMe has been launched to help the family.

Brandon is the kind of kid everyone loves to be around, he has a light about himself that gravitated towards anybody who came across his path, his aunt, Martesha Adams, wrote in the GoFundMe.

Brandon also enjoys rapping, writing his own music, recording, telling jokes, and playing with his brothers, and friends, Adams wrote.

Donations to the GoFundMe can be made here.

No arrests have been made, and detectives are following up on leads.

Im hoping that they find the kids  these are teenagers who did this  and Im hoping they can get them off the streets, they can sit down for a while, learn a lesson, and maybe turn their life around, Chestner said.

Im hoping something can happen, she said, where we dont have to be looking over our shoulders.

As Brandon continues his recovery, he said he wants people to know this:

Watch your surroundings because you never know what could happen, he said. I wasnt expecting this to happen.

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.
A 33-year-old Foley man is in the Baldwin County Jail, charged with stabbing his brother to death during an altercation Sunday night.

Foley police were called to a residence on Park Avenue in Foley just before 11 p.m. Sunday on a report of a disturbance.

Arriving at the scene, officers learned 29-year-old James Ryan Vaughn had been stabbed and a witness told police Vaughns brother, 33-year-old Wesley Nathanael Nance, had stabbed Vaughn during an altercation between the two.

Nance fled the scene on foot just prior to police arrival.

Lifesaving measures were instigated on Vaughn at the scene and he was transported to the South Baldwin Regional Medical Center, where he died of his injuries.

Nance was later located not far from the residence where the incident occurred and was taken into custody.

According to Foley police, the information and evidence gathered at the scene was handed over to the Baldwin County District Attorneys Office, which has charged Nance with manslaughter.

As of Tuesday morning, Nance remained held without bond in the Baldwin County Jail.
Fans of McDonalds and Krispy Kreme are in for some good news. McDonalds will soon add Krispy Kreme doughnuts to its menu.

Three types of Krispy Kreme doughnuts  original glazed, chocolate iced with sprinkles and chocolate iced kreme filled  will go on sale at McDonalds restaurants starting later this year, reports CNN. According to Bloomberg, a nationwide roll out of the doughnuts is expected by 2026.

Adding Krispy Kreme to its menu gives McDonalds a chance to unlock new business opportunities in the breakfast category and throughout the day, Tariq Hassan, the chief marketing officer for McDonalds USA, told Bloomberg.

McDonalds has been doing a test launch of the doughnut sales in two of its restaurants in Kentucky and the results, Hassan said, have exceeded expectations.

Last year, McDonalds phased out pastries from its bakery menu: the Apple Fritter, Blueberry Muffin and the Cinnamon Roll.
In the midst of a campaign to organize Mercedes-Benzs Tuscaloosa County auto plant, workers have filed charges of anti-union activity against them with the National Labor Relations Board.

The charges were not immediately viewable on the NLRB website, but according to a news release issued Tuesday, the workers claim retaliatory discipline for union activity and termination, as well as mandatory meetings where workers were made to watch videos with anti-union messages.

The United Auto Workers last month announced that more than half of the employees at Mercedes-Benzs Vance plant have signed union authorization cards.

In a statement, Mercedes-Benz U.S. International (MBUSI) said it has not interfered with or retaliated against any Team Member in their right to pursue union representation, and we do not agree that the claims have any merit.

We look forward to presenting our case to the NLRB, Mercedes-Benz stated. Additionally, MBUSI rejects claims that it has denied any Team Member leave for their union affiliation. Following the UAWs nationwide campaign to increase its membership, MBUSI wants to ensure its team members make an informed decision. MBUSI has a strong record of success over the past 25+ years operating as One Team in Alabama. Central to our success is our positive team culture that includes an open-door policy. MBUSI has a proven record of competitively compensating Team Members and providing many additional benefits. We believe open and direct communication with our Team Members is the best path forward to ensure continued success.

Lakeisha Carter, an employee at the Bibb County battery plant, said she has put in paperwork with the Family and Medical Leave Act multiple times, only to be told the paperwork was lost.

Im an outspoken union supporter and Mercedes illegally disciplined me for medical absences that were clearly covered by my FMLA requests. Its just plain retaliation from Mercedes, but Im not going to be intimidated, Carter said in a news release.

Another union supporter at the battery plant, Al Ezell, said he was given permission to have his phone on the factory floor in the event that his doctor called him about refilling his prescription. Ezell has stage 4 lung cancer, according to a news release.

Ezell said he was still disciplined for having his phone on the floor as part of the plants zero tolerance policy, which he said he was unaware of.

Another worker, Taylor Snipes, said he was fired for having his phone on the factory floor, despite being given permission in order to be in contact with his childs daycare.

He said the action came after he spoke up about being made to attend meetings to watch anti-union videos that are full of lies, he said in a news release.

 Workers at Mercedes-Benzs largest U.S. plant have filed multiple federal charges with the National Labor Relations Board in response to the companys aggressive and illegal union-busting.https://t.co/gFFhwrx0k9  UAW (@UAW) March 26, 2024

During the meeting, I told management that it was suspicious that I was being called into the office on the same day that I spoke up in anti-union meeting, Snipes said. My manager said the two had nothing to do with one another, but then proceeded to aggressively interrogate me about why I support having a union.

Mercedes-Benz, along with Hyundais Montgomery plant, are part of an ongoing campaign by the auto union to organize in Southern plants historically resistant to organizing. According to the union, more than 10,000 workers have signed union cards just this year.

On Monday, a union vote was scheduled for April 17 through 19 at Volkswagens Chattanooga plant, encompassing the factorys 4,000 workers. Earlier this month, the union announced more than 70% of the plants workers had signed union cards, petitioning for an election.
A dispute led to gunfire at tire shop on busy Crestwood Boulevard Tuesday afternoon.

Irondale police Det. Sgt. Mike Flippo said officers responded shortly before 4 p.m. to T.J. Tires on a report of a shooting.

It appears, Flippo said, that two males who are related got into some type of disagreement which led to multiple shots fired.

Both men were armed and exchanged gunfire.

Were not sure what the altercation was about but we do have one male shot and transported to the hospital, he said.

At least three bullets hit the businesss front windows.

After the shooting, Flippo said, one of the men involved ran across the street to a strip of stores that houses Dollar General and OReilly Auto Parts where he encountered police.

A potential suspect has been detained.

Flippo said detectives are in the early stages of the investigation.

He noted that the shooting happened during a busy traffic time on Crestwood Boulevard.

Its not advisable to discharge a firearm and not be accountable for where that projectile is going, especially on a busy highway like this, he said. Theres a ton of traffic. It could be a very dangerous situation.
State Sen. Merika Coleman, who finished fourth in the Democratic primary in Alabamas redrawn 2nd Congressional District, on Tuesday announced her endorsement of House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels in the runoff for the Democratic nomination.

Coleman, who served with Daniels in the Alabama House before her election to the state Senate and who is chair of the Legislative Black Caucus, said Daniels has proven he will fight on issues, including issues important to women, and has shown the ability to work across the aisle with the Republican majority that controls the Legislature.

In November, the Republicans do not want to run against a man that has a track record, Coleman said. And he has a track record for helping families in the state of Alabama.

Daniels faces former U.S. Justice Department official Shomari Figures of Mobile in the April 16 runoff.

The Democratic nominee will face the winner of the Republican runoff between Dick Brewbaker and Caroleene Dobson.

Figures led the 11-candidate field in the March 5 primary with 24,825 votes, or 43%. Daniels finished second with 12,774 votes, or 22%.

The Alabama Democratic Conference, considered the most influential Black political organization in the state Democratic Party, endorsed Figures on Saturday.

Coleman announced her endorsement of Daniels at the office of the Alabama AFL CIO, which endorsed Daniels before the primary.

Our message to our members is we need to support folks who support us, Alabama AFL CIO President Bren Riley said Tuesday. I dont care what party theyre in. I dont care who they sleep with. I dont care who theyre married to. I dont even care what bathroom they use. If they support us, by God we need to support them.

Riley said an example of Daniels support for union members was his sponsorship of a bill that exempted overtime pay, work in excess of 40 hours in a week, from the state income tax, which carries a rate of 5%. Riley said Daniels was able to get his bill passed with bipartisan support even though Democrats hold only 28 of 105 House seats.

Because of the super minority, theyve got a tough row to hoe, Riley said. But just his efforts with the tax incentive on overtime helps folks that go to work every day.

And the sad thing about people that work overtime, that money aint going in a 401-k. Its going to the damn economy. And instead of paying 5% on that income, theyre paying 10% (sales tax) when they go spend it. So we think its a positive windfall for the state.

A federal court approved a new map in October changing the 2nd Congressional District from a safe Republican district to one where a Democrat can win. A Democratic victory would mean a second Democrat and second Black member in Alabamas seven-member congressional delegation and would be a factor in determining control of Congress.

Daniels has represented a Huntsville-area district in the Alabama House since 2014. He has been House minority leader since 2017. Daniels grew up in Bullock County and said he maintains deep ties in the 2nd District.

Figures is a Mobile native who worked in the Obama administration and as deputy chief of staff and counselor to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland. He is the son of longtime state Sen. Vivian Davis Figures and Michael Figures, a state senator who died in 1996.
Donald Trump is joining forces with a country music star to start a line of Bibles.

The former President of the United States is teaming with Lee Greenwood to sell the God Bless the U.S.A. Bible.

Religion and Christianity are the biggest things missing from this country, and I truly believe that we need to bring them back, Trump said in a video posted on his social media platform Truth Social. Its one of the biggest problems we have, thats why our countrys going haywire, weve lost religion in our country.

The Trump-Greenwood Bible, a King James translation, includes a copy of a handwritten chorus to the eponymous Greenwood hit, according to the website.

The God Bless the U.S.A. Bible costs $59.99, not including shipping and other fees, but it does include, per Trump, copies of the Constitution, Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence and Pledge of Allegiance.

Thats why our country is going haywire, Trump said. Weve lost religion in our country. All Americans need a Bible in their home, and I have many. Its my favorite book. Its a lot of peoples favorite book.

Its the only Bible endorsed by either Trump or Greenwood, the site specifies. And, it adds, its the ONLY Bible inspired by Americas most recognized patriotic anthem, God Bless The USA.

And this is very important and very important to me, Trump said. I want to have a lot of people have it. You have to have it for your heart, for your soul. Many of you have never read them and dont know the liberties and rights you have as Americans, and how you are being threatened to lose those rights; its happening all the time.

Its a very sad thing thats going on in our country but were going to get it turned around. Religion and Christianity are the biggest things missing from this country and I truly believe that we need to bring them back here and we have to bring them back fast. I think its one of the biggest problems we have.

The text is also printed in a large font that highlights the words of Jesus in red.

Its my favorite book. Its a lot of peoples favorite book, Trump added of the Bible.

The website selling the Trump-backed Bibles specifies that none of its proceeds will go toward the Trump campaign.

The site says it is not political and has nothing to do with any political campaign.

In the end, we do not answer to bureaucrats in Washington, Trump said. We answer to God in heaven. Christians are under siege. We must protect content that is pro-God. We love God, and we have to protect anything that is pro-God. We must defend God in the public square and not allow the media or the left-wing groups to silence, censor, or discriminate against us. We have to bring Christianity back into our lives and back into what will be again, a great nation. Our founding fathers did a tremendous thing when they built America on Judeo-Christian values. Now that foundation is under attack, perhaps as never before.

What can we do? Stand up, speak out and pray that God will bless America again. Im proud to endorse and encourage you to get this Bible. We must make America pray again, pray, get educated, get motivated, and stand with me and the legions of Americans asking God to bless our great nation, to bring our great nation back, and to make America great again. Im proud to partner with Lee in this offering. Hes a very special man both as a talent, but maybe even more so as a human being. Hes very, very special and I think you all should get a copy of God Bless the U.S.A. Bible now and help spread our Christian values with others. There you have it. Lets make America pray again. God bless you and God bless the U.S.A.
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.
This is an opinion column.

To the Birmingham-Southern College Class of 2024,

Something was lost in Alabama this week, and no one will ever understand the seriousness and severity of this loss as well as you.

There will be many reasons given in the coming days for why the college failed and lots of people trying to point to one thing or another for its closing. The truth is there was never one thing, but several  the liberal arts falling out of fashion, the Disney-like attraction of much larger universities, the recklessness of past administrations, and so on.

But perhaps more than anything, what poisoned BSC was uncertainty and doubt. The moment the college couldnt guarantee prospective students that it would survive until their commencement, it entered a doom loop.

But despite everything thats happened in the last two years, you didnt give up hope, which will make the heartbreak sting worse. I implore you not to second-guess yourselves for having held on. Hope is never needed where success is assured, but only where the stakes are high and the odds are daunting.

When you leave BSC, there will still be one thing left for you to do for your college.

Remember.

Public officials will float a lot of plans and ideas for what to do with the campus, and perhaps someone can find a suitable use better than a 190-acre vacant lot.

But institutions are not buildings.

BSC was not, as many outsiders believed, an elitist college populated by Little Lord Fauntleroys, but rather, a place where the child of a timber forester and a teacher could reach the next rung on the ladder.

I was that kid once.

BSC brought me to Birmingham, like so many others, and introduced me to a city I came to love and make my home. Colleges are the ports of entry for the cities and states they serve. This city and this state wont be the same without it.

BSC showed me that important ideas come from unexpected places. Ive lost count how many times the key to one success or another was something I learned in a class outside my major.

BSC taught me that learning doesnt end with a degree, but is something you do for the rest of your life. I still call on old professors when I need their expertise and I keep a few of my better textbooks on my shelves today.

BSC made me realize that an imperfect community is worth being a part of. If you want to fix the world, you have to start where it is broken.

However, some things, once broken, can never be put back together. No one is going to make another BSC. No one is going to replace it. As alumni have warned for the last two years, once its gone, its gone.

On May 31, BSC as a college ends. But thats not where the college ends for you.

Whats going through you right now  the anger, the despair, the disbelief  put some of that in a bottle. Keep it somewhere safe, but always within reach. When you begin to feel numb to this loss, when enough time passes that it doesnt seem to matter anymore, take a sip from it.

Remember. But do so carefully.

Bitterness is dangerous stuff, and Im not going to tell you not to plot a little political revenge against those who failed you. It will be a long time before I vote for an incumbent again, and I hope this experience has taught you not to place your trust lightly in the powerful.

But for now, sit with the pain.

Pain isnt meaningless and it isnt useless. Its a reminder and motivator. That hurt you feel is because this thing youve been a part of was important.

And soon you will be all thats left of it.

As you no doubt have had to explain to family and friends, the liberal in liberal arts has little to do with politics and everything to do with freedom. The ancient Greeks thought  accurately, I believe  that a certain kind of learning is what makes people free. That was the mission of our alma mater.

Your mission after today, wherever you go, is to be freedom fighters.

Forward ever be our watchword.

Conquer and prevail.

Kyle Whitmire is the 2023 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for commentary. You can follow him on Threads here and subscribe to his weekly newsletter, Alabamafication.
The City of Birmingham had offered its share of requested funding to keep Birmingham-Southern College in business, but the college announced today that the college will be closing in May after the state never delivered on the $30 million loan the college requested.

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin lamented the loss in a statement released today.

Word of the decision to close Birmingham-Southern College is disappointing and heartbreaking to all of us who recognize it as a stalwart of our community, Woodfin said.

Ive stood alongside members of our City Council to protect this institution and its proud legacy of shaping leaders. Its frustrating that those values were not shared by lawmakers in Montgomery.

He also offered kudos to Birmingham-Southerns final college president, Daniel Coleman, who had served as a financial advisor to Woodfin on his first mayoral campaign.

To President Coleman, you have our undying gratitude for your relentless pursuit of solutions during this difficult time, Woodfin said. Your dedication to BSC will not be overlooked. And to the many students past and present who call BSC home, know that you are part of the fabric of this city.

Last year, Birmingham-Southern College touted its value to the state by issuing an economic impact statement.

Birmingham-Southern released a study by M. Keivan Deravi of Economic Research Services Inc. that asserts the college has an impact of $97.2 million annually on Alabamas economy.

The private liberal arts college, founded in 1856, asked for $30 million in funding from the State of Alabama, $5 million from the City of Birmingham and $2.5 million from Jefferson County.

Dr. Deravis study validates the fact that a $37.5 million investment by the public sector can return nearly a billion dollars in direct impact over the next 10 years to our states economy, said BSC President Daniel Coleman in a statement released with the economic impact study. Thats a great deal for city, county, and state taxpayers.

Deravi based his economic impact statement on recent financial information from the college. BSC has 292 employees who were paid a total of nearly $21.7 million in salary and benefits in fiscal year 2022. It had 972 full-time students, 604 of whom were Alabama residents, with 40 percent from Jefferson County.

The impact statement estimates that each student spends $12,690 on retail, rental of real estate, utilities, recreation, gas and other expenses, a total of more than $11 million. Add in $19.5 million in in-state spending by employees and $15.1 million in in-state spending on goods and services, for a total of $45.7 million in direct in-state spending, the statement said.

The Birmingham Business Alliance recognizes the significant loss this closure represents for the City of Birmingham and the broader state of Alabama. BSC has long been a pillar of our educational community, and its absence will undoubtedly impact our regions academic, cultural and economic landscape, the BBA said in a statement issued Tuesday afternoon.

As we navigate this challenging transition, BBA commits to working closely with BSC and City of Birmingham officials to offer our support in any way needed. We will continue to seek avenues to support the students, faculty and staff affected by this unfortunate decision, the statement read.

The closure of Birmingham-Southern College will be a great loss not only for the Birmingham community but for the entire state of Alabama, U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

While no one had hoped for this outcome, the failure of state leaders to do their part and provide assistance to BSC is particularly disappointing. It remains my belief that the cost of such an investment would be small relative to the tremendous benefits of keeping the college open, Sewell added.

This is unfortunate, it is a travesty for our county. To lose $100 million of economic impact each year is devastating, said State Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham.

Birmingham-Southern did everything that the standards and criteria require to be eligible and then they came back with some more hoops and they jumped through those and made those adjustments too. So theres nothing else that they could have done, Smitherman said.

We still have a bill, he said. I think it could (be voted on), but it just depends on a lot of dynamics. The positive side of it is that we do have a criteria set up.

On Nov. 28, the Birmingham City Council voted to offer Birmingham-Southern College two $2.5 million loans to stay open, with the first contingent on a fall reopening, and the second with long-term contingencies. Both those loans were paid out to the college and under the agreed-upon terms will have to be repaid to the city.
Huntsville area residents will have another option in their search for a sandwich at lunch or dinnertime.

On Wednesday, March 27, Alabamas first Capriottis Sandwich Shop opens in Clift Farm at 461 John Henry Way, Suite 320. The Las Vegas, Nevada-based chain is known for its hand-crafted sandwiches and more.
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.
The National Weather Service issued a report at 2:14 a.m. on Tuesday for strong thunderstorms until 3 a.m. for Tuscaloosa, Hale, Perry and Bibb counties.

Residents may experience wind gusts of up to 40 mph.

"At 2:14 a.m., Doppler radar tracked strong thunderstorms along a line extending from near Shelton State Community College to 8 miles south of Moundville to near Arcola. Movement was east at 40 mph," states the weather service. "Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around unsecured objects."

Locations impacted by the warning include Brent, Centreville, Greensboro, Moundville, Coaling, Vance, Woodstock, West Blocton, Tannehill Ironworks State Park, West Centreville, Heiberger, Greensboro Municipal Airport, Low Gap, Mertz, Sawyerville, Mercedes Benz Of Alabama, Eoline, North Bibb, Maxwell and Folsom.

The weather service comments, "If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building."

Preparing for approaching lightning: Expert safety advice

Each year, lightning strikes the United States approximately 25 million times, with the majority of these electrifying events occurring during the summer months. Unfortunately, lightning is responsible for claiming the lives of approximately 20 people annually, as reported by the weather service. The threat of lightning becomes more pronounced as thunderstorms draw nearer, peaking when the storm is directly overhead and gradually waning as it moves away.

To ensure your safety during a thunderstorm, keep these recommendations in mind:

1. Lightning safety plan:

When venturing outdoors, it's crucial to have a lightning safety plan in place.

Monitor the sky for threatening signs and listen for the sound of thunder. If thunder is audible, it's an indication that lightning is nearby.

Seek shelter promptly in a safe location, preferably indoors.

2. Indoors safety measures:

Once you're indoors, avoid using corded phones, electrical devices, plumbing fixtures, and stay away from windows and doors.

Lightning can follow conductive pathways, and these precautions reduce the risk of electrical surges.

3. Wait for the all-clear:

After the last lightning strike or thunderclap, wait at least 30 minutes before resuming outdoor activities.

Lightning can strike even when a storm has seemingly passed, so exercise caution.

When indoor shelter isn't available:

If you find yourself outdoors without access to indoor shelter during a thunderstorm, take these steps to maximize your safety:

Avoid open fields, hilltops, or ridge crests, as they expose you to greater lightning risk.

Steer clear of tall, isolated trees and other prominent objects. In forested areas, stay close to lower stands of trees.

If you're with a group, ensure individuals are spread out to prevent lightning current from transferring between people.

Camping in an open setting during a thunderstorm is strongly discouraged. If no alternative exists, set up camp in a valley, ravine, or other low-lying areas. Remember that a tent offers no protection against lightning.

Do not approach water bodies, wet objects, or metal items. While water and metal don't attract lightning, they conduct electricity effectively and can pose significant risks.

In summary, when facing the threat of lightning, preparedness and vigilance are your best allies. By following these guidelines, you can significantly reduce the likelihood of lightning-related incidents and prioritize your safety.

Navigating heavy rain: Essential safety measures for wet roads

Rain can turn roads into hazards. Stay informed and follow these tips from the weather service to ensure safety during heavy rainfall:

Beware of swollen waterways:

Avoid parking or walking in close proximity to culverts or drainage ditches, as the swiftly moving water during heavy rain can potentially carry you away.

Maintain safe driving distances:

Adhere to the two-second rule for maintaining a safe following distance behind the vehicle in front of you. In heavy rain, allow an additional two seconds of distance to compensate for reduced traction and braking effectiveness.

Slow down and stay cautious:

On wet roads, reducing your speed is crucial. Ease off the gas pedal gradually and avoid abrupt braking to prevent skidding.

Choose your lane wisely:

Stay toward the middle lanes - water tends to pool in the outside lanes.

Prioritize visibility

Enhance your visibility in heavy rain by turning on your headlights. Watch out for vehicles in blind spots, as rain-smeared windows can obscure them.

Watch out for slippery roads:

The initial half-hour of rain is when roads are slickest due to a mixture of rain, grime, and oil. Exercise heightened caution during this period.

Keep a safe distance from large vehicles:

Don't follow large trucks or buses too closely. The spray created by their large tires reduces your vision. Take care when passing them as well; if you must pass, do so quickly and safely.

Mind your windshield wipers:

Heavy rain can overload the wiper blades. When visibility is so limited that the edges of the road or other vehicles cannot be seen at a safe distance, it is time to pull over and wait for the rain to ease up. It is best to stop at rest areas or other protected areas.

When stopping by the roadside is your only option, position your vehicle as far off the road as possible, ideally beyond guardrails. Keep your headlights on and activate emergency flashers to alert other drivers of your position.

By following these safety measures, you can significantly reduce risks and ensure your well-being when heavy rain pours down. Stay informed about weather conditions and heed advice from local authorities to make your journey safe and sound.

Advance Local Weather Alerts is a service provided by United Robots, which uses machine learning to compile the latest data from the National Weather Service.
The Oxford Dictionary describes a double standard as "a rule or moral principle that is unjust because it is used in one situation but not in another, or because it treats one group of people differently from another."

The tradition of the double standard is expressed in a Roman proverb:

Quod licet Jovi, non licet bovi.

What is allowed to Jupiter is not allowed to the bull.

This proverb describes the principle of inequality between people. Friedrich Nietzsche wrote in Genealogy of Morality (1887):

A double morality of course leads to the negation of morality in general.

Russian religious philosopher Vladimir Soloviev in his book Justification of the Good (1897) describes the "Hottentot or egocentric morality" of double standards as follows:

In the same way, the famous Hottentot, who claimed that good is when he steals many cows, and evil is when they steal from him, appropriated such an ethical principle, of course, not to himself alone, but understood that for every man good consists in successfully stealing someone else's property, and evil - in losing his own.

The politics of double standards was vividly and succinctly described by British writer Gerald Seymour in Harry's Game:

One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.

Antisemitism is so well-studied that it is only very rare to discover something new in its unfolding.

However, surprises do occur. Antisemitism is the application of a double standard to Israel: the Jewish state is required to behave in a way that is not expected of any other democratic state.

No democratic country has been as careful during hostilities toward enemy civilians as Israel has been. No democratic country has been accused of killing other people's civilians as much as Israel has been accused. The U.S. has been many orders of magnitude less careful in its military actions to protect civilians than Israel. Unlike Israel, which continues to struggle to exist, the U.S. has never faced a threat to its existence in its wars, but it has killed far more civilians than Israel.

The eighth circle of Dante's Inferno contains liars and hypocrites. This circle is the penultimate. There is a circle lower and worse. My goal, though, is not the Italian poet's Divine Comedy, but the human comedy of hypocrisy.

In Dante's eighth circle is the double standard.

In politics, the application of double standards is the rule, not the exception. Politicians push their contradiction of the moral principles they are supposed to follow out of their consciousness. President Biden's administration forces itself to forget that it is demanding superhuman efforts from ally Israel that are incompatible with the goals of its defensive war against terrorists.

When the leadership of this ally does not agree to fulfill the demands of its "patron," this administration demands a change of power in Israel, as if it were a vassal obliged to respect the suzerain's interests more than its own.

They forget that Israel is a democratic state, and the only democratic state among dozens of countries in the zone of U.S. oil interests. The U.S. demands that Israel abide by rules of war that it itself has never abided by and will never abide by. They demand from Israel superhuman care for the civilian population of Gaza, which they themselves could not honor. They blithely forget that they make all these highly moral demands not out of any moral concern, but out of a desire to come to power in the November 2024 elections.

The definition of antisemitism provided by the European Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA, formerly EUMC), a body affiliated with the European Union, also recognizes the important role of double standards in discriminating against Israel. T

he document containing this definition mentions that manifestations of antisemitism "may also be directed against the State of Israel, perceived as a Jewish collective." This does not only apply to manifestations such as calling for or justifying the murder of Jews, dehumanizing and demonizing them, accusing them of imaginary crimes Holocaust denial. It manifests itself in the assertion that the nation-state of the Jews is illegitimate, while all other nation-states are legitimate. It is manifested in the fact that the moral imperative for Israel is higher than for any other democratic state. Every military conflict in which Israel finds itself embroiled is presented as a crisis of international importance that must be solved for "world peace" and for the failure of which Israel alone is blamed. In the long history of the Jewish people, Jews have been subjected to the highest demands that could not be met by non-Jews, who demand that the Israeli "troublemakers" fulfill their imperatives.

"Israel is a Jew among states," Leon Poliakoff, a French historian and scholar of antisemitism, observed decades ago. Israel is the only country in the world whose right to exist continues to be debated. Even those people who support the Jewish state's right to exist, including President Biden's administration, are virtually oblivious to this paradox.

Image: Pixabay / Pixabay License
Are we not all getting tired of that deplorable whining chorus which insists that recent U.S. elections have been marred by serious irregularities? How could any reasonable person persist in such complaints in light of all the wonderful assurances available to guarantee our complete satisfaction and comfort:

1) George Soros, a man of impeccable reputation for honor and integrity, has over the years given some $32 billion to ensure that elections are carried out fairly, which is to say, to ensure that the right (aka Left) candidates are elected. A man of such upstanding virtue and sagacity would surely not invest so much of his own hard-earned money in such a cause if it were not for the common good.

2) Similarly, in 2020 alone, Mark Zuckerberg, another paragon of unquestionable merit, ponied up some $400 million of his own money to the same beneficent end of ensuring that practices such as ballot harvesting would elect the proper people to office. The obvious charitable impulses implicit in that level of contribution to the national welfare should be a source of solace and gratitude to every American.

3) Every time some deplorable whiner went to court to challenge any aspect of 2020 election integrity, the unprejudiced and benevolent Left intervened to make sure the court did not reach the merits of such unsettling claims. They relied on procedural dodges such as lack of standing, jurisdiction, timeliness, and so on, to make sure the nation would not be troubled by any inconvenient and disturbing evidence. For that contribution to the national repose we should all be thankful.

4) The U.S. Department of Justice, another entity of unparalleled integrity, especially prominent in recent years, has combined with other justice-seeking institutions to bring numerous indictments against the clear "loser" of 2020, because he has had the temerity to upset the nation by complaining about election irregularities and running again. How dare he contradict the Left's narrative of harmony and unification that there was no there there in 2020?

5) It is virtually unanimous among all the leaders of the Left and their followers, all persons of proven honesty and objectivity, that nothing irregular occurred in 2020. That so many would be so convinced with nary a voice of dissent, or at least say they are convinced, is surely a statistical improbability unless there were no reasons for concern.

6) The Pelosi-selected committee, unencumbered by any participation by the whiners, since they were deliberately excluded from any part in the process, happily came to their unanimous conclusions with the utmost of precision and decorum. That they did so by jettisoning all aspects of due process should comfort all Americans because such niceties can only inconvenience the efficient arrival at the necessary conclusions. Special solace is also derivable from the fact that among the participants were such stalwart observers of fairness as representatives sometimes referred to as Shifty and Lizard.

7) Antony Blinken assembled 51 of the most credible former denizens of the Deep State Swamp to opine just before the 2020 election that the Hunter laptop was likely "Russian disinformation." That so many were willing to sign onto such a conclusion must surely demonstrate its veracity, especially since many of the 51 had already proven their bona fides by pursuing the Russian collusion hoax for many years, to the manifest benefit of all Americans. Assuring too is the fact that Blinken was subsequently rewarded for his outstanding efforts by being named Secretary of State. Surely no such plum would have been granted him had he not rendered such a significant service to the common good.

8) The need to silence any further complaints about 2020 is also buttressed by the organized weaponization of government against the opposition Presidential candidate. The fact that such a campaign is wholly unprecedented in American history is to its credit, as being so innovative. The masterful attempts to take him off the ballot, tie up his time in court, confiscate his assets, cause him to incur huge legal fees, impose gag orders on him, harass him with multiple criminal indictments (not to mention civil suits), exercise selective prosecution, together provide further reasons to stifle any further Free Speech on such a troubling topic as voter fraud. What would that censorship be but yet another effective weapon in the government's arsenal to promote harmony among We the People? How can we justify denying the government another weapon to such a beneficial end?

9) In state after state, election rules were changed by bypassing state legislatures to introduce new election procedures which anyone can plainly see were calculated to guarantee that the proper people were elected. Those who might quibble about how and why such rule changes were made need to be reminded that the Left's alteration of the rules bespeaks a commendable intent to abide by rules.

10) Above all, Democrats are unified in not only accepting each of the above comforts but also in bragging about them and insisting others accept them as well. Being impartial and nonpartisan, they would not do so with such unanimity were such not truly uplifting and satisfying to them -- as they should be to everyone else.

There are many other sources of comfort which should silence any further questions about 2020 voter fraud. All Americans should exercise their good judgment and demand that all remaining whiners be silenced. After all, Free Speech can be tolerated only so far, especially when the peace and quiet of "our Democracy" is at stake.

Image: MarkBuckawicki
Following the lead of the Communists in the Soviet Union, the American Left for three-quarters of a century has been incessantly and mindlessly accusing Conservatives, and anyone opposed to their statist agenda, of being Nazis. Which, together with the accusation of racism, has become the ultimate invective.

As history is always written by the victors, the Soviet Union, an ally of the Nazi Germany from 1939-41, sought to obfuscate its role in initiating the Second World War. They, with the cooperation of United States and Great Britain, succeeded in recasting National Socialism, or Nazism, as being on the right-wing of the political spectrum. A recasting American and European academics eagerly adopted and embedded into the post-war political psyche.

In March of 2023, I wrote an article detailing eight inescapable and disturbing ways the Democrat Party emulates the Nazi Party of 1927-34 in their underlying ideology and, more importantly, tactics. Subsequently, Mr. D. Parker further detailed eight additional indisputable similarities. All but two of these sixteen commonalities (irrational obsession with race, and state/private ownership of all means of production) also apply to the proponents of Communism.

Nonetheless, there had been no basis to emulate the crudity of the American Left and label them Nazis as there was one bridge they had yet to cross: unabashed and overt antisemitism and acquiescence to repeating the Holocaust while mindlessly setting the table for an inevitable global conflict. That bridge now has been crossed and the time has come to call out these reprobates for what they are: Disciples of National Socialism or Nazis.

A date that will live in infamy in the annals of Judaisms three-and-a-half millennia, October 7, 2023, has also exposed the Democrat party and the American lefts hitherto unknown depths of antisemitism and de facto support for the underlying beliefs of Hamas, whose declared sole reason for existence is the elimination of Israel and the slaughter of all Jews.

Despite the invasion of Israel by Hamas and the gruesome videos of the unspeakable and horrendous butchery on that fateful day, repeated marches and demonstrations have been organized by the left throughout the United States in support of not only Hamas but other terrorist groups in Lebanon, Syria and Palestine, whose stated objectives are also the elimination of Israel and the slaughter of all Jews.

Photo credit: Ted Eytan CC BY-SA 2.0 License

Additionally, political blackmail has been successfully initiated within the Democrat party to make certain that behind the scenes the Biden Administration does not waiver in taking all steps necessary to prevent Israel from permanently destroying Hamas.

Throughout the succeeding five-months, the Biden Administration and the Democrats in Congress have increasingly hamstrung the Israeli government in their pursuit of the total annihilation of Hamas. They have threatened to cut off military supplies, touted Hamass absurd and unproven causality statistics, and declared the goal is no longer defeating but degrading Hamas.

Further, Biden and the Democrats are trying to force Israel to surrender land and security in a disastrous so-called two-state solution. They are also unabashedly calling for the ouster of the duly-elected Netanyahu government.

As they have done since the beginning of the Biden presidency, and despite October 7, 2023, the Democrats are continuing to relieve sanctions and release funds to Iran. Over $100 Billion has been effectively released, thereby underwriting Irans military support for not only Hamas but for more than a dozen militias and terror groups across the Middle East who serve as proxies for Iran and its ultimate goal of obliterating Israel and creating an antisemitic and anti-Western caliphate.

By the overt constraining of Israels ability to unconditionally defeat Hamas, the plotting to overthrow the Israeli government, the blatant attempts to impose a two-state solution, and abetting Iran in its megalomaniacal ambitions, the American Left and the Democrat Party are in a tacit alliance and is effectively collaborating with Iran, Hamas, and the other Iranian-sponsored terrorist groups in their determination to recreate the Holocaust.

If Israel cannot eliminate Hamas and accepts a two-state solution, the stage will be set for an inevitable all-consuming war in the Middle East which will inexorably draw in the United States. A nuclear-armed Iran and its terror proxies are motivated by uncompromising hate and implacable religious fervor, two volatile ingredients that invariably foment conflict. If Israel, Iran, and perhaps Saudi Arabia face annihilation, the probability of a global nuclear conflict goes up exponentially.

Antisemitism has so captured the American left and the Democrat party that they are mindlessly willing to sow the seeds of another Holocaust as well as the next world war while feverishly transforming the United States into a one-party National Socialist paradise.

Subsequent to the publication of my article in March of 2023, I was asked in an interview what was my motive behind writing the piece. I replied that as a displaced war orphan and post-war casualty of the Second World War, it is my moral obligation to the memory of the 47 million who perished and the 65 million displaced in Europe during the war, to foreworn my fellow American citizens that they are facing a far more implacable and insidious threat than they realize.

While the current iteration of the American Left and the Democrat Party does not have a military uniform fetish or goose step up Pennsylvania Avenue, they are little different than the Nazi Party of 1927-1934 in their pursuit of one-party control of Germany. There is no tactic out-of-bounds, no limit to the lives to be sacrificed, no constraint on lawlessness, no acknowledgment of the rule of law, no deference to a written Constitution, and no respect for the dignity of mankind -- just a raw unbridled determination to seize power in perpetuity.

In the foolish belief that it could not happen here, the vast majority of Americans live in blissful obliviousness. The Republican Party wallows in the same mindset and following in the footsteps of the opposition parties in Germany circa 1929-33; they engage in never-ending internal schoolyard squabbles, a near-religious belief in compromise regardless of long-term consequences, and deferentiality to the leadership of the Democrat party. Far too many have not figured out that they are not dealing with the Democrat party of forty-years ago but the Nazi Party of ninety-four-years ago.

The reality is that the overthrow of this nation is happening apace. The process of defeating these tyrannizers will not begin until the tables are turned, and they are exposed and called out for who they are: Nazis.
Last Friday, terrorists attacked Moscows Crocus City Hall music venue, killing over a hundred people. My condolences to their families. Within a day, leaked footage showed a suspect getting his ear cut off and being made to eat it. Additional footage showed a suspect in great pain with electrical equipment attached to his genitals.

It was the type of gruesome footage from which we tend to turn away. We form our private opinions and dont discuss them. I fear the silence allows some observers to regard this as extreme but effective justice. Perhaps people will tell themselves the word that has justified centuries of Russias self-inflicted tyranny: order. Marquis de Custine wrote 200 years ago, Officially, such brutal tyranny is called respect for unity and love of order.

To say nothing about the dangers of presumptions of guilt and unconstrained authority, this episode points to important differences between Russia and the West, which most of us do not understand and, I fear, cannot understand. But I will try to explain them anyway.

Image: An accused Moscow attack suspect. YouTube screen grab.

Russia is a society held together by fear and threat. Creating fear is almost always the first thing they do. When Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, one of their first actions was to kidnap Simferopol resident Reshat Ametov, a Tartar activist, and leave his body to be discovered later with signs of torture. Weeks later, when they invaded Donbas, one of the more outspoken pro-Ukrainian city council members, Volodymyr Rybak from Horlivka in Luhansk Region, was similarly kidnapped. He was drowned, and then his body was mutilated and left to be discovered. These stories never gained much traction. Russian disinformation was so good that everybody was discussing if Russia was invading and never got to describing how they were invading.

The terror worked for Russia. It drove opposition underground and helped the Kremlins propagandists and useful idiots in the West proclaim that the regions were pro-Russian. We in the West do not think that lies could be so vulgar and horrific, but they are. For Russia, this is normal. The world is held together not by laws, customs, and social norms but by barbarism. If you want to be beautiful, just murder everyone who might say otherwise, and you will be beautiful.

Some examples are more subtle. During a 2016 meeting with former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Putin, likely knowing of Merkels phobia of dogs, arranged for a large Labrador to be in the room with them.

I know from eyewitnesses that, in 2022, during their invasion of Ukraine, Russians flew jets low and loud over highways choked with fleeing refugees. This caused some panicked people to drive too fast in the opposite lanes against oncoming traffic, leading to deadly accidents. They also arranged for these ridiculous little metal contraptions to be placed on rooftops and road intersections all over the country. Though the devices did nothing, they sowed rumors that they had to do with targeting for air raids, heightening everybodys paranoia.

The bombing of the Mariupol Drama Theater was clearly meant to demonstrate Russias disregard for the theater, which was clearly marked Children. About 600 refugees were killed. (Side note for many of Russias useful idiots: They were probably Russian-speaking Ukrainians.)

Theres a joke in Ukraine that you shouldnt believe anything until the Kremlin denies it in two mutually exclusive ways. About the Drama Theater bombing, the Russians said it was used as a military base, and they said the Ukrainians blew it up themselves to make Russia look bad. Similarly, while some Kremlin propagandists denied the Bucha massacre atrocities, another television program discussed how it was a good thing because it intimidated Europe.

If such a society produced prosperity, we would all be speaking Russian, but it doesnt. It creates corruption and misery. There is no ideal of a man of his word in Russia. Telling the truth all the time is something that weak people do. Their ideal is that of the Tsara dangerous person who is above the truth. As Russian commentator Kamil Galeev observed, a treaty is to restrain the Tsars power, a condition he abides to commit. Thats a dishonor, and he breaks [the] treaty at the first chance.

Examples abound. A day after signing a grain deal with Ukraine, Russia bombed the Odessa port that was to be used for shipments. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the Budapest Memorandum, by which Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons in exchange for security assurances, expressed no non-nuclear restrictions that might contradict a Russian invasion. This is not the type of lie that attempts to deceive. Its the type of ridiculous lie that strives only to intimidate. The Heritage Foundation, before the sharp pivot it made in its Russia analysis, pointed out that Russia has rarely, if ever, signed an arms control treaty that it did not violate.

There is a philosophical underpinning to this madness. Philosopher Ivan Ilyin, whose remains Putin had exhumed in Switzerland and re-buried in Russia, provides it. He produced a very strange version of Christianity where either God was flawed or the process of creating the world was flawed. Because of this, facts do not matter very much. I interpret him as very close to the post-modern philosophers of the radical left, except Ilyin puts everything through the lens of Russian nationalism. In fact, he concludes that Gods imperfect world can only be made right if Russia prospers and unites the world. Hes a little vague, but theres something about creating order.

So, to return to the titular question of why Russian authorities cut off the suspects ear and made him eat it, they did so because they need to instill fear as the foundation of everything they do, because they see laws and social norms as fragile facades which are not only fake but insulting to their ideal of an all-powerful, unconstrained Tsar, and because, like people waiting for a messiah, they await the return of a more barbaric world in which the norms of that naive, intimidating, undeserving Western world will be swept away, and their supposed superior adaptation to a world of savagery will finally elevate them to the station theyve thus far been unjustly denied.

Roman Skaskiw is an American of Ukrainian ancestry. He lived in Ukraine for ten years, where he founded and ran a software company. Hes also a U.S. Army veteran.
I never doubted that Biden would eventually stab Israel in the back. I just never knew the method he would employ. Failing to veto the U.N ceasefire proposal turned out to be his thing.

It is difficult to determine whether Biden truly knows what is happening because he sort of fades in and out and seldom answers questions in a straightforward manner. He tends to do so over his shoulder as he rambles off the stage or exits the White House helicopter. Even his eyes are masked by those green shades, which project his Mister Cool image.

Certainly, one can rightfully assume, some of Obamas antipathy for Netanyahu and his Muslim background rubbed off on Joe, and we know that radicals have gained great influence in the Democrat party, which has forsaken its historical associations with Hispanics, blacks, and even selected unions. Democrats seem to have given up on these former identity politic friends. They have rebranded their messaging, which proved effective and consistently served them well, because they are masters at feeling your pain.

Democrats even successfully turned urban women into their supporters, convincing them that Trumps locker room talk was more than they could digest while they willingly swallowed Bills escapades with that girl in the blue dress.

Finally, I believe that Obamas hangovers, who still walk the White House halls, remain influential, dropping their little poisons here and there, like Rhodes, Brennan, and their ilk. So what is the next disassociation? And will support of our closest and dedicated Middle East ally become a faded memory?

There are several powerful Democrats who would love to see this come about. Politics is a dirty business, and abandoning your friend while he is down is not a new D.C. phenomenon. The fact that Blinken and Schumer were born Jewish is no great dependable comfort. They have proven to be convenient switch-blades, ready to become Obamas and Bidens lapdogs, and most particularly so when it comes to pacifying Iran.

Bibi recently fleshed out a sort of post-Gaza policy, which includes Israels willingness to expand its own aid to suffering Palestinians. Not one virtuous Western nation seems to be pressing Hamas to do anything. Why? Because all of them know that it is useless, nor do they have the intestinal fortitude to even try, since they can get their pound of flesh from the easier pickings  Israel, or so they think.

In essence, the U.N., which has never been a friend of Israel, is demanding that Israel allow Hamas its sought-after victory. This victory remains costly for all who were engaged victims. Meanwhile, Islamist terrorists seem able to demand and receive what they want because the worlds leadership is feckless and/or evil.

The Saudis have money but cant be seen to diss the Palestinians. America is bankrupt spiritually and almost financially as government spending consumes virtually all of our GDP. Biden loves financing capitalists, and capitalists, particularly at Intel last week, love receiving taxpayer largess because they failed to be innovative. Will Boeing be next as its airplane doors (metaphorically) become unhinged?

NATO nations cannot even fund their pledges and are debating what to do about Ukraine, which has its hand out daily.

The picture is dour, and I have yet to discuss Trumps personal issues, because this essay is about a corrupt presidents abandonment of a loyal friend and its citizenry.

However, my advice: Never count Israel out. First, the Israelis have nowhere else to go. Second, they are resourceful and have proven they know what it takes to pull rabbits out of yarmulkes. They have a historical relationship with a higher being who tests them all the time. Finally, they are an intelligent, democratic, technologically adept society, pitted against a corrupt, amoral, tribal lot led by even more corrupt, blood-thirsty heathen leaders.

I will put my shekels on Israel any day, and Lynn and I are doing just that through our exclusive charitable giving until Israel wins.

As for the U.N., Biden, Obama, Blinken, Brennan, Schumer, and the rest of the antisemites, I gladly give them the finger.

Image via Pxfuehttps://www.pxfuel.com/en/free-photo-obzvgl.
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.
If New Yorkers are supposed to be tough, then why are cry spas popping up in the city? Sob Parlour is an emotive sanctuary, where, for about $20, a sniveling crybaby can howl in privacy and comfort.

First, there were safe-space bubbles for college crybabies afraid of dynamic interactions and intent on denying free expression. Now, there are forlorn cry spaces with entirely too much expression pinging around. And the number one reason for their sorrow -- heartache after experiencing a bad breakup or unrequited love.

Well, cry me a river! Theres real suffering afflicting people in America and across the globe. But unrequited love?! Get over it already.

Apparently, todays shrinks and psychologists have concluded that crying has health benefits. Medical professionals convince us that it can even be cathartic. But if the self-indulgent namby-pambies want comprehensive catharsis, then therere a couple of other approaches:

In a hospital in Sicily during WWII, Private Charles Kuhl was whimpering when General Patton visited. Asked where he was hurt, the cowering private replied that he wasnt so much wounded as just nervous, saying, I guess I cant take it. Patton proceeded to slap the bejesus out of him with his glove.

For that, Eisenhower ordered Patton to make amends. While congressional weenies demanded Patton be recalled, public opinion was largely favorable to him. Indeed, Kuhls father even wrote to his congressman, expressing his forgiveness toward Patton, and urging he not be disciplined. Kuhl himself served the rest of the war, and later described Patton as a great general. Now thats catharsis.

Patton also slapped sniveling Private Paul G. Bennett in the receiving tent of a hospital in Sicily. Bennett complained, Its my nerves. I cant stand the shelling anymore. Patton, who visited wounded troops often, thought him a malingerer.

Well, after the original slap heard around the world, an expiated Bennett continued to serve in the Army, including in the Korean War, attaining the rank of Sergeant First Class. Not too bad for someone originally accused of malingering.

Perhaps the whimpering whiners who frequent the Sob Parlour also have frayed nerves. Instead of a Patton-like slapping (though effective at startling someone out of their emotional self-indulgence), how about clapping?

Clapping releases powerful physical and mental stimulants; it even activates ones energy chakras. Just look at all those cheery chakras engulfing Kamala Harriss aura as she unwittingly clapped (does she do anything wittingly?) along to a protest song in Haiti. While being mocked, she still smiled moronically -- thats the power of clapping.

The beauty of clapping to overcome stress and sadness is that one doesnt need to pay for a private room. In New York City, for example, just go to Central Park, or any of the 1700 parks in the city, and have a salubrious clapping session in nature. If thats all one does there, thatd probably be considered normal compared to other park-induced behaviors.

An enduring prescription for the lovelorn crybabies is to serve a MAGA cause greater than themselves. Who knows, perhaps serendipity will present a requited love interest to mend their heartache, all while in the service of others? Ultimately, thats more rejuvenating than perpetuating pity at the cry spa.

For patriotic, stoic stalwarts the phrase Keep calm and carry on resonates. Where carry on means civic-engagement and helping to Make America Great Again. Ill clap to that.

For leftists in deep blue cities, who wallow in self-imposed victimhood, the applicable phrase seems to be, Become hysterical and cry on. That behavior is even exemplified by their weeping congressional representatives, as seen here with AOC. The preachy leftist's hysterical rants are a slap in the face to pragmatic Americans with true grit, for crying out loud.

I almost weep for our future -- almost, because one might still appreciate the entrepreneurial spirit of Sob Parlours founder. Hell likely be clapping all the way to the bank given how sad New York City has become. And thats no claptrap.

Image: Pixabay
It doesnt take a lot of perception to realize how stupid, or rather gullible, are the adherents to leftist ideology. How else could someone believe that the drug-addicted human trash littering our world are only here because greedy landlords are asking for too much rent? Add to this the belief in the popular fallacy that electric vehicles are emissions free. Especially when 60% of the electricity used to charge their batteries comes from natural gas and coal while another 20% comes from nuclear fission. And, since those batteries make EVs a lot heavier than the internal combustion-powered variety, their tires and the roads beneath them wear out a lot quicker. Basic physics also tells us that EVs use a lot more energy to go anywhere than the gas-powered type.

Obviously, Donald Trump knows this. He also knows that the drive-by news media are equally as gullible and ignorant. Some years back, when Trumps 1995 tax return was illegally leaked to the hostile media, an Associated Press writer had a fit in print. He was especially angry that Trump had the unmitigated gall to write off the depreciation of his rental properties. The author claimed that only billionaires and multi-millionaires were able to take such an unfair advantage -- without any reference to the millions of mom-and-pop landlords who also depreciate their rentals for tax purposes.

Armed with this knowledge, Pres. Trump is exerting a fair amount of control over the media -- hence Bloodbath Gate. Being sloppily misquoted over and over has given Trump a lot of free media and has also provided his supporters in conservative media with plenty of grist for their mills. Then came his admonition to the Jews of America to eschew the Democrats because of their thinly-veiled support for Hamas and its ilk. Through their medias protests, the Democrats villainy was subsequently emphasized over and over again -- thus amplifying Trumps criticism of them -- even though their intent was always to damage Trump.

A still-exploited and pervasive common ignorance is continuing to use the weather as a political tool. Various media outlets have recently been harping on last year being the hottest ever. Since when? Some sources acknowledge California as being an exception being colder than normal. But what is normal? Weather is chaotic. Jet streams, high pressure domes, low pressure fronts yadda, yadda are constantly conflicting with each other to produce the daily environment. But in our modern world, torrential rains, heat waves, tornado clusters, droughts and floods are predictably showcased as harbingers of the apocalypse. Trump sees through this, as many of us do, and gladly receives the incoming fusillades. Who else in the political world would or could?

Lurking beneath this dynamic is the leftists compulsive attachment to stereotypes. Dan Bongino recently showcased the Democrats tendency to talk down to all sorts of minorities. Imagine it being racist to require a picture I.D. in order to vote because people of color are being denied access to the DMV throughout the land. Really? Where? How? As various discrepancies in ballot authenticity keep emerging, the call for photo I.D. is intensifying. Yet somehow more melanin in ones epidermis makes it harder for them to find the DMV let alone pass the tests. The explanation for this repulsive tendency is that stereotyping is easy -- it allows lazy people to skip the various steps necessary to truly understand another person as an individual. Hence Bidens totally obnoxious declaration that if you dont vote Democrat, you aint Black. As if loyalty to the party of Jim Crow and the Confederacy was a necessary part of ones ethnic identity, regardless of self-interest.

Where does this leave us now? Its human nature to overestimate the capabilities of ones adversaries -- and, conversely, to underestimate ones own capabilities. Within this context, Im estimating that Trumps popularity is broader and deeper than is commonly perceived. His appeal is not the result of obsequious salesmanship, but rather the profound need for effective problem-solving. Just recently I was walking around my blue city of Oakland, CA neighborhood -- while recklessly wearing a Make America Great Again ball cap. As I passed a pickup truck that belonged to a well-known utility company, the passenger-side window came down and a rather young fellow leaned out and said to me I like your hat.

Image: r. nial bradshaw
San Francisco has long been at the forefront of all things progressive: it was one of the first locales to begin decriminalizing marijuana, which of course devolved into the druggie free-for-all it now is; home to pederasts like Harvey Milk, the LGBTQ++ community, no matter how obscene (Folsom Street Fair) is always celebrated; its home to social programs like GIFT, which isnt just ordinary welfare, but a handout that can pay out as much as $21,600 per enrollee and is exclusively for trans people; and the city has an official Poop Patrol department to clean up all the human fecal matter plopped around the sidewalks thanks to the sizable vagrant population.

And predictably, all that progressivism only reaps total destruction, coming back to bite the city in the rear-end in grand fashion; a longstanding nonprofit committed to the environmental health of the bay filed a lawsuit against the citys utility commission for 1.2 billion gallons per year of sewage and trash-filled runoff flowing into the San Francisco Bay.

So much for San Francisco environmentalism.



San Francisco dumps sewage into bay at alarming rate, environmental advocates say | KRON4https://t.co/DcjDSoQDx2  American Patriot Voice (@hartsfwa) March 24, 2024

Heres the story, from a local San Francisco outlet:

San Francisco Baykeeper said it is taking legal action against the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and the city after sewage and trash-filled runoff flowed into the bay during heavy rainstorms. The local nonprofit watchdog organization said its investigation found hundreds of federal Clean Water Act violations over the last five winters. According to Baykeeper, the SFPUC discharges an average of 1.2 billion gallons of combined stormwater runoff and sewage every year. About six percent of its total discharge is sewage, environmental advocates said. In a wet year, this is enough to fill 180 Olympic-sized swimming pools, Baykeeper said.

(The executive director of Baykeeper also noted that this was untreated sewage flowing into the Pacific.)

As President Trump coined: Everything woke turns to st. Literally.

So much for the idea of a clean planet, leftists only beget absolute filth; any guesses as to what that rainwater runoff is carrying into the bay?

Nearly all of SFPUCs discharges flow into Mission Creek and Islais Creek, Baykeeper found. The nonprofits field investigators visited Mission Creek during sewer discharges and saw the presence of fecal matter, plastics, syringes, and condoms in the water.

Human excrement, used needles, and used condomswhen I read that this morning, I was very thankful to have still had an empty stomach.

Gasoline cars, gas stoves, air conditioners, dishwashers, lightbulbs must all be regulated or taxed into nonexistence for the little people, because the carbon footprint of such amenities is too detrimental to the environmentbut poop, dirty needles, and old rubbers dont really seem to spark the same outrage.

Plastic straws and plastic bags are the worst form of pollution and must be outlawed, lest they accidentally make their way into the ocean and some poor little sea turtle chokes and diesnever mind diarrhea, used drug paraphernalia, and latex trash saturating the bay.

Masks are mandatory during the scamdemic, as well as experimental jabs, and anyone so inconsiderate of their neighbors health that they would refuse to adhere to science deserve to lose their jobs and (at best) live in a lepers colonybecause heaven forfend anyone catch a flu-like virus with a nearly 100% survival ratewhile uncontained feces, disease-addled syringes, and post-coitus contraceptives contaminating the water supply are of a lower concern to health officials.

The lefts idea of whats clean and whats dirty, and whats pollution and whats not, is fittingly inverted, because theyre flat-out wrong on everything, and their childish fantasies of utopia are entirely disconnected from reality and objectivity.

Image: Free image, Pixabay license, no attribution required.
Ballot question no. 3 on the November 2024 ballot is a bad amendment to the Nevada Constitution to implement ranked-choice voting (RCV), which requires that voters rank their preference for multiple candidates for election. There are two frequent arguments for RCV that are made by proponents. The first argument is that everyone is confronted with ranking in their everyday lives so its nothing new or confusing. The second one is that giving a vote to a winning candidate, even if that candidate wasnt your first-place choice, gives you a feeling of empowerment and pride that you took part in the election; your vote was counted and made a difference. But do these arguments hold up? Lets look at common-sense examples.

The first argument is often illustrated by an example of shopping or eating out. You go to the grocery store, and its out of green beans, for example. You second choice is lima beans. So you pick lima beans and go home happy. You ranked your choices, and you got your second-place choice. But really, do people care much about beans? If you were craving a green bean casserole, youre actually not happy with lima beans. But it doesnt affect your life much. Beans dont decide the mandate for your health care, the security of the border, how much funding we give to Israel, or the rate of your income tax. Lets look at some realistic ranked choice voting situations in everyday life, ones that are moderately important though not critical to your life.

You go to a restaurant for your favorite meal. Youve been looking forward to this all week. Your mouth begins watering on the drive there. Its expensive, but worth it, especially after the hard week youve had at work. You and your spouse dropped off the kids, got dressed up, and arrived at the restaurant to find out that the meal isnt available. Whats your second choice? Oh, whatever everyone else is having. Or the restaurant is closed. Youll just go to the McDonalds next door instead. Your second choice was fine. Really?

Suppose you want tickets to see Taylor Swift in concert, but its sold out. The ticket booth concierge asks you for your second choice. Well, you really wanted to see Swifts once-in-a-lifetime tour, but you do like Adele. Youre told that Adele just ended her tour. But they do have tickets for Spice Wannabe, the tribute to the Spice Girls. The ticket booth concierge tells you she heard theyre really good. Hurray! At least you got one of your choices. Is that your reaction?

Lets say youre a Golden Knights fan. You go to get tickets, but theyre sold out. This is the Stanley Cup playoffs. Is there even a second choice? But then again, the Las Vegas Aviators are having a game, and the tickets are pretty cheap. So you go to that and feel good that you at least got a chance to see a game. Or do you?

Do you actually feel good when you get your second choice? Third choice? Last choice? No choice? Selecting beans is pretty unimportant in your life. Going to a nice restaurant can have an impact for a day or a week. Seeing a once-in-a-lifetime concert or going to a playoff game can be a treasured memory for the rest of your life. Voting for a politician can affect the entire country for years to come and have a serious impact on your life. Dont let proponents of RCV convince you that its just about choosing beans. Its not.

Bob Zeidman is the creator of the field of software forensics and the founder of several successful high-tech Silicon Valley firms including Zeidman Consulting and Software Analysis and Forensic Engineering. His latest venture is Good Beat Poker, a new way to play and watch poker online. He is the author of textbooks on engineering and intellectual property as well as award-winning screenplays and novels. His latest book is Election Hacks, about the true story of how he challenged his own beliefs about voting machine hacking in the 2020 presidential election and made international news and $5 million.

Image: Picryl/National Cancer Instittute
Over at the United Nations, the U.S. showed the world that President Biden is weak.

We abstained from a UN vote and threw Israel under the bus because too many voters in Michigan voted uncommitted in the primary.

What a travesty.

Here is the story:

The Biden administration declined to veto a United Nations Security Council resolution on Monday that aims to limit Israels ability to win its war against Hamas. Washingtons action is short-sighted and counterproductive. The resolution calls for a ceasefire in Gaza. Four members of the U.N. Security Council voted in favor of the resolution, while the United States abstained. Israel responded by scrapping plans to send a delegation to Washington. This was the fourth attempt in recent days to pass the resolution, with members of the Security Council haggling over its language.

Counterproductive?

How about stabbing a friend in the back? Shame on the Biden administration or whoever is writing all of these speeches that the president reads.

The real problem is that our allies are wondering and our enemies are planning their next move. The message is that Biden can be pushed around: Just listen to the Mexican president on 60 Minutes from this past Sunday!

Or watch Iran finance their clients interrupting international trade. The big guy is asleep, so the bad guys are on the loose.

What makes our "abstaining" so pathetic is that Israel is defending itself. They were attacked on October 7th. Young women were raped at a music festival. Families were shot at their homes. How is Israel going to negotiate with people like that?

So Rashida Tlaib is now running our Middle East policy? The first Tuesday of November can't get here soon enough.
I suppose we're supposed to be happy that a New York appeals court reduced the amount of bond President Trump must post, just for the 'privilege' of appealing New York's outrageous, excessive, utterly vindictive, $454 million fine over a victimless crime from the state's little kangaroo court.

According to Fox News:

An appeals court slashed former President Trump's bond payment on Monday, saying Trump must pay $175 million within the next 10 days. Trump had previously faced a Monday deadline to pay a $454 million bond payment that came as a result of civil fraud allegations from New York Attorney General Letitia James. A New York Appeals Court, hours before the deadline to post the $454 million, lowered that bond considerably. The court ordered that Trump post $175 million within 10 days. Trump said he will "abide" by the appeals decision and post the $175 million bond. If Trump does post the $175 million by the new deadline, it would effectively block James from attempts to seize Trump's assets as he continues to appeal the judgment by New York Judge Arthur Engoron.

Supposedly, Trump overvalued his assets to get loans, which isn't a 'crime' anyone else prosecutes, because there weren't any victims. Both borrower and lender were happy with their deal, and Trump paid back the loans in full and on time. Now the banks are angling to do more business with him.

But none of that mattered in that crummy, politicized courtroom, where the leering, giggling, judge, Arthur Engoron, and his rabid fanatic prosecutor, Leticia James, both known Trump-haters, dropped every rule of decency and judicial restraint. They dished out a draconian and ruinous fine from numbers they pulled out of the air, just because they could. For perspective, Bernie Madoff, who defrauded many people of their life savings and left a string of victims, was fined a mere $10 million.

$454 million, payable in full, just to be able to appeal? That's Soviet. It's also unconstitutional, going directly against the Eighth Amendment, which reads:

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Crazed, "get Trump" fanatics don't care about such niceties.

The appeals court, which no one expected to be any different from Engoron and James, mildly surprised by at least alleviating the draconian fine and insane bond requirement in order to appeal the unjust verdict. At least Trump won't be ruined.

But $175 million is still a lot of money and Trump won't have the use of it for months and months as his antagonists seek to delay those appeals forever, basically stealing it for awhile or longer if Trump's appeals up to the Supreme Court fall on deaf ears.

Which is why the $175 million bond Trump must post is still too much. Legal scholar Jonathan Turley noted that the bond could have been reduced to nothing, actually. It should have been. It would have been the only just amount, actually.

So, one cheer for the appeals court, not three. As Trump continues to rise in the polls, the court seemed to opt to reduce the bond so as to appear reasonable to the public, rather than be fair to Trump.

Everyone could see what was happening -- the Engoron court was out of its mind, the public was reacting by rallying to Trump in a sympathy vote, and the court's move must have indicated that it didn't want to be seen as arbitrary tyrants making it up as they went along and driving not just Trump, but a whole array of other businesses out of New York.

It's good, but it's not enough. Until the New York courts can give justice to Trump, the public will just keep joining him all the way to Election Day.

Image: Pixabay / Pixabay License
Like that old Bobby Vinton song There! Ive Said It Again, Mexicos President Lopez-Obrador said it again. The outgoing president south of the border wants the following deal with the U.S. Check this out from his appearance on 60 minutes:

President Lopez Obrador (in Spanish/English translation): We do and want to continue doing it, but we do want for the root causes to be attended to, for them to be seriously looked at.

With the ear of the White House  President Lopez Obrador proposed his fix- that the United States commit $20 billion a year to poor countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, lift sanctions on Venezuela, end the Cuban embargo and legalize millions of law-abiding Mexicans living in the U.S.

Sharyn Alfonsi: If they dont do the things that you said need to be done, then what?

President Lopez Obrador (in Spanish/English translation): The flow of migrants will continue.

Sharyn Alfonsi: Your critics have said what youre doing, what youre asking for to help secure the border is diplomatic blackmail. What do you say?

President Lopez Obrador (in Spanish/English translation): I am speaking frankly, we have to say things as they are, and I always say what I feel. I always say what I think.

Sharyn Alfonsi: If they dont do those things, will you continue to help to secure the border?

President Lopez Obrador (in Spanish/English translation): Yes, because our relationship is very important. It is fundamental.
Ben Hodges, a retired former commander of the army in Europe, has an optimistic view of the Ukrainian eventual victory over the Russians if the West does not lose the political will to support Ukraine in its war effort.

Hodges says that Russia has approximately the GDP of Italy and compared to Europes GDP, Russias GDP is small. Include the U.S. GDP and Russias GDP pales in comparison. So, from an economic point of view, the West can far outstrip the Russian ability to finance the war effort.

Recently, Ukraine has been quite successfully targeting Russian oil refineries with long-range drones and Russia has stopped exporting gasoline and diesel because it desperately needs these products for internal use and for the war effort in Ukraine.

Up to March 17, 2024, 12 oil refineries were hit in Russia with more to come. Russian oil production may eventually be stopped because of a lack of spare parts which used to be provided by Exxon, BP, and Shell.

Russia has also lost about a third of its warships in the Black Sea and Russia's commander there was recently replaced.

So, it seems Russia is more seriously considering the damage done by Ukrainian air and sea drones. The Black Sea is vital for Ukrainian grain exports out of Odessa and lately, all the grain ships have remained untouched by Russia. Of course, Ukraine is mostly using the western Black Sea which is in the territorial waters of friendly nations so this is another reason why grain shipments have not been greatly impaired.

According to wilsoncenter.org:

Russia may have gained control of 18 percent of Ukraine, but doing so has cost nearly eighteen years of military modernization and has exposed serious institutional weaknesses. If Ukraine maintains its determination and retains external support, it can win a war of attrition.

Ukraine has largely been successful in the war of attrition due to an abundance of relatively cheap thousand-dollar short-range FPV drones that easily take out million-dollar tanks, military vehicles, and artillery which Russia is losing at a much faster clip than Ukraine. Russia is also losing soldiers at a faster clip than Ukraine despite its numerical superiority on the trench warfare front lines. Soon Russia will probably need a third unpopular soldier mobilization and Ukraine will probably need a second unpopular soldier mobilization.

You may be wondering why this is going to be a long drawn-out war of attrition. The major reason why is that neither side has adequately trained soldiers and not enough military hardware to launch decisive bold aggressive strategic moves which make progress in a relatively short time. Thus, the scenario is a lengthy bloody boring war that never seems to end for spectators but bloody hell for the soldiers in the trenches.

Perhaps the greatest difference between Russia and Ukraine is that Ukraine values the lives of its troops and Russia very often doesnt value the lives of its troops.

Trench warfare is hell on earth but Ukrainians value their troop's lives by retrieving the dead and wounded from the battlefield and giving the wounded decent medical attention. Russia, on the other, hand tricks and coerces the conscripts to fight on the front lines and seldom retrieves the dead and severely wounded from the battlefield.

Medical attention is seldom given and if given it is of the poorest quality. In effect, the morale of Ukraines soldiers is superior to that of the Russian soldiers.

With continued timely Western economic and military aid Ukraine will eventually win the war of attrition and diabolical tyrannical lying Putin will lose the war on Ukrainian terms or the complete withdrawal from annexed Ukrainian territory. All that it will take is continuing Western political will to win by the Western political leadership.

Image: Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, via Flickr // CC BY-SA 2.0
Microsoft plans to introduce several new AI-powered features to enhance the functionality of Copilot within Microsoft Teams. It will surely improve calls, meetings, and overall collaboration experiences inside the app. The company is also adding a well-known Copilot feature to summarize team meetings.

Microsoft Teams in-built Copilot is getting smarter: Boosts collaboration with enhanced AI features

In the coming months, the app will include spoken transcripts and written chats in a single view, thus making it simpler for users to catch up on missed meetings. Moreover, Copilot will get better at writing messages in chat. People only need to add the context for the message and choose a writing style such as a call to action or playful tone.

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A newly introduced feature is Intelligent Call Recap for traditional team meetings. It helps note down all conversation minutes during calls automatically. Once it is available, likely within the next quarter, people can access this feature via Teams Premium subscription. It will help users keep up with telephone conversations and review any activity that should follow without having to write manual notes.

All the latest AI improvements contribute towards increased flexibility of Copilot within Teams reflecting how well Microsoft integrates its Office suite with AI. Microsoft also announced hybrid meeting enhancements within Teams, which cater to both remote and in-room participants.

The IntelliFrame feature on Team Rooms will have an automatic camera switching option powered by artificial intelligence. It will opt for the best camera view that guarantees a clear view for virtual participants especially in obstructed meeting room situations.

Microsoft has some new carriers supporting its Teams Phone Mobile feature

Additionally, voice enrollments are provided with a speaker recognition function for any microphone in the Team Rooms to capture accurate transcription during meetings. Lastly, Microsoft extends carrier support for the Team smartphone, which provides a mobile presence across workers on cellular devices.

New partners including AT&T, Odido, Virgin Media O2, and Vodafone UK will offer phone numbers for Teams later this year thus improving flexibility for the platform users. These updates reflect Microsofts ongoing use of AI technology in enhancing collaboration and communication experiences and address complications in remote and hybrid work circumstances.
Samsung currently offers a plethora of exclusive apps and services within its devices, including Samsung Health and Samsung Pay. To double down on that, the Korean OEM might also launch a super app for mobile banking in South Korea.

A Super app is a single application that offers various services within the app itself. It eliminates the need to install multiple apps. For example, WeChat is a messaging app that also offers online payment services.

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As reported by Kedglobal, Samsung Financial Networks, which operates as a subset of Samsung Groups financial affiliates, is pursuing the idea of a super app for mobile banking by collaborating with some leading commercial banks in its hometown of South Korea.

Samsung to launch a super app for mobile banking in South Korea

As the report reads, Samsung has sent its proposal to the countrys leading banks, including KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori, and internet-only K Bank AR, to promote the idea of a super app. The app will be based on Samsungs Monimo, a local mobile app launched in 2022 to offer financial services to South Korean people.

After evaluating their business presentations, Samsung has yet to choose one partner among the five banks. A local bank executive told the outlet, Having a Samsung brand in our banking business is a huge strength to become bigger in the Korean financial market.

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Samsung is barred from owning a bank in its hometown and doesnt have a banking affiliate either. Thus, launching a super app for mobile banking gives the company a unique opportunity to tap into the financial market and expand its portfolio.

Samsung sees many rivals in its hometown

What will happen to Monimo after launching the super app remains to be seen. Meanwhile, the app has already disappointed Samaung due to its failure to attract users and rough competition in the South Korean market. Monimo currently has a few million users in the country. However, its rival app, Toss Bank, has over 20 million users.

When launching a super app for mobile banking, Samsung should still face major rivals in South Korea. Apps like the Shinhan Super SOL super from Shinhan Financial Group and KB Star Banking from KB Financial Group.
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.
Telegram is a cloud-based messaging platform that sets itself apart by limiting the amount of restrictions on users by a great deal. This lack of security and moderation put the platform in hot water as it was almost suspended in Spain, and its unknown if its out of it yet.

The Spain High Court ordered the suspension of the popular messaging platform Telegram. However, the court dropped the order shortly after. With the looming ban on TikTok by the US, users wonder which platform will be next to get in legal trouble.

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Telegram almost faced a suspension in Spain

Telegram is the fourth most popular app used for messaging in Spain. Despite that, Spaniards almost had access to the application temporarily revoked thanks to an investigation. On Friday, March 22, 2024, The Spain High Court temporarily ordered Telegram to be suspended in Spain. The suspension was due to complaints by media companies such as Atresmedia, EGEDA, Mediaset, and Telefonica.

The mentioned media companies alleged that the chat service allowed users to upload their copyrighted content without permission. As a result, the court ruled to ban the service temporarily. Judge Santiago Pedraz, who issued the order for the temporary ban, did so while an investigation was ongoing to confirm the validity of the claims.

The same judge realized that the ban would undoubtedly affect many citizens. Therefore, while the ban was supposed to take effect the following Monday, it did not get past the weekend. Judge Pedraz halted the order on Monday, February 25, 2024. The court statements had the following to say:

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Such extreme measures would clearly be detrimental to millions of people who use it, the vast majority of whom are not linked to any illegal activity.

Telegram has yet to respond to the ruling of the High Court and Judge Pedraz, but refusal to cooperate with the ongoing investigation might enact another ruling in Spain. In recent years, copyright infringement claims have been taken more seriously. Telegrams refusal to remove such content is the root cause of the Spain Courts controversial decision.

Is Telegram safe now?

Spain is not the only country to have banned the messaging platform. Other countries have banned Telegram in the past for varying reasons. For example, Brazil suspended Telegram for the same reason as Spain. The suspension was temporarily lifted and then reenacted as Telegram refused to change its policy regarding copyright infringement.

Telegram didnt change anything despite Spains close suspension of the platform. Therefore, theres a chance the Spain High Court might do the same thing Brazil did and reenact the platforms ban. The future looks gloomy as Telegram is steadfast in its policies despite ending up in hot water multiple times thanks to copyright infringement issues.
Andy Murray is likely to have to wait several days before learning how long he will be sidelined for by the ankle injury he suffered in Miami.

The Scot cried out in pain and fell to the floor late on in his third-round defeat by Tomas Machac at the Miami Open on Sunday after hurting his left ankle.

Murray was able to complete the match after on-court treatment but revealed in an Instagram post on Monday that he had seriously damaged two ligaments and would be out for an extended period.

The 36-year-old has now headed home but the PA news agency understands swelling in the joint means Murray must wait before consulting specialists for further assessment.

It is less than 10 weeks until the start of the British grass-court season and just over three months until Wimbledon, where Murray had planned to play for the final time before retirement.

He has also targeted a final Olympic appearance in Paris but all those could depend on whether he needs an operation or if non-surgical measures will suffice.

It is cruel timing for the three-time grand slam champion, who had won back-to-back matches for the first time this year in Miami and looked to have turned a corner after a difficult spell where he admitted he was not enjoying tennis.

Andy Murray hits a serve (Rebecca Blackwell/AP)

Having battled for years to recover fully from the hip problems that surfaced in 2017 and resulted in two major operations, Murray previously said he would probably not attempt to come back from another serious injury.

But his Instagram post ended on a typically defiant note, with the former world number one writing: Yesterday towards the end of my match in Miami I suffered a full rupture of my ATFL (Anterior Talo-Fubular ligament) and near full thickness rupture of my CFL (Calcaneofibular ligament).

I will see an ankle specialist when I return home to determine next steps. Goes without saying this is a tough one to take and Ill be out for an extended period. But Ill be back with 1 hip and no ankle ligaments when the time is right.

Murrays fellow players were quick to offer their support on social media, with Emma Raducanu posting two praying emojis.
The Environment Secretary has apologised for not recusing himself sooner from a decision on an incinerator proposed for his constituency.

The Government announced last week that Steve Barclay had been recused from any decision on granting a permit to the proposed incinerator in Wisbech, which is in the ministers North East Cambridgeshire seat.

Appearing at the Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee on Tuesday, Mr Barclay said he had previously stepped back from the decision, but apologised for not formally recusing himself earlier and not mentioning his previous opposition to the incinerator in his register of interests.

He said: I want to take this opportunity to apologise to the committee for not formally recusing myself sooner and updating the register of interests regarding what was well known in public but should have been updated on the actual record regarding my opposition to the incinerator.

He said he had been clear throughout that I need to step back from any decision but had not realised that he needed to formally recuse himself from the decision until later.

Mr Barclay added: As soon as I was notified by the permanent secretary of the need to formally recuse, thats exactly what I did.

The BBC reported last week that officials had raised concerns about a possible, or perceived, conflict between Mr Barclays constituency and ministerial roles in relation to the plant.

Labour has demanded urgent answers, with shadow environment secretary Steve Reed asking whether Mr Barclay had engaged in any communication with the Environment Agency (EA), junior Defra ministers or the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero on the incinerator.

On Tuesday, Mr Barclay said: To reassure the committee, I have never made representations as Secretary of State to the EA in terms of the incinerator in Wisbech, but I will respond to my shadow secretary on those.

But Mr Reed said there were still serious concerns about whether Mr Barclay tried to persuade other ministers.

Downing Street said the Prime Minister retained full confidence in Mr Barclay, saying it was right for him to address this at the committee in full.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) gave the Wisbech plant, proposed by German-based energy company MVV Environment, the green light last month after an examination by the planning inspectorate.

But to move forward, the scheme must also be granted a permit by the Environment Agency (EA), a public body sponsored by Defra.

Farming minister Mark Spencer is now responsible for making any decision on the incinerator following Mr Barclays recusal.
(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.
A video online is showing the horrifying results of abandoning your pet at a shelter. Two cats were heartbroken after being turned over to PuppyKittyNYCity shelter in New York City. So much so, that the shelter managed to capture them crying after being separated from their owners.

The truth of what happens to animals that are surrendered is enough to make you cry.

One of the employees at the shelter shared video of the two cats, Croissant and Danish, crying after they were dropped off.

"This is what it sounds like when you return your cat to the shelter," she said from behind the camera.

Related: Abused Cat Found at Rest Stop Is Given the Most Fitting Name

The caption explained that the cats were originally adopted from the rescue and then returned when they were older after their owners got divorced. "You can literally hear the terror and heartbreak in their poor little voices," the woman continued.

The cats were practically wailing. They were so afraid.

"You're gonna be okay," she told them. "You're gonna be okay."

The comments section was heartbroken on their behalf. "Returned because of a divorce?! My husband and I would fight over who gets the cats and want to share custody. This is crazy," wrote one person. "I hope their previous owners have a terrible life. I mean that," another salty commenter added. "Over a divorce? Some people really dont deserve them. I hope they truly find they fur-ever home," a third commenter agreed. "Its unacceptable. Please keep them together," one person begged.

Animals Available for Adoption at PuppyKittyNYCity

If you want to help an animal in need, applying to adopt (or even foster) a pet is a good way to lend a hand. At PuppyKittyNYCity there are so many animals who need a home. Here are just a few who are available for adoption at the facility.

Calista 2 is a Domestic Shorthair who likes to watch birds through windows. The adult kitty is sweet and shy. Her favorite play thing is a track ball toy. Calista 2 would do best in a quiet home and likes gentle belly rubs and pets.

Macho is an adult Chihuahua looking for a forever home. Macho is very independent and playful. He loves long walks around the neighborhood, is very social, and is a ton of fun. Macho doesn't love being pet or held, but will show affection to the people he feels the most comfortable with.

Papa Elf is an American Pit Bull Terrier who is a lovebug. The rescue describes Papa Elf as being "happy go lucky." He has a ton of energy and is very loving.

Here's hoping that Croissant and Danish get scooped up by a loving human quickly. These two deserve a happy, forever home.

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.
On Sunday in Colorado Springs a horrible house fire broke out which caused a dog to run away from her home. The fire ripped through several duplexes and no injuries were reported.

Nola ran nearly four and a half miles to escape the house fire and she collapsed on the side of the road in exhaustion until some wonderful people came to her rescue. .

The Humane Society Of The Pikes Peak region posts on Facebook, in part, "While heading to a call, Animal Law Enforcement (ALE) Officer Ridley observed a seemingly lost dog lying down on the side of the road. Two kind people were already on the scene trying to catch the dog, so Officer Ridley pulled over to see if he could help. The dog seemed exhausted. She was heavily panting and did not want to move. With the help of the two good Samaritans, Officer Ridley was able to leash the tired pup and load her into the ALE truck.

Related: Firefighter Adopts Cat Who Tried To 'Help' During Hazmat Incident

The sweet dog, Nola, was thankfully microchipped so she was able to be returned to her family. Those people who stopped for her and Officer Ridley are such heroes for helping her.

Fire Safety Tips For Pets

No one ever wants to think about something horrible like a house fire happening to their family, but the reality is every 24 seconds, a fire department responds to a fire somewhere in the United States. That's about 358,300 home-based fires every year.

One of the most important things you can do to keep your pets safe if an accident like this should occur is to have them microchipped. If a disaster happens and your pets escape if they are microchipped they have a much better chance of being returned to your family. Also it helps to make sure your pets wear collars with up-to-date identification tags, including your contact information.

Just like with your human family, regularly practice fire drills with your pets so they become familiar with what will happen if a fire should occur. Use treats and positive reinforcement to make it a positive experience.

Keep a small carrier if you have a cat and a separate leash for your dog along with a go-bag filled with pets supplies, vet records, and any medications your pet takes in a secure area. This bag is only to be used in case of emergencies.

Display pet alert stickers on windows or doors to alert firefighters to the presence of pets inside your home. These stickers should indicate the number and type of pets in your household. You can find these either on Amazon or through the ASPCA where you can order a pack for free.

Hopefully you never experience a fire, but it's better to have your pets prepared just in case.

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.
Conservative MPs fear a UK-backed United Nations resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza will undermine efforts to free hostages from Hamas control.

Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell attempted to downplay their concerns and detailed how the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution sets out the demand for the unconditional release of all hostages.

But Conservative MP Matthew Offord (Hendon) said the resolution will embolden Hamas while former cabinet minister Theresa Villiers said her Chipping Barnet constituents feel badly let down by the votes at the UN.

Rishi Sunak said the UK was pleased to support the resolution because it was consistent with the UK position, which is for an immediate sustained humanitarian pause, which would allow for the safe release of hostages, more aid into Gaza and provide a platform for a more lasting durable ceasefire.

The Prime Minister, appearing before the Commons Liaison Committee, said: We will continue to do everything we can, both ask Israel at all levels to comply with international humanitarian law to improve the provision of humanitarian aid into Gaza but also continue to call on Hamas and work with countries like Egypt and Qatar to unconditionally release the hostages.

The UNSC resolution presses for a ceasefire in Gaza during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and it is the first time the body has called for a halt to the fighting.

The resolution did not link the demand for the release of the hostages to the ceasefire during Ramadan, which runs until April 9.

Mr Mitchell, making a statement to the Commons, said: We want to see an immediate sustained humanitarian pause which would allow for the safe release of hostages and more aid to reach Gaza, and that is what yesterdays resolution called for, and that is why the United Kingdom voted yes on this text.

And that is why the Government is now focused on seeing the resolution implemented as quickly as possible.

Mr Mitchell said UK support was given because the resolution included the unconditional release of Israeli hostages, and it also called for combatants to uphold international humanitarian law and to scale up the delivery of aid.

The ongoing war in Gaza was sparked by Hamass deadly raid into Israel on October 7 that killed 1,200 people and saw militants seize about 250 hostages.

Former cabinet minister Theresa Villiers said her Chipping Barnet constituents feel badly let down by the votes at the UN (Jordan Pettitt/PA)

Israels retaliatory strikes have left more than 30,000 Palestinians dead, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.

Mr Offord told the Commons: The UN resolution has undermined efforts to secure the release of the hostages held by Hamas with a collapse in negotiations only today.

Hamas has reiterated its hard-line positions that were previously criticised by the United Kingdom.

Does (Mr Mitchell) share my concern that the resolution will not only embolden Hamas, which hopes to achieve a ceasefire without releasing the hostages, and enable it to maintain its grip on the people of Gaza?

Mr Mitchell replied: It certainly shouldnt do that and if I may draw his attention to the explanation of the vote, which was published at the same time as Britain supported the resolution yesterday, we said we regret this resolution has not condemned the terrorist attacks perpetrated by Hamas on October 7, the UK condemns these attacks unequivocally.

So I hope he will bear that in mind in reaching his conclusion about (resolution) 2728.

People take part in a Palestine Solidarity Campaign rally outside the Houses of Parliament, London, as MPs debate calls for a ceasefire in Gaza (Lucy North/PA)

Ms Villiers also said: Ive had constituents get in touch with me who tell me they feel badly let down by the votes in the UN yesterday.

I just dont understand how the minister and the Foreign Secretary can say that in policy terms nothing has changed when the UK has just voted for a resolution that doesnt condemn the Hamas atrocity of October 7 and delinks a ceasefire with the release of hostages.

As (Mr Offord) pointed out, doesnt this make it less likely that the hostages will be released?

Mr Mitchell replied: I dont agree with (Ms Villiers) and the resolution sets out the urgent demand for the unconditional release of all hostages and we welcome the ongoing diplomatic efforts by Egypt, Qatar and the United States to this end.

Conservative MP Alicia Kearns, who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee, said the UNSC will face an existential crisis if its resolution is not carried through into action.

Conservative former minister David Jones warned the humanitarian situation in Gaza is dire, adding: In northern Gaza its estimated that some 70% of the population are suffering the most appalling food shortages, resorting to eating animal feed, bird seed, grass.

The UK on Monday airdropped aid into Gaza for the first time, parachuting more than 10 tonnes of food supplies into the war-torn territory.

Mr Sunak agreed this was the least effective way of delivering aid, telling MPs on the Liaison Committee we need many more trucks per day than the fewer than 200 currently going in.

The Prime Minister said: Thats not good enough. Ive made that point repeatedly to prime minister Netanyahu as have our allies and we will continue to press for more land access.

That is the best way to get more aid in quickly. But whilst that is not happening at the scale we would like it, I do think it is right to do extra aid via other corridors.
Chemical attack suspect Abdul Ezedi was described as a pleasant, friendly and cooperative man and someone who was always willing to help in supportive letters from church workers as he applied to stay in the UK.

But a series of court documents which have been published also show how he had made an agreement to be effectively escorted at church services due to his convictions for sexual assault and exposure.

Details of the Afghan nationals conversion to Christianity while living in Newcastle were disclosed on Tuesday, almost two months after the Clapham attack.

His body was recovered from the River Thames in February, weeks after the incident in which police believe he threw a burning chemical over his former girlfriend, some of which also injured one of two children, and slammed a three-year-olds head on the ground.

Ezedis conversion to Christianity and the role that played in his asylum claim sparked debate on the overall issue of the involvement of faith leaders in conversions and asylum applications.

Documents from his lawyer in support of his asylum claim state that Ezedi began attending Grange Road Baptist church in Jarrow in February 2016, did an Alpha course and was baptised by total immersion on June 24 2018.

Grainy, black and white images of both his baptism and his so-called street ministry, whereby he handed out church leaflets to passers-by, are included in the documents bundle.

A letter from Reverend Roy Merrin, former ministry team leader at Grange Road Baptist Church, described Ezedi as having established a good relationship with the other church members and is always willing to help as required.

The letter, dated August 28 2018, confirmed Ezedis baptism and stated: Abdul has been ready to share his faith in Christ with non-Christians.

I hope that this information will be of assistance, and I would support his application to remain in this country.

The letter came eight months after Ezedis sex offences conviction.

He avoided jail after pleading guilty to charges of sexual assault and exposure, instead being placed on the sex offender register for 10 years and ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work when he was handed a suspended sentence at Newcastle Crown Court on January 9 2018.

Ezedi was accused of grabbing the bottom of a woman without her consent in 2017, as well as committing a sex act that same year, according to documents detailing the indictment which were disclosed by the court to the PA news agency in February.

An undated document entitled safeguarding contract, in Ezedis name, set out the conditions for his attendance at the Baptist church, in light of his convictions.

It included a requirement that he had to stay in the vicinity of an appointed male supporter during services and was not allowed to sit alone in church at any time.

Following publication of the documents, Baptists Together, a movement of more than 1,800 local churches of which Grange Road is one, said it did not corporately support or sponsor the asylum application, and that the personal letter of support commenting solely on Abdul Ezedis observed faith journey was written by a retired Baptist Minister.

The safeguarding contract was agreed between the church and Ezedi and was to show the church had sufficiently risk assessed Abdul Ezedis attendance at church, ensuring the safety of the congregation and considering if it was appropriate for him to attend.

Baptists Together said: The Home Office make the final decision on asylum applications and have access to full criminal records data to enable them to do this.

Also in the documents bundle was a separate letter in July 2017, pre-dating Ezedis convictions, which saw him described by a project worker at the Catholic Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle Justice and Peace Refugee Project as a pleasant, friendly and cooperative man.

It detailed how he attended the project each week and signs for a bag of food as well as being given 25 in cash each month.

In support of his asylum claim, Ezedis lawyers stated that his conversion from being a Shia Muslim to a Baptist Christian would be publishable in his native Afghanistan by execution.

Collingwood Immigration Services, a Newcastle solicitors firm, argued that the evidence of his conversion is clear and cogent and has been over a considerable period of time, more than three years.

The lawyers stated: We submit that his conversion is one which should be accepted by the Home Office as being genuine.

They added that Ezedi was clearly someone who enjoys practising and sharing his Christian faith with others, referring to the photographs of his street ministry.

The lawyers said he attended weekly services at the Baptist church which he greatly enjoys and would not be able to openly practise his new faith in Afghanistan without considerable risk to himself.

Both the law firm and the Catholic Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle have been contacted for comment.
Julian Assanges wife has called judges decisions to delay their ruling over whether the WikiLeaks founder can bring a final UK appeal against extradition as utterly bizarre with the court tying itself in knots.

The Australian faces prosecution in the US over an alleged conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information following the publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

During a two-day hearing in February, lawyers for the 52-year-old asked for the go-ahead to bring an appeal against his extradition.

Scores of supporters attended the Royal Courts of Justice during the hearing in February (James Manning/PA)

In a judgment on Tuesday, Dame Victoria Sharp and Mr Justice Johnson dismissed most of Assanges legal arguments but said unless assurances were given by the US, he would be able to bring an appeal on three grounds.

The judges said the US authorities had three weeks to give those assurances, with a final hearing potentially taking place in late May.

Following the ruling, Assanges wife Stella Assange described the judgment delaying the final decision over the appeal bid as astounding.

Ms Assange later said: I find the judgment utterly bizarre. As I said before, my impression is that the court is tying itself in knots.

Speaking at a press conference, Ms Assange said the legal fight was an unprecedented case and that courts in the UK should have thrown out the case.

She added: The case should have just been thrown out and Julian should not have spent a single day in prison.

The United States is bringing a case based on the persecution of a journalist for his political opinions.

The British courts should just have thrown out this case because it criminalises journalism, she added. That is the takeaway here.

Earlier on Tuesday, Ms Assange branded her husband a political prisoner who is being persecuted for exposing the true cost of war and that the case against him was shameful.

In the 66-page ruling, judge Dame Victoria said satisfactory assurances would be needed that Assange would be protected by and allowed to rely on the First Amendment  which protects freedom of speech in the US  that he is not prejudiced at trial due to his nationality, and that the death penalty is not imposed.

Dozens of supporters gathered outside the Royal Courts of Justice in central London ahead of the judgments publication, including former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Mr Corbyn said Tuesdays decision was big step forward for Assanges case but that it is not the victory his supporters are looking for.

Former Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn has shown his support for the WikiLeaks founder (Yui Mok/PA)

He continued: Above all, the pressure has to be on the US administration to drop the charges against Julian Assange.

Hes a brave journalist who tells the truth if Julian goes down for that, then every serious journalist around the world is going to be feel a bit constrained, and thats dangerous.

And in a statement after the judgment, Michelle Stanistreet, general secretary of the National Union of Journalists, said the risks to Assange remain stark.

She said: A temporary reprieve is clearly preferable to an extradition that would have taken place in the coming days.

However, the conditionality around the grounds of appeal, which are contingent on the examination of US government assurances that he will not face the death penalty and has the right to free speech, mean the risks to Assange and press freedom remain stark.

Assanges prosecution by the US is for activities that are daily work for investigative journalists  finding sources with evidence of criminality and helping them to get their stories out into the world.

If Assange is prosecuted, free expression the world over will be damaged.
A photograph of Greta Van Fleet star Josh Kiszka mid-performance has been awarded a top gong at the So.Co Image of Music Awards.

The picture by Fearghal McGlinchey, which is aligned carefully to give the appearance that the onstage fire pyrotechnics are emitting from the musicians raised hand during his concert at Wembley in London, won the image of music people choice awards.

London-based McGlinchey was also named music photographer of the year at the ceremony held in central London on Tuesday.

Carly Rae Jepsen at Alexandra Palace in London shot by photographer Fearghal McGlinchey (Fearghal McGlinchey)

Reflecting on his process to capture the winning photo, McGlinchey said: I decided to watch some of their recent live performances on YouTube, to get a gist for the stage design.

As soon as I saw their pyros go off, I thought to myself I have to be in the perfect position for these later on.

Joshs harmonica even looks like it could be a lighter.

Victoria De Angelis of Maneskin (Grace Prachthauser)

New York-based photographer Grace Prachthauser won the award shows first young music photographer of the year prize, a new category which shines a light on emerging talent under the age of 23.

The judges were impressed by her creative entries that included live shots of US rapper Ashnikko and Eurovision stars Maneskin.

It was previously announced that Jill Furmanovsky had been awarded the legend of the year award for her long-standing career in the music industry.

Sinead OConnor by Jill Furmanovsky (Jill Furmanovsky Archive)

Across her more than 50 years in the business, she has shot defining moments in musical history such as Oasis at Knebworth, Pink Floyd at Live 8 in 2005 as well as a host of intimate portraits of major artists including Bjork, Amy Winehouse, Sinead OConnor and Charlie Watts.

The venue of the year award went to Paper Dress Vintage based in Hackney in London, which transforms from a clothing shop into a music venue that has hosted the likes of Arlo Parks and Sam Fender.

Mercury Prize nominated rock duo Nova Twins were selected as the must see artist of the year through a public vote while innovation of the year was awarded to the Canon EOS R50, selected by the judges for its ability to squeeze high-end tech into an entry level camera.

The awards were created by music storytelling platform So.Co.

Vince Bannon, So.Co chief executive and co-founder, said: We are thrilled again to highlight and honour the great work done by music photographers throughout the year.

As you can see from the quality of the entries, the standard just keeps getting better.
A new body to improve business and educational links across the UK, which was created under the deal that restored powersharing in Northern Ireland, will meet for the first time on Tuesday.

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove will chair the inaugural session of the East-West Council in Dover House in London.

The establishment of the forum was pledged in the UK Governments Safeguarding the Union command paper.

Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle ONeill and deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly will attend the council meeting (Liam McBurney/PA)

Published in late January, the paper was the product of months of negotiations between the Government and the DUP that ultimately convinced the regions largest unionist party to end its two-year blockade of powersharing at Stormont.

The party had been vetoing the functioning of the institutions in protest at post-Brexit trading barriers on trade moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

Sinn Fein First Minister Michelle ONeill and her DUP counterpart and deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly will attend the council meeting, as will Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris and a number of other ministers from the Stormont Executive.

The Safeguarding the Union command paper said the council would seek to harness significant potential to strengthen co-operation between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK to address shared challenges and to grasp shared opportunities.

It will comprise representatives from the political, business and education sectors.

The councils priorities include tackling economic inactivity; improving east-west trade flows; increasing international investment to Northern Ireland; and bolstering institutional connectivity and enhancing professional development by leveraging academic and skills expertise across NI and GB.

The new body will produce an annual report that will identify concrete actions for business, education or government to take forward to improve growth in Northern Ireland and across the UK.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson and Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris with the Safeguarding the Union command paper (Niall Carson/PA)

The historic Good Friday peace agreement of 1998 saw the creation of several new political bodies  some aimed at improving north-south relations on the island of Ireland and others focused on enhancing east-west linkages between the island and Great Britain.

Nationalist critics of the new council have expressed concern about the creation of an additional east-west body outside the terms of the delicately balanced Good Friday deal.

Ahead of Tuesday afternoons meeting, Mr Gove, who has responsibility for intergovernmental relations, said: The creation of the East-West Council was an important part of the agreement that helped restore devolved government to Northern Ireland earlier this year.

I am pleased that we have been able to hold the inaugural meeting in the early part of 2024.

The Government is committed to working with our partners in the Northern Ireland Executive and across the UK to address shared challenges and opportunities including with an east-west dimension.
Supporters of Assange outside the high court in London on Wednesday. Photograph: Daniel Leal/AFP/Getty Images

Julian Assange has been handed a reprieve in his fight against extradition to the US after two judges ruled the WikiLeaks founder could take his case to an appeal hearing  but only if the Biden administration is unable to provide the court with suitable assurances.

The president of the kings bench division, Victoria Sharp, and Mr Justice Johnson said Assange had real prospects of success on three of the nine grounds argued, but adjourned the leave to appeal application to give the US government three weeks to provide reassurance on the relevant matters.

If Assange had been denied permission to appeal he could have been extradited within days to face espionage charges. While the judges decision means he avoids that fate it leaves him facing a further wait, with his future still unresolved.

In a written judgment, handed down on Tuesday morning, Sharp said the concerns that had real prospects of success at appeal but which may be capable of being addressed by assurances were that the applicant [Assange] is permitted to rely on the first amendment, that the applicant is not prejudiced at trial, including sentence, by reason of his nationality, that he is afforded the same first amendment protections as a United States citizen, and that the death penalty is not imposed.

At a two-day hearing last month, which Assange was too unwell to attend, his lawyers argued that he faced a flagrant denial of justice if extradited to the US to face charges relating to the publication by Assange and WikiLeaks of thousands of classified and diplomatic documents they said had exposed torture, rendition, extrajudicial killings and war crimes.

His wife, Stella Assange, expressed dismay at the judges decision. What the courts have done has been to invite a political intervention from the United States  send a letter saying its all OK, she said. I find this astounding.

This case is a retribution. It is a signal to all of you that if you expose the interests that are driving war they will come after you, they will put you in prison and will try to kill you.

The Biden administration should not issue assurances. They should drop this shameful case that should never have been brought.

Ahead of the decision there had been reports that the US government was considering a plea deal offer to Assange, allowing him to admit to a misdemeanour, which would enable him to walk free from prison in the UK but his lawyers said they had been given no indication Washington intended to change its approach.

Sharp stated in Tuesdays 66-page judgment that the UK home secretarys lawyer had accepted that there was nothing in place to prevent Assange being charged in the US with an offence that carried the death penalty and it then being imposed.

She cited as evidence of such a risk the calls for the imposition of the death penalty by leading politicians and other public figures; the fact that the [UK-US extradition] treaty does not preclude extradition for death penalty charges, and the fact that the existing assurance does not explicitly cover the death penalty.

On free speech protections under the first amendment in the US, Sharp said: He [Assange] contends that if he is given first amendment rights, the prosecution will be stopped. The first amendment is therefore of central importance to his defence to the extradition charge. Further, if he is convicted, he may wish to invoke the first amendment on the question of sentence. If he is not permitted to rely on the first amendment because of his status as a foreign national, he will thereby be prejudiced  potentially very greatly prejudiced  by reason of his nationality.

The US has been given until 16 April to file its assurances. If it does not do so, leave to appeal will be granted. If it does provide assurances by that date the parties will be invited to file further written submissions on the issue of leave to appeal with another hearing provisionally listed for 20 May.

Michelle Stanistreet, the general secretary of the National Union of Journalists, welcomed the temporary reprieve but called on the US to pursue a plea deal.

The conditionality around the grounds of appeal, which are contingent on the examination of US government assurances that he will not face the death penalty and has the right to free speech, mean the risks to Assange and press freedom remain stark, she said.
The shrinking number of gold-plated pension schemes that are still open to new members risk being inadvertently finished off, MPs have warned.

Changes to proposed regulation and improvements in governance standards are urgently needed to ensure private sector defined benefit (DB) pension schemes remain an active and thriving part of the pensions landscape, the Work and Pensions Committee said.

Despite a steady decline in number in recent years, DB pension schemes are still of critical importance to both savers and the UK economy, the committee added.

DB schemes promise savers a certain level of payout when they retire, based on their salary. Many have been replaced by defined contribution (DC) schemes, where the saver bears the risk of what level of income they will end up with in retirement.

Two decades of regulatory and policy caution have led to a low-risk approach to investment that threatens to inadvertently finish off the few remaining DB schemes still open to new members, the MPs said.

Their report called for a fresh approach to funding regulation.

The report said: The funding levels of the majority of defined benefit schemes have improved.

Although there are questions about the extent to which the value of assets fell over 2022 which we think need to be resolved, the change compared to the mid-2010s when the majority were in substantial deficit, is clear.

This raises new questions and gives rise to new opportunities and challenges  for example, relating to how DB scheme funding is regulated, how to treat any surplus in pension and compensation schemes and how to ensure scheme members feel their interests are represented in these decisions.

One area of focus during the committees inquiry was the development of a new DB funding regime, proposed for scheme valuations from September 2024.

The report said: The intention is to require schemes to aim for a position of low dependency on the sponsoring employer by the time they are significantly mature, with investments that are highly resilient to risk.

Regarding the new proposed funding regime, the committees inquiry heard concerns that open schemes could be forced to de-risk unnecessarily, potentially leading to premature closure.

The committee is calling for the Government to address the concerns in the final version of the funding code.

Sir Stephen Timms, chair of the Work and Pensions Committee, said: Defined benefit pension schemes are hugely important to savers planning for a comfortable retirement and for the UK economy.

The improvement in scheme funding levels presents opportunities for both to benefit, but a new approach to regulation and governance is needed to protect the best interest of scheme members and allow still open schemes to thrive.

The flexibility afforded by the much-improved financial position of the PPF (Pension Protection Fund), which we applaud, gives the Government an opportunity to ensure open schemes are not hindered by overly-cautious restrictions imposed by regulations.

While many trustee boards operate to high standards, new standards for trustees can foster confidence that this is the case across DB schemes.

Sir Steve Webb, a former pensions minister who is now a partner at consultants LCP (Lane Clark & Peacock) said: So many of todays rules and regulations around pensions were born of a world of pension deficits and worries about member pensions being paid.

Today the world is very different, with the majority of schemes running a surplus and debating how best to use it.

But the rules have not caught up with the new world and may mean that schemes and members do not get the most benefit from their improved financial position.

The Government needs to decide urgently how it can make sure member benefits are secure and at the same time help companies, members and the wider economy benefit from the assets of over 1 trillion which are still sitting in these schemes.

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said: We are in a strong position with defined benefit pension schemes enjoying high levels of funding. Our new regulations promote better  and clearer  funding standards, while retaining the benefits of a flexible, scheme-specific approach.

Our defined benefit options consultation is ongoing to seek views on how schemes can provide better outcomes for savers. We remain committed to progressing legislation for the permanent superfund regime as soon as parliamentary time allows.
The HMS Prince of Wales has returned to Portsmouth Harbour after leading in the largest Nato exercise in 40 years.

The British warship was at the centre of the maritime mission involving more than 20,000 UK military personnel across Scandinavia and northern Europe.

The HMS Prince of Wales arrived back in Portsmouth after Exercise Steadfast Defender (Andrew Matthews/PA)

The aircraft carrier set sail on February 12 to lead a UK Carrier Strike Group, which operated as a naval force of allied warships and submarines in the North Atlantic, Norwegian Sea and the Baltic Sea.

A Royal Navy spokesperson said: HMS Prince of Wales is returning to her home port of Portsmouth after successfully leading the UKs involvement in Exercise Steadfast Defender, the largest Nato military exercise since the end of the Cold War.

HMS Queen Elizabeth, the fleet flagship, had been expected to lead the exercise but its deployment was called off after final checks found an issue with the starboard propeller coupling, the Navy said.
A nonprofit is off the hook for compiling messages posted on X to document a rise in hate speech after billionaire Elon Musk bought the website.



U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer on Monday dismissed a lawsuit brought by X, formerly Twitter, which claimed that the Center for Countering Digital Hate illegally "scraped" data from the site in violation of its terms of service, according to The Associated Press.



Breyer said the suit was "unabashedly and vociferously" intended to punish the nonprofit for exercising its right to free speech.



The judge, who sits in San Francisco, also said that X - which claimed it lost millions of dollars in advertising as a result of the CCDH's research - had failed to "allege losses based on technological harms."

"This is a huge win for everyone working to hold social media giants accountable," the center said in a fundraising statement posted online.

X said it "disagrees with the court's decision and plans to appeal."



In a November 2022 report, the CCDH said it found the use of racial slurs against Black people rose three times more than average in the week after Musk, a self-described "free speech absolutist," bought Twitter for $44 billion in October 2022.



The use of offensive terms for trans people, homosexual men, Jews and Hispanics also increased, according to the report.



In November, IBM, NBCUniversal and its parent company Comcast, said they stopped advertising on X after the liberal advocacy group Media Matters said their ads were appearing next to messages posted by neo-Nazis and white nationalists.



X sued Media Matters a week later in a case that remains pending and Musk also went on a profane rant during a New York Times DealBook Summit at which he told fleeing advertisers, "Go f--- yourself."

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Jude Bellingham struck at the death to salvage England a deserved draw against Belgium on a night of impressive auditions in the final match before Gareth Southgates Euro 2024 selection.

Three days on from the late loss to Brazil, the absentee-hit Euro 2020 runners-up faced another high-level test as the side third in FIFAs world rankings hosted the team in fourth.

England were heading for another Wembley defeat after Youri Tielemans punished first-half errors either side of Ivan Toneys penalty, only for Bellingham to secure a 2-2 draw in stoppage time.

Toney did well on his first start, as did fellow full debutants Ezri Konsa and, in particular, 18-year-old Kobbie Mainoo in the final friendly before Southgate names an expanded Euros squad on May 21.

Jude Bellingham was delighted with his equaliser (Mike Egerton/PA)

The England boss has plenty of food for thought after a night of promise and problems, which started with John Stones limping off and Tielemans capitalising on a Jordan Pickford error in a nightmare first 11 minutes.

England rallied and quickly levelled as Toney converted the penalty he won, before Jarrod Bowen saw a first international goal ruled out for offside.

Southgates side continued strongly, but Lewis Dunks failed attempt to cut out a long ball allowed Romelu Lukaku to superbly cross for Tielemans to head Belgium back ahead.

England responded impressively after the break but looked set to fall short until Bellinghams stoppage-time strike.

Southgates delight was clear at the end of a night that started with Stones limping off, just as Manchester City team-mate Kyle Walker had done against Brazil.

Ivan Toney held his nerve from 12 yards (Adam Davy/PA)

That bad start got worse as England conceded an avoidable opener.

Pickford, normally so reliable with his kicking, saw a low pass forwards cut out by Everton team-mate Amadou Onana, with Tielemans smartly lasering low past the panicked goalkeeper.

The embarrassed England number ones relief was palpable when Toney levelled in the 17th minute.

Mainoo showed great awareness and confidence to play into Bellingham, whose ball through to the Brentford striker led to a clumsy Jan Vertonghen challenge.

Referee Sebastian Gishamer pointed to the spot and Toney superbly sent Matz Sels the wrong way.

Youri Tielemans bagged a brace for Belgium (Adam Davy/PA)

Belgium responded as Jeremy Doku cut past substitute Joe Gomez to test Pickford, but England were looking far more threatening than they had against Brazil.

Bellingham saw a cross brilliantly cleared and a Phil Foden corner was nodded on by Dunk for Bowen to glance in a header, only for the VAR to rule out his first England goal for offside.

Bellingham inexplicably blazed over from close range as impressive Mainoo won the ball deep in Belgium territory  a big miss the visitors were punished for in the 36th minute.

Dunk went to ground trying to deal with a diagonal ball forward from Tielemans, but the centre-back failed in his attempt to stop Lukaku reaching it.

The Belgium striker sent over an exquisite cross with the outside of his boot, which Tielemans met with a diving header. A sucker punch that gave Belgium a half-time lead.

England returned from the break without names on the back of their shirts as part of a campaign to raise awareness of dementia in Tuesdays Alzheimers Society International.

Southgates side pushed to equalise again as the rain continued to tumble, with Foden following a great run with a ball out wide for Toney to force Sels into a fine save.

The Nottingham Forest goalkeeper was relieved to see Bellingham head wide as England pushed against a side capable of breaking at speed.

Kobbie Mainoo impressed for England (Adam Davy/PA)

Neat play ended with Bowen hitting a first-time shot at Belgiums goalkeeper, with Sels doing well to stop Mainoo driving home.

The Manchester United midfielder received a great ovation and hug from Southgate after being taken off in the 74th minute, with Bowen doing well and Foden dragging across the face of goal as England kept pushing.

Belgium substitute Dodi Lukebakio had a chance to punish the hosts in stoppage time, when England would finally find a way.

Substitute James Maddison played back for Bellingham to take a touch and lash home to the delight of those left at Wembley.
MasterChef contestants will embark on a set of old and new extraordinary challenges as the long-running cooking show celebrates its 20th series.

The BBC One programme, in which John Torode and Gregg Wallace look to discover the UKs best amateur cook, will include a trip to Singapore and see the return of some recognisable faces as the semi-finalists serve 15 former champions.

Wallace 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 weve ever seen.

MasterChef is set for its 20th series on BBC One (BBC/ShineTV)

This show means business and were so lucky to be able to see the level of cooking inch higher and higher each year.

John (Torode) 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 countrys home kitchens  this year and from our time on MasterChef so far  I cannot wait.

Torode said: I can hardly believe that we are into the 20th series of this unbelievably brilliant show.

Its such a point of pride and celebration.

I believe food brings people together and every year were fortunate enough to be able to help incredibly talented, hard-working people realise their dream and indulge themselves in the joy that is MasterChef.

John Torode and Gregg Wallace (BBC/ShineTV)

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 weve enjoyed making it.

Maybe it could be you next year dont be shy, apply.

The show will begin with four weeks of heats in which competitors will attempt to make their mark on the judges.

They will take part in two new challenges in the hopes of earning their MasterChef apron.

The first task, basic to brilliant, involves taking an everyday ingredient and turning it into something spectacular, while the invention test requires creating a plate of food based around one ingredient such as trout or quail.

Those who remain following these tasks will show off their style in two courses served to three familiar faces who have previously starred in MasterChef episodes.

The quarter-final brief will be set by a group of critics and chefs, and after this the competitors will get the opportunity to step inside a professional kitchen and deliver lunch service for two top London restaurants  Nessa and Joia.

Semi-finalists will cater for an event celebrating MasterChefs legacy and look to impress Swedish chef Niklas Ekstedt.

Gregg Wallace is a judge on the BBC One show (Yui Mok/PA)

The final four will travel to Singapore and cook for an exclusive guest list of top chefs in Singapore, including MasterChef Singapore judge Damian DSilva at The Fullerton Bay Hotel.

Back in London the foursome will take on chefs table at Le Gavroche, before it closes, under the watchful eye of past MasterChef: The Professionals judge Michel Roux Jr.

After one of them is sent home the three remaining chefs will be tasked with producing their best three dishes for Torode and Wallace before one is crowned the 20th MasterChef champion.

MasterChef launched in 2005, serving as a revamped version of the original 1990 series on the BBC which aired for 11 years and was hosted by broadcaster Loyd Grossman.

The 20th series of MasterChef will begin on April 1 on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
Displaced Palestinians in makeshift tents in al-Mawasi. The area was declared a safe zone by the Israeli military but has come under numerous attacks. Photograph: Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty

A month ago Nariman Salman decided to finally flee northern Gaza and head for al-Mawasi, a narrow strip of coastline at the southernmost end of the territory designated as a humanitarian zone by the Israeli military.

The decision was reluctant but unavoidable. When Salman, 42, was reduced to sending her young son around neighbours to beg for a single piece of bread for her pregnant daughter, she knew the family had to leave. Days earlier, her eldest son had been stabbed to death for a bag of flour.

We were living on rice and beans and grass. My eldest son was gone. The situation was catastrophic  We saw things that we never imagined we would ever see, she said.

Related: IDF instructions on Gaza refuge zones cruel mirage, say aid agencies

Salman and her surviving children headed south, making their way by foot and cart through the rubble and runs of central Gaza to al-Mawasi, a 16sq km strip of mainly coast and dunes that was five months ago barren and is now home to 380,000 people, aid agencies say.

In October, just weeks after the beginning of the war in Gaza, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) designated al-Mawasi a humanitarian area and told residents of Gaza to evacuate there to avoid being caught up in the offensive launched following Hamass attacks into southern Israel which killed 1,200, mostly civilians. The IDF promised international humanitarian aid will be provided as needed.

More recently, during fighting around al-Shifa hospital 10 days ago, the IDF told communities around the combat zone to evacuate to the humanitarian zone in al-Mawasi.

But any safety in al-Mawasi is only relative to the rest of the territory, where more than 32,000 have died, mostly women and children, during the relentless Israeli offensive, according to local health authorities.

In January, a suspected Israeli airstrike hit a residential compound in al-Mawasi hosting medical teams and their families from the International Rescue Committee and Medical Aid for Palestinians, two NGOs working in Gaza. Last month, during a military operation, an Israeli tank reportedly fired on a house where staff from Medecins Sans Frontieres and their families were sheltering, killing two and injuring six.

There are multiple other reports of other injuries in al-Mawasi, most attributed to Israeli bombardment or airstrikes.

Any greater provision of humanitarian aid in al-Mawasi is relative too. In northern Gaza, 300,000 to 500,000 people are threatened with famine, with those most vulnerable, like Salman, facing desperate choices as they seek to survive. In nearby Rafah, there is more food, though prices are prohibitive for many, and some functioning healthcare.

In al-Mawasi, UN agencies and others are able to get some food assistance to the inhabitants of the huge encampment that has sprung up across the dunes and scrubby plain inland but materials for shelter are in very short supply.

Some areas of al-Mawasi are farmland, and still fenced off, increasing crowding further, while UN agencies and international NGOs are occupying most of the guesthouses by the beach.

There is no real organised assistance, said one senior aid official. Sanitary conditions are appalling. Some community organised waste collection [is in place] but very few toilets  people go in the sand or the sea. Water has to be trucked in, ie few wells nearby and no pipes. Water trucks come once a day in Rafah and streams of kids run after them with jerry cans.

Rafah, the southernmost town of Gaza where another million displaced people are sheltering, is just 4km inland from al-Mawasi, and in the crosshairs of the IDF, who believe thousands of Hamas militants remain there.

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israels prime minister, has vowed to launch an assault into Rafah, despite US opposition.

The ceasefire resolution passed at the United Nations on Monday has reassured few in either al-Mawasi or Rafah. Both have been repeatedly hit by Israeli airstrikes and artillery in recent weeks and drones buzz overhead incessantly, day and night. You lie half-asleep at 3am and feel like you are in a coffin, said one aid worker in Rafah.

Israel accuses Hamas of using civilians as a human shield. Hamas keeps putting Gazans in the line of fire. They fire dozens of rockets from the designated humanitarian zone, rockets that often misfire and put even more Gazans at risk, the IDF said in December. Hamas denies the charge.

The senior official aid said al-Mawasi was a bit less crowded than a few weeks ago but aid agencies were bracing for more people to move there in the event of a Rafah operation.

Dr Hatem al-Maghari, the mayor of al-Mawasi, which had a prewar population of just several thousand, said municipal workers had been completely overwhelmed.

The effort exerted by the municipality crews is truly indescribable, trying to ensure access to ample water and to address the substantial accumulation of waste. Most of my colleagues havent been paid for six months and of course the municipality has had no funding for six months, Maghari said.

As mayor, my foremost challenge lies in inadequate logistics, a shortage of essential equipment, widespread destruction, and that we cant import heavy or necessary equipment through the crossings [into Gaza] due to [Israeli] restrictions.

Yet desperate people like Salman keep coming.

Al-Mawasi has several advantages: its fine soil makes it impossible to dig the tunnels that Hamas has built underneath the rest of Gaza and there are no high-rise buildings. Both factors make the area safer, say those who have sought out the zone.

A final advantage is that al-Mawasi is not Rafah, where many are petrified of an Israeli assault.

We are all very worried about an attack  but we dont know what to do. Some people went north up to Deir al-Balah but had to come back because there was lots of fighting there, said a 47-year-old teacher, who did not want to be named.

We are just waiting for the Israelis to tell us to go, just sitting here waiting for our fate. We do our best to follow the instructions but the people who died they followed the instructions too.

An Israeli strike late on Monday on a residential building in Rafah where three displaced families were sheltering killed at least 16 people, including nine children and four women, according to hospital records and relatives of the deceased.

Salman, whose eldest son was stabbed when he was robbed of a bag of flour in northern Gaza, has little hope for the coming weeks, months or years.

I cant see any future for us  I cant even see if there is still a future for us, she said.
Annual UK sales of rum now surpass the 1 billion mark

According to data by NielsenIQ, rum is a buoyant business with annual UK sales surpassing the 1 billion mark, putting it ahead even of whisky. This achievement is rooted in rums reputation as a spirit with myriad flavours and interesting serves, delivering a wealth of choice to drinkers.

Its an exciting time for the popular spirit, particularly in dark and spiced rums where innovative players are developing new products. Whats more, craft operations are opening up in a number of unlikely, distinctly un-rummy locations, including the Inner Hebridean island of Islay, more famed for smoky single malt Scotch whiskies.

So what makes a great rum? Whether its a clean and crisp white rum youre after, an aged Cuban, or a Jamaican-style rum with more funky, aromatic notes, its all about balance and complexity. By bringing both sweet and dry notes together, alongside a rich body and decent strength, a good rum can be enjoyed on its own as an aperitif or can accompany anything from a cigar to dessert or coffee. Weve chosen seven leading lights for your drinks cabinet.

Appleton Estate 12-Year-Old Rare Casks Rum, Jamaica

43%, whiskyexchange.com, 48.50 for 70cl

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Appleton Estate and its distillery, now owned by Wray & Nephew, is the oldest in Jamaica. Located in the middle of the island, the estate has its own sugar cane plantation, as well as a refinery. A large portion of each blend is distilled in pot stills to give a robust style that lends itself to long ageing. Expect a wonderful mix of ginger cake, spiced pear, apricot and blood orange.

How to drink it

This makes a great choice for after dinner  sip it neat in a tumbler, or try using it instead of bourbon in a classic Old Fashioned.

Mount Gay Single Estate Series 01 Rum, Barbados

55%, masterofmalt.com, 311.60 for 70cl

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Mount Gay is the oldest working distillery in the world. Known for producing rums of exceptionally high quality, its latest venture is this single-estate rum. Master Blender Trudiann Branker has fermented, distilled and matured grade A molasses from different vintages. The first edition of the series, launched in 2023, is made from 100% pot still-only rums. It carries notes of mango and lime, sweet liquorice and vanilla.

How to drink it

Another after-dinner cracker. Pour this extraordinary rum into a small whisky nosing glass to get the most from its complex layers.

Plantation Stiggins Pineapple Rum, Barbados

40%, threshers.co.uk, 35 for 70cl or spiritskiosk.com, 33.95 for 70cl

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Plantation draws on stocks of rum from producers around the world including Fiji, Jamaica, Barbados and beyond. From this foundation, it has moved into flavoured rum, which is so often seen as a gimmick. However, Stiggins Pineapple is one of a handful of flavoured rums to be taken seriously and is helping to redefine the category. Incredible fruitiness comes from the use of charred whole pineapples.

How to drink it

Try it in a daiquiri with freshly squeezed lime juice, dialling back the sugar syrup to half the usual amount due to the sweeter pineapple notes in the rum.

Hampden Estate 8-Year Old Rum, Jamaica

46%, bbr.com, 68 for 70cl

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Hampden Estate is famed for making high ester rum; highly aromatic and full of unusual tropical flavour and funk, this style is rich and unctuous with a full body. In accordance with Jamaican rum regulations, this one has spent a minimum of eight years in oak which, according to the distillery, is equivalent to almost 25 years of maturation in the European climate. It has no added sugar or flavouring and as such is a true example of high ester pot still Jamaican rum. Expect notes of overripe banana, mango, vanilla and red apple with some nutmeg and cinnamon, too.

How to drink it

A real sipper to take time over and a rival to great single malt whisky.

Eminente Gran Reserva Rum, Cuba

43.5%, thewhiskyexchange.com, 75.95 for 70cl

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Gone are the days when just one Cuban rum was available around the world. Now you can find several brands which work within Cubas restrictive guidelines to create and export excellent examples from the Caribbean island. Eminente is made using 80% aguardiente, the lower proof, more flavoursome style of the spirit mixed with light rum. It is aged for 10 years minimum, and finished in French oak barrels. The rum carries a lightly fruity profile with notes of milk chocolate, rose water and black cherry.

How to drink it

For an incredibly rich take on a Manhattan (which usually calls for American whiskey) try a double measure of this with equal half measures of sweet and dry vermouth and a dash of Angostura bitters.

Ninefold Distillery Cask Aged Pure Single Rum, Scotland

45%, ninefolddistillery.com, 45 for 70cl

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One of Scotlands first independent rum distillers, Ninefold ferments and distils everything onsite at its Dumfries & Galloway home. Made using Algerian cane molasses and distilled in a bespoke 500-litre still, this rum is matured in a variety of casks, including virgin American oak, ex-bourbon and a small proportion of Scottish oak, harvested from the surrounding estate. Youll find hints of ripe banana, toffee, dark chocolate and sweet butterscotch backed up by a rich mouthfeel.

How to drink it

The freshness and fruity/spicy notes work brilliantly in an unusual take on a Negroni: simply switch out the usual gin and add equal parts Campari and sweet vermouth.

Takamaka Dark Spiced Rum, Seychelles

38%, spiritskiosk.com, 25.45 for 70cl

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Takamaka has become one of the hot new names in the world of spirits although it was actually founded over 20 years ago by brothers Bernard and Richard dOffay. Since then, it has surpassed the 1 million bottle mark and continues to delight new drinkers all over the world who are perhaps intrigued by its origins in the Indian Ocean. Local spices give a nice tropical fruit note to the rum, with vanilla and a hint of caramel sweetness.

How to drink it

Try it simply mixed with cola or in a spicy mojito.
Picture taken from Israel's southern border with the Gaza Strip shows buildings destroyed by Israeli bombardment on Tuesday. Photograph: Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images

The Biden administrations policy on Gaza has been widely criticised as being in disarray as the defense secretary described the situation as a humanitarian catastrophe the day after the state department declared Israel to be in compliance with international humanitarian law.

Washington was also on the defensive on Tuesday over its claim that a UN security council ceasefire resolution on which it abstained was non-binding, an interpretation that put the US at odds with other member states, international legal scholars and the UN itself.

Related: The security council vote is a significant moment  but the US says its Gaza policy is unchanged

Analysts said the strain was increasingly showing as the administration sought to maintain a policy that aims to influence Israels actions and prevent a full-scale famine in Gaza, while avoiding the use of leverage, like the restriction of arms supplies, which could have political repercussions at home in an election year.

Jeremy Konyndyk, a former senior Biden official now president of the Refugees International aid advocacy group, said the strategy is a mess.

The US is talking a big game about fighting the famine that its bombs and diplomatic cover have helped create, Konyndyk said on the X social media platform. This is not how you fight a famine. This is dithering while people starve.

Lloyd Austin, the US defense secretary, acknowledged the depth and urgency of the crisis on Tuesday when he met his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, at the Pentagon.

Gaza is suffering a humanitarian catastrophe and the situation is getting even worse, Austin told Gallant in remarks in front of the press, calling for a significant expansion in aid deliveries by land.

Under US pressure, Israel has opened a third land crossing into Gaza, Gate 96, giving access to the north, but continues to limit the scale of aid convoys going through it  through restrictions on items it deems to be of dual use, nominating a small number of drivers allowed to use the crossing and other procedural requirements.

Israel announced on Monday it would stop working with the UN relief agency Unrwa, the main aid agency serving Gaza. Unrwa said its aid convoys had been blocked since 21 March.

On the same day, the state department spokesman, Matthew Miller, insisted that the US currently had no reason to dispute Israeli assurances that it was complying with humanitarian law in Gaza.

Related: Man-made starvation: the obstacles to Gaza aid deliveries  visual guide

We have not found them to be in violation of international humanitarian law, either when it comes to the conduct of the war or when it comes to the provision of humanitarian assistance, Miller said.

The US assessment is critical under a national security memorandum issued by Joe Biden in February, known as NSM-20, requiring credible and reliable written assurances from countries receiving US weapons that they would use any such defense articles in accordance with international humanitarian law.

One of the criteria was that the recipient country will facilitate and not arbitrarily deny, restrict, or otherwise impede, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of US humanitarian assistance and US government-supported international efforts to provide humanitarian assistance.

If the secretaries of state or defense deem the relevant countrys compliance had been called into question, arms supplies could be suspended.

Millers remarks on Israeli assurances drew outrage from aid organisations and some progressive members of Congress.

To pretend that Israel is not violating international law or interfering with US humanitarian aid is absurd on its face, Senator Bernie Sanders said. The state departments position makes a mockery of US law and assurances provided to Congress.

Miller said there were ongoing processes for assessing the legality of Israeli military operations in Gaza, a reference to a review mechanism set up by the administration in September, called Civilian Harm Incident Response Guidance.

As of yet, we have not made a conclusion that Israel is in violation of international humanitarian law, Miller said, but added that the review process would continue and that a full report on compliance required by the presidential memorandum was not due until 8 May.

Chris Van Hollen, a Democratic senator, said there was ambiguity about the state departments position but if it was saying Israel was currently in compliance under the terms of NSM-20, their decision is totally detached from the reality on the ground, especially with respect to the required standards for the delivery of humanitarian aid into and within Gaza.

Dylan Williams, vice-president for government affairs at the Center for International Policy, said: Treating the assurances received from Israel as sufficient in the face of deepening famine, disproportionate civilian casualties and repeated threats of an offensive in Rafah against US wishes renders NSM-20 an empty gesture in its first outing, and functionally greenlights Israel continuing to use our weapons against US law, interests and values.
Maryland state police say the six people who were missing after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed Tuesday in Baltimore, Maryland, are now presumed dead.

Related: How Baltimores Key Bridge collapsed  a visual guide

Authorities said the accident sent a number of vehicles and eight construction workers into the Patapsco River. Two people were rescued on Tuesday, but Jeffrey Pritzker, a senior executive at Brawner Builders, the employer of the construction workers, said the other six were presumed dead, given the waters depth and the length of time since the crash.

Maryland officials are in agreement and say that the recovery effort will continue on Wednesday morning with a team of divers.

Pritzker said the crew had been working in the middle of the bridge when it came apart. No bodies have been recovered.

This was so completely unforeseen, Pritzker said. We dont know what else to say. We take such great pride in safety, and we have cones and signs and lights and barriers and flaggers. But we never foresaw that the bridge would collapse.

All 22 crewmembers onboard the Dali, the ship that struck the bridge, were reported safe.

The White House said Joe Biden had spoken to federal, state and local officials as part of the continuing response to the collapse of the bridge.

Those officials included Pete Buttigieg, the US secretary of transportation; Wes Moore, the Democratic governor of Maryland; the two Democratic US senators from Maryland, Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin; and the mayor of Baltimore, Brandon Scott.

Moore told reporters the bridge, which was built in 1977, was fully up to code before being struck by the ship.

However, the same ship that struck the bridge was involved in an incident in the port of Antwerp, Belgium, in 2016, when it hit a quay as it tried to exit the North Sea container terminal.

A later inspection of the Dali on 27 June carried out in San Antonio, Chile, found the vessel had propulsion and auxiliary machinery deficiencies, according to data on the public Equasis website, which provides information on ships. The inspection specified that there was a deficiency related to gauges and thermometers. A spokesperson for the Dalis owners declined to comment on the report.

Calls to 911 came in at about 1.30am, reporting a vessel travelling outbound from Baltimore that had struck a column on the bridge, causing it to collapse, said Kevin Cartwright, the director of communications for the Baltimore fire department. Several vehicles were on the bridge at the time, including one the size of a tractor-trailer.

Officials said the ship issued a mayday as it went off course and seemed to lose power, which Baltimore officials said allowed them to prevent more vehicles from coming on to the bridge. The ship then appeared to catch fire as part of the bridge collapsed over it, sending plumes of thick, black smoke into the air.

The temperature in the river was about 47F (8C) in the early hours of Tuesday, according to a buoy that collects data for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

From a vantage point near the entrance to the bridge, jagged remnants of its steel frame were visible protruding from the water, with the on-ramp ending abruptly where the span once began.



All lanes closed both directions for incident on I-695 Key Bridge. Traffic is being detoured, the Maryland transportation authority posted on X. I-695 Key Bridge collapse due to ship strike. Active scene, it later added.

Related: Have you been affected by the Baltimore bridge collapse?

Speaking from the Roosevelt Room in the White House, Biden said on Tuesday afternoon: Everything so far indicates that this was a terrible accident. At this time, we have no other indication. No other reason to believe theres any intentional act here.

Biden pledged that the US federal government would pay the full cost of rebuilding the bridge in Baltimore, which has also halted activity at a major port for the country.

Its my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge and I expect the Congress to support my effort, the US president said.

A reporter from the Baltimore Banner said that the half-dozen people who had been presumed missing were construction workers from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico who were in their 30s and 40s, with spouses and children.

All of them came to the city for a better life  not necessarily for themselves, but for the loved ones they left behind in their home countries, the Banners reporter wrote.

They are all hard-working, humble men, said Jesus Campos, who described himself as a co-worker of the victims.

Biden, meanwhile, pledged to travel to Baltimore soon. Were not leaving until this job is done, he said.

Asked why the government should pay and not Grace Ocean, the owners of the Singapore-registered ship, Biden said: That could be, but were not going to wait for that to happen. Were going to pay for it to get the bridge rebuilt and opened.

The president then left Washington for a campaign event in Raleigh, North Carolina. Buttigieg was due to travel to Baltimore promptly.
Corina Yoris speaks during a press conference in Caracas, last week. Photograph: Federico Parra/AFP/Getty Images

A chorus of Latin American nations, including Brazil and Colombia, have voiced concern over the deteriorating political situation in Venezuela after the opposition politician best-positioned to challenge its strongman leader, Nicolas Maduro, in Julys presidential election was prevented from registering for the vote.

Corina Yoris, an 80-year-old philosopher, was little-known outside academic circles until last Friday, when she was catapulted on to the frontline of Venezuelas long-running political crisis by being named as the substitute for Maria Corina Machado, a prominent opposition figure who had been banned from running in the election.

Related: Venezuelan opposition leader names successor after two close aides arrested

Members of the opposition had hoped the octogenarian grandmother of seven might prove an unconventional yet effective adversary capable of discombobulating the 61-year-old Maduro, who has held power since becoming president after Hugo Chavezs 2013 death. Maduros re-election, in 2018, was widely denounced as an illegitimate farce by western governments.

However, on Tuesday, Yoris  the unity candidate for an alliance known as the Unitary platform  said she had been unable to register her candidacy on the electoral councils online system before a midnight deadline.

The will of the Venezuelan people who want a change in this country is being violated, the academic turned presidential hopeful told reporters.

The scuppering of Yoriss candidacy prompted an unusually firm response from the governments of Brazil and Colombia, which have both been trying to coax Maduro back towards democratic governance.

Based on available information, the candidate put forwards by the Unitary platform  was prevented from registering, which is not compatible with the Barbados agreement, Brazils foreign ministry said, in reference to a deal between Maduros government and the opposition last October intended to ensure free and fair elections.

So far, there has been no official explanation for this obstruction, the Brazilian ministry added, voicing concern over the situation.

Colombias foreign ministry also voiced concern and warned that recent developments in Venezuela might affect the confidence of some sectors of the international community in the transparency and competitiveness of the electoral process.

Colombias intervention prompted a sharp rebuke from Venezuelas foreign minister, Yvan Gil, who accused Bogota of gross interference in his countrys domestic affairs.

Venezuelas foreign ministry also hit out at Brazil, saying it repudiated its bland and interventionist statement  which appeared to have been dictated by the US state department and demonstrated a deep unfamiliarity and ignorance of Venezuelan politics.

Other Latin American countries weighed in, with Guatemalas centrist president Bernardo Arevalo denouncing the Venezuelan governments harassment and persecution of its opponents. Such actions, Arevalo tweeted, reinforced an anti-democratic system.

The foreign minister of Uruguay, Omar Paganini, told reporters recent events suggested that Venezuela is consolidating itself as a dictatorship which is moving away from any kind of democratic practice.

Addressing supporters earlier in the day, Machado accused Maduros regime of deliberating blocking her namesakes candidacy with its crude and grotesque maneuver.

Such efforts would fail, the 56-year-old politician insisted, vowing to fight on until the election. In Venezuela, there will be clean and free elections, let there be no doubt about it. We are going to take on Maduro and we are going to defeat him, Machado declared, calling the presidents attempt to sideline Yoris an act of desperation that exposes his weakness.

Related: Venezuela orders arrest of key opposition figures campaign manager

Machado and her party Vente Venezuela have been the target of a ferocious political crackdown in recent weeks as Venezuelas unpopular president battles to ensure he secures another six-year term in the 28 July vote. Last week two of her closest political allies were arrested.

Phil Gunson, a Venezuela specialist from Crisis Group, said the unusual interventions from the leftwing governments of Brazil and Colombia reflected how blatantly undemocratic the actions of Maduros government had been. Its quite obvious that the oppositions political rights have been grossly violated, Gunson said.

Gunson attributed the governments moves to block Machado and her substitute to polls that laid bare the threat she posed to his rule.

The real problem with Maria Corina is that Maduro could not possibly beat her. She is so far ahead in the polls that to allow her candidacy was to admit the possibility of defeat, he said.

Polls also suggest that a candidate backed by Machado would stand a good chance against Maduro, who is widely blamed for leading Venezuela into a catastrophic economic slump that has seen millions of citizens flee abroad.

So the problem with a candidate backed by Maria Corina was that such a candidate was also a major threat to Maduros continuation in power, Gunson added.
More people die from cancer relative to the population in the UK than in other rich countries

When Sarah started having chest pains in early June 2021, her first port of call was her GP. She was otherwise healthy, 30 years old and busy juggling work and raising her son in Manchester. My GP had a feel of my chest area and said it seemed as though I had an inflamed sternum. I had never heard of it, Sarah says.

Her doctor asked if she had been doing anything physically strenuous. She told him she had recently moved house but it was nothing out of the ordinary.

Oh, that will be it. You just need to rest but it can take six to eight weeks to resolve, he told her.

Soon she found herself struggling to say more than two to three words without pausing to catch her breath. Her GP again reassured her. Concerned, Sarah insisted on an X-ray. She was told it would be four weeks. In desperation, she went to A&E. Again, they just really dismissed me. They made me feel as though I was wasting their time. I saw a doctor and he told me dont bother going for the chest X-ray, it will be a waste of time, she says.

If Sarah had listened to him, she could well be dead now. On September 6, three months after her first GP visit, she finally received her diagnosis: lymphoma, a blood cancer.

Sadly, Sarahs story is not unusual. In Britain, cancer patients struggle to get diagnosed and treated quickly. Partly as a consequence, more people die from cancer relative to the population in the UK than in other rich countries, at 222 in every 100,000 per year. In Japan this figure is only 175, the US 182 and Germany 206.

A Telegraph reader last year shared what such figures can mean on a personal level.

Upon retiring in Morbihan, France, at 69, his local doctor immediately ran a blood test that revealed gout. Meanwhile, treatment for polyps in the intestine revealed an enlarged prostate and kidney stones.

My wife had a similar experience with breast cancer. She thinks that if we had stayed in Peterborough health authority, we would both be dead. We are still waiting for the breast scan they took of her in Peterborough Hospital years ago, he said.

Sarah, on the other hand, is still haunted by the missed opportunities that left her having to explain to her five-year-old son why mummys hair is gone.

At some point in their lives, half of Britons will, like Sarah, be told they have cancer. Now, shockingly, the King and the Princess of Wales have joined their number.

What people do not realise, and this is exactly what happened with the King, says Richard Sullivan, director of the Institute of Cancer Policy and a professor at Kings College London, is that 45 to 50 per cent of our cancers are picked up incidentally. King Charles was diagnosed with an undisclosed form of the disease during an examination for an enlarged prostate.

Internal cancers  like something in your gut, bowels or bladder  can emerge with few obvious symptoms. Often they are only discovered during a procedure for something benign: Whilst you are having an operation we will use a video camera and have a look at the lower gastrointestinal tract. You would be surprised how many times we then pick up an early-stage cancer that is just sitting there growing quietly, Sullivan says.

Delays in detecting and treating cancer can be deadly  especially in younger people. If you get cancer in your 20s and 30s it is almost invariably really aggressive because it has managed to escape all the biological mechanisms that keep it suppressed, says Sullivan.

Speed of diagnosis is critical. The risk of death from common cancers grows by six to 13 per cent for every month of delayed treatment, research by Sullivan and others has found. A woman with breast cancer faces a 25 per cent greater chance of dying if her treatment is delayed by three months. If all British women suffering from breast cancer faced this delay in a year, there would be 1,400 preventable deaths.

Yet Britains record on early detection is poor. We are not doing well, says Peter Sasieni, one of Britains leading experts on cancer screening, prevention and early diagnosis. The standard is to compare how long people live after being diagnosed with cancer. Amongst comparable countries the UK typically comes worst, he says.

The reasons are often obvious. Patients up and down the country struggle to get seen by their GP, then face waits for diagnostics and more waits for treatment. In England, it has been some time since the NHS has met key targets, says Sarah Scobie, acting director of research at the Nuffield Trust. Around 40 per cent of people are waiting for more than two months from referral to start treatment. The target is 15 per cent. It was last met in 2015, she says.

In 2018, the Government announced that three-quarters of all cancers would be diagnosed at an early stage by 2028. Only four years away, little progress has been made to meet the deadline: There has been barely any change in the proportion. It is currently around 59 per cent, Scobie says. The NHS is not keeping up with the demand and the need for cancer treatment, is her verdict.

Meanwhile, the number of patients waiting more than three months to receive cancer treatment after a GP has referred them urgently has climbed to a record high. In 2023 some 23,416 cancer patients waited more than 104 days, close to a tripling from 9,025 in 2019.

The biggest issue is the ability of GPs to order tests that work and get them done quickly, says Sasieni. Typically, what happens is that people go with symptoms that are not obviously cancer, but [where] cancer is one of many possibilities, he adds. People can have mild symptoms. It would really help if we had more tests that a GP could order without having to refer the patient to the hospital, which is where there seems to be a big holdup, he says.

Once they get that referral then there is how quickly the hospital or secondary care can do it. There have been huge strains, particularly since Covid, for getting diagnosis made quickly, Sarsieni adds.

Indeed, the legacy of the pandemic is still visible in Britains cancer statistics. Close to 40,000 fewer people were treated for cancer in 2020 across the NHS. There has been a catch-up effect since with a record rise in treatments last June, but The Telegraphs analysis suggests there are still 7,000 missed cancer treatment starts.

Today, Telegraph analysis of NHS figures shows that three in four hospitals fail to meet the requirement for all patients to start treatment within one month, creating a deadly postcode lottery.

In December, three in ten cancer patients at the Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust had to wait more than a month to start their treatment. In contrast, not a single patient at the Countess of Chester Hospital faced this wait.

People have to appreciate that if there is something wrong with the general NHS and it as a whole is super delayed with treatments and diagnostics for routine conditions, it will have a massive impact on cancer as well, Sullivan warns.

The impact of near-record NHS waiting lists has spurred a rise in desperate Britons going private. Figures from the Private Healthcare Information Network show a record rise in such treatments in the first half of 2023.

Cancer treatments make up nearly a quarter of the private hospital market in London, accounting, at 378 million, for a quarter of revenue. This means people are often either paying thousands of pounds out of pocket or relying on their employer to provide medical insurance.

Many companies, however, are put off by the complexity and costs associated with providing such insurance, says Caroline Laffey at KPMG. This is because health benefits are often taxable, meaning both the company and the employees face additional costs. It is an absolute minefield, says Laffey. As a result many employers avoid them.

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) is urging the Government to provide tax breaks like reducing insurance premium tax. The pressures on the NHS are widely known, says Jane Gratton, deputy director at the BCC. Employers have a role to play  not only in promoting good health but in supporting the people they have invested in.

Politically, the pressure to tackle shameful cancer figures is also growing. We are concerned that there is not a dedicated cancer plan, says Conservative MP Steve Brine, who leads the Health and Social Select Committee. I think that is a mistake and the evidence around the world shows that it will be.

Former health minister Lord Bethell is frustrated with the situation too. The capacity for screening in terms of diagnostic capacity and workforce is far too small, he warns. We catch far too many cancers at stage three or four when it has much worse outcomes, fewer limited treatment choices and costs a lot of money.

For Sarah, delay in treatment came at great personal cost. In some regards she counts herself lucky: after gruelling treatment she was finally given the all-clear a year and a half ago. But, she says, the impact on her mental health is still really, really challenging.

It felt like such a fight to get to get heard. Now I have had six rounds of chemotherapy and then radiotherapy and the effects are just massive, she says. Her consultant said she would have been offered the chance to freeze her eggs in case she wanted more children  but there was just not enough time.

When he had that conversation with me that something has to be done now, it finally hit me how precious the time was to get the treatment started, she says. I just remember thinking if this had been caught earlier then I might have had that opportunity.

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Analysts told the Guardian there were clear signs of an increase in Chinese cyber-attacks. Photograph: Nicolas Asfouri/AFP/Getty Images

Cyber-attacks linked to Chinese intelligence agencies are increasing in capability and frequency as they seek to test foreign government responses, analysts have warned in the wake of revelations about a mass hacking of UK data.

On Tuesday, the UK and US governments accused hacking group Advanced Persistent Threat 31 (APT 31), backed by Chinas government spy agency, of conducting a years-long cyber-attack campaign, targeting politicians, national security officials, journalists and businesses. The UK said the hackers had potentially gained access to information on tens of millions of UK voters held by the Electoral Commission, as well as for cyber-espionage targeting lawmakers who have been outspoken about threats from China.

Both the US and UK governments announced sanctions against linked Chinese companies and individuals.

Also on Tuesday, the New Zealand government said it had raised concerns with the Chinese government about its involvement in an attack which targeted the countrys parliamentary entities in 2021.

Analysts told the Guardian there were clear signs of an increase in cyber-attacks which appeared to be conducted by Chinese actors, often with links to Chinas intelligence agencies and government.

Some of the hacking groups are information security firms contracted to Chinese intelligence units to carry out attacks on specific targets, such as the recent case of iSoon Information, said analyst Chung Che, from Taiwan-based cyber threat analysis firm T5.

T5 had monitored an increase in constantly evolving hacking efforts by Chinese groups in the Pacific region and Taiwan over the last three years.

We believe that their purpose is to infiltrate specific targets and steal important information and intelligence, whether it be political, military or commercial, Chung said.

Chung said there was not sufficient information to specifically trace the activity all the way to Chinas top leadership (and Beijing resolutely rejects the allegations), but given Chinas system of no distinction between party and state, it is true that we cannot rule out the possibility of instructions coming from the top.

Several analysts said western governments, however, have become much more willing to name China as the perpetrator, after years of avoiding antagonising the leaders of the worlds second largest economy.

That earlier reticence to criticise has given way to a more vocal stance and I think thats probably because the scale of the threat and the actual intrusions has risen. They are more serious threats now, said David Tuffley, a senior lecturer in cybersecurity at Griffith University in Australia.

The UK announcement followed revelations last month that a Chinese hacking network known as Volt Typhoon had been lying dormant inside US critical infrastructure for as long as five years, pre-positioning itself for future acts of sabotage. That operation sparked alarm among Five Eyes observers as it indicated a shift away from intelligence-gathering espionage towards warfare preparation.

Tuffley said cyber-attacks were part of Chinas greyzone activity  meaning acts that approach but do not reach the threshold of warfare. Much of the activity is regionally focused, targeting Taiwan and other countries disputing claims in the South China Sea. But these cyberattacks had a far broader reach.

The whole point to make about all of this is that China is obviously adopting a much more muscular stance, said Tuffley. It knows it doesnt have the military capability to defeat the Americans, the British, Australians, Japanese and Koreans, in a hot war. So they are most unlikely to take it to that point.

Instead it is seeking to cause instability in the target country, and perhaps a loss of confidence in the operational abilities of that target. It is also testing its own capabilities up against adversaries defences, he said.

Tuffley said there was a danger of escalation. Other governments like the US and UK had high cyber-espionage capabilities themselves, but were not publicly threatening countermeasures against the Chinese state.

In its statement on Tuesday US authorities named individuals accused of conducting the cyber attacks allegedly in breach of US law. That suggested a deep level of knowledge about the attacks, including perhaps through human intelligence sources inside the Chinese operations, or a retaliatory information-gathering hack, one analyst said.

Anyone who has worked in cybersecurity for any amount of time will not be at all surprised by this report from the UK authorities, said Adam Marre, chief information security officer at Arctic Wolf. Beijing continues to see cyber as a natural extension of their statecraft and have seldom been afraid to utilise cyber techniques to further their own national interests.
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.
China's top legislator meets deputy chairman of Russian State Duma

Xinhua) 11:06, March 26, 2024

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)

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
(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.
Part of the Kings Men stone circle. Photograph: Robin Weaver/Alamy

In his gazetteer of Britains ancient sites, The Modern Antiquarian, the musician Julian Cope warns that hours can be spent unwittingly at the Rollright Stones on the Oxfordshire/Warwickshire border. He advises that visitors should not be in a hurry. I have one hour, and an appointment to keep, but the three parts of the site  the Kings Men stone circle, the lone King Stone, and the collapsed dolmen of the Whispering Knights  are barely 300 metres apart. I have time enough.

The stones in the reconfigured circle of the Kings Men are said to be uncountable, and indeed it is trickier than you might imagine, as they vary greatly in form and its hard to see where some join. A small boulder of entirely different geology might have been added, mischievously, last week.

Beside the Whispering Knights  a 5,800-year-old burial monument  a gate leads into a woodland of larch and young oak. Inside the wood, a surprise: a labyrinth made of timber posts of varying height and diameter. Ive entered before I know it.

The labyrinth does as labyrinths do  taking me on a journey requiring constant shifts in perspective, occasionally obliging turns of almost 180 degrees; a life lesson perhaps. By the time I reach the centre and raise my gaze, nothing is where I expected it to be  an orange forestry vehicle, the gate, the Knights, all seem to have shifted while I wasnt looking.

A near-forgotten rhyme rises to my lips. Twist me and turn me and show me the elf   part of the undeniably trippy Brownie Guide initiation ceremony I took part in, in 1980, which involved being lifted over a giant mushroom and walking a windy path to a mirror on the floor, mocked up to resemble a rushy pool.  I looked in the water and there saw  myself. The last word was to be uttered by the inductee. I chuckle at the memory. The pagan in plain sight, like a Green Man in a parish church.

Both these rituals involve deliberate disorientation, and opportunities for self-discovery and the setting of intentions. There are offerings of many kinds here at the heart of the labyrinth. I feel in my pockets and add an acorn and a chip from a beaver-gnawed tree Ive been carrying for months. I leave with thanks for the obvious love being given to this spot.

I am now, inevitably, running late.

 Country diary is on Twitter at @gdncountrydiary
Farmers thronged Brussels' European Quarter for the third time in two months on Tuesday, setting fire to tyres and bales of hay - KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP

The European Union on Tuesday signed off on plans to water down environmental rules for farmers to quell their mounting tractor protests.

The decision came as angry farmers clashed with police in Brussels European Quarter as the blocs agriculture ministers met to address the discontent.

One person was arrested and two officers were injured during the demonstration, which turned violent with fireworks, eggs and bottles hurled at police dressed in riot gear.

Police officers at the barricade separating them from the farmers retaliated by firing tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowds.

Although smaller than previous protests, some 300 tractors swamped the Belgian capital to show their anger over the blocs green deal legislation and a controversial trade agreement with Latin America.

Farmers lit fires outside the European Parliament - Olivier Matthys/Shutterstock

To appease the farmers, whose cause is seen as totemic ahead of Junes EU elections, the European Commission proposed easing two-thirds of the good agricultural and environmental conditions that common agricultural policy (CAP) subsidies are paid on.

The tweaks include exemptions on compulsory soil covers, crop rotation and land rules.

Smaller farmers with under 10 hectares, which account for around 65 per cent of CAP handouts, will no longer have to comply with environmental checks and penalties.

David Clarinval, Belgiums agriculture minister, said: We have listened to our farmers and we have taken swift action to address their concerns at a time when they are confronted with numerous challenges.

The targeted revision of the rules strikes the right balance between ensuring greater flexibility for farmers and member states and easing the administrative burden, while also maintaining a high level of environmental ambition in the common agricultural policy.

The watered-down plans were voted through by 26 of the blocs 27 member states, with Germany opting to abstain in the informal vote on the sidelines of an EU Agrifish meeting.

But the proposals were insufficient to address the root causes that have motivated the demonstrations of farmers throughout Europe for months, said Via Campesina, an international farmers organisation.

Farmers protest in Brussels over price pressures, taxes and green regulation - Yves Herman/Reuters

Farmers organisations have vowed to keep returning for protests in Brussels until the European elections in early June.

The protests are seen as a particular worry for mainstream politicians ahead of the bloc-wide ballot.

Recent polling has suggested that nine of the EU states could vote for parties described as hard-Right, nationalist or populist.

Parties like Frances National Rally, led by Marine Le Pen, have leapt on the farmers cause in hope of further boosting their levels of support ahead of the ballot.

However, efforts to quell their anger have led to accusations that the Commission is disregarding democratic norms.

Environmental groups said the proposals to ease farmers regulations completely disregards the blocs democratic principles, in a letter to Commission president Ursula Von der Leyen.

The European Commission has given in to the fake narrative that opposes the environment to agriculture, the letter said.

The measures proposed will only undermine the very jobs that the CAP is meant to support in the long term.

A heavy police presence was in place after the last protest to hit Brussels ended in violent clashes - Yves Herman/Reuters

Farmers started leaving Brussels in the late afternoon on Tuesday, the police said.

Officials said one person was arrested for throwing Molotov cocktails at the security forces.

Tear gas was also used and tractors were immobilised because people wanted to use tractors to force a police disposition, Brussels police said in a statement.

In addition, significant amounts of car tyres, straw ... were set on fire in various places.

Annelies Verlinden, Belgiums interior minister, said their violence, arson and destruction was unacceptable.

I call for every effort to be made to identify the perpetrators as soon as possible, she said. This also allows the judiciary to send a clear signal to the perpetrators.
From left: Harlan Coben, Donna Tartt, Queen Camilla, Helena Bonham Carter and Dame Joanna Lumley during a reception to mark the findings of a research study commissioned by The Queen's Reading Room charity - GETTY

The Queen has hailed the results of her book clubs first scientific study, which found five minutes of reading a day is as valuable to mental wellbeing as walking 10,000 steps and eating five portions of fruit and vegetables.

The Queen, 76, hosted a Clarence House reception to celebrate the third anniversary of The Queens Reading Room and its first as a registered charity.

She said the pioneering neuroscientific research, commissioned to investigate the link between reading and mental health, marked just the beginning of a new chapter for the charity, as it seeks to change attitudes towards reading.

In addition to our five a day and our 10,000 steps, we should all be aiming for at least five minutes of reading every day for invaluable benefits for brain health and mental wellbeing, she said.

Just as we always suspected, books are good for us  and now science is proving us right!

The study found reading for just five minutes can reduce stress, improve concentration and help people feel more connected.

The Queen met some of those involved in the research including Prof Tara Spires-Jones, the president of the British Neuroscience Association, Prof Barbara Sahakian, the head of faculty at the University of Cambridge, and Prof Joseph Devlin, the head of faculty at University College London.

The findings will be released on Wednesday.

Reading Room successes

The Queen hailed the huge leaps made over the last three years by the Reading Room, which was launched following the success of two lockdown reading lists she released during coronavirus lockdowns in 2020.

Since it began three years ago, it has reached nearly 12 million people through all its platforms, produced more than a thousand pieces of educational literary content and had its inaugural festival at Hampton Court, attended by almost 8,000 people from as far afield as the United States, Canada, Northern Africa, Australia and New Zealand, she said.

Its also launched a podcast, which this year will take us into the reading rooms of 32 captivating writers, actors and thinkers.

And now, this first study sees us embarking on an important journey to understand the science behind the power of stories to enrich our lives.

This would not have been possible without all of you: your talents, your imagination, your originality, your support and, most of all, your profound love of the written word.

The reception marked the first of three public engagements the Queen is conducting this week as she ploughs on while both the King and the Princess of Wales undergo cancer treatment.

On Sunday, she will join the King at St Georges Chapel, Windsor, for the traditional Easter Matins service, his first public engagement since his diagnosis in early February.

The Queen told her guests that 2024 marked the 125th anniversary of the birth of the late, great Sir Noel Coward who died on March 26, 51 years ago.

He was a brilliant and very funny man who, as a friend of the Queen Mother, came to many events here, she said.

A marvellous party

I doubt, however, that this reception will be quite as hair-raising as that in The Masters song, I Went to a Marvellous Party, with its wonderful lines: We knew the excitement was bound to begin / When Laura got blind on Dubonnet and gin / And scratched her veneer with a Cartier pin / I couldnt have liked it more.

The Queen told her guests that Coward had frequently admitted he wasnt really one for parties, preferring to be at home with an apple and a good book.

While I hope that none of you is currently wishing the same, it is, of course, primarily our shared love of good books that has brought us together this evening, she added.

That, and the need to celebrate and thank you all and to do all we can to promote a passion for reading.

Vicki Perrin, the chief executive of the Queens Reading Room, said the research into the links between reading and mental wellbeing was the first it had commissioned but that the charity planned to continue its work in the field.

These findings have been really significant, she told The Telegraph.

Weve always known that reading is good for us but these findings have proven that there is clearly an important link between reading and mental health, brain health and social connectedness.

Were aware that we are only just scratching this surface with this research  and it occurs to us that there is so much more to explore with regards to reading fiction and wellbeing, but for now, we hope that this very first piece of research will start to change the way we think about reading.
From left to right, the senior judges are: Keith John Lindblom, Nicholas Cusworth, Nicholas Lavender and Ian William

Four senior judges have resigned from the Garrick Club as a row continues over its men-only membership, as the Lady Chief Justice called for inclusivity across the legal profession.

The Judicial Office confirmed that Keith Lindblom, an appeal court judge, and three high court justices Nicholas Cusworth, Nicholas Lavender and Ian Dove had quit following mounting scrutiny over their association with the organisation.

A spokesman said it was possible that more judges had left the club without informing the Judicial Office. The office provides training and human resources advice to the judiciary in England and Wales.

Last week, it was reported that a Supreme Court judge, five court of appeal judges, eight High Court judges and about 150 KCs were listed as members of the club where women cannot be admitted a membership.

Sue Carr, the first Lady Chief Justice, who is the president of the courts and head of the judiciary of England and Wales, said the revelations highlighted the need to improve inclusivity in the profession.

Commitment to diversity

She wrote in an internal memo seen by The Guardian: You will have seen the recent media coverage relating to judicial members of the Garrick Club.

I am alive to the issues raised, which I take very seriously. I wish to emphasise my commitment to diversity and inclusivity across the judiciary.

We must continue our vital work in this area including delivering on the work outlined in our diversity and inclusion strategy.

The latest resignations follow that of Simon Case, the head of the Civil Service, and Richard Moore, the MI6 chief, as debate continues around the longstanding ban on women.

It comes days after an open letter signed by more than 80 lawyers in England and Wales was published calling on judges to give up their memberships.

The letter stated membership to the Garrick Club was incompatible with the core principles of justice, equality and fairness.

Domino effect

Dr Charlotte Proudman, who coordinated the letter alongside fellow barrister Elisabeth Traugott, told Sky News: I hope that we see a domino effect, with more and more people slowly starting to resign.

And I certainly hope by the end of this week that all of the judges have resigned from the Garrick Club.

A second open letter also claimed that membership of the Garrick was inconsistent with the courts and tribunals Guide to Judicial Conduct.

Emily Bendell, the fashion entrepreneur who organised the letter, has been campaigning for the Garrick to change its rules for several years.

It highlighted one line in the guide that states: The principles of exercising equality and fairness of treatment have always been fundamental to the role and conduct of the judiciary when carrying out their judicial functions These principles should also be reflected in conduct outside court.

The guide was jointly authored by Lord Justice Lindblom, one of the judges who resigned from the Garrick this week.

Another line from the guide quoted in the letter states: Because the judicial office necessarily attracts public scrutiny, judicial office holders are subject to constraints on their private lives which might not apply to others.

They should not act in a way, even in their private or family life, which could reduce respect for judicial office or cast doubt on their independence, impartiality or integrity.

Helena Kennedy, a barrister and Labour member of the House of Lords, suggested that a US-style system barring judges from holding membership to organisations that practise discrimination should be imposed.

The US federal code of conduct for judges states that they should not hold membership in any organisation that practises invidious discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, or national origin, adding that such membership gives rise to perceptions that the judges partiality is impaired.
Dr Frans de Waal at a primate research centre in Atlanta, Georgia, 2007 - JACK KEARSE

Frans de Waal, who has died of cancer aged 75, was a distinguished Dutch-American primatologist whose research not only changed our understanding of the animal world but raised important questions about the human condition.

To de Waal, as to other evolutionary biologists post-Darwin, chimps, bonobos, macaques and human beings are simply different types of ape but, according to de Waal, ones who share more characteristics than commonly supposed.

In a series of books de Waal argued that while animal primates, like humans, can be violent and aggressive, they are also capable of empathy and altruism and have a concept of fairness that lies at the foundation of the human moral compass. While the stereotypical aggressive alpha male does sometimes rise to the top in a chimpanzee society, his reign is usually short and ends with his murder or exile. The most common and successful alphas are typically not necessarily the biggest, strongest, meanest ones around ... Most alphas protect the underdog, keep the peace and reassure those who are distressed.

Chimps, he found, are even capable of guilt and shame, emotions that had been thought exclusively human. The standard notion of humanity as the only form of life to have made the step from the natural to the cultural realm, de Waal maintained, is in urgent need of correction.

Frans de Waal in 2021 - Catherine Marin

Early on these were provocative views, not so much because they offended the religious idea that humans alone bear the image of God, but because they were at odds with progressive theories that human beings are born blank slates, unfettered by biological determinism and free to design their own behaviour  an assumption regarded by some as indispensable for any hope of curing societys ills. De Waal was also sometimes accused of anthropomorphism  attributing human characteristics to animals on scant evidence. He responded that the problem was human exceptionalism.

De Waal never shied away from controversy. His 2013 book The Bonobo and the Atheist asked whether religious belief was an essential component of human morality. He concluded that morality comes from within, and is part of human nature; the role of religion is secondary.

Then, in his last book Different: What Apes Can Teach Us About Gender (2022), he marched fearlessly into one of the most fraught debates of our age.

Different

His central premise was that males and females behave differently and that those differences have a basis in biology. When scientists have studied how monkeys respond to toys, it has turned out that their choices are not what you would call sexually neutral, he wrote. It turns out that monkeys mimicked the sex-linked preferences of human children. Cars, trucks and balls were chosen more by males; females preferred dolls.

If gender roles have a biological basis, then the skills implied by those roles still have to be acquired by learning and imitation. Female ape orphans in zoos often have no idea what to do with newborns as adults: a female bonobo who grew up in a human home was mystified by the males with obvious erections she encountered on meeting her own kind.

Gender fluidity, meanwhile, is common in both animal and human societies. Bonobos, who are as close to humans genetically as chimpanzees, have sex frequently, much of it homosexual, and even where a particular trait is selected for in one sex it will also be present in members of the opposite sex to a lesser but still important degree; in all primate species there are males with more feminine characteristics and female tomboys. The flexibility to alter social roles enhances survival.

Just as in human societies, too, there are outliers who do not conform to gender stereotypes: a female chimpanzee named Donna would raise her hairy coat like a male, enjoyed wrestle-play with alpha males and showed no interest in mating with males; a capuchin monkey called Lonnie had sexual relationships that were exclusively gay. De Waal reckoned that between five and 10 per cent of chimpanzee populations are gender non-conforming apes.

Unlike in human society, however, chimpanzees and other animal primates are fully accepting of this diversity. In animals, de Waal said, I dont find the kind of intolerance we have in human societies.

Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?

One of seven boys, Franciscus Bernardus Maria Frans de Waal was born on October 29 1948 in sHertogenbosch, in the Netherlands, where he trained as a zoologist and ethologist at the universities of Nijmegen, Groningen and in Utrecht where he took a PhD under the biologist Jan van Hooff, with a dissertation entitled Agonistic interactions and relations among Java-monkeys, concerning aggressive behaviour and alliance formation in macaques.

Subsequent research with the worlds largest captive colony of chimpanzees, at Arnhem Zoo, became the basis for his first book, Chimpanzee Politics: Power and Sex Among Apes (1982), which compared the behaviour of chimps involved in power struggles with that of human politicians and offered the first description of primate behaviour in terms of planned social strategies, reconciliation and coalition-building. Chimps, he revealed, often come together after fights and kiss and make up. Newt Gingrich would included de Waals book on the reading list he gave new Republican arrivals at the US House of Representatives in 1994.

In 1981 de Waal moved to the United States to join the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, from where he moved in 1991 to Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, where he became Professor of Primate Behavior in the Department of Psychology and director of the Living Links Center at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center.

Over four decades, in scientific papers and in a series of popular books, de Waal proceded to shatter long-held ideas about what it means to be an animal and a human. In 2007 Time magazine included him in its list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Mama's Last Hug

Much of the popular appeal of his books lay in the anecdotes. He wrote about how two grizzled male chimps, normally sworn enemies, slung their arms around each others shoulders to form a barrage between a newborn and a threatening young alpha male, and about a bonobo named Kuni who picked up an injured starling, climbed a tree, spread the birds wings and then released it.

Perhaps the most affecting story, told in Mamas Last Hug (2019), was about the final encounter between an ageing chimpanzee matriarch at Arnhem Zoo and Jan van Hooff, who had studied her over 40 years. Though on her deathbed, Mama was potentially dangerous so van Hooff approached cautiously.

In de Waals account, the chimp sensed his trepidation and hugged him, hooting softly in his ear and tapping with her fingertips on his neck and the back of his head, exactly as she would reassure a frightened chimpanzee infant. She died soon afterwards. Footage of their farewell has been viewed more than 10 million times online.

Among numerous honours, de Waal was a Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion and elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the US National Academy of Sciences.

In 1980 de Waal married Catherine Marin, who survives him.

Frans de Waal, born October 29 1948, died March 14 2024
Two plaintiffs are challenging in the high court the legality of detention of people who refuse to co-operate with detention. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Hundreds of immigration detainees and unlawful non-citizens are being threatened with a minimum of one year in prison if they refuse to cooperate with efforts to deport them, under an urgent Labor bill to be introduced on Tuesday.

The bill requires non-citizens to cooperate in efforts to ensure their prompt and lawful removal, creating criminal penalties that could apply to a class of asylum seekers that includes two plaintiffs before the high court challenging the legality of the detention of people who refuse to cooperate with deportation.

On Tuesday the immigration minister, Andrew Giles, introduced the Migration Amendment (removals and other measures) bill, which gives him the power to direct a non-citizen who is due to be deported to do specified things necessary to facilitate their removal.

Failure to comply with a direction without a reasonable excuse will be a criminal offence carrying a mandatory minimum of 12 months in prison, a maximum of five years, a $93,900 fine, or both imprisonment and a fine.

The government moved to limit debate to pass the bill in the House of Representatives by question time on Tuesday, a move blasted by the Greens and crossbench.

Giles told the House of Representatives those in scope for orders to facilitate deportation include unlawful non citizens, people without any visa including those in immigration detention, bridging removal pending visa holders, and those who hold a general bridging visa to make acceptable arrangements to depart Australia.

Earlier, briefings to the opposition, Greens, and crossbench indicated the bill will affect hundreds of people including 130 in immigration detention, and more in the community, although the crossbench was told less than 1,000 in total.

ASF17, a man who says he fears for his life if he is deported to Iran because he is bisexual, has sued the commonwealth in a case to be heard in April that could result in more than 170 people being released from detention.

ASF17 has refused to meet Iranian authorities to get travel documents, which the federal court has ruled means the commonwealth is not obliged to release him.

The bill requires non-citizens who are on a removal pathway and have exhausted all avenues to remain in Australia to cooperate in efforts to ensure their prompt and lawful removal.

The amendments in the bill are necessary to address circumstances where non-citizens who have no valid reason to remain in Australia and who have not left voluntarily as expected, are not cooperating with appropriate and lawful efforts to remove them, the bills explanatory memorandum says.

The bill contains some safeguards, including that the minister must not give a direction if the non-citizen has applied for a protection visa.

Related: Clare ONeil claims she relied on verbal briefings only for prediction of high court immigration detention win

The non-citizen cannot be directed to interact with or be removed to a country in respect of which the non-citizen has been found to engage Australias protection obligations, the explanatory memorandum says.

However, they may otherwise be given a direction to do certain things necessary to facilitate their removal to a safe third country.

The bill also creates a power for the government to designate another country as a removal concern country, which will impose a bar on new visa applications from non-citizens outside Australia who are nationals of a country that does not accept removals from Australia.

The power could affect applicants hoping to leave countries including Russia, Iran, Iraq and South Sudan. The memorandum said this was an appropriate and proportionate measure to slow down that entry pipeline into Australia and reduce growth in the cohort of potentially intractable removals over time.

A government spokesperson said the bill will further strengthen our immigration detention network by providing extra tools to deport individuals from Australia.

In November the high court ruled that immigration detention is unlawful where there is no real prospect of it becoming practical to deport the person in the reasonably foreseeable future.

In the ASF17 high court case the commonwealth argues it has the right to continue detaining those who refuse to cooperate with deportation.

ASF17 and another man, AZC20, who has applied to intervene in the case, both argue there is no obligation to cooperate.

The Greens immigration spokesperson, David Shoebridge, said: This is part of an ongoing cruelty agenda from Labor, in this case literally trying to outflank the Coalition to the right by coming up with new and novel ways to be cruel particularly to refugees and asylum seekers.

The oppositions immigration spokesperson, Dan Tehan, accused the government of a chaotic approach to immigration detention that lacks transparency.

The opposition wants an urgent inquiry hearing on Tuesday evening to probe the bill and check for unintended consequences, he said.

Earlier this month Guardian Australia revealed that more than 170 people might have to be freed if the government loses this case, including:
Amit Soussana, who was sexually assaulted by a Hamas guard. returns to her destroyed home at the Kibbutz Kfar Azza - Alexandre Meneghini/REUTERS

An Israeli hostage kidnapped by Hamas was sexually assaulted in Gaza, doctors have confirmed.

Amit Soussanna, a 40-year-old lawyer, went public with the story in an interview with The New York Times on Tuesday. Her testimony has been backed by two doctors and a social worker who spoke to her shortly after she was released.

She also recounted being tortured at another location.

Ms Soussana, who lived alone in the kibbutz of Kfar Azza, was woken up by the sound of gunfire after Hamas terrorists breached the perimeter fence. In a widely circulated video, Ms Soussana was seen being dragged into Gaza as a group of 10 men tackled her to the ground.

She spent the first few weeks of captivity in a childs bedroom in what appeared to be an upscale house in Gaza.

Her guard, Muhammad, whom she described as a chubby, balding man with a wide nose, slept in the adjacent living room but often entered her room in his underwear, asking about her sex life and offering to give her a massage.

Fearful about a possible assault, Ms Soussana lied to the guard about her menstrual cycle, hoping to put him off.

Around Oct 24, the guard sexually assaulted her, she said.

Hit at gunpoint

The man entered the bathroom, forced Ms Soussana to remove her towel, hit her and dragged her at gunpoint to the bedroom,

Then he, with the gun pointed at me, forced me to commit a sexual act on him, she said.

The attacker reportedly came back to her room later, showing remorse and asking her: Please dont tell Israel.

The woman was transferred to another house three weeks after the kidnapping where she was kept with four other hostages.

Ms Soussana said a group of captors bound her feet and hands and suspended her across the gap between two couches and beat her.

She was released in a hostage deal with Hamas after spending 55 days in captivity.

She underwent a thorough medical examination, and a few hours after her release spoke to a gynaecologist and a social worker about the sexual assault. The pair filed a joint medical report. A second doctor spoke to her about the assault a few days later.

Hamas has denied previous, unnamed reports of sexual violence against Israeli hostages.

Hamas calls for an end to air-drops

It came as Hamas asked the West on Tuesday to stop air-dropping supplies into Gaza.

Parachutes with parcels of food packages were dropped on the hunger-stricken north of Gaza on Tuesday morning, with crowds rushing towards them.

At least six people were killed in a stampede and 12 more drowned as they tried to retrieve the parcels from the sea, according to Hamas officials.

Hamas urged the West to put an immediate end to air-drop operations and pressed Israel into allowing more deliveries of aid by road.

Unicef also called for more aid deliveries by road, rather than air or sea, to avert an imminent famine.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, recalled his countrys delegation from talks with Hamas, indirectly blaming the United States for the terrorist groups delusional demands following a UN Security Council vote that called for a ceasefire in the enclave.

Mr Netanyahus office said in a statement: Hamas is not interested in continuing negotiations and reaching the deal, and is an unfortunate testimony to the damaging nature of the UN Security Councils decision.

Hamas insisted on Tuesday that Mr Netanyahu and his cabinet were entirely responsible for the failure of negotiation efforts and for preventing an agreement from being reached up until now.

Qatars foreign ministry spokesman, however, said later on Tuesday that the talks were ongoing, adding there had been no development that would lead to thinking that one of the teams has pulled out of the negotiations.

Reasonable grounds to suspect genocide in Gaza

Also on Tuesday, the UNs special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories presented a report on the war in Gaza, saying there were reasonable grounds to believe that Israel was committing genocide.

Francesca Albanese said 25,000 tons of explosives, as powerful as two nuclear bombs, had been used to level entire neighbourhoods.

She also pointed out what she described as the deliberate destruction of Gazas vital infrastructure, from hospitals to water supplies and farm fields.

Israel insists it is taking steps to prevent civilian casualties and only targets the sites used by Hamas fighters.
The former head of the Rio civil police, Rivaldo Barbosa, left, is escorted by a police officer upon arrival at the federal police headquarters in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday. Photograph: Daniel Ramalho/AFP/Getty Images

More than a decade has passed since Rios homicide chief sat down for an interview with the citys bestselling magazine to boast of a dramatic drop in murders.

Theres no such thing as a perfect crime, proclaimed Rivaldo Barbosa, who the publication described as an industrious, church-going former air force sergeant who had instructed detectives to solve 10 murders a month. [Killers] will always leave clues, he said. Its our duty to find the evidence and arrest the culprits.

Few who read that glowing 2013 profile of Rios Sherlock would have anticipated the plot twist to come.

At around 6am on Sunday, there was a knock at the door of Barbosas luxury lakeside apartment in west Rio, not far from the homicide squad he once ran. Outside stood a cluster of federal police officers investigating one of the most shocking and high-profile murders in Rios history  the 2018 shooting of the Rio councillor Marielle Franco and her driver Anderson Gomes. Their arrest warrant carried Barbosas name.

Barbosa had taken over as Rios chief of police 24 hours before the assassination, using his inaugural speech to declare war on corruption. As top cop in Brazils most famous city, his first and most urgent task was finding Francos killers.

There was just one problem. Police now claim Barbosa was one of the architects of the crime alongside two influential politicians, the brothers Chiquinho and Domingos Brazao. Its clear the crime was masterminded by the two brothers and meticulously planned by Rivaldo, alleges a federal police report which formed the basis for Barbosas stunning arrest.

Related: Marielle Franco: two politicians and ex-police chief arrested over Brazil murder

Calling for the trios immediate imprisonment, the document claimed they were at the pinnacle of a violent horde which had shown utter contempt for human life and the rule of law. By Sunday afternoon the Brazao brothers and Barbosa were being flown to a high-security prison in the capital, Brasilia, in handcuffs.

If he really was part of this, hes a psychopath, Marcelo Freixo, a prominent Rio politician who was Francos friend and mentor, said of the disgraced investigator as he digested the news on Monday morning.

Rio de Janeiro is complex  we know theres corruption in the police just as theres corruption in politics. I knew there was corruption in the homicide squad, Freixo added. But to imagine that he was part of planning the crime? I never imagined it. Not me, not anyone.

Sundays astonishing development has turned a spotlight on Rios brutish mafia underworld where experts say besuited politicians and corrupt police investigators collude with highly trained assassins such as the one who murdered Franco and Gomes.

This investigation is a sort of X-ray of how these organized crime paramilitary groups operate in Rio de Janeiro. And how there is, lets say, an intertwining with certain political and public organs that really is very worrying, Brazils justice minister, Ricardo Lewandowski, said on Sunday as he celebrated the arrests.

Other observers were more direct. Speaking on Brazilian TV, the former security minister Raul Jungmann compared Rios corruption-riddled condition to life-threatening blood poisoning. Its like a kind of sepsis  and this must be interrupted with the help of the federal government and society itself, Jungmann said.

The state is permeated by organised crime, said Carolina Grillo, a security specialist from Rios Fluminense Federal University. This case shows us that the presence of organised crime in Rio states public institutions is so powerful that its possible for a police officer to promise impunity to his accomplices.

Related: Brazils fearsome militias: mafia boom increases threat to democracy

The 479-page federal police report into Francos murder, reviewed by the Guardian, paints a complex and alarming portrait of how powerful organised crime bosses and members of paramilitary mafia groups known as militias have successfully contaminated Rios institutions and police force in recent decades.

The militias are a cancer and it spreads and it metastasizes, said Freixo, who made a name as Rios most determined anti-mafia campaigner while spearheading a 2008 parliamentary inquiry into such groups. Rios heavily armed militias are now said to control an area almost the size of Birmingham, the UKs second biggest city, where more than 1.7 million people live.

The Franco report is also packed with sordid details of bloodletting and betrayal and features a stranger-than-fiction cast of ruffians and crooks with nicknames including Big Mac, Big Flea, Bob the Bomb, Renato the Problem, One Leg and even a criminal lawyer (shot dead one month after Franco) called Doctor Cock.

At its heart, however, the federal police account of Francos slaying is an age-old tale of impunity, arrogance and greed.

Investigators claim that the Brazao brothers  the leading members of a powerful political clan which has long faced accusations of links to organised crime and corruption  began plotting Francos murder in the second half of 2017 after becoming frustrated by her attempts to disrupt lucrative housing development plans on Rios militia-dominated west side, where they had built their political careers.

Marielle Franco was killed because she was seen as a potential threat to the interests of Domingos and Chiquinho Brazao, the report claims, adding that the serious and combative political activities of Francos Socialist and Freedom party (Psol) were also a factor.

The Brazao brothers allegedly asked a paramilitary contact nicknamed Macale to arrange a surreptitious meeting with Ronnie Lessa, a special forces police operative turned notorious hitman, and offered him a chunk of land reputedly worth millions in exchange for carrying out the murder.

Lessa, who lost his left leg in a 2009 bomb attack and was once described by a former colleague as a killing machine, readily accepted, police claim. He saw a good business opportunity to shake off his image as a mere hitman.

In September 2017, Macale  who was later murdered himself - gave the shooter a gun. He was pleasantly surprised  [that it was] a [Heckler & Koch] MP5, a German sub-machine gun Lessa was fond of given that he had used this kind of weapon while working at Rios military police special forces battalion, says the report, which is based largely on testimony given by Lessa as part of a plea deal.

On the night of 14 March 2018 Lessa put that weapon to work, according to his own confession, spraying Francos car with bullets as she travelled home from an event.

Amid a major international outcry, Rios new police chief promised justice. We are going to do everything in our power to respond to this barbaric crime, Barbosa promised the families of the victims who believed they had found an ally in the chief of police.

There was no reason not to trust him, said Freixo who, like Franco, had known Barbosa for years.

In fact, federal police claim Barbosa was involved in that barbaric crime from the start, having turned the homicide squad into an illegal business which deliberately scuppered criminal investigations  for a fee. A succession of inquiries were sabotaged in order to shield the mafiosos behind the bloodshed. Barbosa allegedly became far richer than his official salary would allow. Rivaldo Barbosa set up a veritable criminal organisation in the bowels of Rios civil police, said the federal police report, alleging that Domingos Brazao had once boasted: Rivaldo is ours.

Lessa claimed that when the Brazao brothers asked the homicide chief to help execute and cover up their plan, Barbosa made only one demand: that Franco not be murdered while travelling to or from city hall. That would suggest a politically motivated crime and draw federal police investigators into a case Barbosa allegedly hoped to control and derail.

Representatives of the three accused have rejected claims of their involvement in the murders.

Barbosas lawyer, Alexandre Dumans, denied his client was close to the Brazao brothers or had been involved in any conspiracy.

Hes a good man. He isnt some sort of crook or outlaw and I do not believe that he took part in the planning [of this crime] as the informer Ronnie Lessa claims, Dumans said, adding: Hes a religious man, a university professor who has built a career over decades. On Sunday night the university where Barbosa lectured announced he had been sacked as a result of its commitment to the principles of ethics, correctness and non-violence.

After the Brazao brothers arrest on Sunday, their lawyer Ubiratan Guedes denied his clients were involved in the murder and said they had no connection to Franco.

During previously unreleased footage from a 2019 documentary, Domingos Brazao claimed: Ive never ordered anyones murder  not Marielle Franco, not anyone.

Here in my house, Ive not killed so much as a chicken. I havent killed a duck, added Brazao, who is now 59 and an adviser to Rios court of auditors.

On the eve of his arrest Chiquinho Brazao, who is a federal congressman, issued a statement denying wrongdoing and claiming he had enjoyed friendly and pleasant relations with Franco when they served together in Rios city hall. On Sunday night the 62-year-old was expelled from his conservative party, Uniao Brasil.

Freixo said he believed Francos killers were convinced they would never be caught. In their minds, theyd killed a black woman from the favela and there wouldnt be any problems at all, he said. Only it boomeranged.

Additional reporting by Constance Malleret
Australias new vehicle efficiency standard will place a cap on the emissions from new cars to encourage carmakers to supply low- and zero-emissions vehicles. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

The Albanese government has watered down flagship new laws aimed at disincentivising the use of high-polluting cars and hastening the importation of cleaner vehicles amid pressure from the auto industry.

On Tuesday the transport minister, Catherine King, and the energy minister, Chris Bowen, revealed the details of a compromise bill to be introduced to parliament this week, with the changes largely easing rules for popular large SUVs.

Related: Lab tests v the real world: how does the fuel consumption of Australian SUVs compare?

Australias proposed fuel standard will place a cap on the emissions from new cars to incentivise carmakers to supply low- and zero-emissions vehicles as part of their fleet. The cap will be lowered over time.

The governments preferred model, unveiled in February, was expected to cut 369m tonnes of CO2 by 2050, while the watered-down standard will cut 321m tonnes by 2050.

The original plan set emissions targets for 2025 of 141 grams of CO2 per kilometre for passenger vehicles and 199 grams for light commercial vehicles, a category which includes utes and vans. These were set to be lowered to 58 grams and 81 grams respectively by 2029.

Under the new vehicle efficiency standard announced on Tuesday, the 2025 emissions target for light commercial vehicles will be 210 grams per km, and 110 grams by 2029.

The changes also recategorise a raft of Australias most popular SUVs  including the Toyota LandCruiser, Ford Everest, Isuzu MUX, Nissan Patrol and Mitsubishi Pajero Sport  from passenger vehicles to the light commercial category.

The government claims that due to these vehicles ladder frame chassis and braked towing capacity of more than 3 tonnes, they are more similar to utes and van. The majority of SUVs will remain classed as passenger vehicles as part of the changes, the government said.

Standing next to leaders from Toyota, Hyundai, the Electric Vehicle Council and Tesla, the ministers insisted the updated standard would still deliver about a 60% reduction in new passenger vehicle emissions and 50% reduction in new light commercial vehicle emissions by 2029, as well as $95bn in fuel savings by 2050.

The government also announced changes to the credits system. These mean companies whose emissions averages across their fleet come in below the cap will gain credits that can be traded with other manufacturers who will be penalised for exceeding the cap.

The governments initial proposal for a rate of penalty of $100 per g/km of CO2 emitted over a manufacturers cap remains.

While the standard will still begin on 1 January, the government has also pushed out the effective start date of the credit and penalties system to 1 July. This is to give industry more time to adjust and allow more time to put in place the regulator and IT systems, the government said.

Bowen called the changes sensible but long overdue. Not everybody here has got everything theyve asked for; some people wanted us to go harder, faster, some had concerns and wanted us to slow, he said.

Teslas Sam McLean said there had been compromise between all the folks you see up here on stage.

This is a very moderate standard that takes Australia from being really last place in this transition to the middle of the pack, and it will save motorists thousands of dollars in petrol, he said.

The car industry seems to have come to a somewhat amicable agreement with the government, with the Toyota boss, Matthew Callachor, saying the changes are not a car tax as claimed by the opposition.

In a press conference on Tuesday, the shadow infrastructure minister, Bridget McKenzie, and shadow energy minister, Ted OBrien, repeatedly referred to the changes as as car tax, even after Callachors comments to the contrary were pointed out.

McKenzie said the opposition had not seen the legislation but planned to vote against it.

Toyota had raised concerns about the standards going too far and affecting popular models such as utes and family cars, while the electric vehicle maker Tesla said the standard should go further.

Callachor said Toyota supported the amended scheme as a positive step, though he added: We shouldnt be under any illusions that there still remains a very big challenge in achieving those ambitious numbers.

Related: No longer a novelty: massive rise in Australian EV sales, industry report finds

The Electric Vehicle Council chief executive, Behyad Jafari, said the new policy represents strong, ambitious standards that will send a clear signal to the global automotive industry: Australia now demands the same options in electric cars, vans and utes that you offer to the US and Europe.

The Climate Council chief executive, Amanda McKenzie, welcomed the compromise, saying: Manufacturers have been dumping their dirtiest cars here for years, and that has got to stop.

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries had called for the scheme to be watered down, a position that led to Tesla and Polestar quitting the group in protest.

An FCAI spokesperson called the changes a step in the right direction. However, we continue to have concerns about the impending challenges facing industry and motorists.

While the government and proponents including the Grattan Institute claimed that the standard would bring in more cheaper-to-run cars, the federal opposition and some sellers claimed the initial proposal would have increased the cost of some popular cars, including utes.

The changes follow the Biden administration last week announcing it would ease its rules  a scheme that the Albanese government had claimed it was basing its local standard on.

A new car sold in Australia uses, on average, 6.9 litres of fuel for each 100km compared with new cars in Europe and the US that use 3.5 litres and 4.2 litres, respectively.
Sir Keir wants to secure improvements that would ease red tape for British food exports and make it easier for UK professionals to work in Europe - REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett

Labour has scaled back plans for a quick renegotiation of the Brexit trade deal after it was snubbed by the European Union.

Sir Keir Starmer has quietly dropped his ambition to secure a major overhaul of the pact when it comes up for review in 2025, The Telegraph has been told.

EU sources said he was now taking a more realistic approach after Brussels warned him it would not reopen the agreement.

The Labour leader has criticised the 2019 deal struck by Boris Johnson as far too thin and said he would renegotiate it to boost economic growth.

In September, he talked up a planned review of how the pact is working, scheduled to take place in 2025, as the opportunity to make changes.

He told the Financial Times: As we go into 2025 we will attempt to get a much better deal for the UK. I think theres more that can be achieved across the board.

Sir Keir wants to secure improvements that would ease red tape for British food exports and make it easier for UK professionals to work in Europe.

But the EU Commission has privately warned him that it is broadly happy with the agreement and has no intention of reopening the terms of it.

Improvements and adjustments

EU insiders told The Telegraph that senior Labour figures had accepted in recent talks that a major renegotiation would not take place in 2025.

What Labour has done since September is theyve tried to understand better whats in the realm of the possible, a source said.

There is no appetite whatsoever among the member states to reopen the trade agreement. The 2025 review is about checking how its working in practice.

Labour now understands how all this works. Theyve learnt more and corrected.

An EU diplomat echoed that nobody is talking about completely changing the relationship when the deal comes up for review in 2025.

They expressed hope that cross-Channel relations would thaw under a Labour government but warned Sir Keir against being overly ambitious on trade.

Ruling out a wholesale renegotiation, they said: Much of the substance can be built on what we already have on the table by improvements and adjustments.

The diplomat also warned that Sir Keirs pledge to secure a veterinary agreement, to slash red tape on food, may prove difficult to negotiate.

The problem youll immediately come up against is dynamic alignment, they warned, adding that improvements to the relationship will not all be immediate.

Senior Labour figures have notably dropped talk of the 2025 review from their public statements on Brexit in the past few months.

Unrealistic and doomed to fail

During an interview with The Sun last week, Sir Keir did not mention the review when grilled on his plans for improved relations with the EU.

I still think we could get a better deal, I think we should be able to trade more freely with Europe, he told the newspaper.

One insider told the FT the 2025 trade pledge was a bit of a red herring and the party had switched its attention to securing a defence deal.

Labour is already drawing up detailed plans for a potential security pact with Brussels which it hopes will usher in a new era of closer cooperation.

Senior figures hope such an agreement would kick off a longer-term realignment that would pave the way for improvements to the trading relationship.

But they have been warned Emmanuel Macron may seek to block any deal over fears it would open up French arms companies up to British competition.

EU sources have also warned that Sir Keirs pledge to negotiate an asylum returns agreement with the bloc is unrealistic and doomed to fail.

One diplomat said: Nobody is thinking about a returns agreement, neither the EU nor national governments. Its not on the cards and Labour knows that.
Florida has enacted a bill that imposes one of the most strict social media bans for minors in the country, one that is expected to face legal challenges. The bill was signed into law by Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday.

The bill will ban social media accounts for children under age 14 and require parental permission for 14- and 15-year-olds. It is a slightly watered down version of a similar proposal, which DeSantis vetoed earlier this month. If it overcomes the anticipated legal challenges from major tech companies, the measure is set to be implemented in early 2025.

Florida Passes Restrictive Social Media Law

"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 at a press conference in Jacksonville.

The state may follow pace with legislation mandating age verification, which has caused XXX content aggregator Pornhub to deny access to users in a minimum of six states.

DeSantis was accompanied at he bill signing by local school administrators and bill sponsors, in addition to state Attorney General Ashley Moody and Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr.

Florida House Speaker Paul Renner, (R-Palm Coast) negotiated with DeSantis on the legislation (HB 3) subsequent to the governor's veto of the initial iteration, which was justified on grounds of legal and parents' rights considerations.

The legislation was overwhelmingly supported by both chambers of the legislature, with a small percentage of Democrats expressing dissent and asserting that it constituted an abuse of power by the government that would be challenged in court.

First Amendment advocacy organizations have expressed their opposition to the measure with similar sentiments.

The social media platforms that fall within the scope of the bills are those that incorporate functionalities like push notifications and infinite scrolling, which loads content automatically as the user scrolls down, obviating the necessity to click on a subsequent page. Renner stated that these characteristics have had a "devastating effect" on the mental health of children.

Read Also: Powerball Jackpot at $750M Ahead of Saturday Night Drawing, as Mega Millions Prize Crosses $1B Mark

Social Media's Effect to Minors

Users must be at least 13 years old to access major social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

That regulation originates from the 1998 "Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule," which prohibited the collection of personal information from children without parental consent.

A survey conducted by the non-profit research organization Common Sense Media and published in 2022, however, revealed an increase in usage among minors ages 8 to 12.

The text of H.B. 3 states that the changes would apply to social media platforms with "addictive features" such as infinite scrolling and push notifications, in addition to those where more than 10 percent "of the daily active users who are younger than 16 years old spend on average two hours per day."

However, the bill does not specify which platforms would be impacted. Politicians nationwide have directed criticism towards the elements that contribute to the allure of social media-the algorithmic sorcery and the multitude of notifications that impede users from averting the inundation of information that arrives.

US Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy issued a warning last year that "social media use is associated with harm to the mental health of young people." In addition, children who misuse it may be more susceptible to developing anxiety, melancholy, and eating disorders.

Related Article: US Charges Seven Chinese Hackers With 'Malicious' Cyberattacks, Thousands Impacted

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Johnny Mercer has until 5 April to provide a witness statement containing the names. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

The minister for veterans affairs, Johnny Mercer, has been given 10 days to reveal the source of allegations British troops engaged in war crimes in Afghanistan, or face a potential prison sentence.

Mercer in effect admitted last month in front of the public inquiry into the claims that he believed members of the SAS had engaged in dozens of unlawful killings of Afghan civilians between 2010 and 2013.

But he repeatedly refused to hand over names of multiple officers who he claimed told him about allegations of murder and a cover-up during his time as a backbench MP.

Lord Justice Haddon-Cave , the chair of the Afghanistan inquiry, told him last month that his decision to refuse to answer legitimate questions  at a public inquiry were disappointing  surprising  and completely unacceptable.

The inquiry chair has given Mercer until 5 April to provide a witness statement containing the names. The minister was served with a section 21 notice on 13 March, according to the inquiry, compelling him to hand over the names, which the inquiry said would be treated in confidence.

Haddon-Cave said in the order that the consequences of failing to comply without reasonable excuse would be a criminal offence punishable with imprisonment and/or a fine. He also said the high court could enforce the order through contempt of court proceedings, which may result in imprisonment.

The judge had previously told the minister: You need to decide which side you are really on, Mr Mercer. Is it assisting the inquiry fully  and the public interest and the national interest in getting to the truth of these allegations quickly, for everyones sake, or being part of what is, in effect  a wall of silence  and this wall of silence is obstructing the inquiry and access to the truth.

The former army officer told the inquiry he had gradually become aware of the SAS allegations, starting with an odour and pallor that dated to his last tour of duty in Afghanistan in 2010, followed by at least two specific warnings colleagues gave him in 2017 after became an MP.

He acknowledged that, as an MP in 2017, he had been given two warnings by military friends about the seriousness of the allegations. At the time he was campaigning to halt a wave of largely false claims of abuse conducted by British soldiers in Iraq.

One was described as a senior officer who warned him about the scale of the official investigation into SAS summary killings. The second was a former fellow soldier who said he had been asked to carry a dropped weapon that would be used to fabricate evidence of an attack on the elite soldiers and justify civilian killings on night raids in Helmand province.

The Afghanistan inquiry into allegations that 80 Afghans were summarily killed by members of three British SAS units opened in October.
According to the Hamas-run health ministry, more than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed - SOPA

Ministers should not rely on Gaza death toll figures from Hamas, MPs have warned as they urge the statistics watchdog to investigate.

The Government must rethink its approach because it is patently obvious that Hamas cannot be treated as a reliable source, the UK Statistics Authority has been told.

Sir Michael Ellis MP, the former Attorney General, and Andrew Percy MP have written to the statistics watchdog to express their concern about the use of such figures by official authorities in the UK.

In a letter to Sir Robert Chote, the chairman of the UK Statistics Authority, they say that all loss of life in a conflict is a tragedy and to be deeply regretted.

But they add that it is important that His Majestys Government and its agencies are alert to the fact that, in an ongoing conflict, disinformation may be deliberately utilised to secure greater diplomatic and financial support for one of the combatants in the conflict.

The MPs say this is especially so when information is sourced via a recognised terrorist organisation, proscribed as such in the United Kingdom.

It is accepted that Hamas controls the so-called Health Ministry in Gaza, from which disinformation has regularly been disseminated, and the motivation of Hamas to inculcate hatred and terror against Jewish people and the State of Israel are well known and openly documented, even in their founding Charter.

Paramount importance

They say it is of paramount importance that the Government, the opposition as well as major media organisations in the UK do not depend on this obviously unreliable propaganda source to parrot the unproven claims of one side in an ongoing conflict.

The MPs cite a leading American statistician, Prof Abraham Wyner, an expert in statistics and data science at Pennsylvania University, who recently cast doubt on the casualty and death figures published by the Hamas-run health ministry.

Prof Wyner noted in a recent report that it is most likely that the figures put out by the ministry are settled on total arbitrarily adding: We know this because the daily totals increase too consistently to be real.

Mr Ellis and Mr Percy say they are concerned that the Government as well as Labour are relying on inaccurate figures in a way which is injurious to the public discourse, at a time of inflamed tensions and contrary to the UK national interest.

The UK Statistics Authority said it had received the letter and would reply in due course.

According to the Hamas-run health ministry, more than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 74,000 have been wounded in Gaza during the current conflict.

The terrorist groups figures are unverified, and do not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

Israel has said it killed some 13,000 Hamas members in Gaza fighting, in addition to some 1,000 killed inside Israel in the aftermath of the terror groups October 7 invasion and massacre.

Israel insists it is only bombing military targets in Gaza and says it goes to great lengths to minimise civilian casualties. It has defended its air campaign as a legitimate response to Hamas attack on its civilians.

Sunak statistics rebuke

Earlier this year, Rishi Sunak was rebuked by the statistics watchdog over his claim to have cleared the backlog of asylum claims.

The Home Office claimed in January to have cleared a legacy backlog of 92,000 applications lodged before July 2022.

The Prime Minister then posted on social media to say the backlog of asylum decisions had been cleared.

The watchdog said people may have felt misled by his language. Official figures show a decision had not been reached in 4,537 of the legacy cases highlighted by the Home Office.

Last year, Mr Sunak was also criticised by the statistics watchdog after claiming that public sector debt was falling.

The Prime Minister said debt is falling in a video posted to his Twitter account in November and also told MPs that we have indeed reduced debt on the day of the Autumn Statement.

But the statistics watchdog highlighted the fact that national debt has continued to rise, and warned Mr Sunak he risks undermining trust in how the Government uses data.
Ronna McDaniel on midterms election night in November 2022. Photograph: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call/Getty Images

The former Republican National Committee chair turned NBC politics analyst Ronna McDaniel tried to disassemble our democracy by supporting Donald Trumps electoral fraud lies and should not be given such a media role, a leading historian said amid uproar over the appointment.

Related: Liz Cheney: controversial NBC hire Ronna McDaniel enabled Trump depravity

What NBC has done is theyve invited into what should be a normal framework someone who doesnt believe that framework should exist at all, Timothy Snyder, a Yale professor and author of On Tyranny, told MSNBC, part of the network now employing McDaniel.

What NBC has done of its own volition is bring into a very important conversation about democracy, one which is going to take place for the next seven months or so, someone who  tried to disassemble our democracy. Who personally took part in an attempt to undo the American system.

NBC announced the hire on Friday. Carrie Budoff Brown, the senior vice-president for politics, said McDaniel would contribute analysis across all NBC News platforms.

On Sunday, McDaniel told Meet the Press Joe Biden won the 2020 election fair and square, adding that she did not think violence should be in our political discourse.

But McDaniel also claimed it was fair to say there were problems [in elections in battleground states] in 2020 and said she had supported Trumps election fraud lies, which ultimately stoked the attack on Congress of 6 January 2021, as a way of taking one for the whole team .

That prompted an on-air protest from Chuck Todd, a former Meet the Press host. On Monday, MSNBC hosts including Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski and Nicole Wallace, to whom Snyder spoke, also condemned the McDaniel hire.

The day also saw a protest from a union group representing NBC News staff. Later, primetime MSNBC stars Rachel Maddow and Jen Psaki also protested.

Maddow said: In the news business, we are covering  bad actors trying to use the rights and privileges of the democracy to end democracy. The chief threat among them now is not the rioters and the kooks, but the slick political professionals who are turning their considerable talents to laundering violently revolutionary claims that Americas elections arent real.

Snyder, who has written for the Guardian, said: What NBC is doing is saying, Well, [it] could be that in 24 our entire system will break down. Could be well have an authoritarian leader. Oh, but look, weve made this adjustment in advance because weve brought into the middle of NBC somebody who has already taken part in an attempt to take our system down.

So, yeah, I think this is pretty bad.

If you are going to be on American media, you should be somebody who believes there is something called truth, there are things called facts and you can pursue them. You shouldnt be someone who has over and over and over again pushed the idea of fake news, educated Americans away from the facts, away from belief in the facts.

McDaniel and NBC did not comment.

Related: Trump borrows from the old tricks of fascism | Timothy Snyder

McDaniel became RNC chair in January 2017. In that role, she defended Trump through his scandal-ridden presidency; his refusal to accept defeat by Biden, culminating in his incitement of the January 6 attack; and his surge to another presidential nomination despite facing 88 criminal charges and multimillion-dollar civil penalties and regularly admitting to authoritarian ambitions.

On Monday, the anti-Trump conservative ex-congresswoman Liz Cheney said that as RNC chair, McDaniel facilitated Trumps corrupt fake elector plot and his effort to pressure Michigan officials not to certify the legitimate election outcome. She spread his lies and called January 6 legitimate political discourse. Thats not taking one for the team. Its enabling criminality and depravity.

And yet, despite such support, Trump last month pushed McDaniel out of the RNC, to be replaced by his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump.

Snyder said: If were going to be putting people on the news who have participated in an attempt to overthrow the system, then we have to ask at the very beginning, Why did you do that? Why is that legitimate? And we have to ask ourselves, Why is it that we are taking this step to bring people into the middle of our discussion?

So my two red lines are, you should be somebody whos at least trying for the facts, and you shouldnt be somebody who has taken part in an attempt to undo the system, which is what were talking about here. We shouldnt mince words about it.
From left: Prince William, Kanye West, Prince Harry and P Diddy at a reception after a London concert in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, in 2007 - Roger Allen/AP

The Duke of Sussex has been named in a $30 million US lawsuit alleging that Sean Diddy Combs, the rapper, used his name to give his sex trafficking parties legitimacy.

Rodney Jones, a record producer, has accused Combs, 54, of a litany of sexual assault allegations. His 73-page lawsuit against the rapper and several of his associates and record labels was filed in New York last month.

The lawsuit claims that Combs was known for throwing sex trafficking parties. It alleges that those affiliated with such parties, or those who sponsored them, were given access to celebrities such as international dignitaries like British royal Prince Harry.

The Duke is named just once in the lawsuit. It does not suggest he had knowledge of the allegations or was involved, but instead names him as an example of the type of well-known people to whom the defendants might have had access.

The Duke has only met Combs once, The Telegraph understands, and has never attended any of his parties or concerts.

In 2007, Prince Harry posed for photographs with Prince William, Combs and Kanye West after the two rappers had performed at the Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium in London.

Combs, also known as Puff Daddy and P Diddy, performed Ill Be Missing You at the event, which was held on what would have been the late Princesss 46th birthday.

The section of the lawsuit that mentions Prince Harry

Despite only meeting the Duke once, Combs mentioned him in a 2012 interview with The Sun in which he said: I really cant wait to get to the UK as London is one of my favourite cities.

Im also hoping Ill get to catch up with Prince Harry while Im there. Hes such a cool guy, and its about time we hung out. I need him to take me to some of those wild Mayfair clubs.

The lawsuit states that Combss co-defendants were rewarded financially for participating in and facilitating Combs sex trafficking venture by getting affiliation and access to Mr Combss popularity.

It adds: Mr Combs was known for throwing the best parties. Affiliation with, and/or sponsorship of Mr Combs sex-trafficking parties garnered legitimacy and access to celebrities such as famous athletes, political figures, artists, musicians and international dignitaries like British royal Prince Harry.

Combs has faced a string of accusations in recent months, including allegations of sexual assault. He has denied any wrongdoing, suggesting that his accusers are looking for a quick payday.

On Monday, his homes in Los Angeles and Miami were raided by officials from US Homeland Security. The agency said: Homeland Security Investigations New York executed law enforcement actions as part of an investigation, with assistance from HSI Los Angeles, HSI Miami and our local law enforcement partners.

Fox 11, a US network, reported that the raids were in connection with a federal sex trafficking investigation.

NBC News said three women and a man were interviewed by federal officials in Manhattan, and three other interviews were scheduled concerning allegations of sex trafficking, sexual assault and the solicitation and distribution of illegal drugs and firearms.

Last week, one of Combss accusers in a sexual assault lawsuit was ordered to reveal her identity. A judge ruled that the complainant could no longer stay anonymous if the suit proceeds.
Demonstrators gather in front of the US supreme court in Washington DC on Tuesday. Photograph: Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images

Supporters and opponents of abortion rights gathered on the steps of the supreme court on Tuesday, where, just beyond the marbled columns, the justices were hearing oral arguments in the most consequential abortion-related case since it overturned Roe v Wade nearly two years ago.

At stake is the accessibility of mifepristone, the first pill in a two-drug regimen used in nearly two-thirds of all abortions in the country.

Related: US supreme court abortion pill hearing: key takeaways

In clashing speeches, advocates shared their abortion stories, with one speaker describing how the experience drove her to shun the procedure and another sharing how the decision to terminate her pregnancy allowed her to leave an abusive relationship and pursue a career in medicine.

This is something I shouldnt have to reveal to strangers or to politicians for my choice to be respected, Brittany House, a patient advocate with Planned Parenthood, told the hundreds of pro-choice supporters.

An abortion, House continued, is supposed to be between a patient and their provider.

Yards away, a group of abortion opponents lay on the ground with red balloons that said abortion kills. A pregnant woman had scrawled fully human on her bare belly.

Wed like to see the FDA really step up and bring back some of those commonsense protections for women, said Felipe Avila of the National Association of Pro-Life Nurses, repeating the disputed claim at the heart of the case that the FDA-approved pill is dangerous.

Self-managed abortions have soaredsince the supreme court eliminated federal protection for abortion in June 2022, paving the way for nearly two dozen states to restrict or ban access to the procedure. Decades of research have concluded that a combination of mifepristone and misoprostol is a safe and effective method for terminating a pregnancy in the first trimester.

It allows them to access medication abortion in the comfort and privacy of their own home, said Divya Shenoy, a family medicine physician and the director of primary care at the Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington. Not being able to have this option would be really, really challenging for a lot of patients who are trying to seek abortion care.

Inside the courtroom, a majority of the justices appeared skeptical of the arguments in favor of restricting access to mifepristone put forth by a group of anti-abortion doctors.

Outside, pop music blared as activists squared off in testy exchanges that did little to win converts on one of the most deeply held convictions in American life.

One young anti-abortion activist carried a bound version of the Heritage Foundations Project 2025, an 887-page conservative-policy blueprint for a Trump second term that instructs the next president to work with Congress to enact the most robust protections for the unborn that Congress will support.

A pro-choice activist came dressed as Anthony Comstock, the 19th-century anti-vice crusader behind the eponymous Comstock Act. Some conservatives and Trump allies see enforcement of the 1873 law, which barred the mailing of lewd materials including drugs that could be used to terminate a pregnancy, as a possible path to banning abortion nationwide without Congress.

The activist, wearing mutton chops and a top hat and speaking as Comstock, said: I am back as a representative of the century they want to bring us back to.

Mr. Comstock of the eponymous Comstock Act came back to support my fellow brethren. pic.twitter.com/lY2CwwLjKa  Lauren Gambino (@laurenegambino) March 26, 2024

A group of abortion-rights protesters was part of a planned act of civil disobedience intended to highlight the gravity of the case that could once again dramatically reshape the legal landscape, including in states that protect abortion. About 14 people were arrested, according to the groups involved.

The case, which could be decided in June, may also have profound implications in the race for the White House. Even as conservative lawmakers roll back abortion access, voters have repeatedly chosen to protect it at the ballot box, even in deep red states.

Julie von Haefen, a Democratic state lawmaker from battleground North Carolina who attended the rally at the supreme court, said abortion would be a defining issue of the 2024 election, especially in suburban areas like the one she represents.

After Trump, suburban women rose up and said: We dont want this, we dont want any more bans, we want to be able to control her healthcare decisions, Von Haefen said in an interview. Its definitely something that people talk a lot about in areas like mine.

In a nod to how important advocates believe the issue will be this election, activists carried mock-campaign signs that said Mife & Miso 2024.

Moments before oral arguments began, Mira Michels of Aid Access, an organization that mails abortion pills to people across the US, swallowed a mifepristone pill dispensed to her by a roving Roe-bot. After a swig of water, she declared: Tastes like freedom.

The robots are operated remotely from states with so-called shield laws, which protect clinicians who serve patients in states where providing abortion is illegal. In practice, a patient would have a telehealth appointment with a provider, and the machine would then dispense the pill.

Mifepristone dispensing robots pic.twitter.com/FfMXj2d5Xe  Lauren Gambino (@laurenegambino) March 26, 2024

Rebecca Gomperts, the Dutch physician who founded Aid Access, said the machines were intended to show that were not living in the Middle Ages. We live in the 21st century and were not going back.

No matter how the justices rules, Gomperts said her group would continue to find ways to help American women access medication abortion.

This case is not about taking this off the market yet, she said. So it will continue to be available and our providers are going to continue to ship it to women in all 50 states.
The measure of detention as a last resort for children is enshrined in the United Nations convention on the rights of the child, which Australia has ratified. Photograph: Jonny Weeks/The Guardian

The Queensland Liberal National party opposition has vowed to remove the principle of detention as a last resort from the Youth Justice Act before years end if it wins the state election.

Speaking in Townsville on Tuesday, the LNP leader, David Crisafulli, revealed more detail about the partys Making Queensland safer laws and accused Labor of having a conga line of crises.

Crisafulli said the LNP was determined to remove detention as a last resort, allow victims and their families to attend court and ensure victims were automatically opted-in to updates about the justice process.

Related: Backed by 5G truthers, exiled from One Nation, banned from parliament  now Troy Thompson looks set to be Townsvilles mayor

An LNP government would make sure the rights of victims come first before the rights of offenders, the opposition leader said.

We will be making sure victims are front and centre  Its rewriting the act to put victims first, its giving victims visibility  and opening courts to let the sunshine in.

The shadow minister for youth justice, Laura Gerber, said the LNP would ensure judges were required to give more consideration to the impact of offending on a victims physical, mental and emotional wellbeing.

Asked if the party would consider mandatory minimum sentencing, Crisafulli said the party would listen to Queenslanders and flagged more policy announcements to come.

The measure of detention as a last resort for children is enshrined in international law, including in the United Nations convention on the rights of the child, which Australia has ratified.

The premier, Steven Miles, has previously labelled the LNP policy incredibly dangerous and said it would harden children and make them more likely to re-offend.

The Labor party introduced the legal provision of detention as a last resort to the act in 2016. But on Monday, Miles softened his stance, saying the government would consider adopting the LNP policy if a youth justice committee recommended it.

Thats certainly not our intention, but we have a select committee at the moment so we will see what they recommend, he said.

We will consider whatever they recommend.

The bipartisan youth justice select committee, chaired by independent MP Sandy Bolton, is expected to deliver its interim report next month.

Miles on Monday promised new laws before the middle of the year which will include improving media access to youth justice court proceedings.

The premier also criticised the LNP for politicising community safety for their own benefit after the party rolled out television ads about youth crime this week.

The weakening of Labors stance comes after the party backflipped and overrode the states Human Rights Act to make breach of bail an offence for children.

Labors adoption of the LNP policy more than a year ago did not quieten talk from the tabloid media or the opposition about the states youth crime crisis.
Peter Dutton and Anthony Albanese during question time. Labor and the Coalition gagged debate on the migration amendment (removals and other measures) bill after a little over two hours. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Legislation that would force hundreds of non-citizens to facilitate their own deportation or face imprisonment has been rushed through the lower house, despite warnings it breaches human rights obligations.

The Labor government combined with Peter Duttons opposition shortly before question time on Tuesday to approve the new powers for the immigration minister despite howls of dissent from independents and minor parties about lack of due process.

After the bill was introduced at noon, Labor and the Coalition gagged debate after a little over two hours. The migration amendment (removals and other measures) bill passed to the Senate, where it will be considered by a two-hour inquiry hearing on Tuesday evening before possible passage on Wednesday.

Related: Hundreds of unlawful non-citizens face jail if they refuse to cooperate in deportation from Australia

The bill gives the minister the power to direct a non-citizen who is due to be deported to do specified things necessary to facilitate their removal, or risk a mandatory minimum sentence of one year in prison or up to five years.

The Greens, independents, Refugee Council of Australia and Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law have raised concerns that the bill applies to those who had fast-track assessment of their protection claims, which Labor criticised in opposition.

We are concerned that those who do have strong claims, but have not had a fair hearing or review, will be sent back to real harm, the Refugee Council chief executive officer, Paul Power, said.

At the Tuesday inquiry hearing, home affairs officials said the bill would apply to people whose claim for refugee protection had been finally resolved, but could not say how many were assessed by the fast track.

They said the bill would apply to at least 150 to 200 people in detention, people on bridging visa R including those released by the NZYQ high court decision, and an unspecified number on other bridging visas on a pathway to removal.

But the Greens senator David Shoebridge noted there was no limit to the minister using regulation to add visa classes to the list of those who can be given directions.

In parliament, the independent MP Kylea Tink argued the bill breached Australias obligation not to forcibly return asylum seekers to their country of persecution.

The independent MP Zoe Daniel warned that if we make a mistake here people may be taken back to their country of persecution and murdered.

The most contentious provision states that it is not a reasonable excuse to the new offence of refusing a direction that the person has a genuine fear of suffering persecution or significant harm if the person were removed.

The Human Rights Law Centre said the provisions will apply to people who have serious and legitimate claims for protection.

They risk serious non-compliance with Australias obligations under the refugee convention as well as other international instruments.

The bill deliberately separates families, it said. The minister can require a person to comply with a direction in relation to their removal, irrespective of the impact this would have on their spouse, children or other family members.

The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, warned the bill meant a mum who refuses to sign a passport application for her children to be returned to Iran where they have a fear of persecution could be put in jail. He noted this carried a mandatory minimum sentence of a year in prison, in apparent breach of Labors platform.

In the hearing, the home affairs general counsel Clare Sharp said the legislation doesnt prevent [family separation] from happening, its possible, but it may be a reason the minister may grant a person a visa.

In question time, Tink noted the bill can force guardians to take actions in the aid of having their children removed from Australia.

The immigration minister, Andrew Giles, noted the bill contains a safeguard which deals with children, that is, that children cannot be issued directions to facilitate their own deportation.

Giles claimed that the bill was consistent with Australias human rights obligations. In fact, the statement of compatibility said it was consistent in most respects but to the extent it limits human rights it does so in order to maintain the integrity of the migration system.

What were doing with  this important piece of legislation is to fill a very significant loophole, that a small cohort of people who have no basis upon which to remain in Australia are refusing to cooperate with efforts to affect their removal.

Giles said that those affected were not refugees. The bills explanatory memorandum says those who have been found to engage Australias protection obligations  cannot be directed to interact with or be removed to their country of persecution, but can be directed to do things to be removed to a safe third country.

The bill also creates a power for the government to designate another country as a removal concern country, which will impose a bar on new visa applications from non-citizens outside Australia who are nationals of a country that does not accept removals from Australia.

The power could affect applicants hoping to leave countries including Russia, Iran, Iraq and South Sudan.

Shoebridge said that entire communities in Australia face being permanently barred from visits from relatives from those countries.

The Refugee Legal executive director, David Manne, said this aspect of the bill was discriminatory and extreme overreach.

Govts seeking to rush new visa ban laws on people from countries whod normally be able to come here, purely because they hold the same nationality as people already here who can't be deported. Its draconian, discriminatory and extreme overreach. @RefugeeLegal  David Manne (@david_manne) March 26, 2024

The shadow immigration minister, Dan Tehan, told Guardian Australia the Coalition was worried if the bill doesnt work as intended, it could force people to get more desperate and jump on boats if their country is designated.

The independent senator David Pocock said it was incredibly disappointing that Labor was rushing the bill through, accusing the major parties of disgraceful treatment of independents who had raised concerns about the bill.
Mr Lukashenko said he closed the border with Russia following a personal request from Vladimir Putin in the aftermath of the atrocity - Pavel Bednyakov

The Crocus City Hall terrorist attackers tried to flee to Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko said in a statement undermining Vladimir Putin.

The Belarusian dictators remarks contradict claims by the Kremlin and top Russian security officials that the attackers were backed by Ukraine and tried to escape there as part of a pre-arranged plan.

Speaking to Belarus media, Mr Lukashenko said he closed the border with Russia following a personal request from Mr Putin in the aftermath of the atrocity.

He asked me, will you help me close [the Russian-Belarusian border]? Lukashenko said in remarks carried by the official Belta news agency. He said, I will. Were doing everything. That was the conversation.

Thats why they turned around and went toward the Ukrainian-Russian section of the border.

On Monday evening, Putin said in televised remarks that Islamist radicals had carried out the attack but that it appeared to have been orchestrated by Ukraine.

He has insisted that the attackers intended to cross into Ukraine after their Moscow rampage.

Terrorists gunned down at least 139 people at the Crocus City Hall concert venue outside Moscow on Friday night.

The Islamic State terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack, which was the worst in Russia for 20 years.

Four suspects were detained in Bryansk region, which borders both Ukraine and Belarus, several hours later.

The Russian-Belarusian border is usually relatively loosely policed in accordance with a union-state agreement between the two countries.

The Bloomberg News agency reported on Tuesday that four sources close to the Kremlin said the government knows there is no evidence of involvement by Ukraine.

One person told the agency that Mr Putin was at a meeting where officials agreed Ukraine was not linked to the attack but that the president is determined to use his unproven claim to rally support for the war.

The Telegraph could not immediately confirm the report.

Alexander Bortnikov, the head of the FSB, Russias internal security agency, said on Tuesday that Britain, the United States, and Ukraine were all linked to the attack.

Nikolai Patrushev, the secretary of Russias security council, said of course Ukraine when asked who he believed was responsible.

Ukraine has rejected allegations that it was involved and suggested Russia orchestrated it as a false-flag attack. The United States and France have said Islamic State organised the attack and acted alone.

His comments came as Russian authorities arrested an eighth man in connection with the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack.

Alisher Kasimov, a Russian citizen born in Kyrgyzstan, is accused of renting a flat to the attackers, Russian media reported. He said in court on Tuesday morning he did not know of their plans.

Officials said he was ordered to be held in detention until at least May 22, without detailing the exact accusations against him.

The four suspected attackers were detained on Saturday after several hours on the run.

Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, 32; Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, 30; Shamsidin Fariduni, 25; and Mukhammadsobir Faizov, 19 have been remanded in custody until May 22.

All four showed signs of beatings and torture when they were arraigned in court over the weekend. Footage released on Wagner-affiliated Telegram channels showed security officers electrocuting one of the men with a field telephone wired to his genitals. Another video showed an officer cutting off Rachabalizods right ear and pushing it into his mouth.

Three other men, all from the same family, were arrested on Monday evening on suspicion of assisting the attackers by providing the getaway vehicle.

Brothers Dilovar and Aminchon Islomov have been charged with terrorism. Their father Isroil Islomov has not been charged but is considered a suspect, Meduza reported.

Alexander Bastrykin, the head of Russias Investigative Committee, said on Monday that the three, who live in the city of Tver northwest of Moscow, were believed to be part of the terrorist group and assisted the attackers by providing the vehicle, a flat, and moving money for them.

Dilovar Islomov told Novaya Gazeta Europe he and his brother turned themselves in when they recognised the white Renault used by the attackers as the car he had sold to his wifes brother a week previously. He said they were innocent of involvement in the terror attack.

The arrests came as further details emerged of the suspected attackers movements before Friday night.

At least two had recently travelled between Russia and Turkey.

A Turkish official told the AFP news agency that Saidakrami and Fariduni were able to travel freely between Russia and Turkey since there was no warrant for their arrest.
Police keep protesters and counter-protesters separate during an anti-trans rights protest outside Victorian parliament on Saturday. Photograph: Michael Currie/Sopa Images/Rex/Shutterstock

The leader of a self-described nationalist organisation, who was formerly a member of the far-right white nationalist group the Lads Society, addressed an anti-transgender rights rally on the steps of the Victorian parliament at the weekend.

Matthew Trihey, who also goes by Matthew Raine, has since apologised for drawing attention for his appearance, after he lent his public address system to Saturdays #WomenWillSpeak event and made opening and closing speeches.

Trihey, a former boxer and mixed martial arts fighter, runs a self-described nationalist group that aims to preserve western culture and identity, return to natural order and introduce an immediate moratorium on immigration.

He said he had previously been a member of the Lads Society, a group which, according to its leader, aimed to attract members of mainstream society under the guise of a mens fitness club while keeping its explicitly white supremacist agenda hidden. The groups leader, Thomas Sewell, went on to found the National Socialist Network, a neo-Nazi group with members in most major cities in Australia.

Related: Police defend using pepper spray at #WomenWillSpeak rally on Victoria parliament steps

For those who are here for the #WomenWillSpeak event, thank you for coming, Trihey told the crowd on Saturday. To the brave women here, who have the courage to speak out in a society that women are being silenced, thank you.

He then introduced the events organiser, Michelle Uriarau from the Womens Action Group.

In a series of responses provided to Guardian Australia, Trihey denied he was a neo-Nazi. He said he had left the Lads Society five years ago due to philosophical differences, after about 11 months as a member.

I have been politically dissolutioned [sic] for many years and realised that there is no movement or political party that represents me, which is why I started the National Workers Alliance, he said.

Trihey said that, before he addressed Saturdays rally, he had been holding a separate information rally and flyer drop off when he was asked by a member of his group if he could bring his PA system to the parliament.

I was happy to help out as I support what they are doing and so offered them my PA and did a quick intro and closing statement, he said.

He said he had since contacted Uriarau to apologise for the criticism that my involvement has brought them.

I am not a neo nazi, I have never been a member of the NSN and I am not a hateful person, Trihey said. I was not approached by the #WomenWillSpeakGroup, I offered assistance and they accepted.

Guardian Australia has attempted to contact Uriarau.

After anti-fascist researchers from the White Rose Society linked Trihey to the Lads Society, describing it as a neo-Nazi group in social media posts, Uriarau, who is Maori, took to X to dismiss suggestions he was a neo-Nazi.

So, who here can tell me WHY WOULD ANY NAZI KINDLY OFFER HELP TO A MAORI WAHINE [Maori woman], eh?? she wrote.

Funnily enough, I just happen to have experience on matters such as these. The answer is  they dont. Nazis believe Maori wahine are nothing more than dirt.

The Womens Action Group was founded by a group of women in rural and regional Victoria in 2019 to oppose changes to the law that allowed trans and gender-diverse people to change their recorded sex on their birth certificates.

According to a biography on the groups YouTube account, it opposes transgender ideology being forced upon their communities through culture and in law and lobbies politicians to resist changes in regulation and legislation that will bring harm to women and girls.

Members have previously gathered for events at parliament.

On Saturday their rally was met by a group of counter-protesters supportive of transgender rights.

Police said they had to use pepper spray when counter-protesters tried to breach their line. Footage shows several protesters tackled to the ground by officers, with a newspaper photographer also knocked over.

Two women in their 20s were arrested at the scene and were expected to be charged on summons.

Police issued a statement stating they were disappointed at the behaviour of many of the 100 people who attended the rally. They said they would also review available footage of the rally to identify any further offending.

The event came a year after the Let Women Speak event, which was headlined by the British activist Kellie-Jay Keen, who also goes by Posie Parker. Uriarau also spoke at that event.

At the time, a group of men from the NSN gatecrashed the event and performed the Sieg Heil salute on the front steps of parliament, which led to the fast-tracking of laws banning the Nazi gesture.

Related: Victorian opposition leader accused of trashing activists reputation in second defamation suit

The Victorian state MP Moira Deeming, who spoke at the Let Women Speak event, was later expelled from the Victorian Liberal party. She, along with Keen and another event organiser, Angie Jones, is suing the opposition leader, John Pesutto, for defamation.

The three cases are listed for a case management hearing in the federal court on Thursday.

Jones distanced herself from the #WomenWillSpeak event on X, stating she had not organised or attended the event.

Uriarau said while she was inspired by Keens incredible work, she was not affiliated with the British activist or Let Women Speak.

We are not affiliated with KJK at all, Uriarau wrote on X. We operate independently and are a grassroots womens group in [Victoria].

Our event was not even on the anniversary of KJKs event. We organise around our own private lives & the fulltime caring work we do for our own families.
Wuhan Institute of Virology - Thomas Peter/Reuters

A former New York Times journalist has attacked a group of leading scientists for clearly misleading him over the Covid lab-leak theory in the early days of the pandemic.

Donald McNeil Jr said he became sceptical of the hypothesis the virus was engineered in a Wuhan lab after several top epidemiological virologists insisted it wasnt possible.

Mr McNeil Jr said their efforts to throw him off track influenced the newspapers coverage of the theory and likely contributed to the topic being dropped for a year.

However, the experts initially thought the lab leak theory was plausible but didnt want to disclose so for political reasons, according to a raft of messages between them accidentally released by a US congressional committee last year.

In his book The Wisdom of Plagues, which looks back at 25 years covering pandemics, Mr McNeil Jr said the scientists clearly misled me early on and he was a victim of deception.

He said he was disappointed, both in them and in myself, that I was so easily taken in.

Its one thing to be lied to by a politician and fail to check it out. But on viral evolution, to whom do you go for a second opinion?, he wrote.

If Albert Einstein assured you that nuclear fission is harmless, whom would you trust to quote saying, Einsteins dead wrong?

Mr McNeil Jr resigned from the New York Times in 2021 after the paper reprimanded him for repeating a racial slur used by a student in a discussion of whether that student should be suspended by their school.

Last year, private messages released by the US Oversight Committee revealed conversations between several scientists who penned a key paper published in Nature Medicine in March 2020.

The paper, The Proximal Origin of Sars-CoV-2, argued that a natural spillover event caused the pandemic and was instrumental in stifling debate into the origins of the virus.

Among the authors were British scientist Prof Andrew Rambaut, professor of molecular evolution at the University of Edinburgh, and first author Prof Kristian Andersen, of the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California.

The messages showed that in the weeks before publication the scientists had acknowledged that a laboratory leak was a possibility but were concerned about upsetting the Chinese.

Some of the messages also showed the researchers discussing how to respond to queries from Mr McNeil Jr about the origins of the virus.

Mr McNeil Jr emailed both Prof Rambaut and Prof Andersen on 6 February 2020 over a tip off that the government was trying to investigate the possibility the virus was made in a lab in Wuhan.

The scientists shared his emails on messaging platform Slack, with Professor Robert Garry writing Mr McNeil Jr was very credible but like any reporter can be mislead [sic].

Don... pretty much nailed it, Prof Andersen added. Lets not tell him. They told him the rumours were demonstrably false and 10 days later published Proximal Origins.

Discussing his response to another email from Mr McNeil Jr nine days later, Prof Andersen told his colleagues he had used humour to deflect the fact Im dismissing him and added a very deliberate smiley face.

Mr McNeil Jr said the scientists responses affected how he interpreted the issue and how the newspaper covered it.

He said the debate has now reached a stalemate and adherents of both sides keep hurling mud.

Science journalists are caught in the middle  even editors not committed to either side for partisan reasons keep demanding to know which explanation is most likely so they can assign analyses of which political candidates benefit, he wrote.

If both sides are willing to lie or mislead journalists, embarrassing errors become inevitable. And the truth never comes out.

Prof Andersen told Mr McNeil Jr he had never misled him and his answers were accurate and specific.

Last year he said the messages had been hijacked by grifters and conspiracy theorists, and turned into a nonsensical political circus where individual scientists (i.e. human beings) are being targeted and harassed.

Responding to the release of messages in 2023, Prof Rambaut said that there was no proof of accidental release, so the team had erred on the side of caution.

We had no evidence it was anything other than a virus from nature, he said: Dont go accusing people of things if there is no evidence.

Mr McNeil Jr said he was surprised to read the Slack messages released in July.

They apparently felt it would be reckless to tell me what they suspected, he said, adding: I think that was a mistake. Im a pretty careful reporter and not an alarmist. I could have explained the context.

In any case, I think its generally a bad idea to mislead reporters. In democracies, all the beans eventually get spilled.
(Photo : Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)

A cargo ship is shown after running into and collapsing the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, 2024, in Baltimore, Maryland.



A major portion of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed early Tuesday morning after a large shipping vessel ran into one of its support structures.

"We have an unspeakable tragedy," Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said.

An active search and rescue mission was continuing, Maryland state officials said after the sun came up.

Bridge collapse key points

At least 4 vehicles located in water

50 divers in water

6 people believed missing

No link to terrorism

Ship lost power before hitting bridge

A video showed the large Singaporean-flagged cargo vessel Dali crash into the bridge at around 1:30 a.m. (05:30 UTC) and the incident caused multiple vehicles to fall into the river below.

Officials said there were no confirmed fatalities during a Tuesday morning news conference but rescue operations were still underway.

Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace said about 50 divers were in the water for the search.

They have located three passenger vehicles in the water and a cement truck. He says there is one other possible vehicle that was located. It is believed that all of the vehicles were conntected to the contruction crew.

The ship lost power and declared a mayday before hitting the bridge. State officials say bridge workers immediately closed the bridge to vehicle traffic and that may have saved lives.

In an interview on CNN, Wallace said the wreckage in the water presented challenges and crews were worried about a secondary collapse.

MarylandGov. Wes Moore said there was no indication that it was terrorism related and appeared to be an accident.

The ship's crew reported losing power before the bridge strike.

Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul J. Wiedefeld said crews faced challenges with the conditions in the water.

"Very tough situation," Wiedefeld said.

"All crew members, including the two pilots, have been accounted for, and there are no reports of any injuries. There has also been no pollution," the firm said in a statement obtained by the shipping news outlet TradeWinds.

According to Shipwreck Log and VesselFinder, the ship was previously involved in an incident in Antwerp, Belgium, in 2016 and the ship had just left Baltimore to head toward Sri Lanka when she struck the bridge.

Baltimore Bridge Collapse 2024

Multiple vehicles fell into the water as the bridge collapsed; authorities are trying to rescue at seven construction workers who were doing maintenance work on the bridge at the time of the incident.

Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace said two people were pulled from the water. One of them was able to walk away without medical care. The other person was in very serious condition at a hospital.

"There's many more we have to find," Mayor Scott said. "This is an all hands on deck situation."

"This is a dire emergency. Our focus right now is trying to rescue and recover these people," Baltimore Fire Department communication director Kevin Cartwright said, adding that it was too early to know how many people were affected but called the collapse a "developing mass casualty event."

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said that he had offered his support to the state and city.

"Rescue efforts remain underway and drivers in the Baltimore area should follow local responder guidance on detours and response," he wrote on X.

Ive spoken with Gov. Moore and Mayor Scott to offer USDOTs support following the vessel strike and collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge. Rescue efforts remain underway and drivers in the Baltimore area should follow local responder guidance on detours and response.  Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) March 26, 2024

The Maryland Transportation Authority posted on X: "All lanes closed [in] both directions for [the] incident on I-695 Key Bridge. Traffic is being detoured."

Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse

The Francis Scott Key Bridgenamed after the poet who penned the US national anthem, The Star-Spangled Bannerwas opened in 1977 and spans the Patapsco River. It is a vital artery that, along with the Port of Baltimore, is a hub for shipping on the US East Coast. The bridge carries Interstate 695 over the Patapsco.

From a vantage point near the entrance to the bridge, jagged remnants of its steel frame protrude from the water. An on-ramp now ends abruptly where the fallen span once began.

HNGN Senior Reporter Luke Funk contributed to this report.

@ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Starmer-branded boring practicality is the best hope we have against a populist government rushing to the extreme right. Photograph: House of Commons/UK Parliament/PA

Im a politically disenchanted member of gen Z who is dragging herself to the polls with little hope that any politician can significantly raise my spirits after 14 years of Tory horror. But little hope is still hope. When I read Owen Joness article my heart sank, and I fear facing another five years staring into the austere blue abyss (The Labour party is in my blood. Heres why Ive just cancelled my membership, 21 March). Is Jones really helping? Hes made it clear in his article and video that voting for what feels like our only option to end Tory rule is a terrible idea. Despite his optimistic attempt to promote vague alternatives to Labour, I feel more cynical.

In every election I have voted in, the Conservatives have always won. Theyre good at winning. The first time I think my Labour vote could be used to oust them, Jones tries to convince us not to bother.

Up against millions more pounds in campaign funding, and constituency boundary changes, Im not confident Labour has this one in the bag. Though the Greens care deeply about our planets future survival and some independents are seeking power for the people, splitting the left-leaning vote is not practical. Starmer-branded boring practicality is the best hope we have against a populist government rushing to the extreme right.

Clarice Francis

London

 Owen Jones recommends that people who think that Labour has somehow betrayed them should support the Greens or independents at the next election. While voting for one of these candidates might well assuage his own personal moral outrage at Labours supposed failings, these groups are never likely to form a government, but could well damage Keir Starmers chance of securing a parliamentary majority. So, the questions is: would he, and those who think like him, prefer to have another five years of the Tory party smashing up whats left of the welfare state?

Richard Ellis

Stoke-on-Trent

 Owen Joness article strikes a resonant chord. What is the point of being in government if the Labour party does nothing in office to move forward the lot of the less privileged members of society? Jeremy Corbyns policies may have failed to sway the electorate, but they did show positive and progressive intent and a direction of travel that appealed to a great many.

Ive just returned from an evening at the National Theatre celebrating the achievement of Aneurin Bevan, the leading architect and inspiration for the NHS. While celebrating its foundation, the play also eloquently makes the case for nursing the NHS back to health. The Labour party must show real leadership and devise policies that truly inspire.

Philip Huggett

London

 Like Owen Jones, I too am dismayed by the dismantling of Labour party values and beliefs. Now 74 years old, I too was a lifelong supporter and member of the party, a working-class girl raised by a single mother who believed, as I do, in shared support and care in society. I have two of her paintings of the Jarrow March on the wall of my home. I have been called many things, from misguided to dangerous, because of my views.

I resigned my membership of the party when it became clear after the EU referendum that they would never raise the flag of opposition and change. As Tony Benn declared: Dare to be a Daniel! Our children and grandchildren deserve better.

Anita Roberts

Oulton Broad, Suffolk

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The review was led by Dame Sara Khan, the governments independent adviser for social cohesion and resilience. Photograph: Sarah Lee/The Guardian

School leaders have welcomed proposals for the creation of a cohesion and conflict unit to support teachers who face freedom-restricting threats and harassment during the course of their work.

It is one of a number of recommendations in a government-commissioned review into threats to social cohesion in England, which highlights the case of a religious studies teacher at a school in West Yorkshire who was forced into hiding after accusations of blasphemy.

Published on Monday, the review said the teacher at Batley grammar school was left feeling suicidal and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after being targeted in an online and offline campaign of intimidation and abuse.

The teacher was suspended in March 2021 for showing pupils a drawing taken from the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo during a religious studies classes, provoking complaints from parents and protests outside the schools gates.

He was subsequently cleared of causing deliberate offence and was told he could have his job back, but the review criticised the handling of his case, claiming that appeasing the protesters to secure the end of the protests  at the expense of the religious studies teacher appeared to have been the priority.

The review, conducted by Dame Sara Khan, the governments independent adviser for social cohesion and resilience, also argued there was a disproportionate concern for not causing offence to the religious sensibilities of those who, unaware of the facts, chose to engage in intimidation and harassment.

The review said a cohesion and conflict unit would not only support affected teachers, it would provide guidance, training materials and resources and collect cohesion data. It also called for legislation to enforce 150-metre buffer zones around schools in England to prevent protests immediately outside school gates.

While demonstrations should always be peaceful, local authorities and police already have powers to restrict protests that are intended to be intimidatory, said Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union.

Geoff Barton, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, added: The idea of a cohesion and conflict unit to provide schools with guidance, training materials and resources, along with support and care for schools and teachers who find themselves threatened and harassed, sounds helpful.

However, this would  require further thought about how this would complement and work alongside existing advice and support systems.

Batley Multi Academy Trust, which is responsible for the school at the centre of the protests three years ago, defended its actions. 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.

We are therefore disappointed by todays report. We do not recognise much of what is in it, its description of the events, nor the characterisation of our school and community.

Michael Gove, the secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities, said Kahn was right about the threat posed by freedom-restricting harassment. She is also right about the need for new government architecture to protect our democracy and tackle threats to cohesion. Rapid work is currently under way that will do just that.

The review identified higher education as another area affected by freedom-restricting harassment and described how one university was forced to cancel a proposed academic research centre after threatening harassment to staff.

The government has appointed a university free speech tsar to protect freedom of speech and academic freedom and new legislation will impose a duty on English universities to take reasonable steps to promote free speech, or face sanctions including possible fines.

A consultation on guidance about the new duty, published on Tuesday, warned that universities in England could be ordered to terminate agreements with overseas countries if they are found to have undermined free speech and academic freedom.

One of the examples included in the guidance, published by the regulator of higher education in England, the Office for Students, described the case of a university that accepts international students on visiting scholarships funded by an overseas country.

If students are required to accept the principles of the ruling party of that country, that could undermine free speech and academic freedom and the university may have to end or amend the agreement, the guidance says.

The warning comes amid mounting concern about English universities growing dependence on fees from international students to stay afloat. The Sunday Times reported that many of the UKs most prestigious universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, now get only a minority of their fee income from British students, with some getting more than three-quarters of their fees from abroad.

Prof Arif Ahmed, director for freedom of speech and academic freedom at the OfS, was asked at a briefing whether there were fears that universities were putting the financial benefits of international students over preserving free speech for academics and students.

He said the OfS would look at individual complaints, adding: If we find a case where, for instance, a university thinks because its financially expedient that it can breach its free speech duties and it doesnt have to take practical steps to secure freedom of speech, or it thinks that it can compromise on those things simply because its financially expedient, that could very well be a case where they are in fact breaching their duties and we might find against them if a complaint comes to us.
Fondales is one of the seven whitewashed villages that form La Taha in Las Alpujarras, Andalucia. Photograph: QCumber/Alamy

On our first morning in Atalbeitar, I walk into the kitchen to make coffee and wonder if Im feeling the effects of the previous nights festivities. Then I remember its not me; its the kitchen floor, which is on a gentle slope. I have to be careful carrying the coffee back to bed as the steps are at different heights, and the doorways are small enough to bump your head on. As I lie there, beneath a ceiling constructed of woven chestnut branches and stone slabs, I survey my surroundings, and come to the pleasing conclusion that theres not a single right angle in sight.

We are staying in a Moorish house in this Andalucian village, and I may as well have travelled back the 700 years to when it was first built. Ive been visiting Spain for years, as my husband leads wilderness tours here and weve travelled from one end to the other, seeking out hidden corners and mountain trails. But arriving in Atalbeitar at night, negotiating its tangle of passageways, ducking under ancient covered walkways while spring water rushes past our feet, we both agree, weve never been anywhere quite like this. The village gives the impression of having grown out of the land, rather than been imposed upon it. Its streets are too narrow for cars, the village cats roam freely, and the only sound is the occasional bleating of goats across the slopes. As I look out over the valley on this crisp winters morning, the sun is blazing in a solid blue sky and early almond blossom adds splashes of pastel pink to the rocky hills. Everything is still and silent.

Atalbeitar is part of La Taha, a group of seven villages in the Alpajurras region of Andalucia. Its a tiny speck on the map of Spain, on a southern slope of the Sierra Nevada overlooking the deep gorge of the Trevelez River. Settled by the Nasrid dynasty of Granada, the people who built its Alhambra, the whitewashed villages of Pitres, Atalbeitar, Capilerilla, Mecina, Mecinilla, Fondales and Ferreirola have retained their Moorish feel thanks to their unique architecture and remote location. Access into the valley is by a winding mountain road that passes through Pitres, the main town, but all the other villages are reached by spurs off this road, so there is no passing trade.

In Atalbeitar, this is no cause for concern. There is no trade to be had. It has a population of 31, and no shop or restaurant, although there is an improvised social club/bar, run by village stalwart Jesus, who opens up his home on the main square when the mood takes him. Thats not to say there isnt a lively social scene. La Taha boasts a busy calendar of festivals, many of them relating to Easter and various Saints days, but some are specific to the region, such as an autumn chestnut festival called Mauraca, and the summer Santa Cruz fiesta, which includes a traditional burial of the fox, with a fancy dress parade culminating in a bonfire cremation of a mock fox stuffed with fireworks.

The village gives the impression of having grown out of the land, rather than been imposed upon it

Our arrival, in mid-January, coincides with the first festival of the year, Chisco de San Anton, when each of the La Taha villages celebrates with a bonfire in the central plaza and a feast of barbecued pork and local sweet wine. The definitive reason for the festivities seems to have been lost in the mists of time  its all about the party. The most striking aspect for us  arriving fresh from cash-strapped England with its bankrupt councils  is that all the meat and bread and booze is provided by the local authority.

Soon, the flames are rising high, a jam-band of local musicians has set up by the fire and the scent of roasting meat fills the air. The crowd is small and friendly, a mix of ages and nationalities, which according to our hosts, Scottish-Spanish couple, Tom and Carmen, is typical of La Taha. The area is a quiet success story that contradicts rural Spains usual lament of empty villages and dying populations. Over the years, the seven villages have attracted an international crowd of artists, musicians and writers. The nearest major town, Orgiva, is famous for its longstanding hippy commune and bohemian reputation, and La Taha, 45 minutes drive away, with its rambling old houses and fertile land, is a perfect location to seek out la buena vida.

Were invited into the jam session, and a truly outre mix of banjo, harmonica, guitar, drums and penny whistle are soon bashing out a 12-bar blues with improvised Romanian lyrics. We use a jar of lentils from our rental property as a percussion instrument. The meat and wine seem limitless but in true British form, we peak early and leave the locals to their late-night carousing.

La Taha provides a truly natural detox, with a refreshing lack of wellbeing waffle. There are no expensive retreats, or burned-out execs turned wellness gurus

In the morning, steadying my sea legs on the kitchen floor, I remind myself of our holiday intentions: two weeks of healthy living after the excesses of the festive season, starting with a heart-pumping walk each day. The villages of La Taha are connected by a network of trails, and over the course of our stay we vow to visit each village on foot. Our first trek takes us along the river gorge to Pitres: its a dramatic, rugged hike punctuated by gasps of both amazement and a shameful lack of fitness.

The slopes of the Trevelez valley are insanely steep, winding through enchanted forests of pine and oak, with orchards of orange and lemon trees in the villages, and wild figs and pomegranates at every turn. The valleys geology is striated with mica and the landscape shimmers silver in the sunlight. Walking this lush, verdant land, we find it hard to believe that much of Spain is in the midst of a crippling drought. Streams pour down the mountainside and natural springs bubble from the rock. In the depth of the forest we come to the most famous spring, Fuente la Gaseosa, where a high concentrate of iron carbonates in the rock has created a natural supply of agua con gas, fizzing straight out of the ground.

We start our walks with the most challenging uphill climbs but eventually make it down to the bottom of the valley, drawn to the roar of the Trevelez long before we can see it. Our efforts are rewarded with a final scramble through the undergrowth to an icy dip in a natural pool beneath a Roman bridge.

The clean light, abundant water and fresh mountain air do wonders for everything that ails you. Its hard to believe, in our ultra-connected western European lives, that such magical, unchanged places can still be found. The villages themselves are beautiful in their simplicity, with just a couple of humble, old-school hotels, and cafes serving good coffee and not much else. Theres a weekly market in Pitres, and vans selling bread and fish do the rounds of the villages.

La Taha provides a truly natural detox, with a refreshing lack of wellbeing waffle. There are no expensive retreats, or burned-out execs turned wellness gurus exhorting you to live your best life. Just a horde of territorial cats, an old man in his pyjamas grunting Buenas from his balcony every morning, and all the bounty of mother earth  everything you need for the good life.

Details of the walking trails between the villages, 7 Towns, 7 Routes, can be found here. The writer stayed at albaholidaylets.com
Thousands of men, women and children have come to the region in search of gold - JEKESAI NJIKIZANA/AFP/Getty Images

A river runs through Penhalonga, a rich gold mining area about 18 kilometres north of Zimbabwes eastern border city of Mutare.

Not so long ago, this waterway used to nourish thousands of local people, livestock, croplands and pastures as it meanders towards its confluence with the river Odzi. But the tributary is now heavily polluted; its waters murky and reddish brown and its bed heavily silted.

The ecological disaster is man made. Penhalonga has been overrun by thousands of illegal miners  men, women and young children  who have come to the region in search of gold.

As in so many gold rushes from history, the prospectors are causing immense damage. They are hacking down acre upon acre of lush vegetation.

They are clogging and redirecting streams with dams and waste materials or tailings. And worst of all, they are poisoning water-sources with the neuro-toxin mercury, endangering not only their own lives but the lives of all those who live nearby.

The country has a long history of gold mining

Weston Makoni, chairman of the Penhalonga Residents Association, told The Telegraph that the mining threatened to turn the area into a wasteland. The illegal gold miners are now everywhere, he said. They are polluting our water and environment with mercury. Our livestock is also drinking this poisoned water; our crops are irrigated with the poisoned water. And the mercury is finding its way into our food chain.

Zimbabwes crumbing economy, long afflicted by poor management, political conflict and climate change, has pushed millions into taking desperate measures to survive.

It is estimated that some 800,000 are now involved in illegal mining, and many will stop at nothing as they hunt for gold. In the countrys southeastern Chimanimani district, miners are tearing down vast timber plantations and farmlands. While in Kwekwe, in the center of the country, they are destroying schools, houses, roads and even railway lines.

In many ways it is not surprising  the World Food Programme estimates that nearly three million people in the country do not have enough food  but the use of mercury is causing immense damage.

A tank holding water supplies for residents in Zimbabwe - Andrew Mambondiyani

The liquid metal, once famous for driving Victorian English hatters and mirror makers mad, is used the world over by small-scale miners to pinpoint and isolate gold. It is spread in the mud and mixes with flecks of gold to create an amalgam that is then set aside and burned. Gold is left behind, while the mercury vapours are left to leach into the environment.

Zimbabwes Environmental Management Agency has warned it has no methods of cleaning up mercury from the environment.

Mr Makoni said children in the area were abandoning school to join the lucrative but dangerous gold rush. He said that on one afternoon in March this year, he saw two young miners brazenly digging for gold just behind a small church in the area.

The situation is becoming so dire. And we dont even know what to do, he said.

The history of gold mining in Penhalonga dates back more than a century. Over that time, different companies have come and gone and today mining is dominated by small time prospectors who operate illegally. And mercury, they say, is their lifeblood.

In gold mining, mercury is everything. We use it to extract the gold. But we are not handling it carelessly; mercury is very expensive here. We try to be careful, said Lovemore Chikuni, a miner in the Penhalonga area.

Illegal gold miners tear down timber plantations in Zimbabwe - Andrew Mambondiyani

Illegal gold miners have also been accused of polluting water sources - Andrew Mambondiyani

In an effort to curb the use of mercury in Zimbabwe, the country ratified the Minamata Convention on Mercury in 2020 which banned the use of the toxin in gold mining.

The convention  a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from adverse effects of mercury  was first adopted in Kumamoto, Japan in 2013.

But in Zimbabwe, mercury continues to flow in abundance, albeit illegally, funded by the global market for gold.

We buy the mercury from some rich gold buyers, said Mr Chikuni. These buyers want us to produce as much gold as possible so they make sure they supply us with the mercury. But I dont know where they are getting it from. I suspect they are smuggling it from neighbouring countries.

At least one study showed that there were increased levels of mercury in urine and blood samples taken in two artisanal gold mining areas in Zimbabwe.

Mercury exposure is a major occupational health risk for miners, the research said.

Illegal mining can also result in accidents: rescuers retrieve a young boy  one of many trapped in a pit at Kadoma, Zimbabwe - PHILIMON BULAWAYO/REUTERS

Mercury is neurotoxic and chronic exposure to the chemical leads to serious health issues, including damage to the nervous system, kidney, liver and immune system over time.

Symptoms of mercury poisoning include numbness in the hands and feet, muscle weakness, skin rush and impaired vision, speech and hearing as well as mood swings and memory loss.

In Zimbabwe, artisanal and small scale gold mining represents the greatest source of anthropogenic mercury pollution, experts say.

Another study revealed that in Kadoma  another gold rich area in Zimbabwe  women were exposed to mercury while living in mining areas or when working directly with the chemical resulting in breast fed children being exposed.

Breast fed infants are exposed via mercury contaminated milk and the general environmental mercury exposure, the study said.

The pathways [for exposure] seemed to be directly by living in an exposed area, inhaling mercury vapour from smelting processes next to the infants home and as soon as they eat solid foods by contaminated local food products, added the authors.

Mercury is still found in abundance in mining areas throughout the country - JEKESAI NJIKIZANA/AFP/Getty Images

James Mupfumi, a mining and environmental expert based in Zimbabwe, told The Telegraph that mercury was still found in abundance in mining areas, not only Penhalonga, but across the country.

Despite the effects on health, many artisanal miners are still using it to process their gold. The chemical is found everywhere in illegal gold mining areas. Sadly, mercury is finding its way into our environment. The effects are devastating, said Mr Mupfumi who is also the director of the Centre for Research and Development, a Zimbabwe based investigative NGO.

Mr Mupfumi added there were efforts to find safer ways to extract gold without using mercury. One such technique using sodium borate or Borax was introduced in Cabo Delgado in neighbouring Mozambique. The chemical is much less toxic than mercury.

There is a need to raise awareness among the gold miners on the dangers of mercury and safer alternatives to mercury in gold processing, Mupfumi said.

Protect yourself and your family by learning more about Global Health Security
A Border Force officer reportedly spoke aggressively to two Israeli men Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

The Home Office is investigating allegations that two Israeli survivors of the 7 October Hamas terror attacks were subjected to antisemitic comments by a Border Force officer upon their arrival at Manchester airport.

The Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester & Region (JRC) has claimed the two men, brothers who had survived the Hamas assault on the Nova music festival in Reim, were told by one officer after being detained that they had to make sure that you are not going to do what you are doing in Gaza over here as they were released.

The men, who arrived in Manchester from Brussels on 24 March to raise money for a not-for-profit organisation, were detained for two hours and it is alleged they were subjected to an aggressive tone that was unnecessary and demeaning.

James Cleverly, the home secretary, confirmed on X that the claims were being investigated by his department, the Home Office.

In an open letter posted on X, Marc Levy, the chief executive of the JRC, said: We unequivocally condemn the fact that Israeli nationals were detained and subjected to abuse by a Border Police officer. The comment upon their release proves beyond any doubt that this individual was motivated by antisemitic intent.

Related: Antisemitism row engulfs Labour  Politics Weekly UK

The JRC claims it has a video of the Border Force officer speaking aggressively to the two men, one of whom is said to be a medic who treated the wounded at the music festival attack, which claimed the lives of 364 people and where 40 hostages were taken.

It is alleged the officer is heard saying keep quiet, look at me, are you clear with that? We are the bosses, not you.

Responding on X, Cleverly said: We are investigating this. We do not tolerate antisemitism or any form of discrimination. This incident will be handled in line with our disciplinary procedures.

A Home Office spokesperson added: 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.

Manchester airport said the border is staffed by UK Border Force personnel who are not employees of the airport. It added the airport is in touch with UK Border Force and the Home Office to ensure the serious allegations are looked into.
Rishi Sunak says: 'China represents the greatest state-based threat to our economic security' - DANNY LAWSON/PA

The UKs approach to dealing with China is more robust than most of its allies, Rishi Sunak has said.

The Prime Ministers remark came after he was challenged by MPs on the liaison committee over the Governments response to a major Chinese state-backed hacking operation.

He told the committee, which is made up of select committee chairmen, that China had engaged in behaviour that the UK and its allies wont stand for in reference to cyber attacks.

Mr Sunak rejected the suggestion from Liam Byrne, the Labour MP and chairman of the Commons business and trade committee, that while other nations acted to protect themselves against China, the UK was merely thinking about it.

Responding to the challenge, Mr Sunak said: Our approach to China is undoubtedly more robust than, Id say, most of our allies.

He pointed to European countries not removing Huawei equipment from their telecommunications networks, not placing similar restrictions on exports of sensitive technology to China and said the UKs foreign investment regime was the most recently implemented and therefore the most robust, among other examples.

Mr Sunak said: The first thing to say is China represents the greatest state-based threat to our economic security and  we have seen behaviour that we just wont stand for.

Their actions in relation to our and our allies democracies are deeply concerning, which is why recently we have taken a retaliatory action and we will continue to address their behaviour with tough action. Where we identify risks and threats the track record is clear that we will take action.

It was suggested to Mr Sunak that the UK had talked tough on China but had not actually taken any significant action.

The Prime Minister said: I am entirely confident that our approach to dealing with the risk that China poses is very much in line with our allies and in most cases goes further in protecting ourselves.

Mr Byrne, who has raised concerns about the influence of Chinese-owned businesses such as Bytedance, said in response that it clearly doesnt.

The Prime Ministers defence of the UKs China policy comes after the Government blamed Beijing for malicious cyber attacks on parliamentarians and the Electoral Commission, sanctioning some of those involved.

Cabinet tensions have reportedly surfaced over the issue, with some ministers pushing for tougher action on Beijing while others are resistant over concerns it could harm economic and trade relations.

On Tuesday, the charge daffaires at the Chinese embassy attended the Foreign Office following a formal summons to account for his countrys actions.

Gillian Keegan says China is an obvious security threat - TOLGA AKMEN/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK

The Foreign Office said it had set out an unequivocal condemnation of malicious cyber activity by organisations affiliated to Beijing, saying it would not tolerate such threatening activity, and would continue to take strong action with partners across the globe to respond.

Backbench Conservatives criticised the Governments actions, saying it had not gone far enough, while others renewed their calls for China to be labelled a threat.

Gillian Keegan, the Education Secretary, told Times Radio on Tuesday morning that China was obviously a security threat but Downing Street has been keen to play down the possibility that the Government could change its language on the country, which it currently calls an epoch-defining challenge.

Sir Iain Duncan Smith says Amazon should help people boycott China

Sir Iain Duncan Smith suggested that Chinese products should be labelled on Amazon so customers concerned about human rights issues can avoid buying them.

The former Tory leader said many people want to buy less from China but struggle to do so when shopping online because they dont know where the item comes from until its too late.

He called on the Government to do more to tackle the issue as pressure mounts on Mr Sunak to toughen his stance on Beijing after MPs branded his cyber attack sanctions feeble and pathetic.
A vial of the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine at a health clinic in Seattle, Washington, in 2019. Photograph: Lindsey Wasson/Reuters

Measles cases in the US are rising, as major health organizations plead for increased vaccination rates and experts fear the virus will multiply among unvaccinated populations.

Most notably, this years tally of measles cases has now outpaced last years total.

Related: Florida is swamped by disease outbreaks as quackery replaces science

On Thursday, there were 64 confirmed cases in 17 states, compared with 58 cases in the entirety of last year, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). By Friday, the tally in Chicago grew by two to a total of 17.

Measles is one of the most contagious diseases known to man, said Dr David Nguyen, an infectious disease specialist at Rush University Medical Center.

Experts say that these incidents could approach the outbreak that spanned 31 states in 2019, when 1,274 patients were sickened and 128 were hospitalized in the worst US measles outbreak in decades.

Yet the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is extremely effective. Just one dose offers about 93% protection against infection, while the second dose is 97% effective  and the protection is often lifelong. Treatments, isolation and airborne precautions also stop the spread of the virus.

Every measles outbreak can be entirely preventable, said Dr Aniruddha Hazra, associate professor of medicine at the University of Chicago.

The American Medical Association has issued an appeal to increase vaccination rates, while the CDC released a health advisory urging providers to ensure all travelers, especially children over six months, receive the MMR vaccine. Typically, the first dose of the vaccine is given at one year of age, which means babies are at particular risk in outbreaks. But an extra dose may be given after six months of age if a baby may be exposed to active cases.

Most of the cases  93% by last Monday  had been linked to international travel and most cases have been among children old enough to be vaccinated, the CDC says. Measles represents a major global threat, with more than 9m cases and about 136,200 deaths from measles, primarily children, in 2022.

Last month, there were 10 measles cases in south Florida, most of them linked to an outbreak at an elementary school, and doctors are still on the lookout for cases due to the long incubation period of the virus.

The Florida surgeon general, Dr Joseph Ladapo, controversially went against CDC recommendations and allowed unvaccinated children who had been exposed to measles to return to school without quarantining. Its not clear if Florida officials held vaccination campaigns to bolster immunity in schools. Local school officials declined to comment on this issue.

In Chicago, one measles case was reported earlier this month before the virus landed at a shelter for migrants, many of whom did not have access previously to health care like vaccines.

Measles was already here in Chicago, but like any communicable disease, they often migrate to vulnerable communities, said Hazra. The perfect storm is occurring.

About 1,900 people live in close quarters in a former warehouse. In Chicago, more than 11,000 people currently reside in shelters like these, which were hastily converted to house the nearly 37,000 migrants who have arrived in the city since 2022. These individuals were sent on buses and planes by order of Greg Abbott, the Texas governor.

Chicagos health department quickly administered nearly 1,000 MMR vaccines at the affected shelter, and people are lining up to get this vaccine, Hazra said. The CDC also deployed a team to help with contact tracing and isolation procedures.

Hazra noted that measles has a very long incubation period, meaning contact tracing and isolation can be leveraged more successfully with this disease than we were able to do with Covid-19.

Ninety percent of unvaccinated people will become infected if they are exposed to measles. The virus can linger in the air for hours and infect people who never come into direct contact with a patient. Each patient can infect an average of 12 to 18 other people if the community is not protected by vaccines.

Typically, at least one in five unvaccinated measles patients need to be hospitalized, and nearly one-fifth of children develop pneumonia. One in 600 babies who arent yet eligible for vaccines suffer from a fatal neurological complication, and about one in 1,000 children develop encephalitis, or brain swelling, which can lead to convulsions, deafness and intellectual disabilities.

Measles can also cause immune amnesia, making people more vulnerable to other infections in the months and years following a case.

In 2000, we declared measles eliminated in the US, Nguyen said. As the sparks of cases threaten to erupt into sustained outbreaks among unvaccinated communities, that status may be under threat, he said.

We need a lot of people to be vaccinated and immune in the population for it to stop spreading, Nguyen said. If youre not vaccinated, you should get vaccinated.

As of 2021, 91.6% of children over the age of two had received at least one MMR vaccine. But the share of kindergarteners protected by vaccines fell from 95.2% in the 2019-20 school year to 93.1% in 2022-23.

In outbreaks like the one seen in 2019, the virus can find a niche of unvaccinated people in a community and spread like wildfire.

These numbers will continue to rise, year to year, as we see erosion in vaccine confidence, said Hazra. And its not just going to stop at measles, but also other vaccine-preventable illnesses that we have been close to eradicating in this country for the past decades.
A Russian Rosguardia (National Guard) servicemen secures an area as a massive blaze engulfs the Crocus City Hall - Dmitry Serebryakov/AP

Volodymyr Zelensky has dismissed Oleksiy Danilov, Ukraines security council secretary, in a surprise reshuffle.

Mr Danilov, who has held the post since October 2019  a few months after the president took office  was replaced by Oleksandr Lytvynenko, the foreign intelligence service chief, under a decree published on the presidential website. No reason was given for the change.

Ukraines National Security and Defence Council coordinates issues of national security and contains the countrys top political, security and defence chiefs.

The move comes as Mr Zelensky continues to rotate high-ranking security and defence officials, with last months dismissal of Ukraines top general presaging a wider clear-out of the militarys top brass.

Follow the latest updates below

03:12 PM GMT

Thats all for today

Thank you for tuning in to todays live blog. Well be back tomorrow to bring you all the latest from the Russia-Ukraine war.

Key moments from today:

Russias internal security chief has accused Britain and the United States of being behind Fridays terrorist attack on Crocus City Hall, Roland Oliphant writes.

The Kremlins insistence that Ukraine is to blame for the Crocus City Hall massacre, the countrys worst terrorist attack in a generation, may be putting Russian lives at risk, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported.

Russia has started supplying oil directly to North Korea in defiance of UN sanctions as part of an arms-for-oil exchange, the Financial Times reported.

More than 20 people wounded in the Moscow terror attack, including two children, remain in a serious condition in hospital, Tass, Russias state-owned news agency, reported.

Kyiv has destroyed two Russian warships with missiles, including one stolen from Ukraine, the ministry of defence reported.

Nato is considering shooting down Russian missiles that stray too close to its borders, Andrzej Szejna, Polands deputy foreign minister, has claimed.

A Russian working for Ukrainian security services died when an explosive in his possession detonated while he was being arrested, Moscow has claimed.

Three more suspects have been arrested in connection to Fridays terrorist attack in Moscow that left 137 people dead.

Kyiv will carry out more attacks in Russia, and will adapt its tactics to remain one step ahead, Vasyl Maliuk, the head of security service (SBU), has said.

Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter accused by Russia of spying, had his pre-trial detention extended by three months, a Moscow court has ruled.

Ukrainies foreign minister has demanded that the West supply Kyiv with Patriot air defence missiles in a sign of growing impatience at Western aid delays.

Any global peace summit on Ukraine that excludes Russia is simply absurd and will fail, Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, has said.

03:08 PM GMT

Pictured: Russian and Ukrainian troops pay tribute to the dead

Russian Emergency Ministry cadets lay flowers at a makeshift memorial in front of the burnt-out Crocus City Hall concert venue in Krasnogorsk - NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AFP

Ukrainian servicemen carry the coffin of a fallen soldier in front of St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery in Kyiv - Vadim Ghirda/AP

03:05 PM GMT

Russian security chief accuses Britain of concert hall terror attack

Russias internal security chief has accused Britain and the United States of being behind Fridays terrorist attack on Crocus City Hall, Roland Oliphant writes.

Alexander Bortnikov, the head of the Federal Security Service, the main successor to the KGB, said investigators had not yet established who ordered the attack but insisted the West and Ukraine were linked to it.

Russian news agencies cited Mr Bortnikov as saying: We believe the action was prepared both by the radical Islamists themselves and, of course, facilitated by Western special services, and Ukraines special services themselves have a direct connection to this.

The one who ordered it has not been identified yet. We understand and see those who organised this process, who recruited and set specific tasks.

However Mr Bortnikov went on to declare: The USA, Britain and Ukraine are behind the terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall.

Read Rolands full report here.

03:00 PM GMT

EU has delivered 500,000 shells to Ukraine, says chief diplomat

The European Union has delivered half a million shells to Kyiv, Josep Borrell, the blocs chief diplomat, said, as he renewed his promise to provide a million by the end of the year.

We have donated 500.000 artillery shells to Ukraine and by the end of the year it will be more than 1 million, Mr Borrell said in a blog post.

On top of the million donated shells, another 400,000 shells will be provided to Ukraine through commercial contracts with the European defense industry, Mr Borrell said.

The Czech initiative to buy ammunition outside the EU comes in addition to these efforts, he said, referring to the 800,000 shells in countries around the world that Prague identified as potential supplies for Ukraine.

However, Mr Borrell stressed that Europe providing the shells it has promised to Ukraine by the end of the year is a minimum requirement. It is far from being enough and we have to increase both our capacity of production and the financial resources devoted to support Ukraine, he said.

02:58 PM GMT

Kremlin blaming terrorist attack on Ukraine may cost further civilian lives

The Kremlins insistence that Ukraine is to blame for the Crocus City Hall massacre, the countrys worst terrorist attack in a generation, may be putting Russian lives at risk, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported.

Kremlin officials and Russian ultranationalists continued insistence on blaming Ukraine for an attack that IS-K very likely committed may come at the expense of Russian internal security and civilian lives, the ISW said.

The think tank added that Moscow has likely decided that blaming Ukraine for the attack is worth the security risks and civilian casualties that may stem from failing to address Jihadist terrorist threats within its borders.

The ISWs analysis comes as Kremlin officials, including Vladimir Putin himself, continue to lay the blame at the feet of Ukraine despite Islamic State militants claiming responsibility for the attack.

02:57 PM GMT

Franco-Polish curbs on Ukrainian imports risk extending war, says Kyiv

A Franco-Polish drive to increase curbs on Ukrainian food imports into the EU risks prolonging Russias war in Ukraine, Kyivs agriculture minister told the Financial times

Mykola Solskyi said that the additional restrictions, designed to placate farmers taking part in protests against EU rules, which permit cheap grain imports from Ukraine, would hit Kyivs revenues and increase the chances that the war will drag on.

Eighty per cent of the problems that are usually connected to Ukrainian exports do not exist. They are imaginary, he added.

Warsaw and Paris have led the charge on efforts to cap many Ukrainian imports in return for extending a tariff-free regime adopted after Moscows full-scale invasion in 2022.

02:32 PM GMT

UN sanctions regime nears collapse amid arms-for-oil trade between Pyongyang and Moscow

Russia has started supplying oil directly to North Korea in defiance of UN sanctions as part of an arms-for-oil exchange, the Financial Times reported.

At least five North Korean tankers travelled this month to collect oil products from Vostochny Port in Russias Far East, according to satellite images shared with the Financial Times by the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi), a UK think-tank.

These oil deliveries constitute a full-frontal assault against the sanctions regime, which is now on the brink of collapse, said Hugh Griffiths, a former co-ordinator of the UN panel that monitors sanctions on North Korea.

Vostochny Port has been used as a hub for Russian ships involved in trading arms between the countries, Rusi reported.

What we can see now is a clear arms-for-oil bartering arrangement in open contravention of sanctions that Vladimir Putin signed off on personally.

02:25 PM GMT

Kremlin calls Zelensky a peculiar kind of Jew

The Kremlin has Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, a peculiar kind of Jew, when asked how he could be linked to the Moscow terror attack for which Islamic jihadists have claimed responsibility.

Well, there is a peculiar kind of Jew over there, Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, said in response to a question about how the Ukrainian president, who is Jewish, might be implicated in the massacre at a concert venue outside Moscow.

A Jew who in many ways shows sympathy and inclination to the nationalist spirit that has permeated the leadership of the Kyiv regime.

When prompted, Mr Peskov declined to elaborate on his reasoning, citing an ongoing investigation into the concert hall attack.

Moscow has repeatedly tried to depict Mr Zelenskys pro-Western government as neo-Nazis and used this as a pretext for its invasion of Ukraine.

Last June, Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, called Mr Zelensky a disgrace to the Jewish people, a comment that drew a swift backlash from Jewish groups.

02:18 PM GMT

Pictured: Russia launches hypersonic missile at Kyiv

Ukrainian armed forces yesterday claimed to have shot down a Zircon hypersonic missile over Kyiv - DEFENSE EXPRESS

The alleged incident was just the second time the missile, which can travel at speeds of up to 3,800mph, has been used in the conflict - DEFENSE EXPRESS

02:01 PM GMT

Moscow terrorists entered Russia from Turkey, says Ankara official

Two of the Moscow attackers allegedly spent a short amount of time in Turkey before travelling together to Russia on March 2, a senior Ankara security official confirmed.

One of the attackers, Shamsidin Fariduni, reportedly entered Turkey on Feb 20, checked into a hotel in Istanbuls Fatih district the next day and checked out the following week, the official said. The other, Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, checked into a hotel in the same district on Jan 5, checking out on Jan 21.

Turkish authorities believe that the two suspects became radicalised in Russia because they were not in Turkey for long. There was no warrant for their arrest so they were allowed to travel freely between Russia and Turkey, the official told AP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

01:33 PM GMT

Moscow terror attack victims remain in critical condition

More than 20 people wounded in the Moscow terror attack, including two children, remain in a serious condition in hospital, Tass, Russias state-owned news agency, reported.

Russian officials said they detained a total of 11 people over the attack, including Alisher Kasimov, a 32-year-old Kyrgyzstan native with Russian citizenship, who appeared in court today, charged with renting an apartment to the men accused of carrying out the attack.

According to the defendant, he has three young children and runs a cafe in Moscow, Interfax, the independent Russian news agency, reported.

Answering the judges question whether he understood the charges, Mr Kasimov said that he was not familiar with the defendants accused of committing the terrorist attack and was simply looking for tenants, Interfax said.

01:01 PM GMT

Ukraine strikes ship captured by Russia in 2014

Kyiv has destroyed two Russian warships with missiles, including one stolen from Ukraine, the ministry of defence reported.

Ukraine used a Neptune missile to hit the Konstantin Olshansky, a landing ship which, along with most of Kyivs navy, was captured by Russia from Ukraine in 2014, when Moscow annexed Crimea.

Currently, this ship is not combat-capable, Dmytro Pletenchuk, a Ukrainian navy spokesman, reported. It had gone through a renovation and was being prepared for use against Ukraine, so unfortunately the decision was taken to strike this [ship].

In addition to the landing ship, built in 1985, Ukrainian forces also claimed to have hit the Ivan Hurs, a modern radio ship reportedly added to the Russian navy in 2018.

12:35 PM GMT

Nato may shoot down Russian missiles near its borders, says Polish official

Nato is considering shooting down Russian missiles that stray too close to its borders, Andrzej Szejna, Polands deputy foreign minister, has claimed.

[Russia] knew that if the missile moved further into Poland, it would be shot down, Mr Szejna told Polish media, referring to a Russian cruise missile that entered Polands airspace for 39 seconds last week, forcing Nato fighter jets to scramble.

Various concepts are being analyzed within Nato, including for such missiles to be shot down when they are very close to the Nato border, he added.

Sergei Andreev, Russias ambassador to Warsaw, was summoned by the countrys foreign ministry over the incident, but he failed to show.

12:13 PM GMT

Pictured: Russian warships sunk by Ukraine

The Konstantin Olshansky was struck by a Ukrainian missile off Crimea, Kyiv claims - Sergii Popsuievych

The Ivan Hurs radio ship was struck by a missile on 24 march, Ukraine claims - Sipa US

11:51 AM GMT

Pro-Kyiv Russian died in blast during arrest, says Moscow

A Russian working for Ukrainian security services died when an explosive in his possession detonated while he was being arrested, Moscow has claimed.

The suspect was a member of the Russian Volunteer Corps, one of several groups of pro-Kyiv Russian soldiers who have recently launched raids into the Belgorod and Kursk border-regions, Russias security service, the FSB, reported.

When the perpetrator was apprehended, the IED he had seized detonated, leaving him with fatal injuries. Neither security personnel nor civilians were injured, the FSB said in a statement reported by Russian news agencies.

The FSB said the man who died in Samara, around 600 miles from the Ukrainian border, was born in 1994 and had planned to plant an bomb at a collection point for humanitarian aid.

It said they had found more explosives and materials for producing bombs at the suspects home as well as contacts for Ukrainian special services in his phone.

11:31 AM GMT

Three more suspects detained over Russia terrorist attack

Three more suspects have been arrested in connection to Fridays terrorist attack in Moscow that left 137 people dead.

Brothers Aminchon and Dilovar Islomov, as well as their father, Isroil Islomov, today attended Basmanny Court accused of aiding and abetting terrorism and were sentenced to pre-trial detention at a maximum security facility until May 22.

The defendants, who protested their innocence, are accused of being part of the ISIS Cell that conducted the attack and assisting in planning the escape of the gunmen who opened fire at concert-goers at Crocus City Hall outside Moscow.

Dilovar Islomov is the previous owner of a white Renault car with a black roof that authorities claim was the getaway vehicle for the Crocus City Hall shooters. The family trio are accused of conspiring with one of the other alleged attackers, Shamsidin Fariduni.

11:05 AM GMT

Russia should expect more attacks, warns Ukrainian spy chief

Kyiv will carry out more attacks in Russia, and will adapt its tactics to remain one step ahead, Vasyl Maliuk, the head of security service (SBU), has said.

Mr Maliuk said the nature of the strikes will change because Ukraine never repeats itself, adding that since the beginning of the full-scale war, Ukraine has destroyed over 800 Russian tanks.

He also said Russia no longer uses the Crimean Bridge to supply weapons to the front following repeated Ukrainian strikes on the crossing.

Before the bridge came under attack, 42 to 46 trains carrying weapons and ammunition passed there per day, he said. Today there are four or five in a day, of which four are for passenger traffic, and one is for consumer goods.

The Telegraph spoke to one of the generals behind the original Crimean bridge strike here.

Although Russia is currently restoring the bridge, Mr Maliuk hinted that Ukraine plans to then carry out another attack. Everything has its time, he said.

Based on his comments, Mr Maliuk was today charged in absentia with terrorism by a Moscow court.

10:50 AM GMT

Pictured: Damage caused by missiles strikes on Odesa

A local woman stands next to an apartment building damaged during a Russian missile strike - REUTERS

Local residents collect glass from broken windows at a site of a Russian missile strike - REUTERS

10:13 AM GMT

Five wounded by Ukrainian shelling on Russian border region

Ukrainian bombardments have left five people wounded in the Russian border region of Belgorod, the regional governor said, in the latest exchange of fire in cross-border attacks inside Russia.

Recent weeks have seen a sharp uptick in Ukrainian attacks on the frontier territory amid incursions by rogue Russian soldiers in support of Kyiv.

Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of the Belgorod region, posted on Telegram that five people had been wounded in separate bombardments of two villages.

Russias defence ministry said air defence systems had downed 13 Vampire rockets fired by Ukrainian forces.

09:48 AM GMT

US journalist imprisoned in Russia has detention extended

Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter accused by Russia of spying, had his pre-trial detention extended by three months, a Moscow court has ruled.

Mr Gershkovich, his paper and the US government all strongly deny the charges, which carry a sentence of up to 20 years.

Evan Gershkovich stands behind a glass wall of an enclosure for defendants as he attends a court hearing in Moscow - REUTERS

Russia Lynne Tracy, the US ambassador to Moscow, told reporters outside the courthouse: They are not a different interpretation of circumstances. They are fiction.

No justification for Evans continued detention, and no explanation as to why Evan doing his job as a journalist constituted a crime. Evans case is not about evidence, due process or rule of law. It is about using American citizens as pawns to achieve political ends.

Friday will mark the first anniversary of the 32-year-olds arrest while on a reporting trip in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg.

Mr Gershkovich is being held at Moscows Lefortovo prison, which is notorious for its harsh conditions, and his detention has already been extended several times. No date has been set for his trial.

09:24 AM GMT

275,000 without power in Ukraines second largest city

Around 275,000 people are without power in Kharkiv as officials have warned that repairs are not a task of just a few weeks, or even months.

Oleh Syniehubov, the regional governor of Kharkiv, has issued a stark warning about the state of damage to Kharkivs energy grid following a massive wave of targeted Russian strikes last week.

Mr Syniehubov said the restoration process may take quite some time, adding that specialists are working on sites around the clock. We are bringing in experts from other region.

Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, the head of Ukrenergo, which operates Ukraines transmission lines, described the situation as critical in Kharkiv where the enemy with ballistic missiles has been trying to destroy all sites of trunk lines supplying the city.

Volodymr Zelensky urged residents of Kharkiv to look after themselves and their neighbours in his nightly address.

09:10 AM GMT

Four injured in Russian missile strikes on Odesa

Four people have been wounded following a Russian ballistic missile attack on Odesa, regional officials reported.

The strikes, which took place at around 5.20pm yesterday, destroyed two buildings and shattered the windows in the surrounding area.

Oleh Kiper, the regional governor of Odesa, said the wounds of three women were not serious, adding that 300,000 people are currently cut off from electricity in Odesa due to previous strikes on the citys energy grid.

The attack comes as Kyiv shot down all 12 Shahed drones launched by Russia overnight, the air force reported.

The drones - launched from Crimea, along with two S-300 anti-aircraft guided missiles - were downed over the Mykolaiv and Kharkiv regions.

Elsewhere in Sumy, Russian forces launched five strikes targeting border settlements with artillery and mortar shelling. No casualties were reported.

08:54 AM GMT

Give us the damn Patriots, says Ukraine

Ukrainies foreign minister has demanded that the West supply Kyiv with Patriot air defence missiles in a sign of growing impatience at Western aid delays.

Dmytro Kuleba told Politico: Give us the damn Patriots. If we had enough air defence systems, namely Patriots, we would be able to protect not only the lives of our people, but also our economy from destruction.

His comments come after Russia launched a suspected hypersonic missile strike on Kyiv yesterday that left 10 people injured, including a teenage girl.

Mr Kuleba added that the missiles would improve the situation on the frontlines, where Russian aircraft have used guided bombs on a massive scale to help infantry troops advance.

He said: It just falls on your head and destroys everything. This is how were losing positions and the only way to prevent this is to shoot down the planes carrying the bombs. We need air-defence systems on the frontlines.

08:44 AM GMT

Ukraine peace talks without Russia will fail, says Kremlin

Any global peace summit on Ukraine that excludes Russia is simply absurd and will fail, Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, has said.

Mr Peskov said: Can the Ukrainian problem be resolved without Russias participation? The reply is clear - it cannot.

He added: Ukraine has been turned into an instrument in the hands of the collective West with whose help it intends, so it seems to them, to put more pressure on Russia.

Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, has called for an international peace summit to end the war in Ukraine, with Switzerland earlier this year agreeing to host the meeting.

Kyiv has previously suggested that the terms of a peace agreement could be brokered at the meeting and then presented to Russia.

However, Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, has denounced any settlement that calls for the withdrawal of Russian troops and the restoration of Kyivs 1991 borders as unworkable.

08:33 AM GMT

Pictured: Father and two sons charged over Moscow terror attack

Dilovar Islomov - TATYANA MAKEYEVA/AFP

Isroil Islomov - Basmanny District Court press service

Aminchon Islomov - Basmanny District Court press service

08:15 AM GMT

Stolen Russian warship hit with missile, says Ukraine

Ukraine has struck a Russian landing ship with a neptune missile, Dmytro Pletenchuk, a Ukrainian navy spokesman, reported.

The Konstantin Olshansky landing ship was captured by Russia from Ukraine, along with most of Kyivs navy, in 2014, when Moscow annexed Crimea.

Currently, this ship is not combat-capable, Mr Pletenchuk said on national television. It had gone through a renovation and was being prepared for use against Ukraine, so unfortunately the decision was taken to strike this [ship].



The strike last night, which also targeted Black Sea Fleet infrastructure in Crimea, marks the third Russian landing ship Ukraine has hit this week.

08:03 AM GMT

Putin acknowledges radical Islamists carried out attack

Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, 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 that the murderous attack is 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 added: 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?

The Islamic State terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the Friday night attack that killed at least 139 people.

Read Roland Oliphants report here.

08:00 AM GMT

Moscow concert hall accused of locking emergency exits before attack

Emergency exits at the Moscow concert hall where gunmen killed 137 people could not be opened, some of the survivors have claimed.

Russian media have reported that more people may have died from smoke inhalation than gunshot wounds during the attack on Friday.

Some 28 bodies are thought to have been found in a lavatory 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.

James Kilner has the full report here.

07:55 AM GMT

Hello and welcome to our live coverage

Were bringing you the latest updates from the Russia-Ukraine war today.
Pizza chain Papa Johns is to shut 43 restaurants across the UK.

The takeaway business confirmed plans to axe the underperforming locations after launching a review at the start of the year.

It will close the restaurants by mid-May following a consultation process, Papa Johns International said.

The company has not confirmed how many staff will be impacted by closures.

The group had previously said it planned strategic closures in order to free up money for investment and improving profitability at its remaining UK sites.

It has now identified 43 restaurants as underperforming locations that are no longer financially viable.

Chris Phylactou, managing director at Papa Johns UK, said: Our priority is our team members, who will be fully supported throughout this process.

Our goal is to work with impacted team members and attempt to find redeployment opportunities where available.

We understand the impact this will have on our team members and are committed to supporting them during this time.

Papa Johns said it plans to increase investment in research and technology, such as better utilising customer data, as part of its UK strategy.

It also said it will look at the development of new types of sites beyond traditional restaurants, such as expanding into holiday parks, and is set to announce other large retail partners in the coming months.

Mr Phylactou added: While this is a difficult decision, closing these underperforming locations will give us the opportunity to invest back into the right locations with the right partners for long-term growth.

We are focused on driving shared profitable growth across our UK restaurants, by continuing to make improvements to our business to ensure that we are well positioned for the future.

We have been encouraged by the results so far from these initiatives.
A Scottish local authority has said it will freeze council tax, having originally argued with the Scottish Government on the issue.

Inverclyde Council has said residents will receive a reduction in their council tax bills after councillors agreed to a one-off credit for the 2024-2025 financial year.

The council previously contested this, having last month announced it would increase council taxes as part of a two-year budget, stating the move would minimise job and services cuts, and would set a balanced budget.

On Tuesday, Inverclyde Councils policy and resources committee agreed to approve a credit which will be paid into Council tax accounts to offset the 8.2 per cent increase in council tax that was approved as part of the budget last month.

Following negotiations with the Scottish Government, the council has secured approximately 2.9 million of additional funding that was earmarked for Inverclyde towards a Council Tax freeze.

Councillor Stephen McCabe, leader of Inverclyde Council and convener of policy and resources, said: While I would far rather the council had the freedom to spend the additional 2.9m as we saw fit, I am pleased that after intense negotiations with the deputy First Minister and government officials we have been able to reach an agreement with the Scottish Government that means this money will come to Inverclyde rather than be spent on other Scottish Government priorities.

Last month, the council exercised its democratic right to increase council tax as part of a two-year budget to minimise cuts to jobs and services and fulfil our legal obligation to set a balanced budget.

That was the right decision at the time and was taken in the best interests of the council and the people of Inverclyde.

What that meant was that we did not accept the Governments original offer to implement a council tax freeze.

He added: However, more money has since become available towards a Council Tax freeze, which would not have been offered had we and two other small councils not made a stand, and we lobbied the Government for that money because it was earmarked specifically for Inverclyde and belongs to the people of Inverclyde who pay their taxes.

I really do hope that the Scottish Government learns a lesson from this years budget process.

They may have secured a national council tax freeze but that has come at a significant price.

They have badly damaged their relationship with Cosla and local government more generally.

They have forced councils and integrated joint boards to implement significant budget cuts and they have pushed Councils one step closer to effective bankruptcy.

The First Minister should give an absolute commitment now that there will be no more freezes or caps on council tax for the remaining life of this Scottish Parliament and that he will now strictly adhere to the principles of the Verity House Agreement.

Around 29,000 council tax accounts will now receive the credit.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: Scottish ministers are aware that many councils are under financial pressure, which is why the 2024-25 Scottish budget provides record funding for local government of over 14 billion.

The Scottish Government has provided a real terms increase in revenue funding for local government in both 2022-23 and 2023-24, as confirmed by the Accounts Commission.

Decisions on local government budget allocations for future years are subject to the outcome of negotiations with Cosla, the results of which will be confirmed in future Scottish Budgets.

Any assumptions relating to possible future budget reductions are entirely speculative at this stage.

Cosla was contacted for comment.
(Photo : SAID KHATIB / AFP via Getty Images)

This picture taken from Rafah shows smoke billowing over Khan Yunis after Israeli bombardment in the southern Gaza Strip on March 14, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Israel defied the United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire and continued attacking the besieged Gaza Strip, even as the majority-Muslim population of the region observes the holy month of Ramadan.

"The State of Israel will not cease fire," Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. "We will destroy Hamas and continue to fight until the last of the abductees returns home."

The UN voted to call for an immediate cease-fire on Tuesday, after months of internal debate and three failed resolutions. Notably, the United States chose to abstain from voting on Tuesday, rather than vetoing the resolution as they had in the past.

In addition to calling for the Israeli Defence Forces and Hamas to lay down their arms, the resolution also urged for an "immediate and unconditional release of all hostages" and the lifting of "all barriers to the provision of humanitarian assistance."

Israel has engaged in a large-scale bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza since the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks. Members of Hamas killed more than 1,000 Israelis and kidnapped 253 people. More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed during Israeli retaliation, while international human rights observers caution that all of Gaza is at risk of famine.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed anger at the United States for its decision to abstain from the vote, rather than exercising its veto power. In retaliation, Israel canceled a delegation of diplomats who were supposed to visit Washington to discuss a planned invasion of the Gazan city of Rafah.

The Biden administration has said that a ground invasion of Rafah would be a "mistake." The geographically small city's population has swelled in recent weeks as displaced Palestinians flee Gaza's war-torn northern cities. Netanyahu previously said he was only sending a delegation to Washington "out of respect" for Biden.

@ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The UKs approach to China is more robust than most of its allies, the Prime Minister has insisted following demands for a tougher line on Beijing.

At one of his regular grillings by select committee chairs, Rishi Sunak was challenged on the Governments reluctance to act on a number of Chinese-owned companies such as Bytedance, which owns TikTok.

He rejected the suggestion from Liam Byrne, Labour MP and chairman of the Commons Business and Trade Committee, that while other nations acted to protect themselves against China, the UK was merely thinking about it.

Mr Sunak told the Commons Liaison Committee: Our approach to China is undoubtedly more robust than, Id say, most of our allies.

He pointed to European countries not removing Huawei equipment from their telecommunications networks, not placing similar restrictions on exports of sensitive technology to China and said the UKs foreign investment regime was the most recently implemented and therefore the most robust, among other examples.

He added: I am entirely confident that our approach to dealing with the risk that China poses is very much in line with our allies and in most cases goes further in protecting ourselves.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made his comments during a regular grilling by the House of Commons Liaison Committee (House of Commons/PA)

Mr Byrne, who has raised concerns about the influence of Chinese-owned businesses such as Bytedance, replied: It clearly doesnt.

The Prime Ministers defence of the UKs China policy comes after the Government blamed Beijing for malicious cyber attacks on parliamentarians and the Electoral Commission, sanctioning some of those involved.

Backbench Conservatives, however, criticised the Governments actions, saying it had not gone far enough, while others renewed their calls for China to be labelled a threat.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan told Times Radio on Tuesday morning that China was obviously a security threat, but Downing Street has been keen to play down the possibility that the Government could change its language on the country, which it currently calls as an epoch-defining challenge.

The Prime Ministers official spokesman said: There isnt a mechanism under UK law or indeed in our G7 or Five Eyes countries that has a designation process like that.

Cabinet tensions have reportedly surfaced over the issue, with some ministers pushing for tougher action on Beijing while others are resistant over concerns it could harm economic and trade relations.

Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden told the Commons Beijing was to blame for a cyber attack on the Electoral Commission (UK Parliament/PA)

Tuesday also saw the charge daffairs at the Chinese embassy attend the Foreign Office following a formal summons to account for his countrys actions.

The Foreign Office said it had set out an unequivocal condemnation of malicious cyber activity by organisations affiliated to Beijing, saying it would not tolerate such threatening activity, and would continue to take strong action with partners across the globe to respond.

The attribution of the cyber attacks to the APT31 hacking group, believed to be under the control of the Chinese Ministry of State Security, was part of a coordinated effort with the UKs allies, including the US and New Zealand.

US authorities announced sanctions against the same front company and individuals as the UK, and also said it had charged seven individuals with computer misuse and fraud offences.

New Zealand alleged hackers linked to the Chinese government launched a state-sponsored operation that targeted the countrys parliament in 2021 but said it lacked the legal powers to impose sanctions.

The Chinese government has strongly denied that it has carried out, supported or encouraged cyber attacks on the UK, describing the claims as completely fabricated and malicious slanders.

A spokesman 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.
Alkali attack suspect Abdul Ezedi made several bids to gain asylum in the UK.

The Afghanistan nationals asylum claims were in part based on his contention that he converted from Islam to Christianity and therefore feared persecution in Afghanistan on account of his religion, according to a document from the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber).

Here is a timeline of Ezedis bids for asylum in the UK, leading up to the attack and the discovery of his body.

Ezedi was seen in a Tesco Express shop (Metropolitan Police/PA)

 January 8 2016

Ezedi arrives in the UK and claims asylum on the basis of problems with the Taliban in Afghanistan.

 February 2016

He starts attending Grange Road Baptist Church in Jarrow, South Tyneside.

 May 18 2016

Ezedis claim for asylum is refused  a decision which he appeals against.

 February 8 2017

The appeal is dismissed after a judge of the First-tier Tribunal found inconsistencies in Ezedis account painted a picture lacking credibility.

 June 30 2017

Ezedis appeal rights are exhausted.

An empty container with corrosive warnings on the label (Met Police)

 June 24 2018

Ezedi is baptised after participating in a course run by Grange Road Baptist Church and goes on to engage in street ministry and handing out church leaflets.

 March 19 2019

Ezedi makes further submissions for asylum and humanitarian protection, claiming that he would be at risk if he had to return to Afghanistan.

 March 3 2020

His claim for asylum and humanitarian protection is refused.

 March 17 2020

Ezedi lodges an appeal against the decision.

 November 6 2020

Ezedis asylum appeal is allowed, after a First-tier Tribunal judge finds that he underwent a genuine faith conversion to Christianity, which would put him at risk if he returned to Afghanistan.

Members of the Metropolitan Police Marine Policing Unit searching for Ezedi (Lucy North/PA)

 January 31 2024

The alkaline attack takes place in Lessar Avenue on a 31-year-old woman, who was with her daughters, aged three and eight.

Ezedi was previously in a relationship with the woman, but he was not the father of the children.

Ezedi allegedly throws the younger child to the ground and makes off in his car, which crashes into a stationary vehicle nearby.

He then runs off.

The Metropolitan Police are called to the scene, with 12 people, including five officers, injured.

The last recorded sighting of Ezedi is at 11.27pm when he crosses over Chelsea Bridge towards the north side.

 February 1 to February 8

A massive manhunt for Ezedi continues.

(PA Graphics)

February 9

Met Police detectives give a media briefing in which they tell reporters they believe Ezedi went into the River Thames at Chelsea Bridge, some four hours after the alkaline attack on Wednesday January 31.

Searches are carried out over the next 10 days.

February 19

A body seen in the water near Tower Bridge at Tower pier is recovered by the Met Polices Marine Policing Unit and viewed by detectives working on the investigation.

February 23

Police confirm that Ezedi drowned after his body is formally identified following a post-mortem examination.
Tougher action is needed to stop copycat websites posing as banks, Which? has urged.

The consumer champion asked the DNS Research Federation (DNSRF) to check industry blocklists  lists of websites that have been reported as hosting illegal content.

It provided DNSRF with a list of major UK banking brands and it scoured a specialist phishing blocklist for sites reported in 2023 that had the names of those banks somewhere in their web address.

The DNSRF found that more than 2,000 URLs containing the specified UK bank brands were reported to a phishing blocklist in 2023.

Copycat banking websites masquerade as real banks to try and trick people into handing over their personal details and cash.

Which? said it is not possible to check if websites that have already been removed were genuinely fraudulent or impersonating banks, with some potentially only being active for days or even hours before their content is wiped.

With limited time to introduce legislation before the next general election, Which? will be calling for whichever party wins to place a duty on domain registrars to prevent scammers from setting up fraudulent websites.

Rocio Concha, Which? director of policy and advocacy, said: With an election just around the corner, the next government must make fighting fraud a national priority, and place new legal duties on these companies to prevent scammers from setting up these fraudulent copycat websites.

Which? approached major banks for comments.

An HSBC UK spokesperson said: Protecting customers and their money online is an absolute priority for us, so we continually monitor for malicious domain registrations and hosting activity, taking any appropriate enforcement action in a timely manner.

Liz Ziegler, fraud prevention director at Lloyds Bank, said: Protecting our customers from fraud is our priority and we use the latest technology to actively search for fake websites, as well as responding to intelligence received from third parties.

We take the appropriate steps to have fake websites removed, where necessary working with partners across law enforcement, the finance industry and tech sector.

NatWest Group told Which? that it employs a specialist takedown provider to guard against copycat websites, as well as working directly with internet service providers.

Santander said: We have a range of measures to keep customers safe, including sophisticated tools to detect and take down fake Santander websites.

A government spokesperson said: Tackling fraud is a priority. Since we published our Fraud Strategy in May, we have launched a national fraud squad, hosted a global summit to tackle the threat, worked with 12 of the biggest tech companies on a new charter and launched the Stop! Think Fraud public awareness campaign.

The NCSCs Suspicious Email Reporting Service has also removed more than 168,000 scams from the internet, helping the fightback against fraud.
The UK has airdropped food supplies into Gaza for the first time as the Defence Secretary urged Israel to allow more aid into the war-torn territory.

The Royal Air Force parachuted more than 10 tonnes of aid, including water, rice, cooking oil, flour, tinned goods and baby formula to Gaza civilians on Monday.

An RAF A400M aircraft flew from Amman to drop the supplies along Gazas northern coastline as part of a Jordanian-led international aid mission, according to the Ministry of Defence.

Grant Shapps authorised the airdrop following an assessed reduction in threat to the military mission and risk to civilians.

The Defence Secretary said: The UK has already tripled our aid budget to Gaza, but we want to go further in order to reduce human suffering. Todays airdrop has provided a further way to deliver humanitarian support and I thank the RAF personnel involved in this essential mission, as well as our Jordanian partners for their leadership.

The hell that was unleashed by the October 7 Hamas attack has led to wide-scale innocent loss of life. The UKs goal is to use every route possible to deliver life-saving aid, whether that is by road, air or new routes via the sea.

The aid was dropped along Gazas northern coastline (AS1 Leah Jones/MoD)

We also continue to call on Israel to provide port access and open more land crossings in order to increase incoming aid deliveries to Gaza.

The aid delivery came on the day the UK backed a United Nations Security Council call for a ceasefire in Gaza during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Downing Street said the Security Council resolution  the first calling for a halt to the fighting  sent a clear message that the hostages held by Hamas should be released and aid should be allowed in to Gaza.

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps (James Manning/PA)

Amid warnings of an imminent famine in the war-torn Gaza Strip, the airdrop followed recent land deliveries of 2,000 tonnes of UK food aid to feed more than 275,000 people in the territory.

Mondays delivery was the UKs first ever mission delivering humanitarian aid by parachute, though Britain has previously supported international airdrops, providing some 600 parachutes at the request of Jordan and Bahrain.
The UK and the United States have accused China of a global campaign of malicious cyber attacks in an unprecedented joint operation to reveal Beijings espionage.

Britain has publicly blamed China for targeting the Electoral Commission watchdog and for being behind a campaign of online reconnaissance aimed at the email accounts of MPs and peers.

Chinese spies are likely to use the stolen details to target dissidents and critics of Xi Jinpings government in the UK, British intelligence services believe.

US officials said the APT31 hacking group spent more than a decade targeting the sensitive data of politicians, journalists, academics, dissidents and American companies.

The prolific global hacking operation, backed by the Chinese government, sought to repress critics of the Chinese regime, compromise government institutions, and steal trade secrets, US deputy attorney general Lisa Monaco said.

The hackers sent more than 10,000 malicious emails to the targets to gain access to personal information, US prosecutors said, adding the criminals threatened to undermine democracies and threaten our national security.

The US charged seven of the alleged Chinese hackers on Monday.

Seven Hackers Associated with Chinese Government Charged with Computer Intrusions Targeting Perceived Critics of China and U.S. Businesses and Politicians https://t.co/nL5Wuh7mev  US Attorney EDNY (@EDNYnews) March 25, 2024

The UK said Beijing-linked hackers were behind the attack on the Electoral Commission which exposed the personal data of 40 million voters, as well as 43 individuals including 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 were sanctioned in response to the hacks.

However, some of the MPs targeted by Beijing said the response did not go far enough.

They urged the Government to toughen its stance on China by labelling it a threat to national security rather than an epoch-defining challenge, and to put China in the enhanced tier under the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme.

Conservative former minister Tim Loughton told Sky News: Were going to sanction two people, two pretty lowly officials, and one private company, which employs 50 people. That is just not good enough.

Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden telling the Commons Beijing was to blame for a cyberattack on the Electoral Commission (UK Parliament/Andy Bailey/PA)

Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden, who announced the measures in a Commons statement, appeared to suggest China could soon be declared a threat.

He told MPs that we are currently in the process of collective Government agreement over the matter, and that clearly the conduct I have described today will have a very strong bearing on the decision that we make.

Cabinet tensions have reportedly surfaced over the issue, with some ministers pushing for tougher action on Beijing while others are resistant over concerns it could harm economic and trade relations.

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.

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 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.

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.

Mr Dowden insisted the local elections in May and the general election later this year would be safe from Chinese cyber attacks.

He told the PA news agency: Yes, I can guarantee that our electoral processes will be safe and secure.

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.

On Tuesday, New Zealand alleged hackers linked to the Chinese government launched a state-sponsored operation that targeted the countrys parliament in 2021.

Minister responsible for the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB), Judith Collins, said in a statement: The GCSBs National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) completed a robust technical assessment following a compromise of the Parliamentary Counsel Office and the Parliamentary Service in 2021, and has attributed this activity to a PRC (China) state-sponsored group known as APT40.

Fortunately, in this instance, the NCSC worked with the impacted organisations to contain the activity and remove the actor shortly after they were able to access the network.

She added New Zealand will not follow the UK and US in sanctioning China as the country does not have a law allowing such penalties.

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.
The Veterans Minister has been ordered to hand over names of those who told him about alleged special forces murders in Afghanistan or face a potential prison sentence.

The chairman of the Afghanistan Inquiry, Sir Charles Haddon-Cave has given Plymouth MP Johnny Mercer until April 5 to provide a witness statement containing the names.

During the ministers evidence to the probe last month, the chairman told Mr Mercer his decision to refuse to answer legitimate questions at a public inquiry were disappointing surprising and completely unacceptable.

Plymouth MP Johnny Mercer will have until April 5 to provide a witness statement containing the names (James Manning/PA)

His words came after Mr Mercer repeatedly refused to hand over names of multiple officers who told him about allegations of murder and a cover-up during his time as a backbench MP.

Providing his reasons for not disclosing the names, he told counsel to the inquiry Oliver Glasgow KC last month: The one thing you can hold on to is your integrity and I will be doing that with these individuals.

The inquiry said Mr Mercer was served with a Section 21 notice on March 13, compelling him to hand over the names, which the inquiry have insisted will be treated in confidence.

In the order, the chairman said the consequences of failing to comply without reasonable excuse would be a criminal offence punishable with imprisonment and/or a fine.

Sir Charles also said the High Court could enforce the order through contempt of court proceedings, which may result in imprisonment.

The judge also said if Mr Mercer believed it was unreasonable for him to hand over the names, or if he was unable to comply with the order, he would have to make submissions in writing by April 3.

The chairman previously told the minister: You need to decide which side you are really on, Mr Mercer.

Is it assisting the inquiry fully and the public interest and the national interest in getting to the truth of these allegations quickly, for everyones sake, or being part of what is, in effect  a wall of silence  and this wall of silence is obstructing the inquiry and access to the truth.

And doing so because of, if I may say so, a misguided understanding of the term integrity and an inappropriate sense of loyalty.

The inquiry will examine whether a special forces unit, known to the probe as UKSF1, had a policy of executing males of fighting age who posed no threat in Afghanistan between 2010 and 2013.

Afghan families have accused UK special forces of conducting a campaign of murder against civilians, while senior officers and personnel at the Ministry of Defence sought to prevent adequate investigation.

Two Royal Military Police investigations, codenamed Operation Northmoor and Operation Cestro, are set to be scrutinised by the inquiry.

No charges were brought under Operation Northmoor  a 10 million investigation which was set up in 2014 to examine allegations of executions by special forces, including those of children.

Operation Cestro saw three soldiers referred to the Service Prosecuting Authority, but none of them were prosecuted.

The inquiry continues.
A woman who was shot dead outside a police station 21 years ago was unlawfully killed, a jury has concluded.

Sabina Rizvi, 25, was killed in the early hours of March 20 2003 as she drove away from Bexleyheath police station in south east London.

In 2004, Paul Asbury, then aged 22, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 20 years after being convicted of her murder and the attempted murder of her boyfriend, Mark Williams, who was a passenger in the same car.

Portrait of Sabina Rizvi held by her brother Zshan Rizvi outside the Old Bailey (Helen William/PA)

An inquest into Ms Rizvis death at the Old Bailey has been looking into whether officers at Bexleyheath police station were implicated in what happened.

The jury forewoman told the court: On 20 March 2003, shortly after leaving Bexleyheath Police Station, Sabina Rizvi was shot by unidentified assailants (assisted by another who was later convicted of her murder) whilst driving a vehicle on Watling Street, Bexleyheath and she died as a result of a gunshot wound to the neck.

Opening proceedings earlier this month, inquest counsel Cathryn McGahey KC said Ms Rizvis family believed there was more to investigate.

Ms McGahey had said: The criminal trial had looked only at the role of Paul Asbury and of accomplices who had been directly involved in the shooting or in destroying evidence afterwards.

The criminal trial had not looked at whether the police at Bexleyheath police station were in any way implicated in what had happened.

On Tuesday Ms Rizvis family, who were carrying a large photograph of her, left the court as assistant coroner Angela Rafferty KC began summing up the case to the jury as the hearing neared its end.

The coroner told the jury: Sabinas family have fought for many years to have this inquest  their grief is still palpable. There may never be closure for them.

The coroner said there was insufficient evidence to find the police ought to have known there was a risk to her life or could have taken action to prevent it.

There was no evidence that officers had inadvertently notified Asbury of Williamss whereabouts. Asbury already knew he was at the station, the jury was told.

Asbury, a known thief and burglar, accepted responsibility for Ms Rizvis murder while giving evidence at the inquest, but refused to name the two people who fired the shots.

He told the court Ms Rizvi was caught up in the middle of a plan to shoot Mr Williams, who was a criminal rival.

He was in a red Vauxhall Astra when he spotted Mr Williams in a Nissan Bluebird being driven by Ms Rizvi as they left the police station.

He said he informed two others driving a Ford Mondeo and they carried out the shooting at around 2.20am, which he said he did not see.

Ms Rizvi was killed by a bullet that went through her neck.

Mr Williams was shot twice in the head  surviving but with significant brain injuries affecting his memory.

Lee Catling, a former detective chief inspector who led the investigation into Asbury and two unknown gunmen, told the hearing he did not see any evidence that officers had assisted the suspects or that the police had let slip to Asbury the whereabouts of Mr Williams while he was at the station.

In March 2003, Ms Rizvi bought an Audi TT with 15,000 given by her mother and went to the police to check it was not stolen.

Ms Rizvi was killed in the early hours of March 20 2003 as she drove away from Bexleyheath police station in south east London (Helen William/PA)

She went with Mr Williams to Peckham police station on March 13 and was told the vehicle was not listed as stolen.

Later the same day, Asbury phoned Bexleyheath police station and said his Audi had been carjacked.

On March 16 2003, he called then detective sergeant Robert Florio, who was in charge of the carjacking investigation, and said the girlfriend of someone called Bucky  a nickname for Mr Williams  had his car, jurors were told.

Mr Florio asked Ms Rizvi to come to Bexleyheath police station on March 19 with the documents for the Audi, the inquest heard.

She told police she had paid Asbury for the Audi and agreed to a search of the vehicle. She called Mr Williams and he drove the car to the police station, arriving at about 10.25pm.

Police arrested Mr Williams after he arrived as he matched the description Asbury had given of one of the car thieves.

Sabina Rizvis mother Iffat Rizvi following the inquest at the Old Bailey (Helen William/PA)

Mr Williams was wearing a bullet-proof vest when he was arrested and told police this was because he moved in certain circles in south London.

Officers later realised from its markings that it was a Metropolitan Police vest.

Interviewed by police in the early hours of March 20, Mr Williams denied having anything to do with the carjacking and said he was wearing the vest because he was a friend of someone who was wanted for murder and was afraid of reprisals from associates of the murder victim.

Minutes after leaving the police station, at 2.20am, the shooting occurred.

After the inquest Ms Rizvis mother Iffat Rizvi said: Nothing will ever mend our broken hearts at the loss of our much-loved daughter and sister and we will treasure her memory for all of our lives.

An Independent Office for Police Conduct re-investigation into contact officers had with Ms Rizvi shortly before she was murdered found no evidence to indicate any potential misconduct by officers but there were some issues identified around police actions.

IOPC director Steve Noonan said: We found issues around the supervision of an inexperienced officer which resulted in Mr Williams making a call while detained resulting, it is believed, in a message being passed on to Paul Asbury.
When Apple launched its first Mac computer in 1984, with its iconic Mac smiley-face hello greeting, it wanted to differentiate itself in the fledgling PC market. The Mac was approachable with its friendly, innovative design  Apples way of setting the Mac apart in the confusing PC landscape.

That consumer-friendly mantra still exists today, with Apple carefully curating an easy-breezy yet controlled user experience across its products, including the billions of iPhones used around the world.

But the Biden administration believes Apple took that too far. On Thursday, the Department of Justice sued Apple for illegally monopolizing the smartphone market. In a press conference, the government provided a long list of how Apple has allegedly squashed competition with restrictive app store terms, high fees and its walled-garden approach, restricting how third-party companies interact with its brands and services.

The company denied the lawsuits allegations and said it plans to fight them. Apple added that the lawsuit could empower the government to take a heavy hand in designing peoples technology.

But if successful, the lawsuit could ripple across Apples products and services. Although the suit could take years to play out, heres a closer look what it may eventually mean for iPhone users:

US Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks during a news conference at the Department of Justice Building on March 21, 2024 in Washington, DC on how the government is taking action against Apple. - Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Changes to the App Store

If found liable, the company could be forced to change a number of things.

One such change is how iPhone users could get greater access to super apps that have been largely restricted before. The term refers to one-stop-shop apps that allow for messaging, ordering food, payment processing and other capabilities all within one platform.

According to Dipanjan Chatterjee, a principal analyst at market research firm Forrester, super apps most threaten Apples preeminence in the lives of its customers.

An offering like WeChat, dubbed Chinas everything app, can provide an alternative to the Apple ecosystem for people to communicate, bank, share memories, talk to businesses and more, he said. What Apple fears most is becoming irrelevant to its customers.

At the same time, super apps like WeChat are created by larger companies and could, therefore, put some smaller companies at a disadvantage. And the concept hasnt been welcomed much in the US anyway.

The US government, however, could argue that lack of interest may be due to Apples high share of the smartphone market and its resistance to offer super apps in its store, Chatterjee said.

Better interoperability

Apple may also be required to offer more support for cross-platform messaging, an issue the company previously said its already working on.

The company lets iPhone users send high-quality photos and videos to one another, but similar texts to Android phones are slower and grainy. It also maintains those messages in green bubbles, creating a kind of class divide, critics argue.

In November, the company said it will add new features, such as read receipts, typing indicators, better support for group chats and higher quality media sharing of images and videos, across platforms to help close the gap. Apples move to add support for the standard called RCS (rich communication services) is intended to roll out later this year. RCS is considered the replacement to alternatives such as SMS, or short messaging service, and can work over both Wi-Fi and mobile data.

The change followed pressure from both regulators and competitors to more seamlessly work across operating systems. The European Unions Digital Markets Act, for example, requires companies to make their key services interoperable between platforms. The US government could require the same.

More open services

Another likely change is how hardware from other companies, such as smartwatches, will interact with the Apple range of devices and software, including the iPhone and Apples services like Fitness+. The company has also required Apple Watch users to own iOS devices as a way to keep them locked into its existing ecosystem.

Chatterjee said making this change would have both positives and negatives.

The net result would reside somewhere along the spectrum of access to more and cheaper options but also the devaluation of the customer experience that is so highly prized by Apples customers, he said.

The Biden administration has also taken issue with Apples lack of support for mobile cloud services. Loosening this could allow users to access games and other cloud-based apps without having to pay for pricey hardware.

Inside the debate

The DOJ lawsuit claims Apples behavior has illegally hindered competition, kept its customers locked into its products and prevented other companies from innovating. Although the Biden administration will have to prove these harms, some critics say any potential changes Apple could make will negatively impact the user experience.

David McQueen, a research director at ABI Research, said he recognizes that the content and applications market should be open, and Apple needs to avoid monopolistic advantages that can restrict competition, push up prices or block innovation. But Apples success stems in part to its tight grip on its products and services, keeping things intuitive and seamless.

If Apple is forced to comply, it could potentially spell the end to the provision of this consistent and unified user experience, although by the same token, consumers will be open to a greater choice of apps and services, helping more developers and providers, McQueen said.

Chatterjee noted some people are drawn to the Apple family of products precisely because of the carefully managed ecosystems ease of use. Apple may have to work that much harder to preserve the integrity of its experience, but any changes probably wont be enough to make customers to leave and go elsewhere.

The vast majority of Apple customers would probably be happier with some more choice and lower prices as long as it did not hamper their levels of customer experience, which is threatened by the less control Apple has over the experience, Chatterjee said.

But he added those currently outside of the Apple ecosystem will likely benefit by plugging in opportunistically without having to go all in with Apple.

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Alina Habba, attorney to former President Trump, mocked New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) after an appeals court significantly reduced the cost of a bond he must pay while he appeals his multimillion-dollar civil fraud penalty.

Habba appeared on Fox Newss Jesse Watters Primetime Monday evening, when the host asked her about the courts decision to lower Trumps $464 million bond to $175 million.

We won, she said. You know, no  we didnt win. You know when well win? When we get this all reversed, which is whats gonna happen.

Habba criticized James and Judge Arthur Engoron, who originally ordered Trump to pay $355 million before interest, ruling the former president conspired to lie about his net worth to receive favorable treatment from banks and insurers. The judge also ordered Trump to pay prejudgment interest, with the figure accruing based on the date of each transaction in the case. The amount owed rose by $112,000 each day in additional interest, bringing it up to $464 million by the time the appeals court ruled to lower his bond.

So, what happened today, was that Letitia had to eat every single tweet she has posted since the day the twisted order from Judge Engoron came out with the ridiculous number with the disgusting injustice on the American people, not just Donald Trump, Habba said.

Habba said she would love to see what James posted online after the courts decision because she was having fun posting about the daily interest added to Trumps penalty.

Top Stories from The Hill

Trump and his lawyers attempted to get a bond covering the staggering sum but were unable to do so before the Monday deadline. A five-judge appeals panel paused the enforcement of the judgment, so long as Trump pay the significantly lower bond within 10 days.

James, who brought forth the original civil fraud case against Trump, said in the past that if he were unable to meet the Monday deadline for the penalty, she may begin seizing his assets.

Trumps attorney said she was so proud of the appeals court because the decision gave her a little bit of faith in the justice system. She continued, criticizing James and others who were excited to see the former president approach the deadline with no ability to pay the sum.

I hope she took a little piece of humble pie today, because thats what was served to her, Habba said. Just a little, but well be  serving a lot more of that in the next couple of years.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Editor's Note: This page is a summary of news on the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse for Tuesday, March 26. For the latest news on the collapse, view our live updates file for Wednesday, March 27.

BALTIMORE  The U.S. Coast Guard said Tuesday evening it was calling off the search-and-rescue mission for the six construction workers that went missing when a cargo ship struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore early in the morning, sending it collapsing into the frigid Patapsco River and shutting down a critical artery for East Coast shipping.

Officials said water temperatures around 46 to 48 degrees, poor visibility and changing currents played a role in the decision after a dogged attempt to find the workers.

Based on the length of time that weve gone on this search, the extensive search efforts that weve put into it, the water temperature, at this point we do not believe that were going to find any of these individuals still alive,'' Coast Guard Rear Admiral Shannon N. Gilreath said in a news conference. "So this evening at about 7:30 we are going to suspend the active search-and-rescue efforts.

The focus of the operation would switch to recovery and restart at 6 a.m. Wednesday, officials said.

Around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday a Singapore-flagged vessel named Dali struck the Key Bridge as it was leaving the Port of Baltimore, causing the span to collapse in seconds. Officials said the crew warned of a power issue and sent out a "mayday" before the collision. Footage of the incident shows the cargo ship smash into one of the columns before the bridge snapped, hit the water and partially fell on the ship, where a burst of flames and smoke could be seen rising into the night sky.

Several vehicles were on the bridge at the time of impact and plunged into the river, which was cold enough to cause hypothermia. There were multiple contractors on the bridge who were repairing potholes, Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld said. So far two people have been rescued. One was unharmed and the other remains in "very serious condition," he said.

Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, said at an afternoon news conference the agency will lead the investigation, but she would not provide information on fatalities or injuries from the incident, leaving that to local authorities.

A senior U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly told USA TODAY the ship apparently lost power a few minutes before striking the bridge. A federal report has confirmed that version of events, saying the crew lost its ability to control the vessel.

Developments:

 Brawner Builders, the employer of the six missing workers, told media outlets including the Baltimore Sun that they're presumed dead.

 The University of Maryland Medical Center's trauma center treated one patient from the collapse who has been discharged, Michael Schwartzberg, the medical center's spokesperson, said in an email. Schwartzberg declined to say more about the person's injuries, citing patient privacy concerns.

 Dr. David Efron, the centers chief of trauma, said falling from the bridge  with clearance of more 185 feet  into 48-degree water would present life-threatening risks. Being submerged for more than an hour in water at that temperature is almost invariably going to not be survivable.

 The National Transportation Safety Board is scheduled to hold a news conference about its investigation into the incident Tuesday afternoon.

 Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott issued a state of emergency to better mobilize resources and work quickly to "address this crisis," he said in a post on X. The governor of Maryland issued a state of emergency earlier Tuesday.

Crew lost control as propulsion deserted ship, report says

The Dali lost propulsion leaving port and its crew lost control of the ship, prompting the crew to alert Maryland officials of a possible collision, an unclassified Department of Homeland Security report revealed Tuesday.

An official who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed to USA TODAY that the DHS cybersecurity agency is working with federal, state and local officials "to understand the potential impacts of this mornings collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge."

This was not the Dali's first harsh encounter with a pier, and that time its leadership was determined to be at fault. It's too early to know what caused Tuesday's accident.

The cargo ship that struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge collided with a shipping dock in Belgium in 2016. That incident occurred as the Dali was leaving port in Antwerp and hit a loading pier made of stone, causing damage to the ships stern, according to the VesselFinder.com website, which tracks ships across the world. An investigation determined a mistake made by the ships master and pilot was to blame.

No one was injured in that crash, although the ship required repair and a full inspection before being returned to service. The pier  or berth  was also seriously damaged and had to be closed.

 Josh Meyer, Emily Le Coz and Claire Thornton

Two Guatemalan workers among six missing

Two Guatemalan nationals are among the six workers who were on the bridge when it was struck early Tuesday, the Guatemalan Foreign Ministry said. Their ages are 26 and 35, respectively, and their families have been notified, the ministry said in a statement, which also noted the other missing workers are from Mexico, Honduras and El Salvador.

"We will continue requesting information from the authorities and information about search and rescue efforts to find the missing Guatemalans," the statement said.

 Eduardo Cuevas

What did the most recent inspection report say about the bridge?

Baltimores Francis Scott Key Bridge was listed in overall fair condition in 2021, the most recent inspection report in the Federal Highway Administrations National Bridge Inventory at the time of its collapse early Tuesday morning.

However, the database noted that, Bank protection is in need of minor repairs. River control devices and embankment protection have a little minor damage. Banks and/or channel have minor amounts of drift.

Other structural elements showed some minor deterioration but were otherwise listed in satisfactory condition.

 Cecilia Garzella and Yoonserk Pyun

'We're with you': Biden says federal government will rebuild bridge

President Joe Biden said he intends for the federal government to cover the entire cost to rebuild the Key Bridge, and he committed not to leave until this job gets done.

We're with you. We're going to stay with you as long as it takes, Biden said Tuesday afternoon from the White House Roosevelt Room.

Biden said he spoke with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and other local and state officials about the bridges collapse, and said he would visit the site in the future. I told them we're going to send all the federal resources they need as we respond to this emergency  I mean all the federal resources. And we're going to rebuild that port together.

Biden said eight people remain unaccounted for, but the figure might change. Two people were rescued. "Everything so far indicates that his was a terrible accident, Biden said, adding theres no reason to believe it was intentional.

Our prayers are with everyone involved in this terrible accident and all the families, especially those waiting for news of their loved ones right now, Biden said. I know every minute in that circumstance feels like a lifetime.

Biden said the ongoing rescue operation remains the top priority but relayed that he told Moore he has directed his team to move heaven and earth to reopen the port and rebuild the bridge as soon as humanly possible."

 Joey Garrison

Crewman reports all on board Dali are safe

This past weekend, Andrew Middleton took the ship's captain and a crewman shopping at a nearby Walmart. Since 9/11, international crews have to be escorted by a vetted person through most port areas, and Middleton said it's fairly common for crews like the Dali's to request assistance from the Apostleship of the Sea Baltimore Stella Maris International Seafarers' Center, where he is the director. The group is part of the Catholic Church's Archdiocese of Baltimore.

"They were by all appearances in good spirits," Middleton said, and they chatted in his van about the ship's planned 28-day voyage around the Horn of Africa to Sri Lanka. Middleton said crews usually buy personal toiletries and snacks before long trips.

Middleton woke up Tuesday morning to the shocking news the ship hit the bridge, and he immediately messaged one of the crewmen via WhatsApp. "My question to him was, 'Is everyone OK?' And the answer was, 'Yes sir, everyone is safe,'" Middleton told USA TODAY.

The crew is still aboard the ship while authorities assess the situation. Middleton said he's prepared to send them any supplies they need if they're stuck aboard for an extended period. And he said he's making plans to help them once they're freed and returned to shore. He said he expects the Dali will be towed back into the harbor and docked for a damage assessment. Middleton added that he worries both about the missing workers from the bridge and also the port workers who may be temporarily unemployed if the harbor gets shut down.

"Obviously, this incident has a large impact on the port community,'' he said. "If this extends a long period of time, we're going to have longshoreman and stevedores who are not working, tugboat crews who are not working. It has the potential, if it becomes a drawn-out event, to affect many lives."

 Trevor Hughes

Commuter finds sight of damaged bridge 'devastating to watch'

Charlotte Robinson's commute from her home in Delaware to her accounting job in Washington, D.C., took a detour Tuesday morning, when driving over the Francis Scott Key Bridge wasn't an option. In the past she figured that route was safe, but the bridge's collapse sparked difficult discussions with her colleagues who commute.

"It was devastating to watch,'' Robinson said of the crumpled bridge after it was hit by a 985-foot-long cargo ship. "And you have to ask yourself, if that was me, what would my plan be? How would I try to survive this, if I was trapped, if my car went into the water?

Robinson said she often sees ships passing under the bridge during her morning commute; in the evenings, when shes on her way home, there are usually fewer boats. Tuesday, she said, You could see all these boats, just lined up because they had no place to go.

Another common sight during her commute was construction workers both on the bridge and below it, sometimes hanging over the water in harnesses. Her thoughts turned to those workers as she watched the news Tuesday in her office. "I almost couldn't breathe watching the news," she said.

 Phaedra Trethan

'It's devastating to the city'

Greg Trenchard, 43, awoke Tuesday to a flurry of text messages and missed calls from his out of state relatives checking in on him after hearing about the Key Bridge collapse.

Ive driven over it 100 times and now to see that its gone is pretty crazy, he said Tuesday.

Trenchard, an auditor, said he then tried to make his way to Fort Armistead Park, where hed come many times before to take photos of the bridge at sunrise and sunset. But the normally quick drive took nearly 40 minutes due to the traffic detours, and a police roadblock next to Royal Farms, a convenience store, about a mile and half from the park stopped him from getting any closer to the scene.

Its a blow, he said of the collapse. Its devastating to the city, its devastating to port traffic and everything theyre trying to do to revitalize the shipping industry in Maryland and keep that going.

 N'dea Yancey-Bragg

Air, land and water search underway

Multiple local, state and federal agencies are coordinating the massive search, which spans a vast section of the river  both above and below the surface of the water  and the ship itself, Wallace said. Divers, helicopters and sonar technology were being used and had located several vehicles submerged in the river, which is about 50-feet-deep where the bridge collapsed.

"This water is current influenced, so right now we think the tide is coming back in," he said.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore declared a state of emergency and said he is working with an interagency team to "quickly deploy federal resources from the Biden Administration."

The steel frame of the Francis Scott Key Bridge sits on top of a container ship after it struck the bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 26, 2024.

"This is an unthinkable tragedy," Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said at a news conference.

Expert says river current makes search more difficult

Jim Bellingham, the executive director for the Johns Hopkins Institute for Assured Autonomy and expert in marine robotics lives in nearby Fells Point, and talked to USA TODAY about some of the challenges faced by rescuers.

Nothing is staying put in the ocean, he said. Everything is moving in the Patapsco River, a tidal estuary, which presents just one difficulty for rescue efforts. Rescuers would have to determine the speed and direction of the current to figure out where to search  toward Baltimore Harbor, or out toward the Chesapeake Bay.

Bellingham said its likely any workers who may have been on the bridge would have been wearing reflective vests and even flotation devices that would improve visibility in the dark river. They might also have flares, and are more easily spotted by rescue helicopters.

Rescuers are using sonar, lights, cameras and robotic machinery as well as human divers, but Bellingham said divers would face their own risks, as the wreckage might not be stable.

The longer the search goes on, the less likely rescuers are to find survivors, given the temperature of the water, and the likelihood of people being trapped with little to no air. But Baltimore, with many Navy and Coast Guard facilities and military contractors nearby, might be as well prepared to deal with the disaster as any place.

Their job is to rescue people, Bellingham said. They want to believe they can do that, and theres a tendency not to want to give up.

 Phaedra Trethan

Cargo ship was headed for Sri Lanka

The container vessel was chartered by the major shipping company Maersk and was carrying its cargo, according to a statement from the company. When it crashed into the bridge, no Maersk crew and personnel were onboard the vessel, which is operated by charter vessel company Synergy Group and owned by Singapore-based Grace Ocean Pte.

The Dali was slated to arrive April 22 in Sri Lanka, according to MarineTraffic, a global ship tracking service.

"We are horrified by what has happened in Baltimore, and our thoughts are with all of those affected," Maersk said in a statement. "We are closely following the investigations conducted by authorities and Synergy, and we will do our utmost to keep our customers informed."

Synergy Marine Corp said the Dali collided with one of the pillars of the bridge and that all its crew members, including two pilots, have been accounted for and there were no reports of any injuries.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge, a major span over the Patapsco River in Baltimore, collapsed after it was struck by a Singapore-flagged container ship 'Dali'.

U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Erin Palmer said at a news conference Tuesday that the agencies remain focused on search-and-rescue. She did not comment on the crew of the ship or provide additional details about the collision.

All vessel traffic in and out of the Port of Baltimore was suspended until further notice, but the port is still open for truck transports, Wiedefeld said. Traffic, meanwhile, is being diverted from the area around the Key Bridge.

Baltimore port closed to ships 'until further notice'

Shortly after the bridge collapse, the Port of Baltimore suspended vessel traffic until further notice, according to its website.

This does not mean the Port of Baltimore is shut down. We are still processing trucks inside of our terminals, the statement said.

But Bloomberg reported that the port looks to be out of commission indefinitely.

At least 40 ships are now more or less trapped inside the port, according to Reuters. At least 30 other ships planned to arrive there.

They will likely have to reroute shipping to other ports on the East Coast, said Kevin Linderman, a professor and supply chain expert at Pennsylvania State University. However, this will put additional demand on these ports, and shippers may not be able to access US markets as efficiently, he said.

One critical question is, can the other ports handle the products that were destined to Baltimore?

 Daniel de Vise

'A lot of tears' for families

Baltimore residents turned out to support those affected by the tragedy. Dozens of people gathered at the Mt. Olive Baptist Church of Turner Station during an emotional prayer vigil Tuesday evening.Faith leaders and city officials including Mayor Brandon Scott prayed for the families of those missing after the bridge collapse and the first responders working at the scene.We can only imagine what is going through their minds and through their hearts and through their bodies. None of us want to experience that, Scott said Tuesday. We have to lift them up, support them not just today, not just tomorrow but for the foreseeable future.Father Ako Walker, priest at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church, said a prayer in Spanish to show solidarity with the six people who are still missing after the collapse. Following the vigil, Walker told reporters he has been providing support to family members whose loved ones are missing.Its difficult for them, he said. You know, you can see the pain etched on their faces. Theres a lot of tears.

 N'dea Yancey-Bragg

Will the Baltimore bridge collapse impact cruises?

Baltimore is a destination for several major cruise lines. According to the Cruise Lines International Association, the industrys leading trade group, published itineraries in the 2024 calendar year include a dozen ships making 115 stops in Baltimore.

Royal Caribbean and Carnival have April sailings that could be impacted by the bridge collapse, according to their websites.

Carnival told USA TODAY it was premature to comment on impacts to future sailings.

American Cruise Lines has roundtrip sailings from Baltimore scheduled in May, according to its website. The cruise line told USA TODAY their schedules remain unaffected but will make adjustments if needed to future cruises.

Norwegian Cruise Line doesnt appear to have any Baltimore sailings until September.

 Eve Chen and Nathan Diller

Will the port shutdown affect consumer goods, prices?

Several big firms have distribution warehouses near the port, including Amazon and FedEx, one analyst noted in a tweet on X.

Even so, some analysts predict only a minimal impact on the movement of goods up and down the East Coast from the bridge collapse.

Baltimores port holds just 4% of all East Coast trade volume, according to S&P Global. New Yorks port, by contrast, does 38% of that business.

Yet, the port offers the deepest harbor in Marylands Chesapeake Bay, is closer to the Midwest than any other East Coast port, and is within an overnight drive of one-third of the US population, according to the port website.

The port boasts five public and 12 private terminals. In 2023, it ranked first in the nation in handling automobiles and light trucks.

For the American consumer, the biggest impact will be felt in terms of imported motor vehicles, said Jason Miller, a business professor at Michigan State University. If sales remain strong, he said, we could see inventories drop on the lots of dealers that sell imported vehicles until alternative arrangements can be made. This could increase motor vehicle prices for some makes and models.

 Daniel de Vise

Alternate routes around collapsed Baltimore bridge

The Maryland Transportation Authority was suggesting drivers take Interstate 95 or Interstate 895 as alternatives to the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge along Interstate 695.

I-695 Outer Loop closed at MD 10 (exit 2) and Inner Loop closed at MD 157/Peninsula Exp (exit 43), MDTA said in a post on X.

Drivers could take several other, longer routes around Baltimore, but I-95 (Fort McHenry Tunnel) and I-895 (Baltimore Harbor Tunnel) are the most direct alternatives across the water.

There are few exceptions.

MDTA notes, vehicles carrying hazardous materials, including more than 10 pounds of propane, are not allowed in the tunnels. Additionally, vehicles more than 13-feet and 6-inches high or 8-feet wide may not use the 1-895 Baltimore Harbor Tunnel. Vehicles more than 14-feet and 6-inches high or 11-feet wide may not use the I-95 Fort McHenry Tunnel.

Those vehicles should use the western portion of I-695 instead.

 Eve Chen

How cold is the Patapsco River?

The Patapsco River is about 50 feet deep where the ship hit the bridge, officials said during a press conference Tuesday morning. Part of the 39-mile river helps form the Baltimore Harbor, just northwest of the bridge collapse, and it flows out to the Chesapeake Bay.

A buoy in the Patapsco River indicated the water temperature Tuesday morning was currently about 47 degrees, while the air is around 41 degrees, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Whereas hypothermia is thought to occur at very cold temperatures, it can occur in waters below 70 degrees, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Key Bridge collapse draws comparisons to Florida's Sunshine Skyway Bridge collapse

In 1980, a Florida bridge also collapsed after a ship collided with it, leading to the deaths of 35 motorists and bus passengers.

A 1,200-foot chunk of the Sunshine Skyway bridge  which connects St. Petersburg and Bradenton  collapsed after the massive Summit Venture freighter slammed into one of its central support piers.

When the section of the bridge fell into Tampa Bay, it took a truck, seven cars and a Greyhound bus with it.

The Herald-Tribune, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported the crash happened during an intense thunderstorm, with winds reaching 80 mph and heavy rain. At the time, visibility was near-zero, according to local historians who made a documentary film about the collapse.

After the collapse, the freighter remained stuck beneath the bridge, with part of the roadway on top of its bow. Photos from the time also show how one motorist was able to skip his car to a stop just inches away from where the bridge fell into the water.

-Claire Thornton

How vital is the Francis Scott Key Bridge?

The Francis Scott Key Bridge, named for the author of the "Star Spangled Banner," is a 1.6-mile, 4-lane bridge that crosses over the Patapsco River, according to the MDTA. It opened in 1977.

The ports private and public terminals handled 847,158 autos and light trucks in 2023, the most of any U.S. port. The port also handles farm and construction machinery, sugar, gypsum and coal, according to a Maryland government website.

Police close a stretch of I-695 on the north end of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, a major span over the Patapsco River in Baltimore which collapsed after it was struck by a Singapore-flagged container ship 'Dali'.

The span is the outermost of three major Patapsco River crossings at Baltimore Harbor, according to the American Civil Engineering Society. The steel-arched bridge, with a total length of 8,636 feet, was the second-longest continuous-truss bridge span in the world when it was built and remains the second longest in the United States and third in the world, according to the society.

Contributing: Reuters; Tom Vanden Brook, Eduardo Cuevas, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Baltimore Key Bridge collapse: Search halted, workers presumed dead
(Photo : NYPD)

NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller was killed on Monday in New York City.

The New York City Police Department on Tuesday mourned an officer shot and killed in a Queens traffic stop, while continuing to investigate an unrelated fatal subway shoving in Manhattan, following a dark night in the city.

The fallen officer was identified by the NYPD and local media reports as Jonathan Diller, a married father of a 1-year-old son.

Tonight this city lost a hero, a wife lost her husband, and a young child lost their father.



We struggle to find the words to express the tragedy of losing one of our own. The work that Police Officer Jonathan Diller did each day to make this city a safer place will NEVER be pic.twitter.com/q639gQGgoz  Edward A. Caban (@NYPDPC) March 26, 2024

Diller and his partner stopped a vehicle in Queens' Far Rockaway neighborhood around 5:50 p.m. Monday after spotting it illegally parked at a bus stop, according to police.

After the car's passenger, identified by sources to the New York Post as Guy Rivera, refused officers' orders to step out of the vehicle, Diller and his partner moved to remove him, authorities said.

That's when Rivera, 34, allegedly pulled a gun and shot Diller, 31, in the torso, below his bullet-resistant vest, officials said.

"He was moving, he was saying 'I'm hit, I'm hit!' Giving location and all that," witness Deon Peters told the Post of Diller. "Like he was crying, like he was really crying."

Even after he was shot, Diller continued to grapple with Rivera for the gun, eventually wrestling it away, police said.

Diller's partner, meanwhile, returned fire, hitting Rivera in the back, sources told the Post.

First responders rushed both Rivera and Diller to Jamaica Hospital.

But while Rivera survived his injuries, being described as in stable condition, Diller did not.

"Tonight this city lost a hero, a wife lost her husband, and a young child lost their father," NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban wrote on X. "We struggle to find the words to express the tragedy of losing one of our own. The work that Police Officer Jonathan Diller did each day to make this city a safer place will NEVER be forgotten."

Meanwhile Tuesday, the department continued to investigate the fatal shoving of a man in front of an oncoming subway train in Manhattan.

Suspect Carlton McPherson, 24, was hit with a murder charge after allegedly shoving a 45-year-old man onto the tracks at East Harlem's Lexington Avenue - 125th Street station around 7 p.m. Monday, PIX11 reported, citing authorities.

The victim was struck and killed by a Bronx-bound No. 4 train pulling into the station, authorities said.

His identity had not been released as of early Tuesday.

Authorities reportedly described the attack as unprovoked.

The fatal shove came amid an increased presence of police and the National Guard in the city's subway system spurred by a number of high-profile crimes.

@ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
President Biden has narrowed the gap against former President Trump in six out of seven key battleground states over the past month, according to a poll that hints at a likely close general election race between the two men in November.

A Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll published Tuesday found Biden still trailing Trump overall among all voters in the seven battleground states likely to determine the outcome of the election. But it had good news for Biden, as he chipped away at Trumps lead almost across the board, and overtook the former president in one state.

The poll found Biden doing particularly well in the blue wall states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Biden is leading Trump by 1 point in the Badger State after previously trailing him by 4 points in a February survey.

In Michigan and Pennsylvania, the two candidates are tied, with support from 45 percent of voters apiece. A February poll showed Trump ahead in Michigan by 2 points and ahead in Pennsylvania by 6 points.

Biden weakened Trumps lead in Nevada, narrowing it from 6 points in a February survey to 2 points in Tuesdays poll.

The incumbent also closed the gap on Trump in Arizona, though he still trails by 5 points, and in North Carolina, where the former president is still leading by 6 points.

Trump managed to expand his lead in Georgia from 6 points to 7 points, the poll found.

Overall, the likely GOP nominee still leads Biden among swing-state voters, 47 percent to 43 percent, the survey found.

The Bloomberg/Morning Consult poll surveyed 4,932 registered voters in the seven swing states from March 8-15. It has a margin of error of 3 points in Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania; 4 points in Michigan North Carolina and Wisconsin; and 5 points in Nevada.

Bidens performance in the poll was buoyed in part by his State of the Union address in early March, when he aggressively contrasted his agenda with Trumps rhetoric and actions during his first term in office.

The president has since embarked on a campaign blitz, visiting Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania in recent weeks. Biden and Vice President Harris will travel to North Carolina on Tuesday to discuss their health care agenda.

Trump, meanwhile, has only held one event since he became the presumptive GOP nominee: a rally in Ohio for his preferred Senate candidate ahead of a primary there.

He was in court Monday, and his trial in New York over an alleged hush money scheme will begin in April.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
President Joe Biden responded to pro-Palestinian protesters who interrupted his health care speech Tuesday, saying, "They have a point."

Two protesters were escorted out of the venue in Raleigh, North Carolina, after they cut Biden off mid-remarks, shouting, "What about the health care in Gaza?"

"Everybody deserves health care," Biden said as the protesters yelled that hospitals in Gaza were being bombed and alleged that he was "complicit in genocide." He asked the audience to "be patient with them."

"They have a point," Biden said after the protesters were escorted out. "We need to get a lot more care into Gaza."

Members of the audience cheered and gave him a standing ovation.

Pro-Palestinian protesters were also gathered outside the event space, a relatively common occurrence for Biden in recent months.

Biden has faced numerous anti-war protests at his events since the Israel-Hamas war began Oct. 7, and especially as calls have grown for his administration to take stronger action on the civilian death toll in Gaza. After Biden was interrupted about a dozen times during a January abortion rights speech, his team worked to minimize disruptions by making his events smaller and withholding their precise locations longer than usual.

A protester yells support for Gaza (Brendan Smialowski / AFP - Getty Images)

Biden, who has been pressed by many in his party to address humanitarian needs more forcefully, has increased political pressure on Israel's government to allow more aid in Gaza, though he has not called for cutting off U.S. weapon sales to Israel.

In his State of the Union address this month, Biden announced that he was directing the U.S. military to establish a "temporary pier in the Mediterranean on the Gaza coast" for aid delivery. Also this month, the U.S. began airdropping humanitarian aid into Gaza.

At the same time, Biden and top allies have ramped up criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government's approach to the war. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who is also the highest-ranking Jewish official in the U.S., recently called for new elections to replace Netanyahu. Biden later praised Schumer's speech, adding that he "expressed a serious concern shared not only by him but by many Americans."

Biden's speech in North Carolina centered on his administration's work to preserve and expand health care, hinging on the 14th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act's being signed into law. Biden, who was vice president when Congress passed the ACA, has made preserving access to health care a central part of his re-election bid.

During his remarks, Biden pointed to former President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the ACA, as well as Trump's bragging about being "able to kill Roe v. Wade."

Earlier Tuesday, Trump posted on Truth Social that he was "not running to terminate the ACA," adding that he wanted to make the ACA "much better, stronger, and far less expensive." However, Trump said just last year that he wanted to replace the ACA and that he was "seriously looking at alternatives."
After turning on or scanning the news this morning, some Brunswick, Georgia, residents may have shuddered at the image of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsing after being hit by the cargo ship, Dali.

Fifty-two years ago, on the night of Richard Nixons landslide re-election, the SS African Neptune cargo ship crashed into the Sidney Lanier Bridge just after 10 p.m. Ten cars and 24 people plunged into the Brunswick River, among them a toddler-aged brother and sister who died along with eight other people. The bridge was struck again by a Polish freighter in 1987.

Overhead of Sidney Lanier Bridge taken November 8, 1972, the day after the African Neptune, docked in the background, hit the span.

The current 7,780-foot-long cable-stay bridge built to replace the old vertical-lift one opened in 2003 with extra safety measures, according to Tom Boyd, chief communications officer for the Georgia Ports Authority. More than two acres of rock surround its two stanchions, limiting the possibility of another vessel strike, Boyd said.

The Key Bridge, according to the Civil Engineering Almanac, is a 1.6-mile continuous steel-arched truss bridge built in 1977 over the Patapsco River. According to vesselfinder.com, the cargo ship that hit the bridge, the Dali, is a 9-year-old cargo ship measuring 300 meters long and weighing 95,000 tons, which would be considered a big ship for the East Coast, said Griff Lynch, President and CEO of the Georgia Ports Authority.

A cargo ship leaves the Georgia Ports Authority in Brunswick and heads out toward the Sidney Lanier Bridge.

The Dali was departing the Port of Baltimore just before 1:30 a.m. The Associated Press has confirmed that the ship issued a mayday call and lost power before it barreled into one of the Key Bridges support columns.

Lynch worked at the Port of Baltimore during his career, so the news of the accident came to him as a terrible tragedy.

I saw that this five o'clock this morning, he said. I just could not believe it. I mean, I saw that video and I just was like, That is unreal.

A container ship passes under the Talmadge Bridge in route to the Georgia Ports Authority Garden City Terminal.

Could a Baltimore-type tragedy happen in Savannah or Brunswick?

Both Lynch and Boyd spoke of the safety measures around the Port of Savannah, where the Talmadge Memorial Bridge spans the Savannah River between Georgia and South Carolina. It is a cable-stayed bridge, like the Lanier in Brunswick. The Talmadges southside stanchion is firmly planted in the Ocean Terminal and in Hutchinson Island on the north.

According to Boyd, there are no bridge support columns within the river that a vessel could hit. And the way cargo ships are brought into and out of Savannah provides additional safety. Savannah River port pilots that guide cargo ships handle approximately 45 ships a week, said Boyd, adding that they assisted more than 2,000 ships in 2023.

Equally important, whenever there is a first-time vessel called into the port, they do that only during the day, said Boyd.

Tug operators take a great deal of precaution moving vessels, said Lynch, explaining that two to three tugboats accompany ships as they come into the harbor. So, as you go under the bridge, theres three tugs surrounding that vessel.

This tragic incident [in Baltimore] sheds light on the future consideration of a tunnel underneath the Savannah River, offered Boyd about the future of port operations in Savannah.

Lynch echoed the preference for a tunnel as a long-term solution because of its lack of obstructions. But, that decision, ultimately will be in the hand of the Georgia Department of Transportation, said Lynch, predicting that if a tunnel were to be constructed, it wouldnt be online until the mid-2030s. Meanwhile, cable maintenance on the bridge will raise its profile, and the ports are optimistic funding for a study to widen and, once again, deepen the river is forthcoming from Congress.

With the Port of Baltimore closed into the near future, the ports in Savannah and Brunswick may experience more traffic to alleviate any disruptions in the supply chain, mostly in the way of ro-ro cargo, such as automobiles. Both the Ocean Terminal in Savannah and the Port of Brunswick could be put into play, said Lynch.

Amy Paige Condon is a content coach and editor at the Savannah Morning News. You can reach her at ACondon@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Georgia Ports measures to prevent vessel collisions, bridge collapses
Instagram creators who frequently post about news and politics are urging their followers to allow political content in their feeds after the platform began automatically limiting such posts.

The Meta-owned platform had announced in February that it would stop recommending accounts that share political content to users who dont already follow them. The app typically suggests posts and accounts based on the type of content a user engages with most.

As changes began quietly taking effect in recent weeks, users began noticing that the new feature had been set to Limit by default. That setting excludes content that is likely to mention governments, elections, or social topics that affect a group of people and/or society at large from the platforms discovery mechanisms.

Some on the app expressed feeling blindsided that they were not directly notified of the setting change, only learning of it from other users.

Over the weekend, some creators started circulating instructions showing users how to manually toggle the option back by opening the Settings and activity menu at the top right corner of the app, navigating to Content preferences and finding the Political content tab. These settings also apply to the users Threads account.

You cant just essentially put a blindfold on people who may not realize it. A lot of people dont even know that this is a thing thats been applied to their preferences, said Johanna Toruno, a street artist who frequently advocates for Palestinians on her Instagram account, where many of her more than 156,000 followers found through organic discovery. Its just so appalling to me to do something like this at such a political moment in our lives, not just internationally, but also within our country, with this being an election year.

The move comes at a time when Instagram has emerged as a popular source of news and unfiltered updates around global and domestic political issues. A Pew Research Center study published in November found 16% of American adults regularly get their news from Instagram, which made up a bigger share of users news media diets than TikTok or X.

But ever since the launch of its text-based app Threads last year, Meta has made clear its intent to pivot away from promoting political content on its platforms.

Some creators circulated instructions showing users how to manually not limit political content by default. (NBC News via Instagram)

This announcement expands on years of work on how we approach and treat political content based on what people have told us they wanted, Dani Lever, a public affairs director at Meta, wrote in an email statement on Sunday. And now, people are going to be able to control whether they would like to have these types of posts recommended to them.

Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, has also reiterated that he doesnt see Instagram or Threads as spaces for politics and news. Metas platforms have come under fire in previous years for being a source of unreliable political content, especially as generative AI makes the risk of viral misinformation more acute than ever.

Politics and hard news are important, I dont want to imply otherwise, Mosseri wrote in a Threads post in July. But my take is, from a platforms perspective, any incremental engagement or revenue they might drive is not at all worth the scrutiny, negativity (lets be honest), or integrity risks that come along with them.

Political activists have previously accused Meta of potential bias against their content, and users grew particularly vocal about their suspicions in the months after Hamas Oct. 7 attack.

After some celebrities and influencers accused the platform in October of shadow banning, or essentially censoring, their content in support of Palestinians, a Meta spokesperson released a statement about a global bug affecting the reach of Instagram stories that reshared reels and posts.

Around the same time, the company apologized for inappropriate Arabic translations that resulted in Instagram inaccurately adding Palestinian terrorists to the English translation of certain descriptors in users bios.

Later that month, Meta locked several large pro-Palestinian Instagram accounts, saying that its security staff had detected a possible hacking attempt.

Instagrams latest app change is reminiscent of another feature the platform added in December, in which users automatically saw less fact-checked content in their feed unless they changed the setting. Its quiet rollout had provoked similar outrage, causing pro-Palestinian accounts to air suspicions that Instagram was censoring their content by default. (Its not clear if pro-Palestinian posts are fact-checked more often than other posts.)

Samira Mohyeddin, a Canadian-based journalist, said that a few weeks ago, she began noticing that all the historians and political commentators that usually appeared in her Instagram recommendations were suddenly replaced with videos of cats and influencer couples.

As much as we like to pooh-pooh on social media and say its a cesspool and all this stuff, its still a vital source of news and information for a lot of people around the world, said Mohyeddin, who shared her own post about how to change the setting.

News influencer and attorney Katie Grossbard said she worries that Instagrams new limits on political content will keep users from staying updated on issues related to the U.S. presidential election.

Whats kind of complicated about this news is, whats defined as political? Because Im like, everything is political. Our lives are political, Grossbard said. This decision directly harms communities whose entire existence is political. And is there a difference between posting content about nonpartisan election dates, versus posting about a court case that impacts reproductive freedom versus posting a slideshow about trans history?

But this ease of access to bite-size information has also made social media platforms prone to spreading unchecked disinformation. Ahead of the 2020 election, Meta (then Facebook) removed 50 Instagram accounts linked to a Russian-backed influence campaign. And now, with the rapidly advancing abilities of generative AI, deepfaked images and videos pose a growing risk of infiltrating the information ecosystem.

As attention spans get shorter, Grossbard said, many voters are increasingly turning to sharable Instagram infographics rather than taking the time to watch cable news or read a lengthy article.

While we can all try to make it better and maybe get media literacy in schools, where we are right now is where we are right now, she said. I think especially in an election year, we have to meet people where they are so that they can feel educated and empowered and they want to engage.
Good morning, CEO Daily readers. Im Matt Heimer, Fortunes executive editor for features, writing from Chicago.

At the end of 2019, Boeing was in utter disarray. Two crashes involving Boeings 737 Max passenger jet had killed 346 people. The catastrophes were eventually linked to a faulty flight software system, and lengthy investigations found quality-control problems up and down Boeings supply chain. Amid demands for new leadership, the board ousted CEO Dennis Muilenburg and turned to an outsiderDavid Calhoun, an accountant by training and a 26-year veteran of General Electric.

There have been no further fatal failures on Calhouns watch, thankfully, but Boeings flight path seems no less choppy. The infamous Alaska Airlines door-plug incident this Januaryin which a chunk of a 737 Max fuselage popped off mid-airhas triggered a hailstorm of new revelations about safety flaws and construction problems. Federal regulators have ordered a slowdown in plane production; the Department of Justice is investigating.

And yesterday, Boeing announced that Calhoun will step down as CEO at the end of the year. (The head of Boeings commercial aircraft business is stepping down immediately; the 737 production chief got sacked in February.)

Calhoun could probably feel the sands draining out of his Boeing hourglass well before yesterday: The stock is down 24% this year, and airline CEOsBoeings most important private-sector customershave voiced growing exasperation. But as Fortunes Shawn Tully has chronicled in his terrific recent reporting on Boeing, the aircraft-makers problems arguably run deeper than anything Calhoun could have fixedand their roots predate his arrival by decades.

Tullys thesisarticulated in this deep dive, featured in the next issue of Fortune magazineis that over the years, Boeing has evolved from an engineering-first company to one that emphasized capital light manufacturing. That meant a greater reliance on outside suppliers, and a more intense focus on efficiency and cost-cuttingall of which created incentives to speed up or cut corners on crucial quality checks.

Managerial decisions, made over a period that spanned more than 20 years and four CEOs, gradually weakened a once vaunted system of quality control and troubleshooting on the factory floor, Tully writes, leaving gaps that have allowed sundry defects to slip through.

The capital-light strategy looked great for a while: From the close of 2010 through 2018, Boeings share price vaulted from $70 to $425, outperforming laggards like Microsoft, Apple, and Alphabet. But the October 2018 737 Max crash was the first indication of systemic problems. The cascade of safety and production issues since then has made it hard for investors, customers, or passengers to regain their trust in Boeing.

As for who will lead Boeing next, for now all eyes are on the companys new chairman: Steven Mollenkopf, CEO of chipmaker Qualcomm from 2014 to 2021, who will lead the search for Calhouns replacement. Mollenkopf has a background as an engineer and a product manager. He also comes from a competitive industry where breakdowns in quality and performance lead to instant irrelevance. Will he put an engineer in the corner office? Given recent events, Boeing and its customers should be rooting for just that.

Matt Heimer

matt.heimer@fortune.com

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
Good morning. After a door-panel blowout in January on an Alaska Airlines 737 Max, leadership changes at Boeing were all but certain. Now that includes a new CEO.

Boeing, no. 58 on the Fortune 500, announced on Monday that president and CEO Dave Calhouna 26-year GE veteran who took over in January 2020would be stepping down at the end of 2024. Stan Deal, Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and CEO, will retire, and Stephanie Pope has been appointed to lead BCA, effective Monday. (Last month, Boeing announced that Ed Clark, head of its 737 program, would be leaving the company, and Katie Ringgold, a long-time engineering and operations leader, was appointed to the role.)

Larry Kellner, a board chair, won't be running for reelection. Steve Mollenkopf, the former CEO of Qualcomm, has been named to succeed Kellner and will lead the board's search for the next CEO.

Brian West, EVP and CFO at Boeing, wasnt mentioned in Monday's announcement. A company spokesperson later confirmed to me via email he'll remain on as CFO.

West joined the company in August 2021 after serving as CFO at Refinitiv. He also held CFO and operations roles at Oscar Health and Nielsen, and before that spent 16 years at GE. At the Bank of America Global Industrials Conference on March 20, he said of Boeing's recent troubles: Its a hard moment, and were probably better because of it. But Im confident were going to see our way through it.

West also said the company would see free cash flow usage of up to $4.5 billion during the current quarter as it works to strengthen and support production lines. Scrutiny of its manufacturing process isn't new. The 108-year-old corporate icon had been dogged by safety concerns since two fatal crashes darkened its reputation and sent its finances reeling a half-decade agothe Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines disasters that together killed 346 people, Fortunes Shawn Tully wrote last month.

So how will Boeing's board respond? The best leaders are forged in fire, Ron Epstein, an analyst with Bank of America, said in a note to investors. This may be the first real chance, in a long time, Boeing has had to clean house and reset their own narrative.

To find out what boards, in a general sense, look for when conducting CEO searches, I had a chat with Jenna Fisher, managing director and co-head of the CFO practice at Russell Reynolds Associates (RRA), an executive search firm.

We usually think the best predictor of the future is past performance, Fisher said. And that means somebody who has been through other analogous challenging situations.

But following the pandemic, Fisher added, more companies are turning to first-time C-suite talentCEOs, CFO, officers, you name it. Candidates still need to leverage their expertise, but there's a greater emphasis on learning agility and leading across teams.

How can someone who perhaps has never had any exposure to a particular challenge or area come up to speed relatively quickly? Fisher said. This requires systems thinkers, something we have seen our clients request with much greater regularity post-pandemic.

RRA data shows that more CFOs are being considered for the top spot. In 2023, 24% of S&P 500 CFOs who changed jobs moved to CEO or president roles, which is slightly down from 33% in 2022 but still much higher than 8.8% in 2021.

However, Fisher noted: "In almost every case in the S&P 500 that we've seen, there tends to be an interim step where the CFO expands his or her duties to become COO, or president, before taking on the CEO role."

While it's unclear how shifting leadership may affect West's role, what's absolutely clear is that Boeing's board faces a very tall task.

Sheryl Estrada

sheryl.estrada@fortune.com

Maria Soledad Davila Calero curated the Leaderboard and Overheard sections of todays newsletter.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
Large-scale farmers protests have shaken European countries, from Germany to Poland, since the start of the year.

Theyve raised concerns over a range of topics, from reductions in fuel subsidies, to competition and tough environmental regulations.

The impact of the protests has reverberated throughout the entire region such that its now stymied a European Union plan to address climate change thats been in the works for months.

On Monday, ministers from the bloc of 27 nations were meant to approve a nature restoration bill. But ultimately, after Hungary walked back on its support for what couldve been one of EUs biggest environmental policies, the nearly green-lit plan was indefinitely postponed.

The farmers protests were the main reason for Hungarys decision to back out of the biodiversity bill, reflecting how deeply they impact policymaking in Europe.

"The agricultural sector is a very important sector, not only in Hungary, but everywhere in Europe," Aniko Raisz, Hungary's state secretary for environment, told reporters, adding that costs were another concern for the country.

Some countries that have faced protests recently were among those that either opposed or planned to abstain from the vote, including Italy, Belgium and Poland.

The farmers protests that swept Europe were a culmination of several factors such as extreme weather conditions, cheap foreign imports and lopsided subsidy cuts. Farmers margins had been squeezed and geopolitical tensions linked to the Ukraine war exacerbated problems by hiking energy prices. With a number of tensions piling up, farmers ultimately took to the streets and blocked highways and border crossings to voice their concerns.

Agriculture is central to European economiesbut the industry, more broadly, is also responsible for roughly 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions. For the EU, that means a delicate balancing act as it tries to regulate the industry to achieve climate targets while also ensuring farmers are paid fairly.

The European farmers lobby group Copa-Cogeca has called for a relaxation in environmental laws, such as those on fertilizers. Earlier this month, the European Commission nudged member countries to consider watering down some of environmental rules that could offer farmers respite while still working towards new reforms.

What would the EU law have done?

The biodiversity law, if passed, set a lofty target for member nations of the EU to flip 30% of the regions habitat thats in poor condition by 2030. By 2040, the goal was to increase the share of restored habitats to 60%. A deadlock on the bill also throws a wrench in Europes plan to become a climate-neutral single economy by 2050.

This could pan out in different ways across Europe, but fundamentally, farmers could risk losing agricultural land in the process of its restoration.

The path forward for the bill looks murky with pressures from the agriculture industry prompting countries to hold back their votes. The timing is especially tricky given the EU parliamentary elections are due in June. But if the EU hopes to march forward with its sustainability targets, its members will have to reconsider the bill sooner rather than later.

How could we give that up? How could we say We decided not to restore nature, Irish environment minister Eamon Ryan said, according to the Associated Press, adding that a failure to approve the bill was a shocking statement to the rest of the world.

You cannot put climate change to one side and forget nature restoration, Ryan said.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
Move over, Taylor Swift: Another musician is about to become the focus of a university class.

Vermont State University will launch a study of the songs of "Weird Al" Yankovic this fall. The music industry and business course will be available both to students and those in the community who hope to do a deep dive on sings like Amish Paradise, Dare to Be Stupid, and Living With a Hernia.

Al Yankovics work is not just about the parodies, Brian Warwick, the music business and industry professor who will teach the class, told WCAX. Its also about his tribute or pastiche songs, where its actually an original work by Al Yankovic, but hes paying tribute to another artist It just gives us an avenue to start studying the 20th century and pop culture in the 20th century.

Warwick isnt just a student of Yankovics work; hes also a collaborator, having worked with the artist as a recording engineer on his last two albums.

Yankovic is easy to dismiss because he specializes in parody songs, but the musician has shown longevity in an industry subset where life spans are short. He has demonstrated a unique ability to not only write lyrics that audiences find catchy, but to perform them in a variety of styles, from machine-gun-fire rap to grunge to pop. He has managed to translate that success to film and television projects as well.

The Weird Al course follows other schools launch of courses studying the music of Taylor Swift that Stanford rolled out last year, following one at a New York University and one at the University of Texas, Austin, both in 2022. The Stanford course was called All Too Well (10-Week Version), and was presented as an in-depth analysis of Swifts 2012 song, which the artist rereleased in 2022 in a 10-minute-long version.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
When Israels defense minister Yoav Gallant meets with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday, Gallant is expected to ask for more US weaponry and equipment to support Israels war in Gaza, US officials said  an extremely delicate request at a moment when US weapons sales to the country are under intense scrutiny by lawmakers and critics of President Joe Bidens ongoing support for Israel.

Gallants meeting with Austin will mark his first visit to the Pentagon as Israeli defense minister and follows his talks Monday with national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, where the weapons sales were also expected to be discussed, officials said.

The meetings come as the US and Israeli relationship hit a new low point Monday, with a separate Israeli delegation pulling out of planned meetings with US officials to discuss Israels military plans for southern Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled the delegation after the US did not veto a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire and the unconditional release of all hostages from Gaza.

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, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on Monday.

Despite the heightened tensions, the growing weapons sales from the US remain top of mind for Israeli defense officials, who have been pushing their US counterparts for faster approval and progress on the weapons transfers, multiple officials and people familiar with the requests told CNN.

Before traveling to Washington, DC, on Sunday, Gallant made clear in a phone call with Austin last week that he would be bringing with him a wishlist of US weapons and equipment that Israel wants to buy and have delivered in an expedited manner, officials said, including more precision-guided munitions and F-35 and F-15 fighter jets.

Gallant will be told that the various cases of weapons sales are being worked on, a senior administration official told CNN. There is scrutiny, but no policy decision to deny the provision of additional weapons to Israel, the official told CNN.

More than 32,000 people have been killed in Gaza since October, the enclaves health ministry said last week. In phone calls, Austin routinely presses Gallant on how Israel is using the US-provided weapons for its operations in the enclave, US officials familiar with the calls said, and often tells Gallant that Israel is losing international support by not doing more to protect and aid civilians there.

But the defense secretarys position on providing weapons to Israel has not shifted much since the war began, officials said.

The secretary still believes fundamentally in Israels inherent right to defend themselves and that we will continue to support them in that regard, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder said on Monday. That support is ironclad.

Still, one concern within the administration has been that approving too many big weapons sales too quickly could allow Israel to accumulate equipment for an eventual major confrontation with Hezbollah in Lebanon, another US official said  something the US has been urging Israel to avoid. Another official said the US understands that Israel has to replenish its stockpiles as the war drains its supplies in order to restore deterrence.

On Monday, Gallant said that Israel could move closer to a war in the north with Lebanon if the Israel Defense Forces do not achieve a decisive victory over Hamas in Gaza.

We have no moral right to stop the war while there are still hostages held in Gaza, Gallant said. The lack of a decisive victory in Gaza may bring us closer to a war in the north.

The Biden administration has also been debating whether and how to condition certain forms of military assistance to Israel, particularly as Netanyahu weighs a major military incursion into Rafah where more than 1 million Palestinians have sought refuge since the war began.

US officials have publicly opposed such an offensive, particularly since Israel has still not presented the Biden administration with a plan for how it could carry out such an operation and keep those civilians safe.

If there is one, that would be something we would want to hear, said the senior administration official who added that consequences for ignoring US urgings are increasingly being considered.

We dont believe that a ground operation in Rafah is the right course of action, Kirby said Monday. Austin also told Gallant last week that Israel needs to consider alternatives to a major ground operation in Rafah, according to a Pentagon readout of their call.

Even as the Biden administration has been pressuring Israel to do more to protect civilians in Gaza, allow more humanitarian aid into the enclave and refrain from going to war with Hezbollah, the US has not stopped the flow of weapons.

Since Hamas attack on Israel in October, the US has made more than 100 foreign military sales to Israel, according to a source familiar with a classified briefing US lawmakers received on this issue last month. Each sale can consist of multiple separate weapons shipments, the source explained.

Foreign military sales are either denied or approved by the State Department and typically have to be signed off on by Congress before they can move forward, but most of the US sales to Israel since October 7  particularly the individual munitions sales  have fallen under the specific dollar amount that requires a notification to Congress, an official familiar with the matter told CNN. While sent in batches, however, the sales end up being many thousands of bombs in aggregate, the official said.

Only two such sales, for tank ammunition and 155-mm shell components, have been publicized since October and only because the State Department used their emergency authority to bypass congressional approval.

The sale of more fighter jets to Israel, however, will be large enough to require review and approval by Congress and will likely ignite intense debate, the official said.

Democratic lawmakers have called for the US to suspend military assistance to Israel unless it provides credible and reliable assurances that it is complying with international humanitarian law, a demand that the Biden administration codified into a national security memorandum last month. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Monday that the US had received those assurances from Israel, but that the US own assessments of Israels conduct is ongoing.

Those ongoing assessments are not something that started because of the national security memorandum, and theyre not something that stopped because we got these assurances from Israel yesterday, Miller said. They will be ongoing.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

CNNs Oren Liebermann contributed to this report.

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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was given permission by the High Court in London to take his challenge against extradition to the United States on espionage charges to a new hearing.

The court ruled Tuesday that Assange could pursue his appeal at a full hearing, unless the U.S. provided satisfactory assurances on the questions of whether he was able to rely on the First Amendment of the Constitution and whether he could be subject to the death penalty. It added that he should not be prejudiced at trial or sentencing by reason of his nationality. Assange is Australian.

If those assurances are not given, then leave to appeal will be given and there will then be an appeal hearing, the ruling said. If assurances are given then the parties will have a further opportunity to make representations. A further hearing will be held on May 20 to decide if the assurances are satisfactory, and to make a final decision on leave to appeal.

Speaking outside the court, Assanges wife, Stella Assange, called the decision astounding and said President Joe Bidens administration should drop this shameful case that should never have been brought.

A spokesperson for the Britains Home Office said in a statement that it would be inappropriate to comment because the case is subject to ongoing legal proceedings.

Assange has been fighting extradition for more than a decade, including seven years in self-exile in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and the last five in the high-security Belmarsh Prison on the outskirts of the British capital.

American prosecutors say Assange put lives at risk when he helped U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning steal diplomatic cables and military files that WikiLeaks published almost 15 years ago. He has been indicted on 17 charges of espionage and one charge of computer misuse over Wikileaks publication of the classified documents.

James Lewis, a lawyer for the U.S., argued in written submissions that Assanges actions threatened damage to the strategic and national security interests of the United States and put individuals named in the documents  including Iraqis and Afghans who had helped U.S. forces  at risk of serious physical harm.

Assange's attorneys have argued that he engaged in regular journalistic practice of obtaining and publishing classified information and the prosecution is politically motivated retaliation for WikiLeaks exposure of U.S. government criminality.

The website, which he launched in 2006 as a place for leakers to drop classified documents, rose to prominence in 2010 when it published a classified video provided by Manning. Recorded three years prior, it showed a U.S. military helicopter killing civilians, including two Reuters journalists, in Baghdad. When a van arrived to pick up the wounded, it was also shot at. More than 10 people were killed.

Manning was convicted at a court-martial of espionage and other charges in 2013 for leaking secret military files to WikiLeaks. She was sentenced to 35 years in prison, but was released in 2017 after President Barack Obama commuted her sentence.

Assanges attorneys have said he could face up to 175 years in prison if convicted, although American authorities have said the sentence is likely to be much shorter than that.

His wife, Stella, whom he wed in prison in 2022, also said last month that her husband's health had deteriorated during years of confinement. If hes extradited, he will die, she told a crowd outside London's Royal Courts of Justice.

Assanges legal troubles began in 2010, when he was arrested in London at the request of Sweden, which wanted to question him about allegations of rape and sexual assault made by two women.

Julian Assange Appeal Hearing Against Extradition In London (Kristian Buus / In Pictures via Getty Images)

Two years later, he jumped bail and sought refuge inside the Ecuadorian Embassy, putting him out of reach of authorities, but effectively trapping him in the building.

After the relationship soured, he was evicted from the embassy in April 2019 and British police immediately arrested him for breaching bail in 2012. He has been in prison ever since, although Sweden dropped the sex crimes investigations in 2019 because of time elapsed.

While a British district court judge ruled against the extradition request in 2021, citing a real and oppressive risk of suicide, U.S. authorities won an appeal the following year, after giving a series of assurances about how Assange would be treated if extradited. This included a pledge that he could be transferred to his home country of Australia, to serve his sentence.

The Australian parliament last month called for Assange to be allowed to return to his homeland. Officials have tried to lobby the U.S. to drop the extradition efforts or find a diplomatic solution that would allow Assange to return to his homeland.

Since then, he has remained in British custody, first for breaking bail conditions, then for the pending extradition hearings.

Australian authorities have said the case has dragged on for too long and officials have tried to lobby the U.S. to drop the extradition efforts or find a diplomatic solution that would allow his return to Australia.
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has selected his running mate, lawyer and technologist Nicole Shanahan, on Tuesday as he still looks to obtain a spot on the ballot for his campaign for the White House.

"I wanted a vice president who shared my passion for wholesome, healthy foods that are chemical-free from regenerative agriculture for good soils. I found exactly the right person who, among other things, she has used over the past several years cutting-edge technology, including AI, to calculate the catastrophic health consequences of toxins in our soil, our air, our water, and our food," Robert Kennedy Jr told the gathering prior to the official announcement.

"Technology has been very important for my future vice president. This is important because I also wanted a vice president who shares my indignation about the participation of and as a partner in the censorship of and the surveillance and the information warfare that our government is currently waging against the American people."

"That's why I'm bringing on someone with deep knowledge of how big tech uses AI to manipulate the public. I want a partner with strong ideas about how to reverse those dire threats to democracy and to our freedoms. I managed to find a technologist at the forefront of AI. She has spent the last decade relying on cutting-edge neural networks and AI science to identify abuses in our government."

Nicole Shanahan is a Democratic donor who is the ex-wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin. She also funded Kennedy's Super Bowl campaign advertisement

@ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
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.

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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

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Former President Donald Trump signs an autograph after a rally in New Hampshire a day before winning the state's primary. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Trump is being allowed to post a bond for just $175M to cover a $457M fraud judgment he owes NY.

Trump gets a time break, too: His appeal doesn't need to be fully submitted until September.

That makes it unlikely he'll have exhausted his appeals by Election Day, a former assistant AG said.

Chances are slim that Donald Trump's New York civil-fraud case will be resolved by Election Day, a former state assistant attorney general told Business Insider.

A Manhattan appellate court cut Trump a big monetary break Monday, allowing the former president to post a $175 million bond while he appeals a massive $454 million judgment  his penalty for what a state judge found was a decade of defrauding banks.

The appellate judges also cut Trump a break on time.

The judges said Trump does not have to "perfect" his appeal  meaning have its paperwork fully submitted and ready for oral arguments  until the September court term, which starts September 3.

Kenneth Foard McCallion, a former New York assistant attorney general, said in light of that, there's almost no way Trump's appeals will be exhausted by Election Day.

By then, the original $454 million judgment against Trump will have accrued more than $28.6 million in additional interest.

The total judgment against Trump and his codefendants will have grown to nearly $494 million by the time Americans make it to the polls.

"It will be September or October for oral arguments" before the appellate court, McCallion, who heads McCallion and Associates and mainly litigates complex real-estate cases, predicted.

"We're definitely looking at after the election" for their decision, said McCallion.

"It's really quite unprecedented," he said of the timing.

He argues many cases at the appellate court's first department, which covers Manhattan and the Bronx.

And this court is known for its speed, he said.

McCallion joked that there's a clerk at the court who's fond of boasting about how quickly the court moves.

"I usually have multiple appeals before the first department," he said. "One of the clerks there likes to say, 'There's a reason they call us the first.'"

Trump's lawyers have already signaled they're willing to take their appeal all the way to the US Supreme Court, he noted.

"We could be well into 2025" before New York Attorney General Letitia James sees any money, McCallion, the author of "Profiles in Cowardice in the Trump Era," said.

"I do think the appellate division is shooting the attorney general in the foot by not taking this on an expedited basis and cutting him a break," he said.

Would Trump being president gum up how the collection process works?

"I don't think so," said McCallion, who also worked as a federal prosecutor.

"His legal rights would be neither greater or smaller than as Donald J. Trump, private citizen," at least in state court, he said.

Read the original article on Business Insider
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Sheriffs deputies in rural Oregon seized 18 deceased frozen puppies from a residence believed to have been used as food for pet snakes. The Columbia County Sheriffs Office acted on a tip last week, obtaining a search warrant for the property. They had received reports of a resident freezing litters of puppies for this gruesome purpose.

Deputies discover frozen puppies allegedly meant for pet snake

Following a tip-off, the Columbia County Sheriffs Office secured a search warrant for a property north of Portland last week, as USA Today reports. They suspected a resident of freezing litters of puppies for snake consumption. Subsequently, investigators discovered the frozen remains of 18 puppies during the search.

Soon after, the sheriffs office confirmed they were promptly conveyed to the Oregon Humane Society. There, they will undergo examination to ascertain the cause of their demise.

Additionally, investigators discovered several snakes on the premises. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife took one of them. However, the rationale behind the seizure of only one snake remains unclear, as does its current status and whereabouts.

According to a spokesperson from the sheriffs office, the Columbia County District Attorneys office under Joshua Pond is deliberating potential charges in the case.

Pond conveyed that the incident remains under investigation. He emphasized that authorities have not formally brought forward any charges thus far. We are taking this matter very seriously, and such behavior simply cannot be allowed or tolerated, he said. Furthermore, he expressed confidence in his office and local law enforcement to construct a robust case for prosecuting the responsible individual.

The search occurred on Friday, Mar. 22, at a rural property in Goble. It is an unincorporated community located 40 miles to the north of Portland. Hence, the discovery of frozen puppies in the area raises significant concerns about animal welfare and the treatment of domestic animals.

The post 18 Frozen Puppies Meant for Snake Food Discovered in Oregon Home appeared first on DogTime.
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A 33-year-old dog walker in Medford, Massachusetts, is facing animal cruelty charges for hitting a dog in his care multiple times.

Passers-by filmed the suspect, Frederick Ingrando, losing his cool and mistreating a Golden Retriever named Tokyo. Reports say Ingrando  who offered his services through the Rover App  was walking four more dogs in addition to Tokyo at the time of the incident.

Medford dog walker faces animal cruelty charges for beating dog

On Sunday, Mar. 24, at around 11 a.m., as per Boston.com News reporting, Medford police officers responded to reports of Ingrando punching the Golden Retriever in public.

Although Ingrando had already left the scene when police arrived, NBC Boston News reports that bystanders who had taken a video of the incident presented the visual evidence to authorities. Fortunately, officers managed to trace Ingrando and apprehended him on animal cruelty charges. At the time of his arrest, he had boarded the five dogs in a single room.

In a statement, Medford Police shared: According to witnesses, the man struck one of the dogs multiple times in the head and then lifted the dog off the ground by its collar in a harmful manner.

Consequently, authorities seized all of the canines from Ingrandos care and transported them to a local kennel. While at the kennel awaiting pick-up by their owners, the dogs underwent evaluation by a veterinarian. Thankfully, none had any physical injuries. However, Ingrandos despicable actions took an emotional toll on the dogs.

During his arraignment, the Medford resident pleaded not guilty and was later released on his own recognizance. As he left the courthouse, Ingrando defended himself to reporters, claiming the accusations levelled against him were exaggerated. He further emphasized his love for dogs and insisted the accusations were simply false reports, despite the video evidence.

Rover has since suspended Ingrandos account. He will be back in court on April 30.

The post Dog Walker Charged With Animal Cruelty in Massachusetts appeared first on DogTime.
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A 30-year-old man in Memphis, Tennessee, is facing multiple charges after fatally shooting his mothers dog. Antonio Holmes, who has a criminal history dating back to 2022, was arrested and charged with possession of a firearm, evading arrest, animal cruelty, and lastly two counts of reckless endangerment.

Antonio Holmes shoots and kills moms dog during argument

Action News reports that on Saturday, Mar. 23, Holmes mother called authorities requesting for help after her son set her backyard on fire. According to the distraught mom, an argument between her and Holmes erupted when she confronted him about the blaze.

Holmes hurled insults at his mother, and as the heated exchange between the two continued, the commotion alarmed the family dog. Consequently, the dog began barking, only for Holmes to hit the animal with a gas can.

Fearing for the dogs safety, Holmes brother intervened. As he called out Holmes for the abuse, the suspect pulled out a handgun and pointed it at his brother. Then, moments later, Holmes fired at the poor canine, killing the dog on the spot. Reports say Holmes struck the dog in the chest with a single shot. As of now, the dogs breed and age remain unclear.

After committing the heinous crime, Holmes fled on foot, hoping to evade authorities, who were already on their way to the scene. Luckily, Memphis police caught up with the suspect shortly after and took him into custody.

Authorities established that Holmes is a convicted felon who faced charges in 2022 for aggravated burglary. The suspects mother told police the gun used to kill the family dog belonged to Holmes late father. She kept the gun in her closet, not knowing Holmes would take it without her permission and end the life of her beloved canine companion.

Holmes is being held on a $100,000 bond while awaiting to be arraigned in court.

The post Memphis Man Kills Moms Dog & Sets Yard on Fire appeared first on DogTime.
TikTok videos about the dish have more than 1.6 million views.

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Im not one to shy away from onions in my cooking. From creamy onion soup to hamburger steaks topped with onions and gravy, onions are a staple ingredient in my kitchen, as I love the extra flavor they provide when added to a recipe. As a kid, I was a picky eater who shied away from onions in all forms, but as an adult food writer, Ive reconsidered my position on onions and have fully embraced the crunchy vegetable as an ingredient.

When I started seeing videos about Tennessee Onions in my TikTok feed, even this onion convert felt a bit unsure. Millions of TikTokers are sharing their own takes on the dish, made with sweet Vidalia onions and lots of butter, but would a casserole dish full of sliced, cheesy onions really be that mind-blowing? Since one enthusiastic TikToker called Tennessee Onions one of her favorite side dishes, I decided to give the dish a try in my own kitchen.

What Are Tennessee Onions?

The Tennessee Onions dish has many layers: sliced sweet onions, lots of shredded cheese, butter, and spices baked together in a 9x13-inch casserole dish until the onions are soft and flavorful. While TikTok is full of varying takes on the side dish (videos with the #TennesseeOnions hashtag have more than 1.6 million views on the platform), the one consensus seems to be that it's essential to use a sweet onion, preferably the Vidalia variety.

Chelsea Page is the interim executive director at the Vidalia Onion Committee and says Vidalia onions are a great addition to the recipe because of their "unique flavor and sweetness." Vidalia onions have been the official state vegetable of Georgia since 1990 for this exact reason. "The exceptional taste [of Vidalia onions] is attributed to the specific weather, water, and soil found exclusively in 20 counties in South Georgia," Page told Allrecipes. "The onions are cultivated by about 40 growers, many of them family-owned and operated for several generations."

How to Make Tennessee Onions

To make this sweetly viral dish in my own kitchen, I started with a 3-pound bag of Vidalia onions, peeling and slicing most of them into 1/4-inch thick rings. I greased my 9x13-inch baking dish and filled it to the brim with sweet Vidalia onions, then I cut an entire stick of butter into thin pats and laid them over top of the onions. Butter is vital in any Tennessee Onions recipe, as it melts over the raw onions and helps them cook down and soften in the oven.

Terri Peters

After watching many TikTok videos with different creators sharing their take on the dish, I chose my next steps based on the flavor profiles that sounded best to me. That's the beauty of Tennessee Onionsthere's room for experimentation with the spices and types of cheese you most enjoy. I topped my butter-covered, sliced onions with sprinkles of garlic salt, freshly ground black pepper, parsley, and paprika, but you could tweak the recipe to use any spice combination that sounds good to you. Next, I sprinkled about one cup each of shredded Cheddar and mozzarella cheese on top, then finished it with about a half cup of shredded Parmesan cheese.

I compared many varying cook times and oven temperatures for baking my Tennessee Onions and assumed the longer my casserole dish baked, the softer and more delicious the onions would become. I was right. The sweet spot for my Vidalia onion casserole was baking it covered with foil for 40 minutes at 350 degrees F. I then raised the heat to 425 degrees F and baked the Tennessee Onions uncovered for another 30 minutes until the onions were soft and the cheese was lightly browned on top.

Terri Peters

What Do Tennessee Onions Taste Like?

My onion-slicing and cheese-grating resulted in an incredibly delicious side dish that tasted like French onion soup in casserole form. The Vidalia onions became sweet and tender in the oven, and the cheeses melted perfectly, with a few caramelized bits that provided extra flavor. Savory spices like garlic salt and black pepper perfectly complemented the sweetness of the onion, and the melty butter throughout the dish gave a rich and decadent backdrop to the casserole.

What to Serve with Tennessee Onions

Along with my Tennessee Onions, I prepared country-fried cube steak with white gravy and tossed some frozen potato wedges into my air fryer. The meal felt distinctly Southern and pleased everyone at my dinner tableespecially my husband, who created his take on loaded potato wedges by topping the air-fried spuds with gravy, steak, and a heaping pile of Tennessee Onions.

A lover of traditional steakhouse side dishes like creamed spinach, I thought Tennessee Onions gave off a similar vibe. The casserole was buttery and cheesy, and the soft, butter-braised texture of the sweet Vidalia onions would be the perfect accompaniment to a steak dinner. Id also make a pan of Tennessee Onions as a burger topping at a backyard barbecue, as the flavorful onions would please party guests as an option atop freshly grilled burgers on toasty buns.

Like many TikTok trends, creators who are sharing their love of Tennessee Onions did not steer me in the wrong direction. The toasty, oniony dish will remain in my side dish rotation. Since the friends and family I asked about the dish had never heard of it, Im looking forward to making the tasty side for future dinner parties and teaching the people I love about my new favorite way to eat onions.



Read the original article on All Recipes.
Katie Boulter reached the second round of the Australian Open in January

British number one Katie Boulter is out of the Miami Open after a fourth-round defeat by Victoria Azarenka of Belarus.

The 27-year-old, ranked 30th in the world, lost 7-5 6-1.

World number one Iga Swiatek is also out after a 6-4 6-2 defeat by 14th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia.

American world number three Coco Gauff was stunned by French 23rd seed Caroline Garcia, who reached the last eight in Miami for the first time with a 6-3 1-6 6-2 victory.

Two-time Grand Slam champion Azarenka, 34, will play Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan in the quarter-finals.

Garcia, who beat four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka in the previous round, will play American Danielle Collins for a place in the semi-finals.

Collins beat Romania's Sorana Cirstea 6-3 6-2 to progress to the last eight.

Elsewhere, Kazakhstan's world number four Elena Rybakina progressed with a 6-3 7-5 win over American Madison Keys to set up a meeting with Greek eighth seed Maria Sakkari.

Sakkari moved in to the quarter-finals with a walkover after Russian opponent Anna Kalinskaya withdrew.

America fifth-seed Jessica Pegula progressed to the last eight with a 7-6 6-3 win over Emma Navarro and will face Alexandrova.

Boulter battles but falls short

Boulter had made it through to the fourth round of the tournament for the first time by beating Brazil's Beatriz Haddad Maia in straight sets.

The Briton broke back to deny Azarenka as the former world number one served for the first set, before saving two break points to level the opener at 5-5.

But three-time Miami champion Azarenka struck again two games later, breaking Boulter to love to clinch a tight first set.

The second set proved much more one-sided as Azarenka stormed into a 5-0 lead with a double break before Boulter was able to get on the board in the sixth game.

Boulter managed to save two match points but she could not deny Azarenka, whose upcoming opponent Putintseva beat Ukraine's Anhelina Kalinina 6-4 7-6 (7-5).

Swiatek overpowered by Alexandrova

Swiatek, who was hoping to complete the sunshine double of Indian Wells and the Miami Open, was broken in the opening game of the match.

The Pole then struggled to handle the power of Alexandrova's service game and from the baseline.

"Second quarter-final here, second year in a row," Alexandrova said. "Beating Iga after so many tries and she's number one. It's the first time I beat the number one. All three things are very special to me.

"I'm not sure if it's a surprise or not, but I just worked quite hard on the court and it paid off."

'I had the match in control' - Gauff

Gauff, 20, who won her maiden Grand Slam at the US Open last year, was hoping to do better in her home tournament.

"I'm the type of person where every loss weighs on me heavy, especially one like today where I felt I could have done better and I felt like I had the match in control, especially after the second set," said Gauff.

"It helps being home, so I can just drive and be home and be in my own bed.

"I wish I could have done better this hard-court season."

Gauff, who lost to Swiatek in the 2022 French Open final, added she was "excited" for the upcoming clay season.

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Sick dairy cattle in two central U.S. states have tested positive for bird flu, federal officials reported.

As of Monday, the highly contagious pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAI) had been found in unpasteurized clinical samples of milk from ill cows at two dairy farms in Kansas and one in Texas, plus a swab from a dairy cow in Texas, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced in a news release.

The agency said its officials, along with the Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state veterinary and public health authorities, were investigating an illness detected primarily in older dairy cows in those states, as well as in New Mexico.

Wild migratory birds are believed to be the source of the infection, the USDA wrote, and viral testing and epidemiologic efforts are continuing this week.

Are manatees endangered? Here's the current conservation status of the marine mammal.

Farms in Texas, Kansas report finding dead birds on properties

Additional testing took place Friday and over the weekend, the USDA reported, because farms have also reported finding dead wild birds on their properties.

Based on findings from Texas, the agency wrote in the release, the detections appear to have been introduced by wild birds, and the commercial milk supply "remains safe due to both federal animal health requirements and pasteurization."

Bird flu is rare for humans, but possible. Sick dairy cattle in two central U.S. states tested positive for bird flu in late March 2024.

Bird flu spread to humans is low risk, USDA says

Initial testing by the National Veterinary Services Laboratories has not found changes to the virus that would make it more transmissible to humans, the USDA said, which means the risk to the public contracting the virus remains low for now.

Federal and state agencies said they "are moving quickly" to conduct additional bird flu testing.

"The first detection of HPAI in dairy cattle in Texas and Kansas underscores the importance of adherence to biosecurity measures, vigilance in monitoring for disease, and immediately involving your veterinarian when something seems off," American Veterinary Medical Association president Dr. Rena Carlson said. "A complete evaluation, including the collection and submission of laboratory samples and reporting to state animal health officials when appropriate, and in a timely fashion, are incredibly important."

Bird flu in Texas, Kansas affecting older dairy cows

The Texas Animal Health Commission confirmed the flu virus is the Type A H5N1 strain, known for decades to cause outbreaks in birds and to occasionally infect people.

The virus, the state agency said, is affecting older dairy cows in Texas and Kansas, as well as cattle in in New Mexico, causing symptoms including decreased lactation and low appetite.

Breaking: Baltimore's Key Bridge collapses after ship collision; 2 rescued, search continues: Live updates

What is bird flu?

Bird flu is a disease caused by a family of flu viruses primarily transmitted among birds.

Avian influenza viruses, according to the CDC and USDA, are classified into two groups: low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) (often seen in wild birds) and HPAI, found mostly in domestic poultry. According to the Centers for Disease Control, LPAI viruses cause mild or no disease, and HPAI cause severe disease and high mortality rates in infected birds.

Bird flu has cost the government roughly $660 million and in recent times raised the price of eggs and poultry. At least 58 million birds were slaughtered last year to limit the spread of the virus.

What are signs of bird flu?

Symptoms of bird flu include:

Loss of appetite, lethargy.

Death without prior symptoms.

Eyelid swelling.

Twisting of the head and neck.

Purple discoloration to body parts, including legs.

'No concern' about commercial milk supply safety

"At this stage," the USDA wrote, there is "no concern about the safety of the commercial milk supply or that this circumstance poses a risk to consumer health."

Dairies are required to send milk from healthy animals into processing before it can be put on grocery shelves, the agency said, and the milk from the sick animals was being destroyed.

In addition, USDA officials said, pasteurization "has continually proven to inactivate bacteria and viruses," including influenza, in milk.

It's also required for milk entering interstate commerce.

"For the dairies whose herds are exhibiting symptoms, on average about ten percent of each affected herd appears to be impacted, with little to no associated mortality reported among the animals," the USDA wrote in its release. "Milk loss resulting from symptomatic cattle to date is too limited to have a major impact on supply and there should be no impact on the price of milk or other dairy products."

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: Bird flu is impacting dairy cattle in Texas, Kansas: What to know
Reality Check is a Star series holding those with 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 officially filed for governor on Monday. 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. 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.
By Guy Faulconbridge

MOSCOW (Reuters) -A Russian court on Tuesday extended by three months the pre-trial detention of Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter arrested almost a year ago on suspicion of espionage while on a reporting trip in the city of Yekaterinburg.

Gershkovich, 32, became the first U.S. journalist arrested on spying charges in Russia since the Cold War when he was detained by the Federal Security Service (FSB) on March 29.

The reporter, the Journal and the U.S. government all deny he is a spy.

The hearing was closed to the media but the Moscow court service published photographs and a brief video showing Gershkovich standing in a glass box in court. He appeared relaxed and was smiling in some of the pictures.

U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy demanded that Russia free him and said the Kremlin was using him and other American citizens as pawns.

"This verdict to further prolong Evans detention feels particularly painful, as this week marks one year since Evan was arrested and wrongfully detained in Yekaterinburg simply for doing his job as a journalist," Tracy said.

The FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, said Gershkovich had been trying to obtain military secrets. He has now spent almost a year at Moscow's high-security Lefortovo prison, which is closely associated with the FSB, and his detention has been extended to June 30.

Western diplomats say Russia aims to build up a store of arrested U.S. citizens who could be swapped for Russians detained in the West.

Among the detained Americans is Paul Whelan, an ex-Marine arrested in Moscow in 2018 and sentenced to 16 years in prison on spying charges in 2020.

"Evans case is not about evidence, due process, or rule of law. It is about using American citizens as pawns to achieve political ends, as the Kremlin is also doing in the case of Paul Whelan," Tracy said.

Both Gershkovich and Whelan have been designated by the U.S. State Department as "wrongfully detained", meaning that Washington considers the charges against them bogus and is committed to working for their release.

PRISONER EXCHANGE?

President Vladimir Putin has said Gershkovich could be released at some point in exchange for a Russian prisoner held abroad, but no such deal has so far materialised.

Putin said on March 17 that he had approved the idea of exchanging Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny shortly before his death in a Siberian prison colony on Feb. 16.

Gershkovich was part of the negotiation that would have included Navalny, according to two sources who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.

His arrest shocked many Western news organisations and there are now hardly any U.S. reporters in Russia.

Most Western countries advise against going to Russia, which Washington rates as "Do not travel" - on a par with Afghanistan, Syria and Iran.

The war in Ukraine has further deepened a crisis in Russia's relations with the West, and the Kremlin accuses the U.S. of fighting against Russia by supporting Ukraine with weapons, intelligence and money.

(Reporting by Reuters; writing by Mark Trevelyan in London and Guy Faulconbridge in Moscow; editing by Nick Macfie, Kevin Liffey and Mark Heinrich)
The United States Department of Justice filed a complaint seeking the forfeiture of two luxury apartments in New York City purchased by Sukhbaatar Batbold, former Prime Minister of Mongolia because they believe the dwellings were purchased with proceeds from an alleged corruption scheme.

Located at 21 East 61st Street and 230 West 56th Street in Manhattan, the apartments are valued at $14 million, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York.

Court documents show that Batbold oversaw a $68 million mining contract from Catrison, a corporate entity owned through shell companies.

Catrison allegedly "had no operational history, no mining expertise, and no financial or logistical infrastructure to execute commodity sales, and its sole director was a former linguistics teacher."

The documents contend that funds were transferred into foreign bank accounts and moved through a series of shell companies and some of the funds were used to purchase the New York City apartments, which had been used by the former Prime Minister's son.

The complaint says Batbold and his family used state-owned mining contracts to move money through shell companies for their personal benefit.

One company was awarded a $30 million mining contract, with funds wired to a U.S. account held by Batbold's son.

The funds were used for personal expenses including "car payments, travel and an interior designer," according to authorities.

"As alleged in the complaint, Sukhbataar Batbold - the former prime minister of Mongolia - abused his position as prime minister to profit from the sale of his country's natural resources. He and his family used the proceeds of their corrupt scheme to buy $14 million in high-end real estate in the United States," Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, said in a statement.

"With this action, those properties are subject to forfeiture. Kleptocrats should take note: the Criminal Division is unwavering in its resolve to recover proceeds of official corruption and take the profit out of crime," Argentieri said.

"As alleged, former Mongolian Prime Minister Batbold used the profits from his illicit corruption scheme to purchase high-end real estate in violation of United States federal law. Today's forfeiture action sends a message that corrupt officials will not use our real estate market to conceal proceeds of crimes," said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace.

With reporting by TMX

@ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
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
By Matt Spetalnick

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Relations between President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sank to a wartime low on Monday with the U.S. allowing passage of a Gaza ceasefire resolution at the United Nations and drawing a sharp rebuke from the Israeli leader.

Netanyahu abruptly scrapped a visit to Washington this week by a senior delegation to discuss Israels threatened offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah after the U.S. abstained in a Security Council vote that demanded an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the release of all hostages held by the Palestinian militants.

The suspension of that meeting puts a major new obstacle in the way of efforts by the U.S., concerned about a deepening humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, to get Netanyahu to consider alternatives to a ground invasion of Rafah, the last relatively safe haven for Palestinian civilians.

The threat of such an offensive has increased tensions between longtime allies the United States and Israel, and raised questions about whether the U.S. might restrict military aid if Netanyahu defies Biden and presses ahead anyway.

"This shows that trust between the Biden administration and Netanyahu may be breaking down," said Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East negotiator for Republican and Democratic administrations. "If the crisis is not managed carefully, its only going to continue to worsen."

Bidens decision to abstain at the U.N., coming after months of mostly adhering to longtime U.S. policy of shielding Israel at the world body, appeared to reflect growing U.S. frustration with the Israeli leader.

The president, running for re-election in November, faces pressure not just from America's allies but from a growing number of fellow Democrats to rein in the Israeli military response to Hamas deadly Oct. 7 cross-border rampage that Israel says killed 1,200 people.

Netanyahu confronts domestic challenges of his own, not least his far-right coalition members demands for a hard line against the Palestinians. He also must convince hostages families he is doing everything for their release while facing frequent protests calling for his resignation.

As Netanyahu's office announced the cancellation of the visit, he 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.

PERPLEXED

U.S. officials said the Biden administration was perplexed by Israel's decision and considered it an overreaction, insisting there had been no change in policy.

Washington had mostly avoided the word "ceasefire" earlier in the nearly six-month-old war in the Gaza Strip and had used its veto power at the U.N. to shield Israel as it retaliated against Hamas.

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 Palestinians, the U.S. abstained on a call for a ceasefire for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ends in two weeks.

The challenge now for Biden and Netanyahu is to keep their differences from escalating out of control, analysts say.

Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington, said there was no reason this should be a "mortal blow" to relations. "So I dont think the door is closed to anything," he said.

Signalling that the two governments remain in close communication, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, on a visit separate from the one Netanyahu's delegation scrubbed earlier, went ahead with high-level meetings in Washington on Monday.

But the U.S. abstention adds to a deepening rift between Biden and Netanyahu, who have known each other for years but have had a testy relationship even in the best of times.

Earlier this month, Biden said in an MSNBC interview that a Rafah invasion would be a "red line," though he added that the defense of Israel is "critical" and there is no way "Im going to cut off all weapons so that they dont have the Iron Dome (missile defense system) to protect them."

Netanyahu dismissed Biden's criticism and vowed to press forward in Rafah, the last part of the Gaza Strip where Israeli forces have not carried out a ground offensive, though U.S. officials say there are no signs of an imminent operation.

That was followed last week with U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the countrys highest-ranking Jewish elected official, describing Netanyahu as an obstacle to peace and calling for new elections in Israel to replace him.

Biden called it a "good speech."

But Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters on Wednesday he was thinking of inviting Netanyahu, who spoke by videolink to Republican senators last week, to address Congress. That would be seen as a jab at Biden, giving Netanyahu a high-profile forum to air grievances against the U.S. administration.

Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse told Reuters that Netanyahu appeared to be working with Republicans to "weaponize the U.S.-Israel relationship in favor of the right wing."

Bidens 2024 re-election bid limits his options: he needs to avoid giving Republicans an issue to seize on with pro-Israel voters, while also halting the erosion of support from progressive Democrats dismayed by his strong backing for Israel.

Netanyahu, aware that polls show him being soundly defeated in any election held now, knows there is wide support for continuing the war in Gaza among an Israeli population still deeply traumatized by the Oct. 7 assault.

So he appears willing to risk testing Washington's tolerance.

All members of Netanyahu's emergency unity government support continuing the war until Hamas is destroyed and the hostages are returned, and there has been little sign of willingness to meet U.S. calls for moderation, despite the growing risk of international isolation.

Hard-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Israel was a partner but the United States was not its "patron state".

(Reporting by Matt Spetalnick; additional reporting by Steve Holland, Jonathan Landay and Arshad Mohammed in Washington, James Mackenzie and Dan Williams in Jerusalem; Writing by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Don Durfee and Alistair Bell)
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.
JERUSALEM  Reem Abu Obeida and Manal Abu Shaban are both 48-year-old grandmothers from the Gaza Strip, both suffer from breast cancer and both are awaiting an Israeli Supreme Court decision that they say could be a death sentence.

They would be sending us to the area of hell, Abu Obeida told NBC News on Thursday. Our fate will be death.

The women are among a group of Palestinians from Gaza who have been getting treatment in the cities of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, but now potentially face deportation back to Gaza, where the health care system has all but collapsed and basic medicines are scarce almost six months after Israel launched its military campaign in the enclave.

Their fate  along with that of the rest of the group of around 20 women and children, patients and their companions  is now in the hands of Israels Supreme Court, which issued a temporary injunction Thursday to prevent them being sent back to Gaza. It will make a final decision next month.

Israels government, which is arguing that the patients have completed their treatment and have no further need to stay, has asked the court for 30 days to consider its options.

Cancer patients Manal Abu Shaban and Reem Abu Obedia started their treatment in Israel before the war. (Shira Pinson / NBC News)

Abu Obeida and Abu Shaban, along with the other patients, say they need ongoing monitoring and follow-up care that is impossible to get in war-torn Gaza.

Among the patients are several children, according to a court filing from Physicians for Human Rights Israel, an Israeli nongovernmental organization, fighting to stop the deportation.

These are kids and grandparents. Sending them to the inferno, to a place where there is no safety is basically pure evil. Just a heartless action, said Guy Shalev, the NGOs executive director.

He said that a 9-year-old girl who was brought out of Gaza to donate bone marrow to her sick brother was facing deportation along with her grandmother. Her brother and their mother had permission to stay because he was still receiving treatment, he added.

The girls father was killed in the fighting, meaning she would have to return to Gaza without either parent, Shalev said, adding that the Israeli health care professionals treating her, even those reluctant to speak out against the war, had been very strict in kind of saying were not going to let these people leave the hospital.

The taxi was already on the way to pick them up, he added.

The Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the Israeli authority involved in the case, did not respond to a request for comment from NBC News.

But in a statement to Israeli media, a COGAT spokesman said: Gaza residents and their companions who have received medical treatment in Israeli hospitals, and are no longer required to continue medical treatment, are being returned to the Gaza Strip. In cases where further medical treatment is required, COGAT coordinates with the hospitals the continuation of their stay in order to ensure their health.

They added that the transition of people back to Gaza would be done in coordination with international aid organizations, including the Red Cross, and Israeli military forces on the ground.

In a guest house for outpatients being treated at Augusta Victoria, an imposing hospital on the Mount of Olives in east Jerusalem that primarily provides care for Palestinians from the occupied West Bank, Abu Obeida and Abu Shaban said they left Gaza in September and they had not seen their families since war broke out following the Hamas Oct. 7 attacks on Israel that left over 1,200 dead.

The room in the guest house where Manal Abu Shaban and Reem Abu Obedia are staying after their cancer treatment. (Shira Pinson / NBC News)

Since then theyve watched from an agonizing distance as Israels military offensive has leveled much of Gaza and killed almost 33,000 people, according to health officials in the enclave. Many more bodies are thought to be under the rubble of destroyed buildings.

We are living in a tragedy. The body is here, but the soul and the heart is there, said Abu Obeida, who comes from the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. The mom of 11 said her home had been destroyed by an Israeli strike and although her family had survived, three of her daughters had been dug out of the rubble.

Both said they were torn between a desperate desire to reunite with their families and fears for their own health and of burdening their loved ones.

There is no treatment there at all. Our children live in a tent without food, water or medicine. There are no necessities, Abu Obeida said, adding that her immune system was still weak after the cancer treatment.

Abu Shaban said she was initially joyful at the thought of being able to return to her home in northern Gaza, where her husband and five children remain. But later she said she learned that Israeli authorities intended to send her to either Khan Younis or Rafah, in southern Gaza, where she has no family.

I wanted to return to my home and my children, she said, adding that tears fell because I was not returning to my home.

Israels government has blocked Palestinians from returning to northern Gaza, where it says the fight against Hamas is ongoing, almost six months into the war.

Most painful, Abu Shaban said, was missing the birth of a new granddaughter named Rahma, which means mercy in Arabic. She is 3 months old, and I havent seen her yet. They send me her pictures, but I want to hold her, hug her and see her, she added.

It was impossible to describe the feeling of a mother who left her children, she said.
After six years, stand-up comedian Alex Edelman is ending "Just for Us" with an encore run in Los Angeles just before the April 6 release of an HBO special. (Peter Fisher / For The Times)

Not everyone wakes up to an avalanche of antisemitic tweets and then decides to attend a meeting of white nationalists in New York City. Because, well, not everyone is Alex Edelman, who has recounted the evening hundreds of times onstage in his hilarious and thought-provoking hit show "Just for Us."

And after spending six years revising his incisive 90-minute set (with the help of numerous comedy legends) and performing it all over the world, he's ending it with an encore run in Los Angeles  just before the April 6 release of the corresponding HBO special, filmed during the show's run on Broadway last summer.

"Part of the reason this show is ending is because I can't do it anymore," he told The Times. "Doing it can be a wrenching experience, but I've loved it."

(Peter Fisher / For The Times)

Ahead of his final seven performances of "Just for Us" at the Mark Taper Forum, the comedian participated in an exit interview of sorts, where he talked about the trick to recounting the time his Orthodox Jewish family celebrated Christmas, the loss of his director and close collaborator Adam Brace , and the to-do list for starting a new show  one that possibly addresses the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a topic that's fascinated him since childhood. This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

You attended the white nationalist meeting in 2018. When did you realize it'd make good onstage material?

I didn't realize it until other comedians and other people pushed me toward it and told me it was a good idea. I'm an idiot  I just thought it was a fun story to tell friends.I told Nick Callas [a fellow stand-up comedian] the story, and he made a joke about a detail in the story, and I thought, that's a pretty good joke. Then I did it on stage as a three-minute joke while opening for a comedian friend of mine who, I would say, I didn't think had my best interests at heart. That comedian went, "That story about that apartment is really weird, huh?" and I thought, "Wow, they feel a little threatened by that joke."

Then Adam clinched it. I told him the story, and he was like, "There's something there." It was a work in progress through 2018, and even though it won awards and got good reviews, it went to bed for all of 2019. I desperately wanted someone to make it as a special then. Thank God nobody did, because it needed more work. I've told this specific story of the meeting steadily since 2021 that it's become the memory, which is fascinating.

Read more:Review: A Jewish man walks into a room full of neo-Nazis. Self-exploration, empathy and sly humor ensue

You're now known to ask comedy greats for advice. Whose words of wisdom helped you most?

Steve Martin gave me a tag [for a joke], Stephen Colbert gave me a performance suggestion, and Jerry Seinfeld pointed out something that got a laugh every time but was really a flaw of the show. Billy Crystal gave me the advice to move from a handheld [microphone] to a headset, which I wasn't sure about because I thought the show would lose its stand-up roots. By the way, I pried that note out of him. I knew from looking at him during the show that his brain was going, and I wanted what was in there. Not only did he offer that advice, he came back when we taped the special.

Adam's instincts were almost always right, and it eats at me a little bit that it took me longer to come around to them than it probably should have. He was militant about prioritizing comedy and cutting distractions. I was once arguing for a detail that I thought was pretty good and belonged in the show. I said, "It's true!" and he said, "Well, it's a shame it isn't more entertaining!"

(Peter Fisher / For The Times)

A few weeks after Adam passed away, a woman came up to me after one of the Broadway shows and said, in front of a whole bunch of other people, "Do you think your show would be better if your director was still alive?" But the funny thing is, if you think about it, it's not a cruel thing to say. The answer is undoubtedly, yes. He was my collaborator, and I loved him, and he made my shows better.

Have you ever heard from anyone who also attended that meeting?

Not a single person. I thought I saw one of them in Union Square a few years later, but I didn't want to go up to somebody like, "You look just like this person from this meeting of white nationalists in Queens!" By then, I realized that I had lost their faces and I couldn't pick any of them out of a lineup. I don't know if they've ever seen the show, or if they're aware of it. If they do see it, I hope they like it.

By the way, the show is not a think piece about white nationalism. I've said no to so many counter-terrorism panels! No, I went to this thing one time and followed them on Gab [a social network used by the far-right]. I'm not some expert on this.

What's the most difficult part of the show to perform, whether technically or emotionally?

There's a deep emotional pause that [creative consultant and the special's director] Alex Timbers encouraged me to take. In that moment, I feel all of the feelings, all of the joys of performing the show, all the loss of the people that aren't around anymore. Some nights I can just get through it easy, some nights I feel like crying. That part's hard. People were like, "God, you're really acting there," and I'm like, "No, I'm sad." Part of the reason this show is ending is because I can't do it anymore. Doing it can be a wrenching experience, but I've loved it. I'm lucky to have good friends who buoy me through the more stressful times.

And from a technical perspective, the Christmas story. It's very fun to do. It's my favorite bit, but it's extremely high energy; it's gotta balance fast and slow and it's unlike anything I've ever done before. Adam always said it was his favorite piece of stand-up he's ever worked on. He and I really kneaded it to make it the funniest part. But, gosh, it can be challenging, and if I take my eye off the ball, it all unravels.

(Peter Fisher / For The Times)

I love when you announce to the audience, "I'm only telling you stuff I think you'd enjoy. If you really knew me, you might not like me." Why include that?

It's about performance. The show is based on this real-life story, but I think it's made so much better by the fact that there is artistic license, which I've always been really comfortable with. Because truly, the curatorial decisions that you make as a comedian are artistic licenses. Your biases, your prejudices, they always show, and examining those is what makes it interesting.

Like, what if I have opinions on complex political issues, or the way that people should move in the world? Would I still be afforded the same level of empathy that I get from an audience? I have a line in the show that isn't in the special because it's one of those things that just belongs in the live show. I say, "I could lose half of you with one line about Israel right now, the other half with two."

The truth is, our goodwill is sometimes conditional. So that line is about the reality that our goodwill is sometimes conditional, and how we court goodwill from each other and choose to give each other empathy.

Read more:This is the no-nonsense fairy godmother behind the careers of your favorite stand-up comics

You've regularly met audiences in lobbies afterward. How long did you usually chat?

Five minutes to an hour and a half. I don't mind it at all. It's informative to the special to know what people take away from it. In some places that are slightly more exurban or rural, some people were quibbling with the politics in the sense that people were siding with the folks in the meeting over me a little bit. And people often tell me how timely the show is, but people have been telling me that since 2018, because that's when [the] Tree of Life [synagogue attack] happened.

The only silly question I get is, "Do non-Jews get it?" Of course non-Jews get it. The show is about antisemitism, but it's really about assimilation. One guy told me, "I'm from a family of musicians, so I understood everything you're talking about." People receive it as comedy; it's for everyone. I was in a part of the UK where there aren't a lot of Jews, and pretty much the whole audience was waiting there to chat.

Not to be mawkish, but one of the things I like about the show is that if I saw it when I was 18, I think I would've enjoyed it. It's special for me when a kid in a yarmulke comes up to me and is pretty psyched.

(Peter Fisher / For The Times)

People can't chat with you in person after watching the special. If they don't reach out to you directly, what would you like to tell them?

I'm excited for people to see it, and I'm excited to hear from people about it. We worked really hard on these jokes for years to make a special that makes people laugh. I'm truly not thinking of anyone in particular, but a lot of people make specials that have a great point of view but aren't funny enough. So I hope that, in this off-color time period, people have a good time.

I'd also encourage people to watch it with a friend, or talk afterward with somebody else about what they think the special is about and the questions that the special raises. I've had good conversations with folks after shows about things like empathy and productivity and how we speak to each other and what we owe each other, and that's probably the thing I'll miss the most about [performing it live]. I guess the throughline of all of the questions you're asking, or the questions I'm answering, is that other people have made the show much better.

(Peter Fisher / For The Times)

Your upcoming gigs include the Netflix Is A Joke fest in L.A. How are you feeling about performing new material?

Oh my gosh, I have to start working on it right away. I'm trying to write a new, complete piece. It should be fun, it should be fine. It'll be cool to try to do new stuff. I hope I still can.

You've previously said that you want to perform something about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Is that the plan, soon or eventually?

Yes. My agent at the time I said that said to me, "Oh, that's great. We'll just call it career suicide." And [while performing "Just for Us,"] I've had people from both sides of the political spectrum asking me why the show isn't about Israel and Palestine, which is interesting because, obviously, like everybody else, I'm watching that with horror. But I would love to.

There are certain theatrical forms that can speak really well to a big issue and ask really productive questions. If I can figure out a way to wrap my arms around that comedically, that'd be interesting and important and good. I don't know that I can, but part of the reason this show is ending is so I can tackle bigger challenges like that and have the brain space to do it. So I don't know. But maybe. Hopefully.

Read more:Jodie Sweetin channels Full House dad Bob Saget with her 'inappropriate and dark' comedy

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Michael Cohen, the ex-personal attorney of former President Trump, said his former boss should be worried about the prosecutors, witnesses and evidence that are coming his way after a judge set his hush money trial start date.

He shouldnt be worried about me. He should be worried about the Manhattan district attorney, the district attorney of New York prosecutors, he should be worried about the documentary evidence, he should be worried about all of the witnesses that are going to be coming into that trial simply because, as others have also appropriately put it, this is a simple case, Cohen told MSNBCs Jen Psaki on Monday.

The judge in Trumps hush money case held a hearing Monday, and his lawyers battled with the state over new documents turned over in the case. The trial was scheduled to begin Monday, but after the documents came to light, it was delayed.

The judge ultimately decided to not further delay the trial, setting the new start date for April 15.

Cohen will testify in the case  along with adult film star Stormy Daniels, despite Trumps objections. Daniels said she was paid hush money by Cohen to stay quiet about her alleged affair with Trump. In a recent documentary, Daniels said she only took the money because she feared for her life.

Cohen wouldnt divulge what he is likely going to speak about during his testimony, but he expressed his frustration Monday with the new documents.

He said the Trump team is trying to attack his credibility and figure out a way how to impugn again, my reputation for the sole purpose of either delaying this trial further or having it knocked off the calendar all together, which is just, you know, wishful thinking.

Cohen hinted his upcoming testimony will show wrongdoing on behalf of his former boss.

This is a case based upon documentary evidence and corroborating testimony. You know, these documents dont lie, and they point to a very specific picture, one of which of course, does not nor to the benefit of Donald Trump, he said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Investigators in Pennsylvania identified a suspect in an unsolved slaying through DNA obtained from a discarded cigarette butt and a bitten-off piece of a styrofoam cup, authorities said Monday.

Vallis Slaughter, 39, was arrested last week in connection with the fatal 2012 shooting of Julio Torres, 34, in a diner parking lot in West Reading, northwest of Philadelphia, Berks County District Attorney John Adams told reporters.

Court records show Slaughter was charged with multiple crimes, including first-degree murder, aggravated assault and conspiracy.

dna match technology cold case solved (Berks County DA)

A second person, Jomaine Case, was previously convicted of conspiracy in the killing, Adams said.

Adams said there was an argument before the March 24, 2012, shooting, though it wasnt clear what else may have prompted the killing.

To date we have never determined what the motive was for this shooting, other than some senseless dispute, Adams said.

Adams said Case did not identify Slaughter as a possible suspect and DNA obtained from the styrofoam cup found at the crime scene a decade ago did not match anyone in CODIS, the law enforcement database that contains DNA profiles of convicted offenders.

After the case was reexamined last year, investigators extracted a photo from a cell phone that belonged to an alleged associate of the man authorities believed may be the suspected shooter, Adams said.

Facial recognition software identified the man in the photo as Slaughter, Adams said.

Slaughter was staying with his mother in Jersey City, and in February authorities surveilling him collected a smoldering cigarette butt that he threw to the ground before entering the relative's home, Adams said.

A DNA profile collected from the cigarette matched a profile taken from the styrofoam cup, Adams said.

Slaughter was taken into custody last Wednesday. He is being held without bail in New Jersey and is awaiting extradition to Pennsylvania, Adams said.

A lawyer for Slaughter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Adams said Slaughter is also suspected in a homicide in Brooklyn. He did not provide additional details about the alleged crime and a spokesperson for the New York Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
LOS ANGELES  Sean "Diddy" Combs is a subject of a federal investigation amid a wave of lawsuits that have been filed against the rap music mogul since November, a source familiar with the matter told NBC News on Monday.

Three women and a man have been interviewed by federal officials in Manhattan in relation to allegations of sex trafficking, sexual assault, and the solicitation and distribution of illegal narcotics and firearms, the source said. Interviews with three other subjects are also scheduled, the source said.

Four law enforcement sources told NBC News that federal agents with Homeland Security Investigations on Monday executed search warrants at Los Angeles and Miami properties belonging to Combs. The sources said the warrant is out of the Southern District of New York.

police investigate sean puff diddy combs (Rebecca Blackwell / AP)

HSI confirmed in a statement that it "executed law enforcement actions" in New York as part of an ongoing investigation, along with teams in Los Angeles and Miami.

Homeland Security officials seized phones from Combs in Miami before he was scheduled to depart for a trip to the Bahamas, according to three law enforcement sources familiar with the warrant. Combs was in the Miami area when authorities executed the searches, sources said. It is not clear if Combs made the trip as planned.

Representatives for Combs, 54, did not immediately respond to NBC News request for comment Monday.

Sean

Series of allegations, lawsuits

News of a federal investigation comes after public scrutiny of Combs behavior after his former romantic partner, Cassie, accused him of physically and sexually abusing her for years. She made the allegations in a lawsuit filed late last year in New York under the New York Adult Survivors Act, which offered a one-year window for adult victims of sexual assault to come forward with civil claims regardless of the statute of limitations.

Cassie, whose full name is Casandra Ventura, settled with Combs on Nov. 17, the day after the suit was filed on terms that have not been disclosed.

Since then, three other women have come forward with lawsuits in the Southern District of New York alleging that they were sexually assaulted by Combs. Two of the women said they were teenagers at the time of the alleged assaults.

Douglas Wigdor, who represents Ventura and a Jane Doe who filed suit, said in a statement that the searches and investigation were hopefully the beginning of a process that will hold Mr. Combs responsible for his depraved conduct.

We will always support law enforcement when it seeks to prosecute those that have violated the law, Wigdor said.

An attorney for Joi Dickerson-Neal, one of Combs' accusers, declined to comment to NBC News.

Combs has denied each of the sexual assault allegations, calling them sickening.

A producer who worked for Combs between September 2022 and November 2023 filed a lawsuit in February alleging that Combs sexually harassed, drugged and threatened him for more than a year. The former employee, Rodney Lil Rod Jones, also alleged that he had video and audio evidence of Combs, his staff and others engaging in serious illegal activity.

Jones' attorney, Tyrone Blackburn, also represents Combs' accuser Liza Gardner. Blackburn said Monday that the federal investigation will not "prevent nor delay my clients pending and forthcoming actions for justice and resolution from the Combs RICO Enterprise.

Shawn Holley, an attorney for Combs, previously denied Jones allegations and said that Combs team has overwhelming, indisputable proof that his claims are complete lies.

One person who said he frequents the Los Angeles neighborhood where a search happened expressed shock.

Ryan Mendelsohn, 20, who used to live in the area and still regularly visits a nearby friend, told reporters he would see parties at the home and women outside. Other homes had parties, too, but that home had people there and women outside until 6 a.m., which was not usual, he said.

I drive by a lot, and I see that  a lot of girls, maybe five or six girls outside, some leaving, some not, some going in, adding he also saw Black Chevy Suburban SUVs there.

I never thought anything of it, said Mendelsohn, who said he did not know Combs lived there until Mondays news coverage. But now, its crazy.

Weapons charge

Combs has had a number of legal issues in the past, but has rarely faced criminal charges.

In 1999, Combs pleaded guilty to assaulting a record executive and was ordered to one day of anger management. That same year, Combs was accused of criminal possession of a weapon after a shooting at a New York nightclub.

Witnesses told law enforcement that they saw Combs with a firearm at the club and that rapper Shyne, real name Moses Barrow fired into the crowd. Combs was pulled over by police in a vehicle with then-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez, and a gun was found in the car. Combs was acquitted of weapons and bribery charges, and Shyne was found guilty of the club shooting at trial.

Since Ventura's suit and others have come forward accusing Combs of assault, the music mogul has been the center of scrutiny. He stepped down from his position as chairman of media network Revolt and Hulu pulled back from a planned reality series centered on his family.

Diana Dasrath and Andrew Blankstein reported from Los Angeles, and Doha Madani and Jonathan Dienst from New York.
QUEENS - Jonathan Diller, the NYPD officer shot and killed during a traffic stop in Queens, leaves behind a wife and a one-year-old son "who will now grow up without his father."

A vigil will be held at Brady Park in Massapequa Park on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Visitation will be held on Thursday and Friday. Dillers funeral is planned for Saturday morning.

"You were a good man and a great father whose shoes can never be filled," Diller's brother-in-law, Jonathan McAuley, who is also a cop posted to Facebook, FOX 5 NY's Jodi Goldberg confirmed. He also shared a photo with what appears to be Diller's son wearing a shirt that reads, "My Daddy's life matters."

McAuley promised to look after Dillers son as if he were his own.

Diller grew up in Franklin Square and later moved to Massapequa Park.

MORE: Trump to attend wake of slain NYPD officer Jonathan Diller, officials say

"Its a big extended family and our hearts go out to the NYPD family," Danny Pearl, Mayor of the Village of Massapequa Park said. "Its a tremendous loss."

A neighbor spent Tuesday tying blue bows to the porches of those who lived near Diller.

"Im getting more emotional," James Bonilla said. "Itll be a sad moment in the neighborhood. Itll be one less person at the block party."

Bonilla and Naomi Sanchez already have a blue ribbon hanging from the front door post of their home. Their son is a Nassau police officer.

"Every day that my son goes to work I pray cause you know hes going to work and you never know if hes coming back," Sanchez said.

For Laurie Logan, making some of the bows being used to remember Diller are a labor of love.

"It's something you have to do," Logan said. "It's the only thing I can do."

Diller's murder in Far Rockaway on Monday marks the first slaying of an NYPD officer in two years.

"We lost one of our sons today, and it is extremely painful," NYC Mayor Eric Adams said at a press conference. "It is extremely painful."

Diller, 31, was based at the 105th Precinct Satellite in Rosedale, Queens, near the Long Island border, where he resided. The shooting scene is around 4.5 miles from where he worked.

He had served with the NYPD for three years, NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban said in a tweet. Diller made more than 70 arrests during his short career, sources tell FOX 5 NY.

Fellow officers escorted Diller's flag-draped from Jamaica Hospital on Monday night.

"Surrounded by family and the men and women in blue, he was walked out honorably, to many tears and salutes from Jamaica Hospital. What started out as an everyday car stop, instantly became a moment where so many lives would be turned upside down," Diller's brother-in-law, who goes by Jonny Mac on Facebook, posted.

Timeline: How Diller's murder unfolded?

The shooting happened just before 6 p.m. in Far Rockaway, Queens, after Diller and his partner encountered a vehicle illegally parked at a bus stop.

According to police, as the pair approached the vehicle, a man inside shot Diller below his bullet-proof vest, Caban said. Dillers partner returned fire and wounded the suspected shooter, who was brought to a hospital.

Diller was taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center but could not be saved, officials said.

The police departments chief of detectives, Joseph Kenny, said Diller and his partner had initially tried to order the vehicle's driver and passenger out of the car, which was stopped on a busy but narrow street in a bustling commercial district.

"When the officers took him out of the car, rather than stepping out of the car, he shot our officer." Joseph Kenny

"He was asked to leave the car," Kenny said of the person who pulled the gun. "He was given a lawful order numerous times to step out of the car. He refused. And when the officers took him out of the car, rather than stepping out of the car, he shot our officer."

Kenny said Diller "stayed in the fight" after being wounded and tried to disarm the shooter, whose name was not immediately released by police.

"The gun hit the ground. And as the perpetrator was still reaching for it, this cop was able to grab it, although he was still shot," Kenny said.

The slaying was the first of an NYPD officer since 2022 when two officers  Wilbert Mora, 27, and Jason Rivera, 22  were ambushed in a Harlem apartment building after responding to a domestic disturbance call.

Who is the shooter?

The gunman has been identified as 34-year-old Guy Rivera.

According to Mayor Eric Adams, Rivera has more than 20 prior arrests.

Charges against him are pending and Rivera remains in stable condition at Jamaica Hospital.

What are officials saying?

Adams said he met with Dillers grieving widow. He called the shooting a "senseless act of violence."

"These attacks on New York City police officers have to end right now." Patrick Hendry

"Can I say it any clearer? It is the good guys against the bad guys," he said. "And these bad guys are violent. They carry guns. And the symbol of our public safety, which is that police uniform, they have a total disregard for."

Patrick Hendry, president of the Police Benevolent Association of New York, expressed anger over the shooting.

"These attacks on New York City police officers have to end right now," he said. "We have a family upstairs thats devastated. We have police officers in this hallway who lost a brother. It has to end now."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Tuesday's devastating collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge is likely to disrupt America's vital auto industry -- just months after the city's port set a new record for handling cars and light trucks.

Nearly 850,000 vehicles passed through the Port of Baltimore in 2023, marking the 13th consecutive year it led the nation in automotive imports and exports, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said in a statement last month.

Baltimore also ranked first for handling roll-on/roll-off heavy farm and construction machinery, imported sugar and imported gypsum, a mineral that's used to make wallboard, plaster and cement.

The port was closed indefinitely after a container ship, the Dali, lost power and smashed into a bridge column around 1:30 a.m., causing much of the 1.6-mile, four-lane overpass to fall into the Patapsco River.

Two survivors were pulled from the water and rescue teams were searching for six others who were on the bridge when it went down.

About 40 ships, including 34 cargo vessels, were heading for Baltimore and 10 commercial ships dropped anchor in nearby waters, according to the New York Times, which cited data from the MarineTraffic tracking company.

The Baltimore-bound ships may be rerouted to ports in New Jersey or North Carolina, MarineTraffic analyst Georgios Hatzimanolis told the Times.

"We do expect there to be a ripple effect, but it's a bit too early to say what the impact will be," he said.

The situation could also lead to a shift in ship traffic to the West Coast but it's unclear which ports would be able to deal with a surge in the roll-on/roll-off vessels, known and Ro-Ros, that carry wheeled cargo if Baltimore were to remain closed for long, according to Bloomberg.

Major automakers including General Motors, Toyota and the Volkswagen Group ship their vehicles in in and out of Baltimore, CNN reported.

Ford's chief financial officer, John Lawler, told Bloomberg Television that the bridge collapse would "lengthen the supply chain a bit" and that the company was rerouting auto parts to other East Coast ports.

In a statement, GM said it rerouted vehicle shipments to other ports and expected "minimal impact to our operations."

VW's Baltimore shipping facility, which the company said handled about 100,000 vehicles for northeast and mid-Atlantic dealers last year, is located east of the bridge and still has ocean access.

But while the company doesn't expect its shipping operations to be affected, it said that "there may be trucking delays as traffic will be rerouted in the area."

@ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Many of Tuesday's papers react to China being formally accused by the British government of being behind "malicious" cyber campaigns against MPs and the UK's elections watchdog. The i newspaper says the cabinet is divided on how to respond to the threat, adding that MPs who have reportedly been targeted are "underwhelmed" by the response to sanction two individuals and one Chinese company. China has consistently denied accusations of espionage and wrongdoing.

Leading the battle cry for tougher action is former Conservative Party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith - one of the MPs who was targeted by hackers. The Daily Express says he is calling for the UK to designate China as a "threat" as the United States has done. Sir Iain is a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, which scrutinises, and often criticises, the activities of Beijing.

The Daily Mail says there is "fury" over the UK's "feeble rebuke to China" in its headline. The paper says Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is under mounting pressure to "finally get tough with China".

The Times reports that Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden has indicated ministers are poised to declare China a threat to national security following revelations of the scale of cyber attacks. The paper also features a photo of a tractor convoy outside Westminster on Monday as part of a farmers' protest over the government's food production policy. The protest follows months of similar demonstrations in Europe.

The Daily Mirror continues its coverage of the reaction to Catherine, the cancer diagnosis of the Princess of Wales. Alongside a photo of Catherine, the paper says her video message last week has triggered a spike in online searches about the disease. "The Kate Effect" is its headline.

The Sun says Catherine's "brave" message will save lives, according to NHS England's cancer chief. Her revelation has inspired hundreds of thousands of people to get checked, the paper says.

The Guardian turns its attention to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. The paper says Israel has become isolated from its allies after the UN Security Council called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza for the first time since war began in October. It has also demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages taken by Hamas. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the US, in exercising its veto, has "abandoned" its previous position which directly linked a ceasefire to a hostage release.

A photo of smiling, five-year-old Linnea, who died with her mother Destiny after they were hit by a car in Plymouth, is Metro's main image. A 74-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by careless driving and driving while unfit through drink or drugs.

The tractor convoy is also pictured on the front page of the Daily Telegraph. But the paper is leading with calls from magistrates to overhaul "secretive" court hearings used for prosecutions on speeding, TV licence offences and truancy. The paper says they have resulted in "vulnerable people" being prosecuted behind closed doors in absentia or without legal representation.

The Financial Times reports that the CEO and chair of airplane manufacturing giant Boeing will be stepping down in an attempt to draw a line under a deepening crisis over the firm's safety record. It comes after an unused door blew out of a Boeing 737 Max jet in January shortly after take-off.

And the Daily Star is urging people not to panic despite what it describes as "vampires and zombies" walking among us. Psychological disorder expert Dr Brian Sharpless has told the paper there are people who have a desire to drink blood for sexual pleasure, as well as people who believe their organs are rotting from the inside.

The Guardian says Monday's call by the UN Security Council for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza has left Israel in "near total isolation" on the world stage. It describes the development as a "significant break" between the Biden administration and the Israeli government and says it represents "a long-delayed show of international unity".

The Daily Telegraph says Downing Street faced a "backlash" from Conservative MPs on Monday night, after the UK helped to pass the UN resolution. It says the Foreign Secretary, Lord Cameron, was challenged by four of his party colleagues at a meeting of the backbench 1922 committee, with those who spoke up asking why Britain had backed the motion when the US had abstained.

The Daily Mail says Rishi Sunak is facing "fury" at what it calls his "feeble" rebuke to China, after the UK and the US revealed the scale of Beijing's efforts to subvert Western democracy via a wave of cyber attacks. An unnamed MP who was targeted by China is quoted saying ministers had "turned up to a gunfight with a wooden spoon" - after the government announced sanctions against two hackers and a small firm in Wuhan. The Times says China is set to be formally declared a threat to Britain's national security, but some Tory MPs have warned that does not go far enough.

Several leader columns call on the government to get tough with China. "It's time to stand up to Chinese meddling," says the Daily Express. "Beijing's threats must be firmly challenged," insists the Telegraph. Writing in the same paper, the former Conservative leader, Sir Iain Duncan Smith, warns that the UK has "dragged its feet in facing up to this growing threat". He repeats the analogy he made in the Commons yesterday - likening the government's announcement of sanctions to "watching an elephant giving birth to a mouse" - and says ministers must now make clear that China presents a "systemic threat".

The UN Security Council

The departure of Boeing's chief executive and chairman is the main story for the Financial Times, after the aircraft manufacturer announced a management shake-up. The paper describes the changes as an attempt to "draw a line" under the recent safety crisis, triggered when a door panel fell off a plane mid-flight in January. It says Dave Calhoun's decision to step down as Boeing's boss has been welcomed by the company's customers - including Ryanair, which said it hoped the new management team would help to eliminate delays to the deliveries of new aircraft.

With the headline "The Kate effect", the Daily Mirror highlights a huge search in online checks for cancer symptoms, after the Princess of Wales revealed she was undergoing treatment for the disease. The paper says she has been praised for raising awareness by health bosses and charities who say it could save lives. The Sun reports that visits to the NHS cancer symptoms website averaged one every three seconds in the hours after the princess made her diagnosis public. It says her "courageous" video message "worked spectacularly" - meaning "she's done more good with one statement than the sick trolls who target her will do in a lifetime".

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has found an unlikely  but like-minded  running mate for his independent presidential ticket.

Tech lawyer Nicole Shanahan has no government experience and no national profile, and she is one of the most unusual selections for a high-profile running mate in recent memory. She is far less known than some of the other names Kennedy considered, including NFL star Aaron Rodgers and actor and former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura.

But what she does offer is a similar worldview to Kennedy's, presumed loyalty to the person who plucked her from relative obscurity and  perhaps most important  enormous wealth that the Kennedy-Shanahan campaign could tap far in excess of contribution limits that would apply to donors who are not themselves candidates.

Shanahan, 38, also offers a youth and vitality that Kennedy often says is necessary in politics. And she has already demonstrated her commitment to Kennedys cause, revealing in February that she donated $4 million to a pro-Kennedy super PAC to help pay for a Super Bowl ad.

Despite mostly supporting progressive and center-left Democrats in the past, Shanahan has said that she was motivated to support Kennedy in part because of concerns about childrens health and the environment, including vaccines, and she has also expressed opposition to the research money that has poured into the in-vitro fertilization industry.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (David L. Ryan / Boston Globe via Getty Images file)

She defended Kennedys advocacy against vaccines to Newsweek this year, saying that being called an anti-vaxxer is so unfair and that we need to have a safe space to discuss the issue.

A life in the world's tech capital

Shanahan, a tech lawyer and entrepreneur turned philanthropist from Oakland, California, has lived a life that has intersected with some of the most important technologies and business titans in Silicon Valley.

Shanahan, born to parents who struggled financially, said that her family was on food stamps and that she started working at age 12 to help make ends meet.

My dad was diagnosed with bipolar schizophrenia when I was 9, and my Chinese-born mom had only been in the United States for two years when I was born, she told San Francisco magazine for a profile in 2021. So not only was there no money, there was almost no parental guidance, and as you can imagine with a mentally ill father, there was lots of chaos and fear.

She credits the internet with helping her escape, and technology would come to dominate her life after she graduated from the University of Puget Sound and returned to the Bay Area, attending Santa Clara University School of Law and then diving into the intersection of the legal and tech worlds.

In a landscape where innovation often outpaces regulation, she founded ClearAccessIP, a company that uses artificial intelligence technology to help patent holders manage their intellectual property, according to its website. The company was acquired by IPwe in 2020.

Shanahan married Google co-founder Sergey Brin in 2018 and divorced him in 2022. That year, The Wall Street Journal reported that she had an affair with billionaire Elon Musk, but both Shanahan and Musk have denied the accusation. The Journal has stood by its reporting.

The WSJs narrative that an affair with Elon Musk led to the end of my marriage was about as accurate as claiming that the body heat of polar bears is responsible for the melting of the Arctic ice caps, she wrote last year in a first-person essay for People. It felt senseless and cruel.

After the divorce from Brin, who is worth an estimated $121 billion, according to Forbes, she transitioned to full-time philanthropy work.

Shanahans charity, the Bia-Echo Foundation, says its mission is to create a multiplying effect on issues Shanahan cares about, including reproductive longevity & equality, criminal justice reform and a healthy & livable planet.

She started that work through her ex-husbands foundation, announcing a $100 million commitment in 2019 to programs aimed at helping women become pregnant later in life, in addition to exploring solutions to criminal justice reform and climate change.

Fertility issues have been a focus of her foundation and her investment firm, Planeta Ventures, and a later gift of $6 million helped create the Center for Female Reproductive Longevity and Equality; she said her goal is to help women be able to have children into their mid-50s.

However, Shanahan has advocated against supporting IVF research, because, in her view, it detracts from understanding the root causes of infertility. And she has argued the procedure is sold irresponsibly and has become more of a commercial endeavor than a scientific one, calling its promise one of the biggest lies thats being told about womens health today.

Many of the IVF clinics are financially incentivized to offer you egg freezing and IVF and not incentivized to offer you other fertility services, Shanahan told The New Yorker last year.

Im so often told that IVF is this great technology, and I always get questioned why Im not more supportive of IVF, she said in an online video series. Ive tried to imagine where we would be as a field if all of the money that has been invested in IVF and all of the money thats been invested into marketing IVF and all of the government money that has been invested in subsidizing IVF, if just 10% of that went into reproductive longevity, research and fundamental research.

That view could be especially relevant this year as both parties debate abortion rights after the Supreme Courts 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade. An Alabama Supreme Court ruling this year that frozen embryos created for IVF were people briefly halted procedures in the state  and made the issue a national political hot button.

Politicians from both parties rushed to voice their support for IVF, and Democrats argued that longtime GOP positioning on abortion legislation and personhood laws would have the effect of restricting IVF.

Her position on vaccines and other past advocacy

Shanahans 2023 essay also reveals how her experience with the reporting around her marriage led her to adopt a more jaundiced view of the news media, which is a frequent target of Kennedys.

They displayed a reckless thirst for a popular hit piece, no matter the cost it would have on my life, she wrote.

She and Brin had a daughter, Echo, who was diagnosed with autism at a young age. Shanahan has said she is committed to investing her wealth in understanding the causes and treatments of the disorder.

Many vaccine skeptics, including Kennedy, have said vaccines cause autism  even though experts say there is no evidence supporting the claim and the key research papers that made the link were later retracted, with their lead author widely discredited after he was found to have manipulated his data.

Kennedy took a leave from his post as the leader of the countrys best-funded anti-vaccine organization, Childrens Health Defense, to run for president, and he has since included a number of anti-vaccine activists in his campaign.

Last summer, Shanahan committed to her partner, Jacob Strumwasser, an executive of a company working on next-generation of bitcoin financial software, whom she met at Burning Man.

We were living parallel surfing lives, she told People last year, and then we met at Burning Man, which is the driest place on the planet.

Kennedy kicked off his campaign with a speech at a Bitcoin convention in Miami, which was his first public appearance as a candidate. And he has spoken often about the promise of cryptocurrency.

Politically, Shanahan has donated heavily to Democrats and progressive causes, such as criminal justice reform ballot measures, according to campaign finance records.

In 2020, she gave $2,800 to Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg and co-hosted a fundraiser for Buttigieg, who is the transportation secretary. She also gave $2,800 to Democratic contender Marianne Williamson during the last election cycle, before she donated $25,000 to the fundraising efforts backing Joe Biden. She also gave the maximum $6,600 to Kennedys campaign last year, before she announced the larger gift to the super PAC for the Super Bowl ads.

Shanahan also gave to several Democratic congressional candidates in battleground districts in 2018. And she gave the maximum $5,400 contribution to Hillary Clintons presidential campaign in 2016.

Asked in 2022 about her politics, she told Puck: I dont think about it in terms of party. I think about it in terms of people, places and ideas. That attitude reflects Kennedys own rhetoric, especially since he left the Democratic presidential primary campaign to run as an independent.

While there is no obvious precedent for vice presidential candidates bankrolling their campaigns, Federal Election Commission rules exempt candidates funding their own campaigns from contribution limits, so it appears she would be able to contribute or lend as much money as she wants to the Kennedy campaign.

The campaign needs money to fund its ballot access work, including the painstaking and expensive work of gathering hundreds of thousands of signatures from dozens of states.

While major-party candidates typically wait until the summer to announce their running mates, one reason Kennedy did so now is because deadlines are coming up in some states that require submission of both names on tickets to get on ballots.
By Idrees Ali and Matt Spetalnick

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Tuesday it was a moral and strategic imperative to protect Palestinian civilians in the war between Israel and Hamas and that the humanitarian catastrophe in besieged Gaza was getting worse.

Austin was speaking during a meeting with Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant at the Pentagon as relations between U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sank to a wartime low.

"In Gaza today, the number of civilian casualties is far too high and the amount of humanitarian aid is far too low," Austin said, sitting across from Gallant, a key architect of the military campaign against Hamas in response to the militants' Oct. 7 cross-border rampage that Israel says killed 1,200 people.

"Gaza is suffering a humanitarian catastrophe and the situation is getting even worse," Austin said, using some of his most forceful language so far.

The Pentagon later said Austin's discussion with Gallant was frank and direct.

The Israeli defense minister also met for a second day with U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan, who told Gallant that Israel needs to increase the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said.

Gallant later held talks with CIA Director William Burns, recently returned from talks in Qatar seeking an elusive deal for Hamas' release of more than 130 hostages still held in Gaza.

Speaking to reporters, Gallant, apparently seeking to cool U.S.-Israeli tensions, said he stressed the importance of U.S. ties to his country's security and of maintaining Israels qualitative military edge in the region, including its air capabilities.

"We share 100% of the values and 99% of the interests with the United States," Gallant said.

Biden has come under pressure from human right groups and some fellow Democrats to condition further military aid on Netanyahu holding off on a threatened offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians are sheltering. The U.S. president has resisted doing so.

FEARS OF FAMINE

Israel has launched strikes and shelling in Gaza that have killed more than 32,000 Palestinians, according to the health authorities in the Hamas-run enclave.

"We need immediate increases in assistance to avert famine," Austin said.

A senior U.S. defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said more aid was now flowing through land crossings and that about 200 trucks were crossing into Gaza daily.

Gallant's meeting with Austin took place after Netanyahu on Monday canceled a separate visit to Washington by two senior aides due to hear U.S. ideas about operational alternatives in Rafah.

Netanyahu's fraught relations with Biden became even more strained over Washington's decision not to veto a U.N. Security Council resolution seeking an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. The United States has been working to get Netanyahu to consider other options instead of a ground invasion of Rafah, the last relatively safe haven for Palestinian civilians.

Austin said he was ready to discuss alternate approaches to targeting Hamas militants there.

The senior defense official said Austin discussed potential steps like Israel's precision targeting of Hamas fighters in the southern city on Gaza's border with Egypt.

The threat of such an offensive has increased differences between close allies the United States and Israel, and raised questions about whether the U.S. might restrict military aid if Netanyahu defies Biden and presses ahead anyway.

Gallant emphasized that while he had discussed humanitarian aid, he had also made clear Israel's plan to go ahead with efforts to destroy Hamas, saying it was necessary to deter "common enemies," an apparent reference to Iran. Hamas, he said, still has five battalions operating in Rafah.

Austin said the security bond between Israel and the United States was "unshakeable". "The United States is Israel's closest friend and that won't change," he added.

(Reporting by Idrees Ali and Matt Spetalnick; additional reporting by Steve Holland and Nandita Bose; Editing by Daniel Wallis, Stephen Coates and Lincoln Feast.)
By Guy Faulconbridge

MOSCOW (Reuters) -The director of Russia's most powerful security agency said on Tuesday that he believed Ukraine, along with the United States and Britain, were involved in the attack on a concert hall just outside Moscow that killed at least 139 people.

Ukraine, which has repeatedly denied any link with Friday's attack, dismissed the Russian accusations as lies. Britain said they were "utter nonsense". Islamic State, the militant group that once sought control over swathes of Iraq and Syria, claimed responsibility for the mass shooting.

"We believe that the action was prepared by both the Islamist radicals themselves and was facilitated by Western special services," Alexander Bortnikov, director of the Federal Security Service (FSB), said on television.

"The special services of Ukraine are directly related to this," Bortnikov said, adding Kyiv had helped prepare Islamist radicals at an unidentified location in the Middle East.

When asked by Russian reporters if Ukraine and its allies, the United States and Britain, were involved in the attack on the concert hall, Bortnikov said: "We think that's the case. In any case, we are now talking about the texture that we have. This is general information."

Bortnikov, 72, who has served as head of the FSB since 2008, said Russia had yet to identify those who specifically ordered the deadliest attack inside Russia for two decades, but said that retaliatory measures would be taken.

He offered no specific evidence for the claims, which hardliners in Moscow could use to justify an escalation of the war in Ukraine and to explain how Russian security services failed to prevent the attack.

Since President Vladimir Putin sent forces into Ukraine in 2022, the Kremlin has cast the West - and particularly the United States and Britain - as enemies whose decision to support Ukraine essentially outs them as parties to war with Russia.

Russia has repeatedly said that blasts on the Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea in September 2022 were carried out by the United States and Britain. Washington and London have denied those accusations.

'ISIS OR UKRAINE?'

Russian news outlet SHOT published a video of an exchange in which a reporter asked Nikolai Patrushev, the secretary of Russia's Security Council, whether it was "ISIS (Islamic State) or Ukraine?"

"Of course Ukraine," Patrushev replied. Asked about the remark later, he said there were "many" indications of Ukrainian involvement.

Senior Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak dismissed the Russian claims as lies.

"The lies are officially spread by Patrushev, and after that by the head of the FSB Bortnikov," Podolyak said.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron posted on X: "Russias claims about the West and Ukraine on the Crocus City Hall attack are utter nonsense."

The remarks by Patrushev and Bortnikov offer an insight into hawkish thinking at the top of the Kremlin elite. The FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, is one of Russia's most powerful institutions.

The United States has intelligence confirming Islamic State's claim of responsibility for a deadly shooting at a concert near Moscow, two U.S. officials said on Friday.

U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said Washington earlier this month shared intelligence with Russia about a planned attack in Moscow.

Bortnikov, when asked about the information supplied by Washington, said it was not always very concrete information.

Putin said on Saturday in an address to the nation that all those responsible for the concert attack would be punished.

On Monday, he said for the first time that radical Islamists had carried out the attack but that the attackers were trying to flee to Ukraine, and he questioned why Islamists would want to attack Russia at this time without being nudged to by others.

"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. "We want to know who ordered it."

(Writing by Guy Faulconbridge in Moscow; additional reporting by William James; Editing by Andrew Osborn, Mark Heinrich and Barbara Lewis)
DUSHANBE (Reuters) -Russian investigators were in Tajikistan on Tuesday, questioning the families of four men charged with carrying out a deadly attack on a concert hall near Moscow, three Tajik security sources told Reuters.

The sources, who were not authorised to comment publicly, said Tajik security officials had brought the families to the capital Dushanbe from the towns of Vakhdat and Gissar, and from the Rudaki district.

Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon was personally overseeing the investigation on the Tajik side, the sources said.

On Monday, making his first public comment on Friday's attack, Rakhmon called it a "shameful and terrible event" and urged Tajiks to protect their children from harmful influences.

Four men of Tajik origin have been remanded in custody on terrorism charges, on suspicion of carrying out the attack. Three others, also of Tajik origin, were remanded on suspicion of complicity.

Islamic State has said it was responsible for the attack and has released video footage that it says shows the massacre. The group has not identified any of the attackers.

Earlier this month, Rakhmon said his government was alarmed by the activity of radical Islamist preachers who were "brainwashing" Tajik youths, making them susceptible to manipulation by foreign groups and intelligence agencies.

The former Soviet republic of 10 million is a close ally of Moscow and hosts a Russian military base; its economy depends heavily on remittances from more than a million Tajik migrant labourers working in Russia.

According to the Russian authorities, at least two of the suspects have confessed to taking part in the attack.

The shootings have strengthened anti-immigrant sentiments in Russia, while videos which appeared to show the suspects being tortured prompted a divided reaction. Russia's commissioner for human rights has called the use of torture against detainees unacceptable. Russian authorities have said they are investigating.

(Reporting by Nazarali Pirnazarov; Writing by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Andrew Heavens, Clarence Fernandez, Philippa Fletcher)
Best friends Toni Wells and Beth Thomas couldnt believe their luck when they became pregnant at the same time in 1994.

Beth gave birth first to a son named Luke. Four months later, Toni welcomed daughter Ashley.

We talked about them getting married from day one, Beth tells TODAY.com.

As fate would have it, Beth and Toni's wish came true four years ago, when their children tied the knot. And it gets even better: Ashley and Luke are expecting their first child this summer.

That's right: Toni and Beth, whose friendship spans nearly four decades, are going to be co-Grandmas.

Luke and Ashley went from childhood friends to husband and wife. (Courtesy Ashley and Luke Thomas)

Its a story thats going viral after Ashley shared a video on TikTok chronicling her and Lukes sweet love story. The clip features photos and footage of Ashley and Luke going back nearly 30 years. In one image, Toni is seen holding a newborn Luke at the hospital.

Ashley and Luke, now both 29, weren't childhood sweethearts. In fact, Ashley jokes that a romance would have been incestuous.

We viewed each other like siblings," Ashley says. Our families traveled together and spent holidays together. I considered Lukes sisters my sisters.

She was my built-in best friend, Luke tells TODAY.com. Luke notes that while his feelings for Ashley were platonic, he always considered her "the prettiest girl at school."

Beth Thomas with her son Luke and future daughter-in-law Ashley. (Courtesy Ashley and Luke Thomas)

It wasnt until Luke and Ashley went their separate ways for college  she stayed in Florida, he headed off to Alabama  that their relationship began to shift. Ashley found herself scouring Lukes social media for signs of a love interest, and Luke found himself comparing other girls to Ashley.

Thats when I sort of realized that Ashley was the one I wanted to be with. She was the gold standard, Luke says.

Ashley and Luke's mothers have been inseparable since the 1980's. (Courtesy Ashley and Luke Thomas)

In 2016, Luke, then a junior at the University of Auburn, confessed his feelings to Ashley. He was certain they were meant to be together, but she was terrified about what could happen if things didnt work out.

We had to consider our families, Ashley says. But she also had to consider the butterflies in her stomach.

I was falling for him, she says.

The realization came as a surprise to Ashley  but not moms Beth and Toni. Beth noticed a spark when Luke was visiting Ashley over a school break.

The way they greeted each other was just totally different than normal," Beth says. She actually jumped into his arms.

"We were meant to be," Ashley says.

The couple tied the knot in 2020. (Shannon Lee Miller Photography)

Luke proposed in 2019, and the following year, the Wells and the Thomases officially became family.

Its so funny because our sisters used to stage mock weddings. Theyd put Luke in a tuxedo and make us kiss, Ashley says, with a laugh. They wished it into existence!

Ashley, who is 19 weeks pregnant with a girl, teases that her mother-in-law manifested a grandchild.

She was asking like every week, Are you having a baby soon? Ashley says.

Now Ashley and Luke will become parents together, another adventure for the two best friends.

Ashley tells TODAY.com, Weve walked through every stage of life together.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
Sola Mahfouz stopped going to school in 2007 when she was an 11-year-old living in Afghanistan.

A group of men, they came to our door and threatened my father, that if you continue to go into school, they will throw acid on our face or kidnap, she recalled. So she spent years confined to her home doing domestic chores.

Over the years, I left home only a couple of times a year and, whenever I did, I had to wear the suffocating burqa that covered me from head to toe, said Mahfouz, who uses a pseudonym to protect the safety of her family members who still live in Afghanistan. But, meanwhile, my brothers were going to school and they were thriving academically, and I felt jealous of their lives.

Once her chores were done each day, she embarked on a secret mission to educate herself. She spent almost six years teaching herself English and math online and eventually made her way to Arizona State University for college.

Today, she works as a quantum computer researcher at Tufts University.

A portrait of Sola Mahfouz (NBC News)

Mahfouz, 27, also is working to bring awareness to the plight of Afghan girls three years after the Taliban officially banned them from attending school beyond sixth grade.

The school year in Afghanistan began this month without the 1 million girls estimated to be barred from school since the Taliban returned to power following the 2021 withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces.

Afghanistan remains the only country in the world where women and girls are not allowed to attend secondary and higher education, said Fereshta Abbasi, an Afghan researcher working with Human Rights Watch. Abbasi, who is currently living in exile in the United Kingdom, says women have been banned from almost all aspects of public life in Afghanistan.

Women do not have the right to freedom of movement. They need to be accompanied by a mahram, which is a male blood-related member of the family, she said. Women do not have the right to protest. No right to freedom of expression, no right to assembly.

Those are all things Mahfouz experienced as a child even though the Taliban was not in power when she grew up there.

When I was 16 years old, I did not even know how to subtract. And that was, because when I was 11 years old, I was forced to stop going to school, she said.

Mahfouz recounted her determination to educate herself, her decision to leave Afghanistan and her harrowing journey to cross the border into Pakistan in her 2023 memoir, Defiant Dreams, which she co-wrote with Malaina Kapoor, a student at Stanford University who advocates for human rights.

Sola Mahfouz and Malaina Kapour laugh while speaking. (Courtesy Sola Mahfouz and Malaina Kapoor)

I remember when we were writing the book, and I was working on those chapters, I would call her over and over, because I would say, I just dont understand how this is possible. How could you remain so driven? Kapoor said of Mahfouz. But I think what I eventually realized is, there was such a level of desperation because that knowledge really meant the difference between a future within the compound walls that she had always lived in, and a future that might have meant something more, Kapoor said.

The two have again teamed up with the hope of improving the future of other girls in Afghanistan. They are in the brainstorming phase with the educational organization Khan Academy to develop resources for women in Afghanistan. Mahfouz used a temperamental internet connection, laptop and free online resources like Khan Academy when she taught herself.

We have been in the brainstorming process to create a digital space where women can gather, they can read, they can share stories they can write ... because you cant just give a woman a computer, you cant just tell them, OK, just go online, and just like learn. Mahfouz said, Afghan culture is very social  So how can you have that social environment where they can support one another, be safe and learn?

Kapoor, 21, and Mahfouz are also creating an educational curriculum for teachers to educate American children on the challenges happening in Afghanistan today using their book to guide discussions.

Sola Mahfouz and Malaina Kapour siting at a table and looking at a laptop. (Courtesy Sola Mahfouz and Malaina Kapour)

They have been invited to participate in programs by the United Nations for Womens History Month and beyond to continue advocating for the rights of Afghan women.

Mahfouz has also been able to teach some of her younger relatives in Afghanistan who are impacted by the education ban.

Ive been helping them with English, she said, I have been reading books to try to communicate with them and educate them about the resources that are available.

Ultimately, the duo said their goal is to continue elevating the stories of the girls and women in Afghanistan.

Every day in Afghanistan, there are millions of human rights violations against women and thats something that women around the world, but also everyone around the world, should feel very, very deeply, Kapoor said, And so, our mission is to bring these stories through our work with the U.N. through our work with schools and building curriculum to educate as many people as we can.

CORRECTION (March 26, 2024, 6:53 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article misspelled the first name of an Afghan researcher. She is Fereshta Abbasi, not Fareshta.
(Reuters) -South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix, an Nvidia supplier, is planning to invest roughly $4 billion to build an advanced chip packaging facility in West Lafayette, Indiana, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

Operations at the facility could begin in 2028, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

SK Hynix did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The facility is expected to add 800 to 1,000 new jobs, according to the report.

The report quoted a SK Hynix spokeswoman as saying the company "is reviewing its advanced chip packaging investment in the U.S., but hasn't made a final decision yet."

(Reporting by Arsheeya Bajwa in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Sohini Goswami)
By Hyonhee Shin

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's foreign ministry on Tuesday expressed "grave concerns" over China's recent use of water cannons against Philippine ships, saying it stokes tension in the South China Sea and undermines a maritime order.

The Philippines accused China's coastguard of using water cannons on Saturday against a civilian boat supplying troops at the Spratly Islands, a largely uninhabited archipelago in the South China Sea which has long been a source of territorial spats between the two countries.

It was the latest in a series of flare-ups in the past year.

The Philippines lodged a protest and said the boat was damaged and some crew injured, while Beijing warned Manila to behave cautiously and seek dialogue, saying their ties were at a "crossroads".

"We are gravely concerned about the recent and repeated use of water cannons in the South China Sea," Seoul's foreign ministry spokesperson, Lim Soo-suk, told a briefing.

"These actions increase tensions in the South China Sea, a major international navigation route used by all countries including Korea, and undermine efforts to maintain peace, stability, security and a rules-based maritime order."

He also said the freedom of navigation and overflight must be respected by all countries based on international law.

South Korea's Yoon Suk Yeol administration has been vocal about tension in the South China Sea and also the Taiwan Strait, saying it opposes attempts to change the status quo by force.

(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Michael Perry)
WASHINGTON  The Supreme Court on Tuesday appeared likely to reject a challenge to the abortion pill mifepristone, with a number of justices indicating the lawsuit should be dismissed.

The court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, heard oral arguments on the Biden administration's appeal of lower court rulings that restricted women's access to the pill, including its availability by mail.

But during the arguments, there was little discussion of whether the Food and Drug Administration's decisions to lift restrictions on the drug were unlawful.

Instead, the justices focused on whether the group of anti-abortion doctors who brought the lawsuit even had legal standing to bring the claim. The plaintiffs, represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian legal group, argue that the FDA failed to adequately evaluate the drugs safety risks.

But justices, both conservative and liberal, probed whether the doctors could show that they were directly injured merely because they object to abortion and could potentially be required to give emergency room treatment to a woman suffering from serious side effects.

Several justices also noted that doctors who oppose abortion can already object based on their personal beliefs to assisting patients suffering from abortion-related side effects.

"Under federal law, no doctors can be forced against their consciences to perform or assist in an abortion, correct?" conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh asked at one point.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett, another conservative, asked similar questions.

Even if the court were to reach the merits and rule for the challengers, some justices questioned whether the scope of the lower court ruling was too broad by applying it nationwide instead of limiting it to the doctors who sued.

Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch said the case was a "prime example of turning what could be a small lawsuit into a nationwide legislative assembly on an FDA rule."

The only justices who appeared eager to discuss whether the FDA acted unlawfully and hinted at sympathy for that argument were conservatives Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.

"Your argument here is that even if the FDA acted unlawfully, nobody can challenge that in court," Alito said in an exchange with Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, who represents the FDA. He and Thomas both referred to the Comstock Act, a 19th-century law that prohibited the mailing of drugs used for unlawful abortions.

Alito also wondered whether the FDA considered itself "infallible."

Different pockets of rallies formed outside the Supreme Court building beginning as early as 7:30 a.m. Most appeared to be in favor of abortion rights, chanting over megaphones, but there were smaller groups of people with signs protesting against chemical abortions as well.

Mifepristone is used as part of a two-drug FDA-approved regimen for the majority of abortions nationwide.

The case is a major test for the conservative-majority court, which in 2022 overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling that established a woman's constitutional right to end her pregnancy.

The FDA has the backing of the pharmaceutical industry, which has warned that any second-guessing of the approval process by untrained federal judges could cause chaos and deter innovation.

Liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson seized on that issue in a question directed at Jessica Ellsworth, a lawyer representing Danco, which makes the brand name version of the pill, Mifeprex.

"Do you think that courts have specialized scientific knowledge with respect to pharmaceuticals ... or do you have concerns about judges, parsing medical and scientific studies?" she asked.

Ellsworth noted that there are other avenues for people to object to unsafe drugs, including by filing lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies.

The oral argument comes almost a year after Texas-based U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk issued a sweeping ruling that completely invalidated the FDA's approval of the pill, leading to panic among abortion rights activists that it would be banned altogether.

The Supreme Court last April put that ruling on hold, meaning the pill remains widely available for now.

The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in August then narrowed Kacsmaryk's decision on appeal, but left in place his ruling finding that the FDA's move to lift restrictions starting in 2016 was unlawful.

Both sides appealed to the Supreme Court. The court in December took up the Biden administration's appeal in defense of the later FDA decisions, but it opted against hearing the challenge to the original approval of mifepristone in 2000. That issue is therefore not before the justices.

The court is instead focusing on the later FDA action, including the initial 2021 decision that made it available by mail, which was finalized last year.

The court is also considering decisions in 2016 to extend the window in which mifepristone could be used to terminate pregnancies from seven weeks gestation to 10 weeks and reduce the number of in-person visits for patients from three to one. In another 2016 move, the FDA altered the dosing regimen, finding that a lower dose of mifepristone was sufficient.

The outcome of the case could have sweeping practical effects if access to the drug is restricted, with many states seeking to restrict abortion access in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

There are 14 states where abortion is effectively banned altogether, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that backs abortion rights.
After years of delay, a man accused of raping and murdering a teenage girl in 1993 will finally face trial in Washington State this week.

Melissa Lee was 15 years old when she disappeared from her Bothell, Washington home, late one April evening. Just one day later, her strangled corpse was discovered at the bottom of a ravine. A toxicology report revealed that the teen had both ethyl ether and heptane in her system, according to KING.

Lee's mother says that she thinks about her daughter - who would now be 46 years old - every day.

"When I wake up, I wonder what state she'd be living in, how many kids she would have, what she would be doing with her life," she told KOMO.

For decades, Lee's murder went unsolved but advances in DNA technology allowed police to unearth new evidence in July 2020. Investigators uploaded DNA found at the crime scene to an ancestry database and were able to deduce the identity of a potential suspect.

Alan Edward Dean was arrested and charged with Lee's death in 2020. He admitted to having met Lee on a night talk line and going on two dates with her, according to KING.

In the ensuing years, the charges against Dean were twice dropped on the grounds that he was not mentally competent to stand trial.

"To hear he was crazy, and then they would release him, and re-arrest him, it was a rollercoaster of emotions," said Lee's sister Kelli Littlejohn, according to KOMO.

Last February, Dean's public defenders and the county's prosecutors agreed that the courts could proceed with the case. It is expected that the trial will last for at least two weeks.

@ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
By Ben Blanchard and Ann Wang

TAIPEI/SUAO, Taiwan (Reuters) -Taiwan tested its air defences on Tuesday in early morning drills using surface-to-air missiles, and air, land and naval forces, saying it would continue to intensify training in the face of China's frequent military activities nearby.

Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has complained over the past four years of repeated instances of Chinese air force aircraft and navy ships operating close to and around the island.

Taiwan's air force command said in a brief statement that between 5 a.m. (2100 GMT) and 7 a.m. it had carried out "overall air defence combat plan exercises" using domestically made Sky Bow and U.S.-made Patriot surface-to-air missiles in conjunction with aircraft and navy ships.

The drills were "to inspect and verify the joint air defence combat command and control of the three branches", it said, adding that the outcome was "good".

"In the face of Chinese aircraft and ships frequently encroaching into Taiwan's surrounding sea and air space, the air force will continue to increase its training intensity to deal with potential threats," the air force said.

Speaking in Suao on Taiwan's east coast, home to a major navy base, defence ministry spokesperson Sun Li-fang said that although there was no direct link between what he called routine annual drills such as these and current tensions, the threat from China was continuing to rise.

"How to increase our overall military capabilities is very important," he told reporters.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has overseen a military modernisation programme, including the development of new Taiwanese-made equipment. Much of the focus has been on the navy, which is massively outgunned and outnumbered by China's fleet.

Tsai on Tuesday attended a handover ceremony in Suao for two new warships, both Tuo Chiang-class corvettes, which have been dubbed by Taiwan's navy "carrier killers" because of their high manoeuvrability, stealthiness and anti-ship missiles.

They can also carry Sky Sword anti-aircraft missiles.

Tsai, noting that the two new warships had been handed over a year ahead of schedule, told officers that the domestically made ships show Taiwan's determination to protect its freedom and democracy.

"Over the past few years we have firmly implemented national defence autonomy. Ships made by Taiwan have been named, launched and delivered one after another, faster and faster," she added.

Taiwan's government rejects China's territorial claims, saying only the island's people can decide their future.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard in Taipei and Ann Wang in Suao, Taiwan; Editing by Gerry Doyle)
A Kansas man is suing Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., over social media posts that falsely identified him as an undocumented immigrant and one of the shooters in the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade that turned deadly last month.

The lawsuit, filed by attorneys for Denton Loudermill Jr. in federal court in Kansas City, Kansas, alleges that Loudermill sustained damages in excess of $75,000 as a result of a "false representation" of him appearing on the Tennessee Republican's personal X account.

At no time was Plaintiff an alien, an illegal alien, nor a shooter and the assertions to the contrary were false and were circulated widely among Defendants followers," the lawsuit states.

Burchett in February posted an image of Loudermill on X, identifying him as one of the Kansas City Chiefs victory parade shooters and an illegal Alien.

According to the lawsuit, that post was live on Feb. 15 and reposted more than 21,000 times and had 7.2 million views by the morning of Feb. 18. Burchett then removed the post, indicating in a new one that he had misidentified Loudermill as an undocumented immigrant, while still suggesting that Loudermill was one of the shooters.

Citing Loudermill's mental distress and death threats he has received following the posts, the lawsuit seeks a trial by jury and damages for spreading falsehoods under a Kansas privacy law.

A spokesperson for Burchett declined to comment.

An attorney for Loudermill declined to comment when asked whether they were seeking a specific dollar amount in damages.

Federal courts require cases seeking damages between people in different states, such as this one, to exceed $75,000. Loudermill is a resident of Olathe, Kansas, according to the lawsuit.

According to the lawsuit, Loudermill had attended the Chiefs' victory parade in Kansas City on Feb. 14 and was photographed by bystanders in handcuffs after he got caught in the fray as police began closing off the area after gunshots were fired. Although he was released and not cited or charged with a crime, the lawsuit states, his image began circulating on social media, eventually landing on Burchett's page.

Two men identified by prosecutors as Dominic M. Miller of Kansas City and Lyndell Mays of Raytown were charged last month with second-degree murder, armed criminal action, and unlawful use of a weapon in the shooting last month that killed one woman and injured more than 20 others. A third person, Terry J. Young, was charged in connection with the shooting on Friday. No pleas have been entered yet.

Three juveniles as of Thursday afternoon faced charges in family court, according to prosecutors.

Burchett is among the Republicans who have targeted immigration ahead of this year's election, with former President Donald Trump making claims of a migrant-driven crime wave in the United States that is not backed by evidence.

Burchett represents Tennessees 2nd Congressional District, which includes Knoxville. He took office in January 2019 after an eight-year stint as Knox County mayor and working as a state legislator. He is seeking re-election this year after winning in 2022 with 67.9% of the vote.
TEL AVIV  As tensions rise between the two countries, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, on Tuesday, a day after the United States abstained in a United Nations Security Council vote calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza.

After the historic abstention by one of its closest allies, Israel abruptly canceled the visit of a high-level delegation to Washington this week. But Gallant, who arrived in the U.S. on Monday, stayed on in the capital and met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

Top of the agenda is Israels plans to launch an offensive in Gazas southernmost city of Rafah, where more than 1 million people displaced from elsewhere in the strip have sought shelter.

Struggling to keep afloat his governing coalition, the most right-wing government in the countrys history, and with members of the Cabinet pushing for an even more aggressive approach in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly stated his determination to launch a military operation in the city in spite of repeated American warnings against it. He has said that Hamas cannot be defeated unless Israel takes out four battalions, made up of thousands of fighters, which he says are sheltering there.

President Joe Biden, meanwhile, is facing growing political pressure of his own at home and abroad to do more to help lessen Palestinian suffering and deaths, even as the U.S. continues to supply Israel with military hardware.

Ahead of the meeting between Austin and Gallant, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Monday that U.S. officials had been discussing ways to go about addressing the threat of Hamas, while also taking into account civilian safety.

A lot of those are from our own lessons [learned] conducting operations in urban environments, he said. I would expect the conversations to cover those kinds of things.

Tensions between U.S. and Israel rise after U.N. ceasefire vote (Angela Weiss / AFP - Getty Images)

Israels offensive has killed more than 32,000 people in the Gaza Strip, according to its Health Ministry, and driven a third of the enclaves population to the brink of starvation. It was launched in response to Hamas Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which killed some 1,200 people and saw 240 taken hostage.

Ryder's comments came after the U.S. abstention at the Security Council, which elicited a furious response from Netanyahus office in a series of posts on X.

Calling it a clear departure from the consistent U.S. position in the Security Council since the beginning of the war, Netanyahus office said that it would give Hamas hope that international pressure will force Israel to accept a cease-fire without the release of our hostages, thus harming both the war effort and the effort to release the hostages.

Having previously vetoed three cease-fire resolutions at the Security Council and seen a fourth fail to pass Friday when Russia and China refused to back a U.S.-led motion, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield decided not to use America's veto power at Mondays vote, which passed 14-0.

Thomas-Greenfield said Washington did not agree with everything in the resolution, which demanded an immediate cease-fire through Ramadan, which ends April 9, as well as the immediate release of hostages held in Gaza and an expansion of the flow of aid into the enclave. She added that a cease-fire could have come about months ago if Hamas had been willing to release hostages.

Gilad Erdan, Israels ambassador to the U.N., called it a shameful resolution and said it undermined efforts to secure the release of the remaining 134 hostages, although officials in the country say 33 have died in captivity.

Rafaf offensive southern Gaza (Hatem Ali / AP)

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian observer to the U.N., welcomed the adoption of the resolution as a vote for humanity and life to prevail, but he noted that it had taken almost six months of war for the Security Council to finally demand an immediate cease-fire.

However, Avi Melamed, a former Israeli intelligence official and negotiator, told NBC News that he thought his government was unlikely to change course because of the vote.

Israel will not end this war before the hostages are going back home, whatever the price is going to be, he said in a phone interview Tuesday. I think this is something the international community must internalize.

Melamed said Netanyahu recognizes that Israeli public opinion will not accept anything less than bringing back the hostages. Even as public support for his leadership has dwindled, Melamed added, the Israeli leader appeared determined to lead his country to an ultimate victory at all costs, including the cost of a collision with the United States.

In a poll released conducted earlier this month and released Tuesday by the Jerusalem-based Israel Democracy Institute, 57% of participants in Israel rated Netanyahus performance since Oct. 7 as poor or very poor, compared with 28% who deemed his performance good or excellent and 14% who said it was so-so.

The U.S. was very disappointed by the Israeli Prime Ministers decision to cancel the visit of the high-level delegation to Washington, national security spokesman John Kirby said Monday, adding that the U.S. had hoped to have a "fulsome conversation with them about viable alternatives to going in on the ground in Rafah.
By Emma Farge

GENEVA (Reuters) - A United Nations expert told the global body's Human Rights Council on Tuesday that she believed that Israel's military campaign in Gaza since Oct. 7 amounted to genocide and called on countries to immediately impose sanctions and an arms embargo.

Israel, which did not attend the session, rejected her findings.

"It is my solemn duty to report on the worst of what humanity is capable of and to present my findings," Francesca Albanese, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Occupied Territories, told the U.N. rights body in Geneva, presenting a report called "The Anatomy of a Genocide".

"I find that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the threshold indicating the commission of the crime of genocide against Palestinians as a group in Gaza has been met," she said, citing more than 30,000 Palestinians killed among other acts.

"I implore member states to abide by their obligations, which start with imposing an arms embargo and sanctions on Israel and so ensure that the future does not continue to repeat itself," she said, prompting a burst of applause.

The 1948 Genocide Convention, enacted in the wake of the mass murder of Jews in the Nazi Holocaust, defines genocide as "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group".

Israel's diplomatic mission in Geneva said the use of the word genocide was "outrageous" and said the war was against Islamist group Hamas and not Palestinian civilians. It was triggered when Hamas fighters stormed into southern Israel, killing 1,200 and taking 253 hostages, by Israeli tallies.

"Instead of seeking the truth, this Special Rapporteur tries to fit weak arguments to her distorted and obscene inversion of reality," it said.

Gulf nations such as Qatar, as well as African countries including Algeria and Mauritania, voiced support for Albanese's findings and alarm at the humanitarian situation.

The seats for Israel's ally the United States were left empty. Washington has previously accused the council of a chronic anti-Israel bias.

Albanese, an Italian lawyer, is one of dozens of independent human rights experts mandated by the United Nations to report and advise on specific themes and crises. Her views do not reflect those of the global body as a whole.

In the past, her comments on the Israel-Hamas conflict have drawn scrutiny, including from a U.S. ambassador in Geneva who said she has a history of using "antisemitic tropes".

(Reporting by Emma Farge; Editing by Alex Richardson and Sharon Singleton)
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is sounding the alarm on Ukraines need for more weapons to fight against Russia, while further aid for the embattled nation remains held up in Congress.

Give us the damn Patriots, Kuleba said in an interview with Politico, published Monday. If we had enough air defense systems, namely Patriots, we would be able to protect not only the lives of our people, but also our economy from destruction.

The Patriot missile defense system is the most advanced air and missile defense system in the world and is used by more than a dozen countries. It can engage ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as enemy aircraft.

Ukrainian forces are struggling to defend themselves against Russias bombs, Kuleba told Politico.

When Ukrainian troops are losing positions, lets look at the reason why. It is because Russia has began to massively use upgraded aerial guided bombs, he said.

If you are the target of these bombs, Kuleba said you cannot escape from them.

You cannot jam it. It just falls on your head and destroys everything. This is how were losing positions and the only way to prevent this is to shoot down the planes carrying the bombs, he said. We need air-defense systems on the frontlines.

The U.S. provided Ukraine with the Patriot missile defense system in 2022 and sent Kyiv a new emergency military aid package worth $300 million earlier this month.

Jake Sullivan, White House national security adviser, noted Ukraine does not have enough ammunition to fight back against Russian fire when he announced the package two weeks ago.

Thats costing terrain, its costing lives, and its costing us the United States and NATO Alliance strategically, he said.

Congress has not passed a funding bill for Ukraine since the end of 2022, when a Democratic majority passed its fourth aid package for the country. The Senate passed a $95 billion defense and foreign aid package last month, which would have included $60 billion in aid for Kyiv.

When the package was sent to the House, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) insisted on not bringing it to the floor as it lacks the border security measures demanded by House GOP members.

Johnson offered up an alternative plan, telling Republican senators earlier this month he would send the upper chamber a new package with funding for Kyiv. He noted the package will likely look very different from the Senates $95 billion package, and floated the idea of making the Houses foreign aid package a loan or lend-lease program to relieve some of the burden on U.S. taxpayers.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas)said earlier this week that Johnson is committed to putting a vote for Ukraine funding on the House floor some time after Easter.

Kuleba said Ukraine will welcome a decision on funding from Capitol Hill.

Every time I hear a new deadline, I just say, God bless America and the U.S. Congress, he said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The United States wants to reopen an embassy in Libya - a decade after suspending operations there  as Russia maintains an influential foothold in the country.

In the State Departments fiscal year 2025 request, the agency asks for $12.7 million to enable a potential resumption of embassy operations in Libya, providing operational expenses for a planned Diplomatic Travel and Support Operations Facility as well as increased utilization of dedicated aircraft stationed in Malta for flights to Tripoli.

With Russias influence rising on NATOs southern flank, U.S. presence with trips into Libya is vital to preserving our long-term security interests, the budget request states.

A State Department official said Monday that the US is in active negotiations for an interim facility that would provide appropriate security and staffing support in the capital city of Tripoli.

The move to reopen a US diplomatic compound in Libya comes as Moscow holds significant influence in the country.

[A] number of countries are at the tipping point of actually being captured by the Russian Federation as they are spreading some of their false narratives across Libya and from a strategic answer piece, access and influence across the whole Maghreb, Marine Corps Gen. Michael Langley, the head of US Africa Command, warned last week. That is NATOs southern flank. We need to be able to have  maintain access and influence across the Mahgreb, from Morocco all the way to Libya.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken noted in a statement Monday that the budget also requests $3.9 billion for Diplomatic Security and related programs will protect U.S. diplomatic operations abroad, including our expanded presence in the Indo-Pacific, Libya, and Eastern Caribbean.

The embassy in Tripoli suspended operations in July 2014 due to civil unrest, roughly two years after the attack on US facilities in the Libyan city of Benghazi. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed in that attack.

The US continues to advise citizens not to travel to Libya due to crime, terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping, and armed conflict.

CNNs Haley Britzky contributed reporting.

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By David Brunnstrom and Simon Lewis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son said on Tuesday the resignation of the communist-ruled country's second president in little over a year has not affected Hanoi's foreign and economic policies, given its collective leadership and policymaking.

Asked during a visit to the United States about Vo Van Thuong's resignation last week, Son told Washington's Brookings Institution think tank Vietnam was undergoing an anti-corruption campaign that has been welcomed by the international community and businesses.

"The resignation of the president I think in Vietnam has not affect(ed) our foreign policy as well as our own policies of economic development," he said.

"If you look at the situation in Vietnam, we have collective leadership, we have collective foreign policy. We have collective-decided economic development."

Son cited Communist Party congresses held every five years where economic development plans are set out and agreed among party leaders. "And I think (if) one or two figures in the leadership has resigned, (it) does not change this situation."

Son, who held talks in Washington on Monday with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and USAID Administrator Samantha Power, said Vietnam hopes Washington will soon recognize it as a market economy.

The U.S. currently considers Vietnam a 'non-market economy' in import injury cases, which can lead to significantly higher anti-dumping duties and Hanoi's ambassador to Washington warned this year that maintaining the resulting punitive duties on Vietnamese goods is bad for increasingly close bilateral ties.Son said the United States and Vietnam should boost economic trade and investment cooperation after agreeing a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership last year.

"We should focus on supply chain resilience, infrastructure connectivity, digital economy, energy, green economy and logistics," he said.

Thuong's resignation has raised questions about stability in Vietnam, given he was only elected last year after the sudden dismissal of his predecessor.

With accumulated foreign direct investment higher than its gross domestic product, Vietnam's stability is crucial to multinationals with large operations in the Southeast Asian manufacturing hub, including U.S. firm Apple, which has many key suppliers in the country.

That stability, which has been guaranteed for decades by a state tightly controlled by the Communist Party, now looks less certain, analysts say, although they agree the current leadership changes will not impact the country's key policies, including its "bamboo diplomacy" aimed at keeping good relations with the United States and China at the same time.

Son said Vietnam sought good relations with all major powers and welcomed ongoing efforts to stabilize relations between the United States and China.

(This story has been corrected to say 'second president in little over a year,' not third, in paragraph 1)

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Writing by Caitlin Webber; Editing by Andrea Ricci and Michael Perry)
LIVONIA, Mich.  A small electric vehicle is having a big impact on the global automotive industry.

Its not the EV itself thats making waves but its price  and its potential to disrupt domestic auto industries around the world.

The China-built BYD Seagull, a small all-electric hatchback, starts at just 69,800 yuan (or less than $10,000), and reportedly banks a profit for the increasingly influential Chinese automaker.

That latter point  EV profits where U.S. automakers have mostly failed to turn any  combined with the expansion of Chinese automakers into Europe, Latin America and elsewhere has automotive executives and politicians, from Detroit and Texas to Germany and Japan, on edge.

The Seagull could be a clarion call for the rest of the auto industry, said Terry Woychowski, a former General Motors executive who now serves as president of automotive at engineering consulting firm Caresoft Global. Its a significant event.

Though the Seagull isnt yet sold on U.S. soil, BYD is expanding its vehicles globally, and some believe its only a matter of time before more China-made vehicles arrive in the U.S.

Theres fear among global automakers that Chinese rivals like the Warren Buffett-backed BYD could flood their markets, undercutting domestic production and vehicle prices to the detriment of their own auto industries.

The introduction of cheap Chinese autos  which are so inexpensive because they are backed with the power and funding of the Chinese government  to the American market could end up being an extinction-level event for the U.S. auto sector, the Alliance for American Manufacturing, a U.S. manufacturing advocacy group, said in a report last month.

BYD sold 1.57 million battery EVs last year, up from just 130,970 all-electric vehicles in 2020. That sales growth was enough to surpass Tesla to become the worlds largest producer of electric vehicles in late 2023.

The rise of BYD and other Chinese automakers led Tesla CEO Elon Musk to warn in January that Chinese automakers will demolish global rivals without trade barriers.

Bernstein reports BYDs growth, including sales of non-EVs, has come by shipping more vehicles outside China: Overseas markets accounted for about 10% of BYDs more than 3 million sales last year, doubling that share from the beginning of the year.

BYD did not respond for a request for comment.

How the Seagull stacks up

Driving the Seagull is no different than driving the Chevrolet Bolt, Nissan Leaf or BMW i3. It accelerates quickly. Its quiet. It has nice-looking screens and a mix of plastic and soft touch points, including sporty and comfortable seats.

The Seagull, also known as the BYD Dolphin Mini in Latin America, is slightly smaller than GMs now-discontinued Chevrolet Bolt EV.

Its reported range of up to roughly 190 miles on a single charge (or 250 miles for certain models) is below that of many EVs on sale today in the U.S. but in line with many first-generation all-electric vehicles. The vehicles top speed of about 80 mph and just 74 horsepower dwindle in comparison with most EVs currently on sale in the U.S.

But its primary differences come in the construction, batteries and sourcing of parts, according to Caresoft.

The consulting firm tore apart the BYD Seagull piece by piece to benchmark the small EV against vehicles from other startups and traditional automakers. The Livonia, Michigan-based company, with several offices across the globe, has torn down and benchmarked more than 30 China-built EVs from the likes of BYD, Nio, XPENG and others.

Caresoft digitally and physically analyzes every part of a vehicle, from bolts and latches to seats, motors and battery casings. It then determines how its clients  mainly automakers and suppliers  can improve efficiencies and cut costs in their products.

Its initial study of the BYD Seagull found it to be efficiently and simplistically designed, engineered and executed, but with unexpected quality and anticipated reliability.

What they did do is done very well, Woychowski said. Its efficiently done.

For the price its a well-equipped vehicle. (BYD even lowered the starting price of the vehicle by 5% earlier this month, down from a roughly $11,000 price earlier this year.)

Despite the cheap price, the company still makes some money on the Seagull or at a minimum breaks even, Caresoft CEO Mathew Vachaparampil said during an automotive conference hosted by the Chicago Federal Reserve in January.

For BYD to sell the Seagull in the U.S., it would have to meet U.S. federal vehicle requirements that would add additional costs to the car. But the EV could likely still arrive on U.S. shores for tens of thousands of dollars cheaper than the current average price of an EV in the U.S., which Cox Automotive reports is more than $52,000.

BYD last month announced it would begin selling the Seagull/Dolphin Mini EV in Mexico for 358,800 pesos (or about $20,990).

BYD has found success in its battery technology; internal sourcing, also known as vertical integration; and production of parts, according to Caresoft. Most notable is BYDs development of lower-cost battery technologies that are far cheaper to manufacture than lithium-ion batteries commonly used in U.S. EVs.

BYD, which stands for Build Your Dreams, first pioneered its Blade battery technologies in smartphones and has since grown into one of Chinas most well-known automakers.

Its focus on vehicle efficiencies is reminiscent of U.S. EV leader Tesla, which has likewise been able to drive down the cost of its vehicles over the years.

Traditional automakers are only now attempting to emulate some of Teslas processes such as its gigacasting manufacturing process and vertical integration of crucial parts such as motors, batteries and other components. Tesla is also quick to adapt.

The Tesla Model 3, for example, no longer has a floor. Instead, the cars highly protected battery case takes the place of a traditional vehicle body at the base. That type of change, enacted at Tesla over the last several years, wouldnt typically take place at a traditional automaker until a full redesign of a vehicle.

BYD is similarly quick to adapt. The company has quickly rolled out new and updated products. Its also rapidly established manufacturing, as it has its eyes set on factories in Thailand, Brazil, Indonesia, Hungary, Uzbekistan and, potentially, Mexico.

Add in other advantages such as government support, lower labor costs and rising production capacity, and the company poses a growing threat to global counterparts.

Growing concerns

BYDs rise comes at a precarious time for global auto industry dynamics.

While Chinas automakers expand, Americas traditional automakers have shrunk in both their domestic market and China.

Their decline in the U.S. has come with the arrival of Japanese automakers such as Toyota Motor, Nissan Motor and Honda Motor, as well as, more recently, South Korean auto giant Hyundai Motor and its Kia unit.

The so-called Big Three U.S. automakers  GM, Ford and Chrysler, now owned by Stellantis  have watched their U.S. market share deteriorate from 75% in 1984 to about 40% in 2023, according to industry data.

Politicians in the U.S., concerned about their local auto industries, have taken aim at Chinese imports and lawmakers in Europe have launched a probe into the rise of China-made EVs.

We are very concerned about China bigfooting our industry in the United States even as we are building up now this incredible backbone of manufacturing, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said March 6 during a discussion panel at an Axios event.

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida has proposed sharply boosting tariffs on Chinese vehicle imports by $20,000 per vehicle to stop the country from flooding U.S. auto markets.

Currently, Chinese-built EVs are subject to a 27.5% tariff when imported into the U.S. That includes a 2.5% tariff that generally applies to imported cars plus an additional 25% tariff introduced by the Trump administration in 2018 on China-made vehicles.

Chinese automakers could still build in Mexico, though, and import vehicles to the U.S. from there through the USMCA, formerly the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA.

However, former President Donald Trump  the front-runner among Republicans in the 2024 presidential race  on Saturday suggested instituting a 100% tariff on cars made in Mexico by Chinese companies, should he be elected to a second term.

What weve seen over time is automotive manufacturers eventually enter all the markets that matter  Ultimately the Chinese will come to the U.S., said Marin Gjaja, chief operating officer for Fords EV unit, during a recent interview with CNBC.

Gjaja said while Ford cant control regulations or Chinese expansion, it can get really, really competitive on the technologies that customers want and get more efficient to win customers.

To compete with Chinese brands such as BYD, Woychowski contends traditional automakers must learn, unlearn and change quickly.

He said companies such as the Detroit automakers each have a century of procedures, standards and other workflows that they must rethink to better compete against Chinese automakers before vehicles such as the BYD Seagull land on U.S. shores.

You have to learn. You have to unlearn and you have to do it quickly, he said. Because youve been doing something for 100 years, doesnt mean you should keep doing it. Its no longer appropriate.
Women in New York City are urging each other to stay aware of their surroundings after several people reported similar stories of getting punched in the face by an unidentified man.

On Tuesday 19 March at around 8pm, comedian Sarah Suzuki Harvard was walking alone on Delancey Street in lower Manhattan when she was attacked by a man from behind. He punched her in the back of her skull, but when she turned around, the assailant had already begun running away.

Since then, the 30-year-old Lower East Side resident has experienced headaches, nausea, dizziness, blurred vision, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress. While she didnt initially file a police report after the attack, Harvard said that seeing viral videos from multiple women detailing similar assaults has now inspired her to report the incident.

My sister was sending me these TikTok videos of these girls talking about how theyre getting punched in the face, Harvard told The Independent. My friend was like: Dont you feel a little bit better now that its not an isolated incident? No, Im getting more scared now because its a repeated occurrence that could get escalated, that could happen to me again.

The multiple incidents appeared to have happened within days - and miles - of each other, as accounts of women describing their similar assaults have gone viral on social media. People began to take notice on Monday 25 March, when influencer Halley Kate shared with her 1.1m TikTok followers that she was punched in the face by a man in Manhattan.

You guys, I was literally just walking and a man came up and punched me in the face, she said through tears, showing the welt that had begun to form on the side of her forehead. Oh my god, it hurts so bad. I cant even talk. Literally, I fell to the ground and now this giant goose egg is forming.

In a follow-up video, Halley explained that she was walking on the sidewalk and looking down at her phone when the unidentified man physically assaulted her. This man - I dont know if he punched me or if he elbowed me; I literally passed out so I dont really remember - but I think he just was really mad that my head was down, the influencer said.

She noted that the man was walking his dog when the incident occurred, and she fell to the ground and blacked out for a second. When she got back up, Halley recalled the man was screaming at me and she ran away. The influencer later filed a police report, and was told by officials that it had matched another police report detailing a similar incident.

Ladies, stay safe out there, Halley added. Stay alert, maybe dont look at your phone when youre walking on the street. Learn from my lessons.

That same day, Mikayla Toninato - a student at Parsons School of Design - shared a video to TikTok after she was also punched in the face after leaving class on Monday. I turned the corner and I was looking down and I was looking at my phone and texting, and then out of nowhere this man just came up and hit me in the face, Toninato said in the video, in which a bruise could be seen forming around her eye.

The student explained that she informed her friends of the assault, who sent her a video of another woman that was also punched in the face while looking at her phone. I dont know if this is like a thing thats going around, but I guess if youre in New York right now and youre walking while looking at your phone, maybe dont do that, Toninato said. I guess were going to be super aware of our surroundings.

Following the viral videos, Harvard detailed her assault in a thread posted to X, formerly Twitter. The comedian later provided a description of the assailant to The Independent, describing him as a Black male around six-feet tall with dreadlocks or twists that ended right above his shoulders. She recalled that he was wearing a knit hat, denim jacket, and jeans at the time.

Harvard couldnt help but notice that most of these women whose experiences have gone viral were looking down at their phones when they were attacked. This all seems to me that he is targeting unassuming women, she wrote on X.

On Tuesday 3/19 @ around 8p, I was walking alone out of the Delancey/Essex St station where I got punched in the back of my skull from a random man on the street.



Since then, Ive seen several NYC women on TikTok reporting theyve been punched in the face  Sarah Suzuki Harvard (@sarahamyharvard) March 26, 2024

Meanwhile, TikTok user Olivia Brand shared that she was punched by some man on the sidewalk just two days before Harvard. In her video, which was posted on 17 March, Brand revealed that the man had exclaimed Sorry! before he physically assaulted her. She explained in a follow-up video that the incident occurred around the Nolita and Soho neighbourhoods of Manhattan, and the man did not have a dog with him.

Brand said she immediately filed a police report and went to urgent care after being punched in the face. In the comments section of her TikTok video, she also provided a description of the man who had attacked her. It was a Black man, wearing a light grey hoodie, probably no taller than 510. Short-ish hair. I dont remember much else about his face, Brand wrote.

The revelation that unassuming women are being attacked in New York City has sparked a conversation online, as fellow women and TikTokers are now urging each other to be aware of their surroundings. While Harvard said shes still experiencing anxiety that a similar incident could happen to her again, she maintained that posting about her assault on social media will help create awareness for other women to stay alert.

Now that something like this happened to me, I wish I was careful and vigilant, she told The Independent. I am glad I posted that. It just seems a lot of people are having to be more cautious now. If it prevents one person from getting attacked, thats the best thing.
A traffic policeman stands in front of the Ryugyong Hotel in 2019. Dita Alangkara/AP

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
A New York judge issued a gag order against former President Donald Trump, on Tuesday, aimed at preventing the presumptive Republican nominee from attacking witnesses, prosecutors, and jurors in his forthcoming Manhattan hush money trial.

District Attorney Alvin Bragg - a frequent target of the former president - requested that Justice Juan M. Merchan impose the order due to Trump's "longstanding history of attacking witnesses, investigators, prosecutors, judges, and others involved in legal proceedings against him."

"The consequences of those statements included not only fear on the part of the individual targeted, but also the assignment of increased security resources to investigate threats and protect the individuals and family members thereof," Merchan said.

Notably, the gag order does not extend to Bragg - Trump will still be allowed to criticize the prosecutor, who has received death threats in recent months, according to the New York Times.

The identities of the jurors will also remain concealed to the general public for the duration of the trial.

While Trump is currently facing four major criminal cases, it is possible that only the Manhattan trial, which is scheduled for next month, will be decided before November's presidential election. The trial will also be the first instance in American history of a former president facing criminal prosecution.

Bragg alleges that Trump helped falsify business records, in order to cover up payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels, who claims that she had sex with the former president. Prosecutors say that Trump concealed his reimbursement of one-time ally Michael Cohen and committed 34 felonies in the process.

Trump's subsequent comments on Cohen could be seen as an example of the type of behavior that Merchan hopes to stymie by issuing the gag order. He has referred to his estranged right-hand-man as a "liar" and "rat." In one recent Truth Social post about the upcoming trial, Trump described Cohen as "death."

"D.A. Bragg, working in close coordination with Crooked Joe Biden's people/campaign, has no case against me," Trump posted on Tuesday morning.

"In fact, he was furious that they were pursuing such a ridiculous case, where there is no crime, all others in law enforcement had taken a pass, where reliance on a convicted LIAR and FELON, Michael Cohen, is necessary, and where a dirtbag lawyer named Mark Pomerantz did things that were really bad!"

@ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Police are investigating after they say a pregnant Georgia Chick-fil-A manager and her unborn baby died in an out-of-state car crash involving a prison transport van. The fatal crash took place in northwest Florida less than 24 hours before the woman's baby shower was set to occur and also sent seven others to hospitals.

The Panama City Police Department reported the early Saturday morning two-vehicle crash occurred at the intersection of Highway 231 and Highway 390 in Bay County.

The wreck location is about 17 miles north east of Panama City Beach.

About 12:15 a.m., a Bay County Sheriffs Office prisoner transport van was driving north on Highway 231 when according to a preliminary investigation, a Honda sedan traveling behind it failed to yield and crashed into the back of the van, deputy police Chief John Moore told USA TODAY Tuesday.

Woman, 3 children dead in crash: Teen was driving 112 mph before crash that killed 4 in Washington state

Kristen Clark, 33, pronounced dead at hospital

Intersection near Highway 231 and Highway 390 where a 33-year-old pregnant woman died after a two-vehicle wreck involving a prison transport van on March 23, 2024.

According to police eight people including a woman in the Honda and three prisoners in the van were taken to a hospital to be treated for injuries suffered in the crash.

The woman in the Honda, identified by police as Kristen Clark, 33, of Donalsonville, Georgia, was among those transported to a hospital where she was pronounced dead.

USA TODAY has reached out to the sheriff's office.

Fatal shooting in LA sheriff's office: Teen grabs deputy's firearm then shoots herself inside California sheriff's office lobby: Police

'It was truly our pleasure to love you back': Chick-Fil-A Marketing Director speaks about Kristen Clark

Kristen Brooke Clark, along with her unborn baby Asher Blaze, were killed in a March 23, 2024 wreck in Panama City, Florida. Multiple other people were injured in the two-vehicle crash involving a prison transport van, law enforcement reported. Clark worked as a co- general manager for Chick-fil-A in Georgia.

Bainbridge Chick-fil-A Marketing Director Krystal Apke told WALB-TV Clark had worked at the location for four years and said her co-workers had planned to host a baby shower for her on Sunday.

Described as a remarkable team leader and a loyal and fierce friend, Clark was "a mother figure to many and a sister to us all," the Bainbridge-based store posted on its Facebook page.

"It is with great sadness that we share the news that our Co-General Manager, coworker, friend, and family member Kristen Brooke Clark, along with her unborn baby Asher Blaze have passed away in a tragic car accident," the Bainbridge Chick-fil-A wrote. "She gave of her time, love, talent, and resources to make sure her team felt loved and supported. This loss is one we will be feeling for a while as she has been a part of our team from Day 1. It was truly our pleasure to love you back. "

The business asked for prayers for Clark's family.

"Our hearts go out to those involved and their families," police posted on its Facebook page.

The crash remained under investigation on Tuesday, police told USA TODAY.

Anyone who witnessed the wreck is asked to contact Panama City police.

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: Pregnant Chick-Fil-A manager Kristen Clark killed in crash: Police
WASHINGTON  A Supreme Court rejection of a challenge to abortion pill mifepristone could hinge on how the justices assess "conscience objections" raised by doctors who do not wish to treat patients suffering from complications after taking the drug.

The court signaled during Tuesday's argument that it could conclude that the plaintiffs  seven named doctors and associated anti-abortion groups  do not have legal standing to bring the lawsuit in part because their conscience objection arguments are lacking.

Several justices asked about the nature of the injury suffered by the doctors by the Food and Drug Administration's decisions to lift restrictions on mifepristone, including one that allowed it to be accessed by mail.

Under well-established precedent, when people file a lawsuit they have to show that they have been injured and that their injury can be redressed by the person or entity they are suing.

But as justices pointed out, under federal law doctors can already raise a conscience objection in a situation in which they are asked to treat a patient in an abortion-related context.

"So I just want to be clear, the federal governments position is that though a doctor would have conscience objections ... it is your position that such doctors would have recourse to the conscience protections of federal law?" conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett asked Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, who represents the FDA.

"Yes, absolutely," Prelogar responded. The conscience protections "shield a doctor who doesn't want to provide care in violation of those protections," she added.

Fellow conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh and liberal Justice Elena Kagan asked similar questions.

If the court were to conclude that the doctors can already bring conscience objections, there would be no need to rule on the bigger question of whether the FDA acted lawfully in lifting the restrictions.

The questioning showed significant consensus that plaintiffs primary harm was the speculation that they might be forced to complete an abortion against their conscience," said Greer Donley, an expert on abortion law at the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Bioethics and Health Law.

"The appropriate remedy is not to modify the whole regulatory scheme, but to provide the plaintiffs with conscience protection, which of course already exist," she added.

Only two of the seven doctors, Ingrid Skop and Christina Francis, specifically raised conscience concerns, Prelogar argued in court.

Francis is an obstetrician and gynecologist specialist who practices in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

She said in an affidavit filed in the case that she and members of a group she belongs to, the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, oppose having to intervene when a patient needs medical attention following an incomplete abortion.

"The objections are both ethical and medical as they stem from the purpose of medicine itself, which is to heal and not to electively kill human beings," she said.

Skop, a doctor based in San Antonio, said in her affidavit that the FDA's decisions "harm my conscience rights because it could force me to have to surgically finish an incomplete elective chemical abortion."

Erin Hawley, the lawyer representing the plaintiffs, conceded during an exchange with Kagan that Skop and Francis were the plaintiffs best able to establish standing.

Hawley said Francis was on one occasion required to assist in a life-threatening situation in which a woman suffered complications after taking mifepristone.

But under questioning from Kagan, Hawley noted that Francis did not raise a conscience objection at that time.

Usually ... the way people with conscience objections do this is they make those objections known, Kagan said.

Responding to a similar question from Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, one of the other liberal justices, Hawley said that sometimes doctors are not in a position to mount an objection.

"These are emergency situations," she said. The doctors "dont necessarily know until they scrub into that operating room whether this may or may not be abortion drug harm," she added.

Barrett also zeroed in on the Francis and Skop affidavits, drawing a distinction between doctors performing abortions and treating a patient suffering the side effects of taking mifepristone.

She said both doctors appeared to object specifically to performing abortions, but upon a close read of the affidavits there was no sign of either of them "actually participating in the abortion to end the life of an embryo or fetus."
Eileen K. Saling looks admiringly at the Texas Historical Marker that honors her ancestor Louis Antoine Andry. It was dedicated on Feb. 10 at Indianola, Texas. On March 17, his name was added to the Patriot Monument at the Texas State Cemetery by the Daughters of the American Revolution.

INDIANOLA, Texas  We long to know our origins.

This almost universal human impulse has pushed the study of genealogy beyond the realms of library archives, social registries and hand-drafted family trees.

The popularity of digital and genetic tools such as ancestry.com and 23andMe has been amplified by the riveting PBS series "Finding Your Roots," hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr., who helps put the ancestral findings into a historical context.

These days, anyone can plunge into genealogy, not just experts. Yet some of our Think Texas readers go beyond the call of duty.

More: Twice wiped out by hurricanes, Indianola lives on in the romance of Texas history

Eileen K. Saling, an Austinite who grew up in New Orleans and Houston and is retired from the banking industry, tracked down the story of one ancestor, Louis Antoine Andry. The 18th-century French engineer, as I mentioned in last week's column, was drafted by Louisiana governor Bernardo de Galvez to map the Gulf of Mexico coast from the Mississippi River to Matagorda Bay.

"His story isn't found in many history books, but he is finally getting some recognition," Saling wrote to me in January. "He was a native of France who came to Louisiana in the 1700s, where he served as Engineer of the Colony and Royal Surveyor. He later swore allegiance to Spain when they took control of the territory and was subsequently known as Don Luis Antonio Andry."

In February, I visited the new Texas Historical Marker that was dedicated to Andry between Indianola and Indian Point on Matagorda Bay. It is planted, appropriately, right next to the monument for another French explorer, Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle.

How a crucial map of Texas was lost

The Spanish controlled Louisiana from 1763 to 1803. It had been ceded by France to Spain in 1762 as part of a deal among the Bourbon monarchs of both countries. At first discreetly and then openly, the Spanish in New Orleans allied with the American colonists in their quest to throw off British rule.

In 1777, Spanish Gov. Galvez, after whom Galveston is named, grasped the stark reality that the bays, bayous and barrier islands of Louisiana and Texas had been only spottily mapped. This was still the case more than 250 years after explorer Alonso Alvarez de Pineda first attempted to map the Gulf Coast.

Let me pause and repeat that for emphasis: The Spanish had left the Texas coast lightly mapped for more than 250 years.

More: Heading to the Texas coast? Here are 5 things you should do in historic Port Lavaca.

In 1778, Andry's ship, El Senor de la Yedra, left the fort at Balize on the Mississippi River. During the voyage, he drafted what would have been an extremely valuable map. His efforts were lost, however, not far from Indianola in Matagorda Bay.

"His mission ran afoul upon entering the bay and encountering the Karankawa, who killed all on board, except a Yucatan native, who was taken as a slave," Saling wrote. "They looted the ship of all weapons and valuables and burned it. Over a year later, the sole survivor was freed, and he told the Spanish authorities what befell Andry and his crew. "

Gov. Galvez mourned the loss, not only of the critical map, but also of Andry's expertise and talents, which were crucial to Spanish Louisiana. The "Andry Massacre" has been cited as the instigating factor of the 10-year Spanish-Karankawa War. While Saling's story about Andry was news to me  it was my main reason for revisiting Indianola and Port Lavaca recently  the backstory was just as engaging, in part because almost any Texan can follow Saling's sleuthing lead in regard to their own families.

Descendants of Louis Antoine Andry gather around the Patriot Monument at the Texas State Cemetery that will honor, among others, the engineer and mapmaker who died near Indianola. Some of the relatives only recently discovered one another.

Tracking down an ancestor

"My 98-year-old mother, Mary Lynn Ann Stiegler Kennedy, has long been interested in family genealogy," Saling wrote. "When she learned about our Andry ancestor, she started researching him the old-fashioned way, from original documents at the National Archives, in the hopes of having him recognized by the Daughters of the American Revolution as a patriot."

The DAR  whose members consist of "women 18 years or older who can prove lineal, bloodline descent from an ancestor who aided in achieving American independence," has been seeking ways to expand its honor rolls to include those whose part in the American Revolution might have been overlooked.

More: Not yet lost: What's the mystery behind Mystery Creek in South Austin?

For instance, during a ceremony at the Patriot Monument at the Texas State Cemetery, the DAR recognized the Tejanos who contributed cattle and horses to Galvez's military efforts against the British during the American Revolution.

"Around that time, I was in high school in Houston and needed to select a topic for a major research paper for my advanced-placement U.S. history class," Saling wrote, "With my mother's encouragement, I selected Louis Andry as my subject, and accompanied her to courthouses and libraries around Louisiana to do my research."

Somehow Saling was allowed to take a week off from school to go to New Orleans during Mardi Gras.

"I completed my paper, got an A+, and went on with my life," Saling wrote. "My mother subsequently had Andry accepted as a DAR patriot. She joined a Houston DAR chapter in 1986, and later encouraged me to join as well. Unbeknownst to me, as the DAR chapter historian for many years, my mother included my high school research paper on Louis Andry in our chapter archives."

In 2012, when turning over the box containing Saling's paper, Kennedy casually suggested to Caroline Hassell, who later became regent of the John McKnitt Alexander chapter of the DAR, that Andry should be honored with a marker.

"Fast-forward to 2021, Caroline hadn't forgotten about Louis Andry and wanted to pursue getting a historical marker recognizing him during her term as regent," Saling wrote. "As the person most familiar with Andry, with the chapter's sponsorship, I took the lead on the Louis Andry marker application process and headed straight to the Texas Historical Commission website to learn what was required."

How many steps go into getting a Texas Historical Marker?

Saling contacted Gary Ralston, who oversees historical markers for the Calhoun County Historical Commission. He was excited to learn about this previously unknown piece of his local history. They joined forces. Ralston quickly gained support from the county commission, and they embarked on a "fast-track" state application to meet a May deadline that year.

"I naively thought I could just submit my 44-year-old high school research paper to support the application, but that was far from the reality," Saling wrote. "The Texas Historical Commission has a specific format for the narrative, which my paper did not fit. My memory of the research was foggy, and the documents I used in my research were not readily available to me."

More: 'We're home': 140 years after forced exile, the Tonkawa reclaim a sacred part of Texas

Online resources, which were nonexistent in 1977, helped some, but the libraries and archives Saling really needed to access were closed because of pandemic restrictions. Somehow, it all came together. The application was approved in July 2021. Saling and Ralston waited for the state staff to write the marker text.

"After some back-and-forth revisions, we finally all agreed on the marker inscription in November 2022," Saling wrote. "The marker was sent to the foundry in early 2023. It was completed and shipped in November 2023."

The marker, which I saw a week after it went up, was dedicated on Feb. 10, more than three years after Saling and Ralston started this "fast-track" process, something to remember if you want to follow in their steps.

Added honor at the Texas State Cemetery

As a "DAR patriot who died in Texas," Andry was slated to have his name added to the group's Patriot Monument in the Texas State Cemetery when it was rededicated on March 17.

Saling reports that the weather was pretty lousy, so the dedication was moved inside. Yet Saling and other Andry descendants gathered around the Patriot Monument for a photograph.

"I have actually expanded my family through this marker project," she says, "with some previously unknown fourth cousins, who are also Andry descendants!"

Michael Barnes writes about the people, places, culture and history of Austin and Texas. He can be reached at mbarnes@gannett.com. Sign up for the free weekly digital newsletter, Think, Texas, at statesman.com/newsletters, or at the newsletter page of your local USA Today Network paper.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Louis Antoine Andry honored with Texas historical marker
US defense secretary Lloyd Austin said the civilian death toll in Gaza is far too high ahead of a meeting with his Israeli counterpart on Tuesday.

Speaking at the Pentagon just prior to a sit-down with Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant, Mr Austin also made an urgent call for Israel to increase the amount of aid it is allowing into Gaza to prevent a famine.

In Gaza today, the number of civilian casualties is far too high and the amount of humanitarian aid is far too low, he said. He added that Gaza is currently suffering a humanitarian catastrophe and called for "immediate increases in assistance to avert famine.

The comments represent a rare public rebuke by the US nearly six months into the war in Gaza, and come at a time of increased tensions between the two historic allies over Israels conduct in its devastating offensive, which has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian health ministry  most of them women and children.

A senior American defence official told reporters after the meeting that Mr Austin provided his Israeli counterpart with what was described as an alternative to a full-scale invasion of Rafah featuring precise targeting of senior Hamas leaders while securing Egypts land border with Gaza and providing for the entrance of humanitarian assistance and the exit of civilians as needed.

The official described the talks as very good, productive, and quite meaty and said Mr Austin expressed the view that Hamas remaining battalions in Rafah must be dismantled.

Thats a legitimate goal that we share, the official added.

An Israeli defence ministry readout of the meeting also stated that Mr Gallant and Mr Austin discussed the progress of the fighting to defeat Hamas, the efforts to return the hostages and the strengthening of the security-strategic cooperation with an emphasis on the procurement processes to preserve Israels qualitative edge in the region.

The meeting between the American defence secretary and the Israeli defence minister came one day after the US withheld its veto at the United Nations Security Council for the first time since the war began and allowed the body to pass a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in the war  something the Biden administration had blocked three times before in support of Israels desire to continue its offensive into southern Gaza.

Israels prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu 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.

The Israeli war in Gaza was launched in response to a surprise attack by Hamas that killed 1,200 Israelis. More than 200 were taken hostage by the group in the attack.

Tensions between the US and Israel have been rising in recent weeks over a litany of issues, among them Israels blocking of life-saving aid into Gaza, the high civilian death toll caused by the war, and its stated intention to launch a ground operation in the city of Rafah, where more than one million Palestinians are sheltering after having been displaced from elsewhere in the besieged territory.

The high-level delegation cancelled by Mr Netanyahu was called for Israeli and US officials to discuss alternative plans for a full-on ground assault in Rafah, which the US had cautioned would cause too many civilian casualties.

Mr Netanyahu said Israel would press on until it had achieved its objectives despite the UN vote.

Israel will not surrender to Hamas delusional demands and will continue to act to achieve all the goals of the war: releasing all the hostages, destroying Hamas military and governing capabilities and ensuring that Gaza will never again be a threat to Israel, he said in a statement on Tuesday.
Samir Hussein/WireImage

Prince William didnt appear in wife Princess Kate Middletons cancer announcement video for a reason.

Princess Kate revealed in a video message last week that she has been diagnosed with an undisclosed form of the disease and is currently undergoing treatment for it. Following the footage, many took to social media to question why William did not join her in the video.

Addressing the speculation, a source told Londons The Times: This was her as a strong woman sharing an innately strong message to the nation. She didnt need anyone sitting next to her. [William] has been supporting her and the family in the background.

On Saturday, March 23, the day after the release of the video, the royal couple put on a unified front by issuing a joint statement about Kates cancer battle.

Prince William and Princess Kates Relationship Timeline

The Prince and Princess are both enormously touched by the kind messages from people here in the UK, across the Commonwealth and around the world in response to Her Royal Highness message, read a Kensington Palace statement to Us Weekly.

They are extremely moved by the publics warmth and support and are grateful for the understanding of their request for privacy at this time.

Samir Hussein/WireImage

Prince Williams cousin Peter Phillips recently said the couple is stronger than ever.

Her and William make a fantastic team together, Phillips, 46, shared in an interview with Sky News Australia on Monday, March 25. 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.

A source told Us Weekly that Kate received her diagnosis last month, the same day that William canceled his planned appearance at a memorial service for his godfather King Constantine of Greece due to personal reasons.

They have been processing the information, the insider said. They wanted to wait to tell the world the news until their children were off school for the Easter break so they could have time to process the news before the whole world was talking about [it].

The pair, who married in 2011, share three children: Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5.

Prince William and Princess Kates Sweetest Moments With Their Kids

Kensington Palace announced in January that Kate wont be involved in any royal engagements until after Easter following a planned procedure.

The surgery was successful, and it is expected that she will remain in hospital for ten to fourteen days, before returning home to continue her recovery, read a statement shared via the palaces official X account. Based on the current medical advice, she is unlikely to return to public duties until after Easter.

After Kate returned to their Windsor home, William took a brief break to help Kate recuperate before resuming his own public duties.
The friend of a Washington state woman's husband has been arrested in connection to her killing and her husband is suspected of setting up the murder and staged burglary, the Clark County Sheriff's Office said.

On March 23, just before 7 p.m., deputies responded to a home in Hockinson, Washington to a report of a woman who had been found with a gunshot wound by her husband and two friends arriving at the house.

Deputies said the woman, later identified as Lindy Rummel, 60, of Brush Prairie, Washington, died by the time they arrived at the scene.

Deputies said a truck, described as a 2001 black Ford F-150 wit Washington state plates, had been reportedly stolen from the scene, and it was assumed the womans killer had taken the vehicle.

WASHINGTON STATE FIRE BATTALION CHIEF ARRESTED ON MURDER CHARGES IN WIFE'S DEATH

A man is in jail in Oregon after being arrested in connection to the murder of a woman in a Vancouver, Washington suburb, Washington law enforcement authorities said.

Lindy's death was initially reported as resulting from an apparent home invasion and burglary. However, on March 24, deputies reported that they had received a tip about a potential murder suspect after opening an investigation.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Deputies said this tip led to the arrest of Darrell Riley, 55, by the Eugene Police Department in Eugene, Oregon. The stolen truck was found in Oregon, having been set on fire in what authorities said was likely an attempt to destroy evidence of the murder.

According to the Clark County Sheriffs Office, their investigation revealed that Riley was a friend of the deceased womans husband, James Rummell.

MURDERED WASHINGTON TEENS, BOTH 16, FOUND ALONG HIGHWAY IN CONNECTED KILLINGS: REPORT

The investigation revealed that Rummell had driven to Eugene to pick up Riley and bring him to Clark County the day before the murder.

According to the deputies, Rummell was arrested for allegedly making false statements to a public servant after a search warrant was served at his home.

Officials said they had discovered evidence that led them to believe James Rummell may have solicited Riley to stage an attempted burglary to murder Lindy Rummell.

Riley is being held on a Temporary Felony Warrant for Murder in the First Degree. He will remain in custody in Oregon while the Clark County Prosecutors Office seeks extradition.

James Rummell was booked into the Clark County Jail for Making False Statements to a Public Servant, and deputies said additional charges are possible as James Rummell is being considered a suspect in this murder.

Officials said the investigation is ongoing.





Original article source:Womans husband and his friend arrested in twisted Washington state murder plot


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Reassurance, aspiration, hope -- life in Hong Kong after implementation of new law to safeguard national security

Xinhua) 11:08, March 26, 2024

A flag-raising ceremony is held at the Golden Bauhinia Square by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government to celebrate the 24th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland in Hong Kong, south China, July 1, 2021. (Xinhua/Lui Siu Wai)

"I have never felt so reassured," said a lawyer practicing in Hong Kong after Hong Kong's Safeguarding National Security Ordinance took effect on March 23.

HONG KONG, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Chan Tze Chin, a lawyer practicing in Hong Kong, heaved a breath of relief as he walked on the bustling street of Causeway Bay on March 23, the day Hong Kong's Safeguarding National Security Ordinance takes effect.

"I have never felt so reassured," he said.

The ordinance marks the completion of legislation work stipulated by Article 23 of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Basic Law, plugging the national security loophole.

"Hong Kong starts anew from this day," HKSAR Chief Executive John Lee said on March 23. Many people in Hong Kong now share the sentiment.

PROMISING FUTURE

Chan was beaten by rioters in May 2020 when he tried to stop them from vandalizing a storefront.

Just as he was disappointed by Hong Kong's state of chaos at the time, the national security law in Hong Kong took effect in June that year, which put his life back to normal and inspired him to set up a social media channel for short videos about Hong Kong's legal environment.

"I wanted to dispel misunderstandings by explaining laws to more people," he said. Chan felt rewarded by the increasing number of viewer comments saying they are heartened by Hong Kong's improvement and are more confident in the future.

The Legislative Council (LegCo) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) passes the safeguarding national security bill in a unanimous vote during the third reading in Hong Kong, south China, March 19, 2024. (Xinhua/Lui Siu Wai)

With the ordinance in effect, Chan hopes to contribute more to its publicity. "I will give lectures and attend international forums to tell stories and introduce to people the real Hong Kong."

Most of all, people should know that Hong Kong now has a stronger guarantee for security and a more stable society, which will help bring in investment, Chan said, adding that Hong Kong can concentrate on economic development.

SOW SEED OF PATRIOTISM

"It felt like welcoming a newborn," said Lee Chik, a primary school teacher and father of three, of how he has anticipated the ordinance.

Lee once stood up against rioters singing the national anthem together with his children. "The national anthem is my only weapon at hand to defend us," he said.

Lee has been exploring better ways to nurture patriotic sentiments among primary school students. He recalled watching the movie My Country, My Parents in class. Over half of the students ended up crying over the fathers who died on the battlefield defending the motherland, and many students learned to stand upright and sing the national anthem loudly in flag-raising ceremonies after watching the movie.

"I knew right away patriotism had settled in their minds," Lee said.

For his first-grader daughter, Article 23 legislation may be too difficult to understand, Lee said, adding that through songs and stories, he cultivates love for the motherland within his daughter.

John Lee, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), attends a press conference on "Safeguarding National Security: Basic Law Article 23 Legislation Public Consultation" held at the HKSAR government headquarters in Hong Kong, south China, Jan. 30, 2024. (Xinhua/Lui Siu Wai)

PASSIONATE YOUTH

"Completing Article 23 legislation is truly a historic moment for Hong Kong," said Angel Chong, 23, a member of Sai Kung District Council. "I understand, through personal experience in public services, that safety and stability matters greatly to every Hong Kong resident."

When the safeguarding national security bill was being deliberated, Chong noticed voices of confusion or even defamation toward it, and decided to appear in a video series to expound on it in English.

Now she is planning activities in schools to help students know more about the ordinance and strengthen their sense of responsibility on safeguarding national security.

Chong's passion in public service can be traced back to her years studying in Peking University, where she was an active participant of seminars on Hong Kong's social causes. Over the years, she has sought to create a stronger bond among various social groups as she went through a long line of primary-level posts.

Chong believes that Hong Kong can focus on developing its economy and improving people's lives with security ensured. "I'm more motivated to serve the public to create a better future," she said.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
BlackRock Chairman and CEO Larry Fink. BlackRock made Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegars list of oil industry boycotters, but other big financial companies, such as JPMorgan Chase did not. Mark Lennihan, STF / Associated Press Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, right, listens as Larry Fink, chairman and CEO of BlackRock, makes a statement during opening remarks of the Texas Power Grid Investment Summit on Feb. 6 in Houston. Kirk Sides/Staff photographer

The State Board of Education is putting the oil and gas industry ahead of Texas schoolchildren, hobbling the public school trust fund and damaging the climate.

The Republican leader of the State Board of Education made headlines last week when he declared the Permanent School Fund would pull $8.5 billion out of BlackRock, the worlds largest investment firm.

BlackRocks destructive approach toward the energy companies that this state and our world depend on is incompatible with our fiduciary duty to Texas, Chair Aaron Kinsey wrote on social media last week.

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While that turned out to be essentially political posturing, as my colleague Edward McKinley reported, Kinseys co-opting a financial decision for political gain reveals a higher truth about growing authoritarianism in Texas. Any company or individual who contradicts the Republican regimes orthodoxy will pay an economic price.

Republican elected officials across the nation are following Texass lead in boycotting companies for pursuing profit.

You can end up on Texass blocklist if youve ever refused to do business with Israel because of how the government treats Palestinians, declined to invest in a gun manufacturer because of school shootings, or bought a stock fund that avoids investing in fossil fuels.

Whether you are a pipefitter working at a sewage treatment plant or one of the worlds biggest banks, you must legally declare that you can pass the states official political litmus test. Expect lawsuits if the Texas attorney general or comptroller determines you didnt.

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Kinseys self-aggrandizing at BlackRocks expense is the latest indignity for one of the worlds best-performing financial institutions. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Attorney General Ken Paxton and Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian have already made political hay out of CEO Larry Finks thoughtful observation that savvy investors must consider climate change in their calculations.

BlackRock Vice Chairman Mark McCombe responded to Kinseys announcement with a scathing letter, reminding Texans that the firm has $320 billion invested in oil and gas, outperformed industry benchmarks and earned Texans an extra $250 million.

Your actions put short-term politics over your long-term fiduciary responsibilities. We urge you to reconsider your decision and prioritize Texas schools and families who have benefited from BlackRocks consistent, long-term investment outperformance, the letter said.

McCombe also suggested Kinsey played fast and loose with the rules while engineering this political stunt, which was not required by law. The Legislature exempted the permanent school fund from the boycott laws.

We learned of your decision to end Texas PSF and BlackRocks 18-year relationship through a press release, he added. Weve come to learn that not all Texas PSF board members were made aware of your decision before it was announced and did not have an opportunity to ask questions or share views.

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The Texas Association of Business Chambers of Commerce Foundation, not exactly a bunch of left wing radicals, warned that the Texas ban on investing with BlackRock and 10 other major global financial institutions was hurting the states economy and reputation.

Certain laws can have a negative impact on businesses and place additional, unnecessary burdens on our states taxpayers, Executive Director Stephanie Matthews said in a statement. It is important for our states policymakers to understand the implications of these laws in order to ensure Texas remains the top U.S. state for business.

The study found that boycott laws will cost Texas $668.7 million lost in economic activity, $180.7 million in decreased annual earnings, 3,034 fewer full-time, permanent jobs, and $37.1 million in state and local tax revenue losses.

Last month, I wrote a series of columns about how the states boycotts could cost Texas taxpayers $22 billion in higher interest payments on government bonds alone. I also demonstrated how Republican leaders unjustly punished these companies for their public statements, not their actions, since they invest billions in oil and gas.

Last year was the hottest since humans began keeping track, and 2024 is on pace to break records again. The number and severity of natural disasters is growing, and people around the world understand that burning fossil fuels is the cause of their suffering.

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Any investor who thinks the worlds largest oil and gas companies will produce all of the reserves in their inventories is delusional. We will always need petroleum products, but we will need a lot less.
YEREVAN, MARCH 26, ARMENPRESS. Russias Federal Security Service (FSB) on Tuesday announced that it prevented a terrorist attack on a humanitarian aid reception point in the countrys Samara region.

The Federal Security Service (FSB) in the Samara region prevented a terrorist act planned by a citizen of the Russian Federation born in 1994, an accomplice of the terrorist organization Russian Volunteer Corps, operating under the patronage of the Ukrainian special services, the FSBs Public Relations Center told the state news agency TASS.

When the perpetrator was being detained, the home-made explosive device self-detonated with the offender sustaining fatal wounds. "No security operatives or civilians were harmed," the FSB added.
On March 26, 2024, French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu declared France's commitment to significantly enhance its military support to Ukraine amidst the ongoing war against Russian forces. The French government is set to deliver an impressive number of 78 CAESAR 155mm wheeled self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine, aiming to strengthen Kyiv's artillery capabilities as it continues to fend off Russias full-scale invasion. Ukraine has already received from France and allies a total of 49 CAESAR howitzers in 6x6 and 8x8 configurations since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.

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The CAESAR 155mm self-propelled howitzer is the backbone of French army artillery forces. (Picture source Army Recognition Group)

The delivery of these advanced howitzers comes as part of a broader initiative by France to increase its supply of artillery shells, responding to the urgent request from Kyiv for additional ammunition. This initiative is supported by an agreement among France, Ukraine, and Denmark, outlining a financing plan that facilitates the swift delivery of the CAESAR self-propelled 155 mm howitzers to the Ukrainian frontlines.

Furthermore, Minister Lecornu highlighted France's ambitious goal to deliver 80,000 shells for 155 mm guns to Ukraine within the current year. This marks a significant escalation from the 30,000 shells that France has supplied since the onset of hostilities in February 2022. This increase in military aid underscores France's dedication to supporting Ukraine's defense efforts and its resilience in the face of aggression.

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, France has been a steadfast ally to Kyiv, providing a range of military assistance to help Ukraine defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity. The French military aid has encompassed not only artillery and ammunition but also training, intelligence support, and other defense equipment. This continued support is reflective of France's commitment to Ukraine and its stance against unwarranted aggression in the region.

The decision to boost military aid to Ukraine with the delivery of advanced howitzers and increased ammunition supplies comes at a critical time. As the conflict continues to evolve, the international community watches closely, with many countries evaluating and adjusting their support to ensure Ukraine can sustain its defense efforts against Russian advances. France's latest contribution is a testament to its role as a key player in the international effort to uphold international law and support Ukraine's right to self-defense.

The CAESAR (Camion Equipe d'un Systeme d'Artillerie) howitzer is a highly mobile, self-propelled 155mm artillery system developed by the French company Nexter. Mounted on a 6x6 or 8x8 truck chassis, it combines the firepower of a traditional artillery piece with exceptional mobility and speed, allowing for rapid deployment and redeployment on the battlefield. Capable of striking targets up to 38 kilometers away with standard ammunition and further with extended-range shells, the CAESAR has become a critical asset for modern armed forces. Its design focuses on simplicity, reliability, and rapid operational readiness, making it effective in a wide range of combat scenarios.

Feedback from Ukrainian soldiers on the CAESAR howitzer system has been positive, emphasizing its operational efficiency and impact on the battlefield. A Ukrainian artillery unit operating in the Donbas region highlighted the system's ease of use and its significant range capability, able to hit targets up to 38 kilometers away. The mobility of the CAESAR system was also praised, allowing for rapid redeployment and minimal setup time, which is crucial in dynamic front-line conditions. However, the main challenge noted by the soldiers was the language barrier, as the equipment and its manuals are in English, posing a learning curve for the operators.

This information showcases the CAESAR howitzer's critical role in enhancing Ukraine's artillery capabilities and the overall positive reception by Ukrainian forces. The ongoing deliveries and support from France and Denmark underline the international collaboration aimed at providing Ukraine with the necessary tools to defend its territory.

Defense News March 2024
Hard to believe, but the English National Opera posted a bio of Richard Strauss, in which they said Johann Strauss was his father:

Richard Strauss (1864-1949) was one of the most highly acclaimed composers of the 20th century. He was a leading representative of the German school of Romantic composers who set new standards for orchestration and tone colour in opera. But, the apple doesnt fall far from the tree, with his father Johann Strauss being a prominent composer in Vienna. It was his fathers orchestra that gave him his first big break, composing two waltzes for them to play at the age of just six.

Richard Strausss father was Franz Strauss, a horn player. Not Johann Strauss, the waltz king.

The ENO put this online in a Beginners Guide to Opera, and took it down after Norman Lebrecht put it in his widely read Slipped Disc blog, and they were derided.

But theres more.

The Detroit Symphony put a bio of its music director in a press release, saying hed been inspired by Mahlers operas. Mahler wrote no operas.

I caught this, emailed their communications director, whom I know a little. He thanked me, and they changed the bio.

And from the Utah Opera, gushing about their production of La boheme:

[Mimi and Rodolfos] duets, such as Che gelida manina and Si, mi chiamano Mimi, allow the audience to witness their deepening affection and the genuine connection they share.

Those are arias, not duets.

In one case like this, I know the mistake came from outside marketing consultants, people who dont know classical music. Their work had to be proofread  with eagle eyes  and mistakes slipped through.

But I think its worse than that. To me its part of an overall dumbing down of classical music PR, which now  so much of it  has melted into empty gush.

Ill say more about this. It astounds and saddens me.
A new vulnerability analysis and map show which counties in Texas have populations that are most at risk from climate change impacts. Those with darker shading have more of the risk factors incorporated into the robust model developed by Environmental Defense Fund and Texas A&M. Environmental Defense Fund and Texas A&M University A drilling rig operates Wednesday, July 26, 2023, in the Eagle Ford Shale. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Texas Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian speaks during a panel discussion at a bitcoin mining event held at 8th Wonder Brewery in March 2022. Melissa Phillip / Staff Photographer

The State Board of Education almost approved a new slate of science textbooks without embarrassing Texans, but then came the missives from the lesser educated corners of our body politic.

The Christian fundamentalists at Texas Values fired off a press release headlined, Alert, Did You Come From a Monkey?

Were Adam and Eve monkeys? Dont allow Texas Science classes to make a monkey out of you and your kids! the groups statement proclaimed.

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The Scopes Monkey Trial was nearly a century ago, yet our state school board is still debating evolution. Even though board members are only certifying that these textbooks include all of the states teaching standards, right-wing Republicans still want biblical creationism in science class.

Board member Evelyn Brooks, R-Frisco, objected to a middle school science textbook over its language on evolution and Earths geological history. She asked that textbooks include creationist ideas and allow students to form their own opinion, my colleague Edward McKinley reported.

Texas Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian, whose job has nothing to do with railroads and everything to do with oil and gas, fired off a letter demanding that textbooks ignore global warming and the role fossil fuels play in overheating the planet.

Despite what the mainstream media reports, the debate over climate change is far from settled, as none of the catastrophic events they predicated (sic) in that last 20 years have occurred, he advised the board. These catastrophists are using the CO2 boogeyman and the threat of apocalypse to frighten people into submission.

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I know from experience that Christian feels passionately that climate change is a hoax, and no amount of scientific evidence is going to change his mind. He relies on the oil and gas industry for most of his campaign donations and, therefore, his future employment. But some education board members took him seriously.

The book "emphasizes the negative effect of fossil fuels. If thats whats presented to our children, that would have a negative effect on our states GDP, board member Julie Pickren, R-Pearland, said about one of the textbooks. It is factually inaccurate to the way that the negative effects of fossil fuels are presented because it is stated as fact and it is theory.

Brooks and Pickren are wrong; evolution and global warming are facts. We can debate the edge cases, but DNA proves evolution happened, and climate data proves fossil fuel emissions are raising global temperatures.

Understanding evolution is fundamental to biology, and carbon dioxides role in heating the atmosphere was established in the 19th century. Teaching scientific facts in public schools prepares future generations for the challenges ahead.

Fourteen federal agencies released the Fifth National Climate Assessment on Wednesday, and our young people will have their plates full tackling the mess past generations made. In Texas terms, a person born in 2020 will face many more Hurricane Harveys, Winter Storm Uris and extreme drought than someone born in 1965.

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They will need a thorough understanding of climate science to reduce emissions and slow the current pace of warming. They will also need to understand evolutionary biology to adapt plants and animals to survive with higher average temperatures, both night and day.

Texas is the nations largest wind and utility-scale solar energy producer because young people took up the challenge of perfecting low-carbon power. The next generation will need a sound understanding of science to make good decisions, develop new technologies and thrive in a world facing immense challenges.

More than half of total energy sector jobs are in clean energy, the International Energy Agency reported Wednesday.

The unprecedented acceleration that we have seen in clean energy transitions is creating millions of new job opportunities all over the world  but these are not being filled quickly enough, said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol. Governments, industry and educational institutions need to put in place programs to deliver the expertise needed.

Texas leadership never talks about global warming. Lawmakers tried to punish clean energy in this years legislative session. Now, Republican politicians are trying to keep the climate crisis out of our textbooks.

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Meanwhile, Michigan lawmakers passed a requirement that all of the states electricity come from carbon-free sources by 2040. They also created an Economic Transition Office to support former fossil fuel workers.
As the Congress' "Nari Shakti" campaign came under fire, Ms Shrinate claimed that her social media handles were misused

New Delhi: An embarrassed Congress continued to face ire on Tuesday over the now deleted party spokesperson Supriya Shrinate's social media remarks against actor and BJP's Lok Sabha candidate from Himachal Pradeshs Mandi Kangana Ranaut. As the Congress' "Nari Shakti" campaign came under fire, Ms Shrinate claimed that her social media handles were misused.

With the Lok Sabha polls just around the corner, the controversy is far from dying down. The BJP has planned a "massive protest rally" on Wednesday in Mandi against the Congress leader's remarks.

In an effort to douse the raging controversy, the Congress on Tuesday said it has "always believed there is no place for such language in public discourse" and the matter should end with Ms Shrinate clearing the air.

The ruling Congress is already in turmoil in the hill state after receiving a massive jolt during the recent Rajya Sabha polls. In an ominous sign for the party, many senior Himachal Pradesh Congress leaders have refused to contest the coming Lok Sabha polls.

Sensing more trouble over Ms Shrinate remarks against Ms Ranaut, Himachal Pradesh chief minister and Congress leader Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu hailed the actor as the daughter of Himachal.

Noting that Ms Shrinate has already clarified that someone who has access to her account made the post and that she has said she will find out who has done it," Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit said, "There is no place for such language in public discourse. The Congress has always been clear on that. Supriya Ji has said that whoever has done it, it's a mistake. She has explained and the matter should end there.

The remarks were posted after the BJP named Ms Ranaut as its Lok Sabha candidate on late Sunday evening. It was reposted and reacted to by several Congress supporters on social media platforms. As the controversy erupted, Ms Shrinate on Monday denied that she had written the controversial post. She claimed that many people have access to her Facebook and Instagram accounts and one of them posted the inappropriate comment.

Ms Shrinate also said she had deleted the post and will take action against a parody account that is using her name. The now-deleted post was, however, reposted by many.

After the Congress leaders' comments on the social media snowballed into a controversy, Ms Ranaut, who will be making her political debut as the BJPs Mandi candidate, said, Every woman, irrespective of her background and profession, deserves dignity. She met BJP president J.P. Nadda later in the evening.

Taking cognisance of the issue, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has written to the Election Commission, demanding strict action against Ms Shrinate and another Congress leader H.S. Ahir.

"NCW is appalled by the disgraceful conduct of Ms Shrinate and Mr Ahir, who made lewd and derogatory remarks about @KanganaTeam on social media. Such behaviour is intolerable and goes against the dignity of women..." the NCW said in a post on Monday.

Joining the BJPs rank to attack the Congress and its leadership over the derogatory remarks, the daughter of former President Pranab Mukherjee, Sharmishtha Mukherjee, questioned the mentality of the Congress and asked the top leadership of the party to apologise for the derogatory remarks.

"She's saying access', not hacked! One gives access to SM accounts only to known & trusted people. Nothing left of Congress ideology with the Rahul-Congress gang. Nari Nyay' is nothing but an empty slogan by a bunch of hypocrites!" posted Ms Mukherjee on social media.

Before leaving Chandigarh for Delhi for her meeting with Mr Nadda on Tuesday, Ms Ranaut, while speaking to the media, said, "Whatever be the profession of a woman, be it a teacher, actress, journalist, politician or sex worker, all of them deserve dignity. I'm pained, especially because of the deplorable comments made about Mandi... All of us who come from Mandi have been hurt by the comments.

Several BJP leaders, including Bansuri Swaraj, Amit Malviya and former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jairam Thakur, spoke up on the issue.

Taking on Ms Shrinate, Mr Malviya said, "If your account is posting what a parody account posts, then it simply means that the admins of both accounts are the same. One has to be self-conceited, to the point of being deranged, to do so. Also, the administrators must have a low opinion of you to post such offensive stuff and get away.

"Such derogatory words were used for someone who is India's daughter and a woman. This is very shocking and shows the mentality of the Congress. The top leadership of the Congress should apologise for this," Ms Swaraj told a news agency.

Mr Thakur said the remarks against Ms Ranaut will be legally examined and the BJP is moving towards registering a case. He said Ms Shrinate had made a big mistake as people of faith come to Mandi, which is known as Chhoti Kashi and is an abode for over 300 temples.

"It is unfortunate that, being a woman herself, the Congress spokesperson has made such remarks against another woman and now she is trying to retract by saying that someone has used her other account, Mr Thakur said.

Former diplomat Lakshmi Puri termed the remarks against the actor "despicable, derogatory and condemnable".

"That it should come from another woman politician is all the more galling -- how can we as women become transmitters of toxic patriarchy & demeaning slurs & insults that scrape at the bottom of the barrel of indignity!" she posted on X.

Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera took up cudgels on his colleague's behalf. Anybody who has known my colleague @SupriyaShrinate will vouch for the fact that she can never resort to such objectionable language ever.

Congress' Srinivas B.V. agreed that the remarks against Ms Ranaut from Ms Shrinate's account were "absolutely derogatory". However, he also raked up Ms Ranaut's past controversial statement, in which she had called actor-politician Urmila Matondkar a "soft porn star".

Earlier, Ms Ranaut took the opportunity to hit out at Ms Shrinate and remind her of the many roles she had played.

"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'," Ms Ranaut said in a post on X on Monday.

"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 had posted on a social media platform.
Rekha raised voice against TMC strongman Shahjahan

An undated photo of Rekha Patra, one of the Sandeshkhali victims, whose name has been announced by the BJP as a candidate from Basirhat for the Lok Sabha polls. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday called her Shakti Swaroopa. (PTI Photo)

Kolkata: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday called up Basirhat BJP candidate Rekha Patra, one of the affected women of the violence at Sandeshkhali of North 24 Parganas in West Bengal, and hailed her as Shakti Swarupa to motivate her in the Lok Sabha elections.

During their telephonic conversation, Modi said, Rekhaji, you are Shakti Swarupa for the way you fought the atrocities at Sandeshkhali. You have sent so many powerful men to jail! Do you have any idea what a daring act you did?

Replying to him, Patra said that she could do it because of the support she got from other women in the area before she vowed to move ahead with her goal.

Patra, in an answer to PMs question of public reaction in Basirhat to her candidature, informed him that she had faced opposition from some Trinamul Congress workers for getting a ticket from the BJP and alleged that she had not been able to cast her vote since 2011, as votes were looted during the previous elections.

Modi told her, Im sure your message will reach the Election Commission, which in turn will ensure arrangements for all the voters to exercise their franchise fairly and freely. We also hope the EC will understand your pain of failing to cast your votes since 2011.

He also pledged his all out support behind the first-time BJP candidate and advised her to reach out to the voters with the message of the Central governments public welfare schemes.

The Trinamul Congress hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi immediately.

West Bengal state industry minister Shashi Panja said, Prime Minister Narendra Modi should have reprimanded Dilip Ghosh for insulting another Shakti Swarupa of Bengal  our party chief Mamata Banerjee.

Thousands of women of Manipur are waiting to hear from Narendra Modi, but he is silent. What to expect from him when he himself came to Bengal in 2021 and catcalled Didi, Panja added.
Battling against authoritarianism: Understanding the BJP's assault on democracy and federalism in India's political landscape.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwals arrest just before the Lok Sabha elections will be seen as an attack on democracy, which it is without doubt. It is also of a piece with the BJPs distrust of federalism. Down the years, but especially after the linguistic states were formed, the party wanted federalism and the entire edifice of states in India to be abandoned in favour of a single legislature and, given that we were in a parliamentary system, a single leader.

M.S. Golwalkar, the then head of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, wrote an essay in 1956, that is reproduced in his book Bunch of Thoughts. He writes: Then came our present Constitution converting our country into a number of almost distinct units each with a state of its own and all federated into one Union When one pauses to think of the conditions in which the makers of this Constitution lived when they framed this Constitution, one sees that the atmosphere then was extremely congenial to the formation and evolution of a unitary state --One Country, One Legislature, One Executive Centre running the administration throughout the country -- an expression of one homogeneous solid nation in Bharat or what remained of it then. But the mind and reason of the leaders were conditioned by the obsession of a federation of states where each linguistic group enjoyed a wide autonomy as one people with its own separate language and culture.

He continues under the subhead There Is a Remedy.

Towards this end the most important and effective step will be to bury deep for good all talk of a federal structure of our countrys Constitution, to sweep away the existence of all autonomous or semi-autonomous states within the one State. viz, Bharat and proclaim One Country, One State, One Legislature, One Executive, with no trace of fragmentational, regional, sectarian, linguistic or other types of pride being given a scope for playing havoc with our integrated harmony. Let the Constitution be re-examined and re-drafted, so as to establish this unitary form of government.

The second source we have for the hostility to federalism and Article 1 of the Constitution is from Deen Dayal Upadhyaya. Article 3 of the BJP constitution says the Integral Humanism shall be the basic philosophy of the party.

Integral Humanism is the name given to a set of four lectures which Upadhyaya gave in Mumbai (then Bombay) between April 22 and April 25, 1965.

What follows is a quotation from the third lecture. It is headlined Constitution Cannot Be Arbitrary.

Upadhyaya writes: Is the Constitution too not subject to some principles of a more fundamental nature? We have a written Constitution, but even this written Constitution cannot go contrary to the traditions of this country. In as much as it does go contrary to our traditions, it is not fulfilling dharma. That Constitution which sustains the nation is in tune with dharma.

There is no recognition of the idea of Bharat Mata, our sacred motherland, as enshrined in the hearts of our people. According to the first para of the Constitution India that is Bharat will be a Federation of States, i.e. Bihar Mata, Banga Mata, Punjab Mata, Kannada Mata, Tamil Mata, are all put together to make Bharat Mata. This is ridiculous. We have thought of the provinces as limbs of Bharat Mata and not as individual mothers. Therefore, our Constitution should be unitary instead of federal.

With such hostility to the provinces, even if it has gone mostly unnoticed, it should not surprise us that the chief ministers are not seen as legitimate even if they are elected. The BJP can hold on to the position, at least justifying it to itself, that we are a democracy and that elected chief ministers can be jailed without conviction.

After 2014, this ideological attack on federalism has manifested itself in several ways.

*The use of Union government agencies to intrude into law and order, ostensibly a state subject.

*The ending of states right to tax with GST and their total dependence on the Unions largesse.

*The call for one nation, one election, which privileges the Union one over all the rest.

*The Union governments attack on Opposition state governments and leaderships in West Bengal, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Telangana and Delhi. Whether through arrests, denial of allocated funds, through constant intrusion and through interference.

This is untenable in democracy and we can see the tension having built to bursting point. This is the background to the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and other ministers before that, and of the chief minister of Jharkhand, Hemant Soren, last month and the jailing of Telanganas BRS leader K. Kavitha this month. It shows the utter contempt that the Central government has for the Opposition and for democracy, the disregard it has for the judiciary and the extent to which it can go to secure its own interests over those of the country.

The question is: What is to be done to resist the twin thrusts of the BJPs ideology, majoritarian and a strong centripetal instinct against federalism?

The internal mechanisms of opposing authoritarianism have never worked well in India, including during the 1975-77 Emergency. Jayaprakash Narayan was an exception, but one wonders what he might have achieved in an era of the ED and CBI.
PM Modi's visit to Bhutan reinforces strong ties, promises support for development projects.

On Saturday, March 23, Prime Minister Narendra Modi concluded a very meaningful 24-hour visit to Bhutan that signalled a deepening of the traditional bond of friendship between the two neighbours. The embrace with which Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay greeted Mr Modi as he alighted from his aircraft at Paro, to people dressed in traditional weaves lining up the entire 50-km distance to Thimphu, the capital, and waving the Indian tricolour indicated the level of excitement in the tiny Himalayan nation of 800,000 people over the Indian PMs visit. Once at his hotel, even before he entered his suite, Mr Modi was treated to dandiya by local Bhutanese performers. Mr Modi was seen smiling and clapping in admiration.

It is rare for an Indian PM to undertake a foreign visit after parliamentary elections are announced and Mr Modi was already in the middle of poll campaigning across the country. But when it is Bhutan calling, things become different. In 2014, when he became PM for the first time, Bhutan was Mr Modis first foreign visit. He visited the nation again in 2019. Now, as he is about to complete his second term and a decade as Prime Minister and is seeking re-election, Mr Modi accepted King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuks invitation and landed in Bhutan to a rousing reception.

Prime Minister Modi assured Bhutans top leadership that India will stand with the Himalayan nation in fulfilling its development goals and that the extraordinary bilateral ties the two nations have would create opportunities for greater cooperation in infrastructure, connectivity, trade, energy and space sectors. Mr Modi also announced Indias commitment to providing Rs 10,000 crores in support to Bhutan over the next five years. For Bhutans 12th five-year plan, India had allocated Rs 5,000 crores. This means New Delhi has decided to double its plan assistance to Thimphu.

The two nations signed multiple agreements in these areas that would enhance cooperation.

Assistance and commitments aside, there have been many firsts during this visit of Prime Minister Modi to Bhutan. Mr Modi is the first foreign dignitary to have been conferred Bhutans highest civilian award, Order of the Druk Gyalpo. Besides, he has been the only Indian PM to have been hosted by the King and the Queen of Bhutan at their official abode, the Lingkana Palace, for a private dinner. And breaking protocol, King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck was at Paro airport to see off Prime Minister Modi. These are unmissable signals of the bond of friendship between the two nations. Of course, during the cultural function, apart

from the traditional Bhutanese dances, local artistes performed to the tune of Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram.

Did New Delhi attempt to send out other messages out of Mr Modis visit to Bhutan? Well, this visit came as Thimphu has been engaged in a tricky dialogue with Beijing to resolve the Bhutan-China boundary dispute with Doklam being one of the stretches. The 477-km border that Bhutan shares with Chinas Tibet region is of considerable significance to New Delhi as it touches two tripoints with India, Bhutan and China. In the west is Doklam (the site of the 2017 India-China standoff), and in the east is the eastern terminus of the McMahon Line, which indicates the India-China border in the region. New Delhi considers Doklam to be Bhutanese territory and is worried over the possible ceding of a stretch close to it to China, in which case it could be a threat to the strategic and narrow 21-km wide Siliguri Corridor that links northeastern India to the mainland. India, therefore, is maintaining a close watch on the Bhutan-China border talks. The Chinese, on their part, would definitely like to start diplomatic relations with Bhutan, perhaps by having a diplomatic mission in Thimphu, but that is not happening for now.

Bhutan could be wary too about Beijings motive. This is where the trust with India comes into play as New Delhi and Thimphu have been locked in time-tested friendship and understanding, demonstrated loud and clear yet again by this latest visit of Prime Minister Modi to Bhutan.

Besides, Prime Minister Modis visit to Bhutan came just two weeks after he inaugurated the Sela Tunnel, the worlds longest twin-lane tunnel, in Arunachal Pradesh on way to the border with China. This tunnel has been hailed as an engineering marvel -- blasted through the Himalayas at an elevation of some 13,000 feet -- and providing the Indian military and civilians an all-weather, faster road to the border with China. As usual, Beijing protested against the building of the tunnel and called it as attempts by New Delhi to undermine peace along the border, a charge India promptly rejected, saying the area is an integral and inalienable part of India. The US state department also backed Indias position, angering Beijing further.

Against these backdrops, Mr Modis Bhutan visit gave out a clear message that India was committed and capable of assisting Bhutan to achieve its goals of progress and development. Now, Prime Minister Modi has also given his governments commitment of assisting in ensuring the fruition of King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuks dream project  the Mindfulness City that is coming up at Gelephu, along the border with Assam. This is a mega smart city that is being built in the plains of Gelephu, just about 50 km from Kokrajhar, in western Assam, and will showcase Bhutans traditional architecture, tradition and culture.

King Wangchuk paid a historic visit to Assam in November last year, becoming the first Bhutanese monarch to visit one of the Himalayan nations closest neighbours. Later, he flew to New Delhi and met Prime Minister Modi on the Gelephu project. Thereafter, the King met top Indian business leaders in Mumbai and received assurances from many of them on investments in the Mindfulness City. Prime Minister Modi publicly pledged support to the Gelephu city project during his latest visit to Bhutan and promised to build and improve rail and road connectivity through Assam to Gelephu.

Prime Minister Modi talked of B2B and P2P relations between the two countries during his address after receiving Bhutans highest civilian award on Friday, March 22. B2B meaning Bharat to Bhutan and P2P meaning people to people. This was also something which King Wangchuk had told Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma during his visit in November last. We are family, the King was reported to have told Mr Sarma, referring to Bhutan-Assam people-to-people relations. And it is not surprising to see that Bhutan has extended an official invitation to the Assam chief minister to visit the Himalayan nation.
by Alessandra De Poli

Pakistan has sent a delegation to Afghanistan to facilitate trade between the two countries, but diplomatic relations remain strained, according to analyst Riccardo Valle, co-founder of the Khorasan Diary, a platform for journalists, researchers, and academics. Attacks by the Pakistani Taliban continue to be a thorn for Islamabad. Meanwhile, Afghanistan is grappling with the Afghan branch of the Islamic State.

Milan (AsiaNews)  Pakistan has sent a delegation led by the Secretary of Commerce to Kabul to discuss the possibility of increasing bilateral trade, officials from both countries reported, noting that talks would be held today.

Yet only a few days ago the Pakistani Minister of Defence threatened to close border crossings and block (for the umpteenth time) the transit of goods to-and-from Afghanistan, after the Pakistani Air Force conducted two air strikes on Afghan soil as part of anti-terrorist operations" that, according to the Taliban, killed eight civilians.

"Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan will continue to be like this for the foreseeable future, characterised by skirmishes and mutual provocations, because the two countries are at an impasse, said Riccardo Valle, analyst and co-founder of The Khorasan Diary, an online platform that monitors terrorist activities in Pakistan and South Asia.

"Islamabad rightly claims that the leaders of the Pakistani Taliban are in Afghanistan. However, the cells carrying out the attacks in Pakistan are actually on Pakistani territory, after the Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan managed to bring most of its militants from Afghanistan back to Pakistan.

The Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Pakistani Taliban, brings under its wing several Islamist groups, whose aim is to establish an Islamic Emirate in Pakistan on the Afghan model.

After Islamabad launched an offensive against them in 2014, Operation Zarb-e-Azb, most of the TTP found refuge in the tribal areas between the two countries.

Families and communities that have cross-border affiliations still live today at the Torkham border crossing, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Valle said.

But in past few of years, galvanised by the victory of their Afghan "cousins" over foreign forces who left Afghanistan in August 2021, the Pakistani Taliban carried out an increasing number of attacks against the Pakistani government and its security forces.

"To put it simply: Islamabad sees the TTPs as an entity based in Afghanistan that acts with the support of Kabul, while the Afghan Taliban, who have managed to make sure that the TTP is not a threat in their country, see the issue of attacks as a purely Pakistani problem," Valle noted.

"There has been a progressive hardening on the part of the Pakistani military so that now, contrary to when Prime Minister Imran Khan was in power, it is no longer possible to negotiate with Kabul over the TTP.

On the other hand, the Afghan leadership cannot even take repressive measures against the TTP, because it risks generating a war between factions and drive some fighters to the Islamic State.

By opposing the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, considered too soft in terms of Islamist ideology, the TTP managed to recruit several "disgruntled" Taliban in recent years.

Riccardo Valle, along with other experts, published a series of articles noting that the Afghan branch of the Islamic State in Khorasan (IS-K) was shifting its focus to Russia as a target.

On the one hand, the Taliban, since taking power in 2021, have managed to weaken the Islamic State by decapitating its chain of command. On the other, the IS-K has shown that it is capable of changing tactics to conduct its attacks, a fact that for them is equivalent to a victory, Valle explained.

The Islamic State survives thanks to a narrative and ideological strand that are adapted to the contingencies of the moment. Just as they railed against the previous Afghan government, for example, they are now critical of the Taliban.

"A number of factors come together vis-a-vis Moscow. On the one hand, Russia is considered on a par with Iran, a supporter of the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad who wiped out ISIS from the territories it had managed to seize in Iraq and Syria.

"In the specific case of the Afghan branch of the Islamic State, however, the Taliban are criticised and accused of treason for the fact that they maintain diplomatic relations with Russia, the same country that invaded Afghanistan in 1979.

"And again, the Russians, and in particular the Wagner mercenary group are considered the 'new crusaders' fighting in Africa in lieu of the French, who instead have withdrawn from several areas in the Sahel where the Islamic State is very active.

Although Washington considers relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan to be of some importance, for Valle, "it is hard to imagine that the United States can act as a mediator.

"After the exchange of missiles between Iran and Pakistan, only China offered to act as an intermediary, [as Beijing is] seen as a much more credible actor, along with Russia, than the West. Now Afghanistan and everything that rotates around it is deemed a purely regional issue.
by Santosh Digal

Representatives of the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines visited Christian schools in Zamboanga. Students are offered outreach and community service programmes to empower people to live with the region's painful past.

Manila (AsiaNews)  A group of officials from the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP) visited Catholic schools in Zamboanga province, on the southern island of Mindanao.

In the once conflict-ridden region, Christian institutions share the mission of promoting peace and interfaith dialogue.

CEAP presidents Fr Albert Delvo, Fr Raymond Arre, and Allan Arellano, along with other staff members, visited several establishments between 19 and 21 March, including Notre Dame of Joli for Girls in Kasulutan, the Marist School for boys, run by the Dominican Sisters, and St Joseph's School in Zamboanga City.

The CEAP began a tour across the country two months ago, which is expected to end before the start of the 2024-25 school year. The purpose of the visits is to show solidarity and synodality with CEAP schools across the country.

Due to past violence between Muslims and Christians, most educational establishments offer awareness-raising and community service programmes, promoting various peace initiatives in Mindanao, a region where, unlike other parts of the country, Christians are the minority.

The high point of the visit was the meeting with Archbishop Julius Sullan Tonel of Zamboanga, who offered his support to Catholic teachers and educators.

For his part, Fr CEAP president Albert N. Delvo enumerated the association's current commitments, in particular its advocacy initiatives in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, and with national educational agencies.

Representatives of other groups also spoke at the meeting. Fr Eduardo Santoyo, a member of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and president of Notre Dame of Jolo College, described Catholic education as a bridge that fosters mutual understanding despite differences.

Fr Santoyo also set up a courtesy visit with Brigadier General Christopher Tampus, head of the Army contingent in Jolo (Sulu province), who spoke about the conflict on the island and ongoing efforts to promote peace.

The general explained that, based on current experience, the most effective way to reduce tensions is to involve the community and put people at the centre.

Tampus enumerated the military's efforts to help locals with their daily concerns, such as building mosques, providing medical care, organising regular visits to local government officials, and recruiting local soldiers.

Over the past few years, all this has led to greater stability and peace in Sulu province.
by Mathias Hariyadi

Scandal over an Indonesian agency's programme promoted among hundreds of young people. The denunciation was triggered after some found themselves working 12 hours a day for EUR 700, without having their internship recognised once they returned to Indonesia. Associations denounce complicity in universities.

Jakarta (AsiaNews) - Dozens of Indonesian students have been trapped in illegal human trafficking under the guise of an internship program in Germany. Coming from at least 33 Indonesian campuses they were hired as laborers in Europe with exorbitant workloads.

The case emerged in Indonesian media following a complaint lodged by four students at the Indonesian Embassy in Berlin. The boys are part of a group of at least 1,047 other Indonesian students who were already in Germany, but who were forced to work illegally as part of the so-called Ferienjob internship program, promoted by Indonesian companies known as PT CVGEN and PT SHB . Indonesian police said they had arrested five suspects, two of whom are still in Germany.

One student, identified with the pseudonym Nita who was admitted to the Ferienjob internship program last October, said she had to pay at least 550 euros in registration fee and other costs. But as soon as she arrived in Germany, she was forced to go to different factories to work.

During a night visit they were offered a contractual agreement drawn up exclusively in German. We were forcefully asked to work at least 12-14 hours a day, explains another student, for a fee of only 700 euros. Furthermore, once they returned home they still had to regularly take mid- and end-of-course tests, contrary to what was promised with the internship program.

The Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture said that the "Ferienjob" internship is not part of the "Merdeka Curriculum", officially linked to the Ministry's program. We strongly support law enforcement to bring suspects to justice, said ministry spokesperson Anang Ristanto.

In a statement, the human rights groups Beranda Perempuan and Beranda Migran reveal that 87 students come from Jambi province on the island of Sumatra. The students were interested in this internship program because one of their teachers was known as a partner of the agency and Jambi University has established a partnership for 10 years.

The financial trap was practiced by increasing the prices of airline tickets and other things, including high interest on loans, the two groups say. The responsibility of universities is now seriously at risk and they must stop the internship programme, they conclude, adding that students' rights to continue their studies should also be guaranteed.
by Steve Suwannarat

Launched a few days ago in Manila, Journalists Against Corruption brings together professionals from major Southeast Asian media. With the exception of Singapore, the region is regularly at the bottom of world rankings.

Manila (AsiaNews)  A group of journalists committed to investigating and reporting corruption from several countries in the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Timor Leste[*] met in Manila on 20 March where they set up the Journalists Against Corruption (JAC) network.

The group includes some 35 professionals from major Thai, Malaysian, Cambodian, East Timorese, and Philippine media. Their goal is to work together to expose graft but also to upscale national and regional investigative cooperation and training.

The Swedish government, the US Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) contributed to the initiative.

UNODC is responsible for implementing the United Nations Convention against Corruption, the only universally recognised legally binding tool against corruption.

The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) was also actively involved in the project.

Daniele Marchesi, head of the UNODC office in the Philippines, outlined the reasons for the newly created network.

Investigative journalists shine a light on hidden corruption, holding those in power accountable and bringing injustices to the forefront of the public discourse, Marchesi said.

"In regions like Southeast Asia, your stories can bring about change, influence policies, and inspire collective action against corruption, he told journalists at the launch.

The Swedish Embassy in the Philippines stressed that an independent and free media are essential traits of the JAC network.

With the exception of Singapore, ASEAN member countries are ranked relatively low on the World Justice Project's Rule of Law Index of government anti-corruption efforts.

The World Bank's specific indicator recently pointed out that, among ASEAN members, only Singapore fares well in terms of control of corruption, while Laos is at the bottom.

Transparency International's Corruption in ASEAN report of 2020 singles out two factors that explain this situation, namely the persistence of authoritarian tendencies in individuals and groups who see corruption a tool of control and the growing presence of powerful groups who use their influence to secure favourable policies, by influencing lawmaking and voting.

[*] Timor Leste has not yet been admitted to the regional organisation.
by Dario Salvi

For Fr Romanelli, "something is moving" in the quagmire of international diplomacy, but an "effective" truce and "humanitarian aid" are needed. Yesterday's UN vote is a positive step, but it must be accompanied by the delivery of food and medicine and the stop of the invasion of southern Gaza. This years Holy Week celebrations are a mixture of bitterness and joy.

Milan (AsiaNews)  Something is moving in the quagmire of international diplomacy. Hitherto, war proclamation and the sound of weapons prevailed, with their tragic tally of death and destruction. Yet, there is hope that a truce can "become effective" with "real humanitarian aid for the entire population, especially in the north, which is the most abandoned, said Fr Gabriel Romanelli, pastor at Gazas Holy Family Church.

Since the war broke out, the Argentinian priest has been stranded first in Bethlehem, and currently in Jerusalem, unable to return home due to Israels border closures.

He looks with cautious hope at yesterday's vote at the United Nations, a first step to stem the escalating conflict resulting from the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7 in southern Israel, which prompted a devastating military campaign by the Jewish state with its burden of death and destruction.

By now, even superlatives are no longer enough to describe the tragic nature of the situation, the number of deaths that continues to rise, the number of wounded that is growing, as well as the many who are dying of hunger, especially children, the priest of the Incarnate Word told AsiaNews.

The sick end up succumbing for the lack of care, not to mention the more than 70,000 wounded in the war, and those who suffer from ordinary diseases that could be treated with drugs, like diabetes."

This is why, in his view, yesterday's decision "is good," but it must be accompanied by two other "fundamental steps: allowing humanitarian aid in the form of food and medicine to enter the north and, at the same time, stopping the invasion of the south, also because both would help in the negotiations for the release" of those Israelis and foreigners who are still in the hands of Hamas.

UN vote and truce

Yesterday, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution aimed at an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, which the United States did not veto, for the duration of Ramadan", the Islamic holy month of fasting and prayer, which ends on the night between 9 and 10 April with the Eid al-Fitr.

The goal remains a "lasting and sustainable" truce, coupled with the "immediate and unconditional" release of hostages and greater access to humanitarian aid for civilians.

Advocacy groups and international organisations have been waiting for the decision, after warning of the tragic situation in Gaza where hunger and famine, as well as lack of medical care, affect more and more people.

In response, the Israeli government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have pulled their delegation from ongoing negotiations in Doha over the Gaza war and the exchange of prisoners with Hamas.

Never has Israel been so distant from its US ally. Israeli public radio reported that the governments decision is due to yesterday's vote at the UN and what it says is Hamass intransigence.

In fact, Hamas told Qatari and Egyptian mediators that they would stick to their original demands, starting with the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Strip, the return of the displaced, and the release of the detainees.

Meanwhile, air raids and military operations continue in defiance of the UN resolution, with attacks near Rafah in the extreme south of the Strip where about 1.5 million Palestinian refugees are huddled.

We must not give up, but continue to work with the courage of peace," said Fr Romanelli, to put "a stop to violence, weapons. We need to arrive at a solution, even if it will not be perfect. The ceasefire is the first step, but for it to be real, the weapons must be silent. The entire population of the Holy Land is suffering, but the people of Gaza are suffering the worst.

No Easter

Meanwhile, thousands of Christians from the West Bank have been reportedly banned from Jerusalem, from participating in Holy Week services, starting with Palm Sunday Mass last Sunday.

For days, Israeli soldiers and security forces have been patrolling the streets and guarding checkpoints around the holy city, denying access to people who wanted to take part in the most important feast in the liturgical calendar.

This is a further blow to the survival of a community already burdened by the lack of pilgrims. In addition to strengthening the sense of isolation, this has brought the economy to its knees. Tens of thousands of Palestinian Christian families live thanks to earnings from religious tourism and have not seen any income for months.

Only a small group of foreign Christians arrived in Jerusalem over the weekend to experience Holy Week, starting with the traditional Palm Sunday Mass led by the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Card Pierbattista Pizzaballa.

The celebrations of these days contain a mixture of bitterness and joy, said Fr Romanelli. The celebration of Palm Sunday in the Middle East is very well attended, especially by Christian children who consider it as their feast, but the rituals have been reduced to the bare essential, to the liturgical part, like Muslims for Ramadan.

People, whether Christian or Muslim, do not want to neglect the religious part; faith is an essential component in the Middle East and this is even truer in Holy Week.

Since yesterday there have been Jeremiah's lamentations, the Liturgy of Darkness, Mass, and vespers, but, in the background, an atmosphere of deep sadness remains because there is no end in sight, no end in sight, lamented Fr Romanelli.

In the past, it was different, one could figure out how long a conflict could last, even if it lasted several weeks, while this time no one sees an end, he added.

The absence of West Bank Christians could be related to the "extremely late" and one day" permit granted by the Israeli authorities, which made it impossible to travel to Jerusalem.

Speaking directly to Gaza Christians, most of whom are refugees at the Holy Family parish compound, Fr Romanelli urges them to hold on, as they have always done, in the midst of trials because you are not alone."

After all, Middle Easterners, whether Christian and Muslim, are people of faith and devotion, especially in times of trial. At the level of life, at the existential level, the environment of the Holy Land has become hostile to everyone.

Sadly, This conflict is changing so much of the local reality, even at a material level where many have lost their jobs, above all those who lived thanks to religious tourism and pilgrimages.

To this must be added cancelled work permits, restrictions on movement, blockades that end up affecting ordinary people" every day in the Gaza Strip, and beyond.

GATEWAY TO THE EAST IS THE ASIANEWS NEWSLETTER DEDICATED TO MIDDLE EAST. TO RECEIVE A WEEKLY UPDATE EVERY TUESDAY, CLICK HERE.
Aspen resident Susie Krabacher, founder of the local nonprofit HaitiChildren, is pictured with kids from Haiti. She and her husband, Joe, helped lead a critical mission to relocate 59 children with disabilities from gang-torn Haiti to Jamaica last week.
Stephanie Velasquezs mission to give conchas respect is changing how Houstonians view the classic Mexican sweet bread, but its also transforming the 33-year-old pastry chefs life.

In January, Velasquez became a James Beard Awards semifinalist  the most prized award for Americans working in the restaurant industry  as an Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker nominee. The announcement followed nearly three years of running a popular pop-up across town. She and her partner, Nicolas Vera, also weathered a pandemic with Papalo Taqueria, which opened in a downtown food hall in early 2020.

The ups and downs of the past few years, however, wont stop Velasquez, Vera and the couples business partner, Marlen Mendoza, from opening Ema on March 29 in the Heights. Their first standalone brick-and-mortar restaurant is dedicated to all things Mexican, from the heirloom corn used in sweet as well as savory dishes, to how theyre choosing to share stories focused on their culture.

Family, memories, nostalgia and culture, Velasquez said. Its what we put into everything.

HOUSTON EATS: The Chronicles top 100 restaurants

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Conchas both blue corn and cacao at Ema Karen Warren/Staff photographer

The road to perfecting the concha was not an easy one for Velasquez, who grew up in the Houston area.

She was working at Trader Joes on Shepherd before moving to Colorado to attend a culinary school. She struggled to keep up with the costs, while diving into baking and pastry courses, and said shed often bike everywhere to save gas money so she could drive to classes.

Velasquez dropped out and moved back to Houston. Soon after, she started gaining experience at kitchens in town, such as the acclaimed The Pass & Provisions, Sinfull Bakery and Weights + Measures.

In 2017, Velasquez joined Hugo Ortegas Xochi, where she met Vera, who was one of the chefs leading the kitchen. While she credits the modern Mexican restaurant for pushing her to become a chef versus a cook, it was challenging to work in a male-dominated space where most employees spoke Spanish.

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I saw (Velasquez) was not only willing to learn about food but also her language, too, said Vera, who had previously worked at Chris Shepherds Underbelly for two years. It was, Wow, this woman is doing a great job and working so hard.

The couple visited Mexico City in 2018 and recall visiting Lalo, a trendy restaurant located inside a renovated Spanish Revival-style mansion in the hip Polanco neighborhood. It was where they first thought about opening Ema.

We looked at each other and knew this was something we needed to do in Houston, Vera said.

They admired the diversity of the customers gathered around communal tables eating simple-but-nice Mexican breakfasts.

Velasquez and Vera left Xochi to focus on fine-tuning their skills while figuring out the food they wanted to cook. A series of sporadic pop-ups led them to open Tlahuac in early 2019 as a part of a residency in Greenway Plaza, where they focused on dishes from Central Mexico.

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The pop-up scene helped us grow as chefs, Velasquez said. We could make money but also be creative.

By March 2020, they had a chance to join the vendors at Finn Hall, a downtown food hall. They opened Papalo Taqueria but had to shut down within two weeks because of COVID-19 safety precautions.

It was like a slap in the face, Velasquez said. I remember thinking, What are we going to do?

With 600 pounds of maiz and about 100 pounds of chocolate, Velasquez started making cookie dough to sell over Instagram. She suggested that Vera make tortillas, even though they had to hand press them individually.

Velasquezs father welded a metal case in the back of a van, which they called their Panaderia Mobile, for her to sell pastries. Velasquez would sell bread in addition to pastries, and Vera would offer some savory dishes along the way.

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They quickly rebranded their pop-up from Tlahuac to Ema, which was in honor of Veras grandmother's name, but also because it was easier to pronounce.

Marlen Mendoza, left, oversees coffee components, with co-owners / founders and chefs Stephanie Velasquez, center, and Nicolas Vera at Ema, in the Heights Karen Warren/Staff photographer

While dropping off tortillas at Henderson & Kane, the couple met Mendoza, another Houston native who was running the coffee bar at the general store in Sixth Ward, which also sells barbecue.

Mendoza, who has nearly a decade of experience in the coffee realm, sold horchata cold brew in addition to traditional espresso drinks. It was a natural fit to team up with Ema, she added.

Every Latino wants cafecito with their bread, Mendoza joked.

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But Mendoza said the desire to center their business around the culture and identity of Mexico was especially important to her teaming up with the couple.

Eventually, they slowly reopened Papalo and brought the Ema pop-up to the Urban Harvest farmers market, where they slowly built a following for Velasquezs pastries and Mendozas beverages.

Marlen Mendoza oversees the coffee program at Ema

For two brown girls in a very white-dominated space, Velasquez and Mendoza said they often felt the pressure to teach Houstonians about their menu, whether it was the various twists on traditional Mexican pastries or drinks.

It was exhausting but also necessary, Mendoza said. I think we love what we do so much that we just kept going.

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MORE FROM BAO ONG: Celebrated Houston restaurateur finally opens highly-anticipated Late August in the Ion

Nicolas Vera leads the savory side of the menu at Ema

At Ema, 5307 N. Main, the trio will begin with breakfast and lunch service Tuesday through Sunday.

The simply designed space includes a communal table and tropical plants in a room filled with natural light. Some pieces of art speak to Mexico but gone are any traditional touches that shout fiesta with bright colors or pinatas.

Were just really excited to show what were passionate about, said Mendoza, 30. Were putting our craft on a larger scale.

Mendozas coffee program sources much of its beans from South and Central America. Shell serve drinks such as cafe de olla, which is brimming with spices such as cinnamon, black pepper and anise.

Lesser-seen drinks like tejate, a Mexican cacao drink, will also make appearances on the menu. There will be daily agua frescas, as well.

Vera, 34, oversees the savory menu, which like the acclaimed Tatemo focuses on heirloom corn. The bestselling taco at Papalo, with confit carrots, is available at Ema, but the chef has also added mushroom dorados, papaya salad, a torta milanesa and even a Caesar salad.

Dinner service may begin once Ema gets established, they said.

Stephanie Velasquez, left, is in charge of the pastries at Ema

But for now, Ema is a space where Velasquez can expand her pastry offerings.

Her conchas, unlike the dry, bland versions found at most grocery stores, are made with a brioche bread recipe thats airy and soft. It comes in an array of flavors, from vanilla-scented ones with cacao nibs to guava.

Emas berlinesas, a creamed-filled doughnut popular at Urban Harvest, will be on the daily menu along with pastry cream flavors like horchata. Customers can also expect matcha tres leche cake as well as a forthcoming sourdough bread program.

For now, the menu will feature other sweet offerings like a blueberry pancake with queso fresco on the breakfast menu in addition to hoja santa French toast topped with strawberry compote and whipped cream. Many of the dishes on the menu use eggs from chickens that Velasquez's father raises outside of Richmond.

The pastries are a firsthand look into how Velasquez landed a James Beard nomination, which puts on some additional pressure, despite being a surprise.

Theres a feeling that she may need to prove herself more, Velasquez said, but shes keeping her focus on Ema.

Were putting our heart on the plate, onto the food, into the dough, into a beautiful mug with espresso, Velasquez said. We cannot wait to open.
Opposition candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye celebrated on Monday that the people of Senegal have decided to "break with" the current political system by electing him the youngest president in the African country's history.

The ruling party's candidate in the election, Amadou Ba, had earlier acknowledged his anti-establishment rival's victory as a political seismic shift in the West African nation.

The 44-year-old opposition candidate, released from prison just ten days before the elections, described himself as "the option of rupture", but called for "national reconciliation" after three years of instability and political crisis.

It is the first time in the twelve presidential elections held under universal suffrage since Senegal's independence from France in 1960 that an opposition candidate has won in the first round of voting.

Even before the official release of the results, the 62-year-old Ba congratulated Faye "on his victory in the first round".

Outgoing president Macky Sall, who did not run after his victories in 2012 and 2019, also congratulated him and hailed "a victory for Senegalese democracy".

Macky Sall, President of Senegal during his opening speech at the 9th Dakar International Forum on Peace and Security in Africa - PHOTO/SOCIAL NETWORKS

Faye promised a left-wing pan-African policy and to renegotiate oil and gas contracts just as the country is set to begin exploiting newly found reserves.

Dakar's Western allies such as the US and France congratulated the winner, who pledged to be "a safe and reliable ally" of any country "respectful" of them.

The national electoral commission has until Friday to publish the provisional results, before validation by the Constitutional Council. An absolute majority of the vote is needed to win in the first round, otherwise the two main candidates will run in a run-off.

The election was scheduled for 25 February, but the outgoing president postponed it at the last minute, triggering a wave of violence.

Several weeks of turmoil tested Senegal's democracy until the election was finally scheduled for 24 March.

Ten days before the election, Faye was released from prison along with opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, who had been waging an anti-power struggle since 2021 that at times led to violent protests.

Both had been imprisoned in connection with this dispute. Sonko was barred from running in the elections because of a defamation conviction, but backed Faye.

Senegal is considered one of the most stable countries in West Africa, a region recently shaken by several coups.
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That's a big roll of the dice because Lincoln currently only has four nameplates on sale in North America and a fifth one internationally (China's Z)  Corsair, Nautilus, Aviator, and Navigator.In February, the premium brand announced the arrival of the refreshed 2025 Aviator three-row mid-sizetwinned on the Ford CD6 platform with the facelifted 2025 Ford Explorer. Presented with a redesigned front end, an updated cabin, and refreshed headlights, this is the ritzy alternative to the Ford Explorer ST and Explorer Platinum, as they all share the 400-hp 3.0-liter twin-turbo EcoBoost V6.Next up, in early March, Lincoln finally announced the market-specific details of the all-new second-generation 2024 Lincoln Nautilus  the smaller mid-size luxury crossover initially known as MKX is now built on the Ford C2 platform and was first released for the Chinese market because now it's exclusively produced in China by Changan Ford instead of China and Canada like the original iteration.For those who don't need the extra space the refreshed Aviator provides, the Nautilus will be more than enough with the 2.0-liter turbo or hybrid powertrains, especially if the customer really wants to embrace the high-tech lifestyle of living with an SUV packing a humongous 48-inch panoramic screen for the cockpit. Now that we know the interior is enticing, how about the exterior?Well, suppose you feel that Lincoln was too subtle as far as the exterior styling changes are concerned. In that case, the imaginative realm of digital car content creators is already ready and willing to lend a helping hand with the personalization efforts. More precisely, Nikita Chuicko, the virtual artist better known as kelsonik on social media, thinks now is the right CGI time to play with the all-new second-gen Nautilus.This pixel master always dabbles with the latest releases to make them extra spicy, and his vision of the 2024 Lincoln Nautilus involves the use of his signature ' Shadow Line ' treatment (essentially, it's a de-chrome feature) plus the fitment of no less than three types of aftermarket wheels. The first one is a classic Y-spoke design, the second one is a black style to provide a dark contrast, and the third one is matched with the Shadow Line elements, slightly concave and mimicking the Aero Disc look of various famous aftermarket outlets.So, which is your favorite, if any? Also, do you think that Ford did a good thing by allowing Lincoln to import the all-new Nautilus from China when tensions were high between the two economic powerhouses?
Nakia Holmes has filed for a divorce from husband Lynn Price. She alleges he abused her and their children in an Instagram post. Steve Gonzales/Staff photographer The Turkey Leg Hut has a lawsuit filed by a small group of residential neighbors claiming noise, smoke and parking issues Friday, Nov. 22, 2019, in Houston. Steve Gonzales, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer Customers waiting in line for a table at Turkey Leg Hut, a restaurant located in the Third Ward on Friday, Dec. 6, 2019, in Houston. Marie D. De Jesus, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer Lynn Price, left, helps Royal Bellock, middle, with a grill top during a Tiger2Dozen pop-up in Third Ward across from Turkey Leg Hut on March 2, 2024 Bao Ong / Staff

"The company has initiated a voluntary court-supervised process that will allow it the necessary flexibility to continue ongoing discussions with all financial stakeholders," wrote Holmes in a statement on Instagram. "In connection with the filing, the company has sought approval to continue its operations while meeting its obligations to all stakeholders, employees, suppliers and vendors."

According to court records, the owner listed 19 creditors with an estimated liability of $1 million to $10 million. Two of the largest accounts include the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts in the amount of $1.95 million and a disputed amount of $931,111.12 by former co-owner, Steven Rogers.

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Rogers, now the owner of Bar 5015 in Third Ward, filed a lawsuit against his colleagues in 2020. In his suit, he alleged the restaurants majority owner, Nakia Holmes, formerly Price, was diverting funds, customers and supplies to her other food trucks and catering businesses without compensating Rogers and other shareholders.

During the hearing initially set for Tuesday at the 127th District Court, Rogers' lawyer Sean Roberts planned to ask Judge Ravi Sandill for a receiver. According to the Volberding Legal Group, PLLC, a judge can appoint a receiver to "take possession of the judgment debtors non-exempt property and accounts, liquidate them and pay the plaintiff, thereby satisfying the courts judgment."

Texas law allows judges to appoint a receiver to collect unpaid judgments in chapter 11 of the Texas Business Organizations Code plus chapter 31 and chapter 64 of the Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code. The Chronicle previously reported that Holmes and Price supposedly defaulted on their payments to Rogers stemming from an agreement to buy him out of his $1.5 million interest in the Turkey Leg Hut. Roberts said a judge signed an order insisting the couple owed Rogers $931,000 of their assets and then some.

"The hearing on the receiver is automatically stayed (frozen), because Turkey Leg Hut & Company LLC filed chapter 11 bankruptcy," said Roberts in a statement to the Chronicle. "There is a receiver in the federal system called a 'Trustee' that will account for TLHs assets and begin paying or making arrangements to pay all outstanding debts."

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Holmes started the Turkey Leg Hut back in 2015 with then-husband Lyndell Price in a parking lot across the street from the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. She later established the brick-and-mortar restaurant at 4830 Almeda. The business has more than 1 million followers combined on Facebook and Instagram.

But, in recent months, it's been the center of uncertainty. Earlier this month, the Chronicle reported Holmes allegedly fired Price and other employees in an email.

The shake-up prompted Price to set up shop across the street with a business of his own, The Oyster Hut, selling chargrilled oysters.

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Ty Anderson, who doesn't live in the area stopped by the restaurant to pick up some food Tuesday noting he couldn't pass up the opportunity since the line didn't circle the block. Anderson, who wasn't aware of the bankruptcy, said he wished the couple well in keeping the business afloat. A Missouri native, Anderson has lived in Houston for a decade and has been patronizing The Turkey Leg Hut ever since it opened.

"Everything in there is good," Anderson said. "I sure hope they make it. I'll miss this place. This is like the biggest Black establishment I have ever seen they almost have a whole block out here."

Price, who was working at the food truck adjacent to the restaurant, declined to comment on the ongoing legal matter. In her post on Instagram, Holmes reassured customers, saying "the story of the Turkey Leg Hut is not yet written."

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Unveiled in full in September 2023, the third-generation Tiguan will soon receive a three-row version for the family-oriented. Dubbed Tiguan in the United States and Tayron in the Old Continent, the family-sized sport utility vehicle has been spied in European flavor while testing in Sweden.

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Our carparazzi have spotted multiple prototypes, including a plug-in hybrid with the charging port door on the driver-side front fender. Similar to the combustion-only prototypes, theis rocking fake exhaust tips for the sake of styling. The actual exhaust outlet is hidden behind the rear bumper.Extremely similar to the two-row Tiguan up front, the long-wheelbase sibling features minimal camo fore and aft. Considering how similar the previous Tiguan and Tiguan Allspace were in this regard, it shouldn't come as a surprise that the German automaker camo'd so little of these prototypes.It should be noted that Volkswagen's regular-wheelbase Tiguan isn't meant for the US market due to the seven-seat version. Noticeably longer than the Tiguan, the newcomer slots just below the Atlas. Both of them are based on the German manufacturer'splatform, which means that four-cylinder lumps such as the 1.5-liter TSI, 2.0-liter TSI, and 2.0-literwill have to suffice.The front-biased crossover is closely related to the Skoda Kodiaq, which is produced at the Czech marque's Kvasiny plant in Czechia. By comparison, the five-seat Tiguan hails from the Volkswagen brand's Wolfsburg assembly plant in Germany.Just like the Tiguan, the Tayron aims to reduce the German automaker's carbon footprint with a selection of mild hybrid and plug-in hybrid setups. Electrification is especially important in Europe, where automakers are fined for every gram of carbon dioxide per kilometer over the fleet average targets of 95 grams per kilometer between 2020 and 2024 and 93.6 grams from 2025 through 2034.The lowliest specification of the 2024 model year Tiguan is  for the time being  the 1.5 eTSI mild hybrid. It develops 131 metric horsepower (128 mechanical horsepower) and 220 pound-feet (162 Nm) between 1,500 and 3,500 revolutions per minute. At the other end of the spectrum, the 1.5 TSI eHybrid plug-in hybrid puts out 272 ps (268 hp) and 400 Nm, of which 250 Nm (184 lb-ft) are delivered by the four-pot turbo at 1,500 to 4,000 rpm.Prospective customers should also look forward to a seven-speed DSG for all non-plug-in powerplants. The eHybrid uses a six-speed version of the Volkswagen Group's dual-clutch transmission for transverse applications. When it comes to zero-emission range, the most you can expect from the Tiguan eHybrid is 120 kilometers (75 miles) The 2.0-liter turbo gasser seems to be the most obvious choice for the US and Canadian markets. Like the second-gen Tiguan for North America, the third generation will be produced in Mexico at the facility where VW used to assemble the Beetle.
Adventurer Lexie Alford took a Ford Explorer EV on a record-setting journey around the globe. The goal was to mark the 100th anniversary of Aloha Wanderwell's trip around the world in a Ford Model T. Alford completed the 20,000-mile trip spanning 27 countries on six continents in about six months.

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Photo: Ford

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Congrats to Lexie Alford for setting a new record  the first global circumnavigation by electric vehicle  in the new all-electric #FordExplorer! This was an epic test drive of 30,000km through 6 continents and 27 countries. All on electric power! So great to be with the @Ford pic.twitter.com/dz0f4i9d3z  Jim Farley (@jimfarley98) March 26, 2024

Electric vehicles are often mocked for not having enough range for longer road trips. However, countless testimonies of people praise EVs as being better for longer journeys, not least because they are more efficient and electricity is cheaper than gas. Car companies have also used long road trips to promote their electric vehicles.Last year, Chris and Julie Ramsey took an all-electric Nissa Ariya on a trip from the North Pole to the South Pole. The electric crossover was all-stock except for the modifications needed to fit big 39-inch wheels. The journey lasted ten months and covered 30,000 kilometers (18,641 miles). Nevertheless, it was completed successfully despite the harsh conditions.Even before the Ramseys reached the South Pole, another PR stunt was brewing, this time involving a Ford Explorer EV . Instead of going from one pole to another, Ford PR considered an around-the-world journey. The Explorerwas driven by adventurer Lexie Alford (also known as Lexie Limitless), who, in 2019, was awarded a Guinness World Record for being the "Youngest person to travel to all sovereign countries" when she was 21.Ford found a worthy goal for this journey, which was perfect for both the company and Alford. One hundred years ago, another adventurer, Aloha Wanderwell, became the first woman to drive around the world in a Ford Model T. Ford and Lexie marked the 100th anniversary of Wanderwell's adventure with a similar trip in the Ford Explorer EV. When she completed the journey, Lexie Alford became the first person to circumnavigate the globe in an electric vehicle.The trips started in September 2023 in Nice (France), from the same place Aloha Wonderwell set off 100 years ago. The journey continued south into Italy and across Turkey before reaching Tbilisi in Georgia. The African leg began in Cape Town (South Africa) and proceeded north to Zimbabwe. The third continent of the trip was Australia, where Lexie Limitless traveled from Adelaide to Melbourne and then to Sydney.The Asian part of the trip started in New Delhi, India, before continuing to Bhutan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and Malaysia. Alford and her pre-production Ford Explorer EV moved from Asia to South America, in Santiago de Chile. From there, they went to Argentina before jumping to Los Angeles for the North American leg. The journey continued eastward toward New York, with a predictable step in Ford's hometown of Detroit.Lexie returned to Europe for the final leg, which started in Norway and ended in Nice, completing the circle. In total, she drove through 27 countries, covering more than 30,000 kilometers, pretty much on par with the Pole-to-Pole Nissan Ariya expedition. The vehicle Lexie used for this challenge was a pre-production version of the Ford Explorer EV. It used various charging solutions throughout the journey, from 2.2AC wall outlets to DC fast chargers and a portable battery pack. The Explorer EV is Ford's first car based on Volkswagen's MEB architecture, making it a distant cousin to the ID.4. Designed for Europe's roads and customers, the Explorer EV battled power outages in Africa, lack of charging infrastructure in the Atacama desert of Chile, unpaved roads, freezing conditions, ultimately proving that nothing is off limits to electric vehicles.
Fisker has been on a fast downhill roll in 2024 after the company admitted it needs to raise more capital to stay afloat. Partnership talks with a big automotive company ended abruptly, crashing share prices into the ground. This prompted the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to initiate measures to delist Fisker, with bankruptcy now inevitable.

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It's a tough year for automotive startups as the electric vehicle market consolidates, and Tesla is the big winner. Earlier this month, Fisker announced disappointing financial results, reflecting the low quality of its vehicles. Fisker Ocean, its current shipping model, was riddled with software issues. This has led to poor sales, with roughly half of the 10,000 units built in 2023 still in the inventory. This put an enormous strain on the already cash-strapped company.Fisker announced earlier this month that it's discussing a potential partnership with a major carmaker. Industry insiders revealed that Nissan was the carmaker, and the talks included plans to produce Fisker's Alaska pickup truck in the US. However, Nissan announced its EV plans on Monday and did not include any partnership with Fisker. Fisker also admitted that the talks had fallen through, sending the company's shares into a tailspin.The outcome prompted the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to suspend trading of the Fisker stock after the share price reached $0.09. The Exchange also commenced procedures to delist the Class A common stock of Fisker Inc. from the NYSE based on "abnormally low" price levels. The NYSE still has to apply to the SEC to delist Fisker upon completion of all procedures, including a potential appeal by the company to the NYSE's decision.In the case of stock delisting, the company will be required to repurchase its unsecured 2.50% convertible notes due in 2026. According to Reuters, it will also trigger an event of default under its senior secured convertible notes due 2025. The problem is that Fisker doesn't have enough cash reserves to satisfy all amounts due under the 2026 or 2025 Notes. Financial analysts think that Fisker's bankruptcy is now inevitable, making it the second failed startup of Henry Fisker.Unfortunately, Fisker's bankruptcy will not affect only investors but also the Fisker owners. Their vehicles still need software updates just to make them work, and those updates won't come anymore. At the same time, their resale value will follow the Fisker shares downward trend, leaving unlucky people holding an empty bag. Imagine taking a loan to purchase a $60K+ Fisker Ocean that now has no value whatsoever, and you can't even use it.People hope that some other company will buy Fisker and continue the work, but this is unlikely. Fisker pioneered an "asset light" strategy, with manufacturing outsourced to Magna Steyr in Austria. This means that thestartup doesn't have many things that other companies might find interesting: no assets and no meaningful intellectual property. It's only a name synonymous with failure, and nobody wants such a name.
We bet you laughed when Hyundai Motor Company announced they were launching a luxury brand to take the fight to Lexus, BMW, Audi, and Cadillac. "The South Koreans making a luxury car? It's gotta be grabage," so many smug automotive snobs here in North America must have thought to themselves. Oh, sweet lord, how galactically wrong these people were. As a testament to that effect, Genesis effectively gave BMW the tombstone piledriver just days before the New York Auto Show.

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Photo: Benny Kirk/autoevolution

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Photo: Benny Kirk/autoevolution

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Photo: Benny Kirk/autoevolution

With top brass and key figures from Genesis mingling with dozens of piranha-like media and press, the press and media debut of their 2024 concept lineup was nothing short of a bombshell for the industry. In most high-marquee automotive press events, you're usually lucky if you get to see more than two concepts or new models.Not at the Genesis House in New York City's historic Meatpacking District, no less than five unique concepts and soon-to-be production-ready models graced the awaiting North American press for the first time. autoevolution was lucky enough to be among the crowd that night. As it turns out, the Berlinetta moniker is not one specific to mid-2010s Ferraris.The Genesis X Gran Berlinetta concept takes a familiar name already associated with supercars and takes it to a level unprecedented until now. Inspired by the Gran Turismo GT Vision line of hyper-futuristic concept cars inspired by the PlayStation racing series, the X Gran Berlinetta is a member of this club in all but name. It made its digital debut at the Gran Turismo e-sports final last fall for crying out loud.In what looks like a Ford GT mixed with a Model S Plaid, the proportions of the X Gran Berlinetta toe the line between a video game psycho car and something that could theoretically go into production one day. No word yet on the particulars of the EV drivetrain.But there's only a handful of concepts in the world right now that look as menacing as this one. How happy then that a few of the others were just a first-down or so in the other direction. To the left of the spaceship EV concept was something you're far more likely to see blitzing tracks and right-hand lanes across North America soon, the GV60 Magma Concept.It's the perfect segway to talk about Genesis Magma, the South Korean alternative to Cadillac V-series , Mercedes-, and BMW M-Division. It only figures that Genesis would bring a sporty fling to their lineup to joust sabers with the snotty elite of German and American luxury brands. Hyundai's luxury brand has been thoroughly cleaning German and American clocks in the sales department lately, and a sporty subdivision seemed inevitable.As it turns out, the time to strike is now.The GV60 Magma Concept explains the design philosophy of Genesis Magma more succinctly than any PR pitch. With an already iconically charming appearance even in its non-sporty standard form, the GV60 is what the Mini Cooper should've always been.But kitted out with a subtle but aggressive aero package, trademark metallic orange paint, and a set of black alloy wheels that balance between a rally car and a supercar in appearance, you know exactly what kind of clientele Genesis Magma is gunning for.The same is true of the G80 Coupe Concept , similarly decked out in stunning Magma brand-specific orange paint. Admittedly, this concept made its debut last year at the 2023 New York Auto Show. But you probably wouldn't have been able to tell that if we hadn't told you.Such is the faith that Genesis has in this vehicle when it hits showrooms soon. So, too, did the Genesis G80 fitted in a similar Magma kit. It's perhaps the G80 that undergoes the most profound transformation when given the Magma treatment.What once looked like a Rolls-Royce from the Far East now looks like a Bentley Continental GT with a delightfully South Korean flair. But by a country mile, the star of the show in New York that evening was the Genesis Neolun Concept, an all-electricso sleek and so well-executed (at least on first impressions) that even the most die-hard EV hater can't help but marvel at how it melds the realms of retro styling and contemporary Genesis design language into something that just works somehow.With bodacious but proportionate dimensions reminiscent of a Dodge Durango, the Neolun Concept adds ultra-contemporary styling cues native to the Genesis brand. What this combo creates might be the coolest concept car we've seen jump out of renderings and into our mortal reality in years.If Lexus, Caddy, and BMW aren't taking notes here, they should be. Don't be surprised if Genesis Magma wipes the floor with these performance brands the very same way it did with their normal cars. Consider that your mic-drop.
It's official: Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) will kick off aircraft manufacturing in Doncaster, UK. The brand-new production site will be located at Carcroft Common, a well-known industrial estate a few miles to the north of Doncaster city center.

For a long time it seemed that the weird-shaped, totally bizarre green aircraft nicknamed "The Flying Bum" would be just one more failed aviation concept that excited people's imagination only to leave them disappointed. Luckily, that's no longer the case. The Airlander 10 is fully prepared to enter large-scale production, followed by entry into commercial service.Last year, HAV was on a roll, and this year, it is gearing up to be historical. The latest milestone came in the form of a confirmed location for the company's brand-new manufacturing facility that will also be used for testing and certification-related operations.The future center is set to take advantage of the 50-hectare (123.5 acres) Carcroft Common site near Doncaster in South Yorkshire, UK. All we know for now is that it will boast the latest aerospace production equipment in line with the innovative technology of the Airlander 10, including the use of composite materials for its airframe. Another important detail is that the estimated production capacity will initially aim for 24 units per year.One major advantage of the area is that HAV will receive expert support from the nearby Doncaster UTC and the University of Sheffield's Advanced Manufacturing Research Center. Once completed and fully operational, this center is set to create more than 1,000 so-called "green" jobs in the area. As it often happens, this major project couldn't have come to life without support and funding from local authorities. The goal is to ultimately turn the entire South Yorkshire into an aerospace innovation hub.With this recent milestone, HAV is on track to reach its destination, with the first Airlander 10 scheduled to enter commercial service three years from now. Air Nostrum Group, HAV's launch airline customer, has recently doubled its initial pre-order, confirming that the Airlander 10 project is finally ready to take to the sky.More than that, HAV claims to have secured more than 1 billion from pre-orders so far. The futuristic green aircraft is set to explore a wide range of operations, including a bold take on Arctic tourism. Plus, it might not even be limited to the civilian market  aviation technology giant BAE Systems is looking into the possibilities of adapting Airlander's capabilities for military missions.The Airlander 10 is a gigantic, hybrid aircraft designed to carry up to 100 passengers or 11 tons of cargo. Once production is officially in place, HAV will continue to explore the potential of an even more impressive version, the Airlander 50, with double capacity and a whopping 2,200 km (1,367 miles) range at maximum payload.
Apple's AirTag helped a 47-year-old motorcycle owner to recover the stolen vehicle from dangerous criminals, providing real-time location data to track it down on the map.

Richard Bagshaw from Yorkshire says his motorcycle got stolen last year from its parking spot, but the man could locate the vehicle using an AirTag planted in the seat storage space.Apple launched the AirTag to allow customers to track their belongings, including car keys and wallets, through their iPhones. AirTags are pill-shaped devices that come without a built-in Internet connection but communicate with the master smartphone through nearby iPhones. It connects to them automatically when they're close, sharing its location with the owner's iPhone in the Find My app.Bagshaw says he specifically planted an AirTag in the bike's seat storage space in case he needs to see the vehicle's location.When he noticed the bike was missing from the parking spot, he unlocked his iPhone and launched the Find My app. The bike was tracked to Guisborough, North Yorkshire, so he went to the location and waited for the police's arrival.He spotted the bike under a cover in the back of a house, so he pointed the location to the police and hoped law enforcement could help. Little did he know that the house was used by dangerous criminals for drug dealing, with the police eventually finding combat knives, machetes, and rifles. When he discovered the bike under the cover, the police told him to get on it and take it home, but he decided to wait for a recovery truck. The ignition was broken, possibly as the thieves tried to start the engine.The case shows how important AirTags have become for vehicle owners and how little attention thieves pay to these devices, considering they become more widely adopted.Police tell car owners to install AirTags in their vehicles, with some authorities even giving away Apple trackers to help combat the growing car theft trends.Meanwhile, Apple is already working on a second-generation model that should come with improved precision and battery life. However, the second-generation AirTag won't launch until 2025, as the current model still sells like hotcakes, making a new model unnecessary.Apple's AirTag doesn't require recharging, as it uses a CR2032 battery offering up to six months of autonomy per unit. The AirTag doesn't integrate a power-off button, so the only way a thief can disable it, assuming they determine where they are planted, is to remove the battery. The AirTag can alert thieves that they might be tracked by sending a notification on their iPhones. The alert is integrated into the AirTag as a privacy feature to protect users from stalkers. However, the better the AirTag is hidden, the lower the chances for a thief to locate it.
SUV

The British off-road specialist, currently part of Jaguar Land Rover Automotive PLC, the holding company of Jaguar Land Rover Limited, recently took to North America to announce the introduction of a couple of special limited-edition models. The $169k Range Rover Sport Park Edition will number only seven units and is intended as a tribute to the Utah city best known for its highly acclaimed ski resorts.Secondly, the Range Rover SV Arete Edition arrived in Whistler to enjoy the Canadian resort lifestyle with just eight examples. Whistler, British Columbia, is considered an exclusive modern luxury retreat by Land Rover, but the truth is that it's one of the largest ski resorts in America per se  and the area even hosted the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics  so that kind of attracts big crowds, not just the one percenters, right?Anyway, now they have prepared a dream of spring that will probably morph into a lust of summer by the time it comes out of the teaser territory for the official reveal. More precisely, Land Rover has kicked off the marketing campaign for the upcoming Defender OCTA  which is claimed to be "the toughest, most capable and luxurious Defender ever." This new high-performance all-terrain "hero" will be introduced later this year, and thanks to its V8 twin turbo, it will become the most powerful Defender ever.That means it will rise above the current flagship  the $111,500 Defender V8 and the costlier $118,600 Defender V8 Carpathian Edition have a 5.0-liter V8 under the hood that's good for no less than 518 horsepower. The Land Rover Defender "has been synonymous with all-terrain capability with a bloodline tracing back to the Series 1 in 1948. The new Defender OCTA will take this to another level with a dramatic stance, innovative technology, and unparalleled attention to detail. With astounding performance and a bold new attitude, it will enable our clients to master epic adventures in heightened luxury," explains Mark Cameron, Managing Director, Defender.The all-new Land Rover Defender OCTA will use not just the V8 Twin Turbo gasoline engine with mild hybrid assistance but will also take advantage for the first time of the company's 6D Dynamics air suspension, which features hydraulic interlinked technology with an innovative pitch and roll control system that should enable theto "maintain a near-level stance during acceleration, braking and cornering on-road, while also maximizing independent wheel travel and articulation across the most demanding off-road terrain."Its luxury credentials, meanwhile, will be emphasized by the diamond's octahedron shape  a new encircled diamond graphic styling will personalize the flagship Defender model with new interior and exterior components such as a gloss black diamond set within a machined and sandblasted titanium disc on each Signature Graphic panel. Currently, the Defender OCTA is undergoing the classic development tests  and this is said to be "the most exhaustive development regime in Defender history, from the snow and ice of Sweden to Dubai desert, Nurburgring tarmac, and Moab rock crawls."Ahead of the general audience's preview, prospective customers of the all-new Defender OCTA (which is probably the SVX successor) will get to see it during exclusive events as part of a new global Defender Elements series. So, hopefully, we will get some leaks with the design and features from there sooner rather than later.
In October 2023 British bike maker Triumph announced it is pulling the plug on the Thruxton model. It marked the end of exactly 60 years of factory-made cafe racers, and as such it was announced the line would end with a special version of the model.

It is called Thruxton Final Edition , a variant of the most recent incarnation of the motorcycle meant to bid farewell to the model. Powered by the iconic 1200cc Bonneville parallel twin engine in its most powerful incarnation, the bike cranks out 104 hp and 112 Nm of torque.The special edition is equipped with 17-inch wheels wrapped in Metzeler Racetec RR tires fully adjustable Showa forks up front, and Ohlins suspension gear at the rear.To set it apart from the stock version of the Thruxton, the Final Edition comes in an exclusive Competition Green paint scheme highlighted by gold lining. It is also being offered with a certificate of authenticity with the bike's VIN number signed by all of the company's higher-ups.Triumph is offering this motorcycle model in the U.S. for prices that start at $17,995. Only one lucky guy among us has the chance to get one for free, though. All they have to do is donate money to charity or convince friends and strangers to do the same.Each year for the past decade or so Triumph has seriously backed something called the Distinguished Gentleman's Ride (DGR). That would be a globally coordinated effort to take motorcycle riders out into the street in a bid to raise support for men's mental health and prostate cancer research.That includes financial support, as one key component of the DGR is giving money in support said goals. And it is the guy, girl, or organization who manages to raise the most money who will be gifted with the free Thruxton Final Edition I mentioned above.The DGR came to be in 2012 in Sydney, Australia, and has grown since to become a global phenomenon that is the "world's largest charity event for classic and vintage motorcycle enthusiasts."For 2024 the organizers hope to have at least 1,000 rides organized in cities around the world, and to make that happen Triumph will directly involve its global dealer network.The 2024 Distinguished Gentleman's Ride takes place on May 19. To get in touch with the organizers and register for the ride you will have to follow this link . Important to note is that there are tens of countries where the ride will be held, including in war-torn Ukraine.Three years ago Triump tied its name to the DGR until 2027, so expect the following editions of the event to get pretty much the same exposure and gifts from the British bike maker.
EV

Today, the American brand has some Camaro left-over inventory stock that needs to be cleared away, as well as the C8 Corvette and $25,100 Malibu mid-size sedan on the passenger car side of the business. Meanwhile, the CUVs, SUVs, and trucks include the outgoing Bolt EVs, Trax, Trailblazer, Equinox and Equinox, Blazer and Blazer EV, Traverse, Tahoe, Suburban, Colorado, and Silverado plus Silverado EV or Silverado HD.Moving to the commercial division, the trio of trucks  Colorado, Silverado, Silverado HD  is joined by the Low Cab Forward model and the Express Cutaway or Express Vans series. Curiously, while most of the models are in line with the current Chevy design language, the Silverado 4500, 5500, and 6500 HD, along with the Express models, are the only ones looking as if time stood still for the past three decades or so.More precisely, the Express vans look like they belong alongside the OBS fourth-gen Chevy C/K or the first-generation Chevy Silverado  they are basically a window into the Chevy truck style of the 1990s. Well, it was about time somebody did something about that, right, even if it is only the work of the imaginative realm of digital car content creators.So, Jim, the virtual artist known as jlord8 on social media, loves messing around with all things CGI from GM, but this commercial van idea is still a little bit wacky even for him. However, he's just coming off a rant about how the fifth-generation Ford F-Series Super Duty would look massively great if they revived the humongous Ford Excursion, so maybe a big Chevrolet Express 2500 is just a way to continue the trend of big family SUVs/workhorses.Regarding the design, there isn't much to say about his transformation of the big Chevy Express van, a series that kicks off with an MSRP of $38,100 in Cargo form. There's also the passenger model , which seats up to 15 onboard and kicks off at a higher rate of $42,300. However, the pixel master chose the Express Cargo version and probably worked with the 2500 Extended Wheelbase to make it a bit more imposing.Also, the main difference between the real-world version and this design project is at the front where the Express got treated to the current design language  the styling used on the SUVs, though, not the trucks, as this Chevy Express 'RS' 2500 is more akin to the all-new 2024 Traverse rather than a Colorado or Silverado. So, do you approve or not?
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An 8-year-old girl died Saturday, March 23 at the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel in northwest Houston Courtesy/OnScene.tv

The Houston Health Department on Monday shut down a hotel pool and lazy river where an 8-year-old girl was found dead Saturday.

The lazy river at the DoubleTree by Hilton, 12801 Northwest Freeway, was found to have gates that opened in toward the pool area, a gate with openings that were too wide and a fence that was too short, according to a submersion investigation report completed Monday.

Inspectors also found 32-inch drains on the side of the pool, but said the property couldn't provide documentation on what they were for, according the report. The pool was ordered closed until the violations were corrected.

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The closure came hours before a lawyer representing the family of Aliyah Jaico filed a lawsuit against the hotel's local owners as well as the Hilton hotel corporation.

Jaico, 8, was found dead inside an underwater pipe on Saturday, hours after she was reported missing by her family, according to the Houston Police Department.

Aliyah's death was ruled an accidental drowning by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Science. Her death was caused by drowning and "mechanical asphyxia," according to medical examiner records.

Searchers spent hours looking for Aliyah in and around the grounds of the hotel, before using a camera to search pipes in the hotel's pool and lazy river. Her body was found deep inside one of the pipes, according to police.

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The health department conducts inspections on hotel pools after deaths, a spokesman said Monday. There was nothing in the new report that specifically connected the girl's death with the violations.

Late Monday, attorney Richard Nava filed a wrongful death lawsuit over Aliyah's death against Unique Crown Hospitality LLC and Hilton Worldwide Holdings LLC, the hotel's local owner and corporate parent, respectively.

Aliyah's mother, Jose Daniela Jaico Ahumada, of Houston, had rented a room at the hotel to allow her family to use the pool, according to a copy of the lawsuit provided by Nava's office. After Aliyah went missing while swimming, the hotel refused to let her mother see video surveillance from the pool unless she called police, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit said Aliyah was found wedged into the pipes of "malfunctioning pool equipment" and that she was sucked into a 12- to 16-inch unsecured gap in the lazy river's pool flow system, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit accuses the hotel companies of negligence and is seeking damages.

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The pool was last inspected June 2023, according to the health department. During that visit, inspectors found doors to the pool that didn't self-latch, a lack of safety signs and an emergency phone that didn't work, according to the old report. The pool was allowed to reopen when the door and phone were fixed, according to the report.

Older inspections also cited the pool for poor water quality, unlatched doors and poor signage, according to health department records.

No charges have been filed in connection to Aliyah's death.

If the business doesn't correct the violations found Monday, it could face fines of up to $2,000 a day per violation.
Pashinian first called for such a constitutional change in January, saying that it must reflect the new geopolitical environment in the region. Analysts believe that he first and foremost wants to scrap a preamble to the current constitution which makes an indirect reference to a 1989 declaration on Armenias unification with Nagorno-Karabakh and calls for international recognition of the 1915 Armenian genocide in Ottoman Turkey.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in early February that Armenia should remove that reference and amend other documents infringing on Azerbaijans territorial integrity if it wants to make peace with his country. Armenian opposition leaders portrayed Aliyevs statement as further proof that Pashinian wants to change the constitution under pressure from Azerbaijan as well as Turkey. The premier and his allies denied that.

Amid a mounting opposition outcry, one of those allies, parliament speaker Alen Simonian, insisted on February 27 that Armenias leadership has not made a final decision on the issue. He claimed that it simply wanted to trigger a public debate and gauge Armenians reaction to the idea.

Pashinian defended the idea when he visited Gyumri and met with local members of his Civil Contract party at the weekend. But he said his detractors were wrong to expect him to swiftly hold a referendum needed for replacing the current constitution because he wants to create a constitution together with the people. He gave no possible dates for the referendum.

If you ask me what should or should not be written in that constitution I may have some thoughts. But that constitution will not exist as long as it doesnt exist in peoples minds. If it doesnt, why would 700,000 people vote for it? he said, citing the minimum number of votes legally required for the passage of the new constitution.

Pashinian has repeatedly called for major constitutional changes and made conflicting statements about them during his nearly six-year rule. Two years ago, he set up a new body tasked with coordinating the constitutional reform process. The body now headed by Justice Minister Grigor Minasian drew up with a concept for the reform shortly before Pashinian made the case for the new constitution.

Minasian said on Tuesday that he and other members of the council now waiting to meet Pashinian to see whether they have to amend that document in accordance with the new ideas floated by the premier.
26 March 2024 08:30 (UTC+04:00)

Ulviyya Shahin Read more

Azerbaijan significantly decreased its export of oil products amidst its full integration into the green world. Speaking to Azernews on the issue, John Roberts, Energy Security Specialist at Atlantic Council, highlighted several key factors causing this process.

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26 March 2024 10:40 (UTC+04:00)

Speaker of Azerbaijans Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova has met with Speaker of the National Assembly of Serbia Ana Brnabic on the sidelines of the 148th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Geneva, Azernews reports.

They commended the current state of high-level relations between the two countries, noting the progress in political and economic cooperation, as well as collaboration in various other domains.

Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova emphasized that the excellent relations between the heads of state have significantly contributed to the strengthening of friendship between the two countries and their peoples. She further emphasized that these positive relations persist successfully between the two legislatures. Recalling fondly her own official visit to Serbia, Sahiba Gafarova said that the meetings and discussions held during the trip had contributed to the expansion of ties between the two countries legislative bodies. The sides also exchanged views on expanding cooperation between friendship groups and among parliamentary committees.

The Speaker of the Parliament of Serbia extended her congratulations on President Ilham Aliyevs resounding victory in the snap presidential election held in Azerbaijan, noting that the Serbian monitoring mission had observed the ballot conducted in a free and democratic manner. She expressed Serbia's interest in further expanding relations with Azerbaijan across various areas. Ana Brnabic highlighted the significant role played by bilateral inter-legislature links in the ongoing deepening of connections between the two countries.

Both speakers criticized the double standards evident in the international relations system, including within international organizations such as the PACE. They agreed that such circumstances contradicted the goals and mission of the PACE.

Additionally, they discussed the importance of the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Serbian side extended congratulations to Azerbaijan for its forthcoming hosting of this significant event.

It was also noted that, in protest against the refusal to affirm the credentials of the Azerbaijani Delegation to the PACE, the Parliament of Serbia had appealed to the Organizations leadership for a reversal of that decision. Speaker Sahiba Gafarova expressed gratitude to the Serbian side for taking this action.

They also exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest.

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26 March 2024 04:13 (UTC+04:00)

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, Azernews 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.

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26 March 2024 11:56 (UTC+04:00)

Cooperation between Azerbaijan and China is characterized by excellent political ties, and there is close cooperation in areas such as trade, transport and energy. However, the potential for business partnerships between states is much higher, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan - Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration Hikmet Hajiyev said in an interview with the Chinese publication Global Times, Azernews reports.

First, I would like to see more Chinese companies in Azerbaijan. Chinese companies are already present in diversifying Azerbaijan's economy, but we are expecting more as Azerbaijan moves toward green growth, he said.

The development of relations with China has been a top priority for Azerbaijan, as we see China as a good friend and partner. There is also a historical relationship between our countries. Since Azerbaijan's independence, we have always appreciated Chinas friendly support for our development and cooperation, he noted.

Digital transformation is the number one priority for Azerbaijan in our national priorities, based on our sustainable development goals. In our green transition agenda, we see China as a partner for us. We are also asking our Chinese friends to establish production lines for renewable energies in Azerbaijan. The electric automobile industry in China is one of the leading industries in the world. Currently, we are purchasing electric buses and other equipment from China. We would like to establish a manufacturing base in Azerbaijan in partnership with Chinese companies.

He also noted the importance of Chinese-Azerbaijani cooperation within the Belt and Road Initiative, in particular in the context of the Middle Corridor.

Most importantly, we see the Chinese-Azerbaijan partnership as significant within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), particularly in the context of the Middle Corridor. The Middle Corridor could become an important linkage between China and the European Union. Azerbaijan, along with Central Asian countries, situated along the Caspian and Black Sea, can be strong partners in connectivity linkages. This aligns well with the BRI and underscores the strategic partnership between China and Azerbaijan.

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26 March 2024 13:20 (UTC+04:00)

The 3rd Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement Parliamentary Network (NAM PN) has been held in Geneva, Switzerland, Azernews reports.

The event, chaired by Sahiba Gafarova, Speaker of Azerbaijan's Milli Majlis and Chairperson of NAM Parliamentary Network, brought together 53 delegations representing member parliaments and international organizations.

In her opening remarks, Speaker of Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova expressed her hope that the conference would make a significant contribution to the further development of the Network and the cooperation among the member countries.

Sahiba Gafarova hailed the fact that the number of participants in the conferences of the NAM Parliamentary Network has been continuously increasing since the inaugural conference held in Madrid in November 2021.

"Today the NAM Parliamentary Network represents more than half of the parliaments of the member states of the Organization, which indicates not only our commitment to promoting the values and principles of the Non-Aligned Movement but also our intention to enhance solidarity and cooperation among our parliaments," Gafarova noted.

Noting that Azerbaijan passed on the Chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement to the Republic of Uganda at the 19th Summit of the NAM Heads of State and Government held in Kampala, the Republic of Uganda this January, Speaker Sahiba Gafarova mentioned that Azerbaijan's chairmanship of NAM was marked by President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev's commitment to strengthening solidarity and unity, as well as multilateral cooperation among the NAM member countries. "A number of initiatives put forward by President Ilham Aliyev, for instance, the establishment of the NAM Parliamentary Network and the Youth Organization of the Non-Aligned Movement, as well as the first steps taken towards the establishment of the Women's Platform of the Non-Aligned Movement, were of great importance in the institutional development of the Movement," Gafarova underlined.

Speaker Sahiba Gafarova also highlighted the work undertaken to develop the institutional dialogue with other inter-parliamentary organizations.

Saying that the theme of today's conference is "Revitalizing parliamentary action in combating climate change", Speaker of Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova described climate change as one of the most crucial and urgent challenges that needs to focus on. "At the same time, it is a challenge requiring global responses and joint efforts. Azerbaijan was unanimously chosen as the host country for COP29 and Baku will host this event this November, a fact that we are all proud of. This is clear evidence of the recognition of Azerbaijan's efforts in the fight against climate change not only on a national but also on a regional and global scale," Gafarova said.

"Azerbaijan has declared 3024 as the "Green World Solidarity Year". Today, Azerbaijan has a very serious green energy transition agenda, and large investments are being made in both the production and export of renewable energy in the country," Sahiba Gafarova added.

"On the initiative of Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Martin Chungong, Azerbaijan's Milli Majlis is planning to organize a Parliamentary Meeting on the sidelines of COP29 in partnership with the IPU. This event will provide parliamentarians with an excellent opportunity to exchange ideas and determine what steps should be taken to combat climate change. The meeting will make a parliamentary contribution to multilateral climate action," Sahiba Gafarova underlined.

Other speakers at the event included IPU President Tulia Ackson, IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong, Speaker of the People's National Assembly Ibrahim Boughali, Head of the Peoples Majlis of Maldives Mohamed Aslam, Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Federal Parliament of Nepal Devraj Ghimir, Director-General of the ICESCO Salim bin Mohammed Almalik and MPs from member countries.

The speakers commended the excellent organization of the conference. They also hailed the successful activity and the work undertaken towards the institutional development of the NAM Parliamentary Network, which was established on the initiative of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

The NAM Parliamentary Network concluded its 3rd Conference with the adoption of the Geneva Declaration.

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26 March 2024 14:49 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry has congratulated Bangladesh on the occasion of this countrys national holiday, Azernews reports.

Congratulations to Bangladesh and its people on the occasion of the National Day! Happy National Day, Bangladesh! the ministry wrote on X.

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26 March 2024 15:57 (UTC+04:00)

The digital transformation is important for every economy - including Azerbaijan that is currently developing local generative artificial intelligence, Azerbaijani Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov told the China Global Television Network (CGTN), Azernews reports.

It was the first country in the CIS and the region to set up the Affiliate Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR Azerbaijan) which along with other private and public and governmental agencies was spearheading the increase of the speed of digitalization specifically in economy, but also in other areas of Azerbaijan.

We are developing local generative AI, similarly, AI solutions are being applied by our leading blue chips companies, both state-owned and private-owned, but this is a space where speed of change is a speed of light. Raising awareness is also necessary in terms of providing the right bridges between education and economy, human capital information are necessary elements in order to not only to stay in the race but also to make sure it impacts positively the economic development and prosperity of the nation, the minister noted.

Generative AI can improve industrial automation, develop new software code, and improve transportation safety by automatically synthesizing video, audio, images, and more. This initiative is aimed at stimulating the development of artificial intelligence platforms that speak fluent Azerbaijani language and host Azerbaijani content.

Analysts have varying estimates of the size of the artificial intelligence (AI) market. According to the most conservative estimates of MarketsandMarkets, the volume of the global AI market in 2023 amounted to $150.2 billion. Next Move Strategy Consulting estimates the global artificial intelligence market to be worth more than $200 billion.

The most optimistic data is from the Indian consulting company Fortune Business Insights - according to its forecasts, the AI market will grow from $515.31 billion in 2023 to $2 trillion by 2030. At the same time, according to analysts, the average annual growth rate will range from 21.6 to 36.8%. According to Goldman Sachs, the economic impact of AI technologies could reach $7 trillion globally over the next ten years.

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26 March 2024 18:05 (UTC+04:00)

The Western Azerbaijan Community strongly condemns the anti-Azerbaijani stance and media freedom-violating approach once again demonstrated by the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus, Toivo Klaar, the statement of the Western Azerbaijan Community said, Azernews reports.

Furthermore, rather than demanding Armenia withdraw from the occupied Azerbaijani villages, the European Union representative encouraged Armenia to maintain its occupation policy, referring to these lands as "disputed."

"Moreover, Toivo Klaar tried to censor Azerbaijani media to conceal Armenia's occupation policy. What is the basis for Toivo Klaar's concern over Azerbaijani media coverage of Armenia's slaughter of Azerbaijani people in Baganis Ayrim village in the Gazakh area, as well as Armenia's control of many Azerbaijani regions, including this village? It appears that the problem for Klaar is not the occupation of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia, committing war crimes and crimes against humanity against Azerbaijanis, but the fact that these facts are highlighted in the media," the statement mentions.

The report emphasizes that the Western Azerbaijan Community urges that the European Union abandon its erroneous and hazardous approach, not impede regional peace efforts, and take a fair stance on the return of Azerbaijanis exiled in Armenia to their homeland.

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26 March 2024 18:47 (UTC+04:00)

The latest statements from EU officials and actions of its institutions manifest that the EU took the side of the occupier, Farid Shafiyev, Chairman of the Center for the Analysis of International Relations (ICRA), wrote on X, Azernews reports.

"Never for 30 years of occupation, the EU expressed so much support for the liberation of Azerbaijani territories. It should not come as a surprise that, for example, the Global South is indifferent to European calls for united actions, though the EU might have reasonable arguments for defending certain causes. You can exhibit double standards and claim moral or legal supremacy," Shafiyev said.

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J.R. Gonzales, a native Houstonian, is a web producer for HoustonChronicle.com. Before that, he was a news copy editor. Since 2006, he has overseen the Bayou City History blog, which covers various aspects of Houston's history.

Prior to joining the Houston Chronicle, Gonzales worked as a night cops reporter at The State newspaper in Columbia, S.C., and later as a copy editor. He has also worked as a courthouse reporter for the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. Gonzales is a journalism graduate of the University of Houston.
26 March 2024 16:20 (UTC+04:00)

Another abandoned stronghold belonging to the Armenian armed forces was found during the review of the area in the Garabagh economic region after the anti-terror operation conducted by the Azerbaijan Army, Azernews reports, citing the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.

Within this stronghold located in a wooded area of the Aghdara region, a variety of military assets were uncovered, including 1 T-72B tank, 4 D-20 artillery installations, 3 Ural military vehicles laden with artillery shells, 1 KamAZ military vehicle, and specialized equipment.

The positioning of these weaponry within the stronghold, evidently aimed towards Sugovushan and other settlements positioned well beyond the contact line established post-November 10, 2020, strongly indicates their intended use in military provocations against Azerbaijan.

The significant quantity of weapons and heavy military machinery discovered within the Garabagh territory subsequent to the anti-terror operation underscores the highly militarized nature of these areas, not only within the region but on a global scale.

In violation of the Trilateral Statement issued on November 10, 2020, the Armenian side has persisted in unlawfully transporting ammunition into the Garabagh economic region, including mines produced post-2020. This has led to the establishment of new mined territories extending over 480 kilometers along contact lines, the creation of more than 500 combat positions and fortified firing points, over 350 positions equipped for various types of artillery installations, as well as the concentration of military forces capable of executing offensive maneuvers.

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26 March 2024 10:18 (UTC+04:00)

Denmark's Novo Nordisk has entered into an agreement to acquire Cardior Pharmaceuticals for up to 1.03 billion euros ($1.1 billion) with the goal of reinforcing its cardiovascular pipeline, Azernews reports, citing Reuters.

This acquisition aligns with Novo's strategy to broaden its portfolio beyond diabetes and weight-loss therapies to encompass treatments for cardiovascular ailments.

Having gained significant recognition for its widely acclaimed weight-loss treatment Wegovy, Novo has established itself as one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies.

"By integrating Cardior into Novo Nordisk, we will bolster our array of projects in cardiovascular disease, complementing our existing programs spanning various stages of clinical development," stated Novo in a release.

The agreement encompasses Cardior's primary compound CDR132L, currently undergoing intermediate Phase II clinical trials for heart failure treatment, according to Novo.

Designed to arrest and partially reverse the progression of heart failure, CDR132L holds the potential for enduring enhancement of heart function, the company elaborated.

Novo intends to initiate a second Phase II trial exploring CDR132L's efficacy in individuals with cardiac hypertrophy, a condition characterized by thickening and stiffening of the heart muscle walls, impairing blood pumping ability.

Expected to be finalized in the second quarter of the year, the deal will not impact Novo's 2024 operating profit forecast, assured the company.

The transaction comprises an initial payment along with additional sums contingent upon achieving specific development and commercial milestones, with financing sourced from existing financial reserves, Novo clarified.

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26 March 2024 11:01 (UTC+04:00)

Turkiyes Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg discussed on Monday preparations for the forthcoming meeting of the defense alliance next month, Azernews reports, citing Anadolu Agency.

Fidan and Stoltenberg held a phone call, and also spoke on regional developments, the sources added.

The foreign ministers of the alliance will meet at NATO headquarters in Brussels on April 3-4.

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26 March 2024 15:36 (UTC+04:00)

Farmers brought rush-hour chaos to Westminster as dozens of tractors descended on central London streets, Azernews reports, citing The Telegraph.

Tractors carrying Union flags or towing haybales displaying the message Back British Farmers caused tailbacks as they took part in a go-slow convoy to protest over risks to food security.

Amid growing fury from the farming industry at what it says are substandard imports and dishonest labelling, around 70 tractors carrying signs reading no farmers, no food, no future filtered past Downing Street and Parliament Square from around 6pm.

Amid a series of demands for an end to new trade deals, which farmers claim have hurt their interests, Downing Street made it clear on Monday night that it would be willing to pause trade talks if UK interests were not being furthered.

The campaign groups Save British Farming and Fairness for Farmers of Kent launched the protests over concerns about increasing difficulties faced by the farming industry, which they say are leaving the nations food security at risk.

They called for an end to trade deals they say are allowing imports of food produced to standards that would be illegal in the UK and are undercutting British farmers.

Organisers also criticised labelling that allows products to bear a Union flag when they have not been grown or reared in Britain.

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26 March 2024 16:44 (UTC+04:00)

The US has accused seven Chinese men of breaking into computer networks, email accounts, and cloud storage belonging to numerous critical infrastructure organizations, companies, and individuals, including US businesses, politicians, and their political parties, Azernews reports, citing The Register.

According to American prosecutors, the suspected spies are members of APT31, a cyber-espionage group said to be run by China's Ministry of State Security (MSS) out of Wuhan and otherwise known as Zirconium, Violet Typhoon, Judgment Panda, and Altaire.

And according to the UK government today, that's the same crew responsible for the attempted compromise of British politicians' email accounts in 2021.

Both the UK and the US sanctioned Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology, said to be a front company for the MSS and its computer-intrusion activities, and two of the seven Chinese nationals for their alleged roles in that espionage. The UK also separately disclosed today that it believes its Electoral Commission was compromised between 2021 and 2022 by Chinese agents, who stole email data, and data from the Electoral Register.

The seven suspected members of APT31 charged by the United States on Monday are: Ni Gaobin, 38; Weng Ming, 37; Cheng Feng, 34; Peng Yaowen, 38; Sun Xiaohui, 38; Xiong Wang, 35; and Zhao Guangzong, 38. Gaobin and Guangzong were the pair sanctioned by the UK and US regarding Wuhan Xiaoruizhi.

All are believed to reside in the People's Republic of China, so there's a slim-to-zero chance of them being arrested and extradited to stand trial in the US, at least, for their alleged crimes.

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26 March 2024 21:52 (UTC+04:00)

President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev held a meeting with US Senator Steve Daines, where an exchange of views took place on issues of trade and economic cooperation, Azernews eports.

Tokayev noted that Kazakhstan pays great attention to attracting investment, liberalizing the economy, and developing industry.

According to him, major areas of bilateral cooperation include energy, mineral exploration and processing, infrastructure development, and so on.

The interlocutors paid special attention to the topic of international and regional security.

In this regard, Tokayev pointed out that Kazakhstan was one of the first in the world to strongly condemn the brutal terrorist attack in Russia and express solidarity with Russia. In Tokayev's view, in the fight against terrorism, all countries, despite the contradictions in their relationships with each other, must join forces within the framework of a large-scale international coalition.

"Kazakhstan is ready to make its contribution to this necessary cause," he said.

Meanwhile, the US is one of Kazakhstan's major trading partners. So, the volume of trade turnover between Kazakhstan and the US amounted to $4.051 billion in 2023. The volume of trade turnover increased by 32.7 percent compared to the same period in 2022 ($3.053 billion).

At the same time, in the structure of trade turnover, exports to the US for the above period amounted to $1.509 billion, which is 30.1 percent more than from January through December 2022 ($1.152 billion).

In addition, imports from the US from January through December 2023 increased by 33.7 percent and amounted to $2.541 billion. In 2022, imports amounted to $1.9 billion.

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26 March 2024 20:27 (UTC+04:00)

The Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan has denied information about the sale of the country's oil refineries to Russian companies, said Energy Minister Almassadam Satkaliyev during a briefing, Azernews reports.

"Nobody applied to the Ministry of Energy for approval of such transactions. Therefore, I agree with KazMunayGas (Kazakhstan's national oil and gas company) opinion that it is premature to talk about any commercial transactions. In general, in Kazakhstan, there are already refineries that are 50/50 owned by KMG and CNPC; in particular, this is the Shymkent Oil Refinery in the south of the country, where there are private mini-refineries. From the point of view of the Ministry of Energy, what is important here is not so much the form of ownership as management efficiency, implementation of investment programs, and stable operation," the minister said.

Meanwhile, information about the sale of the Atyrau Oil Refinery to Lukoil and the Pavlodar Oil Refinery to Gazprom was spread on social networks.

Furthermore, the Shymkent Oil Refinery has temporarily ceased operations. The plant's operations were suspended due to the start of repair work.

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Retired Houston Police Department officer Gerald Goines leaves the court after the Judge Veronica M. Nelson of 482nd District Court quashed two felony murder indictments against him Tuesday, March 26, 2024 at Harris County Criminal Courts at Law in Houston. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer Retired Houston Police Department officer Gerald Goines leaves the court after the Judge Veronica M. Nelson of 482nd District Court quashed two felony murder indictments against him Tuesday, March 26, 2024 at Harris County Criminal Courts at Law in Houston. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer 7815 Harding Street in Houston where the occupants of the home were shot to death during a police raid on January 28 and five Houston Police Department members injured on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2018 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff photographer

It could end Goines prosecution over the deaths of Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas entirely. The decision by 482nd District Court Judge Veronica Nelson puts District Attorney Kim Oggs prosecutors in the position of needing to appeal her decision or seek a reindictment.

A photo composite of Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas released Jan. 29, 2019 by Houston Police. Tuttle and Nicholas were killed in a drug raid during which HPD officers were injured by gunfire on Jan. 28, 2019. HPD/File photo

Goines defense team had sought to quash his 2019 murder indictments, arguing they were fatally flawed and filled with constitutional violations.

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It doesnt give us adequate notice of what it is specifically that we have to defend against, said Mac Secrest, one of his attorneys.

In a statement, the Harris County District Attorneys Office called Nelsons ruling another delay tactic by the defense and pledged to continue the prosecution.

The Harris County District Attorneys office is shocked and tremendously disappointed that a judge would choose to revisit this issue, knowing that her predecessor had already ruled the defendants position meritless, the statement said. The office is considering all its options, including amending the indictment, with an eye towards trying this case as soon as possible to ensure justice for the victims of these crimes.

Nelson took over the case earlier this year in place of Judge Frank Aguilar, who was suspended from the 228th District Court bench after being charged with misdemeanor assault in Galveston County.

In announcing her decision, Nelson said she reviewed Aguilars records from a January 2023 hearing and determined the indictments fell short. Aguilar never issued his own written ruling on the motion to quash, according to court records.

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Neal Davis, a criminal defense attorney, noted the significance of Judge Nelsons ruling with months to go until Goines scheduled trial in June.



"The fact that she granted it this close to the trial shows how concerned she was about the charge, Davis said. Judges want cases to get tried and for people to properly have their day in court.

As for what happens next, the prosecution may have no choice but to appeal her ruling if they cant find a new indictment to stick.



"The judges ruling would be on appeal for a year, which means the new DA would deal with it, said Davis, noting that Ogg lost the Democratic primary election and would be out of office in 2025.

Motion to quash

Kenneth Williams, a South Texas College of Law professor, noted the rarity of the judges decision, emphasizing that it involved a case where prosecutors uniquely used tampering with a government record as an underlying charge to murder.

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Most felony murders use other violent offenses as the underlying charge, he said.

While the judge did not elaborate in court why she quashed the indictment, Williams noted that jurists typically do so because an indictment is either factually or legally insufficient.

In their motion to quash, Goines defense attorneys argued that the indictments did not specify which law he violated in connection with the felony murder indictments. While the indictment mentions the underlying tampering charge, it doesnt say which of the six tampering subsections he may have violated, according to the motion.

Nothing is alleged in the indictment which sets forth and designates the actual document that supposedly was tampered with, nor the specific statement within the document, that allegedly was false, the motion read.

The 2019 felony murder indictment accuses Goines of tampering with a government record, which caused police to execute a no knock search warrant on Tuttle and Nicholas Pecan Park home. According to police, the raid sparked a gun battle between the couple and police. Four officers were wounded, and Tuttle and Nicholas were killed.

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In the aftermath of the shooting, Goines and the narcotics squad he was part of came under intense scrutiny. According to police, Goines admitted information in the warrant was false, including a claim that a confidential informant supplied information the couple was selling heroin from the house. After the raid, police found marijuana and cocaine in house, but no heroin.

Nelsons order is the second time a murder charge related to Harding Street has been dismissed. In August 2021, prosecutors dismissed a murder charge against Houston police officer Felipe Gallegos after misconduct by a former prosecutor handling the case raised concerns about the attorneys judgment. Gallegos was never reindicted.

External view of 7815 Harding on Friday, May 10, 2019, in Houston. The home was the scene of a botched drug raid that took place on Jan. 28, 2019 and left the two homeowners dead and five police officers injured. Marie D. De Jesus/Staff photographer

A trial pending

Nelsons decision came at the end of a 40-minute hearing meant to deal with motions regarding Goines upcoming June trial, which Nelson had scheduled last week. The trial date may still stand despite the dismissed indictment.

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During the hearing, attorneys agreed about what evidence and statements could be presented during the trial  including about Goines alleged bad acts outside of the Harding Street raid and whether the married couple killed in the raid could be called drug dealers.

Goines attorneys also argued that they should be allowed to present his case as an anti-police, politically motivated prosecution by the Harris County District Attorneys Office, and be allowed to describe the efforts by the DAs office to publicize the case in the media.

Separate from the murder charges, Goines also is charged with engaging in organized criminal activity and aggregate theft by a public servant. Those charges are related to an alleged overtime scheme participated in by Goines and other officers that was uncovered in investigations following the raid. No decisions were made about those charges on Tuesday.

Retired Houston Police Department officer Gerald Goines leaves the court after the Judge Veronica M. Nelson of 482nd District Court quashed two felony murder indictments against him Tuesday, March 26, 2024 at Harris County Criminal Courts at Law in Houston. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer

Following Nelsons decision, Rhogena Nicholas family said they were disappointed that outcomes from criminal cases generated by the Harding Street raid remained a far-off prospect.
Voters are being asked to sign a petition promising to change the way we vote for County Commissioners. I have had friends volunteer to me that they signed the petition. I asked, do you understand what you are signing and the results it will bring to every voter in Beaufort County? Their answer is almost always, I do not have to understand it, the Republican Party ask me to sign it.

I have been an elected official for 27 years. I have observed both Republican and Democrat officials and their parties operate (dispense propaganda and many times outright lies). If you want to keep your political party honest, whether Democrat or Republican, you need to cross check what they are telling you. The principles of the Party may be admirable, but the Party is made of people, some of whom have zero scruples. The political lie is as effective today as it was 2,000 years ago. Remember No new taxes and You can keep your doctor.

In my business, I sign several documents every day. Mostly certifying that they are true and accurate. I never sign anything unless I truly believe what I am signing is accurate and truthful. It is never smart to sign anything unless you fully understand it or have a trusted professional expert give you advice.

The pitch made to voters is that by signing the petition voters will have more say in electing commissioners. That is, they will have more votes for commissioner every two years. Having more votes for commissioners is not what this clique within the Beaufort County Republican Party is trying to do. Read this next sentence carefully. The clique is trying to change the system so fewer people can select who will be commissioner. This group, under the disguise of improving the commissioner voting system, is proposing to elect commissioners by district. This means a small amount of campaign money and a small activist group can decide who the commissioner will be in each of the districts. Only those who reside in that district will be allowed to vote for that districts commissioner. The present system allows every voter in the County to decide who every commissioner will be.

With the system proposed by the Republican clique, a voter will be allowed to vote for one commissioner every four years. Now a voter may vote for one commissioner every two years. It halves your voting power.

The present limited voting system has accumulated several problems that favor incumbents. A system of mutual cooperation between Democrats and liberal (RINO) Republicans has evolved. The severe split within the Republican Party between liberals (RINOs) and conservatives provides the opportunity for Democrats to control the Board. Four votes are required to elect a Chairman. The two Democrats vote for the most liberal Republican to be Chairman. The RINOs, Frankie Waters and John Rebholz vote for Waters to be Chairman and in return, for the Democrat votes, the RINOs vote for one of the Democrats to be Vice Chairman. This defeats the conservative Republicans.

The Beaufort County Republican Party refuses to call these RINOs who vote for Democrats, disloyal.

There is a state law that allows for a petition to change the way commissioners are elected provided either 5,000 voters or 15 percent of the electorate sign it. The petition, if successful, would prompt the board of elections to fully analyze how we elect commissioners in light of the court order that forces us to have limited voting.

This brings us to the cruel hoaxes that are being presented to voters. There are several. The Republican Party by itself cannot effect any change. The cooperation of the Democrat party and the federal court system is required. Any proposed change without the cooperation of these interested parties could face court action. Any voter could bring a lawsuit. The way the petition is drawn allows the board of county commissioners to decide where these districts would be. The Board of Beaufort County Commissioners is dominated by RINOs and Democrats. They will set up districts to suit their purpose. Any action by them could require court review. Understand, the net result of a district system is that it cuts your voting power in half...once every four years rather than every two years.

What drives this clique to be willing to take any commissioner election system that requires districts? It is the RINO war against conservatives, not just conservatives themselves but what conservatives stand for. That is mostly honest government with public notice and involvement. RINOs and Democrats believe and are willing to do just about anything to manipulate the outcome of elections and government policy to fit their idea of democracy. After all, they know what is best for us, so they believe they should rule using any corruption available.

There are two political wars going on. The one between the Republican Party and the Democrat Party and the one within the Republican Party between the RINOs and conservatives. Both are deceitful, ugly and vicious. Voters need to be very careful in deciding which candidates they will vote for. The petition is floated by a clique within the Beaufort County Republican Party. Some of the players are: Carolyn Garris, Keith Kidwell, Paul Varcoe, etc. The principal player is Jody Forest. This is the person who makes sure the petitions are present at every Republican event and who approaches voters about signing the petition. Note that all of these people are transplants from other states.

The conservative element within the Republican Party has repeatedly said to the clique, we can support changing the way we vote for commissioners, provided the Chairman and Vice Chairman are elected at large (all of the voters in Beaufort County would have a say). This will eliminate the corruption between the Democrat Party and the Republican Party in deciding who the chairman and vice chairman will be. This offer has never received the respect of a discussion because the clique know they would lose control of the Board of Commissioners.

Before voting in the November elections this year, voters need to know where John Rebholz and Randy Walker stand on this issue. Neither, to my knowledge, has ever taken a stand for the fair and free election of the Chairman and Vice Chairman by the voting public.
The American Society of Anesthesiologists, along with other physician groups, has filed its fifth amicus brief supporting Texas Medical Association's lawsuit challenging the federal government's implementation of the No Surprises Act.

Written with the American College of Emergency Physicians and American College of Radiology, the brief argues that parts of the July 2021 interim final rule are flawed, according to a March 25 news release from the ASA. The brief purports a court of appeals should uphold an earlier court's judgment that invalidated the provisions, which favor the qualified payment amount when determining out-of-network payments.

The federal government is taking the No Surprises Act loss to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals after U.S. District Judge Jeremy Kernodle disallowed several provisions related to the qualified payment amount in August 2023. The Texas Medical Association filed the lawsuit in November 2022, alleging the provisions of the rule "skew negotiations in favor of health insurers so strongly that health insurers will force physicians out of insurance networks and physicians will face significant practice viability challenges, struggling to keep their doors open in the wake of the pandemic."

The formula conflicts with the intent of the act, the physician groups argue, by using a calculation determined by insurers rather than the fair market value of physicians. With the provision, according to the release, "payments for anesthesiology, radiology and emergency services will be undervalued by empowering insurers to lower in-network rates, which will reduce out-of-network rates."

The move also will threaten independent practices and could lead to consolidation or closures, the release said.
A lawsuit has been filed against Saginaw, Mich.-based Arun Veera, MD, and Covenant Healthcare, accusing the physician of sexual assault and the health system of turning a blind eye, MLive reported March 25.

The lawsuit was filed by one alleged victim, according to the report, but more than four patients have allegedly come forward. The patient in the suit began seeing Dr. Veera in 2016, and the first signs of inappropriate behavior allegedly began when the patient was 19 years old. Dr. Veera allegedly sent her lewd and explicit messages, among other allegations.

By the time the patient came forward in October 2022, Covenant already had reason to suspect he acted inappropriately with other patients, according to the report, as another patient filed a complaint in 2021.

After the second complaint, the hospital began requiring a chaperone to accompany him during visits with female patients, which Dr. Veera ignored, and he was suspended until an internal investigation was completed. Covenant has since ended his employment.

The four counts in the lawsuit include assault and battery and medical malpractice. The Michigan Board of Medicine has suspended Dr. Veera's license.

Becker's has reached out to Covenant for comment and will update the story if more information becomes available.
Supporters hold posters demonstrating their desire of keeping former Spring Branch ISD Superintendent Duncan Klussmann's name on the education center building before a school board meeting as Spring Branch trustees were to consider a proposal to remove Duncan Klussmann's name from the district's educational center, after he wrote a critical op-ed about the district's recent $35M in budget cuts during a board meeting at Duncan F. Klussmann Education Center on Monday, March 25, 2024, in Houston. Karen Warren/Staff photographer Spring Branch ISDs Duncan F. Klussmann Education Center on Monday, March 25, 2024, in Houston. Karen Warren/Staff photographer Posters on the lawn for supporters of keeping former Spring Branch ISD Superintendent Duncan Klussmann's name on the education center building before a school board meeting as Spring Branch trustees were to consider a proposal to remove former Spring Branch ISD Superintendent Duncan Klussmann's name from the district's educational center, after he wrote a critical op-ed about the district's recent $35M in budget cuts during a board meeting at Duncan F. Klussmann Education Center on Monday, March 25, 2024, in Houston. Karen Warren/Staff photographer Trustee Shannon Mahan speaks during public comments as Spring Branch trustees considered a proposal to remove former Spring Branch ISD Superintendent Duncan Klussmann's name from the district's educational center, after he wrote a critical op-ed about the district's recent $35M in budget cuts during a board meeting at Duncan F. Klussmann Education Center on Monday, March 25, 2024, in Houston. Karen Warren/Staff photographer Mike Falick speaks during public comments as Spring Branch trustees considered a proposal to remove former Spring Branch ISD Superintendent Duncan Klussmann's name from the district's educational center, after he wrote a critical op-ed about the district's recent $35M in budget cuts during a board meeting at Duncan F. Klussmann Education Center on Monday, March 25, 2024, in Houston. Karen Warren/Staff photographer Spring Branch ISD board secretary Caroline H. Bennett speaks during public comments as Spring Branch trustees considered a proposal to remove former Spring Branch ISD Superintendent Duncan Klussmann's name from the district's educational center, after he wrote a critical op-ed about the district's recent $35M in budget cuts during a board meeting at Duncan F. Klussmann Education Center on Monday, March 25, 2024, in Houston. Karen Warren/Staff photographer Spring Branch ISDs board president Chris Earnest speaks with the rest of the board during public comments as Spring Branch trustees considered a proposal to remove former Spring Branch ISD Superintendent Duncan Klussmann's name from the district's educational center, after he wrote a critical op-ed about the district's recent $35M in budget cuts during a board meeting at Duncan F. Klussmann Education Center on Monday, March 25, 2024, in Houston. Karen Warren/Staff photographer Spring Branch ISDs Duncan F. Klussmann Education Center on Monday, March 25, 2024, in Houston. Karen Warren/Staff photographer Supporters hold posters demonstrating their desire of keeping former Spring Branch ISD Superintendent Duncan Klussmann's name on the education center building before a school board meeting as Spring Branch trustees were to consider a proposal to remove Duncan Klussmann's name from the district's educational center, after he wrote a critical op-ed about the district's recent $35M in budget cuts during a board meeting at Duncan F. Klussmann Education Center on Monday, March 25, 2024, in Houston. Karen Warren/Staff photographer Spring Branch ISD Superintendent Jennifer Blaine during public comments as Spring Branch trustees considered a proposal to remove former Spring Branch ISD Superintendent Duncan Klussmann's name from the district's educational center, after he wrote a critical op-ed about the district's recent $35M in budget cuts during a board meeting at Duncan F. Klussmann Education Center on Monday, March 25, 2024, in Houston. Karen Warren/Staff photographer Helen Hui speaks during public comments as Spring Branch trustees considered a proposal to remove former Spring Branch ISD Superintendent Duncan Klussmann's name from the district's educational center, after he wrote a critical op-ed about the district's recent $35M in budget cuts during a board meeting at Duncan F. Klussmann Education Center on Monday, March 25, 2024, in Houston. Karen Warren/Staff photographer

Former Superintendent Duncan Klussmanns name will remain on the Spring Branch Educational Center, the board voted unanimously Monday, after residents said they opposed the trustees' proposal to remove his name after he published a critical op-ed in the Houston Chronicle.

More than 40 people spoke at the public hearing asking the board not to remove the name of the now University of Houston assistant professor, many of whom wore red or pink in solidarity. Before the meeting, a petition to keep his name on the building was submitted to the board with over 600 signatures.

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A rival petition was submitted with over 300 signatures asking the board to reverse the vote that put Klussmanns name on the building in the first place, but only two people spoke in public comment in favor of that option.

Those who spoke against the name change cited concerns with free speech and retaliation for differing opinions, as Board President Chris Earnest announced his intent to begin the process to remove Klussmanns name after the former superintendent published the op-ed.

Others expressed frustration that the board would spend time discussing the name of a building instead of dealing with the current financial issues at hand.

Using our time to discuss Dr. Klussmann is like arguing about the wallpaper choice in a house that is on fire, parent Morgan Pareja said.

Klussmanns Feb. 24 op-ed, titled Enough with the grandstanding, Spring Branch ISD, criticized the districts recent decision to cut all librarians, lay off 40 instructional specialists, restructure the counseling program and reduce other central office positions. That round of budget cuts is expected to save $22.6 million, and is the last step in closing a $35 million budget deficit for 2024-25.

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The Spring Branch community was already outraged about the changes, asking questions about why certain cuts were made and others were not, and Klussmanns op-ed added fuel to both sides of the fire.

Supporters clap for speakers asking board members to keep former Spring Branch ISD Superintendent Duncan Klussmann's name on the education center building during a school board meeting as Spring Branch trustees were to consider a proposal to remove Duncan Klussmann's name from the district's educational center, after he wrote a critical op-ed about the district's recent $35M in budget cuts during a board meeting at Duncan F. Klussmann Education Center on Monday, March 25, 2024, in Houston. Karen Warren/Staff photographer

Earnest took offense to the piece, reading a response letter to the op-ed at a February regular board meeting, stating that he felt Klussmans work was factually inaccurate.

He also called Klussmann a failed superintendent, based on state and federal monitoring data.

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District data shared with the Houston Chronicle on Thursday shows the district had higher levels of academic monitoring by state and federal agencies in 2014-15 compared with 2022-23, but the systems of accountability were different (the A-F rating system had not yet been instituted in 2014-15). The districts current administration said that the performance during those years was affected by sweeping cuts to instructional specialists made in 2011.

Earnest cited that data again Monday, saying the district had 26 failing schools under Klussmanns leadership.

Executive Director of Accountability & Research for the district, Keith Haffey, said at the meeting that failing might not be the term he would use, but that if youre being monitored, its because something is not going well.

The district also published a written response from Earnest on behalf of the board on their website just before spring break, which community members applauded Monday.

The op-ed article written by the (Board) President in response to Dr. Klussmann was very appropriate and was clearly within the rights of the board to respond, just as it was Dr. Klussmanns right to express his views, said Brad Richards at the meeting. Richards children graduated from Spring Branch and now his grandchildren attend school there, he said.

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Community member Larry Nettles echoed this thought, saying that Earnest had responded properly and well (to Klussmanns op-ed), and no further response is necessary.

Some asked how much it would cost the district to change the buildings name, pleading that the board not spend taxpayer dollars on this proposal during a time of budget crisis.

Earnest responded that this concern was overblown because the cost estimate was under $3,000 for the removal, but he ultimately sided with keeping Klussmanns name on the building. He was still frustrated by the op-ed, he said, but he would own what public commenters called pettiness. He said he was glad to get more information, and that the original reason he put this on the agenda was because he wanted to get a full picture on who Klussmann was after reading the op-ed.

I believe he ought to be held to a higher standard and its frustrating he wouldnt reach out to actually provide thoughts and ideas and say, Hey, Ive been through this before, and this is how we dealt with it, but he didnt, Earnest said.

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Board member Caroline Bennett became emotional when she spoke, saying that her grandparents owned a newspaper in Brownsville, Tenn., and that she learned from them that every opinion matters, and you need to give people the place and the opportunity to be able to speak.

Im not for punishing someone for speaking their opinion, nor for erasing history, Bennett said.

Trustee Shannon Mahan said its time to move on.

As one of our speakers noted tonight, Thats it, were done. I feel like we need to focus on taking care of our students and our teachers and our staff members as we adjust, and quite frankly, grieve all of these changes, she said.
Here are five gastroenterologists to know:

Mahboob Alikhan, MD

Dr. Alikhan, a gastroenterologist at Fort Myers, Fla.-based Lee Health, is one of the first gastroenterologists at the hospital to use Medtronic's GI Genius for artificial intelligence-assisted colonoscopies, according to a news release from the health system.

Paul Berggreen, MD

Dr. Berggreen is the chief strategy officer of GI Alliance and president and founder of Arizona Digestive Health. He is chair of data analytics for the Digestive Health Physicians Association, a national political advocacy organization.

John Bassett, MD

Dr. Bassett, a gastroenterologist at the Fargo, N.D.-based Sanford Center for Digestive Health, was one of the first gastroenterologists at the practice to use Medtronic's GI Genius.

William Grady, MD

Dr. Grady is a gastroenterologist at Seattle-based Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. He recently helped write a clinical study published in the New England Journal of Medicine that found that blood tests are successful in detecting colorectal cancer. The study found that the test correctly detected colorectal cancer in 83% of people confirmed to have the disease.

Yamen Smadi, MD

Dr. Smadi is a pediatric gastroenterologist at Orlando (Fla.) Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children who is leading the procedures using the EvoEndo single-use endoscopy system to perform anesthesia-free endoscopies for pediatric patients older than 5.
Physicians crave independence, but what does it take to maintain it?

James Leavitt, MD, director of clinical quality and outcomes for Miami-based Gastro Health, spoke with Becker's to discuss physician consolidation.

Note: This response has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Question: How do you think physician consolidation can help gastroenterologists maintain their autonomy and independence?

Dr. James Leavitt: It depends on how you define autonomy and independence. If you're consolidated under a hospital, you don't have a whole lot of independence. You're employed by a hospital, you don't own anything. If physicians consolidate, there are a lot of different ways to consolidate. They can get together, there are private equity platforms. Some people say, "Well, you're not independent anymore." But I think you are if you structure it correctly and if you have the right governance documents, your partner can't tell you how to practice or what to do or how many patients to see, etc. And you're not just as good as your three-year contract. You're an owner.
ASCs around the country are facing two major care disruptors: Rising labor costs and anesthesia provider shortages.

Here's a breakdown of these disruptions:

Labor costs

High labor costs are affecting ASCs' ability to staff their centers.

The percentage of healthcare providers with an internal minimum wage of more than $15 per hour went from 15.6% to 29.1% from 2022 to 2023, according to a recent survey from consulting firm SullivanCotter.

"The increase in wages necessary to retain and recruit to skilled professional positions continues to well outpace any real or even projected rise in reimbursements," Thomas Feldman, CEO of Peoria, Ill.-based Center for Health ASC, told Becker's.

In the last year, 56% of ASCs have seen an increase in volume, but 68% of facilities are still having a more difficult time recruiting experienced operating room nurses, according to a survey from ORManager.

"Many nurses that could retire during COVID-19 did and others left the field or took jobs that can be done remotely," Karen Sumida, RN, interim administrator of Surgery Center of Athens (Texas), told Becker's. "Applicants for both positions are requiring higher salaries, and with the ASC industry getting lower reimbursements than hospitals, we cannot compete with the rising salaries."

ASCs are looking for creative solutions, such as a four-day workweek and predictable hours, to recruit staff without breaking the bank.

Anesthesia provider shortage

Finding a reliable and affordable anesthesia strategy is affecting ASCs in most markets.

"Today's shortage of anesthesia providers has been compounding for years and has turned into an incredible challenge for all," Andrew Lovewell, CEO of Columbia (Mo.) Orthopaedic Group, told Becker's. "Not only is it difficult to find anesthesia coverage, finding coverage that understands and embraces the priorities and workflow of an ASC is seemingly impossible."

More than 2,872 anesthesiologists left the workforce from 2021 to 2022, according to a report from Definitive Healthcare.

Facilities with lower utilization are at the most risk for disruption, according to Kris Mineau, CEO and co-founder of Avon, Conn.-based Constitution Surgery Alliance.

"Even the busiest ASCs in certain markets may be subject to schedule compression or anesthesia subsidies in the near term," he told Becker's. "In the longer term, they must pressure payers to bear some of the burden and hope the anesthesia provider market better meets the demand."

In terms of keeping providers around, stipends are used as a way for ASCs to retain anesthesia providers as the shortage continues. But many ASCs can't afford these stipends, adding a further obstacle to care.

"The request for stipends poses a difficult position for ASCs as they continue to look for ways to operate the business with less. ASCs will find creative ways/new models to provide the same safe/quality of care while keeping the financial impact low," Joyce White, RN, facility administrator of the Wichita, Kan.-based Cypress Surgery Center, told Becker's. "Certified registered nurse anesthetist models have been used for years and are now being looked to in a broader region as they are more affordable while providing the same quality and safety to patients in ASC settings."

Other ASCs are employing their own anesthesia groups to keep up with procedures, and in some cases, avoid shutdowns.






Moreno Family Dentistry in Kansas City, Kan., could be forced to vacate because of ongoing issues with the business' office building, according to a March 25 report by ABC affiliate KMBC.

Building management has stopped doing housekeeping of the building, which has led to Miralda Moreno, DDS, her family and the practice staff having to clean it themselves.

All three of the elevators in the six-story building were shut down. Two were inoperable due to age, and the third was decommissioned for safety problems.

Moreno Family Dentistry has operated in the building for more than 20 years. Several other businesses have already moved out of the building.

The city recently deemed the building "unfit for human habitation." A hearing on the building is scheduled for April 4, which could lead to an order to vacate, the report said.
SCP Health, a clinical services provider for hospital medicine, emergency medicine and critical care services, is set to assume control of all hospitalist employees from Ascension Illinois by June 1st, a spokesperson for Ascension told Becker's.

The move will make SCP Health responsible for the hospitalist program within Ascension Illinois' acute care hospitals.

"This change will mean that Ascension Illinois will no longer directly employ our hospitalist clinical teams," the spokesperson told Becker's. "We continue to work with our hospitalists to make this a smooth transition."

The spokesperson did not specify how many employees this would affect, but said the goal of this agreement is to continue to "deliver safe, high-quality care and an exceptional patient experience with no gaps in service."

Additionally, the spokesperson stated that this decision was made after several months of evaluating several organizations.

SCP Health is headquartered in Atlanta.

The news was first reported by Crain's Chicago Business on March 25.
President Joe Biden signed a $1.2 trillion spending package March 23, averting a partial government shutdown and funding federal agencies for the next six months.

The Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024 funds about three-quarters of the federal government, including the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, through Sept. 30.

The president's signing occurred after the 12:01 a.m. deadline March 23. Although some federal funding technically expired, the White House budget office said it would not declare a shutdown because the vote was imminent. The House passed the legislation March 22 and the Senate passed it early on March 23.

Congress cleared its first $460 million package of full-year spending bills earlier in March, leaving itself less than two weeks to finalize the last six spending bills.

"This agreement represents a compromise, which means neither side got everything it wanted," President Biden said.

The spending bill earmarks $117 billion for HHS, which is about a 1% increase over fiscal year 2023. While it was accomplished with compromise, it still leaves some major questions to be answered by lawmakers. Reforms affecting pharmacy benefit managers, price transparency policies and site-neutral payments are not included in the package despite bipartisan interest from key lawmakers, for example.

"Expect that battle to play out later this year when advocates will likely target an end-of-year package for their priorities," Politico suggests. "The future of telehealth and hospital care at home will also be a major policy question that lawmakers have to address by the end of the year."
The Oregon Department of Justice is asking a judge to compel Renton, Wash.-based Providence to turn over more documents into an investigation of the health system's charity care program, The Oregonian reported March 25.

A complaint has not been filed in the case, but the state justice department is investigating whether Providence's policies to reduce free care to low-income patients violated consumer protection and charity care laws, according to the report.

The justice department alleges that Providence, which has eight hospitals in Oregon, has declined to search through and hand over documents being sought by investigators, according to the report.

Providence told Becker's in a statement that it is cooperating with the investigation and has provided 100,000 documents, responded to dozens of information requests and made 10 witnesses available for interviews.

"We remain willing to come to a reasonable understanding with the department regarding the scope of further document requests to provide ODOJ with what it needs while alleviating the burden on Providence," the statement said. "However, we see as highly burdensome and unreasonable the drastically overbroad document requests from ODOJ and regret the department felt it necessary to file its motion to compel. We intend to defend our position in court and look forward to reaching a resolution that is satisfactory to all parties."

Providence said in a court filing that it estimates that the justice department's request will require almost 200,000 additional files. The health system is asking the Oregon circuit court judge to deny the department's request.

"A responsiveness and privilege review of this volume of files is likely to take around 3,500 hours of attorney review time and will likely cost approximately $675,000," Providence said in the filing. "This cost is in addition to the more than $2.4 million that Providence has already spent in responding to DOJ's investigation."

Providence in February agreed to provide $157.8 million in refunds and debt relief to low-income patients as part of an agreement with the Washington Office of the Attorney General. Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit against Providence in February 2022, alleging 14 of the system's hospitals in the state engaged in aggressive tactics to collect payment, failed to ensure discounts for eligible low-income patients, and steered poor patients to debt collectors.

The Oregon justice department began investigating Providence in October 2022. Providence said in its Oregon court filing that while the cases in the two states are similar, "the relevant statutory schemes and practices are completely distinct."

"Specifically, the amounts to be refunded to patients or forgiven under the Washington settlement relate to allegations that patients who were required under Washington law to receive presumptive charity did not obtain that benefit," the system said in the filing. "In Oregon, however, there is no allegation that Providence has not complied with the statutory requirements to screen patients prior to referral to collections and to make adjustments based on the results of those screens."

Providence added that it settled the Washington case without admitting any violations.
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Broward Health has selected Melida Akiti to serve as its new corporate transformation executive.

Ms. Akiti previously served as vice president and chief community officer for Hollywood, Fla.-based Memorial Healthcare System, according to a March 26 news release shared with Becker's. She also has experience as the vice president and chief administrator of Jackson Health System, based in Miami.

In her new role, effective today, Ms. Akiti will "serve as a high-level orchestrator of strategic planning and partnerships for Broward HealthPoint, ACO/Population Health, Weston Urgent Care, and other areas," the news release said.
Cooper University Health Care in Camden, N.J., has named Lisa Morina senior vice president and chief philanthropy officer of the Cooper Foundation, the system's arm for philanthropy and community outreach and development.

Ms. Morina brings more than 20 years of healthcare, government and community outreach experience to the job, according to a March 25 news release. She has been with the Cooper Foundation since 2023, serving as its vice president of advancement for corporate relations. Previously, she served in the industry at Philadelphia-based Jefferson Health.
President Joe Biden is highlighting the Affordable Care Act in his 2024 campaign as the law turns 14 and after his Republican opponent signaled loose plans for its demise.

President Biden's reelection team indicated in fall 2023 that the White House was prepared to make the ACA a focal point of the 2024 campaign after former President Donald Trump renewed calls to take another shot at repealing it.

President Biden spoke about the law in his State of the Union address March 7, crediting it for protecting health insurance for more than 100 million people with pre-existing conditions. On March 23, the Biden campaign released a video featuring him with ACA architects, former President Barack Obama and former House speaker Nancy Pelosi, speaking to the law's origins and effects.

Mr. Obama and then-Vice President Biden passed the ACA on March 23, 2010, then as the respective president and vice president. "It can be easy to forget these days, but passing the ACA was hard," Mr. Obama says in the campaign video.

"Now Trump keeps telling us he's going to terminate the ACA," President Biden says. "Think about what that means. It would mean 100 million people Americans with preexisting conditions would lose their healthcare coverage. It would mean young people would be kicked off their parents' coverage. Tens of millions of Americans would lose healthcare coverage as a consequence."

Over 20 million people have enrolled in individual insurance plans on the ACA exchange for 2024, CMS said Jan. 10. The enrollment total is the highest in the exchange's history, surpassing last year's enrollment of 16 million.

On March 26, President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are expected to highlight their administration's work on healthcare affordability and access during their visit to North Carolina, a key presidential battleground, The New York Times reports.

Mr. Trump took to social media last fall to renew calls for the replacement of the ACA after a stretch of time in which the healthcare law was not a central issue in U.S. political campaigns. Since then, some in the Republican party have signaled reluctance to join him in that particular fight.

The ACA is the most challenged statute in American history, including its seven Supreme Court challenges in a decade, according to professors at Washington, D.C.-based Georgetown University. Most recently, in 2021, the Supreme Court rejected a legal challenge to the ACA, in which plaintiffs argued that the law should be struck down due to the 2017 elimination of the ACA's tax penalty.

As of February, about 6 in 10 U.S. adults hold a favorable opinion of the ACA while about 4 in 10 hold a negative opinion of the law, according to KFF.
Those who work in healthcare should be proud of the distinct role we play in our communities and society. We uphold and meet a special obligation and responsibility. Each day, lives are improved, health is restored and suffering is mitigated. Each day, lives are changed for the better.

I've had the privilege of working in healthcare and public service since I immigrated to the United States. I spent years working in academia, in government and in health insurance before coming to North Shore University Hospital in the early 1990s  a hospital that has evolved into Northwell, the largest health provider and private employer in New York State. I am privileged to have been president and CEO for the past 22 years.

Time spent in the various aspects of healthcare has afforded me opportunities to develop a textured understanding of the industry. I strove to see healthcare for what it was, and in doing so, became better able to envision what it could be. Appreciating the facts, history, limitations and dynamics of an industry is crucial. Anyone committed to improving healthcare knows that little is accomplished from criticizing it alone.

Healthcare is multi-dimensional and extremely complex. It accounts for 20% of the U.S. GDP. While there have been extraordinary advances that have extended life and benefited us all, issues such as access and affordability continue to be ongoing concerns. Beyond all the numbers and details, it is important to understand that healthcare is deeply human and personal. We are all potential patients  many of us have already been. While we can discuss healthcare in theory, we can also do it on a personal level, based on our own experiences and those of our loved ones.

There is a constant temptation to make comparisons between healthcare organizations  especially provider organizations and other businesses or industries. Comparisons serve a purpose of course  you gain learning on how to adapt and improve.

However, healthcare  especially nonprofit healthcare  is different. These differences and distinctions need to be understood. The following are a number of examples:

1. We serve everyone. We don't "choose" our customers. We do not just target specific demographics based on age, income level or lifestyle preferences as prospective customers  a common practice in other industries. We serve all irrespective of income status or circumstance.

2. Care is not contingent on payment. Care is provided to all. Unlike most industries where payment precedes services or payment is provided at the time of service, payment is often uncertain or non-existent. Payment is not guaranteed. This is a big distinction worth understanding.

3. Unlike most other businesses, we do not have the autonomy to set prices. Health systems and hospitals negotiate rates with insurance companies or adhere to government price-setting structures, such as Medicare and Medicaid. Medicaid, which makes up a large portion of revenue of most health systems, provides payment well below the cost of providing the service. Providers can often go for years without any increases, and when they do occur they are limited to a percentage or two  even though the demand for services increases and labor and other costs escalate.

4. Despite patients having insurance coverage, payment isn't guaranteed. Insurance denials and mechanisms to limit payment are increasing and often overlooked when we talk about health insurance coverage or agreed-upon reimbursement rates. Insurers' denial of payment was once reserved for a small portion of expensive treatments but is now a common occurrence for ordinary medical care. Denials are exacerbated by payers' use of artificial intelligence, resulting in faster and less reasoned decisions that often lack clear explanations. One analysis found about 1/3 of inpatient and outpatient claims submitted by providers to commercial payers went unpaid for more than 90 days throughout the first three months of 2023. In some cases, payment can take years. Like most health systems, Northwell employs thousands of people whose primary responsibility is to collect payment for a service after it is delivered.

5. Insurance companies often influence clinical decisions. Payers regularly intervene in patients' treatment and care plans without any direct patient interactions with tactics like prior authorization, formulary restrictions, site of care issues, or inconsistent treatment guidelines. I argue that clinical decisions should be made only by the treating physician, the primary person responsible for patient outcomes. Payers' interference puts healthcare providers in a challenging position, as they are ultimately held responsible for any adverse consequences that may result from the insurers' decisions. Insurers face no such liability.

6. Technology is a tool, not a cure-all solution. The advancements in technology have the potential to improve how healthcare is delivered. This has to be applauded and optimized. But it must be understood that healthcare delivery is deeply rooted in human experience, human interactions and expertise. Big tech can too often fall into the trap of believing that a piece of software on an app can totally solve a problem. In healthcare, this notion is continually proven unrealistic.

7. Healthcare providers are often held responsible for the outcomes of social issues beyond their direct control. The bad outcomes resulting from gun violence, automobile accidents, obesity, poverty, ultra-processed foods, addiction to social media and more impact the overall health status  and the health provider systems too often get the blame. You hear the refrain: These results demonstrate the inefficiencies of the U.S. health system. This leads to an abdication of responsibility by others, such as the government, social policymakers, and non-healthcare industries. Health systems have a responsibility to be involved and be a catalyst for change, but the primary responsibility for many of these issues lies elsewhere.

8. Balancing business objectives with our community mission makes for an ongoing challenge. While managing an organization with a singular focus on profit is relatively straightforward, health system leaders face the complex task of reconciling conflicting goals: A healthy operating margin and a healthy community. Managing this is an essential test of leadership. Health systems like Northwell invest in services and programs to improve the overall health of the community  efforts to solve food insecurity, address substance use and mental health, broaden students' educational and professional opportunities, and more. Most of these activities are not fully reimbursed, yet the pressure to do more continually escalates.

9. Health systems are more than hospitals. When most people comment on health systems, they primarily think of hospitals. That was true, but not anymore. Health systems are dynamic, evolving and innovative  and are, when a crisis occurs, the communities' safety net, as COVID-19 reminded us. While we at Northwell, for example, have 21 hospitals, we have over 900 outpatient ambulatory centers. Only 47% of our revenue is now tied to hospitals. We are also, like so many others, a major research, educational and academic institution  preparing future teachers, leaders and researchers. The depth and versatility of what we do needs to be better understood and appreciated.

We all need to work cross industry, to learn from each other, to innovate and partner together so we can build a better community. We are all interdependent. We all have major responsibilities and obligations to build a better future. To do that, it helps to better understand each other.

Michael Dowling is president and CEO of Northwell Health, the largest healthcare provider and private employer in New York State. Mr. Dowling will speak at Becker's 14th Annual Meeting in Chicago in April. Hospital and health system leaders, click here to apply for a complimentary badge.
Lawmakers are questioning UnitedHealth Group's response to the cyberattack that took Change Healthcare's systems offline for nearly a month.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat and ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, sent a letter to UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty on March 25. In his letter, Mr. Raskin wrote the oversight committee is "concerned that UnitedHealth Group is restricting the ability of federal agencies to provide applicable assistance to Change Healthcare."

According to Mr. Raskin's letter, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency told oversight committee staff it was "handcuffed in this instance because of the lack of transparency and lack of information flowing into us [from UnitedHealth Group/Change Healthcare]."

Mr. Raskin requested additional information from the company on the extent of protected health information exposed in the hack and its response to the hack, and asked UnitedHealth Group to give a briefing to oversight committee staff.

Change Healthcare, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group's Optum, was hacked by ransomware group ALPHV/BlackCat on Feb. 21. UnitedHealth Group has restored its services over the course of several weeks. Change Healthcare said March 22 it planned to restore its biggest clearinghouse platforms over the weekend and start processing $14 billion in claims.

"We're aware of a letter from the House Oversight and Accountability Committee and are reviewing the specifics," a spokesperson for UnitedHealth Group told Becker's. "Our immediate focus is to restore our systems, protect data and support those whose data may have been impacted."

Mr. Raskin is the latest lawmaker to scrutinize the attack and the ongoing fallout. The Senate Finance Committee is working to secure a hearing with Mr. Witty this spring, according to The Washington Post.

The federal government launched an investigation into the attack on March 13.
Proposed state legislation to change Tennessee's certificate-of-need legislation would cause hospital service cuts and closures and reduce care access for many communities across the state, according to the Tennessee Hospital Association.

Enacted 50 years ago, Tennessee's CON law mandates state approval before providers can add or expand facilities, services or equipment. Proponents of the legislation argue that it is effective at controlling costs and ensuring access to care, while those opposing the law say that the red tape and inefficiencies limit access to care and hinder competition.

Tennessee's CON law requires providers to show there is a need in the community for new services or facilities before they can be established.

THA argues that this prevents unnecessary and costly duplication of services and helps level the playing field by preventing providers who are not subject to the same federal regulations as hospitals  such as the requirement to provide care to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay  from cherry picking the most profitable patients and services.

"Our state's certificate-of-need law helps ensure hospitals are able to continue providing services that may be less profitable but are vital to patients and communities. The proposed changes to the law will undermine the sustainability of local hospitals and patient access to a full range of healthcare services," THA President and CEO Wendy Long, MD, said in a news release. "These changes could cause hospitals to reduce the types of services they provide and, in some cases, close their doors permanently. Tennesseans in those communities could lose their local hospital or access to critical services like labor and delivery, behavioral health and inpatient care."

THA is opposing the two proposed CON bills, SB2846/HB2720 and SB2009/HB2269, and aims to engage with lawmakers about improvements to the CON process to ensure access to high-quality care for all Tennesseans.
About 30 pharmacists and pharmacy technicians at a Las Vegas CVS Omnicare filed to unionize March 25, making them the first in their industry to seek unionization.

The pharmacy workers are looking to join the Pharmacy Guild, a new trade union created by the organizers of a small-scale, three-day walkout among CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid employees in late 2023.

"Unsafe staffing levels have reached crisis levels for pharmacies across America, with severe shortages consistently reported by pharmacy professionals across the 'Big Three' retail pharmacy chains: CVS, Walgreens and RiteAid," the union said in a news release.

Employees at dozens of other retail and grocery chain pharmacies have shown interest in joining the new union, Shane Jerominski, PharmD, a Walgreens pharmacist in California and one of the founding members of the Pharmacy Guild, told USA Today.

A CVS spokesperson told Becker's the company has not reviewed the petition but said "we respect our employees' right to either unionize or refrain from doing so."

"We believe the direct, two-way relationship we have with our colleagues is the best way to resolve workplace concerns," the spokesperson said. "We continually listen to our colleagues' feedback, which helps inform our programs and policies."
Out of the 200 companies heralded by Fortune as most innovative for 2024, 44 are in healthcare and 21 are health systems.

More healthcare companies are represented among the top 200 this year than last, which is worth noting given that Fortune shortened the 2024 list from 300 companies to 200. Alphabet, Apple and Microsoft secured the first, second and third spot on this year's list  marking a jump for Apple into the second spot, and overtaking Salesforce, after ranking No. 6 last year.

Fortune sought to recognize companies "transforming industries from the inside out." The ranking is informed by scores based on three dimensions, each weighted equally: product innovation, process innovation and innovation culture.

Product innovation is 50% weighted by patent score and 50% by the opinions of experts and prospective customers. Process innovation involves an examination of company operations, with input from employees, experts and potential customers factored. Innovation culture factors employee opinions and external experts' perspectives on how well a company encourages internal entrepreneurship and creativity.

Fortune partnered with Statista for the development of the ranking, which began with a list of more than 25,000 companies up for consideration and a call for entry on Fortune.com, with any eligible company allowed to register and participate in the ranking.

The 44 companies within the healthcare sector on the 2024 ranking are listed below, with health systems bolded. Find the Fortune ranking in full here.

16. Johnson & Johnson

23. Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minn.)

26. Houston Methodist

27. Abbott Laboratories

29. Humana

32. UnitedHealth Group

33. Cleveland Clinic

38. Boston Scientific

42. Mass General Brigham (Boston)

45. Pfizer

46. Laboratory Corp. of America

50. Cardinal Health

53. AbbVie

55. ABB Optical Group

60. Cincinnati Children's

62. Cigna

63. WVU Medicine (Morgantown, W.Va.)

73. Align Technology

74. 4D Molecular Therapeutics

76. The University of Kansas Health System (Kansas City, Kan.)

77. Amgen

83. Duke University Health System (Durham, N.C.)

86. Becton Dickinson

89. Henry Ford Health System (Detroit)

95. Children's Healthcare of Atlanta

102. Baylor Scott & White Health (Dallas)

103. Cedars-Sinai (Los Angeles)

108. Atrium Health (Charlotte, N.C.)

109. Intermountain Health (Salt Lake City)

110. Elevance Health

121. UPMC (Pittsburgh)

122. Carilion Clinic (Roanoke, Va.)

126. Orlando (Fla.) Health

133. McKesson

139. Vertex Pharmaceuticals

141. Bristol Myers Squibb

149. Health Care Service

150. Sanford Health (Sioux Falls, S.D.)

151. Atlantic Health System (Morristown, N.J.)

152. Baptist Health South Florida (Coral Gables, Fla.)

153. Simplify Healthcare Technology

165. Centene

175. Banner Health (Phoenix)

185. DaVita
Whiterocks Growth Capital Fund team, from left, (back row) Graham Ferguson, Sarah Toner and David McCurley, with Jenna Mairs and Paul Millar seated

Whiterock has launched the biggest ever locally managed equity investment fund for Northern Ireland companies with a pot of 75m.

It said the new Growth Capital Fund would address the need for growth funding here, making investments of between 1m and 5m for minority shareholdings in growth and scaling companies, with capacity for more funding as required.

Whiterock has been operating here for more than a decade, managing over 150m across four funds. It has lent over 120m to over 150 SMEs, which has helped secure more than 100m of further funding from others.

Its first equity fund includes an investment of 45m from British Business Bank through its Enterprise Capital Funds programme, with the remaining 30m from private investors such as high net-worth individuals.

Whiterock says it wants to invest in companies who can demonstrate clear sales growth and routes to market in areas like digital, ICT and creative, life and health sciences, agri-tech and advanced manufacturing.

Chief executive Paul Millar said: While funding options have improved for companies, independent research has found there is still a clear equity gap in Northern Ireland when it comes to locally based private equity investors, particularly in the 1m-5m investment range.

The Growth Capital Fund is the largest ever locally managed equity fund for NI companies. It will invest in businesses with strong management teams and a demonstrated and proven business model, which have a high growth potential.

"We want to be a strategic partner that helps companies achieve their growth ambitions, while also generating attractive returns for our investors.

It said it expects to invest in 15 to 20 companies over as five-year period.

Ken Cooper, managing director of Venture Solutions at British Business Bank, said: The British Business Banks Enterprise Capital Funds programme is key in helping to develop and maintain effective venture capital provision in the UK, lowering the barriers to entry for emerging fund managers.

"The programme has backed 46 funds, representing more than 2bn of finance. Our commitment to Whiterock builds on that success and introduces a new funding option for scaling companies in Northern Ireland.

Graham Ferguson, the former CFO of Newry-based technology company First Derivatives, will join Whiterock as investment director to work alongside David McCurley and Paul Millar.
There is just over a week left to enter the 2024 Belfast Telegraph Business Awards in partnership with Ulster Bank.

The deadline to enter is April 3 at 12 noon, and companies and individuals who want to be considered are urged to get moving.

Belfast Telegraph business editor Margaret Canning said: The Belfast Telegraph Business Awards are the most prestigious awards of their kind in Northern Ireland.

"We have assembled a great team of judges, led by Belfast Chamber chief executive Clare Guinness, who are looking forward to considering this years entries.

"We know this years entries are sure to set an even higher standard than last years impressive cohort.

The awards are open for entries across 17 categories, with an awards ceremony taking place at Belfasts Crowne Plaza Hotel on May 2.

Categories include the new additions of Excellence in Manufacturing and Family Business of the Year. There are also non-entry awards for Outstanding Business of the Year and Lifetime Achievement, which are proposed and chosen by the judges.

To enter, go to www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/businessawards/enter. For queries, contact Karen McGarvey at karen.mcgarvey@mediahuis.co.uk
Mark Crimmins, Regional Managing Director of Ulster Bank and Business Editor Margaret Canning launching the Belfast Telegraph Business Awards 2024 in partnership with Ulster Bank. (Photo by Aodhan Roberts for Belfast Telegraph)

Nominations are still open for the 2024 Belfast Telegraph Business Awards in partnership with Ulster Bank.

The awards are open for entries across 17 categories until the closing date on April 3.

An awards ceremony takes place at Belfasts Crowne Plaza Hotel on May 2.

Mark Crimmins, head of Ulster Bank in Northern Ireland, said: Once again Ulster Bank is proud to partner with the Belfast Telegraph to deliver these awards, and as we launch the call for entries, we are excited about showcasing the very best of business in Northern Ireland.

Many firms and individuals here continue to flourish and have demonstrated enormous capabilities in adapting to new challenges, changing working environments, a fast-paced digital landscape, and ever-evolving regulation. Recognising this success is more important than ever, and we look forward to another great event for our local business community and to celebrating with the next cohort of winners on the night.

In addition to recognising the great work of businesses, a key thing for me is to engage with companies about how Ulster Bank can best help them meet their objectives.

We have access to a wealth of knowledge and insight through our parent bank NatWest and through our range of products and tools, we can help local businesses with all aspects of their everyday banking, funding, making and receiving payments, trading overseas, and business insurance.

By taking care of these, we can allow firms the time and space to focus on growth and achieving their goals and to be the best they can be.

Eoin Brannigan, editor in chief of the Belfast Telegraph and Sunday Life, said: We are delighted to launch the 2024 Belfast Telegraph Business Awards in partnership with Ulster Bank, the most prestigious awards of their kind in Northern Ireland.

We look forward to celebrating the achievements of firms and businesspeople and wish everyone good luck in their entries.

The awards ceremony has grown into one of the highlights of the year for business, and we look forward to seeing everyone there.

Now in their 24th year, the prestigious awards attract entries from all sectors and sizes of company, and are judged by an expert, independent panel.

Clare Guinness, chief executive of Belfast Chamber and chair of the judging panel, said: I am delighted to be chairing the Belfast Telegraph Business Awards for the second year. The awards give an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate our business community across numerous sectors.

I am so proud of the entrepreneurial spirit and business success of this city and region. The judges will have some tough decisions to make choosing winners.

There are 17 categories this year, including new categories Excellence in Manufacturing and Family Business of the Year. There are also non-entry awards for Outstanding Business of the Year and Lifetime Achievement, which are proposed and chosen by the judges.

To enter the Business Awards click on any of the links below. The closing date is Wednesday, April 3 at 12 noon. For queries, contact Karen McGarvey at karen.mcgarvey@mediahuis.co.uk.

Your entry should be no longer than 1,000 words, and you may include up to 4 A4 pages maximum of supporting visuals. See terms and conditions for further information.
George W.S. Abbey, former director of the Johnson Space Center, speaks to family and friends during a ceremony to rename the Rocket Park at NASA's Johnson Space Center to George W.S. Abbey Rocket Park, Friday, Dec. 10, 2021 in Houston. Karen Warren, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer George W.S. Abbey, former director of the Johnson Space Center, with family after a ceremony to rename the Rocket Park at NASA's Johnson Space Center to George W.S. Abbey Rocket Park, Friday, Dec. 10, 2021 in Houston. Karen Warren, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer Vanessa Wyche, director of the Johnson Space Center, shakes hands with George W.S. Abbey, a former director of the Johnson Space Center, during a ceremony to rename the Rocket Park at NASA's Johnson Space Center to George W.S. Abbey Rocket Park, Friday, Dec. 10, 2021 in Houston. Karen Warren, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer George W.S. Abbey, senior fellow in space policy at Rice University's Baker Institute, laughs while speaking on a panel moderated by John Charles, Space Center Houston's scientist in residence, at the Baker Institute on Rice's campus in Houston, Monday, March 4, 2019. The two were joined by author Michael Cassutt who just published a book about Abbey titled The Astronaut Maker: How One Mysterious Engineer Ran Human Spaceflight for a Generation. Mark Mulligan/Staff photographer George W.S. Abbey, a senior fellow in space policy at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy poses for a portrait at the university, Wednesday, March 7, 2018, in Houston. ( Jon Shapley / Houston Chronicle ) Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle Vanessa Wyche, director of the Johnson Space Center, claps for George W.S. Abbey, a former director of the Johnson Space Center, during a ceremony to rename the Rocket Park at NASA's Johnson Space Center to George W.S. Abbey Rocket Park, Friday, Dec. 10, 2021 in Houston. Karen Warren, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer Vanessa Wyche, director of the Johnson Space Center, takes a photo with George W.S. Abbey, a former director of the Johnson Space Center, during a ceremony to rename the Rocket Park at NASA's Johnson Space Center to George W.S. Abbey Rocket Park, Friday, Dec. 10, 2021 in Houston. Karen Warren, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer Vanessa Wyche, director of the Johnson Space Center, unveils the new sign with George W.S. Abbey, a former director of the Johnson Space Center, during a ceremony to rename the Rocket Park at NASA's Johnson Space Center to George W.S. Abbey Rocket Park, Friday, Dec. 10, 2021 in Houston. Karen Warren, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer George W.S. Abbey, former director of the Johnson Space Center, with Lieutenant General Thomas Stafford (Ret.), NASA International Space Station Advisory Committee Chair and former NASA astronaut, after a ceremony to rename the Rocket Park at NASA's Johnson Space Center to George W.S. Abbey Rocket Park, Friday, Dec. 10, 2021 in Houston. Karen Warren, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer Former NASA Astronauts Bonnie J. Dunbar and Mario Runco Jr. are joined by George W.S. Abbey, a former director of the Johnson Space Center, as they look at the new home of the Space Shuttle Motion Base Simulator, Tuesday, April 12, 2022, at the Lone Star Flight Museum in Houston. Mark Mulligan, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

George W.S. Abbey, an influential NASA leader whose career spanned from Apollo to the International Space Station, died Sunday night. He was 91 years old.

Abbey was on the team that earned the Presidential Medal of Freedom for bringing home astronauts on the troubled Apollo 13 mission. He led the selection of NASAs first astronaut class to include women and people of color. And he was crucial in negotiations that led to the U.S. and Russia collaborating on the International Space Station.

Abbey was director of the Johnson Space Center in Houston from 1996 to 2001.

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He died at the Houston Methodist Clear Lake Hospital after an illness. He was surrounded by family.

He has been called the father of modern spaceflight, but we called him Dad, Grampa and Uncle George, Abbeys family said in a statement. He was a quiet man, brilliant, humble and very private. The world will be so much emptier without him.

Abbey was born in Seattle in 1932 and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1954. He served in the U.S. Air Force as a helicopter pilot and engineer  and worked on an Air Force spaceplane program  before being assigned to NASA and moving to Houston in 1964. He became a NASA civil servant three years later.

During the agencys moon program, Abbey helped investigate the Apollo 1 fire that killed three astronauts on the launch pad. He helped implement spacecraft design changes that led to 13 Saturn V rocket launches and six crewed moon landings.

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The Apollo 8 mission, in particular, stood out to Abbey.

That was a very emotional moment when we left Earths orbit and actually went on our way to the moon the first time, Abbey previously told the Houston Chronicle of the mission where three astronauts circled the moon.

During the Apollo 13 mission, Abbey was technical assistant to the director of the Johnson Space Center (originally called the Manned Spacecraft Center) when the spacecrafts oxygen tank exploded. The crew didnt land on the moon as originally planned, but they were safely returned to Earth.

His daughter Joyce B.K. Abbey remembers her father worked around the clock and felt grateful they got the crew home. But he didnt specifically talk about his role. Instead of highlighting his own accomplishments at NASA, Abbey preferred to talk about his heroes and friends, she said.

Shes learned a lot about her dad through other people. Joyce B.K. Abbey works at the Johnson Space Center writing case studies on NASA moments that were unusual, spectacular or near disastrous. She captures lessons learned by the agency for use now and in the future.

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Almost everybody Ive interviewed will stop me at one point and say, Let me tell you a story about your dad,  she said. Sometimes theyre hysterical. Sometimes theyre so inspirational. So many people said how grateful they were for the opportunities he gave them in their careers at Johnson and in aerospace.

The Apollo program was just the start of Abbeys time at NASA.

Abbey became director of flight operations at Johnson as the space shuttle prepared for its first mission. In that role, he led selection for the first group of space shuttle astronauts, which included six women, three Black men and one Asian man.

Hed later move to Washington, D.C., working in the agencys headquarters and on the National Space Council, before returning to Houston as deputy director of the Johnson Space Center in 1994. He became its director two years later and oversaw space shuttle launches and the first elements of the International Space Station reaching Earths orbit.

Many people feel that we would not have the International Space Station flying today had it not been for his role as a leader in bringing all of the teams together; bringing the engineering teams, bringing the program teams together, Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche previously told the Chronicle. We fondly refer to meetings that he would have on Saturday as GASR. And that was in honor of George Abbey Saturday Review.

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He even brought longhorn cattle back to the Johnson Space Center as an agricultural education facility. He saw it as an opportunity to promote STEM education while honoring the Johnson Space Centers past as a ranch.

He was a huge history buff, his daughter said, huge fan of history and also Texas.

Abbey left NASA in 2003 to focus on space policy at Rice Universitys Baker Institute for Public Policy. He also helped develop charter schools and other educational institutions.

Abbey worked hard but also knew the importance of celebrating. He supported a parade during International Heritage Day, employee softball games, fajita parties and an annual chili cookoff that Abbey started and for which he was a longtime judge.

All those things allowed the employees to blow off some steam, to celebrate, because they worked really, really hard, Joyce B.K. Abbey said.

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The Johnson Space Center dedicated Rocket Park, home to one of the worlds three Saturn V rockets on display, to Abbey in 2021. Its now named the George W.S. Abbey Rocket Park.

One thing that all of us kids knew is how much our nations space program meant to him and how dedicated he was to advancing human spaceflight and doing the right thing, Joyce B.K. Abbey said. He took his decisions very seriously. He knew what was on the line, and I know hed pray every morning to make the right decision and to be guided.

Outside of his professional accomplishments, Abbeys family said he was a man of deep faith. He was fond of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, classic cars, Celtic music, fine wines and friendships.

Even as adults, his family would gather for Sunday dinners. One of their favorite recipes came from Abbeys mother  they call it Nannys Concoction  and Joyce B.K. Abbey is now the keeper of this recipe.

Abbey is survived by five children, eight grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, and nieces and nephews.
Johnny Doey (50) is hoping to raise funds for USPCA through his 26 day hike in mountains

A Co Antrim man who found a new lease of life after recovering from a dose of Covid-19 that left him bedridden, will be hiking the Himalayas next month.

Johnny Doey, from the Grange near Randalstown, is currently preparing for his latest challenge following on from his Everest Base Camp and Mount Kilimanjaro treks.

The 50-year-old is hoping to raise some much needed funds for the USPCA through his 26 day hike in the Himalayas.

After catching Covid-19, Johnny was stuck in bed for 28 days after testing positive for the virus in January 2021.

He spent his time in isolation watching YouTube videos about hiking to Everest Base Camp and so, when he recovered, Johnny decided to take up the challenge himself.

I never knew anyone who had done it before, he said. I reached out to companies and started seeing how to do it  I ended up sourcing my own guide in Nepal.

Johnny, and two friends, raised an impressive 6,000 for Action Cancer along the way. Before his Everest Base Camp challenge in November 2022, he had mostly been for casual hikes around the Mournes.

Now, Johnny has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and completed the UK Three Peaks challenge  summiting Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis all within 24 hours.

This time, Johnny faces his toughest challenge yet, as it will involve using ice picks and rope to scale snowy hills and icy outcroppings.

Along with a fellow hiker from Aberdeen, who he met while trekking to Everest Base Camp, he will spend 26 days trekking across the Himalayas, summiting both Lobuche East and Mera Peak  which both sit at over 20,000ft tall.

Its all self-funded  if people can get goodness out of what Im doing then thats why Im doing it, he said.

Johnny Doey at Stella Point on Mt Kilimanjaro

On raising funds for the USPCA, Johnny explained both he and his wife wanted to raise money for a charity that supports animal welfare.

We have two dogs, Harvey and Rosie, and a cat, Scrappy, and theyre a massive part of our lives, he said.

Arriving in Kathmandu on April 19, he will stay in the city overnight before taking an early-morning drive to Ramechap and fly from there into Lukla airport.

The most dangerous airport in the world, he said.

However, the height of the mountain may prove even more dangerous  with days set aside in the trek to acclimatise to the high-altitudes.

Johnny said: You can be the fittest person in the world and not be able to deal with it because your lungs cant cope with the altitude.

To prepare himself for the tough conditions  his training involves intense cardio, strength and conditioning and swimming to build lung capacity.

An altitude mask is used during training to replicate the thin air of the mountains.

Johnny has taken inspiration from Dromara mountaineer Noel Hanna, who passed away last year at the age of 56 after climbing the 26,500ft high Annapurna, also in the Himalayas.

The Co Down man had summited Everest 10 times and was the first person from the island of Ireland to climb K2, the worlds second highest mountain.

Johnny spoke with Mr Hanna before he died, who gave him some advice on mountaineering.

He said, Just go and enjoy it. Relax and take it in, said Johnny.

If you wish to support Johnnys fundraiser for the USPCA, visit his JustGiving page.
A Northern Ireland council and a construction company which admitted health and safety failings following the death of an electrical engineer were today handed fines totalling 50,000.

While Newry, Mourne and Down District Council was fined 20,000 at Newry Crown Court, Lagan Construction Ltd was fined 30,000.

The case arose following the tragic death of Matthew Campbell, who was working for Lagan Construction Ltd at Slieve Gullion Forest Park in Co Armagh as strong winds lashed Northern Ireland during Storm Ali on September 19, 2018.

The 24-year-old was crushed to death by a falling 200-year-old beech tree, dying instantly in what Judge Paul Ramsey KC said was a freak accident which could have  and should have  been avoided.

And as Judge Ramsey imposed the fines, he quoted a victim impact statement from Mr Campbells father, outlining how words can never describe the devastating effect Matthews sudden, unnecessary death has had on his family.

He says that they all miss and think of him every second of every day. He was a wonderful son, whom we loved very much and still do, Judge Ramsey told the court.

Matthew was a kind, generous, funny and loving young man who made us proud every day of his short life.

Instead of Matthew bringing his children to visit his grandparents, we as Matthews family are going to the grave to grieve and visit him, or to Slieve Gullion Forest Park, where he had his last living moment. The hurt and the pain and the loss we feel will never end.

Judge Ramsey described how Mr Campbells dad was also proud to say that, following Matthews death, his family and friends completed the Mourne Wall Challenge and raised 27,000 for the Northern Ireland Air Ambulance in his sons memory. Following his funeral, a further 1,800 was raised for the Macmillan nurses.

Reading from a victim impact statement from Mr Campbells colleague/supervisor Steven McCauley, who also suffered horrific injuries in the incident, Judge Ramsey said he was struck by one passage in particular, which described the final moments before Mr Campbells death.

It read: The forestry vehicle left and we drove our vehicles and parked outside the gate. One forestry worker remained and closed the gate. He left a pedestrian access space for us at the gate side that was off its hinges. We could not leave straight away as we had a duty to make the site safe first. Thats why they went back into the park.

Judge Ramsey said that passage poignantly demonstrates the sense of duty that this young man had.

At the time of the tragic accident in Slieve Gullion Forest Park, Mr Campbell had been working for Lagan Construction Ltd, where he had only begun working as an electrical engineer three and a half months prior, and as the park itself is owned and controlled by Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, they both faced health and safety charges.

Just before Christmas last year, the council, with its head offices at Downshire Civic Centre in Downpatrick, entered guilty pleas to failing to make appropriate risk assessments for non-employees and employees respectively and to failing to ensure, so far as would be reasonably practicable, the health and safety of employees and non-employees on September 19, 2018.

On the day that Lagan Construction Ltd was due to go on trial in January, the company, with offices on the Sydenham Road in Belfast, entered a guilty plea to failing to make a proper risk assessment.

Just the week before the tragic accident, Matthew and his fiancee, Robyn Newberry, had sent out save the date cards in preparation for their wedding in August 2019, while on the day tragedy struck, Ms Newberry had collected the couples wedding rings.

During his sentencing remarks, Judge Ramsey said: I take the view that this monumental tragedy only happened because two independent culpabilities came together to create the situation that led to Matthews death.

Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, in accepting a health and safety breach, confirmed it had received emails from the Met Office regarding weather warnings.

Judge Ramsey said: Its important to note that the storm was expected to increase in strength as time went on, rather than decrease, as some storms often do. On Tuesday, September 18, 2018, the day before the accident [and] three minutes after the previous update, the yellow warning for Wednesday was updated further to amber warning of flying debris, potentially causing risk to life and probable damage to buildings.

The court heard that at the time of Storm Ali, Newry, Mourne and Down District Council had no written policy in place regarding the opening of Slieve Gullion Forest Park, or other facilities under its control.

When severe weather warnings were issued, the council relied on assessments made by staff at each facility to determine whether it was safe to continue to operate and keep their facilities open during severe adverse weather.

As a result, some facilities in the district were closed, including Warrenpoint Park and Kilbroney Forest Park, but Slieve Gullion Forest Park remained open.

Judge Ramsey continued: On the day of the fatality, a member of the public had already been struck by falling branches and wounded, requiring hospital treatment The defendant council did take the decision to close its Slieve Gullion facility.

The decision was taken piecemeal, with parts of the Forest Park being closed, before a decision was taken to enclose the entire facility.

After the decision had been taken, the Slieve Gullion Forest Park attendants began to clear the public and members of staff from the park.

Mr Campbell had been working with his colleague at the water service facility within the park and they too were told the park was closing.

They were observed by park attendants leaving in their vehicles but then re-entering the park on foot to make safe the kiosk they had been working on. It was shortly after they re-entered the park that the fatality occurred.

Lagan Construction Ltd admitted that the risk assessment undertaken was insufficient and it failed to take account of the fact the project was being undertaken in an area populated with mature trees in a forest park setting.

The court also heard that, following a court hearing back in February, representatives from the council, including the chief executive, met with Mr Campbells mother and father and offered a formal apology for the councils failing, which was warmly appreciated by the family.

In handing down the fines, Judge Ramsey urged both Lagan Construction Ltd and Newry, Mourne and Down District Council to also make a voluntary donation to a charity of the Campbell familys choosing.

Following sentencing, Senior Public Prosecutor for the Public Prosecution Service Michael McDaid, said it was a heartbreaking case.

Prosecutors in the PPSs Fraud & Departmental Section worked closely with the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) to build a strong prosecution case, which resulted in the guilty pleas, he said.

The PPS will continue to work with our enforcement partners to robustly prosecute alleged health and safety offences, where the Test for Prosecution is met.

"The conclusion of this case should send a clear message to the industry and employers to ensure they have stringent processes in place to ensure others are not exposed to risks to their health and safety and no other lives are tragically lost.

We would like to thank all civilian witnesses who made statements that assisted the investigation and we commend Mr Campbells family for their dignity and patience throughout the proceedings.

Speaking after the hearing, Katrina Murphy, an Health and Safety Executive NI Inspector said: This tragic incident needlessly claimed the life of a young man who was working in an area populated with mature trees during a severe weather event.

All employers need to assess the risk from the effect of potential storm conditions on their work activities and take necessary precautions.

It was also established that both employers were in receipt of Met Office weather warnings advising of a strengthening storm with the potential to cause danger to life.

Ms Murphy added: Weather warnings should always be considered. They are important and are designed to let people know what the impacts may be of severe weather, including strong winds.
Principal of Belfast prep school facing financial crisis resigns

Ben Madigan Preps Board of Governors expected to present development proposal for the future of the school

Rebekah Dallas

Mark Bain Tue 26 Mar 2024 at 07:12

The principal at one of Northern Irelands leading preparatory schools has tendered her resignation, as its future hangs in the balance.
A move to end hospital car parking charges in Northern Ireland could be delayed for two more years.

Health Minister Robin Swann has proposed deferring legislation that would see fees scrapped  just weeks before it is due to take effect.

Mr Swann cited "deepening budgetary pressures"  it could cost 10m a year  as well as "logistical issues" with the scheduled May 12 start date.

First Minister Michelle O'Neill said while it would be a "blow" to the public, the Executive had no choice but to support the proposal.

Two years ago the Assembly unanimously passed the Hospital Parking Charges Act, paving the way for the lifting of fees. It followed a bill was put forward by Sinn Feins Aisling Reilly, now a junior minister in Stormont Castle.

Mr Swann said he is seeking to defer the move for two years and that, if agreed by the Assembly, car parking permits for eligible healthcare staff would be provided for free for two years.

The Hospital Parking Charges Act was passed by the Assembly in 2022 for the best of intentions. I was, and remain, entirely supportive of those intentions, he said.

"However, there are logistical issues that make the planned May 2024 starting date for free parking unfeasible. Health and Social Care Trusts have advised that the infrastructure required to manage free parking cannot be in place in time.

This is due to legal challenges delaying a contract for Automatic Number Plate Recognition technology. As a result, the intended traffic management solution will not be operational by May 12.

In its absence, trusts would have significant concerns about their ability to maintain safe access to their sites for patients, clients, visitors and staff. Preserving blue light routes would be a particular concern.

In addition, it is unfortunately the case that the financial position for our health service has deteriorated in the past two years. A blanket removal of all charges would result in loss of income, resulting in 10m in costs per year in total to control access and maintain car parks.

Mr Swann added that his primary concern as health minister is to protect access to hospitals for legitimate users.

Free parking without traffic management could very quickly lead to a free-for-all, with serious consequences for traffic not just in hospital sites but in surrounding areas, he said.

It is widely agreed that the current budgetary situation will require difficult decisions by the Executive and Assembly. Deferring the introduction of free hospital parking certainly falls into that category.

Speaking after the inaugural meeting of the East-West Council in London, Ms O'Neill said the Department of Health had "failed in terms of being able to bring the infrastructure in place that would allow this to go forward".

"That's why Robin Swann would have to go to the Assembly and ask for that support," she said.

"He's previously brought it to the Executive in the last number of weeks. We've had no choice other than to accept the reason that he puts forward but we also equally regard that it's not good enough."

People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll called for an urgent explanation for the proposals.

He said hospital car parking charges were a tax on health workers wages and on the sick.

The law to abolish car parking charges has already been on the books for two years. I am calling on the Health Minister to urgently publish and explain the alleged difficulties his department is facing, he said.
A series of fun events are planned this week to mark Belfast Zoos 90th birthday.

The zoo reaches the landmark tomorrow and the celebrations will run from Easter Sunday through to Tuesday.

There will be free family fun and a range of activities, along with the chance to win prizes such as zoo memberships, animal adoptions, family passes and souvenirs.

Daisy the elephant arrives at Belfast Zoo 1930s

The zoo opened in March 1934 and was home to tigers, polar bears, baboons, kangaroos, camels, brown bears, and leopards, among other species.

Today, the zoo remains on the scenic Cavehill site and is home to over 110 species of animals, many of which are endangered or extinct in the wild.

Julie Bryans, commercial support officer at Belfast Zoo, said she is excited to celebrate the milestone with the public.

At 90 years old, were one of Northern Irelands oldest visitor attractions, and were delighted to be hosting an event where everyone can come together to enjoy a family day out and share their memories of Belfast Zoo, she said.

"Sunday, March 31, is the first day of the zoo's summer opening hours, 10am to 6pm, so visitors can enjoy a longer stay at the zoo.

"They can drop by the history hub and chat to our education team who will be sharing interesting facts about the zoo, and there will be a display of pictures of the zoo throughout the years, the little ones can dance along to the bubble bike and get an animal themed glitter tattoo.

Julie said the zoo is offering families plenty of fun filled activities over the Easter holidays.

On Monday and Tuesday, visitors can pose for photographs with one of the walkabout characters who will be popping up around the zoo, explore the zoo site and complete our Easter trail competition to be in with a chance of winning a fabulous prize, she continued.

"Weve arranged additional parking at the Valley Centre car park and an accessible shuttle bus will run every half hour between 11am and 6pm.

"Zoo members and visitors with accessibility needs can also avail of priority entry between 9am and 10am.

"Weve special events and activities planned throughout this year, so keep your eyes peeled on our social media accounts for updates.

Lake at Belfast Zoo 1930s

This year also marks 40 years of education at Belfast Zoo.

John Fisher, the zoos education officer, said: This milestone year, we want to celebrate both the past and the future.

"The role of the zoo has changed significantly over the years, and zoos are now seen as an essential place where many species which are under threat can be preserved and maintained.

"We are dedicated to continuing our conservation efforts both locally and globally to protect wildlife that is increasingly under threat.
The Department of Health failed to implement the necessary infrastructure to make car parking at hospitals free as planned, the First Minister has said.

Michelle ONeill made the comments after the Northern Ireland Executive approved a request from the health minister to defer the removal of the charges for another two years.

Robin Swann is now seeking Assembly approval to defer the legislation, which was originally planned for May 12 this year.

The Department of Health said the intervention is due to deepening budgetary pressures and practical obstacles with the original date, including issues with the contract for automatic number-plate recognition.

Ms ONeill said: I think thats going to be a blow to all those workers out there across our health service and its going to be a blow in terms of people who were looking forward to the abolition of the charges and being able to access their treatment without having that additional cost.

But its very clear that the Department of Health have failed in terms of being able to bring the infrastructure in place that would allow this to go forward.

She said the Executive had no choice but to accept Mr Swanns reasoning for the deferral but added: We were also, equally, very firm and saying, that its not good enough.

That the situation needs to be arrested and that he needs to put the infrastructure in place to allow this legislation to come to its fruition.

Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said the paper brought to the Executive by Mr Swann outlined significant concerns over legal and logistical aspects of the plan as well as its budgetary implications.

She added: He asked the Executive to agree with him to defer this for a number of years while he worked through those and I have no doubt he will bring back further consideration to the Executive.

The executive unanimously agreed to do that on the request of the Minister for Health.

Mr Swann said deferring free hospital parking is a difficult decision that must be taken due to budgetary pressures.

In a statement, he said: There are logistical issues that make the planned May 2024 starting date for free parking unfeasible.

HSC Trusts have advised that the infrastructure required to manage free parking cannot be in place in time.

This is due to legal challenges delaying a contract for automatic number-plate recognition technology.

As a result, the intended traffic-management solution will not be operational by May 12.

In its absence, trusts would have significant concerns about their ability to maintain safe access to their sites for patients, clients, visitors and staff. Preserving blue light routes would be a particular concern.

In addition, it is unfortunately the case that the financial position for our health service has deteriorated in the past two years.

A blanket removal of all charges would result in loss of income, resulting in 10m in costs per year in total to control access and maintain car parks.

My primary concern as Minister is to protect access to hospitals for legitimate users.

Free parking without traffic management could very quickly lead to a free-for-all, with serious consequences for traffic not just in hospital sites but in surrounding areas.

People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll said the delay was unacceptable for health workers and patients.

In a statement, he called on the minister to meet health trade unions and said: Hospital car parking charges are a tax on health workers wages and on the sick.

Working class people can ill-afford to pay these charges during a cost-of-living crisis.

Wages are down, bills are up, and car parking charges are heaping further financial pressure on health workers, patients and their families.
A yellow weather warning for heavy rain has been issued by the Met Office for parts of Northern Ireland.

It applies to counties Antrim and Down from 6pm on Tuesday until 10am on Wednesday.

The potential impact level for the warning has been raised to medium to reflect an increase in expected rainfall totals, whilst the end time has been pushed back from 6am to 10am on Wednesday.

A spokesperson for the Met Office said, [We will see] rain, becoming heavy at a times across east-facing parts of the Mournes and Antrim Plateau, will push north across Northern Ireland this evening, clearing to the north by dawn tomorrow.

"Rain will be accompanied by strong and gusty easterly winds.

Most parts of the warning area will see 15-25 mm of rain, with widely 30-40 mm, falling across exposed hills of the east.

"There is a chance that as much as 60-70 mm of rain could fall on the eastern slopes of the Antrim Plateau before rain clears.

Some flooding is possible, as is disruption to infrastructure and travel.

The Met Office also warned some communities may be cut off by flooded roads and that bus and train services will probably be affected with journey times taking longer.

Flooding of a few homes and businesses is likely, it added, and some interruption to power supplies and other services is also likely.
Mal O'Hara of the Green Party in Northern Ireland at City Hall, Belfast. Photo credit: Jonathan McCambridge/PA Wire

Mal O'Hara, the leader of the Green Party in Northern Ireland, is set to be elected to the Seanad (Irish Senate) as a senator.

The former Belfast City Councillor was nominated unopposed on Monday evening.

Mr O'Hara, if confirmed, will fill a seat previously held by Sinn Fein's Niall O Donnghaile, who resigned last year for health grounds.

In a statement, Mr O'Hara said: "It is important that a Northern Ireland voice remains in the Seanad (Irish Senate).

"I believe that with my background as an activist, my almost two decades in the community and voluntary sector, my time as a Belfast City Councillor, as a Harbour Commissioner and board member of mental health charities, I can authentically advocate on behalf of all communities.

"I will ensure that all voices from Northern Ireland are amplified in the Seanad."

Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said Mr O'Hara will bring "a unique all-island perspective".

"As a community worker, activist and a politician, Mal has worked tirelessly to promote peace, prosperity, tolerance, climate and social justice across different political, social and cultural divides," Mr Ryan said.

"I look forward to the positive contributions he will make, not just in the Seanad itself, but to politics in general and this island's social and economic progress over the coming year."

Senator Roisin Garvey, leader of the Green Party in the Seanad, welcomed the news, adding: "the more strong voices we have the better".

Mr O'Hara became the Green Party leader in Northern Ireland in August 2022. He replaced Clare Bailey who chose not to stand for re-election as leader after losing her seat in the Stormont assembly election in May.

He served as a Belfast City Councillor for the Castle electoral ward between 2019 and 2023, losing his seat during last year's local government election. Before entering politics, he worked in the community and voluntary sector for almost two decades.

If elected to the Seanad, O'Hara would become the party's fifth sitting senator.
SDLP leaders concern as new body to strengthen east-west links meets

The SDLP is calling for the urgent restoration of the North South Ministerial Council after Stormont ministers attended the first meeting of a new body aimed at strengthening links across the UK.

First Minister Michelle ONeill, Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly, Economy Minister Conor Murphy, and Communities Minister Gordon Lyons attended the inaugural meeting of the East-West Council in London on Tuesday.

The body  initially proposed by the DUP  was established under the partys deal with the Government to restore power-sharing. It is designed to improve business and educational links between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove chaired the first meeting in Dover House, which was also attended by Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris.

Work to align Government funding streams with the stated priorities of the Stormont Executive was one of the main areas covered.

Two funding announcements were made: 150m to develop an Enhanced Investment Zone and 17m through the Shared Prosperity Fund to both improve adult numeracy and support business innovation here.

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said: It is particularly concerning that the North South Minister Council (NSMC) has yet to be re-established while a new East-West Council  designed and established as part of discussions between the DUP and the British Government which excluded nationalists and others  has already been convened and given credibility as a result of the First Ministers attendance.

It is time for the North South Ministerial Council to resume its business. After the suspension of council meetings during the two-year abeyance in devolved government, ministers across our island must recommit themselves to addressing the challenges our communities face together.

I am concerned that the NSMC, a core institution of the Good Friday Agreement, has yet to be convened following the restoration of power-sharing.

Mr Eastwood added: The erosion of North-South cooperation is one of the significant failures of devolution to date, we cannot let that continue.

We will be writing to the First and deputy First Ministers and the Irish government to ensure that North-South cooperation is restored, enhanced and maximised to the benefit of communities across Ireland in the weeks ahead.

However, both Ms ONeill and Ms Little-Pengelly insisted the East-West Council did not undermine the Good Friday Agreements existing structures.

The First Minister said it didnt have the same status or powers as any of the intergovernmental bodies created under the peace accord.

It is a forum in which we can discuss these things, its a forum in which we can improve relations, but it obviously doesnt have that statutory powers which other bodies would have.

I wouldnt allow anything to undermine the Good Friday Agreement, she said.

Ms Little-Pengelly rejected the suggestion the council was the DUPs attempt to bypass the Agreements structures.

The institutions of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement persist, they remain, she said.

Well be having the first meeting of the North South Ministerial Council very shortly. Well also be having a meeting of the British Irish Council in June coming up this year. So of course, those bodies will continue, she said.
University tuition fees for domestic undergraduate students have been frozen at 9,250 a year since 2017 (Chris Radburn/PA)

Universities in England could be told to terminate their arrangements with foreign countries if freedom of speech and academic freedom is undermined, the Governments free speech tsar has said.

Professor Arif Ahmed, director for freedom of speech and academic freedom at the Office for Students (OfS), said many universities and colleges in England have international arrangements  including admitting overseas students on scholarships and hosting institutes partly funded by foreign governments.

The watchdog believes there is a possibility of concerns relating to freedom of speech in these relationships, Prof Ahmed said.

His comments came as the higher education regulator launched a consultation on guidance about freedom of speech, ahead of universities, colleges and student unions taking on new free speech duties.

The guidance includes examples to illustrate what higher education institutions may have to do to fulfil their new duties  due to come into effect in August  to secure freedom of speech within the law.

In a briefing with the media, Prof Ahmed said the watchdog could receive complaints from students, academics or visiting speakers about a universitys arrangement with a foreign country or institution.

He said: For instance, if it means that there are people who are employed by an institute who are preventing legitimate protests or shutting down lecturers from covering certain kinds of content regarding that country for instance, or that countrys foreign policy.

Or were complaining about it if a university, for instance, is restricting that kind of activity because its concerned about its relationships with a foreign country.

If that behaviour amounts to a restriction of freedom of speech within the law, and someone brings a complaint to us, then we may find that the complaint is justified and then we make recommendations.

Prof Ahmed said the watchdog could call on the university to terminate or rewrite their arrangement with the foreign country.

He added: If there are problems, universities will have to do everything they can to act compatibly with their freedom-of-speech duties.

Insofar as that means a rethinking of their relationship with other countries, obviously thats something that would be a good idea for them to start thinking about now.

His comments come after a report by Parliaments spy agency watchdog in July last year raised concerns about Chinese influence in UK universities.

The Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) warned that Beijing uses Confucius Institutes to control the narrative around China and to steal academic research.

When asked whether there are fears that universities are putting the financial benefits of international students over preserving free speech for academics and students, Prof Ahmed said the OfS will look at individual cases as they come in and decide whether a priority was right or wrong.

He added: If we find a case where, for instance, a university thinks because its financially expedient that it can breach its free speech duties and it doesnt have to take practical steps to secure freedom of speech, or it thinks that it can compromise on those things simply because its financially expedient, that could very well be a case where they are in fact breaching their duties and we might find against them if a complaint comes to us.

In England, university tuition fees for domestic undergraduate students have been frozen at 9,250 a year since 2017.

Leaders in the higher education sector have previously suggested that universities may need to recruit more international students  which are charged much higher fees  if undergraduate tuition fees remain frozen.

Prof Ahmed said: We would have concerns if we think that universities and colleges are over-reliant on international students to the extent that they dont have plans in place to cope with a situation where, for instance, there might be a sudden fluctuation in the number of international students.

His comments come after the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill became law in May last year.

It will require universities, colleges and student unions in England to take steps to ensure lawful freedom of speech on campus.

This does not include unlawful speech, such as harassing others or inciting violence or terrorism.

In December, the OfS launched a consultation on its complaints scheme for students, staff and visiting speakers with concerns about restrictions on their lawful free speech, which will be available in August.

The watchdog also consulted on its approach to monitoring student unions on free speech matters.

On the latest consultation on guidance, which was published on Tuesday, Prof Ahmed said: While we will judge each case on its facts and with an open mind, this guidance is designed to help universities, colleges and students unions navigate their new free speech duties.

He added that the guidance gives universities the opportunity to consider their current policies, procedures and practices, and to take all the additional steps that they must take to secure this most fundamental of rights.

A spokesperson for Universities UK (UUK) said: This is an extraordinarily complex issue in an already complicated landscape, and it is essential that any decisions made on the basis of this consultation are considered and proportionate.

Freedom of speech and academic freedom sit at the heart of universities purpose, and the sector take their commitments and responsibility to protect and promote them extremely seriously.

We will take time to consider todays announcement, and look forward to both feeding into the consultation, and working with the OfS more broadly in this space.

A spokesperson for the Russell Group, which includes some of the most prestigious and research-intensive UK institutions, said: Whilst we will need to look carefully at the detail in here, our initial assessment is that there are areas which could have unintended consequences.

For example, international students are a hugely valuable part of our campus communities and whilst some receive scholarships funded by their home nation to attend university in the UK, this does not mean those individuals necessarily share or represent the views and political position of their home state.

Its important these students arent discriminated against based on the views or actions of their government.
China's top legislator meets Dominican Prime Minister

Xinhua) 11:13, March 26, 2024

Zhao Leji, chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, meets with Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica Roosevelt Skerrit in Beijing, capital of China, March 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling)

BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- China's top legislator Zhao Leji met with Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica Roosevelt Skerrit in Beijing on Monday.

China and Dominica are good friends and good partners sharing the same goals, said Zhao, the chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee.

He noted that since the establishment of diplomatic ties 20 years ago, the bilateral relations between the two countries have made great progress, bringing tangible benefits to the two peoples.

Zhao said China is willing to work with Dominica to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries and support each other on issues involving each other's core interests and major concerns.

Zhao called on both sides to jointly implement the Global Development Initiative and promote the development of friendly and cooperative relations between China and Dominica.

The NPC of China is willing to strengthen friendly exchanges with the parliament of Dominica, exchange experience on state governance and provide legal guarantee for bilateral cooperation in various fields, Zhao said.

Noting that Dominica and China are examples of mutual trust, mutual support and mutually beneficial cooperation, Skerrit thanked China for its long-term valuable assistance to Dominica.

Dominica firmly abides by the one-China principle, supports the Belt and Road Initiative and the three global initiatives, and stands ready to continuously deepen bilateral friendly cooperation, Skerrit said.

Zhao Leji, chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, meets with Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica Roosevelt Skerrit in Beijing, capital of China, March 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling)

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
Gov. Greg Abbott speaks to NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara, a Houston native currently on the International Space Station, at NASAs mission control at Johnson Space Center on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Houston . Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Mission Control at NASA's Johnson Space Center moments before Gov. Greg Abbotts visit in which he was greeted by Rep. Greg Bonnen and NASA's Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche and spoke to NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara, a Houston native currently on the International Space Station, on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Houston . Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Gov. Greg Abbott arrives at Mission Control at NASA's Johnson Space Center and is greeted with a gift by Rep. Greg Bonnen and NASA's Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche just before speaking to NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara, a Houston native currently on the International Space Station, on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Houston . Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Gov. Greg Abbott arrives at Mission Control at NASA's Johnson Space Center just before speaking to NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara, a Houston native currently on the International Space Station, on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Houston . Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Mission Control at NASA's Johnson Space Center moments before Governor Greg Abbotts visit on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Houston . Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Gov. Greg Abbott arrives at Mission Control at NASA's Johnson Space Center and is greeted by NASA's Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche, right, just before speaking to NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara, a Houston native currently on the International Space Station, on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Houston . Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer A security agent for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is photographed during the governor's visit to NASA's Johnson Space Center to announce the inaugural members of the Texas Space Commission Board of Directors and the Texas Aerospace Research and Space Economy Consortium Executive Committee alongside Rep. Greg Bonnen, Speaker Dade Phelan and NASA's Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Houston . Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Texas Gov. Greg Abbott visits NASA's Johnson Space Center to announce the inaugural members of the Texas Space Commission Board of Directors and the Texas Aerospace Research and Space Economy Consortium Executive Committee alongside Speaker Dade Phelan, Rep. Greg Bonnen and NASA's Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche at a press conference on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Houston . Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Texas Gov. Greg Abbott visits NASA's Johnson Space Center to announce the inaugural members of the Texas Space Commission Board of Directors and the Texas Aerospace Research and Space Economy Consortium Executive Committee. Pictured, from left, are Rep. Greg Bonnen, Speaker Dade Phelan, Abbott and NASA's Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Houston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, right, visits NASA's Johnson Space Center to announce the inaugural members of the Texas Space Commission Board of Directors and the Texas Aerospace Research and Space Economy Consortium Executive Committee. Speaker Dade Phelan, left, was also at the news conference on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Houston . Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Speaker Dade Phelan, pictured, joins Texas Governor Greg Abbott at NASA's Johnson Space Center to announce the inaugural members of the Texas Space Commission Board of Directors and the Texas Aerospace Research and Space Economy Consortium Executive Committee alongside Rep. Greg Bonnen and NASA's Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Houston . Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Texas Gov. Greg Abbott visits NASA's Johnson Space Center to announce the inaugural members of the Texas Space Commission Board of Directors and the Texas Aerospace Research and Space Economy Consortium Executive Committee. Pictured, from left, are Rep. Greg Bonnen, Speaker Dade Phelan, Abbott and NASA's Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Houston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer

Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday unveiled the 18 people who will lead Texas efforts to remain competitive in civil, commercial and military space.

The nominees  including representatives from Elon Musks SpaceX, Lockheed Martin, smaller commercial space companies and academia  will guide the Texas Space Commission and the Texas Aerospace Research and Space Economy Consortium. The Texas Legislature created the organizations last year to keep Texas competitive with Florida, Colorado and other states capitalizing on the new era of space exploration.

In this past session, one of the most forward-looking things we did was to create the Texas Space Commission, Abbott said Tuesday during a news conference at NASAs Johnson Space Center.

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The Texas Space Commission will be tasked with developing a statewide strategy that promotes innovation, creates incentives (including grant funding) and develops workforce training. It initially has $350 million to work with, $150 million budgeted for grants and $200 million for a new research and training facility built by the Texas A&M University System.

The Texas Aerospace Research and Space Economy Consortium, which is part of the Texas Space Commission, will identify research and development opportunities and find ways to further integrate space into the Texas economy.

Speaker Dade Phelan said the 18 positions on the commissions board of directors and the consortiums executive committee were some of the most sought-after appointments that he and his staff had seen in decades.

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We have the best and the brightest standing behind us right now ready to serve the state of Texas, said Phelan, R-Beaumont.

The appointees will determine more specifics about how the two organizations operate and choose the executive director of the Texas Space Commission.

At a news conference at Johnson Space Center, the new appointees stood clustered behind Abbott, Phelan, state Rep. Greg Bonnen, R-Friendswood, who authored the legislation creating the organizations, and Vanessa Wyche, director of the NASA Johnson Space Center. Their names were announced in a news release sent out after the event.

Those tapped by Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Phelan to serve on the Texas Space Commission include representatives of major space companies, including SpaceX, Lockheed Martin and the Boeing Co. Also on the board are Houston-based Venus Aerospace Corp., which is developing a hypersonic spaceplane, and Houstonian Gwen Griffin, CEO of Griffin Communications Group and executive director of Blue Origins nonprofit education foundation Club for the Future.

Representatives of several Houston-based businesses and organizations were also tapped to be on the Texas Aerospace Research and Space Economy Consortium, which included appointees from Texas A&M University System, Rice University and the University of Texas System.

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The Houstonians include Jack 2fish Fischer, a former NASA astronaut and the vice president of production and operations at lunar lander company Intuitive Machines; Brian Freedman, president of the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership; Stephanie Murphy, CEO of space and technology company Aegis Aerospace; Matt Ondler, president of the commercial space station and spacesuit company Axiom Space; and David Alexander, director of the Rice Space Institute.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak defended his Governments approach to China after accusations it was doing less than other countries to tackle the East Asian superpower (Danny Lawson/PA)

The UKs approach to China is more robust than most of its allies, the Prime Minister has insisted following demands for a tougher line on Beijing.

At one of his regular grillings by select committee chairs, Rishi Sunak was challenged on the Governments reluctance to act on a number of Chinese-owned companies such as Bytedance, which owns TikTok.

He rejected the suggestion from Liam Byrne, Labour MP and chairman of the Commons Business and Trade Committee, that while other nations acted to protect themselves against China, the UK was merely thinking about it.

Mr Sunak told the Commons Liaison Committee: Our approach to China is undoubtedly more robust than, Id say, most of our allies.

He pointed to European countries not removing Huawei equipment from their telecommunications networks, not placing similar restrictions on exports of sensitive technology to China and said the UKs foreign investment regime was the most recently implemented and therefore the most robust, among other examples.

He added: I am entirely confident that our approach to dealing with the risk that China poses is very much in line with our allies and in most cases goes further in protecting ourselves.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made his comments during a regular grilling by the House of Commons Liaison Committee (House of Commons/PA)

Mr Byrne, who has raised concerns about the influence of Chinese-owned businesses such as Bytedance, replied: It clearly doesnt.

The Prime Ministers defence of the UKs China policy comes after the Government blamed Beijing for malicious cyber attacks on parliamentarians and the Electoral Commission, sanctioning some of those involved.

Backbench Conservatives, however, criticised the Governments actions, saying it had not gone far enough, while others renewed their calls for China to be labelled a threat.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan told Times Radio on Tuesday morning that China was obviously a security threat, but Downing Street has been keen to play down the possibility that the Government could change its language on the country, which it currently calls as an epoch-defining challenge.

The Prime Ministers official spokesman said: There isnt a mechanism under UK law or indeed in our G7 or Five Eyes countries that has a designation process like that.

Cabinet tensions have reportedly surfaced over the issue, with some ministers pushing for tougher action on Beijing while others are resistant over concerns it could harm economic and trade relations.

Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden told the Commons Beijing was to blame for a cyber attack on the Electoral Commission (UK Parliament/PA)

Tuesday also saw the charge daffairs at the Chinese embassy attend the Foreign Office following a formal summons to account for his countrys actions.

The Foreign Office said it had set out an unequivocal condemnation of malicious cyber activity by organisations affiliated to Beijing, saying it would not tolerate such threatening activity, and would continue to take strong action with partners across the globe to respond.

The attribution of the cyber attacks to the APT31 hacking group, believed to be under the control of the Chinese Ministry of State Security, was part of a coordinated effort with the UKs allies, including the US and New Zealand.

US authorities announced sanctions against the same front company and individuals as the UK, and also said it had charged seven individuals with computer misuse and fraud offences.

New Zealand alleged hackers linked to the Chinese government launched a state-sponsored operation that targeted the countrys parliament in 2021 but said it lacked the legal powers to impose sanctions.

The Chinese government has strongly denied that it has carried out, supported or encouraged cyber attacks on the UK, describing the claims as completely fabricated and malicious slanders.

A spokesman 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.
A UK Foreign Office minister has insisted a UN Security Council resolution on a ceasefire in Gaza is legally binding, in contrast to messages from the US Government.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US Ambassador to the UN, described calls for a lasting, sustainable ceasefire in Israels war with Hamas and the release of all hostages a nonbinding resolution as the US abstained in the vote.

White House spokesman John Kirby said: Its a non-binding resolution.

So theres no impact at all on Israel and Israels ability to go after Hamas.

UN Security Council resolutions are considered binding, in accordance with Article 25 of the UN charter, which was ratified by the US.

Peers discussed whether the UN ruling was binding (Jonathan Brady/PA)

UK Foreign Office minister Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon told Parliament that the UK considers this resolution to be binding.

He said in the House of Lords on Wednesday: It is binding.

The United Kingdoms place is clear.

He added: There has been speculation on this and the words on binding or nonbinding.

We are very clear: theres two elements on this, a Chapter VII or a Chapter VI.

This was made under Chapter VI, but there is a convention which goes back to 1971 which confirms that those decisions which are passed by the UN Security Council are binding.

Chapter VI of the United Nations Charter requires states to settle their disputes by peaceful means, while Chapter VII enables the Security Council to take coercive action with respect to threats to peace, breaches of peace and acts of aggression.
Supporters of Julian Assange gathered outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London (PA)

The United States must give assurances that Julian Assange will not face the death penalty before judges will consider dismissing the WikiLeaks founders bid to bring an extradition appeal, the High Court has ruled.

Assange faces prosecution in the US over an alleged conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information following the publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

In a January 2021 ruling, then-district judge Vanessa Baraitser said that Assange should not be sent to the US, citing a real and oppressive risk of suicide, while ruling against him on all other issues.

Later that year, US authorities won their High Court bid to overturn this block, paving the way towards Assanges extradition.

During a two-day hearing in February, lawyers for the 52-year-old asked for the go-ahead to challenge the original judges dismissal of other parts of his case to prevent his extradition.

In a judgment on Tuesday, Dame Victoria Sharp and Mr Justice Johnson dismissed most of Assanges legal arguments but said that unless assurances were given by the United States he would be able to bring an appeal on three grounds.

These assurances are that Assange would be protected by and allowed to rely on the First Amendment  which protects freedom of speech in the US, that he is not prejudiced at trial due to his nationality, and that the death penalty is not imposed.

The judges said the US authorities had three weeks to give those assurances, with a final hearing potentially taking place in late May.

Speaking after the judgment, the Australians wife Stella Assange described the ruling as astounding and utterly bizarre.

She said: What the courts have done has been to invite a political intervention from the United States send a letter saying its all ok. I find this astounding.

Stella Assange, the wife of Julian Assange, speaking to the media outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

This case is a retribution. It is a signal to all of you that if you expose the interests that are driving war they will come after you, they will put you in prison and will try to kill you.

The Biden administration should not issue assurances. They should drop this shameful case that should never have been brought.

Addressing Assanges argument about freedom of speech, Dame Victoria said: If he is not permitted to rely on the First Amendment because of his status as a foreign national, he will thereby be prejudiced, potentially very greatly prejudiced, by reason of his nationality.

She concluded: It follows that it is arguable that the applicant might be treated differently at trial on the grounds of his nationality.

Subject to the question of whether this could be addressed by means of an assurance from the respondent, we would grant leave to appeal.

At the start of Assanges bid last month, Mark Summers KC argued the USs prosecution would be retribution for his political opinions, meaning it would be unlawful to extradite him under UK law.

However the two judges rejected this argument.

Stella Assange, the wife of Julian Assange, (centre) outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Dame Victoria said: The applicants case before us amounts simply to a reassertion of his case on this issue, and a disagreement with the (district) judges conclusion.

It does not engage with the judges reasoning. Far less does it identify any flaw in her factual conclusions.

The hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice was attended by dozens of journalists and members of the public, with hundreds observing remotely.

On Tuesday, dozens of people stood outside the central London courthouse to await the judgment, holding placards bearing the message Free Julian Assange and chanting There is only one decision, no extradition.
Ambulances park near a burning building of the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia (AP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov)

Twenty-two victims of the Russia concert hall attack, in which more than 130 people were killed, remain in serious condition in the hospital, health minister Mikhail Murashko said.

Two of them are children, state news agency Tass said.

Russia is still reeling from Fridays attack in which gunmen killed 139 people in a concert hall on the outskirts of Moscow.

A national day of mourning was marked across Russia following Fridays attack (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the gunmen are radical Islamists, but despite all evidence pointing to the involvement of the so-called Islamic State, Mr Putin repeated his accusation that Ukraine could have played a role.

Kyiv has strongly denied any link to the attack.

Four men accused of carrying out the attack appeared before a Moscow court on Sunday on terrorism charges and showed signs of severe beatings. One appeared to be barely conscious during the hearing.

The men are citizens of Tajikistan, authorities said, and were named by investigators as Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, 32; Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, 30; Shamsidin Fariduni, 25; and Mukhammadsobir Faizov, 19.

They were charged with committing a terrorist attack resulting in the death of others. The offence carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

One of the suspects accused of the shooting appeared in court barely conscious (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Russian officials said they detained a total of 11 people over the attack. Another of those detained appeared in court on Monday.

Alisher Kasimov, a citizen of Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia, was charged with renting an apartment to the men accused of carrying out the attack.

A senior Turkish security official confirmed that two of the Moscow attackers had spent a short amount of time in Turkey before travelling together to Russia on March 2.

One of the attackers, Fariduni, entered Turkey on February 20, checked into a hotel in Istanbuls Fatih district the next day and checked out on February 27, the official said.

The other, Rachabalizoda, checked into a hotel in the same district on January 5 and checked out on January 21.

The official said Turkish authorities believe the two suspects became radicalised in Russia because they were not in Turkey for long.

There was no warrant for their arrest so they were allowed to travel freely between Russia and Turkey, the official said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged that the killings were carried out by extremists (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

The attack on Friday at the Crocus City Hall music venue on Moscows western outskirts was one of the deadliest in Russia in years and left more than 180 people injured.

Two days after the affiliate of the so-called Islamic State in Afghanistan, Isis-K claimed responsibility, Mr Putin acknowledged that the killings were carried out by extremists whose ideology the Islamic world has been fighting for centuries.

Mr Putin, who declared over the weekend the four attackers were arrested while trying to escape to Ukraine, said investigators have not determined 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.

Isis-K claimed it carried out the attack, and US intelligence said it had information confirming the group was responsible.

French President Emmanuel Macron said France has intelligence pointing to an IS entity as responsible for the attack.
As the new East-West Council created as part of the DUPs deal with the Government to restore Stormont meets for the first time in London on Tuesday, deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly writes about her aspirations for the new body

On Tuesday, together with representatives from the Westminster, Scottish and Welsh governments, we will meet in Dover House, London for the inaugural East-West Council.

Now more than ever, closer cooperation matters. The United Kingdom is the most successful political Union the world has ever seen. If we are to build on this foundation however, a joined-up approach between the Government and each of the devolved administrations is essential.

The Covid pandemic demonstrated the dangers of poor cooperation and we must learn those lessons. Strengthening ties between Northern Ireland and England, Scotland and Wales will have a transformative impact.

Read more East-West Council set for inaugural meeting

Promoting trade across the UK will sustain and create jobs across our Province, and better road, rail, air and sea links will deliver new opportunities for our citizens to travel.

School exchange programmes allow our children and young people to make connections and gain an appreciation of the shared values and diversity that bind all of us together. For those passionate in preserving our unionist culture and identity, pursuing even greater East-West cooperation will also unlock a greater knowledge of where they came from and how those roots shape our families and communities today.

We have a plan to re-imagine and boost the East-West dimension through these new and permanent structures to bring representatives of Northern Ireland and Great Britain together.

I welcome the fact that the Government has moved swiftly to set the wheels in motion for the UK East-West Council in line with its commitments under the Safeguarding the Union Command Paper.

Whilst the Council has been created, this is not the end of the journey. This is day one and the real work is only just starting.

We have got to use this new structure to strengthen the United Kingdom for the better of all our people. Whether it be trade, transport, education, sport or culture, the UK East-West Council will be a critical forum for building and strengthening connections between Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England.

There will be a clear focus on strengthening the UK internal market and raising the profile of Northern Ireland when it comes to future investment decisions taken by businesses and ministers in GB.

The Council will also have a part to play in scrutinising government spending on language, identity and culture.

On the agenda today are plans for getting Intertrade UK up and running. This organisation will promote trade within the UK and support traders to provide goods and services for the whole UK. I am delighted that we will also discuss a prospectus for investment in Northern Ireland.

The East-West Council provides an opportunity to swing the pendulum back in thinking strategically about how the greatest political Union across the world can be strengthened for future generations.

The DUP is focused on building structures and implementing a forward-looking strategy which strengthens Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom. This is the time for unionism to be growing rather than looking inward.

The East-West Council will also bolster the work we have undertaken to address harm caused to UK internal trade by the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Two years ago, we set out to bring the EU and the UK back to the negotiating table and get a better deal for Northern Ireland and piece by piece we are delivering.

We reached an agreement with the UK Government on a balanced package of measures to safeguard Northern Irelands place within the United Kingdom. Did we achieve everything we sought? No, we would like to get more goods out of the red lane, particularly for those companies who are manufacturing here.

Make no mistake, there are those who talk but have failed to deliver anything. The DUP will leave no stone unturned as we seek to use the East-West Council and Intertrade UK to usher in a new era of cooperation and prosperity throughout the United Kingdom.
Pat McArt knew both Martin McGuinness and John Hume well

Pat McArt in the Journal office with John Hume, Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald and the Republic's Foreign Minister Peter Barry

Former Derry Journal Editor Pat McArt who has just published his memoir, 'War, Peace and the Derry Journal'

Donegal native Pat McArt steered the ship as editor of the largest newspaper in the North West for 25 years during the height of the troubles.

At the time, the eyes of the world were on Londonderry.

It was home to IRA commander and Sinn Fein chief negotiator Martin McGuinness and key architect of the Good Friday Agreement John Hume.

McArt was a trusted critic and counsellor of these local giants.

His new book, titled War, Peace and the Derry Journal chronicles Derrys transition from the devastation of the troubles towards peace.

Belfast Telegraphs Derry reporter Garrett Hargan is joined by the former editor and writer to discuss his extraordinary career.
If youre worried about this summers beach bod, look away now. Otherwise, buckle up for a food and drink tour-de-force

For all its many trials and tribulations, Belfast still knows how to party.

From comedians to captains of industry, the naysayers have been lining up to stick the boot in of late. But forgiving those flaws for a moment, few could deny the citys embarrassment of riches when it comes to having a good time, positively brimming as it is with an array of fabulous bars, restaurants and hotels.

So for those of a hedonistic hue, and without further ado, heres my guide to a culinary  and calorific  boozy 24-hour romp through Belfast.

AM

Check in at Room 2

Winnie's bar at Room2

If Belfast had a Gastronomy Quarter, it might be here, in and around Room2, one of Belfasts newest and greenest hotels, sustainable, pet-friendly and uber-cool (www.room2.com).

Within a few minutes walking distance are some of the citys finest restaurants, from Ora to Flame; Edo to Yugo; Home to Howard Street; Nu Delhi to Deanes.

In the event your room isnt ready upon arrival, you can leave luggage safely in storage and head on out anyway.

The reception area at Room2 in Belfast

Breakfast at St Georges Market

St George's Market

If artisan coffee, live music and a gargantuan Belfast bap piled high with egg, bacon and sausage is your thing at breakfast time, then head to St Georges.

The Belfast bap is as close to a local delicacy as you might get here. Synonymous with the city, its the legacy of philanthropist and master baker Barney Hughes, who created the inexpensive, airy bread to feed the poor of Belfast during the Great Famine.

Open from 9am-3pm on a Saturday, this vibrant covered Victorian market dates all the way back to the 1890s, though there was a Friday market on the site some 200 years further back, when the area was a quayside surrounded by lodgings and inns for the merchant seamen passing through.

The Belfast Bap Co in St George's Market

The Saturday market sees local, continental and speciality foods sold, including fresh fish, tapas, chutneys, breads and some exotic-looking fruit and veg. The atmosphere is electric, with the best in local arts and crafts, floristry and photography also being hawked from the busy stalls. (www.belfastcity.gov.uk/stgeorgesmarket; see The Belfast Bap Co on Facebook; www.drophoppercoffee.com)

PM

Next stop Common Market

One of the newest arrivals on the scene, the bustling Common Market is a big and unapologetically bold street food emporium situated in a converted one-time fruit and veg warehouse.

Family-friendly and open Thursday to Sunday, its home to two bars and almost a dozen food stalls, while live sport and music blare all day and night. You can grab a bite at a table, at a barrel or on the hoof.

And indeed, all around are punters ranged like jackals on the savanna, savaging paper plates of food, sauce up the side of the face, hands dripping in red relish.

Theres fare from all four corners of the globe too: traditional poutine from French Canada; Filipino fusion at Lasa; Smash Bros, a burger joint; Hey Chick, purveyors of fried chicken dishes; Ball and Roll specialising in spring rolls; Al Pastor which magics up Mexican street food, and so on. To tide you over to dinner, go for the fully-loaded double cheeseburger from Smash Bros (www.commonmarket.com or search it up on Facebook).

A loaded burger at Smash Bros in Common Market

Still thirsty?

For a drink or three before your tables ready, hit the cobbled streets of the neighbouring Cathedral Quarter.

Once the beating heart of Belfasts whiskey export scene  bonded warehouses full of barrels once lined Hill Street for ease of access to ships docked on the Farset River (now High Street)  and thereafter a rather non-descript intersection of quiet side-streets, the area is now a nightlife mecca with its high concentration of bars. Choose from The Harp, 39 Gordon Street, The Duke of York, Dirty Onion, The National, The Spaniard and more...

Evening

Dinner at Roam

Roam Belfast

Classy yet devoid of stuffiness or pretension, Roam is as good as it gets. The streetwise waiting staff are brill, and the food to die for.

Naturally, the menu changes regularly, but the chicken wing starter is still on, and is highly recommended. As is the pollock, mussels, potato and cream main, should it make an appearance again any time soon.

Found on Callender Street, Roam is a fine dining treat, and reasonable too (www.roambelfast.com).

The chicken wings at Roam were superb

Almost last orders

Berts Jazz Bar

A block or two away from Roam lies Berts Jazz Bar, too cool for school. Like the place itself, the clientele here is of a high calibre  the prices alone will sort the wheat from the chaff.

Grab a stool at the bar, order yourself a French Martini and marvel at this little art deco diamond of a venue, dark and decadent, the ubiquitous rich red leather and velvet reminiscent of some Roaring Twenties Chicago saloon (www.themerchanthotel.com/berts-jazz-bar).

A nightcap

Round the night off by chilling to the tunes of an acoustic guitar set at the sumptuous Winnies Bar back at Room2, cocktail in hand.

Next morning, time to refuel

Kickstart a new day with a hot buffet or a la carte breakfast back down at Winnies, before checking out.

More on Room2

This eco-friendly hometel, the fourth outing form the Lamington Group, holds a gold rating in the Green Tourism Award.

Situated on Queen Street, it is just moments away from Belfasts most popular attractions.

Consisting of 175 rooms across nine floors, theres also a vibrant cafe, a gorgeous bar, plus lounge, tearoom, meeting and event spaces and a gym.

The hometel is designed to be a welcoming and sustainable space to work, relax or catch up with friends. For room rates and availability, visit room2.com
UDA bosses pumping units dues into bonfire fund after humiliation at last years Eleventh Night

Terror chiefs determined to avoid repeat of tiny pyre, but insiders predict disaster with cokehead in charge

UDA men in Rathcoole

Sunday Life Reporter Tue 26 Mar 2024 at 13:00

A unit in the South East Antrim (SEA) UDA drugs cartel has been told dues from its members will no longer go to paying bosses.
After the drowning death of an 8-year-old at a northwest Houston hotel, a local pool expert provides insight into how a person could potentially become stuck in a pool pipe. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer

A young girl was found dead inside a narrow pipe feeding into a northwest Houston hotel's lazy river-like pool Saturday, hours after family members had reported her missing.

After the shocking discovery of the 8-year-old girl fatally wedged inside the pipe, questions began circulating as to how such a tragic accident could occur and how worried families should be about it happening again.

A local pool expert, Nat Sosienski, explained how rare such accidents are in the Houston area, while the Red Cross provided general pool safety information.

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What was used to search through the hotel's pool pipes?

There was a collaborative effort to find the 8-year-old Aliyah Jaico by agencies including the Houston Police Department, Texas EquuSearch and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. They used long poles with cameras to look roughly into a 12- to 16-inch in the lazy river's pool flow system.

After an extensive search of the pipes, someone spotted the child on one of the cameras. The Houston Fire Department recovered the 8-year-old's body and paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene.

How does a person get stuck in pool pipes?

Pools have different pipes that people could get stuck in. According to Sosienski, the main drain at the bottom of a pool is a "point of suction." This means the pump holds water in and then pushes the water through filters. Some people could accidentally get trapped in the main drain, but the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act required changes that prevented people from becoming trapped in the drain at the bottom of the pool.

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A lawsuit filed against the local hotel owners claimed Aliyah was found wedged into the pipes of "malfunctioning pool equipment" and sucked into a 12- to 16-inch unsecured gap in the lazy river's pool flow system. ABC13 reported that Texas EquuSearch Founder Tim Miller also said there was a malfunction in a pipe meant to push out water into the lazy pool.

Sosienski said those kinds of pipes are referred to as pool returns. Normally, lazy rivers have a large return that directs the water flow returning to the pool, he added.

What is the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act?

The federal Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act required pool drain covers manufactured or sold in the United States to comply with new entrapment standards such as requiring owners of public pools and spa suction outlet systems to install safety equipment, according to the Texas Department of Health and Human Services.

The Act became effective in December 2008.

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Was there a malfunction?

The Harris County Institute of Forensic Science ruled Aliyah's death as an accidental drowning caused by drowning and "mechanical asphyxia."

Investigators are still trying to find out what caused the pipe, intended to push water out, to malfunction. Sosienki explained most pool returns don't have a lot of code regarding covers.

The Houston Health Department found other violations with the hotel's pool causing the public area to close, however, there was nothing in the new report specifically connected to Aliyah's death.

According to other pool services, public pool owners should check pipes, especially for leaks. If you're in the pool and see an issue, let the owners know as soon as possible.

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Sosienki said the investigation needs to be completed before future prevention plans could be evaluated.

Public pool safety tips

The Red Cross has some public pool safety tips for anyone who is looking to swim this spring:

Read and adhere to the rules of the public pool.

Supervise all members of your party while they're in the water, especially children.

Note where the safety equipment is located. Ask the pool owners if you're unsure.

Try to avoid overly crowded pools.

Check to see if the pool is well maintained.

If there's a lifeguard, make sure their rules and announcements at the pool.
KK Mart founder Chai Kee Kan, 57 (center), and his wife Loh Siew Mui, 53 (left) are seen alongside their lawyers at the Shah Alam Sessions Court in Selangor, March 26, 2024.

A Malaysian court on Tuesday charged the directors of a convenience store chain with wounding religious feelings for selling socks with the word Allah written on them, in the latest incident to expose simmering ethnic tensions in the Southeast Asian country.

Prosecutors charged Chai Kee Kan, the 57-year-old owner of KK Super Mart, and his wife who serves as a company director, with deliberately intending to hurt religious feelings, according to court documents.

Three directors from supplier Xin Jian Chang  Goh Li Huay, Soh Hui San and Soh Chin Huat  have also been charged with abetting the alleged crime.

The defendants appeared at Shah Alam Sessions Court on Tuesday, where they all pleaded not guilty and were granted bail. If convicted, they face a maximum jail term of one year, a fine, or both.

Photos of the socks began spreading online earlier this month, stirring outrage among Malaysias majority Malay population  all of whom are considered Muslim  and prompting stern criticism from King Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, who called for the perpetrators to be punished.



Depicting Allah in any shape or form is prohibited in Islam, let alone on socks, as feet are considered unclean and impure.

Rajpal Singh, a lawyer representing the convenience store directors, said he was confident the charges would be dismissed.

My clients have pleaded not guilty, and they are innocent until proven guilty, he told reporters outside the courtroom on Tuesday.

Two men walk in front of KK Super Mart outlet in Chow Kit, Kuala Lumpur, March 18, 2024. [S. Mahfuz/BenarNews]

On March 16, as public anger grew, Chai made a tearful apology to the Muslim community and said he had pulled the socks from sale.

Supplier Xin Jian Chang also apologized last week, saying the problematic socks were part of a larger shipment ordered from Mian Qing Hosiery, a company based in Zhejiang province, China.

We regret any oversight in our quality control process that allowed these items to enter our inventory, despite our best efforts to ensure that all 18,800 socks received from our Chinese supplier were in accordance with the provided samples, the company said.

KK Super Mart on Monday filed a lawsuit against the supplier, seeking 30 million Malaysian ringgit ($6.3 million) in damages for sabotaging its business.

Islam weaponized

Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, who as the head of Malaysias monarchy is regarded as the protector of Islam, in his rebuke last week reminded Malaysians to refrain from discussing sensitive issues on religion, race and royalty.

Whether it was intentional or not, whether it was imported or produced in local factories, I want enforcement agencies to investigate and take the strictest action according to the existing laws so that the same mistake is not repeated, he said.

Last week, authorities jailed two men, Chiok Wai Loong and Ricky Shane Cagampang, under the communication laws for posting offensive Facebook comments related to the socks controversy.

Analysts say the controversy surrounding the socks is being politicized and used to inflame ethnic tensions.

If we look at the issue objectively, it is probably a case of a few socks wrongly sent to a supplier that ended up in a supermarket. However, because of the rising ethnic tension in the background, it became amplified, Tunku Mohar Mokhtar, an assistant professor at the International Islamic University Malaysia, told BenarNews.



While Muslim sensitivities were hurt, the responses might not be proportionate.

Xin Jian Chang owner, Soh Chin Huat (left), leaves the Shah Alam Sessions Court in Selangor, March 26, 2024. [S.Mahfuz/BenarNews]

The Malay nationalist party UMNO, which is part of the governing coalition, has made a particular effort to exploit the controversy and called for a boycott of convenience store chain.

Islam has been weaponized in the political arena, James Chin, an Asian studies professor at the University of Tasmania, told BenarNews. It is clear that they [Malay politicians] want to pursue this case to show that they are the champions of Islam in Malaysia on the governing side and opposition side.

If the government did not intervene to check the rise of political Islam, ethnic divisions could worsen, he said.

There will be more and more people attacking each other on religious grounds, and were heading towards a situation like in Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh, where people use religion as a political weapon.

Islam is the official religion of Malaysia, but around 40% of the population profess other faiths such as Buddhism, Christianity or Hinduism.

Recent incidents of moral outrage and intolerance, however, have raised concerns among many about a rise in Islamic conservatism.

Earlier this year, the director and producer of a now-banned feature film about a Muslim girl who explores other faiths were also charged with hurting religious feelings.

Last year, Malaysia banned Swatch watches and accessories with LGBTQ references and made possessing them punishable by up to three years in prison, saying that normalizing the gay community may harm the nation.
Veronica Duterte holds a Bible while her father, Rodrigo Duterte is sworn in as Philippine president while family members Sebastian Duterte (center), Sara Duterte and Paolo Duterte look on during a ceremony in Malacanang Palace in Manila, June 30, 2016.

Human rights groups in the Philippines expressed grave concern Tuesday over a warning by ex-President Rodrigo Dutertes son that he would kill drug addicts and pushers  an echo of his fathers anti-narcotics campaign, which the International Criminal Court is investigating.

Sebastian Duterte made the declaration in his role as mayor of southern Davao City, where his father also governed before serving as president, when thousands of suspects were killed by police across the nation as part of his administrations crackdown on illegal drugs.

I repeat, if you dont leave the city, if you dont stop drug peddling, I will kill you, Sebastian Duterte, 36, said last Friday during the turnover of command for the police department in Davao.

I cant afford that families, the communities would be destroyed just because of your selfish venture. You just want to get rich by selling drugs, then you harm other people because of your greediness, then I will kill you, the young mayor said.

The Philippine government has said that about 8,000 suspected dealers and addicts were killed during the counter-narcotics campaign by the Duterte administration (2016 to 2022), but rights advocates have said the figure could be more than twice as much.

Then-President Rodrigo Duterte, who was known for his tough-talking manner, once publicly encouraged police officers to shoot and kill drug suspects.

I said, go there and you are free to kill everybody,  go start killing them, he said during a visit to the central Philippine city of Bacolod in October 2019.

Sebastian Duterte, whose older sister Sara is vice president, said drugs remained a problem in Davao despite his fathers approach during his presidency. She had also served as mayor in the Duterte clans hometown.

Carlos Conde, a senior Asia researcher for Human Rights Watch, said activists were deeply concerned about the younger Dutertes declaration, saying it would worsen the dire human rights situation in Davao.

Needless to say, and as we have seen during the time of his father Rodrigo as president, the drug war has been catastrophic, particularly for poor Filipinos often targeted by the authorities in bloody drug raids, Conde said in a statement.

The national government should step in to stop the carnage in Davao City and elsewhere, he said.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. who ran as an ally of the Duterte family ahead of the 2022 election, should be alarmed by this and should take action by rescinding the governments official policies legitimizing the drug war and order the police, whether in Davao City or elsewhere, to stand down, Conde said.

Rights groups

The Commission on Human Rights also denounced Sebastian Dutertes declaration.

Principal to the pursuit of truth and justice relies on the unconditional respect for every persons most fundamental right  the right to life itself even if they are arrested for an alleged criminal offense, it said in a statement.

Using extrajudicial means undermines the rule of law and destroys faith in legal systems, ultimately hindering genuine efforts to address the root causes of drug-related problems in the country, the commission said.

Hours after Sebastian Dutertes announcement, a man identified as a big-time drug suspect was killed during a Saturday morning shootout with police outside the city. Two more suspects were killed in separate operations on the same day.

By Sunday morning, a fourth suspect was killed in the village of Mintal and a fifth was killed in the afternoon after police said he resisted arrest.

ICC

Rodrigo Dutertes bloody campaigns as mayor and president led to two complaints against him filed with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

One was filed by a former police officer, a self-styled assassin who accused him of ordering the deaths of opponents and criminals when Duterte served as mayor of southern Davao city. The second was filed by relatives of people killed while he served as president.

During his presidency, Duterte withdrew the Philippines from an international treaty that created the ICC and he argued that he would not allow himself to be subjected to an international trial.

A 2021 investigation by the Philippine Department of Justice said that in many cases, police officers involved in the killings did not follow protocol and could be prosecuted. Four police officers have been convicted of murder linked to drug-war killings.

Dennis Jay Santos and Richel V. Umel in Davao City, Philippines, contributed to this report.
Bishop Broderick Pabillo speaks at a charity event for fishermen affected by Typhoon Rai in Palawan, Philippines, May 14, 2023.

The bishops are nothing if not blunt.

Chinas incursions in the South China Sea have wrought havoc on the lives of our fisherfolk in the Philippines, six Filipino Church leaders said in a rare and surprisingly combative pastoral exhortation issued last month.

The governments response to the territorial trespasses, meanwhile, amounts to a policy of appeasing the Chinese aggressors.

We seek peace, and it cannot be a moral option to wage war, the bishops said.

But the statement also offers a case for defending the Philippines territorial integrity in the longstanding maritime dispute.

If diplomatic efforts falter then it is permissible, morally necessary even, to have recourse to the friendship of allies who can help us defend what is ours!

Workers sort fish at a market in Masinloc, in Zambales province, Philippines Feb. 27, 2024. [RFA]

The 519-word statement doesnt name its potential allies, but the United States and the Philippines signed a Mutual Defense Treaty in 1951 that calls on both nations to support each other if one of them is attacked by a third party.

The letter was so blunt that Justin Baquisal, a Philippine security analyst, said he had to read it twice.

This is the first time that theyve spoken with this tone, Baquisal said. The usual tactic before is they would issue an oratio imperata, which is sort of a like a call for prayer. But this time, this is very explicit. This is a political statement. It is very much directed at the government. It is directed at China.

A smaller catch

It isnt clear how the statement will affect the dispute over the South China Sea, which in recent weeks has grown even more tense. In a country where more than 80% of the population considers themselves Catholic, the church carries considerable political weight.

At the least, the statement gives political cover to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who has spoken more forcefully against Chinas actions than his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte.

The livelihood of our people depends on what we have on the seaside, said Bishop Bartolome Santos, Jr., who leads the diocese in Iba, in the western Philippine province of Zambales, and was one of the six who signed the letter.

We need to be proactive and stand beside our people so they can have some hope. We need to give them energy and encouragement  to not give up and stand our ground.

Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said China had indisputable sovereignty over the area and that it was completely legitimate and legal for Chinese ships to operate there.

A Mass at St. John the Evangelist Cathedral in Dagupan City, Philippines, Dec. 16, 2020. More than 80% of Filipinos are Catholic. [Jojo Rinoza/BenarNews]

But the bishops said that fishermen in Zambales have long relied on the Scarborough Shoal, an atoll 124 nautical miles (230 kilometers) west from the coastline of Luzon, the largest island in northern Philippines.

Called Bajo de Masinloc by the locals, the shoal was where they fished for large grouper and bluefin tuna.

At the Masinloc market these days its mostly just anchovies, mackerels and small tuna for sale. Filipino fishermen from the area told RFA that their catch has been cut by as much as two thirds since the Chinese coast guard started trying to block access to the area in 2012.

Tolomeo Farones said he was forced to quit altogether.

The boat owner sold our boat because we couldnt go to sea thanks to Chinas harassment, and it would just be rotten lying around, he said in an interview.

Farones now makes a living as a janitor at a local school.

Fishing boats are seen pulled up on the shore in Masinloc, Zambales, Feb. 26, 2024. [RFA]

Another flashpoint

In their exhortation, the six bishops said Filipino fishermen have to venture far into the open sea, risking their lives to make a catch and then still face the threat of being bullied by Chinese fishing and naval vessels.

In 2016, the Philippine government brought China to a tribunal under the 1982 United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea.

The tribunal ruled that almost all Chinese claims in the South China Sea were illegitimate, but Manila did little to stake its claim.

It has already been decided by international law that it belongs to us, we should not allow China to take over, said Bishop Broderick Pabillo, an outspoken priest serving in northern Palawan who also signed the statement.

We are calling on the government to be more firm in their stance to protect our territorial waters and our sovereignty which are being taken over by China.

Liu, the Chinese Embassy spokesman, said that China does not accept or recognize the tribunals ruling.

Bishop Bartolome Santos Jr. was ordained as the 5th Bishop of Iba, Zambales, on April 30, 2018. He is seen in this undated photo. [Catholic Church of the Philippines]

Pabillos congregants fish the Second Thomas Shoal off the coast of Palawan, some 500 miles south of Masinloc.

Chinese and Philippine coast guard vessels have been confronting each other in recent months near where the Philippines deliberately grounded a World War II-era ship to serve as a military outpost and mark its territorial claims.

I dont know what China will do, but I think were doing something, making China realize that we will not take this sitting down, Pabillo said.

Analyst Baquisal said that the statement from the bishops represents an escalation of rhetoric that could put further pressure on the government to confront China.

Manila has set aside a budget to construct a facility for the troops stationed on the warship this year.

China already said it wont allow such a facility to be constructed. If that event happens then I expect the Catholic Church will play an active role in denouncing Chinas blockade in that area, Baquisal said.

The 300-year-old St. Augustine Cathedral is the main church in the Diocese of Iba in the province of Zambales. [RFA]

A history of activism

The Catholic Church has been entangled in Philippine politics since Spanish explorers set foot in the country in the early 1500s.

More than 90 million Filipinos, or 81% of the countrys population, call themselves Catholics, giving the Church outsized political influence. The Catholic Church was, in fact, the most prominent voice of dissent against former President Dutertes war on drugs, which killed thousands. Many priests received death threats for their activism, but public support for the anti-drug campaign fell.

In 1986, religious groups led by Cardinal Jaime Sin, the archbishop of Manila, played a prominent role in the so-called People Power Revolution. The protests eventually led Marcos father, President Ferdinand Marcos, to flee to exile after years of ruling the country as a dictator.

Of course the Catholic Church is not an armed organization, but we need to be proactive in one way or another, Bishop Santos told RFA.

We have to stand beside our people. We also have to give them hope and ... to give them at least the energy and encouragement, not just to give up but still we have to stand our ground.

Sister news organizations Radio Free Asia and BenarNews co-produced this report.
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]

RFA Lao was able to speak with one of the Lao trafficking victims in captivity at the casino, who 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 juntas 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.

Radio Free Asia (RFA), a news organization affiliated with BenarNews, produced this report.
Although three-quarters of migrants surveyed in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand said they suffered some type of abuse while leaving their homelands via people-smuggling networks, nearly half said they would do it again, the United Nations said in a report released Tuesday.

The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime conducted a survey of nearly 4,800 migrants and refugees in those three countries who had turned to illegal networks to smuggle them into Southeast Asia, the UNODCs regional office in Bangkok said in its report.

The respondents were abused by the military, police, smugglers, border guards or criminal gangs, according to the report titled Migrant Smuggling in Southeast Asia. Those who took part in the survey were from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Pakistan, Somalia and Vietnam, and included Rohingya.

Migrant smuggling is often not a free or voluntary choice, but an act of desperation, to seek security, safety or opportunity, or freedom from threat of harm, oppression or corruption, said Masood Karimipour, UNODC regional representative in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

The data shows that smugglers may be individual actors, loosely connected criminals, or organized groups. Bringing them to justice is an important part of protecting the people seeking safety and a better life, he said in a statement that accompanied the reports release.

The report found that military and police were seen as likely to carry out physical violence; ask for bribes or engage in extortion; cause death; and commit sexual violence during the journey.

Non-physical violence (e.g., harassment) is more common for men (18% of smuggled men surveyed) than women (13%). Eleven percent of women and 6% of men experienced sexual violence, while 9% of men and 6% of women witnessed death, the report said.

About one-quarter of the respondents said that climate issues including floods, drought or extreme temperatures drove them to seek out smugglers.

Climate issues are particularly relevant for smuggled Bangladeshis; three out of four Bangladeshis surveyed said that climate-related or natural environment issues influenced their decision to leave, the UNODC said.

A similar number said they were pulled into having to bribe officials, or give them gifts or perform favors during their travels.

[P]eople think that they need smugglers to help them deal with corrupt authorities, the report said.

Despite this, Among smuggled people surveyed, almost half (48%) stated that they would have taken the journey anyway, knowing what they did now about the conditions, 40% said that they would not have and 12% were undecided, the report said.

It found that more than two out of every three respondents said they, family or friends had initiated contact with smugglers through social media, by phone or in person. They pay fees averaging U.S. $2,380.

Nearly 90% of Rohingya  members of a persecuted and stateless Muslim minority group from Myanmar  told interviewers that they used smugglers to get to Malaysia, Thailand or Indonesia.

In light of the report released by UNODC, BenarNews reached out and interviewed three Rohingya who had relied on people-smuggling networks in their efforts to migrate to countries in Southeast Asia other than Myanmar.

Rohingya Shobbir Hussain (left) and fellow refugees Sirajul Mustafa, Abdul Kalam and Hafiz Ayasullah stand near the Balee Meuseuraya Aceh Building, a meeting building in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, March 25, 2024. [Nurdin Hasan/BenarNews]

One of the three, Shobbir Hussain, 18, is among 2,000 Rohingya who have been sheltering in Indonesias Aceh region since October 2023.

Along with about 130 other Rohingya, he arrived in Aceh Besar regency on Dec. 10, from the Coxs Bazar refugee camp in Bangladesh, after weeks adrift at sea.

Shobbir said his parents sent him on his journey to have a better life.

Life in the Coxs Bazar refugee camp, Bangladesh, is no longer safe. There are frequent acts of violence, kidnapping and extortion, Shobbir said.

It turns out here is not what I expected either, he said.

Four months after arriving in Aceh, Shobbir said his life is much like it was in the Bangladesh camp  his time is spent eating and sleeping.

There is nothing to do, even though I want to go to school or work.

Shobbir said his father paid smugglers to take him by a wooden boat across the rough Andaman Sea  a 45-day journey to Indonesia  after they promised a better life in Indonesia or Malaysia. He said he did not know how much his father had paid for him to leave.

His father, mother and seven siblings lived in a cramped Coxs Bazar refugee camp after they were forced to leave Rakhine state following a brutal offensive launched by the Myanmar military in 2017.

Our house was burned down and the Myanmar military shot dead one of my younger brothers. Thats why we fled to Bangladesh, he said.

Fled to Malaysia

Meanwhile in Malaysia, Shahidullah Mohd Hosein, said his parents paid smugglers to help him leave a crowded refugee camp in search of better opportunities abroad.

Shahidullah lived in the Kutapalong refugee camp in Bangladesh after his family fled the prosecution in Myanmar. His family and about 1 million other Rohingya live in camps and settlements in and around Coxs Bazar.

Shahidullah said he had no future in the camp.

There are a lot of groups who kidnap people to demand ransom, and if the family of the kidnapped person does not pay, they threaten to kill that person, Shahidullah, 29, told BenarNews.

He said groups have burned shelters in the crowded camps at night, leaving families homeless.

Shahidullah said he reached out to a syndicate to arrange passage to Malaysia. Before long the syndicate demanded his mother pay 500,000 Bangladeshi taka ($4,565) to transport him to Malaysia. He arrived in Malaysia in September 2023.

I did not know how my mother was able to get the money. But after a few days I was sent to a boat with around 100 other Rohingya.

It took us one month and some trekking to get us to Malaysia. We had no food throughout the journey and could only eat when we were on land, he said, adding that the group had to resort to eating leaves while trekking through jungles.



Shahidullahs journey ended last September in Ampang, near Malaysias capital of Kuala Lumpur, where he has been housed by the Rohingya expatriate community.

Rohingya Halima Khatun, 25, seen here in a Coxs Bazar refugee camp, returned to Bangladesh last month after spending 13 months incarcerated in Myanmar after her effort to travel to Malaysia failed, March 8, 2024. [Sharif Khiam/BenarNews]

In Bangladesh, a Rohingya woman has returned to a refugee camp after her attempt to travel to Myanmar for an arranged marriage led to spending more than a year in a Myanmar prison.

Halima Khatun saw her father killed by Burmese troops in Myanmars Rakhine state on Aug. 25, 2017. Her mother took her and two sisters across the border where they sheltered at a Bangladesh seeking shelter in the Teknaf refugee camp.

Halima, who was 18 at the time, said she fled the camp in late 2022 to travel to Malaysia assisted by human traffickers. Instead, she spent 13 months in prison after being arrested by Myanmar authorities when the boats engine broke down during the sea voyage.

My family was unable to trace me during those 13 months. They assumed I had drowned in the sea or died anyhow, she told BenarNews during an interview.

Following her release from prison, Halima returned to Bangladesh in February with assistance from Myanmar relatives.

My marriage to Habibur Rahman, a young Rohingya guy in Malaysia, was planned. He was the one who attempted to utilize the Dalal syndicate to get me there, she said. The term means brokers.

One of the brokers involved in my journey to Malaysia was a Rohingya living in Myanmar; another was a local Bangladeshi, Halima said.

The traffickers demanded 800,000 taka ($7,289) as payment for transporting her to Malaysia.

She was traveling with several Rohingya men and women, as well as some Bangladeshis.

After leaving Shamila [a Rakhine state village], we stayed on that boat for 22 days before moving on to another small boat for two days and two nights. Then, as the boat [engine stalled], the sailors rushed away.

Then the military arrived and rescued us. After that, a police car drove all of us to a place where we were for 12 days, she said.

Sentenced to two years in a Myanmar prison, Halima spent 13 months incarcerated.

About three weeks ago, Halima paid a broker fee to cross the Naf river by boat and return to Bangladesh.

Halima said the man who promised to marry her had already married another Rohingya girl from a camp in Bangladesh and took her to Malaysia.

Abdur Rahman in Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh, Ahmad Mustakim Zulkifli in Kuala Lumpur, Nurdin Hasan in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, and John Bechtel in Washington contributed to this report.
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.
Harris County Constable Ted Heap addresses the Harris County Commissioners Court Tuesday, March 10, 2020, in Houston, regarding a proposed county study of the eight independently elected constables. The county has floated a proposal to force neighborhoods to shoulder the full cost of new contracts with the constables and sheriff. Steve Gonzales/Staff photographer

Four years ago, Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia made a terrible mistake: He dared to propose a study of the countys contract deputy program.

Garcia, a Democrat and former Harris County sheriff, had long been skeptical of this taxpayer-subsidized boutique law enforcement service, which has existed since the early 1980s. The program allows homeowners' associations, municipal utility districts and others to contract with the county for a neighborhood patrol service provided by constables and sheriffs deputies. The sheriff's contract deputy program is about half the size of the constables'.

These neighborhoods typically cover roughly 70% of the program's cost. The county picks up the rest of the tab on the assumption that deputies spend the remainder of their time doing what taxpayers expect them to do: patrol their precincts.

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At the time, however, Garcia noted that the county had no way of knowing whether that was happening. Thats still true today. Taxpayers just have to assume they are getting their moneys worth for bankrolling what are essentially neighborhood security patrols. Precinct 2 Constable Jerry Garcia told us that even his own precinct doesn't track how much time their deputies spend in their patrol zone.

That shadowy arrangement, combined with a new revenue cap the state Legislature passed in 2019, is what led the commissioner to propose the study. He aimed to find efficiencies within the contract deputy program, which in 2020 cost taxpayers $25.6 million.

The backlash was swift. All eight county constables attended the subsequent Commissioners Court meeting to voice their displeasure with Garcia. Some accused him of intentionally undermining their officers. Others said the study would pit law enforcement agencies against each other. Dozens of residents urged the county to not lay a finger on the contract deputies.

So Garcia folded. He withdrew the study proposal before it could come up for a vote. He even apologized for the fear this item may have caused," which might seem bizarre for simply suggesting a study. The abrupt about-face reflects the political power constables have accrued in Harris County, and the fraught back-and-forth theyve had for decades with county politicians over the contract deputy program.

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Four years later, as the Chronicle recently detailed in a four-part investigative series, the contract deputy programs have only grown. When Garcia first floated the study, the constables had 684 contract deputies. They now have close to 850. The cost of the contract deputy program has ballooned from $71.9 million in 2020 to $104.8 million this year. Taxpayers are on the hook for $35 million of that cost.

With such ample resources, one might expect the constables to be a crime-fighting dynamo. Not so much. Unlike sheriff deputies or Houston police officers, constables have the luxury of selectivity. They cant answer 911 calls directly and are even permitted to refuse calls for service. The Chronicle found that, on a given night, constables accounted for only 6 percent of jail detainees, and few of those arrests are for "serious" or "violent" crimes.

READ MORE: How unchecked police agencies became a political powerhouse in Harris County

In the past five years, constables  excluding Precinct 6 Constable Silvia Trevino, who didn't make any data available to reporters  have filed half as many felony charges as the sheriff. During that time period, constables handled 70% fewer calls on violent and property crimes, and far fewer murders: Constables responded to 58 homicides, compared to 325 by the sheriff.

Despite that clear imbalance in performance, the budget for the eight constable precincts has swelled to $236 million, rivaling the sheriff's $293 million budget for its crime-fighting division. While some constables have complained that Commissioners Court, which is controlled by Democrats, has tried to "defund" them, in reality all eight precincts received funding increases in each of the past three budget cycles.

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So what exactly are taxpayers getting from the deputy constable program? Supporters might call it "community policing." We'd call it glorified neighborhood security. The Chronicle's analysis found that deputy constables spend most of their time making traffic stops and dealing with minor disturbances. Roughly 94% of the charges constables filed over the past five years have been misdemeanors. Contract deputies mostly cruise neighborhoods responding to mundane calls for tripped security alarms, or visiting with residents at meet-and-greet events. Some even conduct "vacation watches," checking on residents' homes while they're out of town.

Last year, county commissioners came up with a reasonable compromise: Neighborhoods would have to cover the full cost for new contracts, ensuring that taxpayers in general aren't on the hook for a given neighborhood's extra security costs. Some constables, such as Mark Herman of Precinct 4, have argued that such a proposal would force neighborhoods to cancel their contracts. But in reality, those contracts would be grandfathered in, with the neighborhoods paying more only if they added new deputies. The Chronicle reported that a newly hired deputy would cost a neighborhood roughly $132,000 per year, as opposed to $81,000 under the current arrangement.

We urge the county to put the proposal on the Commissioners Court agenda in the coming months. Constables and their constituents who wanted to protest the change should be prepared to explain why residents not benefiting from their private security arrangements should be forced to help pay for them. Commissioners should also start requiring each constable precinct to track how much time their deputies spend in their contract zone. Having this basic information is essential to understanding how much the contracts are costing and/or benefiting taxpayers overall. Surely, for instance, there's value in a program that helps pay for new deputy positions the county might not otherwise be able to afford. But what's the net benefit? We apparently have no idea, and that's unacceptable. As the saying goes, we can't manage what we don't measure.

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The contract deputy service is especially valued in neighborhoods or unincorporated parts of the county where sheriff deputies are undermanned. Yet at a time when the county budget is stretched perilously thin, and residents are as concerned as ever about violent crime, county resources should prioritize law enforcement that fights and prevents the most dangerous crimes.
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Families in Massachusetts overflow shelters will have to document efforts to find a path out

Families staying in overflow shelter sites in Massachusetts will soon have to document each month their efforts to find a path out of the overflow system, including looking for housing or a job
A Florida man accused in a string of larcenies and identity fraud in Southern Berkshire and Connecticut is held on $75,000 bail
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SHEFFIELD  For the family of a woman killed in a 2019 plane crash, word that Boeing CEO David Calhoun is stepping down was welcome news.

But they worry that he will be succeeded by another corporate bean counter intent on cutting production corners for profit.

We need new people coming from a different culture that care about safety, that care about the products, that are not trying to strip-mine the company, that actually care about making a good product and let that stand up for itself, said Nadia Milleron, mother of Samya Stumo.

Stumo was killed when Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a Boeing 737 Max, plunged to the ground in 2019.

Calhoun, who began his corporate career at the General Electric Co. in Pittsfield, announced Monday that he would step down at the end of the year. The decision was his own, according to news reports.

The move is part of a management shakeup from continued fallout from safety issues. First, a pair of deadly crashes of two 737 Max jets five months apart in 2018 and 2019, killing a total of 346 people  including Stumo. More recently, a fuselage panel on a new 737 Max blew out during an Alaska Airlines flight in January, adding new pressure to Boeing.

The Federal Aviation Administration is scrutinizing the company more closely, and limiting the production of 737s, according to The Associated Press. The FAAs audit of the companys 737 factory gave it failing grades on nearly three dozen aspects of production.

The FAA earlier this month stopped production of the 737 9 Max model.

Calhoun, who served on Boeing's board of directors since 2009, took over as CEO in 2020 after Dennis Muilenburg was fired amid federal probes that found the company had cut corners and was essentially regulating itself.

According to The Associated Press, filings show that between 2020 through 2022 Calhoun received more than $64.6 million, mostly in stock awards, options and bonuses. Boeing has not yet filed its proxy statement for 2023.

Calhoun has held executive positions at 18 companies, including different subsidiaries of GE, including GE Aviation Systems North America LLC, GE Lighting Solutions LLC, GE Transportation, GE Infrastructure (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. and GE Plastics.

The families of crash victims have been unrelenting in calling for Boeing to clean up its management and replace it with those outside what Milleron called a corporate cabal dedicated to profits at the expense of safety.

Nadia Milleron and Stumos father, Michael Stumo, have been a constant presence at hearings and continue to apply pressure to lawmakers and the company.

Milleron, who is running for U.S. Congress against longtime Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, said Boeing now needs to search the world for the best CEO with proven performance on production quality and safety in complex manufacturing.

She and other families are, for example, concerned that longtime Boeing executive Stephanie Pope on Monday was named to replace Stan Deal as the head of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

I think its important to highlight the fact that as their airplanes doors are falling out of the sky, Milleron said, that Boeing believes an accountant is the right person to put in charge of the division that makes all their commercial airplanes.

Pope has a degree in accounting and has held a number of finance positions at Boeing.

The company, Milleron added, needs leaders who wont focus on delays delivering airplanes to customers, but rather on safety.

We need justice now for the manslaughter of our loved ones," Milleron said, "and there must be accountability at the highest level for this."
GREAT BARRINGTON  A fourth cannabis retailer has filed suit against the town over "community impact" fees they say have been unlawfully collected because the town has sustained no impact from her business.

The owner of Calyx Berkshire Dispensary, located on Main Street, filed her lawsuit on March 4 in Berkshire Superior Court naming the town and Select Board Chair Stephen Bannon.

D2N2 LLC, which owns Calyx, is demanding the return of $392,742.55 in fees it paid to the town since it opened in 2020 and an injunction to halt any use of the money by the town and the collection of new fees, according to the court filing.

The lawsuit includes counts of breach of contract and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.

And it brings the total of fees the four businesses are demanding the town return to more than $6.3 million.

Calyx owner Donna Norman was the first of four cannabis dispensary owners to take the fight over the fees to court this month.

The owners of Rebelle, Theory Wellness and Farnsworth Fine Cannabis filed a joint lawsuit in Middlesex Superior Court 10 days later, claiming the same as Norman  that the town has told the retailers in writing every year that their businesses have not imposed any significant costs to the town.

Community impact fees were originally intended to offset potential problems and expenses related to the sale of legal cannabis.

Cities and towns could charge up to 3 percent of gross sales, and thats what Great Barrington did. The town wove the fee contracts  with language from state law  into host community agreements with the businesses. These agreements get renewed every year.

But Calyx and the other shops point to that law, which says the link between town expenses and a marijuana business have to be reasonably related.

The law also says any impact has to be demonstrated and enumerated and based on actual costs rather than a flat slice of total sales.

Therefore, Calyx says in the lawsuit, the town breached the agreement and violated state law because it demanded the money, yet did not provide a documented cost.

This is our money, Norman said in a statement, and we need to create jobs and grow as a business, but instead we have been forced to write checks for services not even rendered  because we have zero impact.

Norman also said that the fees are hurting smaller businesses, and pointed to the high costs to start and run a cannabis store and the lack of tax write-offs like other businesses.

These legal tangles over the fees are why many cities and towns have stopped collecting them altogether. Those include Pittsfield  which has two fee-related lawsuits pending against the city  and Sheffield. Boston was the first municipality to refund fees.

Given the litigation, the Select Board on Monday rescinded a warrant item for annual town meeting in May that would ask voters to approve the eventual use and distribution this year of $1.5 million in impact fee revenue. The use and the recipients are yet to be determined.

More than $1.4 million since 2020 has already been distributed to nonprofits, schools and other organizations.

Town Manager Mark Pruhenski released a statement earlier this month in response to the the other pending cases, saying the town would fight in court.

Pruhenski said the business owners had willingly set up shop in town and signed the agreements. He said there may well be an impact from the shops that might take more time to be revealed. He said the legal contracts between the town and the businesses are solid.

Bannon said he could not comment, given the litigation.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks to students, parents and staff at Nolan Catholic High School while trying to build support for his school choice plan on April 19, 2023. (Amanda McCoy/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/TNS) Amanda McCoy/TNS

Public education on shaky ground

Regarding "Katy ISD superintendent slams Texas inaction on school funding as district could face budget cuts," (March 20): I became extremely angry after reading your article in Mondays paper. Our governor has made no secret about his attempt to dismantle and destroy our Texas public education system.

As a retired special education teacher of 42 years, with 31 years in Katy ISD, I know firsthand that a quality public education system needs adequate funding to succeed. The free and appropriate education guaranteed by our Texas Constitution requires a sincere commitment from our elected representatives. It is rather unfortunate that, over the near-decade under Gov. Greg Abbotts watch, state funding for our public schools has not been commensurate with our ever-growing needs. It is a sad commentary that his efforts have been to award private schools with state monies.

Texas currently invests about $9,871 per student while the national average is more than $13,500! Monies stolen from public coffers for private education will only hurt our public schools more. What we are experiencing and witnessing is a strangulation of our Texas public education system. A slow death by fiscal strangulation is, by any definition, still death.

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Joe Sosa, Katy

Regarding "HISD Superintendent Mike Miles warns schools of cuts up to 12% as he unveils budget plan," (March 19): With the state withholding its surplus education money and not distributing it to make up for the drying up of federal pandemic dollars, I'm wondering if the state is simply trying to drive public education into the ground.

Another reason I have this suspicion is that Senate Bill 2 enacted reductions in school property taxes. Yes, voters passed raising the homestead exemption to $100,000, but how in the world were over-65 exemptions so altered that my mother's Houston ISD property tax on her homestead went to $0 and mine dropped a few thousand dollars? Between the two of us, HISD did not get almost $8,000 it had previously received. By that number, it should be obvious that we live in high-value neighborhoods.

Though we have appreciated the over-65 homestead exemption in the past, this year, we were upset because we want a robust public education system and we can help pay for it. I have tried to follow the convoluted wording of SB2 to calculate for myself how our taxes so dramatically dropped, but to no avail. I would appreciate someone clearly showing the math of how the HISD property taxes of someone in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Houston was zero dollars.

Is this just another way the state is quietly trying to undermine public education?

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Bridget Lois Jensen, Houston

Regarding "How property tax breaks for big businesses cost Texas schools $800 per pupil (Opinion)," (March 23): This article made me sad, and then it made me mad. Texas is already near the bottom nationwide in all categories related to providing good schools. Then we have our governor pushing vouchers that will take away more money from public schools, giving it mostly to parents who already pay for private school.

Just recently I received a tax notice from the local school district letting me know that, as a senior over 65, my homestead exemption means I no longer have to pay school taxes. Wow, I am now $1,200 richer every year of my life! I called the district to make sure there wasn't a mistake. A clerk told me it was true and directed me to their website for more information. Sure enough, the recent Texas legislative session passed a law raising the homestead exemption.

Patricia Swartley, League City

Regarding "Abbott says vouchers are still two votes short in Texas House, but May runoffs should tip the scales," (March 20): Gov. Abbott is already declaring victory on school vouchers, as though the general election in November is meaningless. Something for voters to think about between now and then are the long-term outcomes if school vouchers pass.

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Option 1: The law will pass but will be held up in court until it fails because it's essentially using taxpayer money to support religious organizations.

Option 2: The law will pass and go into effect, which will pave the way for taxpayer money to go to schools based on non-Christian beliefs, such as Judaism, Islam, Satanism, so on. All while tax dollars are pulled from the public schools the state is responsible for supporting. There is no constitutional option where your tax dollars only go to the Christian schools. Something to consider as you're choosing your candidates in November, since I don't know that all voters thought it through in the primary. Where do you want your tax dollars to go?

Jean Tanner, Houston

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Many Christians have a gimee relationship with God. But God is not a holy ATM machine. That does not mean He is heartless concerning our needs. He cares about our financial reversals and when we are distraught that we cant pay bills. He understands our anxiety when we wonder how were going to pay for our childrens education. He does not heartlessly turn away.

Rather than stewing about our lack, we must run to our Heavenly Father and pray about our needs. Then we must trust Him to either supply in His own time or way, or give us wisdom about our next step, perhaps something weve not even considered. Either way, God is our source. He is the owner of all things and the Provider of every material blessing. Philippians 4:19 says He can meet our needs according to His riches, not ours.

God knows how much we need things to thrive in life, but He wants us to seek Him. If human parents know how to give good gifts to their children, how much more, Jesus said, does God in Heaven give gifts to those who ask Him (Matthew 7:11). Ask Him is the key phrase.

When you become anxious about your finances or any lacking resource, run to your Provider in prayer.

6. Run to God When You Need Hope

Some circumstances can feel hopeless. Perhaps we are overwhelmed by tough trials and were suddenly downcast. But we need not despair. These are times to run to God in prayer and search the Scriptures for words of hope!

While the word hope in the English language might include the idea of doubt  a hope so perspective  that is not the perspective of Scripture. Biblical hope isnt about doubt, unless one might say, I have absolutely no doubt about that! It includes the concepts of certainty, security, and confidence in someones or somethings reliability. Biblical hope is not a feeling, but rather the assurance that God is for us and the promises in Scripture are true.

The psalmist said, We wait in hope for the lord; he is our help and our shield . . . May your unfailing love be with us, lord, even as we put our hope in you (Psalm 33:20-22). The writer of Hebrews notes that hope is linked to trusting God: Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. (Hebrews 11:1). The believers hope for eternity with God is secure through Jesus; and that hope is also an anchor for our soul in our day-to-day struggles.

When you feel hopeless, run to God. Believe that He sees and cares, and that He will be your help and strong defense.

Photo credit: Getty Images/fizkes


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In 2015, after Travis County District Judge Julie Kocurek was shot in her home's driveway, Austin authorities investigated the scene. Jay Janner/Associated Press

State and local court judges play a pivotal role in our society. They preside over cases that shape the lives of individuals and the fabric of our communities. They uphold the rule of law and the Constitution.

Alarmingly, state and local judges and court officials across the nation are facing increasing attacks and threats of violence and intimidation just for doing their job. In 2021, individuals protected by the U.S. Marshals Service  including federal judges, prosecutors and court officials  faced over 4,500 threats, a 400% increase since 2015. In Texas, 522 general threats, 29 assaults, and 68 bomb threats were made toward judicial officers from 2018 to 2023, according to the Texas Office of Court Administration.

Simply stated, an attack on a judge is an attack on our judicial system and the rule of law.

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I know this all too well. In 2015, a defendant who had appeared in my courtroom weeks before shot and seriously wounded me in my car. My 15-year-old son watched the attack unfold, coming face to face with the gunman. My attacker obtained my home address, phone number, and the make and model of my vehicle from online searches, and he stalked me and my family for weeks.

READ ALSO: I fear for my family after SCOTUS decision on Texas deportations

Shot four times, I spent 40 days in the hospital and underwent 30 surgeries. I lived in fear that my attacker, or someone else, would come to finish the job or harm my family. I was determined to fight against fear and intimidation, so I returned to the bench after I recovered.

As I began taking measures to increase my personal security and my familys security, I realized that state and local judges have virtually no access to expert resources to understand the threat environment, take personal protective measures, design more secure court facilities and protocols, and share threat information.

Because of my attack, in 2017 the Texas Legislature passed the Judge Julie Kocurek Judicial and Courthouse Security Act, which requires local law enforcement to report judicial security incidents to the Texas Office of Court Administration. It created a filing fee to fund training for judges and court staff, and a special division to house information on judicial security.

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In 2016, after spending weeks recovering from an assasination attempt, Judge Julie Kocurek, right, was welcomed back to the bench. Ralph Barrera/Associated Press

However, this issue spans beyond Texas. State and local judges and court personnel have been attacked or threatened in Nevada, Colorado, Ohio, Mississippi, Rhode Island, New York, California, Kentucky, Michigan, Wyoming, Idaho, and Indiana.

Tragically, several targeted attacks have resulted in death. In just the last 20 months, two state court judges  Judge Andrew Wilkinson of Maryland and retired Judge John Roemer in Wisconsin  were gunned down at their homes.

This concerning nationwide security problem requires federal help. While the U.S. Marshals Service monitors, addresses and develops best practices around threats to the federal judiciary, no such resource center exists to ensure the safety of our state and local judges.

We must take steps to protect the estimated 30,000 judicial officers serving in state and local courts who devote their careers to maintaining the rule of law and upholding the Constitution.

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The increasing attacks and threats to our judiciary, which I have experienced firsthand, are why I support bipartisan legislation in Washington called the Countering Threats and Attacks on Our Judges Act. Co-sponsored by a bipartisan group of five U.S. senators  including Texas John Cornyn, a former state judge himself  the bill will establish a State Judicial Threat Intelligence and Resource Center to provide technical assistance, conduct physical security assessments and coordinate research. This bill is a vital step in increasing protection for our state and local judges and maintaining the integrity of our judicial system.

As a nation, we cannot accept that judges and court officers live in fear of doing the job they are sworn to do.

By enacting the Countering Threats and Attacks on Our Judges Act, we can reaffirm our commitment to a society where the rule of law prevails, and justice is dispensed without fear or favor.

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Jen Rice is a reporter for the Houston Chronicle covering Harris County government. She can be reached at jen.rice@houstonchronicle.com.

A native Houstonian, Jen graduated from Barnard College at Columbia University and earned a master's degree from University of Texas at Austin's LBJ School of Public Affairs.

Before coming to the Chronicle, Jen spent three years covering City Hall for Houston's NPR station. Her reporting has aired nationally on NPR's Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Here & Now.
An investigation has been launched after a man was injured following ongoing demonstrations in north Dublin on Sunday night.

Protests are being staged at the old Crown Paints factory on the Malahide Road in Coolock, which protesters believe is being considered to accommodate international protection applicants.

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Gardai confirmed officers attended a protest at the premises on Sunday afternoon.

The Malahide Road was temporarily closed due to the demonstration but later reopened.

"Later that evening, at approximately 9pm, a window was damaged at this premises," a statement from Gardai added.

A man aged in his 50s, who had been inside the building at the time, was injured in the incident. He was taken to Beaumont Hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.

Gardai said no arrests have yet been made and investigations are ongoing.

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The incident comes after traffic in the area was blocked by protesters last Wednesday night, some of whom were on horseback.
Gardai say they remain committed to finding out what happened to Annie McCarrick.

It marks 31 years since she vanished without trace at the age of 26.

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Ms McCarrick, who was originally from New York, was last seen shopping for food in Quinnsworth on the Sandymount Road in Dublin.

On the 31st anniversary of her disappearance, gardai have published her receipt of that trip which was found in her apartment.

Ms McCarrick had moved permanently to Ireland from New York in January 1993. She moved into rental accommodation in Sandymount, in St Catherine's Court, and began working as a waitress at the Courtyard Restaurant in Donnybrook.

Last year her disappearance was upgraded to a murder inquiry and it's understood two men have been investigated.

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It's also now believed she didn't visit Johnny Foxes on the day she disappeared as first thought.

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While widely circulated CCTV footage of her visiting an AIB on the day she disappeared was actually 11 days old.

Ms McCarrick is described as 5'8" in height, 10 stone, with long brown hair. She spoke with a soft Irish-American accent. When Ms McCarrick disappeared it is believed she was in possession of a large brown leather bag.

Annie was an only child - her dad died not knowing what happened to her while her 80 year old mother is still hoping for answers.

Gardai are renewing their appeal to the public for any information that may shed light on Annie's disappearance and murder.

Anyone who may have interacted with Annie on or after March 26th 1993, is urged to contact gardai.
Yilun Cheng is a reporter for the Houston Chronicle, covering local politics and City Hall. She can be reached at yilun.cheng@houstonchronicle.com.

Yilun studied political science as an undergrad at the University of California, Berkeley and as a grad student at Columbia University. She later earned her masters in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Before coming to Houston, she covered immigration policies and marginalized communities for the Columbus Dispatch.
A major bridge collapsed in the US port of Baltimore in the early hours of Tuesday after being struck by a container ship, plunging cars and as many as 20 people into the river below.

BREAKING: Ship collides with Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, causing it to collapse pic.twitter.com/OcOrSjOCRn Advertisement  BNO News (@BNONews) March 26, 2024

Rescuers were searching for survivors in the Patapsco River after huge spans of the 1.6-mile (2.57 km) Francis Scott Key Bridge crumpled into the water.

As many as 20 people could be in the river along with "numerous vehicles, and possibly a tractor-trailer or a vehicle as large as a tractor-trailer, (that) went into the river," Kevin Cartwright, the spokesperson for Baltimore City Fire Department said.

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"This is a mass-casualty, multi-agency event," he said. "This operation is going to extend for many days."

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A live video posted on YouTube showed the ship ploughing into the bridge in darkness. The headlights of vehicles could be seen on the bridge as it crashed down into the water and the ship caught fire. Reuters could not immediately verify the videos.

In the below live stream, the moment of the collapse can be seen shortly after the clock in the top-left corner shows 1:28:00.

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Maryland governor Wes Moore declared a state of emergency. He said in a statement the state was "working with an interagency team to quickly deploy federal resources from the Biden Administration." The FBI in Baltimore said on X its personnel were "on scene".

It was not immediately clear if any other vessels had been damaged or whether operations had halted to and from the port, shipping and insurance sources said.

"We received several 911 calls at around 1.30am, that a vessel struck the Key Bridge in Baltimore, causing the collapse," Cartwright said.

The Volunteer Firefighters from @jmvfc8, the Volunteer Swift Water Team and the @HarfordCoDES Special Operations Team are assisting the Unified Command at the Baltimore Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse. pic.twitter.com/ipoTR2HljY Advertisement  Harford Co., MD Fire & EMS (@HarforCoFireEMS) March 26, 2024

Baltimore police said they had been notified of the incident at 1.35am local time (5.35am Irish time).

The ship was identified by LSEG ship tracking data as a Singapore-flagged container ship, the Dali. The registered owner of the ship is Grace Ocean Pte Ltd and the manager is Synergy Marine Group, LSEG data show.

Synergy Marine Corp said the Dali collided with one of the pillars of the bridge and that all its crew members, including the two pilots, had been accounted for and there were no reports of any injuries.

The Dali was chartered by shipping company Maersk at the time of the incident, the Danish company said in a statement.

"We are horrified by what has happened in Baltimore, and our thoughts are with all of those affected," Maersk said.

Reuters could not immediately reach Grace Ocean for comment.

-Reuters
An expert has told jurors it was exceedingly unlikely fugitive mother Constance Martens newborn baby died from the cold.

Marten (36) and her partner Mark Gordon (49) were living off grid in a tent on the South Downs when their daughter Victoria died, the Old Bailey has heard.

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In her evidence, Marten has said the child died when she fell asleep while holding her under her jacket in the tent last January 9th.

Victorias badly decomposed body was found inside a Lidl bag on an allotment shed in Brighton last March 1st.

The cause of death was unascertained.

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Court artist sketch of Constance Marten during her evidence to the jury at the Old Bailey (Elizabeth Cook/PA)

Professor Peter Fleming, an expert on infant health, considered the circumstances of how the baby died after hearing Martens account.

Giving evidence on Tuesday, the defence witness told jurors: I have seen no evidence of hypothermia as a cause of death but the description of how the baby was being cared for would make hypothermia exceedingly unlikely.

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He added that the length of Victorias feet were most compatible with death occurring at the age of two to three weeks.

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Cross-examining, Tom Little KC asked if his opinion would change if he learned that Marten had lied to him about Victorias death.

Prof Fleming said Martens description had been extraordinarily consistent, saying: My assumption is she is telling the truth unless there is evidence she is not.

Mr Little said: Has it crossed your mind that she might be responsible for the death of her baby?

Prof Fleming replied: Of course I have but Ive seen no evidence of that.

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A teddy bear baby grow found with baby Victoria in a Lidl bag in a shed in Lower Roedale Allotments, East Sussex (Met Police/PA)

The prosecutor pointed out that the witness had not spoken to Gordon or seen CCTV footage of how the couple were treating Victoria before they went off to stay in a tent.

Neither had he not been present for all of Martens evidence in court, during which she had said nothing about Victorias hands and feet being warm, he said.

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Mr Little went on: Unlike a criminal trial you do not challenge what you are told.

Prof Fleming asserted that it would be inappropriate for him to do so.

Mr Little said: You relied on what she told you about the clothing she (Victoria) was wearing.

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If she had lied about those matters that would have an impact on your opinion?

Prof Fleming said that a baby feeding well was not consistent with hypothermia.

Mr Little said: You havent taken into account the fact previously she has lied to healthcare professionals.

Prof Fleming said that was irrelevant in this setting, adding: One has to assume unless you have evidence to the contrary, they are telling the truth.

The witness was challenged on an assertion in his report that the defendants bought warm clothing for themselves and Victoria before leaving London for the south coast.

Mr Little said: Are you aware there were no items of clothing bought for Victoria before they left?

The witness replied: No, I was not aware of that.

He was asked if having a baby sleep face down on an exhausted mother under her coat could pose a risk.

Prof Fleming said: I would say it is not desirable but I have no evidence it is dangerous.

Mr Little asked: In general terms, do you agree a baby sleeping in a two-person tent requires some thought as to how to seek to ensure the baby is kept as safe as possible?

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With two adults, some possessions, including pillows, a duvet and quilt, you have to be careful?

The witness agreed.

He was asked how he would have reacted if Marten had told him they are about to sleep in a tent, with only a babygrow and vest in temperatures of between 4 and 10C.

The witness told jurors: It would be inadvisable.

The advice would be to keep the baby in your coat.

I would be concerned if there were no appropriate baby clothing.

It depends on the circumstances.

Mr Little suggested the risk of death was obvious.

CCTV from January 7th, 2023, of Constance Marten holding baby Victoria under her coat in East Ham, London (Met Police/PA)

Prof Fleming responded: On that scenario, if the baby is inside the mothers coat, the baby would be protected from the thermal environment.

Mr Little asserted: This was not a tent you would go camping in significantly cold weather in.

Prof Fleming replied: It would not be ideal, certainly.

Jurors have heard how the couple went on the run from authorities in a bid to keep their baby after their four other children were taken into care.

They abandoned their car after it burst into flames near Bolton, Greater Manchester last January 5 and were finally arrested in Brighton last February 27yj, days before Victorias body was found.

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The defendants, of no fixed address, 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 Old Bailey trial was adjourned until April 8yj.
Irish holiday homeowners are arriving at their properties in the Canary Islands to find four-figure fines waiting for them.

Owners in parts of Gran Canaria have been receiving fines of more than 2,000 for refusing to rent their properties to holidaymakers through a tourist operator.

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The sanctions have led to demonstrations on the island over the effects of legislation punishing people who want to use their properties in tourist zones as their main residence or holiday home.

Reports in April last year identified a Spanish pensioner as the first person fined under a controversial tourist law implemented by the Canary Islands regional government.

Irishman John Hefferman has also since found himself slapped with a 2,250 fine for a property he bought 13 years ago.

The property is in an apartment block called Apartamentos Las Algas in the south of Gran Canaria, and Mr Hefferman is one of 400 homeowners understood to have been sanctioned over the past few months.

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Those affected say the government is being pressurised by the likes of tourist operators, who say the residential use of apartments in tourist complexes has meant the loss of 68,000 beds for tourists throughout the islands.

Appeal

Although some people have appealed the fines, Mr Hefferman said he had been left with no option to pay because he only found out about the fine three months after it was issued, when it was too late to appeal the matter.

He told local newspaper Canarias 7: We have paid the fine but the thing about it is that its a bit unfair.

We believe that the fines are suspended for people who did appeal it, but we did not have an opportunity to appeal it because we didnt receive it in time.

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The other issue is that we find this very worrying. We bought this apartment to spend our winter months out here, and our family come here as well.

If we cant do that, maybe we have to sell it. Certainly this apartment will be devalued if this rule is enforced. We are very worried about the future of this.

Its unfair. I dont understand why this is happening after 13 years of enjoying this place.

Mr Hefferman also questioned why the fine had not been sent to his home in Ireland, which he said is his registered address on his NIE, an ID number assigned to foreigners in Spain.

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Hundreds of people took part in demonstrations last September at the holiday resort of Playa del Ingles in Gran Canaria, criticising the local governments decision to impose the fines.

Maribe Doreste, vice-president of Plataforma de Afectados por la Ley Turistica (Platform for People Affected by the Tourism Law), said the matter is a constitutional violation of the jurisprudence of Spains Supreme Court regarding the right to property and free residence.

She has also accused businesses involved in tourist lets of pressuring politicians not to modify the law and resolve the problem.
Hamas has rejected the latest proposal put forward by international mediators for a ceasefire and hostage release and Israel has blasted a UN Security Council resolution that called for both without linking them.

As the war in Gaza grinds through a sixth month, each side has publicly insisted that its own idea of victory is within reach, and late on Monday they rejected the latest international efforts to stem the bloodshed.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel can achieve its aims of dismantling Hamas and returning scores of hostages if it expands its ground offensive to the southern city of Rafah.



Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is still pushing for a ground offensive in Rafah (AP Photo/Leo Correa, Pool)

More than half of Gazas population has sought refuge in Rafah, many in crowded tent camps.

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Hamas has said it will hold onto the hostages until Israel agrees to a more permanent ceasefire, withdraws its forces from Gaza and releases hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including top militants.

It said that it has rejected a recent proposal that fell short of those demands, which, if fulfilled, would allow it to claim an extremely costly victory.

Mr Netanyahu said in a statement that the announcement proved clearly that Hamas is not interested in continuing negotiations toward a deal and served as unfortunate testimony to the damage of the Security Council decision.



More than 32,000 people have been killed in the war, which began on October 7 (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

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Israel will not surrender to Hamas delusional demands and will continue to act to achieve all the goals of the war: releasing all the hostages, destroying Hamas military and governing capabilities and ensuring that Gaza will never again be a threat to Israel.

There is no end in sight to the war, which has killed over 32,000 Palestinians, according to Gazas Health Ministry.

The fighting has left much of the Gaza Strip in ruins, displaced most of its residents and driven a third of its population of 2.3 million to the brink of famine.

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An Israeli strike on a residential building in Rafah where three displaced families were sheltering killed at least 16 people, including nine children and four women, according to hospital records and relatives of the deceased.

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On Monday, the Security Council finally managed to pass a resolution calling for a ceasefire.

The United States abstained instead of vetoing the measure, angering Israel in a major escalation of tensions between the two close allies.

The resolution calls for the release of all hostages held in Gaza but does not condition the ceasefire on it.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz told Army Radio on Tuesday that the resolution had emboldened Hamas by signalling that international pressure would end the war without it having to make any concessions.

Mr Katz said: The message delivered to Hamas yesterday  is that you dont have to hurry.



Aid drops into Gaza have been crucial as experts say the war has driven a third of its population of 2.3 million to the brink of famine (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

The war began on October 7, when Hamas-led militants stormed across the border and attacked communities in southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250 others.

It is still believed to be holding about 100 hostages and the remains of 30 others, after many were freed in November in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners.

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The United States, Qatar and Egypt have spent several weeks trying to negotiate another ceasefire and hostage release, but those efforts appeared to have stalled.

Hamas said in a statement late on Monday that it has informed the mediators it will stick to an earlier position.

Hamas said Israel has not responded to its core demands of a comprehensive ceasefire, an (Israeli) withdrawal from the Strip, the return of displaced people and a real prisoner exchange.

Majed al-Ansari, a spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry of Qatar, which is currently hosting the talks, told reporters that the negotiations were still ongoing, without providing details.



Linda Thomas-Greenfield, United States Ambassador and Representative to the United Nations, holds to abstain her vote as the United Nations Security Council passed a ceasefire resolution in Gaza (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

Hamas has previously proposed a phased process in which it would release all the remaining hostages in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the opening of its borders for aid and reconstruction, and the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including top militants serving life sentences.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected those demands as unrealistic.

He has vowed to resume Israels offensive after any hostage release and keep fighting until Hamas is destroyed, saying it is the only way to prevent a repeat of the October 7 attack.

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But he has provided few details about what would follow any such victory and has largely rejected a post-war vision outlined by the US.

That approach has brought him into increasingly open conflict with President Joe Bidens administration, which has expressed mounting concern over civilian casualties while supplying Israel with crucial military aid and backing Israels aim of destroying Hamas.

The US had vetoed previous UN resolutions calling for a ceasefire.

The White House has urged Israel not to undertake a major ground operation in Rafah, warning that it could cause a humanitarian catastrophe.



Tensions between the US and Israel increased following the formers decision to abstain from voting at the UN Security Council instead of vetoing the resolution (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

The administration was set to brief visiting Israeli officials on an alternative approach, but Mr Netanyahu called off their visit in response to the US abstention.

Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant is in Washington on a separate trip, however, and is to meet with US defence secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday.

On Monday, Mr Gallant vowed to continue the offensive until Israels aims are met.

We will operate against Hamas everywhere  including in places where we have not yet been, he said.

We have no moral right to stop the war while there are still hostages held in Gaza.
Twenty-two victims of the Russia concert hall attack, in which more than 130 people were killed, remain in serious condition in the hospital, health minister Mikhail Murashko said.

Two of them are children, state news agency Tass said.

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Russia is still reeling from Fridays attack in which gunmen killed 139 people in a concert hall on the outskirts of Moscow.

A national day of mourning was marked across Russia following Fridays attack. Photo: AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the gunmen are radical Islamists, but despite all evidence pointing to the involvement of the so-called Islamic State, Mr Putin repeated his accusation that Ukraine could have played a role.

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Kyiv has strongly denied any link to the attack.

Four men accused of carrying out the attack appeared before a Moscow court on Sunday on terrorism charges and showed signs of severe beatings. One appeared to be barely conscious during the hearing.

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The men are citizens of Tajikistan, authorities said, and were named by investigators as Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, 32; Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, 30; Shamsidin Fariduni, 25; and Mukhammadsobir Faizov, 19.

They were charged with committing a terrorist attack resulting in the death of others. The offence carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

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One of the suspects accused of the shooting appeared in court barely conscious. Photo: AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko.

Russian officials said they detained a total of 11 people over the attack. Another of those detained appeared in court on Monday.

Alisher Kasimov, a citizen of Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia, was charged with renting an apartment to the men accused of carrying out the attack.

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A senior Turkish security official confirmed that two of the Moscow attackers had spent a short amount of time in Turkey before travelling together to Russia on March 2nd.

One of the attackers, Fariduni, entered Turkey on February 20th, checked into a hotel in Istanbuls Fatih district the next day and checked out on February 27th, the official said.

The other, Rachabalizoda, checked into a hotel in the same district on January 5th and checked out on January 21st.

The official said Turkish authorities believe the two suspects became radicalised in Russia because they were not in Turkey for long.

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There was no warrant for their arrest so they were allowed to travel freely between Russia and Turkey, the official said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged that the killings were carried out by extremists. Photo: Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP.

The attack on Friday at the Crocus City Hall music venue on Moscows western outskirts was one of the deadliest in Russia in years and left more than 180 people injured.

Two days after the affiliate of the so-called Islamic State in Afghanistan, Isis-K claimed responsibility, Mr Putin acknowledged that the killings were carried out by extremists whose ideology the Islamic world has been fighting for centuries.

Mr Putin, who declared over the weekend the four attackers were arrested while trying to escape to Ukraine, said investigators have not determined 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.

Isis-K claimed it carried out the attack, and US intelligence said it had information confirming the group was responsible.

French President Emmanuel Macron said France has intelligence pointing to an IS entity as responsible for the attack.
Firefighters in southern New Jersey came to the rescue of a dog who got stuck in a spare tyre.

The Franklinville Volunteer Fire Company crew found Daisy, an 11-month-old yellow Labrador when they responded to a Franklin Township home last Thursday.

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Her neck was deep in the middle of the tyre rim and the firefighters worked quickly to devise a rescue plan while attempting to keep Daisy calm.

Firefighters first tried washing up liquid and oil to free the pup (Franklin Township Police Department via AP)

Lt Brandon Volpe told The Philadelphia Inquirer that the crew first used washing up liquid and water but could not free the dog, who was pretty stuck in there.

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They then tried vegetable oil and when that did not work, they put cling film around her neck, hoping the oil and washing up liquid would make it slippery enough for her to slide down.

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When that also failed, Mr Volpe remembered he had plasma cutters  used for cutting steel and metal  at his home, so the crew put Daisy on a red wagon and headed to his garage.

Mr Volpe recalls the dog panicked a little bit, but a fire blanket was put around her head and neck for protection.

Within five minutes, Daisy was free.
Two Government ministers have resigned in a double blow to Rishi Sunak, who will be forced to carry out a mini-reshuffle of his team.

Robert Halfon unexpectedly quit as skills, apprenticeships and higher education minister, while James Heappey followed through on his stated intention to step down as armed forces minister ahead of exiting the UK Parliament at the general election.

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Veteran MP Mr Halfon, who has served in a series of senior roles since first being elected to Parliament in 1999, said in a letter to Mr Sunak: 

After well over two decades as the Harlow Parliamentary Candidate and as MP, I feel that it is time for me to step down at the forthcoming general election, and in doing so, to resign as a minister in your Government.

A personal statement from the Rt Hon Robert Halfon MP, Member of Parliament for Harlow and the villages and the Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education. https://t.co/SIj1aYNhlm pic.twitter.com/MGadHQWuLV Advertisement Advertisement  Robert Halfon MP Working Hard for Harlow (@halfon4harlowMP) March 26, 2024

Mr Heappey, the Conservative MP for Wells, Somerset, earlier this month announced his plan to quit as an MP and to stand down as a minister before then.

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In a thread posted to X, he wrote: Ive loved every minute as MinAF in this incredible department.

Our Armed Forces & MoD civil servants are the very best of us.

Representing them in Parliament & around the world over last 4.5 years has been an amazing privilege.

But he said the work isnt done in backing Ukraine, saying the UK must continue to lead the world in the breadth and bravery of our support.

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Mr Sunak thanked Mr Heappey for his invaluable role in implementing the Governments Defence agenda.

You have made an important contribution to Government and your support to consecutive Conservative administrations at the Ministry of Defence has been commendable, the Prime Minister wrote in a letter.

Mr Heappey had reportedly been on resignation watch from his ministerial role after telling colleagues privately that he was unhappy about the level of defence spending.

The former soldier issued a departing plea this week for the defence spending target of 2.5% of GDP to be achieved urgently.

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During a 10-year career in the Rifles, Mr Heappey served in Afghanistan, Iraq, Northern Ireland and Kenya.

He had been hotly tipped to succeed Ben Wallace as defence secretary following his resignation last year.

But Mr Sunak instead gave the Cabinet post to Grant Shapps, who has no military experience.

In his letter to Mr Halfon, Mr Sunak told Mr Halfon he was very sorry to hear of his decision to step down from Government and to stand down at the next election.

You have made an important contribution to our public life, spanning almost 25 years, the Prime Minister wrote.

He commended Mr Halfon for being a stalwart champion for apprenticeships and promoting social mobility.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been hit by two ministerial resignations (Danny Lawson/PA)

The Association of Colleges chief executive David Hughes said he was sorry to hear of Mr Halfons departure.

He has been a passionate champion for further education, skills and apprenticeships throughout his tenure as chair of the education select committee, and as minister, bringing to the roles a commitment to colleges and to understand from students and apprentices as much he can about what works for them.

Mr Heappey and Mr Halfon join a growing exodus of Tory MPs from the Commons as the Conservatives languish in the polls ahead of the national vote expected later this year.

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As of Tuesday, 63 Conservative MPs have said publicly they are either standing down from Parliament or not contesting their current seat at the general election.

Other recent high-profile additions to the list include former prime minister Theresa May and former party chairman Sir Brandon Lewis.

Ministers who declare they will stand down at the election are not required to leave Government immediately.

Asked whether there was a new rule forcing them to do so, in light of Mr Halfon and Mr Heappeys departures from frontbench duties, the Prime Ministers official spokesman told reporters: Im not aware of it.

Its up to individuals to make these choices.
A container ship lost power and crashed into a major bridge in the US city of Baltimore early on Tuesday, causing it to snap in several places and plunge into the river below.

The operators of the ship issued a mayday call moments before the crash that took down the bridge, enabling authorities to limit vehicle traffic on the span, Marylands governor said.

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The ship crashed into one of the bridges supports, causing the structure to break apart like a toy.

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Two people were rescued from the water, and officials said six people were still unaccounted for. All were believed to be those working on the bridge when it collapsed.



The ship crashed into the major bridge in Baltimore after losing power, causing it to collapse in a matter of seconds and creating a terrifying scene as several vehicles plunged into the river below (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

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It tumbled into the water in a matter of seconds  a shocking spectacle that was captured on video and posted on social media. The vessel caught fire and thick, black smoke billowed out of it.

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The crash happened long before the busy morning commute in what one official called a developing mass casualty event.

Brandon Scott, mayor of Baltimore, which is in the state of Maryland, said: Never would you think that you would see, physically see, the Key Bridge tumble down like that.



(PA Graphics)

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It looked like something out of an action movie, Mr Scott said, calling it an unthinkable tragedy.

President Joe Biden said he planned to travel to Baltimore as quickly as I can and that he intends for the federal government to pick up the entire cost of rebuilding the bridge.

This is going to take some time, Mr Biden said. The people of Baltimore can count on us, though, to stick with them at every step of the way until the port is reopened and the bridge is rebuilt.

Authorities said a crew of unknown size was working on the bridge at the time of the collapse and that sonar had detected cars in the water, which is about 50ft (15m) deep.

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The temperature in the water was about 47F (8C) in the early hours of Tuesday, according to a buoy that collects data for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.



Rescuers were searching for multiple people in the water (WJLA via AP)

Earlier, Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore Fire Department, told The Associated Press: that several vehicles were on the bridge at the time of the collapse, including one the size of a tractor-trailer truck.

The bridge came down in the middle of night when traffic would be lighter than during the day, when thousands of cars traverse the span.

Mr Cartwright called the collapse a developing mass casualty event.



File photo shows the Francis Scott Key bridge before the collapse (Alamy/PA)

Synergy Marine Group  which manages the ship, called the Dali  confirmed the vessel hit a pillar of the bridge at about 1:30am while it was in control of two pilots, who are local specialists who help navigate vessels safely into ports. The ship is owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd.

It said all crew members, including the pilots, were accounted for and there were no reports of any injuries.

From a vantage point near the entrance to the bridge, jagged remnants of its steel frame were visible protruding from the water, with the on-ramp ending abruptly where the span once began.

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The jagged remnants of the bridges steel frame were visible protruding from the water (AP Photo/Steve Ruark)

Mr Cartwright said that some cargo appeared to be dangling from the bridge, which spans the Patapsco River at the entrance to a busy harbour.

The river leads to the Port of Baltimore, a major hub for shipping on the East Coast. Opened in 1977, the bridge is named after the writer of The Star-Spangled Banner, the US national anthem.

Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld said all vessel traffic into and out of the port would be suspended until further notice, though the facility was still open to trucks.



The bridge collapsed in the early hours of the morning (Harford County, MD Volunteer Fire & EMS)

Maryland Governor Wes Moore declared a state of emergency and said he was working to get federal resources deployed.

The FBI was on the scene, but said there was no credible information to suggest terrorism and that President Joe Biden had been briefed.

The Dali was headed from Baltimore to Colombo, Sri Lanka, and flying under a Singapore flag, according to data from Marine Traffic.





The Volunteer Firefighters from @jmvfc8, the Volunteer Swift Water Team and the @HarfordCoDES Special Operations Team are assisting the Unified Command at the Baltimore Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse. pic.twitter.com/ipoTR2HljY Advertisement  Harford Co., MD Fire & EMS (@HarforCoFireEMS) March 26, 2024

The container ship is about 985ft (300m) long and about 157ft (48m) wide, according to the website.

Danish shipping giant Maersk said it had chartered the vessel, which was carrying its customers cargo, though no Maersk crew and personnel were on board.

The collapse caused Maersk share at the Nasdaq Copenhagen to plummet 2% in early Tuesday trading.
The UK and the United States have accused China of a global campaign of malicious cyber attacks in an unprecedented joint operation to reveal Beijings espionage.

Britain has publicly blamed China for targeting the UK Electoral Commission watchdog and for being behind a campaign of online reconnaissance aimed at the email accounts of politicians.

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Chinese spies are likely to use the stolen details to target dissidents and critics of Xi Jinpings government in the UK, British intelligence services believe.

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US officials said the APT31 hacking group spent more than a decade targeting the sensitive data of politicians, journalists, academics, dissidents and American companies.

The prolific global hacking operation, backed by the Chinese government, sought to repress critics of the Chinese regime, compromise government institutions, and steal trade secrets, US deputy attorney general Lisa Monaco said.

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The hackers sent more than 10,000 malicious emails to the targets to gain access to personal information, US prosecutors said, adding the criminals threatened to undermine democracies and threaten our national security.

The US charged seven of the alleged Chinese hackers on Monday.

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Seven Hackers Associated with Chinese Government Charged with Computer Intrusions Targeting Perceived Critics of China and U.S. Businesses and Politicians https://t.co/nL5Wuh7mev  US Attorney EDNY (@EDNYnews) March 25, 2024

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The UK said Beijing-linked hackers were behind the attack on the Electoral Commission which exposed the personal data of 40 million voters, as well as 43 individuals including 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 were sanctioned in response to the hacks.

However, some of the British politicians targeted by Beijing said the response did not go far enough.

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They urged the British government to toughen its stance on China by labelling it a threat to national security rather than an epoch-defining challenge, and to put China in the enhanced tier under the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme.

Conservative former minister Tim Loughton told Sky News: Were going to sanction two people, two pretty lowly officials, and one private company, which employs 50 people. That is just not good enough.

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British deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden said Beijing was to blame for a cyberattack on the UK Electoral Commission. Photo: UK Parliament/Andy Bailey/PA

Deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden, who announced the measures in a parliamentary statement, appeared to suggest China could soon be declared a threat.

Cabinet tensions have reportedly surfaced over the issue, with some ministers pushing for tougher action on Beijing while others are resistant over concerns it could harm economic and trade relations.

British 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 Foreign Office to account for his countrys actions.

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 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.

The registers held at the time of the cyberattack 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.

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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.

Mr Dowden insisted the UK local elections in May and the general election later this year would be safe from Chinese cyberattacks.

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.

On Tuesday, New Zealand alleged hackers linked to the Chinese government launched a state-sponsored operation that targeted the countrys parliament in 2021.

Minister responsible for the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB), Judith Collins, said in a statement: The GCSBs National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) completed a robust technical assessment following a compromise of the Parliamentary Counsel Office and the Parliamentary Service in 2021, and has attributed this activity to a PRC (China) state-sponsored group known as APT40.

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Fortunately, in this instance, the NCSC worked with the impacted organisations to contain the activity and remove the actor shortly after they were able to access the network.

She added New Zealand will not follow the UK and US in sanctioning China as the country does not have a law allowing such penalties.

The Chinese government strongly denied that it had carried out, supported or encouraged cyberattacks 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 cyberattacks according to law.

China does not encourage, support or condone cyberattacks.

At the same time, we oppose the politicisation of cybersecurity 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.
US defence secretary Lloyd Austin will meet with his Israeli counterpart on Tuesday and discuss ways to defeat Hamas other than conducting a ground invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah, the Pentagon has said.

Pentagon press secretary Major General Pat Ryder told reporters Mr Austins planned morning meeting with defence minister Yoav Gallant is still on, even though Israel abruptly cancelled the visit of a high-level delegation to Washington this week.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled the visit in protest over Mondays UN Security Council decision calling for an immediate ceasefire.



Israels minister of defence Yoav Gallant, right, speaks during a joint statement with Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin, in Tel Aviv in December (AP)

The US abstained, deciding not to use its veto power, and the resolution passed 14-0.

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There are ways to go about addressing the threat of Hamas, while also taking into account civilian safety said Mr Ryder.

A lot of those are from lessons, our own lessons, conducting operations in urban environments. I would expect the conversations to cover those kinds of things.

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 more than 32,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, and driven a third of Gazas population to the brink of starvation.

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It was launched in response to Hamas October 7 attack on Israel, which killed some 1,200 people.



Gilad Erdan, permanent representative of Israel to the United Nations, addresses the United Nations Security Council at UN headquarters on Monday (Craig Ruttle/AP)

Hamas-led militants took about 250 people hostage and are still holding about 100 hostages, plus the remains of about 30 others, after most of the rest were freed during a ceasefire last year in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners.

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The Security Council resolution calls for a ceasefire during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Mr Netanyahu accused the US of retreating from a principled position by allowing the vote to pass without conditioning the ceasefire on the release of hostages.

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White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the US was disappointed in the decision to cancel the delegations visit.

He said the talks with Mr Gallant would likely include some of what the US had planned to discuss with the Israeli delegation on the possible Rafah invasion.

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The White House was aiming to talk to the Israelis about possible alternatives to a ground invasion of Rafah.

On Monday Mr Gallant met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

Mr Kirby said those meetings had not been intended as a replacement for the delegation meetings.
Special Prosecutors Brian Wice, left, and Jed Silverman address reporters after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton agreed to pre-trial diversion in his securities fraud case Tuesday, March 26, 2024 at Harris County Criminal Courts at Law in Houston. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer Special Prosecutors Brian Wice, left, and Jed Silverman address reporters after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton agreed to pre-trial diversion in his securities fraud case Tuesday, March 26, 2024 at Harris County Criminal Courts at Law in Houston. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton appears at a pretrial hearing in his securities fraud case before state District Judge Andrea Beall, 185th District Court, Tuesday, March 26, 2024 at Harris County Criminal Courts at Law in Houston. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer Defense Attorney Dan Cogdell addresses reporters after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton agreed to pre-trial diversion in his securities fraud case Tuesday, March 26, 2024 at Harris County Criminal Courts at Law in Houston. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer

The deal announced Tuesday in Ken Paxtons securities fraud case brought one of the longest-running cases in Texas history to an abrupt end just weeks before it was to go to trial. But the case had long been touch-and-go, according to lawyers who worked on it.

Paxton was accused in 2015 of persuading two friends to buy more than $100,000 worth of stock in Servergy, a McKinney technology company, without disclosing that he was being compensated by the company and was not an investor himself. He agreed to perform 100 hours of community service and pay $300,000 in restitution to have the charges dropped.

DEAL ANNOUNCED: Texas AG Ken Paxton reaches deal allowing him to avoid trial in criminal securities fraud case

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Special prosecutors assigned to the case said years-long procedural delays made it especially hard to win at trial. One of the alleged victims died while the case was ongoing.

Criminal cases arent like fine wine, said special prosecutor Brian Wice. They do not get better with age.

The case was makeable, said Kent Schaffer, who withdrew from the prosecution last month, but he and Wice estimated their odds of winning had been about 50-50. Thats why Schaffer said he resurfaced a discussion about a deal with the defense six weeks ago, just before he left.

In recent weeks, Wice and his new co-counsel, Jed Silverman, had narrowed their focus to two more severe felony charges after a key witness, appeared ready to side with Paxton on a third, which accused him of failing to register as an investment adviser.

Wice said they started reading interviews and re-interviewing nearly a dozen witnesses last month, some of whom hadnt been interviewed since the Obama administration.

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As a result of that intensive interviewing and re-interviewing process, we had a sense of what these cases were  more importantly, what they werent, Wice said.

The key witness, Paxtons former friend and business associate Frederick Fritz Mowery, had already testified a decade ago to the Texas State Securities Board that he was the one who erred in not registering Paxton as a security adviser. Following a 2014 investigation, the board reprimanded Paxton and fined him $1,000 for the violation.

Wice acknowledged that testimony was technically public record but said they didnt learn of the details until a month ago when Silverman re-interviewed the witness. Silverman said the interview elicited a level of detail that would make it considerably harder for a jury to believe Paxton knowingly broke the law.

'It sends a signal'

Silverman and Wice described in interviews how the investment-related charges had a clear victim and a clear path to justice, unlike the registration charge, which Silverman described as really an administrative matter. Silverman said the victims told prosecutors their top priority was being made whole financially, and as lawyers, they were obligated to take that to heart.

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Schaffer said most of the witnesses in the case were hostile to the prosecution and friendly with Paxton. He said the prosecution planned to show in court that Paxton had excelled in a securities course when he was licensed as proof that he should have known better.

Still, he said, there was no knowing if a jury might take pity on Paxton  that they would know hes guilty but decide that the punishment doesnt fit the crime.

To not fill a form out from the state because you thought your federal form was sufficient? And it was (sufficient) up until three months ago? Schaffer said. You know, some jurors may feel kind of like look, nobody got harmed. You didnt do it correctly. He did pay a civil penalty. Hes been punished enough.

Schaffer added that the charge accusing Paxton of misleading investors might also have been difficult to prove because the law isnt crystal clear about what a person soliciting investments is supposed to tell a potential investor, and Paxton allegedly didnt lie outright, he lied by omission.

In his view, pretrial diversion was a way prosecutors could make sure there were some guaranteed consequences for Paxton, and it also implied guilt.

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It sends a signal to anybody who is paying attention that this guy obviously did what hes accused of doing or he wouldnt be entering into that agreement, Schaffer said.

Paxtons attorney, Dan Cogdell, said he always considered the failure to register charge as bulls- - -, in part because Paxton had previously paid a state fine for it.

Ive never been in a situation where an individual who agreed to pay the fine to the Texas State Securities Board was turned around and prosecuted criminally, he said. The only reason it happened, in my view, was because Paxton was attorney general.

Schaffer ultimately backed out of the case after Wice refused to make a deal and Harris County state district court Judge Andrea Beall decided the trial could move forward even though a dispute was not yet resolved over how much the special prosecutors would be paid.

Late last year, Beall ordered Collin County to pay Wice and Schaffer tens of thousands of dollars after the county argued that their work was subject to a pretrial work cap that would have paid them a rate around the minimum wage in Texas.

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Those rates are wholly unreasonable for  a case of this complexity, Beall wrote in November. The case was so complicated that three prosecutors were originally appointed, she added, an amount typically reserved for death penalty cases. (The third prosecutor dropped out of the case before Schaffer did.)

Collin County has continued to fight the order.

Without sounding too mercenary, there came a time that it dawned on me that Im not the one who should be financing the prosecution of Ken Paxton, Schaffer said. Ill do pro bono cases for widows, orphans, poor people being taken advantage of by the system. But Im not going to go after some politician and spend tons of money to punish him. Thats not my job.

Silverman said Tuesday he would refuse a paycheck for his work on the case. I didnt do it for the money, he said. I did it because I felt like it needed to be done.

Combined with his concerns about the prosecutions odds at trial, Wice said Tuesday that he changed his mind about the deal because it would bring justice to the victims, and his obligation was always to find a fair resolution, not necessarily to convict Paxton.

Cogdell said he and Paxton were always open to pretrial diversion, and that the restitution payment just made financial sense  it would have cost Paxton more to pay defense attorneys for going to trial.

You could make the argument that we should have done it nine years ago, Cogdell said of reaching a deal, adding hes never had a case last this long  longer than the Beatles were together, he joked.

Both sides are at fault, to some extent, in terms of this case being in orbit for nine years, he said. From our perspective, from Paxtons perspective particularly, hes just glad to get it resolved and have it behind him. This has been a huge albatross at his neck.

Meanwhile, Schaffer and Wice said it hadnt escaped their mind that Paxton could face federal charges if a federal grand jury, which is reportedly investigating the same corruption claims that spurred Paxtons impeachment last year, votes to indict him.

If hes convicted in state court, the odds are the jury is gonna give him probation, Schaffer recalled thinking. Theyre not going to put a first offender in prison for failing to fill out the form. But the feds will (for the separate corruption allegations). They could put him away for four, five, six years, and hell have to do the time.

Schaffer said he doesnt have direct knowledge of the status of the federal probe, but said: If theyre taking that long to present evidence to a grand jury, its because they have a case, not because they dont have a case.
The United States must give assurances that Julian Assange will not face the death penalty before judges will consider dismissing the WikiLeaks founders bid to bring an extradition appeal, the UK high court has ruled.

Assange faces prosecution in the US over an alleged conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information following the publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

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In a January 2021 ruling, then-district judge Vanessa Baraitser said that Assange should not be sent to the US, citing a real and oppressive risk of suicide, while ruling against him on all other issues.

Later that year, US authorities won their High Court bid to overturn this block, paving the way towards Assanges extradition.

Supporters of Julian Assange previously marched to Downing Street from the Royal Courts of Justice in London Photo: James Manning/PA.

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During a two-day hearing in February, lawyers for the 52-year-old asked for the go-ahead to challenge the original judges dismissal of other parts of his case to prevent his extradition.

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In a judgment on Tuesday, Dame Victoria Sharp and Mr Justice Johnson dismissed most of Assanges legal arguments but said that unless assurances were given by the United States he would be able to bring an appeal on three grounds.

These assurances are that Assange would be protected by and allowed to rely on the First Amendment  which protects freedom of speech in the US, that he is not prejudiced at trial due to his nationality, and that the death penalty is not imposed.

The judges said the US authorities had three weeks to give those assurances, with a final hearing potentially taking place in late May.

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At the start of Assanges bid last month, Mark Summers KC argued the USs prosecution would be retribution for his political opinions, meaning it would be unlawful to extradite him under UK law.

However, the two judges rejected this argument.

Dame Victoria said: The applicants case before us amounts simply to a reassertion of his case on this issue, and a disagreement with the (district) judges conclusion.

It does not engage with the judges reasoning. Far less does it identify any flaw in her factual conclusions.

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The hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice was attended by dozens of journalists and members of the public, with hundreds observing remotely.

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On Tuesday, dozens of people stood outside the central London courthouse to await the judgment, holding placards bearing the message Free Julian Assange and chanting There is only one decision, no extradition.
Mac Powell - "Like It's Nothing" | Merge PR

NASHVILLE, TENN. (March 22, 2024) Award-winning artist and songwriter Mac Powell drops a brand new single, "Like It's Nothing," available today. More than 160,000 concertgoers have heard this song firsthand during the TobyMac Hits Deep 2024 tour, which concludes tomorrow night in West Virginia.

I know it may sound crazy, but I still believe in miracles," shares Mac Powell of the new song's inspiration. "All of these amazing things that we read about in the scriptures - from God parting the Red Seas, Elijah calling down fire from Heaven, to Jesus healing with just a touch - I truly believe these things, in some ways, still happen. And God does not grow tired or weak in doing these mighty things. I pray we all will continue to have the kind of faith that sees God working today!

Powell's song follows the highly successful 2021 release, New Creation, which produced the radio hit songs "New Creation" and the Top 10 song, "River of Life." He's currently working on a new project that will be released later this year.

In addition to working on new music, Powell recently released his first book, The Soul Shines ThroughThe Surprising Spiritual Influences on Modern Artists. This full-color volume reveals often unknown secrets about the lives of well-known artists such as Van Gogh, Picasso, Warhol, and Chagall. This book inspired by many museum visits over the years and research was co-written with Keith Ogorek and reached the Top 10 in Religious Arts and Photography on Amazon. Get your copy of the book here.

After wrapping up the Hits Deep tour this weekend, Powell will hit the road again later this spring on his headline acoustic tour, "An Acoustic Night of Hit Stories & Faith," where he will be performing his solo hits, worship songs, and selections from Third Day's expansive catalog. This summer, he will be performing at top festivals such as Alive Fest and Kingdom Bound as well as the first-ever K-LOVE Live in Honolulu. For a full list of tour dates, visit MacPowell.com.

ABOUT MAC POWELL: Mac Powell, originally from Alabama, moved to Atlanta, GA as a sophomore in high school where he would soon co-found the Christian rock band Third Day. Throughout their nearly three-decade career, the band sold over 10 million albums, earned four Grammy Awards, one American Music Award, and 24 Dove Awards, and was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. Since Third Days farewell tour in 2018, Mac released a country album, Back Again, under the banner Mac Powell & The Family Reunion. In 2021, he released his debut solo CCM album, New Creation, on Capitol Christian Music Group. In 2023, he released a live album, Live From Red Rocks, and his Christmas EP, Christmas. Mac is on staff at the Church of the Apostles in Atlanta, GA where he lives with his wife Aimee, and their five children.

For more information please visit https://www.macpowell.com/.
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.
Gas suppliers are warning that time is running out to avert major energy shortfalls and price spikes for homes and businesses in Australias south-east as domestic gas production plummets much faster than consumers use of the fossil fuel.

The speed and scale of declining output from ExxonMobils 50-year-old gas fields in the Bass Strait, which have traditionally supplied most of the gas used locally for cooking, heating, power and manufacturing, have sparked fresh alerts from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) that southern states including Victoria and NSW could face winter shortfalls by next year and annual shortages by 2028.

The Eastern Gas Pipeline, which has traditionally brought gas from the Bass Strait to NSW, would be reversed in a project being planned to head off the threat of gas shortfalls. Credit: Geoff Comfort

ExxonMobil Australias commercial director David Berman on Tuesday warned the Gippsland Basin assets that the company jointly owns with Woodside were set to shrink 70 per cent on 2010 levels by next winter. In a speech at the Australian Domestic Gas Outlook conference in Sydney, he called on governments to reduce the onerous regulatory approval requirements and timelines impeding new gas-drilling programs that could offset the declines.

Leaving Australian gas in the ground does nothing to help ensure supply will be sufficient to meet demand, put downward pressure on prices or secure the economic and emissions reduction benefits of natural gas, he said.
It feels like Solomon Lew is playing a game of international retail chess as his strategy to move the brand pieces becomes clearer.

The move to spin off pyjama group Peter Alexander and kid-stationery chain Smiggle into separately listed companies is the enabler for international hyper-expansion.

Lews end game appears to go beyond just growing these Australian businesses internationally. It is a plan to establish each as a global brand.

Solomon Lew believes Smiggle and Peter Alexander have greater value as separate entities. Credit: Eamon Gallagher

He mentions the extraordinary colonising success of brands such as Zara and Tommy Hilfiger, and then explains that the UK has been scoped and readied for Peter Alexanders entry, while announcing plans to have 100 Smiggle stores in Indonesia in the coming years.
Crown Resorts will keep the licence to operate its flagship Melbourne casino, two years after it was disgraced following two scathing royal commissions and a state inquiry that found it failed to curb money laundering and terrorism financing across its three casinos for years.

The Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission said on Tuesday it was clearly satisfied Crown Melbourne should keep its state casino licence and that it was in the public interest for it to do so.

The Victorian regulator has established a specialist casino division dedicated to overseeing Crown Melbourne. Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui

This means the casino giant has passed its first regulatory test since it was bought by private equity giant Blackstone for $7.9 billion in 2022.

Commission chair Fran Thorn said the Victorian regulator was clearly satisfied Crown Melbourne was fit to continue operating on the basis of three key considerations: the findings of special manager Stephen OBryan, the regulators own determination, and Crowns commitment to its transformation plan.
Donald Trumps business empire was supposed to be in peril as never before on Monday (US time). Instead, it turned into the single-greatest day on record for the former presidents wealth.

As he faced a deadline to post a bond of more than $US500 million ($764 million) in a New York fraud lawsuit, a state appeals court tossed him a lifeline, slashing the amount hed have to post to $US175 million  an amount he says hell cover. Around the same time, his social media company Trump Media & Technology Group wrapped up a 29-month merger process, meaning shares worth billions of dollars on paper are now officially Trumps.

Donald Trump is set to join the ranks of the worlds wealthiest 500 people on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index for the first time. Credit: AP

All told, his net worth will increase by more than $US4 billion. That means for the first time ever, Trump is set to join the ranks of the worlds wealthiest 500 people on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, with a fortune of $US6.5 billion ($10 billion).

We have a great company and are incredibly honoured, Eric Trump, executive vice president of the Trump Organisation, said in a statement.
De Jonghs statement of claim shows Semsarians attention began the day she started work on June 14, 2022, when he took his junior for coffee. Two days later, Semsarian offered her a lift home, which she declined. He repeated his offer, which she again declined, beginning a pattern of pressure that the complainant alleges escalated, with between 3000 and 4000 text messages exchanged between June and December 2022. In the entire period, there were only seven days when he did not message the complainant, the claim alleges. Many of the texts were sent within minutes of each other, often very late in the evening. At one point Semsarian tells de Jongh he has been diagnosed with J-SAD, Jen-related Separation Anxiety Disorder and the only treatment was a drink/dinner with Jen.

The frequency of contact kept increasing, de Jongh said when approached by this masthead. He wanted to drive me home every day that he could. He would insist on coffee in the morning and then lock me in for a ride home that evening. Then he would text at 5pm and say, Im coming to take you home. In the car he would say, We are going for dinner. He wouldnt take no for an answer. According to the statement of claim, on August 6, 2022, Semsarian asked de Jongh: Do you reckon we have a bit of a connection?? with two love heart emojis. A couple of days later he pressed her for coffee saying, I dont want to sound pathetic but I wont see you for the rest of the week, with a sad-face emoji.

For the rest of August, the statement of claim alleges, he texted her constantly, asking for coffee, while saying I dont want to sound too needy. The claim shows flurries of texts where he asked her Seriously, do we have a connection?? Its scary!! and Why do you think I ask the night before if you can do coffee  so I go to sleep happy and wake up excited  I love your company. Jen de Jongh says she was bombarded with messages from Semsarian. Credit: Egidijus Narvydas He also texted that he felt instantly connected to de Jongh when he interviewed her for her job and said, So glad God crossed our paths and You are NEVER allowed to leave me!! EVER [laughing emojis] I will kidnap you if you try to leave. Again, God at work aligning everything perfectly. The text messages show Semsarian repeatedly told de Jongh she was cute and very photogenic with many beautiful qualities, amazing, a kind and caring person, and sweet, and she made him smile. He said she was a sweetheart and I know, bc [because] I am a cardiologist!

At nearly 9pm on October 6, he texted: I really truly get excited going to sleep knowing were having coffee together tmr [tomorrow]  NOT with [another colleague] added on, with two laughing emojis. A minute later he texted I have separation anxiety overnight!!! with a smiling face and a love heart emoji. De Jongh told this masthead: He would often compliment my clothing and stare at my chest, and he would say inappropriate things that made me feel uncomfortable. Semsarian ramped up his alleged harassment of the complainant by repeatedly insisting she accept lifts home from him, according to the claim, telling her, I def have to drive you home!! No argument. Its been too long!! and Im taking you to Waterloo. Period! No arguments. See you at 5pm. On September 18, he texted: Im having Jen withdrawals and reproached her that I think you have forgotten about Chris with a sad-face emoji.

While on an overseas work trip, on September 21 at 11.08pm, he texted de Jongh a photo of his hotel bed. The behaviour allegedly continued throughout October, with Semsarian texting I miss you on weekends and on another occasion, texting her at nearly 11pm on a weeknight saying it was 9 and a bit hours until their coffee meeting, adding the smiling face emoji that has three hearts around it. During a lift home on October 17, Semsarian touched her buttock, the claim alleges. This alleged pattern of behaviour culminated in Semsarian showing up uninvited at de Jonghs apartment on Saturday, October 29. De Jongh says she never told Semsarian her apartment number and doesnt know how he discovered it.

When she went downstairs, Semsarian presented her with a pair of Apple AirPods Max earphones, which retail today for $899. Against her protests, he insisted she accept them. On October 26, 2022, de Jongh met a friend for dinner in Bondi and Semsarian insisted he drive her there. According to the statement of claim, during the drive he said words to the effect that No means no to everyone, except if you say it to me and If I offer you dinner you cant say no, if I offer you a ride home, you cant say no; before protesting that, it was just a joke, dont be so uptight about it. He then asked de Jongh if she had been sexually abused, saying I got [that] impression from how you reacted to something the other day.

The allegedly relentless contact continued, and on November 16 de Jongh told her boss at the institute she was feeling overwhelmed with the volume and content of Professor Semsarians texts, that she sometimes felt uncomfortable and that she wanted to keep their communication work related. But, according to the claim, this did not deter the professor. He texted that afternoon saying Big storm coming. Just saying with two smiley face emojis, and then, when she declined the implied offer of a lift, he texted, All good. Ill come say goodbye in a few minutes? He then met her in the foyer of the Centenary Institute and hugged her, according to the statement of claim. In late November de Jongh took leave and feigned illness because she was distressed by what she alleges was contact that was persistent, continuous and of high volume and had content or a tone that was personal rather than professional. Semsarian, who is married with children, continued to text her, despite believing she was on sick leave, and made video calls to her, which she did not answer.

I felt I had no way out. I would have to leave and start all over again. Jobs in genetic counselling are hard to come by. I didnt think there was going to be any resolution, she told this masthead. Loading I was seeking medical help and was at such a low point by then. She said that when she tried to assert boundaries to make the behaviour stop, Semsarian would react with hostility. I would be in the bad books the next day, she said. He would give me the cold shoulder. A couple of times he belittled me in a meeting after he perceived I had rejected him.

On December 5, de Jongh resigned from the Centenary Institute. Three days later, phone records in the statement of claim show Semsarian attempted to call her twice, about 6pm; then at 6.04pm he turned up at her apartment, buzzing her intercom multiple times. De Jongh did not answer, and her flatmate telephoned Semsarian and warned him to stay away. De Jongh blocked his number. She is staying in Norway and has not returned to work since her resignation. When it comes to the thought of working again I have panic attacks and cant do it, she says. Semsarian is of huge stature in medicine and drives a lot of funding to the institute. He has such an influence, even among people in the non-cardiology world. He has connections everywhere.

De Jongh submitted her claim with the Human Rights Commission in July 2023, but a conciliation between the parties in late 2023 failed to resolve the case. I loved my job. I never wanted a case out of this, she says. I feared when I left, there would just be another woman. Solicitor Hayden Stephens, who is acting for de Jongh, said: These are clearly serious allegations and yet neither employer [Centenary Institute or NSW Health] has seen fit to interview Jen and launch an independent investigation. Staff and colleagues familiar with this case are frustrated. In their eyes, the Centenary Institute has chosen to protect and stand by their man. The Centenary Institute said that it was in the process of filing its defence and was unable to comment on this specific situation but said the institute takes eliminating harassment in the workplace incredibly seriously.
Central Coast mother of two Jen ONeill, 44, was in a hospital bed after her second of three heart attacks in six years when she overheard a nurse talking to a colleague about her condition.

She thinks shes had another heart attack, but its probably just stress or a panic attack, ONeill heard the nurse say.

Jen ONeill felt she was being belittled when she was having a heart attack. Credit: Janie Barrett

ONeill had suffered a spontaneous coronary artery dissection, or SCAD, which is a sudden tear in a coronary artery that can slow or block the blood flow to the heart, triggering a heart attack.

The rare and serious condition predominantly affects women in their 40s and 50s. ONeill was otherwise fit and healthy and said having the attack dismissed as stress felt a bit undermining.
Thanks for joining us. Our live blog will return tomorrow morning. Until then, these were todays top stories.

A man trapped in a Brisbane drain system for 36 hours was allegedly in a vehicle that hit a police car before he became stuck underground.

Emergency workers have rushed to the scene of a dramatic bridge collapse in the United States, after a cargo ship hit a pylon in Baltimore Harbour.

Baltimores Francis Scott Key Bridge collapses. Credit: Twitter

The Roma Street Cross River Rail site is taking shape and is finally looking more like an actual train station than a construction zone.

One of Australias top cardiologists is accused of sexually harassing a young female employee, allegedly sending her thousands of texts followed by unwelcome touching and surprise visits to her apartment.

Mourners have remembered TV presenter Jesse Bairds humour, sense of joy and love during an emotional memorial service for the man whose life was allegedly cut short by a jealous admirer.

Author and columnist Peter FitzSimons has asked a court to order Bruce Lehrmann to pay his costs of producing documents during the former Liberal staffers defamation case against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson.

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.

US police have raided properties owned by rapper Sean Diddy Combs as part of a sex-trafficking inquiry.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton waves to the crowd during a rally featuring former President Donald Trump on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022, in Robstown, Texas. Nick Wagner/Associated Press Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks during the fifth Texas Values Faith Freedom Forum held at Great Hills Baptist Church in Austin in TX, on Sept. 23, 2022. Josie Norris/Staff photographer The impeachment vote tallies are seen in the Texas House of Representatives at the Texas Capitol in Austin, Texas, on May 27, 2023. Allegations against Paxton includes abuse of power to help a political donor and other offenses spanning nearly the past decade. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Attorney Dan Cogdell (left) joins fellow attorney Tony Buzbee (right) during a press conference at the Travis County Republican Headquarters to announce their representation for suspended State Attorney General Ken Paxton in Austin on Wednesday, June 7, 2023. Buzbee and Cogdell will be representing Paxton at the commencement of the Texas Senate impeachment trial. Kin Man Hui/Staff photographer

Attorney General Ken Paxton has reached a deal with prosecutors to dismiss felony securities fraud charges that have loomed over the three-term Republican for nearly a decade. In exchange, Paxton will do 100 hours of community service, take legal ethics courses and pay about $300,000 in restitution to the victims.

Here are four things to know about the attorney general and the allegations against him:

Who is Ken Paxton?

Paxton is a Collin County Republican who won his third term as attorney general in 2022.

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Known for relentlessly suing the Biden administration and taking up the mantle of culture war issues, Paxton has been dogged by legal issues since taking statewide office in 2015.

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He was charged that year with securities fraud and pleaded not guilty. The trial had been delayed since then, including over disputes about prosecutor pay and where Paxton should be tried, as well as slowdowns that affected all court cases due to Hurricane Harvey and the COVID-19 pandemic. On Tuesday, special prosecutors announced theyd reached an agreement with Paxton to dismiss the charges in exchange for community service and other requirements.

Separately, the FBI also is investigating allegations made by Paxtons own top staff in late 2020 that he abused the office to help a campaign donor. He has denied wrongdoing.

The abuse of office allegations also prompted the Texas House to impeach Paxton in May 2023. He was briefly removed from office while the state Senate considered the claims and held a trial. Senators acquitted Paxton on all counts in September, and he was reinstated as attorney general.

A close ally of former President Donald Trump, Paxton counts Christian conservatives among his core supporters. Prior to taking statewide office, Paxton worked as in-house counsel for J.C. Penney and served in the Texas House and Senate. His wife is state Sen. Angela Paxton, R-McKinney, who attended the impeachment proceedings but was not allowed to vote on the outcome.

The attorney generals office is in charge of defending the state in litigation, enforcing consumer protection laws and collecting court-ordered child support.

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What are major moments from Paxtons career?

As attorney general, Paxton led a number of high-profile lawsuits, including an unsuccessful effort to challenge the 2020 presidential election result before the U.S. Supreme Court. He also spoke at the pro-Trump rally that preceded the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, promising to not quit fighting.

After Joe Biden took office, Paxton launched dozens of lawsuits that tied up the Democrats policies on abortion rights, immigration, and COVID-19 masking and vaccine mandates.

In Texas, he issued a nonbinding legal opinion that concluded gender-affirming care for transgender youth amounts to child abuse, and he promised aggressive enforcement of the states near-total ban on abortion that took effect with the fall of Roe v. Wade. He made news for allegedly fleeing his North Texas home when a process server attempted to deliver him a subpoena before a key abortion hearing.

In 2022, Paxton fended off three GOP primary challengers who accused him of lacking the integrity needed to serve as the states top lawyer. He won a third term that November.

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What are the allegations against Paxton?

Paxton was indicted on securities fraud charges in July 2015 for failing to inform friends that he would make a commission off their investment in a North Texas tech company and for neglecting to register with the state as an investment adviser. He pleaded not guilty.

If he had been convicted, Paxton could have faced serious penalties, including years in prison, an inability to run for office and the possible loss of his law license.

The separate FBI investigation and impeachment were based on accusations that Paxton had helped Austin real estate investor Nate Paul retaliate against a federal fraud investigation into his businesses. In exchange, House prosecutors said, Paul covered the cost of renovating Paxtons home in the affluent Tarrytown neighborhood of Austin and hired a woman with whom Paxton was allegedly having an affair. Paul also donated $25,000 to Paxton in 2018.

Eight former Paxton aides reported him to the FBI in 2020, and some later sued him for retaliation, reaching a $3.3 million settlement agreement with the attorney general, which Paxton asked the Legislature to pay for with tax dollars. House lawmakers declined Paxtons request and instead began investigating the corruption allegations. The GOP-led chamber voted to impeach him in May.

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The Senate acquitted him in September. The whistleblowers have since asked the courts to reopen their case against Paxton and allow it to go to trial, where the attorney general could be forced to testify under oath. Litigation is ongoing.

What does this mean for Paxtons career?

Paxton has proved resilient in the face of his legal troubles. With the dismissal of his securities fraud charges  and the possibility of jail time behind him  Paxtons political influence is only expected to grow. Hes been vindicated twice in less than a year: First, when the Texas Senate acquitted him of corruption-related impeachment charges, and now a deal avoiding any outright admission of wrongdoing.

The attorney general has also had some success on the campaign trail, as he set out to oust incumbent House Republicans who voted to impeach him during the March primary elections.

Paxton is not up for re-election again until 2026, but he is a close ally of former President Donald Trump.
A man trapped in a Brisbane drain system for 36 hours was allegedly in a vehicle that hit a police car before he became stuck underground.

The 38-year-old man, rescued on Monday morning from a drain at Kangaroo Point, was assisting police with their inquiries, after telling authorities he became trapped while searching for his phone.

Officers had been patrolling in a car near Anderson Street in Fortitude Valley about 4.20am on Sunday when they spotted a Ford Falcon pulling into the street.

Officers attempted to follow behind the Ford before it allegedly reversed and struck the officers vehicle, causing substantial damage to the Ford and moderate damage to the officers vehicle, police said in a statement.
The story of Crown casino is one of profit, power and privilege. It is also a tale of extraordinary abuse of privilege.

The millions of people who entered the doors of the Melbourne casino since it opened in 1994 had every right to expect an environment in which gambling was safe, criminal influence was not allowed to flourish and gamblers were not exploited rapaciously.

Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission chair Fran Thorn announces that Crown will keep its licence. Credit: AAP

To expect that the conditions of its licence would be met and the conditions of its social licence to operate would be honoured. To expect that Crown would behave in a way that met the suitability test of its licence.

It did not.
Victorias triple-zero service rejected an offer to borrow call-taking workers to help deal with an unprecedented surge in demand that overwhelmed the service in 2021 and likely led to a fatal ambulance delay.

Screens showing the number of emergency ambulance calls waiting to be answered were also temporarily switched off because the number grew so large it was considered too upsetting for the frontline staff working in the communication centres.

An example of a triple-zero wallboard, showing seven police calls waiting to be picked up. Credit: Communication Workers Union

I do believe that [wallboard] function was turned off at some point [as] it was quite distressing for operators who were taking call after call, Triple Zero Victoria chief operating officer Nicole Ashworth told the Coroners Court of Victoria on Tuesday.

She said managers could still see the data.
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.
Key faith leaders are backing a compromise on religious freedom after days of angry dispute over a proposal to limit the right of religious schools to dismiss teachers and expel students over questions of sexuality or gender identity.

The move came as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hinted at a deal with the Greens to enact the changes after the issue arose on Tuesday in the Labor caucus meeting, where one MP expressed concern about the impasse in parliament on protections for LGBTQ children.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has spoken to his colleagues about the religious discrimination legislation. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

But the government has not given the Greens the two draft bills on the issue, although it has given them to some in the Coalition, and a compromise appeared unlikely.

The nations peak Jewish organisation rejected the polarised argument and backed a way to shield religious groups from attack as well as protect the LGBTQ community from discrimination.
Singapore/Denpasar: Indonesian police have questioned a group of Chinese nationals allegedly ready to attempt an illegal boat journey to Australia.

The latest experiment in slipping into Australia, though from a rare cohort, was thwarted by a tip-off from the Australian Federal Police and the reluctance of local fishermen to make the journey, according to Patar Silalahi, the crime chief of West Timor Police.

An illegal fishing boat destroyed by Australian Border Force in 2021.

Boats are again a sensitive topic for the Australian government following recent landings in Western Australia and a High Court decision that have spurred attacks from the opposition over border security.

Patar said the group of 15 entered Indonesia with valid visas through the holiday island of Bali, before venturing far from the tourist trail to Kupang City, about 500 kilometres from the northern coastline of Western Australia.
The fractured relationship between US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is now official, as is Israels isolation on the international stage.

In theory, the US said nothing at all in the latest vote at the United Nations Security Council: abstaining from casting a vote on whether it supported an immediate ceasefire in Israels war with militant group Hamas. In practice, sitting out was a symbolically powerful moment, allowing the UNs premier forum for peace and security to pass its first ceasefire resolution since Israels war with Hamas began in October.

Gilad Erdan, permanent representative of Israel to the UN, addresses the Security Council in New York on Monday. Credit: AP

Throughout most of its history, the US has been Israels last line of defence on the Security Council, using its veto power as a permanent member to block resolutions that implicitly or explicitly criticise Israel.

Since the beginning of the war, the US has vetoed three ceasefire resolutions, arguing they undermined Israels right to self-defence and risked empowering Hamas after it launched its brutal October 7 attacks on Israel.
So this evening at about 7.30 were going to suspend the active search and rescue efforts. The Coast Guard is not going away, none of our partners are going away, but were just going to transition to a different phase. The decision came as the sun set over Baltimore, as dozens of people lined up along Interstate 695 to see what remained of the bridge named after Francis Scott Key, the man who wrote the US national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner. Since it was in built in 1977, the 2.5-kilometre arterial had become emblematic of Baltimores identity as a working class port city. Just as Sydney has its Harbour Bridge, or New York has the Brooklyn Bridge spanning the East River from Manhattan, the Francis Scott Key Bridge is a decades-old fixture for the blue-collar Baltimore communities on each end of it.

It is also a major thoroughfare that carries more than 11 million vehicles every year  including President Joe Bidens, who has often crossed the bridge from his home in Delaware en route to Maryland or Washington, DC. Loading But what remains now are submerged steel rods and twisted metal, much of it wrapped around the 95,000-tonne, 300-metre-long cargo ship that crashed into it. This is no ordinary bridge, this is one of the cathedrals of American infrastructure, said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. It has been part of the skyline of this region for longer than many of us have been alive. So the path to normalcy will not be easy, will not be quick, will not be inexpensive. But we will rebuild together.

According to authorities, the ship was moving at about eight knots (14 km per hour) before the collision, which is a typical speed for vessels travelling in the area. At 1.24am, the ships lights flickered, and at 1.26am the ship looked as though it was starting to change course. A few minutes later it crashed into the bridge. Before the collision, the ships crew notified authorities that the vessel had lost power, a mayday alert that allowed transport authorities on the highway above to prevent many cars from driving onto it just before the impact. Ive directed my team to move heaven and earth to rebuild the port and reopen the bridge. US President Joe Biden As Maryland Governor Wes Moore put it, an awful catastrophe could have been even more catastrophic. Americans were nonetheless stunned and saddened to learn of the crash.

I woke up to a friend texting me this morning about the bridge and immediately went on TikTok and saw it collapsing. I couldnt believe it, said Erin Miller. We were literally just on that bridge on Wednesday ... its so insane that now its gone. Others were fearful of the economic impact, given the Port of Baltimore is one of the key ports on Americas eastern seaboard, and critical for the car industry in particular. The incident is also likely to cause chaos for travellers wanting to use the connection between New York and Washington DC, particularly ahead of the busy Easter weekend.

Ben Schafer, a professor of Civil and Systems Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, estimated it could take at least 10 to 15 years to rebuild the bridge. With about 15,000 jobs dependent on the port and millions of Americans reliant on the bridge, the federal government has offered to pay for its reconstruction. Ive directed my team to move heaven and earth to rebuild the port and reopen the bridge, Biden said, adding that he hoped the bridge would be up and running as soon as humanly possible. Divers were due to return to the water at 6am Wednesday (US time) to try to recover the bodies of the six missing construction workers and give their families closure.

But while many questions remain unanswered, authorities have ruled out terrorism or anything nefarious. The National Transportation Safety Board will now lead the investigation into the cause of the crash. This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows a view of the Francis Scott Key Bridge that was struck by a container ship in Baltimore, Maryland. Credit: AP Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said the board would examine the ship, its owner, operators and other crew members, as well as look into the bridge and its structure. But right now, its about people, she said. Its about families and addressing the needs of those that were impacted. Thats the focus.
Were excited about the potential of GSS with its global reach and look forward to seeing how CBA can potentially utilise this technology to continue to prevent sanctioned parties from accessing and moving money into or out of Australia, whilst also speeding up the millions of international payments for our customers.
Telsa is not the first car brand to include a self-driving mode in its vehicles, but it has become one of the most well-known companies for it. Despite its success, there are still incidents linked to the automated feature, and from now on, customers need an extra step before completing a delivery.

FSD Demo from Tesla Employees

Tesla CEO Elon Musk sent out an email to employees stating that they are now required to demonstrate to customers how to use the Full Self-Driving function for its vehicles, which will serve as a final step for North American customers before finishing delivery.

In the email, it says that it is mandatory to install and activate FSD V12.3.1, as well as take customers on a short test ride before handing over the car. "I know this will slow down the delivery process, but it is nonetheless a hard requirement," says the tech executive.

The Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature is different from the Autopilot mode, as the former is Tesla's premium driver assistance system. While Autopilot is both a standard and free option, the FSD costs $199 per month for most customers in North America, according to CNBC.

In another memo sent to employees, the company is asking both salaried and hourly workers to sign up for additional shifts for delivering vehicles in the final days of the first quarter, although the pay for the mentioned employees will vary.

Salaried employees will not receive compensation should they sign up for the delivery shifts, while hourly employees with be paid for the extra hours. Even with a steady production capacity, Tesla says it needs support to move, prepare, and drive the vehicles to customers.

The demonstration could be an important step in reducing FSD-related accidents, wherein drivers lose control of the car for not paying attention. Some ignore or miss the part of the manual stating that even in FSD mode, drivers are required to be attentive and ready to take over.

Furthermore, owners with FSD can get access to the FSD Beta system. The program will allow customers to contribute to testing and debugging the assistance feature on public roads, which is crucial to the advancement of the feature.

Read Also: Ford's Assisted-Driving Technology Under Federal Investigation Following Fatal Crash





Tesla Drivers' Accident Rate

Tesla is already being watched by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration due to the accidents that have been linked to its assistive driving systems such as the Autopilot and the FSD functions. In fact, Tesla has the highest accident rate among other car brands.

According to Electrek, Tesla is ranked first in the brands with the most accidents at 23.54 per 1,000 drivers in 2023. This goes against the company's claims that the Autopilot safety features lead to a much lower crash rate than average within the industry.

Tesla has since stopped releasing safety reports regarding assistive driving, making it harder to analyze the actual statistics that determine the safety of the feature. The report used to track miles between accidents based on the bele of Autopilot used.

Related: Jury Fines Tesla $42 Million for Employee Crash That Injured Motorcyclist
China refused call with Pentagon chief on day of balloon downing: US (Photo: Tingshu Wang/Reuters)

China has hit back at the United States and the United Kingdom for imposing sanctions over alleged Chinese government-backed cyberattacks, calling the Western allies' move an act of "political manipulation." The accusations and sanctions come as China faces growing scrutiny from key Western democracies, which are taking a more concerted and coordinated stand against what they view as unacceptable levels of hacking and espionage by Beijing.

On Monday, the US and the UK announced a set of criminal charges and sanctions against seven Chinese hackers for allegedly conducting sweeping attacks on behalf of China's civilian intelligence agency. The yearslong campaign allegedly targeted American officials, senators, journalists, and companies - including Pentagon contractors - as well as British parliamentarians, the UK's election watchdog, and members of the European Parliament, affecting millions of people.

New Zealand also weighed in on Tuesday, accusing state-sponsored Chinese hackers of launching "malicious cyber activity" against the country's parliament in 2021. Australia and the European Union expressed solidarity with the UK and voiced concerns over China's alleged malicious cyber activities.

At a news conference Tuesday, China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian lashed out at the US and the UK, accusing them of "hyping up the so-called cyberattacks by China" and engaging in "purely political manipulation." Lin urged the Western allies to "stop politicizing cyber security issues, stop slandering and smearing China, impose unilateral sanctions, and stop cyberattacks on China."

The accusations and sanctions come at a sensitive time for China, as it grapples with a host of economic challenges, including an exodus of foreign investment, and tries to manage tensions and repair frayed relations with major Western powers. The coordinated move by the US and its allies undermines Beijing's "divide and rule" strategy, according to Liu Dongshu, an assistant professor focusing on Chinese politics at City University of Hong Kong.

"My observation is that China has always sought to create some distance between the US and other Western countries, such as European nations and Australia. Especially considering the possibility of a reelection of Donald Trump, China feels there may be a chance to separate them a little more," Liu said. "But (the accusations) show that despite their differences, these countries remain united on many issues regarding China."

The sanctions against two Chinese nationals and a technology company in the central Chinese city of Wuhan mark the first time Britain has slapped penalties on Chinese state-affiliated entities for alleged cyberattacks. British cybersecurity officials said a Chinese state-backed hacking group known as APT31 had "conducted reconnaissance activity" against British parliamentarians who were openly critical of Beijing in 2021 and had "highly likely" breached the UK's Electoral Commission in 2021 and 2022, accessing personal data of 40 million voters.

Jonathan Sullivan, an associate professor and China specialist at the University of Nottingham, said the sanctions come at a sensitive time in the UK, which is facing a general election and bracing itself for a wave of misinformation. "Our economic relations with China are already undergoing securitization, from investment to data protection," he said, citing Britain's bans on Chinese tech giant Huawei from its 5G networks and on the camera systems of Chinese surveillance company Hikvision from sensitive sites.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said China had made "technical clarification" in response to the APT31-related information submitted by the UK, calling its evidence "insufficient" and "unprofessional." The sanctions could risk disrupting the upward trajectory of UK-China ties, which have stabilized in the past year after years of deterioration following British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's "robust pragmatism" approach to foreign policy, Sullivan said.

As Beijing comes under growing pressure from Western democracies, its frustration was evident in Lin's accusation that the US is encouraging the Five Eyes alliance "to spread all kinds of disinformation about the threats posted by Chinese hackers for geopolitical purpose." The coordinated move by the US, UK, and other allies highlights the growing concern over China's alleged state-sponsored hacking activities and the united front being formed to counter these threats.

CNN and BBC ontributed to this report.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is greeted by supporters of his Likud party as he arrives to speak following the announcement of exit polls in Israel's parliamentary election at the party headquarters in Tel Aviv, Israel April 10, 2019. (Photo: REUTERS)

The growing divide between the United States and Israel's right-wing government was further exposed on Monday when the U.S. abstained from a United Nations Security Council vote demanding an immediate cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. The move prompted a furious response from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who canceled a planned visit of a high-level delegation to Washington.

The resolution, the first of its kind passed since the onset of the war nearly six months ago, called for an immediate cessation of hostilities for two weeks and the unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The U.S. abstention marked a significant shift from its previous position, having vetoed three U.N. calls for a halt in fighting over the past five months.

Netanyahu's office released a statement condemning the U.S. decision, saying, "This is a clear retreat from the consistent position of the U.S. in the Security Council since the beginning of this war. This withdrawal hurts both the war effort and the effort to release the abductees."

The U.S. denied that the abstention signaled a change in policy, with State Department spokesman Matthew Miller stating that the resolution included elements "consistent with our long-term position, most importantly, that there should be a cease-fire and that there should be a release of hostages."

However, some observers view the move as a significant development. Hussein Ibish, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, told CNBC, "It's a breakthrough. An abstention from a UN Security Council permanent member is a yes vote, because it means they are not exercising their veto and basically agree with the text, even if they don't want to say so. The U.S. declining to protect Israel from a resolution it passionately objects to by not providing a veto is an extraordinary thing."

The rift between the U.S. and Israel has been growing, with the Biden administration warning against Israel's planned military operation in Rafah, the southernmost corner of Gaza, where more than a million displaced Palestinians are taking shelter. The U.S. has also been frustrated by Israel's hindering of aid deliveries into the besieged strip, with the U.N. warning at the start of the year that half a million Palestinians were facing famine.

Former Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben Avi placed the blame for the crisis squarely on Netanyahu, telling CNBC, "The whole attitude of confronting Americans instead of serving with their interests, which are essentially Israel's interests, is working against the nation's security. Netanyahu has become a threat to Israel's security by conducting war from the very first day. With him, political domestic consideration is more [important] than catering to the strategic interest of Israel."

In a further development, Israel recalled its negotiating team from Qatar on Tuesday after Hamas rejected its latest offer in talks on a hostage deal and truce. The Prime Minister's Office accused Hamas of retreating to its "extreme demands" and stated that "Israel will not cave to Hamas's delusional demands."

Foreign Minister Israel Katz drew a direct link between Hamas's rejection of Israeli terms and the U.S. decision to allow the Security Council resolution to pass, calling it "a moral and ethical mistake" that gave Hamas reason to believe "they're going to get a ceasefire without giving up the hostages."

The U.S. decision to abstain from the Security Council vote has exposed the deepening rift between the two longtime allies, with the blame game in full swing. As the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsens and the prospect of a ceasefire remains elusive, the international community watches with growing concern as the conflict continues to take a heavy toll on the Palestinian population and the U.S.-Israel relationship faces an unprecedented strain.
The corporation has filed an appeal against the order demanding GST of Rs 19,64,584 for FY 2017-18.

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) on Tuesday said tax authorities have slapped a demand notice of about Rs 39.39 lakh on it for short payment of Goods and Services Tax (GST) for 2017-18.

The company has received a communication/demand order for interest and penalty from the Additional Commissioner, Central Goods & Service Tax, Gandhinagar on January 3, 2024, LIC said in a regulatory filing.

The corporation has filed an appeal against the order demanding GST of Rs 19,64,584 for FY 2017-18 and interest applicable on it along with a penalty of Rs 19,74,584 before the Commissioner (Appeals), Ahmedabad on March 26, 2024, it said.
The loan proceeds shall be utilized by NREL for funding its capex for renewable energy projects which would facilitate its mission for providing reliable, affordable and sustainable energy.

State-owned power giant NTPC on Tuesday said it has inked a pact with a Japanese agency for sourcing foreign currency loans of USD 200 million (JPY 30 billion or around Rs 1,650 crore).

Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), a government policy-based financial institution, will provide 60 per cent of the facility amount and the balance amount will be provided by other commercial banks under JBIC guarantee, a statement said.

The agreements have been signed for a JPY 15 billion loan each for NTPC Ltd and NTPC Renewables Energy Ltd (NREL), it added.

The facility has been extended under JBIC's initiative entitled Global action for Reconciling Economic growth and Environment preservation' (GREEN) for projects which ensure the conservation of the global environment..

The loan proceeds shall be utilized by NTPC for funding part of its capex requirements for Flue Gas Desulphurization (FGD) which substantially reduces the SOx emission in the flue gases of thermal power stations and is a positive step towards environmental sustainability, it stated.

This is the second loan for NTPC under JBIC's GREEN operations in India.

The loan proceeds shall be utilized by NREL for funding its capex for renewable energy projects which would facilitate its mission for providing reliable, affordable and sustainable energy.
A paramilitary soldier belonging to Pakistan's Balochistan Frontier Corps was killed, along with four militants from the Balochistan Liberation Army's (BLA's) Majeed Brigade, in an attack on the Pakistani naval base PNS Siddique in Balochistan province's Turbat on Monday night, the Pakistani military's media affairs wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said on Tuesday.

Located in Balochistan's Turbat city, PNS Siddique, formerly known as Naval Air Station Turbat, is one of Pakistan's four active naval air bases and a military airport. It is also reported to be Pakistan's second largest naval air station after PNS Mehran.





Breaking: Pakistans second largest naval air station, PNS Siddique in Turbat is under heavy attack. Gunfire and multiple explosions have been reported from the area. Chinese drones are also stationed at this base. pic.twitter.com/8mX6IPhURo March 25, 2024

What is the Majeed Brigade?

The Majeed Brigade is the BLA's 'suicide squad'. Its parent organisation, the BLA, is a militant separatist group that is proscribed in Pakistan.

How did the Majeed Brigade start?

According to American defence policy think tank, The Jamestown Foundation, the brigade is named after two brothers, Majeed Langove Senior and Majeed Langove Junior, who had carried out separate suicide attacks.

While Majeed Senior was killed while attempting to assassinate the then Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto during the latter's official visit to Quetta in 1974, Majeed Junior was killed trying to save his associates during a Pakistani security forces raid in 2010.

The BLA established a suicide squad, calling it the Majeed Brigade, after Majeed Junior's killing.

And the Majeed Brigade carried out its first suicide attack in December 2011. While the target of the attack, Shafeeq Mengal, the son of a former Pakistani federal minister and the leader of a death squad that was targeting Baloch insurgents, survived the attack, 13 others were killed.

In what appeared to be a false start of sorts, the publication from The Jamestown Foundation reveals that after the 2011 attack, the Majeed Brigade became dormant because of lack of funds and recruits.

When did the Majeed Brigade become a real threat?

The brigade's second suicide attack came seven years later, when it targeted a bus carrying Chinese engineers in August 2018.

Subsequently, the Majeed Brigade's suicide bombers carried out a string of attacks -- targeting the Chinese Consulate in Karachi in November 2018, Gwadar's Pearl Continental Hotel in May 2019, and the Pakistan Stock Exchange in June 2020.

How big is the Majeed Brigade?

While the overall strength of the BLA is estimated to be 1,000 to 1,500 fighters, the Majeed Brigade is a much smaller and select group, with no more than 100 to 150 members, including women.

According to The Jamestown Foundation, the Majeed Brigade is heavily armed and employs improvised explosive devices, rocket-propelled grenades, anti-tank and anti-personnel mines, and a number of automatic small arms like the American M4 rifle. Its members use military-grade explosives like C4 for making suicide vests.

How is the Majeed Brigade different?

The Jamestown Foundation explains that unlike most jihadist outfits, the Majeed Brigades suicide bombers are not kept in isolation before their attacks.

In fact, they are given the freedom to meet their families and friends.

The brigade's suicide bombers are also allowed a role in the selection of their targets and the planning for their attacks.

In what is a rareity among such organisations, if the brigade's suicide bombers do not agree with the political logic of selecting a particular target, they also have the freedom to pick a different one.

At any stage of the planned mission, the volunteer bomber also has the freedom to withdraw from the suicide attack.

How does the Majeed Brigade select its targets?

According to The Jamestown Foundation, the brigade's target selection strategy is based on striking a "conventionally superior" adversary, in this case Pakistan and its armed forces, where it hurts the most -- its interests and installations in its main cities.

The targets are selected for their "political, military, economic and symbolic significance", along with their "ability to generate publicity" for the BLA at the international level.

What's the common theme in Majeed Brigade's recent attacks?

One obvious common theme between the brigade's recent attacks is the ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.

In its statement on Tuesday, the ISPR said that the militants had attempted to attack PNS Siddique on Monday night, claiming that the attempt was foiled due to the "swift and effective response by the troops, ensuring the safety and security of personnel and assets".

One of PNS Siddique's core functions is to provide support to the CPEC project.

ISPR added that "effective response" by the armed forces led to the killing of all four militants during the course of a "joint clearance operation". However, the ISPR revealed that during the exchange of fire, a 24-year-old soldier of the Balochistan Frontier Corps was also killed.

Citing locals from Turbat town, Pakistani English-language newspaper Dawn said that over a dozen blasts were heard during the attack, and the firing, which began around 10 pm, continued late into the night.

Like last week's militant attack on the Gwadar Port Authority Complex, where two Pakistani soldiers and eight militants were killed, the BLA has claimed that its Majeed Brigade was behind this attack, too.

The attack on the Gwadar Port Authority Complex also saw heavy gunfire exchange and explosions.

The Gwadar Port is the cornerstone of the CPEC project and a crucial linkage between China's Belt and Road and Maritime Silk Road initiatives.
              



               



                   The President of Pakistan (@PresOfPakistan) March 26, 2024

Condemning the attack, Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti said terrorists wanted to damage the fraternal relations of Pakistan and China through their heinous actions, which we wont allow to happen.

Pakistan will do everything possible to deal with the masterminds and the enablers of this act with iron hands, he said in a post on X

China condemned the attack on engineers who were working on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) under its Belt and Road initiative and demanded a "thorough investigation" of the attack.Mohammad Ali Gandapur, the regional police officer, said that the convoy of Chinese engineers, which was on its way from Islamabad to their camp in Dasu, was attacked in Bisham tehsil of Khyber Pakhtunkhwas Shangla when an explosive-laden vehicle rammed into one of the vehicles of the convoy.The rescue officer told that the Chinese vehicle fell into a gorge following the attack and caught fire. A rescue team then reached the spot and put out the fire, he added.Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari took swift action and condemned the attack on Chinese nationals. His statement reads, "President Asif Ali Zardari strongly condemned the attack on Chinese residents in Bisham".Zardari further stated, "Forces hostile to Pakistan will never succeed in harming Pak-China friendship".Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the public relations wing of the Pakistan army, said that the Bisham incident and other recent terrorist incidents in Turbat and Gwadar were dastardly acts aimed at destabilising the internal security situation.The whole nation stands in solidarity with our Chinese brothers and unequivocally condemns this cowardly act.
Mumbai has pipped Beijing to become Asia's billionaire capital for the first time. Indian billionaires' cumulative wealth reached US$1 trillion, surpassing China's average wealth per billionaire (US$3.2 billion vs US$3.8 billion), according to the 2024 Hurun Global Rich List.





Summary table benchmarking India- China, and Mumbai - Beijing Click here to follow our WhatsApp channel This phenomenal rise is mirrored by India's addition of 94 new billionaires in a single year, surpassing China's 55 and solidifying India's position as the second-largest contributor to the global billionaire population.

With 271 billionaires, India is now the third-ranked country globally, surpassing Germany.

While the number of billionaires globally increased by a modest 5 per cent, India's performance stands out. The country witnessed a meteoric rise, adding the second-highest number of new billionaires (94) after the US (109). This surge catapulted India to the third position globally, surpassing Germany and signifying a potential shift in the global economic landscape.

Mukesh Ambani remains Asia's richest person, but the true story lies in the sheer number of new entrants. With only 24 billionaires experiencing a wealth decline, India boasts a remarkable 247 individuals who saw their wealth increase, far exceeding China's 241. This robust growth translates to a cumulative wealth surge of 51% in India.

Mumbai itself is a microcosm of India's success. The city added 27 new billionaires, a stark contrast to Beijing's mere 6. Mumbai's overall wealth has skyrocketed by a staggering 47%, dwarfing Beijing's 28% decline.

The success story of Indian billionaires isn't limited to established sectors like telecom and energy. The rise of startups, particularly in the booming Artificial Intelligence (AI) space, is a significant contributor. This trend aligns with the global focus on AI, which emerged as the biggest driver of wealth creation, generating over half of all new wealth this year. With a young, tech-savvy population and a growing focus on innovation, India is well-positioned to capitalize on this AI revolution, potentially fueling the creation of even more billionaires in the coming years, noted the report.

What's driving this billionaire boom?

One of the key factors behind India's rise is its robust economic performance. Strong stock markets, fueled by investor confidence, have created fertile ground for wealth creation. While China, a traditional economic powerhouse, experienced a decline in its billionaire population, India thrived. This economic optimism is further reflected in the fact that Indian billionaires, on average, hold a higher net worth compared to their Chinese counterparts.





The report said "Mumbai was the fastest-growing billionaire capital in the world, adding 26 in the year and taking it to third in the world and Asia's billionaire capital. New Delhi broke into the Top 10 for the first time. "The 2024 Hurun Global Rich List underscores India's ascension as a future economic titan, poised to secure its place as the world's third-largest economy. Surpassing all but the United States, India's unprecedented billionaire boom propels Mumbai past Beijing, crowning it as Asia's billionaire epicentre. Yet, as we stand on the brink of revolutions in electric vehicles, space technology, and AI, India's startup ecosystem is just beginning to unveil its potential. The next decade holds a clear message: overlooking the Indian narrative is a risk no visionary can afford. The Hurun Global Rich List doesn't just track wealth; it signals a pivotal shift in the global power structure., said Anas Rahman Junaid  Founder and Chief Researcher, Hurun India.

The report highlighted the dominance of specific industries in contributing to India's billionaire boom, with the pharmaceutical sector leading the pack with 39 billionaires, followed by the automobile and auto components industry (27), and the chemicals sector (24).

While India's billionaire population soared, China witnessed a decline. "China had a bad year. HK was down 20%, Shenzhen down 19%, and Shanghai down 7%." This downturn can be attributed to struggles in the real estate and renewable energy sectors, as well as weak performance in Chinese stock markets.



Overall Trends:

The number of billionaires globally increased by 5% to 3,279. Total wealth of billionaires grew by 9% to US$15 trillion. AI was the biggest driver of wealth creation, generating over half of all new wealth.

India's Performance:

India added the second-highest number of new billionaires (94) after the US (109). With 271 billionaires, India is now the third-ranked country globally, surpassing Germany. Mumbai overtook Beijing to become Asia's billionaire capital for the first time. Indian billionaires' cumulative wealth reached US$1 trillion, surpassing China's average wealth per billionaire (US$3.2 billion vs US$3.8 billion).

Reasons Behind India's Rise:

Strong economic performance and growing investor confidence. Success of Indian startups, particularly in telecom, energy, pharma, and AI sectors.

Other interesting points:

Mukesh Ambani remains the richest person in Asia, while Gautam Adani's wealth grew significantly.

The US regained its position as the city with the most billionaires (New York), followed by London.
Vietnamese farmers eye multibillion-dollar Chinese market

Xinhua) 11:15, March 26, 2024

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.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
The electric vehicle market continues to grow, and automakers in the industry have been releasing their own line of EVs. A new competitor, Xiaomi, is set to enter the market with its first EV, and it could be under $70,000.

Xiaomi SU7 Pricing

Company CEO Lei Jun said that Xiaomi's goal was to create a vehicle that was the "best looking, best driving, and most intelligent sedan under 500,000 yuan," which is equivalent to around $69,328. It makes the car within the price range of certain Tesla models.

The price announcement comes before the release of the SU7 as well as the test drives, which will be on Thursday. By then, the company will start taking orders. The car can already be seen on display in 29 cities in China, as reported by CNBC.

Since the goal of the company is to put the SU7 in the premium section of the market, then it will become a competitor for Tesla in the country, along with other China-based car brands like BYD, Nio, Xpeng, and Li Auto.

The release of the EV has been a long time coming, given that Jun announced that Xiaomi would enter the EV market three years ago. "I am putting my reputation on the line to fight for a vision I deeply believed in," the company CEO said in a post on X.

Read Also: Audi Reveals Plans for Lower-Cost EV That Starts at $50,000

Xiaomi SU7's Technology

The company already has three independently developed and manufactured E-motors for the vehicle, namely the HyperEngine V6/V6s, HyperEngine V8s, and the HyperEngine Pre-Research Carbon-Sleeved Rotor.

All of them use innovative technologies like "Bidirectional Full Oil Cooling Technology, S-shaped oil circuit design, and staggered silicon steel laminations design," as per the blog post, which " rival the performance of traditional large V8 and V6 powertrains from the era of internal combustion engines."

The V8s have a maximum speed of 27,200 rpm, 425k output, and a 635N-m peak torque. It uses Bidirectional Full Oil Cooling Technology and an S-shaped oil circuit design for the motor. However, it is still in development and will be set for release in 2025.

As for the battery, it has also been developed within the company. The CTB Integrated Battery Technology was made possible using Inverted Cell Technology, multifunctional elastic interlayer, and a minimalistic wiring system.

It provides the vehicle with a maximum battery capacity of up to 150 kWh, as well as a theoretical CLTC recharge range of over 1200 km. The battery's temperature is then regulated with a dual-side water cooling solution for heat dissipation.

It also features a Battery Management System, which includes three independent thermal runaway monitors and alarms, and a warning system that works "around the clock." The battery used has already gone through battery safety tests and more than 1,000 safety verifications.

Additionally, it also boasts of autonomous driving using Adaptive BEV Technology, Road-Mapping Foundational Model, and Super-Res Occupancy Network Technology. With those factors, the vehicle could be well-suited to urban locations in autopilot mode.

Related: Xiaomi Unveils First Electric Car, Backflipping-Robot Dog at MWC 2024
New Delhi: AAP supporters shout slogans in favour of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal outside his residence, in New Delhi, Thursday, March 21, 2024. (Photo: PTI)

Security around Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence at Lok Kalyan Marg was increased on Tuesday morning in the wake of the Aam Aadmi Party's call to 'gherao' the PM's residence to protest the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal

According to reports, the police said that they have not given any permission for the protest. Security was being beefed up at other areas of the national capital. The police added that traffic will be affected in some parts of the city due to the protests.

"Section 144 (of the CrPC) is already imposed around the Prime Minister's residence and no one will be allowed to protest," news agency PTI, quoting a police officer, said.



Lok Kalyan Marg, few other metro stations closed: DMRC

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) also announced in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that entry/exit at Lok Kalyan Marg Metro station, Gate no 3 of Patel Chowk Metro Station and Gate no 5 of Central Secretariat Metro station will remain closed until further notice.



The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has also planned citywide protests to demand Kejriwal's resignation as Delhi CM.





Security Update



Due to security reasons, entry/exit at Lok Kalyan Marg Metro station, Gate no 3 of Patel Chowk Metro Station and Gate no 5 of Central Secretariat Metro station will remain closed till further notice.  Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (@OfficialDMRC) March 26, 2024



Here are the routes to avoid

Akbar Road

Safdarjung Road

Kemal Ataturk Marg

Teen Murti Marg

The Delhi Traffic Police had earlier issued an advisory stating that no vehicle will be allowed to halt or park anywhere on Akbar Road, Safdarjung Road and Kemal Ataturk Marg on Tuesday.

"Traffic will be diverted if required from Aurobindo Chowk, Tughlak Road, Samrat Hotel roundabout, Gymkhana Post Office roundabout, Teen Murti Haifa roundabout, Niti Marg roundabout and Kautilya Marg roundabout, the advisory added," the traffic advisory added.

Why is the AAP protesting?

Earlier on Sunday, the AAP continued its protests against the arrest of AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and burnt effigies of the BJP.

Atishi, leading the candle march, said it has never happened before in the country's history that immediately after the announcement of the elections the supremo of a national party has been arrested.

"The bank account of a major national party is frozen. The roads leading to the national office of the Aam Aadmi Party have been barricaded and closed for the past two days. All this is an attempt to prevent opposition parties from contesting the elections in the country. This is a direct assault on democracy in the country," she charged.

Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 night by the ED on charges of money laundering and corruption in the 2021-22 Delhi Excise policy case. The arrest came after multiple ED summons to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor. On the same day, the Delhi High Court had refused to grant relief to the Delhi CM against any 'coercive action' by the agency.
India's Ambassador to Nepal Naveen Srivastava on Tuesday discussed with Nepal's Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Ravi Lamichhane security mechanisms between the two countries and the need for strengthening border management to check small crimes as well as human trafficking.

Srivastava paid a courtesy call on Lamichhane at the Home Ministry in Singhdurbar here and the two sides during the meeting discussed the "efforts needed to further consolidate deep, wide and diversified people to people relations between the two countries based on historical ties and geographical proximity, according to the Home Minister secretariat.

The two sides agreed on the view that criminal activities have come under control despite having an open border between the two countries through effective coordination between the security mechanisms of the two countries, a statement said.

Ambassador Srivastava underlined the need for strengthening border management mechanisms to check small crimes and human trafficking in the border area through coordinated efforts, it said.

Srivastava expressed India's willingness to provide grant assistance for reconstruction works in earthquake-hit Jajarkot and Rukm West districts of western Nepal and provide specialised training to Nepal Police.

Lamichhane underlined the need to expand and upgrade mechanisms in the border area for testing doses of pesticides in the fruits and vegetables imported from India to make them reliable, according to sources from the Home Ministry.

On the occasion, Ambassador Srivastava also expressed India's willingness to provide resource materials to Nepal for strengthening security and controlling terrorist activities", underlining that a "secured Nepal is important for India's security.
The Supreme Court had recently said that ordering a politician to refrain from taking part in political activities as a condition for the grant of bail would be a violation of fundamental rights.

A bench of Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta set aside a bail condition imposed by the Orissa High Court to the extent that it barred a politician from political activities.

The bench, in its order on March 22, stated, "We find that the imposition of such conditions would breach the fundamental rights of the appellant and no such conditions could have been imposed. We, therefore, quash and set aside the condition imposed by the High Court, to the extent the same is extracted above. Accordingly, the appeals are allowed."

The order of the apex court came on a petition filed by Odisha Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Berhampur mayor Siba Shankar Das, who was earlier part of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) party and some criminal cases were allegedly filed against him after he switched parties.

Das, who was elected as Mayor of Berhampur Municipal Corporation, challenged the Orissa High Court's order of January 18, 2024, which rejected his application for withdrawal of such a condition imposed in the order of bail passed on August 11, 2022.

By August 11, 2022, the High Court, while granting him bail, directed that he shall not create any untoward situation in public and shall not be involved in any political activities, directly or indirectly.

The High Court, in its order, on January 24, said that it would be unjustified to modify the condition of the bail permitting him to take part in political activities as he faced 57 criminal cases and a murderous attack by a bomb in October 2023.
Cumulative engineering exports during April-February (2023-24) stood at $98.03 billion as against $96.84 billion in the corresponding period a year ago, the statement said.

India's engineering exports to Russia doubled to $1.22 billion till February during the 2023-24 fiscal, Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) of India said on Tuesday.

The shipments to the country stood at $616.68 million in the previous fiscal, it said.

The exports to the US dipped seven per cent year-on-year to $15.95 billion during this period, EEPC said in a statement.

In case of China, engineering shipments to that country saw a marginal decline to $2.38 billion from $2.40 billion in the period under review, it said.





ALSO READ: Recovery in exports amid rising chemical prices to drive SRF stock Exports to the UAE and Australia, with which India had signed an FTA, remained positive.

Till February, shipments to the UAE rose 16 per cent on-year to $5.22 billion, while those to Australia was higher by five per cent at $1.30 billion.

Cumulative engineering exports during April-February (2023-24) stood at $98.03 billion as against $96.84 billion in the corresponding period a year ago, the statement said.

In the last few months, engineering exports from India have been on a steady growth path. The remarkable performance of the sector in the last three months made it possible for the cumulative exports to record high growth.

As India's current economic performance stabilises, we are hopeful that with the positive turn of tide in global trade, India's exporting community will be able to lift exports to a new high, EEPC India Chairman Arun Kumar Garodia said.
Armed Baloch militants tried to infiltrate one of the main naval air bases in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province, but security forces foiled the attack and killed at least six terrorists.

The attack on Monday night took place in Turbat, a turbulent district in the sparsely populated province.

Makran Commissioner Saeed Ahmed Umrani told the media that security forces had foiled an armed terrorist attack at the PNS Siddique Naval Air Base which is among the biggest naval air stations in the country.

The armed men attacked from three sides of the airport boundary, but security forces responded immediately and foiled their attempt to infiltrate the premises, he said.

Eyewitnesses reported they had heard gunfire and explosions throughout the night.

A security official said on condition of anonymity that six terrorists were killed in the operation and they were unable to cause any damage at the airbase or to aeroplanes.

No loss of sensitive naval installations was reported, the official said. The banned Balochistan Liberation Army claimed that its Majeed Brigade was behind the attack.

This is the third major attack on security forces and installations this year in Balochistan claimed by the BLA with the first two attacks being also being repulsed by security forces.

Earlier in the year, security forces were attacked in Mach town in which at least ten people were killed but attempts to breach the Mach jail were thwarted by security forces.

On March 24, the BLA also claimed responsibility for an attack on the Gwadar Port Authority Complex. Security forces had killed eight militants of the banned separatist group in the gunfire.

Balochistan, bordering Iran and Afghanistan, is home to a long-running violent insurgency. Baloch insurgent groups have previously carried out several attacks targeting the $60 billion CPEC projects.

The BLA accuses China and Islamabad of exploitation of the resource-rich province, a charge rejected by the authorities.

BLA's Majeed Brigade, which was formed in 2011, is a particularly lethal guerilla cell of the BLA.

It has been alleged that the group also maintains sanctuaries in areas along the Pak-Iran border.

The brigade, which is the suicide squad of the BLA, mostly targets security forces and Chinese interests in Pakistan. It had also claimed responsibility for the April 2022 suicide attack outside the Karachi University's Confucius Institute.
Minister for Petroleum Dr Musadik Malik said that the government would seek exemption from US sanctions for the multi-billion-dollar Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline project | Photo: Unsplash

Pakistan has decided to plead "vigorously" and seek exemption from potential US sanctions against the planned construction of a multi-billion dollar pipeline to import cheap gas from neighbouring Iran, the petroleum minister has said, asserting that it "can't afford sanctions" on the project.

Minister for Petroleum Dr Musadik Malik said that the government would seek exemption from US sanctions for the multi-billion-dollar Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline project, the Dawn newspaper reported.

We will seek exemption from US sanctions. Pakistan cannot afford sanctions in the gas pipeline project, he told journalists during an informal chat on Monday evening.

The development came after US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lu said at a congressional hearing that Pakistan had so far not sought exemption for the 1,150-kilometre gas pipeline.

Malik said the government would "plead vigorously" Pakistan's case for the waiver on technical, political and economic grounds at relevant forums, including through lobbying.

He also expressed the hope that the project's construction would begin soon while complying with contractual obligations with Iran.

Malik's remarks were in contrast to the stance put forward by the Foreign Office, whose spokesperson told a press briefing last week that there was no room for any discussion or waiver from a third country.

An official said the caretaker government had delayed the filing of a request for exemptions from US sanctions due to the changing geopolitical situation, though its draft had been finalised, according to the report.

Pakistan and Iran signed an agreement in May 2009 for the supply of 750 million cubic feet per day of gas for 25 years from Iran's South Pars gas field. Both countries were required to implement the project in their respective territories.

The project was initially conceived as an India-Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline, but later, India left it and became a bilateral project between Pakistan and Iran.

According to the agreement, the project was to start supply by January 2015. While Iran has already built over 900 km of the pipeline, the remaining 250 km segment has yet to be completed.

The caretaker government opted to start building an 80-kilometre segment of the gas pipeline, extending from the Iranian border to Gwadar, at an estimated cost of USD 158 million (Rs 44.2 billion) to ward off USD 18 billion potential penalties from Tehran.

In August last year, Pakistan temporarily shelved the gas pipeline project, apparently under pressure from the US, which imposed sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear programme.

On December 21, 2023, the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) served a material breach notice to Pakistan's Inter-State Gas Systems (Pvt) Ltd (ISGS), an entity of the petroleum division, alleging material breach of buyer's warranties.

The NIOC gave the ISGS 180 days to remedy the alleged material breach and referred the matter to the coordination committee for resolution.

If Pakistan doesn't implement the project, Tehran has the option to move the Paris-based International Court of Arbitration, with potential contractual liability estimated to be USD 18 billion, according to the report.
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has voiced concern over the Indian government's notification of rules to implement the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), saying no one should be denied citizenship based on religion or belief.

Rules for implementation of the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) were notified earlier this month, paving the way for granting citizenship to undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

The problematic CAA establishes a religious requirement for asylum seekers in India fleeing neighbouring countries, USCIRF Commissioner Stephen Schneck said in a statement Monday.

Schneck said that while CAA provides a fast track to citizenship for Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians, the law explicitly excludes Muslims.

While critics have questioned the government over the exclusion of Muslims from the Act, India has strongly defended its move.

"The CAA is about giving citizenship, not about taking away citizenship. It addresses the issue of statelessness, provides human dignity and supports human rights," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Radhir Jaiswal said recently, asserting that the law is an internal matter of India.

India in the past has also dismissed USCIRF's locus standi to comment on India's human rights record.

In his statement, Schneck said, If the law were truly aimed at protecting persecuted religious minorities, it would include Rohingya Muslims from Burma, Ahmadiyya Muslims from Pakistan, or Hazara Shi'a from Afghanistan, among others. No one should be denied citizenship based on religion or belief, he said.

However, India's Home Ministry says Muslims from these countries are also free to apply for Indian citizenship under the existing laws.

Last week, Schneck testified at a Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission hearing on this issue.

With the CAA rules being issued, the Modi government will now start granting Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who came to India till December 31, 2014. These include Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians.

The CAA was passed in December 2019 and subsequently got the president's assent but there were protests in several parts of the country against it.

USCIRF urged members of the US Congress to continue to publicly call out religious freedom issues in India, and to include religious freedom in discussions with government counterparts and importantly, during congressional delegations.

USCIRF Commissioner David Curry said that as the State Department recently noted, respect for religious freedom and equal treatment under the law for all communities are fundamental democratic principles.

USCIRF urges the US government to work with Indian authorities to release the human rights activists arbitrarily detained that advocated for religious minorities, Curry said.

India has previously said that the Commission continues to regurgitate such comments and India rejects the "misrepresentation of facts" which only serves to "discredit USCIRF itself".

India has also asked USCIRF to develop a better understanding of India, its plurality and its democratic ethos.

USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the US Congress to monitor, analyse, and report on religious freedom abroad.

Meanwhile, the Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS), which focuses on policy studies, analysis, advocacy and awareness related to India and the Indian Diaspora, said that based on the factual analysis of CAA, the provision in question aims to grant citizenship to persecuted religious minorities from India's three neighbouring Islamic countries.

Contrary to misconceptions, it does not involve depriving or revoking the citizenship of or deporting Muslims in India. Therefore, it could aptly be called the Act for Expedited Citizenship for Religious Minority Persecuted, FIIDS said.

We trust that the USCIRF, other agencies and interested entities will find this information on CAA appropriate and find CAA directly addresses some of the concerns raised by the USCIRF regarding the situation of minorities in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, it said.
Boeing Co.s customers finally have what theyve been after: a leadership shakeup at the planemaker.



Days after top executives of major US airlines turned up the heat on Boeings board to get a handle on its spiraling safety crisis, the embattled manufacturer announced one of the most dramatic overhauls in its century-long history. The trio that has led the company for the past four tumultuous years is relinquishing control, including Chief Executive Officer Dave Calhoun.

The fix was in after the CEOs of Boeings three largest US customers  United Airlines Holdings Inc., Southwest Airlines Co. and American Airlines Group Inc.  pressed Boeing directors last week for a meeting where they could air concerns without Calhoun present, according to people familiar with the campaign.





The simplest explanation is often the correct one, and its the upcoming meetings without Calhoun and the airlines, who are not only mad but reflect a much broader traveling public anger, too, said Richard Aboulafia, managing director of consultancy AeroDynamic Advisory. What the board couldnt do, what the US government couldnt do, what investors couldnt do, maybe it came down to customers reflecting the fact that their jet fleets were fast becoming a meme. The CEOs were armed with the support of other airline leaders, an industry trade group and the frustrations of a broader group of stakeholders: the flying public and the lawmakers in Washington who represent them, these people said.

The leadership changes were formalized over a weekend board session but had been discussed for months after a near-catastrophic incident on an Alaska Airlines jet pushed the planemaker into crisis, these people said. Directors wanted to signal the overhaul before the company issued its annual proxy statement, which was already weeks later than originally planned.

Boeings new management faces a myriad of challenges  criminal investigations, eroding finances, regulatory scrutiny, market share losses to rival Airbus SE  along with a rare opportunity to shift Boeing away from the focus on cash that has driven its strategy for the past decade. They also have to convince the companies that buy its planes and the consumers who ride on them that their aircraft are safe.

The company is already in talks to buy its largest supplier, Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc., a gambit that wouldve been unthinkable before the Alaska incident. Its incoming leadership will also need to map out plans for its first all-new jetliner in two decades, Calhoun told CNBC on Monday after announcing his impending departure.

That gives Steve Mollenkopf, the former Qualcomm Inc. chief who will head the search for a replacement to Calhoun, an enormous say over Boeings future. Calhoun plans to stay on until the end of the year to help guide Boeing through unprecedented scrutiny of its factory operations by the Federal Aviation Administration and potentially contentious labor negotiations with its largest union.

Larry Kellner, chairman of Boeings board, wont stand for reelection at the companys annual meeting this Spring. Stan Deal, the head of the division making commercial jetliners, stepped down immediately and was replaced by Chief Operating Officer, Stephanie Pope, who had been seen as a potential successor to Calhoun.

Potential candidates for the top job include Pope, who remains in the running despite changing roles in Mondays reshuffling, according to a person familiar with the matter. Others potentially under consideration could include General Electric Co. CEO Larry Culp; David Gitlin, a Boeing director and CEO of Carrier Global Corp.; Patrick Shanahan, Spirit AeroSystems CEO; and Greg Smith, American Airlines chairman and Boeings former finance chief.

Representatives for Gitlin, Shanahan and Smith didnt respond to requests for comment. When asked in a February interview about the Boeing CEO role, Culp said he was looking forward to serving Boeing as their most important partner and supplier. GE had no additional comment on Monday.

Boeing Reset

The reset gives Boeing a chance to recapture some of its lost luster by making bold strategic moves, fixing simmering manufacturing issues and shifting from what critics saw as a myopic focus on cash generation. Boeing has posted $26 billion in losses over the last three years.

Frustration and dismay had mounted over months by some of Boeings largest customers and safety officials over the latest crisis centered on the 737 Max jetliner, the planemakers main source of revenue and a backbone of domestic flying within the US. The FAA has capped production of the workhorse jet until it is satisfied Boeing has adequate quality controls in place in the wake of a January accident. As the agency finishes up an audit of the companys manufacturing, Michael Whitaker, the agencys new head, expressed concern about its safety culture in a rare interview on NBC Nightly News.

The FAA is also revisiting Boeing this week to review its 30-day plan as the planemaker works to strengthen control over quality in its factories and supply chain. That will be followed by 60- and 90-day reviews, Calhoun told CNBC, with the agency expecting the planemaker to demonstrate that its making progress.

Boeing has taken steps to address a big source of its quality breakdowns: planes that make their way down the assembly line rather than halting work for late-arriving parts, Brian West, the companys chief financial officer said in a March 20 presentation. As of March 1, it stopped accepting fuselages from Spirit AeroSystems that didnt fully meet manufacturing specifications.

At the end of the day it may be good for them, we who buy Boeing aircraft and airlines, for them to have gone through a very, very difficult period, said John Plueger, CEO of Air Lease Corp., the largest US aircraft leasing company.

A stronger Boeing would emerge with the confidence of regulators and ultimately the confidence of the flying public, Plueger said.

I think there are enormous opportunities here, said Aboulafia, who has been a vocal critic of Calhoun. Getting rid of three key people in the space of a day. Theres so much potential here for the company, the workforce. All thats needed is real leadership with a solid knowledge of the industry.
Everen Limited (Everen) convened its March 2024 Board Meeting on Tuesday, March 19th followed by its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Thursday, March 21st.

During the Board Meeting, the directors approved Everens 2023 financial statements and discussed the ongoing execution of the 5-year Strategic Plan. Additionally, the Board declared a dividend of $350 million, affirming Everens commitment to delivering value to its shareholders. This dividend is payable on or before September 30, 2024 to shareholders of record on March 19, 2024. The Board also thanked retiring directors Gwenola Jan, Michele Waters, and Robert Wondolleck for their years of service.

At the AGM, shareholders voted to approve amendments to Everens Bye-Laws and Shareholders Agreement, aimed at enhancing governance and operational flexibility. Shareholders also elected a new Board of Directors who will serve until the March 2025 AGM.

During the AGM, Bertil Olsson, President and Chief Executive Officer announced that he will be retiring in March of 2025 and noted The Company is conducting an extensive recruitment process to source my successor. Whilst my retirement is still a year away, I would like to express what an honor and privilege it has been to lead this amazing organization over the past 8.5 years. It has truly been the highlight of my career. I am looking forward to the continued work over the coming year with our very talented team and Board of Directors and to transition the business to the next leader upon completion of the succession recruitment process.

Following Mr. Olssons announcement, John Weisner, Chair of the Everen Board expressed the Boards appreciation for Mr. Olssons sound stewardship and highlighted several key accomplishments during his tenure as CEO.

Subsequent to the AGM, the newly elected Board convened and appointed John Weisner as Chair of the Board and Brian Mullen as Deputy Chair for 2024.

For the fiscal year 2023, Everen reported a net income of $679.5 million, driven by a rebound in the investment portfolio, positive underwriting income and effective cost management. Mr. Olsson attributed this success to Everens unwavering commitment to creating long-term value and enhancing its value proposition. He highlighted Everens track record of returning over $3.1 billion in dividends to shareholders over the past decade.

Robert Foskey, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer commented, In 2023, Everen performed very well and remained dedicated to advancing Strategic Plan initiatives including our marketing and communication activities and facilitating the use of our coverages through the approval of the use of Incorporated Cell Captives. The addition of three new members underscores our continued growth, geographic and insured portfolio diversification, and the strong interest from global energy companies to be a part of our world-class energy insurance mutual.

About Everen Limited:

Headquartered in Bermuda, Everen Limited is the insurer of choice for the worlds leading energy companies, insuring over $4 trillion of global energy assets. The company was established in 1972 as a mutual insurer, an innovative structure whereby its policyholders are also its shareholders and coverage is provided at cost. Everen offers its shareholders per occurrence property limits of up to $450 million across an extensive range of energy industry assets  from traditional oil and gas through to alternative industry segments such as renewables. Everens shareholders consist of medium to large sized energy companies in both the public and private sectors with an investment grade rating or equivalent. Everen is rated A by S&P and A2 by Moodys.

For further information about the company, please visit www.everen.bm

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240325711236/en/
(Photo : Unsplash/Alexander Shatov)

A federal judge dismissed Elon Musk's X Corp's lawsuit against the non-profit organization Center for Countering Digital Hate, which has been monitoring the rise in hate speech on the platform since its acquisition by the Tesla CEO.

X, previously recognized as Twitter, alleged that the center's researchers violated the platform's terms of service by illicitly gathering public tweets. This resulted in a surge of hate speech that caused X to suffer significant financial losses as advertisers withdrew their support.

Judge Dismissing the CCDH Lawsuit

On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer dismissed the lawsuit, stating in his order that its sole purpose was to punish the non-profit for its speech.

X had accused the non-profit of scraping its website for data, violating its terms of service. However, the judge determined that X did not demonstrate any financial losses resulting from this activity.

X had pursued millions of dollars in damages, contending that the reports from the non-profit caused advertisers to leave and resulted in a decline in ad revenue. However, the judge concurred with CCDH's assertion, stating that X cannot claim damages for the actions of third parties based on CCDH's reports or speech.

The CCDH Non-Profit Center

The non-profit center, with branches in the U.S. and the United Kingdom, frequently releases reports on hate speech, extremism, or harmful conduct on social media platforms such as X, TikTok, and Facebook. It has issued numerous reports criticizing Musk's leadership, highlighting an increase in anti-LGBTQ hate speech and climate misinformation since his acquisition.

X has disagreed with the court's decision and intends to appeal.

READ ALSO: X Corp Revealed "Trust and Safety Center of Excellence," Hires 100 Moderators for Child Sexual Exploitation

Holding Social Media Companies Accountable

Imran Ahmed, the center's founder and CEO, characterized the lawsuit as a "hypocritical campaign of harassment" orchestrated by a billionaire who espouses the importance of free speech but attempts to silence critics using his wealth. Ahmed emphasized the necessity of a federal law mandating tech companies to disclose more information about their operations, enabling the public to comprehend the influence of these influential platforms on society.

Ahmed hoped this significant ruling would empower global public-interest researchers to persist and enhance their essential efforts to hold social media companies accountable for the hate speech, disinformation, and resulting harm they facilitate. The center's attorney, Roberta Kaplan, remarked that the dismissal of X's lawsuit demonstrates that even the wealthiest individual cannot manipulate the legal system to their advantage.

In an email to reporters, Kaplan emphasized the prevalence of bullies in the current era, attributing much of their influence to social media. She commended the Center for Countering Digital Hate for its bravery in confronting these bullies and "We are proud and honored to represent CCDH."

Musk's Companies Involvement with Hateful Content

Since Musk acquired X in October 2022, multiple entities have highlighted the increased hateful content on the platform. In November of that year, major advertisers like IBM, NBCUniversal, and Comcast halted advertising on X after a report from Media Matters revealed their ads appearing alongside Nazi-related content. This development posed another challenge for X as it endeavors to regain the trust of prominent brands and their advertising investments, which constitute its primary revenue stream. Additionally, X has initiated legal action against Media Matters.

In a subsequent response to advertisers who ceased spending on X due to the presence of antisemitic and other hateful content, Musk launched into a profanity-laced tirade, accusing them of blackmail and essentially instructing them to leave.

RELATED ARTICLE: Tesla Settles with Black Worker, Pays $3.2M Over Racial Discrimination Lawsuit

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(Photo : Unsplash/ Nur Athirah Hamzah)

The union announced Monday that thousands of hospitality workers in Southern California have ratified a new contract with 34 hotels following multiple strikes since the summer.

Series of Summer Strikes

Workers picketed major Southern California hotels following a walkout over the July Fourth weekend, seeking improved pay and benefits. The strike involved various hotel staff in Los Angeles and Orange counties during peak summer tourism, and employers criticized the union's negotiation efforts.

Unite Here Local 11 authorized the walkout, seeking higher wages, improved health care benefits, increased pension contributions, and lighter workloads, which impacted approximately half of the 32,000 hospitality workers represented by the Southern California and Arizona union.

New Ratified Contracts Benefiting Hospitality Workers

Workers secured higher wages, augmented employer pension contributions, and workload assurances in a contract endorsed by 98% of voters. The agreement extends until Jan. 15, 2028, but negotiations continue with 30 other hotels, Unite Here Local 11 reported.

The contract promises wage increases of $10 per hour for room attendants, cooks, and other non-tipped workers, totaling a 40% to 50% rise over the agreement's duration. According to the union, half of the increment will be allocated for the first year.

By July 2027, room attendants in most hotels will earn $35 per hour, while senior cooks will earn $41 per hour. As outlined by the union, tipped workers will also benefit from enhancements such as double-time pay for holidays, vacation, and sick days, along with increased portions of service charges, and full-service restaurant staff will evenly divide automatic 20% gratuities.

READ ALSO: Worldwide Flight Attendant Day of Action: Thousands of Attendants Picketing for Better Pay and Working Conditions

The union emphasized that the contract preserves health insurance, ensuring workers pay a maximum of $20 monthly for full family coverage.

Turning Hotel Jobs into a Middle-Class Position

Kurt Petersen, co-president of Local 11, declared at a rally outside a downtown Los Angeles hotel, saying, "We have secured a transformative contract, turning hotel jobs into middle-class professional positions."

The coalition of hotels engaged in negotiations with the union embraced the agreement.

Strikes and Pickets for Liveable Wages

Pete Hillan, a California Hotel & Lodging Association spokesperson, expressed satisfaction with the ratification votes, highlighting the benefits of new contracts, including increased compensation, for hotel employees who have been waiting months.

Describing their requests as a struggle for livable wages in their work cities, over 10,000 employees across more excellent Los Angeles initiated rolling strikes at 52 hotels in July 2023. While workers participated in strikes and pickets and later resumed work, the union, representing 15,000 workers, noted that staff at certain hotels did not partake in the strikes.

Just before the strikes, the union secured a significant victory by reaching a tentative agreement with its largest employer, the Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites in downtown Los Angeles, housing over 600 union workers. Subsequently, other hotels gradually resolved the strike actions.

Petersen also highlighted that the new contract expires just months before the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Petersen affirmed their demand for a new deal that prioritizes family-sustaining jobs and affordable housing, emphasizing their readiness to take action if necessary, drawing cheers from the crowd.

RELATED ARTICLE: Southwest Airlines Reaches New Labor Contract, Commits Better Pay, Working Conditions with Transport Workers Union

 2017 Jobs & Hire All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
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Tuesday, March 26, 2024 at 10:37AM

Image: Google

Some US users might see a new section at the top of their search results. This shaded area summarizes the answer to your question, along with links for further details. This is powered by Google's generative AI technology, similar to its AI assistant, Bard (formerly Gemini).

Previously, you had to opt-in to see these AI summaries through "Search Generative Experience" (SGE) in Search Labs. Now, Google is trying to show these to a limited set of searches and users. This means you might see them even if you haven't opted in

Google introduced SGE last year, shortly after launching Bard. The company rolled out SGE with opt-in access in over 120 countries. So, why the change? Google wants feedback from a wider audience, especially those unfamiliar with generative AI. They'll show these summaries only when confident they improve search results. This will help them understand how generative AI can benefit all users, not just tech-savvy early adopters.

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Fans of British mobility brands will have a new reason to celebrate as Mutt Motorcycles is set to open a new location in Metro Manila. The B...
(Photo : Unsplash/Solen Feyissa )

The European Commission, the executive arm of the 27-nation bloc, was probing Apple, Google, and Meta for their non-compliance with the Digital Markets Act, which prevents Big Tech companies from monopolizing digital markets.

The Digital Markets Act (DMA)

The Digital Markets Act, which came into full effect earlier this month, is a comprehensive set of regulations aimed at Big Tech gatekeeper companies offering core platform services, requiring them to adhere to a set of guidelines, with potential hefty fines or business breakup as consequences for non-compliance. The rules aim to make digital markets fairer and more contestable by dismantling closed tech ecosystems that restrict consumers to a single company's products or services.

European Commission Vice President Margrethe Vestager, the bloc's competition chief, stated at a press briefing in Brussels that the Commission had received complaints alleging that tech companies' efforts to comply have been inadequate, saying, "We decided to investigate a number of these suspected non-compliance issues. And as we uncover additional problems, we will address those as well."

European Commission Vice President Margrethe Vestager, the bloc's competition chief, reported at a press briefing in Brussels that the Commission has received complaints about tech companies' insufficient compliance measures, ensuring to tackle all those too.

The ruling faced immediate resistance from organizations such as the Computer & Communications Industry Association, a nonprofit representing technology and communication firms in Washington.

The group expressed concern about the timing of the announcements, suggesting that they may signal premature action by the Commission before DMA compliance workshops conclude. They warned that this approach could fuel industry apprehensions about politicizing the DMA compliance process. Companies have been instructed to retain certain documents accessible to the Commission for present and future inquiries.

Regulators are examining whether Google and Apple are adhering completely to the DMA rules. The rules mandate that tech firms enable app developers to guide users to lower-priced options outside their app stores. The Commission expressed concerns that these companies impose "various restrictions and limitations," such as recurring fees that hinder apps from freely promoting deals.

Google's Investigation

Google is under investigation for allegedly failing to adhere to DMA regulations prohibiting tech giants from favoring their services over competitors. The Commission expressed concerns that Google's actions may lead to third-party services listed on Google's search results page being treated unfairly and discriminatorily.

READ ALSO: Google's on Heated Copyright Battle, Hit with $272M Fine for Failing to Negotiate in "Good Faith"

Google stated that it has implemented "significant changes" to its European services to align with the DMA. Oliver Bethell, Google's director of competition, affirmed that they will persist in defending their approach in the forthcoming months.

Apple's Investigation

The Commission is also probing whether Apple is taking sufficient measures to enable iPhone users to switch web browsers readily.

Apple expressed confidence that its strategy aligns with the DMA and stated its commitment to cooperating with the European Commission during their investigations. The company highlighted the development of numerous new developer capabilities, features, and tools to adhere to the regulation.

Meta's Investigation

The European Commission is investigating Meta's offering of ad-free versions of Facebook or Instagram for European users who pay a monthly fee, allowing users to avoid utilizing their data for targeted online advertisements.

The Commission is worried that Meta's "pay or consent" model may not offer a genuine alternative if users refuse to consent, which could undermine the goal of preventing gatekeepers from accumulating personal data.

Meta stated that it will "engage constructively" with the Commission. It also emphasized that subscriptions as an alternative to advertising are a common business model and that the Subscription for No Ads feature was designed to meet various regulatory obligations, including those under the DMA.

The Commission stated its intention to conclude its investigations within 12 months.

RELATED ARTICLE: U.S. Lawmakers Gears Toward AI Regulation, Proposes Bill to Address AI Risks in the Government

 2017 Jobs & Hire All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Eli Noyes, an Oscar-nominated filmmaker who had a tremendous influence on the stop-motion animation artform, co-developed Nickelodeons Eureekas Castle, and directed recurring segments for MTVs iconic Liquid Television, has died at 81 of complications from prostate cancer.

Noyes was born on October 18, 1942, in Amherst, Massachusetts. His parents were Eliot Noyes, an accomplished architect and industrial designer, and Molly Duncan Weed Noyes, an interior designer.

The younger Noyes received early acclaim for his work, scoring an Oscar nomination for the 8-minute short film Clay or the Origin of Species, which he made while still an English undergrad at Harvard.

The film has influenced generations of stop-motion artists who use clay in their work, including Aardman Animations co-founders Peter Lord and David Sproxton.

Speaking with Variety in 2016, Lord explained that after he and Sproxton saw Clay or the Origin of Species on tv:

That put the idea into our heads that you could animate clay. Drawn animation was kind of a blind alley for us.

After leaving college, Noyes teamed with filmmaker Claudia Weil to co-direct documentaries, including 1970s This Is the Home of Mrs. Levant Graham, the story of an impoverished Black family living in Washington D.C., and Aspen: 1970, about a clash between architects from different backgrounds.

As a young filmmaker, Noyes spent time at the TV Lab, an experimental division of Channel 13/WNET public television supported by the Rockefeller Foundation and the New York State Council on the Arts. Decades later, he recalled of his experiences at the Lab:

We were kind of a new, young generation with a lot of hubris because we werent trained, we hadnt gone to films school, we just thought pick up the camera, make the film, have fun, and lets make the world a better place.

Noyes regularly utilized various materials and techniques in his filmmaking. He used sand animation for the 1973 short Sandman, clay again in 1974 with The Fable of He and She, and pixelation in 1976s Peanut Butter & Jelly.

In a 2019 interview, Noyes talked about his experimentation in those early years:

I was an independent filmmaker trying to make my own films and get work where I could. I experimented with all sorts of mediums, starting with clay, then sand, then cutouts, then Xerox cutouts made from still images shot on a Nikon, then ultimately discovered Blue Screen video where I could layer live actors against drawings.

Anyone who grew up with cable tv in the 1980s and 90s will instantly recognize Noyes influence on kids and family programming from those decades. Noyes was one of the earliest contributors to the Nickelodeon network during the nascent years of cable television and animated the logo for the channels first show, Pinwheel, using sand.

In 1983, Noyes and producer Kit Laybourne launched Noyes & Laybourne Enterprises, a New York-based indie that continued to produce work acquired by Nickelodeon and other networks. The studio made network IDs for both Nickelodeon and its evening block, Nick and Night, and developed original series such as Eureekas Castle and Gullah Gullah Island.

In 1988, the studio joined Colossal Pictures and significantly impacted another cable TV upstart, MTV. There, it produced graphics for the network, and Noyes directed recurring segments from the iconic independent animation showcase Liquid Television, including Art School Girls of Doom and The Blockheads.

In addition to its broadcast TV contributions, the studio also worked on commercial projects for partners such as IBM, Scholastic, ABC Sports, Reebok, and Xerox.

In 1991, Noyes and his family moved across the country to San Francisco, where he worked on live-action, animation, and interactive projects for tv. An early adapter to new technologies, Noyes also created Ruffs Bone, an interactive childrens book CD-ROM produced for Broderbund Software.

On the West Coast, Noyes worked on interactive projects for Pixar and helped launch The Disney Channels ZOOG Disney, one of the earliest programming blocks that combined tv and the internet. He also served as director of interactive design at the Oxygen network from 1999 to 2001.

In 2003, Noyes teamed with Toy Story producer Ralph Guggenheim to launch Alligator Planet, where the duo created film, print, and media works. The outfits credits include producing animated segments for the Oscar-nominated documentary The Most Dangerous Man in America (2003), on which Noyes served as animation director.

Noyes is survived by his wife, Augusta Talbot, son Isaac, daughter Abigail, and granddaughter, Esme.
Disney Branded Television has released a trailer for the upcoming extended-length Bluey special The Sign, which will debut on Disney+, Disney Junior, and Disney Channel on April 14.

Bluey is a global phenomenon and one of the most-streamed animated series of the last several years. According to Nielsen Streaming Content Ratings, it was 2024s most-streamed series across all audiences in January and February.

The show has won two Logie Awards, Australias top tv honors, for outstanding childrens programming, and an International Emmy Kids Award in 2019.

Heres what we know about The Sign:
TARA and Promac boost LC3 commercial programme with MoU

26 March 2024

Technology and Action for Rural Development (TARA) organised an LC3 Celebration Day at its Head Office in New Delhi, India, on 19 March 2024. The event, supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, was kick-started by the signing of an MoU with PROMAC engineering. PROMAC engineering will cater to cement companies in India and across the globe to provide them a turnkey solution from ground-to-gate for producing calcined clay cement.

TARA aims to develop the commercial reality of limestone calcined clay Cement or LC3 in India. The TARA-Promac partnership already has two existing LC3 orders in the pipeline and is poised to set up the first calcined clay production unit in India. TARA announced the first of these projects last year. It will be working with JK Lakshmi Cement to produce calcined clay cement at the Jakaypuram cement plant, Rajasthan India.

Various speakers at the celebration day from cement industries across India and the globe presented the readiness of their companies in producing LC3 and the need for it.

Dr Arun Kumar, President Emeritus, Development Alternatives Group expressed that support from the government of India is necessary to accelerate the uptake of LC3. This can be in the form of preferential procurement by the GOI for infrastructure and housing projects, easy availability of green finance and GST benefits for producing green cement, he added.



Meanwhile, Jonathan Demenge, head of cooperation of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, New Delhi, congratulated the pioneering efforts of cement companies, user agencies and Bureau of Indian Standards in making this happen in such a short period of time.

The event was attended by representatives from various cement industries like UltraTech Cements, JK Lakshmi Cements, JK Cements, Star Cements, Barak Valley Cement, SCC Lanka Ltd, Balaram Cements to name a few along with various construction companies, bilateral and multilateral agencies.

LC3 is a new type of composite cement based on a blend of clinker, calcined clay and raw limestone. With a clinker content is as low as 50 per cent, LC3 technology has several advantages over ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and Portland pozzolanic cement (PPC). It reduces emission of CO 2 up to 40 per cent compared to OPC, has a lower energy consumption to produce, offers comparable strength with OPC and improved durability.

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As a genuine admirer of Hitoshi Iwaaki's acclaimed manga "Parasyte," director Yeon Sang-ho said Tuesday that he wanted to delve deeper into the original Japanese comic's universe while echoing its core theme of coexistence between humans and parasitic beings.

"When I was a student, 'Parasyte' was like a bible to me. I often envisioned what could unfold in the expanded universe of the original Japanese setting," Yeon said during a press event ahead of its global premiere on Netflix next week.

"Parasyte: The Grey," a Netflix original Korean series, originated when Yeon reached out to the original comic writer with a letter, expressing his desire to create a Korean adaptation, he said.

"Fortunately, he found the idea very interesting and gave me the freedom to expand upon the original story as I saw fit," he said, adding: "Bringing 'Parasyte' to life on Netflix feels like the ultimate fan endeavor. It's truly special to expand upon the universe of my favorite comic."

Initially published in 1989, Iwaaki's manga "Parasyte" has sold over 25 million copies across 30 countries and regions. It is known for its inventive narrative depicting parasites infiltrating human brains to control their bodies and conveying a profound philosophical message.

"Parasyte: The Grey" follows the events unfolding in Korea as the human race falls victim to hungry parasites that silently take over human bodies by permeating through the brain.

The protagonist, Su-in (Jeon So-nee), undergoes a disturbing transformation into a hybrid being, half-parasite and half-human, following a near-fatal accident, when the parasite, Heidi, latches onto her body. However, Heidi fails to gain complete control, leading to a bizarre coexistence between the two entities.

"I am the parasite inside of you. Had we not combined as one, we both would have died," Heidi tells Su-in after the accident.

"Su-in had led a very lonely life before her encounter with Heidi," actor Jeon said. "But as she comes to accept the alien presence within her, an intriguing connection begins to form between them, ironically giving Su-in a newfound will to live. I find that dynamic really fascinating."

The director, known for acclaimed movies and series, including "Train to Busan" (2016), "Hellbound" (2021) and "The Bequeathed" (2024), said he wanted to explore the theme of coexistence, whether within companies, religious institutions or society at large.

And the deepening understanding between Su-in and Heidi epitomizes the overarching theme, the director explained.

The six-part series is set for release April 5. (Yonhap)
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The Jogye Order, Korea's largest Buddhist sect, is expected to reclaim next month the remains of Buddhist monks from the country's 14th-century Goryeo Dynasty after their stay for 85 years in the United States.

The "sarira" relics, believed to have been taken illegally out of Korea, are currently housed in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, one of the three most prestigious art museums in the U.S.

After 15 years of negotiations involving the Jogye Order and the Korean government, the museum agreed last month to donate the remains to the Buddhist sect. The museum also agreed to push for the return of the culturally significant reliquary containing the sarira on a long-term loan for public display in Korea.

"A delegation from the Jogye Order will visit the Boston museum on April 16 (U.S. time) to retrieve the sarira," a Buddhist official told Yonhap News Agency by phone on Monday.

The exact date of the delegation's return has not been decided yet, but it is expected to be sometime this month.

As for the loan of the sarira reliquary, Korea's Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) and the Boston museum are known to be in discussions over the timing and method.

Sarira is a Buddhist term for bead-shaped bodily relics of spiritual masters. While sarira holds great religious significance, sarira reliquaries carry additional meaning in art history as they represent Buddhist crafts created by the finest artisans of the time, reflecting contemporary styles.

The "silver-gilt Lamaist pagoda-shaped sarira reliquary," presumed to date back to the 14th century in the Guryeo Dynasty (918-1392), is considered a masterpiece of Goryeo Buddhist art.

It enshrines a total of four sets of remains  one set of the remains of the Buddha himself, alongside one and two sets of two revered Korean monks, Jigong and Naong. The two monks are celebrated for their contributions to the history of Korean Buddhism.

The CHA believes the sarira container was crafted after the latter monk passed away in the late years of the Goryeo Dynasty.

The sarira reportedly was illegally taken out of the country during the Japanese colonial period (1910-1945) before being purchased by the Boston museum from a dealer in 1939. The CHA believes the sarira originated from Hoeam Temple in Yangju, just north of Seoul. (Yonhap)
EPBs 10th Street Community Mural will soon feature 10 more local Chattanooga area artists whose work will be displayed on the fourth and final side of its 10th Street Substation. The 2024 mural theme is The Magic of Unity and illustrates the possibilities of change when we work together as one.An outside group of community stakeholders used an anonymous judging process to select the following 10 artists who live or work in EPBs service territory, based on the submissions artistic value, community reflection and thematic relevance. Christen McNelly Jaclyn Lewis Jerome Foster Juanita Montgomery Justin Butts Karen Estes Lexi DAmbrosio Olivia Reckert Rea Shaw Sofia RudakevychThis year, the selected artists will paint new murals on 10 panels on the wall running parallel to Douglas Heights Apartments.Murals completed over the last two years honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Chattanooga history and well-known Chattanooga community members on the other three sides of the installation.At EPB we value art and how it can impact the community we serve, especially when created by local artists whose work uplifts the history of our area, said EPB Director of Residential Energy and Environmental Solutions Elizabeth Hammitt. With the support of our community partners, we are able to provide a platform for artists to further their skills while also sharing their talents and vision with their community.Officials said, "This project would not be possible without the support of community partners such as ArtsBuild, Urban League of Greater Chattanooga, Bessie Smith Cultural Center, City of Chattanooga-Public Art Chattanooga, Association for the Visual Arts, Hunter Museum of American Art, Stove Works, River City Company, Chatt Foundation (formerly the Community Kitchen), Five Star Breaktime Solutions, Riverside Development LLC, the MLK Neighborhood Association and numerous MLK district businesses and stakeholders."Over the past four years, the 10th Murals Project has added vibrancy to the MLK Blvd area by celebrating the history, traditions and culture of the area, said James McKissic, president of ArtsBuild. Partnering with EPB by supporting local artists in their creation of these masterpieces has been rewarding and we are pleased to see the lasting impact of their work even after this projects completion.This is the final year of this project. The final murals will be revealed in June.
Education is one of the critical pillars of the American dream, providing hope and opportunity. Our organization has worked hard to shape education policy because it invites innovation and encourages big-picture thinkers to overcome the impossible. We believe in Tennessee students and those who work to educate them.

To achieve this, we prioritize evidence-based approaches in educational policies. By doing so, we create a brighter future for all students and ensure they receive the support they need to thrive. There will never be a one-size-fits-all model for public education, and no single academic model can work for a diversified population in a state or nation.



Critics of public education focus on the wrong things, using faulty information, and need to utilize more complete information. The current administration has found it easy to blame teachers, principals, the school system, or society.

Universal vouchers are not a cure-all and cannot solve the problem of poverty and the social ills that come with it. If the discussion revolves more around promoting competition and less about innovation in schools, the debate will continue indefinitely. You may change the zip code where a child attends a school, but you will not change the home address. You will only address fundamental issues like student achievement once you first address the impact of factors outside the classroom.

There is a false narrative that public education is failing. Public education isn't broken. Public education policy is broken, and neighborhood public schools suffer the consequences. Many times, decades of societal issues are not addressed. These cultural issues get laid at the feet of public schools.

Pointing fingers does not provide a solution for students and parents; we should not look for a magic solution. If we want exceptional results for our kids, we must have tough conversations, roll our sleeves up, and put in the work. Cut and run is not an option.

People ask how we dropped from 80% and 90% proficiency rates to 30 percent to 40 percent state-wide. Here is the answer. In 2010, Tennessee received $501 million in Race to the Top Funds from the Obama administration. These funds led Tennessee to implement a new evaluation system, more testing, and adopt Common Core standards. The result was a significant drop in Tennessee's proficiency scores by almost 50 percent in just one year. The cause was the new system rather than a sudden decline in student performance or teacher capability.

In the past ten years, the Tennessee State Standards have become more challenging, requiring students to know more than they did before. However, our students are mainly performing as well as they did in previous decades. Urban school districts have been in crisis for years, struggling to provide high-quality education for all students. We must be innovative in an ever-changing world.

Since the 1970s, the National Assessment of Educational Progress has monitored the academic performance of 9-, 13-, and 17-year-old students. The scores have remained relatively consistent in reading and mathematics but rise and fall as standards and curriculum change.

We introduced a new report card system that grades schools and accountability components. Schools are now being held accountable for a system and components they were unaware of, such as the new focus on the bottom 25% of students. To our knowledge, the 2022-23 report card and the Annual Report by the Commissioner, as required by Tennessee Code Annotated 49-1-211, have yet to be made available to the public.

Since August, school districts and leaders across the state have expressed concerns about the lack of communication and frequent rule changes within the Tennessee Department of Education, which could negatively impact public schools. If we believe Tennessee's accountability system is vital for accurate and valuable data on public school students. In that case, we should collect the same information for students who receive universal vouchers.

An engaging and challenging education is the proven path to prosperity and a life-long love of learning. It has long been acknowledged that a solid educational system is essential not only to the successful functioning of a democracy but also to its future. Collaboration is vital, and we must all work together for public education to improve and deliver on its promise of a better future for all.

JC Bowman

Executive Director of Professional Educators of Tennessee
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Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency Officers responded to a call from Marion County regarding kayakers out of their boats near Nicakjack cave around 8:30 p.m. CDT on Monday. Officers arrived to find 33 kayakers, including eight children, stranded on a bank due to extremely high winds.

A Nickajack cave tour group left out of the Macedonia Road boat ramp earlier in the evening, paddling across the lake to the Nickajack cave. Harsh conditions and high winds quickly challenged the kayakers, and a few did enter the water. The entire group made it to shore near the cave and called for emergency assistance.

Haletown Volunteer Fire Department, Puckett EMS, and Marion County Sheriffs Office also responded. New Hope Fire Department arrived with a boat for rescue efforts. However, the vessel was small, and it was capsized by winds before disconnecting from the trailer. TWRA officers were able to ferry kayakers to shore, where they were tended to by medical personnel. No injuries resulted from the incident.

All kayakers were wearing life jackets. TWRA Boating Officer David Holt said, This is a great example of the importance of life jackets. With water temperatures in the mid to high 40s and high wind speeds, life jackets were a key safety factor.

Wildlife officers and all agencies responded quickly to the scene to provide care for the stranded boaters and get them back to safety in extremely poor water conditions.
Martha C. McCarley, 83, of Ringgold, Georgia, went home to be with the Lord on Monday, March 23, 2024.

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

Colossians 3:23-24

Martha Jean Crowder McCarley was born on Oct. 20, 1940, in Vernon, Al., to the late Carlos Lee Crowder and Ruth Collins Crowder. She attended public schools in Vernon and graduated from Lamar County High School in 1958. She attended the University of Alabama and graduated in 1962 and remained a life-long fan of the Crimson Tide. In 1987, she earned her M.Ed. in Special Education from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Following her graduation from college, she married Mack McCarley and had two children, Beth and Lee. She was a longtime member of Brainerd Baptist Church. Her parents and maternal grandfather were accomplished musicians, and she carried on her family tradition by celebrating her faith by singing in the choir and as a member of the handbell ensemble. In her later years she was a member of Ridgedale Baptist Church, where she continued to share her faith as a Sunday School teacher.

In 1972, Martha began teaching Bible courses in public schools as a part-time teacher. In 1977, she became a full-time teacher for Hamilton County schools, teaching Math, English, and Social Studies. Throughout her 30-year career as an educator, she served as the supervisor of the Superintendents Leadership Conference for eight years and served as a teacher for gifted students for 23 years in Hamilton County. In addition to her work in the classroom, Martha served as director of Children's Bible Drills for the Hamilton County Baptist Association, the president of the Chattanooga chapter of the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge, and as a member of the Brainerd Baptist Church School Board.

In her years as an educator, she garnered many awards including the Liberty Bell Award from the Chattanooga Bar Association, the Top Teacher, Secondary Division, Hamilton County Schools, the Citizenship Education Teacher award from the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and twice was a finalist for the Hamilton County Education Association's Distinguished Classroom Teacher award. Despite these and many other accolades, she did not talk about awards when she talked about her work as an educator. Instead, she would talk fondly of former students who became physicians, attorneys, and community leaders. She gave little thought to her own accomplishments but took great joy in telling of the successes of her former students.

In her personal life as well, Martha was a gracious host at family gatherings and parties for friends. In fact, she was often so busy ensuring everyone was enjoying themselves she hardly sat down. She loved sharing music, laughter and joy with family and friends. Even of her own grandchildren and great grandchildren, she would say "I don't mind noisy children when the noises are happy noises." In all walks of her life - faith, education, family and friends - she worked to bring happiness to those around her with little thought for herself.

Martha's life was a life lived in service to others - bringing light and laughter to those she loved.

Martha is survived by her daughter, Beth Sawyer and husband, Steve; son, Lee McCarley and wife, Kelly; grandchildren, Ashton Jackson and her husband, Nyjel, Christian Sawyer and his wife, Callie; Jeremy, Jordan, and Joshua Collins; Jacqueline Lemmond and her husband, Matt; and great-grandchildren Jackson and Scarlet Lemmond.

The family will receive friends on Thursday from 4-7 p.m. at Heritage Funeral Home, 7454 East Brainerd Road.

Funeral services will be held on Friday, March 29, at 1 p.m. at Heritage Funeral Home, East Brainerd Chapel. A private family burial will follow the services.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Alzheimers Foundation of America at https://www.alzfdn.org.

You may share condolences with the McCarley family at www.heritagechattanooga.com.
The Tennessee Department of Transportation has awarded the contract for the US 27 landscaping project in Hamilton County to Stansell Electric Company, Inc. of Knoxville, for $3,037,034.65.

The project will extend from 6th Street to Riverfront Parkway on US 27 and will include the planting of trees, shrubs, prairie grasses, wildflowers, and a variety of other ground cover crops as well as the installation of an irrigation system.

This landscaping project is the first of its kind, and were delighted its been let to construction, Assistant Chief Engineer/Region 2 Director Daniel Oliver said. Our partnership with the Tennessee Interstate Conservancy has played a critical role in the advancement of this project, he continued. Upon completion, the project will beautify an important corridor in the Chattanooga area and enhance the natural scenic beauty of the Tennessee landscape.

Construction is scheduled to begin in the Spring of this year and has an estimated completion date of December, 2025. Once construction begins, every effort will be made to minimize impacts to drivers.
The W Road will be closed for two weeks starting Monday, April 1, to complete milling, paving, and safety enhancement work. Electronic message boards are on site to notify residents of the upcoming closure.Motorists should avoid this area when possible as it will be an active construction site with heavy equipment.Motorists should plan on using Roberts Mill Road or Signal Mountain Boulevard/ Taft Highway to leave or access Signal Mountain during this time. Residents that live on the W Road will have access to and from their homes.Access to Walden's Ridge Park will be accessible from the bottom of the W Road.The Highway Department and the Town of Walden will also have a small section of James Boulevard (between Anderson Pike and Taft Highway) closed starting Wednesday, through the duration of this work.
A non-custodial father accused of kidnapping his three-year-old son from his Rossville home was apprehended within two and a half hours Tuesday by Rutherford County Sheriffs deputies in Murfreesboro, Tn.Parent John Kavin Samples, 26, of Utah, was wanted for taking his son from the boys mothers home in Rossville, said Walker County Detective Jonathan Camp.Samples earlier visited his son in Rossville. As he prepared to leave Monday night, he forcibly kidnapped the child from his mother in the presence of his older sister while in the possession of a firearm, Detective Camp said.The custodial mother chased them, Det.Camp said. Samples put the child in the van and got into the drivers seat. The mother opened the door to save him and Samples girlfriend, Anjela Baker, allegedly handed him a gun."He pointed it at the mother and tried to shoot her but missed, Detective Camp said. He tried to hit her with the car and drove away.Walker County Sheriffs Patrol Sgt. Thomas Agredano, Cpl. Jacob Russ and Deputy Jarred Almeida responded within five minutes and obtained pertinent information about Samples and the vehicle he drove.They notified the Tennessee Highway Patrol and other law enforcement agencies along Interstate 24 with a description of Samples and the vehicle.Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson said deputies used technology showing the vehicle was located in Murfreesboro. THP relayed the information to the Rutherford County Sheriffs Office.Rutherford County Sheriffs Sgt. Ethan Shenefield said Deputy Luis Ramirez saw the vehicle at a Shell station on Old Fort Parkway. He followed the vehicle onto Interstate 24 until he and other deputies stopped Samples near the Interstate 840 exit. Deputies involved in the stop included Lt. Trey Nunley, Shenefield, Sgt. April Haggard, Cpl. Markis Woods, Deputies Riley Dunmyer, Tyler Marks, Tyler Cravens, and James Driver and Detective Andrew Quintal.Deputy Ramirez charged Samples and Ms. Baker, 30, of Ogden, Utah, with being fugitives from justice. They were booked into Rutherford County Adult Detention Center where they are being held for Walker County Sheriffs Office. A hearing on the fugitive charges and extradition is set April 8 in General Sessions Court.Rutherford County Detective Christina Overton said Samples son was returned to a family member. The Department of Childrens Services took custody of Ms. Bakers five-year-old daughter and her six-month-old baby, who is Samples child.Detective Overton recovered a firearm in the vehicle driven by Samples.Detective Camp obtained warrants charging Samples with aggravated assault of the family violence act, kidnapping, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony, cruelty to a child first-degree of his son and his sons sister and home invasion first degree.Ms. Baker is being charged with kidnapping and conspiracy to commit aggravated assault.Detective Camp thanked everyone who treated the case as a serious situation and no one suffered injuries.It is my strongest belief it saved this childs life, he said. I was concerned for the potential this situation had to result in a violent confrontation with law enforcement.Sheriff Wilson said he was pleased with the technology that helped locate Samples and the partnership of both sheriffs offices to take them into custody without anyone being injured.The main thing is it happened without anyone else being harmed and lives lost, he said. Im proud of our office.Rutherford County Sheriff Mike Fitzhugh said this case shows the professionalism and dedication deputies have working with law enforcement counterparts in Tennessee and other states.This is a very tragic incident that because of the quick action of our deputies fortunately had a happy ending, Sheriff Fitzhugh said.
Elvis Presley was ten years older than Priscilla Presley. When his bodyguard learned how old she was, he nearly had a heart attack.

Elvis Presley met the future Priscilla Presley while in Germany with the army. He quickly fell for her and, when he returned to the United States, he talked endlessly about Priscilla. When he revealed to his bodyguard, Red West, that Priscilla was still in high school, West was horrified.

Elvis shocked his bodyguard when he talked about Priscilla Presley

When Elvis returned to Graceland following his military service, he began talking about wanting a new girlfriend.

He had a girlfriend at the time and I wont mention her name because what Elvis said to us all just might embarrass her, his bodyguard Red West said in the book Elvis: What Happened? by Steve Dunleavy. But he said, Its about time I got a girl who was a bit more sharp.

Priscilla Presley | Bettmann/Contributor via Getty

West soon realized that Elvis was specifically talking about this because he had met Priscilla. This wasnt surprising to West; Elvis often had girlfriends. What shocked him was that Priscilla was in high school. She was only 14 when she met Elvis.

We didnt know what he meant, but after a while he kept on talking about this girl Priscilla he met in Germany after I left, West recalled. When he told me she wasnt yet fifteen, I nearly had a heart attack. He assured me that this girl was different, much different from the average Memphis girl, and I was prepared to disbelieve him.

Red West believed Priscilla Presley was one of the only people Elvis loved

The relationship between Elvis and Priscilla lasted for years despite their age difference. While their marriage ended in divorce, West said Elvis didnt want to speak poorly about his ex-wife at any point.

I do know he loved that woman, he said. Even today he would never have a word said against her. He always told me, I will always have a love for Priscilla.

West believed Priscilla was one of the only people Elvis truly loved in his lifetime.

In fact, deep down, I believe that Priscilla was only one of two people he ever really did love in his whole life, West said. He didnt love us. We thought he did. But he did love that woman Priscilla.

Her family was initially horrified by their relationship

West found the age difference between Elvis and Priscilla concerning. Her parents were also bewildered by it. Not only was Elvis ten years her senior, he was a global celebrity. They couldnt understand what he wanted with their daughter.

While they allowed Priscilla to date Elvis, they werent impressed by his celebrity status. When Priscilla begged to move to Tennessee to be with Elvis, her mother even broke down in tears.

Elvis and Priscilla Presley | Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Why you? she asked, her voice thick with emotion. Why cant he find someone his own age? Youre only sixteen. What is this man doing to our family? Priscilla wrote in her book Elvis and Me. She buried her face in her hands and began crying.

Ultimately, though, they allowed her to finish out high school in Memphis.
Lhyfe, one of the worlds pioneers in green and renewable hydrogen production, has received confirmation from the French government of a financial support in the form of a grant of up to 149 million for the construction of a green hydrogen production plant with an installed electrolysis capacity of 100 MW near Le Havre. This project, led by Lhyfe for over two years, has been approved by the European Commission as part of the third wave of IPCEI (Important Projects of Common European Interest) on hydrogen.

During its visit to Le Havre for the 7th Rencontres de lAxe Seine, Roland Lescure, French Delegate Minister for Industry and Energy, confirmed the French governments support of up to 149 million for Lhyfes project, at the heart of Le Havres low-carbon industrial zone.

With this project, Lhyfe intends to produce up to 34 tonnes of green hydrogen per day near the Grand Canal du Havre, one of Europes largest industrial port areas. This support from the French government confirms Lhyfes status as a key player in the renewable hydrogen industry, and its confidence in the know-how and expertise of Lhyfes teams, pioneers in the industry.

The site is close to the Yara plant in Le Havre, whose decarbonization roadmap includes the use of green hydrogen. Yara is interested in and supports Lhyfes project, and will explore with Lhyfe all possible collaborations to decarbonize its industrial process.

The Lhyfe production site, to be located on a 2.8-hectare plot of land in Gonfreville-lOrcher, is scheduled to be operational by 2028.

For Matthieu Guesne, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Lhyfe: We are honored by the governments significant support for Lhyfes project to build the future green hydrogen production site at Gonfreville-LOrcher, which is a concrete expression of the decarbonization policy France has been pursuing for several years. This announcement is a mark of confidence in Lhyfe and its expertise, and a true recognition of the work accomplished. This project meets the challenges of the industrial port zone of Le Havre: a 100 MW site, capable of producing up to 34 tonnes of decarbonated hydrogen per day. It is towards this greener horizon that this plant is leading us! The regions needs are present and massive, and we can meet them right now with a clean, mature and appropriate technology.

This project has been selected by the French government as part of the third wave of the IPCEI hydrogen program approved by the European Commission. IPCEI are transnational meta-projects identified as strategic for the European Union.
Sculptor's late-blooming career takes off with Venice Biennale invitation

By Park Han-sol

The unexpected emergence of late bloomers is always a breath of fresh air in the art world. And it appears theres a new "kid" on the block: 88-year-old Kim Yun-shin.

For decades, the now octogenarian artist has wielded chainsaws as her signature "brush" to sculpt a series of freestanding wooden assemblages, whose intriguingly organic forms are reminiscent of sprouting plants, holy totem poles or human figures.

Yet, much of her creative toil remained hidden from the spotlight of the Korean art scene and market. Why? Because she had been a "missing" figure, quite literally, since her rather spontaneous relocation to Argentina in 1984.

It wasnt until her inaugural retrospective in Korea, "Towards Oneness," hosted at the Nam-Seoul Museum of Art last year, that brought belated attention to her idiosyncratic sculptural practice.

Thats why it feels all the more surreal to Kim as she experiences many of her "major firsts" in her six-decade career this year: joint representation by two mega-galleries, Lehmann Maupin and Kukje Gallery, a solo exhibition in New York City, and even her inclusion in the prestigious Venice Biennales flagship International Art Exhibition.

"Its the first time in my life that Ive seen so many journalists here to see me. It could also very well be my last," said the spirited artist, donning a black trench coat and a pair of checkered Vans, at Kukje Gallery in central Seoul, where her solo show of 51 wooden sculptures and paintings opened. "I feel a bit overwhelmed at all these changes, but at the same time, Im truly grateful for this final chapter of my life."

From Seoul to Buenos Aires

Born during Japanese colonial rule in 1935 in Wonsan, Gangwon Province in present-day North Korea as the youngest of six children, Kim crossed the border with her mother to the South following the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950.

She received her BFA from Hongik University, becoming one of the first women to formally train as a sculptor in the country. She then pursued further studies in sculpture and lithography at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1964.

But her globetrotting didnt stop there. Two decades later, despite her stable career as a university art professor, she decided to travel halfway across the globe to South America.

So, why Argentina, of all places?

Buenos Aires was not Paris or New York. It wasnt among a handful of cities that were on the radar of the modern Korean art world, where the creatives were still struggling to find their voice amid military dictatorship, postwar reconstruction and breakneck-paced economic growth. The artist herself had no idea where the country was until her niece, who had moved there earlier, invited her for a brief visit.

Upon her arrival, what immediately caught her eyes were the endless stretches of flat land and the dense, towering trees  an unimaginable sight in Korea at the time, where large swathes of the woodland were destroyed during the war.

A sense of rejuvenation began to fill her  a feeling that she hadnt experienced in a long time in a country in postwar survival mode.

I was previously in the collective mindset of trying to survive in the land that has been razed to the ground. But being in this place, I felt so peaceful and calm, she recalled.

She knew that choosing to stay behind in this part of the world ran the risk of gradually being forgotten in the art scene in her motherland. But it was also a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get her hands on hardy, robust materials she had only dreamed of  from algarrobo and quebracho to palo santo wood.

Ultimately, Kim decided to make Buenos Aires, the land pulsating with a new rhythm and vitality, her adopted hometown.

Wooden dialogue

Over the next four decades, she delved into the inherent properties of wood, exploring its textures and forms with a profound respect for its materiality. It was during this time that her signature series, "Add Two Add One, Divide Two Divide One," which began in 1978, reached its full expression.



The title not only serves as her own geometric interpretation of the Eastern philosophy of Yin and Yang, centered around the idea of balancing opposing tendencies, but reflects her lifelong communion with nature.



"Words cannot express how much I love trees. They stand silent, yet they are very much living and animated beings. I kept pondering how I could keep their energy alive in my work until this primal concept of unity and division dawned on me," the artist noted. "Its about the moment when the material and I become one. [Trees are reborn as sculptures, and simultaneously,] I am also conceived as another life."



Kims process begins with days of observing the freshly arrived wood, focusing on its natural scent, "muscular" texture and solidity. Only when this stage is complete does she pick up the chainsaw to carve away at the material.



The results often exhibit a distinctive visual contrast between the soft inner wood revealed through her intuitive sawing and the textured surface of the bark that has been left intact.

In many ways, her paintings  a kaleidoscopic mix of vibrant hues and free-floating geometric shapes  continue the philosophy that has guided her sculptural practice. Their rough-hewn surface is accentuated by the techniques of addition and reduction, as she scrapes off paint with a palette knife or applies pigments to thinly sliced pieces of wood and stamps them onto the canvas.



In recent years, the artist has increasingly directed her energy towards integrating sculpture and painting, applying striking colors to her wooden assemblages.



These new "painted sculptures" often incorporate found and recycled wood from her surroundings  the only materials accessible to her during mandatory quarantine imposed by the pandemic  thus signaling a new phase of her "Add Two Add One, Divide Two Divide One" series.



And at age 88, her spirit of experimentation remains undiminished. It appears that it will be years before she is ready to set down her chainsaw.



"I want to be remembered as 'an artist of all four directions.' Whether I go east, west, south or north, I approach my work with the same heart," she said.



"Kim Yun Shin" runs through April 28 at Kukje Gallery.
Wheaton College students stop to chat on the Norton, Mass. campus, Feb. 13, 2024 as snow falls. More than 75 million student loan borrowers have enrolled in the U.S. government's newest repayment plan since it launched in August.
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This week, millions of Latin Americans are attending worship services observing Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday.

In Uruguay, they are going to the rodeo.

While their Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking neighbors mark the death and resurrection of Christ, locals from the country of 3.3 million are celebrating Semana Criolla (Creole Week), a series of festivals honoring the countrys gaucho heritage. Many come to watch Uruguays national sport, jineteada, where riders attempt to stay on the back of untamed horses. Few of the activities, which also include traditional music and dancing, acknowledge the Christianity calendar, except when it comes to eating asado criollo.

Vendors sell the countrys local barbeque throughout the week, except on Thursday and Friday, a nod to the countrys Catholic heritage.

Its one of our many idiosyncrasies, said Karina T., an anthropologist from Montevideo. (CT is only identifying her by her last initial because of sensitivity concerns about her ministry to Muslims.) If you ask somebody why they eat fish on those days, they will probably say that it is something their grandparents did. Only a few will say something about religion. They dont even know.

This ignorance is somewhat intentional.

Uruguay was one of the first countries in the Western Hemisphere to constitutionally separate church and state, and nowhere is secularism more apparent than in the nations rebrand of Christian holidays. In 1919, the government legally changed December 25 to the Fiesta de la Familia and Holy Week to the Semana del Turismo (Tourism Week), during which time the capital city holds Semana Criolla.

January 6, known elsewhere as Dia de Reyes (Epiphany), became Dia de los Ninos (Childrens Day), and December 8, when Catholics celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, became Dia de las Playas (Beach Day).

The Uruguayan legislators intent was to absorb Christian holidays and take Christ out of the celebrations. With the exception of Christmas, when Christians organize open-air events and try to evangelize more directly with non-believers, the government has largely succeeded, says Marcelo Piriz, pastor of Comunidad Vida Nueva in Montevideo, calling the holiday D-day for churches.

In contrast, many churches struggle with Easter and Holy Week. While some congregations may organize special programs, their outreach is limited, often due to size.

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Average church membership is around 50 people. A congregation of 100 would be a small church in other parts of Latin America, but its big here, said Facundo Luzardo, Baptist pastor of Iglesia Bautista Adulam in Las Piedras and a professor at Seminario Biblico del Uruguay.

These numbers can shrink further when people heed the call of tourism week.

Even in the church, some members prefer other activities, said Piriz. They may go to the countryside, or fathers may go teach their sons how to fish, for example.

Uruguays loose attachment to Christianity goes way back.

Until the end of the 1800s, the country was sparsely populated. Even the indigenous people, the charruas, didnt have a belief system, said Pedro Lapadjian, pastor of Esperanza en la Ciudad in Montevideo and author of two books about the history of evangelicals in Uruguay.

The presence of Roman Catholics, seemingly ubiquitous throughout Latin America, arrived later in the region. The first bishop was installed in 1878more than 250 years after a bishop was installed in neighboring Buenos Aires, Argentina.

While many Uruguayans come from countries with a strong Catholic presence, including Spain, Italy, and France, many of the immigrants we received in the country didnt hold strong beliefs, or they were influenced by the liberal or Masonic trends of 19th-century Europe, including many of the Protestants, said Lapadjian. Intellectuals found inspiration in revolutionary France.

Over time, the government began taking religious symbols out of public life. The state took over cemeteries previously managed by the Catholic church and removed crosses from schools and hospitals.

In 1907, Uruguay was the first country in Latin America to legalize divorce. The country legalized euthanasia in 2009, and same-sex marriage and the production and selling of cannabis in 2013. It first decriminalized abortion in the 1930s for a brief period and then legalized it in 2012.

Protestantism showed up in Uruguay in the beginning of the 1800s thanks to the Anglicans, though they primarily focused their ministry on British families living in Montevideo. Then came the missionariesfirst the Methodists in 1835, then the Lutherans in 1846 and the Presbyterians in 1849. New groups landed in the second half of the 1800s, but their arrival coincided with the growing secularization of the newly sovereign country (Uruguay became independent in 1825).

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Currently, evangelicals make up 8.1 percent of the population, according to a 2021 Latinobarometro survey, up from 4.6 percent in 2019. But 38 percent of Uruguayans define themselves as atheists or agnostics.

These demographic realities shape how evangelical leaders preach and reach out to their communities. When Lapadjian travels to speak in Chile, Bolivia, or Colombia, he often jokes, Im going to Latin America.

When you preach in Latin America, you have an audience that already has a knowledge of God, Christ. Theres a common ground, he said. When youre preaching in a secular country, first you have to fight to prove that God exists.

Luzardo defines his homeland as an agnostic country. He says theres some public curiosity about religions like Hinduism or Buddhism, but most are apathetic when it comes to Christianity.

An Uruguayan will be very polite and will listen to you, but will show no interest, said Karina T.

While Uruguayan Christians take part in many of the Semana Criolla festivities, they also find ways to celebrate Holy Week.

At Comunidad Vida Nueva, Piriz organizes a youth group church sleepover on Palm Sunday and takes the young people camping. Guest preachers teach at special services on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Children who receive meals at the community cafeteria will be given Easter eggs. Each gathering is expected to have around 120 people, twice the usual attendance at regular services. In these celebrations, the challenge is to surpass who we are, said Piriz, hoping services would have more non-members than members.

At Esperanza en la Ciudad, Lapadjians preaching leading up to Holy Week called his congregation to embrace the motto Vamos por Mas! (Lets Go for More!) and to serve their community. The initiative included a call to donate to the national blood bank, which lost some of its supply in January when its building was partially destroyed by fire.

Easter is about donating blood, because the blood of Jesus Christ was shed for the forgiveness of our sins, he said.

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The number of violent anti-Christian incidents in India jumped to 601 in 2023 compared to 413 the previous year, according to a new report from the Evangelical Fellowship of Indias Religious Liberty Commission (EFI-RLC).

Despite constitutional protections and Indias long-standing tradition of religious diversity, the rise of divisive rhetoric and inflammatory language, often condoned or inadequately addressed by official channels, has emboldened sections of society to perpetrate acts of violence and discrimination against religious minorities, particularly Christians and Muslims, said Vijayesh Lal, general secretary of EFI.

India is home to about 28 million Christians, or about two percent of the countrys population of 1.4 billion. The majority of attacks on Christians were categorized as threats and harassment (201) followed by 146 instances of false accusations and subsequent arrests.

EFI-RLCs report highlights several troubling trends, including regional hotspots, primarily concentrated in the northern part of the culture, where violence against Christians is particularly severe. Uttar Pradesh, Indias largest state and a significant political battleground, recorded the highest number of incidents at 275. The state also leads in arrests of pastors and believers, often on allegations of forced conversions, despite lacking substantial evidence.

Chhattisgarh, a state in central India, is another hotbed of targeted violence against tribal Christians. It witnessed 132 incidents of coordinated attacks in addition to several Ghar Wapsi (returning home programs of reconversion to Hinduism or ancestral faith) and ostracism incidents that are not recorded.

Haryana, a landlocked state in northern India where Christians make up .02 percent of the population of 25 million, had 44 cases, indicating a widespread pattern of targeted violence against the Christian community across various regions of India.

The report follows and reinforces the narrative of the 2024 World Watch List released earlier this year by Christian persecution watchdog Open Doors, which ranks India at number 11, noting the sustained rise of Hindu nationalism:

Any Christian who does convert from Hinduism is most likely to come under intense pressure or even violence. They can face constant pressure to renounce their new faith, face job loss/discrimination, endure physical assaults, and even be murdered. Church leaders are also in danger in many parts of India: extremists target them (along with their families) to create fear and chaos in the Christian community.

The list also notes that compared to the 2023 report, attacks on Christian homes doubled to 180, Christian fatalities increased ninefold to 160, and attacks on churches and Christian schools rose from 67 to 2,228. Many of these increases were due to last Mays deadly attacks in Manipur.

These reports come weeks after the United Christian Forum (UCF) announced that it had documented 161 incidents of violence against Christians between January 1 to March 15 of this year. UCF states that the data was collected by its toll-free helpline and, as per information available, 161 Christians, including 122 pastors, have been arrested on allegations of forced religious conversions despite lack of evidence.

False Accusations and Contentious Conversions

Hindu nationalists have frequently and falsely accused Christians of forced conversion under duress and have used these claims as a pretext for violence. Though activists have debunked this as an unfounded claim, these charges continue to fuel violence and discrimination against Christians, particularly against those of vulnerable groups like Dalits, Adivasis, and women.

The bogey of conversion is a very convenient one and is largely misused to target the Christian community in states where these laws are in operation, and in states where these laws do not exist, they are deemed to be in operation, causing the same harassment, said Lal.

The conversion of people belonging to lower castes, including Dalits, away from Hinduisma traditionally non-proselytizing religionto proselytizing religions, especially Christianity, has been a contentious political issue in India. About half of Indians support legal bans on religious conversions, according to a 2021 Pew Research Center report.

As of today, 10 of Indias 28 states have anticonversion laws in place: Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, and Haryana. All of these are Hindu-majority states, and 6 out of the 10 are governed by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The state of Arunachal Pradesh drafted but never enacted such a law, while Rajasthans attempts in 2006 and 2008 did not get final approval. Tamil Nadu passed an anticonversion law in 2002, but it was revoked after protests.

Even when states lack anticonversion laws, there are brutal consequences for those alleged to have proselytized Hindus, tribals, or those of any other faith. EFI-RLC noted a story of one pastor and others who were brutally attacked during a 2023 prayer gathering in the state of Maharashtra after extremists accused them of religious conversion activities. Similar incidents have been reported from other parts of the country, where Christian institutions and individuals have faced violent assaults and harassment.

The report highlights an incident that took place in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, in March 2023, when a group of Hindu extremists barged into a church during a service, locking 250 Christians inside. They then interrogated them about conversions, tearing up Bibles and assaulting 10 people.

The Potential to Incite

Beyond direct violence, the report highlights broader structural changes that threaten the rights and well-being of religious minorities, including the presence of Hindutva ideology in public education. EFI-RLC fears infiltration and manipulation by extreme right-wing political entities aligned with the current regimes preferences.

EFI-RLC also noted that BJP legislators have begun to make good on a long-standing campaign promise to introduce a Uniform Civil Code (UCC), which seeks to have one law determine matters like marriage, divorce, inheritance, and adoption in the state, instead of different laws for different religious communities.

Though the constitution states that the government should work toward implementing a UCC across the country, Such a code could potentially undermine the legal protections and affirmative action measures provided to these minorities under the Indian constitution, according to the report. (This change was recently introduced in the state of Uttarakhand.)

The report also notes the intentions of other states like Uttar Pradesh, Assam, and Chhattisgarh to enact similar laws in 2024. Though it acknowledges that the details of these laws remain unclear, such legislation, it claims, could impede the rights of Christians to freely profess, practice, and propagate their faith, which are guaranteed by the constitution.

These laws and statements have the potential to incite non-state actors and vigilante groups to intimidate and assault religious minorities, worsening tensions and threatening social harmony, the report elaborates.

Upcoming Elections

Indias seven-phase national elections will kick off on April 19 and conclude on June 4. Prime Minister Narendra Modis BJP party won the previous two elections in 2014 and 2019. They are hoping to win a third consecutive election and current polls suggest they are on track to win nearly 70 percent of the seats in the Lok Sabha, Indias lower parliamentary chamber.

Earlier this month, the leader of INDIA (the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance), a coalition of 26 parties challenging the BJP, was jailed. Rahul Gandhi, a member of parliament for the Indian National Congress, the largest opposition party, and the grandson of Indias third prime minister Indra Gandhi, was sentenced to two years in jail in a defamation case related to remarks he made about people with the last name Modi.

Concerned over the policies and actions of the BJPs national leadership, EFI has appealed to the Indian government and state administrations to protect religious minorities and uphold the rule of law, especially in states like Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Karnataka, and Madhya Pradesh.

As Christians, we pray for our nation, our leaders, and fellow citizens. No one should be targeted or persecuted because of their faith. Normalization of hatred will only take us backward and, in the end, harm everybody, said Lal. Our constitutional values are beautiful and worth pursuing, and we pray that these values of justice, equality, liberty, and fraternity will be true in the life of every Indian. Only then can we be a united and resilient nation.
Russian evangelicals used Sunday sermons to condemn a terrorist attack that killed more than 130 people at a Moscow concert hall.

As Russias Baptist union prayed for Gods mercy and protection, its Pentecostal union conveyed its bitterness and sorrow. Vitaly Vlasenko, general secretary of the Russian Evangelical Alliance, called it a painful shock that could unleash unbridled revenge against terrorism.

But many in Russia are wondering: Who are the terrorists?

The attack on Friday that killed at least 137 people at the 6,200-seat Crocus City Hall was claimed by the ISIS affiliate in Afghanistans Khorasan Province (ISIS-K), which seeks an Islamic caliphate in Central Asia. Its statement emphasized it was targeting Christians and came in the natural framework of its war against the enemies of Islam.

Earlier this month, the US embassy in Moscow had issued a warning to avoid large gatherings. American officials stated they shared their intelligence with Russia. On March 7, Russia said it thwarted an attack on a synagogue, and a few days prior, security services killed six ISIS-K terrorists during a shootout in the nations Muslim Caucasus region.

The group was also linked to the 2017 St. Petersburg metro bombing that killed 15.

ISIS-K was formed by extremists seeking a more violent path than the Pakistani Taliban in 2015, the same year Russia formally intervened in Syria to support President Bashar al-Assad. A Sunni group, ISIS and its affiliates oppose Assads Alawite faith as heretical and considers Shiite Muslims as apostate.

In January, ISIS-K killed 95 Iranians in Kerman at a memorial service for Qasem Soleimani, leader of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who was assassinated by the US in 2020. And as American forces withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021, an ISIS-K attack on the Kabul airport killed 13 US soldiers and 170 civilians.

Analysts stated, however, that ISIS-K was increasingly targeting Russia.

Russia has arrested 11 suspects, with four alleged gunmen from Tajikistan now on trial.

But President Vladimir Putin, reelected March 17 with 88 percent of a vote Western observers declared was neither free nor fair, did not mention Islamic terrorism when he declared a national day of mourning. Official statements of blame have been vague, while the deputy head of Russias security council openly speculated that if Ukraine was involved, its leaders must be tracked down and killed without mercy.

Are you sure its ISIS? asked Russias foreign ministry spokesperson, suggesting the group was being used as a bogeyman. The Russian ambassador to the US denied receiving any advance information from the US. And a nationalist media outlet urged the Kremlin to give Ukrainians 48 hours to evacuate major cities.

Just a few hours prior to the concert hall massacre, in a wide barrage against Ukraines civilian infrastructure, Russia had targeted its largest hydroelectric dam, leaving more than one million people without electricity.

Ukraine has denied any involvement in the terrorist attack.

Its military intelligence spokesperson, however, suggested instead that it was a deliberate act of provocation by Putin, while President Volodymyr Zelensky stated it was typical of such thugs to divert blame. He also alluded to unproven accusations that terrorist attacks in 1999 were a false flag operation, and that Putin considered his own citizens to be expendables.

The US stated that ISIS-K alone carried out the attack, with Ukraine uninvolved.

Russian evangelical sources did not comment on the mutual accusations. They emphasized the outpouring of prayer, sympathy for victims, and the need to trust God and resist any urge for revenge.

Evil is spreading across the earth, said Alexey Markevich, vice rector for academic affairs for Moscow Theological Seminary, who has criticized the war in Ukraine. Lord, give us peace, and prevent any of us from being consumed by evil.

Christians4Peace, an anonymous Russian antiwar group, condemned the near-simultaneous terrorist atrocity and the attack on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure.

Teach us to love our enemies, the group posted on its Telegram account. Show us what we can still do, because we sometimes feel that nothing can be done.

And a Russian Orthodox leader serving with the Faith2Share network of evangelical agencies, who asked that his full name not be used for security reasons, said the attack was still too raw to offer many thoughts. But as he spoke of a sense of hopelessness, he also recalled memories of terrorism from the early 2000s. He feared the ISIS links might further harm attitudes toward the Central Asian migrant community from which the alleged attackers hail.

Up to 1.5 million Tajiks have worked in Russia, many with Russian citizenship.

Other Muslim extremists have troubled Russia before. In 2002, ethnic Chechen militants from Russias Caucasus region took hostages in a Moscow theater. The security operation to free them resulted in the deaths of 41 terrorists and an additional 129 civilians. In 2004, a siege by Chechen militants at a Russian school in Beslan ended with 330 dead, half of which were students.

But following Fridays attack, one evangelical leader did not fear escalation.

We have wise and cautious leadership in Moscow, said Sergey Holzwert, bishop of the Lutheran church in European Russia. The government will not be rash and make certain the facts before saying anything official.

Pavel Kolesnikov, general secretary of the Commonwealth of Evangelical Christians and the Lausanne Movements regional director for Eurasia, said the attack was further proof of a broken world. But he discouraged speculation about the culprits.

It is not our responsibility to assess blame, he said, citing Proverbs 25:2 and implying that this task belongs to the king. Evil can come from any place and anyone, and those who want to interpret everything are simply feeding their pride.

As pastor of Moscows Zelenograd Baptist Church, Kolesnikov tackled terrorism in his Sunday sermon.

Sin has reigned since Adam, he said. Too many people idealize the future of the world, thinking they can change it. But though God is on the throne, Jesus commanded Peter to put away his sword. The Sermon on the Mount, he added, sets the Christian focus on a mercy that results in active compassion and forgiveness.

And he noted that Davids prayer was for God to come to his aid.

If you are in fear, if you demand justice, or if you cannot forgive, come to Jesus, Kolesnikov preached. He will give you all you need.

William Yoder, a retired church journalist and joint US-Russian citizen who has covered the region since 1978, said that Russian evangelicals tend to be more passive than their American counterparts. Living in Russia and Belarus since 2001, he said that none are demanding retribution; instead, terrorism is often seen in the category of natural disasters.

It is worthy of condemnation, Yoder said, but the local attitude is that God must protect us.

His prayer is that the response will be measured, but he fears escalation. Semi-persuaded that ISIS-K is not to blame, Yoder said most evangelicals would harbor similar doubts, like most Russian citizens. But it would be better if the jihadist group was guilty, lest the enmity with Ukrainians be even further enflamed.

Whoever is behind the attack, he prays that God will speak to their hearts.

Russia claimed that the suspected Tajik militants fled toward Ukraine, where they awaited reception. Russian opposition media outlet Meduza geolocated the arrest to the Bryansk region, 210 miles southwest of Moscow and 90 miles from the Ukrainian border. Pro-Kremlin media broadcast a detained militants confession that he was paid by an Islamic preacher to carry out the attack.

Analysts have expressed doubt that anyone could infiltrate through the highly militararized border. But two terrorists have pled guilty, though footage also shows them badly bruised.

There is no religious motivation for this attack, said Roman Lunkin, head of the Center for Religious Studies at the Russian Academy of Science, conveying the widespread doubt about ISIS-K. On the contrary, the response has united all religious believers.

Alongside Christians, Russias Muslim, Jewish, and Buddhist organizations have all expressed their condolences to the victims. And as Easter approaches in the West (the Russian Orthodox celebrate on May 5), Kolesnikov reminded believers that Jesus blood is our ultimate hope.

Over 5,000 Russians have donated their own to help the wounded, he said, standing in line for nine hours.

Our job is to be in the community, teaching goodness, said Kolesnikov. Christ defeated evil, but though it continues to manifest itself in unexpected ways through individuals, we will not attribute it to any nationality.

[ This article is also available in Francais, , and . ]
Home News Chinese citizen sentenced to over 8 years in prison for Alabama church fire

A Chinese woman who attempted to burn down a church in Alabama and who illegally possessed a firearm has been sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison.

A federal judge sentenced Xiaoqin Yan, 30, to 102 months in prison without the possibility of parole last Friday, according to a press release on Monday from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Alabama.

Yan entered First Baptist Church of Montgomery in September 2021, and set multiple fires within the property, causing considerable damages before firefighters were able to extinguish them.

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The investigation involved the Montgomery Fire/Rescue Bureau of Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Marshals Service Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with assistance from the Montgomery Police Department.

FBC Montgomery Pastor Mark Bethea told ATF agents at the time that he had interacted with Yan before the day of the arson, ultimately he escorted the female from the premises of the church.

Later, he learned that the church's security personnel reported that she had been "acting suspiciously" while on the church property, leading them to write down her license plate number.

Yan was arrested in October 2021, with authorities discovering materials that included gas containers, lighters and starter logs, as well as a handgun that she illegally possessed.

When she was arrested and also during the time in which she committed the arson, Yan was in the United States illegally, as she had an expired non-immigrant visa.

In June of last year, a federal jury in Montgomery convicted Yan of arson and possession of a firearm by an illegal alien, with her facing the possibility of up to 20 years in prison.

Ive heard nothing that has helped me understand why an individual would want to destroy a place that has been a carrier of such great light and hope to our city, said Bethea in a statement, as reported by Montgomery Advertiser.

While I dont fully understand it, I do recognize that Scripture clearly reminds us that what man meant for evil, God has used for good.

In recent years, attacks on church buildings in the United States have been on the rise, according to statistics compiled by the conservative Christian advocacy group the Family Research Council.

FRC reported in February that there were 436 incidents against churches in 2023, which was over twice the amount in 2022 and eight times the number of attacks identified in 2018.
Home News Jack Hibbs bashes Replacement Theology as 'heresy, says Israel is prerequisite for End Times

Pastor Jack Hibbs of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, California, denounced the belief that God is done with the Jewish people, noting that, according to the Bible, Israel is a prerequisite for the End Times.

Hibbs preached the second part of a two-part sermon series on Sunday titled Epicenter Israel, in which he looked at the modern state of Israel through the lens of biblical prophecy. Read part one here.

During his message, Hibbs denounced Replacement Theology, which is the theory that the Christian Church has replaced Israel as the people that God has a prophetic plan for.

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There are Bible pastors and teachers out there  I say that liberally  who tell you that Israel doesnt matter anymore because they dont believe, that thats proof that theyre lost forever, said Hibbs.

Friends, thats false doctrine. Any ministry, any pastor, any group that says Israel as a nation and the Jew doesnt matter, that is a doctrine of heresy, pure and simple. And you need to stay clear of it.

Hibbs pointed to Jeremiah 31:31-33, in which God promises to make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah and that I will be their God, and they will be my people.

If God says I am going to keep these promises and Im going to do these things, Hibbs continued. God moves, sometimes very slowly, but always effectively.

Hibbs went on to say that no one is escaping the issue of Israel and that it will remain relevant to Gods plan because Israels statehood is a Second Coming prerequisite.

In other words, if the Bible says Christ is coming back to Israel, then if you dont believe in God or if you want to destroy the concept of God, then destroy the nation of Israel. Then you prove the Bible wrong, he continued.

If there is no Israel, then the Bible is wrong. Pretty simple. And if you do believe in the Bible, but you dont want to have anything to do with Israel, if you destroy Israel, then the Messiah cannot come back to Israel.

Hibbs stated that God is going to do exactly what He says, so He will come back to Jerusalem, noting that Israel is not a laughing matter but rather its importance will escalate.

Hibbs stressed that Israel is paramount to understanding the End Times and that the God of the Bible is a Zionist, pointing to Ezekiel 36:7-12, in which God promises exiled Jews will soon come home and that towns will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt.

God is for Israel. The world is not, said Hibbs. Gods going to fulfill His promises; the world is going to do everything to stop that. One is going to win, and one is going to lose, bigtime.

Last week, during the first part of the series, Hibbs said Hamas was pimping Palestinians by transforming them into implements of war against Israel due to antisemitic ideals.

This is a very, very tender and sad situation, said Hibbs. Hamas is responsible for whats going on in Israel right now. You need to remember that in all thats taking place.

Tragically, our national leaders have forgotten that, our university campuses willfully neglect this. Hamas is pimping Palestinians to achieve its goal.

Just as it has historically always hidden behind women and children, daycare centers, and hospitals to do what it does, so [Hamas is] using Palestinian people today.

And our heart goes out to them. May God bring salvation and hope and peace to the Palestinian people who want nothing to do with this terrorist activity, Hibbs stated. Tragically, they are being used as pawns and implements of war.
By Dong Sun-hwa

ILLIT, K-pop powerhouse HYBE's third girl group, generated buzz and soaring expectations Monday with its debut mini-album "Super Real Me."

Now, the question is whether the budding act will follow in the footsteps of two predecessors under HYBE's umbrella  NewJeans and Le Sserafim  to write its own success story.

It remains to be seen how ILLIT's musical adventure will unfold, but the quintet appears to have got off to a smooth start. As of Monday, "Super Real Me" secured positions among the top 10 of iTunes charts in five regions, including Vietnam, Thailand and Brazil, while also grabbing the No. 2 spot on the real-time chart of Hanteo, one of the major charts in Korea.

For ILLIT's members, whose average age is 18.6, bearing the burden of such high expectations can be a tall order. Nevertheless, these ambitious girls  Yunah, Minju, Moka, Wonhee and Iroha  are unlikely to surrender to the pressure, as they plan to use it as fuel to propel their careers forward.

"We are well aware that there are many senior groups in our company whom we can take lessons from," Minju said during a press event marking her team's debut held at the Blue Square Mastercard Hall in central Seoul. "We also know a lot of people have put so much effort into our debut. So, we are doing our best to hone our skills and we will work hard to live up to the expectations."

ILLIT consists of the five winners from "R U Next?"  an audition program co-produced by HYBE and cable channel JTBC in 2023. The group's name is the combination of the phrase "I will" and the word "it," which implies that it has the potential to become anything it wants.

ILLIT said it's different from other girl groups in that its edge lies in authenticity and naturalness.

"We always immerse ourselves in every moment, and that's what our fans like about us," Minju said. "So, we will continue to showcase genuine parts of us both on and off stage."

Yunah added, "We aim to reveal our confident, whimsical and lively sides to the public and offer a diverse range of music for them."

"Super Real Me" features four tunes: the lead single, "Magnetic," the addictive "My World," the modern-pop song "Midnight Fiction" and the refreshing "Lucky Girl Syndrome."

HYBE's Chairman, Bang Si-hyuk, the mastermind behind the Grammy-nominated boy band BTS, participated in the creative process of the lead track, which portrays teenage girls in love. According to HYBE, some producers in their teens joined forces with Bang to channel a teenage feeling into "Magnetic." However, neither the label nor ILLIT members provided details about their identities.

"It is difficult for us to give details about those producers," Yunah said. "As far as I know, they took our [musical] style into consideration when working with Bang."

Although ILLIT has just embarked on its musical journey, it still thinks big and aims high.

"One of our big goals is to rank first on a music show with 'Magnetic," Wonhee revealed. "Since it is the first lead single that we put out after our debut, I will be so happy if we pull off this feat."

Japanese member Moka added, "Another goal is to win rookie of the year awards. It will be so meaningful because we can receive them only when we are rookies."
Home News Jesus is alive': Christian leaders react to kerfuffle over not cross buns

A supermarkets decision to replace the traditional cross on hot cross buns with a checkmark has ignited debate across the United Kingdom. Amid the Easter season, the move has led to calls for boycotts and prompted Danny Webster, director of advocacy at Evangelical Alliance, to highlight the core of Easter's message.

Iceland, the supermarket, initiated a trial replacing the cross with a checkmark on some of its buns following a survey indicating that a fifth of its customers preferred the symbol. This change, however, has faced backlash from various Christian groups and individuals, emphasizing the cross' enduring significance to many in the U.K.

Reacting to the uproar surrounding Iceland's removal of the Christian symbol from its holiday buns, Webster of Evangelical Alliance stated that regardless of the supermarkets design choices, the Christian community will continue to affirm the resurrection of Jesus.

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Easter is when Christians across the globe remember Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave, Webster was quoted as saying. Whatever Iceland puts on their buns, Christians will continue to declare the truth of the cross that Jesus is alive.

Webster also responded to the issue by writing on X: Might write a piece later about whether or not to respond to enquiries like these. On one level a bit of fun, on another an opportunity to say something about the gospel, but also the risk feeding confected outrage and letting journalists write the headline theyd already planned.

He also wrote: "Did play with a line about the tick representing Jesus victory over death, but felt that might make the story more confusing!"

Henrietta Blyth, chief executive of Open Doors, also expressed concerns, noting the cross profound meaning, even when it appears on something as mundane as a bun.

The cross is still of huge significance to millions of people in the U.K., whether or not they attach meaning to it on a bun anymore, she was quoted as saying. I understand why people may not want to see a cross on their teacake. It represents one of the most agonizing forms of execution ever devised  you could say its like having an electric chair on a croissant.

The controversy has not only involved religious figures but also political ones.

Richard Walker, executive chairman of Iceland Foods, acknowledged the unexpected boost in sales of traditional hot cross buns, which surged by 134% following the public outcry, Times Series reported. This reaction was notably amplified by comments from Members of Parliament like Lee Anderson of Reform U.K. and Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, who criticized the supermarkets decision.

Despite the uproar, Iceland has maintained that the traditional hot cross buns will remain available, ensuring that the essence of the Easter tradition is preserved.

David Lennox, head of development at Iceland Foods, explained the rationale behind the trial, citing customer feedback and the evolving preferences in the market.

The debate extends beyond the supermarkets shelves, touching on broader discussions about the commercialization and adaptation of religious symbols. Gavin Ashenden, former honorary chaplain to the late Queen Elizabeth II, criticized the trend of altering hot cross buns with unconventional ingredients, suggesting a dilution of their traditional significance.

In response to the situation, Simon Calvert, deputy director of The Christian Institute, advised focusing on the spiritual essence of Easter, recommending church attendance over purchasing modified buns.

As others have said, Christians will continue to proclaim this marvelous good news regardless of what Iceland puts on its buns. My advice is: this Easter Sunday, instead of buying hot cross buns, go to church, Times Series quoted Calvert as saying.
Home News Mexico president refuses to fight drug cartels on US orders: 'Our home comes first'

Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador agreed to help limit the flow of drugs into the United States but won't confront drug cartels on U.S. orders, declaring that Mexico would not "act as policemen for any foreign government."

Lopez Obrador's declaration comes amid ongoing concerns about the Biden administration's immigration policies and the flow of drugs, such as fentanyl, coming into the U.S. through the southern border.

During a news briefing last Friday, Lopez Obrador acknowledged reports about the increasing number of fentanyl-related deaths in the United States. While he offered to help limit the flow of drugs, the president refused to go after drug cartels.

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"We are not going to act as policemen for any foreign government," Lopez Obrador said, according to The Associated Press. "Mexico First. Our home comes first."

Lopez Obrador has argued against confronting drug cartels in favor of a "hugs, not bullets" approach, saying violence can't be fought with violence. He came to office in 2018 pledging to overhaul Mexico's militarized response to drug cartels. Amid Mexico's war against drug cartels, tens of thousands of people were killed between 2007 and 2014.

He also believes the government should focus on underlying issues that result in drug cartels, such as poverty and a lack of opportunities.

"Of course, we are going to cooperate in fighting drugs, above all because it has become a very sensitive, very sad humanitarian issue because a lot of young people are dying in the United States because of fentanyl," Lopez Obrador said during the Friday briefing.

As the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported this month, nearly 108,000 Americans died of drug overdose deaths in 2022. The CDC noted that between 2021 and 2022, the rate of overdose deaths for synthetic opioids other than methadone increased 4.1%.

"The age-adjusted rate of drug overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids other than methadone, which includes fentanyl, fentanyl analogs, and tramadol, was mostly stable from 2002 (0.4 deaths per 100,000 standard population) to 2013 (1.0) and then increased through 2022 (22.7), with different rates of change over time," the CDC reported.

Earlier this month, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officers at the San Ysidro Port of Entry discovered a total of 100 packages in the dashboard and front seats of a vehicle after the driver came to the port to apply for admission to the U.S.

CBP officers seized an estimated 561,000 fentanyl pills, according to the March 1 press release. The approximate street value of the pills was $11.2 million. The officers turned the vehicle driver over to the Department Homeland Security and seized the drugs.

In June 2022, Pastor Lorenzo Ortiz, who operated four shelters in northern Mexico to assist migrants, recounted how he and dozens of migrants were kidnapped by a Mexican drug cartel.

During a 45-minute interview for Fellowship Southwest, Ortiz said that his captors demanded to know how much he charges migrants for staying at one of his shelters. The pastor's captors refused to believe him when he said that he did not charge migrants anything.

Due to Ortiz's humanitarian work, the Mexican National Guard and other authorities worked for the pastor's release. While his captors initially held him for a ransom of $40,000, Ortiz said his kidnappers eventually dropped the demand. Ortiz credited the miracle of his release to the power of prayer.

"The cartel was shaken ... the cartel never felt so vulnerable," Ortiz said.

Elket Rodriguez, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship field representative to migrants and communities along the U.S.-Mexico border, told CP at the time that drug cartels typically don't target Christians in the field.

"The cartels overwhelmingly kidnap migrants and asylum seekers," he said. "Pastors, missionaries, and other church workers are kidnapped when cartels believe that they represent a threat to their trafficking enterprise."
Home News South Dakota passes country's first 'Med Ed' bill to combat abortion 'misinformation'

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem signed a first-in-the-nation law designed to educate medical professionals about the treatments available to pregnant women facing life-threatening or health-threatening conditions under the state's abortion restrictions to push back against what supporters are calling "confusion" and "misinformation."

Noem, a Republican, signed House Bill 1224 into law Monday after it was approved by the Republican-controlled South Dakota House of Representatives in a 63-6 vote last month and the Republican-controlled South Dakota Senate in a 31-3 vote earlier this month.

The bill instructs the state's Department of Health to create an informational video and other materials outlining "acts that do and do not constitute an abortion" under "the state's abortion law."

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South Dakota is one of 24 states that have passed laws restricting abortion following the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision. The court determined that the U.S. Constitution does not contain a right to abortion and overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.

According to the pro-life activist organization Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, South Dakota law prohibits abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy except in cases where the mother faces life-threatening complications.

The video authorized by House Bill 1224 will explain the "most common medical conditions that threaten the life or health of a pregnant woman" as well as "the generally accepted standards of care applicable to the treatment of a pregnant woman experiencing life-threatening or health-threatening medical conditions."

The video will hit on "criteria that a practitioner, exercising reasonable medical judgment, might use in determining the best course of treatment for a pregnant woman experiencing life-threatening or health-threatening medical conditions and for her unborn child."

The South Dakota Department of Health has until Sept. 1 to create the video, which will be available on its website.

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America identified South Dakota as the first state to pass what it describes as a "Med Ed Bill" through the legislative process, noting that "other states have taken similar steps administratively" through advisory opinions issued by the Republican attorneys general of Oklahoma and Kentucky.

"We thank Gov. Noem for making South Dakota the first state to protect women's lives with a Med Ed Law," SBA Pro-Life America's State Public Affairs Director Kelsey Pritchard said in a statement. "Regardless of political affiliation or whether someone is pro-life or pro-choice, South Dakotans of all political philosophies can celebrate that moms will be better protected through direct education to our doctors on their ability to exercise reasonable medical judgment in all situations."

"Though every state with a pro-life law allows pregnant women to receive emergency care, the abortion industry has sown confusion on this fact to justify their position of abortion without limits," Pritchard added. "With many in the media refusing to fact-check this obvious lie, other states should look to South Dakota in combating dangerous abortion misinformation."

Pro-life advocacy groups cite the assertion from pro-choice activists and politicians that abortion restrictions such as those established in South Dakota prevent women from accessing treatment for miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies as an example of "misinformation."

Amid the Dobbs decision in 2022, the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists compiled a fact sheet refuting such claims.

"The difference between a miscarriage and an elective abortion is clear," the fact sheet states. "In a miscarriage, the baby has already died and therefore any treatment of a miscarriage would not be an abortion. The procedures and treatments used for miscarriage management are not prohibited by abortion restrictions."

"An ectopic pregnancy requires removing an embryo to save a mother's life so that both lives are not lost," the fact sheet continues. "This life-saving treatment is not prevented by any current law restricting or banning abortion. Claiming that it is only serves to confuse women and potentially cause critical delays in care."
Home News Suburban Chicago church sues village, mayor for alleged discrimination: 'Deliberate illegal treatment'

A church in a small suburban Chicago village appeared in federal court Tuesday to request either a declaratory judgment or alternative injunctive relief against their municipality and mayor for alleged religious discrimination.

Redeemed Christian Church of God Resurrection Power Assembly in Dolton, Illinois, is claiming that the Village of Dolton and Democratic Mayor Tiffany Henyard are guilty of "deliberate illegal treatment" by not giving them a business license in violation of the U.S. Constitution and the village's zoning ordinances, according to the complaint filed earlier this month.

Dolton is a village of approximately 21,000 people about 25 miles south of downtown Chicago.

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The church, which is being represented by the Chicago-based law firm of Mauck & Baker, alleges that the denial of a business license has prevented it from renovating a building they purchased in June 2023 amid surging attendance.

During the renovation of the property, a building inspector told the church that they would need to acquire a business license to continue operating where they were located on Sibley Boulevard, a limited retail zone.

When Senior Pastor Stephen Osunkeye applied for the license at Dolton Village Hall, the village's housing director reportedly told him that he doubted his application would be approved because Henyard intended to reserve Sibley Boulevard exclusively for commercial purposes.

The complaint noted that Dolton's zoning code permits religious establishments within the church's zoning district, and that nonreligious assembly-use properties such as hotels, municipal buildings, a library, and "philanthropic" establishments have been able to operate in the district.

The complaint alleges that the village's "actions in failing to apply its own Zoning Code facially, and as applied to the church, prevents [the church] and other religious assembly uses from operating anywhere within the ... limited retail district," and that such unequal treatment amounts to a violation of the First Amendment.

In a statement provided to The Christian Post, the church's attorney John Mauck described the situation as "a blatant violation of religious civil rights, as well as an incredible disregard for the villages own ordinances."

"The village lacks a rational or compelling reason that would justify their denial of Resurrection Power Assemblys business license to open a church on the property," Mauck added. "The mayors desire to limit a street to commercial businesses does not create a compelling interest to violate Doltons own zoning code. And it certainly does not justify unconstitutional discrimination against a house of worship."

Henyard, who took office in 2021, is also facing scrutiny amid allegations of extortion, corruption and dragging the village into a multimillion-dollar deficit by misappropriating funds.

Earlier this month, Henyard vetoed a resolution from the village's Board of Trustees to allow external agencies such as the FBI to investigate her, though trustees intend to override her veto when they meet again next month, according to The Chicago Tribune.

The Christian Post has reached out to the Village of Dolton for comment, and will update this story if they respond.
Home News Netflix series 'Testament: The Story of Moses' seeks to remove 'superhuman' stigma around Moses: creators

Netflix's latest faith-based docudrama, Testament: The Story of Moses, seeks to shed light on the inner life and personal struggles of the iconic biblical figure  elements often overshadowed in traditional retellings of his story  in an effort to spark meaningful conversations about the human condition, according to showrunners.

I think of Prince of Egypt or Ten Commandments, and those are all great films, but it seems like Moses is almost presented as superhuman, Kelly McPherson, executive producer of the series, told The Christian Post.

Put yourself in his shoes; there's a burning bush and it tells you to go do something which is virtually impossible to do. We liked the idea of, How did he find the wherewithal to do this? Obviously, he was inspired by God, but how did he find the courage to do this? We liked the fact that he was a person with flaws; he had to overcome a lot and what was, by many accounts, a tragic childhood. We liked making him more human. He does things that are super heroic, yes, but there was a side of him that was very, very human and very, very flawed at the same time.

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There's the epic, there's the big scale, there's all that side of it, but then what's the human side? What was that experience like? Thats what we wanted to examine, added Executive Producer Emre Sahin.

The three-part docuseries, narrated by Charles Dance, features perspectives from Muslims and Christian leaders, along with Jewish rabbis and experts, to delve into the background and history of Moses.

Most of the accounts were more similar than what we thought from different faith backgrounds, McPherson told CP. But we really tried to let Moses' motivations drive the story  he kind of transcends any one religion or set of beliefs. He's beloved by all these different religions.

The initial episode, titled "The Prophet," delves into Moses' early life as an Egyptian prince and his subsequent journey to the land of Midian following the killing of an Egyptian taskmaster. In "The Plagues," viewers witness Moses' efforts to persuade Pharaoh to release the Hebrews and the series of calamities unleashed by God upon the stubborn ruler. The third episode, titled "The Promised Land," focuses on events leading up to Moses' bestowal of the Ten Commandments.

Woven throughout the narrative are dramatizations of the Old Testament heros life, including the biblical accounts of how he killed an Egyptian taskmaster and fled, his encounter with the burning bush, the occasion in which he threw down his staff, turning it into a snake, and his relationship with his wife Zipporah.

Though the perspectives of various religions are shown throughout the series, Moses connection to the coming Christ is mentioned throughout, most frequently by Tom Kang, lead pastor NewStory Church in Los Angeles.

In one scene of the series, as Israelite families are shown covering their doorposts with blood, viewers are enlightened about its significance for Christians. It symbolizes a foreshadowing of the New Testament and Jesus Christ, representing the concept of the sacrificial lamb and salvation through His blood.

Similarly, during the depiction of the Israelites crossing the Red Sea, an expert on-screen clarifies that the Bible portrays it as a miraculous act of God, distinct from any natural explanation.

The creators said they uncovered surprising elements of Moses' story throughout their research. McPherson said he grew up attending a Baptist church but said many facets of Moses life surprised him: He really had everything going against him as an underdog, including being a fugitive, and that makes his journey all the more dramatic and inspiring," he said.

The dynamics of Moses' relationship with God also intrigued the creators. Producers highlighted their exploration of the intimate, nuanced exchanges between Moses and God, challenging common misconceptions about their interaction.

One expert whos written a biography of Moses and then a Christian pastor shared with us how theyre really still intrigued by Moses relationship with God, McPherson said. One of them said, half-jokingly, Sometimes they would bicker with each other like an old married couple. We really liked the fact that Moses had these real dialogues with God, and they would intensify. It doesn't mean they're at odds, it just means that they had this intimate relationship ... that was the centerpiece of the whole thing.

I'm not saying they were equals, he added, but there was this give and take in their conversations. I was really fascinated to learn that because I never had thought of that relationship in that way.

McPherson noted, for example, that in Exodus 32:14, Moses changes Gods mind: God is fed up with the Israelites after the idols and everything, and Hes like, Were going to start over. Moses talks Him out of it. I think that's something that a lot of people might not realize, there was a back and forth, and God listened to Moses, just like Moses listened to God," he said.

Testament: The Story of Moses comes amid a renewed interest in faith-based projects, and particularly those dramatizing biblical stories, as demonstrated by the success of The Chosen.

Bible stories are some of the most amazing stories ever told, and they're archetypes for all stories, even in the secular world, McPherson said. They're the basis for so many of the stories that people tell  we wanted people to be drawn in and moved and entertained, but we also wanted the story to be inspiring.

Sahin added that throughout history, people revisit Bible stories to seek understanding, interpretation and inspiration, especially during times of societal or personal upheaval.

Bible stories are the foundation of so much of humanity and society, he said. We go through chapters in humanity and each successive one tries to understand, interpret or be inspired by Bible stories. I think were going through another one of those right now, whether that's triggered by kind of a state of the world or a growing movement.

Through these stories, we also understand the world we live in better and ourselves. We're at one of those periods where we're all seeking meaning in the life we're living  and [the Bible] is one of the first places you turn to, trying to find meaning in these stories, meaning in our own lives.

Testament: The Story of Moses" launches on Netflix on March 27.
Home News Texas AG Ken Paxton sues porn companies for violating state's age verification law

The attorney general of Texas has filed lawsuits against two companies that operate pornography websites as part of an effort to prevent minors from accessing sexually explicit material online.

In a statement published Friday, the office of Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the filing of lawsuits against Multi Media, LLC and Hammy Media. The Attorney Generals office identified both organizations as major pornography companies that operate sites such as Chaturbate and xHamster, alleging that the defendants in the lawsuits have violated HB 1181, a state law requiring age verification measures for using pornography websites.

The state law requires companies to verify that users seeking access to pornographic material online are at least 18 years old.

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The complaints against both Multi Media, LLC and Hammy Media were filed in the District Court of Travis County last Tuesday. They asked a judge to issue an order finding that the companies are violating state law and enjoining them from online publication or distribution of sexual material harmful to minors without implementing reasonable age verification methods.

Additionally, the lawsuits seek to impose civil penalties of $10,000 per day on both companies for each of the days they were found to have violated state law. The civil penalties sought against Multi Media, LLC amount to $1,780,000, while the fines requested from Hammy Media add up to $1,670,000 as of the day of the lawsuits filing. The complaint asks for $10,000 per day for each additional day the companies operate pornography websites without age verification measures.

As noted by Paxton, Multi Media, LLC and Hammy Media are not the only porn website operators that have found themselves subject to lawsuits in Texas. Commenting on the status of other litigation related to pornography websites over age verification requirements, Paxton stated, PornHub has now disabled its website in Texas.

Sites like PornHub are on the run because Texas has a law that aims to prevent them from showing harmful, obscene material to children, he added. In Texas, companies cannot get away with showing porn to children. If they dont want to comply, they should leave Texas.

Paxtons office explained that PornHub has done just that in response to a lawsuit filed by the Texas Attorney Generals Office. PornHub has taken a similar course of action in other states with age verification laws by blocking access to the site altogether.

In addition to detailing his latest round of lawsuits, Paxton vowed to aggressively enforce HB 1181. He warned that all pornography companies lacking proper age verification safeguards on their sites should consider themselves on notice, because theyre violating Texas law.

Texas is not the only state to implement age verification requirements for pornography websites in recent years. The National Decency Coalition, which describes itself as a team of volunteers from around the U.S. that unite in a common purpose to combat pervasive harms against children, has identified nine other states with similar legislation on the books: Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, Utah and Virginia.

While Texas age verification law found itself subject to a lawsuit following its passage, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has determined that the requirement does not violate the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution despite assertions to the contrary.

However, a separate provision in the law requiring porn websites to display warnings from the Texas Department of Health and Human Services declaring that pornography is potentially biologically addictive, is proven to harm human brain development, desensitizes brain reward circuits, increases conditioned responses, and weakens brain function remains on hold after a judge at the U.S. District Court level found it unconstitutional.

Another aspect of the state law requiring adult websites to post disclaimers insisting that porn is associated with low self-esteem and body image, eating disorders, impaired brain development, and other emotional and mental illnesses is also on hold, as is the section of the measure characterizing explicit content as a source of increased demand for prostitution, child exploitation, and child pornography.


Home News Is Todd White a 'charlatan' who 'deceives' people with 'healing miracles'? Scholars debate (part 4)

Lifestyle Christianity leader Todd White and his "healing miracles" were the subject of debate between leading biblical scholars as part of a larger conversation about the complexity of navigating faith and skepticism in the realm of supernatural phenomena.

White was the topic of conversion during the conclusion of a four-hour roundtable discussion between Justin Peters of Justin Peters Ministries and Jim Osman, author and pastor of Kootenai Community Church, and Michael Brown, host of "The Line of Fire" podcast, and Sam Storms, pastor emeritus of Bridgeway Church in Oklahoma City.

Read more about this discussion here, here, here and here

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Peters and Osman believe in the cessation of certain miraculous gifts, like prophecy and healing, while Brown and Storms believe in the continuation of those gifts.

I would see no difference in the number of people wearing eyeglasses and the number of people on crutches in the charismatic churches than I would in the cessationist church, Peters began, questioning the authenticity of supernatural healings.

Peters then directed the conversation toward White's methods, particularly his famed "leg-lengthening" miracle, which has been debunked as a staged act. White has also been criticized for promoting the prosperity gospel, which teaches in part that believers have a right to the blessings of health and wealth.

Its intentional deception, Peters said, adding that White never talks about sin  never talks about God's wrath.

Storms countered by stressing that while he doesnt know White personally, he knows from credible witnesses that he has led hundreds of people [to] saving faith in Christ.

Brown, who has had White as a guest on his Line of Fire podcast in the past, agreed that hes heard the evangelist clearly call out sin in his live messages and believes he has a genuine passion for healing sick individuals.

Behind the scenes, whenever we talk it was always about Jesus, about loving God, about the Word of God  he had tremendous excitement about praying for the sick.  My knowledge of Todd is, behind the scenes, him being as raw and open, everything hes done is sincere.  If he willingly has deceived all these people, then how is it that so many have attested, lasting healing afterwards?

Storms suggested that instead of using incidents like White's actions as fodder for mockery or skepticism, people should focus on following biblical commands, such as praying for the sick. He criticized the tendency to parade such instances to create cynicism rather than addressing "charlatans" directly with evidence.

"It feels like this is being paraded to mock and to create a cynical, skeptical mindset in people rather than saying, 'You know, there are charlatans out there, too bad. Let's expose them when we have evidence to that effect. But in the meantime, let's obey God's Word, let's earnestly desire spiritual gifts ... because if you're not, you're sinning."

In response, Osman said that Whites tactics make a mockery of the true gift of healing and the truth of God to heal.

I think these guys are the ones making a mockery of it, he said. These are men that are mocking what you guys believe.

To say that Todd White loves God, that He loves people, I would say no, he does not. I mean, if I love someone, and if I love God, I'm not out there intentionally deceiving people, Peters agreed.

Brown argued against dismissing White's ministry solely based on skepticism, urging a balanced approach that he avoids perpetuating negative stereotypes about charismatic Christianity.

White, he said, is someone who spends hours and hours in the presence of God every day, shares the Gospel day and night, urges young people to turn from sin and preaches against sexual sin and other things in the strongest possible terms.

I have people that have gone on the street with him and told me what they saw God do, he said. I'm not just going to say, I know where he's working cheap parlor tricks.

It undercuts the other things  the picture that people get is this is the charismatic norm, is theyre a bunch of charlatans and frauds and you can't trust any miracle reports it. It produces a negative fruit of skepticism and cynicism. It is not a fruit of the Spirit, any more than gullibility is a fruit of the Spirit.

Your skepticism regarding these proofs is the same as our skepticism regarding your proofs, Osman said. You're skeptical of this, we're skeptical of the evidence that you give for some of the miraculous. There's skepticism on both sides of the table. It's just what we're skeptical about.

In 2020, White, a former drug addict-turned-evangelist, claimed hed undergone a season of painful pruning where God impressed upon him the importance of preaching on the topic of sin and the need for a Savior.

I feel like I haven't preached the whole Gospel. And I repent. I repent. You have no idea. I will not be responsible. I believe that when I preach that the blood of people is on my hands, he said at the time.

The debate over Whites practices was part of a larger conversation between the four men about the biblical criteria for labeling someone a false teacher or prophet.

All participants agreed that a false teacher promotes heresies that are fundamentally at odds with the core doctrines of Christianity, such as the deity of Christ, salvation by grace through faith and the resurrection.

However, they disagreed on whether individuals  like Benny Hinn and Sid Roth  who have made significant errors in their teachings but later repented could still be considered false teachers.

Speaking personally ... I am reluctant to pass judgment on the eternal state of an individual's soul so long as that individual does not overtly and explicitly deny foundational, biblical fundamental truths of the Gospel, Storms said.

They may be quirky in terms of their personality. They may be manipulative in terms of their ministry style. They may have distorted views of money. The whole prosperity gospel, I think we all agree, it's abominable. But many of those who affirm it believe they have biblical grounds for it; they actually believe in their heart and their soul that that is God's design for how Christians are to live.  I'm not going to consign [Hinn] to Hell until I see explicit unrepentant immorality, idolatry and denial of the foundations with faith.

However, Osman pointed out that Hinn never publicly repented for teaching a nine-member godhead heresy several decades ago and continues to use the prosperity gospel to fleece the poor, which he said qualifies him as a false teacher.

You think that Benny Hinn is a man who loves Jesus, loves Christ, Osman said, addressing Storms.

I would submit to you that any man who gives false prophecies, doesn't care enough about God to put words in His mouth that He does not say, bring reproach on God, who knowingly puts forth false miracles, fake signs and wonders, does that knowingly, intentionally, and for decades tells the poor and sick people, Give me money and God will bless you  that's not someone in my book who loves Christ. That's someone who hates Christ. That's someone who hates the Christ of the Bible. He may love a Jesus that he's created out of his own image, but he doesn't love the Jesus of the Bible. Where is the conviction of the Holy Spirit in this man? Where's the correction?"
Home News Boston clergy urge 'white churches' to 'atone' for slavery ties with millions in reparations Boston People's Reparations Commission calls on city to pay out $15B

A group of activist clergy is demanding that white churches in Boston with historical ties to slavery "publicly atone" by paying millions in reparations to the city's black residents.

The grassroots Boston People's Reparations Commission held a press event at Resurrection Lutheran Church in the Roxbury neighborhood on Saturday. Multiple clergy members suggested that some of Boston's churches should "confess to their complicity" in slavery and pay up, according to WHDH.

NEW: Religious leaders in Boston demand 'white churches' give millions and the city give billions in reparations to black residents



We are coming to get our check.



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The group fired off a letter signed by 16 black and white clergy to churches they believed should be held financially responsible for centuries of discrimination in the wake of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

The Rev. John Gibbons, a Unitarian who pastors Arlington Street Church in Boston, claimed that since the beginning of the 17th century, "all of our colonial churches were founded on the profits of slavery."

"Colonial ministers were among the most likely to have enslaved servants," he noted.

Edwin Sumpter of the commission described the money black Bostonians should be getting as "incalculable," according to WCVB.

"It is impossible to put any dollar number on what African Americans have gone through in this country," he said.

The Rev. Kevin Peterson, who founded the commission and also heads the New Democracy Coalition, said that "any of the well-known white churches in downtown Boston are connected to the slave trade and the proliferation of what was a 'slavetocracy' in our city."

"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," he said.

"We point to them in Christian love to publicly atone for the sins of slavery, 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," he added.

Peterson previously called for Boston to rename its famous Faneuil Hall Marketplace because of merchant Peter Faneuil's ties to slavery in the 1700s, as noted by The Daily Mail.

He was also successful in eliciting an apology from the City of Boston for its complicity with slavery, leading to the formation of its 10-member Boston Reparations Task Force in 2022.

The task force was enjoined to study the historical impact of slavery on the city, receive feedback from residents and provide recommendations for "reparative justice solutions for Black residents," according to The Boston Herald.

"Even after Massachusetts outlawed slavery, our region continued to benefit from the labor of enslaved people," Democratic Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said last year. "That legacy formed deep, painful and lasting systems of exclusion and inequity that persist to this day."

The commission called on Boston to pay out $15 billion in reparations to black residents, including $5 billion in immediate cash payments, according to The Boston Herald. The activists also demanded $5 billion for education and anti-crime initiatives and another $5 billion for economic development.
Home News Indiana church fires pastor accused of having sex with foster daughter over 100 times

A week after their lead pastor, Errol Wright, was accused of having sex with his teenage foster daughter more than 100 times, Community Christian Church in Tell City, Indiana, said he has been fired and they're grieving over the ordeal.

We have felt the same shock and hurt as the community concerning the recent incident involving our previous pastor. We neglected to release a statement until now because his family is heavily involved in the church, and we wished to give them time to process, the church said in a statement cited by 14 News.

We take accusations of this nature very seriously, and thus Errol Wright is no longer employed by the church and will have no further active involvement, as pastor or otherwise.

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Wright, who was arrested and charged nearly two weeks ago with sexual misconduct with a minor and child seduction, was released on a nearly $48,000 cash bond with a pre-trial hearing set for April 3.

In their statement, the church also challenged a misunderstanding that any of their money was being used in their former pastors defense.

We also wish to clear up a misunderstanding that has spread in our silence. None of the churchs money went to supporting Errol or paying his bail; all of the money given to him was from individuals who gave of their own volition, their statement said. This is a difficult time for our community, and we ask that everyone continue to pray for all those involved and for Gods will to be done in all of us.

Lily Masterson, who is now an adult, told police in February that starting in 2016, Wright had sex with her about three times a week from the time she was 15, until she turned 18. The pastor and his wife, with whom he has two daughters, served as Mastersons foster parents, according to an affidavit previously reported on by The Christian Post.

Wright became the pastor of Community Christian Church shortly after Masterson began attending when she was 15, according to the affidavit.

She said when Wright and his wife agreed to be her foster parents, she was happy initially.

It was church, he was the one that everybody listened to, she said. Everybody loved him.

She claims, however, that He was just like a monster, just hiding in plain sight, and thats the one that no one ever realizes.

Masterson alleged in the affidavit that she once went on vacation with the pastor and his family to his native Jamaica, where he forced her to have sex with him on the same bed where he slept with his wife.

He sent his wife to go to the store with the kids and stuff, just to have sex with me in the same bed that he laid with her, she said.

Wright later allegedly took her to a store and forced her to take the morning after pill.

During the vacation, Masterson claimed that Wright scratched her and left a mark. A photo she posted on Facebook on July 16, 2017, shows her in a bikini on a beach with a visible scar on her stomach.

Jacklynn Gore, whom Masterson identifies as her biological mother, appeared uneasy with her teenage daughter wearing a bikini in public and told her to Put on some clothes in a comment on the photo. Masterson replied, Lol mom it's the beach.

Masterson said Wright showered her with gifts such as a phone and a car when she turned 16, and even promised to leave his wife for her but it never happened.

She said when she left the pastors home after she turned 18, she struggled with the trauma from the abuse and began using drugs, dropped out of college, and became homeless at one point.

With rehab and counseling, Masterson said that she survived because of her faith in God but she has now lost faith in humanity.

I never lost my faith in God in this, she told 14 News. I lost my faith in humanity when it comes to just blindly putting my trust in people, even the ones we think are safe to go to.
Home News Supreme Court questions Biden admin.'s loosening of abortion pill restrictions

The U.S. Supreme Court came one step closer to issuing another abortion decision as it pondered the Biden administration's loosening of restrictions on the abortion pill on Tuesday, questioning if courts can second guess government expert determinations.

The justices held oral arguments in the case of FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, based on a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas Amarillo Division in late 2022 by pro-life medical organizations and professionals.

The case centers around the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's removal of in-person dispensing requirements for mifepristone in 2021 and its 2016 decision to enable medical professionals other than doctors to dispense and prescribe the drug.

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Additional changes made in 2016 enabled the FDA to stop reporting non-fatal complications from the abortion pill and allowed women to take the drug as late as 10 weeks into pregnancy as opposed to seven.

Last spring, Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee, sided with the plaintiffs by striking down the FDA's approval of the chemical abortion pill marketed as mifepristone in the U.S. The synthetic steroid endocrine disruptor essentially destroys the environment in the uterus and starves an unborn baby to death.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the lower court decision striking down the relaxed requirements for the abortion pill while putting on hold the aspect of the decision striking down the FDA's 2000 approval of the abortion pill altogether. The U.S. government is asking the justices to reverse the decision.

U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar defended the administration's loosening of dispensing requirements. In her opening statement, she said that "rolling back FDA's changes would unnecessarily restrict access to mifepristone with no safety justification."

"Some women could be forced to undergo surgical abortions. Others might not be able to access the drug at all," she added, dismissing the idea that the abortion pill puts women at risk of serious complications.

"Only an exceptionally small number of women suffer the kind of serious complications that could trigger any need for emergency treatment," she said.

"There is no basis to conclude that any of that would be traceable to the incremental changes that FDA made in 2016 and 2021 as opposed to the availability of mifepristone in general."

Prelogar insisted that the plaintiffs did not have standing to bring the lawsuit because they have "no certain injury of their own" as a result of the loosening of requirements for the abortion pill.

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, one of the court's conservative members, suggested that Prelogar was making the case that "it doesn't matter if the FDA flagrantly violated the law and didn't do what it should have done, endangered the health of women, that's just too bad, nobody can sue."

When questioning Jessica Ellsworth, the attorney for the abortion pill manufacturer Danco Laboratories, also a party in the lawsuit, Alito asked her to describe how the company was "aggrieved by the challenge that is brought in this case." He asked Ellsworth if mifepristone was the only product her company was currently marketing, and she answered in the affirmative.

"The Fifth Circuit decision does not prohibit you from continuing to produce and sell that product, right?" he asked. After Ellsworth acknowledged that Alito's analysis was correct, he followed up, "I gather your injury is that you think you're going to sell more if the restrictions that previously were in place were lifted."

"The injury is that we are prevented from selling our product in line with FDA's scientific judgment about the safe and efficacious use of the drug," she responded.

Picking up on the line of questioning with Prelogar, Alito inquired whether Ellsworth viewed the FDA as "infallible." She indicated that she did not but said that it would be different if plaintiffs presented patients suffering from such adverse effects.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson circled back to the question about the FDA being "infallible," asking Ellsworth whether she thought "courts have specialized scientific knowledge with respect to pharmaceuticals" and "as a company that has pharmaceuticals, do you have concerns about judges parsing medical and scientific studies?"

Ellsworth said she shared Jackson's concerns and accused the district court decision of relying on faulty science.

In his ruling last year, Kacsmaryk accused the FDA of having "acquiesced on its legitimate safety concerns ... based on plainly unsound reasoning and studies that did not support its conclusions." Kacsmaryk also wrote that the FDA faced "significant political pressure to forego its proposed safety precautions to better advance the political objective of increased 'access' to chemical abortion."

Ellsworth said Kacsmaryk relied on "one study that was an analysis of anonymous blog posts."

"You have another set of studies that he relied on that were not in the administrative record," she said.

Contending that judges were "not experts in statistics" or "the methodology used for scientific studies for clinical trials," Ellsworth reiterated the point made throughout the arguments that courts should not "second guess" FDA data on the matter.

Erin Hawley, an attorney with the religious liberty law firm Alliance Defending Freedom, maintained that the FDA "concedes that between 2.9 and 4.6% of women will end up in the emergency room" after taking the abortion pill. She said, "Women are even more likely to need surgical intervention and other medical care without an in-person visit."

Hawley stated that "FDA approved abortion by mail based on data it admitted was 'not adequate,'" characterizing the agency's actions as a violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.

Jackson engaged in a similar line of questioning with Hawley, taking issue with efforts to engage in what she characterized as "second guessing" of the FDA.

The newest member of the Supreme Court asked, "What deference, if any, do courts owe the opinion of the expert concerning the safety and efficacy of drugs?"

"We're not asking that the court second guess the agency determinations at all," Hawley replied, criticizing the lack of transparency behind agency determinations.

"These proceedings go on between Danco and the FDA behind closed doors," she said. "This is not a notice and comment process."

During an exchange with Justice Clarence Thomas, Hawley alleged that the FDA's allowing the abortion pill to be sent through the mail violated federal law.

"We don't think that there's any case of this court that empowers FDA to ignore other federal law," she said. "With respect to the Comstock Act, as relevant here, the Comstock Act says that drugs should not be mailed  either through the mail or through common carriers."

The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the case before the end of its current term this summer. A decision will mark the second time in the past two years the court has issued a significant ruling on abortion.

In 2022, the Supreme Court handed down its landmark decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which determined that the U.S. Constitution does not contain a right to abortion.
By Yi Whan-woo

Samsung's financial affiliates are partnering with commercial banks in a bid to keep up with the rapid digitalization of the financial market, industry sources said Tuesday.

They said that Samsung Financial Networks, a joint brand involving Samsung Life Insurance, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, Samsung Card and Samsung Securities, has been consulting with five lenders to attract more users to the network's mobile app Monimo.

The five lenders are KB Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, Hana Bank, Woori Bank and Kbank.

"We've been contacted by Samsung Financial Networks regarding joint cooperation on Monimo," a spokesperson from one of the five banks said on condition of anonymity.

Market observers assess that Samsung's financial services companies jointly offered the banks to form a partnership, as Monimo seems to have plateaued regarding gaining new subscribers and requires outside support for further growth.

They pointed out that banks have a greater potential than Samsung Financial Networks to attract clients in the digital market space, as anyone can be their client, regardless of age, income and other economic and social factors.

Samsung's financial affiliates, on the other hand, have a narrower pool of customers, such as those from the insurance, credit card and securities sectors.

Such limited opportunities restrict the services that can be offered by Monimo.

"You can see that Samsung Financial Networks can't have direct access to a huge pool of banking customers due to a law that separates a company from running banking and commerce businesses at the same time," said Jung Ho-chul of Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice, a civic activist group. "And it appears that Samsung is attempting to team up with the banks as a way to 'bypass' to expand Monimo subscribers."

Jung referred to the regulation on the separation of industrial and financial capital, which restricts big businesses, mostly based on manufacturing, from owning a bank to ensure it is not exploited as a private safe by those businesses.

Monimo was launched in 2022 with the goal of securing customers from the "MZ" generation, a Korean term referring to millennials and Generation Z.
Home News Trump rolls out 'God Bless the USA' Bible during Holy Week, warns Christians 'under siege' 'It's my favorite book'

Former President Donald Trump promoted a new leather-bound "God Bless the USA" Bible on Tuesday, and warned his supporters that Christians in the U.S. are "under siege."

In a video statement posted to Truth Social, Trump displayed a version of the Bible that he's promoting with musician Lee Greenwood, whose song "God Bless the USA" often features during Trump's rallies.

Happy Holy Week! Lets Make America Pray Again. As we lead into Good Friday and Easter, I encourage you to get a copy of the God Bless The USA Bible. @TheLeeGreenwoodhttps://t.co/1KK5QgVK85pic.twitter.com/XoCIeGDpAg 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 March 26, 2024

Trump noted that the Bible, which is in the King James Version and costs $59.99, also features the founding American documents, which he encouraged every citizen to read.

"You have to have it for your heart and for your soul," Trump said. "Many of you have never read them and don't know the liberties and rights you have as Americans, and how you are being threatened to lose those rights. It's happening all the time. It's a very sad thing that's going on in our country, but we're gonna get it turned around."

Trump went on to claim that "religion and Christianity are the biggest things missing from this country," which he maintained is why the nation finds itself in such turmoil.

"I think it's one of the biggest problems we have," he said. "That's why our country is going haywire. We've lost religion in our country."

He also said that every American should have a Bible in their home, and that he personally owns "many" of them because it's his "favorite book."

"This Bible is a reminder that the biggest thing we have to bring back America and to make America great again is our religion," he said. "Religion is so important, it's so missing, but it's going to come back and it's going to come back strong, just like our country is going to come back strong."

"In the end, we do not answer to bureaucrats in Washington, we answer to God in Heaven," he continued. "Christians are under siege. We must protect content that is pro-God. We love God, and we have to protect anything that is pro-God. We must defend God in the public square and not allow the media or the left-wing groups to silence, censor or discriminate against us."

Trump concluded by claiming the Founding Fathers "did a tremendous thing when they built America on Judeo-Christian values," but that their foundation is "under attack, perhaps as never before." He urged his listeners to purchase the Bible to "help spread our Christian values with others."

A product description of the Bible describes it as an "easy-to-read, large print, and slim design" that "invites you to explore Gods Word anywhere, any time."

"This bible [sic] has been designed so that it delivers an easy reading experience in the trusted King James Version translation," the description adds. "This large print Bible will be perfect to take to church, a bible study, work, travel, etc."

In addition to copies of the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, and the Pledge of Allegiance, the Bible also contains the handwritten chorus to Greenwood's "God Bless The USA."

Earlier this week, Trump appeared to liken the unfair trial of Jesus to his treatment in his civil fraud case in New York, which has seen him slapped with a $454 million judgment. A New York appeals court ruled Monday that the state will hold off on potentially seizing his assets if he is able to come up with $175 million bond within 10 days.

Posting a supposed message from a supporter that noted the irony of the legal battle he is facing during Holy Week, Trump went on to quote Psalm 109:3-8, which pleads for God's judgment against false accusers.

The apostle Peter applied Psalm 109:8 to Judas Iscariot, according to Acts 1:20.

On June 1, 2020, Trump drew criticism for a controversial photo shoot during which he held up a Bible in front of St. John's Episcopal Church a day after protesters torched and damaged it during height of the riots that roiled Washington, D.C., that summer after George Floyd's death.

Trump was accused of tear gassing protesters in Lafayette Park outside the White House to make way for the photo shoot, though a report from the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of the Interior determined that police had already planned to disperse the crowd before they learned of Trumps plan to walk over to the church.
France Raises Terror Alert After ISIS Attack, Trump Agrees To Pay $175M Bond, MAG Church Disaffiliates From AG

link to download the audio instead. link to download the audio instead. 07:29 07:29

Top headlines for Tuesday, March 26, 2024

In today's episode, we delve into the escalating global security concerns as France raises its terror alert to the highest level in response to a tragic attack in Moscow by the Islamic State, claiming the lives of at least 137 people. We'll explore the implications of this heightened alert and the broader impact on European security.

The conversation then shifts to the U.S., where Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has agreed to post a significant $175 million bond in an ongoing civil fraud case in New York. This legal maneuver allows him to continue his appeal, marking another chapter in Trumps complex legal saga.

Lastly, we turn to Maine, where a group of healthcare workers is not backing down after the dismissal of their lawsuit against the states COVID-19 vaccine mandate. They argue it violates their religious freedom rights, raising important questions about the balance between public health measures and individual liberties.

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Top headlines for Tuesday, March 26, 2024

In today's episode, we delve into the escalating global security concerns as France raises its terror alert to the highest level in response to a tragic attack in Moscow by the Islamic State, claiming the lives of at least 137 people. We'll explore the implications of this heightened alert and the broader impact on European security.

The conversation then shifts to the U.S., where Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has agreed to post a significant $175 million bond in an ongoing civil fraud case in New York. This legal maneuver allows him to continue his appeal, marking another chapter in Trumps complex legal saga.

Lastly, we turn to Maine, where a group of healthcare workers is not backing down after the dismissal of their lawsuit against the states COVID-19 vaccine mandate. They argue it violates their religious freedom rights, raising important questions about the balance between public health measures and individual liberties.
Home Opinion Easter: Why its a big deal

This is the week leading up to Easter. That much is clear, known to everybody in our purview  secular neighbors, mainstream media, national retailers, and more. However, what is unclear to many secular people is what Easter means and why its a big deal.

To understand Easter, lets look at the first time Easter was ever preached. It was during Pentecost, a Jewish feast celebrated for thousands of years. Peter, a disciple of Jesus, preached the first Easter sermon ever recorded. Heres what Peter said:

Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know  this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.

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Notice three things in Peters Easter sermon. Theres a sovereign God with a hidden plan, a foreboding power that threatens to destroy, and a strong Savior who defeats that power.

A sovereign God with a hidden plan

The context for Peters sermon was the greatest evil ever perpetrated in world history. Indeed, on a dark Friday preceding Pentecost that year, Jesus of Nazareth had been crucified. The cultural elite of that day  religious, political, and militaryhad conspired to strip Jesus naked, torture him mercilessly, and slaughter him publicly. Yet, a short while later, Peter treated this great injustice as happy news for the world.

Why on earth would Peter be joyous about such a heinous event?

Because Peter knew that God was implementing a hidden plan  unbeknownst to the cultural elite  that would unfold through this great injustice. While powerful men were conspiring to humiliate and execute the Son of God, God the Trinity was acting to break the power of evil and save the world from itself once and for all.

Think about what Peter says. Jesus was delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God even as he was crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. What a fascinating declaration. Even while lawless men were committing the greatest evil in world history, God was working to bring about the greatest good the world has ever known: he was creating eternal life out of earthly death.

A dark power that threatens to destroy

Unlike other religions and philosophies, Christianity teaches that each of us is born with evil in our hearts. Like Adam and Eve, we refuse to recognize God as King of the world, and we break his law repeatedly. However, because God is, in fact, the universal King and ultimate Lawgiver, our sins are treasonous: they represent an attempt to unseat the King and nullify his laws. Therefore, we deserve death as the painful penalty for our treachery and transgressions.

Yet Peter says that, through the resurrection, Jesus loosed us from the pangs of death. A pang is a sharp pain or painful emotion, and death plays both roles for each of us. It represents the sharpest of physical pains, the cessation of life as we know it; and it evokes a painful array of emotions, from anxiety to depression to dread.

Indeed, for the secular person, there is no objective way of dealing with the specter of death. Death is the ultimate reminder that without a sovereign God, our lives have no inherent meaning or purpose. We live for a while, and then we die, and thats that. But for the Christian, deaths grip is temporary, and light is borne from its darkness.

A strong savior who defeats death and distills light from darkness

Unlike other religions and philosophies, Christianity traces the origin of death to the evil in every human heart. Yet, it also separates itself from the pack by teaching that God loves us  despite our treachery and transgressions  and provides a way to escape the pangs of death. Peters sermon says that God raised Jesus from the dead to loosen us from deaths grip.

What is the logic of this claim that Jesus is able to loosen us from deaths grip?

In Gods sovereign plan  hidden from the world for so long, but now revealed at last  God came to earth and took on human flesh as Jesus of Nazareth. He did so to trade places with us, his mutinous subjects. He lived the sinless life, free of treachery or transgression, that we should have lived, and he died the punitive death that each of us deserves.

This is the great exchange celebrated by Christians on Easter. Through Jesus, God took the treachery and transgression on our docket, died for it, and offered us his perfect record in return.

That is why the apostle Paul could declare that there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:1). And it is why Peter could rejoice that we have been loosed from the pangs of death.

The point of Easter, the reason for its celebratory tone, is that Jesus Christ stared down death, destroyed its power, and distilled light from the darkness. In Gods sovereign plan, the greatest evil perpetrated in world history was transformed into the greatest good the world has ever known. Through Christ, the pangs of death have been loosed.



We have nothing to fear and everything to celebrate!
Change to law for faith-based schools gives rise to religious freedom fears in Australia

Christian leaders have warned that religious freedoms in Australia are under increasing threat after the release of the Australian Law Reform Commission's (ALRC) highly anticipated report on faith-based schools on Thursday.

The subject of widespread public commentary in the weeks leading up to its release, the report included the ALRC's expected recommendation to the Federal Government that the Sex Discrimination Act be amended to remove exemptions for faith-based schools from laws making it illegal to expel or fire LGBTI+ students and staff based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

While LGBTQI+ groups have urged the government to implement the ALRC's recommendations, the report has been condemned by faith groups as another example of the erosion of religious freedoms.

A coalition of more than twenty Christian, Muslim, and Jewish organisations sent a letter to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese late last week urging him to reject the report's recommendations, writing that removing the exemptions would "prevent the overwhelming majority of faith-based schools from preferring persons who share and authentically live out their faith" and potentially "extinguish their distinct and authentic character".

The Australian Christian Schools Alliance (AACS) called the report "a direct attack on faith and freedom of belief in Australia" and warned that adopting the recommendations would mean that "Christian education as we know it will cease to exist".

Labelling it "a line in the sand moment not just for Christian schools, but for all people of faith and for the principle of religious freedom across Australia", AACS Executive Officer Vanessa Chen said, "If these ALRC recommendations are adopted, it means the government can tell Christian schools who we can employ, what we can believe and teach."

"It sets a scary precedent, and the question Australians need to ask is 'who's next'? Will they dictate to any other religious group or organisation what they can believe?"

Saying that the issue was not about discrimination, Ms Chen said it was about the right of parents to choose a school that was aligned with their values and beliefs.

Polling released by the AACS in the fortnight leading up to the report's release showed that an overwhelming majority of Australians think schools should be able to employ teachers and other staff who support the clearly stated values and values of the institution, with a Compass Polling survey of 1,713 adults finding that 80% of respondents believed that schools should be able to hire and fire teachers based on their religious belief and behaviour.

However, the Federal Government is under growing pressure from lobby groups to fulfil its pre-election promise to remove the exemptions and implement a separate religious discrimination bill. The issue of religious freedom has also increasingly become a hot-button topic in the culture wars after the previous Coalition government failed to pass proposed legislation that would have enshrined protections for religious belief and expression. Concerns have only been exacerbated by recent moves to pass new laws around misinformation and hate speech that religious groups say threaten the place of faith in society.

In an opinion piece published in The Australian, a major national newspaper, Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, Anthony Fisher, warned that the report was the latest sign that the ability of Australians to "gather, speak freely, pray together and undertake works of service for others" was being reduced "slice by slice", and called political leaders to come together to protect religious freedoms.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese sought to defuse attacks from both sides of the debate, announcing that he would only proceed with any amendments to the Act if Labor received bipartisan support from the Federal Opposition.

''I think Australians don't want to see the culture wars and the division out there. I want this to be an opportunity for unity going forward, and that's why we've provided the legislation to the opposition,'' Mr Albanese said.

However, both the Coalition and minor parties rejected trying to bypass normal procedures or debate over the laws.

''With the Greens and independents, there is a solid progressive majority in parliament to get this done now and it is a tragedy to watch Labor throw this chance away," David Shoebridge, justice spokesman for the Australian Greens, said.

"We can stop students being discriminated against because they are queer or trans.''

Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said that the legislation would need to progress through parliament like any other legislation, including facing the scrutiny of a Senate committee if needed.

''Concerns have been raised by the Christian, Catholic, and Islamic schools and they should be addressed,'' Miss Ley said.
In a world where every customer has a broadcast platform, failure to meet or exceed customer expectations can have material impacts.

On February 21, 2018, Snapchat lost $1.3 billion in market value in a single day after a Kylie Jenner tweet about unhappiness with the apps new layout. She simply said: Sooo does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore? Or is it just me ugh this is so sad. In 2016, US companies lost $1.6 trillion from customer switching caused by poor service.

The paradox in practice

The path to customer science is fraught with paradoxes. The organizational paradox is that if the Customer is King why is there no one in the enterprise with the authority to ensure that every interaction meets or exceeds expectations. Is this the role of the now very much in vogue chief customer officer? The chief experience officer?

Glenn Laverty, now retired and former president and CEO at Ricoh Canada, finessed this responsibility/authority paradox tying every employees compensation to customer experience/satisfaction metrics.

What gets measured and what gets rewarded drive behavior. At Boeing, the indication is that production throughput compensation metrics trumped safety considerations. Customer science can inform calibrated and nuanced linkage in everyones compensation to customer experience metrics.

Claes Fornell, American Customer Satisfaction Index founder and Distinguished Donald C. Cook Professor (Emeritus) of Business at the University of Michigan, describes the customer science data paradox. Organizations are collecting more information about their customers than ever before and yet, paradoxically, the more data companies collect about their customers, the less they seem to know about how to satisfy them. This has to change.
Overview

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The Navy held a remembrance ceremony Tuesday for sailors who were killed during the 2010 sinking of the Cheonan corvette by a North Korean torpedo attack in the Yellow Sea.

The 1,200-ton warship sank near the western Northern Limit Line (NLL), a de facto inter-Korean sea border, in March 2010, after a North Korean midget submarine fired a torpedo at it. The attack killed 46 sailors, while 55 others were rescued.

The ceremony took place on the 14th anniversary of the attack at the 2nd Fleet in Pyeongtaek, 60 kilometers south of Seoul, attended by bereaved family members and sailors who survived the incident, according to the Navy.

The participants toured the salvaged warship on display at the unit, as well as the new ROKS Cheonan frigate, which entered into service last year.

Commander Park Yeon-soo, the commanding officer of the frigate who served on the previous Cheonan at the time of the attack, vowed to protect the maritime border without fault.

"(I) will perfectly defend the NLL in the Yellow Sea, with the mindset of heading into the front lines with all my comrades of the Cheonan," Park said at the ceremony, according to the Navy.

After the ceremony, a group of bereaved family members held a press conference to condemn politicians who have denied the North was behind the 2010 attack, and called for enacting a special law to punish those who defame the sailors.

In May 2010, an international investigation team concluded the vessel went down after a North Korean torpedo attack, but some left-leaning critics raised questions about the conclusion. (Yonhap)
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Contractare si Achizitie Bunuri Anunturi de Angajare Granturi - Finantari Burse de studiu Stagii Profesionale Oportunitati de voluntariat Toate Articolele
UNICEF Moldova is looking for potential suppliers to submit their expression of interest to provide the following services:

Provision of Engineering Services; Design and Site Supervision for Various Construction/Rehabilitation Projects in Different Regions in Moldova.

Interested service providers/suppliers are requested to complete and submit attached EOI form to chisinautenders@unicef.org on or before 10.04.2024, 11:00 (Chisinau time), along with the following documents:

 Company Profile

 Organization establishment date, structure

 Financial Capacity, company fact sheet

 Valid Trade Registration.

 Valid Tax Registration Certificate

 UNGM Registration Number.

 Bank details.

 Contracts in the same field, please provide list of clients and the specific engagements conducted for the past 3 years to support this.

 Companies who have valid classification certificate from the relevant governmental entity will help qualifying then to be considered in bids for major rehabilitation and new construction.

 Any additional/supporting document you deem appropriate.

 Companies who have documented work experience with UN or other international organizations and agencies in the last 3 years please provide detailed list of clients and the specific arrangements conducted to support your

profile.

International companies interested to participate in this REOI must have a registered office in Moldova.

Please note that:

This EOI does not constitute a solicitation. We do not require bids or proposals at this stage; we merely seek your expression of interest in participating in the tender.

A response to this Request for Expression of Interest does not automatically ensure that you will be selected to participate in the tender.

UNICEF reserves the right to change or cancel the requirement at any time during the EOI and/or solicitation process. UNICEF also reserves the right to require compliance with additional conditions as and when issuing the final tender document.

For any additional information on this EOI, please contact us at e-mail: chisinautenders@unicef.org

The EOI document is published at: https://sc.undp.md/tnddetails_un2/2845/

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

UNICEF Moldova cauta potentiali furnizori pentru depunerea Exprimarii Interesului (EOI) pentru furnizarea urmatoarele servicii:

Servicii de inginerie; Proiectare si Supraveghere de santier pentru diverse proiecte de constructie/reabilitare in diferite regiuni din Moldova

Furnizorii/prestatorii de servicii interesati sunt rugati sa completeze si sa expedieze formularul EOI atasat la adresa: chisinautenders@unicef.org, inainte de ora 11:00 (ora Chisinaului), 10.04.2024, impreuna cu urmatoarele documente:

Profilul Companiei

Data infiintarii organizatiei si structura

Capacitatea financiara, fisa de prezentare a companiei

Certificatul de Inregistrare Comerciala valabil

Certificatul de Inregistrare Fiscala valabil

Numarul de inregistrare UNGM

Detalii bancare

Contracte in acelasi domeniu, va rugam sa expediati lista de clienti si angajamentele specifice desfasurate in ultimii 3 ani pentru a sustine acest lucru.

Companiile care detin un certificat de clasificare valabil din partea entitatii guvernamentale relevante vor avea mai multe sanse de calificare pentru licitatiile privind reabilitarea majora si constructia noua.

Orice document suplimentar pe care il considerati potrivit.

Companiile care au experienta documentata de lucru cu ONU sau alte organizatii si agentii internationale in ultimii 3 ani, sunt rugati sa expedieze o lista detaliata a clientilor si aranjamentelor specifice pentru a sustine profilul dumneavoastra.

Companiile internationale interesate sa participe la acest REOI trebuie sa aiba o sucursala inregistrata in Moldova.

Va rugam sa luati in considerare urmatoarele:

Aceasta EOI nu constituie o cerere de oferta. Noi nu solicitam oferte sau propuneri in acest stadiu; ci cautam doar exprimarea interesului dvs. de a participa la licitatie.

Raspunsul la aceasta Cerere de Expresie a Interesului nu asigura automat ca veti fi selectat pentru a participa la licitatie.

UNICEF isi rezerva dreptul de a schimba sau anula cerinta in orice moment in timpul procesului de EOI si/sau solicitare. UNICEF isi rezerva, de asemenea, dreptul de a solicita conformitatea cu conditii suplimentare la momentul emiterii documentului final de licitatie.

Pentru orice informatii suplimentare despre EOI, va rugam sa ne contactati la adresa de e-mail: chisinautenders@unicef.org

Formularul EOI il puteti gasi accesind urmatorul link: https://sc.undp.md/tnddetails_un2/2845/
CDF 2024 attendees confident in China's economic development

20:12, March 25, 2024 By Sheng Chuyi, Guan Meng, Zhao Chen ( People's Daily Online

The China Development Forum (CDF) 2024 was held on March 24-25 at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing.

Held under the theme The Continuous Development of China, the CDF 2024 facilitated constructive exchanges on key and cutting-edge issues related to Chinas development and global development, and demonstrated the advantages and vitality of Chinas continuous economic development to the world.

Sean Green, President and CEO of BMW Group Region China told Peoples Daily Online that trade-ins of consumer goods, including vehicles, will be a welcome policy in the auto industry, which will stimulate consumer behavior again.

I am still confident this year, Green said. We still see China opening up. Weve taken advantage of that with our shareholding in the local joint venture BMW Brilliance (BBA). So, 75 percent of shareholding that we have through BMW, and we continue to see that.

Green said BMW just opened an insurance broker company last year, which is a great example of establishing new businesses in China. So opening up continues, he said.

We have huge confidence that growth will continue in China, but also that China will contribute to the growth of the world, said Antoine de Saint-Affrique, CEO of Danone.

China is a market of opportunity. It's a huge market. It's an extraordinarily sophisticated market. It's a market where we innovate locally in China for China and the rest of the world, de Saint-Affrique added.

Benjamin Harburg, Managing Partner of MSA Capital, told Peoples Daily Online that he believes in the growth of the China market, the power of Chinese consumers, and Chinas ability to become a more domestic consumption-led economy, which will lead to thrilling investment opportunities for MSA Capital as an investment fund.

Hosted by the Development Research Centre (DRC) of the State Council and organized by the China Development Research Foundation (CDRF), the CDF is the first major state-level international conference after the "Two Sessions".

(Ye Jingyi, as an intern, also contributed to this video.)

(Web editor: Sheng Chuyi, Wu Chengliang)
Former Hunan political advisor handed life sentence for bribery

Xinhua) 11:17, March 26, 2024

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.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
Three late Australian missionaries have been named independence activists of the month for their involvement in the movement against Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of Korea, the veterans ministry said Tuesday.

Margaret Sandeman Davies, Isabella Menzies and Daisy Hocking were selected for the ministry's monthly award for their role in the March 1 Independence Movement in 1919  a watershed event during Japan's brutal occupation of the Korean Peninsula.

The three missionaries took part in the movement at Busanjin Ilsin Girls' School in Busan, 320 kilometers southeast of Seoul, providing the flagpoles necessary to make the Korean flag used by demonstrators.

They also led students taking part in demonstrations and protected them by burning the flags to destroy evidence, according to the ministry.

Vice Veterans Minister Lee Hee-wan was set to deliver plaques commemorating the three activists to Australian Ambassador to Korea Jeff Robinson in a ceremony in Seoul on Tuesday. (Yonhap)
By Halfpoint/Adobe

Charities need to tighten their subcontracting arrangements and focus more on due diligence and contract management, the Fundraising Regulator has said in its first ever market inquiry report .

The report, which was commissioned after a Wales Online investigation uncovered that external fundraisers were pressuring people to make donations, urges all charities to review their face-to-face fundraising processes and mitigate risks of poor practice.

It says that charities should not allow training and monitoring to be sacrificed for commercial considerations.

Nonetheless, the inquiry found many examples of good practice, and a widespread willingness to do the right thing.

Its report also says that performance-related pay for fundraisers can be a success both financially and in regard to compliance.

The regulator is currently investigating Great Ormond Street Hospital , which commissioned its own inquiry after reports of pressure selling in the Times, and National Deaf Childrens Society and SOS Childrens Villages UK , which were both named in the Wales Online report.

Nothing inherently wrong with subcontracting

The regulator carried out five fact-finding workshops with 53 people from charities and 25 from fundraising agencies in November and December 2023 for the inquiry.

Gerald Oppenheim, chief executive of the Fundraising Regulator, told Civil Society that while there is nothing inherently wrong with subcontracting, charities should be mindful of how they use such agencies.

Oppenheim said: When a fundraiser is on somebodys doorstep, wearing the charitys t-shirt or sweatshirt, they are acting for the charity and its all being done in the charitys name.

So theres every interest, or there should be, in making sure everything is as it should be, that the values are good, the behaviour is good, and the approach is polite and respectful.

Oppenheim said more charities were looking to maximise their income at the moment due to the difficult economic environment.

If they decide that they need to employ fundraising agencies to help them on that, then the market inquiry report is there to give them good advice and guidance on the things they should be thinking about and doing to get better, he said.

Jim Tebbett, who led the inquiry, said: As we carried out the workshops, it became very apparent that although there is evidence of poor practice in the sector theres also evidence of face-to-face fundraising being done really well.

Its essential that theres a clear line of sight from the trustees, from the charities, to the agency, to those who fundraise on their behalf. That hasnt always been the case, said Tebbett, who was appointed last year as the regulators first head of proactive regulation and projects.

Clearly whats been seen in the press shows really concerning behaviour, but once we spoke to other sector organisations, and especially speaking to charities and agencies and workshops and listened to their experience, it became really clear that subcontracting itself doesnt have to be a problem. Its only a problem if its not done properly.

Performance-related pay can be a success

The regulators Code of Fundraising Practice , which it is reviewing, advises charities that they must not use commission payments unless you have explored and exhausted all other sources of fundraising investment.

But its inquiry report says: Some workshop participants advocated that performance-related pay does not in itself lead to bad practice.

This is particularly so when other performance indicators are used alongside sign-ups, such as feedback from donors and attrition rates.

The essential factors are the standard of training, monitoring and the overall organisational culture.

If these are robust, performance-related pay can be a success both financially and in regard to compliance.

The inquiry report adds that charities are ultimately responsible for fundraising carried out in their name, and therefore for the actions of all third parties they use to fundraise at each point in the supply chain.



The report recommends that charities must have explicit discussions about whether subcontracting will be permitted in the contract with the main agency they contract with and expressly prohibited if not.

If subcontracting is permitted, charities and agencies must ensure that any subcontracted services are provided to a standard that is no less than that agreed in the primary contract.

Commission: Public generosity can never be taken for granted

Holly Riley, head of strategic policy at the Charity Commission, said: We welcome todays report from the Fundraising Regulator which puts an important spotlight on the risks and issues that all trustees should be aware of when using subcontractors to fundraise on behalf of their charity.



As stated in our guidance, all charities should raise money in a considerate and responsible way, mindful that public generosity can never be taken for granted.

We continue to work with the Fundraising Regulator in setting out expectations and supporting the sector to follow best practice.

Claire Stanley, director of policy and communications at the Chartered Institute of Fundraising, said: This is a useful and informed report from the Fundraising Regulator.

We are glad to see it acknowledges the importance and value of door-to-door fundraising  it is absolutely vital in the fundraising efforts of so many charities across the country, and one of the most effective methods of raising much-needed money, increasing awareness of causes and engaging with members of the public.



We have a positive outlook on the future of public fundraising, and we know our members are committed to best practice.

We will engage further with them, and use this report, to form the basis of our work in producing new or updated guidance on due diligence, training, monitoring, contractual standards, payment mechanisms, and how accountability will apply across the subcontracting chain.

Fundraising Magazine is a practical and inspiring magazine that provides fundraising professionals with the tools to unlock new revenue streams, yield better results from campaigns and boost donor income. Subscribe today to receive 10 issues per year and access to premium fundraising content on civilsociety.co.uk. Find more information here and subscribe today! is a practical and inspiring magazine that provides fundraising professionals with the tools to unlock new revenue streams, yield better results from campaigns and boost donor income. Subscribe today to receive 10 issues per year and access to premium fundraising content on civilsociety.co.uk.
A decade or so ago, following his election as president of Senegal, Macky Sall promised that no journalist would be jailed for their work on his watch. Over the years, Sall has reiterated the pledge. Earlier this month, he again defended the importance of a free press after Maimouna Ndour Faye, an outspoken TV journalist, was stabbed overnight near her home in Dakar, the capital. (She survived; who perpetrated the attack and why was initially unclear.) I firmly condemn this cowardly and inexcusable act of violence, Sall wrote on X. Freedom of the press is a fundamental right that must be protected and respected in all circumstances.

Between Salls early pledges and his recent comments, however, the freedom of the press has increasingly come under threat on his watch. In 2023 alone, no fewer than ten Senegalese journalists passed through the countrys jails. Some were released under strict conditions, but at least five were still behind bars when the Committee to Protect Journalists conducted its annual global census of jailed journalists in early December, the highest such figure for Senegal since CPJ began the exercise in the early nineties. (Indeed, until 2022, Senegal hadnt featured on the census at all since 2008, several years before Sall took office.) The journalists arrested last year faced various charges, but many of those were clearly linked to their work, including allegations that they spread false news, discredited state institutions, usurped the function of a journalist, and, in one group of cases, even incited murder without effect under a Senegalese law criminalizing verbal provocation, according to CPJ.

This deteriorating climate for press freedom has closely tracked a broader political crisis in Senegal, which has long been hailed as a bastion of democracy in a region increasingly marked by conflict, repression, and instability. This broader crisis led to the jailing not only of several Senegalese journalists, but of a populist opposition leader and some of his associatesas well as the postponement of elections scheduled for the end of February.

In the end, following an intervention by Senegals constitutional council, the elections took place over the weekend, and a key ally of the opposition leader is now poised to take office. The crisis might appear to be over. But, both for Senegals democracy and for its press, damage has already been done, and the future remains uncertain.

While conditions for journalism in Senegal have long been challengingnot least economically, but also for cultural and legal reasonsinternational press-freedom watchers once viewed the country quite favorably: as of a few years ago, it consistently appeared in the best fifty countries on earth for press freedom according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), only one or two places worse off than the US. Many journalists trace the recent change in fortunes to the origins of Senegals current political crisis three years ago this month, when the populist opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko, was arrested over accusations that he raped an employee of a massage parlor. Mass protests followed, leading in turn to what RSF described at the time as a wave of press freedom violations unlike anything seen in recent years in Senegal. Two TV stations, Walf TV and SenTV, were taken off the air after broadcasting footage of the unrest. Journalists were injured as police dispersed protesters. News outlets property was attacked or set on fire.

In 2022, tensions flared again ahead of parliamentary elections, and again the press got entangled; amid other instances of threats and harassment, an official with a youth organization connected to the governing party was accused of advocating an arson attack against Walfadjri, the parent company of Walf TV. (The official apologized and said hed misspoken.) Later the same year, Pape Ale Niang, an investigative journalist, was jailed; he was freed, but swiftly jailed again after he was accused of breaching the terms of his release. In the first months of 2023, at least three other journalistsPape Ndiaye (of Walfadjri), Serigne Saliou Gueye, and Maty Sarr Niangwere jailed, too. The circumstances of the arrests differedbut each journalist had recently been connected to coverage or commentary on Sonko or his rape case.

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Then, last summer, the crisis escalated again after Sonko was acquitted of the rape charges but convicted of corrupting a young person. For the press, the conviction led to some bizarre scenesnot least the arrival in Senegal of a French essayist and lawyer representing Sonko who burst into a press conference (to the apparent shock of Sonkos other lawyers) before going into hiding and eventually spending a couple of days in jail himself after being caught entering neighboring Mauritania. It also led to scenes that were more familiar, if themselves an escalation. Walf TVs signal was cut again, this time for an entire month; the authorities also disrupted internet access; amid mass protests, a journalism school was vandalized. After Sonko was arrested againthis time for disturbing public order and plotting against the statePape Ale Niang, now out of prison, spoke about the case during a live broadcast on Facebook and was promptly sent back to prison, this time accused of helping to incite an insurrection.

By this point, RSF had released the 2023 edition of its World Press Freedom Index. Senegal had tumbled to 104th place out of 180 countries worldwidea drop of fifty-seven places from its highest recent position, recorded in 2020.

Early last month, a few weeks before scheduled presidential elections and with the political situation still tense, Sall appeared on state television and announced that he was postponing the vote. The stated reason was a corruption allegation made against the constitutional council by Karim Wade, a presidential candidate (and son of a former president) whom the council had barred from running on the basis of his dual French citizenshipthough critics suggested that Sall had contrived the delay because his own favored candidate, Amadou Ba, was set to lose if the elections ran on schedule. (Sall, who was theoretically term-limited, reportedly weighed running again himself before eventually deciding against it. Even before a new date was fixed for the elections, he said that he would stand aside at the end of his term, in April, and he has denied claims of an attempted power grab. If I wanted to stay, I would simply be a candidate, he told the BBC recently. In Africa, everyone can have five terms if they want.)

For the press, this latest round of crisis led to yet another escalation. In the resulting protests, at least twenty-five journalists were attacked by police, according to CPJ; one female reporter was reportedly slapped and kicked to the point of losing consciousness. Meanwhile, Salls communications minister not only took Walf TV off air, but stripped it of its license to broadcast altogether, claiming it had aired subversive, hateful, and dangerous content endangering state security; appearing on air as the decision came down, a senior Walfadjri executive suggested that the company might have to close, given that Walf TV is its primary source of revenue. On February 12, around a hundred journalists attended a vigil in Dakar, where they held aloft candles and shouted slogans including No to the gagging of the press and We are all in danger.

By then, however, Salls government had moved to dial down tensionsor at least, appeared to be in the process of doing so. The day before the vigil, Walf TVs license was restored. In the weeks that followed, Sall met with media bosses in his offices and pledged to wipe out their fiscal debt. And, with the election back on track and now scheduled for the end of March, Sall pushed through an amnesty law that, among other things, saw Sonko released from prison. The five journalists still in prison were released, too. (Per CPJ, the case against one, Maty Sarr Niang, was dismissed under the new law; the others still face charges.)

Not everyone interpreted these moves purely as a good-faith bid for de-escalation, however. As the French magazine Le Point noted, some journalists saw the restoration of Walf TVs license as a warning sign that something similar could happen to other outlets in the future. Journalists I spoke with, meanwhile, suggested that the optics of Salls debt-cancellation pledge, at least, were bad given the proximity of the election and the importance of independent coverage of it, and that the amnesty lawmore than an olive branch to opponents and criticswas an attempt to shield government forces from future liability for alleged abuses that they committed during the protests of recent years. (International human rights groups have echoed such concerns, pointing out that dozens of people have been killed during protests since 2021.)

Before the election, Ayoba Faye, a journalist at Walfadjri, told me that whichever candidate prevailed, they needed to oversee a change, allowing the press to do its work within safe and legal parameters. At that point, it was clear that Sonko was not going to become president, at least not for nowdespite the amnesty, he remained barred from running. But an ally, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who was released from prison alongside Sonko, was permitted to run, and was seen as having a good chance of beating Ba, Salls political successor. Though citizens went to the polls on Sunday, a result wasnt expected for several days; a runoff election remained a distinct possibility should no candidate win 50 percent of the vote. It quickly became clear, however, that Faye was on track to exceed this threshold. Yesterday, Ba conceded.

The result, as many observers have noted, marks a sharp political departure for SenegalFaye and Sonkos camp ran on an antiestablishment platform aimed, in particular, at disaffected young people, many of whom have recently tried to emigrate to Europe or the Americas; among other things, Sonko and Faye have pledged to restore Senegals sovereignty, including by pushing back on lingering influence from France, the former colonial power, over the countrys currency and geopolitical alignments. Observers in the Western press have asked what this might look like in practice, in a part of the world recently destabilized by a string of military coups whose leaders have severed ties to France and, often, cozied up to Russia. As I wrote in 2022, this trend has splashed back on the media, including French publications and broadcasters; more broadly, amid increasingly restrictive conditions for independent journalism, swaths of West Africa are now considered to be an information desert.

It would be lazy to assume that the same dynamics will reproduce themselves in Senegal, a country with a distinct democratic tradition and its own geopolitical interests. For the countrys press, as for its citizens generally, the Faye era represents something of a step into the unknown. As Moussa Ngoma journalist who runs La Maison des Reporters, a Senegalese investigative outlet, and works as a correspondent for Le Mondetold me, Sonko has often been critical of sections of the media, and has included them in his broader anti-system rhetoric. Sometimes, opposition supporters have harassed journalists perceived as hostile to Sonko.

But none of this is of the same magnitude as the Sall governments recent, institutionalized attacks on press freedom, Ngom told me. When I reached him yesterday, after Ba conceded to Faye, Ngom told me of a great hope for freedom of the press and journalistic independence, even if the future is hard to predict. When it came to Faye, he added, we really hope that he is not going to follow the path that Macky Sall traced these past twelve years.



Other notable stories:

New from CJR: The Reddit pages that investigate influencers

Jon Allsop is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Review of Books, Foreign Policy, and The Nation, among other outlets. He writes CJRs newsletter The Media Today. Find him on Twitter @Jon_Allsop.
New Zealand joined the US and UK in accusing China of sponsoring malicious cyber activity targeting democratic institutions, saying its parliamentary network was breached in 2021.

The Government Communications Security Bureau has established links between a Peoples Republic of China state-sponsored actor and hacking activity targeting parliamentary entities, Judith Collins, the Minister Responsible for the GCSB, said in a statement Tuesday in Wellington.

The GCSBs National Cyber Security Centre completed a robust technical assessment following a compromise of the Parliamentary Counsel Office and the Parliamentary Service in 2021, and has attributed this activity to a PRC state-sponsored group known as APT40, Collins said. Fortunately, in this instance, the NCSC worked with the impacted organizations to contain the activity and remove the actor shortly after they were able to access the network.

Earlier, the US and UK accused state-backed Chinese hackers of targeting politicians, companies and dissidents for years, as well as stealing troves of British voter data, in the latest revelation of cyberattacks that Washington and its allies have linked to President Xi Jinpings government. Both the US and UK announced sanctions against two individuals as well as a firm in Wuhan, China.

China disputed the claims, with a foreign ministry official in Beijing calling the UKs accusations disinformation and a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington saying in a statement that the US has jumped to an unwarranted conclusion and made groundless accusations.

In joining condemnation of China, New Zealand risks riling its largest trading partner, but the countrys new center-right government appears to be moving closer to its traditional western partners. Australia also issued a statement Tuesday expressing serious concerns about malicious cyber activities by China state-backed actors in the UK but said its institutions had not been impacted.

The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable, Collins said. This collective response from the international community serves as a timely reminder to all organizations and individuals to have strong cyber security measures in place.

Top photo: The New Zealand flag waves in Tiananmen Square in Beijing.

Copyright 2024 Bloomberg.
Singapore-based Maxeon Solar said it had initiated a patent infringement lawsuit against solar technology firm Canadian Solar in the Eastern District of Texas.

The lawsuit alleged infringement of Maxeons patents related to TOPCon solar cell technology.

Canadian Solar did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Maxeon, which designs and manufactures Maxeon and SunPower brand solar panels, had filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Aiko Energy 600732.SS in a Dutch court last year, escalating its legal battle with the Chinese solar panel manufacturer.

The firm had also accused Aiko and its partners of infringing on the design patent of its All-Back Contact solar cells and had sued the company for similar reasons in a German court in November.

(Reporting by Dweit in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)
MEDINA, Ohio -- According to Nancy Peacock, the Free Clinic of Medina County has been the countys best kept secret for the last two decades.

But she hopes to change that.
CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Upon his retirement from the U.S. Postal Service after 66 years, city officials last week presented some hand-delivered correspondence to the longest-serving mail carrier in Ohio.

For most of that time, 86-year-old Alphonzo Theodore Wilson Jr. -- also known to friends, fans and customers as A.T. or Teddy -- carried mail in the Cedar-Fairmount neighborhood of Cleveland Heights, the route he picked up in 1980.
WESTLAKE, Ohio -- In a heartwarming act of generosity, the Primrose School located on Center Ridge Road in Westlake has embarked on a mission to foster literacy and a love of reading among children.

As part of its commitment to making a difference in the community, the Westlake daycare and preschool has donated an impressive collection of books to the Kids Book Bank of Cleveland and Bright Star Books.
The United States on Monday reiterated the importance of dialogue with North Korea, after Pyongyang claimed Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has expressed his intention for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of the North Korean leader, said that Kishida recently made the proposal to personally meet the reclusive leader as soon as possible, according to the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

"We have been very clear about the importance of dialogue and diplomacy with the DPRK," a State Department spokesperson said in response to a question from Yonhap News Agency. DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"We would refer you to the Japanese government regarding reports of diplomatic engagement between Japan and the DPRK," the spokesperson added.

Kishida has repeatedly expressed his intention to meet "unconditionally" with Kim, spawning speculation that he may seek to use the potential summit to address the long-festering issue of Japanese nationals abducted by the North in the 1970s and 80s.

In her statement, Kim Yo-jong reiterated the North's stance that it does not want to have further discussion on the abduction issue, which she said "has no further settlement."

"If Japan is mulling interfering in the exercise of our sovereign right as now, being engrossed in the abduction issue that has no further settlement and way to know, the prime minister can not but meet a criticism that his design is little short of a bid for popularity," Kim said according to an English-language statement released by KCNA. (Yonhap)
CLEVELAND, Ohio  A Cuyahoga County grand jury has indicted an 18-year-old Cleveland man accused of stealing a puppy from a Parma pet store earlier this month.

Markeze Williams has been charged with tampering with evidence and theft, both felonies. The indictment was returned late last week. He will be arraigned April 16 after posting bond.

An arrest warrant was issued for Williams, who police say ran off with Hazel, an Olde English bulldog, after asking an employee at Petland Parma, 7651 W. Ridgewood Drive, for help picking out a dog March 9.

A guy just stole a $7,000 dog, a 911 caller told police. He was in the room playing with it, and he waited until our manager turned around to grab a book. He grabbed (the dog) and ran.

In surveillance video from the pet store, which is located in the Shoppes at Parma, an employee hands Hazel to the suspect. The man and Hazel then go into another room.

When the manager walked away for a moment, the suspect leaves the room and quickly exits the store. Several store employees chased him out the door.

A witness outside the store told police that she saw the man enter a silver Dodge Journey. The witness followed the car and took pictures of the vehicles license plate as it drove the wrong way onto Roycroft Drive, fleeing from the scene.

The whereabouts of the 9-week-old puppy remain unknown.
AKRON, Ohio  A man who is a suspect in the stabbing death of a woman in Wyandotte, Michigan, reportedly set himself on fire Monday as police attempted to arrest him in Akron.

According to Akron police, authorities received multiple notifications from a Flock license plate reader that the suspects vehicle, a Hyundai Tucson, was in the area. Just before 11 a.m. Monday, police spotted the Tucson driving east on Copley Road.

Officers were able to pull the car over into the parking lot of a business on the 1300 block of Copley Road. The 59-year-old driver remained the vehicle and reportedly had a knife in his hand as officers approached.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  After months of demands from Palestinian Clevelanders and others, Cleveland City Council on Monday passed a ceremonial resolution supporting a ceasefire in Gaza.

Council President Blaine Griffin previously indicated City Council would not consider such a resolution, but that changed on Monday, after the United Nations Security Council passed its own resolution calling for a ceasefire, and the U.S. abstained.

Since October, dozens -- and at times, hundreds -- of individuals have showed up at councils weekly Monday night meetings to demand members pass a ceasefire resolution, similar to demonstrations seen at city council meetings across the country.

In Cleveland, meeting attendees of both Palestinian descent and Jewish descent, among others, have called for council to pass a ceasefire resolution, noting how other cities, like Akron and Detroit, have done the same. Theyve also criticized Griffin and Mayor Justin Bibb for statements they made in support of Israel immediately following the October attack.

Over the past several months, theyve criticized council for weighing in on other international affairs but not taking a stance on what they call the genocide in Gaza. Theyve also threatened to pull out political support for council members and pursue other candidates who back a ceasefire. On Monday, they continued to criticize Bibb, and called for the city of Cleveland to divest in any investments that benefit the state of Israel.

City Council resolutions carry no formal weight, but they do serve as a strong statement of council priorities.

In the weeks and months following Hamas Oct. 7 terrorist attack in Israel, and Israels military response that has left tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza dead, Griffin said he wouldnt move forward with a ceasefire resolution unless the language was agreed upon by Cleveland groups who he said represent both sides of the conflict in the Middle East.

Its unclear if Mondays resolution meets that standard. But Griffin on Monday said his calculus changed on whether to move forward with a resolution because the United Nations Security Council had passed its resolution earlier in the day. Columbus City Council had also held off on a resolution, but it considered one on Monday night as well.

The Cleveland resolution states that City Council is condemning all forms of hate and discrimination in this city and around the world, and says council supports the resolution from the UN Security Council that calls for a halt to the fighting in Gaza.

It includes a condemnation of violence of any kind and all forms of hate, including racism, Islamophobia, and antisemitism

The resolution states that council condemns the Oct. 7 attack in Israel and has profound concern for the innocent civilians suffering. It says council is alarmed by the loss of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinian and American lives due to the war in Gaza.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The nation awoke Tuesday to horrifying video showing the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge spanning the Baltimore Harbor, and that leads many Clevelanders to ask: Could such a catastrophe occur here?

The answer, according to local and state officials: No.

While there are more than 300 bridges in Greater Cleveland, including dozens in and around downtown, none share the design characteristics that contributed to the disaster in Maryland that left one person dead and several missing as authorities continue to dig through the wreckage.

Specifically, no bridges over the Cuyahoga River have supports in the water, so boats cant hit them.

In Baltimore, a massive freighter slammed into one of the as the pillars of the Francis Scott Key in Baltimore Harbor, early Tuesday, sending the bridge into the water. The Cuyahoga River is narrow enough for each of the four major downtown bridges to be able to span it without needing support beams submerged in the water.

The City of Cleveland and the Ohio Department of Transportation are tasked with maintaining those bridges.

Cuyahoga County manages 208 bridges. The northern-most bridge on the Cuyahoga River is the Harvard-Denison Bridge. Engineer Dave Ray said most of the cargo and shipping traffic that occurs on the river doesnt make it far enough south to become a threat to the countys bridges.

For what happened at Baltimore, no that is not a concern for Cuyahoga County bridges, Ray said.

He also said the engineering department routinely inspects every bridge -- once per year for older bridges and once every two years for newer bridges.

Cleveland is the third largest port in the Great Lakes, by volume of goods shipped. Baltimore, in contrast, is one of the biggest ports in the world. That means theres a vast difference in the size of the vessels that navigate the waters in each port.

The boats found in Ohio, which are mostly small pleasure craft or barges transporting coal or gravel, are a fraction of the size of the massive ocean-faring freight ship that was capable of damaging the structural integrity of a concrete-and-steel bridge, ODOT spokesman Matt Bruning said.

So I guess the question is: Is there a bridge in Ohio that could be hit by a ship and taken down? I dont really think there is, he said.

For instance, the ship that crashed in Baltimore is 984 feet long -- nearly 40 feet longer than Clevelands Key Tower is tall. The freighter, which was headed for Sri Lanka and stacked with containers, was also 157 feet wide.

The Herbert C. Jackson ship -- one of the boats that can often be seen twisting and turning down the Cuyahoga -- is 688 feet long and 75 feet wide.

If a smaller boat were to hit a bridge, the bridge could likely withstand the impact without its structural integrity being significantly damaged beyond perhaps some concrete knocked off or the collision causing cracks in the concrete, Bruning said.

Getting hit by an ocean-fairing cargo ship loaded with containers, thats a massive amount of force and mass, versus coal or gravel or something like that, Bruning said. The biggest ships that we have in Ohio or up on Lake Erie are a fraction of the size of what you saw in Baltimore. So it really is kind of an apples-to-oranges comparison.

On the Ohio River, Ohio owns and operates just two bridges  one in Irontown and one in Portsmouth. The remaining bridges are owned and operated by Kentucky and West Virginia, Bruning said.

One of those bridges, the Taylor-Southgate Bridge, connects Cincinnati with Newport, Kentucky, over the Ohio River. It, like the Francis Scott Key, has pillars in the water. The Baltimore bridge is the third longest truss bridge in the country; the Taylor-Southgate is the ninth, according to published reports.

The state owns several long bridges with pillars, but most of them are not in navigable waterways, Bruning said. An example is the Jeremiah Morrow Bridge, which carries Interstate 71 traffic over the Little Miami River gorge in Warren County.

Bruning said the large size of Baltimore Harbor allows for cargo container ships to enter it. Ohio has no waterways big enough for such ships.

For example, the Cuyahoga River is very narrow relative to Baltimore Harbor, he said. So we dont really have where there are piers in the middle of the shipping channel. It would be a very, very remote (chance) to have anything like that occur in Ohio.
GOBLE, Oregon  Columbia County Sheriffs deputies discovered 18 frozen puppies in an Oregon home that were being used to feed pet snakes, authorities say.

A news release from the sheriffs office says deputies searched the home last week after receiving a tip that a resident there was freezing litters of puppies as food for the snakes. The puppies found on the property have been turned over to the Oregon Humane Society to determine how they died.

The sheriffs office says several snakes were found inside the home and that one was seized by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

No details were released on possible charges or on suspects. Columbia County District Attorney Joshua Pond tells USA Today that charges are being considered and the investigation is continuing.
The Federal Aviation Administration has issued a notice ahead of the Great Northern American Eclipse, warning of possible impacts to air traffic and airports along the eclipse path.

The total solar eclipse, which occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, will transit a narrow path of totality from southwest to northeast U.S. across 13 states on April 8, but air traffic could be impacted between April 7 to 10, according to the FAA.

There may be a higher traffic volume than normal anticipated at airports along the path of the eclipse. Traffic should anticipate delays during peak traffic periods. Parking may be limited  particularly at the smaller, uncontrolled airports, the FAA said in a news release.

Airports in Ohio, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont and Canada will be primarily affected by the eclipse, according to the FAA. Burke Lakefront Airport and Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport, both located in Cleveland, are among those likely to be affected by the eclipse, which is expected to be visible in Cleveland around 3:13 p.m. on April 8.

Special security provisions, such as temporary flight restrictions, may be in effect during the eclipse and flights departing affected airports along the eclipse path are encouraged to coordinate departure times as early as possible, according to the FAA.

Related: Surge in cell phone use during eclipse prompts fears: Will you lose service?

The most recent total solar eclipse occurred Aug. 21, 2017, but the upcoming April 8 eclipse is expected to have a wider path and be more visible to more people. The 2017 eclipses path was about 62 to 71 miles wide and about 12 million people lived in its path, according to NASA.

The April 8 eclipse is expected to range between 108 and 122 miles wide with an estimated 31.6 million people living in the path of its totality. However, you dont need to live in the path of totality to see the eclipse, as about 99% of U.S. residents will be able to see the partial or total eclipse during its path from 18:30 to 19:40 UTC on April 8.

After April 8, the next total solar eclipse is expected in August 2044, according to NASA.
COLUMBUS, Ohio  The Ohio Supreme Court has declined to fast-track a lawsuit from a group trying to force Attorney General Dave Yost to let them proceed with their ballot issue campaign that, if approved by voters, would make it easier for citizens to sue police for using excessive force.

The Protecting Ohioans Constitutional Rights campaign is trying to gather the hundreds of thousands of voter signatures it needs to collect before July 3 to get their proposed state constitutional amendment on the November ballot. But first, they need Yost to sign off on a written summary that would appear on the petitions the group must circulate telling voters what the proposal would do. Yosts role is to determine whether the summary is accurate. The group cant start to collect the signatures without Yosts OK.
Rotunda Rumblings

Another one: Ex-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, already serving 20 years in federal prison, is once again facing charges in the ever expanding state and federal bribery cases surrounding the passage of bailout legislation in 2019. Jake Zuckerman reports on the new state charges, announced Monday afternoon by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. He is accused of misusing campaign funds to pay for his legal defense and lying on state ethics reports.
A roundup of conversations we're having daily on the site. Subscribe to the Reckon Daily for stories centering marginalized communities and speaking to the under-covered issues of the moment.

The United Nations Security Council on Monday passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire for the remainder of the holy month of Ramadan, with only the U.S. abstaining from the vote  a move that has drawn criticism from all sides.

The resolution called for a temporary ceasefire during Ramadan, which began on March 11 and ends in about two weeks. Other conditions included the unconditional release of some of the 140 hostages held by Hamas and access to humanitarian aid in Gaza. An original draft called for a permanent ceasefire.

Fourteen out of 15 U.N. members voted to pass the resolution.

This resolution is long overdue, Amnesty Internationals Secretary General Agnes Callamard said in a statement. The international community must now put political gameplay aside and prioritize saving lives by ensuring this resolution paves the way for a sustained ceasefire.

Since Oct. 7, the war in Gaza has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians and displaced millions. World leaders have warned that famine is imminent.

Supporters of a ceasefire called on the U.S.  which has vetoed three previous resolutions in October, December and February  to stop arming Israel and use its influence as an ally to the country to help end the war.

Its long past time for the Biden administration to use all of its leverage to push for an immediate and lasting ceasefire, hostage exchange, and massive aid to Gaza, the IfNotNow movement, a group of American Jews organizing against Israeli apartheid, said in a statement on social media.

The UN Security Council just adopted a resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza, with the U.S. abstaining.



Its long past time for the Biden administration to use all of its leverage to push for an immediate and lasting ceasefire, hostage exchange, and massive aid to Gaza.  IfNotNow (@IfNotNowOrg) March 25, 2024

U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield on Monday explained the abstention, saying that although the nation fully supports these critical objectives, certain key edits, like requests to condemn Hamas, were ignored. She accused Hamas of standing in the way of peace and said a ceasefire can begin as soon as the first hostage is released.

Riyad Mansour, observer for Palenstine at the U.N., said his nation is being murdered as international law is destroyed by war crimes in Gaza.

Israel also decried the resolutions lack of condemnation toward Hamas. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized the U.S. in a statement, and said that it abandoned its policy in the U.N. by abstaining from the vote.

Analysts said the abstention shows a widening divide between the White House and Israel, the latter of which analysts claimed has the most right-wing administration in its history. By abstaining instead of using its veto power, the U.S. appeared to be in support of a resolution unfavorable to Netanyahu.

Following the vote, Netanyahus office canceled a high-level meeting in Washington D.C. A previously arranged meeting with the Israel minister of defense went ahead on Monday.

Our vote does not  and I repeat that  does not represent a shift in our policy, White House spokesperson John Kirby said. We have been clear and weve been consistent in our support for a ceasefire as part of a hostage deal.

The wars first ceasefire came on Nov. 24 last year and lasted almost one week. Hamas released 24 hostages, including women and children.

Without a ceasefire in place that is respected by all parties, alongside steps by Israel to remove obstacles to the scale up of humanitarian aid, Gaza risks facing further catastrophe, the International Rescue Committee said in a statement. Time has run out, a ceasefire must be implemented without delay.
U.S. think tank experts floated the idea Monday of the United States tapping into South Korea's 105 millimeter munitions stockpile to support Ukraine's fight against Russia, as Kyiv urgently needs artillery ammunition supplies in the ongoing war of attrition.

Mark Cancian, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and Chris Park, a CSIS research assistant, made the suggestion, noting that South Korea likely cannot spare more 155 mm shells due to North Korean threats, and that its military is transitioning most artillery units to 155 mm platforms.

"A U.S. proposal to use the bulk of South Korea's 105 mm munitions stockpile, followed by replacing them with the currently in-production 155 mm ammunition, could appeal to South Korea," they wrote in a commentary posted on the CSIS website.

They pointed out that last year, Washington worked with Seoul to send over 300,000 155 mm shells to Ukraine.

South Korea is known to have provided the U.S. with the munitions on condition that the U.S. is their "end user" -- a method that observers said might have enabled Seoul to give indirect arms support to Ukraine while maintaining its principle of non-lethal aid to Ukraine at least on the surface.

"The administration may need to re-tap the South Korean munitions stockpile to arm Ukraine in the face of dwindling stockpiles and congressional inertia," the experts said.

The experts said that as Western 155 mm artillery stockpiles dwindle, the U.S. and others have provided Ukraine with 105 mm howitzers and ammunition.

Citing public reports, they noted that South Korea may have around 3.4 million 105 mm artillery shells.

"These munitions would be compatible with all the 105 mm howitzers Ukraine operates," they said.

They also said that lending 105 mm shells are unlikely to hurt the South Korean military's readiness.

"Less than 30 percent of howitzers operated by the South Korean military shoot 105 mm ammunition and the South Korean military is transitioning most units to 155 mm self-propelled howitzers like the domestically produced K9 Thunder," they said.

The U.S. government has expressed appreciation for South Korea's continued support for Ukraine, but said that whether to send munitions to Ukraine is a sovereign decision for Seoul to speak to. (Yonhap)
Senior North Korean officials visited the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang on Tuesday to express their deep condolences to the victims of the recent terrorist attack in Moscow and their bereaved families, state media reported.

Five leading officials from the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) and the defense and foreign ministries paid a condolence visit to the embassy at dawn Tuesday, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The officials are Jo Yong-won, secretary for organizational affairs at the WPK; Pak Jong-chon, vice chairman of the WPK's central military commission; Ri Il-hwan, a WPK secretary; Defense Minister Kang Sun-nam; and Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui.

They "expressed deep condolences to the bereaved families and victims, saying that the Korean people share sorrow with the Russian people at this moment," the KCNA said, adding that they also voiced North Korea's "consistent stand against all sorts of terrorism."

Gunmen opened fire at the Crocus City Hall concert venue outside Moscow on Friday, leaving at least 139 dead, with the Islamic State group claiming responsibility.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent a message of condolence to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday over the deadly shooting, expressing his "deep condolences and sympathy" to the victims and their bereaved families, according to state media.

Since the summit between Kim and Putin in September last year, North Korea and Russia have been deepening their bilateral ties amid suspicions that Pyongyang has provided weapons to Moscow for its use in Russia's war with Ukraine. (Yonhap)
By Kwak Yeon-soo

North Korea's push for increased engagement with Japan is aimed at using a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida as a stepping stone for talks with the United States, according to experts, Tuesday.

In a statement carried by state-run media on Monday, Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, said Kishida made a proposal to meet the reclusive leader. This comes a month after she hinted at a possible future invitation for the Japanese leader to visit Pyongyang.

Relations between the two countries have long been strained due to kidnappings of Japanese nationals and North Korea's banned weapons programs.

Yang Moo-jin, the president of the University of North Korean Studies, said North Korea's repeated signals to Japan are aimed at seeking diplomatic engagement with the U.S. and unwinding Japan's hostile policy toward North Korea.

"North Korea's goals include restarting talks with the U.S. and calling Japan to drop its hostile policy against Pyongyang. Kim's summit with Kishida may allow him to gain financial incentives that can help carry out his 20x10 regional development policy," he said.

The North's 20x10 regional development policy is to construct factories in 20 cities and counties in 10 years to reduce the development gap between urban cities and regional areas.

Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said North Korea is seeking to improve ties with Japan as a way to weaken the South Korea-U.S.-Japan trilateral relations.

"North Korea is trying to undermine strategic ties between Seoul and its two key security allies  Washington and Tokyo. It also wants to be acknowledged as a nuclear weapons state. Kim's approach to Japan comes as he tries to break out from diplomatic isolation and strengthen his footing in the region," he said.

Experts said South Korea should be aware of the "Korea passing" problem that may arise and come up with feasible plans not to be bypassed in future talks.

"North Korea is likely to exclude South Korea from future talks with Japan and the U.S. The Yoon Suk Yeol administration needs to seek other ways rather than putting emphasis on achieving peace through strength," Yang said.

"Since early last year, North Korea and Japan have been believed to continue a behind-the-scenes push for a possible summit. Like Kishida, who says he is willing to engage in 'unconditional' talks based on national interest, we should be ready for possible talks with Pyongyang."

Hong added, "The U.S. is likely to welcome North Korea's tension-easing gesture. So South Korea should take a cautious stance toward approaching the North Korea issue."
The government will complete follow-up measures for increased enrollment quotas at medical schools by May, a senior official said Tuesday, in a fresh sign that the government will not back down from the reform push despite a fierce protest by the medical community.

About 12,000 interns and resident doctors have remained off the job since Feb. 20 in protest of the push to hike the number of medical students, forcing surgeries and other public health services to be canceled or delayed at major hospitals.

Despite the labor action by junior doctors, the government allocated the additional 2,000 admission seats to universities last week. Senior doctors said they would not sit down for talks with the government unless the push is scrapped.

Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo told reporters that the increased quotas will be applied to details of admission procedures by each university by the end of May.

"The government will complete follow-up measures within May without a hitch," Park said.

In support of junior doctors' labor action, medical professors, who are senior doctors at major university hospitals, have begun tendering their resignations since Monday.

Although prospects for talks with the medical community are uncertain, Park called for doctors to hold talks with the government "without conditions."

Park urged doctors to "engage in dialogue with a sincere attitude and without conditions. That is the way for the people."

There are media reports that some medical professors or junior doctors coerced their peers to join the labor action.

Park said the government will take protective measures for doctors who remain at work.

As for President Yoon Suk Yeol's instruction to exert flexibility in handling the suspension of doctors' medical licenses, Park said that the government stands firm that punishment is inevitable even if they return to work within this month.

"The government could review the adjustment of the timing and duration (of license suspensions), but no decisions have been made," Park said.

On Sunday, Yoon asked officials to look for "flexible" ways to handle the license suspension, while calling for dialogue to resolve the issue.

The government is pushing to increase the admission quotas 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 the quota hike would compromise the quality of medical education and services and create a surplus of physicians, stating 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)


 
Adam Neumann has submitted an unsolicited bid in excess of $500 million to acquire WeWork out of bankruptcy, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC.

That bid could go up to $900 million pending due diligence, the person said.

Neumann's financing was not immediately clear, although people familiar with the matter told CNBC that Dan Loeb's Third Point was not involved in the offer. Neumann's counsel had previously said that Loeb's investment firm was backing the WeWork founder's offer, but Third Point disputed that assertion in a prior statement.

The uncertainty over Neumann's financing, coupled with his track record at the company, could dampen WeWork's receptiveness to his offer. Neumann, his family office Nazare, and his Andreessen Horowitz-backed real estate venture Flow filed a notice of appearance in WeWork's bankruptcy docket on Monday.

"Two weeks ago, a coalition of half a dozen financing partners  whose identities are known to WeWork and its advisors  submitted a potential bid for substantially more" than the initially reported $500 million, a Flow spokesperson said in a statement. Flow did not respond to CNBC's request for comment regarding the $900 million potential bid.

The offer comes weeks after it emerged Neumann had renewed interest in taking back the company he was ousted from five years ago. WeWork filed for bankruptcy in 2023 after years of struggles, and has been working with bankruptcy advisors to restructure and streamline the business.

"As we've said previously, WeWork is an extraordinary company and it's no surprise we receive expressions of interest from third parties on a regular basis. Our Board and our advisors review those approaches in the ordinary course, to ensure we always act in the best long-term interests of the company," a WeWork spokesperson said Monday in a statement.

Neumann's bid, which was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, may complexify WeWork's bankruptcy proceedings. The company is seeking to reject numerous leases, meaning it would be able to walk away from longer-term commitments in less lucrative markets. Some of WeWork's lessors have fought those efforts.
President calls for dialogue but maintains stance on medical school enrollment quota hike

By Nam Hyun-woo

President Yoon Suk Yeol urged professors at medical schools to persuade trainee doctors to end their walkout and is continuing calls for dialogue to resolve the month-long standoff between the government and doctors over the enrollment quota of medical schools, Tuesday.

However, he reiterated his commitment to medical reform, to which the quota hike is key.

Medical professionals, including professors, should engage in dialogue with the government for medical reform and persuade trainee doctors to return to work as soon as possible, Yoon said during a televised Cabinet meeting, Tuesday.

Our government's health care reform is aimed at protecting the lives and health of our citizens. We will minimize public inconvenience with a meticulous review of measures, and prevent any gaps in critical and emergency care systems.

The comments came as professors at most of the nation's 40 medical schools began offering their resignations in protest of Yoons push to add 2,000 slots next year to the current 3,058 annual admissions quota. Trainee doctors have been staging a mass walkout since last month, and the government has not taken back its threats to suspend the doctors medical licenses.

Since last weekend, the government has been sending signals to doctors for talks, with Yoon calling for a flexible approach in suspending the licenses of trainee doctors. In line with this stance, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo had talks with some representatives of doctors on Tuesday afternoon but did not reach an agreement, as the doctors held onto their position of scrapping the quota expansion plan.

Yoon said that the quota expansion is the minimum necessary condition and the starting point for his medical reform, because the government has assigned 1,639 out of the 2,000 new slots to schools outside of Seoul and surrounding Gyeonggi Province to improve access to medical services for people living in areas other than Seoul.

Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo said in a press briefing after the Cabinet meeting that the government has completed distributing the slots to medical schools and follow-up measures will be completed by May.

The government will use the quota expansion as a catalyst to grow capable regional hospitals, Yoon said. By establishing a structure where local residents can trust regional hospitals (outside of Seoul), we will create a health care system that provides comprehensive medical services within the region.

Yoon emphasized the government will support national university hospitals in non-capital areas as the central institutions for health care schemes, so that their level of medical treatment, education and research capabilities can reach those of the nation's so-called top five hospitals  Seoul National University Hospital, Asan Medical Center, Samsung Medical Center, Severance Hospital and Seoul St. Marys Hospital.

He added that the government will come up with plans to improve the environments for medical education based on research, in order to ensure sufficient facilities and equipment to uphold the quality of medical education, even with the increased number of students.

The government will not stop at just expanding medical school quotas but will swiftly proceed with the four major tasks of health care reform, Yoon said. The four pillars he mentioned are bolstering the health care workforce, strengthening regional medical services, establishing a medical accident safety net and implementing a fair compensation system for doctors.

While Yoon was promoting the necessity of his medical reform policy, the government also increased its pressure on professors who are joining the trainee doctors.

The vice minister cited reports that some professors are criticizing and coercing other professors who are refusing to offer their resignations. He said the government will look thoroughly into whether such actions constitute workplace harassment.
(This is CNBC Pro's live coverage of Tuesday's analyst calls and Wall Street chatter. Please refresh every 20-30 minutes to view the latest posts.) A chipmaker and an electric vehicle giant were in focus on Tuesday's analyst chatter. Bernstein lowered its price target on Tesla, calling for 30% downside. Meanwhile, Mizuho raised its price target on Micron, citing a growing AI opportunity. Check out the latest calls and chatter below. All times ET. 8:02 a.m.: Goldman upgrades Nasdaq, sees nearly 20% upside ahead Goldman Sachs sees earnings growth ahead for Nasdaq . The firm upgraded the global technology company to buy from neutral on Tuesday. Its $73 price target suggests nearly 20% upside over the next 12 months. "Following several years of challenged EPS growth (2021-2024E CAGR of just 5%), we see NDAQ's earnings trajectory accelerating to ~12% in 2025 and 2026 with a shifting mix toward higher-valued Fin Tech and Index revenues driving the firm's valuation multiple higher over time," analyst Alexander Blostein wrote in a note to clients. He expects the company to integrate Adenza, the software application provider it acquired late last year, into a more enterprise-based offering, which will drive its FinTech revenues growth. He also sees cyclical tailwinds from equity and options volumes and "robust" growth in its index business, as well as faster-than-expected deleveraging, which could lead to sooner-than-expected share buybacks.  Michelle Fox 7:46 a.m.: UBS downgrades investment firm PJT The expected increase in mergers and acquisitions this year won't lift every stock tied to the investment banking business, according to UBS. Analyst Brennan Hawken downgraded PJT Partners to sell, saying in a note to clients that PJT's expertise in restructuring deals could work against it in this new environment. "Given the shifting rate outlook and re-opening of capital markets, we forecast PJT's [restructuring] revenues will decline by 8% annually through FY2025, partly offsetting forecast mid-teens % revenue growth in Strategic Advisory ('SA') and Park Hill, resulting in top-line revenue growth that is nearly half that of its larger peers," the note said. Given that outlook, the stock looks too expensive, Hawken said. "Trading at 24x NTM consensus estimates, PJT's valuation is ~5 turns above its long-term average and close to historical, peak valuations. PJT last traded at this valuation (roughly) in mid-2020, when revenue was growing nearly 50% due to [restructuring] strength, suggesting the market is underwriting sustained revenue growth," the note said.  Jesse Pound 7:34 a.m.: Bernstein: Chipotle shares can add another 10% Bernstein sees more room for Chipotle to run. Analyst Danilo Gargiulo hiked his price target by $400 to $3,200, with the new prediction now implying an upside of 10.2% from Monday's close. Gargiulo kept his outperform rating on the fast-casual Mexican restaurant chain. Chipotle can sustainably grow traffic at rates between the low and medium single digits due to its value proposition and brand momentum, among other factors, Gargiulo said. He said comparable store sales should grow by about 7% in 2024. The longevity of stores and focus on retaining employees can help Chipotle breaks the goal for average unit volume, or sales per individual store, of $4 million. Gargiulo said that target is in reach within the next five to six years, which would be ahead of Wall Street consensus forecasts. "We expect traffic to be boosted also by that product innovation, store automation, increased relevance of digital sales, the store mix shifting to Chipotlanes and increasing relevance of personalized marketing," he said. But, "we believe the most under-rated ingredient to sustain comparable sales to be talent and in-store execution." Hitting that $4 million marker would also help Chipotle expand its margin beyond 28%, Gargiulo said. Chipotle shares have surged nearly 27% this year. Last week, its board of directors approved a 50-to-1 stock split that is slated to take place in June if shareholders vote in favor.  Alex Harring 7:16 a.m.: Berenberg maintains Eli Lilly as top pharmaceutical top pick Berenberg said Eli Lilly can keep the momentum going from a strong 2023 on strength from the Zepbound obesity treatment while diabetes treatment Mounjaro sales grow. The firm reiterated the pharmaceutical stock as a top pick in the sector, alongside a buy rating and a price target of $850 per share. Berenberg's forecast implies nearly 10% upside from Monday's close. "Despite a strong start to the year (+32% ytd), Lilly remains our top pick in US pharma. Following the recent launch of Zepbound (obesity) in the US, a strong sales ramp for Mounjaro (diabetes) and continued incretin supply expansion, we believe that Lilly's momentum will remain positive," analyst Kerry Holford said. "While the stock trades on a premium on both P/E and EV/NPV metrics, we argue this is warranted given the company's superior growth profile, diversified portfolio and high RORI [return on relationship investment]," the analyst added. Eli Lilly stock has climbed nearly 33% in 2024.  Brian Evans 6:55 a.m.: Bank of America reiterates Equinix as top data center stock pick Bank of America is stating bullish on Equinix after meeting with the company's chief financial officer, Keith Taylor. The firm reiterated the data center stock as a top pick within the sector and stood by its $1,000 per share price target. BofA's forecast implies more than 26% upside from Monday's close. "EQIX believes it is well positioned to capture AI opportunities longer-term, but noted it remains early in terms of adoption and timeline and will take some time before hitting the P & L," analyst David Barden said. "Management continues to see the ability to push price for the overall business in select regions where supply remains constrained." Equinix has ticked down about 2% this year. EQIX YTD mountain EQIX in 2024  Brian Evans 6:25 a.m.: JPMorgan reiterates Taiwan Semiconductor as overweight, says 'all roads in AI semis lead here' JPMorgan said Taiwan Semiconductor could be the main player for the path broader artificial segment. The firm reiterated an overweight rating on the semiconductor stock in a deep dive note on the chipmaker, and stood by a NT$850 price target. JPMorgan's forecast implies nearly 9% upside going forward. "TSMC's role as the key enabler for AI semis is becoming more established and we expect it to retain 90+% market share of all AI," analyst Gokul Hariharan said. "All roads in AI semis lead here." "TSMC's moat in AI semis appears wider than in previous product cycles, due to leading process technology, tightly integrated packaging methods, and support from the broadest IP and design service ecosystem in the semi-industry," the analyst added. TSMC stock has climbed nearly 32% this year.  Brian Evans 6:11 a.m.: Morgan Stanley upgrades Seagate Technology on growing earnings power Morgan Stanley thinks Seagate Technology's earnings story presents investors with a buying opportunity. The firm upgraded the data storage stock to overweight from equal weight on Tuesday, increasing its price target to $115 per share from $73. Morgan Stanley's forecast implies more than 30% upside from Monday's close. "A cyclical recovery, tech leadership (HAMR), and the potential for Gen AI-related demand means STX is entering a period of structurally stronger gross margins, with our new bottom-up analysis showing earnings power 25-30% greater than previously estimated," analyst Erik Woodring said. "We also believe Gen AI will be a longer-term 'rising tides lifts all boats' tailwind for storage, causing us to raise our FY26-27 HDD [hard drive disk] exabyte forecast by 4%," the analyst added. Seagate Technology stock has ticked up more than 3% in 2024.  Brian Evans 5:53 a.m.: Mizuho ups Micron price target, expects stronger AI opportunity Mizuho Securities said Micron Technology's artificial intelligence opportunity thanks to stronger High Bandwidth Memory 3E (HBM3E) pricing that could lead to better-than-expected sales in late 2024 into 2025. The firm reiterated a buy rating on the computer storage and memory stock on Monday and raised its price target to $130 per share from $124. Mizuho's forecast implies nearly 11% upside from Monday's close. Analyst Jason Getz sees HBM sales of about $9 billion and $13 billion for 2024 and 2025, respectively, with the possibility of expanding by 65% over three years on a compounded annual growth rate basis. "With 2023E headwinds mostly behind with inventories normalizing, pricing stabilizing and demand recovery, we see 2024E setting up much stronger with better pricing, industry supply discipline, and DC/PC unit growth with increasing content," he said. Micron has climbed more than 37% this year. Shares were up more than 1% in the premarket.  Brian Evans 5:53 a.m.: Bernstein cuts Tesla price target Longtime Tesla bear Toni Sacconaghi lowered his price target on the EV maker to $120 from $150, citing growing demand constraints. The new forecast implies downside of 30% over the next 12 months. "Quarter to date, Tesla has experienced soft China/Europe demand and constrained US Model 3 production," the Bernstein analyst wrote, reiterating his underperform rating and lowering his first-quarter and full-year deliveries estimates. "Despite the stock's underperformance YTD, we struggle to see a catalyst for TSLA. We expect tepid growth in 2024, as well as 2025, bringing into question the company's growth narrative," Sacconaghi wrote. Tesla has lost 30.5% in 2024, making it the worst-performing S & P 500 stock. To be sure, shares were up more than 3% in the premarket. TSLA YTD mountain TSLA ytd  Fred Imbert
Apple on Tuesday announced that its annual developers conference, WWDC, will take place June 10 through June 14.

The conference will be livestreamed on Apple's website, although the company is inviting some software makers to its campus on the first day to "celebrate in person," Apple said.

At this year's conference, Apple could reveal its long-awaited artificial intelligence strategy and consumer features. In February, Cook said Apple was "investing significantly" in AI and teased an AI-related announcement "later this year" that many analysts believe will come at the Worldwide Developers Conference.

Apple typically reveals the latest versions of its iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV software at WWDC via a "keynote" video on the first day, led by CEO Tim Cook and other Apple staff, which is also streamed on YouTube. At some past conferences, the company has also revealed new professional-oriented hardware, such as Mac laptops.

At this year's conference, Apple also plans to reveal the first major software update to the Vision Pro, the virtual reality headset it launched earlier this year.
New Zealand has accused China of "malicious cyber activity" linked to Chinese state actors, who targeted its parliament in 2021.

The government "expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government," New Zealand's Foreign Minister Winston Peters said on Tuesday.

It comes one day after the U.S. and U.K. claimed China-linked hackers were behind a cyber espionage campaign that stole British voter data and targeted millions of individuals, including lawmakers, academics, journalists, and defense contractors.

"Foreign interference of this nature is unacceptable, and we have urged China to refrain from such activity in future," Peters said, adding that officials expressed their concerns over the targeting of democratic institutions in discussions with the Chinese ambassador.

"The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable," Judith Collins, New Zealand's minister for communications security bureau said in a separate statement.

New Zealand's intelligence service, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), "completed a robust technical assessment following a compromise of the Parliamentary Counsel Office and the Parliamentary Service in 2021," Collins said.

The activity has been attributed to a Chinese state-sponsored group, she added.

The Chinese embassy in New Zealand did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In an interview with CNBC's Jim Cramer, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink expressed optimism about the next generation despite a looming retirement crisis.

"I am bullish on these young people," Fink said. "They're smarter than we were at our age, they have more global understanding of the world."

But Fink stressed the seriousness of the retirement crisis, echoing sentiments he wrote about in his annual letter to BlackRock shareholders. Fink called for the government and the private sector to take action, saying the country needs an "organized, high-level effort" to ensure Americans can retire comfortably. He also wrote that his company  the world's largest asset manager worth $10 trillion  was founded in part to help people retire, asserting that capital markets are essential to this goal.

"No other force can lift more people from poverty or improve quality of life quite like capitalism," Fink wrote in his letter.

Fink said that 30 or 40 years ago, it wasn't common to talk about saving for retirement. But now there's no choice but to do so because the U.S. is not prepared to deal with such a fast-growing population of older Americans. Many put retirement "under the table because it's not today's problems," he said.

To Fink, talking about these issues will help to mitigate them, while ignoring them will just make them more severe. He said it's leaders like him who have the responsibility of "speaking the truth with facts, with consistency." Fink said investing is an essential part of helping people save enough money to live well when they stop working.

"The key is putting that money to work," he said. "It's not keeping money in a bank account, it's about the compounding of a return and building a retirement over a long horizon."
BlackRock Chair Larry Fink said capital markets can help solve a crisis brewing around the ability of Americans to afford retirement as lifespans elongate, and that the government can provide a basic safety net.

In his annual letter to shareholders of the investing company overseeing $10 trillion in assets, Fink called the decreasing ability to retire in a financially sound way one of the biggest economic challenges of the mid-21st century. He said access to investing can help solve this conundrum, while also pondering if the expectation for everyone to receive Social Security benefits at age 65 has become archaic.

"Today in America, the retirement message that the government and companies tell their workers is effectively: 'You're on your own,'" Fink wrote. "And before my generation fully disappears from positions of corporate and political leadership, we have an obligation to change that."

Fink pointed to a U.S. Census Bureau survey that found nearly half of Americans between ages 55 and 65 have no savings in personal retirement accounts. The investing firm's leader noted tens of millions of Americans work part-time or gig jobs that do not offer clear retirement contribution plans.

Worsening the outlook is a Social Security system that has said it will not be able to pay full benefits by 2034.

The 71-year-old believes the American retirement system has entered such a deep crisis that it has become a once-in-a-generation issue. He said it is on government and business leaders to start trying to fix it right away.

A federal law that will require employers with 401(k) plans to auto enroll new workers provides a bright spot, he said. Hundreds of companies have already taken this step, Fink noted.

But corporations also have a duty to provide benefits such as fund matching or financial education to workers, he said. Fink also said employees should be able to easily transfer 401(k) savings when they change jobs.

About 20 states in the U.S. have established retirement systems that include gig and part-time workers. Fink said more states should look into creating specific programs and act as "laboratories of retirement." That is because this both can benefit individuals and help ensure the long-term health of Social Security.

Increasing lifespans create further difficulties when trying to improve the retirement system, Fink said. This issue is of increasing relevance as blockbuster weight loss drugs have already begun drastically reshaping the health-care landscape, he said.

As a result, Fink said it is worth taking a look at when Americans are expected to start accessing Social Security benefits, typically a sensitive topic that no politician wants to touch. He noted potential solutions including either raising the age for benefits or finding ways to encourage working later.

"No one should have to work longer than they want to," he said. "But I do think it's a bit crazy that our anchor idea for the right retirement age, 65 years old, originates from the time of the Ottoman Empire."
A woman votes at the Royal Missionary Baptist Church polling location in North Charleston, South Carolina, on February 3, 2024, during the democratic primary. Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images

Almost half of all voters, or 48%, say canceling student loan debt is an important issue to them in the 2024 presidential and congressional elections, a new survey finds. Among younger people, 70% of Gen Z respondents said the action was "very" or "somewhat" important in the election, and 72% of Black voters and 68% of Hispanic voters believe the same. The poll of 3,812 registered voters, including 2,601 Gen Z and millennial respondents, was conducted between March 15-19 by SocialSphere, a research and consulting firm. "This survey shows that most voters, regardless of age, believe that taking a loan to pay for education should not result in a lifetime of debt," said John Della Volpe, CEO of SocialSphere and director of polling at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics. The report was released by Protect Borrowers Action, an advocacy group. More from Personal Finance:

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Credit card users face 'consequences' from falling behind

After Biden praises progress on inflation, economists weigh in Outstanding education debt in the U.S. stands at roughly $1.6 trillion, and burdens Americans more than credit card or auto debt. The average loan balance at graduation is around $30,000. A quarter of borrowers were behind on their payments before the payment pause enacted during the Covid pandemic.

7 in 10 voters want action on student debt

Around 7 in 10 voters, 73%, believe the government should take some action on student loan debt, with 50% supporting partial or complete loan cancellation, the survey found. Among Gen Z and millennial Democrats, 81% of voters surveyed favored loan forgiveness. More than half, 53%, of Gen Z respondents said they or someone in their household has student debts, as did 46% of young millennials and 39% of older millennials.

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Many young people on the right now also support student loan cancellation, with 49% of Gen Z and millennial Republicans saying some or all outstanding education debt should be erased. Debt forgiveness has historically been a highly partisan issue, with supporters and detractors split down party lines. Debt cancellation is less of a priority among older people, with just 37% of baby boomer and silent generation voters in the survey saying the issue is important to them in the upcoming elections. More than two-thirds of Republican Gen X voters, those born between 1965 and 1980, said they don't believe student debt should be canceled. Almost a quarter, 23%, of Gen X voters surveyed said they or someone in their household had student loan debt. Among baby boomer and silent generation voters, that share was 14%.

Support for forgiveness may impact campaign trail

The election year findings could reinforce the importance of loan forgiveness for President Joe Biden's campaign, especially as it fights to turn around its fading support among younger voters. The Supreme Court last June struck down the president's $400 billion plan to deliver student loan forgiveness to as many as 40 million Americans. Since then, the Biden administration has tried to cancel the debt in various other ways, using its existing authority. Mainly by improving current loan relief programs, it has now cleared the education debts of nearly 4 million people, totaling $143.6 billion in aid. Meanwhile, the popularity of loan forgiveness among voters may prove a challenge for Donald Trump, the presumptive 2024 GOP presidential nominee. "The Republican party's steadfast opposition to student debt relief remains a wildly unpopular stance  even with a majority of younger Republican voters," said Mike Pierce, executive director of Protect Borrowers Action. It was the legal challenge by six GOP-led states that ultimately led to the death of Biden's sweeping loan forgiveness policy at the Supreme Court.
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.

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 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."

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.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield votes abstain during a vote on a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza during a United Nations Security Council meeting 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 | Getty Images

The United Nations Security Council on Monday adopted a resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas, after the United States abstained from the vote  prompting Israel to cancel the visit of a high-level delegation to Washington. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had warned before the vote that the delegation's visit would be pulled, if Washington did not veto the motion. The U.S. abstention signals a widening divide between the White House and Israel's current government, the most right-wing in its history, nearly six months into its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Israel's offensive into the Gaza enclave, which comes in response to the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks, has killed tens of thousands of people, according to Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry. "This is a clear retreat from the consistent position of the U.S. in the Security Council since the beginning of this war," a statement from Netanyahu's office said, adding that "this withdrawal hurts both the war effort and the effort to release the abductees." The U.S. denied that the abstention marked a shift in its policy. Some observers see it differently. "It's a breakthrough. An abstention from a UN Security Council permanent member is a yes vote, because it means they are not exercising their veto and basically agree with the text, even if they don't want to say so," Hussein Ibish, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, told CNBC. "The U.S. declining to protect Israel from a resolution it passionately objects to by not providing a veto is an extraordinary thing."

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The first of its kind passed since the onset of the war, the resolution called for an immediate cessation of hostilities between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas for two weeks, breaking a five-month impasse during which the U.S. vetoed three U.N. calls for a halt in fighting. The motion also called for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Washington's reasons to not approve the measure included its lack of condemnation for the Hamas terror attack, which led to roughly 1,200 deaths in Israel and took around 240 more people hostage. But, Miller added, "the reason we didn't veto it is because there were also things in that resolution that were consistent with our long-term position, most importantly, that there should be a cease-fire and that there should be a release of hostages, which is what we understood also to be the government of Israel's position. So it is a bit surprising and unfortunate that they are not going to apparently attend these meetings."

'The United States is losing patience'

The move follows condemnations of Netanyahu from a number of U.S. lawmakers  most notably, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish member of Congress, who is known for steadfastly standing by Israel's government over the years. "In this case, the abstention is a very strong signal to Israel that the United States is losing patience," Ibish said. The canceled Israeli delegation's visit to Washington was set to discuss Israel's planned military operation in Rafah, the southernmost corner of Gaza, where more than a million displaced Palestinians are taking shelter and where Israel says the bulk of Hamas' remaining fighters are located. The Biden administration has warned against a Rafah operation, already frustrated by Israel's hindering of aid deliveries into the besieged strip. At the start of the year, the U.N. warned that half a million Palestinians were facing famine.

Smoke billows after Israeli bombardment in central Gaza City on March 18, 2024, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas. - | Afp | Getty Images

For former Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami, the rift between the two longtime allies is a grave threat to Israel's security  and the blame lies with Netanyahu. Asked by CNBC's Dan Murphy if the U.S. and Israel are now at a turning point in the war, Ben-Ami said: "I think we definitely are. This is a crisis, [and] Americans are conveying the powerful message that they disagree on the way Israel is conducting the war, that they think this is the moment to move to a political process." He added, "The whole attitude of confronting Americans instead of serving with their interests, which are essentially Israel's interests, is working against the nation's security. Netanyahu has become a threat to Israel's security by conducting war from the very first day. With him, political domestic consideration is more [important] than catering to the strategic interest of Israel."
Investors looking to bet on the artificial intelligence boom may want to take a look at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing , according to JPMorgan. Analyst Gokul Hariharan reiterated his overweight rating on the semiconductor maker, a supplier to chip majors such as Nvidia , Advanced Micro Devices and Qualcomm , saying that "all roads in AI semis lead" to the company. TSM YTD mountain Taiwan Semiconductor shares since the start of 2024 "TSMC remains one of the cheapest large-cap semi stocks globally, still trading at a ~30% discount to the SOX index and a ~51% discount to the large-cap AI semis basket (Nvidia, AMD, Broadcom, Marvell)," he said, adding that this gap should close as the company's position as a "key AI enabler becomes more established." The firm retained its NT$850 price target on Taiwan-listed shares, representing about 9% upside going forward. U.S-listed shares of the company have surged about 35% in 2024 and 51% over the past year. Within the next three to four years, Hariharan expects Taiwan Semiconductor to maintain its greater-than 90% market share of AI-connected processor silicon. That should nearly quadruple its AI contribution to revenues from 6% in 2023 to 27% by 2027. By 2026, he forecasts the company's revenues can hit $119 billion, driven by robust growth in high-performance computing as AI training and inference demand grows. A solid setup for the company's 3 nanometer process technology for chipmakers such as Nvidia should also benefit revenues. "TSMC's moat in AI semis appears wider than in previous product cycles, due to leading process technology, tightly integrated packaging methods, and support from the broadest IP and design service ecosystem in the semi-industry," Hariharan said.
In this photo, Krispy Kreme doughnuts are shown in Daly City, California, on May 12, 2022.

McDonald's is planning to sell Krispy Kreme doughnuts at its restaurants nationwide by the end of 2026, the chains announced Tuesday.

The rollout will start in the second half of this year, but it will take roughly two and a half years as Krispy Kreme more than doubles its distribution to satisfy the partnership. For the duration of the agreement, McDonald's will be the exclusive fast-food partner for Krispy Kreme in the U.S.

Shares of Krispy Kreme soared 39% on Tuesday. The stock was earlier on track for its best day ever.

The doughnut chain uses a "hub and spoke" model that lets it make and distribute its treats efficiently. Production hubs, which are either stores or doughnut factories, send off freshly made doughnuts every day to retail locations such as grocery stores and gas stations.

The partnership with McDonald's is a major opportunity for Krispy Kreme to expand its reach. It delivers its doughnuts to 6,800 third-party stores, as of Dec. 31. McDonald's has roughly 13,500 restaurants in the U.S. and plans to open 900 new locations nationwide by 2027.

"We think we can service about 6,000 restaurants with our existing infrastructure, mostly doughnut shops, which have excess capacity," Krispy Kreme CEO Josh Charlesworth told CNBC.

Krispy Kreme has also been expanding its capacity so it can deliver fresh doughnuts to the roughly 7,500 McDonald's restaurants that it can't currently reach.

While McDonald's is the primary reason the company is expanding its distribution so quickly, Charlesworth said Krispy Kreme will also be using the opportunity to land in grocery and convenience stores that prefer national suppliers.

"That means that the overall efficiency and productivity of our distribution network will significantly improve over time, not just because of all those local deliveries," he said.

Additionally, Krispy Kreme's doughnut shops typically make more of the sweet treat than the chain can sell. The extra demand from McDonald's and other new customers means its production lines can churn out higher volume with few additional costs.

"Overall, therefore, it makes our system more profitable to grow the deliver fresh daily channel, and McDonald's is an accelerator of that," Charlesworth said.

The two chains' relationship started about a year and a half ago, when McDonald's began selling Krispy Kreme doughnuts at nine restaurants as a test. Months later, the pilot had expanded to roughly 160 restaurants across Louisville and Lexington, Kentucky. Those initial restaurants will keep selling the doughnuts during the national rollout.

Demand from McDonald's customers during the tests exceeded both chains' expectations, according to Charlesworth.

For McDonald's, the addition of Krispy Kreme doughnuts helps bolster its bakery and breakfast offerings. The burger chain has been leaning into coffee, a common drink pairing for doughnuts, but trimming other bakery items such as cinnamon rolls from its menu.

McDonald's customers will be able to order the original glazed, chocolate iced with sprinkles and chocolate iced cream-filled doughnuts, either individually or in packs of six. The restaurants will sell the doughnuts all day.

In the long term, Krispy Kreme now expects it can reach more than 100,000 points of access for its doughnuts globally, up from its prior outlook of 75,000 locations. The chain's doughnuts can currently be found in more than 14,100 stores across 39 countries.

Shares of Krispy Kreme have fallen 20% over the past year, dragging its market value down to $2.11 billion. As hype over weight loss drugs such as Novo Nordisk's Ozempic has soared, investors have worried about whether the treatments will cut into Krispy Kreme's future sales.

Similar concerns have weighed on McDonald's, although its stock has risen 2% in the past year as consumers trade down to its cheap food and drinks. The company has a market value of $201 billion.
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo pledged active dialogue with the medical community Tuesday to find a negotiated settlement to the protracted walkout by trainee doctors protesting the government's decision to significantly increase medical school admissions.

Han made the remarks during a meeting with representatives of the medical community, including presidents of major universities and leading teaching hospitals across the country, held at Seoul National University Hospital in Seoul.

"The government is committed to active dialogue and efforts to put heads together with regard to medical reforms," Han said at the start of the meeting. "I hope today's meeting will lead to the establishment of a dialogue mechanism."

The meeting took place as medical professors at major general hospitals nationwide began submitting mass resignations in support of medical interns and residents who have been on strike for over a month.

Senior doctors have demanded the government first scrap the decision to increase the medical school quota by 2,000 from the current 3,058, saying it would sit down for talks with the government only if the plan is abolished.

Over 90 percent of the country's 13,000 trainee doctors face potential license suspensions due to their refusal to end the strikes that have resulted in canceled surgeries and treatments at hospitals.

President Yoon Suk Yeol, shifting from his previous firm stance, hinted at a possible easing of punitive measures against the striking doctors.

"Many people and patients are worried due to various pending issues in the medical community recently," Han said. "I believe they want us to form a constructive dialogue channel and try to empathize and understand each other." (Yonhap)
The Microsoft logo is on display at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, on February 26, 2024.

Microsoft said Monday it has selected company veteran Pavan Davuluri to lead its Windows operating system and Surface devices teams.

Davuluri, who joined Microsoft in 2001 and has been corporate vice president for almost three years, is taking on additional responsibilities after Panos Panay decamped to Amazon last fall.

Windows remains critical to Microsoft. Its clients take into consideration their reliance on Windows when deciding which cloud infrastructure to use for information-technology projects. That's true even as Microsoft and other public companies adjust their stance to capitalize on interest in generative artificial intelligence.

Davuluri's promotion comes a week after Microsoft said it was hiring former DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman as the head of a new organization called Microsoft AI. Mikhail Parakhin, CEO of advertising and web services, and his unit that includes people working on the Bing search engine and Edge browser, will be part of Microsoft AI, the company said.

Parakhin will now look at other roles and report to Kevin Scott, Microsoft's technology chief, executive Rajesh Jha wrote in a memo, which was published earlier by The Verge.

Microsoft revealed its first Surface PCs with a Copilot button for quickly accessing the chatbot in Windows last week. "I'm incredibly proud of the team for the work they did to bring these devices and experiences to life for our customers," Davuluri wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Read Jha's full memo below:

I want to share an update on the Windows and Web Experiences (WWE) team following last week's announcement and the creation of the Microsoft AI organization. Mikhail Parakhin has decided to explore new roles. Satya and I are grateful for Mikhail's contributions and leadership and want to thank him for all he has done to help Microsoft lead in the new AI wave. He will report to Kevin Scott while supporting the WWE transition. As part of this change, we are bringing together the Windows Experiences and Windows + Devices teams as a core part of the Experiences + Devices (E+D) division. This will enable us to take a holistic approach to building silicon, systems, experiences, and devices that span Windows client and cloud for this AI era. Pavan Davuluri will lead this team and continue to report to me. Shilpa Ranganathan and Jeff Johnson and their teams will report directly to Pavan. The Windows team will continue to work closely with the Microsoft AI team on AI, silicon, and experiences. The Web Experiences team will report into Mustafa in the new Microsoft AI organization.

Jordi Ribas will lead Search, Maps, and Platforms with Andrey Proskurin, Fatima Kardar, and Nick Lee reporting to him. Rukmini Iyer will lead Advertising with Paul Viola and Weiqing Tu reporting to her.

Mike Davidson continues to lead Design and will work with Pavan and team on how to realign Windows design. Ali Akgun, Kya Sainsbury-Carter, Qi Zhang, and Rajesh Sundaram's roles remain unchanged. They will join the Microsoft AI leadership team along with Jordi, Mike, and Rukmini, all reporting to Mustafa. We are excited for this team to help Microsoft AI achieve its bold ambition to build world-class consumer AI products. And I very much look forward to closely partnering with Mustafa and the team as we bring our AI products, including Copilot, to the breadth of our E+D products and services.

WATCH: How Microsoft has been dodging regulatory trouble amid broader big tech headwinds
Moderna on Tuesday said a new version of its Covid vaccine triggered a stronger immune response against the virus than its current shot in a late-stage trial.

The results come as Moderna competes with rival Pfizer for more share of the Covid vaccine market and tries to diversify its revenue streams after the world saw a plunge in demand for Covid products last year. Moderna's current Covid vaccine, known as Spikevax, is its only commercially available product.

The biotech company's new shot could offer a longer shelf life and easier storage than its Covid vaccine.

Moderna's new shot is designed to last longer when refrigerated. That could make the jab easier to distribute around the world, especially in developing countries that may not have freezer capabilities. The company will accomplish that by shortening the length of the mRNA strand in the vaccine, Moderna previously told CNBC.

The new shot is also a "critical component" of Moderna's combination vaccine targeting Covid and the flu, the company said in a release. Both Moderna and Pfizer have said that the convenience of receiving protection against two viruses at once could encourage more people to get vaccinated against Covid.

The phase three trial followed roughly 11,400 people ages 12 and older in the U.S., U.K. and Canada.

Moderna's new shot specifically triggered a higher immune response against omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 and the original strain of the virus than the company's bivalent vaccine targeting those variants. The benefits were "most acutely" seen in patients over the age of 65, who are also at highest risk of severe illness from Covid.
The team from the Geological Agency of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) took samples of natural hydrogen gas found in One Pute Jaya Village, Morowali Regency, Central Sulawesi Province, Indonesia, 23 October 2023. Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images

A global gold rush is underway for a long-overlooked resource that advocates say could play a significant role in the shift away from fossil fuels. Geologic hydrogen, sometimes referred to as white, gold or natural hydrogen, refers to hydrogen gas that is found in its natural form beneath Earth's surface. It is thought to be produced by high-temperature reactions between water and iron-ich minerals. Hydrogen has long been billed as one of many potential energy sources that could play a pivotal role in the energy transition, but most of it is produced using fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas, a process that generates significant greenhouse gas emissions. Green hydrogen, a process that involves splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using renewable electricity, is one exception from what's known as the hydrogen color rainbow. However, its development has been held back by soaring costs and a challenging economic environment. It's within this context that momentum has been building around geologic hydrogen. Exploratory efforts are now underway in countries such as the U.S., Canada, Australia, France, Spain, Colombia, South Korea and others.

A photo taken on April 27, 2023 shows gauges that are part of the electrolysis plant of the geological hydrogen H2 storage facility 'Underground Sun Storage' in Gampern, Upper Austria. Alex Halada | Afp | Getty Images

Research published earlier this month by Rystad Energy showed that 40 companies were actively searching for geologic hydrogen deposits by the end of last year  up from just 10 in 2020. The consulting firm, which described the pursuit of geologic hydrogen as a "white gold rush," said the hype stems from hopes that the untapped resource could be a "gamechanger" in the clean energy transition. "I would say this is something relatively old and new in a way," Minh Khoi Le, head of hydrogen research at Rystad Energy, told CNBC via videoconference. "The first project that found hydrogen was a while ago, but it never picked up from there, right? People never seriously tried to go for exploration."

An accidental discovery

The initial discovery of geologic hydrogen occurred in 1987 in a small village roughly 60 kilometers (37.3 miles) from Mali's capital of Bamako. A failed attempt to drill for water by Canada's Hydroma hit upon an abundance of odorless gas that was inadvertently found to be highly flammable. The well was soon plugged and forgotten. Almost two decades later, subsequent exploration at the site found geologic reservoirs containing nearly pure hydrogen gas. Today, the resource is being used to provide power to the Malian village of Bourakebougou. Last year, researchers found what may be the world's largest geologic hydrogen deposit to date in France's eastern Lorraine region. The unexpected discovery further boosted interest in its clean energy potential.

A man is seen in a pirogue on the Niger River in Bamako, Mali on January 26, 2024. Ousmane Makaveli | Afp | Getty Images

Geoffrey Ellis, a research geologist at the Energy Resources Program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), told CNBC that there could be a vast amount of naturally occurring hydrogen buried in underground reservoirs around the world. Based on current understanding, Ellis said there is likely to be about 5 trillion metric tons of geologic hydrogen in Earth's interior, although most of this is likely to be too deep or too far offshore to be economically recovered. Nonetheless, Ellis said that just a few percent of geologic hydrogen recovery might well be enough to supply all projected demand for 200 years. "The potential is there but we've got to do the work," Ellis said via videoconference, adding that more investment is necessary to accelerate early-stage research and development. The U.S. Department of Energy last month announced $20 million to support 16 projects nationwide to advance the natural subsurface generation of hydrogen. It said the energy resource could potentially produce zero carbon emissions when burned or used in a fuel cell.

If some of these numbers that certain institutes, like the USGS, about the potential volume that you can extract  come true, it can actually play quite a significant role. Minh Khoi Le Head of hydrogen research at Rystad Energy

"Natural hydrogen has created a lot of excitement at the moment but in terms of potential I think it is still a little bit uncertain because none of these projects have actually started producing or extracting hydrogen  except for that one in Mali," Rystad Energy's Le told CNBC. Le said there were still "a lot of question marks around the whole story about natural hydrogen," but there appeared to be "some substance" behind the hype. "If some of these numbers that certain institutes, like the USGS, about the potential volume that you can extract  come true, it can actually play quite a significant role," he added.

'Sometimes we want to run before we can walk'

Not everyone's convinced. Some have expressed skepticism about the clean energy potential of natural hydrogen. "Sometimes we want to run before we can walk," Ana Maria Jaller-Makarewicz, an energy analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, told CNBC via videoconference. The first near-term priority for hydrogen, Jaller-Makarewicz said, should be looking for ways to replace so-called grey hydrogen with green hydrogen. Grey hydrogen  produced using natural gas and the most common form of hydrogen production  leads to large greenhouse gas emissions. Indeed, the Carbon Trust has estimated that less than 1% of current global hydrogen production is emission-free. "Don't confuse the idea of 'we need to find the solution' with the reality," Jaller-Makarewicz said.

This photograph shows Lhyfe floating hydrogen production unit (R) past the Floatgen floating wind turbine (L), at the SEM-REV experimentation site off Le Croisic, western France, on June 26, 2023. Sebastien Salom-gomis | Afp | Getty Images
The Rite Aid logo is displayed above a Ride Aid store on December 21, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.

Pharmacy chain Rite Aid has reached a settlement with its lenders, the U.S. Department of Justice, and drug supplier McKesson Corp , clearing a path for Rite Aid to complete its bankruptcy case by late April, a company lawyer said Tuesday.

"We have reached an agreement on all key points with all key economic stakeholders," Rite Aid attorney Aparna Yenamandra said at a bankruptcy court hearing in Trenton, New Jersey. Yenamandra did not provide details about the settlement, saying that some issues needed to be worked out before it can be presented in court.

The deal is not opposed by creditors who have sued Rite Aid over its sale of opioid medications, Yenamandra said. Before it filed for bankruptcy, Rite Aid faced over 1,600 lawsuits alleging that pharmacy chain ignored red flags and illegally filled prescriptions for addictive opioid medication.

Rite Aid's junior bondholders raised a note of caution during the hearing, saying that the remaining issues to be worked out are more than just a "technicality."

"This is going to take some real work," said Andrew Rosenberg, an attorney for bondholders, including Brigade Capital Management, HG Vora Capital Management, and J.P. Morgan Investment Management.

Rite Aid's lawyers said they will work to resolve concerns with the deal by Thursday.

"The time has come to reach a resolution, and that is exactly what everyone is going to do in the next 48 hours," Rite Aid attorney Joshua Sussberg said at the hearing.

Rite Aid will return to court on Thursday, when it will ask U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Kaplan to allow the company to begin gathering votes for its bankruptcy plan. Kaplan said he is "very much intrigued" to hear more details about the settlement at the upcoming court hearing.

If Rite Aid can begin the voting process this week, it should be able to get final court approval of its bankruptcy restructuring by April 22, Yenamandra said.

Rite Aid filed for bankruptcy in October, seeking to address its high debt, shut down underperforming retail locations, and sell off non-core business units. Rite Aid received bankruptcy court approval to sell its pharmacy benefit company, Elixir, in January.

Correction: Reuters corrected this story to say opioid creditors don't oppose deal.
Andreas "Andy" von Bechtolsheim, co-founder of Arista Networks Inc., speaks during a Bloomberg West TV interview in San Francisco on May 2, 2013.

Andy Bechtolsheim, the co-founder of Sun Microsystems and Arista Networks , has reached a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on insider trading charges that will cost him almost $1 million and bar him from serving as a public company officer or director for five years.

The civil charges announced Tuesday against Bechtolsheim, who has an estimated net worth of over $16 billion, are tied to Cisco 's acquisition of Acacia Communications in 2019. The SEC alleged that Bechtolsheim confidentially learned of an "impending acquisition" on July 8, 2019, and traded options of Acacia, netting him "combined illegal profits" of more than $415,000 after the deal was made public the next day.

Cisco announced its agreement to buy networking company Acacia for $70 per share in a $2.6 billion deal, driving Acacia's stock up 35%. The transaction ended up closing in 2021 at $115 per share for a total price of $4.5 billion.

The complaint, filed Tuesday in federal district court in San Jose, California, alleged that Bechtolsheim, then chairman and chief development officer of Arista, learned that an acquisition of Acacia was fast approaching from an employee at a separate, unnamed multinational tech company. The employee had consulted with Bechtolsheim about a potential bid by that company to acquire Acacia, the suit said.

Immediately following the discussion, Bechtolsheim traded Acacia options in the brokerage accounts of a close relative as well as an associate, according to the lawsuit.

"Bechtolsheim knew or was reckless in not knowing that the information he learned about Acacia's impending acquisition was material and nonpublic," the complaint alleged. "Bechtolsheim also knew or was reckless in not knowing that he had a duty of trust and confidence to keep such information confidential and not trade in Acacia securities based on this information."

The SEC said Bechtolsheim settled its charges without admitting or denying the allegations against him. He agreed to pay a fine of $923,740.

Bechtolsheim, 68, resigned as Arista's chairman and development chief in December but continues to serve as its chief architect. He is the company's biggest shareholder with a stake worth nearly $14 billion.

"While the SEC announcement did not involve any trading in Arista securities, Arista takes compliance to the company's code of conduct and insider trading policy seriously," an Arista spokesperson told CNBC in an email. "Arista will respond appropriately to the situation."

Bechtolsheim's attorneys did not respond to CNBC's request for comment.

Bechtolsheim, who lives in Incline Village, Nevada, co-founded Arista in 2004 and took the company public a decade later. The networking vendor now has a market cap of close to $95 billion.

In 1982, Bechtolsheim co-founded Sun Microsystems with Scott McNealy, Vinod Khosla and Bill Joy, and served as chief hardware designer. Oracle announced its $7.4 billion acquisition of Sun Microsystems in 2009.
Analysts are hopeful Boeing's executive shake-up should help the company and stock overall recover from ongoing safety concerns tied to the 737 Max. The company announced on Monday that CEO David Calhoun will step down at the end of the year after a myriad of safety issues and controversies during his tenure . In January, a door plug was blown off during an Alaska Airlines flight on a 737 Max 9 jet. Calhoun is not the only high-level executive leaving. Chairman Larry Kellner will not stand for reelection, while commercial airplane division head Stan Deal will retire and be replaced by Chief Operating Officer Stephanie Pope. Boeing did not immediately announce succession plans for Calhoun. While Pope was likely already in the process of being groomed to replace Calhoun according to Stifel analyst Bert Subin, the move to look outside of the company for a new CEO could "result in a high-profile hire." BA YTD mountain Boeing stock has slumped more than 26% from the start of the year after the Alaska Airlines 737 Max controversy. Analysts largely lauded the move as both timely and necessary for Boeing to meaningfully address safety concerns tied to the 737 Max, and specifically highlighted the effort to look outside of the company for a new CEO as a positive catalyst for a cultural shift. Here's what analysts on Wall Street are saying about Boeing's incoming changes. Stifel The firm has a buy rating on Boeing stock with a $270 per share price target, or 41% upside from Monday's close. "That combination could help Boeing get back on track toward normalizing production and should help reduce pressure on the company by its customers. With a sizable risk premium seemingly priced-in to the stock, we think steps toward normalization have the ability to drive share price upside near-term." Bank of America Bank of America's Ronald Epstein has a neutral rating on the stock and a price target that calls for a nearly 10% gain. "We do view the leadership changes as a positive for investors, the aerospace and defense industry, and passengers overall.  We see the changes as the first right steps of removing the 'old guard', and making way for a new team which can work from a less sullied slate." TD Cowen TD Cowen has a buy rating on Boeing stock with a $230 per share price target, or 20% above Monday's close. "The key issue will be who they pick as BA's new CEO, but the fact that they are giving themselves time to do so likely is a plus," TD Cowen analyst Cai von Rumohr said. "It provides leadership continuity, which a knee-jerk change would not, and CEO Dave Calhoun clearly is on board with the need to bolster safety." Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley's Kristine Liwag has an equal weight rating on Boeing with a $235 per share price target, or 23% upside moving forward. "The timing of David Calhoun's resignation provides stability throughout the end of the year during a time of uncertainty, while providing Boeing time to find a successor.  We expect the market to receive the news positively." Wolfe Research Wolfe Research analyst Myles Walton has an outperform rating on Boeing and a price target of $240, which calls for more than 25% upside. "While the changes create uncertainty, they also provide the opportunity for a break in the negative spiraling narrative and an external indication of awareness of the change being demanded.  We remain Outperform rated and think the changes will get more investors to kick the tires on shares given performance YTD (down ~25%), with opportunity for bigger follow-through opportunity depending on the new leader." JPMorgan The move to replace Calhoun could also potentially benefit Boeing's relationships on Capitol Hill, which is a net positive as the company addresses safety issues with both the government and regulators, according to JPMorgan analyst Seth Seifman. JPMorgan maintains an overweight rating on Boeing with a $230 per share price target, or about 20% above Monday's close. "Boeing's relationship with the FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] and the folks in Congress who oversee the agency is highly important for the company, and the Alaska accident has set these relationships back meaningfully," JPMorgan analyst Seth M. Seifman said. "To the extent that changes in leadership can improve these relationships, they should benefit the company over time." JPMorgan maintains an overweight rating on Boeing stock with a $230 per share price target, or about 20% moving forward.
Check out the companies making headlines in premarket trading. Krispy Kreme  Shares surged nearly 14% during premarket trading after the company said it will sell its donuts in McDonald's restaurants nationwide by the end of 2026 , with the rollout beginning in the second half of this year. Krispy Kreme began testing sales at some McDonald's locations in 2022, and their partnership expansion would double the donut maker's current distribution. McDonald's shares fell more than 1%. Seagate Technology  The data storage stock added 4.1% on the back of a Morgan Stanley upgrade to overweight from equal weight. Morgan Stanley said the company has improved earnings power due to generative artificial intelligence and other factors. McCormick  Shares moved nearly 4% higher after the spice maker reported an earnings and revenue beat. Adjusted earnings per share came in at 63 cents for the fiscal first quarter, topping the 58 cents expected from analysts polled by FactSet. Revenue was $1.6 billion versus the $1.55 billion expected. United Parcel Service  Shares of the delivery company rose 3% after the company released long-term forecasts. The company said it sees between $108 billion and $114 billion in consolidated revenue in 2026. For 2023, UPS reported that consolidated revenue declined to $91 billion. Super Micro Computer  Shares rose 3.1%, continuing its gains from Monday when JPMorgan initiated coverage of the stock with an overweight rating. The firm named Super Micro Computer, which makes server and storage solutions, as a leader of the AI compute market "still in its infancy." Micron Technology  The chipmaker saw shares rise 1.5% after Mizuho Securities reiterated its buy rating and increased its price target on the stock , saying a strong AI opportunity could lead to better-than-expected sales in late 2024 into 2025. Taiwan Semiconductor  Shares got a 1% boost after JPMorgan reiterated its overweight rating on the semiconductor stock. The firm noted that "all roads" in artificial intelligence lead to Taiwan Semiconductor.  CNBC's Jesse Pound, Alex Harring, Michelle Fox and Pia Singh contributed reporting.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks from the hallway outside a courtroom where he is attending a hearing in his criminal case on charges stemming from hush money paid to a porn star, in New York City on March 25, 2024.

A judge on Tuesday imposed a limited gag order on Donald Trump ahead of his criminal hush money trial in New York.

Trump's statements about various figures involved in the case "were threatening, inflammatory [and] denigrating," Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan said in a court order.

"Such inflammatory statements undoubtedly risk impeding the orderly administration of this Court," Merchan ruled.

The gag order bars Trump from making public statements about likely witnesses and jurors in the case.

He must also refrain from speaking about lawyers in the case, court staff, employees in the Manhattan District Attorney's office and their family members if those statements are made with the "intent to materially interfere" with the case.

Merchan's order still allows Trump to speak out about Alvin Bragg, the district attorney prosecuting the former president on charges of falsifying business records to conceal a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.

The gag order does not specifically bar Trump from criticizing the judge.

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung in a statement to NBC News said the gag order prevents the presumptive Republican presidential nominee "from engaging in core political speech, which is entitled to the highest level of protection under the First Amendment."

Merchan's decision, which granted a Feb. 22 request by Bragg to restrict Trump's speech about the case, came hours after Trump tore into the judge as a "Trump Hater" on social media.

Trump in multiple Truth Social posts called on Merchan to recuse himself from the case, and roped the judge's daughter into his attacks by pointing to her work for a Democratic consulting firm.

The fusillade against Merchan came one day after the judge scheduled the trial to start April 15, rejecting a bid by Trump's attorneys to delay it further.

Trump, who was in court when Merchan delivered that decision, said at a press conference afterward that he would be willing to testify in the trial.

Merchan's gag order ruling Tuesday afternoon appeared to reference Trump's remarks about his daughter.

He noted "the nature and impact of the statements made against this Court and a family member thereof," along with Trump's remarks about witnesses such as Michael Cohen, his former attorney who is set to testify in the trial.

"Given that the eve of trial is upon us, it is without question that the imminency of the risk of harm is now paramount," the judge wrote.

Merchan also noted in a footnote that Trump targeted a prosecutor in the case "within hours" of the April 15 trial date being set.

Trump attorney Todd Blanche declined a request for comment.

Trump is already bound by a gag order in a separate criminal case in Washington, D.C., federal court, where he is charged with illegally trying to overturn his 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden. A federal appeals court in December upheld Trump's challenge of that gag order, but narrowed it to allow him to speak about his prosecutor, special counsel Jack Smith.

Trump also was under a gag order in his civil fraud case, in which he was found liable for fraudulently inflating his asset values on business records for financial gain.

Bragg, in his own gag order request in late February, noted that Trump has a "long history of making public and inflammatory remarks about the participants in various judicial proceedings against him, including jurors, witnesses, lawyers, and court staff."

Trump's attorneys argued in response that it would be "unconstitutional and unlawful to impose a prior restraint" on the First Amendment-protected speech of the leading presidential candidate.

They instead said they would continue to comply with a judge's admonition at the start of the case, cautioning Trump not to make statements that would prejudice the trial process.

But Merchan in Tuesday's order said he was "unpersuaded" by that proposal.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Tuesday was granted permission by a U.K. court to appeal his extradition to the U.S., where he is wanted on spying charges.

Assange will therefore not be extradited immediately, the court said.

The ruling from the Royal Courts of Justice in London means Assange will have the opportunity to pursue a new hearing, unless the U.S. provides "satisfactory assurances" on certain aspects that would address his grounds of appeal.

The court said it would give the U.S. three weeks to give assurances that Assange is permitted to rely on the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, that he is not prejudiced at trial by reason of his nationality, that he is afforded the same First Amendment protections as a U.S. citizen and that he would not be subject to the death penalty.

An appeal hearing will be granted if those assurances are not given. A further hearing on May 20 will determine whether the assurances provided are satisfactory, the court said.

The 52-year-old has been battling extradition for more than a decade. In that time, Assange has spent seven years in self-exile in the Ecuadorian embassy in London and the last nearly five years at Belmarsh, a high-security prison on the outskirts of the U.K. capital.

Assange is wanted in the U.S. on 18 charges, including 17 under the Espionage Act and one under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. He faces up to 175 years in prison after WikiLeaks published hundreds of thousands of leaked confidential military files and diplomatic documents related to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Federal Security Service FSB Chief Alexander Bortnikov attends a signing ceremony while visiting the Kalashnikov Academy on September 19, 2019 in Izhevsk, Russia. Putin is having a one-day visit to Izhevsk, 967 km. east of Moscow to hold the Military-Industrial Commission Meeting.

Top Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, continue to make baseless claims that Ukraine, as well as its Western allies, were involved in a deadly terrorist attack in Moscow last Friday.

The head of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) on Tuesday said that the U.S., U.K. and Ukraine were behind the attack in which 139 people died.

FSB chief Alexander Bortnikov told pro-Kremlin journalist Pavel Zarubin that the attack was beneficial to Western intelligence services and Ukraine in their bid to destabilize Russia. He did not present evidence to back up his claim.

The Islamic State militant group said it was behind the attack. Ukraine, meanwhile, has repeatedly and vehemently denied any involvement. The White House has said Russian claims of Ukrainian involvement were "Kremlin propaganda." The U.K., U.S. and Ukraine have not commented on Bortnikov's latest claims.

On Monday, President Vladimir Putin conceded that the deadly terrorist attack in Moscow last Friday was carried out by "radical Islamists" but insisted that there was a link to Ukraine, without presenting evidence.
Korea's trade ministry said Tuesday it has agreed with Malaysia to resume their bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) talks that have been stalled since 2019.

Trade Minister Cheong In-kyo and his Malaysian counterpart, Tengku Zafrul Aziz, made the announcement during their meeting in Kuala Lumpur, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The two countries agreed to seek a bilateral FTA in 2019 but related negotiations have been stalled after holding three rounds of talks that year.

Korea and Malaysia also agreed to expand the scope of the envisioned FTA to cover new areas, such as service, investment, digital and biotechnology, the ministry added.

Malaysia is the third-largest trade partner for Korea in Southeast Asia.

Korea already has an FTA with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), but the country is seeking to broaden economic ties with individual members through separate free trade deals.

"As the two countries hold a mutually beneficial trade portfolio, the FTA will significantly strengthen Korea's ground for trade and investment in the ASEAN bloc," the ministry said in a statement.

On the margins of the meeting, the two countries agreed to launch a fresh channel of dialogue between trade ministers aimed at fostering bilateral economic cooperation, seeking stronger ties in the supply chain and emerging industries. (Yonhap)
U.S. President Joe Biden (L) and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (R) 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.

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, or 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 neighboring 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.


Full qualification programmes offered by the Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs), ranging from Nitec/Higher Nitec, Diploma, Undergraduate to Postgraduate degree programmes, as well as the modules that can stack towards these full qualifications;



MOE-subsidised full qualifications from the University of the Arts Singapore and the Arts Institutions, i.e., Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and LASALLE College of the Arts;



SSG's SkillsFuture Career Transition Programmes, which are train-and-place programmes to support mid-career individuals' transition into sectors with good employment opportunities;



Courses that fulfil the training requirements for Progressive Wage Model sectors; and



Workplace Literacy and Numeracy courses



The adage "there is no age for learning" holds especially true in the era of artificial intelligence (AI) advancements. Experts emphasise that now, more than ever, individuals must not only choose to learn out of interest but also need to upskill and reskill to remain relevant in today's rapidly evolving workforce landscape. This imperative applies whether one is already employed, seeking to re-enter the workforce, or aiming for entry-level positions.While edtech companies and the Indian government have launched initiatives like Digital Upskilling Programme to ensure a future-ready workforce, Singapore earlier this month came up with a scheme to boost mid-career upskilling and reskilling.The Ministry of Education (MOE), together with SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG), will jointly introduce the SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme (SFLP) to better support mid-career Singaporeans, aged 40 and above, in the pursuit of substantive skills reboot.Technology disruption is happening very quickly. New challenges everywhereNo country, no economy can hide from these changes in the world with AI This is why the new subsidy for Singaporeans age 40 and above to pursue another full-time diploma in higher education, Tan Wu Meng, Member of Parliament, noted.He explained that in a world that is changing so quickly, what you learn in school  in education  at age 20, may have changed, transformed and have been replaced by a new world by the time you are age 40. The new scheme recognises that change and supports middle-aged and older workers.And having mid-career workers learning new skills alongside younger workers  a middle-aged mid-career worker alongside someone who is 18, 19, 20-plus years' old, learning together, that will also transform the education experience in our IHLs because older workers bring life experience, life skills and living wisdom into the classroom. Even as they bring that into the classroom, they also learn new skills, together with the younger students, Meng asserted.This move reaffirms the importance of lifelong learning and will enable mature, mid-career Singaporeans, who may have more personal and family commitments, to upskill and reskill to stay relevant and employable amidst a rapidly changing economy, the Asian nations government said in a statement.As part of the programme, Singaporeans aged 40 and above are eligible for the Mid-Career Enhanced Subsidy (MCES) that covers up to 90% of course fees for programmes funded by MOE and SSG.All Singaporeans, aged 40 and above will receive a SkillsFuture Credit (Mid-Career) top-up of $4,000, from 1 May 2024 and subsequent cohorts of Singaporeans will receive the top-up in the year they turn 40. This credit, which does not expire, is intended to support the skills upgrading needs of mid-career Singaporeans throughout their careers, the Ministry of Education said.The move comes after Singapore had in 2020 given its citizens aged 40 to 60 a one-off SkillsFuture Credit top-up of $500 to encourage mid-career reskilling. This credit expires on December 31, 2025. The expiry date on this one-off top-up will be lifted and individuals' SkillsFuture Credit balances will be merged with the top-up of $4,000, according to the government statement.With this move, all Singaporeans will benefit from a base tier of $500 SkillsFuture Credit that is given at age 25, followed by an additional tier of support given at age 40 for a mid-career skills reboot, it added.The mid-career tier of SkillsFuture Credit can be used for a curated list of around 7,000 courses that have better employability outcomes.
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Florida is cracking down on kids social media use.

Governor Ron DeSantis officially signed bill HB 3 into law, which tightens social media restrictions for teens. The bill mandates bars all children under the age of 14 from using social media, and all existing accounts will be deleted.

Additionally, parents of 14 to 15-year-olds are being given more control over their kids social media presence. Parents are required to give permission for their 14- or 15-year-olds to be on social media sites, and if at any point they revoke that permission, the platform must delete the account.

Social media harms children in a variety of ways, DeSantis said in a statement. HB 3 gives parents a greater ability to protect their children.

The internet has become a dark alley for our children where predators target them and dangerous social media leads to higher rates of depression, self-harm, and even suicide, said House Speaker Paul Renner. Thanks to Governor DeSantis signature, Florida leads the way in protecting children online as states across the country fight to address these dangers.

The specifics of the bill

In addition to the age requirements and giving parents more access and control over their kids social media use, the bill also requires users to verify their age before accessing explicit websites.

To ensure users personal information is kept private, these sites will employ what is known as anonymous age verification. This means that the site itself wont store users responses, but instead, a third-party will verify the information and discard it.

Companies that violate the terms of the bill could be charged up to $50,000 per violation. On top of that, any minor whose account isnt deleted before the bill goes into effect on January 1, 2025, has the right to sue the platform for up to $10,000 in damages.

Social media platforms strike back

Though HB 3 has been signed into law, social media companies are expected to fight back.

NetChoice, a trade association of social media platforms, has members like Amazon, Google, TikTok, X, Meta, and others. The company sued the state of Utah in December 2023 after it passed a similar bill, arguing that the law violates the First Amendment.

Before the bill officially passed in Florida, NetChoice sent a veto request to Governor DeSantis, arguing that the bill violates constitutional rights.

Were disappointed to see Governor DeSantis sign onto this route, Carl Szabo, NetChoices vice president and general counsel said in a statement. There are better ways to keep Floridians, their families, and their data safe and secure online without violating their freedoms.

Similarly, policymakers in Montana and Arkansas sought to pass laws that restricted teens social media use, and federal judges blocked both such laws. The law in Florida, which is being cited as one of the most restrictive, could face a similar test.
Korea and Japan will collaborate on the development and operation of regional satellite navigation systems in East Asia, Seoul's science ministry said Tuesday.

The two countries signed a memorandum of cooperation (MOC), designed for practical cooperation in developing and operating their respective satellite systems in the region, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT.

In the first technical working group meeting in Seoul, they discussed the progress of the Korean Positioning System (KPS) and Japan's Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), along with measures to better allow the two systems to coexist and interoperate.

Korea has been pushing to develop the KPS since 2022, while Japan has been developing the QZSS since 2003 and is currently operating four satellites.

The ministry said it also plans to initiate cooperation with other countries with satellite navigation systems, including European nations and India. (Yonhap)
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Chinese vice premier meets with ADB president

Xinhua) 11:33, March 26, 2024

Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with Masatsugu Asakawa, president of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), in Beijing, capital of China, March 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Gao Jie)

BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang met with Masatsugu Asakawa, president of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), in Beijing on Monday.

Ding, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said the Chinese economy remains an important global economic growth engine, noting that it has overcome multiple difficulties and challenges, and China's economic recovery has been consolidated and strengthened.

China will strive to promote high-quality development, expand opening-up at a high level, actively promote economic globalization, and create new opportunities for all with its new development, Ding said.

Ding commended the long-term and sound cooperative relationship between China and the ADB, and said that China welcomes the ADB's continued participation in the country's reform and opening-up process. The two sides should deepen practical cooperation in such areas as environmental protection, green and low-carbon development, elderly care and medical care, he added.

Masatsugu Asakawa said the ADB looks forward to building a closer cooperative partnership with China, and that it is willing to continue supporting the country's high-quality development. It is also prepared to continue actively encouraging countries in the Asia-Pacific region to share in China's successful development experience, he noted.

Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with Masatsugu Asakawa, president of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), in Beijing, capital of China, March 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Gao Jie)

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
Korea's deputy foreign minister has visited Uzbekistan to discuss ways to bolster ties in the supply chain of critical raw materials, the foreign ministry said Tuesday.

During their talks on Monday, Deputy Foreign Minister Chung Byung-won and his Uzbek counterpart, Bobur Usmanov, also agreed to expand cooperation in other areas, including energy and infrastructure.

The two sides agreed that the two countries have great potential for partnership in critical raw materials, given Uzbekistan's resources and Korea's advanced technology, and decided to seek stronger ties in supply chains by promoting projects for commercializing rare metals. (Yonhap)
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Through 762 total Simpsons episodes, how the hell has Lenny never had a single episode to himself? He doesnt even have a clock!

Youd think that, 35 seasons and 35 years into the longest-running American sitcom of all time, no yellow, lemon-shaped stone would be left unturned and every single Springfieldian would have their own episode out of the sheer necessity of new original storylines. Theres only so many different iterations of the whole Lisa feels like an outcast because shes so much smarter and more cultured than everyone else plot, so the writers naturally have to expand their focus and tell stories about the characters outside of the titular nuclear family every now and then in order to pad out the 20-plus episode seasons that come out every year.

And, yet, each and every successive Simpsons writers room has decided that certain fan-favorite characters arent ready to step into the spotlight. Here are the top Simpsons side characters who should have had their own plot lines by now, starting with

4 Lionel Hutz Okay, obviously, theres a very good, very dark reason why were never going to get an entire storyline featuring Springfields most underprepared ambulance-chaser, considering that The Simpsons wisely retired the character of Lionel Hutz following the tragic death of Phil Hartman. However, there were seven years between the characters introduction in Bart Gets Hit By A Car and Hartmans murder when The Simpsons could have told the attorneys story. Its a damn shame we never learned what really went down between Hutz and Judge Snyders son. Advertisement

3 Helen Lovejoy The reverends wife takes a lot of flak for her judgmental temperament and Wont somebody please think of the children? sanctimony, but we only really see the insufferable gossip in an auxiliary role through her relationships to the other characters around her  whether its her devout husband or her many Mean Girls-esque womens groups. Who is Helen when shes not around the people she feels the need to either impress or oppress? Wed gladly spend 22 minutes figuring out the answer to that question. Advertisement Advertisement

2 Dr. Hibbert Despite being in the Simpsons familys lives since Season Twos Bart the Daredevil, Dr. Julius Michael Hibbert, M.D. hasnt had a single opportunity to be the medical main character of an episode. The closest weve come to a Hibbert-heavy plot line was when he played the maniacal, mutating villain of the Treehouse of Horror XIII story The Island of Dr. Hibbert, but that was hardly a deep-dive into the character himself. Wed like to know more about the inner life of the inappropriate chuckler and his relationship with his late brother, Bleeding Gums Murphy. Advertisement Advertisement
In the last few days, plenty of people have walked back the jokes they made and rumors they spread about the U.K. royal familys behind-the-scenes drama, but Stephen Colbert has a little extra explaining to do to a mad marchioness.

No one who openly mocked Kate Middletons mysterious disappearance from the public eye looked good when, this past Friday, the Princess of Wales revealed that she has been fighting cancer while pundits and late-night hosts laugh at her Photoshop mishaps. As is the case anytime a prominent nobleman or noblewoman goes off the grid, the spectacularly clickable speculation cycle over Middletons absence from her familys public engagements dating back to this past Christmastime started in the British tabloids before quickly taking over the attention span of royal-lovers and royal-haters alike in the U.S. As such, every late-night show on American TV spent weeks quipping about Middletons curious reclusion, only to be embarrassed by the sobering truth about her non-disappearance.

However, Colberts current conundrum wasnt caused by any of his punchlines targeting Middleton, but by one he made on The Late Show back on March 12th when he repeated the oft-reported rumor that, four years ago, her husband, William, Prince of Wales, engaged in an extramarital affair with Sarah Rose Cholmondeley, Marchioness of Cholmondeley, nee Hanbury. This past Tuesday, Hanburys lawyers sent a legal notice to CBS that was even longer and more intimidating than her title.

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Im afraid Ive got some troubling news about Englands royal family, Colbert began of the bit in his March 12th monologue that earned a legal response from across the pond. The kingdom has been all aflutter by the seeming disappearance of Kate Middleton. Well, now internet sleuths are guessing that Kates absence may be related to her husband and the future King of England William having an affair.

Then, for the kicker, Colbert, said to his audience, I think we all know who the alleged other woman is, say it with me, the Marchioness of Cholmondeley!

Though Colbert never explicitly endorsed the rumor thats haunted the Marchioness and her marriage to David Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley since 2019, Hanburys lawyers blamed Colbert for getting the ugly gossip back into headlines, writing in the legal notice, The rumor appears to have entered into the mainstream media recently as a result of another joke made about it on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. We have written on our clients behalf to CBS and various other reputable media organizations to confirm that the allegation is false.

The statement made by Hanburys representatives to In Touch didnt indicate that they will pursue any further legal action, nor would any attempted defamation case likely succeed considering that Colbert didnt state the salacious story as a fact, as he only reported on a rumor that has followed Hanbury around for years. If a strongly worded letter was enough to force people to stop making jokes at your expense, every post office around Elon Musk's mansion would sell out their stamps in an afternoon.
As some fans may already be aware, a number of iconic South Park locations were based on real-life places  from Starks Pond, to South Park Elementary, to the fantastical land of Ca-na-da. But perhaps most importantly, Cartmans favorite novelty-filled Mexican eatery, Casa Bonita, is a real restaurant just outside of Denver.

Weve mentioned before that South Park creators, and failed political prognosticators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone bought the flailing business in 2021, and spent roughly infinity dollars (or around $40 million) restoring Casa Bonita to its former glory. As the duo told The Today Show in 2023, the decision was 100 percent irony-free, and completely rooted in a genuine love of the establishment.

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At the time, Parker and Stone speculated that they would have to attract about 6 million customers a night to break even. So while they still may be taking a bath on this endeavor (presumably in chlorinated water beneath a plaster mountain) Casa Bonita has been raking in the customers, a not insubstantial number of which appear to be rabid South Park fans.

In 2023, the restaurant first announced that they were reopening as part of a beta-testing phase, which would only include limited dinner hours and guests pulled EXCLUSIVELY from our email list. No walk-ins. Following the announcement, so many people tried to get on the waitlist that the Casa Bonita website crashed.

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Even though its been nearly a year since the restaurant reopened its ridiculous pink doors, theres still a wait list. And its pretty damn long. According to a recent interview with Casa Bonitas renowned head chef, Dana Loca Rodriguez, 400,000 to 600,000 people are on the waitlist. The attraction is so popular that on an average day, they go through 200 pounds of dough and make roughly 2,500 sopapillas. But now Casa Bonita is expanding to offer lunch service as well as dinner service, and they are open more days during the week.

One YouTuber recently posted a video review after spending nine months on the Casa Bonita waiting list, claiming that it was still worth it! And really, if a human life can be conceived and birthed in the exact same amount of time, that does seem like a pretty excessive wait.

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Other reviews were a tad less kind. A recent article in The Colorado Springs Gazette pointed out that its probably easier to get a reservation at a Michelin star-rated restaurant than to Casa Bonita, further bemoaning that it took six months to receive the link to pick a date and time to dine at Denvers restored, iconic Mexican-theme restaurant.

At least the folks who have been lucky enough to score tickets to Casa Bonita have seemingly been enjoying themselves. And as an extra treat for South Park fans, theres now a sculpture of Cartman to take photos with  of course, some might argue that a monument to the guy who murdered two people, ground up their flesh and turned the meat into a chili dinner for their son is kind of a weird choice for a Mexican restaurant.

You (yes, you) should follow JM on Twitter (if it still exists by the time youre reading this).
Defense Minister Shin Won-sik met with the chair of the German parliament's defense committee Tuesday to discuss regional security issues and ways to strengthen defense cooperation, his ministry said.

Shin held the talks with Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann at his office in central Seoul, marking the first time a chair of the Bundestag committee has visited South Korea, according to the ministry.

The two sides emphasized that it was an important period for cooperation in the international community, citing the war in Ukraine, military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, and the armed conflict between Israel and Hamas, the ministry said.

They also shared the view that the security of the Indo-Pacific and the Atlantic are closely connected, and agreed to develop bilateral defense cooperation and continue close communication on major security issues, it said. (Yonhap)
Leaders who ignore DEI also risk weakening the brain trust in their cybersecurity arsenal at a time when AI has supercharged the threat landscape, she adds. If youre faced with solving complex problems and managing complex risk on a daily basis, the more diverse backgrounds you have helping you do that, the better off you are. Different people see problems from different perspectives.

As the global war for talent rages on, cybersecurity executives must consider how they can provide leadership that resonates with their increasingly diverse workforce.

Mind the diversity gap

Cybersecurity workers from underrepresented groups are much more likely to feel discriminated against at work, according to a 2023 report by the ASIS Foundation. Based on the poll of 474 cybersecurity professionals around the world, heres how those data broke down:

60% of women feel discriminated at work (vs. 22% of men).

60% of LGBTQIA+ (vs. 33% of heterosexuals).

48% of non-Caucasians (vs. 34% of Caucasians).

57% of disabled workers (vs. 34% of able-bodied).

52% of neurodiverse workers (vs. 34% of neurotypical).

Those numbers undermine the idea that DEI is only about recruiting more diverse candidates. After bringing different types of people into their organization, cybersecurity leaders clearly need to think hard about what comes next. Thats the phase of actual inclusion and belonging, says M.K. Palmore, president of Cyversity, a non-profit industry group formerly known as the International Consortium of Minority Cyber Professionals.

Inclusion and belonging arent solely HRs responsibility. CISOs and CSOs play an important role in making diverse employees feel like their perspectives and contributions really count, says Palmore, whos also director of the CISOs office at Google Cloud. You have to be thinking about that as a leader, in order to ensure that those folks feel like they found a place where they can grow, develop, acquire skills, and be effectively heard and seen in terms of the work environment, he says.

As an African-American woman in an executive leadership role, Nicole Darden Ford tries to model that inclusive approach as global VP and CISO of Rockwell Automation. Its just showing that I care, right? Its giving [diverse employees] a place where they can come in and talk to me in an open, candid way about how things are going, or work together to make things better or course correct if needed, she says.
Attack on the UKs Electoral Commission

This indictment has prompted a strong international reaction, with the UK explicitly attributing similar cyber misconduct to China-affiliated actors. According to a statement from the UK government, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has linked a Chinese state-affiliated entity to the compromise of the UK Electoral Commissions systems between 2021 and 2022. Furthermore, the NCSC has assessed with high confidence that in 2021, APT31, another group affiliated with Chinas state apparatus, engaged in reconnaissance activities targeting UK parliamentarians.

Deputy Prime Minister of the UK, Oliver Dowden, emphasized the governments stance, asserting, We will continue to call out this activity, holding the Chinese government accountable for its actions. He described these incidents as part of a clear pattern of malicious cyber activity by Chinese state-affiliated organizations and individuals targeting democratic institutions and parliamentarians in the UK and beyond.

Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron echoed these sentiments, deeming the targeting of democratic institutions by China-affiliated entities as completely unacceptable.

Highlighting the resilience of the UKs electoral system, Home Secretary James Cleverly said, Chinas attempts at espionage did not give them the results they wanted, and our new National Security Act has made the UK an even harder target. Our upcoming elections, at local and national level, are robust and secure.

Australia and New Zealand raise similar concerns against China

Apart from the UK and the US, New Zealand has also raised a red flag and accused the Chinese government of malicious cyber activity. The Foreign Minister, Winston Peters, confirmed that New Zealands concerns have been directly conveyed to the Chinese government. He said, The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns about cyberattacks sponsored by the Chinese government, targeting democratic institutions in both New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

Australia has also joined other countries in condemning China for allegedly launching cyberattacks against the UKs democratic institutions and parliamentarians. Although Australias electoral systems were not affected by the cyber campaigns directed towards the UK, the persistent targeting of democratic institutions and processes has implications for democratic and open societies like Australia. A statement from the Minister of Foreign Affairs emphasized this concern.
Parties go all out to woo voters as election day nears
Buy Now A friend offers one final goodbye, placing a hand on Grassias casket at the conclusion of his military funeral honors at Gerald B. H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery.

Buy Now The flag that draped the coffin of state trooper John Grassia was folded and then handed to his family, part of the military funeral honors at George B. H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery, Tuesday, March 26, 2024 Grassia along with Casey Frankoski, were both killed in a UH-72 Lakota crash near the Mexico border in Texas while on a support mission with the National Guard on March 8.

Buy Now A honor guard carries the remains of state trooper John Grassia from a hearse at George B. H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery to one of the committal service areas on the grounds, Tuesday, March 26, 2024 Grassia along with Casey Frankoski, were both killed in a UH-72 Lakota crash near the Mexico border in Texas while on a support mission with the National Guard on March 8.

Buy Now A honor guard carries the remains of state trooper John Grassia from a hearse at George B. H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery to one of the committal service areas on the grounds, Tuesday, March 26, 2024 Grassia along with Casey Frankoski, were both killed in a UH-72 Lakota crash near the Mexico border in Texas while on a support mission with the National Guard on March 8.

Images: Services for fallen National Guardsman John Grassia SCHENECTADY - Services were held Tuesday for John Grassia III, a Rotterdam native and National Guardsman killed in a helicopter crash.

Buy Now Schenectady firefighters fly an American flag at St. John's the Evangelist Church on Union Street for the funeral for fallen state trooper John Grassia, 3rd Tuesday, March 26, 2024.

Buy Now Members of the New York Police Department and Albany police department mounted division were on hand for the funeral for fallen state trooper John Grassia, 3rd Tuesday, March 26, 2024.

Gov. Kathy Hochul stands with state troopers lined up at St. John's the Evangelist Church on Union Street for the funeral for fallen state trooper John Grassia, 3rd Tuesday, March 26, 2024.

State troopers stand and salute at St. John's the Evangelist Church on Union Street for the funeral for fallen state trooper John Grassia, 3rd Tuesday, March 26, 2024.

Buy Now The casket of fallen state trooper John Grassia III is carried into St. John the Evangelist Church on Union Street in Schenectady Tuesday.

Members of the state police Rapid Intervention Team watch from the roof of the former St. John's School on Union Street Tuesday, March 26, 2024.

Buy Now Texas Rangers made the trip to pay their respects to fallen state trooper John Grassia, 3rd at St. John's the Evangelist Church on Union Street Tuesday, March 26, 2024.

Buy Now The motorcade for fallen state trooper John Grassia, 3rd arrives at St. John's the Evangelist Church on Union Street Tuesday, March 26, 2024.

Buy Now The motorcade for fallen state trooper John Grassia, 3rd arrives at St. John's the Evangelist Church on Union Street Tuesday, March 26, 2024.

Buy Now The motorcade for fallen state trooper John Grassia, 3rd arrives at St. John's the Evangelist Church on Union Street Tuesday, March 26, 2024.

The family of state trooper John Grassia, 3rd makes their way on Balltown Road in Niskayuna enroute to Saratoga National Cemetery Tuesday, March 26, 2024.

Buy Now The law enforcement motocade for state trooper John Grassia, 3rd makes their way on Balltown Road in Niskayuna enroute to Saratoga National Cemetery Tuesday, March 26, 2024.

Buy Now The law enforcement motorcade for state trooper John Grassia, 3rd makes their way on Balltown Road in Niskayuna enroute to Saratoga National Cemetery Tuesday, March 26, 2024.

Buy Now An American flag waves in the wind from Niskayuna Fire District 1s tower ladder truck in front of its Balltown Road firehouse as members wait to honor Grassia, whose casket drove by in a motorcade headed to Gerald B.H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery Tuesday.

Buy Now Niskayuna Fire District 1 salute as the hearse carrying fallen state trooper John Grassia, 3rd passe in front of their Balltown Road firehouse Tuesday, March 26, 2024.

Buy Now A hearse carrying the remains of state trooper John Grassia arrives at George B. H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery, passing under a large, draped American Flag hung by a fire truck on its way to one of the committal service areas on the grounds, Tuesday, March 26, 2024 Grassia along with Casey Frankoski, were both killed in a UH-72 Lakota crash near the Mexico border in Texas while on a support mission with the National Guard on March 8.

Buy Now A friend offers one final goodbye, placing a hand on Grassias casket at the conclusion of his military funeral honors at Gerald B. H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery.

Buy Now The flag that draped the coffin of state trooper John Grassia was folded and then handed to his family, part of the military funeral honors at George B. H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery, Tuesday, March 26, 2024 Grassia along with Casey Frankoski, were both killed in a UH-72 Lakota crash near the Mexico border in Texas while on a support mission with the National Guard on March 8.

Buy Now A honor guard carries the remains of state trooper John Grassia from a hearse at George B. H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery to one of the committal service areas on the grounds, Tuesday, March 26, 2024 Grassia along with Casey Frankoski, were both killed in a UH-72 Lakota crash near the Mexico border in Texas while on a support mission with the National Guard on March 8.

Buy Now A honor guard carries the remains of state trooper John Grassia from a hearse at George B. H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery to one of the committal service areas on the grounds, Tuesday, March 26, 2024 Grassia along with Casey Frankoski, were both killed in a UH-72 Lakota crash near the Mexico border in Texas while on a support mission with the National Guard on March 8.

Grassia was one of three killed when a UH-72 Lakota helicopter patrolling the southern border crashed near La Grulla, Texas. Also killed were Border Patrol Agent Chris Luna, 49, and Chief Warrant Officer 2, Casey Frankoski.

Frankoski, 28, was a graduate of Columbia High School in Rensselaer County and the daughter of former Rensselaer Police Chief James Frankoski. She was buried Friday at Saratoga National Cemetery, where Grassia was also put to rest following Tuesdays service.

The Frankoski family were in attendance for Grassias funeral.

Jacob Pratt, a graduate of Rensselaer High School, was injured in the crash, which remains under investigation. Pratts condition is improving, but he remains hospitalized following the incident.

Grassia joined the state police in 2022 and was assigned to the Livingston barracks of Troop K in the Hudson Valley. Members of the barracks were among the hundreds of state police officers in attendance for Grassias services.

He was a respected trooper by not only his supervisors, but his peers, said Maj. Kathryne Rohde, the Troop K commander. He had a great personality and was always known for giving people a lift when needed.

Grassia was recently reassigned to Troop G and was expected to begin working out of the Fonda barracks following his return from deployment in the fall.

He ran toward danger, said Acting State Police Superintendent Steven James. He knew the risk, but his life was always dedicated to helping others.

Grassias ultimate dream was to fly helicopters for state troopers, and be assigned to the detail responsible for flying the governor.

It was a job he would have no doubt received, according to Hochul, who became emotional as she recalled how Grassia was expected to interview for the job in the fall.

Fighting back emotion, the governor posthumously appointed Grassia to technical sergeant of New York State Police Aviation Division during a brief eulogy, where she presented Grassias family with a pair of aviation wings.

Our hearts are broken for all of you, she said.

Contact reporter Chad Arnold at: carnold@dailygazette.net or by calling 518-410-5117. {span} {/span}
Defense Minister Shin Won-sik on Tuesday called for defending the western sea border against enemy threats on the anniversary of the 2010 sinking of a South Korean warship by a North Korean torpedo attack.

The ROKS Cheonan corvette sank near the western Northern Limit Line (NLL), a de facto inter-Korean sea border, in March 2010, after a North Korean midget submarine fired a torpedo at it, killing 46 sailors.

"North Korea is claiming the NLL is a ghost line without legal grounds and is continuously trying to nullify it," Shin said in his phone talks with the commanding officer of a new frigate named after the torpedoed warship.

"Protect the Yellow Sea and the NLL that the comrades before you have defended by giving up their lives."

In turn, Cdr. Park Yeon-soo, the commanding officer, vowed to avenge the sailors of the Cheonan if the enemy undertakes a provocation. Park served on the previous warship and is a survivor of the 2010 attack.

Shin's call came after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un last month rejected the NLL as a "ghost" line and called for using force against South Korean vessels violating its waters.

The minister also visited the 6th Marine Brigade on the border island of Baengnyeong to pay his respects at a memorial for the fallen sailors of the Cheonan and called on troops to destroy the enemy in the event of a provocation.

"If the enemy undertakes a provocation, utilize ground, sea and air assets under the principle of punishing immediately, strongly and until the end to completely annihilate the origin of the provocation and the command and support forces," he was quoted as saying.

Shin said there is a high possibility of the North carrying out surprise provocations, such as with coastal defense cruise missiles, coastal artillery and torpedoes, citing tensions raised by recent North Korean military exercises.

Earlier this month, the North's leader oversaw a series of military drills that involved long-range artillery, paratroopers and tanks. (Yonhap)
When I received a request to MC a fundraising dinner for the Dame Vera Lynn Memorial Statue, I didn't have to think twice about accepting.

Vera Lynn  the original Forces' Sweetheart  is the epitome of a legend.

Aged just 22, she became a household name with her pitch-perfect songs rallying the Front Line and Home Front.

Never cowed by danger, Vera kept spirits raised; she sang to people on Tube station platforms during air raids; uplifting the world with We'll Meet Again and (There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover. Her songs promised a brighter future  we could certainly do with her optimism right now

Her BBC radio show Sincerely Yours connected brave soldiers with messages from loved ones faraway. She toured Egypt, India and Burma, visiting war-torn areas with outdoor concerts for British troops. Her brave Burma boys remained close to her heart until the very end.

Gyles Brandreth invites you to a fundraising dinner for the Dame Vera Lynn Memorial Statue. He says: 'Vera Lynn  the original Forces' Sweetheart  is the epitome of a legend'

Dame Vera Lynn in later life. Never cowed by danger, Vera kept spirits raised; she sang to people on Tube station platforms during air raids; uplifting the world with We'll Meet Again and (There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover. Her songs promised a brighter future  we could certainly do with her optimism right now

Our beloved songbird left us at the great age of 103, but her legacy continues. The memorial statue will honour not just Dame Vera's immense contribution, but all artistes who have performed in times of conflict

The original design for the Dame Vera Lynn Memorial Park. The original plan for the memorial to be the centrepiece of a new park in Dover, not far from the White Cliffs However, the family and the memorial trustees have since decided that the Vera Lynn monument should stand at the National Memorial Arboretum (NMA) in Staffordshire, where it will serve as a tribute to all wartime entertainers

After the war, she worked tirelessly with charities benefiting veterans, as well as founding the Dame Vera Lynn Children's Charity. In 2020, she rallied us yet again when Queen Elizabeth II quoted We'll Meet Again in her address to a nation in lockdown.

Having written a biography of the late Queen, I know how much the wartime entertainers meant to the young Princess Elizabeth. Elizabeth II valued Dame Vera's special contribution to our national life  and our place in the world.

Our beloved songbird left us at the great age of 103, but her legacy continues. The memorial statue will honour not just Dame Vera's immense contribution, but all artistes who have performed in times of conflict.

Please dig deep dear readers ... and do come along and enjoy an evening of good food, fun and nostalgia. I will be there, recalling some of the happy times when I met Dame Vera  and telling some right royal stories about her.

My old friend Lord (Jeffrey) Archer will take the role of auctioneer and there is going to be some very special live music in the Vera Lynn tradition to enjoy.
There can't be many laughs to be had working at the Ministry of National Defence on Changan Street, Beijing. Repartee is generally discouraged. Ditto practical jokes. The last clerk to slide a whoopee cushion under the secretary-commissar's third permanent secretary may now be found counting bricks on the Great Wall of China (Mongolia border section).

Ministry officials go whole decades without cracking a smile. But yesterday should have brought a little light relief. If the Comrades tuned to the right TV channel they will have seen Oliver 'Olive' Dowden, British Deputy Prime Minister, making a Commons statement and saying how jolly cross he was about Chinese cyber warfare.

A Brownie pack Tawny Owl admonishing her Brownies about their marshmallow-toasting skills would have sounded more stern. Even the ghastliest waxwork in Changan Street must have started wheezing at wet Olive. Even better, MPs worked themselves into a vortex of indignation, even though the Chinese bugging efforts were a total flop.

Mr Dowden described a 'persistent pattern' of Chinese efforts to penetrate MPs' computer systems. The Electoral Commission was also targeted. Blimey, they must have been desperate. The Electoral Commission is as boring as you can get.

If the Comrades tuned to the right TV channel they will have seen Oliver 'Olive' Dowden (pictured), British Deputy Prime Minister, making a Commons statement and saying how jolly cross he was about Chinese cyber warfare

A Brownie pack Tawny Owl admonishing her Brownies about their marshmallow-toasting skills would have sounded more stern. Even the ghastliest waxwork in Changan Street must have started wheezing at wet Olive

Tim Loughton (pictured) may be one of MI6's finest but intelligence officers do not normally carry bags of jelly babies in their pockets as he does

Two Chinese people were going to be sanctioned. Olive also identified a group involved. This outfit was called 'APT31' and Mr Dowden kept saying the name. As dastardly monikers go, 'APT31' is not wildly sinister. It's not 'Smersh' or 'The Fellowship of the Black Stone', is it? Sounds more like a country road in the Dordogne. 'Venetia and Bernard recommended a delightful little bistro near Limeuil off the APT31.'

As Mr Dowden flapped his hands it became apparent that Red China's fiendish stratagems had not yet flattened the walls of civilisation. Mr Dowden said they had been 'entirely unsuccessful'. Oh. So why make a parliamentary statement? Would it not have made more sense to let the Chinese think they had succeeded and instead feed them all sorts of bogus intelligence?

Beijing's IT aces hadn't even managed to smuggle past the passwords of Tory backbencher Tim Loughton (East Worthing and Shoreham) and the SNP's Stewart McDonald (Glasgow South). Fine fellows both, but neither is exactly Admiral Jellicoe. I may be wrong. Mr Loughton may be one of MI6's finest but intelligence officers do not normally carry bags of jelly babies in their pockets as he does. As for Mr McDonald, are the Chinese sure they had the right one? There's another SNP MP called Stewart McDonald. Crafty, eh? One of them must be a spy.

Like Sir Iain Duncan Smith (Con, Chingford), Messrs Loughton and McDonald may have been quietly delighted to have been targeted but had to affect fury. Sir Iain said Mr Dowden sounded like 'an elephant giving birth to a mouse'. Mr McDonald (Agent Sporran, we call him in the trade) cried that Mr Dowden had 'turned up at a gunfight with a wooden spoon'.

Olive fanned his face and became a bit squeaky. He spoke of 'quantum-encrypted information' and 'powerful computers' and 'building tools'. Everyone adopted a terribly serious face. We kept being told the mischief was being done by 'state-sponsored actors'. They can certainly be a confounded nuisance: Brian Blessed, Fiona Shaw, Simon Callow. Labour's response was led by Pat McFadden, the Gromyko of Wolverhampton. Unremittingly glum. Makes President Xi Jinping look like Sir Ken Dodd. Mr McFadden and a few opposition MPs complained about Lord Cameron being too close to Beijing. The Foreign Secretary later paralysed them with his poison-tipped chopstick.

Sir Iain Duncan Smith (pictured) said Mr Dowden sounded like 'an elephant giving birth to a mouse'

We kept being told the mischief was being done by 'state-sponsored actors'. They can certainly be a confounded nuisance: Brian Blessed (pictured), Fiona Shaw, Simon Callow

Labour's response was led by Pat McFadden, the Gromyko of Wolverhampton. Unremittingly glum. Makes President Xi Jinping (pictured) look like Sir Ken Dodd

Sir Michael Ellis (Con, Northampton North), the kingdom's leading monarchist groveller, produced an almost entirely gratuitous mention of the Royal Family. Alexander Stafford (Con, Rother Valley) hinted that China may want to influence council elections in, er, Rotherham. Dean Russell (Con, Watford) spoke of 'rumour bombs'. Sir Benjamin Bradshaw (Lab, Exeter) ran a stressy hand through his greying fringe. He's starting to look like Indira Gandhi. And Suella Braverman complained that China was 'hostile'. Suella the peace dove!
A new Netflix documentary has laid bare the sinister mystery of the 'baby-faced killers' - two teenagers who brutally murdered a man in Central Park, 'mutilating' his body and ripping out his insides, but police still don't know why.

In May 1997, the body of a 44-year-old man named Michael McMorrow was found floating in the lake in Central Park, sparking a massive, nation-wide interest into what happened to him that would last for decades.

With 38 stab wounds, Michael's face and hands were 'hacked,' and his stomach was 'ripped open,' his neck slit, and his organs 'floating in the water.'

Described by one detective as one of the 'most brutal' scenes he had ever seen, the horrific crime quickly captured the entire world - especially after it was revealed that the two people arrested for his murder were just 15 years old.

A new Netflix documentary has laid bare the sinister mystery of the 'baby-faced killers' - two teenagers who brutally murdered a man in Central Park

In May 1997, the body of a 44-year-old man named Michael McMorrow (seen) was found floating in the lake in Central Park, sparking a massive, nation-wide interest into what happened to him

With 38 stab wounds, Michael's face and hands were 'hacked,' and his stomach was 'ripped open,' and his organs 'floating in the water.' Detectives are seen at the spot he was found

15-year-olds Daphne Abdela (seen) and Christopher Vasquez were arrested for his murder, and the horrific crime quickly captured the entire world

Many began to wonder how the teens could have over-powered the six-foot, 200-pound man and theories about what happened divided the nation. Chris is seen

Many began to wonder how the teens, named Daphne Abdela and Christopher Vasquez, could have over-powered the six-foot, 200-pound man.

Others questioned how they had met that fateful night in the park and what had led to them committing such a gruesome killing.

But unfortunately, many of the events surrounding Michael's (pictured) death still remain a mystery to this day, baffling detectives and prosecutors even now

Theories seemed to divide the nation - some thought that Daphne and Chris were the victims and that he had tried to hurt them, while others branded Daphne as a master manipulator who forced Chris to kill him.

But unfortunately, many of the events surrounding Michael's death still remain a mystery to this day, baffling detectives and prosecutors even now, 27 years on.

The puzzling crime has recently been revisited as part of Netflix's new crime docuseries, Homicide: New York.

The network spoke to the detectives who worked on the case, the prosecutors who fought for justice, and the family members of the victim to try to finally uncover some answers.

But here is what we do know.

The tragic ordeal began in the early hours of May 23, 1997, when Daphne's father called the police to say that his 15-year-old daughter hadn't come home.

The puzzling crime has recently been revisited as part of Netflix's new crime docuseries, Homicide: New York

Lee Furman (seen), a now-retired New York City detective, recalled how Daphne told him that boyfriend Chris had 'gone crazy' and murdered a man in the park

Detectives found Michael's body in the lake near Strawberry Fields, and one officer described it as one of the 'most brutal' crime scenes he had ever seen

Lee Furman, a now-retired New York City detective, recalled in the doc how he went to her upper west side apartment, where a doorman told him he had seen her entering the utility room of the building with her boyfriend, Chris.

There, he found them sitting in a bathtub and 'washing each other off.'

And while he initially thought he had just walked in on two teens getting intimate, he would later learn that they were actually cleaning off Michael's blood in the aftermath of the devastating murder.

Lee explained that he was on his way back to the precinct when he heard an officer on the police radio say that someone had called in to report a body in Central Park - and the report had come from Daphne's building.

He headed back to see the teen where Daphne told him that she had called the police to report the body after Chris left.

She claimed that she couldn't say anything with him there because she was 'afraid' of her boyfriend.

Immediately, she painted Chris as the bad guy, telling police that he had 'gone crazy' and murdered a man in the park.

Daphne said she tried to save Michael, performing CPR, but one thing that she said instantly made Lee suspicious of her.

'She said she had been in the park with her boyfriend, Chris, hanging out,' recalled Lee of her initial statement.

'They went for a walk and Chris went crazy and killed a guy. I wasn't asking any questions, she was just divulging this information.

'She said she had tried to give him CPR, [made it seem like she] tried to help instead of being part of it.

'But she said when Chris was trying to get rid of the body, she told him, "Chris you should gut him and try to sink him to try to cover it up."

'Also, to be around something like that, it should be shocking, and her demeanor was normal, very relaxed.'

'His abdomen had been ripped open and his intestines were floating in the water,' death investigator Barbara Butcher (pictured) said. 'There were multiple stab wounds'

It was clear right away to homicide detective Rob Mooney that the crime was not a 'random act of violence' and that it was 'personal.' Detectives are seen pulling his body out of the lake

'The condition of the victim's body and the amount of violence that attended to all these injuries was a clear indication that this was not a random act of violence,' he explained

Immediately, detectives rushed to search Central Park, where they uncovered a grisly scene at the lake near Strawberry Fields.

'I looked at the edge of the water, just bobbing and floating among the reeds was this pale man, well what was left of a man,' death investigator Barbara Butcher said.

'I stepped a little closer and saw his abdomen had been ripped open and his intestines were floating in the water.

'His wrist was hacked, his right hand hanging, almost detached. There were multiple stab wounds. It was overkill, done out of passion, anger, rage.'

'When I first saw the crime scene, I couldn't help but feel this incredible sense of dissonance,' former assistant DA Richard Plansky added.

'That lake is in the center of this beautiful park yet what I was seeing at this crime scene was among the most brutal I had ever seen.'

The police identified the body as Michael, a 44-year-old real estate agent.

It was clear right away to homicide detective Rob Mooney that the crime was not a 'random act of violence' and that it was 'personal.'

'The condition of the victim's body and the amount of violence that attended to all these injuries was a clear indication that this was not a random act of violence,' he explained. 'This was not a robbery that went bad.'

Police headed to Chris' apartment in Spanish Harlem and placed him under arrest. They also took Daphne in to custody - but something just didn't add up to them.

Police headed to Chris' apartment in Spanish Harlem and placed him under arrest. They also took Daphne in to custody - but something just didn't add up to them. The crime scene is seen

Police wondered how Chris, who 'looked like a little kid,' could have overpowered Michael by himself and they began to suspect that Daphne (seen) was involved

They found that Daphne's father was a successful businessman while her mom was a French model, and that she had 'lived a life of incredible privilege.' She's seen as a kid

'When I looked at Chris I was kind of shocked because he looked like this little kid,' Rob told viewers.

'I knew he was 15 but he looked like he was 12. It didn't seem likely to me that he was the sole responsible person for the mayhem that had occurred at that scene.'

Sergeant Wally Zeins wondered how a teenage boy of Chris' size could have overpowered Michael by himself.

'He was six foot and over 200 pounds,' he said. 'So for someone to be able to go out there and mutilate, dismember someone like that, there was more to the picture that I couldn't understand.'

Law enforcement officials then started looking into every aspect of Daphne and Chris' lives.

They found that Daphne's father was a successful businessman while her mom was a French model, and that she had 'lived a life of incredible privilege.'

But she had become involved in 'booze and drugs' in her teenage years, which got her thrown out of the elite private school she was attending. She had also been to rehab twice.

A family friend recalled how her 'attitude had become worse and worse,' adding that she 'refused to follow any rules or curfew.'

Chris, on the other hand, was described as a 'Boy Scout and former alter boy' who was raised by a single mom.

'He was a good kid but he was very introverted,' Rob revealed. 'And he got picked on a lot at school because of his [small] size and introverted behavior.'

They interviewed their friends and family members, and the detectives came to believe that 'Chris was a lap dog' who just 'followed along with Daphne.'

'She controlled everything with him,' said Wally. While Rob added, 'How could skinny little Chris Vasquez do all that damage by himself? The answer is, Chris didn't do it by himself.'

But she had become involved in 'booze and drugs' in her teenage years, which got her thrown out of the elite private school she was attending. She had also been to rehab twice

They interviewed their friends and family members, and the detectives came to believe that 'Chris was a lap dog' who just 'followed along with Daphne.' The victim, Michael, is seen

After speaking to witnesses, the police uncovered that Daphne and Chris were rollerblading in the park together on the night of Michael's murder.

They eventually crossed paths with Michael, who struggled with alcoholism and would drink in the park some evenings, and went down to the lake to party together.

But what led to his death once they got down to the lake was still a mystery to them.

Even so, both teenagers were charged with murder in the second degree and pled not-guilty.

Immediately, the world became enthralled with the crime - but headlines began to paint Michael as the bad guy rather than the victim.

'When you see Mike drinking late at night with two 15-year-olds in the park, it's not hard to paint that picture,' said one of his family members in the doc.

Richard pointed out that it was 'hard for people' to 'wrap their heads around' the fact that the teens might have committed such a terrible crime, especially because they both looked 'like kids.'

The media reported that Michael may have 'made a pass' at Daphne, which 'sent her boyfriend in a rage' - but the detectives didn't think that was the case.

'There wasn't one thing that we learned about him that would have ever indicated that he did something bad to anybody,' Rob vowed.

'He was in fact a kind person who was good to anybody that he met to a fault. In this particular instance, [he was] in the wrong place at the wrong time.'

Throughout their entire investigation, Rob explained that Daphne made it seem like she was an 'eye-witness' to Chris' crime, rather than a suspect.

But everything changed during one interview in the days after her indictment.

While speaking to police, she accidentally let it slip that she had attacked Michael - and it was the turning point in the case.

'Daphne was born practically thinking she was superior to the rest of the world and that she was the most important person in any room she went into,' Rob explained.

'She, I'm sure, thought she was smarter and would be able to talk her way out of it. But there's nothing we like better, keep talking.'

He said at one point, he showed her images of a bizarre set of round bruises on the back of Michael's leg.

'She got a little bit coy, she was turning the picture around and looking at it, she's being hesitant about it. Her lawyer taps her on the shoulder and says, "It's OK, you can tell him,"' Rob recalled.

Both teenagers were charged with murder in the second degree and plead not-guilty. During interviews, Daphne made it seem like she was an 'eye-witness' to Chris' crime

While speaking to police days after her indictment, however, she accidentally let it slip that she had attacked Michael (seen) - and it was the turning point in the case

Barbara explained that after that, Daphne could 'no longer deny that she had any involvement' because had admitted to 'assaulting' Michael and 'rendering him helpless'

She plead guilty to manslaughter in the first degree and was sentenced three to nine years behind bars. Chris received the same charge and sentence

'Then I reach in the box and I take her rollerblade out and I said, "Does this help jar your memories about this at all?"

'Then she began to demonstrated part of her true behavior. She said, "I thought he was going to hurt my friend so I kicked him. I kicked him and he fell down and Chris jumped on him and was stabbing him some more." And then the lawyer went, "OK, we're done."'

Barbara explained that after that, Daphne could 'no longer deny that she had any involvement' because had admitted to 'assaulting' Michael and 'rendering him helpless.'

'We knew she had to have helped Chris. Now for the first time, she's telling us,' Richard added.

Due to the lack of evidence, police ultimately made a deal with Daphne, and she pled guilty to manslaughter in the first degree and was sentenced three to nine years behind bars.

They were both released in 2004, but police - and Michael's family - are still unhappy with the results, and still baffled by what happened the night. Daphne is seen leaving prison after her release

Chris went to trial, but was ultimately found not guilty for murder in the second degree and guilty for manslaughter one, receiving the same sentence as Daphne.

'The defense that was put forward was, three people went down to the lake, two people came back, and neither one of them is talking so you just don't know what the hell happened down at the lake,' Richard explained.

'If you're not sure who was actually doing the cutting, then you've got to have a reasonable doubt about this young man's guilt.

'The defense put the blame on Daphne but the overall strategy was, "We just don't know. And if you don't know, you have to acquit my client."'

Both Daphne and Chris were released from prison in January 2004 after six years behind bars.

Daphne, however, ultimately returned to finish her nine-year sentence after she broke her parole agreement by getting into a physical altercation with a fellow resident at a halfway house she was staying in.

But police - and Michael's family - are still unhappy with the results, and still baffled by what happened the night.

'My brother's life was worth a lot more than six years in prison,' Michael's brother said in the documentary.

'We know who did it, but why? Why? Why? Why?' a frustrated Barbara added. 'That's the kind of thing that drives you crazy. I don't feel like justice was done. It just doesn't feel fair.'
Police are tracking down the writer of a message vowing to kill Rep. Ko Min-jung of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, officials said Tuesday.

The message was posted in an online game chatroom Monday morning, vowing to kill Ko, who is seeking parliamentary reelection in her constituency of Seoul's Gwangjin district, according to the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police.

Police launched an investigation upon receiving a report on the threat.

They plan to trace the writer by locating the IP address and book the suspect on criminal charges.

"We will determine the exact circumstances of the case as soon as the suspect is apprehended," a police officer said. (Yonhap)
To many, the biggest wedding day taboo is sporting white when you're not the bride.

So it's no wonder Tanya Bella, from New York, sparked outrage in a clip recently posted to her TikTok page when asking followers if a long cream-colored dress was suitable to wear to a wedding.

The Bengali-American explained that she had only been to weddings within her own culture, where there is little concept of outshining the bride, so turned to the video platform for help.

The fashion content creator has three weddings coming up this year and was hoping the nude dress wasn't too white to wear.

Demanding 'honest thoughts', Tanya was keen to respect the no-white wedding tradition and stressed that she didn't 'want to offend anyone' - but gobsmacked viewers slammed her for asking the question.

Tanya stunned in a floor-length creamy beige gown which featured a side slit, but it was too similar to white to wear to a wedding, according to many who slammed her for asking

The content creator, who often posts fashion-related videos is from a South Asian background where it is the norm to dress to the nines without formal dress codes or taboos, explained this was why she resorted to social media for answers

She pleaded: 'I need your help, I got the most beautiful, beautiful dress in the mail. I am absolutely obsessed with it, but do we feel like this color is okay to wear to a wedding?

'It's like tan, cream, nude. I'm hoping because I'm dark it doesn't look white. Obviously I don't want to offend anybody, it's just the best formal dress I've ever seen that I like.'

She continued: 'In person it looks tan-nude, but let me know what you guys think', in the 37-second-long clip captioned: 'I've literally only been to Indian weddings so sorry if it's a dumb question.'

The clip, which has since amassed over a million views divided viewers, many of whom hailed the summery gown as 'gorgeous'.

Shocked TikTok users deemed the no-white convention common knowledge, but others were more understanding given her background.

One diplomatically concluded: 'Hard no. Gorgeous dress though', while another penned: 'My policy is if you have to question it, then no.'

And one user, a bride-to-be admitted: 'It's absolutely gorgeous but I'm getting married this spring and if someone wore this to my wedding I would cry.'

A more scathing account said: 'Absolutely not. I feel like once a year there is a girl who does this: asks about the most obvious dress and we all collectively tell her "NOOOO".'

Many of Tanya's viewers were left stunned she had to even ask what they deemed an obvious question, but the content creator explained that her background was why she wasn't so clued up on it all

And one woman even thought Tanya was planning on wearing this on her own big day: 'Girl, I thought you were gonna say this was for YOUR wedding.'

Another gobsmacked TikTok user said: 'HOW is this a question, like actually.'

But some ran to Tanya's defence, explaining: 'Crazy concept but not everyone grew up with the same culture as you.'

This led to the creator replying: 'Thank you. Growing up only going to Indian weddings, a lot of these comments and insights actually were not obvious.'
Brands around for decades now have a new lease of life in Gen Z's kitchens

You may associate classic kitchenware brands like Le Creuset, Smeg and KitchenAid with those over 50, but they are now getting a new lease of life from Gen Z.

Despite their notoriously high price points - and the fact they have been around for decades the have all found themselves high in demand with the UK's younger generations.

Users on TikTok have rushed to show off their sparkling branded appliances in their kitchens at home in the unlikely fashion trend, while the hashtag #dutchovens has more than 320 million views on the social media platform.

Others have shared clips of searching for Le Creuset 'bargains' in discount outlets such as TK Maxx and Bicester Village outlet in Oxfordshire.

While the trend may seem baffling, experts say that the aesthetically pleasing appliances appeal to Gen Z for many reasons, including sustainability, durability, a sense of nostalgia and vintage vibes.

Le Creuset is Gen Z's latest obsession - as TikTokers have taken to social media to show off their collections (pictured)

Gen Z has been dubbed 'generation sensible' for consuming less alcohol than its predecessors - and what could be more sensible than investing in high-quality and durable cookware?

Premium French cookware brand Le Creuset has been selling pricey pots and pans since 1925 in various colours - but is best known for its classic orange.

While it's durable, and comes with a lifetime guarantee, the pots and pans are certainly on the more expensive side, with a set of four costing 599.

Last year, the brand reported a 20 per cent dip in sales, but could they now be boosted by a whole legion of new fans?

The brand seems to have a definitive focus on a Gen Z consumer audience - made manifest by its boasting of more than 260,000 followers on TikTok.

Recent launches such as the pastel colour collections, casserole dishes embellished with a petal design, a heart-shaped Valentines collection and even small bowls in the shape of fruits and pumpkins all appeal to Gen Z's consumer tastes.

The kitchenware is also beloved by UK influencers such as YouTuber Emily Canham from Northamptonshire, who posted a TikTok video of herself cooking dinner - with her cast iron shell pink casserole dish (costing 255) at the forefront.

Others have decided to show off their growing Le Creuset 'collections' - including Olivia Pea who displayed her extensive 'shell pink' range including: Mini salt and pepper mill set (51), stoneware grand mug (two at 20 each), regular stoneware mug (15), the classic teapot (58) and the pink pitcher (48).

Gen Z have even given the brand their own twist - with the hashtag #LeCreuSlay occasionally trending on the platform.

YouTuber Emily Canham from Northamptonshire posted a TikTok video of herself cooking dinner - with her cast iron shell pink casserole dish (costing 255) at the forefront

Home decor account @at.home.with.missb showed off their 134 cream Smeg kettle

Le Creuset has over 260,000 followers on TikTok, where it advertised its new cast iron petal pan range, costing 295 (pictured)

Viewers could barely contain themselves at the new designs

When the new petal design was launched, viewers could barely contain themselves, writing: 'I neeeed this in my life!!! This is not a want, this is a need, as in I need this asap';

'Would die for these.'

One expert told FEMAIL that the secret to their appeal is in becoming Gen Z's latest 'status symbol'.

Miriam Prada, a London based interior designer, said: 'These brands evoke a sense of aspirational living. Gen Z views them not just as kitchen appliances but as status symbols that symbolise sophistication and a specific style.

'Le Creuset's durability and timeless appeal resonate with Gen Z's growing interest in sustainability and long-lasting quality. Plus, its vibrant hues add a pop of colour to any kitchen aesthetic, perfect for social media.

'KitchenAid's reputation for reliability and versatility appeals to Gen Z's desire for multifunctional products that can adapt to various cooking trends and lifestyles. Its classic yet contemporary design also makes it a favourite for TikTok aesthetics.

'Meanwhile, Smeg's retro aesthetic taps into Gen Z's fascination with nostalgia and vintage vibes.'

One commenter on Reddit said: 'For me it's a family piece. Still got my parents wedding present from 41 years ago.'

The 'Blue salt' KitchenAid shade, which the company declared to be its 2024 'Colour of the year', has taken TikTok by storm - selling at 699

These brands appeal to Gen Z due to their aesthetics, including pastel colours, according to experts

Indeed, pastel-coloured kitchenware seems to be the sure way to win over the young audience - and is something KitchenAid and Smeg have also cottoned onto.

Home decor account @at.home.with.missb showed off their 134 cream Smeg kettle, writing: 'This is your sign to purchase the smeg kettle and not worry about the price tag.'

And standing mixer company KitchenAid, which launched in 1919, has also won over social media audiences - despite its price points of several hundred pounds.

The 'Blue salt' shade, which the company declared to be its 2024 'colour of the year', has taken TikTok by storm with its aesthetically pleasing pastel blue and purple shade - retailing at 699.

And one woman on TikTok said she was 'crying, screaming, throwing up' after receiving a whopping 157-piece Le Creuset set for Christmas from her husband.

The lucky wife, named Val, who goes by @.valpac on TikTok, revealed the sweeping assortment of items, most in the shade of cerise, in a 35-second video that has racked up more than 250,000 likes on the platform.

One lucky woman named Val got a 157-piece cookware set by the esteemed French-Belgian brand from her husband for Christmas

The set was on sale in Costco in the US for $4,500 (3,500).

'Crying, screaming, throwing up right now at my Christmas gift from my husband 157 piece Le Creuset set from Costco, delivered on a pallet as promised,' Val gushingly captioned the post.

Indeed, the items all started out in approximately eight separate boxes, all stacked together on a wooden pallet.

Among the pieces Val showed off in the clip was the the brand's mini-cocotte, best for small-scale, slow-cooking projects.

She also flaunted both cast-iron and non-stick pans, a series of differently sized cast-iron pots, and a bunch of miscellaneous cooking utensils, including spatulas and wooden stirring spoons.

A Le Creuset Spokesperson said: 'It's all about colour  we're seeing our that our Gen Z consumers are investing in their homes and cookware, showing of their personalities through their interiors.

'With our kaleidoscope of colours available across our cookware and tableware, we know we have colourway available to match everyone's personality and of course age group. And as some of the most eco-conscious amongst us, it's no surprise we're seeing Gen Z turn to quality products designed to last a lifetime.

'We see the love our Petal Casserole and Halloween inspired pumpkin products get on social  particularly from the younger generation. Seeing their response only inspires us to continue to develop new products, shapes and collaborations.

'To date there are over 17,000 videos on TikTok featuring Le Creuset collections, recipes, new colours and products  we hope to continue seeing Le Creuset being celebrated on it!'
Women left traumatised by past experiences with men or who struggle to find partners are joining a disturbing online community of 'Femcels' - the female eqiuvalent of incels. but with hatred aimed towards men instead of women.

Journalist Ellie Flynn, from London, delved into the darkest corners of the internet to investigate the hidden world of women who call themselves 'Femcels' for a Channel 4 documentary Radicalised: Are Femcels The New Incels?

Incels, are typically white and heterosexual men, associated with misogyny, racism and self-pity, who consider themselves 'involuntarily celibate'.

The movement came to prominence in 2014, when 22-year-old Elliot Rodger killed six people and injured fourteen others at the University of California, Santa Barbara after becoming radicalised by the incel movement.

But Ellie's investigation into Femcels revealed a more complicated picture than simply 'women who hate men'.

One girl called Lauren spoke about how she's never got beyond kissing and believes she's 'very unattractive' and will be alone forever, while Ellie was left horrified by footage of women cutting and eating their own flesh in 'gore' videos.

Journalist Ellie Flynn (pictured), from London , delved into the darkest corners of the internet to investigate the hidden world of women who call themselves Femcels

Ellie met up with a Femcel, who she met on an online forum, to try and get a better understanding.

Al, who has been part of the Femcel community for four years, said: 'A Femcel for me is someone who has garnered enough life experience with men to grow a disdain for them.

'I don't hate [men] really, I constantly feel frightened, especially in relationships, I don't really show emotion to them, I don't give them the time of day.

'I'm not celibate or involuntary, I suppose a lot of people would consider me a fake, I just hold a lot of their views.'

Ellie pointed out that for incels it appears to be the 'lack of sexual experiences that make them incels', but for Femcels like Al, it is the 'past experiences with men that make them consider themselves Femcels'.

Elsewhere Ellie spoke to a popular Femcel YouTube content creator, known as Kidology, who explained the differences between incels and Femcels.

She said: 'Incels very much see the world as the problem, particularly modern society - feminism and the ability for the woman to be picky about their sexual partners. Whereas most Femcels tend to see it as something that is wrong with them, like their looks and something that they need to work on to eventually find those relationships.'

Lauren, who doesn't identify as a Femcel but has build a community of friends in the Femcel forums, revealed the forms make her less alone.

'I have never had a relationship unfortunately, I have never experienced anything past a kiss and I do feel shame about it, I am 28 and I feel like I am going to be 70 and have lived my life alone.

Al's (left) housemate, (right) who remain anonymous and also explores these dangerous websites, said she met a guy on one of them when she was 14 and he sexually assaulted her three times

'It's scary, depressing and isolating. The thing that is wrong with me is my facial appearance. I do have body dysmorphic disorder, but I have also never seen anyone attracted to me. I personally find myself very unattractive.

'When I go to these communities you see a lot of people who have experienced the same thing, it's nice in a way to show you are not crazy or wrong. It's a place I go every day to read experiences and it makes me feel less alone.'

Ellie said the more woman she spoke to women involved in the Femcel communities the less worried she was about them committing any violence, and the more worried she was about their mental health.

However even though the Femcel communities didn't appear to be violent some of the forum have merged with the incel forums, meaning these vulnerable woman are exposed to a lot of graphic and gruesome content.

After meeting back up Al, Ellie asked to see some of these merged forums and she was horrified to see violent rape videos shared.

Al said: 'I have been sent videoes of women being raped. I was around 14 years old.'

She said she'd been exposed to so-called 'gore' videos from the age of 11.

Lauren (pictured), who doesn't identify as a Femcel but has build a community of friends in the Femcel forums, revealed the forms make her less alone

Elsewhere Ellie spoke to a popular Femcel YouTube content creator, known as Kidology, who explained the differences between Incels and Femcels

Al's housemate, who remained anonymous and also explores these dangerous websites, said she met a man on one of them when she was 14 and he sexually assaulted her three times.

Al added: 'I had a similar relationship actually when I was 14. I didn't realise me saying no and him continuing to do it was wrong at all. It's happened in multiple relationships.'

The women explained they use the forums because they feel lonely and isolated and the graphic content become strangely 'addicting.'

They added that they get desensitised to the graphic content shared on them and learn 'to cope' with it.

After asking how likely is it that a Femcel could end up committing a violent act, Al's housemate said: 'These people have been raped, molested, bullied, disowned by their own families and society does treat these women like it's your fault these things happened to you and that makes the most radical Femcels.

'Femcels and Incels have the similarity of anxiety, depression, bad lives, But how it's self internalised for women is a huge difference.

'I think there is potential for a real violent act. We will get there and the world will go ''How did she do that'?". I would say: "You let incels do it, you let men get mentally ill, you didn't let them get the mental health [help] they needed and then they shot a place up".

'Now woman are getting more mentally ill. I think something big will happen and the world will be shocked.'

Elsewhere Ellie was shown graphic content, known as 'gore' which was posted on the Incel and Femcel shared forum, which showed a woman cutting herself and eating her own flesh.

The journalist appeared visibly shocked and disgusted by the content, looking away from the screen she said 'I can't watch that'.

Al's housemate said: 'This is something that multiple people did in the server, I know, it's hard to watch, but four or five people did this specifically.

Describing the graphic footage they said: 'They are cutting out a square, that's her eating it, they are bleeding, she is smiling like that is funny for her.'

Before it was hijacked by men, the term incel was coined in the 1990s by a woman known only as Alana, who used it to describe her own experience with being unable to find a romantic or sexual partner.

She created the website Involuntary Celibacy Project with the goal of it being an inclusive community for people who were experiencing the same things she was.

Alana eventually passed the site on to someone else and didn't hear the term again until years later when she read about Elliot Rodger describing himself as an incel in online posts before going on a murder spree.

Elliot, a community college student, killed six people and wounded 13 in shooting and stabbing attacks near the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 2014.

'Its frustrating,' she told the Guardian in April. 'I feel like I did something important, for the good of the world  that then turned out to be a weapon as well.'

Radicalised: Are Femcels The New Incels? is available to stream on Channel 4
Easter is just around the corner, and that means thousands of Brits will be hunting for a bargain this bank holiday.

Just Eat has revealed how Britons can get their favourite Easter goodies for up to 50 per cent off with some of the nation's leading supermarkets.

Until 31st March, you can bag yourself a festive bargain from the likes of Co-op, ASDA, Morrisons Daily, Sainsbury's, Iceland and One Stop.

With items ranging from hot cross buns, to a plethora of Easter eggs and more, shoppers can skip the bank holiday queues and save when they order directly on Just Eat.

A Just Eat sign on the wall in the High Street, Billericay, Essex

All you need to do to be eligible is download the free Just Eat app.

Deals include the Cadbury Mini Eggs Chocolate Easter Egg from Morrisons Daily for just 3.45 instead of 5 in-store, a saving of 1.55.

If you forgot the gravy for Easter Sunday dinner, you can also snap up Bisto Gravy Granules for 2.33 from Asda on JustEat - normally costing 4.67.

Lindt's mega-popular Gold Bunny (100g) is just 2.03 through Morrisons' on Just Eat, but it usually costs more than 4 to order via the app.

Just Eat's best Easter deals

ICELAND Cadbury Mini Eggs Bag (80G) The Daily Bakery 6 Fruited Hot Cross Buns MORRISONS DAILY Lindt Gold Bunny (100g) Cadbury Mini Eggs Chocolate Easter Egg (232g) SAINSBURY'S Cadburys Dairy Milk Giant Chocolate Buttons Bag (119G) Terry's Chocolate Orange Mini Eggs (80g) CO-OP Cadbury Creme Egg 5 x 40g (200g) Maltesers White Chocolate Mini Bunnies Bag (58g) ONE STOP Orange Mini Eggs 80g Maltesers Chocolate Mini Bunnies Bag (58g) ASDA ASDA's Extra Special 4 Triple Chocolate Hot Cross Buns Bisto Gravy Granules (300g) Was 1.75 on Just Eat now 8p Was 2 on Just Eat now 1 Was 4.05 on Just Eat now 2.03 Was 6.90 on Just Eat now 3.45 Was 2 on Just Eat now 1 Was 1.40 on Just Eat now 1 Was 3.35 on Just Eat now 1.68 Was 1.55 on Just Eat now 77p Was 1.75 on Just Eat now 87p Was 1.50 on Just Eat now 75p Was 1.72 on Just Eat now 87p Was 4.67 on Just Eat now 2.33 Advertisement

Customers can head to the Just Eat for information on more offers.

This comes after Uber Eats revealed their top ten best-selling Easter Eggs ahead of Easter Sunday - and the sweet treat holding the number one spot happens to be a Cadbury fan favourite.

Last year, from April 1-9, the online food delivery company announced more Easter eggs were delivered to UK customers than eggs from hens, with a remarkable 55,025 chocolate eggs arriving on customers' doorsteps.

And now, the company have announced their ten bestselling egg-shaped chocolate treats of 2023: with Cadbury's Mini Eggs taking the gold medal as the nation's favourite.

This tasty treat reigned supreme, with Milkybar White Chocolate Mini Eggs hopping closely behind.

Maltesers' Easter Egg was placed third as the most ordered treat, followed by Cadbury's Creme Egg, and Cadbury's Dairy Milk Buttons Easter Egg in fourth and fifth place.

Rounding out the remainder of the UK's favourite Easter treats are: Smarties Egg, Kinder Surprise Egg, Maltesers Teasers, Cadbury Dairy Milk Egg & Caramel Bars and Terry's Chocolate Orange Mini Eggs.
She wrote him a letter not long after, and the two struck up an affair

A woman has opened up about her journey falling in love with a convicted felon on death row Indiana.

Ivana, 31, first laid eyes on death-row inmate Benjamin Ritchie in a YouTube documentary and ultimately wrote him a letter.

He responded, and she eventually flew to Indiana to meet him in person, when she was just 24 years old.

'It was just a feeling he gave me when I saw him for the first time. I looked into his eyes, and I just felt I wanted to be with him forever,' the Bosnian native recalled of her attraction to Benjamin in an interview with YouTube channel Soft White Underbelly.

Ivana, 31, first laid eyes on death-row inmate Benjamin Ritchie in a YouTube documentary and decided to write him a letter

The decision to write Benjamin changed the course of her life, she later reflected

Back in 2000, Benjamin shot a cop to death during a robbery gone wrong, and was sentenced to death in 2002 for the murder.

'I couldn't imagine life without him,' admitted Ivana despite knowing that he will be behind bars for the rest of his life.

She added that she felt like he was misunderstood, and that she understood him better than most other people.

Ivana had a turbulent childhood, moving from Bosnia to Sweden at age two and relocating homes frequently after that.

Her father was an alcoholic who was 'in prison a lot' and used to beat up Ivana's mom, two older sisters and younger brother. He would often disappear for days at a time before returning and tearing apart their house.

Her mom worked two jobs and 'had a tough time,' Ivana added.

'The morning we were supposed to leave for Sweden, my dad was sleeping, because the night before he was drinking My sisters begged my mom to not wake him up, to just leave him there. But my mom decided to wake him up and take him with us to Sweden,' Ivana recounted.

'He didn't change when we got to Sweden,' she added.

Benjamin was sentenced to death for killing a cop during a robbery-gone-wrong in 2000

'But he was always good to me for some reason, I don't know why. He has never hit me.'

As a young girl, Ivana added she didn't feel understood 'by anyone.'

Because of her family's frequent moves, she would make friends in one place but then have to leave them behind soon after.

According to Ivana, like her, Benjamin had a difficult childhood. He had lived with his grandparents because his mom 'was not a great mom' and his dad 'chose another family.'

Ivana now has a daughter named Iris, and 'she's the reason I changed my life,' she said.

But, years before she had her daughter, she was still infatuated with Benjamin and was determined to break him out of prison, with a far-fetched plan involving a rented helicopter.

She'd begun plotting his escape with him after sneaking him a cell phone, as well as through a 'system' they'd come up with to write 'secret messages' to each other in their letters.

'So that's how we were planning. And also on the visits,' she said.

After she managed to smuggle him a cell phone - which she alleged involved bribing the guards - she and Benjamin were able to 'talk 24/7,' which made her 'very happy,' she said.

She elaborated that while ideally she would have had a family with him, she knew that would 'never' be possible.

Realistically, the 'goal was just to get him out and have like a week with him and then maybe get killed by the cops, to be honest', she described.

'Then in the end he told me he didn't want to risk my life for him getting out. And that's when I went crazy, because my whole plan for my life was to be with him.'

Ivana was so devastated after Benjamin called off the escape plan that she began using opiates to cope.

From there, she'd met a heroin dealer, whom she became romantically involved with for two to three years.

'So I was with this guy just for the drugs,' Ivana admitted. 'He was in love with me, I wasn't in love with him.'

While she was still talking with Benjamin, she 'wasn't honest with him' about what her situation had come to, especially with her drug use, because 'that was his biggest fear, that I would do that, and I didn't want to upset him.'

When the heroin dealer decided to stop dealing drugs, Ivana admitted she 'wasn't ready to quit, I just wasn't ready. So I begged him, like "Please." Because I was getting sick, that was the first time I experienced getting sick from heroin. And he was just like, "No, I'm quitting."'

Ivana then went about forging her own contacts in the drug world. After finding a dealer in Sweden, she bought drugs from him, and tried selling some on her own to be able to continue using herself.

'And that worked for a while, until people wouldn't pay and because I'm a girl, and it was just me. Until I didn't have any money left. And when I didn't have any money left, I didn't have any drugs.'

Her last 'option' was to go to an 'old man' she knew in another city and 'live with him and be his girlfriend.'

Though she bought the train tickets, she couldn't make the journey because she was so sick from withdrawals.

At that point, her mom begged her to stay home, and she was so 'exhausted' she just decided to lie down on her mom's couch.

'And that's when I quit. I was sick for two months. The first month was the worst, I couldn't even walk,' she recalled, adding that she'd quit cold turkey, without even suboxone to mitigate the symptoms.

Today, she doesn't know if her love for Benjamin was as 'strong' as it was originally, she admitted in the Soft White Underbelly interview.

'I can't even look him up to see what's going on because it takes me back to that time, and to all these feelings,' she explained.

'I knew it wasn't meant to work out,' she went on.

'But I loved him, and when I love someone I just felt like if he was going to get executed, and I, if I love him, I could die too. I wanted to die too, with him.

'The feeling, when I thought about it, dying next to him, it was a good feeling. Because I was dying with someone that I love.'

She agreed with the interviewer that Benjamin was the love of her life.

On how and when exactly they separated, Ivana admitted, 'That's what I don't know.'

She'd promised to be at his execution, she explained.

Consequently, she's 'afraid' of finding out it's already happened, which continues to fuel her fears of looking him up in present-day.

The interviewer then asked Ivana: 'Did you ever question the decision to choose an almost impossible partner for a relationship? Certainly there's a million eligible young men in Sweden that might make a better partner than a death row inmate in Indiana.'

Ivana answered, 'Yeah I know. But when I fall in love, I can't imagine being with someone else. Like I don't see anyone else but that person.'

She later added, 'That's the problem with me, I don't follow my brain, I follow my heart.'

Of her 'self-destructive' tendencies, she admitted she 'maybe' was self-destructive when she was younger.

But, she continued, these days just wants a 'normal and calm, stress-free life and raise my daughter and give her everything she deserves. That's my goal.'

She admitted she doesn't think she 'would have done anything differently.'

Of her biggest fear currently, Ivana says that it would be 'to see my daughter go the wrong path in life, or something happening to her She's my everything.'

As to what she learned from her relationship with Benjamin?

'I learned one decision can change your whole life,' she said.

'The decision I made to write him changed my life [and led to] all the things that came after. The drugs - I don't think I would have ever started with drugs if I didn't meet him and fall so hard for him.'
The event took place at the royal residence in Berkshire on Sunday

Windsor Castle made history over the weekend by hosting its first-ever Ramadan event.

For the first time in British history, the royal estate in Berkshire welcomed guests for lftar after sunset on the castle grounds.

Before the Iftar, which is the fast-breaking evening meal for Muslims during the ninth month called Ramadan, guests enjoyed a tour of the State Apartments at Windsor Castle.

Co-hosted by Royal Collection Trust and Ramadan Tent Project, they welcomed guests of any faith to join in.

'Break fast with us this Ramadan at Windsor Castle. Open to people of all faiths and none, join us for a visit to the majestic State Apartments, followed by a meal after sunset in the castle grounds,' the website read.

Windsor Castle made history on Sunday by hosting its first Iftar event (pictured) in collaboration with Ramadan Tent Project

The website continued: 'Your visit will begin with a self-guided tour of the breathtaking State Apartments at Windsor Castle, where you can admire the extraordinary interiors and beautiful artwork on display.

'After sunset, once the castle has closed to the public, we will invite you to join us in the castle grounds for a very special Iftar meal.

'We are thrilled to be collaborating with the Ramadan Tent Project for this exciting event.'

After the event, the founder of the Ramadan Tent Project, Omar Salha, took to X, formerly Twitter, to share photographs.

He wrote: 'An unforgettable experience touring the majestic grounds of Windsor followed by #iftar showcasing heritage, tradition and unity.'

In one image, rows of guests enjoyed a meal with one another, with coconut water and dates on the tables.

In other snaps, Omar showcased Windsor Castle before dusk and an image of a guard outside the royal residence.

Ramadan Tent Project is a charity that strives to unite communities and 'spread the spirit of Ramadan through various initiatives', according to its website.

Co-hosted by Royal Collection Trust and Ramadan Tent Project, the event saw guests tour the royal residence (pictured) before breaking their fast

Founder of the Ramadan Tent Project, Omar Salha, took to X to share images of the event after it took place (pictured)

Founder Omar dubbed the historical event an 'unforgettable experience' on X, formerly Twitter

It comes after Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle plunged into darkness for Earth Hour on Friday as the Royal Family continues its public duties amid a series of health crises.

The Princess of Wales announced last week that she has cancer in an unprecedented video address shared on the Royal Family's X account.

But the official feed returned once again to focus on the day to day work of the institution, urging members of the public to join royal landmarks in turning off any non-essential lights from 8.30pm to 9.30pm on Friday.

The initiative was organised by conservation charity the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to urge action to save the planet.

It aims to highlight the impact humans are having on the planet through climate change, pollution, plastic and food production.

The event saw many of the guests break their fasts with coconut water and dates at the royal residence

Other landmarks that went dark for the hour include the Barbican Arts Centre, the Old Bailey, Tower Bridge, and the OXO Tower.

King Charles in particular is known for his focus on environmental issues, and is certain to support the event.

In a televised address the night before, Kate revealed that she had been diagnosed with cancer after undergoing a successful abdominal operation in January.

The princess is now on what has been described as a 'recovery pathway' having commenced a course of chemotherapy in late February.

It is for this reason that William pulled out of a memorial service for his late godfather, King Constantine of Greece.

The future Queen revealed that she and her husband have been focusing on their children during this difficult time.

She said: '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.

'Having William by my side is a great source of comfort and reassurance too. As is the love, support and kindness that has been shown by so many of you. It means so much to us both.'
A Jehovah's Witness has claimed she was left in floods of tears after she found a 'vial of blood' in her Shein delivery - saying she is the 'worst person' it could have happened to.

Anna Elliott, from Cookeville, Tennessee, explained that she had ordered several dresses from the clothing brand to wear to church for a bible reading and the upcoming Memorial of Christ's death.

But earlier this month the business owner, 23, was left horrified after she allegedly received a vial of blood and a tin of Mexican beans beneath the clothes sent in a FedEx parcel.

She had initially wondered whether it was a practical joke or a Halloween decoration that the clothing giant had sent to her by mistake.

But, on closer inspection, Anna realized the sample was actually from a laboratory and she immediately panicked due to her life-long 'major phobia' of blood.

Anna Elliott, from Cookeville, Tennessee, explained that she had ordered several dresses from the clothing brand to wear to church for a bible reading and the upcoming Memorial of Christ's death

But earlier this month the business owner, 23, was left horrified after she allegedly received a vial of blood and a tin of Mexican beans beneath the clothes sent in a FedEx parcel

Elaborating further on the situation, Anna shared: 'I'd ordered some dresses to wear for church. I'm opening my Shein order and taking out my dresses.

'Then I pulled out the can of beans and I thought, "that's weird" because they don't sell food, obviously.

'Under the can of beans was the blood vial.

'At first, I was trying not to panic because I thought maybe it was a joke, or maybe they had fake blood vials for Halloween, and somehow it ended up in my bag.'

'But then I realized it was from an actual lab, and it was real, and I really panicked.'

She continued: 'Since I was a kid, I have had a major phobia of blood - like I'd pass out if I see blood, so I'm literally the worst person for it to be delivered to.

'I really started freaking out. I was crying. I didn't know if it was some kind of terrorist attack and they were trying to expose me to something.

'I didn't know what it was. I was extremely scared.'

She had initially wondered whether it was a practical joke or a Halloween decoration that the clothing giant had accidentally sent to her by mistake

Jehovah Witnesses believe that blood 'represents life itself' and that it is against god's will to receive blood - even refusing transfusions in medical settings.

Anna called both her police department and the public health agency, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who reportedly informed her it was a routine cancer testing sample.

Now she hopes to warn others to stay safe and be more cautious when opening packages - as shoppers never know what could be inside the parcel.

She posted a video online with caption: 'Just ordered dresses from SHEIN and the package came with an unidentified human blood sample #foryoupage #fyp #shein #sheinhorrorstories #cdc #biohazard.'

Anna said: 'FedEx said somehow the packages got busted open and an employee didn't know where everything went so they just threw it in a package and just guessed where it went and sent it to me.

'Why do FedEx employees not know how to treat blood samples?

'The director of the lab said it came from a cancer screening lab. They don't screen people who have AIDS or hepatitis.

Now she hopes to warn others to stay safe and be more cautious when opening packages - as shoppers never know what could be inside the parcel

She posted a video online with caption: 'Just ordered dresses from SHEIN and the package came with an unidentified human blood sample' - as her followers rushed to the comments

'Usually it's just healthy people that are getting a screening to make sure they're still in remission or everything is good with their health.

'Of course that doesn't mean they don't have some kind of disease I could be exposed to.

'Nothing like that's ever happened to me. I'd warn others to always be careful really opening any package, before sticking your hand in it, dump it on the table first.

'Maybe even video themselves opening it so you have proof if something crazy happens.'

A Shein spokesperson said: 'When we were made aware that a customer received a package that had been tampered with, we launched an immediate investigation.

'This indicated when the package completed our quality control process and left our facility it contained only the Shein items ordered.

'We will continue actively supporting the customer in her continued investigation into what occurred once her package left a Shein facility.'

A FedEx spokesperson said: 'We sincerely apologize for this experience. We are committed to treating our customers' shipments with the utmost care, and we are taking the appropriate steps to address this matter.'

Gainesboro Police Department and The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been contacted for a comment.
Thursday, November 14, 2019, and Im in the South Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace, with the back of Prince Andrews head to the left of my line of sight, and the presenter and interviewer Emily Maitlis  pen in hand, wearing a green khaki military jacket, black trousers and open-toe heeled boots  directly opposite me.

Im a 46-year-old junior TV producer and this is about to become one of the most analysed and talked about broadcast moments ever.

I can barely breathe. Its taken 13 months of painstaking negotiation, many conversations and meetings to make this moment happen  to convince Andrew to give his first ever sit-down interview about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein. And to do it with the BBCs Newsnight.

Today, Andrews answers have passed into comedic folklore and launched a thousand memes, but back then they are freshly shocking, writes Sam McAlister

As the interview unfolds, each answer is more excruciating than the last. There are long periods where I just stare at the ornate carpet of that splendid room, desperate to collect myself and not react to what I am hearing.

Because its explosive stuff.

Today, Andrews answers have passed into comedic folklore and launched a thousand memes, but back then they are freshly shocking. When Emily presses him on the nature of the birthday party hed hosted at Sandringham for Jeffrey Epsteins girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell  currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for trafficking the women and girls Epstein sexually abused  the Prince replies that it was a straightforward shooting weekend.

And asked where he was on March 10, 2001, when Virginia Giuffre claimed he danced with her at Tramp nightclub in Londons Mayfair, then slept with her at Maxwells house in Belgravia, Andrew answers: Pizza Express in Woking.

I didnt sweat at the time, is his response to the suggestion that Giuffre remembered him perspiring profusely that night.

Every answer propels the interview into a new sphere of absurdity. Every answer convinces me this is the scoop of the year. By the end, Im pretty sure its the scoop of the century.

The atmosphere as the cameras stop rolling is electric. All of the Newsnight team (from the Deputy Editor, Stewart Maclean, to the make-up woman, Cat Crawford) look shellshocked. I dont know what to do with myself.

Surely Prince Andrews face will be ashen? He will be devastated by the experience...

On the contrary. As my eyes survey the room, I can see his beaming smile. Its patently clear that not only does he think its gone well, he thinks hes aced it.

So confident is he that he takes Emily on a tour of the palace. I decline, keen to get back to the office and the calming presence of Newsnight editor Esme Wren.

Those iconic shots of Emily and HRH striding down the Palace Hall were taken after the interview had ended. Zoom in on Andrews face: see how pleased he is with his performance.

It wasnt long, however, before the slew of national and global headlines that pilloried him burst his bubble. Not one piece of coverage was positive.

Billie Piper stars as Sam in Netflix's Scoop, which dramatises the events around Newsnight's interview with Prince Andrew

Rufus Sewell plays the Duke of York in the drama. The actor's handsome features were covered in swathes of prosthetics, Sam writes

Commentators, newspapers and broadcasters across the world were united in a single thought: the Duke of York had made an appalling mistake. He had gone from being a largely forgotten man to a global pariah. And he was about to be unceremoniously put out in the cold.

On November 20, 2019, just four days after the Newsnight interview had aired, the announcement came: Andrew was to step back from public duties for the foreseeable future. The Queens favourite son had effectively been sacked by his own mother.

Although Andrew has never faced a criminal court, the court of public opinion has drawn its own conclusions.

Before becoming a TV producer, I trained and worked as a criminal barrister, and believe me, that interview was a prosecutors dream. There were just so many details that, if untrue, could be fact-checked and disproved.

Today, the Prince still vehemently denies he was involved in any wrongdoing. In 2022, however, he made a civil settlement, reportedly of around 12million with Virginia Giuffre, who has said that he sexually assaulted her on three separate occasions. The out-of-court settlement was reached on the basis that the Prince accepted no liability.

So our Newsnight interview certainly had very expensive consequences: it probably hastened that settlement with Giuffre.

For me, too, there have been consequences. The day after we recorded the interview, Esme, tweeted, Full credit to our indefatigable interview producer @SamMcAlister1 for securing this world exclusive.

Giving producers credit is a rarity in our industry, and the Press picked it up. I got my 15 seconds of recognition, then it was just back to work as usual.

Of course, I asked for a pay rise after the interview, but I didnt get one. As a part-time junior producer whose job it was to negotiate interviews with everyone from tech billionaire Elon Musk to actress Amy Schumer, I was never on more than ten per cent of the presenters salary.

That didnt change. I worked behind the scenes and didnt expect to be given a share of the limelight. Admittedly I had never really played the BBC game  I didnt know the right people, I didnt toe the line.

And, in my leather trousers and snakeskin boots, I certainly didnt dress the way most people at the BBC dressed. Then there was also my need to be home to care for my son, who was only three when I started at Newsnight.

All of which probably contributed to the fact that, even though Id been on the team for ten years, I never really progressed professionally before the Prince Andrew interview. However, I did not progress afterwards either, and that didnt feel right.

On November 20, 2019, just four days after the Newsnight interview, recreated in Scoop, above, had aired the announcement came: Andrew was to step back from public duties for the foreseeable future

Gillian Anderson plays interviewer Emily Maitlis who has, Sam says, the same clothes, same words, same steely determination, same gaze

For the next few years, I got through Covid  which meant a prolonged period of sickness and the long days of homeschooling  and returned to work when the world re-opened.

Although a pay rise and promotion were still not forthcoming, everywhere I went, people told me: You should write a book about what happened!

Eventually, I decided to do just that. It was my hope that, like many correspondents and presenters, I could write it while still working at the BBC, but it was made clear that wasnt an option. So I managed to find a literary agent, gave up my staff job and risked it all. I took a chance on people being interested in what I had to say  the story of an ordinary woman in an extraordinary situation.

I secured a little advance, tapped away on my laptop on the sofa late at night, and called my book Scoops. I hoped a few people would buy it. It was the best decision I have ever made.

The book was serialised in the Mail. I held my breath. I was trepidatious that the Palace and the BBC might cause some issues. They were both Goliath to my tiny David, but somewhat surprisingly, I didnt hear anything.

There was, however, a flurry of interest elsewhere  a Channel 4 documentary, some media appearances, a few articles, all culminating in the dream of any author: the offer to have your book turned into a Netflix movie, with me as executive producer.

Which is how I came to find myself explaining the exact process by which the interview occurred to top TV screenwriter Peter Moffat, of Silk and Your Honour fame. How, in the beginning, the BBC had turned Prince Andrew down.

In October 2018, a PR company working with Andrew sent me the offer of an interview with him about his charitable pursuits. A puff piece, where you basically spend time with the subject but dont get to ask any real questions. We didnt do those on Newsnight, so I declined, but kept the conversation going.

Months passed, and then came an invite for me to go to Buckingham Palace to meet his chief of staff, Amanda Thirsk (who is played by Keeley Hawes in the movie).

I took the bus to the palace, and didnt even tell my boss I was going, I was so certain nothing would come of it. I took a few selfies in the waiting room (irresistible when left alone with a phone) and talked to Amanda for hours.

But then came a red line. Prince Andrews association with the businessman Jeffrey Epstein, then a free man, but with a past conviction for procuring a child for prostitution, was considered a no-go area. And so, again, we declined.

Then things got frenzied. Epstein was finally re-arrested in July 2019. He was charged and awaiting trial for sex trafficking of minors when suddenly in August came news of his death, apparently by his own hand.

Ghislaine Maxwell, at large for many years, was tracked down in 2020, arrested and charged, too. The FBI was very interested in speaking with Prince Andrew. Virginia Giuffre announced she was bringing a new lawsuit, and doing interviews, and the pressure on Andrew became intense.

I kept trying for the interview, week after week, month after month. Finally, in October 2019, came an invitation to return to see Amanda, and a face-to-face with Prince Andrew himself in November.

It was the first time I had ever met him and he was exactly as I had imagined from my research  a high-energy man, full of confidence and sporadic laughter. He was surprisingly congenial and open given the circumstances.

Rammed into a tiny room in Buckingham Palace, the three Newsnighters (me, Emily and Deputy Editor Stewart) faced Andrew, Amanda and a very unexpected guest  his elder daughter, Princess Beatrice.

She was dressed in navy blue, asked sensible questions about the possible logistics, and it was clear, she was close to her father and concerned for his welfare. The discussion was frank, firm, sometimes funny.

My background  I am from a family of East End market traders, coupled with my legal training  seemed to work a charm.

The argument was simple: the country probably mostly considered him guilty, and the solution was to give an account of himself. Im not sure how Emily and Stewart felt when I mentioned his Randy Andy nickname, but he laughed and I hoped against hope that we had convinced him.

Less than 24 hours later we received a yes and just three days later we were back at the palace, armed with the cameras.

Two days later, I watched it go out in a special Saturday edition of Newsnight. I was at my boyfriends house in East London, where I was too nervous even to sit down. At last, all my work was paying off, and spectacularly.

What I hadnt expected was that one interview would take over the next five years of my life.

This time last year I was on a film set watching myself being played by Billie Piper for Scoop  the Netflix dramatisation of the story.

The first time Billie and I met, we went for dinner and she thoroughly grilled me  about my job, my family and my life. She hadnt played a real person before and said she wanted to do me justice.

Watching her on set was uncanny. She had perfected my bouncy walk to match my bouncy curls, even accepting my need to be decked head-to-toe in black with lashings of lip-gloss, those snakeskin boots and sunglasses.

In fact, costume and make-up on the film did such a stellar job that some of the crew members couldnt tell us apart.

The day filming outside the BBC was particularly memorable. It was the first time in a couple of years that Id been back to my old office. Who would have thought Id return to shoot a film about my time there? It was next level surreal.

Im not embarrassed to admit that I shed a tear watching Billie that day. One minute the actress was playing me outside the BBC offices, the next she was chatting with my fake mum and having a kebab with my fake son (played by an adorable boy called Zach Colton).

My real-life son is proud but, like most teens, declined to come on set and be fussed over.

My mum, Netta, came to meet her alter ego, Amanda Redman, who was absolutely wonderful to her. The happiness and pride Mum felt for me that day was very special to see. Without her help in caring for my son when I worked at the BBC, I dont know how I would ever have managed.

As for Prince Andrew, I was 15ft behind him again. But this time, he was being played by the actor Rufus Sewell  his handsome features covered in swathes of prosthetics  and a new Emily, played by Gillian Anderson. The same clothes, same words, same steely determination, same gaze.

And thats my film. But what of the other dramatic rendering of the interview? Theres been a lot of speculation about rival versions, with Emily Maitlis also an executive producer on a series called A Very Royal Scandal, which will come out later this year on Amazon Prime, starring Michael Sheen as Prince Andrew.

I heard about it first in the news last year. We had already started filming Scoop at the time.

Some newspapers like to talk of an enmity between us, a Battle of the Blondes, but Im sorry to disappoint  I wish Emily nothing but happiness and success, and cant wait to see if someone is playing me.

Now it feels as though my life is on the cusp of something new. Theres uncertainty and excitement. Friends and strangers are wishing me tons of luck, although no doubt some quarters wont like the fact Im speaking out about the story again.

Ive had to grow a thicker skin. My plan is to concentrate on enjoying every magical moment. Appreciate it all. Enjoy my second 15 seconds of glamorous parties, film premieres, photo-shoots, martinis at posh bars...

Then it will be back to normal life, hustling for work, keynote-speaking, chatting with my new students at the LSE, where Im a visiting senior fellow in the law department.

And then back on the bus, lashings of lip-gloss, off for a kebab, with a big smile on my face.
Australians have been caught online crying for and old school ice cream brand, reminiscing about a time when its vans cruised the streets of suburbia.

In a post to the old shops Facebook Page one woman mentioned the brand, in particular its toffee logs, sending a wave of nostalgia though the group.

But it wasn't' long until people's mourning over the brand was interrupted.

'They still exist,' one woman said.

Another added that she buys them once a month, when the truck cruises down her street.

Australians have been caught online crying for and old school ice cream brand, reminiscing about a time when its vans cruised the streets of suburbia

'I still get them every Tuesday in St Clair,' one fan said - earning 36 love and shock reactions.

'We love hearing the bell,' she added.

The ice cream business is based in Toowoomba, Queensland, and recently did a call out trying to find more franchisees across NSW, Queensland and the Northern Territory.

The ice cream service is known for its countless frozen treats - including their jelly-top ice creams and huge family 'value packs'.

One woman remembers seeing the truck in her area in Melbourne in the 90s and said her family used to buy the mango ice creams.

In a post to the old shops Facebook Page one woman mentioned the brand, in particular its toffee logs, sending a wave of nostalgia though the group

But people one suburb over said they only had Mr Whippy.

Many people were shocked to find the ice cream company still running.

'I haven't thought about them for years,' one said.

'I wish they came to South Australia,' said another.

While others said 'every address' they looked up on the Home Ice cream website delivery tracker gave the same answer: 'No deliveries in the area'.

Daily Mail Australia contacted Home ice cream for comment.
A 'tacky' woman has been slammed online after being accused of upstaging her best friend's engagement by flaunting her bigger ring to followers.

Earlier this month, social media star Joanna Zanella Schaub, 35, who lives in LA, posted an Instagram Story celebrating her friend's engagement.

In the photo, the mother-of-three - who is engaged to former MMA fighter and podcaster Brendan Schaub - held her hand out next to her friend's so her 70,0000 followers could see their engagement rings.

While Joanna opted for a square, cushion-cut diamond ring framed by additional diamonds, her friend Natalie has a smaller Princess cut diamond set on a pave band.

Joanna captioned the photo: 'Welcome to the club BFF.'

Joanna Zanella Schaub (left) pictured with her best friend of 17 years Natalie (right). The social media star shared this photo to celebrate Natalie's birthday last year

In the photo, the mother-of-three held her hand out next to her friend's so her 70,0000 followers could see their engagement rings

Joanna's post was later posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, where users accused her of 'upstaging' her friend.

X user Rosey told her 23,000 followers: 'When your friend gets engaged, its important to make sure everyone knows you have a bigger ring.'

The post has amassed over 54,000 'likes' and has been seen by over 7.4m X users since it was shared last week.

Jumping to the bride-to-be's defence, one outraged user wrote: 'The bigger ring appears to have pave-set diamonds which is the diamond equivalent of a push-up bra. Versus her friends classic 3 carat solitaire.'

Agreeing with this comment, Rosey replied: 'Indeed. Tacky move, tacky ring.'

'This would destroy some of the friend groups that I'm in,' another added.

'Subtle flexing is so wrong,' a third agreed. 'True friends celebrate love, not the size of the ring,' a fourth wrote.

A fifth added: 'I feel like Im general when people say welcome to the club in regards to parenthood, marriage etc, they dont want them to have their own moment.'

Joanna's post was later posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, where users accused her of 'upstaging' her friend

However, not everyone agreed that Joanna's was trying to 'upstage' her friend and argued the post was perfectly innocent.

One supporter wrote: 'Is it just me or the pic seems like a harmless BFF post?'

Another asked: 'Is that what she's doing or is that what you're seeing?'

Meanwhile, a third added: 'I didn't get that from this at all? It just looks like two friends celebrating both being engaged. That's a beautiful thing.'

'This is just a case of differing taste,' a fourth said. 'The more elegant vs the more luxurious, but both are excited to be engaged.'

In a previous post on her Instagram, Joanna paid tribute to her friend Natalie - who she has known for 17 years - on her birthday.

She gushed: 'The adventures weve had, the memories, the milestones, and life itself has been the best with you by my side. May today be as special as you and I hope you know I love you with all my heart.'

Last month, Joanna's fiance Brendan Schaub posted a video he accidentally took of himself flipping his off-roading truck.

Schaub was recording an episode for his 'Tune Town' show on YouTube when he flipped his Dodge Ram TRX in the California desert.

After spending the afternoon shooting footage of him ripping through sand and climbing boulders, he tried doing some donuts.

But he ended up losing control of the vehicle and rolled it over - leading to some busted windows. Schaub was able to exit the vehicle fine, but was heard cursing after his misfortune.
The Supreme Court's recommended sentences for overseas technology leak, drug and stalking offenders will be increased in the second half of the year, as its sentencing committee said Tuesday it has finalized new sentencing guidelines for those crimes.

The top court's Sentencing Commission said the new sentencing guidelines, which are centered on raising the maximum prison term recommended for those convicted of leaking state-designated key technologies overseas to 18 years, were finalized in a meeting Monday and are set to take effect July 1.

The commission also asked that thefts of general industrial technologies be punished more severely than before, saying the new guidelines reflect the national consensus for tougher punishment for technology infringement crimes.

Recommended sentences for drug crimes will also be raised. In particular, a maximum sentence of life imprisonment is recommended for drug crimes targeting minors and for the manufacturing and distribution of large amounts of illegal drugs, the commission said.

Sentences for those convicted of simple possession or use of marijuana, which is regarded as a gateway to drug addiction, will also get tougher than before.

The commission said it has also established new sentencing guidelines for stalking crimes, under which a maximum prison term of five years is recommended for stalkers carrying a weapon. Ordinary stalking offenders will face a prison term of up to three years, it added. (Yonhap)
Tony appeared in high spirits as he smiled for the camera after the surgery

Tony Hudgell, who had his legs amputated after suffering horrific abuse at the hands of his birth parents, arrived home after his hip and thigh surgery yesterday.

The nine-year-old, from Kent, who has met the Princess of Wales several times, has had prosthetics on his lower legs since he was a toddler and moves around using crutches.

Yesterday, Tony arrived home after undergoing life changing surgery in Sheffield that will enable him to be much more mobile into his teenage years and adulthood.

Tony's adoptive mother, Paula Hudgell took to X to provide an update on his wellbeing following the surgery. In one image, the nine-year-old appeared in high spirits as he cuddled his pet dog.

Elsewhere, Tony courageously demonstrated his new mobility skills while walking with the support of his adoptive father, Mark.

Tony Hudgell has arrived back at home after undergoing life changing thigh and hip surgery in Sheffield

Paula took to X to thank the staff who cared for Tony throughout the procedure. She wrote: 'We are Home.

'We would like to thank everyone for their incredible support and well wishes and the biggest thank you to Mr Fernandez and his wonderful team at Sheffield Children's Hospital we were so well looked after. Back to Sheffield on Wed for our first appointment.'

The operation that Tony underwent can only occur in two parts of the world, and fortunately, one of them is the children's hospital in Sheffield, according to Tony's JustGiving page.

The nine-year-old will now be treated as an outpatient and have weekly appointments in Sheffield.

The operations, which will take place throughout the year, aim to restructure Tony's thigh bone, according to a JustGiving page set up to help Tony.

Despite the painful process, Tony appeared in high spirits just two weeks after the operation.

The Pride of Britain award winner walked across his living room while his adoptive father Mark provided extra support.

It comes after Tony Hudgell put on a brave display as he arrived out of his hip and thigh surgery with a smile on his face in March.

The nine-year-old courageously demonstrated his mobility skills and walked across his living room with his adoptive father (pictured)

Tony's adoptive mother, Paula Hudgell, took to X to update her followers after her son's surgery and admitted that, while he was under the knife, 'every minute felt like an hour'.

The nine-year-old appeared in high spirits as he smiled towards the camera in the hospital bed. Paula praised the 'incredible' staff with the update on Tony's condition.

Paula wrote: 'Tony went down to the theatre just after nine this morning. So heartbreaking and just want my baby boy back with us.

'Thank you for all the well wishes and praying its not too much longer as every minute feels like an hour #myhero.'

Paula shared a slideshow of photographs of Tony along with the emotional words.

She later took to the platform to update her followers after Tony's surgery. She said: 'Tony is now on the ward and changed into the @wellcoolclothing pyjamas that were kindly sent to him, which are perfect.

'He's still in a lot of pain but never ceases to amaze me with his bravery. Mr Fernandez and his incredible team have been amazing and forever grateful.'

Donors set up a JustGiving page to help Paula and her husband, Mark Hudgell, with the costs.

Tony Hudgell looked cheerful as he smiled for his mother, Paul Hudgell, post his thigh operation

The mother-of-seven shared a selection of photographs of Tony on X as she waited for him to come out of surgery

Tony's biological parents, Anthony Smith, 47, and Jody Simpson, 24, were each jailed for ten years in 2018 for the torture they inflicted on their 41-day-old son in 2014, leaving him with injuries including broken fingers and toes and torn ligaments.

Despite suffering such unspeakable abuse in the earliest days of his life, little Tony has grown up to be a kind and determined boy who has raised around 2 million for charity by walking great distances on his crutches.

What is Tony's Law? Tonys Law is an amendment to Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill that was voted by ministers on November 30 2021. It is named after Tony Hudgell, who was abused by his parents as an infant and suffered life-changing injuries. His parents, Tony Smith and Jody Simpson, were both jailed for ten years, which was the maximum sentence at the time. The amendment will increase the maximum penalty for causing or allowing serious physical harm to a child from ten to 14 years, while causing the death of a child will rise from 14 years to life. The tougher planned sentences could mean that anyone who causes or allows the death of a child or vulnerable adult in their care will face up to life imprisonment, rather than the current 14-year maximum. Advertisement

Tony has previously been hailed a hero by Prince William and wife Kate over his extraordinary fundraising walks to help vulnerable children.

He set out to raise 500 for the hospital that saved his life by walking 10km in 30 days in 2020 after being inspired by Captain Sir Tom Moore, who raised more than 33million walking in his backyard.

In 2021, a foundation set up in his name to enhance the lives of children who have been affected by physical, emotional, or psychological abuse provided more than 700 Christmas presents for youngsters in need, and it continued the tradition last Christmas too.

The nine-year-old's phenomenal fundraising achievements come despite an incredibly tough start to life which led to him undergoing 23 operations and eight blood transfusions.

The horrific abuse he was subject to by his birth parents caused serious injuries - and the infant also developed sepsis because Smith and Simpson waited 10 days before taking him to hospital.

His fortunes turned around after his life was saved by specialists at the Evelina London Children's Hospital, of which the Princess of Wales is an official patron.

Then, in 2016, he finally found a loving home with Paula and Mark, who have campaigned tirelessly in Tony's interests since welcoming him into the family - including a bid for Tony's Law, which introduced tougher sentences for child cruelty.

They have also encouraged his fundraising efforts to help other children - which have seen him rub shoulders with very famous figures.

After completing his big walk, Tony met the Prince and Princess of Wales who 'spent ages' chatting with the youngster when the couple attended Together At Christmas carol concert at Westminster Abbey last year.

In December, Tony and his mother Paula met the Princess of Wales for the second time at the Day Centre at the Westminster Hospital

Despite previously meeting Kate at the Princess's Christmas Carol Concert in Westminster Abbey in 2021, and again at the Day Centre in Westminster, Tony appeared bashful as he agreed with his mother that the Princess of Wales is 'beautiful'

Princess Charlotte of Wales, Prince Louis of Wales and Prince George of Wales post Christmas letters before The 'Together At Christmas' Carol Service at Westminster Abbey

Prince George appeared to post a Christmas letter to a 'Tony' before entering the Westminster Abbey

He has also met Prince Harry along with a string of celebrities. In 2022, he was singled out for his inspiration by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Despite the attention Paula said of Tony: 'He takes all of it in his stride, so to speak. He is just amazing.

'He's very much a people person. He can encapture a room of people and will talk to them all.'

In December, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis posted letters to Tony at their mother's annual Christmas service.

To donate to the family's fundraiser, click here.
Princess Sofia of Sweden and her husband Prince Carl Philip have shared a sweet new portrait of their youngest son Prince Julian to mark his third birthday.

Sharing the image to their official Instagram account, the royal couple wrote when translated to English: 'Today we celebrate 3 years with you beloved Julian.'

In the adorable picture, Julian, dressed in a giraffe-themed jumper, smiles at the camera while sitting behind a yellow cake, featuring a candle shaped in the number three.

The proud parents also today took to their Instagram Stories to share a clip of the youngster looking fascinated by the smoke flying away after he blew out his birthday candle.

Julian, the youngest of the eight grandchildren of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, had his blonde locks combed into a side parting for the occasion.

Princess Sofia of Sweden and her husband Prince Carl Philip have shared a sweet new portrait of their youngest son Prince Julian to mark his third birthday

The Swedish royals share snaps of their family on Instagram to mark important occasions, such as birthdays, which often delights fans.

Princess Sofia and Prince Carl Philip's third son was born on March 26, 2021, at a hospital in Greater Stockholm.

Taking to social media soon after, Princess Sofia wrote: 'Life has given me not just one but four beautiful princes.

'A heartfelt thank you from us for all the warm congratulations in connection with Julian's birth.'

Last year, Princess Sofia and her husband Prince Carl Philip shared a sweet family photograph as they celebrated the arrival of summer.

The image, shared to Instagram, pictured the proud parents with their three children, Prince Alexander, seven, Prince Gabriel, six, and their youngest Prince Julian.

'Summer greetings from us', the caption read when translated to English.

The family-of-five was dressed down for the summer snap, with Alexander and Gabriel both sporting pastel T-shirts and neutral shorts, and Julian wearing denim dungaree shorts and a white top.

The proud parents also today took to their Instagram Stories to share a clip of the youngster looking fascinated by the smoke flying away after he blew out his birthday candle

Last year, Princess Sofia and her husband Prince Carl Philip shared a sweet family photograph as they celebrated the arrival of summer

Looking away from the camera, the youngest royal sat on his mother's lap, while his father was positioned beside Princess Sofia, with Alexander and Gabriel posing on a wooden chair between their parents.

Make-up free Sofia looked as equally low-key as her sons; she opted for a pink patterned outfit, kept her straight hair down and sported a colourful bracelet on her wrist.

Her husband - who is the only son of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, and is currently fourth-in-line to the Swedish throne - appeared casual in a white T-shirt and grey shorts.

In 2019, King Carl XVI Gustaf decided that Princess Sofia's sons, as well as those of Prince Carl Philip's sister Princess Madeline, will not have HRH titles.

Although they will still go by prince and princesses they will not receive taxpayer funds.

In 2019, King Carl XVI Gustaf decided that Princess Sofia's sons, as well as those of Prince Carl Philip's sister Princess Madeline, will not have HRH titles. Pictured, Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia in May 2023

At the time of the announcement Princess Sofia and Prince Carl Philip said it would allow their children to have more freedom when they get older.

When asked by Royal Central if she had ever considered stepping back from royal life, Sofia said: 'No. Not really. I think I have found such a fantastic balance, and I really see it as positive that I have made it through these stormy years.

'It is such a huge advantage, in that we have the opportunity to stand a little in both worlds.'

During the pandemic Princess Sofia undertook a three-day medical course at Sophiahemmet University College in Stockholm, where she is an honorary chair member.

This meant she was able to assist with healthcare work. Photos surfaced of her scrubbed in and posing with other staff members, who worked at the Sophiahemmet hospital.
Influencers Sufi Malik and Anjali Chakra have made the shocking announcement that they are calling off their wedding due to infidelity - just weeks before they were set to walk down the aisle together.

The same-sex couple, based in New York, have become viral internet sensations over the last few years for documenting their adorable relationship online.

But after five years together, the pair left their hundreds of thousands of followers devastated when they revealed on Sunday that they were splitting after Sufi, 27, confessed that she had been unfaithful to Anjali, 28.

In an extremely honest Instagram post, Sufi described the act as 'an unrecognizable mistake of betrayal' and 'asked for forgiveness.'

Influencers Sufi Malik and Anjali Chakra have made the shocking announcement that they are calling off their wedding due to infidelity

The same-sex couple, based in New York, have become viral internet sensations over the last few years for documenting their adorable relationship online

But after five years together, the pair revealed on Sunday that they were splitting after Sufi, 27, confessed that she had been unfaithful to Anjali, 28

'Hey everyone, there has been a major turn of events in my relationship with Anjali,' she began in the lengthy note.

'I made an unrecognizable mistake of betrayal by cheating on her a few weeks before our wedding.

'I've hurt her tremendously, beyond my own understanding. I'm 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 [God].

'I've hurt the people I love and care about the most through my actions, including our family and friends, and our community that I cherish.'

She ended her message by asking for 'privacy and respect at this time.'

'Thank you to everyone who supported us all these years, we owe everything to you all,' she added.

Anjali also spoke about the breakup on her own account, and she explained that they had 'decided to call off their wedding and end their relationship due to infidelity committed by Sufi.'

In an extremely honest Instagram post, Sufi described the act as 'an unrecognizable mistake of betrayal' and 'asked for forgiveness'

Anjali also spoke about the breakup on her own account, and she explained that they had 'decided to call off their wedding and end their relationship due to infidelity committed by Sufi'

The Instagram star added that she 'wished for absolutely no negativity to be shown towards Sufi' as their chapter comes to a 'close'

'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 honored to share with all of you,' she wrote.

Anjali, a wedding planner, and Sufi, a photographer, first connected over Tumblr years ago, and started dating in July 2018

'Since the beginning, your outpouring of love and support has played such a special part in our journey and we will continue to carry that love with us moving forward. This may come as a shock, but our journey is now shifting.'

The Instagram star added that she 'wished for absolutely no negativity to be shown towards Sufi' as their chapter comes to a 'close.'

'What we have shared has been so full of love and nothing short of magical, I will choose to remember it this way,' she concluded.

Anjali, a wedding planner, and Sufi, a photographer, first connected over Tumblr years ago, and started dating in July 2018.

Immediately, they started showcasing their romance all over their social media accounts, and they soon gained a vast amount of supporters who were enthralled with watching their love story play out.

They now have a combined 467,000 followers on Instagram, and 136,000 subscribers on their joint YouTube channel.

Immediately, they started showcasing their romance all over their social media accounts, and they soon gained a vast amount of supporters

The pair got engaged in September 2022, and their wedding was set for next month

They now have a combined 467,000 followers on Instagram, and 136,000 subscribers on their joint YouTube channel

Many of the couple's longtime supporters were in utter shock over the news

The pair got engaged in September 2022, and their wedding was set for next month.

Back in 2019, Sufi reflected on their online fame while celebrating their one-year anniversary.

She explained that she felt like she 'never saw representation of people who looked like her' in love stories while she was growing up, so she was 'so glad' to have the 'opportunity' to do that for others with the 'love of her life' Anjali.

'I grew up witnessing and watching different kinds of love, some in my family and some in Bollywood,' she explained.

'After I got a little older and realized what my sexuality was, I never saw representation of people who looked like me.

'I'm so glad I have the opportunity to be that with the love of my life.'

Many of the couple's longtime supporters were in utter shock over the news.

'WTF is this a prank?' one Instagram user commented no Anjali's announcement.

'Just WEEKS BEFORE THE WEDDING. Omg,' added another. Someone else exclaimed, 'WAIT WHAT?'

'No I'm going to cry,' commented another heartbroken fan.

'My heart's hurting for real,' read a fourth comment, while a fifth said, 'I just hate everything about this break up.

'This feels really personal. I hope you guys get strength to overcome this gruesome pain. The last thing I wanted to hear today.'
A vet has issued a warning to dog owners thinking of participating in the DogVSLemon trend currently doing the rounds on social media.

Dr. Anna Foreman of Everypaw Pet Insurance, based in Hertfordshire, is urging people to avoid a social media trend where owners chuck lemon slices into their dogs' mouths.

One of these clips was uploaded by a Hungarian woman, whose sausage dog is seen energetically leaping up to catch the slice of lemon before pulling dramatic faces over the sour taste.

Dr Anna told The Mirror: 'Many dogs will eat anything thrown at them without a second thought, often not even sniffing or tasting it first.

This TikTok account, like several other social media accounts is taking part in a trend that Dr Anna Foreman, a vet, finds harmful

'This can be good in a few scenarios, for example with giving a dog a tablet, however, it can be quite dangerous in many others'.

The vet explained that sour citrus fruits like lemon or lime can be very toxic to dogs and if they ingest any more than a tiny bit, they could collapse - and even small amounts could cause an upset stomach.

And it's not just the content of the food that can pose an issue to your dog's health - throwing food for your dog to catch is a choking hazard, particularly with larger pieces food.

Pictured above is an adorable sausage dog leaping in discomfort after being confronted with the bitter taste of citrus

This German Shepherd gave the slice a tentative lick but was not impressed by the sour taste

Another Poodle cross was similarly not happy to get a sharp squirt of lemon juice in their mouth

Although the trend might seem funny, a vet has warned that citrus fruit can cause upset stomachs in dogs and even be toxic

The vet also warned pet owners of your dog losing your trust if you partake in the trend.

She acknowledged, however, that the trend could also serve as a good exercise if you're trying to teach your misbehaving pup what not to eat.

Dr Anna also said that after you dog has had a taste of the lemon a couple times it will try to catch a whiff of it before grabbing a slice again, and the smell alone will put them off it.

This comes after a dog behaviourist revealed the two main things you are 'accidentally' doing wrong with your pet pooch.

Will Atherton, from Britain, has racked up more than 881,000 followers on TikTok thanks to his insightful tips.

Recently, he revealed the biggest mistakes that pet owners have been making without even realizing.

And other social media users have been left stunned by the revelations.
The letters  more than 8,000 of them  have been arriving by the bagful since Kate Garraway's husband, Derek Draper, died in January.

Derek, 56, a political-lobbyist-turned-psychotherapist, endured a painful and debilitating decline after becoming one of the first people in the UK to contract Covid-19 in March 2020. He spent 98 days in a coma, paralysed, intubated and unable to communicate, with the virus ravaging every organ in his previously-healthy body.

After his discharge from hospital in 2021, Kate cared for him at home, watching in horror as her husband of 18 years slowly improved, then declined  and eventually slipped away as she and their two children, Darcey, 17, and Billy, 15, sat at his bedside in a London hospital on January 3.

Shortly afterwards, when ITV Good Morning Britain presenter Kate, 56, shared the tragic news with the world, the letters started coming.

Kate Garraway and son Billy read birthday cards at the bedside of stricken husband Derek

Ms Garraway gives an emotional interview in Derek's Story at 9pm on ITV tonight

There were hand-written cards and notes of condolence, all of them heartfelt  but most of the senders had something in common: they, like Kate, were carers. They had devoted their lives, sacrificed their careers and given up everything to care for loved ones who, for one reason or another, were unable to look after themselves.

They too felt frustrated, and financially crippled, by the bureaucratic maze of the UK care system  one which Kate insists is 'broken' and in urgent need of reform.

'It's supposed to be a system that's meant to catch you if you fall,' she explains. 'But, actually, it feels like it's trying to catch you out. You feel like you're in the dock answering questions about things that will literally mean life or death for someone you love.'

Derek Draper's daughter Darcey serves as a pallbearer at his funeral in February

Derek Draper and Kate Garraway before Covid struck. They were married for 18 years

In fact, the presenter reveals in a moving documentary, Kate Garraway: Derek's Story, being shown on ITV tonight, such was the huge financial burden of caring for Derek  who required round-the-clock support from a team of professionals  that it has left her with debts of up to 800,000.

His care cost 4,000 a week (208,000 a year over almost three years)  far more than the broadcaster, whom many might assume had millions in the bank from her high-profile TV and radio roles, could afford.

'Derek's care costs more than my salary at ITV,' Kate reveals in the documentary, which was filmed last autumn.

'His basic need, not including any therapy, is nearly 4,000 a week. How can I afford that? How can anybody afford 16,000 a month?

'And that's before you pay for a mortgage, before you pay for household bills, before you pay for anything for the kids. So we are at crunch point.'

In an astonishing confession, she admits she couldn't afford to have the heating on in the family home last October.

'It's the brutal reality that Derek's salary is over and his expenses are up,' she said, speaking candidly on screen. 'We haven't got the heating on anywhere but in his room. Everything is more expensive. I don't know what to do.'

Kate added: 'I am in debt, I can't earn enough money to cover my debt because I am managing Derek's care. I have an incredible job that I love and it's well paid. But it's not enough.

If this is what it's like for me, what on earth is it like for everybody else?'

Add to this the 700,000 debt incurred by Derek's psychotherapy company  which continued to rack up running costs despite generating no revenue when he fell ill  and the past four years have saddled the family with as much as 1.5million debt.

That does not include the vast cost of rehabilitative therapies, including treatment at a pioneering clinic in Mexico last December, which depleted their savings to virtually nil.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain yesterday morning, a deeply-emotional Kate, who returned to co-host the show on Fridays, a month after Derek's death, said she felt 'ashamed' to be in debt.

'I'm not a carer travelling miles, paying for my own transport, to help someone. I'm someone who is very well-paid and I feel ashamed I couldn't make it work.'

She admits she has entered 'survival mode' to keep things as normal as possible for the couple's two children. But having been deluged by messages of support, she feels the moment has come to speak out.

For as she now knows, she was far from alone in her plight.

According to Carers UK, there are around 10.6million carers - defined as someone looking after a family member, partner or friend who needs help because of illness, frailty, disability, a mental health problem or addiction - in the UK today.

A staggered 5.7million are unpaid and 2.5 million of these unpaid carers are also juggling employment.

More than half of unpaid carers are female. In fact, one fifth of women aged 55-60 is, as Kate was, a carer - a number that experts predict will rise.

The charity's 2022 State of Caring report found that 44 per cent of working-age adults who are caring for 35 hours a week or more are in poverty, with a quarter cutting back on essentials like food and heating.

Carer's Allowance, paid to almost a million UK adults annually, amounts to just 76.75 per week.

Of course, none of this would seem to be relevant to Kate Garraway, one of Britain's best-known and most popular TV presenters, with a reported net worth of 1.5million and an estimated annual salary of around 200,000.

So how did she, of all people, come to be so crippled by debt?

The complex set-up of England's care system, with responsibility falling to the country's 152 local authorities, is at the heart of it,

Firstly, care funding is not means-tested, so neither Kate's savings nor salary had any bearing on how much support she received. Instead, she says, it's a 'postcode lottery'.

Once Derek was discharged from hospital, his eligibility was reviewed for 'continuing healthcare' under the NHS, which is provided to those who have a 'primary health need'.

These funding assessments, explains Kate, entailed two-hour visits to their home, during which a professional would apply a series of 'tick box' criteria, many of which were meaningless to Derek's complicated and changing health struggles.

Doubly-incontinent and fed through a tube, he was unable to wash himself or sit up in bed, and yet - according to the local authority assessments - he still was not classed as having a 'primary health need'.

The system meant that funding was temporarily provided to the family, but then repeatedly revoked after perfunctory reviews.

'Derek's needs were clearly so great, yet he didn't warrant funded care. So you think, if he isn't getting it, then who is?' she asks. 'Something has to be done or the whole service, the people working in it, everything is going to break.'

Once, Kate was given just four hours' notice before Derek's care was terminated, and advised simply to call an ambulance and have him admitted to A&E.

Another time, she tried to care for him alone for ten days without any sleep  and found it so tough she feared for her own health, so was left with no choice but to pay for carers out of her own pocket.

She appealed the local authority's decision not to fund Derek's care but says: 'Two-and-a-half, three years later, my appeal is still being processed.'

Then, a ruling last August  which she wasn't allowed to attend  demanded that every penny the local authority had paid for Derek's care should be returned, as he didn't qualify for it.

The continuing care criteria decree that the majority of a person's care must involve managing their health needs, not social or personal care needs  and Derek was deemed to be outside of this.

This is where the debt, which Kate estimates between 500,000 and 800,000, lies.

With such steep costs for Derek's everyday care, it's not hard to see how even a hefty TV salary and substantial savings might dwindle to nothing.

A TV insider says the broadcaster, who works two days a week on ITV plus providing holiday cover, probably earns just under 100,000 for her role, plus around 100,000 for her five-day-a-week presenting role in a mid-morning show on Smooth FM radio.

While this was once bolstered by Derek's salary, from the moment he contracted Covid she had to become the sole breadwinner for the family and, as a part-time employee, it's unclear whether she was paid over the period she took off work to manage his needs.

She hasn't yet had to pay the funding back but the spectre of doing so looms large.

'To be fair to them, no one's contacted me since he's passed away to ask for that,' she says. 'They may well still do.'

She is still paying a mortgage on the family home, a property in north London worth up to 3million, which she had completely remodelled to adapt to Derek's needs  including a wheelchair lift, a wet room and a ground-floor bedroom  on his return from hospital in April 2021.

Costs, she said back then, were 'through the roof', amounting to 'tens of thousands of pounds'. Friends say she now faces the devastating reality of selling the house to pay off her mounting debts.

'The house is about all she has left financially,' one said in January. 'She is now facing up to the fact it might have to be sold.

'It's where she and Derek were so happy and also where her two children grew up, but bills are bills and they have to be paid.'

Then there's the matter of Derek's psychotherapy business, Astra Aspera Ltd, which closed in 2022, 184,000 in the red.

In an interview last weekend, that figure was revealed to be significantly higher  in excess of 700,000  due to the fact that Kate had no legal authority to administer her husband's company affairs when he fell ill.

This meant it continued to incur running costs, despite not making any money. Kate was eventually able to become a co-director in 2021 and wound the company up the following year.

That same year, she flew Derek to Mexico to take part in a medical trial, pioneered by a renowned American doctor, with expertise in treating long Covid. The trip 'took weeks and weeks of planning' and involved a 28-day stay in a private clinic undergoing experimental tests and treatment, at vast expense to the family.

It was this same clinic that Kate and Derek travelled last November hoping for more ground-breaking treatment, and it was here, despite reports of Derek's 'massive' improvement, that his heart stopped and he fell unconscious.

After 14 hours of neurosurgery in Mexico, he was flown on a hospital plane to London  but remained in a coma over Christmas and New Year, and never woke up.

Throughout the past four years, despite the unimaginable pain and grief she has endured behind closed doors, Kate has remained in the public eye.

She has released two memoirs, The Power of Hope and The Strength of Love, and allowed documentary-makers into their home not once but three times. Finding Derek was released in 2021 and Caring For Derek in 2022.

For sharing her family's story so frankly and honestly, Kate has been widely-praised  but critics have been harsh, too, with trolls slamming her for courting the spotlight at such a private time.

But knowing the depths of her dire financial straits, it's not hard to understand why her fame might have come in handy.

After all, both the advance that comes with a book deal and the fee for a documentary (estimated to be around 50,000 apiece) were needed to ease the financial pressure under which her family was buckling.

Of her latest TV venture, she says: 'I don't know what flak I'll get. A couple of people [on social media] have said, 'Oh, why is she doing that now?'

At first, Kate admits, it felt 'unbearable' to release the documentary  made last year  with Derek no longer by her side.

Footage shows several poignant moments between the couple, including Derek's first tentative words on camera. 'I want to be heard,' he says.

Making this, their last documentary together, was something Kate says she had to do for him.

It's also for those 8,000 letter-writers, to shine a light on the hardships and injustices of the modern care system  and to try to bring about change.

Choking back tears in the documentary, she says: 'I'm sad because I don't have the chance to care any more.

'But it felt wrong to walk away from the caring campaign I felt I have a responsibility for.

'We need this system to change. If something can be done, it will be a wonderful legacy for Derek.'

Kate Garraway: Derek's Story airs tonight on ITV at 9pm, after which it will be available to stream on ITVX
Maxima, 52, owns a number of insect brooches shaped like moths and beetles

She's often dressed in colourful ensembles and bold patterns.

But, Queen Maxima of the Netherlands opted for a different look today as she cut an elegant figure for the launch of the MIND Us Foundation online tool, held at Skatepark in The Hague, Netherlands.

The royal, 52, added flair to her coordinated ensemble with a distinctive pair of spider brooches by Celedonio, a jewellery brand hailing from her native Argentina.

Maxima, who is honorary chairman of the MIND Us Foundation, owns a number of striking brooches shaped like moths, beetles and butterflies.

The oversized spiders, which she always wears as a set, are handmade with sparkling crystals and have been in her jewellery collection since 2015.

The mother-of-three delivered a speech during the event, which introduced an online tool for adults to help young people struggling with mental health.

Queen Maxima of the Netherlands looked chic in a suit the MindUS Foundation launch

Queen Maxima appeared in high spirits as she arrived at the event today.

The royal wore a fitted grey jacket and matching wide-leg trousers, completed with a black clutch bag and court shoes.

However, it was her intricate spider brooches that truly captured attention.

Maxima has showcased the glittering handmade set on a number of occasions since 2015.

The design hails from Celedonio, an Argentinian jewellery brand that draws inspiration from nature.

The mother-of-three sported her signature make-up look, incorporating a smoky eye and bronzed cheekbones.

Meanwhile, her golden locks were parted to one side and left to fall over her shoulders.

The event launched online tool Checkers, which is designed to encourage adults to help young people struggling with mental health issues by listening and asking questions.

Queen Maxima complemented her tonal outfit with a distinctive pair of spider brooches by Celedonio, a jewellery brand hailing from her native Argentina

The royal appeared in high spirits as she arrived at the event in The Hague, Netherlands

Queen Maxima cut an elegant figure in a fitted jacket and corresponding wide-leg trousers

Maxima took to the stage during the launch of the MIND Us support tool at Skatepark, The Hague

She was happy to pose for photos with a number of individuals at the event

Maxima appeared at ease as she spoke to various people and posed for photos

Queen Maxima is honorary chairman of the MIND Us Foundation.

It comes after the royal visited the Military Rehabilitation Centre in Aardenburg, where soldiers and civilians go to recover following an ailment, accident or stroke.

The centre works in conjunction with Amputee Osseointegration Foundation Europe Clinics (AOFE Clinics) and specialises in amputation medicine.

There, the Queen tended to a Ukrainian soldier who appeared to have both of his legs amputated, and by who she was pictured throughout much of her visit.

The down-to-earth monarch at one point kneeled down to speak with the unnamed soldier, and appeared deeply engrossed in their conversation.

For the occasion, the mother-of-three donned a chic purple blazer and matching bootcut trousers, opting for just a pop of colour with a fuchsia pink shirt.

She left the double-breasted blazer unbuttoned, highlighting her svelte figure and shapely silhouette.

Maxima paired the look with a pair of chocolate brown high-heeled boots, which synced perfectly with a leather handbag of the same hue.
An influencer who delivered her baby while in a coma has spoken out for the first time since she collapsed from a brain aneurysm one year ago - as she revealed she is now suffering from aphasia and has 'limited' use of her limbs.

Jackie Miller James, 36, was heavily pregnant when she collapsed to the ground in June 2023 before being found by husband Austin.

The mom-to-be was rushed to hospital and placed into a medically-induced coma while daughter Knoxly was born by emergency caesarean and spent her first 12 days in the NICU.

One year after her terrifying health incident, Jackie has given fans an update on her health as she revealed she's ready to 'reclaim her life,' but is finding it difficult to make a full recovery due to her ongoing battle with aphasia.

An influencer who delivered her baby while in a coma has spoken out for the first time since she collapsed from a brain aneurysm one year ago - as she revealed she is now suffering from aphasia and has 'limited' use of her limbs

Jackie Miller James, 36, w as heavily pregnant when she collapsed to the ground in June 2023 before being found by husband Austin

The mom-to-be was rushed to hospital and placed into a medically-induced coma while daughter Knoxly was born by emergency caesarean and spent her first 12 days in the NICU

Jackie took to Instagram earlier today to give her 89,000 followers the latest on her health journey as she credited the love and support of her fans for getting her through the difficult year.

'Thank you for all of your love and support, we have been in hospitals from California, Colorado, Nebraska and Kansas, it's been a tough year.

'There is more work to be done but because of friends and family and this community, we're ready to start living again. I'll be sharing my journey and recovery, but from the bottom of my heart, thank you,' she said in the heartfelt message.

In the caption, Jackie further dived into the details of her recovery, where she revealed she is suffering from aphasia - the loss of ability to understand or express speech - as the mom-of-one shared the various challenges she has faced since her medical scare.

She said: 'What a year it's been for me and my family. Last May, I was given a 50/50 chance of making it through the night and now I'm here writing you.

'One week from the due date of our first child, my husband, Austin, found me collapsed in our living room. I had suffered an aneurysm rupture in my brain. After a month in the ICU here in Orange County, we traveled from hospital to hospital pursuing continued therapies that would help me learn to live again.

'I still struggle with aphasia, which impacts my speech, and have limited use of my right arm and leg. But, I'm more motivated than ever to keep putting in the work. I look forward to sharing more about my unique journey in the hopes that it helps others going through trauma. There is hope!

'While recovery has had some incredibly tough moments, having my 10-month old daughter Knoxly by my side has been my source of motivation. And throughout it all, Austin has been my rock. Friends and family have also stepped up in truly amazing ways to support us from the very beginning. Thank you, mom!

Jackie took to Instagram earlier today to give her 89,000 followers the latest on her health journey as she credited the love and support of her fans for getting her through the difficult year

Following the harrowing ordeal, Jackie's family previously took over her Instagram accounts to share updates

'The journey to reclaim my life is ongoing but I'm grateful for this community and the opportunity to share my story with you. I hope to offer empathy, provide hope, and bring awareness to the risks women face in pregnancy.

'More to come, but for now, from the bottom of my heart, thank you all!'

Last year, Jackie was left fighting for her life after her husband found her passed out on their living room floor.

Just days after the horrifying incident, her family shared the news that she had given birth to a daughter via C-section while still in a coma.

When the baby arrived, Jackie's family revealed that the influencer would remain in the hospital for the 'foreseeable future.'

At the time, the new mom was put on life support after undergoing five separate brain procedures.

She was expected to remain in the ICU for weeks, and required substantial therapy and assistance.

Her sisters Natalie and Nicelle began fundraising for her via GoFundMe in an attempt to share updates about her health journey and ensure that they could bring her home safely.

One month after the incident, her family said that they were 'beyond thrilled' to be sharing that the mom-of-one was 'performing above expectations at this stage of her recovery'

'If Jackie and the baby arrived a few minutes later at the hospital, we likely would have lost both of them.

'But instead, Jackie is continuing to fight for her life each day and we are optimistic she can beat the odds by surrounding her with the right specialists and methods of therapy.

'While the road will be long, we are committed to bringing Jackie home to her daughter and husband,' the GoFundMe read.

One month later, her family said that they were 'beyond thrilled' to be sharing that the mom-of-one was 'performing above expectations at this stage of her recovery.'

'Jackie is awake and was recently transferred to one of the best neurological rehabilitation hospitals in the country,' they wrote.

'The doctors have been pleased upon her latest tests, numbers and evaluations, noting that Jackie is performing above expectations at this stage of her recovery.

Although her family was overjoyed with the progress, they knew Jackie still had a long road to recovery.

However, they remained positive due to her daughter, who was a 'constant source of light for the entire family' through the harrowing ordeal (seen with her husband Austin)

However, they remained positive due to her daughter, who was a 'constant source of light for the entire family' through the harrowing ordeal.

'[She] continues to grow into a happy, healthy, and animated little angel.

'Jackie has also recently been reunited with her baby, and spends a great deal of each day with her entire family while in the hospital.'

Just weeks before her harrowing health ordeal, Jackie took to Instagram to show off her beauty in a slew of glamorous snaps.

In the caption, she revealed that she was 39 weeks pregnant.

On the same day, Jackie posted a series of photos showing the 'pregnancy symptoms [she] was not expecting.'

Among those was snoring so bad that her husband couldn't sleep and 'hysterically crying no reason at all.'

Just weeks before her harrowing health ordeal, Jackie took to Instagram to show off her beauty in a slew of glamorous snaps

Jackie became a social media star in 2021 after working as a professional backup dancer in New York.

Prior to her dancing career, she spent six years working for a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon.

She said she was always fascinated by Botox, cosmetics and beauty and wanted a forum to discuss them honestly.

Jackie also charted her dating dramas before meeting Austin online in 2019.

The pair married in a lavish Napa Valley ceremony in April 2022 that was described as a 'little bit Cali and a little bit country.'
Supermarket shoppers are debating the eye-watering price of a Coles bakery item, with many claiming the treat is 'not worth' the cost.

The Australian grocery store has recently dropped two brand new bakery creations - a 'Vanilla Koala Cake' and 'Snag the Sausage Dog' chocolate log, both retailing at $29.

While many foodies were intrigued by the imaginative designs, the price tag was immediately dubbed 'unreasonable' and a 'rip off'.

'Almost $30 for a sponge cake is outrageous,' one said on TikTok.

'For $29 it better be fully organic, sprinkled with chia seeds, and sing the Australian anthem,' another added.

Shoppers have started a heated debate over the eye-watering price of Coles cakes

Coles has also released a sausage dog chocolate sponge cake ($29)

The sausage dog cake is a chocolate sponge log with frosting swirls, covered in milk chocolate, and decorated with colourful edible buttons and sprinkles.

The koala cake is a double layered vanilla sponge with jam, topped with sprinkles.

Both cakes are being rolled out around Australia, with the treats expected to be available nation-wide by 29 March.

Nevertheless, shoppers were not impressed - with many pointing out the koala cake is the same size as the $6.40 Coles mud cakes.

Coles typically sells other 'celebration' cakes that are a step up from their usual mud cakes, and those range from $16 to $31.

'I saw one of those cakes at Coles today thought they were pretty poor looking for $29,' a woman wrote about the koala.

'The cake is cute but the price is not,' another said.

'These are mass produced and kept frozen. $30 for a frozen cake is absurd,' a woman added.

Marks & Spencer's in the UK sells Colin the Caterpillar cakes, which is made by the same bakers as Snag the Sausage Dog

While many were intrigued by the designs, the price tag was dubbed 'unreasonable'

Popular food vlogger Nectro Vlangos, who goes by Nectorious Papi online, recently reviewed the 'delicious' cakes.

'This is such a fun concept - and it's similar to Colin the Caterpillar in the UK,' he said about the sausage dog.

Marks & Spencer's in the UK sells Colin the Caterpillar cakes, which is made by the same bakers as Snag the Sausage Dog.

The Melbourne foodie raved about the sweet caramel and soft chocolate sponge.

Despite many slamming the price, many others shoppers rushed to defend it.

'Go order a koala cake from a cake maker - they will charge you $50. Calm down,' one said.

'Oh my god, an Australian version of Colin! I'm so excited - my life is complete,' another wrote.

'This will be perfect for my kids' birthdays,' a mum wrote.

'We are committed to providing our customers with a diverse range of fun cakes which cater to all budgets and preferences, to ensure everyone can enjoy a delicious cake at their special occasion,' a Coles spokesperson told FEMAIL.
Newcastle man Russ, is a chemical engineer by trade, but has won the hearts of hungry Australians everywhere with his hilarious and often rude food reviews

McDonald's Australia has backflipped on its unpopular decision to replace Sprite with Sprite No Sugar - following backlash from its customers.

The controversial decision was being rolled out long before the fast food giant announced it - causing furor among the foodie community.

Russ from Russ Eats made a video in November 2022 complaining about the switch - and the fact it felt like a secret.

He told Femail fans will have to wait for his thoughts on the chain 'switching back'.

McDonald's has revealed the switch back to Sprite sugar was a direct response to customer feedback.

'McDonald's will be transitioning from Sprite Zero Sugar to Sprite across restaurants nationwide from April to June,' a spokesperson said.

'Coca-Cola Zero Sugar and Frozen Coke Zero Sugar will continue to be available for customers looking for low- to no-sugar alternatives.'

When Russ, who is from Newcastle first heard Sprite would be replaced he headed to his local restaurant, in disbelief.

'Makes no sense to me, so let's see if it's true,' he said.

He spoke to the woman through the ordering box and asked for a 'medium Sprite, a nice sugary Sprite'.

She took the order without hesitation and told him the price, but the order on the screen showed she had put through a Sprite Zero.

'WTF not even telling me it is Sprite Zero,' he wrote in the caption while remaining polite in real life.

In his latest video the Aussie funnyman who posts under Russ Eats tests the wild theory that McDonald's restaurants no longer serve Sprite

'Do you have any normal Sprite,' he asked her, before pressing her to confirm the rumours were true.

She said they no longer serve Sprite and 'to her knowledge' it wouldn't be coming back.

McDonald's Australia has since confirmed the switch to FEMAIL.

'McDonald's Australia has recently moved to Sprite No Sugar across its restaurants nationwide. We look forward to hearing customer feedback on the new beverage option,' a spokesperson said.

Shocked, Russ ordered a burger, and continued through to the last window where he picked up his meal and sugar-free drink.

And he was less than impressed when the burger he ordered was wrong and the people at the window forgot his straw.

'No sugar, no straw, no bacon, what an experience that was. We have confirmed the rumour is true.'

He then took a huge sip of the drink.

'Yep we have confirmed it tastes like piss,' he said.

Russ' followers were equally as outraged with some revealing they found out about the no sugar switch 'the same way'.

He quickly confirmed the rumours after asking for a Sprite and being charged for a sugar-free option

'Ordered Sprite and they just automatically put it on the order as Sprite Zero. At least warn me I'm getting this no sugar rubbish,' one man complained.

'Took me five times. I ask for sprite no ice, kept thinking they just thought I said no sugar,' another said.

Others slammed the popular chain.

'Piss weak from Maccas,' one man said.

'Forcing people people to have Sprite zero in a fast food place makes absolutely no sense,' slammed a second.

And a worker swept in to dish out the goss.

'No idea why they changed it but it happened about two months ago,' they revealed.

The video was posted on Tuesday and has 18500 views on Instagram.
Read more: Why Aussies are adding Vietnam to their travel bucket list

Travellers swear by this Osprey Fairview backpack for any trip

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Travellers have been raving about a backpack dubbed the comfiest and most practical on the market - and after caving to the hype and trying it myself, I have to agree.

The Osprey Fairview 40 Travel Pack is a must-have for globetrotters and is sized to meet most domestic carry-on requirements.

There are two variations - one designed to suit women's torsos and another for men's; it also doubles as travel luggage with a side strap.

The main compartment has a huge zipper opening with a generous amount of room inside along with an upper pocket for small essentials and compression straps to cinch everything down.

While the bag has a higher end price tag of $499 on Amazon Australia - I can assure you it's worth every dollar.

The Osprey Fairview 40 Travel Pack is a must-have when travelling overseas, camping or hiking. While it has a higher end price tag on Amazon Australia - it's worth every dollar

Last year I travelled to the UK and Europe for seven weeks and used the backpack along with a 23kg suitcase. The essentials were packed in the bag (pictured) and the multiple compartments have been designed to make life easier

As a seasoned traveller myself, I've tried countless bags, suitcases and luggage - and this pack is by far the best.

The design is compact and flawless as everything has been designed with the goal of making it as easy as possible to get from A to B.

It's available in four shades - black, jungle blue, night blue and red - and there's a laptop sleeve and small top pocket for must-haves like headphones and snacks.

A backpack also ensures you have both hands free at all times.

A backpack also ensures you have both hands free at all times

The buy has received hundreds of rave reviews online, with happy customers labelling the buy the 'best travel bag ever'.

One wrote: 'I love this bag, its very comfortable and has a lot of space. Great that you can adjust the height depending on how long your torso is.'

Another said: 'I chose this bag because it will be so versatile for flying and camping... I climbed a mountain wearing it and never had a problem with fit or it rubbing me on the shoulders even carrying a full load with a sleeping bag tied on the outside.'

'I just used this pack for three weeks with a huge variety of travelling styles. Steps, elevation climbs, buses. This pack exceeded all of my expectations. I am 69 years old and this pack made it so much easier to travel,' another added.

The $49 Cabeau Evolution S3 Travel Pillow went viral on TikTok last year (left) and so too did the Trtl Travel and Airplane Pillow (right)

When I went overseas for seven weeks last year I purchased a number of best sellers ahead of time that made the trip a breeze.

The $49 Cabeau Evolution S3 Travel Pillow went viral on TikTok last year - and for good reason. It's designed with convenient little straps to attach onto the head seat of the plane, making it easier to fall sleep.

Alternatively the Trtl travel neck pillow also gained swift popularity thanks to its internal support system.

The hidden support provides 'premium comfort' using the 'loop wrap and nap' method and keeps your head and neck in an ergonomic position while you sleep - preventing the dreaded 'head bobbing'.

Those who opt to stay in hostels and go camping may wish to purchase the SOMOYA Sleeping Bag Liners Camping Sheet from $40.15; those who have tried it dubbed it a 'life saver' when staying in budget accommodation.
A civic group filed a complaint against retail giant Coupang on Tuesday over suspicions the company kept a blacklist of people it does not want to hire again.

The civic group, dubbed the task force for Coupang workers' health, labor and human rights, filed the complaint with the regional labor office in Seoul against six Coupang officials, including the CEO of Coupang and its affiliate Coupang Fulfillment Service (CFS), on charges of violating the Labor Standards Act.

Participants included nine members of Coupang's labor union, two reporters and one regular worker.

"The blacklist has been used across the Coupang group and its affiliates for the purpose of impeding employment," the group said, calling for a thorough probe and stern punishment.

One of the complainants claimed that his request to work at Coupang was rejected for the fourth time this month, saying the "blacklist is still alive."

Last month, the civic group disclosed a document as evidence that the e-commerce company had managed a blacklist of 16,450 warehouse workers to stop them from being rehired, including their personal information and their reasons for quitting the job.

The group also filed a complaint with the police and requested the labor ministry for special supervision of the company to look into any labor law violations. (Yonhap)
The state also has some of the highest levels of binge drinking in the country

Iowa has the fourth highest incidence of cancers related to alcohol in the US

Health officials are scrambling to uncover why Iowa has become an American cancer hotspot.

Unlike a majority of US states, Iowa is among a handful where cancer rates have been increasing over the last five years. It falls in second place for the highest rate of diagnoses - approximately 480 per 100,000 people, according to the National Cancer Institute.

This is higher than the national average of 442 cases per 100,000 people.

In 2024, about 21,000 Iowans are predicted to be diagnosed with cancer, which, accounting for its population, is the second highest share of diagnoses in the country.

Two issues feared to be behind the cancer spike: Contaminated water, soil and air from chemicals used in the state's booming agriculture industry and Iowa's growing alcohol problem.

Dr Nathan Goodyear, the medical director of an integrative cancer center in Arizona, told DailyMail.com both alcohol and pesticides are two major contributors to an 'inhospitable environment' that may raise the risk of cancer.

Agriculture in Iowa accounts for $17.3billion of the state's $247billion gross domestic product - about seven percent. It is the third highest-grossest industry in the state.

The two leading crops in the state are corn and soybeans, which require large amounts of pesticides and fertilizers.

The state uses 237million pounds of weed killers and 11.6billion pounds of fertilizer per year - more than any other state. The level of fertilizer use accounts for 28 percent of the entire country's each year.

And Iowa's livestock and poultry industry produces more waste per year than any other state - 109billion pounds.

Both pesticides and nitrates from animal waste routinely drain from farms into water sources and exposure to these has been associated with an increased risk of cancers of the brain, breast, bladder, liver, bile duct and ovaries, as well as non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

David Cwiertny, professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Iowa, told the Iowa Capital Dispatch: 'Were unique in terms of our production system here. Unrivaled anywhere in the world, right?

'Were proud to boast about that. But we shouldnt be so foolish as to think that the unrivaled scale of production doesnt come with very unique consequences or challenges for our state, right?'

Dr Goodyear told DailyMail.com farming pesticides and chemicals disrupt hormones, increase inflammation, alter the body's immune system and reduce oxygen levels in cells and tissues.

He said: 'Destroy or harm the cell's ability to make energy, and one destroys the means to life.'

Cancer, Dr Goodyear added, is the result of long-term changes made to the body's cells as they tried to adapt to the 'inhospitable environment' caused by outside factors.

But experts are starting to think agriculture is not the only explanation - especially given the types of cancers increasing in the state.

Iowa has one of the highest rates of binge drinking in the US - with 22 percent of residents reporting the habit, compared to the national average of 17 percent.

The state's rate of alcohol-related cancers has been increasing since 2014 and it has about 10 times more cases than the US average, according to the Cancer in Iowa report published by the Iowa Cancer Registry last month.

Alcohol, a known carcinogen, can increase cancer risk because it damages cells and inhibits their ability to repair themselves, which can cause normal cells to turn into cancerous ones.

Dr Goodyear said alcohol, like chemicals, is just one 'additional contribution to a crisis [within] the body's internal environment' that can cause cell adaptation and death.

Binge drinking has been linked to alcohol-related cancers including breast in females; liver; colorectal; and head and neck, which includes lip, oral, pharynx, larynx and esophageal.

Compared to people who do not drink, those who regularly consume large amounts of alcohol have a five-time higher risk of developing cancers of the mouth, esophagus and nasal cavity and a 2.5-time higher risk of throat cancer.

Iowa currently has the second-highest rate of new oral and nasal cavity cancers and the fourth-highest rate of new esophageal cancer cases in the country.

The report estimated that 21,000 new diagnoses of cancer will be recorded in Iowa in 2024 and 6,100 residents will die from a form of the disease.

The cancer predicted to have the highest incidence is breast cancer, which will see 2,930 diagnoses. Prostate follows with 2,850 new cases and lung cancer will see 2,700 diagnoses.

The most fatalities will be from lung cancer, with an estimate of 1,430, followed by 550 colon and rectum cancer deaths and 470 fatalities from pancreatic cancer.

While the latest report highlights the impact of alcohol on cancer, the authors said 'there is no one cause for cancer; rather it is the complex interplay of different genetic, behavioral, environmental and structural factors' that lead to the disease.'

To reduce the risks, however, it is important for people to address any aspects they have control over, such as drinking.
Some 60 per cent of survivors experience depression within two decades

Stroke survivors are almost three times as likely to suffer depression as their healthy peers, according to new research.

Experts said the numbers struggling with their mental health are far greater than previously thought.

They warned more needs to be done to help patients navigate life in the years after suffering a stroke.

The King's College London study found nine out of ten cases of depression occurred within five years of surviving a stroke, indicating a key time for healthcare intervention.

They looked at incidence of mild and severe depression among 6,600 survivors of stroke in the Lambeth and North Southwark boroughs of London.

Experts said the numbers struggling with their mental health are far greater than previously thought

Some 60 per cent of stroke survivors would experience depression within the next two decades, compared with 22 per cent of the general population, according to findings published in The Lancet Regional Health, Europe.

Yanzhong Wang, Professor of Statistics in Population Health at King's College London, said: 'Depression is common in stroke survivors but our research shows it persists for much longer than previously thought.

'We know that depression can limit a stroke survivor's mobility including simple things as walking and holding objects and can also increase the risk of death.

'With an aging population in the UK and an increase in the proportion of older adults, it's essential we plan for rising healthcare demands to tackle the anticipated surge in stroke cases.'

There are 1.3 million stroke survivors in the UK, with around 100,000 experienced every year.

The study population was 55.4 per cent male with a median age of 68 years. Some 62.5 per cent were from a white ethnic background and 29.7 per cent from a Black ethnic background.

Depression can limit a stroke survivor's mobility including simple things as walking and holding objects, according to an expert

While post-stroke depression is common after stroke and associated with poor functional ability and increased mortality, the study found that severe depression tended to occur earlier after stroke, had a longer duration and was quicker to recur than mild depression.

Corresponding author Lu Liu, said: 'Quality of life is important for stroke survivors as there is evidence depressed survivors have a reduced survival rate.

'There are many reasons why this could be, including disruptions to the survivor's social life, reduced physical ability and inflammatory disorders observed in depressed patients.

'More clinical attention should be paid to patients with depression that is longer than one year because of the high risks of experiencing persistent depression.'
Children are turning to pornography and social media to learn about sexual health as schools are failing to provide proper sex education, MPs have warned.

The unconventional sources are exposing pupils to an 'unacceptable risk of harm' at a time when rates of sexually transmitted diseases are soaring, the cross-party women and equalities committee added.

The committee blamed the trends on the 'absence of authoritative advice' and called for relationships and sex education (RSE) to be taught up to the age of 18.

Moreover, the benefits of condom use 'must be a key part of the curriculum' to curb the spread of disease as their use is falling, the MPs said.

The committee's latest report, published today, said: 'In schools, there is compelling evidence that relationships and sex education (RSE) is failing young people.'

Children are turning to pornography and social media to learn about sexual health as schools are failing to provide proper sex education, MPs have warned (stock image)

Conservative MP Caroline Nokes (pictured), who leads the women and equalities committee, said: 'Sexual health services are at breaking point. The 2022 data on STIs is a red flag and should encourage everyone to do better'

'In the absence of authoritative advice, young people are learning about sex and sexual health from online sources, social media and pornography. This exposes children to an unacceptable risk of harm.'

The committee criticised the Government for 'failing to heed warnings' over funding cuts to sexual health services.

It said that funding has reduced year-on-year, while infection rates have increased.

The latest figures on STIs in England  described as 'deeply concerning' and a 'red flag' by the committee  show there were 392,453 new diagnoses in England in 2022, which is equivalent to more than 1,000 every day and an increase of 23.8 per cent compared with 2021.

Conservative MP Caroline Nokes, who leads the women and equalities committee, said: 'Sexual health services are at breaking point.

'The 2022 data on STIs is a red flag and should encourage everyone to do better.'
Bird flu has been detected in dairy cows and their milk on farms in Texas and in Kansas for the first time ever.

Tests revealed that an unknown number of cows were positive for Type A H5N1, the strain behind the largest ever outbreak in animals and has killed dozens of people globally since 2022.

The virus was also found to be affecting older dairy cows in New Mexico while Iowa, another dairy-heavy state, is monitoring the situation.

Farmers first noticed cows falling ill three weeks ago with symptoms of lethargy and loss of appetite, then they began to produce significantly less milk.

Milk and nasal swabs then tested positive for the virus. 'We hadn't seen anything like it before. It was kind of like they had a cold,' said Texas Department of Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller.

Tests revealed that an unknown number of cows have tested positive for bird flu Type A H5N1 in Texas, Kansas and New Mexico. Iowa is currently 'monitoring the situation' as it is also a dairy-heavy state. It comes after a goat in Minnesota tested positive last week. Bird flu has also been found in foxes, bobcats, striped skunks, raccoons and coyotes since the 2022 outbreak

Dairy cattle feed at a farm on March 31, 2017, near Vado, New Mexico. The US Department of Agriculture said Monday, March 25, 2024, that milk from dairy cows in Texas and Kansas has tested positive for bird flu

There is no danger of the milk supply being contaminated and that the risk to people is low, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

'There is no threat to the public and there will be no supply shortages,' Mr Miller said in a news release.

Dairies are required to only allow milk from healthy animals to enter the food supply, and milk from the sick animals is being diverted or destroyed.

Pasteurization also kills viruses and other bacteria, and the process is required for milk sold across state borders, the agency said.

'At this stage, there is no concern about the safety of the commercial milk supply or that this circumstance poses a risk to consumer health,' the USDA said in a statement.

Dr Jim Lowe, a veterinarian and influenza researcher at the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, agreed, because '[bird flu] has only been found in milk that is grossly abnormal,' he told The New York Times.

The infected milk was thick and syrupy, he said, and has been disposed of.

It comes a week after officials in Minnesota announced that goats on a farm where there had been an outbreak of bird flu among poultry were diagnosed with the virus (stock image)

Like all flus, the virus is spread primarily through droplets in the air which are breathed in or get into a person's mouth, eyes or nose

The federal government said its tests in the cattle did not detect any changes to the virus that would make it spread more easily to people.

It comes a week after officials in Minnesota announced that goats on a farm where there had been an outbreak of bird flu among poultry were diagnosed with the virus - the first time ever that the virus had been found in US livestock.

While there doesn't appear to be any mutation this time, experts have said that the longer the virus is around in mammals undetected, the more chance it has to acquire a mutation that allows it to infect people more easily.

Based on findings from Texas, USDA officials think the cows got the virus from infected wild birds, which could have happened through the birds' feces or oral secretions.

Stacey Schultz-Cherry, a virologist and influenza expert at St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, told The New York Times that as cows were not believed to be among the species that were particularly susceptible to bird flu, the new cases were troublesome.

Dr Thomas Moore, an infectious diseases doctor at the University of Kansas, previously told DailyMail.com that infected goat in Minnesota marked a 'worrisome development' because it shows the virus is edging closer to infecting other mammals and even humans.

The virus is affecting older dairy cows in Texas, Kansas and in New Mexico, causing decreased lactation and low appetite.

Dairy farmers in Texas first became concerned when cattle started falling ill with what officials called 'mystery dairy cow disease,' Mr Miller said.

The state's animal health commission began an investigation that included tests for bird flu, spokeswoman Erin Robinson said.

Experts say livestock appear to recover on their own within seven to 10 days.

That's different than bird flu outbreaks in poultry, which necessitate killing flocks to get rid of the virus. Since 2022, outbreaks in have led to the loss of about 80 million birds in US commercial flocks.

So far, the virus appears to be infecting about 10 percent of lactating dairy cows in the affected herds, said Michael Payne, a food animal veterinarian and and biosecurity expert with the University of California-Davis Western Institute for Food Safety and Security.

'This doesn't look anything like the high-path influenza in bird flocks,' he said.

Bird flu was detected in unpasteurized, clinical samples of milk from sick cattle collected from two dairy farms in Kansas and one in Texas. The virus was also found in a nose and throat swab from another dairy in Texas.

Officials called it a rapidly evolving situation. The Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are involved, along with officials in the three states. Another dairy-heavy state, Iowa, said it is monitoring the situation.

Dairy industry officials said that producers have started enhanced biosecurity efforts on US farms, including limiting the amount of traffic into and out of properties and restricting visits to employees and essential personnel.

Bird flu previously has been reported in 48 different mammal species, Payne noted, adding: 'It was probably only a matter of time before avian influenza made its way to ruminants.'
ER doctors fear the nearly two dozen people who plunged 185ft from the Baltimore bridge last night may not survive - as they revealed their biological race against time.

Around 1.30am on Tuesday, the Singaporean-flagged cargo ship Dali crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, launching at least 20 people into the cold water of the Patapsco river below.

These include six construction workers who were on foot on the bridge and people in five cars. Two people have been saved so far, while another is in critical condition, officials announced.

Tragically, doctors told DailyMail.com that those on foot faced an agonizing drop that would feel like 'hitting concrete' and result in major injuries like broken bones and a ruptured heart, with a small chance of survival.

Once in the 47-degree water, hypothermia would kick in, causing hyperventilating, loss of motor control, confusion, and organ failure, starting in just three minutes.

And those in cars would have just two minutes to escape from their cars before drowning.

Baltimore officials are on a race to save up to 20 people who plunged into the Patapsco River after a Singaporean cargo ship crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge

Hypothermia is a medical emergency that occurs when the body loses heat faster than it can produce it.

A normal human body temperature is generally considered 98.6 degrees Farenheit (37 degrees Celsius), though it can range from 97 to 99 F (36.1 to 37.2 C).

However, exposure to cold air or water can cause body temperature to gradually drop. A temperature of 95 F or less is considered hypothermia.

Dr Jared L Ross, an emergency medicine physician, told DailyMail.com: 'At these water temperatures, without protective clothing such as an immersion suit or drysuit, we would expect the effects of hypothermia to set in quickly,' he said.

Dr Ross estimated that in just three to five minutes, a person with hypothermia may suffer impaired motor skills or clumsiness.

'Exhaustion would occur within 30-60 minutes with a loss of consciousness expected by the end of the first hour,' he said.

Though Dr Ross noted that someone with 'floatation and access to fresh air to breathe' could survive up to three hours, those without it can suffer deadly organ failure in about an hour.

In about three to five minutes, heart rate and blood pressure drop as the person is too cold to pump normal blood flow around their body.

The result of not getting enough blood, oxygen and nutrients around the body is nerve damage, which can set in after as little as 20 minutes.

The bridge spans 9,000 feet across the Patapsco River and is 180 feet above the water

Nerves start to die, which can lead a patient to think they are burning up rather than freezing, causing them to strip off their clothing.

And after 30 to 60 minutes, a person may lose consciousness organs like the heart, lungs, and brain start to shut down.

Several factors can impact how long a person can survive hypothermia.

Dr LouAnn Giangreco, emergency medicine physician and Chief Medical Officer of American Family Care, told DailyMail.com that children in particular may have an advantage because they have a higher body surface area (BSA) than adults, which allows the body to better maintain core temperature.

'This may allow a child to survive up to one hour when submerged in very cold water less than 40F (4C),' Dr Ross said.

It's unclear if any children were involved in the bridge collapse in Baltimore.

Dr Giangreco also noted that individuals who are more physically fit also may survive longer due to their bodies being able to adjust to harsh conditions faster.

'While treading water can greatly extend survival in warmer water, in cold water exhaustion will set in quickly and swimming ability will not significantly increase survival,' Dr Ross said.

A person's weight can also determine how fast they succumb to hypothermia. Researchers have found, for example, that those with visceral fat - which lies deep within the abdominal wall - can maintain a normal core temperature longer than those with lower levels of it.

However, subcutaneous fat, which is just underneath the skin, does not have the same effect.

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Maryland Governor Wes Moore (left) embraces Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott

For those standing on the bridge, such as the construction workers, Dr Giangreco said she 'would not expect' them to survive plummeting 185 feet.

This is due to the high speed at which a person falls, also known as velocity, and hits the water.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the maximum rate someone can survive a fall into water is about 100 ft per second (68.2 mph/109.8 kph). This is the equivalent of 186 feet.

'With the bridge being about 185 feet above the water, this is at the upper limit of survivability for a fall,' Dr Ross said.

'Falls from this height can cause severe blunt trauma, especially when the person lands on their chest or abdomen.'

This includes internal organs rupturing, namely the aorta, which is the largest artery in the body and carries blood from the heart to the rest of the body.

Dr Ross noted that this can cause death within seconds.

Some evidence suggests that the human body can only sustain a significantly shorter dive.

A 2022 study from Cornell University the average threshold a person can survive is eight meters (26.2 feet) head-first, 12 meters (39.4 feet) hands-first, and 15 meters (49 feet) feet-first.

For those who were trapped in their cars, time is of the essence.

'Generally cars completely fill with water within 30 seconds to 3 minutes, and sink within a few minutes after filling,' Dr Ross said.

'In order to survive you need to escape from your car within 30 to 120 seconds.'

However, this depends on if the windows were open, as well as the make and model of the car.

Dr Giangreco said that hypothermia treatment depends on the severity of the condition, though it largely involves bringing the body back up to a normal temperature.

This includes passive rewarming, which involves giving a person warm fluids and heated blankets.

In more severe cases, a patient may be given warm intravenous fluids and undergo blood rewarming, which is when blood is drawn, warmed, and recirculated in the body.
Nearly all my savings  about 190,000  are in a stocks and shares Individual Savings Account with wealth management company Quilter. In early September last year, I decided to transfer the balance to a cash Isa with my bank, Halifax.

To cut a long story short, after five months and numerous attempts at opening the new account, the transfer has still not happened. My money is effectively trapped by this fiasco. Please help. G.A., Horwich, Lancashire.

Where's my Isa gone? Investors who make a transfer need quick service, says Sally Hamilton

Sally Hamilton replies: It may be peak Isa season, with savers and investors debating where to stash their annual allowance of up to 20,000 by the end of the tax year deadline of April 5, but transferring an Isa is a year-round activity as people seek better deals or, like you, change their savings strategy.

Never in a month of Sundays did you expect your switch to take practically a month of Sundays  and counting  to arrange. The crazy delays had driven you to such distraction that you were tempted to just cash in your Quilter stocks and shares Isa and then open a cash Isa separately.

But this, as many readers will know, can be a huge mistake, as the tax protection of the Isa would vanish immediately and only 20,000 of new money can typically be put into Isas each tax year.

To change provider and be sure of maintaining the tax shelter on the whole sum, plan holders must trigger the process by completing an Isa transfer form with the new provider, which then contacts the current firm.

You followed this procedure by completing a transfer form with Halifax. Rules say anyone switching an Isa should expect it to be completed within a set time: this is 15 working days for a cash-to-cash transfer, or 30 calendar days for another type of transfer, such as your switch from a stocks and shares to a cash Isa.

You started the process, first attempting it online, but hit a hurdle because the Quilter address in the dropdown menu on the Halifax form was different to the one you knew.

SCAM WATCH Email users should watch out for an invoice scam by fraudsters impersonating online payment provider PayPal, consumer website Which? warns. Tricksters email a receipt for a high-value order to encourage recipients to call a fake phone line. The email says to call the number if you didnt authorise this charge but then a scammer will try to obtain your personal details over the phone. Dont call the phone line or click on any links in the emails  instead send the email to report@phishing.gov.uk.

The Halifax helpline decided you should try a paper form instead. This was posted to you and, once completed, you took it to your branch to be countersigned by a member of staff. The branch did not know what to do with you or your paperwork, and guess what, told you to complete the application online instead.

You went home to ponder this suggestion but returned the next day to have another go with the paper form. This time a staff member helped you complete it, including checking for the correct Quilter address. He said he would pass the form to the appropriate department.

Five weeks went by, and you heard nothing. You made an appointment at your branch to discuss the matter. By this time, it was October 10. Soon afterwards, you were told time was up on your first Isa transfer request, so youd have to start again.

You did this with the help of a Halifax employee via a video call. More weeks passed and, again, nothing. On November 28, you returned to the branch where you had to complete a third form. Nearly a month went by and still no progress, so you raised a formal complaint.

Once again, silence. In desperation, you got in touch with me.

I contacted Halifax to ask what on earth was going wrong with what should have been a relatively straightforward transaction. This was in mid-January.

A few days later, they contacted you and, without any explanation, sent out yet another transfer form to you  and warned you that this could take 30 days for the transfer to complete. Aarrgh!

It wasnt until March 1 that I got confirmation that your transfer had finally been completed. The crux of the problem lay in the two completed paper forms not reaching the correct department. No one seems to know where they went.

The money is now in your account, with interest backdated to September 7, when you made your first attempt to open it. Halifax has also paid you 450 as an apology for the poor service.

Fortunately, your Isa investments had risen in value in the time it took to get the switch done, so you were not left short due to the ups and downs of the stock market.

A Halifax spokesman says: Were really sorry your readers Isa transfer took longer than it should. Her new Isa is now open and, on top of ensuring she isnt out of pocket, weve also made a payment in recognition that the service we provided was below the standard she rightly expected.

Meanwhile, reader A.W. from Hertfordshire, has also been struggling, since early December 2023 to get his cash Isa switched from Halifax to Metro Bank. He asked me to help find his missing 80,000. I asked both banks to embark on a treasure hunt.

It seems that Halifax was at fault again, with a little help from the postal service. After the transfer had been triggered, Halifax issued a cheque for the total balance, as requested by Metro Bank, but it never arrived. Although the reader told Halifax in January that the funds had not been received, nothing was done to follow up.

Metro Bank chased Halifax several times, finally suggesting the funds be sent electronically instead. Halifax dragged its heels, and it wasnt until I got in touch in the first week of March that it finally sent the money across (cancelling the original cheque).

Halifax added 1,026 to A.W.s balance, which included lost interest and an extra sum as an apology.

Can Sally Sorts It help you? Do you have a consumer problem you need help with? Email Sally Hamilton at sally@dailymail.co.uk  include phone number, address and a note addressed to the offending organisation giving them permission to talk to Sally Hamilton. Please do not send original documents as we cannot take responsibility for them. No legal responsibility can be accepted by the Daily Mail or This is Money for answers given.

I'm 79 and my Airbnb was up 36 dark stairs - can I get a refund

I arrived from Australia for a holiday in Edinburgh staying at an Airbnb flat at a cost of 2,200 for the whole of January. I, along with some relatives, climbed the 36 stairs to the flat with my luggage. But the staircase was dimly lit and dirty with no handrails.

This was dangerous, especially as I am 79 years old. I decided I could not stay at the accommodation as I could not get myself up and down the stairs safely. We all descended the stairs, using the light from a mobile phone.

I stumbled on the way down and was only prevented from falling by my brother-in-law who supported me. I moved to a Holiday Inn hotel, at a cost of 2,000 for the period, so I am now well out of pocket. A.C., Brisbane, Australia.

Sally Hamilton replies: That was not a great way to start your holiday in the UK. You came to Edinburgh to enjoy the history and architecture of what was once upon a time your hometown  and to escape the high temperatures of the Australian summer.

But you didnt expect to grapple in semi-darkness up the stairs to reach your accommodation. Once away from the property, your brother-in-law contacted Airbnb to complain, forwarding a video of the offending darkened staircase.

This resulted in the propertys host offering a refund of 500 and a promise to fix the lights. But you did not think this was adequate, so contacted me. I felt you had a point, since things could have gone badly wrong for you on the staircase without proper lighting.

I asked Airbnb to shine some light on your complaint and consider refunding the whole 2,200 as you had no intention of returning to the property. I am pleased to say it came back quickly to agree reimbursement of your whole bill. It also thankfully confirmed the lighting had since been fixed, so hopefully other guests wont be affected in the same way.

An Airbnb spokesman says: Our original handling of this matter fell below our usual high standards, and we have reached out to the guest to apologise and offer a full refund. Issues on Airbnb are rare, and our community support team is on hand 24 hours a day to help.
Shoppers are being warned of a new gift card 'draining' scam imported from the US, which sees criminals siphon off money from vouchers before the recipient has a chance to spend it.

This is Money was alerted to the scam's presence in the UK when reader Lorraine* (not her real name) contacted us to say her family had become victims.

Lorraine bought two Amazon gift cards worth a total of 150 in her local Sainsbury's store in early December.

A couple of weeks later, she sent them away to her niece in another part of the country as a Christmas present - one from Lorraine herself, and one to give on behalf of her elderly mother.

Confused: When the person who received the gift card went to the Amazon website to redeem it, she was bemused to find the money had already been spent (stock image, posed by model)

But when her niece Laura* tried to spend the cash on the Amazon website in January, the money had already gone.

She had become suspicious when she tried to remove the plastic card from its paper backing, and found it had been glued on - obscuring the code needed to validate the voucher online.

She called Amazon to ask if the money could be credited to their online account via the voucher's serial number, but Amazon said the money on the cards had already been spent in mid-December  before Laura even received them.

It is part of a ruse known as the gift card draining scam, which was rife across the US around Christmas 2023.

The trick begins when thieves steal the cards, which are often left hanging on the ends of supermarket shelves - sometimes swiping hundreds at one time.

They then take them away, scratch off the silver foil obscuring the validation code and copy down the numbers.

The card is glued back on to the paper packaging, so as not to arouse suspicion. Alternatively, thieves can purchase silver foil stickers online which make the card appear unused.

The cards are then snuck back into the shop where they were taken from.

Gift cards are worthless when they are sitting on the shelves, and are only topped up with cash once someone like Lorraine picks them up and takes them to the till.

Stuck: The gift cards had been glued to their packaging, so that shoppers could not check the codes and see that they were defaced

Drained: It turned out that the money pre-loaded on to the cards had already been spent by scammers

But once they are loaded with cash, the criminals exploit the fact that there is usually a gap of days weeks and even months before the voucher will be spent.

Armed with the validation codes, they aim to get there first - meaning the confused recipient will be left with nothing.

They will regularly check to see if money has been loaded, and the amount of cards stolen will mean that at least some are likely to bear fruit.

It is not exclusive to Amazon vouchers, or to Sainsbury's supermarkets, and This is Money understands other large retailers are being targeted.

It works particularly well around Christmas, as the fraudsters can bank on the fact that the recipients won't try and spend the money until at least 25 December. It can happen at any time of year, however.

There are also likely to be people who still have unspent vouchers from the festive season who may not realise they have been drained.

An Amazon spokesman said: 'We take gift card related fraud very seriously.

'We work closely with our third party distributors to improve how we protect customers and businesses.

'If customers have concerns about a gift card, they should return it to the place of purchase.

'We also encourage customers to report any suspected scams to us so we can keep customers safe.'

Before buying a gift card, customers should carefully check for any signs of tampering  and make sure to keep their receipt.

Have YOU sent - or received - a 'drained' gift card? Get in touch: helen.crane@thisismoney.co.uk

When Lorraine got in touch with This is Money about her gift cards, she said that Amazon had already told her it could not give her a refund.

Laura had not been able to get a refund at her local store, as she didn't have the receipt.

However, she had posted the defaced cards back to Lorraine so that she could try and return them to the store where she bought them in December.

In the end, Lorraine did manage to get a refund from Sainsbury's for the 150 value, part in cash and part in Sainsbury's vouchers.

But she suspects that she is not the only one to have been caught by this.

'I find it difficult to believe that I am the unluckiest person in the UK and managed to pick the only two cards that had been tampered with,' she said.

A Sainsbury's spokesman said: 'We have told the customer how sorry we are for their experience and arranged a full refund.

'We have a range of measures in place to prevent fraud and we are working closely with the Gift Card and Voucher Association to look at what else retailers can do to help.'
** Had trouble with your smart meter? Email: mark.duell@mailonline.co.uk with what happened, your name and a picture, so you can feature on MailOnline **

Nearly four million smart meters in Britain were not working properly by the end of last year, official data has revealed.

Some 3.98million of the devices found in homes across the UK were not operating in smart mode as of December 2023. This was up 47 per cent on an official total of 2.7million previously announced by the Government in June 2023.

But the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (Desnez) has now confirmed to MailOnline that there was a data reporting error in the June figure  and the total was in fact 4.31million, meaning there was actually a fall of 8 per cent to December.

This correction by the department means that while the official figure was initially perceived to have risen significantly between June and December, there has actually been a decrease in the number of meters not in smart mode.

The Desnez figures were revealed as customers continue to report how faulty meters have left them with huge bills.

The devices - which the Government launched in 2011 - record gas and electricity usage, display the costs in real time and remotely send readings to suppliers.

But customers often have to rely on estimated bills if they lose connection, which are meant to be corrected once the supplier has received further manual readings.

3.98million smart meters in Britain were not working properly by the end of 2023 (file image)

At the end of 2023, 61 per cent of meters operating were smart meters - inclusive of those not operating in smart mode - which was a 6 percentage point increase from the end of 2022

While suppliers are obliged to replace faulty meters, some customers have either paid too much and struggled to get it back, or too little and gone into debt.

Londoner's smart meter charged her for a house 270 miles away Jilly Bond was billed for another property Six flat owners at a Victorian property in Ealing, West London, suffered a major misbilling when they had an SSE smart meter installed early last year for the lighting of the property's common areas - stairs and exterior. Monthly bills used to work out at about 20, but when the smart meter was installed, they began to rise and rise, reaching a staggering 600 a month. They contacted SSE and were told the reason was - bizarrely - because readings that the supplier received were for a meter 270 miles away in Sunderland. Jilly Bond, an actress and audio book narrator, owns a flat in the house with husband Julian Gartside, a speech and language therapist. Although the incorrect billing problem was later resolved, the smart meter stopped transmitting readings. Ms Bond and the other flat owners contacted the Energy Ombudsman, which looks into disputes between suppliers and customers. In late November last year, it ordered SSE to refund the overpayments.

After the Desnez data was revealed by BBC News, Smart Energy GB, a non-profit organisation which promotes smart meters, said there were now nearly 35million of the devices in the country.

It added that 88.6 per cent of them were operating in smart mode at the end of 2023, a rise of 1.3 percentage points from 87.3 per cent the previous year.

The group also pointed out that the sharp increase in the number of meters not operating in smart mode was due to a data reporting error, which has been rectified in the latest Government figures.

It added that the trend in the proportion of meters operating with full smart functionality 'continued to improve between 2022 and 2023'.

A Smart Energy GB spokesman told MailOnline and This is Money: 'We know that most people have a very positive experience with their smart meter, but we also understand the frustration felt by some whose meter may be temporarily operating without all of its smart features.

'If your smart meter is not sending automatic readings to your energy supplier, please be reassured that it will still be recording your energy use correctly.

'We would recommend that you send your supplier meter readings to make sure you receive accurate, rather than estimated, bills until all of the features of your smart meter have been restored.'

He added that there were now almost 35 million smart meters - representing 61 per cent of all meters - in Britain and the 'vast majority are operating as intended, with an overall improvement in the proportion of smart meters operating in smart mode since 2022, up from 87.3 per cent at the end of 2022 to 88.6 per cent at the end of 2023'.

This graph from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero shows how the number of domestic smart meters installed by large suppliers has increased since their launch in 2011

The spokesman also said that figures previously reported in 2023 'included a data reporting error which has been rectified in the latest figures released by government', adding: 'It's important the positive trend continues, to ensure everyone can benefit from the full range of smart meter benefits.'

Sir Grayson Perry says EDF raised electricity bill from 300 to 39k Sir Grayson Perry was left 'freaked out' by his electricity bill from EDF and revealed the firm took 2,500 from his bank account. The 63-year-old Turner Prize-winning artist and broadcaster suggested the lack of phone signal at his studio may have affected the smart meter readings that had created the bill. Sir Grayson said last December that EDF had raised his monthly electric bill from 300 to 39,000 and tried to take the amount as a direct debit from his account. EDF pointed to an 'erroneous meter reading' as a possible explanation for unusual changes in amounts charged, and said such increases were verified through a human check.

He also said: 'If you experience a problem with your smart meter, contact your energy supplier. If you do not think your supplier has met its obligations, you can contact Citizens Advice and the Energy Ombudsman for further support.'

And a Desnez spokeswoman told MailOnline and This is Money: 'Smart meters are helping consumers manage their energy use and save money, while driving the transition to a smarter and more flexible energy system.

'The vast majority of smart meters are working correctly. However, we are concerned that reporting errors by a minority of suppliers have uncovered more meters not operating in smart mode than previously thought.'

She added that Lord Callanan, Minister for Energy Efficiency and Green Finance, wrote to Ofgem today, 'urging action to ensure suppliers are held to account if they are not supporting customers with issues as they should be'.

Ofgem says suppliers are required by their licence to take all reasonable steps to ensure they are able to communicate with their customers' smart meters.

The regulator added that if a meter loses smart functionality, the meter should continue to accurately measure usage as before, and customers will still be able to take manual readings from the meter in the traditional way.

The number of smart and advanced meter installations in 2023 decreased by 6% on 2022

The number of domestic smart meters operating in smart mode is now at a total of 29million

Energy costs could vary at different times of day in price cap regime By Sean Poulter Boiling a kettle in the evening energy peak could become more expensive under a new regime for dynamic pricing. Watchdog Ofgem will consult on a new price cap system which allows different charges depending on the time of day. Families could be charged more to use the kettle, washing machine and dishwasher during the evening peak to persuade them to switch to other times of the day. The system would also push those with electric cars to charge them at night. On the flip side, households could be rewarded with lower tariffs for switching their usage to small hours. Doing the laundry through the night could become standard practice, although this flies in the face of safety advice linked to appliance fires. The changes are part of the green transition in energy use, with a switch away from gas-fired power stations to renewables. The system would include alerts to tell people they can turn on household appliances if there is an abundance of cheap wind and solar energy. Ofgem said this would reward consumers for shifting their energy consumption time, which would reduce costs for everyone. Smart meters will be central  they allow energy firms to change how much householders are charged at the touch of a button. However, their installation programme is massively over budget and behind schedule. Ofgem said the existing price cap, along with a temporary ban on energy firms offering cheap deals to attract new customers, had helped to protect the public. Tim Jarvis, of Ofgem, said: 'The energy market is changing as we move to net zero and we recognise the systems we have may need to change too.' However, Richard Neudegg, of Uswitch.com, said: 'We're yet to see a full return to competition in the market  and the price cap must bear some of the blame.'

A spokeswoman for Ofgem told MailOnline and This is Money: 'The way we use energy will look very different in the future, and the smart meter roll out is an integral part of moving to a cleaner, more efficient energy system, and empowering consumers to understand their energy use, and access innovative smart tariffs that could save them money.

'While the majority of smart meters are working correctly, we've asked suppliers to provide us with more detail on how they plan to tackle connectivity issues.

'Suppliers are responsible for making sure their customers' smart meters operate correctly, and we expect them to communicate with their customers clearly if there are any issues with their smart meter.

'If customers have concerns about the way this is handled, they can complain to their supplier, and if the issue is not resolved to their satisfaction, they should raise it with the ombudsman.'

Ofgem is also concerned about the 'slow progress of installations for smart prepayment meters, and the potential impact of that on vulnerable households'.

Last year six suppliers paid a total of 10.8million into its 'energy industry voluntary redress fund' after they failed to meet their 2022 smart meter installation targets.

Desnez is responsible for smart meter policy, while Ofgem's role is to provide regulatory oversight of the smart meter rollout, such as through monitoring energy suppliers' compliance with their licence obligations.

A spokeswoman for Energy UK, which represents suppliers, told MailOnline: 'Suppliers have every reason to try and ensure all their customers can enjoy the full benefits of smart meters which give households greater control and understanding of their energy usage.

'Technical problems can prevent some meters from operating in smart mode and while this can be for reasons outside their control, suppliers still have an obligation to replace them when this happens.

'Customers should always contact their supplier if they are experiencing issues  there can be a range of potential fixes so these are best addressed on a case-by-case basis.

'It is of course important that figures correctly represent the current situation and we continue to work with suppliers and other partners in the programme to further improve the customer experience for smart households.'

** Had trouble with your smart meter? Email: mark.duell@mailonline.co.uk with what happened, your name and a picture, so you can feature on MailOnline **
Britain's most dedicated Isa investors have racked up pots worth more than 11million each, overtaking the UK's biggest pension pot.

The 25 Isa investors in the UK have built up an average fortune of 11.6million over a 34-year period, a Freedom of Information request from wealth manager RBC Brewin Dolphin reveals.

Some of the Isas will be worth even more than 11.6million.

A fortune this big could only be gained through investing in stocks and shares and investors would have needed to achieve an average annualised return of 18.9 per cent over the 34 years.

Golden returns: There are 25 Isa inevestors with pots worth an average of 11.6million each

How did they manage it?

Isas were introduced in 1999, replacing their predecessor Personal Equity Plans (PEPS) which were launched in 1987 by then chancellor Nigel Lawson with an annual allowance of 2,400.

PEPs investors were allowed to lump their money into the new tax wrapper.

Jason Hollands, a director of stockbroker Best Invest said: 'Isas will be 25 years old on 6 April, so anyone with 34-years of Isa savings must also have had investments made in PEPs.

'PEPs first became available in 1987, so together that is 37 years of allowances so far.'

He adds; 'There were two annual PEP allowances each year, a General PEP (which ended up at 6,000 and from 1991 an additional Single Company PEP of 3,000 (which could only be invest in an individual UK company share).

'Together the PEP allowances were 9,000 (higher than the initial 7,000 Isa allowance). PEPs were merged into Isas on 6th April 1999.'

Beginning in 1987, an investor would have needed approximately 20 years to reach 1million with contributions of around 127,200 assuming an 18.9 per cent annualised return after fees.

It would have taken a further eight years to reach 5million on contributions of around 215,520.

The 11.6million figure would have been reached after 34 years on total contributions of just 310,760, according to RBC Brewin Dolphin.

Rob Burgeman, investment manager at RBC Brewin Dolphin, said: 'We've been tracking the fortunes of the country's Isa millionaires for twenty years now, and our research tells us they all have one secret in common.

'They all built their fortunes through stocks and shares investing.'

Jason Hollands said: 'Given that UK equities, as measured by the MSCI United Kingdom Index, delivered an average annualised return of 7.4 per cent over this time, and global equities an average annualised return of 8.2 per cent, those amassing such sums certainly weren't using index trackers and have must have made some very astute  or possibly lucky  investments over the years.

'In reality, it's near impossible to make such high returns on a consistent basis and anyone owning investments for such long-time skills probably didn't buy and hold on to the same funds or trusts.

'In the days of PEPs, investors were restricted by how much they could invest outside of the UK.

'It is more likely that they had some serious successes occur on the way and gains were locked-in, perhaps from individual shares.

'For example, they may have done well from periods like the dot com bubble, making sure they jumped off before it burst.'

Rob Burgeman said: 'An annualised return of almost 20 percent is substantially more than equivalent indices, so it is safe to say that it was unlikely to be achieved via investing in an index tracker.

'Instead, it could either be an incredibly successful trader or, alternatively, someone who has invested either in their own company or in a smaller growth stock. Either way, while successful, it has undoubtedly been a higher risk strategy.'

Number of Isa millionaires rising

The number of Isa millionaires tripled between 2020 and 2021. The latest figures from HMRC show that a record 4,070 investors had an Isa worth 1million or more during this period. The average Isa millionaire has a pot of 1.39million.

Lord John Lee of Trafford  an expert stock-picker  became the first Isa millionaire in 2003, reaching the seven-figure milestone on contributions of 126,200 made over 16 years. His annualised returns during this period were 21 per cent.

Investment platform AJ Bell says its Isa millionaires tend to invest in individual shares rather than funds, with 75 per cent of their portfolios sitting in stocks - including investment trusts.

Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell said: 'Dividend reinvestment has historically been a way to supercharge returns in an Isa portfolio thanks to compounding benefits.

'Using dividend money to buy more shares allows an investor to increase their ownership of a stock without investing more capital.'
I ordered ground turmeric and ginger in bulk online to save money on my food bills. I've tried both spices and I'm convinced they've had bulking ingredients added.

Who do I complain to?

P.W., By email

Consumer rights lawyer Dean Dunham on This Morning

Consumer rights lawyer Dean Dunham replies: I always say consumers 'should get what it says on the tin' when buying goods. This is not just a matter of principal - it's the law - and is especially important when it comes to food.

In this respect, several laws are in place to protect consumers, including the Food Safety Order, Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations, General Food Regulations and the Food Information Regulations. I cite all these to demonstrate how seriously your problem is taken, as ultimately the deliberate mislabelling of food is fraud and is therefore a criminal offence.

However, notwithstanding the clear legal position, food fraud (as this is commonly called) is becoming a significant issue for UK consumers and something we all need to be aware of.

The deliberate mislabelling of food is fraud and is therefore a criminal offence

The general rule is that where a food or drink product has two or more ingredients, including any additives, the label must list them all. Ingredients must be listed in order of weight, with the main ingredient first.

Bulking agents are an additive that increases food volume or weight, and if the ground turmeric and ginger you purchased does contain them, they should be listed on the label and on the description you read online.

Clearly they were not listed in your case, meaning the trader has committed a criminal offence and is in breach of contract in relation to the sale to you. In these circumstances there are two steps you can take.

Firstly, demand your money back on the basis that the goods are 'not as described' as they should be under the Consumer Rights Act. Secondly, make a complaint to Trading Standards, which is where the Food Standards Agency directs consumers to complain about misleading labelling.
By KTimes

Elementary schools in Gyeonggi Province are under pressure to remove books related to sex education and gender equality from their libraries, amid campaigns by some conservative groups that label the texts "harmful."

This movement has ignited a contentious debate over potential censorship and the erosion of educational autonomy. With the Gyeonggi Office of Education issuing notices in response to these campaigns, teachers are raising concerns about the pressures exerted on schools, leading to accusations of effective censorship.

According to a report by the Hankook Ilbo, complaints calling for the disposal of some sex education books have been lodged at elementary schools in the province, led by conservative religious and parent groups.

Following these complaints, the education office sent a notice twice last November to elementary schools within its jurisdiction, instructing them to "consult and take action on books containing inappropriate controversial content."

This month, it was confirmed that a notice was sent once more asking for a list of removed books.

The contentious list includes titles on sex education, gender studies and feminism. Some schools have reportedly removed all listed books in response to the education office's directive.

Civic organizations, such as the Goyang Women's Association, have strongly opposed these actions. On March 19, they issued a statement condemning the request for lists of removed books as censorship and an infringement on educational autonomy.

An official from the Gyeonggi Office of Education addressed the backlash, stating, "Nowhere in our correspondence did we mention specific books or to pressure schools to remove them." The official explained that the documents aimed to encourage school-level deliberation due to controversies surrounding some sex education books. "The request for a report was part of a survey on the operation of school libraries," the official added.

The controversy has underscored the ongoing tensions between progressive and conservative forces in South Korea, a country with Confucian roots that has seen a push towards more liberal views on sex education and gender equality in recent decades.





This article from the Hankook Ilbo, a sister publication of The Korea Times, was translated by generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.


Shares in Direct Line tumbled in the first session since its Belgian suitor walked away from takeover talks.

In an update after the stock market closed on Friday, Ageas said it was no longer interested in buying the British firm having had two proposals rejected.

With takeover interest over  at least for now  Direct Line shares fell 11.3 per cent, or 23.6 p, to 185.4 p. That valued it at 2.4billion.

Ageas first approached Direct Line in January with an offer of 231 p a share, or 3.1billion.

It raised this to 237 p a share, or 3.2billion this month. Both proposals were dismissed by the Direct Line board.

Off the table: Ageas first approached Direct Line in January with an offer of 231p a share, or 3.1bn. It raised this to 237 p a share, or 3.2bn this month

Analysts at Jefferies suggested an offer worth 270 p to 300 p would have a higher probability of being accepted. But Ageas decided to throw in the towel.

Direct Line said it was confident in its standalone prospects. The insurer also outlined plans for a 100million cost-cutting mission it hopes to complete by the end of 2025.

Direct Line has joined the electricals retailer Currys (down 0.4 per cent, or 0.25 p, to 60.5 p) in fighting off foreign predators this month.

But British firms  including Wincanton (flat at 600 p), Spirent (down 0.3 per cent, or 0.6 p, to 176.5 p) and All3Media  have all been targeted by international buyers.

Reports suggest S4 Capital has also become a bid target for its New York rival Stagwell.

The City will be keeping a close eye to see whether the firm, set up by Sir Martin Sorrell in 2018, provides further details when it publishes its annual results on Wednesday.

Stock Watch - Virgin Wines Shares in Virgin Wines popped following strong trading over Christmas, a surge in profits and plans to return cash to investors. The online wine sellers revenue rose 2 pc to 34.3million in the million six months to December 29 while profits hit 1.1million  up from 100,000 during the same period the year before. It wants to start a share buyback programme in the next few weeks. The stock surged 9.2 per cent, or 3.5 p, to 41.5 p.

Shares, which have fallen 95 per cent since it peaked at 870 p in 2021, rose 6.7 per cent, or 2.84 p, to 45.22 p.

Russ Mould, investment director at broker AJ Bell, said: This slump in valuation has left S4 looking vulnerable and it could turn from predator to prey.

The FTSE 100 fell 0.17 per cent, or 13.35 points, to 7917.57 and the FTSE 250 slid 0.56 per cent, or 110.79 points, to 19,613.53.

But Goldman Sachs analysts said they still believe a record high is on the cards. The Footsie peaked at 8012 in February last year and Goldman believes it will reach 8,200 over the next 12 months.

Mobico, which was called National Express before changing its name, came under pressure after it delayed publishing its annual results for the second time. The company is still reviewing the accounts of its German division. Shares fell 0.8 per cent, or 0.55 p, to 70.9 p.

Water firm Pennon reassured investors that business was ticking along nicely. The group behind South West Water and Bristol Water said its results for the year to the end of March should be in line with expectations.

Shares, however, sank 1.9 per cent, or 13 p, to 657 p.

Wise has poached finance chief Emmanuel Thomassin from food firm Delivery Hero. He will join the fintech firm in October. Shares fell 3.9 per cent, or 38 p, to 935.2 p.

Iron ore miner Ferrexpo soared 7.8 per cent, or 3.38 p, to 46.6 p after production levels in Ukraine hit their highest since Russia invaded in February 2022.
The Government is no longer a controlling shareholder in NatWest after its stake fell below 30 per cent for the first time.

It marks the latest landmark for the lender 16 years after it was rescued in a 46billion taxpayer bailout during the financial crisis.

And it comes ahead of a planned public sale of a chunk of NatWests shares this summer.

City minister Bim Afolami said: This is a significant milestone demonstrating were making excellent progress on fully returning NatWest to private ownership.

The Government had effectively nationalised the bank  then known as Royal Bank of Scotland  after it was brought to the brink of collapse under the leadership of Fred Goodwin.

Sell off: The Government's stake in Natwest has fallen below 30% for the first time since the bank's bailout 16 years ago

At its height, the taxpayer stake stood at 84 per cent.

This was whittled away in subsequent years to reach 46 per cent at the end of 2022, 38 per cent by the start of this year and 29.82 per cent today.

So far, government sales of its shares in the bank have recouped just over 15billion.

But they have come at a loss, with the Treasury having initially bailed out the bank at around 5 a share. Today the shares are worth just over half that.

And the Governments remaining stake is worth just under 7billion.

Under the leadership of chief executive of Alison Rose, the bank  which includes the Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest, Coutts and Ulster Bank brands  ditched the RBS group name in an attempt to break with its crisis-ridden past.

However, Rose was then ensnared in a scandal of her own over the decision to drop former Ukip leader Nigel Farage as a customer of Coutts.

She was forced to resign. NatWest named Paul Thwaite as interim boss. He has since been given the job permanently.

The Treasury says it plans to return NatWest to full private ownership by the 2025-26 financial year.

A spokesman for the bank said: We welcome the Governments continued commitment to returning NatWest group to private ownership.
Departures: Boeing chief exec Dave Calhoun will step down by the end of the year

Boeing has announced a clear-out of its leadership team as it grapples with a safety crisis that has left airlines furious and sent its share price plummeting.

Chief executive Dave Calhoun will step down by the end of the year with chairman Larry Kellner and commercial aircraft boss Stan Deal also bailing out.

A panel blew off the side of a new Alaska Airlines 737 Max in mid-air during a flight in January, terrifying passengers. Investigators said bolts that help keep the panel in place were missing after repair work at a Boeing factory.

US regulators put a limit on the production of 737s and found a series of problems after an inspection at Boeing facilities.

Calhoun had been appointed four years ago after Dennis Muilenburg was fired following two crashes that killed nearly 350 people.

Last week, US airline bosses asked to meet Boeings directors  without the chief executive present  to express their frustration.

Calhoun said yesterday that it had been his decision to quit. And he told US broadcaster CNBC: We have another mountain to climb.

Steve Mollenkopf, former boss of chip firm Qualcomm, will take over from Kellner and lead the search for Calhouns successor.

Chief operating officer Stephanie Pope is replacing Deal.

Ryanair boss Michael OLeary has previously expressed his fury at what he called the s***show in Seattle where Boeing is based.

He yesterday welcomed what he described as the much-needed management changes.
Revolution Bars shares lost almost 40 per cent of their value this morning after the firm said it was considering strategic options on the back of continued weak trading performance.

The London-listed group, which owns the Peach Pubs and Revolucion de Cuba brands, told investors it is 'actively exploring all strategic options' to 'improvefuture prospects' after a 'period of external challenges'.

It said this could include 'a sale of all or part of the group', a restructuring plan 'for certain parts' of the business or a fundraise, with Revolution Bars in talks with chair of the Gail's bakery chain and investor Luke Johnson.

Revolution Bars shares were down by 38.9 per cent to 1.8p in early trading. They have now lost more than 99 per cent of their value since their March 2015 Initial Public Offering.

Last orders: Reports suggest Revolution Bars could close roughly 20 of its worst performing venues

The group's statement was in response to press reports overnight that its solvency was at risk, with Revolution Bars understood to be lining up venue closures and job losses.

Sky News said on Monday Revolutions Bars was set to axe around 20 of its worst performing venues, with staff across its 2,500-strong workforce at risk.

Revolution Bars, which relisted in London in 2015 after its sale by previous owner Alchemy Partners, was forced to slash profit guidance in late January after a soft start to 2024 overshadowed its best Christmas trading period in four years.

Boss Rob Pitcher blamed the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on younger punters, while warning of a material increase in business rates and labour costs in the year ahead.

Pitcher, who at the start of the year revealed the closure of eight underperforming sites, said the Revolution brand 'will take longer than we had previously forecast' to recover.

Revolution Bars told shareholders on Tuesday: 'Following a period of external challenges which have impacted the Company's business and trading performance, the Board is actively exploring all the strategic options available to it to improve the future prospects of the Group.

'These include a restructuring plan for certain parts of the Group, a sale of all or part of the Group and any other avenue to maximise returns for stakeholders.

'The Company also confirms it is currently engaged with key shareholders and other investors including Luke Johnson in respect of a fundraising.

'The Company is not in talks with, nor in receipt of an approach from, any potential offeror relating to an acquisition of the issued and to be issued share capital of the company.'
The Financial Conduct Authority has warned social media influencers could be breaking the law if they promote unregulated financial products.

Kim Kardashian was fined $1.26million in the US for promoting Ethereum Max, without disclosing to her followers that it was a paid promotion.

Soon after, the FCA warned that it may have been the financial promotion with the single biggest audience reach in history, owing to the size of Kardashian's enormous social media following.

The UK's financial regulator said on Tuesday that influencers could be committing a crime if they 'promote financial products or services that are subject to regulation without the approval of an FCA authorised person'.

The penalty could involve 'up to two years imprisonment, the imposition of an unlimited fine, or both,' the FCA warned.

The penalty could involve 'up to 2 years imprisonment, the imposition of an unlimited fine, or both'

The FCA also said that 'firms working with affiliate marketers, such as influencers, should take proactive responsibility for how their affiliates communicate financial promotions'.

It added that it wants firms to 'ensure that promotions provide a balanced view of the benefits and risks, and clearly communicate information that will help consumers make effective, well-informed decisions'.

The report also advises influencers they 'should consider whether they are the right person to promote a product or service'.

The FCA said: 'Social media is an increasingly important part of firms marketing strategies, allowing them to reach a large audience with greater speed and frequency.

'However, poor quality financial promotions on social media can lead to significant consumer harm due to their wide reach and the complex nature of many financial products and services.'

Crypto revival sparks regulatory scrutiny

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets, at Hargreaves Lansdown said: 'The FCA has been harnessed with new powers to give consumers extra protection amid the lure of high-risk investments and the crypto Wild West, and it now has influencers in its sights.

Are you guys into crypto? Kim Kardashian was fined by the US regulator for this promotion on her Instagram account

'Regulators are clearly horrified at the damage superstar celebrities can do to the bank balances of vulnerable consumers, who are influenced by almost every move they make.

'The watchdog is worried that too many financially vulnerable people are being lured into 'get rich quick' schemes, with 14 per cent getting into debt during the pandemic to speculate in crypto assets. '

Laura Suter, director of personal finance at AJ Bell, also noted there had been a 'surge in paid-for promotions of financial products, particularly cryptocurrencies, in recent years'.

Bitcoin, the world's biggest cryptocurrency, has regained significant ground since falling to to a low of $16,000 in the wake of the collapse of FTX in 2022.

In 2023, it languished between $20,000 and $30,000 for much of the year before reaching $43,000 by December 2023 in anticipation of the US regulator's approval of bitcoin spot ETFs.

Earlier this month, The digital coin hit an all-time high of $73,803 as it took its gains for this year alone to over 70 per cent.

The meteoric 2024 rise in the price of Bitcoin has sparked rallied in smaller, far more speculative cryptocurrencies.

Since October 2023, firms wishing to promote cryptoassets in the UK must be authorised or registered by the FCA or have their marketing approved by an authorised firm.

Suter added: 'One in six investors used social media to either research investment, find new opportunities or get updates on existing investments  but this rose to half of all investors aged 18 to 24, according to the FCA's Financial Lives survey.

'There's a real danger that financial social media becomes a Wild West, rather than a space to get accurate, clear information on financial planning.'
Chocolate lovers face further price hikes after an already expensive Easter as the price of cocoa hit a new record high.

The cocoa bean surged above $10,000 a ton for the first time on world commodity markets yesterday, with prices having already doubled in 2024.

This is the second time this week that prices reached a fresh record, with cocoa rallying to $9,000 on Monday.

It comes as chocolate producers rush to secure supplies of the bean as crop disease and poor weather hit harvests in West Africa.

The two largest, Ivory Coast and Ghana, have been struck by both heavy rain and dry heat.

Crop failures: Women from Ivory Coast process raw coca beans. Prices for the beans surged above $10,000 a tonne for the first time on world commodity markets

On the stock market, the FTSE 100 was up 0.17 per cent, or 13.39 points, to 7930.96. The FTSE 250 rose 0.84 per cent, or 164.11 points, to 19,777.64.

Shares in Revolution Bars tumbled as it warned it could put itself up for sale amid mounting uncertainty around its future.

The company, which is behind brands such as Revolucion de Cuba, has been hit hard as young people cut back on nights out due to the cost-of-living crisis.

In a statement to the stock market yesterday, Revolution said it is weighing up several options as it fights for its survival.

This includes tapping investors for fresh funds to stay afloat or a sale. Shares, which listed for the second time in March 2015 at 200p, crashed 51.7 per cent, or 1.5p, to 1.4p.

Rolls-Royce was on the rise after Morgan Stanley hiked its target price to 520p from 400p.

Shares in the jet engine maker, which have more than quadrupled in value since its boss Turbo Tufan Erginbilgic took charge in January last year, added 1.6 per cent, or 6.9p, to 428p.

Stock Watch - YouGov YouGov sank into the red as clients cut back on spending. The polling firm said budgets have remained under pressure due to rising costs, adding that some customers are taking longer to make decisions. YouGovs profits halved to 10.4million in the six months to the end of January. It added that trading in the UK was strong while its performance in the US was affected by volatility in the e-sports and gaming sectors. Shares fell 6 per cent, or 70p, to 1100p.

Elsewhere, Smiths Group chief executive Paul Keel is stepping down after less than three years in the job.

He will be replaced by company veteran Roland Carter, who has been at the engineering group for 30 years.

The shake-up came as Smiths reported record half-year orders and a 3.9 per cent rise in revenues to 1.5billion.

The firm will buy back 50million of shares from investors between now and the end of September. Shares rose 2.2 per cent, or 36p, to 1690p.

William Hill owner 888 is changing its name to Evoke as its new chief executive Per Widerstrom tries to draw a line under a year of scandal after it was hit with a record 19million fine from regulators in 2023. Shares were up 6.2 per cent, or 5.2p, to 89p.

An update from Bellway fuelled hopes that the green shoots of recovery are emerging in the housing market as mortgage rates ease.

The company said it is more optimistic following a tough first half that saw revenues fall 29.6 per cent to 1.27billion in the six months to the end of January.

Profits slumped 61.6 per cent to 117.4million.

But it said reservations in the past six weeks were 20 per cent higher than the same period last year. Shares rose 2.1 per cent, or 56p, to 2688p.

Fellow builder Vistry struck a deal with housing association Abri to build 1,500 homes in Arundel at the Ford Airfield Site. Shares added 1.4 per cent, or 17p, to 1231p.
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Tricia Cohen, pictured left with daughter Alexandria in an old social media photo, is yet to face justice for her alleged scams after going on the run while facing felony fraud charges

When glamorous divorcee Tricia Cohen arrived in Paradise offering to build homes for as little as $30,000, she was welcomed with open arms.

Less than six weeks before, the rural California city of 26,000 had been razed by the devastating Camp Fire  the November 2018 inferno sparked by malfunctioning power lines that left 85 dead and 12,000 homes burned to the ground.

Five years on and Cohen, now 62, is on the run after being charged with 16 felony counts of fraud and operating without a license in a disaster area and has a warrant out for her arrest.

But capturing the alleged fraudster is proving difficult with her victims describing her as being 'like a ghost', while Butte County District Attorney Michael Ramsay told DailyMail.com he believed she has fled California.

Now the victims of Cohen's scheme have told how they were left devastated after they first lost their homes in the wildfire and then their insurance payouts after being lured in by the mom-of-two's promises  reassured after being introduced to her by a Mormon mother and daughter from a well-to-do local family.

Residents told DailyMail.com they had even been promised a free TV as a sweetener and they handed over huge sums of money to her construction company Cubic Quarters LLC up front only to be met with a litany of excuses and homes that remain unfinished four years after the monster blaze.

Artist Steven Ferchaud, 64, lost everything but his grandfather's ring in the 2018 Camp Fire in Paradise, California, and ultimately was conned out of $218,000 for a house that was never built. He is pictured standing outside his home that was eventually completed by a different contractor

Skeeter Schuette, 59, spent years living in a converted transit bus provided to her by Oakland-based charity after she giving Tricia Cohen $150,000 for a home the contractor failed to complete

The suspected con woman approached local, Amy Morris, 47, after seeing her post in a Facebook group set up for survivors of the disaster. One of her alleged victims, Sharon O'Hara was the first to suspect fraudulent activity when little progress had been made on her home after 18 months

The inferno was sparked by malfunctioning power lines that left 85 dead and 12,000 homes burned to the ground. The town's population dropped to 2,000 immediately after the fire

As a result, one woman spent years living in a converted transit bus, while others slept at friends' houses or were forced to fork out cash they didn't have to rent properties in the nearby cities of Chico and Oroville.

Although all of Cohen's victims' homes were eventually completed, getting them meant spending even more money paying other contractors to complete the job  leaving them hundreds of thousands of dollars out of pocket.

Among them is artist Steven Ferchaud, 64, who lost everything but his grandfather's ring in the Camp Fire and paid Cohen $218,000 for a house that was never built.

He has not been repaid and says he had to spend another $355,000  his life savings  to get his home completed after Cohen disappeared.

'This woman's been doing it for a long time  it's just not us,' he claimed. 'And the chances are she's going to do it again.

'It's her way of how she makes money so I'd like her to be wearing orange, to be put in prison for this, and held accountable.'

Paradise now has 10,000 residents and is the fastest growing city in California for the second year running. The town's population had dropped to 2,000 immediately after the fire.

 Slide me  The rural California city of 26,000 was razed by the devastating Camp Fire in November 2018, and signs of the devastating inferno's wake are still evident around the town

 Slide me  A strip of local businesses, including Paradise Bikes, is pictured in the aftermath of the fire and present day

Paradise now has 10,000 residents and is the fastest growing city in California for the second year running

Ferchaud is one of eight Camp Fire survivors to be taken in by Cohen's promises, although more still lost money to a different contractor named Aurora Ridge Homes LLC which was shut down and the owners prosecuted last year.

Other Paradise residents are plaintiffs in a civil suit for damages filed in Butte County last month against prefab home manufacturer CMH Manufacturing West Inc who, they claim, provided them with shoddily built homes that leak and are filled with mold.

But of all the shady contractors who flooded into Paradise after the fire, only the elusive Cohen is yet to face justice. Originally from Washington, the 62-year-old has lived all over the country, including in Florida and Nevada.

With her now ex-husband Michael and daughters Alexandria and Nicole in tow, she has left a trail of financial devastation across the country dating back to 1993, DailyMail.com can reveal.

In 2006, she was ordered to repay more than $125,000 to her own brothers, William and Jamie Brakken, while a federal tax lien totaling more than $190,000 has followed her across the country  repeatedly filed against her in three states.

More telling is a 2006 case filed against Cohen and her husband in Seattle where a woman named Susan Fascitelli sued after lending the pair $159,000 and never being repaid.

Antiques seller, Skeeter Schuette said the five years of stress and uncertainty in a temporary living situation took a toll on her health. She is pictured outside her new home

Schuette spents years living in a converted bus from charity, Badrap who, as the years wore on, provided her with a second bus converted to hold a makeshift shower

Schuette described the converted buses as 'awesome', but noted they were just a temporary fix to a burdensome situation

In her declaration, Fascitelli said Cohen, who at the time was fronting a company called Cohen Marketing International and was known as 'Patty,' duped her out of the cash by persuading her to invest it in the business via a series of loans in summer 2005.

She said she had felt confident about loaning the money because she was friends with Cohen's sister Bonnie and believed she would receive interest on the money.

Cohen told her the company supplied products to hotels and cruise ships and had contacts in China that allowed them to buy items such as pillows cheaply before selling them on at a mark-up.

In one email included in the case file, Cohen even boasted of having a contract to supply towels to the luxurious Wynn Las Vegas hotel, telling Fascitelli that one installment of $50,000 had been applied to that account.

But it all turned out to be a mirage. Fascitelli could not get her money despite winning her case and was forced to apply for a garnishment in a bid to get her money back.

As in the Seattle case where she used her own sister to bring in Fascitelli, Cohen found a way into Paradise through a trusted local.

Amy Morris, 47, a Mormon dental technician who now lives in Fresno, California, grew up in Paradise  the daughter of the town's respected dentist Dr. Brent Mackay.

In an interview with DailyMail.com, she said she rushed to Paradise in the aftermath of the fire desperate to help and was approached by Cohen after posting in a Facebook group set up for survivors of the disaster.

Sharon O'Hara paid Cohen $195,000 to build her a home but 18 months after signing up, she fired her in August 2021

O'Hara spent months begging for her money back to no avail. She ultimately had to pay an extra $100,000 to another contractor to complete the job

Cubic Quarters was also recently re-registered  under Tricia Cohen's name  to a nondescript office building on the outskirts of Sacramento. When DailyMail.com visited last week, workers were unaware of any company of that name based out of the property and there was no sign of Cohen

Morris says she was charmed by Cohen, believed her to be a God-fearing woman who regularly broke off from conversation to pray and was even introduced to her two daughters.

She was also impressed with Cohen's business, Cubic Quarters LLC, which came complete with a glossy website, low prices, and assurances that included sourcing quality products from China at affordable prices.

Believing Cohen to be legitimate and wanting to help, she posted a message advertising Cubic Quarters to a Facebook group named Camp Fire  Information & Updates (Paradise, CA) on January 6, 2019 that said Cohen could build houses for as little as $30,000.

When a flood of enquiries came in, she organized a party for Cubic Quarters at her mother Jeannine Mackay's house so Cohen could meet potential clients.

Among those to sign up were antiques seller Skeeter Schuette, 59, artist Ferchaud, and waitress Sharon O'Hara, 60.

Schuette, at the time recently divorced, had $150,000 in her bank account  her half of the insurance payout for her burned out home.

Cohen offered to build her a new house for $152,000 and Schuette paid a deposit of $2,500 on the spot, expecting to be in her home by Christmas 2019.

As the months wore on, little construction took place while Cohen demanded more and more money  for steel, for fittings and other construction items  usually via Amy Morris who was by then working as Cubic Quarter's unpaid saleswoman, devoting her weekends and time off to the task.

O'Hara was the first to smell a rat.

She paid Cohen $195,000 to build her a home but 18 months after signing up, she fired her in August 2021.

Noting the glacial progress being made, she had begun complaining repeatedly  first to Morris and then to Cohen herself after Morris exited Cubic Quarters in January 2021.

She describes spending months begging both women to complete her home and then months more begging them to refund her money.

Her payment was never returned, she said, and in the end, O'Hara had to pay an extra $100,000 to another contractor to complete the job.

Schuette, meanwhile, was living in a converted bus provided to her by Oakland-based charity Badrap who, as the years wore on, provided her with a second bus converted to hold a makeshift shower.

She says she was told by Cohen not to talk to O'Hara, with both Morris and the alleged fraudster telling her she was a troublemaker. Ferchaud said he was told the same.

Before Morris vanished in January 2021, Schuette told of an incident where she was taken to a storage unit to see the items that had been purchased for her home  and was left aghast when she realized the 'custom fittings' she had been promised included a sink from Costco and various Amazon returns.

Schuette said: 'I lost five years of my life just living in limbo in a temporary situation. I mean, the buses were awesome, but they were temporary, and it stretched into a year, two years, three years, four years.

Butte County District Attorney Michael Ramsay confirmed to DailyMail.com that a warrant has been issued for Cohen for multiple counts of fraud

DailyMail.com has learned Cohen has left a trail of financial devastation across the country dating back to 1993. In 2005 Cohen and her husband Michael were sued by a Seattle woman named Susan Fascitelli after lending the pair $159,000 and never being repaid

Fascitelli was never repaid and, despite winning her case, was forced to apply for a garnishment in a bid to recover her money

'I am disabled. My health is deteriorating. That's five years that I'm not getting back and five years of stress, which aged me.'

Meanwhile, Morris says she was being put under increasing pressure by Cohen to find new clients for Cubic Quarters even as complaints mounted from existing customers.

O'Hara, Schuette, and Ferchaud say they have not heard from Amy Morris since January 2021 while Cohen cut off all contact after they cut ties with Cubic Quarters, ignoring their increasingly desperate emails.

When they complained to the California Contractors State License Board, they learned Cohen did not have a contractor's license, which is legally required to do construction work, while Cubic Quarters' business address proved to be a UPS access point in Dana Point, 500 miles to the south.

To add insult to injury, all three had liens placed on their homes by Lamberto 'Beto' Uriostegui, the owner of Innovative Builders  a licensed contractor who had been hired by Cohen to pour their concrete foundations.

Cohen hadn't paid him either, leaving him hundreds of thousands of dollars out of pocket.

According to O'Hara, the contractor demanded $3,000 from her but she chose to pay local lawyer Jennifer Ellingson $1,000 to have the lien removed.

She said: 'I'd already paid for it. I paid Tricia for it. I wasn't going to pay twice.'

Uriostegui is now one of the victims listed on the criminal complaint obtained by DailyMail.com, along with O'Hara, Schuette, and Ferchaud.

Filed in July 22 following an investigation by the Paradise Police Department, the warrant remains open although many of Cohen's victims say they were unaware that charges had been filed and said they had to pursue DA Ramsay to get him to take their complaint seriously.

Ramsay disputes that, telling DailyMail.com that his office has been in contact with them and that their complaints about Cohen were heard.

He added: 'The investigation is complete, and a warrant has been issued for Cohen for multiple counts of fraud.

'We are actively working to bring her into custody, including working with several other law enforcement agencies. We know she is not in California and has not been for many years.'

DA Ramsay added: 'We have tracked Cohen to several locations; however, some local jurisdictions were not willing to assist, allowing Cohen to remain free.

'We are currently working on her latest location and methods to arrest and extradite her.'

Local woman Colleen Corners has helped support Cohen's victims and encouraged them to take their case to the FBI

One possible location could be Washington State, according to Colleen Corners, a local woman who has helped support Cohen's victims and encouraged them to take their case to the FBI.

Cubic Quarters was also recently re-registered  under Tricia Cohen's name  to a nondescript office building on the outskirts of Sacramento.

When DailyMail.com visited last week, workers were unaware of any company of that name based out of the property and there was no sign of Cohen.

While Cohen appears to have gotten away  for now  others are still dealing with the repercussions.

Among them is Amy Morris who, in an extraordinary twist, told DailyMail.com that the reason she disappeared was because Cohen ordered her to sign a piece of paper that banned her from talking to anyone about her work with Cubic Quarters  and from further communication with Cohen herself.

She told DailyMail.com: 'I had no idea about these [criminal] charges. I haven't talked to anyone about this because I wanted to do what Tricia said  I thought I would have legal problems if I did.'

Morris also revealed that she was paid nothing except for the odd bit of gas money for her work and, from time to time, dipped into her own pocket to pay for supplies for Cubic Quarters' clients.

Despite being bombarded with complaints and then told not to talk, she still believed Cohen was legitimate until she was told of the 16 felony charges by DailyMail.com.

'I'm very sorry that I ever got involved with the company at all,' she said. 'And I wish I had got involved with something different.

'I wish I'd helped a different company  a company that was able to help people. All I wanted to do was get involved with something to help people and to serve people. I'm very sorry.'

Ferchaud, Schuette, and O'Hara all say Cohen has left them mistrustful of other people as well as thousands of dollars out of pocket  and all want to see her face justice.

'She takes advantage of people and she needs to be stopped,' O'Hara said. 'I'd love to see her in a jail cell and poke her with a stick.'

Ferchaud added: 'It was very disheartening because sometimes you do forget that there are people like that in this world and it's sad that there is.

'But as much as it was devastating, the good people far outweigh people like that.'

DailyMail.com's attempts to contact Coen were unsuccessful.
A politician who made a formal complaint to the Liberal Party about her ex-lover has since been subjected to a vile campaign of anonymous harassment, Daily Mail Australia can reveal.

Lucy Wicks, the former federal MP for the NSW Central Coast seat of Robertson, was last year revealed to have been bombarded with abusive texts by her ex-boyfriend, NSW Liberal MLC Taylor Martin.

Mr Martin called her a 'dumb s***' and a 'f***ing pig' in the leaked texts, prompting him to step aside from the state Liberal partyroom and a formal investigation to be launched into his behaviour.

Daily Mail Australia can now reveal that Ms Wicks began receiving anonymous, threatening letters at her workplace within weeks of her complaint against Mr Martin about the texts becoming public.

A source with knowledge of the incident said 'you could tell it was with a purpose to scare or intimidate her. Someone wanted to denigrate her'.

One letter falsely claimed there was 'X rated' content of her 'on the dark web'.

The woman who made a complaint against Liberal MP Taylor Martin has been subjected to a vile campaign of harassment in the months since the investigation was launched

Lucy Wicks, the former federal MP for the NSW Central Coast seat of Robertson, was last year revealed to have been bombarded with abusive texts by her ex-boyfriend, NSW Liberal MLC Taylor Martin

'Can't wait to see this surface on the media (sic),' the letter continued.

Daily Mail Australia understands at least three letters were referred to police for investigation, each of them typed and printed.

The first letter arrived in August, just weeks after Ms Wicks was blindsided when she was named in the media as the text message complainant.

That letter included clippings from newspaper articles from the time, with an abusive, typed note that used a crass sexual term.

A second letter reportedly arrived six weeks later, toward the end of September. This was the letter which contained the vile dark web threat.

A third letter arrived in late January. Each of these letters were addressed to Ms Wicks by name and posted to the PO box of her employer in Sydney's south.

It's unclear who is behind the letters and Daily Mail Australia does not suggest Mr Martin is responsible.

'It was terrifying for her, but she's determined not to allow a relentless anonymous campaign and disgusting smears shut her down,' a source close to Ms Wicks told Daily Mail Australia.

Ms Wicks had reportedly kept details of her employer private, and it was not information everyday constituents were privy to.

Within weeks of her complaint against Mr Martin becoming public, former MP for Robertson Lucy Wicks began receiving threatening letters at her place of work

Text investigation enters seventh month

An external investigation into Mr Martin's text messages is now in its seventh month.

Mr Martin bombarded Ms Wicks with a series of 'ugly' text messages after their romantic relationship ended.

He called her a 'f***ing idiot', a 'dumb s***', a 'sicko', an 'absolute c*** of a person' and a 'f***ing pig ignorant b***h'.

He later apologised for them, accepting 'it was an ugly and undignified parting of ways', and vowing to assist with any investigation.

He said: 'I was young and inexperienced and I found myself involved in a situation that was way beyond me.

'There were heated words during my attempts to go separate ways that I sincerely regret.'

Mr Martin bombarded Ms Wicks with a series of 'ugly' text messages after their romantic relationship ended, calling her a 'f***ing idiot', a 'dumb s***', a 'sicko', an 'absolute c*** of a person' and a 'f***ing pig ignorant b***h'

Mr Martin publicly apologised for a series of text messages he sent Ms Wicks during that period calling her a 'dumb s***' and a 'f***ing pig', and vowed to assist with any investigation into the allegations

Around the same time the final letter arrived, Mr Martin was going through a bitter breakup.

His wife of just eight weeks, Brittany, had walked out of their relationship.

Witnesses heard a heated altercation out the front of the home they shared in Terrigal, on the NSW Central Coast, in late January this year.

Brittany was seen carrying her three-year-old daughter and rushing to a car parked on the street, where she locked them inside, a witness claimed.

Mr Martin followed and was allegedly heard banging on the windows and doors of the car, shouting and yelling.

A short time later a woman, believed to be Brittany's mother, arrived and collected both Brittany and the toddler.

Daily Mail Australia revealed NSW Member of the Legislative Council Taylor Martin married his girlfriend Brittany in a luxurious ceremony at the Grounds of Alexandria in December

A report was made with police, who later said: 'A report was made to police at Wyong Police Station in February; however, it is of a personal nature and as there are no associated charges.

'No further information is available.'

Mr Martin stepped aside from the Liberal partyroom pending the investigation.

Daily Mail Australia revealed this did not deter the party from accepting his vote during internal branch meetings.

He was seen at the Liberal state council meeting last month - where he cast a vote supporting his friend, powerbroker Alex Hawke, from being expelled by the party over an intra-party feud over preselections.

His presence shocked some party members, given he's sat on the crossbench at Macquarie Street since July 2023.

'It doesn't pass the pub test,' one attendee said. 'He has been stood down from the party room, it's just a reality that he should not have been there.'
Some national polls show him seemingly having a drag on President Joe Biden but voter demographics show a more complicated story

Kennedy is siphoning away about 16 percent of the vote currently

As Robert F. Kennedy Jr. prepares to unveil his running mate on Tuesday there's still a big question regarding which candidate he hurts more: Democratic President Joe Biden or Republican former President Donald Trump.

Some recent national polls show him seemingly having a drag on Biden.

The Harvard-Harris survey that was released Sunday shows Trump with a two point lead over Biden when it's a two-person race. That lead expands to four points - 43 percent to 39 percent - when Kennedy is factored in.

But Ipsos polling from earlier this month shows Kennedy peeling voters away from Trump and Biden about evenly, and longterm, the independent could aid the current president's reelection bid.

'He helps Biden more than Trump,' Ipsos President Cliff Young told DailyMail.com. 'What we're actually seeing is that disaffected suburban moderate Republican that really didn't like Dobbs, probably doesn't like Donald Trump's record with women, that doesn't know where to go,' Young said of the typical Kennedy supporter.

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is announcing his running mate Tuesday from Oakland, California. While some polling shows that he has a drag on President Joe Biden, voter demographics suggest he could moreso hurt former President Donald Trump

Ipsos polling from March 7-13, conducted directly after the Republican primary wrapped up, found that Trump was receiving 32 percent to Biden's 31 percent, while 16 percent of Americans surveyed supported RFK Jr.

RFK Jr.'s base tends to skew female and he attracts slightly more Republicans than Democrats and more independents when compared to the demographics of all Americans

Dobbs was the landmark Supreme Court case that overturned Roe v. Wade, which gave women a Constitutional right to an abortion with limits.

'He represents the disaffected vote. I think it's less about him. And more about the moment. Basically there are two candidates from the primary parties that are not so interesting to people,' Young also said.

Kennedy's voters skew female and Young said 'there's probably overlap there,' with Republicans who supported Trump's rival, former Amb. Nikki Haley, in the GOP primary.

Haley dropped out earlier on March 6 after losing to Trump in every state except one on Super Tuesday.

The March Ipsos survey, which was conducted from March 7-13 marking the beginning of the general election, shows Trump receiving 32 percent of the vote nationwide, Biden with 31 percent and Kennedy receiving 16 percent.

Young said at the beginning of Kennedy's candidacy his base was a 'little bit more like on the fringes.'

'But really what we're seeing now - the fact that he's getting like 16, 15, 17 - somewhere around there - percent of the vote when we ask the question, he really represents a broader critique on choices today,' Young said.

The independent candidate's base also represents Americans casting protest votes. When Kennedy supporters had to choose between Trump and Biden more than 70 percent said they were doing so to cast a vote against the other major party candidate

Kennedy voters tend to be more in line with Democrats on issues like climate change and abortion, though tilt Republican on the issue of immigration. Across the board Kennedy voters, Democrats and Republicans care immensely about the economy

When Kennedy supporters were forced to select either Trump or Biden, a much bigger percentage than average said they were casting a vote in opposition of one of the a major party candidates.

Seventy-three percent of Kennedy supporters who said they'd back Biden said they were doing so to vote against Trump, while 71 percent said their reluctant vote for Trump was really a vote against Biden.

Among all Americans, 57 percent said they would vote Biden because they didn't like Trump and 47 percent said they would vote Trump because they didn't like Biden.

'What we're saying is that the anti-vote among RFK voters is even stronger against Trump and the same thing for Biden,' Young explained. 'What they're doing is they're rejecting both candidates.'

Kennedy voters tend to skew closer to Democrats on issues like whether the government should help fight climate change and protect abortion rights, though are more GOP-leaning on immigration.

When asked if immigration made life harder for native-born Americans, 66 percent of Kennedy supporters agreed.

That compares to 81 percent of Republicans who thought so and just 41 percent of Democrats.

Kennedy's voters are moreso voting against President Joe Biden (left) and former President Donald Trump (right) than voting for Kennedy, Ipsos President Cliff Young told DailyMail.com

While Biden and Trump improve upon their numbers when the pool is narrowed down to registered, likely voters, Kennedy actually loses support, suggesting that his supporters aren't always fully involved in the political process

Young also cautioned that RFK Jr.'s support may diminish as November's general election approaches.

Traditionally Americans embrace 'strategic voting' - meaning that they'll hold their nose and vote for the major party candidate they find to be less objectional than actually selecting a third-party hopeful.

'I do think we're overstated here a bit. In terms of what would actually happen, I think these numbers will be lower,' Young said.

Ipsos polling also showed that Kennedy's support decreased from 16 percent to 12 percent when the sample was registered, likely voters.

Young also said that historically a vice presidential pick doesn't move the needle.

'People don't change their calculus, it's typically the top of the ticket,' Young said.
The Single Justice Procedure (SJP) 'needs reform' to stop prosecutions of speeding, TV licence fee offences and truancy being held behind closed doors, magistrates have ordered.

SJP proceedings deal with offences such as driving without insurance, dodging train fares and not paying for a TV licence, and defendants do not have to attend court.

The Magistrates' Association - representing Justice of the Peace across England and Wales - held a major intervention to demand an overhaul of the 'secretive' SJP, which has led to vulnerable people being prosecuted behind closed doors in absentia or without legal representation.

The MA said 'there are concerns' that cases are being brought before magistrates without prosecutors, such as the DVLA or TV Licensing, reading mitigations.

Mitigations can provide explanations of the offence, such as the defendant being elderly or vulnerable.

SJP proceedings deal with offences such as driving without insurance, dodging train fares and not paying for a TV licence (File image)

The Magistrates' Association held a major intervention to demand an overhaul of the 'secretive' SJP (File image)

It said: 'Prosecuting authorities may sometimes pursue cases that are not in the public interest, particularly when the defendant is vulnerable.

'This could mean that the pursuit of legal action is disproportionate or unjust given the circumstances.'

It argued prosecutors should be required to read all evidence so that they can 'withdraw the case if they believe it is no longer in the public interest to pursue it'.

An investigation by the Evening Standard last month found a pensioner with Alzheimer's was prosecuted over 3.34 owed to the DVLA under the SJP.

A domestic abuse victim was also found to have been fined under the SJP after her controlling ex-boyfriend did not insure the car, and an unwell pensioner was prosecuted for failing to pay a TV licence while caring for his ill wife.

Mark Beattie JP, national chairman of the MA, said: 'We believe that the principle of the Single Justice Procedure is good.

'Every year it spares thousands of defendants the ordeal of having to attend court for minor offences, and it allows for more efficient use of court time, which means speedier justice and a focus on more serious offences.

'However, it is not a perfect system. While the vast majority of cases are handled effectively by the SJP, our members - magistrates who decide on SJP cases - have told us about flaws in the way it operates and the harm that this can have on some of society's 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 Single Justice Procedure.'

MA said many of its members 'uncomfortable' with the current SJP system.

It reported a 'significant proportion' of magistrates said they do not always have sufficient time to 'properly consider each case'.

An investigation by the Evening Standard last month found a pensioner with Alzheimer's was prosecuted over 3.34 owed to the DVLA under the SJP (Stock photo)

The body called for improved training which it said, at present, does not emphasise that 'magistrates can exercise their discretion' in proceedings.

Research on how to improve the system for vulnerable people, including those with 'learning difficulties' and 'communication challenges', should also be undertaken, it said.

It added accredited journalists should be able to observe SJP sittings.

SJPs handle 40,000 criminal cases a month and 3,102,392 criminal cases were received into Single Justice Service platform between April 1 2019 and September 30 2023.

A single magistrate, supported by a legal adviser, hears the cases and defendants can enter pleas online.

Magistrates can see other details online and outcomes are recorded digitally.
The education ministry opened a hotline on Tuesday to protect medical students wanting to return to classes from peer bullying from other students boycotting classes in protest of the government's increase of the medical school quota.

The move came amid reported cases of medical students unwillingly joining the ongoing collective action of boycotting or staying away from classes due to coercion or threats of future disadvantages by protesting students or student groups.

Nearly half of the country's medical school students have filed for leave of absence, and classes have been boycotted at many medical schools nationwide as part of protest against the government's decision to add 2,000 more medical school admission seats starting next year.

The hotline will gather reports from medical students hesitant to return to classes due to coercion or those who experienced related difficulties after returning to classes.

Reports can be filed through calls or text messages at 010-2042-6093 or 010-3632-6093 from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays or via email at moemedi@korea.kr by students themselves or acquaintances.

In response, the ministry plans to take protective measures, such as counseling, and for suspected cases of serious coercion or threats, it plans to request a police investigation, officials said.

The hotline will not necessarily require personal information of those who report to prevent their identities from being disclosed, officials noted. (Yonhap)
Think before you speak, or tweet, is wise advice at the best of times  but never more so than now.

You could be reported to police for a hate crime by someone youve never met, and officers are duty-bound to investigate.

As we revealed yesterday, a leading Conservative MSP, Murdo Fraser, found out almost by accident that his name was in police files.

One of his online posts, criticising the SNP Governments transgender policy, led to an activist branding the tweet a hate crime, and calling in Police Scotland and the Holyrood standards watchdog.

The latter body dismissed the allegations but disclosed to Mr Fraser that the complainant had reported him to police.

Murdo Fraser MSP is threatening to take legal action against Police Scotland over the recording of hate incidents where no crime has taken place

Officers ruled no crime had taken place but the hate incident was noted. It remains on a database.

As Mr Fraser rightly points out, his tweet took issue with a government non-binary equality action plan  suggesting that the police have been captured by the SNP policy agenda.

This is how totalitarian states operate but its happening in 21st century Scotland. You could be the next unwitting victim.

Mr Fraser, who after all is paid to criticise and scrutinise, is threatening to take legal action against Police Scotland to scrap the absurd and sinister practice of covertly recording hate incidents where no law has been broken.

But his ordeal raises a disturbing question for us all.

Is your name in a secret police log, without your knowledge, for something youve posted on social media, or something youve said in public, overheard by a third party who contacted the police?

Astonishingly, Police Scotland recorded non-crime hate incidents on more than 5,500 occasions in less than a year.

If you think thats bad  the stuff of a police state  then stick around because by this time next week the SNPs new hate crime legislation will be in force.

Three years after it was passed at Holyrood, its finally a reality  or almost  with the delay in enforcement caused by the small matter of training up police officers, who complain their preparation for April 1 has been scant.

Offences are considered aggravated if they involve prejudice on the basis of age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity or variation in sex characteristics.

The legislation creates a new offence of stirring up hatred  which previously applied only to race  and the law can be broken in private homes, meaning that dinner party conversations could be criminalised.

For their part, ministers are burying their heads in the sand, parroting patronising platitudes to the effect that everything will be all right, and we shouldnt worry.

If this sounds familiar, it should. Weve been here before countless times with botched legislation which has been pushed through with threadbare consultation and minimal debate.

Critics such as Nationalist MP Joanna Cherry, who backed Mr Fraser and accused her own party of McCarthyism, are routinely demonised or sidelined.

Abortive transgender reforms, blocked by the UK Government, and the Named Person scheme, which sought to appoint state guardians to every child in the country, including unborn babies, are only a couple of examples of dangerously ham-fisted SNP lawmaking.

In both cases, there were dire warnings about the possible fallout, both for womens rights and the interference of the state in family life. Named Person, a profoundly illiberal initiative, was deemed by the Supreme Court to be largely unlawful, but only after the SNP fought tooth and nail to salvage it, wasting time and taxpayers money in the process.

History is repeating itself, but this time the stakes couldnt be higher.

The freedom to speak your mind or criticise your political masters is  or should be  hard-wired into any credible democracy.

Police have to pick up the pieces when bad law is made. But senior officers could rip up their bizarre guidelines on non-crime hate incidents now.

This has happened south of the Border, where police must not record anything that is trivial, malicious or irrational.

Here, top brass are sticking to their guns.

This is all the more remarkable  and reprehensible  given their plans to drop more than 24,000 investigations every year into what they see as minor crimes.

Billed as a proportionate response, its really a charter for criminals and an act of craven surrender that is bound to further undermine public consent for policing.

If your car window is smashed, or your lawnmower stolen, and you cant find any evidence of the culprit  for example CCTV or doorbell alarm video footage  then the chances are the police will effectively write it off.

Sure, someone at Police Scotland who picks up the phone (assuming you can get through) will ask questions from a checklist, but realistically the onus is on you to do your own detective work in the first instance.

A failure to come up with a line of inquiry means it wont be taken forward for investigation by frontline officers, whose numbers are at the lowest level for 16 years.

But the force has said it will investigate all reports of hate crime under the new law  a huge burden on an overstretched force.

So, if your car is vandalised and no one saw it, and there was no CCTV camera nearby, youll probably be fobbed off by Police Scotland.

But if your late-night tweet (or passing remark at a dinner party) is believed to be beyond the pale by someone with an axe to grind, then you might get a knock on the door, and face some stern questioning from the cops.

Those same officers might be called to a Fringe production this summer  the Scottish Police Federation fears it could be even busier than usual for the force  to question stand-up comedians.

How long before the Theatre Squad is deployed to plays or performances that someone has deemed to be offensive?

Its farce verging on tragedy, and a lot of officers  serving and retired  agree, venting their fury in online forums (and we know how risky that can be).

Former Chief Constable Sir Iain Livingstone angered the rank and file by claiming his own force was institutionally racist and misogynist, a statement his successor Jo Farrell has echoed.

That means she may feel its politically difficult for her to ditch the guidelines on non-crime hate incidents.

How would that square with Sir Iains damning indictment of Police Scotlands ingrained discrimination only last year, delivered shortly before he retired?

The answer is that he was wrong, and so is she, for refusing to follow the lead of police in England, where she was once a senior officer.

Next Monday will mark one of the lowest points in the history of a country that once championed freedom of speech  and is now firmly on the path towards an Orwellian nightmare.
A Nationalist MP has accused Scottish police chiefs of McCarthyism in their overzealous approach to tackling hate crimes.

Joanna Cherry, KC, said the crackdown on hate incidents by officers was tantamount to a witch hunt against certain political views.

The MP led a backlash in support of Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser, whose criticism of Scottish Government transgender policy was logged as a hate incident, despite no crime having been committed.

She said Police Scotland now needed to review its policy on non-crime hate incidents amid concerns it was attempting to curb free speech.

It follows the revelation in yesterdays Mail that Mr Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, is considering legal action against Police Scotland over the way it categorised the incident.

Joanna Cherry has spoken out about the overzealous approach to tackling hate crimes

Other prominent critics of the SNP approach to trans policy have also demanded to know if any of their past comments have been logged as hate incidents.

It sparked concerns about a dangerous and insidious approach where people cannot voice legitimate and reasoned opinions without being reported to police.

Humza Yousaf last night defended the recording of hate incidents and added to confusion when he said it would allow police to see wider patterns of behaviour, despite the incidents not being regarded as crimes.

Ms Cherry, MP for Edinburgh South West, wrote on social media: Theres not much Murdo and I agree about, but we do agree about freedom of speech so I support him fully in this legal action.

Police Scotland are well aware that their policy of recording non-crime hate incidents needs reviewed. This McCarthyism needs to stop.

Mr 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 a post on X, formerly Twitter, to Police Scotland. 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.

The SNPs new hate crime laws will come into force on Monday, amid fears police will be inundated with baseless allegations.

The legislation, first forced through parliament by Mr Yousaf when he was justice secretary, 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.

Mr Fraser said: Its telling that principled SNP politicians, such as Joanna Cherry, are willing to speak out against their partys deeply flawed Bill.

Politicians of all hues should be able to see that theres something dangerous and insidious in people feeling unable to voice legitimate and reasoned opinions for fear of being reported to the police by those who disagree with them.

The complaint was made to police by a trans activist after Mr Fraser shared a column written by Susan Dalgety for The Scotsman on November 18 last year, which claimed the SNP Governments non-binary equality action plan would lead to children being damaged by this cult.

Ms Dalgety yesterday said: As the author of the column which Murdo Fraser retweeted and was reported for hate crime, I am understandably concerned that other work by me has been reported to Police Scotland as hate crimes.

Completing a subject access request now  though cant quite believe I am having to do this.

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.

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 Free Speech Union 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.

A Police Scotland 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.

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.

Writing in todays Mail, Mr Fraser claims that the hate crime laws will result in open season for grievance max and trigger more complaints to the police.

The Scottish Government said it does not comment on individual incidents.

A spokesman said: In the same way as other police forces across the UK, Police Scotland records non-crime hate incidents to monitor the impact of incidents on victims both as individuals and as communities, and to inform policing approaches.

These arrangements have been in place for many years and are entirely separate from hate crime legislation.

The Act will help to tackle the harm caused by hatred and prejudice and provide greater protections for victims. The right to freedom of expression is built into the legislation and there is a high threshold for criminality.



MURDO FRASER: Humza's dreadful April Fool law is no laughing matter
Talkback radio presenter Ray Hadley has slammed Chris Bowen after Anthony Albanese made an extraordinary intervention in his electric car mandate plan that could have seen Australia's top selling vehicles surge in price.

Labor's lofty emission reduction targets under the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES), headed by Climate Change Minister Mr Bowen, sparked backlash from car manufacturers, motoring groups, and trading nations like Thailand and Japan.

Mr Bowen and Transport Minister Catherine King will unveil an updated NVES on Tuesday that is expected to be a watered-down version that will particularly benefit ute manufacturers who produce Australia's three highest selling vehicles.

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries and the Australian Automobile Association were particularly vocal in their criticism and were excluded from a recent top-level NVES meeting.

There was concern heavier vehicles like the Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux, Isuzu D-Max and some SUVs could cost thousands of dollars more for consumers under the new NVES rules because viable hybrid or electric alternatives are not yet available.

The softening, understood to be brought in since Mr Albanese got involved, follows a similar watering down by Joe Biden in the US in which brands making larger vehicles such as Ford, RAM, Chevrolet and GMC can benefit from exemptions.

Mr Albanese's office reportedly became involved in the negotiations last week in an attempt to smooth over souring relations between his government and the car industry and automotive groups.

'Casanova Bowen has been sidelined as he should have been,' Hadley said on 2GB on Tuesday.

Ray Hadley has let fly at Chris Bowen after his new vehicle efficiency standard was dialled back over concerns Australia's top selling cars would surge in price as there are not yet hybrid or electric alternatives

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese got involved with ironing out the scheme after a similar move in the US by Joe Biden to ease targets om makers of larger vehicles

Hadley let fly at Mr Bowen over the backflip.

'I've got to tell the Prime Minister, I wish I could tell him personally, when you drape your hands around the neck of Casanova Bowen, it'll end in tears,' Hadley said.

'I call him Casanova because over the years everything he's touched, well you know what he's done to it.

'Whether it's immigration, whether it's this, or any other portfolio he has been near.

'He's been in public service his whole life and hasn't worked a day in his life. He went straight from university to be a lickspittle for various Labor MPs in Sydney then, of course, he went into federal parliament.

'Whatever you do with him, you'll end up having to do a mea culpa and say hang on he's gone a bit too far, we'll change things around.'

Under the revised NVES car manufacturers making these larger vehicles can get concessions on their emissions by adopting other environmentally friendly technology such aerodynamic improvements or green air-conditioning gases.

SUVs using the same chassis and drive trains as these utes, such as the Toyota Landcruiser, Ford Everest and Isuzu MUX, will also be classified as light commercial vehicles allowing them to benefit from eased emissions reductions targets.

The concessions are understood to not apply to normal passenger vehicles.

Labour wants a 60 per cent reduction in new car emissions by 2029 which will force car manufacturers to rapidly increase their hybrid and EV models

The Isuzu D-Max, Australia's third best selling vehicle, will be one of those to benefit from the revised scheme

The government was pursuing a 60 per cent reduction in new car emissions by 2029 under previous scheme, requiring carmakers to rapidly sell more hybrid and electric vehicles.

In arguing for his version of NVES Mr Bowen said Australia was already behind large parts of the world in implementing better fuel standards.

'There has been no increase in car prices in any country where this has been introduced over the last 50 years or so,' he said,

'Australians deserve these better choices, it has been way overdue for Australia, and that's why ... we have taken a very considered approach, but it is a reform way overdue.'

It's estimated cars in Australia use 20 per cent more fuel than similar vehicles in the US.

The government's preferred model for fuel standards would see Australia catch up to the US average for efficiency by 2028, just three years after it was implemented.

'This is an ambitious approach, but one that is required to give Australian more choice to use less petrol,' a government analysis paper released in February said.

Mr Bowen said while the government was open to amendments, he dismissed opposition to the proposal as a scare campaign.

'If there are sensible suggestions in keeping with the approach we've taken so far, we'll consider them,' he said.

'But we will be delivering better choices, cheaper to run cars, lower emission cars for Australians, which previous governments should have done years ago.'

The NVES legislation will be put through later this year with the scheme to take effect on January 1, 2025.
It is enough to make a Scotsman splutter into his evening dram  an English whisky has been named the Best Single Malt in the world.

The English Sherry Cask whisky, made in a Norfolk distillery, beat stiff international competition, including Scotlands finest, in the World Whisky Awards.

Bottled by hand by The English Distillery in Breckland, it is an unpeated single malt that has been matured in the finest Pedro Ximenez (PX) sherry casks.

The distillery opened its doors 17 years ago but its award winning whisky, priced at 59 a bottle, has been available for only six months.

The judges praised its aromas of rich dark fruits from the sherry-filled casks.

The English Distillerys English Sherry Cask whisky took top prize in the World Whisky Awards

These combine to give a whiff of raw honey and vanilla, leading to a burst of sweet toffee, cherries and digestives in a wonderfully balanced and rich whisky.

The English Distillery was founded by farmer James Nelstrop with the help of master distiller Ian Henderson. It is made using barley grown locally and on the Nelstrop family farms.

The entire distillation process of milling, mashing, distilling, using a pair of traditional copper stills, is followed by the maturing in the finest oak casks and hand bottling.

The 20-strong team behind the success is led by Andrew Nelstrop, who took on the distillery following his fathers death in 2014.

Mr Nelstrop said: Were stunned. Whilst any whisky maker hopes to win an award, winning the big one is the realisation of my fathers sole goal of creating world-class single-malt whiskies in England, and sharing them with whisky lovers around the world.

The father of two, whose wife Katy works alongside him, added: I know my father would have been hugely proud of this achievement, as are we.

Revealing a growing interest in distilling in England, Mr Nelstrop said: This award is another milestone for whisky making in England, particularly when its judged against some of the finest single malt whiskies from around the world, including Scotland.

The 46 per cent ABV whisky is not chill filtered and has a natural colour.

The Scotch Whisky Association put on a brave face and took the opportunity to stress that decisions on what makes the perfect whisky is always a matter of personal taste.

A spokesman said: Its always positive to see such interest in the entire whisky category.

Choosing a favourite whisky is a very personal and subjective choice, and Scotch whisky consistently wins awards around the world.

We are proud that Scotch Whisky is the worlds number one internationally traded spirit, and that more Scotch is enjoyed worldwide than American, Irish and Japanese whiskies combined.

Last year, Scotch whisky exports were worth more than 5.6billion, with 43 bottles per second leaving our shores.

This is only possible because the industry produces a huge and diverse range of consistently high-quality spirit, enjoyed in around 180 markets worldwide.
Judges refused her appeal but one warned that the growing visibility of transsexuals will render the law unworkable

It comes after Eloisa Plancarte, 27, was jailed for 90 days after exposing her breasts at a Minnesota gas station

State legislator Samantha Senca-Mura has pledged to change the law against exposing a chest that only applies to women

Democrats in Minnesota are chafing at the 'antiquated' law that prevents women going topless in public after one was jailed for 90 days for exposing herself at a gas station.

Eloisa Plancarte, 27, told police 'Catholic girls do it all the time' as they questioned her at the Kwik Trip in Rochester in July 2021.

She appealed against her conviction claiming a man would not have been arrested that the prosecution violated her constitutional right to equal protection under the law.

Plancarte lost the appeal last month on a narrow 2-1 decision and Minnesota House Rep Samantha Sencer-Mura has now pledged to change the law.

'This to me seems really wrong,' she told The Star Tribune, 'Particularly now, as we as a society are thinking differently about gender and gender identity, I think this law feels very antiquated.'

Minnesota Democratic House Rep Samantha Sencer-Mura says women should be as free as men to expose their chests in public without fear of prosecution

The Representative was moved by the case of Eloisa Plancarte after she was jailed for 90 days for indecent exposure at a Rochester gas station

Protests against 'discriminatory' indecency laws have been gathering strength for years, including this demonstration in Minnesota in 2015

Minnesota law defines indecent exposure as an incident where someone 'willfully and lewdly exposes the person's body, or the private parts thereof'.

But there have been periodic protests both in the US and abroad at women's chests being deemed private when men's are not.

Dissenting judge Diane B Bratvold said that the decision 'raises more questions about criminal conduct than it clarifies', and that the growing prominence of transsexuals men and women is likely to throw another spanner in works.

'Every year, viewers of the Academy Awards and New York Fashion Week observe a variety of fashions that expose breasts to varying degrees,' she wrote.

'How does the majority's rule apply to a person whose gender identity differs from their sex assigned at birth?

'Or to a person whose breasts have been surgically altered, which happens for a wide variety of reasons?

'Is a transgender woman who has not physically transitioned her breasts engaged in criminal conduct when going topless?'

In 2020 the Supreme Court ruled that a prosecution of three women who were for removing their bathing suit tops on a New Hampshire beach did not violate their constitutional rights.

Brazilian model was arrested and threatened with a year in jail for removing her shirt and tying it around her waist while walking her dogs next to a beach in Balneario Camboriu last year

'What should be normal for both genders ends up being denied to one of them in an arbitrary and repressive manner,' she said

Kia Sinclair (left) and Ginger Pierro (right) were arrested in 2016 after removing their tops at a beach in New Hampshire and refusing to put them on when beachgoers complained.

Heidi Lilley, Kia Sinclair and Ginger Pierro were arrested in 2016 after removing their tops at a beach in Laconia and refusing to put them on when beachgoers complained. Pierro was doing yoga, while the two others were sunbathing.

Brazilian model Caroline Werner, 37, lashed out at the country's 'patriarchal, violent culture' when she was threatened with a year in jail after going topless while taking her dog for a walk near a beach in the southern city of Balneario Camboriu last year.

'Unfortunately, in my country even though the Constitution ensures equality, in practice this does not happen,' she said.

'What should be normal for both genders ends up being denied to one of them in an arbitrary and repressive manner.'

Presiding judge Kevin G Ross cited case law dating back nearly 40 years as he upheld Plancarte's conviction.

'Because a woman's fully exposed breasts are 'private parts' under the statute and intentionally exposing them in the parking lot of a convenience store constitutes willful and lewd exposure, we reject her insufficient-evidence argument,' he wrote.

'And because a woman fully exposing her breasts is not similarly situated with a man exposing his chest, we reject her equal protection argument.'

But Sencer-Mura warned that the issue will not disappear and that the existing law can no longer cope with gender ambiguity.

'If law enforcement believes that someone identifies as a female, then they're going to treat them differently if they have their shirt off than they would someone that they perceive to be a male, she said.

'As we have a shifting understanding of gender, that law just doesn't make sense anymore.'
Heartbroken friends and family of a young father who was killed in a single-vehicle crash have spoken out after his tragic death.

Blayde Barber, 21, was found unconscious and trapped in his car on a private property on Kingaroy Barkers Rd in Booie, south-east Queensland, about 11.50pm on Thursday, March 21.

It's understood Mr Barber collided with a fence post, leaving him severely injured.

He was rushed from the property, whose owners didn't know Mr Barber or why he was there, to Kingaroy Hospital, where he died a short time later.

Queensland Police are investigating the circumstances of the fatal crash.

Young Queensland father Blayde Barber (pictured) was killed in a crash on a private property on Thursday night

Several loved ones, including Mr Barber's ex-partner Toni Louise Eichner (pictured together), shared tributes to the 21-year-old online

Several loved ones have left tributes to the young dad online.

'I'm extremely saddened to hear of your passing; fly high, my gee. Look down on everyone and be the brightest star out there,' one wrote.

'I can't believe this, gone to soon. RIP,' another said.

'Rest easy Blayde Barber, you were such a funny and bubbly guy,' another wrote.

Mr Barber and his ex-girlfriend, Toni Louise Eichner, welcomed their daughter in late 2022.

Ms Eichner also shared an emotional farewell, writing: 'Rest easy honey, we ended poorly, but you had a big impact on my life and the chapters surrounding it. I will forever cherish and keep those for our daughter.

'Your daughter will always know who you are, she loves you. I love you. Until we meet again.'

Ms Eichner (pictured with Mr Barber and their daughter) wrote: 'Your daughter will always know who you are, she loves you. I love you. Until we meet again'
The ringleader of the anti-monarchist group Republic has launched a series of tasteless attacks on the Royal Family while King Charles and the Princess of Wales both battle with cancer.

Republic CEO Graham Smith described Kate's cancer struggle as a 'soap opera, not news' and called for an end to the 'sycophantic nonsense' amid an outpouring of global sympathy for the mother-of-three.

The author of 'Abolish the Monarchy' also 'joked' the Royal Family 'really are in trouble' in response to a report about Prince Edward stepping up to help the slimmed-down monarchy while Kate, 42, and Charles, 75, continue to recover.

It comes as Republic - whose aim is to abolish the British monarchy - prepares to target Queen Camilla at the Royal Maundy Service in Worcester Cathedral on Thursday - just six days after Kate revealed her devastating cancer diagnosis.

The activists also descended on Westminster Abbey on March 11 as they targeted the annual Commonwealth Day service which was being led by the Queen and the Prince of Wales in the absence of Charles and Kate.

The group has staged several protests at royal engagements over the last 12 months and will carry out another on Thursday when Camilla presents Maundy gifts to 75 men and 75 women in recognition of their community service.

Republic CEO Graham Smith (pictured at a 'Not my King' protest) has continued to attack the Royal Family while Charles and Kate battle cancer

Kate revealed in an emotional interview last Friday that she was battling cancer and undergoing preventative chemotheraphy

Republic are planning to stage a Royal Maundy Protest on Thursday - six days after Kate's cancer bombshell

'We must be there to protest this tone-deaf service and persuade the public that this archaic practice ought to be abolished along with the Monarchy,' Republic has said.

On Friday, Kate revealed in an emotional video that she was battling cancer and had been undergoing 'preventative' chemotherapy after major abdominal surgery.

Her absence from the public eye had led to wild conspiracy theories about her health - but her brave video sparked an outpouring of support.

Among those to pay tribute to Kate was the Duchess of York who was diagnosed with skin cancer at the start of the year months after having a mastectomy for breast cancer.

Prince Andrew's ex-wife, fondly known as Fergie, 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.'

But Mr Smith, who has campaigned against the Royal Family for over a decade, reposted the duchess' message of support and wrote: 'This is soap opera, not news.'

He also criticised a column by Piers Morgan in which the journalist praised Prince William for his dignity in the face of losing his grandparents, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, and after his father and wife were diagnosed with cancer.

Retweeting the article, he wrote: 'As difficult as it is, lots of people deal with these kinds of misfortunes and personal crises. They do so while trying to hold down jobs and without a 25m income or an army of servants. Stop this sycophantic nonsense.'

Mr Smith has posted a number of tweets hitting out at the Royal Family while Kate and Charles recover

Mr Smith also reposted an article about Prince William 'knowing his destiny' as King but having to prioritise being a husband and a father for now. The Republic leader wrote: 'His destiny is retirement in a republic.'

And in response to an article about Prince Edward emerging as the 'Royal Family's leading man', Mr Smith shamelessly quipped: 'They really are in trouble.'

The Republic CEO also accused Camilla of having 'lots of long gaps' in her diary 'with the occasional outing' - despite her having to step up while her husband battles cancer.

And commenting on a story about a taxi driver pulling over and breaking down into tears over Kate's cancer new, Mr Smith tweeted: 'Royalism is a weird fetish that has little to do with anything substantial or real.'

But his remarks sparked anger, with one user tweeting: 'Are you bored today Graham? Too much love for The Princess of Wales for you to stomach? Suck it up son.'

Another wrote: 'People love public figures. Seems like youre a bit jealous that no one will cry for you.'

A third said: 'Back to being nasty again then Graham?'

And a fourth added: 'Weird graham is you !!!! Have you got a proper job yet ??'

Graham Smith pictured at an anti-monarchy protest prior to the Commonwealth Service on March 13 last year

Graham Smith speaks to crowds from a megaphone at last year's Commonwelath Service

Mr Smith took legal action against the Metropolitan Police last year after he and five other protesters were arrested on the day of the King's Coronation. The Met previously expressed 'regret' over the arrests.

The series of Mr Smith's tweets follow Kate's shock video message on Friday afternoon in which she revealed the extent of her health battles.

She said: 'The surgery was successful, however, tests after the operation found that cancer had been present.

'As you can imagine, this has taken time. 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 will be okay.'

It is understood the announcement was made on Friday because it allowed Kate's children to break up from school and give the Waleses the opportunity to take them to her family home in Norfolk, where they will spend the Easter holidays in private.

However, some close to the princess say the reason she revealed so much information was, in part, to silence those who had been cruelly speculating about her.

'Catherine's message was so honest,' one friend told The Sunday Times.

'Isn't it sad that she has to be so honest and share that because of all the nonsense that has been around?

Kate and Charles have taken a step back from royal engagements while they fight cancer together

'I feel like the whole world has been gossiping about her and there is so much bull**** out there about her and her family.

'It was almost desperate that she had to do it.'

Another friend, who Kate confided in before announcing her diagnosis to the public, said the 'drama' of the last few weeks wasn't the main driving force behind her decision, even though 'obviously that has been upsetting'.

'She felt she had to do it because of who she is. It was more that she knows she is a public figure and has a wider leadership responsibility,' they told the publication.

They added: 'She also wants to be able to carry on with as active and normal a routine as possible.'
The family of a man whose body lay decomposing in a house in Victoria for up to five years are fighting for answers as to how the tragedy occurred and what has been left of his inheritance.

Robert Natoli, who would have turned 76 this year, was found dead in the public housing unit he shared with his sister Maria, 74, on Russell Street at Newtown, in Geelong on December 29, 2022.

Police made the grisly discovery inside the rubbish-filled and rat-infested house after attending on an unrelated manner.

The home was owned by the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) and details about the 'house of horrors' have only made headlines in recent weeks.

Mr Natoli's cousin Grace Natoli said the family is now looking into the State Trustees as they believe he was left with potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars from his late grandparents.

Robert Natoli, who would have turned 76 this year, was found dead in the public housing unit he shared with his sister Maria, 74, (pictured) on Russell Street at Newtown, in Geelong on December 29, 2022

Although the property was in a disgusting state and no one had heard from Robert since 2017, the matter went unresolved until police attended to the property on a separate matter

'This is our family we are talking about, someone has let not only Robert and Maria down, but their grandparents down and our family down,' she told The Geelong Advertiser.

She and her cousins are now hoping to get to the bottom of what happened to Mr Natoli's inheritance, saying his grandparents would be 'turning in their graves' if they knew how his life had ended.

The family are also wanting to give Mr Natoli a proper burial once a coronial investigation, which is still be considered, is complete.

'Someone is benefiting from their legacy and discarded Robert and Maria as if they don't matter, they don't care. That their parents, their grandparents, their great grandparents, their sacrifices have gone unnoticed and don't matter,' Grace said.

State Trustees provides legal and financial services to Victorians in need.

Some neighbours said they had 'never laid eyes on' on Ms Natoli's brother, Robert, in over two years and urged authorities to perform a welfare check at the public housing flat

Currently boarded up, the home was forensically cleaned and will be refurbished to house a new tenant in the future

It's understood Mr Natoli's rent was still being paid for by the state even after he'd died.

The company issued a notice for creditors of Mr Natoli's estate on August 23, saying next of kin and others had until November 1 last year to make a claim.

Grace said she had written to the State Trustees to see what entitlements had been left for Maria.

The organisation was unable to comment, saying they were only permitted to do so 'under an order of Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal or a court'.

'It's not right, whatever happened is not right,' Grace said.

Mr Natoli had worked as a caravan outfitter and had lived in Geelong for more than 40 years.

He and his sister initially grew up in Melbourne, in an Italian-Australian family which had emigrated here in the first half of the 20th century.

When officers arrived at the house, they had to break a glass door panel to gain entry.

Cops in biohazard suits were forced to wade through floor-to-ceiling rubbish, rats, dead possums and human faeces to reach the skeletal remains of Mr Natoli, who had not been seen since 2017.

Neighbours of the Natolis had complained to the housing department and state MP about the horrible state of the home, which was covered in rubbish both inside and out.

Inside the 'house of horrors' - which has now been cleared of the mountains of rubbish - were rats and dead possums

A spokesperson for the DFFH earlier described the incident as tragic and expressed its 'deepest sympathies to the man's family and friends'.

'All complaints received were taken seriously and staff attempted to have them addressed while complying with renters' rights under the Residential Tenancies Act,' the department stated.

'The Department had made numerous attempts to inspect the property and get in touch with the tenant and had an application at VCAT to secure access to the home.

'The man's sister was provided with alternative housing and support services immediately.'

Maria Natoli was arrested and led away from the home by police after her brother's body was found in December last year, but was released without charge.

Daily Mail Australia earlier revealed a neighbour had taken pity on Maria and welcomed her into her home.

Belinda Holt said the woman, who is now aged about 74, became homeless after police fenced off her public housing unit and ended up sleeping in a park.

Ms Holt took Maria in just before New Year's Eve of 2022, saying she took delight 'in watching the fireworks on my big screen TV' and revealed some of her life story.

She said Maria and her brother Robert were brought up in a strict Roman Catholic home.

Ms Holt said Maria recalled wearing 'a pretty dress' to attend social dances as a teenager, but she never married or had children.

Instead, she concentrated on her career and got a job with retailer Myer, working her way up to a role as an administrator.

Devastated by the death of her grandparents, Maria began to suffer from obsessive compulsive disorder and other mental health problems.

Another neighbour said the siblings had lived together in Geelong, on another street, in the 1980s.

Both she and Robert then moved in to the public housing dwelling in Russell Street, Newtown.

After leaving her job, Maria continued to do work for people in her suburb and cleaned up streets in the neighbourhood.

'She cleaned up people's bins and cleared out the gum nuts from people's gutters and would earn a little money for doing so, $20 here and there,' Ms Holt said.

'I met (Robert) a few times. He was a hermit. They were both traumatised people.'
The RAF has airdropped more than 10 tons of food into Gaza for the first time amid fears that 1.1million people face 'imminent' famine in a 'catastrophic' humanitarian crisis.

A Royal Air Force Airbus A400M dropped packages of water, rice, cooking oil, flour, tinned goods and baby formula along the territory's northern coastline.

The aircraft flew from Amman to drop the supplies as part of a Jordanian-led international aid mission, according to the Ministry of Defence.

Grant Shapps authorised the airdrop following an assessed reduction in threat to the military mission and risk to civilians.

Mr Shapps said: 'The UK's goal is to use every route possible to deliver life-saving aid, whether that is by road, air or new routes via the sea.'

Humanitarian aid is seen being airdropped over Gaza from a RAF A400M aircraft

The UK has airdropped food supplies into Gaza for the first time as the Defence Secretary urged Israel to allow more aid into the war-torn territory

The Royal Air Force parachuted more than 10 tonnes of aid, including water, rice, cooking oil, flour, tinned goods and baby formula to Gaza civilians on Monday

Palestinians rush to coast after humanitarian aids dropped from the air to Sudaniye region amid Israeli attacks in Gaza City, Gaza on Monday

Britain has previously delivered 2,000 tons of food aid and thousands of blankets, tents and other relief items in road convoys from Egypt.

Last week, Lord Cameron accused Israel of holding up deliveries of aid into Gaza through unnecessary bureaucracy.

The Foreign Secretary told Alicia Kearns: 'It is of enormous frustration that UK aid into Gaza has been routinely held up waiting for Israeli permissions. For instance, I am aware of some UK-funded aid being stuck at the border just under three weeks waiting for approval.

'The main blockers remain arbitrary denials by the government of Israel and lengthy clearance procedures including multiple screenings and narrow opening windows in daylight hours.'

While UK-funded aid packages have previously been airdropped into Gaza by the Jordanian Air Force, this marked the first drop by the RAF itself.

The aid delivery came on the day the UK backed a United Nations Security Council call for a ceasefire in Gaza during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Downing Street said the Security Council resolution - the first calling for a halt to the fighting - sent a clear message that the hostages held by Hamas should be released and aid should be allowed in to Gaza.

Monday's delivery was the UK's first ever mission delivering humanitarian aid by parachute, though Britain has previously supported international airdrops, providing some 600 parachutes at the request of Jordan and Bahrain.
Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cancelled a visit to the White House by his top aides after the US failed to block UN calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Yesterday's dramatic move came after the organisation's Security Council passed a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire and unconditional release of all hostages taken during taken during the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks.

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.

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, where more than a million Palestinians are taking shelter.

Mr Netanyahu  known as Bibi in Israel  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  known as Bibi in Israel  said that Washington's failure to veto the resolution was a 'clear retreat' from its previous position

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

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'.

Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron was questioned over the UK's decision to help pass the resolution by four Tory MPs in a 1922 committee meeting, according to The Telegraph.

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

Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron was questioned over the UK's decision to help pass the resolution by four Tory MPs in a 1922 committee meeting

Former Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers said that she was 'alarmed' by the UK's position as one of 14 members on the council to vote in favour of an immediate ceasefire.

In December last year, the UK abstained from voting on a UN resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, while the US was the only nation to block it.

At the time, the Foreign Office insisted the UK supported Israel's 'inherent right' to self-defence in line with the UN Charter.

Former Tory attorney general Sir Michael Ellis quizzed Lord Cameron over the UK's stance on the conflict - pointing out The Guardian had praised the Foreign Secretary over his position.

Downing Street said the resolution sent a clear message that hostages held by Hamas should be released and aid be allowed in to Gaza.

Hamas welcomed yesterday's resolution and said it would engage in talks on a prisoner exchange brokered by Qatar, after repeated delays in securing a deal.
President Yoon Suk Yeol once again urged doctors Tuesday to participate in dialogue with the government about medical reforms and persuade junior doctors to return to work from a walkout protesting the increase in the medical school quota.

Yoon made the remarks while presiding over a Cabinet meeting, as Prime Minister Han Duck-soo is scheduled to meet with representatives of the medical community later in the day.

"I hope medical professionals, including medical professors, will actively engage in dialogue with the government for medical reform," Yoon said in televised opening remarks.

Yoon urged medical professors to persuade trainee doctors to return to work as soon as possible.

Medical professors have demanded the government first scrap the decision to increase the medical school quota by 2,000 from the current 3,058, saying it would sit down for talks with the government only if the plan is abolished.

Since Feb. 20, more than 90 percent of the country's 13,000 trainee doctors have been on strike in the form of collective resignations, leading to serious disruptions in hospital operations that rely heavily on interns and resident doctors.

Yoon emphasized once again that increasing the medical school enrollment quota is a necessary minimum measure to address the anticipated shortage of doctors.

Despite threats of a general strike from the largest doctors' group, the government earlier announced that 82 percent of the additional 2,000 medical school seats will be allocated to 27 universities outside the broader capital region.

"The minimum necessary conditions for medical reform have been established with the confirmation of the medical school expansion plan by each university," Yoon said.

Yoon said a presidential committee comprising experts from different sectors, including the medical community, will be launched this month to discuss details of the government plan. (Yonhap)
Australians spending their Easter long weekend in the south-eastern states could be in for a washout as a weather system that has drenched the north starts to drift down.

The aftermath of Ex-Tropical Cyclone Megan has brought persistent rain to the Northern Territory, parts of Queensland and northeastern WA this week, with up to 100mm forecast to fall in some areas in just 48 hours from Monday.

Alice Springs recorded its wettest 72 hours in nine years, with more than 150mm falling on the Outback centre.

Satellite images released by WeatherZone show a 7,000km cloud band stretching across Australia to the east of New Zealand.

The system is due to move south in the coming days, with forecasts suggesting it could bring significant rainfall over the Easter long weekend starting on Friday.

The heaviest falls are expected to impact western and northern NSW, northeastern SA, northern Qld and the NT.

Here's the outlook for each state.

Parts of Australia are set to be drenched with heavy rain (pictured) expected in some states over the Easter long weekend

NSW

Friday will be partly cloudy in Sydney with a high of 25C and a chance of showers. The weather will stay warm and mostly dry through to Sunday before more significant rain arrives on Monday.

In the far-west and north of the state, the rain is expected to hit hardest. Byron Bay is forecast to receive showers for the entire long weekend with a high of 25C.

ACT

Those heading to the nation's capital for the weekend can expect a relatively dry few days. The mercury will soar to 27C on Saturday.

Showers are expected to arrive on Monday, bringing an estimated 10mm of rain.

Victoria

Melbourne residents can look forward to a warm and dry long weekend. A high of 30C is forecast for Saturday.

By Monday, the temperature will plummet to a high of 20C with a high chance of showers.

Victoria and the ACT are expecting a mostly dry long weekend with residents in Melbourne expecting tops of 30C on Saturday (pictured beachgoers)

Queensland

The wet weather that has been drenching the north of the country will stick around this long weekend. Showers are forecast through to Monday, with a high of 28C on Friday and Saturday.

Up north in Townsville, 15mm of rain is forecast to fall on Friday before easing to light showers for the rest of the weekend.

SA

Adelaide is in for a mostly warm and dry weekend with a high of 31C on Saturday. Showers will likely arrive on Monday.

Tasmania

Hobart is also in for a fairly dry weekend, with a high of 23C on Friday and Saturday. A slight chance of showers if forecast for Monday.

Queensland is set to cop the worst of the wet conditions with rain forecast for much of the long weekend (pictured wet weather map)

WA

Perth residents are in for a warm but cloudy long weekend. The warmest temperature is expected on Sunday with a high of 31C.

NT

Significant rainfall will continue to drench the northernmost state with up to 10mm due to fall in Darwin each day from Friday to Monday.
Asylum seekers who refuse to be deported could face up to five years in jail under laws the government is attempting to rush through parliament before the High Court delivers another decision on indefinite detention.

A leaked explanatory memorandum of the bill claimed changes were needed to "strengthen the integrity of the migration system" by making it easier for immigrants to be deported.

It will give Immigration Minister Andrew Giles powers to direct asylum seekers and other immigrants to "do specified things" that would facilitate their deportation.

Any citizens from countries that do not accept those deported from Australia could also have their visa applications barred in an attempt to incentivise co-operation from other nations.

Introducing the legislation to parliament on Tuesday, Mr Giles said the government was committed to strengthening Australia's migration system.

"Making it better, stronger and fairer and ensuring it is working in Australia's national interest," he said.

"We need these important tools to strengthen our migration system."

The Government's Home Affairs minister Clare O'Neil this month was under fire after it was revealed she relied on verbal advice only for the previous High Court ruling

Opposition Home Affairs spokesman James Paterson claimed it was 'rushed patch-up job' to get through the new legislation

Labor is facing another High Court challenge as an Iranian citizen known as ASF17 makes a legal bid for freedom.

The Albanese government has attempted to send him back to Iran but as a bisexual man, he could face the death penalty upon return.

If an earlier High Court ruling - which deemed indefinite detention unlawful in November - is expanded to cover people who refuse to co-operate with Australian authorities, the Iranian man would be released and more refugees could be freed.

The government has been drafting legislation since Friday to try to pre-empt the court's April 17 ruling.

"Non-co-operation with removal processes demonstrates a disregard for Australian laws," the memorandum reads.

Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson said the coalition received little more than an hour's notice the Commonwealth intended to introduce the legislation to parliament on Tuesday.

This gives them about 36 hours to pass the legislation if it is to be done before the end of the sitting week - the last before the High Court decision.

"Perhaps if it was in response to a genuine and urgent crisis that would be OK but this is an extraordinary demand to put on parliament, to put on all of us," Senator Paterson said.

Opposition immigration spokesman Dan Tehan also condemned the government's "lack of transparency" but neither divulged details about the bill, saying it was up to the relevant government ministers to "do their jobs" and unveil the legislation.

Greens leader Adam Bandt slammed the government's approach as extraordinary.

"Nothing was put forward that justifies us losing the usual rights that everyone in this parliament has to consider such important legislation," he said.

Warringah MP Zali Steggall said she was "deeply disappointed" Labor was trying to rush through laws without giving enough time to seriously consider the implications.

"Shame, shame on every member of government for supporting ... something that is deeply, deeply undemocratic," she said.

The government's response is similar to the fallout from the High Court's NZYQ case when indefinite detention was ruled illegal.

In the aftermath, about 150 immigrants were released into the community.

While some had serious criminal convictions, including for murder and rape, others faced less serious charges and all of them served their time behind bars before being placed in immigration detention.
Former NSW MP was charged with count of conspiracy to commit offence

Daryl Maguire to go to trial to fight allegations he falsified documents

A former NSW MP and secret lover of Gladys Berejiklian will go to trial to fight allegations he falsified documents while in office.

Daryl Maguire was charged in November 2022 with one count of conspiracy to commit an offence.

Mr Maguire is alleged to have falsified documents between January 2013 and August 2015 when he was a state MP for Wagga Wagga.

He appeared on Tuesday in Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court via audiovisual link while his lawyer Jim Harrowell AM entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf.

Documents tendered to the court state Mr Maguire conspired with migration agent Maggie Logan to 'cause to be furnished, for official purposes of the Commonwealth, documents in connection with applications for visas permitting non-citizens to remain in Australia'.

The documents allegedly contained information that was 'false or misleading in materials particular'.

Daryl Maguire was charged in November 2022 with one count of conspiracy to commit an offence. The former NSW MP will now go to trial to fight the charge

It was also revealed in the inquiry that Mr Maguire had been in a five-year romantic relationship with the then NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian (pair are pictured far right)

The Australian Border Force alleges the pair ran the racket between January 2013 and August 2015, although Ms Logan is charged with continuing the fraudulent activity until 2017.

Mr Maguire resigned from parliament on August 3, 2018.

Ms Logan has not entered a plea. The 54-year-old is facing 40 charges related to her alleged involvement in delivering official visa documents containing false statements over the four-year period.

Mr Maguire was the Wagga Wagga MP from 1999 to 2018 when he resigned after an Independent Commission Against Corruption investigation into his conduct while in office.

The ICAC inquiry heard allegations he and Ms Logan were involved in a cash-for-visas scheme involving payouts worth tens of thousands of dollars.

It was also revealed in the inquiry that Mr Maguire had been in a five-year romantic relationship with the then NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian.

Ms Berejiklian (pictured with Mr Maguire) resigned from her position as NSW Premier in September 2021 after the anti-corruption body announced it would investigate whether she breached the ministerial code of conduct

She resigned from her position in September 2021 after the anti-corruption body announced it would investigate whether she breached the ministerial code of conduct.

Ms Berejikian has repeatedly denied engaging in any wrongdoing and has not been charged with any offences.

Mr Maguire was found by ICAC that he engaged in 'serious corrupt conduct' in July 2023.

He issued a statement in the days following, saying he was 'very proud of his many achievements serving the electorate of Wagga and NSW' and advocated for the 'presumption of innocence'.

'Let it not be forgotten that during his time representing the people of Wagga and region he worked tirelessly for his constituents,' the two-page statement read.

'Indeed, he was described in evidence as a dog with a bone, a vociferous advocate for the electorate or a pain in the a*** when it came to getting improvements for the Wagga electorate.'

Mr Maguire will face the District Court for the first time in April.
France's champagne makers tightly control exactly where producers can grow their grapes and the methods involved.

They will stamp down quickly on efforts by others to steal their heritage and cache, whether it be the producers of Cava, Cremant or Prosecco.

But as champagne sales dwindle in the face of these cheaper competitors, the great houses appear to finally be willing to open the floodgates.

They have drawn up plans to extend the boundaries of the official champagne-making region by up to 15 per cent.

The landmark move comes almost 100 years after mayors in eastern France spurned the chance to become part of the extraordinary success story.

France's champagne makers tightly control exactly where producers can grow their grapes and the methods involved. But as champagne sales dwindle in the face of these cheaper competitors, the great houses appear to finally be willing to open the floodgates (Stock Photo)

In 1927, fearing higher taxes and bureaucracy, several decided that local farmers would be better off growing cereal crops than joining what later proved to be a guarantee of riches.

The average price of vineyards in the 319 districts that decided to opt into the champagne region was 1.06 million per hectare in 2022.

By contrast, the price of land in the districts that opted out was about 1 per cent of that.

Maxime Toubart, chairman of the General Union of Winemakers in Champagne, has said his organisation is prepared to increase the official champagne-making area by up to 15 per cent.

The expectation is that districts in the Coteaux de Troyes, close to Paris, will be allowed to join.

However, the plan to extend the champagne-making zone has divided the region.

Supporters argue that the emergence and spread of flavescence doree disease, which can ravage vines, means there is a need for new vineyards. Others fear increased production will lead to a glut, so driving down prices.

The average price of vineyards in the 319 districts that decided to opt into the champagne region was 1.06 million per hectare in 2022. By contrast, the price of land in the districts that opted out was about 1 per cent of that (Stock Photo)

A new official champagne-producing map is expected by the end of this year, while members of the champagne union will vote on it next year.

It comes as drinkers increasingly seem to be switching from champagne to the cheaper Cremant.

Sales of the sparkling French wine - which is produced using the same methods as champagne but is aged for less time - reached a record of 96 million in 2021.
A judge who called a transgender activist a 'stupid, condescending fool' online has been found guilty of acting in an 'offensive manner', justice chiefs have ruled.

Simon Myerson KC, in a slew of tweets last year, accused the campaigner of making 'idiotic statements', having 'tiny intellect' and 'trying to patronise me'.

The judge, who was allegedly blocked by the activist, also asked the activist why he was 'not on your list of people to be shot when the trans revolution happens'.

The judicial conduct investigations office launched an inquiry into his tweets after receiving complaints from two trans activists, The Telegraph reported.

Mr Myerson has now reportedly been disciplined by Lord Chancellor Alex Chalk and Lady Chief Justice Sue Carr after the probe found him guilty of acting in 'an offensive manner' and failing to 'maintain the standards of his judicial office'.

Judge Simon Myerson (pictured) has been found guilty of acting in an 'offensive manner' after he called a transgender activist a 'stupid, condescending fool' online, justice chiefs have ruled

Mr Myerson has now reportedly been disciplined by Lord Chancellor Alex Chalk (left) and Lady Chief Justice Sue Carr (right) after judicial conduct investigations office launched an inquiry into his tweets. The probe found him guilty of acting in 'an offensive manner' and failing to 'maintain the standards of his judicial office'

The judicial conduct investigations office determined that Mr Myerson 'posted inappropriately' on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter.

Baroness Carr, with the Lord Chancellor's agreement, issued the judge with 'formal advice', a form of disciplinary sanction, for 'judicial misconduct'.

'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,' a spokesman told the newspaper in a statement.

In his tweets, Mr Myerson, chairman of the Leeds Jewish Representative Council, criticised the activist, whom MailOnline declined to name, for 'lacking intellect'. He also likened the campaigner to former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

'I think the reason so many of the stupid left are invested in Chomsky's brilliance (a man who denied genocide & defended antisemites) is that they feel a need for intellect,' he wrote in a tweet last April.

'They can't get it from Corbyn, who even they realise lacks the requisite quality. They batten onto Noam.'

He appeared to be referring to American professor and the so-called 'father of modern linguistics' Noam Chomsky, who is known for his political activism and social criticisms.

The judicial conduct investigations office determined that Mr Myerson 'posted inappropriately' on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter

Mr Myerson took aim at the activist again in June last year, tweeting: '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.'

In another controversial post, the judge also asked the activist, 'what's the deal? I'm blocked but I'm not on your list of people to be shot when the Trans revolution happens. Can I appeal?'

Guidance for judges reportedly advises them to avoid arguments about the judiciary or legal system online. They are encouraged to refrain from debating politically controversial topics.

Judges are also expected to maintain the 'moral authority, integrity, decorum and dignity' of their judicial office, the guidance states.

A spokesperson for the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office declined to comment further when contacted by MailOnline.

Mr Myerson declined to comment when approached.
Almost all private schools will raise fees to stay afloat if Labour's planned tax raid goes ahead, research has found.

A survey of 350 independent school leaders found 95 per cent expect to increase prices as a result of the policy.

Labour has pledged to charge 20 per cent VAT on private school fees, claiming it would raise about 1.6 billion to spend on state schools.

However, it is feared this will price many families out of the sector, creating an extra burden for state schools.

Average annual fees for a UK day school of 16,656 per year would rise to nearly 20,000 if VAT was added in full.

Of the schools surveyed who said they will increase fees, 76 per cent said their prices would have to rise by more than 10 per cent.

Labour has pledged to charge 20 per cent VAT on private school fees, claiming it would raise about 1.6 billion to spend on state schools (file image of Etonian schoolboys)

The poll, conducted by Censuswide, also found that almost three quarters of private schools fear they would be forced to close in the next five years if a Labour government introduced VAT.

Among those facing closure are small special educational needs schools, family-run schools and those run by faith groups.

David Woodgate, chief executive of the Independent Schools' Bursars Association, told the Daily Telegraph: 'There is a lot of concern because of the degree of uncertainty.

'Schools can't budget based on headlines, and we are yet to see a detailed plan from Labour.'

The poll also revealed that almost four in five schools said it is likely they will have to reduce scholarships and bursaries if a Labour government imposed VAT on private education.

Aatif Hassan, the founder of Dukes Education, the largest private education group in the UK, branded Labour's plans 'lazy politics' and said it would drive 'more inequality'.

A Labour spokesman said: 'Labour will invest in delivering a brilliant state education for all our children, funded by ending tax breaks for private schools.

'Independent schools do not have to pass this change on to parents.'
Defence chiefs are to finally release secret files about the bombing of a British ship in the Falklands War which claimed 38 lives.

RFA Sir Galahad was destroyed by an Argentinian aircraft on June 8, 1982 after what campaigners have described as a series of appalling mistakes by UK commanders.

Speaking in the House of Commons yesterday, Conservative MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith said there had been a 'cover-up' surrounding these issues.

Andrew Murrison, Minister for Defence People and Families, said previously unreleased files relating to the incident would be made public - but he could not say exactly when this would happen.

The withholding of information has led to troops who lost their lives aboard RFA Sir Galahad being blamed.

RFA Sir Galahad was destroyed by an Argentinian aircraft on June 8, 1982 after what campaigners have described as a series of appalling mistakes by UK commanders

The bombing of a British ship in the Falklands War claimed 38 lives, but the Sir Galahad should not have been at Port Pleasant when the attack took place in daylight hours

The Welsh Guards were supposed to disembark before the Argentine attack, but for reasons which remained disputed 42 years later they stayed aboard.

The campaign for justice has been led by former SAS commander General Sir Michael Rose.

He said: 'Immediately after the disaster the blame game started, with senior officers in the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines openly seeking to blame the Welsh Guards and the Army, rather than admit their responsibility.'

There was no aerial protection for the ship which was a proverbial 'sitting duck' for the enemy jets.

But Sir Galahad should not have been at Port Pleasant when the attack took place in daylight hours.

Speaking in the House of Commons yesterday, Conservative MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith said there had been a 'cover-up' surrounding these issues

MPs urged Mr Murrison to release the previously secret files urgently given the length of time which has already passed since the incident.

But he told the Commons he was hampered by the Data Protection Act.

Pushed on when the files would be released he said: 'It won't be years'.

The Ministry of Defence has previously stated it stands by the findings of a service inquiry into the incident - although much of the most significant material was ordered not to be released.

The MOD last night declined to comment.
Women hit by changes to the state pension age have demanded that MPs hold an urgent vote on compensation, amid growing fears that no payments will be made.

More than 34,000 people have signed an open letter, which was yesterday sent to Commons leader Penny Mordaunt and urged her to set time aside for a crucial vote.

A long-awaited ruling found last week that women born in the 1950s had been failed by the Government, as they had not been duly notified of upcoming state pension age changes and could be owed up to 10.5billion in payouts.

But campaigners now fear they may not get anything at all, as the Government has refused to commit to any payouts, and Labour, whose responsibility it may be after the general election, has stayed silent.

Last week, Ms Mordaunt said she hoped Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride would address the matter before the Easter recess.

Women hit by changes to the state pension age have demanded that MPs hold an urgent vote on compensation, amid growing fears that no payments will be made (pictured: Women Against State Pension Inequality protesters in 2019)

More than 34,000 people have signed an open letter, which was yesterday sent to Commons leader Penny Mordaunt (pictured) and urged her to set time aside for a crucial vote

However, Mr Stride yesterday said the Government would need time to 'fully and properly consider the findings of the Ombudsman and the detail of what is a substantial document'.

The delay has sparked fury among activists leading the WASPI campaign group.

Angela Madden, chair of the group, Women Against State Pension Inequality, said: 'The fact it is has taken five years for the Ombudsman to produce his conclusions is a pretty perverse reason to say more delay is now justified.

'Every day 111 of the affected women die waiting for justice. The Commons must get a debate and vote on compensation as soon as possible after Easter.'

Until 2010, women were entitled to receive the state pension from the age of 60, but the Government announced in 1995 that this would increase to 65 to level the playing field with men.

Up to 3.6 million women born in the 1950s should have received letters informing them about the upcoming changes, the Ombudsman said. In a scathing report, it recommended that women be compensated between 1,000 and 2,950. However, payouts could exceed 10,000 in the most extreme cases.

The payments will not compensate women for any pension income they lost in the age increase, which they have previously called for.

Jeremy Hunt (pictured) refused to commit to the recommended compensation plan, telling the BBC it is a 'genuinely more complicated issue'

The Ombudsman claimed that the Department for Work and Pensions has indicated it would 'refuse to comply' with the recommendations. For this reason, the Ombudsman put the report to ministers in the hopes its rulings would be enforced, in a rare intervention.

Jeremy Hunt refused to commit to the recommended compensation plan, telling the BBC it is a 'genuinely more complicated issue'.

Mr Stride yesterday told MPs in the Commons: 'The government will continue to engage fully and constructively with Parliament, as we have done with the Ombudsman.'
The Veterans' Minister Johnny Mercer has been given 10 days to name the whistleblowers who informed him about alleged murders by the SAS in Afghanistan, or face being jailed.

The chairman of the Afghanistan Inquiry, Sir Charles Haddon-Cave has given Tory MP for Plymouth until April 5 to hand over a witness statement containing the names of whistleblowers.

The chairman told Mr Mercer his decision to 'refuse to answer legitimate questions... at a public inquiry' were 'disappointing... surprising... and completely unacceptable,' during the minister's evidence to the probe last month.

Mr Mercer repeatedly refused to hand over names of 'multiple officers' who told him about allegations of murder and a cover-up during his time as a backbench MP.

During a tense exchange during his evidence at the Royal Courts of Justice, Mr Mercer repeatedly refused to hand over the name of an officer and 'multiple' others who he said had told him there had been unlawful shootings.

The Veterans' Minister Johnny Mercer has been given 10 days to name the whistleblowers who informed him about alleged murders by the SAS in Afghanistan, or face being jailed

When accused by counsel Oliver Glasgow KC of refusing to help the inquiry, Mr Mercer said he was not 'prepared to burn' his contacts and wanted to keep his 'integrity'.

He added: 'The one thing you can hold on to is your integrity and I will be doing that with these individuals.'

The inquiry said Mr Mercer was served with a Section 21 notice on March 13, compelling him to hand over the names, which the inquiry have insisted will be 'treated in confidence'.

The move was described as 'outrageous' by Lord Dannatt, former Chief of the General Staff, who told the Telegraph: 'It is outrageous that the government minister who has done more than anyone else for veterans should be threatened with jail.

'He gave his word to the whistleblowers that their identity would be protected. The information that they gave Mr Mercer has already been passed by him to the inquiry.'

In the order, the chairman said the consequences of failing to comply without reasonable excuse would be 'a criminal offence punishable with imprisonment and/or a fine.'

Sir Charles also said the High Court could enforce the order through contempt of court proceedings, which 'may result in imprisonment'.

The retired judge also said if Mr Mercer believed it was unreasonable for him to hand over the names, or if he was unable to comply with the order, he would have to make submissions in writing by April 3.

The chairman previously told the minister: 'You need to decide which side you are really on, Mr Mercer.

The chairman of the Afghanistan Inquiry, Sir Charles Haddon-Cave has given Tory MP for Plymouth until April 5 to hand over a witness statement containing the names of whistleblowers

'Is it assisting the inquiry fully... and the public interest and the national interest in getting to the truth of these allegations quickly, for everyone's sake, or being part of what is, in effect...a wall of silence - and this wall of silence is obstructing the inquiry and access to the truth.

'And doing so because of, if I may say so, a misguided understanding of the term integrity and an inappropriate sense of loyalty.'

A friend of Mr Mercer told the Telegraph: 'These sources are not people who are in any way suspects.

'They are vulnerable soldiers and veteran who for their own legitimate reasons didn't want to engage with the inquiry, but Johnny was able to tell their story for them because they trusted him'.

An inquiry spokesperson said: 'The inquiry considers the evidence that the Rt Hon. Johnny Mercer MP is withholding is of significant relevance to its work'.

Mr Mercer repeatedly refused to hand over names of 'multiple officers' who told him about allegations of murder and a cover-up during his time as a backbench MP

It further insisted the the names of the 'vulnerable' soldiers and veterans who told Mr Mercer about the unlawful killings would be protected by 'robust and sophisticated procedures in place'.

The inquiry will examine whether a special forces unit, known to the probe as UKSF1, had a policy of executing males of 'fighting age' who posed no threat in Afghanistan between 2010 and 2013.

Afghan families have accused UK special forces of conducting a 'campaign of murder' against civilians, while senior officers and personnel at the Ministry of Defence 'sought to prevent adequate investigation'.

Two Royal Military Police investigations, codenamed Operation Northmoor and Operation Cestro, are set to be scrutinised by the inquiry.

No charges were brought under Operation Northmoor - a 10 million investigation which was set up in 2014 to examine allegations of executions by special forces, including those of children.

Operation Cestro saw three soldiers referred to the Service Prosecuting Authority, but none of them were prosecuted.

The inquiry continues.
Tasmanian Labor leader Rebecca White has resigned, with independent powerbroker Jacqui Lambie questioning why the ALP conceded Saturday's election so quickly when it could have cobbled together a minority government.

Announcing her resignation on Tuesday afternoon, Ms White said she takes 'responsibility' for Labor's performance at this past weekend's election, where it has so far won 10 seats in Parliament.

Ms White said she would provide 'support to my colleagues and to whoever the next leader is and I'll work beside them to make sure we can bring about the change that I know Tasmania deserves.'

But the Liberal Party has also fallen short of a majority, which led Ms Lambie, a federal Senator whose party won three seats, to tweet 'I've been thinking about this all day - and it's got me stumped - why on earth would @TasLabor concede so quickly?

'Why wouldn't they wait for the final result - honouring their voters and their party workers! It's like they don't even want to govern!'

Tasmanian Labor leader Rebecca White has resigned after leading her party to three straight election losses and after Jacqui Lambie (pictured) questioned if Labor even wants to govern in the state

READ MORE: Election promise - Tasmania to build world's biggest chocolate fountain Tasmania could become home to the world's biggest chocolate fountain if the Liberals are re-elected (pictured, artwork of the proposed Chocolate Experience) Advertisement

The Liberals, under leader Jeremy Rockliff, appear on track to win 15 seats, short of the 18 required to govern in its own right.

Mr Rockliff, the nation's only Liberal premier, has reached out to both Lambie's party and two independents.

Labor, which has claimed 10 seats, on Sunday conceded it wouldn't be able to form government.

However, that sparked outrage from supporters who felt Labor should have tried to build a minority government with the crossbenchers and the support of four elected Greens.

'Crazy stuff... By crazy I mean the counting is still fricken continuing!!!' tweeted Greg Jericho, an economist with the left-leaning Australia Institute.

'Labor should still be in the fight to be in govt!!!'

The Greens have claimed Labor has 'gifted' government to the Coalition.

Adding to the intrigue, ALP staffer Bronwyn Clark told The Australian's Jenna Clarke that Ms White had been 'taken out' by Labor operatives behind the scenes.

'(She) is not a coward and she is not gutless. She would've been there and done it all if she hadn't been treated so badly and taken out behind the scenes,' Ms Clarke said.

Ms Lambie said her successful candidates, to be known once further counting occurs, would meet with Mr Rockliff over Easter. She said her party would not seek ministerial positions and would push issues including government transparency, health, housing and education.

'What we want is stability in Tasmania,' she told ABC Radio on Monday.

'And if we don't get that stability, we're probably going to end up back at an election in three months' time. I do not want Tasmania doing that.'

She said her party members want to see a government with supply and confidence.

'(But) that won't give them a guarantee that we will be voting on every piece of legislation with them,' she said, adding that such an arrangement would be a good thing because 'it keeps them on their toes'.

The senator has been very critical of the Liberals, particularly their plans for a new $715million Hobart stadium attached to the state's contract for an AFL team.

But one of her party candidates who may win a seat supports the stadium.

The project must be voted through the state parliament to get the green light.

Liberal deputy leader Michael Ferguson said he was hopeful of delivering the party's election promises and pledged to work constructively.

Ms White (pictured) said she takes 'responsibility' for Labor's poor performance in Saturday's election, where it fell far short of being able to form government

'The Jacqui Lambie Network new members are saying they want to see stability,' he told reporters.

'No doubt they have other things they want to bring to discussions.'

Mr Rockliff on Sunday conceded the Liberals had taken a 'bit of a kick' on the stadium and other issues, with their first-preference vote dropping by 12 per cent.

He has also reached out to left-leaning independent Kristie Johnston and independent David O'Byrne, who was a decades-long Labor member and one-time leader.

Tasmania went to the polls more than a year early after the Liberals failed to resolve a minority government standoff with two crossbench former-party independents.

Mr O'Byrne said a new government would need to be mindful of how they negotiate.

'If they want to have a ... crash-through approach in this parliament, I can guarantee you they will crash,' he told reporters.

Four seats remain in doubt, with the state's electoral commission expecting the count to continue until April 6 with a final declaration on April 10.

It was Ms White's third tilt at becoming premier with her party garnering 29 per cent of the vote.
China, Cambodia agree to promote military cooperation

Xinhua) 11:39, March 26, 2024

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.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
Unmanned stores lack stringent age verification systems

By Jung Da-hyun

Concerns are mounting over how easy it is for adolescents to purchase cigarettes via unmanned vending machines, which do not possess sufficiently strong age verification systems.

Near Itaewon Station in Yongsan District, Seoul, there is an unmanned store that sells e-cigarette cartridges with just a single vending machine inside.

To open the glass automatic door at the entrance, individuals scan their ID card or passport in a scanner out front, which grants access upon verifying the individual as an adult.

Once inside, another certification procedure is required before purchasing from the vending machine.

Given the high number of foreign visitors to Itaewon, the store offers information services in English.

Despite the two-step ID verification procedure, there is no system in place to confirm that the carrier of the ID card or passport scanned is the same as the person buying the cigarettes, thereby enabling teenagers to easily gain access simply by using someone else's identification.

At another unmanned vending machine near Yongsan Station, there is no door  and thus no door check  making it even easier to access the vending machine directly.

Furthermore, the small marking indicating the age restriction to those under 19 is only attached to the vending machine, making it difficult to discern that the colorfully lit vending machine sells tobacco products.

The convenience is great for me, but it's too accessible, which makes me worry that teenagers could easily use it, said a nearby coffee shop manager surnamed Han, who is a smoker.

The exposure of teenagers to cigarettes through unmanned stores remains unguarded due to inadequate age authentication systems at entrances and poor management.

According to the Korea Health Promotion Institute (KHEPI), there were 62 unmanned cigarette stores in the country as of November last year. The stores were concentrated in large cities in Seoul, Busan and Gyeonggi Province, with many of them situated in areas that young people frequent.

Of these unmanned stores, approximately 83.9 percent, or 52 stores, had their doors open at all times without adult authentication devices. Additionally, nearly 63 percent did not display age restriction signs on their doors. Age authentication devices were found to be entirely non-functional in some places.

Furthermore, in a survey conducted by KHEPI, it was revealed that out of 19 unmanned tobacco stores in Seoul, five were situated within close proximity of educational environment protection zones around schools.

The proliferation of unmanned stores has increased significantly in Korea, particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic, as non-face-to-face transactions become the norm. The types of stores now include ice cream shops, laundromats and even cigarette vendors.

According to Statistics Korea, the number of unmanned stores reached 6,323 as of March last year, marking a 12-fold increase from 499 in 2020.

However, regulatory measures for these rapidly increasing unmanned stores remain insufficient.

Lee Eun-hee, a professor at Inha University's Department of Consumer Science, questioned allowing unmanned sales of cigarettes.

With the absence of a stringent system for store openings, managing them has become increasingly challenging. One alternative solution could be to prohibit unmanned sales of certain items like cigarettes, Lee said.

Similarly, Kwon Il-nam, a professor at the Department of Youth Education and Leadership at Myongji University, highlights the need for stringent identification systems, such as utilizing fingerprint recognition, rather than solely blaming owners of the stores and teenagers.

Unmanned stores are vulnerable to illegal activities and can easily become a management blind spot, he said.

Enhancing educational efforts aimed at maintaining proper conduct and upholding legal standards in unmanned stores, based on trust, would be more constructive than outright discouraging their use among teenagers.
A man who became trapped underground for 36 hours after falling down a storm drain refused to be helped a day before he was rescued.

The Southern Downs man, 34, spent 36 hours lost in the inner city drain network of Kangaroo Point, Brisbane, while trying to retrieve his phone over the weekend.

He was finally rescued when local resident James Lingwood heard heavy breathing around 11am on Monday and called emergency services.

Fire crews at the scene were able to cut the drain and pull the man to safety.

Mr Lingwood explained he had heard the man 'sort of half yelling' on the phone while jogging past the storm drain on Sunday.

A 34-year-old man has been rescued from a storm water drain in Kangaroo Point, Brisbane, after spending 36 hours trapped in the underground network

The concerned neighbour offered to help the man get out of the drain but he declined, and insisted he could find his way out.

'He's looking up and he's going, "Hey man". I said, "Are you okay? Can I help you?" He said, "No, bro, I'm all good" but he's knee deep in water and I'm thinking what do I do?' Mr Lingwood told the Courier Mail.

'But he seemed to be okay and he said he could get out where he got in so I just left him alone.

'I wanted to help him when I first saw him, but he didn't want my help. I don't think he thought he was in any great danger at the time.'

Mr Lingwood decided to call triple-0 on Monday after he heard heavy breathing as if 'someone was in distress'.

The man told emergency services he drank rainwater to survive and spent most of his time in the drain crawling around on his hands and knees.

The man was taken to Mater Hospital (pictured) where he was treated for hypothermia and some cuts and abrasions

He told rescuers he spent most of the 36-hour ordeal partially submerged in water and had to wade through surges of storm water while searching for an escape.

He was rushed to the Mater Hospital in the city's south where he was treated for hypothermia and some cuts and abrasions.

When the man finally found an opening, he screamed for help, attracting the attention of a local resident and an employee in a nearby building.

The employee said the man had been 'running around everywhere down there' and was not sure if he was laying down or if he could stand up when he was rescued.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Queensland Police for comment.
A man has died on New York City's subway after being shoved on to the tracks in front of an oncoming train in what police are saying was an unprovoked attack.

The fatal incident occurred at about 6.45pm Monday at the 125th Street station at Lexington Avenue in East Harlem.

A man was taken into custody and has since been described as an emotionally disturbed person.

The victim was pushed on the uptown platform in front of a train that was unable to stop, according to a police spokeswoman.

Neither the victim nor the attacker have been identified.

Concerned commuters stand in the 125th Street station after a fatal shoving incident occurred Monday evening

5 trains were severely delayed in both directions Monday evening after a man was pushed onto the tracks ahead of an oncoming train

A 45-year-old man was taken into custody following the fatal attack

Number 5 trains in both directions were severely delayed following the attack, according to the MTA. Though normal service to the station had resumed by 9pm.

A large number of officers remain at the scene.

Footage of the scene posted to the Citizen App from earlier in the evening showed a number of shocked New Yorkers standing on the platform as word spread about a man underneath the tracks.

The horrifying episode unfolded just weeks after New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced she would deploy National Guard troops, as well as State Police officers into the NYC subway system, where crime and violent incidents have increased in recent years.

Just days after Hochul's announcement, a fight on the A train ended in a shooting, leaving many New Yorkers under the impression that the massive transportation system is next-to-impossible to police.
An illegal immigrant, suspected of murdering a 25-year-old woman from Michigan during a car-jacking gone wrong, is awaiting arraignment on an open murder charge.

Brandon Ortiz-Vite, 25, is alleged to have shot and killed Ruby Garcia, whose body was left at the side of highway U.S. 131 in downtown Grand Rapids on Friday night.

Michigan State Police are still carrying out an investigation into her death but believe she may have been the victim of a car-jacking at around 11:38pm on Friday.

Law enforcement have not released any information on Ortiz-Vite but have confirmed that he is now in custody.

Ortiz-Vite was booked on Sunday and is expected to be arraigned on Tuesday where he faces one count each of homicide/open murder, carjacking, felony firearm, illegally carrying a concealed weapon, operating while intoxicated, and driving on a suspended or revoked license, records show according to The Midwesterner.

The body of Ruby Garcia was found with gunshot wounds late on Friday night following a suspected car jacking in Grand Rapids, Michigan

Brandon Ortiz-Vite, 25, has been charged with the murder of a 25-year-old woman from Grand Rapids, Michigan, whose body was found on a highway

Garcia's family are now helping to raise funds for her funeral and have set up a GoFundMe page that has raised $14,000.

Ruby's sister, Mavi Garcia, paid tribute to her sibling, describing her as 'a great person all around.'

'She would brighten up the room with her beautiful smile and laugh,' Garcia wrote on Facebook. 'She loved to travel, was dedicated to her work and enjoyed being with her family on her free time.

'She was a great daughter, sister, aunt and friend. She will be remembered as being full of life and laughter, those who were around her would know she was silly and made everyone laugh,' Garcia said.

'Her loss has impacted the lives of many people. Her life was taken too soon. She deserved to live life, travel the world, have kids and follow her dreams.

'She loved to travel  she had so many plans this year on traveling,' Garcia went on. 'I feel like her motivation in life were my mother and her nieces and nephews. She definitely was a strong person.'

Garcia's family are now helping to raise funds for her funeral and have set up a GoFundMe page that has raised $13,000

'She would brighten up the room with her beautiful smile and laugh,' sister Mavi wrote of Ruby Garcia, pictured. 'She loved to travel, was dedicated to her work and enjoyed being with her family on her free time

It is not clear what, if any relationship existed between Ruby and Ortiz-Vite, who is originally from Puebla, Mexico.

'I prefer not to give out information on their relationship,' Mavi Garcia stated. 'He is currently in custody that's all we know as of right now and he is/was here illegally.'

'I can't thank you all enough for the big help the Garcia family is receiving in these tough times,' Garcia posted to Facebook. 'I just want to say take care of your loved ones. Please be united more as a family even when your world is falling. The only ones that are truly going to be there are your family members.

'Hope you guys tell your siblings and parents you love them,' she wrote.
A young police officer was shot and killed during a routine traffic stop in New York on Monday night by a career criminal with 21 prior arrests.

Officer Jonathan Diller, 31, was just three years into the job when he was gunned down while asking a driver why he had parked at a bus stop.

His alleged killer, 34-year-old Guy Rivera, had been repeatedly jailed for drug and violent offenses and was arrested on a gun charge as recently as April of last year just yards from tonight's killing.

Officer Diller leaves a young widow, Stephanie, and a one year-old son at his home in Long Island, and New York Mayor Eric Adams paid tribute to the couple as he announced the news last night.

'Can I say it any clearer? It is the good guys against the bad guys,' he told a press conference from the hospital in Queens where the officer was pronounced dead.

Officer Jonathan Diller, 31, of New York's 105th precinct was just three years into the job

Officer Diller lived with his wife Stephanie and their one-year-old son (pictured) in Massapequa Park on Long Island in New York City

Suspect Guy Rivera was shot at the scene by Officer Diller's colleague and taken to the same Queen's hospital as the fatally injured officer

'Same bad people, doing bad things to good people, less than a year, he's back on the streets with another gun,' Adams said.

Diller and a colleague were working in Far Rockaway as part of the NYPD Critical Response Team focusing on car crime.

When they asked the 34-year-old suspect to step out of the car he refused, pointed a gun at the officers and fired, hitting Diller in the torso just below his bullet-resistant vest.

Rivera 'was asked to leave the car, he was given a lawful order numerous times to step out of the car, he refused,' NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said.

'And when the officer took him out of the car, instead of stepping out of the car he shot our officer.'

Witnesses heard the shots ring out at 5.50pm, less than two blocks from the NYPD's 101st Precinct stationhouse.

'It happened so fast,' Melissa Morgan, 39, told the Daily News.

'The police officer fell on the floor and the other officers dragged the two guys out of the car. I was running for cover.

'He shot a cop, it's unbelievable.'

'He was rolling around on the ground saying, 'I'm shot, I'm shot',' another witness said.

Witness Deon Peters said he saw two people, including the officer, on the ground,

'He was moving, he was saying 'I'm hit, I'm hit!' Giving location and all that,' Peters told the NY Post, 'Like he was crying.'

Diller managed to grab the gun from his killer after the other officer returned fire and hit the gunman in the back.

The gun that was recovered from the scene of the police officer's shooting

Neighbors heard shots ring out at 5.50pm, less than two blocks from the NYPD's 101st Precinct stationhouse before seeing the fatally injured officer lying in the street

'Can I say it any clearer?' New York Mayor Eric Adams told a press conference, 'It is the good guys against the bad guys'

Diller and a colleague were working in Far Rockaway as part of the NYPD Critical Response Team focusing on car crime.

Radio intercepts recorded colleagues frantically calling for an ambulance moments later.

'We need a bus here ASAP!' one screamed, 'We have an officer shot!'

The gunman was in a passenger seat when he fired through the window at the officer.

He was shot in the back as police returned fire before both injured men were taken to the Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in Queens.

The 41-year-old driver of the car, named by sources as Lindy Jones, was arrested and a firearm was recovered at the scene.

'The line-of-duty murder of NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller is a tragedy for the NYPD and every New Yorker he so bravely protected,' tweeted former police commissioner Bill Bratton.

'He was a guardian of our city and now a guardian at the gates of heaven. His legacy will forever be one of courageous, selfless service and the ultimate sacrifice.'
The man allegedly killed in a fight at a suburban home in Western Sydney was plagued by a medical condition that left him with fragile brittle bones.

Now his family has hit back at claims Bradley Evennett, 32, was involved in martial arts and had been mentored in cagefighting by his alleged killer, Brad Fletcher, 38.

The pair were pictured smooching up to each other in a haunting final social media post just weeks before Mr Evennett died.

But Fletcher was arrested by police after he was allegedly found hiding in bushes near Mr Evennett's body which had been dumped close to his home.

Fletcher was accused of killing Mr Evennett just hours after the pair moved into their new home together on Annan Avenue in Melonba, near Mt Druitt, on Friday night.

NSW Police allege Fletcher killed Mr Evennett between 5.30pm and 6.30pm on Friday, March 22.

They allege he then drove his body 700m down the road and left it on a footpath where it was discovered by a mother walking with her two children.

Friends of Bradley Evennett (above) say he had a lifelong bone marrow condition which made him prone to fractures

The two men (above with a woman believed to be Brad Fletcher's ex-girlfriend) were friends before the alleged murder

In the wake of the tragedy, friends and family of Mr Evennett dismissed suggestions he was involved in martial arts fighting.

They revealed he 'always had a bone marrow problem where his bones would break easily his whole life,' said one.

'He is funny and humble, and not at all a fighter. He was such a amazing person.'

The close relative added: 'He was not a cage fighter, he was not beginning a career in MMA and had no intentions to.'

Mr Evennett's bone marrow ailment meant that he had to be careful of even simple movement and could never been involved in any kind of physical fighting.

Detectives allegedly found the Annan Avenue home in a state 'consistent with a fight taking place' after they searched it following the discovery of Mr Evennett's body lying on nearby Georgina Crescent.

Police said in a statement they 'found a deceased male with significant head and body injuries and NSW Ambulance paramedics arrived and treated the man, however, he died at the scene'.

A new photo shows Brad 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)

Bradley Evennett's body was discovered with 'significant head and body injuries' by a mother and her two children (pictured on CCTV) on Friday night

Shortly after, police were called to a nearby collision with a parked car of a vehicle they alleged was used to convey Mr Evennett's body to where it was dumped.

Police then 'located and arrested a man who had been hiding in bushes' and took him to Mt Druitt police station.

The mother who made the shock discovery of Mr Evennett's body on the footpath described how she had first walked past the spot and seen 'nothing' but 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 but were unable to revive Mr Evennett.

Fletcher was charged with murder and formally refused bail at Parramatta Local Court on Sunday.

Mr Evennett and Fletcher's close friendship seems evident in one 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.

In another photo with a pregnant woman, believed to be Fletcher's former partner, the alleged victim has his arm around the Fletcher's shoulder.

Bradley Evennett (pictured) has been remembered as a 'gentle giant'

Officers (pictured) were seen at the Annan Ave home on Sunday as investigations continue under Strike Force Wilty
This video is no longer available

This video is no longer available

A mother-of-four has miraculously survived after being crushed by a three-tonne ute - with the horrifying moment caught on camera.

Christine Moore, 40, had been sitting on the kerb outside the Coventry Village Shopping Centre in Morley, in Perth's northeast, on the night of February 10 when she was run over by a massive Chevrolet Silverado.

Shocking footage showed the truck, which had been parked on the kerb, slowly drive over her back and head before stopping.

The driver peered out of his window but didn't see Ms Moore and continued to drive off from the kerb.

Christine Moore, 40, had been sitting on the kerb outside the Coventry Village Shopping Centre in Morley, in Perth 's northeast, on the night of February 10 when she was run over by a massive Chevrolet Silverado

Ms Moore was then run over for a second time by the ute's back wheel.

The 40-year-old was left with a fractured eye socket, three broken ribs, shattered teeth and scarring from the left side of her chest all down her left arm where she suffered gravel rash.

Ms Moore also said she now suffers bowel and bladder issues but says she's thankful to even be alive.

'I believe I had an angel over my shoulder because I shouldn't be here,' she told Nine News.

'I've only watched (the footage) once and I won't watch it again.'

The driver of the ute stayed with Ms Moore and applied first aid until paramedics arrived.

WA Police said she had been asked to leave a licensed venue where she'd been drinking earlier in the night, however Ms Moore denies this.

The investigation is continuing.
More than 100 Australian cattle have died on board a live export ship headed to Indonesia.

The Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry said it was investigating the deaths.

It is understood the cattle were likely shipped from Darwin and were declared fit to travel by a government vet when loaded on the boat.

If an exporter finds that more than 0.5 per cent of the animals in a shipment or three cattle have died, they have to tell the government within 12 hours.

A department spokesperson said there was 'no suggestion that exotic animal disease is involved' such as foot and mouth disease or lumpy skin disease.

'We have been notified by a commercial exporter of an incident involving cattle deaths on a live export vessel exporting to Indonesia,' the spokesperson said.

'Australia remains free of exotic animal diseases such as Lumpy Skin Disease and Foot and Mouth Disease.'
The last-minute reprieve came as Trump appeared to be struggling to raise the original amount and risked having his properties seized

Donald Trump's lawyer blasted New York Attorney General Letitia James on Monday after an appeals court agreed to hold off collection of the ex-president's $454 million civil fraud judgment if he puts up a $175 million bond within 10 days.

Alina Habba celebrated the victory for her client while speaking with Jesse Watters on Fox News.

'I hope she took a little piece of humble pie today because that was what was served to her. Just a little. But we'll be serving a lot more of that in the next couple of years,' Habba promised during a Monday night interview.

Trump won a bid to delay the enforcement of the judgment, but until that last-minute reprieve he appeared to be struggling to raise the original amount and risked having his properties seized.

Had the pause not been granted and had Trump not able to post the original bond on Monday, James could have asked a court to start seizing assets, including prized real estate holdings like 40 Wall Street in Manhattan and the famous Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue.

Trump's lawyer Alina Habba celebrated a temporary halt on the collection of former president Trump's $454 million fraud judgment in New York by blasting New York AG Letitia James

James could have asked a court to start seizing assets, including prized real estate holdings like 40 Wall Street in Manhattan and the famou Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue

Alina Habba took time to gloat over what is a small victory for her client, Trump, while speaking with Jesse Watters on Fox News, left

Alina Habba goes scorched earth on Letitia James:



"I hope she took a little piece of humble pie today because that was what was served to her. Well be serving a lot more of that in the next couple of years." pic.twitter.com/NZYeQ9etur  Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) March 26, 2024

After the court's decision to allow a smaller bond, Trump said he would now be able to pay.

'I'll post either the $175 million in cash or bonds or securities or whatever is necessary, very quickly,' Trump told reporters in New York.

New York Attorney General Letitia James's office, which is handling the civil case, said Trump is 'still facing accountability for his staggering fraud.'

The former president had approached some 30 surety companies through four separate brokers, but all turned down Trump's attempts to secure the original bond needed to cover the $454 million judgment, his lawyers said earlier in March.

In another New York courtroom on Monday, a judge set an April 15 trial date for Donald Trump's criminal hush-money case.

In that case, Trump stands accused of criminally altering business records to cover up a $130,000 hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election.

Trump's lawyers say the payment was meant to spare himself and his family embarrassment, not to help him win the election.

After the court's decision to allow a smaller bond, Trump said he would now be able to pay

Former President Donald Trump commented as he arrived for a press conference at 40 Wall Street after a pre-trial hearing at Manhattan criminal court on Monday in New York

After Justice Juan Merchan set the April 15 date, Trump boasted the case could bolster his campaign, telling reporters at one of his nearby properties: 'It can also make me more popular because the people know it's a scam.'

Trump accused Biden of waging a legal witch hunt against him and accused the judge of corruption without providing evidence of either.

Republican strategists say voters have grown accustomed to his norm-shattering behavior, but a guilty verdict could hurt his ability to win over swing voters who decide elections.

Trump has said he should not have to stand trial while running a political campaign, and his lawyers have filed a blizzard of motions to delay or derail the cases.

As it stands now, only the New York case is guaranteed to go to trial before November.

Trump also faces two criminal trials accusing him of trying to subvert his 2020 election loss to Biden, and another that accuses him of mishandling classified information after he left the White House in 2021.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump smiles in the courtroom at a hearing in his criminal case on charges stemming from hush money paid to a porn star in this courtroom sketch

New York Juan M. Merchan has scheduled an April 15 trial date in former President Donald Trump's hush money case.

, Trump stands accused of criminally altering business records to cover up a $130,000 hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election

He has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him.

All of those cases involve weightier allegations than the New York case, which stems from attempts to cover up an alleged extramarital affair.

But voters might not know before November whether Trump is guilty of subverting democracy or violating national security by storing secrets in a bathroom.

The federal election-subversion case is on hold pending Supreme Court review, while another election-subversion case in Georgia was delayed for months due to questions about whether the prosecutor's romantic relationship with another lawyer posed a conflict of interest.

The federal documents case also has been delayed by Trump's legal challenges.
An army veteran and teacher in Texas has changed his name in order to execute a long-shot presidential bid that he hopes will illustrate the country's dissatisfaction with the two major party's candidates on the ballot in November.

The man formerly called Dustin Ebey, 35, legally changed his name to 'Literally Anybody Else,' the moniker under which he has filed to run for president.

'This isn't about me, 'Literally Anybody Else,' more so as it is an idea. We can do better (than Joe Biden or Donald Trump) out of 300 million people for president,' he told a local ABC affiliate.

He said that he is 'not delusional' about the fact that garnering the tens of thousands of signatures necessary to appear on ballots will be nearly impossible.'

Literally Anybody Else nee Dustin Ebey has launched a long-shot bid for the presidency, saying he wants to recognize that many Americans will be choosing between the lesser of two evils in November and they deserve a better option

In Texas alone, an independent candidate must submit a petition with 113,151 valid signatures from registered voters who did not participate in the primary of either major party in order to be listed on the ballot.

'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,' he said.

'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.

'People are voting for the lesser of two evils, not someone they actually believe in or support,' he said.

'People should have the option to vote for someone who resembles and represents them, not the lesser of two evils. I reject that.'

'Else' has asked Texas residents to write-in his new name. In Texas, write-in candidates - unlike independent candidates - are required to register with the state, but do not have a signature requirement.

Donald Trump is polling ahead of Joe Biden in several key swing states, but remains a divisive figure even among members of his own party

President Joe Biden is working with some of the worst approval numbers in history as he marches toward his November reelection bid

'We dont really have a neither option on the ballot, and this fills that role,' said the Louisiana-raised veteran, who served in the Army from 2012-2018 after running out of money to pay for college midway through his education at LSU.

The incredibly long-shot bid is taking place in the context of a forthcoming general election that features two candidates who the majority of Americans wish were not going to be on the ballot.

Else, a 7th grade math teacher by day, has launched a website and GoFundMe, where potential supporters can check out more about his platform and plans.

In a December poll from AP-NORC, 56 percent of US adults - regardless of party affiliation - said they would be 'very' or 'somewhat' dissatisfied with incumbent Joe Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee.

'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,' said 'Else'

Fifty-eight percent of US adults said the same thing about Trump representing the GOP on the ballot this fall.

A NewsNation poll from the beginning of the year found that nearly 60 percent of registered voters are unenthusiastic about a rematch of the 2020 election.

Earlier this month, an ABC/Ipsos poll who they'd trust to lead the country as president - the choices were Joe Biden, who received 33 percent of the vote, Donald Trump, who received 36 percent, and neither, the answer that 30 percent of those polled selected.
Residents of a small town are furious over hundreds of donated items, including an office chair, dumped and strewn outside the front of a local Vinnies store.

Clothes, tubs and boxes were among the items abandoned outside the St Vincent's De Paul centre in Mount Barker, in Adelaide's southeast on Sunday night.

Local resident Fiona Watson who visited the centre with her daughter to drop off a few items after work, described the sight of the donated objects out the front of the major charity as 'chaotic'.

'It looked like someone had gone though it and just thrown it everywhere' Ms Watson told Nine News.

Residents have been left furious at the sight of donated items that were left piled up outside a Vinnies store in Mount Barker, in Adelaide's southeast (pictured)

Dozens of bags full of clothes lined the footpath as the items spilled over onto the outdoor shopping centre carpark.

Boxes, tubs, and even an office chair and iron board were among the discarded objects that thrown out the front of the charity, leaving behind a huge mess.

Ms Watson who doesn't work at Vinnies spent more than an hour cleaning up the area and said the place is often left untidy.

'All the time, it's on a regular basis. I drive past and see it like that from the roads and you see people going through it at night time,' she said.

Narelle Brine, from Vinnies Mount Barker thanked Ms Watson for cleaning up the mess.

She said people often throw away items which they no longer need but the donated objects cannot be reused by someone else.

She says staff are faced with the mammoth task to clean up the mess every day.

Items including clothes, tubs, and boxes had been dumped outside the charity leaving behind a huge mess (pictured)

'They come in and and we probably spend an hour some mornings cleaning up,' she said.

Piles of discarded items left outside the storefront poses a major issue when wet weather strikes, as the objects often can get ruined.

The large Vinnies blue bins were removed from the storefront two weeks ago.

Smaller bins however have been put up out the front of the store, for those who want to make a quick drop off during opening hours.

A spokesman from St Vincent's De Paul told Daily Mail Australia that donors are encouraged to drop their items off inside their local Vinnies store, when they are open if there are no bins outside.

Vinnies will not take items that cannot be reused including computers, mattresses, and damaged furniture.

Daily Mail contacted Vinnies South Australia for comment.
A major lobby group of community doctors picked a new leader Tuesday as a prolonged walkout by junior doctors over a medical school enrollment quota continued to disrupt services at major hospitals.

Lim Hyun-taek, head of the Korean Pediatric Association, was elected to be the new leader of the Korean Medical Association (KMA), which represents some 100,000 community doctors.

Lim won 65.43 percent of the vote in the final round of voting by members of the KMA, beating Joo Soo-ho, the chief KMA spokesperson, who garnered 34.57 percent, according to the association.

His three-year term will begin on May 1.

Lim's election is certain to further intensify the standoff with the government, as he has argued the number of medical school admission seats must be reduced and the KMA will not sit down for talks unless the government fires Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo.

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 from the current 3,058.

The KMA's hard-line stance contrasts with another group of medical professors, called the Medical Professors Association of Korea, which vowed to play a mediator role between the doctors' community and the government amid the deadlock.

Nevertheless, medical professors, who are senior doctors at major university hospitals, also started submitting resignations en masse this week, although they pledged to remain at work for the time being.

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 the quota hike would compromise the quality of medical education and services and create a surplus of physicians, stating 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)
Emissions on new cars reduced by 50 per cent by 2029

The Albanese government has has watered down its proposed emissions regulations on new utes and SUVs after facing furious backlash from car manufacturers.

Concessions will be made for less stringent CO2 limits for large SUVs and heavy-duty four-wheel-drives, including utes and vans.

After unveiling a proposed fuel efficiency standard in early February, the government has sustained significant criticism for the policy, which its opponents argue will result in higher prices for new cars while reducing choice for consumers.

Rather than ban any particular models, the standard will impose fleetwide emission caps for passenger (PV) and light commercial vehicles (LCVs), bringing Australia into line with other developed economies that have similar schemes.

On Tuesday, Energy Minister Chris Bowen and Transport Minister Catherine King confirmed the standard would be altered so that new LCVs would instead be subject to less stringent emission reduction targets.

The Albanese government has has watered down its proposed emissions regulations on new utes and SUVs after facing furious backlash from car buyers

Under the updated rules approved by cabinet on Monday evening, average emissions for new LCVs will need to be reduced by 50 per cent by 2029 if manufacturers are to avoid penalties.

A reduction of 60 per cent was previously required under the government's original proposal.

New passenger vehicles will still be subject to the original 60 per cent emissions reduction.

Additionally, a number of high-emitting large SUVs initially categorised as PVs will be re-categorised as LCVs if they possess a towing capacity greater than three tonnes and a similar chassis to utes.

The u-turn followed a vicious blast at Labor minister Chris Bowen over the botched policy launch when 2GB radio host Ray Hadley branded him 'Casanova Bowen'.

'I've got to tell the Prime Minister, I wish I could tell him personally, when you drape your hands around the neck of Casanova Bowen, it'll end in tears,' Hadley said.

'I call him Casanova because over the years everything he's touched, well you know what he's done to it. Whether it's immigration, whether it's this, or any other portfolio he has been near.

'He's been in public service his whole life and hasn't worked a day in his life. He went straight from university to be a lickspittle for various Labor MPs in Sydney then, of course, he went into federal parliament.

'Whatever you do with him, you'll end up having to do a mea culpa and say hang on he's gone a bit too far, we'll change things around.'

Manufacturers of new utes and large SUVs will need to reduce emissions by 50 per cent by 2029 - a 10 per cent drop from the proposed policy

The change will result in models including the Nissan Patrol, Toyota's Prado and Landcruiser, Ford Everest, Mitsubishi Pajero, and Isuzu MUX being reclassified as LCVs.

Under the original proposal, these cars would have been subject to far stricter pollution caps, meaning they risked being phased out before a low-emissions alternative was available.

With the emissions cap lowered each year, the standard will essentially operate as a carbon price, forcing car makers to sell more zero and low emissions vehicles, or cut back on the sale of high-emitting models such as utes and SUVs, to avoid being hit with fines.

Also altered is the commencement of the credit trading scheme, which will allow manufacturers to buy or sell credits if they respectively reach or breach the standard, will be pushed back by six months to July 1.

Penalties for breaching the scheme will be set by legislation, with a review of the scheme's operation set to commence in 2026.

After Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hosted business leaders for a dinner in late February, it is understood his office became involved with negotiations over the standard.
Jill Biden has sparked outrage with claims that Florida is going the way of Nazi Germany and putting democracy itself at risk with its attempts to keep pornographic books out of the classroom.

The first lady was dispatched on a whistle-stop trip to California over the weekend as the Biden campaign tries to claw back its poll deficit with the clock ticking down towards Novembers general election.

And she attempted to stake out the battleground to her Democrat audience who had paid up to $100,000 a ticket, telling them that Floridas Parental Rights in Education Act was a step towards dictatorship.

History teaches us that democracies dont disappear overnight, she said. 'They disappear slowly, subtly silently. A book ban a court decision, a Dont Say Gay law.

Before World War Two, Im told, Berlin was the center of LGBTQ culture in Europe. One group of people loses their rights and then another, and then another, until one morning you wake up and you no longer live in a democracy.

First Lady Jill Biden compared Florida's attempts to protect children with Germany's drift towards dictatorship in the 1930s

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed the Parental Rights in Education bill, also known as the 'Don't Say Gay' bill, at Classical Preparatory School on March 28, 2022

Books by 'degenerate' authors were ripped from library shelves and torched by the Nazis

She spoke days after Florida settled a lawsuit over the so-called 'Don't Say Gay' bill that Governor Ron DeSantis claims is a 'major win' for his conservative agenda in the Sunshine State.

The 2022 law barred instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through the third grade, and it was expanded to all grades last year.

Defending the law two years ago DeSantis held a press conference to display books that parents had found in Florida school libraries.

Some included illustrations depicting minors engaged in sexual activity and instructions on how to masturbate, engage in sex acts or download apps that make it easier to have 'casual intercourse.'

And he slammed the 'hoax' that taking the books out of the classroom would be a form of 'book banning.'

'I just think parents, when they're sending their kids to school, they should not have to worry about this garbage being in the schools,' the GOP governor said.

Launching his re-election campaign in January the president said Donald Trump echoed the same exact language used in Nazi Germany.

But many on social media were disgusted with his wifes attempt to compare his Republican opponents to the Nazi regime.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis played a shocking video at the start of his press conference Wednesday containing sexually explicit content illustrated and detailed in children's books found at various schools in Florida

Among the books DeSantis cited was Flamer, which depicts through illustration and description young boys at a summer camp engaged in sex acts

DeSantis' roughly six-minute video shows pages from some of the books, some of which included graphic illustrations like the one above that describes how to use a butt plug

The First Lady was congratulated on her speech in LA by her daughter Ashley, and Kelley Robinson, the president of the Human Rights Campaign

But reaction on social media was less impressed with the First Lady's Nazi allusions

Enough with the Nazi references, wrote one, Every time these people compare their political opposition to Nazis they diminish the horrors of actual victims of the Third Reich endured. This rhetoric is disgusting.

Did she mention Jews at all? demanded one, I didnt hear it. Is she trying to equate LGBTQ to the Jews murdered by Nazis?

No one is trying to ban books but not all books belong in the elementary school library, added a third.

Do Dems think Hustler magazine should be available for kids? Why is this such a hard concept?

The first lady praised her husbands contribution to LGBT rights in her speech to the Human Rights Campaign in LA warning that the MAGA extremists are seeking to erase these hard-fought gains.

Thanks to President Biden, marriage equality is now the law of the land, she added.

He ended the ban on gay and bisexual men donating blood. Hes made it possible for trans Americans to serve openly, honorably in the military. And hes standing firmly against conversion therapy.

'There are victories that would have been unimaginable just a few decades ago: Being free to walk down the street as your authentic self. Co-workers that use your chosen name and pronouns.

MAGA Republicans are waging battles over our choices, our futures, and trying to drag us back to a dark and dangerous path.

But her speech was disrupted by repeated heckling from protesters demanding a ceasefire in Gaza.

Dr Biden, Im a queer Jew calling for immediate and permanent cease-fire, one yelled as a series of protesters were thrown out by security.

States including Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky and North Carolina have used the Floridas law as a template to pass prohibitions on classroom instruction on gender identity or sexual orientation.

Some teachers said they were unsure if they could mention or display a photo of their same-sex partner in the classroom, and critics said that in some cases even lines mentioning sexual orientation were excised from school musicals.

But Florida cut a deal earlier this month with plaintiffs who had challenged the law in court, spelling out that what applies to LGBTQ people also applies to heterosexual people.

The Parental Rights in Education law  nicknamed the 'Don't Say Gay' law by detractors  was signed in 2022 by Gov. Ron DeSantis and sparked a firestorm across the country

The law also triggered the ongoing legal battles between DeSantis and Disney over control of the governing district for Walt Disney World in central Florida after DeSantis took control of the government in what the company described as retaliation for its opposition to the legislation

And it also does not apply to library books not being used for instruction in the classroom.

In a statement, DeSantis's office described the deal as a 'major win' which kept the principles of the law intact.

'We fought hard to ensure this law couldn't be maligned in court, as it was in the public arena by the media and large corporate actors,' said Ryan Newman, an attorney for the state of Florida.

'We are victorious, and Floridas classrooms will remain a safe place under the Parental Rights in Education Act.'
Family members of slain Network 10 reporter Jesse Baird fought back tears as they said goodbye to their much-loved brother and son in front of hundreds of mourners at a colourful memorial in Melbourne.

The popular and charismatic Studio 10 presenter, 26, and his new partner, Qantas flight attendant Luke Davies, were allegedly shot dead by NSW Police senior constable Beau Lamarre-Condon at Baird's inner-city Paddington terrace in Sydney on February 19.

Their bodies were found inside surfboard bags 200km away at a rural property at Bungonia nine days later after an extensive search for the missing couple which spanned from Newcastle in the north to Goulburn in the south.

There wasn't an empty seat inside the auditorium of Plenty Ranges Art and Convention Centre in Melbourne's north, where hundreds gathered to celebrate Mr Baird's life on Tuesday.

Mr Baird's sister, Kourtnee, battled through floods of tears to farewell her brother.

You are the absolute light of my life. My biggest inspiration and my biggest cheerleader,' she said.

His mother Helen paid tribute to her 'beautiful, precious, loving, caring, generous, caring and talented boy'.

'Our hearts and lives are changed forever and there is less sparkle in the world,' Ms Baird said.

Attendees invited to attend were asked to wear bright colours while Melbourne-born Mr Baird's AFL umpire colleagues were dressed in uniform in his honour.

Jesse Baird's sister, Kourtnee, battled through floods of tears to farewell her brother.

Luke Davies (left) and his new partner Jesse Baird (right) were allegedly killed by NSW Police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon

Hundreds of mourners gathered in Melbourne on Tuesday to farewell former Channel 10 presenter Jesse Baird

Attendees arrived at Plenty Ranges Art and Convention Centre in an array of bright colours

READ MORE: Cop opens up on moment she confronted alleged killer about quest to find the bodies of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies The bodies of Jessie Baird and Luke Davies were discovered on a rural property in NSW's Southern Highlands on February 27 Advertisement

A host of Channel 10 stars were among the brightly-dressed mourners seen arriving and embracing Mr Baird's loved ones and each other before the service.

Network presenter Daniel Doody was among those who gave a eulogy for his former colleague.

'Jesse was cheeky, funny, caring, hard-working, a heart-throb,' Mr Doody said to laughs from the audience.

Brendan Baird, Jesse's brother, spoke of the heartbreaking family events he will never be a part of.

One day my kids will know all about their uncle Jesse and it hurts me that you will not be standing there as my best man as you had already agreed to be when I married Nikki,' he said.

The stage at the front of the packed auditorium was adorned with a balloon tribute spelling out Mr Baird's name, along with up to a dozen photos of him at various stages of life.

Jesse's heartbroken father said he would be 'missed but never forgotten'.

'This is your final show,' he said.

After the service, the large crowd gathered outside to blow a flurry of bubbles.

Solemn mourners were seen leaving the venue clutching photos of Mr Baird.

The convention centre isn't usually hired for funerals but was chosen by Mr Baird's family to accommodate the huge turnout expected.

The venue is about 11km from where Mr Baird grew up in Diamond Creek, where he played AFL at senior level.

He gradated from Loyola College in Watsonia in 2015 before moving to Queensland and later Sydney for his television presenting career.

The memorial follows a community vigil in Sydney for Mr Baird and his partner on the eve of Mardi Gras earlier this month.

A service for Mr Davies will be held in his home state of Queensland in April.

Friends, family and former colleagues gave Jesse Baird an emotional-filled and colourful send-off in Melbourne

The large gathering of mourners blew bubbles in Jesse's memory after the memorial service

The emotional service was held not far from where Jesse grew up in Melbourne's north

The auditorium stage was adorned with colourful balloons and photos of Jesse

Jesse Baird (pictured centre with Studio 10 colleagues Tristian McManus and Angela Bishop) was allegedly murdered alongside his new partner at his Sydney home five weeks ago

Ten News recently aired a special tribute celebrating Mr Baird's life and six-year stint with the network in various roles in first Brisbane and then Sydney.

Newsreader Sandra Sully struggled to maintain composure as she introduced the segment and called on viewers to remember Jesse as a talented, loving young man.

It's also been revealed that Mr Baird's flatmates have moved out of Paddington terrace where he and his new partner were allegedly murdered and left overnight under a tarpaulin in the property's courtyard.

Homicide detectives continue to work on the investigation ahead of the upcoming court mention.

Lamarre-Condon was officially removed from the ranks of NSW Police last Friday.

He has been charged with two counts of murder and is currently behind bars in Silverwater Correctional Complex in Sydney's west.

He will reappear in Sydney's Downing Centre on April 23.

Detectives will allege Lamarre-Condon killed Mr Baird in a premeditated attack after a months-long campaign of predatory behaviour.

There were tears and tributes at the service attended by hundreds who knew Jesse Baird

There wasn't an empty seat inside the packed auditorium (pictured)
A 27-year-old aged care worker has been charged with indecently assaulting an incapacitated male nursing home resident in his 80s.

Police on Tuesday reported that the 'sickening' assault on a vulnerable man allegedly occurred at a aged care facility in Perth's western suburbs on March 22.

The accused is a male NDIS worker who visits a number of aged care facilities around the area, police said on Tuesday.

An aged care worker has been charged with indecently assaulting a resident (generic image pictured)

Detectives from the Sex Assault Squad charged the man, who lives in the western Perth suburb of Marangaroo, with three counts of indecently dealing with an incapable person on Saturday.

The man has been remanded in custody and is scheduled to face the Perth Magistrates Court on April 2.

This investigation is ongoing.

Police have urged anyone with information relating to this matter, or any similar incidents, to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or make a report online here.

If you have been a victim of sexual abuse, or if you have information about someone being abused, please contact police on 131 444, or report the information via the Safe2Say online reporting platform.
A waste company in Sydney's west has been fined $280,000 over a vile-smelling dump that has caused 'very real psychological and physical harm' to residents.

Dial-A-Dump, which was acquired as a subsidiary of Bingo Industries in 2019, was ordered to pay the fine after a court found an offensive odour coming from the company's Eastern Creek landfill which made nearby residents' lives a year-long misery.

The decision was handed down in the Land and Environment Court on March 20, after the company pleaded guilty to causing or permitting the putrid odour coming from its tip at Honeycomb Drive in 2021.

The Environmental Protection Agency said it would take the waste facility to court in 2022, after receiving 800 complaints by fed-up households in Minchinbury, Mount Druitt, St Clair, Rooty Hill, Doonside and Blacktown.

Dial-A-Dump, which was acquired as a subsidiary of Bingo Industries in 2019, was ordered to pay the fine after a court found an offensive odour coming from the company's Eastern Creek landfill which made nearby residents' lives a year-long misery

'The court handed down the penalties after noting many residents affected by the odour suffered very real psychological and physical harm, as well as considerable harm to their amenity for several months,' a spokesperson said.

The 'rotten egg' stench caused residents to suffer 'throat and eye irritation, coughing, breathing difficulties, headaches, nausea, loss of appetite, insomnia, stress and anxiety,' the Penrith Press reported.

Residents said the constant stench was so bad it stopped them from having mates over for BBQs, hanging their washing in the line and made them depressed.

The court heard from locals who submitted statements, including one woman who said the odour forced her to stay indoors.

At least four others claimed they were 'unable to sleep' during that time.

It is understood that Dial-a-Dump has taken steps to prevent future offensive odours and hired a full-time landfill manager to demonstrate the companys unlikeliness to reoffend

It is understood that Dial-a-Dump has taken steps to prevent future offensive odours and hired a full-time landfill manager to demonstrate the companys unlikeliness to reoffend.

Blacktown Mayor Tony Bleasdale OAM said the community has had enough of being exposed to air and water pollution.

He also said the residents' wellbeing is paramount, and that it's unacceptable for any organisation to neglect their responsibilities.

In addition to the fine, Dial-a-Dump was ordered to pay investigation and legal costs, of approximately $365,000, and undertake a letterbox drop publicising the conviction and penalty to almost 70 surrounding streets.
The son of a reformed bank robber who died at the weekend says his father's bank accounts have been locked, leaving him and his older brother to pay for the funeral.

Russell Manser, 56, was a convicted criminal who spent 23 years in prisons around Australia, until he turned his life around and started the 'Voice of a Survivor' organisation to help victims of abuse.

He died in his luxury King Street Wharf apartment in Sydney on Saturday night.

His cause of death is yet to be made public, but there were no suspicious circumstances and a report was prepared for the coroner.

On Tuesday, his youngest son Bayley Manser launched a fundraiser to 'give dad the send off that he deserves and would want'.

He wrote: 'The last thing we thought we'd be doing anytime soon is making a Go Fund Me page for our old man Russell Manser's funeral.'

'Dad's accounts have been frozen for now which has made life a little bit difficult for us boys to get the ball rolling for this funeral financially.'

Manser used social media to talk about the sexual abuse he endured as a teenager in prison to encourage others to rise above their circumstances, and to weigh in on high-profile criminal cases.

Russell Manser is pictured with his youngest son, Bayley Manser

Pictured: Russell Manser at a designer clothes store in Melbourne

He had about 300,000 followers across TikTok and Instagram when he died and would often speak to his audience from his harbourside home, or while leaning against the bonnet of his black Mercedes Benz.

Bayley wrote: 'Many of you have been asking us if there is anything you can do and the main priority for us at the moment is giving dad the send off that he deserves and would want.'

'If there is anything you can spare towards dad's funeral and wake our family would be very grateful for.

'We appreciate you all.'

The fundraiser garnered about $15,000 within the first hour.

Manser first spoke up about his abuse during the Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse - he was in jail at the time, but he contacted lawyers about the violence he had suffered.

In doing so, he was able to shed the shame and guilt he held for 30 years and decided to help others do the same thing.

He started a private company called Voice of a Survivor to advocate for victims and helped a lot of people who suffered institutional abuse get compensation.

Russell Manser (pictured at Sydney Harbour) said he never thought he would end up in a penthouse in Sydney

Russell Manser would often film videos leaning against the bonnet of a black Mercedes Benz

Manser had a large stake in that company, until it went into administration last July and was replaced with a new company called Warriors Advocacy.

He also ran a podcast called The Stick Up where he would interview people who had difficult life experiences.

Manser could often be seen on social media standing in front of a luxury car, inside his waterfront unit, at Bondi Beach, the gym, or by Sydney Harbour.

There were multiple videos where he would describe the degrading way prison guards would speak to him, telling him that he would land back behind bars and would amount to nothing.

In one TikTok video last year, Manser stood in front of the Harbour Bridge while saying never thought he would get out of Mount Druitt, the western Sydney suburb where he grew up.

'We never believed we would never make it here - sitting at a penthouse, at a pier in Sydney, at the harbour, and life is so f***ing good,' he said.

Pictured: Russell Manser leaning against a luxury vehicle in a social media video

'You know why? Because I dared to dream. I dared to believe that I was more than this and, mate, life is so good.'

He captioned the clip: 'From the s**thouse (prison cell) to the penthouse.'

In another video filmed at around the same time, Manser made another video with the caption 'to all those prison officers who said I wouldn't amount to much (I know you are watching)'.

He was standing by the water at Sydney Harbour and asked his former guards, 'where are you eating breakfast?' and laughed.'

Manser's oldest son, Ky Manser, opened up on Sunday about his father's death, saying he 'can't explain the pain' he's going through.

'RIP dad till we meet again mate,' he captioned a candid selfie of him with his father. 'I've just lost my best friend...and I'm trying to stay strong for my little brother,' he wrote on Instagram.

'I'm sorry I haven't been able to get back to anyone, I've been spending time with my family and trying to actually accept this with myself [at the moment].'
A street rainbow crossing celebrating a city's LGBTQIA+ community has been painted over as a protest after a church pastor's ultimatum to cancel the local library's drag story time was ignored.

White paint was used to blot out the rainbow motif on the major Gladstone Road in the New Zealand city of Gisborne on the North Island's northeast coast on Monday evening by members of the evangelical Destiny church.

Destiny church pastor Brian Tamaki demanded Gisborne mayor Rehette Stoltz cancel Tuesday's 'Rainbow Storytime' featuring drag queens reading books to an over-16 audience by 5pm but this didn't happen.

Members of evangelical Destiny Church paint over a LGBTQIA+ crossing in the New Zealand city of Gisborne in protest at a local library hosting a drag story telling event for teenagers

In response church members blocked off the rainbow crossing section of road by lining across it with protest signs while others posted a video of themselves using paint rollers to hide the motif, which had been in place since late 2021.

'We have had enough of the sexualisation of our children,' church member Leighton Packer said to camera as the crossing was being painted over.

'We are not tolerating this. We have these sex workers coming in tomorrow, adult entertainers.

'We are going to be outside the library. We will make a big song and a big noise.'

A man applying the paint said the church's demands had fallen on deaf ears.

'We've had enough,' he said.

The Gisborne crossing had been in place since late 2021 and the city's mayor vowed to have it redone quickly

Church members blockade the crossing section by standing across the road holding up signs

'Our mayor won't listen, our councillors won't listen.

'Enough is enough.'

Clr Stoltz on Tuesday accused the church members of committing vandalism and said she would refer them to the police.

'We accept that people hold different views however there is no place for hate or bigotry in Tairawhiti,' she said.

'We will be reinstating the rainbow crossing as quickly as we can.'

'We absolutely object to individuals interfering with our road markings and the safety of people on our roads.

'We will be working with the police to make those involved accountable and seeking reparations for the cost of the work.'

Drag performers Sunita Torrance (Erika Flash) and Daniel Lockett (Coco Flash) went ahead with their performance at Gisborne's central HB Williams Memorial Library despite loud protests being held outside the church.

Destiny members duelled with counter protesters to shout and sing over each other on Tuesday afternoon.

Destiny Church Pastor Brian Tamaki claimed the drag story time event at the library was a flop

Posting to X, Mr Tamaki claimed the story telling was a failure.

'Gizzy Rainbow supporters preferred to stay outside the library, listening to my team, rather than going inside to listen to Erika & Coco Flash's nonsense,' he wrote.

'I don't blame them. The Gizzy Rainbow Storytime event was a flop! It was only really their library worker adults present - which was the goal to keep them away from young ones.'

A library in the city of Hastings, a three-hour drive south of Gisborne, has cancelled a story telling session for children by Erika and CoCo Flash on Wednesday citing security concerns.

A spokesperson for the Hastings District Council said the spread of disinformation had forced the cancellation.

Hastings mayor Sandra Hazlehurst said she was deeply disappointed to be forced into cancelling the event.

We had every intention of standing up to this intimidation and going ahead,' Cr Hazlehurst said.

'But unfortunately the potential for there to be possibly aggressive protests outside the library is something we cant subject our children and the rest of the community to.'
American hospitals are making billions of dollars by charging unsuspecting patients so-called 'facility fees' for routine check ups in outpatient centers.

A new Wall Street Journal report examines the frustration afflicting everyday Americans who are unwittingly being billed hundreds of extra dollars that will go toward a hospital's overhead costs.

The fees are becoming unavoidable, according to the Journal, as hospitals continue a pattern of steady acquisitions of medical practices.

The fees significantly inflate the cost of standard medical procedures, including mammograms, colonoscopies, and heart exams by hundreds of dollars.

A new Wall Street Journal report examines the frustration afflicting everyday Americans who are unwittingly being billed hundreds of extra dollars in 'facility fees'

Facility fees, which generally amount to essentially charging an individual for use of the room in which they meet with their medical practitioner, are used to offset the cost of running a hospital

Hospitals claim the facility fees, which generally amount to essentially charging an individual for use of the room in which they meet with their medical practitioner, are necessary to offset the cost of federal regulations.

Outpatient service facility fees help hospitals afford services such as neonatal ICUs, so the argument goes.

In Maine and Ohio, four out of five medical bills for heart screenings that are now sent to each state's largest insurer has a facility fee tacked on.

After hospitals purchase clinics and doctors, the fees begin to show up on patients' bills.

Hospitals categorize the once boutique clinics as extensions of their centralized operations, leaving longtime patients with the option to pay the hefty fee or find a new provider.

The Journal report claims that many hospital systems are now earning at least half of their revenue from patients who have not been admitted.

Those numbers add up in the context of how much buying hospitals have done in recent years. One estimate suggests that some 50 percent of doctors work for hospitals.

According to some who study such matters, the fees are not justified. Medicare advisers said that the fees collected in 2021 allowed the government program to overpay by $6billion for a slate of services.

Some lawmakers in Congress have proposed limiting the fees covered by Medicare.

The US House of Representatives passed a bill in December that would prevent Medicare from paying hospital fees for chemo and other drug infusions delivered by doctors in clinics not on a hospital campus.

The move would save the federal insurer just under $4billion in the next decade.

After major hospitals purchase clinics and doctors, the fees begin to show up on patients' bills

Some states have taken matters into their own hands. In Indiana, clinics located off hospital campuses affiliated with the largest nonprofit health systems, cannot charge fees

The group representing the interest of major hospitals - The American Hospital Association - does not want Congress to limit fees.

It argues that those sorts of restrictions would deprive hospitals of revenue they need in an unforgiving financial market.

Some states have taken matters into their own hands. In Indiana, clinics located off hospital campuses affiliated with the largest nonprofit health systems, cannot charge fees.

Other states have banned the fees attached to telehealth or preventative care visits.

Some require hospitals to notify patients about the fees before an appointment is booked.

Starting in July, hospitals in Colorado will have to disclose the fees to potential patients.
A fine of $667.25 seems a 'pittance' after a house fire killed a father and five children but it was the maximum penalty a magistrate could impose on Donna Rose Beadel for failing to install compliant smoke alarms.

A Moreton Bay community near Brisbane was in shock after 34-year-old Wayne Godinet and his five boys died when Beadel's Russell Island home burned down in August 2023.

The children included four-year-old twins, with the other boys aged 11, 10 and three.

Their mother Samantha Stephenson and another woman survived after fleeing as the early morning blaze tore through the two-storey Todman Street property.

A fine of $667.25 seems a 'pittance' after a house fire killed a father and five children but it was the maximum penalty a magistrate could impose on Donna Rose Beadel for failing to install compliant smoke alarms

A Moreton Bay community near Brisbane was in shock after 34-year-old Wayne Godinet and his five boys died when Beadel's Russell Island home burned down in August 2023

The fire also destroyed two neighbouring homes and left several people needing treatment for minor burns and smoke inhalation.

Property owner Beadel, 61, had not fitted compliant smoke detectors in the house.

Beadel, from Tweed Heads, in NSW, was not present when the deadly blaze occurred or when she was sentenced in Cleveland Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

Magistrate Deborah Vasta read Beadel's guilty plea - which had been submitted in writing - to one count of owner failed to comply with smoke alarm installation.

The house, believed to be more than 100 years old, had been relocated from Hendra, in Brisbane, about 12 months after Beadel bought the island block in about 2011, the court heard.

She had engaged an electrician to do work, including fitting smoke alarms, that was required at the time.

Beadel used the house for holidays, intending to move there later, and was unable to inspect the property in 2021 due to border closures during the COVID-19 pandemic.

She returned in April 2022 after her partner lost everything in floods.

Beadel rented the house with a verbal-only lease for $370 per week after cleaning it and checking smoke alarms were working.

However, Beadel told the court she was not aware of 2022 state legislation regarding smoke alarms.

The law change requires all Queensland rental properties to be fitted with functioning smoke alarms on each storey, including each bedroom and in hallways that connect them.

Smoke alarms must also be interconnected in a dwelling so they all activate together.

Ms Vasta handed down the maximum fine of $667.25 for failing to comply with the legislation.

'It seems a pittance, however it's not me to comment on the laws,' she said.

She took into account that Beadel pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity, seemed remorseful and had no criminal history.

'It's absolutely no excuse that she failed to keep abreast of the laws required of an investment property owner in having the premises legally wired with smoke detectors after January 2022,' Ms Vasta said.

No conviction was recorded.

The deaths are before the coroner.

The fire also destroyed two neighbouring homes and left several people needing treatment for minor burns and smoke inhalation

The deaths are before the coroner

Ms Vasta said there was no evidence before her about whether the smoke alarms were working or if the outcome would have been different if the house had been legally wired.

'I am simply sentencing a home owner for not complying with the current legislation - I'm not imposing a sentence that's been defined by the tragic outcome of her actions.'

The magistrate said she hoped court proceedings would not be reduced to inflammatory social comment with people saying the fine was how much an individual soul was worth.

'That reasoning is just infantile and it's dumb and it only serves to fan the flames of outrage and indignation that may be surrounding these very tragic circumstances.'
A state parole board member has resigned 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.

The Illinois Prisoner Review Board's handling of the case prompted Governor J.B. Pritzker to order that procedures for dealing with situations involving domestic violence be revamped.

Pritzker on Monday announced that LeAnn Miller, 63, of Junction had submitted her resignation.

The board member had prepared a report recommending Crosetti Brand's release from prison. She had served on the board since September 2021 having spent 20 years working in the Illinois Department of Corrections and 35 years in education at School District 428.

The 37-year-old felon had repeatedly violated orders of protection and threatened Laterria Smith of Chicago, police said.

Jayden Perkins, 11, was stabbed to death trying to protect his pregnant mother

Crosetti Brand, 37, had been freed on parole just one day prior to the deadly attack. He is back in prison and charged with first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker said Miller made 'the correct decision in stepping down' from the Illinois Prisoner Review Board

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.

Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said that Brand had been released on parole just one day before the attack.

Smith, 33, remains hospitalized in critical condition but doctors expect her and her unborn child to live.

Her six-year-old son was also present during the attack but was uninjured.

A message seeking comment was left at a number associated with Miller's home and with the Prisoner Review Board.

Pritzker said in a news release that she made 'the correct decision in stepping down.'

'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.

Jayden Perkins, 11, was stabbed to death after he stepped in to try and protect his mother

Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said Brand was released on parole the day before he carried out the attack

A photo of Jayden Perkins, a 11-year-old boy who was stabbed to death in his home seen at a memorial outside Perkin's home in Chicago

Following board procedure, two other board members, Ken Tupy and Krystal Tison, concurred with Miller's draft order.

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 20 years ago, is charged in Cook County with first-degree murder and a half-dozen other violent felonies related to the attack.

Smith had an order of protection against the suspect 15 years prior to this month's month's attack for repeatedly threatening and attacking her and her mother, in an unrelated case.

His abuse began in September 2006 after Smith broke up with the suspect. Brand came to her house and threatened her with a gun, firing it in the hallway before leaving.

Alicia Perkins, center, an aunt to the father of Jayden Perkins, holds balloons outside Perkin's home in Chicago at a memorial for Jayden, who was killed

Neighbors embraced one another earlier this month grieving the death of Jayden Perkins

Cops seen outside the family's apartment complex, seen earlier this month, investigating the crime scene

Brand continued to harass the family, throwing rocks at their window and calling them obsessively. Two years after the breakup, he reportedly punched the mother at a bus stop for dating someone else.

He had served half of a 16-year sentence for attacking another ex-partner in 2015 when he was paroled last 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 February 1, repeatedly ringing the bell and pulling on the handle.

But when Brand appeared before the Prisoner Review Board on February 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.

The attack happened at this apartment complex earlier in the month

'No one can replace him. No one can take his place,' Perkins' friend Alexis Perez said.

A fundraiser has been made to support Perkins' family during this time

In addition to murder Brand has also been charged with three counts of home invasion with a dangerous weapon, one count of armed robbery with a dangerous weapon, one count of aggravated domestic battery, one count of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, one count of violation of a prior order of protection and one issuance of a warrant for a parole violation.

Neighbors held a vigil for11-year-old Perkins outside the apartment complex days after the March 13 attack.

'No one can replace him. No one can take his place,' Perkins' friend Alexis Perez told local ABC affiliate WLS.'

'He's the kindest, trustworthy friend you could probably ever ask for,' Perkins' friend Nathaniel Vodak, 12, told WLS.

A fundraiser has been made to support the victim's family raised more than $27,000.
President Yoon Suk Yeol announced an ambitious goal Tuesday to boost the size of the country's bio industry production to 200 trillion won ($149 billion) by 2035 through an increase in the government budget allocation for research and development (R&D).

Yoon outlined the objective during a government-public debate, part of a series of sessions addressing people's livelihood issues, in the central city of Cheongju in North Chungcheong Province.

"We cannot remain passive in the face of the infinite opportunities and vast market presented by the advanced bio industry. We must accelerate," Yoon said.

In addition to significantly expanding the R&D budget, Yoon also pledged various deregulations in the bio industry, aiming to facilitate the expansion of production from 43 trillion won in 2020 to 200 trillion won by 2035.

"We will develop North Chungcheong Province into a leading hub for advanced bio-industry," Yoon said, envisioning the government's efforts to transform the Osong bio cluster into a local equivalent of Boston's renowned cluster. Osong is a city located in the province.

Boston is globally recognized as a biotechnology hub, hosting major pharmaceutical companies, research laboratories, and esteemed institutions like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. Yoon had engaged with a group of researchers and biotechnologists during his visit to Boston last April.

Furthermore, he outlined a cutting-edge bio initiative that integrates the latest technological advancements, such as artificial intelligence, into the bio sector.

"I will strive to ensure that advanced bio leads the innovation and competitiveness of other industries," Yoon said. (Yonhap)
Rescue workers in Baltimore are working furiously in an attempt to save the lives of dozens of people who were plunged into the frigid waters of the Patapsco River when the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed after being hit by a container ship.

Initial reports indicate that at least a dozen cars hit the 47 degree water in addition to a 20 or so construction workers who were working on the bridge at the time. The workers were pouring concrete on to the bridge at the time of crash.

At the first press conference around 6:30 am, Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace could only confirm that two people were pulled from the water. One was unhurt, the other had to be rushed to a local hospital with 'serious injuries.'

Wallace said that workers are looking for 'upwards of seven' people but that the number of missing could change as the collapse is a 'very large incident.' The chief called the efforts a 'search and rescue' operation.

At the same press conference, the White House ruled out terrorism as relating to the cause of the crash.

The rescue effort incorporates Coast Guard ships, local police boats, Baltimore's Fire Department, volunteer fire departments from the surrounding areas as well as teams of divers as the desperate search for survivors goes on.

There appeared to be an explosion on the container ship as it collided with the bridge sending container and diesel flooding into the water. One of the vehicles that fell to the water was a tractor-trailer.

The ship involved is the 948 foot long Dali, a Singaporean-flagged container which could be seen on ship tracking websites positioned stationary under the bridge following the crash.

It left Baltimore's Seagirt Marine Terminal at 12:24am, at 1:25am, is began to slow and diverted off of its course. The video shows lights going off on board just before the crash.

The ship involved is the 948 foot long Dali, a Singaporean-flagged container which could be seen on ship tracking websites positioned stationary under the bridge following the crash

The bridge spans 9,000 feet across the Patapsco River and is 180 feet above the water

Astonishing footage shows the moment the vessel plowed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, sending the colossal steel structure crashing into the Patapsco River, shortly before 1.30am Eastern

The bridge collapsing into the Patapsco River

A livestream showed the disaster unfolding, with the vessel plowing into a pile holding up the central part of the bridge. The road and steel arches immediately tumble into the water

The crew has remained on board the ship and are being questioned by members of the Coast Guard

Multiple boats marked as Coast Guard search and rescue vessels were surrounding the ship around 7am Eastern

According to the ship's owners, all crew members were accounted for with no injuries reported. The owners also said in a statement that: 'There has been no pollution,' according TradeWinds, a global shipping publication.

The crew has remained on board the ship and are being questioned by members of the Coast Guard.

The effort is a race against time due to the tide which is coming back in as of 6:30 am local time, Wallace said.

Multiple boats marked as Coast Guard search and rescue vessels were surrounding the ship around 7am Eastern. The Coast Guard later said that 'multiple response units deployed for active search and rescue.'

The astonishing moment when the bridge, which sits 180 feet above the river, collapsed was caught on camera. Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore Fire Department, called the situation 'a dire emergency.'

Governor Wes Moore has declared a state of emergency in Maryland in order for local officials to access funds from the Biden administration. The governor also said his office is in close contact with Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.

In the wake of the collapse, structural engineer and bridge designer Ian Firth told the BBC that it appears as the the ship 'strayed' rather to the side rather than going under the center of the bridge

Around 30,000 vehicles use the bridge, which is named for the writer of the Star Spangled Banner, every day. It opened in 1977

Around 30,000 vehicles use the bridge, which is named for the writer of the Star Spangled Banner, every day. It opened in 1977.

'Our focus right now is trying to rescue and recover these people,' Cartwright said. He said it's too early to know how many people were affected but called the collapse a 'developing mass casualty event.'

Cartwright said it appears there are 'some cargo or retainers hanging from the bridge,' creating unsafe and unstable conditions, and that emergency responders are operating cautiously as a result.

Hypothermia can occur when a person's body temperature drops below 95 degrees.

In the wake of the collapse, structural engineer and bridge designer Ian Firth told the BBC that it appears as the the ship 'strayed' rather to the side rather than going under the center of the bridge.

'But for whatever reason it must have strayed off and has hit the support.'

'The support is a very, relatively, flimsy structure when you look at it, it's a kind of trestle structure with individual legs. So, the bridge has collapsed simply as a result of this very large impact force,' he added.

In a separate interview with CNN, Cartwright said that structural engineers will need to study the condition of the bridge prior to the incident.

'This is a very devastating incident in which these individuals have encountered so our hearts go out to each and every one of them, and we will be working valiantly throughout the early morning to address this,' he said.

The Dali ship was bound for Colombo, Sri Lanka. It's unclear what cargo it was holding. The vessel was due to land in Asia on April 27. At the time of writing, the 50 meter wide ship is marooned under the bridge.

It arrived in Baltimore from Norfolk on Monday having previously made journeys to New York City and Panama.

The 1.6-mile bridge, which is part of I-695, crosses the Patapsco River in Baltimore's harbor. Built in 1977, the main span of the truss bridge at 1,200ft is the third longest span of any continuous truss in the world.

The structure carries around 12million vehicles every year. It carries the Baltimore Beltway/Interstate 695 over the river.

Baltimore's port became internationally famous in 2003 when it was a key setting for the second season of HBO's The Wire.

The port handles $2.6 billion in business income and nearly $400 million in taxes, according to Maryland's government. In 2023, the port handled 52.3 tons of cargo at a value of $80.8 billion.

The 1.6-mile bridge, which is part of I-695, crosses the Patapsco River in Baltimore's harbor. Built in 1977, the main span of the truss bridge at 1,200ft is the third longest span of any continuous truss in the world

The Dali container ship is pictured in a file photo off the Port of Felixstowe in the United Kingdom in September 2018

One local official described the situation as a 'dire emergency'

A picture showing the aftermath of the collapse as the sky begins to brighten in Baltimore, the Dali can be seen to the right with many containers still in tact

Among those responding to the scene are the Harford County Fire and EMS as well as volunteer firefighters from the Volunteer Swift Water Team and the Harford County Department of Emergency Services' Special Operations Team.

Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski said in a tweet that his office is monitoring the situation and working with the mayor's office and other local officials. 'Our prayers remain with all those impacted,' Olszweski said.

Hours before the crash, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott delivered his annual state of the cit address in which he emphasized a clean-up of the city's harbor in addition to fighting crime and poverty.

'Join me in this fight for the future and soul of our city, and show the world how beautiful Baltimore can be,' he said.
A cyclist who was killed in a lorry crash in London has been named as PhD student Cheistha Kochhar who worked as an advisor to the Prime Minister of India.

The 33-year-old died following a collision with a refuse lorry in Clerkenwell Road, near the junction with Farringdon Road shortly before 8.20pm on Tuesday, March 19.

Cheistha's family have paid tribute to a 'deeply intelligent' and 'sprightly' young woman who touched the lives of tens of thousands of people.

She had worked and collaborated with Nobel laureates and came to London as a scholar at the London School of Economics (LSE).

In a statement they said: 'Cheistha's deep intelligence and passions were belied by her sprightly demeanour and the consummate ease with which she eased people out of their shells to make friends with her.

Cheistha Kochhar, 33, died following a collision involving a lorry in Clerkenwell Road, near the junction with Farringdon Road, shortly before 8:20pm on Tuesday, March 19

'She always had a hug to spare for anyone and she lived her life with the principle that it was more important to be the kindest person in the room, than to be the smartest person in the room.

'In the short span she had on this planet, she touched tens of thousands of people in extremely meaningful ways and the magnitude of this loss is incomprehensible.'

Cheistha was born in Bareilly, in India in 1990 and graduated from Delhi University with BA in Economics and Mathematics in 2008.

She then went on to finish the PGP in Liberal Arts as a Young India Fellow from Ashoka University and then did another post-graduate course at the University of Chicago in International Development and Policy (MAIDP).

Cheistha worked with the Government of India in various roles, including as a fellow with the Ministry of Defence and as an advisor to the Prime Minister of India.

She also distributed excess food from college canteens to the needy as an undergraduate and to create employment opportunities for people in New Delhi.

A Google image of Clerkenwell Road, London, where the crash took place

The statement went on: 'In spite of her experience as a practitioner and an executive, she had the heart of an academician, having worked and collaborated with Nobel laureates, and she finally came to London as a PhD scholar in LSE.

'Even though these were early stages of her PhD, she was sure to work on studying and improving collaboration between various pro-social organizations to tackle the grand challenges that countries from the Global South face.

'She was an ardent patriot and wanted to bring all her expertise back to India to change lives.'

Police continue to appeal for witnesses and any road users with dashcam footage following the collision.

The lorry driver stopped at the scene and the driver has been helping police with enquiries.

There has been no arrest and enquiries into the circumstances continue.

Anyone who witnessed this incident, or road users who have footage which captured events, are asked to call 101 or 020 8246 9820 @MetCC and quote CAD6903/19Mar.
Islamic extremists were able to orchestrate their devastating attack on a Moscow concert hall last week because Russia's security services are so stretched amid Putin's war in Ukraine and with dissenters at home, analysts claim.

Russia's domestic intelligence service, the FSB, has been ruthlessly effective at detaining Putin's opponents and keeping anti-Kremlin activists in check, not to mention hunting down Ukrainian saboteurs.

But Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 placed unprecedented strain on the organisation, which suddenly became responsible for supporting the war effort while also ensuring the stability of Putin's regime.

And with Russia's foreign intelligence agencies, the SVR and GRU, suffering a reduced capacity after many Russian officers were expelled from European capitals in their droves, the FSB was expected to take up yet more slack - and inevitably, cracks start to appear.

The FSB said Friday's concert hall attack, in which at least 139 people lost their lives with 182 wounded, was 'painstakingly' planned and that the gunmen had carefully hidden their weapons.

The death toll could yet increase dramatically with Russian news outlets reporting the charred remains of dozens more people may remain trapped under the rubble. Baza suggested the real toll could be as high as 361.

But Daniel Hoffman, a former senior CIA operations officer who served as the agency's Moscow station chief, said security services might have been able to stop the disaster were they not so thinly spread.

'You can't do everything... You dial up the pressure on the locals and sometimes you don't get the intelligence you need on a potential terrorist attack. That's where they failed.

'It's possible they're overextended dealing with the war in Ukraine and dealing with political opposition. This one slipped through the cracks.'

A view shows the burning Crocus City Hall concert hall following the shooting incident in Krasnogorsk, outside Moscow, on March 22, 2024

ISIS' news agency Amaq released sickening a 90-second selfie video of the attack that is too graphic for MailOnline to share

A view of damage at Crocus City Hall concert venue near Moscow, Russia after fire extinguished following a gunmen attack that claimed the lives of at least 139 people on March 23, 2024

A Ukrainian rescuer works at the site of a missile attack in Kyiv on March 25, 2024

Inspections take place after a hypersonic missile hit the Kyiv State Academy of Decorative and Applied Arts and Design named after Mykhailo Boychuk on March 25, 2024 in Kyiv, Ukraine

A hypersonic missile hit the Kyiv State Academy of Decorative and Applied Arts and Design named after Mykhailo Boychuk on March 25, 2024 in Kyiv

Islamic extremists were able to orchestrate their devastating attack on a Moscow concert hall last week because Russia 's security services are so stretched amid Putin's war in Ukraine and with dissenters at home, analysts claim (Putin left, FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov right)

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 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.

But 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 were not 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 US 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'.

But 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 US-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 massive blaze is seen over the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow

Rescuers clearing the rubble and extinguishing fires in the hall of the Crocus City Hall

Footage from inside the concert hall showed how chaos ensued after gunmen strode into the amphitheatre and began shooting

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

Another warning came on March 2 in southern Russia when FSB special forces killed six gunmen whom they identified as members of Islamic State.

READ MORE: The conveyor belt of torture in Putin's prisons that awaits Moscow concert hall terrorists Advertisement

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.

John Sipher, who served a stint in Russia during his career in the CIA's 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.

Photographs show one of the suspected terrorists 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

Russian border guards and FSB agents were seen furiously chasing a man understood to be suspect Saidakrami Murodalii Rachabalizoda through dense woodlands

Four more people appeared in a Moscow court today, suspected of having supplied vehicles and accommodation to the gunmen

Friday's shooting 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.

Footage of their arrest showed how one was held down while his ear was sawn off before being forced to eat his own flesh, while another had his face ruthlessly smashed into the forest floor when he failed to answer a question from detaining officers.

BBC's Russian Service reported today that two other suspected terrorists were killed, while four more people appeared in a Moscow court today, suspected of having supplied vehicles and accommodation to the gunmen.

Peskov declined to answer a journalist's question about whether the suspects had been tortured in custody.

Meanwhile, it was reported today there are fears of more bodies being discovered in the rubble of the Crocus City Hall with a clean-up operation still underway.

Baza reported today that 'the remains of several dozen people may remain under the rubble of the Crocus Hall.

'It will be difficult to identify them due to the high temperature of the fire. Fragments of remains are practically no longer found - at most teeth.

'According to experts, due to the high temperature at the epicentre of the fire, some of the remains may not have been preserved at all.

'At the moment, the exact number of people remaining under the rubble is unknown.'
Two of the three fisherman who tragically died after their fishing boat capsized off the coast of South Australia have been identified.

Five people were onboard the ill-fated boat when it capsized about 4pm on Monday, they include Danny Eckert, his 13-year-old son, his brother Tom, father Paul and the boat's skipper who is yet to be identified.

A frantic water search was launched on Monday night after the boat did not return to Port Lincoln.

The bodies of Tom, Paul and the skipper were found on Tuesday while Danny and his son were found near Spilsby Island.

They had clung to a reef off the island for about 10 hours before a police rescue helicopter spotted them about 2am on Tuesday.

The pair were winched to safety and taken to Port Lincoln Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Two of the three fisherman who died after their boat was struck by a massive wave off the coast of Port Lincoln on Monday night have been identified (pictured, Sea Rescue)

The bodies of Tom Eckert (left), his father Paul Eckert (right) and the boat's skipper, who is yet to be identified, were found in the water by emergency crews on Tuesday

They were treated for conditions related to hypothermia as a result of exposure to the cold, Superintendent Paul Bahr told reporters on Tuesday.

'The boat itself has also been located and is on its way back to Port Lincoln,' Supt Bahr said.

'That will be offloaded later today and will be subject to further forensic examination and any examination the coroner may require.'

The fishing party comprised family members and close friends, and aside from the one rescued teen were all adults.

Relatives of the Eckerts are understood to be travelling to Port Lincoln to support Tom's wife.

Danny Eckert is a professor of Medicine and Public Health at Flinders University and the director of the school's world-leading Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health.

He was awarded the Pierre Robin Award by the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine in 2019 for 'exceptional initiative and progress in the areas of education and academic research with original contributions to dental sleep medicine.'

Professor Danny Eckert (pictured) and his 13-year-old son were found with non-life threatening injuries having clung to a reef off Spilsby Island for about 10 hours

The fifth and final fisherman was found dead about 2pm on Tuesday

The two rescued anglers told police their boat was swamped by a wave about 4pm on Monday, overturning the vessel and throwing all aboard into the water.

A large-scale rescue operation was launched after family members of the crew alerted police about their non-return just after 8.30pm on Monday night.

As well as the police helicopter, police water operations, local Sea Rescue vessels, a Challenger jet plane and P&O cruise ship the Pacific Explorer took part in the search.

Police will now prepare reports for the coroner.

Police were able to locate and retrieve the capsized boat (pictured) and brought it back to Port Lincoln where it will be subject to forensic investigations
Chinese online marketplace megalith Temu is running a giveaway offering users 'free money' in exchange for new sign-ups - but there are concerns that people entering the promotion could have their information 'sold' to advertisers.

The shopping website, which sells extremely cheap goods sent directly to users from China from wholesalers, is running a promotion offering a combination of cash and store credit in exchange for new members joining up.

With a series of flashy in-app graphics, users are told they're moments away from claiming up to 100 of combined PayPal money and Temu vouchers - but social media users are concerned about whether the giveaway is too good to be true.

The competition's own terms state that those who take part in the contest surrender a large amount of personal information in doing so - just as the UK and US identified China as the source of a wave of cyberattacks on public figures and institutions.

The rules in the 'Cash Reward' promotion state users agree to give Temu permission to use their 'photo, name likeness, voice, opinions, statements, biographical information, and/or hometown and state' worldwide.

Temu sells extremely cheap goods on behalf of third-party wholesalers that are shipped directly from China

Tweets promoting Temu's money giveaway giveaway are now flooding timelines on social media - with images offering 'Easy cash' in exchange for sign-ups

The terms for the contest warn that personal information is surrendered by entering the competition (left). Data is processed in accordance with Temu's privacy policy (right), which says information can shared or 'sold' but does say users can opt out

Flashy graphics tell users that the free money is within their grasp - as long as they get some friends to join Temu as well

The app features what it says are reviews from competition winners who have managed to claim the free money

Some users are fed up of the links flooding their timelines - while others have questioned how the site can give away large amounts of cash

And the giveaway rules are further governed by Temu's wider privacy policy, which shares personal information about shoppers with third parties such as advertising platforms and the sellers who use its platform.

The giveaway, accessible only within the Temu mobile app, launches with glowing graphics of a gift being opened and the user being told they are on their way to claiming a 'Grand Reward'.

And by pressing a few buttons on the prompts that follow, the reward is suddenly boosted to almost 100 - with the app promising users it will become 'super easy' to claim the cash.

Users are then told, with 1 to go, that they must invite up to 20 new people to join Temu - with anywhere from 1p to 1 awarded per user who joins up with their personalised invitation link.

They must hit the 100 threshold in order to claim the reward. As a result, people have taken to social media in droves sharing their own invites in the hope of getting over the line and claiming a combination of PayPal credit and Temu vouchers.

'Click here and see how much you can earn,' reads one post on X, formerly Twitter, with a graphic that reads: 'Accept my invitation and earn your Easy cash!'

The app itself shows what it claims are reviews of the competition from existing winners, thanking Temu for the prize.

But some social media users are fed up of the Temu links plaguing their feeds.

'Can these Temu ads leave me alone?' one user wrote on X, while another added: 'That Temu thing seems too good to be true like how're they just giving people money.'

Temu's privacy policy states that it can share personal information with third parties such as advertisers. The site insists that it does not 'sell' user data - but admits that in some countries, the sharing of data is considered 'selling'.

The policy reads: 'At Temu, we care deeply about privacy. While Temu shares your personal information for the purposes of targeted advertising, which may be considered a "sale" under applicable privacy laws, Temu does not "sell" personal information in the traditional sense.'

UK rules require competition promoters to inform users in their terms and conditions of any intention to use winner names and other materials in publicity material.

Promoters must also give entrances the opportunity to 'object to their information being published or made available, or to reduce the amount of information published or made available'.

Temu's privacy policy also states that users can opt out of having their data processed.

MailOnline asked Temu if this extends to the data shared under the cash giveaway's terms and conditions in line with UK rules.

A Temu spokesperson said: 'Temu gathers user information solely for the purpose of delivering our service and to enhance customer experience. We do not sell user information.

'The terms and conditions highlighted are commonplace in similar promotions held by various companies across different sectors.'

The contest comes as the UK government said state-backed actors in China were behind a wave of cyberattacks on the UK's elections watchdog as well as MPs and peers - with sanctions imposed on those claimed to be responsible.

Deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden said on Monday Beijing bore responsibility for the attack on the Electoral Commission's register of 40million Brits and the emails of prominent critics of Chinese activities.

Mr Dowden said the actions, which included tapping into the names and addresses of Brits registered to vote, demonstrated 'hostile intent from China'.

And Whitehall sources have suggested staff at Chinese-linked firms working in the UK may have to register with security services in future - inflaming tensions between London and Beijing.

Temu was aggressively marketed in the US during the Super Bowl in February - prompting anger from American lawmakers

Temu's distinctive packaging often appears on social media - including TikTok, where users show off their budget 'hauls' of cut-price goods

Ministers have this week blamed China for cyberattacks on the elections watchdog and MPs (pictured, a meeting of the National People's Congress earlier this month)

Staff at Chinese firms and organisations across the UK could be forced to register with the security services - inflaming tensions between London and Beijing

The Chinese embassy, however, said the allegations were 'completely fabricated and malicious', branding them an 'anti-China political farce'.

Temu's parent company, PDD Holdings, is based in Dublin but domiciled in the Cayman Islands - and conducts its operations in China through a series of subsidiary companies and a 'variable interest entity' enabling foreign investment.

Its Chinese subsidiaries are subject to Chinese law - but exactly how much data PDD's own companies hand over to the Beijing government is not known.

There is no suggestion Temu data has been shared with those authorities. However, a lawsuit filed in the US claims the Temu app gains access to 'literally everything' on users' phones, and is seeking damages on behalf of a number of Temu users.

Who has the UK targeted with sanctions following the Chinese cyber attack claims? 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

Apple has previously sanctioned Temu for 'misleading' people about how their data was collected and used, according to POLITICO.

Marketing itself with the slogan 'shop like a billionaire', Temu purports to offer millions of products at knockdown prices sourced from a variety of Chinese suppliers who send the products to buyers direct.

It is currently the fourth most-downloaded free iPhone app in the UK, according to Apple data retrieved today, and regularly features on TikTok as users share their budget 'hauls' as they arrive in its distinctive mail packaging.

It is a 'third-party' marketplace  meaning that most of its listings are created by external sellers, down to the product details and illustrations, with Temu effectively acting as a wholesaler.

The app's cut-price goods, which can take weeks to arrive, are being aggressively marketed in the UK and the US - where it aired six ads during the Super Bowl in February to the ire of lawmakers.

Items are typically sent directly from suppliers, according to Temu's own website  despite items being labelled as being 'shipped from Temu'.

Some Temu suppliers have been accused of breaching employment laws following an investigation by the US government last year, which accused producers of employing Uighur Muslims as forced labourers.

Temu itself says it requires its third-party sellers to comply with employment law. But the company has also faced complaints about selling low-quality products.

Temu itself is owned by Chinese conglomerate PDD Holdings, which also operates the China-only e-commerce site Pinduoduo. It is headquartered in Dublin under the firm Whaleco Technology Limited.

Pinduoduo's app was pulled from the Google Play app store after cybersecurity researchers identified what they said was malware inside the app that could spy on users' phones. The Temu app was not implicated in the research.

In November last year, consumer rights group Which? discovered Temu was selling potentially illegal weapons including knives, axes and batons for as little as 8.48  often without any safety checks on buyers.

A subsequent investigation by Which? found heaters being shipped to the UK did not meet safety rules - and were at risk of causing electric shocks or even exploding. Temu pulled the products in response to the probe.

And like other Chinese e-commerce giants, Temu has been accused of enabling the theft of designs from fashion designers and artists.

In January, Bristol dressmaker Christina Ashman was surprised to see photographs of herself in one of her hand-made gowns being used on Temu to promote a cheap imitation of a design she had created.

Temu eventually pulled the dress, which was being sold by a third-party seller, after users reported the design as rip-off.
Lisa Wilkinson's husband Peter FitzSimons has asked a court to order Bruce Lehrmann to pay the author's legal costs associated with replying to a subpoena in the former political staffer's blockbuster defamation trial.

Federal Court Justice Michael Lee will early next month hand down his landmark decision after Mr Lehrmann sued Network 10 and Ms Wilkinson over the high-profile journalist's Logie-winning interview with Brittany Higgins.

Mr Lehrmann alleges he was defamed by the The Project broadcast after Ms Higgins alleged she was raped by her former colleague on a couch inside their boss Senator Linda Reynolds' office in March 2019.

He has denied the allegations and his trial in the ACT Supreme Court ended in a mistrial due to juror misconduct before the Director of Public Prosecutions dropped the charges.

Lisa Wilkinson 's husband Peter FitzSimons has asked a court to order Bruce Lehrmann to pay the author's legal costs

Mr Lehrmann alleges he was defamed by the The Project broadcast after Ms Higgins alleged she was raped by her former colleague on a couch inside their boss Senator Linda Reynolds' office in March 2019

Author and Sydney Morning Herald columnist Mr FitzSimons was previously subpoenaed relating to Ms Higgins' book deal with publisher Penguin Random House.

The court previously heard that Ms Higgins had been paid $108,000 for an advance for a book deal and would have received another $216,000 from Penguin Random House when she completed the project.

In documents released by the Federal Court on Tuesday, it was revealed that Mr FitzSimons was seeking an order that Mr Lehrmann pay for his 'reasonable loss or expenses' associated with complying with the subpoena.

According to documents produced by Penguin Random House, Ms Higgins entered into an agreement to deliver by January 2022 a 90,000-word book described as 'a memoir that covers Brittany's courageous personal story'.

She would have been paid $325,000 for the book, according to the agreement which was signed in March 2021.
The Russian soldier who sliced off the ear of an ISIS terrorist suspected of carrying out the deadly Moscow massacre and made him eat it is auctioning off the knife he used.

Terror suspect Saidakrami Rachabalizoda was seen crying and screaming on the ground as Russian soldiers beat him with the butts of their guns in a clip shared to Telegram, while a later video showed an officer cutting off his right ear and force-feeding it to him.

The officer, who was previously seen sporting a neo-Nazi patch, has now put up the short, bloodied blade for auction.

Shared on the neo-Nazi-linked Telegram channel 'TopaZ Says', the 'ear cut' knife was put up for auction with no starting bid.

A picture of the short, bloodied knife appears to match the one used to slice off Rachabalizoda's ear, in footage too gruesome for MailOnline to share.

The officer, who was previously seen sporting a neo-Nazi patch, has now put up the short, bloodied blade for auction

Terror suspect Saidakrami Rachabalizoda (Pictured) was forced to eat his own ear when he was caught by Russian security forces

The channel's administrators said that they would only send 'part of the funds to a charity account for victims of the terrorist attack', referring to the deadly massacre in Moscow that left nearly 140 civilians dead.

Though it is not currently known whether the knife has been sold yet, the highest apparently sincere bid MailOnline could see was ten thousand rubles, equivalent to 85.

The knife is understood to be made and sold by Russia knife maker Kizlyar, is about six-and-a-half inches long in total, and is sold on its website to Europeans for 62 (53).

The knife was used by an officer with apparent links to the far right, according to previous Telegram posts made on the same channel.

A photo shared to 'TopaZ Says' shows a Russian soldier holding the same knife.

A man sits in the defendant cage as he waits for his pre-trial detention hearing at the Basmanny District Court in Moscow

While the centre is obscured by a young man's smiling face, the offshoots of the patch are still visible and indicate that this is a Black Sun patch

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.

READ MORE: Even as Islamic State says that it was behind the Moscow massacre, Putin cynically points the finger at Kyiv Advertisement

The patch appears to denote a variant of the Black Sun.

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.

Vladimir 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 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.

But 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 were not heeded.
A serving Met Police officer who featured on a BBC documentary has denied strangling and assaulting a woman while off-duty.

PC Mahad Abdalla, 26, appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court yesterday after being arrested over the weekend and charged with 'non-fatal strangulation and assault'.

The officer, from Chiswick, west London was 20 when he was filmed by a BBC camera crew going about his duties as a response officer in Ealing as part of the documentary The Met: Policing London.

Abdalla, who is part of the Territorial Support Group on the North West Basic Command Unit, has been suspended from duty.

PC Mahad Abdalla, 26, appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court yesterday after being arrested over the weekend and charged with 'non-fatal strangulation and assault'

The officer, from Chiswick, west London was 20 when he was filmed by a BBC camera crew going about his duties as a response officer in Ealing as part of the documentary The Met: Policing London (pictured)

He spoke to answer to his name and indicated not guilty pleas to both charges. He was wearing a black suit.

District Louise Balmain released the officer on conditional bail ahead of a preliminary hearing at Harrow Crown Court on 24 April.

Abdallah was bailed provided he lives and sleeps at his address, does not contact the complainant directly or indirectly and does not go to Finchley. He will also be subject to an electronically tagged curfew between 10pm and 7am.

Following the report to the police, a woman has been safeguarded and inquiries by the Met's Directorate of Professional Standards are ongoing.

The Met Police have been approached for comment.
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.
Park Geun-hye stresses unity ahead of elections

By Lee Hyo-jin

The visit of ruling People Power Party (PPP) interim leader Han Dong-hoon to former President Park Geun-hye, primarily aimed at rallying support from conservative voters amid its declining support rate, may potentially lead to the alienation of centrist voters as his courtesy call to the impeached leader may not resonate well with the public, according to political observers.

Park, who led the country from 2013 to 2017, is still seen as an influential figure among conservative voters despite her corruption convictions.

Han held a 30-minute conversation with Park in her residence in Daegu, a PPP stronghold, during which the former president stressed the importance of unity between President Yoon Suk Yeol and Han in the current difficult circumstances, according to her lawyer Yoo Young-ha, who was also present.

Han and Yoon were members of the special prosecutor team investigating a major corruption scandal that ultimately led to Park's impeachment in 2016.

Political commentator Park Chang-hwan said that Han's visit to the disgraced former president brings more cons than pros to the party's election campaign hopes, suggesting that Han's campaign trail should prioritize events aimed at appealing to swing voters.

"The last couple of weeks before the elections are a crucial moment for a political party to expand its support base and appeal to voters who have not yet decided whom to cast their ballot for. In that sense, I don't think Han's visit, which resonates only with strong conservatives, was a timely move," he said.

The analyst also mentioned that the visit may not be received well by many centrists, whose anger still lingers due to Park's bribery convictions and abuse of power.

Kim Hyung-joon, a professor at Pai Chai University, said, "Instead of relying too much on its traditional support base, the PPP should prioritize expanding its supporters by addressing the pending agenda items that can move the needle, such as resolving the prolonged doctors' strike."

However, some analysts view that the meeting with Park was a necessary decision amid shrinking approval ratings on its home turf.

"The meeting between Han and Park will help shore up the support of conservative voters, who have been disappointed by the party's recent decision to cancel the nomination of Do Tae-woo, a close figure to Park," said political commentator Rhee Jong-hoon.

Earlier this month, the PPP stripped the candidacy of Do in Daegus Jung and Nam constituency, due to his past remarks linking North Korea's influence with the 1980 pro-democracy uprising in Gwangju.
Rishi Sunak is struggling to contain Tory tensions over China today after a backlash at his 'derisory' response to cyberattacks.

The UK publicly identified Beijing as being behind hacks of the elections watchdog and and slew of politicians yesterday.

But the government's retort, sanctioning just two individuals and a small firm in Wuhan as well as summoning the ambassador for a dressing down, drew fury from MPs across parties.

The PM is gathering Cabinet this morning, with signs that ministers are at loggerheads on how tough to be in imposing new restrictions on Chinese firms operating in the UK.

In a dramatic statement to the Commons yesterday, Mr Sunak's deputy Oliver Dowden said Beijing was responsible for hacking the personal data of up to 40million voters in an attack on the Electoral Commission three years ago.

The personal emails of MPs and peers critical of the regime were also targeted.

In a dramatic statement to the Commons yesterday, deputy PM Oliver Dowden said Beijing was responsible for hacking the personal data of up to 40million voters in an attack on the Electoral Commission three years ago

Rishi Sunak (pictured in Barrow yesterday) is struggling to contain Tory tensions over China after a backlash at his 'derisory' response to cyberattacks

Sir Iain Duncan Smith, a member of the Inter-parliamentary Alliance on China (Ipac) who has faced sanctions from the regime, said the Government needs 'to show China we mean business'

In a move coordinated with Washington, he said that Britain 'will not tolerate' similar activity, although he insisted the democratic system had not been undermined.

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'.

Mr Dowden indicated that ministers discussing a move to put China on the 'enhanced tier' of countries deemed a threat to the UK.

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.

There are 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.

However, ministers look to be torn over whether that should cover all Chinese firms, including those that insist they are not controlled by the state.

Security minister Tom Tugendhat is reportedly pushing for a hard line, but others such as Kemi Badenoch are concerns about the impact.

Sir Iain Duncan Smith, a member of the Inter-parliamentary Alliance on China (Ipac) who has faced sanctions from the regime, said the Government needs 'to show China we mean business'.

'The reality is sadly, we have looked unprepared to challenge China over their terrible abuses,' he continued.

'We need to show China we mean business. There's no good watching America do that and we don't do the same.

'We're massively dependant on China now, the universities are so dependant on them for their students and students fees. We've got huge dependency in what we buy from China.'

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.'

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.

Foreign Secretary David Cameron (pictured with Xi Jinping in 2015) described China's conduct as 'completely unacceptable'

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.

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.

'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.'
The Australian government has tried to force a Canadian man to delete an 'offensive' post about a UN trans expert, threatening X owner Elon Musk with an $800,000 fine if it is not removed from the platform.

Chris Elston, who goes by the name of 'Billboard Chris' on X and lives in Canada, revealed on Tuesday he had been sent an Orwellian 'removal notice' from the Australian Government's eSafety Commissioner.

Mr Elston's alleged offence had been to share a Daily Mail story in late February about Teddy Cook, a female-to-male trans Australian activist who landed a job on a World Health Organisation (WHO) expert panel drafting care guidelines for trans and non-binary people.

In his post, Mr Elston misgendered Cook and make other 'disparaging' remarks.

Cook, 45, who describes himself as a 'professional queer, man of trans experience', has advocated for taxpayer-funded surgeries for all trans Australians.

His now-private social media posts are awash with X-rated material, including public nudity, bondage parties, trans orgies and even a photo of a man apparently having sex with a dog.

Chris Elston (pictured above), who goes by the name of 'Billboard Chris' on X and lives in Canada, revealed on Tuesday he had been sent an Orwellian 'removal notice' from the Australian Government's eSafety Commissioner for making an 'offensive' post about trans expert Teddy Cook (pictured below)

Cook, 45, who describes himself as a 'professional queer, man of trans experience', has advocated for taxpayer-funded surgeries for all trans Australians

The removal order demanded that the post be removed immediately or X would be fined up to $782,500 (pictured: X owner Elon Musk)

EXCLUSIVE READ MORE: Kinky secrets of UN trans expert REVEALED: Australian activist plugs bondage, bestiality, nudism, drugs, and tax-funded sex-change ops - so why is he writing health advice for the world body? Cook likes to show off his tattoos and his original choice in party wear Teddy Cook, a female-to-male trans Australian, may look out of place at UN offices in Geneva Advertisement

While Daily Mail Australia does not suggest those revelations should exclude Cook from advising the WHO on trans healthcare, some have questioned his appropriateness for the role.

On March 22, Mr Elston received a letter from the government-run eSafety Commissioner, demanding that he remove the 'deliberately degrading' post.

'An ordinary reasonable person in the position of the Complainant would regard the Material as being offensive,' an unnamed delegate of the eSafety Commissioner wrote to Mr Elston.

'This is because the Material singles out the Complainant to personify the poster's contempt for transgender identity as well as equating transgender identity with a psychiatric condition.'

It is unclear if Cook lodged the complaint with the ESafety Commissioner himself.

Daily Mail Australia approached Cook for comment.

But the order demanded that if the post was not removed within 24 hours, X would be fined up to $782,500.

Mr Elston, a vociferous campaigner against 'gender ideology', vowed he would not remove the post, claiming the Australian government made a 'lot of assumptions'.

'I do not hold that woman in contempt for her transgender identity, because I maintain that gender identities do not exist,' Mr Elston wrote.

'We are called males and females, and that's that. I also feel strongly that radical queer theorists have no business drafting anything to do with medical policy.'

However, X must have taken notice of the removal order because the original post was subsequently deleted.

Daily Mail Australia asked X whether it had removed the post but the Elon Musk-owned company declined to comment.

It appears the post was just geo-blocked in Australia as it is still visible in other countries.

Yet, in a complete mockery of the 'removal notice', Mr Elston subsequently re-shared a picture of the original post, which can be viewed in Australia.

His post has since been viewed almost 55,000 times.

The Australian government's attempts to police online speech were widely criticised.

David Limbrick, MP for South Eastern Metropolitan in Victoria, said the eSafety Commissioner was a 'danger to free and open discussions on sensitive topics'.

'The e safety commissioner is 'keeping you safe' from opinions the Government doesn't like.'

In a complete mockery of the 'removal notice', Mr Elston subsequently re-shared a picture of the offending post, as outlined in the eSafety Commissioner's 'removal notice' (pictured)

The eSafety Commissioner, lauded as the 'first government agency committed to keeping its citizens safer online', is run by former Twitter Director of Public Policy, Australia & SE Asia Julie Inman-Grant (pictured) who receives an annual salary of almost $445,000

Writer John Goddard said it was 'wrong on every level'.

'It is insane that the Australian government thinks it can be the arbiter of truth,' he wrote.

Meanwhile, self-described women's rights campaigner Angela Jones alleged the eSafety commissioner had double standards.

'I've had death threats & have been doxxed & stalked & had my online identity stolen here in Australia & the eSafety Commissioner did nothing,' Ms Jones wrote.

Another X user sarcastically said it was an 'excellent use of taxpayers' money'.

'A department whose job is to police such abhorrent crimes as this and force the offending posts to be removed,' they wrote.

'Bravo Albo. Now about the housing crisis...'

Daily Mail Australia approached the E-Safety Commissioner for comment.

The government body is run by former Twitter Director of Public Policy, Australia & SE Asia Julie Inman-Grant who receives an annual salary of almost $445,000.

It lauds itself as the 'first government agency committed to keeping its citizens safer online'.

'eSafety has powers relating to cyberbullying, image-based abuse, and illegal and harmful online content,' its website states.
Accused triple murderer Erin Patterson will face court for a newly-scheduled hearing weeks before the start of her trial.

Ms Patterson, 49, will appear in Latrobe Valley Magistrates' Court via video link on April 22, 11 days before a committal mention on May 3 where she will formally enter a plea to three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder.

The special mention is for 'case management purposes', a Magistrates Court of Victoria spokesperson told the Herald Sun.

Ms Patterson is accused of allegedly poisoning her former parents-in-law Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Heather Wilkinson, 66, the aunt of estranged husband Simon Patterson.

Victoria Police have spent 20 weeks preparing a brief of evidence against Ms Patterson while she is held in Victoria's Dame Phyllis Frost Centre - a maximum security jail that can hold 600 women.

Accused triple murderer, Erin Patterson (pictured), will face a newly-scheduled hearing on April 22, weeks before going to trial, for 'case management purposes'

Don and Gail Patterson (left) died as did Heather Wilkson (right) while her husband Ian Wilkinson (right) spent two months in hospital

Prisoners at the jail include 'Black Widow' serial killer Robyn Lindholm, gangland matriarch and killer Judy Moran, violent 'tiny terrorist' Momena Shoma and Ms Patterson's new cellmate - school principal rapist Malka Liefer.

The ultra-Orthodox Jewish principal was sentenced to 15 years behind bars for the sexual abuse of two young high school students in August, 2023.

Ms Patterson has spent four months rubbing shoulders with some of Australia's most violent women after she was arrested and charged following a death cap mushroom beef Wellington lunch she allegedly served at her Leongatha home on July 29.

She was arrested at her home on November 2 and taken to Dame Phyllis Frost, where sources say she requires protection from other inmates due to her alleged crime.

'If Erin got out of protection, the girls would hurt her,' they told the Herald Sun.

'She allegedly killed three elderly people. There's a rule, you don't touch the elderly and you don't touch babies so because of that, you go into protection.

'She would be doing it very, very hard in there as she would only be able to speak to two or three girls and that's it.'

Ms Patterson is accused of cooking a poisonous mushroom lunch at her Leongatha home on July 29 that killed three and left another fighting for his life

She will officially enter a plea on May 3 after police spent 20 weeks preparing a brief of evidence against her (pictured, police at Ms Patterson's home)

Pastor Ian Wilkinson, 70, was the sole survivor of the deadly lunch, which claimed the life of his wife Heather Wilkinson, 66, and Don and Gail Patterson, both 70.

Ms Patterson's husband Simon pulled out of the lunch at the last minute.

Court documents revealed that Ms Patterson has been charged with trying to murder her husband on four separate occasions.

These allegedly were between 16 and 17 November 2021, between 25 and 27 May 2022, on 6 September 2022 and at the mushroom lunch in July 2023.

It's believed Ms Patterson is being housed in a self-contained unit at Dame Phyllis Frost and has use of a bed, shower, toilet, sink, desk and closet.

As she is on remand, she is not required to work and is believed to have access to a kitchen where she can cook her own meals.
Revolution Bars is considering putting itself up for sale and is looking to close a quarter of its venues in a move that could threaten hundreds of jobs.

The chain, which also owns Revolucion de Cuba, is looking at 'all the strategic options available' after facing 'a period of external challenges'. This includes talking to investors about raising emergency funds.

It comes as shares in the business dropped by as much as 57 per cent as markets opened on Tuesday.

A source told Sky News on Monday that a plan being considered by Revolution could result in the closure of around 20 of its worst-performing bars, resulting in 'hundreds' of redundancies.

Pictured: Revolution Leadenhall in London. The chain, which also owns Revolucion de Cuba , is looking at 'all the strategic options available' after facing 'a period of external challenges'

Shares in the business dropped by as much as 57 per cent as markets opened on Tuesday

Revolution is speaking to investors in a plan to raise around 10 million, the broadcaster reported. On Monday, the company was valued at 6.6 million.

In January, the business slashed its annual outlook, saying that its younger customers were being disproportionately hit by the soaring cost-of-living.

Revolution's statement on Tuesday morning did not confirm plans to shut sites and cut jobs but bosses did say they were looking at restructuring parts of the group. They might also sell part or all of the business.

'Following a period of external challenges which have impacted the company's business and trading performance, the board is actively exploring all the strategic options available to it to improve the future prospects of the group,' Revolution said.

'These include a restructuring plan for certain parts of the group, a sale of all or part of the group and any other avenue to maximise returns for stakeholders.'

Revolution Manchester which is located at Deansgate Docks (pictured)

The company also said it is engaged with 'key shareholders and other investors' about raising cash. One of those is Luke Johnson, the businessman and former chairman of Pizza Express and the owner of Patisserie Valerie.

Mr Johnson currently chairs and part-owns Gail's bakery. On Sunday, Sky News reported that his co-owners in the bakery chain are drawing up plans to sell their stakes.

Mr Johnson is a man involved in many different businesses, currently acting as the Chairman of Gail's bakery and Brighton Pier Group.

He is a former owner of The Ivy, Le Caprice and J Sheekey restaurants and a former part owner of Giraffe.

As a Grammar-school educated man, Johnson began his career at 18 when he was studying at Oxford as a medical student.

He teamed up with another medic, Hugh Osmond, to buy Pizza Express for 8million in 1983.

The business expanded from 12 restaurants to over 200 before they sold it on in 1999.

The business previously announced it would close eight bars across England, including sites in Beaconsfield, Derby, Reading, St Peters Liverpool and Wilmslow.

It also said it would close two Revolucion de Cuba sites in Sheffield and Southampton and the Playhouse in Newcastle-Under-Lyme.

The company reported its best Christmas trading period in 2019, but the impact on Covid-19 has been felt by Revolution and bars across the country.

Chief executive Rob Pitcher said at the time: 'We have had the best festive trading period for four years with all of our brands recording positive like-for-like sales and Revolucion de Cuba being the standout performer.

Luke Johnson pictured at a branch of Patisserie Valerie, London, in May 2010

Revolution recently announced it would close eight bars across England as it warned that its younger customers were still feeling the strain from rapid increases in the cost of living

Full list of the closures previously announced by Revolution Bars. There is no set date of when each branch will close at this time

'However, our younger customers are still feeling the disproportionate effect of the cost-of-living crisis and the national living wage will increase materially in April 2024.

'Therefore, we have taken the difficult yet ultimately beneficial step for the group to close several bars which are unprofitable.

He added: 'Our teams do a terrific job in making guests welcome and giving them a great experience and again we have demonstrated that when our customer base can afford to do so, they are choosing to celebrate with us, and we have delivered record levels of guest satisfaction.

'This should bode well for the future.'

In September 2023, JD Wetherspoon put 11 of its pubs up for sale after closing down dozens of boozers earlier in the year. This included branches in Chesterfield, Doncaster and Cardiff.
The producer was involved in a film set to be shown at Cannes this year

A week after he disappeared his trousers were found laid neatly in the street

Philip Rogosky, 56, was found dead by a passerby in Insugherata Park on Sunday

The body of an Oxford-educated film producer has been discovered in a park in Rome after the man vanished without a trace two months ago, leaving behind just one clue.

Philip Rogosky, 56, was found dead with a plastic bag near his face by a passerby in the Insugherata Park, on Sunday morning.

Following two months of desperate searches, police rushed to the scene and called on the forensic team to confirm his identity as he was discovered with no documentation on his person.

According to initial information provided by authorities, the death had occurred several weeks ago, reported La Repubblica.

Rogosky was last seen by his wife Sara Bonavoglia on January 29, when she asked him to take out a sack of rubbish from their apartment in Ponte Sant'Angelo, the historic centre of Rome.

Philip Rogosky, 56, was found dead in Insugherata Park, Rome, on Sunday morning

The German film producer was missing since January 29 before his body was discovered with a plastic bag near his head

His friends and family searched Rome tirelessly for him, but he was never found. His burgundy trousers appeared folded neatly in the street a week after he disappeared

Rogosky was found by a passerby in the Rome park before authorities arrived to identify the body

His wife claimed he had been feeling a little under the weather the day he disappeared, and he was preparing to work from home.

Sara left for work as usual that morning, but little did she know that the moments before Rogosky's trip to the bins would be the last time she would ever see her husband alive.

Rogosky's disappearance was remained a mystery over the past two months, as authorities scoured his rubbish bags and traced emails he had received prior to 10am that day.

There was no trace of the German producer.

According to family and friends of Rogosky, he did not drink heavily or use drugs and they were baffled as to what had happened to him on that fateful Monday morning.

He was allegedly in a happy marriage, not bankrupt, or having an affair - and apart from his bout of flu, he had no known health problems either.

The producer had an impressive job with a company called Wildside, and was involved in an international production that is set to be shown this year at Cannes.

When Sara arrived home from work and found her husband was not in their apartment, she reportedly assumed that he had decided to go into work.

But by 10pm, when he was still nowhere to be seen, her suspicions began to grow.

Sara called his mobile phone but it was found to be either turned off or out out battery.

After racking her brain for possible explanations as to his whereabouts, she urgently sent her sons Jonas, 21, and Sebastian, 20, to Rome's five main hospitals to see if Rogosky had wound up in the accident and emergency room - but to no avail.

'He's been in remote corners of the world and always came back. It's just absurd that he went out to chuck the garbage across the street and just disappeared,' Sara told The Telegraph earlier this month.

The producer had reportedly left his laptop and charger at home the day he disappeared, chillingly confirming to the family he had not gone to work that day.

Friends and family began a mass search in Rome, and pinned up flyers in an effort to gain any information they could on Rogosky's whereabouts.

According to friends and family of Rogosky, the Oxford-educated man did not heavily drink or do any drugs

They were overjoyed when news of sightings of Rogosky following his disappearance emerged - but the relief would be short lived.

A cashier in a supermarket said he remembered seeing the missing man because of his recognisable grey goatee and ponytail.

Another cafe staff member said he saw Rogosky ordering five coffees in the days after his disappearance, before paying cash and darting out of the store.

But a bizarre lead around the corner would leave the family even more confused.

A week after the producer vanished, his burgundy trousers were found laid neatly in the street, with the pockets turned out.

Sara revealed the police were slow in response to her husband's disappearance and called on the Comitato Scientifico Ricerca Scomparsi (Scientific Committee for Finding Missing Persons) for their help in her search.

The volunteer group of criminologists and former police officers brought in a sniffer dog who picked up a lead after smelling the trousers - but it ran cold after around two kilometres.

As the weeks went on, Rogosky's loved ones were becoming increasingly worried as the mystery disappearance seemed as if it was never going to be solved.

Nell Butler, a close friend of Rogosky's from Oxford and creator of Come Dine With Me told The Telegraph: 'I feel so powerless. His disappearance has been on my mind all the time.

'People don't just vanish into thin air. But there seems to be no explanation. It's just bizarre.'

But with the discovery of the body, comes more questions for Rogosky's friends and family who still have no idea what happened on the morning of January 29.

Many have expressed their condolences to his wife and family.

The Scientific Committee for the Search for Missing Persons took to Facebook to write: 'We all hoped until the end that he had simply gotten lost, temporarily forgetting who he was, because he had no obvious reasons for disappearing, hoping to find him again.

'In these long months of research , we were able to appreciate how much his friends as well as his family loved him and were concerned for him, without ever losing hope they searched continuously and personally verified every single report.

'Now it's time to return to a private dimension with respect of their pain.'

The police are continuing their investigations into Rogosky's disappearance and death.
Shocking tracking video reveals how the Dali container ship changed course and appeared to slow down as it seemingly lost power twice before colliding with Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge and causing it to collapse early Tuesday morning.

Playback animation from MarineTraffic shows the Singaporean-flagged container setting sail from Seagirt Martine Terminal near Point Breeze around 00:24am local time before suddenly pivoting south and heading southeast towards the bridge.

The 1,000ft (299m) vessel, which was bound for Colombo, Sri Lanka, steadies itself in the middle of the Patapsco River and slows before colliding with the bridge near Fort Carroll at 01:28am, collapsing it.

Shocking footage of its approach reveals how the vessel appeared to suddenly lose power before making a partial recovery on its approach. The ship is then seen billowing black smoke into the night sky before losing power again and abruptly pivoting towards one of the structural supports holding the bridge up.

Upon colliding with the structure, the ship appears to lose power a third time as the bridge collapses dramatically around it, first breaking around the support before breaking in the middle and losing balance on its eastern pillar.

Agencies received emergency calls around 01:30am reporting that a ship leaving Baltimore had struck a column on the bridge, according to Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore Fire Department, who described the scene as a 'developing mass casualty event'.

Six hours on, rescue workers are racing against time to save the lives at least seven people believed to have plunged into the frigid 47F (8C) waters, with initial reports indicating around 20 construction workers were also on the busy crossing when it was hit.

The Maryland Department of Transportation confirmed there is an active search and rescue mission as of 7.30am. At the first press conference around 6:30am, Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace said two people had been pulled from the water. One was unhurt, the other had to be rushed to a local hospital with 'serious injuries.'

An online tracker shows how the ship sailed from the port before making its way to the bridge

The shipping container then turns southeast before appearing to lose power twice

Upon reaching the bridge, the ship appeared to lose power and collided with a support b

Astonishing footage shows the moment the vessel plowed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, sending the colossal steel structure crashing into the Patapsco River, shortly before 1.30am Eastern

Video showed the horrifying moment one of the bridge's supporting beams collapses as the container ship collided with it, bringing the roadway above plummeting some 180ft into the cold waters below.

READ MORE: Baltimore bridge collapse latest news: Rescue workers scramble to save dozens after colossal Baltimore Key Bridge collapsed in moments when container ship crashed into it sending cars into the river Advertisement

The middle of the bridge then appears to break apart under the strain before the weight of the unbalanced end sees it too topple backwards into the water.

The ship is also seen to catch fire, with thick, black smoke billowing out of it.

The loud bang of the bridge suddenly collapsing left some stunned and confused, one resident saying he thought his neighbor was playing an 'April Fools' joke' on him when he heard the news.

Michael Brown told NBC News his neighbor thought an earthquake had caused the dramatic collapse.

As rescuers began desperate efforts to save the lives of those pulled under with the bridge, Kevin Cartwright of the Fire Department said the unfolding incident was a 'dire emergency'.

'Our focus right now is trying to rescue and recover these people.'

Emergency responders were searching for at least seven people believed to be in the water, Cartwright said, though he said it's too early to know how many people were affected.

He called the collapse a 'developing mass casualty event'.

He added that some cargo appeared to be dangling from the bridge, which spans the Patapsco River, a vital artery that along with the Port of Baltimore is a hub for shipping on the East Coast.

From a vantage point near the entrance to the bridge, jagged remnants of its steel frame were visible protruding from the water, with the on-ramp ending abruptly where the span once began.

Cartwright also confirmed that the vessel is called 'Dali'.

Both MarineTraffic and Vessel Finder show a vessel of that name heading from Baltimore to Colombo, Sri Lanka.

MarineTraffic reported that the actual time of departure was 1am on Tuesday morning, just half an hour before it crashed into the bridge.

It was scheduled to arrive in Sri Lanka on April 22.

Despite sustaining damage, the ship does not appear to have sunk at the time of writing.

The Dali is 984ft (nearly 300m) long and 157ft (around 48m) wide, according to MarineTraffic.

The moment the vessel collided with the huge steel structure, sending it crashing down

A livestream showed the disaster unfolding, with the vessel plowing into a pile holding up the central part of the bridge. The road and steel arches immediately tumble into the water

The Dali container ship is pictured in a file photo off the Port of Felixstowe in the United Kingdom in September 2018

Opened in 1977, the bridge is named for the writer of 'The Star-Spangled Banner.'

File photo shows the bridge before the collision, with the struck column highlighted in red

The bridge supported carried over as many as 12mn vehicles a year (F

The 1.6-mile bridge, which is part of I-695, crosses the Patapsco River in Baltimore's harbor. Built in 1977, the main span of the truss bridge at 1,200ft is the third longest span of any continuous truss in the world.

The structure carries around 12million vehicles every year. It carries the Baltimore Beltway/Interstate 695 over the river.

Mayor Brandon M. Scott and Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. posted on X that, in light of the incident, all lanes have been closed in both directions and traffic is being detoured.

US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg has since spoken to Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Mr Scott, according to a post from the secretary on X.

Buttigieg said: 'Rescue efforts remain underway and drivers in the Baltimore area should follow local responder guidance on detours and response.'
Germany's top public health agency knew that Covid lockdowns could be more damaging than the virus itself as early as December 2020 and said mask mandates were not backed by evidence, it has been revealed.

Newly published documents from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) show its researchers explicitly warned that their analysis showed lockdowns in Africa showed 'an expected rise in child mortality'.

'The consequences of the lockdowns are in parts more severe than the virus itself,' the December 2020 report said, with another document dated to October 2020 suggesting that there was 'no evidence' to support that FFP2 medical masks could prevent the spread of Covid.

But the findings were never made public, despite researchers clearly advocating for the open communication of their research in meeting minutes, with the German government choosing to pursue legislation their own researchers advised against.

The revelations come after a two-year legal battle between the RKI and German magazine Multipolar, which ultimately won the court case to publish documents that were heavily redacted by the health agency.

Multipolar has since launched another legal claim in an attempt to secure full access to the unredacted documents, which may conceal a trove of Covid policy recommendations that the RKI and the German government opted not to share with the public.

The saga now threatens to trigger a fallout in the German government, with Bundestag Vice President Wolfgang Kubicki telling German media: 'The protocols of the RKI crisis team, some of which have now been released, raise considerable doubts as to whether the political measures to deal with the corona pandemic were really taken on a scientific basis.'

Demonstrators hold placards featuring (L-R) German Chancellor Angela Merkel, SPD politician Karl Lauterbach and the head of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) Lothar Wieler with the inscription 'guilty' during a protest against measures imposed by the German government to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus, on November 18, 2020

Protestors seen holding placards that say 'medical freedom' during a demonstration against vaccine mandates in the UK

The newly released documents showed RKI researchers found 'no evidence' that masks were effective at preventing the spread of Covid

Anti-lockdown and anti-vaccine groups jointly protested against the restrictions imposed by the British government

Vice President of Germany's Bundestag has called on the Federal Minister of Health, Karl Lauterbach (pictured) to make public the findings of RKI researchers and the internal discussions behind the government's policy decisions in Covid

Kubicki told German outlet Bild that 'the top of the RKI, of all people, followed the political guidelines of the respective federal government and thus provided the necessary scientific facade for Corona policy.'

He also called on Germany's Federal Minister of Health, Karl Lauterbach, to 'present all protocols to the public without redactions in order to create complete transparency about the internal discussions and the basis for decisions.

'If Karl Lauterbach does not follow my request, as a parliamentarian I will work to persuade him to make this disclosure so that the clarification can finally be satisfied.'

Meanwhile, the former leader of Germany's Christian Democratic Union party Armin Laschet has declared the RKI must go public with its findings.

Speaking with German broadcaster ZDF, the parliamentarian said: 'We have to disclose everything.

'You can see how differentiated the discussions were at the RKI back then and how little of this diversity of opinion ultimately found its way into concrete policy,' he continued, recalling how debates over Covid policy became 'moralised'.

'Either you are for one measure or you are a Corona denier. But there was a lot in between,' he concluded.

Meanwhile, a minute from an RKI meeting in January 2021 expressed concerns with the viability of the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine, with researchers warning its use 'should be discussed' because the jab was 'not as perfect'.

That same jab - that was offered to millions in the UK - was later discontinued and not offered as a booster after reports surfaced of people developing blood clots in combination with low platelet levels.

The shocking revelations come as public health experts in the UK slammed the government's Covid inquiry for 'bias', claiming it has failed to investigate the harmful impact of lockdown on British society.

More than 50 scholars and academics from some of the UK's top universities wrote to inquiry chairman Baroness Heather Hallett earlier this month urging her to 'address its apparent biases, assumptions and impartiality'.

They accuse the inquiry of 'not living up to its mission to evaluate the mistakes made during the pandemic', including whether measures such as lockdowns and restrictions on mass gatherings were 'appropriate'.

More than 50 scholars and academics from some of the UK's top universities have written to inquiry chairman Baroness Heather Hallett urging her to 'address its apparent biases, assumptions and impartiality'. Pictured: Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2021

Chairperson Baroness Heather Hallett leaves the UK Covid-19 Inquiry hearing at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC)

Matt Hancock, Former UK Health Secretary leaves the inquiry UK COVID-19 Inquiry, London, UK - 01 Dec 2023

Letter co-author Dr Kevin Bardosh, director of think-tank Collateral Global, accused the inquiry of handing 'softball' questions to architects of government policy, while 'grilling' witnesses who were opposed to mass restrictions on public freedoms.

He told the Mail: 'The inquiry is not seriously questioning their (scientific advisers') assessments around the justification for their policies.

'The inquiry is not interested in whether these policy decisions were good for the country, and that seems a mistake.'

The terms of reference setting out the scope of the inquiry were established by the Government following public pressure for an inquiry.

But Dr Bardosh accused Hugo Keith KC, lead counsel to the inquiry, of being more 'obsessed with reading out swear words in private WhatsApp messages than getting to the substance' of decision-making.

He said: 'He seems to be concerned a lot with political theatre and having these 'gotcha' moments.'

Cancer specialist Professor Karol Sikora, who signed the letter, described the inquiry as 'completely useless'.

He added: 'It is structured to assess blame and not the scientific basis of the decision making. That's the difference between lawyers and scientists.

'The decisions made during the pandemic were clearly wrong - 'how' wrong has to be a scientific assessment.

'The current framework for the current inquiry is a legal one - totally unsuited to addressing the key questions.

But Dr Bardosh accused Hugo Keith KC, lead counsel to the inquiry, of being more 'obsessed with reading out swear words in private WhatsApp messages than getting to the substance' of decision-making. Pictured: A sign near the entrance of the Covid Inquiry

Cancer specialist Professor Karol Sikora, who signed the letter, described the inquiry as 'completely useless'. Pictured: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak

'We're not interested in WhatsApp gossip. We have to learn from the past - it's not about the apportioning of blame but simply how to do better next time.'

The inquiry began hearing evidence in June last year, with testimony from the likes of prime minister Rishi Sunak, Covid-era premier Boris Johnson, and ex-health secretary Matt Hancock, as well as a host of the most senior scientific and medical advisers to the Government.

The bill for the inquiry has already topped 78 million up to the end of last year, according to its latest financial report.

In its letter, the group said: 'The inquiry originated in legal petitions brought by bereaved family groups. Yet there has been little opportunity for petitions to be brought by those who have suffered from the negative effects of pandemic policy decisions.

'This is preventing a more holistic assessment of impacts on population health and wellbeing. This lack of neutrality appears to have led to biassed reasoning and predetermined conclusions, for example, to lockdown faster next time.'

It said the inquiry, which is due to run until 2026, has 'adopted a legal format that prevents a systematic evaluation of the evidence by biomedical and social scientists on the harms of restrictions to the British public' and is instead 'focused on who did or said what, rather than asking fundamental scientific questions'.

It said the probe 'appears unsuited to the task' of investigating 'the interplay between harms, benefits and best practice' in order to prepare for the next pandemic.

An inquiry spokesman said: 'The Inquiry was established in June 2022 and is entirely independent. Baroness Hallett, chair of the Inquiry, has said repeatedly that she will not reach any conclusions until she has considered all of the evidence; that includes the written evidence.

'The Inquiry does not act on assumptions and has called expert witnesses who question the use of lockdowns and other interventions, as well as experts who advised on the imposition of lockdowns.

'The Inquiry will consider important issues such as the impact of lockdowns, key scientific and policy questions as well as population health and wellbeing in forthcoming modules. Our modular approach is clearly set out on our website and we will report during the lifespan of the Inquiry, with the first report scheduled for this summer.'
Russia has extended his arrest until June 30

Evan Gershkovich was arrested in Russia in March 2023 on spying charges

Russia has extended the arrest of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich until June 30, a year after he was detained on espionage charges.

The 32-year-old US citizen was arrested in late March 2023 while on a reporting trip and has spent nearly a year behind bars.

His arrest was extended until June 30.

The US has declared Evan Gershkovich to be wrongfully detained (AP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov, File)

Mr Gershkovich and his employer have denied the allegations, and the US government has declared him to be wrongfully detained.

His arrest in the city of Yekaterinburg rattled journalists in Russia, where authorities have not detailed what, if any, evidence they have to support the espionage charges.

Mr Gershkovich is being held at Moscows Lefortovo prison, which is notorious for its harsh conditions.

Analysts have pointed out that Moscow may be using jailed Americans as bargaining chips in soaring US-Russian tensions over the Kremlins military operation in Ukraine.

At least two US citizens arrested in Russia in recent years  including WNBA star Brittney Griner  have been exchanged for Russians jailed in the US.

Mr Gershkovich is the first American reporter to be arrested on espionage charges in Russia since September 1986, when Nicholas Daniloff, a Moscow correspondent for US News and World Report, was arrested by the KGB.

Mr Daniloff was released without charge 20 days later in a swap for an employee of the Soviet Unions UN mission who was arrested by the FBI, also on spying charges.
A drunk car thief killed a woman after ploughing into her in an 80,000 stolen car while being pursued by police.

'Reckless' Marcin Jablonski, 44, of Carlton Colville, near Lowestoft, was up to four times the drink-drive limit when he drove the Land Rover Defender through a field of 6ft-high corn in Norfolk to try and evade police in marked cars and a helicopter.

Dramatic video footage showed Jablonski trying to shake off the helicopter and two police cars by driving in circles through the corn crop - causing 6,000 of damage - before rejoining the A143 single carriageway near Earsham.

The steering was badly damaged by the bumpy field and, when he rejoined the road, he lost control and smashed into an oncoming Nissan Juke.

Driver Aisatou Mballow Baldeh, 28, suffered massive injuries as her car was flipped onto its roof and she was declared dead at the scene. Jablonski and his son Thomas Urbaniak, 26, who was in the passenger seat, escaped serious injury.

The 44-year-old was jailed for 11 years yesterday after admitting causing death by dangerous driving, having no insurance, causing death while a disqualified driver, aggravated vehicle taking and criminal damage.

This is the moment a stolen Land Rover defender drives through a maize field

Driver Aisatou Mballow Baldeh (pictured), 28, suffered massive injuries as her car was flipped and she was declared dead

The Land Rover drove through a field of 6ft-high corn to try and evade police in marked cars and a helicopter

Urbaniak received a two-year jail term after he pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicle taking, burglary and being in a vehicle driven by someone causing death by dangerous driving.

In a recording, the police observer in the helicopter could be heard saying: 'He is snaking through the long crops he can't see where he's going.'

Judge Anthony Bate told Jablonski  a repeat offender in the UK who arrived here after being jailed for 18 months in Poland for stealing a power line  he had been 'reckless' during a 'prolonged and consistent act of dangerous driving'.

He added: 'You repeatedly evaded the best efforts of police to halt the vehicle and pressed on with its steering compromised, with tragic consequences.'

Ms Baldeh's husband, Bocar, said she had been driving to a night shift at the time. He described her as a 'beautiful and loving person inside and outside' in a victim impact statement.

The keys to the Land Rover were stolen on August 11 last year by Urbaniak in a burglary where jewellery, handbags and a computer terminal were taken from a flooring firm near his home in Newmarket, Suffolk.

He returned with his father two days later and took the car, which was quickly reported missing by its owner.

'Reckless' Marcin Jablonski, 44, was up to four times the drink-drive limit

Jablonski and his son Thomas Urbaniak (pictured) , 26, who was in the passenger seat, escaped serious injury

The keys to the Land Rover were stolen on August 11 last year by Urbaniak in a burglary where jewellery, handbags and a computer terminal were taken from a flooring firm

The car could be seen driving circles through the corn maize

Dramatic video footage showed Jablonski trying to shake off the helicopter and two police cars

This is the moment police officers finally arrest the father who was at least twice the legal drink drive limit

Jablonski then lost control and veered onto the other side of the road, where he hit the car driven by Ms Baldeh, a Gambian-born business management student.

Prosecutor Chris Youell said tests showed he had between 273 and 461mgs of alcohol in 100ml of urine, compared to a legal limit of 107mgs.

Jablonski has seven convictions for 15 offences in the UK including three for drink-driving - the most recent from May last year when he was banned from driving for 22 months.

He was given a one-year consecutive jail term for breaching a 14-month suspended sentence imposed at Ipswich Crown Court two weeks before the crash and was also banned from driving for 13 years.

Detective Inspector David McCormack, of Norfolk Police, said: 'They had every opportunity to stop and they chose not to  and that decision had devastating consequences and caused terrible suffering that was wholly avoidable.'

The incident was referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which is continuing its investigation.
The two Israeli brothers who were subjected to aggressive questioning from 'antisemitic' Border Force staff as they arrived in Britain are heroes who saved dozens of people during the murderous October 7 Hamas terror attacks, MailOnline can reveal.

UK Border Force were slammed for 'demeaning' the two Israeli survivors of the Nova Music Festival and detaining them for two hours at Manchester Airport after flying over to speak about their experience.

Now we can reveal that the men are Daniel and Neria Sharabi who defended some 30 people during the carnage of the festival as they sheltered behind a tank, using unfamiliar weapons against the terrorists as a reserve commander relayed instructions over the phone.

They also treated the wounded who were hiding with them, while Daniel's former IDF commander advised them by telephone.

Daniel and Neria Sharabi defended some 30 people during the carnage of the Nova festival as they sheltered behind a tank. UK Border Force were slammed for 'demeaning' the brothers

Footage shows a Border Force officer (right) speaking in 'aggressive terms' to the brothers

In footage posted on X, the Border Force officer says 'Knock the attitude off'

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Daniel, 23, said he wanted an apology from the British government after the way he and his brother were treated upon their arrival on Sunday night.

'I have no doubt at all that we were detained because we were Israeli,' he said, speaking from Manchester. 'We kept asking the officials why they had stopped us  was it because we are Israeli or because we are Jewish?

'Of course they never admitted it, but it was obvious to us it was the only reason.

'We were shocked at the way we were treated. When someone comes to your country from overseas, you expect to be welcomed and treated in a friendly way, not like this.

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Daniel, 23, said he wanted an apology from the British government after the way he and his brother were treated upon their arrival on Sunday night

Daniel defended some 30 people during the Nova festival as they sheltered behind a tank

'I'm glad that Mr Cleverley has launched an investigation into this  I hope the people who interrogated us learn some lessons from this.

'We told them exactly who we were and what we'd been through, why we were travelling to raise awareness of the hostages, but they didn't seem to listen.

'We both may have PTSD, I'm not sure, but this kind of experience does bring back the horror of that day which we will never forget. After we were finally allowed through the airport, neither of us slept much because of the way we were treated.'

Talking of his experience with UK Border Force officers, Neria Sharabi, 22, said: 'They just started asking us what we came to do here, and I said to them that I survived the October 7 massacres and I'm here to share my stories.

'And the second I said it, he just flipped. From that moment he just started to interrogate us. He told us to 'sit over there, don't move, we need to interrogate you'.

Mr Sharabi said: 'They just started asking us a lot of weird questions, if we're still with the army, how long we served, what we do.

'In the end, they didn't find anything, and the cops started to get angry and mad because they got nowhere.'

Talking of his experience with UK Border Force officers, Neria Sharabi, 22, said: 'They just started asking us what we came to do here, and I said to them that I survived the October 7 massacres and I'm here to share my stories'

Neria said he no longer feels safe and doesn't want to come back to the UK after the ordeal

'I said to him, "Why are you doing this. Is it because I'm a Jew?"

'Then he got crazy and said to me "Shut the f*** up. I'm the boss, you are listening.

'I just shut my mouth and realised that if I say more things maybe he might arrest me.

'I realised how people are so brainwashed. I don't feel safe.'

Speaking of how he feels following the incident, he said: 'I don't feel safe. If this is how the cops treats civilians, I don't want to be here. People here are asking us to stay a little bit longer, but I don't feel safe to stay here. I want to go home, and we'll be taking our flight home today.

'This is my first time in the country and my last time in the country. I don't want to feel what I felt again.'

'I think he thought in the beginning that I'm Muslim, because he asked me what my religion is. After I said that I'm Jew, everything changed and I could see it in his face.

'They separated us from everyone, and we waited one hour, one and a half hours, for the interrogation officer.'

Explaining that he feels more unsafe in the UK than in Israel, he said: 'In Israel, not even one cop is going to tell me these kinds of things.'

Home Secretary James Cleverley has stepped into the row over the brothers' treatment

James Cleverly has since put a statement up on X saying the incident is being handled

Home Secretary James Cleverley has stepped into the row over the brothers' treatment at Manchester Airport after disturbing footage of their treatment was posted on X, saying 'We do not tolerate antisemitism or any form of discrimination.'

The video showed 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.

Both men are said to be suffering from PTSD after the murderous Hamas attack which sparked the war in Gaza, leaving more than 1,000 civilians dead and many raped or tortured.

In the clip, 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.'

The two brothers '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.

Mr Levy added that the officer's tone was 'unnecessary and demeaning' towards the two men.

The men 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.'

He added: 'The only reason for their detention and interrogation was because they are Israeli.'

One of their supporters told MailOnline: 'These men are heroes and should have been received as such  they saved so many people and deserve nothing but respect.'

Hamas invaded Nova Music Festival in Israel on October 7 last year (pictured)

A man holding a weapon grabs another man during an attack by Hamas on October 7

The UN Security Council passed a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire

A view of destruction after Israeli attack on Deir Al-Balah, Gaza, on February 17, 2024

A group of boys inspecting a demolished building which belonged to the Palestinian Darduna family, following Israeli attacks at Jabaliya Refugee Camp

The Sharabi brothers told the Times of Israel following the October 7 massacre that they were partying at Supernova when rocket sirens started blaring at 6:30 a.m.

In a video captured by Neria, he and friends can be seen seeking shelter behind some parked cars, jokingly wondering why the terrorists in Gaza couldn't wait until later to begin launching their missiles.

Neria said they were ordered to disperse, and he left their friend called Karin Journo  who had a broken leg prior to the event  and together with his cousin Shalev Yehoshua and a friend, Yosef-Haim Ohana, went to retrieve his car.

Minutes later, Karin was murdered. The brothers said they began to hear gunfire and immediately realized from their army service that it was the sound of Kalashnikovs, not Israeli military weapons.

Daniel was a combat medic during his service, and Neria served in the infantry.

Realising this was no regular bout of rockets from Gaza, they fled toward the highway.

Daniel administered first aid to an injured woman, when he, Neria, and his cousin Shalev Yehoshua were called upon by two IDF soldiers who were attending Nova as civilians, to help them evacuate the wounded on a stretcher.

Soon, terrorists armed with automatic weapons stormed the scene in pickup trucks, firing incessantly.

The two soldiers they had met were killed but Daniel, Neria, Shalev and Yosef managed to take cover behind some parked cars.

The car near Yosef was hit by an RPG missile. This was the last time the Sharabi brothers saw him before he was snatched by terrorists who took him to Gaza, where he is still believed to be held hostage.

A Palestinian boy has his arm measured for malnutrition at a medical tent set up by MedGlobal in cooperation with UNICEF, 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

Last month the Sharabis were in New York to raise awareness for the hostages taken by Hamas and confronted a man trying tear down posters of the hostages in Times Square before police arrested him.

The brothers were holding signs reading, 'My best friend was kidnapped in Gaza' and 'I survived the October 7 massacre,' when a friend began filming the man ripping the signs, who looked directly at the camera and shouted, 'Why don't you go blow up another hospital? Why don't you kill 10,000 more kids?'

The man was caught on video spitting in the direction of police and was immediately handcuffed.

Once cuffed, the brothers flashed their signs and confronted the man, saying, 'In your face' and challenged his accusations, asking, 'Where do you know these lies?'

Neria, 22, and Daniel, 23, had only seen the brazen vandalism in online clips until the Thursday night incident.

'You see it in videos, but when it happens in reality, I get p****d off. People deny our experience, but you can't deny reality. We're proof it happened,' Neria told The New York Post.

'I have video of our friends being raped, kidnapped to Gaza,' said Neria. 'We're here to face them and tell them that they're liars. If they think this never happened, they're just brainwashed.'

During an earlier visit to Times Square, the Israeli brothers, who are dark-skinned and of Yemeni descent, were met with a sympathetic passer-by who mistook them for Gazans, telling them 'We support Hamas,' before the brothers brandished their stars of David necklaces to horrified stares.

'People think Jews only look white. They're hypocrites,' said Neria.

The pair attributed their heroism during the Hamas attack to God, saying they went 'into army mode as civilians' when they took over the tank and battled 'more than 100' terrorists, according to Daniel.
By Lee Hyo-jin

The ruling People Power Party (PPP) swiftly retracted its plan to display political banners likening its rival Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) to "pro-North Korean forces" Tuesday, following concerns among some of its members that its campaign tactics would not resonate with voters.

The about-face occurred less than a day after Rep. Yun Jae-ok, the party's floor leader, ordered local party offices to hang banners reading "We should no longer let our country be led by criminals and pro-North Korean forces" on Monday evening.

The message apparently targets the main opposition DPK, as the PPP has been accusing the party of aligning with radical pro-North Korean groups in its nomination for proportional representation candidates.

So far, the PPP has focused on a positive electoral strategy, emphasizing the promotion of the party's own policy visions rather than attacking its rivals. The decision to hang banners referencing pro-North Korean forces came as the ruling party senses a risk due to declining approval ratings.

These banners were intended to be displayed on streets nationwide until Thursday, when the official two-week campaign period for the April 10 parliamentary elections begin. Under the Public Official Election Act, it is illegal to hang political advertisements during this period.

However, some PPP candidates, especially those contesting for constituencies in Seoul and surrounding regions, have reportedly expressed concerns that negative ad campaigns could trigger public backlash. Some argued that the old tactic of ideological framing might not resonate with swing voters.

"I think it is true that the DPK is attempting to allow forces that threaten free democracy to enter the National Assembly," said Rep. Jang Dong-hyeok, who manages the PPP's election campaign committee, Tuesday afternoon.

"While there could be ways to engage in election campaigns with a focus on these issues, both our party leader Han Dong-hoon and I believe it is crucial to share with the public the roles we will play as the governing party," he added. "Thus, we have decided against using the banners."
Stunned Baltimore residents have shared their shock at the 'unbelievable' moment the city's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed into the Patapsco River after being struck by a 1,000ft (299m) shipping container this morning.

'It felt like an earthquake. It sounded like a big bash of thunder... the whole house was vibrating, like my house was falling down,' local man John, who lives near the bridge, told WJZ.

'I heard a lot of fire equipment, a lot of police, seen a lot of police boats going out... it's just unbelievable.'

'I've been in this neighborhood 57 years, I remembered when they built this bridge,' he added. 'Can't believe it's gone.'

Alex Delsordo, owner of the Hard Yacht cafe on the marina nearby, told the BBC one of his employees heard the bridge collapse around 01:30am.

'He said it sounded like a very large, long rumbling, like a train going through,' he told the broadcaster.

He added that rescue teams, who have been working desperately for the last four hours to save the lives of at least seven people believed to have plunged into the frigid 47F (8C) waters below, had been refueling at the cafe since around 3am.

Initial reports suggested around 20 construction workers and as many as a dozen cars were on the bridge when it was struck.

#BREAKING: John, who lives near the bridge, describes the explosion that shook him out of bed when the Key Bridge collapsed. @wjz pic.twitter.com/wiOVoyI7dA  Mike Hellgren (@HellgrenWJZ) March 26, 2024

'It felt like an earthquake . It sounded like a big bash of thunder... the whole house was vibrating, like my house was falling down,' John, who lives near the bridge, told WJZ.

The bridge collapsing into the Patapsco River earlier Tuesday morning

Astonishing footage shows the moment the vessel plowed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, sending the colossal steel structure crashing into the Patapsco River, shortly before 1.30am Eastern

Michael Brown told NBC News his neighbor thought an earthquake had caused the dramatic collapse

Another shaken resident told WJZ: 'I was there yesterday. To see the bridge gone knowing I was on that bridge not even 10 hours ago - it's devastating.'

One speculated about some of the potential implications of the bridge collapsing.

'This is going to be catastrophic for many reasons,' he told the outlet. 'Number one, the harbor's blocked. Number two, we're not going to get any more new car deliveries at this time.

'Amazon is just on the other side of the river and you can forget your same-day, next-day delivery packages.'

The loud bang of the bridge suddenly collapsing left locals stunned and confused, one resident saying he thought his neighbor was playing an 'April Fools' joke' on him when he heard the news.

Michael Brown told NBC News his neighbor thought an earthquake had caused the dramatic collapse.

'I can't believe it. It's a major artery here in the area for the traffic but also for the port... hopefully everyone's okay that's involved in it today.'

Two people were removed from the water earlier this morning, one in serious condition.

'There was another individual that's been transported to a local trauma center that is in a very serious condition,' Baltimore City Fire Department chief James Wallace said.

The first fire unit arrived on the scene around 01:50am after receiving calls at 01:30am reporting the bridge had collapsed.

In the moments before the collision, video showed the ship appearing to lose power twice and billowing black smoke before seemingly being unable to pivot away from the pillar.

Mr Wallace told media they do not yet have any information as to whether there was a problem with the ship, which had left Seagirt Marine Terminal around 12:30am before turning south east, taking it on a course under the Francis Scott Key Bridge and out of the city.

The 1,000ft (299m) vessel, which was bound for Colombo, Sri Lanka, is shown in tracking video steadying itself in the middle of the Patapsco River and slowing before colliding with the bridge near Fort Carroll at 01:28am, collapsing it.

Footage of its approach reveals how the vessel appeared to suddenly lose power before making a partial recovery on its approach.

The ship is then seen billowing black smoke into the night sky before losing power again and heading towards one of the structural supports holding the bridge up.

Upon colliding with the structure, the ship appears to lose power a third time as the bridge collapses dramatically around it, first breaking around the support before breaking in the middle and losing balance on its eastern pillar.

The fire chief told media there was 'absolutely no indication' the crash was intentional or part of a terrorist plot.

'Our criminal intel is working with the FBI and other federal and state agencies to get all the intel that we have,' he said.

Mayor Brandon M. Scott and Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. posted on X that, in light of the incident, all lanes have been closed in both directions and traffic is being detoured.

Scott described the collapse as an 'unthinkable tragedy'.

'We have to be thinking about the families and people impacted, folks who we have to try to find. This is what our focus should be on right now, we're going to continue to work in partnership with every part of government to do everything we can to get us through the other side of this tragedy,' he said.

'Never would you think that you would see, physically see, the Key Bridge tumble down like that,' he added.

'It looked like something out of an action movie.'

US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg has since spoken to Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Mr Scott, according to a post from the secretary on X.

Buttigieg said: 'Rescue efforts remain underway and drivers in the Baltimore area should follow local responder guidance on detours and response.'

The steel frame of the Francis Scott Key Bridge sits on top of a container ship after it struck the bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 26, 2024

The collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge after a collision with cargo ship Dali, in Baltimore, Maryland, United States on March 26, 2024

The vessel set sail from Seagirt Marine Terminal before turning and heading for the bridge

The structure carries around 12million vehicles every year (File photo)

The Dali container ship is pictured in a file photo off the Port of Felixstowe in the United Kingdom in September 2018

A picture showing the aftermath of the collapse as the sky begins to brighten in Baltimore, the Dali can be seen to the right with many containers still in tact

The vessel was previously involved in a collision in 2016 in Antwerp, Belgium, according to Vessel Finger and Shipwrecklog, as reported by The Guardian.

Sailing in clear weather, the ship's master and pilot on board were blamed after the bow reportedly scraped the side of the quay while leaving port, causing damage to the hull.

The 1.6-mile Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, which is part of I-695, crosses the Patapsco River in Baltimore's harbor.

Built in 1977, the main span of the truss bridge at 1,200ft is the third longest span of any continuous truss in the world.

The structure carries around 12million vehicles every year. It carries the Baltimore Beltway/Interstate 695 over the river.
Nigel Farage has blasted Church of England bosses for having 'surrendered' to a 'woke' agenda as he revealed he no longer attends Sunday services.

The former UKIP leader branded church chiefs as 'hopeless' and claimed they had 'given up' as he hit out over a string of recent controversies on 'wokeness'.

Miranda Threlfall-Holmes, the Archdeacon of Liverpool, last week came under fire after she called for 'anti-whiteness'.

A row over her comments came shortly after the Diocese of Birmingham was criticised for hiring an 'anti-racism' officer to 'deconstruct whiteness'.

And, at the beginning of this month, the Church of England set out plans to create a 1billion fund to address the legacy of slavery.

Miranda Threlfall-Holmes, the Archdeacon of Liverpool, last week came under fire after she called for 'anti-whiteness' in a social media post

Speaking on GB News last night, the TV channel on which he hosts a show, Mr Farage said: 'I won't go to my local church; I won't go.

'I am christened and confirmed in the Church of England and are all my family on both sides have been Church of England.

'I used to believe in it. I used to attend - not every Sunday but regularly - during the year. I will not go. It is hopeless. They've given up, they've surrendered.'

Last week, the Ven Miranda Threlfall-Holmes wrote on social media about her attendance of a 'conference on whiteness'.

'It was very good, very interesting and made me realise: whiteness is to race as patriarchy is to gender,' she added.

'So yes, let's have anti whiteness, & let's smash the patriarchy. That's not anti-white, or anti-men, it's anti-oppression.'

Commenting on the backlash to the Archdeacon of Liverpool's remarks, Mr Farage said: 'Her name sums it up.

'I don't know her personally, but I'll have a bet she's upper middle class, completely detached from reality.'

The politician-turned-TV presenter also remarked on the Church of England's push to create a 1billion reparations fund to address its historic links to slavery.

'On slavery can I remind everybody that today is the 217th anniversary of the passing of the Abolition of Slavery Act as it became, in Parliament,' Mr Farage added.

'It was pushed by a man called William Wilberforce, which then led us through the Royal Naval squadron to attempt to drive slavery out, right across the Atlantic, stopping other countries and doing so.

'When it comes to this issue. You'd think to listen to some of our lefties, that we are the only country that ever practiced it. No, far from it. Slavery persists to this day.

'We as a nation have done more to stop slavery than any other nation in the history of our Earth.'

Last month, the Church of England's first black female bishop - Rose Hudson-Wilkin, the Bishop of Dover - said 'woke' should not be used as a negative term

Last month, the Church of England's first black female bishop said 'woke' should not be used as a negative term.

Rose Hudson-Wilkin, the Bishop of Dover, delivered a passionate speech to the General Synod, the Church of England's ruling assembly.

She said: 'When it comes to the topic of racial justice, I have heard the word "woke'" being bandied about by many people, including government ministers, certain radio presenters and 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.

'But as the people of God, we should never be afraid or embarrassed of being called an advent people, always in the business of preparing and staying alert.

'So I want to address the elephant in the room  in case there is anybody nurturing those incorrect thoughts and mumbling under one's breath or to your neighbour, "here we go again", negatively using the term woke.

'We must remain awake to the reality that the church's commitment to racial justice is not the church attempting to follow the world's direction of travel regarding inclusion, equality and diversity, but instead it is a given. It comes from a deep desire to follow the lead of Christ.'
King Charles today carried out official duties for the first time since the Princess of Wales shared her cancer news with the nation.

The monarch smiled warmly at the public as he left Windsor Castle this morning after a difficult weekend for the Royal Family.

Today, Buckingham Palace confirmed Charles, 75, will join the Queen and other members of the royal family at the annual Easter Mattins Service at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle this weekend.

Shortly after the announcement this morning, Charles met community and faith leaders from across the UK in the Palace's Billiard Room.

He was welcoming alumni from the Windsor Leadership Trust, which encourages multi-faith dialogue, harmony and understanding at a time of heightened international tensions.

Both the monarch and the Princess of Wales were inpatients at the prestigious clinic in Marylebone, north London, in January as they underwent major surgery.

Insiders said King Charles, who was treated for an enlarged prostate, was seen walking from his hospital bed, to see Princess Kate along the corridor.

At the time, Princess Kate had undergone abdominal surgery - not thought to be for a malign condition - but on Friday, she revealed post-operative tests found signs of cancer.

King Charles speaks with Chief Executive of The Prince's Trust Martina Milburn as he attends an audience in the Billiard Room at Buckingham Palace today

The King sits next to Vijaya Nath, trustee of Windsor Leadership, alongside community faith leaders from across the UK at today's audience at Buckingham Palace

The King appeared in positive spirits after weeks of intense speculation directed at the Royal Family

Sitting on a bench at Windsor, surrounded by spring flowers, the Princess of Wales took the extraordinary step on Friday of revealing to the world that she had cancer

The King (centre) greets faith leaders from across the UK inside the billiard room of Buckingham Palace

The made time to host today's audience just days after his daughter-in-law's announcement gripped public interest all over the world

King Charles, who has long sought to maintain positive relationships with different faith leaders, participated fully in today's discussion

The King, sat between Windsor leadership trustee Vijaya Nath and Prince's Trust chief executive Martina Milburn, appeared thoughtful at other times during today's audience

Kate bravely shared her health status with the world in an unprecedented video address.

Sharing Charles' reaction to the shocking news, Buckingham Palace said: 'His Majesty is ''so proud of Catherine for her courage in speaking as she did''.

'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''.'

After she revealed the diagnosis, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wished her a 'full and speedy recovery'.

He said: 'My thoughts are with the Princess of Wales, Prince of Wales, the Royal Family and in particular her three children at this difficult time.

'The Princess of Wales has the love and support of the whole country as she continues her recovery.'

The NHS and charity websites have reportedly been inundated with queries about cancer since the Princess revealed her diagnosis.

There has been almost a five-fold rise in visits to the NHS online cancer pages since the news broke, while Cancer Research UK and Macmillan have also reported a surge in clicks.

On Sunday, Sarah, Duchess of York praised Kates decision to speak out about her cancer diagnosis - and way it will raise public awareness.

The duchess, who has herself battled breast and skin cancer, said she believes her fellow royals openness will help to raise public awareness. All my thoughts and prayers are with the Princess of Wales as she starts her treatment, she posted on social media.

I know she will be surrounded by the love of her family and everyone is praying for the best outcome.

A source said it had been 'an incredibly tough couple of months for the entire family' and it had been important for the princess to come to terms with her diagnosis, to recover from her surgery and begin her pathway to recovery.

The Mail understands that Prince William will carry out engagements when the children return to school after the Easter holidays.

HM King Charles III managed to smile at the public as he left Windsor Castle this morning and headed to Clarence House

The King is continuing his battle with cancer as his 'beloved daughter-in-law' the Princess of Wales revealed she is also fighting the disease

Kate was previously seen with her family attending church at Sandringham last Christmas Day

Throughout this period the couple's children have been her priority.

It is understood that William and Kate wanted to tell their children at a time that was right for them and to allow them to understand and process the news before it became public.

With the children having broken up from Lambrook School today for the Easter holidays this afternoon, they decided that now was the right time to share the statement.

Sources say their concern recently, despite global and social media speculation, was to put Catherine's health and their children first.

It is now hoped, aides said, the speculation around the princess would come to a stop.

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

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

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 Taliban will soon start stoning women to death in public, the radical group's Supreme Leader announced as he declared war against Western democracy.

Addressing Western officials in a voice message broadcast on state TV Saturday, Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada called the Western human rights defenders 'representatives of the devil'.

'You say it's a violation of women's rights when we stone them to death. But we will soon implement the punishment for adultery,' he told the West in his harshest comments since taking over Afghanistan in 2021.

'We will flog women in public. We will stone them to death in public,' he announced.

'These are all against your democracy but we will continue doing it.

'We both say we defend human rights  we do it as God's representative and you as the devil's,' he added.

Horrifying footage of screaming Afghan woman cowering as she is stoned to death by Taliban

'You are treating women like animals, are these your rights?'

Afghanistan's state TV, now controlled by the Taliban, airs voice messages claiming to be from Akhundzada, who has never been seen in public.

In a further affront to international advocacy for women's rights, Akhundzada criticised the calls for such rights as contradictory to the Taliban's interpretation of Islamic Sharia law.

'Do women want the rights that Westerners are talking about?

'They are against Sharia and clerics' opinions, the clerics who toppled Western democracy,' he asserted.

'One is God's league and another one is the devil's and we are on God's side,' he claimed.

The Taliban, despite initial promises of a more moderate rule, began carrying out severe punishments in public shortly after coming to power.

The punishments are similar to those during their previous rule of Afghanistan in the late 1990s.

Akhundzada has called the Taliban foot soldiers to be resilient in opposing women's rights and said the war against Western democracy and values will continue for decades to come.

'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.

'Taking over Kabul did not mean we would now sit in offices and drink tea.

'It did not finish (when you left), we will now bring Sharia into action on this land,' he warned.

Footage allegedly from 2015 shows the Taliban stoning a women to death, six years before their return to power in Afghanistan

Akhundzada has called the Taliban foot soldiers to be resilient in opposing women's rights and said the war against Western democracy and values will continue for decades to come

He criticised Western human rights values and women's freedoms, saying Taliban religious scholars and clerics would persistently resist the West and its form of democracy in Afghanistan.

His comments have sparked outrage among Afghans, prompting some to urge the international community to escalate pressure on the Taliban.

Naseer Faiq, Charge d'Affaires of Afghanistan to the United Nations, said that deciding the fate of the Afghans without their consent 'is not acceptable'.

'At what cost? For over two decades, under this slogan, thousands of innocent Afghans, including brainwashed Taliban, have been killed, the country destroyed, millions forced to migrate, and Afghanistan plunged into a deep crisis,' he said in a post on X, referring to Akhundzada's comments

'Isn't that enough? Profiting from the Afghan people's blood is unacceptable and forbidden in Islam,' he added.

The Taliban regained power in August 2021, following the collapse of the internationally supported government and the withdrawal of all US-led Western troops after nearly 20 years of involvement in the Afghan war.

Illustrative image shows an alleged murderer being executed before a crowd in Kabul in 1998

Akhundzada has halted girls' education in Afghanistan beyond the sixth grade and imposed growing restrictions on women's participation in public and private workplaces, including barring them from employment with the United Nations and other aid organisations.

Women are prohibited from taking long road and air trips without a male relative accompanying them, and they are restricted from visiting public places such as parks, gyms, and bathhouses.

The Taliban leader justifies these measures, asserting that they are following Afghan culture and Islamic principles.

Since leaders of the impoverished country with one of the world's most oppressed people seized power by force, Afghanistan's economy has collapsed and pushed millions into poverty.
A 16-year-old boy has allegedly been stabbed at a school in Melbourne.

Emergency services were called to the school on Wilson Rd in Melton South about 3pm on Tuesday following reports a teenager had been stabbed.

His injuries were not life threatening.

A 17-year-old boy later handed himself into a police station where he was arrested.

Police were told another male teenager fled the scene on foot.

Detectives from the Victoria Police Melton Crime Investigation Unit are investigating the alleged incident and are yet to establish the circumstances.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.

A 17-year-old boy has handed himself into police after allegedly stabbing a male student, 16, at a high school in Melbourne on Tuesday (pictured, police at the scene)
Tories highlighted the growing influence of Lord Cameron today as they suggested Rishi Sunak has handed him a swathe of key duties.

The extent to which the PM has delegated duties of state to the Foreign Secretary has been raising eyebrows among MPs.

As the peer appeared before the powerful 1922 committee last night, one politician inadvertently referred to him as 'Prime Minister' - briefly forgetting he quit that role in 2016.

Lord Cameron described China's hacking of the elections watchdog as 'completely unacceptable', but he was also challenged over his own previous stance on the Asian power.

The extent to which the PM has delegated the duties of state to Lord Cameron (pictured) has been raising eyebrows among MPs

As premier, Lord Cameron hailed a 'golden era' of closer relations with Beijing (pictured with Xi Jinping on his state visit to the UK in 2015)

Lord Cameron made a bombshell return to frontline politics in November, when Rishi Sunak appointed him Foreign Secretary

As premier, Lord Cameron hailed a 'golden era' of closer relations with Beijing, with one security source describing him as the 'great panda hugger'.

There have been concerns that Lord Cameron has been holding back moves to counter China's meddling, although he insists the world has changed since his charm offensive on Xi Jinping.

The peer also faced questions over his position on Gaza, dismissing rumours that the UK could stop supplying arms to Israel if there is military action in Rafah.

He told the meeting he was working with Israel as a 'close friend' who did not want to see the country 'prosecuted for not letting aid in'.

A former Cabinet minister told MailOnline that Lord Cameron had been given huge latitude by Mr Sunak, and it had been noted by his benches.

The peer has been on a frantic diplomatic tour since his shock appointment in November, meeting leaders - many of whom he dealt with as premier - around the world. Meanwhile, Mr Sunak has appeared more focused on domestic policy.

'A colleague asked him about it and he said Cameron was a ''tremendous help'',' the MP said.

'I think the truth is that he has considerably more international credibility.'

Another senior MP swiped that Mr Sunak left everything to Lord Cameron because 'foreign policy doesn't fit on a spreadsheet'.

A strongly pro-Israel backbencher said they had gone into the meeting last night ready to 'give him some sh**' over lukewarm support for Israel. But they said he immediately won over the room.

'He is a class act,' the MP said. 'The contrast with our current leader is quite stark.'
The United States must give assurances that Julian Assange will not face the death penalty before judges will consider dismissing the WikiLeaks founder's bid to bring an extradition appeal, the High Court has ruled.

Assange, 52, faces prosecution in the US over an alleged conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information following the publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

In a 66-page ruling, Dame Victoria Sharp said: 'Before making a final decision on the application for leave to appeal, we will give the respondent an opportunity to give assurances.

'If assurances are not given then we will grant leave to appeal without a further hearing.

'If assurances are given then we will give the parties an opportunity to make further submissions before we make a final decision on the application for leave to appeal.'

Julian Assange has had a decision on if he can appeal extradition to the United States delayed as a judge ordered the American government to provide 'assurances' over his treatment

Julian Assange's wife Stella Assange (pictured today) prepares to speak to the media outside the Royal Courts of Justice after a decision on Julian Assange's extradition appeal has been adjourned to May 20 while the court seeks assurances from the US

These assurances are that Assange would be protected by and allowed to rely on the First Amendment - which protects freedom of speech in the US, that he is not 'prejudiced at trial' due to his nationality, and that the death penalty is not imposed.

The judges said the US authorities had three weeks to give those assurances, with a final hearing potentially taking place in late May.

In her ruling, Dame Sharp said any assurances from the United States would need to include 'that the applicant (Julian Assange) is permitted to rely on the First Amendment, that the applicant is not prejudiced at trial, including sentence, by reason of his nationality, that he is afforded the same First Amendment protections as a United States citizen, and that the death penalty is not imposed'.

Speaking after the judgment, the Australian's wife Stella Assange described the ruling as 'astounding'.

She said: 'What the courts have done has been to invite a political intervention from the United States... send a letter saying 'its all ok'. I find this astounding.

'This case is a retribution. It is a signal to all of you that if you expose the interests that are driving war they will come after you, they will put you in prison and will try to kill you.

'The Biden administration should not issue assurances. They should drop this shameful case that should never have been brought.'

Addressing Julian Assange's legal ground about freedom of speech guarantees in the US, Dame Victoria Sharp said: 'The applicant wishes to argue, at any trial in the United States, that his actions were protected by the First Amendment.

'He contends that if he is given First Amendment rights, the prosecution will be stopped. The First Amendment is therefore of central importance to his defence to the extradition charge.'

She continued: 'If he is not permitted to rely on the First Amendment because of his status as a foreign national, he will thereby be prejudiced, potentially very greatly prejudiced, by reason of his nationality.'

Dame Victoria concluded: 'It follows that it is arguable that the applicant might be treated differently at trial on the grounds of his nationality.

'Subject to the question of whether this could be addressed by means of an assurance from the respondent, we would grant leave to appeal.'

WikiLeaks initially reacted positively to the news, saying Assange had been granted 'leave to appeal' his extradition, but he will only be allowed to do so if 'assurances' are not met.

Reacting to the ruling on X, formerly Twitter, this morning, WikiLeaks posted: 'Julian Assange has been granted leave to appeal extradition to the US.

'Having spent almost five years detained at the UK's most secure prison the publisher will continue his long detention separated from his young family for revealing war crimes. #FreeAssangeNOW.'

WikiLeaks has now deleted this tweet.

WikiLeaks later added: 'The court has given US Gov 3 weeks to give satisfactory assurances: That Mr. Assange is permitted to rely on the First Amendment to the US constitution; not prejudiced at trial by reason of his nationality; and that the death penalty is not imposed. #FreeAssange.'

WikiLeaks reacted positively to the news, saying Assange had been granted leave to appeal his extradition

A protester holds a placard outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, February 21 this year in support of Julian Assange

Julian Assange supporters protest outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London today

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has called for the US to drop the charges against Julian Assange

The hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice today was attended by Assange's wife Stella, dozens of journalists and members of the public, with hundreds observing remotely.

Dozens of people stood outside the central London courthouse to await the judgment, holding placards bearing the message 'Free Julian Assange' and chanting 'There is only one decision, no extradition'.

Speaking at a press conference after Julian Assange's bid to appeal against extradition to the US was delayed, Jennifer Robinson, WikiLeaks legal counsel, said the decision raised 'fundamental concerns about free speech'.

She added: 'It is absurd that we are five years into this case and the US has not offered assurance to protect him from (the death penalty).'

Ms Robinson added: 'The judgment today demonstrates that if Julian was extradited to the United States there is a real risk and concern that he would not be afforded free speech protections.

'We say the US should not be offering assurance in response to this judgment, they should be dropping the case and it is a case that should never have been brought in the first place.'

Speaking after the latest Julian Assange ruling, Michelle Stanistreet, general secretary of the National Union of Journalists, said: 'A temporary reprieve is clearly preferable to an extradition that would have taken place in the coming days.

'However, the conditionality around the grounds of appeal, which are contingent on the examination of US government assurances that he will not face the death penalty and has the right to free speech, mean the risks to Assange and press freedom remain stark.

'Assange's prosecution by the US is for activities that are daily work for investigative journalists - finding sources with evidence of criminality and helping them to get their stories out into the world.

'If Assange is prosecuted, free expression the world over will be damaged.'

She added: 'The nuanced nature of this appeal judgment makes an alternative ending to this situation even more pressing.

'In recent months there has been increasing speculation about some kind of plea deal, to bring this saga to a swift and straightforward conclusion. I urge the US to return to these options.

'Media freedom is under threat all over the world, compassion and common sense from the US Department of Justice would do much to restore Washington's reputation as a bastion of free expression.'

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has called for the US to drop the charges against Julian Assange.

Speaking outside the Royal Courts of Justice, Mr Corbyn said Tuesday's decision was 'big step forward' for Assange's case but that it is 'not the victory' his supporters are looking for.

Mr Corbyn said: 'Above all, the pressure has to be on the US administration to drop the charges against Julian Assange.

'He's a brave journalist who tells the truth.'

When asked why Assange's case was important to him, the Corbyn said: 'Because he's told some very uncomfortable truths about the military activities in Iraq and Afghanistan and other places around the world, but also the effects of corporate greed on the natural world and environment.

'If Julian goes down for that, then every serious journalist around the world is going to be feel a bit constrained, and that's dangerous.'

A general view of Belmarsh Prison, where Julian Assange is being held

Stella Assange, the wife of Julian Assange speaks to the media outside the Royal Courts of Justice after a decision on Julian Assange's extradition appeal has been adjourned to May 20

In a January 2021 ruling, then-district judge Vanessa Baraitser said that Assange should not be sent to the US, citing a real and 'oppressive' risk of suicide, while ruling against him on all other issues.

But later that year, US authorities won their High Court bid to overturn this block, paving the way towards Assange's extradition.

During a two-day hearing in February, lawyers for the 52-year-old asked for the go-ahead to challenge the original judge's dismissal of other parts of his case to prevent his extradition.

And in a judgment today, Dame Victoria Sharp and Mr Justice Johnson dismissed most of Assange's legal arguments but said that unless assurances were given by the United States, he would be able to bring an appeal on three grounds.

The judges said the US authorities had three weeks to give those assurances, with a final decision to be made in late May.

At the start of Assange's bid last month, Mark Summers KC argued the US's prosecution would be retribution for his political opinions, meaning it would be unlawful to extradite him under UK law.

However the two judges rejected this argument.

Dame Victoria said: 'The applicant's case before us amounts simply to a reassertion of his case on this issue, and a disagreement with the (district) judge's conclusion.

'It does not engage with the judge's reasoning. Far less does it identify any flaw in her factual conclusions.'
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.

Sanaullah Ghafari is the 29 year old leader of the Afghan branch of Islamic State, ISIS-K

Rewards for Justice is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information on ISIS-K leader

Crocus City Hall concert hall in Moscow was on fire after the terrorist attack by ISIS-K

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.

READ MORE: Putin scrambles to save face after ignoring US warning of ISIS attack as it emerges one terrorist was pictured scoping venue: Two of four suspects plead guilty in court after genital electrocution torture and one being forced to eat his own EAR Advertisement

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.

A massive blaze was seen over the Crocus City Hall in Moscow after the terrorist attack

people hid under tables as the concert attack in Moscow unfolded, carried out by ISIS-K

'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.'

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.

Members of the Russian Emergencies Ministry carry out search and rescue operations at the Crocus City Hall concert venue after a shooting attack and fire a few days ago

ISIS-K claimed responsibility for the huge terrorist attack which killed 137 people

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.

Toys and flowers lie at a makeshift memorial in front of the Crocus City Hall after the attack

The Russian flag waved at half-mast in memory of the victims of the concert terrorist attack

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.

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.

A Taliban fighter stands guard at the site of the Kabul attack which killed scores of people

Belongings of Afghan people who were waiting to be evacuated were left at the site

'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.

Children were among the dead, killed in the blast outside Kabul airport in 2021

ISIS-K was responsible for the 2021 Kabul airport massacre as people tried to flee the Taliban

'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.
As many as 20 people remain unaccounted for in the water; two were rescued

Baltimore officials are racing to save up to 20 people who plunged into the Patapsco River after a Singaporean-flagged cargo ship crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

Governor Wes Moore declared a state of emergency Tuesday morning following the catastrophic collision that occurred at 1.30am.

The ship - the Singaporean-flagged Dali - was 20 minutes into its journey when it slammed into a support column on the bridge.

It remains unclear what led to the crash. Video shows the ship going dark seconds before the collision, suggesting a power failure on board. The crew of 22 remains onboard and is now being questioned by the Coast Guard.

In the meantime, Maryland authorities are using sonar detection devices to search for the vehicles that plunged into the 47F water.

Among those missing are six members of a construction crew who were carrying out pothole repairs on the bridge at the time, said Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld.

Baltimore officials are on a race to save up to 20 people who plunged into the Patapsco River after a Singaporean cargo ship crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge

An injured person was pictured being loaded into an ambulance after getting taken off the ship following the collapse

Rescue personnel gather on the shore of the Patapsco River

The Maryland Department of Transportation said there is an active search and rescue mission as of 7.30am

Governor Wes Moore declared a state of emergency Tuesday morning following the catastrophic collision at about 1.30am

Astonishing footage shows the moment the vessel plowed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, sending the colossal steel structure crashing into the Patapsco River

In the latest update by officials, Governor Moore said divers and air assets are currently working 'to save lives' and will update the public as the work continues.

'I recognize that many of us are hurting and scared right now,' the Democrat said just before 10am. 'I want to be clear, we are still investigating what happened, but our preliminary findings points to an accident, we haven't seen any credible evidence of a terrorist attack.'

FBI special agent in charge of the Baltimore office William DelBagno said 'there is no specific or credible information to suggest there are ties to terrorism in this incident.'

Initial reports indicate that at least a dozen cars hit the 47 degree water in addition to a 20 or so construction workers who were doing concrete repair work on the bridge at the time. The workers were pouring concrete on to the bridge at the time of crash.

The bridge spans 9,000 feet across the Patapsco River and is 180 feet above the water

At the first press conference around 6:30 am, Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace could only confirm that two people were pulled from the water. One was unhurt, the other had to be rushed to a local hospital with 'serious injuries.'

The collapse is sure to create a logistical nightmare for months, if not years, for the East Coast, shutting down ship traffic at the Port of Baltimore and snarling cargo and commuter traffic.

The FBI has ruled out terrorism as a cause to the crash.

Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on X: 'I've spoken with Gov. Moore and Mayor Scott to offer USDOT's support following the vessel strike and collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge.

'Rescue efforts remain underway and drivers in the Baltimore area should follow local responder guidance on detours and response.'

It was not immediately clear what caused the cargo ship to crash into the bridge long before the busy morning commute in what one official called a 'developing mass casualty event' in a major American city just outside of Washington.

'Never would you think that you would see, physically see, the Key Bridge tumble down like that. It looked like something out of an action movie,' said Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, calling it 'an unthinkable tragedy.'

Governor Moore said divers and air assets are currently working 'to save lives' and will update the public as the work continues.

'Rescue efforts remain underway and drivers in the Baltimore area should follow local responder guidance on detours and response,' said transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg

'Pilots move ships in and out of the Port of Baltimore,' said Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld at a news conference Tuesday

'Never would you think that you would see, physically see, the Key Bridge tumble down like that. It looked like something out of an action movie,' said Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott

Maryland Governor Wes Moore (C) walks with staff and law enforcement along the shore of the Patapsco River

It was not immediately clear what caused the cargo ship to crash into the bridge

According to an early Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) report, the container ship 'lost propulsion' as it was leaving port.

'The vessel notified MD Department of Transportation (MDOT) that they had lost control of the vessel and an allision with the bridge was possible,' the report said. 'The vessel struck the bridge causing a complete collapse.'

The ship crashed into one of the bridge's supports, causing the structure to snap and buckle at several points and tumble into the water in a matter of seconds  a shocking spectacle that was captured on video and posted on social media. The vessel caught fire, and thick, black smoke billowed out of it.

The rescue effort incorporates Coast Guard ships, local police boats, Baltimore's Fire Department, volunteer fire departments from the surrounding areas as well as teams of divers as the desperate search for survivors goes on.

There appeared to be an explosion on the container ship as it collided with the bridge sending container and diesel flooding into the water. One of the vehicles that fell to the water was a tractor-trailer.

The ship was not being piloted by its own crew but by local pilots who are used to specifically avoid accidents.

'Pilots move ships in and out of the Port of Baltimore,' said Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld at a news conference Tuesday.

The ship involved is the 948 foot long Dali, a Singaporean-flagged container which could be seen on ship tracking websites positioned stationary under the bridge following the crash.

The ship involved is the 948 foot long Dali, a Singaporean-flagged container

The ship crashed into one of the bridge's supports, causing the structure to snap and buckle at several points

Paul J. Wiedefeld, center, Maryland's transportation secretary, works near the scene

An aerial view of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge after the collision

It left Baltimore's Seagirt Marine Terminal at 12:24am, at 1:25am, is began to slow and diverted off of its course. The video shows lights going off on board just before the crash.

The Dali ship was bound for Colombo, Sri Lanka. It's unclear what cargo it was holding. The vessel was due to land in Asia on April 27.

According to the ship's owners, all crew members were accounted for with no injuries reported.

Around 30,000 vehicles use the bridge, which is named for the writer of the Star Spangled Banner, every day. It opened in 1977.

Sonar has indicated that there are vehicles in the water, where the temperature was about 47 degrees Fahrenheit in the early hours of Tuesday, according to a buoy that collects data for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Earlier, Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore Fire Department, told The Associated Press that several vehicles were on the bridge at the time of the collapse, including one the size of a tractor-trailer truck.

The bridge came down in the middle of night when traffic would be lighter than during the day when thousands of cars traverse the span.

Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley, with Mayor Brandon Scott (R) and Fire Department Chief James Wallace (L), speaks at a press conference on the collapse

At the first press conference around 6:30 am, Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace could only confirm that two people were pulled from the water

In the wake of the collapse, structural engineer and bridge designer Ian Firth told the BBC that it appears as the the ship 'strayed' rather to the side rather than going under the center of the bridge.

'But for whatever reason it must have strayed off and has hit the support.'

'The support is a very, relatively, flimsy structure when you look at it, it's a kind of trestle structure with individual legs. So, the bridge has collapsed simply as a result of this very large impact force,' he added.

In a separate interview with CNN, Cartwright said that structural engineers will need to study the condition of the bridge prior to the incident.

'This is a very devastating incident in which these individuals have encountered so our hearts go out to each and every one of them, and we will be working valiantly throughout the early morning to address this,' he said.

In 2001, a freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed in a tunnel in downtown Baltimore and caught fire, spewing black smoke into surrounding neighborhoods and forcing officials to temporarily close all major roads into the city.

This is not the first time the Dali has crashed. In 2016, the ship smashed into the dock in Antwerp, Belgium, as it was leaving the port for German city Bremerhaven during good weather.

The crash happened due to a mistake by the Master and pilot on board the ship, Vessel Finder reports.

The Dali suffered 'sufficient damages' in the stern, but remained afloat, while the dock was 'seriously damaged' at the time. No people were injured at the time and no oil spill was reported.
The White House has said there is no indication of 'nefarious intent' in the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

The ship involved in the collapse of the bridge is the 948ft Dali, a Singaporean-flagged container.

It left Baltimore's Seagirt Marine Terminal at 12:24am, at 1:25am, it began to slow and diverted off of its course.

It remains unclear what went wrong on the ship for it to strike the 1.6 mile bridge, with a White House official saying: 'There is no indication of nefarious intent'.

Initial reports indicate that at least a dozen cars hit the 47 degree water in addition to 20 or so construction workers who were working on the bridge at the time.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge rests partially collapsed after a cargo ship ran into it in Baltimore

The ship involved in the collapse of the bridge is 948 foot long Dali, a Singaporean-flagged container

The White House statement added that its 'hearts go out' to the families of those who are involved following the 'horrific incident'.

It continued: 'The US Coast Guard is conducting search and rescue for those who remain unaccounted for as a result of the bridge collapse.'

The FBI followed this up with their Baltimore field office saying there was 'no specific and credible information to suggest any ties to terrorism at this time'.

At the first press conference around 6:30 am, Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace could only confirm that two people were pulled from the water.

One was unhurt, the other had to be rushed to a local hospital with 'serious injuries.'

Wallace said that workers are looking for 'upwards of seven' people but that the number of missing could change as the collapse is a 'very large incident.'

At the same press conference, officials ruled out terrorism as relating to the cause of the crash.

The rescue effort incorporates Coast Guard ships, local police boats, Baltimore's Fire Department, volunteer fire departments from the surrounding areas as well as teams of divers as the desperate search for survivors goes on.

There appeared to be an explosion on the container ship as it collided with the bridge sending container and diesel flooding into the water. One of the vehicles that fell to the water was a tractor-trailer.

The ship involved in the collapse of the bridge is 948 foot long Dali, a Singaporean-flagged container

Initial reports indicate that at least a dozen cars hit the 47 degree water in addition to a 20 or so construction workers who were working on the bridge at the time

In a statement, Synergy Marine Group, who operates the Dali ship, said the vessel collided with a pillar of the bridge.

The company said: 'Whilst the exact cause of the incident is yet to be determined, the 'Dali' has now mobilised its Qualified Individual Incident response service.'

It added that all crew members, including the two pilots who were aboard, have all been accounted for.

US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said on social media that he was in contact with the mayor of Baltimore and the governor of Maryland, and had offered federal help.

'Rescue efforts remain underway and drivers in the Baltimore area should follow local responder guidance on detours and response,' he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Calls growing within PPP over Yoon to show flexibility over medical school quota hike

By Nam Hyun-woo

The ruling bloc is increasingly leaning toward dialogue and compromise to resolve the month-long standoff between the government and doctors over the enrollment quota hike for medical schools, with President Yoon Suk Yeol asking doctors, Tuesday, to join discussions for the governments medical budget next year.

Though Yoon is still stressing that there will be no compromise in increasing the current annual medical school admissions quota by 2,000, voices are growing within the ruling People Power Party (PPP) that Yoon should not obsess over that number. The party's interim leader Han Dong-hoon said "there should be no limits in the subject for the government-doctor talks."

During a meeting with doctors at a hospital in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, Yoon told his aides to suggest the medical community join discussions for the governments medical budget for 2025, according to senior presidential secretary for public relations Lee Do-woon.

The scale of improving regional medical infrastructure, strengthening compensation for doctors performing essential medical care and expanding medical R&D projects can be determined when the size of the medical budget is finalized, Yoon was quoted as saying. Through that, we can safeguard the people's lives and safety more thoroughly.

Yoons comments came hours after a Cabinet meeting in which he urged doctors to engage in dialogue with the government for his medical reform drive. In that meeting, he stressed the need to improve the levels of medical treatment, education and research capabilities at hospitals isolated from the capital region, adding that the enrollment quota expansion is the starting point for his medical reform drive.

Professors at most of the nation's 40 medical schools began offering their resignations this week in protest of Yoons push to add 2,000 slots next year to the current 3,058 annual admissions quota. Trainee doctors have been staging a mass walkout since last month, and the government had not taken back its threats to suspend the doctors medical licenses.

However, since last weekend, the government has been sending signals to doctors for talks, with Yoon calling for a flexible approach in suspending the licenses of trainee doctors following the PPP interim leaders request to do so.

Although Yoon and the government is sticking to the 2,000 slots and saying there will be no compromise, members of Yoon's own party are increasing their voices that the president should be also "flexible" on the exact number.

"The medical reform, including the expansion of the admissions quota, is a very important task for the people's health," Han told reporters hours after Yoon's Cabinet meeting. "Because public health is the top priority, there should be no limits in the subject for the talks (between the government and doctors), and they should reach a good conclusion through constructive dialogue."

When asked similar questions, Han reiterated that he believes "there should be conversation, and there should be no limits in the subject," implying the 2,000 figure could be subject to compromise.

His remarks are in line with PPP Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo's proposal for a compromise plan after Tuesday's meeting with doctors. The doctor-turned-politician said that adding new slots should come after "scientific research on the demand and in consensus with doctors."

PPP Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun also wrote on Facebook: "The PPP leadership should move to prevent (the government) from obsessing over the 2,000 figure and eventually losing chances for conversations with doctors." The lawmaker continued, "It is time for the party to strive to read the public's minds, not Yoon's intentions."

PPP Rep. Choe Jae-hyeong also said in a radio interview with YTN that he believed the conversation can start when "the government has a more flexible stance" on the enrollment quota issue.

Against that backdrop, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo had talks with some representatives of doctors to explore ideas for ending the standoff.

Though the meeting ended without tangible outcomes as doctors held their position of scrapping the quota expansion plan as the prerequisite for dialogue, the prime minister expressed his intention to continue talks, telling reporters, I dont think this is an issue that can be settled with one meeting.
This is the shocking moment a taxi driver ploughed into a pedestrian before speeding off in a hit-and-run.

Manchester Police are now hunting for the cabbie following the crash which took place at around 8.20pm on Thursday at the junction of Milkstone Road and Ashfield Road in Deeplish, Rochdale.

CCTV footage shows the white taxi first pull up on the pavement, before turning right into a side street.

But as it crosses the junction a man steps off the pavement into its path.

He's thrown onto the bonnet before falling to the floor and rolling across the road. The taxi driver then reverses, before speeding away.

Pictured: The taxi collides with the pedestrian before reversing and speeding off

Pictured: The taxi takes off at speed after the hit-and-run in Rochdale

Pictured: The taxi approaching the junction of Milkstone Road and Ashfield Road in Deeplish

Luckily the victim was not seriously injured.

Police have launched an investigation and say attempts are being made to trace the taxi.

Pictured: The taxi begins its right-hand turn into the street where the pedestrian approaches to cross the road

It was caught on the CCTV cameras of the nearby Auto Shop car spares and hardware store.

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 1010 quoting log number 3318 of March 21.
Rishi Sunak has waded into a row over the election of Oxford University's new chancellor by warning against 'divisive' efforts to restrict choice by race, age or sex.

Tory MPs are in uproar over a changing of the rules for the election of a new chancellor, in what some have claimed is a 'stitch-up'.

Lord Patten of Barnes, the former Conservative chairman and ex-governor of Hong Kong, has been chancellor since 2003 but is due to retire in the summer.

Under past rules, candidates to become chancellor could stand for election by alumni and staff if they were nominated by 50 Oxford graduates or academics.

But, in a rule change announced this month, an election committee will now vet nominees 'having due regard to the principles of equality and diversity'.

Government ministers are reported to have privately raised fears the move is an attempt to stop the role of chancellor going to another older, white, male politician.

The Department for Education is also claimed to be monitoring the election 'closely' over concerns it is designed to install a 'woke' candidate.

Critics have hit out at the university for adopting an 'undemocratic, Politburo-style election approach'.

One lecturer has branded the rule change 'incredibly petty' and claimed it 'illustrates the control freak tendencies of modern academic managers'.

Rishi Sunak has waded into a row over the election of Oxford University 's new chancellor by warning against 'divisive' efforts to restrict choice by race, age or sex

Tory MPs are in uproar over a changing of the rules for the election of a new Oxford University chancellor, in what some have claimed is a 'stitch-up'

Lord Patten of Barnes, the former Conservative chairman and ex-governor of Hong Kong , has been chancellor since 2003 but is due to retire in the summer

In a letter to The Times, Tory MPs expressed concern about plans to 'move from a system of electing... to what is effectively a form of selection by a small committee of insiders'

In a letter to The Times today, a group of Tory MPs expressed their concerns about Oxford's plan to 'move from a system of electing its chancellor to what is effectively a form of selection by a small committee of insiders'.

'The new rules stating that candidate selection must have "due regard to the principles of equality and diversity" are vague and undefined,' they wrote.

'Where other universities around the world have moved away from meritocracy, the results have been disastrous. Oxford should not go down the same road.'

This is an apparent reference to Claudine Gay's resignation in January as president of Harvard University, amid criticism over her comments about anti-Semitism on campus.

She was also hit by allegations she had plagiarised some of her academic work.

Ms Gay, the first black person and only the second woman to serve as president, quit after just six months as head of the prestigious US university.

Her tenure was the shortest in its 388-year history and her resignation raised questions over Harvard's vetting processes.

Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, who mounted a campaign to remove Ms Gay from her position, suggested she had only been appointed because she fitted with diversity, equity and inclusion critieria.

The letter to the newspaper from Tory MPs was signed by former Cabinet minister Sir Simon Clarke, as well as Miriam Cates, Danny Kruger, Chris Green, Tom Hunt, James Grundy, and Neil O'Brien.

The chancellorship of Oxford University is largely a ceremonial role, with previous holders of the position including ex-PMs Harold MacMillan and the Duke of Wellington, as well as Oliver Cromwell.

Asked about criticism of Oxford University's new process for choosing Lord Patten's replacement, Mr Sunak's spokesman said the election was 'a matter for Oxford University'.

But he added: 'It is important that democratic processes are followed. As we've said before, restricting candidates on the basis of race, age or sex is divisive.'

A spokesman for Oxford University has previously said: 'The University of Oxford's next chancellor will be elected by Convocation using an online platform.

'Eligibility for the role 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.

'Announcements about applications for the post and registering to vote will be made in due course.'
This is the shocking moment when the container ship the Dali lost electrical power moments before it collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, destroying the iconic structure and leaving multiple people missing.

Footage shows the ship with just a front light on with the rest of the hull shrouded in darkness as it approaches part of the bridge after 1am Tuesday morning. As it gets closer, all of the lights on board go out.

The lights start to come back on as the ship grows closer to the bridge with a large cloud of black smoke coming out of one of the funnels.

As the ship gets closer again, all of the lights suddenly go out once more. The lights return again as the vessel veers too close to the bridge to turn away. Seconds later the collision occurs.

At the initial press conference following the crash, Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace said that a massive rescue operation is still underway to help those who fell into the water as a result of the crash.

Wallace confirmed that sonar has shown that there is are an undisclosed amount of vehicles submerged in the freezing water. Two people have so far been rescued, one is being treated for serious injuries at a local hospital, the other was unharmed.

The ship suffered a blackout as it approached the bridge

Gradually as it approaches, the lights come back on

A plume of black smoke shot out of one of the ship's funnels after it lights came on

As the ship grew closer again to the bridge, the lights went out. Despite coming back on moments later, it was too late to change course and the ship made devastating impact

A picture taken of the Dali in the early hours of Tuesday showing the remnants of the bridge with containers strewn across the deck

The mangled wreckage of the bridge wrapped around the front of the shipping container Dali

The crew of the Dali have remained on board and are being interviewed by members of the Coast Guard

The moment the vessel collided with the huge steel structure, sending it crashing down

The bridge collapsing into the Patapsco River

There were no immediate reports of any casualties but there did appear to be traffic on the bridge at the time of the catastrophe

A livestream showed the disaster unfolding, with the vessel plowing into a pile holding up the central part of the bridge. The road and steel arches immediately tumble into the water

The bridge spans 9,000 feet across the Patapsco River and is 180 feet above the water

In the wake of the collapse, Ben Schafer, Professor of Civil and Systems Engineering at Johns Hopkins told DailyMail.com that the location 'where the bridge was struck is unique.'

'As I understand it right now, the location where the bridge was struck is unique. In that it is the same location where the bridge has to resist the maximum amount of force as it holds up the center span.'

'You can understand this visually as the depth of the steel from top arch to bottom support is greatest at these support locations.'

'Almost all bridges from short to long span have some protection for bridge piers in the water to prevent scour and to prevent boat strikes, but it was apparently not enough in this situation,' Schafer said.

Meanwhile, structural engineer and bridge designer Ian Firth told the BBC that it appears as the the ship 'strayed' rather to the side rather than going under the center of the bridge.

'But for whatever reason it must have strayed off and has hit the support.'

'The support is a very, relatively, flimsy structure when you look at it, it's a kind of trestle structure with individual legs. So, the bridge has collapsed simply as a result of this very large impact force,' he added.

Initial reports indicate that at least a dozen cars hit the 47 degree water in addition to a 20 or so construction workers who were working on the bridge at the time. The workers were pouring concrete on to the bridge at the time of crash.

At the first press conference around 6:30 am, Chief Wallace could only confirm that two people were pulled from the water. One was unhurt, the other had to be rushed to a local hospital with 'serious injuries.'

One local official described the situation as a 'dire emergency'

A picture showing the aftermath of the collapse as the sky begins to brighten in Baltimore, the Dali can be seen to the right with many containers still in tact

Wallace said that workers are looking for 'upwards of seven' people but that the number of missing could change as the collapse is a 'very large incident.' The chief called the efforts a 'search and rescue' operation.

At the same press conference, officials ruled out terrorism as relating to the cause of the crash.

The rescue effort incorporates Coast Guard ships, local police boats, Baltimore's Fire Department, volunteer fire departments from the surrounding areas as well as teams of divers as the desperate search for survivors goes on.

There appeared to be an explosion on the container ship as it collided with the bridge sending container and diesel flooding into the water. One of the vehicles that fell to the water was a tractor-trailer.

The ship involved is the 948 foot long Dali, a Singaporean-flagged container which could be seen on ship tracking websites positioned stationary under the bridge following the crash.

It left Baltimore's Seagirt Marine Terminal at 12:24am, at 1:25am, is began to slow and diverted off of its course. The video shows lights going off on board just before the crash.

According to the ship's owners, all crew members were accounted for with no injuries reported. The owners also said in a statement that: 'There has been no pollution,' according TradeWinds, a global shipping publication.

The crew has remained on board the ship and are being questioned by members of the Coast Guard.

The effort is a race against time due to the tide which is coming back in as of 6:30 am local time, Wallace said.

Multiple boats marked as Coast Guard search and rescue vessels were surrounding the ship around 7am Eastern. The Coast Guard later said that 'multiple response units deployed for active search and rescue.'

The astonishing moment when the bridge, which sits 180 feet above the river, collapsed was caught on camera. Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore Fire Department, called the situation 'a dire emergency.'

Governor Wes Moore has declared a state of emergency in Maryland in order for local officials to access funds from the Biden administration. The governor also said his office is in close contact with Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.

Around 30,000 vehicles use the bridge, which is named for the writer of the Star Spangled Banner, every day. It opened in 1977.

'Our focus right now is trying to rescue and recover these people,' Cartwright said. He said it's too early to know how many people were affected but called the collapse a 'developing mass casualty event.'

Cartwright said it appears there are 'some cargo or retainers hanging from the bridge,' creating unsafe and unstable conditions, and that emergency responders are operating cautiously as a result.

Hypothermia can occur when a person's body temperature drops below 95 degrees.

In a separate interview with CNN, Cartwright said that structural engineers will need to study the condition of the bridge prior to the incident.

'This is a very devastating incident in which these individuals have encountered so our hearts go out to each and every one of them, and we will be working valiantly throughout the early morning to address this,' he said.

The Dali ship was bound for Colombo, Sri Lanka. It's unclear what cargo it was holding. The vessel was due to land in Asia on April 27. At the time of writing, the 50 meter wide ship is marooned under the bridge.

It arrived in Baltimore from Norfolk on Monday having previously made journeys to New York City and Panama.

The 1.6-mile bridge, which is part of I-695, crosses the Patapsco River in Baltimore's harbor. Built in 1977, the main span of the truss bridge at 1,200ft is the third longest span of any continuous truss in the world.

The structure carries around 12million vehicles every year. It carries the Baltimore Beltway/Interstate 695 over the river.

Baltimore's port became internationally famous in 2003 when it was a key setting for the second season of HBO's The Wire.

The port handles $2.6 billion in business income and nearly $400 million in taxes, according to Maryland's government. In 2023, the port handled 52.3 tons of cargo at a value of $80.8 billion.

The 1.6-mile bridge, which is part of I-695, crosses the Patapsco River in Baltimore's harbor. Built in 1977, the main span of the truss bridge at 1,200ft is the third longest span of any continuous truss in the world

The Dali container ship is pictured in a file photo off the Port of Felixstowe in the United Kingdom in September 2018

Among those responding to the scene are the Harford County Fire and EMS as well as volunteer firefighters from the Volunteer Swift Water Team and the Harford County Department of Emergency Services' Special Operations Team.

Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski said in a tweet that his office is monitoring the situation and working with the mayor's office and other local officials. 'Our prayers remain with all those impacted,' Olszweski said.

Hours before the crash, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott delivered his annual state of the cit address in which he emphasized a clean-up of the city's harbor in addition to fighting crime and poverty.

'Join me in this fight for the future and soul of our city, and show the world how beautiful Baltimore can be,' he said.
The manager of an aesthetics clinic in Majorca has been arrested for manslaughter following the death of a British woman during a 6,000 boob job in September last year.

Officers from the National Police's Homicide Group made the arrest of the managing director today, outside the private clinic in Palma.

The doctor who carried out the procedure on the woman who suffered with a heart defect was also taken in by cops, and is accused of homicide due to serious recklessness, respected Majorcan newspaper Ultima Hora reported.

After investigating the case, officials concluded the report with the arrest of the manager, who was also an anesthetist, over his role in helping the operation take place.

A third surgeon was also allegedly involved and was set to be arrested before he reportedly travelled to Switzerland after the unnamed British woman had died.

The manager of a beauty clinic in Palma, Majorca, was arrested alongside a doctor following the death of a Brit woman who died after suffering a 'series of complications' during a boob job at the parlour in September. She was rushed to Son Espases Hospital (file image) where she died

But Europol soon informed the National Police that the surgeon had died as a result of a terminal illness before he could be arrested.

The Homicide Group have since released the manager of the clinic from the Palma Penitentiary Centre where he is serving another sentence for medical negligence and fraud, in order to file new charges, it has been reported.

The double arrest took place after the British woman died just hours after suffering 'a series of complications' during the breast operation in mid-September.

Investigators found that she had a heart defect, resulting in 25 per cent of the organ not functioning correctly, according to reports.

Officials believe that the surgeons had knowledge of her condition, and did not perform the necessary preoperative procedures - ultimately leading to her sudden death.

The Brit had travelled to the Spanish island from the UK before she died in Son Espases Hospital, Palma, following the surgical complications.

The surgeon who operated on her has still not been named, but reports described him as a long-established professional 'who has spent decades working in Palma and other European countries' at the time of the woman's death.

His nationality was not revealed either, but locals said he lived outside of Spain.

A friend of the family said that the woman's brother and parents flew out from Britain to be with her after she was put into an induced coma in hospital following the operation.

'Her parents were by her side until she passed away about two weeks later and at least were able to say goodbye to her', said the friend.
President Joe Biden is now considering expanding a program that could allow 4,000 undocumented immigrants every year to avoid deportation and obtain a green card to remain in the United States.

Those who have lived in the U.S. for more than 10 years and have a legal citizen relative that would 'suffer' as a result of their removal could qualify for access to this program, which the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) says allows non-legal permanent residents to apply for a judge to 'cancel your removal' and stay in the U.S.

It comes amid continued crackdowns by Republicans in Congress on the Biden administration's actions at the southern border.

The House voted last month to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for dereliction of duty and lying to the American people. And recent reports revealing that 320,000 migrants were flown by the Biden administration into U.S. cities in 2023 have only added to criticism of Biden's immigration policies.

President Biden is considering a program to allow undocumented immigrants who have been in the U.S. for at least 10 years to apply for a green card if a citizen relative would 'suffer' due to their removal. Pictured: Migrants attempt to pull down razor wire at the border in El Paso, Texas on March 22

A September 2023 document outlines the requirements for an illegal immigrant to apply for a judge to 'cancel your removal' from the U.S.

The application qualifications, according to the EOIR September 2023 document, include the claim that a U.S. citizen who is a spouse, parent or child would 'suffer exceptional and extremely unusual hardship if you were ordered to leave the United States.'

The document notes: '4,000 people are granted cancellation of removal per year. You will have to wait your turn before an immigration judge can approve your application. This may take years.'

Similar to the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival program, the Biden administration is examining widespread action for other groups of undocumented immigrants who have lived in the U.S. for at least 10 years, three people familiar with planning told Politico.

DACA gave green cards to those who were born in foreign nations and brought illegally into the U.S. as children, and don't know another country as their home.

To be considered for the Biden administration green card program, applicants must be a 'person of 'good moral character' and have been in the U.S. for at least 10 years.

Biden's green card application is similar to the Obama-era DACA program, which allowed illegal migrants brought to the U.S. as children to obtain a green card rather than be deported to the country where they were born

Additionally, the EOIR document notes undocumented migrants applying to avoid removal must 'have not been convicted of any serious crimes,' which would be grounds for automatic disqualification.

There has been increased focus on crime committed by illegal immigrants recently as Republicans point to this being another reason why there needs to be more policies put in place to stop the flow over the southern border.

Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, 22, was abducted last month while on a run and brutally murdered on the University of Georgia campus by undocumented Venezuelan immigrant Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, who was released into the U.S. after illegally crossing in September 2022.

The next month, another undocumented immigrant was arrested in Massachusetts for the rape of a 15-year-old disabled girl.
Rebecca Judd has called out Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan after a home invasion in her well-heeled Bayside suburb left an elderly man fighting for his life.

Three offenders broke into a home in Beaumaris, a stone's throw from Judd's $7.3million Brighton mansion, about 1.30am on Monday.

'A 74-year-old man home at the time was significantly assaulted and was subsequently transported to hospital in a critical condition,' a spokesperson for Victoria Police said.

His wife, 75, who was also at home at the time, was not injured. Nothing was believed to be stolen.

Influencer and model Judd, who lives with her husband Chris and their four children, shared a news report of the story.

'Just another night in Victoria (yes, this is Bayside again but we know this happens everywhere),' Judd told her 758,000 Instagram followers.

Rebecca Judd (pictured) has called out Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan after a home invasion in her well-heeled Bayside suburb left an elderly man fighting for his life

'Just another night in Victoria (yes, this is Bayside again but we know this happens everywhere),' Judd told her 758,000 Instagram followers (pictured)

'Jacinta Allan how are you still avoiding this? Let's see how many of the alleged offenders are out on bail Thoughts are with the victim in ICU and his poor wife.'

Judd, 41, has persistently called on the Victorian government to do more to tackle crime in Melbourne.

In June 2022, Rebecca said she felt 'unsafe' in her mansion and that she was 'so sick of the rapes, bashings and home invasions at the hands of the gangs in Bayside'.

'I personally know two women who have experienced home invasions in Brighton in the last few weeks while they were at home,' she said.

She also reposted CCTV footage of a gang of young men lurking outside properties in her affluent suburb and claimed it made her feel 'unsafe'.

Judd has repeatedly spoke out about Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan's handling of Victoria's crime wave

Last year she doubled down on her claim that Melbourne's elite suburbs are under siege by criminals and 'machete-wielding thugs', calling for changes to youth offending laws.

The footy wag has continually demanded Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan 'fix the system'.

And just last week she had her demands validated by evidence after state opposition Liberal MP James Newbury posted crime statistics outlining that there are 16 home invasions each day in Victoria, and a 43 per cent increase in aggravated burglaries in Bayside.

'Pretty sure someone warned the government about this in 2022 and was rubbished,' Rebecca commented.

'They didn't care then and they don't care now. This is a Vic wide issue and not just Bayside.'

Rebecca, 41, who lives in a $7.3 million Brighton mansion with her AFL star husband, Chris (pictured) and four kids, has persistently called on the Victorian government to do more to tackle crime in Melbourne

The footy wag has continually demanded Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan 'fix the system'

In response to the most recent home invasion, Liberal Sandringham MP Brad Rowswell said residents were 'living in fear'.

'These residents are sick and tired of excuses,' Mr Rowswell told the Herald Sun.

'They just want the state government to give Victoria Police the powers and resources they need to do their job and keep the community safe.'

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
A two-year-old girl is fighting for life and a car and a truck crashed head-on in Sydney's southwest.

Emergency services were called to King Street, Rossmore, at about 9am on Tuesday after a silver Holden SUV and a truck were damaged in a head-on collision.

A two-year-old toddler - who was in the SUV - was was taken to The Children's Hospital at Westmead in a critical condition.

A two-year-old girl is fighting for life and a car and a truck crashed head-on in Sydney 's southwest

The 35-year-old driver of the SUV was taken to Westmead Hospital in a stable condition for mandatory testing after NSW Ambulance paramedics treated her at the scene.

The 31-year-old truck driver was taken to Liverpool Hospital for mandatory testing in a stable condition after being treated by NSW Ambulance on the scene.

A crime scene has been established and an investigation has been launched.

Anyone with information is urged to Contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
The container ship that crashed into Baltimore's Key Bridge, causing it to collapse, has previously smashed into a dock in Antwerp, Belgium.

The vessel has been identified as Singapore-flagged Dali, which was enroute from Baltimore to the Sri Lankan city of Colombo when it collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

But this is not the first time the Dali has crashed. In 2016, the ship smashed into the dock in Antwerp, Belgium, as it was leaving the port for German city Bremerhaven during good weather.

The crash happened due to a mistake by the Master and pilot on board the ship, Vessel Finder reports.

The Dali suffered 'sufficient damages' in the stern, but remained afloat, while the dock was 'seriously damaged' at the time. No people were injured at the time and no oil spill was reported.

The vessel has been identified as Singapore-flagged Dali, which was enroute from Baltimore to the Sri Lankan city of Colombo when it collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge

But this is not the first time the Dali has crashed. In 2016, the ship smashed into the dock in Antwerp, Belgium, as it was leaving the port during good weather

Footage of the incident shows the stern crashing into the dock, creating a cloud of dust as the ship damaged the stone walls

The bridge spans 9,000 feet across the Patapsco River and is 180 feet above the water

Footage of the incident shows the stern crashing into the dock, creating a cloud of dust as the ship damaged the stone walls.

Built in 2015, the Dali measures 948 feet in length and nearly 164 feet in width. It can carry about 111,000 tonnes of cargo on board.

It was manufactured by South Korean firm Hyundai Heavy Industries and is currently sailing under Singaporean flags.

In the shocking crash with the Key Bridge in Baltimore this morning, the Dali was filmed changing course, before it appeared to slow down as all the exterior lights turned off and smoke appeared.

Footage of its approach reveals how the vessel appeared to suddenly lose power before making a partial recovery.

The ship is then seen billowing black smoke into the night sky before losing power again and abruptly pivoting towards one of the structural supports holding the bridge up.

Upon colliding with the 180ft-high structure, the ship appears to lose power a third time as the bridge collapses dramatically around it, first breaking around the support before breaking in the middle and losing balance on its eastern pillar.

Rescue workers are working furiously in an attempt to save the lives of dozens of people who were plunged into the frigid waters of the Patapsco River when the bridge collapsed.

Initial reports indicate that at least a dozen cars hit the 47 degree water in addition to a 20 or so construction workers who were working on the bridge at the time. The workers were pouring concrete on to the bridge at the time of crash.

Astonishing footage shows the moment the vessel plowed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, sending the colossal steel structure crashing into the Patapsco River, shortly before 1.30am Eastern

The ship involved is the 948 foot long Dali, a Singaporean-flagged container which could be seen on ship tracking websites positioned stationary under the bridge following the crash

The bridge quickly collapsed into the Patapsco River after the collision with the container ship

A livestream showed the disaster unfolding, with the vessel plowing into a pile holding up the central part of the bridge. The road and steel arches immediately tumble into the water

The crew has remained on board the ship and are being questioned by members of the Coast Guard

Built in 2015, the Dali (pictured here in 2018) measures 948 feet in length and nearly 164 feet in width. It can carry about 111,000 tonnes of cargo on board

At the first press conference around 6.30am, Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace could only confirm that two people were pulled from the water.

One was unhurt, the other had to be rushed to a local hospital with 'serious injuries'.

Wallace said that workers are looking for 'upwards of seven' people but that the number of missing could change as the collapse is a 'very large incident.' The chief called the efforts a 'search and rescue' operation.

READ MORE: How container ship Dali changes course and appears to slow down as all the exterior lights turned off and smoke appears as it approaches Baltimores Francis Scott Key Bridge before crashing into it Advertisement

The rescue effort incorporates Coast Guard ships, local police boats, Baltimore's Fire Department, volunteer fire departments from the surrounding areas as well as teams of divers as the desperate search for survivors goes on.

There appeared to be an explosion on the container ship as it collided with the bridge sending container and diesel flooding into the water. One of the vehicles that fell to the water was a tractor-trailer.

The Dali could be seen on ship tracking websites positioned stationary under the bridge following the crash.

It left Baltimore's Seagirt Marine Terminal at 12.24am, at 1.25am, is began to slow and diverted off of its course. The video shows lights going off on board just before the crash.

According to the ship's owners, all crew members were accounted for with no injuries reported. The owners also said in a statement that: 'There has been no pollution,' TradeWinds, a global shipping publication, reports.

The crew has remained on board the ship and are being questioned by members of the Coast Guard.

The effort is a race against time due to the tide which is coming back in as of 6.30am local time, Wallace said.

Multiple boats marked as Coast Guard search and rescue vessels were surrounding the ship around 7am Eastern. The Coast Guard later said that 'multiple response units deployed for active search and rescue.'

Multiple boats marked as Coast Guard search and rescue vessels were surrounding the ship around 7am Eastern

In the wake of the collapse, structural engineer and bridge designer Ian Firth told the BBC that it appears as the the ship 'strayed' rather to the side rather than going under the center of the bridge

Around 30,000 vehicles use the bridge, which is named for the writer of the Star Spangled Banner, every day. It opened in 1977

Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore Fire Department, called the situation 'a dire emergency.'

'Our focus right now is trying to rescue and recover these people,' Cartwright said. He said it's too early to know how many people were affected but called the collapse a 'developing mass casualty event.'

Cartwright said it appears there are 'some cargo or retainers hanging from the bridge,' creating unsafe and unstable conditions, and that emergency responders are operating cautiously as a result.

Hypothermia can occur when a person's body temperature drops below 95 degrees.

It's unclear what cargo the Dali was holding. The vessel was due to land in Asia on April 27.

It arrived in Baltimore from Norfolk on Monday having previously made journeys to New York City and Panama.

The 1.6-mile bridge, which is part of I-695, crosses the Patapsco River in Baltimore's harbor. Built in 1977, the main span of the truss bridge at 1,200ft is the third longest span of any continuous truss in the world.

The structure carries around 12million vehicles every year. It carries the Baltimore Beltway/Interstate 695 over the river.

Baltimore's port became internationally famous in 2003 when it was a key setting for the second season of HBO's The Wire.

The port handles $2.6 billion in business income and nearly $400 million in taxes, according to Maryland's government. In 2023, the port handled 52.3 tons of cargo at a value of $80.8 billion.
This video is no longer available

This video is no longer available

A bank teller has been praised for saving a customer from losing millions in a cruel romance scam.

The woman approached Marlena Karbowski at the Westpac branch in Liverpool, Western Sydney, and asked to scrap her home insurance as she was planning to sell up.

Ms Karbowski asked why she was selling her home after noticing the customer apppeared nervous.

The woman initially said she was 'helping out her son', but capitulated and admitted it was to get her boyfriend freed from an overseas jail.

The teller immediately realised something was amiss and asked the woman into her office to investigate further.

Westpac bank teller Marlena Karbowski (pictured) saved a customer from a cruel scam

Ms Karbowski asked the woman when her boyfriend had last taken her out for a coffee, to which she replied: 'Actually, never, we met online.'

She asked the woman for a photo of her supposed boyfriend and ran a reverse image search through Google.

The results proved the man was not who he claimed to be.

'All the photos she received were online, but with different names,' Ms Karbowski told 9News.

'We cried together and I walked her to the police station to report it.

'We care and when we see those red flags, we act.'

The customer isn't the only Aussie being targeted by 'romance scams', with over $34million lost to similiar fraudsters in 2023, according to the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission's ScamWatch.

The majority of victims are aged between 55 and 64 years old.

Despite being the second most damaging type of scam in Australia, it is still dwarfed by investment scams which conned Aussies out of $290million.

Ms Karbowski found out the woman was looking to sell her home to get her supposed 'boyfriend' out of an overseas jail

Westpac on Tuesday revealed an artificial intelligence-powered feature called SaferPay that will protect their customers.

SaferPay identifies 'high-risk' transactions and will 'prompt you with a few quick questions to get more information' such as why the payment is being made and who it's going to.

'While our prevention measures have led to a considerable drop in customer losses over the last year, fraudsters are still taking millions of dollars from our customers each month,' Westpac CEO, Peter King, said in a statement.

'This innovation is the first of its kind in Australia and will add important friction to payments deemed to have high scam risk.'
The Las Vegas man accused of shooting his six-year-old neighbor, severing his spine and leaving her wheelchair-bound, has been sentenced to prison time.

Arreion Willoughby, 31, will serve four to 11 years' imprisonment with credit for 127 days already served following Monday's sentencing.

The sentence was the maximum in the man's guilty plea for two felony charges of willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons resulting in substantial bodily harm, and ownership of a gun by a prohibited person.

The counts stemmed from an incident last November where Willoughy fired a gun through the wall of his apartment, paralyzing then-five-year-old Draya Ransey.

The girl's parents, Porschia Ransey and Gregory Harris, delivered victim impact statements virtually before Willoughby's sentencing.

As he thought of his wheelchair-bound daughter, Harris fought back tears.

'I beat myself up because my baby should not be laying in that bed, the fact that she cant dance with me like she used to, the fact that she cant run to me and give me hugs when I come home from work,' he said.

Draya Ransey, 6, was paralyzed after a bullet fired through a wall of her family's apartment severed her spinal cord

The girl's parents, Porschia Ransey and Gregory Harris, delivered impact statements before the sentencing of their daughter's shooter on Monday

Arreion Willoughby, 31, will serve four to 11 years' imprisonment with credit for 127 days already served after pleading guilty to firing the bullet that struck the little girl

Although she is recovering at a facility, doctors have told the family that Draya may never walk again.

In the aftermath of the violence, the family is grappling with lasting trauma, including Draya and her four siblings being afraid to use the bathroom.

On November 20 of last year, the then-five-year-old was found lying in a pool of blood on the bathroom floor of her family's apartment.

When officers arrived, they encountered Ransey, who was shouting for help, according to an arrest report.

She initially suspected that the little girl had fallen off the toilet and hit her head - but later learned that a bullet had entered the little girl's back, severing her spinal cord before lodging in the side of her neck.

Police discovered a bullet hole in the bathroom wall and went into the neighboring apartment, but no one was home. They secured a search warrant and took Willoughby into custody.

Through the warrant, investigators obtained surveillance footage that showed Willoughby standing in front of a bed, appearing to hold and point something.

A loud bang sounded and Willoughby flinched before stepping away from the area where the bullet hole was later found.

Four children were in the apartment with him at the time. One told police that she was awoken by a loud popping sound, but assumed it was a frozen burrito in the microwave.

She then heard someone pounding on the door. When Willoughby answered, a teenager started yelling that the neighbor needed help.

In November 2023, Draya was found lying in a pool of blood and was originally suspected to have fallen off the toilet and hit her head

The girl's parents, Porschia Ransey and Gregory Harris, delivered impact statements before Monday's sentencing

Police discovered a bullet hole in the bathroom wall and learned that Willoughby had fired a bullet from the bedroom of the apartment next door

Police say Willoughby went next door and saw Draya lying in her own blood.

'Nothing happened, I dont even own a firearm,' the man told officers. He insisted that he did not shoot the little girl.

Investigators learned that the apartment Willoughby was staying in was not his own. They interviewed the woman whose name the property was listed under, and she told them Willoughby had lived with her for the past few months.

She insisted there were no guns in the home and, since Willoughby was a convicted felon, he did not own one.

However, she admitted that her brother owned a firearm when he used to live with her, but took it with him when he moved out.

The brother told police that he had purchased a gun for his sister as a surprise Christmas present and had hidden it in a box in the bedroom closet.

While his sister had no knowledge that the gun was in the apartment, the man said that Willoughby did, as he was with him when he bought it.

Willoughby was arrested and originally charged with seven counts of child neglect and child abuse resulting in substantial bodily harm.

The 31-year-old pleaded guilty in February to the counts for which he was ultimately sentenced.

During Monday's hearing, Willoughby apologized and claimed the gun had discharged when he was doing laundry.

'I never intended for that to happen,' he said. 'I did not know that firearm was loaded.'

He asked the family to give him.

However, Draya's mother expressed that she was disappointed by the apology.

'To hear the doctor say that your baby may never walk again when she used to run and dance,' Ransey said, sobbing. 'The fact that shes on a ventilator.'

She explained that the family had to move to Utah while Draya received treatment.

'Its very traumatizing,' she said. 'My baby didnt deserve this.'

The 31-year-old is a convicted felon who is not allowed to own or possess a firearm

Willoughby apologized to the family in court, but Draya's mother said the entire family remained traumatized from the incident

Draya and her three siblings remain scared to use the bathroom, and the family had to relocate to Utah while Draya was hospitalized

Willoughby's defense attorney, Kendall Stone, unsuccessfully asked District Judge Jennifer Schwartz to sentence his client to probation.

'He had no idea there was someone on that other side of the wall,' Stone insisted. 'It really was a tragic mistake.'

However, Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney Dena Rinetti said Willoughby had acted recklessly.

'An apartment full of children and hes aiming that firearm into an apartment where he knows another family lives,' Rinetti said.

She added that Willoughby was seen on video leaving the apartment with a bag after the shooting. Police never recovered the gun.

Stone admitted that Willoughby was a previously convicted felon who had served probation for previous offenses.

Court records show the Las Vegas man pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery in 2015.

Four years later, he pleaded guilty to child abuse, neglect or endangerment, and was placed on probation.

In 2022, he was placed on probation yet again after pleading guilty to attempted ownership or possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.

'I have no doubt that this was not an intentional act,' Schwartz said, addressing Willoughby.

'I dont think that you sought out to do this or cause any sort of harm. But that doesnt mean that you get probation.'

Drayas prognosis is uncertain. In December, the little girl celebrated her sixth birthday from a hospital bed.

'This is just an absolutely senseless act,' Rinetti said.

She underlined the fact that Willoughby was not allowed to own a gun as a convicted felon.

'An individual who should have never had that gun, who should have never loaded that firearm and who should have never pointed that weapon at that wall, and who should have never fired that gun.'

Willoughby may be ordered to pay restitution to the family when the case is revisited in May.
Lee Jae-myung should stop being subservient to China

While on the stump on Friday in Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province, Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), shared his thoughts on China with voters. In a seeming attempt to criticize President Yoon Suk Yeol for strengthening the traditional alliance with the United States, Lee said, "The Chinese are not buying Korean products because they don't like Korea. Why does [the Yoon administration] harass China?"

Then, giving a hand gesture expressing his gratitude, Lee continued, "Just say 'xiexie' to China and just say 'xiexie' to Taiwan." More problematically, Lee went on to simplify China ties and the issue of China and Taiwan into an economic matter for South Korea. He told the public, "No matter what unfolds in the Taiwan Strait, and no matter what takes place in China-Taiwan relations, it does not concern us. We should care just about our livelihoods, and that would be enough."

With the upcoming April 10 general elections expected to be a judgment day for either the ruling People Power Party (PPP) or the DPK, both parties are bound to pander to voters and pounce on each other's mistakes. It is another matter however for the parties to intrude into the territory of "security populism." The DPK has traditionally stood for working closer with China and North Korea, so he may have been expressing a pragmatic perspective. But by invariably targeting Yoon's tilt toward the U.S. and its Indo-Pacific strategy that opposes a change in the status quo in Taiwan, Lee was tapping into the party's core supporters who oppose much of Yoon's policies.

Votes are important in an election but voters are not simpletons. East Asia is a region laden with complex uncertainties that leading politicians should not mislead the public about. The Taiwan Strait issue is not unrelated to South Korea, with implications for the U.S. forces stationed in South Korea. A large bulk of Korean exports pass through the Taiwan Strait. The Financial Times reported that U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida are expected to upgrade their security pact when they meet in April at the White House to address looming threats and other variables.

PPP interim leader Han Dong-hoon immediately blasted Lee's comment as being "subservient" to China.

Lee has met such criticism before. Last June, he attended a dinner reception at the residence of Chinese Ambassador to Korea Xing Haiming, where Xing expanded for 15 minutes on bilateral issues between the two countries to which Lee did not offer any rebuttal. The opposition leader is a former presidential contender who is running on the DPK ticket for the April 10 general elections in Incheon's Gyeyang B electorate. He needs to be more detailed and nuanced in how he explains his diplomatic views.

While its alliance with the United States is based on shared values, South Korea is a country that should not stand at the front of the new Cold War. It needs to pursue balanced diplomacy with allies and neighboring countries in this multi-polarizing world. Korea can and should play a pivotal role in revitalizing exchanges with China, Russia and North Korea.

Lee may take a pointer from former Foreign Minister Park Jin. Park, who is running on the PPP's ticket for Seodaemun in Seoul, in a recent YouTube meeting stressed that China has an inclination to subjugate its neighboring nations, and South Korea should thus remain vigilant and firmly resist any attempts at intervening in Korea's identity, matters of survival or sovereignty.

The opposition leader needs to bear in mind that a bipartisan stance is important for achieving Korea's diplomatic goals. Lee should know that his words will have a trickle-down effect on the constituents inclined to view the matter in a similar one-dimensional way. That would be a disservice to the constituency. Amid the heightening geopolitical and geo-economic uncertainties and declining democracy, candidates running in the general elections should chart a more-informed and detailed path toward the future.


Migrant families in New York city have begun receiving prepaid debit cards as part of a controversial scheme that could see them receive up to $18,200 a year.

Officials began distributing the cards to the first ten new arrivals at the city's Roosevelt Hotel shelter on Monday.

The cards are preloaded with a week's worth of funds and will be rolled out to 115 families, equivalent to 450 people by the end of the week.

Mayor Eric Adams is pressing ahead with the $53 million scheme, despite a furious backlash amid fears the cards are open to abuse.

The debit cards can only be used at supermarkets and bodegas, the city leader said. A family of four with two children could receive up to $350 per week, depending on the childrens ages.

Migrant families in New York city have begun receiving prepaid debit cards as part of a controversial scheme that could see them receive up to $18,200 a year

Officials began distributing the cards to the first ten new arrivals at the city's Roosevelt Hotel shelter on Monday

The cards are preloaded with a week's worth of funds and will be rolled out to 115 families, equivalent to 450 people by the end of the week

Participants will also have to sign an affidavit swearing they will only use the cards for food or baby supplies at the risk of being removed from the program.

But critics including Adams' rival on the migrant crisis, Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Queens born rapper, 50 Cent have questioned why migrants are receiving the cards ahead of struggling New Yorkers.

Abbott blasted the 'offensive' scheme as 'insanity,' but supporters say it will help the city deal with the strain on its services caused by a surge in migrants in recent months.

In the last two years 180,000 asylum seekers entered New York, with 65,000 still in shelters.

Adams insists the debit cards will save the city $600,000 a month, or $7.2 million annually, by allowing migrants to spend money that will go back into the local economy instead of the city spending funds on boxes of food.

Joseph Borelli, the City Council's Republican minority leader, acknowledged there would be a saving, but questioned the amount being spent on migrants.

'A lot of New Yorkers are going to take this as something that's fundamentally unfair,' he told the New York Times. 'There are plenty of New Yorkers struggling to pay their bills.'

Adams' decision to award the contract for the debit cards to Mobility Capital Finance on an emergency basis without competitive bids from other companies has also raised eyebrows.

A family of four with two children could receive up to $350 per week, depending on the childrens ages

Mayor Eric Adams insists the debit cards will save the city $600,000 a month , or $7.2 million annually

The plans went ahead despite a fierce backlash from the likes of Texas Governor Greg Abbott (left) and Queens born rapped 50 Cent

His administration was criticized for entering into the $434 million contract with DocGo, a medical services company whose work on the migrant crisis has been mired in controversy.

Adams has spent $570,000 on the contract so far, including a $125,000 starting fee for the company, advance funds for the cards and $3 per card to create them.

CEO Wole Coaxum insisted the digital coding on the cards ensures they will only work in preapproved stores, with families also being asked to save receipts.

His said company has worked on universal basic income cards in other cities, including Los Angeles and Newark, N.J. where they were not abused.

'What we've found in each of these instances is that people spend the money on the intended purpose,' he said in an interview.

The city can remove people from the program if they are found to be committing fraud. Officials intend to gather data on the first families to receive the cards before rolling it out further.

New York's deputy mayor for health and human services, Anne Williams-Isom defended the scheme, saying 'it's not putting groups against each other' as there are other programs such as food stamps and cash assistance for native New Yorkers.

'I do struggle with why people are being so negative when it comes to providing something so basic for families with children,' she said.

In the last two years 180,000 asylum seekers entered New York, with 65,000 still in shelters

New York's deputy mayor for health and human services, Anne Williams-Isom defended the scheme

Around 70,000 migrants were bused or flown to New York City in 2023, putting extreme pressure on the Big Apple's resources.

Governor Abbott began sending migrants to NYC and other Democrat-run cities that bill themselves as 'sanctuaries' for border crossers to show them just how much pressure the crisis has piled on border states.

His plan appears to have worked - with Democrat lawmakers now taking a far tougher stance on the crisis and President Biden himself vowing to take stronger steps to tackle it.
Rishi Sunak has piled pressure on veterans' minister Johnny Mercer to obey a judge's order to name those who told him about alleged murders by SAS troops.

Sir Charles Haddon-Cave, the chairman of the Afghanistan Inquiry, has given Mr Mercer a deadline of April 5 by which to hand over the names.

The Cabinet Office minister has been warned he faces a fine or even a potential prison sentence if he fails to heed the judge's request.

Downing Street today said people should 'of course' comply with public inquiries amid the demands for Mr Mercer to back down over his refusal to list the individuals.

Asked whether people should comply with judge-led inquiries, the PM's spokesman said: 'Of course, but I'm not going to get into the specifics of this case or this inquiry.'

The spokesman added it 'wouldn't be right' to 'comment on an ongoing formal inquiry or provide a commentary on evidence or testimonies'.

He also declined to say whether Mr Mercer should face a fine if he does not hand over the names.

Rishi Sunak has piled pressure on veterans' minister Johnny Mercer to obey a judge's order to name those who told him about alleged murders by SAS troops

Sir Charles Haddon-Cave, the chairman of the Afghanistan Inquiry, has given Mr Mercer a deadline of April 5 by which to hand over the names

The inquiry is looking at issues arising from the deployment of British Special Forces to Afghanistan from mid-2010 to mid-2013 (stock photo)

READ MORE: Extraordinary scenes as Johnny Mercer hits back at demands to name officers who told him about alleged Afghanistan crimes Advertisement

Sir Charles has ordered Mr Mercer to provide a witness statement containing the names of those who told him about alleged special forces murders in Afghanistan.

During the minister's evidence to the probe last month, the chairman told Mr Mercer his decision to 'refuse to answer legitimate questions at a public inquiry' were 'disappointing surprising and completely unacceptable'.

His words came after Mr Mercer repeatedly refused to hand over names of 'multiple officers' who told him about allegations of murder and a cover-up during his time as a backbench MP.

Providing his reasons for not disclosing the names, Mr Mercer told counsel to the inquiry Oliver Glasgow KC last month: 'The one thing you can hold on to is your integrity and I will be doing that with these individuals.'

The inquiry said Mr Mercer was served with a Section 21 notice on March 13, compelling him to hand over the names, which the inquiry have insisted will be 'treated in confidence'.

In the order, the chairman said the consequences of failing to comply without reasonable excuse would be 'a criminal offence punishable with imprisonment and/or a fine.'

Sir Charles also said the High Court could enforce the order through contempt of court proceedings, which 'may result in imprisonment'.

The judge also said if Mr Mercer believed it was unreasonable for him to hand over the names, or if he was unable to comply with the order, he would have to make submissions in writing by April 3.

The chairman previously told the minister: 'You need to decide which side you are really on, Mr Mercer.

'Is it assisting the inquiry fully and the public interest and the national interest in getting to the truth of these allegations quickly, for everyone's sake, or being part of what is, in effect  a wall of silence  and this wall of silence is obstructing the inquiry and access to the truth.

'And doing so because of, if I may say so, a misguided understanding of the term integrity and an inappropriate sense of loyalty.'

The inquiry will examine whether a special forces unit, known to the probe as UKSF1, had a policy of executing males of 'fighting age' who posed no threat in Afghanistan between 2010 and 2013.

Afghan families have accused UK special forces of conducting a 'campaign of murder' against civilians, while senior officers and personnel at the Ministry of Defence 'sought to prevent adequate investigation'.

Two Royal Military Police investigations, codenamed Operation Northmoor and Operation Cestro, are set to be scrutinised by the inquiry.

No charges were brought under Operation Northmoor  a 10million investigation which was set up in 2014 to examine allegations of executions by special forces, including those of children.

Operation Cestro saw three soldiers referred to the Service Prosecuting Authority, but none of them were prosecuted.

The inquiry continues.
The subway 'pusher' accused of shoving a victim to their death in front of a train on Monday night has been identified.

Carlton McPherson, 24, allegedly shoved a 45-year-old man onto the tracks at the 125th Street station at Lexington Avenue in East Harlem as a 4 train approached around 7pm.

According to authorities, the attack was unprovoked and the victim has not yet been identified.

McPherson has a lengthy criminal history and was arrested at the age of 16. He also has a history of mental illness.

He was arrested in October 2023 for assault but was freed on bond and is expected back in court on that charge in July, sources told the New York Post.

Carlton McPherson, 24, allegedly shoved a 45-year-old man onto the tracks at the 125th Street station at Lexington Avenue in East Harlem as a 4 train approached around 7pm Monday

According to authorities, the attack was unprovoked and the 45-year-old victim has not yet been identified

The victim was pushed on the uptown platform in front of a train that was unable to stop, according to a police spokeswoman.

Number 5 trains in both directions were severely delayed following the attack, according to the MTA. Normal service to the station resumed by 9pm.

A large number of officers were present at the scene along with a number of shocked New Yorkers standing on the platform as word spread about a man underneath the train.

'I felt like a pit in my stomach when I heard it, and just felt really sad for the person that it happened to,' Brendan Daniel told Pix 11.

The horrifying incident unfolded hours after NYPD Transit leaders made a public safety announcement about the 'continued commitment' they have made 'toward public safety' in the community.

McPherson has a lengthy criminal history and was arrested at the age of 16. He also has a history of mental illness. He is seen smirking as he walked out of the 25 Precinct in Manhattan on Tuesday

Concerned commuters stand in the 125th Street station after a fatal shoving incident occurred Monday evening

The Chief of Transit, Mike Kemper, referred to New York Governor Kathy Hochul's recent announcement about the deployment of National Guard troops, as well as State Police officers into the NYC subway system.

'The results of these investments over the last couple months have been encouraging,' Kemper said.

He added that 'overall crime' in NYC subway's during the month of February was down, but he did not give specific numbers.

'And so far, in the month of March, that downward trend continues,' Kemper said, adding that overall crime in the subways is down 15.5 percent for the month, compared to last year.

Just days after Hochul's announcement, a fight on the A train ended in a shooting, leaving many New Yorkers under the impression that the massive transportation system is next-to-impossible to police.

McPherson was arrested in October 2023 for assault but was freed on bond and is expected back in court on that charge in July

A large number of officers were present at the scene along with a number of shocked New Yorkers standing on the platform as word spread about a man underneath the tracks

The shooting occurred on a northbound A train in Brooklyn shortly after 4.45 pm on March 14 when a verbal dispute between two strangers escalated into a fight.

A 36-year-old man who was shot, who has not been named, accused the other man of being a 'migrant beating up cops' in furious scenes while other passengers scrambled to get away.

He was then stabbed and shot in the head with his own handgun by the other man, Younece Obuad, 32, after it was wrestled away from him in the melee on the train.

Obuad was arrested and was not charged as prosecutors found he acted in self-defense.
Sean 'Diddy' Combs' whereabouts are unknown after federal agents raided his homes in Los Angeles and Miami as part of a sex trafficking investigation and reportedly detained two of his sons.

Information on the rapper's personal LoveAir LLC Gulfstream 5 jet is no longer available on plane tracker service FlightAware.

'This aircraft is not available for public tracking per request from the owner/operator,' according to the website.

The Department of Homeland Security and other local law enforcement offices contacted by DailyMail.com on Tuesday have not been able to comment on Diddy's location.

Federal officials raided Diddy's Miami and Los Angeles homes as part of the investigation. No arrests have been made in connection to the case and investigators have released few details about their efforts.

His jet took off from the Van Nuys Airport in Los Angeles at 9 a.m. on Monday. The rapper was then spotted around 3 p.m. at the Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport, just a few hours after the raids started.

Sean 'Diddy' Combs whereabouts are unknown after federal agents raided his homes in Los Angeles and Miami

The raids of his Miami and Los Angeles homes conducted by Homeland Security were in connection to an ongoing sex trafficking investigation

The rapper was then spotted around 3 p.m. at the Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport, just a few hours after the raids started

Diddy was last seen pacing around the Customs office at the Miami airport, though he was not being detained in any fashion.

He was reportedly waiting on others in his party, who were being questioned by federal officials. He was said to be never cuffed or taken into custody, and, despite his other plane heading to Antigua, Diddy is not said to be on the run at all.

Sources told ABC News that two of Diddy's sons were detained at the scene of the Holmby Hills, California, home, then released without charges. TMZ identified them as Justin and King Combs.

Photos show at least two men were seen put in handcuffs during the Los Angeles raid.

A spokesperson for Homeland Security Investigations repeated their statement to DailyMail.com on Tuesday when asked about Diddy and his sons whereabouts.

'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 spokesperson said.

Armed agents from the Department of Homeland Security entered luxury properties on both East and West Coasts of the United States, with video footage showing helicopters circling overhead.

The agents, who were wearing vests, gathered in the home's backyard near the pool. Multiple officers were seen carrying bags and boxes of evidence to a van with assistance from police dogs.

DailyMail.com spoke to one of Diddy's neighbors in Holmby Hills who was stunned but recalled the obvious signs of debauchery at the legendary hip hop mogul's home.

Photos show at least two men, reportedly King and Justin Combs, were seen put in handcuffs during the Los Angeles raid

Armed agents from the Department of Homeland Security entered luxury properties on both East and West Coasts of the United States, with video footage showing helicopters circling overhead

Ryan Mendelsohn, who said he lives five minutes away, spoke about the absurd scenes he'd see late into the night, with scores of beautiful women being brought to the mansion.

'I've seen black Suburbans, Uber drivers, private drivers between 1-3am - sometimes earlier, sometimes later - but I've seen girls get out of the car in swimsuits, swimwear and bathing suits sometimes,' Mendelsohn said.

Footage showed officers going in and out of his property on Miami Beach's Star Island, with agents seen carrying evidence out.

A command post was set up outside the house and agents were still entering and leaving hours after the search began.

The inquiry was being directed by Homeland Security Investigations agents in New York, where he was accused by a former girlfriend R&B singer Cassie Ventura in a lawsuit filed in federal court in November of engaging in sex trafficking.

She alleged Diddy controlled and abused her for over a decade - as well as plying her with drugs, beating her, and forcing her to have sex with multiple male prostitutes while he watched and recorded.

Combs has denied the allegations and settled with Ventura out of court.

The lawsuit by Ventura was one of at least four civil complaints brought in recent months leveling sexual assault allegations against Combs.

The rapper and music mogul has been fighting various legal battles, including one against an unnamed woman who claimed he and two friends sexually assaulted her when she was 17.

Joi Dickerson-Neal, another accuser, claims Combs slipped something into her drink and sexually assaulted her in 1991 while she was a student at Syracuse University. She alleges that he filmed the attack and shared the video with his social circle.

Another Jane Doe alleges that she and a friend were raped by Combs and his friend, the singersongwriter Aaron Hall, in the early 1990s.

Record producer Rodney 'Lil Rod' Jones' filed a bombshell lawsuit against Diddy claiming Combs subjected him to a year of groping and 'constant unsolicited touching of his anus.'

Helicopter cameras were on the scene Monday afternoon as dozens of agents are were advancing on the massive Los Angeles-area estate

Diddy's mansion in Holmby Hills - not far from Beverly Hills - was one of at least two properties raided by Homeland Security Investigations agents as part of an ongoing sex trafficking probe

His lawsuit alleged that Diddy's 'affiliation' to Prince Harry and other stars gave him and his associates 'legitimacy'.

The court documents filed in the US last month do not suggest any wrongdoing on Prince Harry's part.

Lil Rod's lawyers claim guests were drawn to Diddy's alleged sex-trafficking parties because of his 'access to celebrities such as famous athletes, political figures, artist, musicians, and international dignitaries like British Royal, Prince Harry', court documents filed in New York say.

Prince William and Prince Harry met P Diddy and Kanye West at a post-concert party the Princes hosted to thank all who took part in the 'Concert for Diana' at Wembley Stadium' in 2007. However, the Prince of Wales is not named in the court documents. It is not known how many times Harry has met the rapper since then, if at all.
Harvard University is launching 'listening sessions' where community members can talk antisemitism and islamophobia as the Ivy League tries to rebound from the fallout of Claudine Gay's resignation following October 7.

The Presidential Task Force on Combating Antisemitism and the Presidential Task Force on Combating Anti-Muslim and Anti-Arab Bias are set to start a series of listening sessions on hate speech and bias, just three months after Gay's resignation.

The initiative is scheduled to begin Monday and continue over the next two weeks, with plans to extend sessions to the broader community after.

'We want these sessions to provide a safe space for those participating to share their lived experiences as well as thoughts on how we can best help them and help move our community toward healing,' Asim Ijaz Khwaja, co-chair of the Presidential Task Force on Combating Anti-Muslim and Anti-Arab Bias, told the Harvard Gazette.

Gay, Harvard's shortest-serving president, was ousted over her failed reaction to antisemitism on the college campus in the wake of Hamas' attack on Israel.

A source close to the professor said she resigned from the task force because 'its mandate did not include the swift implementation of measures to combat antisemitism'

Former Harvard University President, Dr. Claudine Gay testified at the House Committee on Education and the Workforce hearing on the rise in antisemitism on college campuses in December

Asim Ijaz Khwaja, co-chair of the Presidential Task Force on Combating Anti-Muslim and Anti-Arab Bias, said the sessions are meant to provide a safe space for those participating to share their lived experiences

The aim of the new sessions is to gain a deeper understanding of the distinctive experiences of Harvard community members.

Students participating in the discussions must ensure anonymity and confidentiality. No audio or video recording will be permitted in order to provide a safe space for community members to speak candidly.

The Task Force on Combating Antisemitism will host sessions during the week of March 25, while the Task Force on Combating Anti-Muslim and Anti-Arab Bias will host sessions the week of April 1.

'The sessions are designed to encourage students to express if and how they have been hurt, and what they would like to see change to restore to them a sense of community and wholeness,' Derek Penslar, co-chair of the Presidential Task Force on Combating Antisemitism told the Harvard Gazette.

'We want students to inform us about the problems they are encountering and to suggest solutions that the University can implement,' he added.

In addition to the listening sessions, the task forces will conduct historical analyses of the experiences and attitudes of affected populations. These efforts will provide essential context to understand the nature and extent of bias within the Harvard community.

Jared Ellias, co-chair of the Presidential Task Force on Combating Antisemitism told the Harvard Gazette: 'The task forces are assimilating the knowledge we are gaining in real time and looking for opportunities to identify ways in which our community can be brought closer together so we can enhance student life and academic life at Harvard University.'

'We are in the process of reviewing observations and concerns that have been previously raised by students and other members of our community,' Wafaie Fawzi, co-chair of the Presidential Task Force on Combating Anti-Muslim and Anti-Arab Bias told the Harvard Gazette.

'We are now keen to build on these to have a more complete picture of manifestations of bias on campus. As important, we are eager to obtain potential recommendations to take steps towards positive change.'

The task force, launched by interim President Alan M. Garber in January, faced initial challenges, over the selection of professor Derek J. Penslar as co-chair of the antisemitism task force

Last month, Harvard Business School professor Raffaella Sadun stepped down as Penslar's co-chair, calling out the task-force for neglecting to implement recommendations to combat anti-semitism

The announcement came after Garber received a letter threatening Harvards tax-exempt status and demanding more info. on the controversial task-force

The task force, launched by interim President Alan M. Garber in January, faced initial challenges, over the selection of professor Derek J. Penslar as co-chair of the antisemitism task force.

The announcement of the listening sessions came as president Garber received a letter from the House Ways and Means Committee demanding information on the antisemitism task force.

The letter threatened Harvards tax-exempt status including the controversial appointment of Penslar and Saduns resignation, as reported by the Harvard Crimson.

Last month, Harvard Business School professor Raffaella Sadun stepped down as Penslar's co-chair, calling out the task-force for neglecting to implement recommendations to combat anti-semitism.

Penslar drew national criticism over accusations that he minimized instances of antisemitism on campus.

In a statement read by moderator Gavriel Rosenfeld on Penslar's behalf, he said: 'I am mindful of my role as co-chair at the Harvard Task Force on Combating Anti-Semitism.

'And since at the symposium I would invariably be asked to speak about the goings-on at Harvard, and since the task force is only now just being put together, and its plan of action is being formed, it would not be appropriate for me to make public comments at this time,' the Washington Free Beacon reported.

At the panel, he was supposed to discuss 'difficult challenges such as identifying the line between antisemitism and anti-Zionism, determining the differences between free speech and hate speech, and deciding the proper role universities should play in navigating these highly charged issues,' according to the Washington Free Beacon.

Derek Penslar, co-chair of Harvard's anti-Semitism task force drew national criticism over accusations that he minimized instances of antisemitism on campus

Penslar was appointed the co-chair of the board by interim President Alan Garber, who took the place of former President Claudine Gay who resigned on January 2 following her shocking response at a congressional testimony about campus anti-Semitism.

The task force was slated to combat the ongoing anti-Semitism on Harvard's campus in the wake of the October 7 terror attacks in Israel.

Professor Raffaela Sadun was appointed to lead the school's Presidential Task Force on Combating Antisemitism in January alongside co-chair Derek Penslar amid intense backlash the school was facing over its handling of anti-Jewish hate.

Interim President Alan Garber said that Sadun was leaving after just one month to 'refocus her efforts on her research, teaching, and administrative responsibilities.'

However, a source close to Sadun told The Crimson, that the professor resigned for a different reason.

She allegedly had asked the university for confirmation that they would act on the task force's findings - and not just use them as optional advice.
A recently surfaced clip shows progressive 'Squad' member Rep. Jamaal Bowman calling the rapes and child beheadings of Israelis by Hamas militants on October 7 'propaganda.'

The video - posted on TikTok - shows Bowman addressing a group of pro-Palestinian protestors in Westchester, New York, decrying how Israel was lying about the severity of the attack.

'There was propaganda used at the beginning of the siege,' he can be heard claiming loudly as cars passed noisily behind him on a busy road.

He was speaking to a group of around 50 pro-Palestinian supporters, some of whom were carrying signs. The video was reportedly filmed on November 17, over a month after the war began, according to Politico.

'There's still no evidence of beheaded babies or raped women,' he continues, receiving affirmation from the crowd.

'But they've still been using that lie...propaganda.'

Rep. Jamaal Bowman called reports of Hamas' raping of Israeli women and beheading of Israeli babies 'propaganda' in a recently surfaced video that was shot weeks after the war started

After Hamas militants invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, there were widespread reports of brutal murders, including those of children, and rape

But at the time the video was recorded, many reports had already confirmed Hamas committed rapes and beheadings - including some from the Israeli government.

Further, survivors of the attacks also said they had seen women getting raped at a concert site that was attacked early in the morning on October 7.

In total, Hamas killed over 1,100 people on that day, 360 of which were killed at the music venue.

Despite Bowman's claims that the reports of rape and murder were fabricated, he denounced the actions of the Hamas just three days after the initial attack.

'Hamas targeted defenseless and innocent civilians and killed the largest number of Jewish people outside of the Holocaust in one day,' he said in an October 10 statement.

'It has truly been a heartbreaking past few days with deaths we hoped would never happen again,' Bowman continued. 'Their actions are unequivocally abhorrent and must be strongly and clearly condemned.'

His office did not return DailyMail.com's request for comment.

Still, Bowman's October 10 statement differs dramatically from the sentiment he expressed in the TikTok video recorded over a month later.

And his claim that rapes and beheadings were 'propaganda' had been thoroughly debunked before his November 17 comments.

He attempted to clarify his remarks in a statement to Politico, but did not deny making them.

'As I said at this rally, what Hamas did on October 7th is a war crime and they must release all the hostages,' he told Politico.

'The UN confirmed that Hamas committed rape and sexual violence, a reprehensible fact that I condemn entirely. I also voted yes on Resolution 966, which officially condemns the rape and sexual violence committed by Hamas. So let me be clear, and ensure my words are not twisted: I always stand against sexual violence in all forms and stand for peace for all.'

But Republicans seized on Bowman's remarks in the video, accusing Democrats of 'loving' the terrorist organization.

'Extreme House Democrats remain so blinded by their Antisemitism and their love of Hamas they will not only ignore horrific crimes committed against Israeli women, but will actively seek to discredit their trauma,' National Republican Congressional Committee National Press Secretary Will Reinert told DailyMail.com.

An Israeli soldier assesses the damage caused by Hamas militants' invasion of a music festival where they murdered 360 civilians

Aerial picture shows abandoned and torched vehicles at the site of the October 7 attack on the Supernova desert music festival

Some of Bowmans Democrat colleagues, however, quickly came out against the reports of Hamas' brutality against civilians.

Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Mich., went as far as renouncing his membership to the Democratic Socialists of America after they planned a pro-Palestinian rally days after the October 7 attacks.

'After the brutal terrorist attacks on Israel, which included the indiscriminate murder, rape, and kidnapping of innocent men, women, and children, I can no longer associate with an organization unwilling to call out terrorism in all its forms,' Thanedar said in an October 11 statement.

President Biden was also quick to call the rapes and murders horrific.

'Stomach-turning reports of being  babies being killed. Entire families slain,' he said October 10.

'Young people massacred while attending a musical festival to celebrate peace  to celebrate peace,' he continued. 'Women raped, assaulted, paraded as trophies.'

'The brutality of Hamas  this bloodthirstiness  brings to mind the worst  the worst rampages of ISIS. This is terrorism.'
Finally there is some good news for Joe Biden's reelection campaign.

After months of polls showing Donald Trump with a narrow but steady lead over his Democratic rival, a poll published Tuesday suggests Biden is rallying support in the swing states that will decide the 2024 election.

It may not be enough yet to overhaul the presumptive Republican nominee's overall advantage, but the Bloomberg/Morning Consult survey shows Biden winning a bump in his numbers after a State of the Union address that was broadly well received.

The shift was most marked in Blue Wall states. In Wisconsin, Biden leads Trump by one point after overturning last month's four-point deficit.

In Pennsylvania, Trump's six-point lead has been wiped out. The candidates are now tied after Trump held a six-point lead last month.

Trump maintains his overall lead over Biden across the seven swing states, but Biden is eating into his advantage across six of them

They are also now tied in Michigan.

Doubts about Biden's advanced agehe would be 86 at the end of a second termand recent economic woes meant his reelection got off to a stuttering start.

Towards the end of last year Trump opened a small lead in hypothetical match-up polls.

But Biden campaign officials insisted it was too early to panic.

The latest poll surveyed 4,932 registered voters across seven swing states. The field work was conducted after Biden followed his State of the Union address with a tour of swing states and sharpened his attacks on Trump.

It found that plans to increase taxes for billionaires are popular with swing state voters. And the overall results show Biden chipping away at Trump's lead in the states that matter most.

He reduced his deficits in Arizona (to five points), Nevada (two points) and North Carolina (six points).

But Trump added to his lead in the seventh state, Georgia (seven points).

And he holds a lead across all seven states when the numbers are combined. He has 47 percent to Biden's 43 percent, with a one-point margin of error.

President Joe Biden delivered a forceful performance as he set out his platform for the election during his State of the Union address to Congress earlier this month

To test reactions, J.L. Partners used a panel of 60 independent voters. The results are not statistically significant, but provide a view inside the minds of the audience

The poll also found that Biden voters were strongly motivated by the thought of Trump gaining power.

When asked if their support for Trump or Biden was more a vote for their chosen candidate or against the other one, a gap emerged.

Fewer than three in 10 Trump supporters said theirs was a vote against Biden. However, nearly half of Biden voters said theirs was a vote against Trump.

In Wisconsin, for example, where Biden leads, six in 10 of his supporters said their vote was a vote against Trump.

'Negative energy motivates people,' said Eli Yokley, US politics analyst for Morning Consult.

'And the people who are supporting Joe Biden today are much more likely to express that negative energy that energized his 2020 campaign.'

Poll fieldwork began on March 8, the day after the State of the Union. A snap survey for DailyMail.com with a panel of 60 voters found an overall positive view of the address.

And more than a third of voters said they had seen positive news about Biden recently, the highest level since polling began in October.

At the same time, 68 percent of registered voters in the swing states said they favored higher taxes on billionaires, and higher income taxes on people making more than $400,000 a year.

During the State of the Union, Biden proposed a 25 percent federal tax on billionaires, saying it was raise $500 billion. 'Just think of what that could do for America,' he said.

On Tuesday, Biden and his vice president are due in North Carolina for a campaign event promoting their heath care agenda.

It is part of a recent acceleration in election related travel, which has included fundraising trips to California and New York, as well as events to highlight different planks of the campaign.
A Colombian drug trafficking organization was busted trying to smuggle more than $50 million worth of cocaine inside shipments of avocados.

The latest attempt proved unsuccessful when police officers discovered 1.7 tons of the drugs concealed within a fruit shipment headed towards Portugal.

The discovery took place Monday while narcotic agents were carrying out a routine inspection of containers in the Caribbean port city of Santa Marta, according to National Police director general William Salamanca.

The drugs, which hold a United States street value of approximately $50.8 million, were destined for Setubal, 30 miles south of Portugals capital, Lisbon.

Colombian narcotic cops discovered a shipment of 1,680 kilos hidden within boxes of avocados at a port in the Caribbean seaside city of Santa Marta on Tuesday

The shipment, worth approximated $50.8 million in the streets of the United States, was destined for Portugal

Footage shared by Salamanca on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, showed agents removing sealed cocaine packages from a box filled with dozens of avocados.

Colombian Defense Minister Ivan Velasque said on X that the shipment contained 1,696 kilos in total and mostly likely belonged 'to the Gulf Clan.'

The cartel, which is also known as the Gaitanist Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, is the countrys most powerful criminal organization and is made up of former paramilitary leaders.

Colombian cops found 1,680 sealed packages of cocaine that were concealed in boxes of avocados

Narcotics cops were conducting a routine inspection of containers at a port in Santa Marta, Colombia on Tuesday when they discovered a massive shipment of cocaine mixed with boxes of avocados that were headed to Portugal

Colombia's National Police has seized more than 80 tons of cocaine through the first three months of 2024

Its former leader, Dario Otoniel Usuga was captured in October 2021 and extradited to the United States in May 2022.

In January 2023, he pleaded guilty before a federal court judge in New York to smuggling 110 tons of cocaine and was fined $216 million. He was sentenced to 45 years in prison in August 2023.

The National Police said in a statement the bust eliminated the circulation of 4,250,000 doses of cocaine off the streets.

More 80 tons of cocaine have been seized in the first three months of 2024.

The South American nation is a top producer of cocaine and its government is constantly dealing with pressure from the United States to curb its output.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, coca crops in Colombia covered 568,000 acres in 2022, the latest year for which figures are available, up 13 percent from 2021.
At least 13 people were arrested outside the Supreme Court Tuesday morning as the justices heard the biggest case on abortion since the country's highest court overturned Roe v Wade.

The abortion rights activists were seen being taken into custody and walked to police vehicles with their hands zip-tied.

Capitol Police said those arrested were moving around Capitol grounds and 'illegally blocking roads and then a walkway,' ABC News reported.

It came has hundreds of protesters both for and against abortion rights gathered outside the court ahead of oral arguments in the pivotal case. Emotions ran high with protesters on both sides shouting and carrying signs.

The case revolves around the commonly used abortion drug mifepristone which is used in more than half of abortion in the United States and whether it should be further restricted.

An abortion rights protester being arrested by U.S. Capitol police outside the Supreme Court on Tuesday

U.S. Capitol Police took 13 people into custody near the Supreme Court

Capitol Police said those arrested were moving around Capitol grounds and 'illegally blocking roads and then a walkway,' according to ABC News.

The lawsuit was first brought by the group Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, which is a group made up of anti-abortion medical professionals, in November 2022.

They claimed that the Food and Drug Administration did not follow the proper approval process when the drug was first approved in 2000.

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals last year ruled to reimpose a number of severe restrictions on the pill but held back from blocking it from the market altogether.

If the justices rule to uphold the lower court decision, it would not only impact abortion access in states that have moved to further restrict abortion after Roe fell but also states that have moved to protect and expand abortion rights since the landmark decision was overturned.

Pro-abortion rights protesters outside the Supreme Court Tuesday morning ahead of justices hearing arguments in an abortion pill case

Anti-abortion protesters outside the Supreme Court on Tuesday where justices would hear FDA v Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine

A lone pregnant woman protesting against abortion in front of abortion rights protesters. She had painted on her pregnant belly 'human too'

Hundreds of protesters for abortion rights chanted 'my body, my choice' as they marched up the street in front of the court.

Some held signs that specifically addressed mifepristone. Other signs called for Roe to be restored or called out the Supreme Court justices who helped overturn the 1972 ruling.

One of the signs that was handed out to multiple attendees read 'abortion is our right.'

There were moments where pro-abortion rights protesters came face-to-face with anti-abortion rights protesters who held signs calling on the court to ban the abortion drug.

Some anti-abortion protesters were wearing scrubs and what appeared to be fake blood.

One woman's sign red 'the grim reaper loves the abortion pill.'

Dozens of anti-abortion rights protesters gathered for remarks holding signs including ones that read 'chemical abortion hurts women' and 'women's health matters.'

A woman holding up a box that reads 'abortion kills' in Washington, DC as protesters gathered for pivotal abortion pill case

Women signal abortion is important to them in the upcoming election with the sign 'Mife Miso '24' which references the two-step medication abortion process. Mifepristone is one of the two pills used in the medication abortion process

Women carrying a 'pro Roe' sign outside the Supreme Court

Pro-abortion rights protesters calling out the conservative Supreme Court justices on Tuesday ahead of the mifepristone hearing

Anti-abortion rights protesters lying on the street outside the Supreme Court

Mifepristone was used in 63% of abortions in 2023 and was used by more than 5.6 million women since its approval in 2000

Emotions were high as protesters on both sides yelled in each others faces and attempting to block each others signs in photos, but apart from verbal confrontations, the protests appeared to remain physically peaceful.

There was an active police presence on the scene throughout the morning as well as fencing in place.

Early Tuesday morning, a line had gathered of people hoping to get a seat in the courtroom for the pivotal case. Some were even camped out in sleeping bags waiting as the sun rose over the court.

While the justices are hearing oral arguments on Tuesday, they are not expected to release a decision in the case until June or really July before the court goes on recess.
A driver had a miracle escape after he drove over the bridge just three minutes before the colossal structure collapsed into the river.

Baltimore resident Jen Woof heard the shocking news that the Francis Scott Key Bridge near her home in Fort Armistead collapsed when her 20-year-old son Jayden woke her up to tell her he narrowly escaped the disaster.

Ms Woof's panicked son said that he just drove over the bridge, mere three minutes before it dramatically collapsed after container ship Dali hit it around 1.15am this morning.

'He came into my house frantically panicking and yelling for me, and showing me a video of his friends that they took down here at Fort Armistead of the bridge collapse,' she told The Telegraph.

She added that he did not realise the bridge had collapsed until he received frantic message: 'He was actually almost to our house when his girlfriend started texting him to ask if he was okay.

An aerial view of the Dali cargo vessel which crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge causing it to collapse in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S., March 26

The steel frame of the Francis Scott Key Bridge sits on top of the container ship Dali after the bridge collapsed, Baltimore, Maryland

The steel frame of the Francis Scott Key Bridge lies in the water after it collapsed

Another aerial view of the collapsed bridge shows that the center parts have completely collapsed

'He thought she was texting because they were arguing, and she said the bridge had collapsed.'

The Dali was enroute from Baltimore to the Sri Lankan city of Colombo when it changed course and appeared to slow down before all the exterior lights turned off and smoke appeared.

READ MORE: Rescuers scramble to save dozens including 20 construction workers after Baltimore's colossal Key Bridge collapsed in moments when container ship crashed into it Advertisement

Shocking footage of its approach reveals how the vessel appeared to suddenly lose power before making a partial recovery.

The ship was then seen billowing black smoke into the night sky before losing power again and abruptly pivoting towards one of the structural supports holding the bridge up.

Upon colliding with the 180ft-high structure, the ship appears to lose power a third time as the bridge collapses dramatically around it, first breaking around the support before breaking in the middle and losing balance on its eastern pillar.

Rescue workers are working furiously in an attempt to save the lives of dozens of people who were plunged into the frigid waters of the Patapsco River when the bridge collapsed.

Initial reports indicate that at least a dozen cars hit the 47 degree water in addition to a 20 or so construction workers who were working on the bridge at the time. The workers were pouring concrete on to the bridge at the time of crash.

At the first press conference around 6.30am, Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace could only confirm that two people were pulled from the water.

One was unhurt, the other had to be rushed to a local hospital with 'serious injuries'.

In the wake of the collapse, structural engineer and bridge designer Ian Firth told the BBC that it appears as the the ship 'strayed' rather to the side rather than going under the center of the bridge

Around 30,000 vehicles use the bridge, which is named for the writer of the Star Spangled Banner, every day. It opened in 1977

The vessel has been identified as Singapore-flagged Dali, which was enroute from Baltimore to the Sri Lankan city of Colombo when it collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge

The bridge spans 9,000 feet across the Patapsco River and is 180 feet above the water

The crew has remained on board the ship and are being questioned by members of the Coast Guard

Multiple boats marked as Coast Guard search and rescue vessels were surrounding the ship around 7am Eastern

Astonishing footage shows the moment the vessel plowed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, sending the colossal steel structure crashing into the Patapsco River, shortly before 1.30am Eastern

Wallace said that workers are looking for 'upwards of seven' people but that the number of missing could change as the collapse is a 'very large incident.'

The chief called the efforts a 'search and rescue' operation.

The rescue effort incorporates Coast Guard ships, local police boats, Baltimore's Fire Department, volunteer fire departments from the surrounding areas as well as teams of divers as the desperate search for survivors goes on.

The effort is a race against time due to the tide which is coming back in as of 6.30am local time, Wallace said.

Multiple boats marked as Coast Guard search and rescue vessels were surrounding the ship around 7am Eastern.

The Coast Guard later said that 'multiple response units deployed for active search and rescue.'

Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore Fire Department, called the situation 'a dire emergency.'

'Our focus right now is trying to rescue and recover these people,' Cartwright said. He said it's too early to know how many people were affected but called the collapse a 'developing mass casualty event.'

Cartwright said it appears there are 'some cargo or retainers hanging from the bridge,' creating unsafe and unstable conditions, and that emergency responders are operating cautiously as a result.

Hypothermia can occur when a person's body temperature drops below 95 degrees.
K-Ricebelt project helps boost food security with raised productivity

By Ko Dong-hwan

The Korean government has produced more than 2,300 tons of Korean rice seed in six African nations as part of its ongoing initiatives aimed at fostering self-sufficiency in food production within these countries. This effort, led by the Ministry of Land, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs, signifies a commitment to supporting agricultural development and food security in the region.

The ministry has established rice seed production complexes in these countries, resulting in the production of ISRIZ-6 and ISRIZ-7, high-yield rice varieties capable of producing 5 to 6 tons per hectare. In total, these complexes have yielded 2,321 tons of rice seed. Guinea produced 1,119 tons of rice seed, Uganda 515 tons, Ghana 330 tons, The Gambia 180 tons, Cameroon 111 tons and Senegal 66 tons.

The produce is the result of the K-Rice Belt initiative, an official development assistance (ODA) project that the ministry launched last year to support developing countries by improving their food sustainability regarding rice. It is funded by the Korea Partnership for Innovation of Agriculture (KOPIA), the ministry's ODA initiative.

Under the project, the ministry, in partnership with the Rural Development Agency, its subsidiary that researches agricultural technologies, dispatched officials to the countries to study local lands, find ways to maximize rice production and train local citizens to cultivate the seeds.

The amount of rice seed produced exceeded the ministry's target of 2,040 tons by 14 percent. The produced seeds will be supplied to farmers and vulnerable groups in the participating countries after the ministry consults with them.

We firmly believe that the rice seed will serve as momentum for enhancing food security and agricultural innovation in Africa, Director-General Chong Ha-ryon of the International Cooperation Bureau under the ministry said.

The ministry aims to increase the annual production of high-yield rice seed in the countries to 10,000 tons by 2027 and supply them to the countries' combined population (30 million) in a stable manner.

The ministry, while currently undertaking the signing of the record of discussion (RoD) with the countries participating in the K-Rice Belt initiative, plans to redevelop local arable lands to cultivate rice seeds, construct irrigation and drainage channels, and modernize farm roads within this year. The authority also plans to establish ODA offices in Ghana, Senegal and Kenya and dispatch experts there to better facilitate communication with the respective African governments.
However, as an update since posted to his page shows, that turned out to be not true. In it, Larry appears alive, unaware of the rumors that he's deceased

The patriarch of the US's most inbred family is alive and well - contrary to reports.

Larry Whittaker - the 67-year-old West Virginian whose family rocketed to internet stardom just a few years ago - was said to be dead last week.

Relatives made the claim to journalist Mark Laita, whose videos first shone a light on the clan and their remote settlement 75 miles south of Charleston.

As a result, Laita last week was despondent when he took his YouTube channel to announce Larry's supposed death. Citing the word of relatives, he said the senior died of a heart attack.

However, as an update since posted to his page shows, that turned out to be not true. In it, Larry appears alive, unaware of the rumors that he's deceased. His daughter BJ also makes an appearance, where she owns up to lying about his death to turn a buck. Laita gave her $1,000 for Larry's 'funeral' this past week.

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Larry Whittaker - the 67-year-old West Virginian whose family rocketed to internet stardom a few years ago - was said to be dead last week

In it, Larry appears alive, unaware of the rumors that he's deceased. His daughter BJ (left) also makes an appearance, where she owns up to lying about his death for money

'Im not proud of what I've done, Im not,' she says in the clip as she's confronted by Laita in the almost hourlong video - satirically titled 'The Death of Larry Whittaker.'

'I shouldnt have done it,' she laments, puffing on a cigarette.

'I'm trying to get help for my drug addiction.'

Her father, who supposedly died, is seated right beside her, after finding out about the scam mere moments before.

An already suspicious Laita was the one to break the news, as he spotted Larry pulling up to the property.

'Is that how you dress for your funeral?' the photojournalist asks, cracking a joke after asking other members of the rough-around-the edges clan about his whereabouts.

'Huh?' the son of double cousins John and Gracie Whittaker says, visibly confused.

'Is that how you dress for your funeral?' Laita at this point repeats, referencing Larry's dressed-down attire.

'Uh, I don't know?'

At this point, BJ also exits the pickup, and makes a mad dash for a trailer on the family's property. Laita, still filming, attempts to get her attention.

Relatives made the claim to journalist Mark Laita, who showed up on the family's doorstep in West Virginia Monday after BJ told him that Larry was dead. Laita gave her $1,000 for Larry's 'funeral' this past week

Prior to the patriarch arriving, Laita spoke with some of the family such as Larry's elder sister Betty

'I asked you about Larry dying, you said "he's dead", Laita asks the family matriarch. Betty - joined by some of her brothers and sister - answers, 'BJ told me to tell you that - I didn't know you were gonna give her no money'

An already suspicious Laita was the one to break the news to Larry, as Larry pulled up to the property

At this point, BJ also exits the pickup, and makes a mad dash for a trailer on the family's property, away from the journalist she scammed

'Hey, BJ! We should talk,' he asks - a request the woman ignores as she enters the camper.

'BJ!' he shouts again - and is again ignored.

Laita at this point gives up, turning back to meet with other members of the family, Larry included.

Moments before, prior to the patriarch pulling up, Laita spoke with some of the family such as Larry's older sister Betty.

'I asked you about Larry dying, you said "he's dead", Laita asks the family matriarch.

Betty - joined by brother Danny, sister Loren, and brother Kenneth - answers, 'BJ told me to tell you that - I didn't know you were gonna give her no money.'

After Larry arrives, Laita plays a recording of BJ crying about her father's supposed death, as Betty listens in as well.

'Mark, I'm sorry,' BJ says in the recorded clip, hysterically sobbing as she breaks the news. 'I needed to tell you... I never thought today would be the day that I buried my dad.'

When asked outright if he was aware about his 'death,' Larry replied, 'No, I just heard of it last night on a video'

After Larry arrives, Laita played a recording of BJ crying about her father's supposed death, as Betty listened in as well

The clip then cuts to an encounter 20 minutes later, between Laita, Larry, and BJ. All are seated on the family's front porch, as Laita sets out on a difficult conversation where she eventually admitted to scamming the journalist for money

'I don't know what to do anymore. I just wanted to ask, can you send me $150?' she goes on to ask, through crocodile tears.

The voice message leads Larry to shake his head in disbelief, before simply muttering, 'Oh, god.'

Still shocked, he adds, 'Boy - I don't know.'

When asked outright if he was aware about his 'death,' Larry replies: 'No, I just heard of it last night on a video.'

The clip then cuts to an encounter 20 minutes later, between Laita, Larry, and BJ.

All are seated on the family's front porch, as Laita sets out on a difficult conversation.

'So, BJ. I understand that you got a drug problem - you told me that,' the filmmaker begins. 'We all know that. That's not a secret. But for you-'

BJ at this point interjects, admitting to being ashamed of her misdeeds.

'I'm not proud of what I've done - not at all. I shouldn't have done it.'

The now-infamous Whittaker family grew up in a broken-down property in Odd, West Virginia, and have been known to communicate through grunts and barks

That story stems back to the 1897, when two twin brothers, Henry and John, were born. The two siblings welcomed children who ended up marrying each other and had kids of their own

Among them are Larry, Betty and Danny (right), with the latter only communicating through grunts

Many members of the community believed the family were an 'urban legend' before meeting them at school or church. DailyMail.com visited their house (pictured) this past year

Laita goes on to forgive her, but commenters were quick to call her out on her scheme.

'Faking Larry's death to scam money is just.... disgusting,' one top comment wrote, for a clip that's already been viewed nearly 400,000 times.

'Its amazing how Mark doesnt absolutely lose his s**t,' another added

Someone else sniped: "BJ is not sorry that she lied, but shes damn sorry that she got caught.'

'Wow. They are smarter than people realize,' another commented, referencing the family's genealogy.

That story stems back to the 1897, when two twin brothers, Henry and John, were born. The two siblings welcomed children who ended up marrying each other and had kids of their own.

Those kids eventually gave birth to the Whittaker clan, having 15 offspring in total.

Among them are Larry, Betty and Danny, who communicates only through grunts.

The family went viral thanks to one of Laita's videos in 2020, eventually earning the media-given moniker America's most inbred family.

DailyMail.com visited their house in Odd this past year.
These are the seven suspects wanted by law-enforcement agencies in Britain and the US after a secret cyber hacking ring operated by the Chinese government over a staggering 14 years was blown wide open.

The images were released after prosecutors in America charged the men - aged between 34 and 38 - with carrying out an unprecedented cyber espionage campaign targeting critics of the Chinese regime along with politicians, government organisations and businesses including defence contractors and smartphone manufacturers.

The hit list includes a number of high profile British MPs while attempts were also made to compromise the UK's Electoral Commission's systems.

Home Secretary James Cleverly branded China's assault on Britain's democratic institutions as 'reprehensible'.

It comes as the US Department of Justice laid charges alleging more than 10,000 malicious emails were sent by the ring in an operation aimed at 'threatening national security' as well as compromising government institutions and industrial espionage.

The hackers: (Top left to right), Ni Gaobin, Weng Ming, Cheng Feng, (bottom left to right) Peng Yaowen, Sun Xiaohui, Xiong Wang and Zhao Guangzong

Home Secretary James Cleverly, seen today, has branded China 's assault on Britain's democratic institutions as 'reprehensible'

It's claimed that since 2010, the unit has been tasked with operating a 'sinister scheme' of 'computer intrusion activities' on behalf of the Chinese government, mainly through email attacks on foreign targets.

The newly unsealed indictment lays bare the scale of China's illegal attacks on Western public life, through the use of malicious emails designed to harvest data on their targets.

The 'prolific global hacking operation' is alleged to have impacted 'thousands of victims, across multiple continents' with the US and Britain singled out as the primary targets.

A reward of $10 million (7.9 million) has been offered by the US authorities for information on the accused who are alleged to be part of a group of Chinese state-sponsored intelligence officers and contract hackers known in the cybersecurity community as APT31 and by the codename 'Violet Typhoon'.

The men, who are believed to be at large in China, were named as Ni Gaobin, 38; Weng Ming, 37; Cheng Feng, 34; Peng Yaowen, 38; Sun Xiaohui, 38; Xiong Wang, 35; and Zhao Guangzong, 38.

Britain has now issued sanctions against Guangzong and Gaobin which will freeze UK-based assets and deny the individuals entry to Britain.

Sanctions were also issued against the Chinese front company operating as a satellite of the intelligence services.

The defendants are alleged to have been linked with the mysterious Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology Company which is said to operate on behalf of the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) as part of China's state-sponsored apparatus.

It's claimed hackers and Chinese intelligence operatives compromised the security of thousands of work and personal email addresses, cloud storage accounts and telephone call records.

The group flooded targets with more than 10,000 emails disguised as legitimate messages from journalists or news organisations and containing real news articles that were relevant to the recipient.

Once opened, a hidden tracking link in the email would harvest the user's location, IP address and device information and transmit it back to Wuhan for processing by the Chinese intelligence services.

The ring was able to access the email accounts and networks of targets using so-called 'zero day exploits' - the manipulation of security bugs that manufacturers have not yet patched with software updates.

A stock photo showing Chinese soldiers browsing online news at a computer facility

As well as officials, politicians and employees, family members were also said to have been identified as possible targets.

In 2021, the ring 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 group includes ex-Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith; Tim Loughton, a former Conservative education minister; Lord Alton of Liverpool, a crossbench peer; and Scottish National Party MP Stewart McDonald.

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.

The UK's National Cyber Security Centre - a part of GCHQ - hit out at Chinese state-affiliated actors for malicious cyber targeting of UK democratic institutions and parliamentarians.

Paul Chichester, NCSC Director of Operations, said: 'The malicious activities' were 'indicative of a wider pattern of unacceptable behaviour we are seeing from China state-affiliated actors against the UK and around the world'.

He added: '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 NCSC's advice to stay safe online.'

Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron condemned the attacks and told how he had raised the matter directly with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron (left) condemned the attacks and told how he had raised the matter directly with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (right)

He said: 'It is completely unacceptable that China state-affiliated organisations and individuals have targeted our democratic institutions and political processes.

'We will always defend ourselves from those who seek to threaten the freedoms that underpin our values and democracy.'

Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden said: 'The UK will not tolerate malicious cyber activity targeting our democratic institutions. It is an absolute priority for the UK government to protect our democratic system and values.'

The US indictment shows targets included members of Congress, including both Democrat and Republican senators, the United States Naval Academy and the United States Naval War College's China Maritime Studies Institute.

It said the targets were selected 'in furtherance of the PRC's economic espionage and foreign intelligence objectives' of gathering information about potential threats abroad, and in violation of data privacy and computer misuse laws.

James Smith, the assistant director in charge of the FBI's New York field office, said: '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.

'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.'

APT 31, short for Advanced Persistent Threat 31, was first publicly identified in 2016 and is believed to have operated since 2010.

The ring is also known by the names Zirconium, Judgment Panda and Altaire.

Its most devastating attack came in 2021 when APT 31 and another state-backed group took advantage of a flaw in Microsoft's email server system, Exchange, to steal personal data.

Around 250,000 email servers were affected, including an estimated 7,000 in the UK.

Victims of the attacks included the European Banking Authority and the Norwegian Parliament.
Ukraine insists it is fast running out of ammunition to keep up the fight against Russia and last week's $300 million has already been spent

Johnson says his members are discussing including 'REPO Act, loans, additional sanctions, and energy exports, among other measures'

Lawmakers have fled Washington for a two week break after finally passing legislation to fund the government this fiscal year.

When they come back, all eyes will be on the House to see how Speaker Mike Johnson handles ramped up pressure for Ukraine aid.

Johnson said in a statement Friday the next two weeks at home will be used for 'active discussions' about border legislation and passing a bill to reform the FBI's controversial spy tool (FISA), and that they would 'take the necessary steps to address' foreign aid.

The Senate passed a $100 billion supplemental funding bill that included $60 billion for Ukraine, but Johnson is unlikely to take that up in its current form.

'We have done important work discussing options with members  such as the REPO Act, loans, additional sanctions, and energy exports, among other measures  and are preparing to complete our plan for action,' he said.

When they come back, all eyes will be on the House to see how Speaker Mike Johnson handles ramped up pressure for Ukraine aid

Ukrainian experts work on the site of a damaged building after a rocket strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, 25 March 2024

Ukraine insists it is fast running out of ammunition to keep up the fight against Russia and last week's $300 million for Ukraine in the appropriations package was already gone before the bill even passed.

Here are some factors for Johnson to consider in a House bill to get Ukraine over the finish line:

He would be risking his job for Ukraine

Last week Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., filed a motion to vacate against Johnson, and she's already threatened to take action and potentially force a vote on it if the speaker puts more Ukraine aid on the floor.

But this time it's likely Democrats would spare Johnson and could vote to table the resolution if he puts Ukraine, which they widely support, on the floor.

Johnson would likely lose conservative capital if he did this, but he knows he's dealing with an unruly conference whose right-wing members seem to be constantly moving the goal post.

'No one wants Vladimir Putin to prevail,' he said earlier this month at the House GOP retreat. 'I'm of the opinion that he wouldn't stop in Ukraine. If he was allowed, he would go all the way through Europe.'

Discharge petition

Johnson could allow a discharge petition led by Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., to move forward. Fitzpatrick is trying to move a bill he wrote, together with a handful of moderates in both parties.

Their bill offers $66 billion in defense-only aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan and fresh border security provisions that would last a year, and includes some Trump-era border provisions like Remain in Mexico.

Through a discharge petition, Fitzpatrick could take the fall for the aid from the far right, going around Johnson to force a vote on the House floor if he gets a simple majority of signatures.

So far his petition only has 16 signatories, and a Democrat-led effort has 191. But the petition would lose the hard right over Ukraine funding and the hard left over Israel funding.

A Ukrainian rescuer works on the site of a damaged building after a rocket strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, 25 March 2024

Asset Seizure

Under the REPO Act, some have been pushing for Russian assets to be seized, rather than just frozen, and repurposed for Ukraine.

After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Russia's foreign exchange reserves held by the U.S. and its allies - amounting to over $300 billion - were frozen. This means that ownership of the assets does not change, but they cannot be accessed by Russia.

The U.S., European Union, G-7 and Australia have frozen about $280 billion in Russian Central Bank assets, largely in the form of securities and cash. Sanctions on Russian nationals have frozen another $58 billion in assets, according to the U.S. Treasury.

The U.S., UK and Canada are all proponents of seizing the assets. But France, Germany and the European Central Bank have expressed concerns about potential Russian retaliation and precedent it would set for international law.

Liquid natural gas exports ban

Republicans are fighting against a ban on liquified natural gas exports after Biden said in January he would pause application approvals to analyze economic and environmental impact.

It comes at a time when that fuel is in high demand in Europe and Asia, especially as many try to avoid buying Russian fuel.

'This pause on new LNG approvals sees the climate crisis for what it is  the existential threat of our time,' Biden said at the time.

Lend-Lease programs and loans

Providing defense materials under Lend-Lease means that they are meant to be given back if they are not destroyed in the war.

Funds could also be loaned to Ukraine with the promise that they would be paid back in the long term.

Border provisions

Johnson has often said that the U.S. should be securing a far-off nation's borders before securing its own.

House Republicans notably killed the original Senate foreign aid bill that addressed the border - arguing its provisions amounted to immigration reform not border security.

Fitzpatrick's proposal includes a number of conservative border provisions that would likely turn off some Democrats.

The House bill also includes a 'Remain in Mexico' provision which would resurrect the Trump-era policy requiring migrants who claim asylum to wait in Mexico until their claim is processed.

Another provision requires the Homeland Security secretary to suspend all entry of 'inadmissible aliens' if at any point the department loses operational control of the border.

The bill also gives immigration officers the authority to immediately expel those who they determine to be inadmissible without further hearing or review.

But the speaker has also said he believes the quickest way to stem the flow of migrants at the border is for Biden to take executive action.

Israel, Taiwan and humanitarian provisions

Johnson could leave Israel and Indo-Pacific funding attached to Ukraine or try to pass them separately, but he signaled earlier this month he would separate them out.

The Senate bill had lumped them all together and included defense and humanitarian aid for Ukraine, and humanitarian aid for Gaza.

To pass any foreign aid, Johnson would need to put it on the floor under suspension, requiring a two-thirds majority and significant Democratic support.

No Israel aid would get through the House without humanitarian aid for Gaza to attract Democrats. But some fiscal hawks balk at such provisions.
The man accused of killing NYPD officer Jonathan Diller was arrested 21 times including as recently as last April, according to police sources.

Guy Rivera, 34, has a long history of drugs and violence charges, records show.

His most recent arrest for a gun-related charge took place in April last year before he was turned loose on the streets again after making bail, police confirmed.

Rivera is accused of gunning down Diller, 31, during a traffic stop on Monday. A second 41-year-old man who was driving the vehicle was also arrested, and a firearm was recovered at the scene.

Mayor Eric Adams expressed incredulity that Rivera had been allowed back on the streets given his recent gun charge.

Accused NYPD cop killer Guy Rivera has a long rap sheet of 21 arrests including one last April for gun charges, police confirmed

Officer Jonathan Diller, 31, of New York's 105th precinct was just three years into the job

Officer Diller lived with his wife Stephanie and their one-year-old son (pictured) in Massapequa Park on Long Island in New York City

'April 2023. Less than a year, gun charge, he's back on the streets. April, 2023,' he told a press conference.

'This is what you call not a crime problem, a recidivist problem: same bad people doing bad things to good people. Less than a year. He's back on the streets with another guy.'

The charge is the latest to be added to Rivera's rap sheet, which also features an arrest for attempted aggravated assault.

Rivera was sent to Southport Correctional Facility for the offense in 2011, before being released.

Five years later he was back in jail at the supermax Upstate Correctional Facility for selling drugs and another assault charge.

Diller and a colleague were working in Far Rockaway as part of the NYPD Critical Response Team focusing on car crime.

When they asked the 34-year-old suspect to step out of the car he refused, pointed a gun at the officers and fired, hitting Diller in the torso just below his bullet-resistant vest.

Rivera 'was asked to leave the car, he was given a lawful order numerous times to step out of the car, he refused,' NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said.

'Can I say it any clearer?' New York Mayor Eric Adams told a press conference, 'It is the good guys against the bad guys'

Neighbors heard shots ring out at 5:50 pm, less than two blocks from the NYPD's 101st Precinct stationhouse before seeing the fatally injured officer lying in the street

'And when the officer took him out of the car, instead of stepping out of the car he shot our officer.'

Witnesses heard the shots ring out at 5:50 pm, less than two blocks from the NYPD's 101st Precinct stationhouse.

'It happened so fast,' Melissa Morgan, 39, told the Daily News.

'The police officer fell on the floor and the other officers dragged the two guys out of the car. I was running for cover.

'He shot a cop, it's unbelievable.'

'He was rolling around on the ground saying, "I'm shot, I'm shot,"' another witness said.

Witness Deon Peters said he saw two people, including the officer, on the ground.

'He was moving, he was saying "I'm hit, I'm hit!" Giving location and all that,' Peters told the NY Post, 'Like he was crying.'

Diller and a colleague were working in Far Rockaway as part of the NYPD Critical Response Team focusing on car crime

Diller's colleagues lined the streets as his body was transferred to an ambulance outside Jamaica Hospital

Firefighters salute as the ambulance transporting the body of New York City Police Officer Jonathan Diller exits Jamaica Hospital Medical Center Queens

Diller was just three years into his role as an NYPD officer when he was fatally shot

Diller managed to grab the gun from his killer after the other officer returned fire and hit the gunman in the back.

The officer was just three years into the job when he was fatally shot.

Heartbreaking photos show his colleagues and other emergency workers saluting and lining the street outside Jamaica Hospital in Queens where Diller's body was transferred to a waiting ambulance.

Diller leaves behind his wife of six years Stephanie and their one-year-old son.

A GoFundMe set up for his family has already amassed more than $150,000 since it was set up just hours ago.

His brother-in-law Jonny Mac vowed to take care of Diller's son in his absence.

'What started out as an everyday car stop, instantly became a moment where so many lives would be turned upside down. Jon leaves behind a wife and a one year old son who will now grow up without his father.

'To those of you out there in the streets, it can be so easy to become wrapped into the moment. To think horrible events like this cant happen to you. To become focused on making that next arrest or racing to the action. Remember those who love you at those moments.

Diller leaves behind his wife Stephanie and their one-year-old son

A GoFundMe set up for his family has already amassed nearly $40,000 since it was set up just hours ago

'Jon, there are no words to describe how devastated we are that you are gone. You were a good man and a great father whose shoes can never be filled. I swear to you that I will look after your son as if he were my own. For the rest of my life.'

President of the Police Benevolent Association asked for prayers for the family and questioned why the shooter felt emboldened to attack.

'Our hero police officer confronted this dangerous individual knowing that he was putting himself at risk, knowing that he had a family waiting for him at home,' he said.

'But he did it to protect the people of this city, and we need every single New Yorker to be with this family.

'Why did this violent individual with the gun have no fear to shoot a New York City police officer? Why? Why did he feel that he could shoot a New York City police officer? These attacks on New York City police officers have to end right now.'

Last year saw a record-breaking amount of New York cops attacked on the job, with more than 5,000 recorded in 2023.
Sadiq Khan today seized on Tory bungling over a new attack video that confused scenes from New York with London.

The capital's mayor hit out at the now-amended video, which claims London is a city full of 'crime and desperation' under his rule.

The Conservatives were hit by embarrassment when they were forced to amend the video shortly after it was published yesterday.

It initially used footage of a stampede in a New York subway station to erroneously depict scenes from the UK's capital, before being quickly withdrawn and replaced.

Mr Khan today lashed out at the 'unpatriotic' video, which was released in support of his Tory rival Susan Hall ahead of May's mayoral election in London.

And senior Tories admitted they were in despair over the 'childish' output from Conservative headquarters.

FACT: London under Labour has become a crime capital of the world  pic.twitter.com/IKoOFHwHvo  Conservatives (@Conservatives) March 25, 2024

The Tory video initially used footage of a stampede in a New York subway station to erroneously depict scenes from London, before being quickly withdrawn and replaced

The black-and-white 'Life Under Labour' video is narrated by a sinister American voiceover and warns London's streets are patrolled by 'squads of ULEZ enforcers'

Sadiw Khan lashed out at the 'unpatriotic' video, which was released in support of his Tory rival Susan Hall ahead of May's mayoral election in London

The black-and-white 'Life Under Labour' video is narrated by a sinister American voiceover and warns London's streets are patrolled by 'squads of ULEZ enforcers'.

These are described as being 'dressed in black, faces covered with masks, terrorising communities at the beck and call of their Labour mayor master'.

The widely-mocked video also claims Mr Khan 'seized' power in the capital and Londoners have been forced to 'stay inside' as their city is 'gripped by the tendrils of rising crime'.

Commenting on the Tory attack video, Mr Khan accused Ms Hall of 'slagging off' the city she is hoping to lead.

He told BBC London: 'It is staggering that we have a Conservative candidate who is aspiring to be the mayor of our great city just doing our city down.

'I think it is unpatriotic always slagging off the capital city.

'But I'm afraid it is another example of my fear materialising, which is this election from the Conservative Party view where there is misinformation, where there is lies and in this case clearly videos which was not of our city.'

Ms Hall's team have insisted that she did not sign off the video and it was part of a central Tory party campaign.

But Mr Khan added: 'We have had the Conservative candidate liking tweets that she is now saying was a mistake.

'Now she is trying to walk away from this video. That's not just doing down London, it's telling an untruth.'

In the original video, the scenes of a stampede at New York's Penn Station in 2017 were overlaid with the narrator saying: 'A 54 per cent increase in knife crime since the Labour mayor seized power has the metropolis teetering on the brink of chaos.

'And in the chaos, people seek a desperate reprieve.'

A Tory former minister told MailOnline they were in despair over the 'childish' output from CCHQ.

'Rishi [Sunak] purged the people who didn't like him and brought in sycophantic children. It is pathetic,' they said.

They added that the video itself was 'rubbish', but the whole approach was also misguided.

'It is negative campaigning, and it never works,' the ex-minister continued.

Mr Khan took office in 2016 and is seeking an unprecedented third term as London mayor when the capital's voters go to the polls on 2 May.
Construction crews had been performing concrete repairs on the Francis Scott Key Bridge when it collapsed, officials have revealed.

Maryland Department of Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld said that eight workers had been repairing potholes when the bridge was hit by a cargo ship.

Six of them remain unaccounted for following the collapse, which was caught in dramatic video as it collapsed into the Patapsco River.

Wiedefeld said: 'We know there were individuals on the bridge at the time of the collapse, working on the bridge, contractors for us.

He said the workers were 'basically doing some concrete deck repair', but said they did not know how many vehicles were involved.

Maryland Department of Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld, seen here, said that six workers had been repairing potholes when the bridge was hit

The six individuals remain unaccounted for following the collapse, which was caught in dramatic video which showed the 1.6 mile bridge collapse

A representative from Brawner Builders told NBC News that the company had a crew on the bridge when it collapsed.

Wiedefeld added that the transport authority has set up a facility for family members of those who were believed to be on the bridge at the time of its collapse.

On Tuesday, Maryland Governor Wes Moore also said that a preliminary investigation into the collapsed pointed to it being an accident.

He said: 'The preliminary investigation points to an accident. We haven't seen any credible evidence of a terrorist attack.'

Moore said the cargo ship reported losing power just before it crashed into the bridge.

He said that a mayday call from the ship allowed officials to limit traffic on the bridge before the crash.

Governor Moore also said that the bridge, which was opened in 1977, was 'fully up to code' and had no structural issues.

Rescue teams are now racing to save up to 20 people who were plunged into the water following the collision.

The ship - the Singaporean-flagged Dali - was 20 minutes into its journey when it slammed into a support column on the bridge.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, left, speaks during a news conference as Sen. Chris Van Hollen ( looks on near the scene

Maryland Governor Wes Moore also said that a preliminary investigation into the collapsed pointed to it being an accident

The ship - the Singaporean-flagged Dali - was 20 minutes into its journey when it slammed into a support column on the bridge

It remains unclear what led to the crash. Video shows the ship going dark seconds before the collision, suggesting a power failure on board.

In the meantime, Maryland authorities are using sonar detection devices to search for the vehicles that plunged into the 47F water.

Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace could only confirm that two people were pulled from the water, both are now believed to have been workers.

One was unhurt, the other had to be rushed to a local hospital with 'serious injuries', he said.

It remains unclear what caused the ship to crash into the bridge in what one official called a 'developing mass casualty event'.

The ship was not being piloted by its own crew but by local pilots who are used to specifically avoid accidents.

The ship crashed into one of the bridge's supports, causing the structure to snap and buckle at several points

Rescue personnel gather on the shore of the Patapsco River

'Never would you think that you would see, physically see, the Key Bridge tumble down like that. It looked like something out of an action movie,' said Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, calling it 'an unthinkable tragedy.'

The ship left Baltimore's Seagirt Marine Terminal at 12:24am, at 1:25am, it began to slow and diverted off of its course.

The Dali ship was bound for Colombo, Sri Lanka. It's unclear what cargo it was holding. The vessel was due to land in Asia on April 27.

According to the ship's owners, all crew members were accounted for with no injuries reported.

Around 30,000 vehicles use the bridge, which is named for the writer of the Star Spangled Banner, every day. It opened in 1977.
At least six people remain unaccounted for after two were pulled from the water

Harrowing footage captured the moment Baltimore's Key Bridge collapsed after being struck by a cargo ship - leaving five vehicles submerged in water and six construction workers missing.

Maryland authorities are using sonar detection devices to search for the crew members who fell into the 47F water as they were working to repair potholes on the 185-foot bridge when it collapsed.

Governor Wes Moore declared a state of emergency Tuesday morning following the catastrophic collision, which occurred at about 1.30am. The ship - the Singaporean-flagged Dali - was 20 minutes into its journey when it slammed into a support column on the bridge.

The Democrat said the ship's crew managed to issue a Mayday before it crashed into the bridge, which allowed officials to stop cars from going on the bridge.

'We're thankful that between the 'mayday' and collapse that-that we had officials who were able to-to begin the stop the flow of traffic so more cars were not up on the bridge,' Moore added.

Harrowing footage captured the moment Baltimore's Key Bridge collapsed after being struck by a cargo ship, leaving six construction workers missing

The ship - the Singaporean-flagged Dali - was 20 minutes into its journey when it slammed into a support column on the bridge

The ship's crew managed to issue a Mayday before it crashed into the bridge, which allowed officials to stop cars from going on the bridge

An injured person was pictured being loaded into an ambulance after getting taken off the ship following the collapse

The Maryland Department of Transportation said there is an active search and rescue mission as of 7.30am

President Joe Biden addressed the bridge collapse from the White house shortly after noon EST, saying he has spoken with Maryland officials and told them he will be sending federal aid.

'To the people of Baltimore - We're with you, were going to stay with you as long as it takes,' he said. the port of Baltimore if one of the nation's main shipping ports and we're going to get it up and running again as soon as possible.'

Biden added he has directed his team to work on rebuilding both the port and bridge 'as soon as humanely possible' and plans on visiting Baltimore as 'soon as he can.'

Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul J. Wiedefeld said eight people were on the bridge when it collapsed, and two of them were rescued from the water, with one declining medical treatment and the other being taken to the hospital before being released.

Officials said they have spotted five vehicles submerged under water thanks to infrared and side-scan sonar technology - three passenger vehicles, a cement truck and a fifth vehicle.

It remains unclear what led to the crash. Video shows the ship going dark seconds before the collision, suggesting a power failure on board. The crew of 22 remains onboard and is now being questioned by the Coast Guard.

In the latest update by officials, gov Moore said divers and air assets are currently working 'to save lives' and will update the public as the work continues.

'I recognize that many of us are hurting and scared right now,' the Democrat said just before 10am.

'I want to be clear, we are still investigating what happened, but our preliminary findings points to an accident, we haven't seen any credible evidence of a terrorist attack.'

FBI special agent in charge of the Baltimore office William DelBagno said 'there is no specific or credible information to suggest there are ties to terrorism in this incident.'

The collapse is sure to create a logistical nightmare for months, if not years, for the East Coast, shutting down ship traffic at the Port of Baltimore and snarling cargo and commuter traffic.

According to The Baltimore Sun, the Dali was setting off on a particularly long voyage of 28 days because the crew wanted to go around South Africa to avoid the Red Sea, where Yemeni Houthi rebels have been attacking western ships to protest the war in Gaza.

Governor Wes Moore declared a state of emergency Tuesday morning following the catastrophic collision at about 1.30am

Rescue personnel gather on the shore of the Patapsco River

Astonishing footage shows the moment the vessel plowed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, sending the colossal steel structure crashing into the Patapsco River

Governor Moore (left said divers and air assets are currently working 'to save lives' and will update the public as the work continues

Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who is on his way to Maryland, said on X: 'I've spoken with Gov. Moore and Mayor Scott to offer USDOT's support following the vessel strike and collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge.

'Rescue efforts remain underway and drivers in the Baltimore area should follow local responder guidance on detours and response.'

It was not immediately clear what caused the cargo ship to crash into the bridge long before the busy morning commute in what one official called a 'developing mass casualty event' in a major American city just outside of Washington.

'Never would you think that you would see, physically see, the Key Bridge tumble down like that. It looked like something out of an action movie,' said Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, calling it 'an unthinkable tragedy.'

According to an early Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) report, the container ship 'lost propulsion' as it was leaving port.

'The vessel notified MD Department of Transportation (MDOT) that they had lost control of the vessel and an allision with the bridge was possible,' the report said. 'The vessel struck the bridge causing a complete collapse.'

The ship crashed into one of the bridge's supports, causing the structure to snap and buckle at several points and tumble into the water in a matter of seconds  a shocking spectacle that was captured on video and posted on social media. The vessel caught fire, and thick, black smoke billowed out of it.

'Rescue efforts remain underway and drivers in the Baltimore area should follow local responder guidance on detours and response,' said transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg

'Pilots move ships in and out of the Port of Baltimore,' said Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld at a news conference Tuesday

'Never would you think that you would see, physically see, the Key Bridge tumble down like that. It looked like something out of an action movie,' said Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott

Maryland Governor Wes Moore (C) walks with staff and law enforcement along the shore of the Patapsco River

It was not immediately clear what caused the cargo ship to crash into the bridge

The rescue effort incorporates Coast Guard ships, local police boats, Baltimore's Fire Department, volunteer fire departments from the surrounding areas as well as teams of divers as the desperate search for survivors goes on.

There appeared to be an explosion on the container ship as it collided with the bridge sending container and diesel flooding into the water. One of the vehicles that fell to the water was a tractor-trailer.

The ship was not being piloted by its own crew but by local pilots who are used to specifically avoid accidents.

The ship involved is the 948 foot long Dali, a Singaporean-flagged container which could be seen on ship tracking websites positioned stationary under the bridge following the crash.

It left Baltimore's Seagirt Marine Terminal at 12:24am, at 1:25am, is began to slow and diverted off of its course. The video shows lights going off on board just before the crash.

The Dali ship was bound for Colombo, Sri Lanka. It's unclear what cargo it was holding. The vessel was due to land in Asia on April 27.

According to the ship's owners, all crew members were accounted for with no injuries reported.

The ship involved is the 948 foot long Dali, a Singaporean-flagged container

The ship crashed into one of the bridge's supports, causing the structure to snap and buckle at several points

Paul J. Wiedefeld, center, Maryland's transportation secretary, works near the scene

Around 30,000 vehicles use the bridge, which is named for the writer of the Star Spangled Banner, every day. It opened in 1977.

Sonar has indicated that there are vehicles in the water, where the temperature was about 47 degrees Fahrenheit in the early hours of Tuesday, according to a buoy that collects data for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Earlier, Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore Fire Department, told The Associated Press that several vehicles were on the bridge at the time of the collapse, including one the size of a tractor-trailer truck.

The bridge came down in the middle of night when traffic would be lighter than during the day when thousands of cars traverse the span.

In the wake of the collapse, structural engineer and bridge designer Ian Firth told the BBC that it appears as the the ship 'strayed' rather to the side rather than going under the center of the bridge.

'But for whatever reason it must have strayed off and has hit the support.'

'The support is a very, relatively, flimsy structure when you look at it, it's a kind of trestle structure with individual legs. So, the bridge has collapsed simply as a result of this very large impact force,' he added.

An aerial view of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge after the collision

Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley, with Mayor Brandon Scott (R) and Fire Department Chief James Wallace (L), speaks at a press conference on the collapse

At the first press conference around 6:30 am, Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace could only confirm that two people were pulled from the water

In a separate interview with CNN, Cartwright said that structural engineers will need to study the condition of the bridge prior to the incident.

'This is a very devastating incident in which these individuals have encountered so our hearts go out to each and every one of them, and we will be working valiantly throughout the early morning to address this,' he said.

In 2001, a freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed in a tunnel in downtown Baltimore and caught fire, spewing black smoke into surrounding neighborhoods and forcing officials to temporarily close all major roads into the city.

This is not the first time the Dali has crashed. In 2016, the ship smashed into the dock in Antwerp, Belgium, as it was leaving the port for German city Bremerhaven during good weather.

The crash happened due to a mistake by the Master and pilot on board the ship, Vessel Finder reports.

The Dali suffered 'sufficient damages' in the stern, but remained afloat, while the dock was 'seriously damaged' at the time. No people were injured at the time and no oil spill was reported.
Security guards had to step in to control a group of tourists after they began battling for the best selfie spot at the top of a 15,000ft mountain.

Shocking footage shows several adults shoving and pushing each other in the middle of a bewildered crowd on the observation deck of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, in Yunnan province, China.

Dozens of tourists were seen standing in the snow with umbrellas and raincoats, trying to edge towards the side in order to get the best view before the fighting broke out.

Seemingly careless about accidentally knocking someone off the 15,354ft high platform, one tourist seemingly lost their patience and threw a punch at the person in front.

As the incident began to spiral, others began getting involved in the action as they brawled over who was next in line to snap a photo in the selfie spot.

Shocking footage captured the moment tourists began fighting over the best selfie spot at Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, in Yunnan province, China

People could be seen throwing punches at each other as they scrambled to get to the best selfie spot on the mountain range

A group in the centre of the crowd began fighting while others circled around them and waiting for their photo opportunity

Dozens of others were left waiting in a circle around the group that was fighting in the middle, as they tried to dodge punches on March 24.

The physical altercation began between one man and a woman with another woman, local media reported.

Footage shows that some visitors tried to intervene but the group were set on battling it out.

It was reportedly not until security staff posted around the scenic spot pulled them apart that the fighting stopped.

Police later said the parties involved have since reconciled.

The incident drew mixed reactions on the Chine social media app Weibo, where some users criticised the group and others made fun of the situation.

One user said: 'It's too shameful for people who have money and leisure.'

While another commented: 'They have made an appointment to compete at the Jade Dragon Peak. Don't join in the fun.'

And a third added: 'Arrange for them to go to the Himalayas to guard the border.'

The Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is a popular tourist attraction, known for its scenic views and cable cars.

It is not possible to ski on the mountain currently, but snow tubing has become popular with tourists in recent years.

It comes after two men risked their lives after getting into an altercation at one of the world's most famous selfie spots last year.

The two unnamed men got into a scrap at the famous cliff-hanging illusion spot at the top of Pedra do Telegrafo, in the western part of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, after one man got in the way of another's photoshoot.

In December, a group of tourists were dumped into one of Venice's famous canals after failing to take heed of advice to stop taking selfies and sit down on a wobbling gondola.

The group of five had been shifting around the vessel, posing for photos in front of famous landmarks before the gondolier had to tell them to sit down and stay still while they made a careful manoeuvre under a bridge near St Mark's Square.

But when they ignored him and carried on, the boat rolled over and left the whole group in the canal, local media reported at the time.

And in 2018, police were forced to split up a brawl at Rome's famous Trevi fountain after two women failed to agree on who could take a selfie there first.

The women exchanged slaps and punches before relatives reacted to create a mega eight-person melee.
Danish shipping giant Maersk has dropped Baltimore from all its services following Tuesday's horror bridge collapse, which caused the company to suffer over a three percent share price drop.

Hours after the cargo ship struck Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge overnight, sparking massive rescue efforts, the company said it will stop servicing the Port of Baltimore 'for the foreseeable future.'

'Due to the damage to the bridge and resulting debris, it will not be possible to reach the Helen Delich Bentley port of Baltimore for the time being,' the company said in a statement. 'In line with this, we are omitting Baltimore on all our services for the foreseeable future, until it is deemed safe for passage through this area.'

When markets opened at 9am, the company's share price plummeted a staggering 6.8 percent, before eventually steadying at a 3.8 percent drop.

Rescue workers are continuing to scour the waters by the Port of Baltimore for survivors, as Maryland Governor Wes Moore declared a state of emergency.

At least six construction workers are being searched for as of Tuesday morning, while five vehicles have been identified under the Patapsco River in freezing temperatures.

The Maersk-owned shipping container seen on Tuesday morning, hours after it collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore

Danish shipping giant Maersk suffered a dramatic 6.8 percent share price drop as a result of the crash, before it steadied at a 3.8 percent drop

Astonishing footage shows the moment the vessel plowed into the bridge, sending the colossal steel structure crashing into the Patapsco River, shortly before 1.30am Eastern

Maersk owned the ship, which was operated by Singaporean company Synergy Group. The company declined to comment on the share price drop when contacted by DailyMail.com.

The 948-foot-long DALI vessel collided with the 1.2-mile bridge shortly after 1:26am as it departed the Port of Baltimore.

As of Tuesday morning, authorities have marked three passenger vehicles in the river, alongside a cement truck and another vehicle, using side-scan sonar technology.

Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace told CNN that up to eight dive teams were in the water performing search and rescue operations.

He said it is unclear if the fifth car is a passenger vehicle, and the number of people killed or injured remains unclear.

Maersk's cargo ship appeared to suffer some form of mechanical failure before it struck the bridge, as footage showed its lights turned off and on in the moments before.

Observers said that black smoke was seen emanating from the ship in the moments beforehand, suggesting the crew may have attempted to reverse its engines.

It later emerged that the ship was being commanded by specialist pilots who were trained to avoid obstacles at ports, Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld told a Tuesday morning press conference.

He said none of the 22 crewmembers were injured, and it was being steered by pilots that help navigate through the port then depart as it enters open waters.

Rescue personnel gather on the shore of the Patapsco River after a container ship ran into the Francis Scott Key Bridge causing its collapse

Officials said they are searching for at least six individuals in the frigid waters. As of early Tuesday morning, two people had been saved

Officials were quick to rule out the catastrophe as intentional or an act of terrorism, and an early Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) report found the container ship 'lost propulsion' as it was leaving port.

'The vessel notified MD Department of Transportation (MDOT) that they had lost control of the vessel and an allision with the bridge was possible,' the report said. 'The vessel struck the bridge causing a complete collapse.'

It was also found that the Dali ship had been cited for two 'deficiencies' during inspections, according to a CNN review of records from the Electronic Quality Shipping Information System (Equasis).

Through 27 inspections since 2015, a June 2023 inspection in San Antonio, Chile, found a deficiency in the 'propulsion and auxiliary machinery' - with propulsion faults also noted in the early CISA report.

The Dali was also involved in a 2016 incident at the Port of Antwerp. A review in November of that year in Antwerp, Belgium found another 'deficiency' in its 'structural conditions.'

No deficiencies were found when the vessel was last inspected on September 9, 2023 by the US Coast Guard in New York.

The ship, a 948-foot-long DALI operated by Singaporean company Synergy Group, collided with the 1.2-mile bridge shortly as it departed the Port of Baltimore

The bridge spans 9,000 feet across the Patapsco River and is 180 feet above the water

Visibility around the port was clear at the time of the accident

All activity out of the Port of Baltimore, one of the most important trade hubs in North America, has ground to a halt.

The ship had departed the Seagirt Marine Terminal at around 12:30am Tuesday, before turning southeast towards the bridge around half an hour later.

The Dali was intended to sail underneath the bridge, however it struck a support beam, which caused the bridge to collapse within seconds of impact.

As of early Tuesday, two people had been pulled from the water. One was uninjured, and the other was rushed to hospital in 'very serious condition.'

After declaring a state of emergency, Governor Moore praised the reaction of workers on the bridge who halted traffic after a mayday call was made from the ship.

'These people are heroes,' he said.

Moore maintained that there is 'no credible evidence' to suggest the crash was the result of a terrorist attack.

'The preliminary evidence points to an accident,' he said.

He also stressed that the collapse doesn't appear to be caused by any kind of structural issues, and the bridge was fully up to code. '(Our) exclusive focus is on saving lives, search and rescue,' he said.
The two heroic Israeli brothers who were subjected to aggressive questioning from 'antisemitic' Border Force staff as they arrived in Britain have returned home after saying they don't 'feel safe'.

UK Border Force were slammed for 'demeaning' the two Israeli survivors of the Nova Music Festival and detaining them for two hours at Manchester Airport after flying over to speak about their experience.

MailOnline previously revealed that the men are Daniel and Neria Sharabi who defended some 30 people during the carnage of the festival as they sheltered behind a tank, using unfamiliar weapons against the terrorists as a reserve commander relayed instructions over the phone.

They also treated the wounded who were hiding with them, while Daniel's former IDF commander advised them by telephone.

Speaking of how he feels following the incident, Neria told MailOnline: 'I don't feel safe. If this is how the cops treats civilians, I don't want to be here. People here are asking us to stay a little bit longer, but I don't feel safe to stay here. I want to go home, and we'll be taking our flight home today.

'This is my first time in the country and my last time in the country. I don't want to feel what I felt again.'

Daniel and Neria Sharabi defended some 30 people during the carnage of the Nova festival as they sheltered behind a tank. UK Border Force were slammed for 'demeaning' the brothers

Footage shows a Border Force officer (right) speaking in 'aggressive terms' to the brothers

In footage posted on X, the Border Force officer says 'Knock the attitude off'

Neria continued: 'I think he thought in the beginning that I'm Muslim, because he asked me what my religion is. After I said that I'm Jew, everything changed and I could see it in his face.

'They separated us from everyone, and we waited one hour, one and a half hours, for the interrogation officer.'

Explaining that he feels more unsafe in the UK than in Israel, he said: 'In Israel, not even one cop is going to tell me these kinds of things.'

Speaking in the Commons today, former Attorney-General Sir Michael Ellis said the incident at Manchester Airport was 'the latest manifestation' of antisemitism around the world since the October 7 attacks.

It suggested 'Border Force apparently do not want Israeli Jews to enter this country,' the Conservative MP for Northampton North added.

'Blaming all Jews for the actions of their country is obviously anti-Semitic. These are people in uniform acting for this country as Border Force officers

'It is a disgrace beyond all proportion. Their detention was clearly unlawful, for several hours.'

Responding, Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell said it was an 'absolutely, outrageous and shocking incident'.

Home Secretary James Cleverley had ordered an investigation, he added.

'Everyone will condemn without reservation the extraordinary events which appear to have taken place at Manchester.'

Afterwards Sir Michael told the Mail: 'I'm very concerned that this appalling incident will actually be very damaging, not only to community cohesion but also to the British economy and tourism.

'Jewish people around the world will be seeing this and asking whether they're welcome in the UK.'

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Daniel, 23, said he wanted an apology from the British government after the way he and his brother were treated upon their arrival on Sunday night

Daniel defended some 30 people during the Nova festival as they sheltered behind a tank

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Daniel, 23, said he wanted an apology from the British government after the way he and his brother were treated upon their arrival on Sunday night.

'I have no doubt at all that we were detained because we were Israeli,' he said, speaking from Manchester. 'We kept asking the officials why they had stopped us  was it because we are Israeli or because we are Jewish?

'Of course they never admitted it, but it was obvious to us it was the only reason.

'We were shocked at the way we were treated. When someone comes to your country from overseas, you expect to be welcomed and treated in a friendly way, not like this.

'I'm glad that Mr Cleverley has launched an investigation into this  I hope the people who interrogated us learn some lessons from this.

'We told them exactly who we were and what we'd been through, why we were travelling to raise awareness of the hostages, but they didn't seem to listen.

'We both may have PTSD, I'm not sure, but this kind of experience does bring back the horror of that day which we will never forget. After we were finally allowed through the airport, neither of us slept much because of the way we were treated.'

Talking of his experience with UK Border Force officers, Neria Sharabi, 22, said: 'They just started asking us what we came to do here, and I said to them that I survived the October 7 massacres and I'm here to share my stories.

'And the second I said it, he just flipped. From that moment he just started to interrogate us. He told us to 'sit over there, don't move, we need to interrogate you'.

Mr Sharabi said: 'They just started asking us a lot of weird questions, if we're still with the army, how long we served, what we do.

'In the end, they didn't find anything, and the cops started to get angry and mad because they got nowhere.'

Talking of his experience with UK Border Force officers, Neria Sharabi, 22, said: 'They just started asking us what we came to do here, and I said to them that I survived the October 7 massacres and I'm here to share my stories'

Neria said he no longer feels safe and doesn't want to come back to the UK after the ordeal

Home Secretary James Cleverley has stepped into the row over the brothers' treatment

James Cleverly has since put a statement up on X saying the incident is being handled

'I said to him, 'Why are you doing this. Is it because I'm a Jew?'

'Then he got crazy and said to me 'Shut the f*** up. I'm the boss, you are listening.

'I just shut my mouth and realised that if I say more things maybe he might arrest me.

'I realised how people are so brainwashed. I don't feel safe.'

Home Secretary James Cleverley has stepped into the row over the brothers' treatment at Manchester Airport after disturbing footage of their treatment was posted on X, saying 'We do not tolerate antisemitism or any form of discrimination.'

The video showed 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.

Both men are said to be suffering from PTSD after the murderous Hamas attack which sparked the war in Gaza, leaving more than 1,000 civilians dead and many raped or tortured.

In the clip, 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.'

The two brothers '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.

Mr Levy added that the officer's tone was 'unnecessary and demeaning' towards the two men.

The men 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.'

He added: 'The only reason for their detention and interrogation was because they are Israeli.'

One of their supporters told MailOnline: 'These men are heroes and should have been received as such  they saved so many people and deserve nothing but respect.'

Hamas invaded Nova Music Festival in Israel on October 7 last year (pictured)

A man holding a weapon grabs another man during an attack by Hamas on October 7

The UN Security Council passed a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire

A view of destruction after Israeli attack on Deir Al-Balah, Gaza, on February 17, 2024

A group of boys inspecting a demolished building which belonged to the Palestinian Darduna family, following Israeli attacks at Jabaliya Refugee Camp

The Sharabi brothers told the Times of Israel following the October 7 massacre that they were partying at Supernova when rocket sirens started blaring at 6:30 a.m.

In a video captured by Neria, he and friends can be seen seeking shelter behind some parked cars, jokingly wondering why the terrorists in Gaza couldn't wait until later to begin launching their missiles.

Neria said they were ordered to disperse, and he left their friend called Karin Journo  who had a broken leg prior to the event  and together with his cousin Shalev Yehoshua and a friend, Yosef-Haim Ohana, went to retrieve his car.

Minutes later, Karin was murdered. The brothers said they began to hear gunfire and immediately realized from their army service that it was the sound of Kalashnikovs, not Israeli military weapons.

Daniel was a combat medic during his service, and Neria served in the infantry.

Realising this was no regular bout of rockets from Gaza, they fled toward the highway.

Daniel administered first aid to an injured woman, when he, Neria, and his cousin Shalev Yehoshua were called upon by two IDF soldiers who were attending Nova as civilians, to help them evacuate the wounded on a stretcher.

Soon, terrorists armed with automatic weapons stormed the scene in pickup trucks, firing incessantly.

The two soldiers they had met were killed but Daniel, Neria, Shalev and Yosef managed to take cover behind some parked cars.

The car near Yosef was hit by an RPG missile. This was the last time the Sharabi brothers saw him before he was snatched by terrorists who took him to Gaza, where he is still believed to be held hostage.

A Palestinian boy has his arm measured for malnutrition at a medical tent set up by MedGlobal in cooperation with UNICEF, 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

Last month the Sharabis were in New York to raise awareness for the hostages taken by Hamas and confronted a man trying tear down posters of the hostages in Times Square before police arrested him.

The brothers were holding signs reading, 'My best friend was kidnapped in Gaza' and 'I survived the October 7 massacre,' when a friend began filming the man ripping the signs, who looked directly at the camera and shouted, 'Why don't you go blow up another hospital? Why don't you kill 10,000 more kids?'

The man was caught on video spitting in the direction of police and was immediately handcuffed.

Once cuffed, the brothers flashed their signs and confronted the man, saying, 'In your face' and challenged his accusations, asking, 'Where do you know these lies?'

Neria, 22, and Daniel, 23, had only seen the brazen vandalism in online clips until the Thursday night incident.

'You see it in videos, but when it happens in reality, I get p****d off. People deny our experience, but you can't deny reality. We're proof it happened,' Neria told The New York Post.

'I have video of our friends being raped, kidnapped to Gaza,' said Neria. 'We're here to face them and tell them that they're liars. If they think this never happened, they're just brainwashed.'

During an earlier visit to Times Square, the Israeli brothers, who are dark-skinned and of Yemeni descent, were met with a sympathetic passer-by who mistook them for Gazans, telling them 'We support Hamas,' before the brothers brandished their stars of David necklaces to horrified stares.

'People think Jews only look white. They're hypocrites,' said Neria.

The pair attributed their heroism during the Hamas attack to God, saying they went 'into army mode as civilians' when they took over the tank and battled 'more than 100' terrorists, according to Daniel.
Law firms, legal tech companies vie for upper hand in rapidly-emerging market

By Park Jae-hyuk

After the advent of OpenAIs ChatGPT in 2022, the Korean legal services market, previously hesitant to adopt new technologies, is now witnessing a surge in the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI), according to industry officials, Tuesday.

Just like companies in other industries, major law firms in Korea, as well as the prosecution and courts, have begun collaborating with tech companies to develop AI solutions for legal affairs.

DR & Aju recently became the first Korean law firm to provide AI-based legal advisory services.

In collaboration with Naver Cloud and a legal tech startup called Nexus AI, the law firm started allowing everyone to receive legal advisory services anytime through AI DR & Aju.

Nexus AI developed the service by using DR & Ajus accumulated data and Navers hyper-scale large language model, HyperCLOVA X, a DR & Aju official said. The service features high-quality responses based on a large law firms verified data and HyperCLOVA X-based parameter-efficient fine-tuning, prompt engineering and retrieval-augmented generation technologies.

During a demonstration session last Wednesday, AI DR & Aju generated answers to each question within 30 seconds. However, it gave 88 correct answers and 12 incorrect responses to 100 questions.

The service will be improved through continuous learning and will eventually be able to draw up legal documents based on more correct answers and analyses, Nexus AI CEO Lee Jae-won said at the session.

AI DR & Aju was launched as LexisNexis, Americas leading legal tech company, possessing clients in 150 countries, released Lexis+AI in Korea to preempt the generative AI-based legal services market.

The U.S. firms service is currently specializing in both British and American laws, but LexisNexis plans to develop an AI service specifically for Korea's laws and precedents. Lexis+AI is also seen as generating fewer incorrect answers, thanks to Americas tendency to disclosing the entirety of judgments to the public.

In response to the intensifying competition, Korean legal tech companies, which have developed AI-based legal services earlier than major law firms here, have been accelerating efforts to come up with more advanced technologies.

Intellicon, which launched an AI-based legal adviser, Law GPT, last May, developed Korean Adaptive Legal Language AI (KOALLA) last month. Law & Good, which also launched ChatGPT-based Law & Bot last May, developed a chatbot specializing in Korean financial regulations last month.

Law & Company, which runs an AI-based legal data platform, Bigcase, joined hands with a local AI startup, Upstage, to develop an AI service for lawyers, which is tentatively known as Super Lawyer, by June.

Following the trend, a growing number of law firms here are looking for tech companies that can jointly develop AI technologies, which will not only translate legal documents written in foreign languages but also write drafts of legal documents.

Potential use for investigations, trials

Although legal tech companies and law firms are spearheading the development of AI for legal services, the Supreme Prosecutors Office is set to introduce an AI system by the end of this year for prosecutors and investigators to search databases for similar cases more easily.

In collaboration with the Catholic University of Korea, the office also studied ways to utilize generative AI for investigations.

We hope the introduction of our recently developed generative AI model will improve the prosecutions working environment and guarantee fairness in investigation procedures, said Shin You-jin, assistant professor of data science at the university.

The Supreme Court also invited tenders recently for the development of AI that can assist trials, with the expectation that the technology can prevent the delay of trials by easing the burden on judges, each of whom has to handle hundreds of cases every month.

Backlash from lawyers

However, AI-based legal services have caused controversy here, as lobby groups representing lawyers pointed out that those services may go against the Attorney-at-Law Act.

When DR & Aju announced the launch of its AI-based legal advisory service, the Korean Bar Association (KBA) asked the law firm to clarify whether human lawyers check the AI-generated answers. KBA also questioned the law firms marketing campaign for the new service, citing the associations guidelines, which ban lawyers and law firms from promoting free-of-charge or unreasonably cheap legal services.

The Korean Lawyers Association, which represents lawyers who graduated from law schools, also urged the Ministry of Justice and KBA to start discussions on how to control AI-based legal counseling services.

In addition, concerns remain that Korean courts limited disclosure of written judgments may hinder the growth of the countrys legal tech AI market.
Nicola Sturgeon's sister gave up a career as an NHS nurse to become a tarot card reader and was blackmailed over nude photos, MailOnline can reveal.

Gillian Sturgeon, 48, trained as a hospital nurse and worked taking blood from patients in Irvine, Ayrshire.

But she quit the NHS two years ago to become a full-time psychic, charging clients 12 for tarot card readings online.

Gillian, who is described as former SNP leader Nicola's 'rock', has been slammed for revealing fears over Kate Middleton's health 25 minutes before the princess announced she was having treatment for cancer.

She hit back at social media trolls yesterday in a 14-minute long video rant at her critics.

Gillian Sturgeon, 48, trained as a hospital nurse and worked taking blood from patients

Nicola Sturgeon 's sister gave up a career as an NHS nurse to become a tarot card reader and was blackmailed over nude photos, MailOnline can reveal

Gillian, who is described as former SNP leader Nicola's 'rock', has been slammed for revealing fears over Kate Middleton 's health before the princess announced she was having treatment

In 2022, she told she had been inspired to become a psychic when she was visited by her dead grandmother who put her hand on her forehead when she was ill.

She said she had been flooded with messages from spirits trying to contact their loved-ones.

However, Gillian, a divorced mother-of-two who is five years younger than her high-profile sister, was forced to abandon her tarot card readings after pranksters set up a fake Twitter page in her name.

And she was widely mocked and was forced to pull out of a psychic event in Scotland after she shared a dream she had had about tragic health campaigner Dame Deborah James, who died of bowel cancer just days earlier aged 40.

Gillian now describes herself as a businesswoman, selling make-up online and running a childrens party business.

Her social media pages are packed with recommendations for beauty products and weight-loss potions.

She also hosts a self-indulgent TikTok channel in which she details how unfit she is, how much she needs a glass of wine and mimes suggestively along to songs.

Gillian has also made reference to a leaked OnlyFans channel and that she was blackmailed over nude photographs, but does not go into any detail.

In 2021, while sister Nicola was leading the Scottish government, Gillian was arrested and charged for spitting in her ex-partner Steven Waites face.

Gillian now describes herself as a businesswoman, selling make-up online and running a childrens party business

In 2021, while sister Nicola was leading the Scottish government, Gillian was arrested and charged for spitting in her ex-partner Steven Waites face.

Police Scotland later dropped the charges against her and Waite following the domestic violence incident at a house in Kilwinning, Ayrshire, in August of that year.

Gillian claimed she had only been charged because she was the sister of the First Minister.

She later admitted that she deserved to be punished for what she had done, calling her own behaviour disgusting and vulgar.

In a Facebook video she said: It was during Covid. I agree I should have been punished.

While close to her older sister Nicola, Gillian insists the pair are very different and she has no interest in politics.

She said: Nic and I have always been like chalk n cheese.

The sisters grew up in Dreghorn, Ayrshire, in a working-class family with father Robin, an electrician and mother Joan, a dental technician.

While Nicola became fascinated by politics as Margaret Thatcher dominated Britain, Gillian dreamed of an acting career in Coronation Street.

In a post on social media, she once wrote: I may be related to the most powerful woman in Britain; one of the most powerful women in the world, however I am me.

I dont do politics. I do make-up. I do glam. I do fun. I do survival.

Gillian posted news of Kate's health on her Facebook page at 5.35pm and wrote: 'Get well soon Princess Kate. After this awful news I hope the media leave her in peace to recover.'

Nicola became a member of Her Majesty's Privy Council when she took over as the first minister of Scotland from Alex Salmond in 2014.

The Privy Council is formally a body of advisers to the sovereign and has existed in some form since the 13th century.

It serves as an important link between the executive powers of ministers and the constitutional authority of the sovereign.

After taking criticism for posting Kate's private health information online, Gillian took the decision to delete the post and block the 'trolls'.

Gillian was asked by one social media user if her 'revolting' sister had told her about Kate's condition.

Gillian replied: 'My sister and I havent spoken in 3 days. I read online. Stop using someones illness to try to troll. Sad person you are.'

Following the row, Gillian posted a selfie of herself with the description: 'Never allow the opinions of others become your business. Be the LION amongst SHEEP.'

Nicola has not released any statement wishing Princess Kate well, but did like a post on X from SNP MSP Christina McKelvie at 6.11pm which read: 'Theres few things in life worse than being told you have cancer, I wish Kate well.'
US talk show host Stephen Colbert has sparked fury by failing to apologise for the jokes he made about the Princess of Wales as he finally addressed the backlash he faced following her cancer diagnosis.

The 59-year-old comedian told his audience on The Late Show on CBS last night that he does 'not make light of somebody else's tragedy' - but he stopped short of apologising to Kate who has been the subject of cruel conspiracy theories in recent months.

Colbert - a self-confessed anti-monarchist - accepted that his jokes had 'upset some people', adding that he was aware 'any cancer diagnosis of any kind is harrowing for the patient and for their family'.

The presenter - who had made jokes about Kate's 'disappearance' - also said that he and everyone on the programme 'would like to extend our well wishes and heartfelt hope that her recovery is swift and thorough'.

In a monologue on last night's show, he began by saying: 'You know, folks, I don't know if you have noticed, but we do a lot of shows and I tell a lot of jokes, and I tell jokes about a lot of different things, mostly what everybody's talking about.

Kate revealed she was undergoing preventative chemotherapy in a video released last Friday

Stephen Colbert spoke about his Kate jokes during The Late Show on CBS last night

'And for the last six weeks to two months, everybody has been talking about the mystery of Kate Middleton's disappearance from the public life.

Stephen Colbert's full Late Show statement on his jokes about Kate 'You know, folks, I don't know if you have noticed, but we do a lot of shows and I tell a lot of jokes, and I tell jokes about a lot of different things, mostly what everybody's talking about. 'And for the last six weeks to two months, everybody has been talking about the mystery of Kate Middleton's disappearance from the public life. 'We did some jokes about that mystery and all of the reporting about that. And when I made those jokes, that upset some people  even before her diagnosis was revealed, and I can understand that. 'I mean, a lot of my jokes have upset people in the past. And I'm sure some of my jokes will upset people in the future. But there is a standard that I try to hold myself to. And that is, I do not make light of somebody else's tragedy. 'Now, I don't know whether her prognosis is a tragic one, she is the future Queen of England and I assume she's going to be getting the best possible medical care, but regardless of what it is, I know and I'm sure many of you, far too many of us know that any cancer diagnosis of any kind is harrowing for the patient and for their family. 'And, though I'm sure they don't need it from me, I and everyone here at 'The Late Show' would like to extend our well wishes and heartfelt hope that her recovery is swift and thorough.' Advertisement

'We did some jokes about that mystery and all of the reporting about that.'

He said that when he made those jokes, 'that upset some people, even before her diagnosis was revealed, and I can understand that'.

Colbert added that 'a lot of my jokes have upset people in the past - and I'm sure some of my jokes will upset people in the future'.

But he continued: 'There is a standard that I try to hold myself to. And that is, I do not make light of somebody else's tragedy. Now, I don't know whether her prognosis is a tragic one, she is the future Queen of England and I assume she's going to be getting the best possible medical care.

'But regardless of what it is, I know and I'm sure many of you, far too many of us know that any cancer diagnosis of any kind is harrowing for the patient and for their family.

'And, though I'm sure they don't need it from me, I and everyone here at 'The Late Show' would like to extend our well wishes and heartfelt hope that her recovery is swift and thorough.'

But Colbert's lack of apology sparked a fresh backlash, with Queen Elizabeth II's former press secretary Dickie Arbiter writing: 'He might be full of regret for himself but he didn't apologise.'

The royal commentator also fumed on X/Twitter: 'American chat show hosts have a cruel capacity of making jokes at others expense and Colbert is no exception.

'Buckingham Palace said she'd had surgery, and would be away for several weeks. The Princess of Wales didn't disappear, she was recuperating.

'This was not good enough for chat show hosts or the twitterati - SHAME on you all. There's a clear message - engage brain before mouth if at all the former exists.'

Mr Arbiter was joined by social media users in condemning Colbert for the jokes he made and failing to apologise.

One wrote: 'Is he [sorry]? He never said sorry. He acknowledged the joke upset people but I never heard a sorry or even any regret.'

Another posted: 'Did not hear much of an apology to everyone he mocked, in this clip. His slurs were grotesque and outrageous. Like the others, it seems another forced attempt to redeem their optics and reputation. You are an adult with a platform, audience and followers SC, do better and be better.'

A third added: 'I didnt hear the word "apology".'

Dickie Arbiter, the Queen's former press secretary, led the fury as Stephen Colbert failed to apologise to Kate Middleton for the jokes he made after it was revealed that she was battling cancer

And a fourth said: 'I see no regret there, just words out of his mouth and he doesn't feel any of them.'

Others blasted Colbert for 'not being sorry at all' and claimed that he 'doesn't sound terribly sincere'.

And another user suggested that he should make a full apology to the Princess of Wales.

'Did not apologise. Did not accept his jokes were distasteful. The only think he regrets is being in hot water right now,' another user fumed.'

Kate, 42, revealed she was undergoing preventative chemotherapy in an emotional video message issued by Kensington Palace last Friday evening.

The announcement came after weeks of intense speculation and conspiracy theories on social media around her health and whereabouts.

There has since been a global outpouring of support, including from the King, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Prince Harry and members of the public.

Rumours online about the princess intensified after Prince William missed, at very short notice, the memorial service of his godfather the late King Constantine of Greece at Windsor on February 27.

It is now understood William's decision not to attend was related to Kate's condition, but it is not known when the Princess was told about the positive test for cancer.

King Charles III at Buckingham Palace for a Windsor Leadership Trust event this morning

December 25, 2023: Kate was last seen with her family attending church at Sandringham

Further speculation was triggered after the princess admitted to 'editing' her official Mother's Day photograph which had irregularities.

READ MORE King Charles will join Queen Camilla and other members of the royal family for Easter Sunday service at Windsor Castle - as Kate Middleton and Prince William miss event following shock cancer diagnosis Advertisement

A further development saw an investigation launched by the UK's privacy watchdog, the Information Commissioner's Office, into allegations there were attempts to access Kate's private medical records at the London Clinic where she had her surgery.

It is not known how long Kate will be receiving treatment but it is understood she may be keen to attend events as and when she feels able to, in line with medical advice, although this will not indicate a return to full-time duties.

William will continue to balance supporting his wife and family, and maintaining his official duties as he has done since her operation.

The Prince is due to return to public duties after his children return to school following the Easter break.

He and his wife will not attend the royal family's traditional Easter Sunday service at Windsor Castle's St George's Chapel.

Buckingham Palace confirmed today that the King is expected to attend this service with Queen Camilla, but it is not likely to be a large family gathering.

Charles has been receiving treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer since early February after he was treated for an enlarged prostate at the same hospital where Kate had abdominal surgery.
Belarus' strongman dictator Alexander Lukashenko has seemingly undermined Russia's claims that Ukraine was behind the deadly Moscow massacre, after revealing the four terrorists tried fleeing to Belarus, not Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin has tried to spin Friday's mass killing on the outskirts of Moscow, which left 139 people dead, in his favour by claiming Volodymyr Zelensky had orchestrated it.

But Lukashenko, one of Putin's closest allies, has publicly contradicted his messaging.

He said: 'There was no way they could enter Belarus. They saw that. That's why they turned away and went to the section of the Ukrainian-Russian border.'

While terror group ISIS has claimed responsibility for the massacre several times, Russia has not fully acknowledged this and officials have chosen to blame Ukraine and the West for the attack.

Putin on Monday said for the first time that 'radical Islamists' were behind last week's attack, but sought to tie it to Kyiv.

Alexander Lukashenko (pictured), one of Putin's closest allies, has publicly contradicted Putin's messaging

Vladimir Putin has tried to spin Friday's mass killing on the outskirts of Moscow, which left 139 people dead, in his favour

The terrorists who carried out the attack have all been detained and charged with terrorism

All four of them have been beaten and tortured by Russian security forces

Without providing any evidence, Putin connected the attack at Crocus City Hall to a series of incursions into Russian territory by pro-Ukrainian sabotage groups, and said they were all part of efforts to 'sow panic in our society'.

And today, Russia's internal security chief blamed Britain and the US for helping ISIS terrorists carry out the attack.

Alexander Bortnikov, head of the FSB, insisted the West and Ukraine were behind the attack, despite also saying that Russian investigators hadn't yet established who had ordered the attack.

He told Russian news agencies: 'The USA, Britain and Ukraine are behind the terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall.'

'We believe the action was prepared both by the radical Islamists themselves and, of course, facilitated by Western special services, and Ukraine's special services themselves have a direct connection to this.'

But in the same breath, he said: 'The one who ordered it has not been identified yet. We understand and see those who organised this process, who recruited and set specific tasks.'

So far, 139 people have died and the death toll is expected to rise

People place flowers at a makeshift memorial in front of the Crocus City Hall

A woman grieves at a makeshift memorial in front of the Crocus City Hall

A view of the burned Crocus City Hall concert venue following a terrorist attack

Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, 32, Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, 30, Shamsidin Fariduni, 25, and Mukhammadsobir Faizov, 19, were all detained and charged in Moscow over the weekend with terrorism.

Russian security forces leaked videos showing themselves abusing and torturing the four terrorists.

One video too graphic for MailOnline to publish showed security forces slicing Rachabalizoda's right ear and forcing him to eat it.

Rachabalizoda later appeared in court with swollen facial features and a massive bandage over his right ear.

A court in Moscow meanwhile on Tuesday remanded an eighth suspect in custody over the attack at the Moscow concert hall.

Moscow earlier announced it had detained 11 people in connection with the attack, which saw camouflaged gunmen storm into Crocus City Hall, open fire on concert-goers and set the building ablaze.

The court's press service said the latest suspect to be remanded was a man originally from the Central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan.

Officials said he was ordered to be held in detention until at least May 22, without detailing the exact accusations against him.
A care home in California for autistic adults has been hit with a torture scandal after a former employee was allegedly filmed abusing two 'vulnerable' residents.

Adekunle Fabunmi, 35, has been accused of physically torturing two adults at the Elwyn-Mayall, a four-person home for people with developmental disabilities.

Fabunmi was caught on camera by another caregiver as he hit one of the residents, Jude Cabanete, 31, in the head at the Northridge facility.

Additional footage, reviewed by the Los Angeles Times, from August 25, showed Fabunmi continuing to hit Jude. On the same night, he punished another resident, Gregorio Topete, 30, an employee told police.

Both of the resident's mother's, Laura Topete and Mary Cabanete, have sued Fabunmi, Elwyn-Mayall and the North Los Angles County Regional Center.

The lawsuit stated that their sons were 'assaulted and battered' by the caregiver and that his colleagues did not step in to stop the abuse.

Adekunle Fabunmi, 35, has been accused of physically torturing two adults at the Elwyn-Mayall (pictured), a four-person home for people with developmental disabilities

'Im actually really grateful that somebody recorded it  because both of our sons are not good historians, Laura Topete said. 'They would have gotten away with it.'

In response to the legal filling, Fabunmi declined to discuss the ongoing case and instead referred the Los Angels Times to his attorney Christian Oronsaye from Ivy Crest Attorneys.

In a letter, Oransaye said that his firm 'demands' that 'further communications' with Fabunmi cannot be made without permission.

'We have also interviewed our client and believe that the allegations against our client regarding the incident are false,' the letter stated.

On the night of alleged attack, Fabunmi was assigned to watch Jude, who had spread feces on his mattress and vomited on the floors, another staffer reported.

Caregivers then washed the sheets, but when Jude expressed to Fabunmi that he wanted to take a shower and clean off, another caregiver said that Fabunmi said no.

According to an incident report, Jude then ran to the staff bathroom and gulped water from a disinfectant wipe container that he emptied.

As the resident did this, Fabunmi followed him into the restroom and started to strike him in the head as other caregivers recorded the violent interaction.

The 13 second video showed Fabunmi hitting Jude four times in the face and punching him in the ear, as the sound of another slap was heard off camera.

As he was hit, Jude yelled out: 'No, no, no, no,' as Fabunmi continued to torture him, additional footage revealed.

During another filmed incident, Fabunmi threw Jude from the couch and onto the ground.

Jude, who was naked from the waist down, only wearing t-shirt, was then instructed to do 400 jumping jacks by Fabunmi.

According to the Los Angles Times, Jude can be heard crying out in the video as Fabunmi's co-workers failed to intervene.

That same night, Los Angeles Police detectives said that Gregorio was forced to sit in the living room of the home by Fabunmi for three hours as he stood over the autistic man 'in an intimidating manner.'

When Gregorio tried to move from the spot, Fabunmi then slapped him twice on the head and made him stay on the ground until 2am, police said.

His colleagues have also accused Fabunmi of previously abusing another man that he was paid to take care of in 2019.

'The allegations ... are isolated to a particular set of circumstances, and do not represent Elwyns long-standing activities in California,' Elwyn said in a statement

During the time, Fabunmi was working at Elwyn and at another care facility, People Creating Success.

In June of that year, the manager at People Creating Success called the police after another employee reported that she saw Fabunmi slap a nonverbal man with cerebral palsy.

His co-worker told management that during the incident, Fabunmi became frustrated with the 55-year-old man as he tried to help him get dressed.

People Creating Success fired Fabunmi about two weeks after the incident, according to the report.

He later sued the company and suggested that the incident was 'made up' in an attempt to get rid of him.

Fabunmi went on to deny that he hit any of the residents at Elwyn, but within a week, he was let go.

Elwyn, a 170-year-old nonprofit, that helps people with developmental disabilities, said that the safety and health of its residents is of 'paramount importance.'

The non-profit operates approximately 50 licensed homes in California for disabled adults who cannot live on their own.

'The allegations ... are isolated to a particular set of circumstances, and do not represent Elwyns long-standing activities in California,' Elwyn said in a statement.

Footage of the incidents were not submitted to management until August 27 as an employee told an investigator that she 'did not feel safe' reporting the abuse to her boss.

'All the males in the home, when they get close to residents, the residents flinched. Jude flinched,' the unnamed employee told the investigator.

On August 30, the videos were sent over to North Los Angeles County Regional Center, a government-funded nonprofit that provides services to those with developmental disabilities.

Ari Stark, a quality assurance representative for the nonprofit said that the videos were 'violent and horrible to watch.'

In an email to a supervisor, Stark said that he is 'super concerned with Elwyn's ability to provide a safe and appropriate environment to any of their consumers.'

Laura, Gregorio's mother, said that when she moved her son into the facility nine years ago, 'it was sold beautifully' to them.

Mary, Jude's mother, said that her son arrived at Elwyn in April 2022 and that she initially thought the home was 'family friendly.'

Since their son's stays, both mother's said that they have discovered unexplained bruises.

Police were called twice to the home after Gregorio started to hurt himself, while Jude escaped the home an ran into a busy intersection, an incident report said.

'It was torture,' Mary said after she reviewed the detailed report.

Laura found a large red welt on her son's head in January and discovered that Gregorio was hitting himself in the head.

She said that since the traumatic incidents, Gregorio has caused more harm to himself and has 'fallen apart.'

The worried mother has made it her mission to get 'him out of there.'
The majority of the Unites States Supreme Court appeared poised to reject blocking access or further restricting the commonly used abortion pill mifepristone in a case that could have the largest impact on abortion access since the overturning of Roe v Wade.

The country's highest court heard oral arguments on Tuesday in the case FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, a group of anti-abortion medical professionals who filed a lawsuit attempting to block access to the drug.

Mifepristone is used in more than half of abortions in the United States and has been used by more than 5.6 million women since its approval in 2000.

The case looks at actions taken by the FDA to relax restrictions around the pill in 2016 and 2021, making it easier to obtain nationwide as many states have moved to further restrict abortion since Roe fell in 2022.

The Supreme Court had two questions to examine: first was whether the group had standing to bring the case and if so, whether the FDA's actions to make it easier to get the drug is legal.

But during the arguments Tuesday, a majority on the court signaled they are not prepared to restrict access to the abortion pill based on the conscience objections of a few medical professionals.

Erin Hawley of the Alliance Defending Freedom speaking outside the Supreme Court after arguing on behalf of the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine

Jessica Ellsworth also argued before the court on behalf of Danco, which manufactures mifepristone. She warned the anti-abortion group views would not just impact mifepristone but could upend the approval for every drug

The majority of justices on the Supreme Court questioned the plaintiffs' standing to bring the lawsuit and appeared poised to reject further restricting the abortion pill mifepristone

Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar made arguments on behalf of the FDA stating that rolling back changes on mifepristone would restrict access to the drug without safety justification. She also argued that medical complications from abortion pills are very rare.

Attorney Erin Hawley made arguments on behalf of the plaintiffs. She argued the drug was dangerous and claimed that doctors who oppose abortion object to having to treat women who have taken abortion pills when they come into the emergency department with complications.

During the hearing, Justice Amy Coney Barrett asked Hawley, wife of Senator Josh Hawley, R-Mo., whether the doctors in the suit have an example of 'actually participating in an abortion to end the life of the embryo or fetus' which would cause the emotional or moral harm. Barrett even noted she did not read that either had ever said they participated in it.

Justice Gorsuch also raised questions on standing, stating there was a mismatch between the objections of a few doctors and limiting the availability of the pill to all Americans.

'This case seems like a prime example of turning what could be a small lawsuit into a nationwide legislative assembly on an FDA rule or any other federal government action,' Gorsuch said while questioning Hawley.

By the end of the nearly two hour arguments, it appeared only Justice Samuel Alito was accepting the legal standing in the case.

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 Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine first challenged the FDA in the conservative U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas on a number of grounds in November 2022.

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.

In August 2023, the Fifth Circuit court ruled to reinstate some of the pre-2016 restrictions but not to remove the drug from the market, and a Supreme Court stay remained in place.

The highest court will hand down its decision by the end of the term, so the decision is likely to be released in late June or early July before the court recesses for the summer.

Mifepristone is used in more than half of all abortions in the United States.

Research by Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion rights research organization, found medication abortions in the United States 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.

While 14 states have near-total abortion bans since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 and more than a handful of additional states have implement additional restrictions on abortion ranging from six to 18 weeks, multiple states that still have some abortion access have further restrictions on medication abortion.

Despite the FDA relaxing rules to allow additional medical practitioners like physicians assistants and nurse practitioners to prescribe abortion pills besides doctors, 15 states have laws requiring it to be provided by a physician according to tracking by Guttmacher.

They also found at least five states require patients have an in person visit with a physician and at least one state, Arizona, has banned the mailing of abortion pills.

Pro-abortion rights protesters gathered outside the Supreme Court carrying signs and chanting. They warned that the case wouldn't just impact abortion access in states that have banned abortion but all 50 states including those that have expanded access

Anti-abortion rights protesters gathered with signs focused on the health of women and argued 'abortion pills kill.'

Abortion is expected too be a top issue in the 2024 presidential election after the overturning of Roe v Wade played a pivotal role in the midterms

At least 13 people were arrested near the Supreme Court as arguments over mifepristone were taking place inside

Leading up to Tuesday's hearing, abortion rights advocates warned the Supreme Court decision could have national implications.

Should the justices have signaled they were siding with the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, it would result in access to the commonly used abortion drug being restricted not just in states where abortion had already been restricted or banned, but in all 50 states.

Abortion has been a galvanizing issue since the Supreme Court overturned the landmark decision of Roe v Wade and returned the issue of abortion rights to states.

As the arguments were unfolding inside the court, hundreds of protesters both for and against abortion rights gathered outside chanting and carrying signs.

At least 13 activists were arrested for blocking the roads and a sidewalk.
Rishi Sunak dismissed Tory fury at his 'feeble' China hacking response today as he insisted Britain is 'more robust' than allies.

The PM compared the UK's stance favourably with that of friendly nations as he swiped that many had not ditched Huawei from comms networks.

The intervention, in an evidence session with the Commons Liaison Committee, came as he struggled to contain Tory tensions over China.

The UK publicly identified Beijing as being behind cyber attacks on the elections watchdog and and slew of politicians yesterday.

But the government's retort, sanctioning just two individuals and a small firm in Wuhan as well as summoning the ambassador for a dressing down, drew condemnation from MPs across parties.

The PM gathered Cabinet this morning, with signs that ministers are at loggerheads on how tough to be in imposing new restrictions on Chinese firms operating in the UK.

Rishi Sunak dismissed Tory fury at his 'feeble' China hacking response today as he insisted Britain is 'more robust' than allies

China has flatly denied cyberattacks on UK institutions. Pictured, Xi Jinping

Challenged by Labour MP Liam Byrne at the committee session this afternoon, Mr Sunak denied that the UK was merely 'thinking about' acting while allies went ahead.

'Our approach to China is undoubtedly more robust than, I'd say, most of our allies, in fact, actually,' he said.

Mr Sunak pointed to European countries not removing Huawei equipment from their telecommunications networks, and not placing similar restrictions on exports of sensitive technology to China.

He said the UK's foreign investment regime was the most recently implemented and therefore the most robust.

'I am entirely confident that our approach to dealing with the risk that China poses is very much in line with our allies and in most cases goes further in protecting ourselves,' he said.

Mr Byrne replied: 'It clearly doesn't.'

In a dramatic statement to the Commons yesterday, Mr Sunak's deputy Oliver Dowden said Beijing was responsible for hacking the personal data of up to 40million voters in an attack on the Electoral Commission three years ago.

The personal emails of MPs and peers critical of the regime were also targeted.

In a dramatic statement to the Commons yesterday, deputy PM Oliver Dowden said Beijing was responsible for hacking the personal data of up to 40million voters in an attack on the Electoral Commission three years ago

Rishi Sunak (pictured in Barrow yesterday) is struggling to contain Tory tensions over China after a backlash at his 'derisory' response to cyberattacks

Sir Iain Duncan Smith, a member of the Inter-parliamentary Alliance on China (Ipac) who has faced sanctions from the regime, said the Government needs 'to show China we mean business'

In a move coordinated with Washington, he said that Britain 'will not tolerate' similar activity, although he insisted the democratic system had not been undermined.

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'.

Mr Dowden indicated that ministers discussing a move to put China on the 'enhanced tier' of countries deemed a threat to the UK.

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.

There are 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.

However, ministers look to be torn over whether that should cover all Chinese firms, including those that insist they are not controlled by the state.

Security minister Tom Tugendhat is reportedly pushing for a hard line, but others such as Kemi Badenoch are concerns about the impact.

Sir Iain Duncan Smith, a member of the Inter-parliamentary Alliance on China (Ipac) who has faced sanctions from the regime, said the Government needs 'to show China we mean business'.

'The reality is sadly, we have looked unprepared to challenge China over their terrible abuses,' he continued.

'We need to show China we mean business. There's no good watching America do that and we don't do the same.

'We're massively dependant on China now, the universities are so dependant on them for their students and students fees. We've got huge dependency in what we buy from China.'

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.'

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.

Foreign Secretary David Cameron (pictured with Xi Jinping in 2015) described China's conduct as 'completely unacceptable'

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.

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.

'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.'
Social media users were not impressed with Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser's initial reaction to video of the Baltimore bridge collapse on Tuesday morning.

Bowser posted to X an unusual, 'Oh no,' in response to a post on X showing images and video of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse after a cargo ship collided with a support structure for the 1.6-mile-long bridge around 1:27 a.m.

In a now-deleted post, Bowser responded on her personal account to X, formerly Twitter, around 7:00 a.m. to the horrific collapse in D.C.'s neighboring city of Baltimore, Maryland.

Asked to expand on the post, Bowser's office referred DailyMail.com to a post the mayor made to her official X account two hours after her initial response.

'Our prayers are with our neighbors in Baltimore and all those impacted by the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge,' Bowser wrote on X around 9:00 a.m.

She added: 'This morning, I reached out to [Baltimore] Mayor Scott, and we stand ready to support Baltimore in these difficult days ahead.'

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser's initial response to the Baltimore bridge collapse on Tuesday morning was 'oh not' in a now-deleted post to X

Bowser posted to X, then deleted the post, saying 'oh no' in response to video and images of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse on Tuesday

Search and rescue efforts are still underway despite the freezing cold water and little chance any victims will be found alive.

Eight people were on the bridge at the time of the collision and six remain unaccounted for after people and cars plunged into the Patapsco River, Maryland's transportation secretary said hours after the collision.

Despite her official response, X users were not quick to forget her initial glib reaction.

One user wrote to Mayor Bowser's tweet: 'this coming from someone who commented on another tweet 'OH NO'. dont you have a ribbon cutting ceremony to get to?'

Another just posted a link to her now-deleted response to the Open Source Intelligence Monitor post.

The account posted on X on Tuesday morning video of the bridge collapse with description: 'The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland which crosses the Patapsco River has reportedly Collapsed within the last few minutes after being Struck by a Large Container Ship; a Mass Casualty Incident has been Declared with over a Dozen Cars and many Individuals said to be in the Water.'

'Oh no,' Bowser replied.

A cargo ship crashed into a support structure for the 1.6-mile-long bridge at 1:27 am and remains in a destroyed state on the Patapsco River

Bowser released a more formal response to the bridge collapse two hours later from her official mayoral X account

Other government and state officials sent messages of prayer and offered assistance to Maryland and Baltimore in the wake of the tragedy that will impact the region for years to come.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis posted to X that he directed his state's emergency services to offer their assistance to Maryland should it be desired.

'The State of Florida stands willing to help and our prayers are with the victims and first responders,' he wrote.
Neighbors heard gunshots, saw people with weapons, and smoking illegal drugs

Guests party non-stop from Thursday to Monday and have sex on balconies

Neighbors of an apartment block where three units are used as Airbnb-style rentals say they are living a nightmare of all-day parties and public sex.

Residents of townhouses valued up at $500,0000 are fed up with what they describe as sex parties, violence, and drug use.

Gunshots rang out from the Westhaven Estates building in west Houston two weeks ago and security cameras caught a man holding a gun walking out.

A couple was also filmed having sex on a balcony on a Monday morning in view of parents taking their children to elementary school just 200ft away.

Gunshots rang out from the Westhaven Estates building in west Houston two weeks ago and security cameras caught a man holding a gun walking out (pictured)

Neighbors said the frequent partying started on Thursday nights and continued almost non-stop until Monday mornings.

They said it was worse than ever last week when students descended on the building during Spring Break.

More footage showed a woman wearing a thong strutting along a cobbled pathway, and guests at the Airbnb shrieking and screaming at night.

People who live in the townhomes near Houston's Galleria Mall said this was not what they signed up for when they moved into the upmarket neighborhood with their kids.

They are increasingly alarmed by armed people smoking marijuana, which is still illegal in Texas, who block the entrance to their homes with their cars.

A couple are seen having sex on the balcony of a Houston Airbnb in a pixelated image provided by a horrified local resident

A scantily-clad woman was also filmed walking through the neighborhood in a thong. It is unclear if she was one of the two people caught having sex on the balcony

Nancy Rutherford, who lives a street away from the building, said dozens of calls to police did nothing to help.

'It has been a living nightmare. This generally starts on a Thursday night; it goes all night long and it continues until about Monday morning,' she told KHOU.

'None of us feel safe anymore. It's only a matter of time until somebody gets killed. What is HPD doing? I don't know I would like to know what HPD is doing.'

Kathy Yang, who lives in Westhaven Estates, regularly has her car blocked in when the guests fill the driveway with their vehicles.

She wanted to move, but said she wouldn't be able to rent her apartment out with such noisy neighbors, and couldn't in good conscience sell it.

'So I'm stuck,' she said.

Kathy Yang, who lives in Westhaven Estates, said wanted to move, but said she wouldn't be able to rent her apartment out, and couldn't in good conscience sell it

Yang regularly has her car blocked in when the guests fill the driveway with their vehicles

After 87 attempts to get police to help shut down the out-of-control short-term rental, it remains in operation.

Houston Mayor John Whitmire addressed the issue at a recent city council meeting after complaints from residents around the city.

'No one should have to be exposed to the conditions that we're hearing about today. I've seen some pictures that are obviously violating the law,' he said.

'It's obviously a hotel.'

However, Whitmire's office said Texas was a strong property rights state and a federal court last year struck down Austin's short-term rental rules as unconstitutional.

'We are in the process of gathering public input, data and facts on how to move forward with addressing concerns about short term rentals,' it said.

'The City of Houston plans to make an informed decision before deciding how to move forward.'

The Airbnb features five king and queen beds, according to the online listing

Walls in the rental are painted black. There are also high-end touches, like designer bedding

An online listing for the property, which includes a pool, notes that parties and events are not allowed

According to the rental's listing, the 'luxury' home sleeps up to 10 people and can be reserved for a little as $486 a night.

Photos of the property show black walls, large mirrors and beds covered in Chanel bedding.

'Each bedroom is fitted with silky smooth linens, comfy blankets, and soft pillows that'll feel like you're sleeping on heavens clouds,' the listing said.

The listing specifically spells out that parties are not allowed.

Airbnb did not immediately respond for comment regarding the party palace.
Grant Shapps today heaped pressure on Rishi Sunak to commit to spending 2.5 per cent of GDP on Britain's military in the Tories' general election manifesto.

The Prime Minister is under intense pressure to boost defence spending amid the growing threat posed by nations such as Russia, China and Iran.

Mr Shapps, the Defence Secretary, saw his demands for the 2.5 per cent level to be met ignored by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt at the recent Budget.

But he reiterated his call for the target to be reached 'as quickly as possible' when he was quizzed by MPs this afternoon.

'There's a general election coming up,' Mr Shapps told the House of Commons' Defence Committee, in a clear signal to the PM about the Tory manifesto.

Yet Mr Shapps' renewed demand came shortly after Mr Sunak himself dodged questions on when Britain's defence spending will meet the 2.5 per cent goal.

Appearing before the Liaison Committee of senior MPs earlier this afternoon, the PM declined to give a date for when the target would be hit.

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps heaped pressure on Rishi Sunak to commit to spending 2.5 per cent of GDP on Britain's military in the Tories' general election manifesto

But the PM earlier refused to say when Britain's defence spending will hit 2.5 per cent of GDP despite admitting NATO allies need to 'up our game'

The outgoing Armed Forces minister James Heappey yesterday told MPs the UK 'should urgently achieve 2.5 per cent'

'We've said we will do that when the conditions allow,' Mr Sunak said.

'But it's worth saying that defence spending is already on an upward trajectory and we're already due to hit 2.3 per cent of GDP on defence spending.'

The PM urged European and NATO allies to 'step up' defence industrial production.

'What the last year or so shows that we need to collectively up our game when it comes to defence industrial production,' he added.

'We're making the investments, we're signing the contracts and I think we can look forward to a very significant increase over the coming months and years.'

Speaking later this afternoon to the Defence Committee, Mr Shapps was also quizzed about the 2.5 per cent target.

'The Government is committed to 2.5 per cent. It is my view... that we are living in a more dangerous world,' the Defence Secretary told MPs.

'I am in complete agreement that you have to pay for that defence.

'Exact timing, as we've said all along, is a matter for the Chancellor abnd the Government has described it "as conditions allow".

'I am Secretary of State for Defence so obviously I urge for us to move to that position as quickly as possible.

'There will be other opportunities, including an election coming - other parties are only committed to 2 per cent, the NATO base.'

Pressed on whether he was hinting the 2.5 per cent target would be included in the Tory manifesto ahead of the general election, Mr Shapps added: 'I am very committed to making sure we defend ourselves and when you do I think you make a very good case to your adversaries not to try it on.

'Because I think it's actually cheaper in the long run to do that as well.

'I am very pleased we are committed to doing it. Of course I urge us to do that as quickly as possible. There's a general election coming up.'

The pressure on Mr Sunak over defence spending had already been kept up by exiting Armed Forces minister James Heappey.

The ex-Army officer and Afghanistan veteran, who today confirmed his resignation from Government, issued a public demand for Britain to reach 2.5 per cent from the Commons despatch box yesterday.

He told MPs: 'We should urgently achieve 2.5 per cent of GDP.

'The fiscal situation is improving, and the Conservative Party has made that commitment.'

Mr Heappey wrote a resignation letter earlier this month amid reports he was frustrated over Mr 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, as he joins a growing Tory exodus from the Commons.

Before leaving politics, Mr Heappey is expected to become increasingly vocal on the need for defence investment to match the current threats faced by the West.
President Joe Biden vowed the federal government will pay to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge and insisted it was an accident.

Biden vowed to move 'heaven and earth' to get one of the world's busiest ports reopened after a ship lost power and destroyed the bridge that spans the Patapsco River, at the mouth of the Baltimore Harbor.

'We're going to get it up and running again as soon as possible. 15,000 jobs depend on that port. And we're going to do everything we can to protect those jobs,' Biden said in remarks at the White House.

'I'm directing my team move heaven and Earth three, open the port and rebuild the bridge as soon as possible,' he said.

Divers were still looking for six construction workers who were fixing potholes on the bridge and are missing.

'We're going to get it up and running again as soon as possible,' President Joe Biden said

'It's my intention that federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstruction in that bridge. I expect the Congress to support my effort this is going to take some time. The people of Baltimore can count on us to stick with them at every step of the way,' Biden said.

'We're not leaving until this job gets done,' he added.

He said he wasn't going to wait for the investigation to see if the ship was at fault to rebuild the bridge.

'Were not going to wait for that to happen. Were going to prepay to get the bridge built and reopen,' Biden said.

Biden was briefed early Tuesday morning by his team on the collapse. He also met with senior staff where he directed all federal resources be made available to assist in the ongoing search and rescue efforts and response to this incident, the White House said.

'Everything so far indicates that this was a terrible accident. At this time, we have no other indication, no other reason to believe, there's any intentional act here,' the president said.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore declared a state of emergency Tuesday morning following the catastrophic collision, which occurred at about 1.30am. The ship - the Singaporean-flagged Dali - was 20 minutes into its journey when it slammed into a support column on the bridge.

The Democrat said the ship's crew managed to issue a Mayday before it crashed into the bridge, which allowed officials to stop cars from going on the bridge.

'We're thankful that between the 'mayday' and collapse that-that we had officials who were able to-to begin the stop the flow of traffic so more cars were not up on the bridge,' Moore said.

Initially, officials feared that drivers were submerged in their cars in the Patapsco River. But the warning from ship give officials enough time to stop traffic at both ends of the bridge.

The people who blocked traffic 'undoubtedly saved lives,' President Biden said.

Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul J. Wiedefeld said eight people were on the bridge when it collapsed, and two of them were rescued from the water, with one declining medical treatment and the other being taken to the hospital.

The White House tweeted a photo of President Joe Biden being briefed on the bridge collapse

Baltimore officials are on a race to save up to 20 people who plunged into the Patapsco River after a Singaporean cargo ship crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge

An injured person was pictured being loaded into an ambulance after getting taken off the ship following the collapse

Astonishing footage shows the moment the vessel plowed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, sending the colossal steel structure crashing into the Patapsco River

The bridge spans 9,000 feet across the Patapsco River and is 180 feet above the water

Maryland authorities are using sonar detection devices to search for the crew members who fell into the 47F water as they were working to repair potholes on the 185-foot bridge when it collapsed.

Officials said they have spotted five vehicles submerged under water thanks to infrared and side-scan sonar technology - three passenger vehicles, a cement truck and a fifth vehicle.

It is believed those vehicles belonged to the construction crew and were parked on the bridge.

Video shows the ship going dark seconds before the collision, suggesting a power failure on board. The crew of 22 remains onboard and is now being questioned by the Coast Guard.

The rescue effort incorporates Coast Guard ships, local police boats, Baltimore's Fire Department, volunteer fire departments from the surrounding areas as well as teams of divers as the desperate search for survivors goes on.

FBI special agent in charge of the Baltimore office William DelBagno said 'there is no specific or credible information to suggest there are ties to terrorism in this incident.'

The collapse is sure to create a logistical nightmare for months, if not years, for the East Coast, shutting down ship traffic at the Port of Baltimore and snarling cargo and commuter traffic.

Governor Wes Moore declared a state of emergency Tuesday morning following the catastrophic collision at about 1.30am

An aerial view of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge after the collision

The ship involved is the 948 foot long Dali, a Singaporean-flagged container which could be seen on ship tracking websites positioned stationary under the bridge following the crash.

It left Baltimore's Seagirt Marine Terminal at 12:24am, at 1:25am, is began to slow and diverted off of its course. The video shows lights going off on board just before the crash.

The Dali ship was bound for Colombo, Sri Lanka. It's unclear what cargo it was holding. The vessel was due to land in Asia on April 27.

According to the ship's owners, all crew members were accounted for with no injuries reported.

Around 30,000 vehicles use the bridge, which is named for the writer of the Star Spangled Banner, every day. It opened in 1977.

Biden noted he's traversed it many times.

'I've been over many, many times commuting from the state of Delaware in train and by car,' he said.
By Ko Dong-hwan

The United States Forces Korea (USFK) will see its utility bills soar, after the Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) raises electricity rates for them amid surging production costs, according to the state-run utility company, Tuesday.

The USFK has agreed with the Korean government to increase its power usage rate to 152.8 won ($0.11) per kilowatt-hour (kWh) this year, a 26.8 percent jump from last year's 120.5 won, KEPCO said.

The power usage rate is determined by the electricity fee and base rate. KEPCO raised its electricity fee for the USFK to 133.5 won, up by 26.9 percent from last year's 105.2 won per kWh, and its base rate to 7,830 won, up by 24.3 percent from 6,300 won per kilowatt.

To mitigate its record-high debt of 200 trillion won amid soaring global energy prices, the company raised power rates for all its electricity users twice in 2023.

"Our rate for the USFK for this year is an average of all different rates we charge for different purposes overall," a KEPCO official said.

The new rate for the USFK came after approval by the joint committee of the U.S.-Republic of Korea Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). The committee has been determining the power rate for the USFK after checking how much KEPCO's rates were in the previous year and calculating their average.

The USFK said KEPCO's new rate is fair and reasonable.

U.S. Forces Korea remains committed to being good ambassadors and neighbors with our host nation and has agreed with the ROK government to support the rate change in gas and electricity," USFK spokesperson Kim Eun-chong told The Korea Times.

"We're closely working with the ROK government agencies to determine the electrical rates applicable to the U.S. Armed Forces, taking into account revalidated electrical production costs. This process has been conducted in accordance with SOFA procedures with mutual respect."

Remaining conflicts over power usage rate

But there have been conflicts of interest between KEPCO and the USFK over the power usage rate. The company has been wanting to charge a "general rate," which is for non-specified purposes excluding all predetermined purposes such as education, industry and farming. The general rate is always the highest among other rates.

KEPCO has been insisting the USFK should be charged the generate rate, which is what it charges Korean military forces.

But the USFK has been rejecting the idea, saying they should instead be charged the average of all the rates KEPCO charges for specified and non-specified purposes.

The USFK cited a term from SOFA which states that the forces "should not be levied an unfair rate or condition compared to other utility users in the country" for utility costs related to electricity, gas, tap water, steam, heat or sewage treatment.

"The USFK, by mentioning a term from SOFA's chapter 6 clause 2, has been declining our request that the forces be subjected to the general rate," the KEPCO official said. "They said that 'other utility users' literally meant everyone and thus their rate should be based on the rates charged to everyone instead of non-specified purposes."
He told DailyMail.com he has concerns over 'singling out one company'

Clyburn notably voted against a bill earlier this month that would force ByteDance to divest from TikTok or face a ban in the U.S.

Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., and his James E. Clyburn Scholarship and Research Foundation have both received money from TikTok's parent firm ByteDance

A nonprofit affiliated with influential Democrat Rep. James Clyburn received over $40,000 from TikTok's China-based parent company before he voted against a bill that could force his benefactor to divest from the popular app.

Earlier this month, the House displayed a moment of bipartisanship voting 352-65 to pass a bill that would force ByteDance - TikTok's Chinese parent company - to divest from the social media app in six months or face a ban.

The legislation was crafted by the House China Select Committee, which says Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials through ByteDance are using TikTok to spy on its U.S. users' locations and dictate its algorithm to conduct influence campaigns, making it a national security threat.

Clyburn, a veteran Democrat who has represented South Carolina since 1993, split with much of his party when he voted against the bill, citing concerns over 'singling out one company.'

However, financial disclosures reveal that he and the James E. Clyburn Scholarship and Research Foundation have both received cash from ByteDance's lobbying arms in recent years.

Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., has served in Congress for over 30 years and is one of the most influential Democrats in the House

Clyburn was one of 65 lawmakers who voted against a bill that could force ByteDance to divest from its popular social media app TikTok

The James E. Clyburn Scholarship and Research Foundation has received $40,000 from TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance since 2021

Clyburn and a political action committee associated with him have received at least $14,000 in recent years from lobbyists working on behalf of ByteDance and $3,000 from TikTok lobbyists, according to the Washington Examiner.

One lobbying contribution report shows that his foundation received $20,000 from ByteDance in 2021.

Another report reveals that the long-time Democrat's foundation received $20,000 from ByteDance in October 2023.

At the time, the app had already been embroiled in controversies regarding its security implications, and its CEO, Shou Chew, had already made a trip to Capitol Hill to convince lawmakers that the social media company was not subject to the demands of the CCP.

'The bottom line is this: American data stored on American soil, by an American company, overseen by American personnel,' Chew said at the time.

But the leaders of the House China Select Committee claim that's false.

'The Chinese Communist Party, and its leader Xi Jinping have their hands deep in the inner workings of the company,' Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., the chairman of the committee said earlier this month.

'The Chinese government has the ability to manipulate TikTok's algorithm, surveillance users and conduct influence operations that quietly populate Americans' 'For You' pages,' he said.

TikTok fans protested on Capitol Hill ahead of the House vote on the TikTok bill

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Rep. Mike Gallager talk with reporters after the House of Representatives voted on legislation they co-sponsored that could ban TikTok

Democrats on the committee also decried the app's clandestine capabilities.

'ByteDance uses the location data of TikTok accounts owned by American journalists to target those very journalists,' Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., said earlier this month.

'ByteDance has repeatedly used the TikTok platform in ways that undermine not just American national security, but the interest of its users.'

Still, despite his colleagues calling TikTok a national security threat, Clyburn has not.

'While I agree that national security is a top priority, I am always concerned when we appear to be singling out one company but ignoring the transgressions of others,' Clyburn told DailyMail.com in a statement.

'Data security and content moderation are true concerns.'

'However, we need to find comprehensive solutions that apply to and mitigate potential risks arising on all social media platforms.'

His staff also noted how his foundation has been operating for nearly 35 years providing millions in scholarships to students.

Now, the bill awaits action in the Senate, where Senators have attended classified briefings on the threats posed by the app.

If it passes through the upper chamber, it will head to President Joe Biden, who has said he would sign the bill into law.

Should that happen, ByteDance would only have 165 days to divest from the social media company.
More than 1,600 planes have been hit by a mysterious interference that many fear Russia is behind.

Planes flying over and around the Baltic Sea in northern Europe have been suffering technical problems caused by jamming since Sunday, with 1614 planes, mostly civilian, reporting problems since then.

While most of them appear to be taking place in Polish airspace, OSINT blogs have reported that planes flying in German, Danish, Swedish, Latvian and Lithuanian airspace have suffered interference problems.

Notably, little to no interference appears to be taking place in Belarus, a staunch Russian ally, or Kaliningrad, the Russian province separated from the mainland by sea and land.

The planes appear to be suffering from GPS jamming, which can confuse pilots as this can make them believe they are in a different location than they actually are.

Ended with 63 hours and 40 minutes at 14:18 (GMT +1) this afternoon.



First 24 hours was with full/regular power (Sweden, Germany, Poland) and after that almost 40 hours reduced to what can be described as covering Polish airspace only. pic.twitter.com/UmGdJcGi3p  Rundradion (@rundradion) March 25, 2024

While most of them appear to be taking place in Polish airspace, OSINT blogs have reported that planes flying in German, Danish, Swedish, Latvian and Lithuanian airspace have suffered interference problems

Vladimir Putin's (pictured) army has an edge over much of the world in the electronic warfare space

Newsweek reported that the uptick in interference can largely be attributed to the Kaliningrad region, where Russia is believed to have significant resources for the use of electronic warfaRe.

A Lithuanian defence source told the outlet: 'Russian armed forces have a wide spectrum of military equipment dedicated for GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) interference, including jamming and spoofing, at varying distances, duration and intensity.'

A leading military expert said that Russia's dominance in the electronics war should be a 'wake-up call' for the UK's military.

Dr Melanie Garson, associate professor of International Security at University College London, told Forces.net: 'Russia particularly has previously had an edge on this and they have necessity.

'The mother of invention over the last two years during the war have actually actively solidified their capabilities in this regard.

'They've had the chance to use it more concretely and there's a real concern that, particularly Nato, currently doesn't match that capability.'
Dozens of migrants have been brought into the Port of Dover today after being intercepted trying to cross the English Channel in dinghies.

Border Force catamarans Volunteer and Defender brought scores of people ashore after picking up the inflatables in the 21-mile wide Dover Straits in the first arrivals since Thursday.

One group, all wearing red life jackets, were seen being escorted off the boat and walked along the gangway to the immigration processing centre at the former jetfoil terminal at the Western Docks around midday.

They included one child, aged around five, in a winter coat with their hood up to protect them from the cold. Another appeared to be in bright pink waterproof dungarees, while a third wore wellies and an open coat.

Conditions in the Channel were hazy but calm as the inflatable made the voyage before the weather was expected to deteriorate with heavy rain on its way.

Border Force catamarans Volunteer and Defender brought scores of people ashore after picking up the inflatables

The Border Force vessel's journey from the 21-mile wide Dover Straits marked the first arrivals since Thursday

They included one child, aged around five, in a winter coat with their hood up to protect them from the cold

Meanwhile the Border Force vessel Ranger could be seen heading to an area in the middle of the Channel - between Hastings and Le Touquet - at around 1.30pm, according to the Marine Traffic website.

READ MORE: More than 500 migrants reach the UK in small boats on busiest day of Channel crossings so far this year Advertisement

The French patrol ship Minck was also positioned in the same area where the expanse of sea between the two coastlines is nearly 50 miles wide.

A total of 2,051 people have made the dangerous crossing to date in March in 43 boats, according to official figures.

A Home Office spokesperson said: 'We remain committed to building on the successes that saw arrivals drop by more than a third last year, including tougher legislation and agreements with international partners, in order to save lives and stop the boats.'

An average of 48 people have been in each boat in the highest monthly figure so far since the start of 2024.

Last Thursday, March 21, 263 more migrants were picked up in seven boats.

Wednesday, March 20 saw the busiest day so far this year, with 514 migrants reaching the UK in 10 inflatables, figures released by the Home Office showed.

The previous record for 2024 was on March 4 when 401 people arrived in Dover, Kent in seven small boats.

The latest figures bring the total for the year, as it stands, to 4,306 in 91 boats

One group, all wearing red life jackets, were seen being escorted off the boat and walked along the gangway to the immigration processing centre

Conditions in the Channel were hazy but calm as the inflatable made the voyage

In 2023 there were a total of 29,437 in 601 boats compared to 45,755 in 2022.

When confronted by figures showing that the number of people arriving illegally in dinghies is higher than at the same time last year, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt 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.'

The news comes as just 9 per cent of Britons are happy with how ministers are dealing with our borders, while 69 per cent say they are unhappy.

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 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.

Meanwhile the Border Force vessel Ranger could be seen heading to an area in the middle of the Channel

A total of 2,051 people have made the dangerous crossing to date in March in 43 boats, according to official figures

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

In a new attempt to deter migrants from trying to reach Britain, the Home Office launched an advert campaign in Vietnam yesterday, from where an increasing proportion of small boat arrivals are travelling.

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.'

Earlier this month peers inflicted a series of heavy defeats on the Government's Rwanda Bill as the House of Lords renewed an assault on Rishi Sunak's flagship laws to 'Stop the Boats'.

Ministers were resoundingly defeated on amendments to the marquee legislation in the unelected chamber, as peers set up a fresh battle with the House of Commons.

The Lords voted by majorities of more than 100 votes on a series of changes to the Bill, with the size of the defeats the biggest to have been suffered by Mr Sunak as PM.

Peers supported a move to ensure the controversial Bill is fully compliant with domestic and international law.

They also demanded that Parliament cannot declare Rwanda a safe country for housing asylum seekers until a new treaty with Kigali is fully implemented.

An average of 48 people have been in each boat in the highest monthly figure so far since the start of 2024

In 2023 there were a total of 29,437 in 601 boats compared to 45,755 in 2022

In a further change, the Lords voted in favour of establishing a monitoring mechanism able to determine whether the safeguards in the treaty have been, and continue to be, fully implemented.

The UK has been shelling out 8million a day on housing migrants in hotels while soldiers are left in rotting barracks or shifted into shipping containers - with the Home Office this month seeking an emergency 2.6billion cash injection to plug a shortfall in its asylum seeker housing budget.

And ministers have been accused of shameful 'double-standards' after it was revealed British military families were being forced to live in squalid homes while migrants were placed in taxpayer-funded hotels.

Hundreds of armed forces families have been forced to endure months in crumbling, leaking properties riddled with mould, with some being left in sub-zero temperatures without heating and hot water during the winter.

So appalling is some of the military housing, it led to a serviceman's two-year-old girl being rushed to hospital for urgent treatment this month after she fell ill while living in a mouldy property, despite the family raising the alarm with defence contractors.

And in the latest development in the scandal, an Army family was forced to leave their crumbling home after a wall in the bedroom of their military property caved in, with their complaints about it allegedly being ignored 'for three years'.

Former Tory Armed Forces Minister Mark Francois raged: 'We are operating double standards; some brave military personnel and their loved ones are constantly let down by hapless contractors, while illegal migrants are put up in hotels.
A theater production featuring the firsthand testimonies of witnesses of Israel's darkest hours on October 7 is set to make its debut in New York City.

The play, titled 'OCTOBER 7,' will present an unfiltered depiction of the tragic accounts of survivors of the massacre - in their own words.

The production - researched and curated by Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney of Ireland, who travelled to Israel right after the attacks to interview those directly affected by the events - will run from May 2 to June 16 at the Actors Temple Theatre.

The play captures a diverse array of perspectives - from the young to the elderly, from secular to religious - Israelis from all walks of life will share their reflections on how October 7 irrevocably changed their lives and their nation.

In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, McAleer discussed the inspiration behind the project, emphasizing a quick shift in focus away from October 7 right after the tragic events unfolded.

The play serves a reminder to not forget the stories of survivors and significance of the day.

The play, titled 'OCTOBER 7,' will present an unfiltered depiction of the tragic accounts of survivors of the massacre - in their own words. It will run from May 2 to June 16 at the Actors Temple Theatre in New York

One actor will play Biliya Michal, a grandmother in her late 50s, who survived the Oct. 7 attack by hiding on the roof with her family. Her son was killed in their house while allowing the family to escape. She was saved by a police officer, Itamar Illouz, also portrayed in the play

Another act tells the story of Shani Arditi, a 25-year-old Nova festival attendee, who escaped by hiding in a thorny field for hours. The play will present an unfiltered depiction of the tragic accounts of survivors of the massacre - in their own words

'What really got us going was when we were in Ireland on Oct. 7. Right away, on the morning of Oct. 8, the media and people we met were immediately talking about how awful it was that they were turning off the electricity in Gaza,' he said.

'We just noticed that everyone wanted to move quickly away from Oct. 7 and start talking about Gaza and ceasefires,' he continued. 'And we know there would be no Oct. 8 if there was no Oct.7. So we wanted people to remember and not forget what happened on Oct. 7.'

The play presents thirteen detailed accounts drawn from these interviews, each narrated verbatim by the individuals themselves.

From tales of survival and rescue to accounts of resistance against Hamas terrorists, every character depicted on stage embodies a real person sharing their truth, McAleer explained.

One act tells the story of a courageous police officer who bravely confronted Hamas gunmen armed with only a pistol and nine bullets, ultimately saving dozens of lives.

They interviewed Biliya Michal, a grandmother in her late 50s, who survived the attack on her Kibbutz by hiding on the roof with her family. Her son was killed in their house while allowing the family to escape.

Video footage shows the family hiding under the solar panels on a neighbors roof, when they ultimately were rescued by police officer Itamar Illouz, who is also depicted in the play.

Illouz, a police officer, 50, defended Ofakim, shooting two terrorists and saving countless lives.

Another act tells the story of Shani Arditi, a 25-year-old Nova festival attendee, who escaped by hiding in a thorny field for hours.

The play will also portray the experience of Dennis, an off duty IDF soldier who lives in Ofakim, originally from Ajerbijan, who was shot five times by three different terrorists during the attack on Ofakim.

They interviewed another survivor who spent thirty hours in a bomb shelter in their house knowing that their husband was dead outside.

Despite the gravity of the subject, the play also captures uplifting moments of humor, reflecting the unwavering spirit and resilience of the Israeli people even in the face of adversity.

McAleer stated that even amidst the darkest days, Israelis found solace in humor, which is an act of defiance.

The play will also reveal the experience of Dennis, an off duty IDF soldier who lives in Ofakim, originally from Ajerbijan, who was shot five times by three different rerrorists during the attack on Ofakim

'It's amazing. Even in the darkest days, the Israeli people were able to be humorous, he said. 'Laughter is an act of defiance, too, and I think that came across. You're not going to destroy us. We're going to rise gain. I think the humorous part is both a coping mechanism and an act of defiance.'

McElhinney and McAleer, who are married, travelled to Israel together during the war for the first time. McElhinney said she and her husband, who are from Ireland, likely never even met a Jewish person until moving to the United States.

They have no particular connection to the state of Israel but believed their mission to capture stories of survivors was crucial.

They conducted interviews together in the homes of survivors, or in some cases, the homes of friends of survivors, who had their residence destroyed on Oct. 7.

'It was incredible to witness the resilience of survivors and to see how they managed to live through that day,' McElhinney said. 'From kids at the party to an older man who realized his daughter was bleeding out.'

McAleer acknowledged the daunting task that his actors will face in portraying real-life individuals who endured unimaginable trauma.

He stressed the significance of bringing these narratives to the forefront, ensuring that the voices of those impacted by the October 7 massacres are not only heard but also remembered.

'They lost confidence in the Israeli dream, their worldview was shattered,' he said.

Tickets are sold online at www.october7theplay.com.
Extraordinary unseen photos show Clapham chemical attacker Abdul Ezedi being baptised after converting to Christianity - as it emerged the church backed his bid to gain asylum despite his sex offence conviction.

Ezedi was subject to a nationwide manhunt after he allegedly poured chemicals on his former partner and her children in January. His body was later found in the Thames.

The 35-year-old Afghan national had twice been refused asylum by the Home Office, and was considered so dangerous by the Baptist Church that it drew up a 'safeguarding contract' for the safety of parishioners over his sex assault and exposure convictions.

Despite requesting he sign the seven-point document barring him from entering the church alone, a Baptist minister still advocated on Ezedi's behalf. Images show him being baptised and handing out Christian leaflets in Newcastle.

Ezedi was found to have 'not been honest in several aspects of his account' by the asylum judge who heard his appeal to stay in the UK.

In spite of his concerns, Judge William O'Hanlon allowed Ezedi's appeal on asylum and human rights grounds, overturning the Home Office's decision not to grant him leave to remain.

Clapham chemical attacker Abdul Ezedi is baptised at a church in Jarrow

Ezedi's head is pushed under the water as he is baptised as a Christian

A character reference for Ezedi that was supplied as part of his asylum application

The Afghan suspect secured the churches' support despite being a convicted sex attacker. Pictured: In CCTV after the attack

Abdul Ezedi timeline 2016 Ezedi, an Afghan refugee, arrived illegally in Britain on the back of a lorry. He had two applications for asylum rejected. 2018 Two years after his asylum was rejected, Ezedi, still living in Britain, was convicted of a sexual assault/exposure offence at Newcastle Crown Court. He pleaded guilty to one charge of sexual assault and one of exposure, the CPS confirmed. He was sentenced on January 9, 2018, to a nine-week jail term suspended for two years for the sexual assault. For the exposure he was given 36 weeks' imprisonment to be served consecutively, which was also suspended for two years. 2020 Ezedi finished his unpaid work order and was discharged from probation supervision. It is understood Ezedi was granted asylum on a subsequent appeal - despite his criminal history - after getting a priest to vouch that he had converted to Christianity. He said he was 'wholly committed' to his new religion. January 31, 2024 Ezedi is suspected of attacking his former girlfriend and her two daughters, aged three and eight, with an unknown alkaline substance. Both the mother and her three-year-old suffered 'life-changing injuries'. The elder child is said to have suffered bruising and burn-like injuries. The suspect later appeared at a Tesco store on Caledonian Road, Islington, dressed in a black hoodie and blue T-shirt. He was last seen on CCTV leaning over London's Chelsea Bridge. His disappearance sparked a huge manhunt. February 19 A body was pulled out of the Thames. February 23 The body was confirmed to be Ezedi's and his cause of death was determined to have been drowning. Advertisement

Judge O'Hanlon conceded that while Ezedi, 35, had been discredited on multiple occasions, he was requested to allow the appeal on the strength of the intervention from a Baptist Church minister.

Reverend Roy Merrin wrote to the tribunal in support of Ezedi and also gave evidence in person to his hearing at the First Tier Tribunal, in October 2020.

Judge O'Hanlon later concluded Rev Merrin had provided 'the most compelling evidence' Ezedi had converted to Christianity and would therefore be at risk if he were returned to Afghanistan.

The judges remarks come as a series of documents were released shedding light on Ezedi's battle to stay in the UK.

The Daily Mail fought for the documents used to support Ezedi's asylum case to be revealed. They show:

The asylum judge who granted Ezedi leave to remain criticised the 'honesty' of his claim

The Baptist Church drew up a safeguarding contract for Ezedi after it learned of his sex assault convictions

Ezedi sent the asylum and immigration tribunal photos of his baptism and handing out leaflets in a bid to support his claim

He was supported by a Baptist minister who attended court multiple times to advocate for asylum seekers

The Catholic Church also wrote in support of Ezedi  after previously denying it

In his judgement Judge O'Hanlon criticised Ezedi over the changing basis of his claim  at one point Ezedi claimed his brother had been shot and killed but later claimed he was killed by a bomb.

He also sought to claim his family in Afghanistan were at risk over his conversion to Christianity, although failed to explain how they would have known he had converted.

Ezedi originally claimed he was a Shia Muslim, before telling the tribunal he was a Sunni.

Judge O'Hanlan said: 'It is the case that I find the Appellant has not been honest in several aspects of his account referred to herein.

'The Tribunal is not unfamiliar with the difficulties created by Appellants who have not been truthful but who may still be at risk.

'We must be very careful not to dismiss an appeal just because an Appellant has told lies.

'Having considered all the evidence before me in the round, notwithstanding my concerns as to the honesty of the Appellant in relation to certain aspects of his account, I find the Appellant had been consistent in his evidence with regard to his conversion to Christianity.'

The judge's decision was swung following the evidence of Rev Merrin, a now retired vicar at Grange Road Baptist Church, in Jarrow, Tyne and Wear.

Rev Merrin had told the tribunal he was aware of fraudulent asylum claims but told the tribunal he believed Ezedi had been honest  Rev Merrin had previously advocated on behalf of four other asylum seekers.

Ezedi hands out Christian leaflets to shoppers in Newcastle. He was twice refused permission to remain in the UK

The extraordinary pictures emerged for the first time today

Photos show the asylum seeker handing out leaflets near the Monument in Newcastle

Ezedi walks around Hay's Galleria on the South Bank in London

Reverend Roy Merrin wrote to the tribunal in support of Ezedi and also gave evidence in person to his hearing at the First Tier Tribunal, in October 2020

In additional to his oral evidence, Rev Merrin submitted a letter to the tribunal which said 'Abdul has established a good relationship with the other Church members and is always willing to help'.

He added: 'Abdul has been ready to share his faith in Christ with non-Christians I would support his application to remain in this country.'

Ezedi's claim was also supported by the Catholic Church  a letter sent from the Dioceses of Hexham and Newcastle Justice and Peace Refugee Project confirmed it gave him money each month.

The Mail exclusively revealed at the beginning of last month how Ezedi had received support from the Baptist and Catholic churches.

A source close to Home Secretary James Cleverly said churches had suffered damage to their reputations by initially denying they had contact with Ezedi.

'The Home Secretary called a meeting with the vast majority of senior representatives of Christian denominations in this country in the wake of the appalling attack this man carried out, and the role Christian conversion had played in an asylum tribunal when the Home Office had turned him down twice,' the source said.

'We wanted to relay the potential damage to those churches of being seen, rightly or wrongly, as acting against the integrity of our asylum system where Christian conversion has been brought up at appeal.

'In this case the consequences were appalling.

'That reputational risk is only amplified by the fact some who denied knowledge of Ezedi at the time had in fact known of him within their church, and had supported and vouched for him.'

Ezedi arrived in Britain in the back of a lorry in 2016 and had twice been refused asylum by 2018

A reference from a Baptist chapel in the North East, where Ezedi was living, was crucial in persuading an immigration tribunal that he had converted from Islam to Christianity. He's pictured out shopping in Newcastle

The Baptist Church was seriously concerned about the danger posed by Ezedi to other parishioners, as the documents sent to the tribunal reveal.

A 'Safeguarding Contract' drawn up by the Baptist Church's local and regional safeguarding officers sheds light on the concerns held over Ezedi, but it supported his asylum claim anyway.

Ezedi was forced to sign the seven-point document after the discovery of his sexual assault and exposure convictions, in 2018.

It banned Ezedi from entering the Church in Jarrow 'without one of my male supporters being present' and confirming 'I shall not sit alone in the church at any time'.

Other documents showed Ezedi was using the Baptist Church in Jarrow as his registered address for correspondence concerning his asylum claim.

Ezedi even sent photos to the tribunal taken from his Baptism as well as handing out leaflets in Newcastle city centre he claimed were spreading the Christian word.

The Baptist Church said last night the issues of Ezedi's asylum claim and safeguarding concerns were separate.

A spokesperson for the Baptist Union of great Britain said: 'Baptists Together did not corporately support or sponsor Abdul Ezedi's asylum application.

'A personal letter of support commenting solely on Abdul Ezedi's observed faith journey was written by a retired Baptist Minister.

'The safeguarding contract was a separate issue and was agreed between the church and Abdul Ezedi with guidance from local and regional safeguarding leads using our national template document of the time.

'This was to show the church had sufficiently risk assessed Abdul Ezedi's attendance at church, ensuring the safety of the congregation and considering if it was appropriate for him to attend.

'The Home Office make the final decision on asylum applications and have access to full criminal records data to enable them to do this.'

Rev Merrin said last night: 'I'm sorry I can't help you.'

A Home Office spokesperson said: 'All asylum claims are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with the Immigration Rules. This means that religious conversions do not guarantee a grant of asylum.

'We have engaged with a wide range of stakeholders to help us to improve our policy guidance, training for asylum decision-makers, and to ensure we approach claims involving religious conversion in the appropriate way.'

The Catholic Church was contacted for comment.
A Sinaloa Cartel faction led by the sons of Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman's sons has allegedly claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of 66 people this weekend in the northern Mexican city of Culiacan.

A series of narco mantas - or banners were found hanging from four highway overpasses and bridges before Tuesday morning's rush hour traffic. The banners insisted the abductions were in response a rash of criminal incidents orchestrated by a home invasion gang, which some claim is led by law enforcement agents.

Each display featured a banner with a message signed off with the initials of El Chapo's son, Ivan Archivaldo Guzman, and had the pictures of the gang's four leaders.

'This is going to happen to all the thieves in Sinaloa so that they feel what families feel when they steal their homes and invade their privacy,' the narco banner read in Spanish. 'ROBBERY, KIDNAPPING, EXTORTION, OR (collection of money for the right to operate a business) are not allowed here.

'You already know what the principles of the organization are, be clear about it. Relatives of people who are involved in these crimes avoid having a bad time and report any act of this nature. ATTN: IAG.'

Narco mantas, or banners, were spotted in the Mexican city of Sinaloa on Tuesday and addressed the kidnapping of 66 people between Friday and Saturday

e banner was signed with the initials of Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman's son, Ivan Archivaldo Guzman, and allegedly claimed responsibility for the mass abductions

Mexican army guard a street in Culiacan, Sinaloa on Monday, one day after a member of the National Guard was killed in a gun battle during an operation that led to the rescue of 16 people who had been kidnapped

The cartel accused Ramon Baez, a member of the Sinaloa police, and Cristian Roldan, an agent assigned to the Sinaloa State Attorney General's Office, of leading a group of invaders targeting residences throughout the state.

The kidnappings took place between Friday and Saturday, according to the Sinaloa State Attorney General's Office.

The group released 42 people on Saturday and another 16 were rescued Sunday.

Also on Sunday, a member of Mexico's national guard was killed in the region as he took part in the rescue efforts in the capital of Sinaloa state.

Eight of the kidnap victims were still missing as of Tuesday afternoon.

None of the people who were released agreed to formally accuse the abductors, said Sinaloa's public security secretary Gerardo Merida.

Authorities did not say who was behind the kidnappings, which occurred following Thursday murder of three people in the state's Badiraguato region.

Local media outlets initially reported that the kidnappings were related to an internal conflict between 'Los Chapitos,' led by El Chapo's three sons, and the other side of the cartel, which is commanded by Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada, who co-founded the organization with El Chapo.

El Chapo is a former Mexican drug lord and one of the most prolific drug traffickers in history. He is currently serving a life sentence in the US.

Narco banners were found in the Mexican city of Culiacan and showed the faces of four gang leaders tied to an allege spree of robberies and extortions invasions

Mexican authorities have not addressed the narco banners that were found Tuesday in Culiacan, Sinaloa,

Ivan Archivaldo Guzman, his sibling Jesus Alfredo Guzman and their half-brother Joaquin Guzman have been indicted on drug charges by federal grand juries in New York and Illinois.

Their brother, Ovidio Guzman, was captured in January 2023 and extradited to Chicago eight months later.

The Guzman brothers are accused of shipping chemicals required to produce fentanyl from China to Mexico and coordinating the trafficking of the deadly drug from Mexico to the United States.

The Drug Enforcement Administration alleges that the Sinaloa Cartel and its rival, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, are responsible for flooding the streets of the United States with fentanyl.
All U.S. McDonald's restaurants are planning to get a little bit sweeter over the next two years.

The chains announced today in press releases that some of Krispy Kreme's donuts will be sold at all McDonald's nationwide starting at the end of 2026.

'We think we can service about 6,000 restaurants with our existing infrastructure, mostly donut shops, which have excess capacity,' Krispy Kreme CEO Josh Charlesworth told CNBC.

McDonald's has about 13,500 US locations, and the company is planning to open 900 new restaurants by 2027.

According to the press release, McDonald's will be serving three of Krispy Kreme's 'most popular' donuts.

McDonald's announced that the company plans to sell three Krispy Kreme donuts at all of their U.S. restaurants by the end of 2026

McDonald's has about 13,500 U.S. locations, and the company is planning to open 900 new restaurants by 2027

The McDonald's and Krispy Kreme partnership first began in 2022 and select stores in Kentucky began selling their glazed donuts for a limited time

Krispy Kreme and McDonald's entered their partnership back in October 2022.

McDonald's first began selling Krispy Kreme donuts at nine of their restaurants in Louisville, Kentucky, in 2022 for a limited time.

The chains later expanded their limited time offer to 160 McDonald's restaurants in Louisville and Lexington by February 2023.

The popularity led to Krispy Kreme and McDonald's being open to making their offer nationwide.

'The top request we receive from consumers, every day, is, "please bring Krispy Kreme to my town,"' said Charlesworth.

'Partnering with McDonalds on a national scale will provide our fans and donut lovers unprecedented daily access to fresh donuts and the joy that is Krispy Kreme.'

Since the restaurant chain's announced the donut expansion, Krispy Kreme's stocks rose by more than 20 percent.

Krispy Kreme said in their statement that the donuts will be 'delivered fresh to McDonald's restaurants every day.'

They will be available for purchase individually or in boxes of six throughout the entire day.

McDonald's will be offering their customers three of Krispy Kreme's most popular donuts and the treats will be available to purchase individually or in boxes of six

Original Glazed, the Chocolate Iced with Sprinkles and the Chocolate Iced Kreme Filled donuts will be three flavors sold at every McDonald's restaurant by 2026

Original Glazed, the Chocolate Iced with Sprinkles and the Chocolate Iced Kreme Filled donuts will be three flavors sold at every McDonald's restaurant by 2026.

Krispy Kreme's Original Glazed donut is described as 'a melt-in-your-mouth' treat that's covered in the chain's signature glaze.

It is a classic donut and the first flavor to ever be sold at a Krispy Kreme.

Donut and McDonald's lovers who aren't up for a classic can order the Chocolate Iced with Sprinkles.

The chocolatey treat is a 'twist on the original' and is covered in chocolate icing.

Foodies can also get just as much icing from a Chocolate Iced Kreme filled donut.

It's described by Krispy Kreme as a donut that's 'made with a light, fluffy dough' and 'filled with a smooth Kreme filling.'

Anyone looking to get their hands on a free Krispy Kreme glazed donut can do so today at any of the coffeehouse chains U.S. locations from 5 am to 9 pm.
A man accused of being Diddy's 'drug mule' was arrested trying to board at the same time the rapper's mansion was raided by police.

Brendan Paul, 25, was arrested by Miami-Dade Police, alongside Homeland Security agents, at Opa-Locka Airport in Miami about 4.30pm on Monday.

Federal agents raided Diddy's homes in Los Angeles and Miami the same day as part of a sex trafficking investigation and detained two of his sons.

Justin and King Combs were later released without charge. Photos show at least two men were put in handcuffs during the Los Angeles raid.

Brendan Paul, 25, was arrested by Miami-Dade Police, alongside Homeland Security agents, at Opa-Locka Airport in Miami about 4.30pm on Monday

Sean 'Diddy' Combs whereabouts are unknown after federal agents raided his homes in Los Angeles and Miami

Diddy was spotted about 3pm at Opa-Locka Airport, not long before Paul was arrested there, hours after the raid started, after his jet flew in from LA.

Department of Homeland Security and other local law enforcement offices contacted by DailyMail.com on Tuesday have not been able to comment on Diddy's location and it was not clear where he went.

He was scheduled to fly to the Caribbean and blocked the public tracking of his jet after it arrived in Miami. Police seized his phones but he was not arrested.

The LoveAir LLC Gulfstream 5 jet was later tracked to the Caribbean island of Antigua, but he wasn't on board.

An arrest warrant obtained by DailyMail.com says that Paul admitted to having drugs in his luggage as law enforcement intercepted him at Miami Opa Locka Executive Airport at 4:15pm on Monday.

The document, filed by the Miami-Dade Police Department, states: While working alongside the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection, the defendant was taken into custody for being in possession of suspected cocaine and marijuana candy.

The defendant had the contraband inside of his personal travel bags, which he claimed prior to being searched.

The suspected cocaine was located and tested by agents the defendant was charged accordingly.

Paul, 25, of Chagrin Falls, Ohio is charged with felony cocaine possession and marijuana possession. Paul is being held at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami on two $2,500 bonds.

Helicopter cameras were on the scene Monday afternoon as dozens of agents are were advancing on the massive Los Angeles-area estate

Paul was referred to as Diddy's 'drug mule' in a lawsuit Rodney 'Lil Rod' Jones (pictured) filed against Diddy, whose real name is Sean Combs

Paul was referred to as Diddy's 'drug mule' in a $30 million lawsuit Rodney 'Lil Rod' Jones filed against Diddy, whose real name is Sean Combs.

The complaint, one of five against Cobs since November, alleged he was involved in 'acquir[ing] and distribut[ing] Mr Combs drugs and guns'.

Whether Paul's arrest was connected to allegations in the lawsuit, or to the raids on Diddy's properties, was not confirmed.

Jones claimed in the lawsuit that he 'personally witnessed' Paul 'acquire and distribute' drugs to Combs and his entourage, and transport or intend to transport drugs in baggage on flights.

He wrote the flights were between Los Angeles, Miami, Virginia, the Caribbean, and London three times in December 2022, April 2023 and November 2023.

'Members of the enterprise and their associates procured, transported and distributed ecstasy, cocaine, GHB, ketamine, marijuana, mushrooms, by packing these substances in their carry-on luggage and going through TSA,' he wrote.

'Mr Jones personally witnessed... Brendan transport firearms to and from nightclubs, strip clubs, and other venues for Mr Combs on his person in Miami, Florida.

'Mr Jones personally witnessed Mr Combs distribute firearms out of his bedroom closet to individuals that Mr Jones knew to be members of local gangs.'

Paul with Diddy in the recording studio, posted to Paul's Facebook and included in the lawsuit

Another photo of Diddy (left) and Paul (right) attached to the lawsuit

Brendan Paul once played for college basketball for Syracuse, seen here in a game against the St Rose Golden Knights on October 25, 2018, in Syracuse

Jones attached a photo of Paul holding prescription pill bottles with a black pouch sitting on his lap.

'Brendan Paul is videotaped with one of the black pouches Combs, and Kristina Khorram required the associates and members... to carry,' he claimed.

'This pouch was filled with ecstasy, cocaine, GHB, ketamine, marijuana, mushrooms, and tuc.'

'Mr Combs required Brendan Paul and Mr Jones to carry his firearm on their person whenever they went out,' another part of the lawsuit read.

'One of these occasions Mr. Jones was required to carry Mr Combs' firearm was when Mr Combs recorded himself coaching Mr Jones on how to solicit sex workers.'

Jones worked with Combs most recently on his record, The Love Album: Off the Grid. He claimed Paul and other staff were told to hire sex workers to come to the recording studio.

'Mr Combs felt there was too much testosterone in the studio and wanted sex workers there to create the vibe for the Love Album,' the lawsuit claimed.

'Then these workers arrived, and Mr Jones and the other musicians and producers were required to engage in sex acts with them.'

Jones attached to the lawsuit this photo of Paul holding prescription pill bottles with a black pouch sitting on his lap that he claimed was 'filled with ecstasy, cocaine, GHB, ketamine, marijuana, mushrooms, and tuc'

Jones (left) and Paul (right) together, wearing 'Bad Boy' hats

Paul shared this photo online of a dinner related to Diddy's Love Album

Jones is suing the beleaguered rapper over claims he engaged in 'serious illegal activity' including sexual assault.

The initial lawsuit alleged Combs forced him to procure sex workers and pressured him into acts with them.

He also accused Gooding Jr. of groping him while on Diddy's yacht in January 2023, according to the filings.

The incident allegedly took place in the Virgin Islands and saw Combs try to 'pass off' Jones to actor Gooding, the lawsuit states.

'Cuba Gooding Jr. began touching, groping and fondling Mr. Jones' legs, his upper inner thighs near his groin, the small of his back near his buttocks and his shoulders,' Jones' the lawsuit alleges.

The complaint also includes a photo appearing to show 'Jerry Maguire' star Gooding with his arm around Jones, as well as a pictures purportedly showing Combs and Gooding talking on the yacht.

Combs was accused in the lawsuit of failing to step in and stop Gooding from 'sexually assaulting' Jones.

Jones claims Gooding (pictured) groped him while aboard Diddy's yacht in the Virgin Islands in 2023

Jones' lawsuit includes this photo appearing to show 'Jerry Maguire' star Gooding with his arm around him

One of the photos in Jones' lawsuit accusing Diddy of connections to a shooting

Sex workers Jones claimed Diddy forced him to have sex with

Jones' bombshell lawsuit against Diddy claims Combs subjected him to a year of groping and 'constant unsolicited touching of his anus'.

He says he was ordered to recruit prostitutes and have sex with them for the star's pleasure, and has hundreds of hours of video documenting Combs's 'serious illegal activity'.

He claims he was also sexually assaulted by a female cousin of Combs's girlfriend Yung Miami and forced to watch a video of record producer Stevie J having sex with another man.

Jones was required to work in Combs' bathroom where the star would shower naked behind a glass screen, according to the lawsuit.

The producer alleges Combs boasted of having shot people and threatened to inflict bodily harm if Jones did not comply with his demands.

He says the 'forceful and demanding' star privately admitted involvement in a 1999 nightclub shooting that saw him acquitted of gun possession and bribery charges.

'Mr Combs consistently made it clear that he has immense power in the music industry and with law enforcement,' the lawsuit claimed.

Jones claims that underage girls and sex workers were guests at the star's house parties and that he saw the star drug their drinks.

He also claims he was ordered to Miami trawl bars and nightspots to recruit sex workers, and says he himself was drugged in February last year before he woke up naked, dizzy and confused in bed with Combs and two sex workers.

His lawsuit also names Combs' son Justin, his chief of staff Kristina Khorram, and Universal Music Group chief executive Sir Lucian Grange as defendants.

It accuses Khorram of 'grooming' him on Combs's behalf and claims that Motown Records, Love Records and Universal Music Group comprised a 'Rico enterprise' that 'failed to adequately monitor, warn or supervise' Combs and his inner circle.

At least two men who have yet to be identified were seen being put in handcuffs at Diddy's Holmby Hills property

The raids of his Miami and Los Angeles homes conducted by Homeland Security were in connection to an ongoing sex trafficking investigation

Jones named some of the industry's biggest names as co-defendants in the $30 million suit, claiming record boss Ethiopia Habtemariam dismissed Combs's groping as 'friendly horseplay', and his way of 'showing that he likes you'.

His lawsuit alleged Diddy's 'affiliation' to Prince Harry and other stars gave him and his associates 'legitimacy'.

The court documents do not suggest any wrongdoing on Prince Harry's part.

Jones' lawyers claim guests were drawn to Diddy's alleged sex-trafficking parties because of his 'access to celebrities such as famous athletes, political figures, artist, musicians, and international dignitaries like British Royal, Prince Harry'.

Prince William and Prince Harry met Diddy and Kanye West at a post-concert party the Princes hosted to thank all who took part in the 'Concert for Diana' at Wembley Stadium' in 2007.

However, the Prince of Wales is not named in the court documents.

Diddy denied the existing allegations against him, calling them 'sickening', and his lawyer dismissed Jones's claims as 'pure fiction'.

'Lil Rod is nothing more than a liar who filed a $30 billion lawsuit shamelessly looking for an undeserved payday,' attorney Shawn Holley told TMZ in February.

Rapper and music mogul Diddy has been fighting at least five legal battles, including one against an unnamed woman who claimed he and two friends sexually assaulted her when she was 17.

Kanye West, Prince Harry and P Diddy after the after Concert for Diana at Wembley in July 2007

Harry laughs as he tries on Kanye's trademark glasses with a smiling Diddy next to him wearing a Princess Diana T-Shirt

Harry is named on Page 63 of the $30million lawsuit by Jones

Diddy's former girlfriend R&B singer Cassie Ventura in a lawsuit filed in federal court in November also accused him of sex trafficking.

She claimed Diddy controlled and abused her for over a decade - as well as plying her with drugs, beating her and forcing her to have sex with multiple male prostitutes while he watched and recorded.

Ventura said she was 19 when Combs, then 37, signed her to his record label, Bad Boy, in 2006.

She claimed Combs gave her drugs, including ecstasy and ketamine, soon after to make her 'compliant'. Ventura alleges that 'all aspects of her life' were controlled by Combs, including her medical records.

Among the alleged episodes of 'intense violence' was a beating in an SUV on the way home from a party with rapper Jay-Z.

On another occasion, a jealous Combs allegedly pulled Ventura out of a club, 'stomping on her face', leaving her with injuries so bad she had to recover for a week in a hotel.

Perhaps the most disturbing claims are that Combs allegedly forced Ventura to take part in drug-fuelled parties where she had sex with male prostitutes while wearing masquerade masks as he filmed it and performed a sex act on himself.

The lawsuit states: 'Ms Ventura was repulsed by Mr Combs' demands, but between the physical beating and recognising his incredible power and incredible temper, Ms Ventura became petrified of her partner and boss, and felt that she could not say no.'

In another alleged incident, an enraged Combs dangled Ms Ventura's friend over a 17th floor hotel balcony.

The rapper and music industry mogul was sued in November by the singer Cassie Ventura, who accused him of rape and physical abuse before the case was settled out of court

Multiple accusers of rapper Diddy - including R&B singer Cassie Ventura (pictured left) - have spoken out

It is also claimed he threatened to blow up the car of love rival, rapper Kid Cudi - which later exploded on his driveway, though it is unclear who was responsible.

In September 2018, after Ventura tried to break things off, Combs allegedly forced his way into her home and raped her.

The lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages for sex trafficking, sexual battery, sexual assault and harassment.

Combs denied the 'offensive and outrageous allegations' and settled with Ventura out of court.

The lawsuit by Ventura was one of at least five civil complaints brought in recent months leveling sexual assault allegations against Combs, including one from Jones.

Joi Dickerson-Neal, another accuser, claims Combs slipped something into her drink and sexually assaulted her in 1991 while she was a student at Syracuse University. She alleges that he filmed the attack and shared the video with his social circle.

Another Jane Doe alleges that she and a friend were raped by Combs and his friend, the singersongwriter Aaron Hall, in the early 1990s.

Rolling Stone reported Monday that 'four Jane Does and one John Doe' have already been interviewed by the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York 'for a probe related to alleged sex trafficking, domestic violence and racketeering,' with more scheduled.

Combs, 54, founded the Bad Boy record label in 1993, and was a major figure in hip-hop's commercialization over the decades that followed. His proteges included the late Notorious B.I.G. and Mary J. Blige.

He is among the industry's billionaires, not least due to his ventures in the liquor industry.

But contrary to a public image of suave businessman, lawsuits describe Combs as a violent man who used his celebrity to prey on and intimidate women.
The Republican-led Oversight Committee is demanding a briefing from the State Department on its 'trend' of closing or reducing staff at embassies across the world amid growing unrest.

GOP chairman James Comer warned in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, obtained first by DailyMail.com, that such closures are 'leading to a diminished U.S. diplomatic presence abroad.'

The committee requested a briefing no later than April 2 as part of its probe of the closures.

'Closures and reduced service status have serious implications for U.S. citizens residing in those countries, as well as foreign nationals who must travel elsewhere to access consular services.'

Comer also said he was concerned about the 'repeated necessity of withdrawing U.S. personnel, and whether deteriorating conditions in those countries are the result, even in part, of failed U.S. foreign policy.

Earlier this month the U.S. flew in Marines to guard the Haiti embassy while evacuating personnel and the families of diplomats as gangs pillaged government buildings, burned down city blocks and freed thousands of prisoners. Non-essential personnel had already been ordered out of Haiti in July.

Soldiers guard the entrance of the international airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, March 4, 2024

Haitian soldiers positioned behind an electric pole guard the entrance to Port-au-Prince international airport

GOP chairman James Comer wrote in a letter that such closures are 'leading to a diminished U.S. diplomatic presence abroad'

Nearly 1,000 Americans had reached out to the State Department to say they were trapped in Haiti last week.

In August, non-emergency personnel and family members were ordered to depart the U.S. embassy in Niamey, Niger, after military coup and last April the U.S. embassy in Sudan suspended operations and embassy personnel were evacuated from the country.

U.S. embassies in the Middle East came under attack in October after war broke out between Israel and Hamas. All non-essential State Department employees were ordered to leave Lebanon as rioters set fire to the embassy in Beirut.

In Adana, Turkey, protesters hurled fireworks and Molotov cocktails while they chanted 'Allahu Akbar,' prompting the US Consulate there to close.

After Russia invaded Ukraine, the State Department suspended operations at the U.S. embassy in Minsk, Belarus and a voluntary departure of non-emergency employees and family members at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Russia.

The embassy in Kabul was notoriously evacuated before all U.S. citizens had escaped Afghanistan during its fall to the Taliban in August 2021 and in March 2021, non-essential personnel were ordered to evacuate the U.S. embassy in Burma after a military coup.

Protesters throw stones towards riot police, during a demonstration in solidarity with the Palestinian people in Gaza, near the U.S. embassy

US embassies faced attacks across the Middle East after war broke out between Israel and Hamas in October

'Briefers should specifically be prepared to identify and discuss all embassies or consulate posts experiencing closures or reduced services, other high-threat posts not currently in closure or reduced status, actions being taken to secure embassy personnel and assets at these high-threat posts, contingency plans to respond in emergency situations, an assessment of why this trend has occurred, and an assessment of whether this trend will continue,' the letter read.

'Briefers should also be prepared to discuss the impact of closures or reduced service status on national security, the administration and oversight of U.S. foreign assistance, and the Departments ongoing ability to effectuate U.S. interests abroad.'
Donald Trump once again railed at the man overseeing the Stormy Daniels trial a day after Judge Juan Merchan set an April trial date despite a push by Trump's lawyers to dismiss the case.

Trump was inside a Manhattan courtroom with Merchan on Monday as lawyers argued about the start of his first criminal trial, now set for April 15. On Tuesday, he launched multiple online attacks on judges and prosecutors, even while calling Merchan a 'distinguished looking man.'

He targeted Merchan's daughter and bemoaned the treatment of former Trump Organization exec Allen Weisselberg, who pleaded guilty this month to lying under oath without agreeing to cooperate. It comes after his repeated attacks in his separate New York fraud trial prompted Judge Arthur Engoron to impose a 'gag' order prohibiting him from attacking his chief clerk.

'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.

Former President Donald Trump attacked the judge overseeing the Stormy Daniels case, while also going after his daughter

'In other words, he hates me! 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,' Trump wrote.

Trump's lawyers last year tried to force Merchan off the case by citing his daughter's work for Authentic Campaigns, a digital advocacy firm, but were denied.

Then Trump went after Merchan for his role overseeing the Weisselberg case. (He also oversaw former Trump campaing chair Steve Bannon's criminal fraud case).

Merchan showed some of his tough side when Weisselberg was sentenced, telling him that if he hadn't already pledged a five-month sentence he would have gone for something 'much greater.'

Trump railed against Judge Juan Merchan, while calling him 'distinguished looking'

Trump teed off after a crunch hearing in his hush money case with his lawyers demanding that it be delayed for months

Trump, 77, complained about the case without saying directly he was referencing the longtime Trump exec first brought on by his father, Fred Trump, calling the 76-year-old Weisselberg 'elderly and not in good health.'

'He was recently the judge on an unrelated trial of a long term employee, elderly and not in good health. This judge treated him viciously, telling him either you cooperate or Im putting you in jail for 15 years. He pled, and went to jail for very minor offenses, highly unusual, served 4 months in Rikers, and now they are after him again, this time for allegedly lying (doesnt look like a lie to me!), and they threatened him again with 15 years if he doesnt say something bad about TRUMP. He is devastated and scared! These COUNTRY DESTROYING SCOUNDRELS & THUGS HAVE NO CASE AGAINST ME. WITCH HUNT!'

Trump was in Merchan's courtroom as his team sought to dismiss or delay the trial over charges of falsifying business records relating to the $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, who claims she had an affair with Trump. They said they needed more time after prosecutors released more than 100,000 pages of evidence.

But Merchan rejected the plea after a tense hearing where he sparred with Trump's lawyer Todd Blanche.

Prosecutors 'went so far above and beyond what they were required to do that really it's odd that we're even here taking this time,' the judge said.

Merchan last year considered Trump's motion to have him recuse from the case, addressing the arguments about his daughter, including the claim that she 'stands to financially benefit' from decisions of the court.

'Defendant has failed to demonstrate that there exists concrete, or even realistic reasons for recusal to be appropriate, much less required on these grounds. The speculative and hypothetical scenarios offered by defendant fall well short of the legal standard,' Merchan wrote.
Shipbuilders riding crest of global orders

13:36, March 26, 2024 By Zhong Nan ( China Daily

Multiple teams tasked with simultaneously constructing 14 ships, each with different functions, are busy at work at the docks owned by Jiangsu Yangzi Xinfu Shipbuilding Co Ltd, a shipyard based in Taizhou, East China's Jiangsu province.

The company receives large shipments of various commodities and industrial equipment daily, including marine steel, fasteners, electronic components and aluminum alloy.

However, most of the oil and chemical tankers, dual fuel-powered container ships and ore carriers built in the shipyards will not be delivered to domestic shipping and energy companies.

Instead, they will go to shipowners in Norway, Greece, Denmark and Singapore, who have placed orders with the shipyard's parent company  Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Group, a Jingjiang, Jiangsu province-based firm  over the past two years.

"About 77 percent of our orders are LNG (liquefied natural gas)-powered container ships, dual fuel-powered vessels and diesel-electric propulsion ships, with orders on hand already scheduled through 2027 and the latest delivery extending into 2028," said Liu Yinjun, assistant president of Jiangsu Yangzi Xinfu Shipbuilding.

At the company's training center, workers are receiving training in welding and bonding operations, preparing them technically for the construction of two 175,000-cubic-meter LNG carriers. These advanced vessels are top-tier assets in the global shipbuilding industry, historically dominated by South Korean shipbuilders, and often referred to as the pinnacles of excellence.

Highlighting that Chinese shipbuilders have continuously overcome technical challenges and secured international orders, Liu said only five companies in China are capable of building LNG carriers, and his firm is the only privately owned shipbuilding company among these.

Thanks to China's complete manufacturing clusters, strong upstream and downstream industries, as well as continued investment and resource allocation in the shipbuilding sector, the country's shipbuilding output reached 42.32 million deadweight tons in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 11.8 percent, data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology showed. The output accounted for 50.2 percent of the global total.

With improved global competitiveness, Chinese shipyards saw new orders surge 56.4 percent year-on-year to 71.2 million dwt last year, accounting for 66.6 percent of the global total.

Li Yanqing, secretary-general of the Beijing-based China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry, or CANSI, said the country achieved a leading position in the global shipbuilding market by securing new orders for 14 out of 18 major ship types in 2023.

This not only solidified China's leading position in key segments, capturing more than 70 percent of the worldwide total for new bulk carrier and oil tanker orders, but also showcased the country's expertise in niche markets, as new orders for car carriers exceeded 80 percent of the global share.

Anticipating a significant surge in profitability for China's shipbuilding industry in 2024, Li said that with market prices in 2023 having risen by over 10 percent compared to the previous year, and reaching as high as 15 percent in many instances, there is strong reason to believe that the industry is poised to touch unprecedented levels of financial success in the years ahead.

With the second large cruise ship being built locally at China State Shipbuilding Corp's Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co Ltd in Shanghai, and a large number of vessels being assembled in the Yangtze and Pearl River Delta regions, the next two years will be a peak period for Chinese shipbuilding firms, marked by the delivery of various vessels, notably high-tech ones such as large LNG carriers and mega container ships, said Zeng Ji, a professor of shipbuilding at Shanghai Maritime University.

In addition to holding orders to build 13 LNG carriers for different shipowners, including eight ordered by China Merchants Energy Shipping Co Ltd, Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co Ltd said earlier this year that it had sealed a number of new ship deals, with the total order value amounting to around 15 billion yuan ($2.08 billion). Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co Ltd is a subsidiary of state-owned CSSC, and is based in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning province.

The proportion of these high-tech, high value-added projects in the backlog of orders has significantly increased. It will have a fairly positive impact on the overall profitability of the shipyard, forming a new growth point, said Fu Wei, deputy director at the marketing department of Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co Ltd.

CANSI has forecast that the global shipbuilding completion volume will remain at a historically high level of 100 million dwt in 2024, with new orders expected to be between 80 million and 100 million dwt and the volume of orders on hand remaining above 200 million dwt.

China's shipbuilding completion volume is expected to be around 45 million dwt, with new orders of around 55 million dwt this year, and orders on hand above 130 million dwt, according to CANSI.

Confronting headwinds

The United Steelworkers, an industrial union with 1.2 million members in North America, led a coalition of labor organizations to file a Section 301 petition in mid-March, urging the United States Trade Representative to start an investigation into China's commercial shipbuilding industry. The petition alleges that China's practices in this sector are "unreasonable and discriminatory", ultimately leading to their significant influence in the global shipbuilding market.

Following submission, the US government has 45 days to decide on whether to initiate an investigation in response.

Speaking at a news conference earlier this month, He Yadong, spokesman for China's Ministry of Commerce, dismissed the accusations leveled by certain US organizations against China as "entirely baseless", and stressed that China will closely follow how it proceeds, and take necessary measures to ensure its businesses' legitimate rights.

The commerce ministry official emphasized that numerous reports have highlighted that the decline of the US shipbuilding industry primarily stems from excessive protectionism. Conversely, the growth of the Chinese shipbuilding sector has been driven by advancements in technology, emphasizing high-end, intelligent and environmentally sustainable growth.

Cao Lin, a senior analyst at Beijing-based Chinese Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, said even if shipowners do not place orders with Chinese shipyards, it is unlikely they would turn to US shipyards.

"This is because the US has been unable to effectively address a number of constraints in its shipbuilding industry for a considerable length of time, such as the development and testing of designs, the related supply chain, industrial workers and efficiency and profitability," said Cao. "From this perspective, the US shipbuilding industry is significantly behind even its European counterparts."

China's shipbuilding industry is increasingly embracing self-sufficiency, especially within its industrial and supply networks. This shift toward domestic production has significantly reduced both the time and cost associated with various projects, said Pan Helin, a researcher at Zhejiang University's International Business School in Haining, East China's Zhejiang province.

In the competitive market, the ability to deliver ships more quickly often results in more orders from shipowners, said Pan, adding that by sourcing materials locally, Chinese shipyards have not only fostered the expansion of their own industrial ecosystem, but have also seen an uptick in profitability. This strategy will continue to yield benefits for both shipyards and their international clients.

Boosted by these factors, shipyards in Jiangsu province exported 65.53 billion yuan worth of ships of various types in 2023. These included heavy-duty dredgers, wind turbine installation vessels and car carriers, marking a year-on-year increase of 37.1 percent and ranking first in export scale nationwide, statistics from Nanjing Customs showed.

According to a report released by Liaoning province-based Dalian Maritime University, the shipbuilding industry is characterized by its complexity, extensive supply chain and strong industrial connections, encompassing more than 50 diverse industries such as steel, nonferrous metals, machinery and electronics.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
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.

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 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. (AP)
The boss of British Gas owner Centrica saw his pay soar by close to 4 million last year amid the UK's cost of energy crisis.

Chris O'Shea, who earlier this year said there is 'no point' trying to justify his salary, was handed a 8.2 million pay packet in 2023, up from 4.5 million the year before, according to the company's annual report released on Tuesday.

That includes a 810,000 salary, around 1.4 million in annual bonuses and 5.9 million in longer-term bonuses based on the company's share price performance.

In 2022 Mr O'Shea's long-term incentive plan payment was 2.3 million, meaning it has seen an increase of more than 3.5 million alone.

Around two thirds of that increase is a reward because the company's shares have soared in value over the last three years.

The boss of British Gas owner Chris O'Shea Centrica saw his pay soar by close to 4 million last year

Chris O'Shea pictured with former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the then Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak

The news comes two months after the chief executive said 'you can't justify a salary of that size' when quizzed by presenters on BBC Breakfast.

Speaking about his 4.5 million pay from the year before, he said: 'It's a huge amount of money, I am incredibly fortunate. I don't set my own pay, that's set by our remuneration committee.

'That's the first bonus I've taken in my time at Centrica, for a number of years, I've given up bonuses because of hardships that customers were facing.'

The businessman has benefited from the spike in energy prices which helped drive up Centrica's shares.

But his company has also pointed to the help it has provided customers through the energy crisis.

In the last two years it has committed to 140 million of voluntary support for its customers on top of 400 million through non-voluntary means.

Carol Arrowsmith, a board member who chairs the remuneration committee which sets the pay of Centrica's top chiefs, said: 'We need to ensure Centrica is set up for success in the long term and that means attracting and retaining high performing executives who can lead this large and complex business.

'Our CEO's pay is based on the terms he was appointed on, the structure of the package was approved by our shareholders, and it is consistent with similar companies.

Chris O'Shea pictured alongside Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar (left), shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves (right) and shadow secretary of state for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Jonathan Reynolds (centre left)

Chris O'Shea speaks to former Prime Minister Liz Truss during a visit to the British Gas training academy, near Dartford

'Centrica's performance and share price growth are the most significant factors that determine our CEO's remuneration.

She added: 'In addition, we have provided the largest ever package of voluntary support for customers in the sector, we have invested in gas storage to improve the energy security for the country, and we've set out our strategy to invest up to 4 billion over the coming years.'

Earlier this year Centrica revealed it profits hit 751 million last year, up from 72 million in 2022.

Mr O'Shea said the firm benefited from a 'one-off' boost during the first six months of the year when it cashed in on being one of the several energy firms that the regulator Ofgem allowed to recoup costs.

Suppliers were forced to protect households against price rises throughout 2022 when they reached record highs after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

It meant British Gas was pushed to sell energy below the wholesale price to its 7.5m customers, hurting its balance sheet.

But changes at the end of 2022 increased how much profit suppliers could make  allowing its parent firm Centrica to recover some of the costs incurred.

Centrica has suggested this boosted profits by around 500million.

Nonetheless, overall profits at the parent firm still fell by 17 per cent last year to 2.8billion.

This was above analyst estimates but down from the record 3.3billion it made in 2022, while many British households struggled to keep up with sky-high bills.
A killer who travelled almost 500 miles to stab an elderly widower to death, at random, has been handed an indefinite hospital order.

James O'Connor, 45, stabbed 89-year-old Frederick Burge in the chest with a kitchen knife nine times, after travelling from Dundee in Scotland to Glastonbury, in the south west of England, on February 26 last year.

O'Connor claimed that voices has told him to kill Mr Burge as part of 'deluded' belief that he needed to be freed from a curse, Bristol Crown Court heard.

Mr Burge, an elderly widower living alone with his dog, was described as a 'much-loved family man' who 'enjoyed seeing and speaking with his children'.

The court heard how O'Connor told psychiatrists that 'auditory hallucinations' picked his victim, who was unknown to the 45-year-old, at random.

James O'Connor, 45, claimed that voices has told him to kill Mr Burge as part of 'deluded' belief that he needed to be freed from a curse

Judge Julian Lambert said the defendant's delusions, caused by schizophrenia, 'suggested another person needed to be cut free in order that you might free yourself, and that such a person would be found in Glastonbury'.

The judge added that O'Connor had been 'preoccupied with God and 'spiritual things'' and had been seen talking to himself and making 'lots of incongruent comments'.

The defendant, from Dundee, previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter by diminished responsibility and was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order at Broadmoor Hospital in Berkshire.

At O'Connor's sentencing hearing on Tuesday, Mr Burge's son and daughter, Kevin and Sylvia, told the court that their family had been left 'devastated' by his death.

Kevin's victim impact statement read: 'He was a special person to everyone around him.

Frederick Burge, 89, an elderly widower living alone with his dog, was described as a 'much-loved family man' who 'enjoyed seeing and speaking with his children'

'I spoke to him every day and he made me so happy. I cannot describe how devastated I am to know I will never see him or hear his voice again.

'I have nothing but great anger and hatred towards Mr O'Connor.

'My father knew how much he was loved. He has now been reunited with my lovely mother for all time.'

The court heard O'Connor has 16 previous convictions for 30 offences, including drugs, violence and an assault dating back to 1995.

He had suffered from mental difficulties from a young age, including hearing voices and seeing auras.

Judge Lambert said there had been concerns over his mental state while in police custody.

O'Connor was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order at Broadmoor Hospital in Berkshire

Medical professionals at Broadmoor Hospital identified schizophrenia as the prevailing mental disorder, a condition they said would 'substantially impair' his ability to form a rational judgment and to exercise self-control.

In his sentencing remarks, Judge Lambert said: 'The effect of what you did is brutal and devastating and has left the family with a graphic image of their father's demise which no one should have to suffer.

'Given your offending, recent behaviour and your psychiatric condition I can only find that you are dangerous and will be so for a long time.'
Federal investigators are examining financial transactions made by President Joe Biden's brother Jim Biden as part of an ongoing criminal investigation, according to a new report.

Federal investigators in South Florida and Justice Department officials investigating Medicare fraud in Pennsylvania recently probed transactions linked to Jim Biden, according to a Politico report published Tuesday, citing three sources familiar with the ongoing investigations.

The investigations involve Americore, a hospital chain that paid Jim Biden to help obtain foreign investments for the troubled company before it collapsed.

A lawsuit filed in 2022 alleges that Jim Biden received improper payments from investors of the Third Friday Total Return Fund, which allegedly diverted $600,000 of embezzled funds to pay Jim Biden.

James Biden, the brother of President Joe Biden, steps out of a private interview with House Republicans

U.S. President Joe Biden claims he never spoke about business dealings with his family

Jim Biden sent $200,000 of the money to his brother Joe Biden, which he said was part of a private loan repayment.

The questionable loans also contain a link to Biden's son Hunter Biden, as a lawyer who worked for Hunter represented the lender for some of the questionable transactions.

In Pennsylvania, prosecutors are accusing Americore of fraud after receiving tens of millions of dollars in allegedly improper Medicare reimbursements.

Federal investigators declined to comment on the ongoing investigation and Biden's lawyer Paul Fishman asserted that, 'Jim Biden is not being investigated by federal law enforcement in Florida or Pennsylvania.'

James Biden, the brother of U.S. President Joe Biden appeared for a deposition at the House Oversight Committee

Jim Biden's role with Americore and the financial payments to the Biden family have been the subject of ongoing congressional investigations, as the president's brother was summoned to Capitol Hill to testify in February.

In February, Jim Biden testified he believed that his former business partner Michael Lewitt forgave $225,000 in loans to his firm.

But Lewitt told Politico he did not forgive the loans, but were assumed by an anonymous third party in early 2020.

The ongoing investigations into financial transactions linked to Jim Biden raise questions about who was funding the Biden family when he was running for president.
Papa John's staff have revealed they were left in tears after the pizza chain announced dozens of shops would be closed.

Staff said they had been left in the dark about their future - while one worker even said he wasn't even told that his branch is shutting.

Pizza giant Papa Johns announced today that it will shut 43 'underperforming' restaurants across Britain - nearly a tenth of its total stores.

The company has not confirmed how many staff will be impacted by closures, but said that all staff impacted by this decision have been informed.

Yet employees at the locations earmarked for the axe told MailOnline they were very worried about their future and the uncertainty that has come with the news of these potential closures.

Kaben Gedyin, 23, (pictured) who has worked at the Wimbledon store for two years, says that he is very worried about losing his job

At the East Dulwich branch in south London, manager Mike Kabuye said that he was only informed of the potential closure yesterday, and he is scared for himself and his staff going forwards.

The 38-year-old said: 'We were shocked because this shop has always had a lot of people.

'I am worried not only for myself but for my team members. My workers are scared, and they are coming to me crying.

'One of them is in hospital and we are just so worried about what will happen if we lose our jobs.

'There is nothing that I can do. I just keep telling them that we need to give it our all and hope that it's not too late to change things.

'I have no idea what is going to happen.'

Mr Kabuye says that the biggest reasons for the branch struggling is tough competition in the area, use of external drivers and inability to accept cash payments.

He added: 'There used to be two people working but now I have to do everything by myself. We are definitely struggling, it is 1.30 and I have only made two pizzas today.

'There is stiff competition since another pizza shop opened up next door, which is much cheaper. We have lost over 50 per cent of our customers to them.

'We also have had issues with drivers because we started using external drivers and there have been cases of food getting lost. It also takes a lot longer and customers don't want to wait for that.

Usama Awze, 26, (pictured) was shocked to hear that his branch was closing - and says that the staff have not been told anything about it

He has been an employee at the shop (pictured) in Peckham, south east London, for just two months

Over at the branch in Wimbledon (pictured), south west London, staff say they were told yesterday that their store will be closing in May

Mr Kabuye says that the biggest reasons for the branch in East Dulwich (pictured) struggling is tough competition in the area, use of external drivers and inability to accept cash payments

'I used to just hop on the bike myself to take people orders but now I am not allowed to I have to stay in the store.

'This shop doesn't accept cash which puts a lot of people off. I have had three customers come in today and walk out because we don't take cash.'

Mike has worked at the shop for nearly a year after transferring from the Peckham branch, which is also set to close.

Usama Awze, 26, has been an employee at the shop in Peckham, south east London, for just two months.

He was shocked to hear that the branch was closing - and says that the staff have not been told anything about it.

He said: 'I had absolutely no idea. I haven't been told anything about that. This is the first that I am hearing of it.

'Business is not too good during the week on workdays but weekends and evenings we are doing really well.

'Today has been a really good day we have already sold 21 pizzas before 2pm.'

He says that if he loses his job then he will probably go back to working in security, which he did before getting this role.

Over at the branch in Wimbledon, south west London, staff say they were told yesterday that their store will be closing in May.

Kaben Gedyin, 23, who has worked at the store for two years, says that he is very worried about losing his job.

He said: 'I am very worried because it is extremely hard to find a job at the moment. I live in London, so I really need the money.

'This decision hurts everyone.

'I don't know what is happening but all of the shops in this area are closing.

'I was very surprised when they told me because we are doing well, we get about 100 orders on weekends.'

Kaben also mentioned the external drivers as a cause of the store's closure, but he says the biggest factor was the Coronavirus pandemic which caused sales to plummet.

He added: 'I think that essentially it is down to them using outside drivers as they take around 20 minutes just to get here. We often have to refund customers because their food is lost or late.

'We also have to compete with Dominos who have lots more options on their menu than we do. People want to try something new, and Papa John's just do the same thing. It is very competitive.

'The coronavirus pandemic affected us a lot. Before covid we got around 7,000 to 8,000 a week whereas now its down to a thousand.'

An anonymous worker, 24, who has worked at the Putney Papa Johns for two years says they also got the news yesterday morning via email.

He said: 'I was very surprised; we are all going to have to try and find new jobs now. It is extremely difficult.

'They haven't dealt with it well. They say that they will provide us with support, but they won't tell us what that will be. They aren't going to give us another job.

'We are doing really well; we are the second most popular in the area. I don't know why they are closing it.

'They think that this store is not making a good profit. We make 6,000-7,000 a week but it is not enough for them maybe.'

Papa Johns had previously said it planned 'strategic closures' in order to free up money for investment and improving profitability at its remaining UK sites.

It has now identified 43 restaurants as 'underperforming locations that are no longer financially viable'.

It is expected to begin closing the restaurants by mid-May following a consultation process.

At the East Dulwich branch in south London, manager Mike Kabuye (pictured), 38, said that he was only informed of the potential closure yesterday, and he is scared for himself and his staff going forwards

The 38-year-old said: 'We were shocked because this shop has always had a lot of people'

The chain has 450 branches up and down the country, as well as others in service stations and holiday parks.

Chris Phylactou, managing director at Papa Johns UK, said: 'Our priority is our team members, who will be fully supported throughout this process.

'Our goal is to work with impacted team members and attempt to find redeployment opportunities where available.

'We understand the impact this will have on our team members and are committed to supporting them during this time.'

Papa Johns said it plans to increase investment in research and technology, such as better utilising customer data, as part of its UK strategy.

It also said it will look at the development of new types of sites beyond traditional restaurants, such as expanding into holiday parks, and is set to 'announce other large retail partners in the coming months'.

Mr Phylactou added: 'While this is a difficult decision, closing these underperforming locations will give us the opportunity to invest back into the right locations with the right partners for long-term growth.

'We are focused on driving shared profitable growth across our UK restaurants, by continuing to make improvements to our business to ensure that we are well positioned for the future.

'We have been encouraged by the results so far from these initiatives.'

Pappa Johns has been contacted for comment.
An Israeli hostage has revealed that she was sexually assaulted by a guard while she was held captive by Hamas, it has emerged.

Amit Soussana, has claimed that a guard, who she says identified himself only as Muhammad, with his 'gun pointed at me, forced me to commit a sexual act on him' in a child's bedroom.

Ms Soussana, 40, told the New York Times that she was sexually assaulted, as well as beaten and tortured, while she was held in Gaza for 55 days. The Israeli lawyer was released during a ceasefire in November alongside 21-year-old Mia Schem.

Hamas spokesman Basem Naim, in a statement to the newspaper, said it was 'difficult to believe' Ms Soussana's account of sexual abuse and added that 'for us, the human body, and especially that of the woman, is sacred'.

The terrorist group, for months, has denied that its members sexually abused people in captivity or during the October 7 attack.

However, a United Nations (UN) report released this month stated there is 'clear and convincing information' that some hostages had suffered sexual violence. There are also 'reasonable grounds' that some people were assaulted during the raid, the report added.

Amit Soussana, 40, has revealed that she was sexually assaulted by a guard while she was held captive in Gaza by Hamas. She was kidnapped from her home in Kfar Aza, Israel during the October 7 raid. Ms Soussana is pictured outside her home in January this year

Ms Soussana, pictured during her kidnapping, refused to go quietly. She was kicking and screaming until her captors bundled her into a car to drive back to Gaza

Ms Soussana, pictured during her release on November 30, has now claimed that she was sexually assaulted, as well as beaten and tortured, while she was held in Gaza for 55 days

Ms Soussana was abducted from her home during the October 7 raid, beaten and dragged into Gaza by a group of at least seven gunmen.

While in captivity, she said she was held alone in a child's bedroom and chained by her left ankle. She claims that just several days after she had been taken, Muhammad started questioning her about her sex life and menstrual cycle.

Muhammad attacked her on or around October 24, Ms Soussana told the Times. She claims that he unchained her, took her to the bathroom and ordered that she bathe.

As she washed herself, the lawyer recalled hearing his voice by the door, telling her 'quickly, Amit, quickly'. She then turned around to find him standing there, with his gun, and watching her.

Ms Soussana said she tried to cover herself with a hand towel, but Muhammad advanced towards her and hit her.

'He sat me on the edge of the bath. And I closed my legs. And I resisted. And he kept punching me and put his gun in my face,' she told the newspaper. 'Then he dragged me to the bedroom.'

She alleged that while in the bedroom, which was reportedly decorated with images of children's cartoon characters, Muhammad forced her to commit a sexual act on him, before leaving her naked, sitting in the dark and sobbing on the bed.

Ms Soussana, who noting that Muhammad had left her alone to wash himself, claimed her attacker showed remorse after the assault, allegedly saying to her: 'I'm bad, I'm bad, please don't tell Israel.'

Ms Soussana, has claimed that a guard, who she says identified himself only as Muhammad, with his 'gun pointed at me, forced me to commit a sexual act on him' in a child's bedroom

'He sat me on the edge of the bath. And I closed my legs. And I resisted. And he kept punching me and put his gun in my face,' Ms Soussana recalled. 'Then he dragged me to the bedroom

She reported the alleged assault and other violence to two doctors and a social worker less than 24 hours after she was freed from captivity, according to the Times.

It is understood that she also spoke to the UN team that published the report on sexual violence against hostages in Gaza and during the October 7 attack.

Ms Soussana has also revealed how about three weeks into her kidnapping she was moved to another location, which she described as an apartment, and reunited with other hostages.

She recalled being summoned into the living room, a few days after her arrival, for a brutal beating by a group of guards who apparently believed she was hiding information from them.

READ MORE: Moment hostage Amit Soussana fought Hamas gunmen as they abducted her on October 7 Advertisement

The lawyer said the guards wrapped her head in a shirt, forced her to sit on the floor and beat her with the butt of a gun. They then put duct tape over her mouth and nose, tied her feat, and handcuffed her, Ms Soussana recalled.

The guards then reportedly hung her 'like a chicken' between two couches and continued to beat and kick her, while demanding she reveal the information they believed she was hiding.

'It was like that for 45 minutes or so,' she said. 'They were hitting me and laughing and kicking me, and called the other hostages to see me.'

After they untied her, Ms Soussana said the guards took her back to a bedroom and threatened to kill her if she did not produce the requested information within 40 minutes. She said that she still does not know exactly what information they sought.

Ms Soussana lived alone in Kfar Aza and was an easy target for Hamas attackers, who discovered her hiding in a safe room in her property on October 7.

Astonishing footage, captured by a security camera, showed how she fought to free herself from Hamas as they dragged her back to Gaza during their ruthless raid.

Holding her down, the attackers can be seen slapping Ms Soussana as they attempted to wrap her in a shawl or blanket, but still she fought back, twisting and kicking. Eventually the captors were forced to bundle her into a car to get her back to Gaza as they were unable to drag her on foot.

More than 1,200 Israelis were slaughtered on October 7 irrespective of whether they tried to flee or resist against their attackers, but Ms Soussana was one of several hostages who were taken and spent almost eight weeks days living in captivity.

She was released by Hamas along with Ms Schem, who was kidnapped from the Nova music festival, on November 30, just one day before the week-long truce between Israel and Hamas expired and hostilities resumed.

Ms Soussana lived alone in Kfar Aza and was an easy target for Hamas attackers, who discovered her hiding in a safe room in her property on October 7. Pictured is a view from inside her destroyed house on January 29, 2024

Ms Soussana was released alongside Ms Schem, 21, (pictured during her release) on November 30, the day before the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal expired

During the truce, Hamas released 80 Israeli hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners. Twenty-five other captives, mostly Thais, were freed outside the scope of the deal.

Israel on Tuesday recalled its negotiators from Doha after deeming mediated talks on a Gaza truce 'at a dead end' due to demands by Hamas, a senior Israeli official has said.

The official, who is close to the Mossad spymaster heading up the talks, accused Hamas' Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar of sabotaging the diplomacy 'as part of a wider effort to inflame this war over Ramadan'.

The warring sides had stepped up negotiations, mediated by Qatar and Egypt, on a six-week suspension of Israel's offensive in return for the proposed release of 40 of the 130 hostages still held by the Palestinian militant group in Gaza.

Hamas has sought to parlay any deal into an end to the fighting and withdrawal of Israeli forces. Israel has ruled this out, saying it would eventually resume efforts to dismantle the governance and military capabilities of Hamas.

Hamas also wants hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled Gaza City and surrounding areas southward during the first stage of the almost six-month-old war to be allowed back north.

Amit Soussana (right), who was held hostage by Hamas and released, hugs a friend near her house where she was kidnapped on January 29, 2024 in Kfar Aza, Israel. Dozens of Kfar Aza residents were killed, and others kidnapped, during Hamas' October 7 attack

The Israeli official said that Israel had agreed to double the number of Palestinians it would release for the hostages at to 700-800 prisoners and allow some displaced Palestinians to return to northern Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Tuesday Hamas had made 'delusional' demands, which it said showed the Palestinians were not interested in a deal.

Hamas has accused Israel of stalling at the talks while it carries out its military offensive.

The discussions, mediated by Egypt and Qatar, are continuing as a humanitarian crisis devastates Palestinians in Gaza with severe shortages of food, medicine and hospital care. Concerns are growing that famine will take hold.
On one instance, King shared a photo of baby clothes while expressing his interest in assaulting his soon-to-be-born son

He discussed sedating child relatives with Benadryl and bragged about his collection of child pornography

A Chicago veterinarian and dog breeder was busted in an FBI sting for sharing child pornography and making disturbing comments about his soon-to-be-born son.

Adam Stafford King, a veterinary ophthalmologist from Elburn, was charged with one count of knowingly distributing child pornography following a months-long investigation.

The Elburn man has a history of viewing explicit images of children dating back to at least 2017, according to court documents.

The charges stem from an incident beginning in September 2023, when King began communicating with a New York man through the gay dating app Scruff.

He and the man spoke interchangeably on the app and encrypted messaging service Telegram, with King using the handle 'pervchidude.'

Adam Stafford King, pictured in a driver's license photo, has been charged with one count of knowingly distributing child pornography following an investigation spearheaded by the FBI

The Illinois man is a dog breeder under the name 'Askin Havenese' and was scheduled to appear as a judge for the 2024 Westminster Dog Show

In disturbing messages to an informant based in New York - whose account was later taken over by the FBI - King expressed his desire to sexually assault his unborn son and shared photos of baby clothes

In those communications, King indicated that both men identified as 'pervs.' According to the FBI, the term is often used to describe 'someone with an interest in pedophilia.'

King discussed his interest in underage children on several occasions. In one message, he professed that 'single digits,' meaning children under 10 years of age, were his 'fav.'

The veterinarian clarified that he had a liking for boys and girls aged '0-9,' but preferred boys.

The FBI discovered the New Yorker's messages with King in October 2023, after executing a search warrant on his electric devices. The agency was ultimately given control over the accounts, with a covert agent assuming the role of the New York man.

King wrote extensively about his experience abusing children. In a November 2023 message, he described himself as an 'uncle,' adding, 'I play with nephews and nieces. Ive done almost everything.'

He described how he would sedate the children before abusing them, writing, 'I generally use Benadryl,' noting that it provides a 'wide safety margin' and 'I usually double an adult dose.'

King also gave several clues about his identity, including that he and his husband were expecting a child in the spring through a surrogate.

He clarified that his husband, Lucas, was a 'non perv,' or not sexually attracted to children.

The Elburn man wrote extensively about his experience abusing children, including his nephews and nieces, detailing how he sedated them with Benadryl

He bragged about 'possessing a large collection of child pornography' to the undercover FBI agent

In some of the most shocking messages, King expressed interest in sexually assaulting his son after he was born.

'I do love the idea of inviting a buddy over when I have my boy  just has to be someone I can trust obviously  I plan on getting my c*** in him asap,' the Elburn man wrote.

Twice he implied that the covert agent should take part in the abuse.

'Maybe youll get to meet my boy,' he wrote. 'Might have to come and visit my boy when hes born.'

On two separate occasions, King shared ultrasound photographs of the unborn child. He also shared a photograph of baby clothes that was attached to the complaint.

The veterinarian also bragged about 'possessing a large collection of child pornography' that he stored on his Telegram account.

In subsequent conversations between December 2023 and January 2024, King revealed that he was a doctor specializing in eyes. 'I just love eyes,' he wrote on one occasion.

Towards the end of January, he finally disclosed his first name, writing, 'Adam here!'

At the time he was employed as a staff ophthalmologist at MedVet Chicago and had been appointed the network's national Ophthalmology Department Lead.

King also sent a photo of his penis while wearing what appeared to be blue scrubs, according to the complaint.

In March, the FBI executed a federal search warrant on King's Elburn home. Despite 'multiple verbal announcements of the FBI's presence,' King remained in the shower on his iPhone, the complaint states.

He declined an interview but provided the passcode to his phone. Stored on that device were several images that had been sent over Telegram.

'For example, the FBI discovered the ultrasound photograph that the Chicago Subject sent to the New York Subject,' the complaint reads.

King's husband, Lucas, identified the photograph as that of their unborn child and confirmed that the child was expected to be born around March 29.

Lucas and King married in 2016 and settled down in a four-bedroom, three-bathroom house in rural Elburn.

The pair met when King was completing his veterinary residency at Colorado State University. At the time, Lucas was a pastor at a church in Longmont, but has since moved on to churches in Illinois, including one in Aurora.

Upon conducting a search of King's house, agents spotted the same baby clothes that had appeared in a photograph shared over Telegram

In 2017, police officers questioned the veterinarian after learning that he had uploaded two images of suspected child pornography using a Gmail account that was traced to his home

One year after the pair wed, the Illinois Attorney General's Office received a tip that a Gmail user based in the state had uploaded two images of suspected child pornography.

Police traced the IP address to the home King shared with his husband. There, King admitted that had a Gmail address by the same name, and that it was registered to a site he used to view pornography.

An officer noted that 'Adam appeared very nervous and hesitant to answer questions' during the encounter, according to a report.

The officers ultimately determined they 'did not have a legal basis' to search King's electronics and left.

In addition to his work as a veterinarian, King also breeds Havenese dogs under the name 'Askin Havanese.' Before charges were brought against him, he had been scheduled to serve as a judge for the 2024 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

The Elburn man received several character letters in his defense. Among his backers were two former classmates, his aunt, his father and his in-laws.

One former classmate, Jessica Ward, wrote, 'I am so excited for Adam and Lucas to welcome (the name of their son) into their lives, and I am confident they will be exceptional parents surrounded by a wide circle of support from friends and family.'

King's father, John, a former law enforcement officer, described his son as someone who was 'not deceitful' and had 'an aura of decency and integrity.'

Both of Lucas' parents penned a letter in support of their son-in-law.

'We could not be prouder nor more supportive of Adam if he was our own son,' it read. 'In a world where dishonesty, divisiveness, hate and impatience have become way too common we need more Adam Kings.'

It is unclear what will happen to the couple's child, who is expected to be delivered by a surrogate in Sacramento in the coming days.

Under California law, a surrogate mother must convince the child's parents to voluntarily relinquish their rights to the child in order to keep it.
A private plane has crashed at the Imperial War Museum airfield - with the venue now closed to visitors.

The ordeal happened shortly after 1.40pm at Duxford Airfield in Cambridgeshire.

Emergency services are at the scene following the incident, which involved a private aircraft, according to the airfield.

It has not been confirmed whether there are any casualties, with witnesses claiming firefighters performed CPR on a person close to the crash.

A spokesperson from IWM Duxford said: 'The emergency services are onsite at IWM Duxford responding to an incident involving a private aircraft.

'We have no further information at this time.

A private plane has crashed today at the Imperial War Museum airfield

The ordeal happened shortly after 1.40pm at Duxford Airfield in Cambridgeshire

Sad to report small plane crash @IWMDuxford at about 13.35 today. Condition of pilot unknown but looked as if first firefighters on scene were doing CPR. #Duxford #Emergency pic.twitter.com/6o7Ayddxcr  Oscar Dog (@OscarWoofs) March 26, 2024

Horrifying photos show the wreckage on the ground after the crash

'IWM Duxford will remain closed to visitors on Wednesday and Thursday. We are expecting to reopen to the public on Friday.'

Cambridge Fire and Rescue Service said several crews that had attended the scene have since returned to their stations.

A spokesperson said: 'Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service was called at 1.41pm to a report of a plane crash at Duxford airfield.

'Four fire engines and a water carrier attended the incident. Crews assisted other emergency services and carried out scene safety and left the scene around 4pm.'

A spokesperson from Cambridgeshire Police said: 'We were informed at 13:41 GMT of a plane crash at Duxford Airfield.

Cambridge Fire and Rescue Service said several crews that attended the scene

The scene of a light aircraft crash which has left a wreckage on the ground

Emergency services attended the scene but it has not been confirmed whether there were any casualties

Cambridge Fire and Rescue Service said several crews attended the scene

'Officers from all emergency services are currently on the scene.'

According to The Telegraph, a group of schoolchildren on a visit to the museum are understood to have witnessed the crash.

Eyewitness Kate Moore was at Duxford with her husband when the plane crashed. 'While we were outside, we heard a bang and turned to see plumes of smoke,' she said.

'We were a long way away and many others there hadn't an idea anything had occurred. I only saw the crash post-impact.'
This is the harrowing audio of Baltimore officials as they rushed to stop traffic on the bridge seconds before it collapsed after being struck by a cargo ship.

The ship's crew issued a mayday call moments before the crash took down the Francis Scott Key Bridge on Tuesday morning, enabling authorities to limit vehicle traffic on the span, Maryland's governor Wes Moore said.

About 90 seconds after they mayday call, another is heard on the audio reporting the bridge has collapsed.

Baltimore officials had about 90 seconds to divert cars from the bridge after the Dali issued a mayday call on Tuesday morning

The ship - the Singaporean-flagged Dali - was 20 minutes into its journey when it slammed into a support column on the bridge

The ship's crew managed to issue a Mayday before it crashed into the bridge, which allowed officials to stop cars from going on the bridge

An injured person was pictured being loaded into an ambulance after getting taken off the ship following the collapse

'I need one of you guys on the south side, one of you guys on the north side, hold all traffic on the Key Bridge,' one person is heard saying.

'There's a ship approaching that just lost their steering so until we get that under control, we've got to stop all traffic.'

'The whole bridge just fell down. Start, start whoever  everybody. The whole bridge just collapsed,' they said.

Another person then says: 'I can't get to the other side, sir. The bridge is down.'

The ship struck one of the bridge's supports, causing the structure to collapse like a toy. It tumbled into the water in a matter of seconds  a shocking spectacle that was captured on video and posted on social media. The vessel caught fire, and thick, black smoke billowed out of it.

With the ship barreling toward the bridge at 'a very, very rapid speed,' authorities had just enough time to stop cars from coming over the bridge, Gov. Moore said.

'These people are heroes,' Moore said. 'They saved lives last night.'

The crash happened in the middle of the night, long before the busy morning commute on the bridge that stretches 1.6 miles and was used by 12 million vehicles last year.

The six people still unaccounted for were part of a construction crew filling potholes on the bridge, said Paul Wiedefeld, the state's transportation secretary. One of those rescued was taken to a hospital, he said.

Multiple vehicles also went into the water, although authorities did not believe anyone was inside.

'Never would you think that you would see, physically see, the Key Bridge tumble down like that. It looked like something out of an action movie,' said Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, calling it 'an unthinkable tragedy.'

Rescue personnel gather on the shore of the Patapsco River during search and rescue efforts

Rescue personnel gather on the shore of the Patapsco River

State officials are using sonar detection devices to search for the crew members who fell into the 47F water as they were working to repair potholes on the 185-foot bridge when it collapsed.

Governor Moore declared a state of emergency Tuesday morning following the catastrophic collision, which occurred at about 1.30am. The ship - the Singaporean-flagged Dali - was 20 minutes into its journey when it slammed into a support column on the bridge.

President Joe Biden addressed the bridge collapse from the White house shortly after noon EST, saying he has spoken with Maryland officials and told them he will be sending federal aid.

'To the people of Baltimore - We're with you, were going to stay with you as long as it takes,' he said. the port of Baltimore if one of the nation's main shipping ports and we're going to get it up and running again as soon as possible.'

Biden added he has directed his team to work on rebuilding both the port and bridge 'as soon as humanely possible' and plans on visiting Baltimore as 'soon as he can.'

Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul J. Wiedefeld said eight people were on the bridge when it collapsed, and two of them were rescued from the water, with one declining medical treatment and the other being taken to the hospital before being released.

Officials said they have spotted five vehicles submerged under water thanks to infrared and side-scan sonar technology - three passenger vehicles, a cement truck and a fifth vehicle.

Astonishing footage shows the moment the vessel plowed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, sending the colossal steel structure crashing into the Patapsco River

'Pilots move ships in and out of the Port of Baltimore,' said Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld at a news conference Tuesday

Maryland Governor Wes Moore (C) walks with staff and law enforcement along the shore of the Patapsco River

It remains unclear what led to the crash. Video shows the ship going dark seconds before the collision, suggesting a power failure on board. The crew of 22 remains onboard and is now being questioned by the Coast Guard.

In the latest update by officials, gov Moore said divers and air assets are currently working 'to save lives' and will update the public as the work continues.

'I recognize that many of us are hurting and scared right now,' the Democrat said just before 10am.

'I want to be clear, we are still investigating what happened, but our preliminary findings points to an accident, we haven't seen any credible evidence of a terrorist attack.'

FBI special agent in charge of the Baltimore office William DelBagno said 'there is no specific or credible information to suggest there are ties to terrorism in this incident.'

The collapse is sure to create a logistical nightmare for months, if not years, for the East Coast, shutting down ship traffic at the Port of Baltimore and snarling cargo and commuter traffic.

According to The Baltimore Sun, the Dali was setting off on a particularly long voyage of 28 days because the crew wanted to go around South Africa to avoid the Red Sea, where Yemeni Houthi rebels have been attacking western ships to protest the war in Gaza.

It was not immediately clear what caused the cargo ship to crash into the bridge long before the busy morning commute in what one official called a 'developing mass casualty event' in a major American city just outside of Washington.

According to an early Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) report, the container ship 'lost propulsion' as it was leaving port.

'The vessel notified MD Department of Transportation (MDOT) that they had lost control of the vessel and an allision with the bridge was possible,' the report said. 'The vessel struck the bridge causing a complete collapse.'

The ship crashed into one of the bridge's supports, causing the structure to snap and buckle at several points and tumble into the water in a matter of seconds  a shocking spectacle that was captured on video and posted on social media. The vessel caught fire, and thick, black smoke billowed out of it.

The rescue effort incorporates Coast Guard ships, local police boats, Baltimore's Fire Department, volunteer fire departments from the surrounding areas as well as teams of divers as the desperate search for survivors goes on.

There appeared to be an explosion on the container ship as it collided with the bridge sending container and diesel flooding into the water. One of the vehicles that fell to the water was a tractor-trailer.

The ship was not being piloted by its own crew but by local pilots who are used to specifically avoid accidents.

The ship involved is the 948 foot long Dali, a Singaporean-flagged container which could be seen on ship tracking websites positioned stationary under the bridge following the crash.

It left Baltimore's Seagirt Marine Terminal at 12:24am, at 1:25am, is began to slow and diverted off of its course. The video shows lights going off on board just before the crash.

The Dali ship was bound for Colombo, Sri Lanka. It's unclear what cargo it was holding. The vessel was due to land in Asia on April 27.

According to the ship's owners, all crew members were accounted for with no injuries reported.
The Supreme Court appears skeptical of limiting access to the abortion pill mifepristone nationwide, but should they rule in favor of the Food and Drug Administration, it does not mean the pill would become universally available in the United States.

Justices heard oral arguments in the pivotal case FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine on Tuesday and will likely issue their decision in late June or early July before going on recess.

The consequential case has the potential to impact abortion access not just in states that have moved to further restrict or ban abortion since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022 but also states where abortion rights are protected or have even been expanded.

Fourteen states already have near-total abortion bans in place, so those states would not be greatly impacted by the decision because their laws already prevent medication abortion in nearly all cases.

More than a handful of other states had passed other restrictions since Roe fell including bans on abortion starting at six weeks to eighteen weeks that could see some access impacted if the pill mifepristone were further limited.

Limiting access to the abortion pill would have less impact on states with near total abortion bans because abortion is already completely blocked in most cases. It could have some impact on states where there are further restrictions in the books depending on the states

At least fifteen states have medication abortion restrictions requiring the pill be distributed by a physician. Several have other restrictions such as a ban on mailing pills or requiring an in-person visit with a doctor. Several other states have such restrictions held up in court

Mifepristone is part of a two-drug process to end a pregnancy. First a person uses mifepristone followed by the drug misoprostol. The drug is currently approved for abortion during the first 70 days or up to 10 weeks of pregnancy, a change made in 2016.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion rights research organization, 15 states, not including the states with near-total abortion bans, currently have additional restrictions specifically on medication abortion already in place beyond the FDA rules.

Most common among the restrictions is requiring the abortion pill be provided by a physician.

In 2016, the FDA expanded who could prescribe the abortion pill beyond doctors to include those such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants. But currently, fifteen states have laws requiring it be provided by a physician.

The FDA also changed in-person disbursing requirements in 2021 amid the coronavirus pandemic, but at least five states have laws requiring patients have an in-person visit with a physician.

Additionally, Wisconsin requires patients have the first dose in the presence of a physician, and Arizona has a ban on mailing abortion pills.

In 2023, the FDA also approved allowing pharmacies to dispense mifepristone directly to patients.

But as the case over access to abortion pills made its way to the Supreme Court, states where abortion access has been expanded warned it would impact them as well, and some states started taking precautionary action.

As these states started to face the possibility of restrictions on abortion pills being reimposed, some began stockpiling the drugs used in medication abortion last year.

Several states began stockpiling abortion pills including mifepristone and misoprostol amid concern that access to abortion pills would be limited or blocked with the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine lawsuit

The governor of Massachusetts Maura Healey said last year her state had enough doses of mifepristone stockpiled to last more than a year.

In California, Governor Gavin Newsom revealed the state had a stockpile of up to two million misoprostol pills, the other drug used in medication abortion.

In Washington state, the Governor Jay Inslee said the state was also stockpiling generic mifepristone.

Last June, Maryland approved the purchase of abortion pills for a state stockpile as well. By August last year, Hawaii had also started stockpiling abortion pills.

In New York, Governor Kath Hochul announced last spring the state would stockpile 150,000 doses of misoprostol, a five year supply, amid fears access to abortion pills would be blocked.
Tiffany Fong, a crypto investor and influencer, has said that she doesn't think that disgraced ex-FTX chief executive Sam Bankman-Fried deserves life in prison.

Not only has she spoken to Bankman-Fried for dozens of hours while he was on house arrest, Fong is one of the most high profile victims of another crypto collapse.

Around June 2022, Fong had roughly a quarter of a million dollars in Celsius, a crypto company that often marketed itself as safer than banks. In an instant, her money was gone. It filed for bankruptcy a month later.

But despite her losses, she believes that Bankman-Fried - the head of another failed cryptocurrency - does not deserve to be imprisoned for life. He is currently awaiting his sentencing, scheduled for Thursday in Manhattan court.

'It was a huge chunk of my life savings,' Fong told DailyMail.com. 'I was just very emotionally distraught after that and wanted an outlet to vent, so that's the only reason I started covering these bankruptcies.'

Tiffany Fong opens up about her philosophy on how best to punish financial crimes, being the victim of one herself

Sam Bankman-Fried (left) leaves Manhattan federal court in New York. Alex Mashinsky (right) founder and former CEO of Celsius Network Ltd., during a panel session at the Blockchain Week Summit in Paris, France

Celsius, like FTX, left a long trail of victims in its wake.

Its fall from grace, which involved an abrupt halt to withdrawals, occurred months before the FTX would shutter. When founder Alex Mashinsky was arrested in July 2023, the SEC filed a lawsuit calling Celsius' business model 'unsustainable.'

Fong said she took to social media almost immediately after losing her money. Now, she has roughly 110,000 followers on X and just over 45,000 subscribers on YouTube.

She uses her social platforms to keep people informed on crypto-related cases.

Over a year later, her work has led her to become close with Bankman-Fried. Fong said she's still in contact with him and has published lengthy, recorded interviews with the crypto founder in the past.

She was also the first to originally publish an image of Bankman-Fried in prison, posing on a wall with other inmates who colloquially call him 'G Lock.'

Fong visited Bankman-Fried at his parents' house in Palo Alto, California in December 2022. They talked about his uncomfortable time in notoriously brutal Bahamian prison, Fox Hill, where he struggled with a lack of mental stimulation, according to Fong.

At the time, Fong said Bankman-Fried's strategy to cope with a possible lifetime in prison was to not think about it too much.

Fong said: 'Hes aware of the possibility of prison time, but it does not seem he wants to ruminate extensively on the worst case scenario: a lifetime in prison.'

Tiffany Fong doesn't want to see Bankman-Fried get zero prison time, but thinks 'anything that even approximates life is too far'

She was also the first to originally publish an image of Bankman-Fried in prison, posing on a wall with other inmates who colloquially call him 'G Lock'

Speaking about what sentences Bankman-Fried and Celsius' Mashinsky ought to get, she told DailyMail.com: 'I understand that most people have the impulse to want to see them in prison for life.

'I understand that seems to be the general sentiment amongst the public, but I guess I'm just personally not a very vindictive or vengeful person.

'So I personally was more focused on how much money I could actually recover.'

Fong doesn't want Bankman-Fried or Mashinsky to get off scot free. She said she's never argued for zero prison time for Bankman-Fried.

At the same time she doesn't think nonviolent offenders, like white collar criminals, deserve life sentences.

'To me, the main point of a lengthy prison sentence should be to keep the public safe...so the people that I want to see, get life sentences are violent criminals like rapists, pedophiles, murderers, et cetera, just to keep everyone safe,' Fong told the DailyMail.com.

However, she does think Bankman-Fried and offenders like him should probably be banned from participating in financial services again.

Tiffany Fong posing with President Joe Biden in December 2022

Fong visited Bankman-Fried at his parents' house in Palo Alto, California in December 2022

Fong said that part of her sympathetic sentencing viewpoint comes from her own mental health struggles.

'I understand that some people argue that these are violent crimes, obviously because maybe some people could have taken their lives and I'm very empathetic to that viewpoint.'

Similar sentiments to Fong's were present in the slate of victim impact statements received by the court last week.

A substantial number of people didn't even mention Bankman-Fried by name. Rather, many of them listed the assets they held on FTX, how much money they estimated to have lost in the collapse and urged the court to determine a fair restitution amount.

One person wrote: '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. The scam has caused immense emotional distress.'
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.

11 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. (Reuters)
Steven Spielberg denounced 'extreme' anti-Semitism ravaging American college campuses in his first comments regarding the Israel-Hamas war.

In an event celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Shoah Foundation, an organization dedicated to holocaust education founded by Spielberg, the film director addressed a room at the University of Southern California.

At the event on Monday, attended by over thirty Holocaust survivors, Spielberg said: 'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.'

'I am increasingly alarmed that we may be condemned to repeat history  to once again have to fight for the very right to be Jewish,' he said in a video of the speech released by Deadline.

He called out extremism on college campuses and the idea of 'The Other' that 'poisons discourse' and creates a 'dangerous wedge throughout our communities' and 'leading to anti-Semitism.'

Steven Spielberg denounced 'extreme' anti-Semitism ravaging American college campuses in his first comments regarding the Israel-Hamas war

In an event celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Shoah Foundation at USC on Monday, Spielberg addressed a room with over 30 Holocaust survivors. Spielberg said: ' Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it'

He called out extremism on college campuses and the idea of 'The Other' that 'poisons discourse' and 'creates a wedge throughout communities'

'The 56,000 testimonies we have recorded are invaluable in teaching new generations what survivors have intoned for 80 years. Never again,' he said.

'Yet in listening to them, the echoes of history are unmistakable in our current climate. The rise of extremist views has created a dangerous environment, and radical intolerance leads a society to no longer celebrate differences but instead conspire to demonize those who are different to the point of creating The Other.'

'"Othering" rationalizes prejudice and encourages the willful denial and distortion of reality to enforce preconceptions,' he said. '"Othering" is the kindling that fuels extremism and illiberalism.'

'We see every day how the machinery of extremism is being used on college campuseswhere now, fully 50 percent of students say they have experienced some discrimination because they are Jewish,' Spielberg stated.

Spielberg condemned the dangerous rise of extremist ideologies, warning against the consequences of radical intolerance that demonizes those who are perceived as different.

'This is happening alongside anti-Muslim, Arab, and Sikh discrimination. The creation of 'the Other' and the dehumanization of ANY GROUP based on their differences, is the foundation of fascism. It's an old playbook dusted off and being widely distributed today.'

Spielberg condemned the dangerous rise of extremist ideologies, warning against the consequences of radical intolerance and repeating history

Strong speech by Spielberg: "The echoes of history are unmistakable... demonize those who are different to the point of creating the "other"...and we see every day how the machinery of extremism is being used on college campuses.." pic.twitter.com/os2AQshwbV  Onedayatatime  (@freethebabiesIL) March 26, 2024

He condemned both the violent actions of terrorists and the tragic loss of innocent lives, including women and children, in Gaza.

'We can rage against the heinous acts committed by the terrorists of October 7th and also decry the killing of innocent women and children in Gaza .'

Spielberg emphasized the importance of remembering history to avoid repeating it. He highlighted the alarming prospect of having to once again defend the fundamental right to be Jewish.

'In the face of brutality and persecution, we have always been a resilient and compassionate people who understand the power of empathy,' Spielberg continued.

'It is crucial in the wake of the horrific October 7 massacre. It is crucial to the stopping of political violence caused by misinformation, conspiracy theories and ignorance.

'It is crucial because stopping the rise of anti-semitism and hate of any kind is critical to the health of our democratic republic and the future of democracy all over the civilized world.'
The man who killed a mom, 20, and left her one-year-old daughter to die in a hot car has finally been arrested after two years on the run.

Doujon Griffith, 23, was arrested in Linden, New Jersey on Friday after cops pulled him over for a traffic stop and realized he had two outstanding warrants for first degree murder.

On September 9, 2021, officers from the Orange County Sheriff's Office located Massania Malcolm's car and found her and her daughter Jordania's dead bodies inside.

Deputies said that the toddler died from being left in the hot car after her mother was shot by Griffith.

Police have also connected Griffith to the shooting of a male victim who was Malcolm's boyfriend and the baby's father.

'No matter how many years have passed, we never forget our victims, and we hope this arrest brings some sense of peace and closure to our community and the two families shattered by this horrible tragic case,' Orange County Sheriff's Office said in a post on X.

Doujon Griffith, 23, was arrested in Linden, New Jersey on Friday after cops pulled him over for a traffic stop and realized he had two outstanding warrants for first degree murder from 2021

On September 9, 2021, officers from the Orange County Sheriff's Office located Massania Malcolm's car and found her and her daughter Jordania's dead bodies inside. Griffith has shot the mother and the daughter died from being left in the hot car

Two days before the mother and daughter were found, police responded to a call around 5am at the 1900 block of Lake Heritage Circle of shots being fired.

When they arrived, they found a man in his 20s suffering from gunshot wounds who told officers that he was shot be a 'friend.'

A family member of the unidentified male victim called the police to report that he was not able to get in contact with Malcolm.

Police then visited the couple's apartment and saw that no one was home and that there were no signs of foul play, OrlandoNews.com reported.

The boyfriend, who later regained consciousness after surgery, told detectives that when he was shot by Griffith, his girlfriend and baby were in the car with him.

According to the sheriff's office, the male victim told officers that after he was shot, he remembered that Griffith had driven away in the car with Malcolm and Jordania still inside.

Latoya Reid, Malcolm's heartbroken mother, previously told FOX 35 Orlando that when she tried to get in contact with her daughter and her boyfriend, nobody answered.

According to the sheriff's office, the male victim told officers that after he was shot, he remembered that Griffith had driven away in the car with Malcolm and Jordania still inside. (pictured: the car discovered in the parking lot on September 9)

In response to Griffith's long awaited arrest, Reid was seen in an emotional video (pictured) as she reacted to the bitter sweet news

She said that the couple were trying to help Griffith after he moved in with them in August 2021.

'I saw a car marked homicide team and my heart sunk,' Reid said after her daughter and granddaughter were found dead.

In response to Griffith's long awaited arrest, Reid was seen in an emotional video as she reacted to the bitter sweet news.

'Friends and supporters and well wishers, today, March 22, 2024, I'm coming live to let you know that the police has incrassated Doujon Duwayne Griffiths,' Reid said as she cried uncontrollably.

'Justice,' she added.

The suspect will be extradited to Orange County, Florida and will be charged with first degree murder. He may also face a charge of attempted murder for shooting the mother's boyfriend.
The death of a young father who was killed in a Louisiana bar fight during a bachelor's party has been ruled a homicide, according to the coroner's office.

Devin Michael Repath, 26, was at Fred's Bar in Tigerland - a popular area in Baton Rouge - for a bachelor party on Saturday when the fight broke out.

The Baton Rouge Police Department said: 'Repath was involved in a fist fighting incident that occurred on March 23, 2024, around 1:18 am at 1184 Bob Pettit Blvd.'

'Repath was taken to a local hospital after being struck and knocked unconscious.'

The father of two young children died at the hospital from his injuries and the East Baton Rouge Coroner's Office determined his cause of death is blunt force trauma to the head, reported WAFB.

Devin Michael Repath (right), 26, was killed in a bar fight in Baton Rouge on Saturday. He leaves behind his partner Sheylli Pantoja and their two sons, four-year-old Melo and eight-month-old Liam

The investigation is ongoing and police are reviewing security camera footage to identify everyone involved in the fight

Police said the investigation is ongoing and they are reviewing security camera footage to identify everyone involved in the fight. No arrests have been made.

Baton Rouge Police Chief T.J. Morse Jr. said police have 'several leads' and are utilizing 'technology' to track them down, reported WVUE.

Authorities have not said what led to the fight.

Fred's Bar was reportedly busy that night because a 'Battle of the Bands' fundraiser was being held.

Repath leaves behind his partner Sheylli Pantoja and their two sons, four-year-old Melo and eight-month-old Liam.

His father, J.P. Repath, told a local news station that his son recently bought a new home in Avondale and was starting a new job as a mechanic.

A GoFundMe page set up for Pantoja and their sons has raised $48,482 as of Tuesday afternoon.

Michele Dalon, Repath's sister, said on Facebook that he was able to donate his organs and his heart, lungs, pancreas, liver and kidneys are going to be used to save seven lives

A GoFundMe page set up for Pantoja and their sons has raised $48,482 as of Tuesday afternoon

His father, J.P. Repath, said that his son recently bought a new home in Avondale and was starting a new job as a mechanic

'A devoted partner to Sheylli Pantoja, a doting father to two wonderful boys, Melo and Liam, a son, a brother, a friend, the life of every party Devins absence has left an irreplaceable void in our lives,' the fundraiser page read.

'In the wake of this tragedy, we are committed to ensuring that Shey, Melo, and Liam are supported as they face the unimaginable task of navigating life without Dev. Our goal is to alleviate any financial burdens that may arise now and in the future, enabling them to focus on healing and preserving Devins memory.'

Michele Dalon, Repath's sister, said on Facebook that he was able to donate his organs and his heart, lungs, pancreas, liver and kidneys are going to be used to save seven lives.

'Even though he is no longer with us, he continues to make a positive impact. Bub, you are truly our hero,' she said.
More than a thousand migrants could be released every day in Arizona as federal funding for shelters runs dry.

Aid workers have warned of 'homelessness on steroids' in a matter of days when the $1 million per week of government funds are cut off.

Non-profits and local government have historically been working with border patrol agents to transport asylum seekers to facilities such as Casa Alitas in Tucson, Arizona, or the Regional Center for Border Health in Yuma.

But with the funding due to expire on March 31 there are fears of disorder at the border, which has already seen record numbers of crossings.

'There is already a difficult homeless problem in Pima County that we are working tirelessly to solve or mitigate,' Pima County Administrator Jan Lesher said in a memo.

More than a thousand migrants could be released every day in Arizona as federal funding for shelters runs dry

Aid workers have warned of ' homelessness on steroids' in a matter of days when the $1 million per week of government funds are cut off

Non-profits and local government have historically been working with border patrol agents to transport asylum seekers to shelters

'What we are about to experience with street releases is homelessness on steroids.'

She warned up to 400 migrants a day could be released onto the streets of Tucson without additional shelter space, rising to more than 1,000 a day during peak times.

'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,' Casa Alitas executive director Pina Lopez told The Arizona Republic.

There were a record breaking 2.47 million migrant encounters at the southern border in the fiscal year 2023.

More than 250,000 migrants were apprehended in the Tucson sector, during the first four months of this fiscal year - the most of any sector patrolled by border agents.

The border crisis has become a flash point of the upcoming election with both Republicans and Democrats blaming each other for its escalation.

The GOP has continuously criticized the Biden administration for what it deems to be lax border policies which have resulted in a record number of crossings.

Meanwhile Democrats have accused Republicans of blocking a bipartisan Senate bill which would have strengthened border funding at the behest of Donald Trump.

But with the funding due to expire on March 31 there are fears of disorder at the border, which has already seen record numbers of crossings

There were a record breaking 2.47 million migrant encounters at the southern border in the fiscal year 2023

Democrat Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs previously told lawmakers her state needs at least $752 million in federal funding to keep shelters operational

Former President Trump railed against the deal, dismissing it as a 'Democrat trap,' and 'one of the dumbest bills' he'd ever seen. Trump affirmed that he'd 'rather have no bill than a bad bill.'

President Biden countered that Republicans were 'playing politics' with the border, and that he was prepared 'to secure the border.'

When Republicans withdrew their support for the border deal, Democrats suggested that they did so to please Trump.

Over the weekend, Congress passed a bill allocating $650 million to replenish the Shelter and Services Program.

Democrat Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs previously told lawmakers her state needs at least $752 million in federal funding to keep shelters operational.

In a scathing open letter last year, Hobbs demanded $512 million in federal funds to reimburse state spending on migrant transport, drug interdiction, and law enforcement 'due to the federal government's failure to secure our border.'

On Friday, Rep. Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat, said the allocation granted 'is significantly below last year's enacted level and far below the demonstrated need of impacted communities.'

'Pima County and other Arizona border communities need resources right now, and they cannot afford to have those resources caught up in bureaucratic red tape,' he wrote in a letter to In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

'I strongly urge you to act quickly and decisively on their behalf.'
Republicans fighting with the White House over immigration are trying to stop the Biden administration from allowing migrants to board flights into the U.S. without proper identification.

The CBP One app, run by Customs and Border Protection, was originally designed to reduce wait times for perishable commercial goods meant for trade passing through legal U.S. ports of entry.

But at the start of 2023, Biden's administration expanded the use of the CBP One app to enable migrants to use it for asylum applications.

Now, migrants can use their CBP One app to serve as identification before boarding flights to or within the U.S.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah introduced a measure called the Verifying that all Aliens have Legitimate Identification Documents (VALID) Act, which would bar the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and airlines from accepting CBP One as a form of ID.

Migrants flying to or within the U.S. have been allowed by the Biden administration to use the CBP One app as a form of identification before boarding their flights

During a congressional hearing on the use of the CBP One app for migrant flights last week lawmakers said that 45,000 migrants used the app to enter the U.S. in January

A migrant uses the CBP One app to apply for an appointment to claim asylum in the U.S.

'It is a disgrace that American citizens are held to a higher standard of vetting when traveling around their own country than illegal aliens,' Lee exclusively told DailyMail.com in a statement.

'My legislation would forbid the TSA from accepting a government app as ID for illegals boarding flights, which has been used by the Biden administration to shuttle violent criminals to every corner of our nation.'

The legislation is cosponsored by Sens. Rick Scott, R-Fla., Roger Marshall, R-Kan., Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Mike Braun, R-Ind., and John Thune, R-S.D.

CBP One allows migrants to self-disclose personal information which is then processed by federal authorities before they are able to board the flights.

Those eligible for the CBP One applications are citizens from Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Colombia and Ecuador.

According to CBP, over 45,000 migrants used the CBP One app in January to enter the U.S.

And a previous DailyMail.com report earlier this month revealed the CBP One app has been central to a Biden administration program that has flown over 320,000 migrants from foreign countries to the U.S.

Migrants, seeking asylum in the United States and who previously requested an appointment on the CBP One application, attend their appointment

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, introduced an act to disallow the use of the CBP One app as a form of ID for migrants wishing to board flights within or to the U.S.

House Homeland Security Chair Mark Green, R-Tenn., sent a letter last week to TSA chief David Pekoske requesting he turn over documents and communications related to the agency's migrant identification standards, according to a letter obtained by DailyMail.com.

Roughly 96 percent of migrants who scheduled an appointment through CBP One from January 12, 2023 to September 30, 2023 were released, according to the letter, comprising a total of 267,000 individuals released into the U.S.

'There is no logical reason American citizens and other legitimate travelers should go through more thorough screening than inadmissible aliens,' Green told DailyMail.com last week.

'As threats from our adversaries grow more complex, this is not the time to make it easier for them to take advantage of us,' Green continued.

'This troubling TSA policy is just one more example of the Biden administration's utter refusal to take the homeland security mission seriously.'
After Republicans' 'influence peddling' probe into the Bidens, Oversight Democrats are now demanding they subject Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner to scrutiny over his foreign business deals.

Republicans have spent six months on the Biden impeachment inquiry digging into Joe's ties to Hunter Biden's shady business deals and now seem unlikely to move forward with a House vote.

And now Democrats are working to extract revenge after months of focus on the Biden family.

A new letter from top Democrat Jamie Raskin, D-Md., signals Democrats are likely to put Kushner in their crosshairs if they take back the House in the November election.

'We write to urge you to convene a hearing regarding Jared Kushner's apparent influence peddling and quid pro quo deals involving investments in exchange for official actions and to examine the resulting threats to our national security,' Raskin and Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., state in the letter to top Republican James Comer, R-Ky.

Earlier this month the New York Times reported that Kushner is closing in on lucrative real estate deals in Albania and Serbia.

The plans in the Balkans capitalize off relationships Kushner made during the Trump administration: they are being worked up with Ric Grenell, who served as acting director of national intelligence under Trump and as ambassador to Germany and special envoy to the Balkans.

After Republicans' 'influence peddling' probe into the Bidens, Oversight Democrats are now demanding they hold Donald Trump 's son-in-law Jared Kushner to scrutiny over his foreign business deals

Democrats allleged that Kushner and Grenell ' have been openly using their relationship with Edi Rama, the Prime Minister of Albania, whom then-President Trump received unconstitutional payments from while serving as Commander-in-Chief'

Democrats allleged that Kushner and Grenell 'have been openly using their relationship with Edi Rama, the Prime Minister of Albania, whom then-President Trump received unconstitutional payments from while serving as Commander-in-Chief.'

A Democratic report found that Rama, his advisors and the former minister of Infrastructure, Damian Gjiknuri, spent some $6,000 to stay at the Trump hotel in D.C., then owned by the former president.

One of the proposed projects would reportedly be the development of an island off Albania into a luxury tourist destination known as Sazan. The island was used as a secretive military base for submarines during the Cold War.

Another is a planned luxury hotel, 1,500 residential units and museum in Belgrade, Serbia. It would be at the site of the former headquarters of the Yugoslav Army, which was destroyed in 1999 by NATO bombings, a of Parliament in Serbia and Kushner's company told the Times.

Grenell worked on disputes between Serbia and Kosovo.

The projects involve land that is currently controlled by the governments, meaning they would need state sign-off on the projects.

'This Committee cannot claim to be 'investigating foreign nationals' attempts to target and coerce high-ranking U.S. officials' family members by providing money or other benefits in exchange for certain actions' while continuing to ignore these matters,' the lawmakers wrote.

A third project in Albania would build several hotels and hundreds of villas on Zvernec peninsula, a coastal area in southern Albania part of the resort community known as Vlore.

The plans in the Balkans capitalize off relationships Kushner made during the Trump administration: they are being worked up with Ric Grenell, who served as acting director of national intelligence under Trump and as ambassador to Germany and special envoy to the Balkans

Albania is becoming one of the fastest-growing tourism hotspots in Europe.

Kushner told the Times the deals, through his investment firm Affinity Partners, are not finalized but they are 'pretty close.'

Kushner's firm already took heat from Democrats for its $2 billion in funding from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.

Kushner was closely involved in Trump's Middle East policy during his presidency and capitalized on relationships he developed during that time to close the deals, including a tight relationship with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia.

Grenell, meanwhile, is rumored to be after the secretary of state job in a potential second Trump administration. He's been unapologetic about his efforts to use government relationships to bring investments to Albania.

'We are looking for opportunities to invest through foreign investment in the Balkans, but more specifically in Albania, and the Albanian coast is wonderful,' Grenell said in a past interview with a Balkan newspaper.

In a television interview in Albania last year he insisted there was nothing wrong with such deals now that he was a private citizen.

Kushner and Grenell are interested in developing the island of Sazan

Once communist Albania's most secret military base, a "sentinel" of the Adriatic Sea, the Sazan island has opened to tourists its bunkers and tunnels amid wildness that authorities hope to turn into an attraction

A third project in Albania would build several hotels and hundreds of villas on Zvernec peninsula, a coastal area in southern Albania part of the resort community known as Vlore

'I'm working on projects, private equity projects, that I get to make money on,' he said. 'No one should ever apologize for wanting to make money.'

Comer told CNN last year he would be taking a fine tooth comb to Kushner's deals in addition to the Bidens.

'We're going to have some questions, for Trump, and some of his family members, including Jared Kushner,' he said. 'We want to know exactly what the terms of that [$2 billion Saudi] loan to Kushner were.'

Republicans have pushed back on comparisons between Hunter Biden and his business deals and Kushner, arguing Kushner the latter 'has a career as a business executive that predates Donald Trump's political career.'

Last week during an impeachment hearing Raskin made a motion to subpoena Kushner for information related to his investment firm.

Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan moved to table - or kill - the motion.

Jordan argued that Kushner had had a positive impact on foreign policy, including helping to broker the Abraham Accords, or peace agreements between Israel and Arab countries brokered during the Trump administration.
Missouri high school student Kaylee Gain was suspended from school for fighting just a day before she was brutally beaten by another teen in a filmed brawl that went viral.

Gain, 16, was left her in a comma for two weeks after the beating near Hazelwood East High School in St Louis, which saw a teen girl beating her head repeatedly into concrete.

The day before the March 18 fight, Gain was suspended from school for fighting a different girl, who was friends with the teen now charged in the incident, as reported by The New York Post.

Gain and the girl, who remains in juvenile detention, were apparently members of warring friend groups in their high school.

The accused girl's family previously told DailyMail.com that she is the real victim who was 'harassed and bullied' before the viral incident and hit back at calls to charge the 15-year-old girl as an adult.

Missouri high school student Kaylee Gain was suspended from school for fighting just a day before she was brutally beaten by another teen

Gain, 16, was left her in a comma for two weeks after the beating near Hazelwood East high school in St Louis

Gain and the girl, who remains in juvenile detention, were apparently members of warring friend groups in their high school

Speaking to DailyMail.com the aunt of the girl arrested confirmed that she was an honor roll student at Hazelwood East High School with an exemplary record and was 'defending herself' during the fight with Kaylee.

The family has created a Change.org petition, calling on the St Louis Juvenile Court to show 'compassion' to the schoolgirl, DailyMail.com can reveal.

Her aunt said Kaylee was not being bullied by her niece and urged people to donate to help with her legal bills as the situation wasn't exactly what it seemed.

'If people want to donate, they should give it on the CashApp, not the petition,' she added.

'We set up a GoFundMe but it was taken down in hours, we have a lawyer. The family are all together and we will get through this.'

The fundraiser, which was removed by GoFundMe, said the teen was 'unfairly' painted as a bully and that she is the victim 'in a complicated situation.'

It raised nearly $3,000 before being taken down.

The page was set up on March 16, begging for help with her legal defense, as her family claim that they have been targeted with 'racist death threats'.

Kaylee's family say want 'justice through the legal system'  but pleaded with other teenagers not to retaliate against her alleged attacker

Viral video shows another teen smashing Gain's head into the pavement repeatedly before the victim appears to suffer a seizure

But the funds will now be returned to those who donated, with officials at GoFundMe confirming it removed the webpage hours after it was created.

In a statement to DailyMail.com a GoFundMe spokeswoman said: 'I can confirm the fundraiser was removed and all donors have been refunded.

'GoFundMe's Terms of Service explicitly prohibit fundraising for the legal defense of an alleged violent crime.'

But the girl's family says she 'deserves amnesty and a chance at forgiveness', adding that her 'fair trial hearing is being swayed'.

The unnamed girl has been charged with felony assault and is being held by St Louis Family Court, with a hearing expected in early April.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey warned the sickening attack against high schooler Kaylee Gain was a result of 'radical' DEI policies and a soft-touch approach to justice

The Change.org petition calls on the St Louis Juvenile Court to show 'compassion' to the schoolgirl, DailyMail.com can reveal.

So far more than 470 people have signed the plea, which claims the incident 'being used to define her character and incite racial divisions and political strife with the MO AG calling on the courts to charge her as an adult.'

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey previously warned the brutality was a result of an obsession with woke DEI policies and the soft-touch approach to justice under former St. Louis DA Kim Gardner and current Rep Cori Bush, a hardline progressive Democrat.

He also called for the girl to be charged as an adult if Kaylee does not survive the attack, something which supporters of her attacker have lashed out at.

Gain's family says it wants 'justice through the legal system'  but pleaded with other teenagers not to retaliate against her alleged attacker.

They confirmed Kaylee suffered 'a fractured skull that resulted in brain bleeding and swelling' and she still has not regained consciousness 10 days later.

'Although the family would like justice to eventually be served through the legal system, their focus at this time is dedicated exclusively to Kaylee's recovery', her family said in a statement through their lawyer.

'The family also asks all members of the community at large to come together to denounce teen violence and bullying as there have been far too many recent examples of teen violence that have resulted in significant injuries, and even deaths in some instances.

A Change.org petition has been set up to support the teenager, calling on the St Louis Juvenile Court to show 'compassion' to the schoolgirl, DailyMail.com can reveal

'Kaylee's parents want to make a special request to their fellow parents in the community to ask them to reinforce to their children that physical violence and bullying are never appropriate, and to emphasize to their children that lives of both the perpetrators of teen violence and the victims of violence can be permanently and forever changed as a result of violent incidents that last only a few minutes.

'Lastly, the family wants to emphasize that they do not want any retaliation of any kind to occur toward anyone that was either directly or indirectly involved in this incident.'

The statement ends by asking for prayers for Kaylee's 'full recovery' and hopes that 'teenagers realize that momentary violent actions can have life-altering consequences' through reading about the highly-publicized attack.

Video of the incident circulated on social media showing another girl bashing the teen's head into the concrete after throwing multiple punches and sending her careening to the ground.

Kaylee appeared to begin to have a seizure as groups of other teens brawled just feet away.

Police found the girl suffering from a serious head injury near the intersection of Norgate Drive and Claudine Drive, roughly a five-minute walk from the high school campus. She was taken to the hospital and remains in critical condition.

After news of the altercation broke, the Hazelwood School District released a statement condemning violence within the community.

'It is a tragedy anytime children are hurt,' the statement read. '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 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.'
Rain is continuing across large parts of Australia ahead of Easter celebrations amid fears a massive 7000km rain band will wreak havoc over the long weekend.

Popular holiday destinations in Queensland like Noosa, Mackay, Townsville, Cairns and Hamilton Island are forecast for heavy falls of 15mm on Thursday.

Showers will ease on Good Friday but up to 5mm of scattered rainfall will continue to impact much of the east coast throughout the long weekend.

Southeast Queensland will continue to be pounded, with up to 70mm of rain this week with Fraser Coast and Wide Bay to receive falls of up to 100mm.

Forecasters are keeping a close eye on the huge 7000km cloud band stretching from the Northern Territory to the east of New Zealand this week.

Large parts of Victoria, Queensland and NSW are expected to be impacted by the rain bomb as holiday hotspots receive a soaking ahead of the long weekend.

Here, Daily Mail Australia reveals what you can expect from the weather this Easter.

Rain is continuing across large parts of Australia ahead of Easter celebrations amid fears a 7000km rain band will wreak havoc over the long weekend

Southeast Queensland will continue to be pounded with up to 70mm of rain this week with Fraser Coast and Wide Bay to receive falls of up to 100mm

Brisbane

Southeast Queensland will continue to be pounded by up to 70mm of rain this week with Fraser Coast and Wide Bay to receive falls of up to 100mm.

The soggy conditions are the after-effects of ex-tropical cyclone Megan combining with a low-pressure trough stretching across the NT and Queensland.

The coastal trough is expected to impact South East Coast, Wide Bay and Fraser Coast areas over the next 48-72 hours.

Experts say some isolated falls across the region could total 200mm.

A shower or two is forecast for Brisbane this coming long weekend, with temperatures to reach a maximum of 28C.

Melbourne

Weather in Melbourne is expected to be hot and sunny over the long weekend with temperatures to reach 30C before a cool change on Sunday.

Temperatures are expected to drop to 21C on Monday, as northerly wind shifts southerly, with the possibility of showers.

In central Victoria, including Melbourne, about 1mm of rain is forecast with the central-east and eastern district, including Gippsland, to receive 5mm.

The cool change will start in the state's west before moving east.

Southeast Queensland will continue to be pounded with up to 70mm of rain this week with Fraser Coast and Wide Bay to receive falls of up to 100mm

Popular holiday destination Byron Bay, in NSW's north, will receive showers throughout the long weekend with temperatures to reach just 25C (pictured)

Sydney

The Easter long weekend in the Harbour City will be dry and a little cooler than other eastern states as temperatures remain stuck in the mid-20s range.

A few scattered showers are expected on the morning of Good Friday, but they are expected to clear on Saturday and Sunday.

Showers will return on Monday, impacting the state's far-west and north.

Popular holiday destination Byron Bay, in NSW's north, will receive showers throughout the long weekend with temperatures to reach just 25C.

ACT

People heading to the nation's capital for Easter will be welcomed with cool and dry weather, before the mercury soars to 27C on Saturday.

However, the ACT will also receive showers of up to 10mm on Monday.

Noosa, Queensland, will receive up to 15mm of rain on Thursday ahead of the long weekend

Adelaide

Those in Adelaide are in for a warm but mostly clear Easter weekend with daytime temperatures reaching 31C on Saturday.

A cool change will arrive on Monday, with forecasts of tops of 22C and rain.

Perth

Aussies on the west coast will have a warm but cloudy Easter long weekend.

Temperatures will reach 30C on Saturday and 31C on Sunday.

Hamilton Island will also receive showers as a 7000km rain band bears down on Queensland

Hobart

Weather in Hobart this long weekend will remain cool and dry with temperatures to reach a high of 23C on both Friday and Saturday.

Like most of the country, a cool change will arrive on Monday.

Darwin

Darwin is forecast is for a more wet, humid and stormy Easter, with rain, thunderstorms expected.

The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast up to 10mm of rain on each day of the long weekend before skies clear on Monday.

Temperatures will reach 34C before falling to 24C on Monday.
A new age progression image has been released of Afghan toddler Lina Sardar Khil by The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

At the age of three, Khil vanished from her family's Texas apartment complex on December 20, 2021. This picture depicts how she would appear at six years old.

Pamela Allen, who runs the non-profit Eagles Flight Advocacy & Outreach, has served as the family's advocate throughout the search from Lina.

Allen told local ABC affiliate KVUE that the NCMEC contacted her about the new image so she could get the family's approval.

'It's a step in the right direction,' Allen said.

A new age progression image has been released of the Afghan toddler Lina Sardar Khil by The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). She would have been six years old

At the age of three, Khil vanished from her family's northwest side apartment complex on December 20, 2021

The advocate said Khil's family approved of the image, which is now being shared across different platforms.

'When they see an age progression photo, it helps them to continue that hope,' Allen said

Last month, an inmate tipped off the San Antonio police, claiming Khil was buried in a field behind an apartment complex half a mile away from when she was last seen.

'It was hard to watch and it was hard sitting next to the dad and during our searches when it first happened, all of those feelings came back because it was always such a scary notion that we would find Lina's remains,' Allen said.

Officials came up empty handed, and determined the tip was not credible.

The family has remained persistent in the search for their daughter.

Khil was recently featured in a Paramount Plus docuseries about different missing persons cases.

'They believe someone knows something and they hope and pray that whoever that person is will have the courage to come forward and give them information about their daughter,' Allen said.

Last month, an inmate tipped off the San Antonio police, claiming Khil was buried in a field behind an apartment complex half a mile away from when she was last seen, but auhorities came out empty handed

Pamela Allen, who runs the non-profit Eagles Flight Advocacy & Outreach, has served as the family's advocate throughout the search from Lina

Allen said Khil's family approved of the image, which is now being shared across different platforms.

The family has remained persistent in the search for their daughter

'When they see an age progression photo, it helps them to continue that hope,' Allen said

Khil was recently featured in a Paramount Plus docuseries about different missing persons cases

'They miss her, they love her and most of all, they want to hold her again.'

Anyone with information about Khil's whereabouts is asked to call SAPD's Missing Persons Unit.

A reward from Crime Stoppers and the Islamic Center of San Antonio is being offered to help find Khil.
A body has reportedly been discovered during the search for six missing construction workers who fell into the river when the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed.

'We are hearing one body was found,' Baltimore City Council Member Phylicia Porter said on CNN.

There were no other details released about the body and police have not released the person's name.

Footage shows rescue teams searching the Patapsco River in the aftermath of the bridge collapse, leaving vehicles submerged and workers missing.

Teams can be seen inspecting the Singaporean-flagged Dali after it collided with the bridge on Tuesday morning.

Remnants of the 1.6 mile-long bridge can be seen embedded in the bow of the vessel while teams point flashlights around the murky waters as they search for those missing in the catastrophe.

One body has reportedly been discovered during the search for at least six missing construction workers

Rescue teams searching the Patapsco River in the aftermath of the bridge collapse, leaving vehicles submerged and workers missing

Maryland authorities are using sonar to search for people who fell into the 47F water as they were working to repair potholes on the 185-foot bridge when it collapsed

Five vehicles are currently submerged in the river, with six construction workers unaccounted for who had been working on the bridge when it went down.

Maryland authorities are using sonar to search for people who fell into the 47F water as they were working to repair potholes on the 185-foot bridge when it collapsed.

Officials have since said they have spotted five vehicles underwater thanks to infrared and side-scan sonar technology - three passenger vehicles, a cement truck and a fifth vehicle.

Governor Wes Moore declared a state of emergency Tuesday morning following the catastrophic collision, which occurred at about 1.30am.

The ship was 20 minutes into its journey when it slammed into a support column on the bridge.

The Democrat said the ship's crew managed to issue a 'mayday' before it crashed into the bridge, which allowed officials to stop cars from going on the bridge.

'We're thankful that between the 'mayday" and collapse that-that we had officials who were able to-to begin the stop the flow of traffic so more cars were not up on the bridge,' Moore added.

Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul J. Wiedefeld said eight people were on the bridge when it collapsed, and two of them were rescued from the water, with one declining medical treatment and the other being taken to the hospital.

An injured person was pictured being loaded into an ambulance after getting taken off the ship following the collapse

The ship was 20 minutes into its journey when it slammed into a support column on the bridge

Wiedefeld said: 'We know there were individuals on the bridge at the time of the collapse, working on the bridge, contractors for us.'

He said the workers were 'basically doing some concrete deck repair', but said they did not know how many vehicles were involved.

Doctors told DailyMail.com those on the bridge faced an agonizing drop that would feel like 'hitting concrete' and result in major injuries like broken bones and a ruptured heart, with a small chance of survival.

Once in the 47-degree water, hypothermia would kick in, causing hyperventilating, loss of motor control, confusion, and organ failure, starting in just three minutes.

Those in cars would have just two minutes to escape before drowning.

President Joe Biden said on X: 'This morning, I convened senior members of my team for a briefing on the collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge.

'I've directed my Administration to ensure every federal resource is available to assist search and rescue efforts and response to this terrible incident.'

The president announced the government would pay the full cost to replace the bridge and insisted it was an accident.

Video shows the ship going dark seconds before the collision, suggesting a power failure on board.

The ship's crew managed to issue a 'mayday' before it crashed into the bridge, which allowed officials to stop cars from going on the bridge

The bridge spans 9,000 feet across the Patapsco River and is 180 feet above the water

The ship involved is the 948 foot long Dali, a Singaporean-flagged container

It still remains unclear as to why the cargo ship crashed into the Key Bridge long before the morning commute, or how many people might be in the waters of the busy harbor near a key port.

Initial reports have pointed to a loss of propulsion or power on board just prior to the collision.

Rescuers pulled two people from the water by mid-morning and searched for more. One was unhurt, the other suffered injuries, officials said.

FBI special agent in charge of the Baltimore office William DelBagno said 'there is no specific or credible information to suggest there are ties to terrorism in this incident.'

The collapse is sure to create a logistical nightmare for months, if not years, for the East Coast, shutting down ship traffic at the Port of Baltimore and snarling cargo and commuter traffic.

According to The Baltimore Sun, the Dali was setting off on a particularly long voyage of 28 days because the crew wanted to go around South Africa to avoid the Red Sea, where Yemeni Houthi rebels have been attacking western ships to protest the war in Gaza.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott has asked that media outlets stop using the video showing the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsing.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott holds a news conference after a container ship collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge on Tuesday

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, left, speaks during a news conference as Sen. Chris Van Hollen looks on near the scene

Speaking to CNN, Mayor Scott told the outlet: 'I am going to be the first to ask that CNN and everyone else stopped showing the video.

'No one needs to see the possibility of their family member being severally injured or otherwise over and over again. It's just traumatizing our community.'

The ship smashed into one of the bridge's supports, causing the structure to break apart like a toy.

It tumbled into the water almost instantly  a shocking spectacle that was captured on video and posted on social media. The vessel caught fire, and thick, black smoke billowed out of it.

'Never would you think that you would see, physically see, the Key Bridge tumble down like that. It looked like something out of an action movie,' Mayor Scott said earlier, calling it 'an unthinkable tragedy.'
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said he would have reacted the same way Israel did after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, but that Israel was losing international support and should wrap up its war against the Islamist group in Gaza.

Hamas' killing spree through southern Israel, Trump said, was "one of the saddest things I've ever seen."

"That being said, you have to finish up your war. You have to finish it up, you got to get it done," he said.

The former U.S. president made the comments in an interview with Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom published on Monday. A video of the interview was posted on the newspaper's website.

The Oct. 7 attack sparked the war in Gaza that has raged for nearly half a year. Israel says its offensive will continue until Hamas is destroyed and its hostages in Gaza are released.

Israel's intent to expand its operation into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians are sheltering, has caused a rift with the Biden administration, which has said that doing so would be a mistake.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said he will not send a delegation to discuss the planned Rafah operation to Washington after the United States refrained from vetoing a U.N. Security Council proposal calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Trump was also asked how he would have reacted had his family been victims of Hamas' rampage.

"I would say I would act very much the same way as you did. You'd have to be crazy not too. Only a fool would not do that. That was a horrible attack," he said. "It bothers me so much when I see people, they don't talk about Oct. 7 anymore, they talk about how aggressive Israel is."

The Hamas-led attack killed 1,200 people and resulted in more than 250 being taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, Israels assault on Gaza has killed more than 32,000 people, according to Hamas-run health authorities in Gaza. (Reuters)
An opposition coalition has been left without anyone to challenge President Nicolas Maduro in the July general elections after its main candidate was blocked by the electoral board from registering to vote.

Corina Yoris, 80, was tapped last week by the Democratic Unity Roundtable last week to challenge Maduro after the country's high court banned opposition leader Maria Corina Machado from seeking public office.

However, Yoris was unable to enter the electoral commission's online system to register as a candidate before Monday's deadline expired.

The will of the Venezuelan people who want a change in this country is being violated, the presidential hopeful told reporters.

Despite not being able to access the electoral platform, Machado vowed that Yoris will challenge the incumbent Maduro, who has served as president since 2013.

'Our candidate is Corina Yoris,' Machado told journalists on Tuesday morning.

Venezuela's aspiring opposition presidential candidate Corina Yoris was blocked Monday by the country's electoral authority from registering her vote as a candidate for the July 28 elections and challenge President Nicolas Maduro

President Nicolas visited the National Electoral Council in Caracas on Monday and registered his candidacy for the July elections. The 61-year-old communist leader has been in power since 2013 following the death of President Hugo Chavez

Zulia Governor Manuel Rosales registered prior to Monday's deadline and could be an option to replace Yoris if Machado and the opposition front decides to form an alliance with him.

'The country is processing a huge disappointment,' Machado said. 'We will not be moved from an electoral process where Venezuelans can freely choose to elect who they want, not who is imposed by the regime.'

Rosales, who some in the opposition say has become too close to the ruling party during his governorship, belongs to the A New Time party, which until Monday had backed Machado.

'I had to take a decision, it was either open a space for Venezuelans to vote or go to abstention and Maduro stays six more years there without doing anything,' Rosales told reporters on Tuesday about his eleventh-hour registration.

He did not respond clearly to questions about how he was able to register when others were not.

It was predictable that the Maduro government would restrict the possibilities for the opposition to participate in the elections, said political consultant Piero Trepiccione, who added that voters want change.

'What obviously opens up now is a period of negotiation, of understandings, of deals to see if the candidates stay or are substituted by others,' said Trepiccione, referring to Rosales and Enrique Marquez, a former member of the national electoral council who registered as an independent.

Parties have until April 20 to name any substitutes for registered candidates.

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was barred by the country's top court from holding public office and challenging incumbent President Nicolas Maduro in the July elections

Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro addresses supporters during a rally Monday after he officially announced he would seek his third term in ofice

Some of the opposition may back Rosales, said analyst Ricardo Rios, who runs the Poder and Estrategia consultancy in Caracas, while others may continue pushing for election guarantees.

'While they seek those electoral conditions time will pass and it will become reality that they don't participate (in the vote),' he said.

'Rosales alone cannot channel electoral energy (for the opposition), he needs the support of other consolidated parties and principally Maria Corina,' said Oswaldo Ramirez, director of ORC Consultancy.

The ruling party has not commented on the inability of Yoris to register, but the electoral council is expected to confirm the identities of 13 people who have registered for the election on July 28.

Maduro, a 61-year-old former bus driver, successfully registered on Monday to seek a second re-election July 28 for another six-year term.

The arrests of close Machado allies last week, as well as the issue of warrants for the capture of seven others, prompted international outcry.

The United States started re-imposing sanctions and warned about the April expiry of oil sanctions relaxations after Machado's public office ban, imposed over her support of U.S. sanctions and accusations of corruption that she denies, was upheld in January.

A White House National Security Council spokesperson said the U.S. was deeply concerned that Yoris was unable to register and was working with other members of the international community to ensure Venezuelans could participate in inclusive and competitive elections.

'As we stated in January, we are committed to maintaining sanctions relief if Maduro upholds the commitments outlined in the agreed-to Barbados electoral roadmap,' the spokesperson said, referring to the October electoral deal that originally led the U.S. to relax some sanctions.

Venezuela's neighbors Colombia and Brazil, which both have leftist presidents, each expressed concern in their own statements, urging compliance with the electoral deal.

'With the deadline for registering candidates for the Venezuelan presidential elections having passed, last night, 3/25, the Brazilian government is following with expectation and concern the development of the electoral process in that country,' Brazil's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Tuesday.
Tech entrepreneur Christopher Bouzy launched his software tool 'Bot Sentinel' in 2018 to 'help people identify inauthentic [social media] accounts and toxic trolls'.

In case he's still on the hunt for the latter, he might want to look in the mirror.

For, in the interests of his company's online plea for financial donations to 'help us combat online harassment and disinformation', his own recent social media outpourings over the dark conspiracies swirling online about the Royal Family certainly count as 'disinformation'.

As for 'online harassment', how about endlessly commenting on the Princess of Wales's changing weight, accusing her of lying when she said she badly Photoshopped that Mother's Day image with her children, and even seemingly attacking her Friday video announcement revealing her cancer diagnosis as akin to 'North Korean propaganda'?

Tech entrepreneur Christopher Bouzy launched his software tool 'Bot Sentinel' in 2018 to 'help people identify inauthentic [social media] accounts and toxic trolls'. In case he's still on the hunt for the latter, he might want to look in the mirror.

For, in the interests of his company's online plea for financial donations to 'help us combat online harassment and disinformation', his own recent social media outpourings over the dark conspiracies swirling online about the Royal Family certainly count as 'disinformation'.

This is the same woman that he once said on X  formerly Twitter was aging as fast as a 'banana' and married to a man who 'looks like a balding Muppet'.

Indeed, there's a deep irony in the fact that the notoriously combative Bouzy is a self-proclaimed expert on social media monitoring and the evils of online misbehavior.

In fact, one might wonder whether, after appearing on the Sussexes' infamous 2022 Netflix documentary to complain that Meghan Markle was the target of 'hatred', he might now be suffering from a serious case of double standards when it comes to the Princess of Wales.

Bouzy  whose latest digital venture is a little-used Twitter alternative called 'Spoutible'  has been backpedaling desperately in recent days following Kate's cancer announcement.

Backpedaling, mind, but not apologizing.

Celebrities and commentators ranging from actress Blake Lively to left-wing UK Guardian columnist Owen Jones  who mocked the princess in the days before her announcement  have done the right thing and issued apologies.

But not Bouzy. He insists he has nothing to apologize for because  he claims  he hasn't done anything wrong by Kate.

Bouzy believes he's doing us all a service  uncovering a devious Establishment conspiracy he alleges has been cooked up by the Palace and the media to conceal the fact that Kate hasn't really been seen in public for months.

In a long social media message on Sunday, Bouzy said that he knows what it is like to watch a loved one battling cancer having seen his mother succumb to the disease during Covid.

'I definitely would not come out and troll someone who is battling cancer,' he said. 'All of my tweets and spouts and comments have been about the British press and the Palace's communications team.'

In his righteous indignation at the Sussexes' two greatest enemies, he must have forgotten that, in the hours after Kate's cancer announcement, he wrote that Prince William 'threw his wife [...] under the bus' and failed to 'give her moral support'.

For the record, he believes all the recent photos and videos of the princess  apart from the cancer announcement  have been faked for nefarious reasons that aren't quite clear.

His current fixation  which he tweets about incessantly  appears to be the footage from early last week of Kate and William walking outside a Windsor farm shop.

Like all crazed conspiracists, there is no convincing Bouzy of the footage's veracity  even though the man who filmed it on his mobile phone has spoken publicly.

'The visit to the farm was staged, and the person in the video wasn't Kate,' Bouzy tweeted only yesterday.

In another post, Bouzy replied to an excerpt of a recorded BBC news panel discussion from Sunday featuring Victoria Newton, the editor of The Sun newspaper (which first ran the Windsor farm shop footage).

One might wonder whether, after appearing on the Sussexes' infamous 2022 Netflix documentary to complain that Meghan Markle was the target of 'hatred', he might now be suffering from a serious case of double standards when it comes to the Princess of Wales.

He believes all the recent photos and videos of the princess - apart from the cancer announcement - have been faked for nefarious reasons that aren't quite clear. His current fixation appears to be the footage from early last week of Kate and William walking outside a Windsor farm shop.

In the clip, Newton says that the Royal couple must have known that, if they went out and 'mingled with the public', someone would likely spot and photograph them on a phone.

When a passerby did exactly that, she added, the newspaper sought the approval of the Palace before publishing.

That, said Bouzy, was proof positive that 'the farm walk was staged'.

It was left to wiser minds to point out that Newton had revealed nothing of the sort.

There are plenty more like-minded crackpots swirling around the social media cesspools, trotting out the same claptrap as Bouzy  and even going further, cold-bloodedly suggesting Kate's announcement video was AI generated.

But they don't have anything like Bouzy's reach (he has nearly 358,000 followers on X). Nor  since his Harry and Meghan-endorsed Netflix docuseries appearance  do they have his name recognition.

Bouzy is of course entitled to spout whatever tortuously-constructed hypotheses he likes  even if his endless capacity to contradict himself would make the most swivel-eyed conspiracy theorist blush.

But his simultaneous claims of his empathy for the princess  even as he continues to unkindly portray her as some sort of hapless puppet of sinister forces  are starting to wear a little thin.

Bouzy is a man who has built a career on being relentlessly controversial, frequently posting online about the latest hot-button issues.

A 2023 Wired profile claimed 'Bouzy is defined by his inability to stay above the fray: Though he's often warm and witty in conversation, he turns pugnacious when alone behind a keyboard.'

It went on: 'His penchant for escalating online beefs with surly characters has caused him to become enmeshed in almost too many feuds to track.'

And, as he struggles to build up interest in Spoutible  one of many Twitter alternatives that are in danger of sinking without trace  stirring up controversy, particularly about the Royal Family, has proved a valuable calling card when it comes to getting noticed.

The 48-year-old computer programmer has described how he came from humble beginnings, brought up in one of Brooklyn's poorest neighborhoods by his mother, grandmother and aunt.

Aged nine, he says his mother gave him a Mattel Aquarius computer to keep him out of trouble and he became hooked on computing.

After working for the IT department of the New York City Department of Education, he started a one-man software company in 2000.

He later moved into cryptocurrencies where, as a contributor to the online forum Bitcointalk, he was accused of using bots and false online identities to heavily inflate the value of 'coins' he'd bought, as well as allegedly promising customers assets that he never provided.

Bouzy is of course entitled to spout whatever tortuously-constructed hypotheses he likes. But his simultaneous claims of his empathy for the princess - even as he continues to unkindly portray her as some sort of hapless puppet of sinister forces - are starting to wear a little thin.

Bouzy dismissed the claims as 'misinformation and disinformation' and no legal action was forthcoming.

However, trouble followed him in his other ventures.

In 2018, after he set up Bot Sentinel  a crowd-funded and supposedly apolitical software tool that tracks coordinated disinformation and harassment campaigns on Twitter  critics soon accused Bouzy of race-baiting and using the tool to pursue his own woke agenda, having his algorithms only flag up what he personally found offensive.

In 2021, Bot Sentinel garnered considerable publicity when it investigated the source of online slurs aimed at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, concluding that 70 percent of the 'hate content' targeting the couple came from just 83 Twitter accounts.

Bouzy claimed there was no obvious motive for this supposed coordinated anti-Meghan campaign but suggested it was racism. He repeated these claims in the couple's Netflix documentary the following year.

Also in 2022, Bot Sentinel said it had discovered Twitter trolls had engaged in 'rampant abuse and widespread targeted harassment' of women who voiced support online for actress Amber Heard.

Bouzy's company was subsequently hired by Heard's lawyers in her defamation court case  which she lost  with Johnny Depp.

But in the December of 2022, Bouzy was sued by a New York lawyer, Nathaniel Broughty, with a popular YouTube channel who claimed he'd been falsely accused of being 'disruptive' by Bot Sentinel simply because he had criticized Heard's legal position at trial.

Bouzy had also tweeted that Broughty was not a bona fide lawyer, wildly claiming that he had planted evidence on suspects in his previous police career.

A judge dismissed the case.

Last year, Bouzy's credibility took yet another hit when research by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found that bot detection tools  including Bot Sentinel  actually do a pretty poor job, as they rely on flawed data.

Little known before he was picked up by Team Sussex, he is hardly a king of Silicon Valley.

He lives in a workaday town in New Jersey with his wife and son. He also has a daughter.

In 2019 he filed for bankruptcy and became embroiled in a legal battle with his landlord over unpaid rent.

When it comes to the Royal Family, Bouzy seems to particularly revel in making personal remarks about the appearance and age of the Waleses, once writing: 'I'm sorry, but William and Kate look like Harry's aunt and uncle.'

However, according to Bouzy, while attacks on the Duchess of Sussex are never OK  and always rooted in racism  attacks on the Waleses, and particularly Kate, are seemingly fair game.

Also in 2022, his company Bot Sentinel said it had discovered Twitter trolls had engaged in 'rampant abuse and widespread targeted harassment' of women who voiced support online for actress Amber Heard.

Last year, Bouzy's credibility took hit when research by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found that bot detection tools - including Bot Sentinel - actually do a pretty poor job, as they rely on flawed data.

After Meghan was labelled a 'narcissist' in an article by Politico in late 2022, Bouzy charged to her defense.

'A woman of color protecting her family and defending herself isn't narcissism; it's survival,' he roared. Her only offense, he said, was having 'defended herself while being black'.

Shortly after the death of the late Queen, Bouzy criticized people who  with no apparent evidence  he claimed were trying to portray Meghan 'as some sort of harlot'.

He added: 'All Meghan did was marry the man she loves while being black. Just stop.'

As Bouzy continues to revel in his notoriety  he will no doubt flag up this article as he does with many others as proof of his 'importance'  one wonders if he will ever accept that the Princess of Wales deserve to deal with her health crisis in peace.
QUESTION What was Britain's first steam-powered ship?

In 1794, Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl Stanhope, built an experimental steam-powered vessel for the Admiralty. With an engine built by Walker and Dewar his 'ambi-navigator' of 200 tons was trialled between Deptford and Chatham in 1797 but rejected. The Navy Board stated in their report that 'an invention of this kind could never be applied to any advantageous purpose in His Majesty's Navy'.

In 1802 William Symington, under the patronage of Lord Dundas, of Kerse, constructed a steam craft for towing vessels along the Forth and Clyde Canal. Symington's tug, the Charlotte Dundas, dragged two loaded boats  Active and Euphemia, weighing upwards of 70 tons  a distance of 19 and a half miles along the canal in six hours. The tug is said to have cost 3,000 and has been described as 'the first practical British steamboat'.

The U.S. engineer Robert Fulton developed the world's first commercially successful steamboat, the North River Steamboat, in 1807, which took passengers along the Hudson river from New York City to Albany. He subsequently built the Demologos, the first warship propelled by a steam engine. She was a wooden floating battery built to defend New York Harbor from the Royal Navy during the War of 1812. The vessel was renamed Fulton after his death.

The U.S. engineer Robert Fulton (pictured) developed the world's first commercially successful steamboat, the North River Steamboat, in 1807, which took passengers along the Hudson river from New York City to Albany

In 1821 engineers Isambard Kingdom Brunel (pictured) and John Rennie persuaded the Admiralty to order the building of a wooden paddle steamer of 238 tons driven by an engine of 80 nominal horsepower

HMS Warrior was the first iron-clad, steam warship built for the Royal Navy in 1860. Now beautifully restored, she is on permanent display in Portsmouth (pictured)

The adoption of steam propulsion in the British Navy was a slow process. In 1821 engineers Isambard Kingdom Brunel and John Rennie persuaded the Admiralty to order the building of a wooden paddle steamer of 238 tons driven by an engine of 80 nominal horsepower. This vessel was HMS Comet and she was the first naval steamship to be built to Admiralty orders.

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The Royal Navy began to use steamships in earnest during the Crimean War. HMS Warrior was the first iron-clad, steam warship built for the Royal Navy in 1860. Now beautifully restored, she is on permanent display in Portsmouth.

J. B. Cox, Plymouth, Devon.

QUESTION If you stand on the North Pole, where does your compass point?

If you stood at the geographic North Pole your compass would point to Magnetic North.

The geographic North and South Poles mark the opposite ends of a central axis upon which the Earth spins. Magnetic North is the point on the surface of Earth's Northern Hemisphere at which the planet's magnetic field points vertically downward. This point drifts around; it's currently located just beyond the Canadian Arctic. It moves about because the Earth's magnetic field is generated by the spin of the planet and the uneven movement of iron-rich fluid at its core.

Compass needles align with Earth's magnetic field but, as you get closer to the magnetic North Pole, the field lines curve and your compass will behave increasingly erratically as the needle is trying to point straight down into the Earth.

Historically, polar explorers used to calculate the location of north by mapping the angle of the sun or the positions of stars. Today, Arctic explorers use GPS (pictured: a 1997 expedition to the North Pole)

Historically, polar explorers used to calculate the location of north by mapping the angle of the sun or the positions of stars. Today, Arctic explorers use GPS.

Dr Ian Smith, Cambridge.

QUESTION Are there any famous rock bands or musicians from the North Riding of Yorkshire?

Whereas Leeds and Sheffield have been hotbeds of English rock, North Yorkshire has always been somewhat more genteel. However, there are a few examples.

David Coverdale was your archetypal 1980s metal god with operatic vocals, tight leather pants and long flowing blond locks. He was born in Saltburn, near Redcar. Following a stint singing for Deep Purple he formed Whitesnake in London in 1978. He had major success in the 1980s with the songs Is This Love and Here I Go Again.

Arthur Brown, aka 'the god of Hellfire', was born in Whitby, North Yorks. Known for his operatic vocals and burning headgear, his band The Crazy World of Arthur Brown had a huge hit with Fire in 1968. It was No.1 in the UK and No.2 in the U.S.

Arthur Brown (pictured), aka 'the god of Hellfire', was born in Whitby, North Yorks. Known for his operatic vocals and burning headgear, his band The Crazy World of Arthur Brown had a huge hit with Fire in 1968

Chris Rea (pictured) was born in Middlesbrough which is in North Yorkshire; though many of the inhabitants consider themselves Teesiders

If we're looking for a band that actually formed in North Yorkshire, then there's the alt-rock outfit Shed Seven which formed in York in 1990. Shed Seven are fronted by vocalist Rick Witter (born in Stockport) alongside York-born guitarist Paul Banks. They had several chart hits in the 1990s including the No.8 hit Going For Gold. They surprised the music world earlier this year when A Matter Of Time, their sixth studio album, became the band's first No.1 chart album.

Chris Rea was born in Middlesbrough which is in North Yorkshire; though many of the inhabitants consider themselves Teesiders.

Richard Moss, Durham.

Is there a question to which you want to know the answer? Or do you know the answer to a question here? Write to: Charles Legge, Answers To Correspondents, Daily Mail, 9 Derry Street, London W8 5HY; or email charles.legge@dailymail.co.uk. A selection is published, but we're unable to enter into individual correspondence.
A lawyer for Julian Assange has called on the Australian government to negotiate a political pathway for the WikiLeaks founder to avoid extradition to the US after a legal ruling in London.

US prosecutors' plans to extradite the 52-year-old Australian from the UK and put him on trial for the release of confidential US military records and diplomatic cables have been put on hold after London's High Court on Tuesday said US authorities must provide assurances he will not face the death penalty.

Two UK High Court judges said they would grant Assange, who has been held in a London high-security prison since 2019, a new appeal if US authorities do not give such assurances within three weeks.

'We want to see the Australian government continue to push for a political resolution because Julian will remain in Belmarsh Prison ... and his circumstances there have been dire, his health continues to decline and this at the end of the day is a political case,' lawyer Greg Barns SC told ABC TV after the decision in London.

Anthony Albanese and the Australian government needs to continue to pressure United States officials on the case of Julian Assange (pictured), one of his lawyers says

READ MORE: Roger Waters visits WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at Belmarsh prison Roger Waters (left) visited WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in prison with wife Stella Assange (right) Advertisement

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said last month his government was using diplomatic channels to try to secure Assange's release and had raised the issue with US President Joe Biden.

'There really does need to be continued political involvement because this may take some months,' Mr Barns said.

'The way the appeal process has gone in the UK in his case has been lengthy delays ... and so we would say to the prime minister and we would say to those MPs who support Julian Assange that this is not the time to take your foot off the pedal.'

Mr Barns added that 'people shouldn't be extradited to the United States if there's a risk of cruel and unusual punishment'.

The UK judges provisionally gave Assange permission to launch a full appeal against extradition as it was not certain the Australian would be entitled to rely on the US constitution's right to free speech as a foreigner.

Stella Assange described the UK court's decision regarding her husband as 'bizarre'.

'The court's recognised that Julian is exposed to a flagrant denial of his freedom of expression rights, that he is being discriminated against on the basis of his nationality - an Australian - and that he remains exposed to the death penalty,' Ms Assange said.

'What the courts have done has been to invite a political intervention from the United States ... send a letter saying "It's all okay." I find this astounding,' she told reporters.

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie said he welcomed the court being open to giving Assange permission to appeal against his extradition.

'Hopefully a new appeal will be successful. Even better, the US drops the charges against Mr Assange,' Mr Wilkie said.

'The US must not continue to pursue Mr Assange but instead drop all charges against him, allow him to reunite with his family and to return to Australia.'
He warned reconstruction of the bridge 'will not be easy, will not be quick, and will not be inexpensive'

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg vowed the federal government would rebuild the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland on Tuesday, calling it a 'cathedral' of American infrastructure.

'This is no ordinary bridge, this is one of the cathedrals of American infrastructure,' he said. 'It has been part of the skyline of this region longer than many of us has been alive.'

He cautioned that the 'path to normalcy' for the Baltimore community after the tragedy 'will not be easy, will not be quick, and will not be inexpensive.'

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg reiterated President Joe Biden's promise to rebuild the bridge with federal funds

A cargo ship is stuck under the part of the structure of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after the ship his the bridge

Buttigieg spoke at a press conference in Baltimore Tuesday afternoon, several hours after the bridge collapsed in the early hours of the morning after it was struck by a cargo ship.

He said he was 'moved' to see the state, county, and city response to the tragedy, praising Maryland Gov. Wes Moore for his immediate attention to the issue.

'He was already awake and hard at work when I reached him in the middle of the night,' Buttigieg said.

Buttigieg reminded everyone listening that it was 'excruciating day' for the families of the missing as search and rescue efforts continued.

'They are hoping and praying and we are hoping and praying with them,' he said. 'We are all putting our arms around the community of Baltimore.'

A container ship passes under the Francis Scott Key bridge

Livestream camera footage shows the moment of a large section of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, falling into the water following a ship collision, on March 26, 2024.

He vowed ongoing investigations into what caused the cargo ship to hit the bridge support which caused the catastrophic collapse early Tuesday morning.

'In many ways our work is just beginning, to rebuild this bridge and deal with impacts in the meantime,'

He warned that the closure of the port would cause ongoing problems with supply chains and transportation in the region.

'I have no doubt that we will rebuild together and that Baltimore will come back stronger than ever before,' he said.

Buttigieg urged Americans not to be worried about the strength of bridges across the country.

'This is a unique circumstance. I do not know of a bridge that has been constructed to withstand a direct impact from a vessel of this size,' he said.
President Biden was interrupted by pro-Palestinian hecklers during his visit to North Carolina on Tuesday, the latest in a series of interruptions the 81-year-old president and other administration officials have faced over the war in Gaza in recent months.

Biden was in Raleigh to talk about health care during his trip to the battleground state when woman began to shout at him.

'What about the health care in Gaza? What about the health care in Gaza?' the woman could be heard yelling as the president squinted into the crowd.

'Everybody deserves health care,' the president said after a pause.

The woman can then be heard shouting 'hospitals in Gaza are being bombed.'

Several other hecklers could also be heard shouting.

As the yelling continued, Biden said 'be patient with them.'

'They have a point, we need to get a lot more care into Gaza,' Biden responded to a round of applause.

President Biden delivering remarks in Raleigh, NC on March 26, 2024. He was there to discuss health care with Vice President Kamala Harris when he was interrupted by a heckler shouting about Gaza

A woman who shouted at Biden during his speech in Raleigh could be seen being escorted out. The president said to 'be patient with them'

People inspecting the damage and attempting to recover items from their homes on March 26 in Rafah, Gaza following an Israeli air strike

After a beat -- Biden said 'back to the subject at hand' and continued his remarks as planned.

The president's visit focused on health care days after the 14th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act.

But Biden, 81, has been dogged by hecklers who have screamed at him about Israel's war in Gaza at multiple events over recent months across the country.

In January, the president appeared confused while being heckled at a stop in Pennsylvania.

During another speech in Illinois the president faced a heckler who shouted at him to call for a ceasefire.

Biden has struggled to navigate the fallout over U.S. support for Israel in its war in since Hamas carried out a deadly terror attack on October 7.

Biden arriving in Raleigh to participate in events on March 26

Biden and Harris were in the battleground state of North Carolina on Tuesday to talk about healthcare just days after the 14th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act

Progressives have slammed the U.S. position and have called for a ceasefire for months. They have also pushed back on funding for Israel as it has decimated parts of Gaza in an ongoing campaign against Hamas in response to its attack.

In recent weeks, Biden has become more critical of hard-right Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he faces political fallout in the midst of an election year over support for Israel.

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 on Monday

While Biden has said he would never leave Israel and has continued to press for funding to the close U.S. ally, earlier this month, Biden said Netanyahu was 'hurting Israel' with so many civilians being killed in Gaza.

Tensions escalated on Monday when Netanyahu said he would not send a high-level delegation to Washington after the U.S. refrained from vetoing a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza during the month of Ramadan.

The U.S. had previously vetoed three resolutions calling for an end to the war in Gaza.

American officials have 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 White House insisted that the abstention does not mean the U.S. position has changed and called the cancelation of the trip 'very disappointing.'
The illegal migrant suspected of killing a 25-year-old Michigan woman was deported during the Trump administration and subsequently re-entered the country again illegally.

Brandon Ortiz-Vite, 25, is alleged to have shot and killed Ruby Garcia, 25, whose body was left at the side of highway U.S. 131 in downtown Grand Rapids on Friday night.

Michigan State Police are still carrying out an investigation into her death but believe she may have been the victim of a car-jacking at around 11:38pm on Friday.

Ortiz-Vite is awaiting arraignment on an open murder charge. He was booked on Sunday and is expected to be arraigned on Tuesday.

The accused is facing one count each of homicide/open murder, carjacking, felony firearm, illegally carrying a concealed weapon, operating while intoxicated and driving on a suspended or revoked license, records show, The Midwesterner reports.

The body of Ruby Garcia was found with gunshot wounds late on Friday night following a suspected car jacking in Grand Rapids, Michigan

Fox News Digital reports that the alleged killer was previously 'arrested by Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Detroit on Aug. 31, 2020, and served a notice to appear.

'He was ordered removed by an immigration judge with the Justice Departments Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR) Sept. 24, 2020, and was removed to Mexico Sept. 29, 2020,' according to an ICE spokesperson.

Brandon Ortiz-Vite, 25, has been charged with the murder of a 25-year-old woman from Grand Rapids, Michigan, whose body was found on a highway

'At an unknown date and location Ortiz-Vite reentered the United States without inspection by an immigration official.'

Following his arrest for murder last week, a detainer has been lodged against the illegal migrant from Mexico.

Garcia's family are now helping to raise funds for her funeral and have set up a GoFundMe page that has raised $15,000.

Ruby's sister, Mavi Garcia, paid tribute to her sibling, describing her as 'a great person all around.'

'She would brighten up the room with her beautiful smile and laugh,' Garcia wrote on Facebook. 'She loved to travel, was dedicated to her work and enjoyed being with her family on her free time.

'She was a great daughter, sister, aunt and friend. She will be remembered as being full of life and laughter, those who were around her would know she was silly and made everyone laugh,' Garcia said.

'Her loss has impacted the lives of many people. Her life was taken too soon. She deserved to live life, travel the world, have kids and follow her dreams.

'She loved to travel  she had so many plans this year on traveling,' Garcia went on. 'I feel like her motivation in life were my mother and her nieces and nephews. She definitely was a strong person.'

Garcia's family are now helping to raise funds for her funeral and have set up a GoFundMe page that has raised $13,000

'She would brighten up the room with her beautiful smile and laugh,' sister Mavi wrote of Ruby Garcia, pictured. 'She loved to travel, was dedicated to her work and enjoyed being with her family on her free time

It is not clear what, if any relationship existed between Ruby and Ortiz-Vite, who is originally from Puebla, Mexico.

'I prefer not to give out information on their relationship,' Mavi Garcia stated. 'He is currently in custody that's all we know as of right now and he is/was here illegally.'

'I can't thank you all enough for the big help the Garcia family is receiving in these tough times,' Garcia posted to Facebook.

'I just want to say take care of your loved ones. Please be united more as a family even when your world is falling. The only ones that are truly going to be there are your family members.

'Hope you guys tell your siblings and parents you love them,' she wrote.
The sacked borders watchdog called last night for an immediate inquiry into an alleged 'shocking' security breach.

David Neal questioned whether ministers were 'aware all along' that 'high-risk' private jet flights had been landing in Britain without passengers undergoing passport checks.

Yesterday, the Home Office finally published a heavily-censored version of his report  five weeks after the Daily Mail disclosed blunders at Britain's porous border.

Mr Neal warned there had been security failures at 'national level' in the handling of private jets and chartered aircraft, known as 'general aviation'.

But the Home Office's extensive redactions of his report  with 69 sections censored  makes it impossible to assess how many jets are landing without full checks. Officials claimed the editing had been made for 'national security reasons'.

David Neal questioned whether ministers were 'aware all along' that 'high-risk' private jet flights had been landing in Britain without passengers undergoing passport checks (Stock Image)

Mr Neal (above) warned there had been security failures at 'national level' in the handling of private jets and chartered aircraft, known as 'general aviation'

Mr Neal, writing exclusively in the Mail, says: 'The Home Office should launch an independent inspection of the security surrounding general aviation as a whole. This is essential to find out if border security failings are wider than just City Airport.'

He adds: 'The excessive redaction of the report prompts a series of grave questions. Were ministers aware all along that high-risk flights were not being vetted properly?

'In the face of national threats including terrorists, organised crime, people trafficking and exploitation, no right-minded person would think this acceptable security.'

Mr Neal, a former head of the Royal Military Police, said last month that City Airport handled 1,305 general aviation flights last year.

Of those, 687 were categorised as high-risk, according to figures provided to him by the UK Border Force.

All these flights should have been inspected in person by officials, according to Home Office rules.

But only 144 flights were examined face to face. Those details were censored from yesterday's report.

A Tory MP last night said Home Secretary James Cleverly had 'tried to hide migrant numbers from us for months but this cover-up is a step too far'. A separate report by Mr Neal, also published yesterday, showed he raised serious concerns about the Home Office's operation of a visa system for foreign care workers.

Mr Neal said last month that City Airport handled 1,305 general aviation flights last year (Stock Image)

It said 275 certificates were granted to a care home that did not exist and more than 1,200 to a firm with four employees.

Border Force chief Phil Douglas said: 'The security of the UK border is our number one priority, which is why we perform robust security checks on those arriving in the UK.

'I explained to Mr Neal there was an issue with data recording at City Airport which meant a large proportion of general aviation flights recorded as high-risk should have been classified as low-risk, which led him to draw the wrong conclusion.

'I offered Mr Neal the opportunity to meet so I could explain this point further, which he did not take up. When we are notified of a general aviation flight, Border Force makes all the appropriate security checks in line with standard protocols.'
The Defence Secretary has been accused of 'cheating' over claims that more money is being spent on the Armed Forces.

In an ill-tempered Defence Select Committee hearing yesterday, Conservative and Labour MPs joined forces in a surprise attack on Grant Shapps.

They suggested he was misleading ministers and the public over investment in the services  claims he strongly refuted as he provided evidence to defend his position.

The row followed the Mail's Don't Leave Britain Defenceless campaign, which has called for an immediate increase in defence spending.

Tory former defence minister Mark Francois said Mr Shapps was 'cheating' because he was counting military aid donated to Ukraine as funding for defence at home.

In an ill-tempered Defence Select Committee hearing yesterday, Conservative and Labour MPs joined forces in a surprise attack on Grant Shapps

Tory former defence minister Mark Francois said Mr Shapps was 'cheating' because he was counting military aid donated to Ukraine as funding for defence at home

Labour's Kevan Jones, who has also held the position, went further by suggesting Mr Shapps 'couldn't lie straight in bed'.

But the Defence Secretary insisted money given to Ukraine had previously been counted in the same way, so his spending projections for 2024/25 were not misleading.

Appearing before the committee, which includes six former defence ministers, he insisted military spending would rise by 1.8 per cent in the next financial year.

But this claim is open to scrutiny as the 'Red Book' of government spending estimates, published with the Budget, suggested 2.5 billion less would be spent on defence in the next 12 months  despite security threats from Russia and China. MPs challenged the Government's inclusion of aid for Ukraine in the budget as funds for previous conflicts, including Afghanistan and Iraq, came from a different pot, the contingency reserve.

Mr Francois said: 'The amount we are giving to Ukraine is 2.5 billion, almost exactly the same as the cut in next year's core defence budget. That 2.5billion for Ukraine is not part of the UK defence budget, you cannot spend the same pound twice.

'You are trying to play smoke and mirrors with the Ukrainian money to pretend that your budget hasn't been cut when it has. In plain pub English, you're cheating.'

The row followed the Mail's Don't Leave Britain Defenceless campaign, which has called for an immediate increase in defence spending

But Mr Shapps argued that the Red Book figures for defence in 2023/24 included Ukraine aid but the 2024/25 projections did not  giving the appearance of a cut.

'Once you add in spending the Government is already committed to, such as the 2.5 billion for Ukraine and 280 million for munitions stockpiles, you get a 1.8 per cent real terms increase,' he said.

Also appearing before the committee, the MoD's Strategic Finance Director Tom Wipperman quoted separate figures  for core defence spending only  of 49.9 billion in 2022/23, 51.5 billion in 2023/24 and an estimated 51.6 billion in 2024/25.

Lieutenant General Rob Magowan, Deputy Chief of Defence Staff, told the committee: 'The amount of money we are spending on munitions at the moment does not meet, in all areas, the threats that we face.

'But we work within the money we've got and we carry the operational risk accordingly and that is what we are doing in 2024/25.'
A loving uncle who saved his 12-year-old niece's life in the Dreamworld raft disaster - only to lose his own - has been posthumously awarded a bravery medal.

Canberra man Luke Dorsett was among 89 people recognised in Tuesday's Australian Bravery Decorations, announced by Governor-General David Hurley.

'Mr Dorsett immediately placed his arm across his niece to prevent her falling from the raft,' the bravery citation said.

'Sadly however, Mr Dorsett fell from the raft himself, and tragically died at the scene after becoming caught in the ride.'

It was October 25, 2016 when four people were killed as two rafts collided on the Thunder River Rapids Ride at the popular Gold Coast park.

Mr Dorsett wasn't the only hero.

Luke Dorsett has been posthumously awarded a bravery medal, seven years after he was killed at Dreamworld

Danny Haber was in line for a fun park ride when he found himself at the centre of the deadly Dreamworld crash.

A loud noise followed by children screaming sent crowds fleeing, but while others ran away, Mr Haber and two other men stepped towards the danger.

Years later Mr Haber, now 41, and fellow onlookers Thomas William Hanson, and Joedy Charles Vincent, received a Group Bravery Citation for their conduct.

Mr Haber also receives an individual Commendation for Brave Conduct.

He credits a previous 21-year navy career for his response. 'We are trained to run to the noise as opposed to running away,' he told AAP.

It was a catastrophic sight that faced him, with bodies in the water and children screaming.

'We thought we were walking into the safest ride in one of the safest theme parks of the world and it turned out to be the scariest day of our life,' Mr Haber said.

The then-34-year-old carried two children to safety and with other bystanders dragged a woman from the water and rendered first aid.

'If it was my family involved, I would want someone to help. It was just a terrible day and I got involved because it was the right thing to do.'

Four people were killed as two rafts collided on the Thunder River Rapids Ride at the popular Gold Coast theme park on October 2016

Other Group Bravery Citations include 32 emergency service personnel who responded to Sydney's December 2014 Lindt Cafe siege, in which two civilians and a terrorist were killed.

The group is comprised of 28 unnamed specialist police and four paramedics: Oliver Aleman, Oliver Ellis, Christopher Ennis, and Daniel Trincado.

Also receiving a Bravery Medal are two civilian bystanders who rushed to help when a terrorist detonated gas cylinders and went on a stabbing rampage through central Melbourne on November 9, 2018.

Jeferey Reid-Payne tried to distract the knife-wielding attacker until police arrived, and later helped officers restrain the offender and assisted victims who had been stabbed.

Lei Zhang was in a nearby restaurant when the violence broke out and fought her instinct to run away, instead helping a man - 74-year-old cafe owner Sisto Malaspina - who had been stabbed.

Ms Zhang, with others, rushed over to the wounded man to render first aid, despite the offender attacking police approximately 20m away.

Despite their efforts, the wounded man sadly died at the scene,' the citation reads.

Several visitors caught up in the Dreamworld disaster were among 89 people recognised in Tuesday's Australian Bravery Decorations

On Queensland's K'gari, once known as Fraser Island, William James Farley rushed to the aid of his six-year-old cousin when she was attacked by a dingo in April 2023, prompting the dog to release its jaws from the girl's head and flee.

'The dingo lunged at the girl, grabbed the back of her head in its mouth, pushed her underwater and tried to drag her away,' the bravery citation reads.

'Despite the danger, Mr Farley immediately ran towards the animal, screaming and fighting it off until the animal let go of his cousin.'

The Governor-General paid tribute to all the recipients.

'In a moment of peril, each of the people we are recognising today decided to come to the aid of someone else  some, someone they knew, others a total stranger,' he said.

'Often their actions were at a cost to themselves. Tragically, two recipients lost their own lives.'
A major bridge in Baltimore snapped and collapsed after a container ship rammed into it early Tuesday, and several vehicles fell into the river below. Rescuers were searching for at least seven people in the water.

The vessel appears to have hit one of the supports of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing the roadway to break apart in several places and plunge into the water, according to a video posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. The ship caught fire, and thick, black smoke billowed out of it.

This is a dire emergency, Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore Fire Department, told The Associated Press. Our focus right now is trying to rescue and recover these people.

Emergency responders were searching for at least seven people believed to be in the water, Cartwright said, though he said its too early to know how many people were affected. He called the collapse a developing mass casualty event.

He added that some cargo appeared to be dangling from the bridge, which spans the Patapsco River, a vital artery that along with the Port of Baltimore is a hub for shipping on the East Coast. Opened in 1977, the bridge is named for the writer of The Star-Spangled Banner.

Agencies received emergency calls around 1:30 a.m. reporting that a ship leaving Baltimore had struck a column on the bridge, according to Cartwright. Several vehicles were on the bridge at the time, including one the size of a tractor-trailer truck.

The temperature in the river was about 47 degrees Fahrenheit (8 degrees Celsius) in the early hours of Tuesday, according to a buoy that collects data for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

From a vantage point near the entrance to the bridge, jagged remnants of its steel frame were visible protruding from the water, with the on-ramp ending abruptly where the span once began.

The ship is called Dali, according to Cartwright. A vessel by that name was headed from Baltimore to Colombo, Sri Lanka, as its final destination, according to Marine Traffic and Vessel Finder. The ship was flying under a Singapore flag, WTOP radio station reported, citing Petty Officer Matthew West from the Coast Guard in Baltimore.

Mayor Brandon M. Scott and Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. posted that emergency personnel were responding and rescue efforts were underway.

All lanes closed both directions for incident on I-695 Key Bridge. Traffic is being detoured, the Maryland Transportation Authority posted on X.

In 2001, a freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed in a tunnel in downtown Baltimore and caught fire, spewing black smoke into surrounding neighborhoods and forcing officials to temporarily close all major roads into the city. (AP)
A leading medical body has sparked uproar by telling the Government its new gender guidance for schools 'poses a risk to children'.

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health says the proposed rules - which advise teachers against letting pupils identify as the opposite sex - will 'cause distress' and create a 'negative environment' as pupils will not be 'supported to be themselves'.

It has told the Department for Education it is 'particularly concerned' about primary school children being banned from changing their pronouns, and says parents should not always be told if their children are questioning their gender.

The college, which represents 20,000 child health doctors, also claims the long-awaited draft guidance published in December breaches the UN convention on children's human rights.

It tells civil servants they must work with 'support networks for transgender children' and consult with 'trans voice organisations' to 'protect the psychological safety' of young people when proposing new policies.

A leading medical body has sparked uproar by telling the Government its new gender guidance for schools 'poses a risk to children' (Stock Photo)

Helen Joyce, director of advocacy at women's rights group Sex Matters, said an 'ignorant and biased position' had been taken by the leading medical body

Written by Professor Andrew Rowland, the college's Child Protection Officer, it states: 'We are deeply concerned that the proposed guidance poses a risk to children and young people in that, if enacted, many of the measures set out are likely to cause distress for those who may be gender questioning or with gender incongruence, and their peers, and foster a negative school environment where children are not supported to be themselves.'

But its response has triggered outrage in Whitehall as well as among campaigners who oppose gender ideology.

One Government source said the Royal College's submission to the consultation was 'astonishing' and showed it had been 'totally captured' by trans rights activists.

Helen Joyce, director of advocacy at women's rights group Sex Matters, said: 'It is very worrying that a medical college has taken such an ignorant and biased position.

'Parents should routinely be informed of anything substantive concerning their children, unless there are specific concerns that go beyond parents' rejection of trans ideology.

'The statement also reveals a remarkable blindness to what safeguarding means for other children - in particular girls, whose human rights are breached if they are forced to share private spaces with trans-identifying boys.

'Defending the use of preferred pronouns for primary-aged children ignores the dangers of social transition and what experts describe as the "school-to-clinic pipeline".'

And backbench Tory MP Nick Fletcher said: 'There is no science or evidence behind the idea of 'gender identity' - it is a concept which can only confuse and harm.

Backbench Tory MP nick Fletcher said that the RCPCH 'appears to be losing its way'

'The RCPCH appears to be losing its way and needs to look again at its relationship with science, truth, and child safeguarding.'

The DfE's guidance says that schools must 'allow for watchful waiting' when a child makes a request to socially transition - change their name, pronouns and uniform - and take into account 'the seriousness and context of the request' as well as making parents aware.

But the Royal College says the department should 'fully and wholly explore the potential consequences of informing parents that a child is gender-questioning without their consent'.

It says school staff must be trained to know when there is a risk of harm by letting parents know.

'As children get older, they may choose not to involve their parents in all aspects of their personal life,' the consultation response states.

It also says that people who have gender dysphoria first experience it between the ages of three and seven, and that banning young pupils from changing their pronouns 'removes an opportunity for primary schools to manage distress in young children who are gender-questioning or with gender incongruence'.
An employment tribunal hearing claims from a Christian teacher that she was sacked over her opposition to a school's transgender policy has collapsed following comments made online by a panel member.

The messages posted on social media by Jed Purkis were said to demonstrate a 'significant prejudice against Christians'.

Mr Purkis, a former GMB union officer, also expressed anti-Tory views, referring collectively to the party's supporters as a 'tumour'.

The teacher, who cannot be named, was bringing a case against a primary school and Nottinghamshire County Council after she was suspended for refusing to 'affirm' an eight-year-old girl who wanted to be treated as a boy.

She was then sacked for gross misconduct after looking up the child on the school's safeguarding database and sharing the information with her lawyers.

The teacher was suspended for refusing to 'affirm' an eight-year-old girl who wanted to be treated as a boy (Stock Image)

The messages posted on social media by Jed Purkis were said to demonstrate a 'significant prejudice against Christians'

The teacher, who describes herself as a 'Bible-believing Christian', said her religion informed her belief that being male or female was an 'immutable biological fact'.

She was concerned the 'social transition' would result in 'irreversible harm' being caused to the youngster.

The case had been hearing evidence for six days but, late on Monday, all three members of the tribunal in Nottingham, including judge Victoria Butler, recused themselves after the discovery of Mr Purkis's comments. The hearing will be rescheduled for later in the year.

Responding to a comment that only atheists should be in public office, Mr Purkis posted: 'Damn right, you won't catch us killing in the name of our non-god.'

In other posts, he responded to the question, 'What's a good collective noun for Tories?' by saying 'a tumour of Tories' and a 'cess pit of Tories'.

Pavel Stroilov, for the teacher, said Mr Purkis 'appears to agree with a view which expressly advocates for religious discrimination in public life'.

The teacher said it was a delay in receiving justice, 'but I have to have a fair trial'. The Judicial Office declined to comment.
NBC News officially dropped ex-RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel as a contributor following backlash from inside the network, a statement from the network's chairman confirmed.

In the Tuesday evening statement, NBCUniversal chairman Cesar Conde said: 'After listening to the legitimate concerns of many of you, I have decided that Ronna McDaniel will not be an NBC News contributor.'

McDaniel had reportedly been signed to the left-leaning network in a deal that amounted to roughly $300,000 a year, according to the New York Times.

Following the announcement of her hiring, major stars inside the company began a public campaign against her hiring. Morning Joe hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski said she would not be invited on their program.

And Chuck Todd erupted into an on-air rant about her hiring, taking particular issue with her support for Donald Trump's false 2020 election fraud claims.

NBC News officially dropped ex-RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel (pictured) as a contributor following backlash from inside the network

Todd's meltdown was quickly followed by other liberal media stars, with MSNBC host Rachel Maddow describing the hiring as 'inexplicable' and said she hoped bosses would 'reconsider that decision.'

According to Tuesday night's statement, 'reconsider that decision' is precisely what executives did. Conde apologized to staff who were upset by McDaniel's hiring.

'I want to personally apologize to our team members who felt we let them down. While this was a collective recommendation by some members of our leadership team, I approved it and take full responsibility for it.

'Our initial decision was made because of our deep commitment to presenting our audiences with a widely diverse set of viewpoints and experiences, particularly during these consequential times.

'We continue to be committed to the principle that we must have diverse viewpoints on our programs, and to that end, we will redouble our efforts to seek voices that represent different parts of the political spectrum,' he wrote.

According to Puck News, McDaniel has lawyered up following the sudden decision.

Wall Street Journal reporting suggests that NBC News execs became close with McDaniel during their successful attempt to win the rights to carry a Republican debate last November.

The Journal also confirmed McDaniel had signed a three-year deal with NBC valued at close to $1million. She was represented during the deal by agents at CAA, who have reportedly since cut ties with her.

NBCUniversal Chairman Cesar Conde (right) confirmed McDaniel's ousting Tuesday evening in a statement

The former top GOP official has reportedly lawyered up following her firing from the three-year deal she signed worth roughly $1million

McDaniel's ousting comes after NBC analyst Chuck Todd (pictured) erupted into an on-air rant about her hiring on his show, Meet the Press

Rachel Maddow: "Ronna McDaniel will not be on MSNBC. And I say that and give you that level of detail because there has been an effort since by other parts of the company to muddy that up in the press and make it seem like thats not what happened at MSNBC." pic.twitter.com/0QVcJjsTmZ  Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) March 26, 2024

Fury at McDaniel's hiring reportedly began behind closed doors, with top contributors taking offense to not being asked their opinions before the decision was made.

On Sunday, two days after McDaniel' role was announced, the issue came to a boiling point when Todd went after his bosses for the decision.

Todd told his successor Kristen Welker that NBC executives had put her in an 'impossible situation' by having her interview McDaniel.

'Let me deal with the elephant in the room,' Todd said. 'I think our bosses owe you an apology for putting you in this situation, because I don't know what to believe.'

When McDaniel appeared with Welker for the first time as an employee of the network, she seemed intent on distancing herself from her past rhetoric.

She insisted that Biden won the 2020 election 'fair and square,' adding: 'He's the president. He's the legitimate president.'

McDaniel stepped down as RNC chief just two weeks before she was announced as a paid NBC contributor.

Amid the backlash, MSNBC said she would not be appearing on the network and would only feature on NBC, as many of its top anchors followed Todd's lead in sounding off in public.

Former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, now an MSNBC host with her own show, was cited by critics as an example of how Democrats seamlessly move from politics to punditry

Amid confusion over the capacity in which McDaniel would appear, Rachel Maddow took the opportunity to also take a shot at her bosses.

She said that MSNBC bosses had approved the hiring, but when faced with outrage, they then walked back the possibility of her translating over from NBC.

Maddow said company executives had been attempting to 'muddy that up in the press' and make it appear they hadn't caved to pressure.

'I can assure that, that is what happened at MSNBC,' she said.

Following this, 'Morning Joe' hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski vowed to not have McDaniel on their show, as Brzezinski said she would not welcome 'a person who used her position of power to be an anti-democracy election denier.'

While the liberal network melted down over the hiring, others felt the criticism was hypocritical, because Democrat stars such as former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki have seamlessly moved from politics to punditry.

Another ex-White House Press Secretary, Trump's Sean Spicer, questioned: 'Did (Todd) ever show concern about Jen Psaki joining the left-wing network?... Didn't think so.'

NewsNation correspondent Geraldo Rivera also waded into the controversy, claiming that the backlash was fueled by 'pretentious bulls***.'

'Really, all of these people that have a stick up their behinds, how dare they!' he said.

'Chuck Todd, I don't remember his nine years at Meet the Press as being exactly triumphant. You know, she is the ultimate insider, and to say that they don't want to hire her now because of election denialism, well then you don't want half the country to watch your network.

'Half the country is Republican, more or less, and they believe  a lot of them  or at least they've convinced themselves, about the election being, you know, fraudulent or whatever it is.'

Former RNC Chairman Michael Steele has been a contributor at NBC for years without issue from inside the newsroom.

On her first appearance as a paid contributor to NBC, McDaniel appeared intent on rolling back her past rhetoric and admitted Biden won in 2020

Psaki, now host of MSNBC's 'Inside with Jen Psaki, chimed in on the controversy, and said experience in front-line politics 'only matters and only has value to viewers if it is paired with honesty and good faith.'

Todd also said critics of his response were being intentionally dishonest, and he was offended by the hiring of an election denier, not that McDaniel was a Republican.

'This is about whether honest journalists are supposed to lend their credibility to someone who intentionally tried to ruin ours,' he said on X.

Todd's takedown of the network was seen by some as a watershed moment, with it previously unheard of for a contributor to blast a colleague's employment live on the air.

McDaniel had served as RNC Chair since 2017, after previously serving as chair of the Michigan Republican Party and helped deliver the state for Trump in 2016.

She is the granddaughter of late Michigan Governor George Romney and niece of Utah Senator Mitt Romney.

However, her tenure made her unpopular among some factions in the Republican Party, particularly as the party lost ground in the House, Senate and White House over varying midterms and presidential elections.
Weve been told that Meghans syrupy new lifestyle brand will reflect everything she loves  family cooking, entertaining and home decor.

But the bizarrely named American Riviera Orchard is better described as a timebomb for the Royal Family.

Despite the homely talk of cutlery, recipes and upmarket jam, this has the appearance of blatant cashing in  an initiative by the former actress to secure a financial safety net for when the Sussexes earnings from Netflix and Spotify evaporate.

Meghan has announced her own lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard, which will operate from her Tuscan-style cream palazzo in Montecito in California

Makeup, lavender sachets, yoga mats and even dog shampoo are also on the menu from Montecito as MailOnline revealed last night.

Harry and Meghan once pleaded that they sought no more than privacy in North America. They promised the late Queen that they would not commercialise their royal titles.

But ever since landing in California in 2021, they have been boasting about their status - and exploiting it.

When American Riviera Orchard was launched on Instagram earlier this month, the venture was labelled by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.

Of course.

The direction of travel has been obvious ever since Meghan and Harry tied the knot at St Georges Chapel, Windsor, in 2018.

Back then, there was enormous public backing for the glamorous, unstuffy American who promised to add a bit modernity and spontaneity to the British monarchy.

There was nothing off-the-cuff about the invitation list, though.

Few were fooled as they watched the guests arrive at the chapel.

Most were Hollywood agents, directors and celebrities  some of whom Meghan hardly knew. All were invited to witness her victory on joining the firm.

This was the first step in establishing Meghan Inc., a dream she has been loath to relinquish - and which the Royal Family should rightly fear.

Everything Meghan does is carefully curated and forensically planned, comments Gina Nelthorpe-Cowne, her former commercial agent.

There have been bumps along the way. To her seeming alarm, the British media reserved the right to be critical of her conduct from time to time, although not at first.

To her astonishment, Meghan discovered that Harry, then fourth in line to the throne, lived in a two-bedroom cottage in the grounds of Kensington Palace, did not command an army of servants or have a limitless fortune. He did not even possess a private jet.

For a while, it seemed these were privations she was prepared to tolerate.

But the rules about exploiting royal titles turned out to be inconveniently restrictive.

It was only a matter of time before Meghan resurrected The Tig, her lucrative website which, until her engagement to Harry in 2017, peddled lifestyle choices - and promoted luxury fashion labels  to a million followers.

Now her lifestyle brand is back, it seems, this time adorned with regal bells.

True, Meghan is not the first royal to tread this path.

There was ridicule when Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, used her title to make money from ventures including slimming tips, posh teas and a 50 juicer.

But Fergie did not traduce the British monarchy via interviews and books. Nor was she attempting to establish a rival royal family across the water.

Im glad the Queen didnt survive to witness her grandsons explosive memoir, Spare, about the Royal Family.

Or see Harry allow his wifes exploitation of his kith and kin.

When Kate, whom Meghan has maligned, is suffering serious health issues, the timing of the American Riviera Orchard announcement seemed particularly tasteless even before the Princess of Waless shock cancer diagnosis.

Makeup, lavender sachets, dog shampoo and yoga mats are also on the menu from Montecito

Now Meghan's proposed lifestyle brand is adorned with regal bells

It also appears that the project has been rushed. Meghan has not yet appointed a chief executive to manage the business, as the Mail revealed yesterday.

In her haste to get it launched, did she forget the basic foundations of a successful operation - talented staff?

The King and Prince William now face a serious problem  and a woman whose personal drive and hungry ambition seem to know no bounds.

She wanted to rule the world, says Nelthorpe-Cowne of their time working together, words King Charles should remember.

Until now, he has been too accommodating.

It is unfortunate that the King agreed to give royal titles to the Sussex children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

Now, after the launch of Meghans lifestyle brand, he probably regrets it.

The clue is in a recent decision to sharply reduce the formal biographies of Harry and Meghan on the Buckingham Palace website. The next step must be to remove their titles.

For Charles, that will be difficult. But, as the King and Kate recover from their illnesses and rebuild the institution, it is a necessary step - to protect the sanctity of Britains most precious brand, the Royal Family itself.

Tom Bower is the author of Revenge  Meghan, Harry And the War Between The Windsors. Published by Simon and Schuster
The grieving family of the eight-year-old girl tragically sucked into a Hilton swimming pool pipe are suing the hotel chain for $1million.

Aliyah Jaico, 8, vanished Saturday while swimming in a lazy river with several family members at the DoubleTree by Hilton Houston Brookhollow, Attorney Richard Nava explained Tuesday during a press conference.

Through lawyers today, her family announced a lawsuit against Hilton and the local operators of the hotel, seeking $1 million in damages.

'We believe that Ayliah was violently sucked in the hole that was 12 to 16 inches wide,' said family attorney Richard Nava, who added she couldn't have swam in there on her own.

'Her poor little body was contoured when she was sucked into this hole and pipe 20 feet back. Her body was inside of the motor when she had to be extracted. They had to break up concrete in order to extract her, cut pipe. It was absolutely horrific.

Aliyah Jaico is pictured posing by a pool. The girl's 'little hand and part of her body' were the first to appear, having been 'wedged' deep inside the pipe, authorities said

Their last photo: Aliyah Jaico, eight, is pictured with her mother Daniela Jaico in a final photo believed to have been taken at the pool where she died

An eight-year-old girl died after being sucked into a swimming pool pipe (pictured) at the DoubleTree by Hilton Houston Brookhollow

Just before the drowning, Nava detailed how Aliyah might have been helping her five-year-old sister, who was also in the pool and possibly also getting sucked into the same pipe that ultimately claimed her sister's life.

A 13-year-old relative stepped in to help the five-year-old and prevent her from drowning.

Once the chaos stopped, her family realized Aliyah was missing.

Her mom, Daniela Jaico, immediately reported her missing. When the distraught mom asked to see hotel surveillance video, the hotel refused, Nava claimed.

There was a lot of time wasted. Things at the hotel could have been done a lot better,' Nava said.

Little Aliyah Jaico's cause of death was 'drowning and mechanical asphyxia' and appeared to be an accident

The Houston Fire Department retrieved the eight-year-old's body after a 13-hour effort

Tributes poured in for the little girl, who is pictured in her earlier years

The swimming pool at DoubleTree by Hilton Houston Brookhollow

Tim Miller of Texas Equusearch said poles with cameras were deployed into the water to search pipes where Aliyah's body was located

It wasn't until the mom called in search and rescue team Texas Equusearch, that the video was shown to police and rescuers.

You could see her little head go down, and never been seen again, so it was pretty obvious something happened and she never got out of the pool,' Tim Miller of Texas Equusearch, who saw the video, described.

Described as an avid swimmer, Aliyah was reported missing around 6 p.m., but her mangled body wasn't recovered until 7 a.m. the next day after rescue divers used poles with cameras attached to them and spotted her little hand inside of a pool pipe.

How her body was wedged in there, actually shut the pump, shut that suction off. There really wasnt any suction. Her little body was all the way to the motor, so it took her in a good distance,' Miller said.

Multiple violations were found by the Houston Fire Department when a team inspected the swimming pool Monday, reported the local ABC station.

The girl was initially reported missing, but rescue teams reviewed security footage and determined that she had gone underwater and never resurfaced

Aliyah Jaico (right) is pictured playing in the water on a separate vacation

The pool had recently under gone repairs, Miller revealed.

If that pump was wired wrong, that would create the pipe was blowing water out to to suck in,' he stated.

'Right beside there, there was another pipe with a grate on it. Thats the one thats supposed to be sucking in, because its basically a circulation pump.

The lawsuit also includes a restraining order, forcing the hotel to give Aliyah's family and lawyers access to the pool, which they are currently refusing, Nava disclosed.

According to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Science, the girl's preliminary cause of death was 'drowning and mechanical asphyxia' and appeared to be an accident.

While Daniela Jaico is not speaking to the media right now, she did share a heartbreaking selfie taken at the pool to Facebook, captioning it 'our last photo.'

'They say we all have our destiny marked...but I can't understand why yours was like this,' Jaico wrote in Spanish.

'Thank you, my love, for the eight years you gave me by your side. Thank you, my girl, for teaching me what love is and a noble heart.'

A public viewing for the girl will take place Thursday at Funeral De Angel in Houston from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
A 21-year-old illegal migrant has been charged with assaulting a Texas National Guardsman in the El Paso stampede last week that federal authorities believe was orchestrated by a handful of 'ringleaders'.

Junior Evaristo-Benitez, 21, of Honduras, was taken into custody and charged with assault on a public servant, a 3rd degree felony, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed.

He's now being held at the El Paso County Jail.

Six hundred migrants, made up of mostly single adult males from Venezuela, stormed authorities on Thursday morning, breaching razor wire barriers and overpowering guard members who were trying to stop the migrants from turning themselves over to US Border Patrol near the border wall.

Federal authorities are seeking criminal charges for about a dozen illegal immigrants who led a wild and chaotic riot, as they were identified via law enforcement cameras.

PICTURED: Junior Evaristo-Benitez, 21, of Honduras, was taken into custody and charged with assault on a public servant, a 3rd degree felony, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed

A group of about 600 migrants who entered the US illegally rushed the border Thursday in El Paso, Texas

A migrant observes others who breached the concertina wire on the Rio Grande in El Paso, Texas on Thursday, March 21, 2024. The migrants were hoping to be processed by Border Patrol

About 600 migrants who breached the barriers set up on the Rio Grande in El Paso,

'Those people weren't trying to peacefully enter the country; they were storming the gates,' Texas Congressman Tony Gonzales, who represents east El Paso said in a phone interview Friday.

'What do you think they're going to do when they're released all over the country?'

The migrants had attempted to storm the border Wednesday night, throwing rocks at Texas National Guard members, but ended up dispersing, another source explained.

'There were probably only about a dozen ring leaders and then rest (of the migrants) just followed along,' one law enforcement source explained.

About 600 migrants were taken into custody by US Border Patrol when it was all said and done, however, the vast majority will not face charges.

'There has to be repercussions for people who break the law,' Gonzales added.

'This is wrong-- this is wrong on all levels.'

Tension had been building leading up to the riot since Wednesday night.

A few trouble makers had been scheming to get past guard members and began throwing rocks at the soldiers.

However, the migrants dispersed and returned the next morning.

Members of the Texas National Guard work with Border Patrol to coordinate migrants who crossed the border from Mexico and forced their way through concertina wire while they wait to be processed by border patrol as they are stopped on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande, in El Paso, Texas

Migrants breach infrastructure set up by the Texas National Guard on the Rio Grande in El Paso, Texas on Thursday

A migrant shows an injury he alleged that he suffered after a Texas National Guard forced him back south of the barrier set up by the Texas National Guard on the Rio Grande in El Paso, Texas

Migrant families who were part of the 600-person mob wait to be processed by US Border Patrol

The migrants were already in the US as they had already crossed the international boundary, which is a few hundred yards south of the border wall.

Many of these asylum seeking migrants had chosen not to turn surrender themselves immediately as this is a well-known place to give up to US Border Patrol agents, because they were caught in limbo due a Texas law SB4.

The controversial law gives state and local police in the Lone Star State permission to arrest illegal immigrants, a right that has only been reserved for federal officers like US Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The law, which has been banned several times in recent days by federal courts, was then allowed to take effect for a few hours Tuesday, before it blocked again Tuesday night.

The legal whiplash left many migrants unsure would would happen to them if they turned themselves over to Border Patrol.

The crowds were camping out in the no-mans land between north of the river that separates the US and Mexico, the Rio Grande.

The river is the international boundary, not the border wall.

By Thursday morning, the migrants climbed over the wire fence in coordination and made a run for the border wall to presumably turn themselves in by force.

However, Democratic Congresswoman Veronica Escobar blamed the national guard, ordered there by Gov. Greg Abbott as part of his border security plan, Operation LoneStar.

'Today's event make two things clear: first Operation Lone Star is ineffective and does not work,' the El Paso official said in a statement.

'Texas National Guard are not trained to process migrants and their presence impedes federal law enforcement.'
From Vito Corleone in The Godfather to Sophia Loren in Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, Italian characters are often depicted as using over-the-top hand gestures.

Now, a study has confirmed that this Italian movie trope really does ring true in the real world.

Scientists from Lund University studied the gestures of people from Italy and Sweden as they spoke.

They found that people from Italy use more than 40 hand gestures a minute while speaking - twice what an average Swede does.

And while other cultures use gestures to help illustrate parts of a story, Italians use them as a kind of running commentary on what they're saying.

From Vito Corleone in The Godfather (pictured) to Sophia Loren in Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, Italian characters are often depicted as using over-the-top hand gestures

People from Italy use more than 40 hand gestures a minute while speaking - twice what an average Swede does. Pictured: Sophia Loren in Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

READ MORE: Trying to learn a new language? Use gestures as you speak to help you sound like a local Advertisement

Researchers at Lund University in Sweden got 12 Italians and 12 Swedes to retell the story of a 90-second clip from Pingu to a friend who had not watched the cartoon.

They found the Italians used 22 hand gestures per 100 words, compared with the 11 made by the Swedish subjects.

Previous studies have found Italians speak around 188 words a minute, which would involve 41 gestures.

Dr Maria Graziano said: 'Italians do gesture more than Swedes, which was expected.

'More interestingly, we demonstrated that people from different cultures use gestures differently, due to varying rhetorical styles and different ways of constructing a story.'

The study found that people in Sweden use gestures to help illustrate parts of a story. Pictured: a Swedish speaker uses gestures while describing the shaping of dough

Italians use hand gestures as a kind of running commentary on what they're saying, the study found

In addition to gesture frequency, the researchers looked at why gestures were being used during the storytelling.

Dr Graziano said: 'When we tell stories, we combine several kinds of information: we introduce characters and events, describe actions, and explain why.

'We check that our listener understands what we're saying.

'And if we are telling a story based on cartoon, we refer to the act of watching, too.'

The research found Italians tended to use more pragmatic gestures - those that comment on the story and introduce new parts to the listener.

Swedes, meanwhile, tended to use more representational gestures, which mostly demonstarte the events and actions of the story.
Easter is a time for the whole family to indulge in some seasonal treats.

But for any four-legged members of the family, tucking into one classic Easter treat could prove lethal.

While most people know that dogs can't eat chocolate, experts have revealed that hot cross buns and other common Easter treats containing raisins can be even more dangerous.

New Kennel Club data, shared exclusively with MailOnline, shows that more dogs are poisoned by raisins than by chocolate during the Easter holidays.

Bill Lambert, dog health expert at The Kennel Club said: 'Easter should be a time of fun and enjoyment but, with so much food in the house, it's vital that owners keep a careful eye on their pets.'

The Kennel Club has warned pet owners to be on the lookout for one popular Easter treat that could be lethal for your pooch - and this time it isn't chocolate

READ MORE: Warning to dog owners as vets reveal trendy raw food can be TOXIC to pooches Advertisement

Both chocolate and raisins are poisonous to dogs and can lead to vomiting, diarrhoea and even death in some cases.

New statistics show that cases of grape and raisin poisoning in dogs in the UK were 117 per cent higher than those of chocolate in Easter 2023.

While cases of chocolate poisoning did hit 33 per cent higher than the monthly average between March and April 2023, this was 13 per cent lower than the previous Easter.

However, data collected by pet insurance provide Agria, shows that the number of claims for raisin poisoning actually rose 12 per cent between 2022 and 2023.

The Kennel Club suggests this may be caused by a worrying decline in awareness of the dangers that raisins and grapes pose to dogs.

Raisins like those in hot cross buns may actually be more of a risk for dogs at Easter. In 2023, cases of raisin poisoning were 117 per cent higher than cases of chocolate poisoning

What can be dangerous for my dog at Easter? Chocolate Chocolate contains chemicals which dogs cannot digest, leading to severe illness. Raisins All grapes and raisins can be dangerous for dogs, potentially causing kidney damage if eaten. Daffodils and tulips These spring flowers can be poisonous for dogs so be careful when out on walks. Ticks Ticks and other biting insects are more active in spring so check your dog's coat after a long walk outside. Advertisement

Raisins are delicious to humans and are a key part of Easter treats like hot cross buns and Simnel Cake.

However, both raisins and grapes contain a chemical called tartaric acid, which can cause severe kidney damage in dogs.

The intensity of the reaction varies from dog to dog and with dosage, with some experiencing only mild symptoms and others life-threatening illness.

For this reason, it is always better to ensure that foods containing raisins stay well out of reach of any hungry dogs.

Mr Lambert sad: 'Some of the foods we love to eat during this time can also seem very tempting to our dogs, and their acute sense of smell means they are very adept at finding them!

'Unfortunately, many of these can be dangerous, and its not just chocolate that poses a threat, so it is crucial that owners keep all Easter food out of paws reach.'

One poor pup who found this out the hard way is Bowie, a one-year-old Flat Coated Retriever.

Last Easter, Bowie's owners, Stephen and Siobhan MacDonnell from Cheltenham, left out three hot cross buns within easy reach.

When the pair found that Bowie had helped himself to the snack they immediately rushed him to the vet for emergency treatment.

Thankfully, after a two-day stay at the vets, Bowie suffered no long-lasting ill effects but his owners were slapped with a bill of almost 2,000 for his treatment.

Siobhan said: 'Luckily, we knew how dangerous raisins can be to dogs, so we whisked him off to the vet immediately, but we cant bear to imagine what could have happened if we hadnt known.'

Bowie (pictured) was rushed to the vet for two days of emergency treatment last year after eating three hot cross buns containing raisins

Raisins are in many popular Easter treats like this Simnel Cake. The Kennel Club advises that any raisin-containing foods be kept high up out of reach of hungry dogs

To make sure your dog makes it through the holidays without an expensive trip to the vet, the Kennel Club recommends taking a few simple precautions.

Any foods containing raisins or chocolate should be kept high up and in a closed cupboard to prevent dogs from finding them.

Since the symptoms of raisin poisoning might not be immediately apparent until your dog becomes seriously ill, it is important that you watch them closely.

Robin Hargreaves, senior veterinary advisor for Agria Pet Insurance, said: 'Owners who think their pets have ingested any of these foods should contact their vet immediately.

'It is so important to be vigilant, especially at this time of year, and to keep all Easter treats far from reach, to not only prevent heartache, but avoid any unexpected vet fees over the bank holiday period.'

If you are planning on an Easter egg hunt using chocolate eggs, keep the dog in a separate area and ensure all the eggs have been collected before letting them back out (file photo)

READ MORE: Scientists discover new type of training that makes dogs better behaved... here is how YOU can do it at home Advertisement

Likewise, if you are planning on hosting an Easter egg hunt, it is very important that the dog is kept safely away from this activity.

Dogs are likely to be much better at tracking down hidden chocolates than any humans so make sure they can't eat the chocolate before you do.

The Kennel Club advises that you take careful note of how many chocolates you hide so you can check they have all been collected before you let the dog out again.

Owners are also advised to be wary about giving out the leftovers from an Easter Sunday Roast.

Much of the foods that we humans enjoy so much will be far too salty or fatty for dogs to enjoy healthily.
Say the words 'Shakespeare's sister' and you might think of the Irish pop duo from the 1980s, or a famous song by The Smiths.

In fact, most people are unaware that the great English playwright ever had a sibling.

But according to an academic at the University of Bristol, there's 'no doubt' she existed  and a long-lost document suggests she had an interest in writing too.

Joan Shakespeare, who was five years younger than her brother William, wrote a religious document called the 'Spiritual Testament', a study reveals.

Until now, scholars thought the document was written by William's father, John, but this misassumption may have been due to a transcription error and gender prejudices of the time.

The English playwright, poet, and actor William Shakespeare is widely believed to have been the greatest dramatist of all time - but the fact he had a sister is a little-known one

What do we know about Shakespeare's sister? Joan Shakespeare (baptised 15 April 1569 - buried 4 November 1646) was the younger sister of English playwright William Shakespeare. She was five years younger than her brother and, in the later years of his life, his only significant living relative other than his wife and daughters. She lived in Stratford-upon-Avon all her life and is thought to have married a penniless tradesman, when her name changed to Joan Hart. She had four children and outlived both her husband and her famous sibling by 30 years, living in part of the old Shakespeare family house. Advertisement

The new study was conducted by Professor Matthew Steggle, from the University of Bristol's Department of English, who says Joan is today 'almost unknown'.

'There's no illustrations of Joan, only seven pieces of paper from her lifetime which name her, but no doubt that she existed,' he told MailOnline.

'That's about par for the course for a paper trail for a not-very-wealthy 17th century woman.'

Joan Shakespeare was five years younger than her brother and, in the later years of his life, was his only significant living relative other than his wife and daughters.

All her life, Joan lived in the family home at Henley Street in Stratford-upon-Avon  famous as William's birthplace and now a major tourist attraction.

She is thought to have married a penniless tradesman, at which point her name changed to Joan Hart.

She had four children and outlived both her husband and her famous sibling by 30 years, living quietly in part of the old Shakespeare family house.

Professor Steggle's study focused on a crucial document known as the 'Spiritual Testament', found by a bricklayer in the rafters of the Shakespeare house around 1770, but unfortunately now lost.

The family home: Shakespeare's birthplace on Henley Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire - where Joan is thought to have been born too

READ MORE: Experts release 400 dictionary of Shakespearean words The book compiles words used by the Bard Advertisement

'It was last recorded in 1790 being posted back to its owner, who ran a pub in Stratford,' Professor Steggle told MailOnline.

'I imagine it ended up on display in his pub and getting thrown out in a refurbishment or something.'

There is a transcription made from the document, printed in 1790, which the academic describes as 'the closest we can get' to the original.

In the 1790 transcription, the author refers to themselves in the first person as 'John'  but Professor Steggle thinks this was a mistake.

'What we've got is this transcription from 1790 which transcribes the name as 'John' each time,' he said.

'But it's quite a common error for people transcribing seventeenth-century documents to misread the name 'Joan' as 'John'.

'They can look very similar in seventeenth-century handwriting, particularly if you're expecting to see a man's name there.'

Professor Steggle's study focused on a crucial document known as the 'Spiritual Testament', unfortunately now lost. But this image shows a transcription of the crucial passage made from the Spiritual Testament, printed in 1790. Note the writer referring to themselves as 'John' rather than Joan - the academic thinks this was a mistake during transcribing

Spiritual Testament is actually an English translation of a religious Italian text, 'The Last Will and Testament of the Soul'.

In it, the writer pledges to die a good Catholic death  which was controversial at the time because Catholicism was strongly disapproved of.

For example, one extract reads: 'I will willingly accept of death in whatsoever manner it may befall me, conforming my will unto the will of God; accepting of the same in satisfaction for my sins and giving thanks unto his divine majesty for the life he hath bestowed upon me.'

For centuries, the assumption that the author was Shakespeare's father John fueled the belief that he was a closet Catholic.

To investigate, Professor Steggle used Google Books and other internet archives to track down early editions of that text in Italian and six other languages, many of which editions survive only in a single copy and are scattered across the libraries of Europe.

According to Professor Steggle, the Spiritual Testament cannot have been written by John because 'The Last Will and Testament of the Soul' was published in 1613, more than a decade after John's death in 1601.

This proved that it was from several years after John Shakespeare died, and so the author of the English translation found in the Shakespeare home was in fact the only other possible J Shakespeare  Joan  who lived from 1569 to 1646.

Spiritual Testament is an English translation of a religious Italian text, 'The Last Will and Testament of the Soul' (pictured)

In his study, Professor Steggle argues that Joan adapted 'The Last Will and Testament of the Soul' to create the Spiritual Testament in the 1630s.

Not only does the study reveal that it was in fact Joan, not John, who was the closest Catholic, but also that she was interested in writing like her brother.

Ultimately, historic gender prejudices may have played a part in obscuring the truth about who adapted this copy of the Spiritual Testament in the Shakespeare household.

'Up till now, nobody saw that this belonged to her, because nobody thought a document like this might belong to a woman,' Professor Steggle said.

'Shakespeare's Sister' is also the name of a famous essay by Virginia Woolf, about how Joan could never hope to be a writer or have her writing preserved.

'She has become something of a symbol for all the lost voices of early modern women,' Professor Steggle added.

'There are hundreds of thousands of words surviving from her brother, and until now none at all, of any description, from her.'

The research, published in the journal Shakespeare Quarterly, is part of Professor Steggle's work on an upcoming biography of William Shakespeare.
From London's cockney twang to Birmingham's Brummie accent, Britain is home to almost 40 regional dialects  each with its own unique words.

Now, a study has revealed the quirky regional terms at risk of dying out.

The South West's 'ansum' and Yorkshire's 'thoile' are just two of the terms that have declined in usage by up to 98 per cent over the last 100 years, according to researchers from SAS Northern Europe.

'As dialect is continuously changing the diversity and richness of our language, the quirks, idioms and phrases often associated with certain communities will continue to change over the next few years,' said Dr Iain Brown, Head of Data Science at SAS.

So, how many of these regional words do you still use?

From London 's cockney twang to Birmingham's Brummie accent, Britain is home to almost 40 regional dialects  each with its own unique words. Now, a study has revealed the quirky regional terms at risk of dying out

People from the East Midlands might be surprised to learn that 'cob' - meaning 'bread roll' - is on the risk list, decreasing in popularity by 55 per cent since 2019

Regional terms at risk of dying out Region Term Meaning % difference (1919-2019) South West Ansum Top-notch -98% North East Scran Food -96% Yorkshire Thoile Unwilling to pay -95% North East Parky Fussy -84% South West Belve Sing loudly -82% South East Liggle Carrying something too big -75% South East Sing small Put up with less than was expected -68% North East Grand Great -68% East Midlands Bostin Very good -60% East Midlands Cob Bread roll -55%

In the study, the researchers looked at 100 popular regional terms from different local authorities across the UK.

These words were analysed using the Google Books search tool to understand how usage changed from 1919 to 2019.

The results revealed that 'ansum' - meaning 'nice' or 'top notch' - is the most likely to die out from the English language.

This term, which derives from Cornwall, has seen a 97 per cent decline in usage over the last 100 years.

'Scran' is next on the list, declining in use by more than 96 per cent in the last 100 years.

'Originating from the North East of England, but a well-known term across the UK, scran is usually used as shorthand for food, but was originally part of the 18th-century for a bar tab,' Dr Brown explained.

This is followed by 'thoile' (meaning 'unwilling to pay'), 'parky' (meaning 'fussy'), 'belve' (meaning to 'sing loudly') and 'liggle' (the act of carrying something too big), which have seen 95 per cent, 84 per cent, 82 per cent, and 75 per cent decreases, respectively.

The Welsh regional term 'cwtch' - meaning 'cuddle' - has also seen a big increase of over 8,000 per cent (stock image)

Regional terms that have seen the biggest increase Region Term Meaning % difference (1919-2019) East Midlands Gammy Injured 15,968% Wales Cwtch Cuddle 8,088% Midlands Bonkers Crazy 6,169% Yorkshire Ey up Hello 4,948% South West Dreckly Soon 3,608% North East Blimey Surprised 3,026% East Midlands Titchy Small 2,660% Scotland Drookit Soaking wet 2,122% Yorkshire Lowance Allowance 2,044% North West Noggin Head 1,372%

Meanwhile, people from the East Midlands might be surprised to learn that 'cob' - meaning 'bread roll' - is on the risk list, decreasing in popularity by 55 per cent since 2019.

'This term has caused a great debate for years with the Midlands identifying a bread roll as a "cob" whereas in West Yorkshire it's often referring to a teacake, in the North West a barncake, and in other places a bap,' Dr Brown added.

In contrast, several regional terms have surged in popularity over the last 100 years.

'Gammy' - often used in the East Midlands to describe being injured - has increased in usage by a whopping 15,900 per cent since 2019, according to SAS.

The Welsh regional term 'cwtch' - meaning 'cuddle' - has also seen a big increase of over 8,000 per cent.

Meanwhile, the Scottish word drookit (meaning 'soaking wet'), the Yorkshire term 'lowance' (meaning 'allowance') and North-West's 'noggin' (meaning 'head') are proving popular, with all words seeing a rise in usage of over 1,000 per cent.

Some regional terms have risen in popularity thanks to their use in pop culture.

'Rapper Dizzee Rascal's song "Bonkers" being number one in the charts contributed to a huge 6,000% increase in usage in the last 100 years,' Dr Brown explained.

'Similarly, "mardy", often used in Yorkshire and the East Midlands to describe someone being grumpy, was used by Indie band Arctic Monkeys for their hit single "Mardy Bum" and has seen a more modest 30% rise in the last 100 years.'

The researchers suggest that the proliferation of AI services like Amazon's Alexa and Apple's Siri may play a role in the rise and demise of regional terms.

'Regional terms and differences in meaning may not be fed into services like Alexa, Siri and Google which might have a consequence on these localisms long term as more people resort to speaking in a widespread digital language,' Dr Brown added.

'A recent report revealed that more than 75% of residents with strong regional accents across the UK have regularly adapted the way they speak to be understood by digital assistants such as Alexa or Siri.'
A Russian court on Tuesday extended by three months the pre-trial detention of Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter arrested almost a year ago on suspicion of espionage while on a reporting trip in the city of Yekaterinburg.

Gershkovich, 32, became the first U.S. journalist arrested on spying charges in Russia since the Cold War when he was detained by the Federal Security Service (FSB) on March 29.

The reporter, the Journal and the U.S. government all deny he is a spy.

The hearing was closed to the media but the Moscow court service published photographs and a brief video showing Gershkovich standing in a glass box in court. He appeared relaxed and was smiling in some of the pictures.

U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy demanded that Russia free him and said the Kremlin was using him and other American citizens as pawns.

"This verdict to further prolong Evans detention feels particularly painful, as this week marks one year since Evan was arrested and wrongfully detained in Yekaterinburg simply for doing his job as a journalist," Tracy said.

The FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, said Gershkovich had been trying to obtain military secrets. He has now spent almost a year at Moscow's high-security Lefortovo prison, which is closely associated with the FSB, and his detention has been extended to June 30.

Western diplomats say Russia aims to build up a store of arrested U.S. citizens who could be swapped for Russians detained in the West.

Among the detained Americans is Paul Whelan, an ex-Marine arrested in Moscow in 2018 and sentenced to 16 years in prison on spying charges in 2020.

"Evans case is not about evidence, due process, or rule of law. It is about using American citizens as pawns to achieve political ends, as the Kremlin is also doing in the case of Paul Whelan," Tracy said.

Both Gershkovich and Whelan have been designated by the U.S. State Department as "wrongfully detained", meaning that Washington considers the charges against them bogus and is committed to working for their release.

President Vladimir Putin has said Gershkovich could be released at some point in exchange for a Russian prisoner held abroad, but no such deal has so far materialized.

Putin said on March 17 that he had approved the idea of exchanging Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny shortly before his death in a Siberian prison colony on Feb. 16.

Gershkovich was part of the negotiation that would have included Navalny, according to two sources who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.

His arrest shocked many Western news organisations and there are now hardly any U.S. reporters in Russia.

Most Western countries advise against going to Russia, which Washington rates as "Do not travel" - on a par with Afghanistan, Syria and Iran.

The war in Ukraine has further deepened a crisis in Russia's relations with the West, and the Kremlin accuses the U.S. of fighting against Russia by supporting Ukraine with weapons, intelligence and money. (Reuters)
A 'mass casualty' event has been declared in Baltimore after the Francis Scott Key Bridge was struck by a container ship and collapsed into the Patapsco River.

As first responders are still searching for survivors, many are questioning how the bridge could have collapsed so quickly, having stood since 1977.

Speaking to MailOnline, engineers explained that while the bridge was not inherently unsafe, its 'flimsy' structure meant it was prone to collapse if the supports were damaged.

Julian Carter, a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, told MailOnline that knocking out the support pillar had the same effect as a house of cards coming crashing down.

'When you take away one of the supports you get a catastrophic failure because all those parts that are interconnected suddenly become overloaded,' he said.

Speaking to MailOnline, engineers explained that while the bridge was not inherently unsafe, its 'flimsy' structure meant it was prone to collapse if the supports were damaged

Francis Scott Key Bridge Constructed: 1977 Total length: 1.6 miles (2.6km) Longest span: 1,200 feet (366m) Building material: Steel Type: Continuous truss bridge Cost: $110 million (87m) Daily traffic: 31,000 vehicles Advertisement

Francis Scott Key Bridge, or the Key Bridge as it is commonly known, is a critical transport link and is one of only three ways to cross Baltimore's harbour.

Opened in 1997 to carry Route 65, the Key Bridge spanned 1.6 miles (2.6km) of the Patapsco River.

What made the bridge so unique were the great lengths between support pillars.

With its longest gap between supports, or span, stretching 1,200 feet (366m), this made it the third longest stretch of unsupported roadway in the world.

Unfortunately, this same unique feature may have contributed to the speed of its collapse.

As Mr Carter explains, the Key Bridge is a continuous truss bridge, meaning it is held up by beams arranged into triangular shapes called 'struts'.

When the weight of vehicles is applied to the bridge, that force gets spread out across the whole structure with every strut taking part of the load.

The bridge collapsed in seconds after the impact, throwing large pieces of steel and drivers into the water

Experts say that truss bridges like the Key Bridge are unable to survive impacts to their support pillars

READ MORE: Rescuers scramble to save dozens including 20 construction workers after Baltimore's colossal Key Bridge collapsed Advertisement

Because the gaps between pillars are so big, these supports need to be as light as possible so the bridge doesn't collapse under its own weight.

'They have very little redundancy and that means that every little bit is working very hard,' said Mr Carter.

'This one in particular has long spans which are continuous and that means that from one side of a support to the other, all the parts are connected.'

In combination, these two features - interconnected parts and low redundancy - mean that if something does go wrong, the results very quickly become disastrous.

Mr Carter told MailOnline that knocking out the support pillar had the same effect as a house of cards coming crashing down.

He explained: 'This structure really relied on the strength from one side to another and once that's taken away it collapsed.'

Once the pillar was hit, the weight of the bridge suddenly redistributed and overloaded the structure. This created a rapid collapse

Dr Andrew Barr, a civil and structural engineer from the University of Sheffield, describes this as an example of 'progressive collapse' where the failure of one piece leads others to fail as well.

Dr Barr said: 'In this case, the collapse of the pier caused the now unsupported truss above it to buckle and fall.'

This also explains why the footage of the collapse shows the Northern span of the bridge rising into the air before collapsing.

Since everything is held together in one structure, the truss pivoted on the remaining support pier like a see-saw before the forces became too great and the span collapsed.

Experts say that modern cargo ships like the Dali (pictured) are far larger than what the Key Bridge would have been built to withstand

Experts say that it was almost unavoidable that the bridge would collapse after being hit this way since the pillars are never designed to hold up to the full force of a ship

According to the experts, it was almost certain that an impact like this would lead the Key Bridge to undergo a catastrophic collapse.

Bridge builder and civil engineer Ian Firth said: 'The support is a very, relatively, flimsy structure when you look at it, it's a kind of trestle structure with individual legs.

'So, the bridge has collapsed simply as a result of this very large impact force,' Mr Firth told the BBC.

Likewise, Dr Masoud Hayatdavoodi, a civil engineer and naval architect from the University of Dundee, says that 'there is no question that the bridge would collapse due to the impact on the columns.'

Dr Hayatdavoodi added: 'Bridges are not designed to withstand lateral loads from ships on their columns. While they may be able to withstand lateral loads comparable to water currents and wind loads from a small boat, the force exerted by the impact of a container ship is significantly larger.'

However, it is not necessarily the case that the Key Bridge and other truss bridges like it are inherently dangerous or poorly designed.

Rather, the Key Bridge was simply never designed to withstand a direct collision from a modern-day container ship.

Police and rescue teams are still searching the water for survivors, but the police say at least seven are believed to have fallen into the river

The ship that struck the Key Bridge was the Dali, a Singapore-flagged container ship that had set out from the Seagirt Marine terminal at 12:30 that night.

At almost 1,000 feet (300m) long and 158 feet (48.2m) wide, this ship could easily be twice the size of those from 50 years ago.

Toby Mottram, Emeritus professor and structural engineer at Warwick University said: 'Despite meeting regulatory design and safety standards of the 1970s, the Baltimore Key Bridge may not have been equipped to handle the scale of ship movements seen today.'

For most other people who use truss bridges, there is no reason to fear that your bridge may collapse unless it also happens to be struck by a container ship.

While it might sound far-fetched, Mr Carter told MailOnline that the risk can be compared to the nuclear disaster in Fukushima.

He added: 'This is one of those events that happens occasionally, like Fukushima, where people in the industry have discounted a particular risk for whatever reason.

'Now, suddenly, it has happened so people have got to recalibrate on managing waterways and managing traffic.'
Lawmakers have slammed the Food and Drug Administration for ignoring 'troubling evidence' of Elon Musk's Neuralink practices and pushing the brain chip to human trials.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) penned a letter to the FDA, criticizing the agency for not expecting the company's long list of animal abuse allegations that span back to at least 2019.

The Democrat cited 2022 reports that described employees' complaints of 'hack jobs' of animal experiments due to a rushed schedule, causing needless suffering and deaths.

The open letter also stated 'these alleged failures to follow standard operating procedures potentially endangered animal welfare and compromised data collection for human trials.'

Blumenauer is now demanding the FDA explain how it reconciled reports of such lapses with its decision to authorize Neuralink's human trial.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer wrote a letter to the Food and Drug Administration claiming it ignored Neuralink's missing documents and animal rights violations

allowing Elon Musk's Neuralink to test brain chip in humans before inspectin ignoring 'troubling evidence' of Elon Musk's Neuralink practices

are questioning why the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) didn't inspect Elon Musk's Neuralink despite allegations of animal welfare abuse during the initial trials.

Neuralink started testing its brain chip implants on humans in January, saying it was cleared by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) penned a letter to the FDA on Monday criticizing the FDA for reportedly ignoring 'troubling evidence' about Neuralink's treatment of animals from as early as 2019.

The company's brain chip device allows paralyzed patients to control computers using just their thoughts.

Neuralink implanted its first brain chip in a paralyzed patient in January who was seen playing an online chess game using his mind

Blumenauer's complaint comes after Musk posted a video on X last week, showing the first patient to receive a Neuralink brain implant playing online chess using just his mind.

The patient, a paraplegic man Noland Arbaugh, 29, received the implant in January, after Musk proclaimed the FDA approved the first human trials in March 2023.

Musk's plans for Neuralink have included the device helping both disabled and healthy people cure a range of conditions such as obesity, autism, depression and schizophrenia.

However, the first demonstration showed Arbaugh controlling a computer with his thoughts.

Still, Neuralink's 'breakthrough' is said to have come with the cost of more than 1,500 animal deaths, including monkeys, pigs and sheep.

While Blumenauer stated the FDA ignored such details, a recent report from the agency showed it did find problems with Neuralink's record keeping and quality animal controls during inspections in June 2023.

'These issues show a lack of attention to detail,' Jerry L. Chapman, a senior quality expert with the data analytics company, Redica Systems, told the outlet.

Neuralink said it received FDA approval to start testing its brain chips in humans earlier this year

The FDA inspectors identified issues with missing calibration records for tools like the pH meter used in initial studies and there were no records of Neuralink monitoring the vital signs for the test animals which included monkeys.

Now Blumenauer is demanding answers for the missing information and previous employee complaints since late 2022, claiming Neuralink conducted 'hack jobs' for animal experiments in order to meet their deadline.

The former employees had claimed that the rushed animal experiments caused needless suffering and deaths, and Blumenauer demanded in his letter that the FDA explain how it ignored the reports and missing documents about the company's practices.

Neuralink acknowledged that some monkeys died during development of the brain chips at the University of California, David Primate Center- but failed to provided exact details that led to their deaths.

READ MORE: Elon Musk reveals Neuralink's new project that could restore sight - and says the 'implant is already working in monkeys' Elon Musk's Neuarlink is under investigation for problems with record keeping and quality controls for animal experiments less than a month since starting human trials. Advertisement

However, the company denied claims of animal abuse and said at the time: 'Currently, all novel medical devices and treatments must be tested in animals before they can be ethically trialed in humans.

'Neuralink is not unique in this regard,' it added. 'At Neuralink, we are absolutely committed to working with animals in the most humane and ethical way possible.'

Musk posted on X on March 21 proclaiming that 'no monkey has died or been seriously injured by a Neuralink device.'

In his letter to the FDA, Blumenauer claimed the FDA had ignored the violations, and wrote: 'These alleged failures to follow standard operating procedures potentially endangered animal welfare and compromised data collection for human trials.'

This is the third letter Blumenauer has sent to the FDA, having asked them to follow up on possible Animal Welfare Act violations in May of last year.

The letter informed the agency that there was a possible conflict of interest with Neuralink among its Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) members.

'The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) appears to be composed almost exclusively of company employees with significant financial stakes in the very animal studies they are required to evaluate under the Animal Welfare Act,' Blumenenauer wrote alongside Adam Schiff, Dina Titus, and other Congress members in 2023.

'Congress has a significant interest in ensuring that all facilities using animals in research and testingwhether they are government-run, universities, or private companiescomply with the minimal standards of the Animal Welfare Act,' the lawmakers added.

'Once again, we urge you to investigate Neuralink on this issue and update us on the findings.'

Dailymail.com has reached out to the FDA and for comment.
Archeologists have discovered a 'remarkable' Roman villa in Oxfordshire while preparing for a new housing estate.

The historical building at Brookside Meadows in the village of Grove, Wantage was once richly decorated with painted plaster and mosaics, typical of the Roman style.

Experts think it was an aisled building  a type of rectangular Roman villa that was divided into a primary central area and two flanking aisles, a bit like a church.

Also found at the site is a treasure trove of objects, including Roman 'curse tablets', belt buckles and coins.

Excavations are still ongoing but eventually houses will be built over the remains.

Archaeologists at the Red River Archaeology Group working on a Barratt and David Wilson Homes housing development in Oxfordshire found a remarkable Roman villa complex

Roman coins uncovered at the site. Roman currency came into use in around 300 BC, centuries after it arose throughout the Greek world

READ MORE: Bronze Age Brits dined on honey-glazed venison Thousands of artefacts were found at Must Farm in Cambridgeshire Advertisement

Archaeologists from the Red River Archaeology Group made the findings while preparing for a new Barratt and David Wilson Homes housing development.

According to the experts, the site is situated on a landscape inhabited since the Bronze Age - a period lasting from approximately 3300 BC to 1200 BC.

The Romans  who invaded Britain in AD 43  are thought to have been there from the first or second century until the late fourth or fifth century AD.

'The site is far more complex than a regular rural site,' said Francesca Giarelli, project officer at Red River Archaeology Group.

'Clearly [it] was an important centre of activities for a long time, from the Bronze Age to the later Roman period.'

Remains show the Roman villa was richly decorated with painted plaster and mosaics of floral motifs, while a 'complex' brick floor can still be seen.

Also found at the site were hundreds of coins, rings and brooches, and a horse-headed belt buckle dating to AD 350-450.

The site was uncovered during excavation work in preparation for a new housing development in Grove, Oxfordshire

The remains of the villa in Grove, Wantage, sit on a landscape inhabited since the Bronze Age. Pictured, the 'complex' brick floor

Remains show the Roman villa was richly decorated with painted plaster and mosaics of floral motifs

Researchers say this horse-headed belt buckle likely belonged to an elite member of the Roman army, or someone who wished to be associated with the Roman army

READ MORE Experts discover 1,800-year-old Roman camp at 'Armageddon' in Israel Armageddon was earmarked by the Bible for mankind's apocalyptic final battle Advertisement

Researchers say this buckle likely belonged to an elite member of the Roman army, or someone who wished to be associated with the Roman army  a form of 'military chic'.

Also found were fragments of Roman flue tiles  special types of tile that allowed the circulation of hot air through the walls and under the floors.

The system, known as hypocaust, was used in bath-houses and heated rooms, and is an example of the ingenuity of the Romans when it came to creating new domestic systems.

There were also suspected fragments of Samian ware, also known as terra sigillata, the fine tableware of Roman Britain.

In terms of trinkets, experts uncovered miniature votive axes  little axes likely used as an offering to the gods.

These could have been deposited on a sacred area, usually to ask for favour with the crops or harvest.

Most intriguing of all is the discovery of tightly coiled lead scrolls that, although blank when unrolled, recall the famous Roman 'curse tablets'.

Most intriguing of all is the discovery of tightly coiled lead scrolls that, although blank when unrolled, recall the famous Roman curse tablets. Roman curse tablets were the vengeful messages on small sheets of lead or pewter, asking gods and spirits to act on their behalf

experts uncovered miniature votive axes - little axes likely used as an offering to the gods. These could have been deposited on a sacred area, usually to ask for favour with the crops or harvest

Fragments of Roman flue tiles - specialist type of tile that allowed the circulation of hot air through the walls, used in bath-houses and heated rooms

There were also suspected fragments of Samian ware, also known as terra sigillata, the fine tableware of Roman Britain

The Roman curse tablets were the vengeful messages inscribed on small sheets of lead or pewter, asking gods and spirits to act on their behalf.

The presence of both the curse tablets and the miniature votive axes suggest a pilgrimage or ritualistic element somewhere on the site.

Despite the historical significance of the Brookside Meadows site, it will still be prepared for a new collection of homes.

Barratt and David Wilson Homes is cooperating with archaeologists to carry out continued excavations at the site of interest.
Senior law enforcement in India investigated and video-taped eerie UFO sightings over nuclear plants across the Asian nation last year, a local news report revealed.

One witness, a police sub-inspector and engineer by training, said he was '100-percent sure' the object he taped, with its high-speed 'zigzag movements,' could not be explained by human tech.

India's brush with nuke-curious mystery objects follows years of growing attention to the issue in Washington DC  as Pentagon insiders, military veterans and Capitol Hill legislators have pursued ominous UFO incursions dating back to the Cold War.

This February, UFO researchers dropped the bombshell that an ex-Pentagon UFO investigator had privately briefed Congress on a stunning 1964 incident where a UFO blasted an Atlas missile carrying a dummy nuclear warhead out of the sky.

But, reports of these 2023 incidents in India were allegedly less hostile.

One witness, a police sub-inspector and engineer by training, Syed Abdul Kader said he was '100-percent sure' the object he taped, with its high-speed 'zigzag movements,' could not be explained by human tech. Above, a still from one of Kader's encounters with the UFO

Police sub-inspector Syed Abdul Kader (right), assigned to the technical wing of the Tirunelveli office an hour's drive north of the Kudankulam nuclear plant, told UFO expert Sabir Hussain (left) that he filmed two videos of the unusual airborne phenomena

The roughly dozen or so incidents all involved apparent craft loitering oddly near the Kudankulam nuclear plant at the southern tip of the subcontinent and the Madras atomic power station near Kalpakkam along the country's east coast.

Police sub-inspector Syed Abdul Kader, assigned to the technical wing of the service's Tirunelveli office an hour's drive north of the Kudankulam nuclear plant, told UFO expert Sabir Hussain he filmed two videos of unusual airborne phenomena.

'The way it stood still, the way it made zigzag movements and the speed in which it disappeared,' Kader told reporters for the English-language Indian daily DT Next, 'all were different.'

Confirming his conversations with Hussain, Kader told DT Next that he had personally spotted UFOs near the southern coast town of Kudankulam since 2020.

'After meeting UFO tracker Sabir and discussing with him,' he told the paper, 'I am more than 100-percent sure what I saw were UFOs.'

The roughly dozen or so incidents all involved apparent craft loitering oddly near the Kudankulam nuclear plant (pictured above) at the southern tip of the subcontinent and the Madras atomic power station (not pictured) near Kalpakkam along the country's east coast

This February, American UFO researchers dropped the bombshell that an ex-Pentagon UFO investigator had privately briefed Congress on a stunning 1964 incident where a UFO blasted an Atlas missile carrying a dummy nuclear warhead out of the sky (graphic re-creation above)

Kader's 2023 sightings to the south, overlapped with weeks of sightings in July and August up the eastern coast along the Neelankarai-Mahabalipuram shoreline.

That region, near the bustling city of Chennai, is home to the Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS) in Kalpakkam.

Kader's video-taped sightings, Hussain told DT Next, 'happened just 10 days after former DGP [Director General of Police] Prateep V. Philip took pictures of a UFO on [the] Muttukadu sea shore near Chennai.'

READ MORE: US Customs and Border Protection quietly released a tranche of 10 videos of mysterious 'craft' whizzing around US skies - as one senior ex-intelligence officer says they are a THREAT US Customs and Border Patrol, the agency responsible for keeping terrorists and weapons out of the country, uploaded 10 videos that appear to show craft moving in strange ways in our skies. The videos document a fighter jet pursued by an apparently baffling flying orb, as well as something that appears to be a propeller-powered hang-glider, and another apparent orb hovering near a parked 16-wheeler truck Advertisement

Philip's rank of DGP is the highest position attainable in the Indian Police Service.

Despite an official Pentagon UFO report to Congress this year, which attempted to dispel whistleblower allegations of a secret and illegal UFO crash retrieval program, senior members of the US Senate continue to pursue subpoena power to investigate the issue.

The Pentagon's report, produced by the Department of Defense's UFO-hunting All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), was preceded by a largely hobbled effort by lawmakers to pass a sweeping UFO 'disclosure' amendment  designed to grant authority to an independent panel that would then be tasked with scouring deeply buried clandestine information for the truth about UFOs.

As Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who sponsored the bill, told The New York Times: 'It is really an outrage the House [of Representatives] didn't work with us on adopting our proposal for a review board.

'It means that declassification of UAP records will be largely up to the same entities that have blocked and obfuscated their disclosure for decades.'

'We got ripped off. We got completely hosed. They stripped out every part,' said Congressman Tim Burchett, one of the House lawmakers most vocal on the issue of UFO disclosure.

While the watered-down version of the bill has meant that the Pentagon and US intelligence agencies can determine on their own what information about these mysterious sightings can be kept secret for now, Congress plans to seriously revisit the issue again later the year.

'It's just a matter of priorities right now,' Senator Mike Rounds, who co-sponsored the bill with Sen. Schumer, told Capitol Hill reporter Matt Laslo this March. 'We have an interest in pursuing somethings like that.'
Engineers have blamed the deadly collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key bridge on a design flaw that is present in tens of thousands of US bridges.

Several experts told DailyMail.com that the Maryland bridge was missing critical protection systems that would have stopped the the nearly 105,000 ton container ship from smashing into the bridge's support.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge was built in 1977 and anti-collision devices like fenders or protection cells were not introduced until the 1980s.

Experts said installing fenders would cost at least $3 million, but the collapse means a $15 million per day loss in economic activity and $1.5 million daily in state and local taxes - and that doesn't include the six men who are presumed dead.

Video of the 1.6-mile-long Francis Scott Key bridge collapsing into the Patapsco River after a cargo ship struck one of its piers at low speed created a surreal scene as the entire bridge appeared to crumble in one fell swoop.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge was a continuous truss bridge, which can fail if it loses one support pillar. Multiple high-profile failures of such bridges have occurred, and thousands remain across waterways throughout the US.

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The ship, called Dali, was only traveling around nine miles per hour when it collided with the bridge at 1:28am ET, but the boat's massive weight meant it had a near-unstoppable momentum.

The ship took down a pair of bridge piers, which left the roadway totally unsupported, so the bridge appeared to crumble instantly.

Anti-collision devices like fenders or protection cells only became the norm in the 1980s, after a freighter slammed into the Skyway Bridge in Florida, collapsing a portion of it.

More than half of the US's 621,581 bridges were built before 1980, though, according to the National Bridge Inventory.

The Northern Boulevard Bridge across the Flushing River in New York City has such fenders, as do many smaller bridges spanning waterways, like the Route 3 Bridge over the Piankatank River in Virginia, seen below.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge rests partially collapsed after a cargo ship ran into it in Baltimore

And the Delaware memorial Bridge received protection cells in 2023 at a cost of $93 million. These devices are meant to deflect a boat, taking the damage for a bridge.

Even with protective structures, though, whether a bridge is safe from a boat strike depends on the size of the boat, and experts said that a large enough boat - like today's massive cargo ships - could take out bridges like the Brooklyn Bridge or the Golden Gate Bridge.

'I believe that there should have been a protection system,' Sherif El-Tawil, professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Michigan, told DailyMail.com.

Nonetheless, he explained that not all protection systems will be up to the task of stopping a more than 100,000-ton ship like the Dali, and sometimes these accidents will simply happen due to human error - or as early reports indicated in this case, power failure.

FENDERS: These structures can deflect ships away from bridge piers. This bridge spans the Piankatank River in Virginia. It has pier fenders, but if it were struck by a cargo ship it would be no match.

PROTECTION CELLS: These structures are meant to deflect ships away from bridge piers. If damaged, they are much cheaper to fix or replace than a bridge.

The Maryland Transit Authority owns and operates the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

DailyMail.com has reached out about why there were not sufficient protective structures built around it.

READ MORE: White House says Baltimore bridge collapse was NOT terrorism

The White House has said there is no indication of 'nefarious intent' in the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. The White House has said there is no indication of 'nefarious intent' in the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Advertisement

To build a bridge with piers are strong enough to withstand a blow from such a vessel, 'you'll end up just building a castle in the middle of the river,' Bilal Ayyub, former chair of the American Society of Civil Engineers' Infrastructure Resilience Division, told DailyMail.com.

When one major piece failed in Tuesday's crash, the weight of the bridge had nothing else to support it and nowhere else to go but down.

Based on the videos, it appears that the boat leaned against one of the A-frame pillars holding up the bridge, Sherif El-Tawil, professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Michigan, told DailyMail.com.

Then the weight of the bridge collapsed the remaining pillar.

'And without that support, the bridge's span becomes very large,' El-Tawil said. 'And it was never designed for that.'

In other words, a long expanse of roadway was left with nothing to hold it up.

El-Tawil and the other engineers said that the Francis Scott Key Bridge seemed to lack the necessary structures that would have protected against such a strike - piers in the water, seafloor piled up to make a ship run aground before it struck the pillar, or concrete structures that could divert the boat away from the bridge.

According to Ayyub, there are features that can be built into waterways to divert a runaway boat from hitting the crucial structures of a bridge.

'You cannot design a bridge to withstand the energy that comes with a moving object as large as a barge,' he said.

Instead, engineers can develop ways to keep ships from hitting bridges.

Bridge fenders can protect the piers of a bridge from being struck by large ships, but they were not required back when the Francis Scott Key Bridge was built.

One way, Ayyub said, is to define a navigation channel to divert ships from hitting the crucial piers, whose failure would collapse the bridge.

Other options include steel protection cells or fender systems surrounding the bridge piers, as well as seafloor dredging that will pile up material around the pier and make a ship run aground before it collides with the bridge.

'Basically, they what they will do is they will make the ground [underwater] elevate higher so that a ship will be grounded,' he explained. 'It was designed to basically alert the operator that you know you're approaching an object.'

None of these appeared to be in place around the Francis Scott Key Bridge, Ayyub and other civil engineering experts told DailyMail.com.

Unfortunately such protective structures are not required, even if they would be logical.

'I believe that there should have been a protection system,' El-Tawil said.

'And the protection system could be like you mentioned, it could be where there's a gradual rise in the level around the pier to prevent vehicles from running into it. But you could also have fender systems, you could have pile systems that essentially redirect these vessels.'

Atorod Azizinamini, professor of structural and bridge engineering at Florida International University, agreed, saying that such structures can 'prevent the ship from coming anywhere close to the supports.'

None of these systems appeared to be in place, said the experts.

'I think that protection systems should have been considered for a situation like this, especially for a critical system like this,' El-Tawil said.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge carried over 11 million vehicles across it each year, and its collapse will cause major problems for the people living nearby, experts said.

Initial reports indicate that at least a dozen cars hit the 47 degree water in addition to a 20 or so construction workers who were working on the bridge at the time

Aside from the lack of protective structures, another reason for its collapse was a lack of redundancy - when a pair of piers were destroyed, there was nothing there to bear the weight they had held up.

Redundant piers may have helped, but engineers rarely design redundancy of that type into their construction.

Because bridges like the Frances Scott Key can be built without extra support columns, they usually are, Ayyub said.

'If we can do without that pier then the design will be done without that pier,' he said. 'I mean, they really try to minimize the number of piers.'

Unfortunately that means that the design of the bridge was 'fracture critical,' meaning one break took it down.

And this design feature is not unique in the US, where aging transportation infrastructure has not kept apace with the design and absolutely massive size of modern shipping vessels.

It is theoretically possible to build redundancy into a bridge like the Francis Scott Key, but since ships need to pass under to enter the busy Port of Baltimore, extra piers would clog up their way.

Besides, the simple fact is that if a bridge can be built without extra pieces,

'With longer spans, there is no redundancy in losing a pier,' Ayyub said.

In some cases, a disproportionally small issue can lead to a catastrophe, as in the case of the 2013 I-5 Skagit River Bridge in Washington that completely collapsed after an oversized truck knocked out a single truss.

In other cases, as in the 2007 collapse of the I-35W Mississippi River Bridge in Minnesota, support plates that weaken over time can suddenly give out - in that instance killing 13 and injuring 145.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse was unique, but the bridge itself shared a design feature with these others: It was what's known as a continuous truss bridge.

A continuous truss bridge is designed to spread the weight of its occupants out over a continuous series of trusses - as the name implies.

These trusses, a network of crisscrossing beams, are held up by a series of support pillars.

Crucially, a continuous truss bridge has some disadvantages, including the fact that over time their joints can weaken and their actual capacity may go down.

And though that does not seem to be what happened with the Francis Key Bridge, there are tens of thousands of continuous truss bridges around the country, Ayyub said.

But more important than the construction of the bridges themselves, experts agreed, was protections to keep ships from hitting them.

And no such protections were there when the Francis Scott Key Bridge needed them.
The last original portrait of the astronomer was destroyed over 400 years ago

His theories may have revolutionised the way we think about the world, but the face of Copernicus has since been lost to time.

Nicolaus Copernicus, a Polish astronomer born in 1473, revolutionised the study of the planets by suggesting that the Earth revolved around the Sun.

Not a single painting of the famous scientist was made in his lifetime with his only self-portrait having been destroyed in a fire in 1597.

Now scientists have reconstructed the face of Copernicus, more than 400 years after it was last seen.

These incredible images give us a glimpse of a 'serene' face showing the astronomer as he would have looked at the time of his death at 70 in 1543.

More than 400 years after his death, scientists have reconstructed the face of Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus who proposed the idea that the planets orbit the sun.

All of the surviving portraits of Copernicus, like this one from the 18th Century, were made after his death and were based on a single now-destroyed self-portrait

Who was Nicolaus Copernicus, the man who 'made the world go round'? Nicolaus Copernicus was born in Torun, Poland which was then part of Royal Prussia. He is best known for developing the Heliocentric theory of planetary motion. This claimed that the Sun was the fixed point about which all other planets orbit. His masterpiece, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres) was not printed until the year of his death. He died in 1543 in what is now Frombork, Poland. It was only many years later in 1616 that the Catholic church banned the book for opposing church doctrine. Advertisement

The face of Copernicus has been one of the enduring mysteries in the history of science.

The visionary scientist was the first to propose the 'Heliocentric' model of the solar system which placed the Sun in the centre of the solar system.

His theories contradicted the official stance of the Catholic church and his works were banned after his death.

Despite his fame, all the surviving portraits of Copernicus were created after his death and were based on a single self-portrait that has long since been destroyed.

This means that, despite being the cornerstone of modern astronomy, no one could be sure whether he really looked anything like these paintings.

Cicero Moraes, author of the new study, said: 'A problem involving historical figures is knowing whether the portraits that come down to the present day are compatible with the individual in life.

'In the case of Copernicus, as far as I studied there is no intact portrait that was painted during his lifetime.'

To bring this 400-year-old mystery to a close, Mr Moraes digitally reconstructed a face based on what is believed to be Copernicus' skull.

These remains were discovered in 2005 beneath Frombork Cathedral in Poland where Copernicus lived, worked, and died.

Since the jaw was missing, Mr Moraes first used computer tomography data to reconstruct what the complete skull would have looked like.

Mr Moraes said: 'Once I reconstructed the complete skull, I proceeded with the facial approximation.

'This consisted of using data extracted from measurements on living individuals to arrive at a face that could be compatible with the worked skull.'

This is a scan of the skull believed to belong to Copernicus off which the reconstruction was created

Since the skull was missing a jaw, author of the study Cicero Moraes first had to digitally reconstruct what that would have looked like based on the existing remains

Using the skull as a base, Mr Moraes used measurements of living individuals to approximate what the original face may have looked like

READ MORE: Meet the man who created our vision of hell: Scientists reconstruct the face of Dante for the first time in more than 700 years Advertisement

Mr Moraes' reconstruction revealed a face that is remarkably similar to the surviving portraits of Copernicus.

In particular, the digital reconstruction is a near-perfect match for one of the most famous posthumous portraits of Copernicus.

In comparison, you can see how both the portrait and reconstruction share a similar square jaw, high cheekbones, and a similar nose.

However, these incredible images may just solve two mysteries at the same time.

While the archaeologists who discovered the skull were 'almost 100 per cent' sure it belonged to Copernicus, others were not so sure.

Supporters point to the fact that hairs taken from a book believed to belong to Copernicus were revealed to be a DNA match for the remains.

However, the origin of the skull has been contested some experts have questioned whether it really did belong to the famous scientist.

 Slide me  The similarity between the reconstruction (left) and the most famous surviving portrait (right) suggests that the portraits are accurate and that this skull really did belong to Copernicus

This photo shows the shape of the reconstruction laid over a famous posthumous portrait, demonstrating their close match

Now, Mr Moraes, who is an expert in forensic reconstruction, says that his reconstructions could help to settle the debate.

He says: 'I was very interested in the debate surrounding the discovery of the remains attributed to Copernicus.'

The close match between the reconstruction from the skull and the portraits could be explained by the portraits being accurate and the skull really being Copernicus'.

For his own part, Mr Moraes plays down some of the scientific significance of this discovery.

He concludes: 'The reconstruction was significantly compatible with the portrait that is best known of the astronomer which was painted around 1580.

'This does not prove anything, but it is a fact that they look similar; it can just be a coincidence, but it occurred.'
READ MORE: How climate change will make wine sweeter and more alcoholic

But vineyards in other locations such as the UK and Tasmania could benefit

Some of the world's most celebrated wine-growing regions could become unsuitable for vineyards if global temperatures increase beyond 2C by the end of the century, according to new analysis.

But the warming climate will boost UK wine growing efforts, the research said, as well as other emerging wine growing regions such as Washington State and Tasmania.

Currently, the world's leading winegrowing regions are primarily located at mid latitudes such as California, the south of France, northern Spain and Italy.

Other areas that delight the sommelier include Stellenbosch, south Africa and Mendoza in Argentina.

These areas are just right for wine  where the climate is warm enough to allow grape ripening, but without excessive heat, and relatively dry to avoid strong disease pressure.

Global warming will deal a devastating blow to vineyards in California, the south of France, northern Spain and Italy

READ MORE: Prosecco could be wiped out by climate change Mountainside vineyards are most at risk from soil degradation and drought Advertisement

But global warming will deal a devastating blow to these vineyards.

The report said 'about 90 per cent of traditional wine regions in coastal and lowland regions of Spain, Italy, Greece and southern California could be at risk of disappearing by the end of the century because of excessive drought and more frequent heatwaves with climate change.'

The model suggests this could happen with 3.6F (2C) of global warming by the end of the century, which the authors say is currently a highly likely scenario given current trends in greenhouse gas emissions.

Between 49-70 per cent of these existing wine regions will become largely unsuitable for growing grapes, the authors said.

But 29 per cent will 'experience extreme climate conditions' such as increased heatwaves and excessive drought rendering them inhospitable areas for winemaking.

The impact on winegrowing will have a huge economic impact as well: grapes are the world's third most valuable horticultural crop, after potatoes and tomatoes, counting for a farm-gate value of US$68 billion (53billion) in 2016.

Climate change could impair wine quality by changing the aroma profile - with more overripe and cooked fruit aromas replacing fresh fruit aromas - and causing excessive alcohol levels and increased pH

READ MORE: How hotter weather will benefit the UK wine industry Successful UK vineyards regions include Sussex and Kent Advertisement

The geography of wine production is likely to alter as climate change impacts grape yield, grape composition at harvest, and wine quality.

While many existing areas will be hit hard, the changing climate in Europe 'is predicted to greatly outpace losses' in terms of area suitable for grapes, the research said.

However, a growth in winemaking in areas where it previously has not happened could put pressure on water resources as well as wild habitats, the report said.

The area of Europe able to grow wine is expected to increase by around 40 per cent by the end of the century, the report said, which also noted that the area of the UK able to grow wine has already expanded by around 400 per cent between 2004 and 2021.

The authors, led by Cornelis van Leeuwen of the Bordeaux Sciences Agro research institute and colleagues published their research in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment.

Some existing wine growing regions will be boosted by the warmer weather: the report said that between 11 and 25 per cent of existing wine regions can look forward to enhanced production - in particular Washington State and northern France.

This image from the study shows expected changes in phenology, yield and wine quality in response to increased temperatures and potential adaptations.

The survival of 41 per cent of existing wine regions will depend on adapting to increased heat and reduced rainfall, the researchers said.

Adaptation will require changing varieties of grape and rootstocks, and managing vineyards differently.

But the authors warn 'these adaptations might not be enough to maintain economically viable wine production in all areas'.
Artificial intelligence has uncovered two plants that provide the same weight loss results as Ozempic, according to a new study.

Researchers at the Catholic University of Murcia in Spain reported that the plants contain similar agonists - a substance mimicking a hormone response - to those in Ozempic.

AI software analyzed thousands of natural compounds that could offer the same weight loss components and eventually narrowed down two plant extracts.

Researchers set out to find a plant alternative due to many individuals experiencing side effects and regaining weight once of the prescription drug.

The team also said that not only would the plants be easier on the body, but they would also be more accessible and cost effective - Ozempic costs about $936 a month.

They are not naming the plant extracts - which for now have been named Compound A and Compound B - until they patent them for a new weight loss drug.

Ozempics maker, Novo Nordisk, is preparing to release anew drug, amycretin. Early results from the drugs safety trial suggest it can help users shed weight twice as quickly as Ozempic

Weight loss drugs surged last year, with Ozempic taking the lead as the most-used option

Ozempic was released in 2017 to treat people with diabetes, but was late found to help people lose weight by suppressing their appetite.

Since been proclaimed as a 'miracle drug,' use of it has by 300 percent in less than three years, with prescriptions hitting nine million in the US as of September 2023.

Morgan Stanley analysts have projected that over the next 10 years, 24 million people - seven percent of the US population - will be taking Ozempic or Wegovy.

But users have reported spats of nausea and vomiting, along mental health issues like anxiety and irritability when taking the weekly injections.

To address these issues, scientists wanted to 'focus on plant extracts and other natural compounds because they may have fewer side-effects' and options that could be taken orally rather than an injection.

But the alternative needed to still activate the GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) receptor, which is how Ozempic triggers the body's weight loss response.

Ozempic can cost as much as $935 per month before health insurance, while the cost overseas hovers around $100 on average

'Drugs that aren't peptides may have fewer side effects and be easier to administer, meaning they could be given as pills rather than injections,' said Elena Murcia, a co-author of the study and a member of the Structural Bioinformatics and High-Performance Computing Research Group (BIO-HPC).

READ MORE: Experts say little-known issue will affect EVERYONE on miracle slimming jabs - and it can kick in after just six weeks Experts said that anyone relying on Ozempic to combat long term weight loss could be left disappointed, with the effects of the drugs halting after just months Advertisement

The team used an AI-powered software to sift through more than 10,000 compounds to identify those that bound to the GLP-1 receptor.

Next, other AI-based methods investigated how closely these bonds resembled those that occur between the GLP-1 hormone and its receptor.

The team identified 100 from the group for a visual analysis, which produced a set of 65 compounds that were put through a mathematical graph to pinpoint those with the highest potential as GLP1-R agonists.

And that is when the team landed on Compound A and Compound B.

The study noted that the researchers are not revealing the name of the plants until they have patented them for a new weight loss drug.

The compounds come from very common plants, according to the report, which said the 'extracts of which have been associated with beneficial effects on the human metabolism in the past.'

'Computer-based studies such as ours have key advantages, such as reductions in costs and time, rapid analysis of large data sets, flexibility in experimental design, and the ability to identify and mitigate any ethical and safety risks before conducting experiments in the laboratory,' said Murcia.

'These simulations also allow us to take advantage of AI resources to analyze complex problems and so provide a valuable initial perspective in the search for new drugs.'
READ MORE: Is Apple going to be left behind by the AI smartphone revolution

The event typically sees a new iOS and other hardware like AirPods

Apple has announced dates for its annual World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) where typically unveils new updates for the iPhone and other devices.

The event, available online and in-person, is set for June 10 to June 14 and is likely to unveil the new iOS 18.

The Cupertino-based company is expected to make a major announcement with AI, as it is in talks to use Googles Gemini to create images and write essays based on simple prompts.

The news about the chatbot being unleashed on iPhones has seen backlash among Apple users who have threatened to walk away from the tech giant because a 'woke iPhone is coming up.'

Apple has announced dates for its annual World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC), where it is likely to unveil updates that power the iPhone and other devices

Susan Prescott, Apples vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations, said: Were so excited to connect with developers from around the world for an extraordinary week of technology and community at WWDC24.

WWDC is all about sharing new ideas and providing our amazing developers with innovative tools and resources to help them make something even more wonderful.

The event will be held at Apple Park, the tech giants headquarters and second campus building in Cupertino.

The massive ringed-shaped building was one of the final products pitched by the late CEO, Steve Jobs.

WWDC will kick things off with a keynote speech that usually unveils the new operating system for the iPhone, Mac, iPad, Apple Watch and TV.

And owners of the newly released Vision Pro might also get an update.

WWDC is an annual event that's been held by Apple since 1983, although it was not originally intended for hardware announcements.

The event will be held at Apple Park, the tech giants headquarters and second campus building in Cupertino. The massive ringed-shaped building was one of the final products pitched by the late CEO, Steve Jobs

WWDC will kick things off with a keynote speech that usually unveils the new operating system for the iPhone, Mac, iPad, Apple Watch and TV. Pictured is CEO Tim Cook speaking during last year's keynote speech

The Cupertino-based company is expected to make a major announcement with AI , as it is in talks to use Google s Gemini to create images and write essays based on simple prompts

The news about the chatbot being unleashed on iPhones has seen backlash among Apple users who have threatened to walk away from the tech giant because a ' woke iPhone is coming up

It has only in the past 20 years that Apple has been using the conference as a major launchpad for new devices, including the HomePod speaker in 2007 and the iPhone 4 in 2010.

Arguably, the main event in the calendar for Apple fans is its event held in the first two weeks of September, when it announces its new iPhone  although this year WWDC could be bigger.

AI is set to take centerstage at WWDC, as Apple has long promised to add the tech to its devices - but has seemed to fail at developing its own version.

Bloomberg reported this month about the potential partnership, which would add more AI-powered features to Apples devices.

However, Gemini is shrouded in controversy after the image generator churned out historically inaccurate pictures including Black Nazi soldiers and a female pope.

The chatbot version has also been found riddled with bias - saying some women have penises and not all pedophiles are evil.

The deal has some iPhone owners threatening to walk away from Apple if it goes through, and others believe it is simply 'embarrassing' the smartphone maker had to turn to Google as its AI provider.

The negotiations in question involve Apple licensing Gemini for some new features coming to the iPhone software this year, the report said, adding that the terms or branding of an AI agreement or how it would be implemented have not been decided.

But the world will have to wait until June to know if Apple and Google are joining forces.
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Finland's bestselling skincare brand has launched a new CC Cream, and shoppers are already going wild for the 'flawless base', all without the fuss of foundation.

Hailed as 'perfect coverage' by users, the Lumene CC Colour Correcting Cream SP20 delivers a your skin-but-better finish without the heaviness of a classic foundation. Better still, you can now get 20 per cent off when you spend 50 online.

Lumene CC Colour Correcting Cream SP20, 30ml A skincare and makeup hybrid, the Lumene CC Colour Correcting CC Cream could be your new spring saviour, helping perfect your skin without foundation. Designed to fit seamlessly into any modern makeup routine, the multi-use complexion perfector is has been formulated with nourishing Lingonberry Seed Oil and Arctic Spring Water. Lightweight and buildable, it covers redness and blurs imperfections with 10 flattering shades. Shop

The Lumene CC Colour Correcting Cream has received glowing reviews, with customers calling it 'stunning' and 'flawless'

Despite its recent arrival to the makeup market, the Lumene CC Colour Correcting Cream has received glowing reviews, with customers calling it 'stunning' and 'flawless'.

Unlike foundation, the lightweight base is specifically targeted towards covering redness and uneven skin tone while simultaneously working to hydrate your skin.

Ideal for when you want natural yet skin-perfecting coverage, it's perfect for spring, with one writing 'Stunning. Its super lightweight but very buildable if you want a bit more coverage!! It feels so comfortable in my skin & I love that its SPF20 too. A great product!!'.

For those who like multitasking products that streamline their getting-ready routine, a CC cream is hard to beat and according to five-star reviews, the Lumene CC Colour Correcting Cream could be the product that saves you valuable minutes in the morning.

The all-in-one-product works hard so you don't have to, simultaneously blurring skin with a light buildable coverage whilst hydrating and nourishing the skin.

Loaded with complexion-nourishing Lingonberry Seed Oil and Arctic Spring Water, the light to medium coverage cream blends effortlessly into the complexion to reveal unified, glowing skin.

'Flawless,' raved one user. 'This foundation effortlessly conceals redness and imperfections while maintaining a natural, glowing finish. It's simply flawless!'.

The all-in-one-product works hard so you don't have to, simultaneously blurring skin with a light, buildable coverage whilst hydrating and nourishing the skin

Without clinging to thirsty patches of skin or settling into fine lines, the Lumene CC Colour Correcting Cream works for all skin types, including dehydrated and ageing skin.

The CC Color Correcting Cream comes in ten flattering and adaptable shades that stretch across a wide range of skin tones for a natural finish and truly radiant glow.

Helping you look fresh and well-rested, the CC Cream is perfect for when you want your skin to look naturally glowing without having to spend ages blending and concealing.

'Flawless base,' agreed one Lumene shopper. 'My new go-to CC Cream. Perfect coverage, blends beautifully and leaves a lovely go. Back up on order!'.

This Easter, Lumene is offering 20 per cent off when you spend 50 or more, so you can explore the bestselling skincare range for less.

Lumene bestsellers: Our top picks for spring
This is what Central Market on Broadway will look like after major upgrades. Courtesy of H-E-B

H-E-B said Tuesday morning that it is ready to give its only San Antonio Central Market store, which operated as an H-E-B until 1999. In a surprise announcement, H-E-B gave us a peek at what upgrades are coming to the store at 4821 Broadway St., San Antonio TX 78209, and it's going to be more than just parking upgrades.

It's a whole new look entirely for the Broadway Central Market with a some callbacks to the original branding. H-E-B announced in a news release that it submitted plans for a second phase of upgrades to Alamo Heights that include a refresh of the store's exterior as well as "a full remodel of the locations interior."

The Central Market store's underground parking will receive some upgrades as well. Courtesy of H-E-B

While the plans are still awaiting approval, some of those planned interior upgrades include expanding the seating area for the cafe, repositioning select departments, adding more energy efficient fixtures and equipment, and improvements to the breakroom and administrative spaces, according to the news release.

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The Central Market renovation is expected to be completed in 2026 Courtesy H-E-B

"For decades, at the corner of Broadway and Patterson, a special relationship has been built between our store, this community, and our partners, said Stephen Butt, president of Shareholder Relations and Central Market Division, in the release.

Phase 1 upgrades included updates to the parking lot and repositioning of the loading dock, which MySA reported on in January. Renderings for Phase 2 of the project show upgrades to the parking lot underneath Central Market as well as access to the pharmacy. We also see a dedicated area for Central Market's curbside pickup service.

This wide shot rendering shows what Central Market will look like after 2026. Courtesy of H-E-B

H-E-B plans to begin work on phase 2 of the project in mid-2026. The building where San Antonio's Central Market resides first opened as an H-E-B and was branded as such for nearly 50 years until it became the current store in 1999.

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The Broadway location was the second Central Market to open and is some 90,000 square feet. H-E-B has 10 Central Market stores in 10 Texas.
A cratered, rusty-red wasteland littered with rocks that's arid, bitterly cold and devoid of plant life.

That's an accurate working description of Mars. But also this remote Canadian island, 1,000 miles south of the Earth's North Pole.

Devon Island is the world's largest uninhabited island and part of the Canadian High Arctic Archipelago, Nunavut. To the Inuit of Nunavut it is known as Taallujutit Qikiktagna - Jaw Bone Island.

To a small cabal of scientists, it's Mars on Earth.

For two months during the height of summer when the ground is snow-free, researchers and their associates head to the Haughton-Mars Project Base Camp on the island to conduct research into how human explorers might live and work on other planets. Despite it being summer, temperatures rarely rise higher than eight degrees C with the average annual temperature a bone-biting minus 16 C.

Devon Island (above) is the world's largest uninhabited island and part of the Canadian High Arctic Archipelago

Scientists use Devon Island - dubbed Mars on Earth - to research how humans might colonise other planets. The epicentre of their work is one of the highest-latitude 'impact structures' on Earth: Haughton Crater. Above is a Nasa rover exploring the crater's other-worldly terrain

An image acquired by the Nasa Terra satellite on June 28, 2001, showing Devon Island from above

A rover and the Haughton Mars Research Project base camp at Haughton Crater

An aerial shot of the Haughton Impact Crater, which measures 14 miles in diameter

NON-MARTIAN CREATURES

While the crater itself is barren, Devon Island is not devoid of life. The Canadian Arctic circle is home to two thirds of the world's polar bear population, some of whom roam the area. They stand as a decidedly non-Martian threat to human researchers. As such the HMP scientists have to employ the services of a guard dog as part of a polar bear deterrent scheme. According to a documentary short filmed by Google Earth, the scientists rely on the dog's sense of smell to alert them to the presence of any bears in the area, so they can evacuate the area as required. Other research scientists that set up tents in the crater to conduct experiments have reported taking shotguns and setting up trip wires around their tents in case of a lumbering white interloper. Advertisement

The epicentre of their work is one of the highest-latitude 'impact structures' on Earth: Haughton Crater. It was formed around 23million years ago, when an asteroid or comet collided with the planet, and is around 14 miles (22km) wide.

Whatever the projectile was that struck Devon Island, it was about 0.6 miles (one kilometre) in diameter and hurtling at cosmic speeds. It delivered a pulse of energy equivalent to 100million kilotonnes of TNT on collision. The impact obliterated almost all life for several hundred miles around, and flattened the landscape.

After the dust settled, what was left was a smouldering hole, which became the Haughton Crater.

It ripples with canyons, valleys, and gullies. This 'patterned ground' is covered in ice that routinely thaws and refreezes.

The ground in the crater has suffered very little erosion due to the lack of rainfall - much like the surface of the Moon.

These factors make the crater an ideal practice ground for emulating an interplanetary expedition.

Recent images from Mars beamed back to Earth by the Perseverance rover in March 2024, show a marked likeness to Devon Island's lifeless landscape.

Every summer, the Haughton-Mars Project (HMP) - a collaboration between Nasa, the Seti Institute, and the Mars Institute - takes advantage of the otherworldly topography to conduct their experiments.

Their base camp sits at the edge of the Haughton Impact Centre. All supplies must be flown in.

Geologists and biologists investigate this 'polar desert' (an expanse that is very cold and very dry) - to see how the rocks and microbial life forms may compare to what we know about the Moon, Mars, and other planetary bodies.

Astronautical explorers and engineers develop exploration technologies.

For example, Mars has a thin atmosphere and - as one might expect - no dedicated runways for flight vehicles to land. A thin atmosphere makes it difficult for space craft to get 'lift', while rough, rolling geology makes it difficult for them to land.

Consequently, HMP has been working on remote control vertical take-off and landing vehicles (VTOL) - light aircraft that can take off in adverse atmospheres and land on rocky ground. The alien terrain and wicked winds buffeting the crater make it ideal for testing these aircraft.

Other space tech they've tested includes robotic rovers, drills, life support systems, plant growth systems, and concept spacesuits.

The latter is particularly crucial.

One of the critical elements that will facilitate humans walking on Mars is a spacesuit designed to deal with its brutal environs: the thin atmosphere is a fug of carbon dioxide, nitrogen and argon gases. Arnold Schwarzenegger asphyxiating when exposed to the planet's atmosphere at the end of 1990's Total Recall is surprisingly accurate.

Additionally, the oxidised dust particles that give the planet its characteristic russet hue frequently kick up into violent dust storms.

A spacesuit would have to be able to withstand these violent elements if people were to survive on the surface of Mars. Hence - extensive spacesuit testing at the Haughton Crater.

A researcher conducting a drill in the Haughton Crater, Devon Island. Nasa technicians simulate potential mission emergencies at the desolate location

Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station. The habitat is utilised by scientists and researchers on an ad hoc basis

Devon Island is also home to the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station, which also serves as a Mars analogue. Initiated by the Mars Society, a non-profit volunteer organisation, the habitat is now utilised by scientists and researchers on an ad hoc basis - many of whom work for Nasa or similar international space programs.

Prior research conducted at FMARS includes testing 'Low Level Laser Light Therapy' - used to keep astronauts flexible and limber when exposed to cold temperatures for long periods of time. Despite glowing red, Mars is unimaginably cold - minus 60 degrees celsius on average, up to minus 160C at the planet's polar caps.

FMARS also practices 'Crew Safety in Simulated Emergency Situations'.

A polar bear hunting narwhal and beluga whales on the coastline of Devon Island

Breathtaking: The northeast coast of Devon Island is an area riddled with glaciers and fjords

From Greenland it is possible to sail to Devon Island following the path of the fabled Northwest Passage

In these, Nasa technicians simulate potential mission emergencies, such as toxic chemical leaks, EVA suit leaks, power failures, habitat depressurisation, habitat fires, power failures, or medical emergencies, to develop contingencies to deal with them.

In a documentary about the Devon Island projects called 'Passage to Mars', the scientists noted that if their experiences on the island are anything to go by, 'only the most rugged explorers will thrive on the Red Planet'.

Can I visit?

Tourists do venture to Devon Island.

From Greenland it is possible to sail there following the path of the fabled Northwest Passage, a trek many a European explorer took in the 19th century in the hopes of finding a direct route to mainland China (they failed).

However, rather than heading to the crater, travellers tend to head to the Truelove Lowlands area, on the northeast coast, an area riddled with glaciers and fjords, breathtaking icy landscapes that are quite unlike Mars.

Comparatively warm (two to eight degrees Celsius in summer), with some vegetation, this area sees grazing musk-oxen, waterfowl and roaming lemmings.

In the coastal seas surrounding the island, you can spy narwhal and beluga whales.

It's not Life On Mars, but these magnificent creatures are other-worldly in their own right.
The opulence of the St Regis Abu Dhabi is disguised, with the hotel occupying swathes of two office-style skyscrapers.

Oh, I thought, feeling slightly disappointed as my car from the airport pulled up at the main entrance.

But 'oh, wow' I said under my breath as I entered a lobby fit for Mount Olympus. Vast pillars soar, dazzling chandeliers dangle and two epic staircases sweep up to a mezzanine that encircles the entire space.

An ultra-courteous receptionist checked me in - and the service during my stay from his colleagues never wavered from his impeccable standards.

MailOnline Travel's Ted Thornhill checked in to the St Regis Abu Dhabi (above)

Ted's room, above, was on the 39th floor - and afforded him magnificent views

This is the view from Ted's room out over the hotel's private beach to a mini peninsula breakwater thats home to the majestic Rixos Marina hotel  designed as a colossal arch

Room with an epic view: Downtown Abu Dhabi, as seen from Ted's suite

EXCLUSIVE READ MORE: Inside The Residence, Etihad's A380 hotel suite in the sky Advertisement

My room was on the 39th floor.

After exiting the express lift and equalising the pressure in my ear drums, I stepped into a corner-suite bedroom that, like the lobby, was fit for the gods.

My eyes widened at the opulent ensuite, smothered in marble, and plush king-sized bed, with the pupil dilations joined by a dropping jaw as I drank in the stunning views - from one side to downtown Abu Dhabi, and from the other out over the hotels private beach to the eye-catching breakwater, a mini peninsula thats home to the majestic Rixos Marina hotel  designed as a colossal arch.

Delights continued at lower altitudes.

There was a wonderfully fun Champagne sabering  a St Regis tradition - at the mezzanine bar, with a bar-team member expertly dispatching the top of the bottle with a hefty saber.

Ted describes the lobby (above) as being fit for Mount Olympus

The hotel's private beach (above) up close, accessed via a gilded subway

'An ultra-courteous receptionist checked me in,' writes Ted, 'and the service during my stay from his colleagues never wavered from his impeccable standards'

Pictured above is the hotel's inviting outdoor pool

Ted enjoyed breakfast on the ground-floor terrace (above)

Spectacular sushi at Catch restaurant

On the same floor, I thoroughly enjoyed an al fresco meal at the hotels impressive Villa Toscana Italian restaurant. The standard would satisfy any Italian grandmother.

Breakfast was served on the ground floor at The Terrace on the Corniche restaurant  and what a feast  for the stomach and the eyes. Sit outside and you have the option of staring up at the hotels twin towers, the taller of which soars to a height of 233.2m (765ft).

On one morning, the tops of the towers were bewitchingly garlanded with clouds.

Another ground-floor treat was a meal at the hotels seafood-focussed Catch at St. Regis.

The indoor breakfast area (above) - technically The Terrace on the Corniche restaurant. Here, a 'feast' is laid on for guests

Al fresco diners at The Terrace on the Corniche have the option of looking up at the hotel's lofty twin towers (above)

Its located next to the propertys private beach and is reached via what is surely the worlds fanciest subway, a gilded passageway with gleaming floors and soft lighting.

At Catch, eager-to-please waiting staff brought me one winning dish after another, including top-tier sushi presented theatrically on a little wooden tray on a bowl filled with dry ice.

If the hotel was fishing for compliments  it certainly didnt need to.

Its a class act.
A couple has detailed their 'traumatizing' cruise ship nightmare, which saw them getting caught in a brutal storm and losing out on $3,294.

Alisha and Nate Downey, both 31, decided to book themselves onto a Royal Caribbean cruise to celebrate their five-year wedding anniversary after hearing rave reviews from friends and family.

However, little did the Colorado-based couple know that their five-day dream holiday would turn into a nightmare stay when a storm hit.

Alisha and Nate's romantic stay became a horrid experience as they were forced to 'find sanctuary' amidst the storm as wine glasses shattered and plates went flying around them.

Alisha and Nate Downey, both 31, decided to book themselves onto a Royal Caribbean cruise to celebrate their five-year wedding anniversary after hearing rave reviews from friends and family

They have now detailed their 'traumatizing' cruise ship nightmare, which saw them getting caught in a brutal storm and losing out on $3,294

Alisha and Nate's romantic stay became a horrid experience as they were forced to 'find sanctuary' amidst the storm as wine glasses shattered and plates went flying around them

The couple went viral on social media by detailing the terrifying and disappointing experience.

Alisha said: 'We could see from our balcony that the overcast was getting worse, water was becoming very choppy, and looking toward the direction we were headed.

'Very quickly the weather became worse, rain pouring down, the ship rocking. Around this time is when I believe an announcement was made that we were in a storm and to "find sanctuary."'

Once the lovebirds got to their room, chaos ensued and the couple was terrified as they saw glass shattering.

She added: 'Soon our room was taking on water, coming under our balcony door. A wine glass slid off the vanity and shattered, all the stuff came falling off.

'So we went downstairs to see what was going on and there was broken glass everywhere. Bars were closed as liquor bottles and glasses had also broken.'

The couple were left shaking from fear as they saw people screaming and even putting on life jackets.

Meanwhile, water flooded their room.

The couple went viral on social media by detailing the terrifying and disappointing experience

Once the lovebirds got to their room, chaos ensued and the couple was terrified as they saw glass shattering

'We even saw women wearing their life jackets coming up the stairs from lower decks people were scared.

'And by that point, there was about three feet of water in our room,' she said.

The cruise left Galveston, Texas, on 22 January, planning to head to Costa Maya, Mexico, then Cozumel, before making its way back to Galveston five days later.

Unfortunately, cruise staff announced the ship would not be able to port in Costa Maya as it was too dangerous and would head straight to Cozumel instead.

On the way back, two thunderstorms hit.

Alisha and Nate eventually arrived safely at home.

However, they were not happy with the experience or the money spent.

Alisha added: 'It would've been worth it to us if we had actually had an enjoyable vacation. Instead we paid a lot of money to stress away from home.'

Alisha and Nate eventually arrived safely at home, however they weren't happy with their experience

The 31-year-old noted that it was a horrifying experience and they weren't even reimbursed for the incident

The traveler noted that it was a horrifying experience and they weren't even reimbursed for the incident.

She said: 'And honestly had a somewhat traumatizing experience. All they've offered us is 20 per cent off our next cruise.'

While social media users have been sympathetic to the couple's unfortunate situation, many have pointed out the obvious  that they travelled during hurricane season.

One user said: 'You just unfortunately went during a bad time, try again, not during hurricane season.'

Another person wrote: 'Try again in the summer! Much better.'

Someone else commented: 'Must of went during hurricane season.'

'Stay off the boats during hurricane season,' said another user.

Royal Caribbean cruises has been approached for comment.
A This Morning star has given her verdict on Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard's appointment as co-presenters on This Morning, suggesting they are a safe choice.

Rustie Lee, 74, who has regularly featured on ITV's This Morning since 2012, where she hosts the cooking segment, said that she loves the duo but enjoyed the way the show used a mix of different presenters before that.

Speaking on the My Dirty Laundry podcast, Rustie said: 'I liked how they were going with different presenters all the time. They've never invited me to be a presenter.

'I'm sure I could present extremely well on that show. It wouldn't be the first time I've done it. I've had radio shows in Birmingham. I was radio presenter on a show in Birmingham, West Midlands, BBC Radio.

'So, you know, they've never said, "Oh, Rustie you should present". I would love to present and show them that it's something I can do with people. You have to be good with people.'

A This Morning icon has given her verdict on the show's new co-hosts Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard as she branded them a 'safe choice'

TV chef, Rustie Lee, 74, said the show bosses never asked her to present the show but she said she is more than capable of doing it and has a wealth of experience

She said: 'I'm sure I could present extremely well on that show. It wouldn't be the first time I've done it. I've had radio shows in Birmingham . I was radio presenter on a show in Birmingham, West Midlands, BBC Radio.

Adding: 'I think they're going with a steady hand but I saw Cat Deeley work on the show and she did well. Ben Shephard is amazing too, he's a good family man'

She continued :'I think that Cat and Ben are good. It's what people want. I liked the mix with people like Alison Hammond and Josie Gibson - people from different walks of life.

'I think they're going with a steady hand but I saw Cat Deeley work on the show and she did well. Ben Shephard is amazing too, he's a good family man.

'But I think how they were going since the Phillip Schofield situation [before that], was nice because it gives everyone a chance to do something.

'But good luck to them. I wish them the best. Of course I do.'

When told that she would have been a good choice to present, Rustie replied: 'I would love to do it. There's no reason why I shouldn't do it.

'A lot of people in Britain know me. There's no reason why I shouldn't do it. Simple as that.'

Cat and Ben became permanent hosts earlier this month after Holly Willoughby quit the show in October.

Her departure came five months after her co-host Phillip Schofield left over the furore surrounding his affair with a much younger colleague.

Rustie said she enjoyed seeing different presenters coming in from different walks of life, such as Alison Hammond, (left), and Josie Gibson, (right) because it gives everyone a chance to do something

Rustie started her TV career in 1983 and opened her own restaurant in 1985 in Birmingham (pictured)

Rustie said of her own chances of presenting the show full-time: 'A lot of people in Britain know me. There's no reason why I shouldn't do it. Simple as that'

Cat and Ben became permanent hosts earlier this month after Holly Willoughby, (centre) quit the show in October - five months after Phillip Schofield, (left) quit the show following his affair with a much younger colleague

Holly felt that the show wasn't the same after that and was finally 'tipped over the edge' by an alleged 'kidnap and murder plot'.

Much-loved Rustie started her TV career as a cookery expert on Good Morning Britain back in 1983 and stayed on the show until 1991.

While still appearing regularly, she plans on bringing out a range of face creams and has written a series of children's books.

Find out more on Instagram on @mydirtylaundrypodcast or listen to the whole interview on Spotify here
Sara Cox admits she was 'a complete mess' after discovering close friend and colleague Steve Wright had passed away while she was presenting her Radio 2 show.

Wright was found dead at his 2million home on February 12 after paramedics were called to an incident at the north west London property.

And Cox, 49, who worked alongside the reclusive DJ at BBC Radio before his passing, admits the tragic news sent shockwaves across the studio floor.

'I was a complete mess,' she told Radio Times. 'We were all in complete shock. I looked out into the production area and people were hugging and crying; it really winded us as a station.'

The presenter was forced to continue fronting her afternoon show, despite struggling to hold back tears, but insists she had no alternative, 'because you want to be a professional, you want to do right by Steve, you want to do right by listeners and you want to support them in a way, but at the same time to be real.

Sara Cox admits she was 'a complete mess' after discovering close friend and colleague Steve Wright had passed away while she was presenting her Radio 2 show

Cox was speaking to the latest edition of Radio Times as she competes on the latest series of The Great Stand Up To Cancer Bake Off

'Because although the whole nation seems to be grieving, it was his kids grief more than anyone else's.'

Speaking to BBC Morning Live on February 14, two days after Wright's death at the age of 69, Cox admitted she was still coming to terms with the loss of her friend.

'I've got to be honest with you, it feels to some extent like a family bereavement because we've lost one of our own,' she told host Gethin Jones.

'There was no build up, there was no warning, we are all just really, really shocked and really sad and we're all absolutely gutted.'

Reflecting on the immediate reaction to his death, she said: 'We had thousands and thousands of texts almost immediately, we were just trying to plough through them because people used to listen to Steve as a child on the school run and they're still listening to him in the afternoon when they're picking up their own kids.

'Everybody, the nation, all the listeners, they all genuinely feel like they've lost a family member or a good mate.'

She added: 'He loved radio, he loved his listeners and he loved making people laugh. He was such a perfectionist, he was the king of radio, there'll be no-one like Steve Wright and we're going to miss him massively.'

Away from her radio job and an appearance on the latest series of The Great Stand Up To Cancer Bake Off, Cox is promoting her raunchy new novel, Way Back.

Broadcaster Steve Wright died aged 69 on February 12 at his London home (pictured in 1995)

The full interview is available to read in the latest edition of Radio Times, out now

And she admits to having ambitious plans regarding who to cast as central character Josie, should it be adapted for the screen.

'Why not aim high? Cate Blanchett would do a great job  though I dont know if she can do a Bolton accent,' she said. 'Kate Winslet would be fantastic, too.'

The full interview is available to read in the latest edition of Radio Times, out now.
Most actresses dream of finding a role that becomes so popular you're catapulted to international fame.

But Michelle Dockery says she is no longer cast in period dramas because her character in Downton Abbey is 'too recognisable'.

The actress, who starred as Lady Mary Crawley in ITV's six season period drama, said she is now offered predominantly 'modern' roles due to the popularity of the show.

While she stars in the BBC's new 1980's-set drama This Town, she said any role further back in history is too reminiscent of Lady Mary.

For the new role she has had to begin a new journey from English rose to alcoholic to play Estella Quinn, a key character who unites the younger and older generations in Steven Knight's eight-part Midlands drama.

Michelle Dockery says she is no longer cast in period dramas because her character in Downton Abbey is 'too recognisable'

The actress, who starred as Lady Mary Crawley in ITV's six season period drama, said she is now offered predominantly 'modern' roles due to the popularity of the show

Speaking to the Radio Times she said: 'I'm so lucky with Downton, it changed my life, and I'm so proud of being part of that show.

'But I'm never actively trying to do different things.

'I wasn't looking for a singing role, it just came along and I was like, 'This is amazing, and this is, of course, what I want to do'.

'It's the only period drama I've done for a long time.

'If I did a period drama that was also in the 1920s, it would look like Lady Mary had walked on to the wrong set.

'I think I tend to be cast in more modern pieces for that reason.'

The 42-year-old's new role involves a lot of singing - something which she said sold the job to her.

When Ms Dockery isn't acting, she sings in band Michael & Michelle which is the band she formed with former Downton colleague Michael Fox, 35.

Speaking on one scene where her character Estella sings in a church, she said: 'When I read the script that was the scene that did it.

She said: 'If I did a period drama that was also in the 1920s, it would look like Lady Mary had walked on to the wrong set'

She then added: 'I think I tend to be cast in more modern pieces for that reason' (seen on the BBC series)

'I thought, 'I'm playing this role'.'

Some fans may be shocked that Ms Dockery related more to Estella than she did Lady Mary.

'I come from Romford in Essex, and I had a similar upbringing,' she said.

'What I love about This Town is the depictions of areas that would have been very grey as bright and beautiful. I'm not from Birmingham, but I really related to those places.

'That was my childhood, too. We didn't have much, but it was colourful. We had a lovely little house and our street was vibrant with the kids playing.

'This Town is that for me, it shows what my childhood looked like.'

There is another, more profound, connection to her childhood - the show's Irishness. Ms Dockery's father Michael is from Athlone in the centre of Ireland.

And when her Irish fiance John Dineen died of cancer in 2015, aged just 34, she sang the Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein standard The Folks Who Live on the Hill at the funeral in Cork.

Now married to Phoebe Waller-Bridge's brother, Jasper, Ms Dockery said he Irish connections sold the role to her.

'I remember in the 1980s hearing on the news about the IRA, it was such a prevalent thing at the time, growing up,' she said.

While she stars in the BBC's new 1980's-set drama This Town, she said any role further back in history is too reminiscent of Lady Mary (seen in This Town)

For the new role she has had to begin a new journey from English rose to alcoholic to play Estella Quinn, a key character who unites the younger and older generations in Steven Knight's eight-part Midlands drama

She was speaking in the Radio Times

'I was aware of it being present because of our Irish connection.

'The Irish are always singing, it's part of life.

'You don't even have to sing in tune, you get up and you sing a song. There's something so beautiful about that.

'Coming from an Irish family, there were all those connections for me.'
Ukraine: Enemy In The Woods

Rating:

The scorched, bomb-blasted Kupyansk forest in east Ukraine resembles the shattered landscape of World War I. So do the trenches and dugouts, with steps dug into the frozen mud.

The shivering soldiers with packs and rifles could be brothers of the men fighting 110 years ago. But Ukraine: Enemy In The Woods (BBC2) showed graphically how one small gadget creates a world of difference: the drone.

A device first adopted by photographers and hobbyists has transformed modern warfare. Drones pose a constant threat to both sides in Ukraine, as airborne spies and flying bombs.

Much of film-maker Jamie Roberts's shocking, gripping documentary was shot from the air. One sequence was taken from the video feed of a drone patrolling a snow-covered path on the edge of the forest, close to a vital railway line.

The scorched, bomb-blasted Kupyansk forest in east Ukraine resembles the shattered landscape of World War I . So do the trenches and dugouts, with steps dug into the frozen mud (pictured: Ukrainian soldiers facing the enemy in the BBC's Ukraine: Enemy in the Woods)

The shivering soldiers with packs and rifles could be brothers of the men fighting 110 years ago. But Ukraine: Enemy In The Woods (BBC2) (pictured) showed graphically how one small gadget creates a world of difference: the drone

Two Russian soldiers emerged from the woods. The drone hovered and dropped its payload of high-explosive shrapnel bombs. Both men were blown to the ground. One stayed motionless, the other limped away. The drone pilot compared it to a morning's fishing, and confessed he found killing Russians addictive. They were less than human to him, he said  more like orcs, the foul-smelling foot soldiers from the books of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Natural Selection of the Night Assessing the wannabes on gameshow The Underdog: Josh Must Win (E4), veteran celeb Vicky Pattison declared, 'This is next-gen reality stars, they've evolved. You know, like how sharks are learning to swim backwards?' Let's face it, humanity is doomed. Advertisement

When we weren't watching from the skies, we were with the men on the ground, looking up and scanning for machines buzzing like deadly insects. Nothing more graphic has been screened on television than this, following the 99 men from Berlingo battalion who were defending 500 metres of the 1,500km (about 930 miles) front line.

They were commanded by a laconic veteran, Vovan, who had nicknames for all his men: Skull, Goblin, Dancer, Guru. Vovan led from the front, charging and killing two Russian soldiers at one point.

Even more distressing was the bodycam footage as he dragged wounded comrades away from the shelling. Only one of the 99 was female, a medic called Natalia. She was a vet, a fact that seemed to delight the men. One chap old enough to be her father grinned as she bandaged him: 'I'm an old man, I will heal like a dog.'

Some of the men admitted to nightmares, but Natalia was the most able to talk about the psychological impact of war. Close to tears, she explained how she coped when comrades were killed, telling herself they'd been transferred to other units.

When we weren't watching from the skies, we were with the men on the ground, looking up and scanning for machines buzzing like deadly insects

The 99 men from Berlingo battalion were commanded by a laconic veteran, Vovan, who had nicknames for all his men: Skull, Goblin, Dancer, Guru. Vovan led from the front, charging and killing two Russian soldiers at one point

Some were still teenagers, but their toughness was unquestionable. So was their patriotism. Courage was the only commodity not in short supply  while the Russians sent badly trained troops to die in waves of thousands, the Ukrainians were holding them back with dwindling supplies of ammunition.

The West owes these men an enormous debt of gratitude, because if they don't keep fighting, we might have to. That seems unthinkable . . . yet remember, most people thought war in Europe was unimaginable in 1914 too.
It has been almost two decades since Steve Irwin's death, but interest in the conservationist remains high.

The TV personality was tragically killed in September, 2006 at the age of 44, when a stingray's barb pierced his chest while filming in the waters off Port Douglas, Queensland.

While footage was of the event was captured, it has never been released to the public. However, many fans online remain convinced they have seen it.

One user recently took to Reddit and claimed they can vividly remember watching the clip as a child.

'I think I may have seen it online, a time where internet restrictions were a little looser and was a little easier for a little boy to come across a tragic video if he really cared about the goings on,' the post read.

It has been almost two decades since Steve Irwin's death and many fans online believe they have seen footage of the tragedy. Pictured: Steve Irwin feeding a crocodile at Australia Zoo

One user recently took to Reddit and claimed that can vividly remember watching the clip: 'I think I may have seen it online, a time where internet restrictions were a little looser,' the post read. Pictured: Steve with wife Terri Irwin

Many commenters in the post agreed that they had seen the same clip and have vivid memories of it.

'I remember seeing the same video however it was on a national news broadcasting but cut off closer to when he was about to get hit by the stingray,' one commenter wrote in response to the Reddit post.

'I remember it being on the news also but a longer version was floating around on the web,' wrote another Redditor.

'Video was him swimming with the rays, then one swims close and video freezes and incident is not shown but text appears,' one more recollected.

Yet another claimed to have seen the fatal blow, writing that in the allegedly televised footage, 'we see the ray's sting pierce Steve's shirt directly under his left pectoral muscle near the sternum.'

The recollection of the video may be due to a phenomenon known as the Mandela Effect.

The Mandela effect is a type of false memory that occurs when a large number of separate people remember the same piece of misinformation.

Yet another claimed to have seen the fatal blow, writing that in the allegedly televised footage, 'we see the ray's sting pierce Steve's shirt'

It takes its name from a widespread false memory that South African president Nelson Mandela died in prison in the 1980s.

However, in the Reddit post's comments another theory emerged involving a fake video.

In 2018, Steve's widow Terri Irwin confirmed that the video of her husband's death has never been released to the public, but that a fabrication had gone viral soon after the tragedy.

However, in the comments to the Reddit post, another theory emerged involving a fake video. In 2018, Steve's widow Terri Irwin confirmed that the video of her husband's death has never been released to the public, but that a fabrication had gone viral soon after the tragedy

'After Steve died, 100 million viewers watched a video of his death that was released on YouTube,' she told You Magazine.

'That film was a complete fabrication exploiting people's sadness. I have never watched the real footage. Why would I?' said Terri.

'I know how my husband died and I was relieved that the children weren't on the boat as they usually would be; it would have been horrendous if they had witnessed it.'

While the video that many fans remember seeing was fake, the tragic death of the 'Wildlife Warrior' was all captured on film due to his production rule to never stop filming no matter what happens.

Copies of the tapes were released to Queensland authorities to help with their investigation, but all of them were destroyed in 2007.

The one remaining copy was given to Terri, who is said to have burned it without viewing the footage.
Paris Hilton shared a series of stunning shots of herself on Instagram on Monday.

'Anything and everything that I could ever wish for,' she captioned the snaps of herself dressed in black and posing in front of a pink wall.

The Simple Life alumna wore a long-sleeved black mock turtleneck covered in rhinestones with an A-line black pleated leather skirt and a black leather belt.

In some of the photos she also wore a black tiara while mugging for the camera.

The mom of two looked fantastic in the images which were taken about a week after she celebrated turning 43.

Paris Hilton shared a series of stunning shots of herself in an all-black goth-chic look on Instagram on Monday

'Anything and everything that I could ever wish for,' she captioned the snaps of herself posing in front of a pink wall

Paris turned 43 on February 17th but celebrated it a month later over the weekend of March 16.

The theme of her bash was 'Sliving'  which was trademarked by the star in 2020 and is a combination of 'slaying' and 'living'  and there was a massive sign of the word hanging on the pink wall.

Her epic birthday bash featured a star-studded guest list including the likes of Heidi Klum, Megan Thee Stallion, Demi Lovato, Tiffany Haddish, Sia, Selma Blair and Bebe Rexha.

Perhaps the most fun Paris had during the entire bash was splashing around in a massive white ball pit with Heidi and Megan.

The trio of ladies laid in the balls, danced and even shared a few smooches while posing for the cameras.

After the party, the mother of Phoenix, one, and London, four months, shared some quality time with her children and husband Carter Reum, 43.

'Nothing better than days spent with my family at home ,' she captioned the set of images.

The party and cozy family time were a nice respite from the family feud Paris has lately found herself in the middle of.

Paris recently blasted her uncle Mauricio Umansky for publicly discussing a family feud that erupted years ago because of business.

The Simple Life alum wore a long-sleeved black mock turtleneck covered in rhinestones with an A-line black pleated leather skirt and a black leather belt

The mother-of-two looked fantastic in the images which were taken about a week after she celebrated turning 43

In some of the photos she also wore a black tiara while mugging for the camera

Paris turned 43 on February 17th but celebrated it a month later over the weekend of March 16

The theme of her bash was 'Sliving'  which was trademarked by the star in 2020 and is a combination of 'slaying' and 'living'

There was a massive sign of Sliving hanging on the pink wall

Her epic birthday bash featured a star-studded guest list including the likes of Heidi Klum, Megan Thee Stallion, Demi Lovato, Tiffany Haddish, Sia, Selma Blair and Bebe Rexha

Recently, Paris blasted her uncle Mauricio Umansky for publicly discussing a family feud that erupted years ago because of business

On his new Netflix series Buying Beverly Hills, Mauricio spilled the story of how he left Hilton & Hyland in 2011 to launch a rival agency, triggering an explosive rift between his now-estranged wife Kyle Richards and her family, to the point the Hiltons stopped speaking to her.

Now Paris has leapt into the fray, denouncing Mauricio for 'using the Hilton name every chance he gets to plug his lame show.'

'My father is a consummate gentleman and has always taken the higher road,' she wrote on Instagram.

'He would never speak negatively about his family  especially in the press. Frankly we are all sick of him using the Hilton name every chance he gets to plug his lame show. It is enough already.'
Married At First Sight's Sara Mesa is searching for love again following her split with TV husband Tim Calwell.

Daily Mail Australia can reveal that the 30-year-old nutritionist has been spotted on popular dating app, Hinge, just weeks after it was revealed she and Tim don't go the distance.

According to her profile, the Sydney-based bride is searching for someone who 'can take the bad'.

Photos shared to her profile show Sara showcasing her lavish lifestyle while dining at restaurants and bars.

The profile appears to have been recently created.

Married At First Sight's Sara Mesa is searching for love again following her split with TV husband Tim Calwell

Sara was recently embroiled in an alleged 'cheating' scandal when her co-star and former best friend Eden Harper revealed that she had met up with her ex-boyfriend behind her groom's back.

It comes after Sara opened up about the aftermath of her infamous cheating scandal, detailing the emotional turmoil and public backlash she's faced.

The controversy blew up after Eden revealed text messages between herself and Sara, in which she disclosed her the meet-up with her ex-boyfriend.

Daily Mail Australia can reveal that the 30-year-old nutritionist has been spotted on popular dating app, Hinge, just weeks after it was revealed her and Tim don't last the distance

Photos shared to her profile show Sara showcasing her lavish lifestyle while dining at restaurants and bars

'Watching it all back has been really rough,' Sara told Daily Mail Australia of the huge backlash.

The Sydney-based nutritionist admitted that reliving her experience has prompted her to confront aspects of her behaviour she's not proud of.

She said: 'It's made me feel really sad, especially for the way that I've treated Tim. I have so many regrets... It's like putting up a mirror to a lot of the things that I need to work on myself, and in relationships.'

Photos shared to her profile show Sara showcasing her bikini body and lavish lifestyle

She admitted she was ready to 'leave the experiment' after the bombshell claims came to light, describing it as a 'super emotional and stressful week'.

'I knew that Tim and I weren't gonna be able to work on our relationship when everyone was down our throats about it,' she added.

The struggles were made worse during Feedback Week, during a task that involved a relentless line of questioning from Eden and her partner Jayden Eynaud.

Sara was recently embroiled in an alleged 'cheating' scandal when her co-star and friend Eden Harper revealed that she had met up with her ex-boyfriend behind groom Tim Calwell's back

Reflecting on her actions, Sara expresses remorse and the desire to have handled things differently, saying she would tell Tim about the meet-up if she could go back.

Lauren also recently weighed in on the controversy surrounding Sara's rendezvous with her ex-boyfriend and how it impacted their mutual friend Eden.

'I did know about Sara meeting up with the ex, Eden knew, I knew that nothing happened and it was honestly a non issue,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

Sara recently opened up about the aftermath of her infamous cheating scandal, detailing the emotional turmoil and public backlash she's faced

'However, I can say in hindsight that it was very hurtful to Tim to find out the way he found out, because lying about something makes someone feel like there's something to hide.'

Lauren also shared the advice she offered Sara during the couple's tumultuous time.

'I did say to Sara you should just tell him who cares? And her concerns was that he'd been cheated on in the past and it would make him think that something was going on that wasn't,' she added.

'So I can see both sides, but obviously seeing how hurt Tim was on the screen was hard to watch.'

Reflecting on the aftermath, Lauren noted: 'Sara and I have discussed this and she definitely knows now that what she did was wrong and it just created more problems than would have been created if she just told him the truth.'

Lauren also expressed her discomfort with how the situation was handled, particularly by Eden, who was caught between a rock and a hard place.

Lauren also recently weighed in on the controversy surrounding Sara's rendezvous with her ex-boyfriend and how it impacted Eden, who she is still friends with

'I really don't feel like she really wanted to do it in that way and I think that's what was making her so anxious at the retreat,' Lauren said.

Despite the scandal, Lauren made it clear her relationship with Eden remains intact.

'Eden and I definitely had a friendship, and we continue to have a friendship,' she revealed.

'It definitely didn't ruin the friendship. I was just disappointed with how it was it came out,' she affirmed, showing support for her friend amidst the backlash.
One of H-E-B's prime locations along the booming I-35 corridor has been anticipating renovations since November 2023. Newly revealed is a True Texas BBQ location being planned, which will go to the City of Kyle's Planning and Zoning Commission on Tuesday, March 26, for approval.

The roughly 32,529-square-foot expansion for the H-E-B will also include the reconfiguring of the curbside pick-up area, according to a commission presentation. The proposed renderings show the addition of the True Texas BBQ, along with updates to the store.

H-E-B plus! proposed rendering for the Kyle location. City of Kyle/pb2 architecture + engineering

H-E-B is requesting a conditional use permit (CUP) for building materials within the I-35 overlay zoning district. The I-35 overlay zoning district has specific requirements for building materials like certain brick and color schemes, the city presentation noted.

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The city staff recommended approval of the permit with certain stipulations, the city memo reads. Those conditions include a sidewalk and trees along the property's boundaries adjacent to the right of way and trees added to the curb side parking areas.

The H-E-B plus! is located at 5401 Farm to Market 1626, Kyle, TX 78640.

H-E-B filed plans for the renovations to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation in November 2023, according to a MySA report. The renovations are expected to be roughly $28 million with an expected start date of the construction on April 22. The store is aiming to be completed by November 29, 2025.

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Heidi Klum flashed her radiant smile on Monday as she headed to work on the set of America's Got Talent.

The 50-year-old German supermodel  who stepped out in a monochrome look last week  wore oversize black sunglasses and carried a bouquet wrapped in red paper.

The fashionista donned a sexy, black slip dress from alice + olivia which boasted a white lace embroidery at the neckline and along the hem.

It had a thigh-high slit and Heidi stylishly added sleek, black, leather over-the-knee boots with a stiletto heel.

She was joined on the Pasadena set by her costars Sofia Vergara, 51, and Howie Mandel, 68.

Heidi Klum flashed her radiant smile on Monday as she headed to work on the set of America's Got Talent

The 50-year-old German supermodel wore oversize black sunglasses and carried a bouquet wrapped in red paper

Klum's slinky dress was topped with a black blazer.

She carried a chic black leather handbag and flaunted a long robin's egg blue manicure.

The German-bred star's famous frosty blonde hair was blown out into her signature shag.

The tresses were complete with layered, face-framing curtain bangs as they flowed down her back and over her chest.

Sofia arrived to work carrying a tiny puppy wrapped cozily in a blanket.

She was dressed down in jeans, a crew neck sweatshirt and black slides.

Mandel appeared in great spirits as he rocked a stylish blue jacket with an olive green collar and pockets.

It was layered over a black T-shirt, and he rounded out the outfit with black cargo pants and white sneakers.

The fashionista donned a sexy, black slip dress with white lace embroidery at the neckline and along the hem

She was joined on the Pasadena set by costar Howie Mandel

Vergara took to Instagram on Monday to share a glimpse at set life on the long-running competition series.

Sharing with her 34.8 million followers, she captioned the post: 'Back for day 7!!'

One image showed a closeup of her face as Heidi smiled and posed with two peace signs in the background.

It follows her multiple posts from last week, as the crew began filming the latest season of the show.

In an earlier post, she wrote: 'Day 4 of @agt auditions!!'

Plugging her skincare line Toty, the entrepreneur added, '@toty touch up!' as the first image of the carousel showed her holding a makeup compact.

The AGT judge looked glamorous as she sat at in front of the studio audience with a clear makeup bag set near her.

Co-judge Sofia Vergara was also spotted arriving to work

The Colombian siren held a tiny puppy wrapped in a blanket

Vergara took to Instagram to share a behind-the-scenes photo

She used the caption, 'I luv u @agt ,' in a separate post shared a day earlier.

The fashionista was clad in a textured, black, strapless corset with vertical nude panels across it.

The media fixture stunned in a face of natural-looking matte cosmetics that highlighted her features.

Her sandy tresses were ironed bone straight and arranged in a deep and precise center part as a stylist tended to her.
Married At First Sight's golden couple Jayden Eynaud and Eden Harper are in hot water with Channel Nine after enjoying a date night in Sydney.

Despite producers reportedly not wanting the cast to talk to or be seen with any former participants, Daily Mail Australia can reveal that Jayden and Eden lied to producers and spent an evening with Melinda Willis, Alyssa Barmonde and Tahnee Cook.

Jayden, 26, and Eden, 28, were pictured arriving at Sydney's Cargo Bar hand-in-hand.

Daily Mail Australia understands Eden originally reached out to Tahnee, who appeared on the dating show last year, for advice and the pair struck up a friendship.

The couple were joined by Shark Tank judge and Showpo founder Jane Lu.

Married At First Sight's golden couple Jayden Eynaud and Eden Harper are in hot water with Channel Nine after enjoying a date night in Sydney

Despite producers reportedly not wanting the cast to talk to or be seen with any former participants, Daily Mail Australia can reveal that Jayden and Eden lied to producers and spent an evening with Melinda Willis , Alyssa Barmonde and Tahnee Cook

Jayden and Eden spent several hours chatting about their time on the show, before the couple received texts from crew members asking for their whereabouts.

They eventually made their way back to Skye Suites, Greensquare.

The couple had broken their weekend curfew of 10pm and didn't get back to their hotel until way past 11pm.

'Producers were screaming at them but it was the end of the road and there was nothing anything anybody could do about it,' an insider said.

Jayden, 26, and Eden, 28, were pictured arriving at Sydney's Cargo Bar hand-in-hand

The couple were joined by Shark Tank judge and Showpo founder Jane Lu (right)

The MAFS 2024 cast are said to be the 'worst behaved cast to date' - or so they've been told - and were scolded by producers on a number of occasions.

After filming previous seasons at Skye Suites on Kent Street in Sydney's CBD, producers moved the cast to Green Square - the posh neighbourhood just a quick 10-minute dash from the airport.

According to whispers around the set, relocating was the producer's desperate attempt to keep the stars of the show from going AWOL.

Jayden and Eden spent several hours chatting about their time on the show, before the couple received several texts from crew members asking for their whereabouts

The couple had broken their weekend curfew of 10pm and didn't get back to their hotel until way past 11pm

'Last year was just a mess,' said one spy.

'Some cast members slipped out the fire escape and didn't return until the birds chirped at sunrise - they wanted to put a stop to that.'

But despite crew going to extreme efforts to tame the cast, this year's cast proved to be a nightmare for all involved.

Married At First Sight continues on Sunday at 7pm on Channel Nine.
Abbie Chatfield has confirmed she is in a new relationship.

The 28-year-old TV and radio star shed 'happy tears' as she discussed her latest beau on her It's A Lot podcast.

A source confirmed to Daily Mail Australia she is dating Adam Hyde, one half of Aussie DJ duo Peking Duk.

The pair attended the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne over the weekend and cuddled up and danced in a video she posted on Instagram.

Abbie spent most of the two-part episode of her podcast talking about her new romance, and revealed she has been friends with Hyde for some time.

Abbie Chatfield has confirmed she is in a new relationship. The 28-year-old TV and radio star shed 'happy tears' as she discussed her latest beau on her It's A Lot podcast

'It's actually the most important thing thats happened to me, dating-wise,' she said.

'I cry every day because of how happy I am.'

The former Bachelor star paid a loving tribute to Hyde, telling listeners he was emotionally intelligent and supportive.

She also added he was 'hot, sexy and funny'.

Abbie, who is known for her outspoken comments about her previous unhappy dating experiences, said her new relationship was the first time she felt 'safe'.

A source confirmed to Daily Mail Australia she is dating Adam Hyde, one half of Aussie DJ duo Peking Duk

'He makes me so much happier and more calm in every aspect of the world,' she said.

'Hes made me like see myself again. I've always wanted someone as fun as my friends.'

She also confirmed the pair are in a 'monogamous relationship' after she experimented with open relationships in the past.

The pair attended the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne over the weekend and cuddled up and danced in a video she posted on Instagram

Adam is pictured here with the other half of Peking Duk, Reuben Styles

'I am really not in a position to be in an open relationship right now because of how traumatised my brain is,' she said.

'I need to feel like fully focused on. I was really scared to tell him because I was thinking he would want to be open, and open only. I think monogamy is going to happen until, like, a few more months.'

Abbie's announcement comes after her highly publicised split with ex-boyfriend Konrad Bien-Stephen in 2022.

She took to Instagram at the time to reveal their breakup had nothing to do with their open relationship status.

Admitting she felt 'anxious' about releasing a statement, she said she probably won't share her relationship publicly again.

Hyde, 33, is one half of musical duo Peking Duck.

He formed the electro-pop group with his friend Reuben Styles in Canberra in 2010. The pair scored an ARIA hit in 2014 with their tune High.

Abbie's announcement comes after her highly publicised split with ex-boyfriend Konrad Bien-Stephen in 2022 (both pictured here)

By 2022 their music had amassed 445 million streams worldwide.

The pair also have had a number of business side hustles to their music career.

They were co-owners of a Melbourne bar from 2018 to 2020, and later established a strong business profile for themselves selling branded clothing and other merchandise.
Sean 'Diddy' Combs' private jet has been tracked to the Caribbean island of Antigua, just as his homes in Los Angeles and Miami were raided.

The 54-year-old rapper's personal LoveAir LLC Gulfstream 5 jet that he has owned and used for years is currently on the ground on the island, via TMZ.

There is no indication yet if Diddy himself was on board the aircraft, when it took off from the Van Nuys Airport in Los Angeles at 9 AM on Monday.

Diddy was later spotted around 3 PM PT Monday at the Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport, just a few hours after the raids started.

The rapper and music mogul was seen pacing around the Customs office at the airport, though he was not being detained in any fashion.

Sean 'Diddy' Combs' private jet (pictured circa 2013) has been tracked to the Caribbean island of Antigua, just as his homes in Los Angeles and Miami were raided

The 54-year-old rapper's personal LoveAir LLC Gulfstream 5 jet that he has owned and used for years is currently on the ground on the island, via TMZ

It's unknown when the jet landed in Antigua, though it appeared that the jet took off hours before both the rapper's homes in L.A. and Miami were raided

The raids - conducted by Homeland Security - were in connection to an ongoing sex trafficking investigation

He was reportedly waiting on others in his party, who were being questioned by federal officials.

Diddy was said to be boarding a separate private jet in Opa Locka on Monday when the feds arrived.

He was said to be never cuffed or taken into custody, and, despite his other plane heading to Antigua, Diddy is not said to be on the run at all.

The private plane has had a busy few days, with stops in various locales across California.

It's unknown when the jet landed in Antigua, though it appeared that the jet took off hours before both the rapper's homes in L.A. and Miami were raided.

The raids - conducted by Homeland Security - were in connection to an ongoing sex trafficking investigation.

The jet took off from Sacramento Executive Airport on Sunday evening at approximately 5:30 PM and landed in Palm Springs, California roughly an hour later.

Just one hour after landing in Palm Springs - at 7:30 PM - the plane took off again, landing at the Van Nuys Airport a half hour later at roughly 8 PM.

Then at 9 AM on Monday morning, the plane took off from Van Nuys, though it isn't clear yet when it landed in Antigua.

While the plane is grounded in Antigua, the flight data has yet to register him as officially landing yet.

Hours after the plane took off from Van Nuys Airport, federal agents descended upon Diddy's estates in Los Angeles and Miami.

At least two men were seen put in handcuffs during the Los Angeles raid, which some reports have claimed were Combs' own sons, King, 25, and Justin, 30, though that has yet to be confirmed.

A spokesperson for Homeland Security Investigations told DailyMail.com in a 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.'

The private plane has had a busy few days, with stops in various locales across California

The jet took off from Sacramento Executive Airport on Sunday evening at approximately 5:30 PM and landed in Palm Springs, California roughly an hour later

While the plane is grounded in Antigua, the flight data has yet to register him as officially landing yet

Hours after the plane took off from Van Nuys Airport, federal agents descended upon Diddy's estates in Los Angeles and Miami

'We will provide further information as it becomes available,' the statement concluded, while DailyMail.com has contacted representatives for Diddy for comment.

The outing comes just weeks after one of Diddy's accusers in a sexual assault lawsuit was ordered to reveal her identity.

The rapper and music mogul has been fighting various legal battles, including one against an unnamed woman who claimed he and two friends sexually assaulted her when she was 17.

Rolling Stone reported Monday that 'four Jane Does and one John Doe' have already been interviewed by the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York 'for a probe related to alleged sex trafficking, domestic violence and racketeering,' with more scheduled

While the woman's identity has yet to be revealed in the lawsuit, a judge just ruled she would no longer be able to stay anonymous if the suit proceeds.

Diddy has filed a motion to have the woman's case thrown out, and she will reportedly remain anonymous until the judge rules on that motion.

The accuser was the fourth woman to accuse Diddy of sexual assault in quick succession last year after his ex, the singer Cassie, sued him in November 2023.
Married At First Sight's Timothy Smith has defended fellow groom Jono McCullough amid the bombshell cheating revelations from Monday night's episode.

Jono's wife Lauren was heartbroken when she found out her groom was secretly texting fellow bride Ellie Dix on Sunday night.

Monday's dramatic episode saw Lauren, 32, demand to see Jono's iPhone, only to discover he had texted bride Ellie, 32, at least a hundred times after she left the experiment.

However on Tuesday's Bronte & Lakey for Breakfast, fellow groom Timothy defended Jono, claiming keeping in touch with other people in the experiment is not unusual.

'I'm going to give you a bit of tea. I read all those messages, he didn't delete any of the messages,' Timothy began.

Married At First Sight's Timothy Smith (pictured) has defended fellow groom Jono McCullough after the bombshell cheating revelations from Monday night's episode

Monday's dramatic episode saw Lauren, 32, demand to see Jono's iPhone, only to discover he had texted bride Ellie, 32, hundreds of times after she left the experiment. Pictured: Jono McCullough

'In all respect, he called me, I called Ellie, I called Stephen, when people go off the show, they want to stay in touch. You went through all this trauma together, that's how you bond. So look, I'm going to defend it a little bit,' he said.

'But I'll tell you what's actually really got me fired up, was old hair bun dude Jacky boy and Tori. If I never have to see another nipple at a dinner party, it will be too soon,' the 51-year-old business owner joked.

On Monday's episode, Jono finally finally admitted he had secretly been texting Ellie - but attempted to downplay their relationship as just platonic.

On Tuesday's Bronte & Lakey for Breakfast, fellow groom Timothy defended Jono, who claimed that keeping in touch with other people in the experiment is not unusual: 'when people go off the show, they want to stay in touch. You went through all this trauma together,' he said

'But I'll tell you what's actually really got me fired up, was old hair bun dude Jacky boy and Tori. If I never have to see another nipple at a dinner party, it will be too soon,' Timothy joked. Pictured: Tori Adams and Jack Dunkley

'It's humiliating, there are a lot of messages, it's constant. And there's no, "How's Lauren?" like not once, my name was literally not mentioned. Why wouldn't you mention your wife one time out of 100 messages?'

Jono told Lauren he couldn't remember the content of the messages he exchanged with Ellie - which made Lauren even more upset.

'Maybe, I don't know, I don't remember messages I sent over seven weeks ago,' Jono shot back.

Lauren then became furious over the personal nature of the texts exchanged and questioned why Jono was so comfortable discussing his upcoming 40th birthday with Ellie.

Tensions came to a head during Monday night's episode of Married At First Sight when Lauren Dunn (left) finally confronted husband Jono about texting fellow bride Ellie Dix

Lauren's heart was shattered when she found out her groom was secretly texting Ellie on Sunday night

Monday's dramatic episode saw Lauren, 32, demand to see Jono's iPhone, only to discover he had texted bride Ellie (pictured) hundreds of times after she left the experiment

'I would describe the relationship between Jono and Ellie as inappropriate. Did he mention to her when I was in hospital having surgery? What a piece of s**t,' an irate Lauren later told the camera.

Unfortunately, their confrontation was not resolved, as Jono abruptly ended the discussion by leaving to buy food.

The saga played out on screen after Daily Mail Australia reported the experiment was set to be rocked by a scandal involving Ellie and Jono.

Ellie and Jono are reportedly set to announce their relationship during the show's reunion.

Their clandestine affair allegedly began with the secret text messages exchanged during the filming of the show after Ellie ended things with partner Ben.

Married At First Sight returns on Channel Nine on Sunday night at 7:30
Elle Fanning said farewell to her long blonde tresses as she confidently debuted a striking new bob haircut in a series of new Instagram selfies on Monday afternoon.

After allowing celebrity hairstylist, Jenda Alcorn, to chop off her gorgeous mane, the actress, 25, oozed confidence as she unveiled her cheekbone-skimming locks.

In her latest slideshow, the Emmy nominee posed in her living room in a tiny white tank top and striped bottoms before indulging in some retail therapy.

The younger sister of Dakota Fanning showcased her natural beauty as she bared her cute freckles, speckled across the bridge of her nose and cheeks, under minimal makeup.

Elle Fanning said farewell to her long blonde tresses as she confidently debuted a striking new bob haircut in a series of new Instagram selfies on Monday afternoon

The Great star pictured with her trademark long hair (pictured in October)

Within three hours, she received more than 109,429 others likes, including one from Camila Cabello, and thousands of comments complimenting her new look.

Under the post, supermodel Elsa Hosk wrote: 'Obsessed '

'CHIC,' Ariana DeBose commented, while Yara Shahidi dropped a single heart-eyes emoji.

Elle made it clear to her 6.3 million Instagram followers that she was pleased with the look as she called Alcorn 'the hair master' for getting her cut just right.

After making the reveal, she gushed that she was going on a 'shopping spree' to celebrate her new hair.

In August, news broke that her satirical period series, The Great, was canceled at Hulu after three seasons.

For her role as Empress Catherine II, based on Catherine the Great, she earned three Golden Globe nominations as well as one at the Emmys.

The show, which first premiered in 2020, was set in 18th century and starred Nicholas Hoult as her husband Peter III of Russia.

After allowing celebrity hairstylist, Jenda Alcorn, to chop off her gorgeous mane, the actress, 25, oozed confidence as she unveiled her cheekbone-skimming locks

In her latest slideshow, the two-time Golden Globe nominee posed in her living room in a tiny white tank top and striped bottoms before indulging in some retail therapy

Elle made it clear to her 6.3 million Instagram followers that she was pleased with the look as she called Alcorn 'the hair master' for getting her cut just right

After making the reveal, she revealed she was going on a 'shopping spree' to celebrate her new hair

In December, she made her Broadway debut in the darkly comic family drama, Appropriate, alongside Natalie Gold, Alyssa Emily Marvin, Sarah Paulson and Corey Stoll.

The story follows the Lafayettes as they return to their late patriarch's Arkansas home to deal with the remains of his estate.

Toni, played by Paulson, is the eldest daughter, who wants to remember and honor their late father.

Bo, played by Stoll, is her younger brother, who hopes to recoup the money he spent while caring for their ailing father.

Their estranged brother, Franz, also makes his appearance, which throws all of the siblings' plans into disarray.

In August, news broke that her satirical period series, The Great, for which she earned three Golden Globe nominations, was canceled at Hulu after three seasons

In December, she made her Broadway debut in the darkly comic family drama, Appropriate, alongside Natalie Gold, Alyssa Emily Marvin, Sarah Paulson and Corey Stoll (pictured above with Paulson in November 2023)

And while closing out the estate, they discover some disturbing artifacts that force them to confront their family's past.

At the time, she revealed during an appearance on LIVE with Kelly and Mark that the cast and crew had already taught her so much.

She explained how they made sure she knew about all of the little theater etiquette things as they rehearsed and ahead of opening night.

She also talked about how she is adapting well to living in New York City despite being a self-dubbed California girl at heart.

'I still don't drive,' she admitted was why she became quickly accommodated to walking everywhere.

'I need to get on that,' the Emmy nominee laughed. '[But] I have my license.'
Whitney Port set temperatures soaring with a slew of bikini snaps from her Hawaii getaway.

The 38-year-old former reality star - who recently claimed she felt 'pressured' to lose weight for The Hills - took to her Instagram on Monday to give her fans a peek at her tropical vacation with an incredible photo carousal.

Flaunting her sculpted physique in a tiny red two-piece, the American beauty elevated her look with a chic matching floral print skirt as she posed in a lounger chair.

She exuded magazine-cover glamour in a separate pic, sporting a white bandeau top paired with barely-there denim shorts, as she captioned the set: 'Watch out Hawaii spring break has begunnnnnnnnn.'

The sizzling snaps come after Whitney recently admitted she had a 'secret' she wanted to tell her now-husband at the time of their engagement.

Whitney Port, 38, set temperatures soaring with a slew of bikini snaps from her Hawaii getaway

The Hills alum took to her Instagram on Monday to give her fans a peek at her tropical vacation with an incredible photo carousal

She revealed she had a mounting financial debt when Tim Rosenman popped the question back in 2013 during ab episode of Money Rehab podcast.

'When I got engaged, I remember having, like, a $35,000 credit card bill,' she said, adding she felt 'ashamed' of the 'secret'.

'I had known about it for a while and I was letting it rack up and was just paying, essentially, the interest each month'.

Whitney, who met Tim on set of The City, said she knew she had to have a clean slate with her future husband and spilled the beans to him one night shortly after the engagement.

'I told him one night, and he was definitely shocked but he was like, "Well figure it out,"' she recalled.

'I remember at the time, luckily, being able to pay it off quickly.'

The actress said she fell under financial duress from not saving money while on reality TV.

'I spent a lot, and I think that that became this behavior of mine that Ive tried to quell as Ive gotten older,' she added.

Flaunting her sculpted physique in a tiny red two-piece, the American beauty elevated her look with a chic matching floral print skirt as she posed in a lounger chair

She exuded magazine-cover glamour in a separate pic, sporting a white bandeau top paired with barely-there denim shorts

She also shared a romantic snap with her husband Tim Rosenman

Another photo showed some delicious beverages she was enjoying

She continued to share snaps from her lavish vacation

She also posted a snap of her splendid hotel room

The cute couple have been married since November 2015 and welcomed son Sonny two years later.

The debt reveal comes after Whitney said she felt a 'pressure' to be thin when she became famous on The Hills.

The star had just finished high school when she started filming The Hills and explained that she initially thought she was 'so much bigger' than her female co-stars.

While her sudden rise to fame 'affected' her relationship with food, she said she had been 'taking steps' to resolve things.

Asked if she felt a pressure to be thin when she starred on the show, she told UsWeekly: 'Definitely. When I started filming The Hills, I was coming off of my freshman year of college, where I'd gained a ton of weight.

'And then I saw myself on screen and was like, "Oh my God, I'm so much bigger than all the other girls on the show.'

'I think it was the first thing that started affecting my relationship with food. [Later] I was always able to maintain [my weight] because I felt like I was in a healthy spot. It's just this past year stuff caught up with me.

The former reality star revealed she had a mounting financial debt when Tim popped the question back in 2013; seen in 2015

'When I got engaged, I remember having, like, a $35,000 credit card bill,' she said, adding she felt 'ashamed' of the 'secret'

'I told him one night, and he was definitely shocked but he was like, "Well figure it out,"' she recalled

The cute couple have been married since November 2015 and welcomed son Sonny two years later

'I've [been meeting] with a nutritionist, and now I'm digging into what my actual issues are. What I've realized is that they're entirely environmental. I lost my dad 10 years ago. I've been on an infertility journey of five years, and there was just so much sadness and loss.'

Whitney has struggled with her mental health over the years, but Whitney feels she's in a much better place now.

She told E! News: 'I think I'm growing up - I'm almost 40.

'I took charge and I'm continuing. I'm a work in progress like everyone, but I definitely am doing the things that I set out to do that make me happy and make me feel my best.'
They set dating rumors flying after posing together in a fun St. Patrick's Day post earlier this month.

And now Paul Mescal and Ayo Edebiri are again the source of social media rumors after fans began speculating that they might star together in a romantic comedy adapted from an Emily Henry novel.

And now the author is fueling fan hopes by weighing in on the possibility of the buzzy actors, who are both 28, joining forces to bring one of her novels to life.

'I cant confirm or deny anything with casting for any movie,' she told Variety.

'I will say that those are two of my favorite "Irish" actors,' King added, referencing an online joke that Edebiri, who was born in the US to Barbadian and Nigerian parents, is Irish.

Rumors have been flying on social media that Paul Mescal and Ayo Edebiri (pictured March 4 in Santa Monica) might star in a rom-com adaptation of an Emily Henry novel in recent days

Henry told Variety she 'can't confirm or deny' if a film is in the works, though she admitted that the stars could lead any of her three film adaptations currently in the works

However, it didn't appear to be the first time that Henry had considered Mescal and Edebiri as potential stars of an adaptation of one of her novels.

When asked if the two stars would be strong leads for potential adaptations, she answered, 'I do. I think that they would be amazing.

'I actually saw them being discussed [online] for several different roles  and I definitely have a favorite,' Henry admitted. 'But its fun, because different adaptations would either have one of them playing to type, or one of those adaptations would have them both playing to type, and one of them would have them both playing against type.

'Its an interesting thing. I mean, theyre great, they could do anything,' she added.

Although finalized screenplays for adaptations of her novels Beach Read, People We Meet On Vacation and Book Lovers have reportedly not been completed yet, she said she hopes that 'therell be stuff to talk about really soon.'

The rumors that the Aftersun star and the Bear actress might work together on an Emily Henry adaptation appear to have spread after the author and others connected to her work shared the photo of the two hanging out on St. Patrick's Day.

Henry shared the photo after Edebiri originally posted it, and then the screenwriter Yulin Kuang also reposted it.

Kuang is currently at work writing an adaptation of People We Meet On Vacation, and she is also set to write and direct a version of Beach Read.

Fans became convinced of the rumored project after Henry and Yulin Kuang, who is adapting two of her novels for the screen, both reposted a photo of Mescal and Edebiri hanging out on St. Patrick's Day

Despite the lack of confirmation, fans couldn't contain their excitement on X (formerly Twitter)

Another person joked that the stars appearing in a Beach Read adaptation would 'ACTUALLY save lives (mine)'

Another user joked that they were 're-reading all my Emily Henry books' in preparation for a possible adaption with Mescal and Edebiri

One fan was convinced that Mescal would be perfect as the character Gus in Henry's Beach Read

Others thought Henry's lack of confirmation was just a smoke screen

Fans also became convinced that the two might star in an adaptation of Henry's Book Lovers for somewhat more tangential reasons, as Tango, a studio that produced Mescal's Oscar-nominated drama Aftersun, is also producing an upcoming film from the novel.

Fans were also primed to expect a collaboration from the acclaimed actors after Mescal told Awards Watch in November 2023 that he gave himself the 'challenge to do maybe like a rom-com with Ayo.'

Despite the lack of confirmation, fans couldn't contain their excitement on X (formerly Twitter).

'Paul Mescal in an Emily Henry adaptation would literally save my life,' one person gushed.

Another person joked that the stars appearing in a Beach Read adaptation would 'ACTUALLY save lives (mine).'

Another user joked that they were 're-reading all my Emily Henry books' in preparation for a possible adaption with Mescal and Edebiri.

One fan was convinced that Mescal would be perfect as the character Gus in Henry's Beach Read.

However, not all X users were on board with the project, with one person sarcastically saying that Henry's novels weren't prestigious enough for the acclaimed stars.

'Yes emmy winner ayo edebiri and oscar nominee paul mescal will of course be in an adaptation of an emily henry book, the prestige vehicle they've been searching for,' read one sarcastic post.

Another person referenced jokes about Edebiri's Irish heritage while praying that she would be saved from the romance novelist's work.

However, not all X users were on board with the project, with one person sarcastically saying that Henry's novels weren't prestigious enough for the acclaimed stars

Another person referenced jokes about Edebiri being 'Irish' while praying that she would be saved from 'an emily henry romcom'

Edebiri is currently at work filming season three of The Bear with her costar Jeremy Allen White; seen January 15 in LA

'Dear irish catholic jesus please protect ayo edebiri from an emily henry romcom,' they wrote.

Edebiri is currently at work filming season three of The Bear with her costar Jeremy Allen White.

Despite the dating rumors that spread after her St. Patrick's Day photo with Mescal, a source told People that the two are 'just friends.'

She has most recently been linked to the writer and actor Colin Burgess, though they have kept their relationship under the radar.
Married At First Sight's Lauren Dunn has finally spoken out about her husband's affair with fellow bride Ellie Dix.

Speaking exclusively to Daily Mail Australia, Lauren, 32, shared her candid reflections on their time together and her feelings towards the pair's newfound connection.

In a surprising moment of grace and understanding, Lauren expressed genuine happiness for Jono and Ellie.

'I could not be happier for Jono. Me and him were forced to be together, we didn't choose each other, and we gave it our absolute all,' Lauren stated.

'I honestly I could not be happier that they found love, because Jono and I weren't in love.'

Married At First Sight's Lauren Dunn has finally spoken out about her husband's affair with fellow bride Ellie Dix

Speaking exclusively to Daily Mail Australia, Lauren, 32, shared her candid reflections on their time together and her feelings towards the pair's newfound connection

She continued: 'We didn't have that and they are great together. I couldn't [root for] them harder, to be honest.'

Lauren detailed the rollercoaster nature of their relationship, marked by fleeting highs and enduring lows.

'It was difficult because we'd have a really good week, a really shitty week, and it would take us to point one,' she explained.

'I could not be happier for Jono. Me and him were forced to be together, we didn't choose each other, and we gave it our absolute all,' Lauren stated

The Perth homestay experience, which momentarily seemed to improve their dynamic, ultimately complicated Lauren's feelings when Jono's messaging with Ellie came to light.

'We did have a really good homestay and we were obviously intimate and so I put a spanner in the works and made this situation a little bit harder for me to swallow than if we had have just been in a consistently bad spot,' she reflected.

Watching the experiment unfold on television brought back a flood of emotions for Lauren, yet she affirmed her current state of contentment and gratitude.

Lauren detailed the rollercoaster nature of their relationship, marked by fleeting highs and enduring lows. 'It was difficult because we'd have a really good week, a really shitty week, and it would take us to point one,' she explained

'It's surreal to watch it all back... I'm really at peace, and I am really happy, I'm genuinely happy for all the couples that have found love and really good friendships. I'm so thankful and happy that I did this experiment.'

During the emotionally charged commitment ceremony, where the texting bombshell was revealed, Lauren clarified her reaction was not solely about Jono's interaction with Ellie but was influenced by her past.

'It just triggered like old things that have happened in the past. So I was really emotional about it,' she said.

During the emotionally charged commitment ceremony, where the texting bombshell was revealed, Lauren clarified her reaction was not solely about Jono's interaction with Ellie but was influenced by her past

Despite initially believing there was nothing concerning about the messages, one detail stood out to her.

'The one thing I found that was a major red flag for me was that I wasn't mentioned once,' Lauren disclosed, casting doubt on the innocuous nature of the texts.

Lauren expressed skepticism about the potential longevity of her relationship with Jono, irrespective of the texting scandal.

'I don't think things would have been any better if that didn't come out, because we were talking about a few weekends we'd had, and it'd been consistently good for us, and that's just not gonna last in the real world,' she shared.
Cillian Murphy has landed another thrilling role following his Oscar win earlier this month for portraying famed physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer.

On Monday, it was announced that the 47-year-old Irish actor will star and produce the upcoming film Blood Runs Coal.

The movie, based on the book Blood Runs Coal: The Yablonski Murders and the Battle for the United Mine Workers of America by Mark A. Bradley, is set in the late 1960s in the coal mines of Pennsylvania, according to Deadline.

It will follow 'one of the most infamous crimes in the history of organized labor' and chronicle the life of a coal miner, Jock Yablonski, 'who advocated for better working conditions with the United Mine Workers after a mine explosion killed his father.'

Cillian Murphy is set to star in his first film since earning an Oscar for portraying famed physicist J Robert Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer; seen on March 10, 2024

Ultimately, Yablonski was killed by Tony Boyle, who was convicted of conspiracy in the 1969 murder of Yablonski and his wife and daughter.

Murphy has been cast as Jocks surviving son, Chip Yablonski, that 'made it his life mission to get justice for his father.'

Jez Butterworth and his brother John-Henry Butterworth, who have co-written several screenplays together, including Edge of Tomorrow (2014) and Ford v Ferrari (2019), penned the script.

Earlier this week, news broke that Murphy would be returning for the highly-anticipated Peaky Blinders movie.

The star - who played gangster Tommy Shelby in the BBC series which ended in 2022 - will begin shooting later this year with the rest of the cast.

Creator Steven Knight shared the exciting news while speaking to BirminghamWorld at the premiere of his new BBC show This Town last Thursday.

He said: 'He is definitely returning for it. We're shooting it in September just down the road in Digbeth.'

The movie is set to begin filming at Digbeth Loc Studios in Birmingham in September, and will be set during the Second World War.

Just two weeks after taking home his first Academy Award, the 47-year-old Irish actor has been announced to star in the upcoming film titled, Blood Runs Coal

Murphy has been cast as coal miner Jock Yablonski's surviving son, Chip Yablonski, (seen above in 1970) that 'made it his life mission to get justice for his father'

Cillian had previously said of the project earlier this year: 'I have always said that if Knight delivers a script that I know he can deliver, because he is such a phenomenal writer, I'll be there.

'If we want to watch 50-year-old Tommy Shelby, I will be there. Let's do it.'

Fans were thrilled with the news as they wrote in reaction: 'We are back.. the goat is backkkkkkkk.',

'Glad to see him back in the role for the film. Should be good.',

'I AM SO EXCITEDDDDD. This news made my day.',

'Oh my It's back.',

'This is a must tbh. Wouldn't be the same without him.',

'this gonna be massive.'

After his historic Oscars win for Best Actor for Oppenheimer last month, Cillian said of his character Tommy: 'I loved playing him. He was exhausting and so wildly different for me that each time going back was kind of a journey.

Earlier this week, news broke that Murphy would be returning for the highly-anticipated Peaky Blinders movie

'I'm really not sentimental about work. I feel like the next thing is the most exciting thing. And I mean, it was a ten-year period in my life, so it is significant, but I always feel, like, let's keep moving.'

He previously said he would be happy to reprise his role.

Speaking on Desert Island Discs, he admitted he was 'relieved' when the BBC drama ended in 2022  but is now 'totally' on board with a movie adaptation.

Murphy also hinted that the program's writer, Steven Knight, had more stories to tell about the Birmingham-based Shelby clan and their criminal activities between the 1880s and 1910s.

Peaky Blinders launched in 2013 and garnered huge audiences both in Britain and overseas, attracting roles for silver-screen stars such as Tom Hardy and Anya Taylor-Joy.

Cillian was awarded the Oscar for Best Actor for his performance in Oppenheimer at the 96th Academy Awards in March.

In his speech Cillian told the star-studded room that he was 'a very proud Irishman standing here tonight' before dedicating his win to 'peacemakers everywhere'.

Fans watching hailed him a 'true gentleman' for his 'heartfelt' words as he signed off with a nod to his Irish heritage.

'Go raibh mile maith agaibh,' he added, which translates to 'a thousand thank yous'.

Speaking in the press room after picking up his statuette, Murphy told journalists: 'I'm in a little bit of a daze, I'm very overwhelmed. I'm very humbled. I'm very grateful and you know, very proud to be Irish standing here today.

'It's really really meaningful to me. I don't know if I said this in my speech, because I can't remember what I said.'

'I did want to say that I think in Ireland we are really great at supporting artists and I think we need to continue to support artists and the next generation of actors and directors. I think that's vitally important. That's all I have to say.'

When asked if he is 'content' about being remembered for his role as atomic bomb scientist J Robert Oppenheimer in the movie, the actor replied: 'Very content. I mean, you got to move forward, but this has been a huge, huge moment for me.

'The movie is so special to me, and myself and [director] Chris [Nolan] have such a special relationship.'

'And I just feel very privileged to be able to continue to work with him and I'm very proud that this is a film that is provocative, and that asks questions, and is challenging, but yet so many people went to see it, so I'm really really proud of it.'

Cillian added of his relationship with director Christopher Nolan: 'It's very very special. We have been working together for 20 years. I think he's the perfect director, he's an extraordinary writer, he's an extraordinary director of actors.

'He presents this film like no one else does in the world, and I just can't believe my luck. I did a screentest for him when I was a kid, and I thought that would be it and it would just be enough to be in a room with Chris for a couple of hours, and here we are. So, I'm just so humble and thankful.'

When asked if he is 'content' about being remembered for his role as atomic bomb scientist J Robert Oppenheimer in the movie, the actor replied: 'Very content. I mean, you got to move forward, but this has been a huge, huge moment for me.

The actor was previously best known for his role as the northern gangster in the BBC drama, but has since received acclaim for his performance in Oppenheimer (pictured at the Oscars)

Speaking in the press room after picking up his statuette, Murphy told journalists: 'I'm in a little bit of a daze, I'm very overwhelmed. I'm very humbled. I'm very grateful and you know, very proud to be Irish standing here today

'The movie is so special to me, and myself and [director] Chris [Nolan] have such a special relationship.'

'And I just feel very privileged to be able to continue to work with him and I'm very proud that this is a film that is provocative, and that asks questions, and is challenging, but yet so many people went to see it, so I'm really really proud of it.'

Cillian added of his relationship with director Christopher Nolan: 'It's very very special. We have been working together for 20 years. I think he's the perfect director, he's an extraordinary writer, he's an extraordinary director of actors.

'He presents this film like no one else does in the world, and I just can't believe my luck. I did a screentest for him when I was a kid, and I thought that would be it and it would just be enough to be in a room with Chris for a couple of hours, and here we are. So, I'm just so humble and thankful.'
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Field Operations. Courtesy/U.S. Customs and Border Protection

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers discovered child porn on a travelers cellphone, according to an arrest affidavit.

Martin Alfonso Diaz-Lopez was arrested and charged with possession of child pornography.

Diaz-Lopez arrived at the Juarez-Lincoln International Bridge on March 22. CBP officers referred Diaz-Lopez to secondary inspection.

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During a consensual search of Diaz-Lopezs cellphone, CBP officers discovered what was believed to be child porn. The Laredo Child Exploitation Task Force responded to further investigate the incident.

In a post-arrest interview, Diaz-Lopez mentioned that he began watching child porn in 2022. He stated he felt curious about child porn. Diaz-Lopez stated he belonged to group messages on social media platforms where child porn was exchanged, court documents state.

Diaz-Lopez stated he would view and save (child porn) from the social media platforms to his cellular phone, states the affidavit.

Diaz-Lopez added that he last watched child porn on his cellphone about eight days ago. He further admitted that authorities would find about 2,000 child porn files on his cellphone, authorities said.

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One image showed a girl Diaz-Lopez believed to be 8 years old exposing her breast area, according to court documents.

DIAZ-Lopez was aware he had (child porn) on his cellular phone and stated he saved it to access and view at a later time, the affidavit states.

A preliminary analysis of Diaz-Lopezs cellphone yielded approximately 20 child porn files, according to court documents. Homeland Security Investigations special agents are further investigating the case.
Australian Idol judge Kyle Sandilands looked to be working up a sweat during Monday night's nail-biting grand finale episode of the singing competition.

In footage obtained by Daily Mail Australia, two crew members hovered around the 52-year-old shock jock with handheld electric fans on the set of the Channel Seven show.

Despite the suspenseful atmosphere, Kyle sported a cheerful expression as he basked in the refreshing breeze provided by his minders.

Elsewhere in the episode, the winner of Australian Idol 2024 was announced.

In the end, it all came down to Amy Reeves from Western Australia, Denvah Baker-Moller from Queensland and Dylan Wright from NSW.

Australian Idol judge Kyle Sandilands (pictured) looked to be working up a sweat during Monday night's nail-biting grand finale episode of the singing competition

Dylan was eventually crowned victorious, with the Bangalow-native lost for words by the life-changing decision.

'Thank you. I don't know. I'm about to cry! So, thanks!' he told the studio audience and judges 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.

The reality star, 52, was spotted keeping cool as two crew members fanned him down with handheld electric fans on the set of the Channel Seven show

Prior to the announcement, Kyle 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,' Kyle 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'.

Despite the suspenseful atmosphere, Kyle sported a contented expression as he basked in the refreshing breeze provided by his minders

Fellow judge Marcia Hines agreed with Kyle's assessment.

'Look, you will work hard because you have got a great work ethic, guys,' she told the nervous pair.

'I have seen it up on this stage each time you present yourselves. So, have fun with it. It's a crazy business. But enjoy the ride.'
Two cast members of Channel 10's I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! have been mocked by fans after Monday's episode of the hit reality show.

Former Big Brother star Skye Wheatley, 29, and Love Island's Callum Hole, 24, came under fire over an embarrassing conversation in which they discussed 'big words'.

During the segment, Skye became tongue-tied when she could not correctly identify the name given to paleontologists.

At one point Skye asked Callum: 'What do you called the people who dust the things to find fossils?'

'Photosynthesis,' Callum replied.

Former Big Brother star Skye Wheatley, 29, and Love Island's Callum Hole, 24, have come under fire over an embarrassing conversation which aired on Monday's episode of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here (both pictured)

Not satisfied with his answer, Skye then turned to the group for an opinion and asked: 'What's the name of the person who dusts off the dinosaur bones?'

A number of the cast replied incorrectly, saying these scientists were called 'archeologists'.

Archeologists use ancient artefacts and physical remains to study human history.

A TikTok user later loaded the segment onto her channel with the caption: 'This moment from I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here had me in tears.'

During the segment, Skye became tongue-tied when she could not correctly identify the name given to paleontologists. A TikTok user later loaded the segment onto her channel with the caption: 'This moment from I'm a Celebrity ...Get Me Out of Here had me in tears'

Fans flocked to the message board on the post, which has already been viewed over 7,000 in eight hours.

'When I tell you cackled at this last night,' shared one viewer.

'Callum and Skye, best duo,' added another fan.

Fans flocked to the message board on the post, which has already been viewed over 7,000 in eight hours

A few fans teased Callum for confusing paleontology with photosynthesis

'These two are hilarious,' messaged another, while another simply said: 'This killed me.'

Meanwhile, a few fans teased Callum for confusing 'paleontology' with 'photosynthesis'.

Photosynthesis is the process by which plants use sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to create oxygen and energy in the form of sugar.

'He was so confident when he said it,' added one fan.

A number of the cast later confused paleontologists with archeologists

I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! made its debut on Sunday night, with a cast including Malcolm in the Middle star Frankie Muniz, AFL player Peter Daicos, Bachelor star and radio host Brittany Hockley, Iron Woman Candice Warner and Paralympian Ellie Cole.

Also appearing are British comedian Stephen K. Amos, Irish dancer and host Tristan MacManus and MasterChef Australia star Khanh Ong.

Biggest Loser trainer Michelle Bridges round out the cast alongside Callum and Skye.
Taylor Swift's dad has escaped charges after an Australian photographer accused him of punching him in the face following the superstar's final show in Sydney.

Swift had performed her last Aussie show of The Eras Tour when the alleged incident occurred in the early hours of February 27.

She and her father, Scott Swift, 71, had travelled from Homebush on a luxury yacht to the ferry wharf in Neutral Bay where Scott was then accused of punching waiting photographer Ben McDonald, 51.

An investigation into the alleged incident was launched by the North Shore Police Command.

NSW Police have since confirmed to Daily Mail Australia no further action was taken over the incident.

Taylor Swift and her father, Scott Swift, 71, had travelled from Homebush on a luxury yacht to the ferry wharf in Neutral Bay where Scott was then accused of punching photographer Ben McDonald, 51, in the face

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At the time, a spokeswoman for Taylor Swift told Daily Mail Australia the photographers were being 'aggressive'.

'Two individuals were aggressively pushing their way towards Taylor, grabbing at her security personnel, and threatening to throw a female staff member into the water,' she said.

However, Mr McDonald - the chief executive of Matrix Media Group - slammed the statement as 'utter rubbish' and said the only female at the scene was Taylor.

Mr McDonald said: 'This is the sort of bulls**t I might expect.'

'Which female was that? The only one there was Taylor.'

The alleged incident occurred after Swift's final show in Australia for The Eras Tour

Footage from the moments before the alleged altercation showed Scott walking up the wharf while giving photographers the middle finger.

Mr McDonald said the alleged altercation was caught on camera and did not show the photographers acting aggressively.

He originally thought it was a security guard and was shocked when he realised the alleged attacker was the pop star's dad.

Mr McDonald also said he didn't know what triggered the alleged assault.

'In 23 years of taking pictures, I have never seen anything like it,' he said.

Matrix Media photographer Ben McDonald (pictured) was allegedly struck in the face by Taylor Swift's father, Scott

'She got off the boat, she walked towards security guards who were shoving umbrellas in our faces.'

Footage of the alleged incident showed Taylor and her father walking up from the wharf with large umbrellas blocking the view.

Mr McDonald started shooting when a security guard could be heard telling him not to touch the umbrella.

The photographer did not require medical attention but said he was left with 'very sore chops' on the left side of his face.

Scott has been a fixture by his daughter's side throughout her sold-out Eras Tour.

He has been praised for handing out sandwiches to fans in the middle of a Sydney show, saying 'help yourselves'.

The day before Taylor's first show in Melbourne last month, extra tickets were released but most had a restricted view of the stage.

Scott walked around handing out VIP passes so excited fans would have access to better seats.
Two years after sending fans into a frenzy with a photo of his Shrek phone case that went viral, Al Pacino proved he's still sporting it.

The 83-year-old actor was spotted arriving for a film meeting in Los Angeles, as he was spotted holding his phone which still had the Shrek phone case.

The outing comes nearly two years after he first went viral for a photo Jason Momoa posted on Instagram in April 2022 of a dinner he shared with Pacino and others.

The actor was spotted out wearing a slightly-unbuttoned black dress shirt under a black coat for the outing.

He also wore silver-framed sunglasses as he exited a vehicle while holding his phone with white earbuds still plugged in.

Two years after sending fans into a frenzy with a photo of his Shrek phone case that went viral, Al Pacino proved he's still sporting it

The 83-year-old actor was spotted arriving for a film meeting in Los Angeles, as he was spotted holding his phone which still had the Shrek phone case.

The outing comes nearly two years after he first went viral for a photo Jason Momoa posted on Instagram in April 2022 of a dinner he shared with Pacino and others

The actor completed his look with black pants and black shoes for the Monday afternoon outing.

Back in April 2022, Pacino was part of a dinner group with Jason Momoa who posed for a photo that the Aquaman star posted on Instagram.

Pacino left his phone on the table for the snap, with many fans flabbergasted that the acting legend would have a phone case with numerous images of Shrek.

Twitter users had a meltdown after the revelation saying, 'you can't make this up' as they insisted the cartoon character made the A-lister even more relatable.

'Pacino with the Shrek phone case is simply legendary,' one wrote. Others explained 'that's why he's my idol' and 'he's the perfect man to exist.'

A few days later, Pacino was joined by his Heat co-star Robert De Niro and director Michael Mann on The Today Show to speak about the legendary 1995 action film, when his phone case was brought up during the interview.

'My daughter gave me that. My youngest daughter put that on my phone,' Pacino said, referring to his 23-year-old daughter Olivia.

'I didn't even look at it until social media told me what was on my phone. And I took a look and said, "Oh, that's Shrek,"" Pacino added.

The actor completed his look with black pants and black shoes for the Monday afternoon outing

A few days later, Pacino was joined by his Heat co-star Robert De Niro and director Michael Mann on The Today Show to speak about the legendary 1995 action film, when his phone case was brought up during the interview

'My daughter gave me that. My youngest daughter put that on my phone,' Pacino said, referring to his 23-year-old daughter Olivia

When asked why he still had the case, the Godfather star replied, 'Of course, it was a gift.'

The actor will next be seen on the big screen in Billy Knight, where he plays the title character.

The story follows fillmmakers Alex (Charlie Heaton) and Emily (Diana Silvers), as they delve through Alex's late father's belongings.

These belongings include a box filled with unfinished screenplays and a handkerchief with the name Billy Knight, which sends them on a quest to track down the title character.
He's one of Nine's biggest stars.

And now there are calls for veteran anchorman Peter Overton to co-present Nine's Sydney news after performing the role solo for 15-years.

It comes after Alicia Loxley and Tom Steinfort have proved to be a winning duo for Nine's Melbourne nightly bulletin.

'Such a pity Sydneys still doing the one anchor at the Desk, I wish they [would] do two,' messaged a fan on industry blog Media Spy.

'Why? I really dont get the appeal of a two-up anchor arrangement,' added another fan.

Fans are calling for veteran anchorman Peter Overton to co-present Nine's Sydney news after performing the role solo for 15-years.

Nine launched the Loxley, 42, and Steinfort, 36, duo at the beginning of the year, and the move has proved popular with viewers.

Meanwhile, another fan suggested that seeing Overton, 57, share his desk with another presenter would be 'weird' since viewers know him as a solo presenter.

'Though if Pete was to move on, theres probably a good chance Nine Sydney would move to a dual presenter set up because I dont think there is a clear successor,' they added.

It comes after Alicia Loxley and Tom Steinfort have proved to be a winning duo for Nine's Melbourne nightly bulletin. (both pictured)

They also speculated that a pairing of Jayne Azzopardi and Charles Croucher might work for the Sydney desk.

Nine News Gold Coast, meanwhile, also features two presenters Eva Milic and Paul Taylor.

It comes after Overton's secret role in the Royal Australian Air Force was recently revealed.

The much loved presenter of Nine News Sydney started with the network in 1991.

Nine's Gold Coast bulletin features presenters Eva Milic (L) and Paul Taylor.

But in his past he was a Wing Commander in the RAAF as a specialist reserve public affairs officer.

Peter's wife Jessica Rowe recently confirmed his role on 2GB's John Stanley radio show.

His father was a medical officer in the Army Reserve, and was eventually appointed honorary Colonel in the Royal Australian Medical Corps.

The Nine star is also a patron of the MonSTaR Foundation, a charity raising money and awareness of motor neurone disease.

He is also an ambassador for Special Olympics Australia, an organisation that supports children and adults with an intellectual disability.
Abbie Chatifeld posted a bunch of lengthy stories to her Instagram on Tuesday discussing what she now looks for in a partner.

The 28-year-old TV and radio star took to social media to explain that she deserves a partner who is both fun and treats her well, noting that people often settle for partners who may treat them well but lack excitement.

The podcast host further remarked that she stayed in relationships longer than she should have because she valued being treated well, even if she found them dull.

Chatfield pointed to an unidentified past relationship where this situation arose.

'I just feel like everyone talks about having standards and I absolutely need to change my standards when it comes to how I'm treated, but I think some people need to change their standards of how much fun their partner is (sic),' she said in one story.

Abbie Chatifeld posted a bunch of lengthy stories to her Instagram on Tuesday discussing what she now looks for in a partner

'All I want is someone who treats me nicely and brings a vibe to a dinner party.'

'I want to be with someone who is the same as me,' she added.

It comes after Chatfield recently confirmed that she is in a new relationship.

She shed 'happy tears' as she discussed her latest beau on her It's A Lot podcast.

The 28-year-old TV and radio star took to social media to explain that she deserves a partner who is both fun and treats her well, noting that people often settle for partners who may treat them well but lack excitement

A source confirmed to Daily Mail Australia she is dating Adam Hyde, one half of Aussie DJ duo Peking Duk.

The pair attended the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne over the weekend and cuddled up and danced in a video she posted on Instagram.

Abbie spent most of the two-part episode of her podcast talking about her new romance, and revealed she has been friends with Hyde for some time.

'It's actually the most important thing thats happened to me, dating-wise,' she said.

The podcast host further remarked that she stayed in relationships longer than she should have because she valued being treated well, even if she found them dull

'I cry every day because of how happy I am.'

The former Bachelor star paid a loving tribute to Hyde, telling listeners he was emotionally intelligent and supportive.

She also added he was 'hot, sexy and funny'.

Abbie, who is known for her outspoken comments about her previous unhappy dating experiences, said her new relationship was the first time she felt 'safe'.

Chatfield recently confirmed that she is in a new relationship

'He makes me so much happier and more calm in every aspect of the world,' she said.

'Hes made me like see myself again. I've always wanted someone as fun as my friends.'

She also confirmed the pair are in a 'monogamous relationship' after she experimented with open relationships in the past.

A source confirmed to Daily Mail Australia she is dating Adam Hyde, one half of Aussie DJ duo Peking Duk

'I am really not in a position to be in an open relationship right now because of how traumatised my brain is,' she said.

'I need to feel like fully focused on. I was really scared to tell him because I was thinking he would want to be open, and open only. I think monogamy is going to happen until, like, a few more months.'

Abbie most recently split from boyfriend Konrad Bien-Stephen in 2022.
New rock festival Pandemonium Rocks is set to go ahead with its scheduled concerts, despite earlier reports stating the shows had been cancelled.

Legendary rock acts Blondie, Alice Cooper, Placebo, Deep Purple and Wheatus are among the headline acts scheduled to perform across two stages.

A festival spokesperson took to social media on Wednesday to reassure disappointed fans the concerts were still happening - albeit with some changes.

'Pandemonium is going ahead as planned in April. While there are some changes coming, we can assure you the dates remain in place,' they began.

'The finalising of logistics is taking longer than expected. Our full focus is bringing you the best event possible. Watch this space and thank you for your patience.'

New rock festival Pandemonium Rocks is set to go ahead with its scheduled concerts, despite earlier reports stating the shows had been cancelled. Legendary rocker Alice Cooper (pictured) is among the headline acts scheduled to perform across two stages

They also cautioned fans not to pay attention to unverified media reports about an apparent festival cancellation.

'No, we're not cancelled. We are still selling tickets. Only take your Pandemonium news from us, not from unverified news reports.'

Earlier this year, the festival attracted some controversy when it was scheduled to clash with the traditional Anzac Day march in Sydney.

A festival spokesperson took to social media on Wednesday to reassure disappointed fans the concerts were still happening - albeit with some changes

Thousands of revellers were expected to flock to the Domain in Sydney on April 25 for the day-long Pandemonium event.

At the same time less than a kilometre away, thousands of Aussies were due to line the city's streets for the traditional Anzac Day march, with up to 10,000 active duty members and veterans taking part.

The hard/punk rock concert was forced to cancel its upcoming tour just one month before it was set to start, according to report by Nine News.

Meanwhile, rock legends Deep Purple no longer show the festival as part of their 2024 touring schedule on their website and it is unclear if they are still set to perform.

Event promoters hailed Pandemonium as Australia's hottest new rock festival and 'a rock fan's dream come true.'

'Dive into the epic lineup of legendary acts who's countless hits have become the soundtrack to our lives,' the concert's Facebook page states.

The festival was expected to kick off April 20 in Melbourne before moving to Sydney, the Gold Coast and Bribie Island.
World-famous director and deep-sea explorer James Cameron has spoken out abut the OceanGate submarine disaster, saying it stained the submersible industry's reputation.

Cameron made the comments at Fremantle's Maritime Museum in Perth on Sunday, at the launch of an exhibition showcasing his record-breaking 2012 solo-dive to Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench - the deepest part of the Ocean.

He said the OceanGate Titan Submarine tragedy in June 2023 - which killed captain Stockton Rush and all four adventure tourists on board - was 'entirely preventable' and destroyed the trust of the public.

The submarine's hull imploded about 3,500m underwater as it descended to the wreckage of the Titanic, about 560km off the coast of Newfoundland.

The disaster captured the attention of the world as experts, including Cameron, criticised the vehicle's construction and safety measures.

World-famous director and deep-sea explorer James Cameron (pictured) said the OceanGate Titan submarine disaster as 'entirely preventable'

The second-highest grossing director of all time said the possibility of an implosion is 'the first and foremost principle that you engineer against.'

'And one of the tragedies, I think, is that people now think submersible diving is much more dangerous than it really is,' he told the crowd, The West Australian reported.

The sub was on descent to the wreckage of the Titanic, about 3,800m underwater, when it lost its navigation and communication at about 3,500m.

It collapsed in a matter of milliseconds, instantly killing British billionaire Hamish Harding, OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet and UK-based businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Sulaiman.

The deaths broke a 63-year streak without a fatality in the industry.

Cameron suspected the company had 'cut corners' when constructing the Titan submarine, an opinion held by other submersible experts.

A blog post to the company's website in 2019 said that while the sub fell outside of accepted standards, it 'does not mean that OceanGate does not meet standards where they apply'.

OceanGate had also been sent a letter by the Marine Technology Society outlining safety concerns for the Titan in 2018, which Mr Rush reportedly 'agreed to disagree' with.

The Titan sub (pictured) imploded in June last year as it descended to the Titanic, immediately killing all five people on board

Cameron has become an expert on deep-sea diving after visiting the Titanic 33 times and completing a solo dive to the deepest known spot in the ocean in 2012

Cameron was later asked at the event if he would buy a ticket for the maiden voyage of Aussie billionaire Clive Palmer's planned replica of the Titanic.

Despite having travelled to the wreckage 33 times and directing the blockbuster 1997 film about the ship's sinking, he said 'if I had that much money, I'd spend it on science'.

Palmer announced his plans for 'Titanic II' outside the Sydney Opera House on March 14, which will recreate the ill-fated 1912 voyage from Southampton to New York by 2027.

The mining magnate reassured his audience that he was confident he'd be able to find one and start construction by 2025.

3D renderings of his plans reveal the vessel will have a grand wooden staircase, similar to the one seen in the film.

'Included in the design is a first-class grand staircase descending through most of the boat's decks all the way down to Deck F,' a statement on Palmer's Blue Star Line said.

'The staircase will start from the boat deck under a large wrought iron and glass dome, at the centre of which is a glittering 50-light crystal chandelier'.
Ella Beatty, the daughter of A-list actors Annette Bening and Warren Beatty, made her Broadway debut in the play Appropriate on Monday evening.

The young actress, who turns 24 next month, stars in the drama alongside veteran performer Sarah Paulson, 49.

Her legendary mother Annette, 65, was a proud parent as she attended the opening performance to cheer her on.

The burgeoning star flashed a huge smile after the show, stepping outside for photos and to greet fans.

Bening whipped out her phone to snap photos of her daughter holding a huge bouquet of flowers.

Ella Beatty, the daughter of A-list actors Annette Bening and Warren Beatty, made her Broadway debut in the play Appropriate on Monday evening

The young actress, who turns 24 next month, stars in the drama alongside veteran performer Sarah Paulson, 49 (pictured)

Bening whipped out her phone to snap photos of her daughter holding a huge bouquet of flowers

For the curtain call, Beatty was dressed in a lacy purple tube top and patterned purple pants.

Her long, blonde hair flowed down her back and chest with a long braid at the front framing her face.

In character as Toni, Sarah's blonde-highlighted blonde haircut was parted down the middle and straight.

The official Appropriate website describes the play as 'a darkly comic American family drama.'

It's the work of Pulitzer Prize finalist Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, and is directed by Lila Neugebauer.

'Its summer, the cicadas are singing, and the Lafayette family has returned to their late patriarchs Arkansas home to deal with the remains of his estate,' the synopsis teases.

It continues: 'Toni (Sarah Paulson), the eldest daughter, hopes theyll spend the weekend remembering and reconnecting over their beloved father.

'Bo (Corey Stoll, Billions), her brother, wants to recoup some of the funds he spent caring for Dad at the end of his life.

For the curtain call, Beatty was dressed in a lacy purple tube top and patterned purple pants

Her long, blonde hair flowed down her back and chest with a long braid at the front framing her face

Paulson beamed as she applauded her co-star

Ella's locks were adorned with feather accessories

She wore layered turquoise-accented necklaces

'But things take a turn when their estranged brother, Franz (Michael Esper), appears late one night, and mysterious objects are discovered among the clutter.'

It goes on to state, 'Suddenly, long-hidden secrets and buried resentments cant be contained, and the family is forced to face the ghosts of their past.'

The show is being performed at the Belasco Theatre on West 44th Street.

Ella pulled her hair back and kept warm in a dark coat following her turn on the stage.

Her mother looked chic in a crisp white shirt topped with a black, leather motorcycle jacket.

She added pinstripe black trousers and she wore sepia-tinted eyeglasses.

Annette flashed a short, glossy, red manicure as she snapped images of her child.

Sarah Paulson appeared onstage in a patterned olive green and tan shirt. She added a classic pair of blue jeans

Ella with co-star Natalie Gold after taking their bows

L-R Graham Campbell, Ella Beatty, Michael Esper, Sarah Paulson, Corey Stoll, Natalie Gold, Alyssa Emily Marvin, Everett Sobers, and Lincoln Cohen

The actors soaked up the final moments in front of the audience

Ella pulled her hair back and kept warm in a dark coat following her turn on the stage. She looked glowingly beautiful

Sarah was stylishly cozy in a wool coat with a luxe, tan scarf wrapped around her neck

Her mother looked chic in a crisp white shirt topped with a black, leather motorcycle jacket. Annette flashed a short, glossy, red manicure as she snapped images of her child

Actor Corey Stoll looked jubilant as he signed autographs post-performance

The queue was aglow outside the Belasco Theatre in the Big Apple

The Appropriate Play website declares to visitors, You're invited to one helluva family reunion at the best-reviewed new play on Broadway.'

Ella is cast as the character River in the show, which first debuted in 2013.

Other stars in the production include Natalie Gold as Rachel, Graham Campbell as Rhys, and Alyssa Emily Martin as Cassidy.

There are also Lincoln Cohen and Everett Sobers, who share the role of Ainsley.

Bening rose to fame in The Grifters and has starred in The American President with Michael Douglas and The Kids Are All Right with Julianne Moore.
Heartbreak High's Thomas Weatherall has revealed what it was like to work alongside Euphoria and Saltburn star Jacob Elordi.

The pair star together in the upcoming Prime Video series The Narrow Road to the Deep South, based on the critically acclaimed 2013 novel by Richard Flanagan.

Thomas, 23, spoke to Yahoo Lifestyle and shared his excitement over working with The Kissing Booth actor, 26.

'I don't know how much I can sort of share about that project, but (Jacob's) the best, he was lovely to work with,' he told the publication.

'It was a bit of a dream working with him and (he's) just a lovely guy like we have to do some pretty heavy stuff in that show, so to be able to have him along ride the ride  it was very special.'

Heartbreak High's Thomas Weatherall (right) revealed what it was like to act alongside Euphoria and Saltburn star Jacob Elordi

Thomas, 23, spoke to Yahoo Lifestyle and shared his excitement over working with The Kissing Booth actor, 26, (pictured)

Thomas also touched on the 'fortunate' experience he had spending time with the Aussie hunk during filming.

'You see why he has the career he has, he knows how to handle himself on an off-set, and he's just the absolute consummate professional to work with,' he said.

The series is set in Australia, against the 'shadows of World War II', and follows how Elordi's character Lieutenant-Colonel Dorrigo Evans and Odessa Young's Amy Mulvaney's brief love affair shaped Evans' whole life.

The Narrow Road to the Deep North will be told through multiple different time periods including his childhood and his time as a prisoner-of-war on the Thailand-Burma Railway as a young man.

The pair star together in the upcoming Prime Video series The Narrow Road to the Deep South, based on the critically-acclaimed 2013 novel by Richard Flanagan

It also showcases Evans later in life, as a respected surgeon and Australian war hero, with the film described as, 'a love story to sustain audiences through the darkest of times.

It is also called, 'an intimate character study illustrating the strength of the human spirit in the face of adversity, and an investigation into a marriage and an unforgettable love affair.'

The cast also includes Ciaran Hinds as the older Evans, Olivia DeJonge, Heather Mitchell, Show Kasamatsu and Simon Baker.

Amazon announced the start of production and the cast back in late November, though it's unclear when the five-part miniseries will debut.

Thomas also touched on the 'fortunate' experience he had spending time with the Aussie hunk during filming

The novel - which won the 2014 Booker Prize - was adapted by Shaun Grant (Mindhunter, The Snowtown Murders) and directed by Justin Kurzel (Macbeth).

The Narrow Road to the Deep North is produced by Curio Pictures in Australia, with Jo Porter and Rachel Gardner executive producing for Curio.

Writer Grant and director Kurzel will also serve as executive producers, with Alexandra Taussig producing.

The critically-acclaimed novel was based partly on the experiences of Flanagan's father as a Japanese prisoner of war.
Raquel Valle-Senties, 2024-2026 City of Laredo Poet Laureate. Courtesy/Patricia Gonzalez Garza Raquel Valle-Senties, 2024-2026 City of Laredo Poet Laureate speaks to the audience at City Hall Council Chambers on Monday, March 18, 2024. Malena Charur/Laredo Morning Times Raquel Valle-Senties, 2024-2026 City of Laredo Poet Laureate speaks to the audience at City Hall Council Chambers on Monday, March 18, 2024. Malena Charur/Laredo Morning Times Raquel Valle-Senties, 2024-2026 City of Laredo Poet Laureate pose for a photograph with Dr. Victor Trevino, City of Laredo Mayor, council members, family and friends on Monday, March 18, 2024. Malena Charur/Laredo Morning Times

The awarded writer, poet, playwright and artist Raquel Valle-Senties was recently appointed as the 2024-26 City of Laredo Poet Laureate.

The event occurred during last week's regular City Council meeting.

Valle-Senties thanked Laredo Mayor Dr. Victor Trevino, City Council and the Fine Arts & Culture Commission for their continued support for the arts.

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"Thank you all for being here this afternoon, including my family, my friends and my fellow boys," she said. "This award has deep significance for me."

She credited her love of reading to the sisters at Ursuline Academy, and she said that poetry was her outlet of expression when she lived in Veracruz.

"In 1992, I signed up for classes in writing, poetry, short story and plays at Laredo Community College with Carlos Flores, Randy Cook and Dr. Carlos Morton, which led me to this day," she said. "They were the key that unlocked my poetic books."

She said that she had never expected to be the author of the book "Soy Como Soy y Que" under the supervision of Flores or of her second book "The Ones Santa Anna Sold" edited by Cook.

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"I believe that the role of the Poet Laureate is to advocate for the art of poetry in classrooms and boardrooms in the city, to inspire an emerging generation of literary artists, and to educate all the Laredoans about the many poets and authors who have influenced our poetry," she said.

Valle-Senties believes that poetry can influence everyone.

"Poetry is the most concise, expressive and memorable way of using words," she said. "Love for what you do can bring personal and professional triumphs, and I thank you for this.

Valle-Senties closed her participation reading her poem "Growing Up in Laredo."

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Valle-Senties was born and raised in Laredo. She graduated from Ursuline Academy and attended Texas Womens University as an art major. She lived in Veracruz for 23 years where she raised five sons.

In 1978, she returned to Laredo where she opened Taylor Rental Center -- the first in Laredo and the first woman owner and manager of a rental center in the U.S. After 17 years, she retired to pursue her love of writing and painting.

As a portrait artist, many of her paintings beginning with the Chicana Writers Series have won awards in international and state competitions. She has participated in group and one woman shows. Her paintings have been exhibited in Laredo, San Antonio, Nuevo Laredo and La Mesilla, New Mexico. In 2002, her portrait of Chicana writer Denise Chavez was chosen for the advertising poster of the Latina Letters Conference in San Antonio, and in 2005 her portrait of Sandra Cisneros graced the Latina Letters Conference poster.

"Alcanzando Un Sueno," her first play, was a winner of the Chicano/Latino Literary Prize. A second play, "La Mala Onda de Johnny Rivera," was selected to participate in the Isadora Aguirre Workshop and was presented in El Teatro de la Esperanza in San Francisco. These plays have also been produced in McAllen, Reynosa, Tamaulipas and Laredo.

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Her play, "Path of Marigolds," premiered in Laredo in 2007 and was also produced in San Antonio and McAllen. Path of Marigolds was produced again in 2012 because of popular demand. In 2009, two of her one act plays -- Nothing to Declare and Fashionably Late -- were selected to be performed in the Chicano Theater Festival at the Laredo Little Theater and Estacion Palabra in Nuevo Laredo.

Her poetry has been published in the U.S., Mexico and India in numerous literary journals. In 1997, Valle-Senties' first collection of poetry won the prestigious literary prize Premio Jose Fuentes Mares awarded by the Universidad Autonoma de Ciudad Juarez, with Chihuahua being the first woman to have won that prize. In 2004, she was inducted into the Laredo Womens Hall of Fame and chosen writer of the year by the Taller de Arte Renacimiento of Nuevo Laredo.

Her second poetry book, "The Ones Santa Anna Sold," was published in 2014. Last year the book "Chicana Portraits. Critical Biographies of Twelve Chicana Writers" -- an innovative collection that pairs portraits, painted by Valle-Senties, with critical biographies of 12 key Chicana writers -- was published.

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Halle Berry has told how her doctor mistook her perimenopause for a sexually transmitted infection as she raises awareness of the symptoms.

The actress, 57, revealed that she was told by a medical professional that she had the 'worst case of herpes he'd ever seen' when she was examined.

Halle, who has been in a relationship with Van Hunt since 2020, went to the doctor after suffering from 'intense pain' while having sex.

However, when Halle and her partner were both tested, neither of them were found to have the infection and she was later told it was perimenopause.

Speaking to First Lady Jill Biden at the A Day of Unreasonable Conversation summit on Monday shared her story in a bid to help other women.

Halle Berry has told how her doctor mistook her perimenopause for a sexually transmitted infection as she raises awareness of the symptoms

Halle, who has been in a relationship with Van Hunt since 2020, went to the doctor after suffering from 'intense pain' while having sex

She said: 'First of all, my ego told me that I was going to skip it [perimenopause] I'm very safe, I'm healthy, I managed to get myself off of insulin and manage my diabetes since I'm 20 years old.'

'My doctor had no knowledge and didn't prepare me, that's when I knew, "Oh my gosh, I've got to use my platform, I have to use all of who I am and I have to start making a change and a difference for other women,' she explained.

What is Perimenopause? Perimenopause, or menopause transition, begins several years before menopause. It's the time when the ovaries gradually begin to make less estrogen. It usually starts in women's 40s, but can start in their 30s or even earlier. Perimenopause lasts up until menopause, the point when the ovaries stop releasing eggs. In the last 1 to 2 years of perimenopause, this drop in estrogen speeds up. At this stage, many women have menopause symptoms. The average length of perimenopause is 4 years, but for some women this stage may last only a few months or continue for 10 years. Perimenopause ends when women have gone 12 months without having their period. SOURCE: WebMD Advertisement

Halle said she wanted to 'help us change the way culture views women at this stage of our lives' as she appeared to the audience to do the same.

It comes soon after Halle paid tribute to her boyfriend Van on his 54th birthday on Friday, March 8.

The Academy Award-winning star took to Instagram to share a series of photos of the musician as well as her favorite photos of them as a couple.

'Don't count your candles baby, just enjoy the beautiful glow!' she captioned the carousel, before adding, 'Happy Birthday with ya fine a** @vanhunt.'

The birthday boy wasted little time in hitting his lady back with a flirty response: 'HA! iu,' he wrote in the comments section.

The cover photo showed the couple holding hands on a sun-lit balcony inside a high-rise building while all bundled up in winter clothing.

The Monster's Ball star also shared a look at the pair on vacation, and another of them walking a red carpet event together dressed in black ensembles.

Rounding out the post, the Catwoman star dropped in two solo shots of Hunt posing while wearing a stylish red hat, which included one where he wore a long-line jacket without a shirt.

The former Bond girl met the Our Love Lingers songwriter in September 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, and some how they were able to grow their relationship virtually.

After dropping a few hints that she had someone special in her life, Berry confirmed the identity of her mystery man in a social media post.

'Now ya know ,' Berry captioned a photo of herself wearing a shirt with Hunt's name on it. while holding a drink in her hand.

It comes soon after Halle paid tribute to her boyfriend Van on his 54th birthday on Friday, March 8

It comes soon after Halle paid tribute to her boyfriend Van on his 54th birthday on Friday, March 8

Several months later, the couple ultimately made their red carpet debut at the 93rd Academy Awards at Union Station in Los Angeles in April 2021.

Some eight months later the actress would seemingly take the romance to another level by proclaiming Hunt to be 'the love of her life.'

'You've watched me fail and fail and fail and fail,' she said at the 4th Annual Celebration of Black Cinema & Television event. 'Besides directing my first movie, I also found the love of my life and I know it's true and this is how I know it's true.'

She then elaborated: 'Because you fail so many times, you know what wrong looks like. And because I failed so many times, I now know what [love] really looks like.'

Berry came into the relationship as a single mother of two children, including 15-year-old daughter Nahla, whom she shares with French-Canadian model Gabriel Aubry.

The former couple had dated for more than five years by the time they decided to call it quits in 2010, which was two years after the birth of Nahla.

The Cleveland, Ohio native is also mom to 10-year-old Maceo-Robert Martinez. He was born in October 2013, three months after she married French actor Olivier Martinez, which ultimately ended in divorce in 2016.

Hunt has a son of his own from a past relationship before hooking up with Berry.
Fitness influencer Ashy Bines has shared a worrying health update with her fans, revealing she has been diagnosed with a brain aneurysm.

The Queensland mother-of-two, 35, shared the shock news to Instagram on Monday, revealing that it was discovered when she went to the hospital after losing her sight.

Bines posted a video of her arriving with her family and captioned it with some alarming words: 'I've lost my sight three times in the last week. Decided to go to a doctor because we were starting to get worried.

'Got a CT scan, they found a small aneurysm. Pretty scary as husband Steve has had a huge one removed and I also have this run in my family. Lost a young uncle and a nan to an aneurysm.

She added she would be putting her other commitments on hold for the time being as she focused on getting better.

Fitness influencer Ashy Bines (pictured) has shared a heartbreaking health update with her fans, revealing she has been diagnosed with a brain aneurysm

'I have to slow my life, work load and stress right down. Once we have results from MRI then discuss what happens next with my aneurysm and what else we can do.'

A brain aneurysm is a weak or thin spot on a blood vessel in the brain that inflates and fills with blood. It can be life-threatening if not adequately treated.

Fortunately, the survival rate for sufferers is quite high if identified and treated promptly.

Bines lives on the Gold Coast with her husband Steven, who she married in 2014, and their two children

The Queensland mother-of-two, 35, shared the shock news to Instagram on Monday, revealing that it was discovered when she went to the hospital after losing her sight

Bines added she had the full support of her husband Steve and their children Taj and Tala, both of whom had visited her in the hospital.

Many of Bines' one million followers were quick to send her their well wishes and hopes for a speedy recovery.

'I'm so sorry! Praying for answers and fast healing for you,' one person wrote and a second person added: 'You're so incredibly strong my babe. Love you so much.'

'Oh how scary. Hope everything goes well,' a third person chipped in.

Bines lives on the Gold Coast with her husband Steven, who she married in 2014, and their two children.

Bines posted a video of her arriving at hospital with her family and captioned it with some alarming words
Kate Garraway has emotionally revealed her late husband Derek Draper felt like a 'complete failure' after being left bed-bound by his battle with Covid.

In a moving appearance on Good Morning Britain, the tearful presenter said that she 'won't give up' her cause to shine a light on the underfunded care system, following Derek's death in January.

On Tuesday, Kate Garraway: Derek's Story, will air on ITV, chronicling the former political lobbyist's final year of life before his death in January aged 56.

Joining Derek and Kate in May 2023, the film confronts head on the reality of Derek's struggles and the effect on those around him while also capturing the sweet moments he spent with family and never-before-seen images and footage.

Kate told Susanna Reid and Richard Madeley that Derek requested they film the third documentary as he 'wanted his voice to be heard', and he felt like a 'failure and a burden' on his loved ones due to the extent of his care.

Kate Garraway has emotionally revealed her late husband Derek Draper felt like a 'complete failure' after being left bed-bound by his battle with Covid

On Tuesday, Kate Garraway: Derek's Story, will air on ITV , chronicling the former political lobbyist's final year of life before his death in January aged 56

In the film, the political lobbyist speaks on camera for the first time since being hospitalised with Covid in March 2020, leaving him incontinent, unable to walk and barely able to speak.

Kate said: 'It started filming for Derek wanting his voice to be heard. The way you show love he couldn't do.

'He felt disempowered to show to love, he couldn't communicate. We were having to relearn this dynamic. The love is still there but you have to grow together and that is why we needed that support.'

'He left like a complete failure, a burden on us, on the carers. This documentary was his way of helping, of speaking up for others and the people who cared for him.'

Fighting back tears, Kate added: 'I'm sad because I can't walk away from something that I have campaigned for. I've had over 8,000 letters from people telling me not to give up.'

Kate went onto reveal she felt 'ashamed' of the huge debts she's accrued to fund Derek's care, adding: 'It's unaffordable for well-paid TV presenters like me, let alone normal people.

'It was costing 26,000 a month for his basic needs. That wasn't the carers getting that, they don't get paid that money.'

'I am ashamed at the fact that I am in debt because I have an incredible job that I love.'

Kate told Susanna Reid and Richard Madeley that Derek requested they film the third documentary as he 'wanted his voice to be heard'

After a clip was played showing the full extent of his care, Kate said that Derek felt like a 'complete failure' due to his health struggles

Kate Garraway: Derek's Story - what the critics think The Guardian, Phil Harrison 'By allowing intimate access, Draper and his wife, the journalist and Good Morning Britain presenter Kate Garraway, pointedly highlight the difficulties of people living with serious long-term illnesses' The Daily Mail, Christopher Stevens '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. '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.' The Telegraph, Anita Singh '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.' Advertisement

Ahead of its broadcast, the documentary has been praised by critics for its 'unavoidably sad' portrayal of the politicial lobbyist's final days.

Writing in The Guardian, Phil Harrison said: 'An unavoidably sad concluding part to a trio of films. This documentary follows the final year in the life of the former political campaigner and psychotherapist Derek Draper, who struggled with long Covid for several years and died from complications in January.

'By allowing intimate access, Draper and his wife, the journalist and Good Morning Britain presenter Kate Garraway, pointedly highlight the difficulties of people living with serious long-term illnesses.'

The Daily Mail's Christopher Stevens noted that the documentary, which shines a light on the challenges of families caring for seriously ill loved ones, will be Derek's 'legacy' following his death.

He added: '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.

'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.'

Writing in The Telegraph, Anita Singh explained that the documentary shows the 'devastating consequences' of Covid, after Derek himself contracted the disease in March 2020.

She added: '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.'

In the documentary, Kate opens up about the crippling debt she accrued caring for husband Derek Draper, admitting she's at 'crunch point'.

She also Kate admits she didn't 'feel loved' by her husband Derek as she opened up about their relationship.

In scenes from the upcoming documentary, Kate was asked is she 'accepts you'll have to care for him forever?'

She responded: 'That bit yes I have accepted that completely. I think that's our role. But how that translates into the relationship is a work in progress.'

Offering a heartbreakingly honest account of how Derek's condition had impacted their 19-year marriage, she continued: 'Sometimes you show love with a big bouquet of roses or bringing a cup of tea and he can't do any of that for me.

'So he's trying to work out how to love me. I know he loves me but how does he show that?'

Admitting there are moments when she doesn't 'feel' it from her husband, Kate added: 'I'm trying to work out if I feel loved by him.

'I know I am but we've got a whole journey there.'

Elsewhere in the documentary, Kate opened up about her heartbreak for Derek himself, sharing: 'The tragedy for me is that it feels like his brain was his best friend and now it's his worst enemy.'

Detailing a rough patch he was going through, Kate shared: 'He has been very down.

'Wondering about the future a lot of crying. 'I've let everybody down and what is the meaning of life? what can I contribute?'

'The thing that helps that is having that sense of purpose, remind him these things take time even if I don't really know if that's the answer.'

Kate's late husband was plagued with health woes after contracting Covid in March 2020, which saw him put in a coma, battle sepsis and left with difficulties communicating.

Derek's Story features him talking on camera for the first time since his health battle as he admitted: 'I want to be heard.'

In another scene, Derek was writing in his bed as Kate watched on, with the Good Morning Britain presenter remarking his handwriting was 'not as clear' as before but recalling: 'When I first saw you write your name I burst into tears. You're still there.'

While Derek admitted he could feel an improvement in his health and their son Billy said he could 'see the difference', Kate confessed that she couldn't allow herself to think about what this meant going forward.

She explained: 'I don't look forward to the future because every time I feel like this is really fantastic, and we've had some amazing moments, something terrible has happened.'

In the documentary, Kate admitted she didn't 'feel loved' by her husband Derek as she opened up about their relationship

Kate also opened up about the crippling debt she accrued caring for Derek, admitting she's at 'crunch point'.

Faced with a debt of up to 800,000 Kate confessed: 'Derek's care costs more than my salary from ITV and that's before you pay for a mortgage or household bills or anything for the kids - so that is a crunch point.

'We are in debt and I can't earn enough money to cover my debt because I'm managing Derek's care.

'I can't even use the money I do have to support Derek's recovery because it's going to the basics all the time.

'I'm not going to pretend I'm poorly paid but it's not enough.

'Time and time again the state tells us Derek is not sick enough to qualify for state funded care.

'I've appealed but that still hasn't been processed three years later. If this is what's it like for me then what's it like for everybody else?'

Kate continued: 'Something has to be done or the whole service, the people working in it, everything is going to break.

'We are entirely reliant on extraordinary carers but the system they work for is incredibly complicated and underfunded...

'Why is it people get sick and it's no longer considered the right thing for them to be in hospital, why does coming home feel like falling off a cliff?'

His limitations and his need for care was evident in the documentary, with the father-of-two breaking down in tears as he attempted to pull himself up onto a walking aide with the help of his mobility therapist.

Unable to stand, Derek burst into tears and labelled himself 'pathetic' in heartbreaking scenes.

Kate attempted to console him, insisting 'it's not pathetic, you're absolutely trying' and the strain on her face was also clear to see.

One sweet moment saw Kate task Derek with opening some of her birthday cards and reading out the messages for her, but even that simple action left Derek in need of rest.

Derek's Story also reflects on Dereks life before Covid, including his high-profile political career, and his relationship with Kate, revealing how illness impacted their 19-year marriage.

Speaking about why she set out to make the film, Kate shared: '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, after he had passed, 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.'

Former Labour insider and psychotherapist Derek married presenter Kate in 2005 and they went on to welcome children Darcey 17 and Billy, 14.

In 2021, just over a year after contracting Covid, he was able to leave hospital and return to his family home in north London, with round-the-clock care.

In August 2022 he was taken to hospital with sepsis but pulled through. Then in early December 2023, Derek had a heart attack and was taken to hospital again.

Tragically, he wasn't able to overcome the latest medical emergency and on January 5 Kate confirmed that Derek died.

In a post on social media, she said that her husband died surrounded by family and that she was 'holding his hand throughout the last long hours'.

She said his Covid infection had left him with lasting damage to his heart which had led to 'further complications'.

Kate also thanked the medical teams for making his final moments as 'comfortable and dignified as possible.'

MailOnline understands Derek passed away on January 3 in a north London hospital.

Kate Garraway: Derek's Story airs on on Tuesday at 9pm and will be available to stream on ITVX.
Sophie Kasaei looked stylish as she caught up with her TOWIE co-stars in Essex on Monday as filming for the reality series continued.

The TV personality, 34, joined the programme last year when she began dating cast mate Jordan Brook, and met up with Ella Rae Wise and Dani Imbert.

Meeting up with Junaid Ahmed, the group went for lunch at Brentwood Kitchen before walking their dogs.

Sophie wore an oversized graphic print T-shirt with a pair of fitted lycra leggings and knee-high leather boots.

Ella, 30, looked sensational in a denim mini dress and matching boots while Dani, 25, flashed her abs in a black bra top.

Sophie Kasaei, 34, looked stylish as she caught up with her TOWIE co-stars in Essex on Monday as filming for the reality series continued

The TV personality, joined the programme last year when she began dating cast mate Jordan Brook, and met up with Ella Rae Wise (L) and Danni Imbert (R)

Ella is currently dating cast mate Amber Turner's ex boyfriend Dan Edgar with the duo seen getting close on a recent trip to Bali.

The Only Way Is Essex has returned for a brand new series with Lauren Goodger rejoining the cast almost seven years after her exit.

The TV personality, 37, was one of the original cast members, making her first appearance in series one before leaving the show in 2016.

The latest instalment promises scandalous feuds, unexpected romance and even more drama with the first episode airing last week.

So far, the cast have ditched the grey skies of the UK for the vibrant beaches of Bali but as the live it up in the sun, a surprise is waiting for them back in Essex.

Within days of landing at the Balinese resort, fans will see a whirlwind of drama as Dan and Ella ignite an unexpected romance, catching everyone off guard.

Fresh from his split with Amber, the sudden union sends seismic shockwaves through the group, leaving jaws on the floor.

Will she question Dan's loyalty during their time together, and will the pairing reignite long-buried rumours of Dan and Ella?

Meeting up with Junaid Ahmed, the group went for lunch at Brentwood Kitchen before walking their dogs

Junaid looked chic in an all-black look that he teamed with a Louis Vuitton bag

Sophie wore an oversized graphic print T-shirt with a pair of fitted lycra leggings and knee-high leather boots

Ella, 30, looked sensational in a denim mini dress and matching boots while Dani, 25, flashed her abs in a black bra top

The Only Way Is Essex has returned for a brand new series with Lauren Goodger rejoining the cast almost seven years after her exit

Amber could also find herself questioning with her feelings towards Ella, especially after recently becoming civil again following years of animosity.

In another corner of Bali, Diags and Elma navigate the aftermath of their explosive fallout from the last series.

With Jodie's imminent arrival adding to the tension, will the pair finally be able to draw a line in the sand?

Meanwhile, Harry finds himself firmly entrenched in the 'Girlband' as its official fifth member  a camaraderie he couldn't have anticipated just over a year ago.

However, the newfound friendship leaves Saff and Dani feeling a tad bitter, sensing that Harry's attention has shifted towards his new companions.

And back in Essex there is a surprise waiting, a familiar face ready to add a dash of spice back to the group as Lauren rejoins the cast.

Set to bring plenty of sass, this series promises more drama than ever and fans can expect scandalous feuds and unexpected alliances that will keep them on the edge of their seats.

The latest instalment promises scandalous feuds, unexpected romance and even more drama

The TV personality, 37, was one of the original cast members, making her first appearance in series one before leaving the show in 2016

The cast have ditched the grey skies of the UK for the vibrant beaches of Bali but as the live it up in the sun, a surprise is waiting for them back in Essex (Lauren pictured in 2012)

Rebecca Kenny-Smith, Director of Programming, Unscripted, Lime Pictures said: 'We're thrilled to announce the return of The Only Way Is Essex for series 33, kicking off with sun- soaked and drama-packed episodes in the picturesque setting of Bali.

'Brace yourselves for plenty of laughter, tears, and romance in this stunning location. Get ready to witness storylines unfold at a dizzying pace, and the stellar cast bare their souls beneath the tropical skies.'

Last year it was reported that Lauren had been approached to return to The Only Way Is Essex as bosses try and woo her back to the show that made her famous.

She announced in December she was returning to the show that made her famous more than 10 years after her departure.

It is an exciting time for Lauren, whose last appearance on the show was a brief return in 2016.

Lauren was part of the original 2010 line-up for the show, which focused on her long-term relationship with Mark Wright, and left in 2012 after their break up in series six.

Mark is now married to actress Michelle Keegan, and the two have been together for over ten years.

She returned briefly in 2015 for The Only Way Is Essexmas and, looking to the future, said she wants to 'meet up with Amy Childs and go for lunch with the kids!'

In the time Lauren was gone, she became a mother to Larose, two, and Lorena who sadly passed away just after birth

In the time Lauren was gone, she became a mother to Larose, two, and Lorena who sadly passed away just after birth.

Speaking of how her life has changed since her TOWIE days as she is now a mum, she said of her daughter Larose to OK!: 'I am absolutely obsessed with her.

'Shes beautiful. When she wakes up in the morning, even if its 5am, Im like, Baby, kiss Mummy, and she kisses me. Shes so affectionate and so clever.

"Shes not in nursery, but we do a lot of playgroups. I dont have a nanny and have no help at all.'

TOWIE airs every Sunday at 9PM on ITVBe and ITVX
Michelle Keegan began filming series two of Ten Pound Poms in Australia on Tuesday.

The actress, 36, - who plays Kate in the show - was seen on set in Sydney for the first after jetting Down Under to shoot the next instalment.

The series set in the 1950s follows a group of Britons who leave post-war Britain for Australia on the promise of a better lifestyle.

As she left her trailer on Tuesday Michelle covered up her 1950s-style navy patterned frock with a white dressing gown.

She wore a headband that matched her dress and had her brunette tresses styled into tight curls reminiscent of the style of the era.

Michelle Keegan got to work as she began filming series two of Ten Pound Poms in Australia on Tuesday

The actress, 36, - who plays Kate in the show - was seen on set in Sydney for the first after jetting Down Under to shoot the next instalment

The series set in the 1950s follows a group of Britons who leave post-war Britain for Australia on the promise of a better lifestyle

She had on sliders and carried a pale blue bag as she left the makeup trailer and made her way to set.

The BBC revealed last month that Michelle was reprising her role of Kate in the hit show as an image of the star in character was posted by the channel.

The star looked incredible in a long grey wool long coat which she teamed with a burgundy handbag and matching gloves.

Styling her hair in voluminous curls, Michelle added a black beret with the outfit as she posed with her co-stars Faye Marsay, who plays Annie, and Warren Brown, who plays Terry.

Warren, who shared the snap to Instagram, penned: 'Cameras are rolling and we are off! Ten Pound Poms Season 2!'

Ten Pound Poms follows a group of Brits - Kate, Terry and Annie - who leave the country in the promise of a better life in Australia, for just ten pounds.

The first season of the drama, which is produced by Eleven and co-produced by Stan and the BBC, was loved by fans.

And the new series will pick up after the dramatic cliffhanger finale of series 1.

As she left her trailer on Tuesday Michelle covered up her 1950s style navy patterned dress with a white dressing gown

She wore a headband that matched her frock and had her brunette tresses styled into tight curls reminiscent of the style of the era

The BBC revealed last month that Michelle was reprising her role of Kate in the hit show as an image of the star in character was posted by the channel

She had on sliders and carried a pale blue bag as she left the makeup trailer and made her way to set

Ten Pound Poms follows a group of Brits - Kate, Terry and Annie - who leave the country in the promise of a better life in Australia, for just ten pounds

The first season of the drama, which is produced by Eleven and co-produced by Stan and the BBC, was loved by fans

And the new series will pick up after the dramatic cliffhanger finale of series 1 when it is released

The sun was shining as she stepped out for the first day of filming on set

Michelle is pictured with her co-stars Faye Marsay, who plays Annie, and Warren Brown, who plays Terry

The show's official synopsis reads: 'After a challenging first year in Australia, the new series will follow nurse Kate Thorne (Michelle Keegan) and the Roberts family (led by Faye Marsay and Warren Brown) into 1957 on their adventure down under, as they are determined to make this new country everything they hoped it would be for a fresh start.

'Will Kate, Terry and Annie finally get a slice of the Australian dream they were promised?'

In series two new characters the Skinner family from Ireland and the unscrupulous land-lord Benny Bates will be introduced to viewers.

Writer, creator and executive producer Danny Brocklehurst gushed after the second series was announced: 'The positive viewer response to Ten Pound Poms was a true delight.

'We tapped into a little-known part of our recent history and told stories which reflected the realities of the real Poms that made the trip.

'I couldn't be more thrilled to be teaming again with the BBC, Stan and Eleven to continue our characters' adventure down under.'
Sian Welby cradled her baby bump as she showed off her 'first load of maternity clothes' via Instagram on Monday.

The television presenter, 37, looked lovely in a beige ribbed top, which she teamed with matching wide legged trousers from budget online retailer Shein.

Sian slipped into a brown version of the co-ord to display her changing shape as she turned to the side for a mirror selfie.

The Capital Breakfast star said the loungewear was 'so comfy' and she was 'very impressed' by the quality.

She wrote: 'Ok preggos! This is the first load of maternity clothes Ive bought (thanks to all your suggestions) all of these sets are from Shein.

Sian Welby cradled her baby bump as she showed off her 'first load of maternity clothes' via Instagram on Monday

The television presenter, 37, looked lovely in a beige ribbed top, which she teamed with matching wide legged trousers from budget online retailer Shein

'MATERNITY and are so comfy (and all the bottoms have adjustable waistbands! Very impressed with the quality and the price and they seem like clothes you could keep as loungewear after! For those asking Im 5ft 2.'

Sian announced live on-air last month that she is expecting her first child with fiance Jake Beckett.

The broadcaster shared the exciting news with radio co-hosts Roman Kemp and Chris Stark - and revealed she is due in the summer.

Sian said: 'I've got a bit of an announcement for you... I'm pregnant! I don't know how I've managed to keep it from you for so long.

'The lies, the deceit, the mocktails! I couldn't wait to tell you. This is a whole new journey for me and I want to take you all on it with me, and don't worry I'm not going anywhere!

'This is going to be a lot of fun and I can't wait to share it with you all.'

Reacting to the news, Sian's co-host Roman jumped up to give her hug, exclaiming: 'Oh my god! Oh mate I'm so happy for you and Jake as well!'

Chris was equally overjoyed as he said: 'Is this real? It is the most exciting news ever!'

Sian slipped into a brown version of the co-ord to display her changing shape as she turned to the side for a mirror selfie

The Capital Breakfast star said the loungewear was 'so comfy' and she was 'very impressed' by the quality

Sian announced live on-air last month that she is expecting her first child with fiance Jake Beckett

The station revealed that Sian will take a break from the station during the summer but will return to Capital Breakfast with Jordan North, Chris and Sian later in the year.

The TV and radio host later shared the news on Instagram, posting a collage of sweet snaps with Jake showing them preparing for life as new parents.

Sian's fiance Jake - who popped the question in August 2023- works for Heart Breakfast as a creative producer alongside hosts including Kelly Brook, Rochelle Humes, Vogue Williams and Emma Bunton.

The happy announcement comes after Sian missed out on the coveted This Morning hosting gig, which has since been awarded to Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard.

Speaking to The Sun's Fabulous Magazine, Sian explained: 'I reckon if you stepped into any job where somebody had been there for years, youd get comparisons.

'Im obviously not offended by it because I love Holly, shes an idol to me. I see it as a massive compliment! But at the same time, I dont read anything into it.'

The radio host added she is grateful she got to star on This Morning and shared her hopes to return in the future.

Sian later shared the news on Instagram, posting a collage of sweet snaps with Jake showing them prepare for life as new parents

She continued: 'It feels like a fever dream now. Like, did that actually happen? And its kind of addictive, because you get such an adrenalin rush.

'I did Monday to Thursday, and on the Friday it was a bit of a comedown from being on such a high.

'Seeing comments saying I was a breath of fresh air was lovely. As the new kid on the block, I was bracing myself for some negativity, but wow, people really did give me a chance and didnt just write me off. I was so touched by that.'

Sian replaced Strictly star Vick Hope on Capital to host alongside Roman and Sonny Jay in 2020 after launching her presenting career at the age of 19.

She was still working part-time as a shop assistant for New Look when a starring role in an advert for New! Magazine led to her being spotted by former Channel 5 owner Richard Desmond.

Sian was unveiled as the new face of Channel 5 News in 2010 and has previously described how she would work as a retail assistant by day, and record online videos in the fitting room after the shop had closed.
Katie Price has claimed that she will be landing her own West End show all about her colourful life.

The former glamour model, 45, attended the press night of Priscilla The Party! at HERE at the Outernet on Monday, with her new boyfriend JJ Slater and two of her theatre pals.

She was clearly inspired by the jukebox musical, as she hinted she would see her own show on stage soon.

Sharing a video of her posing on the red carpet to her Instagram, Katie wrote: 'Reunited with @andy_bren. Can't wait for @andy_bren to write my West End show'.

Andy Brennan is an actor, presenter and producer, who currently works as the artistic director of OCD Productions UK and creative director for Adventure Wonderland Park in Bournemouth.

Katie Price has claimed that she will be landing her own West End show all about her colourful life

The former glamour model, 45, attended the press night of Priscilla The Party! at the Outernet on Monday, with her new boyfriend JJ Slater and two of her theatre pals

She was clearly inspired by the jukebox musical, as she hinted she would see her own show on stage soon, sharing a clip captioned: 'Can't wait for @andy_bren to write my West End show'.

Katie worked alongside Andy late last year, starring together in the Sleeping Beauty pantomime at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool.

The mother-of-five played The Wicked Fairy Carabosse while Andy took on the role of Queen FiFi of Fazakerley in December.

It's not the first time that Katie has claimed she would be getting her own West End show.

In 2020, the TV personality said a producer had wanted to write a show about her dramatic life based on her autobiographies.

She has written a whopping six autobiographies over the years, beginning with Being Jordan in 2004, with her latest, Harvey and Me, being published in 2021.

Katie didn't stop there, as she also claimed that the plan was for the West End show to then be turned into a Netflix film.

Speaking to new! magazine, she explained: 'Ive actually send a producer all my books and they want to write a show for the West End about my life and then turn it into a film for Netflix.'

The star elaborated: 'Someone would be playing me and I might narrate it or something.'

Andy Brennan is an actor, presenter and producer, who currently works as the artistic director of OCD Productions UK and creative director for Adventure Wonderland Park in Bournemouth

Katie worked alongside Andy (pictured) late last year, starring together in the Sleeping Beauty pantomime at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool

The mother-of-five played The Wicked Fairy Carabosse while Andy took on the role of Queen FiFi of Fazakerley in December (pictured)

Referring to her plastic surgery over the years, Katie admitted that finding the perfect actress to play her would be 'hard to pick' as she's 'changed so much'.

She wouldn't be the first star to transition from reality TV to the West End stage, with people like X Factor's Alexandra Burke and Love Island's Amber Davies also starring in productions.

While Gemma Collins launched her own live theatre tour in 2022, and was also briefly cast as Mama Morton in Chicago the Musical.

A new show and Netflix movie would be just what Katie needs at the moment, after she was declared bankrupt for a second time.

She failed to pay over 750,000 in unpaid tax - and will now face losing her home unless HMRC can recover the money.

Earlier this month, Katie didn't appear at a court hearing in London, with an official from HMRC saying she had failed to pay any money owed or responded to any correspondence since the demand was made for the unpaid tax last year.

When the news broke Katie was speaking exclusively to the Mail's comedy podcast, Straight To The Comments!.

When told a story about her had just broke, she gasped in shock and said: 'Has it? Oh get lost! Are you actually serious, while I'm sat here? What have I done now?'

It's not the first time that Katie has claimed she would be getting her own show, as in 2020, she said a producer had wanted to write one based on her autobiographies (pictured in 2013)

She has written a whopping six autobiographies over the years, beginning with Being Jordan in 2004, with her latest, Harvey and Me, being published in 2021 (pictured in 2004)

She also claimed that the plan was for the West End show to then be turned into a Netflix film, but admitted that finding the perfect actress to play her would be 'hard to pick' due to her multiple plastic surgeries

After hearing that she had been declared bankrupt a second time, she said she had been signed off because of 'serious stuff' in her life.

She said: 'I know I had court last week or the week before. Because of what's going on in my life, I've actually been signed off because I'm dealing with serious stuff.'

She continued: 'I just can't cope with going to a court. Mentally, I can't do it.'

Katie went on to claim that she 'doesn't get away' with not paying, insisting that she is making payments.

She said: 'There's all different kinds of bankruptcy, I think they just use the word bankruptcy. No one actually knows the ins and outs of everything.

'And trust me I don't get away with stuff either. Like you can't - tax you can't ever run away from, you have to pay. Don't think I sit here and don't pay stuff because I do.'

Speaking about when her debts started accumulating, Katie explained: 'Since my breakdown. When you are ill and depressed everything accumulates.

'If you can't cope with something or you haven't paid that bill. Communicate, don't ignore because when you ignore it, it just gets worse.

While Gemma Collins launched her own live theatre tour in 2022, and was also briefly cast as Mama Morton in Chicago the Musical (pictured)

'It does upset me because they don't know how hard I've tried mentally to get out of that rut that I was in. A rut that I hung myself and thought I'd died.'

It is the second bankruptcy faced by Katie as she is being chased by creditors for a 3.2million payment over the failure of her company Jordan Trading Ltd.

She was first made bankrupt in 2019 when her company, selling perfume and cosmetics, went bust.

Her debt could see her lose her 2million mansion dubbed Mucky Mansion after it fell into a state of disrepair.

A bankruptcy expert told MailOnline it would take 'exceptional circumstances' for Katie to keep hold of the 2million home after failing to comply with the terms of both bankruptcies.

It would also mean that the earnings she's made in the years since she was declared bankrupt the first time will also be taken from her, as it's thought she makes an estimated 2.2million a year from her OnlyFans account.

In October, Katie appeared on Michelle Visage's Rule Breakers podcast and said she was 'fed up' of facing legal action and said she would willingly go to prison to be 'done with it all'.

She added that she had recently been to court 'more times than I've had hot dinners' and would 'genuinely' not care if she was jailed.

She also told Daisy May Cooper on her Educating Daisy podcast: 'If they put me into prison, it's another chapter for the book.'

A new show and Netflix movie would be just what Katie needs at the moment, after she was declared bankrupt for a second time after failing to pay over 750,000 in unpaid tax

Katie was first made bankrupt in 2019 when her company, selling perfume and cosmetics, went bust and she is being chased by creditors for a 3.2million payment (pictured 2019)
Richard Madeley believes the corporal punishment he received as a schoolboy had a 'definite sexual element to it.'

Madeley, 67, reflected on his childhood ahead of an interview with Earl Spencer on Tuesday's edition of Good Morning Britain.

Spencer, 59, was on hand to discuss his new autobiography, A Very Private School, in which he detailed the abuse he suffered at Maidwell Hall in Norfolk, one of England's most prestigious boarding schools.

Discussing the book, Madeley was prompted to share his own experience of being caned as a pupil at Coopers Company - an all-boys grammar school in east London - with co-host Susanna Reid.

'It went on into the 1980s,' he said of the archaic practice, which was outlawed from all British state schools in 1987. 'I was regularly caned at school in the late 1960s and yes, there were sexual elements to it, undoubtedly.'

Good Morning Britain co-host Richard Madeley believes the corporal punishment he received as a schoolboy had a 'definite sexual element to it'

Madeley attended Coopers Company - an all-boys grammar school in London - before moving to a different secondary school in Brentwood, Essex (Madeley pictured with his mother, Mary)

Susanna Reid was visibly appalled as her co-host discussed his school years ahead of an interview with Earl Spencer on Tuesday's edition of the show

An appalled Reid added: 'Honestly, horror, horror, at a place where you're supposed to be looked after by people because your parents aren't there.'

Spencer - the younger brother of the late Diana, Princess of Wales - alleges he was groomed and preyed upon by a school matron while attending Maidwell.

'We were totally disconnected and at the mercy of pedophiles and sadists,' he said. 'I was so caught up in the emotions I didn't know what was going on.

'She would groom me and give me biscuits and come back for sexual things.'

Responding to Spencer's claims in a statement, Maidwell Hall said: 'We are sorry that was their experience. It is difficult to read about practices which were, sadly, sometimes believed to be normal and acceptable at that time.

'Almost every facet of school life has evolved significantly since the 1970s. At the heart of the changes is the safeguarding of children and promotion of their welfare.'

Madeley previously spoke about his own experiences during an interview with the The Telegraph, claiming two teachers who were having an affair would watch whenever he was caned.

'The music teacher had responsibility to administer the cane,' he said. 'He was having an affair with the English teacher, and she came in when it was my turn to be caned.

Spencer was on hand to discuss his new autobiography, A Very Private School, in which he detail the abuse he suffered as a pupil at Maidwell Hall in Norfolk

Discussing the book, Madeley was prompted to share his own experience of being caned

'And I have to say there was some quasi-sexual thing going on. Even at that age I could tell they were both a bit excited.

'We also had this very odd games master. When we were playing rugby he said he didnt want his team wearing namby pamby underpants under our rugby shorts, and so when we filed out of the changing room he would pull our shorts towards him by the waistband to check we werent wearing any  behaviour that today would have people in prison for sexual assault.'

He added: 'After three years my parents moved to Brentwood and I transferred to a fantastic mixed school: Shenfield High School.

'Where Coopers had been rough and violent, with physical punishment and weird couplings between teachers, I walked into this civilised, calm, tranquil environment.'
Vicky Pattison has revealed that even though her wedding day is costing 'the same price as a house' she still doesn't have enough money to fund her dream day.

The Geordie Shore star, 36, who is set to marry Ercan Ramadan, admitted that her celebrity wedding planner has told her that her fund won't even cover the flowers she wants.

After getting engaged to the 30-year-old TV personality in February 2022, VIcky is set to tie the knot in summer 2024.

Speaking to Rock My Wedding, Vicky admitted that despite trying to be a little sensible in places, she will be wearing four wedding dresses on the day.

But she has limited certain luxuries and won't be splashing out on the flower installation she had her eye on for their welcome dinner.

Vicky Pattison admitted her wedding day is costing 'the same price as a house' but she STILL doesn't have enough budget for what she wants - despite buying FOUR bridal dresses

The Geordie Shore star, 36, admitted that her celebrity wedding planner has told her that her budget won't even cover the flowers she wants (pictured with fiance Ercan)

Vicky said: 'I knew weddings were a big money business and, like I say, it's not my first rodeo in this space, but everything's just got more and more expensive.

'I was really shocked.'

'I don't want to be paying it off for the next 10 years, or remortgaging my house for a wedding,' she added.

She admitted that at first she thought she was going to have the 'wedding of the century' but the reality quickly set in when she realised the cost, despite having a healthy budget,

Unfortunately, her wedding planner revealed that what she wanted was impossible with her initial wedding fund.

After hosting 300 guests for their engagement party in London's 14 Hills, Vicky and Ercan decided to officially marry at Marylebone Town Hall with an attendance of 100.

After getting engaged in February 2022, the brunette beauty and her partner, 30, decided to have a legal ceremony in London before heading to Italy for a destination wedding ceremony

They will then head to Italy for a welcome dinner, wedding ceremony and evening reception, which has attracted 150 guests so far.

Vicky teased that she will be wearing a sixties-inspired gown for her UK wedding and said she loves the short veil and big sunglasses look.

The pair got engaged in the summer of 2019, when Ercan proposed to her on the beach in Dubai.

He popped the question with a stunning emerald-cut solitaire with a diamond band. British jeweller Rox predicted that the piece would cost around 200,000.

Vicky and Ercan began dating shortly after she called off her engagement to ex-fiance John Noble after he was filmed grinding mystery woman

Vicky and Ercan began dating shortly after she called off her engagement to ex-fiance John Noble after he was filmed grinding mystery woman in Dubai.

The couple were together for nine months before moving in together in 2019.

This marks Vicky's third engagement, as she was also previously engaged to Ricci Guarnaccio after meeting on MTV's Geordie Shore.

The couple split in 2013 after what Ricci called a 'volatile' relationship filled with 'constant fighting'.
Greg Davies has announced his first new stand-up tour in seven years, which will see him play a whopping 55 dates in his biggest ever run to date.

Greg, 55, will perform in shows across the UK and Ireland from January 2025, including shows in London, Manchester, Dublin, Edinburgh and Liverpool as part of his tour, which has been given the name Full Fat Legend.

Taking to X, formerly Twitter, to announce the news, the comedian wrote: 'Im really excited to be doing my new tour, Full Fat Legend.'

He added that pre-sale tickets for the shows had already gone on sale to anyone subscribed to the comedian's mailing list.

Tickets for Full Fat Legend go on general sale from 10am on Thursday March 28.

Greg Davies has announced his first new stand-up tour in seven years, which will see him play a whopping 55 dates in his biggest ever run to date

Greg, 55, will play shows across UK and Ireland from January 2025, including shows in London, Manchester, Dublin, Edinburgh and Liverpool

Famed for his role as the fearsome, imposing teacher Mr Gilbert in cult sitcom The Inbetweeners, he has also starred in Cuckoo, Man Down and The Cleaner.

Greg's last stand-up tour, You Magnificent Beast, was preceded by The Back of My Mum's Head in 2013 and his breakthrough show Firing Cheeseballs At A Dog, which was nominated for best show in the 2010 Edinburgh comedy awards.

The tour includes two dates at The Royal Albert Hall and The OVO Wembley Arena, scheduled for June 10 and June 12 respectively.

The news comes as he is about to return for a 17th series of popular game show Taskmaster, which he co-hosts alongside Alex Horne, on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Greg's hit BBC show The Cleaner was renewed for a third series back in January.

It sees him play the part of Paul 'Wicky' Wickstead, a crime scene cleaner who visits various people each episode.

Based on German show Der Tatortreiniger, The Cleaner's first series aired in 2021 before a 2022 Christmas special and a second series in spring 2023.

The show, written and co-produced by Greg, sees crime scene cleaner Wickstead encounter a series of unusual characters as he goes about his day to day work.

Alongside Greg, Zita Sattar features in every episode as Ruth, a police officer who is close friends with the cleaner.
The family seeks $1 million in damages and claims the Hilton hotel management was negligent, which resulted in their daughter's death. Catherine McQueen/Getty Images

A Houston family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Hilton hotel corporation on Monday over the death of their young daughter, who drowned after getting sucked into the hotel's pool system pipe over the weekend.

According to the lawsuit, eight-year-old Aliyah Jaico's body was found early Sunday morning after being reported missing for more than 12 hours at the DoubleTree by Hilton Houston Brookhollow, off of the Northwest Freeway. The family's lawyer, Richard Nava, argues she died after being "violently sucked" into a 12 to 16-inch gap in the swimming pool flow system of the lazy river-style pool. The lawsuit names Unique Crown Hospitaliry LLC and Hilton Worldwide Holdings LLC as the defendants.

The lawsuit said Aliyah's mother, Jose Daniela Jaico Ahumada, rented the hotel room so the family could use the pool. Nava argued that Aliyah, who loved to swim, was enjoying the pool with other family members when she suddenly disappeared around 5 p.m. on Saturday. Ahumada, Aliyah's mother, frantically searched for her daughter and alerted hotel management.

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Around 5:20 p.m., Ahumada begged hotel management to look at the surveillance footage but was told Houston police would have to be present to view it, Nava argues. Shortly after, she called 911 and reported her daughter missing, which prompted an extensive search involving Texas Equusearch and local police.

After watching video footage, searchers determined Aliyah went underwater and never emerged. They then drained the pool, using 20-foot poles to examine the swimming pool's pumping system.

"A team was then put together to drain the pool, and video cameras were attached to 20-foot poles to inspect the pipes when her body was discovered wedged in the pipes of the malfunctioning pool equipment," the lawsuit said.

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Aliyah's family lawsuit claims the hotel management failed to provide the young girl a safe place to swim, and their negligent activity caused her tragic death. The family seeks damages in excess of $1 million, according to the lawsuit. The family is seeking a copy of the surveillance video.

Hilton put out a statement Monday night offering "our since condolences to the family and loved ones for the tragic loss of a young girl." They noted the property is independently owned and operated by a third party. "Hilton does not own, manage, or control the day-to-day operations of the property."

Clarification: This story has been updated to note that the lawsuit asks for damages in excess of $1 million.
Mel Gibson has a hit movie on Netflix.

The 68-year-old, who was recently spotted having a family dinner in Malibu, has the second most watched film on the streaming service.

The 'Netflix Effect' takes place when a show or movie surges in popularity after it's added to the platform.

That's exactly what happened with a little known 2022 film called On The Line, starring the Oscar winner, which has had a resurgence since it was added to the streamer.

The film is more popular than new adds including Lindsay Lohan's Irish Wish, Regina King's Shirley and Millie Bobby Brown's Damsel.

Mel Gibson's 2022 thriller On The Line is the second most popular film on Netflix, thanks to the 'Netflix Effect'

The only film more popular in the similar titled Mending the Line, another 2022 film, starring Succession's Brian Cox.

In On the Line, Gibson stars as Elvis, a radio host you can call to talk to about 'all your issues and problems.'

Everything is going well workwise, until a caller named Gary, who has a grudge against Elvis, threatens his family and a game of digital cat and mouse begins.

The film received a 20-percent critics score and a 32-percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. However, Digital Trends called it a great movie to watch with friends 'during a drinking game.'

Gibson used to be an A-list Hollywood star, heading blockbuster films such as Maverick and Ransom, after shooting to fame in the Mad Max and Lethal Weapons franchises.

He won an Oscar as Best Director for 1995's Braveheart. The film also earned the Best Picture award.

The Passion of the Christ director's career came tumbling down after he was arrested for driving under the influence in Malibu in 2006. While being processed by police, he unleashed an anti-Semitic rant against the arresting officer.

On leaked tapes released 2010, he could be heard screaming racist remarks, including the n-word a then-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva, who also accused him of physical violence. He pleaded no-contest to a charge of misdemeanor spousal battery in 2011, and was sentenced to three years of probation, domestic violence counseling and two days of community service.

In On the Line, Gibson stars as Elvis, a radio host you can call to talk to about 'all your issues and problems.' Everything is going well workwise, until a caller named Gary threatens his family and a game of digital cat and mouse begins

The thriller enjoyed a surge in popularity after it was added to the platform, besting Lindsay Lohan 's Irish Wish, Regina King's Shirley and Millie Bobby Brown 's Damsel

The actor also has a history of making anti-LGBTQ comments.

Since then, he has appeared in mostly low-budget, and low-rated action films, such as On the Line.

But a few A-list stars have hired him to work in some mainstream movies, including The Expendables 3, with Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, as well as Father Stu, with Mark Wahlberg.

Gibson used to enjoy A-list status in Hollywood after rising to fame in the Mad Max and Lethal Weapon franchises. He won an Oscar as Best Director for 1995's Braveheart. The film also earned the Best Picture award (Pictured in Los Angeles in March 1996)

The Passion of the Christ director's career came tumbling down after he made antisemitic remarks when arrested for driving under the influence in Malibu in 2006. In 2011, he pleaded no-contest to misdemeanor spousal battery (2011 mugshot)

A few A-list stars have hired him to work in some mainstream movies, including The Expendables 3, with Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, as well as Father Stu, with Mark Wahlberg (Pictured in Beverly Hills in April 2022)

The Passion of the Christ director has several upcoming project in front of and behind the camera, including Flight Risk with Mark Wahlberg and the fantasy adventure Boys of Summer (Pictured in Paris in June 2021)

He directed 2016's Oscar winning war movie Hacksaw Ridge, starring Andrew Garfield as Army Medic Desmond T. Doss, who rescued 75 men during the Battle of Okinawa without firing a single shot.

The World War II drama is still rated as one of the 'most liked' movies on Netflix after it debuted on the service in September 2023.

According to IMDB, Gibson recently finished directing Flight Risk, a thriller starring Mark Wahlberg, Downton Abbey's Michelle Dockery and Topher Grace. Gibson is also a producer on the project.

He will be seen next in the fantasy adventure Boys of Summer with Lorraine Bracco and Mason Thames. The film is expected to be released in August.
Dakota Fanning opted for a leggy look as she arrived to Times Square Studios to tape Good Morning America in Midtown Manhattan on Tuesday.

The 30-year-old former child star wore a white wrap midi-skirt over a crisp matching blouse, gold kitten heels, and Sydney Evan jewelry selected by her longtime stylist Samantha McMillen.

Hairstylist Alissa Frum blew out Dakota's (born Hannah) signature blonde locks.

Make-up artist Tyron Machhausen made sure Fanning was ready for her HD close-up.

Tuesday marked The Equalizer 3 star's third time appearing on the ABC morning show.

Dakota Fanning opted for a leggy look as she arrived to Times Square Studios to tape Good Morning America in Midtown Manhattan on Tuesday

Dakota has been hard at work promoting her role as wealthy socialite Marge Sherwood in Steven Zaillian's eight-episode series Ripley, which premieres April 4 on Netflix.

Fanning was joined on set by executive producer and star Andrew Scott, who plays the titular con-man.

'My character Marge is one of the few or maybe the only that sort of doesn't trust Tom from the beginning, and he's kind of able to fool and manipulate everyone else but kind of not her,' Fanning explained to GMA's Lara Spencer.

'So she's on to him from the start. So that was sort of fun to get into those scenes between us where it really looks like we hope the other one falls off the balcony. Somebody said yesterday "anti-chemistry," which I thought was great. I love it. That's exactly it.'

The role of Marge was originated by Oscar winner Gwyneth Paltrow in Anthony Minghella's critically-acclaimed 1999 film The Talented Mr. Ripley starring Matt Damon and Jude Law.

But this small-screen adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's 1955 crime novel features Johnny Flynn, Elliot Sumner, Maurizio Lombardi, Margherita Buy, and John Malkovich.

Ripley arrives five months after Emerald Fennell released her so-called 'original' film Saltburn - which borrowed much of the tone, character dynamics, and plot from The Talented Mr. Ripley.

The two-time SAG Award nominee and her younger sister - Emmy nominee Elle Fanning - co-founded Lewellen Pictures in 2021.

The 30-year-old former child star wore a white wrap midi-skirt over a crisp matching blouse, gold kitten heels, and Sydney Evan jewelry selected by her longtime stylist Samantha McMillen

Hairstylist Alissa Frum blew out Dakota's (born Hannah) signature blonde locks

Make-up artist Tyron Machhausen made sure Fanning was ready for her HD close-up

Tuesday marked The Equalizer 3 star's third time appearing on the ABC morning show

Dakota has been hard at work promoting her role as wealthy socialite Marge Sherwood in Steven Zaillian's eight-episode series Ripley, which premieres April 4 on Netflix

Fanning was joined on set by executive producer and star Andrew Scott (L), who plays the titular con-man

Fanning explained to GMA's Lara Spencer: 'My character Marge is one of the few or maybe the only that sort of doesn't trust Tom from the beginning, and he's kind of able to fool and manipulate everyone else but kind of not her'

The two-time SAG Award nominee continued: 'So she's on to him from the start. So that was sort of fun to get into those scenes between us where it really looks like we hope the other one falls off the balcony. Somebody said yesterday "anti-chemistry," which I thought was great. I love it. That's exactly it'

Dakota and her younger sister - Emmy nominee Elle Fanning (L, pictured June 5) - co-founded Lewellen Pictures in 2021

Fanning said on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Monday: 'We've been working on it for the last few years. Of course, we started as actors, and I think we both have this desire to develop our own projects and be really a part of things from the ground up. And, um, we're super close, so I, uh, can't - I would never do it with anyone else. It has to be her'

'We've been working on it for the last few years,' Dakota said on NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Monday.

'Of course, we started as actors, and I think we both have this desire to develop our own projects and be really a part of things from the ground up. And, um, we're super close, so I, uh, can't - I would never do it with anyone else. It has to be her.'

On February 28, Paramount Pictures boarded Bryan Bertino's 2025 horror film Vicious, in which Fanning plays a woman who slips down a disturbing rabbit hole contained in a strange present she receives in the dead of night.

The Georgia-born blonde will play a young artist called Mina, who gets lost in an Irish forest in Warner Bros. Pictures' big-screen adaptation of A.M. Shine's 2022 novel The Watchers, which hits UK theaters June 7 and US theaters June 14.

The horror mystery marks the feature directorial debut of M. Night Shyamalan's daughter Ishana Shyamalan.

Dakota will also portray Abby Winbury in Jenna Lamia's six-episode mystery The Perfect Couple - premiering later this year on Netflix - alongside Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Sam Nivola, and Omar Epps.
Robert De Niro joined forces with fellow acting icons Michael Douglas and Harvey Keitel for dinner on Monday evening.

The trio were spotted departing Funke Restaurant, an Italian eatery in Beverly Hills.

Robert, who was recently spotted grabbing lunch with his Killers of the Floor Moon co-star Leonardo DiCaprio, emerged from the restaurant clad in a black sweater, green polo shirt, and taupe slacks.

The Taxi Driver, 80, star donned a fashionable messenger cap over his head and a pair of smart spectacles.

Michael, 79, was looking dapper in a blue button down teamed with a black blazer, jeans, and glossy loafers. His silver hair was slicked handsomely over his head.

Robert De Niro joined forces with fellow A-list legends Michael Douglas and Harvey Keitel for dinner on Monday evening

As for Harvey, 84, he opted for an edgy black leather jacket, glasses, and comfortable slides.

The Hollywood icons have starred in many critically-acclaimed films throughout their career.

Robert has worked with both Michael and Harvey on two separate films.

The Godfather alum and Harvey both starred in the 1973 film Mean Streets and 1976 movie Taxi Driver, both directed by Martin Scorsese.

Robert also more recently worked with Michael in the 2013 comedy, Last Vegas.

Robert's illustrious career includes a recent Oscar nomination for his role in another Scorsese film, Killers of the Flower Moon.

He had been nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as William Hale in film, his latest offering with longtime collaborator Martin Scorsese, but lost out on the honors to Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer).

De Niro has past won Oscars for his work in 1974's The Godfather Part II and 1980's Raging Bull, and has also been nominated for his work in seven other films: Killers of the Flower Moon, The Irishman, Silver Linings Playbook, Cape Fear, Awakenings, The Deer Hunter and Taxi Driver.

Michael Douglas spotted departing the Italian restaurant

Harvey Keitel opted for an edgy black leather jacket and slides for the occasion

De Niro and Keitel both starred in the 1973 Martin Scorsese film, Mean Streets

More recently, De Niro worked with Douglas in the 2013 film Last Vegas

Among his other notable non-nominated performances include Goodfellas, The King of Comedy, The Untouchables and A Bronx Tale.

As far as his personal life, the actor recently welcomed his seventh child - a daughter named Gia Virginia with girlfriend Tiffany Chen.

De Niro told People last month that his newborn with Chen is 'such an adorable baby,' as 'everything else goes away' when he looks at her. 'So it's a great joy and relief to just be with her in the moment.'

The twice-divorced screen legend is also the proud father of six other children.

He has Drena, 56, and Raphael, 47 with his ex-wife Diahnne Abbott, Elliot, 26, and Helen, 12, with ex-wife Grace Hightower, and twins Aaron and Julian, 28, with former girlfriend, Toukie Smith.
Will Smith reportedly felt the need for speed on Friday night as he drove down the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, California.

The Hitch star, 55, was clocked going 63mph in a 45mph speed limit zone on a stretch of the scenic highway that is very dangerous, according to TMZ.

Over the past 14 years, 58 people have died on that stretch of PCH so even Will's star power couldn't get Smith  who stars in the upcoming Bad Boys 4  out of the speeding ticket.

The California Highway Patrol has no patience for speed demons on that stretch of the oceanside highway.

In October 2023, four Pepperdine University students were killed when a BMW lost control while going 104mph and slammed into the young women.

Will Smith felt the need for speed on Friday night as he drove down the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu per TMZ; seen in 2016

The California Highway Patrol has no patience for speed demons on that stretch of the oceanside highway

Smith's ticket for going 18 miles over the speed limit was likely near $400, per Nerdwallet.

On Tuesday, the official trailer for Bad Boys 4 dropped. Will Smith teams up with Martin Lawrence once again to fight for justice in Miami, Florida in the latest installment of the popular film franchise.

The duo have been shooting in the state for months and recently wrapped production of the film.

The Men in Black actor and Lawrence, 58, were both seen shooting off guns nonstop in the action-packed clip.

The film is called Bad Boys 4: Ride Or Die and it will debut in theaters on June 7.

The movie also stars Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, Paola Nunez, Eric Dane, Ioan Gruffudd, Jacob Scipio, Melanie Liburd, Tasha Smith and Tiffany Haddish.

In the film, the actors team up to clear their boss' name, played by Joe Pantoliano, 73, after he's been revealed to be a longtime drug smuggler.

Bad Boys 4 marks Smith's return to a big commercial film for the first time since his now infamous Oscars slap of Chris Rock, 59, at the 2022 Academy Awards.

The Hitch star, 55, was clocked going 63 in a 45mph speed limit zone on a stretch of the scenic highway that is very dangerous

Over the past 14 years, 58 people have died on that stretch of PCH so even Will's star power couldn't get Smith  who stars in the upcoming Bad Boys 4  out of the speeding ticket

On Tuesday, the official trailer for Bad Boys 4 dropped. Will Smith teams up with Martin Lawrence once again to fight for justice in Miami, Florida in the latest installment of the popular film franchise

The duo have been shooting in the state for months and recently wrapped production of the film

His last film was 2022's slave drama Emancipation for Antoine Fuqua and Apple Films.

The first Bad Boys film hit theaters in 1995 and was director Michael Bay's first feature films. Bay commented on the Oscar slap back in 2022, saying: 'I don't know the rules. I don't know, but it was a little unlike Will,' he started,

'He's a great guy, I've never seen him mad,' Bay said of Smith, adding he didn't see it happen, 'I just saw the clip. I'm not one to judge. He's just not an angry guy.'

Bad Boys II debuted in 2003 and the third film was released in 2020 and was one of the last movies to get a wide theatrical release before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down theaters.
Mel B turned heads in a Scary Spice inspired ensemble as she stepped out in New York City on Tuesday morning.

The former Spice Girl, 48, arrived for The Drew Barrymore show amid the promotion of her bombshell memoir Brutally Honest in the US.

She made sure that all eyes were on her in a tight leopard print jumpsuit as she strutted her stuff and put on a busty display.

The figure-hugging number featured a gold clasp at the front and had a halterneck design.

She teamed with with a black fur coat and matching animal print heels and had on large silver hoop earrings.

Mel B turned heads in a Scary Spice inspired ensemble as she stepped out in New York City on Tuesday morning

The former Spice Girl, 48, arrived for The Drew Barrymore show amid the promotion of her bombshell memoir Brutally Honest in the US

Earlier in the day she wowed in a crescent moon print black and white catsuit from Marine Serre which showed off her toned figure.

The star added to her look with a light brown suede jacket and wore long PVC boots over the catsuit.

She wore her dark hair in tight curls and opted for a glowing makeup look while donning dark shades.

Last week the star reignited hopes of a surprise Spice Girls 30th anniversary reunion at Glastonbury - days after Shania Twain was announced in the Legends slot.

The line-up for Glastonbury 2024 was unveiled last week, with Dua Lipa, Sza and Coldplay set to take to the Pyramid stage.

When US country music star Shania bagged the iconic Sunday Legends slot, Spice Girls fans thought that meant the possibility of a surprise appearance to celebrate 30 years of the girl band had been ruled out.

But speaking on Hits Radio Breakfast Show, Mel teased that there might be hope yet for Spice fans.

'You don't know that we're not doing Glastonbury,' Mel coyly explained.

She added: 'We are talking about doing something together - I can't say what it is 'cos I always get into trouble, loose lips sink ships and I'm not about to sink the ship!

She made sure that all eyes were on her in a tight leopard print jumpsuit as she strutted her stuff and put on a busty display

The figure-hugging number featured a gold clasp at the front and had a halterneck design to show off her cleavage

Earlier in the day she turned heads in a crescent moon print black and white catsuit from Marine Serre which showed off her toned figure

The star added to her look with a light brown suede jacket and wore long PVC boots over the catsuit

She wore her dark hair in tight curls and opted for a glowing makeup look while donning dark shades

'I've had the kibosh put on me this time round but my aim is to get us back in to the studio, that would be nice.'

Reports had claimed that all five original members would reunite in 2024 for a headline slot at Worthy Farm.

In 2019, the band embarked on a 13-date UK tour without Victoria Beckham, nicknamed Posh Spice during her time with the group.

At the time she told Vogue: 'It took me a lot of courage not to go on tour with the Spice Girls again, but to be the one who says: "You know, I'm not doing it because things feel different now than they used to."'

She was sounded out once again recently about returning to the Spice Girls for what would have been the first concerts with the original full line-up since the London Olympics closing ceremony in 2012.

Last week the star reignited hopes of a surprise Spice Girls 30th anniversary reunion at Glastonbury - days after Shania Twain was announced in the Legends slot (seen in 1996)

A headline slot at next year's Glastonbury had been one of the possible dates discussed and promoters were hopeful that Victoria would agree to join Melanie Brown, Geri Halliwell, Melanie Chisholm and Emma Bunton for a performance there.

A source told The Sun at the time: 'Victoria will be 50 next year, and the girls turning 30 seems like two anniversaries too good to miss.

'There will be no new music, and Victoria is adamant she doesn't want to perform live unless for an incredibly exciting one-off opportunity.

'The group have been in talks to headline Glastonbury and this would sit with Victoria's 'cool' aesthetic, and, certainly, hubby David and their four kids would love it.'
High School Musical actress Ashley Tisdale is pregnant with her second child.

The father is her husband Christopher French and together they already are parents to three-year-old daughter Jupiter.

Ashley shared the joyful news on Instagram on Tuesday as she was seen posing at her Los Angeles home by a lemon tree as she wore a white shirt that was pulled open to display her bare baby bump.

'We can't wait to meet you,' the TV and movie star wrote in the caption as she added faded and ripped blue denim jeans that were unbuttoned on top.

Her pals Maria Menounos and Sofia Richie offered their congratulations and hit the like button.

High School Musical actress Ashley Tisdale is pregnant with her second child. The star shared the news on Instagram on Tuesday

The father is her husband Christopher French

Together they already are parents to 3-year-old daughter Jupiter

Ashley and Christopher began dating in 2012 and got married in September 2014.

Her close friend and High School Musical costar Vanessa Hudgens is also pregnant; she is expecting her first child with new husband Cole Tucker.

She was last seen covering up her mid section with a bottle of water as she wore all black clothing when in NYC on March 5.

When they announced their first pregnancy in September 2020, they were also pictured outdoors.

She had on a long white dress as she and her spouse touched heads for the snapshot.

Tisdale, who was also on Carol's Second Act and the Netflix series Merry Happy Whatever, told People in 2019 that she wanted to wait until the right time to start a family.

'For me, it's like, it's okay to not want to start a family right away,' the actress told the site.

'People are always asking me about that, but it's just not the right time.'

Tisdale also told the site that she and French have a strong bond.

'He's a really great guy,' she said.

She was last seen covering up her mid section with a bottle of water as she wore all black clothing when in NYC on March 5

It was impossible to tell at the time if she was with child or not

She also put her arms in front of her belly when on Watch What Happens live that same day with Lala Kent from Vanderpump Rules

'We're lucky because we're very independent people, but we love spending time and hanging out together.

'Being in quarantine together, it's still that easy. It's still hanging out with your best friend,' she added.

In 2022 she told GMA that she had postpartum.

She had diastasis recti, a condition that affects pregnant and postpartum people.

In an Instagram post she wrote that she's spent the past year working on loving her body.

'Taking a moment to be present in my body and showing gratitude for it's strength,' Tisdale wrote.

'You guys know I had diastasis recti from being pregnant that really affected my confidence but doing things like yoga, pilates and my #EmsculptNeo work outs that have gotten me back to feeling myself.'

Here the family is seen in February as Ashley added the caption: 'Tisdale/French family ski trip. Jupiter's first time seeing snow '

Her close friend and High School Musical costar Vanessa Hudgens - seen March 10 - is also pregnant; she is expecting her first child with new husband Cole Tucker

Diastasis recti happens when the uterus stretches the muscles in the abdomen.

It can cause the two large parallel bands of muscles that meet in the middle of the abdomen to become separated by an abnormal distance, according to the Mayo Clinic.

She did pilates and yoga to help close the gap in her abdomen.

'I feel healthy and have found ways to strengthen my body that don't drain me,' Tisdale said. 'That's what it's all about.'

The majority of people who develop diastasis recti may feel a vertical bulge in the center of their abdomen or can feel the width of the muscles being further than two finger widths apart, according to Dr. Jennifer Ashton, ABC News chief medical correspondent and a board-certified OBGYN.
He's blazing the promotional trail ahead of his new role in Ripley.

And Andrew Scott continued to show off his kooky sense of style as he headed into New York City after appearing on Good Morning America on Tuesday.

The Sherlock star, 47, sported a pair of black leather loafers and white socks, as he exited the studio after promoting his latest role.

Andrew teamed the eye-catching accessories with a knotted checked shirt and camel chino trousers, beaming as he headed into NYC.

Oscar-winning screenwriter Steven Zaillian's (Schindler's List) wrote and directed all eight episodes of the small-screen adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's 1955 crime novel The Talented Mr. Ripley.

Andrew Scott showed off his kooky sense of style in loafers and socks as he headed into New York City after appearing on Good Morning America on Tuesday

Set in the 1960s, Ripley is hired by a wealthy New Yorker to travel to Italy to convince his wayward son Dickie (played by Johnny Flynn) to return home.

Tom lies his way into the lavish world of the elite before resorting to deceit and murder in a desperate attempt to keep his place at the table.

John Malkovich returns to the world of Tom Ripley in a wildly different role and can be seen questioning the conman in a tense scene.

The star-studded cast also includes Dakota Fanning who protrays Marge Sherwood, an American living in Italy who starts to suspect Tom's motives.

The official synopsis reads: 'Scotts Tom Ripley is a grifter scraping by in early 60s New York. Hes hired by a wealthy industrialist to travel to Italy to try to convince the mans dilettante son, Dickie Greenleaf (Johnny Flynn), to return home'.

'Accepting the job is Toms first step into a complex life of deceit, fraud, and murder'.

Adapted by The Night Of's Steve Zaillan the much anticipated eight episode series will stream on Netflix April 4.

On Monday, Andrew was awarded Best Actor by the Critics' Circle Theatre Awards for his performance in All Of Us Strangers.

The Sherlock star teamed the eye-catching accessories with a knotted checked shirt and camel chino trousers, beaming as he headed into NYC

Andrew is currently blazing the promotional trail for his titular role in the Netflix adaptation of The Talented Mr Ripley

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.'

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.'
Real Housewives of New York veteran Jill Zarin says she will 'never' return to the franchise.

The 60-year-old appeared on The Rick and Kelly Show on Patreon with Kelly Dodd and Rick Leventhal this week, where she compared Bravo's programming to 'gotcha TV'.

'I will never do gotcha TV again, EVER!' she vowed. 'People say, "You will go back to Housewives." Never ever.'

She continued, 'I will say it right here, exclusive: I will never do gotcha TV again - I call it gotcha TV.'

When Kelly asked her to explain what 'gotcha' means, Jill responded, 'Meaning like, they got ya - it happened to you and me all the time. You'd feel like you were set up.'

Real Housewives of New York veteran Jill Zarin says she will 'never' return to the franchise

The reality star, 60, told The Rick and Kelly Show that she will 'never ever' do RHONY again, comparing the series to 'gotcha TV'

Both Jill and Real Housewives of Orange County alum Kelly Dodd said they felt 'set up' on their respective shows

The dictionary definition of 'gotcha' is, 'an instance of publicly tricking someone or exposing them to ridicule, especially by means of an elaborate deception'.

Reflecting on the interview on her YouTube channel, Kelly, who appeared on five seasons of the Real Housewives of Orange County, said, 'I felt like I was set up.'

She explained, 'My first season at the '70s party, they got these girls to say I was having an affair on [ex-husband] Michael [Dodd].'

Dailymail.com has contacted NBC for comment.

Jill was an original member of The Real Housewives of New York, which premiered in 2008.

She starred in the first four seasons before exiting the series, but she returned to Bravo years later for The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Ex-Wives Club in 2022.

Despite her disillusionment with the Real Housewives franchise, Jill is set to appear in an upcoming episode of Bravo's Below Deck.

A trailer for season 11 of the yachting series shows Jill complaining about the food on board and telling the crew to 'make it better'.

Jill was an original member of The Real Housewives of New York (pictured), which premiered in 2008

She returned to Bravo years later for The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Ex-Wives Club (pictured) in 2022

She will also be seen in Amazon Freevee's The Goat, which features ex reality stars competing to be crowned the greatest reality star of all time.

Jill's controversial comments come as Bravo faces of a slew of lawsuits from former cast members, including Leah McSweeney, Rachel Leviss, and Brandi Glanville.

Former RHONY star McSweeney, 41, is suing the network and Andy Cohen, 55, for alleged discrimination and a hostile work environment, and claims a 'rotted' work culture pressured cast members to consume alcohol, causing her to relapse.

She also accused Cohen of 'engaging in cocaine use with Housewives that he employs'.

A rep for Cohen told Dailymail.com that 'the claims against Andy are completely false' at the time and a letter from Cohen's attorneys obtained by TMZ urged McSweeney to retract her 'categorically false' allegations or face a lawsuit.

Cohen's attorneys have said everything McSweeney claimed in the lawsuit is false and added on the cocaine claim: '[We] demand that you immediately retract and withdraw all allegations relating to Mr. Cohens purported 'cocaine use.'"

'To be clear: these allegations are categorically false. Mr. Cohen never used cocaine with any cast member on any Real Housewives show or with any other Bravo employee. The absence of any reasonable basis to make such allegations is confirmed by your pleading itself.'

His attorneys point out there are no details included in the allegation and claim McSweeney made the explosive claim 'just to get headlines and a quick payday.'

A source close to McSweeney told the publication that she is 'flabbergasted' that Cohen keeps bringing attention to the case in the press 'rather than just letting it play out in court.'

Former RHONY star Leah McSweeney, 41, is suing Bravo and Andy Cohen, 55, for alleged discrimination and a hostile work environment. (Both pictured)

Leah also accused Cohen of 'engaging in cocaine use with Housewives that he employs'

Former Vanderpump Rules star Rachel Leviss, 29, filed to sue both Tom Sandoval and his ex-girlfriend Ariana Madix for revenge porn. (All pictured)

McSweeney appeared on two seasons of The Real Housewives of New York City in 2020-2021, and on a season of Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip, which aired last year.

Last month, former Vanderpump Rules star Rachel Leviss, 29, filed to sue both Tom Sandoval and his ex-girlfriend Ariana Madix for revenge porn, eavesdropping, invasion of privacy and inflicting emotional distress following last year's 'Scandoval' drama - which saw the reality star exposed for cheating on Madix with Leviss.

In the lawsuit, Leviss - formerly known as Raquel - accuses Sandoval of 'secretly recording their private communications and... capturing sexually explicit footage... without her knowledge or consent.'

She also claims Madix 'distributed, disseminated, shared, and publicized the illicit videos intentionally' after finding them on Sandoval's phone.

Bravo, NBCUniversal, Andy Cohen, and producers who work on Vanderpump Rules are not named in the lawsuit, but are mentioned frequently.

Meanwhile, Brandi Glanville's attorney recently claimed she was 'used and abused by NBC, Bravo, Warner Bros., and Shed Media' as they accused the network of 'hiding evidence' that would clear her name in an explosive new legal letter threatening a lawsuit.

Brandi Glanville's attorney recently claimed she was 'used and abused by NBC, Bravo, Warner Bros., and Shed Media'. (Pictured with Andy Cohen)

RHOBH alum Brandi has threatened a potential lawsuit against Bravo and claims she is a 'victim of sexual harassment at Bravo'

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum, 51, has decided to 'wage a public reputational war' against the network after they 'silenced' her in the wake of sexual assault allegations made against Glanville by her Ultimate Girls' Trip costar Caroline Manzo.

The Real Housewives of New Jersey star, 62, made headlines in 2023 when she alleged that Glanville kissed her without consent and even 'forced her vagina against her back' during filming of the Housewives spin off show in Morocco.

In January, Manzo, 62, officially filed to sue Bravo over her claim that production encouraged Glanville to sexually harass.

Now, in a legal demand, Glanville's attorney's appear to suggest Manzo is lying, insisting no assault took place, as they demand the network release to them 'all existing documents and data' pertaining to the accusations.

In a statement shared with DailyMail.com, attorney Bryan Freedman called for other 'victims' of Bravo and NBC to reach out to their team and join the 'fight' against the network.
Brooke Shields shared new images to Instagram from her next film, Mother Of The Bride.

The actress, 58, who wished husband Chris Henchy a happy 60th birthday, looked better than ever in summery clothing as she was seen with her costar Miranda Cosgrove, who plays her daughter.

And Brooke was also pictured with Benjamin Bratt, who used to romance Julia Roberts, and is best known for appearing on Law & Order.

'Its official MOTHER OF THE BRIDE is coming out on @Netflix on May 9th globally!! We are so excited for you to see it, 45 day countdown,' she wrote, indicating the photos had been taken on location in Thailand, where it was shot for six weeks.

Brooke stars as Lana, a woman who travels to the Southeast Asian kingdom when her daughter, played by Miranda, announces she is getting married there in a month's time to her boyfriend, played by Sean Teale.

The drama around the hasty nuptials is further complicated when Lana discovers her future son-in-law is the offspring of the man who broke her heart decades ago (Bratt).

The actress, 58, stars as Lana, a woman who travels to Thailand when her daughter, played by Miranda Cosgrove, announces she's getting married there in a month's time.

The drama around the hasty nuptials is further complicated when Lana discovers her future son-in-law is the offspring of the man who broke her heart decades ago. Benjamin Bratt, 60, stars as her former love

Shields, who also serves as an executive producer and opened up about the project in People.

Bratt, 60, stars as her former love, and the actress said her co-star is 'pretty easy to be a love interest.'

Chad Michael Murray, 42, appears to a romantic rival for Lana's affection.

Also starring in the film are Rachael Harris (Suits), Michael McDonald (MADtv), Wilson Cruz (My So-Called Life), Tasneem Roc (The Bureau of Magical Things), and Dalip Sondhi (Frayed).

Shields said she was happy to take on the project, and gave praise to director Mark Waters and Netflix's Director of Original Film, Christina Rogers.

'[Christina has] been the champion of really pushing and standing behind these stories for women over 40 to be in a romcom, that's not just all' she stated.

'Yes, we've got the focus on the young, beautiful, fresh love, and we want that, but she's not overlooking my demographic.

'And to have that wish fulfillment of another chance at love and all that.'

Cosgrove, who said she has a good relationship with her own mother, enjoyed working with the mom of two who shares daughters Rowan, 20, and Grier, 17, with Henchy.

Brooke Shields has requested the honor of our presence as she makes her debut as Mother of the Bride

Chad Michael Murray, 42, appears to a romantic rival for Lana's affection; seen with Brooke

During the six-week shoot in Thailand, Shields said the cast bonded over dancing lessons and pickleball practice. 'We had so much pickleball practice, so all our free time was spent either going to dance rehearsal or learning pickleball or practicing pickleball'

'Brooke's just really warm and loving, and she's kind of the type of person that, even if you've only talked to her for an hour, you feel like you've known her a long time, she's just really warm, the former iCarly star said.

The model said the cast bonded over dancing lessons and pickleball practice.

'We had so much dance rehearsal on our days off, and we ended up just working out together,' the actress revealed.

'Then we had so much pickleball practice, so all our free time was spent either going to dance rehearsal or learning pickleball or practicing pickleball.'

'It was like we were able to do all of it together and laugh with each other throughout the whole process,' she explained.

Mother of the Bride debuts Mother's Day weekend.
New mother Ashley Benson was thrilled to leave her Los Angeles home to travel to Illinois and appear at Epic Cons Chicago, which was held inside Festival Hall at Navy Pier over the weekend.

'I couldn't wait to get on the [plane],' the 34-year-old Wilderness actress said onstage during a panel.

'I've been stuck in the house for 10 months, pregnant.'

Ashley - who boasts 24.9M Instagram/TikTok followers - previously revealed the first glimpse of her newborn baby on February 29 via Instastory.

Benson welcomed her first child with husband Brandon Davis, whom she married November 8 just two days after publicly confirming her pregnancy.

New mother Ashley Benson was thrilled to leave her Los Angeles home to travel to Illinois and appear at Epic Cons Chicago, which was held inside Festival Hall at Navy Pier over the weekend

The 34-year-old Wilderness actress said onstage during a panel: 'I couldn't wait to get on the [plane]. I've been stuck in the house for 10 months, pregnant'

During the Pretty Little Liars panel, the Anaheim native and her former castmates Troian Bellisario, Torrey DeVitto, and Keegan Allen were shocked to discover that two-time Emmy nominee Sydney Sweeney appeared in the 2017 finale of their Freeform series.

The 26-year-old Immaculate producer-star portrayed Willa, a teen who befriends Addison Derringer (Ava Allan) before they both go missing, in the final episode titled 'Til DeAth Do Us PArt.'

DeVitto marveled: 'I'm in the Twilight Zone, what?!'

'I'm gonna look this up. This is blowing my mind,' Bellasario said taking out his phone.

'I remember this! It's f***ing her!'

Ashley concluded her role as fat girl-turned-queen bee Hannah Marin after seven seasons on I. Marlene King's small-screen adaptation of Sara Shepard's mystery book series spanning 2010-2017.

Pretty Little Liars spawned several Freeform spin-offs - including The Perfectionists and Ravenswood, as well as Max's reboot Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, which has already been renewed for a second season.

Benson was supposed to portray Chief Maxine in Tracy Boyd's frat boy comedy Pledge Trip alongside SNL alum Rob Schneider and The Hangover alum Justin Bartha, but there's been no update on the film since July 2022.

Ashley - who boasts 24.9M Instagram/TikTok followers - previously revealed the first glimpse of her newborn baby on February 29 via Instastory

Benson welcomed her first child with husband Brandon Davis (R, pictured March 13), whom she married November 8 just two days after publicly confirming her pregnancy

During the Pretty Little Liars panel, the Anaheim native and her former castmates Troian Bellisario, Torrey DeVitto, and Keegan Allen were shocked to discover that two-time Emmy nominee Sydney Sweeney appeared in the 2017 finale of the Freeform series

The 26-year-old Immaculate producer-star (2-R) portrayed Willa, a teen who befriends Addison Derringer (R, Ava Allan) before they both go missing, in the final episode titled 'Til DeAth Do Us PArt'

Ashley concluded her role as fat girl-turned-queen bee Hannah Marin after seven seasons on I. Marlene King's small-screen adaptation of Sara Shepard's mystery book series spanning 2010-2017

The Thomas Ashbourne brand ambassador keeps busy running her cosmetics company Ash by Ashley, which originated as a fragrance line in 2022.

Meanwhile, the 43-year-old grandson of industrialist Marvin Davis originally launched his company Brandon Davis Projects seven years ago with a pop-up art show featuring Bosco Sodi's paintings at the Paul Kasmin Gallery.

However, there appears to have been no update or venture for Brandon's company since 2016, and the headquarters on Robertson Boulevard have been permanently closed.

Twice-rehabbed Davis - who's worth an estimated $55M - has a substantial rap sheet, having been arrested for battery, cocaine possession, and a DUI in the past.

The oil heir - who notoriously called Lindsay Lohan 'firecrotch' in 2006 - was previously romantically linked to The O.C. alum Mischa Barton, socialite Brittny Gastineau, and hotel heiress Paris Hilton.

Before Ashley began dating Brandon in January 2023, she romanced Bay Area rapper G-Eazy and Her Smell co-star Cara Delevingne.
Soldiers engage in reconnaissance training

China Military Online) 13:41, March 26, 2024

Soldiers in ghillie suits assigned to a reconnaissance detachment of a brigade under the PLA 71st Group Army explore the woods with caution during a training exercise in mid-March, 2024. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Wan Zhiqi)

Soldiers in ghillie suits assigned to a reconnaissance detachment of a brigade under the PLA 71st Group Army get off the armored vehicle and stay alert during a training exercise in mid-March, 2024. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Wan Zhiqi)

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
Flanked by Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan and Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche, Gov. Greg Abbott announced the inaugural members of the Texas Space Commission. Ariana Garcia

After much anticipation, we finally know Gov. Greg Abbott's "major news" about the future of the space industry in Texas. From inside the Johnson Space Center in Houston on Tuesday, Abbott officially revived the Texas Space Commission more than 20 years after it shuttered. The Republican leader introduced the newly appointed nine-member board of directors who will be leading the advancement of human space exploration in Texas.

"They will encourage the development of emerging technologies, promote economic development for space, aeronautics and aviation, guide research into space exploration all across our state, help to develop workforce training needed to return to the moon and to eventually reach Mars, and they cultivate the infrastructure needed to establish spaceports and so much more," Abbott said.

Newly appointed members of the Texas Space Commission stand behind Gov. Greg Abbott at the Johnson Space Center in Houston on Tuesday. Ariana Garcia

Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan, Rep. Greg Bonnen (R-Friendswood), and Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche joined Abbott for the announcement, seated in front of a sign that read: "Leading the final frontier." The commission, along with the state's Space Exploration and Aeronautics Research Fund and the Texas Aerospace Research and Space Economy Consortium, were created thanks to a bill authored by Bonnen that was signed into law in June. The former Texas Aerospace Commission ceased operations in 2003.

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Abbott teased the announcement on social media prior to the event, writing: At @NASA_Johnson today to share something BIG. Itll be out of this world. Dont miss it."

For the first time, Abbott also placed a phone call to an astronaut in space. From the Mission Control Center, the governor made contact with Loral O'Hara, a native Texan and NASA astronaut currently aboard the International Space Station, to share the announcement with her. "I want you to know that we are at NASA today, because last year Texas and the state legislature passed a 'Texas Space Commission Act' where the state state of Texas itself will take leadership and deeper involvement in advancing space exploration for the future," Abbott told O'hara.

Gov. Greg Abbott calls astronaut Loral O'Hara who is currently on the International Space Station. Ariana Garcia

Following his big announcement, Abbott issued a challenge for Texas colleges and universities. "Let's have a space race unto itself, in the education sector, with our universities competing to be the first to have a degree program, undergraduate and maybe post undergraduate, in space engineering," he said. "Will it be Texas A&M? Will it be the University of Houston? I have no idea."

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Olivia Colman was in stitches of laughter as she joined her Wicked Little Letters co-star Jessie Buckley in New York City, last Wednesday.

The actress, 50, looked happier than ever to be with her partner in crime as they posed for photos in the big apple - ahead of the US movie release on March 29.

She looked incredibly glamorous in mauve tailored trousers and a stylish semi-sheer blouse.

The Crown star and Wonka icon couldn't wipe the smile off her face as she hugged Irish actor Jessie for the snap.

Jessie, 34, wowed in a sophisticated tailored suit, adorned with a sweet flower motif stitched onto the cuff.

Olivia Colman, 50, was in stitches of laughter as she joined her Wicked Little Letters co-star Jessie Buckley, 34, in New York City, last Wednesday

The actress looked happier than ever to be with her partner in crime as they posed for photos in the big apple

The movie, which released in the UK last month, will released at the end of the week in New York and Los Angeles and nationwide on April 5.

The film Wicked Little Letters is based on a true scandal that took all of England by storm in the 1920s.

The story follows neighbors Edith Swan (Colman) and Rose Gooding (Buckley) in the U.K. seaside town of Littlehampton.

One day, Edith receives the first in a series of obscene letters full of hilarious profanities, with her rowdy new Irish neighbor Rose targeted as the prime suspect.

When Rose is charged with a crime - while the letters continue to escalate - the town's constable Gladys Moss (Anjana Vasan) begins to investigate.

Olivia revealed in an interview with BBC that, 'Parliament absolutely debated it and it was covered by all the broadsheets at the time.

'The fact the nation was gripped by this I found to be hilarious,' she said, as Buckley added the letters, 'sent the whole country into a frenzy.'

Jessie added the letters were, 'the sort of sensationalist trolling you would expect in the modern day.'

The Crown star and Wonka icon couldn't wipe the smile off her face as she hugged Irish actor Jessie for the snap

The movie, which released in the UK last month, will released at the end of the week in New York and Los Angeles and nationwide on April 5

The film includes some rather vulgar language, with Colman admitting: 'Some people walked out of the cinema watching our film and I just think they need to get over themselves.

'It's not a sign of a diminished vocabulary, it's fun, it's just an enjoyment and I see it as a seasoning.'

Olivia recently weighed in on the Hollywood pay gap as she insisted she would be paid more if her first name was 'Oliver'.

The Academy-award winning actress said the excuse that men attract audiences therefore they get paid more hasn't been true for decades.

Olivia spoke out about the pay disparity on CNN's The Amanpour Hour, revealing she is aware of one pay gap with a whopping 12,000 per cent difference.

Asking about her own experience, Olivia said: 'Don't get me started on the pay disparity, but male actors get paid more because they used to say they drew in the audiences.

'And actually, that hasn't been true for decades but they still like to use that as a reason to not pay women as much as their male counterparts.'

'I'm very aware that if I was Oliver Colman, I would be earning a f*** of a lot more than I am. I know of one pay disparity, which is a 12,000% difference.'

Olivia recently weighed in on the Hollywood pay gap as she insisted she would be paid more if her first name was 'Oliver'

Olivia played the role of Queen Elizabeth II in the third and fourth series of the Crown, taking over the role from her predecessor Claire Foy

Claire previously said she was 'deeply hurt' when she learned that her co-star Matt Smith, who played Prince Philip, was paid more than her.

Olivia played the role of Queen Elizabeth II in the third and fourth series of the Crown, taking over the role from her predecessor Claire Foy.

Claire previously said she was 'deeply hurt' when she learned that her co-star Matt Smith, who played Prince Philip, was paid more than her.

In an interview with NET-A-PORTER's digital magazine PorterEdit in 2018, the actress chose to be brand it a 'dirty secret' as she lamented the situation.

She explained: 'I was deeply hurt by [the pay gap], because I'd been working on that show for two years. I loved everybody on it.

'And then I realised, there's been a big, fat, dirty secret that nobody's ever talked about. Then there was also that thing [of being] an inadvertent spokesperson. Why did it have to be me?'

She added: 'You feel lucky to have a job. It's so competitive. So, in that way, they rely on competitiveness and actors' vulnerability to say, "They'll accept it for 10 grand less."'

'I could have said nothing. And I think everyone would have preferred that. But I thought, if I do that, I will be cheating myself and all the other women I know.'
Kirsten Dunst showed off her elegant sense of style as she stepped out a special screening of Civil War in London on Tuesday.

The actress, 41, wore a mint green satin floor-length dress with a black bow on her waist for the evening.

American star Kirsten's garment was cinched in at the waist with a black ribbon belt tying the dress in.

She kept her jewellery to a minimum, opting for a pair of small gold hoop earrings.

The screen star, who plays Lee in the film, looked relaxed as she posed on the red carpet, standing with her hands in her pockets.

Kirsten Dunst showed off her elegant sense of style as she stepped out a special screening of Civil War in London on Tuesday

The actress, 41, wore a mint green satin floor-length dress with a black bow on her waist for the evening

She could be seen posing on the red carpet with director Alex Garland (second right), and producers Andrew MacDonald (left) and Allon Reich (right)

She could be seen posing on the red carpet with director Alex Garland, and producers Andrew MacDonald and Allon Reich.

Civil War is centred on a team of journalists who travel across America while documenting a conflict between a dystopian government and various militia forces.

The upcoming action film does not exceed three hours in runtime.

Several reports regarding the length of the feature's length have been shared in the recent past, although A24 confirmed in December last year to Variety that the movie would last for 1 hour and 49 minutes.

The feature, which went into production in 2022, stars performers such as Wagner Moura and Jesse Plemons in addition to Kirsten.

A fictional version of the President of the United States is also portrayed by Nick Offerman.

Performers such as Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson and Karl Glusman will round out the project's cast.

Sonoya Mizuno, who collaborated with Garland on several of his past projects, will also appear in the feature, which is set for release on April 12.

The screen star, who plays Lee in the film, looked relaxed as she posed on the red carpet, standing with her hands in her pockets

The feature stars performers such as Kirsten Dunst (pictured as Lee), Wagner Moura and Jesse Plemons

Physical production on the feature commenced in Atlanta in March 2022, and its team eventually moved to London.

The feature was also produced on a budget of $50 million, making it A24's most expensive project to date.

Civil War's official trailer was released to the public in December last year, and it received much notice for its shocking depiction of an alternate version of the United States.

According to Newsweek, the clip stirred up controversy with conservative commentators, many of whom described the upcoming movie as so-called predictive programming.

Garland spoke about the project during an interview with The Telegraph, where he stated that the feature would take place in familiar times.

Director Alex Garland cut a casual figure in a black shirt and blue trousers for the event

Actress Grecia De la Paz looked chic in a grey pinistripe jumpsuit as she posed on the red carpet

The filmmaker remarked that Civil War was 'set at an indeterminate point in the future  just far enough ahead for me to add a conceit.'

The writer also described the feature as a 'companion piece' to his most recently-released feature Men, which debuted last year.

However, Garland also stated that the two films were only related to one another 'in some ways.'

The film is set for UK release on April 12.
Christine Quinn's estranged husband Christian Richard has now filed for a restraining order against her - after he was arrested last week for 'assault with a deadly weapon' over an incident involving her and their toddler son.

Richard, 45, who wed the ex Selling Sunset star, 35, in 2019, was seen being led away in handcuffs by officers while barefoot and clad in only a bathrobe last Tuesday after the incident involving the couple's only child Christian Georges Dumontet, two.

It was claimed Richard had thrown a bag containing a glass bottle at Quinn but missed and hit their son instead - but Richard is now alleging the row erupted over Quinn's dogs urinating on his belongings - with the entrepreneur denying hitting their son, per TMZ.

Richard has filed for a temporary restraining order (TRO) that seeks to enforce a 'legal forcefield around him' - which he says is essential in light of Quinn's domestic violence allegations against him - which he denies.

Richard claims the two family dogs are not housetrained and urinate and defecate all over their LA home - and says Quinn refuses to have them trained.

He claims he discovered the two dogs had 'urinated all over some valuable belongings of his' despite him blocking off the area from the dogs.

Christine Quinn's estranged husband Christian Richard has now filed for a restraining order against her - after he was arrested last week for 'assault with a deadly weapon' over an incident involving her and their toddler son; seen together in March 2023 in LA

Richard, 45, who wed the ex Selling Sunset star, 35, in 2019, was seen being led away in handcuffs by officers while barefoot and clad in only a bathrobe on Tuesday after the incident involving the couple's only child Christian Georges Dumontet, two

Richard was arrested for allegedly throwing a bag of glass at Christine but instead hitting their son

Richard claims when he went to confront Quinn about he found her in their bedroom with cleaning supplies and other items 'strewn about all over.'

He says he became angry and picked up a trash bag on the ground - which he claims was full of soiled rags and paper towels - and threw it against a wall.

Richard denies throwing the bag at Quinn and denies hitting their young son, while also denying the bag was filled with glass. He says this information was relayed to Quinn by police.

After the bag was thrown Richard claims he tried to escort his son away from the scene but claims Quinn grabbed their son and holed in another room in the house.

Richard says police came in with guns raised and arrested him over 'lies' Quinn had told them.

He further claims Quinn filed a false police report and 'fabricated' domestic violence allegations against him to use as leverage in a potential divorce and custody battle.

Richard claims Quinn wants to 'embarrass him' which is why she called police. A judge has yet to approve his request for the TRO.

DailyMail.com has contacted Christine Quinn's representatives for comment.

This comes as Quinn is reportedly moving to ensure that her estranged husband Richard is kept far away from her and their son.

The Selling Sunset star has been meeting with lawyers to set in motion a temporary restraining order against Richard (real name: Christian Dumontet), according to TMZ.

The latest development comes after sources claimed that the reality star was planning on leaving her husband and filing for divorce.

Selling Sunset's Christine Quinn, 35, has been meeting with lawyers to set in motion a temporary restraining order against her husband Christian Richard, according to TMZ; seen December 2022 in France

Quinn currently has a week-long emergency protective order against her husband, but she will need to petition the courts for another restraining order once it runs out.

Sources told TMZ that she is in the process of meeting with attorneys to plan out her next steps.

The Selling Sunset star is reportedly planning to detail her entire history in order to secure a restraining order, and the sources describe their marriage as being a series of ups and downs.

She's reportedly ready to make additional serious allegations against her estranged husband relating to their interactions out of the spotlight, and the lawyers are reportedly helping her to navigate those issues.

Although sources previously told Us Weekly on Thursday that Quinn plans to file for divorce from Richard, her first priority is making sure that he can't come near her or baby Christian.

Ultimately, the sources allege that she wants a permanent restraining order against Richard, though she will likely have to start with a temporary restraining order.

The insiders add that Quinn's relationship with Richard feels irreversibly damaged now, so a reconciliation between the spouses is unlikely.

Her emergency restraining order against her estranged husband only lasts for seven days, so she will need to have filed for a temporary restraining order by Wednesday in order to keep a legal barrier protecting herself and her child.

Quinn's terrifying saga spilled into the spotlight on Tuesday, when Richard was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon, with his bond set at $30,000.

LAPD spokesman Jeff Lee told DailyMail.com: 'A victim and a suspect were involved in a domestic dispute when the suspect threw a bag at the victim with a glass bottle inside of it. It missed the victim, but that object struck a child.

The reality star reportedly plans to file for divorce, but her first priority is protecting herself and her child; seen in June 2023 in L

Sources said Quinn's marriage to Richard was tempestuous, and she allegedly plans to reveal more details of their interactions behind closed doors to secure a restraining order

'The suspect was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon.'

Christian was subsequently taken in an ambulance to a hospital for treatment with his mother by his side, according to TMZ.

Richard was seen in a bathrobe on Tuesday afternoon as he was led into a squad car by police after his arrest.

He subsequently made bail, but was shockingly arrested a second time on Wednesday after he violated the emergency restraining police had offered Quinn by visiting their home.

Although Quinn and her son were reportedly not at the home at the time, Police arrived with guns drawn and did a search of the home before taking Richard into custody.

An eyewitness on the scene alleged that police could be heard shouting for Richard to 'Come out with your hands up.'

LA County Sheriff's records indicate that Richard posted another $30,000 bond and was released hours after the second arrest.

A source told Page Six that Quinn and her son were staying at a separate 'safe' location, and that someone else had allegedly called the police on Richard.

Quinn and Richard were originally introduced via a mutual friend, and the tech founder proposed to her on Valentine's Day of 2019.

Quinn's son Christian was reportedly taken to a hospital in an ambulance, with her riding by his side; pictured in 2021 in Santa Monica

Quinn got engaged on Valentine's Day 2019, and she married Richard in December of that year in a gothic-tinged winter wonderlandstyle ceremony; still from Selling Sunset

The couple were wed in December of that year in a ceremony with a winter wonderland theme featuring an unusual gothic twist, including Quinn's black wedding dress.

They welcomed their son Christian in 2021.

The blond beauty is best known as a breakout star on Netflix's reality series Selling Sunset, in which she sold luxury homes for the Oppenheim Group for five seasons.

Her final season on the show featured allegations that she had tried to bribe a client.
Paris Hilton wants her kids to 'grow up in a world that's kind.'

The Simple Life alum, 43, hopes her son Phoenix, one, and daughter London, four months, aren't as hooked on social media as she has been.

During Propper Daley's fourth annual A Day of Unreasonable Conversation in Los Angeles, Paris  who slayed a chic goth look this week  and the U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy hosted a panel called To Suffer Alone.

'I just want my children just to feel just so loved and seen and want to be that next generation of someone that brings positivity to the world and just to have big hearts and big loving,' Hilton shared.

'That's something that's really important to me,' she emphasized.

Paris Hilton wants her kids to 'grow up in a world that's kind.' The Simple Life alum, 43, hopes her son Phoenix, one, and daughter London, four months, aren't as hooked on social media as she has been

'And also to live a world outside of social media and being on their phone all the time,' Paris added.

'So I feel that's really taken a lot from children. Kids are not going outside anymore and playing as much because everyone's just so busy on their phones.

'So hopefully my kids won't be as addicted to social media as I am,' the heiress explained.

Paris shares her kids with her husband Carter Reum, 43.

The couple has known each other since they were young and married on November 11, 2021.

Paris turned 43 on February 17th but celebrated it a month later over the weekend of March 16.

The theme of her bash was 'Sliving'  which was trademarked by the star in 2020 and is a combination of 'slaying' and 'living'  and there was a massive sign of the word hanging on the pink wall.

Her epic birthday bash featured a star-studded guest list including the likes of Heidi Klum, Megan Thee Stallion, Demi Lovato, Tiffany Haddish, Sia, Selma Blair and Bebe Rexha.

'I just want my children just to feel just so loved and seen and want to be that next generation of someone that brings positivity to the world and just to have big hearts and big loving,' Hilton shared. 'That's something that's really important to me,' she emphasized

And also to live a world outside of social media and being on their phone all the time,' Paris added

'So I feel that's really taken a lot from children. Kids are not going outside anymore and playing as much because everyone's just so busy on their phones

'So hopefully my kids won't be as addicted to social media as I am,' the heiress explained

She shares her kids with her husband Carter Reum

Perhaps the most fun Paris had during the entire bash was splashing around in a massive white ball pit with Heidi and Megan.

The trio of ladies laid in the balls, danced and even shared a few smooches while posing for the cameras.

After the party, the mother of Phoenix, one, and London, four months, shared some quality time with her children and husband.

'Nothing better than days spent with my family at home ,' she captioned the set of images.
Shahs of Sunset star Mike Shouhed has been sued by his ex-fiancee Paulina Ben-Cohen for a 2022 domestic violence attack that resulted in his arrest.

Ben-Cohen, 45, described the alleged physical abuse she endured from Shouhed on March 27, 2022 in a lawsuit filed Friday, according to documents seen by Page Six.

Ben-Cohen is suing her ex for assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and gender violence.

DailyMail.com has contacted Shouhed's representative for comment.

Shouhed was arrested for the incident on charges of domestic violence, specifically alleged 'intimate partner violence with injury'. The victim at the time was not named, but Ben-Cohen later identified herself as the victim in the case.

The lawsuit contained security footage screenshots capturing the alleged physical altercation. Ben-Cohen claims in the suit she was 'viciously, brutally and repeatedly assaulted and battered' by Shouhed on the evening of March 27, according to Us Weekly.

Shahs of Sunset star Mike Shouhed has been sued by his ex-fiancee Paulina Ben-Cohen for 'vicious' and 'brutal' domestic violence attacks; pictured 2022

During the March 2022 altercation, the then-couple began arguing over Ben-Cohen consuming a tobacco-free hookah, according to People. Ben-Cohen first allegedly began shouting at Ben-Cohen that she was a 'horrible mother', 'a f**king whore' and 'piece of s**t'.

She alleged Shouhed became physically violent after she asked him to leave their home and started packing up his belongings.

At the time, Ben-Cohen and Shouhed reportedly resided in a home they shared with Ben-Cohen's children from a previous relationship.

In the suit, Shouhed alleges her ex 'ran into the room, forcefully grabbed her hair and shoulder, and violently threw her to the ground,' according to Page Six.

Ben-Cohen alleges Shouhed told her he 'would never leave' the home until she paid for half the cost of the residence.

She claims he then placed his hand over her face and attempted to 'suffocate' her multiple times. She alleges she 'struggled to breathe'.

'She attempted to call 911 and he made it seem as if he were to strike her again,' Ben-Cohen's lawsuit read.

Shouhed also allegedly 'threatened to kill' his then-fiancee at one point. He allegedly informed her 'he had a hitman who would put her away.'

The couple's fight then went from the bedroom and into the children's playroom.

According to Page Six, the children did not appear to be in the room at the time as they were reportedly under the care of a nanny in another room.

Shouhed was arrested for the 2022 incident on charges of domestic violence, specifically alleged 'intimate partner violence with injury'

Shouhed allegedly attempted to suffocate Ben-Cohen at least twice more for a total of around six seconds.

After four minutes, the alleged fight came to an end.

The lawsuit alleges, Shouhed 'grabbed the back of her neck, pushed her head down towards the ground, and forcefully held her there.'

Ben-Cohen then got the attention of the nanny. Shouhed was asked to leave by the nanny but the request allegedly enraged him even more.

Shouhed left to grab his firearm not long after and the police were called. He was ultimately arrested.

'Nearly four minutes after [Shouhed] initiated his series of vicious and brutal attacks on plaintiff, this harrowing incident finally came to an end,' the complaint obtained by People read.

'After Shouhed went upstairs to retrieve one of his firearms, the police were called, came to the residence and arrested Shouhed.'

Ben-Cohen pictured on Watch What Happens Live

Lawyers for Ben-Cohen said their client had not done 'anything to justify the acts of vicious and brutal acts of violence' she endured that evening, according to Page Six.

Her lawyers also alleged this was not the first time an altercation had occurred in the relationship.

They cited another instance where Shouhed allegedly placed a gun to her head and told her 'he was going to murder her'.

Shouhed allegedly threatened her after becoming enraged seeing his sexting scandal play out on Shahs of Sunset. At the time, Shouhed had sexted another woman behind Ben-Cohen's back.

The complaint alleges Shouhed 'put a gun up to her head and told her he was going to murder her while making statements like, "You think you can destroy me," and "You think you can destroy my reputation, not even my ex-wife ruined my reputation the way you did."'

The complaint claims Shouhed threatened to kill his then-fiancee a separate time as well. He allegedly made the threat after she spoke with an unidentified castmate about Shouhed's alleged violent ways.

Shouhed is alleged to have told Ben-Cohen, 'Tonight is the night Im going to kill you' and 'I will murder you.'

Page Six reports that Shouhed has not yet submitted a response to the court. Ben-Cohen has requested a trial by jury and an unspecified amount in damages

Page Six reports that Shouhed has not yet submitted a response to the court. Ben-Cohen has requested a trial by jury and is hoping to receive an unspecified amount in damages.

Shouhed was able to avoid jail time after he cut a deal with prosecutors over the arrest.

Court documents obtained by TMZ in 2022 revealed that Shouhed's deal with prosecutors would dismiss several charges if he completed a number of different courses over a two-year 'diversion program.'

Shouhed would not have to plead guilty to any charges, given he completes the program in full.

The program includes anger management and parenting classes, a gun safety course and performing community service.

If he does complete the program, his charges for domestic violence, battery and unlawfully attempting to dissuade a witness would be fully dropped.

Shouhed was also facing a variety of weapons charges, so another provision of the program is that he is forbidden from owning or possessing any firearm throughout the two-year duration of the program.

Shouhed's attorney George Mgdesyan told TMZ at the time that prosecutors chose not to bring the case forward for lack of evidence.

'In this case, the DA didnt bring this case because they saw the facts like I did. If this case was brought to trial, the prosecution would not be able to prove it,' Mgdesyan said.

'All my clients guns were legal, in his bedroom that was locked with a keypad. No one was allowed in the master bedroom,' the attorney added.

The lawyer admitted, 'It was unfortunate that there was one weapon registered to my client before laws changed, and it was a technical violation.'

'However, the City Attorneys Office charged him with gun charges. In light of the offer, he was not convicted and will earn a dismissal thats in his best interest because the domestic violence charges were dismissed,' Mgdesyan added.

'If the domestic violence charges were not dismissed, we would proceed to trial. It was a no brainer,' he concluded.

The identity of the March 2022 incident was initially unknown until Ben-Cohen identified herself.

'Paulinas primary focus is on keeping herself and her children safe,' her lawyer, Joshua Ritter, told Page Six in a statement at the time.

'She supports the work that the police and the City Attorneys Office have done, and she continues to cooperate with them while looking forward to putting this sad situation behind her and moving on with her life.'

Shahed and Ben-Cohen became engaged in 2019 and ultimately called it quits, however their time of split remains unclear. They were spotted on vacation together in Mexico just weeks after his arrest.

In April of 2022, Shahs of Sunset was cancelled after nine seasons.
Beyonce is set to release her new country-themed album Cowboy Carter at the end of March.

And fans are speculating about some of the A-list pop collaborations that could be featured on the record.

Among the names being thrown around is Lady Gaga, who has worked with Beyonce twice in the past.

The two divas teamed up for Video Phone in 2009 and then again for Telephone in 2010.

While the speculation about the pair teaming up again seems to be based on nothing, it hasn't stopped fans from whipping themselves up into a frenzy on social media.

Fans are speculating that some big pop divas could be featured on Beyonce's upcoming country album Cowboy Carter

Among the names being thrown around is Lady Gaga, who has worked with Beyonce twice in the past

Fans on social media have been in an absolute frenzy over the possibility of Gaga and Beyonce working together again

'Seeing more and more beyonce x lady gaga rumors everyday oh my god,' shrieked one fan.

'One of the collaborations on Beyonce's new album Cowboy Carter is with Lady Gaga. I confirm,' claimed another fan - with zero evidence.

'I swear if Lady Gaga is on this Beyonce album I will die and resurrect and die again,' posted another.

However, some fans weren't as convinced that the two pop titans are reuniting, with one writing, 'Lady Gaga doesn't even follow Beyonce on Instagram. That's just further proof that Gaga isn't on Cowboy Carter.'

There's also mounting speculation that Rihanna could appear on Cowboy Carter after she donned a cowboy hat on the cover of China's Vogue magazine.

Fans flooded Rihanna's post with comments, with one writing, 'Wonder if this is a hint towards a Beyonce /Rihanna collaboration. Would be nice.'

Another commented , 'Shes ready for Cowboy Carter just like the rest of us.'

'Are you on Beyonce album??? IS THIS A HIIIINT????' another shrieked.

The two divas teamed up for Video Phone in 2009 and then again for Telephone in 2010

There's also mounting speculation that Rihanna could appear on Cowboy Carter after she donned a cowboy hat on the cover of China's Vogue magazine

Fans flooded Rihanna's post with comments, with one writing, 'Wonder if this is a hint towards a Beyonce /Rihanna collaboration. Would be nice'

Beyonce rocked a double denim look in a series of new images she shared on social media this week to promote Cowboy Carter.

The Texas-born artist wore high-waisted blue denim with a coordinating multi-hued cropped denim jacket, adding a matching handbag.

The mom of three rocked a white cowboy hat, an American flag patterned scarf and boots - with a large silver necklace and retro sunglasses to round out her Western inspired look.

She added the caption '4 days until act ii Cowboy Carter' in the video, posted on Monday to her Instagram page.

Cowboy Carter will be released on March 29th.

Beyonce rocked a double denim look in a series of new images she shared on social media this week to promote Cowboy Carter

Cowboy Carter will be released on March 29th

The album title reveal comes one month after she dropped two singles from it - Texas Hold' Em and 16 Carriages.

Texas Hold' Em reached the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, after it initially debuted on the charts at the No. 2 position.

It also reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs list - making history.

Beyonce is the black female artist to have a number one country song, according to Billboard.
Alan Carr joined his close pal Scott Neal on the red carpet at Opening Night's press night performance, starring Sheridan Smith, at The Gielgud Theatre on Tuesday.

The comedian, 47, was all smiles as he arrived at the star-studded event alongside the actor.

Alan looked stylish in a burnt orange over coat, teamed with brown trousers and leather boots.

His actor pal Scott, 45, looked incredibly trendy in a black leather jacket and trousers as he posed up a storm on the carpet.

Alan also shared a sweet moment with Celebrity Big Brother star Marisha Wallace, 38, as they met outside the event.

Alan Carr, 47, joined his close pal Scott Neal, 45, on the red carpet at Opening Night's press night performance on Tuesday

The comedian was all smiles as he arrived at the star-studded event alongside the actor

Actress Sheridan, 42, who plays a Broadway legend Myrtle Gordon who struggles with alcoholism, stumbles on the streets outside the theatre during her performance.

She has begun a 21-week sting in the new musical Opening Night at the Gielgud Theatre - based on the namesake 1977 film about the actress who is left traumatised by the death of a teenage fan.

The moment is filmed live every night outside the London theatre, for all passersby to see and the audience witnesses the action live via a video transmitted into the theatre.

Sheridan - who exclusively told MailOnline she took on the role to 'take control' of her own demons - can be seen outside the theatre as Myrtle, turning up late to the first night of the show after taking a drop too much.

The actress described being offered the role as 'a gift' because she can use it to finally extinguish past traumas which threatened to derail her career.

She said: 'It feels like a moment of taking back control. I feel like the part is a gift, it's a gift of a part for any actress to play and I'm loving every minute of it, it's such an honour. I can't wait for people to see it now.'

The Care favourite is on great form as she speaks enthusiastically about her return to theatre - after getting raving reviews for her most recent role in The Castaways.

Her dressing room, which she calls her 'shrine', is littered with pictures of her three-year-old son Billy and it's where she recuperates after performing her main drunk scene, which she'll improvise each night, that is so physically demanding she joked about needing to use shin pads.

His actor pal Scott looked incredibly trendy in a black leather jacket and trousers as he posed up a storm on the carpet

Alan also shared a sweet moment with Celebrity Big Brother star Marisha Wallace, 38, as they met outside the event

Actress Sheridan, 42, who plays a Broadway legend Myrtle Gordon who struggles with alcoholism, stumbles on the streets outside the theatre during her performance

She added: 'When I went home on Sunday I have to say, I woke up and I was aching everywhere and I was like my goodness, I'm getting older.'

In MailOnline's exclusive footage earlier last week, Sheridan puffs on a cigarette and drunkenly falls to her knees during a scene that sees the rest of the cast discover her character Myrtle in an intoxicated state.

But Sheridan says she loves the unpredictability of improvising, saying: 'It's fun and I love all of that, that's the excitement and why I want to be an actress. I have never done anything quite like this before. That moment will be live every night so anything could happen.'

'But that's the whole point of working with Ivo van Hove, our director, he wants it all naturalistic and to be very real so if people are passing through that scene, every night, he wants that so, we will be doing it live eight times a week in Soho but it's so exciting.'
English filmmaker Ridley Scott appeared frustrated as he got caught in the chaos of the raids on rapper Diddy's $40 million mansion on his way home on Monday.

While driving down the street in his Toyota Prius, the two-time Emmy winner, 86, looked concerned as he rolled down his window and took in the scene around him.

As he prepared to pull up to his own driveway in Holmby Hills, the director cruised past several law enforcement officers and an area blocked off with yellow crime scene tape.

At one point, he appeared to walk toward one of the officers on the sidewalk to inquire about the situation unfolding near his property.

English filmmaker Ridley Scott appeared frustrated as he got caught in the chaos of the raids on rapper Diddy's home on his way home in Los Angeles on Monday

While driving down the street in his Toyota Prius, the two-time Emmy winner, 86, looked concerned as he rolled down his window and took in the scene around him

Scott, who is married to Costa Rican actress Giannina Facio, was dressed in a black zip-up jacket over a matching t-shirt and khaki pants.

According to TMZ, 'agents and officers shut down the entire area with multiple helicopters circling the scene' during the raid.

The outlet reported that Scott was one of Diddy's neighbors 'blocked' from getting into their own homes and 'spotted stuck in traffic.'

Diddy is currently at the center of sex trafficking claims and sex assault lawsuits.

On Tuesday, the music mogul was spotted at a Miami airport hours after Homeland Security raids on his Miami and Los Angeles mansions.

Diddy was reportedly questioned by Customs agents at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport - about 15 miles south of the investigation at his home - at around 6pm local time.

This followed suspicions that the mogul had fled the country when his private jet LoveAir LLC Gulfstream 5 was tracked flying to Antigua.

Combs was seen by witnesses with his entourage walking around the Customs office at the Miami airport but was not detained or taken into custody.

As he prepared to pull up to his own driveway, the director cruised past several law enforcement officers and an area blocked off with yellow crime scene tape

At one point, he appeared to walk toward one of the officers to inquire about the situation unfolding near his property

Scott, who is married to Costa Rican actress Giannina Facio, was dressed in a black zip-up jacket over a matching t-shirt and khaki pants

While he was stopped by Homeland Security, he was not arrested and remains a free man, according to TMZ. A spokesperson for HSI Miami declined comment.

At least two properties belonging to Combs in Los Angeles and Miami were searched Monday by federal Homeland Security Investigations agents and other law enforcement as part of an ongoing sex trafficking investigation.

The rapper, who is facing mounting sexual harassment and rape lawsuits, was nowhere to be seen as agents combed through his properties on Monday afternoon, removing boxes and bags of evidence.

A police line was set up around the Los Angeles house in the wealthy Holmby Hills neighborhood near Beverly Hills, where at least two men were put in handcuffs.

Armed agents from the Department of Homeland Security entered luxury properties on both East and West Coasts of the United States, with video footage showing helicopters circling overhead.

The agents, who were wearing vests, gathered in the homes backyard near the pool. Multiple law enforcement agents were seen carrying bags and boxes of evidence to a van.

A command post was set up outside the house and agents were still entering and leaving hours after the search began.

Diddy is currently at the center of sex trafficking claims and sex assault lawsuits

A spokesperson for Homeland Security Investigations told DailyMail.com in a 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.'

DailyMail.com has contacted representatives for Diddy for comment.

There was no immediate official confirmation about what precipitated the raids.

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.
Ralf Little has hinted at who could replace him in Death in Paradise following his departure from the show.

The 44-year-old British actor, has been fighting crime on the fictional island of Saint Marie since 2020 as Neville Parker.

Sunday's episode saw his character depart to join DS Florence Cassell, played by French actress Josephine Jobert, following encouragements from his colleagues to run after her.

And now he has suggested who could take his place in cast, telling the Big Issue: 'I wish I had some insider knowledge but I dont. Someone younger, someone older? I have no idea.

'But every leader has to arrive on the island as a fish out of water. Thats the formula. And they have something within them that is broken, and that the island, and the people they work with, will heal. However they do it, thats the key.'

Ralf Little has hinted at who could replace him in Death in Paradise following his departure from the show

The 44-year-old British actor, has been fighting crime on the fictional island of Saint Marie since 2020 as Neville Parker

When asked if a female actress could replace him in the cast, he added: 'They have the scope to do anything and the opportunity to do anything, but also, this creative team can do anything because theyre so good.'

Ralf left Death In Paradise after four years on the Caribbean-set detective show on Sunday.

His character departed to join DS Florence Cassell following encouragements from his colleagues to run after her.

Neville tells her: 'I don't want to say goodbye but if you do I mean, that's fine, obviously, especially after me behaving like a complete and utter... idiot...

'Listen Florence, I don't need promises, I don't need guarantees, if the unknown is all you have to offer then it's good enough for me, whatever happens, wherever it leads all I want is for us to take a leap together."

They then depart on a boat, away from the island.

Other actors who played the main DI role include My Family star Kris Marshall, whose character Detective Inspector Humphrey Goodman features on the spin-off Beyond Paradise, Father Ted star Ardal O'Hanlon and Bridgerton star Ben Miller.

Ralf took over from Ardal.

Ralf Little 's final episode for Death In Paradise aired on Sunday night, leaving viewers in tears as his exit storyline was finally revealed

After fears his character DI Neville Parker 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)

He said: 'New adventures await Neville, and he got to sail away into the sunset with his best friend. Who knows what happens for them next.

'I want to say an enormous thank you to everyone who watched and supported the show when I arrived four and a half years ago.

'Coming into a series beloved by millions was a huge responsibility and I had no idea whether viewers would take to my interpretation of Neville's character, and indeed to me.'

He added the response to his portrayal has been 'overwhelming' and a 'relief'.

Ralf said: 'I can't thank you all enough for the support over the last four and a half years. It's been one of the most magical and profound experiences of my entire life.'

He added the future of the programme is in 'good hands' and he 'can't wait to see what happens next'.

The casting of Death In Paradise's new lead actor will be announced in due course.

After an intervention from his friends and colleagues, Neville dashed to the port to tell Florence how he felt, leaving viewers in tears

The final scene saw the two sailing off together into the sunset with viewers praising 'the perfect ending'

Tim Key, executive producer for production company Red Planet Pictures, said: '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.

'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.'

Death In Paradise is set to return for a Christmas special this year and a new series in 2025.

An Australian spin-off, called Return To Paradise, has also been commissioned by the BBC.
Kate Garraway's final documentary made for emotional viewing as the presenter chronicled her late husband Derek Draper's final year of life on Tuesday evening.

The presenter explained that it was Derek's choice to make the final documentary, Kate Garraway: Derek's Story, after Kate previously documented her husband's illness since he was first diagnosed with long Covid back in 2020.

The former political lobbyist is one of the worst affected cases of Covid in the UK, and as the programme began, Derek confessed he wanted to make this final documentary in order to 'be heard'.

And as the documentary began, viewers saw Derek speak for the first time since his battle with the virus, which attacked every organ in his body.

In heartbreaking scenes viewers saw Derek's health somewhat improving before he suffered a cardiac arrest last December which led to his passing in January.

Viewers were left in tears as Derek Draper spoke for the first time on camera about his Covid battle before Kate Garraway described the moment he passed away in final documentary on Tuesday evening

In heartbreaking scenes viewers saw Derek's health somewhat improving before he suffered a cardiac arrest last December which led to his passing in January

Describing the moment after his death, Kate admitted she didn't feel relief.

'A lot of people say, as a way of comforting me, It must be a relief in a way that hes out of pain and for you, your day isnt consumed by caring for him.

But there isnt a relief. The one thing Derek has taught me is never to give up fighting for what is right.

It isnt about Derek or me, its about having a society where caring isnt a luxury, we are all going to need it.

As she shed light on the crippling carer system in the UK, she added: 'The one thing Derek has taught me is never give up fighting for what is right. It is not about Derek or me it is about having a society where caring is not a luxury.

'We are all going to need it. And it's not about someone coming around to come and cut up your food, it is about someone giving you a chance of living and it is belittled as that.'

Asked whether she has any regrets she made the heartbreaking admission: 'It is every single minute I didn't spend holding his hand because I had to write an email or take a call to fight the system that should be there to catch you when you fall but feels like, when youre going through it, is there to catch you out.

And thats what now, I want to be Dereks legacy, to fight on for that change.'

Asked whether she has any regrets she made the heartbreaking admission: 'It is every single minute I didn't spend holding his hand because I had to write an email or take a call to fight the system that should be there to catch you when you fall'

The former political lobbyist is one of the worst affected cases of Covid in the UK, and as the programme began, Derek confessed he wanted to make this final documentary in order to 'be heard'

Describing the moment after his death, Kate admitted she didn't feel relief.

Clips from the couple's wedding were also shown during the programme, as Derek confessed his first thoughts on seeing Kate were: 'She's fit'

Discussing her husband's cardiac arrest at Christmas, Kate confessed that consultants began saying: 'There is no way back.'

After the cardiac arrest, he was still breathing but could only hear so I said to him, You know me Im going to fight this all the way but if you cant fight anymore and what you need now is peace dont think about us. Were going to be fine.

An awful lot of what he had done was wanting to be there as a dad and a husband.

We had a different kind of love that we had before but it was love and even though it was chaotic and crazy and an absolute slog - in the midst of all that was family.

In emotional scenes, Kate showed the true reality of Derek's struggle as he battled with this new version of himself.

In one painfully emotional clip Derek was seen crying out as he struggled to stand up by himself.

Aided by mobility therapist Cornel, Derek struggled to lift himself out his chair without support as Kate willed him on.

As he failed to get up he cried : 'Pathetic' before falling back down somewhat defeated at his lack of strength.

Viewers were left in floods of tears as they took to Twitter to share their love with Kate and her family.

They wrote: 'Omg this documentary has got me....'; '#DerekStory is absolutely breaking my heart. I think #Kate Garraway is doing a brilliant job in raising awareness about the difficulties that carers face in this country.'

'Whatever you think of #KateGarraway Watching what she had to go through looking after Derek is. His care was 4000 a week. Seeing his distress having physical therapy is a hard watch. We need better care for our long term sick.'

'Powerful, compelling, honest, distressing. The beautiful soul that is @kategarraway speaking to every carer, everywhere'; 'Thank you #KateGarraway for highlighting this unfairness in the social care system'.

In one painfully emotional clip Derek was seen crying out as he struggled to stand up by himself as he muttered: 'Pathetic'

Derek become visibly emotional and burst into tears as he attempted to stand up during physio with the help of a carer

Viewers were left in floods of tears as they took to Twitter to share their love with Kate and her family

Another clip from last November, saw Derek audibly distressed as he was heard crying from the other room as he called out for Kate.

Choosing not to show Derek in these scenes, his cries could only be heard, as Kate explained: 'He's been very angry recently. He's frustrated and very very angry and a bit scared'.

'He keeps saying "please don't leave my Jake, I don't want you to go" I think he has picked up on the fragility of the situation'

As Kate entered the room to comfort him she reassured: 'It's alright. You are doing that shaking thing. It's OK darling no one is cross'.

Joking she added: 'You sound like a wood pigeon' as she asked: 'What is going on in that head of yours?'

Speaking to the camera she asked: 'What's that about? It makes it very demanding to care for him. I know him and I love him, so it's OK, but for a carer it is very difficult when he is asking them "Why are you being mean to me?" when they are trying to help him.'

Speaking about the struggles of social care, Kate raised awareness for carers across the UK as they shared the statistic that 2.5 million family carers at any one time have had to quit work.

'It could happen to anyone,' added to Kate as they discussed how so many people like Kate and Derek have their whole life turned upside down.

Referring to Derek's sharp mind and intelligence, Kate added: 'I feel like the tragedy for me is that his brain was his best friend, and now it is like his brain is his enemy as the inflammation is everywhere.'

She explained: 'You know the goal has always been that we wanted less care. We wanted to be less demanding on the system. But he needs just as much care if not more so I have got to see what I can do'.

Derek's carer Jake also spoke about his experience caring for Derek. He is taken a break from caring following Derek's passing

Referring to Derek's sharp mind and intelligence, Kate added: 'I feel like the tragedy for me is that his brain was his best friend, and now it is like his brain is his enemy as the inflammation is everywhere'

Discussing the financial constraint of his illness, she added: 'It's the brutal reality that his salary is over and his expenses are up. At the moment we don't have the heating on anywhere but in his room.'

Kate disclosed that the cost of Derek's basic care, without any additional therapy on top is nearly 4,000 a week.

She exclaimed: 'How can I afford that? How can anyone afford 16,000 a month? Why is it that people who get sick, why does coming home feel like falling off a cliff?'

Other carer's also featured in the documentary as they shared their stories of caring for their loved ones with a range of health issues from dementia, to mental health.

'You feel like you are in a soup,' said one as they detailed how it feels trying to care for someone.

While Kate continued to appear on Good Morning Britain, and her Smooth Radio show, the documentary showed the extent to which the presenter pushed herself.

She told the camera: 'Derek's care costs more than my salary from ITV and that's before you add on a mortgage, bills, anything at the kinds. So we are at a crunch point.

'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 is not enough.

'Time and time again the system keeps telling us Derek isn't sick enough to qualify for funded care. I have appealed but that still hasn't been processed two to three years later.'

As Kate was filmed dashing from Good Morning Britain to Smooth Radio, the star even used her time in the taxi to catch up on some medical tasks and apply for some care for Derek.

Once at Smooth Radio the presenter then took a FaceTime from Derek and his carer as she kept up to date with Derek's recovery on the go and marvelled at his improved muscular strength.

More tributes poured in following the airing of the documentary

She told the camera: 'Derek's care costs more than my salary from ITV and that's before you add on a mortgage, bills, anything at the kinds. So we are at a crunch point'

Referring to Derek's sharp mind and intelligence, Kate added: 'I feel like the tragedy for me is that his brain was his best friend, and now it is like his brain is his enemy as the inflammation is everywhere'

Kate disclosed that the cost of Derek's basic care, without any additional therapy on top is nearly 4,000 a week

Even during her radio show, Kate remained on the phone to her husband as she assured him she was still there before playing Don't Let The Sun Go Down by Elton John for her listeners

Sharing her concern for Kate, her producer Clare admitted: 'It's genuinely incredible how much she manages to juggle...As a friend you genuinely wish for her to stop.'

In November Kate suffered a near stress-induced heart attack which led her colleagues to say, Kate youre not ok.

The mother-of-two had been on her way to present Smooth Radio when she had pains in her chest and threw up on herself in the car, according to her producer.

She had woken up at 2am with her arm immobile and severe chest pains and vomited on her bedroom floor.

Kate still allowed herself to be driven to the Good Morning Britain studio but was talked down by her doctor from going on air and was rushed to hospital before collapsing in A&E.

Speaking about the incident, Clare explained: 'It was just that moment of "Christ, the woman who you think could go on forever, can't". In that moment nothing mattered, but Kate.'

Even during her radio show, Kate remained on the phone to her husband as she assured him she was still there before playing Don't Let The Sun Go Down by Elton John for her listeners.

Derek's funeral took place at the Church of St Mary the Virgin in Primrose Hill in January

Kate was seen looking through the hundreds of letters of support she has received

Sir Elton had previously invited Draper and Garraway to be guests of honour at his Farewell Yellow Brick Road concert at London's O2 last year.

The 76-year-old singer was in the congregation at Derek's funeral in January, having offered comfort to Garraway and Draper through his illness.

He sang his ballad Skyline Pigeon - which contains the lyrics 'fly away, skyline pigeon fly, towards the dreams, you've left so very far behind' - in tribute to Derek.

The documentary also included clips of the pair's wedding. As Derek reflected on meeting Kate, he admitted that his first thought was: 'She's fit' before adding he also thought she was 'Caring and lovely.'

Laughing Kate joked: 'Oooh that's nice. I love you so much'.
Some are mistakenly told they have depression - and even Alzhiemer's

Women going through menopause are misdiagnosed incredibly often

Oscar winning actor Halle Berry shocked fans this week with the farfetched medical tale of how doctors misdiagnosed her perimenopause.

Instead of correctly identifying the 57 year-old's hormonal change, the physician said her problem was, 'the worst case of herpes she'd ever seen'.

After multiple negative STI tests, it was confirmed much later that her doctor had made a mistake. Berry is not alone in her experience of doctors failing to spot the bodily change that happens in roughly 1 million Americans every year.

Studies show that nearly one in three women aged 45-54 have had their menopause symptoms misdiagnosed by a doctor.

And the sexually transmitted virus Herpes is just one of a catalogue of conditions that women have been wrongly told they have instead.

From Alzheimer's to heart disease, here's all the serious health problems that menopausal symptoms can mimic...

Halle Berry opened up to First Lady Jill Biden about her experience with misdiagnoses of menopause

Sexually transmitted infections

Berry originally sought help from her doctor because dryness during sex had caused her intense vaginal pain. She was told her symptoms were caused by herpes.

However, she discovered that these same symptoms are common in menopause.

In menopause, vaginal tissues become thinner, drier and more easily irritated because of a loss of estrogen, in a condition known as atrophic vaginitis.

This can make sex painful and could cause bumps or cuts in tissue that can appear to be another problem, such as an infection.

Many sexually transmitted diseases, like herpes, gonorrhea's and chlamydia, can cause vaginal irritation and pain during sex, according to Johns Hopkins.

Heart disease

Oprah Winfrey's early menopause systems were misdiagnosed as a heart condition

Roughly 54 percent of menopausal women report suffering heart palpitations around the time their menopause symptoms started.

Estrogen - which plummets in the menopause - has a number of protective functions for the cardiovascular system, according to Uk charity, the British Heart Foundation. This includes regulating cholesterol levels, reducing the fat build up in arteries and regulating blood pressure.

So when estrogen levels begin to drop off, as they do around menopause, women may begin to see changes in their heart function.

Talk show host and actress Oprah Winfrey shared on 'The Checkup with Dr. David Agus' that when she started experiencing heart palpitations in her early 40's, doctors put her on medications and threaded a catheter into her heart.

'At one point, a female doctor had given me, first of all, an angiogram and put me on heart medication and never once mentioned that this could be menopause or perimenopause,' she said.

She went to five different doctors, until she discovered that her symptoms were caused by hormonal changes from perimenopause.

Dementia

One of the more confusing symptoms that a lot of women deal with from menopause is brain fog.

This happens because there are estrogen receptors in the brain that play an important in memory and speech, Dr Jessica Caldwell, a neuropsychologist, told Prevention.

So when estrogen production drops off, the brain suffers a deficiency in the hormone, and has to adjust. 'Its your brain figuring out how to work without as much estrogen as its used to,' Caldwell said.

Women undergoing perimenopause may have more difficulty concentration, multi-tasking and recalling memories, according to Dementia UK.

This is similar to some of the symptoms you'd observe in someone with dementia, which is a blanket term for neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's.

'Ive actually had patients misdiagnosed with dementia and Alzheimers disease when really it was menopause-related brain fog,' Dr Gayatri Devi, a professor of neurology at SUNY Downstate Medical Centre, told Prevention.

Depression

Some doctors say that prescribing hormone therapy replacement would be more effective in treating some menopausal symptoms than other interventions, like antidepressants

The hormonal changes brought on by menopause include changes in sleep quality, anxiety, altered appetite, fatigue and mood disturbances, which ticks almost all of the boxes for the symptoms of depression.

Experts have previously highlighted that antidepressant use in women is highest in women of menopausal age, with 44.3 percent of all women in the US taking the drugs being over 40 years old.

'We often sort of say, oh, it must just be depression. All these symptoms can be related to anxiety and depression",' Dr Jennifer Roelands, an OB/GYN said in a TikTok.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Some people who are going through menopause get misdiagnosed with IBS

This condition is quite common and includes cramps, constipation, diarrhea, gas and bloating. Many women also experience these changes when menopause begins to set in, according to the Menopause Charity.

When estrogen and progesterone levels drop off, studies have shown that people feel more intense bloating, stomach pain and changes in bowel patterns.

Researchers from the University of Washington therefore connected that many women who begin going through menopause may experience some of the same symptoms of IBS.

Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia Syndrome is a chronic condition that can cause pain all over the body, tiredness, difficulty sleeping, brain fog and IBS, according to the Menopause Charity.

Because there are no blood tests or official diagnoses for fibromyalgia, many doctors hear these symptoms, which also occur to those going through menopause, and make a rushed diagnosis, Dr Deborah Brunt, a general practitioner who focused on menopause, wrote on her website.

One user on the forum MenopauseMatters , Hill Wimp, shared that she had had her perimenopause misdiagnosed as fibromyalgia for over five years.

'My Symptoms started with a vengeance I had a useless GP who, after a year of me complaining of brain fog, sleeping 18hrs a day, unbelievable joint and muscle pain and no periods diagnosed me with Fibro and Chronic Fatigue along with stress,' she wrote.
As you age, it may be crucial to see doctors about things you might not expect...

England's Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, sadly announced her cancer diagnosis last week.

Though her stage of disease has not been officially confirmed, it appears as though the cancer was spotted in early stages since she's undergoing 'preventative chemotherapy'.

If tumors have advanced to other areas of the body, more aggressive types of chemotherapy are traditionally given to kill remaining cancer cells.

Kate Middleton also said in her public address that she's feeling 'well' and has assured her three young children she is 'going to be ok'.

You shouldn't wait until you're elderly to begin screening for diseases, doctors say

The young royal's case highlights how important regular screening for diseases can be.

And not just for cancer - doctors recommend a number of preventative tests for every stage in life to stave off your risk of heart disease, diabetes and other conditions.

Regular screenings at an early enough age could have a huge impact on the outcomes of all diseases, Dr Robert Biernbaum the chief medical Officer for Wellnow Urgent Care, told CBS News HealthWatch .

'Instead of seeing end stage breast cancer, end stage colon cancer, we would catch them at a younger age and they would have a better outcome. So prevention is the key to being healthy,' he said.

Here are the essential tests you should take at every stage of life.

In your 20s, get an early wrangle on your sexual health

Doctors recommend starting regular STI testing as soon as you become sexually active

The Princess of Wales is said to have waited until her three young children were on Easter break before she broke the news of her diagnosis to the nation.

In your twenties you should be focusing on screenings that will help you know your risks for developing diseases later in life, Dr Nadia Javaid, a family practitioner, told State Health Benefit Plan.

This includes taking regular sexually transmitted infection tests, diabetes screeners and cholesterol tests.

At this point in your life, there are still many lifestyle adjustments you can make that will help stave off future disease, Javaid said. If you know you're at higher risk, you have a better chance at taking action.

For example, say you take an STI test and discover that you have human papilloma virus. There are immediate surgical steps you can take that will help prevent developing cancer from developing later in life, according to the WHO.

Diabetes screening should also start happening at this age because of the uptick of obesity in America, Biernbaum said.

Prince William, Princess Kate, pictured with Prince George, Prince Charlotte and a baby Prince George at Anmer Hall in December 2018

If you know you're at higher risk for developing diabetes when you're twenty, you can start practicing new habits, like consuming less sugar and exercising more regularly, to decrease the chance that you develop the disease.

You should also continue screening habits that you might have already developed - by visiting a dentist, dermatologist and eye doctor. Specifically, you should be seeing a dentist twice a year for an examination of your teeth and gums, according to the American Dental Association.

Finally, Biernbaum recommends checking in with a mental health professional at this age, especially if you haven't already. 'In reality that screening should be started at age 12 and it should be continued every single year during a person's life,' he said.

From this age on, STI, mental health, oral, skin and eye care exams continue to be recommended by physicians throughout life. according to CBS News.

In your 30s, keep an eye out for funny moles

Checking moles can help prevent skin cancer

In your thirties, the American Heart Association recommends beginning to look out for your heart health. To do so, you should get your blood pressure checked every two years, and your cholesterol check every four years.

Also, at this point in your life, you've probably been exposed to enough sun to have potentially developed some funny-looking moles - which could be cancerous. The Skin Cancer Foundation recommends getting a yearly dermatological exam to make sure freckles are just freckles.

If you've been lucky enough not to require glasses or contacts up to this point, you might never have darkened the doorstep of an optometrist.

But the American Academy of Ophthalmology recommends getting examined at least twice in your thirties, in order to make sure there aren't problems hiding behind your eyes.

Doctors also recommend being vigilant with your sexual health- making sure to screen for cervical and testicular cancer. 'Unfortunately, we know there is a higher risk of testicular cancer in your 20s and 30s,' Dr Steven Lamm, from NYU Langone, told CBS News.

In your 40s, prepare for colon screening

Colorectal tests aren't as invasive as they used to be

The US Centers for Disease Control recommends you begin taking colorectal exams regularly starting at age 45.

Luckily, not all of these screeners require you to undergo an uncomfortable colonoscopy, as there are now over the counter exams which work well, Biernbaum said.

At age 40, doctors from the American College of Radiology also recommend that women get their first mammogram, if they haven't already had one. From there, the ACR recommends women get tested every other year to keep on top of potential breast cancer.

Also, women should be talking to their doctor about the symptoms of menopause at their yearly visit starting around this age. Perimenopause, the beginning stage of 'the change', can last as long as ten years, and usually begins in your early 40's, Dr. Jessica Shepard told CBS News.

At this stage, you should be sure to continue your monitoring of heart health and diabetes risk, as your cardiovascular system continues to age, the AHA recommends.

In your 50s, look out for lung health

New recommendations state that people should start screening for lung cancer when they hit their 50s

Once you reach this decade, doctors recommend getting screened for lung cancer. This new guideline from the American Cancer Society states that if you were a habitual smoker, then you should repeat these exams annually.

Starting at age 55, the US Preventative Services Task Force recommends that men begin considering a prostate exam. They should talk to their doctor about their likelihood of developing prostate cancer, and then decide how frequently they should be checked for the disease.

The other gamut of tests are still recommended- from sexual health to dental check ups, and Dr Celine Gounder told CBS that taking these now could save your future health. Even at age 50.

'If you're still a smoker, quit smoking. If you don't exercise at all, even just walking a little bit every day, taking the stairs instead of the elevator  very small things can really make a big difference for your health,' she said.

In your 60s, be considerate of your bones

Bone health and density decreases with age, especially in women

At this stage, most women will have gone through menopause, which can cause big changes in bone density. As such, the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion recommends that women 65 and older take bone density tests.

Though women are particularly at risk for conditions related to bone density- like osteoporosis, men might also want to look into similar tests at this age, the office says. Taking this sort of test, which usually just involves an X-Ray, can give you an idea if you're at higher risk for developing bone fracture.

When men enter this decade, they might be at higher risk for blood clots, especially if they were smokers. So if you're a 65 year old male smoker, the USPSTF recommends exploring abdominal aortic aneurysm tests.

These tests check that the large blood vessels that deliver blood to the body are unobstructed.

Lung, colorectal, prostate and breast exams are important to continue through this age too, alongside the regular maintenance, like skin, mouth and eye exams.
Wells Fargo was a front-runner and accounted for almost half the closures

Wells Fargo filed to close eight branches in a single week this month, joining another eight banks in closing a total of 18.

Meanwhile, Chase continued to defy the industry-wide trend by announcing it would instead open eight.

Those were in Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, South Carolina and Utah.

Only one other bank said it would open a branch, Wintrust Bank in Chicago. That brought the total openings to nine - half the number of scheduled closures.

Banks are therefore continuing to close branches much faster than they're opening them, with a focus on shutting rural locations and consolidating around cities.

Wells Fargo in October announced its first branch expansion strategy, focusing on opening new locations in the Chicago metro area

Chase has been an outlier among the major banks because it has been steadily increasing its branch count

Wells Fargo's closures between March 10 and 16, reported to its regulator the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), were spread between Florida, Mississippi, South Carolina, North Carolina and Texas.

Overall, Wells Fargo has been a front-runner when it comes to bank branch closures.

Last year it notified the regulator it would close 312 branches, more than any other bank in the country. It opened only 22 across the entire year.

It is joined by US Bank, which this year has already said it would shut a total of more than 50.

In the first two months of the year, a DailyMail.com analysis showed that banks had filed to close 222 branches.

The average freestanding bank branch costs around $2.6 million a year, so being able to shut them and encourage customers to bank online can lead to big savings.

The last time the number of commercial bank branches in the US increased was in 2011 when there were more than 85,000, according to FDIC data.

Since then the number of physical branches has dropped fairly steadily to about 70,000.

This year, Chase said it would open 500 locations across the US in the next three years, and last year it was the only major bank to open more branches than it closed.

Chase opened 195 branches between January 1 and December 22 - almost six times more than Bank of America, which came in second by filing to open 32.

Bank branch closures (March 10 - March 16) Bank City State Location Wells Fargo Tallahassee FL 3400 South Monroe St. Wells Fargo Tallahassee FL 444 Gamble St. Wells Fargo Tampa FL 7931 Gunn Hwy. Wells Fargo Jackson MS 188 East Capital St. Suite 100 Wells Fargo Kannapolis NC 704 N. Cannon Blvd. Wells Fargo Charlotte NC 1500 Westinghouse Blvd. Wells Fargo Mauldin SC 500 North Main St. Wells Fargo Arlington TX 1889 Brown Blvd. Bank of America New York NY 767 Fifth Ave. Bank of America Myrtle Beach SC 7815 N Kings Hwy. KeyBank Lakewood CO 1858 South Wadsworth Blvd. KeyBank Portland ME 85 Auburn St. Bank of America Los Gatos CA 780 Blossom Hill Rd. Citizens Bank Doylestown PA 482 North Main St. Eureka Homestead Gretna LA 2112 Belle Chasse Hwy Ste. First NB of Pennsylvania Pittsburgh PA 6000 Centre Ave. JPMorgan Chase Chandler AZ 5915 West Chandler Blvd. Lone Star Capital San Antonio TX 420 N. Weidner Rd.
It comes after many major firms have ordered workers back into the office

But hybrid workers are penalized more than those who are fully remote

Salaries for in-office employees have shot up 33% compared to last year

Americans prepared to work in an office rather than from home or in hybrid role will earn more money, new data suggests.

The average salary advertised for in-office workers has risen 33 percent to $82,037 compared to a year ago, research by ZipRecruiter found.

By comparison, the average wage of a 'hybrid' employee is just $59,992 - a difference of $22,000.

Experts say those firms that want staff onsite have to pay them more - to make up for them giving up the comfort of working from home, plus to cover the extra time and cost of commuting.

Julia Pollak, chief economist based at ZipRecruiter, told the BBC: 'Employers who cannot compete on flexibility will have to compete more aggressively on pay.'

US firms are paying a premium for employees who will work in the office full-time, new data shows

The average salary advertised for in-office workers has shot up 33 percent to $82,037 compared to last year, research by ZipRecruiter found

By comparison, the average wage of a 'hybrid' employee is just $59,992 - a difference of $22,000

Interestingly, the data shows that hybrid workers were penalized more than fully remote employees who can expect to earn $75,327 per year on average.

Several major corporations including Boeing, UPS and JPMorgan Chase have already made it mandatory for workers to attend the office five days a week.

However, many are struggling to get their colleagues back into the workplace. As of January 2024, 29 percent of all paid workdays were done so remotely, according to ZipRecruiter data seen by DailyMail.com.

Workers who swapped fully remote work to in-office jobs in 2023 received a 29.2 percent pay bump in 2023.

Pollak added: 'The conclusion is that people demand higher pay increases for fully in-office jobs.

'An employer offering flexibility can negotiate the overall compensation package with non-monetary incentives, while an employer wanting teams on-site five days a week can only offer financial terms  a dollar value is placed on time spent in the office.'

Working from home has emerged as a prominent culture war since lockdown forced millions of employees to shift their office set-ups overnight.

Wall Street stalwart Jamie Dimon has been one of the biggest critics of the phenomenon.

Last year, he told The Economist he did not see how managers could work from home, adding: 'I don't know how you can be a leader and not be completely accessible to your people.'

Wall Street stalwart Jamie Dimon (pictured) has been one of the biggest critics of working from home

In April, a memo circulated JPMorgan Chase ordering all senior bankers to return to the office five days a week

In April, a memo circulated JPMorgan Chase ordering all senior bankers to return to the office five days a week.

Other bank CEOs have been similarly disparaging about the trend.

Morgan Stanley CEO James Gormon said remote work is 'not an employee choice' while Goldman Sachs boss David Solomon called it an 'aberration.'

According to ZipRecruiter's data, 84.7 percent of all job postings are for in-person roles. Some 3.1 percent are for hybrid roles while 12.2 percent is for fully remote work.

A recent survey found that Colorado had the highest proportion of people still working from home of any US state.

Some 38.3 percent of households in the Centennial State reported having someone working from home at least once a week.

Across the US, seven states - and Washington DC - have a work from home rate which is more than 33 percent.

However, employees in Wyoming are working from home the least. Only 12.9 percent of households had someone who worked from home in the last week in the state - where the main industries include mining, agriculture and manufacturing.

It comes after separate data found more than two-thirds of the fastest-growing professions didn't exist at all twenty years ago.
Experts explain what to do if you are targeted by cruel con

Experts are sounding the alarm over a rise in AI-generated obituaries mysteriously appearing online.

In one disturbing 'obituary pirate' case, an LA Times reporter read her own obituary and watched a video whereby 'news anchors' discussed her death.

Fraudsters are able to make money off ad revenue generated through the fake article and specifically target people with high-traffic searchable names, experts say.

The phenomenon is a twist on an old scam from the early noughties when 'click farms' emerged in which large groups of low-paid workers were paid to visit links to make criminals money.

Dr Chris Pierson, CEO of cybersecurity firm BlackCloak, in Orlando, Florida, told DailyMail.com: 'If you're somebody who scammers are claiming are dead, there are only two things you can really do.

LA Times journalist Deborah Vankin found fake obituaries published about her online while still alive

Matthew Sachman, 19, died in a tragic accident that was exploited by ' obituary pirates' who falsely claimed he had been murdered

'First, you should let everybody you know the scam is going round. Next, you should lock down all of your social media accounts and implement two-factor authentication.

'You know if you've been targeted by this kind of scam, cybercriminals are looking at your details. You don't want them getting into your accounts and setting up fundraising pages to get your friends to donate to.'

However, Dr Pierson added the scam was unusual because the primary reason was to profit from ad revenue rather than extract anything from the victim specifically.

Cybercriminals use AI to compose obituaries for trending names to generate clicks.

In January, LA Times writer Deborah Vankin revealed she had been targeted by the cruel con.

One read: 'Deborah Vankin, an esteemed journalist whose eloquent storytelling and insightful narratives illuminated the world around us, has passed away.'

It is likely Vankin was targeted due to her online presence as a journalist.

She told CNN: 'I oddly didnt panic. I was mostly confused at first, then outraged.'

Another case involved 19-year-old Georgetown student Matthew Sachman who had died after falling onto the subway tracks in New York city.

Within hours, so-called 'obituary pirates' had posted articles claiming he had actually been murdered.

'There were sites I'd never heard of, information that was completely wrong, it didn't make sense,' a family friend told the New York Times.

Dr Pierson added the scam was unusual because the primary reason was to profit from ad revenue rather than extract anything from the victim specifically. Pictured: A fake obituary dedicated to Vankin

The phenomenon is a twist on an old scam from the early noughties when 'click farms' emerged in which large groups of low-paid workers were paid to visit links to make criminals money. Pictured: a fake news story claiming Brad Pitt had killed himself in 2016

'I was looking for the truth,' Devan Mehrish, 19, a childhood friend explained. 'But I didn't find it there.'

'We were trying to find out what happened, but we saw some weird things,' David Lombardi, the owner of a nursery and furniture store in Nantucket where Sachman had worked a summer job.

'I just stopped and thought, 'This doesn't feel right.'

Experts previously told the Times that content farming such articles would only generate around $100 a month from ad revenue and fake obituaries like Sachman's only a penny or two. But if they do enough, this can quickly add up.

The paper also tracked one origin of the false reports to an internet marketer in India.

Earlier this month Google announced it was making changes to the quality of its search engine in a bid to tackle 'spammy, low-quality content on Search.'

The company told USA Today it had 'significantly reduced' the presence of obituary scams in its search results.
Ruling is one of the largest in US antitrust history after two decades of litigation

Visa and Mastercard have agreed to cap credit card fees paid by merchants in a landmark settlement following a legal fight lasting two decades.

Both firms will freeze the charges that businesses pay to accept credit cards for five years - often referred to as 'swipe' or interchange fees.

The ruling is one of the largest in US antitrust history and the law firm which announced the settlement suggested it could save retailers $30 billion.

Robert Eisler, co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs, said in a statement: 'This settlement achieves our goal of eliminating anti-competitive restraints and providing immediate and meaningful savings to all US merchants, small and large.'

The pact effectively lowers the rates paid by retailers by 0.04 percentage points and will keep them in place until 2030. Small businesses will also be given the power to negotiate the fees with the companies.

Visa and Mastercard have agreed to lower credit card interchange rates in a landmark settlement that follows two decades of litigation

Merchants paid an estimated $93 billion in Visa and Mastercard fees last year, according to industry publication The Nilson Report - up from about $33 billion in 2012

The deal still needs to be approved by the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

There was previously concern that a clampdown on so-called 'swipe fees' might cause credit card providers to row back rewards programs for customers.

United CEO Scott Kirby hit back at a separate Congressional bill to reduce fees back in October.

He said: 'This would kill rewards programs. It would not exist anymore. It will kill debit-card rewards programs when it happens, and I think it's bad policy.'

However, experts insisted that today's ruling does not go far enough to impact rewards schemes.

Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst at Bankrate, said: 'Fees are only being lowered slightly and capped. It's not like they're going away completely.

'This alone isn't a big enough deal for companies to change how they run rewards programs.'

Retailers have long complained about the charges they have to pay to process credit card transactions are much higher in the US than just about anywhere else in the world.

Fees average 2.24 percent of the total transaction in the US but can be as high as 4 percent for premium travel and rewards cards. In the EU, they were capped at 0.3 percent in 2015.

Danny Reynolds, who has runs Indiana clothing store Stephenson's of Elkhart, previously told DailyMail.com: 'These fees could be the difference in us being able to hire somebody in our community.

'I remember around 30 years ago when I was just starting out, looking over our financial statements and realizing that credit card purchases had become 50 percent of our transactions. Fast forward to 2023, and it's well over 90 percent.'

Industry publication The Nilson Report estimated that merchants paid $93 billion in Visa and Mastercard fees in 2022, up from about $33 billion in 2012.

The two credit card providers control about 83 percent of the US market - meaning they have a duopoly on swipe fees paid by retailers.

Danny Reynolds has run Stephenson's of Elkhart, a clothing store in Elkhart, Indiana, for nearly 30 years

Reynolds told DailyMail.com: 'These fees could be the difference in us being able to hire somebody in our community'

Although Visa and Mastercard set the fees, it is the banks that issue the cards that collect the most revenue.

For example, JPMorgan Chase collected $31 billion of interchange and merchant processing income last year. After accounting for customer rewards, payments to partners and other costs, it meant the bank netted $4.8 billion in total card income.

Merchants first brought a class-action lawsuit against Visa and Mastercard in 2005 under the allegation the two firms were colluding to keep fees high.

They had already settled part of the suit, agreeing to pay out nearly $6 billion to retailers.

The latest settlement is to address the rest of the suit to improve what critics say is the anticompetitive nature of card networks.

However, Visa and Mastercard are still facing other challenges over their dominance in the card industry.

Senator Dick Durbin is spearheading a Credit Card Competition Act which would require banks to allow at least one payment network besides Visa or Mastercard to facilitate credit card transactions.

It would mean, for example, a shopper may use a Visa card to make a purchase but the merchant could either choose Visa or another - possible less expensive - payment network to process the transaction.

'It is long overdue for Congress to break up the sweetheart deal that Visa, Mastercard, and the big banks enjoy,' he said of the bipartisan legislation last year.
How it comes back will be 'one of the great management stories of this decade'

Dartmouth business professor Paul Argenti said the move would take too long

Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun's departure is well overdue and will take too long to effectively avert a spiraling crisis, a top business school professor has said.

After a series of commercial aircraft accidents brought Boeing's manufacturing and safety standards into the limelight, its chief executive said on Monday he would finally stand down - but not until the end of the year.

'I think it's too little, too late,' Paul Argenti, professor of corporate communication at Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business, told CNBC on Tuesday morning.

Argenti suggested Calhoun's slow departure may be indicative of his reluctance to abandon the top position. 'It still seems like he's leaving screaming and kicking out of the office,' he said.

'He's going to be there for nine more months, that is not what I would call a shakeup, it's a very slow shakedown and I am curious as to why they are taking so long to get this done,' he added.

Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun (pictured on January 24) finally said on Monday that he would stand down but not for another nine months

Paul Argenti, professor of corporate communication at Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business, said he did not understand why Calhoun would take until next year to leave his position

Argenti suggested that the company's leadership would need to be 'completely rethought' and righting the ship would be one of the largest management tasks in modern business history.

'This is the most daunting management task we have seen,' he said.

'I cannot think of anything on the same level. Perhaps coming back from the financial crisis... but this is a much more complicated situation given you have problems with the current products and [that the new CEO will have to] develop future products.'

'It is not a job a lot of people are gong to be able to do.'

A door plug blew off the side of a new Alaska Airlines 737 Max in mid-air during a flight in January. Investigators said bolts that help keep the panel in place were missing after repair work at a Boeing factory.

Federal regulators then put a limit on the production of 737s and found a series of problems after an inspection at Boeing facilities.

The Department of Justice also opened its criminal investigation into the incident.

Calhoun had been appointed four years ago after Dennis Muilenburg was fired following two crashes that killed nearly 350 people.

Last week, US airline bosses asked to meet Boeing's directors  without the chief executive present  to express their frustration at a shortage of new aircraft.

'It really doesn't bode well when your customers don't want to talk with the current CEO,' Argenti told CNBC.

'One of the problems that I see with it is that he's not stepping down till the end of the year and the succession plan is not firmly in place,' he said.

The shakeup will also see Boeing's chairman Larry Kellner and head of commercial airplanes Stan Deal stand down.

Calhoun said yesterday that it had been his decision to quit, telling CNBC: 'We have another mountain to climb.'

The 737 Max (pictured) is the aircraft at the center of Boeing's spiraling crisis around safety

Steve Mollenkopf, former boss of chip maker Qualcomm, will take over from Kellner and lead the search for Calhoun's successor.

Chief operating officer Stephanie Pope was said to replace Deal but is also considered a top contender to head the company next year.

But aviation executives have questioned why she would have been placed in a temporary role if she was going to be the new boss.

'Is she that person who can take 170,000 employees and a company that is in freefall, and one of our country's most important assets, forward?' asked Argenti.

'It's going to be a very tall order for anyone who steps into that job.'

Pope was previously a chief financial officer of Boeing Global Services - a sign according to Argenti that the company was too focused on profits and not quality.

'Even the idea that a CFO, former CFO, would become chief operating officer shows that they are much more financially-oriented than quality-oriented,' he said.

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.
A cloud of speculation surrounds the Moscow terror attack; allegations range from claims of internal collusion to Ukrainian complicity, supported by the West

In the end, neither these corrupt politicians nor the manifestos of these inhuman actions, but unarmed civilians will have to pay the price. Over a hundred unarmed civilians were mercilessly killed by those brutal assailants, while hundreds more were wounded in Saturdays terrorist attacks on the outskirts of Moscow. Conspiracy theories, as in many other cases, are deepening. Some say it was an inside job orchestrated by certain parties to gain sympathy. Second, Ukrainians planned it with the help of Western intelligence agencies. Third, this was perpetrated by extremists. Consequently, conflicting yet interesting reports are emerging from all sides.

Though these warning messages sound fishy, the amount of intelligence activities in the region certainly emphasises recent detailed reports on CIA activities in Ukraine published by The New York Times, stating that the US and UK were in Ukraine long before the war. At the end of 2021, Putin was considering whether to launch a full-scale invasion. He met with the head of one of Russias main spy services, who told him that the CIA, together with British intelligence MI6, controlled Ukraine and turned it into a staging ground for operations against Moscow.

However, it is interesting to note that in this brutal attack, terrorists who targeted concertgoers at Moscows Crocus City Hall not only successfully executed the operation, but also managed to evade capture and attempted to cross the border located over three hundred kilometres away. Later, according to Russian media, all four attackers were apprehended by Russian security forces. A man detained on suspicion of involvement in the Crocus City Hall attack has reportedly confessed to being promised a reward of 500,000 rubles, according to Russian journalist Margarita Simonyan. The alleged killer stated in a video posted by her, I shot down people at the Crocus for money; [I was promised] about 500,000.

Strangely, Russia was attacked by the Islamic State, or more accurately, according to Western media outlets, by ISKP. The Islamic StateKhorasan Province is a regional branch of the Islamic State terrorist group active in South-Central Asia. At the beginning of this month, on March 7, the FSB stated that it had stopped an ISKP cell from carrying out a terrorist attack targeting a synagogue. On the territory of the Kaluga Region, a stop was put to the activity of Wilayat Khorasan, a cell of the Afghan branch of the international terrorist organisation Islamic State, which is banned in Russia, whose members were planning to commit a terrorist act against one of the Jewish religious institutions in Moscow, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said in a statement to the state-run TASS news agency.

What is fascinating is that almost all Western countries currently supplying arms, personnel, and other vital support, including precious intelligence, to Ukraine for its fight against Russia, were issuing early warnings about such brutal terrorist attacks. On March 7 and 8, several foreign embassies in Russia warned their citizens about the threat of terrorist attacks in Moscow. The U.S. Embassy in Moscow posted a security alert late on March 7, stating, The embassy is monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, including concerts, and U.S. citizens should be advised to avoid large gatherings over the next 48 hours. The Finnish Foreign Ministry urged its citizens on Saturday to avoid public gatherings in Moscow over the weekend, following the US warning about possible terrorist attacks in Russia. The US Embassy further stated that it is actively monitoring reports indicating that extremists have immediate intentions to target large gatherings in Moscow.

After the US warning, the UK issued a similar advisory advising UK citizens to avoid travelling to Russia due to the risks and terrorist threats. The British Foreign Office recommended against all travel to Russia. Germany, Latvia, and Estonia also urged their citizens and those with dual citizenship not to travel to Russia shortly. These advisories essentially highlight the reliability, effectiveness, and capability of Western intelligence agencies in the region.

However, it is important to pay attention to the argument made by the Ukrainian Defence Authority on the attack: The behaviour of the criminals is also an important factor. They fled, although such attacks are characterised by suicides with the victims and the voicing of demands, or at least reasons. Accordingly, the criminals wanted to survive. But how did they cover a distance of more than 300 kilometres without being noticed? Why, having prepared so thoroughly, did they not do the simplest thingbuy a few spare cars to change on the way? Was it because they were guaranteed security by the Russian special services?

These questions are undoubtedly crucial not only for unravelling the mysteries behind the attack but also for preventing its recurrence. This distinctive IS attack contradicts its previous behaviours; typically, IS members launch attacks to become martyrs. However, in this instance, they attacked to obtain money from unknown sources, a practice strictly prohibited, Haram, according to Islam.

Meanwhile, in his address to the nation, President Putin asserted, All perpetrators, organisers, and masterminds of this crime will face fair and inevitable punishment, whoever they may be and whoever directed them. I emphasise once more: we will identify and bring to justice every individual who stands behind these terrorists, those who orchestrated this atrocity, this assault against Russia and our people.

Whatever the conspiracy theories or any other ground reports that came to the public domain after this horrific terrorist attack, one thing is certain: Russia indeed has internal security loopholes, and enemies are capable of sneaking through their system. It is clear that, according to Western pre-warnings of the attacks leading us to presume that these brutal attacks were pre-planned to execute during the recently concluded election where Putin marked the highest percentage of any elections since 2000. This signalled which side the majority of Russians were standing on, while the West kept repeating the same mantra of authoritarianism. On the other hand, can the Ukrainian President go for an election and prove the same, despite remaining in power by manipulating the constitutional clauses? However, Ukrainians, alarmed by the election, launched a risky invasion to halt voting in Russian border areas, particularly in Belgorod city and its region. During the three-day operation, Ukraine killed 11 civilians with drones and rockets and injured 82, including nine critically. Among the casualties were an election official and a thirteen-year-old girl, whose father was seriously injured.

Ironically, most Western nations with imperfect democracies expect their enemy countries to be perfect democracies. This paradox can only please a mind accustomed to duplicity but will never overcome common challenges such as normalising the global supply chain and achieving peace while mitigating the burning risk of a possible nuclear attack. The most powerful nations, despite engaging in dirty politics to reaffirm their supremacy, will never hesitate to engage in anything contradictory to their preaching.

Nevertheless, determining whether this attack was carried out by ISKP or another group influenced by various integrated parties is a matter that requires verification. However, this attack has the potential to inspire other terrorists in countries facing genuine threats from IS, ISKP, and other extremist factions. We cannot underestimate the importance of security in the forthcoming Indian elections and ISKPs direct threats against China and its investments in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and other places. In early September 2022, the ISKP published its most comprehensive critique of China to date, belittling the Belt and Road Initiative and calling on Muslims to take up arms against red atheists whose hands are soaked with the blood of innocent Uyghur Muslims. Ironically, the tone of these threats is very similar to how the United States evaluates its competitors. Should we take lightly what the Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump repeatedly referred to as the president as Obama and Hillary Clinton are as ISIS co-founders? Sometimes, political jokes, rhetoric and blabbering play a very important role in understanding the context of our day-to-day life and its reality.

(The writer, a journalist, expresses personal views which are independent of any institutional affiliations)
The contentious issues of Katchatheevu and Sethusamudram resurface amid Tamil Nadus election fervour

The schedule for the General Election 2024 has been announced and the State of Tamil Nadu is full of rattle and brouhaha over non-issues. The ruling DMK which has been maintaining silence over issues like the provision of drinking and irrigation waters and the fate of the States fishermen arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy have dusted and taken out age-old topics for use as campaign materials in the election. A cursory glance over the election manifesto of the DMK drafted under the chairmanship of M K Kanimozhi, the late Karunanidhis daughter by his third wife Rajathi, makes the reader doubt whether Tamil Nadu is a part of India or not.

One of the salient points of the DMKs election manifesto is to make Tamil Nadu a NEET-free State. This means that admission to the undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the States medical colleges would be free of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, the selection system ordered by the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court. It was the UPA Government (2004-2014) in which the DMK was the second largest constituent that brought the NEET into practice. Similarly, the DMK would revive and resume the works of laying a canal through the Palk Strait known as the Sethusamudram Channel. The project work has been put on hold following directives by the Supreme Court based on the fact that it is neither economically sustainable nor commercially viable. The only motivating factor behind the revival of Sethusamudram Channel is that the DMK Government would be able to demolish the Ram Sethu, a stone structure believed to have been built by the army of Lords Ram to cross the sea in their mission to same Maa Sita from the custody of the Ravana. This is being seen as the Dravidians reply to the Pranaprathista of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya held in January. The DMK has declared its mission to destroy Sanatana Dharma once and forever. Udhayanidhi Stalin, heir apparent to the DMK throne and the chief ministership in the eventuality of Stalin leaving Tamil Nadu for an early rendezvous with his father M Karunanidhi and ideological father Ramasamy Naicker, have declared time and again that Sanatana Dharma is more dangerous than Covid and Cancer and should be banished from the face of the earth.

Yet another promise made by the DMK is the retrieval of Katchateevu, a small islet handed over to Sri Lanka by the Government of India in 1975. The decision to secede this 285-acre uninhabited islet to Sri Lanka in 1975 was taken after a series of discussions involving top-level diplomats of Sri Lanka and India including G Parthasarathi, a close aide of Indira Gandhi.

Katchatheevu is an uninhabited islet in the Palk Strait. The islet once used for pearl farming was strategically important for fishing activities and was owned by the Raja of Ramnad and later became part of the Madras Presidency after the delimitation of Gulf of Mannar and Palk Strait during British rule between the then Governments of Madras and Ceylon. In 1921, both Sri Lanka and India claimed this piece of land and the dispute remained unsettled.

The agreement signed by Indira Gandhi and her Sri Lanka counterpart Sirimao Bhandarenaike in 1975 and 1976 says that with the establishment of the Exclusive Economic Zones by the two countries, India and Sri Lanka will exercise sovereign rights over the living and non-living resources of their respective zones. The fishing vessels and fishermen of India shall not engage in fishing in the historic waters, the territorial sea and the Exclusive Economic Zone of Sri Lanka, nor shall the fishing vessels and fishermen of Sri Lanka engage in fishing in the historic waters, the territorial sea and the Exclusive Economic Zone of India, without the express permission of Sri Lanka or India, as the case may be, according to the agreement. The agreement made it clear that Katchateev belongs to the territory of Sri Lanka. From 1976 to 2008, the DMK and its leader Karunanidhi were silent over Katchateevu. It was a case filed by AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalithaa in 2008 that made Karunanidhi take up the issue as part of his political one-upmanship. When the case came up for hearing, the then chief justice R M Lodha asked Mukul Rohatgi, the then attorney general, what were the possibilities of retrieval of Katchatheev. If you want Katchatheevu back, you will have to go to war to get it back, Rohatgi told the Court. In another development, the Coast Guard in an affidavit filed by it in Madras High Court said that it was the Tamil Nadu fishermen who violated the International Maritime Boundary Line and fished in Sri Lankan territorial waters. Sinha Ratnatunga, a respected editor of a popular newspaper in Sri Lanka said that more than 600 fishing boats from India cross over the IMBL and carry out bottom trawling in the islands territorial waters violating all norms. The bottom trawling using purine nets destroys the entire marine wealth in the Sri Lankan waters. The demand for the retrieval of Katchatheev is with an ulterior motive. The Dravidians do not want a cordial relationship between India and Sri Lanka. Should Lanka too end up as the Maldives? asks R R Wijayabalan, who is one of the best friends of India in the island nation.

(The writer is special correspondent with the pioneer; views are personal)
Lakeshore Children's Advocacy Center staff (from left) trauma therapist Jessica Rozga, family advocate Lindsay Umlauf, contractual forensic interviewer Ashley Vos and executive director Megan McCarthy receive a special tribute certificate from Rep. Curt VanderWall, R-Ludington (left) and Sen. Jon Bumstead, R-Muskegon on March 22, 2024. The certificate was awarded by the state of Michigan in recognition of the center's 15th anniversary. Scott Fraley/News Advocate

MANISTEE  A special tribute from the state of Michigan was awarded to the Lakeshore Childrens Advocacy Center in honor of its 15th anniversary.

Sen. Jon Bumstead, R-Muskegon and Rep. Curt VanderWall, R-Ludington presented a certificate to staff at a March 22 ceremony.

The diligent work that is completed by the Lakeshore Childrens Advocacy Center has improved the lives of children throughout the community. We thank these heroes on behalf of the many people who have benefited from their contributions, the certificate states.

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Following the award presentation, Bumstead and VanderWall spent time at the advocacy center to meet with members of the Lakeshore team in order to learn more about the challenges and successes in their work, and trends in the area of child abuse investigations.

The congressmen met with executive director Megan McCarthy, family advocate Lindsay Umlauf, trauma therapist Jessica Rozga, and contractual forensic interviewer Ashley Vos.

"We are honored to do this work and appreciate this special recognition," McCarthy said. We've been so grateful for the incredible support that we've received not only from our local government, but also from our state government in order to make this work possible. Both of these gentlemen have been incredible supporters of our work, helping to push through the critical funding in order to support everything that we do here.

With offices in Manistee and Ludington, the center started in March 2009 as the Manistee County Child Advocacy Center  the first center of its kind in the area.

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Lakeshore Children's Advocacy Center is one of 40 such centers in Michigan providing resources for children who disclose abuse. The center works closely with law enforcement, child protection, prosecution, medical and mental health professionals to ensure children and their families are heard, supported and connected throughout a child abuse investigation.

The center provides opportunities for children to talk to a trained professional about what they may have experienced in a safe and supportive environment. In addition to forensic interviews, the center also provides case management services to help connect children and families to available resources and help guide them through an abuse investigation.

The Lakeshore Children's Advocacy Center was awarded a special tribute certificate by the state of Michigan on March 22, 2024. Provided photo/Megan McCarthy

More than 130 forensic interviews are conducted each year at the center, according to its website, lakeshorekids.org.

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On-site trauma-focused counseling services and referrals to outside mental health professionals are offered to children and families to begin their journey to healing.

All services are provided at no cost to children and families.

These good citizens have created several effective programs to serve children and their families, giving victims of child abuse hope for a better future, the special tribute certificate states. As the members of this organization look back on their distinguished history of community service, they can take great pride in their contributions.

Lakeshore Childrens Advocacy Center also offers free child abuse prevention training for adults, as well as school-based body safety education to children in grades K-12 in Manistee County and Mason County.

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Staff, current and former board members and members of the center's multidisciplinary team gathered to celebrate the nonprofit's 15-year anniversary at an event on March 19. More than 30 people came out to mark the occasion.

McCarthy credited local partnerships with helping the center reach the milestone.

We have such great professional partnerships and those relationships just seem to get stronger," McCarthy said. We hear stories from other CAC's in which there's pushback from one agency or another because it is an ask of law enforcement. It is an ask of (child protective services)  it adds steps to their process. But it is what is right for kids. And we're lucky that our partners in both counties get that.

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External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited Indian Coast Guard ship Samudra Paheredar, a specialised Pollution Control Vessel, which is in Manila Bay in the Philippines as part of an overseas deployment to the EAN countries, and said the civilizational imprint of Indias long and distinguished maritime tradition is still visible in the region. The ICG ship arrived at Manila Bay on March 25 on a three-day visit.

The ship is equipped with specialised marine pollution control equipment and a Chetak Helicopter in pollution response configuration designed to contain and recover spilled oil and augment the operation, officials said on Tuesday.

Pleased to visit the Indian Coast Guard Ship Samudra Paheredar during its port call to Manila. My visit and the ships presence signifies the deepening India-Philippines relations. Indias long and distinguished Indian maritime traditions civilizational imprint is still visible in this region. Our Act East policy and Indo-Pacific vision will continue giving it a more contemporary form, the External Affairs Minister (EAM) posted on X on Tuesday. The Union minister is on an official visit to the Philippines.

The Defence Ministry earlier in the day said the ICG ship is on an overseas deployment to theEAN countries -- the Philippines, Vietnam and Brunei -- from March 25 to April 12. The visit of a specialised Pollution Control Vessel is part of a broader initiative aimed at demonstration of the ICGs marine pollution response capabilities and shared concern and resolve towards marine pollution in theEAN region besides bolstering bilateral cooperation with the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), the ministry said.

The deployment is the third in a row by the Indian Coast Guard to theEAN countries. Earlier in the year 2023, ICG Pollution Control Vessels visited Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia as part of the initiative, it said.

During this deployment, the ship is also scheduled to make port calls at Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam) and Muara (Brunei). The demonstration at visiting ports includes pollution response training and a practical display of various equipments, the statement said.

Additionally, the ship has also embarked 25 cadets of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) to participate in the Indian governments initiative Puneet Sagar Abhiyan and provide it an international outreach in coordination with partner nations, the officials said.
After days of parleys with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), the BJP on Tuesday announced that it will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls on its own in Punjab, with the announcement coming amid hints from its ex-ally SAD that the latter could go solo in the border State.

With this development, the border State will see a four-cornered contest in the general elections. Punjab is the latest State after the BJP and Naveen Patnaik-led BJD alliance did not work out despite days of deliberations and both announced to go solo in Odisha.

The BJD last month had supported the Rajya Sabha candidature of Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. Both the SAD and the BJD were the natural ally of the BJP since year until SAD broke ranks from the NDA after the controversial farm laws which however now stands repealed.

The SADs latest decision is a major shift from late Parkash Singh Badals 24-year policy of unconditional support to the BJP from 1996 to 2020. The two parties had formed an alliance in 1996 and had been fighting elections together. In 2019, they won two Lok Sabha seats each in Punjab. This will be the first Lok Sabha poll since 1998 which the BJP and SAD will contest alone. In the first Assembly poll they fought separately and both suffered jolts with the BJP winning two and Akalis 3 seats out of 117 and AAP sweeping with 92.

Meanwhile, the BJP received a shot in the arm in Punjab on Tuesday as three-term Congress MP Ravneet Singh Bittu from the State joined the party. Bittu is the grandson of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, a hero of anti-terrorism campaign in the State who was assassinated in a terror attack while still in office. He currently represents Ludhiana in the outgoing Lok Sabha.

... The party has decided that we will contest all 13 seats on our own. We want to remain in direct contact with the people of Punjab... We are sure, Modi will win in Punjab also..., said Delhi BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa, former MLA from Delhi Assembly and prominent Sikh leader said on Tuesday.

Earlier, Punjab BJP unit president Sunil Jakhar issued a video statement on X (formerly Twitter) to announce that the party will fight alone in the State. The BJP is going to contest the Lok Sabha elections alone, Jakhar said in a video message posted on X. This decision was taken based on the feedback of people, party workers and leaders. The decision has been taken for the future of Punjab and the betterment of the youth, farmers, traders, labourers and the downtrodden, he said.

Jakhar exuded confidence that the people of Punjab will further strengthen the BJP by voting for it in large numbers on June 1.

After the BJP announced its decision, SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal said for us, principles are more important than the number game, and reiterated his partys commitment to Punjab and the community.

The alliance talks are learnt to have failed on a range of issues mainly the Akali Dal insistence on a larger share of Lok Sabha seats. The BJP was seeking five of the 13 segments and preferably six. The Akali were comfortable giving four, said sources, adding that even the electoral situation signalled that it was better for the BJP to go alone.

Besides, the BJP believes Ram Mandir consecration and the PMs pro-development pitch may generate greater support for it this time. The Akalis meanwhile were also learnt to be wary of the alliance in the wake of farmers agitation.

In September 2020, however, Akali Dal left the NDA after the Central Government brought in the contentious farm laws, which led to farmer protests in north India. While most cultivators were from Punjab, those from neighbouring States such as Haryana and Uttar Pradesh joined in as well.
After Germany, the United States of America Government on Tuesday said they are closely watching the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and support a fair, transparent, and prompt legal process.

We encourage a fair, transparent, and timely legal process for Chief Minister Kejriwal, news agencies quoted a US State Department spokesperson as saying.

The US Governments response follows Indias summoning of a senior diplomat from the German Embassy to express its objection to the countrys remarks regarding Kejriwals arrest.

In a statement, Germanys foreign affairs spokesperson expressed hope that the standards regarding the independence of the judiciary and fundamental democratic principles would be upheld in Kejriwals case.

...Like anyone facing accusations, Kejriwal is entitled to a fair and impartial trial, this includes he can make use of all available legal avenues without restrictions. The presumption of innocence is a central element of the rule of law and must apply to him [sic], the spokesperson said.

When questioned about Indias protest to Germany, the US State Department spokesperson directed inquiries to the German Foreign Ministry for comments on their discussions with the Indian Government.

Kejriwal, the chief of the Aam Aadmi Party, was arrested on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the Delhi liquor policy case. The case involves allegations of corruption and money laundering in the formulation and implementation of the Delhi Governments excise policy for 2021-22, which was subsequently revoked.

Kejriwal has denied any wrongdoing, and his party has labeled his arrest as a political vendetta by the ruling BJP ahead of the general elections.
Armed Baloch militants tried to infiltrate one of the main naval air bases in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province, but security forces foiled the attack and killed at least six terrorists.

The attack on Monday night took place in Turbat, a turbulent district in the sparsely populated province.

Makran Commissioner Saeed Ahmed Umrani told the media that security forces had foiled an armed terrorist attack at the PNS Siddique Naval Air Base which is among the biggest naval air stations in the country.
Ballard Power Systems Inc. (TSE:BLDP  Get Free Report) Senior Officer Kevin Michael Colbow sold 17,873 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$3.78, for a total value of C$67,559.94.

Ballard Power Systems Price Performance

BLDP traded down C$0.07 during trading on Monday, reaching C$3.70. 513,036 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 647,414. The businesss 50 day moving average price is C$4.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$4.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 12.25 and a quick ratio of 13.57. The company has a market capitalization of C$1.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.94, a P/E/G ratio of -2,030.00 and a beta of 1.69. Ballard Power Systems Inc. has a 1 year low of C$3.60 and a 1 year high of C$7.60.

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Ballard Power Systems Inc engages in the design, development, manufacture, sale, and service of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell products. The company offers its products for power product markets, consisting of heavy-duty motives, such as bus, truck, rail, and marine applications; material handling; and power generation.

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StockNews.com started coverage on shares of China Green Agriculture (NYSE:CGA  Free Report) in a research note published on Saturday. The firm issued a sell rating on the basic materials companys stock.

China Green Agriculture Stock Down 1.7 %

NYSE CGA opened at $2.88 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $39.80 million, a PE ratio of -2.38 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $2.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $2.35. China Green Agriculture has a 52 week low of $1.61 and a 52 week high of $4.24.

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China Green Agriculture (NYSE:CGA  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The basic materials company reported ($0.40) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. China Green Agriculture had a negative net margin of 14.54% and a negative return on equity of 12.68%. The company had revenue of $17.80 million for the quarter.

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China Green Agriculture Company Profile

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Susquehanna International Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of China Green Agriculture in the first quarter worth $175,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in China Green Agriculture by 67.8% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 19,051 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $192,000 after buying an additional 7,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP purchased a new stake in China Green Agriculture during the first quarter worth $115,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 0.12% of the companys stock.

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China Green Agriculture, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the research, development, production, and sale of various fertilizers, agricultural products, and bitcoin in the People's Republic of China and the United States. The company operates through four segments: Jinong (Fertilizer Production); Gufeng (Fertilizer Production); Yuxing (Agricultural Products Production); and Antaeus (Bitcoin).

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Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG  Free Report) had its target price raised by Wedbush from $2,400.00 to $2,850.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage 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.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on CMG. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $2,699.00 to $3,016.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Robert W. Baird reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $2,650.00 target price on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $2,185.00 to $2,425.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, December 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $2,600.00 to $2,800.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $2,450.00 to $2,550.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $2,522.77.

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Chipotle Mexican Grill Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CMG opened at $2,904.83 on Friday. The companys fifty day moving average price is $2,579.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $2,248.74. Chipotle Mexican Grill has a 1 year low of $1,628.90 and a 1 year high of $3,023.98. The company has a market capitalization of $79.65 billion, a PE ratio of 65.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.29.

Chipotle Mexican Grills stock is set to split on Wednesday, June 26th. The 50-1 split was announced on Tuesday, March 19th. The newly created shares will be payable to shareholders after the closing bell on Tuesday, June 25th.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The restaurant operator reported $10.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $9.73 by $0.63. The company had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.49 billion. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 44.41%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $8.29 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Chipotle Mexican Grill will post 53.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Chipotle Mexican Grill

In related news, CEO Brian R. Niccol sold 1,996 shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,399.91, for a total value of $4,790,220.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 22,447 shares in the company, valued at $53,870,779.77. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Chipotle Mexican Grill news, insider Christopher W. Brandt sold 3,149 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,563 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $25,071,093.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Brian R. Niccol sold 1,996 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,399.91, for a total transaction of $4,790,220.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,447 shares in the company, valued at $53,870,779.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 7,893 shares of company stock worth $20,827,447. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the companys stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Chipotle Mexican Grill

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. IMA Wealth Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 13 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Finally, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. 91.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Company Profile

(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.

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Dash Acquisitions Inc. bought a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO  Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,954 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NVO. Chilton Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 10,063 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,628,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,369 shares of the companys stock valued at $321,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp raised its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 2,342 shares of the companys stock valued at $373,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,060 shares of the companys stock valued at $169,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 2,960 shares of the companys stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 11.54% of the companys stock.

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Novo Nordisk A/S Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NVO stock traded up $0.29 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $129.05. The companys stock had a trading volume of 3,317,713 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,300,013. The stock has a market capitalization of $579.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.41. Novo Nordisk A/S has a one year low of $75.56 and a one year high of $138.28. The firms fifty day simple moving average is $120.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $103.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

Novo Nordisk A/S ( NYSE:NVO Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $9.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.14 billion. Novo Nordisk A/S had a return on equity of 90.36% and a net margin of 36.03%. Equities research analysts expect that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.35 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $0.664 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. This is a positive change from Novo Nordisk A/Ss previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.22. This represents a dividend yield of 0.9%. Novo Nordisk A/Ss payout ratio is currently 49.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an overweight rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. UBS Group began coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a neutral rating on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Novo Nordisk A/S from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, December 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an overweight rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, Novo Nordisk A/S currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $126.25.

View Our Latest Analysis on NVO

Novo Nordisk A/S Profile

(Free Report)

Novo Nordisk A/S, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the research and development, manufacture, and distribution of pharmaceutical products in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, North America, and internationally. It operates in two segments, Diabetes and Obesity Care, and Rare Disease.

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Barclays reiterated their equal weight rating on shares of FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS  Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. Barclays currently has a $460.00 price target on the business services providers stock, down from their prior price target of $480.00.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a sector perform rating and set a $464.00 price objective on shares of FactSet Research Systems in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $436.00 to $469.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $436.00 to $447.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a hold rating and issued a $480.00 target price (up previously from $471.00) on shares of FactSet Research Systems in a report on Friday, December 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $444.11.

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FactSet Research Systems Price Performance

FDS stock opened at $444.90 on Friday. FactSet Research Systems has a 52 week low of $380.96 and a 52 week high of $488.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $468.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $455.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.73.

FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 21st. The business services provider reported $4.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.83 by $0.39. FactSet Research Systems had a net margin of 22.72% and a return on equity of 34.36%. The business had revenue of $545.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $547.93 million. Analysts anticipate that FactSet Research Systems will post 15.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FactSet Research Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. FactSet Research Systemss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at FactSet Research Systems

In other FactSet Research Systems news, CEO Frederick Philip Snow sold 3,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.02, for a total transaction of $1,428,060.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,915 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $6,147,798.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Frederick Philip Snow sold 3,000 shares of FactSet Research Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.02, for a total value of $1,428,060.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,915 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $6,147,798.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Laurie Siegel sold 1,500 shares of FactSet Research Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.84, for a total transaction of $713,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $283,124.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the companys stock.

Institutional Trading of FactSet Research Systems

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in FactSet Research Systems during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,174,000. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its stake in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 2,118 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $926,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 45.1% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 185,103 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $81,723,000 after purchasing an additional 57,502 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp lifted its stake in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 441,046 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $192,852,000 after purchasing an additional 6,960 shares during the period. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 27.3% in the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 84,137 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $36,800,000 after purchasing an additional 18,031 shares during the period. 91.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About FactSet Research Systems

(Get Free Report)

FactSet Research Systems Inc, a financial data company, provides integrated financial information and analytical applications to the investment community in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company delivers insight and information through the workflow solutions of research, analytics and trading, content and technology solutions, and wealth.

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Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Technology ETF (NYSEARCA:RYT  Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $34.70 and last traded at $34.81, with a volume of 288405 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $34.98.

Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Technology ETF Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $43.84 and a 200 day moving average of $39.89. The company has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.16 and a beta of 1.18.

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Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jackson Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Technology ETF by 1,025.4% during the third quarter. Jackson Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,145 shares of the companys stock valued at $15,551,000 after purchasing an additional 50,245 shares in the last quarter. Yarbrough Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Technology ETF by 900.0% during the third quarter. Yarbrough Capital LLC now owns 74,180 shares of the companys stock valued at $20,920,000 after purchasing an additional 66,762 shares in the last quarter. Headinvest LLC boosted its stake in shares of Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Technology ETF by 859.8% during the second quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 7,400 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,087,000 after purchasing an additional 6,629 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Technology ETF by 991.6% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,200,290 shares of the companys stock valued at $338,494,000 after purchasing an additional 1,090,334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Godsey & Gibb Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Technology ETF by 900.0% during the third quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 5,360 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,512,000 after purchasing an additional 4,824 shares in the last quarter.

Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Technology ETF Company Profile

The Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Technology ETF (RYT) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in information technology equity. The fund tracks an equal-weighted index of S&P 500 technology companies. RYT was launched on Nov 1, 2006 and is managed by Invesco.

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Doughnuts are sold at a Krispy Kreme store on May 05, 2021, in Chicago, Illinois. Photo provided/Scott Olson/Getty Images

The Golden Arches and Krispy Kreme announced Tuesday they are teaming up for a national expansion. The doughnut maker will provide fresh products daily to McDonalds restaurants nationwide.

As part of a phased market rollout, McDonalds customers will start seeing the doughnuts in their local restaurants later this year. Nationwide availability at the fast-food giant is expected by the end of 2026. McDonalds has about 13,500 stores in the United States.

The top request we receive from consumers, every day, is, please bring Krispy Kreme to my town, Krispy Kreme President and CEO Josh Charlesworth said in a Tuesday statement. Partnering with McDonalds on a national scale will provide our fans and doughnut lovers unprecedented daily access to fresh doughnuts and the joy that is Krispy Kreme.

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Krispy Kreme shares (DNUT.O) surged as much as 23% in premarket trade Tuesday after the announcement. For the duration of the agreement, McDonalds will be the exclusive fast-food partner for Krispy Kreme in the U.S.

McDonalds customers will be able to order the original glazed, chocolate iced with sprinkles and chocolate iced cream-filled doughnuts, individually or in packs of six. They will be available at breakfast and throughout the day or while supplies last.

This partnership is an exciting next step in that journey and a chance to unlock new business opportunities in the breakfast category and throughout the day, Tariq Hassan, McDonalds USAs Chief Marketing and Customer Experience Officer, said in a Tuesday statement. Our fans love for Krispy Kreme runs deep, and we cant wait to make it even easier for them to satisfy their sweet tooth at McDonalds restaurants across the country.

The move follows a test in late 2022 at 160 McDonalds restaurants in the Lexington and Louisville, Kentucky areas where consumer excitement and demand for the doughnuts exceeded expectations, according to Krispy Kreme.

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Significantly, by making Kreme Krispy accessible to fans nationwide through this partnership, we expect to more than double our points of access by the end of 2026, Charlesworth said. The partnership accelerates the development of our existing Delivered Fresh Daily channel, creating operating leverage through distribution density and production utilization.
Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX  Free Report) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,684 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailers stock after buying an additional 509 shares during the quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc.s holdings in TJX Companies were worth $1,753,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. lifted its position in shares of TJX Companies by 35.5% during the 3rd quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 73,466 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailers stock valued at $6,530,000 after buying an additional 19,236 shares in the last quarter. Savoir Faire Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in TJX Companies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,197,000. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in TJX Companies by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 603,482 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailers stock worth $56,613,000 after acquiring an additional 21,767 shares during the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in TJX Companies by 42.9% in the 4th quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 19,108 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailers stock worth $1,793,000 after acquiring an additional 5,737 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank increased its position in shares of TJX Companies by 109.1% during the 3rd quarter. Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank now owns 148,954 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailers stock valued at $13,239,000 after purchasing an additional 77,711 shares during the last quarter. 91.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on TJX shares. Redburn Atlantic cut TJX Companies from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $100.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, February 5th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of TJX Companies in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on TJX Companies from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on TJX Companies from $95.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $102.19.

TJX Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TJX traded down $1.31 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $98.17. The stock had a trading volume of 6,915,400 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,056,973. The firm has a market cap of $111.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.43, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $74.77 and a fifty-two week high of $102.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $97.34 and a 200-day moving average of $92.78.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The apparel and home fashions retailer reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $16.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $16.20 billion. TJX Companies had a return on equity of 64.18% and a net margin of 8.25%. The businesss revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that The TJX Companies, Inc. will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current year.

TJX Companies announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 28th that permits the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the apparel and home fashions retailer to buy up to 2.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the companys board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at TJX Companies

In other news, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.98, for a total transaction of $1,979,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 515,801 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $51,053,982.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.98, for a total transaction of $1,979,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 515,801 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $51,053,982.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Louise Greenlees sold 2,694 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.83, for a total value of $266,248.02. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 50,273 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,968,480.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

TJX Companies Company Profile

(Free Report)

The TJX Companies, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an off-price apparel and home fashions retailer in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia. It operates through four segments: Marmaxx, HomeGoods, TJX Canada, and TJX International. The company sells family apparel, including footwear and accessories; home fashions, such as home basics, furniture, rugs, lighting products, giftware, soft home products, decorative accessories, tabletop, and cookware, as well as expanded pet, and gourmet food departments; jewelry and accessories; and other merchandise.

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Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF (NYSEARCA:IJR  Free Report) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 10,745 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the period. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc.s holdings in iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF were worth $1,163,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Maple Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Maple Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,976 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $1,035,000 after buying an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. raised its position in iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 141,719 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $13,433,000 after purchasing an additional 6,504 shares during the last quarter. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC now owns 15,710 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $1,565,000 after purchasing an additional 745 shares during the last quarter. Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in shares of iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF in the 4th quarter valued at $216,000. Finally, Lynch & Associates IN increased its stake in shares of iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Lynch & Associates IN now owns 43,380 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $4,696,000 after buying an additional 1,689 shares during the period.

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iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF Price Performance

Shares of NYSEARCA IJR traded down $0.23 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $107.54. The stock had a trading volume of 4,444,992 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,569,452. The companys 50-day simple moving average is $106.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.49. The firm has a market cap of $75.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.11 and a beta of 1.15. iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF has a fifty-two week low of $87.32 and a fifty-two week high of $110.55.

iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF Profile

iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF, formerly iShares S&P SmallCap 600 Index Fund, seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Standard & Poors SmallCap 600 Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of publicly traded securities in the small-capitalization sector of the United States equity market.

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Spanish Mountain Gold Ltd. (CVE:SPA  Get Free Report) Director Lembit Janes bought 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of C$0.18 per share, with a total value of C$17,500.00.

Lembit Janes also recently made the following trade(s):

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On Friday, March 15th, Lembit Janes acquired 91,000 shares of Spanish Mountain Gold stock. The stock was purchased at an average price of C$0.18 per share, with a total value of C$15,925.00.

On Tuesday, March 12th, Lembit Janes acquired 9,000 shares of Spanish Mountain Gold stock. The stock was bought at an average cost of C$0.18 per share, with a total value of C$1,575.00.

On Thursday, March 7th, Lembit Janes purchased 94,500 shares of Spanish Mountain Gold stock. The stock was acquired at an average cost of C$0.18 per share, with a total value of C$17,010.00.

On Wednesday, February 21st, Lembit Janes purchased 200,000 shares of Spanish Mountain Gold stock. The stock was bought at an average cost of C$0.17 per share, with a total value of C$34,000.00.

On Wednesday, February 14th, Lembit Janes purchased 48,500 shares of Spanish Mountain Gold stock. The shares were bought at an average price of C$0.16 per share, with a total value of C$7,760.00.

On Friday, February 9th, Lembit Janes bought 161,000 shares of Spanish Mountain Gold stock. The stock was purchased at an average price of C$0.18 per share, for a total transaction of C$28,175.00.

On Monday, January 29th, Lembit Janes bought 122,000 shares of Spanish Mountain Gold stock. The shares were acquired at an average cost of C$0.17 per share, for a total transaction of C$20,984.00.

On Monday, January 22nd, Lembit Janes acquired 241,500 shares of Spanish Mountain Gold stock. The stock was acquired at an average price of C$0.18 per share, with a total value of C$42,262.50.

On Thursday, January 18th, Lembit Janes acquired 20,500 shares of Spanish Mountain Gold stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of C$0.18 per share, for a total transaction of C$3,587.50.

On Monday, January 15th, Lembit Janes bought 12,500 shares of Spanish Mountain Gold stock. The stock was purchased at an average price of C$0.18 per share, for a total transaction of C$2,187.50.

Spanish Mountain Gold Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of Spanish Mountain Gold stock traded down C$0.01 during trading hours on Monday, hitting C$0.18. The companys stock had a trading volume of 185,560 shares, compared to its average volume of 93,721. The stock has a market cap of C$65.26 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -70.00 and a beta of 2.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 3.03 and a current ratio of 24.01. Spanish Mountain Gold Ltd. has a twelve month low of C$0.11 and a twelve month high of C$0.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average of C$0.17 and a 200-day moving average of C$0.17.

Spanish Mountain Gold Company Profile

Spanish Mountain Gold Ltd., an exploration stage resource company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral properties in Canada. It holds a 100% interest in the Spanish Mountain gold project, which comprises approximately 50 contiguous mineral claims and 13 placer claims covering an area of approximately 10,414 hectares located in the Cariboo region of central British Columbia.

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Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE:NUS  Get Free Report) Director Andrew D. Lipman sold 2,000 shares of Nu Skin Enterprises stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.32, for a total value of $24,640.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,225 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $335,412. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Nu Skin Enterprises Trading Up 1.6 %

NUS traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $12.50. The companys stock had a trading volume of 514,707 shares, compared to its average volume of 837,880. Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $12.06 and a fifty-two week high of $41.50. The stock has a market cap of $617.75 million, a PE ratio of 69.45 and a beta of 1.09. The businesss 50-day moving average is $15.12 and its 200-day moving average is $17.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.28.

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Nu Skin Enterprises (NYSE:NUS  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $488.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $479.35 million. Nu Skin Enterprises had a return on equity of 10.73% and a net margin of 0.44%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nu Skin Enterprises Cuts Dividend

Analysts Set New Price Targets

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Nu Skin Enterprisess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 133.34%.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Nu Skin Enterprises from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Saturday, February 24th. DA Davidson cut their price objective on Nu Skin Enterprises from $29.00 to $21.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $23.67.

Get Our Latest Analysis on Nu Skin Enterprises

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nu Skin Enterprises

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Nu Skin Enterprises by 37.1% during the 2nd quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 809 shares of the companys stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Nu Skin Enterprises during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Nu Skin Enterprises by 118.2% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,150 shares of the companys stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 623 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nu Skin Enterprises in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Nu Skin Enterprises during the 1st quarter valued at about $83,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.84% of the companys stock.

Nu Skin Enterprises Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the development and distribution of various beauty and wellness products worldwide. It offers skin care devices, cosmetics, and other personal care products, including ageLOC LumiSpa and ageLOC LumiSpa iO; and nutricentials skin care products.

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Red Door Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY  Free Report) by 16.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,126 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLCs holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $1,239,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Thompson Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Retirement Group LLC lifted 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 worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the third quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the third quarter worth $36,000. 82.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Eli Lilly and Company Stock Up 0.3 %

Eli Lilly and Company stock traded up $2.06 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $772.67. The stock had a trading volume of 1,805,625 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,272,557. The company has a market capitalization of $734.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 133.22, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $722.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $633.28. Eli Lilly and Company has a one year low of $323.26 and a one year high of $800.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Eli Lilly and Company ( NYSE:LLY Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $9.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations 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 was up 28.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Eli Lilly and Company will post 12.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Several research analysts recently commented on LLY shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $710.00 to $865.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Eli Lilly and Company from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $820.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an overweight rating and issued a $815.00 target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $680.00 to $810.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Eli Lilly and Company from a c+ rating to a b rating in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Three 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, Eli Lilly and Company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $689.52.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Eli Lilly and Company

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eli Lilly and Company news, major shareholder Lilly Endowment Inc sold 14,388 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $630.28, for a total transaction of $9,068,468.64. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 99,754,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,873,217,098.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 195,055 shares of company stock worth $125,254,657 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the companys stock.

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.

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Red Door Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM  Free Report) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,052 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 469 shares during the period. Red Door Wealth Management LLCs holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $1,604,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in PM. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Philip Morris International in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Philip Morris International in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. acquired a new stake in Philip Morris International in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Legacy Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Philip Morris International in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, VitalStone Financial LLC boosted its position in Philip Morris International by 950.0% in the second quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 420 shares of the companys stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the companys stock.

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Philip Morris International Price Performance

NYSE PM traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $91.17. 8,673,212 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,332,802. Philip Morris International Inc. has a one year low of $87.23 and a one year high of $101.92. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.51. The stock has a market cap of $141.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.61.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

Philip Morris International ( NYSE:PM Get Free Report ) last posted 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 net margin of 8.53% and a negative return on equity of 116.29%. The company had revenue of $9.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.99 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.39 earnings per share. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 20th. Philip Morris Internationals dividend payout ratio is currently 103.59%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Werner Barth sold 5,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.46, for a total transaction of $457,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 102,918 shares in the company, valued at $9,412,880.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, 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 transaction of $457,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 102,918 shares in the company, valued at $9,412,880.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 2,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.69, for a total transaction of $181,380.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,726 shares in the company, valued at $882,050.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,250 shares of company stock worth $1,411,128 over the last three months. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Societe Generale upgraded shares of 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. Argus reaffirmed a hold rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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 note on Wednesday, November 29th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a buy rating to a sell rating and dropped their price target for the company from $105.00 to $86.50 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Philip Morris International presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $105.40.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Philip Morris International

Philip Morris International Company 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.

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RTD Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF (NYSEARCA:IWO  Free Report) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,647 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF makes up approximately 1.7% of RTD Financial Advisors Inc.s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. RTD Financial Advisors Inc. owned 0.11% of iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF worth $11,765,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF by 1.6% during the third quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 7,598 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $1,703,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. boosted its stake in iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 5,106 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $1,145,000 after purchasing an additional 842 shares during the period. Vance Wealth Inc. raised its position in iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vance Wealth Inc. now owns 11,214 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $2,514,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC raised its position in iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF by 5,847.6% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC now owns 391,767 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $87,815,000 after buying an additional 385,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF by 294.7% in the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 2,080 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $466,000 after purchasing an additional 1,553 shares in the last quarter.

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iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF Stock Performance

NYSEARCA:IWO traded up $0.66 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $265.74. 359,813 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 598,747. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $256.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $238.33. iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF has a 1 year low of $203.42 and a 1 year high of $273.76. The company has a market cap of $11.07 billion, a PE ratio of 17.55 and a beta of 1.15.

iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF Company Profile

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.

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Equities researchers at StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Textainer Group (NYSE:TGH  Get Free Report) in a report released on Sunday. The brokerage set a hold rating on the transportation companys stock.

Textainer Group Price Performance

NYSE:TGH opened at $49.99 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $49.82 and a 200-day moving average of $46.78. The company has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.55 and a beta of 1.01. Textainer Group has a 52 week low of $30.22 and a 52 week high of $50.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.16.

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Textainer Group (NYSE:TGH  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $190.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $195.71 million. Textainer Group had a net margin of 26.57% and a return on equity of 12.86%. Textainer Groups revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Textainer Group will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Textainer Group

About Textainer Group

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in Textainer Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in Textainer Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Adirondack Trust Co. bought a new position in Textainer Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $48,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Textainer Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC bought a new position in Textainer Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $69,000. 44.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

(Get Free Report)

Textainer Group Holdings Limited, through its subsidiaries, engages in the purchase, ownership, management, leasing, and disposal of a fleet of intermodal containers worldwide. It operates through three segments: Container Ownership, Container Management, and Container Resale. The company's containers include standard and specialized dry freight, and refrigerated containers, as well as other special-purpose containers, which include tank, 45', pallet-wide, and other types of containers.

Further Reading

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Tamarack Valley Energy (TSE:TVE  Free Report) had its price target increased by Desjardins from C$4.50 to C$4.75 in a research report released on Friday morning, BayStreet.CA reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. CIBC dropped their price objective on Tamarack Valley Energy from C$5.25 to C$4.50 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on Tamarack Valley Energy from C$5.75 to C$5.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 7th. National Bankshares boosted their target price on Tamarack Valley Energy from C$6.00 to C$6.50 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. ATB Capital decreased their target price on Tamarack Valley Energy from C$6.00 to C$5.50 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Tamarack Valley Energy from C$4.00 to C$4.25 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Tamarack Valley Energy currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of C$4.93.

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Get Our Latest Analysis on Tamarack Valley Energy

Tamarack Valley Energy Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Tamarack Valley Energy stock opened at C$3.77 on Friday. Tamarack Valley Energy has a 12-month low of C$2.76 and a 12-month high of C$4.34. The stock has a market cap of C$2.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.18 and a beta of 2.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 43.39. The businesss 50 day moving average is C$3.30 and its 200-day moving average is C$3.50.

Tamarack Valley Energy (TSE:TVE  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported C$0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of C$0.06 by C$0.04. Tamarack Valley Energy had a return on equity of 4.34% and a net margin of 6.70%. The company had revenue of C$418.86 million for the quarter. Equities research analysts predict that Tamarack Valley Energy will post 0.1801932 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Tamarack Valley Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be given a dividend of $0.013 per share. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. Tamarack Valley Energys payout ratio is 88.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Senior Officer Brian Leslie Schmidt purchased 9,395 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of C$3.66 per share, for a total transaction of C$34,385.70. In related news, Senior Officer Brian Leslie Schmidt purchased 9,395 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of C$3.66 per share, for a total transaction of C$34,385.70. Also, Director Caralyn Patricia Bennett purchased 50,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 15th. The stock was bought at an average price of C$3.07 per share, for a total transaction of C$153,500.00. Insiders have bought 89,218 shares of company stock worth $297,687 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.13% of the companys stock.

About Tamarack Valley Energy

(Get Free Report)

Tamarack Valley Energy Ltd. engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the Western Canadian sedimentary basin. It primarily holds interests in Cardium light oil plays in Wilson Creek/Alder Flats/Pembina, and Garrington and Lochend areas in Alberta; Viking light oil resource plays in Redwater and Westlock in Alberta, as well as in the Consort area of southeast Alberta and Hoosier area of southwest Saskatchewan; Barons Sands light oil plays located in the Penny area of Southern Alberta; and heavy oil properties located in Hatton area of Saskatchewan.

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The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW  Get Free Report) Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.87, for a total value of $637,830.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 581,457 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $41,207,857.59. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz also recently made the following trade(s):

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On Wednesday, February 28th, Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 9,000 shares of Charles Schwab stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.29, for a total value of $587,610.00.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of SCHW traded down $0.29 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $71.31. 6,578,553 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,885,417. The company has a market cap of $126.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.00. The Charles Schwab Co. has a fifty-two week low of $45.65 and a fifty-two week high of $72.94. 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 stocks 50-day moving average is $65.17 and its 200-day moving average is $61.00.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

Charles Schwab ( NYSE:SCHW Get Free Report ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.49 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 26.90% and a return on equity of 21.33%. The firms revenue was down 18.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.07 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 9th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Charles Schwabs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.37%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCHW. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 17,369,091 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter valued at $1,325,555,000. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 62.5% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 22,255,649 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,853,005,000 after acquiring an additional 8,563,389 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox raised its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 86,421,986 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $5,945,833,000 after acquiring an additional 8,182,467 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 26.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 29,775,952 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,634,700,000 after acquiring an additional 6,195,934 shares during the period. 84.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SCHW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Charles Schwab from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. UBS Group raised their price target on Charles Schwab from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, December 15th. TD Cowen upgraded Charles Schwab from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $87.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday. Barclays raised their price target on Charles Schwab from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Charles Schwab from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $71.12.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on SCHW

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.

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Brian Granger Midland Daily News

Michigan Supreme Court has denied the Midland County Prosecutors appeal to uphold a life without parole sentence for a 1983 murder.

Brian Granger, 58, of Midland, was convicted of first-degree murder in 1983 for killing Sandra Nestle of Midland and sentenced to life without parole.

He is set for re-sentencing at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 8 before Midland County Circuit Court Judge Michael Beale. Granger could be released from prison and possibly placed on probation.

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We are disappointed, said Midland County Prosecutor J. Dee Brooks on Tuesday. The circumstances were horrific, and the victims family has to live it over and over again.

Nestle was a 32-year-old mother of three. Granger, who remains housed at the Earnest C. Brooks Correctional Facility in Muskegon, was 17 when he killed her.

Michigan's Court of Appeals vacated Grangers sentence on Aug. 4, 2022. After the sentence was vacated, Brooks appealed to the Michigan Supreme Court to uphold the original sentence.

The sentence vacation stems from a pair of seminal decisions in the past decade. In the case of Miller v Alabama in 2012, the United States Supreme Court held that a mandatory life-without-parole sentence for a juvenile offender violates the Eighth Amendments prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment in the U.S. Constitution.

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Four years later, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that Miller applied retroactively, entitling Granger to a re-sentencing.

On May 5, 2020, Midland County Circuit Court Judge Stephen P. Carras issued a 39-page decision upholding Grangers original 1984 sentencing. The re-sentencing consideration was mandated by the United States Supreme Court decisions and Michigan legislation pertaining to life without parole sentences of offenders under 18 years old. Granger was 17 years, eight months old at the time of the murder.

Granger attacked and killed Nestle, 32, while she was jogging, according to the Court of Appeals. Granger admitted to killing Nestle, saying he choked her until she was unconscious. Her body was discovered lying face down in a drain, with the cause of death determined to be drowning. Granger also admitted to removing Nestles clothes and stated that he took down his own pants to sexually assault her, but then changed his mind.

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At a bench trial, the court found Granger guilty of felony murder for killing Nestle during the commission or attempted commission of criminal sexual conduct. The court sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole, as required under Michigan law at the time.
Artemis Investment Management LLP acquired a new position in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX  Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 42,967 shares of the shipping companys stock, valued at approximately $4,709,000. Artemis Investment Management LLP owned 0.12% of Matson at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MATX. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Matson by 18.2% in the second quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 2,197,588 shares of the shipping companys stock valued at $170,819,000 after buying an additional 338,940 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Matson by 78.5% in the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 449,441 shares of the shipping companys stock worth $34,935,000 after buying an additional 197,658 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Matson during the 3rd quarter valued at about $14,074,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Matson by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,655,892 shares of the shipping companys stock valued at $561,594,000 after buying an additional 153,723 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Matson by 313.2% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 193,400 shares of the shipping companys stock valued at $2,652,000 after acquiring an additional 146,589 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the companys stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Matson

In other news, SVP Christopher A. Scott sold 1,171 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.83, for a total value of $126,268.93. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,958 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,397,261.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.32% of the companys stock.

Matson Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:MATX traded down $0.85 on Tuesday, hitting $108.90. 51,137 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 279,504. The companys 50-day moving average price is $112.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $101.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. Matson, Inc. has a 52 week low of $56.51 and a 52 week high of $122.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.10 and a beta of 1.13.

Matson (NYSE:MATX  Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The shipping company reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $788.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $733.60 million. Matson had a return on equity of 12.71% and a net margin of 9.60%. The companys revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.10 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Matson, Inc. will post 8.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 8th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 7th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Matsons dividend payout ratio is 15.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on MATX. StockNews.com upgraded Matson from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Matson from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st.

Read Our Latest Report on Matson

Matson Profile

(Free Report)

Matson, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of ocean transportation and logistics services. It operates through two segments, Ocean Transportation and Logistics. The Ocean Transportation segment offers ocean freight transportation services to the domestic non-contiguous economies of Hawaii, Japan, Alaska, and Guam, as well as to other island economies in Micronesia.

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Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MATX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX  Free Report).

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Shares of Ingersoll Rand Inc. (NYSE:IR  Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of Moderate Buy from the twelve analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $82.50.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Ingersoll Rand from $83.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Cfra increased their price objective on Ingersoll Rand from $68.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Ingersoll Rand from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Ingersoll Rand in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. They issued a neutral rating and a $92.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Ingersoll Rand from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, December 11th.

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Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on IR

Insider Buying and Selling

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ingersoll Rand

In related news, CAO Michael J. Scheske sold 7,590 shares of Ingersoll Rand stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.00, for a total transaction of $667,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,715 shares of the companys stock, valued at $854,920. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website . In other Ingersoll Rand news, insider Andrew R. Schiesl sold 10,421 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.95, for a total transaction of $937,368.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 48,904 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,398,914.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link . Also, CAO Michael J. Scheske sold 7,590 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.00, for a total value of $667,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,715 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $854,920. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 293,011 shares of company stock valued at $26,374,789. 0.83% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of IR. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Ingersoll Rand by 12.0% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 15,601 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $786,000 after purchasing an additional 1,675 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Ingersoll Rand by 47.6% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 9,880 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $497,000 after purchasing an additional 3,185 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in Ingersoll Rand in the first quarter valued at $327,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ingersoll Rand by 62.2% in the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,937 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $1,457,000 after acquiring an additional 11,096 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ingersoll Rand by 1.7% in the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 57,771 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $2,909,000 after acquiring an additional 988 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.54% of the companys stock.

Ingersoll Rand Price Performance

Shares of NYSE IR opened at $94.48 on Tuesday. The stocks 50-day moving average is $86.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.67. Ingersoll Rand has a 1-year low of $53.24 and a 1-year high of $96.17. The company has a market cap of $38.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 1.44.

Ingersoll Rand (NYSE:IR  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.09. Ingersoll Rand had a return on equity of 12.24% and a net margin of 11.32%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. Analysts forecast that Ingersoll Rand will post 3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ingersoll Rand Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.08%. Ingersoll Rands dividend payout ratio is presently 4.21%.

Ingersoll Rand Company Profile

(Get Free Report

Ingersoll Rand Inc provides various mission-critical air, gas, liquid, and solid flow creation technologies services and solutions worldwide. It operates through two segments, Industrial Technologies and Services, and Precision and Science Technologies. The Industrial Technologies and Services segment designs, manufactures, markets, and services air and gas compression, vacuum, and blower products; fluid transfer equipment and loading systems; and power tools and lifting equipment, including associated aftermarket parts, consumables, air treatment equipment, controls, other accessories, and services under the under the Ingersoll Rand, Gardner Denver, Nash, CompAir, Elmo Rietschle brands, etc.

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Aprio Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE  Free Report) by 66.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,751 shares of the basic materials companys stock after acquiring an additional 7,087 shares during the period. Aprio Wealth Management LLCs holdings in Vale were worth $282,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in Vale by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 72,165,728 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $1,138,775,000 after buying an additional 11,393,498 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Vale by 57.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,763,893 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $359,214,000 after buying an additional 8,334,786 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Vale by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,752,878 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $237,889,000 after buying an additional 3,092,376 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Vale by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,799,196 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $217,752,000 after purchasing an additional 452,290 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Vale by 52.3% during the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 13,783,862 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $184,978,000 after purchasing an additional 4,733,169 shares during the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Vale Price Performance

NYSE VALE traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $12.04. The companys stock had a trading volume of 17,152,839 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,983,758. The companys 50-day moving average is $13.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.98. Vale S.A. has a 1-year low of $11.88 and a 1-year high of $16.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.65 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Vale Cuts Dividend

Vale ( NYSE:VALE Get Free Report ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.48). Vale had a net margin of 19.10% and a return on equity of 20.00%. The firm had revenue of $13.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.82 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Vale S.A. will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th will be issued a $0.3182 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a dividend yield of 9.7%. Vales dividend payout ratio is presently 64.48%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Vale in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They set a buy rating on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on Vale from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, December 14th. Barclays lowered their target price on Vale from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Vale in a research note on Monday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $16.98.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Vale

About Vale

(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.

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Shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM  Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of Reduce from the fifteen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fourteen have issued a hold rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $67.00.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on ADM shares. Barclays lowered Archer-Daniels-Midland from an overweight rating to an underweight rating and set a $60.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $66.00 to $60.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Roth Capital downgraded Archer-Daniels-Midland from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Archer-Daniels-Midland from a buy rating to a hold rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $116.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $85.00 to $74.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 14th.

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Institutional Trading of Archer-Daniels-Midland

Archer-Daniels-Midland Price Performance

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ADM. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 71.9% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,699 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,688,000 after acquiring an additional 7,821 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland during the first quarter valued at $277,000. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland during the first quarter valued at $226,000. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. boosted its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 22.0% during the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 31,004 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,798,000 after acquiring an additional 5,586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 2.1% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 459,907 shares of the companys stock worth $41,512,000 after buying an additional 9,327 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.28% of the companys stock.

Shares of NYSE ADM opened at $62.51 on Tuesday. The businesss 50 day moving average price is $56.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.70. The firm has a market cap of $31.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.77 and a beta of 0.75. Archer-Daniels-Midland has a 52 week low of $50.72 and a 52 week high of $87.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM  Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 12th. The company reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.43 by ($0.07). Archer-Daniels-Midland had a net margin of 3.71% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The firm had revenue of $22.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $23.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.93 EPS. Archer-Daniels-Midlands quarterly revenue was down 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Archer-Daniels-Midland will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 8th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Archer-Daniels-Midlands previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 7th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. Archer-Daniels-Midlands dividend payout ratio is 31.25%.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, March 12th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the companys board believes its shares are undervalued.

About Archer-Daniels-Midland

(Get 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.

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Bloom Energy Co. (NYSE:BE  Get Free Report) shares shot up 4.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $10.60 and last traded at $10.50. 726,761 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 5,439,900 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.04.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on BE. Truist Financial raised Bloom Energy from a sell rating to a hold rating and raised their target price for the company from $9.00 to $11.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. KeyCorp cut Bloom Energy from an overweight rating to a sector weight rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an overweight rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Bloom Energy in a report on Monday. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Bloom Energy from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Bank of America cut Bloom Energy from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $16.00 to $10.00 in a report on Monday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bloom Energy currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $16.56.

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Bloom Energy Stock Up 10.8 %

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.11. The firm has a market cap of $2.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.64 and a beta of 2.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 2.53 and a current ratio of 3.60.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.11. The company had revenue of $356.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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, sell-side analysts expect that Bloom Energy Co. will post -0.17 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Shawn Marie Soderberg sold 13,120 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.34, for a total transaction of $122,540.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 73,946 shares in the company, valued at $690,655.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Bloom Energy news, CEO Kr Sridhar sold 50,746 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.74, for a total value of $494,266.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,702,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,323,401.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Shawn Marie Soderberg sold 13,120 shares of Bloom Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.34, for a total value of $122,540.80. Following the sale, 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 67,782 shares of company stock worth $658,463. 8.81% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bloom Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Bloom Energy by 13.0% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 566,033 shares of the companys stock valued at $13,669,000 after buying an additional 64,919 shares during the period. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Bloom Energy in the first quarter valued at about $337,000. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in Bloom Energy by 8.1% during the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 63,498 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,559,000 after buying an additional 4,781 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Bloom Energy by 53.5% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 76,115 shares of the companys stock worth $1,838,000 after purchasing an additional 26,537 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Bloom Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $1,016,000. Institutional investors own 82.95% 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.

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Shares of Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. (NYSE:BAM  Get Free Report) (TSE:BAM.A) have earned a consensus recommendation of Moderate Buy from the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $42.20.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BAM. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Brookfield Asset Management from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Brookfield Asset Management from a hold rating to a buy rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $45.00 in a report on Monday, December 18th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Brookfield Asset Management from $46.50 to $47.00 and gave the stock a sector outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. TD Securities reduced their price objective on Brookfield Asset Management from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an action list buy rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Brookfield Asset Management from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th.

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Brookfield Asset Management Stock Down 1.9 %

NYSE:BAM opened at $41.54 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $17.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.69. The firms fifty day simple moving average is $40.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.71. Brookfield Asset Management has a twelve month low of $28.35 and a twelve month high of $43.00.

Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE:BAM  Get Free Report) (TSE:BAM.A) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter. Brookfield Asset Management had a net margin of 50.23% and a return on equity of 96.43%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.31 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Brookfield Asset Management will post 1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brookfield Asset Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This is an increase from Brookfield Asset Managements previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 28th. Brookfield Asset Managements payout ratio is currently 134.51%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Brookfield Asset Management by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 38,228 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $2,161,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Brookfield Asset Management by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 6,139 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $246,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA grew its stake in shares of Brookfield Asset Management by 35.5% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA now owns 1,057 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Brookfield Asset Management by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,770 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $392,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares during the period. Finally, Guardian Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Brookfield Asset Management by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 54,530 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $3,085,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares during the period. 61.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Brookfield Asset Management

(Get Free Report

Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. is a real estate investment firm specializing in alternative asset management services. Its renewable power and transition business includes the operates in the hydroelectric, wind, solar, distributed generation, and sustainable solution sector. The company's infrastructure business engages in the utilities, transport, midstream, and data infrastructure sectors.

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Shares of California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC  Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of Moderate Buy from the six analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $63.67.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on CRC shares. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of California Resources from $69.00 to $63.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of California Resources from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of California Resources in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of California Resources from a buy rating to a neutral rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $64.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Friday, January 5th.

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Institutional Inflows and Outflows

California Resources Trading Up 1.7 %

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cambria Investment Management L.P. lifted its position in California Resources by 8.5% during the third quarter. Cambria Investment Management L.P. now owns 167,856 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $9,402,000 after purchasing an additional 13,104 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in California Resources by 38.1% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 10,616 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $594,000 after buying an additional 2,931 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. purchased a new stake in California Resources during the third quarter valued at approximately $241,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in California Resources by 16.5% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 696,923 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $39,035,000 after buying an additional 98,595 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in California Resources by 102.0% during the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,943,220 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $164,850,000 after buying an additional 1,485,970 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.79% of the companys stock.

NYSE:CRC opened at $53.96 on Tuesday. California Resources has a one year low of $36.91 and a one year high of $58.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The companys 50-day simple moving average is $52.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.99 and a beta of 1.02.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.01 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $726.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $553.47 million. California Resources had a return on equity of 17.57% and a net margin of 20.14%. The companys revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that California Resources will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. California Resourcess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.06%.

California Resources Company Profile

(Get Free Report

California Resources Corporation operates as an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production, and carbon management company in the United States. The company explores, produces, and markets crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids for marketers, California refineries, and other purchasers that have access to transportation and storage facilities.

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California Resources (NYSE:CRC  Free Report) had its price objective decreased by Mizuho from $69.00 to $63.00 in a report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Mizuho currently has a buy rating on the oil and gas producers stock.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Bank of America lowered shares of California Resources from a buy rating to a neutral rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $64.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of California Resources in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of California Resources from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $63.67.

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California Resources Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE CRC opened at $53.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The firms 50-day moving average is $52.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.88. California Resources has a 12-month low of $36.91 and a 12-month high of $58.44. The company has a market capitalization of $3.74 billion, a PE ratio of 6.99 and a beta of 1.02.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.01 by ($0.08). California Resources had a return on equity of 17.57% and a net margin of 20.14%. The company had revenue of $726.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $553.47 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. The businesss revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that California Resources will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 6th were issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. California Resourcess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.06%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On California Resources

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in California Resources by 98.7% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 11,706,331 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $530,180,000 after purchasing an additional 5,815,039 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in California Resources by 102.0% in the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,943,220 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $164,850,000 after acquiring an additional 1,485,970 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of California Resources by 71.9% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,965,476 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $107,472,000 after purchasing an additional 821,827 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in California Resources by 31.4% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,391,414 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $153,597,000 after buying an additional 811,120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in California Resources by 54.7% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,237,981 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $86,161,000 after buying an additional 791,762 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.79% of the companys stock.

California Resources Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

California Resources Corporation operates as an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production, and carbon management company in the United States. The company explores, produces, and markets crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids for marketers, California refineries, and other purchasers that have access to transportation and storage facilities.

Further Reading

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Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (NYSE:CM  Get Free Report) (TSE:CM) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, March 1st, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of 0.6634 per share by the bank on Monday, April 29th. This represents a $2.65 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This is a positive change from Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerces previous quarterly dividend of $0.66.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce has increased its dividend by an average of 6.4% per year over the last three years.

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Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Price Performance

Shares of CM opened at $50.32 on Tuesday. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce has a twelve month low of $34.35 and a twelve month high of $50.92. The firms fifty day simple moving average is $46.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.40, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce ( NYSE:CM Get Free Report ) (TSE:CM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The bank reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.10. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce had a net margin of 10.79% and a return on equity of 13.07%. The business had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.47 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce will post 5.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Several brokerages recently commented on CM. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce from a sector perform rating to a sector outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Bank of America raised shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce from an underperform rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, December 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, December 8th. National Bank Financial raised shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a buy rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $63.00.

Read Our Latest Analysis on CM

Institutional Trading of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce by 277.9% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,126 shares of the banks stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 828 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its position in Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce by 77.8% in the 3rd quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,600 shares of the banks stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,420 shares of the banks stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 448 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce during the 2nd quarter worth about $124,000. Finally, Icon Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce during the 4th quarter worth about $124,000. 49.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, a diversified financial institution, provides various financial products and services to personal, business, public sector, and institutional clients in Canada, the United States, and internationally. The company operates through Canadian Personal and Business Banking; Canadian Commercial Banking and Wealth Management; U.S.

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Cliftonlarsonallen Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (NYSEARCA:AGG  Free Report) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 955,774 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 29,559 shares during the period. iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF comprises 2.4% of Cliftonlarsonallen Wealth Advisors LLCs portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Cliftonlarsonallen Wealth Advisors LLC owned about 0.09% of iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF worth $94,861,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AGG. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF by 145.5% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 6,590 shares of the companys stock worth $705,000 after purchasing an additional 3,906 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF by 36.2% in the 1st quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 52,003 shares of the companys stock worth $5,570,000 after purchasing an additional 13,829 shares during the period. Worth Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF in the 1st quarter worth $44,000. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF during the first quarter valued at $241,000. Finally, West Michigan Advisors LLC boosted its position in iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF by 2.0% in the first quarter. West Michigan Advisors LLC now owns 14,640 shares of the companys stock worth $1,568,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.63% of the companys stock.

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iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSEARCA:AGG opened at $97.64 on Tuesday. iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF has a twelve month low of $91.58 and a twelve month high of $100.98. The firms 50 day moving average price is $97.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $96.34.

iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF Profile

IShares are index funds that are bought and sold like common stocks on national securities exchanges as well as certain foreign exchanges. iShares are attractive because of their relatively low cost, tax efficiency and trading flexibility. Investors can purchase and sell shares through any brokerage firm, financial advisor, or online broker, and hold the funds in any type of brokerage account.

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Daniel O'Keefe was confirmed by the General Assembly as the new commissioner of the state Department of Economic and Community Development on March 25, 2024. O'Keefe also serves as the state's chief innovation officer. Dan Haar/Hearst CT Media

The state Department of Economic and Community Development officially has a new commissioner  and he's been on the job since November.

In a widely expected endorsement, Daniel OKeefe was confirmed Monday as DECD commissioner by the General Assembly. OKeefe had served as commissioner-designate since he was appointed to the position last November by Gov. Ned Lamont. OKeefe joined Lamonts administration last July, when he was named the states first chief innovation officer.

It was a really special moment for me, OKeefe said in a social media post Monday. While I have been excited about the prospects for this role, the confirmation process takes time (as it should), and I'll confess it's a bit nerve wracking to sit waiting while a large contingent evaluates your background and prospects (as they should). But if you'll give me a moment of self-indulgent pride, I'm excited that I was approved unanimously by both the Executive Nominations Committee and the General Assembly.

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OKeefes nomination as DECD head was approved this week by the state legislature. He will earn $215,000 a year in salary in his new role overseeing a department with about 140 employees.

OKeefe, who was a technology investor for 25 years before joining the state government, is the third DECD commissioner appointed by Lamont. He succeeds the previous commissioner Alexandra Daum, who left earlier this year after about a year in the position and nearly four years at DECD, to take a position at Yale University. Daum succeeded David Lehman, a former Goldman Sachs executive, who served as commissioner from the beginning of Lamonts first term, in early 2019, until late 2022.

Dans background helping innovative companies grow will be a huge asset to our administration and the state as a whole, Lamont said when he announced his appointment of OKeefe as commissioner. He has a deep understanding of how to foster an environment that supports economic growth. His insights and expertise will ensure we are making the right strategic decisions when it comes to strengthening our competitive position, both now and in the future.

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Connecticuts economy has struggled to grow since the Great Recession, as highlighted by it having fewer jobs today than it did in March 2008. But OKeefe said that he has been encouraged by the states economic recovery since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Dimensional US Real Estate ETF (NYSEARCA:DFAR  Free Report) by 23.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 109,322 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 20,850 shares during the quarter. Dimensional US Real Estate ETF comprises 1.6% of Maryland Capital Advisors Inc.s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc.s holdings in Dimensional US Real Estate ETF were worth $2,486,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Modera Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Dimensional US Real Estate ETF by 10,544.4% during the 3rd quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,360,783 shares of the companys stock valued at $26,562,000 after purchasing an additional 1,347,999 shares in the last quarter. RAM Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Dimensional US Real Estate ETF by 271.6% in the second quarter. RAM Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,140,023 shares of the companys stock worth $24,533,000 after buying an additional 833,204 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Dimensional US Real Estate ETF in the third quarter worth about $7,886,000. Crestmont Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Dimensional US Real Estate ETF during the 4th quarter worth $8,879,000. Finally, Fidato Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Dimensional US Real Estate ETF during the 4th quarter worth $8,233,000.

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Dimensional US Real Estate ETF Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of DFAR traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $21.61. 330,557 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 198,791. Dimensional US Real Estate ETF has a twelve month low of $18.31 and a twelve month high of $23.22. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $21.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.16. The stock has a market cap of $700.16 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.08 and a beta of 0.93.

Dimensional US Real Estate ETF Profile

The Dimensional US Real Estate ETF (DFAR) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in real estate equity. The fund is actively managed to invest in US companies whose principal activities are engaged in the broad real estate sector, including REITs. Portfolio holdings are weighted by market capitalization.

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Want to see what other hedge funds are holding DFAR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Dimensional US Real Estate ETF (NYSEARCA:DFAR  Free Report).

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e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. (NYSE:ELF  Get Free Report) traded up 1.7% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $206.03 and last traded at $203.54. 213,839 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 1,484,125 shares. The stock had previously closed at $200.04.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of e.l.f. Beauty from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of e.l.f. Beauty from $141.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. DA Davidson restated a buy rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of e.l.f. Beauty in a report on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com cut shares of e.l.f. Beauty from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of e.l.f. Beauty from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $186.58.

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e.l.f. Beauty Stock Up 0.2 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $11.13 billion, a PE ratio of 90.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.60. The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $181.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $141.83.

e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $270.94 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $239.66 million. e.l.f. Beauty had a net margin of 14.53% and a return on equity of 28.98%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. will post 2.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at e.l.f. Beauty

In other news, SVP Joshua Allen Franks sold 200 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.53, for a total transaction of $30,506.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 91,003 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $13,880,687.59. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Tarang Amin sold 23,519 shares of e.l.f. Beauty stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.89, for a total value of $4,677,693.91. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 10,889 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,165,713.21. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Joshua Allen Franks sold 200 shares of e.l.f. Beauty stock in a transaction on Monday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.53, for a total transaction of $30,506.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 91,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,880,687.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 61,922 shares of company stock valued at $10,145,374 in the last 90 days. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On e.l.f. Beauty

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ELF. FMR LLC boosted its stake in e.l.f. Beauty by 641.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 832,404 shares of the companys stock worth $91,423,000 after purchasing an additional 720,098 shares during the last quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in e.l.f. Beauty during the 3rd quarter worth $3,569,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in e.l.f. Beauty by 58.2% during the 3rd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,424,268 shares of the companys stock worth $156,427,000 after purchasing an additional 523,903 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in e.l.f. Beauty during the 3rd quarter worth $301,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in e.l.f. Beauty by 1,209.1% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 157,205 shares of the companys stock worth $17,266,000 after purchasing an additional 145,196 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.44% of the companys stock.

e.l.f. Beauty Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

e.l.f. Beauty, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides cosmetic and skin care products under the e.l.f. Cosmetics, e.l.f. Skin, Well People, and Keys Soulcare brand names worldwide. The company offers eye, lip, face, face, paw, and skin care products. It sells its products through national and international retailers and direct-to-consumer channels, which include e-commerce platforms in the United States, and internationally primarily through distributors.

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EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP  Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of Hold from the nine research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $188.83.

EGP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho lowered shares of EastGroup Properties from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $185.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, December 5th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of EastGroup Properties from $188.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of EastGroup Properties from $186.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of EastGroup Properties from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th.

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EastGroup Properties Price Performance

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

NYSE EGP opened at $179.11 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $180.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.30. 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 capitalization of $8.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.93. EastGroup Properties has a 52-week low of $154.75 and a 52-week high of $188.85.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a $1.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $5.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. EastGroup Propertiess dividend payout ratio is presently 115.19%.

Insider Activity at EastGroup Properties

In related news, CFO Brent Wood sold 2,500 shares of EastGroup Properties stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.74, for a total value of $456,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 102,617 shares of the companys stock, valued at $18,752,230.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of EastGroup Properties

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 726,446 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $120,975,000 after purchasing an additional 81,636 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 272,447 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $45,370,000 after purchasing an additional 9,160 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,532,176 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $1,087,803,000 after buying an additional 81,798 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 84,096 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $14,005,000 after buying an additional 3,616 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 174.0% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 13,598 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $2,264,000 after buying an additional 8,635 shares during the period. 92.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About EastGroup Properties

(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.

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Edinburgh Investment (LON:EDIN  Get Free Report) insider Annabel Tagoe-Bannerman acquired 732 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were bought at an average cost of GBX 682 ($8.62) per share, for a total transaction of 4,992.24 ($6,308.91).

Edinburgh Investment Stock Performance

Edinburgh Investment stock traded down GBX 1 ($0.01) during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching GBX 681 ($8.61). 231,124 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 292,776. Edinburgh Investment has a 12 month low of GBX 612.70 ($7.74) and a 12 month high of GBX 689 ($8.71). The company has a current ratio of 7.79, a quick ratio of 3.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average of GBX 667.56 and a 200 day moving average of GBX 664.75. The firm has a market cap of 1.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 524.62 and a beta of 0.82.

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Edinburgh Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, February 1st were issued a dividend of GBX 6.70 ($0.08) per share. This represents a dividend yield of 1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. Edinburgh Investments dividend payout ratio is currently 2,076.92%.

Edinburgh Investment Company Profile

The Edinburgh Investment Trust plc is a closed-ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by Majedie Asset Management Limited. The fund invests in the public equity markets of the United Kingdom. It seeks to invest in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors. The fund primarily invests in dividend paying growth stocks of companies.

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Shares of Federated Hermes, Inc. (NYSE:FHI  Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of Moderate Buy by the six research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $38.43.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Federated Hermes from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Federated Hermes in a report on Friday, January 5th. They set a neutral rating and a $35.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Federated Hermes from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on Federated Hermes in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. They issued a market perform rating and a $32.00 price objective on the stock.

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Insider Transactions at Federated Hermes

Institutional Trading of Federated Hermes

In other news, VP Paul A. Uhlman sold 13,820 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.20, for a total value of $500,284.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 276,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,994,240.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website . In related news, VP Paul A. Uhlman sold 13,820 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.20, for a total transaction of $500,284.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 276,084 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $9,994,240.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link . Also, VP Meter Stephen Van sold 1,660 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.15, for a total value of $60,009.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 31,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,145,557.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . Insiders have sold 115,435 shares of company stock worth $4,092,831 in the last three months. Insiders own 3.70% of the companys stock.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Federated Hermes in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,246,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Federated Hermes by 59.1% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,813,190 shares of the companys stock valued at $61,395,000 after purchasing an additional 673,496 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Federated Hermes by 39.5% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,184,759 shares of the companys stock valued at $40,116,000 after purchasing an additional 335,737 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Federated Hermes by 637.5% in the 4th quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management now owns 1,416 shares of the companys stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,224 shares during the period. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its stake in shares of Federated Hermes by 123.8% in the 4th quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 69,821 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,364,000 after purchasing an additional 38,630 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.94% of the companys stock.

Federated Hermes Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of FHI opened at $35.88 on Tuesday. Federated Hermes has a 1 year low of $30.23 and a 1 year high of $45.55. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.86. The stock has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a PE ratio of 10.52, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.12.

Federated Hermes (NYSE:FHI  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.12. Federated Hermes had a return on equity of 26.76% and a net margin of 18.58%. The firm had revenue of $391.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $396.97 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. The businesss revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Federated Hermes will post 3.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Federated Hermes Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 8th were given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 7th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.12%. Federated Hermess dividend payout ratio is currently 32.84%.

Federated Hermes Company Profile

(Get Free Report

Federated Hermes, Inc is a publicly owned investment manager. Through its subsidiaries, the firm provides its services to individuals, including high net worth individuals, banking or thrift institutions, investment companies, pension and profit sharing plans, pooled investment vehicles, charitable organizations, state or municipal government entities, and registered investment advisors.

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Fisker Inc. (NYSE:FSR  Get Free Report) shares fell 28.2% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $0.09 and last traded at $0.09. 62,229,286 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 166,496,208 shares. The stock had previously closed at $0.12.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FSR has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Fisker from $2.00 to $1.00 and set a sell rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 4th. TD Cowen cut Fisker from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and dropped their price target for the company from $11.00 to $1.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Fisker from $4.00 to $1.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. R. F. Lafferty restated a hold rating and issued a $2.00 target price (down previously from $3.00) on shares of Fisker in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an in-line rating and set a $2.00 price target (down previously from $6.00) on shares of Fisker in a research report on Monday, December 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Fisker currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $2.76.

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Fisker Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.28. The company has a market capitalization of $31.43 million, a PE ratio of -0.04 and a beta of 0.71. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $0.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.61.

Fisker (NYSE:FSR  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported ($0.39) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.20) by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $200.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $332.66 million. Fisker had a negative return on equity of 110.93% and a negative net margin of 278.72%. Equities research analysts predict that Fisker Inc. will post -0.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fisker

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Fisker by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,856,791 shares of the companys stock worth $34,749,000 after buying an additional 918,802 shares during the last quarter. FIFTHDELTA Ltd raised its position in Fisker by 140.5% in the 4th quarter. FIFTHDELTA Ltd now owns 19,311,697 shares of the companys stock valued at $33,795,000 after purchasing an additional 11,281,121 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fisker by 15.1% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 14,254,129 shares of the companys stock valued at $80,393,000 after buying an additional 1,864,634 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Fisker by 0.7% in the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 7,365,869 shares of the companys stock valued at $47,289,000 after buying an additional 51,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in Fisker during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,924,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.58% of the companys stock.

About Fisker

(Get Free Report)

Fisker Inc develops, manufactures, markets, leases, or sells electric vehicles. It operates through three segments: The White Space, The Value Segment, and The Conservative Premium segments. The company is also involved in asset-light automotive business. In addition, it offers fisker flexible platform agnostic design, a process that develops and designs electric vehicles in specific segment size.

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Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH boosted its stake in shares of Clean Harbors, Inc. (NYSE:CLH  Free Report) by 13.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 106,395 shares of the business services providers stock after acquiring an additional 12,280 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH owned 0.19% of Clean Harbors worth $18,567,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Steph & Co. raised its stake in Clean Harbors by 4.7% during the third quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 1,462 shares of the business services providers stock worth $245,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Clean Harbors by 0.7% during the third quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 10,764 shares of the business services providers stock worth $1,801,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Clean Harbors by 2.4% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 3,007 shares of the business services providers stock worth $503,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Clean Harbors by 34.5% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 304 shares of the business services providers stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Clean Harbors by 13.3% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 843 shares of the business services providers stock worth $141,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. 90.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Transactions at Clean Harbors

In other news, CEO Eric W. Gerstenberg sold 15,276 shares of Clean Harbors stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.71, for a total transaction of $2,867,457.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,646,773.54. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Clean Harbors news, Director John T. Preston sold 1,913 shares of Clean Harbors stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.36, for a total value of $360,332.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,767 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $897,912.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Eric W. Gerstenberg sold 15,276 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.71, for a total value of $2,867,457.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,374 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $12,646,773.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Clean Harbors Stock Up 0.4 %

CLH stock traded up $0.86 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $199.67. The company had a trading volume of 27,852 shares, compared to its average volume of 332,049. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $181.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $170.79. The company has a market capitalization of $10.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.73 and a beta of 1.23. Clean Harbors, Inc. has a 52 week low of $129.70 and a 52 week high of $200.15.

Clean Harbors (NYSE:CLH  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $1.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. Clean Harbors had a return on equity of 17.83% and a net margin of 6.99%. The businesss revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Clean Harbors, Inc. will post 7.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CLH shares. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Clean Harbors in a report on Friday, December 8th. They issued an overweight rating and a $190.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Clean Harbors from $182.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Clean Harbors from $192.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Truist Financial raised their target price on Clean Harbors from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Clean Harbors from $178.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $193.50.

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Clean Harbors Profile

(Free Report)

Clean Harbors, Inc provides environmental and industrial services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Environmental Services and Safety-Kleen Sustainability Solutions. The Environmental Services segment collects, transports, treats, and disposes hazardous and non-hazardous waste, such as resource recovery, physical treatment, fuel blending, incineration, landfill disposal, wastewater treatment, lab chemicals disposal, and explosives management services; and offers CleanPack services, including collection, identification, categorization, specialized packaging, transportation, and disposal of laboratory chemicals and household hazardous waste.

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Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN  Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of Hold from the ten research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $26.55.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Huntsman from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a sell rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an equal weight rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Huntsman in a research note on Monday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Huntsman from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and raised their price objective for the company from $25.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Huntsman from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Huntsman from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd.

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Institutional Investors Weigh In On Huntsman

Huntsman Stock Performance

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in Huntsman by 93.0% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,081 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Huntsman in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Huntsman in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Huntsman in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Huntsman in the 1st quarter valued at $49,000. 84.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

NYSE HUN opened at $25.45 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.38 billion, a PE ratio of 48.02 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.23. Huntsman has a 1-year low of $22.14 and a 1-year high of $29.90.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported ($0.21) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.33 billion. Huntsman had a net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 1.92%. The businesss quarterly revenue was down 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.04 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Huntsman will post 0.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Increases Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Huntsmans previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.93%. Huntsmans payout ratio is 188.68%.

About Huntsman

(Get Free Report

Huntsman Corporation manufactures and sells diversified organic chemical products worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Polyurethanes, Performance Products, and Advanced Materials. The Polyurethanes segment offers polyurethane chemicals, including methyl diphenyl diisocyanate, polyether and polyester polyols, and thermoplastic polyurethane; and aniline, benzene, nitrobenzene and other co-products.

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Keystone Wealth Services LLC reduced its stake in iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF (NYSEARCA:IWO  Free Report) by 24.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,197 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after selling 378 shares during the quarter. Keystone Wealth Services LLCs holdings in iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF were worth $302,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Visionary Wealth Advisors increased its position in shares of iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Visionary Wealth Advisors now owns 8,572 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $2,080,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its position in shares of iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 5,069 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $1,139,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. McGuire Investment Group LLC grew its position in shares of iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. McGuire Investment Group LLC now owns 904 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $203,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Boston Family Office LLC grew its position in shares of iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Family Office LLC now owns 4,402 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $1,068,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,554 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $3,755,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter.

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iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSEARCA IWO traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $265.63. The company had a trading volume of 257,457 shares, compared to its average volume of 592,962. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $256.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $238.54. The stock has a market cap of $11.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.55 and a beta of 1.15. iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF has a 52-week low of $203.42 and a 52-week high of $273.76.

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.

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Lundin Mining (TSE:LUN  Get Free Report) has been given a C$14.50 target price by equities researchers at Stifel Nicolaus in a research note issued on Tuesday, BayStreet.CA reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the mining companys stock. Stifel Nicolaus price target suggests a potential upside of 9.52% from the stocks current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on LUN. CIBC cut their target price on shares of Lundin Mining from C$13.00 to C$12.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Eight Capital set a C$11.50 price target on Lundin Mining and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 6th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Lundin Mining from C$9.50 to C$11.50 in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Lundin Mining from C$8.90 to C$8.40 in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Veritas Investment Research restated a sell rating on shares of Lundin Mining in a research report on Friday, December 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of C$12.13.

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Lundin Mining Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Lundin Mining stock traded up C$0.10 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting C$13.24. The companys stock had a trading volume of 635,533 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,068,961. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 23.15. The business has a fifty day moving average of C$11.37 and a 200 day moving average of C$10.31. Lundin Mining has a 1-year low of C$7.70 and a 1-year high of C$13.80. The company has a market capitalization of C$10.25 billion, a PE ratio of 31.60, a P/E/G ratio of -0.26 and a beta of 1.81.

Lundin Mining (TSE:LUN  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The mining company reported C$0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of C$0.15 by C($0.01). The firm had revenue of C$1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$1.39 billion. Lundin Mining had a return on equity of 5.32% and a net margin of 7.12%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Lundin Mining will post 0.8100183 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lundin Mining

In other news, Senior Officer Annie Laurenson sold 5,200 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$13.30, for a total transaction of C$69,160.00. 16.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Lundin Mining Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Lundin Mining Corporation, a diversified base metals mining company, engages in the exploration, development, and mining of mineral properties in Chile, Brazil, the United States, Portugal, Sweden, and Argentina. It primarily produces copper, zinc, gold, nickel, and molybdenum, as well as lead, silver, and other metals.

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Sal Avella, left, who runs Avellas Italian Takeout at 232 Williams St. in Middletown, and Sebastian Milardo, owner of Melilli Caffe & Grill at 264 Main St. in Portland, will be opening a new restaurant in the space formerly occupied by Roma Pizza at 871 Newfield St. in Middletown. Cassandra Day / Hearst Connecticut Media Sal Avella, who runs Avellas Italian Takeout at 232 Williams St. in Middletown, and Sebastian Milardo, proprietor of Melilli Caffe & Grill at 264 Main St. in Portland, will be opening a new restaurant in the space formerly occupied by Roma Pizza at 871 Newfield St. in Middletown. Cassandra Day / Hearst Connecticut Media Avellas Italian Takeout is located at 232 Williams St. in Middletown. Cassandra Day / Hearst Connecticut Media The owners of Avellas Italian Takeout in Middletown and Melilli Caffe & Grill in Portland will be opening a new restaurant in the space formerly occupied by Roma Pizza at 871 Newfield St. in Middletown. Cassandra Day / Hearst Connecticut Media Melilli Caffe & Grill is located at 264 Main St. in Portland. Cassandra Day / Hearst Connecticut Media

MIDDLETOWN  Fans of authentic Italian cuisine, and those who have been missing a true Italian grocery store since Public Market closed, will be pleased to learn that a collaboration between two cousins will bring a veritable Little Italy to Middletown.

Sal Avella, who runs Avellas Italian Takeout at 232 Williams St. in Middletown, and Sebastian Milardo, owner of Melilli Caffe & Grill at 264 Main St. in Portland, anticipate opening Avellas and Melillis, a new eatery in the space formerly occupied by Roma Pizza at 871 Newfield St. in Middletown.

Being family, the joint venture was a no-brainer.

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There is a large population of Italians in Middletown, which is sister city to Melilli, Sicily, an island in the Mediterranean just off the coast of Italy.

Public Market, which operated for 106 years on Main Street in Middletown, closed in 2021. Were here to bring it back, Avella said.

Avella was already looking to the future when he launched his namesake eatery. The first week I opened, thats when I realized I needed to expand, he said with a laugh, talking about the 1,000-square-foot market he introduced in May 2022.

It was like Little Italy  on this street, he said of the shops popularity.

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I always had it in my mind to expand. Now the right opportunity came with Sal, said Milardo, who has been in the restaurant business for 27 years, part of that time in Middletown. The collaboration will bring in something special to Middletown."

The new place, which will include a meat department, will carry a full line of Italian specialty cold cuts, hot and cold prepared foods, calzones, schiacciatas, arancini (stuffed rice balls), imported cheeses, olive oils, Italian pasta, anchovies and much more: all the things Middletown has been missing for a while, Avella explained.

The 4,000-square-foot Roma Pizza space, close to the Cromwell line, enjoys high traffic, a boon for the restaurant business, he added.

Avella's and Melilli's will also offer imported Italian goods, pizza, breakfast sandwiches, pastries, and, of course, Italian coffee.

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Melilli will remain open over the Arrigoni Bridge in Portland.

Narrowing down customer favorites isnt an easy task. They love everything I make, Avella said, listing off his Sicilian pizza, eggplant Parmesan, meat lasagna, stuffed shells, baked ziti, homemade gnocchi, fried long hot peppers, chickpea salad and grilled vegetables.

The menu will also include American fare. The way we cook today, we are open to different ethnicities, Avella said. I dont put pork in my lasagna or pork in my meatballs because I can open the doors for other people to eat who dont like pork.

Homemade treats include torrone, a nougat made with almonds, and Giuggiulena, a hard Sicilian sesame candy bar made with almonds, honey and other ingredients. Sometimes Avella customizes the candy with chocolate chips or sprinkles on top.

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Avellas customers are also excited that there will be plenty of parking and easy access at the new place. Theyre thrilled because this is what theyve been missing for a while, including a wide array of authentic cuisine, he said.

Mellili Caffe opened in Portland in 2015. Milardo, who moved from Italy to Connecticut at age 9, also owned Melilli Bakery on Newfield Street years ago. He is excited to bring back an Italian market like no other and good Italian food, Italian pizzas, and Italian everything.

In 2021, Milardo was inducted into the prestigious Connecticut Chapter of Les Amis dEscoffier Society.



The cousins are looking to launch the restaurant in late May or early June, Milardo said.

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Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW  Get Free Report)s share price rose 1.3% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $4.08 and last traded at $4.01. Approximately 3,068,540 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 23,992,057 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.96.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on MPW. BNP Paribas raised Medical Properties Trust from a neutral rating to an outperform rating and set a $6.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Medical Properties Trust from $8.00 to $5.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Medical Properties Trust from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Medical Properties Trust in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a sell rating and a $2.00 price target for the company. Finally, KeyCorp reissued a sector weight rating on shares of Medical Properties Trust in a report on Friday, January 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $6.59.

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Medical Properties Trust Stock Performance

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Medical Properties Trust

The stock has a market cap of $2.40 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $3.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.53. The company has a quick ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MPW. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 8.2% during the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 83,236 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $1,755,000 after buying an additional 6,318 shares during the period. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 147.1% in the first quarter. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC now owns 21,434 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $453,000 after acquiring an additional 12,761 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its position in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 15.4% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 37,749 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $798,000 after acquiring an additional 5,046 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 11.3% during the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 38,588 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $816,000 after purchasing an additional 3,922 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Medical Properties Trust by 43.9% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 807,982 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $17,067,000 after acquiring an additional 246,411 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.79% of the companys stock.

Medical Properties Trust Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Medical Properties Trust, Inc is a self-advised real estate investment trust formed in 2003 to acquire and develop net-leased hospital facilities. From its inception in Birmingham, Alabama, the Company has grown to become one of the world's largest owners of hospital real estate with 441 facilities and approximately 44,000 licensed beds as of September 30, 2023.

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Shares of OUTFRONT Media Inc. (NYSE:OUT  Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of Hold from the five brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $14.50.

OUT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded OUTFRONT Media from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. TheStreet raised OUTFRONT Media from a d+ rating to a c- rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th.

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OUTFRONT Media Trading Up 2.6 %

OUTFRONT Media Announces Dividend

Shares of NYSE OUT opened at $16.35 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.39, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.86. OUTFRONT Media has a 1-year low of $8.18 and a 1-year high of $17.02. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $14.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.54.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.34%. OUTFRONT Medias payout ratio is -44.94%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On OUTFRONT Media

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OUT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in OUTFRONT Media by 16.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,900,724 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $393,432,000 after acquiring an additional 3,643,500 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in shares of OUTFRONT Media by 3.2% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 19,931,847 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $566,663,000 after buying an additional 610,565 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of OUTFRONT Media by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,376,432 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $100,238,000 after buying an additional 453,574 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of OUTFRONT Media by 50.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,300,057 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $63,631,000 after buying an additional 2,122,950 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of OUTFRONT Media by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,538,125 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $87,059,000 after buying an additional 55,754 shares during the period.

About OUTFRONT Media

(Get Free Report

OUTFRONT leverages the power of technology, location, and creativity to connect brands with consumers outside of their homes through one of the largest and most diverse sets of billboard, transit, and mobile assets in North America. Through its technology platform, OUTFRONT will fundamentally change the ways advertisers engage audiences on-the-go.

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PHX Minerals Inc. (NYSE:PHX  Get Free Report) Director Mark T. Behrman acquired 23,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $3.22 per share, with a total value of $74,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 173,704 shares of the companys stock, valued at $559,326.88. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

PHX Minerals Trading Up 4.4 %

PHX traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $3.29. 18,113 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 63,157. The firms fifty day moving average is $3.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3.32. PHX Minerals Inc. has a 1-year low of $2.44 and a 1-year high of $3.89. The company has a current ratio of 5.05, a quick ratio of 5.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $123.18 million, a PE ratio of 8.08 and a beta of 0.57.

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PHX Minerals (NYSE:PHX  Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 12th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.07 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.40 million. Equities analysts forecast that PHX Minerals Inc. will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PHX Minerals Announces Dividend

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 15th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. PHX Mineralss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.77%.

PHX has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on PHX Minerals from $5.70 to $5.50 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Northland Securities dropped their target price on PHX Minerals from $5.00 to $4.30 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $5.20.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on PHX Minerals

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in PHX Minerals during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Barclays PLC acquired a new stake in PHX Minerals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in shares of PHX Minerals by 129.3% in the 1st quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 11,327 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 6,387 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PHX Minerals in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Advisor Group Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PHX Minerals by 900.0% in the 4th quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 10,000 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 9,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.19% of the companys stock.

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.

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Raymond James (NYSE:RJF  Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 23rd, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Monday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.45 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, April 15th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 28th.

Raymond James has raised its dividend payment by an average of 20.1% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 1 consecutive years. Raymond James has a payout ratio of 18.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Raymond James to earn $9.82 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.3%.

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Raymond James Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:RJF traded up $0.22 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $126.68. The stock had a trading volume of 197,820 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,033,329. Raymond James has a 12 month low of $82.00 and a 12 month high of $127.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $116.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.72. The company has a market cap of $26.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.85, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.04.

Insider Transactions at Raymond James

Raymond James ( NYSE:RJF Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.25 by $0.15. Raymond James had a return on equity of 17.95% and a net margin of 12.81%. The business had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. The companys quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Raymond James will post 9.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

In related news, EVP Jonathan N. Santelli sold 1,891 shares of Raymond James stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.91, for a total value of $211,621.81. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,491 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,405,057.81. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Art A. Garcia bought 879 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $112.30 per share, with a total value of $98,711.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 879 shares of the companys stock, valued at $98,711.70. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jonathan N. Santelli sold 1,891 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.91, for a total value of $211,621.81. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,491 shares in the company, valued at $2,405,057.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 9.74% of the companys stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Raymond James

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of RJF. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Raymond James during the third quarter worth $30,000. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in Raymond James by 77.1% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 317 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. Clear Street Markets LLC grew its stake in Raymond James by 95.9% in the 1st quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 382 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Resources Management Corp CT ADV grew its stake in Raymond James by 661.3% in the 2nd quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 472 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming grew its stake in Raymond James by 34.2% in the 2nd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 487 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. 83.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on RJF. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Raymond James from $116.50 to $131.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group decreased their price target on Raymond James from $116.00 to $115.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Raymond James from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut Raymond James from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a neutral rating and issued a $116.00 price target (down previously from $125.00) on shares of Raymond James in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Seven equities 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 company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $120.50.

Read Our Latest Research Report on RJF

Raymond James Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Raymond James Financial, Inc, a financial holding company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the underwriting, distribution, trading, and brokerage of equity and debt securities, and the sale of mutual funds and other investment products in the United States, Canada, Europe, and internationally. The company operates through Private Client Group, Capital Markets, Asset Management, RJ Bank, and Other segments.

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Schechter Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT  Free Report) by 11.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 54,929 shares of the healthcare product makers stock after purchasing an additional 5,835 shares during the period. Schechter Investment Advisors LLCs holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $6,046,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. CGC Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, FWL Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the companys stock.

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Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE ABT traded up $1.50 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $111.51. The company had a trading volume of 7,770,695 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,724,864. The stock has a market capitalization of $193.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $89.67 and a 1-year high of $121.64. The firms 50 day moving average is $115.18 and its 200-day moving average is $106.29.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

Abbott Laboratories ( NYSE:ABT Get Free Report ) last released 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. The company had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.19 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.65% and a net margin of 14.27%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratoriess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ABT. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $128.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 13th. TheStreet raised Abbott Laboratories from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Raymond James upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $120.00.

View Our Latest Analysis on ABT

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was 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 approximately $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Abbott Laboratories news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298. Company insiders own 1.10% of the companys stock.

About Abbott Laboratories

(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

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SPDR S&P Insurance ETF (NYSEARCA:KIE  Get Free Report)s share price hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $51.38 and last traded at $51.34, with a volume of 191601 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.09.

SPDR S&P Insurance ETF Trading Up 0.5 %

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.69. The firm has a market cap of $619.01 million, a PE ratio of 10.76 and a beta of 0.86.

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Hedge Funds Weigh In On SPDR S&P Insurance ETF

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of SPDR S&P Insurance ETF by 97.2% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 12,276 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $516,000 after acquiring an additional 6,051 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in SPDR S&P Insurance ETF by 11.4% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 18,419 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $774,000 after purchasing an additional 1,884 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in SPDR S&P Insurance ETF by 109.2% during the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,490 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $106,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of SPDR S&P Insurance ETF by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 6,966 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 1,004 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in SPDR S&P Insurance ETF in the first quarter worth about $597,000.

About SPDR S&P Insurance ETF

The SPDR S&P Insurance ETF (the Fund), formerly SPDR KBW Insurance ETF, seeks to closely match the returns and characteristics of the S&P Banks Select Industry Index. The Fund invests all, but at least 80%, of its total assets in the securities comprising the Index. The Fund invests in all of the securities represented in the Index in approximately the same proportions as the Index.

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Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH cut its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG  Free Report) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 296,894 shares of the companys stock after selling 26,288 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OHs holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $43,507,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Proquility Private Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Proquility Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 6,008 shares of the companys stock worth $912,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. KFA Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 2.2% in the third quarter. KFA Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,054 shares of the companys stock valued at $445,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,839 shares of the companys stock valued at $856,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Watchman Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Watchman Group Inc. now owns 18,052 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,633,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Finally, Auxier Asset Management grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.3% during the third quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 20,448 shares of the companys stock worth $2,983,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of PG stock traded up $0.60 on Tuesday, reaching $160.79. The stock had a trading volume of 647,939 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,819,182. The firm has a market capitalization of $378.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12 month low of $141.45 and a 12 month high of $162.73. The firms 50-day moving average is $157.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $151.99.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

Procter & Gamble ( NYSE:PG Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $21.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $21.48 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.60% and a return on equity of 34.04%. The businesss revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.59 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 19th were given a dividend of $0.9407 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 18th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. Procter & Gambles payout ratio is presently 62.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a hold rating to a buy rating and upped their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Barclays increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $168.41.

View Our Latest Report on PG

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 74,443 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.30, for a total transaction of $11,412,111.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,160.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 74,443 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.30, for a total transaction of $11,412,111.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,160.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total transaction of $620,719.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,886 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,908,891.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 279,063 shares of company stock worth $43,187,745 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the companys stock.

Procter & Gamble Profile

(Free Report)

The Procter & Gamble Company provides branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. It operates through five segments: Beauty; Grooming; Health Care; Fabric & Home Care; and Baby, Feminine & Family Care. The Beauty segment offers conditioners, shampoos, styling aids, and treatments under the Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Pantene, and Rejoice brands; and antiperspirants and deodorants, personal cleansing, and skin care products under the Olay, Old Spice, Safeguard, Secret, and SK-II brands.

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Ulland Investment Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Boston Scientific Co. (NYSE:BSX  Free Report) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,049 shares of the medical equipment providers stock after selling 175 shares during the quarter. Boston Scientific makes up 0.9% of Ulland Investment Advisors LLCs holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Ulland Investment Advisors LLCs holdings in Boston Scientific were worth $928,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. grew its stake in shares of Boston Scientific by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. now owns 4,093 shares of the medical equipment providers stock valued at $237,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the period. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Boston Scientific by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC now owns 5,322 shares of the medical equipment providers stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Boston Scientific by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,999 shares of the medical equipment providers stock valued at $211,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Boston Scientific by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 13,298 shares of the medical equipment providers stock valued at $702,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Boston Scientific by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 3,687 shares of the medical equipment providers stock valued at $195,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. 89.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Boston Scientific Stock Performance

NYSE:BSX opened at $67.29 on Tuesday. Boston Scientific Co. has a 1 year low of $48.10 and a 1 year high of $68.07. The firms fifty day simple moving average is $64.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.91 billion, a PE ratio of 62.89, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.78.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Boston Scientific ( NYSE:BSX Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The medical equipment provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. Boston Scientific had a net margin of 11.19% and a return on equity of 15.99%. The firm had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Boston Scientific Co. will post 2.25 EPS for the current year.

Several research firms recently weighed in on BSX. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Boston Scientific from $67.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Boston Scientific from $60.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Boston Scientific from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Boston Scientific from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Monday, December 4th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of Boston Scientific from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $66.62.

Get Our Latest Research Report on Boston Scientific

Insider Transactions at Boston Scientific

In related news, EVP Jeffrey B. Mirviss sold 15,172 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.25, for a total transaction of $898,941.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 56,588 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,352,839. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Wendy Carruthers sold 6,983 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.35, for a total transaction of $463,322.05. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 53,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,568,833.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeffrey B. Mirviss sold 15,172 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.25, for a total transaction of $898,941.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 56,588 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,352,839. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 76,460 shares of company stock valued at $4,759,945. Company insiders own 0.50% of the companys stock.

Boston Scientific Company Profile

(Free Report)

Boston Scientific Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets medical devices for use in various interventional medical specialties worldwide. It operates through two segments, MedSurg and Cardiovascular. The company offers devices to diagnose and treat gastrointestinal and pulmonary conditions, such as resolution clips, biliary stent systems, stents and electrocautery enhanced delivery systems, direct visualization systems, digital catheters, and single-use duodenoscopes; devices to treat urological conditions, including ureteral stents, catheters, baskets, guidewires, sheaths, balloons, single-use digital flexible ureteroscopes, holmium laser systems, artificial urinary sphincter, laser system, fiber, and hydrogel systems; and devices to treat neurological movement disorders and manage chronic pain, such as spinal cord stimulator system, proprietary programming software, radiofrequency generator, indirect decompression systems, practice optimization tools, and deep brain stimulation system.

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Universal Technical Institute (NYSE:UTI  Get Free Report) and Mynd.ai (OTCMKTS:MYND  Get Free Report) are both small-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Universal Technical Institute and Mynd.ais revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

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Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Universal Technical Institute $607.41 million 0.84 $12.32 million $0.26 57.77 Mynd.ai $50.01 million 4.36 -$41.37 million N/A N/A

Universal Technical Institute has higher revenue and earnings than Mynd.ai.

Profitability

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Universal Technical Institute 2.41% 9.25% 2.20% Mynd.ai N/A N/A N/A

Institutional & Insider Ownership

This table compares Universal Technical Institute and Mynd.ais net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

75.7% of Universal Technical Institute shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.6% of Mynd.ai shares are owned by institutional investors. 27.6% of Universal Technical Institute shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 64.1% of Mynd.ai shares are owned 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.

Risk & Volatility

Universal Technical Institute has a beta of 1.2, indicating that its share price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mynd.ai has a beta of 1.04, indicating that its share price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Universal Technical Institute and Mynd.ai, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Universal Technical Institute 0 1 5 0 2.83 Mynd.ai 0 0 0 0 N/A

Universal Technical Institute presently has a consensus target price of $15.20, suggesting a potential upside of 1.20%. Given Universal Technical Institutes higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Universal Technical Institute is more favorable than Mynd.ai.

Summary

Universal Technical Institute beats Mynd.ai on 9 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Universal Technical Institute

(Get Free Report)

Universal Technical Institute, Inc. provides transportation, skilled trades, and healthcare education programs in the United States. The company operates in two segments, UTI and Concorde. It offers certificate, diploma, or degree programs under various brands, such as Universal Technical Institute, Motorcycle Mechanics Institute, Marine Mechanics Institute, NASCAR Technical Institute, and MIAT College of Technology. The company also provides manufacturer specific advanced training programs, including student paid electives at its campuses; and manufacturer or dealer sponsored training at various campuses and dedicated training centers. It serves students, partners, and communities by providing education and support services in various fields. Universal Technical Institute, Inc. was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.

About Mynd.ai

(Get Free Report)

Mynd.ai, Inc. operates in interactive technology offering hardware and software solutions. The company's solutions help organizations create and deliver dynamic content; simplify and streamline teaching, learning, and communication; and facilitate real-time collaboration. Its interactive displays and software are available in approximately 1 million learning and training spaces across 126 countries. The company's distribution network of approximately 4,000 reseller partners and its dedicated sales and support teams worldwide enable to deliver the service to its customers. The company was formerly known as Gravitas Education Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Mynd.ai, Inc. in December 2023. Mynd.ai, Inc. was founded in 1998 and is based in Beijing, China.

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WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC  Get Free Report) updated its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Tuesday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 4.800-4.900 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 4.870. The company issued revenue guidance of -. WEC Energy Group also updated its FY24 guidance to $4.80-4.90 EPS.

WEC Energy Group Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of WEC stock traded down $0.43 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $79.47. The stock had a trading volume of 498,240 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,288,300. WEC Energy Group has a 12-month low of $75.13 and a 12-month high of $99.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The firms 50-day moving average is $79.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.81.

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WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.02. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 14.98%. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.80 EPS. WEC Energy Groups revenue was down 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that WEC Energy Group will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WEC. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 2nd. KeyCorp raised their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $94.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Bank of America reaffirmed an underperform rating and set a $78.00 price objective (down previously from $84.00) on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of WEC Energy Group from a neutral rating to an underweight rating and cut their target price for the company from $90.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $86.17.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on WEC

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.89, for a total value of $223,258.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 43,125 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,402,131.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total transaction of $2,925,694.20. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 274,782 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $21,622,595.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.89, for a total value of $223,258.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 43,125 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,402,131.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.34% of the companys stock.

Institutional Trading of WEC Energy Group

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Achmea Investment Management B.V. bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the first quarter valued at $27,000. First Manhattan Co. boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 102.0% in the 4th quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 303 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the first quarter worth approximately $44,000. Quarry LP grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 373.3% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 549 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares during the period. Finally, Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $57,000. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the companys stock.

WEC Energy Group Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

WEC Energy Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides regulated natural gas and electricity, and renewable and nonregulated renewable energy services in the United States. It operates through Wisconsin, Illinois, Other States, Electric Transmission, and Non-Utility Energy Infrastructure segments.

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FILE - Jeffrey Clark, Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division, speaks during a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington, on Sept. 14, 2020. Former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark could face sanctions, including disbarment in Washington, D.C., if a three-person panel thinks he violated ethics rules in his role in trying to help former President Donald Trump overturn the 2020 presidential election. Susan Walsh/AP

WASHINGTON (AP)  Former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clarks efforts to help then-President Donald Trump overturn the 2020 election were characterized Tuesday as a coup attempt by Washington, D.C., Office of Disciplinary Counsel at a hearing to determine if Clark should be sanctioned.

Clark is accused of attempting to engage in dishonest conduct during his role in aftermath of the last presidential election.

Much of the hearing before the three-member Board of Responsibility focused on a letter which Clark sent to his superiors at the time, Jeffrey Rosen and Richard Donoghue. Clark suggested the letter be sent to Georgia indicating that the Justice Department was investigating irregularities in the states election and state lawmakers should void Bidens electoral win.

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Hamilton Fox III, the disciplinary counsel at the hearing, said the letter and Clarks continued attempts to intercede on Trumps behalf, including multiple meetings with Trump in violation Justice Department procedure, were essentially a coup attempt at the Department of Justice.

Clarks attorney, Harry MacDougald, said the action being taken against his client was unprecedented. He said the letter was not supposed to have been public and should have fallen under various privilege protections. He added that the letter was part of the debate that normally occurs between lawyers. He said punishing Clark in those circumstances would have a chilling effect, a point that Donoghue agreed with during the cross examination portion of his testimony when he said it could discourage people from "being as candid as they otherwise might be.

Much of the hearing played like a rerun of the fraud claims from the 2020 election and the House Jan. 6 committee testimony, including a rehash of the dramatic Jan. 3, 2021 meeting when several attorneys within the White House and Justice Department threatened to quit if Trump fired Rosen as the acting attorney general and named Clark.

The testimony also highlighted how much pressure was put on the Justice Department directly by Trump. He spoke multiple times to Donoghue and Rosen about allegations of fraud and misconduct.

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As events continued the pair met with Clark at one point to talk about the letter in what Donoghue described as a contentious meeting. He said he and Rosen tried to convince Clark that the department had examined various claims, while other things fell outside the department's purview. We fundamentally disagreed on what the evidence showed, Donoghue said during testimony. It was just we were almost living in two different worlds.

Former deputy White House counsel Patrick Philbin, who knew Clark, testified that he spoke with the then-acting head of the Civil Division and told him the theories he was espousing and had been debunked. But, Philbin said, he felt Clark pursued what he thought was his duty because Clark believed there were serious issues in the election.

During his testimony Donoghue acknowledged that there were instances of fraud and misconduct that year but nothing of a level to overturn the election. MacDougalds questioning focused on absentee balloting in Fulton County, Georgia and how there were legitimate concerns that had not been fully examined by the department.

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The hearing is expected to resume Wednesday with Rosen testifying.
There has been much debate about how Meghan Markle is very similar to Wallis Simpson in the media, but how similar were the two women, and how does that factor into the current state of the royal family?

Here are five reasons why Meghan Markle and Wallis Simpson have been compared:

1. American Roots: Both Meghan Markle and Wallis Simpson were American-born, which was unusual for royal spouses at their respective times.

2. Divorcees: They both entered the royal family as divorcees, which historically has been a point of contention within the traditional framework of the British monarchy.

3. Royal Crisis: Their relationships with British princes led to significant royal crises, with Edward VIII abdicating the throne to marry Simpson, and Prince Harry stepping back from his senior royal duties after marrying Markle.

4. Public Scrutiny: Both women faced intense media scrutiny and public pressure, often being portrayed in a negative light by the press.

5. Fashion Icons: They have both been recognised as fashion icons, with their style and choices often drawing public attention and comparison.

6. Narcissistic: Both women have shown extreme levels of narcissism. Displaying an unreasonably high sense of self-importance requiring constant, excessive admiration. Both women thought that they deserve privileges and special treatment and expected to be recognised as superior even without any achievements.

7. Domineering: Both women gravitated to weak men who allowed themselves to be dominated by a domineering woman.

8. Royal Status: Wallis Simpson was the Duchess of Windsor, but was not given the HRH title. Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex was forbidden from using the HRH title.
The NATO Tactical Leadership Program (TLC), which is based at the Albacete air base, is the cover story of the English edition of the Spanish Defense Magazine for the month of April. An extensive report provides information on the advanced training that pilots receive to lead air combat formations.

Another article analyzes the unstoppable growth of satellites, which poses new risks and threats to communications, navigation and scientific observation; An interview is published with General Isaac Crespo Zaragoza, chief of the General Staff of the newly created Space Command; and the approaches of the EU and NATO in this area are reflected.

The meeting of the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, with the Spanish troops in Iraq and the recent visit of King Felipe VI to the NATO Headquarters in Europe, in Mons (Belgium), is also reported.

The pages of the Armed Forces pay attention to the delivery to the Navy of the submarine Isaac Peral, the first of the S-80 series; and to the UMAAD-Madrid, which has expanded its health support capacity with a projectable operating room, type Role 2F.

The ambassador, permanent representative of Spain in NATO, Federico Torres Muro, writes about the 75 years of the Atlantic organization; and the commander of the CAOC Torrejon, Lieutenant General Juan Pablo Sanchez de Lara, analyzes the role of this unit that has been protecting the skies of southern Europe for ten years.

On the other hand, the challenges of the Presidency of the 5+5 Defense Initiative, which Spain holds in 2024, are analyzed.

The culture section includes the publication of the book Brief military history of Spain (Breve historia militar de Espana), published by the Ministry of Defense.
Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (TSE:CNQ  Get Free Report) (NYSE:CNQ) reached a new 52-week high on Monday after CIBC raised their price target on the stock from C$95.00 to C$105.00. CIBC currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Canadian Natural Resources traded as high as C$102.70 and last traded at C$102.36, with a volume of 785572 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$100.79.

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Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Desjardins reduced their price objective on Canadian Natural Resources from C$105.00 to C$97.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Canadian Natural Resources from C$98.00 to C$96.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Canadian Natural Resources from C$105.00 to C$110.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Canadian Natural Resources from C$95.00 to C$86.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 14th. Finally, Evercore raised their target price on Canadian Natural Resources from C$90.00 to C$105.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of C$99.65.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Canadian Natural Resources

Insider Buying and Selling

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Up 2.1 %

In related news, Director Norman Murray Edwards sold 270,000 shares of Canadian Natural Resources stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$88.86, for a total value of C$23,993,361.00. In other Canadian Natural Resources news, Director Norman Murray Edwards sold 270,000 shares of Canadian Natural Resources stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$88.86, for a total transaction of C$23,993,361.00. Also, Senior Officer Trevor Wagil sold 1,126 shares of Canadian Natural Resources stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$86.33, for a total value of C$97,204.88. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 647,999 shares of company stock valued at $60,737,470. 2.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

The firm has a market capitalization of C$110.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 31.01. The company has a fifty day moving average price of C$89.49 and a 200-day moving average price of C$88.39.

Canadian Natural Resources (TSE:CNQ  Get Free Report) (NYSE:CNQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported C$2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$2.14 by C$0.20. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 21.11% and a net margin of 22.89%. The business had revenue of C$9.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$9.04 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 7.3588277 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a $1.05 dividend. This is a positive change from Canadian Natural Resourcess previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. Canadian Natural Resourcess payout ratio is 51.54%.

Canadian Natural Resources Company Profile

(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).

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A man currently on bail for 17 drug related offences and who is not allowed to have a mobile phone rang police on a mobile when he breached his curfew Derry Magistrate's Court heard today.

The man who has been granted anonymity due to the nature of his charges appeared today for breaching his bail and faced four more charges of possessing class A and C drugs on March 24.

A police officer connected the accused to the charges and opposed bail.

He told the court that police received a 999 call from the defendant who told them he had left his address to let a dog out and then began getting calls from G4S for breaching his curfew.

Once the man called police it was realised he was not allowed a mobile phone so police attended.

At the man's address police found 261 white tablets and other drugs.

They also found two mobile phones, a laptop and a tablet all in reach of the bail conditions prohibiting Internet enabled devices.

The man said that the tablets were for personal use and said they were a mixture of Diazepam and sleeping pills.

Bail was opposed due to the risk of him breaching his conditions.

Defence solicitor Paddy MacDermott said that his client claimed that the devices belonged to his sister and were not his.

He said the man claimed he had deal bags to divide up his medication.

District Judge Barney McElholm said that the man was 'completely unsuitable' for bail and remanded him in custody to appear again on April 4.
Donegal County Council is to call on the Irish government to support the restoration of the Derry to Dublin air link.

Buncrana Sinn Fein based councillor Jack Murray received the backing of Donegal County Council to call on the Irish Government to work with the Stormont Assembly to reestablish the Derry to Dublin air link, in recognition of its potential to enhance local tourism, business, and to assist those travelling for medical reasons from the Northwest.

He was speaking at this months plenary session of Donegal County Council at Lifford, where he reaffirmed that Donegal was very isolated in terms of its connectivity with the rest of the country.

He said: We dont have any rail connection to the capital. We dont have a motorway to the capital and I think that 13 years ago, the PSO (Public Service Obligation) link from Derry to Dubllin was cancelled. And I think it is now, long past time that was reinstated.

This council does recognise the importance of air travel to the north west. We do support Donegal Airport and Ireland West Airport in Knock. Ive used the flight before as Leas Chathoaoirleach to fly from Donegal airport to Dublin. It is no doubt a fantastic service and amenity that means a lot to local people there.

But of course, from our end of the county, it is just not feasible to go from there as it would not reduce the time for us so Derry Airport in that regard is absolutely essential.

I dont know if the stats have changed but at one point there was 40% of passengers that travelled through Derry airport were from Donegal, so I think that we do have a duty to do it.

Cllr Murray said that he was happy the new Economy Minister in the North, Conor Murphy had indicated he supported a PSO from Derry to Dublin, but financial support was also required from Dublin.

He also cited medical travel needs, business and tourism reasons which would mean people could travel directly to Derry and gain almost immediate access to North Donegal.

He added while they wanted a rail network and upgrading of the A5, this flight could again become operational with just financial assistance from the outset.

He thanked Garry Martin from the Donegal County Council team on writing to the Minister to outline the supporting evidence of its need.

Cllr Gerry McMonagle (SF), who by then had taken over the role of Cathaoirleach indicated that he had already agreed to second the motion in advance of being called in as Cathaoirleach.

In the case of the north west he added that connectivity was very important and an air link from Derry to Dublin would also be very important.

It is a very timely motion, he said.

DCCs Garry Martin said it was also timely in the sense that the PSO obligations were currently being reviewed across the country and the only approved PSO air link was Donegal to Dublin, as Kerry had now been commercialised, and provided by Ryanair..

The fact that Stormont was now also on board with a commitment meant that all would be hopeful of support from Dublin as well regarding the PSO.
It will be a challenge to catch people illegally entering the UK from the Republic of Ireland who have not signed up to a new travel scheme, a Home Office official has admitted.

An electronic travel authorisation (ETA) is a requirement for people who do not need a visa to come to the UK.

The programme is being extended to nationals of all countries but will not apply to Irish citizens because they have a right to travel to any part of the UK under the Common Travel Area.

Simon Bond, a senior director in the Home Office, was questioned by the House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee about enforcement.

Committee member Lord Sandhurst asked Mr Bond about a scenario in which he was a foreign national of villainous intent who enters the Republic of Ireland and could just hop on a plane to London despite not having an ETA.

He added: I may be committing a criminal offence, but how are your lot and the security people going to know that I have done this?

In his answer, Mr Bond admitted that is certainly a challenge, adding: The overall intent is to understand as much as possible about everyone coming to the UK, in order to upstream all of those checks.

Lord Sandhurst responded: If Im on a wicked mission for Mr Putin (Russian president Vladimir Putin) carrying dangerous poisons, that would be my route in, wouldnt it?

Mr Bond did not reply.

If you're planning on visiting the UK and are unsure if you need a visa or an ETA to travel, or if you are unsure what visa you need to apply for you can visit https://t.co/y1p166Dbom. pic.twitter.com/BSG8dfLjzc  UK Visas & Immigration Official (@UKVIgovuk) March 13, 2024

The ETA scheme was introduced in November 2023 but is currently only for nationals of Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

It is scheduled to be extended to include the European Union, the European Economic Area and Swiss nationals from early 2025, and the rest of the world this autumn.

Lord Dubs suggested to immigration minister Tom Pursglove it is not a very satisfactory position that a tourist from a third country visiting the Republic of Ireland will be committing a criminal offence if they cross into Northern Ireland without an ETA.

The peer asked the minister how are you going to enforce this? given there are no immigration controls at the land border.

Mr Pursglove replied: The issue that I have with taking a different approach to this and to creating an exemption is the fact that it just blows a hole in the whole concept of trying to have that more enhanced border security.

We want to stop individuals from arriving at the UK border in the first place, understanding more about people who are making those journeys.

I think that as a Government, weve been pragmatic in terms of what weve managed to agree in terms of the earlier exemption with those residents in Ireland who are third-country nationals.

I think that is a sensible approach that weve taken there.

We will obviously of course keep these policies under review but I think the fundamental concept that were trying to uphold here is one that is important and I wouldnt want to undermine that.

I think the key place that we should place our energy in relation to this, is to communicate what this change means for travellers.
A new body to improve business and educational links across the UK, which was created under the deal that restored powersharing in Northern Ireland, will meet for the first time on Tuesday.

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove will chair the inaugural session of the East-West Council in Dover House in London.

The establishment of the forum was pledged in the UK Governments Safeguarding the Union command paper.

Published in late January, the paper was the product of months of negotiations between the Government and the DUP that ultimately convinced the regions largest unionist party to end its two-year blockade of powersharing at Stormont.

The party had been vetoing the functioning of the institutions in protest at post-Brexit trading barriers on trade moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

Sinn Fein First Minister Michelle ONeill and her DUP counterpart and deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly will attend the council meeting, as will Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris and a number of other ministers from the Stormont Executive.

The Safeguarding the Union command paper said the council would seek to harness significant potential to strengthen co-operation between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK to address shared challenges and to grasp shared opportunities.

It will comprise representatives from the political, business and education sectors.

The councils priorities include tackling economic inactivity; improving east-west trade flows; increasing international investment to Northern Ireland; and bolstering institutional connectivity and enhancing professional development by leveraging academic and skills expertise across NI and GB.

The new body will produce an annual report that will identify concrete actions for business, education or government to take forward to improve growth in Northern Ireland and across the UK.

The historic Good Friday peace agreement of 1998 saw the creation of several new political bodies  some aimed at improving north-south relations on the island of Ireland and others focused on enhancing east-west linkages between the island and Great Britain.

Nationalist critics of the new council have expressed concern about the creation of an additional east-west body outside the terms of the delicately balanced Good Friday deal.

Ahead of Tuesday afternoons meeting, Mr Gove, who has responsibility for intergovernmental relations, said: The creation of the East-West Council was an important part of the agreement that helped restore devolved government to Northern Ireland earlier this year.

I am pleased that we have been able to hold the inaugural meeting in the early part of 2024.

The Government is committed to working with our partners in the Northern Ireland Executive and across the UK to address shared challenges and opportunities including with an east-west dimension.
Stormonts leaders have insisted a new body aimed at strengthening links across the UK does not undermine existing political structures of the Good Friday Agreement.

Sinn Fein First Minister Michelle ONeill and DUP deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly were commenting after attending the inaugural meeting of the East-West Council in London.

The forum designed to improve business and educational links between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK was created under the deal that restored powersharing in Northern Ireland earlier this year.

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove chaired the first meeting in Dover House in London.

Work to align UK Government funding streams with stated priorities of the Stormont Executive was one of the main areas covered.

Two funding announcements were made, 150 million of support via the Enhanced Investment Zone and 17 million through the Shared Prosperity Fund to both improve adult numeracy and support business innovation in Northern Ireland.

The establishment of the forum was pledged in the UK Governments Safeguarding the Union command paper.

Published in late January, the paper was the product of months of negotiations between the Government and the DUP that ultimately convinced the regions largest unionist party to end its two-year blockade of powersharing at Stormont.

The party had been vetoing the functioning of the institutions in protest at post-Brexit trading barriers on trade moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

The historic Good Friday peace agreement of 1998 saw the creation of several new political bodies  some aimed at improving north-south relations on the island of Ireland, like the North South Ministerial Council, and others focused on enhancing east-west linkages between the island and Great Britain, such as the British Irish Council.

Some nationalist critics of the new forum have expressed concern about the creation of an additional east west body outside the terms of the delicately balanced Good Friday deal.

Ms ONeill made clear that the East-West Council did not have the same status or powers as any of the intergovernmental bodies created under the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.

She said it could not be compared to the structures established in 1998 or viewed as an addition to them as it was a very distinctly different entity.

It is a forum in which we can discuss these things, its a forum in which we can improve relations, but it obviously doesnt have that statutory powers which other bodies would have, she said.

The First Minister rejected the suggestion that the creation of the council could be seen as undermining the terms of the peace deal.

I wouldnt allow anything to undermine the Good Friday Agreement, she said.

I mean we were very clear through the course of the last number of years that the negotiation and conversation between both the DUP and the British government needed to come to an end. Im very glad that all these discussions ended up in the fact that we do have an Executive up and running. And we do have all elements of the Good Friday Agreement up and running, including the north south body, because thats very, very important in terms of that. The British Irish Council and the Executive  all those things need to work in tandem. Were here today because its a forum in which to engage.

The North South Ministerial Council is set to meet in Armagh on April 8 while the British Irish Council will convene in June.

Ms ONeill denied that Tuesdays meeting in London was an uncomfortable place for an Irish nationalist to be.

No, I dont agree actually, she said.

Im happy to be here because this is a useful engagement. I mean, these intergovernmental relations are crucially important and we need to get that right.

Not least in this forum today, but we now have the Executive back up and running and what we are going to see in quick succession from today is also the North South Ministerial Council, which will meet on April 8. Following that well have the British Irish Council as well.

And all of those sets of relationships are really, really important in terms of the politics of the north. So any forum that allows us to have those opportunities then I think is always going to be something that we should take up.

Ms ONeill and Ms Little Pengelly have mainly given joint press conferences since they assumed office in February.

After the council meeting in London, they appeared separately to answer questions from waiting reporters.

Ms Little-Pengelly rejected the suggestion the council was her partys attempt to bypass the structures of the Good Friday Agreement.

The institutions of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement persist, they remain, she said.

As indicated, we will of course be establishing and well be having the first meeting of the North South Ministerial Council very shortly. Well also be having a meeting of the British Irish Council in June coming up this year. So of course, those bodies will continue.

But, of course, we didnt have a UK internal body to look at and identify some of the issues that we face, internal to the United Kingdom, I think its absolutely appropriate that we have that.

When we look back over the last number of years as weve navigated Brexit and other challenges I actually think that this type of body would have been very, very useful in terms of identifying those problems at an earlier stage and trying to collectively find solutions to them. So, look, I think this will be something that complements and supplements whats there. Its not designed to replace it, its not a threat to anybody else.

But, of course, from our point of view, as unionists, we believe that this is what is good for Northern Ireland because actually we have a forum that is focused on the United Kingdom and dealing with the challenges and opportunities that we face internal to our United Kingdom.

Ms Little Pengelly dismissed characterisations of the council as a talking shop or a Government tick box exercise.

I made clear at the meeting at the council today that what we will be judged on in terms of this council will be delivery, it will be the outcomes for people, not just in Northern Ireland, but across this United Kingdom, she added.

The Safeguarding the Union command paper said the council would seek to harness significant potential to strengthen co-operation between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK to address shared challenges and to grasp shared opportunities.

It will comprise representatives from the political, business and education sectors.

The councils priorities include tackling economic inactivity; improving east-west trade flows; increasing international investment to Northern Ireland; and bolstering institutional connectivity and enhancing professional development by leveraging academic and skills expertise across NI and GB.

The new body will produce an annual report that will identify concrete actions for business, education or government to take forward to improve growth in Northern Ireland and across the UK.

Mr Gove welcomed the first meeting.

We had a fruitful discussion in which we outlined our approach towards supporting the Executive in the priorities which it had set for itself, he said.

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris also denied it was a talking shop.

We tackled many priorities actually that are important to making sure that we strengthen the bonds between Northern Ireland and the rest of Great Britain, he said.
The Government has denied that the newly formed East-West Council is a talking shop and pledged more than 150 million of funding for Northern Ireland.

The council was established as a result of extensive negotiations between the DUP leadership and the UK Government, which led to the unionist party ending its two-year boycott of Stormonts powersharing institutions.

The party had chosen not to engage with devolved government at Stormont due to concerns over post-Brexit trading arrangements between Northern Ireland and the mainland UK.

The councils first meeting at Dover House in London was attended by Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove, Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris, First Minister Michelle ONeill and deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly.

Mr Gove said Government and Executive ministers had a fruitful discussion, while Mr Heaton-Harris said they tackled many priorities.

The Northern Ireland Secretary denied assertions that the East-West Council did not have substance, saying: I dont think this is another talking shop in the slightest, I dont think the other bodies are talking shops either.

They all have their own very important part and some of those other bodies  that are definitely not talking shops  are vital parts of international agreements that have helped (bring) peace to Northern Ireland over the course of the last 25 years. This was needed.

Mr Heaton-Harris said the relationship between the UK and Northern Ireland had not been neglected but certainly needed more work.

We were told by the unionist community in no uncertain terms and their fiscal representatives that things were not right in this relationship, and maybe following us leaving the European Union we needed to make sure we understood better what the asks and demands of the unionist community were, he said.

Id like to think this is what we showed in the Strengthening the Union command paper was a demonstration of that, this is an outflowing of that.

And as you know, I always look to the future and Im a glass half full man, and from the meeting weve just had, my glass nearly overfloweth because the prospects look really, really good.

The council endorsed the new Enhanced Investment Zone in Northern Ireland that will make available 150 million for Northern Ireland to be used flexibly across spending and tax levers.

Further measures included an award of 5.9 million from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to improve adult numeracy in Northern Ireland and an award of 11.2 million from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to Invest Northern Ireland.

Mr Gove said the purpose of the body was to discuss these funding streams to Northern Ireland.

He said: Its important that we work with the Northern Ireland Executive, now that its reconstituted, for delivery on the ground.

And the real function of the East-West Council is to ensure that the Community Ownership Fund, which is a vital way of channelling resources to community organisations, below the level of local authorities, who are renovating buildings, transforming opportunities for young people, that we hear direct from them and we make sure that that fund is delivering.

Mr Gove added: Officials in my department working with the Northern Ireland Office and the Executive will outline a proposal which will see at least 150 million of extra investment coming to Northern Ireland, these are all tangible gains as a result of the East-West Council.

Pressed as to why the first meeting of the long-negotiated council concluded earlier than expected, Mr Heaton-Harris said: Id like to think its because we were agreeing quite a lot.

He added: In fact, I dont think there was an item where there was any disagreement.

Mr Gove said: When youve got someone like Chris whos a dedicated and focused expediter of business, things get done. But actually, even though weve finished earlier, the most important 90 minutes today is Scotland versus Northern Ireland later.
HIGHLIGHTS Pavan Davuluri hails from India and pursued his bachelor's from the coveted IIT Madras. In 2001, Davuluri joined Microsoft as a Reliability Component Manager. He will be instrumental in shaping the direction of the company's flagship products

Indians have been taking the front seat in many tech giants in the US and we have another such example of the same with us. Pavan Davuluri, an alumnus of IIT Madras, has taken charge as the new head of Microsoft Windows and Surface. Davuluri succeeds Panos Panay, who left last year to join Amazon. With this appointment, we get to see a slight change from the previous Microsoft hierarchy where the Windows and Surface divisions operated under separate leadership. Moreover, here are five things that you need to know about the new Windows and Surface Head.

5 things we know about Pavan Davuluri

Pavan Davuluris education

Davuluri hails from India and pursued his bachelors from the coveted Indian Institute of Technology Madras. After that, it was in 1999 he moved to the States and joined the University of Maryland to pursue a Master of Science degree.

Also read: Microsoft will give 2 million Indians AI training, says CEO Nadella

What was Pavan Davuluri doing at Microsoft for the past 23 years?

In 2001, Davuluri joined Microsoft as a Reliability Component Manager. Ever since then, for over 23 years now, he has held various positions at the company. Before his promotion, he was the Corporate Vice President, overseeing Windows Silicon and Systems Integration.

Also read: Satya Nadella retweets Microsoft Presidents blueprint for India to govern AI

What does the new role entail?

Under Davuluris leadership, the Windows and Surface divisions will merge into the Experiences + Devices (E+D) division. This restructuring reflects Microsofts commitment to a holistic approach in developing products and services tailored for the AI era. He will lead a team which will aim at developing silicon systems.

What does it mean for Microsoft?

With Davuluris new appointment and a structural change at Microsoft, he will be shaping the direction of the companys flagship products.
Redefining MEMS speakers: Q&A with xMEMS CEO Joseph Jiang

US-headquartered xMEMS is on track to redefine Micro Electro Mechanical System (MEMS) speakers.

The company, which produces speaker ICs with MEMS, has released its third-generation product, Cypress, and impressed the global audio market. The low-frequency sound that Cypress offers creates a new auditory experience for human beings.

Taiwan's semiconductor supply chain fostered xMEMS. In an interview with DIGITIMES, Joseph Jiang, xMEMS's co-founder and CEO, said the company originated from the evolution of piezoelectric materials. TSMC was working on the R&D of these materials.

Jiang said he and other co-founders betted on TSMC's R&D success and decided to take a bold move to establish xMEMS. TSMC currently offers foundry services for xMEMS, also a customer of several Taiwanese semiconductor packaging and testing companies.

Below is a Q&A summary between DIGITIMES and Jiang.

Q: Does xMEMS hold a significant advantage as TSMC's solid material techniques back it?

A: xMEMS, established six years ago, saw its first challenge come from TSMC. xMEMS had to prove that it was qualified to be a TSMC partner to receive supplies.

Initially, xMEMS bought blank silicon wafers in the market and asked Japanese partners to put its piezoelectric materials on them. We kept testing in a lab rented from Stanford University in the US until the MEMS audio chip enabled sound. Then, we took the chip to TSMC, persuading the foundry to provide piezoelectric silicon wafers. It was the official start of our collaboration.

After securing supplies from TSMC, xMEMS began testing tens of thousands of dies to find and address issues. Finally, we made our first MEMS chip.

We initially estimated it would take 18 months to reach the mass-production level. In reality, we spent over 30 months. The yield rate started at 50% and has now achieved more than 90%.

MEMS requires high-level techniques. Although we had critical materials, we had to do many other things ourselves. For example, we design testing machines and ask equipment manufacturers to produce them. After that, we also need to operate the machine on our own.

In the case of sleeping earbuds, when xMEMS put its chip into regular earbuds, it did not see the expected result. Therefore, our engineers learned to do 3D printing and made the desired earbuds from scratch. Our customers recognized the move. They even use our prototype to develop new products.

Q: In xMEMS' early days, a mosquito buzz from a MEMS speaker prompted the company to celebrate its success with champagne. Why?

A: The sound created a wonderful memory for our team and a historical moment. It proved that xMEMS' theory can be realized.

From the perspective of MEMS, a product represents a production process. This explains why tailor-made solutions are critical. MEMS has shown its strengths in optics and other fields, including the automotive LiDAR segment.

Things work differently in the audio sector. Creating a vibration amplitude strong enough to be heard through a tiny IC is extremely difficult. It is why dynamic and balanced armature drivers have dominated the audio market for over 150 years.

Besides the amplitude hurdle, the IC's cost also must be competitive to encourage adoption. Therefore, the breakthrough of MEMS in the audio sector is historical. The mosquito buzz from the speaker represented the beginning of a new era.

Q: How does xMEMS position itself besides designing piezoelectric MEMS chips?

A: xMEMS is an IC design company with about 80 employees. The company has released three generations of chips. The first was Montara, which disrupted the speaker market dominated by traditional dynamic drivers for 150 years. On average, Bluetooth earbuds with the Montara cost US$1,500. The high price reflected the value of MEMS.

Cowell, the second-generation chip, has gained traction in the true wireless stereo (TWS) market with a price of US$120. Cowell holds 70% to 80% higher costs than a dynamic driver. The gap will be narrowed to within 30% when a new Cowell solution is launched in the second half of 2024.

Application-wise, xMEMS sees the most adoption in TWS, gaming headsets, personal sound amplification products, and sleep earbuds. Gaming headsets have the most potential for growth rate.

The cost of the MEMS is similar to or even lower than that of a traditional dynamic driver, and it weighs less. Moreover, MEMS can enable seven times better spatial reasoning, helping gamers precisely identify their enemies' locations.

Cypress, the third-generation chip released in October 2023, enables the low-frequency original sound. The product represents a historic breakthrough as it tackles the low-frequency issue that dynamic drivers cannot handle well. After trying and learning about Cypress, an analyst commented that if xMEMS did not launch the chip, the industry likely would have to wait for 10 to 20 years before another company takes on the challenge.

Q: What is the crucial factor for xMEMS to revolutionize human audio perception?

A: I think the key is our employees, which are mostly Taiwanese semiconductor engineers. Only two quit their jobs in the company's six years of history. Many of the staff asked to invest their money in xMEMS.

While Taiwanese engineers are generally recognized for their ability to lower costs, xMEMS witnesses their innovation and capability to build things from scratch, something many would neglect. It has something to do with enterprise culture and value.

I often joke that you can randomly pick several xMEMS employees and form a band because many are good at and enthusiastic about music. Therefore, they can conduct professional testing on the products they develop.

Q: How will xMEMS redefine the MEMS speaker market? Will other market players accept your plan?

A: We plan to define the so-called MEMS speaker more precisely as the SoC speaker. xMEMS has been the only one to realize the SoC speaker, holding a technique lead for at least three years. The company has also enhanced its cost competitiveness rapidly. This is why we can define the MEMS speaker.

For now, we plan to operate through different partnerships. Details will be more explicit in the second half of the year. Traditional dynamic driver makers will also join the effort. They have heard the bugle calls for revolution and are willing to accelerate transformation to avoid elimination. Iconic companies in the application market will also participate in the collaboration.

Q: It is said that Apple has been pushing xMEMS for the solution for Vision Pro. Is Cypress the solution? What other segments will xMEMS enter in the future?

A: xMEMS does not comment on any potential interactions with customers. However, customers have asked for small-sized MEMS speakers for future electronic products. Many have not set requirements for MEMS' audio frequency because they know the technique bar is high. The frequency is also why xMEMS can impress its customers.

The market has discussed Saratoga, a product xMEMS has not released. I am not sure when we will bring it to the market. It could be six months later, at the end of this year, 1.5 years later, or even longer than that.

Saratoga's biggest advantage is that it can handle high, medium, and low-frequency sounds together. Imagine that in the future, wearing an Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR) headset will no longer feel like putting a TV on your head, something many have complained about. In addition, smartphones will easily become mobile speakers with Saratoga.

The solution will also reduce an EV's weight without effort. Saratoga's volume is only one-three thousandth of that of a traditional home speaker. Of course, presenting better original sound and providing a more enhanced user experience is the point.
Chinese democracy hailed by global observers at third International Forum on Democracy

13:51, March 26, 2024 By Wang Li, Wu Gang ( People's Daily

The third "International Forum on Democracy: The Shared Human Values" was held in Beijing on March 20. Chinese and foreign guests engaged in discussions on topics including "Democracy and Modern Governance," "Democracy and the Rule of Law in the Digital Times," "AI and the Future of Democracy" and "Democracy and Global Governance in a Multipolar World."

Democracy is a common value of humanity and a concrete phenomenon that is constantly evolving. There are diverse ways for countries to realize democracy.

Guests attending the forum believe that there is no one-size-fits-all model of democracy. As long as it suits a country's national realities and represents the interests of the people, it is a democracy that works. Countries should respect the diversity of civilizations and respect other countries' rights to independently choose a path to democracy and the political system.

Democracy should not be exported or imposed on other countries and regions, said former Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema. He believes that there are many ways to achieve democracy and it cannot be standardized. Exchanges and mutual learning sustain civilizations, he added.

Former deputy speaker of the lower house of the Malaysian Parliament, Ong Tee Keat, noted that the practice of democracy is greatly influenced by the history and culture of each country. He called for respect for the diversity of democracy, saying what matters most in democracy is the relevance of the people's participation.

Former Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said the world today lacks an effective and democratic global governance system. The international landscape has undergone significant changes, with many emerging market countries having a significant influence on global affairs. However, their representation and voice in international organizations remain inadequate.

It is time to correct this imbalance in order to make the global governance system more fair and democratic, he added.

Democracy is an important hallmark of the progress and development of human civilization, an ideal that has always been cherished by the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese people. Guests attending the forum believe that China has developed a path to democracy with Chinese characteristics after long-term exploration.

Hassan Ragab, Egyptian director of the Confucius Institute at the Suez Canal University in Egypt, said that Chinese democracy is not a direct copy of the Western model, but rather one that has been developed based on China's historical and cultural traditions, and economic and social development.

Western democracy is not universally applicable, and the successful practice of Chinese democracy breaks the misconception that democracy can only be achieved through the Western way, he noted.

Chinese democracy is whole-process people's democracy. Stephen Perry, president emeritus of Britain's 48 Group Club, said that Chinese government hears its people and it tends to do what its people want. China has taken a democratic path that is in line with its national conditions, Perry noted, adding that China achieves democracy through a scientific method.

Zhang Shuhua, director of the institute of political sciences at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Chinese democracy is deeply rooted in the fertile soil of the Chinese culture and fully reflects the will of the Chinese people. It has effectively promoted the modernization of the country's governance system and capacity, making significant contributions to the political civilization of humanity, Zhang noted.

The China-proposed vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, as well as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the Global Development Initiative (GDI), the Global Security Initiative (GSI), and the Global Civilization Initiative (GCI), have contributed Chinese wisdom and solutions to strengthening global governance and enriching and developing political civilization of humanity.

Participants at the forum believe that it is necessary to promote the building of a new type of international relations based on mutual respect, equity, justice and win-win cooperation, and to build a community with a shared future for mankind that is crucial for a better future of humanity.

Countries should build consensus, coexist harmoniously and be interdependent in a multipolar world, said Peter Kagwanja, chief executive officer of the Africa Policy Institute (API), a Nairobi-based pan-African think tank.

The China-proposed BRI, GDI, GSI and GCI contribute to the building of a new type of international relations and the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, Kagwanja said.

Chen Bo, president of the China Institute of International Studies, said that promoting equal and orderly world multipolarity and inclusive economic globalization requires following humanity's common values of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy and freedom.

"Only by adhering to these common values of humanity can we continuously improve the global governance system and promote the development of multipolarity, and constantly advance the cause of human progress," Chen remarked.

(Web editor: Chang Sha, Liang Jun)
From left, Stephanie Alvarez, Courtney Heard, Kay Lutostanski and Nicole Barber, all with Chevron, participated in a roundtable discussion on energy careers at Legacy High School. Mella McEwen/Reporter-Telegram Students listen during the roundtable discussion on energy careers with four Chevron leaders. Mella McEwen/Reporter-Telegram Kay Lutostanski with Chevron speaks during a discussion on energy careers at Legacy High School. Mella McEwen/Reporter-Telegram

Chevron sent several of its leading women to Legacy High School Monday to discuss opportunities available in the oil and gas industry, particularly in a major producing area like the Permian Basin.

We brought our women leaders to honor Womens History Month and their legacy. Women are leaders, said Catie Matthews, public and government affairs advisor.

She added Having women at the table at Chevon and throughout the industry is incredibly important. We need their perspectives.

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Matthews said diversity and inclusion are incredibly important to the industry. Thats why the discussion was not limited to Legacys female students  there were a number of male students in attendance as well.

Courtney Heard, a Chevron production supervisor, said she got a sneak peek at the industry from her familys involvement in the industry in Houston. She added that she enjoyed math in high school and that served as a bridge into her career.

She expressed to her audience her pride in how her work helps Chevron not only in its efforts to reach its goal of producing 1 million barrels of oil a day from its Permian Basin assets but how that production has a global impact.

Kay Lutostanski, a reservoir engineer, said she was more into numbers in high school. She also found her way into the industry through a career panel similar to the one she was part of.

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Our team determines good places to drill and analyzes the results and determines how to best operate those wells.

Stephanie Alvarez, operations advisor, works with different groups to put together projects and help them get funding. She told the students how she was recruited out of college and wanted them to take away from the discussion that there are a lot of career opportunities in the industry.

People think its just skilled trades and field engineering, and there is a lot, but there are a lot of disciplines needed for the industry to function, she said.

She also stressed to the students that the industry is working hard to minimize and improve its environmental footprint.

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Nicole Barber, manager for policy, government and public affairs, offered herself as an example of the broad range of opportunities in the industry, noting she joined Chevron in 2006 as an engineer.

Ive done a lot of different things, she said. I like to tell people that anything with the Chevron name on it  but not the gas stations  was done by my group.

Barber highlighted for the students how everyone on the globe is connected by their need for energy and, with the worlds population growing, that demand for energy will also continue to grow.

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LG and Samsung accelerate robotics investments, eyes commercial and home markets

LG and Samsung, eyeing the continual growth of the robotics market, are accelerating their investment efforts in their respective ventures.

While LG aims to strengthen its commercial robot business in delivery and logistics, Samsung is gearing up to debut medical robots amid its organizational restructurings. In LG's statement for their most recent US$60 million investment into a robotics start-up, the company stated that the move is to bolster their portfolio for long-term growth, rather than short-term returns.

LG doubling down on robotics

As reported by Asia Economy and The Korea Economic Daily, LG recently announced a US$60 million investment in Bear Robotics, becoming its largest shareholder. This AI self-driving service robot startup, headquartered in Silicon Valley, was founded in 2017 by former Google software engineer John Ha.

Bear Robotics specializes in creating platforms for service robot software, collective control technology for multiple robots, and cloud computing control solutions. Having gained attention in the industry, the company is currently providing services in South Korea, the United States, Japan, and other regions.

LG emphasizes that the future model for commercial robots will transition to AI-based Software-defined Robotics (SDR). It stresses the importance of standardizing AI self-driving robot platforms, based on an open architecture software platform, to ensure the scalability of service robots.

Through the investment and collaboration with Bear Robotics, LG hopes to rapidly enhance the competitiveness of its robotics business.

In recent years, LG has decisively exited businesses such as smartphones and solar energy to concentrate its resources on promising areas like robotics. It currently operates commercial robot production facilities in Gyeongsangbuk-do and Gumi's LG Future Park.

Since launching guide robot services at Incheon Airport in 2017, LG has introduced various commercial space optimization solutions for delivery and epidemic prevention. Collaboration with Bear Robotics is expected to lead to robot platform standardization, thus lowering market entry costs.

Samsung's household robots

Similarly, Samsung views robotics as a future growth focus, with investments targeting care and home robot markets. In the latter half of 2021, Samsung upgraded its robot commercialization task force to a robot business team.

In addition, the company also acquired shares of collaborative robot company Rainbow Robotics in 2023, with future acquisitions potentially on the horizon.

Samsung also unveiled its robot project "EX1" in 2020. Since then it has been officially named Bot Fit, aimed at assisting the elderly with exercise, with a slated release in 2024.

Initially targeting B2B businesses like nursing homes, fitness centers, and Pilates centers, the company plans to expand into B2C businesses eventually with this product.

At CES 2024, Samsung introduced Ballie, a GenAI companion robot that learns user lifestyles to assist with daily household tasks, home management, and caregiving for elderly family members or pets.

Industry insiders pointed out that the robotics industry, much like the automotive sector today, requires integration from various fields. This includes areas of AI, semiconductors, optics, communications, software, and mechanical engineering, among others.

Robotics extends its reach from manufacturing to commercial and household sectors such as logistics, dining, and healthcare. The advent of GenAI marks a significant leap forward in robotics technology, with more intensified competition expected among major players.

At CES 2024 Samsung's vice chairman and co-CEO said, "Generative AI will serve as an opportunity for all devices, not just robots, to become smarter and further develop."
Acer's Smart Frequency provides energy saving solution to help factories reduce electricity costs

Smart Frequency, a subsidiary of Acer Group, unveiled its energy-saving solution at the Smart City Summit & Expo (SCSE).

With the Ministry of Economic Affairs increasing electricity prices by an average of 11% in April, it spurred a demand increase for energy-saving solutions among businesses. Company chairman Chia-Chang Lin pointed out that said solution can save 10-15% of power consumption without sacrificing performance, and several clients have already expressed interest as energy saving is a rigid demand for corporations.

Acer chairman and CEO Jason Chen acknowledged that an electricity price hike would be felt by businesses and stressed that energy-saving measures will be rigid demand. Lin pointed out that by effectively reducing electrical current and voltage without compromising machinery efficiency, it not only can save costs but can also extend the machine's lifespan, making it quite attractive for companies.

Lin explained that while there were energy-saving proposals in the past, it was often a choice between an illegal modification to meters or a device that affected operational efficiency. Smart Frequency's solution is a device that eliminates unstable electrical currents in the power supply, thus reducing the volume. Since the equipment didn't use these unstable currents, it can save power while not affecting operational efficiency.

Currently undergoing testing, the solution is expected to be launched in the second half of the year, with significant interest already shown by several clients. Lin cited the example of a refrigeration factory in central Taiwan, which reduced its monthly electricity bill from over NT$500,000 (approx. US$15,700) to just over NT$300,000 (approx. US$9420).

Lin mentioned that the current testing indicates energy savings of around 10-15%. Better results would require more equipment with energy-efficient designs and integrating solar and energy storage devices. Therefore, post-sales consultancy services are needed to customize the solutions to clients' needs.

Lin, who also serves as the GM of Weblink, mentioned that Weblink will handle the sales of Smart Frequency's energy-saving systems. He mentioned that Smart Frequency has also launched energy storage products and expressed optimism about the business opportunities of ESG.
Liteon+ aims to boost startup innovation

Liteon Technology recently co-hosted its first Demo Day for its Liteon+ startup platform. The company presented the performance of five startups including PackAge+ and Elephantech.

Investment talks have already begun with a deal set to be announced soon. The collaboration is said to be related to the corporate transformation of Liteon.

Senior director of Liteon Startup Office Chen Hong-ming said the company now provides three startup resources, including a co-working space, direct contact with Liteon's internal business units, and strategic investment. Liteon+ helps startups leverage those practical resources to get their ideas off the floor for implementation, Chen added.

Liteon is leveraging external venture capital resources with partners such as Mesh Ventures and M.I.H. Capital Management. The company refers startups to venture capital partners and invites those partners to help accelerate the incubation process or to co-invest.





Liteon told DIGITIMES that it plans to integrate its supply chain with upstream to downstream resources to help startups with the potential to grow.

PackAge+, a startup that designs and produces reusable packages, has been working with Liteon to develop solutions for electronic manufacturing companies at a pilot site in Kaohsiung. Liteon will also implement PackAge+ products into the logistic systems of its brand-name shops and cooperate with social enterprises to increase job opportunities for the disadvantaged.

Credit: DIGITIMES



Elephantech is a startup from Japan. Liteon has signed an MoU with Elephantech to introduce its Pure-Additive technology to produce soft PCBs

The process involves combining metal inkjet printing technology with copper plating. Copper wires are then printed onto a resin substrate before they are plated to increase the thickness.

Since only a small amount of copper needs to be added to the necessary locations, the overall amount of material used is extremely small. The process results in a significantly reduced carbon footprint.

Mass production will begin in 2025. The process will later be applied to Lite-On's products.

Sounds Great develops power chips with semiconductor technology. This breaks through the technological limitations and volume constraints of the traditional production method of electromagnetic power components and reduces the size of existing products by more than 30%.

This technological breakthrough allows terminal products to obtain more derived functionality changes the habits of consumers.







Credit: DIGITIMES
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Taiwan's energy security at a crossroads

With global climate change on the rise and geopolitical risks looming, resource and energy supplies are increasingly constrained. For Taiwan, which imports 98% of its energy, strategic planning and leveraging technological capabilities are essential to swiftly adapt to challenges and ensure stable societal operations, thus averting crises stemming from resource and energy shortages.

During a recent tabletop exercise in Taiwan involving over a hundred national security, intelligence, and political-economic experts, it was discovered that one of Taiwan's most vulnerable points is the fragility of its energy supply.

Taiwan's historically low utility rates have failed to accurately reflect costs, but with the nation heavily reliant on imported resources, any international price surges would result in substantial losses for state-owned enterprises like Taiwan Power Company (Taipower), in a global pursuit of net-zero emissions to combat extreme weather events and global warming, low energy prices have failed to incentivize energy conservation and carbon reduction, ultimately undermining energy resilience and economic stability.

Experts emphasized that Taiwan's energy vulnerability in times of conflict underscores the necessity for diversified energy sources. With a mere two weeks of natural gas reserves, Taiwan must explore alternative energy options, with nuclear energy being a contentious but potentially essential component. Maintaining existing nuclear power plants and increasing their output by 10% could address the issue effectively, as suggested by Chi-Yuan Liang, a researcher of Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research.

Energy is a significant vulnerability in times of war, especially with natural gas supply constraints. Long-term solutions such as nuclear power, oil-fired power generation, and increased coal reserves must be considered.

However, there are challenges in realizing these solutions. With delays in the construction of liquefied natural gas terminals and environmental assessments hindering projects, relying solely on natural gas for 50% of electricity generation by 2025 appears untenable.

Furthermore, enhancing energy resilience entails bolstering emergency response Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), updating SOPs for greater flexibility, and investing in advanced technologies for monitoring and coordination. Strengthening emergency training for personnel and ensuring robust communication infrastructure are also paramount.

In light of potential island blockades, Taiwan must strengthen its energy storage and transportation capabilities, particularly in the eastern region. Expanding energy infrastructure and adopting innovative solutions such as Floating Storage and Regasification Units (FSRUs) could mitigate risks associated with supply disruptions.

As Taiwan approaches its 2025 target of becoming a "nuclear-free homeland," a goal set without the pressure of achieving net-zero emissions, the landscape has significantly shifted. Climate change threats have intensified, necessitating a reevaluation of priorities. Energy resilience, and maintaining a secure power supply, require a diversified approach to power generation.

Larry Diamond, a senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, emphasized earlier this year at a public forum in January that energy resilience is crucial for Taiwan to receive effective assistance during times of crisis. However, he noted that without nuclear energy, Taiwan would struggle to achieve true energy resilience.

As Taiwan navigates global energy trends and strives towards energy efficiency and carbon neutrality, a nuanced approach involving price adjustments, energy diversification, and accelerated renewable energy development is necessary to ensure societal stability and economic prosperity amidst the evolving geopolitical landscape.
Samsung likely to solely supply 12-layer HBM3E to Nvidia as early as September

Reports suggest that Samsung Electronics may soon become the sole supplier of 12-layer HBM products for Nvidia.

Samsung Electronics is rapidly gaining ground in the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) market. Reports emerged following the recent announcement of its successful development of HBM3E featuring 12 layers of DRAM that it may soon surpass current leaders SK Hynix and Micron to become Nvidia's sole supplier of 12-layer HBM3E.

According to industry sources cited by South Korean media outlet Alpha Biz, Samsung outpaces its competitors in developing 12-layer HBM3E and is poised to become Nvidia's exclusive supplier as early as September 2024. In response, Samsung said that it could not disclose customer information.

In late February 2024, Micron announced the commencement of mass production for its 8-layer HBM3E, and Samsung also unveiled its achievement of successfully developing 36GB 12-layer HBM3E products. Samsung highlighted that its 12-layer HBM3E boasts a higher layer count while maintaining the same height as the 8-layer HBM3E.

With a maximum bandwidth of 1,280GB/s, the 12-layer HBM3E offers performance and capacity exceeding 50% compared to the 8-layer HBM3. Samsung is expected to start volume production of the 12-layer HBM3E later in 2024.

While Samsung has yet to announce the mass production of HBM3E, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang confirmed at the recently-held GTC 2024 that Samsung's HBM is currently undergoing the verification stage. Huang even signed and wrote "Jensen Approved" beside Samsung's 12-layer HBM3E display, sparking speculation that Samsung's HBM3E is highly likely to pass the validation process.

SK Hynix has started officially supplying Nvidia with 8-layer HBM3E in March 2024, yet its 12-layer product is reportedly encountering some process issues. Nevertheless, SK Hynix showcased its 12-layer HBM3E at GTC 2024 and allegedly provided samples to Nvidia as early as February 2024.

SK Hynix said it will leverage hybrid bonding technology to enhance the performance of HBM4. The company plans to stack 16 layers of DRAM to achieve a capacity of 48GB, with data processing speeds expected to be 40% higher than HBM3E and power consumption to be only 70% of HBM3E levels.

During the 2024 International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC 2024) held February 18-21, Samsung unveiled that its upcoming HBM4 boasts an impressive bandwidth of 2TB per second, marking a significant 66% increase compared to the 5th -generation HBM (HBM3E). Additionally, the number of input/output (I/O) has doubled.

SK Hynix and Samsung are anticipated to mass produce HBM4 in 2026, intensifying the competition in their research and development efforts, and drawing considerable attention.
Will PHEV, all-solid-state batteries become new drivers for Chinese battery industry?

As the world's largest battery maker, China must remain vigilant about the industry climate.

Although the Battery EV (BEV) market is slowing, the booming Plug-in Hybrid EV (PHEV) sales are poised to bolster battery companies amid the downturn. In addition, the country has bet on the all-solid-state battery to accelerate technology innovation.

According to South Korea-based SNE Research, the world used over 705GWh of EV batteries in 2023, up 38.6% from the previous year. Chinese EV makers continued to occupy six spots of the top-10 ranking by installation. CATL, the world's largest battery company, maintained a stable market share of more than 36%, while BYD's share increased from 13.9% to 15.8% last year as it expanded worldwide.

World's top 10 EV battery makers, 2023 Rank Company Usage (GWh) YoY change (%) 2022 market share (%) 2023 market share (%) 1 CATL 259.7 40.8 36.2 36.6 2 BYD 111.4 57.9 13.9 15.8 3 LGES 95.8 33.8 14.1 13.6 4 Panasonic 44.9 26 7 6.4 5 SK On 34.4 14.4 5.9 4.9 6 CALB 33.4 80.9 3.6 4.7 7 Samsung SDI 32.6 36.1 4.7 4.6 8 Gotion 17.1 23.1 2.7 2.4 9 Eve Energy 16.2 129.8 1.4 2.3 10 Sunwoda 10.5 15.4 1.8 1.5

Source: SNE Research, compiled by DIGITIMES Asia, March 2024

Data from the China Automotive Power Battery Industry Innovation Alliance showed that the country exported 16.3GWh of EV batteries in the first two months of 2024, slightly decreasing by 1.9% year-on-year. CATL, BYD, and Farasis Energy were the top three exporters.

Rising PHEV sales to encourage more advanced batteries

The global battery sector's growth decelerated in 2023. Anya Sidhu, an analyst with London-based Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, said in a battery webinar that only 47 new battery gigafactories were announced worldwide last year, compared to 102 in 2022 and 80 in 2021.

Sidhu also said China's battery production growth rate was 15% in 2023 and 62% in 2022. The slower increase resulted from concerns about overcapacity and competition from more established players.

PHEVs could be the new driver the battery industry has been looking for. In February, BYD launched a new version of its Qin Plus, a PHEV, in China with a starting price of CNY79,800 (US$11,172.6), lower than many of its gasoline competitors.

Automakers like Wuling and Changan Automobile followed suit and cut the prices of their PHEVs. The price war between PHEVs and gasoline cars will likely persist throughout the year.

According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), PHEV sales achieved 467,000 units for the first two months of 2024, up 72.8% from last year. BEVs only saw an 11.7% growth year-over-year while reaching a higher sales volume of 740,000 cars.

Higher PHEV sales will boost battery installation. Vehicle price competition will also force the battery supply chain to reduce costs further and accelerate technology iteration. China-based Sohu reported that as PHEVs' driving range extends from between 50km and 70km to over 100km, leading battery makers have concentrated on improving the power of battery packs.

For instance, BYD developed high-power blade batteries specifically for its PHEVs. More PHEV batteries with enhanced charge capacity and better charging efficiency are expected to hit the market in 2024.

Government-industry joint efforts to form an all-solid-state battery supply chain

At a ceremony in January to establish the China All-Solid-State Battery Collaborative Innovation Platform (CASIP), Ouyang Minggao, a Tsinghua University professor and a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said China is facing EV battery overproduction and fierce domestic competition after 10 years of scale-up.

According to Ouyang, the energy density of EV batteries has increased threefold in the past 10 years, with production costs decreasing by more than 80%. However, lithium battery prices slumped by 50% in 2023 and only a few battery companies earned profits.

S&P Global's data showed lithium prices declined over 60% in 2023. Prices of critical cathode and anode materials, including nickel, graphite, and cobalt, dropped by 30%. Low material costs throughout 2024 will save EV makers some expenditure on batteries, but the situation will hurt the battery supply chain's margin.

Ouyang said China's battery industry must enhance its technology and efficiency, passing the downturn with innovation.

This is why the Chinese government, academia, battery companies, and EV makers collaborated on the all-solid-state battery platform. The battery, which endures a broader range of temperatures and offers higher energy density, is considered a leading solution for next-generation batteries. Large-scale commercialization of the technology is expected to arrive between 2027 and 2030.

Industry members of China's all-solid-state battery consortium include CATL, BYD, Gotion High-tech, and Nio. The group aims to set up a supply chain for the battery by 2030. It will also conduct basic research and develop EVs powered by the technology.

Whether China's all-solid-state battery ambition will catch up with Japan is worth the attention. Three major Japanese automakers, Toyota, Hodan, and Nissan, have all been developing next-generation batteries. According to Nikkei Asia, Toyota plans to launch an all-solid-state battery EV between 2027 and 2028, while Nissan will roll out its vehicle in fiscal year 2028.

One thing is certain: It will take some time before all-solid-state batteries dominate the market. According to the China Power News Network, the battery might need 20 to 30 years to occupy 50% of the market share of its liquid-electrolyte counterparts.
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By DAVID KOENIG

AP Airlines Writer

Boeing CEO David Calhoun will step down from the embattled plane maker at the end of the year as part of a broad management shakeup Monday after a series of mishaps at one of America's iconic manufacturers.

Stan Deal, president and CEO of Boeing's commercial airplanes unit, will retire immediately. Stephanie Pope, the company's chief operating officer for less than three months, has taken over leadership of the key division.





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STOCK PHOTO: A knife and bloody hand print staged at a fictitious crime scene. zoka74/Getty Images

A new television episode about the murder of Mary Ann Murphy more than 10 years ago in Humble, Texas is now available on the streaming app Max and airing on Investigation Discovery.

The episode, "In Deadly Harmony," is part of the "Mean Girls Murders" docuseries and examines the stabbing death of Mary Ann Murphy in 2012 after she tried to keep her teenage daughter, Keri Murphy, from having a relationship with 22-year-old Rebecca Keller.

According to reports from the Houston Chronicle, Mary Ann Murphy was stabbed multiple times  73 a report the Daily Mail reads  and the two eventually faced murder charges as adults. Keri Murphy for murder and Keller for murder and having sexual relations with a teen.

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Another male suspect, Zein Ahmed, reportedly had a crush on Keri Murphy. Those feelings weren't reciprocated, but that didn't stop Keri Murphy from telling law enforcement Ahmed was the person who stabbed her mother to death. He was arrested and charged with murder, and he initially confessed, but investigators found that was not the case and the charges were dropped.

Both Keri Murphy and Keller were supposed to go to trial but instead took plea deals. Keri Murphy was sentenced to 30 years and Keller to 60 years.

When she officially pleaded guilty to the court, Keller, according to the Houston Chronicle, admitted she was involved in the plan to kill Mary Ann Murphy, and purchased the knife used in the crime. A report from the Daily Mail shows Keri Murphy also admitted to watching the stabbing unfold after she was initially supposed to stay out of sight in her room.

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By HALELUYA HADERO and ANNE DaINNOCENZIO

Associated Press

NEW YORK  If content creators and corporate executives made TikTok videos about the platform's possible U.S. demise, disco diva Gloria Gaynor's I Will Survive could supply the soundtrack.

Sure, businesses that built strategies around TikTok and promote products there would prefer not to seek eyeballs on another app. Smaller firms and solo entrepreneurs are bound to feel more pain in the event of a breakup. But if the popular video-sharing service remains under Chinese ownership and Congress bans it, many companies would learn to get along.





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By KELVIN CHAN

AP Business Writer

LONDON  European Union regulators opened investigations into Apple, Google and Meta on Monday, the first cases under a sweeping new law designed to stop Big Tech companies from cornering digital markets.

The European Commission, the 27-nation bloc's executive arm, said it was investigating the companies for non-compliance with the Digital Markets Act.





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SEATTLE  A century-old house at 1516 Melrose Ave., converted to offices, recently sold for $4 million, according to King County records.

The seller was 1516 Melrose LLC, an Eastside investor, which acquired the property in January for almost $2.8 million.





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A fight broke out in a classroom at Legacy Freshman High School which resulted in a student or students being charged criminally. MRT File Photo Midland Independent School District MRT File Photo

A student in the Midland ISD is facing criminal charges after an unspecified altercation last week.

According to a press release from Midland ISD, two students were involved in an altercation at Legacy Freshman High School March 22, and the altercation was captured on video.

Midland ISD is aware of a video circulating on social media involving two female students at Legacy Freshman High School this past Friday, the release reads. Teachers in the classroom took immediate action to diffuse the situation. Students were disciplined according to the Student Code of Conduct and criminal charges were filed.

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The MISD said it would not tolerate aggressive behaviors and any students involved in altercations will face disciplinary and possibly criminal consequences.

Our priority is to provide a safe learning environment for all students, the release reads.

A video sent to the Reporter-Telegram shows two girls arguing before one of them stabs the other in the head with a pencil. The girls then proceed to fight with the girl retaining the pencil and repeatedly stabbing at the other girl.

Warning, the video may be too graphic for some viewers:

A video circulating on social media shows a fight breaking out after a student stabs another student with a pencil in her scalp. Midland Reporter-Telegram

The Reporter-Telegram has reached out to the MISD Communications Office for information about the charges the students face, if it was the first incident involving the students, and if the students have been expelled from the district. However, the information was not provided by press time.
There was a sense of anticipation in the air as Minister Paschal Donohoe arrived at Senator John McGahons Business Breakfast in the Ballymascanlon Hotel last Thursday. Only eighteen hours before, Leo Varadkars bombshell announcement that he would be resigning from office had rocked the political establishment.

With over 165 in attendance at Senator McGahons breakfast, many though they would hear a leadership announcement from Minister Donohoe, however the Minister demurred when asked by the audience about a new job opportunity.

Speaking at the event, Minister Donohoe said I am here this morning to support Senator John McGahon, John has been doing trojan work in the Seanad for the people of Dundalk and County Louth over the last four years and I am here to support him this morning, because we need John to be elected as a TD for County Louth after the next General Election.

When I look at the future of my party and this country, I know it is in safe and capable hands, because we have people like John coming up through the ranks. John is an experienced politician, with a hard-working attitude and has a reputation for delivering results both here in County Louth and in Leinster House.

Speaking after Minister Donohoe, Senator McGahon said Its been a whirlwind 18 hours for people like Minister Donohoe, but I really wanted to thank him for still being here in Dundalk at 8am the following day.

Minister Donohoe is one of the safest pairs of hands that the Government has had in recent years as he guided us through Covid at the head of the Department of Finance. He has always supported our businesses communities right around Ireland and I am really pleased that he is here today to hear about the success story that is Dundalk.

Dundalk is right in the middle of the M1 Corridor between Dublin and Belfast, we are right at the heart of the economic engine of Ireland.

We have a great story to tell, we have full employment, we have homes being built every week across town, with more first-time buyers than ever before.

We have DkIT moving towards university status coupled with great transport links. Its clear to everyone that Dundalk is a great place to live, but we need to build on that success and make sure that Dundalk and County Louth return TDs who can continue to champion and promote our town at both a local and national level, concluded Senator McGahon.
The RiVeR Project in Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) says it was "honoured" to recently host a lunchtime event on campus showcasing the Seeking Safety Ireland initiative. The RiVeR Project is a national programme which is responding to the impacts of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence through research, education and training.

The event was opened by Dr Kathleen Nallen Project Lead for the RiVeR Project who was followed by Orla Walsh the Seeking Safety Ireland Coordinator. Orla introduced the audience to the Seeking Safety Pilot Project, an evidence based therapeutic programme, designed to support women who are experiencing difficulties resulting from substance misuse, trauma/or mental health issues and domestic sexual or gender-based violence.

This national pilot programme commenced in October 2022, and is currently being funded by the HSE, with the support of the Department of Health, Womens Mental Health Task Force. The project is run in partnership between the HSE and seven community projects: The SAOL project, Ballyfermot Star, Reddoor Project Drogheda, Ballymun Star, Roscommon womens network, Sophia Housing and Ruhama.

Orla was supported on the day by peer workers and service users who described their own personal journey and experience of the programme.

Seeking Safety Ireland is fully committed to the full adaptation of a Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) approach to the design, implementation, and evaluation of the programme. To that end they have just completed a Peer led evaluation of the project.

This evaluation was entirely carried out by the Peer Researchers (Women with lived experience), supported by a governance team led by an independent researcher. The aim of the evaluation was to ascertain if the project worked and if the programme overcame the barriers that women face when trying to get help. In summary, the evaluation revealed a positive outcome for both aims.

Seeking Safety Ireland states that its goal is to embed Seeking Safety as a model of support into services across the whole of Ireland over a four-year period and to realise this objective the continuation of Seeking Safety Ireland is critical.

Dr Kathleen Nallen, Project Lead, RiVeR Project, DkIT, said: We were really inspired by the piece of research that was completed on Seeking safety Ireland which was presented on the day and in particular by the inputs and experiences which were shared by the participants of this programme.

"The students and staff of DkIT who were present at this event felt truly privileged to hear such personal and inspirational stories from these phenomenal women who had overcome adversity, trauma & addiction."
Louth TD Ruairi O Murchu has said that reports that most secondary schools in Dundalk are oversubscribed, is very worrying for Dundalk parents and that parents with children with special educational needs are facing an even tougher battle.

The local TD was commenting after an article in the Irish Times last weekend, said that an unpublished Department of Education report indicated that most of Dundalk's secondary schools are full or oversubscribed.

Deputy O Murchu said the report showed that Dundalk Grammar School, St Marys College, and Colaiste Ris, were oversubscribed for September 2023; while Colaiste Chu Chulainn was fully subscribed; and the status of St Vincents Secondary School, with 905 students, and Bush Post Primary School, with 815 students, was unknown. Only St Louis Secondary School, with 492 students; and O Fiaich College, with 289 students are undersubscribed.

Deputy O Murchu said parents are rightly worried about getting a school place for their children in coming years. He also highlighted the fact that parents with children with special educational needs are facing an even tougher battle with many of the autism units and classes in secondary schools oversubscribed.

The Sinn Fein TD said: We are in this situation because of a direct failure of a broken modelling system, that focuses on capacity in existing schools while failing to take demographic changes or decades of long under-resourcing of schools into account.

Many parents and their children, who in some cases live within metres of their school, are not able to secure a school place for the next school year. It is placing avoidable stress and pressure on families and they deserve better.

He continued: Oversubscription of schools naturally equates to increased class sizes and we all know the detrimental impacts large class sizes can have on a childs education, particularly those with special educational needs.

They create barriers to effective learning and hinder students academic and personal development. Sinn Fein believe that smaller class sizes in Louth are vital as they can facilitate greater student participation and engagement.

Smaller class size will help increase individual attention and make it harder for students, particularly those with special educational needs, to get left behind and this in turn will lead to enhanced academic performance.

Calling for action, Deputy O Murchu added, Government must address this crisis immediately. Every child should have a school place come September.
Councillors at the Louth County Council March meeting, passed a motion declaring solidarity with the people of Palestine and all people who rely on the fourth Geneva Convention for protection, as well as calling on the Council to divest public monies from Occupied Territories products and services.

Cllr Emma Cutlip's motion at the March meeting read: "This council declares its solidarity with the Palestinian people and all protected people who are subject to war, armed conflict, or occupation and who require reliance on the protections afforded to civilians under the Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, 1949 (the fourth Geneva Convention).

"This council recognizes that through its day-to-day operation it invests and purchases goods and services with public monies in a wide range of ways. Therefore, this council shall divest itself of all investments, holdings, procurement, or purchasing of goods or services which have originated in whole or in part from occupying powers as defined by the fourth Geneva Convention."

Cllr Cutlip commented that, "it is clear to me that the people of Louth feel strongly about the suffering of the Palestinian people. The horrors witnessed every night on the news grow starker and more horrific the longer this assault on human dignity continues. Through this motion, I found a way not merely to declare the councils support the growing movement calling for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), but to actually divest public money locally.

Louth County Council gathers income from parking charges, business rates, rents, and property taxes, and from government grants. This is public money, and it is the job of councillors to direct this spending in line with the needs of the people of the county.

It is my hope that I can assist other councillors across the country to propose the same motion and to ultimately divest all local governments in Ireland. Across all local authorities in Ireland, significant amounts of money are spent, public money gathered from central government grants, rents, parking fees, commercial rates, local property taxes and more.

The people of Louth have made it very clear to me that they do not want to support regimes that profit from occupying territories such as the Palestinian West Bank, and so it is vital that we listen. Louth will proudly stand up against oppression."

Louth County Council's Director of Services Organisation Development, Mr Joe McGuiness, had advised that "Louth County Council operates under National Procurement legislation which is grounded in EU Directives. There is no provision in this legislation for Louth County Council to make such a decision and it would therefore be an unlawful decision.

"The only exception made in the past was under EU Regulation 2022/756 adopted by the European Union which was aimed at restricting participation in economic activity by economic operators from the Russian Federation in response to Russia's aggression against Ukraine."

Cllr Cutlip contended that this is not the case, highlighting European directives, European case law, and government publications directing local government procurement, which she said, clearly permit criteria placed on public procurement that Incorporate social considerations.

The Labour councillor said that regulation 43 of the 2016 regulations permit a Social Label to be applied to tenders that ensure fair and ethical trade. Trading from occupied territories like the west bank has been called out by the International Court of Justice and is clearly capable of being applied to Council tenders under both domestic and European law.

"While the OGP (Office of Government Procurement) may not easily facilitate the application of this particular social consideration yet, it is not illegal."

In a statement to the Dundalk Democrat following the meeting, Cllr Cutlip said, "I am delighted that this motion has passed with unanimous support. We have to do everything in our power to push the needle towards peace. Each and every person can play a small part through Boycot, Divestment & Sanction (BDS) movement. Each individual person is stronger than even the greatest of nations when we collectively act to push change."
Top rated hot springs in Texas. dhughes9/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Its the time of year when many venture out for some fun, rest, and relaxation. And for anyone who loves a good soak, Texas offers a few natural hot springs to take self-care to the next level.

Known for their natural minerals, hot springs can deliver various health benefits, from natural trace mineral absorption to better circulation. After a long dip, hot soaking in natural springs can also deliver a restful nights sleep. An entire science known as balneology studies the treatment of battling disease by bathing.

In Texas, overall, the hot springs are clustered around Austin and along the border with Mexico, with some ore developed and others much more primitive, according to Hot Spring Hunt. The two most popular developed hot springs include Barton Springs in Austin and Chinati Hot Springs in Ruidosa.

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Nestled in the heart of Austin, Barton Springs is more known as a warm spring than a hot spring, with an average temperature of around 68-74 F. year-round. The popular destination was a sacred area for the Tonkawa people, who used the springs for purification rituals, according to Hot Spring Hunt. However, around the 1830s, it was later promoted as a tourist attraction for the state with much success.

The Chinati hot spring in the Lone Star State is located in the Chihuahua Desert. It has a series of pools with temperatures ranging from 70 to 109 degrees. The soaking spot is a little more rustic, with no Wi-Fi or cell phone access, but it offers big Texas sky views and allows you to stargaze while soaking.

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Top rated hot springs in Texas. Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty

For a more primitive experience, the Boquillas Hot Springs, also known as the Langford Hot Springs, are located in the West Texas region of Big Bend National Park.

Located along the Rio Grande River and without fancy frills or resort-like accommodations, the hot spring offers a relaxing view of the river while soaking in a highly rich mineral spring with an average temperature of 105 degrees. The hot spring was noted to have a high mineral level, and as a cautionary, be careful and limit long exposure to young children.

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Another West Texas hot spring to make the list is Capote Springs, which offers a group of springs about an hour outside Marfa. This hot spring offers the states tallest and largest waterfall, the Capote Falls, a 175-foot waterfall with roaring waters, according to a separate report from Southern Living. The average temperature is 99 degrees. While this hot spring offers a waterfall and warm waters to soak, it was recently purchased from a private landowner, and permission is needed to soak, the report added.

Jacobs Well in Wimberly is one of the longest underwater caves in Texas and an artesian spring that delivers several thousand gallons of water per minute, according to Visit Austin. It acts as the headwaters of Cypress Creek, which flows through Wimberley into Blue Hole and then to the Blanco River.

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The natural area is one of the most significant natural geologic areas in the Texas Hill Country, according to the travel website. The crystal clear pool is 12 feet across on the surface and over 30 feet deep, averaging around 70 degrees.

The privately owned site has been in the Krause family for more than 50 years, according to Hot Spring Hunt. It offers overnight camping sites with 32 springs on the property, with many soaking temperatures around 70 degrees in the natural mineral springs. Also located around the Central Texas region is the Krause Spring in Spicewood. The natural spring is part of the National Registry of Historical Sites
Costa Peru restaurant owner-manager Kevin Inahuazo cleans the bar at his latest new business on Saturday, March 23. Nick Sambides/Hearst Connecticut Media Costa Peru restaurant offers Peruvian fare and is located in the Devon section of the city. Nick Sambides/Hearst Connecticut Media Construction companies owned by Costa Peru restaurant owner-manager Kevin Inahuazo make his latest venture a pretty safe bet, he believes. Nick Sambides/Hearst Connecticut Media Costa Peru restaurant owner-manager Kevin Inahuazo looks at his latest business investment as a chance to both make money and unite with family. Nick Sambides/Hearst Connecticut Media

MILFORD  Kevin A. Inahuazos first business installs drywall; his second, masonry. Now he is launching his third  Costa Peru, a restaurant in the Devon section of the city due to open in April.

Restaurants and construction might seem like an incongruous mix, but Inahuazo, a 27-year-old entrepreneur from Meriden, assembled I&C Drywall Finishing and Manny's Stoneworks for his brothers. Robert Inahuazo runs I&C and Wilton Inahuazo is the manager of Manny's.

Having that combination of family and funding  both businesses earned gross receipts of about $600,000 last year  makes it a lot easier to remodel a restaurant, he said.

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Everything from the floor to the ceiling, we built ourselves. The only things we couldnt do were the plumbing and the electrical, Kevin Inahuazo said.

So far, Inahuazo's family-based business model has worked for him. A graduate of Southern Connecticut State University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in business administration, Inahuazo learned that he had a flair for business at Hill Regional Career High School.

Inahuazo made a strategic location choice with Costa Peru. Located at 333 Naugatuck Ave., the restaurant is less than a dozen miles from Cibus Latin Fusion, El Sabor Latino and Palacio Latino of Stratford. Milford's Isabel's Bakery and Mexican restaurant and Pollo a la Brasa are closer still. Inahuazo hopes that Costa Peru will help them anchor Devon as a Latin food fan's destiny of choice.

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Inahuazo is running Costa Peru as a family business, like his others.

This time, he is building it with help from his cousin, Sabrina Inahuazo, as assistant manager, waitress and hostess. A customs broker, Sabrina has a good touch with people, Kevin Inahuazo said.

Costa Peru's menu includes many traditional Peruvian dishes. The menu lists 10 appetizers, including Papa a la Huancaina, a Peruvian appetizer from the region of Huancayo. The dish consists of sliced, steamed potatoes covered in Huancaina sauce and aji amarillo and white cheese. Another appetizer is Choros a la Chalaca, or Peruvian steamed mussels topped with onions, tomatoes, cilantro, corn and cancha.

As main courses, Costa Peru's dishes will include Tallarin Verde, a thin-cut flat-iron steak, pork or chicken cooked with spaghetti in a Huacatay sauce with basil, spinach and cheese with French fries.

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Costa Peru has four ceviches and 11 seafood dishes.

Inahuazo said he will lean on his experience as a supervisor at hospitality companies and his study of restaurant operations when the business opens. He is finishing his inspections and plans to open in mid-April.

"I've spent a lot of time around restaurant managers," he said. "I know restaurant owners. In the New Haven area, I am very close to several owners and they have opened doors for me. I have asked questions and they have shown me around the kitchens and the way they do business."

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A CORK TD has criticised growing waiting times for access to local GP services.

Sinn Fein TD for Cork South-Central, Donnchadh O Laoghaire raised the issue in the Dail as part of a General Practice and Local Health Services motion by the party.

Sinn Fein called on the Government to increase the number of training places for Primary Care professions, and launch a pilot programme in areas where there is a shortage of GPs for out of hours services and leave cover.

Part of the motion called for the government to invest in a Pharmacy First approach to minor ailments and move appropriate care from Primary Care practices to community pharmacies, and Mr O Laoghaire said that he believes more can be done as regards pharmacies, but we also need a strong GP infrastructure.

He told the Dail: Being able to access a GP is like having money in the bank. The security it offers a family is hard to overestimate.

However, it is too often the case that people trying to find a new practice, perhaps having come to a new area, find it nigh on impossible to do so.

Even if you are on a GPs books, it can be difficult to get an appointment.

Very often, people do not rush into ringing the GP, they want to see whether they will be okay, he explained, however he added that now people worry that if they do not ring straight away, they could be left waiting for weeks.

Mr O Laoghaire added that GPs he speaks to have a lot of concern about the future.

When they look at the classes coming out of the universities ... they see effectively entire classes going to Australia and other places like that.

In particular, there is great concern that rural areas, areas where a high proportion of people hold medical cards and working-class areas will not be adequately served.

'CHALLENGES IN RECRUITMENT'

A spokesperson for the HSE told The Echo: We are very aware of the importance of GP services to all communities including rural areas, and we do not underestimate the challenges in recruiting GPs to take up GMS panels in some rural areas.

We make strenuous efforts to advertise and raise the profile of any vacancies, so that we attract a field of qualified candidates.

In any case where there has been a temporary vacancy while we recruit GP cover, we have ensured that interim arrangements are in place and these remain in place until we recruit a GP to take on the vacant panel.

They revealed there are 319 GMS panels in Cork, compared to 328 in 2019, but clarified: While this is a reduction in the number of contracts of approx 2.75%, we strongly caution against simply comparing the number of panels in place now and the number in the past.

In some cases, a panel or lists with a small number of patients may have been merged with another panel so that it is attractive for prospective candidates. This does not mean there has been a reduction in the cover offered to these patients.

In other cases, the GP giving up the contract has been part of a GP partnership; which means that their partner has the right to take up the GMS panel. Again, this could mean that the panels are merged but the cover offered is not reduced.

Despite the well-documented challenges in GP recruitment, at no time has anyone or any area been left without GP cover for a GMS list, the spokesperson said.
A portion of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore in Maryland, United States, collapsed after a large boat collided with it early on Tuesday morning, causing multiple vehicles to fall into the water.

Authorities and rescue crews say they are working to rescue at least seven people.

Around 1.30am, a large vessel crashed into the bridge, catching on fire before sinking.

According to a video posted on X, formerly Twitter, the crash caused multiple vehicles to fall into the water below.

BREAKING: Footage shows the moment a major bridge collapsed in the US city of Baltimore after it was hit by a cargo ship.



Full story: https://t.co/DZlFHY2Sdn



 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/PiLGxXqdjY  Sky News (@SkyNews) March 26, 2024

The Maryland Transportation Authority said: All lanes closed both directions for incident on I-695 Key Bridge. Traffic is being detoured. Mayor Brandon M Scott and Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr posted that emergency personnel were responding and rescue efforts were underway.

Emergency responders were searching for at least seven people believed to be in the water, Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore Fire Department, told the Associated Press around 3am.

He said agencies received 911 calls around 1.30am reporting a vessel travelling outbound from Baltimore that had struck a column on the bridge, causing it to collapse.

Multiple vehicles were on the bridge at the time.

Mr Cartwright said: Our focus right now is trying to rescue and recover these people. He said it is too early to know how many people were affected but called the collapse a developing mass casualty event.

Mr Cartwright said it appears there are some cargo or retainers hanging from the bridge, creating unsafe and unstable conditions, and that emergency responders are operating cautiously as a result.

This is a dire emergency, he said.
The chief executive of Cork City Council has said that the huge investment in the redevelopment of the Crawford Art Gallery and the 46m redevelopment of Bishop Lucey Park will bring footfall into the city.

Ann Doherty said the works will make the park far more opened up, minimising the risks of anti-social behaviour.

Cities work best when spaces are not cornered off, when you can move freely through them, Ms Doherty said. The redevelopment provides that. It also provides an opportunity to refocus on the historic walls but also have event space because getting people together in the city centre is really important.

Ms Doherty made the comments in an interview with Neil Prendeville on Corks RedFM.

During the interview, Ms Doherty discussed recent business closures in the city.

City council cant make retail happen, what we can do is create conditions which will mean that we have a pleasant city centre thats easy to get about and that has other facilities in it so that people will come, she said.

We know there have been huge changes  online shopping, cost of living  but then were also seeing new entrants coming into the market in the city so that should give us hope and confidence.

She acknowledged that some independent traders have closed for different reasons but said Cork City Council has been supporting businesses.

In the last 13 years, weve only increased our rates by 5% but we offer a huge discount to our smaller ratepayers so we do things to try and help those retailers to trade successfully in our city, she said.

Speaking about antisocial behaviour, drug use and organised begging in the city centre, Ms Doherty said she works really closely with the chief superintendent in relation to addressing the issues.

Yes, Im chief executive of the city council but Im not head of the police. We have an amazing chief superintendent in the city, she said.

Speaking to Superintendent Thomas Myers, in the last 12 months, there have been 173 arrests for begging which is the highest in the country so we have to work very closely together. We have had problems with begging before and we worked together to ensure that its not attractive for professional beggars to be in our city.

When asked, Ms Doherty refused to say how much the estimated cost of building the long-planned multi-million euro events centre will cost, saying it is a government decision.

Last month, Cork City Council said the estimated cost of building the events centre had increased yet again.

She said the events centre, when complete, would have an economic benefit to Cork of around 179m per year in revenue and that it would create 1,000 jobs.
A container ship crashed into a major bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, early on Tuesday, causing it to snap in several places and plunge into the river below.

Several vehicles fell into the chilly waters, and rescuers were initially searching for at least seven people.

Two people were pulled from the waters under the Francis Scott Key Bridge, one in serious condition, according to Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace.

The vessel appears to have hit one of the supports of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing the roadway to break apart in several places and plunge into the water.

The ship caught fire and thick, black smoke billowed out of it.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said: Never would you think that you would see, physically see, the Key Bridge tumble down like that.

It looked like something out of an action movie, Mr Scott said, calling it an unthinkable tragedy.

BREAKING: Footage shows the moment a major bridge collapsed in the US city of Baltimore after it was hit by a cargo ship.



Full story: https://t.co/DZlFHY2Sdn



 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/PiLGxXqdjY  Sky News (@SkyNews) March 26, 2024

Fire chief Mr Wallace said authorities may be looking for upwards of seven people but said that number could change. It was not clear if the two rescued were included in the seven.

Sonar has indicated that there are vehicles in the water, where the temperature was about 47F (8C) in the early hours of Tuesday, according to a buoy that collects data for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Earlier, Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore Fire Department, told The Associated Press: This is a dire emergency. He called the collapse a developing mass casualty event, though he didnt know at the time how many people were affected.

He added that some cargo appeared to be dangling from the bridge.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore declared a state of emergency and said he was working to get federal resources deployed.

The FBI was also on the scene.

EMERGENCY CALLS

Agencies reported receiving emergency calls around 1.30am reporting a vessel travelling outbound from Baltimore that had struck a column on the bridge, causing it to collapse.

Several vehicles were on the bridge at the time, including one the size of a tractor-trailer truck.

The temperature in the river was around 47F (8C) in the early hours of Tuesday, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

From a vantage point near the entrance to the bridge, jagged remnants of its steel frame were visible protruding from the water, with the on-ramp ending abruptly where the span once began.

Synergy Marine Group  which owns and manages the ship called the Dali  confirmed the vessel hit a pillar of the bridge at about 1:30am while it was in control of two pilots.

It said all crew members, including the pilots, were accounted for and there were no reports of any injuries.

Mayor Brandon M Scott and Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr posted that emergency personnel were responding and rescue efforts were underway.

The Maryland Transportation Authority said: All lanes closed both directions for incident on I-695 Key Bridge. Traffic is being detoured.

The bridge, which opened in 1977, spans the Patapsco River, a vital artery that along with the Port of Baltimore is a hub for shipping on the East Coast. It is named after the writer of The Star-Spangled Banner, the US national anthem.
A man who is charged with the murder of Cobh chef Ian Baitson has been remanded in custody for four weeks at a district court sitting in Co. Cork.

Dylan Scannell, 30, with an address at ORahilly Street, Cobh Co. Cork appeared by video link from Cork Prison before Judge Colm Roberts at Mallow District Court.

Court presenter Sgt. Majella OSullivan said that the State would be applying to have Mr Scannell remanded in custody for two weeks or four weeks if he was willing to consent to the longer period of detention.

The purpose of the detention is to allow time for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to issue instructions on how the case should proceed.

Solicitor Cathal Lombard acting on behalf of Mr Scannells solicitor Ken Murray informed his client that the maximum period of detention allowed without his consent was two weeks but he could consent to four weeks detention if he wished.

He said that his solicitor had advised him to agree to two weeks detention.

Judge Colm Roberts said that if Mr Scannell only agreed to two weeks detention, in all likelihood he would be remanded in custody for a further two weeks anyway. He advised Mr Scannell to agree to four weeks but added that the decision was entirely his.

Mr Scannell agreed to a four week period which Judge Roberts said was: A sensible decision. This will take some time.

Judge Roberts remanded Mr Scannell in custody to appear again by video link on April 23 for instructions from the DPP.

Mr Scannell was charged with the murder of Ian Baitson at Midleton District Court on Monday.

Ian Baitson suffered serious injuries during an incident in a carpark in Cobh on March 15, he died in hospital on March 19.
A sea fisheries officer fell into the sea 50 miles off the Irish coast yesterday when the ladder at the side of trawler he was boarding collapsed as he went to climb on board for a routine inspection.

The officer, Nigel Ducker, said today that it was fortunate that it happened to him rather than somebody else as he had extensive safety training and that the plunge into the cold sea did not cause the shock it would have caused for a less experienced person.

Mr Ducker said that he was on Sea Fisheries Protection duties patrolling the Celtic Sea since St Patricks Day and was making a routine boarding of the Vision V trawler having notified them at sea of the inspection and requested the boarding ladder be put out to access their boat. He left his own vessel and went by means of a RIB to the Vision V.

I proceeded to climb the boarding ladder. I think I got four steps up. It is like a rope ladder with wooden steps. The rope broke and I went into the water with the boarding ladder. The RIB was slightly behind me (with a colleague on board). I went directly into the water.

The ladder was so close, I had a helmet that was ripped off. I came back up. The safety gear inflated. I pushed away from the vessel I was in the water for about a minute.

We do a lot of safety training and I am an ex-lifeboat coxswain in Bantry. I am well used to the cold shock. I was able to keep calm. All our safety measures worked. It could have been a lot worse.

We directed the vessel to come to Cork. The vessel is now on Kennedy Quay in the city, Mr Ducker said.

Evidence

The Sea Fisheries Protection Officer gave this evidence in a case prosecuted by state solicitor Jeremiah Healy against master of the Vision V, James Langan of Donegal, who pleaded guilty to not providing a safe boarding ladder as required under regulations.

Tony Greenway solicitor said Mr Langan had cooperated in every way with this matter from the very beginning, and this was accepted by the prosecution.

Judge Mary Dorgan noted at Cork District Court that the maximum fine was 5,000. She imposed a 4,000 fine on the defendant.

Mr Greenway said the 46-year-old master of the vessel had been fishing since 1996 without any conviction of any kind against him.

Mr Ducker said that the particular manilla/hemp rope was used in preference to synthetic materials for its fire-resistant qualities but he said that repeated wetting and drying could cause it to perish.

Mr Greenway said the master of the vessel had been in contact with the owners who took the matter very seriously and had undertaken to replace the ladder, inspect it regularly and store it in a waterproof container in future. The vessel is only 18 months old and otherwise in excellent condition.

Judge Dorgan said the ladder was not just unsafe for Mr Ducker but it could have had terrible consequences if the crew of the trawler had been depending on it in an emergency. The judge agreed that it was fortunate Mr Ducker was such an experienced officer.
FOLLOWING the announcement at the beginning of the week of an opening date for Camden Fort Meagher in Crosshaven, local councillors have welcomed the news that the fortified facility will be opened as a tourism attraction on April 27 next.

The announcement of the opening date, of what has been described as one of the finest remaining examples of a coastal artillery fort, comes after the recent completion of extensive and painstaking restoration works on the casemate block as well as other works throughout the facility.

These included the excavation, waterproofing, and back-filing of barrel-vaulted roofs, along with the employment of traditional methods for stone cleaning and re-pointing of stonework with lime mortar.

When the fort reopens at the end of April, it will also include a new on-site ticket office, gift shop, and cafe with breathtaking views of Cork Harbour to add to each visitors experience.

Carrigaline Municipal District Council chairman, Fianna Fail councillor Audrey Buckley, expressed her delight at this weeks announcement of an opening date.

We are looking forward to seeing all the work that has been accomplished since its closure back in 2019 due to covid-19, she said.

Many of us are looking forward to sitting out on deck at the cafe, watching the racing out in the harbour, and the many cruise ships passing by.

Independent councillor Marcia Dalton described the fort as a world-class piece of heritage with so much potential.

Were all very excited to be working towards achieving and showcasing that, she said.

According to fellow Independent councillor Ben Dalton OSullivan, the announcement of the April 27 opening date was a very positive, good-news story for the harbour area as it prepares for the summer tourism season.

Fine Gael councillor Jack White paid tribute to the efforts of Cork County Council staff and volunteers who ensured the reopening could successfully occur.

They deserve tremendous credit, he said.

Managed correctly, Camden Fort Meagher can become a major driver of tourism and economic growth in Crosshaven, and indeed South Cork as a whole.

Fellow Fine Gael councillor Una McCarthy also welcomed the reopening of Camden Fort Meagher.

The significant investment by Cork County Council has allowed the extensive restoration work to take place, she said.

The guided tours of the fort as well as the cafe with the stunning views of Cork Harbour will all add to the visitor experience to this historical site.

Im certain it will attract many visitors, both domestic and international, for many years to come, she added.

Councillor Seamus McGrath of Fianna Fail said that the fort was a wonderful local facility.

Mr McGrath added that he was delighted to hear that it will be reopened at the end of next month.

Describing the refurbished facility as the jewel in the crown of our wonderful offering to tourists and visitors to Cork Harbour, Mr McGrath said a strong promotion campaign was needed to showcase the superb offering across the harbour area with Camden Fort Meagher at its heart.

The restoration work at the facility has earned Cork County Council a nomination for the 2024 Irish Construction Excellence Awards.
By Cillian Sherlock, PA

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.

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.

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.

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.
By Cate McCurry, PA

About a third of the States corporation tax receipts is collected from three individual companies, the Minister for Finance has said.

Michael McGrath warned of a concentration risk as the top 10 businesses in the Republic contribute almost 60 per cent of all corporation tax.

It came as a report claimed it is probable that two or more companies may be contributing at least 10 per cent or more of the countrys corporation tax revenue each year.

The report from the Parliamentary Budget Office looked at the growth of Irelands business tax groups.

It also said there is a limited amount of information available about the countrys biggest corporate taxpayers.

Mr McGrath said: I dont get down to the level of individual firms or a couple of firms in the analysis that I or my department do, but we are aware from publicly available information, including the assessment by the Fiscal Advisory Council, that, over a period of about four years, about a third of the corporation tax receipts that Ireland has been collecting can be identified as coming from three individual companies.

Whether it be the top three or the top two or the top 10, the overall message is clear  there is a concentration risk.

We are dependent on a relatively small number of very large companies who are paying a large proportion of the corporation tax.

Mr McGrath said the report highlights the risks involved around a small number of companies paying a large portion of corporation tax.

The high level of corporation tax receipts that we are collecting is a reflection of the strength of the foreign direct investment sector in Ireland, he told RTE's Morning Ireland.

Michael McGrath warned of a concentration risk (Niall Carson/PA)

It is a sector employing over 300,000 people, particularly in life sciences, including pharma, technology, financial services, and a whole range of other sectors.

But what the report does very usefully highlight are a number of risks that I have been talking about for quite some time.

One of them is the concentration risk. We have known from Revenue publications, for example, that the top 10 companies contribute almost 60 per cent of all the corporation tax paid.

In the next number of weeks, the Revenue will provide a further update in relation to the evolving concentration risk.
Dr. Sina Raissi, right, a nephrologist and partner in a small medical practice in Middlebury, said his practice has not been able to submit bills for services for any patients since Feb. 21, 2024, when the Change Healthcare system was taken down following a ransomware attack. Raissi said his practice will soon run out of cash. He is shown reviewing patient data with Sherry Hawk, a medical assistant at the practice. courtesy of Dr. Sima Raissi

No one, certainly not a medical doctor, would compare the meltdown of the nation's largest health care claims and reimbursement system to the COVID-19 pandemic when it comes to the tragic effect on families.

But as a crisis in everyday management and a cash emergency, the ransomware attack and shutdown of Change Healthcare's massive medical billing system could rival the global virus outbreak. That's the view of many, including Dr. Sina Raissi, a nephrologist  a kidney specialist  in a small practice of four physicians in Middlebury.

"COVID was not a cash flow situation, it was a patient care situation," Raissi told me. "If this situation continues I would categorize this as worse than what we were facing during the COVID."

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The good doctor is not saying the Change Healthcare crisis is worse for people's lives than COVID. But his medical practice and thousands like it, not to mention hospitals, nursing homes and pharmacies across the state and nation, have in many cases not been paid for their work since Feb. 21.

That's when the cyberattack hit Change Healthcare, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, the giant insurer.

Raissi and his three partners, the four nephrologists at his practice, are now in their fourth week of forgoing paychecks for themselves. And they're not alone as medical practices struggle to keep patient care going seamlessly.

That's bad enough, especially for the younger physicians with big mortgages and medical school debt than on Raissi, whose kids are grown. But he and his partners have a staff of ten employees and those folks, of course, need to be paid, along with other bills.

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They're starting to run out of money. And if something doesn't turn around soon, they will hit a wall because Change Healthcare operates on a delay of three or four weeks, from the time the docs submit claims for various payers  private insurance companies, Medicaid or Medicare  to the time they receive a check in the mail.

With the system disabled, they haven't been able to submit claims except for a few, by hand. "From now on we anticipate a significant decline in our cash flow, essentially coming down to a trickle," Raissi told me in an interview Thursday. And the situation has not been resolved since.

"Thats what we are bracing for right now, which is going to be a huge problem for practices like ours."

Not to mention, in many medical practices and at many hospitals, health care providers are performing services that may or may not end up being covered. They can't line up pre-authorization as usual. That means patients could end up with bills for work that isn't covered, or more likely, for services that end up in dispute  on top of the usual battles over insurance coverage.

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If it gets bad enough, the shutdown could mean furloughs for staff at Raissi's practice.

"This is a hectic office like a lot of small practices," he told me. "Even the thought of putting any one of them on furlough is scary to me because anything that slows down could impact patient care, satisfaction and the quality of the care that we provide."

Multiplied across billions of claims  Change handles one-third to one-half of all billings in the United States  this is a true crisis, but one of the quietest I've ever reported on. Why is is not creating loud headlines? Why are calls for accountability by UnitedHealth Group, and demands for action by the state and federal government, echoing blankly like a night train in the distance?

Oh sure, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., joined industry groups including the Connecticut Hospital Association and the Southern New England Healthcare Organization, which represents independent practices including Raissi's, in demanding action. "What's needed now is advance payments, not the...shockingly inadequate trickle that UnitedHealth Group has provided," Blumenthal said at the state Capitol last week.

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UnitedHealth Group and its Change Healthcare unit have given regular updates on a dedicated website which says key systems are in testing for a return to full service, and that they will address a backlog of $14 billion in claims,

That's not good enough of course. Blumenthal and the industry want the state to pressure federal health officials to require private insurers as well as Medicare and Medicaid to send money to providers for services done, which would be sorted out later.

That isn't happening, at least not fast enough. In a piece of good news, the state Department of Social Services is working toward advance payments for HUSKY and other Medicaid providers, a spokeswoman said Monday. That fix requires a formal request to the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which requires approval of two legislative committees.

"We are working diligently to get a meeting scheduled," DSS spokeswoman Christine Stuart said late Monday. "We understand the magnitude of the situation for the small providers."

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So, considering the disruption, why aren't we hearing more about this? The answer is, folks like Raissi and his partners, as well as hospitals and industry groups, are protecting the rest of us. Before they furlough anyone, Raissi and his partners will run down their lines of credit with banks. They're also working with the provider of their practice management system to find an alternative to Change Healthcare, though that takes time.

"Were dealing with a lot of anxiety but we have kind of shielded the patients," Raissi told me. "I grab onto any piece of news that says things are going to be better but no, I am not confident... Im not seeing anything, not at all."

Lisa Trumble, CEO of Southern New England Healthcare, known as SoNO HEALTH, said the money offered by UnitedHealth Group is mostly loans, not outright advances. "These independent providers," she said, "have fewer resources available to provide services to patients when things go wrong."

She added, "From the state we would certainly want some accommodations."

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The broader picture is about accountability. Federal regulators never should have approved the takeover of Change Healthcare a few years ago by United, because Change is a service arm to the industry in which United competes as an insurer, creating a conflict.

"The entire structure deserves to be investigated," Blumenthal said.

No, this meltdown will not kill millions of people like a pandemic, but as we've come to learn, these vast systems are all the more vulnerable these days. That has doctors such as Raissi and his partners struggling behind the scenes to keep patient care unaffected.

"We will fight tooth and nail for something like that never to happen," he said, "but we are anxious."

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By Rebecca Black, PA

A man and a woman have been arrested over a loyalist gun attack in Co Down 30 years ago.

Former school teacher Peter McCormack, 42, was killed and three others were injured in the shooting at the Thierafurth Inn in Kilcoo on November 19 1992.

On Tuesday, the Police Service of Northern Ireland said that detectives from the Legacy Investigation Branch investigating the attack made two arrests.

Our detectives have made two arrests in relation to the murder of Peter McCormack and the attempted murder of others in the Thierafurth Inn in Kilcoo in 1992. pic.twitter.com/GjvtYF7tV8  Police Newry, Mourne and Down (@PSNINMDown) March 26, 2024

A 63-year-old man and a 58-year-old woman were arrested in the South Down area on Tuesday morning under the Terrorism Act.

A police spokesperson said they were taken to the Serious Crime Suite at Musgrave Police Station in Belfast for questioning.

The arrests come after police issued a fresh appeal for information last November about the attack which was attributed to the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force.
Podcast: Cascale - measuring for impact

WAKEFIELD  Our host Philip Berman speaks with Jeremy Lardeau, senior VP of the Higg Index at Cascale, and Quentin Thorel, group head of sustainability for CIEL Textile, for our latest podcast.

The first of a four part series, brought to you in association with Cascale  the new name of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, features a discussion on the importance of measuring for impact.

Lardeau begins by explaining how the organisations new name is a combination of CA for collective action and scale representing the size of the challenge.

After hearing this rebrand was partly to enable a move into adjacent industries, such as outdoor equipment and home textiles, Berman asks whether this was aimed at reducing impacts or increasing revenues.

"We have many members already operating in these adjacent product verticals. And so this extension is just natural, organic and we're not looking at it as a trigger for revenue expansion," replies Lardeau

CIEL Textile, which supplies brands including Ralph Lauren, Levi's, Calvin Klein and Lacoste, has used two Higg tools  the Facility Environmental Module (FEM) and the Facility Social & Labor Module (FSLM)  since 2019.

Listeners hear that by 2022, the company was achieving an average FEM score of 88.4% across its 19 manufacturing facilities in Madagascar, Mauritius, India and Bangladesh  with some exceeding 90%.

Thorel tells Berman: Thanks to the FEM. We have developed a common language across the group. Because we operate in four different countries, the understanding of a topic might be different.

It is easier now to do benchmarking on factory performance. It's easier for us at group level to define who is doing well on which aspect and to extend the best practices of one factory to others.

Lardeau comments: I just want to commend Ciel, that's a really high score. To give you some perspective, the average FEM score typically hangs around 50, or just under, so those are really good scores.

Berman and his guests go on to discuss the importance of impact measurement in enabling the fashion industry to meet its CO2 targets and ensure decent work for all. To hear the full podcast CLICK HERE.

Subscribe to our podcasts and radio shows by following us on Apple, Google, Spotify and Amazon Music. For a look at our complete podcast archive, click HERE.
ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (March 26, 2024)  Kim Downing has been a clinical social worker for 35 years. However, its her 15 years at Elizabeth City State University (ECSU) as a professor and director of the universitys Social Work program that gives her the most satisfaction.

While I am very passionate about social work, overall, as a profession, I consider my tenure as an educator the most fulfilling aspect of my career to date, Downing said. I always feel like a proud mom watching our former students transform into the professionals they are today. It is a tremendous joy to witness and applaud their achievements as they advance in their careers with such grace and excellence.

Her passion for helping her students achieve and her dedication to the university has earned Downing a place among 17 academicians selected for the 2024 Awards for Excellence in Teaching by the University of North Carolina Board of Governors. The group will receive a bronze medallion and a cash award.

The recipients represent all 16 of North Carolinas public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics. Recipients were nominated by special committees at each institution and selected by the Board of Governors Committee on Educational Planning, Policies, and Programs, according to a UNC System press release.

These extraordinary faculty members have dedicated their lives to teaching and are committed to lifting up their students to become the next generation of leaders for North Carolina and the nation, said UNC Board of Governors chair Randy Ramsey. We are grateful for their service and congratulate them on these awards.

Downing will be recognized during ECSUs spring commencement ceremony on May 4. Downing, also the universitys director of Summer School, said receiving the highest honor for faculty in the UNC System is a great affirmation.

It is truly humbling to represent our beloved ECSU in this capacity. Aside from the thrilling feeling that accompanies a professional milestone such as this, more than anything, this award has prompted me to reflect with gratitude on my journey thus far, she said. Its a journey that has been characterized by mentors, colleagues, loved ones, and my unwavering faith that has undergirded and supported me along each and every step.
(Photo: REUTERS / Stringer)India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) speaks with cardinal George Alencherry at an event organized by the Christian community to celebrate the beatification of two Indians by Pope Francis late last year, in New Delhi February 17, 2015. Modi vowed on Tuesday to protect all religious groups, an apparent response to a series of attacks on Christian institutions in New Delhi fuelling concerns that minorities are being targeted by Hindu zealots

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) has welcomed the commitment of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to protect the rights of religious minorities there, saying with the official's statement comes the wait for "concrete action."

CBCI spokesman Father Joseph Chinnayyan explained that the prime minister's remarks on the issue had long been awaited especially since most of the attacks have been purportedly carried out by members or supporters of the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janaya Party (BJP).

"We welcome his words and now expect concrete action to end violence," the priest said in an interview with the Catholic Fides news agency on Feb. 18.

He noted that Modi's statement, which he made before an assembly of Christians recently, only emphasized the freedom of worship for all Indians, regardless of belief or religious affiliation.

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN INDIA

The bishops' spokesman reiterated that religious freedom in India is enshrined in the country's constitution.

Chinnayyan also pointed out that Modi's remarks should also serve notice to Hindu extremist groups who have been at the forefront of making India, which is a secular state, into a Hindu-nation.

"The premier affirmed that all religions in India, whether majority or minority, have the same rights and every individual has the freedom to profess and diffuse his or her beliefs," the priest explained. "We welcome these words which are a message for all, including Hindu extremist groups," he said.

"Now we are waiting to see action," he continued.

Modi spoke at an event organized by the Syro-Malabarese Catholic Church to mark the canonization of two Indian saints.

His presence alone at the event had been interpreted as a positive sign that he had been concerned about the apparent growing intolerance against minority faiths like Christianity.

Churches have been attacked in past months, while both Christians and Muslims say they have been forced to convert to Hinduism by some sectors of society.

In his speech, Modi reiterated that "no religious group may incite to violence. My government intends to guarantee freedom of belief and no religious group, whether majority or minority, may incite to hatred against another group, directly or indirectly."

India's population is some 1.2 billion, of whom about 75 percent are Hindu, 13 percent Muslim and Christians are believed to account for about 4.5 percent of the population; followed by other minority religious groups.
(Copyright by World Economic Forum / Valeriano Di Domenico)Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India during the Opening of the Annual Meeting 2018 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, January 23, 2018.

A court in India has effectively banned Islamic schools in the country's most populous state, a move that could further distance many Muslims from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu-nationalist government ahead of national elections.

The March 22 ruling scraps a 2004 law governing madrasas, or schools, in Uttar Pradesh, saying it breaches India's constitutional secularism and ordering that students be moved to conventional schools, Reuters news agency reported.

The court struck down the law governing madrasas, weeks before a nationwide election in the world's largest democracy.

The Allahabad High Court in Uttar Pradesh declared the Madrasa Act of 2004 unconstitutional, according to CNN, and ordered 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"

The court said it cannot provide for the education of a particular religion, its instructions, prescriptions, and philosophies or create separate education systems for separate religions.

Of India's nearly 1.4 billion people Hindu's account for almost 80 percent, Muslims 14.2 percent, Christians 2.3 percent and Sikhs 1.7 percent, according to the CIA Factbook.

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.

Uttar Pradesh has a population of some 200 million people, about 20 percent of whom are Muslim, according to India's most recent census data from 2011.

The state is governed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has made headlines over the past decade for passing some of the country's most controversial laws.

Critics say the state's laws discriminate against Muslims and marginalize them in India, which is a secular republic.
(REUTERS/ Danish Siddiqui)Christians in India protest attacks on churches.

UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet has appealed to India to safeguard human rights defenders, and NGOs saying three laws stifle their work including one that discriminates against religious minorities including Muslims, the second biggest religious group, and Christians.

"She has expressed regret at the tightening of space for NGOs, including by the application of vaguely worded laws that restrict foreign funding and are increasingly being used to stifle civil society voices," said Rupert Colville, a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Oct. 20.

"She draws attention to three different laws that we perceive to be problematic," said Colville speaking at a briefing for journalists at the UN in Geneva in which he raised the detention in custody of an 83-year-old Catholic priest.

"India has long had a strong civil society, which has been at the forefront of groundbreaking human rights advocacy within the country and globally," said Bachelet. "But I am concerned that vaguely defined laws are increasingly being used to stifle these voices."

Colville cited the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, a "vaguely worded and overbroad in its objective" which prohibits the receipt of foreign funds "for any activities prejudicial to the public interest" has been invoked over the years to justify "an array of highly intrusive measures."

He also said charges have also been filed under this law against several individuals in connection with demonstrations that date back to 2018.

"Most recently, the 83-year-old Catholic priest Stan Swamy, a long-standing activist engaged in defending the rights of marginalized groups, was charged and reportedly remains in detention, despite his poor health."

These range from official raids on NGO offices and freezing of bank accounts, to suspension or cancellation of registration, including of civil society organizations that have engaged with UN human rights bodies.

CITIZENSHIP AMENDMENT ACT

Colville said there has been mounting pressure in recent months against rights workers, mainly because of their engagement in mass protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act that took place across India earlier this year.

"More than 1,500 people have reportedly been arrested in relation to the protests, with many charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act," he said.

The law has been widely criticized for its lack of conformity with international human rights standards said the UN rights spokesman.

Colville said in answer to a question from Anadolu Agency that the Citizens Amendment Act passed in December 2019 provides an expedited pathway to citizenship for Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians.

"In other words, groups that are not Muslim from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, and it refers to people who arrived in India before the 31st of December 2014.

"So at the time it was passed, we issued a statement calling it fundamentally discriminatory because of the way it differentiates between people of different religions.

The passing of the citizenship Amendment Act has triggered strong reactions among Indian civil society, and from people from many different religions, not only Muslims, he said.

"So many perceive it as going against India's secular traditions."

Muslims account for some 14 percent of India's mainly Hindu population and are the second-largest religious group in the country, while Christianity is the country's s third-largest faith with about 28 million followers, constituting 2.3 percent of India's population.

Colville said charges have also been filed under this law against several individuals in connection with demonstrations that date back to 2018.




Caged egg farmers consider legal action as Victoria, Australia, seeks to end caged production

Caged egg farmers in Victoria, Australia, are preparing for a legal case against the Victorian government if their industry is shut down.

Victoria last year joined other Australian states in committing to the phase-out of caged egg production by 2036, but standards are yet to be created and there is no detail on when a phase-out would begin or what compensation would be paid.

Egg producer Brian Ahmed said a group of producers was preparing for a class action if the changes meant they could not farm anymore.

"The caged egg farmers have engaged our lawyers and we're looking at what our rights are and what we can do," he said. "We've got family businesses, employ a lot of people, we've been doing it for 60 years or more."

Data from Australian Eggs shows annual egg consumption jumped 19% in the seven years to the 202223 financial year, with Australians consuming on average 263 eggs each a year.

Free-range eggs made up 56.5% of retail sales.

"The market should determine how we produce eggs, not governments. People have the right to choose what they want to buy and eat," Ahmed added. He highlighted that the group of 15 egg producers ran about 1.5 million layer hens, and their farm infrastructure might be unable to be altered to suit the new proposed poultry standards.

"We're concerned about the standards and guidelines with the recommendation to phase out cages," he said. "We've invested millions of dollars in environmental systems and improved welfare, and now there's discussion about phasing these systems out.

"We've got businesses situated in metropolitan areas and we've got a growing market for our product."

The lack of clarity from the Victorian government had halted further investment in the industry, according to Ahmed.

He also said farmers were promised further consultation that has yet to happen.

"If this continues for a longer period of time, egg supply will get shorter and shorter because we don't know how to invest our money," he said.



- ABC News




Thailand and UK to establish strategic partnership, includes agriculture sector

Thailand and the UK are set to establish a strategic partnership, solidifying their commitment to bolster cooperation in diverse fields including economy, trade, investment, climate action, and agriculture, Bernama reported.

According to a statement from the Thai Foreign Ministry, Thailand and the UK will formally declare their strategic partnership during the visit of Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Affairs of the UK, to Thailand.

The Foreign Ministers of both nations will sign the "Thailand-UK Strategic Partnership Roadmap," underscoring their mutual dedication to advancing comprehensive collaboration in eight key domains.

These areas encompass economy, trade, and investment; political affairs, parliamentary cooperation, and multilateral engagement; security and defence; climate change mitigation, energy transition, sustainable development, and the green economy; agriculture, digitalisation, science, technology, innovation, public health, and people-to-people relations; education and soft power.

Highlighting the significance of the partnership, the UK becomes Thailand's inaugural strategic ally in Europe, marking a milestone in their bilateral relations, which have endured for nearly two centuries. The upcoming year will witness the celebration of the 170th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between the two nations.

During Lord Cameron's visit, diplomatic engagements will include a courtesy call on Thailand's Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, along with bilateral discussions with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara.

These meetings aim to reinforce collaboration in key areas such as trade and investment, security and defence, science, technology, and innovation (STI), environmental conservation, tourism, and cultural exchange, according to a statement from Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

- Bernama
Maryelizabeth Bradford Farmington Police Department/contributed

FARMINGTON  Two men went from hanging out with an exotic dancer in a hot tub to being stripped, beaten and robbed by armed intruders, according to the warrant for the arrest of one of the suspected attackers.

That suspect, Branden Holloway, 25, of Hartford, was one of two people arrested this month in connection with the 2022 home invasion. Joshua Jenkins, 31, of Hartford, was the other, police said.

The men were arrested Jan. 22 and Jan. 23 on a string of charges that include home invasion, first-degree robbery and second-degree assault. They also are charged with criminal attempt to commit first-degree sexual assault, although any reference to that allegation was either missing or blacked out of Holloways warrant.

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A third person, who the victims said appeared to be the ringleader, Maryelizabeth Bradford, was arrested on home invasion charges in November 2022. She was 25 at the time of her arrest.

Branden Holloway Farmington Police Department/contributed

According to the warrant, a Waterville Road resident called police around 1:40 a.m. Sept. 13, 2022, and said two naked men were in her driveway asking her to call 911.

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Both men had bruised and swollen faces, and one had blood running down his face from cuts, according to police. The men said they had been robbed at a nearby Talcott Notch Road house one of them owns, the warrant said.

The man who owns the home later told police that 16 items, including clothes, jewelry and cologne, were stolen from his home, and that the value of the items was about $17,275, the warrant said.

Police learned that the two friends planned to have Bradford, whom one of the men knew as Lola, come over and bring a female friend, the warrant said. The man who knew her said she worked as an exotic dancer at Starlets in Queens, N.Y., the warrant stated.

He said he had met her at Lit Ultra Lounge in Waterbury a few years earlier. They follow each other on Instagram, and Bradford reached out to him on the social media platform, asking to hang out, the warrant said.

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Joshua Jenkins Farmington Police Department/contributed

After her arrest, Bradford told police that she thought the man was wealthy and sold drugs based on the way he spent a lot of cash at the club, the warrant said.

The man and Bradford spoke on FaceTime the day before the home invasion, the warrant said, and agreed to get together; each was going to bring a friend.

That night, the man and his male friend met Bradford in Hartford, and she followed them in her car to the male friends Farmington house, the warrant said. She didnt have her female friend with her, the victims told police  but that wasnt the only thing that seemed amiss, according to the warrant.

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While the three of them hung out in a backyard hot tub, the men noticed Lola seemed distracted, according to the warrant. She was on her cellphone a lot and didnt drink the alcoholic beverage that was poured for her, the warrant said.

Next thing the two men knew, two masked men dressed in black emerged from the tree line, pointing guns at them, the victims told police, yelling this is a robbery," the warrant said.

The intruders pulled the men out of the hot tub while Lola was giving orders, telling the masked men what to look for in the house and who to beat, according to the warrant. If the victim wasnt perceived to be giving up jewelry or cooperating with the robbery, he was beaten, the warrant said. The men said they were held at gunpoint, the warrant said.

The intruders stripped the men of their clothes, dragged them to the second floor, the victims said, threw pillowcases over their heads and repeatedly asked them about cash and jewelry while they went through the residence and pistol-whipped and beat them, the warrant said.

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One of the robbers, put a gun to his head and threatened to kill them if they did not tell where the money was, one victim told police, according to the warrant.

One victim told police that Bradford held his cellphone to his face to unlock his bank account in what turned out to be a failed attempt to transfer money, the warrant said.

Apparently frustrated that they werent finding what they thought was in the home, Bradford and the masked intruders talked about burning down the house or kidnapping the men and holding them for ransom, according to the warrant.

Afraid 'I was going to witness a murder'

At one point, one of the victims was able to break free of the ties and get a razor to cut his friend free. They jumped from a second-floor balcony and ran for help, he told police.

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Police determined Lola's real name and learned she had attended Rockville High School in Vernon. When they interviewed Bradford, she confirmed much of the victims accounts but minimized her involvement, the warrant said.

She said the two victims had every reason to fear for their lives, according to the warrant, and later said she was afraid that I was going to witness a murder.

Detectives also used social media to find Holloway and Jenkins, and confirmed their involvement through cellphone records and surveillance cameras, the warrant said.

They determined Bradford thought the two victims had a lot of cash and said one of the victims wearing what she thought was a $30,000 chain when they were on FaceTime, the warrant said.

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Engadget has been testing and reviewing consumer tech since 2004. Our stories may include affiliate links; if you buy something through a link, we may earn a commission. Read more about how we evaluate products.

Apple's AirTag is the top pick for iPhone owners in our Bluetooth tracker buying guide (unsurprisingly), and right now a four-pack of the little devices is down to a record low of $75 at Amazon, Walmart and Best Buy. The pack previously fell to $80 earlier this week, a deal we've seen numerous times since the holiday shopping season. This new discount, however, matches the best price we've tracked, coming in $24 below Apple's list price. As long as you want to keep tabs on several items, it's also cheaper than buying four single AirTags separately, as those are currently going for $24 each.

We highlight the AirTag in our guide because it can utilize Apple's giant network of devices to locate items. If you misplace an AirTag-equipped bookbag, for instance, nearby Apple devices can anonymously alert Apple's Find My network when the bag is close, then the Find My app will report that location back to you. Since there are more than two billion iPhones, iPads, Macs and other Apple gadgets active in the wild, the odds of finding something are generally better here than with other trackers that use much smaller crowd-finding networks.

Once you're in the vicinity of a lost item, the AirTag uses a wireless connection called ultrawideband (UWB) to more precisely lead you in the right direction, displaying an arrow and distance estimate when you're nearby. The tracker has an IP67 rating, so it can survive a brief dip underwater, and it's one of the few Apple gadgets with an easily replaceable battery. On its own, Apple says the battery is designed to last "more than a year" before it needs changing.

The biggest disadvantage the AirTag has compared to competitors like Tile is that it's only available in one shape. Its coin-like design is easy to tuck away but doesn't come with a built-in keyring hole or adhesive. If you want to actually attach it to an item, you need to pay for a separate accessory.

It's also worth noting that AirTags aren't designed to find stolen items. They could help with that, but if your AirTag is found moving with someone else, that person will receive an alert telling them so. This feature is meant to hinder those who might use AirTags for stalking, which has been an unfortunate side effect of the device's effectiveness. That said, both Apple and Google have issued updates to further combat bad actors. As a bit of extra security against losing your stuff, the AirTag works well, and this deal makes it a little more accessible. There should be no worry about a new model coming anytime soon, either, as a Bloomberg report earlier this year said a second-generation device isn't expected until 2025.

If you own a Samsung Galaxy phone, meanwhile, we'll note that a four-pack of Samsung's Galaxy SmartTag 2 is also on sale for an all-time low of $70 at Amazon and B&H. This is another pick in our buying guide: It's not quite as precise as an AirTag and only works with Samsung phones, but it's easy to setup, it has a built-in cutout and it works similarly if you're a committed Galaxy user.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
The 40 plus acre Ansonia Copper & Brass property on the Naugatuck River in Ansonia, Conn. on Monday, July 28, 2014. The property is one of many in the city is targeting for redevelopment. Brian A. Pounds / Brian A. Pounds A press conference and tour of the former Ansonia Copper and Brass factory complex is held in Ansonia, Conn., on Tuesday Aug. 18, 2020. Mayor David Cassetti, who held the press conference was joined by US Senator Richard Blumenthal, and State Senator George Logan. Mayor Cassetti wants to build a road that will connect the Ansonia Copper and Brass site to Route 8 but he needs state and federal funding. Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media A view of the former Ansonia Copper and Brass factory complex in Ansonia, Conn., on Tuesday Aug. 18, 2020. The North End Ecomonic Recovery Municipal Development Plan suggests improvements which could bring industry and jobs back to the complex.. Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media Most of the remaining structures inside the former Ansonia Copper and Brass Co would have to be demolished before manufacturing returns according to Mayor David Cassetti. Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media The former Ansonia Copper and Brass factory complex in Ansonia Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media A fire broke out Friday evening at the former Ansonia Copper and Brass site on Liberty Street. Donald Eng / Hearst Connecticut Media

ANSONIA  The city could soon own a pair of long-vacant contaminated downtown properties totaling more than 40 acres  and not a moment too soon, according to officials.

"In the relative near past we've had some incidents including an oil leak on the property that the present owner has been nonresponsive and unaccountable for and a fire that occurred on the Liberty Street parcel just about a month ago that was the result of arson," John Marini, the city's corporation counsel, told a judge during a March 18 foreclosure hearing asking for the city to be given title to the land owned by the Ansonia Copper and Brass Company. "The city is looking to progress this matter to its conclusion and take possession of the property so it can secure it and move forward."

The city filed a foreclosure lawsuit in 2022 seeking the properties on Riverside Drive and Main Street following years of wrangling and unfulfilled promises. Neither the company nor its last chief executive ever responded in court.

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Judge Jason Welch continued the hearing two weeks to see if the city could obtain a release of a federal lien connected to the property. Marini said afterward he didn't anticipate any problems prior to the next court date.

The company is not represented by a lawyer in the lawsuit, and its last chief executive, Ray McGee, could not be reached for comment.

While the sprawling complex on the eastern bank of the Naugatuck River once employed workers day and night, any value the land has is outweighed by the millions required for environmental cleanup as a result of its industrial past, according to appraisals on file in court.

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Marini said the ballpark cleanup cost is $10 million above the ground alone, without addressing many areas of concern identified in environmental impact reports on the property.

Nevertheless, Marini said the city has received "a lot of interest from some very credible and even globally known firms" interested in developing the property. He said that there's "plenty of funding in the wings for remediation."

The total cost of environmental cleanup at the property would depend on its ultimate use, Marini said, identifying "industrial and commercial end users with focus on job generation and revenue for the municipality and its education system" as potential buyers.

"There is also a need to reconstruct the bridge that serves as the main commercial entrance that weve already obtaining Federal funding for, and also a plan to construct an access road to Route 8," Marini said.

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Jack Walsh, the former president and chief operating officer of the Valley United Way, which used the company's former offices on Liberty Street, said the metals business was already in trouble in the late 1980s.

"The foreign competition was just killing them," Walsh said.

Industry once dominated the city, with Ansonia Copper and Brass and Farrel Corporation employees providing a steady flow of customers to city businesses.

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"That whole area was thriving," Walsh said. "They had three shifts. It was just around the clock. And hard work, very hard work. It wasn't easy work but it paid very well at the time. It was such a loss when they had to close."
Apple just announced that the 35th annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is set to occur from June 10 until June 14. The WWDC 2024 keynote is scheduled for June 10 at the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California. The remaining festivities are online and free for developers to attend.

What should we expect at this years keynote? WWDC is typically a software-centric event, so we might hear some details on the work Apple has been doing around AI over the last year or so. Other reports indicate that Apple will show off a suite of upcoming updates, including iOS 18, iPadOS 18, tvOS 18, macOS 15 and watchOS 11, according to MacRumors. Its also likely the company will reveal the next operating system for the recently-released Apple Vision Pro headset, visionOS 2.

Its even possible well get some new hardware announcements. Though typically software-adjacent, last years WWDC was chock full of product announcements, from the aforementioned Vision Pro to the 15-inch M2 MacBook Air. The Mac Mini has been missing from recent product refreshes, so maybe the company will announce an M3-based update.

Mark your calendars for #WWDC24, June 10-14. Its going to be Absolutely Incredible! pic.twitter.com/YIln5972ZD  Greg Joswiak (@gregjoz) March 26, 2024

As for the new software, there have been plenty of rumors regarding iOS 18. It has been reported that Apple might integrate Googles Gemini AI with Siri and various iPhone apps. Check the suspicious capitalization of "Absolutely Incredible" in the above post from Apple's VP of worldwide marketing Brad Joswiak for a winking acknowledgement of the move. Its also been suggested that the smartphone software will allow users to place apps anywhere on the home screen grid and will offer RCS support in the Messages app, along with the usual array of design changes.

The keynote event will be available on the Apple Developer app, the Apple website and YouTube. The company is also inviting 50 winners of its annual Swift Student Challenge to attend WWDC in person.

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The Oversight Board is urging Meta to change the way it moderates the word shaheed, an Arabic term that has led to more takedowns than any other word or phrase on the companys platforms. Meta asked the group for help crafting new rules last year after attempts to revamp it internally stalled.

The Arabic word shaheed is often translated as martyr, though the board notes that this isnt an exact definition and the word can have multiple meanings. But Metas current rules are based only on the martyr definition, which the company says implies praise. This has led to a blanket ban on the word when used in conjunction with people designated as dangerous individuals by the company.

However, this policy ignores the linguistic complexity of the word, which is often used, even with reference to dangerous individuals, in reporting and neutral commentary, academic discussion, human rights debates and even more passive ways, the Oversight Board says in its opinion. There is strong reason to believe the multiple meanings of shaheed result in the removal of a substantial amount of material not intended as praise of terrorists or their violent actions.

In their recommendations to Meta, the Oversight Board says that the company should end its blanket ban on the word being used to reference dangerous individuals, and that posts should only be removed if there are other clear signals of violence or if the content breaks other policies. The board also wants Meta to better explain how it uses automated systems to enforce these rules.

If Meta adopts the Oversight Boards recommendations, it could have a significant impact on the platforms Arabic-speaking users. The board notes that the word, because it is so common, likely accounts for more content removals under the Community Standards than any other single word or phrase, across the companys apps.

Meta has been operating under the assumption that censorship can and will improve safety, but the evidence suggests that censorship can marginalize whole populations while not improving safety at all, the boards co-chair (and former Danish prime minister) Helle Thorning-Schmidt said in a statement. The Board is especially concerned that Metas approach impacts journalism and civic discourse because media organizations and commentators might shy away from reporting on designated entities to avoid content removals.

This is hardly the first time Meta has been criticized for moderation policies that disproportionately impact Arabic-speaking users. A 2022 report commissioned by the company found that Metas moderators were less accurate when assessing Palestinian Arabic, resulting in false strikes on users accounts. The company apologized last year after Instagrams automated translations began inserting the word terrorist into the profiles of some Palestinian users.

The opinion is also yet another example of how long it can take for Metas Oversight Board to influence the social networks policies. The company first asked the board to weigh in on the rules more than a year ago (the Oversight Board said it paused the publication of the policy after October 7 attacks in Israel to ensure its rules held up to the extreme stress of the conflict in Gaza). Meta will now have two months to respond to the recommendations, though actual changes to the companys policies and practices could take several more weeks or months to implement.

We want people to be able to use our platforms to share their views, and have a set of policies to help them do so safely, a Meta spokesperson said in a statement. We aim to apply these policies fairly but doing so at scale brings global challenges, which is why in February 2023 we sought the Oversight Board's guidance on how we treat the word shaheed when referring to designated individuals or organizations. We will review the Boards feedback and respond within 60 days.
Jasmine Guy shared a haunting encounter she had with Tupac Shakur before his untimely death.

In a interview on The Breakfast Club, Guy disclosed that Tupac Shakur confided in her about his belief that he wouldn't survive past the age of 25 after his release from prison in October 1995. Reflecting on the conversation, Guy, 62, admitted that she didn't dwell on it much at the time.

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"I always just thought he was talking s**t all the time. 'That's legend, put that in the book.' I was like, 'N***a, I'm not writing a book about you.' "

Guy shared that she would have urged the "Dear Mama" emcee to stop sharing such thoughts with her. She felt it was best to keep their conversations private, especially since she didn't fully understand his world. Guy found it hard to believe Tupac's claim that he wouldn't live past 25, which deeply affected her.

" 'I'd be like I'm never telling anybody anything about this experience.' And he kept telling me  he was like 21  and I really didn't understand that world. He knew I wasn't from it. I thought it was ridiculous for him to say he wasn't gonna live past 25... so that hurt."

RELATED: Will Smith 'A Tortured Soul' for 20 Years: Jada Pinkett Smith Posting About Tupac Shakur Had Fans Trolling Husband

Guy, best known as Whitley in 'A Different World,' revealed that Shakur resided in her New York home after surviving a robbery where he was shot five times at Quad Studios in November 1994, two years before his fatal shooting.
Connecticut Gov. William O'Neill looks over the damage to the Mianus River Bridge in this 1983 file photo. Greenwich Time file photo Debris lies below the Mianus River bridge June 28, 1983, in Greenwich after an100-foot section of the northbound bridge gave way, sending vehicles 70 feet into the river below and killing three people. Yvonne Hemsey/Getty Images Traffic moves along Interstate 95 in the Cos Cob section of Greenwich the morning of Nov. 3, 2021. Tyler Sizemore/Hearst Connecticut Media A July 17, 1983, photo of the Mianus River Bridge collapse. File photos The Mianus River Bridge seen from River Road in this file photo. Dru Nadler/The Advocate A 1983 file photo of the Mianus River Bridge collapse. Mathieu Roberts/Greenwich Time A file photo of the Mianus River Bridge collapse. Here, workers recover the hanger pin that slipped and caused the collapse. Greenwich Time file photo A 1983 file photo of the Mianus River Bridge collapse. Greenwich Time file photo Connecticut Gov. William O'Neill meets with members of the press to discuss plans at the site of the collapse. in this 1983 file photo. Greenwich Time file photo A 1983 file photo of the Mianus River Bridge collapse. Here. tow operators attempt to clear wreckage under Interstate 95. In foreground is part of a tractor-trailer truck that fell. Greenwich Time file photo People look at a part of Mianus River bridge on Interstate 95 that collapsed in Greenwich June 28, 1983. Connecticut Post file photo The night of the Mianus River Bridge collapse, June 28, 1983. Tom Ryan

The collapse of a major bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday, after it was struck by a container ship, carries echoes of the Mianus River bridge collapse that occurred more than 40 years ago in Greenwich.

In Baltimore, authorities said they were still searching for six people after the Scott Key bridge over the Patapsco River collapsed, The Associated Press reported. Two people have been pulled from the water, one of them in serious condition.

The six people missing are believed to have been construction workers who were fixing potholes, officials said.

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Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said the preliminary investigation into the collapse "points to an accident."

"We haven't seen any credible evidence of a terrorist attack," Moore said, speaking during a news conference Tuesday morning.

Video showed the collapse occurred after a large container ship rammed into a support structure of the bridge carrying Interstate 695 over the river.

The bridge collapse along a major highway sprang to mind the 1983 collapse in the Cos Cob section of Greenwich. Like the Baltimore collapse, the disaster in Greenwich occurred during the overnight hours, outside of rush hour.

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Authorities said a 100-foot section of the Connecticut bridge fell into the Mianus River after midnight June 28, 1983.

As with the collapse in Baltimore, traffic was flowing over the bridge at the time the section collapsed. Two cars and two tractor-trailers fell 70 feet to the river below, killing three people and injuring three others.

But there are other differences. In the Greenwich collapse, authorities said the cause was two corroded pin-and-hanger assemblies that allowed the section of the bridge to give way.

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In Baltimore, a bridge piling was struck by the Dali, a container ship under a Singapore flag, the AP reported. The vessel was headed to from Baltimore to Colombo, Sri Lanka, and was chartered to carry cargo by Maersk. The ship was under control by one or more pilots, local navigation specialists, at the time the ship struck the bridge pillar around 1:30 a.m., the AP reported.
A man in California was arrested for walking around town while allegedly chomping on a human leg.

A man identified by TMZ as Rosendo Tellez, 27, was arrested last Friday in Wasco, California, after eyewitnesses saw him walking with a severed leg which the man reportedly illegally took from a train accident at a nearby Amtrak station that morning.

An onlooker filmed the man allegedly chomping on the leg of the pedestrian who was struck by the train, per Fox26 News.

In the censored video, Tellez, who was wearing a red hoodie and black loose pants, was seen holding and sniffing the chopped-off human leg while walking down the sidewalk.

Tellez appeared nonchalant as he carried out his disturbing behavior in broad daylight.

In an uncensored version of the video, the uploader claimed that he was also taking bites out of the leg.

"Wasco man seen eating a human leg after [a] woman was hit by [a] train nearby," the caption read.

23 ABC reported that the 27-year-old was arrested by the Kern County Sheriff's Office for illegally moving a body part from a place that is not a cemetery.

The arrest followed an accident wherein an unidentified individual was hit by an Amtrak train, resulting in immediate death and a severed leg.

Tellez is scheduled to appear in court in Shafter on Tuesday at 9 a.m.

Meanwhile, the disturbing incident ignited a discussion on mental health among the homeless.

"An individual most likely in the right state of mind would probably not do something like this," Carlos Baldovinos, Mission at Kern's executive director, told Bakersfield Now.

While he admitted that he was not a mental expert, he said that Tellez could be one of the many homeless people in Kern County suffering from a mental health illness or substance abuse.

Baldovinos said that he hopes Prop 1, a new initiative that requires counties to spend on programs to tackle homelessness, will provide aid for people like Tellez.
Properties owned by Sean "Diddy" Combs in Los Angeles and Miami were reportedly subject to raids conducted by Homeland Security, Fox-11 reports.

Homeland Security issued a statement, stating: "Earlier today, Homeland Security Investigations 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."

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Combs's lavish Los Angeles estate is situated in the prestigious Holmby Hills neighborhood, neighboring Bel Air and Beverly Hills, while his Miami Beach residence is nestled on the exclusive Star Island.

Probable Cause

Former Federal Agent Myron Gains stated during a live stream with DJ Akademiks how Homeland Security "must have a lot of probable cause to search his home. Because at the federal level to get a federal search warrant it is fairly difficult."

DJ Akademiks requested further clarification, when Gains replied, "When you get a regular search warrant through the Feds you have to go to a Magistrate judge to get one. Think of a Magistrate judge as a lower-level judge than for example a District judge."

He proceeded to outline the procedure necessary for obtaining the type of search warrant typically required for federal crimes.

"AUSA's (Assistant United States Attorneys or Federal Prosecutors) are very picky about giving search warrants. To get a search warrant you have to go a Federal Prosecutor and then the US Attorney's office files a search warrant on your behalf with the judge."

Gains also emphasized that in high-profile cases, there is a heightened focus on meticulous attention to detail when drafting search warrants.

"When ever you have someone high profile like a Diddy or R.Kelly and they know that the raid will be highly publicized they are going to make sure that the search warrant is air tight and that they have a lot of probable cause."

RELATED: Prince Harry Named In $30 Million Sex-Trafficking Lawsuit Against Diddy

Multiple Sources And Informants

Gains asserted that for Homeland Security to obtain a search warrant of this scale, they must rely on multiple sources of information and informants. To obtain entry to a "house, you need actionable information within two weeks to a month."

He further emphasized that for obtaining a federal search warrant, the information forming the basis of the warrant must be current rather than relying on older allegations.

Higher Level Agents On Site

The former agent observed that while some agents were dressed in tactical gear, others present at Diddy's mansions were attired in suits. "99% of agents don't wear a suit everyday to work, they just don't. We used to make fun of people who do that," he said.

He mentioned that the agents in suits on-site were likely "assistant special agents in charge, special agents in charge, deputy special agents in charge, etc.," indicating their high-ranking positions within the agency.

Equipment Indicates Severity

RELATED: Diddy Maybe Vacationing In Caribbean While Mansions Were Raided: Report

Gains also remarked how Homeland Security bringing out the evidence truck indicates that HSI are "dotting their I's and crossing their T's." He described the presence of the evidence truck as "overkill" and emphasized, "you don't do that s**t for everybody."

Gains concluded he anticipates Diddy will be arrested and formal charges will be filed by the end of this year.
Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge's sudden collapse has forced shipping and trucking routes to circumvent one of the East Coast's most bustling ports, causing delays and increased expenses in the latest upheaval to global supply networks.

Following the collision between the container ship Dali and the bridge, resulting in its collapse early Tuesday, all ship traffic to and from the Port of Baltimore has been halted indefinitely. According to Judah Levine, head of research at Freightos, a global freight booking platform, this suspension necessitates redirecting vessels or their cargo to alternative ports, potentially leading to congestion and shipment delays for importers.

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At the time of the collision, the Dali was the sole container vessel present in the port, though seven others were slated to arrive in Baltimore by Saturday, Levine confirmed. Additionally, six individuals from a crew tasked with repairing potholes on the bridge remained unaccounted for several hours after the structure collapsed.

Jessica Gail, spokesperson for the American Trucking Associations, highlighted the profound repercussions of the incident, emphasizing the essential roles played by the Key Bridge and Baltimore's port in the nation's infrastructure. Approximately 1.3 million trucks traverse the bridge annually, equating to 3,600 trucks daily.

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Notably, trucks transporting hazardous materials will be compelled to embark on 30-mile detours around Baltimore due to restrictions on tunnel usage, contributing to delays and escalating fuel expenses.
Monday, March 25, 2024

Karen Tse is a remarkable advocate for human rights and a staunch opponent of torture. Her journey into this realm began in 1986 while working as a lawyer for the United Nations. During a visit to a prison in Kandal Province, Cambodia, she encountered a twelve-year-old boy who had been detained and mistreated by the authorities. This encounter left a lasting impact on Tse, igniting her passion for reforming criminal justice systems worldwide.

In 2000, Tse founded International Bridges to Justice (IBJ), a non-profit organization with a mission to eradicate torture in the 21st century and safeguard due process rights for individuals globally. What sets IBJ apart is its innovative approach, blending bottom-up and top-down strategies. Drawing from her dual roles as a minister and a lawyer, Tse understands the importance of engaging with all stakeholders involved in the justice system.

IBJ works closely with defense lawyers on the ground, empowering them to provide effective representation for their clients. Simultaneously, the organization fosters dialogue and collaboration with law enforcement, prosecutors, and judges. Rather than vilifying these entities, IBJ recognizes the need to work collaboratively to address systemic issues and promote fair and humane treatment within the legal framework.

Tses experience in Cambodia, where she trained the countrys first core group of public defenders and served as a United Nations Judicial Mentor, deeply influenced her approach. Witnessing countless individuals held without trials and subjected to torture-induced confessions fueled her determination to create meaningful change. IBJ operates on a system change model, striving to establish a new normal in justice where access to justice is universal, and torture is not tolerated as an investigative tactic.

One of Tses pivotal moments was encountering the young boy in Cambodia, deprived of legal representation and basic rights. This encounter symbolizes the larger systemic issues that IBJ seeks to address  the lack of legal safeguards, arbitrary detention, and the prevalence of torture in interrogations.

Karen Tses tireless advocacy and strategic vision have propelled IBJ to the forefront of human rights and justice reform efforts. Her dedication to ensuring that every individual receives fair treatment under the law serves as a beacon of hope for marginalized communities worldwide. Through IBJs initiatives and partnerships, Tse continues to pave the way towards a more just and compassionate world.

Image credit: Sliyanage1967  Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0 Wikimedia Commons
When President Bidens supporters attacked him for describing the man who allegedly murdered Georgia co-ed Laken Reilly as an illegal, they shined a light on one of the most contested words in American politics.

The progressive push to describe border crossers as undocumented or unauthorized can also serve to downplay and obscure the massive issue of crime perpetrated and spawned by the influx of millions of migrants since Biden was elected  often in ways that leave the migrants themselves as victims.

While migrant advocates argue that illegal arrivals commit crimes at lower rates than Americans, the claim is unverifiable because the federal government and most states do not break down crimes by immigration status.

Criminologists also note that it ignores the vast web of statutory crimes concurrent with illegal immigration  drug smuggling, human trafficking, child labor violations, prostitution, the black market in employment, and so on.

What remains undeniable by the law of averages is that the massive surge in immigration since the Biden administration relaxed border policies  a surge that it puts at more than 4 million people, but other sources millions more  has been accompanied by much more crime, however unquantifiable.

Millions of migrants, though not all, run afoul of laws by their situation more than by overtly malign criminal intent. But their first step across the border is a lawbreaking one, and it is often followed by life on the laws margins: living in the U.S. without insurance or proper work papers, providing illicit labor for unscrupulous or blase employers, turning to black markets for counterfeit Social Security cards, and often becoming targets for robbers or extortionists. Their desire to come to America creates a vast pool of criminality involving them or those illegally profiting from them.

On some criminal matters, like homicides, weve got a good sense of the scale there whether we solve them all or not, said Alex Nowrasteh, a vice president at the Cato Institute who studies the economic impact of immigration. But some of this other stuff is like all black markets in that it is opaque behavior. We dont know how much crime there might be and in a sense I think its sort of unknowable.

An outer layer of this criminal onion is the so-called coyotes who smuggle migrants to the southern border. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, which is sympathetic to the plight of refugees, paints a brutally stark picture of the exploitive lawbreakers who lurk behind the caravans and trucks and trains heading north.

Some criminal groups view migrants as simply one of many commodities to be smuggled, alongside drugs and firearms, it noted in a 2018 report. Since the smuggling of migrants is a highly profitable illicit activity with a relatively low risk of detection, it is attractive to criminals.

The United Nations also acknowledges the near impossibility of quantifying these criminal enterprises. Assessing the real size of this crime is a complex matter, owing to its underground nature and the difficulty of identifying when irregular migration is being facilitated by smugglers, it said.

In order to pay back these smugglers or the people willing to host them in the U.S., many migrants  no one knows how many  are often dragooned into illicit behavior.

"Even people who may come here with no criminal intent at all may find themselves involved in some sort of criminal activity because the cartels that control the immigration channels are going to get their money one way or another, said Ira Mehlman, media director for the Federation of American Immigration Reform, which seeks policies to seal the border from illegal penetrations. Going to work for the cartels is one way they can pay off their debts. Others may find themselves pressed into indentured servitude or, even worse, being trafficked in the sex trades.

Although they gets little attention in the United States, the crimes associated with migration begin south of the border. Since Joe Biden sent a clear signal while running for president that he would welcome mass immigration, tens of thousands of people along the Central American isthmus have been inspired to migrate and have become victims too. Vulnerable and poor people making the more than 2,000-mile trek from the Darien Gap in Panama to the Texas border have been preyed upon physically and economically, contributing to the enormous human cost.

As millions of people have put themselves needlessly in the hands of cartels and smugglers to make the journey to the Southwest border, an untold number have suffered violence, degradation, and abuse at the hands of these ruthless organizations, while countless others have perished or simply been left to die in the jungles and deserts along the way, according to the majority report from the House Committee on Homeland Security last October.

Todd Bensman, a writer with the conservative Center for Immigration Studies who has traveled extensively along the northward immigration routes, said travelers are frequently victimized and crime has exploded along with record increases in the numbers of people on the move.

Its not all about killings  they are getting raped and robbed, too, Bensman said. There are loan sharks who let victims know they know where family members are located  thats a crime. And people are desperate, they are forced to steal food, there have been assaults on police, and recently a camp in Panama was burned down.

Criminologists say part of the problem in measuring migrant-related crime in the United States is sanctuary jurisdictions that do not cooperate with federal immigration agencies. Sanctuary enforcement is also not a category traditionally tracked by law enforcement agencies. Nowrasteh said that several years ago he sent Freedom of Information Act requests to all 50 states seeking data on crime committed by or on immigrants and only Texas offered a response. Since then, he believes, Georgia has begun amassing statistics, but the state has not yet issued any public reports.

Grim arithmetic suggests the human costs of the unprecedented tide of illegal immigration under Biden, according to multiple reports and congressional testimony. A case in point is the hundreds of thousands of unaccompanied alien children, the innocuous-sounding phrase employed by a bureaucracy focused on avoiding the use of illegals who are newly arrived in the Biden years. Their oversight and handling has been mishandled, unintentionally or otherwise, by federal agencies, with the results of minors being trafficked and U.S. child labor laws being violated.

A 2023 report by the conservative Heritage Foundation found arrests for human trafficking rose by 50% and convictions for the crime by 80% in federal fiscal year 2022. Of those trafficked, 72% were immigrants, most here illegally, the report concluded. There was bipartisan outrage last July when the Labor Department revealed illegal child labor cases had risen by 44% in the last year.

The impacts are seen across the United States. The New York Post reports that a street in Corona, Queens, has been transformed into the citys boldest open-air market for sex  one so popular with pervs that its advertised on YouTube. As police enforcement wanes and immigration surges nearly a dozen brothels have [also] set up shop along Roosevelt Avenue near Junction Boulevard.

RealClearInvestigations has reported that many of the drug dealers who have turned San Franciscos Tenderloin district into an open-air drug market are migrants connected to Mexicos Sinaloa cartel. The drug pushers are easy to spot: Unlike the users, they look healthy and wear clean clothes, Leighton Woodhouse reported. Theyre almost universally young men, mostly Honduran (on the streets of San Francisco theyre called Hondos).

Describing the plight of twelve-year-old roofers in Florida and Tennessee, underage slaughterhouse workers in Delaware, Mississippi and North Carolina, and children sawing planks of wood on overnight shifts in South Dakota, the New York Times has reported that migrant children, who have been coming into the United States without their parents in record numbers, are ending up in some of the most punishing jobs in the country.

Millions of migrants working for legal businesses are also breaking the law. RCI has reported that the historic surge of illegal immigrants across Americas southern border is fueling a hidden crime spree few in Washington seem willing or able to address: widespread identity theft victimizing unwitting Americans perpetrated by migrants who need U.S. credentials to work.  Federal authorities have found that well over 1 million are using Social Security numbers belonging to someone else  i.e. stolen or shared with a relative or acquaintance  or numbers that are fabricated.

Such theft implicates many American citizens, who hire migrants with no such documents or who turn a blind eye to potentially stolen IDs.

Other Americans fall victim to crime connected to migration. For example, seizures of fentanyl, the synthetic painkiller the Centers for Disease Control blamed for a record 112,000 overdose deaths in 2023, have skyrocketed. In 2021, law enforcement agencies seized some 11.2 thousand pounds of the lethal drug, but in just two years the Chinese-abetted trade through Mexico has more than doubled, hitting 27,000 pounds last year, according to Customs and Border Patrol figures. Some immigration and drug experts believe the vast numbers of people crossing the border make it harder to interdict the flow of narcotics into the U.S.

Just two days before Biden used the description of illegal to describe Jose Antonio Ibarra, the 26-year-old suspected Venezuelan gang member accused of killing Laken Riley after entering the U.S. illegally in Texas in 2022, the Texas Department of Public Safety heralded the third anniversary of its Operation Lone Star. The figures offered a window into the law enforcement situation on what is something like Ground Zero of the illegal immigration to the U.S.

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott described the operation as a direct consequence of the Biden administrations deliberate failure to enforce existing U.S. immigration law. As of March, Operation Lone Star has resulted in over 503,800 illegal immigrant apprehensions and more than 40,400 criminal arrests, with more than 36,100 felony charges, the states Department of Public Safety said. In addition, authorities reported seizing over 469 million lethal doses of fentanyl during this border mission.

Disputed, and Elusive, Crime Stats

Despite all this, many immigration advocates continue to insist that immigrants tend to commit crimes at a lower rate than native-born Americans.

The news and social media may be filled with headline-grabbing incidents, such as the gang of migrants in New York City who beat police officers in Times Square. But Nan Wu, research director of the liberal American Immigration Council, told RCI the idea the U.S. is under some tidal crime wave due to the millions of illegal immigrants that have poured into the country during Bidens first term is a sensationalist myth.

Perhaps the most widely cited study of this kind is one based on Texas statistics from 2012 to 2018 published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Relative to undocumented immigrants, the study reported, US-born citizens are over 2 times more likely to be arrested for violent crimes, 2.5 times more likely to be arrested for drug crimes, and over 4 times more likely to be arrested for property crimes.

But not all experts agree. Jason Richwine and Steven Caramota of CIS have criticized the PNAS study for failing to take into account further discoveries made by Texas authorities. It is a misleading claim for several reasons, the two claimed. First, studies claiming it as fact are inescapably flawed, because most cities and states do not keep or publish data on criminals immigration status, rendering suspect any conclusions drawn from what data is available.

Because the rates increase when the immigration status of people already serving time in Texas jails is taken into account, PNAS did not capture the full extent of the problem, Richwine told RCI.

People have been way too hasty to draw firm conclusions because its not clear that Texas [statistics] are definitive  its not, he said. More states should do what Texas does and Texas should be more transparent about what theyre doing.

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to questions from RCI about migrant crime, nor did the Texas Department of Public Safety. But the dispute underscores the truth, acknowledged by all sides, that the paucity of reliable information leaves the only certain conclusion that there is more crime, regardless of perpetrator, because of the influx of more than 7 million people in three years.

With law enforcement agencies in some cases it is willful blindness because they refuse to cooperate in any meaningful way, Mehlman said. If they acknowledge the extent of the crime committed by illegal aliens, they would have to explain to the public why they continue to maintain sanctuary policies that shield criminal aliens.

There are also other problems with the widely cited figures on crime rates. One that plagues all crime research, as Herrmann told RCI, is that crimes are under-reported. Experts must rely on available law enforcement data and it is understood that for various reasons such figures are not comprehensive.

'Intellectual Fraud'

The numbers are misleading for another reason, too. Border Patrol agents told RCI that most people coming across illegally give themselves up quickly, knowing that current policies will allow them to be released into the U.S. with an expectation they appear for a court date years later. But the border crossers looking to stay in the shadows are more likely to be those with criminal pasts or inclinations, meaning a higher percentage of them would be among the at least 1.6 million gotaways Customs and Border Protection estimates have entered the U.S. illegally since 2021.

In fiscal 2023, it said in its most recent annual report, U.S. Enforcement and Removal Operations removed 3,406 known or suspected gang members, an increase of 27.7% over FY2022, and 139 known or suspected terrorists, a 148.2% increase over FY2022. It elaborated: ERO officials made 170,590 administrative arrests, representing a 19.5% increase in overall arrests from FY2022. Of the total arrests ICE conducted in FY2023, 43% of those arrested had criminal convictions or pending criminal charges, up from 32.5% in FY2022.

The House Committee on Homeland Security majority report in October said Border Patrol had recorded 35,450 arrests of illegal aliens with criminal backgrounds, approximately 14,000 more total such arrests than the previous four fiscal years combined.

Those apprehended with prior convictions had been found to have committed a wide range of crimes including assault, battery, domestic violence, and other sexual offenses, as well as driving under the influence, burglary, and theft, the report noted.

The committees Republican members were harshly critical of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas handling of immigration, and their report was one more reason Mayorkas was impeached in February.

The harsh reality, one often voiced by survivors  Laken Rileys parents among them  is that the horrific migrant crimes that draw national outrage might not have happened at all if laws were enforced.

We have no idea if that would have changed anything, but hes here illegally, Laken Rileys heartbroken father, Jason, said Mar. 18. That he might not have been here had we had secure borders.

In the aftermath of Rileys shocking abduction and killing, her parents and others were incredulous that a man with prior arrests since his illegal entry to the U.S. and alleged ties to Venezuelan criminal gangs was in the country at all. The Border Patrol Union laid the blame squarely on Bidens border policies.

Christopher Herrmann, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said such anguish is understandable, and said that trying to view the incidents dispassionately offers nothing that will be satisfying to any victim. Yet he said the same argument could be extended to other horrible murders  gun crimes, for instance, in which so often the lethal weapon was illegally obtained and possessed. The crime should never have happened, in other words, if laws were properly observed.

But Bensman finds that logic unpersuasive. Because opening the border has been a deliberate, sustained policy of the Biden administration, it has introduced the criminal, rather than his tools, into the equation.

You cant compare illegal crimes to crimes by illegals  its the wrong comparison because the second one is 100% preventable and unnecessary whereas were stuck, as it were, with U.S. crime. The whole theyre not as bad argument about illegal immigrants is an intellectual fraud, its giving them an escape hatch when here its clear: the perpetrator should have been deported.
A tariff of up to 50% on Russian and Belarussian grain imports has been proposed by the European Commission to combat the risk of market destabilisation.

The proposal seeks to prevent the risk of destabilisation of the EU market through potential future redirection of Russian grain into the bloc, including by Belarus.

The new tariffs are designed to be high enough to discourage current imports. Depending on the specific product, they will increase to either 95 (81) per tonne, or to an ad valorem duty of 50%.

In addition, Russia and Belarus will no longer have access to any of the EU's WTO quotas on grain that offer better tariff treatment for some products.

The increased duties will apply to imports of cereals, oilseeds and derived products from both countries.

It comes after the European farming industry has expressed concerns about the risk of market destabilisation, as have a growing number of EU Member States.

European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said: "We propose the imposition of tariffs on these Russian imports to mitigate the growing risk to our markets and our farmers.

"They will reduce Russia's capacity to exploit the EU for the benefit of its war machine. And we maintain our commitment to preserving global food security, especially for developing countries.

"We are striking the right balance between supporting our economy and farming communities. At the same time, we maintain our unyielding support for Ukraine."

The proposal will now be considered by the Council of the European Union. Once adopted by the Council, the tariffs will immediately be applied.
More than 100 tractors rallied outside the Houses of Parliament as part of the industry's latest protest against the direction of government policy.

Tractors taking part in the go-slow protest on Monday evening (25 March) made their way through central London's streets to Westminster.

Some were flying the Union Jack flags, others were carrying signs with phrases such as 'Save British farming' and 'no farming, no food, no future'.

Organised by campaign groups Fairness For Farmers and Save British Farming, the industry's latest protest surrounded three key demands.

These include a ban on substandard food imports, a ban on 'dishonest' labelling and more measures to boost British food security.

Save British Farming warned that farmers across the country were 'fed up of the substandard imports pouring into Britain'.

UK farmers are protesting outside Parliament now. They have the kit and they have the grit.

No farmers no food. pic.twitter.com/0bE5ppf22B  Andrew Bridgen MP (@ABridgen) March 25, 2024

It added that without farmers and land safeguarded for food production, "there will be no food."

The group said: "We have signed such bad trade deals which really need to be ditched and we need to rid the trade barriers with our nearest neighbours to allow UK farmers access to markets.

"What we are asking for is a government plan on food and a fairer marketplace - whether that is with other countries or supermarkets."

Geoffrey Philpott, a cauliflower grower who farms in East Kent, said the protests, including the recent one in Canterbury, were mainly centred on the need to restrict cheaper food imports.

I am proud to have a Union Jack on all my produce, but why is it foreign produce that is packed in the UK can have a Union Jack on it?" he asked.

"The only reason is to deceive the public into believing its the healthiest and safest food you can buy."

He said food security was another top issue: "I hope to be farming for many years to come, but if things dont change, I wont be and I wont be employing the fourteen people who work for me.

"Then we will be reliant on foreign produce that will not have the high standard of UK production. Once that happens, we could be held to ransom over pricing.

"Lets hope people wake up quickly and support British agriculture so I can continue to farm for many years to come and supply healthy, safe produce for UK people.

Elsewhere, in Wales, over 10,000 farmers took to the streets of Cardiff recently due to rising anger at the Welsh government's Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) proposals.

In its current form, the SFS, Wales' post-Brexit system of support, stipulates that farmers must have at least 10% tree cover on their land and a further 10% for wildlife habitat.

However, a recent impact assessment commissioned by the government found that the SFS risked reducing 122,000 livestock units, representing a 'shocking' 11% fall.
Scottish farmers and crofters will start to receive payments from the Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme (SSBSS) later this week.

Worth 40 million, the scheme helps underpin Scotlands iconic beef sector by supporting farmers breeding beef calves from suckler cows.

From that pot, 34 million is for eligible mainland calves and 6 million for Island calf claims. Payments will begin on Thursday (28 March).

NFU Scotland said it welcomed the 'timely and prompt' payments of the SSBSS this year.

However, the union called on the Scottish government to share details on new scheme rules with the industry 'at the earliest opportunity'.

For the 2023 scheme year, there was a fall in the total number of mainland and island businesses making a claim, down from 6,499 to 6,423.

There was also a 4% decrease in the total number of beef calves claimed, which was down from 379,740 to 366,371.

With fewer animals claimed, that means a small increase in the payments per head, with mainland beef calves receiving 105.24 and Island calves receiving 151.24 per head.

NFU Scotlands vice president, Andrew Connon said: "It is concerning to see a 4% fall in animals claimed, which signifies that our sector still faces ongoing uncertainty and vulnerability despite the robust prices for store and prime cattle being seen just now.

"It is clear that coupled support schemes such as SSBSS, which reward active farming and support our suckler beef herd, remain an anchor for farmers and crofters in these turbulent times.

That is why we have welcomed the Scottish governments confirmation that SSBSS, a targeted support scheme, is to remain a key element of Scotlands future agricultural support package from 2025 onwards.

"We look forward to government bringing forward details on the new conditionality rules that will be attached to the scheme at the earliest opportunity as spring calving is already in full swing across Scotland."
Four suspects in Moscow attack charged with terrorism

14:13, March 26, 2024 By Ren Qi ( Chinadaily.com.cn

A Moscow court has ordered the detention of four suspects in the largest terrorist attack in Russia in nearly two decades, as the country held a national day of mourning on Sunday for victims of the attack, which killed at least 137 people and injured 180.

The suspects, who are accused of shooting concertgoers at a 6,200-seat music hall in suburban Moscow on Friday evening and setting the building on fire, appeared before Basmanny District Court late on Sunday. Their identities were confirmed for the first time, and they were placed in custody pending trial.

The four were charged on Sunday at the court with acts of terrorism in connection with the attack.

All the suspects were identified as citizens of Tajikistan, the Tass state news agency said. Several of the men asked for translators, as they could not speak Russian.

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with Tajikistan's President Emomali Rahmon in a phone call, in which Rahmon condemned the attack and said the two countries would continue working closely together to fight terrorism and extremism, the Tajik government's press service said on Sunday.

The Russian Investigative Committee said it had found two Kalashnikov rifles, 28 magazines and more than 500 rounds of ammunition at the scene of the attack.

On Sunday, the suspects were led into the headquarters of the committee in Moscow for questioning, their hands tied and their eyes covered with bandages and scarves.

They were then transported to the Basmanny court, where they were accused of terrorism and placed in pretrial detention until May 22 as the investigation into the attack is conducted.

The suspects were brought before the court and media individually, each sitting in a glass box, and three of them pleaded guilty to all charges, Tass said.

The Islamic State terror group has claimed responsibility for the attack. It shared a photograph taken before the attack of the four alleged assailants with a black ISIS flag, as well as a graphic video made by one of the attackers during the rampage.

Friday's attack was the deadliest on Russian territory since the 2004 Beslan school siege, when Islamist militants took more than 1,000 hostages. Over 300 people died, 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 are from and whoever they are.

Medvedev had previously spoken of the need to meet "death with death", and some lawmakers have begun to discuss whether the death penalty should be reintroduced.

Russia's Federal Security Service said the gunmen had contacts in Ukraine and were captured near the border.

The claim was dismissed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a statement on the social media platform X on Sunday that "there is no evidence to support such claims".

The White House said that Washington had shared information with Moscow early this month about a planned attack, and issued a public advisory to United States citizens in Russia on March 7. It said Islamic State bore sole responsibility for the attack.

"Nothing was passed," Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov responded early on Sunday, saying that Washington did not share any specific information with the embassy before the terrorist attack.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
A Chesprocott Health District vehicle. The agency cited six businesses in Cheshire for the most critical level of health violations during routine inspections in February. Chesprocott Health District

CHESHIRE  Improper food temperatures, raw food storage and a dirty ice machine were some of the priority item violations that health officials found at local establishments in February.

The Chesprocott Health District cited six local businesses for priority item violations  the most critical level of health violations  during routine inspections last month, the same number as in January. Priority health violations indicate the highest risk for food-borne illnesses and must be corrected within 72 hours, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations health code, which Connecticut adopted in 2023. Issues are often corrected on-site during inspections.

Pho & Spice tallied the most priority item violations with five, followed by Viron Rondo Osteria with two, and Cheshire Coffee, Shef's Bagels, Toro Sushi and Civita Care Center at Cheshire with one each.

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Pho & Spice at 7 South Main St. was cited for storing chicken on a counter for about two hours, violating temperature requirements, an inspection report states. Workers immediately placed the items back into a walk-in cooler, according to the report.

The Vietnamese restaurant also was cited for storing eggs above noodles and cooked chicken, a two-door commercial refrigerator that was too warm, a bucket of sanitizer that was located near the ware washing area and a broken dishwasher, the report shows.

Pho & Spice did not respond to a message seeking comment.

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The health district handed out two priority item violations to Viron Rondo Osteria at 1721 Highland Ave. because the inside of an ice machine was dirty and a knife was stored in sanitizer, according to an inspection report. The latter issue was corrected on site and the ice machine since has been cleaned, said Tommy Crawford, Viron's executive chef.

"Little things like that, they can happen but everything has been corrected," Crawford said. "If there are other mistakes, we do take the time to sit down and try to educate whoever we have to if they're not up to speed or if they're new or if they don't understand. Whatever needs to be done."

Viron Ronda Osteria has about 125 employees, Crawford said. The Italian restaurant's previous health inspection was "virtually perfect," he added.

"We take (food safety) very seriously," he said. "For the size of the restaurant, and for as much stuff as we have going on there with all the moving parts ... it says something to have a high grade with minimal points against us."

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Cheshire Coffee at 210 Old Towne Road was tagged for storing Clorox spray next to coconut flakes. The spray was removed and "put in its own separate area," a sanitarian wrote in the report.

Stephanie Bard, an assistant manager at Cheshire Coffee, said the business has an "amazing" history of food safety and health inspections.

"We even have a whole food safety class scheduled in two weeks just as a refresher," Bard said. "We're great with that."

Shef's Bagels picked up one priority item violation for a tub of butter that was measured at 67 degrees, an inspection report states. The butter was voluntarily discarded.

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An employee at Shef's Bagels who answered the phone said she was not present for the February health inspection and could not comment. The bagel shop did not return a message left for someone who was authorized to speak on the matter.

Toro Sushi at 1109 South Main St. collected one priority item violation for storing raw salmon above fresh produce in a walk-in cooler, records show.

"We placed (the salmon) on the top shelf just for a moment and the health inspector walked in," said Ying Wang, Toro Sushi's owner. "But we removed it immediately after she made a comment."

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Civita Care Center at 1145 Highland Ave. received its lone priority item violation for ground beef that wasn't hot enough, records show. The beef was heated up in the oven to a proper temperature.
School bullies earn more money in later life.

School bullies go on to earn more money in adulthood

A new study has revealed that kids who display aggressive behaviour on the playground and tease their classmates are showing signs "predictive of positive labour market outcomes".

On the other hand, tearful children and those who prefer to play alone typically go on to earn lower salaries once they have grown up.

Researchers tracked data from 7,000 children who were born in 1970 with primary school teachers and parents asked to complete questionnaires when the students were 10 years old.

Other data was collected throughout the children's lives and the results were compared to the socio-economic status of the participants at the age of 46.

Professor Emilia Del Bono, of the University of Essex, told The Observer newspaper: "We were surprised to find a strong link between aggressive behaviour at school and higher earnings in later life.

"It's possible that our classrooms are competitive places and that children adapt to win that competition with aggression, and then take that through to the workplace where they continue to compete aggressively for the best paid jobs."
Sleeping with the blinds open increases the chance of having a stroke or heart attack.

Sleeping with the blinds open causes health problems

Light pollution disrupts the body's natural sleep-wake cycle and the lack of rest places increased strain on the heart and other vital organs.

Experts in China made the discovery after analysing data from thousands of people and have warned that around 80 per cent of Earth's population is living in light-polluted areas - meaning that they could be struggling to sleep.

Dr. Jain-Bing Wang, a public health expert who was involved in the research, said: "Our study suggests that higher level 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."
Catherine, Princess of Wales is reportedly set to will rely on her strong relationship with sister Pippa and her family as she goes through preventative cancer treatment.

Catherine, Princess of Wales is reportedly set to will rely on her strong relationship with sister Pippa and her family as she goes through preventative cancer treatment

The royal mum-of-three, 42, dramatically stepped back into the public eye on Friday (22.03.24) with a video message in which she announced she was having chemotherapy after doctors discovered cancer in her body following her major abdominal surgery in January, which left her hospitalised at The London Clinic for two weeks and out of the spotlight as she recovered.

Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams, 74, has now said Catherines bond with her family is absolutely pivotal as she fights back to full health.

He told The Sun Online: We know that shes got a very close and supported family, and secondly, that the support is under the radar.

The Middletons are clearly a very, very important part of her and William's life. At the moment absolutely pivotal I would say.

We know that there is a tremendously strong bond between her mother in her parents, also siblings, and also that they live in close proximity or relatively close proximity.

So yes, absolutely, I think that this is important.

I think the Middletons will be her rock, and they will be also tremendously helpful, and especially regarding the children.

Catherine and Pippa, 40, have shared a close bond that saw them share a flat in Chelsea, London, in their 20s and attending events such as Wimbledon together.

Pippa has now stepped out of the spotlight and lives with her former racing driver husband James Matthews, 48, and their three children Arthur, five, Grace, three, and 21-month-old Rose.

Her and Catherines 69-year-old mum Carole Middleton also has son James Middleton, 36, with her 64-year-old husband Michael Middleton, with whom she ran the familys party supplies firm until 2023, when it was sold after it collapsed into administration.

Carole has revealed Catherine and Pippa were so close that when they werent at school they did a lot of modelling for her Party Pieces companys merchandising material.
King Charles team is reportedly planning the cancer-battling monarchs summer diary.

King Charles team is reportedly planning the cancer-battling monarchs summer diary

The 75-year-old is currently battling an undisclosed form of the disease, diagnosed after he had an operation for an enlarged prostate in January  and he has been forced to largely step out of the public eye and down from royal duties as he undergoes regular treatments for the illness.

But a source has now told People he is positive about his cancer treatment, with his staff turning to his summer schedule as there has been amplified confidence about his condition in light of the sophisticated treatment hes receiving.

The insider added: (The king is) progressing well. He is positive, the doctors are optimistic.

They added Charles has not been operationally constrained so far and Buckingham Palace is planning for a summer diary.

But it is understood his staff will not commit to any engagements and will rely on medical advice nearer the time.

Charles cancer diagnosis was revealed on 5 February, and summer engagements that will go ahead include Trooping the Colour  the annual public celebration of the monarchs birthday, which will take place on 15 June.

The source added the king may build up to such events by increasing the numbers of people he meets indoors.

A second insider added Charles team is planning as usual, saying: One thing that has been wholly undiminished is his appetite for work.

Charles last week travelled to Buckingham Palace from Windsor Castle to meet with Korean War veterans to mark the 70th anniversary of the conflict.

And late in February, the monarch undertook his first face-to-face meeting with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak since revealing his cancer news.

Charles nephew Peter Phillips, 46, has said his uncle is keen to get back to work following his diagnosis, telling Sky News Australia the king is in good spirits but also frustrated at the limited amount of work hes able to do.

He added: I think, ultimately, he's hugely frustrated. Hes 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 theres a period of time that he really needs to focus on himself.

He is always pushing, his staff and everybody and his doctors and nurses to be able to say, 'Actually, can I do this? Can I do that?' " Peter continued. 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.
FILE PHOTO  Police are investigating the burglary of a gas station on State Street early Sunday by four masked individuals driving a car stolen from Manchester. North Haven Police Department/Contributed photo

NORTH HAVEN  Police are investigating the burglary of a gas station that they say is connected to three others in nearby towns.

According to police, just before 1 a.m. Sunday, four masked burglars broke into the Mobil gas station on State Street. They first broke through the glass front door, then took two cash register drawers and cigarettes with a value of over $2,000, police said.

The burglars fled in a vehicle that was stolen from Manchester, according to police.

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Bangladesh saw a positive growth in its export of readymade garment (RMG) items to major destinations in Europe during the July-February period of the current fiscal (FY24).

RMG export to the European Union (EU) reached $16.23 billion during the eight-month periodan increase of 3.27 per cent year on year (YoY).

Bangladesh's readymade garment exports to the EU reached $16.23 billion during the July-February period of this fiscal (FY24)a rise of 3.27 per cent YoY, indicating healthy growth. RMG exports to the United States reached $5.46 billion in the perioda YoY fall of 2.58 per cent. Such exports to non-traditional markets grew by 10.83 per cent YoY in the period.

The countrys RMG exports to Spain, France, the Netherlands, Poland and Denmark showed a YoY rise of 8.68 per cent, 4.72 per cent, 14.55 per cent, 21.82 per cent and 32.81 per cent respectively during this period, according to figures from the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).

However, such exports to Italy and Germany declined by 0.93 per cent YoY and 11.63 per cent YoY during the period, a domestic news agency reported.

RMG exports to the United States reached $5.46 billion in the perioda YoY fall of 2.58 per cent, while such exports to the United Kingdom and Canada reached $3.85 billion and $998.77 millionYoY increases of 14.64 per cent and 1.81 per cent respectively.

Such exports to non-traditional markets grew by 10.83 per cent YoY to $6.30 billion during the period. Among the major such markets, RMG exports to Japan, Australia and South Korea increased YoY by 7.12 per cent, 21.29 per cent and 17.16 per cent respectively.

Bangladeshs apparel exports to India, however declined by 22.99 per cent YoY during the period.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
Turkiyes overall export volume index during January this year increased by 7 per cent year on year (YoY), according to the official statistics agency Turkstat. This index increased by 34.2 per cent YoY for fuels and by 3.7 per cent for manufactured goods (except food, beverages and tobacco).

The countrys overall export unit value index decreased by 3.3 per cent YoY in January. In the same month, the index decreased by 2.9 per cent YoY for manufactured goods (except food, beverages and tobacco) and decreased by 13.9 per cent YoY for fuels.

Turkiye's export volume index during January rose by 7 per cent YoY. This index rose by 34.2 per cent YoY for fuels and by 3.7 per cent for manufactured goods (except food, beverages and tobacco). However, the import volume index in the month fell by 13.9 per cent YoY. This rose by 8.9 per cent YoY for fuels and fell by 5.6 per cent for manufactured goods.

The overall import unit value index decreased by 9.3 per cent YoY in January. This index decreased by 31.8 per cent YoY for fuels and decreased by 1.2 per cent for manufactured goods (except food, beverages and tobacco).

The overall import volume index in January decreased by 13.9 per cent YoY. This index increased by 8.9 per cent YoY for fuels and decreased by 5.6 per cent for manufactured goods (except food, beverages and tobacco).

The calendar- and seasonally-adjusted export volume index, which was 161.8 in December 2023, decreased by 5.6 per cent to 152.8 in January this year.

The calendar- and seasonally-adjusted import volume index, which was 120.2 in December 2023, decreased by 4.1 per cent to 115.4 in January.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
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Filmfare, in association with Joy Personal Care, is set to return to the city of joy - Kolkata, to honour the best of Bengali Cinema. The date for the J, a grand celebration of the best performers, filmmakers, storytellers and technicians, is set for. The awards ceremony will be held at ITC Royal Bengal where some of the industrys biggest names are expected to come together for a night of revelry.Thewill be a memorable evening full of star-studded appearances, glamorous red-carpet moments and inspiring winning speeches. The evening will be hosted by Saurav Das, Sauraseni Maitra and Parambrata Chatterjee. The trio will keep audiences enthralled with their candid interactions and charm.The Joy Filmfare Awards Bangla 2024 will also see a bevvy of stars take to the stage. The list of performers includesA spectacular night awaits!In case you missed it, heres theStay tuned for more details!
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Filmfare (@filmfare)

Its that time of the year again! Filmfare is all set to return to Kolkata for the Joy Filmfare Awards Bangla 2024 . In association with Joy Personal Care, the awards ceremony will unfold on March 29, 2024, at the ITC Royal Bengal.Ahead of what will be an unforgettable night, we held a press conference. In attendance were Actor Koel Malik, alongside Jitesh Pillaai, Editor of Filmfare, Sunil Agarwal, Poulomi Roy from Joy Personal Care, and Partha Sarathi Nandy, MD, Lalbaba Rice.Heres everything unveiled at the press conference:The grand awards ceremony at thewill beOur hosts are set to entertain audiences with their charming presence.The star-studded line-up ofThe stars are ready to set the stage on fire with their electric performances.Opening up about their continued collaboration on Filmfare, Mr. Sunil Agarwal, Chairman of Joy Personal Care, shared, "Joy Personal Care is proud to continue its partnership with Filmfare for the 4th consecutive year. It's a privilege to support a platform that honours the creative minds and rich heritage of the Bengali Film industry."Ms. Poulomi Roy, CMO of Joy Personal Care, further added, "Being part of Filmfare, one of the most prestigious events in the country, is truly exhilarating for us. Partnering with Filmfare empowers us to elevate our brand to new heights. It has been an incredible journey, and we look forward to further growth and success."Highlighting the talent in Bengali cinema, Mr. Partha Sarathi Nandy, MD, Lalbaba Rice, said, Our collaboration with Filmfare underscores Lalbaba Rice's commitment to celebrating and bolstering the essence of Bangla cinema. We believe it is important to recognize the rooting talent, and it's a privilege to align with the nation's most prestigious awards platform."While youre here, check out theStay tuned for more details!
The much-awaited trailer of 'Bade Miyan Chote Miyan' is out, and the super glamorous actress Manushi Chhillar steals the limelight in the glimpse of the film, which also stars Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff in the lead role. The trailer of this Ali Abbas Zafar's action marvel promises to take you on a rollercoaster of thrills and action power. Manushi's unmissable charm and screen presence shines as one of the USP of the film.

During the trailer launch event, Akshay Kumar heaped praises on Manushi Chhillar. The two had previously shared screen space in 'Samrat Prithviraj'. In 'Bade Miyan Chote Miyan', the actress will be seen performing action sequences on the screen for the first time, which is going to be something to look out for.

He stated, "I have to tell you, I was surprised watching Manushi doing action; she has done a lot of action in the film. It really surprised me because I remember Ali and I were discussing whether Manushi would be able to do so many action scenes. But he was absolutely right; Manushi has done great action. I have done a lot of action in my career for like 23 years, and this girl has taken and beaten alot. You guys watch this film, and you'll understand she has done a great job".

As soon as Manushi shared the trailer on her social media handle, the audience expressed how they're waiting to witness the action spectacle on the big screens on 10 April this year. Directed by Ali Abbas Zafar, 'Bade Miyan Chote Miyan' also stars Sonakshi Sinha, Alaya F and Prithviraj Sukumaran in essential roles. Apart from 'Bade Miyan Chote Miyan', Manushi will also be seen in John Abraham-starrer 'Tehran'.
Kangana Ranaut-Congress Controversy: Following Congress leader Supriya Shrinate's clarification of an objectionable post concerning Kangana Ranaut on her Instagram handle, the party criticized the actor for labeling Urmila Matondkar, who had previously joined and left Congress, as a "soft porn star". Yes, you read that right!

CONGRESS BLASTS KANGANA RANAUT'S FOR HER 'SOFT P*RN' COMMENT

Sharing a previous video of Kangana Ranaut discussing Urmila Matondkar, Srinivas BV, president of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) on X, tweeted, "What was posted from Supriya Ji's account was absolutely derogatory. She has not only deleted it but also clarified and Condemned it in the Strongest Terms."

He further added, "What about you? Calling Urmila Matondkar a 'soft porn star' on live TV? Have you condemned it?"

In the video, Ranaut can be heard saying, "Urmila Matondkar, she is a soft porn star. I know it's very blatant, but I want to ask you... she is not known for her acting for sure, what is she known for, for doing soft porn, right?"

"If she can get a ticket (for a political party), why won't I get a ticket?," Ranaut continued in the video. Take a look at the post here:

Shaitaan OTT Release Date & Platform: When Will Ajay Devgn's Hit Film Stream Online? Here's What We Know

What was posted from Supriya Ji's account was absolutely derogatory.



She has not only deleted it but also clarified and Condemned it in the Strongest Terms.



What about you? Calling    '  ' on live TV?



Have you condemned https://t.co/eAYiAh51bg pic.twitter.com/6saXBB2Tqr  Srinivas BV (@srinivasiyc) March 25, 2024

Lock Upp 2 Launch Date: Ekta Kapoor Confirms New Season; Reveals Tentative Premiere In Viral Video

KANGANA RANAUT-URMILA MATONDKAR CONTROVERSY

Kangana's 'soft porn star' comment against Urmila Matondkar came after the latter criticized her for disrespecting veteran actor Jaya Bachchan, who, in a 2020 speech in Parliament, had objected to the entire film industry being 'tarnished'.

Urmila Matondkar made her political debut as a Congress candidate in the 2019 Lok Sabha election from the Mumbai North constituency. She resigned from the party soon after. Later, in 2020, she joined Shiv Sena.

WHAT CONGRESS LEADER SUPRIYA SHRINATE POSTED AGAINST KANGANA?

On Monday, controversy arose after an objectionable post regarding Kangana Ranaut was shared on Shrinate's Instagram account.

Later, in a video message posted on X, Shrinate claimed that the social media post, which has since been taken down, was made by someone who had access to her Facebook and Instagram accounts. She also pointed fingers at a parody account misusing her name on X.

Meanwhile, Kangana Ranaut retaliated against the Congress leader, urging people to "refrain from using sex workers' challenging lives or circumstances as some kind of abuse or slur".

The post on Shrinate's handle displayed a photo of Kangana Ranaut in revealing attire, accompanied by a derogatory caption.

Regarding Shrinate's objectionable post, Rekha Sharma, the National Commission for Women (NCW) chief, remarked that seeing a woman using such language against another was 'unfortunate'. She also mentioned that the matter had been escalated to the Election Commission.
Manjummel Boys OTT Release: The highly anticipated Malayalam film "Manjummel Boys," starring Soubin Shahir, Sreenath Bhasi, and Balu Varghese, hit theatres on February 22, 2024.

Lover OTT Release Date And Platform: When And Where To Watch Manikandan's Movie Online

Produced by Soubin Shahir under his own banner, Parava Films, "Manjummel Boys" has garnered significant attention as one of the most eagerly awaited releases of the year in Malayalam cinema.

Manjummel Boys Premise

In 2006, a group of friends from Kerala ventured to Guna Caves in Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu. During their excursion, a youngster inadvertently falls into a deep cave. The tale of "Manjummel Boys" chronicles the valiant efforts of the remaining friends to rescue him.

Clarification On Manjummel Boys' OTT Release Rumours

In response to the speculation circulating on social media platforms about the OTT release of 'Manjummel Boys,' film industry tracker AB George has provided a clarification. Contrary to the rumours suggesting that the film would be available for streaming on April 5th, the producers have deemed this claim false. Instead, it is anticipated that the release of 'Manjummel Boys' on OTT platforms will likely take place in May 2024. This clarification offers insights for eager fans who have been anticipating the digital release of the film, indicating a later timeframe than initially rumoured.

Clarification on the news circulating on social media regarding the release of 'Manjummel Boys' on OTT platforms: The claim that #ManjummelBoys will be streaming from April 5th is false, according to the producers.



It is expected to be released mostly in May 2024.  AB George (@AbGeorge_) March 26, 2024

Manjummel Boys Cast And Crew

Chidambaram, known for directing 'Jan.E.Man', helmed the project 'Manjummel Boys'. "Manjummel Boys" stars Soubin Shahir, Sreenath Bhasi, Balu Varghese, Deepak Parambol, Ganapathi, Lal Jr., Abhiram Radhakrishnan, Arun Kurian, Khalid Rahman, Chandu Salimkumar, and Vishnu Reghu in key roles.

Lal Salaam OTT Release Date And Platform: When And Where To Watch Rajinikanth's Movie Online

On the technical side, Shyju Khalid served as the cinematographer, and Vivek Harshan was the editor. Sushin Shyam handled the music, while Ajayan Chalissery served as the art director. Mashar Hamsa was responsible for costume design, and Ronex Xavier worked as the makeup artist.
Lover OTT Release: The Tamil film 'Lover,' released on February 9, 2024, features Manikandan and Gouri Priya Reddy in the lead roles. Directed by debutant Prabhu Ram Vyas, the movie promises to deliver a captivating romantic drama.

Lal Salaam OTT Release Date And Platform: When And Where To Watch Rajinikanth's Movie Online

Lover Synopsis

As Arun and Divya's six-year relationship begins to unravel, they find themselves drifting apart, prompting the question of whether love can endure such differences.

Lover Cast And Crew

The film's ensemble cast features K. Manikandan portraying the character of Arun, while Sri Gouri Priya takes on the role of Divya Shanmugam. Kanna Ravi brings the character of Madan Wanders to life, alongside Harish Kumar as Suhail. Saravanan and Geetha Kailasam portray Arun's parents, while Nikhila Shankar and Harini depict Divya's friends, with Nikhila playing Divya's friend and flatmate and Harini appearing as Aishu. The cast is further enriched by Pintu Pandu and Arunachaleshwaran, who portray significant roles as well.

The film's technical team includes cinematographer Shreyaas Krishna, editor Barath Vikraman, and music composer Sean Rolden.

Lover OTT Release Date And Platform

The highly anticipated Tamil romantic drama film "Lover," directed by debutant Prabhu Ram Vyas and starring Manikandan and Gouri Priya Reddy, is reportedly slated for release on Disney+ Hotstar on March 27. Fans are eagerly awaiting the portrayal of Arun and Divya's tumultuous relationship on screen. With a talented ensemble cast and skilled technical team, anticipation for the digital release of "Lover" is high. Stay tuned for updates and save the date for March 27 to experience the captivating tale of love and its complexities on Disney+ Hotstar.

Rebel OTT Release Date And Platform: Find Out When And Where To Watch GV Prakash And Mamitha Baiju's Movie



Lover Review

According to film industry tracker Ramesh Bala, "Lover" is a 'True Lover' and garners a rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars from him. The film delves into the dynamics of a possessive boyfriend and a girlfriend seeking independence. As their relationship unfolds on screen, the audience is kept engaged, wondering whether they will resolve their differences or part ways permanently. The movie captures attention from the very first scene and concludes with a convincing climax. Manikandan delivers a fantastic performance, while Gouri Priya Reddy shines in her role. Kannaravi's portrayal adds depth to the narrative, and Sean Roldan's music serves as the lifeline of the film. Director Prabhu Ram Vyas presents a realistic romantic tale tailored for today's youth, making "Lover" a definite winner in the genre.
Popular TV actress Jennifer Mistry Bansiwal, best known for her depiction of Roshan Sodhi in "Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah," made headlines with serious accusations against the show's producer, Asit Kumar Modi. The allegations centered around workplace sexual harassment, a charge that has led to significant developments.



Last year, Jennifer initiated legal action against Asit Kumar Modi, along with Sohil Ramani and Jatin Ramani, accusing them of sexual harassment. Despite her efforts to seek justice, the Mumbai police's lack of response prompted her to turn to The Government of Maharashtra for help. This move proved fruitful as the Local Complaints Committee was established, leading to a rapid investigation.

Within four months, the committee found Asit Kumar Modi guilty under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act of 2013. Jennifer, in her conversation with Etimes, shared her feelings on the verdict. She sees it as a victory but is also disappointed with the overall outcome. Despite the guilty verdict, she expressed regret over the police's inaction over the past year and the lack of punishment for all involved.

As per the committee's decision, Asit Kumar Modi has been ordered to compensate Jennifer with her rightful dues, including an additional amount for intentionally withholding her payment, totaling around Rs 25-30 lakh. Furthermore, an extra Rs 5 lakh fine was imposed on Modi for harassment. Despite the verdict being issued on 15th February 2024, Jennifer initially chose not to publicize it, citing concerns over a woman's reputation.

However, more than 40 days after the verdict, Jennifer has not received the compensation. She expressed frustration over the absence of punitive action against the accused. She highlighted that the verdict did not address the actions of Sohil Ramani and Jatin Bajaj, nor did it require any apologies from them for their misconduct.

Jennifer underscored the importance of her fight, having pursued justice alone for a year with the support of her lawyer, Ammitt Khare from Nagpur. She hopes her case will encourage other women facing similar issues to speak out. Yet, she feels the compensation awarded does not fully cover the mental trauma, reputation damage, loss of employment, and medical expenses she endured.

Determined to continue her fight for justice, Jennifer counts on the support of her lawyer, husband, family, and friends. She reflects on the broader challenges women face in seeking justice and stresses the need for ongoing advocacy. Jennifer's case shines a light on the complexities of addressing workplace harassment and the importance of supporting victims in their quest for justice.
A recent telephone tapping scandal in Telangana has caused widespread concern. This incident involves government officials who were allegedly monitoring phone calls, including those of a well-known female actor. The involvement of key figures from the previous government has shocked both the political and film sectors. The case gained serious attention after the Congress government came into power, leading to the arrest of Praneeth Rao, a key suspect. His revelations during interrogation have hinted at extensive phone tapping activities targeting individuals from various fields.

Praneeth Rao's team is accused of tapping the phones of notable personalities in business, cinema, politics, and technology fields. Rumors suggest that their actions were not just limited to surveillance but also involved threats and extortion, particularly targeting those linked to opposition parties. Among those affected was a leading South Indian actress, whose personal life suffered greatly due to these invasions of privacy. Her separation from her husband, a prominent figure in the Telugu film industry, has now become a topic of intense speculation on social media.

The actress in question is quite known across Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu industries. Her marriage and subsequent divorce from a well-known Telugu actor had previously captured public attention. Now, with her name surfacing in relation to the telephone tapping case, there are speculations about the extent of the surveillance she was subjected to and its impact on her personal life. Meanwhile, questions are being raised leading to people brimming with opinion about whether this invasion of privacy contributed to the breakdown of her marriage.
Yale police issued a warning to the school community on Sunday after a student visiting from another university was robbed at gunpoint on Crown Street. Arnold Gold/Hearst Connecticut Media

NEW HAVEN  Yale police have issued a warning after they say a student from another university was robbed at gunpoint on Crown Street early Sunday.

Yale police said the student approached a Nissan Altima seeking a ride back to campus around 3:30 a.m. Sunday. The four occupants of the vehicle brandished firearms and demanded the student's wallet, police said.

The student handed over his wallet and the car then fled down Crown Street in the direction of College Street, police said.

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A joint investment from BII and Idemitsu will support the renewable energy platform's target to build over 300 MW of greenfield solar power capacity for commercial and industrial customers in the region.

The solar projects are expected to help displace consumption of on-grid electricity and avoid 270,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.

SINGAPORE, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- British International Investment (BII), the UK's development finance institution (DFI) and impact investor, and Idemitsu Kosan (IKC), one of Japan's leading energy companies, today announced a joint investment into Skye Renewables Energy Pte Ltd. (Skye), a South-East Asia-focused renewable energy platform, forming a strong partnership to support the development of greenfield solar projects and decarbonisation of the region.

South-East Asia is a region with an increasing demand for power and a high reliance on fossil fuels which creates an opportunity for the growth of renewable energy as part of decarbonisation efforts. While primary energy demand in the region is expected to grow by 1.8 times by 2050, renewable energy demand is estimated to grow by 4.4 times based on the current policy landscape.[1]

Established in 2022, Skye develops solar projects and provides off-grid clean energy to commercial and industrial (C&I) customers in the region including the Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia, under long term power purchase agreements.

The C&I sector accounts for a significant portion of energy demand in South-East Asia. Providing solar power to C&I businesses offers a good opportunity to keep pace with the region's growing energy demand in a sustainable way and help countries to achieve their sustainability goals. Governments have introduced supportive policies for this nascent segment to scale clean energy deployment in C&I sectors and accelerate energy transition across the region.

Drawing from BII and IKC's extensive track record in the renewable energy sector globally, the investment aims to support the region's sustainability goals by transforming Skye into a scaled-up regional renewable energy platform with a solar capacity of over 300MW in the coming years.

As Skye grows, the solar projects are expected to help avoid 270,000 tonnes of CO2e annually, which is equivalent to the emissions generated by over 47,000 homes' electricity use in a year.

Kara Owen, British High Commissioner to Singapore, said: "The UK and Singapore committed under the UK-Singapore Strategic Partnership and Green Economy Framework to deepen our government and private sector collaboration in the South-East Asian region so that we can effectively support sustainable infrastructure and investment. This is vital to ensure we're working together as closely as we can, to support regional climate, green economy, and energy transition goals.

BII is a unique and valuable part of the UK's development and investment partnership toolkit, and I'm delighted to see their progress since opening their Indo-Pacific office in Singapore nearly 18 months ago. This first direct equity investment by them in South-East Asia will support Skye Renewables to scale up renewable energy solutions in an important and growing area of decarbonisation need: the commercial and industrial sector. It will unlock clean energy, create green jobs, and bring the closer collaboration and investment in the region's sustainable development that the UK wants to see."

Srini Nagarajan, Managing Director and Head of Asia at BII, said: "This investment marks the first direct equity investment by BII in South-East Asia since our re-entry to the region in 2022. Skye provides BII the opportunity to work with experienced partners like IKC, to scale up this renewable energy platform that will benefit the region. Our goal is to boost climate finance in the region and so we look forward to supporting more greenfield renewable energy capacity and local governments' efforts on decarbonisation."

Hiroshi Yoshida, General Manager of Power & Renewables Business Department at IKC, commented: "We formed a partnership with Skye in 2022 and have made significant progress in the C&I rooftop solar space in South-East Asia. Now, with the addition of BII as a new partner to Skye, who has a proven track record of success in the global renewable energy sector, we believe it will create great synergy among us. By leveraging the strengths of each company, we aim to further grow Skye as a renewable energy platform in South-East Asia and contribute to a decarbonised society."

Ross Coull, Founder of Skye Renewables, commented: "We are absolutely delighted that BII has chosen Skye as their first direct equity investment in South-East Asia. Their track record in renewable energy across multiple markets is extensive and I am sure that they will bring a huge amount of value to Skye; they will be a great partner to support our ambitions of decarbonising corporate activity in the region."

This investment supports UN SDG 7 on Affordable and Clean Energy and SDG13 on Climate Action.

Notes to editors:

About British International Investment

British International Investment is the UK's development finance institution and impact investor.

British International Investment is a trusted investment partner to businesses in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.

It invests to support the UK Government's Clean Green Initiative and to create productive, sustainable and inclusive economies in our markets.

Between 2022-2026, at least 30 per cent of BII's total new commitments by value will be in climate finance.

BII intends to deploy up to 500m in climate finance projects in Southeast Asia to support decarbonisation in the region.

BII is also a founding member of the 2X Challenge which has raised over $27billion to empower women's economic development.????

which has raised over $27billion to empower women's economic development.???? The company has investments in over 1,470 businesses across 65 countries and total assets of 8.1 billion.

For more information, visit: www.bii.co.uk | watch here .

| . Follow British International Investment on LinkedIn and X.

About Idemitsu

Established in 1940, Idemitsu is one of Japan's leading producers and suppliers of energy.

Idemitsu operates through 67 business bases across the world, in the areas of fuel oil, petrochemicals, lubricants, electronic materials, electric power and renewable energy, oil and gas development, and coal.

About Skye

Skye Renewables is an energy-as-a-service solar company with operations in Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia.

The company supports blue chip organisations by deploying solar systems on their premises and selling them the renewable energy via long-term contracts.

In addition, as the regulations continue to develop in South-East Asia, Skye Renewables can provide renewable energy from larger 'off-site' systems.

For more information, visit: www.skyerenewables.com.

[1] https://www.iea.org/reports/southeast-asia-energy-outlook-2022/key-findings

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View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/bii-and-idemitsu-partner-with-skye-renewables-to-accelerate-decarbonisation-in-south-east-asia-302098549.html


Officiating guests host kick-off ceremony for the collaboration between ALO & EdUHK



Mr. Peter TSANG Cheung, JP, the founder of ALO, delivers welcome speech at the event.



Professor John LEE Chi Kin, JP, President of EdUHK, delivers speech on the collaboration with ALO at the event.



Guest speakers at the sharing session



The AI avatar of Dr. Kevin YUNG Wai Ho, from EdUHK, generated by ALO using artificial intelligence.

HONG KONG, Mar 26, 2024 - (ACN Newswire) - ALO Parent Education App/Digital Platform (ALO) is collaborating with The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK) to provide greater support for students with special educational needs (SEN) and their parents. Celebrating its one-year anniversary, ALO has announced significant system updates and an expansion of its content, including collaboration with the Hong Kong Police Force to promote child protection messages. To mark this momentous occasion, ALO organized the "ALO and EdUHK Collaboration " Launch Ceremony and Inaugural Seminar. The event not only unveiled the scope and direction of the collaboration with EdUHK but also featured accomplished professionals from the education sector sharing insights on different topics, including the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in the field of education. Representative from the Hong Kong Police Force was also present to promote child protection messages. Distinguished guests in attendance included Mr. Jeff SZE Chun Fai, JP, Under Secretary for Education; Professor Kenneth SIN Kuen Fung, MH, EdUHK; Ms. YU Hoi Kwan, Chief Superintendent of Police (Crime Support); Mr. Eugene FONG Yick-jin, Chairman of Committee on Home-School Co-operation; Mr. Henry TONG Sau-Chai, MH, JP, Vice Chairman of HKTA The Yuen Yuen Institute; Dr. Kevin YUNG Wai Ho, EdUHK; and Mr. CM CHUNG, Principal of Shanghai Alumni Primary School, among others.The officiating guest, Mr. Jeff SZE Chun Fai, JP, Under Secretary for Education, expressed, "I am pleased to attend the 'ALO and EdUHK Collaboration' Launch Ceremony and Inaugural Seminar, and also celebrate ALO's first anniversary. It is gratifying to witness the continuous improvement of the ALO Parent Education App/Digital Platform over the past year, as well as its efforts to connect with more schools to expand services and enhance the quality of parental education in Hong Kong. Additionally, I am delighted to see the collaboration between ALO and EdUHKm that enables parents to systematically learn effective parenting methods and knowledge through the digital platform. I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank the ALO team and EdUHK for their ongoing efforts and contributions to parental education.""ALO utilises artificial intelligence technology and combines it with the expertise and experience of the EdUHK team. For parents of students with special educational needs, the journey of parenting is never smooth. The Education Bureau attaches great importance to parental education. The care and love of parents, along with the guidance and support of schools, are crucial for nurturing children's growth. The Education Bureau is committed to supporting parents with diverse needs, including initiatives such as the "Smart Parent Net" information platform and the "SENSE" website. These platforms provide essential information for supporting students' physical and mental development, as well as practical information and videos to assist parents in caring for children with special educational needs, helping them establish a positive parent-child relationship and promote children's overall development. The successful implementation of parental education relies on the support and collaboration from various stakeholders. The collaboration between ALO, EdUHK, and the Hong Kong Police Force serves as a testament to the importance of interdisciplinary and cross-professional cooperation. In the days ahead, I hope that we can continue to work together to enhance society's emphasis on parental education, creating a joyful and healthy learning and growth experience for children, enabling them to enjoy learning, unleash their potential, and fully develop their strengths," Jeff added.Mr. Peter TSANG Cheung, JP, the founder of ALO, stated, "Since its launch in 2023, ALO has been serving for a year. I would like to express my gratitude to all colleagues for their hard work, as well as the support and encouragement from the society. ALO has achieved significant milestones during this time. We have garnered participation from over 100 schools and received positive feedback from principals and teachers responsible for parent education, who are eager for the speedy activation of ALO. We are committed to continuously gathering feedback and improving the platform's content quality and quantity, enhancing functionality and user experience, and expanding our range of services. In the upcoming enhanced version, ALO 4.0, we will introduce new categories such as 'Special Education,' 'National Education,' and 'Law-abidingness Education.' Through collaborations with various partners, we aim to provide more authoritative content. Notably, ALO will collaborate with EdUHK to launch the Parent Education and Special Education Certificate Course. We are also grateful for our collaboration with the Hong Kong Police Force in promoting child protection messages to the public. Looking ahead, we anticipate ALO's continued engagement with diverse sectors of society in creating a happier and more nurturing environment for the next generation."Collaboration with EdUHK to launch Parent Education and Special Education Certificate Courses, seizing the "golden period" to provide support for SEN StudentsTo better support SEN students, it is essential to identify and intervene during the critical "golden period" between the ages of 3 and 6. Accessing support services early on greatly enhances their integration into the mainstream education system. However, the demand for SEN support services currently surpasses the available supply in Hong Kong. Consequently, parents face significant pressure and may experience emotional difficulties due to the caregiving responsibilities involved. In this collaboration, EdUHK is supporting ALO to address the unique learning needs of SEN students. Together, they are launching Parent Education and Special Education Certificate Course, which aims to provide tailored support to SEN students and facilitate their seamless integration into the mainstream education system.Regarding this collaboration, Professor John LEE Chi Kin, JP, President of EdUHK, expressed, "In the process of children's holistic development, parents play a crucial role. Currently, the EdUHK's teacher training programs also cover topics related to parent education, including communication with children, parent-school cooperation, and parental support. At the same time, EdUHK is actively developing various educational resources, such as e-learning materials for special education, to assist parents in teaching their children at home. I am delighted that the EdUHK team from the Institute of Special Needs and Inclusive Education (ISNIE) will collaborate with ALO to provide information and training on special education. This collaboration will enable parents to better understand their children's needs, abilities, interests, and aspirations, fostering their growth in a positive environment. I sincerely wish for the steady development of the collaboration between EdUHK and ALO, jointly promoting parent education and the holistic development of students."Seminar centered around two key topics: the application of AI in education and how to create an ideal environment for children's growthALO's inaugural seminar focused on two key topics: the application of AI in education and creating a better growth environment for children to unleash their potential. The development of AI has brought revolutionary changes to our daily lives, and ALO, as an easy-to-use and digitally-driven interactive platform, keeps up with the times by actively incorporating AI elements to enhance content quality and comprehensively address the challenges of parenting and education in Hong Kong. During the seminar, ALO showcased examples of AI applications, such as the introduction of a virtual teacher avatar function and an AI-powered video generation platform. These innovations significantly reduce teachers' workload, enhance students' learning motivation, and greatly increase teaching flexibility. For instance, teachers no longer need to regularly record videos for students learning at home. Instead, they can simply input the content and generate videos using generative AI. Dr. Kevin YUNG Wai Ho from EdUHK demonstrated how artificial intelligence can facilitate self-directed learning at the event.Dr. Kevin YUNG Wai Ho, from EdUHK, discussed the role of AI in instructional transformation, stating, "Artificial intelligence brings significant autonomous motivation to students in teaching. Its advantages include providing personalized instruction, adaptive learning, 24/7 availability of services, supporting the role of teachers, meeting the needs of non-mainstream and special education, avoiding human bias, and providing real-time feedback/actions." Dr. Kevin Yung also mentioned that he has personally witnessed the impressive generation of AI virtual characters, whose lip movements and body gestures are very natural. This has made him look forward to the greater contributions that ALO can make in education in the future.Mr. CM CHUNG, Principal of Shanghai Alumni Primary School, shared practical examples of AI integration in teaching and expressed, " Shanghai Alumni Primary School has been implementing ALO for some time, and indeed, artificial intelligence brings revolutionary new learning modes and educational methods, providing practical assistance for school operations. Teachers can pre-record videos, input text content, and automatically generate videos with teaching presentations, significantly reducing time costs. For students with special educational needs, the teaching pace or replay can be adjusted according to their needs and absorption abilities. Particularly during the peak of influenza season, even if teachers are absent due to illness, substitute teachers can easily access teaching materials from the intranet, ensuring smooth progression of the curriculum."Professor Kenneth SIN Kuen Fung, MH, from EdUHK, shared insights on assisting underprivileged students in unleashing their potential, remarking, " In recent years, Hong Kong adopts a dual-track mode in providing special education, resulting in an increasing number of students with SEN attending mainstream schools. In fact, many SEN students have exceptional talents. For example, a few years ago, an autistic athlete represented Hong Kong in the Special Olympics and won a gold medal. The truth is that many students have untapped talents, and with the use of technology, they can be discovered and nurtured, benefiting more students, schools, and teachers."Additionally, the event invited eight principals from kindergartens, primary schools, secondary schools, and special schools participate in sharing session. They shared their views on how parents and schools can collaborate to create a better growth environment for children, including Mr. Henry TONG Sau-Chai, MH, JP, Vice Chairman of HKTA The Yuen Yuen Institute; Mr SAU Hang-chor, Principal of Sam Shui Natives Association Lau Pun Cheung School; Ms. KAN Shuk-Ching, Principal of ELCHK Ma On Shan Lutheran Primary School; Mr. Paul CHEUK Tak-Kan, Principal of Tung Wan Mok Law Shui Wah School; Mr. CHEN Tak-Nam, Principal of Hoi Ping Chamber of Commerce Secondary School; Mr. Alan LAI Chun-Wing, Principal of HKTA The Yuen Yuen Institute No.3 Secondary School; Mr. CHU Ka-Tim, Principal of Shatin Pui Ying College; Mr. Eddie LAM Tak-Yuk, Principal of Tseung Kwan O Methodist Primary School; Ms. LI Wai-Man, Principal of S.K.H. Kindly Light Church Holy Carpenter Kindergarten Nursery; and Mr. Eugene FONG Yick-jin, Chairman of Committee on Home-School Co-operation.ALO's enhanced 4.0 version features a collaboration with the Hong Kong Police Force to promote child protection messages and advocate for the well-being of parents.ALO has continuously gathered feedback and expanded its service coverage, this includes collaborating with different government departments and university institutions to provide authoritative content, aiming to assist parents in various situations within the community. In response to the latest educational needs, ALO enhanced its 4.0 version by introducing the categories of 'National Education' and 'Law-abidingness Education.' Simultaneously, ALO collaborates with the Hong Kong Police Force to provide the latest information, such as Crime Prevention Alerts, and also promote messages related to child protection to the general public.Ms. YU Hoi Kwan, Chief Superintendent of Police (Crime Support), expressed her thoughts on the collaboration, stating, "I am delighted to collaborate with ALO through the 'Crime Alerts Network (CAN)' and 'SafeCity Ambassadors' initiatives, providing the platform with the latest crime prevention and child protection information. ALO's lively and engaging animations enhance public awareness of law-abidingness, allowing parents to familiarize themselves with legal knowledge and methods of seeking assistance in child protection. This collaboration complements the work of law enforcement agencies, working hand in hand to promote the safety and well-being of children."According to the Curriculum Framework on Parent Education by the Education Bureau, the four major categories of parent education include "Understanding of Child Development," "Promotion of Healthy, Happy and Balanced Development of Children," "Promotion of Parents' Physical and Psychological Well-being," and "Fostering Home-school Co-operation and Communication." However, the aspect of "Promotion of Parents' Physical and Psychological Well-being" is often overlooked. Recognizing this, ALO is committed to incorporating content in this category into its platform. Mr. Peter TSANG Cheung, JP, the founder of ALO, also shares his experience in practices such as "Stake-Standing" and Tai Chi Chuan, which he has cultivated over the years, through the ALO mobile application, aiming to promote the physical and mental well-being of the public, including parents, principals, teachers, and students.Looking ahead, Mr. Peter TSANG Cheung, JP, the founder of ALO, stated, "As an educator, one of the most important principles is to keep pace with the times and ensure that students acquire knowledge and skills that meet the needs of the era when they enter society. ALO, as an educational platform, has never stopped improving the quality and quantity of its content, optimizing functionality and user experience, and expanding its service coverage. We aim to provide the necessary assistance to parents facing various situations in society, enabling the next generation to grow up in a joyful and happy environment. In the future, ALO will stay true to its original mission of 'Unite Hong Kong to Support Parents; Build a Prosperous Society Through Positive Parenting,' contributing to the construction of a prosperous society in Hong Kong!"Photos download: https://bit.ly/3vf46x6About ALOEstablished in 2021, ALO is Hong Kong's first parent education digital app/platform system launched by the non-profit organization Children Social Network (CSN). Based on the Curriculum Framework on Parent Education launched by the Education Bureau (EDB) for kindergartens and primary schools, ALO creates authoritative, systematic as well as interesting multimedia positive parenting information, providing a holistic support for the promotion of parent education. The content covers four major aspects "understanding of child development", "promotion of healthy, happy and balanced development of children, "promotion of parents' physical and psychological well-being" and "fostering home school cooperation & communication."Supported by a team of education professionals responsible for planning, producing, supporting, and supervising the multimedia content for parent education, ALO responds flexibly to the need of modern parents on raising children, and offers a new space for home-school interaction, communication as well as experience sharing for local schools and parents. Together with different industry sectors, ALO is committed to working towards the future of children.This press release is issued by Strategic Communications Consultants Limited on behalf of ALO. For any enquiries, please contact:Strategic Communication Consulting Services Limited (SCC)Andico TsuiTel: 2114 4346 / 6902 3831Email: andico.tsui@sprg.com.hkFax: 2114 0880Source: ALOCopyright 2024 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
PUNE, India, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The report titled "Mobile Artificial Intelligence Market by Technology Node (10nm, 20-28nm, 7nm), Functionalities (Image Recognition, Intelligent Virtual Assistants, Predictive Text), Device Type, Application, Industry - Global Forecast 2024-2030" is now available on 360iResearch.com's offering, presents an analysis indicating that the market projected to grow from a size of $17.46 billion in 2023 to reach $81.51 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 24.61% over the forecast period.

" Elevating Mobile Experiences: The Evolution and Impact of Mobile Artificial Intelligence Across Global Regions "

In an era of technological advancements, mobile artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as an important factor, transforming mobile devices into intelligent counterparts capable of real-time autonomous decision-making, learning, and prediction. Mobile AI elevates user experiences through personalized content, enhanced device performance, and innovative functionalities, including instantaneous language translation and image recognition. The adoption of mobile AI is challenging as it grapples with privacy issues, has limited processing capabilities compared to its cloud-based counterparts, and has increased energy consumption that could impact battery life. Strategies to mitigate these challenges include the development of optimized AI algorithms for mobile environments, stringent data security protocols, and the crew of inefficient AI models. The Americas have emerged as a significant region in mobile AI innovation owing to significant investment in research and development. The Asia-Pacific region is witnessing rapid growth in mobile AI integration, mainly within consumer electronics and mobile services, supported by significant government initiatives and investments. Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) is a more measured approach, balancing innovation with regulation and aligning with rigorous data protection and privacy standards such as GDPR. This multifaceted landscape of mobile AI highlights its transformative potential across various sectors and the opportunities and challenges in harnessing this technology to redefine the global mobile experience.

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" Elevating Mobile Experiences: The Synergy Between Advancements in Smartphone Technologies and the Surge in Mobile AI Capabilities "

The evolution of smartphone technology has significantly propelled the adoption and demand for mobile artificial intelligence (AI), marking a pivotal moment in the ongoing enhancements of smart devices. This surge is largely attributed to the continuous upgrades in processing power, allowing for swift and complex computational abilities, thereby serving as an ideal platform for diverse AI functionalities. These range from voice-activated assistance to sophisticated predictive analytics and customization options. Additionally, integrating cutting-edge sensors and cameras in smartphones enables AI algorithms to offer more immersive and intuitive features such as augmented reality, face recognition, and instant language translation. The 5G networks and mobile AI combination catalyze ultra-responsive and intricate AI operations, enhancing application performance and fueling greater demand. The resultant synergy between smartphone technological advancements and mobile AI facilitates a significant leap forward in intelligent mobile technology and emphasizes the exponential growth in the demand for smarter, more context-aware user experiences.

" Revolutionizing Mobile Technology: The Strategic Empowerment Through 7nm Chip Design "

In the highly competitive domain of mobile technology, the strategic implementation of the 7nm process stands as a pinnacle achievement in chip fabrication, setting new benchmarks for performance and energy efficiency. This cutting-edge technology depicts high-end smartphones and sophisticated devices, enabling them to tackle complex AI and machine-learning operations with unprecedented speed and precision. In contrast, the 10nm node remains the technology of choice for flagship devices, striking an optimal balance between swift processing capabilities and power conservation, thus ensuring an enhanced battery life and robust performance. Meanwhile, the 20-28nm node caters to the demands of the mid-range to budget-friendly mobile segment, providing a cost-effective solution without compromising on the required performance for everyday applications, including fundamental AI functionalities. The evolution toward the 7nm technology node marks a significant leap forward, empowering devices to deliver advanced AI processing on-device, thereby elevating the user experience to new heights through quicker and more refined AI interactions. This technological advancement highlights the industry's commitment to innovation, heralding a new era of smart, efficient, and highly capable mobile devices.

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" Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. at the Forefront of Mobile Artificial Intelligence Market with a Strong 13.23% Market Share "

The key players in the Mobile Artificial Intelligence Market include International Business Machines Corporation, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Google LLC by Alphabet Inc., Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., Apple Inc., and others. These prominent players focus on strategies such as expansions, acquisitions, joint ventures, and developing new products to strengthen their market positions.

" Introducing ThinkMi: Revolutionizing Market Intelligence with AI-Powered Insights for the Mobile Artificial Intelligence Market "

We proudly unveil ThinkMi, a cutting-edge AI product designed to transform how businesses interact with the Mobile Artificial Intelligence Market. ThinkMi stands out as your premier market intelligence partner, delivering unparalleled insights with the power of artificial intelligence. Whether deciphering market trends or offering actionable intelligence, ThinkMi is engineered to provide precise, relevant answers to your most critical business questions. This revolutionary tool is more than just an information source; it's a strategic asset that empowers your decision-making with up-to-the-minute data, ensuring you stay ahead in the fiercely competitive Mobile Artificial Intelligence Market. Embrace the future of market analysis with ThinkMi, where informed decisions lead to remarkable growth.

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" Dive into the Mobile Artificial Intelligence Market Landscape: Explore 180 Pages of Insights, 498 Tables, and 26 Figures "

Preface Research Methodology Executive Summary Market Overview Market Insights Mobile Artificial Intelligence Market, by Technology Node Mobile Artificial Intelligence Market, by Functionalities Mobile Artificial Intelligence Market, by Device Type Mobile Artificial Intelligence Market, by Application Mobile Artificial Intelligence Market, by Industry Americas Mobile Artificial Intelligence Market Asia-Pacific Mobile Artificial Intelligence Market Europe, Middle East & Africa Mobile Artificial Intelligence Market Competitive Landscape Competitive Portfolio

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Related Reports:

Artificial Intelligence based Personalization Market - Global Forecast 2024-2030 Artificial Intelligence Supercomputer Market - Global Forecast 2024-2030 Enterprise Artificial Intelligence Market - Global Forecast 2024-2030

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KUALA LUMPUR, Mar 25, 2024 - (ACN Newswire) - China listed company DeepGlint Technology Co. Ltd., the first visionary artificial intelligence (AI) listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, conducted a seminar in collaboration with Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology at Setapak (TAR UMT) to introduce the advancement of DeepGlint's AI technology to 120 computer science students.DeepGlint, a frontrunner in AI, computer vision, and big data analysis, showcased the Group's innovative solutions across various domains, including the metaverse, intelligent sports, and traffic management. The seminar provided a platform for students to gain insights into cutting-edge technologies and the company's impactful projects. The event marked a significant step towards strengthening Malaysia's foothold in the global AI landscape, aligning with Malaysia's vision for greater talent exchange with China.In a pivotal move, DeepGlint also announced the cooperation with a Malaysian AI company, DeepCore Sdn. Bhd. (DeepCore). In a combined effort, both companies will focus on leveraging local talent and resources to further advance AI technologies and solutions, reinforcing Malaysia's strategic role in the global technology ecosystem.DeepCore, is currently exploring with TAR UMT to recruit students for a talent exchange program where the selected students will undergo training and hands-on experience within a mature AI business environment at DeepGlint's headquarter in Beijing, China. Successful candidates will be given full-time employment with DeepCore or be granted scholarships for further education.Mr. Zhao Yong, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of DeepGlint said, "We are pleased to see so many talents in Malaysia. DeepGlint is committed to empowering young minds and bridging the gap between academia and industry. Our partner, DeepCore is a testament to our belief in Malaysia's potential as a key player in the AI revolution across the ASEAN and the Middle Eastern market. The talent exchange program will allow us to find talents and at the same time, to contribute to the AI development in Malaysia and ASEAN."Dr. Wong Thein Lai, Deputy Dean of Research and Development at the Faculty of Computing and Information Technology cum Assistant Professor of TAR UMT added, "The seminar with DeepGlint was an eye-opening experience for our students, providing them with a rare glimpse into the future of technology and their place within it. We are grateful for this opportunity and the prospects for the future it presents for our students' professional growth."DeepGlint Technology Co. Ltd. [SST: 688207]: https://deepglint.com/Deepcore Technology Sdn. Bhd.: https://deepcoremy.com/Source: DeepGlintCopyright 2024 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
CINCINNATI, OH / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / RelaDyne announced today an extension of the multi-year agreement term with Driven Brands to supply DuraMAX and Drydene oils to Take 5 Oil Change's network of over 1,000 company-operated and franchised locations across the U.S. and Canada through its direct footprint and trusted Associate Distributor Network.

Part of the Driven Brands portfolio, Take 5 Oil Change is a quick lube service featuring a unique drive-thru concept that allows customers to never leave the comfort of their car. The brand offers a fast and friendly 10-minute oil change service and ancillary services, such as air filter replacement, wiper blade changes, and coolant exchanges.

The DuraMAX brand, which is owned by RelaDyne, is an automotive line of high-quality vehicle maintenance solutions, including full synthetic, high mileage, and synthetic blend motor oils, antifreeze, filters, wiper blades, brake cleaners, power steering fluids, and more. Based on a survey conducted by National Oil & Lube News, DuraMAX has been ranked the number one best-selling motor oil brand since 2018 by Quick Lube Owners.

"It is with great pleasure that we announce the extended agreement for the supply of DuraMAX and Drydene oils at all Take 5 Oil Change locations across the country," said Larry Stoddard, RelaDyne's President and CEO. "This extended partnership showcases our commitment to an integrated lubricant marketing channel, where our collective capabilities and nationwide reach harmonize to meet and exceed the diverse needs of our customers while simultaneously fueling their profitability."

"RelaDyne's ability to control the last mile providing the highest-level of store service and analytics demonstrates our robust capabilities in the market," said Dan Oehler, RelaDyne's Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing. "Our DuraMAX product line has played a key role in boosting store profitability, particularly though the rise in synthetic sales. We value the Driven Brands partnership greatly and this extension demonstrates the value RelaDyne delivers with our critical business partners."

About RelaDyne

RelaDyne, headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, is the nation's largest lubricant distributor of fuel, diesel exhaust fluid (DEF), and industrial reliability services for industrial, commercial, and automotive businesses in the United States. RelaDyne was formed in 2010 by the combination of four well-established industry-leading companies and has since grown to more than 85 locations by strategically acquiring other industry leaders in the lubricant, fuel distribution, and industrial service segments. For more information, visit www.reladyne.com.

About Take 5 Oil Change

Established in 1984, Take 5 Oil Change is a quick lube service featuring a unique drive-thru concept that allows customers to never leave the comfort of their car. The brand offers an on average 10-minute oil change service and ancillary services such as air filter replacement, wiper blade changes, and coolant exchanges. Take 5 has more than 1,000 company-owned and franchised service centers throughout the United States and Canada. Take 5 Oil Change is a member of Driven Brands, the largest automotive services company in North America. For more information, visit www.take5.com/oil-change/.

Media Contact:

Dan Oehler, RelaDyne

513-489-6000

SOURCE: RelaDyne

View the original press release on accesswire.com
13m of funding raised to date to develop Company's sustainable oils and fats technology

Strong capital position to accelerate to commercial launch in 2025

Clean Growth Fund joins investors like Agronomics, Alianza Team, Doehler Group and SEED Innovations Ltd. to reduce the threat of climate change and create a healthier and more sustainable global food system

LONDON, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Pioneering UK-based bio-tech business Clean Food Group has announced a further 2.5 million in funding from Clean Growth Fund , a climate-specific UK venture capital fund, providing UK cleantech entrepreneurs with the expertise and capital they need to reduce carbon emissions and tackle the climate crisis.

The funding will be used to accelerate the commercialisation of Clean Food Group's sustainable oils and fats technology. The proprietary technology platform uses proven, scalable yeast strains and fermentation technology and utilises food waste as its food source to deliver sustainable alternatives to traditional oil and fat ingredients.

Today, food production accounts for 25% of global greenhouse emissions, with high yield monocultures responsible for the increasing levels of diseases, deforestation and land exhaustion. Food waste, a nutrient source not currently recycled back into the food ecosystem, represents 30% of global food production. Vegetable oils such as palm and soy are two of the largest drivers of deforestation; combined they make up 20% of global deforestation and as sector oils and fats make up around 7% of total global greenhouse gases.

Clean Food Group's go-to-market product is an equivalent to high oleic palm oil, supported by an externally validated LCA (life-cycle assessment) which demonstrates it delivers a 90% reduction in greenhouse gases when compared with traditional palm oil. Clean Food Group's oil has been designed as a drop-in ingredient that can be substituted in a number of consumables, including baked goods, confectionery and cosmetics applications.

Investment into Clean Food Group to date has come from Agronomics, a leading listed investment company focused on Cellular Agriculture, international industrial food specialists Alianza Team and Doehler Group, and SEED Innovations Ltd., an AIM-listed fund focused on investments in global health opportunities.

Alex Neves, CEO and Co-founder said: "The capital raised with Clean Growth Fund will allow us to accelerate the scale-up of our technology platform while advancing critical regulatory and commercial pathways, with a fully funded commercialisation plan in place well into 2025. We are delighted to be working with the Clean Growth Fund team, led by Beverley Gower-Jones, who is equally passionate about accelerating innovation to help address climate change and to create a healthier, more sustainable, global food system."

Beverley Gower-Jones OBE, Founder and Managing Partner of Clean Growth Fund said: "Clean Food Group has an impressive team with a broad set of skills, and who established several significant industrial partnerships. Backed by a strong technical base, Alex Neves and his team are well placed to commercialise the manufacture of palm oil substitutes and therefore reduce the reliance the food industry has on the production of palm oil, an industry which is one of the main drivers of deforestation and a major contributor to global CO2 emissions. We are very pleased to support CFG's development and growth."

Notes to Editor:

About Clean Food Group:

Clean Food Group is a UK-based food-tech business delivering sustainable oils and fats solutions to the world's food and cosmetics manufacturers, with the mission to deliver scalable, healthier, competitively priced ingredients that have a positive impact on the economic, environmental, and social health of the planet.

Clean Food Group is founded by a team with key experience in growing bio-tech, food industry and retail businesses supported by established venture capital and family office investors with a track record supporting fast-growth start-up companies in highly regulated industries. Clean Food Group's proprietary technology platform has been developed as a result of 8 years pioneering research by Professor Chris Chuck, technical lead at Clean Food Group and the University of Bath.

About Clean Growth Fund:

Clean Growth Fund was launched in May 2020. It is a 101m venture capital fund that is targeting the UK's most promising early-stage "clean growth" companies that are pioneering carbon emission reductions in the areas of power and energy, buildings, transport, agriculture, water and waste. Its remit is to drive superior financial returns for investors and accelerate the development and commercialisation of clean growth technologies in the UK - leading to the creation of new and skilled jobs across the country and contributing to the UK's efforts to deliver net zero by 2050. To date, it has invested in 17 UK companies.

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MILAN, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- LIST, an ION company, announces that the third and final phase of migrating its Borsa Italiana clients onto Euronext's Optiq technology is complete. Following the successful rollout of the equity (March 2023) and bond (October 2023) segments, LIST has successfully migrated its derivatives clients onto the Optiq trading platform.

The migration follows Euronext's acquisition of the Borsa Italiana Cash and Derivatives markets exchange in April 2021. Euronext, the pan-European stock exchange and market infrastructure, is replacing Borsa Italiana's previous Millennium and SOLA technologies with the new Optiq trading platform.

To facilitate the migration of its clients to the new trading technology, LIST upgraded its FastTrade trading solution, offering its clients seamless access to the rich Euronext pan-European ecosystem.

Designed as a low-latency, multi-asset electronic trading system, LIST's FastTrade modular solution is fully customizable and offers advanced trading functionalities. Its normalized connectivity architecture has allowed for a seamless transition to the Optiq technology that Euronext uses for the Italian derivatives market, minimizing operational risks and transition costs. At the same time, the successful migration gives investors access to a broader range of products and new functionalities unique to the Euronext platform.

This final migration includes new software versions and the further enhancement of data centers and telecommunication infrastructure. Extending the colocation services to support derivatives involved additional complexities to the initial phases completed in March and October 2023. The project entailed a major migration, with the technology and hosting infrastructure changing simultaneously.

"After successfully migrating equities and bond cash markets during 2023, we're delighted to have now seamlessly migrated the derivatives market for all our clients," said Vito Mangiaracina, Chief Technology Officer at LIST. "This final step in the extensive project has once again demonstrated our ability to manage complex projects involving multiple stakeholders. I wholeheartedly thank the team for their professionalism and commitment to such a large-scale project."

"The migration to Euronext Optiq technology for the derivatives market was a challenging and risky project but, thanks to the extraordinary preparation and cooperation of all the involved parties, the project was a great success. It has again demonstrated that LIST is the leading technology provider for financial institutions executing orders on Italian exchanges," said Flavio Mazzarotto, Chief Services Officer at LIST.

About ION

ION provides mission-critical trading and workflow automation software, high-value analytics and insights, and strategic consulting to financial institutions, central banks, governments, and corporate organizations. Our solutions and services simplify complex processes, boost efficiency, and enable better decision-making. We build long-term partnerships with our clients, helping transform their businesses for sustained success through continuous innovation. For more information, visit https://iongroup.com/.

About ION Markets

ION Markets provides transformative technology and solutions to financial institutions dealing in asset management, cleared derivatives, equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, and secured funding. Our award-winning end-to-end solutions simplify clients' operations by automating the entire trade lifecycle, providing tools to manage risk, and maximizing access to liquidity, while giving real-time access to critical information for timely operational decisions and execution on a global scale. For more information, visit https://iongroup.com/markets/.

About LIST

An ION company, LIST is a leading financial technology provider to the global trading community, including trading venues, market makers, brokers, asset managers, risk managers, and compliance officers. LIST's innovative turnkey products and delivery, driven by customers' needs, together with a skilled, and determined young team, play a key role in supporting successful business growth in today's volatile times. Continuous innovation and client partnerships around the globe have built trust and reliance on LIST's unique real-time and data analytics capabilities.

All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered owners.

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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/ion-owned-list-completes-the-third-and-final-phase-of-migrating-clients-onto-euronexts-optiq-trading-platform-302098308.html
BRINGING CLEAN ARTISTRY MAKEUP SUPERCHARGED BY SCIENCE TO EUROPE, INCLUDING ALL 51 SHADES OF GROUND-BREAKING TRICLONE SKIN TECH FOUNDATION, PLUS TWO NEW PRODUCTS

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- HAUS LABS BY LADY GAGA, a science-driven, clean artistry brand propelled by HausTech Powered innovation, is expanding exclusively with Sephora across Europe - 12 new countries - following last year's successful UK launch. As of March 26, 2024, the brand will be in 15 countries around the world.

Experience the full interactive Multichannel News Release here: https://www.multivu.com/players/English/9257751-haus-labs-by-lady-gaga-launches-sephora-eu/

HAUS LABS' innovative, best-selling, award-winning, viral beauty products will arrive in stores and online on March 26, 2024, across France (sephora.fr), Italy (sephora.it), Spain (sephora.es), Portugal (sephora.pt), Sweden (sephora.se), Denmark (sephora.dk) and Germany (sephora.de.). And, online only in Switzerland (manor.ch), Greece (sephora.gr), Romania (sephora.ro), Poland (sephora.pl) and Czech Republic (sephora.cz). See local countries for store locations.

Pushing boundaries in beauty through innovation, the brand's DNA pillars of art, science, and kindness, HAUS LABS BY LADY GAGA brings its science-forward products to the EU featuring futuristic, patent-pending proprietary ingredients including Fermented Arnica, 860% more potent than traditional arnica that visibly reduces redness, inflammation, and environmental stress on skin.

Additional HausTech Powered innovations include skin-optimizing ingredients BioFerment 7 Formula, IntelliZen 7 Formula, and Vegan Collagen. The full assortment - 125 products with innovative cutting-edge skincare technologies across nine key categories in color and complexion - will be available, including:

Triclone Skin Tech Foundation : A best-selling, award-winning, groundbreaking, next generation foundation HausTech Powered with 20+ skincare ingredients including Fermented Arnica, available in 51 shades and 6 shade families.

: A best-selling, award-winning, groundbreaking, next generation foundation HausTech Powered with 20+ skincare ingredients including Fermented Arnica, available in 51 shades and 6 shade families. Triclone Skin Tech Hydrating and Depuffing Concealer : A clean, lightweight, concealer that visibly blurs, brightens, conceals and depuffs (after 2 weeks of continuous use), available in 31 shades.

: A clean, lightweight, concealer that visibly blurs, brightens, conceals and depuffs (after 2 weeks of continuous use), available in 31 shades. Bio-Radiant Gel-Powder Highlighter : An innovative highlighting gel-powder that melts onto skin imparting a pure, radiant glow. HausTech Powered with Fermented Arnica + Silver Vine Extract.

: An innovative highlighting gel-powder that melts onto skin imparting a pure, radiant glow. HausTech Powered with Fermented Arnica + Silver Vine Extract. PhD Hybrid Nourishing Lip Oil and newly launched PhD Hybrid Plumping Lip Glaze : A skincare-infused glaze that hydrates lips with burn-free plumping after 2 weeks of continuous use. The restoring, non-sticky 4-in-1 fuses a lip oil, balm, plumper, and gloss. HausTech Powered with Polyplumper Peptide Complex + Vegan Collagen.

: A skincare-infused glaze that hydrates lips with burn-free plumping after 2 weeks of continuous use. The restoring, non-sticky 4-in-1 fuses a lip oil, balm, plumper, and gloss. HausTech Powered with Polyplumper Peptide Complex + Vegan Collagen. Color Fuse Blush Powder: Newly launched and infused with 11%+ skincare actives to ensure not only vibrant pigmentation but also skincare benefits. HausTech Powered with Fermented Arnica and Hydraberry designed to both enhance and nourish the skin.

Brand founder Lady Gaga and global content creator NikkieTutorials will join forces with Sephora Europe for launch, for a digital-first Sephora LIVE that will stream across all 12 Sephora Europe e-commerce platforms and related Sephora country-specific socials. Together, they will talk about the HAUS LABS brand, what it means to be supercharged by science, powered by innovation, and created with kindness. TUNE IN - Tuesday March 26th, at 6:30 PM CET / 10:30 AM PDT. Additional tune-in information will be provided @sephora.fr Instagram and @hauslabs Instagram. The replay will be aired across Sephora EU channels, after the live. The LIVE follows the success of the Sephora Europe App previews - where customers across 12 countries purchased HAUS LABS early, for an unprecedented four-day early access, online shopping experience.

Ben Jones, CEO of HAUS LABS BY LADY GAGA : "Europe is a critical milestone for HAUS LABS BY LADY GAGA. We are honored to be exclusive with the global retail powerhouse, SEPHORA. With the launch of Sephora App previews across Europe, we begin the march toward taking our brand to the world on March 26th. We will enable new consumers to see, touch and feel our products at SEPHORA, showing them that HAUS LABS BY LADY GAGA is a leader at the forefront of Art, Science, Beauty and Technology."

Kelly Coller, CMO of HAUS LABS BY LADY GAGA : "It is with great pride that our two mission-based brands - HAUS LABS and SEPHORA - committed to belonging, inclusivity, kindness - are coming together once again to disrupt the beauty market with innovation, artistry (including artistry in formulations) digital firsts and world-class marketing. We are pioneering a new beauty movement beyond serving looks. Together with SEPHORA, we are serving self-love."

Sylvie Moreau, President of Sephora Europe and the Middle East shared, "After the successful launch in Sephora UK, we are very excited to launch HAUS LABS BY LADY GAGA in our European market! At SEPHORA, we are constantly looking for innovative brands to bring to our customers. We are confident they will be thrilled to discover the creative and inspiring world of HAUS LABS BY LADY GAGA and thrilled to experience the brand's game-changing formulas."

About HAUS LABS BY LADY GAGA

HAUS LABS is a pioneering clean artistry makeup brand supercharged by science - delivering high-tech, high-pigment, high-performance prestige beauty products that are proprietary, first-to-market, infused with skin-loving ingredients, in chic and sustainable packaging. HAUS LABS Triclone Skin Tech Foundation is a game changing, best-selling, award-winning viral sensation with over 10 billion views on Tik Tok. HAUS LABS celebrates all artistry skill levels, ages, shapes, sizes, ethnicities, genders, identities, and sexual orientations. All HAUS LABS products are Created with Kindness: Clean, Cruelty Free and Vegan and sold exclusively at SEPHORA in 15 countries around the world and on hauslabs.com @hauslabs hauslabs

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/haus-labs-by-lady-gaga-launches-in-europe-exclusively-with-sephora-across-12-eu-countries-302098771.html
- Strengthening Efforts to Obtain 3rd-party Perspectives on GCV Management Indicator -

TOKYO, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- AUCNET INC. (hereinafter "AUCNET") is pleased to announce that the company has received validation for its greenhouse gas emission-reducing targets from the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) (*1), an international collaborative organization which certifies that GHG emission reduction targets are scientifically consistent with the goals set forth in the Paris Agreement (*2).

Logo: https://cdn.kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M105709/202403218303/_prw_PI1fl_RvU0qB9m.jpg

The AUCNET GHG emission reduction targets that have obtained validation, using 2021 as the base year, seek to reduce Scope 1 & 2 emissions by 42%, and Scope 3 emissions by 25%, by 2030.

- Initiatives for Sustainability Management

Based on its sustainability policy of the "Circulation Engine, circulating valuable goods on a global scale," AUCNET works with its partners throughout the world in a variety of industries to build a circular distribution system that delivers valuable goods from all over the world to those who need them, and since its founding, the company has contributed to the creation of a sustainable regional environment. In 2021, AUCNET established its very own management indicator, the Gross Circulation Value (GCV) (*3), which expresses in monetary value the impact of AUCNET's business activities on the economy and on the environment through the distribution of reused goods, and is linking its sustainability policy to concrete actions.

- Obtaining third-party perspectives on the GCV management indicator

Regarding the GCV management indicator, AUCNET is striving to increase its reliability and validity by obtaining third-party perspectives. The company obtained third-party warranty (*4) regarding the reliability of its environmental data in April 2023, and in July 2023, it prepared a report on GCV (*5) with respect to the evaluation of its validity from an economic perspective. By obtaining at this time the "1.5 C level" validation from the SBTi, AUCNET will be able to more accurately undertake the reduction of GHG emissions from business activities, which is a component of its unique GCV indicator.

Image: https://cdn.kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M105709/202403218303/_prw_PI2fl_FrF96Y0s.jpg

Going forward, AUCNET will continue working with all of its stakeholders to contribute to the realization of a sustainable society.

References:

(*1) An initiative that requires companies to set reduction targets consistent with scientific knowledge in order to limit the rise in global average temperatures to below 1.5 C. Established in 2015 jointly by four NGOs related to environmental information disclosure, namely CDP, UN Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI), and World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

(*2) Aims to hold global temperature increase to well below 2 C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5 C.

(*3) URL for details on GCV

https://www.aucnet.co.jp/en/sustainability/GCV/

(*4) URL for details on third-party warranty

https://www.aucnet.co.jp/en/sustainability/img/assurance_statement_2022.pdf

(*5) URL for details on GCV report

https://www.aucnet.co.jp/en/sustainability/img/excerptgcvreportja.pdf

Overview of AUCNET

- Corporate Name: AUCNET INC.

- Headquarters: Aoyama OM Square, 5-8 Kita-Aoyama 2-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 107-8349, Japan

- Representative Director, President & CEO: Shinichiro Fujisaki

- Date of start of business: June 29, 1985

- Capital: 1,807 million yen (as of December 31, 2023)

- Sales (consolidated): 43,303 million yen (for the fiscal year ended December 2023)

- Number of employees (consolidated): 878 (as of December 31, 2023)

- Business overview: A circular market design company. Online auctions of used cars, used digital products, pre-owned luxury items, flowers, used motorcycles, used medical equipment etc., and provision of services pertaining to distribution.

- Listed: Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime Market (Code 3964)

- URL: https://www.aucnet.co.jp/en/

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/aucnet-receives-validation-from-science-based-targets-initiative-sbti-302098903.html


LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Engineering and consulting firm John Wood Group Plc. (WDGJF.PK, WG.L) reported that its loss attributable to owners of the parent for the year ended 31 December 2023 narrowed to $110.7 million or 16.1 cents per share from $356.3 million or 52.4 cents per share in the prior year.



Operating profit from continuing operation in the year was $38 million compared to an operating loss of $565 million in 2022, which was impacted by goodwill and intangible impairments of $542 million.



Adjusted earnings per share from continuing operation was 2.3 cents, compared to a loss of 3.1 cents in 2022, reflecting the higher adjusted EBIT and lower finance costs.



Revenues for the year grew to $5.90 billion from $5.46 billion in the prior year.



Arvind Balan will join Wood as Chief Financial Officer on 15 April 2024, replacing David Kemp who will retire from the Board on 14 April 2024. David will remain with Wood for a period of time to ensure a smooth transition.



John Wood Group said it upgraded its outlook, with 2024 guidance now towards the top end of its medium-term targets and 2025 expected to exceed those targets.



Adjusted EBITDA for 2024 is expected to grow towards the top end of its mid to high single digit medium term target, before the impact of disposals.



The company expects that its simplification program will add to its growth potential, leading to adjusted EBITDA growth in 2025 above its medium-term target.



The company said it is on-track to deliver significant free cash flow in 2025.



For more earnings news, earnings calendar, and earnings for stocks, visit rttnews.com.



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Groer Dividenden-Report 2024 von Dr. Dennis Riedl Der kostenlose Dividenden-Report zeigt ganz genau, wo Sie in diesem Jahr zuschlagen konnen. Das sind die Favoriten von Borsenprofi Dr. Dennis Riedl Jetzt hier klicken
Sixth graders from Troup School in New Haven walk through Burke Hall at the Yale Peabody Museum in New Haven past a repositioned brontosaurus on opening day on March 26, 2024 following a four-year renovation. Arnold Gold/Hearst Connecticut Media

Upon entering the cathedral-like space of the newly-renovated Yale Peabody Museum a group of first graders soon forgot to use their indoor voices. As they peered over the railing down at the soaring, reassembled massive skeleton of a Brontosaurus, they chatted away loudly while being led by a tour guide.

Who can tell me what Brontosaurus ate? Jim Sirch, an education coordinator for the museum, asked the youngsters. A chaperone quickly translated the question into Spanish and the kids animatedly discussed amongst themselves in two languages.

Carmelo Hernandez of West Haven, holding a stuffed stegosaurus, waits to enter the Yale Peabody Museum in New Haven on opening day on March 26, 2024 following a four-year renovation. Arnold Gold/Hearst Connecticut Media First graders from FAME, Family Academy of Multilingual Exploration, in New Haven walk through Burke Hall at the Yale Peabody Museum in New Haven on opening day on March 26, 2024 following a four-year renovation. Arnold Gold/Hearst Connecticut Media First graders from FAME, Family Academy of Multilingual Exploration, view An Olmec head reproduction on display in the Mesoamerican and Andean Civilizations exhibit at the Yale Peabody Museum in New Haven on opening day on March 26, 2024 following a four-year renovation. Arnold Gold/Hearst Connecticut Media People view an American mastodon skeleton on exhibit at the Yale Peabody Museum in New Haven on opening day on March 26, 2024 following a four-year renovation. Arnold Gold/Hearst Connecticut Media Samantha and David Serino and their son, David, Jr., 4, of Hamden view a megacerops skeleton on exhibit at the Yale Peabody Museum in New Haven on opening day on March 26, 2024 following a four-year renovation. Arnold Gold/Hearst Connecticut Media Kimi Glynn and her mother, Diane, of Ansonia walk through the Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia exhibit at the Yale Peabody Museum in New Haven on opening day on March 26, 2024 following a four-year renovation. Arnold Gold/Hearst Connecticut Media

Plants! Plantas! Yes! said Sirch as he heard correct guesses. But how did this dinosaur protect itself?

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That gave them pause  some children guessed that Brontosaurus might use its long neck to fend off predators. Sirch nudged the kids to think a little more about it. One of the kids offered that maybe, it might have used its long, whip-like tail.

Thats right! So if a meat-eater came around, the Brontosaurus might do this, said Sirch waving his arms in a whip-like animated fashion for the crowd of giggling students.

Sixth graders from Troup School and first graders from FAME, Family Academy of Multilingual Exploration, in New Haven walk through Burke Hall at the Yale Peabody Museum on opening day on March 26, 2024 following a four year renovation. Arnold Gold/Hearst Connecticut Media

It's been three years since the renowned museum has heard the squeals of happy children on a field trip, awed by the rich collection of dinosaur bones and ancient artifacts.

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Today was the first day of the Yale Peabody Museums soft reopening. Two classes of New Haven public school students, sixth graders from the Augusta Lewis Troup School and first graders from the Family Academy of Multilingual Exploration were the first to visit the museum since it closed in 2020 for renovations, just after the COVID-19 pandemic began.

A grand, soft, reopening

Early Tuesday the children bounced off the busses, high-fiving Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro and New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker as they passed by. The halls of the museum were quickly filled with high-pitched voices echoing off the soaring ceilings.

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Our kids are excited, our staff is excited at the amount of learning that is going to take place for them as they see the exhibits, said Keisha Redd-Hannans, an assistant superintendent for New Haven Public Schools. Redd-Hannans said she and other school administrators had been given a tour about a month ago and asked if New Haven Public School students could be the first in the door.

As a child growing up in New Haven, I remember the Peabody Museum, said Redd-Hannans, who was awestruck by how lifelike the Brontosaurus was. Theyve done a great job renovating it.

DaJhon Jett, a math teacher at Augusta Lewis Troup School, said that he was excited to show the kids the new, updated, lifelike exhibits, and was glad the museum had opened its doors to them.

So often our kids miss out on field trips because of financial burdens, said Jett, adding that he hoped the museum would continue to be open to kids to explore for free.

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Sixth graders from Troup School in New Haven walk through Burke Hall at the Yale Peabody Museum in New Haven past a stegosaurus on opening day on March 26, 2024 following a four-year renovation. Arnold Gold/Hearst Connecticut Media

Elicker said that he was glad that the Peabody was leaning into being a community space with free entry and classroom space for schools to use. He said he couldnt wait to bring his own kids here again.

The best part of this right now is seeing all these New Haven public school kids  the first kids in the building  with huge smiles on their faces, shocked at the size of these dinosaurs, said Elicker. Theres thousands and thousands of kids and their families that will be able to access this space who werent before.

DeLauro was practically vibrating with excitement herself.

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Its a treasure, the longtime congresswoman said. You can read about this stuff in a book, but when we come here it comes alive. It really comes alive.

Excitement, playing hooky, and things to come

Sprinkled among the students Tuesday morning were adults who also happened to be the first members of the public to visit the Peabody. They were some of the early birds able to snag an inaugural slot under the museum's new reservation system.

A pair of women by a giant sloth fossil laughed that they were playing hooky from work to get an early visit in.

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Marlisa Rodriguez and her adult son Carmelo Hernandez said they had been coming to the Peabody regularly since Hernandez was 5 years old. They were eager to see the new space.

Every paleo-enthusiast nerd has their childhood museum, and this ones definitely mine, said Hernandez, who was wearing a faux dino-scaled backpack and carrying a plush stegosaurus. He said he was glad to see that all the exhibits were updated with current science. Its fresh and new and it does feel right.

Theyre showing them in a different light, Rodriguez of the dinosaur fossils. The way the old building was, it felt like home; this feels like home, being here, but Im seeing these animals in a different way.

First graders from FAME, Family Academy of Multilingual Exploration, in New Haven high five New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker, center, and Museum Director David Skelly, right, as they enter the Yale Peabody Museum in New Haven on opening day on March 26, 2024 following a four-year renovation. Arnold Gold/Hearst Connecticut Media

On the second floor, a group of graduate students from Yale University marveled at the new gallery of the history of science and technology.

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We work with very precise, very advanced instruments to take extremely specific measurements, said Yale graduate student Eleanor Stewart-Jones. Its so cool to see how some of those instruments evolved.

Its also impressive what they were able to do, to make and to figure out, added Alexander Hegg, another graduate student. Were able to see what they were able to do with what they had at the time.

Missing from the museum's opening were some of the anthropological, live and touchable exhibits the Peabody plans to add. After finishing his tour with the first graders, Sirch said that's something he's looking forward to.

We just got the permit for putting in some live, tropical butterflies, said Sirch. In the coming weeks those butterflies, a large Eastern Indigo snake and drawers of touchable artifacts will be put out in the learning lab space, he said.

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Well have a brand-new poison dart frog case, in a natural environment with tropical plants, said Sirch.

Sirch said that while the dinosaurs were definitely a highlight of the museum, you could never predict what would draw the attention of visitors of all ages. He said that one of his touring first graders had stopped to point out some preserved butterflies on display, while others were stopped dead in their tracks by the giant, extinct sea turtle.

Whats really special about a natural history museum, and museums in general, is that you never know what might jump out, said Sirch.

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Juniper Research and VOX Solutions have partnered to create a whitepaper which discusses the impact of Artificial Inflated Traffic and SMS This study provides crucial insights into the fraudulent practices threatening the integrity of business messaging.

HONG KONG, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Juniper Research has unveiled a critical whitepaper detailing the pervasive and insidious issue of Artificially Inflated Traffic (AIT) and SMS Trashing within the business messaging sector. The comprehensive study was conducted in collaboration with VOX Solutions, with the aim to cast light on fraudulent activities that have led to increased operational costs for enterprises by charging for non-existent SMS traffic.

This new research reveals that in 2023, known AIT accounted for 18% of all international A2P SMS traffic, costing enterprises, including those of notable figures like Elon Musk, upwards of $60 million annually. Such staggering figures bring to light the urgent need for mobile operators to devise and implement robust strategies to protect their revenue streams and customer trust.

Key Highlights from Juniper Research:

Juniper Research estimates the global cost of AIT to enterprises at $8.5 billion in 2023, signaling a dire need for immediate action.

By 2027, AIT is expected to account for 11% of traffic, costing $23.4 billion to enterprises, with the highest penetration in Central & East Europe, and Far East & China.

AIT and SMS trashing create substantial revenue for fraudsters by expanding SMS traffic volumes "artificially".

Sources of AGT (Artificially Generated Traffic), such as bots and AI, are increasingly complex, making detection difficult.

The whitepaper emphasizes the dire consequences of unchecked AIT, including the potential collapse of business messaging as a reliable channel and the shift to alternatives like OTT platforms or biometric authentication methods. Juniper Research calls upon all industry stakeholders to collaborate in combatting these fraudulent practices.

In light of these findings, the CEO of VOX Solutions, Ehsan Ahmadi, remarks, "The scourge of AIT represents one of the most stealthy and damaging threats to the integrity of A2P messaging channels today. It is imperative that as an industry, we rally together to deploy sophisticated defenses against these invisible yet costly attacks."

"Understanding the scale of AIT is essential for the industry. It's a pervasive issue that not only affects the profitability of SMS channels but also erodes trust in these critical communication platforms," says Sam Barker, VP of Telecoms Market Research at Juniper Research. "Operators and enterprises must respond with sophisticated measures to safeguard against these fraudulent activities."

The whitepaper by Juniper Research presents a detailed analysis of the business messaging ecosystem's vulnerabilities, emphasizing the importance of innovative solutions and strategic collaborations to combat these challenges.

To discover more about the intricate dynamics of SMS fraud and the strategies to mitigate its impact, access the full whitepaper by Juniper Research: https://voxsolutions.co/the-impact-of-ait-sms-trashing-on-the-market-juniper-research-whitepaper/

About VOX Solutions:

Vox Solutions simplifies, improves, and optimises Voice and SMS channels using the latest innovations in technology. The company enables mobile operators to monetize their A2P services in a sustainable way, leveraging proprietary technology.

Vox Solutions utilises its multi-award-winning anti-fraud technology, VOX-360, to offer a reliable, accurate and real-time view of operators' voice and SMS services. By partnering with operators, Vox Solutions provides secure & reliable 2FA services to enterprises, globally.

For MNOs, Vox Solutions is focused on monetization of SMS and Voice services, being the first company in the market to offer a Flash Calling (Voice A2P) end-to-end solution.

For the enterprise segment, Vox Solutions focus on A2P messaging, A2P & P2P Voice, while also providing solutions focused on Cloud Communications.

Its unique VOX-360 solution also won numerous global awards for the anti-fraud, flash call authentication and AI/ML innovations.

http://www.voxsolutions.co

About Juniper Research:

Juniper Research was founded in 2001 by the industry consultant Tony Crabtree, in the midst of the telecoms and dot-com crash. The business was fully incorporated in February 2002 and has since grown to become one of the leading analyst firms in the mobile and digital tech sector.

Juniper Research specialises in identifying and appraising new high growth market sectors within the digital ecosystem. Market sizing and forecasting are the cornerstones of our offering, together with competitive analysis, strategic assessment and business modelling.

We endeavour to provide independent and impartial analysis of both current and emerging opportunities via a team of dedicated specialists - all knowledgeable, experienced and experts in their field.

Our clients range from mobile operators through to content providers, vendors and financial institutions. Juniper Research's client base spans the globe, with the majority of our clients based in North America, Western Europe and the Far East.

www.juniperresearch.com

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/juniper-research-exposes-the-billion-dollar-drain-of-artificial-inflated-traffic-ait-and-sms-trashing-302098364.html
Research led by Curve CSO Professor Ali Tavassoli's laboratory at University of Southampton

Landmark paper on dual HIF-1 and HIF-2 inhibitor that works by inhibiting the interaction of both HIF-1a and HIF-2a with HIF-1

SOUTHAMPTON, England, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Curve Therapeutics ("Curve" or the "Company"), a private biotechnology company pioneering a revolutionary intracellular screening platform addressing complex and challenging disease targets, today announces the publication of an article in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS). The paper entitled 'Identification and Development of Cyclic Peptide Inhibitors of Hypoxia Inducible Factors (HIF) 1 and 2 That Disrupt Hypoxia-Related Signalling in Cancer Cells' can be viewed here.1 Curve's Chief Scientific Officer, Professor Ali Tavassoli, co-authored the article and leads the academic group at the University of Southampton where the work was undertaken.

Professor Ali Tavassoli, Chief Scientific Officer of Curve Therapeutics, said: "It is well recognised that HIF plays a key role in the survival and growth of solid tumours. The compounds we report in this paper inhibit the protein-protein interaction of the two subunits that form the HIF transcription factor. We show that these compounds prevent the hypoxia-induced activity of this transcription factor, stopping hypoxia-response in cell-based assays. This paper underlines the promising therapeutic potential of dual HIF inhibition as an approach for the treatment of a variety of cancers."

Curve Therapeutics is a leader in the discovery of innovative therapeutics to address disease targets which are difficult to target using conventional drug discovery methods. Through the utilisation of its world leading Microcyle discovery platform, Curve can screen directly inside mammalian cells, allowing for the identification of biologically active library members within an intracellular environment where both the library and the target are present in their native conformations. Curve is developing a non-peptidic, small-molecule dual inhibitor of HIF-1 and HIF-2 with first-in-class potential.

This is the first report of a dual HIF-1 and HIF-2 inhibitor which functions by inhibiting the interaction of both HIF-1a and HIF-2a with HIF-1. The Microcycles discovered by Prof. Tavassoli were identified using his SICLOPPS screening platform and show good cellular activity. Patents and patent applications describing these HIF inhibitory Microcycles are exclusively licensed to Curve.

About Curve Therapeutics

Curve Therapeutics is a private biotechnology company pioneering a revolutionary intracellular screening platform to enable the discovery of innovative therapeutics that address complex and challenging disease targets with the potential to transform the lives of patients. Curve originated from world-leading Microcycle research conducted by Professor Tavassoli's group in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Southampton, UK. Curve is backed by blue chip investors including Advent Life Sciences, Epidarex Capital, Pfizer Ventures, Columbus Venture Partners and British Patient Capital. Curve has a US$1.7bn global research collaboration with MSD the trade name of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ USA, to discover and validate modulators of up to five therapeutic targets using its Microcycle technology, initially for oncology and neurology indications. For more information visit: www.curvetx.com.

About Curve's Microcycle platform

Curve has developed an IP-protected, mammalian cell platform technology for functional screening and enrichment of diverse hexameric cyclic peptide Microcycle libraries to identify those library members that have the desired biological activity against a therapeutic target. Curve's platform allows direct screening for biologically active library members inside mammalian cells and facilitates small molecule hit-to-lead programmes. A key advantage of the technology is that both the library and the target are present in all of their native conformations within a cell. Uniquely, the compact size and rigid structure of Microcycles enables the design of non-peptide small molecule leads. The platform can be used for a wide range of therapeutically relevant targets, including protein-protein and protein-DNA interactions and has been used by Curve to develop a pipeline of cancer programmes against targets including a dual HIF-1/HIF-2 inhibitor and an inhibitor of ATIC homodimerization.

[1] Andrew T. Ball, Soran Mohammed, Cyrielle Doigneaux, Reece M. Gardner, James W. Easton, Steven Turner, Jonathan W. Essex, Garry Pairaudeau, Ali Tavassoli, Identification and Development of Cyclic Peptide Inhibitors of Hypoxia Inducible Factors 1 and 2 That Disrupt Hypoxia-Response Signaling in Cancer Cells, Journal of the American Chemical Society (19 March 2024) DOI: 10.1021/jacs.3c10508

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Consortium brings together industry, academic, and regulatory experts to advance research and bridge gaps in drug development targeting Alzheimer's disease

Asceneuron to contribute its expertise in neurodegenerative disease to advance biomarkers for drug development in Alzheimer's disease

LAUSANNE, Switzerland and SAN FRANCISCO, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Asceneuron SA, a clinical stage biotech company dedicated to targeting the root causes of neurodegenerative diseases, today announces that it has joined the Critical Path Institute's, Critical Path for Alzheimer's Disease (CPAD) Consortium. With its highly experienced leadership team and world class Scientific Advisory Board of leading experts in neurodegenerative diseases, Asceneuron is well positioned to contribute to the consortium.

Asceneuron has an exemplary pipeline of O-GlcNAcase (OGA) inhibitors in clinical development that have the potential to halt disease progression in neurodegenerative diseases. Its lead asset, ASN51, is a potential best-in-class, orally administered, OGA inhibitor targeting tau aggregation and will be progressing into Phase II clinical development later this year. The CPAD consortium is proceeding to advance important biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease (AD), such as tau Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and is accelerating the pathway for approval of promising new therapies. As a member of CPAD, Asceneuron will work collaboratively with the consortium to help address the large unmet medical need of patients and families suffering due to neurodegenerative diseases.

Ryan Schubert, Senior Vice President Research and Development at Asceneuron, said: "We are honored to be collaborating with the CPAD consortium alongside esteemed fellow members, all of whom are dedicated to accelerating drug development to improve patients' lives. CPAD has gathered high quality data and experts from industry, academia and regulatory agencies with a focus on bringing new treatment options to patients suffering with AD. We look forward to contributing to and impacting the treatment pathway for AD as we advance our lead intracellular tau-targeting asset, ASN51, into Phase II clinical development later this year. Further information will be shared at upcoming scientific conferences."

Yashmin Karten, PhD, MBA, Associate Director at Critical Path for Alzheimer's Disease, added: "C-Path is proud to welcome Asceneuron as the newest member of its CPAD Consortium. Asceneuron's research on molecules that prevent the formation of toxic tau aggregates in the brain to slow down or stop the progression of AD provides a welcome addition to the intellectual brain power and wealth of scientific knowledge within the consortium. CPAD's diverse stakeholders and members are dedicated to enhancing regulatory decision-making tools to advance drug development and improve the lives of those living with AD and related dementia (ADRD).

CPAD's mission is to accelerate the drug development process for patients with chronic neurodegenerative disease leading to dementia. Its primary focus is on AD. CPAD works with industry, regulatory authorities, academia, and patient advocacy organizations to aggregate anonymized patient-level data consensus standards with the aim of advancing drug development tools for evaluating drug efficacy and safety, to optimize novel clinical trial designs, and facilitating the regulatory review process."

CPAD's integrated and standardized patient-level database comprises over 100,000 patient level records across 73 separate clinical trial datasets. These records are utilized by over 370 institutions worldwide. Alongside its biotech and pharmaceutical company members, the initiative incorporates feedback from all its stakeholders, including government and regulatory agencies. CPAD has ongoing efforts as part of its pre-competitive working groups to evaluate the potential of tau PET as a reliable surrogate endpoint, with the aim of enhancing efficiency in Alzheimer's disease drug development.

About Asceneuron

Asceneuron is a clinical stage biotech company focused on the development of orally bioavailable therapeutics for debilitating neurodegenerative disorders with high unmet medical need. The company's pipeline reflects its ambition and commitment to developing treatments for a wide a range of neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, as well as orphan tauopathies. Asceneuron has two clinical-stage small molecule O-GlcNAcase inhibitors in development for the treatment of proteinopathies: OGA inhibitor ASN90 (licensed to Ferrer Pharmaceuticals) for the treatment of progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and a potential best-in-class OGA inhibitor, ASN51 for Alzheimer's disease. Asceneuron is backed by a renowned syndicate of investors consisting of Sofinnova Partners, M Ventures, SR One, Johnson & Johnson Innovation - JJDC, Inc. (JJDC) and Kurma Partners. For more information, please visit www.asceneuron.com.

About Critical Path Institute

Critical Path Institute (C-Path) is an independent, nonprofit established in 2005 as a public-private partnership, in response to the FDA's Critical Path Initiative. C-Path's mission is to lead collaborations that advance better treatments for people worldwide. Globally recognized as a pioneer in accelerating drug development, C-Path has established numerous international consortia, programs and initiatives that currently include more than 1,600 scientists and representatives from government and regulatory agencies, academia, patient organizations, disease foundations and pharmaceutical and biotech companies. With dedicated team members located throughout the world, C-Path's global headquarters is located in Tucson, Arizona and C-Path's Europe subsidiary is headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands. For more information, visit https://c-path.org/.

About Critical Path for Alzheimer's Disease (CPAD) Consortium

Founded in 2008, the Critical Path for Alzheimer's Disease (CPAD) enhances regulatory decision-making tools to advance drug development and improve the lives of those living with Alzheimer's disease and related dementia (ADRD). The primary objective of Critical Path for Alzheimer's Disease (CPAD), a pre-competitive consortium of the Critical Path Institute, is to promote, support, and manage data and knowledge sharing from Alzheimer disease (AD) drug development stakeholders. CPAD generates the appropriate tools for the specific challenges identified by our stakeholders, to accelerate drug development for AD and advancing better treatments for people worldwide. For more information, please visit https://c-path.org/program/critical-path-for-alzheimers-disease/.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/asceneuron-joins-critical-path-for-alzheimers-disease-consortium-302098499.html
Der kostenlose Dividenden-Report zeigt ganz genau, wo Sie in diesem Jahr zuschlagen konnen. Das sind die Favoriten von Borsenprofi Dr. Dennis Riedl

STOCKHOLM (dpa-AFX) - Sweden's producer prices declined for the tenth straight month amid a continued fall in costs for energy-related products, figures from Statistics Sweden showed on Tuesday. The producer price index dropped 1.3 percent year-on-year in February, though slower than the 2.3 percent fall in January. The annual rate of the producer price index, excluding energy-related products, was an increase of 0.7 percent. Prices in the domestic market alone decreased by 1.2 percent in February. Prices for energy-related goods fell sharply by 11.5 percent annually in February. Meanwhile, prices of consumer goods gained 2.4 percent, and those of capital goods climbed 4.3 percent. Monthly, producer prices remained flat in February after rising 0.3 percent in January. Data also showed that import prices fell 1.6 percent annually and the export price index was 1.4 percent lower. 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.
The rapid growth in e-commerce industry, increasing online transactions globally, and rising adoption of barcode decoding software in logistics & transportation industry are expected to drive the global barcode decoding software market's growth during the forecast period. The North America region is projected to witness prominent growth by 2032.

NEW CASTLE, Del., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research has recently published a report, titled, "Barcode Decoding Software Market Size, Share, Competitive Landscape and Trend Analysis Report by Deployment Mode, by Application: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2032." According to the report, the global barcode decoding software market generated $329.8 million in 2022, and is anticipated to generate $612.1 Million by 2032, rising at a CAGR of 6.4% from 2023 to 2032.

Prime Determinants of Growth

The growth in the number of online transactions and the exponential expansion of the e-commerce industry are the factors expected to drive the growth of the global barcode decoding software market in the forecast period from 2023 to 2032. However, the widespread use of barcode technology across various industries brings forth significant concerns regarding security and data privacy, which may hamper the market growth in the coming future. On the contrary, barcode decoding software presents significant opportunities for streamlining operations and enhancing efficiency within the logistics & transportation industry, which is expected to offer remunerative opportunities for the expansion of the barcode decoding software market during the forecast period.

Request Sample Pages: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/A304290

Report Coverage & Details:

Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 2023-2032 Base Year 2022 Market Size in 2022 $329.8 million Market Size in 2032 $612.1 million CAGR 6.4 % No. of Pages in Report 305 Segments covered Deployment Mode, Application, and Region Drivers Surging e-commerce industry globally Rise in number of online transactions Increasing consumer base in shopping malls Opportunities Innovations in logistics & transportation industry Advancements in on-premise barcode deployment Restraints Security and data privacy concerns

Buy this Complete Report (305 Pages PDF with Insights, Charts, Tables, and Figures) at:

https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/barcode-decoding-software-market/purchase-options

Deployment Mode: On-premise Sub-segment to be the Most Dominant by 2032

The on-premise sub-segment accounted for the largest global barcode decoding software market share of 66.9% in 2022 and is expected to grow at the highest CAGR of 6.5% during the forecast period. This is mainly because on-premise solutions offer businesses enhanced control over their data, enabling adherence to industry regulations and safeguarding sensitive information. In addition, these solutions mitigate security risks associated with external servers or cloud services, boosting confidence in clients regarding data protection measures. Moreover, the ability of on-premise solutions to ensure regulatory compliance positions them as a preferred choice for businesses striving to maintain data integrity and confidentiality.

Application: Manufacturing Units Sub-segment to Witness Significant Growth by 2032

The manufacturing units sub-segment accounted for the largest global barcode decoding software market share of 32.1% in 2022 and is expected to hold its dominant position during the forecast period. One of the primary reasons for this dominance is manufacturing units' pivotal role in refining processes, boosting efficiency, and optimizing inventory management. Industrialization trends further augment its growth, showcasing its transformative impact on streamlined operations and competitiveness. With industries prioritizing automation, the demand for barcode decoding software solutions is poised to surge, solidifying its indispensability in modern manufacturing.

Region: North America Market to Hold Major Market Share by 2032

The barcode decoding software market in the North America region accounted for the largest share of 36.5% in 2022 and is predicted to continue to hold major market share by 2032. This growth is mainly owing to leveraging its advanced technological infrastructure and widespread adoption of barcode technology across diverse industries. The presence of key players fostering innovation through continuous R&D investments is leading to technological advancements to meet market demands. Moreover, widespread recognition of barcode technology's role in optimizing workflows and supply chain management is driving the regional market growth.

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Leading Players in the Barcode Decoding Software Market:

Capterra

Cognex vision

Archon Systems Inc.

Honeywell

Banner

TEKLYNX

Datalogic

Britecheck

Zebra

Loftware

The report provides a detailed analysis of the key players of the global barcode decoding software market. These players have adopted different strategies, such as new product launches, collaborations, expansion, joint ventures, agreements, and others to increase their market share and maintain their dominance in different regions. The report is valuable in highlighting business performance, operating segments, product portfolio, and strategic moves of market players to showcase the competitive scenario.

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Get an access to the library of reports at any time from any device and anywhere. For more details, follow the link: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/library-access

About Us:

Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Wilmington, Delaware. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports Insights" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.

We are in professional corporate relations with various companies, and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Allied Market Research CEO Pawan Kumar is instrumental in inspiring and encouraging everyone associated with the company to maintain high quality of data and help clients in every way possible to achieve success. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.

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Mountain View, Calif, & Mumbai, India, Mar 26, 2024 - (ACN Newswire) - CleverTap, the all-in-one engagement platform, announced its selection by Umob, the Netherlands' premier super-mobility platform; Umob combines all-electric e-mopeds, scooters, bikes, cabs and public transport within one app. Through CleverTap's cutting-edge offerings, they will be able to harness the power of data-driven insights and personalised engagement. This will enhance user experiences, drive user retention, and optimise their overall business operations.Umob's innovative approach to sustainable urban mobility has positioned it as a prominent name in the Netherlands market. They have simplified how people navigate cities with a seamless app experience. Umob was looking for a platform to enhance customer engagement and retention strategies, provide data-driven decision-making, personalise experiences, and increase customer lifetime value.CleverTap's all-in-one platform, which includes advanced analytics, multi-channel communication capabilities, and seamless integration options, will play a pivotal role in helping Umob meet its requirements. With CleverTap, Umob can deliver highly targeted and personalised user experiences, driving increased engagement, loyalty, and lifetime value."As Umob continues on its high-growth trajectory, we must focus on maximising customer lifetime value early on. In a period of rapid expansion, retaining high-quality customers and driving return on investment are paramount to our business sustainability," said Raymon Pouwels, Co-Founder of Umob. "CleverTap emerged as the ideal fit for us, offering an all-in-one platform that aligns perfectly with our objectives. With CleverTap's suite of cutting-edge offerings, we are confident in our ability to deliver personalised experiences, foster strong customer relationships, and ultimately drive long-term business success."Pravin Laghate, Vice President, Europe, CleverTap, said, "Umob's strides in the mobility-as-a-service space are nothing short of remarkable. This partnership signifies the fusion of two forward-thinking entities aiming to revolutionise the industry. As Umob embarks on a phase of exponential growth, CleverTap's innovative solutions will play a pivotal role in empowering their journey. Together, we envision a future where mobility-as-a-service is redefined, offering unparalleled convenience, maximising the lifetime value of each user."About CleverTapCleverTap is the all-in-one engagement platform that helps brands unlock limitless customer lifetime value by helping them create personalised experiences to retain their most valuable customers. The platform empowers businesses to orchestrate experiences for individuals across their lifecycles and design personalised journeys that span a lifetime. It offers analytics encompassing every aspect of the lifecycle, enabling businesses to measure and optimise each experience in real-time. Its unique AI capability is insightful, empathetic, and prescriptive, facilitating smarter and faster decisions. The all-in-one platform unifies experiences from every touchpoint, paving the way for a new era of customer engagement.The platform is powered by TesseractDB - the world's first purpose-built database for customer engagement, offering both speed and economies of scale.CleverTap is trusted by 2000 customers, including Electronic Arts, TiltingPoint, Gamebasics, Big Fish, MobilityWare, TED, English Premier League, TD Bank, Carousell, AirAsia, Papa John's, and Tesco.Backed by leading investors such as Peak XV Partners, Tiger Global, Accel, CDPQ, and 360 One, the company is headquartered in Mountain View, California, with presence in San Francisco, New York, Sao Paulo, Bogota, London, Amsterdam, Sofia, Dubai, Mumbai, Bangalore, Singapore, and Jakarta.For more information, visit clevertap.com or follow us on:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/clevertap/X: https://twitter.com/CleverTapForward-Looking StatementsSome of the statements in this press release may represent CleverTap's belief in connection with future events. They may be forward-looking statements or future expectations based on currently available information. CleverTap cautions that such statements are naturally subject to risks and uncertainties that could result in the actual outcome being different from the results anticipated by the statements mentioned in the press release.Factors such as the development of general economic conditions affecting our business, future market conditions, our ability to maintain cost advantages, uncertainty with respect to earnings, corporate actions, client concentration, reduced demand, liability or damages in our service contracts, unusual catastrophic loss events, war, political instability, changes in government policies or laws, legal restrictions impacting our business, the impact of a pandemic, epidemic, any natural calamity and other factors that are naturally beyond our control, changes in the capital markets and other circumstances may cause the actual events or results to be materially different, from those anticipated by such statements. CleverTap does not make any representation or warranty, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, completeness or updated or revised status of such statements. Therefore, in no case whatsoever will CleverTap and its affiliate companies be liable to anyone for any decision made or action taken in conjunction.For more information:SONY SHETTYDirector, Public Relations, CleverTap+91 9820900036sony@clevertap.comIPSHITA BALUConsultantArchetype+91 9590111798ipshita.balu@archetype.coSource: UmobCleverTapCopyright 2024 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
AMSTERDAM, March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (IBFD) is pleased to announce the publication of its latest book, "Mobility of Individuals and Workforces", which addresses a gap in international tax literature on individual mobility.



Since 2013, significant efforts have been made to reform the global tax structure, primarily focusing on corporate income taxation, particularly for multinationals. However, this book highlights the lack of attention paid to individual income taxation in the face of increasing individual mobility and evolving work patterns.

This timely publication explores the various factors driving individual mobility, including:

Increased wealth mobility: Individuals with significant wealth are increasingly seeking tax-favourable jurisdictions.

Global competition for talent: Economies are actively attracting skilled individuals, impacting tax policies.

Technological advancements: Remote work and the rise of the digital nomad lifestyle challenge traditional tax frameworks.

Emergence of English as a global language: Language barriers are diminishing, facilitating individual mobility.

Automation and AI: The changing nature of work necessitates revising tax policies.



This new book addresses these critical trends and their impact on both corporate and, more importantly, individual income taxation, and aims to stimulate future discussions on this rapidly evolving landscape.

The publication reflects growing recognition by the United Nations and the OECD of the need to address these issues, making "Mobility of Individuals and Workforces" a crucial resource for policymakers, tax professionals and academics.

To learn more and order your copy, please visit https://www.ibfd.org/shop/book/mobility-individuals-and-workforces.

Contact information: Phil Windus, Senior Marketing Coordinator: p.windus@ibfd.org.

About IBFD

The International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (IBFD) is a leading independent, non-profit organization specializing in tax research and education. With its high-quality research, training and information services, IBFD serves governments, international organizations, academia and the business sector in over 150 countries.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c86da701-a934-4afa-81fd-c6f3fac8d196


LONDON (dpa-AFX) - A federal judge in San Francisco, California has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Elon Musk and his X Corp. against the Center for Countering Digital Hate or CCDH, a non-profit hate speech research organization.



In a statement, the CCDH said the judge has granted its motion to dismiss and strike all claims in the lawsuit.



Following Musk's acquisition of X, formerly Twitter, in 2022, CCDH had published reports about the rise of racist, antisemitic and extremist content on the social media platform.



Musk and X filed the lawsuit on July 31, 2023 seeking to blame CCDH for tens of millions of dollars in lost advertising revenue after the nonprofit reported on hate speech and misinformation on X. Musk tweeted recently that the 'CCDH is a truly evil organization that just wants to destroy the first amendment under the guise of doing good!'



CCDH filed a motion in November to strike X's claims under California's law against Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation as well as a motion to dismiss the case in its entirety.



In his ruling, Charles Breyer, United States District Judge of the Northern District of California, denied Musk and X's request to re-plead the case, calling the lawsuit baseless and intimidatory, after CCDH argued that it was a transparent attempt to shut down its free speech.



In his ruling granting CCDH's motion, Breyer said, '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. 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, during a hearing last month, reportedly had described parts of the lawsuit as one of the most vapid extensions of law that he has ever heard. The judge also asked Musk's lawyers then about not filing a defamation lawsuit if it felt that CCDH was making false and damaging claims in its reports.



He further said now, 'The Court notes, too, that X Corp.'s motivation in bringing this case is 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. If CCDH's publications were defamatory, that would be one thing, but X Corp. has carefully avoided saying that they are.'



Meanwhile, Imran Ahmed, CEO and founder of the CCDH, said the courts have affirmed its fundamental right to research, to speak, to advocate, and to hold accountable social media companies for decisions they make behind closed doors that affect kids, democracy, and fundamental human rights and civil liberties.



Ahmed added that he expects the landmark ruling to 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.



Judge Breyer also granted a motion by Stichting European Climate Foundation to have claims against it dismissed.



Musk is meanwhile facing a number of lawsuits, including a class-action lawsuit from former X employees, alleging that the billionaire fired them following the acquisition without a significant severance pay.



Copyright(c) 2024 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Groer Dividenden-Report 2024 von Dr. Dennis Riedl Der kostenlose Dividenden-Report zeigt ganz genau, wo Sie in diesem Jahr zuschlagen konnen. Das sind die Favoriten von Borsenprofi Dr. Dennis Riedl Jetzt hier klicken
Teva UK Limited and Closed Loop Medicine Ltd have announced a strategic partnership to advance the development of personalised medicines.

Under the agreement, Closed Loop Medicine a leading TechBio company and pharmaceutical company, Teva UK, will investigate opportunities to use Closed Loop Medicine's proprietary software as a medical device (SaMD) technology platform which aims to advance the development of personalised medicines, improve drug efficacy and outcomes in patients with specific chronic disorders by combining dose-optimised drug therapy with digital care.

Dr Paul Goldsmith, Chief Medical Officer and Innovation Officer, Co-Founder and President of Closed Loop Medicine, said: "As clinicians, we know that dosing of drugs is a huge problem. In the most extreme cases, we are seeing patients having severe adverse events, for example when required to change dose levels to undergo surgery. Being able to predict personalised dose levels could be transformational."

This strategic partnership harnesses Closed Loop Medicine's proprietary SaMD and combines it with Teva's pharmaceutical products creating the opportunity for digital companions to be prescribed alongside traditional therapeutics, enabling real-world data integration and improved effectiveness of innovative and known medicines.

Recent clinical trial results for a hypertension product, CLM-HT01, have demonstrated the technology's ability to dose optimise drug therapy and minimise side effects whilst achieving blood pressure control, with exceptionally high medication adherence.1

Personalised medicine is an aspiration of the modern healthcare system, yet existing medicines are typically prescribed based on their average effects in a population and rarely dose optimised for the individual. This "one size fits all" approach results in increased side effects and adverse reactions, medication non-adherence and consequently poorer patient outcomes and higher healthcare costs for payors. For example, the annual cost of drug-related morbidity and mortality resulting from non-optimised medication was estimated at $528.4 billion in the US, in 2016,2 and the projected annual cost of adverse drug reactions alone to the NHS is 2.21 billion.3

Kim Innes, Teva's General Manager, UK Ireland, said: "We are excited to be working with Closed Loop Medicine, who have demonstrated themselves to be compelling innovators in the area of personalised medicine. We know that the patient experience can sometimes be less than optimal and as the largest supplier of medicines to the NHS, the potential to combine 'drug' 'digital' could create significant improvements to lives of patients at great scale. We are very excited about the future of this partnership."

Dr. Hakim Yadi OBE, CEO Co-Founder of Closed Loop Medicine, commented: "It is a fantastic opportunity to be working with the Teva team to explore ways in which our combined expertise can advance the delivery of personalised medicine solutions, globally." He added: "The integration of real-world data enables personalisation of dosing that has historically not been readily available to clinicians before. This commercial partnership is an example of the potential and scalability of our SaMD technology platform, demonstrating the value that can be added by integrating software to well-known and trusted brands to improve disease management and patient outcomes at an individual level."

Collier DJ, et al. 2024 https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/JAHA.123.030749 Watanabe JH, et al.2018 https://doi.org/10.1177/1060028018765159 Osanlou R, et al. 2022 https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-055551

To learn more about Closed Loop Medicine, visit: www.closedloopmedicine.com

To learn more about Teva, visit www.tevapharm.com

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which are based on management's current beliefs and expectations and are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties, both known and unknown, that could cause our future results, performance or achievements to differ significantly from that expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. You can identify these forward-looking statements by the use of words such as "should," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "target," "may," "project," "guidance," "intend," "plan," "believe" and other words and terms of similar meaning and expression in connection with any discussion of future operating or financial performance. Important factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include risks relating to: our ability to successfully compete in the marketplace, including our ability to achieve expected results from investments in our product pipeline including to successfully develop and commercialize our anti-TL1A (TEV-'574) asset for the treatment of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, two types of inflammatory bowel disease; our exclusive collaboration with Sanofi; the risk that we will incur significant costs in connection with the development of anti-TL1A (TEV-'574), which may exceed any revenue generated by anti-TL1A (TEV-'574); risks that regulatory approvals and other requirements may delay the development and commercialization of our anti-TL1A (TEV-'574); our ability to successfully launch and execute our Pivot to Growth strategy, including to expand our innovative and biosimilar medicines pipeline and profitably commercialize the innovative medicines and biosimilar portfolio, whether organically or through business development; our business and operations in general, including the impact of global economic conditions and other macroeconomic developments and the governmental and societal responses thereto; the impact of the state of war declared in Israel and the military activity in the region, including the risk of disruptions to our operations and facilities, such as our manufacturing and R&D facilities, located in Israel; and other factors discussed in this press release and in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, including in the section captioned "Risk Factors." Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and we assume no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements or other information contained herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. You are cautioned not to put undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240326208890/en/

Contacts:

Lily Jeffery (Zyme Communications)

Tel: +44 (0) 7891 477378

Email: lily.jeffery@zymecommunications.com
AV-C/GN

In an era when digital threats are constantly multiplying and evolving, it's more important than ever to find security products that can keep up with them. A myriad of options is available, all of which make great claims about their own effectiveness. It can be hard to work your way through all of the different antivirus and other security programs on offer.

Recognizing this need for clarity, AV-Comparativesis proud to present the "IT Security Products Overview". This provides an at-a-glance guide to current security-software manufacturers who hold a certificate from AV-Comparatives assuring effective products for Microsoft Windows, in both home-user and enterprise categories. This is a valuable aid to negotiating the maze of security products, and finding a reputable product that is right for your needs.



Recommended antivirus products for enterprise users 2024:



Avast, Bitdefender, Checkpoint, Cisco, Crowdstrike, Elastic, ESET, G Data, K7, Kaspersky, Microsoft, Palo Alto, Sophos, Trellix, Vipre, VMware

A detailed overview how the enterprise endpoint protection antivirus products performed in a 365 long term av-test can be found here:

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Lydia Watson, M.D. Provided by Northwood University/For the Daily News

MyMichigan Health and Ascension have signed a definitive agreement under which Ascension Michigans Northern Region will become part of MyMichigan Health within a few months.

Our organizations share many common values and, together, we are committed to working closely to ensure high-quality health care is available to all of the communities we serve, said Lydia Watson, M.D., president and CEO, MyMichigan Health. This agreement expands MyMichigans commitment and purpose in Creating Healthy Communities  Together, while building on Ascension Michigans already strong heritage of providing personalized and compassionate care, with the benefit of added quaternary care through our relationship with Michigan Medicine.

MyMichigan Health is adding Ascension St. Marys of Saginaw, a 268-bed acute care inpatient facility; Ascension St. Marys Towne Center, an ambulatory surgery center, wound care center, emergency department and short stay unit facility; Ascension St. Joseph in Tawas, a 47-bed acute inpatient facility, and Ascension St. Marys of Standish, a 25-bed critical access hospital and 29-bed skilled nursing facility. This includes all related sites of care and related physician practices of Ascension Medical Group.

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Ascension St. Marys, Ascension St. Joseph and Ascension Standish have been committed to our mission of serving all persons, with special attention to those who are most vulnerable. As a regional provider, MyMichigan Health is well positioned to carry on this legacy, serving the community through an integrated care delivery system, said Jordan Jeon, interim regional president & CEO, Ascension Michigans Northern Region and chief strategy officer, Ascension Michigan. This transition will ensure that Saginaw, Tawas City and Standish have sustainable, quality health care access long into the future.

The transaction is expected to become official this summer, subject to standard regulatory and other required third-party approvals. Until that time, these four Ascension Michigan locations and MyMichigan Health will continue to operate independently of each other. All are committed to creating a smooth transition for patients, associates and physicians, with no disruption in services or procedures.

We are focused and strongly believe in providing care close to home and to those that need it most, said Dr. Watson. We will ensure that patients, their families, neighbors and loved ones will have an exceptional health care experience for many, many years to come.

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Watson also shared that MyMichigan is working on a planning process that will include both employees and the community as an opportunity to build relationships and share its culture. MyMichigan will be looking at selecting a president over the four facilities and will announce that individual in the near future.
Built on Amazon Bedrock, ARIA brings unparalleled efficiency and insight to facility managers and building operators, streamlining operations, optimizing energy usage, and reducing carbon emissions

MONTREAL, March 26, 2024a pioneer in building technology, today announced the launch of the world's first virtual building assistant, ARIA, ARIA is designed to enhance building efficiency by assimilating seamlessly into the day-to-day processes related to building management. Akin to the iconic relationship of Iron Man and Jarvis, ARIA offers first-of-its-kind technology and ingenuity to serve as the essential companion to facility managers. Created for use in the commercial and retail spaces, ARIA is equipped with the predictive ability to circumvent operational problems while maintaining a watchful eye over a building's blind spots, effectively redefining traditional facilities management.

With BrainBox AI's trailblazing autonomous AI technology as its internal compass, ARIA provides a 360-degree view of a building's data, zeroing in specifically on its systems and its components to make recommendations that are not just accurate, but holistically informed for strategic decision-making. Ingrained in ARIA's design is a two-way interaction. Not only can facility managers and building operators prompt it to carry out specific tasks, but they can also expect the virtual assistant to make and directly advise future actions toward the most efficient and effective management of their building. Clients can "call" on ARIA via text or voice and seamlessly take their interactions from desktop to mobile without skipping a beat. ARIA's generative AI engine works 24/7 to help clients prioritize and optimize their buildings. This master feature transforms building management from reactive to proactive, increases its value, and directly contributes to an organization's sustainability efforts.

"ARIA's intelligence and intuition channels AI in truly unprecedented ways to help clients achieve their own unique decarbonization, energy consumption, and operational efficiency goals. ARIA enables building teams to delegate mundane operational tasks and repetitive analytics to it so they can focus on more value-driven tasks," said Jean-Simon Venne, BrainBox AI's Cofounder and Chief Technology Officer. "In just two years, generative AI has demonstrated its boundless capabilities across all sectors. Its rapid growth mirrors its equally swift market adoption, proving that it is a worthy asset to any organization that seeks to stay ahead of the curve in innovation and efficiency."



The company's fully autonomous feature is built on Amazon Bedrock, surrounded by a unique combination of AWS Lambda, AWS Fargate, and Amazon Athena services. Amazon Bedrock is a fully managed service that offers a choice of high-performing foundation models from leading AI companies and Amazon via a single API, along with a broad set of capabilities for BrainBox AI to build generative AI applications with security, privacy, and responsible AI. With Amazon Web Servicesthat it had officially joined the AWS Partner Network , a global community of AWS partners that leverages programs, expertise, and resources to build, market, and sell customer offerings.

"Amazon Bedrock was designed to help companies build transformative generative AI solutions and get to market faster," said Howard Wright, Vice President and Global Head of Startups at AWS. "We couldn't be happier to see a groundbreaking solution like ARIA come to fruition-one that will completely change building operations and empower facility managers around the world to optimize energy consumption and reduce carbon emissions even beyond what they have been able to do with BrainBox AI's existing solution."

ARIA is BrainBox AI's indelible mark on the generative AI landscape, as it continues to lead the way in solutions for the built environment. Together with BrainBox AI's core AI for HVAC technology, ARIA makes a significant impact on building operations management, reducing HVAC energy costs by up to 25% and greenhouse gas emissions by up to 40%. The company is excited by this significant step change in innovation that meaningfully advances its mission to help save the planet with AI. BrainBox AI invites you to discover and experience ARIA firsthand through these engaging short videos.

About BrainBox AI

Founded in 2017, BrainBox AI was created to address two critical issues currently facing the built environment: carbon emissions and energy consumption. As innovators in the decarbonization movement, BrainBox AI's game-changing HVAC technology leverages AI to make buildings smarter, greener, and more efficient. Through strategic global relationships, BrainBox AI elevates real estate clients across various sectors from office buildings and hotels to commercial retail, grocery stores, airports, and more.

Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, a global AI hub, our workforce of over 170 employees, bring with them talent from all sectors with the common thread of being in business to heal our planet. BrainBox AI works in collaboration with research partners including MILA - Quebec AI Institute, the Institute for Data Valorization



Contact:

Liz Culley-Sullo

Director, Public Relations

l.culley-sullo@brainboxai.com

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Der kostenlose Dividenden-Report zeigt ganz genau, wo Sie in diesem Jahr zuschlagen konnen. Das sind die Favoriten von Borsenprofi Dr. Dennis Riedl

CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. dollar weakened against most major currencies in the European session on Tuesday. The U.S. dollar fell to 4-day lows of 1.0856 against the euro and 1.2665 against the pound, from early highs of 1.0835 and 1.2634, respectively. The greenback edged down to 151.21 against the yen, from an early high of 151.45. Against Australia, the New Zealand and the Canadian dollars, the greenback slid to 4-day lows of 0.6556, 0.6029 and 1.3565 from early highs of 0.6532, 0.5996 and 1.3591, respectively. If the greenback extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 1.09 against the euro, 1.29 against the pound, 149.00 against the yen, 0.66 against the aussie, 0.61 against the kiwi and 1.33 against the loonie. 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.
CHICAGO, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The global yeast market, estimated to be valued at USD 5.5 billion in 2024, showcases a remarkable growth projection, anticipated to escalate to USD 8.5 billion by 2029, indicating a robust CAGR of 8.9% from 2024 to 2029 according to a report published by MarketsandMarkets. The yeast market has experienced significant growth in recent years, driven by the expanding demand for bakery products, alcoholic beverages, and animal feed. With yeast being a crucial ingredient in these sectors, advancements in biotechnology and fermentation processes have enabled manufacturers to produce high-quality yeast strains efficiently.

Moreover, the rising preference for natural and clean-label ingredients in food and beverage products has further propelled the yeast market forward. As consumer preferences continue to evolve towards healthier and sustainable options, the yeast market is expected to witness sustained growth, with innovations likely to drive further diversification in applications and product offerings.

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The feed sector commands a significant share of the market, driven by growing demand for feed products with enhanced nutritional benefits.

The increasing demand for yeast-based feed solutions reflects a broader shift towards sustainable and efficient agricultural practices. With companies such as Phileo by Lesaffre (France) introducing innovative products like the Actisaf Sc 47 HR+ probiotic for the poultry sector, there's a clear emphasis on meeting this demand through research-driven solutions. These yeast-based additives offer a range of benefits, including improved feed efficiency, enhanced gut health, and better nutrient digestibility, leading to improved animal performance and welfare. As such, investments in launching new yeast-based feed products not only cater to current market demands but also drive forward the industry's commitment to innovation and sustainability.

By type, the baker's yeast segment is projected to account for the largest share in the yeast market.

During the forecast period, the baker's segment is expected to lead the market in terms of type, primarily due to the cost-effectiveness and extensive applications of baker's yeast across various industries, including food and feed. The expansion of the baker's yeast market correlates directly with the growing consumption of bakery products, especially bread, particularly in developed regions.

Notably, the All India Bread Manufacturer's Association (AIBMA) reports that India's per capita consumption of bread is estimated to be around 1.5 kg to 1.75 kg. This surge in bakery product consumption, particularly bread, is a significant driver behind the anticipated growth of the baker's yeast segment in the market throughout the forecast period. Additionally, advancements in baking technology and the increasing popularity of artisanal bread are expected to further fuel the demand for baker's yeast in the global market.

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In North America, the US dominates the yeast market due to rising trade opportunities.

The rise in trade opportunities has positioned the United States as a dominant force in the Yeast market within North America. With a notable export volume of USD 147 million in 2022, the United States emerged as the sixth-largest exporter of Yeast globally, showcasing its significant presence in the international market. Notably, the main destinations for US Yeast exports include Canada, Mexico, and Japan, indicating a diverse reach across different regions. Moreover, the fastest-growing export markets for US Yeast, such as Canada, Italy, and Japan, highlight the country's ability to capitalize on expanding trade avenues. Additionally, while the United States imports substantial amounts of Yeast, totaling USD 439 million in 2022, its status as the largest importer globally provides leverage in negotiating favorable trade terms and strengthening its position as a dominant player in the North American yeast market. This robust trade activity underscores the United States' growing influence and competitiveness in the global Yeast trade landscape, particularly within the US region.

The key players in the market are Associated British Foods plc (UK), Alltech (Kentucky), AngelYeast Co., Ltd (China), Lallemand Inc. (Canada), ICC (Brazil), Leiber (Germany).

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Related Reports:

Feed Yeast Market by Type (Yeast Derivatives, Probiotic Yeast, Brewer's Yeast, and Specialty Yeast), Livestock (Ruminants, Swine, Poultry, Aquatic Animals, Pets and Equine), Genus , and Region - Global Forecast to 2025

Specialty Yeast Market by Type (Yeast Extracts, Yeast Autolysates, Yeast Beta-glucan, and Other Yeast Derivatives), Species (Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Pichia Pastoris, Kluyveromyces), Application and Region - Global Forecast to 2027

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Company Awards $1.8M in Grants to Eight Organizations in Brazil, India, Thailand and the United Kingdom

Originally published on Bristol Myers Squibb Newsroom

PRINCETON, NJ / ACCESSWIRE / March 29, 2024 / Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) unveiled a $1.8 million initiative to advance health equity by addressing social determinants of health (SDoH) in four countries with underserved patient needs, including Brazil, India, Thailand, and the United Kingdom. The new health equity grants are an extension of the company's broader long-term commitment to invest $150M in health equity by 2025.

Inequities in healthcare systems present a unique global challenge, with some studies suggesting that SDoH factors account for up to 50% of health outcomes within the United States.1 The World Health Organization (WHO) defines SDoH as non-medical factors that influence health outcomes, such as: income and social status, education, physical environment, social support networks, genetics, health services and gender. As echoed by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #3 (Good Health & Well-being), SDoH are crucial to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.2

"We know that a healthier world is attainable, but access remains a significant challenge for many patients and social determinants of health present barriers to people attaining their full potential for health and well-being," said Cari Gallman, Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Bristol Myers Squibb. "These new health equity grants reinforce Bristol Myers Squibb's commitment to ensuring all patients have access to high-quality health care, regardless of where they live."

These healthcare-strengthening grants will support eight organizations that are addressing the root causes of inequities in an effort to deliver long-lasting impacts at a community level. The grantees were selected in countries with underserved communities living with cancer and blood disorders. Based on the outcomes of this pilot program, the Company will consider expansion to other geographies and communities to remove systemic barriers to care, and enable better access and health outcomes. The grantees include:

The Instituto Lado a Lado pela Vida in Brazil, which serves the rural population and patients with cancer who live in the countryside and small, economically disadvantaged towns of the North area of Minas Gerais. This project focuses on prevention, improvement of diagnosis and patient referral for treatment.

in Brazil, which serves the rural population and patients with cancer who live in the countryside and small, economically disadvantaged towns of the North area of Minas Gerais. This project focuses on prevention, improvement of diagnosis and patient referral for treatment. The Instituto Oncoguia in Brazil, which is focusing on training the health team at Sistema Unico de Saude Oncology Centers with the aim of ensuring that all non-medical professionals who care for people with cancer are informed and empowered with the latest information in the world of cancer.

in Brazil, which is focusing on training the health team at Sistema Unico de Saude Oncology Centers with the aim of ensuring that all non-medical professionals who care for people with cancer are informed and empowered with the latest information in the world of cancer. The Gabriel Project Mumbai in India, which is creating innovative and comprehensive solutions to treat sickle cell anemia and oral cancer among underserved tribal villages.

in India, which is creating innovative and comprehensive solutions to treat sickle cell anemia and oral cancer among underserved tribal villages. The Liver Foundation, West Bengal in India, which is training rural healthcare providers to be advocates, referral points and drop-out counselors at the grassroot level and align them with public health linkages for prevention of hepatocellular carcinoma in the rural Indian communities.

in India, which is training rural healthcare providers to be advocates, referral points and drop-out counselors at the grassroot level and align them with public health linkages for prevention of hepatocellular carcinoma in the rural Indian communities. The Foundation for Education and Development in Thailand, which is working to improve prevention and primary care in Burmese migrant communities living close to the southern border with Myanmar. It aims to do this by increasing linkages of migrants to Thai healthcare facilities and services to increase healthcare access for Myanmar migrants.

in Thailand, which is working to improve prevention and primary care in Burmese migrant communities living close to the southern border with Myanmar. It aims to do this by increasing linkages of migrants to Thai healthcare facilities and services to increase healthcare access for Myanmar migrants. The Patients Association in the United Kingdom, which aims to bridge the gap between social care and healthcare, ultimately reducing health disparities and improving access to quality care for underserved populations.

in the United Kingdom, which aims to bridge the gap between social care and healthcare, ultimately reducing health disparities and improving access to quality care for underserved populations. Blood Cancer UK in the United Kingdom, which is leading a project aimed at reducing inequality in clinical trial recruitment for people from ethnic minority communities with blood cancer. Blood Cancer UK is also partnering with local communities to co-design a model, with accompanying tools, campaigns or services, to improve awareness of and enrollment in clinical trials at a local level.

in the United Kingdom, which is leading a project aimed at reducing inequality in clinical trial recruitment for people from ethnic minority communities with blood cancer. Blood Cancer UK is also partnering with local communities to co-design a model, with accompanying tools, campaigns or services, to improve awareness of and enrollment in clinical trials at a local level. The Less Survivable Cancer Taskforce in the United Kingdom through Pancreatic Cancer UK, which is working to ensure governments and health services across the UK prioritize and commit to concrete actions for less survivable cancers, with the goal of doubling survival rates over the next decade.

Bristol Myers Squibb's Approach to Health Equity

At Bristol Myers Squibb, health equity is the opportunity for all people and communities across the globe to attain their full potential for health and well-being. Our work extends beyond traditional healthcare boundaries, emphasizing the importance of community voices and cross-sector partnerships in co-creating solutions that drive meaningful and equitable health outcomes worldwide.

About Bristol Myers Squibb

Bristol Myers Squibb is a global biopharmaceutical company whose mission is to discover, develop, and deliver innovative medicines that help patients prevail over serious diseases. For more information about Bristol Myers Squibb, please visit BMS.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.

1 Hood CM, Gennuso KP, Swain GR, et al. County Health Rankings: Relationships Between Determinant Factors and Health Outcomes. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. February 2016; 50(2):129-135. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2015.08.024



2 United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs - Sustainable Development. The 17 Goals. Available at https://sdgs.un.org/goals. Accessed March 2024.

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View the original press release on accesswire.com
Geophysical program designed to deliver a pipeline of priority drill targets for new copper discoveries

TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. (TSXV:BAY)(OTCQB:ATBHF) ("Aston Bay" or the "Company") is pleased to provide details on the upcoming geophysical surveys and exploration program at the Storm Copper Project ("Storm" or the "Project") on Somerset Island, Nunavut. The program will be conducted by American West Metals Limited ("American West"), who is the operator of the Project. American West has completed the required expenditures to earn an undivided 80% interest in the Project. American West will be solely responsible for funding the program.

Highlights

Field crew have arrived at Storm with final preparations underway for the commencement of the spring program

2024 field work is scheduled to begin in the coming weeks with commencement of detailed, high-powered surface electromagnetic (EM) surveys, with Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling also planned to begin shortly

Moving Loop EM (MLEM) will initially be deployed around the areas of the existing Storm copper mineralization to identify targets both along strike in the near-surface (<200 metres ("m") depth) as well as deeper predicted targets (up to 500m depth) with over 50 line-kilometres ("km") initially planned

MLEM surveys will then focus on regional exploration with over 40 line-km planned to screen the regional Blizzard, Tornado and Tempest Prospects

Multiple strong indicators of potential copper mineralization have already been identified at the regional targets - including extensive gossans and chalcocite boulders with grades up to 32% copper and 30% zinc - making these areas compelling exploration targets

Excellent potential for geophysics to deliver game-changing results both in the near-surface and at depth given the excellent correlation of EM targets with high-grade copper sulfides in previous drilling

"It is exciting to begin another significant exploration program at Storm," stated Thomas Ullrich, CEO of Aston Bay. "Our partner, American West, will be conducting a large-scale EM geophysical program using a higher-powered system than has ever been used at Storm. This will allow us to see the shallow targets with more detail, as well as investigate deeper with more confidence than ever before."

"The drills have proven the effectiveness of EM in pointing to high-grade, near-surface mineralization. Using this method to look at a much larger area and to a much greater depth could unlock significant new copper discoveries. The drill crew is set to mobilize this week, with their task to expand on the known mineralization and test the new targets generated by these surveys. Things are lining up for an exciting spring and summer season at Storm."

Figure 1: Electromagnetic survey field crew taking sensor readings.

MOVING LOOP ELECTROMAGNETICS (MLEM)

Electromagnetic geophysical surveys (EM) have been confirmed by drilling as the most effective targeting tool in the exploration for high-grade copper sulfides at the Storm Project. Multiple historical surveys using both airborne and ground EM systems have resulted in the discovery of most of the known copper mineralization in the Storm area.

The near-surface (<100m depth) high-grade copper mineralization in the immediate Storm area remains open along strike and at depth, with recent drilling resulting in new discoveries both in the near-surface and at depth. Together with the largely untested 100km-long prospective copper target horizon, this highlights the outstanding potential for the discovery of additional copper mineralization in the near-surface, at depth, and over considerable lateral extents within the larger project area.

The planned EM surveys will utilize the most powerful energy source to date (more than twice as powerful as prior surveys). They will aim to fill gaps in the historical surveys, acquire higher-resolution data, and investigate deeper. The surveys will also expand the search into new areas including the Blizzard, Tornado, and Tempest Prospects.

Storm

Moving Loop Electromagnetics (MLEM) will begin in the Storm area where historical surveys have been instrumental in expanding areas of known mineralization and in the discovery of new zones, such as the 2023 discoveries at Thunder ( 48.6m @ 3.0% Cu in drill hole ST23-03 ) and Lightning Ridge ( 30.4m @ 2.2% Cu in drill hole SR23-52 ). The EM anomalies tested to date in the Storm area have been strongly correlated with higher-grade (>2%) copper mineralization.

The 2024 Storm MLEM surveys will include:

Ultra-high-resolution Moving Loop Electromagnetics (MLEM) to focus on the expansion of the known copper mineralization and making new discoveries. The targeted search space will be approximately 0-200m below surface.

Deep-penetrating, wider-spaced MLEM to explore the Storm central graben area and below the known mineralization. The targeted search space will be from 200-500m vertical depth.

The Storm surveys will initially screen over 50 line-km (Figure 2).

Regional Exploration

After completion of the Storm surveys, the MLEM will be used to screen the regional Blizzard, Tornado and Tempest areas. The discovery of further copper mineralization in these areas has significant implications for the regional copper endowment of the Project. The EM surveys will be the key targeting tool and over 40 line-km of surveys are planned within these areas.

The Blizzard and Tornado Prospects are located approximately 10km along strike to the east of Storm (Figure 3 & 6). The geological setting is interpreted to be identical to that of Storm and contains numerous outcropping copper occurrences with coincident copper in soil and geophysical anomalies.

Figure 2: Plan view of the Storm area showing the planned MLEM survey areas (configured for shallow and deep exploration) and location of the known copper mineralization and prospects, overlaying aerial photography.

The Tornado Prospect is centered on an area with abundant chalcocite and malachite boulders in frost-heaved sub-crop and float, within a 3.2km x 1.5km geochemical copper anomaly. The large copper anomaly shares the same linear trend as the main structural features of the Storm graben. Most of the anomalous copper samples are located around the interpreted northern graben fault, which is a similar setting to that of the large and laterally extensive Cyclone Deposit at Storm.

The Blizzard Prospect is defined by a broad, oval-shaped zone of elevated Vertical Time Domain Electromagnetics (VTEM - airborne survey) conductance with approximate dimensions of 4.0km x 1.5km. The target is enhanced locally by elevated levels of copper in rock and soil samples.

Both the Blizzard and Tornado areas also contain large gravity anomalies (Figure 3), and together with the existing EM and coincident copper geochemistry, rank these areas as highly prospective for the discovery of further copper mineralization.

Figure 3: Map of the Blizzard and Tornado areas showing the copper soil geochemistry, overlaying gravity imagery (terrain corrected Bouguer Anomaly). The Tornado copper anomaly is over 3.2km long. The Blizzard gravity data is also coincident with a 4km x 1.5km VTEM anomaly (not shown).

The Tempest Prospect is located approximately 40 kilometres south of the known copper discoveries at Storm (Figure 6). The area is defined by a 4km long zone of gossans, with assays from select grab samples returning base metal grades up to 38.2% Cu and 30.8% Zn.

The geology of the area is interpreted to contain the southern extension of the highly prospective Storm copper target horizons, overlapping much older Proterozoic rocks to the west. This geological setting and the interpreted unconformity between two main geological terranes suggest a permeable zone close to potential source rocks, highly prospective for base metal mineralization.

A ground Loupe Electromagnetic (TDEM) and magnetic survey was completed over the Tempest area during August 2023 to aid with mapping the stratigraphy and to define potential targets for further exploration work (Figure 5).

The TDEM survey has defined a series of conductive anomalies that lie along the strike of the stratigraphy and are coincident with the copper/zinc gossans in several areas (Figure 4). The conductors are localized and modelling of the data estimates that they are potentially steeply dipping. The relatively short strike length of the conductive features is positive for the potential of base metal mineralization. It suggests that the anomalies are less likely to be related to conductive stratigraphic horizons such as black shales or graphite.

Moving Loop Electromagnetics and drilling are planned to follow up these highly prospective areas in 2024.

Figure 4: Testing base metal gossans (brown/rust-coloured rocks) at Tempest with a portable XRF prior to sampling for laboratory assay. Select samples have yielded assays of up to 38.2% Cu and 30.8% Zn.

Figure 5: Map of the Tempest Prospect showing the mapped gossans and geochemical sampling points with select rock assays, overlaying TDEM image (late time conductivity - Gate 6) and aerial photography.

Figure 6: Map of the Project area showing the known copper and base metal mineralization and prospects overlaying magnetics (Airborne GeoTEM - hotter colours indicate higher magnetic intensity).

About the Storm Copper and Seal Zinc-Silver Projects, Nunavut

The Nunavut property consists of 173 contiguous mining claims covering an area of approximately 219,257 hectares on Somerset Island, Nunavut, Canada. The Storm Project comprises both the Storm Copper Project, a high-grade sediment-hosted copper discovery (intersections including 110m* @ 2.5% Cu from surface and 56.3m* @ 3.1% Cu from 12.2m) as well as the Seal Zinc Deposit (intersections including 14.4m* @ 10.6% Zn, 28.7g/t Ag from 51.8m and 22.3m* @ 23.0% Zn, 5.1g/t Ag from 101.5m). Additionally, there are numerous underexplored and undrilled targets within the 120-kilometre strike length of the mineralized trend, including the Tornado copper prospect where 10 grab samples yielded >1% Cu up to 32% Cu in gossans. The Nunavut property is now the subject of an 80/20 unincorporated joint venture with American West (see "Agreement with American West" below for more details).

Storm Discovery and Historical Work

High-grade copper mineralization was discovered at Storm in the mid-1990s by Cominco geologists conducting regional zinc exploration around their then-producing Polaris lead-zinc mine. A massive chalcocite boulder found in a tributary of the Aston River in 1996 was traced to impressive surface exposures of broken chalcocite mineralization for hundreds of metres of surface strike length at what became named the 2750N, 2200N, and 3500N zones. Subsequent seasons of prospecting, geophysics and over 9,000 m of drilling into the early 2000s confirmed a significant amount of copper mineralization below the surface exposures as well as making the blind discovery of the 4100N Zone, a large area of copper mineralization with no surface exposure.

Following the merger of Cominco with Teck in 2001 and the closure of the Polaris Mine, the Storm claims were allowed to lapse in 2007. Commander Resources staked the property in 2008 and flew a helicopter-borne VTEM survey in 2011 but conducted no additional drilling. Aston Bay subsequently entered into an earn-in agreement with Commander and consolidated 100% ownership in 2015. Commander retained a 0.875% Gross Overriding Royalty in the area of the original Storm claims which purchased by Taurus Mining Royalty Fund L.P. in January 2024.

In 2016 Aston Bay entered into an earn-in agreement with BHP, who conducted a 2,000-station soil sampling program and drilled 1,951m of core in 12 diamond drill holes, yielding up to 16m* @ 3.1% Cu. BHP exited the agreement in 2017 and retains no residual interest in the project. Aston Bay conducted a property-wide airborne gravity gradiometry survey in 2017 and drilled 2,913m in nine core holes in the Storm area in 2018 yielding a best intercept of 1.5m* @ 4.4% Cu and 20.5m* @ 0.6% Cu.

Agreement with American West

As previously disclosed, Aston Bay entered into an Option Agreement dated March 9, 2021 (the "Option Agreement") with American West Metals Limited and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Tornado Metals Ltd. (collectively, "American West") pursuant to which American West was granted an option (the "Option") to earn an 80% undivided interest in the Project by spending a minimum of CAD$10 million on qualifying exploration expenditures ("Expenditures"). The parties amended and restated the Option Agreement as of February 27, 2023 to facilitate American West potentially financing the Expenditures through flow-through shares but did not change the commercial agreement between the parties.

The Expenditures were completed during the 2023 drilling program and American West exercised the Option in accordance with the terms of the Option Agreement, as amended. American West and Aston Bay will form an 80/20 unincorporated joint venture and enter into a joint venture agreement. Under such agreement, Aston Bay shall have a free carried interest until American West has made a decision to mine upon completion of a bankable feasibility study, meaning American West will be solely responsible for funding the joint venture until such decision is made. After such decision is made, Aston Bay will be diluted in the event it does not elect to contribute its proportionate share and its interest in the Project will be converted into a 2% net smelter returns royalty if its interest is diluted to below 10%.

Recent Work

American West completed a fixed loop electromagnetic (FLEM) ground geophysical survey in 2021 that yielded several new subsurface conductive anomalies. A total of 1,534m were drilled in 10 diamond drill holes in the 2022 season, yielding several impressive near-surface intercepts including 41m* @ 4.1% Cu as well as 68m of sulfide mineralization associated with a deeper conductive anomaly.

In April 2022, results of beneficiation studies demonstrated that a mineralized intercept grading 4% Cu from the 4100N area could be upgraded to a 54% Cu direct ship product using standard sorting technology. Further beneficiation studies are ongoing.

In April 2023, American West embarked on a spring delineation drilling program using a helicopter-portable RC drill rig as well as conducting gravity and moving loop electromagnetic (MLEM) ground geophysical programs.

The summer 2023 program conducted further delineation drilling of the near-surface high-grade copper zones to advance them toward maiden resource estimates by late 2023 or early 2024. Diamond drilling tested new high-priority gravity targets and environmental baseline studies will be initiated.

*Stated drill hole intersections are all core length, and true width is expected to be 60% to 100% of core length.

QA/QC Protocols

The analytical work reported on herein was performed by ALS Global ("ALS"), Vancouver Canada. ALS is an ISO-IEC 17025:2017 and ISO 9001:2015 accredited geoanalytical laboratory and is independent of Aston Bay Holdings Ltd., American West Metals Limited, and the QP. Drill core and hand samples were subject to crushing at a minimum of 70% passing 2 mm, followed by pulverizing of a 250-gram split to 85% passing 75 microns. Samples were subject to 33 element geochemistry by four-acid digestion and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) to determine concentrations of copper, silver, lead, zinc, and other elements (ALS Method ME-ICP61a). Overlimit values for copper (>10%) and were analyzed via four-acid digestion and ICP-AES (ALS Method Cu-OG62).

Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. and American West Metals Limited followed industry standard procedures for the work carried out on the Storm Project, incorporating a quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) program. Blank, duplicate, and standard samples were inserted into the sample sequence and sent to the laboratory for analysis. No significant QA/QC issues were detected during review of the data. Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. and American West Metals Limited are not aware of any drilling, sampling, recovery, or other factors that could materially affect the accuracy or reliability of the data referred to herein.

Qualified Person

Michael Dufresne, M.Sc., P.Geol., P.Geo., is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this press release.

About Aston Bay Holdings

Aston Bay is a publicly traded mineral exploration company exploring for high-grade copper and gold deposits in Virginia, USA, and Nunavut, Canada. The Company is led by CEO Thomas Ullrich with exploration in Virginia directed by the Company's advisor, Don Taylor, the 2018 Thayer Lindsley Award winner for his discovery of the Taylor Pb-Zn-Ag Deposit in Arizona. The Company is currently exploring the high-grade Buckingham Gold Vein in central Virginia and is in advanced stages of negotiation on other lands with high-grade copper potential in the area.

The Company and its joint venture partners, American West Metals Limited and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Tornado Metals Ltd. (collectively, " American West ") have agreed to form a 20/80 unincorporated joint venture and enter into a joint venture agreement in respect of the Storm Project property, which hosts the Storm Copper Project and the Seal Zinc Deposit. Under such agreement, Aston Bay shall have a free carried interest until American West has made a decision to mine upon completion of a bankable feasibility study, meaning American West will be solely responsible for funding the joint venture until such decision is made. After such decision is made, Aston Bay will be diluted in the event it does not elect to contribute its proportionate share and its interest in the Storm Project property will be converted into a 2% net smelter returns royalty if its interest is diluted to below 10%.

About American West Metals Limited

AMERICAN WEST METALS LIMITED (ASX: AW1) is an Australian clean energy mining company focused on growth through the discovery and development of major base metal mineral deposits in Tier 1 jurisdictions of North America. Our strategy is focused on developing mines that have a low-footprint and support the global energy transformation. Our portfolio of copper and zinc projects in Utah and Canada include significant existing resource inventories and high-grade mineralization that can generate robust mining proposals. Core to our approach is our commitment to the ethical extraction and processing of minerals and making a meaningful contribution to the communities where our projects are located.

Led by a highly experienced leadership team, our strategic initiatives lay the foundation for a sustainable business which aims to deliver high-multiplier returns on shareholder investment and economic benefits to all stakeholders.

For further information on American West, visit: www.americanwestmetals.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Statements made in this news release, including those regarding entering into the joint venture and each party's interest in the Project pursuant to the agreement in respect of the joint venture, management objectives, forecasts, estimates, expectations, or predictions of the future may constitute "forward-looking statement", which can be identified by the use of conditional or future tenses or by the use of such verbs as "believe", "expect", "may", "will", "should", "estimate", "anticipate", "project", "plan", and words of similar import, including variations thereof and negative forms. This press release contains forward-looking statements that reflect, as of the date of this press release, Aston Bay's expectations, estimates and projections about its operations, the mining industry and the economic environment in which it operates. Statements in this press release that are not supported by historical fact are forward-looking statements, meaning they involve risk, uncertainty and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although Aston Bay believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on these statements, which apply only at the time of writing of this press release. Aston Bay disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent required by securities legislation.

For more information contact:

Thomas Ullrich, Chief Executive Officer

thomas.ullrich@astonbayholdings.com

(416) 456-3516

SOURCE: Aston Bay Holdings Ltd

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 26, 2024) - Mako Mining Corp. (TSXV: MKO) (OTCQX: MAKOF) ("Mako") and Goldsource Mines Inc. (TSXV: GXS) (OTCQX: GXSFF) ("Goldsource") are pleased to announce that they have entered into an arrangement agreement (the "Arrangement Agreement"), pursuant to which Mako will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Goldsource (the "Goldsource Shares"), in exchange for common shares of Mako (the "Mako Shares"), by way of a plan of arrangement (the "Transaction").

The Transaction will create a company that will combine Mako's highly profitable Nicaraguan gold operations and mine-building team with Goldsource's 100% owned Eagle Mountain Gold Project ("Eagle Mountain") in Guyana, South America. The combined company will bring together an experienced management team, proven in the construction and operation of scalable mines with low capital intensity profiles, and who have discovered new precious metal deposits across multiple jurisdictions over the last two decades. The new Mako will have the cash flow, project pipeline, proven management team, and district-scale exploration potential that will enhance Mako's current growth trajectory while creating a platform for rapid growth. Further details of the Transaction are outlined below.

Transaction Highlights

Geographic diversification and enhanced growth pipeline by combining Mako's high-grade and low-cost mining operations with Goldsource's low capital intensity Eagle Mountain project. Significant combined mineral endowment with district-scale exploration potential in both Nicaragua and Guyana

Leveraging Mako's proven engineering and construction teams to accelerate the development of Eagle Mountain. The January 2024 Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") for Eagle Mountain demonstrated potential for robust economics via a phased development plan with an after-tax internal rate of return ("IRR") of 57% and an after-tax net present value ("NPV") discounted at 5% of US$292 million at US$1,850 per ounce ("oz").1 The shallow open pit plan with an anticipated 15-year mine life is well suited for Mako's operating team

Mako's robust free cash flow generation and access to capital help accelerate and derisk the development of Eagle Mountain. Upon completion of the Transaction, it is anticipated that cash flow from Mako's San Albino mine ("San Albino") in Nicaragua and its access to capital will be utilized to accelerate the development at Eagle Mountain and to reach a production decision as soon as practicable

Geological similarities between assets leverages recent mine building experience with near term development opportunities. Both San Albino and Eagle Mountain benefit from the advantageous geological structure of shallow dipping ore bodies, allowing for streamlined extraction processes and maximizing resource recovery. The plant flow sheet recommended for Eagle Mountain is nearly identical to the plant that Mako designed, engineered and successfully built themselves, which is expected to greatly reduce operational risk and potential for capex overruns

Proven team and Board of Directors unlocking synergies & creating value - Post Transaction, the consolidated company will be led by a strengthened board and management team to be comprised of Eric Fier (Chairman), Akiba Leisman (CEO), Steve Parsons (President) and Jesse Munoz (COO), with a proven track record and in-country expertise, including exploration success, mine building, operations, community engagement and monetization

Expanded capital markets presence & institutional shareholder base including key strategic investors - Concurrent with the execution of the Arrangement Agreement, funds managed by Wexford Capital LP (collectively, "Wexford"), Mako's largest shareholder, have provided Goldsource with a C$2 million bridge loan (the "Bridge Loan") to fund anticipated activities at Eagle Mountain through the completion of the Transaction

Akiba Leisman, Chief Executive Officer of Mako, commented: "This Transaction is a true "hand-in-glove" partnership. The scalability of Goldsource's Eagle Mountain is a direct analogue to that of Mako's San Albino mine. Both properties have district scale potential, with the ability to unlock that potential through cash flow. The teams have worked together as colleagues going back nearly two decades, which is expected to make integration of the two companies seamless. Lastly, this Transaction is the establishment of a platform for growth. The combined attributes of both companies are significantly better than what each individually brings to the table, and we expect to utilize this platform to grow Mako accretively and significantly."

Goldsource Executive Chairman, Eric Fier, CPG, P.Eng, stated, "Mako's successful approach to the development of the San Albino mine is something we watched closely during the 2020-2022 period, due in part because it is analogous to our plans for the development of Eagle Mountain, but also because we know Jesse Munoz and his construction team from prior projects that we've been involved with. This team has a solid track record and many decades of experience building mines, which is a unique offering for a junior gold producer and one that we believe is a great fit for our phased development plans at Eagle Mountain."

Goldsource Chief Executive Officer, Steve Parsons, P.Eng, stated, "The business combination with Mako offers Goldsource shareholders direct exposure to gold production and cash flow from the San Albino mine. The significant broadening of technical bandwidth, including Mako's mine development and construction expertise, is expected to expedite the timeline for establishing the Eagle Mountain Project as a near-term, low capital intensity development opportunity. Additionally, the business combination affords Goldsource shareholders exposure to Mako's aggressive exploration program at the high-grade San Albino mine and to the district-scale exploration potential which covers 28 km of prospective strike."

Benefits to Goldsource Shareholders:

Meaningful upfront premium of approximately 40.9% based on spot and approximately 52.1% based on Mako's and Goldsource's 20-day volume-weighted average price on the TSX Venture Exchange (the " TSXV ") as at March 25, 2024

") as at March 25, 2024 Clear path to over 100,000 ounces per year of gold production with a demonstrated record of fiscal discipline and history of shareholder value creation

Access to a strong balance sheet and robust cash flow generation to rapidly advance Eagle Mountain while funding exploration initiatives

Exposure to the San Albino-Murra gold district with over 28 km of strike length, with orogenic style gold mineralization across hundreds of targets identified within the ~188 km 2 land package

land package Backing by key strategic investors, notably Wexford, which will be providing the Bridge Loan to fund near-term anticipated activities at Eagle Mountain

With the consolidation of management and resources, Goldsource's shareholders gain exposure to an accelerated timeline to Eagle Mountain development by securing access to a well-capitalized gold producer with mine building expertise

Benefits to Mako Shareholders:

Addition of a high-quality gold asset in Guyana, a mining friendly country undergoing rapid growth and development, which is expected to enhance Mako's operating platform

Exposure to robust project economics from the January 2024 PEA outlining an after-tax IRR of 57% and an after-tax NPV discounted at 5% of US$292M 2

Jurisdiction diversification reducing risk concentration associated with individual projects or regions

Exposure to an expected 15-year mine life, with a phased development plan and resources of 1,183,000 ounces of gold grading 1.18 g/t in indicated mineral resources, and an additional 582,000 ounces of gold grading 0.98 g/t in inferred mineral resources 3 .

. Accretive on key operating and financial per share metrics

Transaction Terms

Pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Arrangement Agreement, the holders of the issued and outstanding Goldsource Shares will receive 0.2200 of a common share of Mako (each whole share, a "Mako Share") for each Goldsource Share held (the "Exchange Ratio"). Goldsource stock options ("Goldsource Options") that are outstanding immediately prior to the completion of the Transaction shall immediately vest and be exchanged for replacement options of Mako exercisable to acquire Mako Shares in accordance with the Exchange Ratio. Outstanding warrants of Goldsource will become exercisable, based on the Exchange Ratio, to purchase Mako Shares on substantially the same terms and conditions. The Transaction will be carried out by way of a court-approved plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia).

Upon completion of the Transaction, Mako will continue to be listed as a Tier 1 mining issuer on the TSXV under the same name and ticker symbol (MKO), and its common shares will continue to be quoted on the OTCQX under the same ticker symbol (MAKOF). Upon completion of the Transaction, the existing shareholders of Mako will own approximately 84% of Mako and the existing shareholders of Goldsource will own approximately 16% of Mako. As a result of the Transaction, Wexford's current ownership of Mako will be reduced from approximately 54.5% to approximately 45.6%.

The Arrangement Agreement contains customary deal-protection provisions including mutual non-solicitation covenants and a right of either party to match a superior proposal as defined in the Arrangement Agreement. Under certain circumstances, Mako or Goldsource may be entitled to a termination fee of C$1,350,000.

Officers and directors of Goldsource which hold approximately 4.5% of the outstanding Goldsource Shares and approximately 67.8% of the outstanding Goldsource Options, have entered into voting support agreements pursuant to which they have agreed, among other things, to vote their Goldsource Shares and Goldsource Options in favour of the Transaction.

Complete details of the Transaction will be included in a management information circular to be prepared by Goldsource and delivered to Goldsource securityholders in the coming weeks.

None of the securities to be issued pursuant to the Transaction have been or will be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws, and any securities issuable in the Transaction are anticipated to be issued in reliance upon available exemptions from such registration requirements pursuant to Section 3(a)(10) of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable exemptions under state securities laws. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities.

Conditions to Completion

The completion of the Transaction is subject to a number of terms and conditions, including without limitation the following: (a) approval of the Goldsource securityholders, as described below; (b) approval of the TSXV; (c) approval of the British Columbia Supreme Court; (d) there being no material adverse changes in respect of either Mako or Goldsource; and other standard conditions of closing for a transaction of this nature. There can be no assurance that all of the necessary approvals will be obtained or that all conditions of closing will be satisfied.

The Transaction is subject to the approval at a special meeting of Goldsource securityholders by (i) 662/3% of the votes cast by Goldsource shareholders, (ii) 662/3% of the votes cast by Goldsource shareholders and optionholders, voting as a single class, and (iii) a simple majority of the votes cast by Goldsource shareholders, excluding the votes cast by certain persons as required by Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions.

Bridge Loan

Concurrent with the execution of the Arrangement Agreement, Wexford, Mako's largest shareholder, provided Goldsource with the Bridge Loan in the amount of C$2,000,000 to fund anticipated activities of Goldsource at Eagle Mountain between the date hereof and the closing of the Transaction. The Bridge Loan is unsecured and will bear interest at a rate of 12% per annum, payable semi-annually, and will mature on March 26, 2025 (the "Maturity Date"). In the event that the Transaction has not been completed prior to the Maturity Date (other than as a result of a superior proposal of Mako or material breach by Mako of its representations, warranties and covenants under the Arrangement Agreement), the Bridge Loan will be repayable by Goldsource at 105% of par value, plus accrued interest.

Board of Directors and Management

Upon closing of the Transaction, the board of directors of Mako (the "Resulting Board") is expected to be comprised of seven (7) members, including two (2) nominees from Goldsource. Akiba Leisman will continue in his role as CEO of Mako, and Steve Parsons, current CEO of Goldsource, will become President of Mako. The head office will continue to be in Vancouver, Canada.

The Resulting Board is expected to be led by Eric Fier, as non-executive chairman, and is anticipated to include John Hick, Mario Caron, John Pontius, and a second Goldsource Nominee as independent directors, and Akiba Leisman and Paul Jacobi as non-independent directors. Mako also anticipates the addition of Mr. Ioannis Tsitos (currently President of Goldsource) and Rael Lipson (currently an independent director of Mako) in a technical advisory role.

Transaction Timeline

Pursuant to the Arrangement Agreement and subject to satisfying all necessary conditions and receipt of all required approvals, the parties anticipate completion of the Transaction in Q2 2024. Following completion of the Transaction, Goldsource Shares will be de-listed from the TSXV and Goldsource will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mako and cease to be a reporting issuer under Canadian securities laws.

Recommendations by the Boards of Directors and Fairness Opinions

After consultation with its financial and legal advisors, the board of directors of Mako unanimously approved the entering into of the Arrangement Agreement. Eight Capital provided a fairness opinion to the board of directors of Mako, stating that, as of the date of such opinion and based upon and subject to the assumptions, limitations and qualifications stated in such opinion, the consideration to be paid by Mako is fair, from a financial point of view, to Mako.

After consultation with its financial and legal advisors, the board of directors of Goldsource (the "Goldsource Board") unanimously approved the entering into of the Arrangement Agreement. The Goldsource Board recommends that Goldsource securityholders vote in favour of the Transaction. SCP Resource Finance LP provided a fairness opinion to the Goldsource Board, stating that, as of the date of such opinion and based upon and subject to the assumptions, limitations and qualifications stated in such opinion, the consideration to be received by Goldsource shareholders under the Transaction is fair, from a financial point of view, to such Goldsource shareholders.

Advisors and Counsel

Eight Capital is acting as financial advisor to Mako, and Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP is acting as legal counsel to Mako.

SCP Resource Finance LP is acting as financial advisor to Goldsource, and Koffman Kalef LLP is acting as legal counsel to Goldsource.

Qualified Persons

John Rust, SME, is a "qualified person" within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this news release on behalf of Mako. Mr. Rust has verified the data disclosed in this news release and no limitations were imposed on his verifications process.

Eric Fier, CPG, P.Eng, Executive Chairman of Goldsource, is a "qualified person" within the meaning of NI 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this news release on behalf of Goldsource. Mr. Fier has verified the data disclosed in this news release and no limitations were imposed on his verifications process.

Mr. Fier has also reviewed the technical report entitled "Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Eagle Mountain Gold Project, Guyana" dated March 1, 2024, with an effective date of January 16, 2024, which is available under Goldsource's profile at www.sedarplus.ca, on behalf of Mako. To the best of Mako's knowledge, information, and belief, there is no new material scientific or technical information that would make the disclosure of the PEA inaccurate or misleading.

About Mako

Mako Mining Corp. is a publicly listed gold mining, development and exploration company. The Company operates the high-grade San Albino gold mine in Nueva Segovia, Nicaragua, which ranks as one of the highest-grade open pit gold mines globally. Mako's primary objective is to operate San Albino profitably and fund exploration of prospective targets on its district-scale land package.

About Goldsource

Goldsource Mines Inc. (www.goldsourcemines.com) is a Canadian exploration company focused on the 100%-owned Eagle Mountain gold project in Guyana, South America. The Company is led by an experienced management team, proven in making precious metals exploration discoveries and executing on phased project development in the Americas.

For further information about Mako, please contact Akiba Leisman, Chief Executive Officer, at (917) 558-5289 or aleisman@makominingcorp.com, or visit our website at www.makominingcorp.com and our profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.

For further information about Goldsource, please contact Steve Parsons, Chief Executive Officer, at (604) 694-1760 or info@goldsourcemines.com, or visit our website at www.goldsourcemines.com and our profile on SEDAR+ www.sedarplus.ca.

Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-Looking information may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "targets", "expects", "is expected", "scheduled", "estimates", "outlook", "forecasts", "projection", "prospects", "strategy", "intends", "anticipates", "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or terminology which states that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "will", "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-Looking information in this news release includes: expected timing and completion of the Transaction; the strengths, characteristics and expected benefits and synergies of the Transaction; receipt of court approval; approval of the Transaction by Goldsource securityholders at the special meeting of Goldsource securityholders; obtaining TSXV acceptance to complete the Transaction; the anticipated timing of the special meeting of Goldsource securityholders to vote on the Transaction and the related management information circular; the expected delisting of the Goldsource Shares from the TSXV; the composition of the post-Transaction Mako board and management team; expectations regarding the potential benefits and synergies of the Transaction and the ability of the combined company to successfully achieve business objectives, including integrating the companies or the effects of unexpected costs, liabilities or delays; expectations regarding mineral resources, results of the PEA and future production; expectations regarding financial strength, free cash flow generation, trading liquidity, and capital markets profile; expectations regarding future exploration and development, growth potential for Mako's and Goldsource's operations; availability of the exemption under Section 3(a)(10) of the U.S. Securities Act to the securities issuable in the Transaction; and the companies' assessments of, and expectations for, future business activities and operating performance. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, intentions, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including information in this news release regarding the Transaction, contain forward-looking information. Statements containing forward-looking information are not historical facts but instead represent the companies' expectations, estimates and projections regarding possible future events or circumstances. The forward-looking information included in this news release is based on the companies' opinions, estimates and assumptions in light of their experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, their assumptions regarding the Transaction (including, but not limited to, their ability to close the Transaction on the terms contemplated, and to derive the anticipated benefits therefrom), as well as other factors that they currently believe are appropriate and reasonable in the circumstances. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is also based upon a number of assumptions, including the companies' ability to obtain the required securityholder, court and regulatory approvals in a timely matter, if at all; their ability to satisfy the terms and conditions precedent of the Arrangement Agreement in order to consummate the Transaction; assumptions in respect of current and future market conditions and the execution of the companies' business strategies, that operations in Mako's and Goldsource's properties will continue without interruption, and the absence of any other factors that could cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated, intended or implied. Despite a careful process to prepare and review the forward-looking information, there can be no assurance that the underlying opinions, estimates and assumptions will prove to be correct. Forward-Looking information is also subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to, failure to receive the required securityholder, court, regulatory and other approvals necessary to effect the Transaction; the potential for a third party to make a superior proposal to the Transaction; that Mako and its shareholders will not realize the anticipated benefits following the completion of the Transaction; that the special meeting of Goldsource securityholders to vote on the Transaction will not occur at the anticipated timeframe; that Goldsource will be unable to repay the Bridge Loan, and those set forth under the caption "Risk and Uncertainties" in Mako's management's discussion and analysis for the nine months ended September 30, 2023, Goldsource's management's discussion and analysis for the nine months ended September 30, 2023, and other documents filed with or submitted to the Canadian securities regulatory authorities on the SEDAR+ website at www.sedarplus.ca.

Although the companies have attempted to identify important risk factors that could cause actual results or future events to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other risk factors not presently known to them or that they presently believe are not material that could also cause actual results or future events to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking information. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information, which speaks only as of the date made. The forward-looking information contained in this news release represents the companies' expectations as of the date of this news release and is subject to change after such date. Mako and Goldsource each disclaim any intention or obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. All of the forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by the foregoing cautionary statements.

1 The PEA is preliminary in nature and includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the preliminary economic assessment will be realized. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. For additional information see the NI-43101 technical report entitled "Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Eagle Mountain Gold Project, Guyana" dated March 1, 2024, with an effective date of January 16, 2024, which is available under Goldsource's profile at www.sedarplus.ca.

2 See note 1.

3 For additional information see the technical report entitled "Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Eagle Mountain Gold Project, Guyana" dated March 1, 2024, with an effective date of January 16, 2024, which is available under Goldsource's profile at www.sedarplus.ca.

Not for distribution to U.S. newswire services or dissemination in the United States



To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/203108

SOURCE: Goldsource Mines Inc.
Cybersecurity Benchmarking Survey Lists Top Concerns and Preparedness Among Respondents

Nearly 40% of compliance professionals from asset management, investment adviser, and private markets firms have yet to evaluate Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a cybersecurity risk, while 44% have concerns about how the SEC's new cybersecurity rules will be enforced, according to the 2024 Cybersecurity Benchmarking Survey, a joint project of ACA Group and the National Society of Compliance Professionals (NSCP).

ACA Aponix, part of ACA Group, and the NSCP conduct the survey bi-annually to help firms better manage increasing expectations and uncertainty around cybersecurity risk. The 2024 survey, fielded online between January and February, covered a wide range of topics. Notable findings include:

Regulatory preparedness and concerns: 44% of respondents surveyed said they are uncertain about how the SEC will enforce the rules, while 36% of compliance professionals cited concerns with complying with cyber incident reporting requirements and timeframes.

44% of respondents surveyed said they are uncertain about how the SEC will enforce the rules, while 36% of compliance professionals cited concerns with complying with cyber incident reporting requirements and timeframes. AI risk management: While 38% of respondents have yet to identify AI as a cybersecurity risk, and 27% don't consider AI relevant to cybersecurity, nearly half (49%) said they are in the early stages of exploring AI as a tool for cybersecurity risk management.

While 38% of respondents have yet to identify AI as a cybersecurity risk, and 27% don't consider AI relevant to cybersecurity, nearly half (49%) said they are in the early stages of exploring AI as a tool for cybersecurity risk management. Cybersecurity threats: Respondents cited the following as the top three cyber threats they are most concerned about: Payment fraud/business email compromise (70%); ransomware (67%); and privacy threats and risk to personal identifiable information (52%). Respondents are least concerned about deepfakes, with just 5% citing them as a concern.

Respondents cited the following as the top three cyber threats they are most concerned about: Payment fraud/business email compromise (70%); ransomware (67%); and privacy threats and risk to personal identifiable information (52%). Respondents are least concerned about deepfakes, with just 5% citing them as a concern. Cybersecurity preparedness : Approximately 79% of compliance professionals expressed confidence in their firm's ability to respond to a cyber breach. Only 40% have done an external test of the firms' response plan.

: Approximately 79% of compliance professionals expressed confidence in their firm's ability to respond to a cyber breach. Only 40% have done an external test of the firms' response plan. Cyber insurance: Approximately 83% are confident in their ability to respond to an unforeseen system outage. Most respondents (85%) who have cyber insurance say it is viewed as a key risk management tool.

Approximately 83% are confident in their ability to respond to an unforeseen system outage. Most respondents (85%) who have cyber insurance say it is viewed as a key risk management tool. Vendor cybersecurity: Despite clear concerns over how vendor due diligence is performed, more than half (51%) of firms have not renegotiated any vendor contracts with additional cybersecurity provisions in the last 24 months.

"Our survey findings underscore the critical importance of staying ahead of evolving cybersecurity threats," said Mike Pappacena, Partner at ACA Aponix. "As nearly half of the respondents express uncertainty about SEC enforcement, it's clear that regulatory compliance remains a top concern. At ACA, we're committed to providing our clients with robust regulatory guidance and solutions to navigate these challenges effectively."

"The Cybersecurity Benchmarking Survey continues to be a valuable resource to compliance professionals seeking insight about current and emerging cybersecurity trends, policies, and challenges across the financial services industry," said Lisa Crossley, Executive Director, NSCP. "We are particularly proud of our partnership with ACA Group to help firms prioritize their cybersecurity programs."

Results of the 2024 Cybersecurity Benchmarking Survey will be released during ACA's and NSCP's webcast on April 25, 2024. For more information, click here.

About the Survey Respondents

Global compliance professionals from 308 financial services firms participated in thesurveyAll firm sizes were represented with 23% of respondents managing between $2 billion and $10 billion in assets, 15% managing under $500 million, and 14% managing between $1 billion and $2 billion. Also of note: another 14% of respondents manage over $20 billion in assets. Close to half (48%) of responding firms reported having between 11 and 50 employees.

Responding firms belonged to varied business types, with most responses coming from asset managers/non alternatives (42%), broker-dealers (32%), and alternative investment advisors (11%).

About ACA Group

ACA Group (ACA) is the leading governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) advisor in financial services. For over 20 years, we've empowered our clients to reimagine GRC to launch, grow, and protect their business. Our global team of 1,250 employees includes former regulators and practitioners with a deep understanding of the regulatory landscape. Our innovative approach integrates advisory, managed services, distribution solutions, and analytics with our ComplianceAlpha technology platform. For more information, visit www.acaglobal.com

About NSCP

Since 1986, the National Society of Compliance Professionals has been the leading non-profit, membership organization dedicated to supporting compliance professionals in the financial services industry, focusing primarily on investment advisers, broker-dealers, and private funds. NSCP membership offers a wide range of compliance resources, educational opportunities, and regulatory advocacy and engagement. NSCP provides its members with essential information on compliance topics, regulatory insights, and useful tools through its monthly publication, online and in-person events, and within an interactive online community. NSCP members have access to a diverse community of compliance professionals who share their knowledge and expertise.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240326301977/en/

Contacts:

Media Contacts:

ACA Group

BackBay Communications

aca@backbaycommunications.com

NSCP

Colleen Gallagher

OnWrd UpWrd

cgallagher@onwrdupwrd.com
Battery's investment creates a foundation for a new global platform offering asset-reliability solutions and industrial services

Battery Ventures, a global, technology-focused investment firm, today announced a significant investment in Mobius Institute ("Mobius"), a company that specializes in reliability improvement, conditioning-monitoring, and precision-maintenance training and certification.

Mobius delivers its training via public, in-plant, and online training programs and has trained more than 70,000 professionals from 180 countries since 2005. In addition to training, a related entity to the company, Mobius Institute Board of Certification, is an ISO/IEC 17024 and ISO 18436-accredited certification body that provides globally recognized certification to reliability professionals, vibration analysts, ultrasound analysts, thermal imaging, and lubrication specialists worldwide.

Mobius Institute is seen as an authority in the industrial asset-reliability space, which is growing in importance as companies transition to predictive and data-based maintenance regimes to operate more efficiently and meet new sustainability targets. Via its network of training partners, Mobius has trained maintenance and reliability professionals across a wide range of industries with students from Pfizer, Rio Tinto, Abbott, Abbvie, Ford, Coca-Cola, Samsung, ABB, Cargill, Nestle, Siemens, Dow, Amazon, Bayer, Mercedes-Benz, NASA, and Hyundai, among others.

Jason Tranter, the co-founder of Mobius, said he hoped the partnership with Battery will help his company scale to a new level. "My wife, Georgie, and I started the business in our house in 1999 with the goal of making vibration analysis and condition monitoring understandable. We never imagined Mobius Institute growing to this scale with almost 10,000 students trained last year alone," he said. "Having developed a relationship with Battery over the past several years, I am excited to see Mobius continue to grow under Battery's ownership as the starting point of a new platform."

As part of the transaction, Tranter will serve as a technical advisor to Mobius.

Battery's goal with the transaction is to create a large, innovative, asset-reliability and industrial-services player; the firm expects to build upon Mobius' strength in asset reliability while expanding the portfolio into the broader market for industrial training, certification, and specialized products services.

As part of this initiative, Marcus Pillion joins the company as Group CEO to drive M&A and continued organic growth, as well as to oversee integration efforts. Pillion joins Mobius after serving most recently as the CEO of Des-Case before its acquisition by Timken (NYSE: TKR) in 2023. Prior to Des-Case, Pillion had previous executive experience across several asset-reliability and condition-monitoring businesses including TRITEC Performance Solutions, Colfax Fluid Handling, EagleBurgmann, SKF and John Crane.

"I am excited to join forces with Battery, a seasoned industrial-technology investor with extensive experience creating platforms through global M&A," said Pillion. "Having used Mobius Institute training across all of the companies I previously worked for, I am excited to build upon the global brand Mobius has created as we enter into the next phase of its growth trajectory."

"We are thrilled to partner with Mobius and its exceptional staff as we pursue the next phase of growth for the business," said Zack Smotherman, a Battery general partner. "Having followed the asset-reliability and condition-monitoring market for many years, we've observed an accelerating trend in predictive maintenance and believe we are still in the early innings of this movement as many industries increasingly adopt these solutions."

Added Battery Principal Justin Rosner: "We are grateful to Jason for the opportunity to partner with Mobius and excited about the journey ahead as we look to leverage Mobius's global reputation to improve asset reliability across many industries in the years to come."

About Mobius Institute

Mobius Institute is a worldwide provider of reliability improvement, condition monitoring, and precision maintenance education to industrial plant managers, reliability engineers, and condition monitoring specialists, allowing plants to be successful in implementing reliability improvement and condition monitoring programs. Mobius delivers its training via public, in-person onsite, and online education programs with a key advantage being its unique training style that uses innovative 3D animations and software simulations, making complex topics easier to understand. Mobius has trained and certified more than 70,000 industrial professionals from 180 countries since 2005 with thousands more engaged through distance learning programs and Mobius' online community MOBIUS CONNECT. Learn more at https://www.mobiusinstitute.com/about-mobius-institute/.

About Battery

Battery partners with exceptional founders and management teams developing category-defining businesses in markets including software and services, enterprise infrastructure, consumer tech, healthcare IT and industrial technology and life-science tools. Founded in 1983, the firm backs companies at all stages, ranging from seed and early to growth and buyout, and invests globally from offices in Boston, San Francisco, Menlo Park, New York, London, and Tel Aviv. Follow the firm on X @BatteryVentures, visit our website at www.battery.com and find a full list of Battery's portfolio companies here.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240326724392/en/

Contacts:

Megan O'Leary

Marketing Director, Battery Ventures

moleary@battery.com

(415) 426-5912
Global research highlights how artificial intelligence is being deployed to give the workforce superpowers and build resiliency in operations.

DUBAI, UAE, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE: ROK), the world's largest company dedicated to industrial automation and digital transformation, today announced the results of the 9th annual study, "The State of Smart Manufacturing", offering valuable insights into trends, challenges, and plans for global manufacturers. The international study surveyed more than 1,550 respondents from 17 countries, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Three clear messages emerge from this report for companies in KSA and UAE: the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution is here for manufacturing, technology is being deployed to give the workforce superpowers, and companies face challenges in implementing new technology.

"In the region, the AI revolution is unmistakably underway," said Ediz Eren, regional vice president, Middle East, Turkiye and Africa, Rockwell Automation. "Our survey reveals that 87% of companies have either invested or plan to invest in artificial intelligence and machine learning within the next year, with generative AI leading the charge at 86%. The impact of AI is profound, with applications ranging from quality control to cybersecurity, robotics, and supply chain management.

"As businesses navigate this transformative landscape, driven by the ambitious targets set by their respective governments, addressing the skills gap emerges as a key challenge, with 46% citing a lack of skilled workers, compared with 30% in the US. To bridge this gap, 45% are turning to automation while also focusing on organizational change management to overcome technology paralysis and drive sustainable growth."

Other significant trends in KSA and UAE

Growing into new markets and international expansion is the top business outcome that companies in KSA and UAE are looking to achieve with smart manufacturing technologies (41%), significantly higher than the global average of 33%.

Companies in KSA and UAE consider climate change to be the single biggest obstacle to growth next year (37%), significantly higher than 24% in the US and 20% in Europe.

Supply chain planning (17%) had the biggest ROI, which was higher than US (10%), and Europe (13%).

75% of companies invest more than 20% of their operating budget in technology, more than Europe (73%) but less than the US (82%).

Quality management systems (QMS) had the biggest impact on workforce challenges (17%), higher than US (13%), and Europe (7%).

AI/machine learning drives the biggest business outcomes (44%), above both the US (39%) and Europe (42%).

The ability to move quickly and a lack of production capacity (both 27%) were the top reasons for companies' inability to keep pace with their opposition.

The AI revolution is here

According to this year's survey, AI and machine learning (ML) are the number one area that companies in KSA and UAE have invested in. In the 2024 survey, 87% of the companies surveyed said they have invested or plan to invest in the next 12 months, with 86% citing generative AI. When they deploy the technology, there are four standout applications: quality control (50%), cybersecurity (47%), robotics (37%), and supply chain management (36%). AI also came out top (44%) when companies were asked which smart manufacturing technologies drive the biggest business outcomes.

Empowering and super-charging people

In any digital transformation, people are all too often the forgotten dimension. For companies in the KSA and UAE, they represent a clear challenge, with a lack of skilled workers (46%) by far the biggest barrier when it came to adopting smart manufacturing technologies. This was well above the next two: cost and employee's resistance to change - both at 34%. When asked what was the biggest internal challenge to growth, workforce issues featured prominently again, with worker/knowledge retention second at 24%.

To address the manufacturing industry's labor shortage and skills gap, 45% of companies in the KSA and UAE are looking to increase the use of automation. Other significant responses were outsourcing work to consultants (42%) and introducing AI (41%).

Overcoming technology paralysis

When it comes to the biggest internal challenges to growth over the next 12 months, the focus was on technology. A quarter of companies cited technology paralysis as the biggest barrier, with challenges deploying and integrating new technology third at 24%. To mitigate against these technology challenges, 36% of companies in the region are looking to implement a formal organizational change management program.

"In the KSA and UAE, smart manufacturing technologies are rapidly reshaping industries," said Eren. "With 87% of companies investing in AI and machine learning, the region is embracing innovation to drive efficiency and competitiveness. Overcoming challenges like the skills gap and technology integration, the two countries are poised for transformative growth."

The full findings of the report can be found here.

Methodology

This report analyzed feedback from 1,567 respondents from 17 of the top manufacturing countries with roles from management up to the C-suite and was conducted in association with Sapio Research and Plex Systems. The survey covered discrete, process, and hybrid industries across a balanced distribution of company sizes with revenues spanning $10 million to over $10 billion, providing a wide breadth of manufacturing business perspectives.

About Rockwell Automation

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE: ROK) is a global leader in industrial automation and digital transformation. We connect the imaginations of people with the potential of technology to expand what is humanly possible, making the world more productive and more sustainable. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Rockwell Automation employs approximately 29,000 problem solvers dedicated to our customers in more than 100 countries. To learn more about how we are bringing the Connected Enterprise to life across industrial enterprises, visit www.rockwellautomation.com.

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Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 26, 2024) - Aero Energy Ltd (TSXV: AERO) (OTC Pink: AAUGF) (FSE: UU3) ("Aero" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the start of an airborne VTEM Plus survey aimed at high-grade uranium exploration within its district-scale uranium exploration portfolio, situated in the Athabasca Basin's Northern Rim. The survey is being carried out by Geotech Ltd. of Aurora, Ontario.

Highlights

Direct Detection Capabilities: The helicopter-borne VTEM Plus system readily detects the electrically conductive graphite-rich rocks that are the favoured targets for large basement-hosted uranium deposits.

Large and Detailed Survey Area: The survey will cover the Sun Dog and Murmac properties and consist of 3,350 km of flight lines in a grid pattern with 100 m spacing between each flight line. This will allow for prioritization of existing drill targets and generation of additional drill targets.

Cutting Edge Approach: This survey represents one important modern tool that the Company is utilizing to maximize high-grade uranium discovery efficiency. Much of the survey area is unexplored and unsurveyed by modern methods thus providing a key new discovery opportunity in a frontier region of the Athabasca Basin.

New Ideas & New Vectors: These large properties are significantly underexplored for basement-hosted uranium, examples of which include NexGen Energy's Arrow Deposit (TSX: NXE) and Fission Uranium's Triple R Deposit (TSX: FCU).

Fast Track to Drilling Dozens of Targets: Since 2020, exploration partners Fortune Bay (TSXV: FOR) and Standard Uranium (TSXV: STND) have invested $7.6M in early exploration revealing dozens of targets, multiple uranium-fertile EM-conductor corridors and ten new shallow uranium occurrences between 20 and 150 m below surface poised for immediate exploration as a starting point.

Galen McNamara, CEO of Aero Energy, commented: "VTEM Plus surveys represent a significant step forward in Aero's ongoing efforts to leverage advanced technology for exploration success." He continued, "the survey will allow us to obtain high-resolution data of our targeted mineralizing systems, which we believe to be active across the survey area. By leveraging innovative technology and our internal expertise, we are confident in our ability to unearth the full potential of our assets and deliver value to our stakeholders."





Figure 1: Survey flight line pattern over the Sun Dog and Murmac properties (lay flight lines over this map)

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Figure 2: Geotech Ltd. VTEM survey system collecting data in the field.

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Survey Description and Background

The helicopter-borne VTEM (Versatile Time-Domain Electromagnetic) Plus system, which is known for its high-resolution imaging capabilities, is a time domain electromagnetic system that is particularly useful for its ability to detect conductive materials deep underground, enabling Aero to identify mineral targets with exceptional precision. Additionally, the system also contains a high-sensitivity cesium magnetometer-gradiometer for the mapping of geologic structure and lithology. The Company is leveraging this cutting-edge technology to reveal and refine previously unexplored, high-hosted basement-style targets within the Uranium City district.

The survey is underway and will consist of approximately 3,350 line-kilometers of VTEM Plus flown over the Murmac and Sun Dog properties in a grid pattern with 100 m spacing between flight lines. The survey will cover a substantial area of interest identified by Aero's exploration team much of which is previously unsurveyed by modern methods, providing valuable insights into the subsurface geology and potential mineralization in the area. This comprehensive survey aims to build on previously gathered data to create a full-picture of the site's geological structures and mineral prospects. The VTEM Plus survey is expected to be completed within three to four weeks, with preliminary results to be published shortly thereafter.

Corporate Update

Aero also announces that it has entered into an agreement (the "Agreement") with Blue Summit Ventures ("Blue Summit"), an arm's-length party to the Company, to provide business development and digital marketing initiatives to enhance awareness of the Company. Blue Summit will leverage social media harnessing the power of various platforms to raise awareness of Aero, engage with stakeholders, and communicate the Company's ongoing uranium exploration and development program. The initial term of the Agreement is for a period of six months for an aggregate amount of $175,000 plus applicable taxes. As of the date hereof, to the Company's knowledge, Blue Summit (including its directors and officers) does not own any securities of the Company. The Agreement remains subject to approval by the TSX Venture Exchange.

Qualified Person

The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Galen McNamara, P. Geo., CEO of the Company and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

About Aero Energy Limited

Aero Energy is a mineral exploration and development company advancing a district-scale 250,000-acre land package in the historic Uranium City district within Saskatchewan's Athabasca Basin. Aero Energy is focused on uncovering high-grade uranium deposits across its flagship optioned properties - Sun Dog, Strike, and Murmac - in addition to its fully owned properties. With the application of modern exploration techniques, the Company has identified over 50 shallow drill-ready targets and 125 kilometres of target horizon on the frontier north rim of the Athabasca Basin. Aero Energy is tapping into the Athabasca Basin's emerging potential for high-grade, unconformity-style mineralization.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

"Galen McNamara"

Galen McNamara, Interim Chief Executive Officer

Further information on the Company can be found on the Company's website at aeroenergy.ca and at www.sedarplus.ca, or by contacting the Company by email at info@aeroenergy.ca.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. These statements relate to future events or future performance and include expectations regarding the Offering. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking statements or information. Forward-looking statements and information are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "appear", "seek", "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "estimate", "approximate", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "predict", "potential", "targeting", "intend", "could", "might", "should", "believe", "would" and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements and information are provided for the purpose of providing information about the current expectations and plans of management of the Company relating to the future. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such statements and information may not be appropriate for other purposes, such as making investment decisions. Since forward-looking statements and information address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, timelines and information contained in this news release. Forward-looking information are based on management of the parties' reasonable assumptions, estimates, expectations, analyses and opinions, which are based on such management's experience and perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, and other factors that management believes are relevant and reasonable in the circumstances, but which may prove to be incorrect.

The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information except as required by applicable law. Such forward-looking information represents management's best judgment based on information currently available. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed and actual future results may vary materially. Accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/203004

SOURCE: Aero Energy Ltd.
Dean Paula Lancaster of Central Michigan University College of Education and Human Services Photo Provided The campus of Central Michigan University. CMU

Teachers in rural communities who want additional credentials to specialize in a topic could be supported through Central Michigan Universitys new hub.

The Michigan Consortium for Addressing Rural Education Expansion and Retention (MiCAREER) Resource Hub has state funding for two years totaling $15 million.

The money would help CMU spearhead the program, said Paula Lancaster, dean of the College of Education and Human Services. It would allow current and prospective teachers to earn credentials and gain professional learning opportunities.

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Right now, Lancaster said the hub is still being built. Once its available, future students can input their current experience and have a program that is tailored based on that experience.

The hub is a one-stop place for them to learn about the programs that are available to them through various hub-partner institutions, she said. (It also) would share a little bit about their experiences in education, so we can match them with the right program and get them to the finish line.

The Fall 2024 semester should have the first cohort of people taking advantage of the program, she said.

The hub's success hinges on whether teachers are bringing back their credentials to the classroom, and whether districts retain those teachers.

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Our biggest aim would be everystudent has access to well-prepared, highly skilled, and committed teachers who have credentials to be teaching in the subject area or grade level that theyre working in, Lancaster said.

Built by the Michigan Department of Education, this hub is designed to address teacher shortages, especially in under-resourced communities, Lancaster said.

The hub also includes partnerships with other four-year institutions like Michigan State University, Saginaw Valley State University, and more.

This is a partnership that is unprecedented in our state, she said. Were collaborating at a high level to understand specific needs in rural communities and create a powerful network with connections that span across the state.

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Since the program is only just beginning, Lancaster said there is not yet a plan in place for future funding.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 26, 2024) - CanAlaska Uranium Ltd. (TSXV: CVV) (OTCQX: CVVUF) (FSE: DH7) ("CanAlaska" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has signed arm's length definitive agreements effective March 25, 2024 with Bayridge Resources Corp. ("Bayridge") to allow Bayridge to earn up to an 80% interest in each of the Waterbury East and Constellation Projects (the "Projects") in the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan. The Waterbury East Project is located in the northeastern Athabasca Basin 25 kilometres northeast of the Cigar Lake Mine and covers 1,337 hectares (Figure 1). The Constellation Project is located in the southeastern Athabasca Basin 60 kilometres south of the Key Lake Mine and Mill Complex and covers 11,142 hectares (Figure 2).





Figure 1 - Waterbury East Project Location

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Waterbury East Agreement

Bayridge may earn up to an 80% interest in the Waterbury East Project by undertaking work and payments in three defined earn-in stages. Bayridge may earn an initial 40% interest (Stage 1) in the Waterbury East Project by paying the Company $265,000 cash, issuing $370,000 of common shares of Bayridge and incurring $1,500,000 in exploration expenditures on the Project within 18 months of the date of the definitive agreement (the "Waterbury East Agreement Date"). Bayridge may earn an additional 20% interest for a total 60% interest (Stage 2) in the Waterbury East Project by paying to the Company a further $220,000 cash and issuing an additional $385,000 of Bayridge common shares concurrent with providing notice that it wishes to proceed with the Stage 2 earn-in, and by incurring a further $1,500,000 in exploration expenditures on the Waterbury East Project within 12 months of commencing the Stage 2 earn-in (approximately 2.5 years after the Waterbury East Agreement Date). Bayridge may earn an additional 20% interest for a total 80% interest (Stage 3) in the Waterbury East Project by paying to the Company a further $275,000 cash and issuing an additional $550,000 of Bayridge common shares concurrent with providing notice that it wishes to proceed with the Stage 3 earn-in, and by incurring an additional $2,000,000 in exploration expenditures on the Waterbury East Project within 12 months of commencing the Stage 3 earn-in (approximately 3.5 years after the Waterbury East Agreement Date).

After successful completion of (a) Stage 1, if Bayridge elects to not enter the next stage or fails to make the Stage 2 option payments when and as required; or (b) Stage 2, if Bayridge elects to not enter the next stage or fails to make the Stage 3 option payments when and as required; or (c) Stage 3, a joint venture will be formed and the parties will either co-contribute thereafter on a simple pro-rata basis or dilute on a pre-defined straight-line dilution formula. Any party diluting to a 10% interest will automatically forfeit its interest in the Project and in lieu thereof will be granted a 2% net smelter return royalty on the Project.

Constellation Agreement

Bayridge may earn up to an 80% interest in the Constellation Project by undertaking work and payments in three defined earn-in stages. Bayridge may earn an initial 40% interest (Stage 1) in the Constellation Project by paying the Company $225,000 cash, issuing $315,000 of common shares of Bayridge and incurring $1,500,000 in exploration expenditures on the Project within 18 months of the date of the definitive agreement (the "Constellation Agreement Date"). Bayridge may earn an additional 20% interest for a total 60% interest (Stage 2) in the Constellation Project by paying to the Company a further $165,000 cash and issuing an additional $290,000 of Bayridge common shares concurrent with providing notice that it wishes to proceed with the Stage 2 earn-in, and by incurring a further $1,500,000 in exploration expenditures on the Constellation Project within 12 months of commencing the Stage 2 earn-in (approximately 2.5 years after the Constellation Agreement Date). Bayridge may earn an additional 20% interest for a total 80% interest (Stage 3) in the Constellation Project by paying to the Company a further $210,000 cash and issuing an additional $415,000 of Bayridge common shares concurrent with providing notice that it wishes to proceed with the Stage 3 earn-in, and by incurring an additional $2,000,000 in exploration expenditures on the Constellation Project within 12 months of commencing the Stage 3 earn-in (approximately 3.5 years after the Constellation Agreement Date).





Figure 2 - Constellation Project Location

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After successful completion of (a) Stage 1, if Bayridge elects to not enter the next stage or fails to make the Stage 2 option payments when and as required; or (b) Stage 2, if Bayridge elects to not enter the next stage or fails to make the Stage 3 option payments when and as required; or (c) Stage 3, a joint venture will be formed and the parties will either co-contribute thereafter on a simple pro-rata basis or dilute on a pre-defined straight-line dilution formula. Any party diluting to a 10% interest will automatically forfeit its interest in the Project and in lieu thereof will be granted a 2% net smelter return royalty on the Project.

All Bayridge shares issued to CanAlaska under both option agreements will be subject to a hold period expiring four months and one day after their date of issue pursuant to applicable Canadian securities laws. In addition, CanAlaska has agreed to voluntary resale restrictions on such shares whereby 25% of the shares will be released from voluntary resale restrictions 3, 6, 9 and 12 months after their issue date.

During all stages of both option agreements, Bayridge will be operator of the Projects and will be entitled to charge an operator fee. Bayridge will have deciding voting rights on annual exploration programs while sole funding at the various option stages.

An Area of Mutual Interest ("AMI") will extend two kilometres from the outer boundary of the Projects, excluding all properties within such area that are currently held by CanAlaska at time of signing the definitive agreement.

CanAlaska CEO, Cory Belyk, comments, "Bringing substantial exploration investment into the Waterbury East and Constellation projects is another significant milestone for CanAlaska and its shareholders. This spend commitment by Bayridge will allow for definition and advancement of multiple priority exploration targets in two large eastern Athabasca Basin projects both located close to uranium mining and milling infrastructure. As stated before, the time is now for discovery in this region and these projects have significant discovery potential laying in wait. We look forward to working with the Bayridge team to advance these projects toward discovery. I thank Bayridge management for working quickly toward completion of these deals so that exploration can begin as soon as possible in the very early stages of this uranium bull market."

About the Waterbury East Project

The Waterbury East Project is located in the northeastern Athabasca Basin, 25 kilometres northeast of the Cigar Lake Mine. The Project has approximately 200 metres of Athabasca sandstone cover overlying the basement rocks of the Wollaston Domain. The Project consists of 1 mineral claim covering 1,337 hectares.

Early exploration on the Waterbury East Project consisted of historical regional and project scale ground and airborne geophysical surveys, followed by focused prospecting and boulder sampling programs. CanAlaska acquired the Project in the early 2000's through staking and completed property-wide airborne geophysical surveys, including GEOTEM and VTEM. The VTEM survey identified a 7 kilometre-long northeasterly-trending conductivity corridor coincident with an AIIP anomaly. Six drillholes were completed on the conductive corridor, with results highlighted by faulted and altered basement rocks with local uranium enrichment. Off property to the south, an AIIP anomaly of similar style and intensity is present on the Dawn Lake project that contains mineralized historical drillhole Q11A-006, which contains 7.2 metres @ 1.86% eU3O8 from 213.5 metres.

About the Constellation Project

The Constellation Project is located in the southeastern Athabasca Basin, 60 kilometres south of the present-day Athabasca Basin edge and the Key Lake Mine and Mill complex along Highway 914. The Project consists of 13 mineral claims for a total of 11,142 hectares.

Historical exploration on the Constellation Project consists of prospecting and geological mapping that were completed in conjunction with airborne radiometric, electromagnetic, and magnetic surveys. These historical surveys identified electromagnetic conductors associated with magnetic lows that flank magnetic highs, which is an analogous geological framework for Athabasca style uranium deposits. These geophysical surveys were followed by geological mapping and wide-spaced prospecting programs both on property and along trend to the south. Prospecting along trend identified outcrop-hosted high-grade uranium mineralization in Getty-Minerals Zones 2-6 and 2-3, located approximately 10 kilometres from the Project boundary. These showings returned uranium mineralization from grab samples in outcrop grading 2.787% U3O8 and 4.60% U3O8. The mineralized magnetic low corridor along which the Getty-Minerals Zones are hosted trends onto the Constellation Project. In the early 2000's, geological mapping and geochemical sampling on the Project confirmed the magnetic high is a central core of Archean gneiss which is flanked by graphitic metasediments. In addition, structural lineaments in the magnetic lows were interpreted, and may represent large scale faulting. In total, the Constellation Project contains over 18 kilometres of untested prospective target area.

About CanAlaska Uranium

CanAlaska Uranium Ltd. (TSXV: CVV) (OTCQX: CVVUF) (FSE: DH7) holds interests in approximately 500,000 hectares (1,235,000 acres), in Canada's Athabasca Basin - the "Saudi Arabia of Uranium." CanAlaska's strategic holdings have attracted major international mining companies. CanAlaska is currently working with Cameco and Denison at two of the Company's properties in the Eastern Athabasca Basin. CanAlaska is a project generator positioned for discovery success in the world's richest uranium district. The Company also holds properties prospective for nickel, copper, gold and diamonds. For further information visit www.canalaska.com.

The Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects for this news release is Nathan Bridge, MSc., P. Geo., Vice-President Exploration for CanAlaska Uranium Ltd., who has reviewed and approved its contents.

Technical Disclosure: The historical results contained within this news release have been captured from Saskatchewan Mineral Assessment Database ("SMAD") reporting as available and may be incomplete or subject to minor location inaccuracies. Management cautions that historical results were collected and reported by past operators and have not been verified nor confirmed by a Qualified Person but form a basis for ongoing work on the subject properties. Management cautions that past results or discoveries on proximate land are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be achieved on the subject properties.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

"Cory Belyk"

Cory Belyk, P.Geo., FGC

CEO, President and Director

CanAlaska Uranium Ltd.

Contacts:

Cory Belyk, CEO and President

Tel: +1.604.688.3211 x 138

Email: cbelyk@canalaska.com

General Enquiry

Tel: +1.604.688.3211

Email: info@canalaska.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.

Forward-looking information

All statements included in this press release that address activities, events or developments that the Company expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions made by the Company based on its experience, perception of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors it believes are appropriate in the circumstances. In addition, these statements involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will prove inaccurate, certain of which are beyond the Company's control. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, the Company does not intend to revise or update these forward-looking statements after the date hereof or revise them to reflect the occurrence of future unanticipated events.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/203047

SOURCE: CanAlaska Uranium Ltd.
New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - March 26, 2024) - Twicsy, a long-time leader in the social media services industry, has announced that its widely praised growth services are now available to all TikTok users.

Twicsy's new TikTok growth services provide those users with powerful new methods that let them rapidly and effectively expand account exposure, influence, and importance.

Additionally, these new services enhance clients' abilities to fully focus on content creation and business operations, freeing them from the time-consuming and arduous task of manually engaging with individual TikTok users to increase account visibility, credibility, and follower bases.

Twicsy offers three distinct growth strategies to all clients, with numerous options tailored to match their account sizes and goals.

Real TikTok Followers: Twicsy can deliver as few as 100 and as many as 20,000 legitimate TikTok fans directly to customer accounts within minutes, helping them build a stronger presence on the platform while dramatically expanding the audience for their content and messaging.

Real TikTok Likes: This Twicsy service rapidly provides between 50 and 10,000 likes from real TikTok users, sending engagement rates and viewership soaring.

Real TikTok Views: Receiving between 500 and 50,000 real TikTok views from authentic TikTok users drives post popularity and audience growth to new heights in just hours.

Throughout Twicsy's years of dominance in the Instagram service market, the company has always focused on providing outstanding quality, service, and 24-hour customer support at affordable prices. Twicsy's new growth packages show that same commitment to the needs of TikTok users.

"We believe in empowering our clients," said Twicsy's CEO, Russel Johnson. "Our packages of TikTok followers, likes, and views allow them to quickly and powerfully expand their reach and importance on the platform. That lets them showcase their content, build their brands, or promote their products to a large and engaged audience without placing undue strain on their marketing budgets."

Twicsy's market-leading user interface makes it simple for clients to control and customize their TikTok growth strategies. Adding followers, likes or views takes less than a minute and the process fully protects all personal and financial information while keeping TikTok accounts secure. Interactions are delivered virtually instantly and organic growth begins a short time later.

As a social media services innovator for more than a decade, Twicsy has built a devoted client base of hundreds of thousands of Instagram users.

About Twicsy :

Twicsy is one of the Internet's largest, oldest, and most successful social media service providers. The company is committed to providing high-quality, effective growth packages while also safeguarding the safety of client accounts, adhering to all of the platform's terms and conditions, and ensuring customer privacy and satisfaction.

Contact Info:

Name: Russel Johnson

Email: support@twicsy.com

Organization: Twicsy

Phone: 855-848-9812

Website: https://twicsy.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/203110

SOURCE: Plentisoft
BOSTON, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The mining industry has always been perceived as a high-emitting and resource-heavy industry - one that contributes 2-3% of all global CO2 emissions. However, within the last few years, the industry has followed the path of other vehicle sectors and embraced electrification. The use of EVs in global mining is on the rise and could be set to change attitudes towards the industry at large. The new IDTechEx report, "Electric Vehicles in Mining 2024-2044: Technologies, Players, and Forecasts", finds that the electric mining vehicle market is on the cusp of rapid growth, with a 20-year CAGR of 38% forecasted.

Electric vehicles offer multiple benefits over traditional combustion engines, including emissions, economics, safety, and productivity. This article will explore these factors to demonstrate why mining companies and vehicle manufacturers have been so keen to embrace electrification.

GHG Emissions

It is widely known that transitioning from ICE automobiles to EVs provides the benefit of zero CO2 emissions at the point of use. This benefit is even more pronounced when it comes to mining vehicles. Of all the emissions produced by the global mining industry, 40-50% is derived from the diesel combustion engines of vehicles.

The global haul truck population, numbering just over 55 thousand, emits 174 megatonnes of CO2 annually - the same as almost 38 million road cars. The introduction of electric haul trucks and other electric mining vehicles creates huge potential for the decarbonization of mining and allows mining companies and OEMs to meet their individual emissions targets.

Miner Health and Safety

Diesel combustion engines significantly compromise local air quality, emitting NOx and particulate matter that are hazardous to worker safety. In an underground mine, miners and vehicles can spend entire working days in close proximity in a confined tunnel. Transitioning to EVs will minimize workers' exposure to pollutants and deliver short- and long-term health benefits.

Working in mines also means working under exposure to high heat, noise, and vibration - all of which pose further safety risks and are made worse by diesel vehicles. Electric mining vehicles produce far less noise and vibration to contend with and generate over 75% less heat than their diesel counterparts. From a health and safety standpoint, EVs are far superior to incumbent mining machines.

Mining Productivity

Due to the use of electric motors, electric mining vehicles can achieve improved torque and acceleration, higher average speeds, and better performance when traveling on grades (as much as 50% faster on steep grades). Loaders specifically benefit further from the improved torque through smoother loading and faster load times. All these factors come together to result in faster vehicle cycles, increasing mining productivity by 10-20%.

The Bottom Line

Most crucial to the adoption of electric mining vehicles is the significant reductions they offer in total cost of ownership. EVs will come at a considerable premium due to the added costs of batteries, but battery pricing in the mining industry has been coming down, and given that volumes of electric mining equipment are expected to grow, there is room for it to fall even further.

The most potent savings that electrification provides comes from eliminating diesel costs. IDTechEx has calculated that the diesel costs to operate a haul truck and an underground vehicle can be over US$8.5 million and US$1.5 million, respectively, over 10 years. For an EV alternative, the electricity costs needed are as low as US$3.1 million and US$350 thousand. EVs can create massive opportunities for mines to save millions per vehicle, and they will naturally be inclined to extend these benefits over their fleets at large. Vehicle economics are also less sensitive to electricity prices than diesel prices, affording companies a level of protection against price volatility.

Adding to this are the operational costs saved through reductions in maintenance. Replacing the mechanical driveline of mining vehicles with electric ones brings with it fewer moving parts and less maintenance. Vehicles demand less downtime and resources for repairs and can spend more time in operation.

The new IDTechEx report, "Electric Vehicles in Mining 2024-2044: Technologies, Players, and Forecasts", provides deeper analyses and quantification of these key cost factors in electrification and analyzes over 70 electric mining vehicles from OEMs, including Caterpillar, Komatsu, Sandvik, Epiroc, and XCMG. It finds that electrification of mining vehicles will be favorable from a total cost of ownership perspective over a wide range of vehicle types. Mining companies will be encouraged to switch over by the savings they can provide and the improvements to working conditions - while OEMs will ramp up production to meet this demand.

To find out more about this new IDTechEx report, including downloadable sample pages, please visit www.IDTechEx.com/EVMining.

For the full portfolio of electric vehicle research from IDTechEx, please visit www.IDTechEx.com/Research/EV.

Upcoming free-to-attend webinar

Why Electric Vehicles Will Disrupt the Mining Industry

Pranav Jaswani, Technology Analyst at IDTechEx and author of this article, will be presenting a free-to-attend webinar on the topic on Wednesday 17 April 2024 - Why Electric Vehicles Will Disrupt the Mining Industry.

This webinar will include:

An overview of key mining vehicles

Advantages and barriers to electrification

Overview and developments of the electric haul truck market

Analysis of electric haul truck costs and potential savings

IDTechEx's outlook and conclusions

Please click here to check timings and register for your specific time zone.

If you are unable to make the date, please register anyway to receive the links to the on-demand recording (available for a limited time) and webinar slides as soon as they are available.

About IDTechEx:

IDTechEx provides trusted independent research on emerging technologies and their markets. Since 1999, we have been helping our clients to understand new technologies, their supply chains, market requirements, opportunities and forecasts. For more information, contact research@IDTechEx.com or visit www.IDTechEx.com.

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Media Contact:

Lucy Rogers

Sales and Marketing Administrator

press@IDTechEx.com

+44(0)1223 812300

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Twitter: www.twitter.com/IDTechEx

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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/idtechex-finds-evs-will-make-mining-cleaner-and-cheaper-302099464.html
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / Pampa Metals Corp. ("Pampa Metals" or the "Company") (CSE:PM)(FSE:FIRA)(OTCQB:PMMCF) is pleased to report that diamond drillhole PIU-02 (refer figure 1) was completed to a downhole depth of 870m. The hole was orientated along an east-west section, proximate to historical drillholes P4 and P2 and designed to test the lateral extension of the mineralized body, primarily along the western edge of the Piuquenes Central porphyry.

Geology and Mineralization - Diamond Drillhole PIU-02

Moderate intensity porphyry A type quartz veinlets were intersected from 120 m downhole, with copper oxides evident between 218-232 m, partially coincident with a zone of moderate supergene copper enrichment from 226 to 380 m. Copper sulphide (chalcopyrite) mineralization is evident in quartz veining from 270 m.

Image 1: Porphyry A type quartz stockwork veining with potassic (K-Spar) altered vein halos, supergene Cu enrichment and Cu oxides overprinting potassic altered quartz-diorite porphyry (218m)

A significant increase in quartz veining is observed from 364m downhole, coincident with an increase in intermineral potassic alteration (Kfeldspar-quartz), higher magnetite content, lower presence of early biotite and the appearance of bornite and chalcopyrite mineralization. Bornite mineralization remains evident down to 610m, often more abundant than chalcopyrite, and coincident with an increased intensity of porphyry A type quartz veining and pulses of intermineral granodiorite porphyry. Bornite is disseminated in quartz veinlets, frequently intergrown with chalcopyrite. The bornite mineralized core remains open to depth.

Image 2: Intense porphyry A type quartz vein stockwork with disseminated chalcopyrite and bornite, overprinting early potassic altered diorite porphyry

From 610 m downhole the frequency of quartz veinlets, intermineral potassic alteration, magnetite content, and the presence of bornite decreases. Chalcopyrite-bornite mineralization remains present in the quartz veinlets, which frequently show thin Kfeldspar haloes. The outer periphery of the Piuquenes porphyry system can be observed from 690 m, with a predominance of early biotite over mafics along with disseminated magnetite, sporadic and thin quartz veinlets with a halo of potassium Kfeldspar and disseminated chalcopyrite and bornite overprinting diorite porphyry. From 690 m a late intermediate argillic event with chlorite is evident, along with veinlets and dissemination of pyrite/chalcopyrite-pyrite and specular magnetic hematite, grading to phyllic with selective chlorite-sericite and pervasive sericite veinlets, with fine dissemination of pyrite from 850 m to 870m (End of Hole).

Image 3: Intense porphyry A type quartz stockwork with strong disseminated chalcopyrite mineralization, overprinting intermineral potassic altered porphyry

Image 4: Porphyry A type quartz vein hosting coarse bornite mineralization, overprinting intermineral potassic altered porphyry

Assays have been prepared and dispatched to the ALS laboratory in Mendoza, results expected shortly.

Joseph van den Elsen, Pampa Metals President and CEO commented: "Following on from the exceptional copper-gold intersections reported in the first hole of our maiden drill campaign at the Piuquenes Project, we are very pleased to report the presence of wide intervals of both supergene enriched and strong primary copper mineralization in the 2nd hole of our current drill program. Our maiden drill campaign continues to extend the depth and lateral extensions of mineralization at Piuquenes Central with a bornite rich core now evident and open to depth. Bornite mineralized cores are commonly associated with high grade porphyry deposits globally and we look forward to further delineating this exciting opportunity. Subsequent drill campaigns will also test the undrilled Piuquenes East porphyry target and other nearby targets identified on the property."

Figure 1: PIU-02 Schematic Cross Section

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD INVESTOR CONTACT

Joseph van den Elsen | President & CEO Joseph van den Elsen | Joseph@pampametals.com

ABOUT PAMPA METALS

Pampa Metals is a copper-gold exploration company listed on the Canadian Stock Exchange (CSE:PM), Frankfurt (FSE:FIRA), and OTC (OTCQB:PMMCF) exchanges.

In November 2023, the Company announced it had entered into an Option and Joint Venture Agreement for the acquisition of an 80% interest in the Piuquenes Copper-Gold Porphyry Project in San Juan Province, Argentina. Reported intervals of significant copper and gold mineralization at Piuquenes Central include:

413.5 m@ 0.47% Cu, 0.52 g/t Au (0.87% CuEq)* (167-580.5 m);

422 m @ 0.48% Cu, 0.61 g/t Au, 2.9 g/t Ag (1.00% CuEq)* (198 - 620m);

including 132m @ 0.71% Cu, 0.85 g/t Au, 4.3 g/t Ag (1.45% CuEq)* (220 - 352m);

including 80m @ 0.6% Cu, 0.77 g/t Au, 3.2 g/t Ag (1.30% CuEq)* (468 - 548m)

558.2 m @ 0.38% Cu, 0.42 g/t Au, 2.4 g/t Ag (0.73% CuEq)* (362-920.2 m EOH)

including 130 m @ 0.81% Cu, 0.6 g/t Au, 4 g/t Ag (1.31 % CuEq)* (362-492 m)

Qualified Person

Technical information in this news release has been approved by Mario Orrego G. Mr. Orrego G. is a Geologist, a Registered Member of the Chilean Mining Commission and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Orrego G. is a consultant to the Company.

* %CuEq values are calculated based on copper and gold metal prices: Cu = US$3.20/lb, Au = US$1,700/oz and Ag = US$ 20/oz. The formula utilized to calculate %CuEq is: Cu Eq Grade (%) = Cu Head Grade (%) + [(Au Head Grade (g/t) / 31.104) * (Au Price (US$/oz) / Cu Price (US$/lb) / 22.04) + [(Ag Head Grade (g/t) / 31.104) * (Ag Price (US$/oz) / Cu Price (US$/lb) / 22.04.

Neither the CSE nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT

This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical fact, that address events or developments that Pampa Metals expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will" or "may" occur. These statements are subject to various risks. Although Pampa Metals believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guaranteeing of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements.

SOURCE: Pampa Metals Corp.

View the original press release on accesswire.com
New B3 Appliance takes a bow alongside latest high-speed solutions to meet ecosystem demand for low latency and high bandwidth connectivity

Spirent Communications plc (LSE:SPT), the leading provider of test and assurance solutions for next-generation devices and networks, today announced the availability of the newest addition to its industry-leading 800G portfolio, the Spirent B3 800G Appliance. The latest of its test platforms for validating the reliability, high performance, and interoperability of Ethernet technologies, the B3 Appliance will debut at the 2024 OFC Conference and Exhibition in San Diego, March 26-28 in booth #1515.

"The maturity of 400G and 800G technologies is accelerating deployments, with 800G solutions from multiple vendors being deployed at a rapidly accelerating pace," said Aniket Khosla, Spirent's VP of Wireline Product Management. "Comprehensive testing has become imperative to enable this next-generation network equipment to be tested and validated for interoperability and performance under real-world conditions."

Spirent's 800G and 400G test solutions on show at OFC leverage Spirent's decades of experience in Ethernet testing to help customers validate market readiness, high performance, and interoperability of new cutting-edge Ethernet technologies which are increasingly expected to meet the needs of artificial intelligence (AI) workloads.

"Growing demand for computing power is driving new requirements for high-quality network connections," says Khosla, "and with 800G and 1.6T in the longer term expected to become the standard networking technologies for large-scale AI training, validating the performance of next-generation routers and switches is essential for ensuring the overall network efficiency and response speed."

Spirent's OFC demonstration features the new B3 800G Appliance, which is a high-density native 800G OSFP and QSFP-DD test platform, and the first in its class to support IEEE 802.3df specifications. As a vendor-neutral test system, the Spirent B3 800G Appliance will help accelerate 800G deployments to enable the networking industry to power new applications running AI/ML.

OFC demonstrations with a number of key industry partners will also showcase the award-winning high-density B2 800G 8-Port Appliance, recognized by the 2024 Lightwave Innovation Reviews for accelerating the development and adoption of 800G infrastructure. The high-density native 800G OSFP and QSFP-DD test platform is designed to validate the reliability, performance and interoperability of the latest 800G networking solutions and devices across various interconnect technologies.

Spirent's high-density native 400G QSFP-DD test platform with 8 and 16 400G ports will also be demonstrated at OFC, showcasing capabilities to deliver high-performing, reliable, affordable, and interoperable 400G infrastructure and support emerging technologies like AI/ML. Meanwhilethe Spirent M1 Compact Appliance also recognized with an award from the 2024 Lightwave Innovation Reviews will demonstrate how the flexibility built into its space-saving M1 configuration can accelerate time to market for new technologies and improve product quality by ensuring reliable, high-quality experiences. An ideal tool for the whole test lifecycle, the M1 Compact Appliance provides functional, performance, and benchmark testing of various Ethernet applications.

AMD:

"With 800G adoption set to grow significantly, we are excited to team up with Spirent, a leader in high-speed Ethernet test and measurement to demonstrate highlights of our latest 800G solutions," said Harpinder Matharu, Senior Director, Wired and Wireless business, AMD. "Our joint demonstration at OFC 2024 features AMD Versal Premium 800G Ethernet solution and Spirent B2 800G Appliance showcasing the performance, flexibility and scalability needed to simplify and accelerate 800G deployments and support even the most demanding AI and HPC workloads."

Amphenol:

"Today's system architectures are pushing the physical limits of copper solutions and evolving more complicated feature sets for optical solutions," said Sam Kocsis, Director of Standards and Technology at Amphenol. "We value our relationship with Spirent to help us evaluate and qualify the diverse portfolio of 800G interconnect solutions in a streamlined and sophisticated platform that promotes high-confidence decisions with our customers."

AOI:

"We are excited to partner with Spirent, uniting AOI's advanced 800G OSFP DR8 LPO modules with their leading testing solutions. This collaboration underscores our mutual commitment to driving innovation and excellence in the realm of high-bandwidth optical interconnections for AI/ML systems," said Dr. Fred Chang, SVP and GM, AOI.

CIG:

"High density 800G test solutions are critical for validating the performance of 800G modules," said Gerry Wong, CEO at CIG. "Spirent B2 800G Appliances are invaluable tools as we expand our 800G product portfolio."

ColorChip:

"We value partnering with Spirent, a leader in high-speed Ethernet test and measurement," said Yigal Ezra, ColorChip CEO, "and are joining forces at OFC 2024 to showcase ColorChip's latest generation of 800G AOC that enable high-performance connectivity for AI and Hyper Scale Data Centers."

Coherent

"As a leading manufacturer of optical transceivers, we take great care in ensuring standards compliance and interoperability," said Mark Ives, Vice President of Product Management, Transceiver Business Unit, at Coherent Corporation. "Spirent's test solutions help us achieve that goal very well and contribute to a thriving test ecosystem in the market."

Hisense:

"Our partnership with Spirent helps us push the boundaries of innovation," says Jianwei Mu, Director at Hisense Broadband, "working tirelessly on the research and development of optical transceiver modules essential for enabling the adoption of cutting-edge 800G technologies."

InnoLight:

"We value our partnership with Spirent and are pleased that our 800G OSFP optical modules are featured in their 800G demo at OFC," said Osa Mok, Chief Marketing Officer at InnoLight. "Spirent is uniquely positioned to help their customers manage test and validation across entire ecosystems and we look forward to continuing our collaboration on 800G and beyond to help improve data interconnection efficiency."

Juniper Networks:

"Acceleration of networking innovation has been relentless, propelling network operator solutions toward new frontiers," said Julius Francis, Senior Director, Product Strategy, Wide Area Networking, Juniper Networks. "In a fraction of the time it took the 100GbE ecosystem to fully evolve, operators have made 400GbE-capable solutions a table stake requirement, and the 800GbE ecosystem promises to accelerate even faster. In today's environment, where time-to-market of next-gen solutions is condensed, test and assurance solutions capable of evaluating beta technologies are invaluable. Juniper is pleased to take part in the Spirent B2 800G Appliance showcase at OFC 2024, demonstrating Spirent's ability to generate massive amounts of bandwidth for devices under test, featuring the 100GbE, 400GbE and 800GbE-enabled Juniper PTX10002-36QDD Packet Transport Router and Juniper 800ZR transceiver technology."

Luxshare-ICT:

"By teaming up with Spirent, Luxshare Technologies is enhancing our capabilities to conduct rigorous testing of 800G DPO, LRO and LPO optical transceiver within a sophisticated traffic analysis environment," said Mike Gao, General Manager of OptoElectronic Photonic Solutions at Luxshare Technologies. "Spirent's expertise in this field will enable us to ensure the highest standards of performance, reliability, and security for our customers. Together, we are paving the way for the next generation of 1.6T optical communication technologies."

MultiLane

"Enabling interoperability for a robust testing ecosystem is a core competency at MultiLane," said Rachad Samaha, General Manager of MultiLane Data Center Test Solutions. "Our ThunderBERT enabled Active Loopbacks provide a rapid and comprehensive means of validating host ports, even accounting for the increased complexities of 800G. We are very happy to be working with Spirent once again on this front as our partnership helps ensure a seamless testing experience for the industry."

TE Connectivity

"TE Connectivity (TE) is pleased to collaborate with Spirent in enabling the ecosystem for next-gen data rates such as 400Gbps and 800Gbps based on 100Gbps electrical interfaces as well as developmental evaluation of 200Gbps electrical interfaces," said Nathan Tracy, Technologist, System Architecture Team at TE Connectivity. "A proven test and measurement ecosystem with key solution providers like Spirent is critical for validating advanced connectivity solutions such as TE's next generation passive and active cables and interconnects."

Spirent's industry-leading 400G and 800G test and validation solutions can be seen demonstrated with the technology partners including AMD (booth #1207), the Ethernet Alliance (booth #1415), and at Spirent's booth #1515.

For more information, visit the Spirent high-speed Ethernet testing solutions page.

About Spirent

Spirent Communications plc. (LSE: SPT) is the leading global provider of automated test and assurance solutions for networks, cybersecurity, and positioning. The company provides innovative products, services and managed solutions that address the test, assurance and automation challenges of a new generation of technologies, including 5G, SD-WAN, cloud, autonomous vehicles and beyond. From the lab to the real world, Spirent helps companies deliver on their promise to their customers of a new generation of connected devices and technologies. For more information, please visit www.spirent.com and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240326288723/en/

Contacts:

MEDIA:

Americas:

Sherri Walkenhorst

Connect Marketing

T: +1-801-373-7888

sherriw@connectmarketing.com

Asia Pacific:

Janet Peng

Spirent Communications

T: +86 (10) 823 30055 (x160)

janet.peng@spirent.com

EMEA:

Anne Harding

The Message Machine

T: +44-7887-682943

anne@themessagemachine.com
ExaGrid Reseller Partner Program chosen due to its commitment to nurturing strong, profitable, and successful channel partnerships

ExaGrid, the industry's only Tiered Backup Storage solution, today announced 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. ExaGrid sits behind 25+ backup applications and utilities as the backup storage and provides the highest performance for backup and recovery, the best scalability, the only non-network-facing tiered air gap for ransomware recovery, and includes data deduplication to reduce the storage footprint and cost.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240326530436/en/

ExaGrid Earns 5-Star Rating in 2024 CRN Partner Program Guide (Graphic: Business Wire)

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.

ExaGrid offers many innovations in its ExaGrid Reseller Partner Program, including:

No inventory required

No milestones or commitments required

Deal registration for resellers who bring opportunities to ExaGrid to protect margin

SPIF programs for reseller sales reps and solutions architects

Meeting Maker bonuses for customer prospect meetings

ExaGrid co-sells with its own sales force including technical field systems engineers

ExaGrid performs all customer support and the resellers gain all future orders for appliance and maintenance and support renewals

"We are honored that ExaGrid's Reseller Partner Program has been awarded a 5-Star Rating in the CRN Partner Program Guide," said Bill Andrews, President and CEO of ExaGrid. "ExaGrid has the strongest and most unique reseller program in the industry which has been designed to exceed our partners' expectations. Backup storage is a huge market and it's growing, and we look forward to working with new partners in 2024 and for continued success with our current partners worldwide. Our goal is to help our partners provide a product to their customers that solves problems that they face with backup storage and a product that just works and is incredibly well-supported. When we work together, everyone wins," he said.

"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 ExaGrid

ExaGrid provides Tiered Backup Storage with a unique disk-cache Landing Zone, long-term retention repository, and scale-out architecture. ExaGrid's Landing Zone provides for the fastest backups, restores, and instant VM recoveries. The Repository Tier offers the lowest cost for long-term retention. ExaGrid's scale-out architecture includes full appliances and ensures a fixed-length backup window as data grows, eliminating expensive forklift upgrades and product obsolescence. ExaGrid offers the only two-tiered backup storage approach with a non-network-facing tier, delayed deletes, and immutable objects to recover from ransomware attacks.

ExaGrid has physical sales and pre-sales systems engineers in the following countries: Argentina, Australia, Benelux, Brazil, Canada, Chile, CIS, Colombia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Nordics, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, and other regions.

Visit us at exagrid.com or connect with us on LinkedIn. See what our customers have to say about their own ExaGrid experiences and learn why they now spend significantly less time on backup storage in our customer success stories. ExaGrid is proud of our +81 NPS score!

ExaGrid is a registered trademark of ExaGrid Systems, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders.

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.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240326530436/en/

Contacts:

Mary Domenichelli

ExaGrid

mdomenichelli@exagrid.com

Kristin DaSilva

The Channel Company

kdasilva@thechannelcompany.com
Vancouver, BC, March 26, 2024),),))

Under the white-label agreement with MONECO, RevoluPAY is set to offer a comprehensive range of services through its RevoluSEND platform. This partnership enables MONECO to provide its clientele with cutting-edge payment and money transfer services, all while retaining the MONECO brand identity, powered by the technological and infrastructural prowess of RevoluPAY's extensive network. Additionally, the agreement encompasses support for various operational necessities, including transaction monitoring, adherence to compliance standards, and technological maintenance, showcasing a united front towards achieving operational efficiency and strict regulatory compliance.

Alfredo Manresa, Director of RevoluGROUP and General Manager of RevoluPAY, expressed his enthusiasm about the partnership, stating, "This alliance with MONECO represents a significant milestone in our commitment to expanding financial inclusivity across the globe. Leveraging our licensed technology, we are thrilled to enable MONECO to offer their customers a seamless payment solution, underscoring our directive to innovate and meet the dynamic needs of today's consumers."

The white label agreement outlines a structure for technological integration, compliance adherence, transaction monitoring, and support, ensuring that MONECO's clients enjoy a secure and efficient platform for their financial transactions. This initiative further underscores RevoluGROUP's strategic expansion and dedication to fostering partnerships that enhance payment solutions on a global scale.

About MONECO

Drawing from our diverse team backgrounds, MONECO keenly appreciates the financial challenges shared by those in French-speaking Africa and individuals affected by migration. Our personal experiences stretch from deep roots in the African continent to life transitions toward Europe, encapsulating the diaspora's narrative. This mixture of life stories drives our mission to provide critical financial bridges between Europe and Africa.

Our dedication is embedded in the ambition to democratise financial access across over 12 French-speaking African nations while also catering to the African diaspora within Europe. MONECO offers a comprehensive array of services designed to simplify and secure financial operations for our unique user base, integrating mobile payments, currency exchange, and remittances.

MONECO has grown rapidly, supporting over 8,000 active users with 21,000 more awaiting our advanced Neobanking solutions. This commitment has positioned us as a critical ally in fulfilling the financial needs of Africans living and working in Europe, underpinned by our leading-edge encryption and blockchain security measures.

About RevoluPAY

The Company's flagship Neobanking technology is RevoluPAY, the Appleand Androidmultinational payment app. Conceived entirely in-house, RevoluPAY features proprietary, sector-specific technology of which the resulting source code is the Company's intellectual property. RevoluPAY's built-in features include Remittance Payments, Forex, Retail and Hospitality payments, Real Estate Payments, pay-as-you-go phone top-ups, Gift Cards & Online Credits, Utility Bill payments, Leisure payments, Travel Payments, etc. RevoluPAY is aimed at the worldwide multi-billion dollar Open Banking sector and + $630 billionfamily remittance market. RevoluPAY is operated by the European wholly owned subsidiary RevoluPAY EP S.L located in Barcelona. RevoluPAY is a licensed United States MSB, Canadian FINTRAC, and European PSD2 payment institution 6900under E.U. Directive 2015/2366 with EU Passporting.

About RevoluGROUP Canada Inc.

RevoluGROUP Canada Inc. is a multi-asset, multidivisional, publicly traded Canadian Company that controls five wholly owned subsidiarieson four continents. RevoluGROUP deploys advanced technologies in; Banking, Mobile Apps, Money Remittance, Cross-Border Forex Payments, Mobile Phone Top-Ups, EGaming, Healthcare Payments, Esports, Invoice factoring, Online Travel, Vacation Resort, Blockchain Systems, and Fintech app sectors. Click hereto read more.

For further information on RevoluGROUP Canada Inc.), visit the Company's website at www.RevoluGROUP.com.

RevoluGROUP Canada, Inc.

"Gavin McMillan"

______________________

Gavin McMillan

CEO and Director

For further information, contact:

RevoluGROUP Canada Inc.

Telephone:

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.
BERLIN, GERMANY / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / Diagnostic company SphingoTec announces a significant change in its management team. Joerg Menten, Managing Director and CEO, leaves the company to enter into retirement. Dr. Angelo Moesslang, Managing Director and CFO, leaves SphingoTec after the completion of a 3-year term. SphingoTec is pleased to announce the following appointments to its management team, mainly selected from the internal ranks:

Deborah Bergmann as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Dr. Florian Uhle as Managing Director and Chief Medical Officer (CMO)

Nicole Witzmann as Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

Dr. Gerald Moeller, Chairman of the Advisory Board at SphingoTec, said, "On behalf of the Advisory Board, I would like to thank Joerg Menten and Dr. Angelo Moesslang for successfully leading the company during the past years in a challenging external environment, preparing SphingoTec for entering into first commercial agreements, and streamlining the company's complex portfolio. This will allow their successors to focus on the key value drivers going forward. Furthermore, I congratulate Deborah Bergmann, Dr. Florian Uhle, and Nicole Witzmann on their appointments. Their hands-on experience in our global industry will help grow our company to become a key provider of diagnostic innovations in critical care.

The long-term and multi-faceted past management roles of Deborah Bergmann within the company offer an experienced and dynamic leader. Dr. Florian Uhle is completing the team with his deep understanding of critical care settings and experience in translating science into clinical routine practice, and Nicole Witzmann with her successful track record in ensuring financing structure, fundraising, and allocation of funds for successfully achieving relevant milestones. I look forward to dynamic and focused actions with the new management team."

Deborah Bergmann, CEO of SphingoTec, stated, "With gratitude to the outgoing management team for their dedicated leadership, I am honored by this appointment and committed to building upon their foundation. Together with the team, we will expand the global reach of our biomarker innovations, focusing on enhancing patient care and addressing unmet clinical needs. Our collective effort aims to reshape diagnostic standards in critical care while focusing on further licensing agreements and assisting current partners and pharma cooperations. Additionally, we are committed to supporting existing customers as routine users, particularly university hospitals, and strengthening the scientific and clinical evidence around our diagnostic tests."

Deborah Bergmann appointed as Managing Director and CEO:

Deborah Bergmann brings a wealth of experience and a deep understanding of SphingoTec's mission. With a Master's degree in Biochemistry from the University of Potsdam, Ms. Bergmann has been an integral part of SphingoTec's journey from its inception. Her multifaceted contributions across research and development, marketing, sales, and business development have been instrumental in securing the company's first routine users, driving sales conversion of reference customers, and overseeing the out-licensing activities. Ms. Bergmann's leadership skills and international cooperation aptitude have facilitated the company's expansion into global markets, underscoring her commitment to advancing diagnostic standards in critical care.

Dr. Florian Uhle appointed as Managing Director and CMO:

Dr. Florian Uhle brings over 15 years of experience in healthcare. With a diploma in Biology from the Justus-Liebig University, a Master of Science in Clinical Research and Translational Medicine from the University of Leipzig, and a Ph.D. in Translational Critical Care from the Justus-Liebig University, Dr. Uhle has held several leadership roles within Inflammatix Inc. and the University Hospitals Heidelberg and Giessen. His expertise in diagnostic research activities and innovation-oriented initiatives, coupled with his extensive publication record in renowned scientific journals, positions him as a valuable leader to SphingoTec. Dr. Uhle is committed to bridging the gap between research and clinical practice, ensuring that SphingoTec's diagnostic innovations translate into tangible improvements in patient outcomes.

Nicole Witzmann joins SphingoTec as CFO:

Nicole Witzmann assumes the role of Chief Financial Officer, bringing over eight years of corporate finance experience in the healthcare industry. With a Master's degree in Business Communication from the University of Applied Sciences Berlin (HTW Berlin), Ms. Witzmann previously served as CFO at InfanDx. She was instrumental as Head of Finance at Adrenomed AG, ensuring financial oversight and fundraising. Her expertise aligns seamlessly with SphingoTec's strategic objectives: allocating financial resources, which aims to achieve tangible milestones, fostering shareholder value, and substantial advancements in patient care.

About SphingoTec

SphingoTec GmbH ("SphingoTec" Hennigsdorf near Berlin, Germany) is a commercial-stage diagnostic company focusing on innovative critical care biomarkers for diagnosing, predicting, and monitoring acute medical conditions. SphingoTec's innovative markers are made available on different IVD platforms. SphingoTec's proprietary biomarker portfolio includes Proenkephalin A 119-159 (penKid), a biomarker for the assessment of kidney function in critical diseases, and bioactive Adrenomedullin 1-52 (bio-ADM), a biomarker for the assessment of endothelial function in conditions like sepsis.

Media contact:

Ruxandra Lenz

Head of Marketing and Communication

SphingoTec GmbH

Neuendorfstr. 15 A

16761 Hennigsdorf

Tel. +49-3302-20565-0

SOURCE: SphingoTec GmbH

View the original press release on accesswire.com
ZUG, Switzerland and EGHAM, United Kingdom and RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Essential Pharma, an international specialty pharma group focused on ensuring that patients have sustainable access to low volume, clinically well-established pharmaceutical products across key therapeutic areas, announces that it has signed a Distribution Agreement with AcedrA BioPharmaceuticals ("AcedrA"), a leading Saudi company operating in the Middle East and North Africa region. This strategic collaboration aims to address unmet commercial and medical needs by allowing AcedrA to register, promote, and commercialize a portfolio of 36 Essential Medicines across various therapeutic areas within 12 countries in the Middle East and North Africa Region.



Essential Pharma specializes in ensuring sustainable access to clinically differentiated, low-volume, and difficult-to-manufacture medicines for chronic diseases and acute care. As a global leader in acquiring, integrating, and maintaining Essential medicines at risk of shortages or discontinuation, Essential Pharma works collaboratively with partners worldwide to uphold the highest standards of pharmaceutical manufacturing.

Emma Johnson, CEO of Essential Pharma, commented: "As we continue our mission to provide sustainable access to vital medicines, we are thrilled to announce our partnership with AcedrA BioPharmaceuticals. This collaboration marks a significant step forward in our efforts to address medical needs in the Middle East and North Africa, ensuring that patients across the region have access to high-quality treatments across multiple therapeutic areas. Together, we are committed to improving patient outcomes, and making a positive impact on healthcare systems worldwide."

Under the terms of this agreement, AcedrA will take on the responsibility of registering, promoting, and commercializing 36 specialty essential medicines within therapeutic areas such as Ophthalmology, Gastroenterology, Cardiovascular, Dermatology, Endocrinology, Neurology, Gynecology, Infectious Diseases, Respiratory, and Rheumatology in the MENA region*.

"AcedrA is responsibly engaged to serve patient and scientific communities where there are significant needs in the MENA region, we do believe that a synergy between AcedrA and Essential Pharma to ensure sustainable access to essential medicines will have an outstanding impact on patients and doctors with limited options," said Dr. Hosni STA, the Chief Executive Officer of AcedrA. "We are committed to being a patient-centric company, working closely with healthcare providers in the MENA region, and we will be pleased to partner with Essential Pharma strategically to improve the access to healthcare in the region."

*Distribution will cover products in Saudia Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bharain, Kuwait, Oman, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco.

About Essential Pharma

Essential Pharma is an international specialty pharmaceutical group dedicated to maintaining access to well-established, at-risk products essential to patients across multiple therapeutic areas. The group has been an important and valued partner to healthcare providers for over 20 years by giving patients access to medicines that otherwise might not be available. Essential Pharma operates globally in more than 70 countries, supplying a portfolio of over 300 products across multiple therapeutic areas. Essential Pharma's growth strategy is based on identifying and acquiring mature, at-risk products from larger pharmaceutical groups looking to streamline their product portfolios. It is a trusted partner to multiple pharma companies of all sizes, with a proven history of integrating assets and managing complex technology transfers seamlessly while ensuring continuous and sustainable supply to patients.

Essential Pharma's growth strategy is backed by Gyrus Capital, an investment firm dedicated to transformational investments in sectors with long-term sustainable growth, including healthcare.

For more information, please visit essentialpharmagroup.com

About AcedrA BioPharmaceuticals

AcedrA Pharmaceutical Company (also known as AcedrA BioPharmaceuticals) is a specialized company dedicated to addressing unmet medical and commercial needs in the Middle East and Africa. Operating from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, AcedrA focuses on marketing and distributing Pharmaceuticals and Therapeutic Solutions for various medical conditions.

To know more about AcedrA BioPharmaceuticals: www.acedrarx.comor send your inquiry to: info@acedrarx.com

For Media: media@acedrarx.com

CONTACTS

Essential Pharma

Emma Johnson, CEO

Tel: +44

ICR Consilium

Mary-Jane Elliott/Tracy Cheung/Chris Welsh

Tel: +44

AcedrA

Dr. Ameera Abu Jarour

Quality & Business Support Manager

Tel: +966 11 400 0036

Email: ameera.abj@acedrarx.com

Eng. Layla Wahabi

Chief Compliance Officer

Tel: +966 11 400 0032

Email: layla.wah@acedrarx.com
2024 has witnessed several incidents highlighting that digital technologies can underpin certifications and compliance processes across the industry's value chain

NEW YORK, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The dramatic images of a hole appearing in a Boeing aircraft operated by Alaskan Airlines put a sharp focus on the need to follow aircraft assembly, testing, and maintenance procedures rigorously. Global technology intelligence firm ABI Research forecasts that aerospace manufacturers will spend US$53.8 billion on digital technologies in 2034, up from US$30 billion in 2022.

"Aerospace firms are under pressure from airlines positive about the demand for air travel and are looking to refresh their aircraft roster. Both Boeing and Airbus have a growing order book but cannot take regulation shortcuts to fulfill them," says Michael Larner, Industrial and Manufacturing Research Director at ABI Research.

Technology suppliers such as AEGIS Software , Dassault Systemes, Hexagon, and Siemens can help firms across the entire value chain to optimize processes while remaining compliant. According to Larner, "Manufacturers will need to become more data-savvy by using data analytics for early warning signs of problems in the supply chain or with a part of the aircraft."

Traceability is a key issue for aerospace manufacturers. "It is not just individual components that need certification; individual tools used to perform tasks must be certified, too. Suppliers focusing on asset tracking working with connectivity suppliers have opportunities to support aerospace manufacturers' efforts to ensure tools are not lost, which causes production delays," Larner explains.

Aerospace manufacturers will invest in digital threads across their operations and supply chains. "And it's not just aircraft manufacturers that are finding it challenging to meet increased demand; it's the same for manufacturers in the defense industry (military aircraft, missiles, drones) and those involved in producing satellites," Larner adds.

These findings are from ABI Research's Digitalization and the Aerospace Industry report. This report is part of the company's Industrial and Manufacturing Markets research service, which includes research, data, and ABI Insights. Based on extensive primary interviews, Application Analysis reports present an in-depth analysis of key market trends and factors for a specific application, which could focus on an individual market or geography.

About ABI Research

ABI Research is a global technology intelligence firm delivering actionable research and strategic guidance to technology leaders, innovators, and decision makers around the world. Our research focuses on the transformative technologies that are dramatically reshaping industries, economies, and workforces today.

ABI Research???????????,?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

For more information about ABI Research's services, contact us at +1.516.624.2500 in the Americas, +44.203.326.0140 in Europe, +65.6592.0290 in Asia-Pacific, or visit www.abiresearch.com.

Contact Info:

Global

Deborah Petrara

Tel: +1.516.624.2558

pr@abiresearch.com

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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/regulatory-scrutiny-and-commercial-necessity-fuels-growth-in-aerospace-manufacturers-digitalization-spend-reaching-us54-billion-in-2034-302099029.html
The Free Market Road Show is heading to Northwood University April 2 as part of the 2024 Freedom Seminar. Submitted photo/Kate Hessling, Northwood University

The Free Market Road Show is heading to Northwood University April 2 as part of the 2024 Freedom Seminar.

The Austrian Economics Center facilitates the Free Market Road Show to provide high-quality analyses and engaging events that highlight the importance of individual liberty, free markets and constitutionally limited government  all values shared by Northwood University, explained Dale Matcheck, who chairs Northwoods economics department. We are thrilled to have this years Freedom Seminar be included as a stop on the 2024 Free Market Road Show.

The Northwood University Freedom Seminar is a yearly event featuring lectures and films that explore the principles of free enterprise. Distinguished academic and business leaders lead discussions on topics of great interest to local, national, and global audiences, making the seminar a platform for insightful investigations.

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All events are free and open to the public, Matcheck noted.

There will be two Free Market Road Show events on April 2 in the McNair Center for Free Enterprise, which is located within the Robert W. Plaster Free Enterprise Center, off Naegele Drive, at Northwood University in Midland.

The first presentation begins at 9 a.m. with a panel discussing how America and Europe should deal with their environmental challenges. Panelists include Jason Hayes, director of energy and environmental policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, and Nick Loris, vice president of public policy at C3 Solutions.

The second Free Market Road Show event on April 2 starts at 10:30 a.m. and features panelists discussing how America and Europe should deal with immigration and demographic challenges. Panelists include Barbara Kolm, director of the Austrian Economics Center, and president of the Hayek Institute; and Alexandar Tokarev, Northwood University economics professor. Both events will be livestreamed on YouTube.

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The last event of this years Freedom Seminar will be held April 17, featuring a panel that will discuss The Role of Government in a Free Society: Conservative, Libertarian and Socialist Perspectives at 7 p.m. in Griswold Lecture Hall. Panelists include Nathan Schleuter of Hillsdale College, Robert Murphy of the Mises Institute, and Matthew Erard, J.D. Event can be viewed on YouTube.

The following are presentations that already have been featured as part of the 2024 Northwood University Freedom Seminar, which kicked off in January:

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Yaron Brook: The Morality of Capitalism sponsored by the Ayn Rand Institute and Young Americans for Liberty.

Presentation can be viewed here.

Burton Folsom: The Contributions of Black Entrepreneurs to American Prosperity, sponsored by Young Americans for Freedom.

Presentation can be viewed here.

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The Hong Konger: Jimmy Lais Extraordinary Struggle for Freedom, with producer Eric Kohn, Acton Institute.

Presentation can be viewed here.

Eric Nager, A Plan For America: How to Place the American Dream on a Sure Foundation Forever.

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Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 26, 2024) - Hypercharge Networks Corp. (Cboe CA: HC) (OTCQB: HCNWF) (FSE: PB7) (the "Company" or "Hypercharge"), a leading, smart electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions provider, today announced that the Company has received approval to list its common shares (the "Shares") on the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV") following satisfaction of regulatory requirements (the "Listing"). The Shares will be de-listed from Cboe Canada (formerly NEO Exchange) at the close of markets on March 27, 2024, and begin trading on the TSXV at the open of markets on March 28, 2024.

"Our listing on the TSXV marks a strategic advancement for Hypercharge," stated David Bibby, President and CEO. "This move not only amplifies our presence in the marketplace, but importantly connects us with a wider spectrum of investors, who are looking for long-term growth opportunities in sustainable energy infrastructure, both in Canada and internationally."

Upon Listing, the Company's trading symbol 'HC' will remain unchanged, and shareholders will not be required to take any action. The Shares will also continue to be listed on the OTCQB Marketplace in the United States under the symbol 'HCNWF' and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol 'PB7'. The total number of Shares issued and outstanding following completion of the Listing will be 70,396,834.

Changes to the Board of Directors

Hypercharge is announcing changes to its board of directors (the "Board"). The board size will be reduced from six members to five members, with three being independent. Joining the Board is Mr. Keith Inman and leaving the Board are Bronson Peever and Shahab Samimi.

Mr. Inman is a partner in the Business Law group of Pushor Mitchell LLP, a full-service law firm located in Kelowna, British Columbia, with a practice focused on advising emerging and mid-market companies on corporate/commercial and securities law related matters, including corporate finance and M&A transactions. Mr. Inman has been a director and officer of multiple public companies.

"Hypercharge is excited to welcome Keith Inman to our Board. Keith brings a wealth of experience and insight that will be invaluable as we continue to evolve and grow," said David Bibby, President and CEO of Hypercharge. "The Company also extends our deepest gratitude to Bronson Peever and Shahab Samimi for their significant contributions and dedicated service. Their contributions have been significant, and we wish them all the best in their future endeavours."

Agreement for Market-Making Services with Independent Trading Group ("ITG")

Further to the Company's press release on April 6, 2023, the Company engaged Independent Trading Group ("ITG") on November 5, 2022, to provide typical market making services, on a commercially reasonable basis, to provide liquidity and stability in a two-sided market in the Company's securities and provide management with a monthly report of trading activity (the "ITG Agreement"). Pursuant to the terms of the ITG Agreement, the Company will pay ITG CDN$6,500 per month for an initial 3-month term, renewable on a monthly basis. ITG holds no Shares in the Company and is an arm's length party to the Company.

Amended Agreement with MZ Investor Relations

Hypercharge is announcing it has amended its previously announced agreement (the "Agreement") with MZ Investor Relations Group ("MZ") whereby MZ shall now solely be paid a flat fee of US$8,500 per month. MZ will not be entitled to any compensation based on performance-based milestones. The term of the Agreement is four-months commencing February 16, 2024, and renewable monthly thereafter. MZ provides a variety of investor relations services, investment awareness and outreach, financial media relations, and public market insight.

About Hypercharge

Hypercharge Networks Corp. (Cboe CA: HC) (OTCQB: HCNWF) (FSE: PB7) is a leading provider of smart electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions that offers turnkey technology to residential and commercial buildings, fleet operations, and other rapidly growing sectors. Driven by its mission to accelerate EV adoption and enable the shift towards a carbon neutral economy, Hypercharge is committed to providing seamless, simple charging solutions by offering industry-leading equipment and a robust network of public and private charging stations. Learn more: https://hypercharge.com/.

On behalf of the company,

Hypercharge Networks Corp.

David Bibby, President & CEO

Contacts

Investor Relations:

Chris Tyson | Executive Vice President | MZ Group

HC@mzgroup.us | (949) 491-8235

Media Contact:

Kyle Kingsnorth | Head of Marketing | Hypercharge

kyle.kingsnorth@hypercharge.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Any statements that are contained in this news release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "may", "should", "anticipate", "will", "estimates", "believes", "intends", "expects" and similar expressions which are intended to identify forward-looking statements. More particularly and without limitation, this news release contains forward-looking statements regarding the Company's application, and approval thereof, for Listing on the TSXV and delisting of the Shares on Cboe Canada. Forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain, and the actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, assumptions and expectations, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Readers are cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking statements may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Readers are further cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, as such information, although considered reasonable by management of the Company at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated.

The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release, and are expressly qualified by the foregoing cautionary statement. Except as expressly required by securities law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Neither Cboe Canada nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of Cboe Canada) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news 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 news release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/202852

SOURCE: Hypercharge Networks Corp.












TOKYO, Mar 26, 2024 - (JCN Newswire) - JFE Steel Corporation ("JFE Steel") and Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE:6501, "Hitachi") today announced that they have started to provide a solution (the "Solution"), which combines JFE Steel's consulting programs and Hitachi's automatic cold-rolling flatness control system, to steel companies in both Japan and overseas. The Solution features the combination of Hitachi's system, which uses an artificial intelligence (AI) to automatically control the steel sheet flattening process by a rolling mill, and JFE Steel's consulting programs (regarding the introduction of systems and optimal operations), a service that leverages its high-level operational expertise in ways that meets customer needs.Traditionally, wavy steel sheets are flattened by a rolling mill that must be finely adjusted manually by skilled operators. The Solution will address relevant issues such as the deterioration of yields due to differences in operators' technical skills and the transfer of expert skills, and in addition, help customers improve their skills and product quality.The JFE Group has been working to improve production efficiency and yields and drastically enhance labor productivity through the DX-driven introduction of new technologies. In addition, it has been promoting a solution business to provide a broad range of customers engaging in manufacturing businesses with methods for producing high value-added products, which the Group has developed through the operation and management of steelworks, and technological, operational and research expertise to address issues related to facility maintenance and environmental load reduction.Hitachi has been offering Lumada*1 solutions to accelerate DX by leveraging products, OT (operational technologies) and IT, which it has developed over many years as a manufacturing company, as well as a wealth of knowledge and expertise (domain knowledge) that it has acquired through the provision of solutions to issues faced by customers operating in broad areas and domains in the manufacturing industry. In the steel business area, it has been globally promoting facilities, process lines, control systems and other equipment for plants as a comprehensive system.BackgroundThe transfer of operators' skills is a major issue on the front lines of the steel manufacturing industry, in which a generational change is underway. To flatten wavy steel, which occurs at each side or in the center of a steel sheet during the manufacturing of steel sheets, it is necessary for the operator to measure waviness and implement feedback-based control while simultaneously manually making fine adjustments. Inexperienced operators find it difficult to manufacture products with different shape accuracy and quality requirements compared to skilled operators, which can lead to poor product yield and breakage issues due to shape defects. To address such issues, Hitachi developed a technology that automatically performs high-quality shape control in 2017*2, which features a process in which AI learns the relationship between operational data about highly skilled operators and data about the shapes of steel sheets, enabling the results of this learning to be reflected in the output of the control system. It has been providing the technology as an automatic cold-rolling flatness control system in Japan and also overseas. JFE Steel introduced the system on its production lines in 2021. Since then, it has been achieving a great deal, such as improved product yields, higher utilization rates and reduced operator workload through automation. Moreover, enabling the operational knowledge and expertise of skilled operators to be reflected in automated processes led to increased productivity and the stabilization of product quality through the prevention of problems.Building on these results, JFE Steel and Hitachi started to provide the Solution combining the two companies' strengths with a view toward addressing the issues faced by their customers in cold-rolling-based manufacturing. The two companies will work together to consider the configuration and make adjustments to the system that is optimal for customers' installation.(1) Lumada: A collective term for solutions, services and technologies based on Hitachi's advanced digital technologies for creating value from customers' data accelerating digital innovation(2) Hitachi, Ltd. news release titled "Hitachi Develops Real-Time Control Technology of Cold Rolling Plants for Steel Plants Using AI" announced on October 31, 2017.Contact:JFE Steel CorporationContact Us (msgs.jp)Hitachi, Ltd.Business ContactInquiry form: IndustrySource: Hitachi, Ltd.Copyright 2024 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved.
Der kostenlose Dividenden-Report zeigt ganz genau, wo Sie in diesem Jahr zuschlagen konnen. Das sind die Favoriten von Borsenprofi Dr. Dennis Riedl

WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Partly reflecting a rebound in orders for transportation equipment, the Commerce Department released a report on Tuesday showing a notable increase in new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods in the month of February. The report said durable goods orders jumped by 1.4 percent in February after plummeting by a revised 6.9 percent in January. Economists had expected durable goods orders to shoot up by 1.3 percent compared to the 6.2 percent slump that had been reported for the previous month. Orders for transportation equipment led the way higher, surging by 3.3 percent in February after plunging by 18.3 percent in January. Excluding the rebound in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders climbed by 0.5 percent in February after falling by 0.3 percent in January. Economists had expected a 0.4 percent increase. 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.
Partnership will help organizations develop and implement customized policies, procedures, and technology that address data privacy and security risks and are aligned with their organizational and operational goals

PORTLAND, Ore., March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Exterro, a leading data risk management software company, and Privacy Ref, a leading privacy consulting firm, today announced a strategic partnership aimed at delivering enhanced data privacy and compliance solutions to organizations worldwide. In an era where data privacy and compliance are paramount, the collaboration empowers organizations to navigate the complex landscape of data protection seamlessly, combining Privacy Ref's deep knowledge of privacy regulations and Exterro's innovative software solutions. The result is a comprehensive suite of technology and expert services to establish, monitor, and maintain a defensible privacy program and minimize data risk.



Exterro's data risk management platform leverages automation, workflow optimization, and responsible AI to give in-house teams granular control over privacy compliance, legal operations, digital investigations, cybersecurity response, and information governance. Powered by deep insight into data derived from its intelligent Data Discovery software, Exterro's comprehensive Privacy and Data Governance Suite helps organizations streamline, optimize, and automate privacy and data governance processes to meet global regulatory requirements and minimize data risk.

Privacy Ref is the leading provider of privacy consulting services and the top attended Official Training Partner of the International Association of Privacy Professionals in North America. The company focuses on aligning privacy practices with clients' organizational and operational goals. Their core services include the design, implementation, assessment and review of data privacy programs, privacy training and awareness, and consulting services.

"Exterro is thrilled to partner with Privacy Ref, a widely recognized leader in the privacy consulting space providing the research, planning and strategic insight organizations need to maintain a privacy policy that can evolve in a rapidly changing business environment," said Bobby Balachandran, Founder and CEO of Exterro. "The combination of Privacy Ref's consulting expertise with Exterro's powerful technology suite offers clients a comprehensive, customized solution to their privacy compliance challenges and reduces the risks associated with the valuable customer and employee data they hold."

Privacy Ref's team of seasoned experts brings a wealth of knowledge and practical experience to help companies of all sizes safeguard their data and ensure compliance with privacy laws. The leadership team is comprised of recognized Fellows of Information Privacy by the International Association of Privacy Professionals and Certified Information Privacy Professionals with endorsements for US Privacy and Public Law (CIPP/US), European Law (CIPP/E), Canadian Law (CIPP/C), IT Practices (CIPT) and Privacy Program Management (CIPM).

Privacy Ref President Bob Siegel said, "Companies must understand what personal information they have, where it lives, how it's being processed, and how long it's retained. For any organization, keeping this information current is a difficult task. Without an intelligent and automated approach to privacy and data governance like the one offered by Exterro, it's impossible to meet their obligations- whether they're to the emerging US State Laws, GDPR, LGPD, PIPL, or any other privacy regulation."

About Exterro

Exterro empowers organizations and law enforcement agencies to achieve better legal, regulatory and investigation outcomes, save money, and minimize the impact of threats by addressing data risk. Its data risk management software is the only comprehensive platform that combines data discovery, automation, workflow optimization, and responsible AI to provide insight into and control over the complex interconnections of privacy and data governance, legal operations, digital investigations, cybersecurity response, and compliance. Thousands of teams around the world in corporations, law firms, managed services providers, and government and law enforcement agencies trust Exterro to manage their risks and drive successful outcomes at a lower cost. For more information, visit www.exterro.com

About Privacy Ref

Privacy Ref helps organizations achieve operational alignment between their data privacy practices and business goals. The company develops and implements custom data privacy programs, leveraging its experience and industry best practices to create effective processes and policies. Their highly-regarded subject matter experts ensure minimal disruption to day-to-day operations, resulting in operational privacy programs that are unique to your business needs. For more information visit www.privacyref.com

Press Contact:

Hazel Ramirez

Plat4orm PR

Hazel@plat4orm.com
Searchlight Cyber, the dark web intelligence company, has appointed Caleb Barlow from Cyberbit and Charlesbank Capital Partners to its board of directors. Searchlight will leverage Caleb's expertise in pioneering new approaches in threat intelligence and cybersecurity as it expands its market share and aggressively adds to the capabilities of its dark web intelligence platform.

Caleb Barlow is currently CEO of Cyberbit, a leading cybersecurity skills development platform, and is also an advisory director with Charlesbank Capital Partners, where he has supported the firm's investments in cybersecurity and threat intelligence. He was previously CEO of Cynergistek/Redspin, a publicly traded cyber security services firm operating in regulated industries including healthcare and the defense industrial base. Prior to that, he spent 16 years at IBM where he led the IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence team. In 2016, he built X-Force Command part of a $200M IBM investment in global incident response services.

His appointment follows Searchlight's recent investment from Charlesbank Capital Partners, a U.S. private investment firm based in Boston and New York. The investment will help the company accelerate product development as it focuses on delivering market-first innovation, in particular, through the use of AI on features that enable organizations to action dark web intelligence faster and more accurately.

Caleb Barlow commented: "I am delighted to have been appointed to the board of Searchlight, a company that we chose to invest in based on its highly innovative approach to dark web threat intelligence. Searchlight has built a platform that gathers intelligence in an automated, comprehensive, and methodical way that no human can match. The focus on technology and the breadth and depth of Searchlight's dataset give it huge potential to scale, putting it in the strongest position to meet the intelligence requirements of organizations as new threats emerge."

Since its launch in 2017, Searchlight has worked in close collaboration with the law enforcement and cybersecurity community to develop the technical capabilities they need to tackle threats on the dark web. It has focused on building tools that use automation and AI to gather intelligence from the vast amount of data on the dark web in a format that is simple for security professionals to action. This includes features like dark web traffic monitoring that are unique in the threat intelligence industry.

Ben Jones, CEO and Co-Founder of Searchlight Cyber commented: "We are pleased to have an expert of Caleb Barlow's caliber joining our board. A cybersecurity stalwart with a proven track record of pioneering new approaches and rapidly scaling cybersecurity platforms, Caleb brings incredibly valuable expertise to our business as we look to double down on our progress and grow Searchlight both organically and through acquisition. Moreover, he brings deep knowledge of the challenges facing the cybersecurity industry, including the intelligence requirements of SOC teams and the solutions they need to fulfill their role in protecting an organization."

Darren Battistoni, Managing Director of Charlesbank commented: "Caleb's threat intelligence expertise has proved invaluable in informing Charlesbank's investments in this fast-growth area of cybersecurity. We're excited for him to join Searchlight's board, where his wealth of knowledge and experience will help guide the company in its next phase of growth."

About Searchlight Cyber

Searchlight Cyber provides organizations with relevant and actionable dark web intelligence, to help them identify and prevent criminal activity. Founded in 2017 with a mission to stop criminals acting with impunity on the dark web, we have been involved in some of the world's largest dark web investigations and have the most comprehensive dataset based on proprietary techniques and ground-breaking academic research. Today we help government and law enforcement, enterprises, and managed security services providers around the world to illuminate deep and dark web threats and prevent attacks. To find out more visit slcyber.io or follow Searchlight Cyber on LinkedIn and Twitter.

About Charlesbank Capital Partners

Based in Boston and New York, Charlesbank Capital Partners is a middle-market private investment firm with more than $17 billion of capital raised since inception. Charlesbank focuses on management-led buyouts and growth capital financings, as well as opportunistic credit and technology investments. The firm seeks to build companies with sustainable competitive advantage and excellent prospects for growth. Please visit www.charlesbank.com for more information.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240326371725/en/

Contacts:

Contacts for Searchlight Cyber:

Tom Duncan

Brands 2 Life

searchlightcyber@brands2life.com



Contacts for Charlesbank Capital Partners:

Ryan FitzGibbon Dan Ivers Peter Gavaris

Prosek Partners

pro-charlesbank@prosek.com
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 26, 2024) - Dolly Varden Silver Corporation (TSXV: DV) (OTCQX: DOLLF) (the "Company" or "Dolly Varden") is pleased to announce the closing of its previously announced bought deal public offering for gross proceeds to the Company of $14,999,985 (the "Offering"). Pursuant to the Offering, Dolly Varden sold 14,285,700 shares of the Company on a charitable basis (each, a "Charity FT Share") that will qualify as "flow-through shares" within the meaning of subsection 66(15) of the Income Tax Act (Canada) at a price of $1.05 per Charity FT Share.

The Offering was completed by a syndicate of underwriters co-led by Research Capital Corporation, as co-lead underwriter and sole bookrunner, and Haywood Securities Inc., as co-lead underwriter, and including Raymond James Ltd. (collectively, the "Underwriters"). Mr. Eric Sprott, through 2176423 Ontario Ltd., participated in the Offering.

"We are grateful for the continued support from key shareholders including Eric Sprott. Having already established one of the richest undeveloped high-grade silver and gold projects in Western Canada, these funds will enable the Company to continue to follow up on the newly discovered high-grade gold at Homestake and the wide and high-grade silver deposits at Wolf and the past producing Torbrit mine," commented Shawn Khunkhun, CEO.

The gross proceeds from the sale of Charity FT Shares will be used for further exploration, mineral resource expansion and drilling in the combined Kitsault Valley project, located in northwestern British Columbia, Canada, as well as for working capital as permitted, as Canadian Exploration Expenses as defined in paragraph (f) of the definition of "Canadian exploration expense" in subsection 66.1(6) of the Income Tax Act (Canada) and "flow through mining expenditures" as defined in subsection 127(9) of the Income Tax Act (Canada) that will qualify as "flow-through mining expenditures" and "BC flow-through mining expenditures" as defined in subsection 4.721(1) of the Income Tax Act (British Columbia), which will be incurred on or before December 31, 2025 and renounced with an effective date no later than December 31, 2024 to the initial purchasers of Charity FT Shares.

The Charity FT Shares were issued by way of a prospectus supplement dated March 6, 2024 (the "Supplement") to the Company's short form base shelf prospectus dated April 25, 2023 (the "Shelf Prospectus"), filed with the securities regulatory authorities in all provinces of Canada, except Quebec. Copies of the Supplement and Shelf Prospectus are available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.

Eventus Capital Corp. is a special advisor to the Company.

This press release is not an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the securities in the United States or in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to qualification or registration under the securities laws of such jurisdiction. The securities being offered have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and such securities may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons absent registration or an applicable exemption from U.S. registration requirements and applicable U.S. state securities laws.

About Dolly Varden Silver Corporation

Dolly Varden Silver Corporation is a mineral exploration company focused on advancing its 100% held Kitsault Valley Project (which combines the Dolly Varden Project and the Homestake Ridge Project) located in the Golden Triangle of British Columbia, Canada, 25kms by road to tide water. The 163 sq. km. project hosts the high-grade silver and gold resources of Dolly Varden and Homestake Ridge along with the past producing Dolly Varden and Torbrit silver mines. It is considered to be prospective for hosting further precious metal deposits, being on the same structural and stratigraphic belts that host numerous other, high-grade deposits, such as Eskay Creek and Brucejack. The Kitsault Valley Project also contains the Big Bulk property which is prospective for porphyry and skarn style copper and gold mineralization, similar to other such deposits in the region (Red Mountain, KSM, Red Chris).

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking statements." Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company's 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. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "projects," "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "could" or "should" occur. These forward-looking statements or information relate to, among other things the expected use of proceeds from the Offering.

Forward-looking statements in this news release include, among others, statements relating to the use of proceeds of the Offering, and other statements that are not historical facts. 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. Such factors and risks include, among others: the Company may require additional financing from time to time in order to continue its operations which may not be available when needed or on acceptable terms and conditions acceptable; compliance with extensive government regulation; domestic and foreign laws and regulations could adversely affect the Company's business and results of operations; and the stock markets have experienced volatility that often has been unrelated to the performance of companies and these fluctuations may adversely affect the price of the Company's securities, regardless of its operating performance.

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 management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

For further information: Shawn Khunkhun, CEO & Director, 1-604-609-5137, www.dollyvardensilver.com.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/203118

SOURCE: Dolly Varden Silver Corporation
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / Dr. Thomas Odeny grew up in rural Kenya during the height of the HIV epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa. After graduating from medical school at the University of Nairobi, he decided to begin his career in HIV care as a way to give back to his community.

"My home district had the highest prevalence of HIV in Kenya at the time," says Thomas. "I had one brother living with HIV and one who died from it, so I felt this is where I was needed."

Thomas initially saw a lot of late-stage HIV and witnessed the cancers that were prevalent in the early stages of the HIV epidemic, such as Kaposi sarcoma. He ultimately decided to pursue a career in internal medicine and medical oncology, and he notes that while rates of HIV-related cancers have declined in many patient populations over the years, Black communities worldwide have seen unchanged or increased incidence. In fact, Black people with cancers such as Kaposi sarcoma have significantly higher mortality than other groups.

"In addition, people living with HIV and cancer are excluded from clinical trials for reasons not clinically sound," he says. "Thus, I am working to reverse this trend, and my research is helping address other barriers to care."

Today, Thomas treats patients at the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis. He is one of ten Gilead-sponsored scholars who received the Winn Career Development Award (CDA) last fall through the Robert A. Winn Diversity in Clinical Trials Award Program (known as the Winn Awards). His clinical research grant focuses on expanding clinical trials and treatment options for cancer in underrepresented people living with HIV in underserved regions.

Dr. Joannie Ivory, Assistant Professor of Medicine at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (UNC) and UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, is part of the same Winn CDA cohort as Thomas. Her grandmother's personal battle with colon cancer helped shaped her medical career path.

"What better way for me to show up for my grandmother and support her in her journey with colon cancer than to become an oncologist," says Joannie.

As a Black physician, Joannie is all too familiar with the health inequities Black women with breast cancer face, such as having twice the incidence rate of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and a 40% greater risk of mortality than white women.

"Black women are not asked to join research studies to the degree they should be," she says. Joannie believes there are unconscious biases where providers assume certain people don't want to participate in trials or target patient populations that are easiest to enroll.

Her research team recently closed their trial to non-Black participants when the preset target accrual was reached, leaving the trial open to only Black participants. When given the opportunity, enrollment among her target demographic of Black women increased, supporting her hypothesis that the barrier is not solely a trust issue.

Winn Awards and Gilead's Commitment to Health Equity

The Winn Awards aim to address the longstanding lack of diversity in clinical trials by training, developing and mentoring early-stage investigator physicians from diverse backgrounds, as well as physicians who have a demonstrated commitment to increasing diversity in clinical research. The program was started by the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation in 2020 and gained Gilead's support when Chief Medical Officer Merdad Parsey learned of it.

"The program aligns perfectly to Gilead's deep commitment to health equity, inclusion and representation in clinical trials," Merdad says. "With this third cohort of physicians, we are looking forward to continuing to increase awareness, education and investment in diverse clinical trials."

Winn CDA recipients receive a $120,000 annual grant for two years, in addition to mentorship from a seasoned clinical investigator at the sponsoring institutions. They go through training in trial design and community engagement methods and actively participate in their mentor's clinical trial.

Thomas feels the program paired him with the ideal mentor. "In the 80s, my mentor, Dr. Lee Ratner of Washington University School of Medicine, published the first sequences of the HIV-1 virus before becoming an oncologist," he says. "He also started the only clinic in the Midwest for cancer in people living with HIV, and now I'm helping run the clinic with him."

For Joannie, receiving this award means she can advance one of her goals of bringing resources to underserved areas by achieving not only equality, but equity. "Equality means we're dispersing all of the resources to everyone evenly and equity is shifting resources to areas that need it the most," she says.

Joannie and Thomas both say they're grateful to have the extra support to help improve health equity and benefit more people living with cancer and HIV through their research.

"When we include those who are normally not represented, we help everyone," Thomas says.

Originally published by Gilead Sciences

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Gilead Sciences on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Gilead Sciences

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/gilead-sciences

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: Gilead Sciences

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 26, 2024) - Steppe Gold Ltd. (TSX: STGO) (OTCQX: STPGF) (FSE: 2J9) ("Steppe Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has reached the next financing milestone for the Phase 2 Expansion at the 100% owned ATO Gold Mine (the "ATO Phase 2 Expansion"). This coincides with further progress on the turnkey engineering, procurement, and construction contract (the "EPC Contract"), and the second project finance draw down of US$40.4m.

Highlights

Second draw down of US$40.4m from the project finance package, was funded on March 20, 2024, with a total of $50m has been drawn from the first tranche of the US$150m project finance package since October 2023.

Steppe Gold has now made its second milestone payment of US$37m towards Phase 2 Expansion for procurement of major long lead items, mobilization costs, early construction works and foundational work.

The major long lead items include the flotations cells, grinding mills, cluster cyclones, thickener units, filters and pumping systems.

The ATO Phase 2 Expansion is proceeding according to projected timelines and budgets, with commissioning planned for Q1 2026.

Further to the announcement on January 9, 2024, the Company confirms that the contract amount payable to Hexagon for the full performance of the work under the EPC Contract is approximately $148.4 million ("Contract Amount").

The Phase 2 Expansion of US$150M is fully funded by the project finance package that has been made available to the Company and its affiliates by TDB Capital and the Trade and Development Bank of Mongolia.

Mr. Bataa Tumur-Ochir, Steppe Gold Chairman and CEO, commented, "We are extremely pleased to report solid progress on our ATO Phase 2 Expansion, and we have now fully drawn down the first $50m of the project financing package. With this major drawdown, together with our EPC partners at Hexagon, we can accelerate the ordering of long lead items, early construction and foundational works and start mobilization. Upon completion of the ATO Phase 2 Expansion and Boroo Gold acquisition, Steppe Gold is estimated to produce over 160,000 ounces by 2026."

Project Financing

On July 11, 2023, the Company signed a binding term sheet with the TDB Group for US$150m in financing to fund the construction and completion of the ATO Phase 2 Expansion at the ATO Gold Mine. The financing consisted of three tranches of US$50m each, for a total of US$150m.

On August 30, 2023, the Company signed a loan agreement with Trade and Development Bank of Mongolia for the first tranche of US$50m with the term of 48 months and interest of 13.4% per annum.

The initial draw down of US$9.6m was funded on October 9, 2023, and the second draw down of US$40.4m was funded on March 20, 2024.

EPC Contract

With the agreement on the EPC Contract schedule and milestone payments, the Company is pleased to report that performance of the work under the EPC Contract is now well underway, and Hexagon is preparing to mobilize to the ATO site in the coming months.



Per the EPC Contract and Purchase Plan for long lead items and Milestone Schedule, the Contractor is delivering:

1) Flotation cells;

2) Grinding mills;

3) Cluster cyclones;

4) Thickener units;

5) Filters; and,

6) Pumping systems;

Hexagon is working with the Company to undertake early construction work as spring weather starts to arrive at the ATO site. In addition, Hexagon is expected to appoint an internationally recognized engineering firm to update recent feasibility studies and prepare front-end engineering work.

About Steppe Gold Ltd.

Steppe Gold is Mongolia's premier precious metals company. It is 100% owner of the ATO Gold Mine and 80% of the Uudam Khundii project in Mongolia. Steppe Gold is now acquiring Boroo Gold LLC to create the leading and largest gold producer in Mongolia. Upon completion of this merger, the Company will increase its production to 160Koz of AuEq per annum by 2026.

About Hexagon

Established in 2014, Hexagon Build Engineering has been actively engaged in engineering, construction, and infrastructure projects both in Mongolia and internationally. Hexagon is devoted to sustainable growth in construction and engineering solutions while aiming to provide the best services that meet customers' expectations with international standards regardless of scale.

For Further information, please contact:

Bataa Tumur-Ochir, Chairman and CEO

Jeremy South, Senior Vice President and CFO

Shangri-La office, Suite 1201, Olympic Street

19A, Sukhbaatar District 1,

Ulaanbaatar 14241, Mongolia

Tel: +976 7732 1914

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:

This news release contains certain statements or disclosures relating to the Company that are based on the expectations of its management as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company which may constitute forward-looking statements or information ("forward-looking statements") under applicable securities laws. All such statements and disclosures, other than those of historical fact, which address activities, events, outcomes, results or developments that the Company anticipates or expects may, or will, occur in the future (in whole or in part) should be considered forward-looking statements. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of the words "allow", "anticipated", "can", "continue", "expected", "plans", "planned', "projected", "undertake", "will" and similar expressions. In particular, but without limiting the foregoing, this news release contains forward-looking statements pertaining to the following: the mobilization of the Hexagon team to the ATO site; the key milestone target dates and related payments in respect of the EPC Contract; the appointment by Hexagon with respect to an internationally recognized engineering firm; the timing related to the draw downs under the EPC Contract; the Company's operational position, potential, growth, success, commitments and strategy; the timing, goals, targets, benefits, production and revenue related to the ATO Gold Mine; and the use of proceeds in respect of the TDB Project Finance package.

The forward-looking statements contained in this news release reflect several material factors and expectations and assumptions of the Company including, without limitation: that the Company will continue to conduct its operations in a manner consistent with past operations; the general continuance of current or, where applicable, assumed industry conditions; and estimates related to the commencement and production of gold.

The Company believes the material factors, expectations and assumptions reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable at this time but no assurance can be given that these factors, expectations and assumptions will prove to be correct. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are not guarantees of future performance and should not be unduly relied upon. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements including, without limitation: changes in business plans and strategies, market and capital finance conditions, general economic, market and business conditions; reliance on industry partners; and certain other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's public disclosure documents including, without limitation, those risks identified in this news release, and in the Company's annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2022, copies of which are available on the Company's SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.

The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company undertakes no obligations to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws.

The Toronto Stock Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this news release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/203113

SOURCE: Steppe Gold Ltd.
H.I.G. WhiteHorse Europe, a credit affiliate of global investment firm H.I.G. Capital ("H.I.G.") is pleased to announce that it has arranged a financing package for Stordata (the "Company").

Founded in 1988, and headquartered in Versailles, France, Stordata has established itself as a reference partner for the digital transformation of mid-size and large companies, with around 500 clients. An expert in architecture, administration, and maintenance of security and data management systems, particularly in the cloud, the Company provides critical continuous access services to its clients. The services allow clients to leverage their data in a complex and constantly evolving IT environment. The Company has experienced sustained growth in recent years and is developing additional service offerings around cybersecurity and cloud services.

Stordata is embarking on a new chapter in its development through the acquisition of a majority stake by funds advised by Elyan Partners ("Elyan"), a member of the Edmond de Rothschild Private Equity partnership from the founders and executives of the Company, who are reinvesting in the Company.

H.I.G. WhiteHorse Europe has arranged a bespoke financing package, which will be used to finance the acquisition and provide additional capital to support the Company's expansion, especially through an active buy-and-build strategy.

H.I.G. WhiteHorse Europe, through some of its affiliates, acted as the sole arranger, while Caisse d'Epargne et de Prevoyance Hauts de France participated in the financing alongside H.I.G. WhiteHorse.

Marc Michel, Co-Founder, and Olivier Teichman, CEO of Stordata, said:"Stordata's success is built on the technical expertise of our employees, the quality of service delivered to our clients, and the trust placed in us by our technology partners. We are so grateful for their continued support. We are also excited by our new partnership with Elyan and appreciative of the confidence we received from H.I.G. WhiteHorse and Caisse d'Epargne et de Prevoyance Hauts de France. We believe Stordata is poised for a robust growth phase."

Jeremie Melin and Vincent Manes, Partners at Elyan said:"We have been impressed by what Stordata has built over the past years. We are convinced that it can be the foundation of an ambitious growth in France and in Europe, to offer even more value and expertise to Stordata's clients, particularly in cybersecurity and in the cloud. With H.I.G. WhiteHorse and Caisse d'Epargne et de Prevoyance Hauts de France, we believe we have the right like-minded partners who understand the business and share common values and vision."

Pascal Meysson, Head of H.I.G. WhiteHorse Europe, said:"Stordata has embarked on a remarkable growth journey in recent years, leveraging its expertise in security and data management, further reinforcing its position in the French digital transformation sector. We are excited to partner with a very experienced investor in Elyan and to contribute to the future success of the Company via a tailor-made financing."

Charles Bourgeois, Managing Director at H.I.G. WhiteHorse Europe, said: "We are delighted to support Stordata and Elyan. We have been impressed by Stordata's very high level of expertise and by the quality of its management team. Stordata's strong market reputation and significant market share have firmly established the company as the market leader among mid- and large-size clients."

About Stordata

Stordata is an independent expert in data and virtualization, combining consulting, transformation management, administration, and maintenance of data security and management systems. Its cloud offering (StorCloud) is ISO27001 and HDS (Hebergeurs de Donnees de Sante Health Data Hosts) certified.

About H.I.G. Capital

H.I.G. Capital is a leading global alternative investment firm with $60 billion of capital under management.* Based in Miami, and with offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco in the United States, as well as international affiliate offices in Hamburg, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Bogota, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and Dubai, H.I.G. specializes in providing both debt and equity capital to middle market companies, utilizing a flexible and operationally focused/ value-added approach:

H.I.G.'s equity funds invest in management buyouts, recapitalizations, and corporate carve-outs of both profitable as well as underperforming manufacturing and service businesses.

H.I.G.'s debt funds invest in senior, unitranche, and junior debt financing to companies across the size spectrum, both on a primary (direct origination) basis, as well as in the secondary markets. H.I.G. also manages a publicly traded BDC, WhiteHorse Finance.

H.I.G.'s real estate funds invest in value-added properties, which can benefit from improved asset management practices.

H.I.G. Infrastructure focuses on making value-add and core plus investments in the infrastructure sector.

Since its founding in 1993, H.I.G. has invested in and managed more than 400 companies worldwide. The Firm's current portfolio includes more than 100 companies with combined sales in excess of $53 billion. For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at hig.com.

About Elyan Partners ERES IV

Elyan Partners SAS is a financial investment advisor and partner of Edmond de Rothschild Private Equity. Elyan is the exclusive advisor to the ERES funds and an advisor to the Privilege funds of the Edmond de Rothschild Group. Edmond de Rothschild Equity Strategies IV SLP ("ERES IV") invests in medium-sized companies in Europe and North America.

Edmond de Rothschild Private Equity is the trade name of the Edmond de Rothschild Group's private equity entities and has over CHF 3.6 billion of assets under management. Founded in 1953, the Group had nearly CHF 158 billion in assets under management as of 31 December 2022, 2,500 employees, and 30 offices worldwide.

*Based on total capital raised by H.I.G. Capital and affiliates.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240326501486/en/

Contacts:

Pascal Meysson

Head of H.I.G. WhiteHorse Europe

pmeysson@hig.com

Charles Bourgeois

Managing Director

cbourgeois@hig.com

H.I.G. WhiteHorse Europe

P +44 (0) 207 318 5700

hig.com
RAHWAY, NJ / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / The Merck Foundation, a private charitable organization funded by Merck (NYSE:MRK), known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, has made an $11 million, six-year (2023 - 2028) commitment to University of New Mexico Health (UNM Health) in support of its new initiative to bring high-quality care to an estimated 11 million people living with cancer in underserved communities throughout India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam. The new initiative aims to train and mentor more than 33,000 local health workers and is being led by Project ECHO at UNM Health, a global movement to democratize knowledge and expand access to best-practice care.

This support builds on a $7 million, five-year commitment the Merck Foundation made to UNM Health in 2017. Project ECHO used that funding to help improve access to high-quality specialty care for complex chronic conditions, such as hepatitis C, HIV and tuberculosis, and non-communicable diseases, like diabetes, in underserved areas across India and Vietnam.

The Merck Foundation is committed to advancing global health equity and will continue to support innovative initiatives that aim to improve the health and well-being of people around the world.

About the Merck Foundation

The Merck Foundation (Foundation) is a U.S.-based, private charitable organization. Established in 1957 by Merck, a leading global biopharmaceutical company, the Foundation is funded entirely by the company and is Merck's chief source of funding support to qualified non-profit charitable organizations. Since its inception, the Foundation has contributed more than $1 billion to support important initiatives that address critical global health and societal needs that are consistent with Merck's purpose: to save and improve lives around the world. For more information, visit www.merck.com/company-overview/sustainability/philanthropy/.

Media Contact:

Robert Josephson

(203) 914-2372

View original content here.

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Merck & Co., Inc. on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Merck & Co., Inc.

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/merck-co-inc

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: Merck & Co., Inc.

View the original press release on accesswire.com
All calls may not be reported. This is part of a lengthy report and is compiled by assistant editor Arielle Breen .

MANISTEE COUNTY  The following includes reports made to the Manistee County Sheriffs Office from March 9-12.

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 A noise disturbance was reported at 11:34 p.m. in the village of Onekama.

 Deputies helped a person at 8:45 a.m. in Manistee Township.

 Solicitation was reported at 8:22 p.m. in Springdale Township.

 Deputies assisted Michigan State Police at 1:09 p.m. in Bear Lake Township.

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 Deputies helped a person at 8:30 a.m. in Maple Grove Township.

 Deputies helped a person at 7:11 a.m. in Manistee Township.

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 A property damage crash was reported at 1:22 p.m. in Manistee Township.

 Deputies responded to a civil incident at 12:07 p.m. in Eastlake.

 A property damage crash was reported at 11:52 a.m. in Stronach Township.

The latest police blotter shows reports of a breaking and entering, harassment, criminal...

We continue to see an elevated demand from the sheriffs office over the last three...

March 11

 Deputies helped a person and responded to a domestic incident at 4:45 a.m. in Manistee Township.

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 A person was reported to have driven away without paying for gasoline at 9:01 a.m. in Dickson Township.

 A suspicious situation was reported at 10:30 a.m. in Bear Lake Township.

 A suspicious situation was reported at 11:21 a.m. in Norman Township.

 Deputies responded to a truancy referral at 1:54 p.m. in the city of Manistee.

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 Deputies responded to a truancy referral at 2:02 p.m. in the city of Manistee.

 Deputies conducted a kennel inspection at 3 p.m. in Marilla Township.

 Deputies responded to an alarm at 5:04 p.m. in Bear Lake Township.

 Deputies responded to a traffic hazard at 3:25 p.m. in Onekama Township.

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 A suspicious situation was reported at 5:30 p.m. in Dickson Township.

 Deputies helped a person at 8:44 p.m. in Manistee Township.
Press Release

Paris and Madrid, 26 March 2024

Orange and MASMOVIL complete transaction to form the leading operator in Spain in terms of customers

The 50:50 Joint Venture between Orange Spain and MASMOVIL starts operations from today and will bring substantial benefits to Spanish consumers and enterprises.

The Joint Venture is expected to generate synergies of more than 490m euros / year from four years after closing onwards.

Jean Francois Fallacher has been appointed non-executive Chairman of the JV and Meinrad Spenger as its CEO.

Orange and MASMOVIL announce today the creation of a new Joint Venture, completing the agreement to combine their operations in Spain1. Orange and MASMOVIL's shareholders each own a 50% stake of the JV, with equal governance rights in the combined entity.

With over 37 million broadband and mobile lines, the new entity becomes the leading player on the Spanish telecoms market in terms of customers, with the ambition to lead the market in talent, user experience, innovation, environmental and social impact, and fiber and mobile coverage. Its formation creates a sustainable player with the financial capacity to continue investing in next-generation networks for the benefit of the market, consumers and enterprises in Spain.



According to revised estimates, the new company is expected to generate synergies of more than 490m euros per year by the fourth year after closing. Based on preliminary closing accounts, the respective proceeds at closing will be approximately 4.4bn for Orange and approximately 1.65bn for MASMOVIL shareholders.

The companies (Orange Spain and MASMOVIL) will operate as a single entity: the accounts of both companies will be consolidated at the level of a newly registered legal entity (the JV). As planned, the new company will be operational from today.

Jean Francois Fallacher, CEO of Orange France, has been appointed non-executive Chairman of the new company. Jean Francois, who was previously CEO of Orange Spain between September 2020 and April 2023, has extensive experience of the Spanish market.

The Board of Directors of the Joint Venture has also confirmed the appointment of Meinrad Spenger, CEO of MASMOVIL since 2006, as CEO, and Alberto Castaneda as Secretary of the Board of Directors. Ludovic Pech and German Lopez have also been confirmed as CFO and COO, respectively.

"It is a huge honour and an enormous responsibility to serve our more than 30 million customers in Spain. We are going to try hard to ensure that they continue to be the most satisfied clients in our country. With our JV, the Spanish telecom market has now a stronger company with the capacity to innovate and invest and to serve our clients in the residential and business segment as their trustful partner," said Meinrad Spenger, CEO of the JV.

Christel Heydemann, CEO of Orange, said "Today's announcement is an important stepping-stone in the deployment of Orange's long-term strategic plan in Europe. By creating a stronger

and more sustainable player, the joint venture launched today will help drive innovation and investment in high-speed broadband and digital services in Spain. This is clearly a positive step forward in our overall vision for a strong and thriving telecoms industry in Europe."

The advisory teams for the parties include:

Lead financial advisors: Goldman Sachs Bank Europe SE to MASMOVIL and Lazard Freres to Orange.

Lead debt advisor: BNP Paribas.

Joint rating advisors: BNP Paribas and Societe Generale.

Freshfields to MASMOVIL and Jones Day to Orange, as legal M&A advisors.

Freshfields, Latham and Watkins, Perez Llorca and Gide, as competition law advisors.

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, together with Evergreen Legal, as legal counsel to the Borrowers, for all financing matters related to the transaction, and Linklaters as legal counsel to the Lenders.

PWC to MASMOVIL and EY to Orange, as Due Diligence partners.

Also acted as financial advisors to MASMOVIL: BNP Paribas, Evercore, JP Morgan and Santander.

Also acted as joint debt advisor: Rothschild & Co.

For more information: see previous press release .

About MASMOVIL Group

MASMOVIL Group is one of the most outstanding operators in Spain in terms of growth over the last few years and offers fiber, mobile, TV, and other new services such as energy, health, alarms, or financial services, for residential customers, businesses, and operators.

The Group offers its customers access to the largest FTTH coverage in Spain with more than 29 million marketable households and 3G, 4G and 5G mobile networks to 98.5% of the Spanish population thanks to its hybrid strategy combining its own and third parties infrastructures. MASMOVIL has also launched its 5G services, which are already available in 2,400 cities in Spain. The Group has

more than 16M customers. MASMOVIL has been awarded on several occasions as the best broadband and fibre optic operator.

The Group has achieved net zero carbon emissions for scopes 1 and 2 since 2020 -including the Euskaltel Group in the calculation-, positioning it as the first telecommunications operator in Europe to achieve such an achievement and the one with the lowest absolute residual level of emissions. It is the first telecommunications operator in Europe to become a B Corp company and has a strong commitment to creating a positive environmental and social impact.

MASMOVIL Group is also leading sustainability and ESG in Spain achieving 5 ESG ratings in a short period of time with very high standings from prestigious organizations as S&P, Morning Star Sustainalytics, Sustainable Fitch, CDP and Clarity.

MASMOVIL is participated by Cinven, KKR and Providence Equity Partners since November 2020.

Follow us:

MASMOVIL Group website: https://www.grupomasmovil.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/grupomasmovil

MASMOVIL press contact:

Fernando Castro; fernando.castro@masmovil.com

Mobile: +34 656.160.378

About Orange

Orange is one of the world's leading telecommunications operators with revenues of 44.1 billion euros in 2023 and 137,000 employees worldwide at 31 December 2023, including 73,000 employees in France. The Group has a total customer base of 298 million customers worldwide at 31 December 2023, including 254 million mobile customers and 25 million fixed broadband customers. The Group is present in 26 countries. Orange is also a leading provider of global IT and telecommunication services to multinational companies under the brand Orange Business. In February 2023, the Group presented its strategic plan "Lead the Future", built on a new business model and guided by responsibility and efficiency. "Lead the Future" capitalizes on network excellence to reinforce Orange's leadership in service quality.

Orange is listed on Euronext Paris (symbol ORA) and on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol ORAN).

For more information on the internet and on your mobile: www.orange.com , www.orange-business.com and the Orange News app or to follow us on Twitter: @orangegrouppr.

Orange and any other Orange product or service names included in this material are trademarks of Orange or Orange Brand Services Limited.

Orange press contacts:

Tom Wright; tom.wright@orange.com

Vanessa Clarke; vanessa.clarke@orange.com







1 The contemplated transaction does not include notably TOTEM Spain or MASMOVIL Portugal




VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ascot Resources Ltd. (TSX: AOT; OTCQX: AOTVF) ("Ascot" or the "Company") announces the Company's audited consolidated financial results for the year ended December 31, 2023. For details of the audited consolidated financial statements, Management's Discussion and Analysis, and Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2023, please see the Company's filings on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.



All amounts herein are reported in $000s of Canadian dollars ("C$") unless otherwise specified.

2023 AND RECENT HIGHLIGHTS

On February 20, 2024, the Company closed its previously announced financing package for a total of US$50 million from Sprott Resource Streaming and Royalty Corp. and its affiliates ("Sprott Streaming") and Nebari Credit Fund II, LP ("Nebari Credit Fund II"), as described in the Company's news release dated January 22, 2024. $13,700 of the above proceeds was used to buy back two existing 5% NSR royalties on various Premier Gold Project ("PGP") property claims, which was completed on March 15, 2024.

On February 20, 2024, concurrently with the above-noted financing package, the Company closed its previously announced bought deal private placement financing, under which the Company issued a total of 65,343,000 common shares of the Company (the "Common Shares") at a price of C$0.44 per Common Share, for gross proceeds of $28,751.

At the end of Q4 2023, overall construction excluding mine development was 86% complete (approximately 94% as of February 29, 2024), compared with 66% complete at the end of Q3 2023. Numerous pre-commissioning activities in the mill have commenced. The Company anticipates introducing first ore into the mill by the end of March 2024, and pouring first gold in April.

PGP reached an important safety milestone in Q4 of 2023: one million hours without lost time incidents ("LTI"). By the end of Q4 2023, this figure reached 1,143,029 hours LTI free. The total recordable incident frequency has been reduced yet again from 0.69 at the end of Q3 2023 to 0.52 by the end of Q4 2023.

At the tailings storage facility ("TSF"), the south dam, north dam, and southeast dam have been completed. The minor remaining work is focused on the smaller east dam and spillway which is expected to be completed by the end of March. The new electrical substation was completed and all 138kV power lines were pulled and linked up with the BC Hydro grid. Site powerup on the 138 kV line was completed in January 2024.

The new water treatment plant was fully commissioned and began operations in February 2024. The high-density sludge plant has been successfully commissioned and water is being treated and discharged into the environment. The moving bed bio-reactor is mechanically and electrically complete and media is being loaded into the tanks. The plant is anticipated to be brought into service by the end of March 2024.

In October 2023, the Company obtained a temporary use permit to install a camp facility in the town of Stewart to provide additional accommodations for workers at the Project. The Company mobilized and installed living quarters with an initial capacity of 76 beds in early December 2023. This has alleviated some of the pressure caused by the extended earthworks schedule.

On September 19, 2023, the Company acquired a full-service laboratory facility ("Assay Lab") in Stewart, BC from Seacan Labs Corp. The Assay Lab will be used to perform the testing required by Ascot for mineral exploration, mining operation, and environmental monitoring. During Q4 2023, the Assay Lab was re-commissioned for use and is currently ramping up toward full capacity of 250-300 samples per day with a 24-hour turnaround.

In Q3 2023, the Company's underground mining contractor Procon Mining & Tunnelling mobilized to site. In Q4 2023, underground development at Big Missouri was re-commenced and is ongoing. As of March 21, 2024, underground development at Big Missouri totaled approximately 2,091 metres. In late 2023, underground decline development commenced on the new Premier Portal close to the mill. Mining development is being advanced down into the Premier deposit for initial mining in the Prew Zone, with ore development anticipated to begin in Q2 2024, and stope production following in Q3 2024. As of March 15, 2024, underground development at Premier totaled approximately 32 metres.

On June 27, 2023, the Company closed a previously announced US$14 million subordinated convertible credit facility (the "Convertible Facility") with Nebari Gold Fund 1, LP ("Nebari"). The full proceeds from the Convertible Facility were used to repay principal, accrued interest and fees of Ascot's existing subordinated convertible credit facility with Beedie Investments Ltd. ("Beedie").

On April 20, 2023, the Company closed a previously announced non-brokered private placement for total gross proceeds of $4,050 and consisted of 5,000,000 common shares of the Company, which qualify as "flow-through shares" within the meaning of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the "FT Shares"), at a price of C$0.81 per FT Share.

The Company's 2023 exploration program at PGP commenced in May, which consisted of 88 holes totaling 11,886 metres and included exploration drilling for resource expansion as well as in-fill drilling of initial mining areas at the Big Missouri and Premier deposits. Assay results were announced between August 2023 and January 2024. Multiple high-grade intercepts were drilled, including 98.84 g/t Au over 6.48m from a depth of 51.5m in hole P23-2490, including 691.50 g/t Au over 0.90m. This was the all-time second highest-grade drill intercept at Big Missouri and is the Company's highest-grade drill intercept property-wide since 2015.

On January 19, 2023, the Company closed a previously announced financing package. The financing package consisted of US$110 million as a deposit in respect of gold and silver streaming agreements and a strategic equity investment of C$45 million, a portion of which is structured as Canadian Development Expenditures flow through shares, such that the total gross proceeds to the Company was C$50 million.



FINANCIAL RESULTS FOR THE THREE MONTHS AND YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2023

The Company reported a net income of $1,705 for Q4 2023 compared to a net loss of $5,988 for Q4 2022. The net income in Q4 2023 is mainly driven by the accounting gain on increase in fair value of the stream buyback embedded derivatives as a result of increase in gold prices and a decrease in market credit spreads.

The Company reported a net loss of $10,430 for 2023 compared to $10,808 for 2022. The lower net loss is attributable to a combination of key factors including a $2,405 decrease in stock-based compensation, and a $1,539 increase in gain on change in fair value of the Stream buyback embedded derivatives, partially offset by a $1,392 increase in environmental compliance costs, and a $1,202 increase in deferred income tax expense.

LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES

As at December 31, 2023, the Company had cash & cash equivalents of $26,974 and working capital deficiency of $18,337. On February 20, 2024, the Company closed a bought deal private placement for gross proceeds of $28,751 and a US$50 million financing package consisting of a royalty restructuring and a cost overrun facility. Management considered the negative net working capital and the commitments that had existed at December 31, 2023 as well as the funding received subsequent to year end and concluded that the Company now has sufficient funding for the next twelve months of operations, including to progress from construction to first gold pour, ramp-up, commercial production and eventually steady-state operations.

During 2023, the Company issued 120,186,206 common shares, granted 9,789,358 stock options, issued 1,449,973 Deferred Share Units and 2,606,908 Restricted Share Units. Also, 564,152 stock options expired or were forfeited, and 55,530 stock options, 452,006 Deferred Share Units and 721,597 Restricted Share Units were exercised in 2023.

MANAGEMENT'S OUTLOOK FOR 2024

With the financing package closed on February 20, 2024, the Company believes that it has sufficient funding to complete construction and ramp-up of PGP in 2024. The key activities for remainder of 2024 include:

Advancing the mining development at Big Missouri and at Premier, with stoping activity at Premier starting in Q3 2024

Completing recruitment of operating team personnel by the end of March 2024

First ore to the mill by the end of March 2024 and first gold pour in April 2024, and commercial production in Q3 2024



Qualified Person

John Kiernan, P.Eng., Chief Operating Officer of the Company is the Company's Qualified Person (QP) as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this news release.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Ascot Resources Ltd.

"Derek C. White"

President & CEO

For further information contact:

David Stewart, P.Eng.

VP, Corporate Development & Shareholder Communications

dstewart@ascotgold.com

778-725-1060 ext. 1024

About Ascot Resources Ltd.

Ascot is a Canadian junior exploration and development company focused on re-starting the past producing Premier Gold Mine, located on Nis g a'a Nation Treaty Lands, in British Columbia's prolific Golden Triangle. Ascot shares trade on the TSX under the ticker AOT. Concurrent with progressing the development of Premier, the Company continues to explore its properties for additional high-grade underground resources. Ascot is committed to the safe and responsible development of Premier in collaboration with Nisga'a Nation as outlined in the Benefits Agreement.

For more information about the Company, please refer to the Company's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca or visit the Company's web site at www.ascotgold.com, or for a virtual tour visit www.vrify.com under Ascot Resources.

The TSX has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

All statements and other information contained in this press release about anticipated future events may constitute forward-looking information under Canadian securities laws ("forward-looking statements"). Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "targeted", "outlook", "on track" and "intend" and statements that an event or result "may", "will", "should", "could", "would" or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar expressions. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward-looking statements, including statements in respect of advancement and development of the PGP and the timing related thereto, the completion of the PGP mine, the production of gold and management's outlook for the remainder of 2024 and beyond. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements, including risks associated with entering into definitive agreements for the transactions described herein; fulfilling the conditions to closing of the transactions described herein, including the receipt of TSX approvals; the business of Ascot; risks related to exploration and potential development of Ascot's projects; business and economic conditions in the mining industry generally; fluctuations in commodity prices and currency exchange rates; uncertainties relating to interpretation of drill results and the geology, continuity and grade of mineral deposits; the need for cooperation of government agencies and indigenous groups in the exploration and development of Ascot's properties and the issuance of required permits; the need to obtain additional financing to develop properties and uncertainty as to the availability and terms of future financing; the possibility of delay in exploration or development programs and uncertainty of meeting anticipated program milestones; uncertainty as to timely availability of permits and other governmental approvals; and other risk factors as detailed from time to time in Ascot's filings with Canadian securities regulators, available on Ascot's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca including the Annual Information Form of the Company dated March 25, 2024 in the section entitled "Risk Factors". Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions made with regard to: the estimated costs associated with construction of the Project; the timing of the anticipated start of production at the Project; the ability to maintain throughput and production levels at the PGP mill; the tax rate applicable to the Company; future commodity prices; the grade of mineral resources and mineral reserves; the ability of the Company to convert inferred mineral resources to other categories; the ability of the Company to reduce mining dilution; the ability to reduce capital costs; and exploration plans. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and opinions of management at the date the statements are made. Although Ascot believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements and/or information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements since Ascot can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Ascot does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements, other than as required by applicable laws. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.
A Legacy of Growth: Weichai Power Champions Unprecedented Expansion and Returns

Innovation Through Unity: Weichai Leads with a Vision for Shared Value Development

WEIFANG, China, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Weichai Power Co., Ltd. (2338.HK, 000338.SZ), in its latest annual report released on March 26, unveiled significant financial achievements for the year 2023. The company recorded revenue of RMB 213.96 billion, a notable increase of 22.2% compared to the previous year. Net profit attributable to shareholders surged by 83.8% to RMB 9.01 billion, while basic earnings per share jumped 84.5% to RMB 1.04.

In a move reflective of its commitment to shareholder returns, Weichai Power announced an enhancement of its dividend strategy, increasing the cash dividend ratio to 50% for the year. This strategic decision underscores the company's robust financial health and its focus on sustaining high returns for its investors.

Weichai Power Co., Ltd. commemorated the 20th anniversary of its Hong Kong listing with a seminar on March 26 in Weifang, China, attended by a wide range of participants from the global financial community, investors, and media. The event highlighted the company's journey of reform and innovation over the past two decades. Tan Xuguang, chairman of Shandong Heavy Industry Group, Weichai Power, and China National Heavy Duty Truck Group, delivered a keynote speech, "Growth, Value, Future", discussing the company's five strategic models and four development approaches.

In 2004, Weichai Power became the first company from China's internal combustion engine sector to go public in Hong Kong, raising US$170 million and setting a record with its initial offering being oversubscribed by 928 times and international placement oversubscribed by 52 times, the highest since 1998. Following China's market reforms in 2007, Weichai Power completed a merger with Torch Automobile Group, resulting in a Shenzhen Stock Exchange listing. This innovative approach marked Weichai Power as the first company to transition from an H-share to an A-share listing through a merger, a move recognized for its creativity in the global financial market. This strategy has been instrumental in advancing Weichai Power's international presence and has laid the foundation for further domestic and international mergers and acquisitions.

In an aggressive move in 2005, Weichai Power Co., Ltd. laid down RMB 1.02338 billion for Torch Automobile Group, in what was then the largest cash acquisition deal in China's capital markets. This strategic merger not only brought together Weichai's engines, Fast Gear's transmissions, and Hande's axles into a pioneering "golden powertrain integration" model but also reversed integrated giants like Shaanxi Heavy Duty Automobile, Lovol Agricultural Equipment and Lovol Construction Machinery. The ambitious amalgamation has propelled Weichai to the forefront of the heavy machinery sector, claiming top spots in global sales for its heavy-duty engines and transmissions, as well as leading positions in China's agricultural equipment, axle and heavy-duty truck markets.

In 2009, Weichai Power's acquisition of the French company Baudouin marked the company's inaugural venture into the international market, signaling a strategic pivot towards global capital markets. This acquisition spearheaded a series of international acquisitions, including but not limited to, Kion Group (Germany) and Linde Hydraulics (Germany), PSI (US), Ceres (UK), Ballard Power Systems (Canada), Aradex (Germany), VDS (Austria), and Fischer (Switzerland). These acquisitions have enabled Weichai Power to focus on key strategic areas including large bore high power density engines, advanced hydraulics, continuously variable transmission (CVT) powertrains, and fuel cell technology, culminating in the creation of a leading-edge intelligent logistics industrial chain. Weichai Power's international footprint, as measured by its transnational index, has reached 48.57%, underscoring the company's prominence on the global stage.

Over the past two decades, Weichai Power has evolved into a global conglomerate with diversified interests spanning power systems, commercial vehicles, agricultural machinery, and intelligent logistics solutions. Financially, the company has seen a remarkable trajectory of growth. From 2004 to 2023, revenue surged from RMB 6.2 billion to RMB 214 billion, reflecting a thirty-threefold increase. Net profit attributable to the parent company escalated from RMB 540 million in 2004 to RMB 9.01 billion in 2023, marking a sixteen-fold increase. This financial growth underscores Weichai Power's comprehensive capabilities, exceptional investment value, and widespread brand recognition across the capital markets. The company's total market value has exceeded RMB 140 billion, a 30-fold increase since its listing. Weichai Power has witnessed exceptional market value growth, surpassing 40 times its initial listing value. Over the past 20 years, the firm has distributed dividends exceeding RMB 28 billion.

The Weichai chairman, Tan Xuguang, reflected on the company's journey, emphasizing how the two decades of collaborative efforts and mutual success have cemented a formidable partnership network worldwide. At Weichai Power, we envisage "growth, value, and future" as our core guiding principles. "Growth" is interpreted as the ambition to rank among the world's leading enterprises. "Value" signifies our aspiration to be acknowledged as a globally respected powerhouse. Looking ahead, Weichai Power is poised for an even more promising future, characterized by ceaseless energy, boundless potential, and enduring excellence. We remain a beacon of innovation and leadership, continually attracting the attention and support of stakeholders globally.

SOURCE Weichai Power Co.,Ltd
Boldyn Networks, WICOAR Technologies, Oulu University Hospital and the University of Oulu are working together to bring advanced technology for efficient patient care.

A private 5G network will be the foundation for wireless wearable technologies at Oulu University Hospital in Finland.

LONDON, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Boldyn Networks (Boldyn), the University of Oulu, Oulu University Hospital, and WICOAR Technologies, have received the official funding decision by the European Commission in the CEF Digital1 program for their "Hola 5G Oulu" project. Working together as a consortium the four parties will collaborate to bring a private 5G network to Oulu University Hospital and enable wireless wearable solutions for more efficient patient care. The network is considered the first ever private 5G network to be deployed at an operating hospital in Europe.

The "Hola 5G Oulu" project is about creating a robust and secure network for highly demanding healthcare environments and related use cases. Starting with one entire floor of the patient ward and selected operating theatres that serve as a platform for research and development, furthering the role of Oulu as a centre of technological and medical innovation.

The consortium will research and develop advanced data sharing and visualisation techniques aiming to define efficient patient care.

Petri Parviainen, Senior Key Account Manager at Boldyn Networks said: "We're bringing our expertise in large, connected venues as well as bespoke private networks to deliver a solution that will undoubtedly be replicated in other hospitals in Finland and globally. Our consortium partnerships exemplify a concerted effort towards creating a healthcare system that is future-proof to comply with the fast-paced societal changes and technological evolution." He added: "A private 5G network, with its high capacity and high-security nature, will provide the hospital with a reliable network, that can enable innovative healthcare-supporting solutions and solidly maintain its performance, even in the disturbance of a blackout."

As part of the use cases, the private 5G network will be the foundation for WICOAR Technologies to research and develop wireless wearable solutions that can be an integral part of the hospital areas and improve the healthcare experience for both patients and doctors. Wearable solutions retrieve live patient data, including medical imaging and test results, so doctors can make diagnoses easily and quickly during patient visits, reducing the time needed in front of the computer and increasing the time spent with the patient. Wearables also reduce the workload of nurses as they do not need to retrieve data before the patient's appointment. Additionally, wearables can recreate visuals of patients' vital monitoring, past diagnoses, and medical results for surgeons.

The 5G private network will also allow anaesthetists to see and monitor all details of a surgery remotely and guide other doctors in the operating theatre even if not present in the room. This will be more secure for patients who can be at ease during procedures.

Oulu University Hospital is the main hospital of Pohde, the wellbeing services county of North Ostrobothnia in Finland. Kirsti Ylitalo-Katajisto, Pohde's social and healthcare organising director, recognises the transformative potential of new technology in healthcare: "Collaboration between businesses and the public sector is crucial to cultivate an environment conducive to the adoption of innovative technologies in healthcare, ultimately benefiting our patients. Pohde aspires to be a pioneer in this domain, and we are delighted to receive EU support for this groundbreaking technology implementation within our hospital, ensuring it benefits all stakeholders."

Rauno Jokelainen, a member of the WICOAR board said: "WICOAR Technologies is a pioneering Finnish startup driven by the desire to easily integrate patient data into daily patient care safely and quickly. The new technology reduces the time spent on patient work while increasing the face-to-face contact with the patient by reducing the work involving collecting patient data on a terminal in the office."

"The University of Oulu will lead a thorough testing program for "Hola 5G Oulu", prioritising patient safety with rigorous network testing. Additionally, streamlined workflows are achieved through usability testing of wireless wearables, ensuring smooth integration into the hospital environment. This meticulous approach minimises disruption, ultimately paving the way for a transformed approach to patient care", said Mikael von und zu Fraunberg, Professor of Neurosurgery, Chief Physician of Neurosurgery, University of Oulu & Oulu University Hospital.

This initiative, funded by the EU and led by Boldyn Networks, Oulu University Hospital, and WICOAR Technologies, marks a significant leap forward in European healthcare. By establishing the first private 5G network within a functioning hospital, the project lays the groundwork for secure, efficient patient care through innovative wearable technologies. This will ultimately lead to improved patient care and a more efficient workflow for healthcare professionals.

1The Connecting Europe Facility - Digital (CEF Digital) aims to leverage public and private investments in digital connectivity infrastructures of common European interest. Together with other funding instruments, including the Recovery and Resilience Facility and the InvestEU, CEF Digital will help support an unprecedented amount of investments devoted to safe, secure, and sustainable high-performance infrastructure. In particular, Gigabit and 5G networks across the EU.

-END-

About Boldyn NetworksBoldyn Networks is one of the world's largest neutral host providers, delivering the advanced shared network infrastructure needed for a smart, inclusive, and sustainable future. It brings together the combined scale and expertise of seven leading companies with a single purpose: to unlock the power of an interconnected future. From interconnected transit, venues and enterprises to smart cities, next-generation, and bespoke private networks, Boldyn enables new possibilities in the way people live, work and play. Bringing connectivity to the most complex environments. Our portfolio is harnessing fibre, advancing 4G/LTE, accelerating 5G, preparing for 6G-and looking beyond to the next breakthroughs. With headquarters in the UK our global operations span North America, Europe, and Asia. Boldyn Networks. Reimagine tomorrow. Transform today. Learn more at: www.boldyn.com

About Oulu University Hospital

Oulu University Hospital (OYS) is an innovative, research, and development-oriented provider of high-quality healthcare. It is the northernmost of the five university hospitals in Finland and part of the wellbeing services county of North Ostrobothnia.

Our hospital is being renewed and rebuilt by 2030. The objective is to build safe, resilient, sustainable, and functional academic hospital facilities that will serve half of Finland geographically. Alongside the construction of new facilities, we are also renewing our operating models to meet future requirements. Our vision for change is to become the world's smartest hospital, where the newest technologies, modern facilities, and up-to-date expertise will combine to ensure effective specialized medical care.

About University of Oulu

University of Oulu - Working for a more sustainable, more intelligent, and more humane world.

The University of Oulu is an international science university that creates new knowledge, well-being and innovations for the future through research and education. The University of Oulu, founded in 1958, is one of the largest and most multidisciplinary universities in Finland. The university of Oulu has over 3800 employees and over 13,800 students in 8 faculties.

In all its activities, the University of Oulu strives for excellent quality and high efficiency. Our researchers produce nearly 3000 scientific publications each year, and several new research-driven startups arise yearly. The University of Oulu conducts impactful and responsible research. Our aim is to provide an excellent student experience and a healthy university community. Our values are: Creating new, taking responsibility, and succeeding together. Sustainable development is a goal in all of our operations.

Learn more at https://www.oulu.fi/en/university

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

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The French pharmaceutical company, Juvise Pharmaceuticals, announces the acquisition of global commercial rights (excluding the United States and Canada) to Ponvory (ponesimod) from Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd., a Johnson Johnson Company (Johnson Johnson). Ponvory is indicated for the treatment of adults with active forms of relapsing multiple sclerosis (RMS); it is protected by several patents, the latest of which expires in 2035. To fund this acquisition, the French sovereign fund Bpifrance and Pemberton Asset Management ('Pemberton'), a leading European private credit manager, have acquired a minority stake in Juvise Pharmaceuticals. Financial details of these transactions remain undisclosed.

"We are very excited about Ponvory and its potential to have a very positive impact on the lives of patients with multiple sclerosis" announces Frederic Mascha, founder and President of Juvise Pharmaceuticals."This acquisition is a strategic step for Juvise as it expands our portfolio with the first patent protected product with strong development potential over the coming years. It is in line with what we have been doing for the past 16 years, which is providing essential medications to patients and specialist doctors. Following our latest partnerships established with Novartis, AstraZeneca and AbbVie, we are proud to establish a new partnership with a major pharmaceutical company and to have two strong partners such as Bpifrance and Pemberton enter our capital to support our future growth."

The acquisition of Ponvory: a strategic move in Juvise Pharmaceuticals' growth strategy

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune pathology affecting over 2.5 million patients worldwide and enjoys therapeutic innovation.

Ponvory (ponesimod) is a first-line treatment option in active forms of relapsing multiple sclerosis (RMS), which is the most common form of the disease (approximately 80% of patients), affecting particularly women around the age of 30-years-old. Ponvory is the first oral Disease Modifying Treatment (DMT) to demonstrate superior efficacy compared to teriflunomide in a large head-to-head Phase III study (OPTIMUM) in adult patients with active RMS. Ponvory demonstrated a 30.5% reduction in Annualized Relapse Rate (primary endpoint), as well as reduction in MRI activity and fatigue (secondary endpoints). (1)

Juvise Pharmaceuticals will leverage its expertise in medical affairs, marketing, and distribution to commercialize and develop Ponvory outside of the United States and Canada, with a focus on Europe, skills that the company has already demonstrated with the successful European relaunch of Pylera in 2023. Juvise Pharmaceuticals will work closely with Johnson Johnson to ensure a seamless transition and continuous availability of Ponvory for patients. Ponvory is currently available in 30 countries, with the objective of expanding this scope. Finally, Juvise Pharmaceuticals will assume the worldwide manufacturing duties for Ponvory from sites based in France and Switzerland.

Juvise Pharmaceuticals opens its capital to Bpifrance and Pemberton

The acquisition of Ponvory is funded by a mix of capital increase, additional debt, and shareholder loan.

Bpifrance, the French sovereign fund financing businesses in their development, and Pemberton, a leading European private credit manager, have acquired a minority stake in Juvise as part of the transaction.

About Juvise Pharmaceuticals

Since its creation in 2008, Juvise Pharmaceuticals has played a pivotal role in enhancing patient care by providing access to treatments with high medical value. Juvise re-prioritized essential medicines in oncology (breast and prostate cancer), cardiology, gastroenterology, neuropsychiatry, and rheumatology, making them accessible to over 4.4 million patients every year. Juvise Pharmaceuticals is present through its products in 80 countries in the world on five continents and relocates the production of its acquired medications in Europe, with 81% being manufactured in Europe and 51% in France. In 2024, Juvise Pharmaceuticals revenues are expected to reach about 180M (+38% vs 2023) with PONVORY accounting for about 24%.

For more information, visit www.juvisepharmaceuticals.com

Lazard acted as financial advisor to Juvise Pharmaceuticals and its shareholders.

Bird Bird, Latham Watkins and Bredin Prat acted as legal counsel to Juvise Pharmaceuticals.

Societe Generale remains the lead banking partner for Juvise Pharmaceuticals.

1. Kappos L, Fox RJ, Burcklen M, Freedman MS, Havrdova EK, Hennessy B, Hohlfeld R, Lublin F, Montalban X, Pozzilli C, Scherz T, D'Ambrosio D, Linscheid P, Vaclavkova A, Pirozek-Lawniczek M, Kracker H, Sprenger T. Ponesimod Compared With Teriflunomide in Patients With Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis in the Active-Comparator Phase 3 OPTIMUM Study: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Neurol. 2021 May 1;78(5):558-567. doi: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2021.0405. PMID: 33779698; PMCID: PMC8008435

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Contacts:

Juvise Corporate communication contact

Caroline Tranvouez

Chief of staff to the CEO

+33 6 65 20 15 74

caroline.tranvouez@juvise.com

Media Relations contact

Nicolas Delaval

CLAI agency

+33 6 58 29 21 15

juvise@clai2.com
PALM BEACH, Fla., March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- C.K. McWhorter, a visionary entrepreneur and advocate for ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) initiatives, announces the commencement of discussions with Goldman Sachs, a leading global investment bank. This pivotal step marks the inception of an ambitious journey toward potential leveraged buyouts (LBOs) and, ultimately, an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in the realm of luxury assets.



As an individual deeply committed to social governance and financial innovation, McWhorter's endeavor represents a historical milestone in minority-led ventures within the finance sector. The talks with Goldman Sachs symbolize the convergence of strategic vision, financial expertise, and a resolute commitment to advancing ESG principles in high finance.

McWhorter's Vision for the Future:

At the core of McWhorter's vision is a profound dedication to leveraging technology, sustainable practices, and luxury assets to redefine the landscape of finance and investment. With a long-term perspective that extends beyond traditional profit motives, McWhorter aims to pioneer a new paradigm that prioritizes social impact, environmental sustainability, and equitable progress.

The Role of Goldman Sachs:

In initiating discussions with Goldman Sachs, McWhorter seeks a strategic partner that shares his values and can provide unparalleled expertise in navigating complex financial landscapes. Together, they aim to explore avenues for growth, including potential leveraged buyouts and the eventual transition to public markets, all while upholding the highest standards of integrity and social responsibility.

A Historical Journey:

McWhorter's journey represents more than just a business endeavor; it is a testament to the resilience, ingenuity, and determination of minority entrepreneurs striving to make their mark in traditionally exclusive domains. By forging partnerships with industry leaders like Goldman Sachs, McWhorter aims to shatter barriers, inspire future generations, and pave the way for a more inclusive and equitable future in finance.

Quote from C.K. McWhorter:

"As we embark on this historic journey with Goldman Sachs, we are guided by a shared commitment to excellence, innovation, and social responsibility. Together, we have the opportunity to redefine the boundaries of finance and investment, while championing the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion."

Closing Statement:

As discussions with Goldman Sachs unfold, McWhorter remains steadfast in his mission to revolutionize the finance industry and create lasting positive change. With a focus on ESG principles and a vision for a more sustainable and equitable future, McWhorter's journey exemplifies the transformative power of entrepreneurship and the enduring spirit of progress.

Disclaimer, Disclosure & Legal Notice:

This press release is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or investment advice. It is not intended to provide specific recommendations, endorsements, or investment strategies. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice.

Regulatory Considerations:

This press release is not intended to constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities. Any offers, sales, or purchases will be made in accordance with applicable securities laws and regulations. McWhorter Foundation has not registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and may operate under exemptions. Any investment decisions should be made in consultation with appropriate legal and financial advisors, considering the individual circumstances and objectives of potential investors.

Forward-Looking Statements:

Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, and we caution you not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. We do not undertake any 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. Actual results or outcomes may differ materially from those indicated or suggested by any forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, regulatory and legal developments, market conditions, and the outcome of negotiations. We disclaim any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/43d4f13a-deee-4b98-85a1-036becf0c504
CHICAGO, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Cell Culture Market in terms of revenue was estimated to be worth $30.9 billion in 2024 and is poised to reach $57.9 billion by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 13.4% from 2024 to 2029 according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets. Some of the factors contributing to the growth of the global cell culture market includes increasing fundings and support from government and private organizations for cell-based research, growing popularity for biosimilars and monoclonal antibodies, and growth in advanced therapy medicinal products. However, high cost of cell biology research and limitations in producing high density cell culture are expected to hinder market growth.

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Browse in-depth TOC on "Cell Culture Market"

997 - Tables

54 - Figures

772 - Pages

Cell Culture Market Scope:

Report Coverage Details Market Revenue in 2024 $30.9 billion Estimated Value by 2029 $57.9 billion Growth Rate Poised to grow at a CAGR of 13.4% Market Size Available for 2022-2029 Forecast Period 2024-2029 Forecast Units Value (USD Billion) Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, and Trends Segments Covered Product, Application, and End User Geographies Covered North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East, and Africa Report Highlights Updated financial information / product portfolio of players Key Market Opportunities Growth opportunities in emerging economies Key Market Drivers Increasing fundings for cell-based research

The consumables segment accounted for the largest share of the product segment in the cell culture market in 2023.

Based on products, the cell culture market is segmented into consumables and equipment. Consumables are further segmented into sera, media, reagents; vessels; and accessories. Equipment is further categorized as bioreactors, storage equipment, and other equipment. Consumables segment dominated the market in 2023 and is expected to grow at a higher rate during the forecast. The largest share of the segment is attributed to repetitive purchase of media & reagents, and growing R&D activities to develop and manufacture advanced therapies.

The pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies' segment is estimated to register the highest growth rate during the forecast period in the cell culture market.

Based on end user, the cell culture market is segmented into pharmaceutical & biotechnology companies, hospitals & diagnostic laboratories, research & academic institutes, and other end users. The pharmaceutical & biotechnology companies' segment is estimated to register the highest growth rate during the forecast period. The rising demand for advanced therapies such as regenerative medicine due to increasing prevalence of chronic diseases is expected to boost the growth of pharmaceutical & biotechnology companies' segment in coming years.

The Asia Pacific region is the fastest-growing region of the cell culture market in 2023.

Based on the region, the cell culture market is segmented into major regions: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East, and Africa. The Asia Pacific is anticipated to register fastest growth in the cell culture owing to the increasing focus on advancement of biopharmaceutical industry, high government investments & fundings for R&D, and growing demand for cell and gene therapy.

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Cell Culture Market Dynamics:

Drivers:

Increasing fundings for cell-based research

Restraints:

High cost of cell biology research

Opportunities:

Growth opportunities in emerging economies

Challenge:

Disposal of plastic consumables

Key Market Players of Cell Culture Industry:

Key players in the cell culture market include Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (US), Danaher Corporation (US), Sartorius AG (Germany), Merck KGaA (Germany), Corning Incorporated (US), FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation (Japan), BD (US) Eppendorf SE (Germany), Lonza (Switzerland), Getinge AB (Sweden), Agilent Technologies, Inc. (US), HiMedia Laboratories (India), Miltenyi Biotec (Germany), STEMCELL Technologies (Canada), Solida Biotech GmbH (Germany), Caisson Labs (US), PromoCell GmbH (Germany), InvivoGen (France), PAN-Biotech (Germany), Cellexus (Scotland), Meissner Filtration Products Inc. (US), Adolf Kuhner AG (Switzerland), Bio-Techne (US), Advancion Corporation (US), and BioSpherix, Ltd. (US).

The primary interviews conducted for this report can be categorized as follows:

By Respondent: Supply Side- 70% and Demand Side 30%

By Designation: Managers - 45%, CXO & Directors - 30%, and Executives - 25%

By Region: North America - 40%, Europe -25%, Asia-Pacific -25%, Latin America -5% and Middle East & Africa- 5%

Recent Developments of Cell Culture Industry:

In September 2023, Thermo Fisher Scientific launched the Gibco CTS Detachable Dynabeads, a groundbreaking platform with an innovative active-release mechanism designed for the clinical and commercial operation of cell therapy manufacturing.

In December 2023, Danaher acquired Abcam, a provider of validated antibodies, reagents, biomarkers, and assays crucial for drug discovery, life sciences research, and diagnostics. Within Danaher's Life Sciences segment, Abcam will continue to operate independently, aligning with Danaher's mission to advance disease understanding and expedite drug discovery.

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Cell Culture Market - Key Benefits of Buying the Report:

The report will help market leaders/new entrants by providing them with the closest approximations of the revenue numbers for the overall cell culture market and its subsegments. It will also help stakeholders better understand the competitive landscape and gain more insights to better position their business and make suitable go-to-market strategies. This report will enable stakeholders to understand the market's pulse and provide them with information on the key market drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges.

The report provides insights on the following pointers:

Analysis of key drivers (increasing prevalence of infectious diseases, rising adoption of single-use technologies, and growing strategic alliances for the development of advanced therapy medicine products), restraints (high cost of cell biology research and limitations regarding production of high density cell culture), opportunities (growing opportunities in emerging economies, rising demand for 3D cell culture), and Challenges (ethical concern regarding cell usage) influencing the growth of the market.

Product Development/Innovation: Detailed insights on newly launched products of the cell culture market

Market Development: Comprehensive information about lucrative markets - the report analyses the market across varied regions.

Market Diversification: Exhaustive information about new products, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments in the cell culture market

Competitive Assessment: Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (US), Danaher Corporation (US), Sartorius AG (Germany), Merck KGaA (Germany), Corning Incorporated (US), FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation (Japan), BD (US), Eppendorf SE (Germany), Lonza (Switzerland), Getinge AB (Sweden), Agilent Technologies, Inc. (US), HiMedia Laboratories (India), Miltenyi Biotec (Germany), STEMCELL Technologies (Canada), Solida Biotech GmbH (Germany), Caisson Labs (US), PromoCell GmbH (Germany), InvivoGen (France), PAN-Biotech (Germany), Cellexus (Scotland), Meissner Filtration Products Inc. (US), Adolf Kuhner AG (Switzerland), Bio-Techne (US), Advancion Corporation (US), and BioSpherix, Ltd. (US), among others in the market.

Related Reports:

3D Cell Culture Market - Global Forecasts to 2028

Cell based Assays Market - Global Forecasts to 2028

Stem Cell Manufacturing Market - Global Forecasts to 2028

Microcarriers Market - Global Forecasts to 2028

Cell Dissociation Market - Global Forecasts to 2028

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MarketsandMarkets is a blue ocean alternative in growth consulting and program management, leveraging a man-machine offering to drive supernormal growth for progressive organizations in the B2B space. We have the widest lens on emerging technologies, making us proficient in co-creating supernormal growth for clients.

Earlier this year, we made a formal transformation into one of America's best management consulting firms as per a survey conducted by Forbes.

The B2B economy is witnessing the emergence of $25 trillion of new revenue streams that are substituting existing revenue streams in this decade alone. We work with clients on growth programs, helping them monetize this $25 trillion opportunity through our service lines - TAM Expansion, Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategy to Execution, Market Share Gain, Account Enablement, and Thought Leadership Marketing.

Built on the 'GIVE Growth' principle, we work with several Forbes Global 2000 B2B companies - helping them stay relevant in a disruptive ecosystem. Our insights and strategies are molded by our industry experts, cutting-edge AI-powered Market Intelligence Cloud, and years of research. The KnowledgeStore (our Market Intelligence Cloud) integrates our research, facilitates an analysis of interconnections through a set of applications, helping clients look at the entire ecosystem and understand the revenue shifts happening in their industry.

To find out more, visit www.MarketsandMarkets.com or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

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Regulatory News:

The Combined General Meeting of Clariane (Paris:CLARI) shareholders was held on 26 March 2024, chaired by Jean-Pierre Duprieu, Chairman of the Board of Directors, and attended by Sophie Boissard, Group Chief Executive Officer, Philippe Garin, Group Chief Financial Officer, Amandine Daviet, Group Corporate Secretary, members of the Board of Directors and the Statutory Auditors.

The Combined General Meeting approved by a large majority all the resolutions put to the vote of the shareholders.

Capital increase

The adoption by Clariane's shareholders of the resolutions relating to the planned 300 million capital increase is a further step towards its completion, scheduled for late June 2024 or September 2024. The completion of this new step is part of the plan announced on 14 November 2023 to strengthen the Group's financial structure and reduce its debt and financial leverage.

The capital increase remains subject to the lifting of the following conditions precedent:

Authorisation from the relevant competition authorities for Predica's possible acquisition of control over Clariane in the event that the exercise of the guarantee granted by Predica as part of the capital increase leads Predica to acquire control of Clariane;

An amendment to the terms and conditions of the OCEANE bonds maturing in 2027 (0.875% FR0013489739) in order to exclude early redemption provisions in the event that Predica acquires control over Clariane through the Capital Increase;

Submission by the independent appraiser appointed by the Company's Board of Directors of a fairness opinion confirming the fairness of the terms and conditions of the Capital Increase and the related agreements, including underwriting commitments;

Approval of the prospectus for the Capital Increase by the AMF.

It should be noted that the Capital Increase will provide for shareholders' preferential subscription rights to be maintained so that shareholders can subscribe to it in order to maintain their stake while taking advantage of the discount. Otherwise, shareholders who do not wish to exercise their preferential subscription rights will be subject to significant dilution, which may be offset in whole or in part by the sale of their preferential subscription rights.

Lastly, the Company points out that the Capital Increase is an essential condition of its financial structure strengthening plan and that if it is not carried out, the Company would be obliged to place itself under appropriate protection in order to renegotiate its debt with its creditors.

Governance

Shareholders also approved the ratification of the co-option of Matthieu Lance as a director. Matthieu Lance's diversified and recognized experience in the financial sector will enhance the skills of the Board of Directors, in particular by providing expertise in the fields of investments, asset management, real-estate management and mergers acquisitions. The Board will also benefit from Matthieu Lance's experience on the boards of other listed companies.

Record of decisions

Full voting results will be available on the www.clariane.com website.

A replay of the General Meeting will be available in the Investors section of the www.clariane.com website.

About Clariane

Clariane is the leading European community for care in times of vulnerability. It has operations in seven countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain.

Relying on their diverse expertise, each year the Group's 70,000 professionals provide services to over 900,000 patients and residents in three main areas of activity: long-term care nursing home (Korian, Seniors Residencias,etc.), healthcare facilities and services (Inicea, Ita, Grupo 5, Lebenswert, etc.), and alternative living solutions (Petits-fils, Les essentiels, Ages&Vie, etc.).

In June 2023, Clariane became a purpose-driven company and added to its bylaws a new corporate purpose, common to all its activities: "To take care of each person's humanity in times of vulnerability".

Clariane has been listed on Euronext Paris Section A since November 2006

Euronext ticker: CLARI ISIN: FR0010386334

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Contacts:

Investor relations

Stephane Bisseuil

Head of Investor Relations

+33 6 58 60 68 69

stephane.bisseuil@clariane.com

Press Contacts

Matthieu Desplats

Press relations Director

+33 6 58 09 01 61

Matthieu.desplats@clariane.com

Julie Mary

Press relations Manager

+33 6 59 72 50 69

julie.mary@clariane.com

Florian Bachelet

Press relations Manager

+33 6 79 86 78 23

florian.bachelet@clariane.com


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Consumer confidence in the U.S. edged slightly lower in the month of March, according to a report released by the Conference Board on Tuesday.



The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index slipped to 104.7 in March from a downwardly revised 104.8 in February.



Economists had expected the consumer confidence index to come in unchanged compared to the 106.7 originally reported for the previous month.



The modest decrease by the headline index came as an improvement in consumers' assessment of the present situation was offset by more pessimistic views about the future.



The report said the present situation index jumped to 151.0 in March from 147.6 in February, while the expectations index fell to 73.8 in March from 76.3 in February.



The Conference Board noted an expectations index reading below 80 often signals a forthcoming recession.



'Confidence rose among consumers aged 55 and over but deteriorated for those under 55,' said Dana M. Peterson, Chief Economist at The Conference Board. 'Separately, consumers in the $50,000-$99,999 income group reported lower confidence in March, while confidence improved slightly in all other income groups.'



She added, 'However, over the last six months, confidence has been moving sideways with no real trend to the upside or downside either by income or age group.'



On Thursday, the University of Michigan is scheduled to release its revised reading on U.S. consumer sentiment in the month of March.



The consumer sentiment index for March is expected to be unrevised from the preliminary reading of 76.5, which was down from 76.9 in February.



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AURP's International Conference, Nov. 11-14, 2024, to spotlight the dynamic innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem of the University of Arkansas and the Northwest Arkansas region

TUCSON, AZ and COLLEGE PARK, MD / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / The Association of University Research Parks (AURP), a global nonprofit membership association serving university and institutional research communities and innovation districts, today announced the University of Arkansas (U of A) and University of Arkansas Technology Development Foundation (UATDF) will host the AURP 2024 International Conference (IC2024), November 11-14, 2024, in Bentonville and Fayetteville.

The Northwest Arkansas region will welcome 300+ leaders from universities, innovation districts, and tech hubs plus master planning, architectural and development firms, to network and engage in best practice sharing on a range of relevant topics, including: placemaking and workforce development strategies, innovation district planning and design plus university-led economic development and innovation ecosystems.

AURP's IC2024 will showcase U of A's research and innovation infrastructure, including tours of the Institute for Integrative and Innovative Research (I3R); the Arkansas Research and Technology Park (ARTP) expansion in South Fayetteville; and The Collaborative in Bentonville.

Conference sessions will take place at The Ledger in downtown Bentonville, home to the world's first bikeable building, along with access to Bentonville's Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Invited guest speaker includes Walmart heir Alice L. Walker, founder of the Heartland Whole Health Institute and Alice L. Walton School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

"On behalf of our global AURP community, we are thrilled to gather our vibrant Community of Innovation at the University of Arkansas for our 2024 International Conference," said Erin Koshut, AURP President and Executive Director of Cummings Research Park in Huntsville, Alabama. "AURP aims to highlight the University of Arkansas' burgeoning research and entrepreneurial ecosystem, which is swiftly establishing itself as one of the nation's premier hubs for innovation and entrepreneurship. With 226 technologies licensed in the last five years alone and a $2.2 billion annual impact on the State of Arkansas, the university's contributions are truly remarkable."

The AURP International Conference annually convenes institutional leaders representing university-based research parks and innovation districts from around the world. It serves as a platform for impactful knowledge exchange and community building, engaging with industry-leading experts in place-based innovation. Hosted by AURP member institutions, this annual program offers attendees robust opportunities to firsthand experience their peers' operations and chart their growth trajectories.

"The AURP network is excited to explore the thriving innovation ecosystem and scenic beauty of Northwest Arkansas. With its robust research and development infrastructure and a strong workforce pipeline offering a competitive edge for the innovation community, the University of Arkansas and University of Arkansas Technology Development Foundation are perfect hosts for our 2024 International Conference," said Vickie Palmer, AURP Chief Executive Officer. "The conference agenda will showcase the economic and entrepreneurial vitality propelling significant impact within the Northwest Arkansas region and beyond. This momentum is further fueled by the presence of Walmart Corporation headquarters, which supports nearly 1,500 innovation and technology-based Walmart suppliers," Palmer added.

"We are honored AURP has selected the University of Arkansas to host its 2024 International Conference," said Mike Malone, Vice Chancellor for Economic Development, Division of Economic Development. "It's a real testament to the innovation and research facilities that we have on our main campus at the University of Arkansas, at the Arkansas Research and Technology Park and at The Collaborative in Bentonville that we've been given this opportunity to host 300+ research park leaders, investors, and developers from around the world."

The U of A has received the highest classification of research activity from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, earning the prestigious designation of "Research 1" - Doctoral University: Very High Research Activity. With annual research expenditures exceeding $164.4 million, the U of A is part of the elite 3.7 percent of U.S. institutions classified with "Very High Research Activity."

About the University of Arkansas:

The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among fewer than 4% of colleges and universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring. Learn more: http://www.uark.edu/

About the University of Arkansas Technology Development Foundation:

The?University of Arkansas Technology Development Foundation?(UATDF) handles all affiliate, faculty research, communications, partnerships, and marketing inquiries for the Arkansas Research & Technology Park (ARTP), as well as leasing and building maintenance inquiries for the Enterprise and Innovation Centers. The mission of UATDF is to stimulate a knowledge-based economy in the state of Arkansas through partnerships that lead to new opportunities for learning and discovery, that build and retain a knowledge-based workforce and that spawn the development of new technologies that enrich the economic base of Arkansas.

About AURP:

AURP, a non-profit international organization with offices in the Washington, D.C. area at the University of Maryland Discovery District; headquarters in Tucson, Arizona, at the University of Arizona Tech Park; and another situated in Northern California; focuses on creating communities of innovation and education for research parks, both operating and planned, plus innovation districts, incubators, accelerators and the businesses that support the research park industry. AURP and its global membership promote research, institute-industry relations and innovation districts to foster innovation and to facilitate the transfer of technology from such institutions to the private sector. Learn more: http://www.aurp.net/

Media Contact:

Ken Berlack

AURP

kenberlack@aurp.net

SOURCE: AURP

View the original press release on accesswire.com
State Reps. Kelly Breen, D  Novi, and Luke Meerman, R  Coopersville, give testimony in support of House Bill 5549 in the House Education Committee on March 19, 2024, at the House Office Building in Lansing. Photo provided/Michigan House of Representatives

A bipartisan group of Michigan lawmakers introduced legislation to improve school safety requiring public schools statewide to create behavior threat assessment and management teams before the fall.

State Rep. Kelly Breen, D  Novi, introduced House Bill 5549 at the start of March 2024, requiring schools to create these assessment and management teams to monitor students for concerning behavior. Students identified as struggling would be provided with a support plan. The bill was co-sponsored by Luke Meerman, R  Coopersville, and Matt Koleszar, D  Plymouth.

HB 5549 would amend the states revised school code to require the board of a school district or intermediate school district or board of directors of a public school academy to ensure that each school operated by the board or board of directors has the teams to spot behavioral risks before violence.

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The behavior threat assessment and management team must include, but is not limited to, the following individuals:

A school administrator.

A mental health professional.

A school resource officer or other law enforcement official.

The school administrator would ensure that the behavior threat assessment and management team fulfills duties including the following:

Defining prohibited and concerning behavior and educating the school community on when someone is at risk for potential harm to themselves or others.

Monitoring, assessing, and performing inquiries into concerning behavior.

Distinguishing between credible and noncredible threats.

Developing a central reporting mechanism and educating students, parents, legal guardians, and school personnel on how to report concerning behavior and what is appropriate to report.

Outlining the relationship between school personnel and law enforcement and determining the threshold for when a situation requires the intervention of law enforcement.

Developing a written plan to assist a student who is engaging in concerning behavior. A written plan created under this subdivision must consider using supportive measures in addition to any punitive measures imposed.

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The House Education Committee heard testimony on the bill last week. It has not yet voted to advance the bill, based on the findings of a third-party report on the response to the Oxford High School shooting, released in October 2023.

Protecting our kids is one of the most important things that we can do as legislators, Breen said during testimony on March 19. The bill I sponsored addresses the area of preparation by helping to create a behavioral threat assessment and management team in schools. These teams will help to identify concerning behavior among students, as well as develop plans that will assist the students that are displaying those behaviors.

If the bill passes as written, these teams must be established by July 1.
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PANAMA (dpa-AFX) - Carnival Corp. & Plc (CCL) Tuesday announced an agreement with Meyer Werft shipyard for a fifth Excel-class cruise ship for Carnival Cruise Line. The ship is scheduled for delivery in 2028. This new addition will be the corporation's 11th Excel-class ship across its brands, with Carnival Cruise Line running five of them. The ship will be a 180,000-ton vessel powered by liquefied natural gas, capable of accommodating over 6,400 guests and 1,800 crew members. The company noted that the order is subject to financing, which is anticipated to be finalized later this year. 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.
ROSKILDE, Denmark, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In a significant development for the wind energy sector, Shanghai Electric Wind Power Group, a subsidiary of Shanghai Electric (SEHK:2727, SSE:601727), a company renowned for its dedication to clean energy equipment, recently celebrated the fifth anniversary of its European Innovation Center ("the Center") in Rosklide, Denmark.

At the 5th International Symposium on Leading Edge Erosion of Wind Turbine Blades the Technical University of Denmark held recently, Koji Fukami, Senior Blade Design Expert, presented his research titled "Engineering Estimation of Severe Leading Edge Roughness Effect". His study, conducted in collaboration with the Center, introduces a novel approach to estimating the impact of leading-edge roughness on wind turbine blades in high precipitation environments both offshore and onshore.

"There's a crucial need to bridge academia and the wind energy industry, looking for more practical, time-efficient, and cost-effective methods to assess and optimize blade designs under harsh conditions," Koji Fukami stated.

Wind turbine blades play a critical role in the effectiveness of wind power generation, with their integrity directly affecting the system's productivity. Erosion, especially from wind force, is a frequent issue. The industry acknowledges rain erosion as the main culprit behind damage to the blades' leading edges.

Megawatt-class blades operate at tip speeds exceeding 90m/s where raindrops can hit with significant force akin to bullets causing substantial tearing forces. This repetitive impact leads to fatigue processes where coatings peel off under continuous hits and lateral tearing forces resulting in protective layer damage eventually compromising the entire leading-edge protective structure.

In designing blades and airfoils for real-world operation, addressing the influence of severe environmental conditions is imperative for robust performance. The new approach presented enables precise simulation for blade design with a reduction in computational demand, making the design process faster, less costly, and more functional. This cutting-edge modeling method plays a crucial role in securing the robustness and dependability of wind turbine blades in electrical wind power as they confront more extreme climatic challenges.

This method employs concepts from unsteady aerodynamics to optimize airfoil designs, drawing on simulation results that reflect real operational conditions. The high degree of alignment between the simulation data from this method and the experimental data publicly released by the University of Illinois indicates a strong match between the two sets of results.

This coming November, the Center will initiate a new round of collaboration with the Technical University of Denmark, focusing on wind tunnel experiments to test the performance of new airfoil designs and to evaluate new simulation methods.

The Center, founded in March 2019, has capitalized on Denmark's strategic strengths in the wind energy sector, encompassing wind turbine technology, sector growth, application know-how, and the requisite natural settings for wind energy installations. This approach has drawn a multitude of elite engineering specialists to the Center.

Rapidly evolving from a startup in a single office to a modern science and innovation center with a significant employee base, the Center has to date achieved a range of successes in technology innovation projects and acquired numerous patents. These advancements are being progressively utilized to empower advancements in control algorithms, load analysis, blade design, and the optimization of wind farms.

For more information, please visit https://www.shanghai-electric.com/listed_en/windpower/.

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Valuable feedback on a website's key attributes affecting performance, security, and accessibility now available for free on Oshyn.com.

LAS VEGAS, NV / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / Oshyn, a digital experience implementation agency specializing in Adobe Experience Manager, today announced a new online tool providing website owners valuable insights into the key factors influencing a site's speed and user experience for all users.





Oshyn is a proud sponsor of Adobe Summit 2024





Oshyn's Reliability Report includes an exclusive R-Score, a weighted measure of performance, security, and accessibility specific to a site's technologies. It is a reflection of a site's reliability for its users and is an indicator of whether a site is able to win repeat visits from its target audience.

"A website's reliability isn't just about whether it stays up and running. While that's critical, it must also load quickly, securely manage its data, and be usable for all users," said Christian Burne, Oshyn's CTO. "These factors not only contribute to the trust that customers place in a brand, they also drive immediate, real-world benefits like higher search engine rankings and improved discoverability."

Attendees at this year's Adobe Summit can visit Oshyn's booth to receive their own report, along with a hands-on review of the report's findings provided by one of Oshyn's experts. Summit is taking place March 26-28 at the Venetian Convention and Expo Center in Las Vegas. Oshyn can be found in booth #687.

For those not attending Adobe Summit in person, the Oshyn Reliability Report is available at no cost on Oshyn's website at https://www.oshyn.com/reliability-report.

About Oshyn

Oshyn, an Adobe Solution Partner, provides services supporting the full digital experience life cycle, from design planning to development through support and maintenance...and beyond.

For over 20 years, Oshyn has worked closely with dozens of marketing, design, and IT teams to deliver countless effective customer experiences in line with their business objectives. With over 60 developers, trainers, and analysts on staff (more than 30 certified), they've built a stellar reputation working with top brands including NW Natural, Point B, Arkansas Children's Hospital, Skyworks, Promedica, ALS Global, DMC Global, Minor Hotels, Dole, UMass Global, Wolters Kluwer, NEA Member Benefits, American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, Volkswagen, and Aetna.

Learn more by visiting https://www.oshyn.com/adobe.





Contact Information

Patrick Wirz

VP of Marketing

pwirz@oshyn.com

213-483-1770





SOURCE: Oshyn

View the original press release on newswire.com.


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Early Tuesday morning, a container ship crashed into the landmark Francis Scott Key Bridge near the U.S. city of Baltimore, collapsing part of the bridge.



Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace confirmed that several people were doing repairs on the bridge at the time of the incident. Rescue officials are currently searching for around 7 to 20 people who are believed to have fallen in the Patapsco river.



Wallace added that so far officials have rescued two people from the water, one in a serious condition and one apparently uninjured.



The incident happened when cargo ship Dali, setting sail from Baltimore's Seagirt Marine Terminal to Colombo, Sri Lanka, hit one of the pillars of the bridge at around 1:30 am local time.



Officials reached the spot by 1:50 am and saw that there were 'some cargo or retainers hanging from the bridge.' The fire officials said that they have detected vehicles in the water with the help of sonar.



According to MarineTraffic data, the cargo ship was steadily moving in a straight route southeast along the Patapsco River. Later, it suddenly diverted from its course and began to move slowly, with all lights on the exterior of the ship suddenly turned off and smoke beginning to emit from its funnel.



Charter vessel company Synergy Group, which currently operates Dali, said that the two pilots and crew members of the ship are unharmed.



The cause behind the crash has not yet been determined. However, many shipping experts claim that the incident could have happened due to engine failure, steering failure or generator blackout.



The Baltimore bridge, popularly known as the Key Bridge, was inaugurated in 1977 in honor of a 19th century Maryland poet Francis Scott Key, who had penned the U.S.'s national anthem, the Star Spangled Banner.



The 8,636 feet long bridge was often described as a continuous truss bridge.



Copyright(c) 2024 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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Sartorius Stedim Biotech SA / Key word(s): AGM/EGM

Resolutions of the Annual Shareholders' Meeting of Sartorius Stedim Biotech S.A.



26-March-2024 / 16:18 CET/CEST



Aubagne, France, March 26, 2024

Resolutions of the Annual Shareholders' Meeting

of Sartorius Stedim Biotech S.A.



At today's combined Annual Shareholders' Meeting of Sartorius Stedim Biotech S.A., shareholders have granted discharge to all directors by a large majority and approved the renewal of the appointments as Directors of Susan Dexter and Anne-Marie Graffin for a three-year term of office.



From March 26, 2024, onwards, the Board of Directors of Sartorius Stedim Biotech S.A. is composed of: Joachim Kreuzburg, Chairman; Rene Faber, CEO; Pascale Boissel; Susan Dexter; Romaine Fernandes; Anne-Marie Graffin; Lothar Kappich; and Henri Riey.



Sartorius Stedim Biotech shareholders approve dividend proposal

Furthermore, the shareholders approved all resolutions by a large majority, including the proposal to pay a dividend of 0.69 euros per share for fiscal 2023. The total profit distributed will be 67.1 million euros. The dividend will be paid on April 4, 2024.



This press release contains forward-looking statements about the future development of the Sartorius Stedim Biotech Group. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Sartorius Stedim Biotech assumes no liability for updating such statements in light of new information or future events. Sartorius Stedim Biotech shall not assume any liability for the correctness of this release. The French press release is the legally binding version.





Press Images

https://www.sartorius.com/en/company/about-sartorius-stedim-biotech-sa/board





Financial calendar

April 18, 2024 Publication of the quarterly figures January to March 2024

July 19, 2024 Publication of the half-year figures January to June 2024

October 17, 2024 Publication of the nine-month figures January to September 2024





A profile of Sartorius Stedim Biotech

Sartorius Stedim Biotech is a leading international partner of the biopharmaceutical industry. As a provider of innovative solutions, the company based in Aubagne, France, helps its customers to manufacture biotech medications, such as cell and gene therapies, safely, rapidly, and economically. The shares of Sartorius Stedim Biotech S.A. are quoted on the Euronext Paris. The company has a strong global reach with manufacturing and R&D sites as well as sales entities in Europe, North America, and Asia. Sartorius Stedim Biotech regularly expands its portfolio through acquisitions of complementary technologies. In 2023, the company generated sales revenue of around 2.8 billion euros. Currently, more than 10,600 employees are working for customers around the globe.





Contact

Timo Lindemann

External Communications

+49 (0)551.308.4724

timo.lindemann@sartorius.com



Follow Sartorius Stedim Biotech on LinkedIn .

Attachment



File: Press Release





Dissemination of a Financial Wire News, transmitted by EQS Group.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.




NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / Regions Bank

Regions leaders meet with students at UAB's Collat School of Business to share career advice and insight.

Photo by Kaleb Garner

By Amy Andrews

Ask for help, keep learning, build a network and be open to new perspectives.

These are some of the career tips Regions leaders recently shared with students at University of Alabama at Birmingham's Collat School of Business.

Highlighting their diverse experience at and outside of Regions, the leaders of Regions Technology, Operations, Digital and Data group provided soon-to-be UAB graduates with a view into the trajectory of their careers, the challenges new technologies like AI pose in the workplace, and the advice they wish others would have shared with them before joining the workforce.

It's okay to ask for help and don't think you have to have it all figured out. Dan Massey, Chief Enterprise Operations and Technology Officer

Say yes to opportunities, even the ones that might seem overwhelming, uncomfortable, maybe even a little scary - those are the ones to explore. Regan Liggins, head of Enterprise Operations & Technology Risk

The proximity of UAB to Regions Headquarters makes Regions a contender for UAB students when looking for that first job after graduation - and the students seized on the moment to ask the leaders what it's like to work at Regions and why should they consider Regions as an employer?

Regions is like the Goldilocks of companies-it's just the right size that you can specialize in your area of expertise, but still have projects and opportunities to do other things that interest you. Melissa Dabb, head of Cloud and Infrastructure

I get to see the impact I'm making with our associates through mentoring and developing them to be their best. Nathan Davis, head of Technology - Enterprise Systems and Services

It's all about the people. I was recruited from another company and the people have made the move to Regions a career highlight. Manav Misra, Chief Data and Analytics Officer

Serving the community is central to Regions' mission of making life better for its customers and the neighborhoods where we live and work. Through the Regions Institute of Financial Education at UAB and the partnership with the Collat School of Business, Regions is honored to bring experience and expertise to help students, faculty and the greater UAB community.

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Regions Bank on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Regions Bank

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/regions-bank

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: Regions Bank

View the original press release on accesswire.com
DALLAS, TX / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / MDM Permian Inc. (OTC PINK:MDMP), an-and-coming player in the development and exploration of the Permian and East Texas Basins, is thrilled to announce the appointment of Michael Cohen to its Advisory Board, effective immediately. Mr. Cohen brings with him a distinguished career of over 35 years in the investment banking industry, having contributed significantly to the success of numerous high-profile financial institutions and their clients.

Throughout his illustrious career, Michael Cohen has demonstrated expertise and leadership in the investment banking sector. He has served in pivotal roles at prestigious firms such as Lehman Brothers and Oppenheimer, among other securities companies, where he honed his skills in financial structuring and strategic investment. His vast experience encompasses raising capital through initial public offerings (IPOs), secondary offerings, and private placements; marking him as a veteran in the field of corporate finance.

Mr. Cohen's client portfolio is a testament to his broad influence and capability, including institutional and corporate clients, as well as ultra-high net worth individuals. Furthermore, his collaborative efforts with money managers and hedge fund managers in fund-raising activities have been instrumental in the growth and success of a myriad of investment initiatives.

"We are extremely pleased to welcome Michael Cohen to our Advisory Board," said Mark T. Warner, President and CEO of MDM Permian, Inc. "Michael's extensive background in investment banking and his proven track record of successful capital raising will be invaluable to our team as we continue to expand and develop our projects in the Permian and East Texas Basins. His strategic insights and deep understanding of the financial markets will undoubtedly contribute to the acceleration of our growth strategy and the enhancement of shareholder value."

MDM Permian is confident that Mr. Cohen's appointment will enrich the company's strategic planning and execution, driving further success in its endeavors within the energy sector. The company looks forward to benefiting from his expertise and leadership as it navigates the dynamic and evolving landscape of the oil and gas industry.

About MDM Permian, Inc.

MDM Permian, Inc. is dedicated to the exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas reserves in the Permian and East Texas Basins. With a focus on innovation and efficiency, MDM Permian is committed to utilizing advanced technologies and sustainable practices to unlock the vast potential of this critical energy resource for the United States.

For media inquiries, contact:

Rachel D. Green

V.P. Investor Relations

rgreen@mdmpermian.com

Safe Harbor Act: This release includes forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involves risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, the impact of competitive products, the ability to meet customer demand, the ability to manage growth, acquisitions of technology, equipment, or human resources, the effect of economic business conditions and the ability to attract and retain skilled personnel. The Company is not obligated to revise or update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this release.

SOURCE: MDM Permian, Inc.

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 26, 2024) - NCM Investments is pleased to announce that it has been selected as a finalist for 2024 Mutual Fund Provider of The Year by the Wealth Professional Awards.

Alex Sasso, CEO of NCM said, "I am incredibly proud of the entire team at NCM for all of their hard work and dedication towards creating a strong and positive client experience"

Mutual Fund Provider of the Year is awarded to the mutual fund company that consistently delivers superior advisor service while pushing the boundaries with innovation and industry best practices over the last 12 months.

Wan Kim, Senior Vice President, National Sales & Marketing at NCM said, "This is our fourth nomination for Mutual Fund Provider of the Year in the past 6 years at NCM. We are incredibly proud of this industry recognition."

The winners of the Wealth Professional Awards will be announced on June 6th at The Liberty Grand in Toronto. http://wpawards.ca/

About NCM Investments

NCM is made for advice. We are an award-winning investment manager with an extensive range of actively-managed mutual funds and alternative investments that complement mainstream funds and ETFs. We've been solving the issues facing financial advisors and their clients since 1999 and offer perspectives on topics like performance, fees and risk that might surprise you. We believe that a little creativity can go a long way towards helping Canadians achieve their financial goals, and we work closely with financial advisors who agree.

For more information:

NCM Investments

Attention:

Wan Kim, Senior Vice President, National Sales & Marketing

Toll Free: 1.877.431.1407

Email: wan.kim@ncminvestments.com

Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with mutual fund investments. Please read the prospectus before investing. Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/203142

SOURCE: NCM Asset Management Ltd.
RIGA, Latvia, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Mintos, the multi-asset platform offering a unique mix of alternative and traditional assets, has announced today its plan to launch a crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube, Europe's largest private market investment platform.

Mintos, fully regulated under MiFID in the European Union, serves over 500,000 investors in the EU with assets under administration exceeding 600 million. The company is now seizing a time-limited opportunity to invite both its existing customers and the broader public to become shareholders, providing them with a rare chance to join its journey of becoming the leading choice for retail investors in Europe for long-term wealth building.

Mintos has partnered with Crowdcube, the leading European crowdfunding platform for investment into private companies, who have worked with some of Europe's largest fintechs including Revolut, Qonto, and Monzo.

Martins Sulte, CEO and Co-Founder of Mintos: "At Mintos, we're pleased to address the significant gap in the EU's investment landscape, meeting the increasing demand for both alternative and traditional investments. By offering easy-to-use investment tools, we aim to increase retail investor participation and build long-term wealth across Europe. We firmly believe that our future growth lies in expanding our presence across the continent. With successful launches in Germany, Italy, Spain, France and the Netherlands, we're committed to targeting additional key markets in the near future, and we want to give our customers the possibility to be a part of this growth journey"

Matt Cooper, Co-CEO of Crowdcube: "We're excited to welcome Mintos back to Crowdcube as they use our platform to strengthen and deepen their relationships with new and existing customers across Europe. They recognise the strategic value of engaging their community, transforming customers into owners, and integrating this approach into their business operations."

Mintos' main goal with this campaign will be to fuel the company's growth and expand its investor base. This includes launching the platform in new countries and further strengthening its market presence in those where it is already established. The plan is to also introduce new products, providing more options for diversification and long-term growth to investors across Europe.

Investors interested in joining Mintos' crowdfunding campaign can pre-register to secure early access, with the campaign scheduled to go live to the general public on April 10th.

For more information and to invest, visit the crowdfunding campaign page on Mintos https://www.mintos.com/en/crowdfunding/ .

Important: Investing in unlisted businesses comes with the risk of partial or total loss of invested funds along with the risk of illiquidity.

on Crowdcube thanks to new regulations on crowdfunding (Regulation (EU) 2020/1503).

For more information contact:

Giulia Meloni - Global Communications Lead

Email: giulia.meloni@mintos.com

+491627383049

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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/mintos-launches-a-crowdfunding-campaign-enabling-european-investors-to-take-part-in-its-journey-302099866.html
Der kostenlose Dividenden-Report zeigt ganz genau, wo Sie in diesem Jahr zuschlagen konnen. Das sind die Favoriten von Borsenprofi Dr. Dennis Riedl

WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - U.S. house prices declined on a month-on-month basis in January for the first time in nearly one-and-a-half years, defying expectations for an increase, data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) showed Tuesday. House prices fell a seasonally adjusted 0.1 percent from December, when they rose 0.1 percent. Economists had expected a 0.2 percent gain for January. On a year-on-year basis, house prices rose 6.3 percent in January. 'U.S. house prices declined slightly in January, marking the first decrease since August 2022,' Anju Vajja, deputy director for FHFA's Division of Research and Statistics, said. 'However, the year-over-year house price growth remained near the historical average.' 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.
Northwood University invites the community to participate in an April 4 blood drive in the Student Union, which houses the Northwood University Bookstore. Photo credit/Steven Simpkins

A community blood drive will be held from 2 to 6 p.m. on Thursday, April 4, at Northwood University Student Union, 4000 Whiting Drive in Midland.

All donors will receive a $10 e-gift card, thanks to Versiti Blood Center of Michigan, which is hosting the blood drive. Attendees are encouraged to make an appointment online at versiti.org/mi.

The event will also feature the ability for donors to join the Gift of Life Marrow Registry, which matches donors to people who have blood cancer. Gift of Life is a national, public, not-for-profit registry that facilitates transplants for patients in the U.S. and abroad.

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Joining the registry involves a simple cheek swab. For more information, visit giftoflife.org.
BH Macro Limited - Transaction in Own Shares

PR Newswire

LONDON, United Kingdom, March 26

BH Macro Limited (the "Company")

(a closed-ended collective investment scheme established as a company with limited liability under the laws of Guernsey with registered number 46235)

Transaction in Own Shares

26 March 2024

BH Macro Limited (the Company) announces today it has purchased the following number of its ordinary shares on the London Stock Exchange from J.P. Morgan Securities plc:

Ordinary Shares: - Share Class Sterling Date of purchase: 26 March 2024 Number of ordinary shares purchased: 145,846 Lowest price per share 327.5 Highest price per share 329 Trading venue LSE Aggregate volume per date per trading venue: 145,846 Weighted average price per day per trading venue: 328.0465

The Company intends to hold the purchased shares in treasury.

Following the above share transactions of the relevant US Dollar and Sterling Shares, the total number of shares in issue in each share class of the Company will be as follows:

Ordinary Shares in issue (excluding Treasury) Ordinary Shares held in Treasury 361,684,273 Sterling Shares 11,923,266 Sterling Shares 29,759,638 Dollar Shares Nil Dollar Shares

From 26 March 2024, the total number of voting rights in the Company (rounded up to the whole number) is 554,672,747.

Enquiries:

Company website: www.bhmacro.com

William Simmonds

JPMorgan Cazenove

Tel: 020 7588 2828

The Company Secretary

Northern Trust International Fund Administration Services (Guernsey) Limited

Tel: 01481 745001
Finsbury Growth & Income Trust Plc - Transaction in Own Shares

PR Newswire

LONDON, United Kingdom, March 26

For immediate release

26 March 2024

FINSBURY GROWTH & INCOME TRUST PLC

(the "Company")

MARKET PURCHASE OF COMPANY'S OWN SHARES

The Company announces that it has today purchased 205,621 of its own shares ("Ordinary Shares") at a price of 859.70 pence per Ordinary Share. Such shares will be held in treasury by the Company.

The transaction was made pursuant to the authority granted at the Annual General Meeting of the Company held on 23 January 2024.

Following this transaction, the total number of Ordinary Shares held by the Company in treasury is 37,070,595; the total number of Ordinary Shares that the Company has in issue, less the total number of Ordinary Shares held by the Company in treasury following such purchase, and therefore, the total number of voting rights in the Company is 187,920,708.

The figure of 187,920,708 may be used by shareholders as the denominator for calculations of interests in the Company's voting rights in accordance with the FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

For and on behalf of

Frostrow Capital LLP

Company Secretary

For further information, please contact:

Victoria Hale

Frostrow Capital LLP

Tel: 020 3 170 8732
Latest COMvergence Report Ranks Mindshare #1 Globally in New Billings

NEW YORK and LONDON and SINGAPORE and SHANGHAI, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Mindshare, the media services company that is part of GroupM and WPP, has capped off a stellar first quarter of 2024 with a string of impressive award wins across several prestigious industry rankings and award shows. Accolades for the agency include Global Agency Network of the Year at the MMA SMARTIES X, Media Agency of the Year at the MMA SMARTIES North America, and Media Network of the Year at Spikes Asia, along with taking the #1 spot in both the WARC Media 100 and Effective 100 rankings. Additionally, Mindshare is ranked #1 globally in new billings for 2023 by COMvergence.

"The breadth of these recognitions is a testament to the trust and collaborative partnership we've built with our clients," said Adam Gerhart, Global CEO, Mindshare. "When clients lean in, embrace true partnership, and make brave decisions with us, the impact of the work is undeniable in driving measurable growth and positive impact for their businesses."

Global Agency Network of the Year at MMA SMARTIES X

Mindshare was named Global Agency Network of the Year, and Mindshare China was named Media Agency of the Year, at the MMA SMARTIES X Awards, which honors global marketing campaigns that achieve significant business impact through innovation. The agency network took home 32 awards across North America and APAC, including 13 Gold, 9 Silver, 9 Bronze and Best in Show for Mindshare China for its Louis Vuitton Aranya Show campaign. Additionally, WPP took home the award for Holding Agency Company of the Year.

Media Agency of the Year at MMA SMARTIES North America

Mindshare triumphed at the MMA Smarties North America awards, a premier awards program recognizing excellence and creativity in modern marketing campaigns. Mindshare was named Media Agency of the Year for North America and netted 9 Gold, 3 Silver and 7 Bronze for campaigns driving innovation in commerce, social impact, full-funnel marketing, and more. Among its wins, the agency took home Best in Show for its StandUpToJewishHate campaign with the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism (FCAS) and WPP sister agency VML.

#1 Agency in 2024 WARC Media 100 and 2024 WARC Effective 100

Mindshare's New York office secured the #1 position on the 2024 WARC Media 100, solidifying the agency's position as a global leader in media excellence. Mindshare also secured the #2 spot globally for Media Network, highlighting the consistent strength of its full network worldwide, with award-winning campaigns in different markets spanning Unilever, Tyson Foods, the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, Castrol, Visit Sweden, Honest Eggs Co, and BlackRock. Mindshare offices in the top 100 Media Agencies, all of which made the top third of the list, include London (#14), Shanghai (#20), Melbourne (#22), and Ho Chi Minh City (#32).

Mindshare New York also took the #1 Media Agency spot for effectiveness and was ranked as one of the top ten global networks for effectiveness on the 2024 WARC Effective 100, the ultimate independent global benchmark celebrating excellence in advertising effectiveness.

"Creativity and effectiveness are inextricably synonymous. There is a persistent industry myth that creating effective media programs means depriving them of creativity and bold ideas and relying on 'tried-and-true' approaches," says Gerhart. "The work that WARC does helps to dispel that myth and thread the link between the two. Being the top agency for the WARC Media 100 and WARC Effective 100 underscores this connection. I'm proud of our accomplishments and grateful for our clients' fierce commitment to big ideas, risk-taking, and enduring growth."

Media Network of the Year at Spikes Asia

Mindshare was honored as Media Network of the Year by Spikes Asia, APAC's most prestigious and sought-after award for creativity and marketing effectiveness. This recognition highlights Mindshare's commitment to delivering exceptional media solutions for its clients across the Asia Pacific region. Mindshare was credited in the Media category with four wins (1 Gold, 1 Bronze, 2 Shortlists). In addition, the agency was credited across other categories with 5 Grand Prix, 4 Gold Spikes, 2 Silver Spikes, 1 Bronze Spike and 16 Shortlists.

Innovation and Impact Leading to Good Growth

Mindshare's award-winning performance is a testament to its unwavering commitment to delivering Good Growth for its clients. This dedication is further underscored by COMvergence's latest report, which ranked Mindshare #1 in new billings globally for 2023, securing an impressive $1.89 billion. The agency's success across diverse brands and award-winning campaigns exemplifies its ability to leverage data-driven insights and creative approaches to drive enduring business results.

About Mindshare

Mindshare is a media services company that accelerates Good Growth for its clients in the age of transformation. The solutions we create are both Good for consumers and drive Growth for our clients. We were the first purpose-built company created by WPP and today we are 10,000 people working in 116 offices in 86 countries, helping to drive Good Growth for our clients, our people, the industry, and the world. www.mindshareworld.com

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Der kostenlose Dividenden-Report zeigt ganz genau, wo Sie in diesem Jahr zuschlagen konnen. Das sind die Favoriten von Borsenprofi Dr. Dennis Riedl

WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The TGInfoEn Telegram channel, aided by reverse engineer AssembleDebug, was the first to uncover a new controversial feature set to launch for Telegram for Android users in specific regions. This feature entails a free Peer-to-Peer Login program offering a complimentary subscription to the $4.99 per month premium membership in exchange for utilizing their phone number to relay one-time SMS passwords to others attempting to access the platform. Essentially, participants in this program consent to their phone numbers being used as relays for transmitting pins via SMS to assist other Telegram users in logging in. By agreeing to this setup, Telegram will furnish a transferable code for Telegram Premium. Users can anticipate a maximum of 150 SMS codes sent each month, with any associated carrier costs falling on the user. Upon meeting the minimum monthly quota, users will be granted a gift code for a monthly Premium plan. This development has sparked concerns regarding potential privacy vulnerabilities and exposure of personal data, as both the sender and receiver of the OTP message can access each other's phone numbers, potentially leading to unsolicited messages or harassment. This poses considerable privacy risks, enabling unfamiliar individuals to exploit your number for spam and fraudulent activities. The terms also stipulate that participants cannot hold Telegram accountable for any harm and grant the company complete immunity from all claims relating to peer-to-peer login. 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.
CHICAGO, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Arizton's latest research report, the fogging machines market will grow at a CAGR of 8.89% from 2023 to 2029.

To Know More, Click https://www.arizton.com/market-reports/fogging-machines-market-size-analysis

Browse in-depth TOC on the Fogging Machines Market

340 - Pages

104 - Tables

82- Figures

Fogging Machines Market Report Scope

Report Attributes Details Market Size (2029) USD 13.13 Billion Market Size (2023) USD 7.88 Billion CAGR (2023-2029) 8.89 % Historic Year 2019-2022 Base Year 2023 Forecast Year 2024-2029 Market Segmentation Type, Power Source, Cordless, Corded, End-user, Commercial, Contract Cleaners, Residential, Distribution, and Geography Geographic Analysis North America, Europe, APAC, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa Market Dynamics Increased Demand in the Agriculture Industry

Rising Adoption of Eco-friendly Fogging Machines

Technological Advancement

The APAC Fogging Machine Market to Reach $3.74 Billion by 2029

India, China, and Japan mainly drive the market growth of APAC. The rising demand for professional floor cleaning and disinfection equipment in these countries is supported by their strong economic growth, increased construction activities, and higher disposable income among the population. Moreover, the stringent regulations related to the manufacturing sector and increasing hygiene awareness drive commercial cleaning machinery sales. The commercial cleaning services industry has extended to industries such as chemicals, coal, nuclear, shipbuilding, transportation, public facilities, municipal buildings, and others, eventually enhancing the market scope for foggers.

Offline Distribution Channels Ignite Market Sales Surge

The surge in sales of fogging machines via home improvement and specialty stores worldwide is driven by the entry of innovative disinfectant equipment manufacturers and a growing awareness against harsh chemicals for household disinfection. While online sales have seen an uptick, a significant portion of distribution occurs through specialty brick-and-mortar stores. Manufacturers of fogger machines leverage wholesalers, distributors, dealers, and specialty stores due to their personalized customer services. Educating supply chain personnel about fogging machines and their usage facilitates informed customer interactions and product selection. The distribution system for fogging machines differs from regular residential equipment in marketing channels, technical support, and service requirements. Dealer support is crucial in brand consideration, focusing on noise reduction, emissions improvement, and delivering high distributor ROIs. In a competitive market, vendors offer various programs to gain an edge, including on-site workshops, marketing support, and improved service systems. Larger dealerships provide quick delivery and guaranteed parts availability, while distributors offer extended warranties and bundled offerings to entice customers to offline stores. Strong dealer-manufacturer relations are pivotal, with constant reviews of products and services to maintain a positive brand image. Collaborating with third-party financiers for larger equipment purchases is another emerging trend. However, addressing technician shortages remains a challenge, with dealers under pressure to invest in training and higher wages, potentially impacting profits. Enhancing brand influence requires vendors to onboard reputable dealers with efficient repair services, encouraging reduced turnaround times and adequate inventory levels. As demand grows, distributors are expanding facilities, particularly in APAC and the Middle East, to capitalize on market growth by offering faster response times and enhanced customer services.

High Demand for Electrostatic Fogging Booming the Growth of the Market

The surging demand for electrostatic foggers in the global market is intricately tied to the myriad advantages offered by this advanced technology. The ability of electrostatic foggers to achieve efficient and uniform disinfection, reduce chemical use, save time and labor, and adapt to diverse industries has positioned them as indispensable tools for modern hygiene and safety protocols. The environmental sustainability of reduced chemical use aligns with global efforts towards eco-friendly practices. Furthermore, the heightened awareness of hygiene, exacerbated by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, has accelerated the adoption of electrostatic fogging technology as businesses and institutions prioritize proactive measures for infection control. The continuous technological advances, including user-friendly designs and regulatory compliance, contribute to the sustained and growing demand for electrostatic foggers. As these devices become integral components of disinfection strategies across various sectors, it is evident that electrostatic foggers will continue to play a pivotal role in shaping the landscape of the global fogging machine market.

Key Development

Curtis Dyna-Fog has historically based its foundation on jet engine technology and continues to focus on innovation.

Maintaining a long-term dialog with customers is a crucial strategy. IGEBA achieves this through an on-site qualified service team and an extensive sales organization.

Vectorfog places a significant emphasis on R&D, enabling the company to stay technologically advanced and meet the evolving needs of its customers.

The Fogging Machines Market?Report Encompasses Crucial Data, Including:?????????

CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) during the forecast period: This metric provides insights into the annual growth rate of the fogging machines market over the specified time frame.?????????

Detailed information on growth drivers: The report offers in-depth information on the factors that will propel the fogging machines market growth from 2023 to 2029. This includes an analysis of various market influences.?????????

Precise estimation of market size: Accurate assessments of the fogging machines market size and its contribution and focusing on key market segments.?????????

Predictions about upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior: The report offers insights into anticipated trends and shifts in consumer behavior that are likely to impact the fogging machines market, helping businesses prepare for future market dynamics.?????????

Geographical market growth: The report covers the development of the fogging machines market across different regions, including North America, Europe, APAC, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa. This provides a comprehensive understanding of the market's global landscape.?????????

Competitive landscape analysis: A thorough examination of the market's competitive landscape is presented, including detailed information about companies operating in the fogging machines market. This includes an overview of key players, their market share, strategies, and key developments.?????????

Analysis of growth challenges: The report includes a comprehensive analysis of factors that may pose challenges to the growth of companies in the fogging machines market, providing a well-rounded view of the market dynamics.????

Buy this Research @ https://www.arizton.com/market-reports/fogging-machines-market-size-analysis

Post-Purchase Benefit???????????????????????

1hr of free analyst discussion

10% off on customization

Key Company Profiles

Curtis Dyna-Fog

IGEBA Geratebau

Vectorfog

pulsFOG

PESTWORKER

Dolphy India

Airofog Machinery

Vimal Industries

Fogmaster Corporation

Idealin Fogging Systems

IndoSurgicals

Skan

SM BURE

Tomahawk Power

B&G Cleaning Systems

HSC ULV Fogger and Disinfection Machinery

Createch USA

Nine Group

Qingdao Saintfine Environmental Technology

Neptune Fairdeal Products

KisanKraft

Scintex

XPOWER

Techtronic Industries Co. Ltd

White Fog

Disinfect & Fog

Streamline Systems

Agro Technic

Dr. Odin

Swansoft Machinery

Market Segmentation

Type

Thermal Fogging

Cold Fogging

Electrostatic Fogging

Power Source

Cordless

Corded

Cordless

Fuel

Battery

Corded

End-user

Commercial

Contract Cleaners

Residential

Commercial

Agriculture

Food & Beverage

Healthcare

Hospitality

Public & Municipality

Automotive & Manufacturing

Retail

Pharmaceutical

Others

Contract Cleaners

Residential

Distribution

Online

Offline

Geography

North America

The U.S.



Canada

Europe

Germany



The U.K.



France



Italy



Spain



Poland

APAC

China



Australia



Japan



India



South Korea



Indonesia

Latin America

Brazil



Mexico



Argentina



The Rest of Latin America

Middle East & Africa

Saudi Arabia



South Africa



The UAE



Turkey

Key Questions Answered in the Report:???

How big is the fogging machines market?

What is the growth rate of the global fogging machines market?

Which region dominates the global fogging machines market share?

What are the significant trends in the fogging machines market?

Who are the key players in the global fogging machines market?

Get the Detailed TOC @ https://www.arizton.com/market-reports/fogging-machines-market-size-analysis

Check Out Some of the Top Selling Research Reports:???????

Industrial & Institutional Cleaning Chemicals Market - Global Outlook & Forecast 2023-2028

Paint Sprayer Market - Global Outlook & Forecast 2023-2028

Healthcare Disinfectants and Sanitizers Market - Global Outlook & Forecast 2022-2027

Disinfectant Sprays and Wipes Market - Global Outlook and Forecast 2021-2026

Why Arizton?????????????????

100%?Customer Satisfaction????????????????

24x7?availability - we are always there when you need us????????????????

200+?Fortune 500 Companies trust Arizton's report????????????????

80%?of our reports are exclusive and first in the industry????????????????

100%?more data and analysis????????????????

1500+?reports published till date?????????????????

About Us:?????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Arizton Advisory and Intelligence is an innovative and quality-driven firm that offers cutting-edge research solutions to clients worldwide. We excel in providing comprehensive market intelligence reports and advisory and consulting services.???????????????????????????????????????????????????

We offer comprehensive market research reports on consumer goods & retail technology, automotive and mobility, smart tech, healthcare, life sciences, industrial machinery, chemicals, materials, I.T. and media, logistics, and packaging. These reports contain detailed industry analysis, market size, share, growth drivers, and trend forecasts.????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Arizton comprises a team of exuberant and well-experienced analysts who have mastered generating incisive reports. Our specialist analysts possess exemplary skills in market research. We train our team in advanced research practices, techniques, and ethics to outperform in fabricating impregnable research reports.??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Contact Us??????????????????????????????????????????????????

Call: +1-312-235-2040?????????????????????????????????????????????????

????????? +1 302 469 0707????????????????????????????????????????????????

Mail:?enquiry@arizton.com?????????????????????????????????????????????????

Contact Us:?https://www.arizton.com/contact-us????????????????????????????????????????????????

Blog:?https://www.arizton.com/blog?????????????????????????????????????????????????

Website:?https://www.arizton.com/

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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/fogging-machines-market-grows-in-response-to-escalating-demand-for-effective-disinfection-the-market-to-hit-13-13-billion-by-2029---arizton-302099705.html
TradingView

TradingView Integrates the TRON Network and Joins HackaTRON Season 6 as an Official Partner



26-March-2024 / 20:05 CET/CEST

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.





London, United Kingdom, March 26, 2024 - TradingView has become an official partner for HackaTRON Season 6, hosted by TRON DAO , BitTorrent Chain , HTX DAO , and JustLend DAO . This year's competition is illuminated by the expertise of Maksim Shymanovich and Alexey Telnov from TradingView, set to judge the projects competing for a prize pool of up to $650,000*.

TradingView : A pillar of community and expertise

With over 50 million users, TradingView stands as a global hub for market analysis and community discussion. The platform's participation in HackaTRON Season 6 is expected to elevate the competition, ensuring a high level of expertise in the judging process.

Beyond being a mere participant, TradingView has deepened its integration with TRON by integrating the TRON Network into their platform. This will provide users access to real-time market updates, indicators, price trends, drawing tools, and widgets. TradingView's integration also allows HackaTRON participants to build better interfaces of market data, allowing users to better engage with their dApps, fostering innovation across the TRON ecosystem.

A competitive arena for blockchain developers

HackaTRON Season 6 invites developers passionate about decentralized technology to showcase their skills, offering a $500,000* prize pool and $150,000* in energy support. The energy component offsets network fees, enabling more streamlined and effective blockchain transactions for users interacting with dApps. This initiative not only emphasizes TRON's commitment to the blockchain community but also TradingView's dedication to fostering innovation and talent in the cryptocurrency sector.

Participants will have the unique opportunity to present their projects to a panel of distinguished judges, including Shymanovich and Telnov, promising an unparalleled level of scrutiny and feedback. For more information on how to join HackaTRON Season 6 and make an impact on the future of decentralized technology, please visit the official TRON DAO HackaTRON page .

*All prizes are issued in TRX or TRON network Energy, not USD, restrictions applied. All contest rules can be viewed here: https://trons6.devpost.com/rules

Industry expert judges

Maksim Shymanovich , Senior Manager within the International Growth department at TradingView, remarked: "it is fantastic to see the strong partnership we've built with the TRON DAO, and I'm really excited to be judging at HackaTRON S6. I look forward to evaluating innovative Web3 projects across diverse tracks like DeFi, Artistry, and more, from talented developers worldwide."

Additionally, Alexey Telnov is joining him on the judging panel. Alexey, the Crypto Product Owner at TradingView, has expressed his excitement with the following remarks: "I am honored to participate in this season's HackaTRON event, witnessing the innovative ideas and solutions presented by talented individuals and teams. I look forward to evaluating the projects and contributing to the recognition of promising advancements within the blockchain space."

About TradingView

TradingView is a global analytical platform offering an extended set of features for in-depth market analysis.

TradingView was founded in 2011 as a charting platform catering to both seasoned and novice traders and investors looking for advanced yet accessible functionality. From the very beginning, TradingView focused on bringing markets directly to traders' devices instead of confining data and charts in closed terminals for professional use.

Since then, TradingView has grown into a versatile platform providing a wide range of services. In addition to customizable charts equipped with an array of drawing tools and indicators, traders can make use of the latest financial news sourced from trusted sources worldwide, a social network where users share their insights every day, and multiple tools for a more thought-through analysis, including the Economic calendar, screeners and heatmaps. Altogether, this helps TradingView be a go-to place to track cryptocurrency prices , watch global markets' movements, and share ideas with fellow traders.

TradingView | YouTube | Reddit

Media Contact

platforms@tradingview.com

About TRON DAO

TRON DAO is a community-governed DAO dedicated to accelerating the decentralization of the internet via blockchain technology and dApps.

Founded in September 2017 by H.E. Justin Sun, the TRON network has continued to deliver impressive achievements since MainNet launch in May 2018. July 2018 also marked the ecosystem integration of BitTorrent, a pioneer in decentralized Web3 services boasting over 100 million monthly active users. The TRON network has gained incredible traction in recent years. As of March 2023, it has over 216.32 million total user accounts on the blockchain, more than 7.25 billion total transactions, and over $25.00 billion in total value locked (TVL), as reported on TRONSCAN.

In addition, TRON hosts the largest circulating supply of USD Tether (USDT) stablecoin across the globe, overtaking USDT on Ethereum since April 2021. The TRON network completed full decentralization in December 2021 and is now a community-governed DAO. Most recently in October 2022, TRON was designated as the national blockchain for the Commonwealth of Dominica, which marks the first time a major public blockchain partnered with a sovereign nation to develop its national blockchain infrastructure. On top of the government's endorsement to issue Dominica Coin ("DMC"), a blockchain-based fan token to help promote Dominica's global fanfare, seven existing TRON-based tokens - TRX, BTT, NFT, JST, USDD, USDT, TUSD, have been granted statutory status as authorized digital currency and medium of exchange in the country.

TRONNetwork | TRONDAO | Twitter | YouTube | Telegram | Discord | Reddit | GitHub | Medium | Forum

Media Contact

Hayward Wong

press@tron.network

Contact Details

Maksim Shymanovich

platforms@tradingview.com

Dissemination of a CORPORATE NEWS, transmitted by EQS Group.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.




MetLife

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) today announced that it has received the 2024 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year Sustained Excellence Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). MetLife has been honored as an ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year recipient for six consecutive years and continues to partner with ENERGY STAR on adopting energy-efficient practices and tracking data across all owned and managed properties. In addition to recertifying 32 existing certifications across MetLife and MetLife Investment Management (MIM) portfolios in 2023, MetLife received new ENERGY STAR Building Certifications for two buildings and MIM certified four new buildings.

ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year is the highest level of EPA recognition for corporate and asset manager's energy management programs. To earn this recognition, companies must demonstrate superior levels of energy management with respect to exhibiting best practices, proven energy savings, and active participation and communication about ENERGY STAR programs and strategies. Organizations like MetLife, which have consistently earned Partner of the Year, are eligible for the Sustained Excellence distinction. This distinction requires that annual achievements continue to surpass those in previous years.

"Implementing energy efficiency best practices across our corporate offices and real estate investment portfolios drives operational savings that we reinvest into our business and communities, ultimately driving more value for our stakeholders," said MetLife Vice President, Global Sustainability & Climate Lead, Josh Wiener. "Our continued partnership with ENERGY STAR equips us with the resources and data needed to manage building performance and find new opportunities for better energy management and conservation."

MetLife leverages ENERGY STAR tools, including its Portfolio Manager, to improve data management capabilities and identify energy savings opportunities across its corporate office and managed real estate equity portfolios.

"By upholding a superior level of energy management across our real estate portfolio, we deliver value to our clients while bettering the communities and environments around these properties," said MetLife Investment Management, Global Head of Real Estate and Agriculture, Robert Merck. "ENERGY STAR remains a resource in helping us measure, manage and improve performance across our entire real estate portfolio."

To learn more about MetLife's commitment to sustainability, visit MetLife.com/Sustainability. For more information about ENERGY STAR, visit EnergyStar.gov/about.

About MetLife

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), through its subsidiaries and affiliates ("MetLife"), is one of the world's leading financial services companies, providing insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management to help individual and institutional customers build a more confident future. Founded in 1868, MetLife has operations in more than 40 markets globally and holds leading positions in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. For more information, visit www.metlife.com.

About MetLife Investment Management

MetLife Investment Management, the institutional asset management business of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), is a global public fixed income, private capital and real estate investment manager providing tailored investment solutions to institutional investors worldwide. MetLife Investment Management provides public and private pension plans, insurance companies, endowments, funds and other institutional clients with a range of bespoke investment and financing solutions that seek to meet a range of long-term investment objectives and risk-adjusted returns over time. MetLife Investment Management has over 150 years of investment experience and, as of December 31, 2023, had over $600 billion in total assets under management.1

Endnotes

1 Total assets under management is comprised of all MetLife general account and separate account assets and unaffiliated/third party assets, at estimated fair value, managed by MIM.

Contacts:

Olivia Janicelli

(212) 578-3547

olivia.janicelli@metlife.com





View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from MetLife, Inc. on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: MetLife, Inc.

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/metlife-inc

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: MetLife, Inc.

View the original press release on accesswire.com
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 /



CEO Gina Boswell kicked off the Bath & Body Works' Women's History Month conference with a discussion on boldness in business with CMO Jamie Sohosky.

This month, more than 600 associates attended Bath & Body Works' second annual Women's History Month Conference at the brand's headquarters in Columbus, Ohio.

The theme of this inspirational day was "Building a Bolder Tomorrow." Associates heard from leaders across the business including CEO Gina Boswell, Chief Marketing Officer Jamie Sohosky, VP of Human Resources Katie Giancola, GVP of Communications and Brand Strategy Karla Davis and other business leaders as they reflected on the importance of boldness, advocacy, allyship, and authenticity at home and in the workplace.

The all-day experience was coordinated by Bath & Body Works' Inclusion Resource Group (IRG) WIN and office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. WIN is one of eight Inclusion Resource Groups established by the brand which allow associates to connect with one another and to collaborate on ways to cultivate an inclusive workplace. WIN's mission is to empower women to lead and excel at Bath & Body Works by providing professional development, leadership enrichment and engagement opportunities within a supportive environment.

CEO Gina Boswell kicked off the day and dug into the idea of boldness across her personal and professional experiences. She encouraged attendees to get comfortable with taking risks, especially if you want to rise.

"Silence the inner critic, fight imposter syndrome and acknowledge that everyone has it," said Boswell. "Power through and think about it differently. What would you do if you knew you couldn't fail?"

Attendees also heard from Stephanie Hightower, the first female President and CEO of the Columbus Urban League, champion U.S. hurdler and former President of USA Track and Field. Hightower reflected on her career and delivered a powerful message on the importance of courage and authenticity.

Later in the day, Katherine Wintch, award-winning author and CEO of The Mom Complex, taught associates how to slay internal dragons of self-doubt.

Along with powerful speeches and workshops, conference organizers brought together a curated marketplace of women-owned food, jewelry, and clothing vendors which generated over $10,000 for local businesses. Attendees also used the conference as an opportunity to give back by donating clothing and accessories to Dress for Success Columbus, a nonprofit which promotes the economic independence of women in need by providing professional attire and career development tools. Associate clothing donations to Dress for Success totaled over $3500.

Learn more about Bath & Body Works commitment to community and DEI at bbwinc.com.



View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Bath & Body Works on 3blmedia.com.



Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Bath & Body Works

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/bath-body-works

Email: info@3blmedia.com



SOURCE: Bath & Body Works

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Trustfull, a leading risktech platform utilizing silent checks on phone, email, IP address, and device intelligence to combat fraud across onboarding, authentication, and payments, announces the appointment of Jim Greenwell as Executive Advisor.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240326786868/en/

Jim Greenwell (Photo: Business Wire)

Greenwell joins the company with deep experience in the digital identity and mobility space, most recently serving as an executive adviser to Thomson Reuters and AuthenticID, as well as serving on the advisory boards of Prove and Gravy Analytics. Jim is the former CEO of Danal, Inc., having led the company's growth and innovation within the mobile identity and authentication space for over a decade through its sale to Boku, Inc. (LON: BOKU) in 2019. During his tenure, Jim created successful global partnerships and enduring customer relationships in a broad range of industries, including financial services, government, e-commerce, and wireless. One World Identity recognized Jim as one of the top four CEOs in Identity and Authentication in 2018 and one of the "Top 100 Influencers in Identity" in 2019.

Prior to Danal, Jim was CEO and President at ACE*COMM Corporation focusing on Telecom OSS/BSS software. Prior to ACE*COMM, Jim was the COO/SVP of the Americas and AsiaPac for LCC International where he grew the mobile network design business. Jim began his career as a military intelligence officer in the U.S. Army where he served in Northern Iraq and Turkey as part of the Kurdish relief effort following Desert Storm.

In his role as Executive Advisor, Greenwell will collaborate closely with Trustfull's leadership team to further enhance the platform's capabilities and drive its expansion into new markets.

Commenting on the appointment, Trustfull CEO Marko Maras said, "We are thrilled to welcome Jim to Trustfull as our Executive Advisor. His deep understanding of the industry and proven track record of driving growth and innovation will be invaluable as we continue to empower businesses with advanced fraud prevention solutions."

Jim Greenwell also expressed his enthusiasm about joining Trustfull, stating, "I am honored to join Trustfull as Executive Advisor. The company's commitment to leveraging cutting-edge technology to combat fraud is truly impressive, and I look forward to working closely with the team to further strengthen Trustfull's position as a leader in the industry."

Greenwell's appointment comes at a pivotal time for Trustfull as it continues to innovate and expand its suite of fraud prevention solutions, helping businesses mitigate risks and protect their assets in an increasingly digital landscape.

About Trustfull

Trustfull is a cloud-based digital risk intelligence platform. Utilizing silent checks on multiple signals including phone number, email address, IP address, device, and browser, Trustfull helps companies across different industries assess risks an provide a safer online experience. Main use cases include: KYC, AML, Account Takeover, Promo Abuse and Transaction Monitoring.

For more information: http://www.trustfull.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240326786868/en/

Contacts:

Media Contacts:

Lisa Messina (l.messina@trustfull.com) +39 347 9520130
LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / Floki, hailed as the world's biggest success story, has made its presence felt worldwide, from New York's Times Square to regions beyond. It is now setting its sights on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) to further extend its influence, especially with its sister project TokenFi.

The Arabic video promo shared on X provides a glimpse into what TokenFi products will soon offer in the MENA region, highlighting how effortless it is to tokenize a project, even without any knowledge of coding.

https://twitter.com/tokenfi/status/1772611357738779021

The protagonist in the video, who embodies the everyday individual, harbors aspirations of wealth. But, sometimes, not knowing enough or not having the right mentor or friends can hold a person back. TokenFi's goal is to open up the world of cryptocurrency to everyone, helping them to reach their goals and making a positive impact on their lives.

The focus on MENA is strategic, given its position as the world's sixth largest crypto economy with about $389.8 billion in crypto transactions from July 2022 to June 2023 - an impressive 7.2% of the global volume during that period, according to Chainalysis research. Turkey, Morocco, and Iran, notably, are among the top 30 countries for crypto activity.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) distinguishes itself within the region by leaning heavily on decentralized finance (DeFi) activity, attributed to its progressive regulatory frameworks that beckon crypto entrepreneurs to the area, and are making it an emerging crypto hub.

Why the strong push into MENA? The UAE in particular has become a beacon of financial and technological innovation, drawing in diverse global talent. Its welcoming approach to blockchain technology shows that it's planning for the future and wants to grow with new tech trends.

Foremost on Floki's MENA agenda is TokenFi, a tokenization platform designed for the easy creation and management of digital tokens. This tool offers a user-friendly What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) interface that lets users tokenize assets without any coding.

TokenFi is proactively positioning itself in the sprawling tokenization sector, which is expected to surge to a $16 trillion value by 2030. This industry's potential has been noted by BlackRock, the planet's leading investment firm, which has dubbed tokenization "the next evolution in markets."

Led by the same core team as was behind the famed Floki token, which boasts over 460,000 holders and reached an all-time valuation of $3.5 billion, TokenFi spans several products linked by the $TOKEN utility token. Among its offerings are the Token Launcher, the QuickLaunch Bot, Launchpad, Generative AI, an AI-powered Smart Contract Auditor, Connect, and the Real World Assets Tokenization Module.

About Floki

Floki is the people's cryptocurrency and utility token of the Floki Ecosystem. Floki aims to become the world's most known and most used cryptocurrency and intends to achieve this ambitious goal through a focus on utility, philanthropy, community, and marketing. Floki currently has 460,000+ holders and a strong brand recognized by billions of people worldwide due to its strategic marketing partnerships.

Website: https://floki.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RealFlokiInu

About TokenFi

TokenFi is an innovative platform for crypto and asset tokenization, enabling users to launch or tokenize assets effortlessly. TokenFi is committed to revolutionizing the trillion-dollar tokenization industry by offering a user-friendly interface that requires no coding expertise.

Website: https://tokenfi.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/tokenfi

PRESS CONTACT:

Floki 001 786-402-1064 Pr@floki.com https://floki.com/

SOURCE: FLOKI

View the original press release on accesswire.com
30 Buddhist relics donated to Chinese Mainland

Ecns.cn) 15:01, March 26, 2024

Three Buddha statues are displayed during a donation ceremony held at the National Museum of China in Beijing, March 25, 2024. (Photo: China News Service/Yi Haifei)

The United Association of Humanistic Buddhism, Chunghua from the island of Taiwan donated 30 Buddhist relics dating from the Song Dynasty (960-1279) to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) to the National Cultural Heritage Administration (NCHA) on Monday.

Buddhist relics are displayed during a donation ceremony held at the National Museum of China in Beijing, March 25, 2024. (Photo: China News Service/Yi Haifei)

A head statue of Guan Yu, a well-known hero of the late Eastern Han Dynasty (161-220) is displayed during a donation ceremony held at the National Museum of China in Beijing, March 25, 2024. (Photo: China News Service/Yi Haifei)

Buddhist relics are displayed during a donation ceremony held at the National Museum of China in Beijing, March 25, 2024. (Photo: China News Service/Yi Haifei)

Buddhist relics are displayed during a donation ceremony held at the National Museum of China in Beijing, March 25, 2024. (Photo: China News Service/Yi Haifei)

Buddhist relics are displayed during a donation ceremony held at the National Museum of China in Beijing, March 25, 2024. (Photo: China News Service/Yi Haifei)

Guests view Buddhist relics during a donation ceremony held at the National Museum of China in Beijing, March 25, 2024. (Photo: China News Service/Yi Haifei)

Guests view Buddhist relics during a donation ceremony held at the National Museum of China in Beijing, March 25, 2024. (Photo: China News Service/Yi Haifei)

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
Daymond John & Heather John enjoying their collection of Aroma360 products and devices.

Aroma360, a Miami, FL-based company which specializes in scent branding and marketing solutions, has acquired NextScent, a provider of eco-friendly and advanced air-care solutions.

The amount of the deal was not disclosed.

Founded in 2020 NextScent develops patented scent systems and signature fragrances used by many brands, large venue properties and small businesses around the world. Its Ventus is 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 worlds first integrated HEPA filter/scent cartridge. The Ventus cartridge is eco-friendly and designed for commercial composting.

The acquisition will bring the patented Ventus air-care system into the Aroma360 portfolio of consumer solutions. David Amaral, former CEO of NextScent, is now President of Aroma360 Pro.

Led by Benzion Aboud, CEO, Aroma360 enhances the overall client and brand experience through its scent marketing and branding solutions. Its 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 private-labeled aromas; each formulated to be in-line with a brands image and client experience goals. The company has partnered with brands in the world including Disney, Marriott, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, the NBA, and Ferrari.

FinSMEs

26/03/2024
Euroclear, a Brussels, Belgium-based company that provides settlement and custody of domestic and cross-border securities, invest in IZNES, a Paris, France-based funds marketplace based on blockchain technology.

The amount of the deal was not disclosed. The transaction will be subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

Established in 2017 by Christophe Lepitre, CEO, IZNES is a regulated company operating an international platform for subscriptions and redemptions of shares of European funds, compatible with various distribution channels. The company simplifies and harmonises the subscription processes, brings more transparency and provides an improved customer experience both for management companies and institutional investors.

Euroclear is the financial industrys provider of post trade services. It provides settlement and custody of domestic and cross-border securities for bonds, equities and derivatives, and investment funds. The group comprises Euroclear Bank, the International CSD, as well as Euroclear Belgium, Euroclear Finland, Euroclear France, Euroclear Nederland, Euroclear Sweden, Euroclear UK & International.

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, the group 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.

FinSMEs

26/03/2024
Sandfly Security, a Christchurch, New Zealand-based agentless Linux Security Company, raised seed funding from Gula Tech Adventures and Sorenson Capital.

The amount of the deal was not disclosed.

The company intends to use the additional funds to expand product capabilities and accelerate its go-to-market strategy.

Led by Craig Rowland, CEO and Founder, Sandfly Security protects virtually any Linux system, from modern cloud deployments to decade-old devices, regardless of distribution or CPU architecture. The company 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.

FinSMEs

25/03/2024
Uzum, a Tashkent, Uzbekistan-based digital services ecosystem company, secured more than $100M in funding through a combination of a Series A funding and debt financing.

The company secured over $50M in equity through a Series A funding round consisting wholly of primary investments. The round was led by FinSight Ventures, joined by Xanara Investment Management, a multifamily office in the UAE, and Uzums senior management team. Uzum separately raised an additional $50M+ in debt financing. This financing makes Uzum the first tech company in Uzbekistan to achieve unicorn status with a post-money valuation of over $1 Billion.

The company plans to use the funds to develop the countrys IT and logistics infrastructure, as well as to fund its own BNPL-service.

Led by Founder and CEO Djasur Djumaev, Uzum provides services spanning e-commerce, express delivery, banking and fintech, and business development. More than 10 million people in Uzbekistan, or nearly one-third of the countrys population, use its services every month.

In 2024, the company plans to launch a large logistics complex for e-commerce in the country, which is expected to increase e-commerce turnover on its platform by more than 150% during the year. It also plans to launch a number of ecosystem products for unsecured lending to individuals as well as small and medium-sized enterprises.

Commenting on the news, Djasur Djumaev said: Digital services in Uzbekistan today are incredibly popular. We see this in the growth rates of the markets that we work in as well as in our own experience. In a little over a year, we have built an ecosystem whose services are used by more than 10 million people in Uzbekistan every month. Last year, we earned nearly $100 million in net profit, and we intend to increase this figure this year, partly by integrating services within the Uzum ecosystem. We also plan to add new business streams and services for business and private users to the ecosystem this year. We see tremendous interest in the Uzbek market and in Uzums digital ecosystem as one of its drivers and, of course, this would not have been possible without the extraordinary team of world-class professionals who created the first tech unicorn in the countrys history.

FinSMEs

26/03/2024
ZayZoon co-founders: Darcy Tuer, CEO, Jamie Ha, CFO and Tate Hackert, President (Photo: Business Wire)

ZayZoon, a Phoenix, AZ-based earned Wage access (EWA) provider for small and mid-sized businesses, raised $15M in Series B extension funding.

The round, which brought the total amount to $49.5M, was led by Viola Fintech with participation from Intuit Ventures and existing investors Framework Venture Partners, and Export Development Canada (EDC).

The company intends to use the funds to support its continued growth, innovation, and expansion.

Led by Darcy Tuer, CEO, Jamie Ha, CFO and Tate Hackert, President, ZayZoon provides a financial empowerment platform for SMBs. It is free for employers and takes only 30 minutes to implement. Employees can use ZayZoon to get paid whenever, however.

The platform also offers educational resources and tools to help workers break the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle.

FinSMEs

26/03/2024
India is home to 1.44 million people out of which more than 600 million people are aged between 18 and 35, with 65% under the age of 35. Indias demographic dividend is expected to persist at least until 205556 and will peak around 2041, when the share of the working-age population- 20 to 59 years - is expected to hit 59%. As the countrys working population increases so does the opportunities for achieving a higher economic growth.

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While much work has been undertaken to ensure that India truly benefits from its demographic dividend, like creation of job opportunities, development of industries, focus on Make In India etc., one of the most important steps is investing in children through education. Education is a powerful tool to chart the progress of any nation. Thus, there has to be an emphasis on holistic education which helps in shaping individuals as it fosters critical thinking, problem solving, resilience, creativity & innovation.

Holistic development thus, aids in developing physical, intellectual, emotional, cognitive, and social abilities in children. These skills, when combined, play a crucial role in their overall development of a person across various facets of life.

Hence, investing in children through education is a strategic investment to ensure long-term prosperity, stability & progress of any nation. By prioritizing holistic education, we can unlock the full potential of the young minds by fostering sustainable development & building a bright future of generations to come.

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To solidify the nations role as a global employment hub, fostering holistic education is crucial. With this vision in mind, SBI Life Insurance has been investing in children who are the future of our nation. One such initiative launched recently by the company was the SBI Life Spell Bee Spell Masters of India - an initiative dedicated for championing the overall development of the nations future leaders.

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The theme of the 13th season was An initiative that spells progress, which echoes the brands purpose of liberating individuals to pursue their dreams & aspirations. Recognizing that progress goes beyond academic success, SBI Life facilitated this platform for the young minds across the deeper pockets of the country to explore possibilities, carve out their own growth story, and thereby contribute to the nations progress.

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A key highlight of this competition was the diversity of the participants. With over 1.5. lakh students participating in the competition from 350+ schools across 30 cities, presented an opportunity for SBI Life to involve & engage with the future leaders of the nation from the deeper pockets of India. The competition aimed at not only emphasizing on the importance of language proficiency among children but holistic development of these young minds.

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SBI Life Spell Bee Season 13 had about 75 students participating at the Grand Finale with only two students left behind competing against each other to win the National Title. Popular actress and television presenter Mandira Bedi throughout the competition made the young contestants feel at home with her refreshing and affable persona. Rayaan Naveed Siddiqui & Adhita Nag qualified for the final round who battled through the most difficult spellings given by the spell master of the day- Mr. Sumanto Chattopadhyay. After a tough competition, Rayaan made his way to win the coveted Spell Master of India title at the SBI Life Spell Bee Season 13. The talented young boy made his school & parents proud as he secured the title along with a trip to Disneyland with his parents and a cash prize too.

This competition not only raised the language proficiency of thousands of children across India but also facilitated a platform to improve their ability to communicate as well as absorb knowledge, opening up more avenues to discover their passion and contribute to the progress of our nation. Through the rigours of participating in this event, the children seemed to have inculcated a high level of competitive spirit, sportsmanship, discipline, and confidence, which are qualities that will make them into well-rounded individuals who will influence the success of our nation in the years to come.

In keeping with their goal of building a brighter future for our nation, more corporates need to take such educational initiatives by facilitating a platform for young minds to learn to excel in the face challenges and thereby discover their true potential. In due time, such initiatives will help in spreading the importance of holistic development through education, to ensure that our future generations are well equipped for the challenges that await them.

This is a Partnered Post.
Former supermodel and actress Anu Aggarwal has impressed the audience in 90s with her versatile and memorable performances in Aashiqui, The Glass Door, Khal-Naaikaa, King Uncle and others. In an exclusive interview with Firstpost, the multi-talented personality opened up about her comeback on the silver screen, mental health and more. Edited excerpts from the interview:

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When can we see you back on the silver screen as many fans demanding on social media to witness your presence in the cinema?

Oh, goodness, Im so glad you asked me this. Because, first of all, thanks a lot for for like following up with me and liking me and supporting me because I think fans support is the biggest support Ive always had, and I really value it. So, what do I feel? I think that just the reactions of fans when theyre saying we want to see you back. That is what has actually pushed me forward to say, Yes, I am. Because Ive been very involved with my foundation work, I cant sit idle, I was like fully occupied with my yoga and my foundation. And then I said, Oh my God, Im doing social work. So, is this not social work that I should go in, like respond to my fans and have you on screen so they can see me? Right? So, I said, Ive just got to do it. Ive got to act, and when you say when will you see me? So, I have started the process and the gap has been long, right? And a lot of changes have also happened in the industry. So, I am just taking it all in and see which best way because I want to give the best to my fans. I want to come out with some really exciting artistic work, and not just anything. So, but the good thing is that yes, I was away from acting and I am back now.

Its Gods will. Im a firm believer today that nothings happened happens unless the almighty wishes that rise.

With strong prominent women-centric roles and films in todays time, do you wish to make a comeback with the same trajectory?

I would like to remind you that even in the 90s whether it is starting with Aashiqui , whether it is doing a Khal-Naaikaa or doing a King Uncle, The Cloud Door, all these films had very strong female characters. So, I think that Im really fortunate in that sense. I will not do anything subordinate I will not do anything, whereas a girl who has no character

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So I have like I said that I was daunted, even in India, especially,how it was then it was like, women centers rules are not really the call of the day. But somehow the other directors did see me in the specific role, because all these roles that I did, directors have called me themselves and said you are going to this role is for you. So, I, so, yes, so coming back to what you had said that today and I anyway, its its really heartening to see that there are a lot, many more women centric roles, there are strong roles of women that women are paying. But at the same time, I do also understand that that gap of the, and that the women actors, there are complaints about how its not exactly, theyre not on par with the male actors. So I dont really know, Im not in the scenes yet. But once I get into the business, like, pick it with a no, the thick and thin of the business as it is operating today. Like I said to you, its been a long time since Ive been in wellness, and a lot has changed. And I look forward to seeing the changes that have happened today.

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In recent times, people including celebs are talking about mental health open but a decade before, there were apprehensions about it.

You are so right on that, in fact, when I launched my module on yoga in 2014 and when people ask me, what is this for? I would say it is for mental health. And I would get such negative reactions and even NGOs surprisingly not even just the common man. Even in the NGO sector, there were people who told me, what are you talking about, youre not going to get any funds or any grants nothing for it and also how you want to run it? And I said, Well, Im, Im determined that this is what it is. And I will see how it goes, but, of course, Ill tell you, the major, major, major differences happen. And I find that after 2020, because of the problems that everybody went through, and are still going through, in a certain sense, people started to understand, and also because the outside activity now, when they were locked down, people stayed at home. So the outside activity, kind of, like, was stuck for for for some time, when people actually when you sit at home and when youre not going outside, then you start thinking about your mind. Right. So, thats sort of given a big boost to people now saying that mental health is important. And therefore, we see that there are so many people around the world, not just in India, around the world, people are coming out openly. But I would still say not very openly because the stigma still there, but a lot more fondly than before because depression and anxiety and these kinds of interviews have always been there is not now. But its just that, like you rightly said, people have been very quiet about it. But then why have people been quiet? Main reason is because the society did not accept it, like us, youd like to say that they thought theres something wrong with this process, people will lose their jobs. But then today, there is today, youll find a lot much more acceptance to the fact that there is something, anyone just understanding that there is something with health is not just your body, people think health is just the body, even healthcare, they start talking about the body Ive had a lot of conversations, there was a an American company that was coming down and starting this health care thing two years ago, in India, and when I started talking to them, and starts talking to them, by the mind, theres a no, no, theres just about the levels of the body and how it operates. I said, Do you not understand to the body or face the way it does, because the mind the way the mind functions? Anyways, I think that theres still a lot of education so as to say to make people understand that how the functionality of the body and the mind is connected.

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Now, we are seeing the term pan-India and crossovers of Bollywood and south cinema but in 90s, you acted in Tamil and international movies along with Bollywood. How you see today it being a huge trend?

Ah, I dont know, why did I sound like egoistic or Im just being say that Ive just been ahead of the times. And let me tell you, that has always come with its own problems and own difficulties, which I had to deal with. Because a lot of people around me, for instance, are not understanding at that time. You know, people not as appreciated. In fact, when I did the Cannes Film Festival , 99% of Indians did not know what comps was. So when I said Cant invoke yeah, here you only have like a bunch of like, the 1% elitist club, who traveled and, international, how many he was traveled internationally 30 years ago, not many, right? So the thing is that in 95, Im talking 90-95 People did not know what comes worse 99% 1% was there the who knew because they had they had the money and they had the etc the religious stuff right? The rest of them. So, I mean, again, so, that again, we have come a long way since then, I was there then forget this, when I was modeling, I became a supermodel and I was intercity bus before ICT, right? There was they did not know anything about Indian designers when I used to say I have friends who do designing in India, they were like this looks so we go really Oh you do design I said you should see Indian trend. India is a place of natural fashion. Every village has its own fashion where the people are wearing different clothes. Rajasthani people wear different clothes bring all people wear different clothes, different colors, different styles. We are a country we have a natural sense of fashion. But they never understood it. They would say oh, we dont know. India. Oh god, theres a third world country. So today if you see did I was there dance? Now if you see today, let me tell you the differences in mental health. This difference is going to escalate because people are suffering. Yes, your mind is not working properly. Lets see a simple thing if you dont sleep well. Right? Your day screwed. Your Mantis Cruz. Your life is proof if youre not sleeping well every night. Your energy levels are compromised. Right? So all these things now Im teaching yoga nidra. Ive been I before the one person in in 1997 Guruji who said you can go out and teach yoga nidra I was one of the five people in the entire class who was given the mandate. And Ill tell you something. When I talk to people have no understanding that sleep apnea can be prevented, that you can get good sleep, you get it. So, I am a trendsetter today, I was a trendsetter, then of a girl wearing short skirts and focusing and getting out there, being independent being self made, that will offend them. Today, the trend health, you just see it, Im setting that trend, I was recently invited by Ministry of our Health Ayush in Delhi in their yoga to give a lecture on cells and supercell. And they will standing ovation, you should see that lecture there. A little bit of there is on YouTube. So the thing is, that hasnt changed is what Im trying to tell you that Im still a trendsetter, but in a different way. Because the needs of society. Today, we need help more than anything else.

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Your life mantra

I always keep saying, firstly, self love. Just learn to love yourself. I think that is so important. And believe in yourself, I think self worth of knowing that you are here because this is a gift. This life is a gift. I understood that by losing it. So This live is the biggest gift we have and lets be grateful gratitude is amazing how it works and even things like kindness, being kind to people, who are going through problems being being appreciative of other peoples strengths and their success. The more you give out love and goodwill to the world that much more it comes right back to you. So, start with that.
A major bridge in Baltimore collapsed into the Patapsco River after a container ship crashed into it. Two people have been saved so far and reports say that at least 20 people could have fallen into the water

A container ship rests against wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on Tuesday, as seen from Pasadena. The ship rammed into the major bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday, causing it to collapse in a matter of seconds. AP

Its a tragic Tuesday in Baltimore, United States. In the early hours, a major bridge  Francis Scott Key Bridge  in the American city collapsed into the Patapsco River after a container ship crashed into it.

The bridge snapped and plunged into the freezing river water around 1.30 am Eastern Time (ET) along with vehicles and people. A massive search operation is underway.

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The governor of Maryland, Wes Moore, declared a state of emergency early Tuesday.

What happened in Baltimore?

In the wee hours of Tuesday, a Singapore-flagged container ship, Dali, crashed into a concrete pier supporting the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. Within seconds almost the entire bridge collapsed, sending multiple vehicles and people plunging into what officials said was roughly 50 feet of frigid water below, according to a report by The Associated Press (AP).

A video shows the moment the bridge fell into the water. CNN analysis shows that the ships lights flickered and it veered off course before it hit the bridge.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland which crosses the Patapsco River has reportedly Collapsed within the last few minutes after being Struck by a Large Container Ship; a Mass Casualty Incident has been Declared with over a Dozen Cars and many Individuals said to pic.twitter.com/SsPMU8Mjph  OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 26, 2024

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Are there any casualties?

The search operation is on for at least seven people but Baltimores fire chief said that the number of missing people could change.

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Some reports say that as many as 20 people could have fallen into the river.

Two people have been saved from the water so far, Baltimore fire department head James Wallace said. One was unhurt, but the other was seriously injured and has been rushed to hospital.

Michael Schwartzberg, a spokesperson for the University of Maryland Medical Center, told CNN, The R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center received one patient from this incident. They are still in the process of being triaged/ evaluated.

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The lights from multiple vehicles can be seen on the bridge in the CCTV footage seconds before the collapse. Some contractors were working on the bridge at the time, Maryland officials said.

Wallace said sonar has found vehicles submerged in the water, but he could not say how many. According to Baltimore officials, at least seven vehicles fell into the water

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The managers of the Dali, Synergy Marine Group, said that none of the crew, including its two pilots, were injured.

Parts of the Francis Scott Key Bridge remain after a container ship collided with one of the bridges supports in Baltimore. Rescuers are searching for multiple people in the water. WJLA via AP

What do we know about the rescue operations?

A search and rescue operation involving divers, boats, aircraft and sophisticated sonar and infrared equipment is underway.

Authorities are carrying out search and rescue operations using sonar and infrared technologies and drones, said Wallace. It is an active search and rescue situation, the fire chief said.

Experts say that water temperatures in the river could be dangerous for people. Water temperatures in Baltimore Harbour near the site of the bridge collapse are currently reported between 46 and 48 degrees Fahrenheit ((7.8 degrees to 8.9 degrees Celsius). This is dangerous for people who are submerged in it and who arent prepared for what the sudden exposure can do to your body and brain, according to a cold water safety website from the National Weather Service, reports CNN.

As the sun came up, dive operations started. The waters are reportedly choppy, which is going to make the rescuers job more difficult, reports the BBC.

What caused the accident?

We dont yet know though officials have said repeatedly that there is no indication of terrorism, reports AP.

CCTV footage shows the ship going dark twice in the minutes before, possibly indicating some kind of power failure on board. Synergy Marine Gro

The vessel, Dali, reportedly veered off the course and collided into the bridge. WJLA via AP

up said the cause has yet to be determined.

There are no indications the collision was an intentional act, US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on Tuesday. We are closely monitoring the tragic situation unfolding as a result of a containership colliding with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. Our thoughts are with the families of the missing and injured, Mayorkas wrote on social media.

An unclassified memo from the government agency CISA, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, has confirmed that the vessel lost propulsion and collided with a supporting tower of the bridge, reports the BBC.

Maryland Governor Moore said that the ship was moving towards the bridge at a very rapid speed. He said crews called a mayday, an emergency signal, but the vessels speed appeared to be too fast to avoid the incident, reports the BBC.

However, he said the distress call did ensure more cars were stopped from crossing the bridge, averting greater disaster. These people are heroes, he said. They saved lives last night.

Some experts suggested the bridges main support structures may not have been properly protected to withstand a collision by such a large vessel.

The significant momentum of this massive cargo vessel, especially when laden with cargo, would have been considerable upon impact, said Professor Toby Mottram, a structural engineer at the University of Warwick.

Its evident that the pier couldnt withstand the impact energy. The extent of the damage to the bridge superstructure appears disproportionate to the cause, a matter for future investigation, he added.

What do we know about the ship involved?

The Dali was scheduled to sail on shipping company Maersks route to Sri Lanka, the Danish companys website showed.

The registered owner of the Singapore-flagged ship is Grace Ocean Pte Ltd and the manager is Synergy Marine Group, LSEG data show. The ship is 948 feet (289 meters) long and was stacked high with containers, reports Reuters.

The Dali cargo ship was involved in an incident at the Port of Antwerp in Belgium in 2016, port authorities confirmed to AP.

A collapsed span of the Francis Scott Key Bridge sits in the water, as seen from Pasadena. The bridge carries 11.3 million vehicles a year. AP

What do we know about the bridge that collapsed?

The Francis Scott Key Bridge is a four-lane structure that sits 185 feet above the river. It opened in 1977 and crosses the Patapsco River, where US national anthem author Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner in 1814 after witnessing the British defeat at the Battle of Baltimore and the British bombing of Fort McHenry, reports Reuters.

The bridge carries 11.3 million vehicles a year, according to the Maryland Transportation Authority, on the I-695 highway that circles Baltimore, also known as the Baltimore Beltway.

W_ith inputs from agencies_
The AAP plans to gherao PM Narendra Modis residence to protest against the arrest of their leader and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. The US Supreme Court will hear an important case on the availability of abortion pills which will have wide implications. Heres what else is likely to unfold during the day

Supporters of the Aam Aadmi Party shout protest slogans outside the office of the Bharatiya Janata Party in New Delhi, India, 22 March 2024. AP File Photo

Holi is over and so is the long weekend. Now, we have to brace for Tuesday (26 March) which is going to bring some big developments.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) plans to gherao Prime Minister Narendra Modis residence following the arrest of their leader and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal last week.

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In the United States, the Supreme Court will hear an important case on the availability of widely used abortion pills. The judgement is set to impact millions of women across America.

Heres all this and more that is expected to grab headlines throughout the day.

AAP to gherao PM residence

The AAP said earlier it would demonstrate against CM Kejriwals arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a graft case related to the scrapped Delhi excise policy case. The party launched a four-day protest plan to condemn their leaders arrest last week.

As part of this plan, the AAP will gherao Modis residence today. Kejriwals party has been staging protests over the past few days.

The Delhi CMs arrest has been criticised by Opposition leaders, who have hit out at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre. The development has come just weeks before India heads to crucial general elections.

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The AAP workers protest against Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwals arrest in Bengaluru on 22 March 2024. PTI File Photo

Kejriwals party has moved the Delhi High Court against his arrest and a lower courts order granting his custody to the ED for seven days. However, the court turned down an urgent hearing, saying it will take up the matter on Wednesday.

US Supreme Court hearing

The US Supreme Court, which struck down the constitutional right to abortion in 2022, will again hear the crucial issue. The abortion opponents seek to limit access to the abortion pill mifepristone. Any ruling in favour of this has wide implications for the scientific authority of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

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The US president Joe Bidens administration is appealing a lower courts order that would revoke the FDAs actions in 2016 and 2021 that had eased access to mifepristone, the first of two pills taken in medication abortions.

People march through downtown Amarillo, Texas, to protest a lawsuit to ban the abortion drug mifepristone, on 11 February 2023. AP File Photo

While a ruling is expected by the summer, it would have wide ramifications on women seeking to end their pregnancies as well as the FDAs authority over drug safety.

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India-US tri-service exercise

The Indian and US navies will commence the Sea Phase of the bilateral tri-service Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) exercise, Tiger Triumph - 24, from today.

This phase, which will end on 31 March, would see the naval forces of both countries establishing a joint command and control centre and a joint relief and medical camp.

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The Harbour Phase of the exercise was held from 18 to 25 March at Visakhapatnam. As per a defence ministry press release, this phase included pre-sail discussions, subject matter expert exchange on professional subjects and deliberations on planning and execution procedures of various tasks.

Shiv Sena (UBT) to release LS nominees list

Shiv Sena faction led by Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray is expected to declare its Lok Sabha candidates for Maharashtra today. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said yesterday that the party will reveal its nominees after a final round of discussions with its Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies.

He said the party would release the first list of around 14-15 candidates for the general elections.

The Congress has already named 12 candidates for the Maharashtra Lok Sabha polls. The NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar), another MVA ally, has reportedly finalised the names of six candidates that will contest the Lok Sabha polls and is expected to make the announcement soon.

IPL 2024: CSK vs GT at Chennai

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will clash with Gujarat Titans in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match in Tamil Nadus capital, Chennai. The match will pit two new captains  Shubman Gill and Ruturaj Gaikwad  against each other.

Gaikwad bagged the captaincy role after Mahendra Singh Dhoni stepped down as skipper on the eve of CSKs opener against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. CSK registered a six-wicket win against RCB.

Chennai Super Kings won their match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru during the Indian Premier League cricket tournament in Chennai, on 23 March 2024. AP File Photo

At 24, Gill is the youngest IPL captain. GT beat Mumbai Indians on Sunday, with the latter maintaining their tradition of losing the opening match since 2012.

Now, these two new captains have a chance to show their mettle.
India is reportedly considering shifting from the minimum wage to the living wage by 2025. The living wage is a level of remuneration given to workers to help them afford a decent standard of living. Heres how the two compare

India is reportedly planning to adopt the living wage in place of the minimum wage. The shift can be expected by next year, as per an Economic Times (ET) report.

New Delhi has approached the International Labour Organization (ILO) to help it chalk out a framework to assess and operationalise the living wages, the report added. India is a founding member of the ILO, which was set up in 1919.

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What are living wages and how will they benefit workers in India? Lets understand.

Whats a living wage?

The ILO defines the living wage as the level of remuneration necessary to afford a decent standard of living for workers and their families, taking into account the country circumstances and calculated for the work performed during the normal hours of work.

This decent standard of living includes being able to afford food, water, housing, education, healthcare, transportation, clothing and other basic needs including a provision for contingencies, says the Global Living Wage Coalition.

The goal of a living wage is to ensure the employees get an income enough for satisfactory living standards as well as reduce poverty.

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According to an Investopedia report, economists say that no more than 30 per cent of the living wage should be spent on rent or a mortgage.

Living wage vs minimum wage

Living wages are often considerably more than the minimum wages.

The minimum wage is the lowest income a worker can get as mandated by law. It ensures the workers can fulfill necessities such as food, shelter and clothing.

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In India, the minimum wage is calculated on the basis of the state, workers skill level and the nature of their work among other factors. Despite earning minimum wages, workers often fall below the poverty line, according to Times of India (TOI).

Women labourers work at the construction site of a road in Kolkata, on 8 January 2015. Reuters File Photo

Living wage is voluntary, unlike minimum wages which are required by law. However, it can become mandatory if a government sets the minimum wage at the level of the living wage.

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Pros and cons of living wages

Living wage is a divisive issue. Proponents of the living wage say people get paid more, leading to a rise in employee satisfaction. A boost in employee morale is likely to result in higher productivity, reported Investopedia.

It also saves recruitment and training costs for companies as employee turnover falls.

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On the other hand, critics of the concept say companies may cut back on hiring if forced to pay increased wages, creating more job losses, as per the Investopedia report.

Opponents also argue that imposing a living wage means creating a wage floor, which would hurt the economy by impacting businesses, especially those that cannot pay hiked salaries, the report added.

How living wage will benefit India

India has over 500 million (50-crore) workers, of which 90 per cent are in the unorganised sector, noted ET.

The national floor level minimum wage (NFLMW)  an amount below which no state government can fix the minimum wage  was Rs 178 per day or more depending on the location in 2023. This was set at Rs 176 per day in 2017 and has not been changed since then.

Currently, some states pay workers in the unorganised sector even below the NFLMW.

The Code on Wages, 2019 was passed by Parliament states that the minimum wage cannot be fixed below the national wage floor. However, this code, which is binding on all states, is yet to be implemented.

If India replaces the minimum wages with living wages, workers will reportedly earn more. Reuters (Representational Image)

If India replaces the minimum wages with living wages, workers are expected to earn more. We could go beyond minimum wages in a year, a senior government official told ET.

India has sought the ILOs technical aid in this regard. Earlier in March, the United Nations agency forged an agreement on the living wage, which was also endorsed by its governing body.

According to the ILO, the living wage has to be calculated following its principles and wage-setting process.

An officer told ET that India has asked the ILO to help it in capacity building, systemic collection of data and evidence of the positive economic outcomes resulting from the implementation of living wages.

New Delhi is striving towards achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs) by 2030 and there is a view that replacing minimum wages with living wages could fast-track Indias efforts to pull millions of its people out of poverty while ensuring their wellbeing, officials were quoted as saying by the business newspaper.

A living wage assumes significance amid recent reports that Indias inequality has skyrocketed since the early 2000s, with the top one per cent having 22.6 per cent of the share of national income. Although poverty levels have fallen as per government data, income inequality is a stark reminder of the realities of the rich and poor. Thus, India needs a better-designed wage system to tackle this inequality.

With inputs from agencies
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The Libyan Minister of Finance, Khaled Mabrouk, has discussed two investment initiatives with a high-level delegation from the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development
Japans Cabinet has approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that its developing with Britain and Italy to other countries on Tuesday. Why is Japan changing its stance on arms exports?

Britain's defence minister Grant Shapps (right), Italy's defence minister Guido Crosetto (left), and Japanese defence minister Minoru Kihara shake hands after a signing ceremony for the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) at the defence ministry in Tokyo, Japan. Japans Cabinet approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that its developing with Britain and Italy to other countries, in the latest move away from the countrys postwar pacifist principles. File image/AP

Japans Cabinet has approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets to other countries on Tuesday. This decision marks a significant departure from Japans postwar pacifist principles that the country adopted at the end of World War II.

The contentious decision to permit international arms sales is expected to serve multiple purposes: securing Japans involvement in a year-old project to develop a new fighter jet together with Italy and the UK, strengthening the Japanese arms industry, and bolstering Japans role in global affairs.

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In addition, the Cabinet has approved a revision to Japans arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines, prompted by rising regional and global tensions, particularly with China. This revision allows for the sale of co-produced lethal weapons to countries other than the project partners. Japan has traditionally restricted arms exports due to its pacifist constitution.

For now, Tokyo says that it doesnt plan to export co-developed lethal weapons other than the new fighters, which arent expected to enter service until 2035.

Here is a look at what the latest change is about and why Japan is rapidly easing weapons export rules.

Whats changing?

On Tuesday, the Fumio Kishida Cabinet approved a revision to its guidelines for selling defence equipment overseas, and authorised sales of the future jet . The government says that it has no plans to export other co-developed lethal weapons under the guidelines, and it would require Cabinet approval to do so.

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Japan has long prohibited most arms exports under the countrys pacifist constitution, although its begun to take steps toward a change amid rising regional and global tensions. In 2014, it began to export some non-lethal military supplies, and last December, it approved a change that would allow sales of 80 lethal weapons and components that it manufactures under licences from other countries back to the licensors. The change, which was made in December, cleared the way for Japan to sell US-designed Patriot missiles to the United States, helping replace munitions that Washington is sending to Ukraine.

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The decision on jets will allow Japan to export lethal weapons it co-produces to other countries for the first time.

What is the new fighter jet?

Japan is working with Italy and the UK to develop an advanced fighter jet to replace its ageing fleet of American-designed F-2 fighters, and the Eurofighter Typhoons used by the UK and Italian militaries.

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Japan, which was previously working on a homegrown design to be called the F-X, agreed in December 2022 to merge its effort with a British-Italian program called the Tempest. The joint project, known as the Global Combat Air Program, is based in the UK, and hasnt yet announced a new name for its design.

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Japan is working with Italy and the UK to develop an advanced fighter jet to replace its ageing fleet of American-designed F-2 fighters, and the Eurofighter Typhoons used by the UK and Italian militaries. File image/AP

Japan hopes the new plane will offer better sensing and stealth capabilities amid growing tensions in the region, giving it a technological edge against regional rivals China and Russia.

Why is Japan changing its stance on arms exports?

In its decision, the Cabinet said that the ban on exporting finished products would hinder efforts to develop the new jet, and limit Japan to a supporting role in the project. Italy and the UK are eager to make sells of the jet in order to defray development and manufacturing costs.

UK defence minister Grant Shapps has repeatedly said Japan needs updating to not cause the project to stall.

Kishida sought Cabinet approval before signing the GCAP agreement in February, but it was delayed by resistance from his junior coalition partner, the Buddhist-backed Komeito party.

Exports would also help boost Japans defence industry, which historically has catered only to the countrys Self Defence Force, as Kishida seeks to build up the military. Japan began opening the door to some exports in 2014, but the industry has still struggled to win customers.

The change also comes as Kishida is planning an April state visit to Washington, where he is expected to stress Japans readiness to take a greater role in military and defence industry partnerships.

Japan sees Chinas rapid military buildup and its increasing assertiveness as threats, especially growing tensions in the disputed East and South China Seas. Japan also sees increasing joint military exercises between China and Russia around Japan as a threat.

Why are arms exports divisive?

Because of its wartime past as an aggressor and the devastation that followed its defeat in World War II, Japan adopted a constitution that limits its military to self-defence and long maintained a strict policy to limit transfers of military equipment and technology and ban all exports of lethal weapons.

Italy and the UK are eager to make sells of the jet in order to defray development and manufacturing costs. File image/AP

Opposition lawmakers and pacifist activists have criticised Kishidas government for committing to the fighter jet project without explaining to the public or seeking approval for the major policy change.

Recent polls show public opinion is divided on the plan.

To address such concerns, the government is limiting exports of co-developed lethal weapons to the jet for now, and has promised that no sales will be made for use in active wars. If a purchaser begins using the jets for war, Defence Minister Minoru Kihara said, Japan will stop providing spare parts and other components.

Whats next?

Potential markets for the jet include the 15 countries with which Japan has defence partnership agreements, such as the United States, Germany, India and Vietnam. A defence official said Taiwan  a self-governed island that China claims as its own territory  is not being considered. He spoke on condition of anonymity due to briefing rules.

More weapons and components could be added to the approved list under the new export guidelines.

When Kishida goes to Washington in April, hes likely to talk to US leaders about potential new defence and weapons industry cooperation. The new policy could also help Japan push for a bigger role in alliances and regional defence partnerships like Australia, the US and the UKs AUKUS.

With inputs from AP
Days after Kangana Ranaut was handed the BJP ticket from Himachal Pradeshs Mandi, she finds herself battling sexism. Derogatory remarks purportedly by Congress social media head Supriya Shrinate have triggered a row with the BJP demanding her sacking

Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut will fight the upcoming Lok Sabha election on a BJP ticket from Himachal's Mandi. Objectional comments against her by Congress leaders have triggered a row. File photo/PTI

Kangana Ranaut is all set to make her political debut but right now she is battling the usual sexism women netas face. A derogatory post on the actor, who was given a ticket by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Himachal Pradeshs Mandi, by a senior Congress leader has triggered a war of words between the two parties. The objectionable remarks were purportedly made by Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate.

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The demeaning comments on Kangana

On her Instagram account, featuring a photo of Ranaut, Shrinate said, Kya bhav chal raha hai Mandi main koi batayega (Can someone say what is the going rate in Mandi?), referring to the actor and her constituency in a demeaning manner.

However, the Congress leader said that she did not post the comments but they were written by someone else who had access to her accounts.

The BJP has demanded action against Congress leader Supriya Shrinate for derogatory comments against Kangana Ranaut. File photo/PTI

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, Shrinate clarified on X.

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, she added.

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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  Supriya Shrinate (@SupriyaShrinate) March 25, 2024

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Shrinate told The Indian Express that she had no clue who the person behind the parody account was. Somebody who had access to my Meta accounts posted that objectionable content there and I obviously immediately deleted it, she told the publication.

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Shrinate was not alone. Similar remarks were made by Congress leader HS Ahir and writer Mrinal Pande. In screenshots shared of Ahirs comments, it appears that he likened Ranaut to a prostitute. However, he too said that his account was hacked.

 X                .



          .



           

  @KanganaTeam         https://t.co/1Dc7lxPoCl  H.S. Ahir (@AahirHarish) March 25, 2024

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Kangana Ranauts response

The actor took to social media to respond to the comments, pointing out that she had played different roles during her career as an artist. 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, posted Ranaut on X, addressing the Congress spokesperson.

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

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

She also shared posts of other objectional comments made on social media. If a young man gets ticket, his ideology is attacked. If a young woman gets ticket, her sexuality is attacked. Strange!! Also Congress people are sexualising a small towns name. Mandi is being used in sexual context everywhere, just because it has a young woman candidate. Shame on Congress people for displaying sexist tendencies.

Kangana Ranaut has retorted to Congress Shrinate, saying that every woman deserves her dignity. File photo/PTI

The BJP hits out at Congress

The BJP has gone after the Congress, demanding that Shrinate be sacked as the partys social and digital media head.

BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said, This is beyond disgusting. The comments by Supriya Shrinate on Kangana Ranaut are despicable. Should be immediately sacked. Will Priyanka Gandhi speak up? Will Kharge ji sack her?

Also read: Lok Sabha polls: Why Kangana Ranauts poll debut on BJP ticket is unsurprising

Poonawalla also pointed out that a similar comment was made by Mrinal Pande, who he alleges is part of the Congress ecosystem. He said some questions remained unanswered.

How come Gujarat Congress leader, Supriya, Mrinal Pande (Cong ecosystem) & hundreds of others posted same line of attack on Kangana at same time period? Sanyog?

The BJP spokesperson asked how Congress (social media) accounts were handled. Post without final check? Ofcourse not This means she [Shrinate] sanctioned the said post which abuses not only Kangana but entire Mandi, Himachal & Bharat ki Naari Shakti, he wrote.

Few unanswered questions on Supriyas so called clarification



1) How come Gujarat Congress leader, Supriya, Mrinal Pande (Cong ecosystem) & hundreds of others posted same line of attack on Kangana at same time period? Sanyog?



2)How come Supriya did not realise for a long time https://t.co/h1bYX5PmsU  Shehzad Jai Hind (Modi Ka Parivar) (@Shehzad_Ind) March 26, 2024

Smriti Irani came out in Ranauts defence. This initiation into politics by fire @KanganaTeam is not a reflection on who you are but on what they have done & are capable of continuing to do for they cant fathom how to deal with women of steel. March onto victory. Vijayi Bhav! wrote the Union minister of women and child development.

Congresss Supriya Shrinate makes an obnoxious comment on Kangana Ranaut in an Insta post. It is so disgusting that one cant help but ask how does Congress collect so much filth in one place? If Congress president (Mallikarjun) Kharge has any say in the party, he must sack her immediately or else resign, said Amit Malviya, the BJP leader in charge of the partys national information and technology department.

The National Commission on Women said that it was appalled by the disgraceful conduct of the two Congress leaders. NCW chief Rekha Sharma has written to the Election Commission of India demanding immediate action against them.

National Commission for Women is appalled by the disgraceful conduct of Ms. Supriya Shrinate and Mr. H.S. Ahir, who made lewd and derogatory remarks about @KanganaTeam on social media. Such behavior is intolerable and goes against the dignity of women. @sharmarekha has sent a  NCW (@NCWIndia) March 25, 2024

Sharma too has backed Ranaut calling her a fighter and a shining star. People who are insecure acts (sic) low. Keep shining and all the best, she said.

Sexism is something several women politicians have faced. From Congress Sonia Gandhi to BJPs Smriti Irani and Nirmala Sitharaman and President Droupadi Murmu , the first hurdle these leaders face is prejudice.

With inputs from agencies
Russia has arrested four suspected gunmen for their involvement in the concert shooting at the Crocus City concert hall near Moscow. They have been identified by media as citizens of Tajikistan. All of them have been charged with terrorism and could face life imprisonment

Muhammadsobir Fayzov, a suspect in the shooting attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue, sits in a medical transport chair behind a glass wall of an enclosure for defendants before a court hearing at the Basmanny district court in Moscow, Russia. Reuters

Following the tragic concert shooting at the Crocus City concert hall near Moscow last Friday, which resulted in the deaths of at least 137 people, four suspected gunmen were arrested and placed in pre-trial detention. They appeared in a Moscow court on Sunday with visible injuries. All have been identified by Russian media as citizens of Tajikistan. The Kremlin declined to comment on Monday when asked about allegations of torture.

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According to Moscows Basmanny district court, all four suspects have been charged with terrorism and could face life imprisonment. Their detention is currently set until 22 May but may be extended depending on the trial date, as reported by News18.

According to a New York Times report, US officials have stated that the attack was carried out by the Islamic State , which claimed responsibility and released photos of the attackers along with video footage of the attack itself.

While Russias president Vladimir Putin attributed the attack to international terrorism, he did not specifically mention the Islamic State. Russias state media has attempted to lay blame on Ukraine, a claim that Ukraine has denied.

Heres what we know about the four suspects.

Muhammadsobir Fayzov

Fayzov, 19, is the youngest of the detainees. Russian media said he had been working as a barber in a town northeast of Moscow.

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On Saturday, several Telegram channels published a video showing him being questioned while lying on a hospital bed. Photographs circulating online on Sunday appeared to show Fayzov with one of his eyes missing. He was taken to court in a wheelchair and the hearing was closed to journalists, unlike those for the other three suspects. He was photographed sitting in the wheelchair with his head slumped backwards and both eyes closed, apparently oblivious to what was going on around him.

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Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev

Mirzoyev is 32 and has four children.

In a video of his interrogation, he said through an interpreter that he lived in a hostel near the motorway with another man, Mukhamad, and that 10-12 days earlier they had bought a car for work from someone called Abdullo. He was not seen speaking about the attack.

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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, Russia. Reuters

Mirzoyev occasionally flew from Moscow to Tajikistan and back, according to leaked air travel data. In 2011 he was prosecuted for violating immigration rules, according to a court database.

Photographs from the courtroom showed him with cuts and heavy bruising to his face.

Shamsidin Fariduni

Fariduni, 25, 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 ($5,400 or Rs 4.50 lakh) by a person he did not identify.

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Shamsidin Fariduni, 25, said in an interrogation video published on social media that he had arrived from Turkey on 4 March. Reuters

A photograph published later by Grey Zone, a Telegram channel that is close to the Wagner mercenary group, showed Fariduni lying on the floor with his trousers rolled down to his knees and someone standing on his legs.

When he appeared in court on Sunday, Fariduni had a large bruise on the left side of his face.

Saidakrami Rachabalizoda

Rachabalizoda, 30, was shown being beaten and abused in a series of videos published by Grey Zone.

On Sunday, Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizoda appeared in court with a large bandage around his right ear and with bruises and caked blood on his face. Reuters

In one clip, a man in camouflage uniform cuts off part of his right ear and stuffs it in the suspects mouth. You now have one ear left, says a voice in another video in which Rachabalizoda is being interrogated. On Sunday he appeared in court with a large bandage around his right ear and with bruises and caked blood on his face.

In 2018 Rachabalizoda was prosecuted and fined 2,500 roubles ($27 or Rs 2,250) for a violation of immigration rules, according to a court database.

With inputs from Reuters
The four men charged with the massacre at a Moscow theatre 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

A suspect in the Crocus City Hall shooting last Friday is escorted to the Russian Investigative Committee headquarters in Moscow, Russia. AP

In the aftermath of the tragic massacre at a Moscow theatre, the spotlight has turned to the four men charged with the heinous act. Identified as citizens of Tajikistan, these individuals are among the thousands who migrate to Russia each year from the poorest former Soviet republics in search of a better life. They represent the larger story of migration and religious tensions in the region.

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Along with grinding poverty, Tajikistan is rife with religious tensions, marked by a history of hard-line Islamist movements that opposed the government during a devastating civil war in the 1990s.

The recent Moscow massacre, which claimed the lives of 139 people, has been blamed on a branch of the Islamic State group operating in neighbouring Afghanistan and known to recruit heavily from Tajikistan. As the suspects , now facing terrorism charges, appeared in a Moscow court amid allegations of mistreatment, here is a look at the people, militant groups, and political history associated with 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.

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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, Russia. AP

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 or Rs 4.52 lakh) to carry out the attack  the equivalent of about 2.5 years of the average wage in Tajikistan.

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Mukhammadsobir Fayzov, 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 an 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.

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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.

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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.

Russian Emergency Ministry rescuers work inside the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, following an attack Friday, for which the Islamic State group claimed responsibility. AP

Tajikistan has not made any official statement about the arrest of the four men suspected in the attack. But Rahmon was quoted by his governments 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 favour of President Bashar Assads forces.

The US 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 theatre 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.

With inputs from AP
Today is Day 21 of the hunger strike by Sonam Wangchuk, the engineer and education reformist who inspired Aamir Khans Phunsukh Wangdu in 3 Idiots. Over the last three weeks, thousands joined the agitation in sub-zero temperatures in Ladakh. From statehood to the regions fragile ecology, theres a lot at stake

Sonam Wangchuk, lying under blankets, is surrounded by supporters during hunger strike seeking protected status for the regions people, land and ecology in Leh. AP

Sonam Wangchuk became a household name in India after his character inspired Aamir Khans Phunsukh Wangdu in the 2009 Bollywood hit 3 Idiots. Now he is grabbing international headlines, as he protests in freezing temperatures in Ladakh.

Wangchuk is a man of many epithets  hes an innovator, engineer, education reformist and climate activist. In recent years, he has been at the forefront of the protests in Ladakh, demanding statehood for the Union Territory and the inclusion in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, which provides for some tribal areas to be administered autonomously. He also wants to draw attention to the regions fragile ecology.

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The activist has been on a hunger strike in the cold desert of Ladakh from 6 March. Now the protest is getting bigger  on Saturday, the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) joined the hunger strike.

END OF DAY 19 OF #CLIMATEFAST

Today some 5000 people joined me here at Leh for day long fast and some 300 are sleeping here... for 3 to 10 days fast.

Today all over India, some 40 cities saw Friends of Ladakh events.

Ladakh it's people and its mountains & glaciers will remain pic.twitter.com/OGxtHZx4TA  Sonam Wangchuk (@Wangchuk66) March 24, 2024

In mid-February, the Union Territory saw a shutdown in the two districts of Leh and Kargil after a call from the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and the KDA, two influential socio-political groups spearheading the agitation for three years.

Now, the movement has gathered steam as Wangchuks fast enters its third week. And is only likely to intensify.

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We look at the disappointment that crept in after the abrogation of Article 370, the demands of Ladkahs locals and Wangchuks role in the protest.

What happened in Ladakh post Article 370?

The discontent in Ladakh stems from the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 when the special status for the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was repealed. Ladakh was established as a Union Territory (UT) without a legislature, unlike J&K.

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Leh had long fought for the UT status and Ladakhis were delighted , thinking the reorganisation would shield it from the alleged discrimination it faced from Kashmir-centric parties. The region is dominated by Buddhists. The Muslim-dominated Kargil was apprehensive; their primary demand was statehood.

Before the abrogation, Ladakh was represented by four members in the J&K Assembly and two in the Legislative Council. The Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils of Leh and Kargil was formed to administer the region but it has limited powers. The lack of political representation became concerning.

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People from Ladakh participated in a protest demanding statehood for the region in New Delhi, on 24 March. AP

Soon the locals of both the regions started growing uneasy and angry. They are worried that if non-locals and industrialists throng to the region it will impact its demography and will eventually lead to alienation. They are concerned about the protection of their land and employment.

Ahead of the 2019 polls, the BJP has promised that Ladakh would be brought under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution because 97 per cent of its population is indigenous. But that remains unfulfilled.

Also read: What has changed in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370?

At first, the LAB and KDA raised their demands separately. But the two sides came together and put forth their four-point agenda, which includes statehood for Ladakh, safeguards under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, reservation of jobs for the youth of Ladakh, and creation of separate parliamentary constituencies for the two parts of the region.

Several rounds of talks have been held in New Delhi between representatives of Ladakh and the Union home ministry, but little progress has been made. The representatives from KDA and LAB also met Union home minister Amit Shah in early March but there has been no headway.

The resentment started growing and took the form of protests. In the past four years, there have been several shutdowns and demonstrations.

An army soldier stands guard at Zojila Pass, situated at 11,516 feet, in Kargil, Ladakh. After the abrogation of Article 370, Ladakh was established as a Union Territory. PTI

What do we know about the latest protests?

Wangchuk has been at the centre of the protests in Ladakh. He went on a hunger strike last January and is fasting once again. The KDA has joined him.

The entire leadership of KDA, along with over 200 volunteers, assembled at Hussaini Park on Sunday morning and started the three-day hunger strike in solidarity with Wangchuk, who has been on a climate fast in Leh.

The demonstration is in support of the four-point demands that include statehood and Ladakhs inclusion in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. This Schedule contains provisions regarding the administration of tribal areas in the states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.

Once included in this Schedule, Ladakh will be able to form Autonomous District and Regional Councils (ADCs and ARCs), elected bodies with the power to administrate tribal areas. This would include the power to make laws on subjects such as forest management, agriculture, administration of villages and towns, inheritance, marriage, divorce and social customs. A majority of the population in Ladakh belongs to Scheduled Tribes, according to a report in The Indian Express.

Also read: What is Article 371 of Constitution? Will Ladakh get its special provisions?

The hunger strike is part of the ongoing joint agitation by KDA and Apex Body to press for our four-point demands. Unfortunately, after five rounds of talks with the home ministry, the home minister on 4 March told us that we will be given some constitutional safeguards but not the Statehood and Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, Asgar Ali Karbalai, the co-chairman of the KDA was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India (PTI).

Residents from Ladakh hold placards demanding statehood and other democratic rights for their region during a protest in New Delhi in February. File photo/AP

What is Wangchuks role in the protests?

Wagchuk says he is on a climate protest. His campaign seeks to highlight the damage to Ladakhs fragile ecology and glaciers by industrialisation as well as to protest what locals call encroachment by China.

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 manoeuvres in the region, Wangchuk told The Associated Press (AP) on Sunday.

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.

According to him, 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, reports AP.

21st Day OF MY #CLIMATEFAST

350 people slept in - 10 C. 5000 people in the day here.

But still not a word from the government.

We need statesmen of integrity, farsightedness & wisdom in this country & not just shortsighted characterless politicians. And I very much hope that pic.twitter.com/X06OmiG2ZG  Sonam Wangchuk (@Wangchuk66) March 26, 2024

He wrote on X on Sunday that 2,500 people joined the protest on Sunday. And 60,000 people protested in Leh and Kargil in 20 days even when the population was 300,000.

Earlier Wangchuk had also reiterated the demand for statehood. Earlier we had four MLAs in the state assembly [of Jammu and Kashmir], now we have zero representation. The L-G, who is an outsider, is sent to govern us. One man decides everything, he was quoted as saying by The Hindu.

90% of the 6,000 crore allocated to Ladakh is at the dispensation of a non-elected person. He may make any decision under pressure or financial gain. By the time he understands the issues, it will be time for him to leave. We demand full Statehood so that our voices are heard, he said.

People from Ladakh participated in a sit-in protest demanding constitutional safeguards for their region in Leh on 24 March. AP

How has the Centre responded?

It is unlikely that the Centre will grant statehood to Ladakh, accommodate the regions demand to be included in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, or meet its request for a legislature.

But Amit Shah who met the representatives of Ladakh on 4 March, told them that their concerns about land, jobs and identity would be addressed through special provisions of Article 371 of the Constitution , according to a report by The Indian Express.

Article 371 of the Constitution includes special provisions for 11 states, including six of the Northeast. It would allow protections to be extended to the local population.

What can we expect next?

The people of Ladakh have vowed to continue their fight. The KDA and the Apex Body had unanimously decided to intensify the agitation with the start of the hunger strike by Wangchuk in Leh.

The hunger strikes in Leh and Kargil will end on Monday evening and people have been requested to assemble in the district towns, where the concerned leadership will announce the future course of action, Karbalai told PTI.

Wangchuks 21-day strike also ends on Monday. He announced that his protest would take place in stages of 21 days each. Local people and supporters will take turns going on hunger strikes until he regains sufficient strength to fast again, he told Reuters.

With inputs from agencies
The United Nations Security Council voted 14-0 in favour of a resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza for the rest of Ramzan after the United States abstained from the vote. While other countries welcomed the decision, Israel has expressed its anger, saying it is not morally obligated to end the war. What does this mean for the ongoing conflict?

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, United States ambassador and representative to the United Nations, votes to abstain as the United Nations Security Council passed a ceasefire resolution in Gaza during the Muslim holy month of Ramzan, its first demand to halt fighting at UN headquarters. AP

After 172 days of the Israel-Hamas war, theres hope beyond the darkness. On Monday, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) demanded for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza after the United States, Israels ally which vetoed previous drafts, abstained.

The abstention by the US led to Israel cancelling a high-level delegation visit to Washington, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accusing its ally of retreating from a principled position by allowing the vote to pass without conditioning the ceasefire on the release of hostages held by Hamas.

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On the other hand, other countries welcomed the vote, with elected members of the council applauding it in the council chamber after the vote on Monday.

But what exactly is the resolution and, more importantly, what does it mean for the ongoing Israel-Hamas war? Can it be enforced by law? We get you all the answers.

Whats in the resolution?

On Monday (25 March), the UNSC passed a resolution with a 14-0 vote, demanding for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The resolution called for a truce to lead to a lasting, sustainable ceasefire and demanded that Hamas and other militants free hostages seized in the 7 October attack. A BBC report quoting Mark Lyall-Grant, who was the UK ambassador to the UN from 2009 to 2015, said that the resolution meant that 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 Ramzan, which the text stipulated for the ceasefire.

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This resolution was sponsored by Algeria with Amar Bendjama, the representative of the nation, saying: The Palestinian people have been suffering terribly for five months. This bloodbath has been going on too long. Its our obligation to put an end to it. Finally, the Security Council is taking responsibility.

In favour: 14

Against: 0

Abstention: 1



The UN Security Council has adopted a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the immediate, unconditional release of all hostages.https://t.co/nOBuQOkxnj pic.twitter.com/QkZ7J7wHgi  United Nations (@UN) March 25, 2024

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Its important to note here that four similar resolutions have failed, three of them vetoed by the US and another last week by Russia and China. Earlier, the US had supported calls for a ceasefire only if they were linked to the release of the hostages.

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When asked why they abstained from the voting of this resolution and not the prior ones, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said that as the final text of the resolution didnt include key language we view as essential, notably a condemnation of Hamas, we could not support it.

The US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, echoed similar sentiments. She said that said that while the latest resolution included edits requested by the US, Washington could not vote yes because it did not agree with everything.

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A ceasefire could have come about months ago if Hamas had been willing to release hostages, the ambassador said, calling on member states and the Security Council to demand that Hamas accepts the deal on the table.

Any ceasefire must come with the release of all hostages, she added.

Algerias Representative to the United Nations Amar Bendjama addresses the Security Council on the day of a vote on a Gaza resolution that demands an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramzan leading to a permanent sustainable ceasefire, and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, at UN headquarters. Reuters

How did Israel react?

Israel is unhappy with the vote as well as US abstention . Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahus office called US failure to veto the resolution as a clear retreat from its previous position and would hurt war efforts against Hamas as well as efforts to release Israeli captives held in Gaza.

Netanyahu also announced that he would no longer send a delegation to Washington requested by President Joe Biden to discuss Rafah .

In fact, Israels defence minister Yoav Gallant, who is already in Washington, in his first statement after the vote said that Israel has no moral right to stop the war in Gaza.

   ,          :



             .               . pic.twitter.com/QY6U0YPoJJ    - Yoav Gallant (@yoavgallant) March 25, 2024

A Times of Israel report quoted him as calling the UN decision scandalous. We will act against Hamas everywhere, even in areas where we have not been yet, he was quoted as saying by Times of Israel. We will create an alternative to Hamas so that the IDF can complete its mission.

What did other countries say?

While Israel expressed its displeasure at the vote and its ally, the US abstention, other countries such as France, Germany welcomed the decision, calling it a significant point in the ongoing war.

The UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, said the resolution must be implemented, adding that failure to do so would be unforgivable. Even European Commissions president, Ursula von der Leyen, said, Implementation of this resolution is vital for the protection of all civilians.

France urged for work to begin on a permanent ceasefire. This crisis is not over. Our council will have to remain mobilised and immediately get back to work, said French UN representative Nicolas de Riviere. After Ramzan, which ends in two weeks, it will have to establish a permanent ceasefire.

Human rights groups and NGOs such as Amnesty International and Oxfam also hailed the resolution, calling it long overdue. Oxfams UN representative Brenda Mofya told AFP that the resolution should provide much-needed respite from the relentless and devastating Israeli violence.

Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations Riyad Mansour speaks with the media following a meeting of the Security Council to vote on a Gaza resolution that demands an immediate ceasefire. Reuters

Whats the significance of the resolution?

What does the passage of such a resolution mean on the ground, though? According to Al Jazeeras diplomatic editor James Bays, this is a significant development.

After almost six months,  the vote, almost unanimous, has demanded a lasting and immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

For Israel, a continuation of the war despite the resolution would lead to a discussion in the international community about violating the Security Councils decision.

A senior official was quoted as telling Ynetnews that the resolution puts international pressure on Israel and not on the other side. 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, said an Israeli official.

Are UNSC resolutions binding?

Now that the UNSC has voted in favour of an immediate ceasefire, is it binding on member nations? Under the United Nations Charter, Security Council resolutions are legally binding on its 193 member nations, though they are often flouted.

As per the UN website, if the UN Security Council has decided anything  to impose sanctions on a country or force a ceasefire in a conflict zone  the order must be carried out. No one can ignore the collective will of the P5 (permanent members of the UNSC), which actually determines the decisions of the UN Security Council.

Earlier while passing the resolution, the South Korean representative questioned the legal validity of the resolution on the basis that it does not contain the word decide and was not adopted under Chapter VII.

However, according to an article in Verfassungsblog, the text of the resolution adopted is unequivocal and strong: it explicitly demands an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramzan as well as the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.

While it is now understood that the resolution is legally binding, the issue at hand is the enforcement of it. It ultimately falls to the parties of the conflict to heed the Security Councils call, and to the Council itself to enforce its requests.

And if the recent past is any indication of the future, then theres little to celebrate. However, as Al Jazeera noted that a resolution being passed after five vetoes in itself is significant.

With inputs from agencies
In a telephone conversation between the two, Patra described the ordeal of women in Sandeshkhali at the hands of Trinamool Congress leaders, adding that residents of the village have not been able to cast their vote since 2011

Rekha Patra has been fielded by BJP in Basirhat. Image source: Facebook

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday called BJP candidate from Basirhat Rekha Patra, one of the victims of sexual assault allegedly perpetrated by the now-suspended TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan in Sandeshkhali.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, on Sunday, released its fifth list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, announcing Patras candidature from Basirhat.

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Patra will be up against TMCs Haji Nurul Islam after the current MP Nusrat Jahan was dropped.

What did PM Modi and Patra discuss?

In a telephone conversation between the two, Patra described the ordeal of women in Sandeshkhali at the hands of Trinamool Congress leaders, adding that residents of the village have not been able to cast their vote since 2011.

#LISTEN | The conversation between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rekha Patra, a BJP candidate from Basirhat and one of the Sandeshkhali victims.



She says, "...The situation in Sandeshkhali has been a matter of concern since 2011. If we were allowed to vote freely then this pic.twitter.com/Y4KB7k1OKE  ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2024

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To this Modi said, It is unfortunate that people of Sandeshkhali have not been able to vote for so long. I am sure the Election Commission of India will take steps in the upcoming polls to make sure free and fair elections are conducted in the region.

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The prime minister heaped praises on Patra for saying that she will fight for justice even for t those who have been opposing her.

He spoke to her about her campaign preparations and support among people for the BJP.

PM Modi also expressed confidence in Patras victory in the constituency, calling her Shakti Swaroopa.

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Notably, Modi had also met Patra during one of his rallies in West Bengal during the thick of Sandeshkhali violence.

Who is Rekha Patra?

Patra, a resident of Patra Para in Sandeshkhali, was one of the vocal protestors who exposed Sheikh Shahjahan and his aides over sexual assault and land grabbing.

She had written a complaint against the two confidants of Sheikh Shahjahan, Shibu Hazra and Uttam Sardar, leading to their arrests in February.

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Described as the face of the Sandeshkhali protests, Patra had been allegedly threatened by local goons as well as the police for raising her voice against the culprits.
Kumar has movable assets valued at Rs 526.53 crore while the immovable assets  both acquired and inherited  are worth Rs 56.95 crore. The movable assets belonging to his wife Karunambika are valued at Rs 47.38 crore and the immovable property in her name is worth Rs 22.60 crore. Both have no liabilities.

A boy walks past a banner during a students rally to create awareness about the importance of voting, ahead of the upcoming general elections, in Chennai. AFP

Aatral Ashok Kumar, the AIADMK candidate contesting for the Erode Lok Sabha constituency, emerges as the wealthiest contender in the upcoming April 19 general elections in Tamil Nadu, based on the affidavit filed before the Election Commission.

According to the affidavit he filed before the Election Commission, Aatral Ashok Kumar declares net assets worth Rs 583.48 crore, while his wife, Karunambika, daughter of BJP MLA Dr. C Saraswathi from Modakkurichi in Erode district, possesses assets valued at Rs 69.98 crore.

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Kumar has Rs 10 lakh cash in hand, with his wife holding Rs 5 lakh. Both individuals declared possession of 10.1 kg and 10.6 kg of gold respectively, according to the affidavit.

Kumar has movable assets valued at Rs 526.53 crore while the immovable assets  both acquired and inherited  are worth Rs 56.95 crore. The movable assets belonging to his wife Karunambika are valued at Rs 47.38 crore and the immovable property in her name is worth Rs 22.60 crore. Both have no liabilities.

Ashok Kumar is the founding member and director of The Indian Public School (TIPS) and Amex Alloys Private Limited. He is also the founder of TIPS School of Architecture, TIPS School of Management, TIPS College of Arts and Science and the TIPS Global Institute.

After his graduation in electrical engineering in Coimbatore, he completed a Masters from the University of Louisville, Kentucky, USA, and obtained an MBA from the University of Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.

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He had worked in several multinational companies including Microsoft and Intel, and upon his return to India he established educational institutions.
China deployed several toolkits in its armoury to influence the Taiwan electorate, but in vain. Beijings strategic, military, political, and economic efforts to subjugate Taipei have only boomeranged so far with a vigilant electorate

The Communist party of China curtails international space for Taiwan through its One China policy and chequebook diplomacy

On January 13 this year, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)s candidate Lai Ching-te won the Taiwan President election by receiving 40 per cent of the votes, while his opponents, Kuomintang (KMT)s Hou Yu-ih won about 33 per cent and Taiwan Peoples Party (TPP)s Ko Wen-je received about 26 per cent of the votes. However, the ruling DPP lost the majority in the Legislative Yuan.

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Taiwan has been conducting elections since 1996 with the participation of its 23 million citizens in the democratic process. However, the stakes for China are high now. Firstly, for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), a free and fair election in Taiwan buttressed by a mature rule of law is a major ideological challenge and political legitimacy issue.

The CCP has been arguing that it follows an inexplicable socialist democracy. Theoretically, its 98 million cadres elect over 2,000 deputies to the party congress every five years, who in turn elect a 200-member Central Committee, a 25-member Politburo, and a seven-member Politburo Standing Committee. Chinas 1.4 billion people thus have no role in this democratic process.

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It had been suggested that the CCPs policies have led to the building of a well-off society with higher per capita income. It did not explain why it took seven long decades of communist rule to achieve this.

The CCP had ridiculed democracies for their shoddy responses to the Covid pandemic, besides growing income inequalities. Of course, Beijing did not explain to the international community how the virus emerged in Wuhan and penalised those who questioned Chinas responses, such as Australia.

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The CCP also reduced Marxism to crass economism by trumpeting its economic policies. CCPs model, which is now being exported abroad, is thus facing a crisis.

Secondly, CCP leaders have ratcheted up their rhetoric and actions to reunify Taiwan, even though an overwhelming majority of Taiwanese prefer the status quo. As China had risen, its ambitions also soared, with all-round assertive behaviour across the neighbourhood and beyond.

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Taiwan was at the forefront of bearing Beijings brunt with live missile fire exercises across the Straits during its first elections in 1996. Intimidating military responses were also seen subsequently with Dongshan exercises, crossing the median line across the Straits, flying thousands of sorties with multi-role fighters and bombers, circumventing the island with aircraft carriers, or threatening to blockade the Straits. None of these deterred the Taiwan electorate.

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Beijing also wooed Taiwans political elite and the chambers of commerce with lucrative deals in the Chinese market. On April 29, 2005, former Vice President and KMT Chairman Lien Chan visited China and met with CCP General Secretary Hu Jintao.

A decade later, Xi Jinping and Ma Ying-jeao, the leaders of two political parties, the CCP and KMT, met in Singapore on November 7, 2015. Both awkwardly greeted each other as Mr Xi and Mr Ma, jettisoning their official titles! Former President Ma Ying-jeao recently visited China in March 2023, where he said, We are all Chinese. Both the CCP and KMT cobbled up the 1992 consensus, which the DPP has rejected.

Beijing also proposed an Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement but criticised other countries free trade deals with Taiwan. However, a vigilant Sun Flower Movement curtailed any under-the-table deals with Beijing. Chinas penchant to weaponise trade, investment, and tourism with Taiwan, as with other countries, was stoutly resisted by the Taiwanese youth.

Thirdly, the Taiwan elections are a test case for Beijing in pushing its one country, two systems policy, first suggested in the 1970s for Taiwan but eventually applied to Hong Kong and Macao, even though the people in these former colonies were never consulted about their future set-up.

China implemented the National Security Law in June 2021 and revamped its provisions to intensify one country rather than the two systems that it promised.

Thousands were incarcerated with no proper trial. Hong Kong candidates for public posts are vetted by Beijing, thus reducing further any democratic aspirations or accountability to the public. Beijing clearly sent a signal that the 6 million Hong Kong citizens cannot exercise their free will. Taiwan has expressed its solidarity with the democratic rights movement in Hong Kong that Beijing frowns upon.

Fourthly, the CCP curtails international space for Taiwan through its One China policy and chequebook diplomacy. During the 1990s, under President Lee Teng-hui, Taiwan had diplomatic relations with as many as 30 countries. Now only 11 countries recognise Taiwan, with Nauru shifting diplomatic relations from Taipei to Beijing two days after the presidential elections in Taiwan. Of course, Taipei decided to have quality relations with the outside world and currently has 59 offices abroad. A total of 172 countries and territories accord visa-free, landing visa, or e-visa privileges to Taiwan passport holders.

Fifthly, Beijing has to contend with the US on Taiwan elections and other strategic issues. In the first ever elections in Taiwan, when China launched missiles to intimidate the electorate, the US mobilised two aircraft carriers into the Straits.

While the US stated that it does not support the independence of Taiwan, President Biden has spoken many times of involving in cross-Strait relations in the case of Chinas invasion, thus moving away from the decades-old strategic ambiguity policy.

In recent times, it has sent military officials to observe the situation in Taiwan, sold arms of a defensive nature to Taipei, and even reportedly positioned Green Berets troops on the offshore island of Kinmen for training purposes.

Thus, China deployed several toolkits in its armoury to influence the Taiwan electorate, but in vain. Beijings strategic, military, political, and economic efforts to subjugate Taipei have only boomeranged so far with a vigilant electorate.

The author is Professor in Chinese Studies at JNU. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
In the coming days our navy not only has to address traditional and non-traditional threats but also techniques to fight grey zone warfare

On 19 December 2023, writing for gCaptain, Mike Schuler reported The European Union Naval Force (EUNAVFOR) was continuing to closely monitor the situation of the hijacked Maltese-flagged MV Ruen in cooperation with local Somali authorities.

The ship was en route from Gwangyang, South Korea, carrying a cargo of metals, was hijacked on the morning of 14 December in the Indian Ocean at approximately 680 nautical miles (1,260 kilometres), east of Bossaso, Somalia. At this stage the exact demands, motivations etc., of the hijackers were unknown.

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EUNAVFOR flagship, a Spanish Navy ship ESPS Victoria was dispatched to gather more information and evaluate future action in conjunction with other naval ships in the area. Victoria remained with MV Ruen and entered Somali waters somewhere between Eyl and Xaafun peninsula in Somalia (normal hijack area).

With the help of Somali authorities, it was confirmed that MV Ruen had been hijaked. Thus, this became the first successful hijacking involving Somali pirates since 2017. It may be recalled that an earlier attempt by five Somali pirates was thwarted by India Navy.

On 15 December an Indian Navy P8 I Maritime Patrol Aircraft arrived in the area and established contact with the crew who were safely locked up in a citadel. Victoria was joined by the Japanese naval ship Akebono and the Indian Navy destroyer INS Kochi on 16 December.

It is important to remember that these hijacking attempts come amid the broader maritime security situation in the Red Sea as Yemen-based Houthis target commercial ships in the region in support of Hamas in Gaza.

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Later, the pirates broke into the citadel and took the crew hostage. One of the crew was evacuated for a medical emergency.

MV Ruen is being managed by Bulgarias Navigation Maritime Bulgare.

The Somalian government permitted the shadowing of Ruen even within their territorial waters. Victoria was using its UAV, Scan Eagle to obtain situational awareness by collecting data on the hijacked vessel. However, MV Ruen left this area for some logistics and other replenishment. It was not under the control of the crew.

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MV Ruen after having been taken over by pirates would have been used as a mother ship for other piracy attempts as had been the trend. INS Kolkata replaced INS Kochi during the movement of MV Ruen. And then the next 40 hours of actions will go down in the history of anti-piracy/hijacking operations as a text and standard operating procedure worth emulation by the navies of the world. When INS Kolkata began the operation the MV Ruen was almost 2,600 kilometres (1,400 nautical miles) from the Indian coast. Calibrated actions of INS Kolkata were supported by INS Subhadra, a high altitude long endurance unmanned aerial vehicle, P8 I maritime patrol aircraft and MARCOS (Marine Commandos) air-dropped by a C17 aircraft of the Indian Air Force.

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These actions had become necessary since the pirates had opened fire on the warship INS Kolkata while they were being warned to surrender or face consequences. The actions taken by the Indian Navy were under international law, i.e., in self-defence and to counter piracy/hijacking attempts with the application of minimal force necessary to neutralise the pirates threat to shipping and seafarers.

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After having left the territorial waters, MV RUEN was flying no flag (the Maltese flag was hauled down). It implied that the ship was stateless and hence treated as a pirate ship ex Ruen. Actions were taken per international law against pirate and stateless ships and in self-defence as the vessel committed a hostile act against the Indian Navy by firing at the ship.

After forceful negotiation by INS Kolkata, the MARCOS using Combat Rubberized Raiding Craft (CRRC) boarded the MV Ruen. The commandos sanitised the ship and ensured the safety of 17 crew members (seven Bulgarians, eight Myanmarese and two Angolans), and forced the surrender of 35 pirates.

Bulgarian owner Navibulgar hailed MV Ruens release as a major success not only for us but for the entire global maritime community. He went on to say that resolution of this case proves that the security of commercial shipping will not be compromised. Later, the Prime Minister of Bulgaria spoke to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and thanked him. Secretary of Defence of the United States Lloyd Austin during his conversation with Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh praised the proactive operational measures taken by Indian Navy to maintain order in the Indian Ocean and ensure a safe and secure maritime environment for global commerce.

There is a need to reflect upon not only the MV Ruen episode but also the Indian Navys demonstration of grit and determination over the last 100 + days when Operation Sankalp began to ensure maritime security and good order at sea and ensure safe passage to global trade through the Indian Ocean. This area of the Red Sea and sea lanes passing through the Gulf of Aden, Babel-e Mandab and into the Arabian Sea of the Indian Ocean and leading upto Malacca Straits in the east has been disturbed by indiscriminate missile and drone attacks.

The Houthis have attacked commercial ships passing through the Red Sea in support of Hamas who are fighting in Gaza against Israel. Simultaneously, the acts of piracy and attempts to hijack have spurred in and around Somalia. Quite possible that the funding for the weapons of Houthis is becoming critical and therefore the cartels which work in support of these outfits are seeking help from Somalian pirates and using the ransom money to sustain their disruptive armed activities.

It may be recalled that before the Houthi attacks, piracy had been largely under control. The Houthi attacks have triggered the piracy activities. The two activities are too close to be coincidental. The navy has succeeded in preventing hijacking/piracy attempts making the passage of global commons safe. It has given confidence to seafarers.

The effort and commitment have been phenomenal for the navy over 100+ days which includes 5,000 personnel, 21 ships and 900 hours of flying by maritime surveillance aircraft. The Indian Navy is the largest resident naval power in the Indian Ocean. This fact is etched in the naval leadership. It is their duty; therefore, they ensure the security of the entire global trade in this area irrespective of the flag of the ship or the nationality of the crew. This gets further fillip by our Prime Minister Modis often-spoken theme world is one family (Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam).

The technical life consumed by ships and aircraft leads to more frequent maintenance routines and checks. Replacement platforms for under maintenance is another important consideration for naval planners at Command Headquarters. And this is in addition to the navys traditional operational threats from two nuclear-armed neighbours.

Another important reflection of this episode has been Indias ability to jointly plan and execute operations 2,600 kilometres away from the Indian Coast Line. The ability of the Indian Navy to follow international laws while executing a tricky operation in the face of armed adversary. Ability to hard negotiate disarming of pirates while ensuring the safety of crew and also the pirates. The ability of the navys marine commandos to undertake real-life operational tasks on the high seas is always hostile. Their professionalism and bravery have to be acknowledged.

This operation and many others undertaken by the navy have given confidence to the world that the Indian Ocean Region is safe, secure and stable. They have ensured that IOR is free, open, inclusive and has rule-based order. Of course, the insurance rates have gone up by almost 35-40 per cent since shipping companies have started rerouting their ships around the Cape of Good Hope. Indian Navy responded to 18 incidents and played a pivotal role as first responder and preferred security partner in the IOR.

In the end, MV Ruen could fly its Malta flag again and the crew took charge of the ship on the way to their intended destination.

There are challenges. Drone and missile attacks by Houthis raise some questions. Who supplied them with these assets? Also, a missile may cost Rs10-20 lakh, whereas to shoot it down the missile cost is Rs5-10 crore. Similarly, a locally made drone flying out over 1,500 kilometres and delivering weapons is much cheaper, plywood and four-stroke engine and basic PCB having been used caused much destruction to the ship. So far, no Indian-flagged ship has been targeted nor any port, yet the naval ships are deployed in the area which has a risk of these attacks. Therefore, their security against these threats also needs to be ensured.

Now we are witnessing true grey zone warfare where there are vast asymmetry of power and cost. In the coming days our navy not only has to address traditional and non-traditional threats but also techniques to fight grey zone warfare. It must be a technology-driven approach and less expensive to fight.

It is a sound demonstration of Indias naval power as the key to a free Indo-Pacific and open sea. Her calibrated actions have benefitted the world at large. An effective partner in Quad and Malabar gives confidence to partner countries. Bharat is well on its way to seeking its rightful place in the comity of nations.

The author is Chairman Trustee Board, India Foundation and former Commander-in-Chief, Western Naval Command. He is also on the Governing Council, ICWA. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
New York, US (PANA) - The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths, announced on Monday that he is stepping down from the top aid job for health reasons
Apple CEO Tim Cook believes that AI will play a major role in reducing carbon emissions, especially for tech companies who are looking to reduce their impact on the environment

Apple CEO Tim Cook has been pushing hard for better and reduced environmental impact. Image Credit Apple

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, is going big on environmentalism and how tech needs to be conscious of the environment. In a recent conversation at the China Development Forum, Cook highlighted the significance of artificial intelligence (AI) in mitigating carbon emissions during a climate.

His remarks were preceded by meetings with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, where Cook disclosed plans for an increased investment in China, according to Bloomberg.

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Apple is committed to leading in carbon emissions reduction, with the Apple Watch being the tech giants first carbon-neutral product. Cook highlighted the companys strides toward environmental sustainability and stressed the importance of innovation in achieving these goals.

He noted that AI offers a robust toolkit for companies striving to achieve carbon neutrality or substantial emission reductions.

However, Cook pointed out that Chinese tech companies face challenges in AI development due to US trade sanctions. His visit to China coincides with Beijings efforts to demonstrate openness to business opportunities.

Cook also had conversations with Chinese Premier Li Qiang and other international CEOs following Lis address. He emphasized his frequent visits to China over the past year, praising the countrys dynamic environment.

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Amidst evolving US-China relations, Cooks visit prioritized environmental initiatives, potentially to navigate geopolitical sensitivities. Apple has achieved carbon neutrality in its operations and aims for net-zero climate impact across its entire business by 2030.

Additionally, it aims to eliminate plastic from product packaging by 2025. Notably, the removal of exterior plastic wrap from iPhone 13 packaging alone prevented 600 metric tons of waste, highlighting the impact of scalable sustainability efforts.

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(With inputs from agencies)
Apple is likely going to use their own AI models, or lease them from Google for the upcoming AI features of the iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max. In China, reports suggest that Apple is likely to go for Baidus AI models for all devices in the region

According to a report from Chinese media outlet China Star Market, Apple has selected Chinese search engine giant Baidu to provide generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology for its upcoming iPhone 16 and other products in the Chinese market this year.

The report suggests that Apple will incorporate Baidus Ernie Bot into its iPhone 16, Mac OS, and iOS 18 specifically for the mainland Chinese market, following discussions with various Chinese companies including Alibaba Group Holding and an AI company affiliated with Tsinghua University.

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While Apple will continue to use its own AI model outside of China, it is opting for locally-built technology within the mainland market due to compliance considerations. Rumours have also suggested that Apple may also get Google to put their Gemini AI bot into Baidus shares surged by up to 6 per cent in Hong Kong following the news, closing at Hong Kong dollar 100 for the day.

This development follows initial talks between Apple and Baidu reported by the Wall Street Journal last Friday, signalling a potential collaboration between the two tech giants. The decision to incorporate Baidus AI technology into Apple products in China coincides with Apple CEO Tim Cooks recent visit to China, during which he reaffirmed Apples commitment to the Chinese market and engaged with key Chinese suppliers.

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During a high-profile summit hosted by the Chinese government, Cook commended the significant contributions of Chinese suppliers towards Apples carbon-neutral goals. Additionally, Cook announced Apples plan to launch its Vision Pro mixed-reality headset in the mainland market later this year, further underscoring the companys focus on the Chinese market.

However, Apple is facing intensified competition in China, with iPhone sales declining by 24 per cent year-on-year in the first six weeks of 2024, according to Counterpoint Research. Increased competition from domestic rivals such as Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi has contributed to this decline in iPhone sales.

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The potential partnership between Apple and Baidu comes amidst Baidus collaboration with Samsung Electronics to integrate its Ernie large language model into Samsungs latest flagship 5G devices. However, AI service providers in China are encountering heightened regulatory scrutiny, with authorities issuing new guidelines to ensure compliance with permitted content standards for AI-generated content. Last August, China implemented detailed regulations governing domestic generative AI services, positioning the country as a pioneer in regulating this emerging technology.

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(With inputs from agencies)
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a new bill into law that effective bans children under the age of 14 from using social media platforms. Moreover, people over the age of 14 and 15 need to have their parents sign off on when creating or using social media platforms

Florida, like many other states in the US, wants to curtail social media usage among children and teens. Image Credit: Unsplash

The US state of Florida may soon require parents to sign off on their children joining social media platforms. Governor Ron DeSantis has signed into law House Bill 3 (HB 3), imposing stringent guidelines on minors use of social media platforms.

Furthermore, the legislation, which takes effect on January 1, prohibits children under 14 from accessing or using social media platforms altogether.

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Under HB 3, individuals aged 14 and 15 must obtain parental or guardian consent to create or use social media accounts. Social media companies are mandated to delete such accounts within five business days upon request, with penalties reaching up to $10,000 per violation.

For companies found to have knowingly or recklessly violated the law, fines escalate to $50,000 per instance.

The law does not specify particular platforms but encompasses those featuring features like infinite scrolling, display reaction metrics, live-streaming, and auto-play videos. Email platforms are exempt from these regulations.

Additionally, HB 3 incorporates an age verification component for websites or apps deemed to contain a significant portion of content harmful to users under 18. Floridians accessing such sites, like those containing adult content, must verify their age through proprietary or third-party platforms. However, news agencies are exempt from this requirement.

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To address privacy concerns, websites have the option to employ an anonymous age verification system, preventing the retention of identifying information. Failure to comply with this provision could result in $50,000 civil penalties per instance.

This legislation follows DeSantiss veto of a similar bill that lacked provisions for parental consent earlier in the month. NetChoice, a trade association representing social media platforms, has criticized HB 3 as unconstitutional, arguing that its age verification component poses risks to privacy and security.

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Republican House Speaker Paul Renner emphasized the necessity of the law, citing concerns about minors susceptibility to addictive technologies. Renner anticipates legal challenges from social media companies, as DeSantis acknowledges the potential for First Amendment disputes.

While Florida is not the first state to regulate minors social media use, similar laws in Arkansas and California faced legal obstacles. Meanwhile, on the federal level, the Protecting Kids on Social Media Act proposes parental consent requirements for minors under 18, amidst broader discussions including potential bans on platforms like TikTok.

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(With inputs from agencies)
In a shock move that may have grave ramifications on the US elections later this year, Meta has announced that they will be shutting down CrowdTangle, a popular social media monitoring and transparency too that helped researchers keep track of misinformation and hate speech online

Whenever the US goes for an election, Meta's platforms, Instagram and Facebook are scrutinised for how they deal with misinformation and false news on the platform. Image Credit: Reuters

In a recent announcement, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, revealed its intention to discontinue CrowdTangle, a popular social media monitoring and transparency tool. This move, slated to take effect on August 14, 2024, has sparked significant debate among journalists, researchers, and civil society organisations, particularly with the upcoming US presidential election looming.

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CrowdTangle has played a pivotal role in enabling journalists and researchers to track the dissemination of misinformation and disinformation across social media platforms. Its impending shutdown has raised concerns about the potential impact on efforts to hold tech companies accountable for their role in spreading false information.

Meta asserts that it will replace CrowdTangle with a new Content Library API. However, this replacement will necessitate researchers and nonprofits to apply for access to the companys data.

Criticism has come up from entities such as the Mozilla Foundation and several other civil society organizations, arguing that the new offering lacks many of CrowdTangles essential functionalities. They have urged Meta to maintain the original tool until January 2025.

In response to the backlash, Meta spokesperson Andy Stone defended the decision, stating that the Content Library will provide more comprehensive data than CrowdTangle and will be accessible to nonprofits, academics, and election integrity experts.

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Brandon Silverman, the co-founder and former CEO of CrowdTangle, who continued to work on the tool after Facebooks acquisition in 2016, expressed his belief that its imperative for platforms to open up their data to external scrutiny, as per a report by the Wired. He emphasized the need for regulators and elected officials to establish legal requirements regarding platform transparency and data accessibility.

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Silverman highlighted the European Unions Digital Services Act, which mandates transparency requirements around data sharing. He noted a growing trend among various platforms, including Alibaba and TikTok, to offer programs granting outside researchers access to real-time public content.

However, Silverman acknowledged challenges in implementing such measures, citing Twitters restrictive data access policies and Metas reduction in data sharing initiatives. He emphasized the importance of striking a balance between data accessibility and privacy protection, calling for broader public engagement and debate on the issue.

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As Meta prepares to sunset CrowdTangle, concerns persist regarding the potential implications for transparency and accountability in the digital sphere, particularly in the lead-up to significant political events like the US presidential election. The decision underscores broader debates surrounding the responsibilities of tech companies and the need for regulatory intervention to safeguard democratic processes in the digital age.
DIANA, NATOs newest initiative into venture capitalism with a focus on addressing climate-related security concerns or climate tech startups, is looking to invest over 1 billion Euros. In total, NATO has invested in 43 startups

NATO Investment Fund's new initiative, DIANA is set to invest over 1 billion Euros, in climate tech startups. Image Credit: Reuters

NATO has ventured into a new domain and has launched its first business accelerator program mainly for climate technology startups, under its NATO Investment Fund. The new initiative, known as the Defense Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic or DIANA, signifies NATOs foray into venture capitalism, with a focus on addressing climate-related security concerns.

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Launched in 2023 with a purse of Euros 1 billion which has been sourced from NATOs member countries, DIANA was set up to invest in technology that enhances energy resilience and addresses security threats exacerbated by climate change.

This move reflects the need for NATO to innovate or invest in new tech in the face of evolving geopolitical challenges, including the recent conflict in Ukraine.

Startups accepted into DIANAs program focus on cybersecurity, surveillance, and energy resilience, with an emphasis on clean energy solutions. These startups receive initial grants and gain access to specialized testing facilities and resources.

For example, Ionate Energy, a British startup in DIANA, is working on modernizing grid transformer equipment to better manage renewable energy supplies.

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Another example would be GaltTec, a startup specializing in energy-efficient fuel cells. Found by Glen Kelp, a physicist, along with two colleagues, they developed exceptionally thin ceramic tubes, much thinner than hair strands. These tubes have the potential to revolutionise fuel cell technology, and offer lighter and more energy-efficient solutions for powering electronic devices and grid systems.

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Such investments show NATOs interest in technology startups beyond traditional defence sectors.

In total, NATOs DIANA, has invested in about 43 such startups.

Despite the military context of NATOs involvement, DIANA does not take equity in participating companies. Instead, it facilitates connections between startups and defence agencies, offering opportunities for commercial and government partnerships.

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However, some investors have expressed concerns about backing companies servicing the military due to potential ethical and financial implications.

Looking forward, DIANA has plans to expand its focus to include startups working on smart grids, nuclear fusion, sustainable aviation fuel, and artificial intelligence. While facing scepticism from some energy companies regarding military partnerships, DIANA emphasizes its commitment to addressing common energy challenges and fostering innovation in the climate technology sector.

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With DIANA, NATO aims to leverage startup investment to bolster energy resilience and mitigate security risks associated with climate change, signalling a shift towards proactive, technology-driven approaches to security and defence.

(With inputs from agencies)
The US and the UK are alleging that China-sponsored hackers wrecked havoc on crucial infrastructure that adversely affected millions of people in both the countries. In a similar incident, New Zealand is accusing China of sponsoring hackers to hack into their Parliament

Officials from the United States and the United Kingdom have jointly filed charges and imposed sanctions against China, alleging its involvement in a widespread cyberespionage campaign targeting millions of individuals and organizations worldwide. The hacking group, dubbed Advanced Persistent Threat 31 (APT31), is purportedly linked to Chinas Ministry of State Security.

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In a related development, New Zealand has attributed a malicious cyberattack in 2021 to state-sponsored Chinese hackers. Security Services Minister Judith Collins emphasized safeguarding sensitive government information from cyber threats.

The targets of the cyberattacks reportedly include lawmakers, academics, journalists, and government officials critical of Beijing, as well as defence contractors and various companies in sectors such as steel, energy, and apparel. Additionally, the spouses of senior US officials and lawmakers were said to have been among those targeted.

According to Deputy US Attorney General Lisa Monaco, the primary objectives of the hacking operation were to silence critics of the Chinese regime, infiltrate government institutions, and steal trade secrets. US prosecutors have unsealed an indictment against seven alleged Chinese hackers, accusing them of compromising millions of Americans work accounts, personal emails, online storage, and telephone call records.

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Meanwhile, British officials have accused APT31 of targeting British lawmakers critical of China, along with a separate group of Chinese spies responsible for a hack on Britains electoral watchdog, compromising the data of millions in the UK.

Chinese diplomats in both the UK and the US have dismissed the allegations, labelling them as unfounded and malicious. Nevertheless, both countries have imposed sanctions on a firm allegedly connected to Chinas Ministry of State Security, which they claim to be a front company for the hacking activity.

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The US Treasury Department announced sanctions on Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology, along with two Chinese nationals, in response to the cyberespionage activities. FBI Director Christopher Wray condemned Chinas actions, characterising them as brazen attempts to undermine US cybersecurity and target American interests and innovation.

The recent accusations come amidst escalating tensions between Beijing and Western nations over cyberespionage issues. While Western intelligence agencies have been vocal about alleged Chinese state-backed hacking activities, China has also accused Western entities of similar operations.

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The indictment by US prosecutors highlighted several notable targets, including a US presidential campaign in 2020 and an American public opinion research firm during the 2018 midterm elections. John Hultquist, chief analyst for cybersecurity intelligence firm Mandiant, underscored the significance of political organizations as targets for collecting geopolitical intelligence.

As allegations and counter-allegations continue to unfold, the global cybersecurity landscape remains fraught with challenges, with governments and cybersecurity experts emphasizing the critical need for robust defences against cyber threats.

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(With inputs from agencies)
Reports from the several media outlets and soldiers seem to suggest that the Russians may have hacked and hijacked Starlink. Reports also suggest that the Russian troops are using Starlink to attack Ukrainian soldiers

Front-line troops in Ukraine have reported experiencing connectivity issues with the vital Starlink internet service, which is owned by Elon Musk and use it to operate Kyivs fleet of attack drones. The reason? They believe that their Starlink infrastructure is being hijacked and used Russian forces despite sanctions imposed by the US.

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Soldiers interviewed across the front lines disclosed that connection speeds have noticeably dropped in recent months, alongside encountering various other connection problems, as per a CNN report.

These complaints have coincided with an uptick in Ukrainian sightings of Russian deployment of the satellite internet service, managed by Musks SpaceX. Additionally, there have been social media posts from Russian sources claiming successful circumvention of sanctions on the use of these devices by purchasing them through third countries.

While the exact cause of the deteriorating service in Ukraine remains unclear, both Starlink and SpaceX, as well as Elon Musk, declined to comment on the matter, as per the CNN report.

Troops and analysts have suggested that there might be a higher concentration of Starlink terminals in contested areas compared to previous months, which could potentially impact connection speeds.

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Since the 2022 invasion, the Starlink internet service has provided a significant advantage to Ukraines military, enabling real-time sharing of drone feeds between units and communication in areas where traditional cellphone service has been disrupted by combat.

Operators in the Zaporizhzhia area have reported issues with the service over the past few weeks. Misha, a communications operator, highlighted problems such as frequent disconnections and declining speeds, which have posed challenges to their operations. Another drone operator, identified as Anton from the 65th Mechanised Brigade, noted a significant decrease in speed since January, attributing it to the increased demand for Starlink terminals among units in the area.

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Multiple Ukrainian units across the front lines have corroborated these reports of speed problems with Starlink and have noted increased Russian utilization. However, they have chosen to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the issue.

Efforts to address Russian use of Starlink in occupied areas have led Ukraine to propose new legal conditions on satellite communications, aiming to create a whitelist of authorized devices permitted for use by Kyiv. Behind-the-scenes negotiations with SpaceX and US officials have been described as delicate, with concerns about ensuring access for Ukrainian forces while preventing Russian exploitation of the service.

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Despite Elon Musks previous assertions that Starlink wouldnt function in Russia, recent social media activity suggests otherwise, with Russian crowdfunders openly discussing the acquisition and deployment of Starlink terminals in Ukrainian territories under Russian occupation.

In response to these developments, Democrats on the US Congressional Oversight Committee have demanded an urgent briefing from Starlink concerning Russian use of the devices, expressing apprehension over potential violations of US sanctions.

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As the situation continues to evolve, stakeholders remain vigilant, seeking to mitigate the misuse of technology in the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

(With inouts from agencies)
Francis Scott Key Bridge in US Baltimore fell like pack of cards after it was struck by a large ship early on Tuesday, with reports of several people and vehicles falling into the river

The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, US, collapsed after it was struck by a large ship early on Tuesday.

As many as 20 workers and seven vehicles are believed to have plunged into Patapsco River following the collapse, said the Baltimore City Fire Department Communications Chief Kevin Cartwright. Earlier, a spokesperson from the department said the accident is a mass casualty event.

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Governor Wes Moore has declared a state of emergency in Maryland. We are working with an interagency team to quickly deploy federal resources from the Biden Administration, Moore said.

He thanked the brave men and women who are carrying out efforts to rescue those involved and pray for everyones safety.

A rescue mission by divers is underway and two workers have been rescued, the citys fire department communications chief, Kevin Cartwright said in a press conference. Out of the two people who have been rescued, one is without injury and the other has been transferred to hospital in a serious condition, Kevin added.

All crew members on the Singapore-flagged ship, DALI, were accounted for and there were no injuries on the ship, The New York Times reported the ships owners as saying in an email statement.

The cause of the collision has yet to be determined.

Wow, devastating. Major bridge in US city of Baltimore collapses after cargo ship hit it. pic.twitter.com/WQUJeIskTw  Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) March 26, 2024

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Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said in a social media post, that he was en route to the incident at the bridge. Emergency personnel are on scene, and efforts are underway, he added.

I'm aware of and en route to the incident at the Key Bridge. I have been in contact with @BaltimoreFire Chief Wallace, @GovWesMoore @JohnnyOJr, and @AACoExec. Emergency personnel are on scene, and efforts are underway.  Brandon M. Scott (@MayorBMScott) March 26, 2024

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Vehicles on the highway are being re-routed, and drivers are advised to avoid the route over the Patapsco River, which the Maryland Transport Authority called an active scene.

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Why was Baltimores Key Bridge important?

The 2.5 km, 4-lane bridge across the Patapsco River serves as the outermost crossing of the Baltimore harbor and was an essential link of Interstate-695, or the Baltimore Beltway.

The bridge was one of the longest continuous truss bridges in the world upon its completion, per the National Steel Bridge Alliance, and constructed for $141 million, which is roughly $735 million in todays dollars, The New York Times reported.

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Baltimore Harbour is the largest port in the US for specialised cargo, and an estimated 800,000 vehicles passed through the port in 2023, moving a record 1.3 million tons of imported cargo.

The bridge, built in 1977 and referred to locally as the Key Bridge was named after the author of the American national anthem, Francis Scott Key. He is believed to have sat near the site of the bridge as he witnessed the bombardment of Fort McHenry in 1814, inspiring him to write the nations anthem the Star Spangled Banner.
Brazils foreign ministry has summoned Hungarian ambassador Miklos Halmai to explain why Bolsonaro was his guest at Hungarys embassy in Brasilia

Two-night hiding at Hungarys embassy in Brasilia in February has piled on to the existing troubles of Jair Bolsonaro, who is now facing a police investigation. There is speculation from his opponents who alleged that Brazils former president may have been attempting to evade arrest.

Amid this, Brazils foreign ministry has summoned Hungarian ambassador Miklos Halmai to explain why Bolsonaro was his guest at Hungarys embassy in Brasilia.

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What actually happened?

On February 8, federal police of Brazil confiscated Bolsonaros passport and arrested two of his former aides on the accusation that they had plotted a coup after he lost the 2022 presidential election.

According to security footage obtained by The New York Times, four days later, Bolsonaro was seen at the entrance of the Hungarian embassy, a short drive from the presidential palace. He was waiting to be let in.

The report further said the footage showed, the former Brazilian president stayed at the embassy for the next couple of days.

The three days of footage from four different security cameras in the Hungarian embassy showed Bolsonaro arrived late on February 12 and left around the afternoon of February 14. In between, the former president mostly stayed out of sight, the report said.

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The report also quoted an official of the Hungarian embassy confirming the plan to host Bolsonaro.

Bolsonaro seeking to leverage his friendship with Hungarys PM

The report further said Bolsonaros stay in the embassy suggests 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.

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Bolsonaro confirms stay at Hungarian embassy

Bolsonaro confirmed his stay at the Hungarian embassy and told Metropoles, a Brazilian news outlet: 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 further said.

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Bolsonaro stayed at embassy to discuss politics

Lawyers of Bolsonaro said the former president had been in the embassy to keep in touch with the authorities of a friendly country.

They said Bolsonaro stayed at the embassy to discuss politics with Hungarian diplomats.

Alternative interpretations amounted to a work of fiction, with no connection to the reality of the facts and were fake news, the layers said in a statement.

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Bolsonaro and Orbans bonhomie

For years, Bolsonaro and Orban have been sharing a close relationship. Brazils ex-president called Hungarys PM his brother in 2022.

In the same year, Hungarys foreign minister asked an official from Bolsonaros administration if Hungary could do anything to help re-elect him.

Bolsonaro and Orban, in December, met in Buenos Aires at the inauguration of Argentinas new right-wing president, Javier Milei. There, Orban called Bolsonaro a hero.

Criminal investigations against Bolsonaro

In late 2022, Bolsonaro lost the post of president after being defeated by his leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Bolsonaro has been facing a slew of criminal investigations in Brazil, relating to claims that he faked Covid vaccination records, sought to siphon off expensive foreign gifts and plotted to topple the government of his successor.

Over the last 15 months, since he left office, Bolsonaros home has been searched, his cell phone and passport have been confiscated and several of his allies as well as former aides have been arrested.

With inputs from agencies
This is at least the second candidate currently rendered unable to participate in the Presidential polls scheduled to happen on July 28

In poll-bound Venezuela, the deadline for filing the nomination of candidates for the Presidential elections lapsed at 12 am on Tuesday (local time). Following this, the countrys main opposition coalition, the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), said that it was prevented from registering its presidential candidate to run against the incumbent Nicolas Maduro in July.

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In a video released early on Tuesday, coalition official Omar Barboza revealed that the PUD had not been able to officially register its candidate, renowned university professor Corina Yoris. We have been working all day  trying to exercise our constitutional right to nominate our candidate. This was not possible, he said.

Yoris could not be registered on the National Electoral Council (CNE) website because the PUD had not received the necessary access codes to nominate her even as late as Monday night.

The system is completely closed, Yoris told a press conference, adding that her rights as a Venezuelan citizen are being violated.

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This marks at least the second candidate currently rendered unable to participate in the Presidential polls scheduled to happen on July 28.

A crackdown on the opposition

Popular opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who secured a landslide victory in an opposition primary vote last year, was predicted to win the elections by several pre-election polls.

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However, she was banned from public office for 15 years and declared ineligible for contesting by courts allegedly aligned with Maduro. She faced corruption charges (which the opposition says are untrue and politically motivated).

Machado only recently picked the 80-year-old Yoris as her stand-in.

Yoris team had gone to the CNE to submit a written request for a three-day extension to the period to nominate candidates. They were unable to submit the letter.

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At least 10 opposition candidates did manage to register. Most of them, however, are considered to be aligned with Maduros government.

Big names in the electoral race

Un Nuevo Tiempo (UNT), one of PUDs coalition members, was able to register a candidate, Zulia state Governor Rosales Manuel. Rosales had contested the 2006 elections and lost to revolutionary leader Hugo Chavez.

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Maduro also formalised his run for the presidency. A rally of thousands of people came to show their support for him and the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela.

Maduro is looking for a third six-year term, amid rising concerns over growing authoritarianism in the country and his governments crackdown on the opposition.

The final list of presidential candidates will be published at the end of April.

Heavy criticism

A group of Venezuelas neighbouring countries comprising Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay took out a joint statement expressing concern over Yoriss inability to register.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres last week warned against interference in the election.

The United States has already threatened the re-imposition of sanctions on Venezuela if free and fair elections are not held.

With inputs from agencies
New York, US (PANA) - Top UN officials, including the Secretary-General and the President of the General Assembly on Monday paid tribute to the millions of men, women and children who suffered as a result of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, one of most devastating chapters in human history
Amid a youth-centric job market and a sluggish economy, a job ad seeking to hire those under 30 sparked outrage on the social media, who say the job advert highlights the plight of the ageing Chinese population

A Chinese grocery shop looking to hire staff aged between 18 and 30 has sparked an outcry from older job seekers and triggered conversations on ageism on social media platforms.

A user posted a picture of the ad seeking cashiers, garnered more than 140 million views and 41,000 comments - many of them emotional.

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As the Chinese population gets older, the country is looking to raise its retirement age, which currently stands at 60 for men and 50-55 for women in white-collar jobs, however, the population in the middle ages scrambles to find jobs in the bearish Chinese economy, Reuters reported.

At the same time, the retirement age has to be delayed. So what are you going to do in between? a social media user wrote.

Last year, the number of Chinese aged 60 and above reached an all-time high of almost 300 million. Over the next 10 years, about 300 million more Chinese are expected to reach the official retirement age.

Too old to work?

Netizens on Chinese social media platforms condemned the hiring post, posting comments highlighting the plight of its older population, as the worlds second-largest economy focuses on tackling high youth unemployment.

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In January, a record high of 2.6 million Chinese students applied for 39,600 government jobs in the hope of a stable future, as per Reuters.

Im 29, one commenter wrote on Weibo. Ive 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.

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There is no specific law against age discrimination, although state media had earlier criticised employers for discriminatory hiring practices, including seeking younger and cheaper workers, in what became popularly called the Curse of 35.

If the curse is to be believed, employers consider hiring people in their mid-30s to be more expensive than fresh graduates. Middle-aged workers are also not willing to put in those extra hours and work overtime, as The New York Times reports.

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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.
Israel has launched hundreds of attacks on pro-Iranian factions that support President Bashar al-Assads army in the civil war that has been raging in the nation for more than ten years

Tuesdays airstrikes in eastern Syria claimed the lives of at least nine pro-Iranian fighters, including a commander, according to a war monitor.

Nine pro-Iranian fighters, including a leader and a Syrian, were killed and more than 20 wounded in air strikes targeting the villa they were staying in, which served as a communications centre, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

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The monitor, located in Britain, stated that it was unsure who was responsible for the strikes and that no immediate claim had been made.

Israel has launched hundreds of attacks on pro-Iranian factions that support President Bashar al-Assads army in the civil war that has been raging in the nation for more than ten years.

The United States has carried out a much smaller number of strikes against pro-Iran groups in eastern Syria which it holds responsible for a flurry of attacks on US interests in Iraq and Syria during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Media close to the Syrian government said the latest strikes were American.

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The Observatory said that a few hours earlier, an Iranian cargo plane flew from Damascus to the eastern city of Deir Ezzor carrying technical equipment and soldiers of Irans Revolutionary Guards.

The villa which was targeted and completely destroyed in the strike had been taken over by the Guards, who are responsible for Irans foreign operations.

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The strikes were the first of their kind in eastern Syria since early February, the Observatory said.

Then, US strikes targeting the eastern cities of Deir Ezzor and Al-Madayeen killed 29 pro-Iran fighters in response to a deadly drone attack on a US base which killed three US soldiers just across the border into Jordan.
With the goal of preventing European customers from contributing to the devastation of forests around the world, from the Amazon to Southeast Asia, the EU regulation attempts to eradicate deforestation from supply chains for beef, soy, and other agricultural goods supplied in Europe

According to a document seen by Reuters on Monday, a group of EU nations led by Austria is requesting immediate changes to the anti-deforestation law of the union, which is scheduled to take effect at the end of the year. They claim the rule might harm European farmers.

With the goal of preventing European customers from contributing to the devastation of forests around the world, from the Amazon to Southeast Asia, the EU regulation attempts to eradicate deforestation from supply chains for beef, soy, and other agricultural goods supplied in Europe.

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Farmers in Europe will also be subject to these regulations, which prohibit them from exporting goods grown in damaged or cleared forests.

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 blocs 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.

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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.

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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.

Its very strange for me that, you know, 100 days before elections, suddenly we find issues in the legislation which weve been discussing 2-1/2 years, Sinkevicius told a news conference on Monday, referring to the upcoming EU Parliament election in June.
The Gaza Strips ruling Palestinian organization, Hamas, has asked that Israel, its adversary, permit additional relief vehicles to enter the beleaguered area, which the UN has declared is on the verge of a man-made famine

Israel has labelled its operations "precise operational activities" and said it has taken care to avoid harm to civilians, but aid agencies have voiced concern for non-combatants caught up in the fighting Image Courtesy AFP

After officials and humanitarians reported that eighteen people had died trying to reach food parcels in the famished north, Hamas on Tuesday requested foreign countries to cease parachuting supplies into the war-torn Gaza.

Rather, the Gaza Strips ruling Palestinian organization, Hamas, has asked that Israel, its adversary, permit additional relief vehicles to enter the beleaguered area, which the UN has declared is on the verge of a man-made famine.

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A day after the UN Security Council adopted its first resolution demanding a immediate ceasefire in the most violent Gaza conflict everwhich was launched by Hamass onslaught on Israel on October 7fighting continued unabatedly.

The resolution further asks that the approximately 130 prisoners that Israel claims are still in Gaza be released by Hamas militants, including 33 presumed-dead detainees.

Food has been airdropped into Gaza by US, Jordanian, and other planes, despite warnings from UN and charity organizations that this is significantly less successful than ensuring overland access and does not meet the grave needs of Gazas 2.4 million residents.

Palestinian crowds rushed toward humanitarian packages that were being airdropped by German, Egyptian, Jordanian, and Emirati aircraft on Tuesday as they saw them float down on parachutes.

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Twelve more people drowned and six died in stampedes off the Mediterranean coast of the enclave, according to the Swiss-based Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor and the Hamas government.

In a statement, Hamas demanded an immediate end to airdrop operations as well as the immediate and rapid opening of land crossings to allow humanitarian aid to reach our Palestinian people .

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To prevent this imminent famine, a great deal more aid needs to be transported into Gaza via road as opposed to air or sea, according to UNICEF, the UN childrens fund.

Food aid is usually only airdropped in crises where people are cut off for hundreds of kilometres, said UNICEF spokesman James Elder, speaking via video link from Gaza.

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But the lifesaving aid they need is a matter of kilometres away, he said, as trucks loaded with aid have been waiting across Gazas southern border with Egypt.

We need to use the road networks.

Israeli troops meanwhile battled Hamas with no sign of a let-up in the war raging for almost six months.

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The Israeli military said its jets had struck more than 60 targets, including tunnels and buildings in which armed terrorists were identified.

The health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said 70 people were killed early Tuesday, 13 of them in air strikes around the southern city of Rafah.

The Security Council resolution passed Monday demanded a ceasefire for the ongoing Muslim holy month of Ramadan that should lead to a lasting truce.

Israels top ally the United States, which had blocked previous resolutions, abstained amid growing concern for the worsening humanitarian situation, sparking an angry reaction from Israel.

Washington has baulked at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus determination to launch an assault on Rafah.

The far southern city is Gazas last major population centre still untouched by Israeli ground troops, and where most of Gazas population has sought refuge.

Israel charged that the UN resolution hurts both its war effort and attempts to free hostages, though the White House insisted there had been no shift in its policy.

Palestinians in Rafah welcomed the UN vote and called on Washington to ensure the resolution is implemented.

Bilal Awad, 63, said the United States must stand against an attack on Rafah, and support the return of the displaced to their cities further north in Gaza.

The October 7 attack resulted in about 1,160 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israels retaliatory campaign against Hamas has killed at least 32,414 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to the health ministry.

Hamas welcomed the UN resolution and reaffirmed its readiness to negotiate the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, during a visit to Iran on Tuesday, said Israel is experiencing unprecedented political isolation and losing US protection at the Security Council.

In an earlier statement, Hamas had blamed Israel for the failure to make progress in the latest round of talks hosted by mediator Qatar.

Hamas argued Netanyahu and his cabinet were entirely responsible for the failure of negotiation efforts and for preventing an agreement from being reached up until now.

Netanyahus office hit back on social media platform X, charging that Hamas was not interested in continuing negotiations.

Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said on Tuesday the talks were ongoing, adding there had been no development that would lead to thinking that one of the teams has pulled out of the negotiations.

On the ground in Gaza, dozens of Israeli tanks and armoured vehicles surrounded the Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Yunis, where thousands of displaced people have sought refuge, witnesses said.

The health ministry said shots were being fired around the sprawling complex, but no raid had yet taken place.

At Gaza Citys Al-Shifa Hospital, the territorys largest, Israeli troops have been engaged in heavy fighting for nine days. Israel claims to have killed 170 Palestinian operatives and arrested hundreds.

On Monday, the Israeli military reported killing about 20 fighters around Al-Amal Hospital, also in Khan Yunis, over the previous day in close-quarters combat and air strikes.

Israel has labelled its operations precise operational activities and said it has taken care to avoid harm to civilians, but aid agencies have voiced concern for non-combatants caught up in the fighting.

Residents in the Palestinian neighborhood of Al-Shifa have reported seeing dead bodies lying in the streets, hearing gunfire nonstop, and seeing men being picked up, undressed, and interrogated.

(With agency inputs)
Israels diplomatic office in Geneva called the usage of the phrase genocide outrageous and stated that Palestinian civilians were not the target of the battle, but rather the Islamist organization Hamas. It began when Hamas fighters invaded southern Israel, according to Israeli accounts, killing 1,200 people and kidnapping 253

Arab states like Qatar and African nations like Algeria and Mauritania expressed concern about the humanitarian situation and their support for Albanese's conclusions Image Courtesy AFP

A UN expert called on nations to quickly apply sanctions and a weapons embargo, telling the world bodys Human Rights Council on Tuesday that she thought Israels military campaign in Gaza since October 7 amounted to genocide.

Israel, which was not present at the meeting, disagreed with her conclusions.

It is my solemn duty to report on the worst of what humanity is capable of and to present my findings, Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Occupied Territories, told the UN rights body in Geneva, presenting a report called The Anatomy of a Genocide.

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I find that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the threshold indicating the commission of the crime of genocide against Palestinians as a group in Gaza has been met, she said, citing more than 30,000 Palestinians killed among other acts.

I implore member states to abide by their obligations, which start with imposing an arms embargo and sanctions on Israel and so ensure that the future does not continue to repeat itself, she said, prompting a burst of applause.

Acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group is the definition of genocide given by the 1948 Genocide Convention, which was passed in the wake of the mass murder of Jews during the Nazi Holocaust.

Israels diplomatic office in Geneva called the usage of the phrase genocide outrageous and stated that Palestinian civilians were not the target of the battle, but rather the Islamist organization Hamas. It began when Hamas fighters invaded southern Israel, according to Israeli accounts, killing 1,200 people and kidnapping 253.

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Instead of seeking the truth, this Special Rapporteur tries to fit weak arguments to her distorted and obscene inversion of reality, it said.

Arab states like Qatar and African nations like Algeria and Mauritania expressed concern about the humanitarian situation and their support for Albaneses conclusions.

The United States, an ally of Israel, had its seats left unfilled. The council has been charged by Washington with persistent anti-Israel bias in the past.

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The UN has assigned scores of independent human rights experts, like Italian lawyer Albanese, to report and provide advice on particular issues and emergencies. Her opinions do not necessarily represent the opinions of the entire world.

Her remarks regarding the Israel-Hamas conflict have previously come under fire, notably from the US ambassador in Geneva, who claimed she has a history of employing antisemitic tropes in her remarks.

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(With agency inputs)
This marks Haniyehs second visit to Iran since Hamas launched an all-out offensive against Israel in October 2023. Earlier, the terror outfits leader visited Tehran in November where he met the countrys supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei along with other noteworthy officials

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Tuesday travelled to Irans capital city of Tehran to hold talks with Iranian officials, a day after the UNSC passed a landmark resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Hamas bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh, during his trip to Tehran on Tuesday, will meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Irans official IRNA news agency said, adding that he will also meet with other senior officials.

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This marks Haniyehs second visit to Iran since Hamas launched an all-out offensive against Israel in October 2023. Earlier, the terror outfits leader visited Tehran in November where he met the countrys supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei along with other noteworthy officials.

Iran hailed the October 7 attack as a success but denied any direct involvement.

Hamas rejects ceasefire proposal

The Iran-backed group has rejected the recently passed resolution seeking an immediate ceasefire in the war-torn region of Gaza, claiming that Israel is ignoring its core demand.

In a statement published on Monday, soon after the passage of the resolution, Hamas said that it had informed mediators about its plan to stick to its original position that was conveyed last month.

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It accused Israel of not responding to its core demands of a comprehensive cease-fire, an (Israeli) withdrawal from the Strip, the return of displaced people and a real prisoner exchange.

Resolution triggers row between US, Israel

Washingtons decision to abstain from a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) vote on an immediate Gaza ceasefire has widened cracks between the US and Israel, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called off a trip to the American capital by two of his top advisors.

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The Israeli Prime Ministers Office in a statement criticised Washingtons call to abstain instead of vetoing, a practice that was followed by the US in previous UN votes on the issue.

With inputs from agencies
Tensions between China and the Philippines have flared up in recent months as ships from both sides have clashed in the contested reefs. The latest incident took place 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

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday extended Indias support to the Philippines in the South China Sea as the country continues to be engaged in a maritime dispute with China.

Addressing a news conference in the capital city of Manila during his official visit to the country, the foreign minister said, I take this opportunity to firmly reiterate Indias support to the Philippines for upholding its national sovereignty.

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#WATCH | Manila: Addressing a press conference with Philippines Secretary for Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo, EAM Dr S Jaishankar says, "We're not only important maritime nations, but we are at two ends of the Indo Pacific. Not exactly the end, the Philippines is in the middle. pic.twitter.com/AJnAXCYU9X  ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2024

He added, As the world changes, it is essential that India and the Philippines cooperate more closely to shape the emerging model. Every country has the right to uphold and enforce its national sovereignty, he said in response to a question.

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Whats going on in the South China Sea?

Tensions between China and the Philippines have flared up in recent months as ships from both sides have clashed in the contested reefs.

Both the Philippines and China have refused to back down with Manila saying that the most recent conflict is the most serious incident yet for the Philippines.

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The latest incident took place on 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.

China, Philippines dy FMs hold phone call

Deputy foreign ministers from China and the Philippines held a phone call on Monday, the countries said, after Manila summoned a Chinese envoy over aggressive actions by the China Coast Guard in the contested South China Sea.

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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 Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands.

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Manila said Lazaro, the undersecretary for bilateral relations and ASEAN affairs, expressed the Philippines strongest protest against the aggressive actions undertaken by the China Coast Guard and Chinese Maritime Militia.

With inputs from AFP
In what has been called the Shakahola forest massacre, self-described preacher Paul Nthenge Mackenzie is accused of encouraging his followers to starve to death in order to meet Jesus

Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie (R - 1st row) sits along with other accomplices at the Shanzu Law Courts in Mombasa on January 18, 2024. A Kenyan court on January 18, 2024 charged the leader of a starvation cult with terrorism over the deaths of more than 400 of his followers. AFP

In a case that stunned the nation and the globe, Kenyan police are scheduled to reveal the remains of many individuals associated with a doomsday starvation cult on Tuesday.

After nearly a year of arduous labour to identify them using DNA, the remains are the first to be returned to their relatives.

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Excavations of shallow mass graves located in a lonely wilderness inland from the Indian Ocean port of Malindi were conducted in April of last year, yielding hundreds of dead, some of which were those of children.

In what has been called the Shakahola forest massacre, self-described preacher Paul Nthenge Mackenzie is accused of encouraging his followers to starve to death in order to meet Jesus.

After being successfully identified by DNA analysis, many of the 429 remains that were excavated between April and October of last year are set to be returned to their families for last resting places.

Even though malnutrition was a major factor in many fatalities, official autopsy revealed that suffocation, strangling, or bludgeoning were the causes of death in several cases, including those of children.

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Francis Wanje, a high school teacher, told AFP that four of the eight family members who perished in the disaster had been identified, and a burial would be held for them the following month.

The mass graves were discovered as detectives followed the trail left by his two grandchildrens disappearance into the large woodland.

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We thought the government could help us with the burial but we have been left to organise everything ourselves. Paying for four funerals is not an easy thing, he told AFP on Monday.

A homicide officer from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations told AFP it was up to families to make their own burial arrangements.

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Families have had to endure a painful wait for the bodies after the DNA profiling was delayed by lack of reagents and equipment.

The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), a state-backed body, last week deplored the slow process and accused authorities of withholding the results on grounds of security.

This is not only delayed justice but also violates their cultural rights under Article 44 of the Constitution to bury their relatives in a culturally acceptable and dignified manner, KNCHR said in a report.

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People are anxious and need closure on the matter.
According to military sources, one staff member who was kidnapped along with the youngsters passed away while being held captive, and six of the 137 pupils are still being treated in the hospital

Freed students of the LEA Primary and Secondary School Kuriga, upon arrival at the government house in Kaduna, Nigeria. AP

Following the most recent in a string of widespread school abductions in the West African country, more than 130 Nigerian kids were freed after more than two weeks in captivity and arrived on Monday in their home state in northwest Nigeria ahead of their expected family reunions.

According to military sources, one staff member who was kidnapped along with the youngsters passed away while being held captive, and six of the 137 pupils are still being treated in the hospital.

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On March 7, armed men riding motorcycles abducted the students from their school in the isolated Kaduna state town of Kuriga, setting off a massive rescue effort. The military found them on Sunday in a forest in the neighbouring state of Zamfara, some 200 kilometres (more than 120 miles) to the north. No information regarding the rescue has been released by the authorities, nor has it been stated if any suspected kidnappers have been apprehended.

The pupils, many of whom were younger than ten years old, were brought on Monday to the Kaduna State Government House wearing their first outfit change since being abducted. They also had newly trimmed hair and well-made clothes and shoes.

Several of them appeared to have travelled great distances on foot while being held captive, as shown by their injured feet.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.
Russia is still reeling from the attack Friday in which gunmen killed 139 people in a concert hall on the outskirts of Moscow.

Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said Tuesday that twenty-two victims of the Russia concert hall attack that killed more than 130 people remain in serious condition in the hospital and two of them are children.

Russia is still reeling from the attack Friday in which gunmen killed 139 people in a concert hall on the outskirts of Moscow. Four men accused of carrying out the attack appeared before a Moscow court on Sunday on terrorism charges and showed signs of severe beatings. One appeared to be barely conscious during the hearing.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that the gunmen are radical Islamists, but despite all evidence pointing to the involvement of Islamic State, Putin repeated his accusation that Ukraine could have played a role. Kyiv has strongly denied any link to the attack.

The men are citizens of Tajikistan, authorities said, and were named by investigators as Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, 32; Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, 30; Shamsidin Fariduni, 25; and Mukhammadsobir Faizov, 19. They were charged with committing a terrorist attack resulting in the death of others. The offense carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Russian officials said they detained a total of 11 people over the attack. Another of those detained appeared in court Monday. Alisher Kasimov, a citizen of Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia, was charged over renting an apartment to the men accused of carrying out the attack.

A senior Turkish security official confirmed Tuesday that two of the Moscow attackers had spent a short amount of time in Turkey before travelling together to Russia on March 2. One of the attackers, Fariduni, entered Turkey on February 20, checked into a hotel in Istanbuls Fatih district the next day and checked out on February 27, the official said. The other, Rachabalizoda, checked into a hotel in the same district on January 5, checking out on January 21.

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The official said Turkish authorities believe the two suspects became radicalized in Russia" because they were not in Turkey for long. There was no warrant for their arrest so they were allowed to travel freely between Russia and Turkey, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to make public statements.

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The attack Friday night at the Crocus City Hall music venue on Moscows western outskirts was one of the deadliest in Russia in years and left more than 180 people injured.

Two days after the Islamic States Afghanistan affiliate claimed responsibility for the attack at the music venue, Putin acknowledged during a meeting with government officials that the killings were carried out by extremists whose ideology the Islamic world has been fighting for centuries.

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Putin, who declared over the weekend the four attackers were arrested while trying to escape to Ukraine, said investigators havent determined 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.

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The IS affiliate claimed it carried out the attack, and U.S. intelligence said it had information confirming the group was responsible. French President Emmanuel Macron said France has intelligence pointing to an IS entity as responsible for the attack.

With inputs from AP.
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.

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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 engineers were traveling from Islamabad to their camp in Dasu in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa when the suicide bomber crashed his vehicle full of explosives into their convoy, according to regional police chief Mohammad Ali Gandapur

Dasu has been the site of deadly attacks against Chinese nationals in the past Image Courtesy Agencies

A suicide bomber attacked a convoy of Chinese engineers in northwest Pakistan on Tuesday, killing five of them in the explosion.

The engineers were traveling from Islamabad to their camp in Dasu in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa when the suicide bomber crashed his vehicle full of explosives into their convoy, according to regional police chief Mohammad Ali Gandapur, who spoke to the media.

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Five Chinese nationals and their Pakistani driver were killed in the attack, Mohammad Ali Gandapur said.

There is a sizable dam at Dasu, and there have been previous attacks there. In 2021, a bus explosion claimed the lives of 13 persons, nine of them were Chinese citizens.

After arriving at the location, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police initiated relief efforts. According to Mohammad Ali Gandapur, the rest of the convoy was safe.

(With agency inputs)
Pakistani forces, however, claimed to have foiled the terrorist attack on PNS Siddique and said were no casualties and no dead or injured had been received at the district hospital

PNS Siddique, Pakistans second-largest naval air station, in Turbat, came under attack by intense gunfire and multiple explosions.

Following the attack, military activity has been intensified in Turbat with numerous helicopters carrying out aerial patrol.

A report by Dawn quoted locals saying that over a dozen blasts were heard in Turbat town, while the firing, which began around 10 pm (local time), continued late into the night.

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Balochistan Liberation Army claims responsibility for attack

The Majeed Brigade of the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) has claimed responsibility for the attack on the Naval Airbase in Turbat.

In an email to journalists, the BLA Majeed Brigade, claiming responsibility for the assault, said: We have entered the Pakistani Naval Airbase in Turbat.

For the unversed, BLA has been designated as a global terrorist organisation by Pakistan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Over a dozen Pakistani personnel killed

The BLA even claimed that it had killed over a dozen Pakistani personnel in its attack on PNS Siddique in Turbat.

As per reports, BLA has also released an audio clip, allegedly from one of its fighters involved in the assault on PNS Siddique, where the fighter is heard claiming that multiple Pakistani vehicles have been targeted, indicating both a continuation and intensification of the attack.

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Why BLA Majeed Brigade attacked Pakistans second-largest naval air station?

PNS Siddique, which came under attack, is known for its strategic importance and the stationing of Chinese drones.

The banned terrorist group cited opposition to Chinese investments in Balochistans resources as one of the reasons for the attack.

The Majeed Brigade, that carried out the attack, is critical of Chinas investments in Balochistan. It has been accusing both China and Pakistan of exploiting the resources in the region.

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Emergency declared after attack

Emergency was declared at Teaching Hospital Turbat following the attack with all doctors ordered by the District Health Officer Kech to report for duty immediately.

Major roads leading to Turbat have been blocked by the Frontier Corps and a large contingent of personnel has been observed moving towards the naval airbase.

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Second attack in a week

The attack on PNS Siddique was the second in a week and the third this year by the BLA Majeed Brigade in Turbat.

On March 20, the BLA targeted the Military Intelligence headquarters in Gwadar and on January 29, the group attacked Mach City.

Two Pakistani soldiers and eight terrorists were killed in the Gwadar port March 20 attack.

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The Gwadar port, under Chinese control, holds strategic importance in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and is a crucial component of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Pakistans response to attack on PNS Siddique

As per a report by Dawn, Pakistani forces claimed to have foiled the terrorist attack on PNS Siddique with Makran Commissioner Saeed Ahmed Umrani saying: The armed men attacked from three sides of the airport boundary, but security forces responded immediately and foiled their attempt to infiltrate the premises."

Also, Saeed Ahmed Umrani claimed there were no casualties and no dead or injured had been received at the district hospital.

Pakistan claims six terrorists killed

Six terrorists have been killed outside of the Turbat airport boundary, ensuring the safety of the base, the report quoted security officials as saying.

No loss of sensitive naval installations reported, they added.

With inputs from agencies
The United States has backed Israel with both military and diplomatic support, but has voiced frustration with Netanyahu as the civilian death count in the Gaza Strip mounts and the humanitarian situation worsens

Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 32,414 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory Image Courtesy AFP

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was informed by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday that civilian deaths in Gaza are too high, and the two would discuss alternatives to a significant Israeli operation in the southern half of the enclave.

A different Israeli team was scheduled to travel to Washington to address US concerns on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus intentions to attack Rafah, a city in southern Gaza where a large portion of the population has fled.

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However, Israel postponed that trip when the US abstained from voting on a UN Security Council resolution that demanded a ceasefire in Gaza on Monday, enabling the resolution to pass.

In Gaza today, the number of civilian casualties is far too high, and the amount of humanitarian aid is far too low, Mr Austin said at the beginning of the meeting, adding that it would include discussion of alternatives for targeting Hamas in Rafah.

Gallant meanwhile said they would talk about developments in Gaza and the means to achieve our goals: the destruction of Hamas organization and bringing back the Israeli hostages.

Roughly 130 people are still believed to be held in Gaza after they were seized in the shock Hamas attack on October 7 that resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli figures.

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Israels retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 32,414 people in Gaza, 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 count in the Gaza Strip mounts and the humanitarian situation worsens.

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(With agency inputs)
Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, the speaker, is neither under arrest or under suspicion. At a court hearing, the prosecutors discussed her accusations that the authorities had not notified her of the charges in a suitable manner or had not conducted their investigation according to protocol

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa gestures while standing next to Speaker of the National Assembly of South Africa Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, left, ahead of his state of the nation address at the City Hall in Cape Town. AP File

Prosecutors in South Africa said on Monday that they want to file charges of corruption against the speaker of the house of representatives. They claim that during her tenure as defence minister, the speaker accepted payments totaling $135,000 and a wig.

Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, the speaker, is neither under arrest or under suspicion. At a court hearing, the prosecutors discussed her accusations that the authorities had not notified her of the charges in a suitable manner or had not conducted their investigation according to protocol.

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On April 2, Judge Sulet Potterill announced that she will rule on Mapisa-Nqakulas request for a temporary injunction against her detention by the police. Additionally, Mapisa-Nqakula is requesting access to the records that list the evidence that the prosecution has against her.

Her motion has been denied by the prosecution, who claim she is requesting preferential treatment.

In court papers submitted for the hearing, prosecutors say that Mapisa-Nqakula, 67, received 11 payments totaling $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.

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The person who allegedly paid the bribes wasnt 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 wouldnt 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.

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She has taken a leave of absence from her role as Parliaments speaker. She was previously accused of taking bribes, but a parliamentary investigation was dropped in 2021. The case reemerged after a whistleblower came forward last year, prosecutors said.

Her case is the latest graft scandal to hit the governing African National Congress party, which faces a pivotal national election on May 29.
The Houthis, who control Yemens capital and most populous areas, have attacked international shipping in the Red Sea since November in what they say is solidarity with Palestinians, drawing U.S. and British retaliatory strikes since last month.

Houthi militants in Yemen claimed Tuesday responsibility for six attacks on ships using drones and missiles over the past 72 hours in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. These attacks come amid ongoing tensions in the region.

The groups military spokesperson Yahya Sarea in a statement said that the Houthis attacked the Maersk Saratoga, APL Detroit, and the Huang Pu after identifying them as either U.S. or British, in addition to Pretty Lady ship which they claim was heading to Israel.

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The Houthis, who hold control over Yemens capital and major population centres, have been targeting international shipping in the Red Sea since November. They claim these attacks are in solidarity with Palestinians. As a result, there have been retaliatory strikes by the U.S. and British forces in recent weeks.

Sarea added that the group also attacked two US destroyers in the Red Sea as well as Israels city of Eilat.

It was not immediately clear which if any of the targets were struck by the drones or missiles.

US Central Command said on Sunday that Houthis fired missiles in the vicinity of M/V Huang Pu, a Chinese-owned oil tanker.

Maersk Saratoga is part of Maersk Line, Limited (MLL) which is the Danish companys U.S. subsidiary that carries significant amounts of cargo for the Department of Defense, Department of State, USAID, and other U.S. government agencies.

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According to LSEG data, APL Detroit is a Singaporean-flagged container, while Pretty Lady is a Malta-flagged handymax ship.

The Houthis escalating drone and missile campaign against commercial shipping has choked trade through the vital Suez Canal linking Asia and Europe and forced many ships to take the longer route around Africa.

With inputs from Reuters.
Putin, however, did not mention the branch of IS involved in the attack despite growing evidence that the Afghan branch, known as Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) orchestrated them

Russian President Putin lights a candle in memory of the victims of the Crocus City Hall attack, in Moscow Region. Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin seems to have moved past his denial of Islamic States involvement in the countrys deadliest terror attack as the leader has accepted that Islamist terrorists conducted the assault.

The ex-KGB leader, however, reasserted that Ukraine might have been involved in the concert hall shooting in Moscow that killed 137 people and injured more than 182 last week. The ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack later.

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We know that the crime was committed by the hands of radical Islamists, Putin said during a meeting with government officials late on Monday.

He added, We are interested in who ordered it. 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 did not mention the branch of IS involved in the attack despite growing evidence that the Afghan branch, known as Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) orchestrated them.

In another such instance of pushing the blame on Ukraine, Russias Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, questioned US assertions that Islamic State and asked, Attention - a question to the White House: Are you sure its ISIS? Might you think again about that?

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Putin casts doubt over IS claim

A day after the attack, Putin blamed Kyiv for the attacks 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.

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He also doubted Washingtons assertion that Ukraine had no role to play in the shooting. The US is trying to convince everyone that there is no Kyiv trace, the Russian president said.

Similarly, 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.

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Ukraine had nothing to do with this attack

On Tuesday, the US reiterated its position that Kyiv had not participated in masterminding the concert hall attack.

White House press secretary Karine Jean Pierre said, This was a terrorist attack that was conducted by ISIS. Russian President Putin understands that and he knows that very well. And look, there is absolutely no evidence that the government of Ukraine had anything to do with this attack. Weve been very clear about that.

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#WATCH | On the attack at concert hall near Moscow, White House press secretary Karine Jean Pierre says, "...This was a terrorist attack that was conducted by ISIS. Russian President Putin understands that and he knows that very well. And look, there is absolutely no evidence pic.twitter.com/jCkwLwHb6A  ANI (@ANI) March 25, 2024

She added, I do want to step back for a second and offer our deepest condolences to those who lost loved ones, and those who are injured because of this horrific attack. We continue to strongly condemn the heinous terrorist attack in Moscow. As we said before in early March, the United States government, shared information with Russia about a planned terror attack in Moscow.
Bassirou Diomaye Faye hails from a small town in central Senegal. He used to be a tax inspector before joining the ranks of the Patriots of Senegal party (Pastef)

Bassirou Diomaye Faye is set to be the youngest democratically-elected leader in the history of not just Senegal, but also Africa. Source: AP

Following what appears to be a landslide victory in Senegals Presidential elections, opposition leader Bassirou Diomaye Faye has become President-elect. He is set to be the youngest head of the state in the history of the West African country. In fact, Faye is also slated to become the youngest democratically elected leader of a nation in Africas history.

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Heres a look at who exactly Bassirou Diomaye Faye is.

Bassirou Diomaye Faye: A brief profile

Bassirou Diomaye Faye was founded by firebrand opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, himself a former tax inspector. Faye served as Sonkos deputy and as the Secretary-General of the party.

Faye is a practicing Muslim who has two wives. According to his declaration of assets, he has a home in the capital city of Dakar. He also owns some land outside the capital and in his hometown. His bank accounts hold roughly $6,600.

How he came into the spotlight

Faye was a little-known opposition leader. However, the spotlight fell on him when Sonko named him as his heir. Sonko was barred from running for President by the court owing to a prior conviction. The now-dissolved Pastef party threw their weight behind Faye, saying that supporting Faye is also supporting Ousmane Sonko.

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Within weeks of this announcement, Faye was arrested and jailed on various charges, including defamation. He alleged that these were politically motivated. Faye remained in jail till March 14.

Sonko and Fayes arrests sparked widespread unrest and violence in Senegal. People were unhappy about outgoing President Macky Salls unsuccessful attempt to postpone the elections that were supposed to be held from February to December 2024.

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Fayes support base

Fayes electoral win against the other frontrunner, former Prime Minister Amadou Ba who was backed by Sall, can be attributed to the support of Sonko and the Pastef party.

Another important factor that contributed to his victory was the frustration among youth with high unemployment. Around 60 per cent of Senegals population is under 25. Under Salls government, the unemployment rate was 20 per cent.

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A long list of promises

The anti-establishment President-elect ran primarily on the promise of weeding out corruption, easing the cost-of-living crisis in the country, and rebuilding the institutions of Senegal. Faye has also vowed to improve Senegals control over its natural resources by promoting national companies. He has made clear his intention to renegotiate mining, gas, and oil contracts with foreign companies just as Senegal prepares for starting production on recently discovered oil and gas reserves.

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Faye has promised left-wing pan-Africanism, too. His foreign policy priorities include reforming the troubled Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

One of his main priorities as president will be national reconciliation following three years of unrest and a political crisis, Faye said.

With inputs from agencies
Haley has not spoken publicly since leaving the race and urging Trump to reach out to all Republicans. She has not endorsed Trump and suggested she may not at all

One voter who supported Nikki Haley is now refusing to support former President Donald Trump and is resigned to supporting President Joe Biden. Haley has since withdrawn her presidential candidature.

Supporter of Haleys primary concedes that he was likely a closet Trump fan from the beginning and plans to vote for the outgoing president once more in November.

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Before Trump secured his third consecutive Republican nomination, the former ambassadors support base was never large enough to mount a meaningful challenge. However, the apparent splintering of Haleys supporters and voters might hamper Trumps chances in the general election, especially in battleground areas with a large number of suburban voters who are still sceptical of a Trump reelection. This is turning into a close rematch between Biden and Trump.

For now, interviews with Haleys supporters suggest they could go in a variety of directions  some backing Trump, some going to Biden and others seeking third-party options or avoiding making a decision about the presidential race yet.

Haley has not spoken publicly since leaving the race and urging Trump to reach out to all Republicans. She has not endorsed Trump and suggested she may not at all.

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She said its up to him to earn the support of those who supported her, and hes got to earn it, said Eric Tanenblatt, a longtime GOP donor who was Haleys Georgia campaigns co-chairman. Right now, Im definitely not there. It tells me there are things that are still up in the air among other key Haley donors waiting for a sign.

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The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

A reluctant return to Trump for some voters

Glenn Swanson caucused for Haley after seeing her campaign in his hometown of Cedar Falls, Iowa. At the time, the retired architect said he was open to a Trump alternative. Now, hes coming back to the candidate he supported in both 2016 and 2020, despite his concerns about the four felony indictments and other civil cases facing Trump.

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For sure Im going to vote for Trump, Swanson said in an interview. In a sense I was kind of a closet Trump fan all along, but I really wanted to see if somebody else would emerge to get away from some of the drama.

John Wynstra, a database administrator who attended that same event, had been deciding between Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis before choosing to caucus for her. Wynstra said hes strategically supporting Trump and the partys platform  as a stance primarily against Biden  although he seemingly left the door open to possibly supporting a third-party candidate like Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

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I will vote against Joe Biden and the Democrats, Wynstra said this week. If Kennedy were viable and if his positions were palatable, I would consider him.

In Haleys home state of South Carolina, high school teacher Michael Burgess said that save an unlikely independent run by Haley or a moderate like former Rep. Liz Cheney, he would be supporting Biden and criticized Trumps Make America Great Again movement.

I will reluctantly vote Biden, Burgess said. We can survive bad policy, but we cannot survive the destruction of the Constitution at the hands of a morally bankrupt dictator lover in Trump who, supported by his congressional MAGA minions, would do just that.

Her donors say they havent heard from Trump camp

Like many who were drawn to Haley, Tanenblatt, who was her Georgia campaigns co-chairman, became disenchanted with Trump for what he called inflammatory rhetoric, chiefly in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack by his supporters on the Capitol.

But he also says Trumps opposition to military aid to Ukraine is a fundamental policy difference. Tanenblatt has talked individually with former Haley supporters weighing a role with No Labels, the third-party group that is moving forward with attempting a unity ticket of opposing party presidential and vice-presidential nominees.

By and large, Haleys donors have paused, with key bundlers noting they have not heard from Trumps team as well as their reluctance to make any decisions.

I really think theres a period of recalibrating for a number of us who were very involved in Nikkis campaign. This was a calling, something bigger than any one of us, said Simone Levinson, a Florida-based Haley fundraiser who hosted events for her in New York and Florida.

Those donors could be helpful to Trump were they to come to the former presidents side.

For now, Trump and national Republicans are lagging far behind Biden and national Democrats in fundraising, with Trumps campaign and allied groups holding $37 million cash on hand at the end of February compared to the $155 million in Democratic coffers.

In one sign of her influence going forward, Haley ended last month with $11.5 million, just days before she suspended her campaign. Thats slightly more than the Republican National Committee at $11.3 million.
As a result of voters dissatisfaction with inadequate service delivery, unemployment, crime, and power outages, pollsters predict that on May 29, the African National Congress (ANC) will lose its parliamentary majority for the first time since Nelson Mandela entered office 30 years ago

The Democratic Alliance (DA), the second-most popular party in South Africa, stated on Monday that it would not rule out a compromise with the ruling African National Congress in the event that the ANC does not get the necessary majority to maintain its hold on power in the May elections.

As a result of voters dissatisfaction with inadequate service delivery, unemployment, crime, and power outages, pollsters predict that on May 29, the African National Congress (ANC) will lose its parliamentary majority for the first time since Nelson Mandela entered office 30 years ago.

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Since the president of South Africa is chosen by the parliament, President Cyril Ramaphosa or a replacement for the position would not be able to hold onto office without a coalition.

It would depend which ANC youre dealing with and what their programme of action is, DA leader John Steenhuisen said, declining to disclose whether any talks had already taken place.

Im not ruling out anything, depending on what the election results are.

Reuters was informed earlier this month by the ANCs Deputy Party Secretary, Nomvula Mokonyane, that the party was not contemplating forming a coalition government with other parties and that she did not believe a power-sharing agreement would be successful.

The DA has joined forces with minor parties to attempt to secure the more than 50% of the vote required to assume power.

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They include the longtime ANC bitter rival, the Zulu nationalist Inkatha Freedom Party; Freedom Front Plus, which caters to white South Africans living in rural areas who feel politically excluded since apartheid ended; and Action SA, which has developed a platform based on a strong anti-immigration stance and attracts middle-class and working-class voters.

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Its 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.

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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 wont sit back and just watch the country handed over to the radical Socialists, Steenhuisen said. If the (opposition coalition) doesnt get over the line, we may have to look at making what is the least worst option.

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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 ANCs 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 dont 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.
India firmly supports the Philippines in upholding its national sovereignty and wants to explore new areas of cooperation, including in defence and security, Jaishankar said earlier in Manila amid the Southeast Asian nations maritime dispute with China in the South China Sea.

China asked India on Tuesday to respect its sovereignty claims over the contentious South China Sea, where it is embroiled in a heated dispute with the Philippines. China emphasised that no external entity should intervene in maritime conflicts between the two nations.

Earlier today, Indias External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar affirmed Indias steadfast support for the Philippines in safeguarding its national sovereignty. He expressed Indias interest in expanding cooperation with the Philippines, particularly in defence and security matters, during his visit to Manila amidst the ongoing maritime tensions between the Philippines and China in the South China Sea.

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Maritime disputes are issues between countries concerned and any third party is not in a position to interfere, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said in response to a question. We urge the relevant side to face facts of the issues of the South China Sea, respect the sovereignty and maritime interests of China and the efforts made by the regional countries in upholding peace and stability in the South China Sea, Li said.

He was replying to a question at a media briefing here on the remarks made by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar that India supports the sovereignty of the Philippines. Jaishankar is currently in Manila on an official visit during which he held talks with Philippines Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo.

India firmly supports the Philippines in upholding its national sovereignty and wants to explore new areas of cooperation, including in defence and security, Jaishankar said earlier in Manila amid the Southeast Asian nations maritime dispute with China in the South China Sea.

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In his joint press conference with Manalo, Jaishankar while answering a question on the China-Philippines dispute over the South China Sea said, UNCLOS 1982 is particularly important in that regard as the Constitution of the seas. All parties must adhere to it in its entirety, both in letter and in spirit. I take this opportunity to firmly reiterate Indias support to the Philippines for upholding its national sovereignty. China claims most of the South China Sea as its own, while The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have counterclaims over the maritime area.

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Currently, China and the Philippines are engaged in a bitter row as the coast guard ships of both countries jostled to assert their claim over the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, which both claim as part of theirs.

China complained during the weekend that the Philippines had sent two coastguard vessels and a supply ship to transport construction materials to an old warship grounded on the reef. China says the Philippines deliberately grounded a warship in 1999. Manila, for its part, accused the Chinese coastguards of blocking their ship and using water cannons.

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Philippines Foreign Ministry spokesperson Teresita Daza said Chinas continued interference with the Philippines routine and lawful activities in its exclusive economic zone is unacceptable. It infringes upon the Philippines sovereign rights and jurisdiction, Daza was quoted as saying by media reports.

With inputs from Reuters.
Iesha Brown, who completed three films in New Milford in 2023, is planning to film her next film "Rubber Band Girls: New York" in town this spring. Pictured here is the crew of Brown's vampire film "Blood Suckaz," which was shot in town this past December. Iesha Brown/contributed photo Iesha Brown, who completed three films in New Milford in 2023, is planning to film her next film "Rubber Band Girls: New York" in town this spring. Pictured here is the crew of Brown's vampire film "Blood Suckaz," which was shot in town this past December. Iesha Brown/contributed photo Iesha Brown, who completed three films in New Milford in 2023, is planning to film her next film "Rubber Band Girls: New York" in town this spring. Pictured here is the crew of Brown's vampire film "Blood Suckaz," which was shot in town this past December. Iesha Brown/contributed photo Iesha Brown, who completed three films in New Milford in 2023, is planning to film her next film "Rubber Band Girls: New York" in town this spring. Pictured here is the crew of Brown's vampire film "Blood Suckaz," which was shot in town this past December. Iesha Brown/contributed photo

NEW MILFORD  With three films wrapped up and plans for another film in the works, Iesha Brown has made New Milford the place to expand her craft as a local filmmaker.

This town really embraced me, said Brown, the founder of the New Milford-based film company 180th Street Filmz. As a Black female filmmaker, they really embraced me, and I know for a fact because I filmed for a lot of years in New York and never got that. Youre just a number that nobody recognizes in New York, but here, Im actually a filmmaker and thats why New Milford is one of the best kept secrets.

Originally from the Bronx, N.Y., Brown, who started shooting films in 2014, said theres a lot of things New Milford has to offer for filmmakers, though she said she herself didnt realize it until 2016 when she started shooting feature films in town. She moved from the Bronx to Danbury in 2009 and to New Milford in 2010.

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Within the past year, Brown has filmed the thriller The Rainbow Killer: Parts 1 and 2 and the vampire movie Blood Suckaz in locations across New Milford and employed local extras to act in the film. She plans to shoot her next film Rubber Band Girls: New York, which is based off her e-book of the same name, in New Milford this April. Casting calls for Rubber Band Girls: New York will be held in New York City and New Milford in March.

I always try to get the word out in New Milford, Brown said on promoting her projects.

'A very diverse life'

Before she started shooting her own films, Brown said she was involved in doing the background talent for filming projects, including the 2005 science fiction thriller War of the Worlds directed by Steven Spielberg. Not only did she get to meet Spielberg and actor Tom Cruise, Brown said the experience was a big influence on her work as she got to see firsthand what happens on a film set.

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Yet Brown said she was more focused on communications and journalism as a future career until her creative writing professor at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., suggested she consider creative writing.

Once she said that, I started shifting everything that way and I started getting really interested in the film part, Brown said.

Given her strengths as a writer, Brown said all her projects start with a title and a script and her filmmaking style is more of a running gun type.

Im used to doing this, Brown said. I made three or four scenes here [in New Milford] and then I pack up everything and say, Hey, lets head to Waterbury  I dont really have to be running gun like that anymore, but I still use that technique.

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In terms of directing, Brown said she engages with the director of photography to bring my scripts to life to the fullest as well as with the cast and crew on ideas.

If somebody comes up with an idea, if its good, I go with it, she said. Its not about me as the filmmaker or me as the director  if its good and it works and it moves the story and the movie forward, Im all for it.

Valerie Lorimer, chair of the New Milford Film Commission and a neighbor of Browns in New Milford, described Brown as great to work with as well as very gifted and professional.

Shes had a very diverse life, [and] shes brought her life experiences to the big screen, Lorimer said.

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Brown said she shot the first part of The Rainbow Killer in January and the second part of the film in August. Blood Suckaz was filmed Dec. 1 through Dec. 10. All three films are being edited and will be distributed on multiple streaming platforms, including Amazon Prime, Tubi, Apple TV and Stash TV. Both "The Rainbow Killer" and "Blood Suckaz" were adapted from e-books that Brown plans to upload onto Amazon Kindle.

While she loves thriller and horror movies, Brown said filming Blood Suckaz was her first time working on a vampire movie and called it one of the best films Ive done. Seventy-five percent of the film was shot at The Silo at Hunt Hill Farm and actors and extras from the local area and New York were used in the film.

Browns next project Rubber Band Girls: New York is based on a book Brown wrote 10 years ago when she was living in Virginia. She said a friend of hers wrote a book Rubber Band Girls: Chicago while another friend wrote Rubber Band Girls: Virginia, and the three of them decided to adapt the books into a film franchise.

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Brown said her adaptation, which will be based in New Milford, will be a fast-paced drama-thriller that tells the story of a leader of a female gun raid who falls in love with an agent of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
In Istanbul, polls show Imamoglu of the Republican Peoples Party (CHP) and his AKP challenger are neck-and-neck, with the DEM candidate trailing

Justice and Development Party, or AKP, supporters chant slogans during a campaign rally ahead of nationwide municipality elections, in Istanbul, Turkey. AP

Pollsters predict that a large portion of Turkeys Kurdish population would abandon party allegiance and support Tayyip Erdogans main opponent in Istanbul on Sunday, undermining the presidents chances of regaining control of the city he once led.

Voters for the pro-Kurdish DEM party played a crucial role in Mayor Ekrem Imamoglus victory in the 2019 municipal elections, which stunned Erdogan and put an end to his AK Party (AKP) and its Islamist predecessors 25 years of dominance in Istanbul. Additionally, it provided the opposition with a crucial base of support throughout the previous five years.

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However, Erdogans crushing loss by the opposition in the presidential election held in May of last year has altered the political environment, leaving DEM supporters divided over the most effective ways to further the rights of minority Kurds.

In Istanbul, polls show Imamoglu of the Republican Peoples Party (CHP) and his AKP challenger are neck-and-neck, with the DEM candidate trailing. This has left Kurdish party supporters with a dilemma; should they vote with their heart or their head?

They are confused and undecided, according to Yuksel Genc at pollster SAMER, who said 40% of DEM supporters had indicated they would vote for Imamoglu. They are considering voting for their party candidate but dont want the AK Party to win.

Erdogans government has cracked down on Kurdish parties since the 2015 collapse of a peace process to end a decades-old insurgency by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

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DEM, parliaments third largest party with around 10% of seats, is the successor of the HDP which faces potential closure in a trial over alleged militant ties that it denies.

It has been ravaged by thousands of arrests and the ousting of its mayors after previous elections, feeding voters desire to hit the AKP nationwide while retaining DEMs dominance in the mainly Kurdish southeast and its largest city, Diyarbakir.

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I think that in an environment like Diyarbakir, it is necessary to vote for DEM, but in Istanbul I would vote Ekrem Imamoglu, said retiree Mehmet Fatih Sutcu at Diyarbakir celebrations for the Kurdish spring festival.

Roj Girasun, director of Rawest Research, said DEM and the main opposition CHP had reached a deal over some areas of Istanbul, making it easier for DEM voters to support Imamoglu and with around half of them inclined to do so.

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Erdogan, Istanbul mayor between 1994-1998, has slammed this as a dirty bargain, seeking to stoke tensions between the parties.

Tactical voting

DEMs Istanbul mayoral candidate Meral Danis Bestas has dismissed the idea of tactical voting.

Our call is for people to vote for us, she said in an interview. I believe every party has a fundamental duty to conduct its own politics.

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Bestas stance is backed by DEM voters who want a show of strength after the crackdown in which state-appointed trustees replaced elected Kurdish mayors in the southeast.

We have been fighting against trustees for more than 10 years, and in every election, the Kurds go to the polls with their enthusiasm, will and dignity and vote for the party they support, said private sector employee Busra Yenturk.

In recent weeks, key Kurdish political figures have made calls for a fresh peace process to address their demands for greater cultural and language rights for Kurds, who make up some 15-20% of Turkeys 85 million population.

But researcher Girasun said this was just an expression of Kurds hopes rather than signalling plans by the AKP, which is allied with a nationalist party. The government has instead announced plans to step up operations against Kurdish militants in Iraq this summer.

Ankara accuses the pro-Kurdish party of ties to the PKK, which is designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union over a conflict which has killed more than 40,000 people. The HDP denies such links.

Istanbul candidate Bestas said there was currently no sign of a return to a peace process but that democratisation required resolution of the Kurdish issue.

A Turkey where a quarter of the population is marginalised and discriminated against, and whose demands are not met cannot be democratic, she said.
The US and UK had on Monday accused hackers linked to the Chinese state of being behind malicious cyber campaigns targeting political figures.

Britain on Tuesday summoned the charge daffaires of the Chinese Embassy in London to express its condemnation of purported cyber activities conducted by Chinese state-affiliated actors targeting British democratic institutions.

The (Foreign Office) set out the Governments unequivocal condemnation of Chinese state-affiliated organisations and individuals undertaking malicious cyber activity against UK democratic institutions and parliamentarians, a spokesperson for Britains Foreign Office said in a statement.

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The UK Government would not tolerate such threatening activity, and would continue to take strong action with partners across the globe to respond.

The US and UK on Monday accused hackers linked to the Chinese state of being behind malicious cyber campaigns targeting political figures.

The British government has accused China-affiliated hackers of orchestrating an attack that resulted in the unauthorized access of data belonging to millions of voters. This incident has further strained relations between the U.K. and China, particularly in the realm of technology. Over the years, tensions have escalated due to measures taken by the British government aimed at mitigating national security threats posed by Chinese technology firms.
The depth and strength of Ukrainian defenses are now being questioned by military specialists, who also see a shortage of troops as a problem. Russia is on the attack and has a far bigger population than Ukraine

Zelensky named 51-year-old Oleksandr Lytvynenko, the head of the foreign intelligence service, to lead the council despite his virtually nonexistent public persona Image Courtesy Reuters

In a fresh shuffle that comes after the reorganization of the military high command last month, President Volodymyr Zelensky fired the secretary of Ukraines national security council on Tuesday and appointed the head of his foreign intelligence agency in his place.

More than two years after Russias full-scale invasion, a succession of tersely worded decrees were posted on the presidents website with no explanation for the modifications.

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The National Security and Defense Councils departing secretary, Oleksiy Danilov, had been in the role since October 2019, a few months after Zelensky assumed office.

Zelensky named 51-year-old Oleksandr Lytvynenko, the head of the foreign intelligence service, to lead the council despite his virtually nonexistent public persona.

The president appoints the nations senior security, political, and defense chiefs to the council, which coordinates matters pertaining to national security and defense.

In the east, Ukraine is fighting to repel Russian forces while its crucial partner, the United States, is unable to provide military support because of opposition from Republicans in Congress.

The depth and strength of Ukrainian defenses are now being questioned by military specialists, who also see a shortage of troops as a problem. Russia is on the attack and has a far bigger population than Ukraine.

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Zelenskys orders designated Oleh Ivashchenko, a low-key deputy head of the Ukrainian military spy service, as the new head of foreign intelligence.

In February, the head of the armed forces was replaced by the leader of Ukraine. Large portions of the militarys senior leadership were also removed and replaced.

(With agency inputs)
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 US infuriated Israel by abstaining from the vote when the UN Security Council made its first demand for a cease-fire in Gaza on Monday. In response, Israel called off a high-level delegations trip to Washington in the most visible spat between the partners since the start of the conflict.

The US, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is retreating from a principled position by permitting the vote to succeed without requiring the return of Hamas hostages in order for the cease-fire to take effect.

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Spokesman for national security at the White House John Kirby remarked that Netanyahus choice had left the administration kind of perplexed. The Israelis, he claimed, were choosing to create a perception of daylight here when they dont need to do that.

Kirby and the American ambassador to the UN said the US abstained because the resolution did not condemn Hamas. US 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 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 a cease-fire.

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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 UNs 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.

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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres tweeted: This resolution must be implemented. Failure would be unforgivable.

The US 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.

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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.

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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.

Last week, Netanyahu rebuffed a US 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 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 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 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 lasting sustainable cease-fire.

The US ambassador to the UN, 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 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 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 UN 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 UN 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 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 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.
The US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield defended Washingtons vote, saying that the country could not vote in favour of the resolution as it did not agree with everything

Washingtons decision to abstain from a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) vote on an immediate Gaza ceasefire has widened cracks between the US and Israel, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called off a trip to the American capital by two of his top advisors.

The US on Monday abstained from voting for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas while 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.

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This resolution must be implemented. Failure would be unforgivable, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres posted on social media.

US has abandoned its policy

The Israeli Prime Ministers Office in a statement criticised Washingtons call to abstain instead of vetoing, a practice that was followed by the US in previous UN votes on the issue.

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, the statement read.

Prime Ministers Office Statement:



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.  Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) March 25, 2024

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It added, 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.

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The statement lastly announced Netanyahus decision to not send a delegation to Washington.

Vote does not represent shift in policy

Meanwhile, the US has maintained that its move at the recent UNSC session does not reflect a shift in its Israel-Hamas war policy.

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.

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The US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield defended Washingtons vote, saying that the country could not vote in favour of the resolution as it did not agree with everything.

A ceasefire could have come about months ago if Hamas had been willing to release hostages, the ambassador said.

US, Israeli defence chiefs to meet

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Amid rising tensions between the two nations, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will meet Israels Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Wednesday to discuss ways to avoid Israels plan to invade Rafah, the Pentagon has said.

With inputs from agencies
Xi Jinping may be trying to shore up the US executives sentiment, which has tumbled due to US-China tensions, strict pandemic restrictions, and tighter national security controls

Some business executives from the United States who came to Beijing for the China Development Forum received a last-minute invite for a meeting with a top Chinese leader. The meeting, set to happen on Wednesday, is widely expected to be with President Xi Jinping, Bloomberg reported.

The China Development Forum 2024 concluded on Monday. A handful of executives who had planned to leave the country soon after the end of the business summit are now rejigging their schedules to attend this meeting, tacitly understood to be with Xi.

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But why has his invitation come at the eleventh hour? What is Xi looking to achieve with this?

Here are three likely reasons for the meeting:

Boosting foreign businesses confidence in China: It is no secret that there has been a slowdown in the inflow of foreign investment in the worlds second-largest economy. According to one measure, foreign investment in China has slumped to a three decade low. Xis government has taken some steps to remedy this situation. For instance, on Friday, China eased its rules governing cross-border data flows, likely in response to complaints by foreign businesses that they disrupted business. The country also vowed to treat foreign firms equal to domestic ones.Xi may be trying to shore up the US executives sentiment, which has tumbled due to US-China tensions, strict pandemic restrictions, and tighter national security controls.

Improve relations and build on the existing dialogue: Bloomberg quotes one CEO who plans to attend the meeting as saying that they see the move as part of the Chinese governments outreach to improve relations and building on dialogue established at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit held in November in San Francisco. Back then, Xi was the guest of honour at a dinner there with top US executives.

Compensating for likely absence at the annual Boao Forum for Asia: The annual Boao Forum for Asia is often called the Chinese Davos. Xi is not expected to attend this years version, which starts on Tuesday in Hainan. This could mean that Xi is conducting an important meeting ahead of time to compensate for his absence.

It is important to note that although Xis name does not appear on written invitations, according to three people familiar with the matter, he is widely expected to be the top Chinese leader mentioned in the invite. A similar procedure was followed in November in San Francisco, too.
Although the group was scheduled to travel to Washington, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu postponed it when the US withdrew its support from a UN Security Council resolution that called for an immediate truce during Ramadan

Palestinians look at a residential building destroyed in an Israeli strike in Rafah, Gaza Strip. AP

In response to the cancellation of a team to address Washingtons concerns earlier in the day, Secretary of State Antony Blinken brought up US opposition to a significant ground operation in Rafah with Israels defence minister on Monday.

Although the group was scheduled to travel to Washington, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu postponed it when the US withdrew its support from a UN Security Council resolution that called for an immediate truce during Ramadan.

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In his meeting with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in Washington, Blinken reiterated US opposition to a major ground operation in Rafah, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

Such a move would further jeopardize the welfare of the more than 1.4 million Palestinian civilians sheltering there, Miller said.

Netanyahus determination to launch a ground operation in Rafah, the city on Gazas southern border where most of the territorys population is sheltering, has become a key point of contention.

Blinken underscored that alternatives exist to a major ground invasion that would both better ensure Israels security and protect Palestinian civilians, Miller said.

The two additionally discussed the need to immediately surge and sustain additional humanitarian assistance to meet the needs of civilians in Gaza, he added.

Israel said earlier in the day that the United States abstention hurts both its war effort and attempts to release hostages.

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It was a clear retreat from the consistent position of the US, Netanyahus office said.
On Sunday night, the unidentified girl started banging on the door of the station in City of Industry, which is close to Los Angeles. The girl was able to take a service weapon from one of the cops as they were going to open the door

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Station in City of Industry, California. AFP

In the lobby of a California sheriffs department, a young girl fatally shot herself with a deputys gun, according to officials on Monday.

On Sunday night, the unidentified girl started banging on the door of the station in City of Industry, which is close to Los Angeles.

The girl was able to take a service weapon from one of the cops as they were going to open the door.

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The juvenile lunged into the lobby and reached for the deputys holstered firearm and took possession of it, the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department said in a news release.

A struggle ensued between the deputies and juvenile who was armed with the deputys firearm, the release said.

During the struggle, the juvenile suffered from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Attending paramedics declared the girl dead on the spot.

Authorities claimed that the event started with a call from her foster parent informing them that the youngster was experiencing what seemed to be a mental health crisis. Homicide investigators were looking into the incident.

Deputies responded to the scene; however, the juvenile had already left on foot before the deputies arrived, a statement said.

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The juveniles destination was not known at the time of the call.

US police are routinely armed and carry their weapons with them at all times.

The LA County Sheriffs Department said Sundays fatality was not a Deputy Involved Shooting incident, using terminology employed when an officer has shot someone.

Violent encounters between the police and members of the public are not uncommon in the country.

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A tally by the Washington Post newspaper shows more than 1,100 people have been shot dead by police nationwide in the last 12 months.

The figures are not official as police departments are not required to report incidents to the federal government.

Firearms claim tens of thousands of lives every year in the United States, a country where there are more guns than people.
Ruth Krebs-Pearl, co-founder of Pet Assistance Inc., has spent 51 years helping to connect people to affordable veterinary care. Ruth Krebs-Pearl/contributed photo Ruth Krebs-Pearl, who co-founded the nonprofit Pet Assistance Inc in 1973, said she's always had a fixation with animals and will help "anything considered a pet." Ruth Krebs-Pearl/contributed photo Ruth Krebs-Pearl, who co-founded the nonprofit Pet Assistance Inc in 1973, said she's always had a fixation with animals and will help "anything considered a pet." Ruth Krebs-Pearl/contributed photo Spectrum/Ruth Krebs-Pearl of New Milford has announced the release of her first book, Whats a Nice Dog Like You Doing in a Place Like This? July 2020 Courtesy of Ruth Krebs-Pearl

NEW MILFORD  When it comes to connecting people to veterinary care, Ruth Krebs-Pearl said she doesnt believe in putting people on a wild goose chase.

Theyre already under enough stress with a sick animal, the 86-year-old co-founder of Pet Assistance Inc. said People will go to an emergency room, theyll spend maybe $1,000 on diagnostics and then they dont have money left to do other treatments... I can save them hundreds or thousands of dollars.

Krebs-Pearl has been helping pet owners find affordable veterinary care through Pet Assistance Inc., a nonprofit she co-founded in 1973 with the late Josette Miller. A full account of Krebs-Pearls experiences in helping animals can be found in her 2020 memoir Whats a Nice Dog Like You Doing in a Place Like This?

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In addition to offering veterinary care subsidies, Krebs-Pearl said Pet Assistance Inc. does a lot of networking and researching to connect people to privately owned animal hospitals and other organizations where their pet can receive affordable care. She said the nonprofit also educates pet owners on how to minimize the cost of pet and veterinary care.

While Pet Assistance Inc. is based in New Milford, Krebs-Pearl said the nonprofit provides care to pets and their people in all 50 states and receives around 25 applications a day from people seeking emergency aid.

Yet after 51 years of directing people to affordable veterinary care, Krebs-Pearl is looking for someone new to run Pet Assistance Inc.

What I really want is someone with a social work mentality," Krebs-Pearl said. "I want to find someone whos committed the way I am  they care about people, they care about animals and they have to be interested in doing a little bit of research.

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Until she can find someone to take the lead, Krebs-Pearl said she plans to continue her work.

I feel as long as I can help people and their animals, how can I just stop? she said.

Providing vet care through Pet Assistance Inc.

Krebs-Pearl said shes always had a fixation with animals and will help with anything thats considered a pet. She said she became involved with humane work 50 years ago after reading a newspaper article about two people who complained about the conditions of an animal shelter in New Rochelle, N.Y.

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I was so relieved to hear of other people that cared about animals, Krebs-Pearl said, adding she started Pet Assistance Inc. after a year of humane work.

Krebs-Pearl, who moved up to New Milford in 1990, said her work with Pet Assistance Inc. started with providing shots, spaying animals and bringing in veterinary care from New York City.

She said Pet Assistance Inc. is now limited to emergency and urgent care for pets.

Grants provided through Pet Assistance Inc. are made based on urgency, prognosis and financial need, according to Pet Assistance Incs website. Pet Assistance Inc. needs a written estimate from the veterinarian and pet owners must contribute to their pets treatment or surgery, the website said.

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In addition to veterinary care subsidies, aid through Pet Assistance Inc. often comes in the form of guidance, advice and referrals, which alone has saved pet owners thousands of dollars, according to Pet Assistance Inc.s website.

'Get the basic care'

Reflecting on how veterinary care has changed in the last 50 years, Krebs-Pearl said she believes there is still a long way to navigate the veterinary system, which is now broken.

Animals are dying because the prices are going up, Kreb-Pearl said. Nobody has a relationship with their vet anymore. Theres too many animals dying only because of money and what we refer to as economic euthanasia  [pet owners] putting them to sleep because they dont have enough money.

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As it stands, Krebs-Pearl said Pet Assistance Inc. gets up to 1,000 inquires a year from people seeking veterinary care, which she said means theres a need for the kind of service Pet Assistance Inc. provides.
motorola edge 50 Fusion, the companys next mid-range smartphone, has surfaced in renders after leaks. The renders show the phone in Ballad Blue, Peacock Pink, and Tidal Teal colours.

The phone is said to be powered by Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 SoC, and the phone also surfaced in a Geekbench listing revealing the same SoC, 8GB of RAM and Android 14.

Based on earlier rumours, the phone will pack a 6.7-inch curved pOLED screen with Gorilla Glass 5 protection, will feature a 50MP rear camera along with a secondary camera, 32MP front camera, IP68 ratings, 256GB storage, and a 5000mAh battery with support for 68W fast charging.

The motorola edge 50 fusion is expected to be introduced alongside the edge 50 Pro in India on April 3rd priced in the Rs. 25,000 range. The phone is also expected to launch in Europe and North America later.

It is also expected to launch in China in April, but in a different name alongside the motorola X50 Ultra, which will be powered by Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 SoC.

Source 1, 2
Google Chrome is the most popular browser and it was not natively available on Windows PCs based on Arm until now. All that is set to change for the better with todays announcement from Google and Qualcomm. Google quietly released the Arm build to the Canary channel a few weeks back and looks like the final version is rolling out this week to Arm-compatible Windows PCs.

I have been testing the Canary build for Windows 11 on the Microsoft Surface Pro X for a few days now and it is nice to have Chrome running natively without emulation. The experience is so much better than using the emulated 32-bit version which not only is laggy but also a battery and memory hog. The native Arm build is certainly snappier. The announcement claims a dramatic performance improvement over previous versions.

Weve designed Chrome browser to be fast, secure and easy to use across desktops and mobile devices, and were always looking for ways to bring this experience to more people, said Hiroshi Lockheimer, Senior Vice President, Google. Our close collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies will help ensure that Chrome users get the best possible experience while browsing the Web on current ARM-compatible PCs.

This is not the first time, Google is making an Arm-compatible version of Chrome available. Back in 2020, Google released a version compatible with Apple silicon-based Macs which are based on the Arm architecture.

The new version of Google Chrome will help cement Snapdragon X Elites role as the premier platform for Windows PCs starting in mid-2024, said Cristiano Amon, President and CEO, Qualcomm Inc. The PC industry is on the cusp of an inflection point, and as we enter the era of the AI PC, we cant wait to see Chrome shine by taking advantage of the powerful Snapdragon X Elite system.



The Snapdragon X Elite platform looks very promising from performance benchmarks and onboarding Google Chrome is a big win for Qualcomm. We got a chance to see some demos of the platform at Snapdragon Summit last year and most recently at MWC 2024.

Snapdragon X Elite powered PCs are expected to be revealed anywhere between the Microsoft Build event to Computex 2024 in Taiwan where Qualcomm CEO, Cristiano Amon is a keynote speaker.

We could see a big shift in the PC industry from x86 to Arm in 2024. Apple has completely shifted away from Intel x86 chips and every Mac which is sold today runs on Apple Silicon since last year. The stage is set and its an exciting time for the industry!
The Connecticut State Capitol in January 2024. Dave Zajac/Hearst Connecticut Media

HARTFORD  A bill that would make it a crime for police officers to intentionally falsify records  including traffic tickets  sailed through the Judiciary Committee on Tuesday and now heads to the House for a full vote.

Gov. Ned Lamont proposed the bill in February in the wake of a fake ticket scandal that engulfed Connecticut State Police over the past 18 months, including an ongoing federal criminal grand jury probe.

In August 2022, CT Insider reported how internal state police investigators discovered in 2018 four troopers had entered hundreds of fictitious tickets into the agency's computer system that year to make themselves appear more productive and to curry favor and perks from supervisors. But the troopers avoided serious consequences and agency higher-ups never notified state prosecutors, even though supervisors discussed among themselves whether the troopers possibly violated criminal law. Instead, the problems were kept under wraps until CT Insider's reporting in 2022.

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An audit last year of state police ticket data by the Connecticut Racial Profiling Prohibition Project found widespread problems, with hundreds of troopers collectively entering tens of thousands of records with false or inaccurate information which skewed racial profiling data the group analyzes.

A subsequent probe commissioned by Lamont concluded most of the 130 troopers flagged with the most significant discrepancies likely did not intentionally falsify the data and instead the problems were the result of carelessness, sloppy recordkeeping and insufficient training and supervision. Still, between 12 and 15 troopers flagged for potentially falsifying records were referred to state police Internal Affairs investigators for further review.

The legislation that advanced Tuesday would make it a felony for an officer to intentionally submit a false record to any police, state or judicial database and creates an additional reason under which an officer could be decertified, the process of repealing the right to work as an officer in Connecticut. The bill would also require officials to notify the states top prosecutor when there is evidence an officer may have broken the law.

The Judiciary Committee made a few amendments to Lamonts bill, the most notable of which clarified an officer can only be charged with a crime if he submits a false record while on duty.

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State Rep. Steven Stafstrom, D-Bridgeport and a committee co-chairman, said the bill also adds to the reasons an officer can be decertified.

We are adding a new ground for decertification, which talks about truthfulness related to a record, Stafstrom said. We are not changing the other grounds for decertification, which include conduct unbecoming. We are adding additional grounds for decertification.

While the bill easily cleared the committee, opposition has surfaced among Republicans and police organizations. During an earlier public hearing, state Rep. Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford and the Republican House minority leader, spoke against the legislation.

No matter how well-intentioned, we fear the unintended consequences should these bills become law, Candelora told the committee. We can all agree that all individuals who intentionally falsify public records should be held responsible. However, this bill doesnt accomplish that. Rather, it unfairly targets police officers.

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Several police unions also opposed the bill, saying officers could be charged with a felony for simply making an error when entering data.

Connecticut's top prosecutor, Chief States Attorney Patrick Griffin, supported the bill, saying it will enhance public confidence in law enforcement.

The truth and veracity of our police officers, and the accurate recording of information, forms the very foundation of our criminal justice system, Griffin said.

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Kristen Gill cuddles Meadow, a 6- or 7-week old kid whose life she saved four weeks ago. Jack Sheedy A goat with bunny ears from last year's Easter egg hunt at Got Your Goat farm in Washington. Photo courtesy Got Your Goat. Contributed photo Goats streaming out into the 10-acre pasture, where the Easter egg hunts take place. Jack Sheedy Kristen Gill cuddles Meadow, a 6- or 7-week old kid whose life she saved four weeks ago. Jack Sheedy Visitors to Got Your Goat farm in Washington. Contributed photo Goats stream out into the 10-acre pasture, where the Easter egg hunts take place. Jack Sheedy

WASHINGTON  Kids love Easter egg hunts  not only human kids, but goat kids, too, says Kristen Gill, co-owner with her daughter Elena of Got Your Goat LLC. Up to 200 humans and 65 goats hunt for eggs on the 10-acre farm every spring.

This year, were putting a stripe around each egg, Gill said as she conducted a tour of the farm. The color of the stripe corresponds to a play-money value for that egg, which the hunter trades for prizes, she said.

The goats follow the human hunters, because some eggs contain goat feed and treats.

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Meet an 'Easter' goat wearing rabbit ears at Got Your Goat farm in Washington. Photo courtesy of Got Your Goat. Contributed photo

It was a nippy, breezy first day of spring, just days before the first of three hunts was scheduled, when Kristen and Elena Gill guided a family of four guests and a reporter through a throng of goats of every size, color and age.

Dont step in that, Kristen Gill warned a guest. A staccato bleat from a goat sounded like mischievous laughter.

Gill wasnt always a goat farmer. I was in sales, a marketing and business development executive, she said.

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Actually, I taught a class down in Mount Vernon for 25 entrepreneurs on how to grow their business. And then, well, look at this, she said, indicating the rolling farmland, a barn, a gatepost, a 1930s farmhouse and five dozen goats clamoring for her attention.

Now, Im not doing all the things I said I would do. Its easier to teach it than it is to do it, she said.

She moved from New York City to rural Connecticut in 2017. Her corporate job continued, but not for long.

Kristen Gill cuddles Meadow, a 6- or 7-week old kid whose life she saved four weeks ago. Jack Sheedy

A neighbor up the street had six goats, and Gill would visit and be a sort of kid wife, as she termed it. I helped deliver them and it was like, to me, so fascinating and lovely. I just loved milking the goats and hanging out with them. So, we decided that we would have one.

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But that one goat became two, then 10, then 25. They call it goat math, Kristen Gill said.

When COVID hit in 2020, her corporate job was terminated. This seemed like a good opportunity for Got Your Goat LLC to grow, allowing families to interact with goats in the open air.

There was initial pushback from town officials, she said in a blog post, because the business was not deemed essential. But the town relented when newspaper stories quoted her as saying, Im sorry, I didnt realize HOPE was not essential, Gill recalled.

Easter egg hunts are only one type of activity Got Your Goat provides, she said. Elena Gill thought goats would be fun at birthday parties, and her mother thought they would also be great companions for groups of hikers.

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On this first day of spring, Gill opened a wide gate in her backyard, and 50 or 60 goats ran out to a pasture that extends to a distant wall of trees.

Goats streaming out into the 10-acre pasture, where the Easter egg hunts take place. Jack Sheedy

This is where the Easter egg hunts will be, she said. We taught the goats to follow the kids. But they already follow the kids, because when people come, look. Theyre not running away, right? Theyre all hanging out.

Gill knows every goats name. She knows their calls, their voices. She knows what each goat has been through in their short lives, from arthritic conditions to difficult births to nearly dying while being born.

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Just a day earlier, she had traveled to Maine to rescue a weeks-old kid whose mother rejected her. The rescued kid is named Petunia.

Theres a book that talks of the first and second halves of your life, she said. This is the half of the life where I get to do what I want.

In the field with her goats, Gill reached down to pick up Meadow, one of two young survivors of a quadruple birth a few weeks earlier. She cuddled Meadow and told of how it had been suffering seizures and low body temperature, how its organs had been shutting down, how she had performed CPR, nursing it back to life.

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Now, four weeks later, Meadow was gamboling with dozens of other goats in a field where he may soon join hundreds of human kids in a hunt for treats and love.
Just like its namesake, Fraunhofer stands for bringing pioneering research and entrepreneurship together. The efficient and sustainable transfer of scientific knowledge into real-world applications is the common thread running through our 75-year history. Our success is based on the commitment of over 30,000 employees, who work hard every day to develop innovative solutions for current and future markets, thereby giving our partners a decisive advantage in the international competition. We would like to thank them all, explained Prof. Hanselka, President of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, on the occasion of the anniversary. Government, business and society worldwide are currently facing major challenges and changes. Our market-driven research is actively contributing to a sustainable, secure and prosperous future. I am proud to be part of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and to be involved in shaping the future.

Bettina Stark-Watzinger, Federal Minister of Education and Research, said: The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft has been shaping the German scientific system for 75 years now. It conducts research for real-world applications, keeping an eye on new technologies and markets. Fraunhofer stands for successful transfers and a vibrant start-up culture. It dares to make progress. All of this is becoming increasingly important in the face of growing international competition. As a country of innovation, we must not only conduct excellent research but also utilize the results in the domestic economy. The ace up our sleeve is our collaboration and ecosystems with partners from science and industry. The success of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is driven by its employees, who master the balancing act between research and entrepreneurial thinking on a daily basis and are committed to finding solutions.

Dr. Markus Soder, Bavarian Minister-President and honorary member of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, added: Technology is the future! Fraunhofer has been combining cutting-edge research with real-world applications for 75 years and is an international leader in this field. Happy birthday and congratulations on this success! The Free State of Bavaria has been a driving force and close partner right from the start. Fraunhofer and Bavaria form a great alliance, one that we will continue in the future. As part of its High-Tech Agenda, Bavaria is currently investing over 5.5 billion euros in science and research throughout the federal state. In addition to room for 13,000 more students at universities and 1,000 professorships for the brightest minds, we are actively promoting the transfer of knowledge from research to real-world applications. Live long and prosper!

Bavaria's Minister of Economic Affairs Hubert Aiwanger said: The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is an indispensable research partner for companies in Bavaria and Germany, paving the way for countless innovations, especially in the German Mittelstand. We are proud that the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is deeply rooted in the Bavarian scientific landscape and is successfully advancing future topics ranging from artificial intelligence and chip design to materials and health research. I am convinced that Fraunhofer can not only proudly look back on a great past but will also be needed more than ever in the future as a driver of innovation for the economy.

Hildegard Muller, Chair of the Senate of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, said: Fraunhofer is a German success story that proves how innovative, creative and successful our country can be when science, government and business pull together. The idea of aligning research closely with the needs of companies and real-world applications is a unique selling point for Germany as a business location that will secure us competitive advantages in the future.

The success story of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft

On March 26, 1949, State Secretary Hugo Geiger invited 210 scientists, entrepreneurs and members of society to the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs. He aimed to help revive the economies of Bavaria and Germany by setting up the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. The new research organization was named after Joseph von Fraunhofer (17871826), a Munich scholar who was equally successful as a researcher, inventor and entrepreneur.

In line with the needs of the post-war period, research in the early years focused primarily on the fields of mining, metallurgy and mechanical engineering. By electing Hermann von Siemens president in the mid-1950s and founding the first of its institutes, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft gradually evolved to become a mainstay of research in Germany. In the mid-1960s, Fraunhofer was officially designated the German science communitys umbrella organization for applied research.

In the mid-1970s, the Fraunhofer model and its performance-oriented base funding sparked the dynamic success that continues today. Germanys reunification presented unexpected opportunities to expand. Moving swiftly and resolutely, Fraunhofer was quicker than other research organizations to seize the day, setting up more than 20 new institutes and research units in the states that had newly joined the Federal Republic.

Following the 1984 establishment of the Fraunhofer Group for Microelectronics, additional Fraunhofer institutes began ramping up their efforts to join forces in 1997, forming thematically focused groups and developing shared marketing concepts and research strategies. In 2015, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft founded its first-ever regional high-performance centers, where Fraunhofer institutes work closely with industry and other research partners on a local basis, covering projects on related topics. The goal was to pool strengths and tap into local potential. In 2020, Fraunhofer launched its Fraunhofer vs. Corona initiative to support the economy and society as a whole in fighting the pandemic.

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft as a success model and driver of innovation

Today, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft looks back on a 75-year history full of groundbreaking inventions and solutions to complex technological challenges. Since it was first founded, the organization has continued to grow and evolve, reaching many milestones along the way that reflect its innovative strength across all the different fronts of cutting-edge research. Rising from modest beginnings to international recognition as a research organization, Fraunhofer has always been defined by inventive spirit and entrepreneurial actions  just like our namesake, Joseph von Fraunhofer. Its numerous inventions and developments, ranging from the airbag and mp3 technology to white LEDs and EUV lithography, have made it the German economys innovation engine.

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft focuses unwaveringly on the needs of business and industry, providing valuable impetus for the evolution of key technologies that help to meet social challenges. The Fraunhofer model, which is based on industrial revenue, public-sector revenue and base funding, and centered on the needs of industry, is unique in the German innovation system. This combination of research, industry, and society also plays a crucial role in shaping the future, which makes it highly important to the entire innovation system. With 76 institutes and research units, more than 30,800 employees, an annual research budget of approximately 3.0 billion euros and many international collaborations, Fraunhofer exerts major impact in the research landscape.

Events in the anniversary year

April 2226: Hannover Messe (Hannover)

May 1617: Bonner Wissenschaftsnacht (Bonn Science Night) (Bonn)

June 1213: Fraunhofer annual assembly / Fraunhofer Prize award ceremony (Munich)

June 22: Lange Nacht der Wissenschaft (Long Night of the Sciences) (Berlin)

Science talk with passers-by on the banks of the Spree in front of the Fraunhofer Forum Berlin

June 2730: Festival der Zukunft (Festival of the Future) (Munich)

May 14  September 27: MS Wissenschaft floating science center (throughout Germany)

November 1: Berlin Science Week (Berlin)
George Kelakos was a lawyer and bankruptcy expert. He spent 146 days at Greenwich Hospital for treatment of COVID-19, and died March 10 from complications of the disease. contributed / Kelakos family George Kelakos, who spent 146 days at Greenwich Hospital for treatment of COVID-19, was celebrated following his release from the hospital in April of 2021. He died March 10 from complications of the disease. Greenwich Hospital George Kelakos, who spent 146 days at Greenwich Hospital for treatment of COVID-19, died March 10 from complications of the disease. Kelakos was a lawyer and bankruptcy expert. contributed / Kelakos family George Kelakos was a lawyer and bankruptcy expert. He spent 146 days at Greenwich Hospital for treatment of COVID-19, and died March 10 from complications of the disease. contributed / Kelakos family

GREENWICH  George Kelakos, who spent the longest of any patient in treatment at Greenwich Hospital for COVID-19, has died of complications from the disease. He was 67.

Kelakos, a lawyer and international bankruptcy expert from Greenwich, went into Greenwich Hospital in November 2020 and was in a comatose state and put on a ventilator for weeks before being released in April 2021. His 146 days in treatment was the longest the hospital has seen for COVID-19, according to hospital administration.

A memorial service will be held in April for Kelakos, who died March 10.

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"He fought long and hard after he contracted the Covid virus in November 2020," his wife, Anchalee Kelakos, said on social media. "George was a Renaissance man who touched so many lives in and outside of the restructuring and insolvency communities with his kindness, brilliance and enthusiasm. He was truly one of a kind," she wrote.

A friend and former co-worker of Kelakos', Rick Mikels, said, "George was the kind of person who lit up any room he was in."

"He was always a very positive and motivated person," Mikels said. "He also led the way in trying to do things that were hard to do, but well worth attempting."

Kelakos developed a career in bankruptcy proceedings, particularly cross-border transactional matters and distressed merger-and-acquisition deals, much of it in Asia.

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Kelakos loved riding his Ducati motorcycle and playing lead guitar in a band formed with other members of the international bankruptcy-law circuit called the "Indubitable Equivalents. He was also an expert in martial arts and proficient in several languages, according to his family.

Born in Boston on Feb. 24, 1957, he spent his early years in Italy, France and Israel. His father served with the U.S. State Department. Kelakos graduated from Brandeis University and obtained a law degree from University of Denver. He practiced bankruptcy and restructuring law at various firms before starting his own practice.

After he was released from Greenwich Hospital, he told Greenwich Time he had a new appreciation for life.

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"Cherish each breath and each moment," he said. "And remind yourself that the things that may have been important  a new car, upgrading my house  theyre not important. Your health, family, friends, helping others, thats whats important."
China strives to make payment environment more convenient, efficient

16:08, March 26, 2024 By Ye Zi, Peng Xunwen, Kang Jie ( People's Daily

China has become more enticing for foreigners as the country has concluded mutual visa-exemption agreements covering different passports with more than 150 countries.

Recently, relevant departments in China have rolled out multiple measures for payment institutions to improve payment services to meet the demand of foreigners in various scenarios. With the concerted efforts of various parties, the country's payment services are becoming more convenient, higher quality, and more efficient for foreigners: streamlined procedures for opening bank accounts, registration, and binding overseas bank cards, and acceptance of foreign cards at more key venues and stores.

A pilot multilingual translation service is launched on the application of the Chinese payment institution Alipay. (Photo from Alipay)

"A few days ago, I tried to bind my Visa card to WeChat and Alipay, and to my surprise, the whole process was very fast. With no need to verify my identity with my passport, it only took less than one minute to succeed," said Jack, an Australian, who recently came to China with his Chinese wife to visit her family. He heard from his family that the process of binding foreign bank cards through mobile applications had been simplified, so he decided to give it a try.

Jack had visited China with his wife a few times before, but at that time, it was quite complicated to bind a foreign bank card to Chinese mobile payment platforms. Therefore, he had to give up and let his wife handle the payment each time. "Now, after binding my own cards, all I need is a phone when I'm out," he said.

With the support and guidance of the People's Bank of China and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, Alipay and Tenpay (provider of WeChat Pay services) have implemented a series of measures to improve payment services for foreigners in cooperation with commercial banks, clearing agencies, and card organizations since 2023. As a result, foreigners are allowed to bind overseas bank cards to Alipay or WeChat Pay for consumption, and more and more overseas e-wallets can be used in China.

Now, foreigners can use their overseas mobile phone numbers, bank card numbers, etc. to open mobile payment services in China. China UnionPay has established interoperability with nearly 200 overseas e-wallets, which means users of overseas e-wallets such as K PLUS of Thailand, Naver Pay of South Korea, and GoPayz of Malaysia can make consumption in China. Alipay and Tenpay have allowed users of 13 overseas e-wallets to make payments in China. In addition, the two platforms have raised the single transaction limit for overseas travelers using mobile payments from $1,000 to $5,000, and lifted the annual cumulative transaction limit from $10,000 to $50,000.

The registration and verification for mobile payment have been further streamlined for foreigners. For instance, overseas users who open an account on WeChat Pay for the first time can make small payments without verification by only binding a foreign bank card. Subsequently, users can choose to complete real-name verification to increase the transaction limit.

Tenpay introduced a tiered verification solution before the Spring Festival this year, where overseas individuals only need to submit simple identity information to directly link their foreign card and make payments in most daily scenarios within a certain limit.

A foreign tourist scans a QR code to pay for snacks. (Photo from Alipay)

Details of services have been improved. On March 18, Alipay launched a pilot multilingual translation service on its application, expanding from the original two languages of Chinese and English to 16 languages. The translation service can be applied to various scenarios within the application, such as ride-hailing, hotel booking, ticketing of tourist attractions, public transportation, and checking exchange rates.

An executive of Alipay noted that in the future, the focus will be on high-frequency scenarios used by foreign tourists visiting China, and Alipay will introduce more exclusive services for foreign users.

Additionally, Alipay will expand its service coverage to include more card organizations and overseas e-wallets, allowing more foreign tourists to make QR code payments with their own e-wallets in China, the executive added.

"Mobile payment in China is very convenient. Now I've gotten used to using it. I can scan and pay at restaurants, cafes, and supermarkets, and the exchange rate is shown in real time," Jack said.

Foreign currency exchange and cash services are also being improved. China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange has requested that at least one of the five foreign currency exchange channels should be available in important scenarios such as ports and hotels serving international guests.

Efforts are being made across China. For example, Beijing is improving its ability to accept foreign bank cards at key commercial areas, scenic spots, parks, and hotels; Shanghai has set up a special section on its official website to gather information about payment methods for foreigners, making it convenient for them to find the content they need in a short time; Zhejiang province launched a payment facilitation program for overseas personnel in November 2023, and by the end of February this year, there were already 2.56 million merchants across the province accepting mobile payments from overseas individuals.

(Web editor: Chang Sha, Liang Jun)
Speaker of the House Matt Ritter, left, and House Majority Leader Jason Rojas on Monday in the State Capitol. Ken Dixon/Hearst Connecticut Media

HARTFORD  Democratic majority leaders on Monday said they will try to revive as many bills as they can from the dozens of pieces of legislation that died suddenly last week when the co-chairmen of the Insurance and Real Estate Committee failed to agree on action items before their deadline.

It was the first time in memory that a legislative committee of the General Assembly failed to approve any proposed legislation, letting at least 40 bills die from inaction.

Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney, D-New Haven, said outside the Senate chamber Monday afternoon that the nearly three dozen bills that died March 20 at 5 p.m. will either live on as amendments to other bills, or they can be brought to debate through a process called emergency certification. All of the bills had been subject to public hearings, which is mandatory to advancing bills. Several of the expired bills were drafted by Senate Democrats to help protect consumers, he added.

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Among the legislation that died was Gov. Ned Lamont's bill aimed at reducing the cost of prescription drugs; another on mental health parity; and another bill that would allow small employers to join so-called affinity pools to save money on the cost of health insurance.

"I think the content of the number of bills pending will be seen again in another form," Looney said. "One way or another I think we will see some of these bills again."

Speaker of the House Matt Ritter and House Majority Leader Jason Rojas said there are parliamentary ways around the problem, including amending related bills from other committees when they reach the House and Senate floor for debate.

But they stressed that the inability of the two Democratic committee co-chairs  Rep. Kerry Wood of Rocky Hill and Sen. Jorge Cabrera of Hamden  to agree on an action agenda was disappointing and complicates the flow of bills as the General Assembly closes in on its midnight May 8 adjournment.

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Ritter said that Wood and Cabrera could not agree on items for the committee's deadline day. "There was a desire to add additional bills to the agenda that were more-controversial and they could not find an agreement on what those additional bills should be," Ritter said. "They just ran out of time to come to agreement," said Rojas, D-East Hartford.

"There are ways and strategies that you can bring stuff back," Ritter, D-Hartford, told reporters prior to the House session on Monday. "The reality is you're probably going to need a lot of cooperation from all four caucuses to keep that from being a long, long debate. There are just some strong personalities and that committee has begun, I think over the last couple of years, it's been tough, but there are bills that we care about and we're going to find a way to resurrect them."

Rojas added that the committee leadership would have to prioritize which bills they can agree on. "There are other insurance-related matters in other bills in other committees. Perhaps those can be the vehicles. Yes, some work will have to be done about what can go forward."

As for who was at fault, Ritter said there was enough "blame to go around" between Wood and Cabrera. "There are two types of chairs. There are chairs that basically let every bill go through. Then there are some chairs that are a little more old school, and they say 'we don't have time for this right now.'"

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Sen. Tony Hwang of Fairfield, a ranking Republican on the Insurance Committee, said outside the Senate on Monday that the affinity pools bill is important because it would be a way for smaller employers to offer their workers insurance, by gathering a variety of different trades and occupations. "It's a good plan," Hwang said. "It's a bipartisan plan. It's a plan that would help address critical cost concerns and affordability for individuals and small businesses that are really the engine of our state but they can't afford it."

"I think what happened in the Insurance and Real Estate Committee was unprecedented," Hwang said. "It was disrespect to many of the advocates who came and testified, experts who gave their opinions and made real efforts to make contributions through the legislative process. Their voice wasn't heard and that to me is the greatest travesty. We didn't finish the work. My hope is these important bills that we argued and deliberated and had public hearings on will find another place. The most important thing we had a public hearing. We had the vetting. We just didn't have the committee of cognizance voting on it. There were many good bills that we had."

Ritter said that the rare, historic committee collapse is a learning experience. "Maybe it's a good lesson in the future. On both sides, you've got to spend more time thinking about these things earlier than later," he said.
WILLIAM MORROW

Dan Pashman decided to write a pasta cookbook after noticing that many of the fans of the pasta he invented seemed to eat it in very boring ways. Anythings Pastable by Pashman has recipes with flavors from around the world. The cookbooks cover shows the recipe Cacio E Pepe E Chili Crisp.
Sunday Night

Partly cloudy. A few flurries or snow showers possible. Low around 35F. SSE winds at 10 to 20 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph.
Speaker of the House Matt Ritter said Monday that lawmakers will have not much in the way of surpluses to work with as they craft their priorities for the remainder of the session. I dont know what we can promise anyone at this point. Dave Zajac/Hearst Connecticut Media

HARTFORD  Connecticut lawmakers face a crunch of time and money as they work to craft their priorities for the start of the next fiscal year on July 1.

That was the message Monday from House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, who held a press conference for reporters in the State Capitol marking roughly the halfway point in the three-month budget session that began in February.

When we say were making budget adjustments, I would think the most minor youve ever seen perhaps is what were looking at, Ritter said. I dont know what we can promise anyone at this point.

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Connecticut is expected to end the current fiscal year with a surplus of $108.7 million, according to the latest estimates from the comptrollers office. Those estimates have dwindled as a result with lower-than-expected revenues, which scuttled Gov. Ned Lamonts plans to put forward additional tax cuts this year.

Instead, Lamont put forward a $26.1 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which represented a slim, 3.4 percent increase over previously-approved spending levels.

Republicans have accused Lamont and Democrats of exhausting their recent surpluses on generous contracts for state employee unions and other publicly-financed workers. On Monday, both the House and the Senate held their first floor votes in more than a month. On their agenda was a pay increase for home healthcare workers that is expected to cost nearly $26 million next year  and which passed over Republican opposition.

The spending cap is going to be more than exhausted today with this vote, said House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford. So I think were going to have a real hard time putting this budget together.

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Since the start of the legislative session in February, lawmakers have mostly been working through their respective committees to advance bills to the floor for a vote. That work began wrapping up last week, and the rest will face a deadline of no later than April 4 to pass bills.

House lawmakers have been asked to block off just 15 days between Monday and the end of the session on May 8 in which they will hold floor votes, though a spokesman for the chambers Democratic leadership said that number could grow. The Senate has yet to determine how many days it will hold votes.

Ritter said that House Democrats current priorities for that time will include a proposal to extend paid sick leave to all workers, including those at smaller businesses, a bill to bolster funding for early childcare and new regulations on artificial intelligence.

In the Senate, Democrats' top priority  as denoted by the bill number S.B. 1  is an omnibus measure to create safer working conditions for home healthcare workers following the deaths of two nurses. Other caucus priorities include bills dealing with consumer protection, drug affordability and affordable housing, according to Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk.

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"There's not a lot of wiggle room," in the budget, Duff said. "But there's always room for various priorities, and that's what we have to negotiate."

Other big-tickets have already been watered down or face steep hurdles to gain support between now and the end of the session. In one such example, Democrats nixed a proposal to join California in committing to phase out the sale of all new gas cars, and instead have opted to form a committee to study the issue. House Majority Leader Jason Rojas, D-East Hartford, also said Monday that he did not expect any "sweeping" reforms this year to ease the development of more affordable housing, which has been a key priority for many lawmakers and advocates.

In the meantime, dozens of other items  from legislation ending the tipped minimum wage to a ban on the sale of shark fin soup  are awaiting votes in the House or Senate.
Operation Iron Swords - Day 171 - 25 March 2024

At any point, Hamas could have ended this burgeoning tragedy to

surrender and release every hostage.

Hamas instigated and owns this humanitarian catastrophe.

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA)

The United Nations Security Council has demanded an immediate ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages as the United States abstained from the vote. The remaining 14 council members voted for the resolution on Monday. The resolution calls for an immediate ceasefire during the month of Ramadan, which began two weeks ago, provided that it leads to a permanent ceasefire. It also "demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages." The Security Council failed to pass an amendment to the draft ceasefire resolution that includes the phrase a permanent ceasefire.

Earlier Monday, the Israeli news website Ynet quoted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as saying that he would cancel a scheduled delegation visit to Washington if the United States did not use its veto against the proposal calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. A high-level delegation was scheduled to visit Washington to discuss a planned Israeli military operation in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

The Prime Minister's Office said after the vote : "The US withdrew from its consistent position in the Security Council where it only a few days ago linked a ceasefire with the release of the abductees (section 1). China and Russia vetoed the previous resolution partly because they supported a ceasefire without the release of the abductees. Russia and China supported the current decision, along with Algeria and other countries."

"The US did not veto today the new version that calls for an unconditional ceasefire on the release of the abductees," added the Prime Minister's Office. "This is a clear retreat from the consistent position of the US in the Security Council since the beginning of the war. This withdrawal 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. Prime Minister Netanyahu already 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 the shadow of the change in the American position, Prime Minister Netanyahu decided that the delegation would not leave."

Even though Netanyahu cancelled the Hanegbi and Dermer delegation, Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant continuing his visit demonstrates that while on the political level ties are strained, at the working, institutional level--e.g. defense establishment - relations continue apace.

The US ambassador to the Security Council said after the abstention: " we fully support some of the critical objectives in this nonbinding resolution. And 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.... we meet during the holy month of Ramadan. This should be a season of peace for Muslim communities around the world, just as October 7, Simchat Torah, should have been a day of peace for Jewish communities. This resolution rightly acknowledges that, during the month of Ramadan, we must recommit to peace. Hamas can do that by accepting the deal on the table. A ceasefire can begin immediately with the release of the first hostage. And so, we must put pressure on Hamas to do just that."

John Kirby, spokesman for the US National Security Council, said after the vote on the resolution: "Today we abstained in the UN Security Council. Our vote does not indicate a change in policy. We have always said that we are in favor of a ceasefire hand in hand with the release of hostages. We did not support it because there was no condemnation of Hamas in the proposal."

The US State Department said that Israel bears responsibility for investigating violations of the laws of war, commenting on the Israeli armys targeting and killing of 4 Palestinian civilians after following them with a drone in the Gaza Strip. This came in a statement by a US State Department spokesman to Anadolu Agency, commenting on the exclusive scenes shown by Al Jazeera, showing the Israeli drone tracking the four civilians before killing them with missiles it fired at them.

The spokesman said that they "have not yet confirmed the authenticity of the scenes," but he expressed his great concern about them, and confirmed that he had requested more information from Israeli officials about them. The spokesman added that Israel "bears responsibility to investigate violations of the laws of war." He stressed the need for the Israeli authorities to expose those responsible and punish them in this context. He also stressed the need to prevent similar violations from occurring again.

Al Jazeera channel showed exclusive scenes showing an Israeli drone targeting 4 Palestinian civilians in the Al-Sika area in the city of Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip. The scenes were reportedly taken from an Israeli drone that was shot down in Khan Yunis at the beginning of last February. They show the four young Palestinian men being pursued by the drone while they were unarmed and targeted with several missiles. Two of them were martyred with the first missile, then the third was martyred, and then the fourth was martyred with two other missiles.

According to a report by Al Jazeera correspondent Salam Khader, this area has witnessed Israeli bombing and military operations since the start of the incursion into the Southern Governorate early last December. The scenes show young men walking - seemingly searching for their homes or what remains of them - among rubble left by aircraft and occupation shells, on a road that was swept away by occupation vehicles before they withdrew from it by land. It is clearly shown from the clip that the four civilians do not carry weapons and do not pose any danger.

War Termination

Israeli officials, on Sunday, gave an opportunity to reach an agreement with Hamas, under which hostages held in the Gaza Strip would be released, after reports indicated that Israel had softened its position on Palestinian prisoners, and may be willing to release larger numbers than discussed. Until now, according to the Times of Israel. An Israeli official said in an exclusive statement to the Times of Israel newspaper, without revealing his identity: At the present time, the chances of reaching an agreement are 50/50.

During the talks, Israel accepted the latest American proposal, another Israeli official told the same newspaper on Sunday, which has since been sent to Hamas. The official did not mention what the proposal included, but reports indicated that Israel was prepared to double the number of security prisoners who would be released in exchange for 40 hostages, including women, children, the sick, and the elderly, during the first phase of a 6-week truce agreement.

According to a report published by Israeli Channel 12, Israel "is now prepared to release up to 800 Palestinian prisoners, including 100 prisoners convicted of murder." Other Hebrew media reports indicated that Israel "is prepared to release 700 Palestinian security prisoners in exchange for 40 hostages." The framework agreement that Israel agreed to in talks that took place in the French capital, Paris, last month, includes preparations to release 400 security prisoners, in the first phase of the agreement.

An Israeli official told The Times of Israel, The main sticking point in the talks is the number of high-value prisoners that Israel will release in exchange for female Israeli soldiers who are being held hostage. Citing an unnamed high-ranking source close to the talks, Channel 12 reported that the country offered the return of 2,000 Gazans daily to the northern Strip, starting two weeks after the agreement entered into force and the temporary ceasefire was established.

Mossad chief David Barnea, the most senior Israeli official involved in the talks, returned from Qatar late Saturday night, along with Shin Bet security director Ronen Bar and Israel Defense Forces man Nitzan Alon, although a team remained behind. A lower level handles technical details in the Gulf country. CIA Director William Burns also left Doha, a source familiar with the talks told AFP.

Senior Hamas official, Hussam Badran, added a new condition to ceasefire and hostage release negotiations while delinking a hostage release from a deal, according to a statement on Monday reported by Palestinian and Arab media. "Our priorities are stopping the aggression, bringing in aid, the return of the displaced, and a clear reconstruction plan, and not limited to the release of prisoners as promoted by the occupation," the Hamas officials was quoted as saying, referring to 134 hostages, including children as young as one-years-old as "prisoners." The latest statement by Badran indicated that Hamas increased its demands, with a new condition for a "clear reconstruction plan" in Gaza.

A leading source in the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) denied to Al Jazeera the validity of Israeli media leaks that spoke of concessions and compromises offered to the movement. In his statements, the leader described these Israeli leaks as miserable propaganda aimed at covering up the intransigence of the Israeli government and evading responsibility for obstructing the agreement before the families of its prisoners. The source confirmed that the movement clarified its irreversible position, which is that there will be no exchange of prisoners while the aggression, massacres, and siege on the Gaza Strip continue.

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation had quoted an Israeli official as saying that the Israelis were ready to make major concessions in order to conclude a deal to recover the prisoners. She added that the meeting of Mossad chief David Barnea with members of the mini-ministerial council in Israel, which was scheduled for Sunday evening, was canceled under the pretext of waiting for Hamas response to the proposals presented by Israel in order to complete an exchange deal. The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation also quoted sources as saying that there are disagreements within the Israeli technical staff regarding whether Hamas is interested in reaching an agreement.

It quoted a senior Israeli official as saying that Israel had agreed to an American proposal for a compromise solution with Hamas regarding the deal, and was awaiting the movements response within two days, according to Israeli estimates. The official also said that a solution could be reached regarding the northern Gaza Strip , with optimism regarding the issue of the return of residents.

The broadcasting authority indicated that the Israeli delegation, headed by the head of the Mossad, returned to Israel from the Qatari capital, Doha, after consulting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid Al-Ansari said last Tuesday that the ongoing round of negotiations in Doha had resumed a few days ago with all its tracks, and had moved to the stage of technical meetings. Indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel are taking place in conjunction with the ongoing battles throughout the Gaza Strip, and the continuing pressure on Netanyahu to complete an exchange deal.

Israel has agreed to release between 700 and 800 Palestinian terrorists as part of a hostage deal, Hebrew-language media reported Sunday evening, citing Israeli officials. Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group holding over 100 Israelis in Gaza, will release 40 hostages. The terrorists earmarked for release by Israel include hundreds serving life sentences for murdering Israelis, according to Walla News. Israel gave a clean answer on hostage release and ceasefire negotiations in Doha, agreeing to a Washington-initiated compromise, and the mediators were awaiting an answer from Hamas, the Israeli Channel 12 News reported. Mossad chief David Barnea reportedly returned to Israel on Sunday morning, after having been in Qatar negotiating over the weekend, and a delegation remained in Doha as part of the talks.

The points of agreement were listed as the number of prisoners and a willingness to negotiate over the return of Gazans to northern Gaza. Israel reportedly agreed to a significantly greater number of Palestinian prisoners to be released than a proposal plan formulated in Paris, as well flexibility regarding the issue of the northern Gaza Strip, which Hamas had set as a condition for a deal.

"The progress on this issue is dramatic for us," senior Israeli official told Channel 12s Yaron Avraham, adding "Now the question is if Hamas will understand that Israel also has red lines or if it will climb higher trees. If the answer is an absolute no then the negotiations will enter into a crisis." "The teams are working non-stop. Everyone is fully deployed in Doha. There is no sense of positivity and euphoria. The feelings are not particularly great. But nevertheless - we are working and ready for a response from Hamas and then we will know more, the same source concluded.

Amid warnings of the possibility of famine in the Gaza Strip, and Israel's refusal to play the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) any role in delivering food aid to northern Gaza, reports have emerged of Israel considering arming the Palestinian tribes in the Strip and holding them responsible for distributing aid. Analysts contacted by Al-Hurra website confirmed that this idea is complicated and far from reality, pointing out the possibility of using this weapon primarily against Israel, in light of the great feelings of hatred left by the current war in Gaza.

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation said, on Sunday, that security authorities in Israel were discussing the issue of distributing weapons to local leaders and tribes in the Gaza Strip, for the sake of self-defense, after they were exposed to daily threats, following Israeli security officials communicating with them in order to assume responsibility for managing the Strip instead. From the Hamas movement. The official body indicated that the goal of the step comes because "without armed groups in the Gaza Strip other than Hamas, it will not be possible to create a governing alternative to regulate the distribution of humanitarian aid."

The Palestinian analyst, Ayman Al-Raqab, said in an interview with Al-Hurra website that this proposal is an attempt to create a state of chaos in Gaza, adding: Talk about providing weapons aims to create a clash between Hamas and the tribes, which is something that will not happen because the problem is not in Weapons are not only present in Gaza, but people accept them. He continued: "It is an attempt by Israel to show that it can create a force against Hamas and the Palestinian factions, and I think it is illogical and unrealistic."

The Broadcasting Corporation report explained that the issue of arming residents of Gaza or local leaders in the Strip, and who will manage it after the war, will be raised during the meeting of Defense Minister Yoav Galant with his American counterpart, Lloyd Austin, during his visit to the United States in the coming hours. The report added, "It is possible that the Americans will agree to provide weapons to tribal leaders in Gaza... with Israel's approval." For its part, the American newspaper "Wall Street Journal" reported on Thursday that Israeli officials "are working to develop a plan to distribute aid in the Gaza Strip, which could ultimately lead to the creation of a vision of a Palestinian-led governing authority in Gaza."

Commenting on these reports, Israeli analyst Eli Nissan said that the issue of arming the tribes is complicated, noting that there were attempts by Israel to give the large tribes in Gaza control, but Hamas threatened the latter. A senior Israeli defense official held talks in Egypt, the UAE and Jordan, to mobilize regional support as part of efforts to recruit officials without ties to Hamas to distribute aid, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The American newspaper quoted Israeli and Arab officials as saying that some of the aid will enter by land and sea after the Israeli inspection, and will go to large warehouses in central Gaza, where Palestinians will then distribute it. Officials explained that when the war ends, "they will assume responsibility for governance, with the support of security forces funded by wealthy Arab governments."

The Pentagon announced that an American ship loaded with heavy equipment and supplies for building a temporary dock to transport aid to the Gaza Strip left, on Thursday, from the state of Virginia towards the Mediterranean Sea. For his part, Jihad Al-Harazin, professor of political science at Al-Quds University, pointed out that the idea of ??arming Palestinian tribes and families in Gaza is not achievable, because the tribes will not accept being police serving the occupation army or being affiliated with it. But he pointed out in his speech to Al-Hurra that the matter would be different if it came as a mandate from the PLO or the Palestinian leadership, then there would be acceptance, and he stressed that Israels arming of them is something that cannot be accepted and I do not think that families or tribes will accept it.

The Israeli efforts sparked threats of retaliation from Hamas, with the movement calling anyone working with the Israelis a "traitor" and threatening to kill them. In recent days, several Palestinian families who were previously thought to be open to the idea have withdrawn, according to the Wall Street Journal. A Hamas security official said in a statement on March 10, shortly after the Israeli efforts began: Accepting communication with the occupation forces by heads of families and tribes to work in the Gaza Strip is considered national treason, and is something we will not allow.

Hamas views the emerging Israeli plan as a means to create an independent governance structure. The Hamas security official said: We will strike with an iron fist anyone who tampers with the internal front in the Gaza Strip, and we will not allow new rules to be imposed.

Al-Raqab, for his part, believed that if weapons were provided to Palestinians in Gaza, they might use them against Israel, and that is after the hate industry in Gaza, as there is no family in the Gaza Strip that has not lost one of its sons... The scale of hatred is very large and is increasing day by day. Regarding the possibility of the idea turning against Israel and the possibility of using weapons against it, Nissan told Al-Hurra: All things are possible, but if these families actually thought about their future and the interest of the people in Gaza... they would not do that.

He also pointed out that there are Israeli efforts to break the power of Hamas, which tries from time to time to show that it still exists, explaining that if Israel succeeds in this mission, it will "encourage families to take over the management of matters in the Gaza Strip."

The delay in the arrival of land aid was compensated for by airdrops and by sending aid recently from Cyprus via a sea corridor that began recently. With little to no infrastructure, a charity recently established a temporary pier on the Gaza beach to handle incoming aid. The United States plans to create a "temporary port" to bring aid to shore.

The US National Security Council's chief of staff, Curtis Reed, said last week, "The US military is doing everything in its power to accelerate (building) this capability, and to operate it before the May 1 target date that we have set." He added to reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Cyprus: They are working hard to make progress on it, and we hope that we will be able to see it in operation before then.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) announced that Israel had informed it that it would not agree again to send the UN agency food convoys to the northern Gaza Strip. Reed stated that "there are no plans to land American military personnel on the beach," when asked about how the operation would proceed inside Gaza. He added that Israel will play an important role in securing a large area, and that the United States is talking with a number of countries about the possibility of assuming the role of a security partner within the borders of the complex that the Israelis will secure.

He also explained that a United Nations agency would likely distribute the aid, and that "UNRWA will continue to be used in the near future." Commenting on securing and distributing aid, Al-Raqab said: We need police for security, but there is no proposal on how to provide a police force. So far, Israel may provide it, which seeks in the future to have a civilian force receive and distribute aid, but that may happen later in the future. There are representatives of the families, but it is too early to talk about that now.

In turn, Al-Harazin stressed that the only party capable of this is UNRWA, as it has a staff of employees who can deliver aid, and it is an agency that enjoys international protection and a UN mandate to work. No other party can replace UNRWA. UNRWA announced, on Sunday, that Israel had informed it that it will not agree again to send the UN agency food convoys to the northern Gaza Strip.

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said: The Israeli authorities have informed the United Nations that they will no longer approve the entry of any UNRWA food convoys into the north, adding in a post on the X platform: This is disgraceful and indicates deliberate obstruction of life-saving aid in the midst of famine. man made". The Israeli newspaper Haaretz indicated in a report on Sunday that one of the main points of contention during the ongoing ceasefire negotiations is that Hamas is demanding that UNRWA be responsible for distributing aid.

The report explained that Hamas considers UNRWA the only one capable of receiving and distributing aid immediately, but Israel opposes any organization linked to Hamas being responsible for humanitarian aid, which UNRWA denies.

Operational Update

IDF Reserve Major General Yitzhak Brik explained in an article published by Maariv newspaper that entering the Rafah camps could lead to three disastrous results. The first relates to the possibility of the outbreak of a multi-sided regional war, and the second threatens the loss of peace with Egypt if the fighting becomes entangled on the Egyptian border. He pointed out that the third result is an increase in the risk of killing all Israeli prisoners in the Gaza Strip, stressing that the military operation in Rafah is a very dangerous gamble and should not be undertaken, as it may be the final nail in the coffin of Israeli survival.

And he said; "Today it has become clear to everyone that the complete destruction of Hamas is the choice of Netanyahu and his followers," indicating that in the name of the illusion with which they deceive the public regarding the complete destruction of Hamas, the political level creates obstacles to the release of prisoners. He stated that the leadership, which has lost its direction, is afraid of ending the war, for fear that it would harm Netanyahus rule as prime minister, and the result would be neither a complete victory over Hamas, nor the release of all prisoners. He continued, saying: If all the prisoners, alive or dead, are not released, at least, the war will remain engraved in the minds of public opinion, as a miserable failure.

Brik stressed that the failure came not only because of the surprise attack launched by Hamas on October 7, but also because of the Israeli armys attack on the Gaza Strip, which did not achieve the two main goals of the war, which were defeating Hamas and releasing the prisoners. He added, "This will be the worst failure that the people of Israel have suffered in all their wars, from the founding of the Jewish state to the present day."

He noted that Netanyahu's talk about the collapse of Hamas after the elimination of its four brigades in Rafah is a very dangerous lie, noting that the US Secretary of State informed the Israeli War Council that "Israel's security and international standing are in danger." According to the Israeli generals assessment, entering Rafah is a double-edged sword, and its harm exceeds its benefit dozens of times, believing that entering Rafah is a bet on Israels security, because it may explode its relationship with the United States, which is already very fragile today, and will increase the entire worlds boycott of Israel. He concluded by saying: "There is no relationship between the Israeli army's control of Rafah, the destruction of the surrounding infrastructure, and the ability of Hamas members to continue fighting as guerrillas," adding that "until the moment, the political level does not have any plan for how to replace Hamas' civilian rule in Gaza."

Operational Update - Gaza

Political analysts who spoke to the https://www.aljazeera.net/ program Gaza...what next? believe that The American administration has become convinced that the military approach adopted by Israel will not succeed in eliminating the Palestinian resistance, and that continuing the war harms the interests of the United States and its ally.

In this context, Palestinian writer and political analyst Ahmed Al-Haila believes that the United States is convinced that eliminating the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) is an unrealistic goal, and what was indicated in a US intelligence report, part of which was presented to Congress, which also made clear that if Israel insists on... Using military force in what you call the elimination of Hamas will take years and cost it dearly.

The American administration warns the Israeli occupation - the spokesman adds - that continuing the path of military force and killing the Palestinians and committing genocide against them will lead to the erosion of the credibility and image of Israel and the United States at the same time before their people and in front of international forums. Therefore, Washington is trying to persuade the Israelis to modify their behavior and stop the idea of judiciary. On Hamas and the Palestinian resistance inside the Gaza Strip.

For his part, academic and expert on Israeli affairs Muhannad Mustafa confirms that Washington has come to believe that the military approach adopted by Israel cannot achieve its goal of eliminating the Hamas movement, indicating that there is a gradual and slow escalation in American policy towards Israel, which was evident in the imposition of sanctions. On settlers and calling for elections in Israel.

According to Israeli Channel 13, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said before the Israeli War Council, in what appeared to be a definitive conclusion to any argument regarding the Rafah operation, that Hamas will remain even if you attack Rafah. The United States has become convinced that the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip is harming its interests and the interests of its ally, Tel Aviv, in terms of its regional and international repercussions.

In contrast to the American approach that also rejects the invasion of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - adding the academic and expert - insists on moving forward with his plan for a military attack on Rafah , because for him this operation represents a matter of life or death, as Muhannad Mustafa says.

In this context, former US State Department official William Lawrence acknowledges that the US administration is a partner and complicit in what is happening in Gaza, but it has begun to understand that it helped cause what is happening in the Gaza Strip, and that Netanyahu is working against Israels interests, which was stated by US officials, including US Senator and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, who said that Netanyahu is an obstacle to peace. He concluded, "The American administration concluded that Israel is waging war against Palestinian civilians and not against Hamas." Regarding American aid to Israel, Lawrence said that cutting it would not be easy or quick before ending the war, explaining that the US Congress would threaten to start cutting off weapons from Tel Aviv and put pressure on the White House in this regard.

On the other hand, the Palestinian writer and political analyst Al-Hila raises questions about what is happening in the Gaza Strip, and says that there are faltering negotiations taking place due to the occupations adherence to the same noes, and at the same time there are preparations for an attack on Rafah, and there are military measures and changes taking place in the Gaza Strip towards the waterway. Introducing an alternative authority in the sector.

Al-Haila expressed his belief that the Americans and Israelis are trying to create a fait accompli policy that would lead to the Gaza Strip being managed differently from the current reality, and he did not rule out the possibility of American pressure on Israel to present a political approach in this context. It is noteworthy that indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel are continuing in the Qatari capital, Doha, in conjunction with the ongoing battles throughout the Gaza Strip, and the continuing pressure on the Israeli Prime Minister to complete an exchange deal.

The official Israeli broadcaster, Kan, said that the security establishment is considering distributing pistols and weapons to local leaders and tribal sheikhs in Gaza for the purpose of self-defense. The Commission stated that this came after these leaders were exposed to threats to their lives, as Israeli security officials approached them for the purpose of replacing Hamas officials. She indicated that the position of the security establishment states that without the armed groups in Gaza that do not belong to Hamas, it is not possible to create an authoritarian alternative to Hamas, which, according to the report, is trying to regain control in northern Gaza and the center of the Strip.

She explained that the issue of arming Gazans and local leaders in Gaza, as well as the issue of who will control Gaza the day after the war, will be raised in the meeting between Security Minister Gallant and US Defense Secretary Walid Austin. The official authority indicated that the Americans may agree to bring these pistols themselves after permission from Israel and the tribal sheikhs whom Tel Aviv has approved in advance.

The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, said on Monday that it had bombed the city of Ashdod in southern Israel with missiles in response to what it described as targeting civilians, according to what was reported by the Arab World News Agency. The Israeli army confirmed in a brief statement that sirens sounded in Ashdod, while Israeli media said that this was the first time that missiles had been launched towards the city in more than two months. The Israeli Broadcasting Authority said that at least 4 missiles were fired from the northern Gaza Strip towards the city of Ashkelon in southern Israel, and alarms were activated in the city. The Authority added that 3 missiles were intercepted, while one missile landed in an open area.

IDFs Nahal Brigade located and raided a drone manufacturing laboratory which served various factions in Gaza, as well as encountering terrorists outside the building and eliminating them.

The Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad movement in Palestine, announced that it bombed enemy concentrations in the vicinity of the Al-Shifa Complex, west of Gaza City, with 60-caliber regular mortar shells. Al-Quds Brigades broadcast scenes of what it said were rocket and mortar shell attacks targeting settlements around the Gaza Strip and the Israeli occupation forces in the Al-Taqaddum axis, west of Gaza City. The scenes showed Al-Saraya fighters targeting military sites and settlements around the Gaza Strip. As stated in the video, the fighters targeted a logistics and security equipment facility inside Kibbutz Nahal Mouz and the Iron Dome system.

The Al-Alam News Network, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting. reported the occupation forces continued their war against the hospitals of the Gaza Strip. Seven days after occupying Al-Shifa Hospital, the occupation forces besieged Al-Amal Hospital, affiliated with the Palestinian Red Crescent, as a result of which a paramedic and a displaced person were martyred. They besieged Nasser Hospital and killed a number of the displaced. The occupation tanks again entered the Western Camp and Al-Amal neighborhood and reached Al-Aqsa University near Mawasi Khan Yunis.

Paramedics recovered the bodies of four citizens from the town of Al-Qarara, northeast of Khan Yunis, and a number of citizens from the Al-Mawasi area.

In Rafah, the occupation army bombed five homes within 24 hours, leading to the death of 27 Palestinians and the injury of dozens. the death toll in the central Gaza Strip rose to ten martyrs after the occupation bombed the home of the Salman family in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. The occupation artillery also bombed the Nuseirat and Al-Bariya camps in the central Gaza Strip.

In the northern Gaza Strip, Israeli occupation forces continue to storm Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City for the eighth day in a row, while continuing bombings inside the complex. The occupation army also continued to destroy residential squares in the vicinity of Al-Shifa Hospital and force its residents to move south. In addition, there were martyrs and wounded when two homes of the Salem family were targeted by an Israeli air strike on the Beach camp, west of Gaza City. Likewise, three martyrs were killed in a bombing carried out by the occupation targeting members of a tribal committee that provides aid near the Kuwait roundabout in Gaza. As for Beit Hanoun, two Palestinians were martyred after the occupation targeted the people.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem Al-Salem, expressed her concern about the increasing cases of rape committed by occupation soldiers against women in Gaza. Al-Salem explained in a post on the X platform that it is disgusting that these cases continue in the Gaza Strip , which has been subjected to a devastating Israeli war for 6 months. She stressed that rape and other types of sexual violence could be considered war crimes, crimes against humanity, or behavior that may constitute genocide. The UN rapporteur called for an immediate halt to cases of violence against Palestinian women.

Al Jazeera columnist and former managing director Yasser Abuhilalah acknowledged through Hamas investigations that a story which the Qatari broadcaster aired was fabricated, and Israeli soldiers did not rape women at Shifa hospital as was alleged. While Al Jazeera itself issued no formal correction, retraction or acknowledgement, all the content related to the allegation were reportedly removed from the Qatari broadcasting channel. It was revealed through Hamas investigations that the story of the rape of women in Al-Shifa Hospital was fabricated, Abuhilalah wrote on X, yet accusing Israel of genocide.

The woman who spoke about rape justified her exaggeration and incorrect talk by saying that the goal was to arouse the nations fervor and brotherhood, the Al Jazeera columnist explained, adding As if more than thirty thousand martyrs, ninety thousand wounded, about a million displaced people, and comprehensive destruction were not enough!

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz stressed that such reports get taken seriously by the United Nations, and called out Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for his bias against Israel. Look surprised, the Palestinians fabricate stories of rape to incite anti-Semitism, Katz posted on X. Guterres, I'm sure that's sad for you to hear, but that's the reality.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman in Arabic, Lieutenant Colonel Avichay Adraee, earlier denied the claims and efforts were being made to deny this "fake news. "After failing on all counts, Hamas megaphones and propaganda have invented a new lie," he said in a video posted on X, also accusing "the Al-Jazeera channel and Hamas mouthpieces" of trying "in vain to pass off the face of ISIS-Hamas as beautiful after October 7 and the massacres, rapes and arson they perpetrated.

Operational Update - Judea-Samaria

Large numbers of settler occupiers stormed, Monday morning, the courtyards of the Blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, under the protection of the occupation police, on the second day of the Jewish holiday of Purim. The raids began from the Mughrabi Gate, reaching the eastern and northern courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque. The second day of the storming of the Jewish Purim holiday witnessed an increase in the number of stormers, as the storming began at seven in the morning, with an increase in the number of occupation police and officers present in the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque, some of whom were stationed at the path of the cup.

The occupation forces forcibly evacuated the square opposite the Al-Qibli prayer hall and the courtyard of the Dome of the Rock, and removed two young men who were sitting on the terrace in the vicinity of the Al-Qibli prayer hall, and two young women from the mosque. At dawn, the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque witnessed military restrictions, and the occupation forces searched the worshipers as they entered to perform the dawn prayer, and in the morning hours, the majority were prevented from entering, coinciding with the colonists storming.

The incursions begin from the Mughrabi Gate on foot, along the Al-Qibli prayer area, towards the east of the mosque. In the eastern area, near the wall of the mosque and the Gate of Mercy, the settlers stop for a long time and perform their silent and aloud prayers and other rituals. They also sit on the step adjacent to the wall and listen to the explanations of the guide or the rabbi accompanying them, and then they head along the Bab al-Rahma Road towards the north of the mosque.

Some settlers climb towards the northern sides of the courtyard of the Dome of the Rock and then perform prayers and take pictures, without entering the courtyard of the Dome of the Rock or the covered chapels. Then they continue their storming towards the west of the mosque, along the western portico. The intruders stood for a long time in front of or above the stairs of the Western Baqa and performed their prayers there as well, and some of them drank from the ancient Sabil of Qaytbay.

The storming ends with the settlers leaving Bab al-Silsilah, west of the mosque, singing and walking backwards (with their backs toward the door). After leaving, they stand on the threshold of Bab al-Silsilah, from which the Dome of the Rock can be seen. They perform additional, louder and noisier prayers and dances, then they leave via Bab al-Silsilah Road towards the Old City.

The Chief Rabbinate of the occupying state prohibits Jews from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque or what it calls the Temple Mount, due to the failure to fulfill the condition of purity from the impurity of the dead, as they call it waiting for the Messiah the Savior, but the Temple groups disagree with this.

Al-Alam TV correspondent in Jenin reported that the occupation forces stormed the city of Nablus this morning, leading to the outbreak of confrontations and the injury of three Palestinian citizens. She added that the occupation stormed several suburbs in the city of Tulkarm and also the town of Qaffin near the city, which led to a child being injured by shrapnel from the occupation bullets after the outbreak of confrontations.

The Al-Alam News Network, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting. correspondent continued that there were several incursions into Jenin from last night until now, which came after the Jenin Brigades statement that it was able to infiltrate the Merav settlement and shoot the settlement. It is noteworthy that the Jenin Battalion, affiliated with the Al-Quds Brigades , announced last night that it had targeted the Merav settlement with heavy bullets and confirmed the withdrawal of its fighters to their bases safely.

Five Palestinians were shot during confrontations with the Israeli army in the northern West Bank yesterday evening, Sunday, and early Monday, as the occupation forces continued to carry out night raids into various towns and cities in the West Bank, including confrontations and arrests. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said in a statement that its ambulance crews dealt with a live bullet wound to a 16-year-old child in the leg from the village of Qaffin, northeast of Tulkarm , and transferred him to the hospital.

The Red Crescent also reported that 3 Palestinians were injured by bullets from the occupation forces in the Old City of Nablus. The Red Crescent had previously said that its crews dealt with a 14-year-old boy injured by live bullets in the foot during confrontations in the town of Beit Furik, east of Nablus , and transferred the injured person to the hospital. The association indicated that "the ambulance at the Beit Furik checkpoint and the injured young man were detained" before coordinating with the International Red Cross to release them.

Dozens of Palestinians had demonstrated in the village of Beit Furik in solidarity with the resistance and the residents of the Gaza Strip. The demonstrators chanted slogans denouncing what they described as the crimes of the Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip , and calling for support for the Palestinian resistance in the face of Israeli attacks.

The occupation forces continue to carry out daily night raids after the end of Tarawih prayers to prevent worshipers in the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque from secluding themselves, except for Friday and Saturday nights. On Sunday evening, members of the occupation forces stormed the Al-Qibli prayer hall to verify that all worshipers had left it, coinciding with their continuous positioning inside the sanctuary in the Mughrabi Gate , outside it and at the rest of the gates.

Al Jazeera's correspondent said that the Israeli occupation police stormed the Al-Qibli prayer hall in Al-Aqsa Mosque and expelled those in seclusion from it. Thousands of Palestinians flocked to the Blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque to perform the evening and Tarawih prayers, on the night of the middle of the blessed month of Ramadan, while the occupation forces continued their intense deployment at the gates of the Blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and in the neighborhoods of the Old City. Groups of settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque yesterday morning, Sunday, coinciding with the Jewish celebration of the so-called Purim . The Islamic Endowments estimated the number of intruders at more than 100 Israeli soldiers.

At dawn on Monday, the occupation forces stormed the villages of Azzun and Hajjah, east of Qalqilya, in the northern West Bank. They also stormed the Aqabat Jabr camp in the city of Jericho, as well as the town of Silat al-Dhahr, south of the Jenin camp in the West Bank. The occupation forces stormed the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, and confrontations broke out between Palestinians and the occupation forces in the Al-Aroub camp in Hebron as well. Israeli occupation vehicles were targeted with an explosive device in the town of Arbouna in the Jenin camp in the West Bank.

Meanwhile, Al Jazeera's correspondent reported that confrontations broke out between Palestinian youths and the Israeli occupation forces in the Al-Aroub camp, north of the city of Hebron. Foot soldiers from the occupation army stormed the camp following the targeting of Palestinian youths with Molotov cocktails at the Israeli military tower located at its entrance. They pursued them inside the camp, leading to the outbreak of confrontations with them.

Pictures circulated by activists showed settlers assaulting and provoking citizens in the village of Al-Tayaran in the city of Al-Dhaheriya, south of Hebron. For hours on Sunday morning, settlers carried out provocative tours and performed religious rituals in various areas of Hebron in the south of the West Bank, on the occasion of Purim.

Operational Update - Lebanon

Hezbollah claimed to have fired upon Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers overnight, near the border with Lebanon, southwest of Kiryat Shmona in the Galile. The Israeli military later confirmed 15 launches toward one of its posts but no injuries were reported.

The combat team of the Commando Formation, Givati and the 7th Brigade finished a wide-ranging activity in the Hamed neighborhood, in an operation by Division 98 in cooperation with the Shin Bet, which lasted about ten days. The combat team of the 7th Brigade enabled the evacuation of the population and arrested about 300 terrorists. A combat team of the commando formation raided many dozens of high-rise buildings, eliminated and arrested dozens of terrorists and located weapons of war in many buildings.

As part of the operation led by Division 162 at Shifa' Hospital, Nahal patrol forces eliminated armed terrorists in face-to-face encounters, cleared several buildings inside the hospital, and located many weapons that were hidden in the MRI complex, inside the various medical devices and in the ceiling of the hospital.

An Air Force aircraft attacked two Hezbollah terrorists who were operating in the area of ??Mis al Jabal in southern Lebanon.

IDF Shin Bet and MGB forces operated tonight to arrest seven wanted persons throughout the Judea and Samaria Division. As part of an initiative by soldiers of the Haruv patrol in the village of Arabona in the Menashe division, the force fired at two terrorists who threw explosives at them, hits were detected. In another operation in the area of the Menashe Brigade, the fighters arrested three wanted persons in the village of Jilbon and a wanted person in the village of Shavika.

During the operation of the forces in the village of Elkhader in the area of the Etzion Brigade, the fighters arrested a wanted person who is suspected of throwing Molotov cocktails and in the area of Qalandiya in the area of the Binyamin Brigade, the forces arrested two other wanted persons. The arrested wanted persons were transferred for further investigation by the security forces, there are no casualties to Israeli forces.

So far, since the beginning of the war, approximately 3,600 wanted persons have been arrested throughout the Judea and Samaria Division and the Bekaa and Valleys Division, approximately 1,600 of whom are associated with the terrorist organization Hamas.

The forces of the 13th squadron under the command of the 162nd division continue to operate in Shifaa hospital. The IDF spokesman, Brigadier General Daniel Hagari, in an English-language video distributed to foreign media regarding the activities of IDF forces at Shifa Hospital: "We captured hundreds of terror suspects linked to Hamas or Islamic Jihad, which made the operation one of the most successful operations since the beginning The war. This operation is not over yet.'

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 Israeli 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 Israeli forces, causing extensive damage to the hospital buildings. 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 the 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.""

Contrary to emerging reports, there was no attempt to penetrate Israeli territory in the south of the country, IDF forces are deployed and prepared in the area.

Fighter jets attacked a military structure of the Hezbollah terrorist organization, in the area of Miss Al Jabal, where terrorists were staying. About 15 missiles were identified that crossed the territory of Lebanon towards the IDF post near Menara, which fell in open areas, there were no casualties. A warning was activated in the area according to policy.

The IDF and Shin Bet forces continue targeted fighting in the area of Shifa Hospital. The combat teams of the 401st Brigade and the Nahal Brigade and the 13th Fleet under the command of the 162nd Division are fighting in the area while avoiding harm to civilians, patients, medical teams and medical equipment. The fighters have so far arrested about 500 terrorists who have been verified as being associated with the terrorist organizations Hamas and Islamic Jihad and found weapons in the area.

IDF and Shin Bet fighters led by Division 98 continue raids on terrorist infrastructure in the El Amal area, after having surrounded the area. Over 20 terrorists were killed during the fighting in the area in the last day in encounters and aircraft attacks. The field investigators of Unit 504 and the Shin Bet coordinators have interrogated dozens of suspects in the past day and allowed hundreds of Gazans to leave the area. In the raids carried out by the fighters of the commando formation on a number of terrorist infrastructures in the area, explosives, RPG weapons and military equipment were located.

The battle team of the Nahal Brigade continues to operate in the center of the Gaza Strip and eliminated a number of terrorists throughout the last day. As part of a sniper ambush by the forces, a terrorist was identified coming out and entering from a tunnel shaft near their sector, an aircraft eliminated the terrorist in a short time.

During the last day, fighter jets of the Air Force attacked about 50 terrorist targets throughout the Gaza Strip, including terrorist infrastructures and military buildings. In additional strikes by the Air Force, combat helicopters and aircraft eliminated about 10 terrorists and attacked additional terrorist targets in order to assist the maneuvering forces.

Operational Update - Syria / Iraq

From the beginning of the Al-Aqsa storm operation, the Islamic resistance groups of Iraq, along with other resistance forces in the region, with the two goals of stopping the Zionist regime's encroachment on Gaza and expelling American military forces from Iraq, American positions and bases in Iraq and the region targeted. The resistance groups in support of the Palestinian people started a series of attacks against the support forces of the Israeli army in the region (Centcom terrorists) and the occupied territories. During these attacks, they targeted the bases belonging to the American occupiers in the region and the positions of the Zionist regime army in occupied Palestine using rockets, drones and various missiles.

Iraqi resistance groups after the start of the recent conflicts in the region, in a month and a half after the war in Gaza, at least 2 attacks against Tal Badr base, 6 attacks against al-Shadadi base, 6 attacks against Konko base, 12 attacks against al-Omar base, 6 attacks against Al-Tanf organized 4 attacks against Al-Rimilan base (Kharab Al-Jir), 1 attack against Qasrak base and 1 attack against Al-Maliki base in Syria. In Iraq, the Victory base and the American positions at Erbil airport were targeted 1 time each, Harir airport 10 times, and the positions of the American army at the Ain al-Assad base 16 times were targeted by rocket and drone attacks by the resistance groups. Also, during this period, the Iraqi resistance groups targeted the occupied territories, especially the city of Eilat, with their rocket and drone attacks.

As the main supporter of the Gaza war, the Iraqi resistance axis carried out important military operations against US military bases. One of the target points was the occupied Al-Tanf region, which caused a strong reaction from the United States on the one hand and political pressure on the Iraqi government to prevent continued attacks by Islamic resistance groups against the positions of this Iraqi country and the region on the other hand.

"Sputnik" news agency, quoting a field source in Syria, reported that "Al-Tanf" base in the border triangle of Iraq, Syria and Jordan was attacked with 4 drones. This area is under the control of the US Army. The Central Command of the United States of America (CENTCOM) announced that three soldiers of this country were killed during a drone attack. The Iraqi resistance announced that these operations were carried out as part of the effort against the American occupation in Iraq and in response to the Israeli massacre in Gaza.

The Islamic resistance groups of Iraq offered a number of their senior commanders to the resistance line in defense of the oppressed people of Gaza and expelling the American occupiers from their country in the battle with America.

On February 10th, Iraqi sources announced the attack of unknown drones on a civilian vehicle in the east of Baghdad, after which reports of the martyrdom of several people were published in some media. An hour later, the Kataib Hezbollah resistance group confirmed in a statement that "Abu Baqir Al-Saadi", one of the senior commanders of this group and the Popular Mobilization Organization, was martyred in this American terrorist attack.

Although American attacks on Hashd al-Shaabi bases and resistance forces are not new, this time this action was met with the reaction of the Shiite coordination framework and the Iraqi government was asked to show a favorable reaction to this aggression.

The Shiite Coordination Committee in Iraq, known as "Al-Atar Al-Tansiqi", while condemning the assassination of martyr Abu Baqer Al-Saadi, called for a national and political stance to stop these attacks and declared that the United States had crossed Iraq's red lines and the government should stop its efforts to end these attacks. To continue the mission of the international coalition and its serial and hostile attacks and to maintain the security of citizens.

Following the killing of three American soldiers in a drone attack by resistance groups near the Jordan-Syria border, the Pentagon announced that traces of Kataeb Hezbollah can be seen in these attacks. Although the United States also carried out attacks against the Iraqi resistance groups during this period, which led to the martyrdom of some of the commanders and mujahidin of the resistance, but with their political efforts, they tried to put pressure on the Iraqi government during this time so that it could Reduce the amount of attacks by resistance groups against the American invaders in the region.

In recent months, American political officials held political consultations with regional governments, including Iraqi political officials. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who has been traveling to the region to consult and reduce pressure on Israel, is trying to persuade America's allies to calm the situation. to accompany him in Gaza. Requesting the Iraqi government to calm down the Iraqi resistance groups that have been attacking American bases since the start of Israel's attack on Gaza was one of the important goals of the US Secretary of State's visit to the region.

Blinken tried to put pressure on the Sudanese government to change its positions on Gaza and on the other hand to stop the attacks of the resistance groups. The Prime Minister of Iraq also started intensive efforts to prevent the escalation of new tensions after the resistance's important attack on occupied Al-Tanf, the least of which was that Kataib Hezbollah announced the temporary suspension of its attacks on American bases in a statement.

For years, the Islamic resistance groups and the Iraqi Popular Mobilization have protected the borders and interests of the Iraqi nation in the conditions of betrayal by some Iraqi mercenaries, but due to the influence of some mercenaries who provided information about the resistance to the American enemy, some of their important commanders have been killed these days.

Sheikh Akram Al-Kaabi, Secretary General of the Iraqi Islamic Resistance Movement of Al-Nujaba, announced in an important message regarding the temporary cessation of attacks by resistance groups: "The current calm is a temporary tactic to reorganize our forces, and it is considered the calm before the storm." Due to the existence of traitors and mercenaries who provided information about our resistance and positions to the enemy, it was necessary to make changes in our structure and formation in order to support our brothers. A surprise is coming and anyone with military knowledge knows what this approach of ours means. Our decision is firm, clear and unequivocal: we will not stop and we will not compromise. We will continue to support Gaza and expel the occupiers from our land. Our chest is hurt by some insiders. "Just when we stand up against the invaders and give blood in this way, they stab us in the side."

Since 2003, Iraqi Islamic resistance groups have supported the Iraqi nation and interests in maintaining the security and stability of this country. After the testimony of the resistance commanders and the decision to expel the American occupying forces and the delay in the implementation of this law, the resistance groups sought to expel the American occupying forces by carrying out military operations. After the Al-Aqsa storm operation, the resistance groups, following their dual goal of defending the oppressed people of Gaza and occupying and expelling the American occupying forces, attacked American bases in Iraq and the region. In fact, the strategic role of the Iraqi Islamic resistance groups after the Al-Aqsa storm will be very decisive in the political arena of this country, and America cannot make a decision for the political future of Iraq without considering the position of the resistance men.

Operational Update - Yemen

A member of the Supreme Political Council in Yemen, Muhammad Ali Al-Houthi, said Saudi Arabia, as the leader of the aggression after America, to move forward with the issue of peace and proceed with it, stressing that evasion is not in its interest. Al-Houthi said that the Ansar Allah movement "conveyed a message to Saudi Arabia that it would be a target if it allowed American aircraft to use its lands or airspace in the aggression against Yemen," calling on "the Arab regimes not to allow aircraft to take off from bases in the Arab world or to transfer weapons from those bases to Israel."

He also called on the Arab and Islamic regimes to reduce the export of petroleum derivatives to Europe and America to 50%, stressing that the Arab and Islamic regimes have not come out to date with a clear condemnation of the Zionist aggression against Gaza. Al-Houthi added: "We are confronting America, Britain, and the Israeli enemy, in support of our brothers in Gaza and supporting them," continuing: "We say to the Americans and the British that your barbaric terrorist strikes are condemnable and a failure."

The people of Saada Governorate gathered in massive public marches to affirm the continuation of Yemeni operations in support of the Palestinian people and to demand an end to the aggression against Gaza. These marches witnessed the participation of Mr. Yahya Badr al-Din al-Houthi, the elder brother of Mr. Abdul-Malik Badr al-Din al-Houthi, the leader of the Ansar Allah movement in Yemen. The participants chanted slogans denouncing the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip and the genocide crimes committed by the occupation against Palestinian civilians.

The Political Editor at the Yemeni News Agency (Saba) wrote: "America and Britain are two colonial countries that built their civilizations from invasions and wars, plundering peoples goods and wealth, exploiting their capabilities and locations, stealing their components, and substituting all of that to serve their colonial interests. They cannot live in peace because that contradicts their formation, which is based on wars, invasions, theft, and plundering of wealth. Therefore, they always seek to provoke The strife and wars they live on and benefit from militarily and economically.

"Today, America and Britain are playing their old, new game of acts of terrorism against the Republic of Yemen through air strikes and missile bombardment on the capital, Sanaa, and a number of governorates, in a desperate attempt to dissuade Yemen from its principled, fraternal, and humanitarian stance on the legitimate struggle of the people of Gaza, who are being subjected to the ugliest American-Western Zionist colonial attack in the country. There remained Arab and Islamic failure to support them and extend a helping hand to them to confront the Zionist-American war machine.

"The Republic of Yemen, from the first day of the Zionist-American aggression on Gaza, decided on its position, which is governed by fraternal, faith and humanitarian principles, and began targeting Zionist ships with marches and ballistic missiles, which led to inflicting a military and economic defeat on the Zionist entity.

"Thus, the Yemeni Navy put an end to the American-Zionist-British orgy in the waters of the Red and Arab Bahrain and the Strait of Bab al-Mandab. This is something that has never happened in modern and contemporary history when a country stood up to these colonial countries that were accustomed to doing what they wanted and ordering and being obeyed.

"A glorious history written by the Republic of Yemen in the conflict with the usurping Zionist entity and its main supporters, America and Britain, in light of an Arab and Islamic reality characterized by humiliation, submission, submissiveness, and the implementation of Americas desires and directives, accepting humiliating normalization, opening Arab air and sea ports to the American, British, and Zionist military forces, and handing them over the capabilities and capabilities of the Arab countries, especially the Gulf states, which Its politics are no longer governed by religion, Arabism, or national constants."

Maps

All maps are lies. Not only is it easy to lie with maps, it is essential, wrote cartographer Mark Monmoneir in his book How to Lie with Maps. He showed that condensing complex, three-dimensional spaces onto a two-dimensional sheet of paper [in old days] is bound to be reductive. But it is impossible to comprehend the war in Gaza without reference to maps, otherwise the entire conflict is reduced to an endless series of meaningless acts of random violence and the suffering of civilians. The first characteristic of guerrilla warfare is the loss of a front line. Evidently, different mappers have different ideas of how to depict the war in Gaza, notably those that seek to depict Israeli progress in the ground campaign. Part of the problem is latency. The news that forms the basis of the maps takes time to filter out to mappers, and the cartographers take time in crafting their maps, and it takes time to curate them. These processes are uneven among mappers, so their maps may differ in detail. Probably there is some ideological bias, or at least thematic apperception, which is understandable in wartime. It may come as no surprise that al-Jazeera maps depict rather less Israeli territorial progress than other sources. Finally, there remains the epistemological question of just exactly what are the colored in areas depicting. Naively, this might be understood as areas of Israeli control, that are no longer contested by the HAMAS. Or possibly these are areas of Israeli presence, in many of which the possibility of an RPG-wielding HAMAS militant popping out of a tunnel unexpectedly remains a live possibility. With the "zero-range" combat characterized by small unit tactics on both sides, maps may be prey to a fallacy of misplaced concreteness.

Bystanders

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) announced that Israel had informed it that it will not agree again to send the UN agency food convoys to the northern Gaza Strip. UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said on Sunday: The Israeli authorities have informed the United Nations that they will no longer approve the entry of any UNRWA food convoys into the north, adding in a post on the X platform: This is disgraceful and indicates deliberate obstruction of life-saving aid. In the midst of a man-made famine.

He continued: "These restrictions must be lifted. UNRWA is the largest organization with the most widespread reach and ability to reach displaced communities in Gaza." He also explained that by preventing UNRWA from fulfilling its obligations in Gaza, the situation is getting closer to "famine, and many will die due to hunger, dehydration, and lack of shelter." The agencys spokeswoman, Juliet Touma, said that the Israeli decision came after a meeting with Israeli military officials. She added that it comes after "two written rejections of the passage of a food aid convoy last week towards northern Gaza," stressing that Israel did not provide any justification for this decision. Israel did not respond to AFP's request for comment on Lazzarini's statements.

Touma explained that UNRWA has not been able to deliver food to the north since last January 29, considering that the latest decision is another nail in the coffin of efforts to deliver the aid that the people of Gaza who are suffering from the war desperately need.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz indicated in a report on Sunday that one of the main points of contention during the ongoing ceasefire negotiations is that Hamas is demanding that UNRWA be responsible for distributing aid. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stressed on Sunday the need to strengthen the ability of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) to carry out its role towards the Palestinians, describing the situation in the Gaza Strip as a humanitarian catastrophe. The report explained that the movement, which is listed on US terrorist lists, is considered the agency the only one capable of receiving and distributing aid immediately, but Israel opposes any organization linked to Hamas being responsible for humanitarian aid, which UNRWA denies.

UNRWA, which provides aid and services to Palestinian refugees in Gaza and across the region, has been facing a crisis since Israel accused about a dozen of its employees of participating in the October 7 attack. These allegations prompted the United States, the largest donor to UNRWA, and some other countries to halt funding, which could harm the agency's future. However, countries such as Canada, Australia and Sweden decided to resume funding.

Last week, UNRWA and Egypt said that the Israeli authorities prevented Lazzarini, who was on a visit to Cairo, from entering Gaza. For his part, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, stressed on Sunday the need to strengthen the UN agencys ability to carry out its role towards the Palestinians, describing the situation in the Gaza Strip as a humanitarian catastrophe. Guterres said during a visit to Egypt: We are working hard to ensure continued support for UNRWA, noting that many UNRWA workers in the Gaza Strip have been killed. He continued: "The Israeli accusations against us do not affect our work, and we are not against anyone. Rather, we work based on values ??and principles," stressing that "the obstacles do not affect our determination to help the Palestinians."

President Joe Biden's administration insists that "no American employees will set foot" in Gaza during the delivery of humanitarian aid from a floating dock being worked on, but suggesting that employees from other countries carry out this mission carries security risks, according to NBC. American News, about a former official and current officials in the administration.

Although the war that has been ongoing for more than 5 months between Israel and Hamas has led to the destruction of Gaza, aid donations are accumulating in North Sinai, Egypt, with limited quantities entering the Strip through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt and the Israeli Kerem Shalom crossing. As hopes for a truce in Gaza during Ramadan faded, and the risk of famine increased in the coastal enclave, the United States and other countries sought to use airdrops and ships to deliver aid, with Washington deciding to suspend its funding of UNRWA for at least a year.

Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, welcomed the adoption by the UN Security Council of a resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip during the month of Ramadan, demanding its implementation on the ground. Ahmed Aboul Gheit said on the X platform: I welcome the Security Councils recent adoption of a ceasefire resolution in Gaza. The adoption of this resolution has been long overdue, and what is now required is its implementation on the ground. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry welcomed the ceasefire decision in the Gaza Strip, for the first time since the beginning of the crisis and after several attempts to reach it.

Algeria's representative to the United Nations, Ammar Ben Jama, said that Resolution No. 2728, which the Council adopted regarding the Ramadan ceasefire today, was long overdue, and called on the Security Council to work to implement it. Russia's permanent representative to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzia, had previously announced Moscow's support for the non-permanent members' document, which is also supported by a group of Arab countries in the United Nations.

Axis of Resistance

Iranian President Seyed Ebrahim Rayeesi described Palestine as the most important issue in the Muslim world, and stressed that the resistance by the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip will lead to changes in the status quo in the world. Addressing a gathering, President Rayeesi condemned the ongoing Israeli war against the besieged enclave, emphasizing the need for immediate international action to address the humanitarian crisis there.

He stated that the blood of Palestinians and their resistance will bring about a transformation in the unjust order that rules the world, which he said is very close and achievable. Israel has been carrying out heavy bombardment across the Gaza Strip since early October, killing more than 32,300 Palestinians, including thousands of children and women, and wounding 74,700 others, and levelling entire neighbourhoods. Thousands more are missing and feared buried under the rubble.

Tel Aviv has also imposed a complete siege on Gaza, cutting off food, electricity, fuel and water supplies. The move has plunged the blockaded territory into a humanitarian crisis.

A United Nations monitor group had recently cautioned famine conditions now exist in the Northern part of Gaza, around 300,000 people remain trapped in the area, following months of Israeli relentless bombardment. The UN-backed report also warns that more than 70% of Gazas population of 2.3 million faces catastrophic hunger". Dozens of children in Gaza, including newborn babies, have starved to death and many more are at risk from soaring malnutrition. The Integrated Food-Security Phase Classification (IPC) estimated that two out of every 10,000 people will die daily from starvation, malnutrition, and disease if not helped immediately. The alarming report came as UN aid agencies have warned that urgently-needed humanitarian aid is being blocked from entering the enclave.

The Hamas movement welcomed the UN Security Council resolution on Monday calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, stressing its readiness to begin an exchange process that would lead to the release of prisoners on both sides. The movement's statement said: "The Islamic Resistance Movement welcomes today's call by the UN Security Council for an immediate ceasefire, and we stress the necessity of reaching a permanent ceasefire that leads to the withdrawal of all Zionist forces from the Gaza Strip, and the return of the displaced to the homes from which they left."

The statement added: We confirm our readiness to engage in an immediate prisoner exchange process that leads to the release of prisoners on both sides. In the context of the text of the resolution, we emphasize the importance of freedom of movement of Palestinian citizens and the entry of all humanitarian needs for all residents, in all areas of the Gaza Strip, including heavy equipment. To remove the rubble, so that we can bury our martyrs who have been under the rubble for months.

The Hamas movement called on the Security Council to "pressure the occupation to adhere to the ceasefire and stop the war of genocide and ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian people." In its statement, Hamas affirmed the right of the Palestinian people to establish their independent, sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, and the right of return and self-determination, in accordance with international resolutions and international law. The statement concluded: We appreciate the efforts of the brothers in Algeria and all the countries in the Security Council that supported and support our people, and are working to stop the Zionist aggression and war of annihilation.

Allied for Democracy

New Hope chair Gideon Saar announced his four-seat partys departure from the coalition on Monday evening, two weeks after dissolving his political alliance with Benny Gantz, and after his demands to be appointed to the high-level war cabinet were not met. Declaring that his party had not joined the emergency government following October 7 in order to warm chairs, Saar stated that, while he had previously set aside his disagreements with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition for the good of the country, the government had so far failed to achieve its war aims in Gaza and he felt that he had no ability to influence its prosecution of the conflict. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said if Saar was added to the war cabinet, he demanded to be brought in too.

Benny Gantz, the leader of the National Unity party, warned against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus proposed ultra-Orthodox draft law, labeling it a red line for his partys continued participation in the coalition government. The draft law, as outlined by Netanyahu, does not set specific quotas for ultra-Orthodox enlistment but proposes raising the exemption age to 35. It also suggests the formation of special ultra-Orthodox battalions in the IDF and the inclusion of Haredi positions in emergency services and government offices. The Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, also voiced his opposition, citing a lack of flexibility among coalition members regarding the issue.

Israel Foreign Ministry in UN/Geneva stated "The report published today by the Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian Territories brings shame to the Human Rights Council. It is clear by her previous statements, before and after the October 7 massacre that, under the guise of the UN, the Special Rapporteur continues her campaign of delegitimizing the very creation and existence of the State of Israel.

"Since she took office, the whole premise of the Special Rapporteurs argument is that the very establishment of the State of Israel was a colonialist project, denying both Israels right to exist, as well as the historic ties of the Jewish people to the land of Israel. It is therefore no surprise, that the premise of this report is that the creation of the Jewish State in 1948, was an act of settler colonialism, and genocide is an inherent part of that act.

"Before October 7, the Special Rapporteur accused the Jewish lobby of subjugating America; dismissed Israeli security concerns as paranoia; talked of Israels greed; compared Israels actions of that to the Nazis, and legitimized terrorist actions by Hamas and other terrorist organizations. Since the war, she has continued this campaign unabated, excusing and legitimizing the attacks of October 7, dismissing their antisemitic nature and dismissing any concrete evidence of acts of savagery that were perpetrated on that day.

"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.

"The report is therefore an obscene inversion of reality, where a so-called expert can make outrageous accusations, the more extreme the better, that hinges on telling a story in which Hamas, its abuse of civilians and civilians infrastructure, and its utter brutality simply disappear. This is clear as she tries to excuse Hamas of using Palestinians as human shields, takes its arguments as facts and takes Hamas death figures as gospel.

"It is hardly surprising that those who have no qualms about distorting the facts, have no hesitation about distorting the law. The very attempt to level the charge of genocide against Israel is an outrageous distortion of the Genocide Convention. It is an attempt to empty the word genocide of its unique force and special meaning; and turn the Convention itself into a tool of terrorists, who have total disdain for life and for the law, against those trying to defend against them.

"As demonstrated in word and deed, Israels war is against Hamas, not against Palestinian civilians. This is a matter of explicit government policy, military directives and procedures. It is no less an expression of Israels core values. As stated, our commitment to uphold the law, including our obligations under international humanitarian law, is unwavering.

"Israel utterly rejects the report. It is simply an extension of a campaign seeking to undermine the very establishment of the Jewish State. Instead of seeking the truth, this Special Rapporteur tries to fit weak arguments to her distorted and obscene inversion of reality. It is yet another stain on her biased mandate, and only brings the Human Rights Council further into disrepute. "

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation "Kan" reported that Israel is trying to find alternative ways to obtain combat means and raw materials to overcome the gaps that have arisen in the vital components required for combat. A security official said, The increasing criticism and delegitimization by various parties puts Israels continued arming and transfer of ammunition and weapons at risk, noting that the tension with the United States over the operation in Rafah and the humanitarian issue in Gaza will also affect the American willingness to continue assisting Israel with the same.

The authority added that officials in Israel are "trying to find alternative bypass methods to obtain weapons and ammunition to fill the shortage of vital ammunition necessary to continue the fighting," without clarifying those methods. The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation reported, "There are countries that have stopped providing combat ammunition to Israel as part of their quiet boycott, while other countries have announced that they are committed to their laws that do not allow the sale of weapons to countries in conflict." It also pointed out that "there are other countries that leave Israel waiting for these supplies to be approved."

The Broadcasting Corporation reported that Italy has expressed its unwillingness to sell weapons to the Israeli Navy, and France and Germany are threatening a similar ban, in addition to the global ammunition shortage crisis due to the arms race between the major powers. On March 20, Canada announced that it would ban arms sales to Israel after the Canadian Parliament voted by a majority of 204 votes to 117 in favor of a non-binding proposal to stop arms sales after a long debate.

i24 news channel said that there are indeed countries today that do not provide weapons to Israel, and are implementing a quiet boycott, and others have announced that they are restricted by the countrys laws that do not allow them to sell weapons to countries in conflict, and others are keeping Israel waiting for approvals to be issued. For example, Italy is not willing to sell weapons to Israel for Navy ships, nor is Canada, which supplied Israel with subcomponents such as electronic cards, biochips of various types, and dozens of subcomponents that are also used in Iron Dome.

While France and Germany threaten to boycott and stop the supply of military equipment, in addition to this there is also a global shortage of ammunition due to the global arms race when all countries of the world are preparing themselves. The official told Kan: There are no stocks in Europe, everyone is keen to buy more advanced means, adding: There is still aid daily arriving by Israeli air train, but the big fear is that the tension over the humanitarian issue and entry into Rafah will affect "The American willingness to provide security assistance to Israel." He pointed out, "At the beginning of the war, shipments arrived at a very fast pace, but now they are taking much longer. We are well aware of the United States' frustration with the conduct of the war , although I am not sure what the reason is," revealing that "there is a shortage of 155-caliber artillery shells." mm, as well as 120 mm tank shells.

Hussein Ibrahim, writing in Al Akhbar newspaper, suggested that "Israel never left the era of right-wing gangs, even when the left was in power. David Ben-Gurion, who covered the actions of those gangs led by people like Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir, was no less a Zionist than Benjamin Netanyahu, who today not only covers extremists like Itamar Ben-Gvir, but also shares their extremism, if not extremism.

This history refuses to leave the minds of Israeli leaders for a single moment , who always link what happened in the past to what is happening now. In addition to it, the global dimension appears in the entity's daily policy, as it is the main factor in Israel's power, meaning its influence in the world. Gangs and money have always been the main working tools of the Zionist movement in Palestine and the world from its inception in 1897 until today, through the establishment of the state in 1948.

Gangs played the primary role in displacing Palestinians, and at the same time exercised great influence in Israeli politics long before the right came to power. The latter was and is still prepared to kill Israelis for this. This is what happened with Yitzhak Rabin, whom Netanyahu is considered one of the instigators of his murder. The latter inherited extremism from his father, who was Vladimir Jabotinsky's partner in the "Beitar" movement, which presented itself in the 1930s as a "reformist trend" in the Zionist movement, and from it emerged the "Herut" movement, and then "Likud."

This leads to talk about the harshness with which enemy leaders treat their major allies in the world, such as the Americans and the British, which involves first a humiliating challenge, then waiting for open support for nothing in return. They assume that Western governments are part of a system that owes its existence to the money provided by the Zionist movement.

Last Friday, the Israeli website "Ynet" published news about an official British request to visit prisoners from the Gaza Strip, which Israel rejected. A senior Israeli security official was quoted as saying, The British mandate ended in 1948, and we can manage our affairs without British weapons, in response to the possibility that London would cut off arms supplies to Israel.

On the same day, Netanyahu rejected a request from US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, to stop the planned Rafah operation, and also said that Israel would proceed with the operation without American support, also in direct response to a veiled American threat about the possibility of stopping military support for Israel. If this process continues without coordination with Washington.

After October 7, the Israelis began to act on the assumption that the foundations of the state were shaky, and it became necessary to make fundamental changes in its structure, meaning that the state is in the process of establishing a second stage that requires bulldozing and displacement operations of the kind that are taking place in Gaza currently. This explains Netanyahu's insistence on proceeding with the Rafah operation, regardless of its risks.

It does not seem possible to make bargains such as stopping the Gaza war in exchange for normalization with Saudi Arabia, or refraining from invading Rafah at the risk of endangering the Camp David Accords. For him, Camp David is a need for the Egyptian regime, and normalization is a need for the Saudi rulers, and he does not have to pay prices for them, even if Israel benefits from them.

It seems that the issue is not limited to extremists in the government, but is accepted by the Israeli public. The opponents are a few who are unable to influence the decision, as well as to escape from under the grip of Netanyahu, who brought some of them to the war council as a front and nothing more. The latter is based on the fact that the Knesset opposed, with 99 votes to 9, the two-state solution, even if the Palestinian state that the West intends is a state in name only.

Perhaps the founders of Israel were right when they thought that they could proceed with their projects without making concessions. The founding period witnessed debates similar to those that occur today. But for the current leaders to derive their determination from that past, this is missing a basic link, which is that the current enemies are different from them in the past. Therefore, it may become clear this time that the West is right in its view of how to lift Israel from the hole into which it has fallen.

The Arabs, during the establishment of the entity and after it, were only somewhat unanimous in their hostility to it, and there were and still are among them many regimes whose existence is linked to the West and Israel. This duality between the actual position and the declared position was harmful to the Palestinian cause. Now, the Arabs, as regimes and forces, are openly divided between an ally of the enemy and a fighter, which is better. As for Israel, it is currently clashing with the whole world, from heads of state to university students. It leaves no corner on the globe without pursuing those who oppose it. As the Israeli press faces harsh censorship in covering the events of Gaza, it devotes its space to these phenomena.

The Western pressure that we are currently seeing on Israel has one goal, which is to overthrow the Netanyahu government and bring in a government that is more responsive to the interests of the West. But this is not an easy task; The West cannot turn Netanyahu's back, because the latter has tight control over the ruling coalition, while there is not enough internal pressure to go to early elections. Also, for Netanyahu in these circumstances, obedience to the Americans is the real recipe for the coalitions disintegration, not opposing and challenging them.

However, what the enemy prime minister is mistaken in his assessment is that he is facing resistance that is proving, day after day, unbreakable, and that his performance in the field and the global popular sympathy for Palestine are what can bring him down, and it may not help him much this time to force Western governments to follow Israel.

Some Arab media outlets considered the statements of Kamala Harris, US Vice President, in the interview she gave to the American ABC News network yesterday, Sunday, in which she did not rule out that there will be consequences for Israel if it continues to carry out its military storming of the city of Rafah. It is a remarkable shift in the American position regarding the atrocities taking place in Gaza. Harris also said in that interview, We have been clear in multiple conversations and in every way that any major military operation in Rafah would be a grave mistake, and that her government continues to consider the humanitarian situation in Gaza as one of its priorities, because it studied the maps and found that there is no A place for a million and a half people to go.

These Arab media outlets also cited, to reinforce their position on the emergence of signs of a change in the American position on Israel, the statements of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken during his visit to Tel Aviv last Friday, during his meeting with the Prime Minister of the Israeli entity, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his participation in the Israeli War Council meeting. , in which "Israeli leaders warned" of the dangers of the attack on Rafah and the lack of a plan for the day after the Gaza war.

What was most striking in Blinkens statements, as reported by the Axios website, was that the attack on Rafah will not achieve the goal that Israel seeks and threatens to isolate it from the world, and that Israels security and status in the world are at risk, and that it will face a major rebellion. It cannot deal with it if it does not have a clear plan for the day after the war, and without it, it will remain stuck in Gaza.

The American concern about the Rafah invasion is not due to the lack of a place for the Palestinians to take refuge, as Harris says, but rather the reason for the concern is that Harris and the Biden administration have become convinced that the military option has failed to eliminate the resistance in Gaza, and that insisting on this option As is the position of the Prime Minister of the Israeli entity, Benjamin Netanyahu, it will take years, as stated in a US intelligence report, which will lead to the erosion of the credibility and image of the American administration before its people, before world public opinion, and before international forums.

The US Defense Department still does not have a plan on how to implement US President Joe Biden's initiative to build a floating pier without creating a security threat for US troops or third-party workers, NBC News reported, citing US officials. The report added that US military officials are also discussing who will guard and inspect the trucks once they reach Gaza, and who will transport supplies to and from distribution points.

US officials told NBC News that Israel is considering using international Private Military Companies (PMCs) to secure the soon-to-be-established American dock in the Gaza Strip. A former US official and two current US officials told NBC News that "Israel" had already approached several security companies, suggesting to US officials that other countries pay the "hefty" price of the private military contractors. Only "some" US officials have expressed resistance to the idea of PMCs landing in the Gaza Strip, particularly if those contractors were of American nationality. It is noteworthy that in early March, Sigrid Kaag, the UN aid coordinator for the Gaza Strip, emphasized that delivering humanitarian supplies to Gaza by airdrops or sea cannot sufficiently substitute land deliveries. She stressed that the international community must "flood the market in Gaza with humanitarian goods" and "re-energize the private sector" so more commercial goods can enter to meet civilians' needs.

US Senator Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen, commenting on scenes broadcast by Al Jazeera of an Israeli march showing the targeting of four young men in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip , said that an independent review should be conducted and there should be no confidence in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu , whose government should be subject to investigation. Van Hollen's statements came during an interview with the American channel NBC, during which it showed a video broadcast by Al Jazeera showing the killing of young men in Khan Yunis, where Van Hollen, commenting on the pictures, said that "the scene is horrific" and stresses the need to investigate the Netanyahu government's management of the war, and a review should be conducted. Independent and distrustful of Netanyahu.

Van Hollen said that this video was disturbing and disturbing and shows that the United States should look more closely into the claims of the Netanyahu government. He added, In my opinion, we should conduct independent investigations and not accept what the Netanyahu government said about what happened. The Senator believes that for this reason they have been demanding for some time the implementation of Memorandum No. 20 from the National Security Office, stipulating that in order for military aid to be provided to countries like Israel, they must submit written declarations of their commitment to international law and that there should not be random provision of this aid in this way.

NBC also quoted the Israeli army as investigating the circumstances of the video published by Al Jazeera, and said that the area shown in the video is an active operations area. The Israeli Broadcasting Authority said that after examining scenes broadcast by Al Jazeera targeting 4 young men in Khan Yunis, it was found that they were from a terrorist cell. The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation report did not provide any evidence that the four young men were armed or linked to military activity. Al Jazeera had obtained scenes from an Israeli drone showing the targeting of Palestinian civilians in the Al-Sika area in Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip.

The scenes were taken from a drone that was shot down in Khan Yunis at the beginning of last February. The exclusive scenes show an Israeli drone pursuing 4 young civilians and targeting them with several missiles, then targeting those who survived the initial bombing with other missiles.

Operation Iron Swords - By the Numbers

74,694 Gazans injured, 28% adult male

45,000 bombs dropped in Gaza

40,000 Gazans killed, including buried under rubble

33,000 Gaza targets attacked

32,700 Gazans martyred

20,528 Palestinians in Israeli prisons [Haaretz, 20 Mar 2024]

15,000 rocket launched from Gaza

14,793 Israelis were injured [i24 TV]

13,430 Gazan children martyred

13,000 HAMAS combatants killed [N12]

12,000 HAMAS combatants killed [IDF]

11,000 arrested by Israelis in the West Bank in 2023

9,000 Palestinians in Israeli prisons

9,000 IDF psychological assistance

9,000 Gazan women martyred

8,000 Gazans missing under the rubble

7,740 arrested by Israelis in the West Bank since Oct.7th

6,000 HAMAS combatants killed [HAMAS]

5,500 IDF wounded [reports]

4,750 West Bank Palestinians wounded

3,484 administrative detainees

3,600 wanted persons arrested throughout Judea and Samaria

3,079 IDF wounded [IDF]

1,609 terrorists killed on the first day

1,600 wanted persons arrested throughout Judea and Samaria affiliated with Hamas

1,160 Israelis killed on the first day

595 Israeli officers and soldiers killed

433 West Bank Palestinians martyred

252 Israeli officers and soldiers killed in Gaza

222 Hezbollah fighters killed in Lebanon

126 people recovered, including 91 Israelis, 11 bodies, and 24 foreign workers

116 living hostages in Palestinian custody

50 civilians killed in Lebanon

29 IDF deaths were caused by "friendly fire"

15 Israelis killed in the West Bank and Israel

Many of these numbers fluctate, up and down, with no apparent explanation. This list records the highest number reliably reported for each matter, under the theory that reality with catch up with reports, as is relentlessly the case.

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NEW YORK, March 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bernstein Liebhard LLP:



Do you, or did you, own shares of The Chemours Company (NYSE: CC)?





Did you purchase your shares between February 10, 2023 and February 28, 2024, inclusive?





Did you lose money in your investment in The Chemours Company?





Do you want to discuss your rights?

Bernstein Liebhard LLP announces that a securities class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of investors who purchased or acquired the common stock of The Chemours Company (Chemours or the Company) (NYSE: CC) between February 10, 2023 and February 28, 2024, inclusive (the Class Period). The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware and alleges violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 against the Company and certain of its officers (the Complaint).

If you purchased or acquired Chemours common stock, and/or would like to discuss your legal rights and options please visit The Chemours Company Shareholder Class Action Lawsuit or contact Investor Relations Manager Peter Allocco at (212) 951-2030 or pallocco@bernlieb.com.

According to the Complaint, Defendants failed to disclose to investors that: (1) certain of the Companys senior executive officers manipulated Free Cash Flow targets as a means to maximize additional cash and stock incentive compensation applicable to executive officers pursuant to the Companys Annual Incentive Plans and Long-Term Incentive Plans; and (2) the Companys accounting practices and procedures, including its internal control over financial reporting, were deficient.

Before the market opened on February 29, 2024, Chemours stunned investors when it announced that it was delaying the filing of its annual report for 2023 and the decision of the Board of Directors of Chemours to place President and Chief Executive Officer Mark Newman, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Jonathan Lock and Vice President, Controller and Principal Accounting Officer Camela Wisel on administrative leave . . . pending the completion of an internal review being overseen by the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors with the assistance of independent outside counsel. According to the Company, the scope of the investigation includes the processes for reviewing reports made to the Chemours Ethics Hotline and Chemourss practices for managing working capital, including the related impact on metrics within the Companys incentive plans [and] certain non-GAAP metrics. Given the importance of these issues - not only to executive compensation, but also investors assessment of Chemourss financial performance - the Company acknowledged that it is evaluating one or more potential material weaknesses in its internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023 with respect to maintaining effective controls related to the control environment, including the effectiveness of the tone at the top set by certain members of senior management.

On this news, Chemours stock price declined by $9.05 per share, or over 31%, to close at $28.72 per share on February 29, 2024.

If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than May 13, 2024 . A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. Your ability to share in any recovery doesnt require that you serve as lead plaintiff. If you choose to take no action, you may remain an absent class member.

If you purchased or acquired Chemours common stock, and/or would like to discuss your legal rights and options please visit The Chemours Company Shareholder Class Action Lawsuit or contact Investor Relations Manager Peter Allocco at (212) 951-2030 or pallocco@bernlieb.com.

Since 1993, Bernstein Liebhard LLP has recovered over $3.5 billion for its clients. In addition to representing individual investors, the Firm has been retained by some of the largest public and private pension funds in the country to monitor their assets and pursue litigation on their behalf. As a result of its success litigating hundreds of lawsuits and class actions, the Firm has been named to The National Law Journals Plaintiffs Hot List thirteen times and listed in The Legal 500 for sixteen consecutive years.

ATTORNEY ADVERTISING.  2024 Bernstein Liebhard LLP. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Bernstein Liebhard LLP, 10 East 40th Street, New York, New York 10016, (212) 779-1414. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future matter.

Contact Information:

Peter Allocco

Investor Relations Manager

Bernstein Liebhard LLP

https://www.bernlieb.com

(212) 951-2030

pallocco@bernlieb.com
Investors can contact the law firm at no cost to learn more about recovering their losses



LOS ANGELES, March 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Portnoy Law Firm advises The Chemours Company (Chemours or the Company) (NYSE: CC) investors that a lawsuit was filed on behalf of investors that purchased Chemours securities between February 10, 2023 and February 28, 2024, inclusive (the Class Period).

Investors are encouraged to contact attorney Lesley F. Portnoy , by phone 310-692-8883 or email : lesley@portnoylaw.com, to discuss their legal rights, or click here to join the case via www.portnoylaw.com . The Portnoy Law Firm can provide a complimentary case evaluation and discuss investors options for pursuing claims to recover their losses.

The complaint asserts that the defendants did not inform investors about: (1) manipulation of Free Cash Flow targets by some of the company's top executives to boost their cash and stock bonus under the company's yearly and long-term reward schemes; and (2) deficiencies in the company's accounting methods and controls over financial reporting.

On February 29, 2024, before market opening, Chemours shocked investors with the news that it would postpone its 2023 annual report filing and that the company's Board of Directors had suspended President and CEO Mark Newman, Senior VP and CFO Jonathan Lock, and VP, Controller, and Principal Accounting Officer Camela Wisel, pending an internal review led by the Audit Committee with help from external legal counsel. The investigation's range includes examining the Chemours Ethics Hotline reporting processes and the company's working capital management practices, which affect both the incentive plans and certain non-GAAP metrics. Recognizing the significance of these issues for both executive compensation and investor evaluations of financial performance, Chemours has stated it is identifying possible significant weaknesses in its financial reporting controls as of December 31, 2023, particularly concerning the maintenance of effective controls and senior management's influence.

Following these revelations, Chemours share price plummeted by $9.05, or over 31%, ending the day at $28.72 per share on February 29, 2024.

Please visit our website to review more information and submit your transaction information.

The Portnoy Law Firm represents investors in pursuing claims caused by corporate wrongdoing. The Firms founding partner has recovered over $5.5 billion for aggrieved investors. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

Lesley F. Portnoy, Esq.

Admitted CA and NY Bar

lesley@portnoylaw.com

310-692-8883

www.portnoylaw.com

Attorney Advertising
RADNOR, Pa., March 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The law firm of Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP informs investors that today the firm has filed a securities fraud class action lawsuit against agilon health, inc. (NYSE: AGL) (agilon or the Company) on behalf of investors who purchased or acquired agilon common stock between November 4, 2022, and January 4, 2024, inclusive (the Class Period). This action, captioned Hope v. agilon health, inc., et al., Case No. 1:24-cv-00305, is filed in the United States District Court for the Western District Texas.



Important Deadline Reminder: There is one related class action case pending against agilon in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas. That first-filed action issued a notice of its filing pursuant to the federal securities laws which triggered the deadline of May 20, 2024, for any investors who purchased agilon common stock to seek to be appointed as a lead plaintiff representative of the class. The filing of the Hope Action does not change the May 20, 2024, lead plaintiff deadline.

CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR AGILON LOSSES. YOU CAN ALSO CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING LINK OR COPY AND PASTE IN YOUR BROWSER: https://www.ktmc.com/new-cases/agilon-health-inc?utm_source=PR&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=agl&mktm=r

LEAD PLAINTIFF DEADLINE: MAY 20, 2024

CLASS PERIOD: NOVEMBER 4, 2022, THROUGH JANUARY 4, 2024

CONTACT AN ATTORNEY TO DISCUSS YOUR RIGHTS:

Jonathan Naji, Esq. (484) 270-1453 or Email at info@ktmc.com

DEFENDANTS MISCONDUCT

agilon is a healthcare and technology company that acts as an intermediary between physician groups that provide medical services to senior citizens and Medicare and Medicare Advantage insurers. One of agilons key financial metrics is medical margin, which the Company defines as medical services revenue less medical services expenses.

The Class Period begins on November 4, 2022, when agilon announced its financial results for the third quarter of 2022 (filed after the market closed the prior evening). In connection with these results, Defendant Sell (agilons CEO) emphasized the Companys [m]embership, revenue and medical margins were above the high end of our guidance ranges and indicated that, [t]his year, we are driving substantial growth in medical margin PMPM [per member per month]. Defendant Bensley (agilons CFO) stated that, [f]or the full year 2022, we have raised our membership, revenue and medical margin outlook to reflect the strong performance in our [Medicare Advantage] business.

Throughout the Class Period, Defendants repeatedly touted the strength of agilons medical margin. Additionally, Defendants downplayed the significant cost pressures on the Companys medical margin and profitability. For example, on June 7, 2023, just days before other health insurers such as UnitedHealth Group Inc. and Humana Inc. reported significant increases in medical costs, Defendant Bensley, speaking at an analyst-sponsored healthcare conference, reported that Defendants expect this year to generate somewhere around $550 million of medical margin, noting that the Company has seen steady progress on medical margin upwards.

Investors began to learn the truth about the cost pressures impacting agilons medical margin and profitability on November 2, 2023, when the Company announced its third quarter 2023 financial results after the market closed. Critically, agilon reported a net loss of $31 million for the third quarter of 2023 and slashed its fiscal year 2023 medical margin to a range between $455 million and $470 million. Defendant Sell also assured investors that agilons more conservative approach to guidance should reduce the risk of negative claims development next year. On this news, the price of agilon common stock declined $3.78 per share, or more than 22% over two trading-days, from a close of $16.89 per share on November 2, 2023, to close at $13.11 per share on November 6, 2023.

After several additional disclosures in November 2023, investors more fully learned the truth about the cost pressures on agilons medical margin and profitability before the market opened on January 5, 2024, when agilon updated its fiscal year 2023 financial results and provided its initial outlook for 2024. Critically, agilon further slashed its 2023 medical margin guidance more than $100 million, to a range between $340 million and $360 million, due to higher-than-expected medical costs. This represented a decline of more than 34% from the $550 million in medical margin it had predicted. On the related investor guidance call, Defendant Sell acknowledged that agilon failed to recognize these elevated cost trends and had a data and analytics gap that led to [the Company] being late in both recognizing the magnitude and source of the utilization shifts. Defendant Sell further indicated that the increased cost trends were expected to persist through 2024. Also on January 5, 2024, Defendant Bensley announced that he would retire in 2024. On this news, the price of agilon common stock plummeted $3.45 per share, or nearly 29%, from a close of $12.08 per share on January 4, 2024, to close at $8.63 per share on January 5, 2024.

WHAT CAN I DO?

agilon investors may, no later than May 20, 2024, move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff for the class, through Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP or other counsel, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP encourages agilon investors who have suffered significant losses to contact the firm directly to acquire more information.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE CASE

WHO CAN BE A LEAD PLAINTIFF?

A lead plaintiff is a representative party who acts on behalf of all class members in directing the litigation. The lead plaintiff is usually the investor or small group of investors who have the largest financial interest and who are also adequate and typical of the proposed class of investors. The lead plaintiff selects counsel to represent the lead plaintiff and the class and these attorneys, if approved by the court, are lead or class counsel. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision of whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff.

ABOUT KESSLER TOPAZ MELTZER & CHECK, LLP

Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP prosecutes class actions in state and federal courts throughout the country and around the world. The firm has developed a global reputation for excellence and has recovered billions of dollars for victims of fraud and other corporate misconduct. All of our work is driven by a common goal: to protect investors, consumers, employees and others from fraud, abuse, misconduct and negligence by businesses and fiduciaries. For more information about Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP please visit www.ktmc.com.

CONTACT:

Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP

Jonathan Naji, Esq.

280 King of Prussia Road

Radnor, PA 19087

(484) 270-1453

info@ktmc.com
Dublin, March 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Business Information Market by Type (Commercial, Scientific, Technical, Medical, Educational and Training, and Others), End User (BFSI, Healthcare and Life Sciences, Manufacturing, Retail, and Others), and Region 2024-2032" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Market Growth Fuelled by Advanced Technologies and Data-Driven Decision Making



The global business information market is undergoing significant expansion driven by advanced technological innovations and the increasing implementation of data analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence across various industries. As organizations continue to navigate the complexities of data management and storage, the business information market is experiencing progressive growth.

Industry Applications Spanning Diverse Sectors



Business information services are gaining traction across a multitude of sectors including BFSI, healthcare, manufacturing, and retail due to their crucial role in facilitating data-driven strategic decisions. This growing demand across industries marks a positive outlook for the market's development.

North America Dominates Market Share with APAC Showing Rapid Growth



North America holds a significant share in the global business information market, attributing its dominance to the swift adoption of data analytics and AI. Meanwhile, the Asia Pacific region is observed to have a rapid growth rate as businesses realize the importance of data-centric insights that can grant them a competitive edge in the international arena.

Protecting Digital Assets in a Cybersecurity Focused Era



With the rising tide of cyberthreats and vulnerabilities, there is an ever-increasing focus on protecting digital assets. Business information services are stepping up to provide real-time threat intelligence, assisting organizations in safeguarding against potential security risks and data breaches.

Comprehensive Analysis by Market Segmentation



The market segmentation analysis indicates a diverse application of business information services by type and end user. The largest market share is accounted for by the educational and training segment, due to the growing need for data to support research and career guidance. Concurrently, the BFSI sector remains a significant end user by leveraging data for comprehensive risk assessment and market analysis.

Key Industry Players



The leading companies in the business information market are advancing their capabilities by aggregating and analyzing data from multiple sources, providing essential insights and tools for financial risk management, and offering industry-specific solutions. With a relentless pursuit of innovation and adaptation to regulatory changes, these key players are cornerstones of the market's sustainability and growth trajectory.

Continuous Adaptation and Innovation



As the business world evolves at an unprecedented pace, companies in the business information market are exhibiting adaptability and foresightedness, contributing to industry advancements. Innovations in real-time data analysis and the critical role of data in decision-making processes solidify the market's promising future. The market is anticipated to maintain its robust growth, with predictions for the business information market size to reach US$ 82.7 Billion by 2032. The compounded progression and the ascent of sustainable and ethical data practices presage a dynamic and integral future for business information services on a global spectrum.







Key Attributes:

Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 138 Forecast Period 2023 - 2032 Estimated Market Value (US$) in 2023 US$50.5 Billion Forecasted Market Value (US$) by 2032 US$82.7 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 5.6% Regions Covered Global



Companies Mentioned

Bloomberg L.P.

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited

Equifax Inc.

Ernst & Young Global Limited

Experian PLC

KPMG International Limited

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

RELX plc

Thomson Reuters Corporation

Wolters Kluwer N.V.



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/dt7ijp

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
JAKARTA, INDONESIA, March 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The digital asset PDT Coin is set to be listed on the CEX exchange LBANK.

Related link: https://support.lbank.com/hc/en-gb/articles/30345197029017





The virtual asset exchange LBANK will list PDT Coin, which is mined by the Snowseed platform's Alya Project NFT. PDT Coin is scheduled to be used in PDT cancer-specialized hospitals soon to be commercialized in Indonesia. It was created by a foundation established by S. Budi, an executive of the 6th largest conglomerate in Indonesia, the Lippo Group, and Dr. Anang, former director of Siloam Hospital, the largest hospital in Indonesia, which is also a subsidiary of the Lippo Group.

On the 22nd, it was listed on decentralized exchanges such as Jupiter and Raydium, and it has been confirmed that it will be listed on CEX exchanges to increase liquidity.

According to a PDT Coin official, "Indonesia is a country consisting of over 18,000 islands, so the smartphone penetration rate is high, but it is not easy to use centralized banks. Therefore, the distribution of decentralized coins based on blockchain has been activated, and many companies are preparing payment methods using them. We issued coins in line with the project of over 70 PDT cancer-specialized hospitals nationwide to reduce medical blind spots."

Furthermore, "PDT Coin will support cancer patients from all over the world to receive inexpensive cancer treatment in Indonesia. Through the platform, cancer treatment with PDT can be received with a single payment from anywhere in the world."

About LBANK

LBANK exchange, where this listing is taking place, is a global cryptocurrency exchange established in 2015, providing specialized financial derivatives, professional asset management services, and secure cryptocurrency trading. It has over 9 million users in more than 210 regions worldwide, with a daily trading volume of $1.5 billion.

Social Links

Discord: https://discord.gg/tTvxu3rJ

X: https://twitter.com/SnowSeedasia

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/snowseed_official/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Snow_Seed

Media Contact

Brand: Snowseed

Email: snowseed_partnership@gaudilabs.io

Website: http://snowseed.io

SOURCE: Snowseed
Austin, TX, USA, March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Custom Market Insights has published a new research report titled India Industrial Lubricants Market Size, Trends and Insights By Product Type (Hydraulic Fluids, Metalworking Fluids, Gear Oil, Compressor Oil, Grease, Turbine Oil, Transformer Oil, Refrigeration Oil, Textile Machinery Lubricants, Others), By Base Oil ( Mineral Oil, Synthetic Oil, Bio-Based Oil), By End User (Agriculture, Automotive, Cement Production, Chemical Production, Construction, Food Processing, Marine Applications, Metal and Mining, Oil and Gas, Power Generation, Pulp and Paper, Textile Manufacturing, Others), By Sales Channel (Online, Offline), and By Region - Industry Overview, Statistical Data, Competitive Analysis, Share, Outlook, and Forecast 20242033 in its research database.

According to the latest research study, the demand of India Industrial Lubricants Market size & share was valued at approximately USD 1.9 Billion in 2022 and is expected to reach USD 2.1 Billion in 2023 and is expected to reach a value of around USD 3.6 Billion by 2032, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 5.71% during the forecast period 2023 to 2032.

Click Here to Access a Free Sample Report of the India Industrial Lubricants Market @ https://www.custommarketinsights.com/request-for-free-sample/?reportid=42471

Indian Industrial Lubricants Market: Overview

Industrial lubricants play a vital role in the automotive industry, where they are used in engines, transmissions, differentials, and various other components. Industrial lubricants are a trusted lubricant brand in the industrial segment, catering to specific requirements of textiles, power, sugar, steel, off-highway vehicles and many other industries.

Various factors such as the rapidly expanding automotive industry in India, growing manufacturing industry, increasing investment in the chemical industry in India, Rapid industrialization in many states such as Gujrat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh and rise in the number of trade activities are boosting the demand for industrial lubricants.

Factors such as high cost of economic uncertainties and downturns and fluctuation in raw material prices and counterfeiting of Industrial lubricants are restraining the market growth.

Supportive government policies such as the Make in India Initiative, Production Linked Incentive Scheme, growing E- e-commerce industry in India are some of the factors boosting the production and sales of industrial lubricants, thereby creating lucrative opportunities for the market during the forecast period.

Indian Industrial Lubricants market is segmented by product type, base oil, by end user, by sales channels and by region. By Product Type, the Indian Industrial lubricants market is segmented into hydraulic fluids, metalworking fluids, gear oil, compressor oil, grease, turbine oil, transformer oil, refrigeration oil, textile machinery lubricants and others. Among all of these, the hydraulic fluids segment dominated the market in 2023 and is expected to keep its dominance during the forecast period.

Request a Customized Copy of the India Industrial Lubricants Market Report @ https://www.custommarketinsights.com/inquire-for-discount/?reportid=42471

By base oil, Indian industrial lubricants market is segmented into mineral oil, synthetic oil and bio-based oil. Among all of these, the Mineral oil segment held the highest market share in 2023 and is expected to keep its dominance during the forecast period.

By end user, Indian industrial lubricants are segmented into agriculture, automotive, cement production, chemical production, metal and mining, marine applications, oil and gas and Others. Among all of these, chemical production held the highest market share in 2023 and is expected to keep its dominance during the forecast period owing to the rapidly expanding chemical and material industry in India.

By Region, North India is expected to hold a significant market share in Indian Industrial Lubricants market during the forecast period. States like Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Uttrakhand, and J&K are playing crucial roles in the market growth of this region.

Report Scope

Feature of the Report Details Market Size in 2024 USD 2.1 Billion Projected Market Size in 2033 USD 3.6 Billion Market Size in 2023 USD 1.9 Billion CAGR Growth Rate 5.71% CAGR Base Year 2023 Forecast Period 2024-2033 Key Segment By Product Type, Base Oil, End User, Sales Channel and Region Report Coverage Revenue Estimation and Forecast, Company Profile, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors and Recent Trends Country Scope India Buying Options Request tailored purchasing options to fulfil your requirements for research.

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Custom Market Insights has comprehensively analyzed India Industrial Lubricants market . The driving forces, restraints, challenges, opportunities, and key trends have been explained in depth to depict depth scenario of the market. Segment wise market size and market share during the forecast period are duly addressed to portray the probable picture of this India Industrial Lubricants industry.

The competitive landscape includes key innovators, after market service providers, market giants as well as niche players are studied and analyzed extensively concerning their strengths, weaknesses as well as value addition prospects. In addition, this report covers key players profiling, market shares, mergers and acquisitions, consequent market fragmentation, new trends and dynamics in partnerships.

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Market Share, Size & Forecast by Revenue | 20232032

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Competitive Landscape  Top Key Vendors and Other Prominent Vendors

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India Industrial Lubricants Market: Regional Analysis

India Industrial Lubricants market is segmented into North India, South India, East India, and West India. Among all these regions, North India held a significant market share of India Industrial Lubricants Market in 2022 and is expected to grow at a significant pace during the forecast period.

Rapidly expanding end use industries such as construction, mining, chemical, automotive, oil & gas and manufacturing in Northern states such as Delhi NCR, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, J&K, Bihar and Haryana are driving the market growth of this region.

West India is expected to emerge as a potential region during the forecast period. States like Maharashtra, Gujrat, and Madhya Pradesh are playing a major role in driving the growth of this region. Rapidly developing chemical industry, Solar and Manufacturing industries in Maharashtra and Gujrat are driving the market growth of this region.

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Browse the full India Industrial Lubricants Market Size, Trends and Insights By Product Type (Hydraulic Fluids, Metalworking Fluids, Gear Oil, Compressor Oil, Grease, Turbine Oil, Transformer Oil, Refrigeration Oil, Textile Machinery Lubricants, Others), By Base Oil ( Mineral Oil, Synthetic Oil, Bio-Based Oil), By End User (Agriculture, Automotive, Cement Production, Chemical Production, Construction, Food Processing, Marine Applications, Metal and Mining, Oil and Gas, Power Generation, Pulp and Paper, Textile Manufacturing, Others), By Sales Channel (Online, Offline), and By Region - Industry Overview, Statistical Data, Competitive Analysis, Share, Outlook, and Forecast 20242033 Report at https://www.custommarketinsights.com/report/india-industrial-lubricants-market/





List of the prominent players in the Indian Industrial Lubricants Market:

Amsoil Inc.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited

Castrol Oil

China Petroleum and Chemical Corp (Sinopec Corporation)

Gulf Oil

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited

Indian Oil Corporation Limited

Nyanas AB

Mosil Lubricants

PetroChina Company Limited

Raj Petrochem Ltd.

Savita Oil Co. Ltd

Shell plc.

The Idemitsu Kosan Company Ltd.

Tide Water Oil Co. (India) Limited

Total Energies SE

Valvoline Cummins Private Limited

Others

These key players are adopting various organic and inorganic growth strategies such as mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures, collaborations, expansion, strategic alliances, new product launches, etc. to enhance their product portfolio and business operations.

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The Indian Industrial Lubricants Market is segmented as follows:

By Product Type

Hydraulic Fluids

Metalworking Fluids

Gear Oil

Compressor Oil

Grease

Turbine Oil

Transformer Oil

Refrigeration Oil

Textile Machinery Lubricants

Others

By Base Oil

Mineral Oil

Synthetic Oil

Bio-Based Oil

By End User

Agriculture

Automotive

Cement Production

Chemical Production

Construction

Food Processing

Marine Applications

Metal and Mining

Oil and Gas

Power Generation

Pulp and Paper

Textile Manufacturing

Others

By Sales Channel

Online

Offline

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This India Industrial Lubricants Market Research/Analysis Report Contains Answers to the following Questions.

Which Trends Are Causing These Developments?

Who Are the Key Players in This India Industrial Lubricants Market? What are Their Company Profile, Product Information, and Contact Information?

What Was the Market Status of the India Industrial Lubricants Market? What Was the Capacity, Production Value, Cost and PROFIT of the India Industrial Lubricants Market?

What Is the Current Market Status of the India Industrial Lubricants Industry? What's Market Competition in This Industry, Both Company and Country Wise? What's Market Analysis of India Industrial Lubricants Market by Considering Applications and Types?

What Are Projections of the India Industrial Lubricants Industry Considering Capacity, Production and Production Value? What Will Be the Estimation of Cost and Profit? What Will Be Market Share, Supply and Consumption? What about imports and exports?

What Is India Industrial Lubricants Market Chain Analysis by Upstream Raw Materials and Downstream Industry?

What Is the Economic Impact On India Industrial Lubricants Industry? What are Macroeconomic Environment Analysis Results? What Are Macroeconomic Environment Development Trends?

What Are Market Dynamics of India Industrial Lubricants Market? What Are Challenges and Opportunities?

What Should Be Entry Strategies, Countermeasures to Economic Impact, and Marketing Channels for India Industrial Lubricants Industry?

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Reasons to Purchase India Industrial Lubricants Market Report

India Industrial Lubricants Market Report provides qualitative and quantitative analysis of the market based on segmentation involving economic and non-economic factors.

India Industrial Lubricants Market report outlines market value (USD) data for each segment and sub-segment.

This report indicates the region and segment expected to witness the fastest growth and dominate the market.

India Industrial Lubricants Market Analysis by geography highlights the consumption of the product/service in the region and indicates the factors affecting the market within each region.

The competitive landscape incorporates the market ranking of the major players, along with new service/product launches, partnerships, business expansions, and acquisitions in the past five years of companies profiled.

Extensive company profiles comprising company overview, company insights, product benchmarking, and SWOT analysis for the major market players.

The Industry's current and future market outlook concerning recent developments (which involve growth opportunities and drivers as well as challenges and restraints of both emerging and developed regions.

India Industrial Lubricants Market Includes in-depth market analysis from various perspectives through Porter's five forces analysis and provides insight into the market through Value Chain.

Reasons for the Research Report

The study provides a thorough overview of the India Industrial Lubricants market. Compare your performance to that of the market as a whole.

Aim to maintain competitiveness while innovations from established key players fuel market growth.

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What does the report include?

Drivers, restrictions, and opportunities are among the qualitative elements covered in the worldwide India Industrial Lubricants market analysis.

The competitive environment of current and potential participants in the India Industrial Lubricants market is covered in the report, as well as those companies' strategic product development ambitions.

According to the component, application, and industry vertical, this study analyzes the market qualitatively and quantitatively. Additionally, the report offers comparable data for the important regions.

For each segment mentioned above, actual market sizes and forecasts have been given.

Who should buy this report?

Participants and stakeholders worldwide India Industrial Lubricants market should find this report useful. The research will be useful to all market participants in the India Industrial Lubricants industry.

Managers in the India Industrial Lubricants sector are interested in publishing up-to-date and projected data about the worldwide India Industrial Lubricants market.

Governmental agencies, regulatory bodies, decision-makers, and organizations want to invest in India Industrial Lubricants products' market trends.

Market insights are sought for by analysts, researchers, educators, strategy managers, and government organizations to develop plans.

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AMSTERDAM, March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zero Hash, the leading infrastructure for crypto and stablecoins, today announced that its Dutch and Polish subsidiaries have successfully received registrations as Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP). Zero Hash Europe B.V. received its VASP approval from the Dutch Central Bank and Zero Hash Europe Sp. Zoo was authorized by the Tax Administration Chamber of Poland.



The VASP registrations deepen Zero Hashs global regulatory stack which already includes licenses and registrations in the United States, Brazil, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Zero Hash is the worlds leading infrastructure provider for crypto assets and stablecoins, powering groups including Stripe, Shift4 and Interactive Brokers.

Zero Hash has established a local European team and on-shore presence, including compliance staff, in the Netherlands. Leveraging its European registered entities, Zero Hash plans on receiving the necessary MiCAR license to continue to service over 740m Europeans. Beginning December 30, 2024, MiCAR licensed entities will be able to leverage a harmonized regulatory framework by passporting their licenses across the European Union.

As a compliance-first company, trust is at the heart of how Zero Hash operates. We are pleased to expand our regulatory footprint in the European Union with our Dutch and Polish entities VASP registrations, said Stephen Gardner, Chief Legal Officer of Zero Hash. Our VASP registrations in the EU provide the platform to leverage the upcoming harmonized MiCAR framework, which we believe places the EU as one of the forefronts of the global ecosystem.

Partners choose us for our regulated, proven and flexible API and SDK infrastructure. Our registrations reinforce Zero Hashs position as the leading crypto and stablecoin infrastructure. Businesses who want to offer digital assets and stablecoins leverage Zero Hash as the one-stop global infrastructure solution, with the ability to integrate once and secure global access, said Edward Woodford, Founder and CEO of Zero Hash.

About Zero Hash

Zero Hash Europe B.V. has been granted a Virtual Asset Services Provider (VASP) registration by the Dutch Central Bank (Relation number: R193684).

Zero Hash Europe Sp. Zoo has been granted a VASP registration by the Tax Administration Chamber of Poland in Katowice (Registration number RDWW  1212).

Zero Hash is a B2B2C crypto-as-a-service infrastructure platform that allows any platform to embed digital assets natively into their own customer experience quickly and easily through a matter of API endpoints. Zero Hashs turnkey solution handles the entire backend complexity and regulatory licensing required to offer crypto products.

Zero Hash Holdings, through its subsidiaries, powers neo-banks, broker-dealers, payment groups as well as non-financial brands to offer digital asset trading and custody, crypto-backed rewards and round-ups programs.

Zero Hash Holdings is backed by investors, including Point72 Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, and NYCA.

Zero Hash LLC is a FinCen-registered Money Service Business and a regulated Money Transmitter that can operate in 51 US jurisdictions. Zero Hash LLC and Zero Hash Liquidity Services LLC are licensed to engage in virtual currency business activity by the New York State Department of Financial Services. In Canada, Zero Hash LLC is registered as a Money Service Business with FINTRAC.

Zero Hash Australia Pty Ltd. is registered with AUSTRAC as a Digital Currency Exchange Provider, with DCE registered provider number DCE100804170-001. This registration enables Zero Hash to offer its crypto services in Australia. Zero Hash Australia Pty Ltd. is registered on the New Zealand register of financial service providers, with Financial Service Provider (FSP) number FSP1004503. A FSP in New Zealand is a registration and does not mean that Zero Hash Australia Pty Ltd. is licensed by a New Zealand regulator to provide crypto services. Zero Hash Australia Pty Ltd.s registration on the New Zealand register of financial service providers does not mean that Zero Hash Australia is subject to active regulation or oversight by a New Zealand regulator.

Connect with Zero Hash on LinkedIn , or visit www.zerohash.com for more information.

Zero Hash Contact

Shaun Okeeffe

(855) 744-7333

media@zerohash.com

Disclosures

Zero Hash services and product offerings may not be available in all jurisdictions. Zero Hash accounts are not subject to FDIC or SIPC protections, or any such equivalent protections that may exist outside of the US. Zero Hashs technical support and enablement of any asset is not an endorsement of such asset and is not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any crypto asset. The value of any cryptocurrency, including digital assets pegged to fiat currency, commodities, or any other asset, may go to zero.

Zero Hash Europe B.V. is not subject to prudential supervision by the Dutch Central Bank (DNB) or behavioral supervision by the The Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM).
Jersey City, NJ, March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to the latest research by InsightAce Analytic, the Global Digital Twins in Healthcare Market is valued at US$ 1.64 Bn in 2023, and it is expected to reach US$ 82.40 Billion by 2031, with a CAGR of 63.65% during the forecast period of 2024-2031.



A virtual representation of an individual's physical health can be used in healthcare to mimic the impact of different treatments and interventions on health. This technology is called as "digital twin technology." An electronic health record, imaging investigations, wearable technology, and other sources of data are used to generate a medical digital twin model. Utilizing digital twin technology can help reduce operating costs and enhance patient outcomes, which has led to its acceptance by many healthcare institutions. In the healthcare market dynamics, this is augmenting the digital twin. Additionally, throughout the projection period, the market will benefit from profitable prospects brought about by the technological improvements in digital twins that serve a variety of healthcare applications and the expanding acceptance of digital twin technology in developing nations.





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Recent Developments:

In Sept 2023, PrediSurge successfully raised 6.5 million in Series A funding to advance state-of-the-art Digital Twin Technology in the field of cardiovascular medicine. The European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund, which operates Italian Venture Capital LIFTT S.p.a., led a major investment, and Saint Victor Capital, UI Investissement  Metropoles Innovations, and Credit Agricole LHL Capital Innovation provided outstanding support.

List of Prominent Players in the Digital Twins in Healthcare Market:

IBM

Siemens Healthineers AG

Koninklijke Philips N.V

Faststream Technologies

Dassault Systemes

Twin LTD

Microsoft

NVIDIA Corporation

GENUREA

ANSYS, Inc.

AMAZON (AWS)

Rescale, Inc.

Predictiv

Verto Health

PrediSurge

Oracle

SAP

ATOS SE

Other Market Players





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Market Dynamics:

Drivers:

When patients require telehealth technology-assisted remote patient monitoring for particular health concerns, it functions effectively. Digital twins are a useful tool in telemedicine and remote patient monitoring to provide a virtual depiction of a patient's medical needs. A digital twin, for instance, can be used to combine data from several sources, such as wearable technology, electronic health records, and others, to present a more complete picture of a patient's health. This may make it possible for medical professionals to manage and observe their patients efficiently. Therefore, it is anticipated that the digital twin in the healthcare market will develop over the next few years because of the rise in telemedicine and remote patient monitoring services.

Challenges:

The high cost of implementation and extremely complex design of digital twins have an impact on market growth. Using digital twins requires a significant financial commitment to the development and upkeep of cloud computing infrastructure as well as services. Additionally, significant investments in security management & IoT technologies are needed. This results in a lot of financial and operational difficulties that limit market expansion.

Regional Trends:

The North America digital twins in healthcare market is expected to lead with a major market revenue share and it is expected to grow at a high CAGR in the near future. Some of the remarkable drivers of the market growth in the region are the rising adoption rates of digital and automated solutions in healthcare facilities around the region. It is expected that the presence of major firms in the area, like Microsoft, IBM Corporation, and IQVIA, will accelerate the technology's acceptance. Besides, Europe had a considerable share in the market due to an increase in the number of major market companies launching new products, the expanding acceptance of the internet, and the growing need for IoT-based engineering services. In March 2022, for instance, the next-generation IoT-based engineering practice centered on Digital Twins for industrial and production sectors was established by L&T Technology Services Ltd., a global leader in pure-play services.





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Segmentation of Digital Twins in Healthcare Market-

By Component-

Software

Services

By Application-

Drug Discovery & Development

Personalized medicine

Surgical Planning and Medical Education

Medical Device Design and Testing

Healthcare Workflow Optimization & Asset Management

Others

By End User-

Pharma & Bio-pharma companies

Research & Academia

Providers

Medical device Companies

Others

By Region-

North America-

The US

Canada

Mexico

Europe-

Germany

The UK

France

Italy

Spain

Rest of Europe

Asia-Pacific-

China

Japan

India

South Korea

South East Asia

Rest of Asia Pacific

Latin America-

Brazil

Argentina

Rest of Latin America

Middle East & Africa-
MONTREAL, March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Brunswick Exploration Inc. (BRW or the Company) is pleased to announce that, pursuant to its aggressive and innovative grassroot exploration campaign which led to three new discoveries including the flagship Mirage Project, it has expanded its portfolio of targets and map-staked over 215 outcropping, mapped and/or interpreted, untested S-type pegmatites, measuring between 500 and 8,800 metres in strike length. These new targets are located in areas that have seen minimal or no current lithium exploration in Quebec, Labrador and, for the first time, Greenland. The newly acquired pegmatites were identified following extensive compilation work by BRW and most are located near existing roads, power infrastructure and/or tidal water.

Mr. Killian Charles, President and CEO of BRW, commented: Over the last 24 months, we have built one of the strongest lithium grassroot exploration strategies globally. Concurrent to our plans to rapidly advance the Mirage project in Quebec, where we excitedly await to release our first results next month from the winter campaign, we will continue to leverage our unique expertise and acquire domestic and global opportunities that combine sound fundamentals with high-quality targets. Our cost-effective grassroot strategy provides our shareholders maximum exposure to this generational lithium exploration boom and we are delighted to kick-start these initiatives in Q3 2024, with the goal of making significant discoveries to feed both North American and European markets.

Quebec

James Bay

The new area of interest comprises 538 claim units with a total surface area of 26,642 hectares, located roughly northwest of lake Canipiscau and northeast of the Mirage Project. The new claims contain multiple mafic belts that have a rough strike length of 12-20 kilometers with multiple documented pegmatites. Seven historic pegmatite outcrops are mapped on the property with biotite and/or muscovite. This area has seen little to no exploration for lithium.

Nunavik

The Project comprises 511 claim units with a total surface area of 23,519 hectares and most claims are located roughly 20-90 kilometers from the community of Kuujjuaq and are close to tide water. Compilation work has identified a minimum of 64 mapped pegmatites that are roughly 500 to 2,900 metres in strike length. Pegmatites were staked based on preferred geologic environments, historical geochemistry and historical mapping. Importantly, they have seen little to no exploration focused on lithium even documented lithium showings exists.

Labrador

South East Labrador

The company has staked 55 licenses with a total surface area of 7,051 hectares, located near and in between the areas of Cartwright, Port Hope Simpson and the intersection of highway 510 and 516, in southeast Labrador. Labrador has a very strong mining history and currently hosts large scale mining operations in the Wabush, Voiseys Bay and Schefferville areas. Numerous pegmatite occurrences contain beryl and/or tourmaline among other indicator minerals, highlighting the potential for evolved LCT pegmatites and lithium mineralization. To date, the licenses cover 19 pegmatites measuring between roughly 500 and 2,000 meters in strike length.

Greenland  Pushing the Envelope for Lithium Exploration

Having strong ties to Europe via Denmark and recently the focus of European Union delegation which highlighted the critical mineral potential of the autonomous country within the Kingdon of Denmark, Greenland has outstanding outcrop exposure (Figure 1 and 2), allowing for efficient and effective helicopter-supported prospecting. Pegmatites were staked based on preferred geologic environments, historical geochemistry, satellite imagery and historical mapping. Importantly, there has been little to no exploration for lithium in the country while having significant potential for new discoveries and containing all key geological grassroot indicators utilized by the BRW exploration team. The license areas are near communities and tidal water and there is a deep-sea port in Nuuk.

Licenses have been applied for by a third party and are awaiting approval from the Government of Greenland. Brunswick Exploration wishes to thank Xploration Services Greenland A/S for their assistance in the application.

Nuuk

The Project contains one proposed mineral exploration license, containing five blocks, with a total surface area of 49,562 hectares, located between 10 and 90 kilometres from the capital of Greenland, Nuuk. The Project contains 92 mapped and interpreted pegmatites that are between 500 and 8,800 meters in strike length. The area contains beryl and tourmaline occurrences as well as a historic pegmatite grab sample containing up to 3,700 ppm Rb and a K/Rb ratio of 9.5 already indicating the potential for very evolved pegmatites.

Figure 1: Significant Outcropping Pegmatites Around Nuuk





Paamiut

The project contains one proposed mineral exploration license, containing five blocks, with a total surface area of 15,141 hectares, located between 20 and 70 kilometres from the community of Paamiut. The properties contain 41 mapped and interpreted pegmatites that are between 500 and 4,400 meters in strike length.

Figure 2: Significant Outcropping Pegmatites Around Paamiut





Qualified Person

The scientific and technical information related to Quebec has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Francois Goulet, Manager Quebec. He is a Professional Geologist registered in Quebec.

The scientific and technical information related to Labrador and Greenland has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Charles Kodors, Manager Atlantic Canada. He is a Profession Geologist registered in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

About Brunswick Exploration

Brunswick Exploration is a Montreal-based mineral exploration company listed on the TSX-V under symbol BRW. The Company is focused on grassroots exploration for lithium, a critical metal necessary to global decarbonization and energy transition. The company is rapidly advancing one of the extensive grassroots lithium property portfolios in Canada and Greenland.

Investor Relations/information

Mr. Killian Charles, President and CEO (info@BRWexplo.com)

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release

Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, delays in obtaining or failures to obtain required governmental, environmental or other project approvals; uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future; changes in equity markets; inflation; fluctuations in commodity prices; delays in the development of projects; the other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry; and those risks set out in the Corporations public documents filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although the Corporation believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. The Corporation disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f0be7566-6ae6-429b-8f21-12d3753328e7

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9b0ea4f8-7a0d-4bb5-aa72-67ca97005a34
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Cambridge, MA, March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Before companies even think about planning to reduce their carbon emissions, theres an important first step that many are missing: getting third party validation of their reporting. Accurately reported carbon emissions are a critical indicator for actually reducing climate impacts.

In new research based on data from Clarity AI  a global sustainability tech platform  Florian Berg, research scientist at the MIT Sloan School of Management, Jaime Oliver Huidobro, lead data scientist at Clarity AI, and Roberto Rigobon, professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, found that companies that verify their emissions by third-party auditors initially demonstrate higher carbon emissions (13.7%) and intensities (9.5%)  but ultimately make more reductions in the future  than those that do not externally verify their data.

While Science Based Target initiatives (SBTi) alone do not signal carbon dioxide emission reductions, we found that obtaining assurance from third-party auditors does correlate with cutting back on CO2 emissions in the future, said Berg. For investors seeking to invest sustainably in businesses genuinely seeking to transition to low-carbon business models, an important indicator is whether they externally verify their emissions.

Engaging in emissions auditing is crucial for companies to accurately measure their CO2 emissions and make strides in reducing their future carbon intensity. Only those companies that verify their emissions demonstrate a significant and economically meaningful decline in their absolute emissions and carbon intensity over time  the analysis included more than 30,000 listed companies and leveraged Clarity AI machine learning models to impute data. Total emissions amongst this group declined by 7.5% year-over-year, while their carbon intensity declined by 3.3% year-over-year.

Companies that do engage third-party auditors, while they may show higher current emissions, take actionable steps to reduce their future carbon emissions. This indicates that companies that pay for third-party assurance signal to stakeholders and distinguish themselves from companies that seem to not have any intentions to reduce carbon emissions. However, the setting of SBTi which define and promote best practices in emissions reductions and net-zero targets in line with climate science  themselves may not be useful to those seeking to invest in the low-carbon transition.

Accurate and actionable data are becoming increasingly crucial for regulators and investors, but this research shows the underlying data can be unreliable, said Oliver. As regulation catches up with the industry, AI tools, combined with human expertise, will be essential for fund managers to allocate investment capital towards companies making material changes to make their business more sustainable.

Smaller companies are just as responsible as larger organizations for reporting accurate emissions, for these numbers impact future reduction efforts and investor relations. Smaller companies that do not verify their emissions might use more favorable assumptions based on efforts to reduce them in the future, which can have important implications for fund managers and ESG raters  taking unaudited reported carbon emissions at face value will penalize companies serious about their carbon reductions in the long run.

As such, Berg, Oliver, and Rigobon call for mandatory assurance, even for smaller companies. The lack of an accurate, regulated reporting system interferes with retaining an accurate sense of emissions, for those that obtain assurance for their carbon emissions report on average a 9.5% higher carbon intensity than peers without assurance. As opposed to those who do not audit their emissions, companies that provide accurate emissions reporting actively set appropriate targets and reduce their future emissions.

These findings make regulations such as the Securities and Exchange Commission climate disclosure rule or the Corporate Sustainability Disclosure Regulation in Europe both requiring companies to disclose emissions  important for investors to compare emissions data across companies, said Oliver.

It makes sense to also include smaller companies in the scope of companies that need to obtain assurance for their carbon emissions. Without accurately reported data from all companies, working to reduce carbon emissions will forever be an impossible hurdle, concluded Berg.

Attachment
AUSTIN, Texas, March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lexbe, a leading provider of cloud-based eDiscovery solutions, is thrilled to announce a new integration partnership with Clio - the worlds most robust legal technology platform. Clios legal practice management, client intake, and legal CRM software streamlines law firm operations, improves productivity, and enables legal professionals to increase revenue from one centralized platform. Trusted by over 150,000 legal professionals in 100+ countries and approved by 90+ bar associations and legal societies, Clio provides industry-leading security, 24/5 customer support, and an unparalleled app ecosystemintegrating with many solutions, now including Lexbe.



This collaboration is set to revolutionize the way law firms handle document management and eDiscovery by combining the benefits of Lexbe's advanced generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) powered eDiscovery platform with Clio.

The integration of Lexbe's CoPilot GenAI eDiscovery features with the GenAI document management capabilities with Clio is a game-changer for our firm, said Jordan Howlette, Founder and Managing Attorney, JD Howlette Law. The synergy between these platforms allows us to leverage artificial intelligence in ways that dramatically enhance our efficiency and the accuracy of our document management and review processes. With this integration, we can sift through vast amounts of documents with unprecedented speed, while ensuring that no critical piece of information is overlooked. We're now equipped to handle complex cases more effectively, making informed decisions based on comprehensive data analysis. This technological advancement represents a significant leap forward for the legal industry, and we're proud to be at the forefront of this evolution."

A Partnership Built on Innovation and Efficiency

The enhanced integration between Lexbe and Clio marks a significant advancement in legal technology, fostering effortless data exchange and workflow optimization. This collaboration empowers legal professionals to streamline their eDiscovery and document management endeavors with greater efficiency. This synergy allows for a diverse set of tools that enrich the technological landscape of legal practice management.

Gene Albert, CEO of Lexbe, emphasized the strategic nature of this integration, "Our collaboration with Clio is a deliberate move towards achieving our vision of providing law firms with transformative technology that enhances their client outcomes. This integration merges the strengths of two platforms, offering our shared clientele a robust collection of GenAI tools. These tools are designed to refine their operational processes, elevate efficiency, and support their growth ambitions."

Clio's Support for the Legal Community

Clio continuously pursues its mission to revolutionize the legal experience for all, leveraging cutting-edge cloud-based technologies tailored for law firms. Hemant Kashyap, Chief Product Officer at Clio, notes that the integration with Lexbe highlights Clios commitment to equipping the legal community with advanced AI-powered document management and eDiscovery solutions. This collaboration is instrumental in redefining industry standards, empowering law firms with unparalleled technological capabilities."

The integration of Lexbe with Clio is now accessible through the Clio App Directory, signifying a pivotal advancement in legal technology collaborations. This collaboration represents a significant leap forward in our joint endeavor to enhance the efficiency and capabilities of legal professionals worldwide.

About Lexbe

For more than 18 years, law firms, legal teams, and more than 8,795 eDiscovery professionals have come to rely on Lexbe for innovative, affordable, lightning fast, cloud-based eDiscovery solutions. The Lexbe eDiscovery platform equips legal professionals with a state-of-the-art, end to end eDiscovery platform, including GenAI capabilities, high-speed document processing, industry leading hosting, advanced analytics, efficient document review features, and secure production capabilities. For more information about the Lexbe eDiscovery Platform with Lexbe CoPilot GenAI, please visit www.lexbe.com.

Media Contact:

Jeff Fugitt

Chief Revenue Officer

Lexbe, Inc.

512.653.8295

jfugitt@lexbe.com

About Clio

Clio is transforming the legal experience for all by creating the world's leading cloud-based technologies for law firmsto keep lawyers and their clients better connected throughout the legal process. Firms of all sizes and practice areas use Clio products to manage firm operations, streamline billing and payments, automate legal documents, and improve client experiences. Following its US$250M Series D funding, led by TCV and JMI Equity, and its US$110M Series E investment, led by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. and OMERS Growth Equity, Clio has made history by becoming the first legal practice management unicorn in the world, and the first legal practice management company to be recognized by all 50 state bar associations. Learn more at clio.com.

Media Contact:

Mesila Malltezi

Communications Manager

1-800-347-8314

mesila.malltezi@clio.com
PINE MOUNTAIN, Georgia, March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Parks! America (OTCPink: PRKA), commemorated today the one-year anniversary of the tornado that wreaked havoc on the grounds of its Wild Animal Safari Park in Pine Mountain, Georgia. Despite facing unprecedented challenges, the park has demonstrated resilience, undergoing extensive reconstruction efforts to restore and enhance animal habitats, park infrastructure, and the guest experience to continue providing an unforgettable wildlife adventure for visitors.



In the wake of the tornado on March 26th, 2023, Wild Animal Safari Pine Mountain encountered significant setbacks from immediate storm damage, including over 4,500 fallen trees, miles of damaged fencing, with nearly 20 structures and animal habitats sustaining significant damage. This led to a twenty-day park closure and a loss of over $1 million in revenue. Through unwavering determination and community support, the park immediately initiated recovery efforts, investing approximately $1 million in the considerable clean-up and rebuilding endeavors, including extensive tree removal, repairing nearly 3 miles of fencing and the construction of a new giraffe barn.

"The past year has been a testament to our team's resilience and the unwavering support of our community," remarked Lisa Brady, President, and CEO of Parks! America, Inc. "Despite the challenges we faced, we remained steadfast in our commitment to restoring Wild Animal Safari Pine Mountain to its former glory, and I am incredibly proud of the progress we have made."

(For more tornado related images visit: https://animalsafari.com/pine-mountain-media-kit/ )

Katie Harrison, Zoo Director, expressed her gratitude for the collective efforts that enabled the park to overcome adversity. "The dedication of our team and the outpouring of support from our community have been instrumental in our recovery journey," said Harrison. "We are immensely grateful for the opportunity to continue providing a safe and enriching environment for our animal residents and visitors alike."

Despite the remarkable progress achieved over the past year, Wild Animal Safari Pine Mountain acknowledges that there is still work to be done. Reconstruction efforts have included repairing the majority of the dozen-plus enclosures that were damaged, including the construction of a new giraffe barn, and new wolf and bear habitats. Additionally, significant repairs have been made to sidewalks and fencing in the walkabout area, enhancing both safety and aesthetics.

Looking ahead, the park remains committed to its ongoing revitalization efforts, with a focus on key projects that will further elevate the visitor experience. Among these initiatives is the construction of a new restroom building, as the prior structure sustained irreparable damage in the tornado. This project will also feature an enhanced arrival experience and entry plaza, expected to be complete in late summer of 2024. Additionally, the first phase of a multi-phase rebuild of the park's big cat area is underway, with an all-new carnivore night house for the park's tigers and lions. Furthermore, new in 2024, visitors can experience our all-new South America encounter featuring capybara feeding, enriching the park's diverse array of attractions.

Ms. Brady adds, Our 2024 projects are well underway, and while we look forward to the completion of new and improved restrooms and the arrival experience, we are all grateful to be welcoming guests for our 2024 spring break and continuing to deliver epic laughs, smiles, and memories for our visitors.

The one-year anniversary of the tornado coincides with the start of Wild Animal Safari Pine Mountain's busy spring break and summer season. As the park welcomes visitors old and new, it stands as a symbol of resilience, strength, and the enduring power of community spirit.

About Wild Animal Safari, Pine Mountain:

Wild Animal Safari, Pine Mountain, is a premier wildlife park offering visitors an immersive safari experience. Located in Pine Mountain, Georgia, the park boasts a diverse array of animal species and attractions, including the popular Drive-Thru Safari. For more information, visit www.info.ga@animalsafari.com

About Parks! America, Inc.

Parks! America, Inc. (OTCPink: PRKA), through its wholly owned subsidiaries, owns and operates three regional safari parks - the Wild Animal Safari theme park in Pine Mountain, Georgia, the Wild Animal Safari theme park located in Strafford, Missouri, and the Aggieland Wild Animal Safari theme park, located near Bryan/College Station, Texas.

Additional information, including our Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 1, 2023, is available on the Companys website, http://www.animalsafari.com

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This news release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of U.S. securities laws. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning our future plans, business strategy, liquidity, capital expenditures, sources of revenue and other similar statements that are not historical in nature. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are based on our expectations as of the date of this news release and speak only as of the date hereof. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results to differ significantly from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Readers are advised to consider the factors listed under the heading Risk Factors and the other information contained in the Companys annual report and other reports filed from time to time with the SEC. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Important Additional Information

The Company, its directors and certain of its executive officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the Companys stockholders in connection with any matters to be considered at the 2024 annual meeting of stockholders of the Company (the 2024 Annual Meeting). In connection with the Companys special meeting of stockholders, the Company filed a definitive proxy statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) on February 12, 2024 (the Definitive Proxy Statement). The Company also intends to file a definitive proxy statement and a WHITE Proxy Card with the SEC in connection with any solicitation of proxies from the Companys stockholders with respect to the 2024 Annual Meeting. STOCKHOLDERS OF THE COMPANY ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO READ SUCH PROXY STATEMENT, THE ACCOMPANYING WHITE PROXY CARD AND ALL OTHER DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE AS THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION RELATING TO THE 2024 ANNUAL MEETING. The Definitive Proxy Statement contains information regarding the direct and indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, of the Companys directors and executive officers in the Companys securities. Stockholders will be able to obtain the definitive proxy statement with respect to the 2024 Annual Meeting and the Definitive Proxy Statement with respect to the Special Meeting, including any amendments or supplements to such proxy statements and other documents, if any, filed by the Company with the SEC at no charge at the SECs website at www.sec.gov . Copies would also be available at no charge on the Companys website at https://animalsafari.com/investor-relations/ .

Contact:

Lisa Brady

President and Chief Executive Officer

(706) 663-8744

Attachments
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ascot Resources Ltd. (TSX: AOT; OTCQX: AOTVF) (Ascot or the Company) announces the Company's audited consolidated financial results for the year ended December 31, 2023. For details of the audited consolidated financial statements, Management's Discussion and Analysis, and Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2023, please see the Company's filings on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.



All amounts herein are reported in $000s of Canadian dollars (C$) unless otherwise specified.

2023 AND RECENT HIGHLIGHTS

On February 20, 2024, the Company closed its previously announced financing package for a total of US$50 million from Sprott Resource Streaming and Royalty Corp. and its affiliates (Sprott Streaming) and Nebari Credit Fund II, LP (Nebari Credit Fund II), as described in the Companys news release dated January 22, 2024. $13,700 of the above proceeds was used to buy back two existing 5% NSR royalties on various Premier Gold Project (PGP) property claims, which was completed on March 15, 2024.

On February 20, 2024, concurrently with the above-noted financing package, the Company closed its previously announced bought deal private placement financing, under which the Company issued a total of 65,343,000 common shares of the Company (the Common Shares) at a price of C$0.44 per Common Share, for gross proceeds of $28,751.

At the end of Q4 2023, overall construction excluding mine development was 86% complete (approximately 94% as of February 29, 2024), compared with 66% complete at the end of Q3 2023. Numerous pre-commissioning activities in the mill have commenced. The Company anticipates introducing first ore into the mill by the end of March 2024, and pouring first gold in April.

PGP reached an important safety milestone in Q4 of 2023: one million hours without lost time incidents (LTI). By the end of Q4 2023, this figure reached 1,143,029 hours LTI free. The total recordable incident frequency has been reduced yet again from 0.69 at the end of Q3 2023 to 0.52 by the end of Q4 2023.

At the tailings storage facility (TSF), the south dam, north dam, and southeast dam have been completed. The minor remaining work is focused on the smaller east dam and spillway which is expected to be completed by the end of March. The new electrical substation was completed and all 138kV power lines were pulled and linked up with the BC Hydro grid. Site powerup on the 138 kV line was completed in January 2024.

The new water treatment plant was fully commissioned and began operations in February 2024. The high-density sludge plant has been successfully commissioned and water is being treated and discharged into the environment. The moving bed bio-reactor is mechanically and electrically complete and media is being loaded into the tanks. The plant is anticipated to be brought into service by the end of March 2024.

In October 2023, the Company obtained a temporary use permit to install a camp facility in the town of Stewart to provide additional accommodations for workers at the Project. The Company mobilized and installed living quarters with an initial capacity of 76 beds in early December 2023. This has alleviated some of the pressure caused by the extended earthworks schedule.

On September 19, 2023, the Company acquired a full-service laboratory facility (Assay Lab) in Stewart, BC from Seacan Labs Corp. The Assay Lab will be used to perform the testing required by Ascot for mineral exploration, mining operation, and environmental monitoring. During Q4 2023, the Assay Lab was re-commissioned for use and is currently ramping up toward full capacity of 250-300 samples per day with a 24-hour turnaround.

In Q3 2023, the Companys underground mining contractor Procon Mining & Tunnelling mobilized to site. In Q4 2023, underground development at Big Missouri was re-commenced and is ongoing. As of March 21, 2024, underground development at Big Missouri totaled approximately 2,091 metres. In late 2023, underground decline development commenced on the new Premier Portal close to the mill. Mining development is being advanced down into the Premier deposit for initial mining in the Prew Zone, with ore development anticipated to begin in Q2 2024, and stope production following in Q3 2024. As of March 15, 2024, underground development at Premier totaled approximately 32 metres.

On June 27, 2023, the Company closed a previously announced US$14 million subordinated convertible credit facility (the Convertible Facility) with Nebari Gold Fund 1, LP (Nebari). The full proceeds from the Convertible Facility were used to repay principal, accrued interest and fees of Ascots existing subordinated convertible credit facility with Beedie Investments Ltd. (Beedie).

On April 20, 2023, the Company closed a previously announced non-brokered private placement for total gross proceeds of $4,050 and consisted of 5,000,000 common shares of the Company, which qualify as "flow-through shares" within the meaning of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the FT Shares), at a price of C$0.81 per FT Share.

The Companys 2023 exploration program at PGP commenced in May, which consisted of 88 holes totaling 11,886 metres and included exploration drilling for resource expansion as well as in-fill drilling of initial mining areas at the Big Missouri and Premier deposits. Assay results were announced between August 2023 and January 2024. Multiple high-grade intercepts were drilled, including 98.84 g/t Au over 6.48m from a depth of 51.5m in hole P23-2490, including 691.50 g/t Au over 0.90m. This was the all-time second highest-grade drill intercept at Big Missouri and is the Companys highest-grade drill intercept property-wide since 2015.

On January 19, 2023, the Company closed a previously announced financing package. The financing package consisted of US$110 million as a deposit in respect of gold and silver streaming agreements and a strategic equity investment of C$45 million, a portion of which is structured as Canadian Development Expenditures flow through shares, such that the total gross proceeds to the Company was C$50 million.



FINANCIAL RESULTS FOR THE THREE MONTHS AND YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2023

The Company reported a net income of $1,705 for Q4 2023 compared to a net loss of $5,988 for Q4 2022. The net income in Q4 2023 is mainly driven by the accounting gain on increase in fair value of the stream buyback embedded derivatives as a result of increase in gold prices and a decrease in market credit spreads.

The Company reported a net loss of $10,430 for 2023 compared to $10,808 for 2022. The lower net loss is attributable to a combination of key factors including a $2,405 decrease in stock-based compensation, and a $1,539 increase in gain on change in fair value of the Stream buyback embedded derivatives, partially offset by a $1,392 increase in environmental compliance costs, and a $1,202 increase in deferred income tax expense.

LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES

As at December 31, 2023, the Company had cash & cash equivalents of $26,974 and working capital deficiency of $18,337. On February 20, 2024, the Company closed a bought deal private placement for gross proceeds of $28,751 and a US$50 million financing package consisting of a royalty restructuring and a cost overrun facility. Management considered the negative net working capital and the commitments that had existed at December 31, 2023 as well as the funding received subsequent to year end and concluded that the Company now has sufficient funding for the next twelve months of operations, including to progress from construction to first gold pour, ramp-up, commercial production and eventually steady-state operations.

During 2023, the Company issued 120,186,206 common shares, granted 9,789,358 stock options, issued 1,449,973 Deferred Share Units and 2,606,908 Restricted Share Units. Also, 564,152 stock options expired or were forfeited, and 55,530 stock options, 452,006 Deferred Share Units and 721,597 Restricted Share Units were exercised in 2023.

MANAGEMENTS OUTLOOK FOR 2024

With the financing package closed on February 20, 2024, the Company believes that it has sufficient funding to complete construction and ramp-up of PGP in 2024. The key activities for remainder of 2024 include:

Advancing the mining development at Big Missouri and at Premier, with stoping activity at Premier starting in Q3 2024

Completing recruitment of operating team personnel by the end of March 2024

First ore to the mill by the end of March 2024 and first gold pour in April 2024, and commercial production in Q3 2024



Qualified Person

John Kiernan, P.Eng., Chief Operating Officer of the Company is the Companys Qualified Person (QP) as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this news release.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Ascot Resources Ltd.

Derek C. White

President & CEO

For further information contact:

David Stewart, P.Eng.

VP, Corporate Development & Shareholder Communications

dstewart@ascotgold.com

778-725-1060 ext. 1024

About Ascot Resources Ltd.

Ascot is a Canadian junior exploration and development company focused on re-starting the past producing Premier Gold Mine, located on Nis g aa Nation Treaty Lands, in British Columbias prolific Golden Triangle. Ascot shares trade on the TSX under the ticker AOT. Concurrent with progressing the development of Premier, the Company continues to explore its properties for additional high-grade underground resources. Ascot is committed to the safe and responsible development of Premier in collaboration with Nisgaa Nation as outlined in the Benefits Agreement.

For more information about the Company, please refer to the Companys profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca or visit the Companys web site at www.ascotgold.com, or for a virtual tour visit www.vrify.com under Ascot Resources.

The TSX has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

All statements and other information contained in this press release about anticipated future events may constitute forward-looking information under Canadian securities laws ("forward-looking statements"). Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "targeted", "outlook", "on track" and "intend" and statements that an event or result "may", "will", "should", "could", would or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar expressions. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward-looking statements, including statements in respect of advancement and development of the PGP and the timing related thereto, the completion of the PGP mine, the production of gold and managements outlook for the remainder of 2024 and beyond. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements, including risks associated with entering into definitive agreements for the transactions described herein; fulfilling the conditions to closing of the transactions described herein, including the receipt of TSX approvals; the business of Ascot; risks related to exploration and potential development of Ascot's projects; business and economic conditions in the mining industry generally; fluctuations in commodity prices and currency exchange rates; uncertainties relating to interpretation of drill results and the geology, continuity and grade of mineral deposits; the need for cooperation of government agencies and indigenous groups in the exploration and development of Ascots properties and the issuance of required permits; the need to obtain additional financing to develop properties and uncertainty as to the availability and terms of future financing; the possibility of delay in exploration or development programs and uncertainty of meeting anticipated program milestones; uncertainty as to timely availability of permits and other governmental approvals; and other risk factors as detailed from time to time in Ascot's filings with Canadian securities regulators, available on Ascot's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca including the Annual Information Form of the Company dated March 25, 2024 in the section entitled "Risk Factors". Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions made with regard to: the estimated costs associated with construction of the Project; the timing of the anticipated start of production at the Project; the ability to maintain throughput and production levels at the PGP mill; the tax rate applicable to the Company; future commodity prices; the grade of mineral resources and mineral reserves; the ability of the Company to convert inferred mineral resources to other categories; the ability of the Company to reduce mining dilution; the ability to reduce capital costs; and exploration plans. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and opinions of management at the date the statements are made. Although Ascot believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements and/or information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements since Ascot can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Ascot does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements, other than as required by applicable laws. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.
TORONTO, March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) has begun a phased launch of a new chapter digital platform to enable greater value for members and seamless engagement with their local professional networks. Flexible, user-friendly, and intuitive, it facilitates improved workflow for the management of membership, events, communications, and committees. With 30,000 members and 120 chapters worldwide, IIBA leads the global business analysis community and professional standards, shaping the practice of business analysis to achieve better enterprise outcomes.



Work on migrating IIBA chapters to the new platform began in February and will be completed in November 2024. It features cutting-edge automation, built-in email campaigns, multiple currency and payment methods, profile management, and faster event registration. Together, these will help strengthen networks that are essential to IIBAs ecosystem and support new entrants to the profession.

The new chapter platform is about simplification and unification. IIBA chapters are your global pass to analysis everywhere, as anyone in the world can attend a virtual chapter event to learn more about business analysis and its critical importance to organizations, says Jared Gorai, Director, Chapters and Member Engagement at IIBA. An investment in the infrastructure of IIBAs chapters around the world is an investment in the diversity of approaches to business analysis, which makes our profession so dynamic and versatile.

For practising business analysis professionals, there are many benefits to joining an IIBA chapter. These include ongoing professional development and networking opportunities, the chance to volunteer as a member of a chapter board or committee, and the continuing support that comes from belonging to a community of like-minded professionals. Chapters around the world offer tailored services, resources, and events that fit the needs of their local community, in their local language.

IIBA chapters and events are your global access to analysis everywhere. Browse all chapter events and join one virtually, anywhere in the world, by becoming a chapter subscriber.

For more information on IIBA chapters or the chapter engagement platform, please contact IIBA Customer Support at info@iiba.org.

About IIBA

For over 20 years, the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) has shaped the practice of business analysis to achieve better enterprise outcomes. A professional association with 30,000 members, 120 chapters, 1,500 volunteers, and 500 partners worldwide, IIBA supports the recognition of business analysis within organizations. It enables networking and community engagement, provides foundational standards, and resources, and offers internationally recognized certification programs for career advancement. For more information, visit iiba.org.

Media Contact

Robert McClements, Communications and Media Specialist

IIBA

robert.mcclements@iiba.org

1-289-312-6723





A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a5076fd2-f96e-4f9f-ab98-2908fccd3e38
NEW YORK, March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- UnitedLex , a leading data and professional services company specializing in litigation, intellectual property, contracts, compliance, and legal operations, today announces the hiring of two legal industry veterans to the executive team: John Ritter joins as Chief Operating Officer (COO), overseeing daily operations for the company, and Amy Hinzmann assumes the role of Executive Vice President, Corporate & Commercial Services.



As COO, Ritter leads all efforts to optimize the core operational functions of UnitedLex, driving efficiency and quality throughout the company at all levels while improving and exceeding client service and delivery expectations. One of Ritters key mandates will be to further fortify the companys operational infrastructure to continue to lead the market in technology enabled service delivery.

Ritter brings a wealth of operational experience in legal and financial solutions. Prior to UnitedLex, Ritter held various C-suite roles at Oliver Technology Corporation, Breakwater Solutions and DiscoverReady. Prior to joining the vendor side, Ritter was an executive at Bank of America where his global operational responsibilities included eDiscovery operations, cyber forensics, information security incident management, and access and identity management operations.

The reputation of UnitedLex for providing groundbreaking solutions across multiple legal and business verticals has always intrigued me, said Ritter. As the companys first Chief Operating Officer, Im honored to join the team and to continue the UnitedLex tradition by leveraging my experience leading global operations and my legal background to optimize existing processes and to create new mission-critical solutions that drive quality and reduce cost for corporations and law firms.

Hinzmann will lead the companys global Corporate & Commercial Services division, which includes Contracts Management, Legal Operations, Privacy, Outside Counsel Management, and LexLoan. Prior to joining UnitedLex, she has held numerous C-suite leadership roles with financial and legal services providers including Consilio, Cimplifi, and most recently Oliver Technology Corporation. Hinzmann also spent several years at DiscoverReady where she led client success and service delivery functions for its Document Review and Analytics & Automation functions.

Building on its history of innovation, UnitedLex is bringing energy to the legal market with solutions that help lawyers rethink how they align their teams to deliver against broader business goals, said Hinzmann. As the mandate to modernize grows across legal, Im excited to help shape and co-create solution offerings with our clients that make them more successful.

Ritter and Hinzmann add to a string of key hires since James Schellhase joined as the new CEO , including Rajitha Boer as Chief Client Officer , Praveen Jayant as Vice President, Incident Response , Renee Meisel as EVP and GC and Jeannine Whittaker as SVP, Business Development , among others. In 16 years, UnitedLex has grown from five employees to more than 3,000 across nine offices in 26 global jurisdictions, including a well-established team of over 1,600 operating across two locations in India, Gurugram and Bengaluru. The companys more than 600 clients include 25 percent of the Fortune 100 that have a combined $2 trillion in revenue.

To learn more about UnitedLex, visit www.unitedlex.com .

About UnitedLex

UnitedLex is a data and professional services company delivering outcomes that create value for high-performing law firms and corporate legal departments in the areas of digital litigation, intellectual property, contracts, compliance, and legal operations. Founded in 2006 with a mission to push the boundaries of legal innovation, we provide solutions that enable measurable performance improvement, risk mitigation, revenue gain, cost reduction, and digital business synergy. Our team of 3,000+ legal, data, and technology professionals supports our clients from operational centers around the world.

Media Inquiries

Susan Hammann

Director of Strategic Communications

press@unitedlex.com

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/765ac46c-b3ec-484b-a0ed-430c56921882

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/51eec5b0-0b90-455e-84fb-21b75c2836f2




WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rennova Health, Inc. (OTC: RNVA) announces that certain Series A, B and C warrants to purchase approximately 403,788,906,644 shares of common stock expired on March 21, 2024, and that on March 20, 2024, the Company and certain institutional warrant holders agreed that, with regard to Series B Warrants to acquire 101,350,000,000 shares of common stock, subject to certain terms, the termination date of such Warrants would be extended from March 21, 2024 to December 31, 2025.



The expiration of such a large number of warrants significantly reduces potential dilution to common shareholders, said Seamus Lagan, CEO of Rennova, and extending a number of warrants as agreed, preserves the Companys ability to access additional capital through warrant exercises if market conditions permit.

About Rennova Health, Inc.

Rennova Health, Inc. (Rennova,) is a provider of health care services. The Company owns one operating hospital in Oneida, Tennessee known as Big South Fork Medical Center, a hospital located in Jamestown, Tennessee that it plans to reopen, and an alcohol and drug treatment facility and an office-based treatment facility (OBOT) operated by Myrtle Recovery Centers, Inc.

For more information, please visit www.rennovahealth.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ from expectations and, consequently, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Words such as "expect," "estimate," "project," "budget," "forecast," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "may," "will," "could," "should," "believes," "predicts," "potential," "continue," and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from the expected results. Additional information concerning these and other risk factors are contained in the Company's most recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. The Company does not undertake or accept any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in their expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based, except as required by law.

Contact:

Rennova Health

561-855-1626

info@rennovahealth.com
MAPLE GROVE, Minn., March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TopLine Financial Credit Union , a Twin Cities-based member-owned financial services cooperative , visited Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., March 3 to March 7, 2024, as part of the annual Americas Credit Unions Governmental Affairs Conference, the credit union industrys largest advocacy event.

During the conference, TopLine executives and officials, along with over 6,000 other credit union professionals, board members and Minnesota Credit Union Network (MnCUN) staff members, discussed several top credit union issues with key legislative staff members. The group met with U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith as well as members of the U.S. House and their staff. Meetings focused on expanding credit unions opportunities to serve more Minnesotans and advocating for right-sized rules and differentiating the safe, affordable and regulated fees charged by depository institutions.

TopLine spent valuable face time meeting with lawmakers and sharing members stories on how TopLine provides safe and affordable financial services to help members with all of their financial needs, from buying cars and homes, saving for retirement and investing in small businesses. TopLine leaders also discussed modernizing credit union service, securing data to protect consumer privacy and improving financial well-being with U.S. Senators and House of Representatives.

This event brought credit union champions from across the nation to discuss policies, meet with legislators on Capitol Hill, and to remind lawmakers and regulators why credit unions are Americans best financial partner; we put people before profits, advance communities and improve financial well-being for all, said Mick Olson, President and Chief Executive Officer at TopLine Financial Credit Union. TopLine representatives spent worthwhile time meeting with our state lawmakers reminding them we value their assistance in preserving our not-for-profit financial cooperative tax status, as this is an integral part of our structure that empowers us to secure a stronger and healthier financial future for consumers.

Americas Credit Unions is the premier national trade association serving Americas credit unions. The not-for-profit trade group is governed by volunteer directors who are elected by their credit union peers. To learn more, visit www.americascreditunions.org.

Minnesota Credit Union Network (MnCUN) is the statewide trade association that works to ensure the success, growth and vitality of Minnesota credit union. For more information, visit www.mncun.org.

TopLine Financial Credit Union , a Twin Cities-based credit union, is Minnesotas 11th largest credit union, with assets of over $800 million and serves over 51,000 members. Established in 1935, the not-for-profit financial cooperative offers a complete line of financial services from its five branch locations  in Bloomington, Brooklyn Park, Maple Grove, Plymouth and in St. Pauls Como Park  as well as by phone, mobile app and online at www.TopLinecu.com . Membership is available to anyone who lives, works, worships, attends school or volunteers in Anoka, Carver, Chisago, Dakota, Hennepin, Isanti, Ramsey, Scott, Sherburne, Washington and Wright counties in Minnesota and their immediate family members. Visit us on our Facebook or Instagram. To learn more about the credit unions foundation, visit www.TopLinecu.com/Foundation.

CONTACT:

Vicki Roscoe Erickson

Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer

TopLine Financial Credit Union

verickson@toplinecu.com | 763.391.0872

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/93ee2490-efc5-442d-a122-0435f25ae54c
CORAL SPRINGS, Fla., March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lean Solutions Group (LSG), a nearshore and offshore services provider, announced the company came in fifth place for the 2024 Comparablys Best HR Teams list and seventeenth place for the 2024 Comparably Best Engineering Teams list. Lean Solutions also ranked on the Best Global Culture and Best Company Outlook lists. Each category is derived from sentiment ratings provided by current employees in every respective department who evaluated their employers anonymously on Comparably.com over the past 12 months. Nearly 20 workplace culture categories were measured, from compensation, leadership, and co-workers to work-life balance, professional development opportunities, perks, and benefits.



This is the third year weve been fortunate to be on multiple Comparably lists, said Alejandro Romo, Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) of Lean Solutions Group. Lean Solutions Group is an industry leader that not only prioritizes the needs and concerns of our customer base but also takes pride in the collective effort of our employees within every department. We truly cherish the hard work that each professional puts in for the success of our customers, partners, and company.

In 2023, Lean Solutions won seven awards, and in 2022, eight awards from the Comparably list categories. Based on 43,170 ratings and 1,491 participants this year, employees at Lean Solutions are very satisfied with their work experience, which equates to the company receiving an overall culture score of 79/100 or A+. While the distinction is segmented into two ranked lists being that of the top 100 large companies (more than 500 employees) and the top 50 small/mid-size companies (500 employees or fewer), Lean Solutions was categorized in the large company classification.

As we move forward into 2024, our goal is to continue to foster a company that provides remote operational support services, known as nearshoring, to U.S.based companies within various industries, continued Romo. We are committed to pouring into a corporate culture that promotes professional growth, collaboration, innovation, transparency, and creativity. Our employees make this company thrive, and we wouldnt be able to accomplish the milestones we have thus far without the contributions each one makes daily. To be a recipient of Comparably awards for a third year straight has been rewarding, and we look forward to accomplishing it again.

Unlike other workplace awards, there is no self-nomination process, and winners are determined based on employee questionnaire feedback. Winners are also established based on employees' ratings of all ages, ethnicities, education levels, departments, locations, and experience. A ZoomInfo company and leading workplace culture and corporate brand reputation platform, Comparably has 20 million anonymous employee ratings on 70,000 U.S. and Canadian-based companies.

To learn more about Lean Solutions Group products and services, visit leangroup.com.

About Lean Solutions Group

Lean Solutions Group, established in 2012 and based in Coral Springs, Florida, is a nearshore and offshore services provider with a highly scalable and flexible workforce of approximately 9,000 employees with operations at seven satellite offices in Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, and the Philippines. Partnering with more than 500 U.S.-based companies, Lean Solutions Group's expanded service offerings include staffing, technology, marketing, sales, and business process outsourcing services, all in one place. By leveraging the best talent, culture, and price that Lean Solutions provide, businesses can lower operational costs and drive business growth. For more information, visit https://www.leangroup.com/.

Media Contact

Amber Good

LeadCoverage

amber@leadcoverage.com
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Novo Resources Corp. (Novo or the Company) (ASX: NVO) (TSX: NVO & NVO.WT.A) (OTCQX: NSRPF) advises that Mr Michael Barrett has resigned as a director of the Company and Ms Karen ONeill has been appointed as an independent non-executive director of the Company.



Mr Mike Spreadborough, Executive Co-Chairman, shared On behalf of the Companys directors, employees, and stakeholders, I would like to sincerely thank Mr Barrett for his tireless commitment to Novo spanning over 6 years as a Non-executive Director and Chair of the Audit Risk and Corporate Governance Committee. We wish him all the best for future.

The Company is pleased to announce that Ms Karen ONeill has been appointed as independent non-executive director to the Board of the Company and will also Chair the Audit, Risk and Corporate Governance Committee. Ms ONeill is an experienced mining executive and finance professional with international operational experience across a variety of industries including resources, investment banking and professional services.

Ms ONeill is currently a non-executive director of Great Boulder Resources (ASX:GBR) and has previously served on boards of a number of ASX listed resource companies including Newfield Resources and Kingrose Mining Limited.

Mr Mike Spreadborough said, On behalf of the Board, we welcome Karen to the Novo team and look forward to her contribution as non-executive director. Karens extensive experience working with ASX companies in the exploration and mining sector will allow Novo to maintain strong financial, commercial and governance skills at the board level which in turn will assist the Company in its strategy to discover and develop top tier gold deposits.

Authorised for release by the Board of Directors.

CONTACT

Investors:

Mike Spreadborough

+61 8 6400 6100

info@novoresources.com North American Queries:

Leo Karabelas

+1 416 543 3120

leo@novoresources.com Media:

Cameron Gilenko

+61 466 984 953

cgilenko@citadelmagnus.com





ABOUT NOVO

Novo explores and develops its prospective land package covering approximately 7,500 square kilometres in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, along with the 22 square kilometre Belltopper project in the Bendigo Tectonic Zone of Victoria, Australia. In addition to the Companys primary focus, Novo seeks to leverage its internal geological expertise to deliver value-accretive opportunities to its shareholders.
DENVER and Santa Clara, CA, March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cologix, North Americas leading network-neutral interconnection and hyperscale edge data center company, announced its partnership with Bandwidth IG to introduce dark fiber connectivity at its SV1 digital edge data center. This strategic collaboration is a significant leap forward in empowering businesses to address their high-capacity network needs with unmatched speed, reliability and scalability.

With Cologixs SV1 data center situated in the heart of Silicon Valley, this partnership meets the escalating demand for mission-critical connectivity, driven by the surge in AI applications and interconnected IoT devices. Bandwidth IG's custom dark fiber solutions provide secure, seamless and scalable connectivity between facilities and providers.

As the demand for dark fiber services increases, the need for more truly diverse routes has never been higher, said Bruce Garrison, CEO of Bandwidth IG. By working with Cologix, were delivering mission-critical dark fiber to a highly sought after data center environment. Partnerships like this are important because they not only extend more dark fiber services to Cologix, but provide interconnection across the San Francisco Bay area and beyond.

Silicon Valley boasts one of the most coveted and competitive data center markets in the nation, maintaining a remarkably tight vacancy rate of less than two percent. With new dark fiber connectivity available in the third most active data center hub in the U.S., Cologix empowers enterprises to uplevel their data strategy in the heart of Silicon Valley. SV1 is an 84,000-square-foot facility in a secure, five-acre data center campus. As a world class interconnectivity and cloud exchange point, SV1 has more than 15 unique networks and is ISO 27001 certified and HIPAA, SOC1, SOC2 and PCI compliant.

Being a leader in network-neutral interconnection and edge data centers, Cologix is dedicated to providing our customers with cutting-edge solutions to fuel their interconnection strategies in Silicon Valley and beyond, said Peg Hallberg, Cologixs Head of Product. This collaboration signifies a milestone for the Silicon Valley data center market, delivering unprecedented high-capacity network solutions to our customers. We are excited to see the immense value this partnership brings to businesses seeking reliable, scalable and high-speed connectivity solutions."

To learn more about Bandwidth IG and how they are advancing dark fiber networks, visit https://bandwidthig.com/ .

About Bandwidth IG

Bandwidth IG is a metro dark fiber provider that offers high capacity, strategically placed, dark fiber networks to mission critical data centers, hyperscalers and enterprises throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, Greater Portland and Greater Atlanta areas. Bandwidth IGs 100% underground network meets critical data needs for enterprises and data centers who require quality, new connectivity options. Bandwidth IGs San Francisco Bay Area network offers more than 310 route miles and 65 data centers. The Greater Portland network has more than 15 route miles and 15 data centers, and the Greater Atlanta network has more than 170 route miles and 20 data centers. Bandwidth IG was founded in 2019 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. Visit www.BandwidthIG.com to learn more.



About Cologix Inc.

Cologix provides carrier- and cloud-neutral hyperscale edge data centers and services in 11 markets across North America. Cologix is the interconnection hub for cloud service providers, carriers and a rich ecosystem of partners who want to deploy applications at the very edge across Canada and the U.S. With a growing portfolio of next generation facilities that meet the unique requirements for hyperscale growth with deep connectivity, Cologix offers massive scale and tailor-made data center solutions to accelerate its customers businesses at the digital edge. For on-demand connectivity for scale and control, Cologix Access Marketplace provides fast, reliable, self-service provisioning. For a tour of one of our data centers in Ashburn, Columbus, Dallas, Jacksonville, Lakeland, Minneapolis, Montreal, New Jersey, Silicon Valley, Toronto or Vancouver visit Cologix or email. Follow Cologix on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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PHOENIX, Ore., March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Commonwealth Development Corporation , one of the nations largest, majority woman-owned, affordable housing development companies, and WNC & Associates , a family-owned business known as both a pioneer and leader in the affordable housing industry, have closed a deal to begin construction of Pacific Flats, an all-new affordable housing community in Phoenix, Ore. The property will include five three-story residential buildings comprised of 72 family LIHTC units. Pacific Flats is scheduled for completion in June 2025.







The property will include 72 units across five three-story buildings, and a separate clubhouse building with amenities including a fitness center, business center, and community room. Energy-efficient building design features will include high-efficiency windows and ENERGY STAR rated appliances and building mechanical equipment. Eight units will be reserved for families at 30% of area median income (AMI), 20 units at 50% AMI, and 44 units at 60% AMI.

Commonwealth is delighted to collaborate with our esteemed partners, WNC, to provide further housing support to the southern Oregon region impacted by the Almeda wildfire, said Dan Kroetz, Senior Vice President of Development at Commonwealth Development Corporation. This is our second project in Oregon that is dedicated to this effort, and we look forward to seeing the positive impact these new homes will bring to the community.

Pacific Flats will play a key role in providing affordable housing units in a community with an acute need as it continues to recover from the damage caused by the Almeda Fire in 2020. The Almeda Fire destroyed more than 2,800 structures in Phoenix and the southern adjacent neighboring cities of Talent and Ashland, Ore. An estimated 2,500 homes were lost, displacing residents into a limited number of available temporary housing units (i.e., RV units, manufactured homes, or transitional housing units) or outside the region.

Demand for rental units within this market remains significant, as all LIHTC properties in the region are fully occupied with waiting lists ranging from 3 months to over 5 years, said Darrick Metz, Senior Vice President of Originations at WNC. This statistic, combined with the destruction of homes from the Almeda Fire, highlights the need for more affordable housing options in the region. We are proud to support the development of Pacific Flats to start to address this need.

Pacific Flats residents will have access to ongoing supportive services, including educational classes and help with access coordination to other non-profit agencies. These services will be provided by ACCESS, a local community action organization.

In an additional effort to ensure that the project serves the local population authentically, Commonwealth Development Corporation has partnered with Native of One Wind Indigenous Alliance Unete (NOWIA Unete), a local organization focused on serving the needs of local indigenous and immigrant farmers, to develop Pacific Flats.

WNCs total investment is approximately $25.1M. The deal was structured with 4% LIHTC Equity, a construction and perm loan through Legacy Bank, a $13.5M soft loan using LIFT funds, and a $170K soft loan using OHCS MEP funds.

About Commonwealth Development Corporation

Since its founding in 2001, Commonwealths core focus has been to improve lives and enhance communities by developing, designing, and constructing high-quality housing that is affordable. Commonwealth is one of the nations largest, majority woman-owned, affordable housing development companies, being cited as a top 20 national producer of affordable housing the past five years (Affordable Housing Finance), and named the 2020 Best Affordable Housing Developer  USA (BUILD Magazine). Visit www.commonwealthco.net for more information.

About WNC & Associates

Founded in 1971, WNC & Associates (WNC) is a family-owned business known as both a pioneer and leader in the affordable housing industry. WNC and its affiliated companies specialize in tax credit syndication, affordable housing development, and preservation equity fund investments. Combined, the WNC companies have acquired approximately $18.2 billion in assets across 48 states, including more than 1,800 affordable rental properties that house more than 1 million residents. With offices in 16 states, WNC has partnered with more than 400 developers and 125 institutional investors. To learn more, visit: https://www.wncinc.com/ .
Siauliu Bankas AB, company code 112025254, address of the head office Tilzes str. 149, Siauliai, Lithuania.



Siauliu bankas AB has received the notification of the person, closely associated with the manager, on transactions in securities issued by the bank (attached).

Director of Securities Operations Department Jolanta Dobiliauskiene is authorized by the Issuer to provide additional information and is available on tel.: +370 41 595669.













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Dublin, March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Microbiome Therapeutics Market Size and Forecasts 2020 - 2030, Global and Regional Share, Trends, and Growth Opportunity Analysis By Type, Application, End User, and Geography" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The global microbiome therapeutics market is expected to grow from US$ 375.92 million in 2022 to US$ 813.38 million by 2030; it is anticipated to record a CAGR of 10.1% from 2022 to 2030.



Microbiome therapeutics are aimed at modifying the gut microbiome by using bacteriophages, bacteriocins, antibiotics, native or synthetic bacteria, or subtractive or modulatory treatment. By offering individualized, harmonized, dependable, and long-lasting therapy, this strategy can overcome the limitations of traditional therapies. The global therapeutics market has demonstrated its enormous economic potential. Studies have shown promising results in using microbiome therapeutics for conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, and even mental health disorders. Ongoing research is also exploring the potential of microbiome-based interventions in areas of cancer treatment, diabetes management, and cardiovascular health. Further, the incidence of gastrointestinal illnesses increases with age, and the GI Alliance data from February 2021 estimates that almost 20 million Americans have chronic digestive diseases, and over 62 million Americans receive a diagnosis of gastrointestinal diseases each year. The International Foundation for Gastrointestinal Disorders, Inc. (IFFGD) released statistics showing that GERD prevalence ranges from 18% to 28% in North America, 23% in South America, and 9-26% in Europe. Therefore, in the upcoming years, the increasing frequency of gastrointestinal disorders will fuel the market expansion.





By understanding the intricate relationship between microbiome and disease development, scientists are developing personalized treatments that target the root cause of the problem rather than merely managing symptoms. As knowledge expands and technologies advance, microbiome therapeutics have the potential to become a cornerstone of modern medicine, offering hope for improved health outcomes for individuals affected by a range of diseases.



The growing recognition of the microbiome's importance in human health and disease has encouraged rigorous research and development efforts to further understand the human microbiome and develop microbiome therapeutics. It has helped develop potential therapeutics and identify hindrances. Advancements in technology and research tools have also contributed to growing R&D. Next-generation sequencing and metagenomic analysis have allowed for a more comprehensive and detailed study of the microbiome. These tools enable researchers to identify specific microbial species and their functions, as well as track changes in the microbiome over time. Regulatory agencies, such as the FDA, are also supporting R&D efforts in the field of microbiome therapeutics. The FDA has established guidelines for FMT and has developed interest in advancing the field through regulatory pathways to ensure safety and efficacy. This support from regulatory agencies provides a framework for companies to develop and test microbiome-based therapies, giving investors confidence in the potential success of these treatments. Overall, the increased interest and funding in microbiome therapeutics are driving more research and development efforts. This will lead to a better understanding of the human microbiome and the development of targeted therapies that can modulate the microbiome to improve human health.



The microbiome therapeutics market is divided on the basis of type, application, end user, and geography. The microbiome therapeutics market is divided on the basis of type, application, and end user. Based on type, the microbiome therapeutics market is segmented into therapeutics and procedures. By application, the microbiome therapeutics market is segmented into metabolic disorders and obesity, C. difficile infection, and inflammatory bowel diseases. In terms of end users, the microbiome therapeutics market is classified as hospitals and clinics, ambulatory surgery centers, and home care.



Based on geography, the market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East & Africa, and South & Central America. North America held the largest market share of the microbiome therapeutics market. North America accounts for a significant market share owing to the growing incidences of C. difficile cases, technological advances, and growing awareness about the importance of gut microbiota. The increasing understanding of the importance of the human microbiome in maintaining health and preventing diseases has led researchers in the US to explore microbiome-based interventions as a promising approach to treat various conditions. Additionally, the dominance of this country in the microbiome therapeutics market is mainly attributed to its well-developed research infrastructure that favors the development of innovative treatments Further, the rising prevalence of chronic diseases such as obesity and inflammatory bowel disease has created a demand for innovative treatments, spurring the development of microbiome therapeutics. Technological advancements in gene sequencing and bioinformatics enable the study and alteration of the microbiome, facilitating the development of personalized microbiome-based interventions. The trend toward personalized medicine aligns well with tailormade microbiome therapeutics. Collaborations between academia, industry, and government organizations are also fueling research and development efforts, accelerating the translation of scientific discoveries into commercial products. Regulatory support and investment in the field further contribute to market growth, as regulatory bodies recognize the potential of microbiome therapeutics and provide guidance for their development and approval.



An emphasis on research and innovation has yielded a significant understanding of the impact of gut microbiota on health, providing a solid foundation for microbiome-based therapeutics. A supportive regulatory environment for biotechnology and pharmaceuticals in Canada has encouraged companies to invest in microbiome-focused research and development. Additionally, increased venture capital investments and government funding have infused capital into this research. In January 2020, the Government of Canada, along with its partners, invested US$ 18 million in crucial microbiome research.



The rising awareness among Canadians about the importance of gut health and microbiome in overall well-being has spurred consumer demand for microbiome-based products. Moreover, the widespread implementation of initiatives such as the Canadian Microbiome Initiative (CMI) makes working with partners and stakeholders easier in Canada. This makes it possible to concentrate research efforts on the development of microbiome therapies. Collaborations and partnerships between academic institutions, biotechnology firms, and healthcare organizations have accelerated research and development efforts. Moreover, Canadian companies are exploring international markets, expanding the reach of microbiome therapeutics. All these factors combined indicate a promising trajectory for microbiome therapeutics in Canada.



Key Attributes

Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 160 Forecast Period 2022-2030 Estimated Market Value in 2022 375.92 Million Forecasted Market Value by 2030 813.38 Million Compound Annual Growth Rate 10.1% Regions Covered Global

A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes:

Enterome

Finch Therapeutics Group Inc.

Caelus Health

Ferring Pharmaceuticals

Pendulum Therapeutics Inc.

AOBiome

Seres Therapeutics

Vedanta Biosciences

COST-BRY Pty. Ltd. (BiomeBank)

YSOPIA Bioscience

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/q9cucg

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

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CALGARY, Alberta, March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Western Investment Company of Canada Limited (TSXV: WI) ("Western" or the "Corporation"), today announced that it has secured an agreement to purchase 1 million shares in Fortress Insurance Company (Fortress), or 14.22% of the total shares outstanding in Fortress, for CA$2.6 million (the Share Purchase). The Share Purchase is conditional on the closing of the previously announced proposed transaction with companies affiliated with Paul Rivett to invest at least $20 million into the Corporation (the "Transaction").



The Share Purchase will increase Westerns ownership in Fortress from 28.45% to 42.67% upon closing of the Transaction. The vendors details are confidential and the vendor is not a related party to Western or Paul Rivett.

"Acquiring additional shares in Fortress is an essential part of transforming Western into an insurance and investment holding company," said Scott Tannas, President and Chief Executive Officer of Western. "Securing agreements for 51% of Fortress shares is a condition of the Transaction, and we will make additional announcements as we sign-up additional share purchase agreements on our way to this threshold. The board and I firmly believe that the transformation of Western into an insurance and investment holding company, with a focus on compounding book value per share through prudent organic growth and accretive acquisitions, will provide our shareholders with the best return over the long-term."

Acquisition of Additional Fortress Shares

In connection with Western acquiring additional shares of Fortress, Western plans to offer the existing Fortress shareholders the option of receiving cash or the current common shares of Western ("Single Voting Shares") at a price of $0.40 per share which could result in the issuance of up to an additional 30,000,000 Single Voting Shares. Acquisition of the additional Fortress shares is expected to occur concurrent with closing of the Transaction (and the related Change of Business).

Webcast - Join Scott Tannas and Paul Rivett as they discuss the Proposed Transaction

March 27, 2024 at 9:00 AM Mountain Time, 11:00 AM Eastern Time

On Wednesday, March 27, 2024, please join Scott Tannas, President and CEO of Western, and Paul Rivett, Founder and President of Tevir Capital Corp., on a webcast where they will discuss the proposed Transaction and their vision for Westerns strategy going forward. Participants of the live event will also have the opportunity to ask questions.

The webcast will take place at 11:00 AM Eastern Time, 10:00 AM Central Time, 9:00 AM Mountain Time, and 8:00 AM Pacific Time.

Participants can access the webcast using the link below:

Webcast Link

Following the webcast a recording of the event will be available at the link above.

About the Transaction

The Transaction, previously announced on March 22, 2024, proposes an investment of at least $20 million from companies affiliated with Paul Rivett to transform Western into an insurance and investment holding company. The concurrent rights offering is expected to raise up to an additional $30 million. Upon the successful closing of the Transaction, Paul Rivett is to be appointed to President and Chief Executive Officer of Western with the following initial priorities:

Grow the Fortress platform to $100 million per annum in written premiums by 2028 through a combination of prudent organic growth and accretive acquisitions; and

Continue managing Westerns non-insurance holdings as long-term investments.

Completion of the Transaction (including any rights offering) is subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV"), shareholder approval and various other conditions. The Transaction as contemplated constitutes a Change of Business under the policies of the TSXV.

The previously announced investor relations service agreement with Market Climber remains subject to TSXV approval.

About The Western Investment Company of Canada Limited

Western is a unique publicly traded, private equity company founded by a group of successful Western Canadian businesspeople, and dedicated to building and maintaining ownership in successful Western Canadian companies, and helping them to grow. Western's shares are traded on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol WI.

For more information on Western, please visit its website at www.winv.ca.

To add yourself to our email news alert subscription please visit this link.

CONTACT INFORMATION - The Western Investment Company of Canada Limited

Scott Tannas President and Chief Executive Officer (403) 652-2663 stannas@winv.ca

Advisories

Completion of the Transaction and the Share Purchase is subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to, TSXV acceptance and if applicable, disinterested shareholder approval. Where applicable, the Transaction cannot close until the required shareholder approval is obtained. There can be no assurance that the Transaction will be completed as proposed or at all.

Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the management information circular to be prepared in connection with the Transaction, any information released or received with respect to the Transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities Western should be considered highly speculative.

The TSXV has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.

This document contains forward-looking statements. More particularly, this document contains statements concerning: the completion of the transactions contemplated by the Definitive Agreement, including the completion of the Transaction and the Share Purchase, and the appointment of the new CEO and additional directors; the use of proceeds from the Transaction; the future strategy and focus for Western; and future acquisitions and growth opportunities. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors should not be construed as exhaustive.

The forward-looking statements are based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by Western, including expectations and assumptions concerning the ability of Western to successfully implement its strategic plans and initiatives, the timing of receipt of required shareholder and regulatory approvals (including TSXV approval) and third party consents and the satisfaction of other conditions to the completion of the Transactions.

Although Western believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements made by Western are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because no assurance can be provided that they will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. These include, but are not limited to, risks that required shareholder, TSXV, regulatory and third party approvals and consents are not obtained on terms satisfactory to the parties within the timelines provided for in the Definitive Agreement and Share Purchase, or at all, and risks that other conditions to the completion of the Transactions are not satisfied on the timelines set forth in the Definitive Agreement and Share Purchase or at all, the ability of management to execute its business strategy, and the impact of general economic conditions in Canada and the United States. A description of additional assumptions used to develop such forward-looking information and a description of risk factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking information can be found in Western's disclosure documents on the SEDAR+ website at www.sedarplus.ca.

The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and Western undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws.

This news release also contains financial outlook information ("FOFI") about prospective results of operations and book value, which are subject to the same assumptions, risk factors, limitations, and qualifications as set forth in the above paragraphs. FOFI contained in this news release was made as of the date of this news release to provide information about management's current expectations and plans relating to the future. Readers are cautioned that such information may not be appropriate for any other purpose. Western disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any FOFI contained in this news release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities in the United States, nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. The rights issued under any rights offering and underlying Single Voting Shares and the Multiple Voting Shares being offered have not been, nor will they be, registered under the 1933 Act or under any U.S. state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the 1933 Act, as amended, and applicable state securities laws.

"Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulatory Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release."
Vaughan, ON, March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario (RCCAO) commends the Government of Ontarios continued investment in critical infrastructure across the province in Budget 2024, Building a Better Ontario. This is a budget focussed on construction, with real action on Ontarios plans to build critical infrastructure for a growing province.

Budget 2024 recognizes that with Ontarios population growing at a record pace, building and maintaining critical infrastructure like roads, housing, transit, water and wastewater capacity is key to ensuring the province will continue to have a strong economy and high quality of life.

RCCAO welcomes the Government of Ontarios renewed commitment to building transformational transportation infrastructure projects, including Highway 413 and the Bradford Bypass. Earlier this month, polling commissioned by RCCAO and ORBA revealed that a clear majority of Ontarians support the construction and expansion of new road infrastructure, with 2:1 expressing support for Highway 413 and the Bradford Bypass.

The investments in critical infrastructure in Budget 2024 are a reflection of the priorities of the people of Ontario, said Nadia Todorova, Executive Director of RCCAO. Ontarians recognize that highways, water infrastructure capacity and housing are crucial to tackle some of the provinces biggest challenges and we are pleased that the Ontario government has answered their calls to build.

RCCAO is encouraged by the progress the province has made with Ontarios new infrastructure bank, known as the Building Ontario Fund. The governments $3 billion allocation to this fund offers the potential to get more projects built by leveraging public infrastructure dollars to attract additional institutional capital. Allowing for more innovative sources of funding for infrastructure work is a positive step toward ensuring that Ontario has the necessary foundation for a prosperous and competitive future.

Building on the $860 million already committed, RCCAO is also pleased to see an additional $100 million investment in the Skills Development Fund Training Stream to assist with the recruitment, training, and retention of a new generation of builders.

The priorities outlined in todays budget highlights the long-term need to build and upgrade infrastructure across Ontario. RCCAO welcomes the Ontario governments continued efforts to confront these issues with focussed investments in critical infrastructure, like the $1.8 billion for housing-enabling infrastructure, that will set the stage for a prosperous and sustainable future for all Ontarians.

RCCAO Executive Director Nadia Todorova is available for interviews.

Background on RCCAO: The Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario (RCCAO) is a labour-management construction alliance. Since its formation in 2005, RCCAO has been a leading industry advocate for infrastructure investment. It has commissioned 61 independent, solutions-based research reports to help inform decision makers. Learn more about RCCAOs work at www.rccao.com.

RCCAO Members on Ontario Budget 2024

The Government of Ontarios ambitious vision of building Ontario for the future should be commended. Transformational infrastructure projects like Highway 413 and the Bradford Bypass are critical to the provinces economy and quality of life, while investments in housing-enabling infrastructure make the development of thriving communities possible. The realization of this vision ensures that Ontario is prepared to grow in a sustainable and resilient manner for the benefit of current and future residents.

Peter Smith

Executive Director

Heavy Construction Association of Toronto (HCAT)

The 413 and Bradford Bypass are transformative investments. They are forward-thinking projects that will help to future-proof our communities from the expected levels of growth in the GTA over the next two decades. They demonstrate the Ford governments clear long-term vision for the province of improving economic development, building more homes, and ensuring greater integration between our communities.

Patrick McManus

Executive Director

Greater Toronto Sewer and Watermain Association

Highway 413 and the Bradford Bypass represent vital arteries for the Greater Toronto Areas future economic growth, connectivity, and quality of life. The Ontario Governments steadfast commitment to these projects underscores its recognition of the pivotal role transportation infrastructure plays in driving prosperity. We also applaud the Ministry of Transportations continued practice of using recycled aggregate in the construction of its 400-series highways to protect natural resources and reduce carbon emissions.

Raly Chakarova

Executive Director

Toronto and Area Road Builders Association (TARBA)

Enduring transportation infrastructure investment is crucial to Ontarios future economic prosperity as we cant build the homes we need without it or support the growth of businesses the province needs. The 2024 Ontario Budget continues the provinces commitment to the projects that will deliver for the people of this province.

Richard Lyall

Executive Director

Joint Residential Construction Association

Attachment
Dublin, March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Commercial Gas Meters Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast, 2018-2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The Global Commercial Gas Meters Market is poised for strong growth over the next decade, with projections indicating a robust compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.97% from 2018 to 2028. The market, which was valued at USD 1.85 billion in 2022, is expected to benefit from a myriad of factors, including supportive government policies, the advent of smart metering infrastructure, and heightened emphasis on energy conservation and efficiency.





Driving Forces Behind the Market Expansion



At the forefront of market growth are the pressing global needs for energy efficiency and climate change mitigation, driving both consumers and governments to adopt more innovative and precise energy monitoring solutions. Additionally, the market is witnessing a trend of replacing and modernizing aging infrastructure, which supports the growing demand for new gas meter installations. The increased deployment of smart gas meters enables utilities to not only enhance accuracy in billing but also actively monitor and manage gas distribution systems, leading to improved safety and reduced risks of accidents. With the worlds focus on utilizing cleaner energy sources like natural gas, the growing consumption and infrastructure expansion further necessitate the adoption of advanced metering solutions.



Addressing Market Challenges



Despite the favorable outlook, the Global Commercial Gas Meters Market faces challenges such as cybersecurity risks associated with smart metering infrastructure and the financial constraints of deploying advanced metering technologies. Companies and regulators are urged to address these concerns proactively, ensuring robust security measures, regulatory compliance, and transparent data usage policies to build consumer trust. Furthermore, cost considerations and stringent regulatory standards can potentially slow market growth. However, industry stakeholders are collaborating to overcome these impediments through strategic initiatives and technological innovations.



Market Dynamics and Segmentation



The smart gas meters segment is expected to command a noteworthy share of the market, attributed to their remote monitoring capabilities and efficiency in energy management. Geographic analysis shows North America as a leading market, with ongoing investments in smart metering technologies and a commitment to sustainable energy practices. The Global Commercial Gas Meters Market is segmented based on technology, including standard and smart gas meters, and by type, with divisions such as diaphragm meters, rotary meters, turbine meters, and ultrasonic flow meters. A comprehensive regional analysis covers North America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, South America, and the Middle East & Africa.



Industry Progress and Forecast



The market trajectory looks promising with significant opportunities at hand. Advancements in IoT and data analytics, combined with sustained efforts in market expansion, lean towards a future where sustainable energy consumption and sophisticated metering technologies become the standard. As the global focus on energy efficiency intensifies, and as smart metering solutions become more prevalent, the Global Commercial Gas Meters Market is well-positioned to meet the energy demands of the future.



For industry participants, utility companies, and consumers alike, the forthcoming years offer a landscape ripe with innovation and growth potential in the Commercial Gas Meters space, one that is integral to the worlds evolving energy ecosystem.



Key Attributes:

Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 190 Forecast Period 2022 - 2028 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2022 $1.85 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2028 $2.75 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 5.9% Regions Covered Global



A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes

Honeywell International Inc.

Itron Inc.

Schneider Electric SA

Elster Group GmbH

Siemens AG

Badger Meter

Diehl Stiftung & Co. KG

Sensus (Xylem Inc.)

GE Energy Management Inc.

Apator SA.



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/5n2pp5

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
Dublin, March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Wood Activated Carbon Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast, 2018-2028F" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The global wood activated carbon market has been witnessing a substantial upswing, fueled by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.70% and is expected to reach a valuation of USD 431.98 million by the year 2028. Rising environmental concerns and the necessity for sustainable purification solutions are propelling this market forward across diverse sectors, from water and air purification to industrial processes.





Wood Activated CarbonA Sustainable Choice in High Demand



This growth is underpinned by escalating applications of wood activated carbon, a renewable adsorbent medium derived from wood, that is earning a reputation for its superior adsorptive capabilities and environmental benefits. The demand is particularly vigorous in the water treatment and food & beverage processing sectors, rendering wood activated carbon a quintessential element in compliance with strict water and air quality standards.



Technological Advancements Reinforce Market Dynamics



Continued research and development, alongside technological advancements, have led to notable progress in the production and enhancement of wood activated carbon. Market expansion is mirrored in innovations that promote optimized adsorption capabilities tailored to specific applications, thus supporting its widespread adoption.



APAC Leads Regional Market Share



Regionally, the Asia-Pacific (APAC) area commands a formidable presence within the wood activated carbon market, attributed to rapid industrialization and enhanced regulations around environmental sustainability. The momentum is mirrored across major regions with North America and Europe significantly contributing to global demand, driven by rigorous statutory measures and forward-thinking sustainability initiatives.



Market Faces Challenges Yet Remains Resilient



Nevertheless, the market's trajectory is not devoid of challenges; the environmental impact of deforestation and the availability of substitute materials loom as potential deterrents. Nonetheless, industries are responding by committing to environmentally considerate practices and exploring renewable sourcing strategies, reinforcing market resilience in the face of adversities.



Navigating Toward a Sustainable Future



In conclusion, the wood activated carbon market strides towards a promising horizon with a strategic focus on environmental sustainability, innovation, and an adherence to quality and regulation. It is positioned to continue upward growth, underscoring its essential role in a gamut of applications aimed at fostering a cleaner and healthier world.



Key Attributes:





Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 178 Forecast Period 2023 - 2028 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2023 $431.98 Million Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2028 $700.79 Million Compound Annual Growth Rate 8.7% Regions Covered Global



A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes

D&R Corporation

H Acuro Organics Ltd

Chemtex Speciality Ltd

EUROCARB

Induceramic

Jacobi Carbons

Kuraray Co., Ltd

Fujian Zhixing Activated Carbon Co.Ltd.

Cabot Corporation

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/o70x50

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
Dublin, March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Dairy Food Global Market Report 2024" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Market Growth Driven by Increasing Population and Technological Advancements



The dairy food market has witnessed remarkable growth, with projections indicating that the industry will continue to expand from a value of $810.37 billion in 2023 to an impressive $1110.15 billion by 2028. Several factors contribute to this steady increase, including a burgeoning global population, greater disposable incomes, more health-conscious consumers, and technological advancements in production and supply chain management.



Technological Innovations Spearheading Market Transformation



Technological innovations, particularly the integration of the Internet of Things (IoT) and automation, are set to revolutionize the dairy food sector. These technologies facilitate improved product tracking, ensuring the safety and quality of dairy products throughout the supply chain. With IoT technologies, companies are empowered to monitor products with precision, leading to greater efficiency and confidence among consumers in the handling and safety of dairy foods.



Organic and Sustainable Farming Influencing Consumer Choice



Organic and sustainable food production methods are positively influencing the dairy food market, as consumers increasingly prefer products associated with health, environmental sustainability, and animal welfare. There is a rising demand for organic dairy products, which is expected to present significant opportunities for dairy producers globally. This consumer shift toward organic and cleaner labels is a trend likely to bolster market growth in the years to come.



Cold Chain Developments Boosting Market Prospects



The development of more sophisticated and extensive cold chains is crucial for the dairy food industry, enhancing the freshness, safety, and shelf life of products. Improved cold chain infrastructure enables producers to extend their market reach and satisfy the demand for dairy products in various regions, ensuring compliance with food safety standards and providing convenience for end-users.



Market Segmentation and Regional Insights



The dairy food market spans diverse categories, including milk, butter, cheese, dry and evaporated products, as well as ice cream and frozen desserts. Variable distribution channels, from supermarkets to online platforms, offer consumers access to a wide array of dairy food options. Asia-Pacific currently stands as the largest region in this market, with Western Europe following closely. Investments in these regions, as well as in-depth research on market trends, can offer businesses critical insights and opportunities for growth within the dairy food industry.



Competitive Landscape and the Future of Dairy Foods



Major companies operating within the dairy food market are focused on innovation, particularly in the area of clean-label products. Consumers are gravitating toward food items with transparent ingredient lists, free from artificial additives. Companies that are adapting to meet these demands are likely to establish a stronger presence in the market and are better positioned to leverage the opportunities presented in the burgeoning global dairy food sector.



The dairy food market's overall growth is defined not only by rising consumer demand but also by the strategic actions of major industry players. As technology and sustainability continue to dominate consumer preferences, the market is primed for a dynamic evolution that aligns with these core values. The coming years will reveal the full impact of these trends on the dairy food industry's trajectory towards its projected valuation reaching well over a trillion dollars.





For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/8trhhj

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.
TSX: DIAM

SASKATOON, March 25, 2024 - Star Diamond Corp. ("Star Diamond" or the "Company") reports that the audited financial results for the year ended December 31, 2023, will be filed today on SEDAR+ and may be viewed at www.sedarplus.ca once posted.

Overview

Star Diamond Corp. is a Canadian natural resource company focused on exploring and developing Saskatchewan's diamond resources. Star Diamond currently holds, through a joint venture arrangement with Rio Tinto Exploration Canada Inc. ("RTEC"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rio Tinto plc, a 25% interest in certain mineral properties (which include the Star - Orion South Diamond Project, or the "Project") within the Fort a la Corne diamond district of central Saskatchewan, Canada. These properties are in close proximity to established infrastructure, including paved highways and the electrical power grid, which provide significant advantages for future mine development.

The Company also holds a 50% interest in the exploration and evaluation properties and assets of the Buffalo Hills JV located in north-central Alberta, Canada. Canterra Minerals Corp. ("Canterra") holds the remaining 50% interest. Canterra is the operator of the Buffalo Hills JV.

Fort a la Corne mineral properties

On November 28, 2023, the Company entered into a binding agreement (the "Agreement") with RTEC, providing for the transfer by RTEC to Star Diamond all of RTEC's 75% interest in the Project.

The Agreement provides that, upon closing:

RTEC will transfer to Star Diamond all of RTEC's 75% interest in the Project, such that the Project will be 100% owned by Star Diamond;

RTEC will transfer to Star Diamond ownership of the trench cutter drill rig used by RTEC to complete its prior bulk sampling program at the Project;

RTEC will transfer to Star Diamond the Bulk Sample Plant located at the Project, including the TOMRA XRT diamond sorting machine that is on-site;

Star Diamond will issue to RTEC and/or an affiliate that number of common shares of Star Diamond that results in RTEC and its affiliates owning 19.9% of the then outstanding common shares of Star Diamond (RTEC and its affiliates currently own approximately 2.3% of Star Diamond's outstanding common shares); and

RTEC and Star Diamond will enter into an Investor Rights Agreement whereby, among other things, RTEC will be granted certain pre-emptive rights to maintain its 19.9% ownership interest in Star Diamond in connection with future financings undertaken by Star Diamond, and RTEC will agree to certain standstill protections provided that RTEC will have the right to increase its 19.9% ownership position in the event that Star Diamond receives an acquisition proposal.

Upon completion of the transactions that are the subject of the Agreement, Star Diamond will have full control and responsibility for the Project, the existing joint venture agreement between RTEC and Star Diamond will terminate, and Star Diamond will release and indemnify RTEC for liabilities arising from or relating to the Project, all in exchange for a $4 million payment from RTEC to Star Diamond. RTEC has agreed that it will provide on Star Diamond's behalf, for up to five years following closing, letters of credit in the aggregate amount of no more than $9.9 million to secure certain environmental remediation and reclamation obligations related to the Project. Star Diamond will be obliged to repay any amounts drawn on these letters of credit and such repayment obligations will be secured against the Project and its assets.

As of the date of this News Release, the Agreement is expected to close in the near future.

Recent activities relating to the Star - Orion South Diamond Project and Fort a la Corne mineral properties

During the first quarter of 2024, Star Diamond continued to work with RTEC and Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment representatives to ensure an orderly close to the Agreement between Star Diamond and RTEC.

Year End Results

For the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company recorded a net loss of $2.8 million or $0.01 per share (basic and fully diluted) compared to a net loss of $68.8 million or $0.15 per share in 2022. The decrease in net loss year over year was due primarily to the prior year's impairment charge of $66.3 million combined with the mark-to-market loss on the Wescan investment offset by the elimination of the $0.9 million contingent consideration.

At December 31, 2023, the Company had $0.6 million (2022 - $2.6 million) in cash and cash equivalents and a working capital deficit of $(0.3) million (2022 - $2.0 million). The decrease in working capital was a result of administrative and exploration and evaluation expenditures offset by proceeds received from the December 2023 private placement. Subsequent to December 31, 2023, the Company closed the second and final tranche of a non-brokered private placement. However, the ability of the Company to continue as a going concern and fund its expenses in an orderly manner will require additional forms of financings.

Selected financial highlights include:

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Financial Position As at December 31, 2023 As at December 31, 2022 Current assets $ 0.6 M $ 2.7 M Exploration and evaluation, investments and other assets 0.6 M 0.4 M Current liabilities 0.9 M 0.7 M Non-current liabilities 0.1 M 0.0 M Shareholders' equity 0.2 M 2.4 M







Consolidated Statements of Loss Year Ended

December 31, 2023 Year Ended

December 31, 2022 Expenses $ 3.0 M $ 3.0 M Loss before undernoted items (3.0)M (3.0)M Investment in Wescan Goldfields Inc. (0.0)M (0.4)M Contingent consideration 0.0 M 0.9 M Impairment charge 0.0 M (66.3)M Net loss for the year (3.0)M (68.8)M Net loss per share for the year (basic and diluted) (0.01) (0.15)







Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows Year Ended

December 31, 2023 Year Ended

December 31, 2022 Cash flows used in operating activities $ (2.3)M $ (4.9)M Cash flows from investing activities 0.0 M 0.6 M Cash flows from financing activities 0.2 M 5.7 M Net increase (decrease) in cash (2.1)M 1.3 M Cash - beginning of year 2.6 M 1.3 M Cash - end of year 0.6 M 2.6 M

Outlook

Fort a la Corne mineral properties

Subsequent to the successful close of the Agreement with RTEC, Star Diamond's technical team will focus on the technical investigation and evaluation of the Star - Orion South Diamond Project, with the goal of a future development decision. The initial work aims to prepare a revised Mineral Resource estimate for the Star - Orion South Diamond Project, which will form the foundation of an updated Prefeasibility study ("PFS"). The PFS will enable a Feasibility Study, on which a production decision can be based.

Buffalo Hills mineral properties

Management continues to review the recent results from the diamond valuation and typing analysis. A more detailed update on activities at the Buffalo Hills JV will be provided as it becomes available.

About Star Diamond Corporation

Star Diamond Corp. is a Canadian based corporation engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties. Shares of Star Diamond trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the trading symbol "DIAM". Star Diamond currently holds, through a joint venture arrangement with RTEC, a 25% interest in the Project. The Project is located in central Saskatchewan, in close proximity to established infrastructure, including paved highways and the electrical power grid, which provide significant advantages for future mine development. The Company also holds a 50% interest in the exploration and evaluation properties and assets of the Buffalo Hills JV located in north-central Alberta, Canada. Canterra holds the remaining 50% interest and is the operator of the Buffalo Hills JV.

Technical Information

All technical information in this press release has been prepared under the supervision of George Read, Senior Vice President Corporate Development, Professional Geoscientist in the Provinces of Saskatchewan and British Columbia and Mark Shimell, Vice President Exploration, Professional Geoscientist in the Provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta, who are the Company's "Qualified Persons" under the definition of NI 43-101.

Stay Connected with Us:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/StarDiamondCorp

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/star-diamond-corp

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Star-Diamond-Corp/100058096376664/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stardiamondcorp/

Caution Regarding Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" and/or "forward-looking information" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities 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 the negative connotation thereof or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results, "may", "could", "would", "will", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative connotation thereof. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements.

These forward-looking statements are based on Star Diamond's current beliefs as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to Star Diamond and involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific. Risks exist that forward-looking statements will not be achieved due to a number of factors including, but not limited to, statements regarding Rio Tinto Canada, the Company's ability to obtain financing to further the exploration, evaluation and/or development of exploration and evaluation properties in which the Company holds interest, the economic feasibility of any future development projects, developments in world diamond markets, changes in diamond prices, risks relating to fluctuations in the Canadian dollar and other currencies relative to the US dollar, the impact of changes in the laws and regulations regulating mining exploration, development, closure, judicial or regulatory judgments and legal proceedings, operational and infrastructure risks and the additional risks described in Star Diamond's most recently filed Annual Information Form, and annual and interim MDA.

Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. In addition, forward-looking statements are provided solely for the purpose of providing information about management's current expectations and plans and allowing investors and others to get a better understanding of our operating environment. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements in this news release are made as of the date hereof and Star Diamond assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable laws.

SOURCE Star Diamond Corp.
Vancouver, March 26, 2024 - Kenorland Minerals Ltd. (TSXV: KLD) (OTCQX: KLDCF) (FSE: 3WQ0) ("Kenorland" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Company was approved for a $300,000 grant from the Manitoba Mineral Development Fund ("MMDF") to support Kenorland's exploration program at the South Thompson Project ("Project"), located in the Thompson Nickel Belt in Manitoba, Canada.

Funded by the Government of Manitoba and administered by the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce, the purpose of the MMDF is to increase mineral and economic development in northern Manitoba. Some of the key objectives of the fund include increasing mineral exploration and development, strengthening the mining value chain in the province, advancing economic reconciliation with Indigenous communities, and supporting communities impacted by mining activity.

Zach Flood, CEO and President, states "Kenorland extends its sincere appreciation to the Manitoba Mineral Development Fund for its support in our exploration efforts at the South Thompson Nickel Project. The funds provided by MMDF will aid Kenorland in conducting a large-scale aerial electromagnetic (VTEM) survey to identify potential drill targets beneath the extensive cover rocks."

About the South Thompson Project

The South Thompson Project covers 307,753 hectares of land located approximately 200km south of the town of Thompson, Manitoba, and 80km west of the town The Pas, Manitoba. The licences cover the southern extension of the Thompson Nickel Belt, which is predominately covered by Phanerozoic cover sequences.

Compilation and digitization of historical exploration data, including 337 drillholes, have been completed along with re-processing of historical airborne magnetics and electromagnetic surveys. The Project is adjacent to the Minago and Williams Lake nickel sulphide projects and the regional wide spaced drilling has indicated anomalous Ni assays and sulphide mineralisation in ultramafics within the Project area.

The South Thompson project has seen no meaningful project-scale exploration in the last 20 years and the combination of large gaps in drilling and lack of modern geophysical techniques over the Project area represent significant opportunity for a nickel sulfide discovery. Kenorland is currently conducting a VTEM survey at the South Thompson Project.

Figure 1. South Thompson Regional Geology and Occurrences

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/6489/203054_cbc0981da4b41814_001full.jpg

Qualified Person

Mr. Janek Wozniewski, B.Sc., P.Geo. (EGBC #172781, APEGS #77522, EGMB #48045, PGO #3824), "Qualified Person" under National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this press release.

About Kenorland Minerals

Kenorland Minerals Ltd. (TSXV: KLD) is a well-financed mineral exploration company focused on project generation and early-stage exploration in North America. Kenorland's exploration strategy is to advance greenfields projects through systematic, property-wide, phased exploration surveys financed primarily through exploration partnerships including option to joint venture agreements. Kenorland holds a 4% net smelter return royalty on the Frotet Project in Quebec which is owned by Sumitomo Metal Mining Canada Ltd. The Frotet Project hosts the Regnault gold system, a greenfields discovery made by Kenorland and Sumitomo Metal Mining Canada Ltd. in 2020. Kenorland is based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Further information can be found on the Company's website www.kenorlandminerals.com.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Zach Flood

President, CEO & Director

For further information, please contact:

Alex Muir, CFA

Investor Relations Manager

Tel +1 604 568 6005

info@kenorlandminerals.com

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (together, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, are forward-looking statements. Generally, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of terminology such as "plans", "expects', "estimates", "intends", "anticipates", "believes" or variations of such words, or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulators, that could cause actual results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing these forward-looking statements are reasonable based upon the information currently available to management as of the date hereof, actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by these statements. Readers are therefore cautioned not to place undue reliance on these statements, which only apply as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed times frames or at all. Except where required by applicable law, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/203054
VANCOUVER, March 26, 2024 - Orex Minerals Inc. (TSXV: REX) (OTCQB: ORMNF) ("Orex" or the "Company") announces that the Board has received the resignation of David Gunning. His extensive background and senior level experience enabled the Company to continue with its strategic plan and growth during his tenure. Management wishes to thank Mr. Gunning for his years of service.

The Company is also pleased to announce the appointment of Adam Cegielski as Independent Chair of the Company's Board of Directors ("Chair") and member of the Company's Audit Committee effective immediately. Mr. Cegielski has over 20 years of experience in the venture capital industry ranging from mineral exploration, technology, health care and education. He started his career developing an industrial mineral project in Uganda that he later sold to Rio Tinto. Mr. Cegielski was the founding director of Cayden Resources, which was sold to Agnico Eagle Mines for $205 million. He was the co-founder, CEO & director of Gold Line Resources Corp, a mineral exploration company in Sweden which was recently acquired by First Nordic Metals Corp. (TSX-V: FNM).

"Adam will be a valued addition to our Board," stated Ben Whiting, President and CEO of Orex. "His extensive knowledge and experience in the venture capital industry, coupled with his strong work ethic, will serve Orex well as we strive to achieve our goals."

ABOUT OREX MINERALS INC.

Orex Minerals Inc. is a mineral exploration company focused on precious and base metals exploration in Mexico and Canada. Orex has several current projects: Two projects are located in Durango State, Mexico, the Sandra Silver-Gold Project with Pan American Silver Corp. and the Coneto Gold-Silver Project with Fresnillo PLC. In Zacatecas State, Mexico, Orex has recently optioned the Valenciana Gold-Silver-Base Metals Project. A fourth project is the Jumping Josephine Gold Project in British Columbia, Canada. Orex is managed by the experienced Belcarra Group Management Ltd., comprised of highly qualified mining professionals.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

/s/ Ben Whiting

Ben Whiting, P.Geo.

President

Forward Looking Information

This news release may contain forward-looking statements, including statements with respect to the terms of the Offering, the receipt of regulatory approvals for the Offering and closing of the Offering. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations; they are not guarantees of future performance. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to exploration and development, the ability of the Company to obtain additional financing, the need to comply with environmental and governmental regulations, fluctuations in the prices of commodities, operating hazards and risks, competition and other risks and uncertainties, including those described in the Company's financial statements, management discussion and analysis and/or annual information form available on www.sedarplus.com. The risk factors identified in such documents are not intended to represent a complete list of factors that could affect the Company. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements and the Company undertakes no obligation to update such statements, except as required by law.

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.

STAY CONNECTED

Follow on X (Twitter): Orex Minerals (@OrexMinerals) / X (twitter.com)

Follow on LinkedIn: Orex Minerals Inc. | LinkedIn

Follow on Facebook: Orex Minerals | Facebook

SOURCE Orex Minerals Inc.
VANCOUVER, BC / THE NEWSWIRE / March 26, 2024 - Element79 Gold Corp. (CSE: ELEM) (OTC: ELMGF) (FSE: 7YS) ("Element79", the "Company) is pleased to provide additional updates on recent efforts on its Lucero property, further highlighting the flagship project's vast potential.

The latest underground mapping and channel sampling efforts on Element79's Lucero property have revealed additional insights, surpassing initial expectations. Accessible historical working, originally estimated at just 2.5 km, has been significantly. Recent work has documented an expansive network spanning 8.9 km of workings (Figure 1 and 2), with 85% now meticulously mapped and sampled. These findings significantly expand our understanding of Lucero's geological landscape, positioning the Company for unprecedented exploration opportunities.

To date a total of 19 adits have been mapped, with 10 additional adits remaining for underground mapping. In addition to discovery of significantly more accessible working, work done between October and December yielded significant insight into the project' gold-silver mineralization. Below are some of the highlights of recent and historical workings:

Mineralization conforms to the intermediate sulfidation epithermal style, characterized by Au-Ag veins with associated lead and zinc sulphides.

Subvertical structures, hosted with dacite tuffs are the primary controls of the mineralized veins, with an average vein width of 0.40m.

Within the Apacheta zone, mineralization remains open at depth and towards the northwest.

Two structures exhibiting significant exploration potential for gold-silver mineralization have been identified: the Promesa vein and the Pillune sector.

Notably, the Pillune sector appears hosts a well-defined ore shoot, highlighting its substantial mineralization potential.

"As we advance on this journey of discovery, our commitment to unlocking Lucero's vast potential through collaborative relationships remains unwavering," said James Tworek, CEO of Element79. "With each milestone, we inch closer to realizing our vision of sustainable and responsible resource exploration and production. We remain dedicated to creating enduring value for our shareholders and fostering prosperity within the communities we operate."

Drawing from historical Buenaventura reports spanning 2005-2008, enriched by continued community engagement, Element79 has unearthed compelling prospects for exploration.



Click Image To View Full Size

Figure 1. Lucero Project location map of fall 2023 underground mapping, focused on the Apacheta, Pillune and Sando Alcalde historic mining areas.



Click Image To View Full Size

Figure 2. Isometric view with geology draped on topography, looking north, with recently mapped working (light yellow).

Notably, our exploration timeline underscores our efficient utilization of resources. This strategic resource allocation ensures the completion of ongoing initiatives and paves the way for secondary mapping and geochemistry programs in additional zones beyond Apacheta, Pillune, and Sando Alcalde.

"Lucero project's extensive potential continues to unfold as we compile drilling targets in the northwest region, where surface indicators of vuggy silica hint at underlying mineralization," said Kim Kirkland, Chief Operating Officer at Element79 and Registered Professional Geologist. "As we continue to chart new territories and push the boundaries of exploration on our flagship property, these prospects ignite a palpable sense of anticipation and excitement, propelling Element79 towards new frontiers of discovery."

Qualified Person

The technical information in this release has been reviewed and verified by Neil Pettigrew, M.Sc., P. Geo., Director of Element79 Gold and a "qualified person" as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

About Element79 Gold Corp.

Element79 Gold is a mining company focused on gold and silver committed to maximizing shareholder value through responsible mining practices and sustainable development of its projects. Element79 Gold's focus is on developing its past-producing, high-grade gold and silver mine, the Lucero project located in Arequipa, Peru, with the intent to restart production in 2024.

The Company also holds a portfolio of 5 properties along the Battle Mountain trend in Nevada, with the Clover and West Whistler projects believed to have significant potential for near-term resource development. Three properties in the Battle Mountain Portfolio are under contract for sale to Valdo Minerals Ltd., with an anticipated closing date in the first half of 2024. The Company has also signed an Option Agreement to sell the Maverick Springs project, an advanced-stage exploratory property with an Inferred Resource of 3.71MMoz AuEq (1.37MMoz Au and 175MMoz Ag) (see 43-101 technical report titled: Amended Technical Report on the Maverick Springs Project, Nevada, USA, by Allan Armitage, PhD., P.Geo, and Rohan Millar, B.Sc. P.Geo., dated October 7, 2022, available on SEDAR) and anticipates completing this sale on or before July 21, 2024.

In British Columbia, Element79 Gold has executed a Letter of Intent and funded a drilling program to acquire a private company that holds the option to 100% interest of the Snowbird High-Grade Gold Project, which consists of 10 mineral claims located in Central British Columbia, approximately 20km west of Fort St. James.

The Company has an option to acquire a 100% interest in the Dale Property, 90 unpatented mining claims located approximately 100 km southwest of Timmins, Ontario, and has recently announced that it has transferred this project to its wholly owned subsidiary, Synergy Metals Corp, and is advancing through the Plan of Arrangement spin-out process.

For more information about the Company, please visit www.element79.gold

Contact Information

For corporate matters, please contact:

James C. Tworek, Chief Executive Officer

E-mail: jt@element79gold.com

For investor relations inquiries, please contact:

Investor Relations Department

Phone: +1.403.850.8050

E-mail: investors@element79.gold

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This press contains "forward?looking information" and "forward-looking statements" under applicable securities laws (collectively, "forward?looking statements"). These statements relate to future events or the Company's future performance, business prospects or opportunities that are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions of management made considering management's experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: the Company's business strategy; future planning processes; exploration activities; the timing and result of exploration activities; capital projects and exploration activities and the possible results thereof; acquisition opportunities; and the impact of acquisitions, if any, on the Company. Assumptions may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Consequently, forward-looking statements cannot be guaranteed. As such, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon forward-looking statements as there can be no assurance that the plans, assumptions or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward?looking statements. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "seek", "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "predict", "forecast", "potential", "target", "intend", "could", "might", "should", "believe" and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward?looking statements".

Actual results may vary from forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to materially differ from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: the duration and effects of the coronavirus and COVID-19; risks related to the integration of acquisitions; actual results of exploration activities; conclusions of economic evaluations; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; commodity prices; variations in ore reserves, grade or recovery rates; actual performance of plant, equipment or processes relative to specifications and expectations; accidents; labour relations; relations with local communities; changes in national or local governments; changes in applicable legislation or application thereof; delays in obtaining approvals or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities; exchange rate fluctuations; requirements for additional capital; government regulation; environmental risks; reclamation expenses; outcomes of pending litigation; limitations on insurance coverage as well as those factors discussed in the Company's other public disclosure documents, available on www.sedarplus.ca. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in these forward?looking statements are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward?looking statements included herein should not be unduly relied upon. These statements speak only as of the date hereof. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable laws.

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.

Copyright (c) 2024 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.
TORONTO, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Collective Mining Ltd. (TSX: CNL, OTCQX: CNLMF, FSE: GG1) ("Collective" or the "Company") announces that Dr. Ken Thomas, P. Eng. is retiring from the Company's Board of Directors effective April 10, 2024. Dr. Thomas was a founding Director of Collective and throughout his tenure acted as Lead Director and as the Chairman of the Corporate Governance Nominating Committee.

"Ken is an exceptional individual with whom I have had the pleasure of working with for over a decade. With more than a half century of experience under his belt, he was instrumental in guiding Buritica through construction and into production during his time with Continental Gold and has continued to thrive as a founding Director of Collective Mining. We will miss his insights and leadership as we advance our Guayabales project and wish him all the best in his retirement," stated Ari Sussman, Executive Chairman.

Dr. Thomas added: "After 60 years in the mining industry focused on metallurgical and project management, it is time to finally fully retire to spend more time with my family. Working alongside wonderful teams at Continental Gold and Collective Mining has provided me with truly rewarding experiences with which to end a career and would like to say thank you to all of those involved in the journey."

About Collective Mining Ltd.

To see our latest corporate presentation and related information, please visit www.collectivemining.com.

Founded by the team that developed and sold Continental Gold Inc. to Zijin Mining for approximately $2 billion in enterprise value, Collective is a copper, silver, gold and tungsten exploration company with projects in Caldas, Colombia. The Company has options to acquire 100% interests in two projects located directly within an established mining camp with ten fully permitted and operating mines.

The Company's flagship project, Guayabales, is anchored by the Apollo system, which hosts the large-scale, bulk-tonnage and high-grade copper-silver-gold-tungsten Apollo porphyry system. The Company's 2024 objective is to expand the Apollo system, prove that the recent discoveries at the Olympus and Trap targets evolve into large scale systems and make a new discovery at either the Box, Tower or X targets.

Management, insiders and close family and friends own nearly 42% of the outstanding shares of the Company and as a result, are fully aligned with shareholders. The Company is listed on the TSX under the trading symbol "CNL", on the OTCQX under the trading symbol "CNLMF" and on the FSE under the trading symbol "GG1".

Information Contact:

Follow Executive Chairman Ari Sussman (@Ariski73) on X

Follow Collective Mining (@CollectiveMini1) on X, (Collective Mining) on LinkedIn, and (@collectivemining) on Instagram

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking information and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that involves discussion with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often, but not always using phrases such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking information. In this news release, forward-looking information relates, among other things, to: statements with respect to the anticipated use of proceeds from the Offering, proposed activities and strategy anticipated, advancement of mineral properties or programs; future operations; future recovery metal recovery rates; future growth potential of Collective; and future development plans.

These forward-looking statements, and any assumptions upon which they are based, are made in good faith and reflect our current judgment regarding the direction of our business. Management believes that these assumptions are reasonable. 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 factors include, among others: planed use of proceeds from the Offering, risks related to the speculative nature of the Company's business; the Company's formative stage of development; the Company's financial position; possible variations in mineralization, grade or recovery rates; actual results of current exploration activities; conclusions of future economic evaluations; fluctuations in general macroeconomic conditions; fluctuations in securities markets; fluctuations in spot and forward prices of gold, precious and base metals or certain other commodities; fluctuations in currency markets; change in national and local government, legislation, taxation, controls regulations and political or economic developments; risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development and mining (including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected formation pressures, cave-ins and flooding); inability to obtain adequate insurance to cover risks and hazards; the presence of laws and regulations that may impose restrictions on mining; employee relations; relationships with and claims by local communities and indigenous populations; availability of increasing costs associated with mining inputs and labour; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development (including the risks of obtaining necessary licenses, permits and approvals from government authorities); and title to properties, as well as those risk factors discussed or referred to in the annual information form of the Company dated May 2, 2023. Forward-looking information contained herein are made as of the date of this news release and the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results, except as may be required by applicable securities laws. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements and there may be other factors that cause results not to be anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

SOURCE Collective Mining Ltd.
VANCOUVER, March 26, 2024 - Novo Resources Corp. (Novo or the Company) (ASX: NVO) (TSX: NVO & NVO.WT.A) (OTCQX: NSRPF) advises that Mr Michael Barrett has resigned as a director of the Company and Ms Karen O'Neill has been appointed as an independent non-executive director of the Company.



Mr Mike Spreadborough, Executive Co-Chairman, shared "On behalf of the Company's directors, employees, and stakeholders, I would like to sincerely thank Mr Barrett for his tireless commitment to Novo spanning over 6 years as a Non-executive Director and Chair of the Audit Risk and Corporate Governance Committee. We wish him all the best for future."

The Company is pleased to announce that Ms Karen O'Neill has been appointed as independent non-executive director to the Board of the Company and will also Chair the Audit, Risk and Corporate Governance Committee. Ms O'Neill is an experienced mining executive and finance professional with international operational experience across a variety of industries including resources, investment banking and professional services.

Ms O'Neill is currently a non-executive director of Great Boulder Resources (ASX:GBR) and has previously served on boards of a number of ASX listed resource companies including Newfield Resources and Kingrose Mining Limited.

Mr Mike Spreadborough said, "On behalf of the Board, we welcome Karen to the Novo team and look forward to her contribution as non-executive director. Karen's extensive experience working with ASX companies in the exploration and mining sector will allow Novo to maintain strong financial, commercial and governance skills at the board level which in turn will assist the Company in its strategy to discover and develop top tier gold deposits."

Authorised for release by the Board of Directors.

CONTACT

Investors:

Mike Spreadborough

+61 8 6400 6100

info@novoresources.com North American Queries:

Leo Karabelas

+1 416 543 3120

leo@novoresources.com Media:

Cameron Gilenko

+61 466 984 953

cgilenko@citadelmagnus.com





ABOUT NOVO

Novo explores and develops its prospective land package covering approximately 7,500 square kilometres in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, along with the 22 square kilometre Belltopper project in the Bendigo Tectonic Zone of Victoria, Australia. In addition to the Company's primary focus, Novo seeks to leverage its internal geological expertise to deliver value-accretive opportunities to its shareholders.
Golden Cariboo Resources Ltd. (TSXV:GCC) announces its exploration team has begun setting up its exploration camp at the Company's Quesnelle Gold Quartz Mine property near Hixon, British Columbia.

With a diamond drill onsite, the Company is currently preparing for a robust drilling and exploration program for the 2024 exploration season.

Company president and CEO, J. Frank Callaghan expressed enthusiasm, stating "We're eager to begin Golden Cariboo's 2024 exploration program, which includes diamond drilling and complementary geological activities. Our exploration team is currently completing snow removal, water line and drill pad preparations. Stay tuned for further updates as we anticipate drilling to commence in the upcoming weeks."

About Golden Cariboo Resources Ltd.

Golden Cariboo Resources Ltd. is rediscovering the Cariboo Gold Rush by proceeding with high-grade targeted drilling and trenching programs on its Quesnelle Gold Quartz Mine Project which is almost fully encircled on 3 of 4 sides by Osisko Development (NSE-ODV/TSXV-ODV). Historically, over 101 placer gold creeks on the 90 km trend from the Cariboo Hudson mine north to the Quesnelle Gold Quartz mine have recorded production and successful placer mining continues to this day.

Golden Cariboo's Quesnelle Gold Quartz Mine property is 4 km northeast of, and road accessible from, Hixon in central British Columbia. The property includes the Quesnelle Quartz gold-silver deposit, which was discovered in 1865 in conjunction with placer mining activities. Hixon Creek, which dissects the Quesnelle Gold Quartz Mine property, is a placer creek which has seen small-scale placer production since the mid 1860's.

For further information please contact:

Golden Cariboo Resources Ltd.

"J. Frank Callaghan"

J. Frank Callaghan, President & CEO

Tel: 604-682-2928

Neither the "CSE" Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statements:

This news release contains statements which constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of the Company with respect to future business activities and plans of the Company. Forward-looking information is often identified by the words "may", "would", "could", "should", "will", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" or similar expressions and includes information regarding; the expectation that the Company will receive all necessary exemptions and approvals to complete the Offering; the expectation that the Company will complete the Offering on the terms disclosed, or at all; the expectation that the proceeds will be used for property exploration and for general working capital; the Company's exploration plans with respect to its Quesnelle Gold Quartz Mine property; and the anticipated participation of the insider in the Offering.

Such forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions of management, including, without limitation, that the Company will receive all necessary exemptions and approvals to complete the Offering; that the Company will complete the Offering on the terms disclosed, or at all; that the proceeds will be used for property exploration and for general working capital; that the Company will have the resources required to proceed with its exploration plans; that the Company will not run into regulatory or other barriers in carrying out its business plans; that the insider will participate in the Offering, on the terms and conditions and in the amount currently expected by management; and that the Company will be able to rely on the exemption from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements on the basis anticipated.

Additionally, forward-looking information involve a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual plans, intentions, activities, results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future plans, intentions, activities, results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks include, without limitation: that the Company will not receive the necessary exemptions and approvals to complete the Offering; that the Company will not complete the Offering on the terms disclosed, or at all; that the Company will be unable to use the proceeds for property exploration and for general working capital; that the Company may incur unanticipated costs; that the Company may not have the resources required to pursue its exploration plans; that the Company's operations could be adversely affected by possible future government legislation policies and controls or by changes in applicable laws and regulations; that the insider may not participate in the Offering on the terms and conditions and in the amount currently expected by management, or at all; and that the Company may not be able to rely on the exemption from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements on the basis currently expected. Such forward-looking information represents management's best judgment based on information currently available. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed and actual future results may vary materially. Accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. Neither the Company nor any of its representatives make any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy, sufficiency or completeness of the information in this news release. Neither the Company nor any of its representatives shall have any liability whatsoever, under contract, tort, trust or otherwise, to you or any person resulting from the use of the information in this news release by you or any of your representatives or for omissions from the information in this news release.

The forward-looking statements herein speak only as of the date they were originally made. The Company has no intention and undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.




Delhi CM Kejriwal issues order on functioning of Mohalla Clinics from EDs custody Amid the ongoing controversy surrounding the Delhi Chief Ministers first order issued from the custody of the ED on Sunday, another directive has been issued to the health department by CM Arvind Kejriwal on smooth functioning of the AAP's flagship Mohalla Clinics. AAP sources confirmed that the directive pertained to the health department and it was conveyed by the Chief Minister through a memorandum to Delhi Minister, Saurabh Bharadwaj, who oversees the health portfolio.



Addressing a press conference on the directive of the CM, Health Minister Bharadwaj stated that the CM is concerned about the lack of availability of medicines and free tests in many hospitals and Mohalla Clinics.



Bharadwaj said that CM Kejriwal has emphasised that no one should suffer, even if he is in ED custody.



He directed me to take prompt and necessary actions to ensure that medicines and tests are both free and available at hospitals and Mohalla Clinics, said Bharadwaj.



Earlier on Sunday, CM Kejriwal had issued the first order while in the EDs custody, directing Water Minister Atishi to resolve water and sewage issues in the national Capital.



Meanwhile, as the issue of authenticity looms on the directions issued by CM Kejriwal from EDs custody, legal experts said that there is no permission to the CM by the court to issue orders.



The Aam Aadmi Party is issuing these orders in the name of Arvind Kejriwal because the court has not granted permission to issue any orders to the CM due to his remand by the ED, said Supreme Court lawyer Vineet Jindal.



These orders are not being issued for any work but are being done for political gain, which is legally incorrect, he said.



Arvind Kejriwal is exaggerating his distress so that when action is taken, allegations can be levelled against the BJP, he alleged.



CM Kejriwal, who was arrested on March 21 and subsequently remanded to ED custody until March 28 by a Delhi court, faces allegations of direct involvement in a conspiracy related to the formulation of an excise policy favouring specific individuals.



CM Kejriwal is also accused of soliciting kickbacks from liquor businessmen in exchange of favours, as claimed by the probe agency.




Vancouver, March 26, 2024 - Apex Resources Inc. ("Apex" or the "Company") (TSXV:APX). The Company wishes to provide an update with respect to the previously announced proposed acquisition of all the shares of an arm's length corporation holding a 100% option over the consolidated mineral rights of the Lithium Creek Property (the "Property") in Nevada, USA (the "Acquisition").

In accordance with TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") Policy 5.3 - Acquisitions and Dispositions of Non-Cash Assets ("Policy 5.3"), the trading of the common shares of the Company on the TSXV was halted on January 9, 2024 pending TSXV review, as the Acquisition is a "Fundamental Acquisition" for the Company, as defined in Policy 5.3. The trading halt will be lifted by the TSXV once certain conditions have been met under Section 5.6 of Policy 5.3, including the review by the TSXV of the technical report prepared in compliance with National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Mineral Disclosure with respect to the Property.

The Company also announces that it will continue with its planned non-brokered private placement (the "Financing") as announced in its news release dated January 9, 2024.

The Acquisition and Financing are subject to approval by the TSXV. All shares issued with respect to the Acquisition and the Financing will be subject to a four month hold period from the closing date.

About Apex Resources Inc.

Apex is a mineral exploration company engaged in the business of the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral resource properties. Apex's common shares trade under the symbol "APX" on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX-V).

On Behalf of the Board of Directors of

Apex Resources Inc.

Jay Roberge

President

Ph. +1(778)895-0247 or info@apxresources.com website: www.apexresources.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term in defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

UTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: This news release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws ("forward-looking statements"). Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," 'projects," "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "could" or "should" occur. These forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: receipt of regulatory approvals; risks related to fluctuations in metal prices; uncertainties related to raising sufficient financing to fund the planned work in a timely manner and on acceptable terms; changes in planned work resulting from weather, logistical, technical or other factors; the possibility that results of work will not fulfill expectations and realize the perceived potential of the Company's properties; risk of accidents, equipment breakdowns and labour disputes or other unanticipated difficulties or interruptions; the possibility of cost overruns or unanticipated expenses in the work program; the risk of environmental contamination or damage resulting from Apex's operations and other risks and uncertainties. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise.

Not for distribution to United States newswire services or for release publication, distribution or dissemination directly, or indirectly, in whole or in part, in or into the United States.

Copyright (c) 2024 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.
VANCOUVER, March 26, 2024 - Freegold Ventures Ltd. (TSX: FVL) ("Freegold" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce that further to its news release of March 8, 2024, the Company has closed its upsized brokered private placement offering for aggregate gross proceeds of $10,000,000). Paradigm Capital acted as sole agent (the "Agent") on the Offering.

In connection with the Offering, the Company entered into an agency agreement (the "Agency Agreement") dated March 26, 2024, between the Company and the Agent. In accordance with the Agency Agreement, 25,000,000 units of the Company (the "Units") were issued at a price of $0.40 per Unit. Each Unit is comprised of one common share of the Company (a "Unit Share") and one-half of one common share purchase warrant of the Company (each whole warrant, a "Warrant"). Each Warrant is exercisable to acquire one common share of the Company (a "Warrant Share") for 24 months from today's date at an exercise price of $0.52 per Warrant Share.

The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Offering to fund exploration activities on the Company's mineral projects in Alaska, and for general working capital and corporate purposes.

Mr. Eric Sprott, through 2176423 Ontario Ltd., a corporation beneficially owned and controlled by him, acquired 6,750,000 Units in the Offering for total consideration of $2,700,000. Prior to the Offering, Mr. Sprott beneficially owned or controlled 114,103,056 Shares and 6,875,000 Warrants representing approximately 27.1% of the outstanding Shares on a non-diluted basis and 28.2% on a partially-diluted basis assuming the exercise of such Warrants. Following the completion of the Offering, Mr. Sprott beneficially owns and controls 120,853,056 Shares and 10,250,000 Warrants representing approximately 27.1% of the outstanding Shares on a non-diluted basis and 28.7% on a partially-diluted basis assuming the exercise of such Warrants.

The Units were acquired by Sprott for investment purposes. Mr. Sprott has a long-term view of the investment and may acquire additional securities of Freegold Ventures including on the open market or through private acquisitions or sell securities of Freegold Ventures including on the open market or through private dispositions in the future depending on market conditions, reformulation of plans and/or other relevant factors.

Pursuant to Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"), the purchase of Units by Mr. Sprott was a "related party transaction". The Company was exempt from the requirements to obtain a formal valuation in connection with

the Offering in reliance on section 5.5(c) of MI 61-101, as the issuance of Units to Mr. Sprott was a distribution of securities of the Company to a related party for cash consideration. The issuance of the Units to Mr. Sprott was exempt from the requirement to obtain minority shareholder approval in reliance on section 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101 as neither the fair market value of the Units received by Mr. Sprott nor the proceeds for such securities received by the Company exceeded 25% of the Company's market capitalization as calculated in accordance with MI 61-101.

A material change report will be filed less than 21 days from the date of the closing of the Offering. Closing the Offering in this shorter period was reasonable in the circumstances as the Company determined the shorter period was necessary because the terms of the transaction were favorable to the Company, given uncertain market conditions time was of the essence in closing the Offering, and closing the Offering expeditiously was in the best interest of the Company and its shareholders.

The Offering is subject to the final approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange. The Units have been offered pursuant to the Listed Issuer Financing Exemption under National Instrument 45-106 - Prospectus Exemptions in all Canadian provinces, except Quebec, and other qualifying jurisdictions. The Unit Shares, Warrants and Warrant Shares issued under the Listed Issuer Financing Exemption are not subject to resale restrictions pursuant to applicable Canadian securities laws.

There is an amended and restated offering document related to this Offering that can be accessed under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.com and on the Company's website.

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 U.S. state security laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States without registration under the U.S. Securities Act and all applicable state securities laws or compliance with requirements of an applicable exemption therefrom. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities in the United States, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

About Freegold Ventures Limited

Freegold is a TSX-listed company focused on exploration in Alaska and holds the Golden Summit Gold Project near Fairbanks and the Shorty Creek Copper-Gold Project near Livengood through leases

Forward-looking Information Cautionary Statement

This press release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking information" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this press release. Any statement that discusses predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release, include, without limitation, statements regarding the completion of, and the use of proceeds from, the Offering. In making the forward-looking statements contained in this press release, the Company has made certain assumptions. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that the expectations of any forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. Known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: availability of financing; delay or failure to receive required permits or regulatory approvals; and general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this press release. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions, changes in factors affecting such forward-looking statements or otherwise. See Freegold's Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31 2021, filed under Freegold's profile at www.sedar.com, for a detailed discussion of the risk factors associated with Freegold's operations

SOURCE Freegold Ventures Ltd.
Highlights:

Following drift mine development alongside the RAM orebody at Jervois' 100% owned Idaho Cobalt Operations ("ICO"), Jervois has commenced underground extension drilling from the existing mineral resource estimate ("MRE")

Jervois is interpreting previously announced1 assay results from the Sunshine surface programme, with modelling of the deposit nearing completion

Sunshine and RAM exploration programmes are fully funded under the United States ("U.S.") Government's Department of Defense ("DoD") Production Act Title III US$15.0 million grant award ("Agreement Funding")

Prior to these exploration programmes, ICO's mineral resource and reserve is already the largest and highest grade confirmed cobalt orebody in the U.S.

Cobalt is a critical mineral as declared by the U.S. Government due to cobalt's aerospace, defense and energy transition applications

U.S. Congressional Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party has put forward a reserve or price floor to sustain domestic American production

27 March 2024 (Australia) / TheNewswire / Jervois Global Ltd. ("Jervois") (ASX: JRV) (TSX-V: JRV) (OTC: JRVMF) has commenced the underground resource extension programme at the RAM deposit at its 100%-owned Idaho Cobalt Operations ("ICO") in Idaho, U.S., via local contractors Small Mine Development and Major Drilling, funded under a US$15M agreement with the U.S. Government.

The RAM resource extension programme has completed approximately 50% of the underground exploration drift and step-out drilling to define potential extension of the existing RAM mineral resource has commenced.

Based on the existing US$15.0 million Agreement Funding, Jervois direct expenditure for the resource extension programme including exploration development drifts, drilling, logging, assaying, MRE modelling and other related Jervois supervision costs through Q4 2024, are fully funded by the U.S. DoD.

The Agreement Funding is under the Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment Prioritization office of Industrial Base Policy using the U.S. Defense Production Act Title III authorities and utilises funds from the Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act.

On behalf of Jervois Global Ltd.

Bryce Crocker, CEO

For further information, please contact:

Investors and analysts: Alicia Brown Group Manager - External Affairs Jervois Global alicia.brown@jervoisglobal.com Media: Nathan Ryan NWR Communications nathan.ryan@nwrcommunications.com.au Mob: +61 420 582 887

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release may contain certain "Forward-Looking Statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. When used in this news release, the words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "target, "plan", "forecast", "may", "schedule", "expected" and other similar words or expressions identify forward-looking statements or information. These forward-looking statements or information may relate to drilling outcomes at Sunshine, underground exploration development in the RAM deposit, drilling in the RAM deposit, mineral resource estimates for Sunshine, reimbursement payments from the DoD and certain other factors or information. Such statements represent Jervois' current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by Jervois, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social risks, contingencies and uncertainties. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Jervois does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements or information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affections such statements and information other than as required by applicable laws, rules and regulations.

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.

1 See ASX announcment dated 30 January 2024 (Australia), "Jervois completes DoD reimbursed Sunshine drilling" .

2 See ASX announcement dated 13 December 2023, "Jervois welcomes U.S. Congressional Select Committee proposal for a reserve to sustain cobalt price"

Copyright (c) 2024 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.


Russian President Vladimir Putin Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the deadly terrorist attack in the Crocus City Hall in suburban Moscow was carried out by radical Islamists, but many questions still remain. "We know that the crime was committed by the hands of radical Islamists, whose ideology the Islamic world itself has been fighting for centuries," Putin said on Monday at a meeting on measures taken after the terrorist attack.



The Russian President said it is already known who carried out the terrorist attack, but now "we are interested in who ordered the crime", Xinhua news agency reported.



He said that the US, through various channels, is trying to convince everyone that there is supposedly no Kiev trace in the bloody terrorist attack.



However, Putin believes questions still remain. "It is necessary to obtain answers to a number of questions, for example, are radical, even terrorist, Islamic organizations really interested in striking Russia, which today stands for a fair solution to the escalating Middle East conflict," he said.



Putin also noted that it is necessary to answer the question of why the terrorists tried to go to Ukraine after committing a crime in Crocus, and who was waiting for them there.



Calling the attack an act of intimidation, Putin said, "The question arises who benefits from this."



The investigation into the terrorist attack should be carried out to the highest degree professionally, objectively and without political bias, despite the general desire to punish the perpetrators, Putin added.




Alonso in new talks to replace Verstappen at Red Bull

"Completely new rumours" involving Fernando Alonso and Red Bull have begun to circulate among Formula 1 insiders.

Fernando Alonso, Australian GP 2024

 Aston Martin Racing

That is the claim of former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher, despite a much quieter weekend of intrigue and speculation in Melbourne surrounding the Christian Horner scandal and Red Bull power struggle.

Nonetheless, some think what appears to be a minor mistake by a mechanic - potentially something as simple as a loose fastener on a brake caliper - might somehow be related to rumours linking Max Verstappen with the Red Bull exit door.

Schumacher thinks that's going too far.

Of course it's just a small thing, and of course it's just a coincidence, he told Sky Deutschland.

But it also shows that this whole discussion about Christian Horner is not leaving the team unscathed. They are talking about a careless mistake when screwing the brakes together, but of course they don't know any more details yet.

F1 legend Mario Andretti, meanwhile, told La Gazzetta dello Sport: "Max's retirement was an accident.

But I find it difficult to accept that the brake failure was caused by a mistake by one of the mechanics. But it's clear that this tense environment continues to affect everyone, the 1978 world champion added.

And despite the Horner affair going publicly quiet in Melbourne, Schumacher says it's obvious that the team is still pretty divided, that there are tensions with Max's father, and that Max is thinking about an alternative .

Indeed, Verstappen slammed his pit crew in Melbourne for the f***ing stupid act of changing all four of his tyres when he retired with melted brakes that were also on fire.

I was angry because they wanted to do a pitstop even though the car was on fire, the Dutchman admitted.

Horner tried to calm the storm.

That was a completely natural reaction after something like that, he said. In the garage he was then very friendly again, even when he came to the wall. He just wanted to understand exactly what was going on.

Schumacher, however, thinks Horner really is seriously thinking about an alternative to Verstappen. The team boss is rumoured to be furious after learning that the Dutch driver's long contract at Red Bull through 2028 could be undone due to the secretly-inserted 'Marko clause'.

There are completely new rumours now, Schumacher said, amid reports elsewhere that Horner sat down for talks with Fernando Alonso's manager Flavio Briatore just prior to last weekend's event in Australia.

Christian Horner has always been a very, very big fan of Fernando's, said Ralf. There are apparently big intentions in the background to bring Fernando into the cockpit next year in order to have another great driver in case Max Verstappen leaves the team.

La Gazzetta dello Sport noted after Melbourne: "When Max has a problem, Red Bull do not win. It shows just how important Verstappen is for the team.

His pole lap in Albert Park was nothing short of monstrous.

Schumacher thinks Alonso would be an ideal successor.

We saw what Alonso did again this weekend, he said after Melbourne. "He was fast, the way he prevented George Russell from overtaking him. I think he knows what he wants and he would fit in well.

You'd also have to say that, these days, you need experienced people. You have to be able to win right from the start. This is very, very important, especially at Red Bull, and I think Fernando Alonso would be a good alternative to Max.

As for the 42-year-old Spaniard, Ralf said: If he could get in a Red Bull at the end of his career, a car with which he can win again, then of course that's something he definitely wants.

Schumacher therefore thinks it's possible that, if the Alonso-to-Red Bull rumours really are true, then Verstappen might bite the bullet and jump to Mercedes.

Max speaks German, he smiled, "and his personality would also fit in at Mercedes. Of course I don't think it's progressed that far yet.

But theoretically he could get out of his contract, because his contract is more or less linked to Helmut Marko.

(GMM)
Alpine drivers pin hopes on Suzuka upgrade

Alpine is pinning its hopes on the next race in Japan to trigger a wave of momentum that begins to pull Renault's once-great team off the back of the 2024 grid.

Pierre Gasly, Australian GP 2024

 Alpine

Actually, following the disastrous pace seen in Bahrain and Jeddah, French duo Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly already looked happier in Melbourne - before niggly problems spoiled the final result.

It's frustrating, Ocon told the French broadcaster Canal Plus, "because I was in front of Magnussen, I was fighting with Albon, we were in the fight for the last points.

But there will be new features on the car in Japan, he revealed, referring to the next grand prix at the fabled Suzuka circuit next weekend.

We will have to see how much this brings us in performance.

As for Gasly, he said his problems on Sunday were purely anecdotal because comfortable points finishes are still some way ahead on the horizon.

We have to improve, he told the same broadcaster. We are still far from the performance we need to get points.

Alpine is joined only Williams and Sauber in terms of failing to score a single point at the opening three rounds of the 2024 season.

I hope the new parts will bring us closer to the cars in front, Gasly added. "We know what to focus on, we try to do the best possible with what we have and that's what we have done so far.

What we are missing is very clear, he said. "There is no specific element - we must improve absolutely everything.

But the whole team is working on it - a plan has been put in place. But we have to be realistic. It takes time. We must not hide that, but I have confidence in the team to make the right choices.

(GMM)
RB tells Ricciardo to brake harder

Daniel Ricciardo's Formula 1 career may now be in a two-race countdown to the end.

Daniel Ricciardo, Australian GP 2024

 Red Bull

Not one to be liberal with praise, Red Bull's powerful F1 consultant Dr Helmut Marko has said several times in the past days that Yuki Tsunoda is doing enough to keep his place in the energy drink company's ranks.

Franz Tost and I have always believed in him, he wrote in his exclusive column for Speed Week. His problems were a lack of control, outbursts and a tendency to make mistakes. All of that has gone this season.

The same sort of praise, however, is not being directed at experienced former race winner Ricciardo, who at 34 was given another chance to keep his career alive at the junior outfit RB.

No, it's not annoying, the Australian said when asked about the loss of support from Marko. Obviously everyone's talking positively when things go well, and they don't talk so positively when they don't. It's just part of it.

However, the New Zealand Herald newspaper is suddenly reporting that Marko has in fact told Ricciardo that his seat is only guaranteed for the next two races - in Japan and China.

For Miami, Red Bull reserve - and New Zealander - Liam Lawson could bounce back into the race seat after impressing when Ricciardo was injured last year.

Rumours suggest the attempt to revive Ricciardo's career was actually the brainchild of the embattled Red Bull team boss Christian Horner.

He's a big boy, Horner said in Melbourne, "he'll pick himself up.

I think it's still very early in the year to even be thinking about next year.

Ricciardo also has support within the Faenza-based RB ranks, including the team's CEO, Peter Bayer.

Daniel found his pace again after qualifying, Bayer told Servus TV before departing Melbourne. We believe that from now on we can really rely on him and that he will understand the car more and more.

Bayer said Ricciardo's current problem is that the 2024 car is simply better suited to Japanese Tsunoda's driving style.

Yuki brakes later and harder, he explained. "Therein lies the secret, probably.

The balance plays a role there, because if you brake hard, some of the aerodynamic support is lost. So it's up to Daniel to brake harder, Bayer joked.

But that is where the difference lies at the moment.

(GMM)
Parts of the Francis Scott Key Bridge remain after a container ship collided with one of the bridges support Tuesday in Baltimore. The major bridge in Baltimore snapped and collapsed after a container ship rammed into it early Tuesday, and several vehicles fell into the river below. Rescuers were searching for multiple people in the water. Associated Press The Bay Bridge fender was repaired after the Cosco Busan struck it in 2007. Kurt Rogers/SFC, The Chronicle 2007 The cargo ship Dali sits in the water after running into and collapsing the Francis Scott Key Bridge on Tuesday in Baltimore. The bridge is used by roughly 30,000 people each day. The accident has temporarily closed the Port of Baltimore, one of the largest and busiest on the East Coast of the U.S. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images Cranes serve as a backdrop behind a container ship at the Port of Oakland. Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle

A major bridge crash, reminiscent of Tuesdays incident in which a cargo ship hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, could happen in the Bay Area. But would it cause devastation on the same scale?

To state and regional transportation officials, thats a tough question.

We had a real close call back in 2007, said John Goodwin, spokesperson for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, referring to an incident in which the Cosco Busan container ship struck a Bay Bridge tower in the thick morning fog. While the bridge was not compromised, the crash spilled 53,000 gallons of oil into the bay, coating beaches around the region and killing nearly 7,000 birds.

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To Goodwin, the Cosco Busan disaster serves as the Bay Areas closest analog to the Francis Scott Key Bridge wreck, in which the Dali container ship bound for Colombo, Sri Lanka, struck and obliterated the Baltimore span at about 1:30 a.m. EST. Operators of the Dali issued mayday warnings that the vessel had lost power and appeared to be hurtling toward the span.

It rammed one of the bridges supports, felling the whole structure within seconds and setting the Dali on fire. As of Tuesday morning, six people were missing amid the wreckage.

Other transportation officials predict that a collision of that magnitude would not cause the same degree of damage in the Bay Area as in Baltimore, where multiple vehicles and people were thrown into the water. Two people have been rescued, one of whom was in critical condition, local authorities said. The cause of the Francis Scott Key Bridge crash was not yet known.

What weve seen is that our bridges do more damage to vessels than the vessels do to bridges, said Caltrans spokesperson Bart Ney. He described the detailed, multistep process for any ship entering the bay, which is an inland body of water  meaning ships have to pass through the Golden Gate.

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From there, a San Francisco bar pilot  specifically trained in navigating bay waters  boards the vessel to steer it around the coastline and infrastructure. Tugs escort the larger ships to help prevent collisions, Ney said. The Bay Areas six major toll bridges have fender systems protecting them, some of which are designed to crumple upon impact, absorbing some of the blow of a collision.

The Bay Bridges fenders insulated the span during the 2007 incident, so that the Cosco Busan ship struck a bumper, never hitting the bridge itself, Ney said. He noted that fenders on Bay Area bridges should be able to handle a ship traveling at 8 knots, the velocity at which the ship hit the Francis Scott Key span.

On top of the structural protections for the Bay Areas state-owned bridges, the California Highway Patrol has safety protocols in place should a ship send a mayday alert to emergency responders.

When a mayday goes out like that, it would be immediately transferred to the Golden Gate division of the CHP, and we would block the freeways to make sure there was no traffic on the bridge, Ney said. Caltrans would pull its work crews from the span as soon as traffic was cleared, to avoid the type of calamity seen in Baltimore.

In the aftermath of the 2007 Cosco Busan crash, the ships operating company pleaded guilty to criminal charges and was fined $10 million. The pilot of the Cosco Busan served 10 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to water pollution charges, and he gave up his license as well.

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Then, in 2013, the U.S. Coast Guard barred outbound oil tankers and cargo vessels from passing under the Bay Bridge during heavy fog. The move  made despite concerns that it would slow shipping traffic  was a response to a fogbound tankers crash that year into the span and an expansion of regulations imposed after the earlier accident.

In the second incident, the tanker, the Overseas Reymar, was empty and no oil spilled. Both crashes in San Francisco Bay occurred when visibility from the heavy ships was about a quarter-mile.

Although the Baltimore bridge catastrophe raised safety concerns in the Bay Area, Port of Oakland officials said people shouldnt worry about any economic impact. The Sri Lanka-bound vessel was not scheduled to pass through Oaklands port, one of the busiest in the nation.

President Joe Biden pledged Tuesday to send all the federal resources they need as we respond to this emergency in Baltimore.

And were going to rebuild that port together, Biden continued, addressing reporters gathered in the Roosevelt Room of the White House.

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Everything so far indicates this was a terrible accident, the president continued. At this time, we have no other indication, no other reason to believe there was any intentional act here.

Its my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge and I expect the Congress to support my effort.

Bay Area residents took to social media to express sympathy for the victims in Baltimore and speculate about a similar event happening closer to home. Some conjured the possibility of earthquakes or other disasters.

What happened in Baltimore has been a fear of mine since I was a kid growing up crossing the Bay Bridge praying that it would not collapse. I pray that everyone is found alive. Im praying for the city of Baltimore! user @alittlearrogant wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

I pray each and every time I cross the Bay Bridge, mostly with the thoughts of possible earthquakes. This is absolutely unfathomable. Prayers to all those impacted, Ashley Yates tweeted.

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City College trustees voted after midnight Jan. 25 to oust Chancellor David Martin. Errors in the process could render the decision moot, giving him an automatic contract extension. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle 2023

A bungled late-night vote to fire the fiscally prudent chancellor of City College of San Francisco could result in his staying beyond the end of his contract in June, as the school faces state scrutiny over its financial stability, the Chronicle has learned.

Questions about the fate of Chancellor David Martin arose in recent days after an anonymous tipster alerted some college officials that a vote by the Board of Trustees to let Martins contract lapse, taken after midnight on Jan. 25, was mislabeled as a union negotiation conference instead of an employee dismissal.

Martins supporters hope the erroneous description will force the trustees to offer him another year at the helm  as specified in his contract if a nonrenewal vote happens after March 15.

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We have to respect the contract. This was a complete misstep, said trustee Shanell Williams, who left the meeting as the board entered its closed-door session after 11:30 that night. I probably would have stayed. But I didnt know we were going to be voting.

The chancellors contract requires the board to notify him in writing of their decision not to extend it  but the decision has to be made by March 15. Otherwise, the chancellor shall be deemed to be rehired for another year, the contract says.

Williams said she will ask at Thursdays trustees meeting that the vote be struck down on grounds that it violated Californias Brown Act, which sets rules for public meetings. The law requires that each closed-session item not only be described on the agenda, but also orally announced beforehand.

Neither happened, said Williams and trustee Aliya Chisti, who also left when the meeting recessed into closed session. Williams said she left because it was late and she had to work the next day. Chisti, who said she felt ill, monitored the meeting from home but wasnt allowed to vote remotely.

Board President Alan Wong and Vice President Anita Martinez, who voted not to renew Martins contract, did not respond to requests for comment. Nor did Susan Solomon, who seconded the motion.

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Lawyer Kathryn Meola, a consultant serving as City Colleges attorney, also did not respond to a request for comment. Nor did the chancellor.

The apparent blunder came to light days before the state Community College Board of Governors met on Monday and expressed concerns about City Colleges precarious accreditation, revealed in January when accreditors found the trustees out of compliance with standards  including failing to follow the boards own policies and ignoring the chancellors authority.

Its the second time in a decade that City College has run afoul of accreditation requirements, and members of the Board of Governors noted with alarm that the trustees didnt accept a recent offer of state help.

Should we be more aggressive on that? asked Tom Epstein, a longtime board member. Keeping an eye on (the trustees) is not a bad thing.

City College is at risk of adverse action if it doesnt come into accreditation compliance by 2027. Last week, the schools Academic Senate sternly condemned the trustees for causing the trouble.

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Underlying these difficulties is the tense relationship between Martin and the union-backed majority on the college Board of Trustees.

The board hired Martin in 2021 amid state warnings that the college must cut spending significantly or face insolvency, and expected him to rescue the school. But San Francisco voters soon replaced much of that board. The new, union-backed majority has opposed the layoffs and course reductions Martin put in place.

City College is at risk of adverse action if it doesnt come into accreditation compliance by 2027. It also remains fiscally fragile because of next years expected loss of new funding. Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle

The ninth chancellor in eight years, Martin stabilized City College for the first time since it was nearly shut down during an epic battle from 2012 to 2017 to keep its all-important accreditation. The college remains fiscally fragile because of next years expected loss of new funding for certain schools, including City College, under a revised formula for allocating cash.

The four trustees in the majority have clashed often with Martin. In October, after accreditors issued a 69-page report foreshadowing their decision, Vice President Martinez responded with a five-page rebuttal declaring that the trustees run the college and should not hand over complete authority to the chancellor.

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The chancellor notified the trustees last summer that he planned to leave when his contract expires in June. He hasnt commented publicly on that decision.

More than 450 supporters signed a petition in January urging the trustees to keep Martin. Several believe the chancellor would stay if he and the board could work together.

Among the trustees accreditation violations is failing to act in a manner consistent with (their) policies and bylaws.

On Jan. 25, the trustees listed an agenda item for closed session: Conference with Labor Negotiator.

But the minutes published later reflected what they actually voted on: Motion to not renew the Chancellors contract after June 30, 2024." It was approved by Martinez, Solomon, Wong and Vick Chung.

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Only Murrell Green voted no. Williams and Chisti had already left the meeting.

Chisti said she wasnt sure if the vote was valid, but that the chancellor should be given the option to stay.
Schiff rose to national prominence at the Brooklyn chophouse. Photo: Lanna Apisukh

A couple of Monday mornings ago, Caroline Schiff answered the door to her Fort Greene home wearing a vodka-sauce-colored cardigan and jeans. Her eyeliner was perfectly symmetrical. Her hair had been pinned up in the topknot chignon shes known for, which mimics the swoop of the Baked Alaska she made famous at Gage & Tollner. Upstairs, in her fourth-floor apartment, she swooshed a scoop of sourdough starter (named for Edna Lewis) across a skillet. She tossed dill, radishes, and arugula in vinaigrette. She fried two eggs until the whites were ringed with crisp, and she draped one over each half of the sourdough pancakes. On the table was a small plate that held four different options for hot sauce, which she had arranged earlier that morning. There were four different options for salt. I pointed out that this seemed like a lot of work. Oh, she protested, it was so easy.

Whether it actually was is beside the point. Schiff operates with an air of buoyancy that makes the rest of us feel dense. Her home should be a new class of SSRIs. Each room is full of cheerful antiques (mostly pilfered from her grandmothers collection), cookbooks from the 1970s that instruct one to stuff a sandwich loaf with mayonnaise and shredded Swiss cheese, and tidily stored alt-grain flours in labeled canisters. It could serve as the set for a Frances Ha sequel in which Frances opens a micro-bakery.

Schiff lives how she cooks: bounding around merrily, admiring the weight of old things, and adding enough peculiarity to make them feel new. At Gage & Tollner, her coconut cake comes with pink-peppercorn dust in the cashew brittle that gets strewn across each slice. Her chocolate tart is malted and tangy from sourdough discard. Her Baked Alaska is made from a trio of ice creams, torched-to-order meringue, and a salty cookie crumble that wouldve made a 19th-century pastry chef blush. Her cheesecake is made with chevre. And on March 31, shell serve her last slices at the rebooted Brooklyn chophouse.

After more than three years at the helm of the restaurants pastry program, she is ready to do her own thing. Schiff plans to spend a year preparing to open her own diner, along with business partner Tori Ciambriello. So her mind, lately, has been filled with ungovernable thoughts. Most of them  about the new menu, and the vibe, and a sheet of the week program with a shifting cake flavor  are useful. Less so are the what ifs and stress dreams about needing to make an urgent call but being unable to find a phone. My identity is being a restaurant chef, she says. I am scared of not being in that space for a little while.

Ciambriello is another veteran of special-occasion dining. Before becoming general manager at Gage & Tollner, she was the sommelier and captain at Gramercy Tavern. She and Schiff bonded over their love of takeout diner food: club sandwiches (Ciambriello) and grilled cheese (Schiff) and French fries dipped in coleslaw (both). Their references for their own version, for which theyre looking at spaces in Ridgewood and Brooklyn now, could form a Criterion Collection of fluorescent-lit houses of drip coffee and omelets. Schiff loves 7th Ave Donuts & Diner, Neptune Diner II, Cobble Hill Coffee Shop, and B&H. Ciambriello still goes to Andros when shes back home in Connecticut and loves Clark Street Diner in Los Angeles. They both think that Budd Lake Diner in New Jersey is the platonic ideal, with its chrome and floor-mounted swivel chairs. Diners are for everyone, Ciambriello says. You can just walk in and theyll give you a table. Even when theyre bad, theyre good.

For now, the two have to decide what exactly good means. Schiff is weighing the balance of adaptable diner classics against a more prescriptive menu; on one hand, a diner is about choice  thats an expectation, she says. On the other hand, she has a vision. Do I have a standard grilled cheese? Or do I lay down the law and say: This is the grilled cheese youre having? She feels a great deal of pressure to find her next Baked Alaska.

That dessert, meanwhile, will remain on the menu at Gage & Tollner. After she departs, Schiff will hand the pastry program off to Kathryn Irizarry, who spent nearly 15 years working at a financial-technology firm before leaving to attend Le Cordon Bleu in Paris in 2019, and has been working under Schiffs tutelage. Since Irizarry spearheaded the State Fair Sundae special a couple years back  blueberry and lemon ice creams, kettle corn, candied peanuts, berry jam  she has been, as she put it, unofficially the sundae creator. As of April 1, it will be official. She has no plans to remove the Parker House rolls from the menu, though she would like to expand the bread program and, eventually, introduce a few additions: Id love to get into the discussion thats happening in New York right now about big pieces of chocolate cake; whats the Gage & Tollner version?

Schiff, meanwhile, is in the imaginative phase. Her sourdough pancakes, which somehow get even crispier as they sit, are one of the sure bets for her diner menu. In her apartment, as we each popped our yolks, she listed a few other items she was certain will make the final cut: stuffed cabbage, a big salad, and several breads baked in-house. (I dont have a minimalist bone in my body, she says.) Handling both the sweet and savory menus will be a natural evolution for Schiff; she began her career as a fry cook and has spent the last 16 years building fluency across all parts of the kitchen, beginning and ending with tenures under Gage & Tollners chef, Sohui Kim. At their diner, the one thing both Schiff and Ciambriello want to avoid is kitsch. Were not interested in retro-diner uniforms, Schiff says. Its not a throwback to the 1950s.

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Supervisors Aaron Peskin, left, Ahsha Safai and Connie Chan appear Tuesday at a rally at San Francisco City Hall to announce an ordinance that would phase out firefighting gear containing PFAS forever chemicals, which have been linked to cancer and other diseases. Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle Firefighters and their supporters rally Tuesday outside San Francisco City Hall in support of a proposed ordinance to get rid of PFAS forever chemicals in firefighters clothing. Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle A firefighting helmet sits among firefighting gear on the steps of San Francisco City Hall during a demonstration and rally Tuesday in support of firefighters health. Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle

Firefighters are more likely to develop cancer and die from it than the general population, and its not just smoke from burning buildings thats suspected of making them sick.

Firefighting clothing is made with synthetic forever chemicals linked to cancers, organ damage and other illnesses, and though manufacturers have reduced the amount of these chemicals in the materials, they still remain in an inner layer close to the skin.

San Francisco is poised to take the strongest step in the country to remove this layer laden with PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) chemicals with a proposed ordinance barring the chemicals from the citys firefighting gear by June 30, 2026. Supervisor Aaron Peskin said the city would be the first to pass such a law.

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We cant control cancerous chemicals firefighters breathe when theyre responding to a fire, but we can control the protective equipment that were giving them, Peskin said.

Peskin, who is introducing the ordinance Tuesday with fellow supervisors Ahsha Safai and Connie Chan, said it will cost the city an estimated $10 million to replace the uniforms, called turnouts. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved a $2.3 million grant to help San Francisco make the transition.

The ordinance comes on the heels of an agreement the city and firefighters union reached last year to explore the possibility of uniforms without PFAS chemicals.

More than 300 current and former San Francisco firefighters have died in the past decade from cancer-related causes, according to the foundation. Another 62 active and 141 retired firefighters have been diagnosed with cancer in the past six years. San Franciscos women firefighters are diagnosed with breast cancer at a rate of about six times the national average, a foundation study found.

Its extremely urgent, said Adam Wood, San Francisco Firefighters Cancer Prevention Foundations vice president.

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San Francisco firefighter Adam Wood drops firefighting gear onto the steps of City Hall during a rally Tuesday in support of a proposal to get rid of PFAS forever chemicals in firefighters clothing. Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health found firefighters were more likely than the general population to have cancer diagnoses and cancer-related deaths  by a margin of about 9% and 14% respectively.

A San Francisco Chronicle investigation last year found the government has for generations failed to adequately protect wildland firefighters against smoke exposure.

The World Health Organization in 2022 declared firefighting as carcinogenic to humans.

There are thousands of PFAS chemicals used in everything from nonstick cookware and stain resistant carpets to water resistant Gore-Tex outerwear. These chemicals are useful in barriers to protect against heat and moisture. But those properties also mean they dont break down easily and remain in the environment, and a growing body of research has found the prevalence of PFAS chemicals to be alarming.

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Across the country, agencies are doing far more to protect firefighters, recognizing they are exposed to harmful chemicals from many sources on the job, including burning materials, diesel exhaust and chemicals in their protective gear and firefighting foams. Wood said that new measures like lessening the time they are inhaling diesel fumes and frequent cleaning for clothing that may have absorbed harmful chemicals in smoke have helped but are not enough.
While Apple may be talking to Google about adopting the search giant's Gemini AI for upcoming releases of iOS, over in China that's not a feasible plan, seeing as how Google services are banned. So, a local player is the answer, and it seems like Apple found it in Baidu, long called "the Google of China" - how fitting.

News from China today reveals that Baidu is set to provide AI services to Apple's latest devices - only in China, of course. Baidu will be Apple's generative AI provider in the country, starting with the upcoming release of iOS 18 this fall.

Apple has reportedly discussed this collaboration with Alibaba and another unnamed Chinese company that provides large-language models (LLMs) before eventually deciding to choose Baidu for the job. In China, every LLM must be approved by regulators before it can be launched to the public, and Baidu's Ernie Bot is one of more than 40 that have received the green light so far.

This would be seen as a huge endorsement for Baidu and its Ernie Bot in China, and analysts say it's going to be a "perfect branding campaign" for the Chinese giant. It's far exceeded analysts' expectations in how fast it managed to monetize the bot.

Baidu CEO Robin Li said the company's AI business is likely to be a main revenue driver this year, with income expected to rise very sharply - and the partnership with Apple will definitely have done its part.

Source
Apple's new iPad Pro and iPad Air now rumored to arrive in May
Samsung has released the April 2024 security update for the Galaxy S24 series, which comes with the April 1, 2024 security patch and camera improvements.

The update improves the Galaxy S24 lineup's low-light image quality and the camera's white balance accuracy and exposure. It also enhances the text clarity in high-zoom shots and the color accuracy in the ExpertRAW camera app.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Additionally, as promised in February, Samsung added support for 480p resolution videos in the Instant Slow-Mo feature with the April 2024 update.



Samsung Galaxy S24 series April 2024 update for Europe

The April 2024 update for the Galaxy S24 series is seeding in South Korea, India, and Europe with download sizes of about 600-900MB. If you haven't received the update, you can check for it by heading to your smartphone's Settings > Software update menu.

Source (in Korean)
The Guam Power Authority said the second of three increments of the $100 Prugraman Ayuda Para I Taotao-ta energy credits has been uploaded to all active GPA accounts.

Customers can log in to their GPA accounts to view that the February 2024 credit has been applied.

GPA thanks the Government of Guam and the Department of Administration for working with us to expedite the monthly utility credits. Our customers continue to count on this direct assistance and have expressed their appreciation for the additional $300 in savings, GPA General Manager John M. Benavente said in a statement.

The current extension of Prugraman Ayuda Para I Taotao-ta energy credits was made possible by Public Law 37-66, which extended the energy credit program for the fifth time.

Customers who need additional assistance with their power bills are encouraged to contact DOA to see if they qualify for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program and the Guam Energy Office for the Weatherization Program.

Summer months

GPA continues to encourage customers to prepare for the summer months.

As temperatures rise and the island prepares for summer, GPA provides tips for how customers can reduce their power bills further by managing their energy consumption and implementing energy saving tips available through GPAs customer service website at guampowerauthority.com, newsletters, and Facebook and Instagram pages at @guampowerauthority.

GPA invites residents and businesses to learn more about how they can beat the peak and reduce their energy consumption between the high-demand hours of 5 p.m. and 11 p.m., and help reduce the demand on the islandwide power system.
Some 69 kids that are in the custody of Child Protective Services are in need of a foster home and more foster homes will be needed as CPS moves to process 2,211 child referrals made to them in 2023, Speaker Therese Terlaje said during Mondays informational briefing.

At the legislative briefing, officials urged potential foster parents to sign up to help a child.

The legislative committee on health, chaired by the speaker, called for the briefing with CPS and the Department of Public Health and Social Services.

Not every kid that gets a referral to CPS ends up in their custody, Pamela Brewster, supervisor for the CPS Home Evaluation and Placement Services Section, said.

But some do, and more kids will need a foster home as CPS vets children numerous referrals, she said.

There are 667 kids in foster care, according to Brewster. Though most are placed with relatives, about 100 are living in the islands 72 foster homes, she said.

That leaves the remaining 69 kids, who are currently living in either a CPS shelter, group home, therapeutic treatment center, or a detention center, according to Brewster.

Two of those children are eligible for permanent adoption, she said.

Terlaje called the situation a crisis.

CPS is actively looking to recruit foster parents, according to Brewster.

Theres different types of foster care, and so applicants can really decide you know, what type of care really fits into their lifestyle, she said.

Fostering can range from long term care for a kid in need, to short-term care of just a few weeks for a kid that needs a safe place to stay, according to Brewster.

Though one has to prove he has the income to support foster kids, one doesnt have to be rich to take someone into their home, according to Brewster.

Brewster said even those on public assistance can sign up.

Jared Baldwin, board member of foster care nonprofit ministry Harvest House, said wealthy people with a big home arent the typical foster family.

He said its usually people that are just getting by.

Theyre using every square inch of their house, they have a big heart, they see the need, and they want to leverage what God has given them to help at least one child, he said.

Ice major cause of crisis

Brewster, responding to Sen. Chris Barnetts questions, agreed that substance abuse and specifically crystal methamphetamine are among the root causes of the current crisis that CPS faces.

Theyve seen a rise in cases involving substance abuse. And I believe right now, the number one...maltreatment is parents that are addicted to substances, unfortunately, the result is, is neglecting their children, Brewster told the senator.

Parents who have substance abuse issues are less likely to seek out resources available to help them and their kids, she added.

When those parents lose custody of their children, the kids can also have a harder time being placed with a family, as close relatives that would usually step up to help may have cut ties with the parent who is using drugs, Brewster said.

Types of foster care:

Long term foster care: Full time care for several months to a full year.

Emergency care: Care that is needed with little notice for a few days to two weeks

Respite care: Short-term planned care where kids are placed to provide a break or respite from the original foster family. Can also be provided for foster families who will be off-island for a short period of time.

Therapeutic foster care: Licensed foster parents have the opportunity to become trained and qualified treatment parents who provide care using a therapeutic approach to help children make changes and become successful in their homes, schools, and communities.

For more information, go to guamchildcare.com, or contact:

Help for foster parents

There are resources available to help potential foster parents, according to Bethany Taylor, executive director of Harvest House.

The ministry offers bi-monthly support group meetings, and services every foster kid on Guam.

They also help with the training and recruitment of foster families, and host a number of seasonal events to help support foster families, like resource center shopping, where foster parents can go shop for supplies for their kids.

Our foster families come to us and they just need someone to talk to, Taylor said. So what doctor do you go to, you know, how do I communicate to my social worker on this. So thats another really wonderful thing we do.
Gov. Lou Leon Guerreros office on Monday said Sen. Chris Barnett stalled the building of a new hospital again, but the senator said it was the governor who did so by vetoing a bill that the majority of the senators sent her.

An override of the governors veto of Barnetts bill seeking to place a new hospital at Ypao Point in Tamuning, failed.

The governor prefers to place a new Guam Memorial Hospital at Eda Agaga or Adacao parcel in the Mangilao-Barrigada area.

Im not sure what Adelup means by Barnett stalling when we literally sent a bill passed by a majority of senators to the governors desk that should have started construction of a new hospital for our People  and it was vetoed, Barnett said in response to Adelups statement.

Adelup said a mere four points differentiate between the two competing sites for a new hospital location.

It seems like every time Adelup doesnt get their way, they send out mean press releases short on facts. Its a shame they keep attacking me when all Im trying to do is get a new hospital built before the existing GMH crumbles to the ground, Barnett said.

In a statement, Adelup said the governors pick ranked the same as Barnetts under Emergency Response Times.

Governors pick beats Barnetts for adequate site size, property value impact, current traffic conditions, and future expansion capabilities, Adelup said.

Eagles Field

The statement talked about Eagles Field, which was the governors preferred site.

Adelup said the governors action was guided by the Matrix report, which ranked Eagles Field as the best location for a medical complex. The governor introduced a bill that seeks to build at the Mangilao site while providing a vehicle for compensation to original landowners.

The governors office said Barnett last year disregarded the findings of the Matrix report and blocked Eagles Field with false claims that original landowners could get their land back.

Adelup said as a consequence, theres no land back for original landowners and the property remains in federal inventory for military buildup.

The governor made a second attempt at securing hospital land and introduced Bill 184-37 to secure Eda Agaga, which is ranked third in the Matrix report and is centrally located in Barrigada/Mangilao with room to grow at 102 acres.

Adelup said Barnett and opponents suddenly adopt the Matrix report findings and advocate for the second-choice site, Ypao Point, with only 17 usable acres.

Within hours of Bill 184s introduction, Barnett introduced competing Bill 185, which would commit the government to building a hospital at the formerand now abandoned Tamuning location, Adelup said.

The governors office reiterated that Ypao Point not only lacks buildable land or room for growth but also has to deal with the presence of a major fault line, in addition to visible caves that may compromise infrastructure, among other things.

Building in Tamuning does not start the construction of a new hospital for the island but the fastest cooperation and collaborative efforts help to achieve that goal, Adelup said. We look forward to finding a way forward and remain committed to a new hospital for Guam built on a site that is ready for today but prepared for the future.

Barnett earlier said that the facts, the finances, and the infrastructure at Ypao Point showed it was a better choice for the hospital site.

We cant afford to dream big. We need to be realistic, he said. This administration they have the taste for caviar (but) we are on a corned beef budget.
American Medical Clinic LLC filed a lawsuit against Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero and the Department of Public Health and Social Services, seeking compensation for the temporary taking of its facilities to treat those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Attorney Jacqueline Taitano Terlaje filed the petition on March 22 for AMC and its owner Dr. Hoa Nguyen, in the Superior Court of Guam.

The lawsuit seeks more than $2 million in damages and just compensation, the precise amount to be proven at trial.

The government paid $20,000 to AMC related to COVID testing but that amount is not just compensation for the cost of the government mandated public health services and supplies for public use, the complaint stated.

The petition names Leon Guerrero and Peter John Camacho, acting director of Public Health, as respondents.

Former Public Health Director Arthur San Agustin, who oversaw the department during the pandemic, retired in January 2024 after 35 years of government service.

AMCs petition seeks a judgment against Leon Guerrero and Public Health; an award of the fair market value for the use and occupancy of AMC, its medical services, personnel costs and medical supplies for government-mandated public health services; an award of costs; and attorneys fees; and any other relief that the court deems proper.

Included in the petition is a copy of Executive Order 2020-06, one of several orders issued in 2020.

The order closed all non-essential government offices, ordered that all schools remained closed, extended both the prohibition on social gatherings and mandatory social isolation, closed all public parks and beaches and lastly, created the COVID-19 Unified Response Effort, or CURE action team.

The order empowered the CURE team to take full authority of both island hospitals and any health care facilities as it saw fit.

It also said that participating clinics shall be reimbursed or billed at a rate set forth in memoranda of understanding or such other standardized uniform rate as developed by the CURE action team.

Those clinics who did not comply would be subject to fines, and businesses could have their licenses terminated by Public Health and the Department of Revenue and Taxation. The Guam Police Department was authorized to assist in enforcement if necessary.

AMC alleges that the governor has not made good faith efforts to ensure AMC received fair compensation, and that the CURE team did not establish any system for reimbursement despite repeated requests, nor did it create any memorandum of understanding to develop a standardized, uniform rate to compensate AMC.

Petitioner is entitled to no less than the fair market value for the use and occupancy of AMC, fair market value of the medical services and personnel costs and the fair market value of the medical supplies for government mandated public health services between March 24, 2020 through a date no later than January 5, 2023, plus interest, according to the complaint.

Krystal Paco-San Agustin, the governors director of communications, said Adelup had just received a copy of the complaint and had no comment yet.
Deportation is an available option for the government of Guam when it comes to migrants convicted of aggravated felonies such as murder, rape, or sexual abuse of a minor, Delegate James Moylan said.

The delegates office has been receiving inquiries on whether deportation is an option.

As shared in a March 11, 2024, letter to the Attorney General of Guam, the answer to this question is a yes, he said.

Earlier, Attorney General Douglas Moylan said his office is working on pre- and post-judgment offers for COFA members convicted of crimes to be deported. It would be a voluntary program, he said.

The delegates team has been working with Congressional Research Services and has been briefed that this option does exist, whether the migrant has entered the island legally under Compact of Free Association, or COFA, agreements, or illegally through other means.

According to  1227 of 8 USC, an alien who is convicted of an aggravated felony does qualify to be deported. 1101(a)(a)(3) of 8 USC defines the term alien as any person not a citizen or national of the United States, Delegate Moylan said. Further, section 101(a)43 of the INA outlines what the term aggravated felony entails, and it includes murder, rape, or sexual abuse of a minor.

The next steps involve the attorney general setting up the parameters with Immigration Customs Enforcement, and this would include working with the immigration courts as well, Delegate Moylan said.

This process may not be simple, but it is certainly worth exploring, he said. I do believe that with the rise in heinous crimes, particularly where minors are the victims, and with the population surge at the Department of Corrections, a deportation policy should be an option on the table as it sets out a strong message when it comes to Guams tolerance in dealing with criminals convicted of serious criminalities, which is why I implore those who have a role in this process to consider establishing the parameters.

Theres also a congressional bill, H.R. 6976, that seeks to authorize the deportation of any alien who is convicted of driving while intoxicated or impaired and will apply whether the conviction is classified as a misdemeanor or felony.
Guams Junior Achievement teams Ensena and lala received top honors at the JA Asia Pacifics annual competition in Malaysia.

Team lala, sponsored by Graphic Center, was earlier named the 2023-2024 JA Guam Company of the Year, while Team Ensena, sponsored by Bank of Hawaii, earned third place.

At the competition in Malaysia, Ensena won the Best Financial Management Award, as well as 2nd place overall JA Asia Pacific Company of the Year, according to a press release from JA Guam.

Lala, meanwhile, won the Peoples Choice Award, which is an award selected by all the students participating in the competition in Malaysia, JA Guam said.

They were among those who traveled to Kuala Lumpur to represent Guam at the JA Asia Pacifics annual competition, which highlighted the achievements of a total of 21 teams from Japan, Korea, India, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam.

The Junior Achievement program, as well as the competition, helps young people understand the role of business in the global economy by allowing students to organize and operate an actual business enterprise, and market and sell a product in the real world.

It has been so rewarding, as a parent, watching Maddie and Guams Ensena team put in months of hard work and bring their ideas to fruition. To be able to successfully compete at a regional level, theyve proven that they are capable of anything. Shes emerged from this JA season with more confidence in her abilities and with broadened horizons, Ally Fejeran, Ensena president Maddie Aguons mother, said in a statement.

Ensenas mentor/chaperone Ryan Bamba has been mentoring student teams for six years now.

The teams president, Maddie Aguon, and vice president of sales, Ayanna Juico, are both attending Academy of our Lady of Guam. Ensenas vice president of finance Maximus Fisher, vice president of marketing Kaden Candaso, and vice president of production Steven Bamba are all students from Father Duenas Memorial High School.

JA Guam thanks Bank of Hawaii, along with the Guam Visitors Bureau, Guam Economic Development Authority, Bank of Guam, Raymond James, GTA, Micronesia Mall, Graphic Center, IP&E Holdings, the Office of the Governor and the Office of the Lieutenant Governor for all their support along the way.

When people talk to our students and tell them that they are the youth of the future, I say no, they are the youth of today, Junior Achievement Asia Pacific President and CEO Maziar Sabet said in a statement.
A man was charged with two counts of misdemeanor assault after a fight in Mangilao on Sunday, according to a magistrates complaint filed in Superior Court.

Malik Baham, 30, told police he had been drinking before he went to a residence to pick up family members, according to the complaint.

Witnesses told police that when he arrived, he argued with a relative, and people at the residence told him to leave. At some point, the police were called for a removal request, according to the complaint, but Baham was already gone by the time they arrived.

Other Guam Police Department units responded later when police got a report that Baham had returned.

The witnesses said Baham was intoxicated, and he was told he could get his family members the next day. He insisted, and an argument began.

Baham reportedly approached a woman in an aggressive manner, and then punched her. When a man tried to intervene, Baham hit him, too, according to the complaint.

When he was interviewed by police, Baham said he heard people at the residence call him names, and he continued toward the home even after they told him to get off the property. Then he heard someone threaten to hit him, and he threw a punch, the complaint stated.

If found guilty of the charges, he could face two years in prison.

Baham was released on a $1,000 personal recognizance bond.
The Chinese Embassy in the UK issues statement to strongly condemn the UK sides groundless accusation

People's Daily Online) 16:36, March 26, 2024

On 25 March, the UK government made the groundless accusation that China had carried out cyberattacks against the UK, and announced sanctions on two Chinese individuals and one Chinese entity. In response to this, the Chinese Embassy in the UK issued a statement, strongly condemning the UK's sinister action. The statement reads as follows:

The UKs claim that China was responsible for malicious cyber campaigns targeting the UK is completely unfounded and constitutes malicious slander. We firmly oppose and strongly condemn this and have made a serious demarche to the UK side.

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 have never encouraged, supported or condoned cyberattacks. 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.

China has always adhered to the principle of non-interference in each other's internal affairs. We have no interest or need to meddle in the UK's internal affairs. Whether the British government is good or bad, the British people will come to a conclusion sooner or later.

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".

China has always stood against illegal unilateral sanctions and will make a justified and necessary response to this.

We strongly urge the UK to immediately stop spreading false information about China, stop such self-staged, anti-China farces, and refrain from going further down the wrong path that leads only to failure.

(Source: gb.china-embassy.gov.cn/eng/)

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
Jordan Parker is a breaking news reporter for The San Francisco Chronicle. He graduated from Sacramento State University in May 2022 with a degree in journalism. During his time there, he spent three years as a reporter and editor for the university's award-winning student newspaper, The State Hornet. He spent his senior year of college serving as The Hornet's first Black editor in chief, leading the organization to two Pacemaker awards and several other national honors from the Associated Collegiate Press. When he's not chasing down a story, he likes watching movies, traveling and trying new restaurants.

He can be reached at Jordan.Parker@sfchronicle.com.
The Guam Solid Waste Authority wants to increase the current $30 monthly residential trash rate every year until it reaches $40 by 2027, with no movement yet on a proposed mandatory, islandwide trash collection and other issues facing the agencys finances.

Commercial trash rates and transfer station tipping fees would likewise go up, should the Public Utilities Commission approve rate increases.

Solid Waste board members will decide in April whether to ask PUC for a $35 monthly trash rate by 2025, a $38 rate in 2026, and a $40 rate by 2027, according to this months board meeting.

Management for Solid Waste also wants to increase commercial trash fees from $171 per ton to $185 per ton.

Residents that choose to drop off their trash at Solid Waste transfer stations will see the biggest hike in fees, from about $7.50 per truck bed load to $23.10 per half truck bed load and up to $34.65 for a full load.

Mandatory pickup

Some rate increases could be avoided, if Solid Waste gets the Legislatures approval to launch mandatory, island-wide trash pickup for every household, Solid Waste General Manager Irvin Slike said.

There are about 21,000 eligible households on Guam paying for trash service, and another 21,000 that are not, according to the general manager.

The mandatory trash collection is supposed to bump up revenue for Solid Waste and will hopefully improve services for everyone.

Weve said that if everybody contributes, then we can reduce the rates from $30, down to $27, Slike said.

Solid Waste will provide PUC with an alternative rate plan, if mandatory trash service gets approved.

If mandatory collection goes through, residential customers will actually see a decrease in rates:

$27 a month until 2026, $28 by 2027

Customers on public assistance will pay $15 through 2026, and $15.50 by 2027

Commercial customers would still see a small increase, to $178 per ton.

No matter what happens, tipping fees at transfer stations will see the same increase, Slike said, as the stations cost Solid Waste more money to operate than they are currently bringing in.

Sen. Sabina Perez Bill 165-37, seeking to approve the islandwide trash collection plan, has been on the legislative session agenda since January, but so far has not moved forward.

Theres been, I guess, some pushback from people who probably are not customers now and dont wish to be, Slike told the Pacific Daily News.

Some people look at: well, $5 isnt that much. But you know, another way to look at it is, how come the people that havent paid get to dictate what the people who have contributed will contribute in the future? the general manager added.

Even with the reduced rates, islandwide, mandatory collection would allow Solid Waste to break even on its operations, fully fund expansions at the Layon landfill, and close out landfill cells.

Solid Waste is also planning to move to a five-day weekly pickup schedule, if islandwide collection moves forward, and also start picking up recyclable bins on the same day as trash is picked up.

Transfer station changes

If rates go up as planned, many residents that choose to throw their own trash at one of the Solid Waste transfer stations will find the option less attractive, Slike said.

It was past practice to charge a flat rate of just $7.50 per truck bed load, but Slike said Solid Waste had since taken to measuring out trash tipping by the cubic yard, as the practice had left a large amount of trash unaccounted for.

He said Solid Waste was planning to close the transfer stations outright, with islandwide collection being eyed, but did not because a number of people liked to use the option.

According to Slike, the usage at the stations did not justify the labor costs.

The transfer stations cost Solid Waste $640,000 a year to run, but make just $415,000, the PDN reported in December.
Once a year, New Orleans Central City neighborhood comes alive in a rainbow of intricately beaded costumes and feathers, paraded through the streets in a mesmerizing strut.

In a city known for its rich cultural tapestry, New Orleans Mardi Gras Indians stand out as one of the most unique and visually dazzling traditions.

It takes six or seven months to make a costume, says David Perry, one of the big chiefs of the Wild Red Flame Indian tribe. Thats sewing three or four hours a day after you get home from work, til your fingers are tired.

Mardi Gras Indians, also known as Black Masking Indians, are an African American carnival organization.

Despite their title, the tribes arent literally indigenous to New Orleans  nor is membership a birthright. Rather, the name pays homage to a centuries old alliance.

A "Wild Man" of a Mardi Gras Indians tribe prepares to strut. When tribes meet during the parade, the wild man clears onlookers so the chiefs may confront each other. Emily Topping

Historians generally agree that the tradition stems from early encounters between the regions Indigenous and enslaved Black communities. According to Smithsonian Magazine, local Indigenous groups offered a sense of community to the incoming African people, even occasionally welcoming escaped slaves into their tribes.

When Black people were later barred from joining all-white Mardi Gras Krewes, they created their own traditions. Mardi Gras Indians costumes and rituals now reference the early friendship.

A Mardi Gras Indian "spy boy" runs ahead of his tribe, warning the group of other incoming Indians.Emily Topping

Modern day tribes are organized with specific roles for each member. The big chief is the tribal leader, followed by second chiefs and queens. Marching several blocks ahead of the tribe is the spy boy. He relays information to the flag boy, who notifies the chief by waving a flag or stick.

When tribes encounter one another, the big chiefs circle in, taunting the opposing group in a symbolic fight. The Indians verbally spar, using phrases from an invented language that combines English, French and Creole.

Each March, thousands of people pack the streets of Uptown to watch tribes face off at the Super Sunday festival, which was this past Sunday, March 24.

From the outside, the extravaganza is reminiscent of other local block parties, as crowds sing along to music from bass-boosted speakers and sip lime-flavored daiquiris from pop-up tarps.

In reality, the festival is a display unlike any other.

The staggering time investment of tribe members, combined with years of tradition enshrouded in secrecy, create an artistic caliber only available within these six specific blocks of Central City in New Orleans.

Being a chief is all about respect, Perry says. And it takes a long while to build that.

David Perry, big chief of the Wild Red Flames, opted not to mask this year in favor of selling his "Big Chief Creole Seasoning" alongside his family.Emily Topping

"Spy Boy" Floyd Edwards of the Golden Eagles Mardi Gras Indians is seen marching at the Super Sunday Festival.Emily Topping

Randy Lawrence of the Golden Arrow tribe shows off his suit at the Super Sunday Mardi Gras Indians Festival.Emily Topping

A member of the Black Mohawk Mardi Gras Indian tribe peers out from inside their costume. According to one tribe member, the painstakingly-designed suits cost an average of $6,000 and take months of daily sewing to create.Emily Topping

Brandon Forrest Jr., left, 16, and Corey Cotton, right, 18, are members of the Golden Suits tribe. They have taken part in Mardi Gras Indian traditions since they were children, and say they plan to continue with their future families.Emily Topping

A Mardi Gras Indian shouts a call-and-response song to the rest of his tribe.Emily Topping

"Spy boy" Alphonse Feliciana of the Golden Blades displays to his titular, beaded paddle.Emily Topping

A Mardi Gras Indians big chief is seen enveloped in the red feathers of his suit at the Super Sunday Festival.Emily Topping

Mardi Gras Indians play traditional instruments as they strut down Lasalle Street in Central City.Emily Topping

A young member of the Creole Osceolas Mardi Gras Indians tribe returns a chant.Emily Topping

A Mardi Gras Indian is seen outside of A.L. Davis Park in New Orleans. There are over 40 different tribes in the city, almost all of which originate from Uptown and Downtown.Emily Topping

One of the big chiefs of the Mardi Gras Indians tribes prepares the "spy boy" to run ahead of the group.Emily Topping

Female Mardi Gras Indian tribe members, while less common, play an important role and are referred to as "queens."Emily Topping
A homeless individual was rushed to a Florida hospital early Saturday morning after sustaining injuries from a K-9 unit deployed by the Gainesville Police Department in Florida.

In a news release issued Sunday, Gainesville Police said the K-9 team was called to the area of 3100 NW 13th Street in Gainesville, to apprehend a felony domestic violence suspect who had fled on foot.

While in pursuit, a K-9 handler came across an individual concealed within a patch of bushes. After receiving no response to a verbal warning  and believing this was the suspect, the handler allowed the K-9 to engage, resulting in puncture wounds to the individuals calf and thumb. Regretfully, the person the dog bit was not the suspect, but instead a homeless person.

According to Gainesville Police, As soon as the K-9 handler became aware that the person was not the suspect, the apprehension was immediately terminated and medical assistance was given.

In a news release, Gainesville Assistant Police Chief Nelson Moya, called the incident unfortunate and unforeseen.

In this case, the officers followed all departmental policies and protocols but encountered a person in an unfortunate and unforeseen situation, Moya said. This is further evidence that safe shelter is important. GPD is continuing to work with GFR and other partners to improve safety for our houseless neighbors through community outreach.

Moya also indicated that the Gainesville Fire Rescue Community Response Paramedicine Program will connect with the individual, who has not been identified, to offer support.

No further update on the injured individual has been released. GulfLive.com reached out to the Gainesville Police Department for comment, but they did not immediately respond.




Haiti - FLASH : Message from the Visa Application Reception Center for Brazil





The Visa Application Reception Center for Brazil (BVAC) operated by the International Organization for Migration (IOM - Haiti) informs:



"1 - The Brazilian embassy in Haiti remains closed and therefore IOM cannot process new files. Due to the airport closure, the embassy cannot receive the required materials from Brazil for printing new visas.



2 - The IOM continues to process visa applications for family reunification (VITEM XI), even if we are operating slowly. Families will receive a response to their request by email. Please check your emails regularly.



3 - Applicants who have lost their appointment will receive a new date as soon as the situation is more stable.



4 - Due to the current situation, the online system will remain closed for making new appointments for the humanitarian visa (VITEM III). Those who were able to secure an appointment will receive assistance as soon as the situation allows.



5 - The IOM reminds the general public that no one can ask you for money to speed up your file. Making an appointment is free and only administrative fees are required, payable only to Sogebank.



6 - In the current context, we can only hand over visas already received from the Embassy. Please note that you will receive a call if you are affected.



7 - OIM agents are there to assist you by telephone. You can always call us on the numbers: 2817 0320 / 3163 6075 / 31709307 / 49101117 and 36688490



We continue to monitor the situation in the country to continue to assist the population."



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - NOTICE Sunrise Airways : Resumption of regular Cap-Haitien / Miami flights (+ Special flights)





The Haitian airline Sunrise Airways announces the regular resumption of flights between Cap Haitien and Miami with one return flight per day on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays starting March 27, 2024.



Furthermore, the company also announces the establishment of a direct connection between the city of Les Cayes and Cap Haitien since Monday March 25. These flights will allow a connection with flights from/to Miami.



With the resumption of certain flights, subject to technical possibilities and security measures, Sunrise Airways wishes to facilitate the travel of its passengers and hopes to soon resume domestic and international flights from Port-au-Prince.



Special Sunrise Airways flights :

Due to high demand, we are adding a special 60-seat flight between Miami and Cap Haitien on Thursday, March 28, 2024. Special flights with more seats between Cap Haitien and Miami are also scheduled for March 31 and 3, April 5 and 7, 2024.



Book with your travel agent at Sunriseairways.net

or contact: +509 22 20 01 11 + 509 28 11 22 22 + 1 877 652 0202 + 1 809 236 0777

WhatsApp: +509 39 11 2222



For flight details, schedules, frequencies and updated prices, visit sunriseairways.net



HL/ S/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Insecurity : Canada has started to facilitate the departure of Haiti for vulnerable Canadians





"Canada started to facilitate small-scale departure options for vulnerable Canadian citizens from Haiti to the Dominican Republic [...] declared Melanie Joly, the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs explaining Due to the admissibility requirements to enter the Dominican Republic, this option is offered only available to Canadian citizens who have valid Canadian passports. . However, Canada continues to work with partners and allies on finding other options for those not included in this group.



If you are a Canadian citizen in Haiti wishing to leave, you should register with the Registration of Canadians Abroad service https://travel.gc.ca/assistance/emergency-info/roca-faq and contact Global Affairs Canadas Emergency Watch and Response Centre to discuss your situation.



"Canadians and permanent residents, as well as their immediate family members who intend to travel to Canada, should apply for a travel document as soon as possible.



"Canadians in need of consular assistance in Haiti should contact the Embassy of Canada to Haiti by phone at +011 509 2 812 9000 or by email at prncecs@international.gc.ca



"Canadians requiring emergency consular assistance can contact Global Affairs Canadas 24/7 Emergency Watch and Response Centre in Ottawa :



by calling +1 613 996 8885 (collect calls are accepted where available)

by SMS at +1 613 686 3658

via WhatsApp at +1 613 909 8881

via Telegram at Canada Emergency Abroad

by Signal at +1 613 909 8087

by e-mail at haitisos@international.gc.ca"



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41966-haiti-politic-the-canadian-ambassador-will-remain-in-haiti-despite-the-rise-in-violence.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41923-haiti-notice-the-canadian-embassy-reduces-its-staff-to-the-essentials.html



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Police secure an area around West Portal Station after a fatal crash involving an SUV in San Francisco on March 16. The accident killed four members of a family headed to the San Francisco Zoo. Benjamin Fanjoy/The Chronicle

In its first detailed report on the West Portal intersection where a driver crashed into a bus stop and killed a family of four, San Franciscos Municipal Transportation Agency did not indicate any design flaws that could have contributed to the tragedy.

The site of the crash has high visibility sidewalks, the agencys report noted, as well as signs instructing drivers to watch for trains and refrain from passing. In recent years, pedestrian safety zones with delineators were added, according to the report posted on SFMTAs Vision Zero website, where the agency tracks traffic deaths of pedestrians.

Neither SFMTA nor San Francisco Police Department investigators have publicly discussed the cause of the crash, other than to say that they do not believe the configuration of the street was to blame.

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In recent days a steady stream of mourners has flowed to the site where, on March 16, Mary Fong Lau, 78, allegedly veered into an oncoming lane of traffic at high speed, plowed onto the sidewalk and nicked the library before barreling into the bus stop where the family of four was waiting on its way to the San Francisco Zoo.

Diego Cardoso de Oliveira, 40, and 2-year-old Joaquim were killed on impact. Matilde Moncada Ramos Pinto, 38, and newborn Caue later died at hospitals where they were being treated for injuries.

Traffic engineers will continue to evaluate the intersection where the crash occurred, SFMTA spokesperson Michael Roccaforte said Monday. The agency is providing support to transit workers who witnessed the crash and its aftermath, he said.

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said her office was waiting for more information  including the results of a toxicology report and a review of the sport utility vehicles operating systems  before making any charging decisions.

Residents said the site of the crash is often congested with idling cars and delivery vans, as well as confused drivers attempting to navigate around the transit station, where Muni trains enter a tunnel on their way downtown.

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The intersection is very problematic, Deidre Von Rock, president of the West Portal Merchants Association, said in an interview.

This photo released by relatives on March 21 shows the family that was killed in a crash in San Franciscos West Portal neighborhood: Matilde Moncada Ramos Pinto, 38, and her husband Diego Cardoso de Oliveira, 40, with their two sons: 3-month-old Caue and 2-year-old Joaquin. Courtesy photo

While Von Rock does not believe the intersections design contributed to last weeks horrific crash, she described the area as really chaotic during busy daytime hours. Construction for the L Taraval Improvement Project, which for more than four years has rerouted light-rail riders to temporary bus routes, has further worsened congestion in the neighborhood, Von Rock said, creating a constant flow of people shuffling from nearby bus stops to the transit station.

That there hasnt been an accident, with endless pedestrians getting off the bus and rushing to the tunnel, really is the shocker, she said. Its really dodgy.

The family, who lived in the Mission District, was traveling to the zoo at the time of the fatal crash, relatives said in a statement released last week. Police said they were waiting next to the transit station at Lenox Way and Ulloa Street, one of the temporary bus stops that takes L Taraval riders west to the zoo.

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The $90 million overhaul of the L Taraval Muni line has been underway since 2019, with residents and merchants increasingly weary of ongoing construction and neighborhood upheaval. As part of the now-defunct LK light-rail route that ran between the zoo and Balboa Park Station, a large wooden wheelchair ramp was temporarily installed at the bus stop in 2020 and removed two years later. Von Rock said the crash has prompted a much-needed conversation about infrastructure repairs on San Franciscos west side, which she said have historically proceeded haphazardly and with little of the urgency given to the citys denser eastern corridors.




Haiti - FLASH : Mandatory online registration for schools, students and teachers, extended deadline





The Ministry of National Education thanks all educational agents for their contribution to the compulsory online registration operation started on Monday September 18, 2023 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40523-haiti-education-launch-of-online-registration-of-student-lists.html which today stands at 17,618 schools, 1,811,123 students and 61,669 teachers.



This work is important to support the education system and for the protection of school archives which have been threatened in recent days by acts of vandalism or occupation of certain Ministry offices.



In order to better progress in the digitization of all data on the country's schools, the Ministry has decided to postpone the deadline it has set for online registration until April 12nd, 2024 https://sigeee.menfp.gouv.ht/census/



The Ministry and its partners will continue to support schools to facilitate procedures, in particular with the Ministry's Call Center, where people can call the following numbers: +509 44 68 43 75 /+509 31 26 75 19



The MENFP managed to obtain information on approximately 50% of students already registered and automatically having a Unique School Identification Number, necessary for the registration of school candidates for state exams.



Remember that the Unique School Identification Number will guarantee the "traceability" of each pupil and student, from kindergarten to university and will also facilitate the obtaining of transcripts and diplomas through the offices of the Ministry and the platform in line. It will also allow other operations between the Ministry and the schools of the Republic.



Finally at the end of the 2023-2024 academic year, schools will have the responsibility to make the end-of-year decision declaration (including the final transcript of each student) online on the Ministrys platform.



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40523-haiti-education-launch-of-online-registration-of-student-lists.html



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Representatives of Friends of the Pool and Park Foundation said in a press release they want to give an update on a funding opportunity to help rehabilitate the Chinook pool and Sweet Park.

As you may know, the wonderful Schellin Family pledged $100,000 towards the Chinook Pool and Park Project, the release said.  As of today, we are currently at $30,122.16 donated towards the match and we would like to encourage folks from near and far to help match their amazing donation.

The Chinook Pool was built in 1976 and is now 48 years old. In that time, foundation members said, the pool has seen significant deterioration, and it has been experiencing issues that will lead to larger, more expensive problems in the future if repairs are not made soon.

The plans also are to repair and upgrade Sweet Park next to the pool. When it rains heavily, the park often floods due to drainage issues, the foundation members said.

Karen Schellin said her family is thrilled with what has come in and hopes more is on the way.

Hey Chinook pool supporters! The Schellin family is humbled by the generous donations which have come in for the pool rehab since we offered our match, she said in a statement provided by the foundation.   At the time we announced the match, we recognized that the Pool Foundation needed some confidence about available funding early in the year. Such confidence will allow them to proceed with final engineering and contract preparation necessary to begin construction. That is why we set a March 31st deadline when we announced the match.

While we are thrilled with the donations to date, we are wondering if some potential donors are still holding back, Schellin added. We would still love to see everyone come forward to maximize our match of $100,000 by the end of this month.

Do you have children or grandchildren growing up in Chinook, she asked. Did you or do you bring your children home to Chinook to visit Grandpa and Grandma? Are you moved to give back to the place that shaped you?

Schellin said the foundation members have shown a tireless commitment to the project by personally organizing and working the fundraisers over and above their work on the foundation itself. And local citizens have shown their support by overwhelmingly approving the bond measure to help fund the project.

The foundation release said donations can be made on the foundations website at https://www.chinookfriends.org/donations and people can donate several different ways. The site has links to GoFundMe, they can also pay with a credit card through Paypal, they can drop off their donation at First Bank of Montana in Chinook or donations can be mailed to Friends of the Pool and Park Foundation, PO Box 785, Chinook, MT 59523.

We truly appreciate the consideration of the Chinook Pool project and we look forward to meeting the $100,000 match goal, the release said. Thank you again to the Schellin families for your wonderful contribution towards this important project for the community of Chinook.
Gilbert Bakers Rainbow Flag installation at Harvey Milk Plaza unfurls in the wind from Harvey Milk Plaza. The Gay Pride flag and its flagpole are being recommended for landmark status by San Francisco Supervisor Rafael Mandelman. Yalonda M. James/The Chronicle

The rainbow Gay Pride flag that flies over the Castro from Harvey Milk Plaza may be on its way to landmark status.

San Francisco Supervisor Rafael Mandelman introduced a resolution Tuesday, March 26, initiating a landmark designation for the flagpole and flag, now officially titled Gilbert Bakers Rainbow Flag installation at Harvey Milk Plaza, after the San Francisco artist who created the iconic community symbol.

More than a quarter century since the flag was first raised over Harvey Milk Plaza, nearly a half century since Gilbert first conceived the rainbow as a symbol of queer liberation, its high time for San Francisco to recognize Gilbert Bakers Rainbow Flag installation as the historic landmark it is, Mandelman told the Chronicle.

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If the resolution passes at the next supervisors meeting on Tuesday, April 2, the city Planning Department will prepare a Landmark Designation Report to submit to the Historic Preservation Commission for consideration and vote. Members of the public will be given a chance to provide feedback on the proposal at the Historic Preservation Commission and Land Use and Transportation Committee meetings.

The ordinance would require passage by the Board of Supervisors and the mayors signature for final approval.

Gilbert Baker, creator of the rainbow flag, at a San Francisco Pride celebration in the rotunda at San Francisco City Hall. Gilbert Baker Estate

Gilbert Baker Foundation leaders call the Harvey Milk Plaza flag the sole remaining permanent art installation by Baker, who died in 2017, making its preservation even more urgent.

Pictured on everything from postcards to posters and television shows, the flag and pole have become a globally recognized image associated with the Castro and San Franciscos role as a queer epicenter. The rainbow flag itself has become a signature marker, painted on light poles, as crosswalks and depicted in murals, among other public art installations throughout the historically LGBTQ neighborhood. During LGBTQ Pride Month each June, rainbow banners fly on Market Street and businesses feature rainbows as seasonal decor.

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The rainbow Gay Pride flag was created in 1978 by Baker at the former Gay Center on Grove Street for the Gay Freedom Day Parade (now San Francisco Pride). The flag originally had eight colors but was simplified to six for easier reproduction. Each stripe represents a value, including red for life, blue for harmony and peace, and purple for spirit.

When a piece of Bakers original Pride Flag was donated to San Franciscos GLBT Historical Society Museum in 2021, Terry Beswick, the executive director at the time, called it the gay Shroud of Turin.

Gilbert Bakers Rainbow Flag installation at Harvey Milk Plaza, seen at Castro and Market streets in 2018. Liz Moughon/The Chronicle

Baker never trademarked the flag because he believed it would have better chances of flourishing as a symbol for the LGBTQ community if it were free to be reproduced, according to the Gilbert Baker Foundation.

Indeed, in a 2021 Chronicle story examining whether the flag was still representative of the evolving LGBTQ community as other flags had risen in popularity, Ted Kaye, a vexillologist (flag expert) and secretary of the North American Vexillological Association, said part of what gave the flag its staying power despite others created to represent various parts of the queer community in the 1970s was that Gilbert Bakers was the first and the only one that was broadly embraced and spread like wildfire. It was the community that took that flag and adopted it.

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The 100-foot flagpole at Harvey Milk Plaza and its 20-by-30-foot flag that flies 24 hours a day throughout the year were a decade-in-the-making project by Baker. The Gilbert Baker Foundation credits Mayor Willie Brown with greenlighting the project after the artist ran into Brown at the Castro Street Fair in 1997 and pitched the concept.

The art installation was dedicated on Nov. 7, 1997, the 20-year anniversary of the groundbreaking election of San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California. In the decades since, the Castro Merchants Association has been responsible for replacing the flags after they become worn and faded.

Gilbert Baker in a re-creation of a gay concentration camp uniform he made following the election of Donald Trump as president. Gilbert Baker Estate

LGBTQ rights activist and author Cleve Jones, a longtime friend of Bakers, called the flag a singular, and magnificent, work of art.

Im just delighted that this has finally happened, said Jones. Rafael and I first discussed it within days of Gilberts passing.  It is exactly what it is supposed to be and exactly where it is supposed to be.

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While the flag is widely accepted and adopted in San Francisco, it is still frequently banned at schools and on the local and state level. On Sunday, March 24, the White House pushed back at congressional Republicans who included a provision in the bipartisan government funding bill that limits which flags can be flown above U.S. embassies, effectively banning Gay Pride flags.

A statement from the White House said that 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 and vowed to repeal it.
Havre Police Department

Officers searched for but couldn't find an intoxicated man having trouble walking reported on Eighth Avenue Monday at 10:07 a.m.

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The Child Abuse Hotline made Havre area a report at 10:28 a.m. Monday.

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Jesse Lee Schoening of Havre, 34, was arrested on a state District Court warrant served at probation and parole offices Monday at 2:21 p.m.

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A caller on 11th Street asked officers Monday at 3:28 p.m. for assistance for two juveniles who were dropped off at the wrong bus stop.

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An arrest was made on a warrant served after a foot pursuit Monday at 5:22 p.m. on Fifth Street. No details on charges were provided.

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Officers performed a welfare check on Cleveland Ave at the request of a 5:24 p.m. Monday caller.

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A written or verbal warning was issued after a First Avenue caller reported an intoxicated man Monday at 5:49 p.m.

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Officers were asked Monday at 6:22 p.m. to perform a VIN inspection on Fourth Street.

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A sex offense was reported on First Street at 6:57 p.m. Monday.

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A 7:30 p.m. Monday caller asked officers to be on the look-out for a missing truck, but the caller later called back to say the truck was in the caller's possession again.

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A Monday 9:56 p.m. caller at the hospital reported a patient had a cat bite.

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Someone with Child Protective Services stopped at the police station Monday at 11:45 p.m. for assistance.

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Meriel Rose English of Havre, 21, was issued a summons on a criminal contempt charge during a vehicle stop on Second Street at 12:32 a.m. today.

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Officers at 3:13 a.m. today assisted with a fire call on Fifth Avenue. The call turned out to be a false alarm.

Hill County Sheriff's Office

A sex offense reported at 7:42 p.m. Monday in the Havre area.

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Deputies performed a welfare check on 61st Avenue Northwest at the request of a 10:06 p.m. Monday caller.

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Deputies assisted at a medical call on U.S. Highway 2 East at 1:26 a.m. today.

Havre Fire Department

Emergency medical technicians responded to three calls Monday and two calls early this morning.

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Firefighters responding to a fire alarm on the 2400 Block of Fifth Avenue at 3:05 a.m. today found the call was due to a malfunctioning alarm.

Havre Animal Shelter

This morning the animal shelter held two 9-week-old kittens all of unknown gender, five female cats, three male cats and a 20-week-old male kitten.

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Also this morning, the animal shelter held seven mixed-breed puppies between 8 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.
Hell hath no fury like a woman deprived of her basic rights

Its 2024, but it feels like were back in 1991 this Womens History Month.

Back then, President George H.W. Bush was following in the footsteps of his predecessor Ronald Reagan by continuing to appoint conservative judges to the federal bench, and Roe v. Wade was expected to fall.

Radical anti-abortion activism had gained prominence and strength. Popular media was awash with stories pushing the myth that women were dissatisfied and unhappy  and feminist ideals of womens empowerment were to blame.

Then a blockbuster book hit the streets: Backlash by Susan Faludi.

It came out just as the legal notion of fetal personhood was taking shape. Among other things, the book captured the horror of giving a fetus, even a hypothetical potential fetus, precedence over an actual living person. Backlash posited that any so-called womens unhappiness was not the fault of feminism, but the fact that the struggle for equality was far from finished.

Faludi anticipated by over 20 years the deadly choices that women and their doctors are now being forced to make in a post-Roe world.

She was distressed at the prospect of backward momentum  of a world that treated women as vessels for childbearing above all. What unites women is the blatant, ugly evidence of oppression, she said at the time, that will come with the inevitable demise of Roe vs. Wade.

Faludi was right. Theres a new backlash, all right  but this time its not against womens progress, but against the loss of womens rights and their own personhood. Since Roe was overturned, at least three states have blocked new abortion bans, and 16 more have strengthened existing pro-statutes with new protections.

Safeguarding womens autonomy was also front and center in last Novembers midterm elections.

Ohio was the epicenter. Advocates put forth a bold ballot question on whether to amend the state constitution affirming the right of individuals to make their own reproductive health decisions  including abortion. The outcome? No contest. Voters opted to enshrine abortion rights by a margin of 57 to 43 percent.

Abortion was also on the ballot indirectly in Virginia. Anti-choice governor Glen Youngkin was pushing voters to flip the state Senate to Republicans while keeping the Republican majority in the House of Delegates.

That would have allowed the governor and his lackeys in the legislature to pass a 15-week abortion ban. That grand plan went down in flames  pro-choicers took full control of both houses of the General Assembly after two years of divided power.

The latest trend in the reproduction wars comes from Alabama. Another attack on womens rights to self determination  but this time from the other end of the argument.

In a first-of-its-kind ruling, Alabamas Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are children and anyone who destroys them can be held liable for wrongful death. At several facilities in the state, the decision has virtually stopped in-vitro fertilization in its tracks for women who are trying to conceive.

Its reminiscent of struggles of the past. It took nearly a century and a half after independence for women to win the constitutional right to vote in 1919. Winning abortion rights took even longer  until 1973, when Roe guaranteed it under the 14th Amendment. But that ruling lasted only 49 years. One step forward, two steps back.

Women  both those who want abortion to be legal and those who want to become pregnant through in-vitro fertilization  are furious.

The upshot? Women are the majority of the population, the majority of registered voters, and the majority of those who actually show up at the polls. Its a good bet theyll remember in November.

Hell hath no fury like a woman deprived of her basic rights.



Martha Burk (@MarthaBurk) is the director of the Corporate Accountability Project for the National Council of Womens Organizations (NCWO). This op-ed was distributed by OtherWords.org.
Company facing 81,000 fine following confined space fatality

A US employer's failure to follow federal safety procedures left a 30-year-old worker suffering fatal asphyxiation as they tried to make repairs inside a water tank at a wellsite in Oklahoma City in September 2023, a federal investigation has found.

Responding to the report of a fatality in Purcell, investigators with the US Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration determined the worker had entered a permit-required confined space to fix a leaking bulkhead valve in a production tank and then lost consciousness. Two co-workers entered the tank in a failed rescue attempt and suffered effects from exposure to low atmospheric conditions. Neither sustained injuries.



OSHA investigators found the employer, C&M Roustabout Services LLC failed to evaluate the tank for hazardous conditions  including testing the atmosphere  and did not use protective systems to prevent worker injuries, a violation of federal regulations.



"This preventable tragedy must serve as a reminder of the importance of complying with safety and health standards," explained OSHA Area Director Steve Kirby in Oklahoma City. "OSHA has specific requirements for operations such as drilling, servicing and storage to protect people employed in this high-hazard industry. Every employer should make safety and health a core value in their workplaces and ensure their workers are trained properly and provided the required safety equipment."



Further investigation determined the remaining water in the tank contained compounds  including ethyl benzene, xylene, trimethylbenzene, isobutane and other cyclic aliphatic compounds  and atmospheric readings inside showed low oxygen content, volatile organic compounds and carbon dioxide, all of which can lead to asphyxiation.



OSHA issued C&M Roustabout Services 16 serious citations. Of these citations, 13 are related to failures that contributed to the worker's death, including the following:



- Allowing employees to enter a confined space without an atmospheric evaluation or a required permit.

- Not providing flame-resistant personal protective equipment.

- Failing to have testing and ventilation equipment space entry programs in place.

- Not training employees to establish proficiency on confined space hazards.

- Failing to ensure those authorized to enter the space knew the hazards, signs or symptoms of exposure.



The company faces $103,232 (81,550) in proposed penalties for its violations.



Headquartered in Pauls Valley, C&M has provided roustabout services to Oklahoma's oil industry since 2008. From 2011 to 2018, 1,030 workers in the U.S. died from occupational injuries involving a confined space. The annual figures range from a low of 88 in 2012 to a high of 166 in 2017, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports 70 workers died on the job in 2022 in Oklahoma, including 18 in the construction and extraction industries.



More information...
Neste on Friday issued yet another warning to bus operators that the continuing strikes could disrupt the availability of diesel as soon as in the coming days. With around 60 per cent of buses in the region running on diesel, the newspaper reminded, the disruption could have a broad-based impact on public transport services.

THE POLITICAL STRIKES that are now well into their third week could disrupt bus services in the capital region of Finland, reports Helsingin Sanomat.

Theres fuel for the time being, and there have been deliveries to depots. We definitely have fuel for today and tomorrow, Mika Hayrynen, the head of procurement at Helsinki Region Transport (HSL), assured to Helsingin Sanomat on Monday.

If there are no supplementary deliveries, well start having problems on Wednesday.

Hayrynen added that the joint municipal authority would likely cancel buses on routes that run along metro or train tracks  given the relative ease at which passengers could switch from roads to rails  but seek to operate, for example, buses that primarily service schools in the outer parts of its service area, such as Kirkkonummi, Sipoo and Tuusula.

Fuel ran out from some service stations in the capital region last weekend, according to Helsingin Sanomat. Hayrynen revealed that it created challenges for operators that use commercial service stations to refuel their buses, but so far no services have been cancelled.

Marten Winqvist, a regional director at Nobina, told Helsingin Sanomat that so far fuel has been available as usual. One of the largest bus operators in the capital region, the company refuels its buses partly at its own depots and partly at commercial stations.

Were monitoring the situation. If the strikes go on even longer, fuel availability could become more problematic. We dont have any extra tanks, he said tot he newspaper.

Organised in protest of a series of labour market reforms and social security cuts by the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK), the strikes are presently set to end on Sunday, 31 March. They have halted the handling of goods at ports, disrupted rail freight services and complicated industrial processes since 11 March.

Although none of the participating unions has announced its readiness to extend the strikes further, industrial actions against the government proposals could continue in one form or another given that neither side has shown a willingness to make major compromises.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT
A NEW specialist bed has been donated to Townlands Memorial Hospital in Henley in memory of Terry Buckett, who led the campaign to save the old hospital.

A total of 9,300 was raised to buy the bed, which will initially be used in the ear, nose and throat department, replacing its outpatient bed.

The Friends of Townlands, a group of volunteers who raise money and help finance equipment for the hospital, raised 5,053 from donations.

The other 4,246 came from Mr Buckett, who left this sum to be used at the hospital following his death in 2009, aged 56.

The bed has a plaque honouring Mr Buckett, who was mayor of Henley and led the Save Townlands Group.

Dr Peter Ashby, a retired Henley GP and vice-president of the Friends, said: When Terry sadly died, his wish was that the money left over would be kept by the League of Friends for protection and then we would use it. The idea was that the money would be used when we found a suitable project and this was perfect, so we contributed.

Most of these sorts of things the hospital probably wouldnt get for ages through the NHS but it can get them reasonably quickly if we say, Yes, well pay for it and everyones happy.

The bed is a very simple little thing really and its used for outpatient procedures. You can tip people up, turn them over and do various things.

Initially, its for the ear, nose and throat department, for throat examinations and things, but it could used for dermatology, to take off small lesions and various other bits, so it will actually be quite helpful in the whole hospital.

Most of the consultants are very keen to do stuff here if they can and were obviously delighted to have them as it keeps the place alive and kicking. Tom Rourke, ear, nose and throat consultant at Townlands, said: Its a proper operating trolley rather than an outpatient couch that is designed to be sat on for 10 minutes.

Its ten times better  its more comfortable and has got a lot more flexibility in terms of length, height and levels.

The previous one wasnt right. We were getting numb feet because the end of the trolley was digging in for an hour or two.

Caroline Newton, who chairs the Friends of Townlands, said: This is exactly what the Friends is all about, making donations to the hospital to help make peoples time there better and enabling the clinicians to work as well as they can.

You dont necessarily expect an operation to be comfortable but you do want the conditions in which youre having that operation to be as comfortable as possible.

For us, it was actually quite a large donation but in terms of a hospital, its a relatively small piece of equipment that makes a huge difference. Mr Bucketts widow, Pauline, who also served as a town councillor after his death, said: This is the best thing to do with the money as its Henleys local hospital.

She said she wished she had a magic wand to enable the hospital to have in-patient beds like the old Townlands.

She said: They cant have people stay, which is a shame. I know what its like to have to travel to Abingdon and this is what people in Henley are having to do now, even just to get that rest.

Mr Buckett led the action group which campaigned for the old Townlands Hospital to remain open.

In 2005, the group organised a march around the town and delivered a petition with 11,800 names to then prime minister Tony Blair at No 10 Downing Street.

The campaign succeeded and led to the hospital being totally rebuilt in 2016.

Mr Buckett, who was a postman, served as a councillor from 1995 until his death and was mayor twice.
Broad Street Oysters other locations are along the Pacific Coast, in Malibu, Santa Barbara, Grand Central Market in Los Angeles and the Huntington Beach Pier. Manuel Orbegozo/Special to The Chronicle Broad Street Oyster at Ghirardelli Square includes seating for 125 people across two floors. Manuel Orbegozo/Special to The Chronicle

A Southern California hot spot known for New England-style seafood dishes and its raw bar is now ready to serve diners at a San Francisco landmark.

Broad Street Oyster Co. opens Wednesday, March 27, at Ghirardelli Square, offering the lobster rolls that have made the Los Angeles-area restaurants a sensation, along with raw bar offerings like freshly shucked oysters, seafood towers and other warm dishes like clam chowder. The company operates four other locations: one in Malibu, its first; another in downtown Los Angeles Grand Central Market; a third in Santa Barbara; and a fourth at the Huntington Beach pier in Huntington Beach (Orange County).

Owner Christopher Tompkins said the lobster rolls are among the most popular dishes at the companys Southern California restaurants. Customers can pick between a warm roll with butter or a chilled roll with mayonnaise. Tompkins, a native New Englander, personally prefers the chilled roll with mayo, calling it the best way to experience the dish. Diners have the option to add toppings like caviar and uni to their lobster rolls.

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The San Francisco restaurant will open with oysters from Massachusetts producer Island Creek, and is in the process of finding a local oyster producer, too.

Tompkins said the restaurants menu will largely be the same as its other locations, with the addition of five to 10 more items. There are plans to offer dishes that reflect San Franciscos seafood culture such as Dungeness crab and cioppino, the spicy seafood soup made popular in North Beach, which are unavailable at other locations.

The bar will offer around 12 wines from local producers, as well as craft brews from the area. There will be six offerings on tap, plus a selection of cans. Fellow Ghirardelli Square tenants San Francisco Brewing Co. have brewed and canned a New England-style IPA dubbed Gold Rush in collaboration with the restaurant. There isnt a full liquor license, though there will be a few soju-based drinks such as a spiked lemonade and bloody Marys.

Opening in San Francisco is a milestone for Tompkins. In Broad Street Oyster Co.s early days, when the company was a pop-up offering fresh oysters on plastic chairs and tables, he hosted some events at Bay Area wine festivals in his first forays outside of Los Angeles. San Francisco has always been a place where we wanted to open a full restaurant, Tompkins said.

Outside Broad Street Oyster Co. at Ghirardelli Square, the companys fifth location and the first in San Francisco. Manuel Orbegozo/Special to The Chronicle

Property management company Jamestown, which owns the Ghirardelli Square building where the restaurant is located, offered the vacancy to Tompkins around two years ago, knowing he was interested in opening in San Francisco. Tompkins remembers stepping into the empty storefront, with its wide views of the bay and Alcatraz Island. I knew this was it, he said.

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Broad Street Oyster Co. takes over a 4,500-square-foot space that was formerly the Cheese School of S.F. Theres room for about 125 seated diners across its two-story layout, which includes stools at the bar where oysters are shucked.

Adding a final touch to the dining room, Tompkins mounted a fiberglass shark from a wall, mouth fiercely open showing all its pointy teeth. He had the piece in his Los Angeles garage for about two years and drove it up to San Francisco himself. It would have been faster on I-5, but We took the 101, Tomkins said. Its only natural to drive up the coast.

Broad Street Oyster Co. 900 North Point St., Suite K201, San Francisco. broadstreetoyster.com

Reach Mario Cortez: mario.cortez@sfchronicle.com
The dining area at Three One Four pizza restaurant in Berkeley. Owner Brandon Wilson said he spent more than two years and over a million dollars on the buildout. Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle Executive chef Mario Vollera demonstrates how he makes the blueprint pizza to chef de cuisine Noah Gonzales at Three One Four pizza restaurant. Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle The you say potato, i say pizza served at Three One Four. Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle The dining area at Three One Four pizza restaurant in Berkeley, The restaurant opens March 28. Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle Executive chef Mario Vollera tosses a pizza crust in the kitchen. He says his crust is a combination of Neapolitan, New York and California style. Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle

After two years and over a million dollars, a long-promised swanky pizza lounge is set to open in Berkeleys Westbrae neighborhood. The restaurant will serve 10 crispy and chewy pies, as well as local beer, imported wines and a selection of spirits.

When Brandon Wilson picked up the keys to the former Lalimes space at 1329 Gilman St., his plan was to open Three One Four in the fall of 2022. Now, his restaurant is finally ready to launch on Thursday, March 28, with a menu of pizzas inspired by chef Mario Volleras time in Italy, New York, Los Angeles and the Bay Area.

I had to dig deep and get scrappy, Wilson says of his battle to open the spot. I had to start all over.

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Wilson, who lives with his family in the Temescal neighborhood of Oakland, was on the opening team at Restoration Hardwares rooftop restaurant at the Village mall in Marin. Working at the company, now known as RH, inspired him to open his own restaurant, partnering with entrepreneur and investor Josh Sizemore and seeking out Vollera for the kitchen.

When he found the Berkeley space for Three One Four (the name is a nod to the circle-related mathematical constant pi), Wilson thought hed struck gold. The high-profile location with abundant foot traffic seemed like a perfect fit for his vision of a moody jewel box of a restaurant, with sink-in-and-stay-a-while booths, showstopping chandeliers, and a sexily dim bar; a luxurious date-night spot with more than a touch of glam.

The front of Three One Four. The space was previously the longstanding restaurant Lalimes. Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle

But Lalimes had been at the address for around 35 years, and the building had been empty since 2020. I knew it was pretty decrepit, Wilson says now, but it wasnt until they began work that they realized it was a complete teardown.

Things got more complicated when a significant investor in the project dropped out as construction began. The project went dark for nearly eight months, as Wilson became the man with a tin cup, reaching out to friends and family and people that I went to grade school with for investments. He also took on a job as general manager at the Concord location of San Diego-based chain restaurant Puesto, fitting his fund-raising meetings in between shifts.

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Between numerous private investors and loans, he was able to get the restaurant back on track. Meanwhile, Vollera continued to mull the menu. The Italian chef came to the U.S. to work at a Venice Beach pizzeria in 2008, and opened South End, a pizzeria and wine bar, there in 2013. It shuttered last fall, but Vollera held on to the sourdough starter hes been using for over a decade, and has now brought it up to Berkeley.

The a little spicy pizza, with sausage, pepper jam and honey. Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle

Vollera describes his pizza as a best of all worlds hybrid of the wood-fired Neapolitan pies he started his career with in Italy; the gas oven, thin-crust style New York is famous for; and the fermented sourdough pizza popular in the Bay Area. The result is a chewy and crispy crust, topped with meats, cheeses and sauces reflective of his Italian heritage.

Unlike his past pizza restaurants, Volleras pies at Three One Four will be made in an electric oven, a situation that he would have sneered at earlier in his career. I was a big preacher of only wood fire. Thats the original pizza. We need wood!

But I was wrong, he continued. His time in New York convinced him that those pizzaiolos ubiquitous gas ovens avoided the sometimes-soggy crusts that plague some wood operations. After using gas for 13 years, Vollera was intrigued by PizzaMaster, a high-power, high-temperature electric deck oven maker with models that can turn out as many as 30 pizzas at a time.

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Executive chef Mario Vollera cuts open a baked rigatoni with a pizza crust top. Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle

As work on Three One Four continued, Berkeleys conversation about the environmental hazards of gas stoves was making headlines worldwide. (The city sought to ban gas oven hookups in new construction, but a federal appeals court thwarted the legislation in January.) Wilson was eager to get ahead of any local anti-gas rules, so he and Vollera met with PizzaMaster reps to see if Volleras gas pies could be electrified.

Vollera brought all his ingredients, and he said were gonna make pizzas all day long Wilson says. We were immediately blown away. Every single pie that came out of that oven was identical, if not better, than it was in the gas oven.

That meant that Vollera didnt have to tweak Three One Fours menu of pizzas, which include familiar combinations such as the squash it, topped with burrata, tomato and squash blossom ($23). Theres also a tight menu of starters such as meatballs ($19) or zucchini fritte ($17), with a couple of pastas on the horizon after the business is up and running.

To drink, expect a list of mostly Italian wines, beer from Berkeleys Fieldwork Brewing and a limited list of spirits people can drink neat or on the rocks, Wilson says. (In his mind, pizza and complicated cocktails dont mix.)

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From left to right, Noah Gonzales, chef de cuisine, owners Josh Sizemore and Brandon Wilson, and executive chef Mario Vollera, at Three One Four. Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle

Wilson also wants to remain true to the welcoming, neighborhood vibe that Lalimes was known for. The restaurants expanse of windows means neighbors have been peering into the space for years, and Wilson said he is excited to welcome them in.

Were going to make them feel like theyre walking into their home, said Wilson. Theyre going to get the warmest, most genuine hospitality on the planet.

Three One Four. Opening March 28. 4-10 p.m. daily. 1329 Gilman St., Berkeley. threeonefourpizzeria.com

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The Islamic State-Khorasan Province (referring to parts of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran) was a group borne out of both desire and necessity. While its formal creation in 2015 reflected the Islamic State of Iraq and Syrias desire to exploit their then popularity amid jihadists around the world, ISIS failure to hold its territories, necessitated sustenance elsewhere. In both these cases, Russia was key.

First, Moscows intervention in the Syrian civil war helped turn the tide dramatically in favour of the Bashar-al-Assad regime (by bombing the armed opposition), while also bombing key strongholds of the Islamic State (which also served as a more legitimate cover for Russian pro-Assad operations).

Second, and consequent of the first, Russia and Syrias other allies (Iran, China), were then deemed to be priority targets for the IS-K which was sinking its teeth further in Central Asia. Indeed, IS-K Commanders have admitted as far back as 2015 that despite the anti-West rhetoric, Western targets ranked well below Iranian (and Russian) targets.

When the war in Syria was in its more intense phase (2014-2019), attacking Russian and Iranian interests in Afghanistan helped IS-K to both distract these states resources as well as prove the new groups usefulness to donors who had anti-Russian/anti-Iranian interests. Now, while the anti-Iran/Russia objectives remain, the IS-K itself has evolved showing mutations that make it more potent in Khorasan than ISIS in the Levant (comprising key Arab states on the Mediterranean coast).

IS-Ks establishment had de-linked it (to some degree) from ISIS original vision of a caliphate, which was inextricably tied to territory. Hence, the new group, the Central Asian fail-safe in case ISIS fell, did not actively seek to hold and govern territory, but operated along the lines of a global jihadist group under the ISIS banner, based out of Afghanistan.

Given its umbilical ties to ISIS, the group retained some core characteristics such as the need to contend, not cooperate, with other local/regional jihadist groups. The displace-and-dominate model that had marked ISIS relations with Al-Qaeda in Syria (and successor/break-away groups such as Al Nusra and Hayat Tahrir-al-Shaam), also revealed itself in the IS-Ks ties to other groups in Afghanistan, meaning that IS-K fights all, from great power states to Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

On motives

In the case of the Kerman bombings (explained here), a partial motive was the Islamic States need to attack symbols associated with the deceased Iranian general, Qassem Soleimani. For the Moscow attack, while the immediate tactical trigger (if one exists) is yet to be discerned, the general motives are relatively easy to infer.

Firstly, opportunity creates its own motive. Given IS-Ks historical anti-Russia-focus (among others), attacking Moscow would be natural when Russia is bogged down in the Ukraine war, with its counter-terror radar (relatively) lower. However, if opportunity was the prime motive, then why did IS-K not attack Moscow in the two years since Russias invasion began, especially during those phases of the war when Ukraines counter-offensives were showing some effectiveness?

Notwithstanding the lack of a clear answer, IS-Ks history in the immediate years following 2015 showed that despite its anti-Russia/anti-Iran aims, its operations were concentrated against the Taliban, preventing them from operations in Russia and Iran that were always understood to require longer preparations as Antonio Guistozzi of the Royal United Services Institute noted in 2018. Hence, given the Talibans return to Kabul in August 2021 and their own operations against IS-K ever since, it is plausible to infer that IS-K simply needed more time to prepare.

More evidence for this lies in the fact that while the group dramatically announced its capabilities with the Kabul airport attack in 2021 during the US withdrawal, its reported attacks within Afghanistan each year, reduced in the 2020-23 period compared to 2018-2019, given the fight against the Taliban.

The IS-K, as Aaron Zelin of The Washington Institute also notes, attributed this reduction to its current chief Shahab al-Muhajirs strategic silence policy in which it deliberately reduces claims of responsibility for attacks within Afghanistan. The veracity of their claim notwithstanding, IS-Ks strategic silence within Afghanistan would have arguably allowed them to better prepare for high-intensity attacks outside of Afghanistan, bringing them to bomb both Iran and Russia (at least according to US intelligence, corroborated by news agency Reuters) within the first three months of 2024.

Secondly, the need for terror groups to consistently reaffirm their own credibility and capability is a persistent motive. In the IS-Ks case especially, these attacks virtually establish it as not only the latest entrant to the global jihad but also the most active one. While these successes aid in expanding its financial net, garnering more donors, its proven capability improves its credit score - incentivizing more foreign fighters to join its ranks. Additionally, while the use of Tajik nationals to carry out the attacks in both Moscow and Kerman proves the IS-Ks ability to attract foreign fighters from Central Asia, these attacks shall in turn help attract more such fighters for future attacks.

The lesson? Watch Afghanistan

The IS-K was officially formed in January 2015. By December, the Taliban were forced to divert resources from their fight against US and Afghan forces and raise a new special forces unit with some of their top commanders, focusing their fight on the Islamic State (to whom they were losing members).

Across the year IS-K beheaded several Taliban cadre, killing prominent Taliban figures such as its then shadow governor of Nangarhar province. Seven years later (and a year into the Talibans return to power), the US State Departments 2022 Report on Terrorism showed that the Taliban was fighting the IS-K as its primary threat. The Report also showed how other legacy groups such as Al-Qaeda and its regional affiliates were keeping a low profile, presumably in accordance with the Talibans directives.

Given the spate of extra-territorial bombings by the IS-K in 2024, other groups could be spurred on to act, to prevent losing out to the IS-K. Note that the IS-Ks cadre of 1000-1200 fighters in its formative years were fighters that had broken away from the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban. As the Taliban steps up its own counter-terror operations and the IS-K proves its own potency further, the old risk of other groups leaking fighters to the IS-K in search of a more active jihadist organisation, only increases. Compared to its mother-ship in Iraq and Syria from 2014-2019, IS-K might be less glamorous given the lack of the caliphate rhetoric, but its growing regional and global profile turned into a burgeoning regional and global risk, stemming from Afghanistan, one of the oldest crucibles of global jihad.

Bashir Ali Abbas is a research associate at the Council for Strategic and Defense Research, New Delhi, and a South Asia Visiting Fellow at the Stimson Center, Washington DC. The views expressed are personal.
Jaipur, March 26, 2024: In a significant move that sets a new benchmark in luxury hospitality, Ananta Hotels & Resorts, in collaboration with Chester Hills, announces the launch of two premier resort properties in the scenic locales of Kasauli and Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. This partnership combines Ananta's unparalleled service excellence with Chester Hills' distinguished real estate prowess, offering travelers a unique blend of serenity and luxury in the heart of the majestic hills of Himachal Pradesh.

Ananta Resorts is celebrated for its dedication to creating exceptional vacation experiences, providing idyllic retreats amidst lush landscapes. These resorts are perfect for romantic getaways, family vacations, and corporate retreats, offering guests a chance to unwind in the lap of luxury. Chester Hills, under the leadership of Mr. Mehraj Garg and Mr. Sudershan Singla, brings its expertise in quality construction and timely delivery to the table, ensuring the new ventures, Ananta Spa and Resorts in Kasauli and Ananta Elite Cliffton Valley in Shimla, will meet the high standards expected by guests. These properties will feature state-of-the-art accommodations, gourmet dining experiences, wellness facilities, and a variety of recreational activities.

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Ananta Resorts

Highlighting the unique investment opportunity, non-Himachal residents are invited to invest in these properties, benefiting from assured rentals and appreciation potential. Furthermore, investors and guests alike can enjoy complimentary stay vouchers at all Ananta and Chester properties across India, including those in Himachal Pradesh.

Mr. Mukund Goyal, Chairman of Ananta Hotels & Resorts, expressed his enthusiasm about the partnership: We are thrilled to collaborate with Chester Hills to introduce our signature luxury hospitality to Himachal Pradesh. These new properties are not just resorts; they are sanctuaries where guests can experience the serene beauty of the hills while enjoying our world-class service. This venture is a testament to our commitment to excellence and our vision to offer unparalleled experiences to our guests.

The introduction of Ananta Spa and Resorts and Ananta Elite Cliffton Valley marks a milestone in the evolution of luxury hospitality in Himachal Pradesh. Both Ananta Hotels & Resorts and Chester Hills are dedicated to redefining the hospitality landscape in the region, promising an unmatched level of luxury and tranquility to all visitors.

About Ananta Hotels & Resorts:

Ananta Hotels & Resorts is a leading name in luxury hospitality, known for its exquisite properties that offer serene retreats in some of India's most beautiful destinations. With a focus on service excellence and guest satisfaction, Ananta strives to create unforgettable experiences for every visitor.

About Chester Hills:

Chester Hills is a reputed real estate company in Himachal Pradesh, renowned for its quality construction and commitment to timely delivery. Led by a team of experienced professionals, Chester Hills has a proven track record of developing premier residential and commercial properties.

For more information, please visit: https://chesterhills.in/ or https://www.anantahotels.com/

Disclaimer: This article is a paid publication and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of Hindustan Times. Hindustan Times does not endorse/subscribe to the content(s) of the article/advertisement and/or view(s) expressed herein. Hindustan Times shall not in any manner, be responsible and/or liable in any manner whatsoever for all that is stated in the article and/or also with regard to the view(s), opinion(s), announcement(s), declaration(s), affirmation(s) etc., stated/featured in the same.
Phil Hurst, left, took his two Sonoma wineries public. Now, he's partnered with friend and fellow vintner Ken Wilson, right, to buy them back. Courtesy of Will Bucquoy/Truett Hurst Winery

In 2013, Phil Hurst took his two Sonoma County wineries public and quickly realized it was a mistake. Eleven years later, he bought them back.

Hurst, who once again owns wineries Truett Hurst and VML, is the third California vintner in six months to reclaim a wine business he founded and sold. The deal follows last weeks news that James Hall, co-founder of famed Sonoma producer Patz & Hall, repurchased the winery from wine giant Ste. Michelle Wine Estates. In December, noted Anderson Valley winemaker Douglas Stewart reacquired his acclaimed brand Breggo from Fel Wines, which was owned by Napas Cliff Lede Vineyards.

Is the timing of these similar transactions sheer coincidence, or indicative of a pendulum swing away from the wine industrys contentious consolidation trend?

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Weve seen consolidation in the wine industry for the last six to seven years. Its a cycle, said Hurst. Usually (companies) shed off some assets and its a wonderful opportunity for some of us founders. I think this is an emerging trend and were going to see much more of it.

Truett Hurst and VML wineries will operate out of a new tasting room in Healdsburg. Truett Hurst Winery

Hurst founded his charming Dry Creek Valley winery Truett Hurst, in 2008 with biodynamic farming pioneer Paul Dolan. A few years later, Hurst started Russian River Pinot Noir and Chardonnay brand VML, which stands for founding winemaker Virginia Marie Lambrix. The brands were growing fast and needed cash, so in 2013, he launched an initial public offering and successfully raised $16 million. Yet while the wines were thriving, according to Hurst, the business side was struggling. (Historically, Wall Street has been a kiss of death for wineries.)

Hurst, who had not been involved in his wineries since 2018, leaped at the opportunity to reclaim them when shareholders decided to sell. I was dreaming about (buying them back) six months after I took them public, said Hurst. I realized it was not smart.

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Hes partnered with longtime friend Ken Wilson, who owns 11 wineries under his company Wilson Artisan Wineries, including Sonoma Countys Soda Rock and Rockpile Vineyards. Truett Hurst and VML will remain separate from Wilson Artisan Wineries and operate out of a new tasting room at the gateway to downtown Healdsburg.

Its common to see wine conglomerates occasionally offload brands, but those deals are usually between two corporations. In 2021, for instance, Gallo acquired 30 bargain wineries from Constellation Brands for $810 million. That same year, Treasury Wine Estates sold four of its low-cost brands to the Wine Group. The headwinds that the wine industry is currently facing, like declining consumption and increased anti-alcohol messaging from trusted health sources, could lead to more fire sales.

Anderson Valley vintner Douglas Stewart reacquired his popular wine brand Breggo from Cliff Lede Vineyards at the end of last year. Lauren Segal/Special to the Chronicle

But its a daunting task for an individual to outbid the industrys giants. Stewart, who reopened Breggo at the former home of Phillips Hill Winery in Anderson Valley, is hesitant to declare a shift in wine acquisition patterns. He believes the opportunity to buy his brand back was different from the others: circumstantial and extraneous to the wine industrys struggles. He also said no other vintners have contacted him since the sale inquiring how they might do the same.

Hurst concedes its highly unlikely that big-name entities  those sold for hundreds of millions of dollars  will ever return to the families that founded them. However, founders of small wine companies with few assets, he said, have a legitimate shot at reunification. Truett Hurst, VML and Breggo each produce less than 10,000 cases, while Patz & Hall is still relatively small at 30,000. None of the recent deals involved a winery, tasting room or vineyard, which would typically drive the purchase price up significantly.

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The release of the latest flagship from Samsung, the Galaxy S24 Ultra, has ignited a global revolution in smartphone technology. This AI-powered smartphone on the block has captivated smartphone enthusiasts and tech experts alike with its stunning looks and ground-breaking features, which empower you with new ways to connect, create and play.

Every feature of the new Galaxy S24 Series promises to elevate the user experience to levels you would have never imagined before. So, whether it is the revolutionary Circle to Search feature, or Live Translate, or the advent of AI in night photography, the powerful capabilities of this brand new smartphone have left users spellbound at all the possibilities that they can explore on their brand new devices.

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These inbuilt features enhance your efficiency and convenience in myriad ways. Imagine having a phone conversation with someone speaking a different language  the translation happens in real time as you talk into your phone, or summarise a mountain of information into a crisp summary of notes using Note Assist. No wonder the Galaxy S24 Series has left even the stars impressed.

In a brand new video campaign, Gen MZ youth icons Vijay Deverakonda and Samantha Ruth Prabhu are spellbound by the Circle to Search feature of the Galaxy S24 Ultra, which the world has been going gaga over since its launch.

Circle to Search

Armed with the power of Circle to Search which has been introduced in collaboration with Google, this feature lets you search for anything without having to switch apps  whether it is from a video, a photo or simple text that you are scrolling through on your new Galaxy S24 smartphone.

All you need to do is hold the scroll and circle the text or the image that you want to know more about. You can use your fingers or Samsungs iconic S Pen, which is compatible with this phone model. In a matter of seconds, every detail that you are seeking about the text or image you have circled will be on your screen! The best part is that you dont need to leave or switch apps !

So, Samantha helped her friend find a bag she saw on some social media reel while Vijay got his dog a brand new toy, all with just a circle. Seems amazing, doesnt it! Read on to know how our star cast reacted to it.

The first video features Vijay Deverakonda who shows his pet beagle a new toy on a social media scroll, which gets the pet dog all excited. Next, we see him circling the toy that he sees in the video and even takes his dogs bark of approval as he searches for it and places an order.

What do you do when you see a handbag in a friends social media reel which you really, really want in your own closet? Do you try finding it by typing different words in the search engine with the hope that you will be able to get correct results?

In the second video, Samantha shows her friend the way to do it by finding the exact same bag within a matter of seconds using Circle to Search. In an instant, we see the Google search results on the screen and the next thing we know is that her friend is standing with the exact same bag, looking all amazed!

The third film in this series takes it up a notch. Have you ever found yourself stressing about setting up your new home perfectly? Weve all been there. Well, gone are the days of middlemen and their antics! Samantha is showing us the new way to find things and jazz up your home, in seconds. In the film, the dealer calls her as he claims to have found the one perfect antique piece. And what does she do, she doesnt wait! She just finds the piece in seconds with the magic of Circle to Search and voila!

The fourth video showcases Vijay Deverakonda in an all-new avatar. The actor is preparing for a date-night and is trying to find the perfect setup for the perfect night! And guess what, Circle to Search comes to the rescue! He plays genie and simply searches for all the essentials and gets them in seconds, with the magic of Circle to Search in his Galaxy S24 Ultra. The film ends with his date getting super impressed!

The AI prowess of the new Galaxy S24 Ultra is not limited to just Circle to Search. There are many other handy features that are configured to make your everyday life simpler.

Live Translate

Using Live Translate, you can get real-time interpretation while you are on the phone. Imagine you are trying to book a cruise at a foreign destination over a phone call and you dont understand the language. This feature translates what is being said in real time. You can reply in your language and it will get translated on their end too!

Chat Assist

Another very usable feature is Chat Assist, which has the capability to perfect conversational tones so that you are communicating as you intended. With AI at the helm, you can emulate the tone of a professional or a close friend to draft out the most apt replies to messages. Chat Assist also supports seamless real-time translation of both incoming and outgoing chats, tailored for effortless integration with third-party apps. It eliminates the need to switch to another translation application amid a conversation.

Note Assist

With Note Assist, you can take notes and later summarise large amounts of information in a concise summary in a matter of seconds. This feature also helps you organise your old notes, making them easy to find at a later date  something that most of us struggle with. Note Assist adds a new cover to old notes with a simple summary that keeps the screen looking organised.

Photo Assist

Capture the perfect shot with the new Photo Assist feature in the Galaxy S24 Ultra, which turns raw shots into wow shots! You can use Generative Edit to move, resize and reframe photos. So, you can actually highlight an object in the frame and move it to a different space, or resize it or adjust its angle to create an all-new photo composition. Another interesting new feature is Edit Suggestion, which analyses your clicks and suggests smart edits.

Nightography

The Galaxy S24 Ultra also brings AI to Nightography to offer greater levels of brightness in night portraits with brighter, clearer photos with Nightography Zoom at 5X along with enhanced hand-shake compensation with a wider OIS. So, you can take the most amazing photos even when the ambient light is not good enough. You can use Instant Slow-mo which places AI-generated images between frames to turn regular videos into cinematic marvels!

Processor

If you love your gaming, the new Galaxy S24 Ultra will not disappoint. The latest model comes with the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy processor which makes it a powerful device for gaming with its high-precision graphics and improved heat dissipation.

Pricing and offers

Impressed with what this brand-new smartphone can do for you? Head to your nearest Samsung dealership or Samsungs online store to find out more. You can bring home your very own AI-powered Galaxy S24 Ultra at just 5,417 per month (terms and conditions apply). Additionally, dive into the Samsung S24 Series at an affordable monthly rate of 3,334 (terms and conditions apply), allowing you to experience the brilliance of Samsung technology without breaking the bank.

Disclaimer: This article has been produced on behalf of the brand by HT Brand Studio.
Uttar Pradesh (India), March 22: Shiprath, a fast-growing courier company founded by Mr Sandeep Kumar Singh, has announced a strategic collaboration with India Post. This partnership aims to enhance delivery options for both domestic and international shipments, providing customers with greater flexibility and convenience.

"This collaboration is a huge step forward for Shiprath," stated Mr. Sandeep Kumar Singh, Founder and CEO. "By working with India Post, we can ensure even more efficient and reliable deliveries across the country and internationally, ultimately providing a better service experience for our customers."

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The collaboration brings together Shiprath's extensive pan-India network, covering over 38,000 domestic pin codes, and India Post's established reach and infrastructure. This combined network will offer customers a wider range of delivery solutions, catering to the needs of e-commerce and courier franchises.

"We are excited to partner with India Post to strengthen our delivery network further and present our customers with a wide range of choices," said a spokesperson for Shiprath. This collaboration will allow us to reach even more customers across India and internationally."

Officials from both organisations attended the announcement ceremony, including Shri Parveen Kumar (Director of Postal Services, Ghaziabad), Shri Bhoor Singh Meena (Sr. Superintendent of Post Offices, Ghaziabad Division), and Shri Sandeep Kumar (Director, Shiprath). Other people in attendance included Harsh Nigam, Naresh Kumar, and Ritesh Tyagi.

Shiprath's ambitious aim to open over 100,000 franchisees by 2030 focuses on developing a strong distribution network to speed up deliveries and create jobs.

Shiprath offers a tiered franchise program consisting of:

Unit Franchise: Represents the smallest operational unit, typically handling deliveries and logistics within a specific Pin Code area.

Local Hub Franchise: Manages one or more Pin Codes within a specific region, acting as a sub-branch office and coordinating with Unit Franchises under its purview.

City Hub Franchise: This franchise oversees and manages operations in a larger area comprising multiple Taluks and Local Hubs. It acts as a branch office responsible for coordinating and optimising logistics within its jurisdiction.

Master Franchise: This represents an area office managing and overseeing operations at a broader scale, typically encompassing 4-5 Districts. It strategically coordinates activities, manages resources, and ensures overall efficiency in the designated cluster.

Shiprath is committed to offering great customer service and has a dedicated 24/7 call centre at +91 96258 24593 or an e-mail service at help@shiprath.com. This collaboration is a big step forward for Shiprath, strengthening its position as a market leader in India's courier business.

About Shiprath

Shiprath is a rapidly growing courier company headquartered in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The company provides extensive services, including domestic and international deliveries, with a network of 220 international counters and partnerships with over 85 courier partners.

For more information, please visit:

https://shiprath.com/

https://www.indiapost.gov.in/

Disclaimer: This article is a paid publication and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of Hindustan Times. Hindustan Times does not endorse/subscribe to the content(s) of the article/advertisement and/or view(s) expressed herein. Hindustan Times shall not in any manner, be responsible and/or liable in any manner whatsoever for all that is stated in the article and/or also with regard to the view(s), opinion(s), announcement(s), declaration(s), affirmation(s) etc., stated/featured in the same.
India, 26th March 2024: Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies (SIMS), Pune, a proud constituent of Symbiosis International (Deemed University), hosted its much-anticipated Special Awards Ceremony to honor the exceptional achievements of its 30th MBA Batch of 2022-24 and the 16th MBA (E) Batch of 2021-24. The event, marking the culmination of another successful academic year, served as a platform to recognize the dedication, perseverance, and outstanding contributions of the graduating batch.

The evening commenced with the dignitaries, including the esteemed Chief Guest, Ms. Anupama Singh, Vice President of Dr. Reddy's Labs, Latam Region Head, and Dr. Ramakrishnan Raman, Vice-Chancellor of SIU, gracing the occasion. The lighting of the lamp symbolized the illuminating journey that the graduating batch had embarked upon during their time at SIMS.

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Brigadier (Dr.) Rajiv Divekar, Director, SIMS and Dean, Faculty of Management, SIU, extended a warm welcome to all, acknowledging the presence of the distinguished guests and highlighting the exceptional accomplishments of the graduating batch, emphasizing their adaptability and determination in navigating through unprecedented challenges. He commended the winners, parents, and sponsors for their unwavering support and underscored the symbiotic relationship between the corporate and the Armed Forces, echoing SIMS' ethos of 'Making a Difference.'

Dr. Ramakrishnan Raman, Vice-Chancellor of SIU, shared invaluable insights with the graduating batch, emphasizing the need for readiness to manage uncertainty, commitment, and trust in their professional endeavors. He urged them to strive for excellence, focusing on their journeys rather than comparing themselves to others.

Ms. Anupama Singh, the chief guest of the event, delivered an insightful address, emphasizing the importance of focusing on the basics, continuous learning, and maintaining humility amidst success. She encouraged the graduating batch to approach their careers with respect for their work and emphasized that sustained success transcends academic achievements.

Dr. Pravin Kumar Bhoyar, Deputy Director, SIMS, expressed heartfelt gratitude to the esteemed guests for gracing the institution with his presence in his address. He emphasized the importance of hard work and dedication in corporate life, urging the graduating batch to give their best and make SIMS proud in their future endeavors.

The ceremony recognized the stellar performance of students across various domains, with prestigious sponsored awards such as the Siddharth Handoo Excellence Award in Marketing and the Aditya Balakrishnan Excellence Award in Finance. Memorial Recognition Awards recognized various winner categories, including the Best Student in Extracurricular Activities and the Best Entrepreneur Award, commemorating their invaluable contributions to SIMS.

As the curtains drew to a close on the 2024 Special Awards Ceremony, the atmosphere was filled with a sense of pride and accomplishment. The event served as a poignant reminder of the transformative journey undertaken by the graduating batch, equipping them with the skills, knowledge, and values necessary to excel in their future endeavors. As they bid farewell to SIMS, Pune, the MBA Batch of 2022-24 embarks on a new chapter, carrying with them the cherished memories and invaluable experiences gained during their time at the institution.

The ceremony encapsulated the spirit of SIMS, Pune, where excellence is not just celebrated but ingrained in every facet of student life, fostering a community of future leaders poised to make a meaningful difference in the world of business and beyond.

To know more, visit: SIMS Pune

Disclaimer: This article is a paid publication and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of Hindustan Times. Hindustan Times does not endorse/subscribe to the content(s) of the article/advertisement and/or view(s) expressed herein. Hindustan Times shall not in any manner, be responsible and/or liable in any manner whatsoever for all that is stated in the article and/or also with regard to the view(s), opinion(s), announcement(s), declaration(s), affirmation(s) etc., stated/featured in the same.
India 26th March 2024: In an educational advancement, Vijay Patil School of Management (VPSM) has integrated Harvard Business School's online offerings into its curriculum. This strategic move provides students with access to Harvard-certified online courses and Harvard case studies. These courses cover a wide range of disciplines such as entrepreneurship, innovation, strategy, finance, and more, aiming to provide students with the knowledge and skills required in today's dynamic business environment.

Harvard Business School Online Courses Integration

VPSM incorporates 30 online courses certified by Harvard, spanning entrepreneurship, innovation, strategy, finance and accounting, marketing, leadership, and management. These courses are designed to simulate the Harvard classroom experience, led by esteemed Harvard faculty and industry practitioners worldwide. Key features include:

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Faculty Expertise: Courses guided by Harvard's scholars enrich learners with deep conceptual knowledge and practical insights.

Courses guided by Harvard's scholars enrich learners with deep conceptual knowledge and practical insights. Global Interaction: An innovative platform facilitates interconnection among students globally, encouraging knowledge sharing and collaboration.

An innovative platform facilitates interconnection among students globally, encouraging knowledge sharing and collaboration. Active Learning: Frequent activities such as polls, quizzes, and exercises promote consistent student engagement and practical application of new concepts.

Frequent activities such as polls, quizzes, and exercises promote consistent student engagement and practical application of new concepts. Harvard Certification: Each self-paced course consists of multiple modules over six to eight weeks, concluding with projects and exercises for a certificate of completion.

Diverse Course Offerings

VPSM's online course offerings range from foundational courses for newcomers in management such as economics, business analytics, and financial accounting, to advanced programs centred around leadership principles, strategy execution, and negotiation mastery. Innovative courses addressing the role of business in society are offered, including newly launched subjects like

"Business and Climate Change", which not only educates but also points toward the growing integration of business and social responsibility.

Harvard Business School Publishing Integration

With a partnership with Harvard Business School Publishing, VPSM offers unlimited access to various resources, including:

Harvard Case Studies: Real-time case studies and articles from Harvard are embedded into the curriculum, allowing students to test and apply classroom discussions to real-world scenarios.

Real-time case studies and articles from Harvard are embedded into the curriculum, allowing students to test and apply classroom discussions to real-world scenarios. Harvard Simulations: Simulations used to boost student engagement by immersing them in simulated business challenges requiring strategic decision-making under pressure.

Simulations used to boost student engagement by immersing them in simulated business challenges requiring strategic decision-making under pressure. Harvard Manage Mentor Courses: These are concise online courses covering current business topics, ensuring students remain up-to-date with the latest business theories and practices.

In summary, the integration of Harvard Business School's educational resources into VPSM's offerings aims to provide students with the comprehensive skills and knowledge to excel in the fast-paced business environment, ensuring they stand out in their careers by staying abreast of evolving industry demands.

To know more, visit - VPSM: MBA and BBA programs

Disclaimer: This article is a paid publication and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of Hindustan Times. Hindustan Times does not endorse/subscribe to the content(s) of the article/advertisement and/or view(s) expressed herein. Hindustan Times shall not in any manner, be responsible and/or liable in any manner whatsoever for all that is stated in the article and/or also with regard to the view(s), opinion(s), announcement(s), declaration(s), affirmation(s) etc., stated/featured in the same.
Central government employees may receive their increased salaries for the month on March 30, as per a Jagran report. This comes as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) asked banks to work on March 31, despite it being a Sunday, as it is the last day of the financial year. Dearness allowance (DA) for employees and pensioners is calculated based on latest Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) which brought out by the Labour Bureau every month. 7th pay Commission: The government sanctioned a 4 percent rise in DA for central employees.(Reuters file)

DA arrears: What you need to know?

The government sanctioned a 4 percent rise in DA for central employees which will be effective from January 2024 owing to which the allowance has from 46 percent to 50 percent. This means that Central government employees are entitled to arrears for January and February.

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What about HRA?

There is also a corresponding increase in House Rent Allowance (HRA) along with DA and depending on the city's categorisation, employees will receive up to 30 percent HRA. Other special allowances for Central government employees like childcare allowance, child education allowance, hostel subsidy, travel allowance on transfer, dress allowance, gratuity ceiling, and mileage allowance could also rise but employees must claim these allowances accordingly.

When was the last hike in DA?

In October 2023, DA for government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) for pensioners was hiked by four per cent which resulted in DA being 46 per cent. The decision benefitted 48.67 lakh central government employees and 67.95 lakh pensioners, the government said.
Ericsson AB said that it will cut 1,200 jobs in Sweden amid lower orders and caution from mobile service providers, Bloomberg reported. The company-one of the worlds biggest providers of 5G networking equipment- will also cut costs by reducing facilities and the use of consultants. The company will streamline processes, it said in a statement, adding that it is in negotiations with unions over the cuts. Ericsson layoffs: Ericsson headquarters with the company's logo in Stockholm, Sweden. Swedish telecoms equipment giant Ericsson said it was cutting 1,200 staff in Sweden, or about eight percent of its Swedish workforce as it faces a "challenging" market for mobile networks.(AFP)

Will there be more layoffs at Ericsson?

The job layoffs represent about 8.6% of the Swedish headcount at the end of 2023 and come at a time when European telecom equipment makers Ericsson and Nokia Oyj struggle to rebound from a slowdown in spending across the mobile services industry.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

What Ericsson said on its business outside China?

Ericsson warned earlier that its market outside of China would continue to decline in 2024 with investment by many operators remaining at unsustainably low levels. The company also contends with the emergence of open radio access networks which will let carriers more easily use multiple vendors and open up competition for network parts.

Ericsson job cuts earlier

Last year, Ericsson announced that it would cut 8,500 staff, or about 8% of its total workforce while its rival Nokia Oyj said in October that it would cut as many as 14,000 jobs, or 16% of its workforce.
If you still needed some convincing, theres new data which should. The annual report from Swiss tech company IQAir, which through the last year collected logs from 30,000 air quality monitoring stations across 7,812 locations in 134 countries, pegs India as the third most polluted country in the world, after Bangladesh and Pakistan. Thats the collective ranking of air quality in different Indian cities, some of which including the capital city, figure among the most polluted in the world. Outdoor air has limited scope of correction by individuals (wear a mask, perhaps), air inside your homes can be maintained within a healthier realm. As important as they are in homes now, not all indoor air purifiers are equals. The Air Touch U1 is now available for around  23,999 while the U2 sets you back by around  27,999. (Official image)

A lot of the actual air cleaning performance is directly related to the quality of filters, while additional features may be subjectively relevant. Air humidification, for instance. Technology company Honeywells current home air purifier line-up may best be unified by its diversity. The Honeywell Air Touch U1 and the Air Touch U2 achieve the same result, but have very different specifications and feature set, to get there. There are specifics that add value, the soft of functionality thats still not commonplace.

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Selecting one out of the two doesnt hinge on the pricing now, since there is little window between the two price tags.

The Air Touch U1 is now available for around 23,999 while the U2 sets you back by around 27,999. Dimension and form factor differences aside, both purifiers have a 4-stage filtration process at play  a pre-filter, anti-bacterial filter, an activated carbon filter and an H13 HEPA or high-efficiency particulate resistance filter to close the loop. That theoretically takes care of a broad spectrum of airborne particles, measured in microns.

In our testing, it becomes clear that the pre-filters are quite effective in the Air Touch U2 in particular, which translates into longer life of the filters that follow.

In our tests, a bedroom with 255 AQI before the Air Touch U2 got into action, was stabilised at 23 AQI in about 30 minutes, in auto mode. However, you may not want to leave the U2 in this mode for too long, since the fans can get quite loud beyond speed 2 (there are up to 8 levels). For the daytime, manual selection up to speed 2, and night mode for sleep time, are the way to go. There is a very neat colour changing LED ringing the circumference of the purifiers control panel, but it doesnt have any illumination level settings and neither does it dim if you turn the rooms lights off.

The biggest advantage of the U2 is the humidifier. The water tank is large (around 2 litres) and for the typical Delhi NCR climate and dryness levels, this needed filling up every 24 hours of use through the day and night. That said, it is perplexing that every time the purifier powers on, anion (or negative ions) and the UV (ultraviolet purification) turn on by default. I have not noticed any mode or setting that keeps these off in the event of a power state recycle. Speaking of which, the Air Touch U2 doesnt power back on in case of an electricity cut  thats quite perplexing, a basic capability thats missing.

Also Read: Honeywell Automation, Adani Wilmar and more: 10 biggest midcap losers of Nifty 50 in 2023

With a fairly different form factor is the Air Touch U1, more of a tower style which demands a 360-degree filter design because of the air intakes on all four sides of the purifier. All purification layers are integrated into the single unit, and that for matters of simplicity when replacing, might be a good idea. Less e-waste too. The U1, much like its sibling, also struggles with high fan noise on levels 3 and fairly noticeable fan noise on level 2. It is understandable since there are three speed levels. In auto mode, this tends to go into a higher speed sooner rather than later, not willing to take any chances with air composition. Some movement close to the purifier, which may make it detect any movement in airborne particles, also gets it into higher speeds soon enough.

In a large hall space, the U1 improved the 221 AQI to about an AQI of 55 in 30 minutes, in auto mode. Keep this at fan speed one, and that gets maintained between 55 and 75 AQI levels for the most part  not bad for an active room. There is no humidifier in the U1, and also no negative ions, but this also has the UV which automatically gets enabled every time the power mode is cycled, or you power this down and switch it on again. The purifier also cannot return to its earlier power state after an electricity cut.

Honeywell, many years ago, were among the first brands to make a concerted effort to make home air purifiers smart. That mission seemingly continues till today. Both the Air Touch U1 and U2 work with the Honeywell AirTouch app (available for Android and iPhone), and the smartness extends to the fact that when I was pairing the U1 to the app, it detected the U2 as well in the vicinity and paired with the same Wi-Fi. The app is simple enough to use, and the layout doesnt pose any learning curves. Minimal visual appeal, but gets the job done.

You need an air purifier for home, and in some cities in our country, perhaps even one in each room. Buying one accordingly thats fit for purpose in specific room sizes is important. Both Honeywells Air Touch U1 and U2 are equally adept at actively cleaning the air in large rooms (a living and dining room combination, for instance), as well as smaller bedrooms.

The app on the phone adds to some convenience of use. That said, firmware updates must fix some refinement issues, such as the auto-start of all features, and the present inability to resume after a power cut as well as retain the mode it was in previously. If these cannot be fixed, youll have to do slightly more manual intervention, when required.
Ousted WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann has bid more than $500 million to buy back the office-sharing group, it was reported. Adam Neumann submitted the offer although it was unclear as to how he would finance such a deal, the Wall Street Journal and CNBC reported, citing people in the know. The co-founder seeks to buy the company out of bankruptcy, according to a letter to WeWork, news agency AFP reported. Adam Neumann, the ousted co-founder of WeWork, is now exploring an deal to buy back the office sharing company after expressing dismay over its bankruptcy process. (AP)

A representative for Adam Neumanns real estate company, Flow, confirmed that a bid was submitted saying as per Bloomberg, Two weeks ago, a coalition of half a dozen financing partners  whose identities are known to WeWork and its advisers  submitted a potential bid for substantially more than the Wall Street Journal reported."

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WeWork's financial woes

WeWork went into bankruptcy in November after which its major creditors were set to take control of the company. The company which was once the biggest private renter of office space in Manhattan also has co-working spaces in cities across the globe. Although at the time, investors grew wary of the company's business model and about Adam Neumann's reliability as a boss.

Who is Adam Neumann: All you need to know

Adam Neumann, who was known for his abrupt decisions in the company, was dismissed by the Board of Directors in September 2019. This happened shortly after the company's stock market debut was postponed. He was forced out of the company with a $1.7 billion exit package and the company's value was slashed to $8 billion at the time.

WeWork's pandemic woes

WeWork was disrupted by Covid-19 pandemic as it emptied offices while workers went remote. The company never fully recovered since.
On the latest episode of Shark Tank India 3, Siddharth Madhav and Ha Tade pitched an innovative petrol detector and metre. After sharing details about their product, their ask was 50 Lakhs for 5% equity as they said that they are a pre-revenue company and are set to sell their product to the market. Shark Tank India 3: Entrepreneur Anupam Mittal appears as a shark on Shark Tank India.

Following this, shark Anupam Mittal asked about the backgrounds of the entrepreneurs. Siddharth Madhav said that he is 18 and from Dehradun while Ha Tade shared that he is 24 and from Itanagar. The latter revealed that he left his home 2 years back and founded a company. To this Anupam Mittal asked why Ha Tade had left. He responded, "I was studying in a reputed college and we were sure that I would get the placement but I didn't want to do a job, I tried making my parents understand but they refused. I had to leave my home."

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Peyush Bansal then asked, "Did you complete your college?" and Ha Tade refused and said that if he would have continued college, he would end up working in a company and not make one. Reflecting on his background, Ha Tade then said, My parents are just farmers, the last time I remember.

This shocked the sharks as they found out that Ha Tade has not been in touch with his parents for the past 2 years. To this Peyush Bansal asked, Do they know that you are in Dehradun?

Ha Tade said he has no idea and then the sharks said that he can give his parents a message through the show. Following the message, the sharks were disappointed with the entrepreneur.

Anupam Mittal then lost his cool and told Ha Tade, Mujhe lagta hai aapko dramebaazi ka bohot shauq hai. Zindagi chalti hai seekh se, speak the truth. After this, the sharks backed out of the deal as they reminded Ha Tade to talk to his parents.
Raghuram Rajan said that India is making a big mistake believing hype around its strong economic growth. There are major structural problems that need to be fixed in the country to meet its potential, he told Bloomberg, saying that the biggest challenge is improving education and skills of the workforce. Raghuram Rajan talked about India's economy and growth trajectory.

He said, The greatest mistake India can make is to believe the hype. Weve got many more years of hard work to do to ensure the hype is real. Believing the hype is something politicians want you to believe because they want you to believe that we have arrived. But it would be a serious mistake for India to succumb to that belief."

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Will India be a developed country by 2047? Raghuram Rajan's response

India will not be a developed economy by 2047, Raghuram Rajan said adding that it would be nonsense to talk of that goal if so many of your kids dont have a high school education and drop-out rates remain high."

He said, We have a growing workforce, but it is a dividend only if theyre employed in good jobs. And thats, to my mind, the possible tragedy that we face.

What is Raghuram Rajan's biggest worry for India?

Citing studies showing a drop in the learning ability of school children to pre-2012 levels after the pandemic, he said that India needs to firstly make the workforce more employable and then create jobs for the workforce it has.

He said, That is the kind of number that should really worry us. The lack of human capital will stay with us for decades.

What Raghuram Rajan said on chip manufacturing in India?

The government is too focused on high-profile projects like chip manufacturing instead of fixing the education system, he said, adding, The ambition of the government is real, to become a great nation. Whether they pay attention to what needs to be done is a different question. I worry that weve become more fixated on prestige projects, which suggest more great nation ambition, such as chip manufacturing, while leaving the underpinnings that will contribute to a sustainable chip manufacturing industry.

What India can learn from China as per Raghuram Rajan?

The former RBI governor said, What we need is a pragmatic approach. Quoting Chinas former leader Deng Xiaoping, he said that if India learns anything from China, it should be that it doesnt matter whether the cat is black or white, it matters whether it catches mice."
People leave items at an impromptu memorial outside San Franciscos West Portal library, where a young family was killed on March 16 as they waited at a bus stop. Nora Mishanec/The Chronicle

When self-driving cars get into an accident, the hysteria around them and their safety is deafening. With the horrible March 16 accident in San Francisco, one has to wonder if the 79-year-old woman suspected of driving the car that killed a family in West Portal would not have been better off riding in a self-driving vehicle.

How many lives would be spared if self-driving cars were the norm?

Human driver error has a higher probability of causing harm than autonomous cars. We should be leaning into their development rather than hindering their progress.

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Manny Barbara, San Jose

Enforce traffic laws

Regarding Crash near bus stop hurts pedestrian near S.F.s Golden Gate Park  driver cited (Bay Area, SFChronicle.com, March 24): Another speeding driver wreaks havoc and San Francisco officials will twist this into a call for more police.

While our mayoral candidates and their supporters continue baying for tough-on-crime policies, the San Francisco Police Department has reduced enforcement for traffic violations such as speeding and citations have dropped by over 90% (Traffic citations in San Francisco declined by 97% in eight years. Heres why, (San Francisco, SFChronicle.com, Sept. 13, 2023), preferring to enforce laws against homeless people in the name of public safety.

Meanwhile, the deaths and injuries from traffic violence mount up. We dont need more cops. We need cops who address the real dangers. No one has ever been run over by a tent.

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Fran Taylor, San Francisco

Dont fault pedestrians

Regarding Take responsibility (Letters to the Editor, March 22): The letter stating, If pedestrians wanted to cross a street, they would look both ways first (duh) was insulting and poor timing in light of the family killed at a bus stop six days earlier.

Clark implies that pedestrians get injured because they dont look both ways first. Please stop blaming the victims.

It would be wise if she and others who blame pedestrians were to read a New York Times Magazine article from Jan. 10 about the rise in aggressive and distracted driving. This is why pedestrians are getting injured and killed.

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Susan George, San Francisco

Make better choices

Regarding What Paris can teach San Francisco about safe streets in aftermath of West Portal crash (Editorial, SFChronicle.com, March 22): The Chronicles editorial fails to mention the pedestrian use of cell phones. Staring at a phone while crossing streets reflects a lack of pedestrian awareness.

Paris has done a lot to reduce accidents but another factor is that obtaining a drivers license in France is more difficult than in the U.S. My friend who retired to France failed the practical driving test four times before getting his license.

Are French drivers less likely to be driving in such a reckless manner as to endanger others?

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Is there a solution to this problem? Yes. But it relies on personal decisions and behavior modifications to work. No more cell phones while walking or driving. Pay attention to your surroundings.

And dont forget: If a pedestrian gets into a collision with a vehicle, the pedestrian always loses.

James Thurber, Half Moon Bay

City can do more

Regarding What Paris can teach San Francisco about safe streets in aftermath of West Portal crash (Editorial, SFChronicle.com, March 22): Traffic safety depends on infrastructure. Europe excels at this, with traffic-calming infrastructure everywhere, favoring pedestrians. Another other element is law enforcement.

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San Francisco leaders fail to provide either. As noted recently, traffic citations are down 97% in San Francisco, and drivers speed about fully aware of that.

Tree Tam, San Francisco

Improve public transit

Regarding What Paris can teach San Francisco about safe streets in aftermath of West Portal crash (Editorial, SFChronicle.com, March 22): The key to Paris success in getting people out of their cars is its robust public transportation system.

It is easy, quick and safe to get anywhere in Paris using its extensive subway and bus network. Until San Francisco can boast of a similarly efficient public system, it will struggle to get its citizens to give up their private cars.
The Election Commission has directed the chief electoral officer of Karnataka to take "immediate appropriate action" on a complaint filed by JD (S) president H D Deve Gowda that Congress MP D K Suresh was allegedly planning distribution of freebies and the state poll machinery failed to take swift action. Former prime minister and JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda.(PTI)

ALSO READ | Slap youth who chant Modi slogans', says Karnataka minister. BJP hits back

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In a letter to the state CEO, the EC asked him to take action keeping in mind the provisions of the model code of conduct and relevant laws, and sought a compliance report at the earliest.

ALSO READ | BJP-JDS alliance will have positive impact: Tejasvi Surya meets former Karnataka CM Kumaraswamy

The EC letter was sent out on March 21 based on a complaint of former prime minister Gowda to the poll panel. The JD(S) leader has alleged that the state election machinery failed to take swift action to prevent the "corrupt activities" in the Bengaluru (Rural) Lok Sabha seat.

ALSO READ | BJP drops 6-time controversial MP Anantkumar Hegde from Lok Sabha contest. 5 times his remarks stoked row

He alleged that the freebies were removed from a godown as the field machinery failed to take appropriate action.

"...there is not only dereliction of duties by the concerned officer but the officers are afraid of taking action against the present MP, who is the brother of D K Shivakumar, deputy chief minister..." Gowda alleged.
Back with the BJP after briefly flirting with the ruling Congress, veteran leader Jagadish Shettar, who is in the fray for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, said he was confident of being elected to the Lower House of Parliament from the Belagavi district. Former Karnataka CM Jagadish Shettar being welcomed after he rejoined the BJP.

Speaking to ANI on Monday, the former Karnataka chief minister said, "I am in regular contact with all fellow party workers and the people in Belagavi. This place holds a special place in my heart. I am confident of repaying the faith that the party has vested in me. I am hopeful of being elected an MP from the Belagavi district."

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READ | BJP-JDS alliance will have positive impact: Tejasvi Surya meets former Karnataka CM Kumaraswamy

Weighing in on the perceived dispute between Marathas and Kannadigas, Shettar said there are no differences between the two communities.

"Here, in Karnataka, the Marathas and Kannadigas are like brothers. There is no difference between the two communities. They all are Indians," he added.

The BJP on Sunday released its fifth list of 111 candidates for Lok Sabha elections. Former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, who recently returned to the party from the Congress, was fielded from Belgaum while former state minister K Sudhakar will contest Chikballapur.

READ | Slap youth who chant Modi slogans', says Karnataka minister. BJP hits back

Shettar will contest Belagavi in place of sitting MP Mangala Angadi, who was denied renomination.

Shettar, who quit the BJP and switched over to the Congress after being denied a ticket to contest last year's assembly elections, returned to his old party in January.

A six-time MLA from the constituency, Shettar was reportedly advised by the party to stand down and not seek a fresh term as MLA from the Hubli-Dharwad Central segment, following which his followers expressed their anguish against the BJP's top leadership.

READ | BJP drops 6-time controversial MP Anantkumar Hegde from Lok Sabha contest. 5 times his remarks stoked row

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.
Independent MLA from Rania in Haryana, Ranjit Singh, who joined the BJP on Sunday, submitted his resignation from the membership of the Haryana assembly on Tuesday to avoid disqualification on grounds of defection. Ranjit Singh (HT File)

Legal experts though said that as per the law, Singh should have resigned as an MLA before joining the BJP. It is an afterthought. He will be disqualified if the matter is referred to the speaker seeking his disqualification, said a lawyer.

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While speaker Gian Chand Gupta was incommunicado, BJP sources said that Gupta was yet to take a formal decision on the resignation letter.

As per Section 2 (2) of the Tenth Schedule to the Constitution (the anti-defection law), an elected member of a House who has been elected as such otherwise than as a candidate set up by a political party shall be disqualified for being a member of the House if he joins any political party after such election. Officials said there was no clarity on whether he would continue as a minister after resigning from the membership of the assembly. Article 164(4) of the Constitution permits an individual who is not a member of the legislature to continue as a minister for six consecutive months.

Congress leader and former minister, Karan Singh Dalal said since the Election Commission (EC) is holding a byelection for Karnal assembly constituency, the EC should announce a bypoll for Rania assembly seat also.

Singh, who is a cabinet minister in the Nayab Singh Saini government, was on Sunday, fielded by the BJP from Hisar Lok Sabha constituency soon after he formally joined the saffron party in presence of BJP candidate from Sirsa Lok Sabha seat Ashok Tanwar, a former Congressman himself who had recently joined the BJP.

Ranjit Singh, who is the son of former deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal and younger brother of former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala is a former Congressman. He extended support to the BJP-JJP government after winning from Rania assembly seat in Sirsa in 2019 and was the only independent to have been inducted into the Manohar Lal Khattar-led Council of Ministers.

After Khattar resigned on March 12 along with his Council of Ministers, Singh was not only inducted again in Nayab Singh Saini-led Council of Ministers but he also retained the portfolios of energy and jails which were held by him in the Khattar government.

Ranjit Singh had contested the Lok Sabha election from Hisar in 1998 on Congress symbol and finished fourth polling 73,251 votes. In fact his security deposit was forfeited in the 1998 elections under the provisions of the Representation of the People Act as Singh polled less than one-sixth of the total number of valid votes polled by all the candidates.

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In a joint operation, the excise department and the Ludhiana Police on Tuesday recovered 143 boxes of illicit liquor and 30,100 litre lahan in different raids in Ludhiana district. A case has been registered under the Excise Act against unidentified persons. (HT)

A joint team led by Jagraon DSP Jasjot Singh, excise officer Harjot Singh along with excise inspectors and 30 police personnel conducted raids along the banks of Sutlej River in Sidhwan Bet and recovered 24,100 litre lahan in Kannian and Sherewala areas.

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Assistant commissioner excise, Ludhiana West, Inderjit Singh Nagpal said an extensive search operation was carried out in the area during which the team recovered 24,00 litres of lahan stored in large polythene tarpaulins. The smugglers had tied the polythene tarpaulins with ropes and dumped them in the river. He said that these people used to extract illicit liquor by hiding lahan in the riverbed. He said that 100 litre lahan was found in an underground diggie in one of the houses. He said that 24,000-litre lahan, which was found in polythene tarpaulins, was destroyed.

A case has been registered under the Excise Act against unidentified persons, he added.

Nagpal said that they would continue their search operation in villages situated near the Sutlej and stern action would be taken against the accused.

In another raid, the officials recovered 6000- litres lahan in the areas falling on the banks of Sutlej River on Tuesday.

The joint operation team comprising ACP East Sandeep Singh, excise officer Preet Bhupinder Singh, excise inspectors Gurpreet Dhindsa, Navdeep Singh, Jaswinder Singh, Sukhwinder Singh conducted the raids. During the search, the team found two iron drums and five plastic tarpaulins containing around 6000 litre lahan. It was destroyed on the spot.

A case has been registered under the Excise Act against unidentified persons in this regard.

Illicit liquor: Five FIRs registered

In two separate raids, the excise department (East range) seized 143 boxes of illicit liquor and 186 bottles. Five FIRs have been registered in the matter.

Assistant excise commissioner (Ludhiana East range) Dr Shivani Gupta said that teams led by excise officers Bhupinder Singh and Neeraj Kumar were already constituted by the department to curb the menace of illicit liquor.

She said that a team comprising excise inspectors Manpreet Singh, Vijay Kumar, Satpal Singh, Ranjeet Singh, Surjeet Singh along with police recovered 186 bottles of country-made liquor during a checking at a naka.

Similarly, another team led by excise inspector Gurpreet Singh Dhindsa and local police found 143 boxes of illicit liquor in Sherpur Kalan and an FIR was registered in Moti Nagar police station.

Gupta emphasised that the drive would be further intensified to stop the smuggling of illicit liquor. She solicited the support of the public and encouraged them to provide any information about illicit liquor smuggling or manufacturing on the helpline number 9875961126.
The police have arrested a Nepalese man who allegedly bludgeoned his father to death with bricks in Jeevan Nagar at Focal Point. The Focal Point police arrested the accused Suraj Bahadur on Monday and lodged a murder case against him. (HT)

The accused and his father both were in an inebriated condition at the time of the incident on Sunday.

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The Focal Point police arrested the accused Suraj Bahadur on Monday and lodged a murder case against him.

The FIR was lodged on the statement of Krishan Bahadur of Rajiv Gandhi Colony, who is the son-in-law of the victim Laxman Bahadur, 65, of Jeevan Nagar.

Krishan stated that relations between Laxman and Suraj were strained. Both were acute drinkers and used to indulge in spat often.

Krishan stated that on Sunday, Suraj had come to see his father at his rented accommodation on Sunday and was under the influence of liquor. He indulged in a spat with Laxman. In a fit of rage, Suraj bludgeoned his father to death with a brick and fled.

Inspector Arshdeep Sharma, SHO at Focal Point Police station, said that on being informed, the police reached the spot and initiated investigation. The police recovered an empty liquor bottle from the spot.

The inspector added that the accused and victim both were factory workers. The accused was the lone son of Laxman. The family has been living in Ludhiana for the past 30 years.

On February 28

A drug addict bludgeoned his elder brother to death with an iron rod in Village Punia of Samrala after barging in the house. The accused who was under the influence of drugs also assaulted his father with the rod and fled after injuring him after neighbors gathered there. The victim was booked for murdering his mother. He had come out of jail four months ago after the court had acquitted him.

On October 25, 2023

A resident of Khannas Libra village had allegedly stabbed his 77-year-old mother to death and injured his younger brother with a sharp-edged weapon, over a property dispute.
: A 29-year-old engineer was held with a country-made pistol, two magazines, and two rounds, at the railway station here, police said on Tuesday. The GRP has booked him under sections 25, 64, and 59 of the Arms Act. (HT)

Manpreet Singh, who is from Bhattian village in Hoshiarpur, bought the .32-bore pistol from Bihar and was on his way back when he was apprehended, the Government Railway Police said.

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He had gone to the Patna Sahib gurdwara and there he alleges that while having tea, he eavesdropped on a few people talking about guns. He enquired about the guns and got himself one, said inspector Palwinder Singh, CIA team lead.

I used worked at a private firm and while going back home, I was mugged a couple of times. This made me think about getting a weapon, he said.

He was held during a routine check at platform no 1 at the station.

The GRP has booked him under sections 25, 64, and 59 of the Arms Act.

He was produced at the court here on Tuesday and the police took him on a one-day remand.
A 42-year-old man, who allegedly impersonated a Delhi Police inspector and duped people by promising to sell luxury cars and costly cellphones auctioned through courts at throwaway prices, has been arrested. The suspect was previously involved in four cheating cases. (Getty Images)

Deputy police commissioner (north) Manoj Kumar Meena said Ayub Khan was arrested following an investigation into a cheating case registered in January on the complaint of a Mumbai man, Shri Hiren.

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The complainant told police he was travelling on a train when a co-passenger, who introduced himself as Deepak Chaudhary and claimed he was a Delhi Police inspector, told him about some cars available at a court in Delhi for auction. The co-passenger told Hiren that he could get one Toyota Innova Crysta (2019 model) at a reasonable price of 5.30 lakh.

The accused took 2.50 lakh from Hiren along with his Aadhar and PAN cards at Tis Hazari Court complex on January 29 and left, saying he was going to complete the formalities. Meena said thereafter he did not return and switched off his cellphone. Hiren informed the police control room about the cheating. While efforts were being made to nab the suspect, another complaint was received on March 14, wherein the complainant alleged that he was duped of 1.5 lakh by one Deepak Chaudhary who impersonated a crime branch officer and called him to the court complex for buying two auctioned iPhones, said Meena.

Inspector Ram Manohar, the in charge of the Subzi Mandi police station, and his team members scanned CCTV cameras of the court complex and spotted the suspect moving around. The suspects location was traced to the East Vinod Nagar area in east Delhi through technical and manual surveillance. Accordingly, the suspect was caught on Sunday.

The suspects interrogation revealed that his original name was Ayub Khan, a resident of East Vinod Nagar. A fake police ID card was recovered from him. Khan disclosed he was unemployed but earned his livelihood through cheating and impersonating a police officer. Four previous cases were registered against him between 2007 and 2014. The police stations concerned have been informed about his arrest, said Meena

Khan was previously involved in four cheating cases of a similar nature registered at Kamla Market, Daryaganj, Hari Nagar, and Parliament Street police stations in Delhi. Khan lived lavishly and visited nightclubs in Delhi and Mumbai, police said.
LUCKNOW: In a dramatic turn of events, incarcerated Mafioso-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, who has been in custody in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab since 2005, was returned to jail nearly 14 hours after being admitted to a hospital when his health deteriorated on Monday midnight. Jail authorities admitted him to Rani Durgawati Medical College in Banda in the early hours of Tuesday, as confirmed by senior police officials. Afzal further said that Mukhtars younger son, Umar Ansari, along with his wife, also reached the hospital, but he was not allowed to meet his father. (File)

Ansaris health deteriorated merely five days after he filed an application in the Barabanki MP/MLA court, alleging that he is being given slow poison in the food served to him at Banda district jail.

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Director general of prisons and reform administration, SN Sabat, said that doctors had declared him fit after primary treatment, following which he was lodged in Banda jail. As per doctors, Mukhtar Ansari complained of abdominal pain and was unable to pass stool and flatus for four consecutive days, he said.

A senior police official said that adequate security arrangements were made at the ward where Mukhtar Ansari was admitted. Later in the day, Mukhtar Ansaris brother Afzal Ansari, a BSP MP from the Ghazipur constituency, visited the hospital to meet Mukhtar, he said.

While speaking to mediapersons, Afzal Ansari said that his brother experienced health issues after consuming the evening meal on March 19. He subsequently informed the Barabanki court through his lawyer that he suspects he has been given slow poison in jail.

Doctors in jail administered at least 28 injections to him, and his health deteriorated. He collapsed in the bathroom last night, after which he was admitted to the medical college around 3:55 am on Tuesday, Afzal said.

Afzal further informed that Mukhtar is now conscious and able to talk. He told me that he has been experiencing health issues since March 19, and he faced similar problems around 40 days ago, after which he suspected he was being served poisonous meals, he emphasised and added, They might have thought that sending him to the medical college meant his last moments had come, but thankfully he revived after receiving treatment.

He said that it is an attempt to save Brijesh Singh and Tribhuvan Singh, who are the key accused in attack on Mukhtar Ansari case of July 2001, as he is the main witness in it. He said he had even called up the chief ministers residence on Tuesday but could not have conversation as he was in Gorakhpur. Ill call him again on Wednesday when he is back in Lucknow, he said.

Afzal further said that Mukhtars younger son, Umar Ansari, along with his wife, also reached the hospital, but he was not allowed to meet his father. On December 4,2023, Umar had filed a petition in the Supreme Court, stating that his father, Mukhtar Ansari (60), faced an imminent and serious life threat in Uttar Pradesh jail and appealed to transfer him to any jail outside Uttar Pradesh and to a state ruled by any party other than the Bharatiya Janata Party, seeking intervention in the matter.

In the official statement, the Prison and Reform Service Administration said that Mukhtar Ansaris health deteriorated on Tuesday night, after which he was immediately rushed to the medical college for treatment. However, the state government has suspended a jailer and two deputy jailers of Banda jail over alleged negligence in Ansaris security two days ago.

Earlier, on March 13, he was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Varanasi MP/MLA court in a case of fraudulently obtaining an arms license around 37 years ago. The court also imposed a penalty of 2.02 lakh in the matter. This marks the eighth case in which he has been sentenced in the past one and a half years since September 2022, and the second case in which he has been awarded a life term.
MUMBAI: The crime branch has registered an FIR against job placement agents for running a racket which duped unemployed youths by promising them well-paid jobs in Thailand. The scamsters sent the job seekers to an isolated location in neighbouring Laos instead, where the victims would be forced to work on fraudulent jobs, tortured, harassed and threatened. HT Image

The police said the fraud was being run by Indian and Chinese nationals who took the victims from India to Bangkok and from there they were taken to Laos by a boat where they were made to work in fake call centres and asked to prepare fake social media accounts in order to cheat American and British nationals by luring them to invest in fraud Bitcoins schemes.

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The crime branch has registered an FIR based on the complaint filed by one of the victims, identified as Siddharth Yadav, 23, a resident of Wagle Estate in Thane. Yadav escaped the fraud along with three other men and said there ar 30 Indian nationals still trapped in Laos. The police said Yadav was searching for a job and he got in touch with an agent named Rohit who told him that a recruiter called Jerry Jacob was looking for job-seekers for a call centre job in Thailand where the job responsibility would be to sell crypto-currency and Bitcoins.

He was promised a salary of 65,000 per month in Indian rupees for which he agreed along with the terms and conditions of the job. His departure was dated December 30, 2022, Yadav even paid the agents 50,000 to get the job. He booked two flight tickets, one from Mumbai to Bangkok and the other from Bangkok to Chiang Rai, a city near the borders of Laos and Myanmar, said an officer.

In Chiang Rai, a Chinese national picked him up to drop him at the Laos border where at immigration, another Chinese national collected the passports of several Indian job-seekers after which they were taken on a boat to Laos. Yadav learnt that, like him, there were several Indians from Punjab and Delhi who were taken to the Golden Triangle, a mountainous region in northeastern Myanmar, northwestern Thailand, and northern Laos. This is where they met two men, identified as Godfrey and Sunny, both Indians settled in Laos who gave them computers, and iPhones and asked them to create fake social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. They were asked to make accounts in the names of female US, Canadian and European citizens. Their modus operandi was to chat with the nationals befriend them and then ask them to invest in cryptocurrency by downloading their companys application on the phone. The fraud application showed double money in the inverters account, but they couldnt withdraw the money, said the police officer.

Yadav didnt get any salary as the companys rules were very strict. If they went for lunch for more time, spoke with someone else or stood up while working they were fined.

Yadavs conscience didnt allow them to cheat people. He asked the men, running the racket, to return his passport so he could go back to India. But they told him that he would have to pay a hefty fine to get his passport back. Finally, he along with others wrote to the Indian Embassy. The frauds found out about this assaulted the victims and asked them to take back their complaints. Finally, the local police helped the victims after the embassy intervened and deported four of them to India, said an officer.

The police officer said there were around 30 such people trapped. They were kept in harsh conditions, tortured and asked to pay fines for leaving the job.

The victims were also threatened that if they complained against the job racket in India, their families would face dire consequences. We have registered a case against three people, Jerry Jacob, Godfrey and Sunny, said the police officer.

The police officers said the case is being transferred to the Mumbai Crime branch and is registered under 120 B criminal conspiracy, 520 cheating, 506 criminal intimidation, 323 punishment for voluntarily causing hurt, 342 wrongful confinement, 346 wrongful confinement in secret, 370 trafficking of persons, 386 extortion of person by putting him under threat of death or hurt of the IPC and under Emigration Act, 1983.
Ladakhi activist Sonam Wangchuk ended his 21-day hunger strike in Leh on Tuesday. However, his demands have found resonance among the local population. The Centre needs to engage with them. Some of his demands  rooted in the context of Ladakh, which has a sensitive ecology, and lies on the border with China, which harbours expansionist ambitions in this mountainous region  are valid. PREMIUM FILE PHOTO: India's Border Security Force (BSF) soldiers stand guard at a checkpoint along a highway leading to Ladakh, at Gagangeer in Kashmir's Ganderbal district June 17, 2020. REUTERS/Danish Ismail/File Photo (REUTERS)

Ladakh is a sparsely populated high-altitude cold desert sensitive to the climate crisis. Wangchuks critique of the States development agenda for the region needs to be considered in this context. Tourism has been an important part of the Ladakhi economy, but scaling up can harm the regions environment. The proposed mega airport in Leh and a solar park spread over 20,000 hectares in the Changthang pastures need a relook. Development plans need to be sensitive to ecology and local concerns.

Wangchuk, however, has located his demands in the broader political economy of the region, which explains the call to extend the constitutional provisions under the Sixth Schedule to Ladakh: The Sixth Schedule will help guard Ladakhs unique social and cultural features. Since 2019, Ladakh and Kargil have been reduced to a Union Territory and represented by an MP in the Lok Sabha. There may well be a case to have separate representatives for these two distinct regions, even if they are too sparsely populated to merit two parliamentary constituencies. However, Sixth Schedule status could introduce devolution of powers to the grassroots, which can, to some extent, address the larger sense of alienation the region has felt while it was governed from Srinagar in the past or New Delhi now. Similarly, the fear of Chinese encroachment on Indian pasture land should not be brushed aside. These are important concerns over which a conversation that includes local communities is needed. The Centre needs to assure them that the interests of Ladakh are on top of the rest of Indias mind.

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The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing arguments over whether to limit access to mifepristone, a drug used in the most common way to end a pregnancy. Allen G. Breed/Associated Press 2022

The Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday in a case that never should have seen the inside of a courtroom: Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. Food and Drug Administration.

While the case moved through lower courts and had multiple rulings, the Supreme Court is focused on whether the plaintiffs  a group of anti-abortion rights physicians and organizations  have standing to challenge the FDAs approval of mifepristone (one of two drugs used in most medication abortions in the country) and if the agencys 2016 and 2021 amendments to expand access to the drug should be upheld.

Without legal standing, this case will not move forward. With standing, the entire drug regulatory system in the U.S. could be upended. And all of it hinges upon faulty science that calls the safety of mifepristone into question.

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Mifepristone was initially developed as an abortifacient by French scientists and approved for use in France in 1988. In 2000, after more than a decade of use and research on safety and effectiveness in Europe and elsewhere, mifepristone was approved by the FDA for use in the U.S. In subsequent reviews of new evidence, the FDA modified the on-label use of mifepristone to ease access in 2016 and 2021  increasing the approved use of mifepristone from seven to 10 weeks of pregnancy, expanding the cadre of providers that can prescribe the drug beyond physicians to include advanced practice clinicians and to allow for mailing of pills (rather than requiring in-person dispensing). These decisions were based on comprehensive reviews of scientific literature.

The plaintiffs in the Supreme Court case, however, are using discredited science in an attempt to revoke FDA approval of mifepristone. Despite decades of rigorous scientific data from over 100 studies demonstrating the safety and effectiveness of mifepristone, and nearly a quarter century of widespread use in the U.S., the plaintiffs claim that their evidence suggests otherwise  relying on just a handful of outlier papers that question the safety of medication abortion.

As epidemiologists, we joined with hundreds of other scientific community members to voice concerns about the data cited in the case. In February, two of the most heavily referenced studies in the plaintiffs argument (along with one additional study cited in the case) were retracted from the scientific journal Health Services Research and Managerial Epidemiology. Retractions are rare and only occur after careful external review demonstrating serious concerns such as lack of scientific rigor, conflicts of interest or falsification of data. In this case, the retracted studies presented spurious and unfounded conclusions about the safety of mifepristone based on an inappropriate study design.

Currently, for someone who wants to end their pregnancy with pills (rather than a procedure), there are two main medication regimens recommended by the World Health Organization and other clinical bodies: The combined regimen, which uses mifepristone followed by misoprostol, or the misoprostol-only regimen. In the U.S., only the combined regimen has FDA approval. While misoprostol-only can be offered through clinicians standard off-label prescribing authority, nearly all medication abortion prescriptions in the U.S. use the combined regimen.

What makes this case critical in the fight for reproductive health care access is, that if the court sides with the plaintiffs, the most commonly used drug in the country for medication abortions goes away or is even further restricted.

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Multiple decades of clinical and epidemiologic data on the use of mifepristone demonstrate its robust safety profile. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report on the nearly 6 million people who have used mifepristone showed extremely low rates of infection, blood transfusion and risk of death. These low safety event risks are concordant with findings of a 2022 Cochrane Review of medication abortion safety and effectiveness.

Mifepristone is one of the most examined medications on the market in the U.S. In the 24 years since the FDA granted its original approval of mifepristone, the agency has reviewed the drug no fewer than four times, reaching the same clear and full-throated conclusion: Mifepristone is safe and effective.

Looking at the data, there is only one conclusion we can draw  medication abortion, with mifepristone and/or misoprostol, is safe, effective and a critical part of reproductive health care.

False claims driven by political viewpoints not grounded in science have landed this case at the Supreme Court, with dangerous implications that could upend abortion care and all medication development and regulation in the U.S. We hope that as the justices consider the case, science will prevail, facts will outweigh politics and FDA approval of mifepristone will remain intact.
Maharashtra Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, MBSHSE will conclude Maharashtra SSC Exam 2024 on March 26, 2024. The Class 10 board examination in the state will end with Social Science Paper II or Geography paper. Maharashtra SSC Exam 2024 ends today with Geography paper(Biplov Bhuyan/HT PHOTO)

The Geography paper will begin at 11 am and will end at 1 pm across the state.

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Students who are appearing for the Geography exam will have to reach the exam centre on time, i.e., 1 hour prior to the commencement of the examination. Students who will arrive late will not be given entry to the exam hall. They will also have to carry their admit card, which has their name, photograph, signature and other details. The invigilator will see the admit card, and then entry to the exam hall will be granted.

Students will be allowed to carry their stationery along with other items that are needed for the Geography exam. Electronic devices such as mobile phones, smartwatches, earphones, digital calculators etc are not allowed inside the examination centre.

Once the examination is over, the evaluation process will begin in the coming days. Like past trends, the Maharashtra SSC result 2024 will likely be announced in May  June 2024.

In 2023, the Maharashtra SSC results was announced on June 2. A total of 15,49,666 regular students from the nine divisional boards of the state, including Pune, Nagpur, Aurangabad, Mumbai, Kolhapur, Amravati, Nashik, Latur, and Konkan had registered for this exam, out of which 15,29,096 students appeared for the exam, and 14,34,898 students passed. The overall pass percentage was 93.83 percent.
CISCE postpones class 12 Psychology exam: The Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) postponed Class 12 Psychology exam that was scheduled on Wednesday to April 4th after one of its examination centers lost question papers, the board said on Tuesday. In a public notice issued a day ahead of the exam the board said one of the ISC year 2024 examination centers has reported that the question paper packet of the forthcoming ISC year 2024, Psychology examination, was lost.

This is the second time in one month that the board has postponed a class 12 exam or India School Certificate (ISC) examination. Earlier on February 26, the board had canceled class 12 Chemistry citing unforeseen circumstances.

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In a public notice issued a day ahead of the exam the board said one of the ISC year 2024 examination centers has reported that the question paper packet of the forthcoming ISC year 2024, Psychology examination, was lost.

In view of the above fact, the ISC year 2024 Psychology examination, scheduled for Wednesday, 27th March, 2024, has been postponed. This examination has been rescheduled for Thursday 4th April 2024, 2pm, the board said.

The board has asked the principals of its all affiliated schools to handover the question papers of the examination scheduled on Wednesday to the conveners of their centers at the earliest.

A fresh set of question papers to be used for the ISC year 2024 Psychology examination, scheduled for Thursday April 4, 2024, will be sent to the conveners of your schools, shortly, the board said.

The rest of the exams will continue as per the schedule, the school informed.

The ISC exams started on February 12 and will continue till April 4 now. There are around 2700 CISCE affiliated schools in India and abroad.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Aaliya Siddiqui (now Aaliya Anand Pandey, as per her Instagram account) appear to be giving their marriage one more chance based on Aaliya's latest Instagram post featuring photos of them with their children. Taking to Instagram on Monday, Aaliya gave a glimpse of her celebrating her 14th marriage anniversary with the actor. Also read: Nawazuddin Siddiquis estranged wife Aaliya opens up about finding love again Nawazuddin Siddiqui with Aaliya and their kids. She dropped a sweet post on their 14th wedding anniversary.

Aaliya's anniversary post for Nawazuddin

Her caption read, "Celebrating 14 years of wedded bliss with my one and only. Anniversary cheers." The first photo featured Nawazuddin and Aaliya with their kids  daughter Shora and son Yaani. It was followed by another happy picture of the actor with his kids.

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Nawazuddin Siddiqui's marriage

Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Aaliya Siddiqui made headlines in the last few months over a battle for their childrens custody. Aaliya had openly criticised the actor on social media and had accused Nawazuddin and his family of harassment.

In March 2023, Aaliya had said that the actor had thrown her and their two children out of his house in Mumbai. Nawazuddin then filed a defamation suit against Aaliya.

Aaliya took to Instagram in 2023 to share a picture with her 'companion'.

When Aaliya spoke about her new companion

However, it seems they are now trying to reconcile after she spoke about dating a Dubai-based man, who is Italian. In June 2023, Aaliya had spoken about her new relationship, and opened up about her companion in a 2023 interview to ETimes. She had clarified that 'he had nothing to do with her broken marriage' with Nawazuddin. Aaliya had also posted a picture on Instagram at the time with the mystery man.

She had told ETimes, "No one can judge my character on the basis of how happy I feel. I filed for divorce two years ago, long before I met my companion, so he has nothing to do with my broken marriage... I want Nawaz to do well in life. Our divorce case is still on I have struggled for 19 years. Had I been calculative about these things, I wouldnt have shared about my (new) relationship on social media... I was mentally exhausted. I have finally moved on and I am in a happy space."

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Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas celebrated their first Holi in India with daughter Malti Marie Chopra Jonas on Monday. After videos of the festivities took over social media, Priyanka on Tuesday shared a bunch of happy photos and videos from their Holi celebration in Noida. Also read: Priyanka Chopra dances with Nick Jonas to dhol beats at Holi party. See pics Priyanka Chopra with daughter Malti Marie and husband Nick Jonas during a Holi party in Noida.

Inside Priyanka Chopra's 'lit' Holi party

Nothing says Holi like a pool party and these 'lit' photos of Priyanka and family are proof. Priyanka's caption read, "Holi was lit. Thank you @tam2cul @sudeepdutt for creating such a warm atmosphere for our family! So much fun."

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Priyanka, Nick Jonas and Malti all wore white ethnic looks for the Holi party. Little Malti also wore matching white Crocs. All three posed with Priyanka's close friend Tamanna Dutt and her family in one of the pictures Priyanka posted. Priyanka also posted candid videos of Nick from the bash. She sat on his lap as they listened to live music in one clip. Priyanka's cousin Mannara Chopra as well as mother Madhu Chopra featured in the photos Priyanka posted.

Reactions to Priyanka's Holi photos and videos

A fan commented on the actor's Holi post, "Just imagine what would have happened to Nick if he had (been) given a cold thandai?" Another said, 'Best couple and happy family." One also commented about Priyanka, "She celebrates Indian festivals so perfectly like no other Bollywood celebrity does."

Priyanka Chopra's India trip

Although Priyanka wasn't present in the country during Ayodhya's Ram Temple consecration in January, she, along with Nick and Malti, on their ongoing trip to India paid a visit to the Ram Mandir. Before that, Priyanka was seen at Isha Ambani's Holi party in Mumbai. The actor also attended a couple of promotional events in Mumbai. Priyanka landed in Mumbai with Malti on March 14. Nick joined them a day later.

Recently, Priyanka became an executive producer for the Oscar-nominated documentary To Kill A Tiger. Fans will see Priyanka in The Bluff, which will be directed by Frank E Flowers. She also has Heads of State alongside John Cena and Idris Elba.

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What Kangana Ranaut said in 2020

I saw one very derogatory interview given by Urmila Matondkar. The way she was talking about me, pulling faces, making a mockery about my struggles, attacking me on the fact that I am trying to appease BJP for a ticket. One doesnt have to be a genius to figure that for me it is not very difficult to get a ticket. Urmila is a soft porn star. She is not known for her acting for sure, what is she known for? For doing soft porn right. If she could get a ticket, why wouldnt I get a ticket?" Kangana Ranaut had said in September, 2020.

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What Urmila said about Kangana in interview

Urmila had made her political debut as a Congress candidate in the 2019 Lok Sabha election from the Mumbai North constituency. She had resigned from Congress after a short association, and joined Shiv Sena in 2020.

Urmila had slammed Kangana for disrespecting veteran actor Jaya Bachchan, who had objected to the entire film industry being tarnished in a 2020 speech in Parliament.

When Kangana was not even born, Jaya ji was in the film industry. Were talking about a lady here (Jaya Bachchan) who has herself been an icon. Which part of Indian culture tells you to lash out at people like this? Urmila had told NDTV in 2020.

Reactions to Kangana's soft porn jibe

After Kanganas comment against Urmila, Bollywood celebrities came out in support of Urmila. Actor Swara Bhasker had tweeted words of appreciation for Urmila in 2020. Dear @UrmilaMatondkar ji, remembering your outstanding performances in Masoom, Chamatkar, Rangeela, Judaai, Daud, Satya, Bhoot, Kaun, Jungle, Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya, Tehzeeb, Pinjar, Ek Hasina Thi.. among others and have marvelled at your acting chops & brilliant dancing! Love you, she wrote.

Filmmaker Anubhav Sinha also tweeted, Just felt like saying this to one of the most beautiful, elegant, evocative, expressive actresses ever. Sending you love @UrmilaMatondkar.

Jewellery designer and Hrithik Roshan's ex-wife Sussanne Khan's sister, Farah Khan Ali, wrote, Class does not rave and rant. It shines through Urmila Matondkar, Jaya Bachchan, Swara Bhasker, Taapsee Pannu, Sonu Sood, Hema Malini. You guys shine bright.

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Actor Rebel Wilson and Borat creator Sacha Baron Cohen have become involved in a dispute after she said her forthcoming memoir has a chapter dedicated to Sacha. Rebel had said in an Instagram video recently that her book would include details of when she worked with someone, who was a 'massive a******'. As per a report by Us Weekly, Sacha has now issued a statement through a representative. Also read: Rebel Wilson says Meghan Markle wasn't as naturally warm after her mom asked her slightly rude questions Sacha Baron Cohen denies Rebel Wilson's claims about his behaviour on set.

Sacha Baron Cohen issues statement

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, a rep for Sacha said on Monday.

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What Rebel said about Sasha

A source confirmed to Us Weekly that Rebel Wilson, 44, tells a story in the book about working with Sacha Baron Cohen, 52, on the 2016 movie The Brothers Grimsby.

Earlier on Monday, Rebel took to social media to accuse Sacha of trying to silence her. I will not be bullied or silenced with high-priced lawyers or PR crisis managers. The asshole that I am talking about in ONE CHAPTER of my book is Sasha Baron Cohen, she wrote on Instagram Stories.

Rebel Wilson's book

Rebel had previously teased that the book would explain her 'no a******* policy'. I dont work with a*******. I was like, Oh yeah. I mean that sounds sensible, logical," she said via an Instagram video earlier this month. She added, Then it really sunk in what they were meaning by that: Older people in the industry.

Her book Rebel Rising will be out on April 2. When Rebel Rising was announced last year, Rebel had said about her book, "(It is) like me sitting down telling my deepest, darkest secrets to a friend with some laughs along the way of course".

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The next instalment of Pirates of the Caribbean, instead of being a straight sequel, will be a reboot. This decision aims to make the production process easier, as it eliminates the need to wait for specific actors to reprise their roles. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer confirmed that Johnny Depp may not reprise his role in the upcoming film. Johnny Depp has played Jack Sparrow in five Pirates of the Caribbean films.

One of the major factors that led to the popularity and, in turn, the success of the Pirates of the Caribbean film series was Depps portrayal of Jack Sparrow. However, he might not return for Pirates of the Caribbean 6 due to recent controversies.

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Bruckheimer told Comicbook.com, Pirates of the Caribbean will be akin to a franchise reboot rather than a direct sequel to Dead Men Tell No Tales. He said that his relationship with Disney was strained after they tried to cut ties to be safe. However, the 60-year-old actor has loosened his previous stand and is more open to returning if the project is right.

Depp's involvement in a defamation trial with his ex-wife, Amber Heard, strained his relationship with Disney. Although the trial verdict favoured Depp, his return to the action-fantasy film franchise remains uncertain.

Bruckheimer has recently acknowledged Depps skills and voiced his enthusiasm for the actor's portrayal of Jack Sparrow. Although Depps participation in the sequel is yet to be confirmed, the decision to revive the franchise as a sequel raises the possibility of a breakup with his character, Jack Sparrow.

Opting for a reboot over a direct sequel allows for a swifter and faster production schedule because it eliminates the need to hold off on casting decisions. This move is likely to hasten Pirates of the Caribbean 6's development and release.

All things considered, the choice to revive the Pirates of the Caribbean series for the sixth instalment suggests a departure from the previous plot and cast of characters, possibly indicating the end of Johnny Depp's tenure as Captain Jack Sparrow.
Federal authorities raided the LA and Miami homes of American rapper and record producer Sean Diddy Combs, and his luxury properties on Monday. Combs, 54, is assumed to be connected to the ongoing sex trafficking investigation. TMZ confirmed that several armed federal officers raided the rappers LA home and that helicopters were seen flying overhead. Combs has been plagued by a growing number of lawsuits for the past few months, as former girlfriends. This November 4, 2004, file photo shows Sean P. Diddy Combs directing photographers as they sing "Happy Birthday," to him as his date Kim Porter, left, listens, after Combs arrived for his 35th birthday celebration at Cipriani on Wall Street in New York. (AP)

Federal probe targets Sean 'Diddy' Combs'

"Earlier today, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York executed law enforcement actions as part of an ongoing investigation, a representative of Homeland Security Investigations told People on Monday. With assistance from HSI Los Angeles, HSI Miami, and our local law enforcement partners. We will provide further information as it becomes available," they added. While he has yet to be charged with a crime, the American producer has been on trial for months now, facing multiple allegations of rape, sexual battery, human trafficking, and more.

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Also read: Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce spotted on romantic lunch date amid new girlfriend speculations

Sean Diddys California mansion raided

According to a video posted by TMZ, several federal agents could be seen flying over Diddy's California mansion. The high-rise property, located in the affluent Holmby Hills area, was purchased by Combs in 2014 for $40 million. According to another video posted by Fox 11, Diddy's two sons, Justin Combs (30) and Christian King Combs (25) were handcuffed by police and were seen sitting outside while the investigators continued the grilling with staff. According to the outlet, several people at the scene were questioned for several hours.

Douglas Wigdor, the lawyer representing Cassie and Jane Doe, both of whom have previously initiated legal actions against Diddy, spoke to People and said, 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.

Also read: Netflix's 3 Body Problem Season 2 update: Showrunners eyeing exciting storyline

Sean Diddy Combs controversy

So far, five people have accused Diddy of sexual assault, with allegations that sound eerily similar. The latest accuser, ex-producer Rodney Lil Rod Jones, has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Diddy in New York, claiming he sexually harassed, drugged, and threatened him. Other women who have accused Diddy have been Jane Doe, Joi Dickerson-Neal, and Diddy's long-time former partner Casandra Cassie Ventura.
Sean 'Diddy' Combs, the American record producer, has not left the US. While his private jet was earlier spotted landing in the Caribbean, sparking speculation about his escape, a new video shows the 54-year-old at Miami airport. A recent video recorded the 54-year-old pacing back and forth at Miami airport while investigators continued to search several of his properties in Miami and LA. The video was taken hours after Homeland Security choppers descended on the multi-million dollar properties. This November 4, 2004, file photo shows Sean P. Diddy Combs directing photographers as they sing "Happy Birthday," to him as his date Kim Porter, left, listens, after Combs arrived for his 35th birthday celebration at Cipriani on Wall Street in New York. (AP)

Also read: Sean 'Diddy' Combs' LA and Miami houses raided by feds amid sex trafficking allegations

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Sean Diddy Combs spotted at Miami airport

Sean "Diddy" Combs, facing serious allegations of sexual misconduct and sex trafficking for months, was recently filmed outside Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport on Monday. The video caught him looking tense, amid speculations he was planning to escape to Cape Verde. Authorities reportedly confiscated Combs' mobile phones before he could board a planned vacation flight to the Bahamas.

Where is Sean Diddy Combs?

The "I'll Be Missing You" rapper, Sean "Diddy" Combs, was spotted outside the Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport customs office on Monday. Clad in dark blue sweatpants and an oversized white T-shirt, his body language spoke a lot about his situation. Earlier photos released by TMZ and Fox 11 showed only Diddy's two sons in handcuffs during the official search. Reports indicate Diddy and others were stopped at the airport before they could reach the location.

The record producer was reportedly on his private jet when a federal search occurred, as per the outlet. According to the publication, Homeland Security arrived at the airport and stopped him. However, earlier in the day, another private plane traveling from Los Angeles to Antigua was spotted on the radar. Though it's unclear who was on board, TMZ tracked it.

Also read: Sean Diddy's private jet lands in the Caribbean amid federal raids on homes linked to sex trafficking: Report

Combs was recently accused of sexually assaulting his ex-producer and videographer, Rod Lil Rod Jones, multiple times during a 10-month period while he was working on the rappers album.
Naga Chaitanya is currently shooting for director Chandoo Mondetis Thandel with Sai Pallavi. Talking about the film on Zig Wheels, the actor revealed the plot of the film, apart from what his and Sais characters in the film will be like. (Also Read: Thandel: Makers release first-look of Naga Chaitanya and Sai Pallavi's patriotic drama) Naga Chaitanya plays a fisherman in Thandel

Thandel is inspired by a 2018 incident

Talking about the film, Naga Chaitanya revealed that Thandel is inspired by the 2018 incident, when fishermen from Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh drifted into Pakistan waters by mistake and were taken into custody. He said, Thandel is a film Ive been working on for quite some time; its a very special film for me. Firstly, Ive never attempted this kind of character or texture. Its based on some true incidents in 2018 involving these fishermen from Srikakulam. Usually, they go to Gujarat and go fishing from there. On one of their trips, they drifted off into Pakistan's borders and got caught.

The love story in the film is real

Chaitanya also revealed that he met the fishermen from Srikakulam who have been through this harrowing experience, stating that the love story in the film is also based on one of their love stories. Their journey being in jail for a year and a half and how they come out is what the film is about. Its an inspiring story. I met these fishermen, spent time with them, and learnt about what they went through, he said, adding, The love story me and Sai feature in is also genuinely what happened. The real-life couple are now married. His wife fought for these fishermen and motivated the government to bring them back to India. Im glad I got the opportunity to tell this story.

About Thandel

Thandel is Chaitanyas third film with Chandoo after Premam and Savyasachi and his second with Sai after Sekhar Kammulas Love Story. The filmmakers released the essence of the film in January this year, which hinted at the story. Thandel is presented by Allu Aravinds Geetha Arts and produced by Bunny Vasu. Devi Sri Prasad is composing the films tunes while Shamdat is the cinematographer.

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A makeshift memorial honors the family of four killed in a March 16 crash at a bus stop near Munis West Portal Station in San Francisco. David Hernandez/The Chronicle

On the evening of March 18, a usually busy West Portal intersection was unusually quiet.

The street was closed to hold the vigil for Diego Cardoso de Oliveira, Matilde Moncado Ramos Pinto and their two young children, the San Francisco family killed after being hit by the driver of a speeding sport-utility vehicle just two days earlier.

Despite hundreds of people filling the street in front of the public library branch, you could hear the sound of the Muni train on West Portal Avenue and the sound of the wind passing through the trees. People grieved mostly in silence.

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But then friends of the family arrived.

They began placing photos of the victims with flowers, stuffed animals and a white stroller. They hung photos on the letters that spelled out SF GRIEVES.

What had happened in West Portal became all too real as we got glimpses of the sweet faces of Joaquin, 2, and Caue, 3 months. Sobs began to fill the air.

I share this because our whole city needs to feel, even for just a moment, the shared heartbreak, humanity and vulnerability with what happened in West Portal. Because its happening all too often.

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Four other San Francisco pedestrians have already died in 2024. Every 14 hours on average, a traffic crash sends somebody severely injured to San Francisco General Hospital. Over the weekend, another pedestrian was taken to the hospital after a driver crashed into a pole at a bus stop near Golden Gate Park. According to a witness, the pole grazed a young boy and came within inches of a teenage girl.

Cars, trucks and SUVs can become deadly weapons in an instant, especially when a driver is speeding  the leading cause of traffic crashes in San Francisco. And while the people inside vehicles have never been safer, people outside are even more at risk as vehicles grow bigger, heavier and more powerful.

But it doesnt have to be like this. While the threat is complex and challenging, there are solutions to protect us no matter how were getting around.

San Francisco is already using many of these. In the past decade, San Francisco adopted Vision Zero  a data-based, systems approach to preventing traffic crashes  and it has brought many solutions to our streets, especially in the past five years.

Some of the widest, deadliest streets have been redesigned, including removing travel lanes to calm traffic. Speed limits have been lowered on 44 miles of streets, and there are more than 30 miles of low-traffic Slow Streets. People can enjoy car-free spaces on JFK Promenade in Golden Gate Park, the Great Highway, in McLaren Park and Market Street. There are 46 miles of protected bike lanes and over 20 miles of Muni priority bus lanes. The entire Tenderloin neighborhood now has 20 mph speed limits, and no-turn-on-red and pedestrian safety zones at every intersection. The Vision Zero Quick Build program, which has dramatically improved how fast street redesigns happen, is a model for other cities. By the end of this year, all of the citys most dangerous intersections will have lights timed to give pedestrians a head start and more time to cross. And just last week, the Municipal Transportation Agency presented its proposed list of 33 locations to pilot speed cameras in early 2025.

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And yet.

Traffic deaths and severe injuries havent gone down, and pedestrians continue to make up the lions share of victims in San Francisco.

Meanwhile, New York City, the first city in the United States to adopt Vision Zero (San Francisco was second), just had the lowest number of pedestrian deaths on record  in more than 100 years.

What is New York doing differently? It applies solutions faster, at a broader scale and in a more layered way. Speed limits have been lowered citywide, and around 2,500 speed cameras are enforcing these limits. And there is a pilot for speed limiters in city vehicles. A small but powerful example: turn calming  placing rubber bumpers or posts in an intersection so drivers must make turns more slowly  is installed at nearly 1,000 intersections and has led to a 33% decrease in severe pedestrian injuries. New York City also has much more transparency, interagency collaboration and metrics driving Vision Zero forward.

We need that in San Francisco, and there isnt a moment to waste. Vision Zero must get the focus, funding and full authority needed to succeed.

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Traffic safety has been far down the priority list for too long. When babies and children are being killed, this is unconscionable. Its also frustrating because Vision Zero is about saving lives and becoming the city we want to be. Safe streets make our neighborhoods stronger, healthier, more equitable and more joyful. They are an economic recovery plan and a climate plan wrapped into one that gets more people out in their neighborhoods in sustainable ways.

Yes, a safety-first plan for our streets may mean it will take a couple more minutes to cross town in a car. But this is an easy tradeoff to save lives and move our city in the right direction  because we should all be safe when we walk out our front door each day in San Francisco.
Actor Ram Charan is reuniting with director Sukumar for the second time after the successful 2018 film Rangasthalam. The duo announced on Holi that itll be Rams next film after his project with Buchi Babu Sana. SS Rajamoulis son SS Karthikeya teased details of the project on X. (Also Read: Ram Charan confirms RC17 with Pushpa director Sukumar, shares first look poster on Holi. See photo) Ram Charan and Sukumar will work together for the second time after Rangasthalam

I hope I wont leak much

Re-sharing Rams announcement post on X, Karthikeya revealed that the actor spoke to him about the opening sequence of his next while he was shooting for RRR. He wrote, I think during the climax shoot of RRR, he just randomly opened up about doing a film with Sukumar garu and started talking about the opening sequence of the film. For almost 5 minutes, my mind was blown.

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In fact, Karthikeya was so impressed, he says ever since, he has been waiting for the film to be announced so he can talk about it, writing, Ever since he mentioned it, I've been waiting for the film to be announced. Imagining it as a blockbuster already, it will become one of the iconic sequences. I hope I won't leak much about it brother @AlwaysRamCharan.

Rams second film with Sukumar

Ram has had commercial success but the film that showed him in a new light and changed the trajectory of his career is Sukumars 2018 film Rangasthalam. He played a hearing-impaired man called Chitti Babu in the film, someone whose life turns upside down when he witnesses his brothers death.

The film was a derivation from everything both Ram and Sukumar had done so far. Sukumar was known for his urban drama, while this film showed that he could pull off rustic films too. The same went for Ram, who had never played a role like that in his career. The film was a massive success when it released.

Upcoming work

Ram is currently shooting for Shankars Game Changer in which he plays an IAS officer. The actor recently shot in Visakhapatnam for the film with Kiara Advani. He will soon shoot for a film with director Buchi Babu Sana and Janhvi Kapoor. Sukumar is shooting for the sequel of Pushpa: The Rise, titled Pushpa: The Rule with Allu Arjun, Rashmika Mandanna and Fahadh Faasil.

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On this Theatre Day, celebrated across the globe to honor the art form that transcends time, seasoned actor Piyush Mishra, reminisces on the essence of theatre and says, Usme maza aata hai kyuki live interaction hota hai (The live interaction is fun). Whereas, cinema mai aap audience tak camera ke through pahuchte hain, toh live interaction ho hi nahi paata (It is different from films). Theatre gives a chance of rehearsals, which do not exist in cinema. You can rehearse for at least two months to improve and experiment with your performance. Also read: Master class at NSD, Delhi ft Piyush Mishra and Mukesh Chhabra Piyush Mishra on Theatre Day

On differences between cinema and theatre

He added, "Rehearsals are very important. Aap jitna adhik rehearsals karenge, utni aapki skills groom hongi (The more you rehearse, the better you perform). It helps in growing continuously, because you are doing ten productions at a time. It gives a positive result. On the other hand, cinema requires a prepared actor, koi aapko acting seekhaata nahi hai (No one teaches you acting for a film). Aap karden, paise len, aur ghar chale jaayen (You just perform, take your fees and go home)," highlighting the stark differences between cinema and theatre.

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You cannot do theatre without money

Reflecting on his journey, Mishra recalls his humble beginnings and shares, "In earlier days, I even did theatre without money. But, bina paise ke nahi hota hai theatre (You cannot do theatre without money). Aaj kal theatre mai paisa hai (Today even theatre has money). Gone are those days when big producers never used to put their money into it. Having said that, paise nahi hota toh hum bahut complaint karte hain ki paisa nahi hai (If there is no money, we complaint about it)," the 61-year-old continues, Lekin jab paisa ajaata hai toh raamdev hojaate hain ki ab toh paise se hojayega, production values badhjayengi, so kahin na kahin pradooshit hojaata hai theatre paisa aate hi But when money comes, we think of improving production value, which all changes theatre). The same has been going on for 40 years as I can see. Aise maine dekha hai, mai galat bhi hosakta hu (This has been my observation, I might be wrong).

On future of theatre

He entered theatre on his own but it's his mentors who were there for him all along. "In Gwalior, I looked up to actors like Vijay Modak and Nana Gadwaikar, unko dekh ke lagta tha ki hum aisi acting kab kar paayenge (I used to wonder if I can act). And after coming to NSD, there was my German teacher Fritz Bennewitz, Naseeruddin Shah, NK Sharma, and Ranjit Kapoor, all these were my mentors," the actor adds.

Despite the challenges, Mishra remains optimistic about the future of theatre. "And, I don't think theatre is any less appreciated now, pehle se badh gaya hai," he remarks, "It is a live art, vo kabhi marr nahi sakta (it cannot die). 120 saal pehle kahan tha cinema, theatre tha, Shakespeare ke waqt se hai (there was no cinema 120 years ago, only theatre since Shakespeare's era)."

Sharing a recent anecdote, he tells us, "There was an Assam production this time called Raghunath, just amazing. These people never saw the face of cinema, but they surpassed our plays and won many awards at the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (META). META is one of the most prestigious theatre competitions in India."

The best part about theatre?

"The best part about theatre is that it gives a chance to emote, that's a good feeling. You cannot define that feeling. Hamlet is a performance that will always stay in my heart, it was the beginning for me. Aapko plays se zyada shows yaad rehte hain (It is easy to remember shows compared to plays). For example, yesterday, the third show was my best and today the first one," adds Mishra.

As Mishra looks ahead, he plans to delve back into cinema, armed with a lineup of promising projects. "Mujhe koi problem nahi hoti, sirf maza aata hai sab cheezein saath karne mai (I have no problem, I enjoy everything). I enjoy singing, writing, acting and directing all at once. Ab maine kaafi dino se cinema kia nahi hai, next ab uspe focus karunga (I have not done filsm for a while now, will focus on it now)," concludes the actor, whose lineup includes Azaad, Indian part 2, and web series Illegal part 3.
This year, more people are ditching touristic hotspots in search of offbeat, intentional and mostly very uninfluenced experiences with this sole aim: to dupe what major cities offer without the cliche and the crowds. Among the many travel trends set to dominate 2024, destination dupinga version of the offbeat travel and second-city travel trendis a top contender, according to several industry leaders. Khimsar or Khinvsar is a remote village off National Highway 62 in central Rajasthan.

What does destination duping exactly mean?

It is when travellers opt for alternative, less-expensive destinations that mimic the allure of a similar, more expensive place. In short, it is looking for a comparable atmosphere without the high expense and overcrowding. For example, travellers can explore the lively markets, camel safaris, and delectable cuisine of Bikaner, providing a cultural immersion similar to Jaipur. Instead of Kolkata, one can explore Guwahatis cultural diversity and rich history, says Rajeev Kale - President & Country Head, Holidays, MICE, Visa - Thomas Cook (India) Limited.

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Skyscanners Travel in Focus 2023 report found that over 47% of Indian travellers are willing to switch their itineraries when presented with better travel deals. With Indians getting increasingly savvy with their travel planning, it is not surprising that the dupe destination travel trend is on the rise, said a representative of Edinburg-based travel agency Skyscanner.

While skipping a widely known destination to explore a comparatively lesser-known neighbouring city or town is not a new story, Expedia Group's Unpack '24 report and American Express Travels 2024 Trending Destinations: Off the Beaten Path report both predicted its resurgence which has started to spread as we start to settle into the cosy, warm season.

The surge in destination duping reflects a profound shift in travellers' preferences, driven by a quest for genuine cultural immersion and value-driven experiences, particularly discernible among the younger demographic seeking authenticity, explained Daniel D'Souza, President & Country Head, SOTC Travel. This trend is substantiated by robust data showcasing a clear inclination towards unique, offbeat destinations, he added.

Instead of Shimla, visit Kalpa Village

Skip Shimlas appeal as Himachals cosmopolitan haven for the misty highlands of Kalpa Village above Reckong Peo in the Kinnaur district. When you gaze on the Sutlej river valley, take on the Kinner Kailash Parikrama trek, and fixate on the intricacies of the Tibetan pagoda style of architecture, it is inevitable not to question the absence of overcrowding tourism in this riverside town. On a day-long walk, ask a local about the craftsmanship of the Narayan-Nagini temple, step back in time (950-1055 AD) at the Hu-Bu-Lan-Kar monastery, and climb up from the Kalpa-Roghi road to see the Chakka Peak.

Instead of Goa, visit Gokarna

The southwestern township on the Arabian Sea, a pilgrimage destination home to sacred sites like Mahabaleshwar Temple, feels like a postcard beach getaway. Visitors can go beach trekking on Kudle Beach or learn how to surf on the crescent of Om Beach in the North Canara district. Compared to Goas neon-glow of nightlife and Portuguese heritage, Gokarna offers a crowd-free coastline experienceif youre lucky, you might even spot some dolphins.

Instead of Jaipur, visit Khimsar Village

Khimsar or Khinvsar is a remote village off National Highway 62 in central Rajasthan. While you will certainly admire steering clear of the overwhelm of Jaipurs year-round touristic footfall, we recommend a camel ride to the Khimsar Fort, uncovering the mystic behind the locales man-made oases, and calling one of the Rajasthani Dhani (dwellings) huts home for a day.

Instead of Ladakh, visit Lachen, North Sikkim

The entire district of Northern Sikkim is dotted with a string of landmarks that runs along the mountain ranges, but Lachen easily rises to the top of the listboth in terms of natural and culinary landscapes. Situated at an altitude of around 8500 ft, Lachen is a base town for trekking to high-altitude lakes like Guru Dongmar Lake, Green Lake and Tso Lhamu Lake. Make sure to visit the Rhododendron Sanctuary during spring to lose yourself inside a carmine red dream, befriend a wild yak at the Kanchenjunga National Park and go birding for the sight of dark hawks, streak-breasted Scimitar Babblers and more.

Instead of Ooty, visit Vagamon

The seemingly endless stretches of tea estates make Vagamon the perfect dupe for Ooty, which also carries the same acclaim. With a relatively less busy hill station culture, Vagamon too is a round-the-year destination. Start with steeping a fresh cup of tea at Vanilla County Heritage Plantation House before heading out to explore Vagamon Falls, hike on Barren Hills and boat across the Vegamon Lake.

Destination recommendations by Skyscanner India
AAP Protest Highlights: Delhi Police have increased security at PM Narendra Modi's residence after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) called for a "gherao" to protest against the arrest of CM Arvind Kejriwal, an officer said on Tuesday, reported news agency PTI. Police have imposed Section 144 (of the CrPC) around the PM's residence....Read More

Security has been increased by the police in various areas across the national capital. According to a Delhi Traffic Police official, there may be disruptions in traffic movement in certain areas of New Delhi and Central Delhi due to the ongoing protest. A Delhi Police officer told PTI, Robust security arrangements have been made. We have installed layers of security to maintain law and order in the area. Section 144 (of the CrPC) is already imposed around the prime minister's residence and no one will be allowed to protest.

Earlier, on March 21, Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money-laundering case linked to the now-scrapped excise policy. Since Kejriwal's arrest, AAP has launched a campaign targeting the PM Modi-led Central government and probe agencies- CBI and ED.

ED has accused Kejriwal of soliciting kickbacks from liquor traders in exchange for favours. The ED has also accused Kejriwal of being the "kingpin and key conspirator" in the now-scrapped policy, in collusion with AAP leaders, ministers and other persons. Meanwhile, the AAP claims that Kejriwal is innocent and being falsely implicated in the case, ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections 2024.
Jailed Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday issued his second order from the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) custody, directing Delhi health minister Saurabh Bharadwaj to ensure that there should be no shortage of free medicines at Mohalla Clinics. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21.

Addressing a press conference, Bharadwaj said that despite being in jail, Arvind Kejriwal is worried about the health of the people of Delhi.

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He has issued me a direction in this regard. In his direction, he said that free medicines are not available in some of the Delhi hospitals and mohalla clinics. Besides, free tests are also not being conducted in some of them," Bharadwaj said. "He has directed me to solve these issues.

The Enforcement Directorate arrested Kejriwal on March 21 after his name was mentioned multiple times in the chargesheets relating to the excise policy case. He is in ED custody till March 28.

On March 23, Kejriwal had issued his first order from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody, directing water minister Atishi to address water and sewage related grievances in the city.

In a signed order from the chief ministers office, Kejriwal had written that appropriate directions must be issued to chief secretary Naresh Kumar and the help of lieutenant governor (LG) VK Saxena should be sought in case the need arises. He (LG) will certainly extend his help, Kejriwal wrote.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, termed the letters from the chief minister an attempt to play the victim card.

"In a press conference earlier today, Saurabh Bharadwaj said that Arvind Kejriwal is worried about the people of Delhi and has issued a new direction for the health department. Few days back, he issued a direction to Atishi regarding the Delhi Jal Board. Suddenly, he is now worried about Delhi. This is a drama to play the victim card," BJP leader Harish Khurana said.

Arvind Kejriwal's arrest

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.

The AAP national convenor is accused of soliciting kickbacks from liquor traders in exchange for favours. The ED has also accused him of being the "kingpin and key conspirator" in the now-scrapped policy.

On his part, Kejriwal has denied the charges and accused the BJP-led Centre of "manipulating investigative agencies for political motives".

On Monday, AAP leaders 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 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, Atishi wrote on X.
The Delhi Police have strengthened security around Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence amid Aam Aadmi Party's call to gherao the sprawling house in protest against chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's arrest. Police officers outside Shaheedi Park in New Delhi on April 23.(Reuters)

The Delhi Police, however, have said that it has not granted permission to AAP to hold any protests, according to ANI. Follow LIVE updates of AAP protest here.

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"No permission has been granted (to AAP for protest). We have made sufficient deployment at the PM residence and Patel Chowk metro station to maintain law and order," Deputy Commissioner of Police Devesh Kumar Mahla told ANI. No march or demonstration will be allowed. No routes diversions done.

Besides the PM's residence, the police have also beefed up security in several other parts of the national capital.

"Robust security arrangements have been made. We have installed layers of security to maintain law and order in the area," an unidentified officer of the Delhi Police told PTI.

"Section 144 (of the CrPC) is already imposed around the prime minister's residence and no one will be allowed to protest," he added.

Traffic movement is likely to be adversely affected in parts of New Delhi and central Delhi due to the protest called by the AAP.

On Monday, the Delhi Traffic Police issued an advisory stating that no vehicle will be allowed to halt or park anywhere on Tughlak Road, Safdarjung Road and Kemal Ataturk Marg on March 26.

To ensure smooth traffic management in New Delhi area, no vehicle will be allowed to halt or park anywhere on Tughlak Road, Safdarjung Road and Kemal Ataturk Marg, general entry for public will not be allowed, and vehicles found parked on the above roads shall be towed away and prosecuted for improper parking and disobedience of lawful instructions, the advisory added, according to PTI.

The police also requested that commuters avoid Kemal Ataturk Marg, Safdarjung Road, Akbar Road and Teen Murti Marg, it said.

Last week, Delhi Minister Gopal Rai had announced plans to "gherao" the prime minister's residence on Tuesday to protest against Kejriwal's arrest. Rai had also called for "mega protests" by the workers of the AAP nationwide.

Arvind Kejriwal's arrest

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.

The AAP national convenor is accused of soliciting kickbacks from liquor traders in exchange for favours. The ED has also accused him of being the "kingpin and key conspirator" in the now-scrapped policy.

On his part, Kejriwal has denied the charges and accused the BJP-led Centre of "manipulating investigative agencies for political motives".

On Monday, AAP leaders 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 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, Atishi wrote on X.
Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Tuesday invited Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Varun Gandhi to join the grand old party, after the latter was denied Lok Sabha ticket from his constituency Pilibhit.



He (Varun Gandhi) is a strong leader with a clean image, and he has a connection with the Gandhi family. This is why the BJP denied him (Lok Sabha poll) ticket. I think he should come (join Congress), we will be very happy, PTI quoted the Congress leader as saying.



Varun Gandhi was replaced by Uttar Pradesh minister Jitin Prasada as the Lok Sabha candidate from Pilibhit, which he is currently representing. His mother Maneka, has been fielded from Sultanpur once again by the BJP.



Prasada, who was a minister twice in the Manmohan Singh-led Congress government and was considered one of Rahul Gandhi's top aides, had lost two Lok Sabha elections in 2014 and 2019. He joined the BJP two years ago and was elected to the UP Legislative council in 2021.



Gandhi, 44, had recently attacked his own government at the Centre over several issues. Even as suspense over ticket to him grew, the Samajwadi Party had sent feelers with Akhilesh Yadav hinting that the party's doors are open for him. BJP MP Varun Gandhi has been replaced as BJP's Lok Sabha candidate from Pilibhit.(HT file)

Our doors are always open for everyone," the SP president had said.



Varun Gandhi, the son of Sanjay Gandhi, had first entered Lok Sabha in 2009 when he won from Pilibhit. In 2014, he contested the general election from Sultanpur while his mother Maneka was fielded from Pilibhit.



Last year, Rahul Gandhi was asked whether his cousin Varun will return to the Congress, to which the former party president had said that their ideologies don't match.

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He (Varun Gandhi) at some point, maybe even today, accepted that ideology and made it his own. I can never accept that thing. I can definitely meet him, hug him, but cannot accept that ideology. Impossible," Rahul Gandhi had said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday announced that it will contest all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab on its own, ending weeks-long speculation about the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)s return to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and setting the stage for a four-cornered fight in the state. State BJP chief Sunil Jakhar said the BJPs work under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not hidden from anyone. (ANI file)

This will be the first time since 1996 that the BJP and the SAD, one of the oldest constituents of the NDA which parted ways over the 2020-21 farm law protests, will be fighting the Lok Sabha polls alone in the state.

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State BJP chief Sunil Jakhar said in a video message that the decision to contest on its own in Punjab was taken keeping in mind the regions future, especially that of youngsters and farmers, after consulting the people, local leaders, and workers at the grassroots level.

He said the BJPs work under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not hidden from anyone. ...whatever development the BJP has been done for Punjab, be it opening the Kartarpur Corridor [for visa-free crossing for Sikhs to visit the last resting place of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak in Pakistan] or procuring grains from farmers in the state Jakhar said the BJP will continue to take its agenda for public welfare forward.

SAD is not a numbers-driven organisation but a movement committed to a clear vision about Punjab and the Khalsa Panth. Our core committee had already stated firmly that for SAD, principles are always above politics. We belong to the farms, the fields and the soil of Punjab. We will continue to fight for justice to farmers, said SAD chief Sukhbir Badal in a statement.

This is the second high-profile potential tie-up to fall through in two weeks after the BJP announced last week that it will go it alone in Odisha, following weeks of frenzied negotiations with the Biju Janata Dal. Hours after the announcement, sitting Congress member of Parliament from Ludhiana, Ravneet Singh Bittu, joined the BJP.

Punjab BJP leaders said that alliance talks hit a roadblock over certain core demands made by the SAD, rather than negotiations over seat-sharing.

People aware of the matter said BJP chief JP Nadda called SAD leader Sukhbir Singh Badal on Monday night and made a last-ditch effort to seal the alliance. But the Akalis insisted on some demands, which included shifting radical Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh and other Sikh prisoners lodged in Assams Dibrugarh closer to Punjab as their families have found it difficult to meet them, said the people cited above.

Singh was arrested in April 2023 after a 37-day hunt amid a crackdown on his radical organisation, Waris Punjab De, which spearheaded the storming of a police station near Amritsar to secure the release of an arrested associate.

Other demands included the withdrawal of cases against farmers lodged during the 13-month-long protests in 2020-2021 against three agricultural reform laws that were finally scrapped by the government, said the people cited in the first instance. SAD also sought assurances on minimum support prices for cotton, maize, sugarcane, and moong along with wheat and paddy, they added, and pressed for compensation as promised to those killed and injured in Uttar Pradeshs Lakhimpur Kheri in October 2021; Union minister Ajay Kumar Mishra Tenis son, Ashish Mishra, is the key accused in that case that involves the mowing down of four protesting farmers at Lakhimpur Kheri.

The party also pushed for the release of Sikh prisoners, particularly Balwant Singh Rajoana, who has been on dead row since his conviction for his role in the killing of the then Punjab CM Beant Singh in August 1995. The Akalis wanted the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, which manages gurdwaras, to be consulted on all issues related to Sikhs and a referendum in Haryana on the issue of a separate management committee for Sikh shrines in the state. And finally, the party wanted Wagah border opened for trade.

Do you think such demands that also included release of Rajoana, can be met by any nationalist party? asked BJP national executive member Harjit Singh Grewal.

SAD exited the NDA in 2020 over the passage of three contentious farm bills, days after the partys lone minister in the Union government, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, resigned over what the party said were anti-farmer laws. The SAD and the BJP first allied in 1996.

Punjab has 13 seats, of which eight were won by the Congress, two each by the SAD and the BJP and one by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in 2019. Since then, the state has also voted in assembly elections in 2022, when the BJP and SAD fought separately and wontwo and three seats respectively (one seat was won by SADs alliance partner Bahujan Samaj Party). The AAP won a landslide victory with 92 seats in the 117-member assembly.

This time, the AAP and Congress are contesting separately in Punjab even as they are part of the Oppositions Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance in neighbouring Haryana, Delhi, and Gujarat.

The BJP, which contested three seats in Punjab in 2019, wanted more seats than the four Akalis were willing to offer, said a senior Akali leader. BJP, SAD and Congress have not named any candidates for Punjab yet.
Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said that the Centre will consider revoking Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in Jammu and Kashmir. Union minister Amit Shah said that the government is planning to pull back troops from the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.(ANI file)

In an interview to JK Media Group, the minister added that the government is planning to pull back troops from the Union territory and leave law and order to the Jammu and Kashmir Police alone.



We have plans to pull back troops and leave law and order to the Jammu and Kashmir Police alone. Earlier Jammu and Kashmir police were not trusted but today they are leading operations. We will also think of revoking AFSPA, Shah added.



ALSO READ: PoK an integral part of India, every Indians goal to get it back': Amit Shah

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The AFSPA empowers the armed forces personnel who are operating in disturbed areas with powers to search, arrest and to open fire if they deem it necessary for "the maintenance of public order". An area or district is notified as disturbed under the AFSPA to facilitate the operations of the armed forces.

Earlier, Shah had said that the AFSPA has been removed in 70 per cent areas in the North East even though it is in force in Jammu and Kashmir.

Shah attacked opposition leaders Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, saying they don't have any right to speak on terrorism.

The number of fake encounters that took place during their time has never been matched by any other regime. In the last five years, not a single fake encounter has taken place. Rather the FIRs have been lodged against the people involved in fake encounters, the minister added.

"We will have a dialogue with the youths of Kashmir and not with the organisations that have roots in Pakistan. They are responsible for the deaths of 40,000 youths," Shah said.

The minister said the Modi government has banned 12 organisations for their involvement in terror activities, designated 36 individuals as terrorists, registered more than 22 cases to stop terror finance and seized properties worth 150 crore. As many as 90 properties were also attached and 134 bank accounts have been frozen, he said.
New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday slammed Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal for issuing his second order from the Enforcement Directorate's custody, saying he doesn't want to leave the post because of his insecurity. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal leaves the Rouse Avenue Court. (PTI file photo)

Demanding his resignation as the chief minister on moral grounds, BJP leader Dr Harshvardhan said Kejriwal's move to remain the chief minister of Delhi despite his arrest shows his greed.

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"Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal is in jail. Therefore, he should resign morally and give his responsibility to someone else. Arvind Kejriwal still holding his position shows that he is greedy and does not want to leave his chair because of his insecurity," he said.

BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa said the chief minister can't issue any directions from the jail.

"A chief minister cannot issue any direction from the jail. This is a drama. I have complained about this to the L-G, demanding strict action against them," he said.

Also read: Arvind Kejriwal arrest: AAP to 'gherao' PM Modi's house, Delhi Police issues warning

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Harish Khurana said Kejriwal was trying to play the victim card.

Kejriwal is in jail due to corruption for which former deputy CM Manish Sisodia has not got bail for the last 14 months. Kejriwal is the kingpin of the liquor scam. Arvind Kejriwal used to say that people facing corruption charges should resign, but now he is not resigning and is passing orders from behind bars," he said.

Arvind Kejriwal, who was arrested last week in connection with the liquor policy case, issued directions from ED custody to ensure that medicines and tests are available at all government hospitals and Mohalla Clinics, health minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said today.

Also read: AAP says Arvind Kejriwal worried about Delhi in jail, BJP calls remark drama

"Despite being in ED custody, Arvind Kejriwal is worried about the health of the people of Delhi. He is worried that because he is jailed, the people of Delhi should not suffer because of it," Saurabh Bharadwaj said.

Arvind Kejriwal issued his first executive order from jail on Sunday.

PTI had reported that the Enforcement Directorate will look into the legality of such orders. It will ascertain if the orders are in line with the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court's order.

Meanwhile, Delhi government's Secretary of Planning, Niharika Rai, said the public services are not affected by Arvind Kejriwal's arrest.

"Public services, social welfare schemes and subsidies are not affected by the arrest of the CM. All public services social welfare schemes and subsidies currently given by Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi shall continue uninterrupted. People should not be misled by any fear-mongering and malicious disinformation in this regard," she said in a press note.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party launched a massive protest in Delhi demanding Arvind Kejriwal's resignation.

State BJP President Virendraa Sachdeva said: "The CM of Delhi is corrupt and dishonest and he has looted the people of Delhi. We are going to the Secretariat to demand his resignation... The government is not running from the jail. Just like AAP's character, the orders are also fake... Arvind Kejriwal has to resign."

With inputs from PTI, ANI
Demonstrators rally in support of access to abortion medication at the Supreme Court on April 15, 2023, in Washington, D.C. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/TNS

California has distributed all of the abortion pills it stockpiled last year after a Texas judges ruling threatened availability nationwide of one of the two pills used in most abortions.

California stockpiled 250,000 pills of misoprostol as a precaution in case the judges ruling caused a shortage of abortion drugs. The Supreme Court put that ruling on hold, and the shortage of abortion pills California officials feared never materialized. The Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case on Tuesday.

California officials distributed the pills to providers across the state so they could be used before they expire and to reinforce supply before the Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling in the case, said Brandon Richards, a spokesperson for Gov. Gavin Newsom.

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Newsom announced last April that his administration negotiated an agreement with ANI Pharmaceuticals to purchase up to 2 million misoprostol pills.

California spent about $107,000 on the first 250,000 pills for a price of about 43 cents per pill, according to state purchasing records.

The states agreement with ANI Pharmaceuticals allows the state to purchase an additional 1.75 million pills at the same price, Richards said.

Newsom will decide in consultation with doctors whether to purchase more pills under the agreement, Richards said. His decision could hinge on what happens Tuesday. If the judges seem likely to outlaw or impose restrictions on mifepristone  the pill at issue in the case  that could prompt California to resupply its stockpile, Richards said.

In the United States, nearly all medication abortions are administered using both misoprostol and mifepristone.

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In the two-drug abortion protocol, mifepristone is taken to halt a pregnancy by blocking the hormone progesterone and dilating the cervix. Misoprostol is taken later to induce contractions that cause the uterus to expel the pregnancy tissue.

Medication abortions can also be performed using misoprostol alone. Doctors say misoprostol-only abortions are safe, but can come with more side effects, including more pain. If mifepristone were to be outlawed, that could increase demand for misoprostol.
A day before Holi celebrations, the Opposition Congress in Assam suffered yet another setback. Veteran leader and legislator from the Naoboicha seat, Bharat Chandra Narah, put in his papers, writing a one-line resignation letter addressed to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.

While Narah, 66, didnt specify the reason for his move, it is widely speculated that the decision was prompted by the Congress denying his wife, Ranee Narah, the party ticket for the Lakhimpur Lok Sabha seat in the upcoming general election.

Congress, which is part of a 16-party United Opposition Forum in the state, is putting up candidates in 13 of the total 14 Lok Sabha seats in Assam and will be supporting Assam Jatiya Parishad president Lurinjyoti Gogoi in the Dibrugarh seat. On Sunday, the party named Uday Shankar Hazarika, a former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader who had joined the grand old party a few months ago, as its candidate from Lakhimpur. Narah submitted his resignation to Kharge within hours of that announcement.

Both Narah and his wife Ranee have been prominent faces of the Congress in Assam for decades. Since 1985, Narah has been elected six times to the state assembly, four times as a Congress candidate and once each as an Independent and as an Asom Gana Parishad candidate. On the other hand, Ranee has represented Lakhimpur thrice in Lok Sabha since 1998 and served one term in the Rajya Sabha.

Narahs resignation is yet to be accepted by the Congress, but it is another addition to the list of leaders and elected representatives from Assam who have quit the party and moved to the ruling BJP camp since the last assembly polls in the state held in 2021.

Congress had won 29 seats (of 126) in the assembly polls held in 2021. But within months the number got reduced to 27 after two of its legislators resigned from the party and joined the BJP. They later won from the same seats on BJP tickets.

Last month, Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha, who represents the North Karimganj seat from Congress and was a working president of the party, quit and extended support to the BJP government. Another Congress MLA, Basanta Kumar Das, had also extended support to the ruling government the same day. With this the number of Congress MLAs supporting the BJP government, without quitting their own party, increased to three.

Within days of that development, another working president of Congress in Assam, Rana Goswami, a two-time former MLA from Jorhat, joined the saffron party at a ceremony held at the state BJP head office in Guwahati.

Along with leaders, workers from the Congress have been deserting it. On Monday, Assam parliamentary affairs minister Pijush Hazarika claimed that around 10,000 workers from the grand old party have joined the saffron party in the past week.

"These are baseless claims made by the BJP minister. We challenge him to back it up with data. Not even 1000 Congress workers have left the party recently. Once a leader leaves a party, such a movement of supporters of that particular leader leaving the party and joining another is seen ahead of polls. But many of them return to the Congress fold after polls," said Bedabrata Bora, vice-chairman of Assam Congress's media department.

Since 2014, BJP has been expanding its reach across Assam, mainly at the cost of Congress. The party won 7 of the 14 seats in 2014 while Congress bagged 3. In 2016, BJP overthrew the Congress and came to power in the state for the first time. The saffron party retained power in 2021. In the last Lok Sabha polls held in 2019, BJP increased its tally to 9 seats, while Congress remained at 3.

Significantly, though Congress has lost some of its leaders in the state, the partys support base among voters has grown substantially in the past 10 years. In 2014, BJP secured 36.86% of the total votes while Congress got 29.90%. Five years later, BJP cornered 36.41% of the total votes and Congress was close behind with 35.79%.

It is worth mentioning that shifting of loyalties by leaders from Congress isnt a new phenomenon in Assam. In 2015, Himanta Biswa Sarma, then the second most powerful minister in the Congress government led by Tarun Gogoi, joined the BJP. Within months, 9 Congress MLAs loyal to Sarma also switched sides.

While most of them got elected on BJP tickets in the 2016 assembly polls, two of them Pallab Lochan Das (Tezpur) and Pradan Baruah (Lakhimpur) got the saffron party tickets in 2019 Lok Sabha polls and won their seats. Baruah will contest from Lakhimpur again this time on a BJP ticket and another new entrant to the party from the Congress camp, Suresh Bora, will be the saffron partys candidate from the Nagaon seat.

On Monday, Sarma stated that Assam Congress president Bhupen Kumar Borah will also join the saffron camp in January next year.

Bhupen Borah will join Congress in January next year. I have already kept two assembly seats ready for him to contest from in the 2026 assembly polls, Sarma said

These are mind games being played by CM Sarma. Whenever we ask him questions on the state governments failures, he mocks opposition leaders and comments that we will join the BJP. If Congress leadership allows me, I will contest against Sarma in the 2026 polls, Borah replied on Tuesday.
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Belgian counterpart Alexander De Croo on Tuesday reviewed bilateral relations and discussed ways to strengthen the partnership in areas such as trade, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals. Belgian PM Alexander De Croo said in a post on X that he called up PM Narendra Modi to discuss, among other issues, the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza (X/alexanderdecroo)

During a telephone conversation with De Croo, Modi congratulated him on the recent successful hosting of the first Nuclear Energy Summit in Brussels. The two leaders also pledged to bolster the India-European Union (EU) strategic partnership under the Belgian presidency of the Council of the EU.

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Modi and De Croo reviewed the relations between India and Belgium and discussed ways to strengthen the partnership in sectors such as trade, investment, clean technologies, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, green hydrogen, IT, defence, and ports, the external affairs ministry said in a statement.

De Croo said in a post on X that he called Modi to discuss the conflicts in #Ukraine and #Gaza and protecting shipping lanes in the Red Sea. He said the two leaders also talked about growing commercial relations, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, green hydrogen, and a Belgian trade missions upcoming visit to India.

They also exchanged views on regional and global developments and agreed on the need to enhance cooperation and support for early restoration of peace and security in the West Asia region and Russia-Ukraine conflict, the external affairs ministry statement said.
West Bengal has emerged as the biggest beneficiary of Centres collateral-free easy loan facility with over two million micro, small and medium enterprises of the states availing the Emergency Line Credit Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS), 17.65% of the total 11.4 million recipients across the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. (PTI)

The other four significant beneficiaries are Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, in that order, said a government official who asked not to be named. Launched as part of the economic stimulus package in 2020, ECLGS aimed to protect small businesses from the devastating impact of the Covid pandemic.

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Out of the total 1,13,75,919 MSME beneficiaries across the country as on March 7, over 8.56% ECLGS recipients belonged to Maharashtra, followed by Odisha (8.15%), Tamil Nadu (7.69%) and Karnataka (7.67%), he said.

Benefits were also availed by MSMEs located in smallest states, hill areas and union territories, he said: 2,111 MSMEs (or 0.02%) availed this facility in Andaman & Nicobar; 8,180 units benefited in Sikkim; 3,149 in Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu; 12,083 in Goa ; 826 in Ladakh ; 374 in Lakshadweep ; 9658 in Manipur; 3461 in Mizoram; 7319 in Nagaland ; and 34451 in Jammu & Kashmir .

The number of beneficiaries is more important for this scheme as compared to the amount because most of these units needed very small sums as working capital to continue their operations. Overall, a total 2,42,768.62 crore worth of guarantees were given for MSMEs across the country under the scheme as on March 7, 2024, the official cited in the first instance added, citing government data.

HT graphic

A micro unit is an enterprise where investments in plant and machinery do not exceed 1 crore, and turnover does not exceed 5 crore. In case of a small enterprise, investment in plant and machinery should not exceed 10 crore and turnover must not exceed 50 crore. Medium enterprises are those where investments do not exceed 50 crore and turnover does not exceed 250 crore.

Overall, ECLGS benefited almost 12 million businesses (including 11.4 million MSMEs) and professionals with total guarantee amount of more than 3.68 lakh crore (including 2.43 lakh crore to MSMEs) as on March 7, according to the data.

In value terms, (the more) industrialised states topped the list with total amount exceeding 3.68 lakh crore, the official said. Maharashtra emerged as the number one beneficiary with guarantees worth 34,107.53 crore, followed by Tamil Nadu ( 27,141.49 crore) and Gujarat ( 24,493.95 crore).

A total 7.89 lakh MSMEs availed the scheme in Uttar Pradesh with total guarantee worth 17,110.84 crore. About 8.73 lakh units of Karnataka also received 16,057.20 crore, and over two million MSMEs of West Bengal received guarantees of 13,745.71 crore, data said.

ECLGS was one of the key components of the 20.97 lakh crore economic stimulus package under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan launched in May 23, 2020 that offered additional working capital finance in the form of a term loan to MSMEs and professionals. Under the Scheme, 100% guarantee coverage was provided to the lending institutions providing credit facility to eligible borrowers in the form of a Guaranteed Emergency Credit Line (GECL) facility.

Initially, its corpus was 3 lakh crore, which was raised to 4.5 lakh crore in June 2021 after the second wave of the pandemic hit the economy. Later, on August 17, 2022, the government enhanced the limit of the scheme to 5 Lakh crore, earmarking the additional 50,000 crore for enterprises in hospitality and related sectors, the worst hit by the pandemic.
Ahmedabad: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday named its candidates for by-elections to the five assembly seats that fell vacant after the sitting legislators resigned from the assembly to join the BJP, according to an announcement by the party. Arjun Modhwadia, who switched from the Congress to the BJP, said earlier this month that he was feeling suffocated for quite some time and was unable to do the kind of work for which he had joined the Congress. in 1982 (X/arjunmodhwadia)

The five legislators - four former Congress legislators and one Independent MLA - have been given the party ticket for the upcoming by-election to be held on May 7 which coincides with the third round of the seven-phase general elections.

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According to the BJPs announcement, Arjun Modhwadia would be fielded from Porbander, Chatursinh Chavda from Vijapur in Mehsana district, Chirag Patel from Khambhat assembly seat in Anand district, and Arvind Ladani from Manavadar. They all were fielded by the Congress in the 2022 assembly elections but resigned over the past few months and joined the BJP.

The fifth candidate, Dharmendrasinh Vaghela, was previously associated with the BJP in Vadodara district but contested the 2022 assembly elections as an Independent candidate after his claim for a ticket was overlooked by the party. Vaghela won the Vaghodia seat, beating the BJPs official candidate Ashvin Patel by a margin of over 14,000 votes. He resigned from the assembly in January this year and rejoined the BJP.

Arjun Modhwadia, who has been fielded from the Porbandar seat, switched to the BJP earlier this month after spending more than 40 years with the Congress. The three-term legislator had also served as the leader of the opposition and as the state unit chief of the western state. He joined the BJP earlier this month after resigning from the party and the assembly.

CJ Chavda, another three-term MLA, who had a long-standing association with the Congress, has been fielded from the Vijapur assembly segment which he had won on a Congress ticket in the 2002, 2017 and 2022 assembly elections. He quit the Congress in January this year.

Arvind Ladani, who won the Manavadar seat in Junagarh district in the 2022 elections on a Congress ticket, has been named as the BJP candidate from the same seat. Ladani resigned from the party in March this year.

Chirag Patel has been fielded for the Khambat by-poll. Patel, a first-time MLA, won the 2022 elections on a Congress ticket and defeated the BJPs Mayur Raval by a narrow margin of less than 4,000 votes. He resigned from the Congress in December 2023, citing factionalism within the partys state unit and expressing dissatisfaction with the leaderships approach.

In the Gujarat assembly elections held in 2022, BJP retained power for the seventh straight term, winning 156 of the 182 assembly seats. The Congress bagged 17 seats, five seats went to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), three seats were won by independents and one by Samajwadi Party (SP).

With six sitting MLAs resigning over the last few months, the Congresss strength in the assembly has declined to 13 while the Aam Aadmi Party, which won five seats, has reduced to four after former AAP MLA Bhupendra Bhayani, who had won from the Visavadar seat, quit the party.

The election commission has announced by-polls in Gujarat for the five seats out of six vacant ones.

The by-polls for the Visavadar seat are currently pending after a petition has been filed in the Gujarat High Court by BJP candidate Harshad Ribadiya. He lost in the 2022 assembly polls to Bhayani and is contesting his opponents victory, challenging the election results.
Bengal BJP leader Dilip Ghosh on Tuesday stoked controversy by allegedly mocking the family background of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. West Bengal BJP leader Dilip Ghosh in a viral clip was heard asking Mamata Banerjee to clarify the identity of her father. (PTI)

In a video clip that has now gone viral on social media, Dilip Ghosh mocked TMC's slogan of bangla nijer meye ke chai (Bengal wants its own daughter). He said that CM Mamata Banerjee should first clarify the identity of her father. Ghosh was quoted by PTI as saying, When she goes to Goa, she says she is the daughter of Goa. In Tripura, she says she is the daughter of Tripura. First, let her clarify."

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The Trinamool Congress has hit out at the former West Bengal BJP chief over his remarks, demanding an apology. West Bengal women and child development minister Shashi Panja said the comments reflect the DNA of the saffron camp.

"He should immediately tender his apology. The comments reflect the DNA of the saffron camp, which smacks of the misogynistic mindset of the BJP. The EC must take note of it," she said.

READ | BJP rebukes partys ex-Bengal chief Dilip Ghosh, says dont attack colleagues

@DilipGhoshBJP is a disgrace in the name of political leadership! From challenging the lineage of Maa Durga to now questioning the ancestry of Smt. @MamataOfficial, he has wallowed in the filthiest depths of moral bankruptcy, the TMC posted on its X handle.

One thing is crystal clear: Ghosh has zero respect for the women of Bengal, whether it be the revered goddess of Hinduism or the only woman chief minister of India," TMC added.

TMC has also filed a complaint against Ghosh with the West Bengal chief electoral officer for "passing derogatory and offensive comment personally attacking Mamata Banerjee, thereby violating Model Code of Conduct (MCC)".

Several other TMC leaders also attacked Ghosh's comments on the Bengal CM. Dilip Ghosh's frustration from being sidelined by his own party is very apparent and his insecurity is shown through his uncouth and lowly behaviour, said TMC's Kunal Ghosh.

...Dilip Ghosh is frustrated. The kind of statements that he has made against Mamata Banerjee - that she should first give an identity of her father - has never before been heard against a woman in this country," TMC leader Sushmita Dev said.



"The more the BJP insults Mamata Banerjee, the more people will be with her. I would like to tell Dilip Ghosh that we know where this filthy thinking of yours against women comes from. This is RSS' thinking - that which is against women...The respect that the people of Bengal give Mamata Didi, she is considered the daughter of the country she added.

(With inputs from PTI)
At least four Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates for the April-June Lok Sabha polls have pulled out. The party has maintained silence over the developments even as candidates opting out of the poll race have said they have done so voluntarily. It follows a stringent process of identifying candidates, weighing factors such as caste and clout to determine winnability. Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Kerala bishops in April last year. (PTI)

On Sunday, the party changed two candidates in Gujarat following demands from other contenders. Hemang Joshi replaced Vadodara Member of Parliament Ranjanben Bhatt, who was fielded for the third time. Shobhnaben Baraiya will contest from Sabarkantha in place of Bhikhaji Thakor, a first-time contestant. Bhatt and Thakor cited personal reasons for opting out.

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The party is believed to have replaced the candidates to pick more formidable ones with an eye on winning all 26 seats in Gujarat, a BJP stronghold, and meeting the target of winning 370 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats.

Actor-singer Pawan Singh this month went back upon his announcement that he would not contest from West Bengals Asansol following opposition to his candidature. The BJP is yet to clarify if he will still contest. The partys candidate from Uttar Pradeshs Barabanki Upendra Singh Rawat pulled out after his objectionable pictures were posted online. Rajrani Rawat has replaced Singh.

Christian outreach

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has led an outreach to win over the Christian minority in Kerala to make inroads into the state. Over the past year and a half, the party has attempted to foster ties with the community through interactions between senior party functionaries and community representatives and publicised courtesy calls between Modi and Church leaders.

The nomination of just one Christian candidateAnil Anthony from Pathanamthittahas cast a shadow over the outreach towards the community, which accounts for the states 18% electorate. The BJP is contesting 16 of the states 20 Lok Sabha seats. Bharath Dharma Jana Sena, a BJP ally, is contesting the remaining four.

A section of party leaders has flagged the overlooking of more Christian candidates. A senior leader, however, said the party is identifying potential candidates from the community for the 2026 assembly polls.

The BJP has been unable to win Lok Sabha seats in the state although its ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, runs its largest network in the state. The network has sought to nurture a support base for the BJP besides countering the communist ideology.

The BJP has sought to reach out to the Christians to overcome the losing streak although its vote share has been rising. The merger of P C Georges Kerala Janapaksham (Secular) with the BJP and outreach programmes such as the Sneha Samvaad (affectionate communication) around festivals including Christmas and Easter have been organised as a bridge between the party and the community.

A section of leaders has conveyed its dismay that George, a seven-time legislator and a prominent Christian face, was not fielded from Pathanamthitta.
Yamini Aiyar, the president and chief executive of the Centre for Policy Research (CPR), will step down from her current role on March 31 to fevote more time to her research interests, the think tank announced on Tuesday.



Dr. Srinivas Chokkakula, currently senior fellow at the CPR and Ministry of Jal Shakti Research Chair, will be the new president and chief executive. He will assume the role on April 1, the statement read.



Thanking Aiyar for her stint, CPR stated,The Board expresses its appreciation for her excellent and significant contribution to CPR's tradition of engaged multidisciplinary scholarship and for the energy, commitment, and sense of purpose she brought to her role during the tenure. We wish her the very best in her future endeavours." Office of the Centre for Policy Research at Diplomatic Enclave in New Delhi. (Vipin Kumar/ HT Photo)

Who is Dr. Srinivas Chokkakula?

Dr. Chokkakula has been associated with the Centre for Policy Research since 2010. A political geographer, engineer and town planner, is currently leading the TREADS (Transboundary Rivers, Ecologies and Development Studies) initiative at CPR. He is a recognised authority on water policy, a research area of established provenance at the think tank, the statement added.

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Dr. Chokkakula has been worked with SRISTI and Ahmedabad's Honey Bee Grassroots Innovation Network. The veteran has played a key role with the Environmental Planning Collaborative in Ahmedabad, and in the reconstruction of Kutch after the 2001 earthquake.



Dr. Chokkakula holds a doctoral degree from the University of Washington, a Masters from the University of Miami, and PGD from CEPT.
Chief minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu on Tuesday called Kangana Ranaut the daughter of Himachal amid outrage over a now-deleted social media post by Congress leader Supriya Shrinate targeting the actor-turned-politician. The BJP on Sunday nominated Kangana Ranaut as its Lok Sabha candidate from Himachal Pradesh's Mandi.(PTI)

"She (Kangana Ranaut) is the daughter of Himachal. Her parents live here. Her father was made the General Secretary of Congress in Mandi," CM Sukhu told reporters in Shimla.

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BJP has named Kangana Ranaut its Lok Sabha candidate from Mandi seat in Himachal Pradesh.

A huge political row erupted after an objectionable post featuring a photograph of Kangana Ranaut dressed in a corset top was put up on Shrinate's Instagram account.

Read: Kangana Ranaut once said she would never contest elections from Himachal Pradesh; old tweet resurfaces

Shrinate, however, claimed that many people have access to her Facebook and Instagram accounts, and someone from them made the inappropriate post.

"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 had said.

Kangana Ranaut, who was on her way to the BJP headquarters in Delhi, hit out at Shrinate saying every woman deserves dignity.

"Every woman deserves dignity, no matter what profession she is in. The most I am hurt by is the 'Mandi' thing, which is known as Chota Kashi and has been the land of several Rishi's," Kangana told reporters at the Chandigarh airport.

Read: Kangana Ranaut says this is the right time for her to join politics

Shrinate's Instagram post referenced Mandi as its literal Hindi meaning  market.

Several BJP leaders have come out in support of Kangana Ranaut and former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jai Ram Thakur said the derogatory remarks against the actor would be legally examined.

BJP is legally examining the matter and moving towards registration of a case in this regard, Thakur said.

"The People of Himachal and especially Mandi would not spare the Congress and the party would have to face consequences not only in Mandi but in the entire state and other parts of the country in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, he said.

"It is unfortunate that being a woman herself, the Congress spokesperson has made such remarks against another woman and now she is trying to retract by saying that someone has used her other account, Thakur said.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday released the advisory to all State/UTs chief electoral officers (CEOs) on the prevention of heatwave impact before and during the Lok Sabha polls 2024. General elections will be held in the country from 19 April to 1 June 2024 to elect the 543 members of the 18th Lok Sabha. (Representative file photo)

In a letter addressed to the CEOs, ECI said that the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has indicated the probability of above-normal temperatures during the forthcoming summer season, which may translate into longer spells of heat waves especially during March to June 2024. In this regard, a copy of Dos and Donts has been issued by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) regarding the minimisation of heatwave impact.

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The ECIs letter regarding Assured Minimum Facilities (AMF) is to provide consolidated instructions in supersession of all the existing instructions on the subject.

Also Read: LS polls: Haryana Police establish election cell for free, fair voting

The commission directs the CEOs/DEOs to make a complete gap analysis of AMF at each Polling Station and work with State authorities to permanently provide these AMFs at the polling stations. It also provides facilities for voters to cast their votes conveniently. The AMF includes the Sector Officers to visit polling stations/locations to assess their worth, the letter stated.

The commission also directs the setting up of polling stations on the ground floor of a building to facilitate voting for aged and disabled electors. A permanent ramp of maximum gradient 1:12 should be provided for the Persons with Disabilities (PwD) and senior citizen electors. The Supreme Court has also directed to give wide publicity about the provisions of ramps, the letter added.

Additionally, provisions for drinking water, adequate furniture, proper lighting/electricity arrangements, proper signage, and toilet facilities at the polling stations are required.

Tented arrangements for shade, creche for children, and set up of a Voter Assistance Booth (VAB) are recommended.

General elections will be held in the country from 19 April to 1 June 2024 to elect the 543 members of the 18th Lok Sabha.

The polls will be held in seven phases and the results will be announced on 4 June 2024.
In a horrific incident in Delhi on the occasion of Holi, a man slit the throat of his wife, police said, reported news agency ANI. The alleged murder happened at Baldhawar Colony, Bakhtawarpur, falling under the jurisdiction of the Alipur police station when the country was celebrating Holi on Monday. In a horrific incident in Delhi on the occasion of Holi, a man slit the throat of his wife, police said, reported news agency ANI. (Representational picture)

According to police, the accused has been identified as Manjeet and the deceased as Arti. The Sub-Divisional Magistrate has been informed to initiate procedures under 176 Code of Criminal Procedure, as per police.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

As per the report, the Delhi Police received a call at the Police Control Room at 6:50 pm on Monday. The caller informed them that a woman was allegedly beaten up badly by her husband.

"On reaching the spot, it was found that the woman Aarti was lying in a pool of blood with her throat slit," police said.

"The accused husband has been apprehended," added the police.

ALSO READ| Man sexually assaults 4-year-old in East Delhi, locals hold protest

Police said that the couple had been married for six years. The deceased was mother to two children aged three and five.

Police said that they were registering a case under Indian Penal Code sections 302 and 304B

ALSO READ| Angry at being teased, man stabs woman on Mukherjee Nagar street in Delhi

Man shot dead in Delhi's Shastri Park

In another incident on Monday, a man named Mustakim was shot dead during an argument in northeast Delhi's Shastri Park area, police said on Tuesday. The accused, Yaseen, is on the run and efforts are being made to arrest him.

"Mustakim was shot in the chest. He was taken to Jag Pravesh Chandra Hospital, where he was declared dead. The body has been shifted to GTB Hospital for post-mortem examination," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northeast) Joy Tirkey as quoted by news agency PTI.

On Monday night, Mustakim and his friend Sohail visited the house of the latter's ex-wife Ishrat, who works at a bar. There they met Yaseen, whom Ishrat wanted to marry, police said.

Mustakim and Sohail had an argument with Yaseen at Ishrat's house. During the argument, Yaseen shot Mustakim, police said.
Chinese, Nauruan presidents hold talks for 1st time since resuming ties

Xinhua) 08:15, March 26, 2024

BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and Nauruan President David Adeang held talks in Beijing on Monday.

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)

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.

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)

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.

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)

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.

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)

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.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
Yiwu mirrors vitality of China's foreign trade

People's Daily Online) 11:05, March 26, 2024

The Yiwu International Trade Market, the world's leading small commodities market located in Yiwu, east China's Zhejiang Province, is always bustling.

The market has trade relations with 233 countries and regions. With an area of more than 6.4 million square meters and 75,000 business stores, it offers more than 2.1 million types of commodities.

A buyer from Costa Rica chooses daily necessities in a store at the Yiwu International Trade Market in Yiwu, east China's Zhejiang Province. (Photo/Shi Kuanbing)

"I keep working every day with joy and meaning," said He Dan, a toy seller at the market, who is also head of Yiwu Jingxin Toys Co., Ltd.

Her store mainly sells interactive dolls, which are particularly popular with customers from countries and regions like South America and Russia.

"March and April are peak months for customers to place orders. Many customers recently came to inquire about prices and to see the products," she said.

The seller added that most of them are old customers who have kept in touch with her through WeChat, while some are new customers brought by Chinagoods, the official online platform of the Yiwu International Trade Market.

"I made a good start this year - much better than last year. The next two months will not be bad," she said confidently.

Fu Miaoling, another seller at the market, was busy at work at her store, which received orders worth 1.2 million yuan ($166,700) during this year's Spring Festival holiday.

"I've been doing business in Yiwu at a frenetic pace like this since 2008, like all the other bosses around me," Fu said.

A worker checks products at a workshop of an outdoor recreation product company in Hongze district, Huai'an city, east China's Jiangsu Province. (Photo/Yin Chao)

Yiwu is the epitome of the vitality of China's foreign trade. The country's foreign trade in goods in the first two months of 2024 stood at 6.61 trillion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 8.7 percent, signaling a good start for foreign trade this year, according to customs data.

In the same period, the trade volume of private firms in the country reached 3.61 trillion yuan, an increase of 17.7 percent, or 54.6 percent of the total value of Chinas foreign trade.

"Currently, global economic growth lacks energy. China's foreign trade has maintained growth for many consecutive years and has achieved a good start this year. This is underpinned by the effective implementation of the country's policy of high-standard opening up," said Wei Jigang, deputy director of the Center for International Knowledge on Development (CIKD).

Qi Xiaoyuan is a self-employed individual who sells food at an e-commerce incubation park that is just half a kilometer away from the Yiwu International Trade Market.

Having been in Yiwu for over 10 years, Qi is venturing into cross-border e-commerce livestreams. Her annual sales are worth tens of millions of yuan thanks to her efforts in e-commerce livestreams.

In April 2023, the State Administration for Market Regulation advanced targeted assistance for different categories and types of self-employed individuals in 12 pilot provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, including Zhejiang, where Yiwu was listed as one of the first pilot areas.

Thanks to the measure, Qi has benefited from various exclusive policies, receiving professional services in aspects like intellectual property and legal assistance. The local government has also provided her with targeted advice and support to develop cross-border e-commerce, helping sell more products from Yiwu to overseas markets.

Jingxin Toys Co., Ltd. is also a beneficiary of the measure, receiving targeted support in multiple areas such as brand cultivation, financial assistance, logistics, and online traffic. Since 2023, the company has registered one new trademark, 16 copyrights and five design patents, and reduced losses by over 700,000 yuan by taking out insurance against foreign exchange risks. Its annual sales exceeded 10 million yuan, a year-over-year increase of 30 percent.

Photo shows a busy scene of the Chishui terminal of the Wuzhou Lingang Economic Zone in Wuzhou city, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (Photo/He Huawen)

"The targeted assistance for different categories and types of self-employed individuals has vigorously promoted the development of self-employed individuals at the Yiwu International Trade Market. Last year, the market's transaction volume hit 233.13 billion yuan, up 15.36 percent year on year," said Ye Bangrui, mayor of Yiwu city.

"We are going all out to build an ecosystem that 'makes it easier to do business'. For example, we launched a campaign last year, attracting over 1 million global buyers to Yiwu, enabling self-employed individuals to reach global markets 'at home'," Ye added.

Last October, the Yiwu International Trade Market upgraded the Chinagoods AI Smart Service Platform, with AI technology allowing local business owners to upload a short video that can be translated into 36 languages.

Business owners in Yiwu have been actively embracing digital technologies like AI. Chen Meijun, a toy seller at the Yiwu International Trade Market, is one of the merchants to experience the AI technology. She recently posted a video introducing her business in four languages on the platform, which went viral.

Chen said that the voice and lip movements in the translated video also matched her own.

In 2021, Chen was one of the first toy sellers in the Yiwu International Trade Market to launch an online product showroom. "Thanks to the online showroom, customers don't need to come to the market to see the latest products; they can directly purchase products of all categories online. My sales grew by 10 percent and are still increasing steadily," Chen said.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
Employers in California who guard their premises with security gates must pay their employees for the time they spend driving to the gates and being searched, the state Supreme Court ruled Monday. The ruling particularly affects workers in construction, mining and other industries that search people entering and leaving the premises. Jessica Christian/The Chronicle

Employers in California who guard their premises with security gates must pay their employees for the time they spend driving to the gates and being searched, the state Supreme Court ruled Monday. The court also required pay for time that employees are required to stay on company property during lunch breaks.

The decision came four years after the court ruled unanimously that employers like Apple who search their workers bags when they go home must pay them for the time spent on the search. Mondays ruling went further and required compensation for time spent driving to a security checkout, searches of the employee and vehicle and meal breaks that must be spent at the office.

An employee who is subject to the control of an employer does not have to be working during that time to be compensated, Justice Goodwin Liu wrote in the 7-0 ruling. While state law does not entitle employees to be paid for time commuting to and from work, Liu said, driving from work to a security gate, and being searched before leaving, is not part of commuting.

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The ruling particularly affects workers in construction, mining and other industries that search people entering and leaving the premises to make sure they are employees and are not taking equipment with them. The company in this case, CSI Electrical Contractors, employs construction workers at a solar power facility on private land in Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties.

At least 1,000 workers at CSI go through the daily security checks, and similar suits are pending against other companies in California, said Peter Kindem, lawyer for an employee who challenged the companys denial of compensation. With cars lined up at the security gate, the employee said it took 10 to 15 minutes to travel from the gate to the parking lot, and anywhere from five to 30 minutes to drive back to the gate and be searched.

There are many employer-mandated security processes that are unpaid for, Kindem said after the ruling. Were attempting to protect workers rights to be paid for all hours worked.

A lawyer for the company could not be reached for comment. Attorney George Howard, who has represented employers in other cases for more than 40 years, said the ruling, while unfavorable for employers, offered some guidance on reducing their liability.

Companies should review the specific workplace to reduce so far as possible the time required for employees to exit the workplace and the amount of control imposed on the exiting employees, Howard told the Chronicle. And to avoid another half hour of pay, he said, do not control employees activities during their off-duty meal periods.

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CSIs contract with its workers labor union included an unpaid half-hour meal break each day. But the court said Californias minimum wage law applies to any time in which an employee is prohibited from leaving the workplace.

Even at remote worksites, there is a meaningful difference between being required to eat at ones workstation or in a designated meal area and being allowed to return to ones personal vehicle or take a walk, Liu said.

Although the court cited the states minimum wage law, which currently requires pay of $16 an hour, Kindem said he would argue for compensation at the workers regular pay scale for lunch periods when they were prohibited from leaving.

The case is Huerta v. CSI, No. S275431.
In the case of Bihars education department and the Raj Bhavan, the same issue has now cropped up for the third time in the past five days, proving that political bullheadedness at the cost of the proper functioning of varsities is worse than farce.

The matter, at least as of Monday morning, stood resolved.

The state education department called a meeting of vice-chancellors and other top officials of the state-run universities on March 28 and 29. Their letter, which was sent out to the registrars of all state-run universities stated that the meeting would be chaired by education minister Sunil Kumar.

By evening, another letter went out. It read the same but left out one crucial phrase about Kumar chairing the meeting.

This happened after the VCs  who directly report to the Chancellor, a position held by the Governor of the state  raised a question over whether they should attend the meeting.

They sought the opinion of their boss on whether they should attend a meeting chaired by anyone lower than a minister.

Whats at stake? According to the letter, the meeting-cum-orientation workshop, with facilities of stay at Patna-based Hotel Maurya, will focus on quality education, timely academic sessions and conduct of exams, time-bound resolution of court cases, accounts management and other administrative and academic issues. The Vc, Pro-VC, financial advisor, registrar, exam controller and finance officer will participate in the meeting.

Kumar took charge after Nitish Kumars cabinet expansion on March 15. He met Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar to discuss issues that persist in higher education and devised a revision to a letter that was issued on Saturday (March 23) by director of higher education Rekha Kumari, a senior Raj Bhawan official confirmed.

When they received Saturdays letter, the vice-chancellors of two universities  BN Mandal University (Madhepura) and TM Bhagalpur University  sought the guidelines to attend a meeting to be chaired by the education minister, and the Governor granted permission for them to attend. After due consideration, the Governor has granted permission for the meeting and also directed that all the aspects be discussed in detail, said a letter from the Raj Bhawan on March 25 to all VCs, a copy of which was sent to all the university officials.

However, late Monday evening, the education department revised the letter for the third time in as many days and addressed it directly to the VCs. The department had earlier sent a letter to registrars. While the sum of the letter remained the same, the reference to the education minister chairing the meeting was removed. As a result, the VCs said that they would seek fresh guidelines from the Governor in view of the fresh letter.

A department official said on the condition of anonymity that the name of the minister was omitted due to the model code in place but did not elaborate why it was included in the previous letter when the election was announced on March 16 only.

The stand-off between the Raj Bhavan and the department of education has been continuing for quite some time in an apparent bid to wield control over state universities, which are grappling with severe issues, including shortage of teachers, late sessions, poor infrastructure, delayed salary payment and pension to retired teachers and employees. The Governor, as the Chancellor, is the academic and administrative head of the universities, while the government provides the grants.

Rinse, repeat

The higher education director had first sent a letter to the registrars of all varsities on March 21, calling for a meeting on March 28-29 with the same agenda. That letter did not have any reference to the education minister. It just mentioned the agenda, and the letter was from the higher education action director, who reports to the Additional CS. In the past also, the VCs and registrars had refused to attend the meetings called by the director or secretary at the direction of the Governor.

This is the third time such a meeting has been called after VCs and other top officials failed to attend the previous two (February 28 and March 15) on the direction of the Governor. In those two instances, the department threatened them with action for skipping the meeting and seeking guidelines from the Chancellor instead. The department also served show-cause notices to the VCs, registrars and exam controllers of all the state universities and ordered that their salary and university budget be stopped and FIRs be lodged against them.

However, the Governor, who is the Chancellor of state universities, intervened strongly. The Raj Bhawan wrote to the treasury officials as well the banks that the department letter was quashed by the Governors order. The Raj Bhawan also wrote to the Chief Secretary, seeking action against education department officials for their wanton interference in the academic and administrative matters of universities and use of indecent language.

The wanton interference of some officials is only to be deprecated and it is expected that an explanation is sought and this office is apprised of the result of enquiries made and follow up action taken, said the letter from Robert L Chongthu, principal secretary to the Governor, to the chief secretary, ordering withdrawal of the letter from the department secretary Baidyanath Yadav.

Raj Bhavan versus education department

Earlier this month, the Raj Bhavan wrote to the additional chief secretary (education) KK Pathak, seeking to know what action had been taken towards withdrawal of the letter issued by Yadav on February 28, through which the department had served show-cause notice to the VCs, registrars and exam controllers of all the state universities for skipping the meeting on Chancellors direction and threatened action, including freeze on bank accounts, lodging of FIRs, stopping of their salary and budget of universities.

I am directed to invite a reference to the discussion held on March 8 in the presence of the Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister, Bihar and your goodself before the Governor-cum-Chancellor, in which it was decided that the education department will withdraw its letter forthwith. However, no communication has yet been received in this Secretariat about withdrawal of the said letter, said the letter from Chongthu to the ACS (education).

Taking exception to the department's freeze order and threatening tone in letters, the Chancellor had also issued a direction to the VCs and other officials not to leave headquarters without permission of the Raj Bhavan, which was a clear message that they need not attend the meeting called by the department official.

While the stand off continued, Raj Bhavan continued to hold meetings with VCs and attended meetings in universities, which also required the presence of education department representatives. At the JP University senate meeting, the Governor presided and a seat was also allotted for ACS (education) KK Pathak, but he did not attend. The Governor, on his part, directed the department to clear retirement dues of teachers and employees without delay, ensure timely salary payment and work to create a better atmosphere for the benefit of education.

Retired teachers and employees of the university await their pension for three months, while the working ones are yet to get their March salary in many universities. Some universities have made the payment through internal resources in anticipation that their grants would come. The guest faculties in the universities have not been paid their salary for up to 10 months and are also up in arms.

A power tussle

The Governor has made it clear that an officer cannot call the vice chancellors for the meeting. There is a laid down protocol. And more importantly, the kind of threatening language used by the officers of the education department is not acceptable. The department should do its job and not cross the line, as it also has a lot of answering to do for the problems afflicting the universities. Without addressing the root cause of the problems, results cannot be achieved. It is wrong to assume that just one man is working and the rest are not, said a Raj Bhavan official.

Earlier also, when the department had issued parallel advertisements for the appointment of VCs, the Raj Bhawan had written to the chief secretary about the need to set the education department right and made it clear to the VCs that the Chancellors authority is supreme in the matter of running the academic and administrative affairs of the Universities and no outside influence should be entertained. Later, the department had to withdraw its advertisements after the CMs intervention.
NEW DELHI: India backs the Philippines in upholding its national sovereignty and seeks staunch adherence to a rules-based order, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday amid a flaring up of tensions between Beijing and Manila over the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. This handout photo shows Philippine scientists inspecting Sandy Cay reef, near the Philippine-held Thitu Island, in Spratly Islands, in the disputed South China Sea on March 22. The Philippine Coast Guard on March 22 accused a Chinese vessel of "dangerous manoeuvres" as it attempted to block Filipino scientists from reaching a reef in the South China Sea. (AFP FILE/Philippine Coast Guard)

Following talks with Jaishankar in Manila, Filipino secretary of foreign affairs Enrique Manalo said at a media briefing that the two sides will accelerate maritime cooperation with a dialogue which is expected to focus on marine domain awareness, shipping, search and rescue, and law enforcement.

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Strategic cooperation between India and the Philippines, especially in defence and security, has grown significantly in recent years.

In 2022, Manila became the first foreign customer for the BrahMos cruise missile by inking a $375-million order for the weapon system developed by India and Russia. India and the Philippines are also part of the Indo-Pacific maritime domain awareness initiative.

Without directly naming China or referring to territorial disputes in the South China Sea, Jaishankar told the media after his talks with Manalo that all parties must adhere to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which is the constitution of the seas. He added: I take this opportunity to firmly reiterate Indias support to the Philippines for upholding its national sovereignty.

India is deeply invested in the region because of its Act East policy and Indo-Pacific vision and strongly supports Aseans centrality and unity. We are also convinced that the progress and prosperity of this region is best served by staunch adherence to a rules-based order, he said.

Manalo said the Philippines and India are staunch advocates of freedom of navigation and adherence to international law, including UNCLOS and the 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. This ruling declared Chinas claims in the South China as unlawful.

The position of both countries was reflected during the discussions on Tuesday, especially on recent actions of China in the West Philippines Sea, Manalo said. The two sides have decided to accelerate maritime cooperation with discussions to be held in Manila that will look at promising areas for collaboration, such as maritime domain awareness, shipping and seafaring, search and rescue, law enforcement and environmental protection, Manalo said.

The Philippines also sees Indias defence industries playing an important role in the modernisation programme of the countrys armed forces, and priorities include education, training, research and development in support of Manilas self-reliant defence posture, he added.

Within hours, China reacted to the comments by Jaishankar and Manalo by saying that third parties have no role in the disputes in the South China Sea. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a media briefing in Beijing in response to a question: Maritime disputes are issues between the countries concerned. Third parties have no right to interfere whatsoever.

Lin added that relevant parties should face squarely the facts and truth on the South China Sea issue, and respect Chinas territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.

These developments come days after angry exchanges between the Philippines and China over territorial claims in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. The Philippines made a strong protest over aggressive actions by Chinas Coast Guard and maritime militia against a Filipino resupply mission, while Beijing urged Manila to behave cautiously and seek dialogue, the second such warning in three months.

Jaishankar, who is on a three-nation tour of Southeast Asia that includes Singapore and Malaysia, said Indias ties with the Philippines have grown in areas such as trade, investment, health, food security, education, science and technology, defence and maritime cooperation. Bilateral trade crossed the $3-billion mark last year and India, as the fifth largest economy, is preparing to step up its engagement with the Philippines, he said.

Both sides are moving ahead on quick impact projects in agriculture, health and capacity building, and the growing comfort and trust are reflected in ongoing supplies of rice from India as an exceptional measure, Jaishankar said.

Manalo said both countries are having extensive discussions on defence and security cooperation, mainly to support a rules-based order in the context of their deep interest in ensuring a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific.

The two sides also explored cooperation to ensure the safety of Indian and Filipino seafarers working on merchant vessels in the Red Sea in view of the current spate of attacks by Houthi rebels. Manalo expressed appreciation for the Indian Navys immediate and effective response to a distress call by the vessel MV True Confidence, which resulted in the safe return of 13 Filipino seafarers. Jaishankar noted that an Indian Coast Guard vessel was making a port call in Manila and said he had briefed Manalo about the Indian Navys deployments in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea to counter ongoing threats.

Jaishankar also met National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano, defence secretary Gilbert Teodoro and President Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday hit back at Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh after he questioned her over Atal Pension Yojana, calling it a poorly designed scheme.



It all started after Ramesh shared a news article that claimed about Atal Pension Yojana accounts being opened without approval.



The flagship Atal Pension Yojana is a very poorly-designed scheme, a paper tiger that needs officials to hoodwink and coerce people into participating in it. Its a fitting representation of the Modi Governments policymaking: headline management, with few benefits actually reaching the people! Ramesh had said in a post on X.



The finance minister hit back at Ramesh, accusing him of using verbal sophistry to hide facts, and alleged that the Congress leader is either being malicious or ignorant of the basic tenets of designing a good pension scheme.



ALSO READ: Electoral bonds are post-raid bribes to BJP-led government: Jairam Ramesh Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh.

The Congress leader was quick to respond to the minister, arguing,"It is refreshing that the Finance Minister has admitted that the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) is coercive and forces people to enrol without their consent. It is a very simple fact - the Indian Council of Social Science Researchs study shows that banks are taking money from peoples accounts under the name of APY."

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"The FM hides this reality behind verbal sophistry like best practice choice architecture and various foreign academics, a community often derided by her boss," the Congress leader added.



Responding to Ramesh's posts, the minister launched a fresh counterattack, calling him a spin doctor.

Surprised that @Jairam_Ramesh plays a spin doctor here. You say: Finance Minister has admitted that the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) is coercive and forces people to enrol without their consent. When there is no coercion or force at all, where have I admitted any such! Under APY, Direct Debit is only allowed with consent of the subscriber. At the time of application, a subscriber gives express & explicit authorization indicating contribution amount, frequency of contribution and auto-debit from his/her bank account, she said. The minister then presented her arguments to counter Ramesh's attacks on the Atal Pension Yojana.

@INCIndia s empty sloganeering of 'Garibi Hatao' has never worked because your focus and commitment was absent. The motto of @narendramodi and the GoI is to deliver on the ground which helps the poor & the vulnerable, she added.
Bollywood actor and BJP's Mandi Lok Sabha candidate Kangana Ranaut has said that she was hurt by the now-deleted controversial post from Congress leader Supriya Shrinate against her. Actor Kangana Ranaut and Congress leader Supriya Shrinate(File)

Ranaut said that she was particularly pained by Congress leader's comments on Mandi from where she is contesting the Lok Sabha elections on a BJP ticket.

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Every woman deserves dignity, no matter what profession she is in, Kangana told reporters at Chandigarh airport, according to ANI. The most I am hurt by is the 'Mandi' thing, which is known as Chota Kashi and has been the land of several Rishis, she added.

Asked whether she plans to take any action against the Congress leader, Ranaut said she had been called to Delhi by BJP president JP Nadda and would respond only after meeting him.

"I have to maintain the dignity of the party. I can't walk before it. I have to walk with them and follow their instructions," she said, according to PTI.

A major controversy erupted after an offensive posts was made from Supriya Shrinate's and Congress leader HS Ahir's Instagram handle targeting Ranaut.

Shrinate claimed that many people have access to her Facebook and Instagram accounts, and someone from them made the post in question. Ahir also gave a similar 'explanation.'

"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, Shrinate said.

Hope Sonia Gandhi will take action: NCW chief on comments against Kangana Ranaut



National Commission for Women (NCW) chief Rekha Sharma has urged Congress leader Sonia Gandhi to "take action" against Shrinate and Ahir for the posts against Kangana Ranaut, reported ANI.

She also said the commission has written to the Election Commission seeking "stringent action against the party and the leader."

"It is very unfortunate that a woman is using such derogatory language against another woman... NCW has taken it very seriously," Rekha Sharma told ANI.

"Not only one leader but two leaders are saying the same thing on Twitter and later denying that they have made such a post," the NCW chief alleged.
Kashmirs senior separatist leader Shabir Shah, who recently turned 70 in Delhis Tihar jail, has spent almost three decades in different jails of J&K and the country, earning him the sobriquet Nelson Mandela of Kashmir. In 1992, when militancy was at its peak, Amnesty International named him a Prisoner of Conscience.

The Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (JKDFP)'s founder-president spent another year behind bars, which didnt make much noise in the Valley. However, a small notice by his daughter Sama Shabir, in her early 20s, announcing her dissociation from her fathers separatist politics went viral across social media.

Sama, who was the CBSE topper in 2019 and has been pursuing law in the United Kingdom, on Monday, said that she has no association with her fathers party, which was formed in 1998. "I, Sama Shabir, daughter of Shabir Ahmad Shah want to clarify that I have not been associated with nor have any affiliation with the Democratic Freedom Party, nor do I have any inclination towards the ideology of the Democratic Freedom Party," reads Sama Shabir's notification. She was also summoned by the Enforcement Directorate in 2019, but she was unable to attend the summons as she was out of the country.

The notification further read that she would take legal action if somebody implicates her name in activities of the JKDFP. "I am a loyal citizen of India and I am not affiliated with any person or any organisation which is against the sovereignty of the Union of India," the notification further clarified.

A similarly worded notice was also issued by Ruwa Shah, granddaughter of the late Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

Though the government is tight-lipped on the issue, there have been murmurs among several social circles of the pressure the separatists' families are facing after having been put on the no-fly list, preventing their travel out of the country.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) says that these public statements of dissociation have been released due to the policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "This open confession directly from those who were known for separatist agenda and ideology is an eye-opener for those who remark what has changed in J&K post the Article 370 roll back, said BJP state spokesman Altaf Thakur, while welcoming Ruwa and Sama's statements.

Shabir Shah's run-ins with the law

For the past seven years, Shabir Shah has been in jail for "waging war against the country" and in a terror funding case. Recently, the JKDFP, which he established in 1997, was banned by the ministry of home affairs for five years under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Shabir Shah, during his youth, wore his ideology on his sleeve. In the beginning, he was a hardline separatist with pro-Pakistan leanings. However, later on, he turned moderate and even engaged with some top officers of the Central government. In 2001, Shah became the only separatist leader to meet with an official from the Centre, namely, KC Pant, the former minister of defence. In his past interviews, he had said that he wanted a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue and vouched for fruitful talks.

The JKDFP chief was detained on July 25, 2017, in a 2005 money laundering case. His wife, Bilquis, was also named in the chargesheet produced in 2020. She was granted bail in 2021. While granting her bail, special judge Dharmender Rana said, "I concur with the defence counsel that placing her under custody now would not serve any purpose. Considering her gender, the nature of allegations against the applicant/accused, and the fact that she was not even arrested by the investigating authority during the course of the investigation, accused Bilquis Shah is admitted to bail."

In August 2017, a businessman and an alleged hawala operator Mohammed Aslam Wani, was arrested by the special branch of Delhi Police. The police claimed to recovered a large amount of money from him, which he told his investigators belonged to Shah. Delhi Police claimed to have recovered 63 lakhs from Wani, out of which 50 lakhs were meant for Shah.

On October 4, 2019, the NIA filed a supplementary charge sheet in another case against Shah and four others including JKLF chief, Yasin Malik, Masarat Alam, Engineer Rashid and Asiya Andrabi before a Delhi court. The offences included sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 121 (waging war against the government of India), 121A (conspiracy to wage war) and 124A (sedition) of the IPC.

ED has also attached the house of Shabir Shah at Sanat Nagar under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. ED initiated the money laundering investigation after filing an FIR in May 2017 against Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba co-founder Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and others under various sections of IPC and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967.

During the investigation, ED had then said that Shah was actively involved in fuelling unrest in Kashmir by the way of stone pelting, processions, protests, bandhs, hartals and other subversive activities.

The agency also blames Shah for getting funds from militant groups and the Pakistani agencies. "These funds were then being used for fuelling and supporting militant activities in the Kashmir Valley", ED had said.

Shabir Shah's tryst with separatism

Shah's tryst with separatism began around five decades ago, when in 1968, at the age of 14, he led a demonstration against the Central government demanding the "right of self-determination" for the people of Kashmir, following which he was arrested and was kept in police lockup for three months. He has been in and out of jail ever since.

Shabir joined the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Freedom League (JKPFL) in 1974. After the formation of the separatist amalgam All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) in 1993, the JKPFL was clubbed together with all the separatist outfits of Kashmir and became one of the seven members of the APHCs Executive Council.

The separatist leader went on to hold talks with KC Pant, former Prime Minister VP Singh and former US ambassador Frank Wisner. However, his parleys didn't go down well with Hurriyat leaders and finally, Shah left Hurriyat Conference along with senior separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani, who formed his own faction of Hurriyat Conference.

Later, Shah also became part of Hurriyat led by Geelani. India's former spy chief AS Dullat in his book, Kashmir: The Vajpayee Years, has also revealed that when militancy was at its top in the early 90's in Kashmir, he used to meet Shah in jail.

After the death of Geelani, Shabir Shah is one of the few separatist leaders who has been still pursuing the ideology of separatism.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday issued a second order from the custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), asking health minister Saurabh Bharadwaj to address shortage of medicines and diagnostic tests at mohalla clinics and hospitals. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. (REUTERS)

Even though he is in custody, he is worried about the health of the people of Delhi. He has issued a direction to me. The CM [chief minister] is pained to know that medicines are not available at many mohalla clinics and hospitals. The free diagnostic tests are also not available in some hospitals and mohalla clinics. The CM believes that even though he has been put in jail, people of Delhi should not face any difficulties, people going to hospitals must get medicines, said Bharadwaj.

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He said tens of thousands of families in Delhi are dependent upon medicines from government hospitals because they cannot afford to buy them. Some people need life-long medicines such as those for blood pressure, and diabetes. Many people need to get diagnostic tests done at regular intervals. The CM has learned that the free tests are getting disrupted in many mohalla clinics, Bharadwaj said.

He added Kejriwal has asked him to take immediate steps to fix the problem and ensure that all the hospitals and mohalla clinics provide adequate medicines to people in need and that diagnostic tests are also available. With my department, I will work on a war footing to fix the situation. On behalf of CM, I want to assure the people of Delhi that even though your CM has been put in jail he is only thinking about you, said Bharadwaj.

In the first order from jail, Kejriwal on Sunday directed minister Atishi to address water and sewage-related grievances.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Harish Khurana said Kejriwal was trying to play the victim card. Kejriwal is in jail due to corruption for which former deputy CM Manish Sisodia has not got bail for the last 14 months. Kejriwal is the kingpin of the liquor scam. Arvind Kejriwal used to say that people facing corruption charges should resign, but now he is not resigning and is passing orders from behind bars. Khurana said if he is really worried about Delhi, Kejriwal should resign first and let someone else handle the situation.
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has sparked a massive controversy over his remarks, claiming that the slogans Bharat Mata Ki Jai and Jai Hind were coined by Muslims.



"Now, in some programmes we hear some Sangh Parivar leaders asking people to chant 'Bharat mata ki Jai'. Who coined the slogan Bharat mata ki jai? Was it some Sangh Parivar leader? I don't know if the Sangh Parivar knows this. His name is Azimullah Khan. I don't know if they know that he is not a Sangh Parivar leader," ANI quoted the Kerala CM as saying. Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan

"He was the prime minister to the Maratha Peshwa Nana Saheb in the 19th century. We should know that he coined the term Bharat Mata ki Jai. I don't know if Sangh Parivar will decide not to chant the slogan since it was framed by a Muslim?" Vijayan added while speaking at a rally against the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) on Monday.



ALSO READ: Kerala CM asks why Congress, Rahul Gandhi silent on CAA



The chief minister further said,"Similarly, a former diplomat, Abid Hasan, coined the term 'Jai Hind'. So Jai Hind is also a contribution by a Muslim. Therefore, I want to say that the Sangh Parivar, who says Muslims should leave India, and be sent to Pakistan, should understand this history."



Vijayan had attacked the Narendra Modi government over the implementation of the CAA and accused it of attempting to give citizenship on the basis of religion.



ALSO READ: CAA an open challenge to humanity, Kerala will not implement it: Vijayan

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Lashing out at Vijayan, Kerala BJP leader P K Krishnadas asked if the CM and other Left leaders would be ready to raise the slogans as they were coined by Muslims.

Earlier in the day, BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi also attacked Vijayan, accusing him of indulging in divisive politics for votes.



He such kind of "stale and 100-year-old" politics is not going to yield any positive result for the opposition parties as people are with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.



(With PTI, ANI inputs)
Bharat Rashtra Samithi working president KT Rama Rao on Tuesday hit out at the Congress party saying that it had lost its strength and energy to counter the Bharatiya Janata Party. Rao, also known as KTR, said that while Rahul Gandhi attacked PM Modi and the NDA government at the centre, Telangana CM Revanth Reddy praised him numerous times. Bharat Rashtra Samithi working president KT Rama Rao addresses a gathering.(HT File)

Addressing a party meeting in Hyderabad, Rao said, If one has to stop BJP, it is only the regional leaders such as KCR, Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal who can do it. Congress is not powerful enough to stop BJP.

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"Today, if you see all over the country it is only regional leaders who are able to stop the BJP," Rama Rao said. The BRS leader added that Congress tried to malign the image of the BRS party during assembly polls last year by unleashing a campaign saying the latter is the 'B team' of BJP.

They tried to poison the minds of minority communities with malicious campaigns, KTR said. However, they could not succeed in Hyderabad, a stronghold of BRS, he added.

READ | Rahul Gandhi is jobless as...: KTR's entrance exam jibe at Congress stalwart

KTR went on to say, ...Think about it. Rahul Gandhi in Delhi says chowkidar chor hai Revnath Reddy says - No he is not a thief, he is our elder brother...Rahul Gandhi says that the Prime Minister works for Adani Revanth Reddy hugs Adani in Davos and strikes a deal with him...

The BRS leader said that while Congress leader Rahul Gandhi criticised the BJP, Revanth Reddy praised it numerous times. He added that if anyone dared to stop BJP it was the regional parties. Rahul Gandhi says that Gujarat model is useless and fake. Revanth Reddy says he will take Telangana on Gujarat's path...Rahul Gandhi says that liquor scam is false and that arresting Arvind Kejriwal is wrong. Revanth Reddy says that there is indeed a liquor scam and arresting K Kavitha is correct...Congress doesn't have the courage or strength to stop Modi and BJP...

READ | KT Rama Rao says disband Congress, invokes Mahatma Gandhi quote

"So, Mamata Banerjee says that Congress won't be able to cross 40. Regional leaders like KCR, Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal have the courage to stop BJP..." he said.

Earlier, Telangana CM Revanth Reddy had also attacked the BJP and BRS, accusing them of conspiring to dethrone the Congress government in the state.

"BJP leader Laxman is repeatedly saying that this government will not exist after the Lok Sabha elections. How will the BJP topple the government with just eight MLAs in the assembly? It means the BJP and BRS are conspiring to topple the Congress government," Revanth Reddy said.

(With inputs from ANI)
The BJP on Tuesday stepped up its attack on the Congress over a post made from the Instagram handle of Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate against actor Kangana Ranaut, who will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections on the saffron party's ticket from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh, the latter's home state. Kangana Ranaut (File photo)

Can someone tell what is the current rate in Mandi (market)? the post read. It was made next to a picture of Ranaut. Shrinate later clarified that many people have access to her Facebook and Instagram accounts, and someone from there made the extremely inappropriate post, which has since been deleted.

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BJP attacks Congress

Party spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla pointed to the Ladki Hoon, Lad Sakti Hoon (I am a girl, I can fight) slogan given by Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in the run-up to the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.

Yesterday, Congress national spokesperson and IT cell head Supriya Shrinate insulted the 'Nari Shakti' (woman power) through an indecent post. This is not just Kangana Ranaut's or women's insult but this is an insult to the whole of Himachal Pradesh. This party's (Congress) slogan is Ladki Hoon, Lad Sakti hoon (I am a girl, I can fight). It has become the Congress' character to insult women. No matter how many excuses she makes, the fact is that the post was not removed until we raised an objection towards it. There should be strict action against it. We also request the Election Commission to take action against this, Poonawalla said.

Manoj Tiwari, BJP MP from Northeast Delhi, mentioned how there is a difference between one's real and reel life.

I am surprised that the Congress thinks like this about women and artists. In reel life, an artist has to play multiple roles. The BJP respects the artists and women of India, Tiwari remarked.

Shaina NC, also a spokesperson of the BJP, called for a fight against stereotypes.

Why can't a woman who comes from film fraternity or fashion fraternity or any other profession join active public life? It is with the sentiment of wanting to do some good for your country that Kangana Ranaut has chosen to join the BJP, she said.
New Delhi: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwals insistence on running the Government from jail, if prolonged, could lead to imposition of Presidents rule as an elected chief minister has multifold tasks, all of which cannot be practically performed while in custody, said legal experts. At the same time, since the arrest of a sitting chief minister is unprecedented, should arrest alone force him to resign is an aspect that could come up for consideration before courts, they added. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. (ANI)

The crisis was triggered last Thursday when Kejriwal was taken into custody by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the Delhi excise policy case. He is the third leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to be arrested in this case, after former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and AAP MP Sanjay Singh. The ED in its remand application filed before the trial court claimed that Kejriwal played a crucial role in formulating the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy of 2021-22 to favour some persons and was involved in demanding kickbacks from liquor businessmen in exchange of favours. According to the federal agency, a bribe of 100 crore was paid to AAP of which, 45 crore was spent by the party during the Goa assembly elections in 2022.

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A city court on March 22 ordered Kejriwal to remain in custody of ED till March 28. He has challenged his arrest and subsequent remand before the Delhi high court which is expected to take up the matter on Wednesday. On Sunday, a written note was purportedly sent by Kejriwal to Delhi minister Atishi on tackling the issue of water scarcity in the Capital, sending out a clear message that he has no intention to step down for the present.

Meanwhile, legal experts weighed in on the developing situation by sharing their views on the legality of CM functioning from jail, a possible constitutional crisis, and the options available for the AAP government in such a scenario.

Former Lok Sabha secretary general PDT Achary said, Arrest does not disqualify a chief minister from functioning. He continues to be CM but since he is a prisoner, he can do only what is permitted under the Jail Manual. There are practical problems that can arise as CM has to preside over the Cabinet. Files must be brought to him and he has to consult and even meet officers. Unless he is permitted by the Court such freedom that is not available to other prisoners, for him to function as CM will be practically difficult.

Also Read: Kejriwal issues order from ED custody, directs minister to solve water concerns

Under the Representation of Peoples Act, 1951, Section 8(3) disqualifies a sitting member of Parliament or state legislature on being convicted of any offence and is sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years. The disqualification will incur from the date of such conviction and shall continue to be disqualified for a further period of six years since his release. Since Kejriwal is not a convict, this law does not apply to him.

Senior advocate and noted constitutional expert Rakesh Dwivedi further pointed out that the Constitutional scheme envisages the elected government to be responsible to the Assembly and CM forms an essential cog in the governance of a state or union territory. Chief minister is not an ordinary minister. He is the lynchpin of governance who recommends appointment of other ministers. If CM is arrested, he cannot run the government which is responsible to the House. This creates a situation where the government cannot be run in terms of the Constitution.

Dwivedi additionally pointed out that the CM is also the head of the national capital civil service authority (NCCSA) that deals with transfer and posting of bureaucrats serving under Delhi government. This creates a situation of non-participation by elected government in transfer and posting of officers which it is controlling, he said.

Faced with practical difficulties, Dwivedi said that there are precedents galore when legislators holding public office as ministers, MPs or chief ministers have resigned or nominated someone in their place after allegations cropped up against them. He gave the recent example of former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad who nominated his wife as CM, and BJP leader LK Advani who resigned as MP after his name cropped up in the Hawala scam in 1996.

Efficient functioning of government requires CM should not be in jail but outside jail, at least on bail. Public morality and constitutional morality requires that CM should resign. If he (Kejriwal) prolongs this state of affairs then Government of India will be entitled to impose Presidents Rule, Dwivedi said.

Achary agreed, I am not discounting the possibility of Presidents Rule. Arrest itself is not an infirmity to seek Presidents Rule but if rules of Jail Manual do not allow him to function freely, the Union can conclude that the chief minister has become non-functional and there is a crisis as the government (work) in Delhi is not being carried out in accordance with Article 239AA (special provisions for Delhi providing for an elected Assembly).

Article 239AB of the Constitution provides for such a recommendation by the President. It states, If the President, on receipt of a report from the Lieutenant Governor or otherwise, is satisfied that a situation has arisen in which the administration of the NCT cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions off Article 239AA or of any law made in pursuance of that article or that for the proper administration of the NCT it is necessary or expedient so to do.

Also Read: Why was German diplomat summoned by India over Arvind Kejriwals arrest?

Senior advocate and Supreme Court lawyer Jaideep Gupta said, I do not see the Presidents Rule being imposed as the Delhi government enjoys absolute majority. Such a scenario has not been tested in Courts before and any decision to impose Presidents Rule will be affecting the electoral mandate of citizens of Delhi.

Gupta added: There is also no apparent chaos in governance as it is always open for AAP legislative party to elect another CM. There is no justification in upsetting a legislative party enjoying majority just because a CM is not stepping down. On the legal question though on whether he should remain in office, any party  the Union government, AAP or a PIL litigant can approach the Court.

However, Dwivedi pointed out that Presidents Rule does not necessarily require dissolving an elected government in place. Even if Union is to impose Presidents Rule, it will certainly not take over and dissolve the House. It can even ask the AAP government to elect somebody in place of the present CM to run the government. So long as they are unable to nominate someone as CM, the central rule will continue. Once they nominate, the person will be sworn in. The complication will arise only if you say I will not appoint somebody else and I will invite Presidents Rule.

Pointing to the order passed by CM while in custody, he added, You are trying to show to the world that CM is passing orders from jail. That is all he can do as CM. Doing that one bit of job is not performance of function as CM has various other functions.

Given the backdrop of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, experts are uncertain whether the Centre would impose Presidents Rule. Dwivedi said that taking such a decision is best left to the political wisdom of the Central government. Why will Government create a bad image for itself by rushing into something? We also need to wait and see what the high court will do.

Gupta said that the issue of arrest and bail of Kejriwal is bound to reach the top court. Recently the Supreme Court told ED not to disturb Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee during elections. So the Court is capable of passing such orders. But Kejriwal is already arrested, and he must follow the legal process till Court finally decides the question of his arrest and bail, he added.

Opposition parties have sought to challenge the arrest of Kejriwal before the Election Commission. The matter has also attracted global attention with Germany and the US governments taking note of the development and asking the Indian government to render fair, transparent and timely legal process to Kejriwal. Achary said, While the EC has enormous powers to ensure free and fair elections, so far as criminal law is concerned, it is above that. The criminal process cannot be hobbled by the poll panel.
Muwekma Ohlone Chairoman Charlene Nijmeh sp to sokeupporters of independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. before he announced Nicole Shanahan as his VP pick during a rally at the Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts in Oakland on March 26, 2024. Bronte Wittpenn/The Chronicle Supporters await the arrival of independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. before he announced his running mate at the Henry J. Kaiser Event Center for the Arts in Oakland on March 26. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has expressed falsehoods about vaccines and taken other controversial stances during his independent bid for the presidency, stepped into another contentious issue Tuesday while announcing his running mate.

The struggle for Indigenous rights has consumed a lot of my life  my personal and professional life  and this work is going to continue when we are in the White House, Kennedy said Tuesday at a rally in Oakland. The Muwekma Ohlones are one of the many tribes that were decertified during the 1950s and 1960s, and these tribes need to be relegitimized, and that is something that I will do as soon as I get in the White House.

The chair of the Muwekma Ohlone, a Bay Area tribe whose aggressive bid for federal recognition prompted a confrontation with members of Congress in January 2023 and has generated conflict with other local tribal leaders, opened Kennedys rally with an endorsement of his candidacy and welcoming to their lands.

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The Muwekma Ohlone tribe is still not federally recognized as an official tribe today, despite its existence in fact. This wrong must be made right, and we know a leader like Mr. Kennedy will take up our cause, Chairperson Charlene Nijmeh said Tuesday.

The Muwekma have waged an intense campaign in recent years to gain recognition, which would give members new legitimacy, access to federal funds, the ability to purchase land and potentially even lucrative gaming rights.

Muwekma leaders have had combative dealings with Bay Area lawmakers, accusing several of colonialist behavior, hostility and racial bias in press releases following a confrontational January 2023 meeting between members of the tribe and members of Congress.

The meeting included a heated disagreement about the San Francisco Inquirer  a website operated by a man who has done paid consulting work for Nijmeh  which published more than a dozen articles about the tribes recognition efforts. During the meeting, which included members of the tribe and Reps. Zoe Lofgren of San Jose, Anna Eshoo of Palo Alto, Eric Swalwell of Castro Valley, and Ro Khanna of Santa Clara, lawmakers said the website had made false claims about their positions on the tribes bid for recognition.

Nijmeh told lawmakers in the meeting that the consultant had a right to free speech and that she couldnt stop him from exercising it. Nijmeh and the consultant each told the Chronicle that the statements and articles on the Inquirer website were accurate.

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The leaders of three other Bay Area tribes  the Association of Ramaytush Ohlone, the Tamien Nation and the Confederated Villages of Lisjan/Ohlone  told the Chronicle last year that the Muwekma Ohlone tribe is making false assertions about their legitimacy.

The Muwekma stand by the claims it has made about the other tribes, Nijmeh said in a statement to the Chronicle at the time.

Nijmeh ran for Congress in the San Jose district currently represented by Lofgren  one of the lawmakers castigated by the Inquirer and present at the contentious January 2023 meeting  but failed to advance past the March 5 primary. Lofgren received 51.2% of the roughly 96,000 votes cast. Republican Peter Hernandez received 32.8%, and Nijmeh  who ran as a Democrat  received 11%.

Top Democratic leaders Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., waded into the race Feb. 12, after they said voters received flyers that wrongly implied they endorsed Nijmeh. Both endorsed Lofgren.
Lok Sabha Election 2024 Highlights: Political parties have geared up to campaign for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections 2024, the schedule for which was announced by the Election Commission (EC) on March 16. The worlds largest democratic exercise will be staggered across seven phases stretching over six weeks between April 19 and June 1. The results will be announced on June 4. See the full Lok Sabha election 2024 schedule...Read More

Besides voting for the 543 Lok Sabha seats, the EC has also announced Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, and Odisha, as will assembly bypolls for 26 vacant seats.

The elections will see Prime Minister Narendra Modi seek a third consecutive term, which will make him only the second person in independent India after Jawaharlal Nehru to achieve the feat. Meanwhile, the Oppositions Indian National Democratic Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) hopes to cut into the BJPs electoral track record and broad social coalition.

Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Key NDA vs INDIA contests to watch out for

In the last general elections in 2019, the BJP rode on a wave of Modis pan-Indian popularity and nationalistic fervour to a once-in-a-generation majority. The party won 303 seats, and along with its allies comprising the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) captured 336 seats. The Congress was reduced to 52 seats.

Lok Sabha Election 2024: Phase-wise schedule

 Phase 1- April 19

 Phase 2- April 26

 Phase 3- May 7

 Phase 4 - May 13

 Phase 5 - May 20

 Phase 6 - May 25

 Phase 7 - June 1
In July 2018, a geek named Shivam Shankar Singh presented a provocative paper at a Bengaluru tech conference. Titled `Weaponizing Data for Politics, the presentation elaborated on how  by analysing public and not-so-public data  political parties could profile voters and deliver targeted messages to them on their mobile phones. What is of particular concern now is the battle of attrition between the government and social media platforms on what content needs to be used and what is pulled down. (AFP PHOTO / Representational Image)

Singh, who had then just quit from a high-profile BJP campaign team, told journalists that he had helped create constituency profiles broken down to booth levels and collated and analysed field survey data for actionable insights.

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Well, six years is a long time in politics and with India on the digital high road, the stage is now set for the shootout at general election 2024 between April 19 and June 1. It is certain that the all- embracive mobile phone, which includes posts, videos and stream-ins that can be vicious, funny, fake or contrarian, depending upon the trollers appetite, will have a key role to play.

There is little doubt now that the 2024 general elections will be fought on and decided by mobile phones, says Pavan Duggal, Indias leading cyber law expert.

Read: Opposition-ruled states, Rahul Gandhi bet big on elusive caste surveys

Not discounting live campaigning as still the politicians principal tool for mobilization, there is a good reason for Indias digital pre-eminence. In 2023, the country had 1.05 billion users, who access the internet via their mobile phones. When one considers that the total number of voters registered to cast their ballot in the general elections in 2024 stands at 986.8 million, it easily works out to roughly one mobile phone per voter.

Says Nalin Kohli, BJP spokesperson and Convenor of its National Media Cell: In a country where a majority of the population have smartphones and have adopted digital connectivity through banking and UPI and are receiving benefits directly through JAM (Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile), at the same time being connected with the social media, it is a huge opportunity for political parties to deal directly with such voters.

Can one conclude that the BJP holds the edge over the other political parties when it comes to such virtual connectivity and technical excellence? Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the first leader to understand the power of social media and digital connectivity. The BJP as a party has certainly recognized the importance of this and adopted it into its functioning, Kohli told this reporter.

That could well be an understatement.

Read: BJP and the fine art of weaving poll alliances

Officially, the BJPs IT cell manages social media campaigns for the party and its members. It designs and implements social media strategy and trains party workers in using tools such as Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp. Facebook is the most used social media platform in India in terms of monthly active users (MAUs). Facebook is followed by other popular social media platforms, YouTube, and Instagram. All the content is then encapsulated in a mobile phone.

The grounds of poll propaganda, typically, are well sown. Before an upcoming rally, a party will broadcast information about it on social media platformssuch as Twitter (now X), Facebook, and WhatsAppto mobilize lower-level party functionaries and voters. After the rally concludes, the party will select specific photographs, speech excerpts, sound bites, and displays of enthusiasm from the rally to share on social media.

In an increasingly online world, a party must show voters real-world evidence that it has the support of other voters like them. Voters see the real-world as vital in evaluating a partys fit with their interests. Voters also interpret physical campaigning as indicative of a partys prospects for electoral success, writes Shahana Sheikh, in a chapter entitled How Technology Is (and Isnt) Transforming Election Campaigns in India in an essay in the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Read: Mahatma Gandhi-Subhas Chandra Bose disagreement was based on mutual self-respect

Of the nearly 2,000 smartphone respondents that she surveyed in Uttar Pradesh in 2022, 53 percent reported having seen photographs and/or videos of campaign rallies on their phones at least once a day in the lead-up to the state election, suggesting that voters were frequently exposed to online rally content during the campaign. This exposure to rally content has the potential to influence voter perceptions and voter mobilization, especially among smartphone users, she wrote.

There is also a flip side. According to its critics, BJP orchestrates online campaigns through its social media cell to intimidate perceived government critics. Sadhavi Khosla, a former BJP cyber-volunteer in the BJP IT Cell said that the organisation disseminated misogyny, Islamophobia, and hatred. The network of volunteers of BJP took instructions from BJP IT Cell and two affiliated organisations to troll users who are critical of BJP. Journalists and Indian film actors are also among their targets, she told the media, a few years ago. The party subsequently denied that Khosla was a member of the BJP IT Cell.

Last week, a personal letter from Prime Minister Modi was circulated, addressed to 'My dear family member, which listed his government's transformative outcomes in the last 10 years of his regime. More importantly, it urges citizens to send ideas, suggestions, and support for taking the mission of Viksit Bharat to its logical conclusion.

The letter has sparked protests, with opposition leaders alleging misuse of government databases and the messaging app for political propaganda in the days leading to the general elections.

That the BJP and the Modi dispensation has taken the public interactive interface to another level is a subject of research. While the BJP IT Cell boss, Amit Malviya, was not reachable, a party source in the know said that there were several crores WhatsApp groups operating for the general elections. These include official BJP administered groups and an equal number of sympathisers, who had decided to push the button. While many parties have beefed up their data analytics teams and made their mark on social media, they lack the muscle, sophistication and reach of the BJP and the personal popularity of the Prime Minister.

In the November 2023 MP assembly elections, which the BJP won handsomely, the party deployed 14 senior leaders across the states 14 districts, forming more than 42,000 WhatsApp groups to reach out to voters, and engaging over 40 lakh booth level workers to carry out a poll strategy laid out by Home Minister Amit Shah.

In the Gujarat assembly elections of December 2022, BJP messaging was circulated across more than 50,000 WhatsApp groups in the state, on a daily basis. On some days, topics were related to the BJPs campaigns or election manifesto; on other days, they are focused on combating the narratives being publicized by the opposition.

The BJP is by no means the sole beneficiary. In the 2023 assembly elections in Rajasthan, the Gehlot government launched the Indira Gandhi Smartphone Yojana by distributing 1.33 crore phones to beneficiaries. The modus operandi was simple - 6,125 was given for the phone; 675 for free internet, while the state paid 900 per year for internet charges.

It helps political parties when India has some of the cheapest mobile data plans in the world; 1GB of mobile data costs about $0.04 or about Rs.13. Only Israel and Italy offer data cheaper than India. By way of comparison, people in the US pay 33X more than what people in India do.

Bridging the digital divide is the well stated objective of the Indian government and there are countless villages that do not have a wireless data signal. The plan, typically is to add hundreds of cellphone towers and give a basic smartphone to every college student and one woman in every household to connect more families to the internet and help fulfill the central governments plan of a Digital India. No surprise then that telecom towers have grown by 60 percent between 2017-2022, according to the department of telecom (DoT).

In other words, WhatsApp had mutated from an intimate messaging service to a megaphone of misinformation as mobile internet plans exploded in late 2016, bringing hundreds of millions of Indians online for the first time.

What is of particular concern now is the battle of attrition between the government and social media platforms on what content needs to be used and what is pulled down.

Last month, social media platform X, earlier Twitter, complied with the Indian governments executive orders by restricting access to certain posts and accounts within India. This is not the first time that content has been restricted on the platform in relation to government requests. In 2022, X previously withheld its account associated with the Pakistani government in India and faced similar situations in July and later months.

Parallel to the actions on X, the government has instructed YouTube to remove 45 videos from 10 channels in October citing misinformation and content promoting communal disharmony with over 130 million cumulative views.

Many of such releases relate to the ongoing farmers agitation, with the government not too keen to highlight discontent so close to national elections.

The damage by unverified videos can be fatal. Between January 2017 and December 2018, just before the 2019 general elections, 33 people were lynched by mobs in separate incidents fueled by child kidnapping rumours that ran rampant on WhatsApp.

Fact-checkers now fear a repeat of similar videos, which can be used to spread disinformation.

These general elections have another platform to contend with  artificial intelligence (AI). Increasingly, parties are turning to AI for novel  and menacing  strategies. On November 30 last year, voters at Telangana assembly poll booths saw a seven-second clip started going viral on social media. Posted on X by the opposition Congress, it showed KT Rama Rao, a leader of the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samiti, calling on people to vote in favour of the Congress. The Congress shared it widely on a range of WhatsApp groups operated unofficially by the party, which ended up on the official X account of the party, viewed more than 500,000 times! The video was fake.

Notes news channel Aljazeera: With the increased availability of handy artificial intelligence tools, teams across Indias political parties, including Modis BJP and the Congress, are deploying deepfakes to influence voters, managers of nearly 40 recent campaigns told Al Jazeera. While several AI tools used to generate deepfakes are free, others are available on subscription for as little as 10 cents per video.

With no law against either fake news or deep fakes or for that matter, propaganda mongering, there are ostensibly, no remedies. There is no legal framework to check such crimes. There are, at best, government advisories, which are not mandatory or binding in any sense, cyber expert Duggal told this reporter.

If political leaders in the country thrive on such brinkmanship, to expect a legal deterrent would be too ambitious.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday announced it would contest all 13 seats in Punjab on its own, ending speculation about Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)s return to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and setting the stage for a four-cornered fight in the state. A BJP leader said they failed to reach an agreement on certain core demands of the SAD. (ANI)

People aware of the matter said BJP chief JP Nadda called SAD leader Sukhbir Singh Badal on Monday night and made a last-ditch effort to seal the alliance. But the Akalis insisted on accepting its demands, which included shifting radical Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh and other Sikh prisoners lodged in Assams Dibrugarh closer to Punjab as their families have found it difficult to meet them.

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Singh was arrested in April 2023 after a 37-day hunt amid a crackdown on his Waris Punjab De. The crackdown was launched after his supporters stormed a police station near Amritsar to secure the release of an arrested associate.

State BJP chief Sunil Jakhar said the decision to contest on its own in Punjab was taken keeping in mind the regions future, especially that of youngsters and farmers, after consulting the people, local leaders, and workers at the grassroots level. The party would not forge any alliance in Punjab, said Jakhar in a video posted on social media.

He said the BJPs work under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not hidden from anyone. ...whatever development the BJP has been done for Punjab, be it opening the Kartarpur Corridor [for visa-free crossing for Sikhs to visit the last resting place of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak in Pakistan] or procuring grains from farmers in the state Jakhar said the BJP will continue to take its agenda for public welfare forward.

People aware of the matter said the BJPs talks with SAD broke down as the former failed to ensure an unconditional alliance. SADs demands included the withdrawal of cases against farmers lodged during the 13-month-long protests in 2020-2021 against the three agricultural reform laws.

SAD exited NDA after the Parliament in 2020 approved the three contentious farm bills days after the partys lone minister in the Union government resigned over what the party said were anti-farmer laws. The SAD and the BJP first allied in 1996.

Ahead of the April-June Lok Sabha polls, SAD sought assurances on minimum support prices for cotton, maize, sugarcane, and moong along with wheat and paddy. It pressed for compensation as promised to those killed and injured in Uttar Pradeshs Lakhimpur Kheri in October 2021.

Union minister Ajay Kumar Mishra Tenis son, Ashish Mishra, is the key accused in the mowing of four protesting farmers at Lakhimpur Kheri.

SAD also sought the release of Sikh prisoners, particularly Balwant Singh Rajoana, who has been on dead row since his conviction for role in the killing of the then Punjab chief minister Beant Singh in August 1995.

The Akalis wanted the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, which manages gurdwaras, to be consulted on all issues related to Sikhs and a referendum in Haryana on the issue of a separate management committee for Sikh shrines in the state.

The BJP, which contested three seats in Punjab in 2019, wanted more seats than the four Akalis were willing to offer. The Akalis also sought the opening of the Wagah border with Pakistan for trade.

The states ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Congress are also contesting separately in Punjab even as they are part of the Opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance in neighbouring Haryana, Delhi, and Gujarat. The Congress swept the Lok Sabha polls in Punjab in 2019, winning eight of the 13 seats while SAD and BJP got two each and AAP one.
The National Commission for Women (NCW) has, through a letter to the Election Commission of India (ECI), called for strict action against Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate and party leader HS Ahir for their lewd and derogatory social media posts against actor Kangana Ranaut, it said on Monday. Actor Kangana Ranaut and Congress leader Supriya Shrinate

NCW is appalled by the disgraceful conduct of Ms. Supriya Shrinate and Mr HS Ahir. Such behaviour is intolerable and goes against the dignity of women. (NCW chief) Rekha Sharma has sent a letter to ECI demanding immediate and strict against them. Let's uphold respect and dignity for all women, NCW posted on X (formerly Twitter).

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Reacting to Shrinate's purported remarks on Ranaut, Sharma too wrote on X: You (Kangana) are a fighter and shining star. Keep shining, all the best. Writing to ECI."

The controversy began on Monday after a post was made from the Instagram handle of Shrinate, who handles social media for the Congress. It targeted Ranaut over her candidature for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Can someone tell what is the current rate in Mandi (market)? the post read. It was made next to a picture of the actor, who has been fielded by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from the Mandi Lok Sabha constituency in Himachal Pradesh, her home state.

Shrinate, a former journalist, later clarified that many people have access to her Facebook and Instagram accounts, and someone from there made the extremely inappropriate post, which has since been deleted.

"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 in a video statement.

Ahir, a Congress leader from Gujarat, gave a similar 'explanation.'

Someone who had access to my X accounts posted an absolutely disgusting and objectionable post, which has been taken down, he stated on the social media platform.

While the BJP has demanded that the Congress take action in the matter, there is no response yet from the grand old party or any of its senior leaders.
Large swathes of India recorded temperatures well above normal on Tuesday, as a brief spring appeared to make way for a likely gruelling summer, with authorities in some states already issuing heatwave guidelines for residents. The unusual heat comes on the back of two largely dry months for much of the country. (Hindustan Times)

The temperature inched past the 40C mark in a string of regions in southern India, with parts of Kerala, coastal Karnataka and Telangana bearing the brunt of the heat, showed data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

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Delhis maximum temperature also soared to 34.6C, the highest so far this year and more than three degrees above normal, with the weather office predicting even hotter days ahead on Wednesday and Thursday, when the mercury is likely to top off at 36C.

The unusual heat comes on the back of two largely dry months for much of the country, with IMD data showing that rainfall in four southern states was in the large deficient zone  Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Telangana. Rainfall was deficient in a host of other states, including Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, as well those in the North-East, showed the data.

Indeed, only central and eastern India received normal rain in the two months, according to the weather department.

Also Read | Pune experiences a significant rise in temperature

In its summer forecast issued earlier this month, IMD predicted that March, April and May are likely to be hotter than usual across most of India, stressing that El Nino conditions would persist for most of this period, in turn resulting in a higher number of heatwave days.

Twenty-two of Telanganas 33 districts recorded maximum temperatures above 40C at 5.30pm on Tuesday, as the state administration issued an orange alert, warning residents to be cognisant of the heat and take adequate precautions. Talamadugu in Adilabad district was the hottest town in the state, with the temperature a sizzling 42.3C degrees Celsius, followed closely by Asifabad in Kumaram Bheem district (42C) and Kondapur in Mancherial district (41.8C). All of these temperatures are between three and four degrees higher than normal for the month.

And Telanganas days are only likely to get warmer over the week.

According to the state weather agencys forecast, the maximum temperatures are expected to rise two to three degrees over the next couple of days.

In Karnataka, parts of which have been dogged by crippling water shortages and power outages, authorities have issued residents alerts, urging them to take precautions against escalating temperatures. The states health minister Dinesh Gundu Rao also directed district health officers to ensure that hospitals are equipped to treat patients with heat-related ailments.

I urge everyone to take precautionary measures to protect yourselves from the heat. With summer coinciding with exam time, it is especially important for students to take extra care of their health, Rao said in a post on X on Tuesday.

There is a probability that Karnataka will record above-normal temperatures for a few days in the months of March, April and May It will not be the case for all the 31 days but only a few days for these three months, IMD scientist Prasad said.

The Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) on Tuesday issued a yellow alert, warning of above-normal maximums in 11 of 14 districts from March 26 to 30.

On Tuesday, Vellanikkara in central Keralas Thrissur district recorded the highest temperature across the state  39.8C.

According to the Mets forecast, the temperature is likely to touch 40C in Thrissur, 39C in Kollam and Palakkad, 38C in Pathanamthitta, around 37C in Kottayam, Ernakulam, Kozhikode and Kannur districts and 36C in Alappuzha, Malappuram and Kasaragod districts.

In Tamil Nadu, Kanyakumari, Ramanathapuram and Nilgiris districts recorded temperatures about normal. Erode was the hottest region in the state, with a maximum of 38.4C.

Salem, Dharmapuri, Tirupattur, Vellore, Tiruttani, Karur Paramathi, Madurai (city & airport) & Namakkal recorded maximum temperatures between 37C and 39C.

The temperatures recorded were in the range 37C to 39C over many pockets in the plains of north interior districts, 36C to 38C in the plains of south interior districts, 33C to 36C in the coastal areas and 25C to 30C in the hilly areas, the IMD said in its daily bulletin.

The maximum temperatures in parts of south-western and south-eastern Rajasthan were two to three degrees above normal as well, with this likely to rise further on Wednesday and Thursday.

IMD director general M Mohapatra said the temperatures were in step with the agencys forecasts.

In the absence of an active weather system, particularly thunderclouds, it is normal for the maximum to start rising rapidly at this time of the year. In the last week of March and early April, such spikes can be seen and we had forecast this too, he said.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma predicted a bleak future for Rahul Gandhi and his followers, stating that by 2026, the Congress would disappear in Assam. He emphasized that voting for Congress meant supporting Rahul Gandhi, while supporting BJP meant endorsing Narendra Modi's leadership. Sarma, a former Congressman turned BJP leader, highlighted significant defections from Congress to BJP and AGP in Assam, signaling a shrinking Congress presence. He anticipated more defections even after the Lok Sabha elections, confident that BJP and its allies would dominate Assam, currently holding 11 out of 14 parliamentary seats in the state. Dig Deeper Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma (ANI/File)

The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the assault on Pakistan's PNS Siddique naval airbase in Turbat, criticizing Chinese investments in Balochistan. They reported infiltration into the airbase where Chinese drones are stationed. Turbat witnessed intense military activity, including helicopters patrolling amidst heavy gunfire and explosions for over three hours. The Frontier Corps secured Turbat roads and moved towards the airbase. The BLA alleged killing "over a dozen" Pakistani personnel and released an audio clip of the attack. Emergency protocols were enacted at Teaching Hospital Turbat. This marks the BLA Majeed Brigade's third attack this year, following previous strikes in Mach city and Gwadar. Dig Deeper

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The Latest News

Letter sent to Election Commission: NCW seeks action against Supriya Shrinate for post on Kangana Ranaut. Dig Deeper

Naked show of bigotry, racism: Asaduddin Owaisi on Assam CM Himanta Sarma's indigenous remark. Dig Deeper

Adani Ports to buy 95% of Odisha's Gopalpur Port for $162 million: What we know so far on the deal. Dig Deeper

India News

Worse than pathetic: Cong on ex-Calcutta HC judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay's remark on Gandhi, Godse. Dig Deeper

Slap youth who chant Modi slogans', says Karnataka minister. BJP hits back. Dig Deeper

Mumbai has more billionaires than Beijing, most in Asia. Global rank is Dig Deeper

Global Matters

Moscow terror attack: Vladimir Putin blames radical Islamists, neo-Nazi Kyiv'. Dig Deeper

Indian man, 23, arrested in Alabama over Ponzi scam worth $4,00,000. Dig Deeper

Ailing Kate Middletons parents desperately upset,' have thrown safety blanket around grandkids. Dig Deeper

Sports Goings

Virat Kohli, defying recent speculations about his future role, led Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to a thrilling victory against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in their first home game. Amidst debates over his place in the Indian squad for the ICC T20 World Cup, Kevin Pietersen advocated for Kohli's continued presence, emphasizing his role in expanding cricket's reach in the United States. However, Ravi Shastri stressed the importance of youthful vigor in winning tournaments. Kohli's powerful innings, marking his 100th fifty-plus T20 score, reinforced his commitment to leading RCB's title campaign, setting aside personal accolades. Dig Deeper

Entertainment Focus

Actor Ram Charan and director Sukumar, known for their success with "Rangasthalam" in 2018, announced their reunion for an upcoming film after Ram's project with Buchi Babu Sana. SS Rajamouli's son SS Karthikeya hinted at exciting details about the project. Karthikeya, impressed by Ram's description of the film's opening sequence during the "RRR" climax shoot, eagerly awaits its announcement. "Rangasthalam" marked a significant shift in Ram's career trajectory, showcasing his versatility. Currently shooting for Shankar's "Game Changer," Ram has projects lined up with Buchi Babu Sana and Janhvi Kapoor. Sukumar is occupied with the sequel to "Pushpa: The Rise." Dig Deeper

Thats all we have at this hour in our morning briefing. Catch you in the afternoon
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday declared that it will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls on its own in Punjab, with the announcement coming amid hints from its ex-ally Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) that the latter could go solo in the border state. File Photo: Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Shiromani Akali Dal leader Parkash Singh Badal in Bathinda (PTI Photo)

Sunil Jakhar, the BJP's Punjab unit chief, issued a video statement on X (formerly Twitter) to announce that the saffron party will fight alone in the state.

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The decision was taken after speaking to leaders, party workers, and common people. The move will benefit all sections of the society here in Punjab. No one has worked for Punjab the way prime minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the Centre has," Jakhar said.

Punjab has 13 parliamentary seats, of which the BJP and SAD, contesting as allies in the former-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), bagged four, with two candidates from each party emerging victorious, in the previous 2019 general elections. The Congress won eight seats, and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), one.

In September 2020, however, Akali Dal left the NDA after the central government brought in the contentious farm laws, which led to farmer protests in north India. While most cultivators were from Punjab, those from neighbouring states such as Haryana and Uttar Pradesh joined in as well.

The farm laws were revoked in November 2021, more than a year after farmers began protests on Delhi's borders, with the agitation going on until the legislations were taken back.
The United States has said it is closely following the reports of the arrest of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, a State Department spokesperson said, calling for a fair legal process, Reuters reported. Delhi Education Minister Atishi holds a candle light march and protest march against the arrest of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal at Govindpuri in New Delhi.(HT Photo)

"We encourage a fair, transparent, and timely legal process for Chief Minister Kejriwal," the U.S. spokesperson said in response to an emailed query about the case pertaining to the Aam Aadmi Party convenor's arrest.



Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21 after his name appeared multiple times in the chargesheet filed by the central agency in the case pertaining to alleged irregularities in the now scrapped Delhi excise policy.



ALSO READ: Arvind Kejriwal arrested by ED: How politicians reacted to row



ED has alleged that the accused were in touch with Kejriwal for formulating the excise policy that resulted in undue benefits to them in return for which they paid kickbacks to the AAP.



Reacting to the Delhi CM's arrest, the German foreign ministry's spokesperson had remarked,"We have taken note, India is a democratic country. We assume and expect that the standards relating to independence of Judiciary and basic democratic principles will also be applied in this case. Like anyone facing accusations, Mr. Kejriwal is entitled to a fair and impartial trial, this includes he can make use of all available legal avenues without restrictions."



"The presumption of innocence is a central element of the rule of law and must apply to him," the spokesperson had added.

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The ministry of external affairs had issued a stern response to the German foreign ministry spokesperson's statement. The German Deputy Chief of Mission in New Delhi was summoned today and conveyed Indias strong protest on their Foreign Office Spokespersons comments on our internal affairs. We see such remarks as interfering in our judicial process and undermining the independence of our judiciary, the MEA had stated.

Asked about India's protest to Germany, the State Department spokesperson said: We would refer you to the German Foreign Ministry for comment on their discussions with the Indian government.



(With Reuters input)
Tamil Nadu minister Udhayanidhi Stalin on Tuesday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his sleepless remarks at the opposition INDIA bloc. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader said his party will not sleep till it sends PM Modi and the BJP back home in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.



"PM Modi says DMK is unable to sleep. Yes, our sleep is lost until we send you home. We are not going to sleep till we make the BJP go home. The gas cylinder in 2014 was 450 and now it's 1200. Since the election came, PM Modi has done drama and decreased 100. After the elections, he will again increase the price of cylinders by 500," Udhayanidhi was quoted as saying by ANI during a campaign in Thiruvanamalai district.



ALSO READ: Udhayanidhi Stalin responds to BJP's 'nepotism' barb: 'I agree that DMK is...' Tamil Nadu minister Udhayanidhi Stalin had recently dubbed Modi a '28 paise PM'

The DMK leader's remark is in retaliation to PM Modi's attack on the INDIA bloc earlier this month.



The Congress and its 'ghamandia' alliance have problems with the inauguration of these development projects. They are sleepless because of these development projects. The Congress doesn't have the strength to talk about development. When I inaugurate developmental projects, they call it the 'Chunavi strategy'. Negativity, and only negativity, is the true characteristic of Congress, the prime minister had said on March 11.



ALSO READ: MK Stalin's DMK insulted J Jayalalithaa, says PM Narendra Modi

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PM Modi did not visit TN during Michaung: Udhayanidhi

Continuing his attack on the prime minister, Udhayanidhi said that Modi did not visit Tamil Nadu when the state was hit by Cyclone Michaung last year.

"Our CM has sought funds for Tami Nadu post cyclone from the centre, but not even a single rupee has been given to us till now. In the next 22 days, our cadres will go to each and every house, take responsibility and make sure you all make DMK win," the DMK leader added.

"June 3 marks the 100th birth anniversary of (late politician and former chief minister) M Karunanidhi and June 4 is Lok Sabha election counting. We will give a gift by winning all the 40 seats in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry," Stalin added.
NEW DELHI: Ukraine is sending foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba to New Delhi as part of efforts to garner Indias support for a peace summit to be held this summer though the Indian side is yet to take a call on the level of its participation, people familiar with the matter said. Kuleba will hold his substantial meetings in New Delhi on March 28. (Dmytro Kuleba | Official X account)

Ahead of his arrival in the Indian capital for the two-day visit beginning on Wednesday, Kuleba invoked Mahatma Gandhi while seeking Indias support for Ukraines fight for freedom and independence.

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Though India has refrained from publicly criticising Russias invasion, Kuleba said his visit will strengthen ties between India and Ukraine.

This will be Kulebas first trip to India since he became foreign minister in 2020 and the first since the start of the conflict in 2022. He is set to co-chair a meeting of the bilateral inter-governmental commission with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar, the people cited above said on condition of anonymity.

In a video message recorded in front of Gandhis statue in Kyiv, Kuleba said: Ukraine and India are two big democracies. I am certain we are set to be good partners and friends.

Noting Gandhis persistance in the face of widespread opposition, Kuleba sought to draw a comparison with Ukraines stance.

He said, According to Gandhi, the future depends on what we do in the present. Hence, supporting Ukraine today means supporting freedom and independence, supporting the legacy of the great Mahatma.

Kuleba will hold his substantial meetings in New Delhi on March 28 following Jaishankars return from a Southeast Asian tour that ends on Wednesday.

Kuleba is also expected to meet senior officials and interact with experts and think tanks.

Kulebas agenda is expected to be topped by the peace summit that neutral Switzerland will host in summer. The summit, for which no dates have been announced so far, will build on Zelenskyys 10-point peace formula unveiled in 2022.

This formula envisages restoration of Ukraines territorial integrity, withdrawal of Russian troops, formal confirmation of the end of war, release of all prisoners, and radiation and nuclear safety, especially in the context of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

The people said New Delhi is yet to decide on the level of its participation in the peace summit. With India set to hold its general election in seven phases between April 19 and June 1, there is a question mark on Indias participation at the highest level if the peace summit is held during this period, they said.

It still isnt clear which countries will participate or if Russia will be part of the summit, one of the people said.

Also Read: Over 20 Indians in Russia-Ukraine conflict zone: MoS Muraleedharan

Since last year, four meetings of security officials and political advisors of dozens of countries have been held on Zelenskyys peace formula, and India has sent middle-ranking diplomats or the deputy national security adviser to most of these meets. National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval was the senior-most Indian official to participate in these meetings when he addressed a gathering hosted by Saudi Arabia last August.

At the time, Doval reiterated Indias position that dialogue and diplomacy are the only way forward in the Ukraine crisis and New Delhi will be an active partner to find a lasting solution. Doval cautioned that while several peace formulas had been proposed, none is acceptable to both sides and the key question is whether a solution acceptable to all stakeholders can be found.

Ummu Salma Bava, professor of European studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, said Switzerland is trying to play the honest broker amid a divided attention span in Europe. Anything that gets some movement is the first step, but it will be a difficult place to start if the 10-point peace formula is the base, she said.

Noting that Ukraines tough talk on Indias stance on the conflict has mellowed in recent months, Bava said India is one of the few countries with a line of communication with Russia at a time when others have burnt their bridges.

Sameer Patil, senior fellow with the Observer Research Foundation, said India is in the unique position of acting as a bridge between the antagonists to try and secure a deal though it will be difficult to get a commitment from both sides. The fact that India was able to forge a consensus at last years G20 Summit despite the polarisation has boosted its credentials, he said.
Demonstrators on both sides of the abortion issue gathered outside the U.S. Capitol and Supreme Court building on Tuesday. Jemal Countess/TNS

Anti-abortion doctors challenging the governments approval of the widely used abortion pill mifepristone must show that they will be harmed by its use in order to have legal standing to sue. Whether they can do so was questioned at Tuesdays Supreme Court hearing by conservative justices who may cast decisive votes in the case.

Under federal law, no doctors can be forced against their conscience to perform or assist in an abortion, correct? asked Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Erin Hawley, attorney for the anti-abortion physicians group Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, said the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations approval of mifepristone in 2000 forces them to choose between helping a woman with a life-threatening condition and violating their conscience.

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But Chief Justice John Roberts, for whom Hawley formerly worked as a law clerk, asked her, Why cant the court specify that this relief runs to precisely the parties before the court, as opposed to looking to the agency in general and saying, agency you cant do this anywhere? In other words, these doctors could be exempted from supplying the drug, or treating anyone affected by it, while allowing its continued use by others.

And Justice Neil Gorsuch said the case seems like a prime example of turning what could be a small lawsuit into a nationwide legislative assembly on an FDA rule or any other federal government rule.

Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Roberts were part of the 6-3 majority that voted in 2022 to rescind the constitutional right to abortion that the court had declared in Roe v. Wade in 1973.

If the court decides that the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine and its members lack standing to sue, it can resolve the case, one of the most significant and hotly contested on this years docket, without having to delve further into controversies over abortion, privacy and reproductive care.

The FDA has concluded that mifepristone, now used in nearly two-thirds of all U.S. abortions, is far safer than childbirth. The agency extended use of the drug from 7 to 10 weeks of pregnancy in 2016 and allowed nurses and some other non-physicians to prescribe it, and in 2021 allowed patients to receive the drug by mail rather than at the doctors office.

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A federal appeals court blocked the FDAs 2016 and 2021 actions last April, but the Supreme Court reinstated them a week later when it agreed to hear the Biden administrations appeal.

The high courts conservative majority has tightened requirements for legal standing, causing dismissal of a number of lawsuits that claimed violations of rights. Erwin Chemerinsky, the law school dean at UC Berkeley, said the outcome of the current case may depend on the courts interpretation of its 2013 decision in Clapper v. Amnesty International USA, a challenge by civil rights groups to a law expanding the governments authority to wiretap phone calls to and from foreign countries.

In a 5-4 ruling, Justice Samuel Alito said Amnesty International, the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups could not challenge the law because they could not show their communications would be overheard, and that even a reasonable likelihood was not enough to establish standing.

But Alito appeared to have changed course at Tuesdays hearing on mifepristone.

Is there anybody who can sue and get a judicial ruling on whether what the FDA did was lawful? he asked. Your argument, Alito told Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, the Biden administrations lawyer, is that it does not matter if the FDA flagrantly violated the law.  Nobody can challenge that in court.

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Prelogar said the anti-abortion doctors claims rely on a long chain of remote contingencies  that a woman will be harmed by mifepristone and that no other physician will be available to treat them. And she said federal law allows doctors to refuse to provide care that violates their moral beliefs.

That law allowing providers of health care to follow their moral values will most likely cause the court to dismiss the suit and allow continued distribution of mifepristone, said Matt Coles, a law professor at UC College of the Law in San Francisco and a former ACLU attorney.

You have to show that youve got a concrete injury which is either actual, has already occurred or is imminently likely to occur, Coles said after the hearing. Because the doctors are not required to provide medical services that go against their conscience, he said, theres no harm.

That, however, may not end the case, he said, because a federal judge in Texas has allowed three Republican-led states, Idaho, Missouri and Kansas, to join the suit and pursue their own challenges against mifepristone.

But Rory Little, another UC College of the Law professor and a former Supreme Court law clerk, said the current Supreme Court has used the standing doctrine to prevent states from challenging federal government policies. He cited last years 8-1 ruling, authored by Kavanaugh over a sole dissent by Alito, which refused to let Texas and Louisiana challenge a Biden administration policy requiring immigration officers to give their highest priority to arresting migrants who posed a threat to border security, rather than arresting all undocumented immigrants.

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Standing has always been used as an ideological tool by parties that dont want to reach the merits of a case, Little said. He said the doctrine, derived from constitutional provisions directing courts to resolve cases and controversies involving individuals and the government, is used by the justices to give legal weight to their views about how the federal judiciary should be limited or not limited.
Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday reiterated that Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) is an integral part of India, and both the Muslims and Hindus living there are Indians.



The BJP and the entire Parliament believe that POK believes the POK is an integral part of India. The Muslims and the Hindus living in POK are also Indians and the land also belongs to India which has been illegally occupied by Pakistan. It is the goal of every Indian, every Kashmiri to get it back, Shah said in an interview to the JK Media Group.



ALSO READ: PoK is ours and no one can snatch it, says Shah



Shah said that the people of Kashmir Valley were given a wrong interpretation of Article 370 which now stands nullified after its abrogation.



It was always said that once Article 370 is abrogated, the culture, language and existence of Kashmiriyat will be threatened. It is now five years after the abrogation but nothing such has happened. Kashmiris are free today, the importance of the Kashmiri language, and food culture have enhanced and tourists are flocking to the tourist spots of Kashmir, the minister said.



Shah spoke on several myths that revolved around Article 370. It was also said that lakhs of people would move to Kashmir threatening the very existence of Kashmiriyat that myth too stands busted today, he said.



ALSO READ: Amit Shah reminds Congress of Nehru's '2 PoK blunders', says biggest was' Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the main goal of Narendra Modi government is to 'liberate' Kashmir from the 'claws of dynastic politics'.

Separatist ideology was shaped under shadows of Article 370: Shah



Under the shadows of Article 370, a separatist ideology was shaped and the youths of Jammu and Kashmir were dragged into terrorism. Pakistan misused this situation and in the last 4 decades, more than 40,000 youths lost their lives, Shah said.



But today Jammu and Kashmir is heading on the path of progress. Terrorism is seeing its fag end, stone-pelting has completely stopped. An anti-corruption bureau has been formed to stop corruption and peoples money is reaching the people, the Union minister added.



ALSO READ: PM Modi in Srinagar: 'Congress was misguiding Jammu and Kashmir on Article 370

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Shah slams Cong, NC & PDP

Recalling Prime Minister Narendra Modi's massive rally in J&K, Shah said that the goal of the Centre is not to strengthen BJP in the Union territory but to liberate Kashmir from the claws of dynastic politics.



The three dynastic parties namely the Congress, the National Congress and the PDP have always hindered the percolation of democracy at the grassroots. Until Modi ji became the prime minister, the panchayat elections were not held in Jammu and Kashmir. But today more than 30,000 representatives are participating in the democratic process, he said.
Hours after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) announced plans to gherao the Prime Ministers residence on Tuesday in protest against chief minister Arvind Kejriwals arrest, the Delhi Police issued an advisory saying no vehicle will be allowed to halt or park anywhere on Tughlak Road, Safdarjung Road and Kemal Ataturk Marg. AAP leader Atishi announcing DP campaign in support of Arvind Kejriwal. (ANI)

Police said this was part of special law and order arrangements in New Delhi. To ensure smooth traffic management in [the] New Delhi area, no vehicle will be allowed to halt or park anywhere on Tughlak Road, Safdarjung Road and Kemal Ataturk Marg. General entry for [the] public will not be allowed, and vehicles found parked on the restricted roads shall be towed away and prosecuted for improper parking and disobedience of lawful instructions, the advisory said.

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It added traffic would be diverted to Aurobindo Chowk, Tughlak Road, Samrat Hotel, Gymkhana Post Office, Teen Murti Haifa, Niti Marg and Kautilya Marg roundabouts. The police requested commuters avoid Kemal Ataturk Marg, Safdarjung Road, Akbar Road, and Teen Murti Marg.

A police officer said commuters would have access to all roads. However, we would ask people to avoid Tughlak Road, Safdarjung Road, and Kemal Ataturk Marg. There will be stringent deployment and barricading here. They can take public transport around these areas. Also, the public is not allowed to sit or park in these lanes

Delhi minister Gopal Rai announced the gherao saying mega protests would be held nationwide.
Violence erupted in West Bengal ahead of the general elections, with reports of violence pouring from multiple places across the state, including South 24 Parganas and Murshidabad districts, since Monday, according to state police and people aware of the matter At Bhangar in South 24 Parganas, a clash broke out between TMC and Indian Secular Front (ISF) workers over wall graffiti. (File) (HT Photo)

At least five people were injured in clashes between workers of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at Kumirmari, an island in the Sunderbans. The injured were shifted to the Canning subdivisional hospital, police said.

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Two persons have been arrested. It was because of an old rivalry over some land dispute. The complaint we received doesnt mention that it was a political clash, said a senior police officer of Baruipur police district who asked not to be named.

Locals, however, said that clashes broke out between TMC and BJP workers over the hoisting of party flags.

BJP attacked our workers unprovoked. They even fired one or two rounds even though no one were hit, Animesh Mondol, a TMC zilla parishad leader told reporters.

Also Read | Lok Sabha polls: After Odisha, BJP decides to contest alone in Punjab

Bikash Sardar, a local BJP leader, responded: Our workers were hoisting flags when TMC workers attacked us and fired at our workers. Luckily, they missed.

At Bhangar in South 24 Parganas, a clash broke out between TMC and Indian Secular Front (ISF) workers over wall graffiti. At least five people were injured, officers from the Polerhat police station, which was brought under the jurisdiction of the Kolkata Police in January, said

A clash also broke out at Berhampore in Murshidabad in which some injuries were reported, and police have arrested three people in connection with the incident, police said.

Brindaban Dolui, a BJP leader from Kathalia village, told reporters that TMC-backed miscreants attacked BJP supporters. At least three persons were injured when TMC goons attacked the houses of our supporters and damaged a few motorcycles. The victims are now undergoing treatment at the Murshidabad Medical College Hospital, he said.

TMC panchayat samiti leader Aizuddin Mondol denied the charge. The TMC is not involved. The TMC candidate Yusuf Pathan will win by more than 1.5 lakh votes. The BJP knows this and is hence spreading communal tension, he said.

Suvendu Adhikari, BJP legislator and leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, raised the matter with governor CV Ananda Bose. Santanu Gharai, brother of a BJP booth president, was murdered in West Midnapore. At least 30 BJP workers were injured at Canning in South 24 Parganas after they were attacked by TMC-backed goons. At Santipur in Nadia, a minor girl was raped by a TMC leaders son. A family of the victim is a BJP booth leader, Adhikari said.

We met he governor after the top brass of West Bengal Police refused to meet us. We have told the governor how the law and order has deteriorated in the state. We have requested the Governor to visit Canning and West Midnapore, he added.

When contacted, state minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said the Election Commission of India (ECI) was the body to address all such issues now. After the elections were declared and the Model Code of Conduct came into force, and ECI has taken over the administration. They will address the issue, she said.
It was a contest of protests on the streets of Delhi on Tuesday as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held demonstrations across the national capital  the former agitating against chief minister Arvind Kejriwals arrest and the latter calling for his resignation  a day before the Delhi high court is scheduled to hear a plea in the matter. AAP workers at a protest near the PMs residence, New Delhi. (AFP)

Punjab education minister Harjot Bains, Aam Aadmi Partys (AAP) Malviya Nagar legislator Somnath Bharti, and deputy speaker of the Delhi assembly Rakhi Birla were among those detained by Delhi Police on Tuesday morning at Patel Chowk Metro station.

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AAP called for a march from Patel Chowk Metro station to the Prime Ministers house (7, Lok Kalyan Marg) to protest Kejriwals arrest in connection with alleged irregularities and kickbacks related to Delhis now-scrapped excise policy for liquor. The police said Section 144 was in force in the entire New Delhi district and detained those who gathered.

It is surprising that peaceful AAP protesters, including our female supporters, were detained from the station itself but there was no restriction on BJPs protest in Delhi. This is not just a bias but murder of democracy in the country, said Bharti.

Meanwhile, Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva and several party leaders were detained during a protest march they held near the Delhi Secretariat, demanding the resignation of Kejriwal, who has said he will continue to run Delhi from prison. Police used water cannons against the BJP leaders when they broke a barricade and ran towards the building .

The BJPs protest took place on Tuesday morning around the same time as AAPs protest.

AAP supporters started gathering at the Metro station around 10am on Tuesday but none of the senior AAP leaders or ministers from Delhi cabinet made it to the protest site.

The station gates on one side of Patel Chowk station were shut during the morning hours, though movement to and from the station was allowed on the other side of the road. As the crowd started moving from the station , police stopped them.

We are all Kejriwal, and the police are detaining us just as they arrested the CM. There is no case and no proof against him. He has only given better facilities to the people of Delhi, said Archana Sharma an AAP worker from Sangam Vihar,

Security was tightened across parts of the New Delhi area on Tuesday morning and the detained workers were taken to various police stations in five buses.

Deputy commissioner of police (New Delhi) Devesh Kumar Mahla said that protesters were detained and released by evening.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said that the Lok Kalyan Marg Metro station was closed, with no trains halting there.

Protesting BJP leaders alleged that Kejriwal does not practice what he preaches and is greedy for power. Arvind Kejriwal government is now a totally illegal government. The way Kejriwal is insisting on continuing as CM from jail reflects that he considers the party and the government (AAP Delhi govt) his personal fiefdom. Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren resigned after being arrested, Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa resigned after being arrested on corruption charges. Internationally we have examples of Prime Ministers of various countries like Japan, Italy and Pakistan resigning when accused of corruption, Sachdeva said.

Sachdeva and other detained BJP workers were taken to Kamla Market Police Station in buses.

Kejriwal is in ED custody till March 28.

BJP national secretary Manjinder Singh Sirsa, MP Harshvardhan, Manoj Tiwari, leader of Opposition and south Delhi Lok Sabha candidate Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, along with several other BJP candidates for the upcoming elections joined the partys protest.

Sooner or later Kejriwal will have to accept reality and resign. Even his jailed former ministers Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain are wondering that if Kejriwal can run government from jail, why he asked them to resign when they were arrested, said Sachdeva.

Meanwhile, BJP MLA Vijender Gupta on Tuesday claimed that Sunita Kejriwal, wife of Delhi CM, delivered a statement from Kejriwal in a setting that strikingly resembled the official backdrop used by the CM for addressing media and making public announcements. The setting she used included the prominent display of Indias national flag on either side of her, a symbolism reserved for official communications from the CMs office. The visual arrangement led to perceptions of an unofficial assumption of the voice and authority of the CM during his absence, said Gupta in a press release.

Gupta claimed that it was a misuse of CMs office and a disregard for the sanctity of constitutional positions.

AAP said the arrest will not stop the CM from working for the people, and called the case against him fake.

After illegally arresting CM Kejriwal in a fake case, BJP now doesnt want him to serve the people of Delhi. BJP can file another 1,000 cases but that wont stop CM Kejriwal from working for the people of Delhi, the party said in a statement.

The high court will hear the petition against Kejriwals arrest on Wednesday. Kejriwals petition, which has sought his immediate release on account of the arrest and the subsequent remand being illegal, is listed for hearing before justice Swarana Kanta Sharma at 10.30am.
New Delhi, Changing the country's "intellectual narrative" from a national perspective is one of the objectives of the RSS's idea of bringing a five-fold transformation in the society, its general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale has said. HT Image

In an interview with Organiser and its sister publication Panchjanya, published on Tuesday, he said the RSS's idea of 'Panch Parivartan' includes insistence on practising 'Samarasta' in society , environment-friendly lifestyle, family awakening to promote familial values, inculcating sense of 'Swa' based on "Bharatiya" values in all aspects of life, and social awakening for the adherence of civic duties.

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"Panch Parivartan is the need of the society in general," the RSS general secretary said.

"In the context of the centenary year , we have identified two goals from an organisational perspective increase the number of Shakhas and the qualitative improvement in the activities," he said, adding the thrust of the move is on qualitative growth along with quantitative expansion.

Hosabale said all RSS members are expected to have this common goal in mind as by increasing the quality of work, its impact will also increase.

"Secondly, from a social perspective, we have put forth the subject of 'Panch Parivartan' . Our objectives include changing the intellectual narrative from a national perspective and to mobilise 'sajjan shakti' for social change," he said.

"Therefore, in the centenary year of the RSS, we have made plans to take initiatives on all these subjects at both organisational and societal levels," Hosabale said.

The RSS general secretary said, "Today, the time seems favourable for the dissemination of national thoughts. However, this favourability is not for sitting idly and enjoying the good time. It is a time to reach the very zenith of endeavours."

The RSS will complete 100 years of its formation in 2025.

On the Lok Sabha elections scheduled to be held in seven phases starting April 19, the RSS general secretary said, "This has also been included in our Panch Parivartan mission."

In his concluding speech for the delegates who attended all India Pratinidhi Sabha in Nagpur recently, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat emphasised on the duty of every citizen in the system of democracy, Hosabale said.

"Every citizen must fulfil their duty to vote. We must make efforts to ensure 100 per cent voter turnout," he said.

"Our aim is to strengthen democracy by working in our respective areas. During such times, national issues should be brought before society and discussions should take place on social welfare, national unity, and the welfare of Bharat. Such topics should be broached and a conducive environment should be created," Hosabale said.

He said, "That is why we have called it Lok-Mat-Parishkar . Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya had insisted on Lok-Mat-Parishkar. Although this work should continue throughout the year, it should be emphasised even more during the election season."

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
NEW DELHI: Veteran diplomat Abhay Thakur, a key member of the team that guided negotiations during Indias G20 presidency last year, was on Tuesday named the new ambassador to Myanmar. Abhay Thakur is an officer from the 1992 batch of the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and currently an officer on special duty in the external affairs ministry. (X/Abhay Thakur)

Thakur, an officer from the 1992 batch of the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and currently an officer on special duty in the external affairs ministry, is expected to take up the assignment shortly, an official announcement said.

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He will replace Vinay Kumar who was appointed the new ambassador to Russia last week.

Thakur, who was Indias G20 sous sherpa or the deputy to the sherpa, has served as the high commissioner to Mauritius and Nigeria. He has also had stints in the Indian missions in key world capitals such as Moscow, London and Tel Aviv. An engineer-turned-diplomat, he studied at the Indian Institute of Management-Mumbai.

He will have the challenging task of dealing with Myanmars military regime at a time when the junta has suffered a series of humiliating defeats following the launch of an offensive last October by the Three Brotherhood Alliance, which includes the Arakan Army, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and the Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA).

The armed resistance groups and other anti-junta forces have captured key trade and crossing points on Myanmars borders with India and China and overrun scores of military posts and bases.

India has expressed concern at the violence and instability in Myanmar following the 2021 coup by the junta and called for the complete cessation of fighting and a transition towards an inclusive and federal democracy.

The Indian government has suspended the Free Movement Regime for people living along the India-Myanmar border and decided to completely fence the 1,643-km frontier after thousands of Myanmar citizens, including military personnel, entered Manipur and Mizoram to escape the fighting.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Tuesday demanded action against BJP MP Dilip Ghosh for alleged violation of the model code of conduction by making derogatory remarks against West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. In a letter to the chief electoral officer in Kolkata, the TMC said Ghosh's remarks not only lack decorum but also exhibit a blatant disregard for the dignity of a prominent political figure. BJP MP Dilip Ghosh.(PTI)

Such remarks not only attempt to undermine the stature of Smt. Mamata Banerjee but also directly attack her personal character and modesty, which amounts to blatant violation of the MCC, the letter read.

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Dilip Ghosh, BJP MP from Medinipur, kicked up a political row by mocking the family background of TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee in a purported video clip.

Read: Bengal BJP MP Dilip Ghosh's big claim: Will take PM Modi only 2 mins to cool

The former West Bengal BJP chief, who is the party's candidate from Bardhaman-Durgapur Lok Sabha seat, mocked TMC's slogan of "Bangla Nijer Meye ke chai (Bengal wants its own daughter)".

Didi giye Goa te bole ami Goa r mey, Tripura te ami Tripura r mey, baap to thik korun, jar tar mey howa thik not. (When Didi goes to Goa she becomes Goa's daughter, in Tripura she says I am Tripura's daughter, decide who is your father, this is not right), TMC quoted Ghosh as saying.

Read: Bengal BJP leader Dilip Ghosh censured by party brass after his attack on CBI

The TMC's complaint cited specific provisions of the MCC, including the prohibition against making statements that amount to attacks on personal lives or are malicious/offending decency and morality.

Mr. Ghosh's comments not only cross the boundaries of decency but also perpetuate a culture of misogyny and disrespect towards women in positions of power, TMC said.

West Bengal Women and Child Development Minister Shashi Panja demanded an apology from Ghosh and said the comments reflect the "DNA of the saffron camp".
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday spoke to two of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)s debutant candidates  Sandeshkhali resident Rekha Patra who has been fielded from Basirhat in West Bengal and TN Sarasu who will contest on the party ticket from Alathur seat in Kerala  and inquired about their campaign progress for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a telephonic call to Sandeshkhali resident Rekha Patra on Tuesday. (ANI)

Patra is one of the victims from Sandeshkhali, a hamlet in Bengal where massive protests broke out in February against local Trinamool Congress leader Shahjahan Sheikh and his aides over allegations of sexual violence on women, land grabbing and extortion. Sheikh was later suspended by TMC, and subsequently arrested on February 29, on the order of the Calcutta high court.

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Patra was among 111 candidates fielded by the BJP in its fifth list released on March 24. The ruling TMC has fielded former MP Haji Nurul Islam from the seat, replacing actor Nusrat Jahan. Islam had won the Basirhat seat for the TMC in 2009 when the Left Front was in power. Bengal will vote in all seven phases to elect 42 members in the Lok Sabha.

In an audio clip shared by the BJP to media, Modi lauded Patra as a shakti swaroopa (goddess-like) for highlighting the atrocities against Sandeshkhali women.

You have fought a huge battle in Sandeshkhali. You are truly a shakti swarupa. You have sent so many leaders to jail. Seeing your courage, I feel that this time the women power will shower their blessings on us for the states bright future, he was heard saying in an audio message shared by the Bengal BJP on media WhatApp groups.

You have all the traits to become a public representative. We will all fight for the respect of mothers and sisters of Bengal. I assure you that I am with you all. I will personally think about you people, he told Patra.

During the conversation, Patra narrated the alleged atrocities faced by women of Sandeshkhali. We have not been able to cast our votes since 2011. The mothers and sisters of Sandeshkhali would be happier if they are able to vote without fear, she was heard saying in the clip.

Modi said: I am sure that your voice will reach the ECI and the poll panel will take all steps so that all voters can cast their votes... This is very unfortunate how the state government has behaved.

Reacting to the conversation, TMCs state unit vice-president Jay Prakash Majumdar said: The PM spoke for a few minutes with the candidate but didnt say a word on how the Centre has stopped funds to Bengal... She (Patra)said that people of Sandeshkhali havent voted since 2011. But ECI deployed central forces in previous assembly and Lok Sabha polls and have been claiming that elections were peaceful and fair. Are her allegations against ECI?

Later in the day, Modi also spoke to BJP candidate in Keralas Alathur Lok Sabha seat TN Sarasu.

Sarasu, a retired college principal, was fielded by the party on March 24. Alathur seat is reserved for the Scheduled Castes.

During a phone conversation with Modi, Sarasu raised the issue of irregularities reported from certain cooperative banks in Kerala.

Praising her for raising the common mans problems, Modi said: Our government will take strict action against everyone involved and we will ensure that the poor get justice...

Kerala will vote on April 26 to elect 20 members of Lok Sabha.

(With PTI inputs)
Are you struggling with back pain and sleepless nights? An orthopedic mattress could be the solution you've been looking for. Designed to provide support to your spine and joints, these mattresses offer a comfortable and restful sleep experience. With a wide range of options available in the market, choosing the right one can be overwhelming. To help you make an informed decision, we have compiled a list of the 10 best orthopedic mattresses available in India. Whether you prefer memory foam, responsive fabric, or smart technology, there's a mattress to suit every need and budget. Read on to discover the key features, pros, and cons of each product to find the perfect fit for your sleep needs. Best Orthopaedic mattresses (unsplash)

1. Wakefit Orthopaedic Memory Foam Mattress

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

B07PVW6FB4

The Wakefit Orthopaedic Memory Foam Mattress is designed to provide optimal support and comfort. Made with high-quality memory foam, it contours to your body's shape and relieves pressure points. The breathable fabric ensures a cool and comfortable sleep environment, while the anti-sagging technology maintains the mattress's shape and durability.

Specifications of Wakefit Orthopaedic Memory Foam Mattress

Medium-firm feel

Available in multiple sizes

10-year manufacturer warranty

Hypoallergenic and dust mite resistant

Free doorstep delivery and installation

Reasons to buy Reasons to avoid Contours to body shape for personalized comfort May be too firm for some users Breathable fabric for a cool sleep experience Anti-sagging technology for long-lasting support

2. Resilience Proprietary Responsive Mattress

B08P2T1XN7

The Resilience Proprietary Responsive Mattress features a unique responsive fabric that adapts to your body's movements for personalized support. With a medium-firm feel, it offers excellent spine alignment and pressure relief. The durable construction and anti-sagging technology ensure long-lasting comfort and performance.

Specifications of Resilience Proprietary Responsive Mattress

Medium-firm feel with responsive fabric

Available in multiple sizes

10-year manufacturer warranty

Hypoallergenic and dust mite resistant

Free doorstep delivery and installation

Reasons to buy Reasons to avoid Responsive fabric adapts to body movements May be too firm for some users Excellent spine alignment and pressure relief Durable construction for long-lasting comfort

Also read: Best orthopedic mattresses: Top 10 picks for quick relief in back pain and better sleep

3. Duroflex Livein Microbial Fabric Mattress

B0892SXBV3

The Duroflex Livein Microbial Fabric Mattress is designed to provide superior comfort and support. The unique microbial fabric prevents the growth of bacteria and allergens, making it an ideal choice for allergy sufferers. With a medium-firm feel and durable construction, it offers excellent spine alignment and pressure relief.

Specifications of Duroflex Livein Microbial Fabric Mattress

Medium-firm feel with microbial fabric

Available in multiple sizes

10-year manufacturer warranty

Hypoallergenic and dust mite resistant

Free doorstep delivery and installation

Reasons to buy Reasons to avoid Microbial fabric prevents bacteria and allergens May be too firm for some users Excellent spine alignment and pressure relief Durable construction for long-lasting comfort

4. Mattress Mantra Orthopedic Memory Foam Mattresses

B07DYJP13W

The Mattress Mantra Orthopedic Memory Foam Mattress is designed to provide optimal support and comfort. Made with high-quality memory foam, it contours to your body's shape and relieves pressure points. The breathable fabric ensures a cool and comfortable sleep environment, while the anti-sagging technology maintains the mattress's shape and durability.

Specifications of Mattress Mantra Orthopedic Memory Foam Mattresses

Medium-firm feel

Available in multiple sizes

10-year manufacturer warranty

Hypoallergenic and dust mite resistant

Free doorstep delivery and installation

Reasons to buy Reasons to avoid Contours to body shape for personalized comfort May be too firm for some users Breathable fabric for a cool sleep experience Anti-sagging technology for long-lasting support

5. Sleep Company SmartGRID Orthopedic Pro Mattress

B0BD95KQKS

The Sleep Company SmartGRID Orthopedic Pro Mattress features innovative smartGRID technology that provides targeted support and pressure relief. The responsive fabric adapts to your body's movements for personalized comfort, while the durable construction ensures long-lasting performance.

Specifications of Sleep Company SmartGRID Orthopedic Pro Mattress

SmartGRID technology for targeted support

Available in multiple sizes

10-year manufacturer warranty

Hypoallergenic and dust mite resistant

Free doorstep delivery and installation

Reasons to buy Reasons to avoid SmartGRID technology provides targeted support May be too firm for some users Responsive fabric for personalized comfort Durable construction for long-lasting performance

6. Sleepwell Mattress Quilted Impressions Orthopedic

B0CJ32L29S

The Sleepwell Mattress Quilted Impressions Orthopedic Mattress is designed to provide superior comfort and support. The quilted fabric ensures a plush and luxurious sleep experience, while the durable construction offers excellent spine alignment and pressure relief.

Specifications of Sleepwell Mattress Quilted Impressions Orthopedic

Quilted fabric for a plush sleep experience

Available in multiple sizes

10-year manufacturer warranty

Hypoallergenic and dust mite resistant

Free doorstep delivery and installation

Reasons to buy Reasons to avoid Plush quilted fabric for a luxurious sleep experience May be too firm for some users Excellent spine alignment and pressure relief Durable construction for long-lasting comfort

7. Livpure Smart Ortho Duos Orthopaedic Mattress

B0BMQM9BQT

The Livpure Smart Ortho Duos Orthopaedic Mattress features a unique duos design that offers customized support for different sleep preferences. With a medium-firm feel and responsive fabric, it provides excellent spine alignment and pressure relief. The durable construction ensures long-lasting comfort and performance.

Specifications of Livpure Smart Ortho Duos Orthopaedic Mattress

Duos design for customized support

Available in multiple sizes

10-year manufacturer warranty

Hypoallergenic and dust mite resistant

Free doorstep delivery and installation

Reasons to buy Reasons to avoid Customized support for different sleep preferences May be too firm for some users Excellent spine alignment and pressure relief Durable construction for long-lasting comfort

Also read: Best quality mattresses: Top 8 picks for a premium sleeping experience at the comfort of your home

8. SleepyHug Orthopedic Mattress with UltraSupport Technology

B0CF5LW946

The SleepyHug Orthopedic Mattress with UltraSupport Technology is designed to provide optimal support and comfort. The innovative UltraSupport Technology offers targeted support for different sleep positions, while the durable construction ensures long-lasting performance.

Specifications of SleepyHug Orthopedic Mattress with UltraSupport Technology

UltraSupport Technology for targeted support

Available in multiple sizes

10-year manufacturer warranty

Hypoallergenic and dust mite resistant

Free doorstep delivery and installation

Reasons to buy Reasons to avoid UltraSupport Technology for targeted support May be too firm for some users Excellent spine alignment and pressure relief Durable construction for long-lasting comfort

9. Feather Sleep Orthopedic Responsive Resilience Mattress

B0C38S1J2X

The Feather Sleep Orthopedic Responsive Resilience Mattress is designed to provide superior comfort and support. The responsive fabric adapts to your body's movements for personalized comfort, while the durable construction offers excellent spine alignment and pressure relief.

Specifications of Feather Sleep Orthopedic Responsive Resilience Mattress

Responsive fabric for personalized comfort

Available in multiple sizes

10-year manufacturer warranty

Hypoallergenic and dust mite resistant

Free doorstep delivery and installation

Reasons to buy Reasons to avoid Responsive fabric for personalized comfort May be too firm for some users Excellent spine alignment and pressure relief Durable construction for long-lasting comfort

10. Kurlon Dream Sleep 6-inch Queen Size Spring Mattress

B0BW8Y7RXX

The Kurlon Dream Sleep 6-inch Queen Size Spring Mattress is designed to provide optimal support and comfort. With a spring-based design, it offers excellent spine alignment and pressure relief. The breathable fabric ensures a cool and comfortable sleep environment, while the durable construction ensures long-lasting performance.

Specifications of Kurlon Dream Sleep 6-inch Queen Size Spring Mattress

Spring-based design for excellent support

Available in multiple sizes

10-year manufacturer warranty

Hypoallergenic and dust mite resistant

Free doorstep delivery and installation

Reasons to buy Reasons to avoid Spring-based design for excellent support May be too firm for some users Breathable fabric for a cool sleep experience Durable construction for long-lasting comfort

Orthopedic mattress Top Features Comparison:

Product Name Responsive Fabric Spring-based Design Microbial Fabric Wakefit Orthopaedic Memory Foam Mattress Yes No No Resilience Proprietary Responsive Mattress Yes No No Duroflex Livein Microbial Fabric Mattress No No Yes Mattress Mantra Orthopedic Memory Foam Mattresses Yes No No Sleep Company SmartGRID Orthopedic Pro Mattress Yes No No Sleepwell Mattress Quilted Impressions Orthopedic No No No Livpure Smart Ortho Duos Orthopaedic Mattress No No No SleepyHug Orthopedic Mattress with UltraSupport Technology No No No Feather Sleep Orthopedic Responsive Resilience Mattress Yes No No Kurlon Dream Sleep 6-inch Queen Size Spring Mattress No Yes No

Best value for money:

The Duroflex Livein Microbial Fabric Mattress offers the best value for money with its unique microbial fabric that prevents the growth of bacteria and allergens, making it an ideal choice for allergy sufferers.

Best overall product:

The Wakefit Orthopaedic Memory Foam Mattress stands out as the best overall product with its innovative smartGRID technology that provides targeted support and pressure relief, along with durable construction for long-lasting performance. Crafted with precision using advanced orthopaedic technology, this mattress conforms to your body's contours, providing optimal spinal alignment and relieving pressure points for a restful night's sleep. The high-density memory foam layer adapts to your body shape, offering personalized comfort and reducing motion transfer for undisturbed sleep.

How to find the best orthopaedic mattress:

When choosing the perfect orthopaedic mattress, consider the features that matter most to you, such as responsive fabric, targeted support, and durable construction. Evaluate the pros and cons of each product to find the best fit for your sleep needs.

Disclaimer: At Hindustan Times, we help you stay up-to-date with the latest trends and products. Hindustan Times has an affiliate partnership, so we may get a part of the revenue when you make a purchase. We shall not be liable for any claim under applicable laws, including but not limited to the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, with respect to the products. The products listed in this article are in no particular order of priority.
The March 22 attack by the Islamic State-Khorasan Province (ISKP) in a concert hall in Moscow is one of the most significant terror incidents in terms of casualties. It claimed over 200 lives. In recent years, the world has witnessed a series of assaults by the Islamic State (IS) on Russia, including a failed synagogue attack in Moscow and the 2022 assault on the Russian Embassy in Afghanistan. The latest attack transcends a mere act of war against the State. Initial investigations have revealed that the shooters belonged to Tajikistan. However, further analysis of the IS and Russia relations suggests that these jihadi volunteers belonged to the IS Caucasus branch, operating in Russias predominantly Muslim North Caucasus region, particularly in Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia, and Kabardino-Balkaria.

Analysts posit that ISKP has harboured opposition against Vladimir Putin, often condemning his intervention in the Syrian civil war in 2015 and his support for President Bashar al-Assad against the IS. The majority of IS members present in Syria belong to the Caucasus region. Chechnyas history of resistance against Moscows authority fostered an Islamic insurgency, leading to armed conflicts between Russia and militants from 2007 to 2017. This region evolved into an IS recruitment hub. In October 2002, Chechen insurgents seized approximately 800 hostages at a Moscow theatre. Then, in October 2015, an IS-planted bomb downed a Russian passenger plane over Sinai, Egypt, claiming the lives of 224 individuals, predominantly Russian tourists. In recent times, the group has claimed responsibility for numerous attacks in Russia.

The North Caucasus is important to the IS due to several factors. The region, located in southern Russia, has historically served as a key source of foreign fighters for the IS. It has witnessed conflicts between indigenous populations and the advancing Russian presence for centuries. In 1994, a war commenced, marked by Russias military intervention aimed at quelling a push for independence in Chechnya. The Russian intervention sparked a regional insurgency, increasingly intertwined with radical Islamist ideologies and spreading across the North Caucasus. It fuelled radicalisation and recruitment to IS  approximately a quarter of the 30,000- 40,000 foreign fighters who joined IS were from the former Soviet Union.

The Caucasus Emirate, established in 2007, played a central role in expanding militant activities across the region in response to Russias presence, policing methods, and corruption. By 2012, militants from Chechnya and other North Caucasian areas began participating in the Syrian conflict, initially under the Caucasus Emirates banner. However, factional divisions led to the emergence of groups like Jaysh al-Muhajirin wal-Ansar, which pledged allegiance to the IS. The defection of critical commanders to the IS, combined with the latters rapid rise and declaration of a caliphate, attracted radicalised individuals in the North Caucasus, leading to most militant groups pledging allegiance to the IS between 2014 and 2015.

The establishment of the ISs regional branch, Vilayat Kavkaz, supplanted the Caucasus Emirate but failed to yield significant military gains, resulting instead in group fragmentation and small-scale attacks orchestrated by sleeper cells. The Russian government has faced accusations of enabling the migration of potential militants from the North Caucasus to Syria and Iraq via Turkey. Between 2012 and 2015, approximately 2,900 Russian radicals and members of illegal armed groups reportedly travelled to Syria via Turkey, ultimately joining the IS. The objective behind Russian facilitation was to divert the conflict and rising threat of IS on Russian territory. Another possible reason for the conflict between IS and Moscow was Putins support to the Assad government so that it could have a pivotal role in West Asia and counter the United Statess influence in the region.

Concerns persist regarding the level of sympathy and support for IS among the North Caucasus population, fuelled by perceptions of social injustice, government corruption, and economic disparities. Grievances stemming from practices such as extrajudicial executions, abduction, and torture, particularly in Chechnya, alongside policies penalising families of militants, further exacerbate tensions. The illegal migrants and those detained by the Russian authorities for overstaying beyond visa permits are victims of violence and discrimination. The sense of victimhood is used against the State for recruitment. Additionally, the plight of individuals who joined the IS and Russias repatriation efforts have heightened the potential for radicalisation.

The North Caucasus remains pivotal for the ISs radicalisation and recruitment efforts due to high levels of sympathy and support at the grassroots. Addressing the root causes of radicalisation is imperative to mitigate the threat of violent extremism, with a focus on socio-economic grievances, inclusive governance, and engagement with moderate voices. International cooperation is also crucial in combating the evolving security landscape.

Soumya Awasthi is expert member, Centre on Armed Group, Geneva. The views expressed are personal
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. announces Nicole Shanahan as his VP pick during a rally at the Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts in Oakland, Calif. on Tuesday, March 26, 2024. Bronte Wittpenn/The Chronicle

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. named Oakland-born tech attorney Nicole Shanahan as his vice presidential nominee Tuesday at a rally in Shanahans hometown.

Shanahan, 38, a self-described lifelong Democrat who was formerly married to Google co-founder Sergey Brin, is the founder of the private nonprofit Bia-Echo Foundation, which focuses its grant-making on reproductive rights, criminal justice reform, environmental issues and equality. A decade ago, she founded a tech law firm that uses artificial intelligence to manage patent portfolios. Like Kennedy, she has never held elected office.

She has also been a big donor to some of the major criminal-justice reform efforts to have passed over the last decade  some of which have come under attack as concerns about crime have escalated. In particular, she has given to measures intended to reduce the number of people in local jails and state prisons.

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One of Kennedys many challenges is getting on the ballot, an expensive and time-consuming process, and hes running out of time as deadlines will soon be popping up around the country. If it seems like its a bit early to name a vice presidential running mate, thats because 26 states require a candidate to have one chosen before they can get on the ballot.

The campaign reports he is on the ballot in four states  Nevada, Utah, New Hampshire and Hawaii  and is in progress in more than a dozen others. Kennedy said that it will take $15 million to get on the ballot in all 50 states. Shanahans deep pockets could help him cover that cost. (Kennedy did not appear on Californias primary ballot this month.)

When Kennedy was asked last week by NewsNation host Chris Cuomo if he would pick Shanahan if she was broke, Kennedy said, absolutely.

I would never choose a vice presidential candidate based on how much money they have, Kennedy said.

Shanahan, 38, wasnt always wealthy.

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My dad was diagnosed with bipolar schizophrenia when I was 9, and my Chinese-born mom had only been in the United States for two years when I was born, she told San Francisco Magazine in 2021. I had two unemployed parents for the majority of my childhood, so not only was there no money, there was almost no parental guidance, and as you can imagine with a mentally ill father, there was lots of chaos and fear.

Shanahans family was on food stamps growing up, and she said she started busing tables when she was 12 years old. She has attributed her rise from poverty to the power of the internet, which enabled her to easily apply to college and jobs.

As you probably know, I became very wealthy, but my roots here in Oakland taught me many things, Shanahan said Tuesday. I have never forgotten that the purpose of wealth is to help those in need. And thats something I want to bring back to our politics too.

And Shanahan announced Tuesday that I am leaving the Democratic Party.  I do believe that they have lost their way.

Kennedy said he chose Shanahan because he wanted a partner who shared his indignation for the surveillance warfare that the U.S. government is waging on its residents. He wanted someone who knew how Big Tech is using artificial intelligence to manipulate the public, he said.

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From our first meeting, Nicoles intellectual capacity left me awestruck, Kennedy said. I knew right then I wanted her as my vice president, and I knew America was going to fall in love with her.

She received an undergraduate degree from the University of Puget Sound in Washington and a law degree from Santa Clara University. She has specialized in patent law, founding ClearAccessIP  an AI-driven patent platform she created in law school and sold in 2020.

She met Brin at the Wanderlust yoga festival in Lake Tahoe in 2015, and they got married on Nov. 11, 2018. Their daughter, Echo, was born three weeks later. Brin filed for divorce in January 2022. The Wall Street Journal reported that was shortly after Shanahan allegedly had an affair with Brins longtime friend Elon Musk.

Shanahan and Musk denied the affair. She told People magazine last year that To be painted with such a massive scarlet letter for it just seems so unfair.

My career has been based on academic and intellectual credibility, and I was being shamed internationally for being a cheater, Shanahan said. To be known because of a sexual act is one of the most humiliating things  it was utterly debilitating.

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Politically, she has donated to a number of criminal-justice reform efforts over the past several years.

Shanahan also donated $5,600 to President Joe Bidens 2020 campaign, as well as to the campaigns of author Marianne Williamson and now-Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, according to Open Secrets. She has been a regular donor to various Democratic House candidates, including Silicon Valley Rep. Ro Khanna.

In February, she was the driving financial and creative force behind a 30-second ad supporting Kennedy that aired during the Super Bowl, the New York Times reported. Shanahan donated $4 million to a pro-Kennedy super PAC, American Values 2024, to get the ad on the air. Shanahan told the Times that she shared Kennedys concerns about vaccines but said she is not an anti-vaxxer.

Kennedy has made a number of false or misleading claims about vaccines, including that the COVID-19 vaccine is the deadliest vaccine ever made. Last year, he repeated the false claim on Fox News that I do believe that autism comes from vaccines. Kennedy said last year that COVID could have been ethnically targeted to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people.

Shanahan has said she is dubious of vaccine safety.

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I do wonder about vaccine injuries, she said. I think there needs to be a space to have these conversations.

The 70-year-old Kennedy hopes that Shanahan will be able to connect with younger voters. Younger Democrats, in particular, are unenthused about supporting the 81-year-old Biden, not only because of his age but because of the U.S. support of Israel in its war against Hamas after the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks.

Even if he gets on a few more state ballots, Kennedy still faces an enormous challenge. Kennedy receives 10% of the vote when included in polls along with Biden (39%), likely GOP nominee Donald Trump (42%), independent candidate Cornel West (2%) and the Green Partys Jill Stein (2%), according to a RealClearPolitics compilation of major surveys.

Only a few hundred people attended Tuesdays announcement. The balcony was empty, and the audience of American-flag-waving supporters barely filled half of the floor.

Mart Bailey, a technology investor from Marin County, said he was there Tuesday to support Shanahan, whom he has known for a decade. He appreciated that she came from challenging beginnings like I did.

Shes a tour de force, Bailey said. Sharp as a whip.

Bailey has been a lifelong Democrat. But he said he was elated that (Kennedy) is in the race, so we can consider what he has to say.

Stanislav Kelman has been a fan of Kennedys since he challenged the use of COVID-19 vaccine mandates during the pandemic.

He was the only one who spoke truth to power, Kelman, a professor and technology entrepreneur who lives in San Francisco, said. Kelman, who is supporting Kennedy because he is frustrated with the two-party system that he said represents the same corporate interests, had a different preference for vice president. I wish it was Elon Musk. He spoke truth to power (during the pandemic) too.

Greg Hoy, a musician from Pacifica, came out of a sense of curiosity. His mother was a fan of a previous generation of Kennedys. And he said hes pretty disillusioned with the current political choices.

But many of Kennedys own family have criticized his anti-vaccine stances and decision to run. On St. Patricks Day, Biden posed with 50 members of the Kennedy family. Biden invited Maria Shriver, former first lady of California and niece of Kennedys father, to Bidens State of the Union speech.
Social and other media have been agog with news of the diatribe against TM Krishna by musicians who have found it offensive that he should be conferred the prestigious Sangeetha Kalanidhi award by The Music Academy, Chennai. These critics have grandly announced that they will not perform on the Academy stage in the forthcoming music season. While the matter of the award itself is not of significance to anyone except those who follow Carnatic music, and who view The Music Academy with awe and respect, the issue needs to be unpacked for what it tells us about the enduring bigotry of the entitled Tamil Brahmin community  and how, for well over a century and more, it has continued to read any and every criticism of its mores and ways as an attack on Hindu cultural and religious values.

A few individuals and institutions created by them might consider themselves progressive, being supporters of liberal-Left politics, and, at times, the Dravidian movement. But Tamil Brahmins, as a community, have been remarkably un-reflexive besides being prone to projecting themselves as wronged and misunderstood. To affirm their victim status, they have created a narrative whose details comprise the following: Their caste is attacked because they are successful and meritorious, and so criticisms are nothing but jealousy; their caste has been vilified and tormented for decades, thanks to the anti-Brahmin movement led by Periyar EV Ramasamy, who had called for their annihilation; those who seek to criticise them are unwilling to take note of reformers and change-makers in the community, be it about music or social customs; and finally, it is not so much the Brahmins who practise discrimination against Dalits, but the non-Brahmin castes.

The letters written by musicians Ranjani and Gayatri, Chitravina N Ravikiran, and the Trichur Brothers, protesting the award given to Krishna, feature one or more of these themes. Periyar is vilified, Krishna is seen as a divisive influence, with no regard for the diversity of talents in any culture (in this view, Brahmins stand in for diversity), and as being careless and dismissive of all things that constitute our spiritual and cultural traditions. But there are other questions we need to ask here. The caste bigotry on display in this instance appears to be locked in battle with a certain unmarked liberalism, which has become associated with the award as such. But what is this award, granted by a resolutely patrician institution, one viewed as a bastion of the twice-born? Admittedly, for a musician, even one like Krishna who has looked to break many boundaries which Carnatic musicians have drawn around their universe, the world of music sabhas, their patrons and the constituency that supports this music cannot be put away entirely. The music he practises is situated within this universe and besides, there are likely affective and pedagogic relationships that he has experienced here, and which matter to him. On the other hand, this is a closely guarded class-caste world and, expectedly, it has been pointed out that if he was not of the Brahmin caste, his transgressions would not have been overlooked by the award committee.

This manner of accommodating what could potentially be subversive makes it difficult to view the situation with equanimity. Consider how the president of the Academy has defended the latters choice of Krishna as an awardee. He has noted that awards are based on the sole criterion of musical excellence demonstrated over a significant and sustained career, and are made with no extraneous factors influencing the Academys choice. This is intriguing, for it is clear from Krishnas various musical experiments that he views music as a means to address caste-based inequality and discrimination and has been vocal both about his art and its shaping contexts. What is this liberalism that can be adopted by critics of the award with aplomb, but yet not engage with the extraneous social contexts that produce excellence and its many measures in any cultural field? In other words, why did the president of the Academy remain content with characterising the protesters as giving into personal dislike and malingering, and not take note of their founded social hatred, so evident in the language used by all protesters?

It is as if bigotry might be spoken of, but not the caste universe that sustains it. As far as Carnatic music is concerned, this would require a critical soiling of its spiritual sources, a profaning of its aesthetics in and through the invocation of its gendered and caste contexts. Equally, it would require engaging with anti-caste traditions and their thought worlds. Krishna has done both, but to award him for his music and not engage with the issues the musician has raised is somewhat disingenuous, and an instance of what Periyar characterised as the self-validating universe of Brahmanism. In order to explain this, Periyar noted: Rajaji will eat at a panchamas house; Shankaracharya will bathe on seeing a panchama; some will bathe if a panchamas shadow falls on them, others if a panchama touches them. Yet others will marry a panchama man or woman  but all of them will still remain brahmanas (Viduthalai, March 4, 1969).

Periyar would go on to observe that this winning flexibility enabled the Brahmin to rework the terms of any debate to his advantage while foregoing an engagement with what cannot be accommodated. The problem then is not only the bigotry of the Hindu Right group in the Carnatic music universe, but also the limits set to critique and debate through these modalities of accommodation and recognition.

V Geetha is a Chennai-based social historian and activist. The views expressed are personal
Anjali Chakra, the Indian-origin woman, who was in a relationship with Pakistani-origin woman Sufi Malik, took to her Instagram on Monday, addressing a narrative on sections of the internet that they were asking their followers to fund their wedding through a wedding registry. Anjali Chakra and Sufi Malik had got engaged in 2022. (Instagram/anjalichakra)

The same-sex couple, who shot to internet fame in 2019 through a viral photoshoot, announced over the weekend that they have ended their relationship of five years after Malik cheated on Chakra a few weeks before the wedding.

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They have also taken down the registry on online wedding registry platform Zola. Chakra, who is a wedding planner, shared a screenshot of her text conversation with an unidentified person who flagged her about the narrative being built on Reddit and X (formerly Twitter) they were seeking funds for their wedding.

"The registry was for our wedding guests and our wedding guests only. Neither of us have ever posted our registry link or shared it online in any form to ask anyone to contribute," she told the well-wisher, sharing a screenshot of her reply to them.

The only place we have ever shared the registry link is on our wedding website, which is private and unlisted and requires a password and invited email address to sign in."

A Reddit thread titled, "If this is prank, then its a really bad one!", sparked discussions among users, who questioned the authenticity of the relationship's end, wondering whether it was genuine or a hoax.

"I made an unrecognisable mistake of betrayal by cheating on her a few weeks before our wedding. I've hurt her tremendously, beyond my understanding. I am owning up to my mistake and will continue to do so, Malik said in her statement announcing the break-up.

Rise to internet fame

Chakra and Malik, both based in the United States, knew each other for a long time on microblogging platform Tumblr. It was Chakra who made the first move on Instagram and messaged Malik.

In 2019, a series of photographs from a widely appreciated photoshoot showcased the South Asian couple adorned in traditional attire, sharing laughter and kisses under a rain-speckled umbrella. The pictures swiftly captivated the internet, earning widespread praise as they symbolised breaking of both gender and religious divides.
A Bengaluru-based photographer has taken to X (formerly Twitter) to point out that a popular mall in the city has a separate parking lot for electric vehicles (EVs) despite having a multi-storied parking facility for other vehicles. The Bengaluru-based photographer sharing a picture of the EV parking lot at the mall. (X/@nishantr)

Alleging "irrational fear psychosis", Nishant Ratnakar shared a photo of the outdoor parking lot meant for EVs at the south Bengaluru mall.

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Electric Vehicle parking zone, says a board placed there.

There is some irrational fear psychosis with regards to Electric Vehicles. While there is a big multi level parking (as seen on left), they make EVs to be parked in baking sunlight outside, he posted on X, along with the photo.

The security staff cites some recent fire incident in a truck transporting EVs as an anecdotal evidence for practicing such untouchability.

The user tagged EV maker Ather Energy and its founders Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain, urging them to speak to the malls management to clear misconceptions about electric vehicles.

 I hope EV industry leaders can talk some sense to these malls in Bengaluru, he wrote, tagging Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal.

This is peak fear psychosis by this prominent mall, he wrote in another post.

Popular X account Peak Bengaluru tagged Aravind Prasad, head - charging infrastructure at Ather Energy asking for the companys intervention.

We will reach out to them, he wrote.

There have been multiple instances of electric vehicles, especially two-wheelers, catching fire in recent years.

In April 2022, Ola Electric had said it was recalling 1,441 units of its electric two-wheelers in the wake of incidents of vehicles catching fire in different parts of the country, according to a company statement.

Okinawa Autotech had recalled over 3,000 units, while PureEV did a similar exercise for around 2,000 units.

The fire incidents had prompted the government to form a panel to examine and had warned companies of penalties if they were found to be negligent.
Heartwarming scenes unfolded at the Mumbai Indians Holi bash on Sunday as new skipper Hardik Pandya and the rest of the team indulged in colours and fun a day after their tough loss to Gujarat Titans in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). Mumbai Indians celebrated Holi on Monday. (X/@d4ylightsq)

In a viral video, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma's daughter could be seen teaming up with Pandya, to splash colours on her father.

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Sharma, who captained Mumbai Indians till last year, took to social media and shared a video of him having fun with his wife, Ritika Sajdeh, and daughter Samaira. He was seen having fun in a puddle of colour and water along with his teammates, which also included Tilak Varma.

Watch the video here:

Rohit Sharma and Mumbai Indians shared snippets of the Holi celebrations.

Watch how Mumbai Indians celebrated Holi:

Another video showed Hardik Pandya hugging Sharmas wife Sajdeh during the celebrations.

Gujarat Titans defeated Mumbai Indians by six runs in the thriller at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Their loss is being blamed largely on the Mumbai Indians' batting strategy, in which Pandya batted at number seven. Mumbai Indians won the toss and opted to bowl first and Pandya opened the bowling against his former side.

During the match,a dog briefly interrupted the game as it made a dash into a field, outpacing the police personnel who tried to stop it. Hardik Pandya tried to charm the dog without any luck.

Other IPL teams that shared glimpses of their Holi celebrations were Delhi Capitals, Rajasthan Royals and Lucknow Super Giants.

Mumbai Indians faces their next match on Wednesday, against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Hyderabad.
Automobile company Stellantis reportedly laid off around 400 of its corporate employees in the United States last week. The layoff happened over a call after the company mandated work from home for a day. Stellantis fired 400 employees due to the unprecedented uncertainties and heightened competitive pressures it faces.(REUTERS)

According to TheStreet, the company notified its employees of a mandatory remote work day for all U.S. Salaried Non-Bargaining Unit employees in its engineering and technology department on March 22.

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In an alleged email to the employees, the company stated that it was holding an important operational meeting that requires specific attention and participation. The email also stated that employees are expected to work from home unless their manager tells them otherwise.

The company further directed employees to reach out to their managers or HR in case of questions and concerns and make necessary arrangements to work remotely.

Reuters reported that during the meeting, the company laid off around 400 employees, citing cost cuts due to the unprecedented uncertainties and heightened competitive pressures it faces.

It was a mass firing of everybody who was on the call, a mechanical engineer who did not wish to be named told FOX 2 Detroit. The engineer, who was laid off over the call, said that Stellantis is outsourcing jobs to India, Mexico, and Brazil.

So they continue to push low-cost countries that are more efficient for the company and more profitable. The auto industry is making a lot of money, but its facing a lot of challenges. Youve got the electrification situation, which is going to cost carmakers a lot of money. Youve got the new UAW contract, which also costs carmakers a lot of money. So its not only Stellantis. Everybody is looking at the bottom line, he further told FOX 2 Detroit.

Take a look at the alleged email sent out by the company here:

The post, since being shared, has gone viral with over 2.5 million views and the numbers are still increasing. Many even took to the comments section of the post to share their thoughts.

Check out how people reacted to this email here:



Zoom layoff. The worst way to do it, posted an individual.

Another added, Remote so they dont have to walk you out the door.

Bone-chilling, expressed a third.

A fourth commented, You fire people on Fridays!
Anjali Chakra and Sufi Malik, a same-sex couple based in the United States, recently announced that they are calling off their relationship shortly before they were to be married. The took to their respective Instagram accounts, where they initially gained internet fame five years ago through a viral photoshoot, to make the announcement. File photo shows Anjali Chakra from India and Sundas Malik from Pakistan under a rain-splattered umbrella. (Twitter/@Sarowarrrr)

Malik revealed that she had cheated on Chakra a few weeks before their wedding.

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"I made an unrecognisable mistake of betrayal by cheating on her a few weeks before our wedding. I've hurt her tremendously, beyond my understanding. I am owning up to my mistake and will continue to do so, Malik said in her statement.

So who are Anjali Chakra and Sufi Malik?

While Anjali Chakra is of Indian-origin, Sufi Malik is of Pakistani-descent.

A wedding planner, Chakra co-runs a US-based events company called Behl Events, where she started out as an assistant and was soon promoted to Lead Event Consultant.

Malik is a fashion and lifestyle photographer.

They got engaged in 2022, with a proposal at New Yorks Empire State Building. Malik went down on her knees, offering a ring to Chakra.

They knew each other through Tumblr where they were mutuals for seven years. Later, they connected on Instagram, with Chakra making the first move by sending Sufi a message.

In a blogpost, Chakra said that she has been battling depression for 11 years.

Both of them are based in New York, though Chakra shuttles between New York and San Francisco.

The couple shared a YouTube channel on which they posted vlogs on their travels, opened up about their relationship, shared the proposal video, etc.
Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath sat down for an interview with The Prints Editor-In-Chief, Shekhar Gupta. During this conversation, he delved into various aspects of his life journey and discussed Indias growth trajectory, the global economy, and more. He also shared anecdotes from his early career, including his first job and its impact on him. Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath.(Mint file)

Kamath earned his first paycheck at the age of 17. He recounted his days working at a call centre in Bengaluru. I used to earn 8,000 in my first job at a call centre called 24 bar 7 in Bengaluru, selling accidental health insurance for a company called Stone Bridge, the UK shift between 4:00 pm to 1:00 am, Kamath said.

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He added, At the age of 17, I was feeling really good about myself because I had wage. I had access to more money than my friends had access to at that point of time. You start feeling unnerved when your friends graduate from college and get their first job.

There is a societal stigma around a job which doesnt have an entry barrier. It could be any job. Call centre job did not require a degree, it did not require expertise or proficiency of a certain kind. So, societal stigma is there. Its never you can be in a call centre earning one lakh rupee a month, but if your son is a doctor earning 25,000 rupees a month, the doctor gets more societal acceptance, he continued.

Although Kamath sometimes felt self-conscious as his peers pursued more conventional professions like medicine or engineering, he emphasised the importance of his unique journey.

So, when my classmates graduated and became doctors and engineers, and I used to have a science background, you start feeling a little conscious. But I think by the time we were all 25, I had that 7-8 years runway in life where I had been doing things for a certain amount of time. So I had grown in that own bucket, and that bucket is very relative. Beyond a point, you are comparing yourself to your peer group, no matter how the peer group was. So, it didnt ever hurt me psychologically in the manner that it might have hurt many others because the circumstances were conducive to me doing what I was doing at that point of time. Today, if I had to reenact it, it would be different, Kamath further expressed.

The entrepreneur also said that he feels Bengaluru has the largest paper wealth, which creates an appearance of wealth but is not real money.

Its not real money. Bengaluru has the most paper wealth and very little expendable wealth. The paper rich from here made money in tech companies, but tech companies have no cash. Paper money gives you the appearance of wealth, he said.
Five Chinese nationals were killed in an explosion during an attack on their convoy by a suicide bomber in northwest Pakistan on Tuesday, reported Reuters. File photo of attack in Dasu that resulted in the deaths of nine Chinese nationals,(AFP)

The suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a convoy of Chinese engineers travelling from Islamabad to their camp in Dasu, located in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Reuters quoted regional police chief Mohammad Ali Gandapur as saying.

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"Five Chinese nationals and their Pakistani driver were killed in the attack," Gandapur said.

No one claimed responsibility for Tuesday's attack.

Read: Pak Army soldier, 4 Baloch militants killed in attack on naval base in Balochistan

Bisham Station House Officer (SHO) Bakht Zahir said that the incident was a suicide blast and the authorities concerned were collecting the evidence, Dawn.com reported.

Security arrangements were tightened at the spot and the bodies were being shifted to a hospital, he further said.

"We will investigate from where and how the vehicle of a suicide bomber came and how it happened, the SHO said.

This is the third major attack on Chinese interests in Pakistan within a week.

The first two attacks hit an airbase and a strategic port in the southwest province of Balochistan where China is investing billions in infrastructure projects.

Read: Gunmen open fire at China-operated Pakistan port complex; all 8 attackers killed

Chinese engineers and Pakistani construction workers have for several years been working on hydroelectric projects as part of Beijings Belt and Road Initiative in the western province of Khyber-Paktunkhwa.

Dasu, home to a significant dam project, has been a target of previous attacks.

In 2021, the attack in Dasu resulted in the deaths of nine Chinese nationals, along with two Pakistani children. The incident took place when a bus carrying Chinese engineers and workers to the Dasu Hydropower Project site was targeted.

Initially, there was confusion surrounding the nature of the attack, with some reports suggesting it was a bus accident. However, subsequent investigations revealed it was indeed a terrorist attack. The bus was hit by a blast, causing it to plunge into a ravine.

(With inputs from agencies)
The entire 22-member crew of the cargo ship that collided with a major bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday, causing it to snap and plunge into the river below, are Indians, the company said. A helicopter flies over a container ship as it rests against wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, as seen from Pasadena, Md. (AP)

All crew members, including the two pilots, have been accounted for and there are no reports of any injuries. There has also been no pollution, ship management company Synergy Marine Group said in a statement.

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The incident occurred at around 1:27 a.m. ET (10:57 am IST) when the container ship Dali navigating down the Patapsco River en route to Sri Lanka struck a pylon of the bridge, causing nearly the entire structure to crumple into the river.

The vessel, registered under Grace Ocean Pte Ltd and flying the Singapore flag, was heavily laden with containers, capable of carrying up to 10,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), though it was carrying 4,679 TEU at the time of the collision.

A construction crew working on the bridge sustained casualties, with eight individuals falling into the river's icy waters, where temperatures measured a chilling 8C. Of the eight, two were rescued, one unhurt, and another critically injured, leaving six individuals still unaccounted for.

Eyewitnesses captured the shocking moment on video as the bridge crumpled into the waters of the Patapsco River below, with several vehicles plummeting into the chilly depths. The vessel itself caught fire, shrouding the scene in thick black smoke. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott described the sight as "an unthinkable tragedy," likening it to something out of an action movie.

Scott declared a state of emergency in response to the bridge collapse.

Maryland state senator Johnny Ray Salling, who was from the area, said the bridge plays a vital role in not only transportation, but also commerce.

Losing this bridge will devastate the entire area, as well as the entire East Coast, said Salling, a Republican.
Two jailed former militants of armed Basque separatist group ETA who are in a romantic relationship have been allowed to share a prison cell in Spain, angering victims' groups. HT Image

Asier Mardones and Josune Ona "have been a couple since 2006 and their prison situation allows them to live together" at the jail in the northern province of Alava where they are serving their sentence, a spokeswoman for the Basque Country justice department, in charge of the region's prisons, told AFP.

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"This is not the first time that a couple has shared a cell, it has already happened with same-sex couples", she said.

The pair were sentenced to 25 years behind bars for attacking and injuring police officers in 2003 and other crimes, according to Basque daily newspaper El Correo which first broke the news on Monday that the couple have been sharing a cell since last month.

ETA formally disbanded in 2018, ending a decades-long campaign of bombings and shootings for an independent Basque homeland straddling northern Spain and southwest France in which it killed over 850 people.

But many Spaniards believe it has left open wounds and the treatment of former members of the group, which was designated a terrorist organisation by the European Union and the United Stares, remains highly sensitive in Spain.

The news that Mardones and Ona are sharing a prison cell "has caused deep consternation and indignation among the collective of victims of terrorism", the Association of Victims of Terrorism wrote in a letter sent to Basque judicial authorities on Monday.

The group also asked them to confirm or deny reports that the pair are allowed to leave the prison to attend classes in the nearby city of Vitoria, the capital of the Basque Country.

But the Basque Country justice department spokeswoman said allowing the couple to share a cell was "not a privilege" and the prison administration does not "dinstinguish between inmates" based on their convictions.

mig/ds/rlp

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
A housing development legislation veto by Mayor London Breed, left, was overturned by Supervisor Aaron Peskin and the rest of the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. Scott Strazzante/Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle

The battle over San Francisco housing policy took center stage at City Hall on Tuesday when the Board of Supervisors overturned Mayor London Breeds veto of legislation that will impose housing development restrictions on 15-20 blocks in historic areas of San Francisco.



The legislation was sponsored by Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, who is widely expected to run against Breed for mayor in November. Peskin and Breed have recently traded barbs over how the city should address the housing crisis, and Tuesdays vote was the latest battle between them over development.

Its the first time that the Board of Supervisors has successfully overturned a veto from Breed.

The law will limit the height and scale of developments in the northeast waterfront and Jackson Square, areas within Peskins district. Peskin pushed the legislation as a response to a proposed 200-foot tall housing project at 1088 Sansome St. backed by billionaire investor Michael Moritz. The project would have taken advantage of recent changes that loosen some development rules across the city.



The legislation initially passed 8-3, as did the vote held on Tuesday, the minimum number of votes needed to override a veto. It previously passed the Planning Commission with unanimous support, including approval from four of the mayors appointees.

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The veto override is a victory for Peskin, who told the Chronicle in January that the project highlights unintended and unanticipated consequences of a deal he struck with Breed last summer to lower the share of affordable units that market-rate developers are required to include in new developments.

Breed has vetoed only six pieces of legislation as mayor, including housing legislation from the board in 2022 that would have allowed fourplexes in all city neighborhoods, but that Breed argued would actually hurt housing production. The board did not overturn that veto.



Peskin pushed back Tuesday on the idea that the legislation is anti-housing.

Its responsible planning, Peskin said. Its the right thing to do for two of the citys historic districts that date to the Gold Rush and does not prevent housing.  This is well considered and supported by planning experts.



He said he was troubled that there was no interaction between the mayors office and the board before the mayors veto.



This is not a policy discussion, its a political discussion, and its very unfortunate, he said.



But Breed called the veto a setback in the citys work to build more housing, and she pledged in a statement to not let this be the first step down the path back towards being a city of no. 

We will not move backward, she said. Our lack of housing is at the root of so many challenges in San Francisco and California. Poverty, homelessness, economic revitalization, climate change.  This is why Im standing for San Francisco to be a city of yes on housing.

The mayor argues the legislation will likely make it more difficult for San Francisco to build more homes as San Francisco struggles to reach its state-mandated goal of permitting 82,000 homes by 2031. Very few new housing developments are under construction in the city due to high borrowing rates, high labor costs and slow approvals.



Peskins legislation has incensed both Breed and state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, who has championed laws that make it easier for developers to build all kinds of housing and that have garnered wide support from the Legislature. On Tuesday, Wiener called the veto override a black eye for San Francisco.

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San Francisco is grappling with a debilitating housing crisis, pushing middle-income and working-class people out of our city, Wiener said. We need to make it easier to build new homes, not harder. We need to zone for more housing, not less. Todays vote by the Board of Supervisors sends exactly the wrong message on housing. Its deeply disappointing.

The fight over housing policy will likely only intensify in the months leading to the mayoral election.

Breed in early March slammed Peskin over housing policy at a rally on the steps of City Hall, accusing him of trying to destroy housing production by scaling back existing laws that would allow developers to build denser projects.



Im sick of his shenanigans, she told a crowd of supporters.

Peskin in turn said the fact that Breed and her supporters are choosing to spend their energy tearing down good city policy instead of getting out the vote for Prop. A, a $300 million affordable-housing bond that narrowly passed, is another example of their inability to work toward real affordable-housing solutions.

Former Mayor Art Agnos pushed back on YIMBY groups who argue the bill is anti-housing, saying the city is under attack by a new radicalism in a San Francisco Examiner opinion piece.



Its a well-funded and dangerous my way or the highway rhetoric that slams any attempt at smart neighborhood planning as anti-housing,  Agnos said. The new radical talking points corrupt the reality that President Peskins commonsense approach allows developers to build higher and bigger while protecting our precious and irreplaceable historical resources on our shared public waterfront.

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Supervisors Myrna Melgar, Matt Dorsey and Joel Engardio were the only votes against the legislation and the override. Heading into Tuesdays vote, it was unclear whether Supervisor Catherine Stefani, a Breed ally, would change her reluctant vote in favor of Peskins legislation. Stefani, who is running for state Assembly, stuck to her prior vote Tuesday.

I have and always will support policies that comply with our ambitious housing element, thats why I continually lead the efforts to build housing in District 2, said Stefani, who is shepherding a bill through committee now to plan for more density in the northeast waterfront while preserving historic structures.



She said that bill will enable housing projects to maximize density while protecting the established historic districts already rich with community culture.

Dorsey said the legislation sets a dangerous precedent and would prevent us from building more housing.

There are many other neighborhoods in San Francisco that can lay claim to a similarly legitimate argument for being historically significant, he said.

Supervisor Rafael Mandelman told the Chronicle that the debate over Peskins legislation has been overly politicized.



People are freaked out that Aaron Peskin is going to run for mayor, Mandelman said of Peskins expected candidacy. Theyre no longer looking at the merits of anything. I think this is sort of all politics.

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He said Peskin was simply attempting to correct provisions in the law that he included unwittingly.
Hamas deputy military commander Marwan Issa was killed in an Israeli strike this month, Israel's military spokesperson said on Tuesday, confirming reports from earlier in the month. Israel's military spokesperson said on Tuesday, confirming reports from earlier in the month. (File)(REUTERS)

"We have checked all the intelligence," Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a televised statement. "Marwan Issa was eliminated in the strike we carried out around two weeks ago," he said.

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There was no immediate comment from Hamas.

Issa was at the top of Israel's most-wanted list together with Mohammed Deif, the head of Hamas' military wing, the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, and Hamas' leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, who are believed to have masterminded the group's Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel that triggered the Gaza war.
The gunmen accused of killing over 143 people in the Moscow concert hall attack last Friday travelled to Turkey briefly in the same week to renew their Russian residence permits, Reuters reported, quoting a Turkish security official. However, the report added that the radicalisation of these Tajikistan men did not happen there. 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. (AFP)

The official, who spoke to the news agency anonymously, noted that there were no existing arrest warrants against the attackers, allowing them to travel between Turkey and Russia freely. Furthermore, it was revealed that the assailants had been residing in Moscow for an extended period.

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Two of the assailants departed Turkey and travelled to Moscow on the same flight on March 2, 2024, according to the source. The attack, later claimed by the Islamic State, resulted in the deaths of over 143 people and left dozens more injured.

Eleven people have been detained in connection with the attack that occurred in the Crocus City Hall in Moscow.

President Putin refuses to take IS name

Russian President Vladimir Putin is refusing to attribute the Moscow attack to the Islamic State (IS), despite the extremist group's claim, according to an AFP report. Instead, he claimed a connection to Ukraine, asking why the attackers tried to flee to Ukraine -- a claim that Kyiv has rejected.

In his recent remarks regarding the attack on Monday, Putin acknowledged that radical Islamists were responsible but drew a connection to Ukraine.

"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?" Putin asked.

"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 firmly denies any involvement in the attack, with President Volodymyr Zelensky accusing Putin of always trying to blame others.

(With inputs from Reuters, AFP)
Reaffirming that the terrorist attack at the concert hall in Moscow was carried out by ISIS at Crocus, the United States said that there is no evidence that the Ukrainian government had anything to do with this attack. Reaffirming that the terrorist attack at the concert hall in Moscow was carried out by ISIS at Crocus, the United States said that there is no evidence that the Ukrainian government had anything to do with this attack.(AP)

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Tuesday that this terrorist attack was conducted by ISIS and Russian President Vladimir Putin understands that.

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"This was a terrorist attack that was conducted by ISIS. Mr. Putin understands that. He knows that very well. And look, there is absolutely no evidence that the government of Ukraine had anything to do with this attack," she said.

ALSO READ| Who ordered it?: Vladimir Putin blames Ukraine, radical Islamists for Moscow terror attack

Expressing condolences, Karine Jean-Pierre said that she wants to step back for a second and offer her deepest condolences to those who lost loved ones, and those who were injured because of this horrific attack.

"We continue to strongly condemn the heinous terrorist attack in Moscow," she stressed.

"We're very clear about that. On March 7, we informed Americans in Russia, and did a public advisory, to be more specific. And ISIS bears the sole responsibility here," Pierre said.

At least 133 people have died in the massive terror attack at the concert hall.

ALSO READ| Moscow concert hall attackers briefly entered Turkey before attack

United States has strongly condemned the "heinous" terrorist attack carried out by ISIS at Crocus City Hall music venue near Moscow and expressed condolences to the bereaved families.

White House Press Secretary, Karine Jeane-Pierre, in a statement, termed ISIS as a "common terrorist enemy" and said that it needs to be defeated everywhere.

"The United States strongly condemns the heinous terrorist attack in Moscow. We extend our deepest condolences to those who lost loved ones and to those who were injured or affected by these unconscionable attacks against innocent civilians. ISIS is a common terrorist enemy that must be defeated everywhere," the statement read.

Moreover, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned the terrorist attack in Russia's Moscow and said that US stands with Russia in grieving the loss of lives.

In a post on X, Blinken stated, "The United States strongly condemns the March 22 terrorist attack in Moscow. We stand in solidarity with the people of Russia in grieving the loss of life after this horrific event."
The New Zealand government said it had raised concerns on Tuesday with the Chinese government about its involvement in a state-sponsored cyber hack on New Zealand's parliament in 2021, which was uncovered by the countrys intelligence services. The New Zealand government said it had raised concerns on Tuesday with the Chinese government about its involvement in a state-sponsored cyber hack on New Zealand's parliament in 2021, which was uncovered by the countrys intelligence services.(Getty Images/ Representational photo)

The revelations that information was accessed through malicious cyber activity targeting New Zealands parliamentarian entities comes as Britain and the U.S. accuse China of a widesweeping cyber espionage campaign. Both New Zealand and Australia have condemned the broader activity.

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Foreign interference of this nature is unacceptable, and we have urged China to refrain from such activity in future, New Zealand's Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement.

ALSO READ| UK blames China for malicious cyber attacks

He said concerns about cyber activity attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese government, targeting democratic institutions in both New Zealand and the United Kingdom had been conveyed to the Chinese ambassador.

A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand said in an email that they reject "outright such groundless and irresponsible accusations" and have expressed their dissatisfaction and resolute opposition with New Zealand authorities.

"We have never, nor will we in the future, interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, including New Zealand. Accusing China of foreign interference is completely barking up the wrong tree," the spokesperson said.

The government said earlier on Tuesday its communications security bureau (GCSB), which overseas cyber security and signals intelligence, had established links between a Chinese state-sponsored actor known as Advanced Persistent Threat 40 (APT40) and malicious cyber activity targeting New Zealand's parliamentary services and parliamentary counsel office in 2021.

The GCSB said APT40 is affiliated with the Ministry of State Security.

It added APT40 had gained access to important information that enables the effective operation of New Zealand government but nothing of a sensitive or strategic nature had not been removed. Instead, the GCSB said it believed the group had removed information of a more technical nature that would have allowed more intrusive activity.

ALSO READ| Cyberattack on aerospace research firm under NIA lens

In the last financial year, 23% of the 316 malicious cyber events that involved nationally significant organisations were attributed to state-sponsored actors, according to the GCSB.

These attacks were not specifically attributed to China and New Zealand last year also condemned malicious cyber activity undertaken by the Russian government.

The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable, said Judith Collins, the minister responsible for the GCSB.

U.S. and British officials late on Monday filed charges, imposed sanctions, and accused Beijing of a sweeping cyber espionage campaign that allegedly hit millions of people including lawmakers, academics and journalists, and companies including defence contractors.

American and British officials nicknamed the hacking group responsible 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 Beijing. Defence contractors, dissidents and security companies were also hit, officials from the two countries said.

A joint statement from Australias Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil said persistent targeting of democratic institutions and processes has implications for democratic and open societies like Australia. It said this behaviour is unacceptable and must stop.

In 2019, Australian intelligence determined China was responsible for a cyber-attack on its national parliament and three largest political parties before the general election but the Australian government never disclosed officially who was behind the attacks.
A Pakistan Army soldier was killed while four attackers belonging to the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) were eliminated after they tried to infiltrate into one of the main naval air bases in the Balochistan province, PTI reported.



According to the report, Pakistan security forces foiled an armed militant attack by BLA's Majeed Brigade at the PNS Siddique Naval Air Base in turbulent Turbat district in the Pakistani province. This is the third major attack on Pakistan armed forces and installations this year in Balochistan claimed by the BLA(AFP file)

"The armed men attacked from three sides of the airport boundary, but security forces responded immediately and foiled their attempt to infiltrate the premises, Makran Commissioner Saeed Ahmed Umrani was quoted by PTI as saying.



ALSO READ: 5 Chinese nationals killed in suicide bomb attack in Pakistan

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According to the Pakistan Army, Baloch militants on the night of March 25-26 attempted an attack on the PNS Siddique Naval Air Base. But the attack was thwarted.



"Security forces in the vicinity were immediately mobilized to support the naval troops. Synergetic and effective response by the armed forces enabled the killing of all four terrorists in ensuing joint clearance operation, the army said.

A 24-year-old Sepoy of the paramilitary Frontier Corps Balochistan was killed in action. The Army carried out a sanitisation operation to eliminate any other attacker found in the area.

This is the third major attack on security forces and installations this year in Balochistan claimed by the BLA with the first two attacks being also being repulsed by security forces.



ALSO READ: View: How Pakistans bleed neighbours with terrorism policy has backfired

Earlier in the year, security forces were attacked in Mach town in which at least ten people were killed but attempts to breach the Mach jail were thwarted by security forces.

On March 24, the BLA also claimed responsibility for an attack on the Gwadar Port Authority Complex. Security forces had killed eight militants of the banned separatist group in the gunfire.

Balochistan, bordering Iran and Afghanistan, is home to a long-running violent insurgency. Baloch insurgent groups have previously carried out several attacks targeting the USD 60 billion CPEC projects. The BLA accuses China and Islamabad of exploitation of the resource-rich province, a charge rejected by the authorities.

(With PTI inputs)
A royal expert has said that Kate Middletons parents have thrown a safety blanket around her three children in the aftermath of her cancer diagnosis. Michael, 74, and Carole Middleton, 69, are now providing their daughter with a sense of comfort. They have stepped in to take care of her and Prince Williams children  Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5. They are also grandparents to Pippas kids  Arthur, 5, Grace, 3, and Rose, 1. Kate Middletons parents are "desperately upset" over her cancer diagnosis, have thrown a "safety blanket" around their grandkids(AP)

Theyll have rallied around her, especially her young family, royal commentator and biographer Duncan Larcombe told the Mirror. Carole and Michael will have essentially thrown a safety blanket around the young children to help protect them.

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In times like this for Kate, it is hugely important. It is crucial the children are looked after carefully, he said, adding that Carole and Michael are also supporting William. They consider him their adopted son. They are also desperately upset about Kates cancer diagnosis, Larcombe said.

As long as I am able to, thats what Ill be doing

Carole had previously expressed how proud she is as a grandmother. I want to run down the hills, climb the trees and go through the tunnel at the playground, she told Good Housekeeping in 2021. As long as I am able to, thats what Ill be doing. I cook with them, I muck around dancing, we go on bike rides.

Carole and Michael started spending more time with their grandkids after Kate made Windsor their permanent home base in 2023. The Princess of Wales parents are based in Berkshire, England. It is a 40-minute drive from Windsor. The couple found more time to spend with their grandchildren after selling their party supply company, Party Pieces, which is about 20 years old. It was founded by Carole back in 1987.

William and Kate, along with their children, recently left Adelaide Cottage in Windsor via helicopter. They travelled towards Anmer Hall, located on the Sandringham estate, for the Easter break.
Mar 27, 2024 5:38 AM IST

Baltimore Bridge Live Updates: US Coast Guard officials said to have transitioned to the recovery phase. Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath noted, Based on the length of time that we've gone in the search, that we've gone in this search, the extensive search efforts that we've put into it, the water temperature, that at this point, we do not believe we are going to find any of these individuals still alive.

On Tuesday night, the officials came forward, claiming that the active search and rescue efforts would be suspended. Reports suggest that the only people on the bridge during the collapse constituted a pothole repair crew. Among these eight people, at least two were rescued. The other six missing people were presumed dead.

Col. Roland L. Butler of the Maryland State Police said that divers would hit the water at 6 am Wednesday, attempting to recover the bodies of the six missing workers, now presumed dead. At this point, we do not know where they are, but we intend to give it our best effort to help these families find closure, Butler said.
A Baltimore bridge was seen partially crumbling after being struck by a container ship in a shocking video. The incident took place on Tuesday morning, March 26, shortly before 1:30 am. A video shows a Baltimore bridge collapsing after being struck by a ship (@rawsalerts/X)

The Francis Scott Key Bridge is 3 km long and is part of the I-95 interstate. It is the main northsouth highway on the US's east coast, and runs from Miami, Florida to Maine.

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The Baltimore bridge collapsed after a vessel violently crashed into it, and fell into the Patapsco River. All lanes closed both directions for incident on I-695 Key Bridge. Traffic is being detoured, the Maryland Transportation Authority wrote on X.

Traffic came to a sudden halt. Several drivers had to be detoured.

Reports on X have said that several agencies, including the Coast Guard and fire department, have declared a mass casualty incident now. A Baltimore City Fire Department spokesperson has also confirmed that the collapse is a mass casualty event, according to BBC.

Seven individuals and several vehicles' have fallen into the river

Chief Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore City Fire Department, confirmed to BBC that "as many as seven individuals and several vehicles" have fallen into the river after the Baltimore bridge collapse. A multi-agency rescue operation is underway at the moment. It is being led by the fire department, which is collaborating with the US Coastguard and other Maryland agencies.

The Maryland Transport Authority has confirmed that every lane in both directions have been closed, and traffic is now being diverted either along the I-95 interstate through the city, or harbour tunnel.

Meanwhile, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott has said that he is aware of the tragic incident. He also said that he is in touch with local authorities. "I'm aware of and en route to the incident at the Key Bridge... Emergency personnel are on scene, and efforts are underway, Scott said.

As of now, there are no reports of casualties in connection with the Baltimore bridge collapse. However, Baltimore's city police said that some workers are likely in the water after the bridges collapse.

Baltimore County executive, Johnny Olszewski Jr, wrote on X, I am aware of the situation at the Key Bridge and remain in regular communication with my Fire Chief and Director of Emergency Operations. Im also in contact w/ the Mayor of Baltimore and the Anne Arundel Co. Exec. Rescue efforts are underway. Please pray for those impacted.
The royal family faces a challenging time as King Charles and Kate Middleton battle cancer. Despite such a tough family phase, experts note that Prince William still has trust challenges with his brother, Harry. While the Duke and Duchess of Sussex reportedly made multiple attempts to reach out to the UK royals, it seems that the Palace is still hesitant to fully trust the couple with sensitive information. This may be why Harry and Meghan allegedly found out that Kate Middleton had been diagnosed with cancer from national television, and not from the family. Britain's Prince William, second left, Kate, Princess of Wales, left, Britain's Prince Harry, second right, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex view the floral tributes for the late Queen Elizabeth II outside Windsor Castle, in Windsor, England on Sept. 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)(AP)

Harry and Meghan kept out of Kates cancer news

When King Charles was diagnosed with cancer, he reportedly had a brief phone call with Prince Harry, who then flew straight back to London to see his ailing father. William, however, chose not to share his wife Kates diagnosis with anyone outside of his inner circle. Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams has spoken to the Sun about the possible reason why Harry and Meghan were not treated as close family. There's a deep rift between the brothers - that we know. We also know that they haven't 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 can't be trusted.

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Also read: Kate Middleton doesnt need Meghan and Harry by her side as she is very close to.

According to the royal commentator, the UK Royals are hesitant because they are unsure how the couple might use sensitive information in the future, especially if their relationship dynamics derail. Since Harry and Meghan relocated to California after stepping down from royal duties, they have consistently criticised their family members. Harry's memoir also contained several shocking revelations that were not well-received by the family.

Prince William has trust issues with Harry and Meghan

The Royal expert continues, that Prince William has lost faith in Harry and Meghan after their unbelievable Oprah interview, Harrys memoir Spare and the couples Netflix series. The trouble is that's the only thing that appears to have made a lot of money for them. That raises other questions as to what they'll be doing in the future.

Also read: Kate Middletons uncle Gary publicly apologises after slamming Meghan Markle with fickle remark

According to reports, Harry and Meghan did speak to Prince William after they heard about Kates illness. They continue to communicate privately. Experts believe that the trying time faced by the family could potentially dissolve the feud between them.
A major bridge in Baltimore collapsed partially after a cargo ship rammed into it early Tuesday morning. The nearly 3-kilometre-long Francis Scott Key Bridge is part of the I-95 interstate, which runs from Miami to Maine. A live video shared on YouTube shows the shocking moment the large vessel violently crashed into the bridge, causing it to fall into the Patapsco River. The incident occurred around 1:30 am on March 26. A view of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after it collapsed, in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S., in this picture released on March 26, 2024.(via REUTERS)

Rescuers pulled out two survivors, one in a very serious condition, and were searching for more in the Patapsco River after huge spans of the 1.6-mile (2.57 km) Francis Scott Key Bridge crumpled into the water, per Reuters. In light of the accident, the Maryland Transportation Authority wrote on X, formerly Twitter, All lanes closed both directions for incident on I-695 Key Bridge. Traffic is being detoured.

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While officials couldn't reveal the exact number of casualties at the moment, at least seven vehicles plunged into the river. Kevin Cartwright, the spokesperson for Baltimore City Fire Department, told Reuters that as many as 20 people could be in the river along with numerous vehicles, and possibly a tractor-trailer or a vehicle as large as a tractor-trailer, (that) went into the river.

This is a mass-casualty, multi-agency event. This operation is going to extend for many days, Cartwright continued, adding, We received several 911 calls at around 1:30 am, that a vessel struck the Key Bridge in Baltimore, causing the collapse. The Baltimore police revealed that they had been notified of the incident at 1:35 am ET.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore declared a state of emergency to quickly deploy federal resources to deal with the emergency. The FBI in Baltimore said on X its personnel were on scene, per Reuters. During a news conference, Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley stated that there was no indication of terrorism.

-With inputs from agency wire stories.
The San Francisco medical examiners office has identified the two people found dead in an apparent shooting inside a home in the Portola neighborhood, one of whom was a longtime 911 dispatcher. Mark Winema/Getty Images

The San Francisco medical examiners office identified the two people found dead in an apparent shooting inside a home in the Portola neighborhood.

The two victims were identified as Florinda Picazo, 48, and Oscar Picazo, 49. Both were San Francisco residents.

According to public records and neighbors, the pair were married and lived inside the home they were found in.

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San Francisco police officers were dispatched to the scene at 28 Dwight St. around 8:45 p.m. Sunday after receiving reports of an apparent shooting, police said.

The couple was found inside the home, police said. Spokespersons did not give additional information but said there was no greater threat to the community.

No arrests had been made as of Tuesday morning.

Juanita Romero, 86, who lives next door and identified herself as Florinda Picazos aunt, said she had no sense of what unfolded inside the residence until she saw police cars close down the street.

Romero said although she wasnt close with the family, the shooting was shocking.

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A social media posting by members of San Franciscos Teamsters Local 350 identified Oscar Picazo as a longtime member who began his career in 1995 at Recology Sunset in San Francisco.

He was a 29-year member of the union, they wrote.

Spokespersons for the citys Department of Emergency Management said Florinda Picazo had worked in the department as a longtime 911 dispatcher.

Everyone at DEM is in shock following the tragic loss of a beloved, long-serving 911 dispatcher, spokespersons wrote. This is an active investigation and we do not have any additional information to share. We defer to SFPD for updates regarding the investigation.
A young man from India has been indicted in Alabama in a case of Ponzi scam worth $4,00,000. 23-year-old Pathyam Patel, of Gujarats Gandhinagar, has been accused of starting to sell securities and collecting money after guaranteeing massive returns. However, he never invested this in securities, but used them only for his personal expenses. An Indian man, 23, was arrested in Alabama over a Ponzi scam worth $4,00,000 (Pixabay - representational image)

Officers of Alabama Securities Commission (ASC) confirmed that Patel, also known as Pat Patel, was staying in Alabama. He was arrested on March 6 based on as many as nine counts of securities law violations, according to Times of India.

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What is Pathyam Patel accused of?

"The indictment alleges that Patel sold in excess of $4,00,000 in investment contracts to at least six investors. Patel represented that he was associated with Infinity Wealth Management, an investment advisory firm, which he claimed was registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission," ASC said in a statement.

Patel said that he managed to earn a lot of profits for investors by investing their funds. He also guaranteed that there would be no loss of their principal amount. Patel, after getting his hands on the investors funds, told investors that they were required to pay additional fees in order to maintain their investments.

"Patel did not invest the funds as communicated to the investors. Instead, he used them for gambling on sporting events, personal expenses and paying other investors. Patel had no ability to guarantee that the investors would not lose their principal (amount)," the statement added.

When Patel ran the scam, he was not even registered with the ASC to sell securities in Alabama. The investment contracts sold by Patel were not registered with the ASC either. Infinity was neither a registered investment advisor, nor broker-dealer, the statement said.

Investor.gov describes the Ponzi scheme as an investment fraud that pays existing investors with funds collected from new investors. Ponzi scheme organizers often promise to invest your money and generate high returns with little or no risk. But in many Ponzi schemes, the fraudsters do not invest the money. Instead, they use it to pay those who invested earlier and may keep some for themselves, it adds.
Commentator Sarah Vine has insisted that Kate Middleton and Prince Williams children must be protected in the aftermath of the princess cancer diagnosis. Kate recently announced in a heartbreaking video that she has started preventive chemotherapy to treat her illness. Kate Middleton's kids must be protected after her cancer diagnosis, a royal commentator has said (Jonathan Brady/Pool Photo via AP, File)(AP)

Discussing Kates announcement, host Bev Turner said on GB News that she was moved by the announcement video. She also spoke out about the kind of impact the news could have on the royal children. Bev said that Kate "wanted to tell her children in her own time" and suggested she "didn't want to be pushed into it" despite all the speculations.

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"She's got them off for Easter for 2 or 3 weeks now, and she can talk to them and keep them close, she said.

It's just really frightening

Commentator Sarah Vine agreed, saying it was "quite lucky" that Kates kids are "still quite young" as they may have "found out on the internet" before the news was broken at home. "It's very important to try and manage the children, because it's just really frightening knowing that your mother's ill and they will probably have a lot of questions, Vine said.

Agreeing, host Andrew Pierce said, "And also kids on the playground are cruel, and it's better that it's not exposed to the kids on the playground just yet."

"Yes, they can be absolutely horrible. For quite a long time, my daughter genuinely believed that my husband was a lizard because somebody in the school playground had said to her 'do you know the whole of the British government are all lizards?' Vine responded. "She told me this recently, that she used to come down in the middle of the night and just check to see that we hadn't turned into lizards."

After Kates announcement, Kensington Palace said in a statement, "The Prince and Princess are both enormously touched by the kind messages from people here in the UK, across the Commonwealth and around the world in response to Her Royal Highness' message. They are extremely moved by the public's warmth and support and are grateful for the understanding of their request for privacy at this time."
Prince Harry was named in the court documents linked to the bombshell $30 million lawsuit against Sean Diddy Combs. The lawsuit filed by Rodney Lil Rod Jones accuses the Coming Home rapper of sexual misconduct, grooming and sex trafficking, per Daily Mail. According to the court documents, Lil Rod alleges that Diddy used his affiliation with A-listers, including Prince Harry, to garner legitimacy. While the Duke of Sussex has been named in the lawsuit, he has not been accused of any wrongdoing. Prince Harry has been named in Sean 'Diddy' Combs' $30 million bombshell lawsuit(AP)

Prince Harry dragged into $30 million lawsuit against Diddy

In 2007, Diddy was pictured alongside Prince William, Prince Harry, and Kanye West at a post-concert party that the royal siblings hosted to thank those who participated in Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium. In the entire 73-page court document, Prince Harry has only been named once.

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Lil Rod's lawyers claim in the court documents filed in New York that Diddy was known for throwing the best parties. Affiliation with, and or sponsorship of Mr. Combs sex-trafficking parties garnered legitimacy and access to celebrities such as famous athletes, political figures, artist, musicians, and international dignitaries like British Royal, Prince Harry, the court documents further add.

This revelation comes as authorities raided the 54-year-old music producer's homes in Miami and Los Angeles as part of an ongoing investigation for sex trafficking. The multi-million-dollar lawsuit claims that Diddy recruited Jones in August 2022 for production work on The Love Album: Off the Grid. While the album later earned a Grammy nomination, Lil Rod's life has been detrimentally impacted ever since, the lawsuit says.

Per the documents, Diddy introduced him to Cuba Gooding Jr, who began touching, groping, and fondling Jones' legs, upper inner thighs near his groin, the small of his back near his buttocks, and his shoulders, according to the outlet. In addition to being sexually assaulted by Diddy, Lil Rod further claims that the Last Night rapper drugged the drinks of underage girls who used to work at his house.
Governor Kathy Hochul has updated New Yorkers on state preparations two weeks before the first total solar eclipse. Hochul convened an Interagency Task Force back in October 2022, which comprised about two dozen state agencies and authorities. For the past several months, the Task Force has been collaborating on plans to make sure people can enjoy the eclipse safely. Solar eclipse 2024: Governor Kathy Hochul is ensuring New Yorkers enjoy the phenomenon "safely," heres how (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)(AP)

The April 8 eclipse is a once in a generation experience, and theres no better place to view it than in our beautiful state, Governor Hochul said, according to her website. New York is ready to welcome millions of visitors, and my administration has been working hard to ensure everyone in the path of the eclipse can safely enjoy this rare event. I encourage anyone traveling for this experience to plan on arriving early to their destination and staying late to enjoy all of what our state has to offer.

A total eclipse will encompass as many as 29 counties in the western and northern parts of New York State on April 8. There will be 88 percent to over 99 percent coverage for areas that are outside the path of totality.

What is Kathy Hochul ensuring?

Heres how Hochul has worked with her administration to ensure people can watch the eclipse safely, as per her website:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to cancel a delegation's visit to the US has "perplexed" the White House. Earlier, Netanyahu cancelled the delegation's visit after the US refused to veto a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza during Ramzan. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu(REUTERS)

White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby addressed a press briefing on Monday and said that the UN resolution wouldn't impact Israel. He also assured Israel that there was no change in US policy.

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"We're kind of perplexed by this. A couple of points that need to be stated and, in fact, restated. Number one, it's a nonbinding resolution. So, there's no impact at all on Israel and Israel's ability to continue to go after Hamas. Number two, as I said in my opening statement, it does not represent a change at all in our policy," said Kirby.

"It's very consistent with everything that we've been saying we want to get done here. And we get to decide what our policy is. 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 -- 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. So, again, no change in our policy," he added.

ALSO READ| Israel, Hamas dig in as international pressure builds for ceasefire in Gaza

What Israel had said on UN resolution and US' stand

Israel had criticised the US abstention during the UN resolution, saying that the White House abandoned its policy. In a statement, Netanyahu's office called the US 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." "In light of the change in the US position, Prime Minister Netanyahu decided that the delegation will remain in Israel," read the statement released by Netanyahu's office.

ALSO READ| Donald Trump calls on Israel to finish up Gaza offensive, citing fading global backing

Why the Israeli delegation was expected to visit the US

Israel has been threatening to enter the southern Gaza city of Rafah, a refugee camp where more than a million Palestinians are sheltering from the war. In the wake of the matter, an Israeli delegation was expected to visit the US to discuss the war in Gaza.

The US has been pleading with Israel to consider alternatives to a major ground operation in Rafah.
Moscow: Russian president Vladimir Putin on Monday said the Moscow terror attack was carried out by "radical Islamists'. However, he refrained from naming ISIS, the terror group that has claimed responsibility for the dastardly attack. In an address to the nation on Telegram, the Russian leader suggested that Ukraine could have played a role in the attack to "show their own population that not all is lost for the Kyiv regime". In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin delivers his address in Moscow on March 23, 2024, the day after a gun attack on the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk. (AFP)

139 people died and 182 injured in Moscow after four men barged into the Crocus City Hall on Friday night during a concert and sprayed bullets. The Russian authorities have arrested four men of Tajik origin and have slapped terrorism charges against them.

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Vladimir Putin said radical Islamists carried out the attack.

"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," he said.

He claimed the attackers were nabbed while escaping to Ukraine. "The question that arises is who benefits from this?" Putin added.

Also read: Moscow terror attack: Who killed 133 at Russia concert? Details on 4 suspects

Putin said the attack could have been linked to the "neo-Nazi Kyiv regime".

"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," he added.

Putin said the attackers wanted 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 Zelensky denied that his country was behind the attack. He said for Putin, "everyone is a terrorist, except himself, though he has been thriving on terror for two decades."

"When he is gone, the need for terror and violence will disappear with him," Zelensky said.

The two countries have been fighting a protracted war since February 2022, when Putin ordered the Russian forces to invade Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the United States said Putin knows ISIS carried out the attack.

White House press secretary Karine Jean Pierre said: "This was a terrorist attack that was conducted by ISIS. Russian President Putin understands that and he knows that very well. And look, there is absolutely no evidence that the government of Ukraine had anything to do with this attack. We've been very clear about that. I do want to step back for a second and offer our deepest condolences to those who lost loved ones, and those who are injured because of this horrific attack. We continue to strongly condemn the heinous terrorist attack in Moscow. As we said before in early March, the United States government shared information with Russia about a planned terror attack in Moscow. We were very clear about that...ISIS bears the sole responsibility here."

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.

With inputs from AFP, AP, ANI, Reuters
On Monday, Canada launched a program to get its citizens out of Haiti as the Caribbean nation grapples with a surge in gang violence, political instability, and a widening humanitarian crisis.

Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said Canada had airlifted 18 Canadians out of Haiti as assisted departures began from the Caribbean nation.

Canada Airlifting Citizens Out of Haiti

Joly told reporters in Ottawa that her government would assist "the most vulnerable Canadians" in fleeing Haiti for the neighboring Dominican Republic. Joly said this includes Canadian citizens with medical conditions or those who have children.

"At present, the Dominican Republic has strict [eligibility] requirements for all those entering the country. Only Canadian citizens with a valid Canadian passport will be eligible for this assisted departure," Joly told reporters.

Canada is home to nearly 180,000 people of Haitian descent, and Haitian Canadians have been pleading with the government to aid their relatives who are trapped in Haiti during a weeks-long spike in deadly violence.

In early March, armed gangs attacked police stations, jails, and other government buildings in Port-au-Prince's capital. They called for the unelected Prime Minister Ariel Henry to step down.

According to the United Nations, the violence has reportedly prompted more than 360,000 Haitians to leave their homes. Others have been cut off from food, water, and other supplies because they have been trapped in their homes in Port-au-Prince.

Humanitarian agencies reported the nation is facing an increasing food crisis. The nation's main airport, located in Port-au-Prince, is still blocked as a result of the unrest, and armed groups have looted humanitarian cargo.

On Friday, Laurent Uwumuremyi, the Haiti director at Mercy Corps, said in a statement that gangs dominated 80% of Port-au-Prince, and now they control nearly 90% of neighborhoods.

Uwumuremyi claimed that basic tasks, such as grocery shopping at street markets or pharmacies or seeing a doctor, are now becoming impossible.

He also noted that if the situation continues to deteriorate without any efforts to address the unfolding humanitarian crisis, Port-au-Prince will soon find itself completely overwhelmed by this extreme violence.

On Monday, when asked about Canada's evacuation program logistics, Joly said evacuees must reach a gathering point in a safe area. From there, a helicopter will take them to the Dominican Republic.

She said she cannot provide details on the nature of the operations because she do not want those operations to be targeted by the gangs.

Furthermore, Joly said the government was investigating alternative options to help Canadian permanent residents and their families escape Haiti.

Read Also: Florida Driver Apparently on 'Unknown Drugs' Crashes Car, Steals Responding Ambulance: Authorities

US Evacuates First American Citizens From Port-au-Prince

Last week, the United States also launched helicopter evacuations from Haiti.

US State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters on March 20 that the department is in the process of organizing government-chartered helicopter flights from Port-au-Prince to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.

Patel added that from Santo Domingo, American citizens will be responsible for their onward travel to the US.

According to US media sources, a State Department spokesperson said on Saturday that over 230 US citizens have fled Haiti since March 17. The officials said this includes departures from Port-au-Prince and the northern coastal city of Cap-Haitien.

Based on census figures, the US hosts the largest Haitian diaspora community in the world, with over 1.1 million people identifying as Haitian in 2022.

Related Article: 21 Americans Aboard 3rd Flight Out of Haiti Arrive in Orlando



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On Monday, Brazil's foreign ministry summoned the Hungarian ambassador to explain why the South American country's embattled former president, Jair Bolsonaro, spent two nights "hiding" at Hungary's Embassy in Brazil last month.

Security footage obtained by the New York Times revealed that the right-wing populist sought shelter in the embassy in early February, just a short drive from the presidential palace that Bolsonaro had previously occupied. This was four days after two of his aides were arrested on suspicion of plotting to overthrow the Brazilian government.

Brazil Probes Bolsonaro's Stay at the Hungarian Embassy

According to the New York Times, Bolsonaro may have been attempting to avoid the Brazilian legal system by using his friendship with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban as he faces criminal investigations at home.

On Monday, Bolsonaro confirmed the report, telling the Brazilian website Metropoles, "I won't deny that I was in the embassy ... I won't say where else I've been. I have a circle of friends with some heads of state around the world. I talk to them about matters that are in our country's best interest. The rest is speculation."

A statement released by the former president's attorneys said that alternative interpretations amounted to a work of fiction, with no connection to the reality of the facts, and were fake news. It added that the president had remained in the embassy to stay in contact with the officials of a friendly country.

Bolsonaro, who lost power in late 2022 after losing to leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the presidential election, is facing multiple criminal investigations over allegations that he attempted to embezzle expensive foreign gifts, falsified his COVID vaccination records and plotted to topple the government of his successor.

On February 8, Bolsonaro was forced to turn over his passport as part of the federal police investigation into the alleged attempted coup on January 8, 2023. Marcelo Costa Camara and Filipe Martins, two close aides, were arrested, and addresses connected to influential former Bolsonaro administration officials were searched.

Orban shared a picture of himself shaking Bolsonaro's hands and saying encouraging words on X, formerly Twitter, that evening. "An honest patriot. Keep on fighting, Mr. President!"

According to photos obtained by the New York Times, a black saloon car showed up at the entrance of Hungary's embassy in Brazil four days later, on Monday, February 12, at 9:34 pm. Miklos Halmai, the ambassador, appeared to let his guest in after three minutes and brought Bolsonaro inside.

The former president reportedly remained at the embassy until the afternoon of February 14. Bolsonaro did not explain why he had decided to go to the embassy.

Read Also: Canada to Evacuate 'Most Vulnerable' Citizens From Haiti as Gang Violence Continues

Bolsonaro Breaks Silence Amid Coup Allegations

Bolsonaro openly expressed his concerns about suffering the same fate as Bolivia's former president, Jeanine anez. anez received a 10-year prison sentence in 2022 after it was determined that she had participated in the alleged coup in 2019, which had propelled her to power following the overthrow of President Evo Morales.

Before his election defeat, Bolsonaro declared that he could only imagine three outcomes for himself: triumph, incarceration, or death. According to the New York Times video, a fourth option might be on the table right now: moving into the Hungarian embassy, where international law protects him from arrest.

Reports of his two-day vacation at the embassy sparked calls for Bolsonaro's detention to stop him from evading justice. Augusto de Arruda Botelho, the former national secretary of justice, tweeted that Bolsonaro's attempt to hide in the embassy is a classic motive for preventive detention.

Other social media users also criticized Bolsonaro by using the hashtag "Bolsonaro fujao," which means "Bolsorunaway."

Related Article: Brazil's Bolsonaro Gathers Supporters in Rally To Show Political Strength Amid Coup Investigation



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(Photo : NYPD)

NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller was killed on Monday in New York City.

A New York City police officer was killed in the line of duty Monday when an ex-con with a lengthy rap sheet opened fire from inside a vehicle the cop had pulled over in what at first appeared a routine traffic stop.

At approximately 5:48 p.m., the slain officer and his partner on the NYPD Critical Response Team were engaged in a traffic stop on Mott Avenue in Far Rockaway, Queens. The team's primary objective is to address violations such as counterfeit license plates, unlawful window tints, and other quality-of-life concerns related to vehicles.

Our hearts are heavy as we honor our fallen brother, Police Officer Jonathan Diller. We pray for his family and brothers and sisters in blue as we cope with this immense loss.



Thank you to all those who helped our grieving department transfer Jonathan with the respect he pic.twitter.com/bZlryvK3Bm  Edward A. Caban (@NYPDPC) March 26, 2024

According to NYPD officials, the officers pulled over the vehicle for illegally parking at a bus stop.

The officers ordered the suspect to get out of the car but instead, he pulled out a gun and fired at the cops from inside the vehicle, fatally hitting one of them in the abdomen under his protective vest.

The partner opened fire and struck the shooter in the back. The mortally injured officer was transported to Jamaica Hospital but could not be saved.

The suspect was also taken to Jamaica Hospital, and police have not yet provided an update on his condition.

State records said the suspected shooter was released from a New York prison in 2021 after serving 5 years for criminal possession of a controlled substance. The parole in that case expired last year.

According to records, he was incarcerated again in 2011 for a first-degree assault charge and was released in 2014. The driver of the car was arrested and placed under detention, sources said.

Witness Deon Peters was in his nearby office when he heard the sound of gunshots. He then witnessed two individuals, one of whom was an officer, lying on the ground, the New York Post reported.

According to The Post's sources, the officer who was killed was a member of the specialized community response team.

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Chris Larsen, co-founder of the cryptocurrency exchange Ripple, does not agree with the SECs ruling against his company. Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle

The Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking a nearly $2 billion fine against San Francisco tech company Ripple over its sale of its XRP cryptocurrency token.

The agency said in a filing in New York federal court, which was unsealed Tuesday, that Ripple violated securities laws by selling the token to institutional investors and continues to do so. A federal judge ruled last July that the company violated investor protection laws by selling to institutional investors but not individuals.

Civil claims against CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Chairman Chris Larsen were dropped last year.

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Ripple executives slammed the SEC and its Chair Gary Gensler on X, formerly Twitter.

Genslers SEC has become unhinged. This will not, and should not, go unnoticed in an election year, as the SEC singlehandedly thinks its above the law, dragging the US further behind other G20 countries, wrote Larsen, who is a prolific political donor and philanthropist in San Francisco.

Garlinghouse said the agency has repeatedly acted outside the law. Ripple chief legal officer Stuart Alderoty said the company would file a response next month.

A Ripple spokesperson didnt comment beyond the statements.

The SEC is seeking $876 million in disgorgement, $198 million in prejudgment interest, and a $876 million civil penalty.

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It alleged that Ripple has not adequately responded by withholding information on institutional investors and hasnt accepted responsibility for its actions.

The SEC asks the Court to consider how easily actors, particularly in the crypto asset space, can today engage in the same sort of conduct as Ripples and send a strong message that such abuses will not be tolerated, the agency wrote in its filing.
According to police and sources, a commuter was struck and killed by a Manhattan subway train on Monday after being shoved onto the tracks in an unprovoked attack.

A police spokesperson said the unprovoked attack happened around 7 pm, and the victim was found dead a few minutes later by emergency medical professionals at the 125th Street station in front of a northbound 4 train.

Commuter Killed in NYC Subway Train

The spokesperson said the train was unable to stop in time and fatally hit the individual, and the investigation was ongoing. The authorities provided no further information about the suspect.

They said, "A person was pushed to the track as the train was entering the station. It was unprovoked."

Later, the victim was declared dead, and the sources said a suspect, described as an emotionally disturbed person, was arrested. Charges are pending.

The incident took place amid heightened law enforcement presence in the subway system following a few high-profile assaults despite a decline in overall crime.

Half of the attacks on MTA employees in the subway system last year involved mental illness.

According to a Post investigation, it was revealed that 20 of the 38 individuals accused of 41 different assaults on transit system employees had records of psychological issues.

Furthermore, several of the employees' attackers have criminal records.

Sources named Carlton McPherson as the alleged shover on Monday. The Post was informed by sources that he was arrested for assault in October 2023.

The suspect is due back in court in July after being released on bond.

The MTA said service on the 4/5/6 trains was severely disrupted and rerouted to other tracks.

Read Also: Brazil Launches Investigation Into Bolsonaro's 2-Night Sleepover at Hungarian Embassy

New York Officials Tighten Security To Combat Subway Crimes

Three weeks ago, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced that she would send 750 soldiers of the state's National Guard to assist New York City police in checking commuters' luggage at the busiest stations.

Hochul said the initiative's goal was to deter crime, and another 250 police from the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police and the New York State Police joined.

According to police data, there was a 15% decrease in crimes on the subway in February compared to the same month in 2023. The Democrat Hochul claimed that "rattling off" crime numbers did not reassure commuters.

New York Mayor Eric Adams, who once patrolled the subway as a police officer, claimed to have sent about 1,000 more police city officers into the subway in response to a spike in assaults and thefts in January.

He has underlined that, despite more than 4 million travelers each day on one of the biggest commuter rail networks in the world, there are only roughly six felony daily crimes, the majority of which are thefts.

Related Article: New York Subway Rider Shoots 'Aggressive' Commuter in Head as Rush Hour Passengers Duck for Their Lives: Report



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The British government formally blamed China for a string of cyberattacks on the UK's democratic institutions in the past few years.

The BBC initially reported on the matter on Monday (Mar. 25) after the British parliament announced that Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden would address colleagues about the accusations.

Addressing the House of Commons, the parliament's elected lower house, Dowden said that "Chinese state-affiliated actors" had been behind at least two separate "malicious" attacks on the country's electoral watchdog and lawmakers themselves.

"Taken together these actions demonstrate a clear and persistent pattern of behavior that signals hostile intent from China," he told MPs. "The cyber threat posed by China-affiliated actors is real and it is serious. But it is more than equalled by our determination and resolve to resist it."

Chinese Nationals, Firms Identified, Sanctioned

In response, the UK announced sanctions on two individuals and summoned the Chinese ambassador to lodge a protest about the matter. They were identified as Zhao Guangzong and Ni Gaobin.

A Chinese company named Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology Company was also sanctioned for allegedly working for the China state-affiliated cyber espionage group Advanced Persistent Threat Group 31 (APT31)

Dowden's statement marked a shift in the UK's readiness to call out China's cyberattacks and a departure from its more friendly relations with China, which were brought about by then-Prime Minister David Cameron a few years ago, prior to his admission to the unelected House of Lords after current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak appointed him as foreign secretary.

Beijing has since hit back at the claims, calling them "fabricated and malicious slander," Politico reported.

China's foreign ministry spokesperson, Lin Jian, said the government cracked down and punished all types of malicious cyber activities. He called on all parties involved to "stop spreading false information and take a responsible attitude to jointly maintain peace and security in cyberspace."

Westminster's stance also came after Washington charged seven Chinese nationals in a "sinister" 14-year scheme to hack the computers of high-ranking US government officials.

New Zealand also accused China of targeting its parliamentary network in 2021, with its country's defense minister, Judith Collins, saying that another hacking group known as APT40 was behind the "malicious cyber activity."

She said, "The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable."

Meanwhile, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neill made a joint statement saying that, while its electoral systems and other democratic institutions were not targeted similarly to what the UK suffered, they were concerned over what they called the "persistent targeting of democratic institutions and processes."

The ministers said, "This behavior is unacceptable and must stop. "Australia calls on all states to act responsibly in cyberspace."

Read Also: China Refrains From Using Intel, AMD Chips in Government Devices in Effort To Scrap Use of Microsoft's Windows OS

Anti-China MPs: Sanctions Not Enough

Three of the British MPs targeted by APT31former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, former minister Tim Loughton, and Scottish National Party (SNP) MP Stewart McDonaldreportedly received a briefing from the head of parliamentary security.

Local media considered the three as "China hawks" and were just some of the lawmakers who are also members of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, scrutinizing and criticizing Beijing's activities.

McDonald said that the British response to China's alleged cyberattack was like turning up to a "gun fight with a wooden spoon."

Meanwhile, Smith called for more sanctions against Chinese government actors, describing the deputy PM's statement as "like an elephant giving birth to a mouse."

Despite this, he called the announcement "a watershed moment where the UK takes a stand for human rights and an international rules-based system."

"The West has to wake up to the fact this is a challenge to the very way that we live our lives," he added. "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."

Related Article: US Charges Seven Chinese Hackers With 'Malicious' Cyberattacks, Thousands Impacted

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UN Humanitarian Chief Martin Griffiths is stepping down due to health concerns after attempting to address the escalating humanitarian crises in Ukraine, Gaza, and Africa for nearly three years.

Griffiths said he had notified Secretary-General Antonio Guterres of his plan to resign in June.

Griffiths to Step Down in June

On Monday, Griffiths posted on X, formerly Twitter, "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."

Earlier this month, he told The Associated Press that he had been facing a severe case of COVID-19 in October and is still suffering from COVID.

The under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs has been pressing Israel to permit humanitarian aid to reach Gaza in recent months. The region has been severely restricted from receiving aid supplies and has been devastated by an Israeli military assault that lasted more than five months.

Several NGOs and human rights groups have accused Israel of deliberately blocking aid to Gaza as reports of starvation in the beleaguered strip increase. Israel has denied the accusations.

Griffiths warned Israel last month, saying that an Israeli operation could lead to a slaughter, in response to protests against a planned assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where 1.5 million Palestinians have sought refuge.

He wrote in an op-ed for Al Jazeera in February that the October 7 attacks on Israel were horrific. He condemned them repeatedly and said that they could not justify what was happening to every single child, woman, and man in Gaza.

Furthermore, he has also raised the alarm about other ongoing global humanitarian crises.

This month, he warned that the next few months could bring about catastrophic starvation for around five million people in Sudan.

However, he has also faced criticism for his efforts.

Civil society organizations claimed that during his August trip to war-torn Myanmar, he had not achieved significant advancements in humanitarian aid and had instead given legitimacy to military coup leaders who had "weaponized" aid.

Following his visit, Griffiths issued a statement calling on the military to improve access to humanitarian relief. He pointed out that a third of Myanmar's population needed assistance due to crises.

He noted that they need better access to help them safely every week.

Read Also: New Yorker Pushed to His Death in Unprovoked Subway Attack

Griffiths on Combating Humanitarian Crisis Worldwide

In 1994, Griffiths was the director of the UN Department of Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva before establishing the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which he currently leads.

From 1999 to 2010, he served as the first director of the Geneva-based Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, where the UN reported that he was an expert in fostering political communication between governments and insurgents in various countries across Asia, Africa, and Europe.

Griffiths held several positions in the UN system, including the deputy head of the UN mission in Syria from 2012 to 2014 during the early years of the current conflict there, special adviser to three UN special envoys for Syria, and inaugural executive director of the European Institute of Peace from 2014 to 2018.

He also had previously served as a British diplomat and worked for several international aid agencies, such as Action Aid, UNICEF, and Save the Children.

Related Article: UN Warns of Potential Slaughter Amid Israeli Ground Invasion Threat in Rafah



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The White House considers that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is fabricating the public spat over a UN Security Council resolution in order to further his domestic political agenda, according to three US officials who spoke to Axios,

The Israeli prime minister also vented his public ire over what he perceives to be a plan by the White House and Congressional Democrats to damage his position as a politician within his own nation.

Netanyahu's Rejection Leaves White House Disappointed

The Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's response to the UN recovery seeking a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Hamas prisoners has left the White House disappointed and confused. Since the two partners' relationship hasn't deteriorated more, the US hasn't altered its stance.

The US has issued warnings that an Israeli incursion into Rafah, the southernmost city of Gaza, would result in a humanitarian catastrophe.

After discussing the UN resolution with Netanyahu's advisors, the US told him that it was likely to abstain. During these negotiations, the White House informed Netanyahu's advisors that the US abstention does not represent a change in policy and emphasized that the Biden administration does not view the UN resolution as binding.

Netanyahu said that if the US didn't oppose the resolution, he would cancel the Israeli delegation's travel to Washington to discuss the Rafah operation.

The US is confused as to why the prime minister chose to publicly voice his disagreements with the Biden administration, rejected the US interpretation of the UN resolution, and informed the United States of US policy when US policy has been made clear and differs from what Netanyahu is claiming.

According to a US official, the White House thinks Netanyahu overreached and is "perplexed" by it. Netanyahu rejected the US decision following the UN vote, calling it "a retreat from the consistent American position since the beginning of the war" and saying that the US absence "harms the war effort as well as the effort to liberate the hostages."

In a jab at President Joe Biden, who had requested the meetings, he said he was not sending an Israeli delegation to Washington to have high-level discussions with US authorities on an operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, according to Axios.

Read Also: Girl, 8, Drowns After She is Sucked Into 1-Foot Pipe at Houston Hotel Pool

US Abstains Amid Netanyahu-Biden Tensions

The US declined to exercise its veto power over the ceasefire resolution, which also called for the return of all captives abducted during Hamas' surprise attack in southern Israel on October 7, and the 15-member Security Council of the UN adopted it 14-0. After the vote, there was loud clapping in the chamber.

The US's decision] to abstain comes with escalating hostilities between Netanyahu and President Joe Biden's administration on Israel's conduct of the war, the large number of civilian deaths, and the meagreness of humanitarian aid reaching Gaza.

Netanyahu's denial of a Palestinian state, Jewish settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, and the growth of settlements there have all caused tensions between the two nations.

Biden's criticism of Israel's tactics against Hamas exacerbated the already well-known hostility between Netanyahu and Biden.

The supporter of President Biden, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, expressed doubts about Netanyahu's intentions and called for fresh elections in Israel. When Biden appeared to endorse Schumer's comments, Netanyahu chastised him.

The Israeli group was scheduled to brief White House officials on its plans for a potential military assault of Rafah, a city in southern Gaza near the Egyptian border where over a million Palestinian residents have taken refuge from the fighting, while in the US.

There is a serious humanitarian crisis in the area as the Gaza Health Ministry says that over 32,000 Palestinians have died in the continuing battle. An international body has said that "famine is imminent" in northern Gaza, and that a further escalation of the conflict may result in the starving of half of the 2.3 million people, Daily Mail reported.

Related Article: Israel Agrees to Hamas Hostage Release Deal Proposed by US: Report

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A man was arrested by Kern County, California, police on Friday after they saw him leaving the scene of a deadly train collision with a severed leg.

Bakersfield's FOX 58 said that 27-year-old Resendo Tellez has been taken into custody and suspected of stealing evidence from a crime scene.Around eight in the morning on Friday, the BNSF Railroad police and the Kern County Sheriff's Office came to reports of a pedestrian struck by a train at a Wasco station.

Man Caught on Video Taking Severed Leg in Accident Scene

After reportedly taking a human body part from the scene of a train accident in Wasco, California, which resulted in the death of a man who has not been identified, Tellez, 27, was taken into custody and charged with further crimes.

BNSF Railroad police and the Kern County Sheriff's Office are also participating in the investigation into the incident, which has raised doubts about Tellez's mental health and his reasons for what he did.

The number of many warrants that are ongoing for Tellez adds an additional degree of legal complexity to the case. This suggests that Tellez has a history of engaging in criminal activities or being involved with police enforcement.

Taking evidence from the scene of the train accident is a serious offense, and the choice to prosecute him with this offense indicates the seriousness of his conduct in the aftermath of the tragedy, according to People.

Read Also: Pumped Up: Arnold Schwarzenegger Reveals He Had Pacemaker Implanted, Then Got Back to Work

Burlington Northern Sanat Confirms Train Accident

Several sheriff's vehicles were seen rushing to the Amtrack railroad tracks in the footage capturing the alleged cannibalization incident. There was clear evidence of recent activity in the area, likely related to the incident involving the train that occurred around 8am.

Tellez walked nonchalantly down the street, holding the leg in one hand. He proceeded to lean down and smell the leg, quickly wiped his mouth, and twirled it around as officers moved in on the disturbing incident.

Authorities have confirmed that Tellez was apprehended without any complications, and it was discovered that he had multiple outstanding warrants.

Burlington Northern Santa, a railroad company, has confirmed to ABC23 that one of their trains was involved in a tragic collision resulting in loss of life.

According to authorities, an individual was struck while standing in front of an Amtrak platform. However, the investigation into the incident is still underway.

Tellez is currently in custody and is expected to appear in court on March 26.

Related Article: California Teenager Grabs, Shoots Herself With Deputy's Gun

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A tractor convoy carrying British farmers stormed London on Monday (Mar. 25) to protest against trading agreements they claim would "decimate" British farming and jeopardize the UK's food security.

Local media reported that the campaign groups Save British Farming and Fairness for Farmers of Kent assembled a "go-slow" convoy around the British parliament building in Westminster, with organizers expecting 50 to 100 tractors and other farm vehicles participating in the motorcade.

Some of the tractors could be seen flying British flags, while one of them was parked in front of Big Ben with a banner reading "Save UK food security" while farmers were holding placards. According to The Independent, other banners and signs the protesters flashed read: "Stop substandard imports," "No farmers , no food, no future," and "Beep for freedom."

"Time and time again they have let us down," Save British Farming founder Liz Webster told the BBC. "They promised to uphold our high standards and promised not to allow Britain to be a dumping ground ... what they are doing is making us a dumping ground."

Read Also: UK Accuses China of Cyberattacks on Electoral Database

The British public broadcaster also reported that younger farmers participated in the convoy.

"I'm a third generation farmer. I'm here for my future," 21-year-old Ben Stickland from West Sussex said. "There are multiple nails being put into this coffin built around us."

The rally in London followed protests by farmers and their supporters across Europe who were angered by competition from cheaper imports and wanted stricter environmental regulations, among other related matters, Reuters reported.

Separately, there was also a recent farmers' protest in India that attempted to roll over to New Delhi to call on the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend to their demands.

Thousands of farmers also joined forces in Wales to fight new farm subsidy plans launched by its government.

Last month, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told the NFU conference that he supported the farmers as he outlined government plans to boost the UK's food security.

Farming minister Mark Spencer echoed the promise on Monday.

"We firmly back our farmers," he said in a statement. "British farming is at the heart of British trade, and we put agriculture at the forefront of any deals we negotiate, prioritizing new export opportunities, protecting UK food standards and removing market access barriers."

Related Article: Angry Farmers Storm Brussels to Protest EU Summit

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Saudi Arabia currently has a set of humanoid robots, a male and a female, that match in appearance and have AI that is programmed to reflect the country's cultural norms.

The developer of the robot, Mohammed, disclosed that Sarah, the female counterpart, was designed to dismiss talks about politics or sex, just weeks after the male robot touched a woman's privates at its launch ceremony.

Saudi Arabia Launches Female Robot

Sara is an entirely new robot that was developed by QSS AI & Robots and has been launched by Saudi Arabia. noticed for her clumsiness, which is regarded an all too human attribute in close quarters, Sara is a female humanoid robot who is 25 years old.

It is well known that she has both of these qualities, and she is dressed in traditional Saudi clothing. However, because of the traditional cultural beliefs that are present in Saudi Arabia, it is quite possible that Sara is required to avoid from talking about things pertaining to sexuality.

As the outcome of Sara's use of artificial intelligence that was trained with a specific dataset, she is able to communicate with human clients in both Arabic and English effectively.

Muhammad, a humanoid robot that has been identified to be a male, was made open to the general public earlier this month. The making of the robot was a response to the criticism that followed his first appearance.

The unveiling of Muhammad was met with wide praise from the technological world as a demonstration of technical skill. But it also provoked heated comments on the internet because the robot was seen touching the back of a female reporter from Al Arabiya while she was attending the official ceremony, according to The New Arab.

Read Also: Canada to Evacuate 'Most Vulnerable' Citizens From Haiti as Gang Violence Continues

Saudi Arabia's Male Robot Makes 'Inappropriate' Gesture

The "inappropriate gesture" that the first male robot of Saudi Arabia made at a live show caused a surge of outrage on social media. The video footage from the occasion showed the robot making improper contact with a female reporter and extending its hand toward her.

In response to the video, this resulted in a number of people taking to social media to express their displeasure. Rather than being the result of intentional misbehavior on the part of the artificial intelligence, the robot was supported by a number of users of social media, who indicated that the event may be connected to a programming decision or a malfunction rather than intentional misconduct on the part of the AI.

With the intention of serving as a flagship national program to highlight Saudi Arabia's advancement in artificial intelligence technology, this robot, which was built by QSS Systems and given the name Muhammad, was planned to serve as said program.

"I am Muhammad, the first Saudi robot in the form of a man," Muhammad said at the occasion of its unveiling at DeepFest. As part of a national endeavor to present the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's achievements in the field of artificial intelligence, I was engineered, built, and developed in the country, NDTV reported.

Related Article: Florida Passes One of US' Most Restrictive Laws Banning Social Media Access for Minors

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The Colorado Senate approved legislation that might raise the difficulty of renter eviction for landlords.

After a full day of debate, House Bill 24-1098 received approval on second reading by voice vote soon before 5 p.m. Tenants would not be able to be evicted or have their leases terminated without a valid reason if the measure passed.

Colorado Measure Aims to Protect Tenants

The purpose of the measure in Colorado is to protect tenants, particularly those who have reservations about being evicted for complaining about any kind of issues, including living conditions. In the previous month, the measure was approved by the House of Representatives.

However, it is necessary for the Senate to vote on it once more before it is sent back to the House for MPs to examine modifications that were introduced by the Senate. If the revisions are approved by the House of Representatives, the measure will be sent over to the governor.

The "just cause" plan from the previous year was significantly lowered in this year's version, but the basic goal of the measure, which is to make it more difficult for landlords to remove tenants by refusing to renew their leases, was maintained.

According to the legislation as it stands, landlords are often free to choose whether or not to offer a lease renewal to their tenants.

Under the new legislation, they would be required to provide a particular explanation for their refusal, such as if the property is going to be sold, extensively repaired, or repaired, or if the family of the landlord intends to move in. If the landlord does not have a clear reason, they are expected to provide a new lease with "reasonable" terms, according to Denver 7.

Read Also: Pumped Up: Arnold Schwarzenegger Reveals He Had Pacemaker Implanted, Then Got Back to Work

Colorado Law Boosts Tenant Protections

However, they are allowed to raise the rent and make other modifications to the agreement that was previously in place between them and the tenant. In case that the landlord does not comply with the new law that is being proposed, the tenant would have a solid legal argument against being compelled to relocate.

Even before this week, supporters of the legislation had already given up on their idea that landlords would be liable for automatic compensation for certain violations of the law. The amendments to the measure have taken down some of the most restrictive provisions.

Senator Kyle Mullica, a Democrat, at one time advocated a complete rewriting that would have merely required landlords to provide notice before allowing a lease to expire. This would have been the only requirement necessary. The plan was backed by Republicans, but it failed since it did not receive support from Democrats.

According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, there are five more states that have eviction rules that are comparable to the "just cause" or "good cause" legislation described above. These states are New Jersey, California, New Hampshire, Oregon, and Washington.

The particulars of their policies, on the other hand, are different. "Just cause" laws were shown to be connected with decreased eviction rates in California communities, based on a study that was conducted in 2019. The state of New Jersey has had a rule like this in place since 1974, and reformers say that it has not had any adverse effects on the rental market.

Related Article: Judge Throws Out Elon Musk's X Lawsuit Against Hate Speech Trackers

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A thief in the state of Washington led law enforcement police on an investigation that lasted for hours until he was captured by a telephone wire that was hung at quite a distance above the ground.

Saturday was the day when the Vancouver Police Department responded to a complaint about a suspect who had entered a vehicle, stolen a number of items, and then ran into a neighbor's yard, where he was reportedly caught stealing a bike.

Man Climbs Restaurant Roof

A man who tried to avoid capture by the police by climbing onto the roof of a Little Conejo restaurant was not immediately noticed by police despite his actions. Starting with the act of hurling bricks, he began destroying windows and placing first responders who were in need of help in danger.

It was caught on video that he was hanging from a cable that was twenty feet above the ground. The impromptu acrobatic performance that was being provided was interrupted by him taking off his shirt and remaining uncooperative throughout the entire progress.

Raymond Egan, a captain with the Vancouver Fire Department, said the man did not want help in descending, and that it was difficult to assist him.

It was found by workers from the energy provider that the cable did not include any electrical components, according to Firehouse.

Read Also: Rebel Wilson Just Called Sacha Baron Cohen An 'A--hole' - Here's Why

Firefighters Help to Rescue the Suspect

During the time that the man was attempting to rest his feet on a second line, the firemen made the decision to place Engine 1 beneath him to lessen the impact of his fall and prevent further injury.

A medical examination occurred on the suspect after he was taken into custody by the police and taken to a hospital in an ambulance during the course of the investigation. Utility company technicians examined the cable and determined that it did not include any electrical components.

Related Article: New York Police Officer Gunned Down in Traffic Stop

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Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that those responsible for the shooting that resulted in the deaths of 139 people at a music venue in a suburb of Moscow are "radical Islamists." However, Putin reiterated his contention that Ukraine may have been involved in the shooting.

Before a meeting with leaders from the government, Vladimir Putin claimed that the killings were carried out by radicals "whose ideology the Islamic world has been fighting for centuries."

Putin Claims Arrest of Attackers Fleeing to Ukraine

Putin said that four assailants had been apprehended while attempting to flee to Ukraine, adding that the true identity of the attack's leader has not yet been established by authorities.

The occurrence was alleged to have been carried out by the Islamic State group's affiliate in Afghanistan, and US intelligence claimed to have material verifying the group's responsibility. According to French President Emmanuel Macron, France's intelligence indicates that "an IS entity" was behind the assault.

Unverified video of the four shooting suspects' interrogations have been making the rounds on social media. The suspects made their court appearance in Moscow on Monday. A portion of one suspect's ear had been severed and placed inside his mouth. When a reporter asked Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, on the inmates' treatment, he remained silent.

Putin took credit for the atrocity that occurred in Kiev on Friday, ignoring the American warning. He said that the strike had the purpose of "sow panic," but it was also possible that it was meant to "show their own population that not all is lost for the Kyiv regime" given that Russian forces were making their way across the Ukrainian conflict zone.

In his weekly video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ridiculed the remarks made by Putin, saying that "everyone is a terrorist, except himself, though he has been thriving on terror for two decades," according to USA Today.

Read Also: New Yorker Pushed to His Death in Unprovoked Subway Attack

Putin Accused of Shifting Blame

After eight years of fighting in eastern Ukraine between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian Ukrainians, Putin launched a full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022. Putin is allegedly trying to shift the blame, Zelenskyy said, while Ukraine has denied any involvement in the attack on Friday.

Washington declared that it accepted the Islamic State's assertion. According to US sources, they had alerted Russia last month to information about a potential assault and that the attacker appears to be Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K), an offshoot of Afghanistan.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters in Washington that the US had been "very vigilant" in following Islamic State's activities. The aggressive way which the US has been monitoring ISIS allowed the Russians a warning that they were heading for a potential terrorist attack in the very near future.

When questioned by reporters, French President Emmanuel Macron replied that the evidence "indicates indeed that it was an entity of the Islamic State that instigated this attack." It would be cynical and unhelpful for Russia itself and the security of its population to try to use this backdrop to attempt to turn it against Ukraine, he continued, adding that France has volunteered to assist uncover the criminals.

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.

Two other Tajik nationals, Isroil and Aminchon Islomov, father and son, as well as Dilovar, another son who holds Russian citizenship, have been put under detention by the court. According to the Investigative Committee, Fariduni may have recruited Aminchon and Dilovar. Dilovar was said to have owned the assailants' car by the Russian media, although Aminchon maintained his innocence, Reuters reported.

Related Article: Vladimir Putin Regards US Warning of Terrorist Threats as 'Blackmail' Days Before Concert Hall Attack

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United Airlines jets take off and taxi at SFO in San Francisco in October 2020. Paul Chinn/The Chronicle 2020 Passengers wait in line at the United Airlines check-in counters at the SFO International Terminal at SFO in December 2021. Constanza Hevia H./Special to the Chronicle 2021

From a blown-out Boeing 737 Max door on an Alaska Airlines flight to a string of incidents involving United Airlines planes, including a wheel falling off during takeoff from San Francisco International Airport, the recent travails of aircraft manufacturer Boeing and air carrier United have raised safety concerns among travelers.

Both companies are receiving close scrutiny from the Federal Aviation Administration. Depending on how those separate reviews proceed, one air travel expert said, operations at SFO  one of Uniteds biggest hubs  and other airports could be impacted.

After several incidents involving equipment or operational problems involving United aircraft  most manufactured by Boeing  the FAA on Friday said it was increasing oversight of the airline.

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If that oversight  essentially a safety analysis  reveals potential problems with Boeings manufacturing or Uniteds maintenance, the FAA may require inspections that could take aircraft out of service just as the airline is gearing up for the summer travel season, said aviation consultant Michael McCarron.

Doug Yakel, an SFO spokesperson, said the airport does not expect to be affected by any slowdown or reduction in production at Boeing. He referred questions about potential effects on United to the airline, which declined to comment.

While the FAA safety analysis order doesnt mention Boeing, the aircraft manufacturer is already being investigated by aviation safety inspectors after the cabin door incident.

Boeings CEO Dave Calhoun said Monday he will step down by the end of the year amid a major leadership restructuring at the aircraft maker triggered by the January blown-door incident.

United is SFOs largest commercial airline, carrying about half of the airports passengers, said McCarron, who previously worked at the airport in a number of positions, including spokesperson. The airline would be heavily impacted by required Boeing inspections, as would others.

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That would cause huge scheduling problems for any airline with Boeing aircraft, which is most of the major U.S. carriers, he said.

The FAA would not elaborate on what its oversight inspections would entail but issued a brief statement:

Due to recent safety events, the FAA is increasing oversight of United Airlines to ensure that it is complying with safety regulations; identifying hazards and mitigating risk; and effectively managing safety, the statement said.

United also acknowledged the safety review in a letter to employees from Sasha Johnson, vice president of corporate safety, that was reviewed by the Chronicle. She said the number of safety-related events in recent weeks have rightfully caused us to pause and evaluate whether there is anything we can and should do differently.

Over the next several weeks, we will begin to see more of an FAA presence in our operation as they begin to review some of our work processes, manuals and facilities. the letter continued. We welcome their engagement and are very open to hear from them about what they find and their perspective on things we may need to change to make us even safer.

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SFOs Yakel said that airlines at the airport have already reduced their schedules from January through July because of an ongoing runway closure. With arriving planes limited to using a single runway, delays of 30 to 60 minutes are expected to be common through at least April, he said.

McCarron said that while the most dramatic incidents  the blown-out door on an Alaska Airlines aircraft and the wheel that fell into an SFO parking lot after the takeoff of a United jet bound for Osaka  are uncommon, many of the others are not.

Incidents involving hydraulic system or wing problems, for example, occur relatively frequently and are almost always resolved without injury or notice. But in years past, no one had a cellphone with a camera to document the troubles.

In addition to the plunging tire during takeoff, United flights departing from or arriving at SFO experienced a variety of troubles  an engine failure on a trip from Hawaii, an engine fire on a flight from Houston, a hydraulic problem on a flight to Mexico and undisclosed maintenance issues that forced a flight from Sydney to SFO to turn back. No one was injured in any of the incidents.

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(Photo : Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

BERLIN, GERMANY - JANUARY 25: In this photo illustration a young man types on an illuminated computer keyboard typically favored by computer coders on January 25, 2021 in Berlin, Germany. 2020 saw a sharp rise in global cybercrime that was in part driven by the jump in online retailing that ensued during national lockdowns as governments sought to rein in the coronavirus pandemic.

New Zealand's security minister said on Tuesday that in 2021, hackers associated with the Chinese government carried out a state-sponsored operation that was directed against the country's parliament.

The accusation from New Zealand coincides with the release by American and British authorities one day prior of criminal charges and penalties against seven hackers who were thought to be residing in China and who had attacked companies, election watchdogs in the United Kingdom, pro-democracy campaigners, journalists, and US politicians.

New Zealand Minister Condemns Global Cyber Espionage

Judith Collins, who serves as the Minister of the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) of New Zealand, offered a vehement condemnation of cyber-enabled espionage activities that are designed to undermine democratic institutions on a global scale.

Recently, Collins made a statement to the media in which she stressed the reprehensible aspect of these activities and the vital importance of taking unified action to put an end to them.

Collins disclosed that the GCSB found a state-sponsored actor associated with China that is conducting malevolent cyberattacks against the legislative entities of New Zealand.

Collins says that when important legislative offices were compromised in 2021, the GCSB's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) carried out an extensive technical evaluation. According to this assessment, the cyber activity was related to the APT40 organization, which is based in China.

Fortunately, the NCSC worked with the impacted firms immediately to stop the intrusion and remove the danger from the hacked network. It turns out that the targeted networks had information that was essential to the New Zealand government's operation and highlights how serious the cyberattack was, according to Independent.

Read Also: Trump's Porn Star 'Hush Money' Trial Date Set, Judge Rejects Bid To Delay It Further

New Zealand Refrains From China Sanctions

New Zealand decided not to impose penalties on China in line with the United States and the United Kingdom, despite the seriousness of the cyberattack. Collins clarified that there is currently no legislation in place in New Zealand to impose such sanctions, and there are no urgent intentions to do so.

Winston Peters, the foreign minister of New Zealand, expressed similar worries to Collins' and underlined that this kind of foreign meddling is inappropriate. Peters declared that New Zealand would keep speaking out against this kind of behavior and taking a strong stand against actions that endanger democratic institutions.

Wang Yi, Peters' counterpart in China, highlighted the complexity of the two nations' relationship at their latest discussion. Although Peters recognized areas of interaction with China, New Zealand will continue to speak out against practices that are troubling.

Concurrently, these improvements correspond with the Biden administration's endeavors to tackle cybersecurity issues and restore balance with China. Sanctions against Chinese hackers were recently imposed, which highlights ongoing disputes worldwide over cybersecurity and democratic integrity.

Aside from the cyber assault on New Zealand's legislative bodies, analogous occurrences have been documented in the United Kingdom. British officials verified that Chinese hackers had attempted to access the email accounts of many Members of Parliament, including well-known opponents of China's policies, The New York Times reported.

Related Article: UK Accuses China of Cyberattacks on Electoral Database





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A play featuring 10-year-old Prince George coming out of the closet is reportedly in the works. Previously worked on projects like 'Slave Play' and HBO's 'Euphoria,' Jeremy O. Harris has proven himself as a playwright and producer who isn't afraid to tackle controversial ideas.

Still, a single of the famed actor's next productions is probably going to make dinner parties all over Brooklyn tremble with silverware. According to reports obtained by Page Six, Harris has established a production firm. One of his initial endeavors will be a short song named "Prince F- - -t" (without the dashes).

Play Features Prince George Admitting He's Gay

Jordan Tannahill, a Canadian author, has created a play that considers a possible future in which Prince George of Wales disclosed his sexual orientation to the public. It has been decided to adapt the play into a series for the BBC, which will be directed by Janicza Bravo and starring Rebecca Hall.

The thought of sexual orientation of Prince George has been an area of interest for a while. TV writer Gary Janetti imagined him as a catty, glamorous, status fanatic, which resulted in the creation of its own animated series on HBO called "The Prince." Some of the other projects that Tannahill has worked on include "Prince F-t" and "The Listeners."

The 'Slave Play' by Jeremy O. Harris is scheduled to be performed at the Noel Coward Theatre in London, with Kit Harington playing the lead role. As Catherine of Wales, the mother of Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, endures treatment for cancer, the drama follows the family of the three princes as they go through the process.

On Friday, Catherine disclosed that she had begun preventive chemotherapy following major abdominal surgery, which had left her hospitalized for a period of two weeks. The period of time that she stayed away from the public spotlight gave rise to rumors and speculations concerning her health and location, according to Perthnow.

Read Also: Kevin Bacon To Visit Utah High School Where 'Footloose' Was Filmed as It Celebrates Its Final Prom

Royal Family Faces Cancer Crisis

As was the situation with Diana, Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, the wife of Prince William, has been forthright about knowing that she is dealing with cancer. It is expected that Prince George, who is at present about the same age as Prince William, will follow in his father's footsteps.

The three young children of the Prince and Princess of Wales have been in the news, and Kensington Palace has acknowledged the significance of their presence.

The couple made the decision to avoid making an announcement while their children were at school; but they have now moved to their house in Norfolk, which is called Anmer Hall, so that they can protect their children.

However, when they go back to Lambrook school in Windsor on April 17, Prince George will not be able to run away hear the news because he is now 10 years old and cannot be protected from the truth of the situation.

Related Article: 'Can't Be Trusted': Meghan Markle, Prince Harry Reportedly Knew Kate Middleton Cancer Diagnosis Same Time as the Rest of the World

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Thousands of Christians in Jerusalem celebrated Palm Sunday on Mar. 24, marking the first day of Holy Week. Christians observe what they believe was Jesus Christ's passion, death, and resurrection in the year 33 AD.

The celebration this year was observed alongside the Jewish holiday of Purim and within the Muslim month of Ramadan amidst the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.

According to the Associated Press, pilgrims waved branches and fronds in the air to commemorate the biblical story where those items were placed before the feet of the donkey bearing Jesus as he entered Jerusalem. An earlier Palm Sunday service was held at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the revered site of Jesus's crucifixion and burial.

Despite the war in Gaza, the crowds that flocked to the old city remained constant - albeit smaller than in recent years - which could help alleviate Israel's struggling tourism industry, which took a freefall since Oct. 7.

Every year, Christian pilgrims process from Bethphage on the eastern side of the Mount of Olives, then climb the mountain and walk along its ridge before descending on the western slope, passing by the sanctuaries of Dominus Flevit, where it was believed that Jesus wept over Jerusalem, and Gethsemane, where he experienced the most painful hours of his passion.

From there, the procession entered the city through the Lion's Gate and stopped at the Basilica of St. Anne.

Cardinal Pizzaballa to Gazan Christians: 'We Will Never Abandon You'

EWTN further reported that the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, was among those who joined the procession.

"Even though we are few, it is important that there has been this triumphant entry," he addressed the congregations. "We have many problems, but we are truly happy that Jesus is our Lord! He is our joy and our strength."

Also present were the Franciscan Custos of the Holy Land, Fr. Francesco Patton, and the Papal Nuncio to Israel, Archbishop Adolfo Tito Yllana, who also holds the title of Apostolic Delegate in Jerusalem and Palestine.

The Rev. Gabriel Romanelli, who serves as parish priest of Gaza's small Christian community but has had to remain in Jerusalem, was also present in the procession.

One of the placards held by a pilgrim read, "Hosanna - Save us, Lord," while naming the two churches in Gaza - St. Porphyrios and Holy Family. In late October, officials from the Hamas-controlled Palestinian health ministry said that an Israeli strike hit St. Porphyrios, a Greek Orthodox church in Gaza where displaced Palestinians were sheltering, killing 18 people.

Cardinal Pizzaballa wanted to particularly remember the small Christian community in Gaza, which he said was "very dear" to him and for which he expressed words of great admiration.

"We will never abandon you, and we will do everything we can to support you," the patriarch addressed the Christians of Gaza. I know that this night seems endless, but do not be afraid. Even this night will end, and the dawn of the third day will come for you and for all."

Read Also: White House 'Perplexed' by Netanyahu Scrapping DC Visit in Wake of UN's Gaza Cease-Fire Vote

Palm Sunday Around the World

Catholics, Protestants, and Anglicans celebrate Holy Week beginning Sunday. The climax occurs on the three days preceding Easter Sunday, which some Catholics call the "Paschal Triduum."

While Catholics were having a Palm Sunday mass at a chapel in the Holy Sepulchre, Orthodox Christians, who follow the Julian calendar for its liturgical reference, celebrate the Sunday of Orthodoxy, which is the first Sunday of Orthodox Lent.

Most Orthodox Christians would celebrate Easter on May 5 this year.

Christians across the world also commemorated Palm Sunday according to their own customs.

In Rome, Pope Francis opted not to deliver his homily for this year's Palm Sunday Mass, prompting speculations about his health.

In lieu of the sermon, "a moment of silence and prayer" was requested to the congregation gathered at St. Peter's Square.

Filipino Catholics flock to churches in Asia to have their palms blessed by priests during Palm Sunday services across the archipelago. The country observes the "Paschal Triduum" as a national holiday and an opportunity for Filipinos to observe local Holy Week traditions.

In a message to the Filipino people, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. urged Catholics to "have a meaningful and reflective Holy Week" to "reflect on the many transcendent encounters that beckon us to explore the depths of our souls and rediscover the spirituality that lies at the core of our being."

"This hallowed time of contemplative silence behooves us to ponder on the mysteries that elude our grasp, seek revelation in the face of the inexplicable, and acknowledge the interplay of joy and sorrow in life so that we may understand the path laid before us by Almighty God," he added.

In Spain, Hollywood actor Antonio Banderas and his girlfriend Nicole Kimpel were spotted attending the procession of the "Lagrimas y Favores" (Tears and Favors) brotherhood in his hometown of Malaga.

According to the Agence France Presse, there are several processions throughout Holy Week across the country's major cities, with the most prominent ones being in Seville and Cordoba in Spain's Andalusia region. However, heavy rain prompted multiple cancellations of processions in Seville, as well as in Cadiz, Granada, Huelva, and Zaragoza after months of drought.

"You've got [to] accept what you're given, in this case by the heavens," Banderas joked.

He also posted on X, formerly Twitter, about his participation this year. He posted a photo of himself comforting two young women.

All three of them were wearing the robes, which could be described as penitential vestments brotherhoods wear, while carrying images depicting scenes from Jesus's passion.

"These young Nazarenes are learning that life sometimes gives you blessings, and sometimes, gives you tears," the caption read, referring to the women.

Related Article: Joyful Holiday Within the War: Jewish Community Prepares to Celebrate Purim

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The British High Court ruled that Julian Assange cannot be extradited to the United States on espionage charges on one very big condition.

The Wikileaks founder has garnered a partial victory in the ongoing legal battle over his site's publication of classified American documents. Two High Court judges ruled that Julian Assange, who faces espionage charges in the United States, can't be extradited to the U.S. unless America guarantees he won't be given the death penalty.

Assurances that he won't be given the death penalty need to be given within three weeks for the extradition to occur. This means the Assange saga, which has labored along for over ten years, will continue and he will remain in Belmarsh Prison, a high-security facility in London where he has been for the last five years.

The judges, Victoria Sharp and Jeremy Johnson, said that Assange, an Australian citizen, "is afforded the same First Amendment protections as a United States citizen and that the death penalty is not imposed."

If that occurs, according to the judges, "we will give the parties an opportunity to make further submissions before we make a final decision on the application for leave to appeal."

The judges said a hearing will be held May 20 if the U.S. makes those submissions. Supporters of Julian Assange say that, as a journalist, he is protected by the First Amendment for exposing U.S. military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan because he acted in the public interest.

They further argue that the prosecution is politically motivated and he could not get a fair trial in the U.S. Assange's wife Stella Assange said the WikiLeaks founder "is being persecuted because he exposed the true cost of war in human lives."

"The Biden administration should not issue assurances. They should drop this shameful case, which should never have been brought," she said outside the High Court in London.

The ruling follows a two-day hearing in the High Court in February, where Assange's lawyer Edward Fitzgerald said American authorities were seeking to punish him for WikiLeaks' "exposure of criminality on the part of the U.S. government on an unprecedented scale," including torture and killings.

The United States government contends Assange's actions went beyond journalism because his site solicited, stole, and indiscriminately published classified government documents that endangered innocent lives.

Judges rejected six of Julian Assange's nine appeal arguments, including that the prosecution is political.

The judges rejected six of Assange's nine grounds of appeal, including the allegation that his prosecution is political. They said that while Assange "acted out of political conviction ... it does not follow however that the request for his extradition is made on account of his political views."

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Brigitte Garcia, the 27-year-old mayor of Ecuador's coastal San Vicente, and her aide, Jairo Loor were found shot to death.

Their bodies were found inside a rented car on Sunday.

Police said the shots were fired from inside the vehicle. They did not say if any weapon was found on the scene or if it was a targeted assassination.

INFORMAMOS ||



Esta madrugada en el sector San Vicente, #Manabi, se identifico en el interior de un vehiculo 2 personas sin signos vitales, con heridas por impacto de arma de fuego, que corresponden a Jairo L. y Brigitte G. (alcaldesa del canton San Vicente).



Nuestras unidades pic.twitter.com/MXhKAzSyQJ  Policia Ecuador (@PoliciaEcuador) March 24, 2024

Investigators collected ballistic evidence from inside the car. They were hoping the GPS in the vehicle would help establish where the pair were before they died. There have been no arrests in the case and police were still looking for a motive.

Several politicians have been killed in recent years in Ecuador. Presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was assassinated last year at a campaign rally.

Garcia, a nurse, was elected mayor of San Vicente last year for the opposition Citizens' Revolution party.

Luisa Gonzalez, the party's former presidential candidate, called it an assassination.

She said she was in shock in a post on X. "I have no words, in shock, nobody is safe in Ecuador NOBODY," she said.

Me acabo de enterar que han asesinado a nuestra companera alcaldesa de San Vicente Brigitte Garcia.

No tengo palabras, en shock, nadie esta a salvo en Ecuador NADIE mientras los gobiernos miserables de Derecha solo viven de farra y show.  Luisa Gonzalez (@LuisaGonzalezEc) March 24, 2024

President Daniel Noboa's government said it was working with authorities to ensure "immediacy in the investigation," Sky News reported.

Ecuador declared a state of emergency in January after a notorious gang leader has vanished from the prison where he was serving time.

Days later, gunmen stormed a TV station during a live broadcast. A prosecutor investigating the attack was later gunned down.

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North Korea will refuse "any contact and negotiations" with Japan in the future, the powerful sister of the nuclear-armed country's leader said Tuesday, just a day after she said Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had requested a summit with her brother, Kim Jong Un.

In a statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, Kim Yo Jong pointed to the comments by the Japanese government's top spokesman on Monday that Tokyo would never accept Pyongyang's claim that the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by Pyongyang in the 1970s and 1980s had already been resolved, reports the Japan Times.

"Japan has no courage to change history, promote regional peace and stability and take the first step for the fresh DPRK-Japan relations," she said, adding that a summit meeting between the two countries' leaders was therefore "not a matter of concern" to Pyongyang.

"The DPRK government has clearly understood once again the attitude of Japan and, accordingly, the DPRK side will pay no attention to and reject any contact and negotiations with the Japanese side," KCNA quoted her as saying, using the acronym for the country's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Kim Yo Jong had raised the possibility of a North Korea-Japan summit on Monday when she said that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had conveyed his hopes of meeting her brother "as soon as possible."

But the sister, who serves as a top adviser to the North Korean leader, said that improving relations - and the chances of any summit - would hinge on whether Japan was willing to make "a political decision," likely a reference to the abduction issue.

Kishida declined to comment on the latest remarks, telling reporters late Tuesday that he would continue to stay the course in seeking to resolve the long-festering issues between the two countries that he set in motion more than a year ago.

"Whatever the case, Japan will continue to make efforts under its existing policies," he said.

Last month, Kim Yo Jong dangled the prospect of a visit to Pyongyang by Kishida - though this included the caveat that Japan remove "stumbling blocks" in the relationship, including what she said was the "already-settled" abductions issue.

On Monday, she reiterated this stance, saying that were Japan to remain "engrossed in the abduction issue that has no further settlement," Kishida's outreach to Pyongyang would be seen as little more than "a bid for popularity."

Kishida on Monday said that while nothing had been decided, summit-level talks would be "important for resolving issues such as the abduction problem."

Relatives of abductees last month conditionally accepted the possibility of Tokyo lifting its sanctions on Pyongyang, giving the Japanese government breathing room to attempt a breakthrough with its nuclear-armed neighbor.

Japan has identified 17 people as abductees taken by North Korea in the 1970s and 80s. Five of those were allowed to return home after then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited Pyongyang in 2002. But North Korea has said that of the remaining 12, eight had died and four never entered its territory.

In seeking a summit with Kim Jong Un, finding a palatable solution to the abduction issue has been a high hurdle to clear for Kishida, who has emphasized his openness to "unconditional talks" and repeatedly said that a "bold step" is necessary to improving ties.

Japan has long insisted it would only talk to Pyongyang once it changed its stance on the abductee issue.

Skeptics have said that the apparent olive branch offered by North Korea was merely concealing a more likely motivation - to drive a wedge between Tokyo's ever-closer trilateral and bilateral ties with Seoul and Washington.

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(Photo : EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP via Getty Images)

A Canadian judge ruled in favor of a woman seeking a medically assisted death, even though her father claims that she has no applicable physical health concerns.

A Canadian judge ruled this week that a 27-year-old woman can access medical assistance in dying (MAID), even as her father pleads that she does not have any qualifying medical conditions.

In order to protect the family's privacy, the woman is being identified as M.V., while her father is identified as W.V.

"M.V.'s dignity and right to self-determination outweighs the important matters raised by W.V. and the harm that he will suffer in losing M.V.," wrote Calgary Justice Colin Feasby, in the ruling.

"Though I find that W.V. has raised serious issues, I conclude that M.V. 's autonomy and dignity interests outweigh competing considerations."

M.V.'s assisted suicide was initially scheduled for Febraury 1, but her father was able to successfully file an injunction the day before. He also submitted documentation indicating that in 2021 his daughter underwent a neurology scan and her results came back as "normal."

W.V. argues that M.V. was "unduly influenced by a third party," CBC reported.

"M.V. suffers from autism and possibly other undiagnosed maladies that do not satisfy the eligibility criteria for MAID," the dad argued in his lawsuit. The 27-year-old lives with her parents and has never held a long-term, steady job, according to the Globe and Mail.

When Canada first legalized assisted suicide, it was limited to people who were suffering from terminal illnesses. The law was amended in 2021 to include those with non-terminal but severe and permanent medical conditions. Those suffering exclusively from mental illnesses are still excluded from MAID eligibility.

The expanded version of the law has been condemned by the United Nations, Pope Francis and disability rights advocates - all of whom argue that it places an undue burden on disabled Canadians.

In Feasby's ruling, he said that W.V. worries that his child "is vulnerable and is not competent to make the decision to take her own life."

"He says that she is generally healthy and believes that her physical symptoms, to the extent that she has any, result from undiagnosed psychological conditions."

M.V. did not outline what her qualifying conditions were in her court filings. When she first sought approval for the procedure, M.V. was denied and had to re-do the process. On her second attempt, the tie-breaking vote to approve the assisted suicide came from the same doctor who approved her during her first attempt, according to the Globe and Mail.

"What I know of your journey through the health-care system from the evidence in this case suggests that you have struggled to find a doctor who could diagnose your condition and offer appropriate treatment," Feasby wrote, addressing M.V. directly in the ruling.

"I do not know why you seek MAID. Your reasons remain your own because I have respected your autonomy and your privacy. My decision recognizes your right to choose medically assisted death; but it does not require you to choose death."

Feasby issued a 30-day stay of his decision which will allow the father to appeal the decision.

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(Photo : Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)

A cargo ship is shown after running into and collapsing the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, 2024, in Baltimore, Maryland.



President Biden called the collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge a "terrible accident" and called on Congress to support a quick rebuild with federal funds.

A major portion of the Key Bridge collapsed early Tuesday after a large shipping vessel ran into one of its support structures.

Speaking from the White House on Tuesday afternoon, Biden said, "Our prayers are with everyone involved."

Earlier Biden posted on X that he directed his administration to "ensure every federal resource is available to assist search and rescue efforts and response to this terrible incident."

This morning, I convened senior members of my team for a briefing on the collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge.



I've directed my Administration to ensure every federal resource is available to assist search and rescue efforts and response to this terrible incident. pic.twitter.com/quqe7jogwm  President Biden (@POTUS) March 26, 2024

The president added in his afternoon remarks that he wants the federal government to pay the entire cost for the bridge's reconstruction, and called on Congress to coordinate.

"We're going going to rebuild that port together," Biden said. "We're going to get it up and running as soon as possible."

An active search and rescue mission was continuing into Tuesday afternoon, Maryland state officials said after the sun came up.

Bridge collapse key points

At least 4 vehicles located in water

50 divers in water

6 people believed missing

No apparent link to terrorism

Ship lost power before hitting bridge

The Singaporean-flagged cargo vessel Dali crashed into the bridge at around 1:30 a.m. after losing power. The incident caused multiple vehicles to fall into the river below.

"We have an unspeakable tragedy," Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said.

Officials said there were no confirmed fatalities during a Tuesday morning news conference but rescue operations were still underway.

Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace said about 50 divers were in the water for the search.

They had located three passenger vehicles in the water and a cement truck. There is one other possible vehicle that was located, Wallace said. It is believed that all of the vehicles were conntected to the contruction crew.

The ship lost power and declared a mayday before hitting the bridge. State officials say bridge workers immediately closed the bridge to vehicle traffic and that may have saved lives.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said there was no indication of a connection to terrorism and appeared the impact to be an accident.

Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul J. Wiedefeld said crews faced a "very tough situation" conducting rescue operations in the frigid water.

"All [Dali] crew members, including the two pilots, have been accounted for, and there are no reports of any injuries. There has also been no pollution," the firm said in a statement obtained by the shipping news outlet TradeWinds.

According to Shipwreck Log and VesselFinder, the ship was previously involved in an incident in Antwerp, Belgium, in 2016 and the ship had just left Baltimore to head toward Sri Lanka when she struck the bridge.

Baltimore Bridge Collapse 2024

Multiple vehicles fell into the water as the bridge collapsed; authorities continued efforts Tuesday afternoon to rescue six construction workers who were doing maintenance work on the bridge at the time of the incident.

Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace said two people were pulled from the water. One of them was able to walk away without medical care. The other person was in very serious condition at a hospital.

"There's many more we have to find," Mayor Scott said. "This is an all hands on deck situation."

"This is a dire emergency. Our focus right now is trying to rescue and recover these people," Baltimore Fire Department communication director Kevin Cartwright said, adding that it was too early to know how many people were affected but called the collapse a "developing mass casualty event."

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said that he had offered his support to the state and city.

"Rescue efforts remain underway and drivers in the Baltimore area should follow local responder guidance on detours and response," he wrote on X.

Ive spoken with Gov. Moore and Mayor Scott to offer USDOTs support following the vessel strike and collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge. Rescue efforts remain underway and drivers in the Baltimore area should follow local responder guidance on detours and response. March 26, 2024

Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse

The Francis Scott Key Bridge was opened in 1977 and spans the Patapsco River. It is a vital artery that, along with the Port of Baltimore, is a hub for shipping on the US East Coast. The bridge carries Interstate 695 over the Patapsco.

From a vantage point near the entrance to the bridge, jagged remnants of its steel frame protrude from the water. An on-ramp now ends abruptly where the fallen span once began.

@ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Jack Lee joined The San Francisco Chronicle's Weather Science team in 2022 as a data reporter.

He has written for a variety of science journalism outlets, covering everything from COVID-19 to songbirds to extreme weather events. Most recently, he has been writing about cancer prevention and early detection for the National Cancer Institute.

Before coming to science writing and journalism, Lee earned a Ph.D. in molecular biology at Princeton University and then worked as a data engineer for several years in the Bay Area. He obtained a masters in science communication from UC Santa Cruz in 2020.

He can be reached at Jack.Lee@sfchronicle.com.
Media in Lebanon are reporting renewed strikes in northeastern Lebanon's Baalbek District by the Israeli Defense Force.

The strikes follow an IDF announcement alleging it had targeted a Hezbollah compound near Zboud after missiles were launched at the Mount Meron air traffic control base.

The reports come in the aftermath of an Israeli attack that killed two members of Hezbollah amid accusations the country is attempting to expand its strikes.

Security sources disclosed two Israeli air raids deep inside the east of Lebanon on Monday, according to Barron's.

Israel and Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group known to have ties to Hamas, have been exchanging cross-border fire almost daily since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October.

Baalbek is around 100 kilometers from the Israeli border and an area identified as a Hezbollah hide-out.

In recent weeks, heightened tensions have spiked due to Israeli air strikes furthering into eastern Lebanon.

"Today the enemy is trying to expand its attacks against civilians in Baalbek, in the western Bekaa or elsewhere," Hezbollah's deputy chief Naim Qassem said Sunday.

"There will be responses to each of them."

No details have been revealed as to where the two Hezbollah fighters died, but the militant group said they "died as martyrs" due to Israeli attacks.

Another Israeli strike on a car near the Syrian border killed a man early Sunday. Overnight fire in the region wounded four people, said security sources.

"Israeli aircraft targeted a vehicle in... Suwairi, killing its Syrian driver," the security source told AFP, requesting anonymity because of security concerns.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) said the driver killed by the strike had been delivering food in a car that belonged to a supermarket owner.

On Saturday, Israeli missiles struck an abandoned Hezbollah center in the Baalbek district. Four people were reportedly wounded.

The Israel-Lebanon border had been relatively calm for roughly ten days before strikes at al-Osseira, located 100 kilometers from the border.

In a statement, the Israeli military claimed fighter jets "struck a Hezbollah manufacturing site containing weapons in the area of Baalbek," the main city in the Bekaa Valley.

Additionally, Hezbollah revealed it fired "more than 60 Katyusha-type rockets" at two Israeli military positions in the occupied Golan Heights in retaliation to the Israeli strikes.

"Approximately 50 launches were identified from Lebanon toward northern Israel," said the Israeli military but did not point to any victims or damage.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant cautioned that a possible truce in Gaza would not influence Israel's "objective" of pushing Hezbollah back from its northern border, however deemed necessary.

At least 326 people have been killed in Lebanon, most of them Hezbollah fighters but including more than 50 civilians, according to an AFP count.

At least ten soldiers and seven civilians have been killed in northern Israel, according to the military.

Hezbollah has reiterated on numerous occasions that it will only halt its attacks against Israel if there's a ceasefire in Gaza.

@ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
(Photo : Rob Carr/Getty Images)

A cargo ship is shown after running into and collapsing the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, 2024 in Baltimore, Maryland

The National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday took over the investigation into the collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge after a cargo ship crashed into it.

NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy updated the investigation at an afternoon news conference. She said a team of 24 investigators started arriving at the accident scene as early as 6 a.m.

The Coast Guard would help in the probe into what happened, while also continuing a search and rescue operation for the six people who remained unaccounted for after the collapse.

Homendy said the safety record of the ship and its owners will be investigated.

Investigators will also recover and analyze the ship's voyage data recorder, Homendy said. The systems are required to be installed on all modern vessels to preserve details about the ship and provide information to investigators after an accident.

"It's a critical piece of our investigation," Homendy said of the data recorder.

The Singaporean-flagged cargo vessel Dali crashed into the bridge at around 1:30 a.m. after losing power. The incident caused multiple vehicles to fall into the river below.

"We have an unspeakable tragedy," Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said.

Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace said about 50 divers were in the water on Tuesday morning for the search.

By Tuesday afternoon, they had located three passenger vehicles in the water and a cement truck. There is one other possible vehicle that was located, Wallace said. It is believed that all of the vehicles were connected to the contruction crew.

The Dali lost power and declared a mayday before hitting the bridge. State officials say bridge workers immediately closed the span to vehicle traffic, likely saving lives.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said there was no indication of a connection to terrorism, and appeared the impact to be an accident.

Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul J. Wiedefeld said crews faced a "very tough situation" conducting rescue operations in the frigid water.

"All [Dali] crew members, including the two pilots, have been accounted for, and there are no reports of any injuries. There has also been no pollution," the firm said in a statement obtained by the shipping news outlet TradeWinds.

According to Shipwreck Log and VesselFinder, the ship was previously involved in an incident in Antwerp, Belgium, in 2016 and the ship had just left Baltimore to head toward Sri Lanka when she struck the bridge.

Baltimore Bridge Collapse 2024

Multiple vehicles fell into the water as the bridge collapsed. Authorities continued efforts Tuesday afternoon to rescue six construction workers who were doing maintenance work on the bridge at the time of the incident.

Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace said two people were pulled from the water. One of them was able to walk away without medical care. The other person was in very serious condition at a hospital.

"There's many more we have to find," Mayor Scott said. "This is an all hands on deck situation."

"This is a dire emergency. Our focus right now is trying to rescue and recover these people," Baltimore Fire Department communication director Kevin Cartwright said, adding that it was too early to know how many people were affected but called the collapse a "developing mass casualty event."

Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse

The Francis Scott Key Bridge was opened in 1977 and spans the Patapsco River. It is a vital artery that, along with the Port of Baltimore, is a hub for shipping on the US East Coast. The bridge carries Interstate 695 over the Patapsco.

From a vantage point near the entrance to the bridge, jagged remnants of its steel frame protrude from the water. An on-ramp now ends abruptly where the fallen span once began.

President Biden called the collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge a "terrible accident" and called on Congress to support a quick rebuild with federal funds.

@ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
China's Northwestern Polytechnical University develops AI robotic guide dog

People's Daily Online) 14:12, March 26, 2024

A robotic guide dog, marking a major advance in offline embodied artificial intelligence, has been developed by a team at Chinas Northwestern Polytechnical University.

Embodied AI refers to intelligent machines with a physical form that can interact with the environment in real time. Professor Li Xuelong and his team designed the robotic dog to function independently offline, enabling it to intelligently interact with humans and assist them in various situations, such as using elevators, crossing streets, and navigating indoor environments.

The video screenshot shows a robotic guide dog developed by Professor Li Xuelong's team at Northwestern Polytechnical University.

According to Li, the robotic guide dog demonstrates the potential of offline embodied AI as a feasible alternative to traditional guide dogs, emphasizing its ability to operate independently without internet connectivity. Moreover, it introduces an innovative solution to alleviate the shortage of guide dogs available to visually impaired individuals.

In recent years, the development of robotic guide dogs has accelerated, fueled by advancements in robotics and Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) technology.

However, earlier versions of these robotic guide dogs could not engage in free conversation with humans, primarily due to limitations in natural language processing technology. This shortfall also impeded their ability to provide emotional companionship.

To overcome these limitations, Professor Li's team combined the latest techniques in large-model quantization, compression, and accelerated inference. This approach enabled them to successfully deploy large models on the robotic dog's low-power computing platform, thus validating the feasibility of offline embodied AI.

The robotic guide dog has proven effective at communicating with visually impaired individuals, guiding them through various challenging environments such as roads, stairs, and elevators. Experiments conducted by the team have confirmed that the robotic guide dog can intelligently interact with humans, provide guidance in areas with weak network connectivity, and navigate indoor spaces.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
Japans Cabinet OKd a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets to other countries on Tuesday, its latest step away from the pacifist principles the country adopted at the end of World War II.





The controversial decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japans role in a year-old project to develop a new fighter jet together with Italy and the U.K., but its also part of a move to build up Japans arms industry and bolster its role in global affairs.





File Photo of Defense Minister Minoru Kihara





For now, Tokyo says that it doesnt plan to export co-developed lethal weapons other than the new fighters, which arent expected to enter service until 2035.





Here is a look at what the latest change is about and why Japan is rapidly easing weapons export rules.





WHATS CHANGING?





On Tuesday, the Cabinet approved a revision to its guidelines for selling defense equipment overseas, and authorized sales of the future jet. The government says that it has no plans to export other co-developed lethal weapons under the guidelines, and it would require Cabinet approval to do so.





Japan has long prohibited most arms exports under the countrys pacifist constitution, although its begun to take steps toward a change amid rising regional and global tensions. In 2014, it began to export some non-lethal military supplies, and last December, it approved a change that would allow sales of 80 lethal weapons and components that it manufactures under licenses from other countries back to the licensors. The change, which was made in December, cleared the way for Japan to sell U.S.-designed Patriot missiles to the United States, helping replace munitions that Washington is sending to Ukraine.





The decision on jets will allow Japan to export lethal weapons it co-produces to other countries for the first time.





WHAT IS THE NEW FIGHTER JET?





Japan is working with Italy and the U.K. to develop an advanced fighter jet to replace its aging fleet of American-designed F-2 fighters, and the Eurofighter Typhoons used by the U.K. and Italian militaries.





Japan, which was previously working on a homegrown design to be called the F-X, agreed in December 2022 to merge its effort with a British-Italian program called the Tempest. The joint project, known as the Global Combat Air Program, is based in the U.K., and hasnt yet announced a new name for its design.





Japan hopes the new plane will offer better sensing and stealth capabilities amid growing tensions in the region, giving it a technological edge against regional rivals China and Russia.





WHY IS JAPAN CHANGING ITS STANCE ON ARMS EXPORTS?





In its decision, the Cabinet said that the ban on exporting finished products would hinder efforts to develop the new jet, and limit Japan to a supporting role in the project. Italy and the U.K. are eager to make sells of the jet in order to defray development and manufacturing costs.





U.K. Defense Minister Grant Shapps has repeatedly said Japan needs updating to not cause the project to stall.





Kishida sought Cabinet approval before signing the GCAP agreement in February, but it was delayed by resistance from his junior coalition partner, the Buddhist-backed Komeito party.





Exports would also help boost Japans defense industry, which historically has catered only to the countrys Self Defense Force, as Kishida seeks to build up the military. Japan began opening the door to some exports in 2014, but the industry has still struggled to win customers.





The change also comes as Kishida is planning an April state visit to Washington, where he is expected to stress Japans readiness to take a greater role in military and defense industry partnerships.





Japan sees Chinas rapid military buildup and its increasing assertiveness as threats, especially growing tensions in the disputed East and South China Seas. Japan also sees increasing joint military exercises between China and Russia around Japan as a threat.





WHY ARE ARMS EXPORTS DIVISIVE?





Because of its wartime past as an aggressor and the devastation that followed its defeat in World War II, Japan adopted a constitution that limits its military to self-defense and long maintained a strict policy to limit transfers of military equipment and technology and ban all exports of lethal weapons.





Opposition lawmakers and pacifist activists have criticized Kishidas government for committing to the fighter jet project without explaining to the public or seeking approval for the major policy change.





Recent polls show public opinion is divided on the plan.





To address such concerns, the government is limiting exports of co-developed lethal weapons to the jet for now, and has promised that no sales will be made for use in active wars. If a purchaser begins using the jets for war, Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said, Japan will stop providing spare parts and other components.





WHATS NEXT?





Potential markets for the jet include the 15 countries with which Japan has defense partnership agreements, such as the United States, Germany, India and Vietnam. A defense official said Taiwan  a self-governed island that China claims as its own territory  is not being considered. He spoke on condition of anonymity due to briefing rules.





More weapons and components could be added to the approved list under the new export guidelines.





When Kishida goes to Washington in April, hes likely to talk to U.S. leaders about potential new defense and weapons industry cooperation. The new policy could also help Japan push for a bigger role in alliances and regional defense partnerships like Australia, the U.S. and the U.K.s AUKUS.
MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) ("MGM Resorts" or the "Company") longtime executive Niklas Rytterstrom assumes new role as President & Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa, overseeing the resort's daily operations and strategic direction focused on continued employee engagement, guest service and community relations. Rytterstrom succeeds Travis Lunn who recently announced his return to Las Vegas to become President and COO of Mandalay Bay and Luxor, both within the MGM Resorts portfolio.

A hospitality industry veteran, Rytterstrom began his career with MGM Resorts in 1999 as Assistant Hotel Manager at Bellagio Resort & Casino. 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. Prior to his tenure at those properties, he was General Manager of Gold Strike Casino in Tunica, Mississippi, where he successfully drove initiatives that led the property to reach its highest market share for three consecutive years.

Rytterstrom holds a Bachelor of Science 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.
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.

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!"
Markham, Ontario - Maestro PMS has recently partnered with Right Revenue to streamline and enhance revenue-management capabilities for its joint independent hotel customers. Right Revenue takes robust guest history data that resides in Maestro PMS, runs rate recommendations for each room type through complex machine learning and AI, then pushes a new pricing strategy back into Maestro PMS at the touch of a button. By analyzing booking patterns and making recommendations on rate strategies, hotels can drive more profit to the bottom line.

Galgorm, an award-winning and forward-thinking luxury hotel collection in Northern Ireland is the first to benefit from this integration partnership. Galgorm is known worldwide for implementing cutting-edge technology to maintain a competitive edge and stay ahead of the curve.

Maestro PMS and Right Revenue stand out as best-in-class industry technologies due to their exceptional features and seamless integration capabilities, which elevate our customer experience and operational efficiency. Maestro PMS has evolved alongside our needs, enabling us to deliver a seamless customer journey. Its innovative features, such as digital registration forms and a comprehensive CRM system, empower us to provide personalized experiences and streamline guest interactions. Combined with Right Revenue, Maestro PMS becomes even more powerful. Right Revenue's advanced revenue management solutions enable us to optimize pricing strategies and maximize revenue potential. Its real-time analytics and forecasting tools provide valuable insights that inform strategic decision-making, driving our profitability and competitive advantage in the market. Megan Wright, group revenue manager at Galgorm Collection

The integration between Maestro PMS and Right Revenue brings several operational benefits to Galgorm:

It extends Galgorms rate management horizon, allowing for more proactive planning and optimization of Average Daily Rate (ADR). Previously, rate changes were primarily handled manually, but with this integration, Galgorm can automate this process, saving valuable time and ensuring greater accuracy.

It allows Galgorm to dedicate more time to analyze its competitive landscape. By leveraging real-time data provided by Right Revenue, Galgorm can make more strategic decisions regarding pricing and positioning within the market.

It replaces Galgorms current reporting system with streamlined, automated reporting through Right Revenue. This means Galgorm can quickly access comprehensive overviews and receive real-time feedback, empowering it to make informed decisions promptly.

It offers Galgorm the advantage of comparing performance across all properties in a clear and concise layout. This enables Galgorm to make decisions that benefit all three of its properties simultaneously, enhancing its overall operational efficiency and effectiveness.

Revenue Up, Labor Costs Down

Adrienne Hanna, Right Revenue Founder and CEO, said working with Maestro PMS has been an absolute dream as it one if the easiest integrations Right Revenue has completed.

The integration was seamless and straight forward, Hanna said. Both companies would walk over hot coals to give Galgorm the most robust data available to achieve a strong return on their investment. We are thrilled that Galgorm is receiving accurate reports and making better business decisions due to this partnership.

Across our portfolio we see an uplift of circa 10% revenue gain along with average labor saving of around 15 hours per week. If you turn those savings into cash, its considerable, Hanna said. Fewer team members are doing more jobs. By connecting our two systems, Maestro PMS and Right Revenue are giving Galgorm hotels the support they need to make more strategic rate decisions based on yield, future performance, and what is happening in the market.

Maestro President Warren Dehan said while the integration primarily supports revenue and sales managers internally, it indirectly benefits guest services, particularly in the realm of guest enquiries. By streamlining Galgorms revenue management processes, management can respond more efficiently to guests, saving valuable time and providing guests with accurate and real-time information regarding rates and availability.

Although the integration's main impact is internal, ensuring that rates are accurate and updated in real time directly enhances the guest experience, Dehan said. Travelers will appreciate the transparency and reliability of Galgorms pricing information, leading to increased satisfaction and loyalty.

We are delighted that Galgorm is having tremendous success with Maestro PMS, he said. In todays competitive environment, its imperative that hotels stay ahead of industry trends and continuously evolve to meet the changing needs and expectations of guests. Through Maestro PMS and Right Revenue, this trendsetter and innovator is outperforming its competitors, demonstrating its ability to maintain a competitive edge in the market.

Galgorms Wright had this to say: Maestro's commitment to ongoing support and its willingness to integrate new technologies ensures that we stay at the forefront of innovation. Furthermore, Maestro extends its capabilities beyond room management to include our spa operations, offering a holistic solution that caters to all aspects of our business.

About Maestro PMS

Maestro is the preferred Web Browser based cloud and on-premises all-in-one PMS solution for independent hotels, luxury resorts, conference centers, vacation rentals, and multi-property groups. Maestros enterprise system offers embedded payments and 20+ integrated modules on a single database, including mobile and contact free apps to increase profitability, drive direct bookings, centralize operations, and enable operators to engage guests with a personalized and safe experience. Maestros Support Service provides unparalleled 24/7 North American based live support and education services.

About Right Revenue

Right Revenue is a data analysis, forecasting and price recommendation solution, designed specifically for independent hotels. Our solution is user-friendly, flexible and most importantly, accurate - helping you make those all-important decisions on pricing, always with profitability in mind. Forecasting is never simple but with Right Revenue, we ensure that a data-driven, accurate forecast is always at your fingertips. Our reporting is flexible, ensuring that you have all of the information needed to make great decisions presented in visual dashboards. In short, we do the 'smarts' to let you do the strategy.

About Galgorm

Galgorm Collection is a luxury hospitality group, owning and operating an award-winning resort, hotels, and several restaurants in Northern Ireland. We are a family-inspired business, with broad aspirations and a strong sense of purpose. Galgorm Resort is the flagship property within The Collection, purchased by the Hill Family in 1991. The Resort over the last 30 years has undergone a 60million investment program which now sees it comprise of luxury guestroom and lodging accommodation, 4 restaurants, and bars, as well as extensive conference and banqueting facilities. The jewel in the crown is the famed Thermal Spa Village, the first of its kind in Ireland and is open to residents and day spa guests alike  offering a smorgasbord of heated, cool spa experiences. For more information, visit www.galgorm.com.

Barb Worcester
Changes in land use rights to encourage tourism can have unexpected negative consequences for tourist businesses, according to Dr Michael Lin of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and co-authors. Noting that the impact of land use regulation on tourism has historically been understudied, the researchers performed an impact assessment of a unique form of tourist business in Namibia. They found that although regulatory changes had expanded access to land use rights, the economic outcomes for these ventures were not entirely positive, due to legal complexities and conflicts between stakeholders.

How we use land is central to how our societies function. Societal progress therefore frequently involves changes in land use, and in modern civilisation this is generally accomplished by official legislation. As the authors note, land use change through a formal and regulatory framework is relatively recent, dating back to the mid-17th century, and the more comprehensive regulations to the early 20th century . Being inherently tied to distinct local features, the fate of the tourism sector is particularly closely intertwined with land use legislation.

The economic consequences of land use changes are conventionally gauged through regulatory impact assessments. In societies worldwide, tourism is a key pillar of the economy. According to the researchers, however, despite the importance of land use in tourism, there remains a critical gap in the literature of the assessment of changes in land use regulations . This lack of understanding contrasts with the well-established literature on the impact of land use legislation in other economic contexts, such as agriculture, and may lead to regulatory changes being made by policymakers who are blind to their potential effects.

In both the developed and developing worlds, the reallocation of land for touristic usage is intended to support the economy. However, it is often a source of conflict, which usually involves citizens opposing tourism development, and businesses supporting it for the reasons of economic growth . However, even when efforts to redirect land use towards tourism succeed, economic growth is not guaranteed. The authors draw particular attention to a dearth of research investigating how small tourism businesses respond to regulatory changes, and whether the effects are positive.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the bedrock of tourism, accounting for 70% of businesses in the sector, and are especially important in developing countries. Lacking the power and resources of larger firms, they are also particularly sensitive to regulatory changes. Tourism SMEs, as the researchers observe, are generally dependent on debt financing due to limited access to other sources [of funding] and tend to rely on fixed assets as collateral. Land is a major type of fixed asset, and therefore land use changes directly intersect with tourism SMEs attempts to grow using external financing.

The researchers focal country, Namibia, is an African nation that has seen a boom in land use allocation for tourism. In 1990, the authors note, when Namibia gained independence, the government inherited an unbalanced distribution of land ownership . This situation initially stifled economic growth by restricting communities ability to tap the countrys huge tourist potential. In the last two decades, however, the state has taken legislative steps to remedy this, including increasing the amount of land with communal access. Such land can legally be used for commercial ends, notably including tourism.

Specifically, a 2002 law opened the possibility of touristic land use under the auspices of communal conservancies, a type of local body governed by communal authorities. This resulted in the development of Communal Joint Venture lodges through a partnership between the communal conservancies and the private sector , the researchers tell us. The 46 Lodges now operating in Namibia employ numerous workers from local communities and have been supported by international development agencies. However, the Lodges ability to secure market financing and thus cement their long-term viability remains unproven.

To delve deeper into the Lodges situation, Lin and coworkers performed an impact assessment to investigate whether the changes in land use regulations in Namibia impacted the Lodges ability to source market financing to continue growing, and their financial performance to stay competitive . In other words, can these publicprivate joint ventures  which effectively represent a home-grown Namibian form of tourism SME  attract hard-nosed investors and become genuinely self-sufficient hospitality businesses in a market economy?

Interviewing representatives of key stakeholders in Namibias tourism sector, including banks, government departments, investors and law firms, the researchers acquired a wealth of expert opinion on the relationship between land use regulation and Lodge financing. They also personally visited a number of Lodges to obtain financial performance data, encompassing a relatively well-rounded profile of operations in communal conservancies . These statistics bolstered the studys qualitative findings by providing a window into the financial status of the Lodges.

From the interviews with stakeholders, four themes emerged regarding the barriers to providing financing for Lodges: unclear business viability; lack of acceptable collateral; poor quality of project proposals and financial information; and availability of alternative financing . For example, the Lodges viability as tourism enterprises was hampered by the unclear legal boundaries of the sublease arrangements between conservancies and investors, while the relatively short (10-year) lease terms gave investors little confidence in their long-term prospects.

The legal robustness of the joint venture agreements was another sticking point for investors. There was no explicit legal basis for the transfer of land use rights in communal conservancies for commercial purposes , the researchers point out. This gave investors doubts about whether land use agreements would actually be upheld, making leases an ineffective form of collateral for obtaining financing for the Lodges. Meanwhile, financial institutions expressed doubts about some of the investors, noting that they were often ownermanagers or lifestyle investors with little business acumen, thus providing inadequate operational data.

In their early days, communal conservancies received support from international agencies, often on relatively lax terms. While this had once played a vital developmental role, the continued availability of such soft alternative financing was now seen by banks as a safety net, preventing the Lodges from presenting as viable to investors. Those who did choose to invest encountered a complex web of parties expecting payment, often becoming subject to both lease fees and the land taxes passed on by conservancies, dubbed by one investor as paying [twice] for the same product .

Among the many other hurdles to investment were human resource issues and the terms of partnership agreements. These overlapped in the widespread stipulation for lodges to hire from within the community, and not necessarily seek out the best trained, most productive staff from elsewhere as other non-joint venture lodges could . Such terms made sense for conservancies, which often gained little economic benefit other than employment of locals, but clashed with the needs of private investors as they impaired the quality of service offered by the ventures.

The studys conclusion is stark. Even if well intentioned, land use regulations can negatively impact the growth and competitiveness of small tourism and hospitality enterprises through increased risk, lower financial performance, and unclear legality . The authors call for caution by lawmakers who rule on land use changes, which can be a double-edged sword. They also note that possible agency conflicts  such as those between the governors of and investors in Namibian Lodges  must be considered as part of a holistic economic impact assessment of such laws, which will be crucial for devising better regulations in future.

Sharma, Amit, Messerli, Hannah, and Lin, Michael S. (2023). Land Use Regulations and Small Tourism Enterprises. Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 100, 103550.

About PolyU School of Hotel and Tourism Management

For 45 years, the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University has refined a distinctive vision of hospitality and tourism education and become a world-leading hotel and tourism school. Ranked No. 1 in the world in the "Hospitality and Tourism Management" category in ShanghaiRanking's Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2023 for the seventh consecutive year; placed No. 1 globally in the "Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services" category in the University Ranking by Academic Performance in 2022/2023 for six years in a row; rated No. 1 in the world in the "Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism" subject area by the CWUR Rankings by Subject 2017; and ranked No. 2 in the world among university based programmes in the "Hospitality and Leisure Management" subject area in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2023 for the seventh consecutive year, the SHTM is a symbol of excellence in the field, exemplifying its motto of Leading Hospitality and Tourism.

The School is driven by the need to serve its industry and academic communities through the advancement of education and dissemination of knowledge. With a strong international team of 90 faculty members from 20 countries and regions around the world, the SHTM offers programmes at levels ranging from undergraduate to doctoral degrees. Through Hotel ICON, the School's groundbreaking teaching and research hotel and a vital aspect of its paradigm-shifting approach to hospitality and tourism education, the SHTM is advancing teaching, learning and research, and inspiring a new generation of passionate, pioneering professionals to take their positions as leaders in the hospitality and tourism industry.

Website: https://www.polyu.edu.hk/shtm/

Pauline Ngan

Senior Marketing Manager

+852 3400 2634

Hong Kong Poly
CPIPG sells 50% stake in eight Czech hotels to Best Hotel Properties

Czech real estate investment firm CPI Property Group (CPIPG) has formed a joint venture agreement with Slovakian company Best Hotel Properties, selling a 50% stake in its subsidiary that owns a portfolio of eight hotels in the Czech Republic, for roughly 173 million, valuing the entity at 347 million. The transaction also included the operating company CPI Hotels A.S., which is expected to remain the hotels operator. The assets within the portfolio include the Clarion Congress Hotel Prague, the Mamaison Residence Downtown Prague and the Comfort Hotel Prague City East. CPIPG is expected to use the proceeds from this transaction to service debt. CPIPGs portfolio primarily consists of Czech, German and Polish real estate assets which totalled 20.3 billion as of Q3 2023 and of which hotels represented approximately 5% at the time.

BG Hotels sells BG Portinatx Beach Club Hotel in Ibiza to Spanish hotel family

Balearic hotel chain BG Hotels has sold the four-star, 243-room BG Portinatx Beach Club Hotel on the island of Ibiza, Spain, to an undisclosed Spanish family, who reportedly own international hotel businesses. The transaction closed for a reported 60 million (247,000 per room). The all-inclusive hotel is located on the northern coast of the Balearic Island roughly 35 kilometres from its international airport. The hotel closed in Q4 2023 to commence renovations, which aimed to improve the asset to five stars, although were not commenced under BGs ownership, with the new owners expected to carry them out and reposition the asset. Following the sale, BGs portfolio spans six hotels across the Balearics, in Ibiza and Mallorca.

ASG sells Hampton by Hilton in Barcelona to UK family office

Berlin-based private equity firm ActivumSG (ASG) has sold the three-star, 241-room Hampton by Hilton Barcelona Fira Gran Via in Barcelona, Spain, to an undisclosed British family office for 50 million (207,000 per room). The hotel is located in the southwest of Barcelona, in close proximity to the Fira convention centre, which attracted approximately 200,000 visitors in 2023. The hotel opened in 2021 and reportedly cost ASG some 40 million to develop. Upon opening, ASG signed a franchise agreement with Hilton and a long-term operating lease with Dutch white label operator Borealis Hotel Group. ASG has raised four funds to date that are dedicated to real estate opportunities in Germany and Spain. The four total nearly 880 million and are nearing full allocation.

Millennium REIT sells Hotel Eurostars Lucentum in Spain

Spanish REIT Millenium Hospitality Real Estate has sold the four-star, 169-room Hotel Eurostars Lucentum in Alicante, Spain, for 29.9 million (177,000 per room), to an undisclosed buyer. The asset, which is located in the city centre of Alicante, was acquired by Millenium in 2018 and was originally built as the headquarters of the Bank of Alicante, later absorbed by BBVA bank. The hotel, which includes a gym and sauna, five meeting rooms and a breakfast buffet, is operated by Spains Hotusa Group under its Eurostars brand via a fixed-rent agreement until 2025 and a fixed and variable rent agreement from there onwards. According to Millenium, this transaction has generated capital gains in excess of 7 million, exceeding the REITs target.

About HVS

HVS is the world's leading consulting and valuation services organization focused on the hotel, restaurant, shared ownership, gaming, and leisure industries. Established in 1980, the company performs more than 4,500 assignments per year for virtually every major industry participant. HVS principals are regarded as the leading professionals in their respective regions of the globe. Through a worldwide network of over 50 offices staffed by 300 experienced industry professionals, HVS provides an unparalleled range of complementary services for the hospitality industry. For further information regarding our expertise and specifics about our services, please visit www.hvs.com.
Officials of Aperture Hotels, a leading hospitality management provider specializing in premium lifestyle, compact full-service, select-service and extended stay hotels, today announced the company added 12 hotels to its portfolio over the past 12 months. Located from Florida to California, the 12 new properties are comprised of Hilton-, Marriott- and IHG-branded hotels, as well as some independent flags.

We have enjoyed strong, steady growth over the past 12 months and plan to continue this trajectory moving forward. Our pipeline remains robust, and we are on track to announce another new deal in the next few days. Charles Oswald, president and CEO, Aperture Hotels

The new hotels include the Hotel Spero  San Francisco and Clair Tappaan Lodge  Lake Tahoe Area, in addition to a Voco soft-brand conversion, four Hampton Inns, two Holiday Inn Express hotels, a Fairfield Inn, a Tru and other independents.

The hotels greatly expand our geographic reach, with a half dozen in Tennessee, two in Texas, two in California and one each in Florida and Wisconsin, Oswald added. This creates greater economies of scale for our owners, as well as the ability to share relevant best market practices for our regional and general managers, all ultimately providing better financial results and stronger guest satisfaction scores.

We continue to target leisure-oriented, lifestyle and historic hotels in the upper upscale segment, Oswald continued.

Last year was a banner year for portfolio growth, market share gains (+3% RGI), profit margins (+5%), guest experience gains (+36% in brand top quartile ranking) and improvement to employee engagement and retention (+18%).

To accommodate its growth and drive operational execution, Aperture added multiple corporate executives over the past year.

We have been extremely fortunate to compile a phenomenal team of experts with more than 600 hotels worth of combined hospitality operations experience, Oswald noted. Our latest moves greatly expand our commercial strategy, accounting and property-level operational capabilities. Sarah, Alyssa, Taylor, Andrew and Christina are at the top of their individual fields, and we look forward to their direction as we continue our nationwide growth plans.

Sarah Garcia, Senior Vice President of Commercial Strategy - With 25 years of hospitality revenue expertise, Garcia most recently was chief sales officer with Terrapin Hospitality, which was sold to Aimbridge Hotels in December 2022. Prior to that, she worked with such prestigious companies as Interstate Hotels & Resorts (corporate vice president sales), Shamin Hospitality (vice president (sales) and Noble Investment Group (regional director of sales). Sarah holds a BS degree in Business from Argosy University as well as CHBA certification from HSMAI.

With 25 years of hospitality revenue expertise, Garcia most recently was chief sales officer with Terrapin Hospitality, which was sold to Aimbridge Hotels in December 2022. Prior to that, she worked with such prestigious companies as Interstate Hotels & Resorts (corporate vice president sales), Shamin Hospitality (vice president (sales) and Noble Investment Group (regional director of sales). Sarah holds a BS degree in Business from Argosy University as well as CHBA certification from HSMAI. Alyssa Quezada, Vice President of Commercial Strategy - An 11-year hospitality veteran, Quezada began her career with K Partners Hospitality, working as a front desk agent at the Courtyard by Marriott SeaWorld San Antonio. She held multiple roles within the company through multiple ownership changes, including catering sales manager, dual group sales, director of sales and regional vice president of sales.

An 11-year hospitality veteran, Quezada began her career with K Partners Hospitality, working as a front desk agent at the Courtyard by Marriott SeaWorld San Antonio. She held multiple roles within the company through multiple ownership changes, including catering sales manager, dual group sales, director of sales and regional vice president of sales. Taylor Hall, Vice President of Operations - An award-winning operator, prior to joining Aperture, Hall was general manager of the SpringHill Suites by Marriott Navarre Beach resort owned by Mission Hill Hospitality. Throughout her career, she has held a series of increasingly important, property-level management roles, including director of food and beverage at various full-service Marriott properties. Hall holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications from SUNY Geneseo and is a certified sommelier.

An award-winning operator, prior to joining Aperture, Hall was general manager of the SpringHill Suites by Marriott Navarre Beach resort owned by Mission Hill Hospitality. Throughout her career, she has held a series of increasingly important, property-level management roles, including director of food and beverage at various full-service Marriott properties. Hall holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications from SUNY Geneseo and is a certified sommelier. Andrew Reichert, Senior Vice President of Hotel Accounting - An industry accounting expert of more than 20 years, Reichert has worked at Starwood- and Omni-branded resorts with both spa and country club membership components. Most recently, he served as corporate director, finance with Atrium Hospitality where he co-built the management companys accounting team after the company relocated its operations headquarters cross-country. During his career, Reichert worked in each accounting discipline at the property level, including IT support and systems administration.

An industry accounting expert of more than 20 years, Reichert has worked at Starwood- and Omni-branded resorts with both spa and country club membership components. Most recently, he served as corporate director, finance with Atrium Hospitality where he co-built the management companys accounting team after the company relocated its operations headquarters cross-country. During his career, Reichert worked in each accounting discipline at the property level, including IT support and systems administration. Christina Hollis, Regional Director of Operations - With nearly 15 years of hotel property level experience, Hollis has been with Aperture since 2022 as general manager of the Hampton Inn & Suites Murfreesboro in Tenn. She has held similar positions with Crestline Hotels & Resorts and H&W Management. Hollis earned her MBA in general business administration and management and her BA in general communications from the University of Pikeville.

We also take great pride in the fact that we have built a female-majority team across the entire company, and not just at the ground level, but also at the leadership level. That means our VPs, directors and above exceeds 50% women, as well as our corporate back-office support team, general managers and our entire employee base, Oswald stated. Who else can say that? Numerous studies have proven that more diverse leadership results in stronger financial results and an overall stronger, more inclusive work environment. Our team is further proof, and we look forward to reaping the rewards going forward.

About Aperture Hotels

Aperture is an emerging leader in the hotel management industry. The company operates properties with the largest hotel brands in the world, including Marriott, Hilton, IHG, Wyndham and Choice Hotels. Aperture follows a value-based approach to management, which is evidenced by an above average portfolio-wide Gross Operating Profit margin. The companys approach to management allows it to achieve outsized risk adjusted returns for partners and investors.
The meeting, held with the support of the Department of Territorial Planning of the Basque Government under the theme Advancing Sustainable Urban Tourism: developing tools for promoting good practices in cities, gathered experts from UN agencies, international organizations, representatives of national, regional and local governments, academia and the private sector. The Experts Group explored how the sector can contribute to the creation of more inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities and communities, as well as addressing the challenges around urban tourism.

Representatives from Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bilbao, Genoa, Medellin, Porto, Valencia, Venice, as well as the Basque Country, shared their policies and practices fostering knowledge exchange and opportunities for mutual collaboration. From the UN Tourism and UN-Habitat intersection of mandates, different perspectives about the role of tourism as a contributor to the social, economic, environmental, and cultural sustainability of the cities were brought to the debate.

Representatives of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation), UNEP (United Nations Environmental Programme and the (OECD) Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development were also part to the meeting and shared their vision and experiences in a topic that brings together cities, tourism, territories, economy, environment, culture and heritage.

Objectives and outcomes of the Expert Group Meeting

The experts meeting focused on:

Identifying current challenges for sustainable urban tourism.

Understanding the role of tourism in the Urban Agenda.

Looking into the latest trends and ongoing initiatives, policies and plans on urban tourism.

Exploring how innovative approaches could contribute to promoting sustainable tourism in urban contexts and territories.

Exploring ways to integrate a sustainable urban tourism approach into policies and plans in urban and territorial settings.

Next Steps in the Global Urban Agenda

The Expert Group Meeting takeaways will deepen the work of both UN Agencies on advancing sustainable and resilient cities and territories and will serve to guide regional and local governments and other stakeholders in identifying the key challenges facing urban tourism in order to move towards sustainability in their contexts, providing them with tools and proposals to address them.

The conclusions from the meeting will also serve to prepare the discussions and events on sustainable urban tourism at the 12th World Urban Forum (WUF 12) in November 2024 in Cairo, Egypt and the Mayors Forum for Sustainable Urban Tourism, led by UN Tourism.

Related links:
With over 112,000 vacant positions awaiting fulfilment, the solution to the hospitality industry's staffing scarcity might have been apparent all along, urging us not to reflexively cast aside CVs and explore alternative recruitment strategies and embrace diverse talent pools.1

With older candidates often disregarded due to misconceptions regarding their productivity, adaptability, job longevity, and health, it takes over-50s twice as long to find employment.2 Yet, research provides no evidence that younger recruits put in a greater shift than their more senior colleagues.3

With 197,000 retirees having considered re-joining the workforce last year, there is more than enough talent to go aroundbut to capture their wealth of experience and unmatched work ethic, we need to create a hospitality sector that is welcoming to the older applicant.

Undoing unconscious biases

The average hospitality worker is aged between 20 and 24.4 Yet, as a sector, we have not gone out of our way to keep the age of our workforce low. The unfortunate reality is that unconscious bias affects us all and we typically dont notice unless were in the firing line. For instance, a recruitment drive focusing on recent graduates may seem harmless, but will those excluded from exploring the opportunity feel the same way? To eliminate these biases and create a positive work culture for all requires a comprehensive examination of internal and external policies, processes, and messaging.

Among the policies considered should be your flexible working arrangements, with strict policies often unduly impacting the older demographic. These candidates come with other commitmentschildren and grandchildren to take care of, additional roles within their communities, and social activities theyre unwilling to compromise on. With years of service, they have earned this right. If establishments wish to call upon their vast experience, they need to accept adaptable schedules and remote working requests that empower older individuals to balance the work schedule and a lifetime of commitments.

Encouraging applications

But establishments cannot throw open the doors and expect the crowds to arrive, especially when no effort has been made in the marketing department. Currently, just 4% of people featured in advertisements are over-60s, despite making up a third of the population.5 This does little to dispel the image of hospitality as anti-social, physically demanding, and inflexible, with 68% of over-50s harbouring doubts about working in the sector.6

Age-inclusive marketing campaignssuch as McDonalds 2023 recruitment drive featuring a silver-haired employee who was not the retiring typecan work wonders to dispel such assumptions. However, words alone wont entice experienced workers. That requires action. Here, the Governments Returnership program, which offers funding for the training and development of talent aged over 50, can serve as a blueprint. With skill bootcamps that refresh the knowledge of those returning to the workforce, apprenticeship drives that arent solely focused on fresh-faced talent, and sector-based work academy programmes for those seeking new experiences, hospitality can recruit those that arent quite ready to call it a day.

Capitalising on experience

Hospitality is in the midst of a staffing crisis, but older candidates offer far more than an opportunity to make up numbers. They offer five-star problem-solving skills, outstanding customer service, and an ability to stay calm under pressure that is only earned from decades in a job. With research showing that half of all hospitalitys Gen Z workers plan to quit within four years, such experience will become harder to find.7

However, surrounding youth with seasoned talent could change hospitalitys fate. Along with instilling a sense of commitment and professionalism, these older colleagues will have plenty of stories to tell and experience to impart, helping young people to see that the sector is far more than a CV stop-gap. This mentorship can make all the difference to those just finding their feet in the industry. For instance, without the support of Tony Facciolo, an esteemed concierge with an unwavering commitment to serving guests, Burgh Islands Head Concierge, Simon James, would have never stuck it out in the hospitality sector.

With or without a staffing shortage, the benefits of recruiting the older generation cannot be overstated. Experience, mentorship, and an invaluable work ethic should be qualities that every establishment seeksbut hospitality will need to put the work in if its to attract these outstanding candidates.

1. https://www.thecaterer.com/news/hospitality-job-vacancies-fall-pre-pandemic-levels

2. https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/article/1826672/50s-twice-long-rest-workforce-find-new-employment-study-finds

3. https://financialpost.com/financial-times/older-workers-arent-less-productive

4. https://www.caterer.com/recruiter-advice/how-to-engage-the-next-generation-of-hospitality-workers

5. https://www.marketing-beat.co.uk/2023/08/22/data-over-60-adverts/

6. https://restless.co.uk/press/over-50s-hospitality/

7. https://www.publicsectorcatering.co.uk/in-depth/stay-nimble-research-reveals-gen-z-turning-backs-long-term-hospitality-jobs
Taylor Swift Eras Tour Arrives in Europe and Ignites Hotel Room Prices

With Asia all wrapped up, Taylor touches down in Europe soon and, if anything, the Swift effect is even bigger for many European cities than any of her previous legs.

In this article, we dive down even deeper than before into how the Taylor Swift phenomenon can shift the dynamics of a local market like no other music star; why smaller markets are seeing triple-digit boosts to posted rates, and how events of this scale interact with local accommodation supply.

Hoteliers arent holding back when it comes to room rates

Overall, the arrival of Swift is positive for pricing in every hotel market we look at, although the level of variation from destination to destination can be quite extreme, for reasons we will discuss later.

Given that this most mammoth of tours stops at an impressive 18 European cities for a combined total of 51 shows, we have condensed the analysis somewhat to show the effect Swift has on local markets.

We compared rates when the tour is in town to a combined average of posted prices for the same days a week before and after Swift is the city in question.

We can see that the effect on hotel room pricing in some cities is staggering. Most visitors are solely interested in the event's tour within the specified dates, with limited spillover demand.

However, the effect is not universal and there is massive variation between locations.

These go from a more than threefold increase for Warsaw and a more than doubling compared to adjacent weeks in Stockholm and Liverpool, to very limited bumps of +9% in London and +5% in Paris.

Overall, the median increase in rates for a standard hotel room compared to those nearby weeks was 44%, which is a huge boost to local hotel rates and indicative of the continuing star power Swift has in every geography she has visited so far.

In general, the wider trend is for the larger tourism markets to be noticeably less price-sensitive than less commonly visited cities.

Powerhouses London, Paris, Madrid, Lisbon, Amsterdam and Milan all sit in the bottom half, while smaller markets are much more likely to see a major boost. Cardiff is a noticeable outlier here, but Swift has only one date in the city, which is unique not just in the European leg of the Eras Tour but the complete global list of stops. This reduces the overall effect on local pricing.

We will go further into what drives this disparity later.

Short-term rentals appear to be substantially less price-sensitive

When it comes to Short-Term Rentals (STRs), the pricing gains are much less substantial in general, likely reflecting a lower price sensitivity than within the hotel industry, especially where supply for tourism accommodation is high overall.

However, the top and bottom of the chart for price growth as a result of the Eras Tour are broadly similar, showing that it is largely the magnitude of change that varies between hotels and STRs rather than totally different forces at work.

Once again, London (-3%), Paris (0%), Amsterdam (+4%), Lisbon (+5%) and Milan (+6%) all bring up the bottom of our chart and, remarkably, London actually sees falling STR rates during the tour compared to surrounding dates.

At the other end of the scale, Liverpool (+149%), Warsaw (+53%), Edinburgh (+30%), Stockholm (+22%) and Hamburg (15%) also see strong relative positive change that is similar in ranking to hotel counterparts.

Dublin and Liverpool are the only locations where STR pricing rises more strongly than for hotels in percentage terms, and the differences are often substantial

There is a 101-percentage-point difference between the increase for hotels and STRs in Warsaw and 97 points in Stockholm, at its most extreme level.

This divergence, and the difference being highest in two of the most positively affected hotel markets, show more aggressive strategies from hotels overall and more optimization for key dates, especially when accommodation supply is highly limited overall.

This may be due to the characteristics of the properties, with hotels offering more convenience and often better located for the very short stays, typical for those attending the concerts.

A deeper dive into the most affected European hotel markets

Focusing on the top performers of Liverpool, Stockholm and Warsaw allows us to see what is driving their particularly exceptional pricing performance across both hotel and STR segments.

In all three, a large amount of the potential stock has already been booked, but these are not especially large markets when compared to the other cities that comprise the European tour stops.

Furthermore, in the case of Stockholm and Warsaw, forward demand indicators remain very strong, allowing hotels to continue the upward trend and suggesting more room for rate increases in the future.

Firstly, if we try to get an impression of how many rooms have already been booked through the share of unavailable hotels, in all three cases a very large portion of the inventory is either already reserved or being held up.

The share of properties not listing any inventory at the peak point of demand during concerts is 34% in Liverpool, 48% in Warsaw and a staggering 80% in Stockholm, even with two-and-a-half months to go to the opening night at the time of writing.

Compare that to Paris, where Swifts time in the city causes only a modest bump in rates, and the share of unavailable hotels sits at 16% at its highest.

There is then substantial demand chasing a reduced pool of inventory in these cities, which do not have a massive number of rooms at least compared to the major European tourism destinations Swift will be visiting elsewhere.

Warsaw and Stockholm both have a little shy of 20,000 hotel rooms, while Liverpool is noticeably smaller, with between 7,500 and 8,000 hotel rooms in total, which helps to explain why it is seeing such high rates even at a lower level of sold-out inventory.

These factors have pushed these markets to post much higher room rates compared to nearby dates and the rest of the year.

Furthermore, there may be room to go even higher, as forward searches indicate that there are still plenty of fans looking to find themselves a bed for the night during the key dates.

In both Stockholm and Warsaw, the Eras Tour dates mark by far the highest point for searches being made over the next six months, especially in the latters case, even though it is the furthest out of these three cities.

That kind of interest is why prices have continued upwards over the last 30 days as of the time of writing. Compared to a month ago, hotel rates have risen 2.9% in Warsaw and 5.4% in Stockholm, marking them out once again as two of the stronger markets in the European leg for pricing growth.

Supply and demand dictating hotel room rates

Weve covered the Swift effect in detail through each leg of her tour, and we have noted across the analysis that the market structure is important in dictating how accommodation reacts to the demand spike.

Therefore, we dug a little deeper for this segment of the Eras Tour to give more context as to why there is such wide variation in hotel room price changes and how this may be useful for revenue managers when considering comparable events in their own marketplaces.

When examining the effect of an event on a local hospitality market we need to consider the potential magnitude of the event, what the overall level of inbound travel will be, and then contextualize that with the supply of accommodation.

For the Eras Tour we have taken the number of hotel rooms in a local market where that data was openly available and also the overall capacity of the venues for concerts to understand the potential demand generation and the possible supply alongside the price rises analyzed above.

When we looked at purely the attendance possible (assuming a sell-out each night, which is a near guarantee for these concerts) and then the increase in rates compared to nearby dates there was no correlation.

However, by trying to give more context and dividing the potential attendance by the number of hotel rooms, we can see a relationship forming. This gives a correlation of 0.64 to price changes, making it a moderate-to-strong positive relationship.

Furthermore, when we rank the cities by this ratio, it largely conforms to the grouping of higher and lower performers, putting Paris and Madrid down at the bottom and Liverpool, Warsaw and Stockholm near the top.

Indeed, for London, the position in the chart is somewhat deceptive, as the eight tour dates are spread over two different periods of three and five nights, rather than one monster set of eight consecutive concerts.

Adjusting for just one of these stops brings London down to conform to where it ranks for price rises and increases overall correlation.

These numbers for both attendance and available supply are estimates, but we hope that this explains the mechanism at play around the emerging demand picture for these time-sensitive and critical revenue-generating opportunities.

Spotlight on: UK and Ireland

Zeroing in on the UK and Ireland leg of the tour to visualize the impact on a specific region within Europe and Swifts concerts are clearly major points within the hospitality calendar across almost all of the destinations

In Dublin, Edinburgh and Liverpool the weeks where the Eras Tour is in town are the highest points for hotel room rates across the whole of 2024, underlining the stars power to influence local markets.

The average weekly rates come in at EUR379, GBP473 and GBP227, respectively, which represents a boost of 51%, 74% and 74% within these cities for those weeks when compared to the annual average.

For London and Cardiff, the rise compared to the annual average rate for a standard hotel room are still respectable 25% and 48% increases.

As noted above STRs are largely less price sensitive and so the gains are less dramatic and the weeks of the concerts are not the peak pricing points for our available STR dataset for 2024 in all of the cities, with one remarkable exception: Liverpool.

As noted above, Liverpool accommodation supply is limited and this is driving a major surge in pricing. Alongside being the second smallest of the destinations we are looking at for overall hotel room supply, it is similarly limited for alternative accommodation, providing just 4,500 to 5,000 potential stays, second only to Cardiff.

Combine this with a relatively large stadium in Anfield and three consecutive days of concerts, and there is a cocktail for massive price increases. As of the time of writing STR prices were 202% above the annual average in Liverpool, and the highest of any city in 2024, at GBP625.

Comparing the price changes to the same dates a year prior and Liverpool is once again the clear leader, with a year-on-year growth in rates of 84%, underlining how limited supply is really driving a major shift in pricing strategy across the city.

London, by contrast, is at the bottom with nominal pricing growth for hotels of just 1% for the first set of concert dates and 10% during the second. This also highlights the supply dynamic as it is estimated that London may now be the worlds largest hotel market by rooms.

Final thoughts

The available data clearly illustrates Taylor Swift's economic impact and influence. Every metric paints Swift's tour as a massive event, sparking considerable demand and holding the potential to set the highest accommodation price record for the year in some of the places it visits. Especially in smaller cities that have limited accommodations.

Armed with instantaneous insights derived from industry-leading demand and rate data, you can devise an optimal pricing and promotional plan for crucial event dates in your city.

This will enable you to capture bookings ahead of your rivals and maximize your room revenue.

About Lighthouse

Lighthouse (formerly OTA Insight) is the leading commercial platform for the travel & hospitality industry. We transform complexity into confidence by providing actionable market insights, business intelligence, and pricing tools that maximize revenue growth. We continually innovate to deliver the best platform for hospitality professionals to price more effectively, measure performance more efficiently, and understand the market in new ways.

Trusted by over 65,000 hotels in 185 countries, Lighthouse is the only solution that provides real-time hotel and short-term rental data in a single platform. We strive to deliver the best possible experience with unmatched customer service. We consider our clients as true partnerstheir success is our success.
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Victor Black, principal of P-TECH Norwalk, will begin his duties Monday as the Magnet School Assistance Program project director after his appointment at a school board meeting last Tuesday, March 19, 2024. Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media

NORWALK  The principal at P-TECH Norwalk is moving to lead the districts Magnet School Assistance Program and the schools assistant principal is stepping up in an interim role.

The Board of Education approved P-TECH principal Victor Blacks appointment as the MSAP project director at a meeting last Tuesday, March 19, where assistant principal Beth Furnari was moved up as the schools interim leader. Both administrators will assume new duties on Monday.

Im a little bit hurt that you won't be the principal that will be graduating my twin boys, Superintendent Alexandra Estrella said lightheartedly at the school board meeting.

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Black and Furnari were integral in bringing a $15 million federal grant to expand magnet school access to more students across the district in October.

Its, of course, awesome for the federal government to recognize our project here in Norwalk is awesome and funded, Black said. Im looking forward to working with the principals to execute our proposal as they expect us to.

The Magnet Schools Assistance Program funding will budget approximately $3 million each year of the next five years to be divided among Kendall College and Career Academy, Ponus Ridge STEAM Academy and P-Tech Norwalk.

MSAP funding aims to prevent minority group isolation and promote socioeconomic diversity in schools, a Norwalk Public Schools statement said. These funds will allow for the creation of inter-district magnet schools, providing the opportunity for all children to receive a high-quality education despite their geographical location.

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Black initially joined Norwalk's district in 2006 as the instructional technology staff developer for the school board until 2010. He was the assistant principal at Ponus Ridge STEAM Academy from 2011 to 2012, when he left the district.

He also worked in Bridgeport from 2012 to 2019, first as the principal for Warren Harding High School for a year, then the principal of the Information Technology (and) Software Engineering Magnet High School, a magnet school that he helped found with 70 (percent) urban and 30 (percent) suburban students, a Norwalk Public Schools statement said. He led the school to achieve a four-year graduation rate of 94 (percent) by 2019.

At the information technology high school, Black led the Magnet School Assistance Program between 2013 and 2017.

Under his leadership, the Bridgeport magnet school was recognized as a Magnet Schools of America Certified Magnet School and earned the Magnet Schools of America awards of Excellence and Distinction, the NPS statement said.

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Furnari, who joined Norwalks district as P-TECHs assistant principal 2022, also previously worked toward magnet grant funding in a previous post.

She joined Trumbull's Fairchild Wheeler Interdistrict Multi-Magnet Campus, comprising three high schools, in 2013 as the Magnet School Assistance Program magnet resource teacher, becoming assistant principal in 2014  where she remained until 2019.

The administrative changes at P-TECH were among six other appointment personnel actions and eight resignations approved at the school board meeting.

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The board also appointed a choir teacher at Brien McMahon High School, a speech language pathologist at Jefferson Marine Science Elementary School, a districtwide multilingual learner assistant education administrator and a districtwide social worker.
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.
Keith Davis of Northern Berkshire Habitat for Humanity, left, addresses the Affordable Housing Trust last week. Andrew Hogeland, center, and Ruth Harrison attended the meeting in person. Three other members participated remotely.

Habitat for Humanity Plans Wednesday Info Sessions on Williamstown Development

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.  Northern Berkshire Habitat for Humanity will hold two information sessions this spring for residents interested in a planned five-home development off Summer Street.

The non-profit will explain more about the project on Wednesday, March 27, and Wednesday, April 3, at 7 p.m. at the Harper Center on Church Street.

The 1.75-acre lot currently is owned by the town's Affordable Housing Trust, which acquired it and a parcel at the corner of Cole Avenue and Maple Street for the purpose of developing income-restricted housing.

Northern Berkshire Habitat built two homes on the Cole-Maple site and has turned its attention to Summer Street, where it hopes to build a small road onto the property and divide it into five quarter-acre building lots.

"At these information meetings we plan to share a site plan and a floor plan and exterior building view of the proposed houses," according to a post on the Northern Berkshire Habitat for Humanity's Facebook page. "All houses will be a single floor ranch style house with a low angle roof to fit into the character of the neighborhood."

Last week, the president and project manager for the non-profit was in front of the board of the Affordable Housing Trust to talk about how the trust will distribute $120,000 to support the Summer Street project.

Originally, the board had talked about releasing the money to developer Northern Berkshire Habitat for Humanity in three installments: $60,000 to build the road, $30,000 for the first house and $30,000 for the second house.

Affordable Housing Trust Chair Andrew Hogeland told his colleagues he suggested a time frame that would have the last disbursement by the end of calendar year 2026 as a way to finish spending the American Rescue Plan Act funds in the AHT's coffers before the ARPA deadline.

NBHFH's Keith Davis came to the board at its March 20 meeting with a counter proposal: $60,000 for the road and $60,000 for the first house to be built on the site.

"We don't have a permitted project," Davis explained. "We don't know if the Planning Board will approve it. We have a site plan. We have a floor plan worked out. I'm not sure we'll be able to go to the Planning Board in May. It may be June.

"Until we have an approved plan, it's hard to ask contractors to build [a road]. So you can't go out to bid. I'm concerned we may not get the road done this year.  Putting the road in and trying to build two houses in two years will be difficult for us."

The board took no formal action, but the members present agreed in principle that a two-installment distribution would work.

Since the Summer Street land is still owned by the trust, the trustees on Wednesday took the formal step of approving Northern Berkshire Habitat's subdivision plan for the lot. That allows the non-profit to bring the proposal to the Planning Board for approval.

Hogeland said NBHFH could pursue the development through the commonwealth's Chapter 40B process, which provides relief from local zoning regulations for the purpose of building affordable housing, but getting town approval of the subdivision would be, "a faster way to go."

After the development is permitted, the trust will be able to transfer the property to Northern Berkshire Habitat for Humanity, as it did with the Cole/Maple property, Hogeland said.

The trustees on Wednesday did agree to allow Northern Berkshire Habitat for Humanity to put a shed on the Summer Street lot before it takes possession of the land.

In other business on Wednesday night, the Affordable Housing Trust board approved the latest grant under its DeMayo Mortgage Assistance Program. According to the representative from lender Greylock Federal Credit Union, the recipient is a Berkshire County native currently living and working in the town.

Under the DeMayo MAP, first-time homebuyers who meet income eligibility requirements and qualify for a loan with a lender that has a physical presence in town can receive up to $15,000 toward the purchase. The homeowner repays the trust a prorated amount of the grant if they sell the home within five years of purchase.
The Williamstown Select Board deliberates on a ceasefire resolution in this image from the town's community access television station, Willinet.

Williamstown Select Board Votes Down Gaza Ceasefire Resolution

WILLIAMSTOWN. Mass.  The Select Board on Monday voted, 4-1, not to adopt a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

After several weeks of passionate testimony on both sides of the question at board meetings and countless hours of conversations in town and online, the decision for several members came down to a basic principle: It is not the job of the board to speak for the town on complex, politically divisive issues like the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Andrew Hogeland, one of the longer-tenured members of the board who has been associated with the concept that the elected body should "stay in its lane" and not take sides on issues outside town governance, on Monday noted that the months-long discussion of the resolution, "is not something that can be reduced to the phrase, 'stay in your lane.'"

Like his colleagues, Hogeland said he has lost sleep on the question and read the hundreds of emails on both sides that have flooded the Select Board members' inboxes over the last few weeks. And after much deliberation that challenged his own beliefs about the Select Board's role, Hogeland returned to the principle that has guided him in the past.

"It's a deeper philosophy about governance, about being mindful that there are limits to our duties and not letting our natural urges to be expansive in what our job is get out of hand," Hogeland said. "This table is not a pulpit. No one elected us to opine on Mideast politics, military strategy or the terms of prisoner exchanges."

Hogeland said it would be presumptuous of the board to think that a majority of its members, just three people, could make pronouncements that claim to be speaking "for the town" on an issue like the war in Gaza.

"I would also say to the petitioners and all of us to think about the principle and precedent you want to establish," he said. "Please think about the consequence of giving three volunteers in town government with no particular expertise in the subject matter the power to issue declarations on whatever global or national controversy may come up.

"Future Select Boards may issue declarations based on their political views that are completely opposite of what you believe, and they might presume to speak for the entire town in which you live."

Randal Fippinger, who voted in the minority of a 4-1 vote not to adopt the resolution, said he appreciated Hogeland's perspective but said that people in town and in other communities were watching the board's deliberation and looking to see how it would act.

"Whether we vote to adopt a resolution or vote not to adopt a resolution, both of those are active choices," Fippinger said. "It's not neutral to say, 'No,' to this.

"Many folks who want us to make a resolution are members of communities who have been asked to hold, been asked to wait and told, 'We'll come to you, we'll get to you, we'll support you.' And many of those folks in those communities are tired of waiting. They'd like us to do something. They'd like us to make a statement."

Jeffrey Johnson and Jane Patton joined Hogeland in arguing that the resolution on the table was not in the board's purview.

Johnson, the board's chair, said he looked at successful ceasefire resolutions passed at the municipal level in the commonwealth and found a common element: All were passed by city councils.

And that was a crucial difference, Johnson said.

"When you have a city council form of government, that [council member] becomes your vote," Johnson said. "We don't have that here. We have an open town meeting.

"When I look at this right now, it's beyond the scope [of the Select Board], no matter how much, emotionally, I want it to be [in the board's purview]. If we were a city council, I'd be voting for this in a second."

Patton, the longest serving member of the board, said the ceasefire resolution is the thorniest issue to come up in what has often been a tumultuous tenure on the body.

"I shared with some folks today that I received an email to my personal email address  it was done in a way that's not trackable  where I was called a Nazi," Patton said. "That's hard to hear. But it's nothing compared to what is happening to people [in the Middle East]. I recognize that that's part of sitting at this table. It's not ideal."

Patton was not the only member of the board to express disappointment that the ceasefire resolution proponents did not follow the board's advice and bring the question to May's annual town meeting, where all registered voters would be eligible to cast their vote.

"We are not qualified to make this decision and statement for every single person in this town," Patton said. "We are not qualified. We are not authorized.  I looked and looked and looked for a town with open town meeting that has done this [at the select board level].

"It hasn't happened."

Stephanie Boyd, who ultimately voted against adopting the resolution as drafted, disagreed that any resolution on the war in Gaza was outside the Select Board's purview.

"I don't think there's any way I'd say I'm speaking for everyone in our community," Boyd said. "There is no way to get everybody to agree.

"We're the supposed leaders. You elected us to sit at this table, so we have to do our best. I'm willing to entertain some sort of resolution."

And, later, Boyd read aloud a resolution she drafted that included the following language:

"[T]he Williamstown Select Board expresses its support for the immediate release of all hostages in a bilateral, negotiated and sustained ceasefire in an effort to bring permanent peace to the region along with provision of urgently needed supply of humanitarian aid to the civilians of Gaza.

"Be it further resolved that the Williamstown Select Board stands against bigotry in all forms and all xenophobic rhetoric and attacks and calls on all Williamstown residents to respect the rights of freedom of speech and peaceful protest and to strive to treat one another with empathy, grace and understanding."

Boyd, who was out of the country for the last couple of board meetings, said she developed her alternate language based on her conversations with constituents since returning to town.

"What I heard from our community is we just want people to ask for peace, and we want to treat each other well in our town," Boyd said. "That's what I tried to express."

Later, she added, "I think we, as a board, should be able to say, 'We're sort of against people killing each other.' "

Before the vote to not adopt the resolution submitted to the board by residents, Fippinger asked if the board had the ability to draft its own resolution to send to town meeting. Hogeland agreed that the board could do so but indicated he would be disinclined to vote in favor of such a move.

The board is scheduled to finalize the town meeting warrant at its April 8 meeting.
This is the most current design for the new gender-neutral restrooms that will be built at Edwardsville High School. Previous designs should be disregarded, according to the school district. Mary Ann Mitchell Edwardsville High School For the Intelligencer

EDWARDSVILLE  The Edwardsville District 7 school board on Monday voted yes to the new commons expansion and gender-neutral, single-stall bathroom design at Edwardsville High School.

By a vote of 5-2, the $6.8 million commons expansion was approved.

Board members Bob Paty and Scott Ahart voted no, while board president Jill Bertels, vice president Terri Dalla Riva, secretary Jennifer Brumback, and board members Kristen Pfund and Lynee Sanderson voted yes.

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The entire package to vote on was at first unanimously rejected because of Holland General Contractors being $70,000 more expensive than the bid by Pfund Construction for carpentry work, but because of a conflict of interest within the school board, the bid by Pfund Construction was immediately pushed aside.

But the package was modified and passed with a vote of 5-2, with the carpentry work to be put out for new bids to try and save money in that area.

At the meeting, members of the community were limited to a maximum of three minutes to address the school board. The livestream of the meeting on Facebook routinely had about 400 viewers watching at one time.

In addressing the school board, members of the community were split in their opposition or favoritism of the new bathroom plan.

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With the $6.8 million, 8,000-square-foot commons expansion at EHS came a new bathroom plan in the commons area.

According to the renderings and design plans, 18 private single stalls  nine on each side with one on each side being handicapped-accessible stalls  will line the walls of the bathroom, with a central sink area in the middle of the corridor space.

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.

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The entire space will be visible from the lobby and will be supervised during busy times of the school day.

Safety has been a key concern for both sides of the new gender-neutral bathroom debate.

I myself have broken up fights in traditionally gendered bathrooms multiple times over the past decade at the high school I work at, said Caleb Romoser, a graduate of EHS in 2008 and a high school teacher in a nearby community who has a daughter in District 7. It creates an issue. I was thrilled when I say the gender-neutral bathrooms where children can be safe, where fights can be prevented in a safe and private way.

Thats one reason why I think those bathrooms are an excellent idea and an excellent use of district resources.

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Romoser told a story about a former transgender student he once had and the discrimination that student faced at school.

The anxiety they felt every day on trying to find a bathroom that felt safe where they would not be violated, bullied, ridiculed, or as we know happens, physically harmed, was agony for this young person, Romoser said. They experienced a number of mental health issues. It was because they didnt have a safe bathroom to attend.

This anxiety was echoed by a junior at EHS who addressed the school board on Monday.

This anxiety Im feeling right now (addressing the school board and a large crowd) and all of you have experienced a little bit through public speaking is comparable to the fear I experience in public restrooms, the junior said.

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The 11th-grader added: From my experience as a transgender man, I rarely have ever felt safe in a public restroom. Its either I go into (the boys bathroom) and have to deal with only one or two stalls and the scary tall guy washing his hands, or I walk into the (girls bathroom) and make myself and everyone else extremely uncomfortable while a lady side-eyes me.

Safety was also a reason many opposed the new single-stall, gender-neutral bathrooms.

At almost every opportunity, District 7 claims to take students safety very seriously, yet has provided very little progress since the departure of Dr. (Lynda) Andre, said Matt Breihan, a retired sergeant with the Edwardsville Police Department and the EHS resource officer coordinator from 2016-22.

Safety has been in a constant decline since her departure and has yet to improve under the direction of the new superintendent, despite being made aware of the issues District 7 is facing today.

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Breihan wasnt the only speaker who thought student safety in District 7 has taken a backseat over the years.

Your community is speaking to you loud and clear, said Kara Miller, a local business owner and a mother of three children in District 7. We have a list of safety concerns and one of them is we dont want this bathroom. Young women do not feel comfortable in the bathroom next to men and vice versa.

Miller stated that her comments werent meant to be transphobic and simply asked for a more creative idea and solution.

Please listen to your community, Miller said. Evaluate whats going wrong, get into the schools, talk to the people you swore to represent and see what they really need.

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Miller added, I feel that making the majority of your student population uncomfortable isnt the answer.

The last speaker who addressed the school board was a current EHS student who said she emailed superintendent Dr. Patrick Shelton that a poll she ran for students at EHS saw 67% of students did not want the new bathrooms.

The safety of the students in the district should be the main topic here, not the bathrooms, the student said. I hope you take a second out of your day to reconsider this and actually care what students have to say.
North Adams Schools Closing in on Budget Gap

NORTH ADAMS, Mass.  The School Committee will likely dip into its school choice account to close a revenue gap for fiscal 2025.

The Finance and Facilities subcommittee was presented with a tentative budget scenario on Monday morning that would pull nearly $600,000 out of the school choice account and raise the city's portion by $100,000.

"We have been working very diligently to really maintain our priorities with respect to this budgeting process, which has been to maintain a high-quality, student experience and ensuring that they will still have access to things that are currently part of their educational programming, particularly the arts," said Superintendent Barbara Malkas. "We've also been really looking at how we might be able to better support our substantially separate programs because those programs help us to keep students in district. One of our budget liabilities is the cost of out-of-district tuition as we go into fiscal year '25."

Malkas said officials had really focused on the consolidation of the three elementary schools into two, which will result in reduction of 28 full-time equivalent positions across the board.

The subcommittee's first look at the budget came with a $2.4 million gap, prompting schools officials to accelerate the closure of Greylock School and the implementation of a grade-span configuration.

Director of School Finance and Operations Nancy Rauscher reiterated the district's options: do nothing and have a 12 percent budget increase; close Greylock and bring the gap to $1.5 million; close Greylock and change to grade span and drop it to $967,000.

Since the last meeting, the district has figured in an extra $63,000 for an additional bus and the likelihood it will not get an anticipated 75 percent state reimbursement in out-of-district tuition.

"Next year is looking like they're going to drop that to only a 70 percent reimbursement. So I've adjusted for that direction," said Rauscher. "We were hoping it was going to go up because so many other districts like us are seeing the cost of out-of-district tuition really skyrocket."

Instead, she said, so many school districts had qualified for reimbursement, they've "exhausted" the fund. Malkas said it was possible they could get extra funding but it would have to come through legislative action, such as in a supplemental funding bill.

The total increase over this year is estimated at $869,492 so far.

The administration's recommendation, at this point, is to use $574,305 from the school choice account and raise the local funding portion by $100,000, to about $4 million. This will result in a budget of $20,349,539, up $295,187 over this year, or 1.47 percent. These figures include an increase of $195,187 in Chapter 70 education funding, though that number may change during budget deliberations on Beacon Hill.

School-choice funds have not been used for the budget in the last two fiscal years  the budget had been supported by federal pandemic monies  but had been drawn down by $300,000 for the owner's project manager contract for the Greylock project in fiscal 2022 and by $800,000 in fiscal 2023 for the designer's contract and environmental work.

"It's our job to ensure, support and direct administration, as you all know, to find the most economically feasible budget to present to us, to be fiscally responsible," said the mayor, as well as "adhere to the educational goals and thresholds and standards that we all want."

That was the reasoning behind deciding on a grade-span configuration, she said.

Committee member Tara Jacobs was concerned about the heavy use of school-choice funding.

"I just I feel like it's, it's not sustainable over the long term. So precedent-setting concerns me," she said. "I understand the numbers have changed dramatically, and is reflected, but I don't have a lot of comfort in in creating an expectation that's not sustainable."

Malkas said they were "scrutinizing every line" in the budget and acknowledged the possibility of an unexpected cost like a disaster or a family moving in with high-needs children. "We're trying to also be cognizant of and ensuring that there will be enough of a cushion that we're able to get through the year," she said.

In the past, about $200,000 to $250,000 had been used to offset the budget, Jacobs noted.

Rauscher said the district is projected to bring in a larger than usual amount  $436,956  in fiscal 2024. In the past, that had been closer to the amounts Jacob referenced, she said.

The district will still have about $1.3 million in the account, or over 5 percent of its budget, the recommended reserve.

"So if we use that as our threshold, we're certainly above that, which is why we feel comfortable going that low," Rauscher said, even with the expectation of using it for moving costs when Greylock closes.

Member Richard Alcombright said not using the funds would mean adding more to the city's cost or cutting services.

Details of the spending plan are still being ironed out; the School Committee is expected to vote in May.
McCann School Committee OKs Student Opportunity Plan

NORTH ADAMS, Mass.  The McCann School Committee last week approved a new three-year Student Oppurtunity Act plan that focuses positive school environments, leveraging best practices for students with disabilities and supporting curriculum communication.

Principal Justin Kratz said the vocational district had received about $170,000 in extra state funding toward implementing the goals.

"As part of that infusion of money into the public schools, they required all public schools to submit a plan of how this extra money will impact and benefit students," he said. "They want to know sort of generally how are these funds improving education in your school, and they give you some certain areas to focus on."

The Student Opportunity Act was passed in 2019 and school are required to submit plans every three years, starting in 2020.

Districts can provide their own goals or select from a dropdown list, which is what McCann is doing. The broader goals have to be backed up by data and the "evidence-based" program selected to address achievement gaps for lower-income and special needs students.

"We talked about standards-based grading, and how we're implementing that and how some of the extra money we receive allows us to facilitate that," Kratz told the committee. "We talked about our advisory program, and how that's something we're going to continue to roll out and refine and work on as being connected to our positive school environment. Supporting curriculum and implementation deals with the standards-based grading continuing our MCAS test prep program programs, our mediation programs, we're finding those tie into the high-leverage practices for students with disabilities."

A lot of the funding will go toward salaries and professional development to enhance instruction and engagement.

The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education also provided a heat map that breaks down the student population to identify the largest disparities in comparison to statewide data.

Kratz said the school's data tells a story that's interesting but also with some nuance. For instance, all McCann's students are enrolled in a career pathway so it's not something that can be improved upon.

What did stand out is chronic absenteeism  the percentage of students missing 10 percent of the school year, or 18 days.

"Our number relative to the surroundings in Berkshire County, let's put it that way, is better than a lot," he said. "But it still needs some work  26 percent of our students being chronically absent is too high."

One way to reduce students, perhaps, getting discouraged with low grades and frustrated with school is to work with the advisory group and standards-based grading to address these issues before they become critical.

But digging into the numbers also revealed they were a bit misleading. Of those chronically absent, 31 percent were considered low-income and low-income students make up 43 percent of the population. There aren't 50 or 60 kids absent, but rather about a dozen.

Kratz also noted that the state doesn't recognize "excused absences" so any absences are counted. The school's doing a "deep dive" to look at absences on a case-by-case basis and try to address the students individually.

"For our low-income student rate of out-of-school suspension to match the district rate, we would need three less low-income students to be suspended," he said. "So again, I'm not trying to say these three students don't matter. I just don't want the School Committee to be alarmed by these discrepancies and think there's like a boatload of students out there that are causing these numbers to shift."

Another data point that caught his eye was that only 67 percent of ninth-graders had passed all their classes.

"That's a really, really high number," the principal said, but it turned out it was the class of 2022, when some pandemic restrictions were still in place and a larger number of students missed their exploratory rotation. Those testing positive for COVID-19 had a five-day isolation period but exploratories are two to three days.

"What happened was nobody failed a course that year, not single freshmen failed a course that year," Kratz said. "The DESE computer system doesn't allow us to enter in like, 'they didn't do it,' you have to enter zero. So zero for a two-day class of exploratory is entered as a failing course."

He said the school was very confident in its ability to advance students on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System testing and that it would also be developing a survey to get feedback from stakeholders.

"We felt based on the data that we just reviewed, creating a more positive school environment or working to increase our positive school environment would be a good way to sort of address the data discrepancies that we found," Kratz said, adding that work of the advisory groups will aid in that.

"The kids are still sort of feeling out this whole advisory group, but they're talking more, they're engaged more. You hear a lot of conversation in the building around it. So it's becoming ingrained."

The committee approved the plan and declared an old spot welder that's been replaced as surplus.




iciHaiti - Insecurity : Alert for Switzerland travelers





Thursday March 7, 2024, the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs advised Swiss citizens not to travel to Haiti due to the precarious security situation.



The Ministry recalls that Switzerland has no means to provide aid in the event of an emergency to its citizens, as Switzerland does not have a diplomatic representation in Haiti, but one in the neighboring Dominican Republic.



According to the Swiss Ministry, the country's current state structures are not able to guarantee security and the evolution of the situation is "very uncertain".



The number of kidnappings and other violent crimes are widespread throughout the country and particularly in the capital, Port-au-Prince. We cannot count on the support of the police. The situation is very dangerous for both Haitians and foreign nationals.



IH/ iciHaiti


















The Chain of Rocks Bridge spanning the Mississippi River opened in the late 1960s and is at the end of its lifespan. A new bridge, which is under construction, is tentatively scheduled to open in late 2026. For The Intelligencer

TROY  Theres a long way to go, but the new Chain of Rocks Bridge over Interstate 270 is starting to take shape.

Construction on the $532 million project, which is a partnership between the Illinois Department of Transportation and the Missouri Department of Transportation started in October 2022 when the foundation was laid for the new twin bridges. The target date to complete the project is late 2026.

For the most part on the weekends we have our closures that are happening from Friday night to Monday morning and one lane may be closed in each direction, said Dawn Johnson, IDOT Region 5 Communications and Outreach Liaison. Overall, our goal was to keep four lanes of traffic open to the public during all stages of construction.

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Work is progressing on the new westbound lane and shoulder, and the shoulder on the eastbound lanes, as well as the circle pier caps of the structure.

When the new bridge is open, it will inherit its familiar name from the current bridge, which connects Madison County and St. Louis.

On our materials, we have it listed as the I-270 Mississippi River Bridge, but it will also be known as the I-270 Chain of Rocks Bridge, Johnson said.

The existing Chain of Rocks Bridge was constructed in 1966. The structure is composed of 43 spans with a total length of over 5,400 feet. The structure carries four lanes of traffic, two in each direction.

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That structure, in turn, replaces the original Chain of Rocks Bridge was privately built as a toll bridge in 1929 at a cost of $3 million and later turned over to the city of Madison, Illinois, the current owner of the bridge.

Over the life of the current structure, numerous repairs have been made, from expansion joint replacements, pin and link replacements, repairs to the structural steel, and repairs to the substructure.

In addition to repairs, the structure has seen a significant increase in traffic from a projected average daily traffic of 19,800 vehicles per day in 1975, to over 51,000 vehicles per day today, with approximately 17% of these vehicles being trucks. Because the structure is nearing the end of its design life, additional repairs have become necessary and roadway geometrics have become sub-standard. This led to the determination by IDOT that the structure be replaced.

The replacement for the old bridge will feature new twin bridges, one on the same alignment as the existing Chain of Rocks Bridge, and one directly south of the existing Chain of Rocks Bridge. The new bridges will provide inside and outside shoulders that will be wide enough to accommodate a stalled vehicle or emergency responders responding to an accident.

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These will be much wider compared to the one-foot shoulders that exist today. In addition, the bridges will be wide enough to accommodate a future expansion of I-270. While I-270 is currently four lanes, MoDOT has completed a study for I-270 in Missouri that proposed expanding I-270 to six lanes up to Riverview Drive in Missouri.

Similarly, IDOT initiated a study to potentially expand I-270 to six lanes from Missouri to Illinois Route 157. The new Chain of Rocks Bridge will be wide enough to accommodate the future six lanes when they are needed.

The southern bridge will be constructed first. Traffic will be shifted to the southern bridge before removing the existing Chain of Rocks Bridge. Once the bridge is demolished, the construction of the northern bridge will begin and be constructed in the same location as the current bridge.

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First, theres the title. Anoushka Wardens debut novel is called Im F*cking Amazing. Fun to read on the Tube, maybe, but weird to ask for in a bookshop? Then theres the sex scenes. Lets just say dont lend the book to your gran. In my head, Ive written the dirtiest, sexiest novel ever, the writer tells me, with a slight wince. I know its not, but thats how I feel.

Has Warden written the dirtiest, sexiest novel ever? Well... it is quite rude. Certainly by the standards of what female novelists have historically got away with. The book follows a young woman in her twenties and thirties as she falls in love with Serious Boyfriend Number Three. Everythings going great, until her body stops cooperating  as she puts it, she develops a faulty fanny that no longer gets wet. What follows is the story of her quest to fix it, as she navigates infatuation, marriage, emotional abuse, divorce, abortion, deceit, desire, a lot of thinking, and even more shagging. It is not for the fainthearted. The word fanny appears 113 times.

But the novel, a fictional story with some of the real Warden thrown in, is also frank and hilarious, and full of self-discovery. It reads like a giddy, galloping diary entry, Wardens nameless narrator jotting down musings on everything from her Top Humps to the scent of her vagina at different times of the month. We speak one week before the books release. And Wardens nervous about all the rude bits. Any time I read over the sex stuff, I feel physically sick, the 40-year-old says, her hands over her face in her publicists office. I dont want my dad to read it and I dont want my brothers to read it. Id rather no male that knows me read it. But thats ridiculous!

Warden wrote the book two years ago, originally intending it to be her third play. Her first, My Mums a Twat, was loosely based on her real experience of her mother joining a spiritual cult, and was performed by Patsy Ferran at Londons Royal Court Theatre in 2018. Her second, My Dads a C*** (yes, she has a knack for eyebrow-raising titles), was a fictional, feminist riposte to her first, and won the Platform Presents Playwrights Prize, with Aimee Lou Wood performing it on camera during lockdown. But when Warden sat down to write Im F*cking Amazing, she found that she couldnt stop. Before she knew it, it was hundreds of pages long. I realised that if it was a play, it would be a woman on stage, for 12 hours, knobbing on about whether her fannys wet or not, she says with signature bluntness. I was like, I just dont think people want that.

The writer has a sprite-like, scatty energy in person that matches the bouncy fizz of her writing. Between us on the table lies her dog-eared notebook, which contains scribbled to-do lists with reminders from dont forget to hang up washing to buy Dr Grosss face LED mask when I can afford it. I write notes like crazy because I dont have a good memory, which is quite freeing in many ways, she smiles.

When Warden sent the first draft of Im F*cking Amazing to someone in the industry for their professional feedback, they told her: I dont think anyone wants this. Warden sighs at the memory. Im sure she didnt mean it that way, but I felt incredible shame. I kept it in a drawer for a year because she didnt react well to some of the scenes.

One particular passage about an abortion drew a strong negative reaction. Because nobody else had read it, I was like, Oh, God, Im a monster. What have I created? At the time, Warden had just read Charlotte Roches 2008 novel Wetlands, a bestseller so graphic it reportedly had people fainting at readings (it includes a thorough topography of a womans haemorrhoids). She eventually felt brave enough to show it to someone else, and had a much warmer response from her male writing mentor. He read it and was like, I want my 14-year-old daughter to read this now. She couldnt have, because its X-rated or whatever, but that made me feel not like Id done something gross or weird.

Theres a sad, pointed irony to the fact that Warden was made to feel gross or weird for what she had written  the novel is designed to stop women and girls feeling embarrassed for the questions they have about their bodies and relationships. I want it to feel like something helpful that isnt a self-help book, she says, explaining that there were lots of things she was confused about when she was young that shes attempting to untangle in the story.

When me and my friends were teenagers, being fingered was just people shoving their fingers up your hole, she says, laughing. I wonder if younger generations are more like, Oh, no, we go straight for the clit now, but we didnt know that when I was a teenager, because there wasnt social media or really the internet. She also had questions about how common it is to orgasm from penetrative sex (not very) and whether its OK to use an electric toothbrush to masturbate. It all comes down to: Am I a freak and is something not working right?

Warden with her bold debut novel Im F*cking Amazing (Orion Books)

Im F*cking Amazing also explores sex in long-term relationships, with the protagonist seeking physiotherapy for her vagina when her arousal for her partner begins to wane. In my early twenties, I was sort of obsessed with knowing how long couples had been together, says Warden. Id be like, do you still have sex? How often? And it always seemed like, after five or six years, it was not such a big thing. In the book, she wanted to interrogate whether that sexual decline is inevitable, and what to do about it.

Warden reckons she was more clueless than most women about all of this stuff because she grew up in a small town in Devon, where she didnt have access to open, progressive discussion. She is the youngest of an extended family of seven brothers and sisters, with her mother leaving when she was young to join a spiritual cult (the subject of her first play).

She calls being a novelist her third career. Warden started out acting, before moving on to a proper job doing PR for the Royal Court Theatre. Then she began writing in her thirties. I think writing came through osmosis of being in the Royal Court building, she says, because I had never given two s***s about it before. Shes definitely got the bug  she has already written her second book and is working on a film.

I dont write my feelings down ever. I wonder if thats why, starting writing in my thirties, its been kind of non-stop. Maybe everything is just exploding

Although the novel is fiction, Im F*cking Amazing does have strong crossovers with Wardens real life. Both Warden and the protagonist worked for a scientific company, and have mothers who moved away. Both love shopping and copious note-taking. Both speak in an infectious, uncensored way. If I had to have the book laid out in front of me in a detective room and circle it [the parts that are autobiography and fiction], that would be an impossibly hard thing to do, she says.

While Im F*cking Amazing feels like a diary, Warden has never kept one. I dont write my feelings down ever, she says. I wonder if thats why, starting writing in my thirties, its been kind of non-stop. Maybe everything is just exploding.

One of the endorsements on the cover is from Deborah Frances-White, co-host of podcast The Guilty Feminist, which is apt given that the show revels self-mockingly in the hypocrisies of modern feminism. The book is full of admissions such as being pissed off that a guy wants to split the bill, and sentences like: I did a lot of reading about places in the world where women didnt have access to free abortions and it really got me upset. I didnt do anything about it, though.

Im F*cking Amazing ends on an agonising cliffhanger, and Warden says she is desperate to write a sequel. I want to, but theres no point spending a year doing it when we dont even know if people like book one, she says, though the novels already been optioned for TV, with Warden writing the script. I bet men who would write the same thing wouldnt even be feeling like this. I need to not be apologetic and embarrassed about it. She laughs. Unashamed female desire, and being open about it, is a work in progress, after all. And I hope in six months, Ill have found a way to not feel sick when I think of all the blowjob words I wrote!

Im F*cking Amazing by Anoushka Warden was published by Trapeze on 21 March, 20
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Luke Evans would like to clarify something, as Ive made the mistake of calling him hench. Firstly, Dwayne Johnson is hench, the actor says, cheerfully yet firmly, in his mellifluous Welsh growl. Chris Hemsworth is hench. Put them next to me and I look like a matchstick.

The decidedly un-hench Evans may not feel particularly stacked in the upper-arm department, but hes certainly played a lot of muscly men. In the live-action Beauty and the Beast he was Gaston, a throbbing vein of musical machismo. He was a swashbuckling archer in the Hobbit trilogy, the Greek god Apollo in Clash of the Titans, and a surprisingly tender Zeus in the action thriller Immortals. Hes even been a villain in a Fast & Furious movie, that practically annual convention of the square-jawed and bountifully burly.

Finally, theres Evanss Instagram, which suggests he leads a blissful, sun-kissed life of topless reclining and international adventure. The imagery for his new lifestyle brand BDXY follows suit, showcasing yachts, supermodels and immaculate tailoring. Maybe hench isnt the right word. Maybe it should just be envy-inducing.

Anyway, the 44-year-old is video-calling from his home in London, a temporary abode whenever hes not living between Spain and Portugal, where he spends most of the year. Ive asked about Evanss physique because its been essential for a substantial chunk of his CV  along with his agility, his deftness with a sword and/or gun, and his musical-theatre-honed pipes. But dig beyond the big, expensive stuff and you find a raft of quieter character roles, as in the polyamorous love story Professor Marston and the Wonder Women  which saw him play the sensitive, kinky creator of the DC Comics character  and his new film Our Son, a bluesy drama about a couple on the outs. He gets to yell, and cry, and grieve. You spy not a single ab.

It was the first time Id read a story like this from two gay peoples point of view, he explains. Weve seen the celebration of being gay, of gay marriage, of having children and all of those wonderful things, but not so much the splitting up. He thinks its been an oversight. When gay people were given the right to marry, we were also given the right to divorce. And [these stories] are important. They allow everybody just to go, Were all the bloody same  were all dealing with the same things.

Evans and the Pose actor Billy Porter are Nicky and Gabriel, a pair of moneyed New Yorkers and the picture of progressive perfection: gay, married, successful, and raising an adorable eight-year-old son. Nicky, though, has grown distant, consumed by work at the expense of his family. Gabriel, meanwhile, confesses to a fling that the couple hadnt discussed in advance, then he files for divorce. A custody battle ensues, surfacing all the unspoken resentments in Nicky and Gabriels marriage.

Our Son is most impressive for its sheer novelty: we see groups of gay men talking to one another; we see gay relationships in all their nuances and distinctions, and gay characters who are flawed and believably chaotic.

I once gave birth in a stage show, as a man  that was probably more surreal than having Octavia Spencer try to chop off my manhood

For Evans, too, it was a novelty to work with an actor like Porter. Were both proud gay men in an industry where there isnt so much of this going on, you know? Gay men playing these roles and telling these stories... I thought that was very powerful and important.

Evans left his hometown at 16, moving to Cardiff, then London, where he studied acting at the London Studio Centre. You could almost disappear, he explains. Thats the reason London appealed to me when I was a young man. You want to find your community, and often where [gay people] are brought up, there isnt one, or theres shame, or theres secrets. To feel free, and to feel part of something, you go to a big city where youll find people like you. Its what gay people have done for decades and will keep on doing. Though I do hope that these smaller villages and cities are a bit more accepting now.

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His breakthrough came at the age of 22, when he led the Boy George musical Taboo. Roles on stage  in Miss Saigon and Rent  followed, before he broke into film. His work has ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous, notably the cult 2019 horror movie Ma, in which he is strapped naked to a bed and injected with dog blood. Ive had stranger roles, believe it or not, he says. I once gave birth in a stage show, as a man  that was probably more surreal than having Octavia Spencer try to chop off my manhood.

Impending acrimony: Billy Porter and Luke Evans in the family drama Our Son (Universal)

The diversity of Evanss work, coupled with his sexuality, makes him (depressingly) a bit of a Hollywood anomaly. There has been no pigeonholing, no typecasting, and no attempt to make him a vaguely asexual pin-up  fates typically inflicted upon out actors in the American film industry. Films like Beauty and the Beast or the Emily Blunt vehicle The Girl on the Train very much trade upon his desirability. He credits all of this to his slight ambiguity as a public figure, and his good fortune when he first stepped into film acting.

Even in my late twenties, I looked like a 35-year-old man, he laughs. And at the point of my career starting in movies, Twilight had just started, remember? It was all about looking perfect and pretty and flawless, and I was none of those things  I looked like a bloke. I could look scary. I could be kind. I could be a leading man. I could do action. All these different things. So I fit into quite a large casting category, and people were able to see the spectrum of ability that I have.

Warrior: Evans in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (Shutterstock)

Added to that has always been the sense that Evans has, well, lived a little. He was raised in Aberbargoed, a small town in Caerphilly in Wales, by Jehovahs Witness parents. A few days before our conversation, he posted a photograph on his Instagram of himself as a child. Today he describes that boys giant ears, on that strange little head, on that skinny body. Its still him, though. Yes, Ive changed through the years, but Im that young kid, too. I have to look after him a lot in life  you never get rid of that, and you dont want to.

On top of acting, there have been Evanss second and third careers  the two albums hes released, where hes covered hits such as Chers If I Could Turn Back Time and duetted with Nicole Kidman, and now his fashion and lifestyle brand, BDXY. Its name is a semi-portmanteau of bold and sexy, and it produces swimsuits, bags, underwear, and even scented candles. Im guilty of it myself, but a lot of people say, Oh, Id love to do that, but then it doesnt go any further than that  a thought, he says. But imagine getting old and thinking about all that you wanted to do when you were younger, and you never did. Im all for trying something, and Im all for giving it everything  then seeing if it works.

He has, after all, been a grafter since the very beginning. Just dont call him hench.

Our Son is on digital release from 25 March
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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.

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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.
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A Harry Potter star has hit back at Miriam Margolyess remarks stating that adult fans of the franchise should grow up.

The 82-year-old, who played Professor Pomona Sprout in the film series, said in two recent interviews that she worries about adult fans of the 24-year-old movie franchise because they should be over that by now.

Jessie Cave, who played Ron Weasleys love interest Lavender Brown in the sixth, seventh and eighth films of the series, called the statements terrible at the Enter The Wizard World convention in Paris over the weekend.

The actor and YouTuber said it was a shame in response to a fan question about Margolyess comments, adding that she hoped the comedian did not expect her words to be taken seriously.

Obviously, its terrible, Cave noted. I really dont like that she said that. Its such an amazing thing that Harry Potter has done.

Its created a fan base that has aged and is still bonded through it and its passed on to younger generations and thats what is so amazing, she added.

She probably just doesnt understand that or get that. Just let her be. I think this situation is very unusual.

Margolyes offended adult fans of the franchise as she implored them to grow up (Channel 10)

Her response was met with applause by the audience of Potterheads as she sat as part of a panel alongside Devon Murray, who played student Seamus Finnigan in the movies.

Other stars to have attended the convention included Rupert Grint who played Ron Weasley and Matthew Lewis who played Neville Longbottom.

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Earlier this month, Margolyess comments sparked debate when she candidly dismissed the enthusiasm of adult Harry Potter fans.

It was 25 years ago, and I think its for children, Margolyes told New Zealands 1News.

Jessie Cave played the loved-up Gryffindor student in the movies (Warner Bros / Getty)

I do Cameos [personalised video messages] and people say they are doing a Harry Potter-themed wedding, and I think, Oh gosh what is their first night of fun going to be? I cant even think about it. Harry Potter is wonderful, Im very grateful to it. Its over. Thats what I think.

The Call the Midwife actor later told ABC News Australia that once teens are through puberty, its time to forget about it and go on to other things.

If your balls have dropped, then its time to forget about it. You know, go on to other things, she said.

I just think that its for children. And then its time to move on.
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Pirates of the Caribbean producer Jerry Bruckheimer has confirmed that the franchise will return for a sixth outing.

News of a reboot was first announced in 2019. At the time, it was unclear whether Captain Jack Sparrow star Johnny Depp would be attached to the project; however, he was ruled out of the sequel following his legal battles in 2020 and 2022.

While promoting his new film, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare with its director Guy Ritchie, Bruckheimer was asked about potential reboots for Top Gun (which he also produces) and Pirates of the Caribbean.

Its hard to tell. You dont know, you really dont know, he told ComicBook.com.

Because with Top Gun, you have an actor who is iconic and brilliant [Tom Cruise]. And how many movies he does before he does Top Gun, I cant tell you. But were gonna reboot Pirates, so that is easier to put together because you dont have to wait for certain actors.

In 2020, Depp became embroiled in a defamation case against The Sun over a 2018 article that called him a wife beater, which he ultimately lost.

Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean (Disney/Kobal/Shutterstock)

In 2022, Depp sued his ex-wife Amber Heard in Virginia court for defamation, claiming that she had falsely implied he was abusive towards her in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed titled I spoke up against sexual violence  and faced our cultures wrath. That has to change.

The jury ultimately ruled in favour of Depp, though also found in favour of Heards countersuit, in which she claimed that Depps lawyer had defamed her by describing her abuse allegations as a hoax.

The possibility of Depp returning to the Pirates franchise was the subject of testimony during the trial.

Depp was asked by Heards lawyer: If Disney came to you with $300m dollars and a million alpacas, nothing on this earth would get you to go back and work with Disney on a Pirates of the Caribbean film?

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That is true, Depp answered.

While the legal battle was ongoing, Bruckheimer told The Times that Disney had no plans of bringing Depp back as Captain Jack Sparrow. However, he added, the future is yet to be decided.

Disney executive Tina Newman  in a pre-recorded deposition presented to the court on 19 May  stated that she didnt know one way or another if Depp was still being considered for a role in Pirates 6.

Months after the trials conclusion, Bruckheimer added in a separate interview that he would love Depp to return to the franchise.

I would love to have him in the movie. Hes a friend, a terrific actor, and its unfortunate that personal lives creep into everything we do, he said.

Margot Robbie was at one point attached to lead a Pirates movie, but the actress told Vanity Fair in November 2022 that the project was no longer in development.

Weeks later, Bruckheimer explained: We developed two scripts at once and the Margot Robbie script was a little further away, but well get that made down the line too and focus on more of an ensemble Pirates movie at this point.
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Steven Spielberg has denounced the rise of antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate in a new speech, warning that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

The Jaws director spoke during an award ceremony celebrating 30 years of the University of Southern Californias Shoah Foundation, which he founded in 1994 after making his Holocaust film Schindlers List. The Foundation received the USC Medallion, its highest honour.

We can rage against the heinous acts committed by the terrorists of October 7 and also decry the killing of innocent women and children in Gaza, Spielberg said, according to The Wrap.

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.

Spielberg almost quit making movies after what he called the trauma of telling the story [of Schindlers List] and forming the Shoah Foundation.

In his speech on Monday (25 March), he singled out young students experiencing prejudice on college campuses adding: 50 per cent of students say they have experienced some discrimination because they are Jewish. This is also happening alongside anti-Muslim, Arab and Sikh discrimination.

The Jurassic Park filmmaker added: Im increasingly alarmed that we may be condemned to repeat history... 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 civilised world.

Spielberg warned against the rise of hate (USC/Sean Dube/PA Wire)

The Shoah Foundation preserves the stories of Holocaust survivors and witnesses. The Holocaust is also referred to as Shoah in Hebrew  meaning the genocide of the Jewish people.

The project focuses on recording the testimonials of Jewish people in audio-visual interviews, allowing them to be made accessible for research, education, and outreach for the betterment of humankind in perpetuity.

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The project has collected over 56,000 testimonies so far.

Last year, on Stephen Colberts US talk show, Spielberg shared his concerns about the rise in antisemitism in the US.

I find it very, very surprising, he said. Antisemitism has always been there, its either been just around the corner and slightly out of sight but always lurking, or it has been much more overt like in Germany in the Thirties.
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The Will and Jada Smith Family Foundation is set to close following a fall in donations.

The non-profit organisation was started by Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith in 1996 with the stated aim to improve lives and uplift humanity.

It raised funds both from the Hollywood power couple themselves and from other donors. According to the foundations website, it has invested millions of dollars and invaluable resources to accelerate the growth of initiatives that focus on deepening individual and collective empowerment.

However, Smiths reputation has been tarnished since he publicly slapped comedian Chris Rock on stage at the 2022 Oscars, shortly before winning the award for Best Actor.

According to tax records, the foundations revenue dropped from $1,760,000 in 2020 and $2,138,660 in 2021 to just $365,870 in 2022.

This drop was down in part to the departure of contributors including American Airlines, which had donated $76,160 in 2021, and talent agency CAA, which contributed $100,000 in 2021.

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith attend the Critics Choice Awards in 2022 (Getty Images for Critics Choice )

According to Variety, a source close to the foundation claimed that the couple had already been planning to wind down the foundation prior to the Oscars slap, and that they are now focusing on giving a similar amount to charitable causes through private avenues.

Charities that the Will and Jada Smith Family Foundation had supported in the past include the American Film Institute, Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Debbie Allen Dance Academy.

In a quote published on the foundations website, Will Smith said: I want to do good. I want the world to be better because I was here. I want my life, I want my work, my family, I want it to mean something. Its like if you are not making someone elses life better, then youre wasting your time. Your life will become better by making other lives better.

In the immediate aftermath of the Oscars slap, Smith sent an official resignation to the Academy, stripping him of his membership to the Oscars awards body.

The Academy then fast-tracked a meeting with the board of governors to decide Smiths fate, deciding to ban the actor from the Oscars and any related Academy events for the next 10 years.

In July 2022, Smith issued an apology video to Rock, which the comedian did not respond to.

Rock finally addressed the incident head-on for the first time in his 2023 comedy special for Netflix, Chris Rock: Selective Outrage.
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Christina Ricci has said the filming of her TV series Yellowjackets affected her relationship with her two-year-old daughter, Cleopatra.

The Wednesday actor, 44, said that she was often left upset when she returned home between filming because her daughter didnt know her.

Last year I was commuting back and forth to Vancouver for Yellowjackets. She didnt know me. We had no bond. So that was very upsetting," she told the actor Shannen Doherty on her podcast Lets Be Clear.

Ricci, who played the original Wednesday Addams in the 1991 film The Addams Family and its 1993 sequel, shares her daughter with her husband, Mark Hampton. She also shares a son, Freddie, with her ex-husband James Heerdegen.

My kids do not like it when I travel. When Im away, I try to take my son with me as much as I can, she said.

But Ricci said it can be expensive if she brings her family along with her while filming Yellowjackets, in which she plays one of a number of women who survived a plane crash while they were teenagers.

If youre a series regular, you have to pay for everything, so I cant... every time I go up and down, I cant pay for four people, four flights, you know, and the rooms that you would need and all... its just too expensive to travel with everybody all the time, she explained.

While she said maintaining a work-life balance is difficult with her acting career, she tries to go home as much as possible while filming.

Christina Ricci in Yellowjackets ( Kailey Schwerman/SHOWTIME)

I try to get back as often as I can, said Ricci. I think really the thing that I learnt, especially with my son, is mixing him into my work life. Why cant he come for the weekend to a convention and see what its like?

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Ricci said she had similar issues when raising Freddie, and admitted he was never sleep trained because she had to return to work when he was an infant.

Ricci returned to work when Cleo was also two months old, to film Netflixs Addams Family spin-off series Wednesday, in which she made a cameo as Nevermore Academys science teacher Marilyn Thornhill.

While Ricci said it was difficult to leave her child so early, she praised her husband Mark for being supportive.

I went and shot Wednesday in Romania when [Cleo] was 2 months old, and Mark [took care of her] every single night all night long. Like I just slept and worked the next day, and it made such a huge difference.
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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 137 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.

Here is a look at the people, militant groups and political history connected to the Moscow attack:

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.

Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, a suspect in the Crocus City Hall shooting on Friday sits in a glass cage in the Basmanny District (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

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.

Shamsidin Fariduni, a suspect in the shooting attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue, sits behind a glass wall in court (Reuters )

Mukhammadsobir Fayzov, 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 an 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.

This combination of pictures created on March 24, 2024 shows (Clockwise from top L) Rachabalizoda Saidakrami, Dalerdjon (alternatively spelled Dalerdzhon) Barotovich Mirzoyev, Muhammadsobir Fayzov and Shamsidin Fariduni suspected of taking part in the attack of a concert hall that killed 137 people (AFP/GETTY)

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 rife.

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 Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call that terrorists have neither nationality, nor a homeland, nor religion.

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 Assads forces.

Tajikistans tanks roll during a joint military drills by Russia and Uzbekistan at Harb-Maidon firing range (AP)

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.
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The Israeli embassy in Singapore has been told to delete a controversial Facebook post about Palestine that the local government said was insensitive and inappropriate.

Singapores minister for law and home affairs, K Shanmugam, said the now-deleted post was an astonishing attempt to rewrite history and completely unacceptable.

He said that the Israeli embassy was asked to remove the post due to concerns it could jeopardise Singapores safety, security, and harmony.

I was very upset when I was told about it, he said on Monday. And the Ministry of Home Affairs spoke with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday and said that the embassy has to take the post down immediately, and they have taken it down.

The controversial Facebook post by the embassy alleged that Israel is mentioned 43 times in the Quran. On the other hand, Palestine is not mentioned even once and claimed archaeological findings like maps, documents, and coins prove Jews are Israels indigenous population.

It comes as Israel wages a war against Hamas that has laid waste to the Gaza Strip, killing more than 30,000 Palestinians  many of them women and children  according to the local health ministry. The UN says a quarter of Gazas 2.3 million people face starvation.

Israel launched its ground offensive into Gaza, as well as extensive operations across the occupied West Bank, after the 7 October terror attack by Hamas in southern Israel that killed at least 1,200 people and saw more than 250 taken hostage.

Speaking about the embassys Facebook post, Mr Shanmugam was quoted as saying by The Strait Times: We told them [the Israeli embassy in Singapore] to take it down because of the potential consequences for the different communities within Singapore.

He added: It is wrong to selectively point to religious texts, to make a political point. Even worse, in this current situation, for the Israeli embassy to make use of the Quran for this purpose.

The minister went further and said that the writer of the post should look at UN resolutions, see if Israels actions in the past few decades have been consistent with international law before trying to rewrite history.

He warned that such posts could escalate tensions, potentially endangering Jews if online anger transitions into real-world threats.

The Facebook post was added on 24 March and had been removed from the site by the evening of the same day.

An Israeli embassy spokesperson confirmed that the post has led to disciplinary action against the individual involved. According to a statement published in The Strait Times, the Israel embassy said that it respects religion and racial harmony in Singapore  we have already taken action against the relevant person.

Due to security reasons, we are unable to divulge the name or role of the person. However, 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.

Singapores foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan also issued a statement against the Facebook post. 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.

Singapores minister-in-charge of Muslim affairs, Masagos Zulkifli, posted a statement on his Facebook on 25 March.

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. Such insensitive and inappropriate messages can cause hurt, and sow distrust amongst different communities in Singapore.
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Taiwan conducted air defence tests on Tuesday using surface-to-air missiles and its air, land, and naval forces to ramp up training as Chinese forces continue intrusions into the self-ruled island.

Taiwans Air Force Command said it conducted an early morning training exercise between 5am and 7am local time using anti-aircraft artillery systems and US-made Patriot missiles in a bid to test its "overall air defence combat plan exercises".

"The aim was to verify the command and control of joint air defence operations among the three branches of the military, Taiwans Air Force said.

"In the face of Chinese aircraft and ships frequently encroaching into Taiwans surrounding sea and air space, the air force will continue to increase its training intensity to deal with potential threats.

The surface-to-air missile tests were conducted using domestically made Sky Bow and Patriot missiles.

Taiwan says it is being forced to ramp up military preparedness as Beijing repeatedly asserts its claim to the territory housing 23 million people and its outlying islands.

Beijing has increased its near-daily presence around the island in the last four years, employing what Taiwan describes as "gray zone" tactics to exert pressure while avoiding direct conflict that could draw a response from the US.

Speaking from Taiwans east coast in Suao, home to a major navy base, defence ministry spokesperson Sun Li-fang avoided directly linking the drills with current tensions with China and called it routine annual drills.

"How to increase our overall military capabilities is very important," he told reporters.

Taiwans government rejects Chinas territorial claims, saying only the islands people can decide their future.

The tests come as Taiwan is set to kick off a period of extensive military drills, spanning 20 days from 2 to 20 April. The series of live-fire military exercises will take place around its offshore islets, including Kinmen, an island just a few kilometres from Chinese territory that has become a major flashpoint between the two in recent months.

On Tuesday, a total of 13 Chinese aircraft and seven navy vessels were observed around Taiwan within the 24-hour period leading up to 6am (2200 GMT Monday), Taiwans defence ministry said.

During the previous week, Taiwan identified 36 Chinese military aircraft encircling the island within a 24-hour timeframe, marking the highest single-day count recorded this year.
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Indian police arrested several protesters to prevent them from marching to prime minister Narendra Modis home to demand the release of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal who was arrested on graft charges last week.

Around 300 of Mr Kejriwals supporters assembled near parliament building in the national capital to start their march when police in riot gear detained a number of them.

Authorities stated that the protests were not authorised and implemented outside Mr Modis residence a section of Indian law which prohibits gatherings in response to the demonstration by Mr Kejriwals political outfilt  the Aam Aadmi Party (Common Mans Party).

This is a dictatorship. If someone is doing good for the public of Delhi, why arrest such a person? Rubina Parveen, a protester, was quoted as saying by the Associated Press. Our voices are muzzled. The public is very angry ... If a good leader is sent to jail, then what will happen to the common public?

The 55-year-old political rival to Mr Modi was arrested on Thursday just weeks ahead of Indias general elections in which the prime minister is seeking a third straight term.

Members of Aam Admi Party, or Common Mans Party, shout slogans as they are detained by police during a protest against the arrest of their party leader Arvind Kejriwal in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, 26 March 2024. (AP)

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Indias financial crime agency, arrested the anti-corruption campaigner who heads the AAP in connection with graft allegations relating to the capital citys now-defunct liquor policy.

Kejriwal is the first serving chief minister to be arrested in India.

Since his detention by the ED, hundreds of supporters have been staging protests daily. Mr Kejriwal was remanded in custody of the ED for seven days following a courts decision on Friday.

His party has declared that he will continue to serve as Delhi CM while they challenge the case in court.

Members of Aam Admi Party, or Common Man's Party, shout slogans during a protest against the arrest of their party leader Arvind Kejriwal in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, 26 March 2024. (AP)

AAPs members allege that Mr Kejriwals arrest was the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) way to stop him from campaigning in the elections. They accuse the Modi government of misusing its power by wielding federal investigative agencies under its government to intimidate political opponents.

However, the federal government and the BJP refute any allegations of political meddling, stating that law enforcement agencies were merely carrying out their duties.

On Tuesday, BJP supporters also staged protests against Mr Kejriwal, calling for his resignation. During their demonstration, state BJP supporters marched towards the Delhi secretariat and Delhi BJP president Virendraa Sachdeva was detained during the partys protest.

Police also used water cannons to break up the gathering of BJP workers protesting against Mr Kejriwal at Delhis Feroz Shah Kotla.

Policemen detain a member of Aam Admi Party, or Common Man's Party, during a protest against the arrest of their party leader Arvind Kejriwal in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, 26 March 2024. (AP)

A government cannot run from jail. You can run a gang from jail but not a government. A government can run only as per the Constitution, BJP MP Manoj Tiwari was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India.

Meanwhile, Delhi Traffic Police issued an advisory for the national capital region and made special arrangements restricting the movement of vehicles. To ensure smooth traffic management in the New Delhi area, no vehicle will be allowed to halt or park anywhere on Tughlak Road, Safdarjung Road and Kemal Ataturk Marg, general entry for the public will not be allowed, and vehicles found parked on the above roads shall be towed away and prosecuted for improper parking and disobedience of lawful instructions, the advisory read.

Additional reporting with agencies
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Japan will soon sell advanced fighter jets to ally countries as it eases military equipment export restrictions in a move away from its pacifist principles and towards boosting defence readiness.

The overseas military sales plan includes the next-generation fighter jets Tokyo is jointly producing with Britain and Italy.

The sales of these Cabinet-approved jets will be limited to only 15 countries that have an existing defence equipment transfer agreement with Tokyo vowing to settle international disputes peacefully in accordance with the United Nations charter, Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishidas administration said.

Any nation involved in conflicts will remain off limits from the fighter jet exports, the government said.

Japan, along with Italy and the UK, is working to develop an advanced fighter jet to replace its old fleet of American-designed F-2 fighters, and the Eurofighter Typhoons used by the UK and Italian militaries. The joint project, based in the UK, is called Global Combat Air Program or GCAP.

Expected to be deployed in 2035, the upcoming fighter jets are part of Japans merging effort with a British-Italian programme called the Tempest.

These international arms sales will boost Japans role in the joint fighter jet project with its western partners and also allow the Japanese arms industry to affirm its role in global security.

Japan is also eyeing the new plane deal for advanced capabilities it needs against regional tensions and rivalries with North Korea, as it looks for technological edge against China and Russia as well.

The Kishida cabinet has also endorsed a revision to Japans arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow co-produced lethal weapons to be sold to countries other than the partners.

In December, the Japanese government made a separate export rule tweak to allow the transfer of defence equipment built under licence to the countries holding the designs, allowing Tokyo to ship Patriot air-defence missiles to the US. Japan can now also replace the munitions Washington is sending to Ukraine.

The latest move of defence bolstering comes ahead of Mr Kishidas likely state visit to Washington next month where he is expected to speak of Japans position to step into a greater role in military and defence industry partnerships with other international players.

Mr Kishidas defence policy changes have also created ripples in the Japanese parliament as the moves go against the countrys ethos where it still adheres to a war-renouncing constitution adopted after its defeat in the second World War.
MBABANE - Eswatinis comedy duo Gogo of Eswatini and Slwane is set to feature in the inaugural edition of the Laugh Africa Festival.

This is an event already making its intentions to be one of South Africas biggest comedy events and to be hosted at Sandton Convention Centre between April 5 and 7. With a line-up including a bevy of South Africa and Africas stand-up comedy legends including Sifiso Nene, Skhumba, Nonto R, Tumi Morake, Kedibone Mulaudzi, Mashabela, Chester Missing and many others, the event aspires to unite the past, present and future of stand-up comedy over three days of not just laughs, but learning, networking and solid relationship building towards a sustainable African stand-up comedy landscape.

Event

Powered by Savanna and Showmax, and it is the brainchild of South African comedy legend Stuart Taylor, and it will be a three-day long festival of non-stop laughs. In a line-up to be headlined by respected and super-decorated American stand-up comedian Eddie Griffin, as seen in popular sitcom Malcolm and Eddie, among many other television and movie features, the event is curated to celebrate and showcase the best of South African stand-up comedy on a grand global scale. Notably, the event will also host the first-ever roast of celebrated media and TV personality, Minnie Dlamini, who will be roasted by a yet-to-be-revealed panel. For this year, with VIP-access to the entire diary of events within the festival, the Swati duo will feature in the events content creators stage, which will see them entertain a healthy segment of the events audience, interact with media and other content creators from South Africa and the rest of Africa.

Purpose

This stage is curated for the sole purpose of celebrating the best of African content creators who are killing it on social media, whilst also allowing them a chance to mingle, network amongst each other and secure potential business partnership in a selection of South Africas content creation-friendly business space. We are beyond excited and honoured by this consideration and most certainly look forward to milking our presence here to the bone in terms of growing our network within our industry colleagues in and out of South Africa.

Representation

Overall, we are also looking to delivering some solid representation for Eswatini on our stage and of course, through every interaction we will bag. Entirely, we cannot wait, commented Slwane, half of the duo and Gogos mischievous grandson. We are ready and cannot wait to have fun with our industry colleagues and people in South Africa. We will have lots of fun for ourselves and Eswatini of course, and it goes without saying how this event comes right in time for our one man show in May, and we are going to this event to also draw some much-needed inspiration for our script, and we are confident we will return home refined and ready to write some more for the 3rd of May at Happy Valley, commented Gogo Eswatini.
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Anne Hathaway spoke candidly about why she quit drinking in her recent interview with Vanity Fair.

While some may continue to drink casually throughout their lives, splitting a bottle of wine at dinner or having a mimosa at brunch, the 41-year-old Hollywood star knew she had to kick alcohol out early on.

In conversation with the outlet for their April 2024 cover issue, Hathaway explained that indulging in alcohol never sat right with her, which is why she cut it completely from her lifestyle.

I knew deep down it wasnt for me, she admitted. And it just felt so extreme to have to say, But none? But none. If youre allergic to something or have an anaphylactic reaction to something, you dont argue with it. So I stopped arguing with it.

Additionally, the Devil Wears Prada lead found motivation in motherhood. When Hathaway first confessed that shed recently stopped drinking, she cited her three-year-old son as a main factor in her newfound sobriety. She wanted to be more present and aware as a parent, and no alcohol helped with that.

That said, The Princess Diaries actor recognised that her method might not work well for others. Its a path everybody has to walk for themselves, she told Vanity Fair.

My personal experience with it is that everything is better. For me, it was wallowing fuel. And I dont like to wallow, Hathaway continued. The thing that I have faith in is that everybody else is going to have one or two drinks, and by the time everybody gets to two drinks, youll feel like youve had two drinks  but without the hangover.

In Hathaways pursuit of a healthy mind and body, shes made sharp decisions that freed her of unnecessary stress.

She said: I make a lot of my lifestyle choices in service of supporting mental health. I stopped participating in things that I know to be draining or can cause spirals. I actually dont have a relationship with myself online.

But Hathaway does have a relationship with herself, a positive, self-assured, and confident one. At the beginning of her career, she was told she had no sex appeal, but that never got to her head.

I was like, Im a Scorpio. I know what Im like on a Saturday night, she proclaimed.

Donatella Versace has been able to recognise her daringly beautiful aura too. Her power and beauty really caught my attention but what gives her real strength is her kindness and compassion, the designer said of Hathaway.
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Washington DCs beloved cherry tree Stumpy is set to be chopped down.

As part of a multiyear restoration to replace the crumbling seawall around the Tidal Basin, an area surrounding the Jefferson Memorial that famously has a high concentration of cherry trees, social media phenom - the weathered cherry tree Stumpy - will reportedly be cut down along with 140 other cherry trees.

Crews are expected to begin the chopping process starting in early summer so that the seawall deterioration can be repaired to prevent water from the Potomac River from surging over the barrier at least twice a day. According to the Potomac Climate Report, rising water levels can be attributed to climate change, with the Potomac having risen 11 inches in the last century alone, which is more than the global average.

The project will reportedly cost $133m and take at least 3 years to finish, according to Mike Litterst, the National Park Service spokesman for the National Mall.

Its certainly going to benefit the visitor experience, and thats very important to us, Mr Litterst explained to The Associated Press. But most of all, its going to benefit the cherry trees, who right now are every day, twice a day, seeing their roots inundated with the brackish water of the Tidal Basin.

Litterst noted that numerous trees have been lost due to surges from the Potomac, noting that 100 yards worth of cherry trees near the seawall have been lost. He added that until we fix the underlying cause of what killed them in the first place, the cherry trees cannot be replaced.

In all its gnarled glory, popular cherry tree Stumpy has survived the surges, albeit with a few battle scars along the way. Stumpy is among the 300 trees - including 140 cherry trees - scheduled to be removed. These trees will be repurposed as mulch and used to protect the roots of the surviving trees from human foot traffic, giving the trees that were cut down a good second life.

During the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, Stumpy skyrocketed to social media fame, garnering a dedicated fanbase that has spawned a demand for Stumpy merchandise including t-shirts and calendars among other items. Stumpys fans were heartbroken to hear that this year would be the trees last spring.

In the wake of the news, fans have left flowers as well as bourbon to pay their respect for the tree as it nears its final days. On Reddit, one dedicated Stumpy fan proclaimed that they would chain themselves to the trees trunk to save it from the big chop.

Some Stumpy fans on TikTok have left comments on videos of the trees, writing that its a pity that the tree will be chopped down even though it has remained resilient thus far.

No they should leave Stumpy, one user commented. Its survived against all odds.

Another added, I am devastated.

Litterst, however, has assured fans of Stumpy and the DCs famous cherry trees that once the project is finished, crews are expected to plant 277 cherry trees as replacements. Stumpys genetic material will reportedly be used by the National Arboretum to create clones, some of them are expected to be planted as replacement trees.

The Washington DC cherry trees have become an intrinsic part of the capitals culture. People from all over flock to DC to lay their eyes on the pink and white blossoms dotting the Potomac and National Mall, with the National Cherry Blossom Festival largely considered to be the start of tourist season in the capital.

The lost cherry trees and their blossoms will be sorely missed by many for the next three years.
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On Sunday, 31 March, the US will honour Easter.

Every year, millions of Americans gather with their family and friends to honour the Christian Church. Easter marks the third day after the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ, otherwise known as the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Recorded celebrations date back to the second century.

Following the Christian calendar, Easter is observed after lent, a period of 40 days, not including Sundays. The Thursday before Easter is known as Maundy Thursday, a day to commemorate Jesus Last Supper. The next, Good Friday, is the day of his Crucifixion. Then, Holy Saturday marks the transition from Crucifixion to Resurrection. Most individuals who celebrate Easter will start their Sunday off by attending morning service at Church. Other traditions include Easter egg hunts and Easter lamb.

Though the law recognises specific federal holidays, this does not mean that individuals working for private businesses are required to have work off.

From Veterans Day to Christmas, here are the dates of the 2024 federal holidays.

New Years Day: Monday, January 1

Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.: Monday, January 15

Presidents Day: Monday, February 19

Memorial Day: Monday, May 27

Juneteenth National Independence Day: Wednesday, June 19

Independence Day: Thursday, July 4

Labor Day: Monday, September 2

Indigenous Peoples Day (also observed as Columbus Day): Monday, October 14

Veterans Day: Monday, November 11

Thanksgiving Day: Thursday, November 28

Christmas Day: Wednesday, December 25

Other important days to note:

Valentines Day: Wednesday, February 14

St Patricks Day: Sunday, March 17

Good Friday: Friday, March 29

Easter: Sunday, March 31

Passover: Monday, April 22
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A decade ago, on March 29, 2014, the first same sex marriages in England and Wales took place, as the 2013 Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act came into force.

This was a huge step in the fight for equality for the LGBTQ+ community in the UK (Scottish laws followed soon after), meaning same sex couples could celebrate their love and unite in marriage with the same legal recognitions as everyone else. Tens of thousands of LGBTQ+ couples have since tied the knot, with many more planning their big days.

Are you and your partner one of them? We asked an LGBTQ+ wedding expert for their top tips for planning the day of your dreams

This is your day

First and foremost, remember this is your wedding. Forget about people-pleasing, making things Insta-perfect, or what you think you should be doing (because there can be a lot of external pressures when planning a wedding), and focus on what you as a couple want.

Planning a wedding is an exciting journey, and for LGBTQ+ couples its an opportunity to celebrate love, authenticity, and unity, says Elaine Cripps, managing director or LGBTQ-focused wedding directory, Pink Wedding Venues. The key to a memorable wedding lies in authenticity, adds Cripps, who encourages couples to reflect on their unique journey together, their shared values, and what makes their relationship special.

One of the (many) wonderful things about LGBTQ+ weddings is that theres less pressure to follow traditions that dont really fit. As Cripps says: From the venue to the vows, every aspect of the wedding should reflect their personalities and love story. Starting with authenticity sets the tone for a celebration that is truly theirs.

Set your budget

Whether youre splashing out or need to keep costs down, its definitely possible to have a beautiful day on a range of budgets. The important thing is to decide upfront about how much you want to spend. Make a list of your non-negotiables and do a bit of research on costs, so youre clear on where any compromises might need to be made. For example, what are you prepared to ditch so you can get that amazing photographer?

Cripps suggests couples prioritise their spending based on what matters most to them and explore creative ways to save money without compromising on their vision. Being financially savvy allows couples to enjoy their wedding day without unnecessary stress or debt, she adds.

Think carefully about your guest list

Before getting stuck into the next steps, Cripps suggests starting with your guest list, as this may help you set your priorities.

This ensures couples choose a venue that can accommodate their desired number of guests comfortably, she says. While it can be challenging, try not to feel guilty about culling a few guests off the list if necessary  does great-aunt Maudes neighbour really need to be invited?! Prioritising those closest to you ensures a more intimate and meaningful celebration. Plus, by only inviting those special to the couple, money can be saved for other aspects of the wedding.

Find a venue that suits your vibe

Choosing your venue is one of the single biggest decisions couples will make while wedding planning. This will dictate the location, costs, as well as the type of day you want. For example  do you want a DIY wedding where youll be sourcing everything yourself? Or are you happier choosing a venue where they supply everything? Are you going for fancy, or a good ol knees up at a local pub? Do you want the ceremony and reception all in one place? Or are you thinking more along the lines of registry office for the legal bit, and then a symbolic ceremony with a celebrant and a party somewhere else?

Cripps adds: Id encourage couples to consider not just the logistical aspects of a venue, but also its vibe and atmosphere. Does it align with the style and personality of the couple?

Finding LGBTQ+ friendly venues and suppliers

Another big thing is how LGBTQ+ friendly the venue is. If they havent included inclusive imagery and language on their website, are they going to give you the warm welcome you deserve? And are they a business you want to be handing your cash to and trusting with your special day? The wedding industry still has some catching up to do when it comes to inclusivity, but there are certainly places out there thatll ensure you feel like the kings and queens you are every step of the way. Websites like Pink Wedding Venues and The Gay Wedding Guide are a helpful starting point.

Cripps suggests keeping this in mind when it comes to suppliers too, if going down that route: While you may be confident a wedding venue of your dreams is LGBTQ+ friendly, they may have a preferred suppliers list theyd like you to use. Speak with the venue and make sure any suppliers are also on-board with same-sex weddings and will give you the welcome and respect deserved.

Be organised  but enjoy the ride

Whatever size and style of wedding you go for, there will be admin involved so its a good idea to map out your to-do list and timeline for ticking off vital jobs  like getting your marriage licences. You might encounter some stress (and maybe even have a bit of a freak-out along the way  this is very normal!).

Despite careful planning, unexpected challenges may arise during the planning process, says Cripps, who suggests couples try to stay flexible and adaptable  and remember it really doesnt have to be perfect.

Above all else, remember the purpose of your wedding day  to celebrate your love and commitment to each other surrounded by loved ones.
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A 4,500-year-old burial has been found as part of the construction of a sewer for a new prison.

The individual was discovered in a burial monument unearthed by archaeologists investigating the site of a new sewer to serve a jail currently being built at Full Sutton, East Yorkshire.

Yorkshire Water said the small, circular monument contained a buried individual who was placed in a pit in a foetal or crouched position.

The archaeological team said these prehistoric traditions are seen in similar monuments, or round barrows, found around the UK and they believe that the Full Sutton example could be approximately 4,500 years old.

The new prison will be called HMP Millsike and is being built next to the existing HMP Full Sutton.

A Yorkshire Water spokesman said: It was disturbed by later ploughing, but, considering the ground conditions, the associated human remains were surprisingly well-preserved.

The local sandy geology is usually too acidic for human remains to survive, however, the grave had been backfilled with a mixture of burnt stone and charcoal from the adjacent burnt mound spread, which seems to have helped the bones survive.

He said: The grave did not contain any artefacts, however, the bones themselves are an important scientific resource as specialist analysis often provides evidence that can provide insights about the life of the individual.

The spokesman said that the analysis stage of the project has not started but it is clear that the recorded remains and the palaeo-environmental material recovered have the potential to help answer some of the many remaining questions about life some four and a half thousand years ago.

The barrow was constructed close to what archaeologists call a burnt mound with a small earth oven, containing the stone from its last use, as well as what appears to be a well.

Staff investigating Roman Road foundations at Yorkshire Water's Full Sutton works (Staff investigating Roman Road foundations at Yorkshire Waters Full Sutton works.)

Little is known about what burnt mounds were used for and Yorkshire Water said it is hoped these finds will help with research. The main theory is that stones were heated up and placed in troughs to heat water, either during the process of dyeing cloth or cooking.

Alternatively, some burnt mound sites include structures that could have been used as saunas.

The team hopes the soil samples taken from the well will contain the preserved remains of plants and possibly insects which will provide valuable and rare data about what was happening at the burnt mound site as well as what the local environment was like.

Part of the foundations of a previously unknown Roman road were also revealed as part of the Full Sutton project. Yorkshire Water said its alignment suggested it led northwards towards the remains of the Roman town of Derventio at Reckondales.

The investigations were carried out by Ecus Archaeology for Yorkshire Water during a 5 million project to build the new 5.2 kilometre sewer.

Adam Ellis, project manager at Yorkshire Water, said: This has been a fascinating project to be involved with. The archaeology work prior to us starting the new sewer in the area is something we do on projects considered areas of archaeological interest and it was great to see some of the findings from site.

Our project is now underway and the sewer currently being laid will provide services for the new prison.
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The Clapham chemical attack suspect was granted asylum after convincing a judge he was a Christian convert  despite concerns he had fabricated parts of his claim.

A tranche of immigration documents has revealed a judge had already refused Abdul Ezedis application for asylum in 2017 because they did not believe his conversion  which happened in a matter of weeks  was genuine.

However, he was granted leave to remain after successfully convincing a different judge on appeal three years later, arguing his new Christian faith could lead to his persecution if he was returned to Afghanistan.

His successful claim was supported by a Baptist minister from a church in Jarrow, Tyne and Wear, which he joined shortly after arriving in Britain in 2016.

Shockingly, the appeal ruling allowing him to stay  dated 10 November 2020  made no reference to his convictions for sex offences two years earlier.

He was handed a suspended sentence and put on the sex offenders register in 2018 after pleading guilty to one charge of sexual assault and one of exposure.

The former car mechanic, who suffered from depression and anxiety and told immigration officials he talked to himself, is feared to have gone on to commit a horrific chemical attack on his ex-partner and her two young children in Clapham, south London, in January this year.

Abdul Ezedi, a convicted sex offender, was granted asylum in the UK on his third attempt after converting to Christianity (Metropolitan Police)

His body was later pulled from the Thames after he is thought to have plunged from Chelsea Bridge hours after the attack.

According to tribunal documents obtained by media organisations, Ezedi arrived in the UK on 8 January 2016 and applied for asylum.

Originally a Shia Muslim, he told immigration officials that his interest in Christianity began shortly after he arrived in Britain when he was housed with an Iranian man who attended church and read the Bible.

He started attending Grange Road Baptist Church in February and went on to complete an Alpha course in Christianity, before he was baptised in June 2018.

Since then, he said, he had actively been engaged in street ministry, handing out religious leaflets in Newcastle.

During a Home Office interview in 2019, Ezedi was unable to explain his understanding of the Bible or its meaning to immigration officials, despite claiming to have read it for three years.

According to his account, he was shot in the leg by the Taliban at home in Afghanistan and his family home was bombed  adding that the punishment for converting in sharia law is execution.

But in 2017, Judge Gribble of the First-tier Tribunal found that inconsistencies in his account painted a wholly unreliable and inconsistent picture, and one which lacked credibility.

Ezedi was handed a suspended sentence and put on the sex offenders register in 2018 after pleading guilty to one charge of sexual assault and one of exposure (PA Wire)

Judge Gribble said he did not believe his conversion was genuine and refused his asylum bid, adding that his church attendance and baptism did not amount to compelling evidence that he would face a real risk of persecution if returned to Afghanistan.

However, at a fresh appeal hearing in 2020, a different judge concluded Ezedis conversion was genuine despite concerns about his honesty.

The tribunal also heard oral submissions from Reverend Roy Merrin, of the Grange Road Baptist church, in support of Ezedi.

In his evidence, Rev Merrin stated that he had previously attended tribunals on four occasions in support of applicants for asylum based upon Christian conversion  but insisted he only supported those whose conversion was genuine.

In his ruling, Judge OHanlon said: Having considered all of the evidence before me in the round, notwithstanding my concerns as to the honesty of the appellant in relation to certain aspects of his account, I find that the appellant had been consistent in his evidence with regard to his conversion to Christianity.

I found that the appellants account of his conversion to Christianity was supported by the former Reverend Merrin who had known him for more than four years and who having seen the appellant on a regular basis throughout that period was satisfied that the appellant was a genuine Christian convert.

Ezedi submitted pictures of his baptism in a bundle of documents for his asylum case (Supplied)

Former Reverend Merrin was alive to the possibility of unjustifiable claims to Christian conversion being made but did not consider that this was the case with regard to the appellant.

Having taken all of these factors into account, I am satisfied to the lower standard of proof that the appellant has undergone a genuine conversion from his former Muslim faith to Christianity and that accordingly, as was accepted by the respondent in the refusal letter, would be at risk in the event of return to Afghanistan. I therefore allow his asylum appeal.

A nationwide manhunt was launched for Ezedi after his former partner and her two daughters, aged three and eight, were doused in corrosive liquid in the horrifying chemical attack in Clapham.

In all, 12 people needed hospital treatment after the targeted attack with an alkaline substance in Lessar Avenue on 31 January, which left the mother, 31, with injuries likely to be life-changing.

He is thought to have travelled to the capital from Newcastle to carry out the attack, which also left him with serious injuries to his face.

Searches were eventually called off after detectives tracked the suspect to Chelsea Bridge on CCTV, where he was seen leaning over the railings before he is believed to have plunged into the Thames.

The attack on a mother and her two young children occurred near Clapham Common on 31 January (PA Wire)

Last month, police confirmed a body pulled from the water was the 35-year-old suspect. The body was found near Tower Bridge on 19 February and he was later formally identified at a post-mortem.

However, questions have been raised over why Ezedi, originally from Afghanistan, was granted asylum despite being convicted of a sexual offence in 2018.

The Crown Prosecution Service confirmed he was handed a suspended sentence on 9 January 2018 after pleading guilty to one charge of sexual assault and one of exposure at Newcastle Crown Court. The 35-year-old was put on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years but was allowed to stay in the UK because his crimes were not serious enough to meet the threshold for deportation.

In the wake of the Clapham attack, former immigration minister Robert Jenrick called for the home secretary to review Ezedis asylum case and look at what may have gone seriously wrong.

The right-wing Tory hardliner claimed on BBC Radio 4s Today programme: Im afraid we do see, regularly, cases of people making spurious claims of converting to Christianity, aided and abetted by often well-meaning but naive vicars and priests.

Ezedis body was pulled from the Thames near Tower Pier on 19 February (PA)

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper also wrote to James Cleverly about the very serious questions which need to be answered about decision-making at the Home Office and the way his case was handled.

Ms Cooper asked whether the Home Office had considered deportation in 2018 following Ezedis conviction, or if it made representations about his offending history when he was granted asylum.

She added: It is of real concern that a convicted foreign national sex offender has been allowed to remain in the UK in these circumstances.

However, Amnesty Internationals UK chief Sacha Deshmukh warned the attack should not be used as a pretext to target people seeking asylum.

A Home Office spokesperson said: All asylum claims are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with the immigration rules. This means that religious conversions do not guarantee a grant of asylum.

We have engaged with a wide range of stakeholders to help us to improve our policy guidance, training for asylum decision-makers, and to ensure we approach claims involving religious conversion in the appropriate way.
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Watch as a press conference is held in London after WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been given a chance to continue his fight against extradition.

The United States must give assurances that Mr Assange will not face the death penalty before judges will consider dismissing his bid to bring an extradition appeal, the High Court ruled on Tuesday 26 March.

He faces prosecution in the US over an alleged conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information following the publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

In a January 2021 ruling, then-district judge Vanessa Baraitser said that Mr Assange should not be sent to the US, citing a real and oppressive risk of suicide, while ruling against him on all other issues.

Later that year, US authorities won their High Court bid to overturn this block, paving the way towards his extradition.

During a two-day hearing in February, lawyers for the 52-year-old asked for the go-ahead to challenge the original judges dismissal of other parts of his case to prevent his extradition.

In a judgment on Tuesday, Dame Victoria Sharp and Mr Justice Johnson dismissed most of Mr Assanges legal arguments but said that unless assurances were given by the United States he would be able to bring an appeal on three grounds.

These assurances are that Mr Assange would be protected by and allowed to rely on the First Amendment  which protects freedom of speech in the US, that he is not prejudiced at trial due to his nationality, and that the death penalty is not imposed.
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Julian Assange will not immediately be extradited to the US to face espionage charges, after judges delayed a final decision over whether he can appeal his case.

It was feared that the WikiLeaks founder, who is currently detained at Belmarsh high-security prison, could have been put on a plane in a matter of days if a last-ditch legal bid for an appeal failed.

His team claim that the 52-year-old could face up to 175 years in prison if he is convicted of publishing hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. They argue that the decision to prosecute him is state retaliation for his political views.

In a January 2021 ruling, district judge Vanessa Baraitser said that Mr Assange should not be sent to the US, citing a real and oppressive risk of suicide, while ruling against him on all other issues.

But later that year, the US authorities won their High Court bid to overturn this block, paving the way towards Mr Assanges extradition.

During a two-day hearing in February, lawyers for the 52-year-old asked for the go-ahead to challenge the original judges dismissal of other parts of his case, in an effort to prevent his extradition.

They argued that he was being prosecuted in retaliation for his political views, meaning it would be unlawful to extradite him under UK law. Mark Summers KC told the court: This is a paradigm example of state retaliation for the expression of political opinion.

But judges announced on Tuesday that the 52-year-old would not be immediately extradited, and offered the US government and the US secretary of state three more weeks to provide the court with satisfactory assurances.

Dame Victoria Sharp and Mr Justice Johnson dismissed most of Mr Assanges legal arguments, but said that unless assurances were given by the United States, he would be able to bring an appeal on three grounds.

The judges said the US authorities had three weeks to give those assurances  with a final decision to be made in late May.

Stella Assange outside the High Court ahead of Tuesdays hearing (Reuters)

In a 66-page ruling, Dame Victoria, who is president of the Kings Bench Division of the High Court of Justice, said: Before making a final decision on the application for leave to appeal, we will give the respondent an opportunity to give assurances. If assurances are not given then we will grant leave to appeal without a further hearing.

If assurances are given then we will give the parties an opportunity to make further submissions before we make a final decision on the application for leave to appeal.

The assurances requested include that Mr Assange is not prejudiced at trial (including sentence) by reason of his nationality, that he is afforded the same first-amendment protections as a United States citizen, and that the death penalty is not imposed.

The judges rejected Mr Assanges lawyers claims that he was being prosecuted for his political opinions and would not face a fair trial.

However, they said he could be granted leave to appeal on the grounds of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which relate to freedom of expression, if he is treated as a foreign citizen in a US court. The judges therefore asked for assurances that he will be entitled to rely on the countrys first-amendment protections.

They also warned that without adequate assurances from the US, Assange could be granted leave to appeal on the grounds that he could face charges that carry the death penalty.

Supporters rally outside the High Court in London (Reuters)

Speaking after the judgment, Mr Assanges wife Stella said: What the courts have done has been to invite a political intervention from the United States... to send a letter saying Its all OK. I find this astounding.

This case is a retribution. It is a signal to all of you that, if you expose the interests that are driving war, they will come after you, they will put you in prison and will try to kill you.

The Biden administration should not issue assurances. They should drop this shameful case that should never have been brought.

Although the WikiLeaks founder was granted permission to leave prison for the two-day hearing last month, he was too unwell to attend.

Hundreds of supporters rallied outside the Royal Courts of Justice chanting Free, free Julian Assange and No extradition.

In written submissions, Mr Summers and Edward Fitzgerald KC, for Mr Assange, had argued that the US was trying to suppress those who were willing and prepared to hold officials to account for alleged wrongdoing during the war on terror. Mr Assange was one of those targets, they said.

However, lawyers for the US said Mr Assange had put lives at imminent risk by publishing the names of those who had helped the country in unredacted classified documents in one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the United States.

Supporters outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London in February during the two-day hearing (PA)

These were documents that disclosed to the world the unredacted names of human sources who had provided information to the US, Clair Dobbin KC told the court, adding that this separates Mr Assange from The New York Times and other news outlets, which also published information exposed by WikiLeaks.

Mr Assanges wife previously warned that the outcome of the appeal bid is life or death for her husband  whose health has deteriorated in prison, where he spends 22 hours a day in confinement.

The Australian national has been in prison since he was removed from the Ecuadorian embassy in 2019.

More follows on this breaking news story...
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A former British Museum curator who allegedly stole and damaged artefacts has been ordered by the High Court to return any he may have.

The institution launched legal proceedings against Dr Peter Higgs, who was dismissed for gross misconduct in July last year after more than 1,800 items were found to be missing, stolen or damaged.

Lawyers acting on behalf of the London museums trustees say there is compelling evidence Dr Higgs abused his position of trust between at least July 2009 and January 2018, which he denies.

Mrs Justice Heather Williams made an order at the High Court in London on Tuesday saying Dr Higgs must list or return any stolen items within four weeks.

Barrister Daniel Burgess claimed that Dr Higgs, who has been investigated by the Metropolitan Police but not charged with an offence, stole items such as gems, jewellery, gold, silver, and intentionally damaged artefacts by removing gold and silver from them.

It is presently believed the items were stolen or damaged and that many hundreds of them were listed for sale on eBay, using PayPal to facilitate payment, the court heard.

The British Museum in London closed at 2.45pm (Yui Mok/PA) (PA Wire)

Most of them had been kept in a storeroom.

Mr Burgess wrote in his written argument: Those acts amounted to conversion or trespass, breach of his employment contract and breach of fiduciary duty.

The lawyer said Dr Higgs intends to dispute the claim.

He told the court the defendant had access to the items and tried to cover his tracks by using fake names, creating false documents, manipulating the museums records and selling artefacts at an undervalue.

Dr Higgs was also accused of impeding the institutions investigation into the thefts by suggesting a colleague delete their text and emails and refusing to pass relevant information, the court heard.

Mr Burgess said in written argument: The items that have been stolen from the museum are of cultural and historical significance.

There is a compelling public interest in their recovery. The museum (and that public interest) will suffer irremediable harm if the items are lost, including because delay in locating them means that they become irrecoverable.

The court heard 356 stolen items have been returned to the museum to date.

Mrs Justice Williams also ordered the disclosure of eBay and Paypal records belonging to Dr Higgs, which may contain evidence of sales being made.

She said there was cogent evidence that the museums allegations may be correct.

The Met will also give an independent computer specialist temporary access to devices they seized during a search of Dr Higgss home on August 16 2023.

Dr Higgs, who worked within the Department of Greece & Rome for over 30 years before his sacking, did not attend the hearing due to poor health, the court heard.

The police investigation is ongoing.
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Two years and 370m later, the Rwanda plan launched by Priti Patel and Boris Johnson remains stuck in parliamentary purgatory, facing a comstant barrage of amendments and counter-amendments from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the House of Lords.

In the latest setback from Mr Sunak, peers voted on 20 March that the governments bill should have due regard for international law, and that the UKs treaty with Rwanda should be fully implemented before flights start.

With so much back-and-forth on the Rwanda scheme, we want to know if you think the plans are the best way to tackle the challenges faced by the UK asylum system.

And even if the scheme was eventually implemented, is shipping asylum seekers off to Kigali the best way to deal with the small boat crisis?

It has been previously reported that Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is considering detailed plans for a so-called offshoring scheme, as he seeks to deter Tory attacks on Labours alternative to the Rwanda plan.

The plan would see migrants having asylum claims processed overseas, with successful applicants allowed to come to the UK. But would you back this move?

Meanwhile, the Institute for Public Policy Research has also set out an alternative proposal to the Governments impractical and costly Rwanda scheme, including launching a unique refugee visa, particularly for Afghans, allowing them to apply for temporary leave to enter the UK via embassies in other countries, diminishing the need for Channel crossings.

Alongside this, the IPPR called for renewed collaboration with European nations to tackle jointly people smuggling, resolve immigration statuses in northern France, and develop mutual agreements on processing asylum claims.

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Join the conversation with other Independent readers below.
MBABANE  Minister of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) Savannah Maziya has appointed a new Board of Directors for the RSTP, with strict instructions to lead with integrity and honesty.

She said she was concerned that 12 years down the line, the Royal Science and Technology Park (RSTP) had not made the money that it was supposed to make. She said the institution was supposed to be making a lot of money and attracting investors. The new Board will be led by Tshidi Masisi-Hlanze, an accomplished attorney, with vast experience locally and in Botswana. Its nine members include five women and four men. The new Board replaces former Board members, who included Walter Bennett, Sthofeni Ginindza, Madoda Mdziniso, Gugu Sibandze and Simile Muwape. The minister described the new Board as well-experienced from legal, finance to strategy development. She said it also had vast knowledge of ICT and was composed of women and the youth.

Our understanding and instruction is that they deal with this institution with honesty, integrity and reliability. This is a very important institution for the country. We need to ensure that we make it an engine room for growth; to attract ICT investors, to strengthen our offering and to ensure that it becomes an attractive institution to investors and emaSwati alike, she said.

The minister said the RSTP must be run professionally to deliver on its mandate and must have a proper strategy and executive. It must be run in a professional way, in collaboration with the many institutions that are part of the ministry, so that it is able to get and give as much value, she said. She said she was concerned that the RSTP had not completed some of the buildings that were critical.

Those things are very important. Im also concerned that 12 years down the line, we have not made the money that we should be making. I think that we are an institution that should be attracting investors and making a lot of money, she said. She implored the new Board to ensure that the RSTP team worked hard to make emaSwati proud of the institution. What I ask of you is please be honest, please have integrity. Make this institution deliver what it is supposed to deliver, she said. The Chairperson of the Board, Masisi-Hlanze, has extensive experience in commercial law, property law, company law and conveyancing, spanning for more than 30 years. She was admitted to practice as an Attorney in Botswana on October 30, 1981. She was admitted to practice as an Attorney in Swaziland (now Eswatini) on July 31, 1985 and as a conveyancer on March 31, 1999. She is currently a managing partner at Masisi-Hlanze Attorneys in association with Henwood & Company. The new Board will be in office for three years.
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A friend of Prince William and Princess Kate has said the royal couple are not keen on the drama that a visit by Prince Harry would bring.

According to a report in the Daily Beast, the unidentified friend of the couple said they had been clear they want peace and quiet... A visit from Harry, with all the drama that would bring, would be the opposite of that.

Another friend of William and Kate was quoted as saying that they have come to terms with the estrangement from Harry, and are content to let sleeping dogs lie.

Harry is reported to be heading back to the UK in May to mark the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games, an international sporting event he founded in 2014 for wounded armed forces veterans.

In her video message to the public announcing her diagnosis last week, Kate had said that she needed privacy as she undergoes cancer treatment.

Prince William, second left, Kate, Princess of Wales, left, Prince Harry, second right, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex view floral tributes to Queen Elizabeth II (AP)

William and Kate appear to have distanced themselves from Harry and Meghans attempts at reconciliation following years of public disputes and revelations.

After Kate revealed her condition to the public the Duke and Duchess of Sussex privately contacted their family members across the pond, according to ITVs royal editor Chris Ship.

Harry and Meghan later shared a statement publicly, writing: We wish health and healing for Kate and the family, and hope they are able to do so privately and in peace.

Despite Harrys expressed desire to mend family ties, William and Kate have not publicly acknowledged Harry and Meghans overtures, including their well wishes for Kates health.

The relationship between the brothers has been strained, with friends and royal commentators noting Williams reluctance to engage with Harry amidst the familys health challenges.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were not told about Kates cancer diagnosis before the announcement to the public as they are not trusted by the family, a royal expert claimed.

Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told The Sun he believed Harry and Meghan werent told about Kates battle with the disease due to the endless problems they have caused for the royal family.

The reason of course is that for some four years, theyve caused endless problems for the royal family and so they cant be trusted, he said.

According to the Sunday Times, Kates cancer diagnosis was not shared in advance with Harry and Meghan. It reported that Harry found out about Kates diagnosis from television.
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Funeral directors need to subject themselves to voluntary checks in order to ensure the public trust them, ministers have heard.

Labour MP Emma Hardy called on the Government to introduce a regulator of funeral directors, following a major police investigation in her Hull West and Hessle constituency.

Justice Minister Mike Freer said he is soon to meet funeral company trade bodies to discuss voluntary regulation, and told MPs he believes a comprehensive review of the law around cremation is needed.

Legacy Independent Funeral Directors has been under investigation after police recovered 35 bodies, as well as suspected human ashes, at its site in Hessle Road in Hull.

More than 1,500 calls have been made to police by previous Legacy Independent Funeral Directors customers since the probe began, Humberside Police have said.

Police previously arrested a 46-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman on suspicion of prevention of a lawful and decent burial, fraud by false representation and fraud by abuse of position.

The pair have been released on bail pending further inquiries.

Labour MP Emma Hardy (PA)

In the Commons, Ms Hardy said she is utterly committed to regulating this industry and never again allowing that appalling, heartbreaking situation to be repeated.

She added: I wondered if (the minister) could speak a little bit more about timeframes and whether he agrees that, in the meantime, before statutory regulation comes in, if we could encourage all funeral directors to subject themselves to the voluntary regulation provided by one of the trade bodies instead, and do everything they can to reassure the public that not all funeral directors are like the appalling situation that we have had in my constituency?

Justice minister Mr Freer said he is working alongside communities minister Simon Hoare on the initial response to the incident in Hull.

He added: The call for evidence on where we go on regulation will commence in the next few months. Where it goes, of course, we have to wait for public consultation.

What I am doing is meeting this afternoon with the two major trade bodies to see how they can assist on voluntary inspections to ensure that what we have seen has come out of this terrible incident  which nobody would have thought could have possibly would have occurred, is quite horrific  is that we get this right so that people do have confidence in the vast majority of funeral directors who are entirely respectable and treat the deceased with the respect and with the care that they expect.

Mr Freer earlier told the Commons that regulations on cremation have been updated when needed in the past, adding: In light of developments since then, I believe a more comprehensive review is needed, and that is why the Law Commission have therefore agreed to consider the law governing cremation as part of their burial, cremation and new funerary methods project.

That has already commenced and we await their findings with interest.
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The chief executive of GB News has defended employing serving politicians as presenters, insisting he wants to recruit more MPs of other parties to join the fray.

Angelos Frangopoulos, appearing in front of the House of Lords communications and digital committee hearing on Tuesday, said the channel has been trying to encourage MPs of other parties to join them.

Questioned on the lack of political diversity among GB News presenters, Mr Frangopoulos said: This is not by design, we would love to have a wide range of MPs on our channel in the same way that stations like LBC do, etc. Weve had discussions with political parties, some say well, were not encouraging our MPs to take second jobs.

Among the lineup is Reform Party leader Richard Tice; former Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson, who has recently defected to Reform UK; and Conservative MP Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg.

Former Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, former Conservative MP Michael Portillo and former Labour MP Gloria De Piero are also among its on-screen presenters.

Angelos Frangopoulos is a former Sky News Arabia journalist and is now CEO of GB News (PA)

Its purely because were yet to find someone who will say yes, he added.

The channel has come under fire from communications regulator Ofcom after it found that five episodes of GB News programmes presented by Tory MPs were found have broken broadcasting rules.

Two episodes of Jacob Rees-Moggs State Of The Nation, two of Friday Morning With Esther And Phil, and one of Saturday Morning With Esther And Phil, broadcast during May and June 2023, broke due impartiality rules, Ofcom said.

It comes six months after the regulator found an episode of GB Newss The Live Desk, aired in July 2023, broke the same rules.

Ofcom said: We found that host politicians acted as newsreaders, news interviewers or news reporters in sequences which clearly constituted news  including reporting breaking news events  without exceptional justification.

Serving politicians Esther McVey and Phillip Davies were two politicians named in the Ofcom ruling against GB News (GB News)

News was, therefore, not presented with due impartiality.

Ofcom added that politicians played a partial role in society, and news content presented by them was likely to be viewed by audiences in light of that perceived bias.

In our view, the use of politicians to present the news risks undermining the integrity and credibility of regulated broadcast news, it added.

The channel was also recently rapped by Ofcom after it ruled misogynistic comments made by actor Laurence Fox about a female journalist had broken broadcasting rules that protect viewers from offensive content.

The communications regulator has warned that further breaches by GB News could result in a statutory sanction, which range from an order not to reuse the offending content, to revoking a broadcasters licence.

Mr Frangopoulos told peers that his channel had received 50 inquiries from Ofcom over the past three years and said the channel had cooperated with each one.

He also argued that audiences have different expectations for impartiality from different channels and that GB News is part of the ecosystem of news and he maintained that our brand has trust.
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The UKs approach to China is more robust than most of its allies, the Prime Minister has insisted following demands for a tougher line on Beijing.

At one of his regular grillings by select committee chairs, Rishi Sunak was challenged on the Governments reluctance to act on a number of Chinese-owned companies such as Bytedance, which owns TikTok.

He rejected the suggestion from Liam Byrne, Labour MP and chairman of the Commons Business and Trade Committee, that while other nations acted to protect themselves against China, the UK was merely thinking about it.

Mr Sunak told the Commons Liaison Committee: Our approach to China is undoubtedly more robust than, Id say, most of our allies.

He pointed to European countries not removing Huawei equipment from their telecommunications networks, not placing similar restrictions on exports of sensitive technology to China and said the UKs foreign investment regime was the most recently implemented and therefore the most robust, among other examples.

He added: I am entirely confident that our approach to dealing with the risk that China poses is very much in line with our allies and in most cases goes further in protecting ourselves.

Mr Byrne, who has raised concerns about the influence of Chinese-owned businesses such as Bytedance, replied: It clearly doesnt.

The Prime Ministers defence of the UKs China policy comes after the Government blamed Beijing for malicious cyber attacks on parliamentarians and the Electoral Commission, sanctioning some of those involved.

Backbench Conservatives, however, criticised the Governments actions, saying it had not gone far enough, while others renewed their calls for China to be labelled a threat.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan told Times Radio on Tuesday morning that China was obviously a security threat, but Downing Street has been keen to play down the possibility that the Government could change its language on the country, which it currently calls as an epoch-defining challenge.

The Prime Ministers official spokesman said: There isnt a mechanism under UK law or indeed in our G7 or Five Eyes countries that has a designation process like that.

Cabinet tensions have reportedly surfaced over the issue, with some ministers pushing for tougher action on Beijing while others are resistant over concerns it could harm economic and trade relations.

Tuesday also saw the charge daffairs at the Chinese embassy attend the Foreign Office following a formal summons to account for his countrys actions.

The Foreign Office said it had set out an unequivocal condemnation of malicious cyber activity by organisations affiliated to Beijing, saying it would not tolerate such threatening activity, and would continue to take strong action with partners across the globe to respond.

The attribution of the cyber attacks to the APT31 hacking group, believed to be under the control of the Chinese Ministry of State Security, was part of a coordinated effort with the UKs allies, including the US and New Zealand.

US authorities announced sanctions against the same front company and individuals as the UK, and also said it had charged seven individuals with computer misuse and fraud offences.

New Zealand alleged hackers linked to the Chinese government launched a state-sponsored operation that targeted the countrys parliament in 2021 but said it lacked the legal powers to impose sanctions.

The Chinese government has strongly denied that it has carried out, supported or encouraged cyber attacks on the UK, describing the claims as completely fabricated and malicious slanders.

A spokesman 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.
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Robert Halfon has resigned from Rishi Sunaks government in a shock announcement, saying he will not stand as an MP at the next general election.

Quitting as skills, apprenticeships and higher education minister, Mr Halfon told the prime minister: I feel that it is time for me to step down at the forthcoming general election, and in doing so, to resign as a minister in your government.

Mr Halfon added: I believe that across the country, there is a quiet admiration for your work ethic, integrity and ability to solve complex problems faced by our country.

Mr Halfon said he would wholeheartedly support the PM from the back benches ahead of the next general election while championing his Harlow constituency.

Robert Halfon has quit as skills, apprenticeships and higher education minister (PA Media)

It came as armed forces minister James Heappey officially left his role in government, weeks after announcing he would step down.

Mr Heappey is also quitting as an MP at the next general election. The minister, who served in the army in Iraq, Afghanistan and Northern Ireland before joining parliament, said in a letter published online that he had made a painful decision to stand down as a candidate in the upcoming general election.

He continued: I have concluded that now is the time to step away from politics, prioritise my family, and pursue a different career.

James Heappey will stand down as an MP at the next election (PA Archive)

In a letter to Mr Heappey, the prime minister said: You have made an important contribution to government and your support to consecutive Conservative administrations at the Ministry of Defence has been commendable.

And, responding to Mr Halfons resignation, Mr Sunak said: I was very sorry to hear of your decision to step down from government, as well as your intention to stand down at the next election.

The unexpected resignation of Mr Halfon is the latest blow to Mr Sunak, who is facing a brutal set of local elections within weeks.

Mr Heappey and Mr Halfon are the 62nd and 63rd Conservative MPs to announce plans to step down at the general election, expected to be held in October.

Leo Docherty will replace James Heappey as armed forces minister, while Luke Hall has been appointed to the Department for Education following the departure of Robert Halfon.

Other moves in the mini-reshuffle triggered by the ministers resignations include Nus Ghani becoming minister for Europe at the Foreign Office and Alan Mak becoming a junior minister jointly in the Department for Business and Trade and the Cabinet Office.

Kevin Hollinrake, who as Post Office minister held a junior ministerial role, has now been promoted to minister of state in the Department for Business and Trade.
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A top US magazine has published a damning assessment of Britain after 14 years of Conservative rule, lashing out at Brexit and the quickening, lowering churn of prime ministers since 2010.

The New Yorkers excoriating report on the state of the UK lays bare how Britains withdrawal from the European Union (EU) catalysed some of the worst tendencies in British politics, its superficiality, nostalgia, and love of game play.

And it says under successive Tory PMs the country has suffered grievously from years of loss and waste.

The New Yorker magazine laid into 14 years of Conservative rule in Britain (Getty/The Independent)

Living standards have fallen. The country is exhausted by constant drama. But the UK cant move on from the Tories without facing up to the damage that has occurred, journalist Sam Knight wrote.

The piece comes just months before Rishi Sunak is expected to face the country in a general election this October.

His Conservative Party is 22 points behind Labour in the polls, and barring a dramatic turnaround in Tory fortunes Sir Keir Starmer is on course to move into No10 Downing Street.

The Labour leader has promised a decade of national renewal if he wins the election, turning the countrys back on never-ending Tory decline.

The influential New Yorkers piece said: Some people insisted that the past decade and a half of British politics resists satisfying explanation.

The only way to think about it is as a psychodrama enacted, for the most part, by a small group of middle-aged men who went to elite private schools, studied at the University of Oxford, and have been climbing and chucking one another off the ladder of British public lifethe cursus honorum, as Boris Johnson once called itever since.

Keir Starmer has promised to turn the page on never-ending Tory decline and usher in a decade of national renewal (Getty Images)

And the piece pointed out that while a single party has been responsible, the country has not been ruled against its will, blaming the unpopularity of Labour leaders Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn.

How readers interpret the Brexit vote explains how they have viewed the last 14 years of British politics as a prism that clarifies or scrambles the picture entirely.

It added: One perspective sees the whole saga as a woeful mistake. In this view, Cameron decided to settle, once and for all, an internal Tory argument about Britains place in an integrating EU, a question that had haunted the Party since the last days of Thatcher.

In the process, he turned what was an abstruse obsession on the right wing of British politics into a much simpler, terrifyingly binary choice for the population on how they felt their life was going.
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After the US Supreme Court revoked a constitutional right to abortion care, tens of thousands of women who are not pregnant have ordered abortion drugs in the event they could need them if, or when, that access is taken away from them.

A wave of state-level anti-abortion laws that followed the Supreme Courts 2022 decision to reverse the decades-long precedent established by Roe v Wade appeared to fuel an increase of advance provision prescriptions of medication abortion drugs across the country.

But another looming Supreme Court decision on abortion rights threatens the availability of a widely used abortion drug that was approved by the federal government more than 20 years ago  and is used in more than half of all abortions nationwide.

A decision to revoke federal approval of the drug mifepristone, less than two years after the courts far-reaching decision in Dobbs v Jackson Womens Health Organization, could further upend abortion access for millions of Americans, and potentially force patients to seek surgical care in a country where the procedure is effectively now illegal in more than a dozen states.

What weve been seeing is that the need has not gone down as the restrictions have gone up, Lauren Jacobson, a nurse practitioner who works with telehealth provider Aid Access, told The Independent. Restricting abortion doesnt make it less necessary.

Lawyers for President Joe Bidens administration will defend mifepristones government approval when the Supreme Court hears oral arguments in the case on 26 March.

In prepared remarks for his State of the Union address, the president vowed to restore Roe v Wade as the law of the land  but hes facing a Republican-controlled Congress that has firmly rejected abortion rights and a balkanized landscape of state and local restrictions targeting millions of Americans reproductive healthcare.

The Biden administration has also warned that a Supreme Court decision that targets the FDAs approval process could open the door for other right-wing-fuelled legal challenges to other drugs, including HIV prevention medication, gender-affirming care, contraception and Covid-19 vaccines.

Its not just a reproductive health issue, Ms Jacobson said. People also need to look at the bigger picture there.

Pulling the rug out from under abortion patients

Before the June 2022 decision that reversed Roe v Wade, Aid Access received roughly 6,000 advance provision requests for abortion drugs, or roughly 25 per day since the group began offering medication in the US, according to a study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine this year.

That daily figure spiked to roughly 118 per day, amounting to more than 42,000 requests.

Requests spiked in the weeks after a leak of the Supreme Courts draft opinion was published and after court rulings in 2023 took aim at the drug mifepristone.

In 2023, roughly 30 per cent of the groups requests came from Texas alone, according to Aid Access. Texas, home to roughly 30 million people, has effectively outlawed most abortions, including medication abortions.

Roughly 80 per cent of requests to Aid Access have come from states where abortion is outlawed or under severe restrictions, and so what this shows us is that the restrictions being put in place are not decreasing the need  its just changing how people access care if theyre able to access it at all, Ms Jacobson told The Independent. The need is still there.

Removing the most commonly used abortion drug from the market would be pulling the rug out from under people who are seeking abortions, she said.

Up to 16 per cent of all abortions relied on telemedicine last year, according to the Society of Family Planning.

How mifepristone became a target

Mifepristone was first approved for use by the FDA in most cases up to 10 weeks of pregnancy in 2000. A vast majority of all abortions occur within the first nine weeks of pregnancy, and more than half of all abortions in the US are medication abortions, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

From 2019 through 2020, nearly 93 per cent of all abortions were performed before the 13th week, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A medication abortion typically involves a two-part protocol  mifepristone, which blocks the hormone progesterone, which stops a pregnancy from growing, followed by misoprostol, which helps the uterus contract. The medication also is used for miscarriage treatment.

In 2022, shortly after the Supreme Courts decision in the Dobbs case, the right-wing legal group Alliance Defending Freedom filed a federal lawsuit in Texas to challenge the FDAs approval of mifepristone and overturn a rule from the Biden administration that expanded telehealth access.

The Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine incorporated in Amarillo within the month that the complaint was filed, increasing the likelihood that the complaint would land in a federal court district with an ideologically like-minded judge.

Alliance Defending Freedom, among the most influential conservative Christian legal advocacy groups in the US, also helped draft anti-abortion laws used to overturn Roe and has championed litigation and legislation targeting birth control and LGBT+ rights.

Last year, in response to the groups lawsuit, US District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk  a former right-wing activist lawyer who was appointed to the federal judiciary by Donald Trump  suspended the FDAs approval of mifepristone.

Abortion rights advocates, providers, major medical groups and legal analysts condemned the ruling, and the US Department of Justice and Danco Laboratories, which manufactures mifepristone, filed an appeal, which landed at the right-wing Fifth Circuit, which has jurisdiction over the Amarillo court.

That panel partially upheld Judge Kacsmaryks ruling, and an appeal to the nations highest court followed.

A major medical journal retracted two papers from 2021 and 2022 that the plaintiffs cited in their case to the nations high court, throwing into doubt any medical basis for their position, while anti-abortion groups, Republican officials from 25 states and more than 140 members of Congress have signed briefs with the Supreme Court to block mifepristones availability.

Alliance Defending Freedoms senior counsel Erin Hawley, wife of Republican US Senator Josh Hawley, has argued that the FDAs approval of mifepristone does not reflect scientific judgment but rather a politically driven decision to push a dangerous drug regimen.

Abortion rights advocates and providers have warned that a Supreme Court ruling that eliminates or further restricts access to mifepristone could drastically impact an already fragile landscape for abortion care.

Worst-case scenario, the ruling would likely push abortion seekers later into gestation, which requires them to pursue surgical abortions, which are less accessible and more expensive than medication abortions, according to Serra Sippel, interim executive director of The Brigid Alliance, which provides logistical support to abortion patients forced to travel often long distances for care.

Then you have the travel barriers and the financial barriers that people will face, barriers that they wouldnt face if they had access to medication abortion, she told The Independent.

Last year, the group supported more than 1,400 people, who travelled an average of 1,300 miles roundtrip  marking a 30 per cent increase since the Dobbs ruling and the wave of anti-abortion laws that followed.

Those travel costs have also surged by 27 per cent, up to an average of $2,300 per patient.

There are resources out there, and I think the challenge is going to be communication, and how do we make sure that people know that even with a ban on medication abortion, there are ways to get to abortion providers, Ms Sippel said.

Threats to the gold standard of telemedicine

For patients using Aid Access, that requires filling out a consultation form on its website, and then a provider reviews the request before the group packages and ships out the medication through the US Postal Service. The costs are roughly $150.

The group has allowed physicians in Democratic-led states with so-called shield laws for providers to prescribe and mail pills directly to patients in anti-abortion states.

Such laws  adopted in Colorado, Massachusetts, New York, Washington and Vermont  protect abortion providers who mail pills to restricted states from inside their borders, allowing a breakthrough expansion of abortion care in anti-abortion states.

After the publication of the JAMA study, Aid Access saw another spike in advance provision requests. If the Supreme Court strips mifepristones approval, its going to make it harder for people to access the pills, and its going to make it harder for providers to access them and give them to people, and it might change the way that people prescribe, Ms Jacobson said.

Telehealth is becoming a gold standard in healthcare now, and since you no longer have to see people in person to give mifepristone  its been shown for three decades that its safe and effective  and its no different with telemedicine, she told The Independent. Some providers might find ways to get mifepristone and prescribe it and send it anyways  there are avenues for that. But I think more than anything, these kinds of things instil a sense of fear in patients that their rights and autonomy over their bodies are being further limited and taken away.

Patients will need help travelling to their appointments, but its going to get worse, Ms Sippel said. But even when it gets better, there are still people who are at the margins who dont have the resources to access the care they need.

Meanwhile, major pharmacy retailers Walgreens and CVS are beginning to offer prescription mifepristone in stores across the US, a move that could significantly expand access to abortion care.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, abortion drugs could only be obtained in person from a health provider who prescribed them.

In 2021, the FDA removed that in-person requirement, allowing the pills to be shipped through the mail like many other prescription medicines.

The agency also opened a certification process for retail pharmacies to dispense the drug, opening the door for some of the most common brick-and-mortar stores in cities and towns across the country to make abortion drugs available to millions of Americans.

A phased rollout of the drugs availability in two of the largest pharmacy chains will reduce unnecessary delays to accessing care, and potentially the number of women who will be forced to travel out of state, Ms Sippel said in the wake of that announcement.

But the drug still wont be available for abortion care in those stores in states where abortion is effectively illegal, underscoring the patchwork state of reproductive healthcare even among some of the biggest pharmacy brands in the country.

Hundreds of thousands of pregnant people who live in states where abortion is banned and mifepristone is illegal will not be impacted by this decision, Ms Sippel said.
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President Joe Biden announced he would be visiting Baltimore next week and his administration approved $60m in emergency aid after the Dali container ship collided with the citys Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing it to dramatically collapse and propelling members of a construction crew into the cold water below.

The cause of the 26 March collision is still unknown. As the investigation is still underway, the mission has shifted from one of recovery to one of clearing the waters.

This work will not take hours. This work will not take days. This work will not just take weeks. We have a very long road ahead of us. We understand that. And were prepared, Maryland Gov Wes Moore said at a Thursday evening press conference. He praised the Biden-Harris administrations release of funds, as the president administration has promised to use federal funds to rebuild the bridge.

While the state works to quickly restore the Baltimore port, the community mourns as six members of a construction crew, who were refilling potholes and fell into the Patapsco River when the Dali slammed into the bridge, havent been found.

After a 17-hour search for the missing men on the day of the incident, the Coast Guard suspended search operations, presuming that the six unaccounted-for workers were dead at that point.

The search team found two bodies in a submerged red pickup truck the following morning.

So far, four of the six missing men have been publicly identified.

Heres what we know about the Baltimore bridge collapse:

The collision

At around 1.30am ET local time, the Singapore-flagged vessel Dali struck a column on the Francis Scott Key Bridge, leading multiple parts of the 1.6-mile-long bridge to tumble into the water.

Just moments before the collision, the ships crew issued a mayday call. Maryland Gov Wes Moore added that the call undoubtedly saved lives, giving time for authorities to stop cars from continuing on the bridge.

The crew warned the Maryland Department of Transportation that a collision with the bridge was possible, the report said. The vessel struck the bridge causing a complete collapse.

Its still unclear what caused the accident. But the ship was just 30 minutes into its 27-day journey to Sri Lanka.

Marcel Muise, the chief investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), said data from the shipping containers voyage data recorder, sometimes referred to as a black box, was still being analysed.

Mr Muise said that around 1.27am on Tuesday, one of the two pilots of the Dali had made radio contact regarding a blackout and ordered for the port anchor to be dropped as well as issuing additional steering commands.

Several seconds later the pilot issued another radio call over the radio reporting that the Dali had lost all power and was approaching the bridge, Mr Muise said.

Transportation authorities say the water under the bridge is around 50 feet deep.

At least six people are still missing as the search continues (PA)

There was no indication that the crash was intentional, officials said.

Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore Fire Department, told The Associated Press that it appeared there were some cargo or retainers hanging from the bridge, creating unsafe and unstable conditions, and that emergency responders had to operate cautiously.

Jennifer Homendy, chair of the NTSB, said that over 750 tonnes of hazardous materials had been onboard the Dali container ship when the crash occurred.

An NTSB hazmat investigator was able to identify 56 containers of hazardous materials, a total of 764 tonnes of hazardous materials, Ms Homendy told a press conference on 27 March. The materials were mostly corrosives, flammables, and some miscellaneous hazardous materials, she added.

Some of the hazmat containers were breached, though state authorities have been made aware.

The missing men

Eight people were initially believed to be in the water after the container ship collided with the bridge  four of whom are still missing.

Two survivors were pulled from the water on the day of the collision. One has been taken to a trauma unit and is in serious condition, while the other was uninjured.

Mr Cartwright said the city was dealing with a developing mass casualty incident.

A multi-agency rescue ensued, in search of the six missing people, with dive team members going into the river to try and locate them.

The Coast Guard also deployed small boats and helicopters to help in the search.

The collapse has been described as catastrophic (via REUTERS)

After almost a full day of searching for the six, the Coast Guard announced at 7.30pm on Tuesday evening that the search was suspended and would transform into a recovery effort the next morning.

Id like to announce tonight that based on the length of time that weve gone in this search, the extensive search efforts weve put into it, the water temperature, that at this point we do not believe that were going to find any of these individuals still alive, said Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath.

Officials revealed that the missing six were members of a construction crew  employed by Brawner Builders  hired to refill potholes.

Brawner Builders employee Jesus Campos told The Baltimore Banner that the still unaccounted-for individuals are all men in their 30s and 40s.

They are all hard-working, humble men, Mr Campos told the outlet.

Two of the men  Miguel Luna and Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval  were named by family members as being among the workers on the bridge who went missing after the structure collapsed into the river below.

Both men were married and had children. Luna was from El Salvador and Sandoval was from Honduras; they had both been living in the US for nearly two decades.

Their bodies have not yet been recovered.

Col Roland Butler Jr of Maryland State Police said at a 27 March evening press conference that agencies made a tragic finding just before 10am that morning: a red pickup truck submerged in 20 feet of water with two victims trapped inside.

They were identified as Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26. Fuentes was from Mexico while Cabrera was from Guatemala.

An unthinkable tragedy

The Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse is an unthinkable tragedy, Baltimore city mayor Brandon Scott said.

We have to be thinking about the families and people impacted, folks who we have to try to find. This is what our focus should be on right now, were going to continue to work in partnership with every part of government to do everything we can to get us through the other side of this tragedy, he said.

It is unclear what caused the collapse (Sky News)

Maryland Gov Wes Moore declared a state of emergency in his state hours after the bridges collapse.

On 27 March, the governor announced that the flags would be flown at half-staff. Later that day at a press conference, he said, The collapse of the Key bridge is not just a Maryland crisis. The collapse of the Key Bridge is a global crisis. The national economy and the global economy depends on the Port of Baltimore.

In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, the White House called it a horrific incident.

Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre gave condolences on behalf of the White House at a press conference: Our hearts go out to the families of the six individuals still missing.

Mr Biden told reporters on Friday, 29 March that he plans to visit Baltimore next week.

How did the crash occur?

The cause of the collision is still being investigated, but evidence suggests the vessel lost power just before it crashed into the bridge.

The NTSB recovered the voyage data recorder (VDR), or black box, which provided a minute-by-minute timeline of the lead-up to the crash.

The data was made public on 27 March, showing that the Dali departed from Baltimores Seagirt Marine Terminal at 12.39am on Tuesday 26 March.

By 1.24am, the ships bridge audio recorded numerous alarms. Around the same time, the VDR stopped recording the vessels system data, but it was able to continue taping audio from an alternative power source.

The VDR resumed recording the system data and captured steering commands and orders about its rudder. Seconds later, the ships pilot issued a radio call to tugboats close by asking for assistance for the stricken vessel. The pilot association dispatcher then called the MDTA duty officer about a blackout, NTSB said.

A minute later, the pilot ordered the Dali to drop the port anchor and issued another high-frequency radio call, reporting that the ship had lost all power and was approaching the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

A transit authority duty officer alerted two units  one on each side of the bridge  who were already on the scene and ordered them to stop traffic, shutting down all lanes.

Two minutes after the warning call was made, at 1.29am, the VDR recorded 33 seconds of sound consistent with the vessel colliding into the bridge, the NTSB wrote. The Dali was moving at just under 8 miles per hour.

The pilot then radioed the US Coast Guard to report the bridge had come down.

The 300-metre-long vessel was embarking on a journey to Sri Lanka and was only 30 minutes in when it collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge (Getty Images)

While deeper analysis of the black box data has yet to come out, some experts have also questioned whether the structural integrity of the bridge itself was strong enough.

Julian Carter, a structural and civil engineering expert, earlier told Sky News that the structures of the bridge were very weak at certain points.

Fire officials said earlier that they do not have any information as to whether there was a problem with the 300-metre-long ship, and have not spoken to the pilot of the vessel yet.

Chief Wallace added that he could not confirm if there had been a fuel leakage from the cargo ship.

We hope as the sun comes up, we will get a much better picture if we do have a fuel spill and what the impact has been so far, he said.

Gov Moore said on 27 March that its still unclear what caused the ships power to go out. There needs to be accountability to make sure these things do not happen again and that we have a system in place to make sure they dont, he said at a press conference.

Recovery efforts

State officials announced they have suspended recovery operations, due to safety concerns for divers and an inability to reach vehicles.

Gov Moore announced on Thursday that the operation to clear debris was set to begin after the Biden-Harris administration approved the governors request for $60m to fund the relief effort.

The governor noted that the initial funds will serve as a down payment toward initial costs, and additional Emergency Relief program funding will be made available as work continues.

Although Mr Moore did not provide an exact timeline for how long the process will take, he warned, This work will not take hours. This work will not take days. This work will not just take weeks. We have a very long road ahead of us. We understand that. And were prepared.

At a Friday press conference, Gov Moore labelled the incident a human tragedy, adding, We need to continue to focus on recovery because we need to give a sense of closure to these families.

The recovery efforts were paused as the conditions were deemed unsafe for divers until the wreckage was cleared, the governor said.

On Saturday, authorities said that rescue divers remained on standby and would return to the waters as soon as conditions improve. Governor Moore told reporters: Right now, the conditions make it unsafe for rescue divers. But as soon as those conditions change, Colonel [Roland] Butler has assured me that those rescue divers will be going right back in the water.

Four massive cranes are coming in to help lift the wreckage.

Two have arrived, one arrives tonight and the fourth is arriving on Monday, Mr Moore said.

A crane works on clearing debris from the Francis Scott Key Bridge (Getty Images)

One of the cranes  the Chesapeake 1000 is capable of lifting 1000 tonnes  but the Key Bridge weighs somewhere between three and four times that, so the bridge needs to be cut into sections, he explained.

The first crane lift of debris was scheduled to take place on Saturday.

At a press conference, Coast Guard Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath said: This is a step in that process, much like when you run a marathon, youve got to take the first few steps. Were taking those few first few steps, and will continue to get the resources in that will propel us to the finish line, but were working to get there as fast as we can.

Were going to open it as soon as possible and were gonna continue to do it safely.

The container vessel Dali

All members of the crew were accounted for after the crash.

The Dalis 22-member crew and its two pilots were all safe, Synergy Marine Group said in a statement. One crew member sustained minor injuries and has since been treated and discharged from the hospital. The injured crew member returned to the vessel on 27 March, the company said.

Interviews conducted by the NTSB with the two pilots of the Dali container ship are scheduled for Thursday, 28 March.

Jennifer Homendy, NTSB chair, said that an interview with the ships captain had taken place on 27 March, along with the mate, chief engineer and one of the other engineers. She added that the container ship currently has power, but is stationary.

They are not sitting in the dark, but it cannot move, she said.

Reports claim that the crew lost propulsion of the Dali after it left the Baltimore Port (REUTERS)

The boats length overall (LOA) is 299.92 metres and its width is 48.2 metres.

The Dali had just set sail and had only travelled just over four miles from the Seagirt Marine Terminal in the Port of Baltimore before it collided with the west side of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, according to VesselFinder.

It was about to embark on a 27-day journey to Colombo, Sri Lanka, which is roughly 10,220 miles, although it only managed to complete a fraction of its journey  about 30 minutes  before it crashed.

While the vessel had a fairly good safety record, Mr Buttigieg noted, the Dali had reportedly been involved in another incident back in 2016, port authorities told CNN.

The same ship that struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge was also involved in an incident at the Port of Antwerp in Belgium, the outlet reported.

According to Vessel Finder, the Dali reportedly collided with the side of the stone wall quay as it was leaving the port, and consequently damaged the stern and transom of the vessel.

The incident was reportedly blamed on a mistake by the ships master and pilot onboard and there were no injuries.

Separately, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore said that the Dali had passed previous foreign port state inspections, according to a 27 March statement.

While the vessel passed two separate foreign port inspections in June and September 2023, the agency noted that during June, the ship suffered from a faulty monitor gauge for fuel pressure, which was rectified before the vessel departed the port.

In June 2023, a port in Chile reported an issue with the fuel heaters pressure gauges before it was fixed before departing, the Associated Press reported.

The Independent has asked the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore to clarify at which foreign ports the inspections took place.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge

Before the Francis Scott Key Bridge catastrophically plummeted into the Patapsco River, the structure had stood for 47 years in its completion as the final link in the I-695 (the Baltimore Beltway).

The bridge got its name from Francis Scott Key, the man who penned the US national anthem The Star-Spangled Banner, who also happens to be a distant cousin and the namesake of the writer F Scott Fitzgerald.

The Maryland native was thought to be close to where the bridge was eventually erected when he witnessed the bombardment of Fort McHenry in 1814, inspiring him to write the words to the anthem, the Maryland Transportation Authority wrote on its website.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge was completed in 1977 and carried 11.3 million vehicles a year (AP)

It took five years to complete the bridge, between 1972 and 1977 and carried some 11.3 million vehicles a year before it fell into the river on Tuesday.

The four-lane steel bridge spanned 1.6 miles across the river and had 185 feet of vertical clearance.

The bridge leads up to the Port of Baltimore, which is the USs busiest port for car shipments, according to data from the Maryland Port Administration, Reuters reports, as well as being the largest US port by volume for handling heavy farm and construction machinery.

NTSB Chair Homendy said that the bridge was fracture critical but had been in satisfactory condition prior to the crash.

The last inspection of the bridge occurred in May 2023. The structure receives over 30,700 vehicles crossing it each day, Ms Homendy said.

The bridge is fracture critical. What that means is if a member fails, that would likely cause a portion of or the entire bridge to collapse, Ms Homendy told a press conference on 27 March.

The preferred method for building bridges today is that there is redundancy built in whether thats transmitting loads to another member or some sort of structural redundancy. This bridge did not have redundancy.

There are 17,468 fracture critical bridges in the United States out of around 615,000 bridges total, according to the Federal Highway Administration (FHA).

This bridge was in satisfactory condition, Ms Homendy added. The last fractional fracture critical inspection was in May 2023. We have not been able to go through that inspection and all the documents that but that will occur after we leave the on-scene portion [of the investigation].

Earlier on Wednesday US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said that while the bridge took five years to build, that does not necessarily mean it will take five years to replace.

Implications for global trade

In a speech on Tuesday afternoon, President Joe Biden vowed to use federal funds to rebuild the bridge and promised to move heaven and earth to reopen the bridge as soon as humanly possible, emphasising the critical role that the bridge and the port play for daily travel, trade and the economy.

Mr Buttigieg reiterated this sentiment at a press conference on Wednesday, saying Mr Biden has urged the federal government to tear down any barriers, bureaucratic as well as financial that could affect the timeline of this project.

Mr Biden said that more than 30,000 vehicles cross every day. He called it one of the most important elements of the economy and quality of life in the Northeast corridor. Not to mention that 850,000 vehicles go through the port every year.

The port is shut down indefinitely after the bridges catastrophic collapse.

Experts have warned that there could be long-term impacts on global trade and insurance premiums as a result of the bridges collapse.

Andrew Tettenborn, Professor of Commercial Law at Swansea University, said there could be a short-term impact on global trade in the coal industry, but added that the US are good at diverting coal exports. A lot of the trade will be picked up elsewhere, he said.

When asked about the indefinite blocking of the port, he said: Even if it is blocked for a time, I wouldnt think it would have an enormous effect.

But the port and its affiliated workers are already feeling the effects.

Roughly a dozen cargo ships were believed to be stuck inside the port and another 30 small cargo ships, tug boats and pleasure craft were also in the port, while about 40 heading for Baltimore were forced to divert

The president added that 15,000 jobs depend on that port, on top of the 140,000 jobs linked to port activities, Marylands governor noted last month.

A day after the incident, Mr Buttigieg said a main area of concern was the livelihoods of port workers, estimating that thousands of jobs could be affected by the incident.

Gov Moore also noted that last year the port handled a record 52.3 million tons of foreign cargo  worth more than $80bn in value. It ranked ninth in the nations ports in foreign cargo handled, and first for volume of autos and light trucks, the statement said.

The Port of Baltimore ranked as the 17th top US port in 2023, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

As Mr Biden alluded, the port is a hub for travel. The governor wrote that over 444,000 individuals cruised out of the Port of Baltimore in 2023 alone.

There is no question that this will be a major and protracted impact to supply chains, the transportation secretary said in the aftermath of the disaster.

The port already took a hit hours after the incident.

Maersk, which chartered the Dali vessel, said it would be omitting Baltimore on all our services for the foreseeable future, until it is deemed safe for passage through this area, in a 26 March morning statement.

Gov Moore emphasised the impact of the collision: The collapse of the Key bridge is not just a Maryland crisis. The collapse of the Key bridge is a global crisis. The national economy and the global economy depends on the Port of Baltimore.
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Watch as Joe Biden spoke to reporters about the Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore on Tuesday, 26 March.

The US presidents reaction came as a search and rescue mission is underway for at least six people who have been missing since a container ship crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge earlier today.

A cargo-carrying vessel called the Dali crashed into a pillar of the bridge around half an hour after setting sail at approximately 1:30am EDT (5:30am GMT) on a 27-day journey to Sri Lanka.

It is not confirmed what caused the collapse but Maryland Governor Wes Moore said officials ruled out a terrorist attack, adding that the ship made a mayday call just ahead of the crash.

Some of the ships crew told authorities they lost power moments beforehand.

Mr Biden spoke with senior members of his team on Tuesday morning, instructing them to make federal resources available to teams conducting search and rescue efforts for those who are missing.
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Crew members onboard the Dali cargo ship have been praised for saving countless lives by raising a mayday alarm just moments before the vessel hit the Baltimore Francis Scott Key Bridge.

The Singapore-flagged shipping vessel slammed into one of the pillars at around 1.30am (local time) on Tuesday, causing a long span of the bridge to instantly crumple into the Patapsco River.

At least eight people went into the water and six of them  all construction workers  were presumed dead due to the frigid water and the length of time elapsed since the accident.

Follow all the latest updates with our live blog here.

The alarm call issued by the ships all-Indian crew moments before the crash allowed authorities to stop cars from entering the bridge from both sides, saving lives in the process.

The vessel notified the Department of Transportation (MDOT) that they had lost control of the ship and that a collision with the bridge was possible.

A drone view of the Dali cargo vessel, which crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge causing it to collapse, in Baltimore (via REUTERS)

Following the mayday alarm, a dispatchers 12-second warning crackled over the radio: Theres a ship approaching thats just lost their steering so until theyve got that under control weve got to stop all traffic.

Within about 90 seconds, police officers responded that they had managed to stop vehicle traffic over the bridge in both directions.

One official said he was about to drive onto the bridge to alert a construction crew, but it was too late.

With the ship barreling toward the bridge at "a very, very rapid speed", authorities had just enough time to stop cars, Maryland governor Wes Moore said.

"These people are heroes," he said. "They saved lives last night."

Two people were rescued from the waters, with one in critical condition. Search operation for the remaining six construction workers was suspended on Tuesday night, but is expected to resume on Wednesday morning with very little hope of finding them alive.

Among the missing were people from Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico, according to diplomats from those countries. The Honduran man was identified as Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandova.

Dramatic videos show the 1.6-mile-long bridge crumpling into the water, with the headlights of vehicles seen in the footage as it collapsed.

There still was traffic moving across the span, and some vehicles appeared to escape with only seconds to spare.

Maryland governor Wes Moore has declared a state of emergency while the FBI in Baltimore said they were on scene, while it has been confirmed that there is no indication of terrorism.

Never would you think that you would see, physically see, the Key Bridge tumble down like that. It looked like something out of an action movie, said mayor Brandon Scott, calling it an unthinkable tragedy.

Parts of the Francis Scott Key Bridge remain after the collision (AP)

Synergy Marine Group - which owns and manages the Dali - confirmed the vessel hit a pillar of the bridge while it was in control of two pilots.

It confirmed all 22 crew members, including the pilots, were accounted for and there were no reports of any injuries. The ship had only travelled four miles from the Seagirt Marine Terminal on its journey to Sri Lanka when it crashed.

A loss of propulsion, which according to an unclassified report was the reason behind the collision, is the failure of the propulsion system to steer and navigate the vessel.

As a result of the incident and ongoing recovery efforts, all Baltimore port traffic is suspended until further notice.

Tuesdays disaster may be the worst US bridge collapse since 2007 when the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis collapsed into the Mississippi River, killing 13.

From 1960 to 2015, there were 35 major bridge collapses worldwide due to ship or barge collisions, according to the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure.
MBABANE  Former Hosea MP Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza has issued summons against government, where he is demanding E6 million.

The combined summons was filed at the High Court by his attorney, Ben J Simelane, yesterday. In his particulars of claim, he alleged that he was pulled by his private parts by warders. Mabuza alleged that he was stripped naked by junior warders, who purportedly assaulted and paraded him in front of their female colleagues. The former Member of Parliament (MP) also alleged that the Correctional officers held him by his private parts and twisted them. As a result, he is demanding E6 million in damages from the Eswatini Government.

Murder

Mabuza was found guilty of terrorism and murder, among other charges, together with his co-accused, former Ngwempisi MP Mthandeni Dube. Mabuza alleged that: I was physically assaulted all over the body, kicked and trampled upon in the process. The warders attempted to gouge my eyes, especially the right eye. He further stated that the warders stabbed him with an unknown object in the muscles and further suffocated him with a pair of trousers. I was told that I will suffer the same fate as Amos Mbedzi, who did not die of a stroke and that I cannot challenge the King, averred Mabuza. Government is yet to respond to these allegations, whose veracity is still to be tested in court.

Depriving

Mabuza accused the Correctional officers of depriving him of positive human qualities. He narrated that the incident happened on September 29, 2023, at about 4:40pm. He submitted that a battalion of officers who assaulted him was allegedly led by Senior Superintendent Sibiya, Chief Officer Shongwe, and Assistant Superintendent Dlamini. He averred that before the assault took place, when it was time to have his supper, he was purportedly informed that he would not have it that evening. According to the former legislator, no reason for such action was given to him by the warders. When I demanded answers on why I was deprived of my supper, a group of about 100 recruits were brought to assault me, alleged Mabuza.

Stripped

The businessman further stated that he was stripped naked and all garments were removed from his body. He told the court that he was allegedly denied food for 24 hours from September 29, 2023, to September 30, 2023, and breakfast on October 1, 2023. Mabuza and Dube will appear at the High Court today, where Judge Mumcy Dlamini is expected to rule if there were extenuating circumstances in their matter. Extenuating circumstances, are circumstances that diminish the culpability of one who has committed a criminal offence and so can be considered to mitigate the punishment.
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A container ship was only minutes into its planned 27-day journey when it rammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, on Tuesday morning, sending the bridge and several people into the Patapsco River.

The Singaporean ship called the Dali was docked in Baltimore on Saturday in preparation for its trip to Colombo, Sri Lanka, according to Vessel Finder.

Carrying Maersk cargo, the nearly 1,000-foot-long (300 metre) container ship was expected to arrive in Sri Lanka on 22 April.

But around 1.30am ET on Tuesday, the ship hit the bridge causing it to collapse as construction workers were working on the bridge.

It is unclear at this time what caused the Dali to crash into the bridge but investigators are looking into the incident while a rescue mission is underway to find the individuals who are believed to have been flung into the river.

Built in 2015, the Dali is currently operated by Synergy Group, a ship-managing company with more than 660 vessels under its technical management. According to a press release from Synergy, the Dali is owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd.

Before Tuesdays incident, the Dali spent the last month traveling from Panama to New York.

The Independent has reached out to Synergy Group for comment.

Map of Baltimore bridge collapse (OpenStreet Map Contributors/The Independent)

The vessel was chartered by Maersk to carry Maersks customers cargo from Baltimore to Colombo in a nearly month-long journey, according to a statement from the company.

Under the pilotage of two pilots, the Dali departed from Baltimore around 1am. With wind speeds of 6.2 knots (7.2 miles per hour), the ship travelled at 7.9 kn (9 mph) for approximately 30 minutes.

Just minutes into the journey, the ship made a mayday call as it lost power. It then hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

All the crew members, including the two pilots, have been accounted for and there are no reports of any injuries onboard, according to the Synergy Group.

(AFP via Getty Images)

Maersk said none of its crew or personnel were on board the vessel when the incident occurred.

However, at least seven people, believed to be construction workers, who were on the bridge fell into the water. Six are still missing.

We are horrified by what has happened in Baltimore, and our thoughts are with all of those affected, Maersk said in a statement.
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A man has been charged with murder after a commuter was unprovokingly shoved onto the subway tracks in New York City and killed by an oncoming train.

Carlton Mcpherson, 24, was arrested at 9pm on Monday on a murder charge following an incident earlier that evening at the 125 Street and Lexington Avenue subway station in East Harlem, police said.

The NYPD said that they received a 911 call just before 7pm over a male on the tracks.

When officers arrived, they saw an unconscious and unresponsive male who was struck by a northbound 4 train.

Emergency personnel responded to the scene and pronounced the unidentified man dead.

After a preliminary investigation, it was determined that the victim was pushed onto the tracks as the train was entering the station. Police are calling the shoving an unprovoked attack that killed the man.

The attack comes hours after the NYPD announced they will increase officers at turnstiles for fare evasion (ABC7)

The NYPD has reportedly responded to incidents in the past where Mr McPherson has been acting erratically, according to ABC7, with authorities saying he also appears to have an alleged history of mental illness.

McPherson most recently had a prior assault arrest in Brooklyn from October 2023 and is awaiting his court appearance in July, the outlet reported.

By 9pm, the train service had resumed at the station, but a large officer presence remained at the scene.

This unprovoked attack is the latest in a string of separate crime incidents that have occurred in the New York subway system.

Earlier this month, Kathy Hochul, the governor of New York, announced she would deploy the national guard within the transport system for increased security reasons and to deter crimes.

Her announcement came less than two weeks before a violent outburst occurred on a moving train in downtown Brooklyn when an aggressive passenger got into a confrontation with another man.

Emergency personnel rushed down to the platform where they pronounced the victim dead (ABC7)

The situation ended when the aggressive passenger was shot with his own handgun by the man he was confronting, causing the packed rush hour train to transcend into fear and panic.

Crimes such as these which have made the headlines have made some commuters fearful and frustrated at the incidents happening underground.

The subway has been insane lately, Bronx resident Ray Velez told The New York Times, as he waited on the platform two hours after Mondays attack. You have to look everywhere now. Its just out of control.

Another commuter, who uses that very station often to board trains, told ABC7 that he wants to be able to trust your fellow citizens, but its tough.

Mondays horrific attack occurred mere hours after police department officials announced they would be sending 800 police officers to flood the subway with their presence, this time to crack down on fare-evading passengers.

By stopping those who dodge the train fares, police say they hope this will quell crime rates, as those who commit subway crimes often havent paid their fares.

Hours before the unidentified man died from getting pushed on the tracks on Monday, Mike Kemper, the chief of transit, announced that overall crime on the subway during February was down due to the increased actions to crack down on crime.

And so far, in the month of March, that downward trend continues, Mr Kemper said. The overall crime so far in March is down 15.5 per cent when compared to last year.

This is not the first time this year that a person became a victim of getting shoved onto the subway train tracks.

Earlier this month, a woman had to have both her feet amputated following her boyfriend pushing her onto the tracks, where she was struck by an oncoming 3 train.
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Jailed momfluencer Ruby Franke asked if we made the news one day after she was arrested for child abuse, newly released audio of her jailhouse calls has revealed.

Franke, 42, who previously ran the popular 8 Passengers YouTube channel about her family life, was sentenced to up to 30 years in prison in February for brutally abusing her 12-year-old son and nine-year-old daughter.

Her arrest came after her son managed to escape the torture and alert a neighbour to their suffering.

Since then, the extent of the abuse that Ms Frankes children suffered has begun to emerge, with new audio footage, obtained by ABC 4, revealing that the momfluencer asked an unidentified man if she had made the news after she was arrested for child abuse.

Are we in the news? she is heard asking during the phone call.

It sounds like that at least youre in the news, I dont know about me, the man responds, adding that he was going dark.

This is a witch hunt, Franke added. The devils been after me for years.

During the call, she could also be heard telling the man her six children can be full of evil.

Jailed momfluencer Ruby Franke asked if we made the news one day after she was arrested for child abuse (Instagram/Moms_of_Truth)

Adults have a really hard time understanding that children can be full of evil, and what that takes to fight it, she said, adding: Its not the person youre fighting and it can look like something its not and youve been there you know. that. I dont know any adults who are going to see the truth so Im calm about this and I just pray that youll hang in there.

Other phone calls from the days following her arrest also reveal Frankes state of mind as she was locked up in prison.

In a second phone call placed two days after her arrest, she is heard suggesting that authorities were trying to exaggerate the extent of her abuse after her children were sent to hospital.

Theyre going to be in the hospital for three days the man said of Frankes children.

So weird, she countered. Its just not necessary. Theyre trying to exaggerate this.

She continued: The most upsetting thing is that I am completely misunderstood. That is the most horrible feeling. Like my own family misunderstands me. They misinterpret me.

The man then appears to remind Franke that even if she is acquitted, there will likely be restrictions placed on the contact she can have with her children under the age of 18.

I figured, Franke replied. God told me when I was driving before and said your children are going to be removed and I just cried out loud no Im not done, Im not ready, and God told me Im done.

The mugshots of Ruby Franke (left) and Jodi Hildebrandt (right) (Washington County Attorneys Office)

So Satan has taken everything away from me that I love and Im a good woman I dont do not do naughty things. Im a really good girl, she added.

Two months later, in another phone call recorded in October 2023, she appears more remorseful and sounds tearful.

I cant say everything that I want to say but I really did feel like being arrested was like a rescue. I just felt so many angels around and it was really kind of surreal. Ive had many experiences here to guide my thinking, she said.

By November of last year, Franke appears to see her arrest as divine intervention.

Ruby Frankes 12-year-old son was found emaciated (Washington County Attorney)

Ruby Frankes kids were found with silver duct tape around their arms and legs (Washington County Attorney)

I could not come out of this without his grace, without his mercy, without his help. This has been the strangest and the most miraculous intervention. It put everybody where they needed to be, she is heard saying.

Frankes arrest came after her 12-year-old son escaped from the home of her business partner Jodi Hildebrandts home in August 2023 and fled to a neighbours home.

He was found with wounds and was emaciated; while his sister was later found in a similar condition.

Police released new video footage of the boys dramatic escape this week. In the footage, he is seen ringing the doorbell of his neighbors and walking away as he thinks no one is home, until a neighbour calls him back.

I was wondering if you could do me two favours, the boy says politely.

Well what are they? the neighbour responds.

Taking me to the nearest police station, the young boy replies before he is asked to take a seat and explain whats happened. He also said he needed cops for personal business.

The neighbours then hand the 12-year-old water and a banana while dialling 911. They can be heard telling the cops he has duct tape around his feet and sores all over his body.

Images released by the courts this week also highlighted the extent of the abuse by Franke and show the two emaciated victims with infected cuts on their legs, duct tape around their arms and feet and scratches and bruises on their bodies.

After his escape, the boy later told police that Hildebrandt would put cayenne pepper and honey on their wounds that had been caused by being tied with the rope, warrants said.

Hildebrandt was sentenced to up to 30 years in prison in February alongside Franke.

The new material released by authorities comes after the Washington County Attorneys Office released Frankes handwritten journal entries, detailing the horrific abuse she inflicted on her young children, including shaving their heads, starving them, dousing them with dirty mop water, making them stand outside barefoot in the brutal desert heat for hours and forcing them to wear adult diapers.
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Sean Diddy Combs has broken his silence following raids on two of his homes, describing the actions of US Homeland Security agents as a gross overuse of military-level force.

Lawyers for the rapper and music mogul said there was no excuse for the hostility shown by authorities towards Combs children and staff members at the two properties.

The raids occurred on Monday at the hip-hop stars mansion in the Holmby Hills area of Los Angeles, California, and his Miami Beach home on Star Island, in Florida.

A statement from Homeland Security said law enforcement actions had been executed as part of an ongoing investigation with assistance from HSI Los Angeles, HSI Miami and our local law enforcement partners.

On Tuesday, Combss lawyer Aaron Dyers said: Yesterday, there was a gross overuse of military-level force as search warrants were executed at Mr Combs residences.

The raids occurred on Monday at Combs mansion in the Holmby Hills area of Los Angeles, California, and his Miami Beach home on Star Island, in Florida (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

There is no excuse for the excessive show of force and hostility exhibited by authorities or the way his children and employees were treated.

Mr Dyers statement was the first to be made publicly by the music moguls team since the raids.

Combs was not detained and spoke to authorities, and neither he nor any family members were arrested, nor has their travel been restricted, according to Dyers statement.

Mr Dyers said the unprecedented ambush has led 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.

There has been no finding of criminal or civil liability with any of these allegations, Mr Dyers said. Mr Combs is innocent and will continue to fight every single day to clear his name.

Combs sons, Justin and Christian King Combs, were handcuffed during the raid at their fathers residence in Los Angeles.

The criminal investigation is a major escalation in the scrutiny of Combs, who has been the defendant in several sexual abuse lawsuits in recent months. Speculation as to his whereabouts has circulated since the raids.

Information about a private jet belonging to the rapper was removed from a popular flight tracking website on Tuesday, though prior information showed it had landed in Antigua.

A statement on FlightAware.com read: This aircraft (N1969C) is not available for public tracking per request from the owner/operator.

Lawyers for Combs described the raids as a gross overuse of military-level force (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

In February, music producer Rodney Jones accused Combs of sexually assaulting him and forcing him to sleep with sex workers.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in New York, accused the music mogul of repeated instances of unsolicited groping and sexual touching. It also said that the man had to work in a bathroom while Combs showered and walked around naked.

The lawsuit was amended on Monday to include actor Cuba Gooding Jr. The Independent has reached out to representatives of Combs and Gooding Jr for comment about the lawsuit.

Combs has previously denied all the accusations against him and vowed to fight for my name, my family and for the truth.

He 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 Biggie Smalls, Mary J Blige and Usher.
 Close Baltimore to receive $60 million in federal funds to rebuild

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Crews started lifting the first section of Baltimores collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge from the water on Saturday, a move aimed at allowing access for barges and tugboats to reach the disaster site.

The workers are currently focusing on lifting a section of the bridge while leaving the crumpled part resting on the bow of the Dali, the container ship responsible for the bridge collapse, officials said. Meanwhile, US president Joe Biden said on Friday he will go to Baltimore next week.

Tom Perez, senior adviser and assistant to Biden, said Sunday that plans for the visit were still being worked out. He called the salvage operation a Herculean undertaking.

The Port of Baltimore will be back, Mr Perez told MSNBC. The president has said this. Were going to move heaven and earth to make sure we rebuild the bridge, we clear out the debris as soon as possible, so that we can minimize these disruptions.

It comes after enormous cranes arrived in Baltimore to help clear the wreckage, which officials say is an essential step before recovery efforts to find the missing construction workers and reopen the port.
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A mass casualty incident has been declared after a bridge in Baltimore collapsed, leaving authorities searching for seven people who have fallen in the river.

A part of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, in Maryland, came down after a container ship hit it early on Tuesday morning.

The 1.6 mile-long bridge carries Route 695 and is the third longest length of unsupported roadway in the world. It crosses the Patapsco River in the southeastern corner of Baltimore City, which is a major sea port on the Atlantic Ocean coastline.

Follow our live blog on this breaking incident by clicking here

The bridge was struck by a large vessel at around 1.30am local time, with multiple vehicles falling into the water below. The boat also caught on fire.

Ship tracking data shows it was a Singapore-flagged container ship, the Dali, at the location along the Key Bridge where the accident occurred. Allof its crew, including the two pilots, have been reportedly accounted for.

Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore Fire Department, told news agency AP that 911 calls reported a vessel travelling outbound from Baltimore had struck a column on the bridge, causing it to collapse.

Multiple vehicles were on the bridge at the time, including one the size of a tractor-trailer.

Mr Cartwright said: This is currently a mass casualty incident and we are searching for seven people who are in the river.

He said its too early to know how many people were affected, but called the collapse a developing mass casualty event.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge collapses in the middle after it is hit by a container ship (Sky News)

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said: Im aware of and en route to the incident at the Key Bridge... Emergency personnel are on scene, and efforts are underway.

The Maryland Transportation Authority said: All lanes closed both directions for incident on I-695 Key Bridge. Traffic is being detoured.

The bridge opened in 1977 and cost an estimated $60.3m. It is named after Mr Key, the writer of the US national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner, who was born in Maryland in 1779.
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The search for six workers missing after a container ship crashed into a bridge in Maryland has been suspended, with authorities saying that there was no hope of finding them alive in what is a terrible, unanticipated tragedy.

The six men, all members of a construction crew employed by Brawner Builders, remain missing after a huge cargo ship slammed into Baltimores Key Bridge, causing it to dramatically collapse into the water.

The men were working on refilling potholes when the incident occurred.

Jeffrey Pritzker, executive vice president of Brawner Builders, told The Baltimore Banner that he does not believe the workers could have survived the shocking incident.

Were presuming that they are not alive, because they were thrown into the bay in an area thats 50 feet deep, with 46-degree temperature, probably buried under tons of steel, Mr Pritzker said.

The company is in mourning and its a terrible, unanticipated tragedy.

Miguel Luna (Supplied)

As the Coast Guard announced that the rescue will now turn into a recovery effort for bodies, loved ones of the missing workers have started to identify them; some are fathers, husbands, and all have been described as hard-working men.

Miguel Luna from El Salvador was the first of the six men to be named. He was working on the bridge at the time of the catastrophic collapse.

His wife told Telemundo 44 earlier on Tuesday that she was devastated.

[We feel] devastated, devastated because our heart is broken, because we dont know if theyve rescued them yet. Were just waiting to hear any news, she told the outlet.

Another man, a father of two from Honduras, was also named by family members as Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval, according to CNN.

Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval (Supplied)

He had been living in the United States for over 18 years, was married, and had an 18-year-old son and a five-year-old daughter, his brother Martin Suazo told the outlet.

Other workers are believed to be from Guatemala and Mexico, officials said.

Two other people were fished out of the water alive, say officials, one who had suffered severe injuries and one who was uninjured.

The Coast Guard told reporters at a Tuesday evening press conference that the search was paused at 7.30pm ET, and would resume on Wednesday morning as a recovery effort with divers being used to search for bodies.

Id like to announce tonight that based on the length of time that weve gone in this search, the extensive search efforts weve put into it, the water temperature, that at this point we do not believe that were going to find any of these individuals still alive, said Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath.

Brawner Builders employee Jesus Campos told The Baltimore Banner that the still missing individuals are all men in their 30s and 40s  who have children and spouses. They are from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico, he added.

They are all hard-working, humble men, Mr Campos told the outlet.

Multiple workers and vehicles were on the Francis Scott Key Bridge over the Patapsco River when the Dali vessel ploughed into a support pillar at around 1.30am ET on Tuesday.

The ships crew made a mayday call just moments before the collision. Maryland Gov Wes Moore added that the call saved lives, providing time to prevent cars from continuing on the bridge.

The crew warned the Maryland Department of Transportation that a collision with the bridge was possible, the report said. The vessel struck the bridge causing a complete collapse.

Its still unclear what caused the accident, which happened just 30 minutes after the ship set sail on its 27-day journey to Sri Lanka.

Harrowing footage captured the bridge crumpling into the freezing waters.

As of Tuesday early afternoon, two people had so far been pulled from the waters, Baltimore police said.

One of those victims is now fighting for their life in hospital after being rushed to a trauma unit in serious condition.

The second person was not injured and refused medical help, police said.

The number of those unaccounted for could climb higher as sonar has detected multiple vehicles submerged in the frigid river while officials have learned that workers were also on the bridge at the time of the crash.

A helicopter flies over the scene of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore, Maryland (REUTERS)

At the press conference, James Wallace, the fire chief from the Baltimore City Fire Department, said the search involves a very large incident and large footprint.

As well as the cold temperatures, search teams were also grappling with darkness and a large debris field to try and search for people who would have now been in the water for an extended period of time.

Chief Wallace told CNN that agencies found three passenger vehicles, a cement truck and another vehicle submerged in the water using infrared and side-scan sonar technology.

Gov Moore declared a state of emergency, adding that he is working with an interagency team to deploy federal resources.

Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the fire department, said the city was dealing with a developing mass casualty incident.

A State of Emergency has been declared by Marylands governor after the tragic collapse (EPA)

A large portion of the Francis Scott Key Bridge is now underwater, as flight tracking website FlightRadar24 showed the Maryland State Police circling the site of the crash in a helicopter.

Mr Cartwright added that a multi-agency rescue is currently underway, with dive team members actively going into the river to try and locate individuals that are feared to be in the water.

The US Coast Guard said it has deployed small boats and helicopters to assist in the search for the people feared within the water.

Yet freezing conditions are posing a concern as the rescue personnel continue to carry out their search.

Upwards of seven people are still missing as rescue efforts continue (Harford County, MD Volunteer Fire & EMS/PA Wire)

It feels like at least about 30 degrees (-1C) where I am, Mr Cartwright told CNN. It could be slightly lower than that. And Im sure that the water temperature is even colder... And that can pose a concern and risk for our divers.

The container ship involved is a Singapore-flagged vessel named Dali, live maritime data showed on Tuesday. It had just departed the port in Baltimore and was headed for the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, where it was due to arrive in late April.

All crew members, including two pilots, on the container ship are accounted for and uninjured, the owners have confirmed in a statement.

Officials said that there is no indication that terrorism could have been involved in the incident.

There is absolutely no indication that theres any terrorism, that this was done on purpose, Chief Richard Worley said.

President Joe Biden reassured Americans that all signs point toward the collapse being a terrible accident, and that no terrorism was involved. Mr Biden vowed to use federal funds to rebuild the bridge. The president promised to move heaven and earth to reopen the bridge, which more than 30,000 vehicles cross every day. He called it one of the most important elements of the economy and quality of life in the Northeast corridor.

He added that 15,000 jobs depend on that port, which 850,000 vehicles go through every year.

United States Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said on X that he had spoken with mayor Scott and governor Moore to offer the Department of Transportations support following the collapse of the bridge.
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The father of a missing Tennessee boy who has autism says he has not spoken with the teenagers mother or stepfather in two weeks.

Seth Rogers was speaking with NewsNation on Monday, as the search for 15-year-old Sebastian Rogers reached the one-month mark.

I havent spoken to them for two weeks. Theyre not talking to me, Mr Rogers said regarding Katie and Chris Proudfoot, whose home Sebastian disappeared from on 26 February.

Sebastian who has high-functioning autism, has not been seen since his mom sent him to bed the night before.

Mr Rogers has been seen out searching for his son, saying that his disappearance just doesnt make sense.

His shoes (were at) the front door. His (Nintendo) Switch was there. His phone was in the kitchen, Mr Roger said. I still cant figure it out. Ive been looking everywhere, handing out flyers.

The father wiped away tears as he said he had been looking for his son for a month.

Im just trying to keep up hope, he said.

Sebastian has been missing since 26 February (Tennessee Bureau of Investigation)

Mr Rogers was one of those who contacted the United Cajun Navy for help with the search, after law enforcement scaled back their efforts on the ground.

Also on Monday, Mr and MS Proudfoot appeared on the Crime Stories with Nancy Grace podcast, on which they said law enforcement had cleared them of any wrongdoing in the case.

Sebastian disappeared from their home, with one theory being that he walked out alone, barefoot.

Ms Proudfoot told Nancy Grace that she believed someone had her son.

I feel like if he had been close to the house, or had walked off, that we would have found him by now with as many people as have been searching, Ms Proudfoot said.

The couple said they had left their home in Sumner County so that Mr Proudfoot could return to work, adding that their son could be anywhere and they would continue to look for him.

On Monday, the UCN started organising volunteers and supplies in Hendersonville, where Sebastian vanished from, with searches planned for the coming days.

Sebastian is described as white, 55 tall, weighing 120lbs., with brown hair and brown eyes.

He was last seen wearing a black sweatshirt, black sweatpants and glasses. He may have been barefoot.
 Close Missing Sebastian Rogers' father speaks as search reaches one month mark

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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.
MBABANE  Government Spokesperson Alpheous Nxumalo has come out to state that the Kings Office Director Percy Simelane responds to a proscribed online entity in his individual capacity.

Alpheous was responding to Swazi Bridges Manqoba Nxumalo, who had questioned him on the emergence of the online spaces on whether he would engage with them as well, including those which had been proscribed as terrorist entities. Alpheous said he would not respond to such entities as there was a specific reason why government published the notice specifying certain entities as terrorist entities. He said part of governments decision was to deny them the leverage to access government official information from official sources.

Position

According to Alpheous, there was a known position of the Kings Office in respect to this particular entity. He said: As to what convenience the individuals at the Kings Office have found suitable for them to continue to engage the particular entity is not going to affect and influence me in anyway, so long as the notice made by government still stands. The government spokesperson said unless and until the incumbent Prime Minister (PM) Russell Dlamini, rescinded the decision, and the proscription of the entity, then there could be leeway to engage with them again. These publications are continuing to publish government information, because we are living in a world of leaking and selling information, Alpheous said.

He mentioned that it was an open secret that media houses paid for information and sold it. However, he said as government, they could not lend credence to institutions that believed in cohesion, intermediation in terrorism to communicate their language.

He told the Swazi Bridge host that he could not also entertain them if they were one of those organisation mentioned above and classified by government as terrorist entities. I am talking to the Bridge and everyone online who is available and interested in engaging, because they are not classified as terrorist entities, he said. This, Alpheous said, was the only difference from the particular one which had been branded a terrorist entity. Furthermore, Alpheous was questioned on the fact that he continued to engage with such entities when they were being taken to court by government and was responding to them for the very longest time and treating them like any other media entity, yet on the other hand, calling them terrorist entities.

According to the host, it was even worse that there was now a disconnect between the government press office and the Kings Office, in particular with Percy Simelane, who continued to engage with the banned entity. In response, Alpheous said he did not want to be seen talking on behalf of the Kings Office or the director of communications there. However, he warned about the danger of regarding the Kings Office employees as individuals and also treating the same office as an individual, adding that there was a huge difference.

Statement

Meanwhile, early this year, government issued a press statement announcing the cutting of communication ties with Swaziland News entity. The announcement was made by Alpheous, adding that a circular memorandum to all government ministries, advising all its officials and employees to desist from communicating and or responding in any form or method to such entities and individuals on social media platform, Facebook and others had been issued. Alpheous said the Swaziland News publication was declared specified entities through Legal No.261 of 2022 in line with the Suppression of Terrorism Act, 2008 in that they allegedly knowingly facilitated the commission of terrorist acts. The Director of Communication in the Kings Office Percy Simelane, when asked about Alpheous comments, stated that what he (Alpheous) alleged was not in the bracket of what he responded to when engaging with the entity.
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The mother of an autistic boy missing in Tennessee says she believes someone must have her son, after four weeks of searching.

Katie Proudfoot told Crime Stories with Nancy Grace that she couldnt understand how Sebastian Rogers, who is 15, couldnt have been found yet otherwise.

I feel like if he had been close to the house, or had walked off, that we would have found him by now with as many people as have been searching, Ms Proudfoot told the podcast on Monday.

Sebastians mom and stepfather Chris Proudfoot were grilled by Nancy Grace, who asked them to clarify their whereabouts the night Sebastian disappeared in Hendersonville.

(Tennessee Bureau of Investigation)

Ms Proudfoot said she had heard a noise from Sebastians room around an hour after he went to bed on 25 February.

A thud, she clarified in the interview, saying she had called out to her son, who replied, and she told him to get to sleep.

That was the last time she heard her son, she said. Mr Proudfoot, meanwhile, was away for work on a construction site.

When Ms Proudfoot woke up on 26 February, Sebastian was gone. She called her husband, who then called the police and a weeks-long search began.

The couple have since left their home, with Mr Proudfoot telling Nancy Grace that he was heading back to work and his wife was accompanying him.

When asked if they were worried about leaving the area while the search continues, Ms Proudfoot said of course she was.

My son could be anywhere and were looking everywhere and anywhere, the mother added.

Nancy Grace also brought up questions about the police search, with the couple saying they had been cleared of any wrongdoing and that they had cooperated fully when officers arrived to search their home.

The host also brought up a report of Mr Proudfoot beating Sebastian with a belt, which he said happened one time when the boy had lied, around three years ago.

The episode also discussed Sebastians autism, with the couple saying that he was not prone to wander and had never left the house on his own until his disappearance.

Also as part of the show, the United Cajun Navys Brian Trascher appeared to talk about the groups involvement in leading the volunteer search efforts for Sebastian.

The 15-year-old has now been missing for a month, with Tennessees Bureau of Investigation insisting that law enforcement is continuing to search for Sebastian and follow up on any tips.
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The US Supreme Court appears unlikely to agree with anti-abortion activists who want to overturn the federal governments approval of a widely used abortion drug, a proposal that could have profound and far-reaching consequences for millions of Americans healthcare.

A majority of justices on the nine-member court on Tuesday were sceptical that a group of anti-abortion doctors have sufficient legal grounds to bring the case against the US Food and Drug Administration, which first approved the drug mifepristone in the year 2000.

But during Tuesdays oral arguments in a case targeting the drug, at least two conservative justices floated the idea of dusting off a 151-year-old law that abortion rights advocates fear could be used to further strip access in the aftermath of the Supreme Courts 2022 decision to revoke Americans constitutional right to abortion care.

The Comstock Act of 1873 targeted the mailing of contraceptives, pornography and any drug intended for producing abortion, or for any indecent or immoral use. It largely floundered under a series of congressional actions and the Supreme Courts ruling in Roe v Wade 100 years later, but anti-abortion activists  as well as a federal judge who agreed to ban mifepristone, triggering the latest Supreme Court battle  have invoked the law following a decades-long anti-abortion crusade from conservative Christian legal groups.

A case before the Supreme Court argues that the FDA wrongfully approved mifepristone for use up to 10 weeks of pregnancy, and then improperly eliminated requirements that the drug should only be dispensed in person.

On Tuesday, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito  who wrote the 2022 decision to overturn Roe v Wade  suggested that the FDA should have considered Comstock.

Justice Clarence Thomas later suggested that the manufacturer of the mifepristone drug Mifeprex may have a Comstock problem. He said it specifically covers drugs such as yours.

Molly Gaebe of the Abortion Access Front protests outside the US Supreme Court on 26 March dressed as 19th century anti-vice crusader Anthony Comstock. (AP)

Erin Hawley, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, the conservative Christian legal group leading the Supreme Court challenge, also argued to the justices that the Comstock Act prohibits abortion drugs by mail.

In 2022, the US Department of Justice clarified that the Comstock Act does not apply to mailing mifepristone or misoprostol, the drugs used for the two-drug protocol for a medication abortion, a procedure that accounts for nearly two-thirds of all abortions in the US.

A right-wing special interest group-led proposal for Donald Trumps potential return to the White House also cites Comstock to block mifepristone access and other abortion care by mail, and to criminally prosecute providers and the people who receive it.

Dozens of Republican members of Congress have also written to the Supreme Court to argue that Comstock bans abortion drugs altogether.

The Supreme Court is likely to issue a decision on the mifepristone case later this spring.

Even if the court rejects the challenge from anti-abortion activists, two years after the landmark decision in Dobbs v Jackson Womens Health Organization, medication abortion will still be illegal in more than a dozen states that have imposed effective bans on abortion care altogether.

Stripping access to abortion drugs would inflict grave harm

In November 2022, Alliance Defending Freedom filed a federal lawsuit targeting mifepristone from Amarillo, Texas on behalf of a group of anti-abortion physicians incorporated as the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, which was organised that same month with an address in Amarillo.

US District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk  who was appointed by Donald Trump  later issued the ruling to suspend the FDAs approval of the drug, triggering appeals that were kicked up to the nations highest court.

Revoking the FDAs approval of mifepristone would severely disrupt the governments drug approval process and regulatory authority and inflict grave harm on women across the nation, according to US Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar.

Some women could be forced to undergo more invasive surgical abortions. Others might not be able to access the drug at all, she told the justices on Tuesday.

She urged justices to reject that profoundly inequitable result.

Mifepristone manufacturers warn against threatening access to abortion drugs

Jessica Ellsworth, an attorney representing Mifeprex manufacturer Danco Laboratories, pointed out that Judge Kacsmaryks decision relied on debunked and retracted medical studies, underscoring that ideologically driven courtrooms are ill-equipped to handle major medical decisions.

Medical experts provided hundreds of pages of research and clinical studies affirming the safety and efficacy of abortion drugs, and courts are just not in the position to parse through and second guess that, Ms Ellsworth said.

I think this court should think hard about the mischief it would invite if it allowed agencies to start taking action based on statutory responsibilities that Congress has assigned to other agencies, she added.

Mira Michels of Aid Access prepares to take the mifepristone pill in protest outside the US Supreme Court on 26 March. (AP)

President Joe Bidens administration and others have also warned that a Supreme Court decision that targets the FDAs approval process could open the door for other right-wing-fuelled legal challenges to other drugs, including HIV prevention medication, gender-affirming care, contraception and Covid-19 vaccines.

In a statement following Tuesdays hearing, Ms Ellsworth added that second-guessing the scientific and data-driven judgments of an independent expert agency is an extreme position that could inject further uncertainty across American life.

Turning a small lawsuit into a nationwide legislative assembly

Most of Tuesdays arguments did not focus on the far-reaching implications that targeting the FDA approval process would have for both the pharmaceutical industry and people who depend on prescription drugs, but on whether the anti-abortion doctors who launched the complaint have any legal standing to do so.

At one point, Justice Elena Kagan grilled Ms Hawley to show who, exactly, was injured by the FDAs approval of the drug.

You need a person, she said. So whos your person?

Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch, one of three justices appointed to the court by Donald Trump, appeared to condemn Judge Kacsmaryks decision, casting it among rash lower-court decisions with overly broad consequences.

He questioned why litigation from a handful of anti-abortion doctors is turning what could be a small lawsuit into a nationwide legislative assembly on an FDA rule.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson criticised the apparent mismatch between the injury claimed by anti-abortion doctors and the remedy they seek.

Federal law already grants anti-abortion doctors so-called conscience objections from providing abortion care, but they now are presenting a case that would deny anyone from having access to these drugs at all, Justice Jackson added. How they can be entitled to that?

In her closing remarks, Ms Prelogar noted the striking anomaly of the nationwide nature of this remedy.

The problem here is they sued the FDA. The FDA has nothing to do with the conscience protections. Thats all happening downstream at the hospital administration level, she said.

They fear that there might be some emergency room doctor somewhere, someday, who might be presented with some woman who is suffering an incredibly rare complication and that the doctor might have to provide treatment, notwithstanding the conscience protections, she added.

But to mitigate that hypothetical risk, anti-abortion activists propose sweeping nationwide relief that restricts access to mifepristone for every single woman in this country, and that causes profound harm, she said.
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Donald Trumps latest verbal gaffe came while addressing reporters on Monday, when the former president appeared to forget who is the current governor of New York.

During the rambling press conference Mr Trump once more took aim at Attorney General Letitia James, who has successfully prosecuted him on civil fraud charges.

The statement comes after a New York appeals court granted Mr Trump a 10-day extension to secure a portion of the $464m bond, which would prevent Ms James from seizing his properties. The former president previously signalled he was struggling to come up with the money.

TRUMP-JUICIOS (AP)

In remarks made after the hearing, Mr Trump described Ms James as vicious and compared her legal action against him to that taken against former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

However, when describing Mr Cuomo, he referred to him as the current governor, who is, in fact, Kathy Hochul.

(Ms James) said Trump, we will stop him, stop him!... Vicious, he said.

I said, boy, thats a bad one. Then I looked, she got elected, but then she tried to do it with the governor, and it didnt work. She went after the current governor whos much more talented than she is. She went after the current governor. She was very nasty.

She pulled it about 3 per cent, she pulled it nothing. And after six weeks, or seven weeks, she pulled out of the race. She ran for governor, you know, on what she was doing to me.

She thought that would work. It didnt work.

Mr Trumps ongoing verbal slips continue to cause concern about his cognitive ability as he heads into an almost certain rematch with president Joe Biden in November.

Mr Trump described New York Attorney General Letitia James as vicious (Brittainy Newman)

Ms James briefly ran a gubernatorial campaign in the 2022 Democratic primary, though withdrew from the race in December, after consistently polling behind incumbent Ms Hochul. She instead chose to seek reelection as Attorney General.

In August of 2021 her office released a report finding that Mr Cuomo had engaged in multiple acts of sexual harassment.

The report followed accusations of sexual harassment from multiple women starting in December 2020. Mr Cuomo denied all allegations and apologised for comments that, he claimed, had been interpreted as being sexually charged.

But following the DA report in 2021, Mr Cuomo resigned from his position and was replaced with Ms Hochul, who became the first woman to hold the position of New York Governor.
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Donald Trump, fresh off a near-miraculous court ruling slashing a nearly half-billion bond he owed down to $175m, is now slinging Bibles on Truth Social.

The former president  who has previously compared himself to Jesus Christ  has lent his image to the "God Bless the USA" Bible, a special version of the Good Book inspired by Lee Greenwood's saccharine patriotic tune of the same name.

Mr Trump held up the brown leather tome  this time right-side up  in an ad he shared on his Truth Social account on Tuesday.

"Happy Holy Week! Lets Make America Pray Again. As we lead into Good Friday and Easter, I encourage you to get a copy of the God Bless The USA Bible," Mr Trump wrote.

According to the vendor website Mr Trump linked to, the $60 Bible features "easy-to-read, large print" and a main selling point is that it can be picked up and moved around, which is a common feature for not only Bibles, but most books.

"Easy-to-read, large print, and slim design, this Bible invites you to explore Gods Word anywhere, any time," the website says. "This large print Bible will be perfect to take to church, a bible study, work, travel, etc."

Mr Trump's favoured Bible also includes the chorus to Greenwood's "God Bless the USA," as well as the text of the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, and the Pledge of Allegiance, making it a convenient collection for those who are tired of having to separate their church from their state.

Trump was accused of using the Bible as a prop during his bizarre trip to a vandalised church in Washington, DC during the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Mr Trump has previously experienced controversies connected to the Bible. In June 2020, during the Black Lives Matter protests, he and several aides walked to St Johns Church in Washington, DC  which had suffered some vandalism  following the clearing of largely peaceful demonstrators in nearby Lafayette Square by riot police using tear gas.

When Mr Trump and his team arrived, the then-president stood silently for a while holding up a Bible. Asked whether it was his Bible he would only say it was a Bible. It was later speculated he had been holding the book upside down. Several opponents  including his church-going successor as president Joe Biden  accused him of using the book as a prop.

Joe Biden mocks Donald Trump for 'brandishing' Bible at photo opp

In 2015, before he became president, he was asked what his favourite book was and claimed the Bible edged out his own Art of the Deal. But asked repeatedly to quote a verse or talk about a passage that was meaningful to him he struggled to come up with any examples, saying instead: I wouldnt want to get into it. Because to me, thats very personal.

In his post on Tuesday, Mr Trump included a more than three minute video in which he rambled about the need for Christianity and prayer to "return" to the US, despite more than 60 per cent of Americans  and 88 per cent of Congress  professing to belong to some form of Christianity.

"Religion and Christianity are the biggest things missing from this country, and I truly believe we need to bring them back for us, I believe it's one of the biggest problems we have, that's why our country is going haywire, we've lost religion in our country," Mr Trump said. "All Americans need a Bible in their home and I have many, it's my favorite book. It's a lot of people's favorite book."

I wouldnt want to get into it Donald Trump dodges simple question about the Bible

He also did not let the opportunity for a little faith-based fear mongering to slip by, claiming that "Christians are under siege".

"Our Founding Fathers did a tremendous thing when they built America on Judeo-Christian values, now that foundation is under attack, perhaps as never before," Mr Trump said. "What can we do? Stand up, speak out, and pray that God will bless America again. I'm proud to endorse and encourage you to get this Bible. We must make America pray again."

Trump appears to admit he doesn't know the Bible 'very well at all'

Many conservative Christians may be wondering if their current Bibles are acceptable in Mr Trump's eyes, but the website states that the "God Bless the USA" Bible is the only Bible endorsed by the former president, even though he claims to have many.
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A Texas man has legally changed his name to Literally Anybody Else and has launched a bid for the 2024 presidential election.

Dustin Ebey, 35, said he changed his name so that he could express his dissatisfaction with the current presidential candidates Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

Its not necessarily about me as a person, but its about literally anybody else as an idea, the Dallas resident told news outlet WFAA88.

Three hundred million people can do better, he said of presidential frontrunners Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

There really should be some outlet for people like me who are just so fed up with this constant power grab between the two parties that just has no benefit to the common person, he added.

Mr Ebey, who is a US army veteran and a seventh-grade math teacher in the suburbs of Dallas, said his name change was approved by a judge, and he has now obtained an official drivers license with his new name.

Under state law, Mr Ebey needs 113,000 signatures from non-primary voters in the state of Texas by May to get his new name on ballots.

The 35-year-old has accepted that this is unlikely, adding that he is not delusional, so he is focusing his efforts on campaigning to get people to write in his name on their ballot paper.

My hope is to have Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and then Literally Anybody Else right underneath, he said.

We dont have a neither option on the ballot, and this kind of fills that role, he added.

Mr Ebey has also launched a GoFundMe page to fund his campaign. So far he has raised just $280.

In a statement posted on his website, Mr Ebey wrote: Literally Anybody Else isnt a person, its a rally cry.

For too long have Americans been a victim of its political parties putting party loyalty over governance. 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.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted in January found that about two-thirds of Americans were tired of seeing the same candidates in presidential elections and want someone new.

Nearly a third of people surveyed said they still didnt know whether they would back Biden or Trump in November.
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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.
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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.

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.
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Catholics for Choice President Jamie Manson arrived on the steps of the US Supreme Court with one goal in mind: To fight against religiously motivated restrictions on reproductive healthcare in the United States.

There has been a very concerted effort by Catholicsto pack this Court with justices who are opposed to abortion because of their faith, she told The Independent.

Ms Manson spoke to The Independent on Tuesday morning as the court heard oral arguments in a case that could overturn the federal governments approval of the abortion drug mifepristone. The plaintiffs argue that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) wrongfully approved mifepristone for use up to 10 weeks of pregnancy, and then improperly eliminated requirements that the drug should only be dispensed in person.

Thousands of people, from both the Washington, DC metro area and beyond, flocked to the steps of the nations highest court to advocate for accessible reproductive healthcare and speak out against the anti-abortion activists who brought the case forward.

Two demonstrators hold a banner that reads, Clergy for Choice." (Katie Hawkinson/The Independent)

Ms Manson was joined by Kate Hoeting, writer and managing editor of Catholics for Choice and an abortion doula who provides physical and emotional support for women who receive abortions.

Being an abortion doula moulded me into a woman of faith, Ms Hoeting told The Independent. I didnt use to be religious at all

For Ms Hoeting, her faith is inextricably intertwined with her activism  and she hopes to fight the religious extremism that she says propelled the case to the Supreme Court.

She is not alone. From doctors, women dressed as suffragettes and mifepristone-carrying robots, thousands are calling for the Supreme Court to reject what they call a misinformation-fuelled push to revoke approval of a medication abortion resource that has been available for 22 years.

Organisers, attendees alike denounce religious extremism

A 2022 poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research indicated that 63 per cent of American Catholics say abortion should be legal in all or many cases. But despite this majority opinion, Ms Manson said that her own church has pushed to codify its theology in US law, noting that every Justice who struck down Roe v Wade in 2022  which guaranteed the right to an abortion in the US  was raised Catholic.

A pro-choice demonstrator holds a sign that reads, Doctors not doctrine. (Katie Hawkinson/The Independent)

Its my church that is operating in legislatures, in the courts, to try and push forward an agenda, a theological idea about when life begins, Ms Manson said. These are religious ideas, they should not be codified into civil law, because they take away human rights when they do that.

Ms Hoeting agreed: A small group of religious extremists who are trying to put their theological views on the rest of the country.

The FDA first approved mifepristone in 2000. The drug came under fire in November 2022, when the Alliance Defending Freedom  a Christian law firm that has long claimed that abortion denies babies the right to life  filed a federal lawsuit targeting mifepristone from Amarillo, Texas on behalf of a group of anti-abortion physicians incorporated as the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, which was organised that same month with an address in Amarillo.

A US district judge appointed by former president Donald Trump later ruled to suspend the FDAs approval of the drug, triggering appeals that were kicked up to the nations highest court.

Jessica Ellsworth, an attorney representing Mifeprex manufacturer Danco Laboratories, said the judges decision relied on debunked and retracted medical studies, pointing out hundreds of pages of research and clinical studies that have proven its safety and effectiveness, The Independent previously reported.

Throughout the crowd, abortion rights advocates held signs decrying the push against medication abortions.

Doctors not doctrine, signs held by members of Catholics for Choice read. Meanwhile, volunteers with Planned Parenthood of Delaware held a banner that read, clergy for choice.

Amid the sea of signs, one woman stood out among the crowd: Dressed in the sash, hat and outfit of a twentieth-century suffragette, Darcy Nair held a sign that read, Dont tread on me. Having attended womens rallies and abortion rights events in her historic garb since 2017, Ms Nair told The Independent she attends these events to push back against the religious right.

Darcy Nair, right, participates in an abortion rights demonstration dressed as a suffragette (Katie Hawkinson/The Independent)

This is just about controlling women, Ms Nair told The Independent. Its a basic human right, and I absolutely disagree with the way that the religious right is chipping away at it.

Theyve been chipping away at the ability of reproductive health clinics to operatebeing able to have a medication abortion is more important than ever because its access for people who live in places where you have to drive 100 miles to reach a reproductive health clinic, she continued.

In the wake of the Dobbs v Jackson decision, twenty-one states currently restrict or ban abortions, leaving women no choice but to leave their states and travel to obtain reproductive healthcare.

Medical students and seasoned physicians alike are concerned about medical disinformation

As many attendees voiced their concerns about religions role in limiting abortion access, physicians told The Independent that medical misinformation about medication abortions is running rampant.

Dr Cheryl Hamlin, who previously worked at Mississippis only abortion clinic, donned her white coat for Tuesdays rally and told The Independent shes concerned about the medical misinformation that anti-abortion advocates are spreading.

Mifepristone has essentially no side effects unrelated to the process that it is treating, she told The Independent.

One of the concerns that anti-mifepristone advocates have is the supposed negative impacts of the medication. Felipe Avila, communications director for the National Association of Pro-Life Nurses, said his organization is deeply concerned by the harmful effects of chemical abortion.

Wed like to see the Supreme Court step in and bring back some of those common-sense limits on medication abortion, he told The Independent.

However, Dr Hamlin emphasized that the medication is safe and effective.

Yes, occasionally it fails or people have heavy bleeding with the medication abortion process, but its very infrequent and way less, for example, childbirth. She noted that it also can help treat miscarriages and other nonviable pregnancies.

A demonstrator holds a sign that reads, Women without Reproductive Rights are just Livestock!" (Katie Hawkinson/The Independent)

Dr Hamlin told The Independent that she attended the rally because misinformation about reproductive healthcare can result in higher-risk abortions.

Having worked in Jackson [Mississippi], I saw what restrictions in the name of safety dopeople show up at later gestational stages and it makes abortions less safe, she said, noting she now works in Massachusetts and sees many people who travel from their home states where abortion access is heavily restricted.

Dr Hamlin isnt alone in her fight. Sarah McNeilly, a student at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine working towards her MD, told The Independent she attended the rally for the sake of her future patients.

As a future doctor and future OBGYN, I want to be in a position where my patient and I are empowered to jointly make the decision thats best for them, whether thats continuing the pregnancy or terminating through abortion, whichever is best for them.

She came with aidaccess.org, an organisation that sends abortion medication to patients in all fifty US states. Ms McNeilly and her fellow organizers brought an unexpected guest  a small robot that can connect patients with telehealth providers who consult on reproductive healthcare.

A robot with a box of mifepristone on top of it provides reproductive telehealth access

What happens next?

As the oral arguments came to a close, it became clear the Supreme Court despite previously overturning Roe v Wade may not rule to rescind the approval of mifepristone. A majority of justices on the nine-member court were sceptical that a group of anti-abortion doctors had sufficient legal grounds to bring the case against the FDA.

However, conservative justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito floated the idea of using a 150-year-old law to justify rescinding the FDA approval, The Independent previously reported.

The Court now has until the end of June to issue a decision in the case, leaving advocates on both sides in limbo for the next several weeks.
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Last week, Donald Trump claimed he had almost $500m in cash that he obtained through hard work, talent and luck.

He said that substantial amount was intended to fund his presidential campaign.

Days later, facing an imminent deadline to post an appeals bond of nearly half a billion dollars to block enforcement of civil fraud judgment against him, the former president suggested he had a similar amount in my bank account and he intended to use much of that hard earned money on running for President.

But after a New York appeals court allowed Mr Trump to post a $175m bond up to 10 days after Mondays deadline to come up with the cash, the Republican Partys likely nominee for president said its none of your business if he actually puts up any of his own money for his campaign.

The former president hasnt contributed to his own campaign since 2016. Asked on Monday whether he plans to this time, he said: Well, first of all, its none of your business, I mean, frankly. I might. I might do that. I have the option. But if I had to spend $500m on a bond, I wouldnt have that option. Id have to start selling things. I dont have to sell anything.

During a taped deposition in the civil fraud case last year, Mr Trump claimed he has more than $400m in cash. His attorney Alina Habba told Newsmax last month that of course Mr Trump has money to pay off the judgment against him. Hes a billionaire, she said.

Mr Trump stated in his 2021 statement of financial condition  the documents at the centre of the case, and the most recent available from the trial  that he had roughly $294m in cash, a figure that New York Attorney General Letitia James alleges is inflated.

Donald Trump speaks to reporters from 40 Wall Street on 25 March. (AP)

Last week, Mr Trumps attorneys told an appeals court that 30 companies he approached to help him secure bond in excess of $454m have all turned him down. Those 30 companies are unwilling to use his star properties as collateral after a judge found him liable for fraudulently inflating the value of his real estate portfolio, they wrote.

A ruling from New York Justice Arthur Engoron last month found that Mr Trump defrauded banks and insurers by submitting manipulated financial statements to obtain favourable terms for some of his star properties.

The total disgorgement owed back to the state for those ill-gotten gains totalled more than $354m, including $100m in interest, plus tens of thousands of dollars in daily interest.

Why should I let a crooked judge make a decision to give $450m, that allows me to spend very little money on my campaign, if I so choose, Mr Trump told reporters from 40 Wall Street on Monday.

Ill be spending money on my campaign. I might spend a lot of money on my campaign. But I should have that option, he added. A crooked judge shouldnt say were going to have you post a bond and take all of that money that I could be spending on a campaign or other things, if I want to do other things.

Asked whether he would accept foreign money to support his campaign, which is prohibited under federal campaign finance law, Mr Trump said: I dont do that.

I think youd be allowed to possibly, I dont know, he added. The biggest banks, frankly, are outside of our country. So you could do that. But I dont need to borrow money.

The former president is expecting a major windfall from the recently approved merger between the parent company of his Truth Social platform and the publicly traded shell company Digital World Acquisition Corporation. He could reap billions of dollars in shares from the deal, but he likely wont be able to tap any of that money for at least six months.

Meanwhile, political action committees supporting Mr Trump spent more than $50m on the former presidents attorneys and legal fees last year, and the Republican National Committee is stepping in to help Mr Trump raise money to pay his legal bills. Last month, Save America spent nearly $5.6m on such fees, outpacing the $5m it brought in.
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A day after a New York judge ruled that Donald Trumps hush money trial could go ahead as planned on Monday 15 April, the Republican presidential candidate attacked both the justice and his daughter on Truth Social, accusing them of political bias.

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, Mr Trump wrote, having evidently gotten a close look at his antagonist during his visit to the formers Manhattan courtroom on Monday.

In other words, he hates me! 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.

The defendant then pivoted towards accusing the justice of viciously going after his former Trump Organization chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, who was jailed by Judge Merchan in 2023 after being found guilty of tax offences.

He was recently the judge on an unrelated trial of a long term employee, elderly and not in good health. This judge treated him viciously, telling him either you cooperate or Im putting you in jail for 15 years.

He pled, and went to jail for very minor offenses, highly unusual, served 4 months in Rikers, and now they are after him again, this time for allegedly lying (doesnt look like a lie to me!), and they threatened him again with 15 years if he doesnt say something bad about TRUMP.

He is devastated and scared! These COUNTRY DESTROYING SCOUNDRELS & THUGS HAVE NO CASE AGAINST ME. WITCH HUNT!

Unsurprisingly, Judge Merchan swiftly acquiesed with a request from Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg to impose a partial gag order on Mr Trump to prevent him speaking out publicly about the case in order to protect witnesses, jurors, lawyers, court staff and their families.

Mr Trump has made a habit of attacking the judges presiding over his numerous legal cases, particularly Judge Arthur Engoron, who oversaw the 11-week civil fraud trial against the Trump Organization for inflating the value of its assets that yielded a $464m judgement against the company last month.

He will next appear before Judge Merchan in less than three weeks time for the commencement of a trial sparked by Mr Braggs 34-count indictment a year ago, which accused the defendant of falsifying business records to hide hush money payments made to the porn star Stormy Daniels and ex-Playboy model Karen McDougal on his behalf in 2016 to secure their silence about extramarital affairs he is said to have had with them years earlier.

Just before Mr Trump was arraigned on 4 April last year, he posted on Truth Social that Judge Merchan was a HIGHLY PARTISAN JUDGE & HIS FAMILY ARE WELL KNOWN TRUMP HATERS.

In the same message, he declared: HIS DAUGHTER WORKED FOR KAMALA & NOW THE BIDEN-HARRIS CAMPAIGN. KANGAROO COURT!!!

In support of this claim, Mr Trumps two adult sons, Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump, posted links on the same platform to articles on the conservative websites Breitbart and Gateway Pundit attacking Judge Merchans daughter, Loren Merchan, by pointing out that she had worked as president and partner of Authentic Campaigns during the 2020 election cycle, a company that runs digital campaigns for Democrat candidates, insinuating implicit political bias.

Citing an archived LinkedIn page, those sites reported that Ms Merchan worked as the Director of Digital Persuasion for Kamala Harris For The People from February 2019 through December 2019 and noted that the company website featured a testimonial from Mr Schiff and listed the Biden-Harris campaign among its clients.

California governor Gavin Newsom, House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senator Cory Booker have reportedly also worked with the progressive firm.

Judge Juan Merchan (Reuters)

NBC News looked into the matter when the Trumps first raised it and concluded: Theres no available evidence to suggest that Merchans daughter has done any subsequent work for Biden and no evidence to suggest that she now works for a Biden political operation.

Mr Trumps rhetoric attacking the Merchans and Mr Bragg led them to receive dozens of threats against their safety in the 24 hours immediately following the former presidents arraignment, NBC reported.

Those threats forced court officers and the New York police detail assigned to the district attorneys office to ramp up security to protect Judge Merchan and Mr Bragg, while the biographies of court employees and office staff were taken offline for their own protection.

Attacking Judge Merchan and other justices enables Mr Trump to promote the idea that he is being unfairly treated by a legal system he baselessly insists is rigged.

Now that the judge has moved to silence him with a fresh gag order, the defendant is likely to use it to further push the suggestion that he is being victimised and denied his fundamental rights, providing further grist for his campaign fundraising emails and text appeals.
MBABANE - Government has moved an urgent court application to stop SNAT President Mbongwa Dlamini from resuming his duties as a teacher at Moyeni High School.

The application by the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) comes after the Industrial Court set aside a letter of refusal to postpone Mbongwas disciplinary hearing, that was set to commence on August 23, 2023, resulting in him being dismissed from work. On the aforementioned date, evidence was led in the absence of Mbongwa and his lawyer, resulting in TSC finding the former guilty and the matter was postponed to August 28, 2023, for him to mitigate a lesser sanction, while the initiator or prosecutor of the commission was to apply for a heavier sanction. The matter was heard on this date but Mbongwa and his attorney did not mitigate the sanction and he was then dismissed through a letter dated August 29, 2023. Mbongwa then went to court to challenge the decision of the commission.

Hearing

In the now impugned judgment, Judge Manene Thwala directed the commission to reconvene and proceed with Mbongwas disciplinary hearing. On the strength of the judgment, last Friday, some members of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) accompanied the SNAT president to Moyeni High School, where he was expected to resume his duties. In the urgent application, the TSC entreated the court of equity to issue an order staying the operation of the judgment dated March 21, 2024, pending the finalisation of an appeal it noted on the same day. The TSC implored the court to interdict and restrain Mbongwa from resuming his duties as a teacher at Moyeni High School and/or returning to the said school.

The commission informed the court that, the application was necessitated by the fact that the noting of an appeal in the Industrial Court did not automatically suspend the operation of a judgment. The applicant (commission) contended that, for this reason, it was obliged to institute a substantive application for the suspension of the operation of the judgment. TSC Executive Secretary Nhlanhla Dlamini, informed the court that when Mbongwa filed the application to challenge the decision of the commission, on September 14, 2023, he was no longer a government employee. Where an employees services have been terminated, the Industrial Court does not have jurisdiction to deal with the matter, unless and until there has been adherence to the provisions of Part VIII of the Industrial Relations Act. The Industrial Court does not sit as a court of review in respect of dismissals, contended the TSC executive secretary.

According to Nhlanhla, the TSC committed an error of law in directing that the disciplinary hearing be reconvened, in circumstances wherein same had been completed and a verdict pronounced. He argued that, the verdict of the disciplinary hearing had legal consequences and the failure of the court to deal with the fact of the dismissal and its legal consequences, constituted an error of law on the part of the court. The TSC executive secretary submitted that the court committed an error of law, when it set aside the decision not to grant the postponement, without having considered the discretionary powers of the chairperson of the disciplinary hearing.

Appeal

The primary objective of staying the operation of a judgment pending an appeal is to avoid harm to the intended appellant. In the present matter and having been apprised of an intention to return to work and assume his duties as a teacher at Moyeni High School, the attorney general (AG) caused a letter to be sent to Mbongwa attorneys, submitted Nhlanhla. He informed the court that the letter by the AG was prompted by various statements made by members of SNAT in the local press. The executive secretary pointed out that in the Times of Eswatini, it was quoted as follows in page 2 of the publication: Meanwhile, excited SNAT members yesterday vowed to take Dlamini to Moyeni High School today. The TSC executive secretariat said, pursuant to the above statements, on Friday, March 22, 2024, a contingent of SNAT members accompanied Mbongwa to Moyeni High School, purportedly to assist him in the resumption of his duties.

This was done notwithstanding the fact that the respondent (Mbongwa and SNAT members) were aware that the applicants had appealed against the judgment of the court, had written to his attorneys confirming the applicants position i.e. that the dismissal had not been set aside. He argued that the act of descending upon a school in the manner the SNAT did disrupted educational activities at the school and caused commotion. The disruption to schooling activities was in part occasioned by the fact that he arrived late i.e. after the normal school activities had commenced, submitted Nhlanhla. The urgent application, which is pending before Judge Thwala, was yesterday postponed to tomorrow for arguments. Mbongwa and SNAT are vigorously opposing the application.

SNAT, president opposed to Robinson Bertrams engagement

MBABANE - SNAT and its President, Mbongwa Dlamini, are opposed to the engagement of Robinson Bertram to represent government in the matter.

The Office of the Attorney General (AG) has instructed lawyers from Robinson Bertram to argue the urgent application, where it is seeking an order to stop the president of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) from resuming his duties as a teacher at Moyeni High School. Government is also praying for an order staying the judgment which was issued in favour of Mbongwa last Thursday. Through their attorney, Lucky Howe, the respondents raised points of law, where they argued that the lawyer from the law firm did not have standing in law in the matter on behalf of the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) and government. Robinson Bertram is a private law firm and does not meet requirement of Section 77(6) of the Constitution. Robinson Bertram is not a subordinate officer of the attorney general thus he cannot perform the function. He cannot, therefore, appear on behalf of the applicants (TSC and the attorney), argued the respondent (Mbongwa and SNAT). According to the respondents, the lawyers from the law firm had filed a notice of substitution replacing the AG as the attorney for the applicants.

Violation

According to the respondents, this was allegedly a violation of the Constitution as only the AG could appear on behalf of government. It was further their contention that the AG was the principal government legal representative in terms of Section 77(5) (C) and he could only delegate the function to a subordinate. They argued that the TSC was a government department and had instituted the proceedings against Mbongwa, thus the law firm was disqualified in law from representing the AG. Mbongwa, who is the deponent, argued that the appointment of the private law firm was allegedly in violation of the Constitution. I challenge, as the respondent, the right for the private law firm to appear in this matter as it is in violation of the Constitution and as a citizen, in terms of the Constitution, I am obliged to defend the Constitution, he argued.

He averred that this was a matter, which must be referred to the High Court in terms of Section 55 of the Constitution for the determination as to whether the law firm could appear on behalf of the AG. He contended that the Industrial Court would not be in a position to determine that, as this was a constitutional matter and alleged violation of same. On the issue of urgency, Mbongwa submitted that the matter was not urgent, and if it was, it was self- made. He pointed out that the applicants alleged that his return would cause disruption in the school, but did not plead what type of disruption were they referring to. The SNAT president said when he went to the school last Friday there was no disruption thereat. There was no disruption at all, the police officers, namely Muzikayise Dlamini and another, were there and they thanked the respondent (Mbongwa) for his return without an incident, contended Mbongwa.




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A 38-year-old Brisbane man who claimed he got stuck in a sewer for 36 hours trying to retrieve his phone was in fact evading the police, officers say.

The man, who has not been named by police, spent a day and a half in Brisbanes drainage system before Queensland police revealed that he had been avoiding them following two car crashes.

The authorities said earlier on Monday that they had assisted a man who got stuck in the drainage system after trying to retrieve his phone. But on Tuesday the police issued an update saying the man in question had been a passenger in a vehicle involved in two crashes at about 4.20am on Sunday morning.

A police patrol tried to follow a Ford Falcon in Kangaroo Point when it reversed into the police car, causing significant damage to the Ford and moderate damage to the police vehicle. Officers were unharmed. The Ford then reportedly fled and was involved in another crash on Shafston Avenue shortly after, according to the police.

Earlier, reports had mentioned that emergency services rescued the man from beneath a bolted drain lid at Kangaroo Point near the Brisbane River at about 11am on Monday.

The incident, which drew attention after nearby residents heard him and eventually called for help, occurred on Castlebar St, near Lambert St in Brisbane, Australia.

Firefighters successfully freed the man, who was then taken to the hospital in a stable condition. He was reportedly treated for abrasions and exposure to the cold.

He is now assisting the police in the investigation.

A Queensland ambulance service spokesman had earlier said: He reported he was there for 36 hours and went to get his phone.

A spokeswoman for the Queensland fire and emergency services reported that firefighters successfully removed a bolted lid from the drain and rescued the man.

On Tuesday, it was understood that the man declined an offer of rescue on Sunday, but the same individual came back on Monday and made an emergency call to triple zero for assistance.

Acting police commissioner Steve Gollschewski said: Its amazing what people will do sometimes and what happens, so yes, theres always surprises.

But I like to work out whats actually happening. So lets get to the facts. I dont know what they are yet. Let the investigation run its course and we will work out where it goes from there.
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New Zealand on Tuesday said hackers linked to the Chinese government launched a state-sponsored cyber attack on its parliament in 2021.

The New Zealand government said its communications security bureau (GCSB) had established links between the Chinese state-sponsored actor Advanced Persistent Threat 40 (APT40) and malicious cyber activity targeting parliamentary services and the parliamentary counsel office.

The revelation comes just a day after Britain and the US announced sanctions against alleged China-based hackers for targeting the UK's election watchdog, members of parliament, American officials, journalists, and pro-democracy activists.

New Zealand said it had raised concerns with the Chinese government but stopped short of imposing sanctions on the alleged hackers, largely due to Beijing being one of its biggest trade partners.

"The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable," said Judith Collins, the minister responsible for GCSB.

New Zealand's Government Communications Security Bureau Director-General Andrew Clark, left, and the Deputy Director-General Lisa Fong speak at Defence house in Wellington (AP)

The GCSB said APT40 was affiliated with Chinas Ministry of State Security and that the actor gained access to important information that enables the effective operation of the New Zealand government.

It said the attack did not remove anything sensitive or strategic, instead, targeted information of a more technical nature that would have allowed more intrusive activity.

In the last financial year, at least 23 per cent of the 316 malicious cyber events that involved nationally significant organisations were attributed to state-sponsored actors, according to the GCSB. These attacks were not specifically attributed to China and New Zealand last year also condemned malicious cyber activity undertaken by the Russian government.

A top New Zealand intelligence official told a parliamentary committee that seven of its citizens had provided training to China's military in the last 18 months, in what he said was a "major national security risk".

"Foreign interference of this nature is unacceptable, and we have urged China to refrain from such activity in future," New Zealand's foreign minister Winston Peters said in a statement.

A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Auckland told Reuters that they reject "outright such groundless and irresponsible accusations" and have expressed their dissatisfaction and resolute opposition.

"We have never, nor will we in the future, interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, including New Zealand. Accusing China of foreign interference is completely barking up the wrong tree," the spokesperson added.

The allegations were levelled just days after China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, held discussions on "trade, business and poeple to people links" with his New Zealand counterpart during his visit to New Zealand earlier in March.

While the Pacific nation has been vocal in recent years over human rights issues and possible militarisation of the ocean, it still relies on China for trade. "We cooperate with China in some areas for mutual benefit," Mr Peters said last week.

"At the same time, we have also been consistent and clear that we will speak out on issues of concern."

Meanwhile, American and British officials late on Monday filed charges, imposed sanctions, and accused Beijing of a sweeping cyber espionage campaign that allegedly hit millions of people.

British 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.

American and British officials have nicknamed the hacking group responsible Advanced Persistent Threat 31 or "APT31", calling it an arm of China's Ministry of State Security.
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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.
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Watch as Belgian farmers protest with tractors in Brussels during a meeting of European Union agriculture ministers on Tuesday 26 March.

Ministers are hoping to calm anger sparked in multiple EU countries about environmental standards seen as too strict and foreign imports.

Tractors blocked several access roads around the European institutions on Tuesday morning and no traffic is moving along Rue de la Loi, one of the busiest thoroughfares in Brussels, according to reports.

Farmers across the continent have been protesting for months over EU red tape and competition from cheap imports from countries where the unions relatively high standards do not have to be met.

On Monday evening, farmers converged on Westminster for a tractor protest against substandard imports and dishonest labelling they warn are threatening food security at home.

Protesters raised concerns over the increasing difficulties faced by the British farming industry, which they say are risking the nations food security.
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A Moscow court on Tuesday ordered Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich to remain in jail on espionage charges until at least late June, court officials said.

The 32-year-old US citizen was arrested in late March 2023 while on a reporting trip and has spent nearly a year behind bars. His arrest was extended until June 30.

Gershkovich and his employer have denied the allegations, and the US government has declared him to be wrongfully detained.

His arrest in the city of Yekaterinburg rattled journalists in Russia, where authorities have not detailed what, if any, evidence they have to support the espionage charges.

Gershkovich is being held at Moscows Lefortovo prison, which is notorious for its harsh conditions.

US ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy attended the court hearing on Tuesday and reiterated that the accusations against Evan are categorically untrue.

US Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy, left, enters the Moscow City Court to attend hearing on Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich's case, in Moscow, Russia (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

They are not a different interpretation of circumstances. They are fiction, Tracy told reporters outside of the courthouse. No justification for Evans continued detention, and no explanation as to why Evan doing his job as a journalist constituted a crime. Evans case is not about evidence, due process or rule of law. It is about using American citizens as pawns to achieve political ends.

Analysts have pointed out that Moscow may be using jailed Americans as bargaining chips in soaring US-Russian tensions over the Kremlins military operation in Ukraine. At least two US citizens arrested in Russia in recent years  including WNBA star Brittney Griner  have been exchanged for Russians jailed in the US.

Gershkovich is the first American reporter to be arrested on espionage charges in Russia since September 1986, when Nicholas Daniloff, a Moscow correspondent for US News and World Report, was arrested by the KGB. Daniloff was released without charge 20 days later in a swap for an employee of the Soviet Unions U.N. mission who was arrested by the FBI, also on spying charges.
 Close Zelensky rejects Putins claims that Ukraine involved in Moscow attack

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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.
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In a sign of the Kremlins increasing desperation to drag its invasion of Ukraine into the Moscow concert hall attack, the director of Russias powerful Federal Security Service (the FSB) has claimed that Kyiv, the US and the UK were behind the incident.

The bizarre claim comes despite a branch of the Isis terror group having claimed responsibility for the attack and published graphic video footage of the shooting, and the US, France and a number of other nations saying they believed the jihadists were behind it. Russia says 139 people were killed when four armed men burst into the Crocus City Hall concert complex on Friday evening. Another 22 remain in a serious condition, including two children, officials say.

The claim that Ukraine and two of its allies orchestrated the incident becomes even less believable given that the US issued a warning to Russia earlier this month of an imminent attack.

But with the Kremlin wanting to deflect questions about how Russian security services failed to prevent the incident, and seeking justification for Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine, allies of the Russian president have sought to accuse Kyiv.

Officials in Ukraine have been clear that these claims are unfounded. We believe that the action was prepared by both the Islamist radicals themselves and was facilitated by Western special services, Alexander Bortnikov, the director of the FSB, said on television. The special services of Ukraine are directly related to this, he added.

When asked by Russian reporters if Ukraine and two of its allies, the United States and Britain, had been involved in the attack on the concert hall, Mr Bortnikov said: We think thats the case. Mr Bortnikov, 72, who has served as head of the FSB since 2008, said that Russia had yet to identify those who had specifically ordered the deadliest attack inside Russia for two decades, but he assured the reporters that retaliatory measures would be taken.

Since Mr Putin sent forces into Ukraine in 2022, the Kremlin has cast the West  and particularly the United States and Britain  as enemies whose decision to support Ukraine essentially outs them as parties to war with Russia.

Earlier, Russian news outlet SHOT published a video of an exchange in which a reporter asked Nikolai Patrushev, the secretary of Russias Security Council, whether the attack had been perpetrated by Isis or Ukraine?

Of course Ukraine, Mr Patrushev replied. Asked about his remark later, he said there were many indications of Ukrainian involvement.

The lies are officially spread by Patrushev, and after that by the head of the FSB Bortnikov, Mykhailo Podolyak, senior presidential aide to Volodymyr Zelensky, said on X, formerly Twitter.

US National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said Washington had shared intelligence with Russia earlier this month about a planned attack in Moscow. Mr Bortnikov said Russia was thankful for the warning but described it as very general.

The information about preparations for terror attacks in large gatherings of people was of a general nature, he said. Of course, we reacted to that information and took corresponding measures to prevent such incidents.

Mr Putin claimed over the weekend that Ukraine had prepared a window for the attackers to cross the border, but on Tuesday that was undermined by Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko, who said the gunmen had tried initially to flee to Belarus.

Mr Lukashenko, a close ally of Mr Putin, told journalists that Belarusian and Russian security services had coordinated their actions as the suspects car fled southwest from Moscow to the Bryansk region, bordering both Ukraine and Belarus, where it was apprehended. He said Belarus had quickly set up checkpoints at the border.

Thats why they couldnt enter Belarus. They saw that, so they turned away and went to the area of the Ukrainian-Russian border, he was quoted as saying by the state news agency Belta.

The four men accused of carrying out the attack appeared in a Moscow court on Sunday on terrorism charges and showed signs of having been severely beaten. One appeared to be barely conscious during the hearing. The men are citizens of Tajikistan, authorities said, and were identified as Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, 32; Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, 30; Shamsidin Fariduni, 25; and Mukhammadsobir Faizov, 19. They were charged with committing a terrorist attack resulting in death, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

On Monday, having been quick to blame Ukraine over the weekend, Mr Putin said for the first time that radical Islamists had carried out the attack, adding that Moscow wants to know who ordered it.

Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report
In the aftermath of the Hamas attack in southern Israel on 7 October last year, countries around the world rallied around Tel Aviv and pledged their support. Two allies however went further than most: the United States and the United Kingdom. Britain sent surveillance aircraft, two Royal Navy support ships and some 100 Royal Marines, while the US sent two aircraft carriers, along with ships and jets.

That quick action was symbolic of the lockstep between the US and UK when it comes to Israel.

On everything from weapons sales to United Nations resolutions, political support and military collaboration, the pair have been steadfast in their allegiance with Israel for decades.
Qatar's Barwa Real Estate Group has appointed Ahmed Mohamed Al Tayeb as the CEO of the company, effective March 24.

Al Tayeb has extensive experience in the real estate development and project management areas. He has previously held executive positions in several national companies and institutions, including as the CEO of the Investment Sector at Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company, where he managed a portfolio worth $35 billion, said a report in The Peninsula newspaper.

He holds a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Colorado Denver in the United States.

Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah, Chairman of the Board of Directors, and all board members welcomed Ahmed Al Tayeb to his new position, expressing their confidence in him.
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ChatGPT creator OpenAI has unveiled the first short films created using its new video AI tool Sora, with filmmakers describing the creations as totally surreal.

OpenAI launched its new Sora system last month, provoking a mix of delight and panic about its capabilities.

Early clips generated using the AI software demonstrated how it could take a simple written prompt, such as two golden retrievers podcasting on top of a mountain, and turn it into a realistic video of the scenario.

A screenshot from a short film called Air Head, created using OpenAIs Sora AI tool (OpenAI/ Shy Kids)

Soras creative potential is now being realised by a small group of visual artists and directors who have been given early access to the technology.

As great as Sora is at generating things that appear real  what excites us is its ability to make things that are totally surreal, said Canadian production company Shy Kids, who used Sora to create a short film about a man with a balloon head.

We now have the ability to expand on stories we once thought impossible... [Its] a new era of abstract expressionism. People from all over the world with stories ready to burst out of their chests finally have the opportunity to show the world whats inside.

Multi-disiplinary artist Paul Trillo said the advent of video-generating artificial intelligence would mean concepts could be realised without the current limiting factors of time, money, or even skillset.

Working with Sora is the first time Ive felt unchained as a filmmaker, he said.

Sora is at its most powerful when youre not replicating the old but bringing to life new and impossible ideas we would have otherwise never had the opportunity to see.

The technology has prompted concerns that it could be misused to create deepfake videos and spread misinformation.

OpenAI acknowledged the potential for misuse in a blog post introducing Sora in February, saying that it had employed red teamers to adversarially test the model.

The company said it was also building tools to detect misleading content generated by Sora.

The company already has safety measures for its other AI products ChatGPT and DALL-E, which prevent users from requesting violent or sexual content, or generating images that resemble celebrities or public figures, however other companies have filled this gap in the market by offering unrestricted versions of the technology.
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Id always been told that the French were cold. That integrating yourself here was an uphill battle. That breaking into firmly established French friendship groups was tougher than shucking an oyster with a blunt knife. But after two and a half years here, many of my closest friends are French. So whats the secret to getting in?

French friendship groups are a hotchpotch of every different style, interest and way of life, and herein is your golden ticket. You, with your funny British accent and odd ways, are different, so theres a spot waiting for you.

At home in the UK, my best friends in the world, a tight-knit group of British girls, all evolved together a little like an American high school cliche. We all look rather similar, dress rather similarly, and have similar interests. Its different in France: childhood friendships often endure here, but from my experience they dont develop a communal style and taste. The heavy metal fans and house lovers hang out together harmoniously.

Socialising over good food and wine is a good way to bond with the French (Getty Images)

Read more on France travel:

The single most important thing you can do to get French people to love you is make an effort speaking the language. If you cant communicate with people, how do you expect to form a connection with them? It doesnt matter if your French is faltering  youll always find people ready to be patient with you. What theyre not likely to be so patient with is the arrogance of expecting everyone else to make the effort and speak in English just for you. Mistakes happen, even when youve lived here for years, so be prepared to laugh at yourself and turn them into anecdotes. I recently mixed up puppy and toilet (chiot and chiotte), much to the amusement of all around me as I declared Id like to adopt a toilet.

The author running a half-marathon with French pals (Anna Richards)

Getting drunk and disorderly may be how we made friends as teenagers, but its not the way to endear yourself to the French, especially as we Brits already have a (deservedly) bad reputation for drunken behaviour abroad. The French love a drink, and sharing a glass of wine and some good food is a great way to bond with people, but vomiting up said food and shouting obnoxiously in ever more incomprehensible English? Not so fun.

Complaining is welcomed, but make sure its about the right things. Complain about the government, always. Complain about transport, and administration, and the rising costs of pain au chocolat, but never, ever complain about the quality of French food. Prepare to laugh in a self-deprecating way about British food too, when the tenth person that week recounts the horror story of their British school exchange, where the host family fed them nothing but Monster Munch and jam sandwiches with the crusts removed, and they thought they were going to die of malnutrition.

You dont need to be over-the-top. Overt friendliness when you dont know someone is often misinterpreted as fakeness in France. This is a country where there are two yous after all  the formal vous and informal tu, and its better to be polite at first, before warming up to big displays of affection.

Dont take offence too easily either. For all the flowery words and phrases in the French language (why use five words when you could use 50?), they tend to be a lot more direct than we are. I dont have time to talk now or Thats a weird skirt doesnt mean I hate you or I hate your entire wardrobe, it means exactly what it says on the tin.

Making an effort with the language is key to making friends in France (Getty Images)

There is a chance theyll hate your entire wardrobe, though, particularly if your mini skirt is too short and paired with bare legs. Another stereotype in France is that the British, in spite of our inclement weather, have an aversion to wearing adequate clothing.

All of this applies all over France, except in Paris, where even the rest of the French dont dare to mingle, and not a single person has friends. Weve all heard of Paris syndrome, where the French capitals pretty face fails to live up to expectations, and leaves visitors feeling cold and friendless.

Im joking of course, and Im friends with several Parisians, but as with how Londoners are viewed elsewhere in the UK, the Parisians have a reputation for being standoffish. Im convinced, however, this is just a side effect of busy lives, as it is in London, and not intentional rudeness.

Theres no big secret to making friends in France, and if you put in the effort, its likely to be reciprocated. An old, unflattering saying goes, God created France, the most beautiful country in the world. Feeling guilty and to keep it fair, he created the French people. Thank God he did  I cant imagine my life without them.
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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.
A mass casualty multi-agency rescue is underway after a large section of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland collapsed into the water after a ship crashed into it.

The incident happened in the early hours of Tuesday 26 March, at around 01:30am ET (05:30 GMT).

Speaking to Good Morning Britain, Kevin Cartwright from the Baltimore City Fire Department confirmed a mass casualty rescue is underway.

Mr Cartwright said: Right now its believed that we have seven individuals in the river.
There was "no credible evidence of terrorism in Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse on Tuesday, 26 March, Maryland governor Wes Moore said.

Around 1:30am EDT (5:30am GMT), a container ship called the Dali crashed into a pillar of the bridge approximately 30 minutes after setting sail on a 27-day journey to Sri Lanka.

The preliminary investigation into the incident points to an accident, Mr Moore added.

A search and rescue mission is underway for at least six people who have been missing since the cargo-carrying vessel crashed.
Joe Biden said he wants the federal government to pay for the costs of rebuilding Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge after it collapsed when a container ship crashed into it in the early hours of Tuesday, 26 March.

The US president told a reporter who asked if the company that owns the cargo-carrying vessel called the Dali should pay for the reconstruction: "We're not going to wait for that to happen."

The ship crashed into a pillar of the bridge around half an hour after setting sail at approximately 1:30am EDT (5:30am GMT) on a 27-day journey to Sri Lanka.
Joe Biden said he is with Baltimore after a container ship crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing it to collapse in the early hours of Tuesday, 26 March.

The US president has said he wants the federal government to pay for the costs of rebuilding the structure.

Mr Biden told a reporter who asked if the company that owns the cargo-carrying vessel called the Dali should pay for the reconstruction: Were not going to wait for that to happen.

The ship crashed into a pillar of the bridge around half an hour after setting sail at approximately 1:30am EDT (5:30am GMT) on a 27-day journey to Sri Lanka.
Education secretary Gillian Keegan refused to say if China is a threat to national security a day after two individuals and a company linked to the Chinese state were sanctioned over attacks on the Electoral Commission between 2021 and 2022.

The same company also carried out reconnaissance activity against UK parliamentary accounts in a separate campaign in 2021, Oliver Dowden told the House of Commons on Monday.

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.

"I dont want you to put words into my mouth Im not a diplomatic expert," Ms Keegan told Nick Ferrari on LBC.
Julian Assanges wife spoke outside the High Court in London on Tuesday 26 March after judges adjourned their decision over whether the WikiLeaks founder can appeal against his extradition to the United States.

Dame Victoria Sharp and Mr Justice Johnson dismissed most of Mr Assanges legal arguments but said that unless assurances were given by the US he would be able to bring an appeal on three grounds.

These assurances are that Mr Assange would be protected by and allowed to rely on the First Amendment  which protects freedom of speech in the US, that he is not prejudiced at trial due to his nationality, and that the death penalty is not imposed.

The judges said the US authorities had three weeks to give those assurances.

Stella Assange described the ruling as astounding as she spoke outside court.
Russian state TV on Monday 25 March showed footage of workers clearing debris following a deadly attack at a concert hall in a Moscow suburb.

RU-RTR aired the video of investigators clearing the site and using welding machinery.

At least 139 people died following Fridays attack on the Crocus City Hall music venue in Krasnogorsk, blamed by Vladimir Putin on radical Islamists.

The Russian president, 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.
The Department of Culture and Tourism  Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) and Zayed National Museum have selected 10 recipients for the AED1 million ($272,294) Zayed National Museum Research Fund that supports research in the culture and history of the UAE.

Ten researchers, who were selected from 77 applicants from 19 countries, include researchers from the UAE, Oman, Egypt, India, China, the US, the UK, Australia and Poland.

Launched in 2023, the fund aims at preserving the legacy of the nations late founder Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

Grants from the AED1 million fund were awarded by a panel of experts that included representatives from DCT Abu Dhabi and Zayed National Museum. Projects were chosen based on criteria including research methodology, experience, outcomes, and relevance to the museums mandate.

Research areas that will be covered by the funds recipients span Sheikh Zayeds impact on the UAEs society and culture; links between India and the Arabian Peninsula across the 19th and 20th centuries; the untold stories of women and their role in trade in Arabia, oral histories of the UAE, and the deep archaeological history of the UAE.

Mohammed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi, said: Honouring the timeless values of our nations founding father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, whose enduring example continues to guide us today, the selected projects will support the creation of an extensive body of scholarly works on the traditions of the UAE through an international lens with diverse perspectives.

Contributing to our intangible culture and unlocking possibilities for upcoming generations, the Research Fund underscores Zayed National Museums objectives of advancing knowledge, inclusive public engagement and harnessing the power of research and science to deepen our understanding of the UAEs layered history.

The recipients and their projects are:

Dr Mohamed Almarri (UAE), Assistant Professor of Population Genomics College of Medicine at the Mohamed Bin Rashed University of Medicine and Health Sciences, with the project name: Reconstructing the population history and illuminating prehistorical contacts of the United Arab Emirates using ancient DNA.

Maryam Al Shehhi (UAE), UAE Permanent Mission to the UN, USA Security Council Research Intern, with project name: Book: Music / Sound of the Shihuh.

Dr Reynold James (Australia), Associate Professor at Zayed University, with the project name: Sheikh Zayeds legacy, and its role and impact on the UAEs society and culture.

Dr Suhaib Alam (India), Assistant Professor at the Department of Arabic Language at Jamia Millia Islamia, with the project name: The journey across India in search of links between India and the Arabian Peninsula - 1820-1971.

Dr Ran Zhang (China), Assistant Professor at the Department of Archaeology at Durham University, with the project name: Chinese ceramic finds from the Hussein Collection.

Dr Seth M.N. Priestman (UK), Honorary Research Fellow at Durham University and Ceramics and Archaeological Finds Specialist, with the project name: Exploring the interpretive value of 19th-20th century European factory-made ceramics in the UAE through collections-based research.

Professor Lesley Gregoricka (USA), Professor of Anthropology at the University of South Alabama, with the project name: Mobility and shifting cultural landscape among the early Bronze Age inhabitants of the Al Ain Oasis.

Professor Ali El Keblawy (Egypt), Professor at the Department of Applied Biology at the University of Sharjah, with the project name: Using native plants to revitalise UAE cultural heritage at Zayed National Museum.

Sumaya Al-Weheibi (Oman), International Relations Specialist at the Oman National Commission for Education, Culture and Science, with the project name: Threads of empowerment - untold stories of women in Arabian Peninsula during the Silk Road trade.

Dr Agnieszka Lic (Poland), Assistant Professor at the Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures at the Polish Academy of Sciences, with the project name: Jumeirah Research Project.  TradeArabia News Service
Long-delayed enactment of gambling bill would ban inducements

Irelands gambling bill shouldnt hardwire a proposed ban on offering free bets to customers, the chief financial officer of Paddy Power owned Flutter has insisted.

Paul Edgecliffe-Johnson claimed such a ban would see customers lose out.

The new gambling bill, which formally establishes the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI), will cover online and in-person gambling, and include powers to regulate advertising, gambling websites and apps.

The proposed legislation would ban inducements to customers to engage in gambling. Those incentives include free bets and special offers. The ban would apply regardless of the risk-profile of a betting customer.

Mr Edgecliffe-Johnson claimed that 500,000 customers used a free bet in Ireland last year "without problems". He maintained that if the ban on free bets is introduced that customers will "lose out".

We agree that operators shouldnt target free bets at someone whos been identified at a high risk to problem gambling, but the draft language goes well beyond this, said Mr Edgecliffe-Johnson.

"The new regulator should be able to look at the evidence and decide the best route forward. The ban shouldn't be hardwired into the bill from the off," he added. The regulator should be allowed to work out what is best for Ireland, rather than the enacted primary legislation, thats very difficult then for the regulator to influence or adjust.

Mr Edgecliffe-Johnson was speaking as Flutter reported a strong set of results for 2023 as its US business entered profitability for the first time.

The group, which operates in a number of countries such as Ireland, the UK, Australia, Serbia, India and Armenia, saw its revenue jump 24.6pc to $11.8bn (10.9bn). Its so-called further adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) was 45pc higher at $1.87bn.

The companys shares started trading in New York at the end of January and Flutter has adopted dollar-reporting and US accounting rules. It intends to move its primary listing from London to New York later this year.

Flutter  the worlds biggest online gambling firm  said that it increased its average number of monthly players last year by a fifth to 12.3 million. In the United States, FanDuel added 3.7 million more customers, and saw its revenue jump almost 41pc to just under $4.5bn.

The gambling group expects FanDuels revenue to rise to between $5.8bn and $6.2bn this year, and for its further adjusted Ebitda to grow to between $635m and $785m.

Non-cash impairments of $1.68bn drove Flutter to a loss, despite the performance during 2023. In the final quarter of the year, it recognised a $725m intangible asset impairment in sales and marketing expenses related to the trademark of its PokerStars unit. There was also a $791m impairment in relation to acquired intangibles amortisation.

Flutter chief executive Peter Jackson said that 2024 has started very well for the group.

Mr Edgecliffe-Johnson said Flutter remains committed to its Irish corporate and retail presence. The group employs about 2,800 people in Ireland, split almost equally between its headquarters and its high street Paddy Power chain.
Legal action relates to sponsorship deal inked with Deloitte

A US marketing executive who last month sued Junk Kouture and the CEO of the Ireland-based eco-friendly fashion show venture, Troy Armour, has asked a New York court to reconsider her $500,000-plus (461,000) complaint against them.

Priya Narang claimed in her complaint filed last month that her dispute with Junk Kouture and Mr Armour stems from a sponsorship deal inked with accountancy giant Deloitte and commission she says she was due from securing the agreement.

But the judge presiding over the case in New York dismissed it earlier this month, noting that Ms Narang had not properly pleaded the citizenship of the parties involved.

However, a lawyer for Ms Narang has asked for the case to be readmitted.

He has told the court notices issued by the court regarding a need to amend her complaint to argue the basis for the New York courts jurisdiction in the case were not received by his legal firm.

Mr Armour founded Junk Kouture in 2010. It encourages post-primary students to showcase fashion outfits they create using recycled material. It recently held its global final in Monaco.

Deloitte is the lead global sponsor, while the global sponsors are DHL and Microsoft. Local sponsors in Ireland include RTE and Eurospar, which just renewed its association last week. Etihad Airlines is also a sponsor.

Ms Narang has claimed that in 2021, her New York-based firm, LMA, entered a six-month agreement with Junk Kouture to devise marketing strategies and sponsorship proposals, targeting prospective partners in New York, London, Paris, Milan and the UAE. The Irish firm agreed to pay LMA a $20,000 per month retainer as well as 20pc commission on any sponsorship secured, it is alleged.

By late that year, Ms Narang claims she was close to signing up Deloitte as a sponsor. Around the same time, the agreement between LMA and Junk Kouture was amended to remove the monthly retainer and reduce commission to 15pc.

But, she alleges, if she was to finalise a sponsorship with Deloitte, she would retain 20pc commission on that deal.

In September 2022, Deloitte agreed to sponsor Junk Kouture initially for one year for $500,000.

Ms Narang says she was eventually paid the total $100,000 commission due on that deal. She alleges she then signed up Deloitte for a further years sponsorship for $500,000, with an option to extend it by two years. She claims she has not received commission on that deal.
Britains woes writ large in sensational state-of-the-nation novel with a cast of dozens

Caledonian Road by Andrew OHagan has a vast palette of characters from a Russian oligarch to a a high-street fashion billionaire to a slimy royal

Scottish novelist Andrew O'Hagan. Photo: Rosdiana Ciaravolo/Getty Images

Ruth Gilligan Tue 26 Mar 2024 at 03:30







Andrew OHagans sensational state-of-the-nation novel Caledonian Road begins with the protagonist Campbell Flynn  art critic, academic, podcast warrior  gliding through the streets of London in the back of a glass-ceilinged black cab. Entirely dry-eyed himself, Flynn is off to meet his literary agent for lunch in the Wolseley to discuss his new book Why Men Weep in Their Cars: The Crisis of Male Identity in the Twenty-First Century.
Produced, directed and filmed by Jamie Roberts, this riveting documentary puts us at the battlefront of the war

If the first casualty of war is truth, the second is youth. The average age of British and American soldiers in the First and Second World Wars was 26  considerably less than that of plastic Hollywood heroes like John Wayne, who donned multiple uniforms and served bravely on a studio backlot.

By the time of the Vietnam War, the average age of US troops had dropped to 22 (Wayne fought in that conflict too, aged 62, in an awful film called The Green Berets).

One of the things that strikes you when watching Ukraine: Enemy in the Woods (BBC2, Monday, March 25), which follows the countrys Berlingo Battalion on a tense seven-week mission through snowy woods near Kupyansk, is how shockingly young everyone on screen is.

A soldier called Roman is just two weeks away from turning 20, an age when a young person should be enjoying their life, not fearing for it.

A unit commander called Vlad was thrust into a leadership role at 19, after just a single combat mission. A third was looking forward to getting his driving licence before the Russians invaded. Even the battalions leader, Vovan, looks no older than early to mid-20s.

The unlikeliness of the conflict ending any time soon is forcefully brought home in this riveting documentary, filmed, produced and directed by Jamie Roberts, who also made 2021s Four Hours at the Capitol.

The longstanding practice of military brass allowing authorised journalists to embed with troops means that much of the war coverage we see on TV news channels is carefully curated.

Theres no such filtering here. Roberts gets his boots on the ground with Vovan and his 98-strong battalion as they defend a 500-metre stretch of railway that runs through the woods to Kharkiv.

The stakes are high: if the Russians capture it, theyll be able to launch a direct attack on Ukraines second-largest city.

The extensive use of footage captured by the soldiers bodycams makes for a terrifyingly immersive experience as they run from one underground bunker or observation point to another.

This is probably the closest any documentary has come to showing what its like to be fighting in a war.

One moment, the woods  sparser than they used to be due to bomb damage  are eerily quiet. The next, the silence is broken by the rattle of Russian machine gun fire and the ground rocked by the impact of a bomb dropped by one of the drones buzzing over head, tracking and targeting the troops.

The sun rises and reveals the dead bodies of soldiers, one of them headless

Theres no sanitising of the horror of warfare. After a ferocious night-time battle (all we see are yellow flashes, all we hear the agonised howls of soldiers on both sides whove been hit), the sun rises and reveals the dead bodies of soldiers, one of them headless, strewn around like discarded ragdolls.

Later, Vovan engages in a gun battle, killing two Russian soldiers. The screen tactfully goes black as he strides over to make sure theyre dead by putting another few shots into them.

We get an idea of the odds the Ukrainian forces are facing when they show Roberts how they improvise grenades using saltpeter, petrol and ordinary households soap. Theyre primitive weapons, but powerful enough to destroy a whole farm.

The film doesnt shrink away from showing us violence, or indeed the psychological toll the conflict takes. The one female soldier interviewed here, Natalia, a veterinarian whos acting as a combat medic, says shes become tougher and emotionless to certain aspects of life.

Her way of coping with the deaths of close fellow soldiers is to imagine theyve simply been reassigned somewhere else and are still alive.

At one point, they acquire a prisoner whose unit abandoned him after he was injured. Hes surrendered voluntarily, saying war is not his thing, and cuts a pathetic figure.

When asked why he didnt just give up, he says Russian soldiers are told that Ukrainians torture and execute prisoners. Instead, they give him a cigarette.

The documentary never fails to remind us that many of the Ukrainians arent professional soldiers, just ordinary people pushed into extraordinary actions.

Vovan, a steelworker by trade, says: I just want the war to end and watch my kids grow up.
Ours is the first milk vending machine of its kind in the country - This Cork couple dont own a farm but are changing the milk scene

They wanted to sell milk from their Jersey herd direct to the customer. The problem was, they dont own a farm to build a micro-dairy on. So they hit on an innovative solution

Sally Kearney who sells milk via a vending machine called Bo Bainne Ur in Clonakilty. Photos: Denis Boyle

Azmia Riaz Tue 26 Mar 2024 at 03:30

Michael Cahalane began milking his neighbours cows at the age of 12, and his passion for producing good-quality milk led to him and his wife Sally Kearney setting up Irelands first milk vending truck  a machine that functions as an individual modular unit.
Environment Minister Eamon Ryan appealed to fellow ministers not to retreat from the protection of nature. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA

The EU should not buckle in the face of farmer protests and give up on the Nature Restoration Law, Environment Minister Eamon Ryan told his EU colleagues at a meeting in Brussels yesterday.

A planned vote on the law among EU countries environment ministers yesterday was called off after Hungary said last week it would no longer back the policy, wiping out the already-slim reinforced majority of countries in favour.

The nature law is the latest EU environmental policy to come under fire as policymakers try to respond to months of angry farmers protests over complaints, including strict green EU regulations. The EU has already weakened numerous green rules to attempt to quell the protests.

The Belgian presidency signalled that the decision not to vote on the law yesterday was not the end of the road and said it would work to secure agreement in the coming weeks. At the meeting, Mr Ryan appealed to fellow ministers not to retreat from the protection of nature.

Climate and nature are inextricably linked and if were to abandon it, we abandon our ability to protect ourselves and to be resilient as well.

He said the EU needed to show confidence rather than buckling and giving up on nature because of farmer protests.

Im standing with the farmers who are protesting because the truth is our farmers dont get paid properly, he said, Were not actually providing an income for young people to go into agriculture and forestry.

Protecting the nature restoration law is one of the best ways of getting income to our farmers.

Carbon farming, where we get real transparent monitoring of whats happening in our natural systems, is what we need and then to pay our farmers for their real skill in protecting nature as well as providing food.

IFA President Francie Gorman said it should be parked until after the European Parliament elections and the appointment of a new EU Commission.

We said at the time of the Parliament vote last month that a vacuum of information still existed around the Nature Restoration Law.

That uncertainty has persisted and theres a strong case for the NRL to be re-examined by those who will have a fresh mandate after Junes elections, he said.
Agriculture spending is much lower than in other areas, a new report found

Some 86c out of every 100 of Government spending will go towards funding farm supports and schemes, a new report has found.

The report from the UCD Geary Institute on how Ireland is spending its public purse also highlighted that the Government will spend some 979 million on a range of subsidies and incentives for farmers.

However, agriculture spending is much lower than in other areas. According to the report, out of every 100 of public spending, 9.34 goes into the State pension, 7.02 on acute hospital services and 4.89 goes on welfare payments for illness, disability or carers.

At 21.25, these three spending programmes account for more than a fifth of every 100 allocated to public spending.

Key budget lines within the main agriculture programme include 247m for the Areas of Natural Constraints Scheme, 200m for the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme, 97m for Forestry and Bioenergy, 92m for Agri-Environmental Schemes, 83m for Beef Sustainability Schemes and 47m for the Organic Farming Scheme.

Meanwhile, the Government will this year also spend some 425m, or 37c out of every 100, on its Agri-Food Policy and Strategy programme. This programme includes Teagasc (170m), Bord Bia (57m) and the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund (95m). Smaller grant funds are also provided for research, development and innovation.

The Department of Agriculture will spend some 378m, or 33c out of every 100 of public spending, on Food Safety, Animal Health and Welfare, while its spend on the seafood sector will account for just 15c out of every 100, or 170m.

Other notable public spending areas include Met Eireann, which accounts for just 0.5c of every 100 of spending, or 58m, and the heading of Rural Development, Regional Affairs and Islands, which accounts for just 18c per 100 of Government spending.

The purpose of this report is to make it easier for people to understand public spending, said Dr Nat OConnor, the reports author.

The Irelands Public Spending Explained 2024 report highlights that the national budget of Ireland is often voted through without clear detail on just where the publics money will be spent.

In October 2023, the Budget allocated 96.3bn for public services but a further 13.8bn was required for national debt repayments, Irelands contribution to the EU, and other non-voted areas of public spending.
Michael OLeary: Im not driving up the price of land  the dairy farmers are out there doing that all on their own

Gigginstown farmer and Ryanair CEO Michael OLeary talks about his upcoming sale of stock and why its vital for Irish agriculture to maintain a mix of dairy and premium product beef

Ryanair boss Michael OLeary with one of his Aberdeen Angus bulls at the annual Gigginstown sale. Photo: Tony Gavin

Margaret Donnelly Tue 26 Mar 2024 at 03:30

Michael OLeary has no plans in becoming some sort of industrialised farmer with 10,000 acres.
Uisce Eireann booklet will tell customers their water supply has raised levels of trihalomethanes (THMs) which some studies suggest are linked to various cancers

In January, the ECJ found Ireland guilty of providing unsafe drinking water to large numbers of people. Photo: Stock image/Getty

Almost 300,000 people are to be notified that their drinking water supplies have excessive levels of a toxin linked to cancer.

Uisce Eireann is to send explanatory booklets to affected households served by 25 water supplies in 15 counties.

It will inform customers that their water supply has elevated levels of trihalomethanes (THMs) which some studies suggest are linked to various cancers and reproductive problems.

THMs are chemical compounds created when chlorine used to disinfect supplies at treatment plants reacts with vegetation and bacteria in the water.

Today's News in 90 Seconds - March 26th

The HSE acknowledges the concerns about the links to disease but says the risks of drinking inadequately disinfected water are higher.

The European Commission takes a tougher stance, however, and Ireland was found guilty by the European Court of Justice in January of providing unsafe drinking water to hundreds of thousands of people whose supplies had THM levels above legal limits.

THMs are of concern for human health and the environment since long-term exposure to high levels of these chemical compounds in drinking water may pose risks such as cancer, in particular bladder cancer and colon cancer, and cause gastrointestinal problems and skin irritation, the court said in its judgment.

Moreover, THMs, once released into the environment, may be toxic for aquatic wildlife, disrupt freshwater ecosystems and contribute to the formation of dead zones in the oceans by encouraging excessive growth of algae, it added.

The judgment followed almost a decade of correspondence from the commission, urging the Irish authorities to resolve the problem.

Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE), the group which made the initial complaint to Europe, welcomed the courts findings but argued there was also an urgent need to tell the public directly which water supplies were tainted.

The information is in Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) documents but is not user-friendly for the public

Uisce Eireann last notified householders in affected areas in 2018 but since then, some of those water supplies have been upgraded while others have become a focus of concern.

FIE sent the EPA a solicitors letter last week threatening legal action if the agency did not direct Uisce Eireann to immediately inform affected customers.

In response, the EPA said there were currently 25 public water supplies serving 297,447 people on its remedial action list (RAL) because of high levels of THMs.

The remediation of all these drinking water supplies remains a serious concern for the agency, said Dr Tom Ryan, EPA enforcement director.

In light of the judgment, the agency met with Uisce Eireann and the HSE to consider further its implications, the public health risks and potential actions that should be taken, he said.

In particular, the importance of keeping the public informed on water quality issues. 

Uisce Eireann has committed, as part of their statutory obligation, to keep consumers informed with respect to THMs and other water quality issues, to updating the booklet that was issued in 2018 and distribute it to current consumers on the agencys RAL.

Dr Ryan said the EPA was also consulting with the HSE on the short- and long-term health implications of elevated THM levels.

He said the HSEs current advice dated to 2011 but that was being reviewed.

FIE spokesman, Tony Lowes, said it was too soon to lift the threat of legal action against the EPA.

The group will consider the EPAs letter, but we are extremely disappointed with the level of detail and commitments it contains, he said.
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
The Saudi Arabia's International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), which is a member of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group, has signed a $1.4 billion financing plan with the Government of Bangladesh, reported SPA.

This financing plan will enable the Bangladesh Petroleum Company to import oil products from July 2023 to June 2024.

The ITFC, member of Saudi Arabia's Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), said the financing was aimed at developing Bangladesh's energy infrastructure.

The signing took place during a recent official visit by a high-level delegation from Bangladesh to the ITFC headquarters in Jeddah.
One of the countrys best known publicans, Charlie Chawke has secured the green light for a funeral home beside his Goat Bar and Grill in Goatstown in south Dublin.

This follows Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Co Council giving the funeral home the go-ahead despite opposition from Fanagans Funeral Directors.

In an interview on Tuesday, Mr Chawke said that he was delighted that the council has granted planning permission.

He said: It is always great to get planning permission. It has come through now thank God.

Mr Chawke said that a funeral home operating from the ground floor of the former Paddy Power unit at the The Goat retail complex would be good for business at The Goat.

He said: I had this idea going back a while that a funeral home would be good for the business where people coming to a funeral can dine in The Goat after.

Today's News in 90 Seconds - March 26th

Mr Chawke said that there is plenty of room for a funeral home at The Goat to serve the area.

Mr Chawke said that he was disappointed that Fanagans did lodge an objection against the planned funeral home at the junction of Lower Kilmacud Road and Taney Road, Goatstown, Dublin 14.

He said: Why anyone should object against it I dont know.

Mr Chawke said that the Chawke Group would not directly operate the funeral home.

He said that he intends to lease the space out to a funeral operator.

Mr Chawke confirmed that he has had positive discussions with a funeral operator who has expressed an interest to run the funeral home.

Asked about a possible appeal by Fanagans to An Bord Pleanala, Mr Chawke said: Hopefully they wont and leave it is as it is and we can get cracking on it.

The Council granted planning permission after concluding that the funeral home would not detract from the amenities of the area and is consistent with the provisions of the current Development Plan.

A planning report lodged with the application stated that Mr Chawke believes that a good quality, well run funeral home will complement The Goat/Paddy Power Retail Complex and he believes that there is a need locally for such a use.

However, in a strongly worded objection on behalf of Fanagans Funeral Directors, Manahan Planners contended that this application is ill-conceived.

The objection stated there is no local need for an additional funeral home to cater to this suburb of the city.

It added: Moreover, a location such as proposed would add surges of traffic to the adjoining road network as this busy traffic light controlled junction."

Expanding as to why Fanagans do not accept that there is a local need for the planned funeral home, the objection stated that Fanagans operate a funeral home in Dundrum a little more than 1km away from this site.

Mr Tony Manahan stated that this application proposes to cater to the same suburbs claiming there is a local need for a funeral home in this area.

He said that the applicants have provided no evidence to support such a convention. He states: Our client at Dundrum has no difficulty in meeting the needs for this area.

Mr Manahan said that the central contention in the application that there is a need locally is flawed and is not supported by empirical evidence.

The grant of permission coincides with new accounts show that Chawke group owned pubs continue to perform strongly with new accounts for the firm which operates The Bank pub on Dublins College Green, College Inns Ltd recording post tax profits of 572,649 in the 12 months to the end of April last.

Fanagans have been contacted for comment.
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.

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.
How ghost broker linked to 236 insurance policies 'washed' no claims bonus certs for fraudulent cheap insurance

Insurance firm scam linked to 236 policies and worth an estimated 4m

Egidijus Aleliunas and, right, some of the fraudulent documents he provided, which contained spelling errors

Amy Molloy Tue 26 Mar 2024 at 03:30

When ghost broker Egidijus Aleliunas applied for insurance cover with Irish firms, he provided a no-claims bonus cert from a Lithuanian company that said he had not been involved in any accident for five years.
BREAKING | Two men rushed to hospital after shots fired at home in north Dublin

Gardai have appealed for any witnesses to come forward.

Ballymun Garda Station

Niall Donald Tue 26 Mar 2024 at 15:44







Two men have been hospitalised after shots were fired at a house in Ballymun, north Dublin in the early hours of this morning.
Minister of Justice Helen McEntee speaking to press at the conference.(Photo: Conor McKeown)

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris speaking to the press at the AGSI conference.(Photo: Conor McKeown)

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has backed taoiseach-designate Simon Harris condemnation of the tricolour being draped over the coffin of convicted garda killer Pearse McAuley last week.

Commissioner Harris described the act as beyond our understanding and said it was regrettable that the national flag had been abused and disrespected in this way. However, he conceded there was nothing that gardai could do, pointing out that the the tri-colour incident happened outside of our jurisdiction.

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 last 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.

Reacting today as he prepared to address delegates at the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) conference in Westport, Co Mayo, Drew Harris said he understood the hurt that it caused the family of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe.

Earlier, AGSI president Paul Curran described the act as outrageous and a move that completely undermines the garda organisation and our work protecting the citizens of this State.

Mr Curran paid tribute to the late Detective Garda Jerry McCabe during his speech.

We also think about our AGSI colleague Sgt John McCabe, who carries on the great work of his father in Limerick, and who is with us today at conference, he added.

Meanwhile in his press briefing, Commissioner Harris also gave an update in relation to the international investigation into the Kinahan cartel in which he insisted that the authorities in Dubai are committed with working with gardai in the major probe against the gang.

He explained that he had been in the United Arab Emirates three weeks ago and had met very senior police officers in the Gulf state.

Contacts are continuing, Mr Harris explained adding that the Gardas relationship with authorities in Dubai has developed a lot further from where it was a year ago.

Asked about the delay in the extradition of key cartel figures, including Sean McGovern who is wanted for murder here, he said that the UAE has a different legal process to our jurisdiction.

Also at the press briefing, the commissioner defended issuing "a letter of congratulations" to a suspended garda.

The garda, who is being investigated by the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (NBCI) in relation to the alleged cancelling of penalty point offences, was presented with a certificate, signed by Harris, at Templemore Garda College on Monday.

The letter was in honour of the garda completing a university course in human rights law.

Asked about the matter, Commissioner Harris said: If they have taken the certificate and study around policing and human rights then they should be congratulated for finishing that course, in this case while suspended."

He added that a consultation process is underway into a new suspensions policy and that will conclude in April.

Today's News in 90 Seconds - March 26th

Minister for Justice Helen McEntee also addressed the conference this morning, telling delegates that the use of facial recognition technology (FRT) in the investigation of crime would be expanded to include assaults on gardai.

The use of FRT is yet to be introduced in Ireland but to date the initial plan was for it to only be used when investigating child sexual abuse, child kidnapping, abduction, human trafficking and drug related offences.

The time for facial recognition technology has come, Ms McEntee told delgates.

Minister of Justice Helen McEntee speaking to press at the conference.(Photo: Conor McKeown)

We need to declare over the days of gardai trawling through hours of footage, using up time and resources, delaying arrests and prosecutions.

FRT can process thousands of hours of footage at far greater speed than humans, however human rights groups frequently oppose its use on privacy grounds and fears it is unreliable.

The minister also rejected calls from sergeants and inspectors to introduce mandatory sentences for assaults on gardai.

Ms McEntee did however throw her support behind calls to increase the force to 18,000 from the current 14,090 garda members.

Minister McEntee acknowledged the abuse and intimidation suffered by gardai during the course of their duties was increasing.

She said the ongoing abuse, which includes gardai having camera phones "shoved" in their faces, has to stop.

However, mandatory sentencing would be "overstepping the mark", the minister said.

Defending her position, Minister McEntee repeated several times that she had increased the maximum sentence for the crime of assault on a garda member from seven to 12 years, but said she believed it wasnt within her gift to limit the discretion of judges by stipulating mandatory sentences.

Its very important that I, as minister, dont dictate to any judge what they can or cannot apply as a sentence, she said.

There is a separation of powers here and I have to be very clear on that.

 Ive reviewed this recently and the response that has come back to me has been - this would be overstepping the mark when it comes to my role as minister.

Minister McEntee also rejected calls from garda delegates for the Government to assist struggling gardai with accommodation amid the ongoing housing crisis.

Delegates told how some gardai are leaving the force due to their inability to source affordable or secure housing in Dublin.

One female new recruit to Dublin left the force following a full year of couch surfing and several different moves.

In some instances, gardai have to travel hours every day from as far as Mullingar, Cavan and Monaghan to get to work with some forced to sleep in their cars after working long hours.

Addressing delegates, Ms McEntee said she fully acknowledged that it is an issue for gardai.

"It's also a problem for a lot of other young people as well and it's about making sure we have the supply for everybody to be able to address this problem, the minister added.

"What's most important here is that we increase our supply overall. As you know, we exceeded our targets last year by 13pc.

"That's not just social and affordable but also private housing. And I am absolutely confident that we'll be able to exceed those targets again this year.
Gardai are investigating if a planned pipe bomb attack has been foiled after several viable explosive devices were seized in Dublin over the weekend.

The four improvised bombs were recovered from a van in an industrial estate in Clondalkin on Sunday afternoon.

The vehicle was stopped shortly after 3pm by gardai on patrol in the area and the pipe bombs were discovered inside the van following a search.

Gardai called the Defence Forces Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team to the scene and the bomb squad later safely removed the devices.

The driver of the van was arrested at the scene and is currently being quizzed in relation to the explosives find.

Detectives are now investigating the circumstances surrounding the seizure and are following a number of lines of inquiry.

One theory is that the pipe bombs had been sourced to be used as part of a retaliation attack linked to a localised dispute.

Gardai are aware of one incident in which a property in the Clondalkin area was targeted recently and are investigating if the explosives bust is connected to that incident.

There was a house attacked earlier this month and one line of inquiry at this stage is that the pipe bombs had been sourced as part of a retaliation effort, one source said.

Thankfully this was prevented thanks to the good work of gardai on the ground, but there are concerns that there will be further attempts as part of this local dispute.

The man arrested as part of the explosives find is aged in his 40s and known to gardai but is not considered a major criminal figure.

He is currently being held under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act, 1939, at a Dublin garda station and can be held for up to three days.

A garda spokesperson said that in follow-up searches in the Ballyfermot and Ronanstown areas, a small quantity of suspected cannabis and a scrambler bike were seized.

All drugs seized are now subject to examination by Forensic Science Ireland (FSI). Investigations are ongoing, the spokesperson added.
Gardai have renewed their appeal for information on the 31st anniversary of the murder and disappearance of Annie McCarrick.

Tomorrow, March 26, marks 31 years since Ms McCarricks disappearance in 1993 at the age of 26.

Born on March 21, 1967, and 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 McCarrick. Picture: Colin Keegan

Gardai described her disappearance as a tragedy that continues to deeply affect her loved ones and the wider community.

"Annie's future was abruptly halted on March 26, 1993, when she vanished without a trace, leaving her family and friends devastated, a spokesperson said.

Annie purchased groceries on the morning of Friday, March 26, 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 at 11.02am.

This is the last confirmed activity by Ms McCarrick.

Annie is described as 5 foot 8 inches 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.

A garda spokesperson said: 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.
26/03/'24 Actor Jim Bartley pictured this afternoon at the Victorian Chapel, Mount Jerome for a service to celebrate the life of actor, Emmet Bergin..Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

Emmet Bergin's wife Sarah, pictured this afternoon at the Victorian Chapel, Mount Jerome for a service to celebrate the life of actor, Emmet Bergin..Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

26/03/'24 Actor Patrick Bergin and his partner Helen Goldin at the funeral of his brother, Emmet Bergin pictured this afternoon at the Victorian Chapel, Mount Jerome for a service to celebrate the life of actor, Emmet Bergin..Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

The funeral cortege arrives at the Victorian Chapel, Mount Jerome for a service to celebrate the life of actor, Emmet Bergin. Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

Actor Enda Oates pictured this afternoon at the Victorian Chapel, Mount Jerome for a service to celebrate the life of actor, Emmet Bergin. Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

Geraldine Plunkett, who played Mary in 'Glenroe', with Susan Slott, who played Shirley, at a service in Harold's Cross for the life of actor Emmet Bergin. Photo: Colin Keegan

Mourners at the service paying tribute to Glenroe actor Emmet Bergin today delivered a final standing ovation for the remarkable man remembered as a hero.

Mr Bergin, who had a thriving career on stage and on screen, died on March 15 at the age of 79.

He become a household name for his role as solicitor Dick Moran in the RTE soap opera, with his work also including a role in first production of Brian Friels Philadelphia, Here I Come! in the Gaiety Theatre, Sam Shepards True West, Sean OCaseys The Silver Tassie, and Henrik Ibsens Hedda Gabler.

Emmet Bergin plays Dick Moran in the Irish soap Glenroe. Picture: Collins

President Michael D Higgins was represented at the service by his aide-de-camp Col Stephen Howard, who passed on Mr Higgins condolences to the family.

Mr Bergin was remembered as a lifesaver and a hero during the service, during which tributes were paid to a very special man as the service began with Leonard Cohens Tower of Song.

A tribute from his wife, Sarah, was read to mourners gathered in the chapel at Mount Jerome in Harolds Cross.

One year, when it was coming up to my birthday, Emmet asked me what I wanted for a present, I said I just wanted a new hardback dictionary. And thats what he got me, she wrote.

"But when I opened it, I saw he had stuck a piece of paper on the inside cover on which he had written: There arent enough words to tell you how much I love you. I loved him. I know he loved me. And my heart will always be with his heart.

His daughter, poet Tara Bergin, described her father as a remarkable man who was totally unconventional, complex, real and fiercely intelligent.

"But he was also a messer, a fighter, an arguer, resistant to authority, resistant to being pinned down. So how can I even dare try to capture his spirit now?

She recalled his love for the natural world and his ability to make her laugh, even during the most difficult of times.

People think that actors spend their whole working life pretending, but its the opposite. The great actors find a way, maybe through the turn of their head, maybe how they drink a glass of water, they find a way for just an instance to show us the most profound truths of humanity, she said.

"The night before he died, my dad told me that what was important was to get it right, whatever youre doing, to do it as well as you can. Be honourable. He told me this, sitting in his chair, wearing his bandana like an outlaw and his brimmed hat which was pointing forwards, he said, where he was headed.

Emmet Bergin's wife Sarah, and daughter, Tara are pictured this afternoon at the Victorian Chapel, Mount Jerome for a service to celebrate the life of actor, Emmet Bergin..Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

A carousel of photos from throughout Mr Bergins life, some of which he took himself, was played during the service. It was accompanied by Raglan Road, described as a special song sung by Luke Kelly, a man Mr Bergin knew.

"He was my hero when I was a boy, he was a best pal when I was a man, his son Gavan told mourners.

In a note read out to those gathered in Mount Jerome, his sister Siobhan recalled how he once saved her from drowning in the River Barrow, later in life saving another young man from the canal in Harolds Cross and another man from the sea off the coast of Tintagel in Cornwall.

"My abiding memory of Emmet was him looking like a teddy boy, a cross between James Dean and Elvis Presley, leather jacket and jeans, slicked back hair, dancing around the lamppost with my sister Siobhan in her polka dot dress, his brother Pat said in a message recited to mourners.

His brother Pearse recalled his brothers lessons in fishing, describing him as having the magic while his brother Allen remembered a visit Mr Bergin paid him when they were in hospital with tuberculosis in their youth.

"He brought me comics, Beano and the Dandy. I was so proud that my big brother was coming to visit me.

Actor Patrick Bergin at the funeral of his brother, Emmet Bergin pictured this afternoon at the Victorian Chapel, Mount Jerome for a service to celebrate the life of actor, Emmet Bergin..Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

Mourners also heard the actors own voice in a poignant moment during the service, as a recording played of the late star reciting a number of poems.

Celebrant Brian Whiteside said he came to realise Mr Bergin was so much more than the Glenroe man when he met his family last week and they recounted stories of the actor who loved photography, fishing and his signature hats.

He said the service was an opportunity to pay tribute to what we all know was a life well lived and to celebrate a man who was so loved and admired.

Today's News in 90 Seconds - March 26th

Mr Bergin would spend evenings fishing with his friend Paul Cullen in the west of Ireland, who described the peaceful moments on the water with the actor.

Mourners stood to deliver a moving final standing ovation for the actor, following the Bob Dylan song Tomorrow is a Long Time. Some danced as they left the chapel and Elvis Blue Suede Shoes rang out.
Almost one in five teachers have been cyberbullied in what a teachers' union has described as "chilling"  with 20pc of the perpetrators being parents.

However, the data is thought to be underreported, according to the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI). The union released the Digital Technology and its Impact on Teachers' Working Lives survey this morning.

It found that while 20pc of teachers in secondary schools said they had been cyberbullied, there was a real surprise that so many perpetrators were parents.

The data found that, more predictably, 63pc of cyberbullying of teachers was carried out by students while 6pc was by teachers' colleagues. The remaining incidents were carried out by an unknown entity.

ASTI assistant general secretary Moira Leydon said while the situation was "not an epidemic", there was a solution.

Ms Leydon said while the primary people involved were students, it was now a case of "you can pick up your phone and get your own back on the teacher".

"A large number of teachers are experiencing bullying on social media  up-skirting, putting false information about teachers online, without consent and private information. There has to be a rapid response within the schools. Schools are getting much better at it."

She noted that it was sometimes problematic to get offensive material removed from online platforms and there was work to be done here with tech companies and the Department of Education.

The union said that using copyright infringement was being examined as a way of ensuring tech companies responded if uniforms with logos were photographed and used in abuse. It said there was more potential to get this data removed because social networks feared being sued.

ASTI general secretary Kieran Christie said the fact that this was happening to teachers was "chilling".

The union said it was "very surprised about the positive response by teachers to AI", given an initial anxiety around the issue when ChatGPT was released last year.

A total of 22pc of secondary school teachers said they used AI in their classroom and almost a third used it in their planning and preparation work.

More than 90pc of teachers wanted to know more about AI and education. However, more than 80pc have concerns including data harvesting, the potential of AI to undermine professional teacher autonomy and increased teacher workload.

ASTI president Geraldine OBrien said: While teachers are generally positive about integrating new digital technologies into teaching and learning, the survey found that they are being held back by lack of basic resources. This must be addressed if education in Ireland is to keep step with the rest of the world.

The survey also tells us that for teachers the impact of digital technologies on their workload is a universal concern. Teachers find there is already little room in the school day for them to engage in planning and tailoring digital content, administer e-platforms and carry out other digital tasks.

"For many teachers, this work is undertaken in the evenings or at weekends. As technology evolves  including AI  we must ensure there is adequate professional time in every teachers working day to engage with, reflect on, and embed technology into their teaching practice in an educationally sound way.

Meanwhile, there continues to be a problem in hiring and retaining second-level teachers. Mr Christie said this morning there were 602 posts that needed to be filled within the secondary school system.

Mr Christie said this had "started out being a Dublin problem and it's now nationwide. We talked to our teachers nationwide and it can be rural Ireland and management bodies tell us that".

Part of the problem, the union said, was that teachers returning to Ireland from different countries, were being offered only part-time roles. This was affecting students and particularly those with special needs students, with often teachers being moved over to mainstream classes.
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
Former CFO Breda OKeeffe received 450,000 exit payment when leaving RTE, Kevin Bakhurst says at Oireachtas committee _duplicated

RTE has refused to release a contentious legal letter its former chief financial officer Breda OKeeffe sent to director general Kevin Bakhurst before a key Dail committee appearance.

Ms OKeeffe sent the legal letter to Mr Bakhurst the day before he was due to appear before TDs and senators at the Oireachtas Media Committee.

The letter outlines a number of things she wanted him to tell the committee, even though she refused a request to appear before it.

I even got a letter, as of yesterday evening, from the solicitors of the previous CFO, setting out a range of things she would like me to say in committee, Mr Bakhurst said at the meeting last month.

The response was, you are invited, you can come and say them yourself.

It would be great if she did, Mr Bakhurst told committee members.

However, the broadcaster has now refused to release the letter to the Irish Independent, saying it contains personal information.

Having regard to the legislation and the contents of the letter, it is my view that the letter sets out personal information relating to Ms OKeeffe and others, an FoI officer said.

Chair of the committee, Niamh Smyth, said RTE releasing the letter would help its cause for transparency.

The broadcaster has released several tranches of documents to both the media and the Public Accounts Committee since scandals around finances within the organisation emerged last June.

It would help in the strive for transparency that were looking for, if information, correspondence, letters, emails, everything is put on the table to instil that confidence for the public which is watching on, Ms Smyth said.

Mr Bakhurst revealed at the meeting that Ms OKeeffe was paid 450,000 on leaving RTE. He made the admission under privilege in the Oireachtas Media Committee despite saying that there was a legal threat hanging over RTE.

The package did not comply with RTEs redundancy scheme but was approved by former director general Dee Forbes. Mr Bakhurst was reluctant to give additional details on exit packages to former executives who left RTE due to legal issues, saying he didnt want the broadcaster to break the law.

He said the McCann Fitzgerald report into exit packages for RTE employees had faced very significant legal obstacles.
Hugh Wallace: The Anglo-Irish system was terrible  it was apartheid. The houses were symbols of a past we hated

After decades of being left to rot, often deliberately, there is renewed enthusiasm for rescuing the Big Houses of our troubled past

Mayfield House in Enniscorthy is a Victorian Big House

Emily Hourican Tue 26 Mar 2024 at 21:30

Theres a bit in the new series of The Great House Revival where Mary-Claire Waters and Shane Sully O Sullivan learn the house they have bought in the middle of Churchtown, north Cork  known locally as The Parsons House  and plan on restoring, dates from 1835 and was built as part of the 19th century renewal of Churchtown.
In a testy exchange earlier this month, a senior US official warned Israeli counterparts of the reputational damage as a result of the ongoing war in Gaza. The internal memo of the exchange involving assistant secretary of state Bill Russo, obtained by NPR, offered yet another illustration of the rift between the Biden administration and Israel, driven by growing American horror at the humanitarian toll of the conflict and Israels role in making it worse  even as the US shields Israel in international forums and helps replenish its war machine.
Simon Harris has sometimes been called a young fogey, meaning the effect created by his young age mixed with serious manner, grey hair and political conservatism.

But therein lies a talking point  should voters be concerned that he isnt an old fogey, and that Irelands youngest taoiseach-in-waiting hasnt had the life experience that would further equip him to lead the country? Is he an innocent abroad?
Let us search area near Larry Murphys former home for bodies of six missing women  forensic expert

A group of forensic experts and investigators have called on the Garda Commissioner to facilitate a search of a Co Wicklow woodland site for the bodies of several missing women.

The location, identified by David Kenny, a forensic scientist based in Germany, is close to the former home of convicted rapist Larry Murphy, who is the chief suspect in the disappearances of some of the missing women.

In an open letter to Drew Harris, Mr Kenny and four other academics and investigators from across Northern Ireland, Britain and the US, have publicly appealed to the Garda Commissioner to facilitate the search of the location after their private representations to him were rebuffed.

What information or evidence has the group of experts unearthed and what has been the response from Mr Harris?

Fionnan Sheahan is joined on The Indo Daily podcast by Sunday Independent journalist Maeve Sheehan and David Kenny, who is calling for the woodland site  which is 1.6km away from Murphys former home - to be searched.

You can listen to more podcasts on the Larry Murphy story using the following link. This podcast details how he came to be known as the Beast of Baltinglass.
The issue was raised under Any Other Business (AOB) at last Mondays full council meeting by Fine Gael councillor John OSullivan.

Cllr OSullivan said the Department of Agriculture needs to step up to support farmers. As a council we should write to the Minister for Agriculture and ask him to try to introduce a support mechanism for farming and for food production. The weather is absolutely atrocious. There is no tillage done. There is no cow out. There is a shortage of food and I think the department needs to step up.

Cllr OSullivan requested that the local authority write to the Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue as a matter of urgency. We need to highlight the issue. We need to ask the minister to make immediate preparation to advise and to support the farming community. They need to put advisory clinics in place for people and they need to put a farmer support scheme in place.

I am asking that this council would write to the minster as a matter of urgency in light of the circumstances. We are nearly into April 1 and there is nothing done. There are a whole series of agricultural issues, he added.

Mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr Frank OFlynn who supported the motion said farmers are under a lot of pressure and stress. Farmers are really struggling at the moment. I would support that on behalf of the chamber that we would write to the minister to bring in aid to help farmers who are suffering. I met a farmer who is drawing slurry 16 miles because he cant spread on his own land. He has to go 16 miles to an outside farm. They are under a lot of pressure and stress at the moment.

On the dairy side of it, they are up to their neck at the moment, said Fine Gael councillor Kevin Murphy. They cannot even walk out into the fields at the moment to try and get cattle out. It is a nightmare situation. There will be a major shortage coming up very shortly unless we take action.

Green Party councillor Alan OConnor also added his support to the request. I do fully support the letter going. It is worth noting that until we get a handle on climate change farmers will find themselves more at the mercy of unpredictable weather. It will affect our agricultural systems. It is very worthwhile that we do support our farmers.

Independent councillor Declan Hurley suggested writing to the Central Bank as well seeking support for the farming community. We should also write to the Central Bank and ask them to instruct their branches to work locally with farmers as they need working capital in this difficult situation.

It was subsequently agreed that letters would be sent to the Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue and the Central Bank seeking supportive measures for members of the farming community.
Gardai in Cork are seeking the public's assistance in tracing the whereabouts of 17-year-old Simone Scannell, who was last seen in Carrigaline, Co.Cork on Thursday, March 21, 2024.

Simone is described as being 5 foot 8 inches in height, with a slim build.

She has dark brown hair and green eyes.

When last seen, Simone was wearing a blue crop top with leggings and black shoes.

Gardai are now concerned for her wellbeing.

Anyone with any information on Simones whereabouts is asked to contact Togher Garda Station on 021 4947120, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda station.
Councillors have been given a two week deadline to reach consensus on a motion to rename the newly built 48 single bed wing of Mallow General Hospital The Sherlock Wing in recognition of the role the political family played in the retention and upgrading of the hospital.

Labour Party councillor Eoghan Kenny brought forward a motion at last Mondays full council meeting asking the local authority to write to the CEO of the Health Service Executive (HSE) Bernard Gloster and the Regional Executive Officer of the HSE South West Dr Andy Phillips.

The proposed letter would request that the new 48 bed wing of Mallow General Hospital be named The Sherlock Wing to honour the roles played by former councillor and TD for Cork East Joe Sherlock and current Labour Party TD Sean Sherlock who both advocated strongly over two decades for Mallow General Hospital (MGH) and helped secure the future of the hospital.

The motion sparked a lengthy and robust debate with councillors offering unanimous praise for the influential role the Sherlock family played in the development of Mallow General Hospital.

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However a number of councillors harboured fears over a potential rejection from the HSE regarding the renaming of the new single bed wing in MGH and wanted the matter dealt with by a relevant Strategic Policy Committee (SPC).

Cllr Kenny said naming the new hospital wing after the Sherlock family would be fitting. Joe Sherlock spearheaded the retention and upgrading of Mallow General Hospital. His son Sean worked hard with Brendan Howlin to secure the funding for the new development. The future of Mallow General Hospital is secured with the new 48 single bed unit. It would be a fitting tribute to the Sherlock family to name the name wing of Mallow General Hospital The Sherlock Wing.

The motion was seconded by Labour Party councillor Cathal Rasmussen who said that the late Joe Sherlock worked very hard for Cork East and particularly for Mallow General Hospital.

Fine Gael councillor Anthony Barry proposed an amendment to the motion and requested that it would be sent to the SPC. I fully appreciate the contribution that the late Joe Sherlock made to political life. I think it should be sent to the relevant SPC to look at as a County Council project rather than lost with the HSE.

Social Democrats councillor Liam Quaide added: I'm conscious that this is a sensitive issue. This naming proposal would ultimately be decided by the Board of Cork University Hospital Group which governs Mallow General Hospital if we forward it to them, but I would be happy to support it within Cork County Council.

I would be thinking along the lines of Cllr Anthony Barry, said Fine Gael councillor Michael Hegarty who seconded the amendment. By unanimous agreement we named a bridge in Midleton after the late Noel Collins. There may be some other council piece of infrastructure in the Mallow MD that could facilitate the naming of something in recognition of the late Joe Sherlock. If we have an appropriate SPC I think that is the way it should be dealt with.

Fianna Fail councillor Seamus McGrath said it made sense to keep it within the control of the local authority, while Fine Gael councillor Liam Madden acknowledged the 48-single bed way as a fantastic development for Mallow.

Fianna Fail councillor Gearoid Murphy agreed with Cllr Barrys suggestion that the motion be forwarded to the SPC. The late Joe Sherlock left a towering legacy throughout Cork East and the wider region. It is fitting that he be commemorated. The naming of a piece of infrastructure in Mallow would be completely appropriate. I would concur with Cllr Barry that the motion would be referred to the SPC.

It is to do something effective to commemorate the late Joe Sherlock. We have no role in setting any policy of the HSE, whereas for housing projects and roads infrastructure projects we do. The amendment proposal would lead to an effective outcome rather than a letter which would gather dust, he added.

The Mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr Frank OFlynn appealed for a consensus to be reached. The Sherlock family were tireless workers throughout Cork East. The wing is a great asset to North Cork. I have the motion proposed and seconded. I also have an amendment proposed and seconded. There is also a suggestion that it goes back to the municipal area. Everyone here agrees with what we intend doing. The last thing I would like to see is a split. I would like a consensus. We need to do what is right to honour the Sherlock family.

The motion is black and white, said Cllr Kenny. This is ultimately a matter for the HSE. If we had the support of the full council we could work very closely with the HSE in successfully naming the new wing.

Cllr Anthony Barry said by keeping it inhouse they would retain control. A project that is supported by Cork County Council is more appropriate. A project that is funded and decided by Cork County Council means we have control over it. We have no control over a third body and how they would view this.

Independent councillor Declan Hurley said the thrust of the initial motion has been over complicated.

Labour Party councillor Cathal Rasmussen added: I appreciate everyones position. I would suggest that we send the letter off and see where it goes.

Independent councillor Alan Coleman then made a suggestion which garnered support across the chamber. I would propose that we adjourn it for a fortnight and have discussions between the interested parties so everyone understands what is at stake.

Cllr Barry agreed with Cllr Colemans suggestion. It is a good idea if we could have a discussion on it over the next fortnight rather than having a vote.

Cllr Kenny agreed to defer the issue but expressed his disappointment in doing so. We will defer it for two weeks. We will have a discussion on it between different parties. I think bringing it to the SPC we would have no power over the HSE then. Not having the backing of the 55 councillors here and having to defer it is quite disappointing.

Cllr Rasmussen added: Cllr Kenny is willing to allow the motion to be discussed at the next meeting and that a decision would be made based on the discussions.

Mayor OFlynn concluded proceedings by thanking Cllr Barry and Cllr Hegarty for withdrawing their amendment. We will be back in two weeks and we will have discussions in the meantime.

It was subsequently agreed that discussions would be held between all the various stakeholders in an attempt to reach a consensus before the motion is dealt with again at the next full council meeting on Monday, April 8.
The towns tribute to the 1993 Eurovision was graffitied with the slogan Free Palestine

Gardai said they are investigating an incident of criminal damage on Minor Road, where the wall is located.

The vandalism of the Eurovision Wall in Millstreet is being investigated by Gardai and has been condemned by a Macroom local elections candidate who said that the incident will not be tolerated.

The wall, which is located on Minor Row and features the flags of each country that participated in the 1993 Eurovision held in Millstreets Green Glens Arena, was painted in the lead up to the song contest by the late Matthew Murphy, who owned the wall. In 2012, Millstreet Tidy Towns replaced each flag with new panels and a plaque to commemorate its artist and that Eurovisions Irish winner, Niamh Kavanagh, who sang In your Eyes.

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However, the mural was vandalised when the slogan Free Palestine was graffitied on to it and its Israeli flag was painted over on the morning of Thursday, March 21, leading Gardai to investigate an incident of criminal damage and Sinn Fein candidate John OSullivan stating that what happened is not acceptable.

I agree totally with the slogan, as whats happening in Palestine is genocide. We in Sinn Fein have been calling for the Israeli ambassador to be expelled. It is outrageous the suffering the Palestinian people have endured, but this wall isnt the place for it, Mr OSullivan said.

This wall was painted by a man that is no longer with us back in 1993, known as Matty Murphy. This wall has been pride and place in Millstreet for many years and means a lot to the locals. The murals hold great memories to the people of Millstreet and for them to be vandalised like this is totally unacceptable, he continued.

The damage to these murals will not be tolerated in Millstreet. Its not making a statement, it is angering and annoying the Millstreet people. There are vigils and protests locally happening regularly where people can come out and support the Palestinian people in their fight for freedom.

Gardai said that enquiries are ongoing into the incident.
Paris, Mar 26 (UNI) French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said that France has a very efficient intelligence system that allows law enforcement agencies to prevent terrorist attacks in the country almost every month.



"Fortunately, we have an extremely efficient intelligence system. We prevent terrorist attacks almost every month," Darmanin told reporters on Monday.



He added that some of the terrorist attacks prevented in France were prepared by the Islamic State terrorist group (IS or ISIS, banned in Russia), in particular at the end of 2022 in Strasbourg.



The United States has blamed a branch of ISIS, known as ISIS-Khorasan (banned in Russia as a terrorist), for the Crocus City Hall attack. Meanwhile, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has said that the four main suspects in the terrorist attack had contacts in Ukraine and were planning to cross the Russian-Ukrainian border when they were detained in Russia's Bryansk Region. Russian President Vladimir Putin has also said that all four were heading for Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a "window" was prepared for them to cross the border.



Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that the Russian authorities had not commented on information about the possible involvement of the ISIS group in the terrorist attack, as the investigation was still underway and no official scenario had been put forward.



A shooting occurred last Friday 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 a number of gunmen in camouflage broke into the music hall, shooting people point-blank and throwing incendiary bombs. The Russian Investigative Committee said that at least 139 people were killed as a result of the terrorist attack.



Eleven people were detained in connection with the events, including four believed to be directly involved in the terrorist attack, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said. The four main suspects in the case were detained in the Russian region of Bryansk, which borders Belarus and Ukraine, the FSB added. They were charged with terrorism and ordered to be held in pretrial custody until May 22, Moscow's Basmanny District Court said. All of them are from Tajikistan and could face a life sentence in prison.



The Moscow-area concert hall terrorist attack is the deadliest in Russia in nearly 20 years.

UNI/SPUTNIK XC ARN
The former Crown Paints warehouse on the Malahide Road is being considered for accommodation. Pic: Google

Communities are being held at ransom by protests against accommodation for asylum seekers in Dublin, one councillor has claimed.

Up to 1,000 people attended a protest in Coolock on Sunday night over plans to repurpose a former warehouse to house international protection applicants.

The Department of Integration has confirmed it is considering using the former Crown Paints building on the Malahide Road in the Dublin 17 area.

Today's News in 90 Seconds - March 26th

However, councillor Daithi Doolan told the Dublin City Joint Policing Committee that the protests in Coolock are not normal.

What happened in Coolock last night and the build-up over the past week is absolutely unacceptable. Its anti-community, its anti-demographic. It needs to be challenged; we need a strategy, he said.

This is not normal political activity, this is not normal politics or demos or marching, or picketing.

The level of violence weve seen over the past 12 to 18 months is unacceptable. These people feel as if they can hold communities at ransom, divert buses like they did at 11.15pm when people were coming home.

One of my colleagues had to guide the bus driver away from the blockage, through housing estates to get to their destination.

Thats no way to run a city. Its preventing children from coming home from sporting events, preventing people from going about their lives, he added.

Assistant Commissioner Angela Willis said there has been an escalation of protests and An Garda Siochana have a strategy to tackle the issue.

In relation to Coolock, over the past week, weve been seeing protests there every night with an escalation yesterday (Sunday), she said.

Up to 1,000 people were protesting at a potential place for international protection migrants to be put into a facility out there.

We have a strategy; we have a plan in place around it. Until someone commits a criminal offence, our hands are tied, theres nothing we can do.

People encourage others to protest at something they believe is a legitimate concern for that community, we become the facilitators and weve a legal obligation to facilitate peaceful assembly.

Despite what past anyone has, they have an entitlement, under the Constitution and under the European Convention of Human Rights to peaceful assembly.

Until a criminal offence is committed, theres very little for us to do only to facilitate the protest and prevent disruption to traffic.

There was a person injured by someone in the crowd and that is subject to a full criminal investigation. They all seem to be isolated incidents, we dont see a connection between them, they all seem to be localised, she added.

Councillor Doolan also raised fears about the background of some of those encouraging others to protest.

One of the ambassadors for the protests is a convicted drug dealer who boasted that he flooded Ireland with drugs in the nineties, he said.

He boasted that hed be there, he encouraged people to turn up and turn out. We now have a criminal element leading and supporting this.

Weve convicted drug dealers being ambassadors for hatred, he added.
RNLI volunteers in Galway have rescued a family of four after their cruiser was reported aground in Lough Derg.

Yesterday morning, Sunday March 24, Lough Derg RNLI lifeboat Jean Spier was requested by Valentia Coast Guard following a 999 call from a member of the public on shore.

The lifeboat was launched to assist a family of four on a 34ft cruiser reported aground near Portumna, at the northern end of Lough Derg.

The lifeboat, already afloat on exercise with helm Dom Sharkey and crew Joe ODonoghue, Tom Hayes and Ciara Lynch on board, headed immediately to the scene.

The lake was calm with good visibility, and winds were with south-westerly, Force 1-2. The lifeboat had the casualty vessel in sight at 11.24am.

Using local knowledge and on-board navigation charts, the lifeboat made a safe approach to the casualty vessel. An RNLI volunteer transferred across to ensure the passengers were safe and unharmed and wearing their lifejackets.

The RNLI volunteer made a thorough inspection of the casualty vessel and, once satisfied it was not holed, reported back to the lifeboat. Given the remote location and that there were children on board, the helm decided to assist the vessel back out into safe water.

RNLI explained that at 11.40am the casualty vessel was back in safe water. The lifeboat checked the drives and propeller on the casualty vessel and found them to be in good working order.

With an RNLI volunteer remaining on board, the cruiser then made way under its own power to the closest safe harbour. The lifeboat departed the scene at 11.52am and was back at Station at 12.21pm

Christine OMalley, Lifeboat Operations Manager at Lough Derg RNLI, advises boat users to "plan your passage noting the navigation buoys along the route. Always carry a means of communication".
The looming and worrying GP crisis in Cahersiveen has been averted thanks to the hard work of the local community and thanks to one local GP who has decided to remain in his position.

The retirement of a GP last year in the town was a blow to the rural community leaving the town with just one GP and with only two GP's on the entire Iveragh Peninsula.

This crisis was further compounded recently with the news that the town's other GP was to retire this summer too leaving no full-time GP cover for the area.

However, goods news is on the horizon this week with the news that GP Brian ODonovan has decided not to retire ensuring a GP in the town. It has also emerged that the vacant position in the town is now likely to be filled as well.

For the past 12 months, the HSE and Tascforsa Uibh Rathaigh have worked together in a bid to attract a GP to the area and in recent weeks met Health Minister Stephen Donnelly to discuss their concerns.

It is now hoped that the crisis in GP care in the area has been alleviated bringing much relief to the local community.

"We in the Taskforce Sub Committee are relieved that Dr Brian O'Donovan has rescinded his resignation which ensures a continuity of care both for his patient list and the two community hospitals that he also covers. Equally delighted to hear that a qualified GP has applied for the original vacancy in the town, that of Dr Kieran O'Shea. We are hopeful that that application process will be fully finalised and all terms agreed, said Cllr Norma Moriarty (FF) this week.

The local councillor said that a lot of work has taken place behind the scenes to try and find a solution to the health crisis. A non EEA doctor will also be based in the area, as part of their required training, to support the other GPs. This particularly important given the increase in population on the Iveragh peninsula with the arrival of Ukrainian refugees and also increased population during the summer months.

Cllr Moriarty said she and the Taskforce will continue to fight for adequate health cover for the area.

Further work is necessary to develop links and supports with the Waterville Practice as the need for backup and support has been identified as one of the main inhibiting factors in recruiting into rural practice, she added.

But she said thanks to the community working together there is good news for the town.

"I want to take the opportunity to thank sincerely Dr O'Donovan for his very community minded decision and also my colleagues on the Task Force, Kathleen Breathanach, Fiona De Buis, Patricia Maher and Dr Gary Stack whose work and commitment has been invaluable in reaching this point.
Mayor of Kerry Jim Finucane presents Hideki Shima Chief Manufacuting Officer Astellas with a certificate and ornament at a Civic reception held by Kerry County Council. Also pictured are Minister Norma Foley, Ambassador Norio Maruyama, Mayor of Tralee Terry O'Brien and Moira Murrell CEO of Kerry County Council. Photo by Domnick Walsh.

Astellas Pharma hosted the ground-breaking ceremony for its new 330 million, state-of-the-art facility at Kerry Technology Park, Tralee, Co. Kerry. Pictured at the sod-turning from left to right: Michael Lohan IDA CEO, Minister Simon Coveney and Hideki Shima Chief Manufacturing Officer Astellas. Photo by Domnick Walsh.

The 330m Astellas facility in Kerry is set to be operational within four years according to the company who on Monday turned the sod on the building of a state-of-the-art facility at the Kerry Technology Park.

The new facility will manufacture pharmaceutical products, including innovative antibody drugs for supply to more than 120 countries around the world from its base in Tralee, putting the town  and the county  at the centre of global trade.

At a special ceremony on Monday, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Simon Coveney said that the development presents a major vote of confidence in the southwest region.

Minister for Education Norma Foley also attended, along with IDA CEO Michael Lohan, representatives from Kerry County Council, project partners and senior Astellas executives, as well as local politicians.

During the sod-turning at the site Minister Coveney and several other political figures wore a happi jacket  a Japanese ceremonial jacket marking the breaking of ground at the new project.

The project is set to create significant employment opportunities in the area, including 600 construction jobs and 100 highly specialised roles in engineering, science, and technology when opened. Astellas already employed more than 500 people in Kerry and in Dublin and has been based in Kerry since 1990.

The building, which has been designed with sustainability at its core, will accelerate the expansion of Astellas in-house production capabilities and ensure a stable supply of high-quality medicines to patients around the world.

Today marks a significant achievement for our company and reflects our continued commitment to expansion and innovation in the region, Astellas Pharma Chief Manufacturing Officer Hideki Shima, said.

"Not only will it further the Astellas vision to be at the forefront of healthcare change by turning innovative science into value for patients, it will also be a growth opportunity for the many people who will bring this facility to life.

Minister for Education Norma Foley said the development is a gamechanger for the region.

I am very pleased to see the further development of Astellas, which represents the single biggest investment in Tralee town and the county as a whole for many years. This is a phenomenal vote of confidence by Astellas in Kerry. It is, in many respects, a game changer for the entire southwest region. I am delighted that we are now marking the ground-breaking stage of this exciting development. I wish to thank Astellas for its vision, ambition and confidence in Tralee and County Kerry and I look forward to the project developing at pace.

Minister Coveney said Astellas was a "a company driven by innovation and new thinking" and their investment in Ireland and Kerry should be celebrated.

He said the new facility will see Tralee and Kerry make a significant contribution to the pharmaceutical and life-sciences industry responsible for over 100 billion per year in exports.

Minister Coveney added that the South-West region has now 233 IDA client companies, employing just under 52,000 people.

CEO of the IDA, Michael Lohan, said the sod-turning is symbolic as it heralds a new chapter for a global pharmaceutical leader in Ireland.

"It is testament to the companys leadership and commitment to innovation, sustainability and to the south-west region. I wish to congratulate Astellas on todays ground-breaking and assure the team of IDA Irelands continued partnership and support, he added.

Astellas recently announced further investment in Kerry, taking over the lease of the Advanced Technology Building, also at Kerry Technology Park.
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.

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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.
Meath's Daragh Flanaghan has been appointed to a leading position with state agency Bord Bia as the state agency looks to strengthen its position in North America.

Bord Bia has appointed a rising county Meath marketing specialist to a plum transatlantic role as the state agency looks to expand its presence in North America.

Darragh Flanaghan, who is from Bettystown, has been appointed a drinks marketing specialist with a view to connecting Irish companies with key customers in the market while also helping support the growth of the Irish brewing and distilling industry.

The Meath natives appointment was made alongside that of Adam Hannon who also joins as a meat and foodservice market specialist for North America.

The state agency which is responsible for promoting Irish food, drink and horticulture suppliers throughout the world and in Ireland said the appointments were part of a strategy to expand services to Irish companies currently operating in the US and for those wishing to create new routes to market in North America.

Mr Flanaghans experience in the wider drinks industry is believed to have been a key catalyst behind the announcement.

Having completed the Jameson graduate programme, where he was based in Oslo, Norway with responsibility for the promotion of the Jameson Irish whiskey portfolio, more recently, Mr Flanaghan has worked for Diageo Ireland as a luxury spirits executive, responsible for improving the distribution and performance of key brands throughout Ireland.

Junior Agriculture Minister Pippa Hackett, who is in Houston, Texas, leading a Government Trade Mission to the US paid tribute to the pair upon news of their appointments.

It is great to see an expansion of Team Ireland within the US with the appointment of two experienced market specialists to Bord Bias Global Business Development team in North America, she said.

Congratulations to both Daragh and Adam on their appointments, both of whom have been instrumental to ensuring the effective delivery of this Trade Mission.

On the appointments of the new market specialists, Henry Horkan, North America Manager said: Bord Bia is delighted to welcome both Adam and Daragh to the expanding Global Business Development team.

They will act as key players for the drink, foodservice and meat sectors, playing an important role for Irish companies exporting to the US.

Last year, Irish food and drink exports to the US were valued at 1.5 billion. These appointments come at a pivotal time with Bord Bia expanding new routes to market for Irish companies.
The ongoing frustration Louth councillors have been experiencing in dealing with Uisce Eireann came to a head again this week when it emerged that alarms had sounded at the Waste Water Treatment plant at Lower Point Road across two separate weekends.

Cllr Emma Coffey said local residents had alerted her to the fact that an alarm had been sounding at the facility and that they were very concerned about it, however, any attempts she made to investigate the reason for the alarm have so far been ignored by Uisce Eireann.

The Fianna Fail representative described the water utility - formerly Irish Water  as operating like a higher state when it came to communicating with the public or elected officials.

I even raised this at Leinster House and they too are working on obtaining a response from Irish Water, Cllr Coffey said.

Fine Gael councillor, John Reilly, added that an alarm sounding at a waste water treatment plant would be a worrying development.

I would suggest it may be a warning, or an indication, that the tanks are operating at, or close to, capacity and if they fail the waste will simply spill into the [Castletown River] estuary.

Director of Services, Thomas McEvoy, said he could not comment on the particular issues raised by Cllr Coffey or Cllr Reilly, but he stated that Louth County Council had made a submission to Uisce Eireann in relation to waste water treatment capacity in Dundalk.

When contacted in relation to the issue, Uisce Eireann apologised for the disturbance to local residents, but stressed that there are no issues with system functionality at the plant.

We would like to apologise to the community for any inconvenience and disturbance caused by any alarms that went off at the Dundalk Wastewater Treatment Plant. Please be assured, we are currently investigating the complaints raised by local councillors and residents.

"Our plant operators have confirmed the fire alarm and intruder alarm which are both monitored 24/7 have an auto silence function which triggers after 15 minutes to avoid nuisance noise.

"The systems are regularly serviced and are being reviewed to ensure they are functioning correctly. It should be noted that there have been no operational issues or compliance failures at Dundalk Wastewater Treatment Plant.
10-week protest by local residents protesting over closure of hotel to accommodate international protection applicants has now ended

A protest at the Racket Hall Hotel in Roscrea, County Tipperary which had lasted for over 10 weeks has been stood down.

Protestors began camping out at Roscreas only functioning hotel on January 11 when news first broke that it would be closed in order to house international protection applicants. The hotel was a popular venue for functions such as weddings and concerts, and a major employer in the town.

Violent scuffles between some protestors and gardai made national headlines on January 15 as women and children were bussed into the accommodation under garda protection. Its understood the hotel has now reached capacity and houses up to 160 protection applicants.

Over the weekend the encampment was disbanded, with the last of the signs and trailers being removed. It marked the end of a 10-week campaign which, at times, drew huge support from residents of the area, including a major rally in January when over 2,000 people took to the streets of Roscrea.

Protesters outside Racket Hall in Roscrea.

Tipperary Fianna Fail TD Jackie Cahill said the people of Roscrea had legitimate concerns and he and Cllr Michael Smith had been working hard to ensure that the resources were in place to allow the town to cope.

We put forward a proposal to Government about buying Grants Hotel in the centre of town and that is progressing, and its going through various steps to get that up and running, said Deputy Cahill.

A Recognition Fund is also in place that could help Roscrea. Roscrea got very little allocation out of that the last time around. We will be pushing very hard so that Roscreas position has to be recognised, and funding from various organisations to allow sporting or cultural clubs  that they have extra funding in place to allow them to cope.

The scarcity of GPs in rural Ireland is not confined to Roscrea, but there should be an extra effort to secure more GP places given the extra population that has come into the town, he said.

Im glad the protest is off. We fully accept the peoples concerns and why the protest happened. But now its time to make sure that we get the resources in place to allow Roscrea to not be disadvantaged by having these extra number of people in their community, and they can integrate into the community going forward.

Deputy Cahill said the whole immigration policy needs an overhaul. Ireland is a welcoming country but there must be full transparency around the vetting process, he said.

Around my constituency here, you go into various premises, whether its hospitality, a work site, hospitals  we see a huge amount of foreign nationals contributing to society. Thats the place we want to get to. The vast majority of Irish people who see people making an effort and contributing to society, would welcome them with open arms, said Deputy Cahill.

The fact that this was the only hotel in Roscrea, even though its a small bit outside the town, did greatly heighten the tension about it being used as an asylum centre. There is no denying that.

When Minister OGorman told me that this was going to be used, I pointed that out straight away. I was informed post the decision, and I was just informed as a matter of courtesy. So I had no role whatsoever in making the decision.

It was obviously a huge issue for the people of Roscrea that I was talking to. Where are we going now for First Communion? Or after a Funeral. It was taking the only the function room nearby out of the equation. That was definitely a huge point of contention.

And we have seen that in other towns as well, when a hotel which might be the only hotel in a rural provincial town, being used  it really annoys the community and they feel they are being put at a serious disadvantage, added Deputy Cahill.

One of the organisers, Maria Phelan, released a statement, saying they were so proud of what we achieved in those 10 weeks. We have got so much support from near and far.

The closure of our hotel was and still is a huge disappointment for our town, but our protest was much bigger than that. I want to thank every person who supported us from that day, to those who sent fuel, food, teas, and coffees.

The people who stopped in on a regular basis when passing to show your support and stood in solidarity with us  we appreciate every last one of you. To the friendships that were made they will last a life time.

To the 2,500 to 3000 people who walked the streets of Roscrea with us in support of what we believe in. We were never so proud to be Roscrea people that day and every day since that.

A protest in Roscrea, Co Tipperary. Photo: RollingNews.ie

Roscrea is no different than any other town or village in Ireland who are fighting the same cause as us, as we are all aware there are so many protests happening all over our country.

We feel that as Irish people we need to take a stance against this government. We need to get our country back into the power of those who genuinely care for the people just like those men and women of 1916.

We need to thank Shane Lee for standing with us for the last 10 weeks. To Mattie McGrath and Carol Nolan for constantly bringing this issue up in the Dail we will be forever grateful. We are not going away, we will be keeping a close eye on whats happening in our town and we'll pop up again if needs be.

On a final note we have stood down from Racket Hall so to everyone who stood shoulder to shoulder for the greater good of our town, stand tall because we did ourselves, our town and our country proud.

This government should hang their heads in shame, added Ms Phelan.
Jackie Hayden and author Sadie Harpur, who will host a talk about the experience of writing her new book 'The Hidden World of a Foster-Girl at Arklow Library on Tuesday, April 2. Photo: Jim Campbell

Fresh off the publication of her first book The Hidden World of a Foster-Girl, Gorey resident Sadie Harpur will host a talk about her life-changing experience at Arklow Library on Tuesday, April 2.

Beginning at 7 p.m., extracts from Harpurs book will be read by Jacinta Hayes, whose reading at the recent launch of the book in Gorey Library attracted much praise.

They will be joined by Jackie Hayden, who co-authored her book, as Sadie suffers from dyslexia. Hayden previously topped the book charts with two editions of My Boy about the late rock star Philip Lynott.

The Hidden World of a Foster-Girl details how one Irish woman survived the Irish Foster Care system before becoming an inspiration for others who suffered as she did.

Born and raised in Dublin, Sadie went through turbulent periods of high anxiety.

Suffering from learning difficulties resulting from her undiagnosed dyslexia, she was described as mentally below average, and suffered bouts of depression, suicidal thoughts and was repeatedly bullied.

She endured serious teenage problems, including self-harming, violent outbursts, zero self-esteem, and the eventual suicide of her foster brother Gary.

Writing The Hidden World of a Foster-Girl was hugely therapeutic, Sadie commented.

It helped me look deep into my past and unlock thoughts and experiences I had hidden away in dark places. But with the help of my loving family and great friends, my story is out there, so I hope others might take comfort from the fact that I survived.

Since its release, The Hidden World Of A Foster Girl has received broad acclaim, with Niamh Browne of Hot Press saying: The Hidden World Of A Foster Girl is a gut-wrenching read, pulling at every heart string. Hugely powerful, its a memoir about the anxieties of growing up in foster care in Ireland.

Grace OReilly on writing.ie commented: Sadie is an inspiration to many, and I sincerely hope that she is proud of both how far she has come in her life and of her writing her true-life story in this book to help others both now and in the future overall my heart ached for her.

The Irish Foster Care Association have described her book as inspirational, and she has also recorded podcasts about her book for the IFCA.

The Hidden World of a Foster-Girl by Sadie Harpur is available from most bookshops for 15 and will be on sale at the Arklow Library event.
New Ross and Gorey butchers win praise for entries

The annual Easter Lamb Display Challenge, hosted by the Irish Butchers Guild, once again showcased the finest in butchering craftsmanship, ingenuity and innovation, showcasing an array of creative lamb products.

New Ross butchers, Butchers Best, were awarded a five star award and Gorey based Furlongs Butchers were awarded a four star award for their outstanding lamb display in this years competition. Judges noted the impressive presentation, range and quality of products displayed, and inventive approach.

Expressing his delight, Tomas Kinsella from Butchers Best acknowledged the excellence of local lamb and its remarkable versatility. In addition, Paul Furlong acknowledged the skill and craftmanship of his team in this years effort.

Contenders from across Ireland vied for the coveted Champions Crown, with Davidsons Craft Butchers from Montenotte in Cork emerging victorious. Their exceptional display, featuring a diverse range of creative products and expert presentation, distinguished them from the other talented participants.

The event showcased an impressive variety of lamb-based creations such as Lamb Stuffed Peppers with Mint, French Dressed Guard of Honour, Moroccan Lamb Pastry, Italian & Herb Meatballs, Lamb Onion Bhajis, Mint Lamb Twist, Tandoori Lamb Shoulder, Spinach & Feta Cheese Meatballs, Lamb Cushions, Lamb Koftas, Tuscan Style Belly of Lamb, Shepherds Pie Lamb Truffles to name a few - testament to the commitment to innovation prevalent among Guild members. Entries were evaluated on product range and quality, visual appeal, creativity, innovation, and craftmanship.

Choosing locally-sourced lamb offers exceptional flavour and the assurance of local provenance and ease of cooking. As Easter approaches, the Irish Butchers Guild encourages everyone to support local farmers and choose locally-sourced lamb for their celebrations.

Members of the Irish Butchers Guild share a deep commitment to upholding their craft, to the quality and provenance of their products and to the pursuit of excellence in their businesses.
United Nations, Mar 26 (UNI) Western countries are afraid to expose NATO's real history to the world and therefore objected to a UN Security Council meeting on their bombings of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo war, Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia said on Monday.



Nebenzia made the remarks after several delegations, including France, objected to Russia's request to hold a Security Council meeting on NATO's bombing campaign during the Kosovo war.



Despite the so-called reasons that we'll hear from Alliance members today, the main reason [for objecting to the meeting] is the unwillingness to admit one of the biggest mistakes in NATO history: the fear of being exposed in front of the world community by aggressive and invasive states trying to build a colonial system across the entire world. We have already seen many examples of it not only in Yugoslavia but in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Libya, and finally Ukraine, Nebenzia said.



The Russian Mission to the UN requested the Security Council meeting to mark the 25th anniversary of the aerial bombing campaign carried out by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War in 1999.



However, several UN states raised objections to the meeting, saying it was not relevant under the UN Security Council agenda category of "threats to international peace and security." Later on, Japan, which holds the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council this month, cancelled the meeting, saying it would discuss the matter with the Council members and inform them accordingly.



UNI/SPUTNIK XC ARN
Wicklow TD Jennifer Whitmore has called on the Government to provide an update on the development of the 300m Greystones Media campus, following concerns locally that plans for what would become Irelands largest film and TV studio complex has all but stalled.

Deputy Whitmore raised the issue in the Dail on Wednesday, when she asked the Taoiseach for an update on the project during Questions on Promised Legislation. She was told that an update in writing from the Minister for Finance would be forthcoming.
Dream of holiday for Miracle Man Maurice Kavanagh after lifetime of illness

Maurice Kavanagh and his partner Aoife Collins are hoping to fulfil his wish of a dream holiday.

To say 53-year-old Maurice Kavanagh has been given the short end of the stick health-wise is an understatement.

Diagnosed with cancer when he was just 12 years old, after two years of chemo and radiotherapy, he was cancer free, but the scene was set for a lifetime of medical complications.

In the past 40 years, Maurice has undergone a complete heart transplant, two hip replacements, a kidney transplant, a leg amputation, and a bleed on the brain.

And now just last week, the Wicklow native was diagnosed with untreatable bladder cancer; so he and his partner Aoife Collins are trying to raise funds for a much longed-for break for them both, as they dont know how much time they have left together.

Unfortunately, at the moment, theres nothing they can do for the cancer because my immune system is not able for any treatment, explains Maurice, who worked as a chef for over 25 years. The doctors have told me theres nothing they can do, so all I can do is get on with life, and to get away with Aoife for more than a few days would be a dream come true.

Maurice is one of the country's oldest surviving heart recipients and after kidney transplant, requires dialysis three times a week for four hours at a time.

So every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday he needs to be in the local dialysis unit for his survival, meaning being away from home longer than three days is not an option.

It used to be possible to organise dialysis for holidays at home and abroad through the amazing Irish Kidney Association but ever since COVID this hasnt been possible, explains Aoife, who was herself battling cancer when she met Maurice in 2016.

As a result, we have never been away together for more than three nights, and then, never far. Every trip is bookended by dialysis so mentally and physically there is no escape.

Aoife once owned a successful cake business in Drogheda and is also a talented glass designer, but her time is now taken up as Maurices full-time carer.

We have so much uncertainty in the future and really don't know how much time we have left, so I am trying to raise 10,000 for Maurice to experience a proper holiday while he is still well enough to enjoy it, she explains. Dialysis and wheelchair accessibility are huge stumbling blocks, so we are hoping to go on a cruise, as dialysis can be scheduled into it and accessibility issues (like steps, hills, narrow doors etc) can be avoided.

So Maurice can let his beard down, enjoy some sights, sunshine and a genuine proper break away from focusing on all medical things for a handful of precious days.

Extra costs are incurred as Maurice and Aoife would have to bring medical staff along too, and insurance is hefty for trips like this.

Doing dialysis on a ship adds thousands to the cost and we realise it is a lot to ask for people to help fund this, but Maurice has always kept such a positive attitude not matter what life has thrown at him, and Id love him to have something to look forward to, says Aoife.

Maurice doesnt really mind where they go, but he says he would love somewhere warmer than Ireland!

Id love to feel a bit of heat on my bones, not too hot, but you get really cold doing the dialysis, so it would be lovely to have a bit of sunshine, he says with a smile. We only started the page a few days ago, but I have to say I am totally blown away at the generosity already of the people of Drogheda; many dont know me from Adam but are giving their money to make my wish come true.

The couples positivity and resilience are truly remarkable, and Maurice says he does his best with everything he has had to face.

I don't want to start crying; I've been crying long enough, and I don't want to go down that road, because if I start, I wont stop, says Maurice.

Serious illness just changes the way you look at life, it changes your perspective, but theres nothing more I can do but get on with it, as Ive been doing all my life.

If you would like to make a donation to Maurice and Aoifes fundraiser click here.
The chief executive of GB News has said the broadcaster would love a wide range of voices across the political spectrum on its channel but is yet to find someone to say yes.

Angelos Frangopoulos also denied the news channel has an issue with diversity among its on-screen talent, despite only one presenter being non-white.

Appearing in front of the House of Lords communications and digital committee hearing on Tuesday, Mr Frangopoulos discussed the future of news in relation to impartiality and trust.

Questioned on the lack of political diversity amongst GB News presenters, Mr Frangopoulos said: This is not by design, we would love to have a wide range of MPs on our channel in the same way that stations like LBC do, etc.

Weve had discussions with political parties, some say well, were not encouraging our MPs to take second jobs.

Its an ongoing conversation but its purely because weve yet to find someone to say yes.

He explained that among the channels roster of more than 30 presenters there are three serving politicians.

Among the line-up is Reform Party leader Richard Tice; former Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson, who has recently defected to Reform UK; and Conservative MP Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg.

Former Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, former Conservative MP Michael Portillo and former Labour MP Gloria De Piero are also among its on-screen presenters.

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Asked whether he feels his newsroom is an inclusive representation of Britain as only one presenter in its line-up is non-white, Mr Frangopoulos said: I welcome you to our newsroom to walk around and see just how diverse our newsroom is.

It is a melting pot of the United Kingdom and they even have migrants like me here so it is a melting pot.

The GB News boss also discussed how he feels the role of GB News is to offer plurality and choice that is aimed at mainstream Britain.

Our journalism isnt for other journalists, its about serving communities, he added.

Since launching in 2021, GB News has faced more than 50 inquires from Ofcom, the media watchdog which ensures broadcasters adhere to its code of conduct on areas including impartiality.

Discussing the concerns raised about GB News approach on maintaining impartiality, he said: In terms of freedom of speech, that is something that we believe is absolutely paramount so individuals do have a freedom of speech right.

That doesnt mean that we have got the freedom to say anything. There is the law and we also have an editorial charter, which is our guiding pathway.

Where weve got things wrong and people have got things wrong on our screen, weve got processes and procedures which were put in place and weve taken a relevant action and we are really confident about our compliance moving forward.

Earlier this month, TV presenter Dan Wootton left GB News after Ofcom found comments made on his show by Laurence Fox about a female journalist broke broadcasting rules.
Kim Kardashian, Blake Lively among celebrities also joked about mystery absence of royal

Comedian Stephen Colbert has acknowledged that any cancer diagnosis is harrowing for the patient and their family

American talk show host Stephen Colbert has expressed regret after joking about the whereabouts of Kate Middleton, insisting that he does not make light of somebody elses tragedy.

Colbert (59), one of Americas most prominent comedians, stopped short of a full apology after propagating scurrilous rumours about the Princess a few weeks before she announced she was being treated for cancer.

But he told viewers on Monday night: I do not make light of somebody elses tragedy. I dont know whether her prognosis is a tragic one, shes the future Queen of England and I assume shes going to get the best possible medical care.

Comedian Stephen Colbert has acknowledged that any cancer diagnosis is harrowing for the patient and their family

But regardless of what it is, I know and Im sure far too many of us know, that any cancer diagnosis of any kind is harrowing for the patient and for their family.

He added: And though Im sure they dont need it from me, I and everyone here at The Late Show would like to extend our well wishes and heartfelt hope that her recovery is swift and thorough.

Last week, the princess released a personal video message revealing that following her abdominal surgery in January, post-operative tests found that cancer had been present.

She said that she was now in the early stages of a preventative chemotherapy treatment.

It followed months of increasing scrutiny for the princess as internet sleuths propagated conspiracy theories online during her absence from public life.

Kim Kardashian joined in the online jokes about Kate Middleton.

The social media storm around her whereabouts, condition and domestic life had reached a fever pitch following her release of a Mothers Day picture of herself and her three young children  and her subsequent apology for editing it.

Colbert was one of the US late show hosts who had weighed in on the issue during this time, saying on March 13 that the kingdom has been all a flutter by the seeming disappearance of Kate Middleton and sharing one of the social media theories.

A few US celebrities even weighed in with jokes amid the surge in online speculation, including Kim Kardashian, who published a series of photos to her 364 million followers on Instagram with the caption: On my way to find Kate.

This doctored image issued by the Palace stoked speculation about Kate Middleton's health.

The actress Blake Lively made a photoshop jibe at the princess following the picture controversy, but has since deleted the post and apologised for the silly joke, saying: 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.

On Saturday, the Hollywood star Jamie Lee Curtis called for people to stop peddling conspiracy theories about the Princess, saying: Can we please just STOP with this bull---t conspiracy theory? This is a human being with young children, and clearly some sort of 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.
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.
Israeli PM hits out over White House failure to veto the move, branding it a clear retreat

Members of Palestinian Abu Ghouta family eat their iftar meal as they break their fast near the rubble of their destroyed house during the holy month of Ramadan, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, March 21, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

I welcome the resolution finally adopted by the UN Security Council and reiterate Ireland's call for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages and a political process to deliver a two state solution. The humanitarian catastrophe has to end, the newly-elected leader of Fine Gael wrote on X on Tuesday morning.
Traffic snarled across Baltimore on Tuesday after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge forced vehicles to divert to other congested harbour crossings, raising the spectre of nightmarish commutes for residents for months or even years to come.





Drivers traveling north or south between major eastern U.S. cities such as New York and Washington were left with just two ways to cross Baltimore's harbour after a container ship smashed into the bridge early Tuesday morning, crumpling most of it into the water and opening a gap in the city's beltway.





Both alternate routes are tunnels closer to Baltimore's busy downtown, where a flood of diverted cars and trucks exacerbated already clogged roadways on Tuesday, according to local radio reports and residents. About 35,000 vehicles used to cross the Key Bridge daily, according to Maryland state authorities.





"This is a big mess, a total traffic meltdown," said Dex Dunbar, 29, who lives just across the now-submerged bridge from his mother, in a phone interview.





Visiting his mother, who often babysits his 3-year-old son, is normally a 10-minute drive but it took Dunbar almost an hour on Tuesday, he said. The alternate routes across the harbor will also add as much as an hour to Dunbar's work commute to the state comptroller's office in Annapolis, Maryland's capital.





"I know there are bigger problems in the world, but we might have to live with this for many months, maybe a year, who knows," Dunbar said.





The Baltimore County Police Department on Tuesday reassigned officers to traffic duty, re-routing commuters and trying to ease the congestion, in addition to dispatching a marine unit and a dive team to assist in the rescue and recover efforts, according to a spokesperson.





Trucks carrying hazardous materials, as well as those taller than 14.5 feet (4.42 meters) or wider than 11 feet (3.35 meters), cannot pass through either of the two tunnels traversing Baltimore's harbor and were directed by the Maryland Transportation Authority to take a lengthy detour around the city's western outer loop.





Maryland Department of Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld told a press conference that additional resources would be deployed to help ease the congestion, but did not share specific details.





On social media, commuters vented their fears about how the loss of the Key Bridge would exacerbate traffic in a city already known for long commutes.





"Traffic between Baltimore and northern VA already a nightmare and now it's gonna be worse?!??!?" wrote a user on X.





The disaster had ripple effects beyond snarling traffic and alarming commuters. Two days before their opening game in the new baseball season, the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday canceled their open workout at the team's Camden Yards downtown stadium, citing "today's tragedy" in a post on X.





Rich McKay - Reuters




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
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Anand (Gujarat): Amul, the largest dairy cooperative in the world, has entered into a partnership with a 108-year-old dairy association to introduce its fresh, branded milk in the United States, media reports said.

The Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) has collaborated with the Michigan Milk Producers Association (MMPA), a cooperative organisation established in 1916, to debut its fresh milk in America through a joint effort, reported Moneycontrol.

MMPA will handle milk collection and processing according to Amul's recipe, while Amul will oversee marketing and branding.

Jayen Mehta, GCMMF's Managing Director, said in an exclusive discussion with Moneycontrol that Amul's fresh milk will be priced at a premium.

The cooperative aims to broaden its footprint in America by offering a wider range of products, including butter, cheese, and buttermilk.

Initially, the launch will focus on fluid milk brands such as Amul Taaza, Amul Gold, Amul Shakti, and Amul Slim n Trim.

These Amul-branded fluid milk products will be accessible in New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Washington, Texas, Dallas, and select other regions.

So far, Amul has primarily exported milk and milk products to the USA, along with 50 other countries.

However, with this new deal, Amul is foraying into selling fresh milk to US consumers for the first time, a significant move considering the substantial Indian and Asian diaspora residing in the country.

This is the first time that Amul fresh milk is being launched anywhere outside India. It is our great pleasure to bring the taste of India to the world, in alignment with the vision of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make Amul a global dairy brand, Mehta was quoted as saying by Moneycontrol.
Photo courtesy: UNI

Congress leader Supriya Shrinate's Instagram post on actress-turned-politician Kangana Ranaut has sparked a massive row just weeks ahead of the beginning of the Lok Sabha elections.

Shrinate posted a picture of Kangana with a caption which triggered a massive row.

Hitting back at the Congress spokesperson, Kangana, who has secured a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket from Himachal Pradesh's Mandi, posted a screenshot of the post on her X handle.

In the X post, Kangana called out Shrinate and highlighted how she portrayed all kinds of women on screen in a career spanning 20 years.

She wrote, "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.

"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"

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

In another post, Kangana wrote, "If a young man gets ticket his ideology is attacked if a young woman gets ticket her sexuality is attacked. Strange !!

"Also congress people are sexualising a small towns name. Mandi is being used in sexual context every where, just because it has a young woman candidate, shame on congress people for displaying sexist tendencies."

If a young man gets ticket his ideology is attacked if a young woman gets ticket her sexuality is attacked.

Strange !!

Also congress people are sexualising a small towns name.

Mandi is being used in sexual context every where, just because it has a young woman candidate, shame pic.twitter.com/BIn2XfWXjz  Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) March 25, 2024

Facing flak, Shrinate posted a video message claiming someone had posted from her Instagram profile without her knowledge.

She wrote on X, "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.

"It has come to my knowledge that this post was earlier running on a parody account (@Supriyaparody). Someone picked up this post from here and posted it on my account. I am trying to identify the person who did this. Also, the parody account created by misusing my name has also been reported in X."

           .              .



          .     ,                 pic.twitter.com/CFDNXuxmo2  Supriya Shrinate (@SupriyaShrinate) March 25, 2024

NCW demands action

National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Rekha Sharma has sent a letter to the Election Commission of India (ECI) "demanding an immediate and strict action".

NCW posted on X, "National Commission for Women is appalled by the disgraceful conduct of Ms. Supriya Shrinate and Mr. H.S. Ahir, who made lewd and derogatory remarks about @KanganaTeam on social media.

"Such behavior is intolerable and goes against the dignity of women. @sharmarekha 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. #RespectWomen."
Photo courtesy: Facebook/Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi/UNI: The Delhi government said on Tuesday that the public services, social welfare schemes, and subsidies in the national capital are not affected by the arrest of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

"People should not be misled by any fear-mongering and malicious disinformation in this regard," Secretary of the Planning Department Niharika Rai said in a press note.

"All public services, social welfare schemes, and subsidies currently given by the government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi will continue uninterrupted. People should not be misled by any fear-mongering or malicious disinformation in this regard," she said.

She further appealed to the people of Delhi to stay away from any rumour mongers, who would try to take advantage of the situation arising from the arrest of the Chief Minister of Delhi by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21.

"It has been brought to the notice that speculations and rumours are being spread by notorious elements with vested interests in Delhi that with the arrest of the Chief Minister of GNCTD by the Enforcement Directorate on March 21, welfare schemes and subsidies given by the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi will be stopped," the press note read.

Even as the law takes its own course in the process of criminal investigation, it merits clarification that the administration of schemes and governance are never specific to individuals and shall continue in the normal course, as in the past.

Such rumours create an atmosphere of fear within the general public, therefore, it is necessary to inform the public that there shall be no disruption of any kind in the disbursement of admissible subsidies, pensions, welfare benefits, etc, Rai said in a statement.

"Social welfare schemes are funded with public money through the consolidated fund, backed by budgetary allocations. Social welfare funds are neither the personal property of any individual or political entity nor funded by an individual or entity's personal money," she said.

"There is an architecture of civil services and processes laid down in the National Capital Territory of Delhi, which continues as usual. Hence, these public services, social welfare schemes, and subsidies are not at all affected by the arrest of the Chief Minister," she added.
Holi celebration in Washington DC. Photo Courtesy: Indian Embassy in the USA X page

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has wished the Hindu community in his country and across the globe as they celebrated the festival of colours Holi on Monday.

In his X post, Blinken wrote: "Wishing a joyful Holi to those celebrating in the United States and across the world. May the Festival of Colors bring you happiness and friendship this season."

Holi celebration was observed in the US capital Washington DC.

The Indian Embassy in the country shared several videos of the event and added 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!"

US envoy to India Eric Garcetti earlier wished people in India on Holi and wrote: " #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 colors. #CelebrateWithUS."

Holi was celebrated across India and across the globe on Monday with revellers engaging themselves in smearing colours and spending time with their friends and family members.
Photo Courtesy: UNI

Police on Tuesday arrested an alleged extortionist and recovered two toy pistols from his possession in Jammu Kashmirs Pulwama district.

Police said that it received information through reliable sources that some persons in the jurisdiction of Rajpora Pulwama were extorting money from the general public by deceitful means through criminal intimidation.

"During the investigation one person identified as Andleeb Ahmad Mir a resident of Rajpora was arrested and two toy Pistols used for the crime have been recovered from his possession," police said.

A case under relevant sections of the law has been registered and an investigation set into motion.

Further investigation of the case is going on, police said.

Police also appealed to the general public to be aware that such miscreants who are using unjust terror to do extortions and create a panic atmosphere should be immediately identified and informed to police.

(With UNI inputs)
Photo Courtesy: India In Israel X page video grab

The Indian diaspora and Israeli nationals joined to celebrate Holi, the Hindu festival of colours, and the Jewish festival of Purim on Monday.

The Indian Embassy in Israel shared several videos of the celebration on X page.

Sharing the visuals, the embassy posted on X: " Holi celebrations in Israel !" "Indians and Israelis celebrated the festivals of #Holi and #Purim in the Flea Market of Jaffa," the post said.

The Hindu community across the globe celebrate Holi on Monday.
Photo Courtesy: S Jaishankar X page

Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar recently visited Singapore when he met top leaders of the country and exchanged views on deepening engagement in the identified pillars of cooperation including fintech, digitalization, green economy, skills development and food security.

During his visit, Jaishankar met Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of Singapore and Lawrence Wong, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister.

He also met Teo Chee Hean, Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security, during his two-day visit to Singapore from March 24 to 25.

"EAM held comprehensive discussions with H.E. Mr. Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister of Foreign Affairs on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest," read a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs.

EAM also had a 'productive' meeting with Gan Kim Yong, Minister of Trade & Industry, focused on bilateral co-operation in Trade and Investment, green energy and food security.

He also met K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law to exchange views on strengthening our bilateral partnership.

Jaishankar paid homage to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at the INA marker in Singapore.

He met members of the Indian community and interacted with them. He also witnessed a short video on the Saga of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, created by Indian Community members.

He also attended an event organised by the ISAS (Institute of South Asian Studies), where he interacted with thinktanks and policy makers.

"The visit presented an opportunity to further deepen the Strategic Partnership between India and Singapore and to take stock of progress in several areas of cooperation. Singapore is also the current country coordinator for India at ASEAN and was invited as a Guest Country during Indias Presidency of the G20 in 2023," read a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs.
Image Instagrammed by Priyanka Chopra

Global star Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas celebrated their first Holi in India with their daughter Malti Marie on Monday.

After videos of the festivities splashed on social media, Priyanka Tuesday shared a bunch of happy photos and videos from their Holi celebration in Noida.

Her caption read, "Holi was lit. Thank you @tam2cul @sudeepdutt for creating such a warm atmosphere for our family! So much fun."

Priyanka, Nick and Malti wore white ethnic costumes for the Holi party. Little Malti also wore matching white Crocs.

All three posed with Priyanka's close friend Tamanna Dutt and her family in one of the pictures.

The global star also posted candid videos of Nick from the bash. She sat on his lap as they listened to live music in one clip.

Priyanka's cousin Mannara Chopra as well as mother Madhu Chopra featured in the photos.

The actor is currently visiting India with her daughter and husband Nick. For Malti, this is the first visit to India.

Earlier she visited the Ram Temple in Ayodhya with her husband and daughter.
Photo Courtesy: Unsplash

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said that France has a very efficient intelligence system that allows law enforcement agencies to prevent terrorist attacks in the country almost every month.

"Fortunately, we have an extremely efficient intelligence system. We prevent terrorist attacks almost every month," Darmanin told reporters on Monday.

He added that some of the terrorist attacks prevented in France were prepared by the Islamic State terrorist group (IS or ISIS, banned in Russia), in particular at the end of 2022 in Strasbourg.

The United States has blamed a branch of ISIS, known as ISIS-Khorasan (banned in Russia as a terrorist), for the Crocus City Hall attack.

Meanwhile, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has said that the four main suspects in the terrorist attack had contacts in Ukraine and were planning to cross the Russian-Ukrainian border when they were detained in Russia's Bryansk Region.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has also said that all four were heading for Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a "window" was prepared for them to cross the border.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that the Russian authorities had not commented on information about the possible involvement of the ISIS group in the terrorist attack, as the investigation was still underway and no official scenario had been put forward.

A shooting occurred last Friday 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 a number of gunmen in camouflage broke into the music hall, shooting people point-blank and throwing incendiary bombs.

The Russian Investigative Committee said that at least 139 people were killed as a result of the terrorist attack.

Eleven people were detained in connection with the events, including four believed to be directly involved in the terrorist attack, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said.

The four main suspects in the case were detained in the Russian region of Bryansk, which borders Belarus and Ukraine, the FSB added.

They were charged with terrorism and ordered to be held in pretrial custody until May 22, Moscow's Basmanny District Court said. All of them are from Tajikistan and could face a life sentence in prison.

The Moscow-area concert hall terrorist attack is the deadliest in Russia in nearly 20 years.

(With UNI inputs)
Photo Courtesy: UN Photo/Mark Garten

Top UN officials, including the Secretary-General and the President of the General Assembly on Monday paid tribute to the millions of men, women and children who suffered as a result of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, one of most devastating chapters in human history.

Addressing a commemorative meeting to mark the International Day of Remembrance of The Victims of Slavery and The Transatlantic Slave Trade, Assembly President Dennis Francis highlighted the harrowing journeys endured by millions during the so-called Middle Passage, emphasizing the stripping of their identities and dignity.

It is inconceivable that the enslaved were cruelly regarded as mere commodities for sale and exploitation, he said.

Together with their children born into slavery, perpetuating the vicious cycle of bondage and suffering  enduring untold horrors at the hands of their oppressors, he added.

Pursuance of justice

Assembly President Francis paid tribute to revolutionary figures such as Samuel Sharpe, Sojourner Truth, and Gaspar Yanga, who bravely fought for freedom, paving the way for abolitionist movements and inspiring generations to challenge injustice.

He emphasized the ongoing impact of slaverys legacy, calling for accountability and reparations as essential components of pursuing true justice, stressing the urgent need to address systemic racism and discrimination faced by people of African descent, both historically and in contemporary society.

It is incumbent upon States, institutions, and individuals to acknowledge their roles in perpetuating these legacies of injustice  and to take meaningful steps towards reparatory justice, he said.

Echoes continue today

Also on Monday, Courtenay Rattray, Chef de Cabinet of the Secretary-General, delivered a message on behalf of the UN chief, further amplifying the call for remembrance and justice.

Reading the Secretary-Generals message, Mr. Rattray echoed the sentiments of honouring the millions who suffered under the brutal regime of slavery.

For four hundred years, enslaved Africans fought for their freedom, while colonial powers and others committed horrific crimes against them, he said.

Many of those who organized and ran the Transatlantic slave trade amassed huge fortunes, he continued, noting that the enslaved were deprived of education, healthcare, opportunity, and prosperity.

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This laid the foundations for a violent discrimination system based on white supremacy that still echoes today.

Mr. Rattray underscored the need for reparatory justice frameworks to help overcome generations of exclusion and discrimination, urging united effort towards a world free from racism, discrimination, bigotry and hate.

Together, as we remember the victims of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, lets unite for human rights, dignity and opportunity for all.

Carrying on legacy to end racism

Also addressing the General Assembly, 15-year-old activist Yolanda Renee King of the United States said she was at the UN to be a changemaker.

I stand before you today as a proud descendent of enslaved people who resisted slavery and racism, she said.

Like my grandparents, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, my parents, Martin Luther King III and Arndrea Waters King, have also dedicated their lives to putting an end to racism and all forms of bigotry and discrimination. Like them, I am committed to the fight against racial injustice and to carrying on the legacy of my grandparents.

We shall overcome

Calling on young people to lead the way to a better world, she said we must connect via the internet and organize across national boundaries around the world.

This will open up new possibilities for global campaigns to advance human rights and social justice for all nations, she added.

Lets today affirm the bonds on interdependence that unite freedom and justice loving people everywhere, she said. All the young people in the world should embrace the future with hope, optimism and radiant assurance that we shall overcome, as sisters and brothers of all races, religions and nations.
Photo Courtesy: Pixabay

Pakistani security forces have claimed they have foiled an armed terrorist attack at a naval base in Turbat on Monday, media reports said.

Makran Commissioner Saeed Ahmed Umrani told Dawn heavy exchange of fire and explosions were reported from the vicinity of Turbat airport.

The armed men attacked from three sides of the airport boundary, but security forces responded immediately and foiled their attempt to infiltrate the premises, he said over the phone from Turbat.

The exact figure of casualty is still not known.

PNS Siddique, a major naval air stations in the country, was reportedly the target of the attack.

Six terrorists have been killed outside of the Turbat airport boundary, ensuring the safety of the base, security officials told Dawn News on Monday night, adding that a special operation wing of FC and the navys special services group successfully isolated the terrorists.

No loss of sensitive naval installations reported, they said.

The banned Balochistan Liberation Army claimed that its Majeed Brigade was behind the attack.
Photo Courtesy: Pixabay

Security officials of Pakistan's Korangi region killed two suspected robbers in an alleged encounter on Sunday.

Relatives of one of the suspected robbers, however, staged a protest demonstration in Quaidabad and alleged that the police shot 17-year-old Arbaz seven times from a very close range in a staged encounter.

The police told Dawn News that the encounter took place between the police and the bandits at 4-Star Ground in Sector-50.

After an exchange of gunfire, two suspects  later identified as Sameer and Arbaz  were gunned down.

Police claimed they have recovered two pistols, mobile phones and a motorcycle from their custody.

Korangi SSP Hassan Sardar told Dawn News that the both the suspects were fleeing after looting a citizen at Ghaus Pak Road when a head constable of the Zaman Town police station challenged them.
Photo Courtesy: Saleem Iqbal Qadri X page video grab

At least six Chinese nationals and a Pakistani were killed after their convoy was attacked in Bisham region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwas Shangla region on Tuesday.

Malakand's deputy inspector general of police (DIG) told Geo News a suicide bomber crashed his vehicle full of explosives into the car in which the Chinese nationals were travelling.

He said the driver of the vehicle was Pakistani and he was injured in the incident.

The driver later died.

The Chinese nationals were engineers who were going to Dasu camp, Kohistan from Islamabad, Pakistani officials told Geo News.

Security personnel later reached the spot and cordoned off the area.

Search operation are currently ongoing to detect those behind the attack.

In his X post, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari strongly condemned the attack on Chinese residents in Bisham.
Photo Courtesy: Unsplash

Islamabad residents, including the traders community, have threatened to stage a protest and contest the decision in court after the local administration made an exorbitant increase in property taxes.

The Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) recently got the new property taxes published in the gazette of Pakistan, reported Dawn News.

Traders have decided to meet on Wednesday to chalk out a strategy to contest this massive 300pc increase in property tax, All Pakistan Anjuman-i-Tajiran President Ajmal Baloch told Dawn News.

He said this exorbitant increase was not acceptable to traders as well as the residents of the capital.

Baloch said this increase was unprecedented and also a violation of court orders. He said some years ago, the MCI had increased tax rates, but the chamber of commerce filed a petition with the Islamabad High Court, which decided that the interim setup of the MCI could not impose taxes and such policy decisions should be taken by elected representatives of the local government.
Photo Courtesy: Pixabay

The US Department of the Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology Company, Limited (Wuhan XRZ), a Wuhan, China-based Ministry of State Security (MSS) front company that has served as cover for multiple malicious cyber operations.

OFAC is also designating Zhao Guangzong and Ni Gaobin, two Chinese nationals affiliated with Wuhan XRZ, for their roles in malicious cyber operations targeting U.S. entities that operate within U.S. critical infrastructure sectors, directly endangering U.S. national security.

This action is part of a collaborative effort with the U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Department of State, and the United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). Peoples Republic of China (PRC) state-sponsored malicious cyber actors continue to be one of the greatest and most persistent threats to U.S. national security, as highlighted in the most recent Office of the Director of National Intelligence Annual Threat Assessment.

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, said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson.

Through our whole-of-government approach and in close coordination with our British partners, Treasury will continue to leverage our tools to expose these networks and protect against these threats.Today, the Department of Justice unsealed indictments of Zhao Guangzong, Ni Gaobin, and five other defendants; and the U.S. Department of State announced a Rewards for Justice offer for information on these individuals, their organisation, or any associated individuals or entities; and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office implemented matching sanctions.

Chinese malicious cyber groupAn Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) is a sophisticated cyber actor or group with the capability to conduct advanced and sustained malicious cyber activity, often with the goal of maintaining ongoing access to a victims network.

Information security researchers will categorise and name certain APTs based on observed patterns such as the location of the perpetrators, the types of victims targeted, and the techniques used in the malicious cyber activity.

APT 31 is a collection of Chinese state-sponsored intelligence officers, contract hackers, and support staff that conduct malicious cyber operations on behalf of the Hubei State Security Department (HSSD).

APT 31 has targeted a wide range of high-ranking U.S. government officials and their advisors integral to U.S. national security including staff at the White House; the Departments of Justice, Commerce, the Treasury, and State; 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.

APT 31 has targeted victims in some of Americas most vital critical infrastructure sectors, including the Defence Industrial Base, information technology, and energy sectors.

APT 31 actors have gained unauthorised access to multiple Defence Industrial Base victims, including a defence contractor that manufactured flight simulators for the U.S. military, a Tennessee-based aerospace and defence contractor, and an Alabama-based aerospace and defence research corporation.

Additionally, APT 31 actors gained unauthorised access to a Texas-based energy company, as well as a California-based managed service provider. In 2010, the HSSD established Wuhan XRZ as a front company to carry out cyber operations.

This malicious cyber activity resulted in the surveillance of U.S. and foreign politicians, foreign policy experts, academics, journalists, and pro-democracy activists, as well as persons and companies operating in areas of national importance.

In 2018, employees of Wuhan XRZ conducted an APT 31 malicious cyber operation on a Texas-based energy company, gaining unauthorised access. OFAC is designating Wuhan XRZ pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13694, as amended by E.O. 13757 (E.O. 13694, as amended), for being responsible for or complicit in, or having engaged in, directly or indirectly cyber enabled activities originating from, or directed by persons located, in whole or in substantial part, outside the United States that are reasonably likely to result in, or has materially contributed to, a significant threat to the national security, foreign policy, or economic health or financial stability of the United States and that have the purpose or effect of harming, or otherwise significantly compromising the provision of services by, a computer or network of computers that support one or more entities in a critical infrastructure sector.

Zhao Guangzong is a Chinese national who has conducted numerous malicious cyber operations against U.S. victims as a contractor for Wuhan XRZ. Zhao Guangzong was behind the 2020 APT 31 spear phishing operation against the United States Naval Academy and the United States Naval War Colleges China Maritime Studies Institute.

Additionally, Zhao Guangzong has conducted numerous spear phishing operations against Hong Kong legislators and democracy advocates.

OFAC is designating Zhao Guangzong pursuant to E.O. 13694, as amended, for being owned or controlled by, or having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Wuhan XRZ, an entity whose property or interest in property are blocked pursuant to E.O. 13694, as amended.

Ni Gaobin is a Chinese national who has conducted numerous malicious cyber operations against U.S. victims. Ni Gaobin assisted Zhao Guangzong in many of his most high profile malicious cyber activities while Zhao Guangzong was a contractor at Wuhan XRZ, including the 2020 spear phishing operation against the United States Naval Academy and United States Naval War Colleges China Maritime Studies Institute. OFAC is designating Ni Gaobin pursuant to E.O. 13694, as amended, for being owned or controlled by, or having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Wuhan XRZ, an entity whose property or interest in property are blocked pursuant to E.O. 13694, as amended.

As a result of todays action, all property and interests in property of the designated persons and entity described above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked.

Unless authorised by a general or specific licence issued by OFAC, or exempt, OFACs regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons.

In addition, financial institutions and other persons that engage in certain transactions or activities with the sanctioned entities and individuals may expose themselves to sanctions or be subject to an enforcement action.

The prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any designated person, or the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person.
Photo courtesy: Videgrab of Baltimore bridge collapse

Baltimore/IBNS: A container ship lost power and rammed into a major bridge's support column in Baltimore in the United States early Tuesday, plunging a construction crew and several vehicles into the dangerously cold waters.

Two people were pulled out by the rescuers. However, six others are missing.

The ships crew issued a mayday call moments before the crash took down the Francis Scott Key Bridge, enabling authorities to limit vehicle traffic on the span, AP quoted Marylands governor as saying.

The ship struck one of the bridges supports, causing the structure to collapse like a toy.

The collapsed bridge tumbled into the water in a matter of seconds making a shocking spectacle.

The moment captured through a video went viral on social media.

The vessel then caught fire with black smoke billowing out of it.

With the ship barreling toward the bridge at a very, very rapid speed, authorities had just enough time to stop cars from coming over the bridge, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said.

US President Joe Biden praised the people who blocked traffic and undoubtedly saved lives."

He said that the Coast Guard would continue search-and-rescue efforts and that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would clear the channel to help reopen Baltimore to ship traffic.

Happening Now: President Biden delivers remarks on the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. https://t.co/9pXTbw1Bh5  The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 26, 2024

Were going to rebuild that port together, Biden said.
Photo courtesy: Unsplash/Cristian Grecu

Toronto/IBNS: Efforts to bring 18 Canadians out of Haiti by helicopter flights were postponed Monday due to poor weather conditions in the Dominican Republic, Canada's ambassador Andre Francois Giroux said.

Canada planned to transport eligible Canadians with valid passports by helicopter from Haiti to the neighbouring Dominican Republic, where they can catch flights home, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said Monday

She said that options for other Canadian citizens, permanent residents and their families prioritising vulnerable citizens, such as people with medical conditions or children, are being explored by the government.

Widespread gang violence in Haiti had caused the shut down of the main airport in Port-au-Prince due to its proximity to gang territory.

Giroux said that Canada's new assisted departure operation for Haiti will resume after heavy rain and wind conditions abate.

Canada had been successful earlier this month in evacuating a portion of its embassy staff from Port-au-Prince, Haiti due to gang violence in the city by commercial helicopter charter .

In a written statement, Global Affairs Canada (GAC) has said that "due to the volatility of the security situation, the lack of reliable supplies and the need to support an effective presence in a volatile situation, Canada is temporarily making efforts to evacuate essential personnel at its embassy in Haiti."

Joly is advising Canadians in Haiti needing help in escaping to register with GAC on the GAC website.

According to GAC.approximately 3,000 Canadians in Haiti are registered with the federal government.

(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)
Do we sometimes cross limits under the guise of Bura Na Mano Holi Hai? Is it okay for kids to throw water balloons at random people from their balconies without their consent during Holi? And, isn't it harassment?

Girl Throws Water Balloons At Filmmaker Despite Him Requesting Not To

Filmmaker Rohan Jain faced a similar situation around Holi 2024 when he was visiting relatives in Delhi. As he got out of the cab, a girl threw water balloons at him - one of them almost hit his laptop. As he tried to stop her and requested her not to throw the balloons at him, she ignored his request and continued to throw them at him.

Instagram

"This girl almost hit my laptop with a water balloon while I was getting out of the cab at my relative's place. And even after politely asking her not to do this, instead of saying sorry and stopping it right away, she starts throwing even more balloons and then her family is standing there watching and starts justifying it and arguing back."

The filmmaker said that he was travelling to his relative's place in Delhi with all his luggage including "all my drones and camera gear with me alongside my laptop bag which has all my other devices". As soon as he opened the cab's door, the water balloons were thrown at him. He kept his luggage back in and stepped out to request the girl and her brother to stop as he had his luggage with him. "She started yelling back at me and throwing even more balloons right in front of her family guardians. After she threw almost 15-20 balloons at me and did not want to stop with her family shamelessly watching and supporting, I took out my phone and started recording them and they didnt stop even then," he added.

The girl's family "shamelessly watched" the incident and defended her

As seen in the video, a man, apparently her father, asks filmmaker Rohan Jain, to keep his phone inside his pocket. "And the actual father of the girl couldnt even come down and take responsibility of his daughter or even apologise for her behaviour. After a few minutes a few more neighbours came out on the street saying they are also annoyed with this family about hitting others and then misbehaving," he wrote.

For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment.


Holi 2025 Date: The festival of Holi is a two-day festival. The festival of Holi signifies the victory of good. It marks the arrival of spring and the end of winter. It also celebrates the beginning of a good spring harvest season. The Holi celebrations start on the evening of Purnima. It falls in the Hindu calendar month of Phalguna.

The Indian festival Holi, popularly known as the festival of colours, is celebrated grandly every year. According to the Hindu calendar, This year, Holi 2025 will be celebrated on Thursday, March 19, 2025. People across the country celebrate the festival of colours with immense fervour and enthusiasm each year. The festival is also known as Dol Purnima, Rangwali Holi, Dhulandi, Dhuleti, Manjal Kuli, Yaosang, Ukuli, Jajiri, Shigmo, or Phagwah.



Holi 2025 Date And Time

Holi 2025 in India is celebrated on Thursday, March 19. March 18 is the time for Holika Dahan. The 2025 Holika Dahan Muhurat (the auspicious time) is from 11:26 PM to 12:30 PM on March 24th. March 25th is the day of the Rangwali Holi.

Holi 2025 Date: When Is Holi In 2025? All You Need To Know About Festival Of Colours

Holika Dahan 2025: Puja Vidhi

Holika Dahan is celebrated by wrapping a pyre of wood with a white thread or Mauli (Kaccha Sut) thrice or seven times around it. The pyre is then worshipped by sprinkling holy water, Kumkum and flowers onto it. Once the puja is complete the pyre is lit.

On this day, people in India arrange a bonfire and celebrate the triumph of Bhakt Prahlad's devotion to Lord Vishnu. People also conduct the Holika Puja as it is believed to bring prosperity and wealth to everyone's home. This puja also gives people the power to fight all their fears.

Holi 2025: History & Significance

Holi, the festival of colours, is one of the most vibrant and joyous celebrations in India. It is celebrated in the spring season, usually in the month of March, and is known as the "Festival of Love" and the "Festival of Colours." The festival is a time when people come together to forget their differences and celebrate the joys of life.

The origins of Holi can be traced back to ancient Hindu mythology. The festival is believed to have originated from the legend of Holika and Prahlad. According to the legend, Prahlad, a devotee of Lord Vishnu, was saved from the evil intentions of his father, Hiranyakashyap, by Lord Vishnu. Hiranyakashyap's sister, Holika, had a boon that made her immune to fire. She tried to use this boon to kill Prahlad by tricking him into sitting on her lap while she sat in a burning fire. However, the fire did not harm Prahlad, and Holika was consumed by the flames. The triumph of good over evil is celebrated on the first day of Holi, known as Holika Dahan.

(Note: Dates/timings may be subject to change; details mentioned here are as per the information available.)

For more informative articles on historical and upcoming events from around the world, please visit Indiatimes Events.
Kanpur Ganga Mela 2024 Date: Keeping alive the 83-year-old tradition, the people of the city will celebrate Ganga Mela on Saturday, March 30. For the first time the mela was observed in 1942 and since then it has become a tradition to celebrate it.

Ganga Mela is also called the second Holi which is celebrated on the 5th or the 7th day of the Holi festival in auspicious Anuradha Nakshtra which is awaited by everyone irrespective of caste and creed.

What Is The Story Behind This Year Long Tradition?

During the freedom struggle in 1942, amidst the fervor to break free from British rule, an event unfolded on the day of Holi that marked a significant defiance. Despite the ban imposed by the British authorities, the people wonderfully celebrated Holi and unfurled the tricolor at Rajjan Babu Park in Hatia Bazar.

Mool Chandra Seth, one of the organizers of the Ganga Mela, recounted the incident where a group of British policemen on horseback attempted to remove the flag. However, the spirited youth engaged in Holi festivities vehemently opposed the police action, leading to clashes between them and the British forces.

Subsequently, the police arrested approximately 45 individuals, including notable figures such as late Gulab Chandra Seth, Buddhu Lal Mehrotra, Naveen Sharma, Vishwanath Tandon, Hamid Khan, and Giridhar Sharma. However, this action triggered a widespread protest across the city, resulting in the closure of markets, factories, and transportation services. Residents of the Hatia locality staged a sit-in protest at Rajjan Babu Park.

Why Is It Celebrated?

The support of Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi bolstered the resolve of the protestors. Eventually, tensions eased when an English officer arrived in the city and engaged in discussions with Indian leaders at Rajjan Babu Park on the fourth day of the incident.

After lengthy deliberations, it was agreed that all revolutionaries would be unconditionally released. Consequently, they were freed on the fifth day, coinciding with the auspicious occasion of 'Anuradha Nakshatra'. The revolutionaries' faces were colourfully painted after they were freed from prison. The incident later became a custom which is being observed with great enthusiasm in the city every year.

For more informative articles on historical and upcoming events from around the world, please visit Indiatimes Events.


Students run from pillar to post looking for jobs, with in-hand salary being the most valuable salary component. A recent report titled Unstop Employer Brand Track 2024 has pointed out the dream companies that students wish to work in.

Top dream companies for students to work in, in 2024

Across various B-Schools, Google holds the top spot as the most desired company to work for, followed by Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), McKinsey and Company, and Amazon.

Unsplash

Similarly, among E-schools, Google remains the top choice, with Microsoft ranking second and Amazon securing the third position.



In the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector, Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) emerges as the most coveted company, followed by ITC Limited and Nestle.

In the Banking and Finance sector, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs, and HDFC Bank are the most sought-after companies, respectively.

Zomato stands out as the most popular next-generation recruiter, while Myntra, Nykaa, Swiggy, and Meesho follow closely behind.

Funny Zomato note asking for 'no bill and chicken' by this man | Image: X

Among consulting firms, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) takes the lead, trailed by McKinsey and Company and Bain & Company.



For those interested in General Management roles, Tata Administrative Services (TAS) is the preferred choice, with Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), Aditya Birla Group, Mahindra Group, and Adani Group rounding out the top five selections.

In the realm of engineering, Google reigns supreme among Product-based companies, while Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) dominates the list in the Service-based category.

Hiring data in 2024

In 2024, the majority of HR professionals, 70%, focus on attracting talent, while students show a preference for competitions, HRs emphasise social media for brand visibility. Despite advancements, the gender pay gap remains evident.

Representative image

Women in Arts, Science & Commerce frequently receive offers that are half the value of those received by men.



Most men in these fields are offered salaries ranging from INR 6-10 LPA, whereas women typically receive offers ranging from INR 2-5 LPA.

For more information on exams, results and careers, please visit Indiatimes Education.
An IndiGo passenger has hit out at the airline for their poor handling of luggage that allegedly resulted in her trolly bag being damaged.

The passenger, Shrankhla Srivastava who was on an IndiGo flight from Bengaluru to Delhi on Thursday also shared a photo of her bag, which clearly had cracks on it.

TWITTER

Thank you IndiGo

"Dear @IndiGo6E, Thank you for taking care of my luggage," the Srivastava wrote on X.

Dear @IndiGo6E ,

Thank you for taking care of my luggage :) pic.twitter.com/LdgSHjWA1J  Shrankhla Srivastava (@shrankhla3) March 23, 2024

How IndiGo responded

IndiGo had a template response to Srivastava and said "Hi, we sincerely regret the inconvenience caused. We request you please allow us some time to check. We'll connect with you."

However, it is unclear from the social media interaction if the airline has reached out to the customer, as neither side has provided any updates on the matter.

Reacting to the controversy, IndiGo, in a statement on March 26 said, "We are aware of an image circulating on social media regarding a passengers experience with their baggage while travelling with IndiGo. The passenger didn't report this incident to the customer service team on arrival. However, we are looking into the matter and have provided available redressal through vouchers. We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused to our passenger."

REUTERS

Others share similar stories

In the meantime, many on social media shared similar experiences with the airline.

Others suggested that it was better to switch to soft shell luggage as hard shell bags don't last with rough handling at Indian airports.

Blame it on cheap bags not airline

Most people on social media criticized the airline for their poor handling of luggages, some sided with IndiGo.

"Dont worry Indigo, her luggage looks old any way," one person wrote.

Pinterest

"Blame the trolley company and not IndiGo. Buying such cheap trolleys at 90% discount from online portal will result in this only," another person commented.

What the rules say

According to the DGCA's policy in case of baggage loss, delay, or damage, the liability is limited to INR 20,000 per passenger.

To claim the compensation, the passenger should file a written complaint with the airline and collect Property Irregularity Report (PIR) before leaving the airport.

However, the rules state that if in the normal course of handling the luggage may acquire minor wear and tear including minor cuts, scratches, dents, or soil, for which the airline may not be held liable.

For more news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.
Can you imagine the staggering price tag on a 'very expensive' cow? Well, it's nearly impossible to fathom, as the world's most expensive cow commands an astounding Rs 40 crore. Recently, a Nelore cow became the worlds most expensive cow ever sold, at an auction in Brazil.

One-third of the cow sold for Rs 1.44 million USD

A Nelore cow named Viatina-19 FIV Mara Imoveis was sold for a record-breaking 4.8 million USD (Rs 40 crore INR) in an auction in Brazil.

Viatina's sale not only showcases her individual value but also demonstrates the potential of her genetic material to improve the quality of the breed, setting a new standard in the global cattle market.

Viatina/ InfocoMS

The auction took place in Arandu, Sao Paulo, Brazil, where a one-third share of the 4.5-year-old cow was sold for 6.99 million reals, equivalent to 1.44 million USD.



This transaction raised her total value to a remarkable 4.3 million USD, surpassing her previous record when half of her ownership was sold for approximately 800,000 USD the previous year.

Viatina/ Giro do Boi

Nelore breed originated from India

The Nelore breed, originally from India and named after the Nellore district in Andhra Pradesh, has become one of Brazil's most important cattle breeds.

The first pair of Ongole cattle arrived in Brazil by ship in 1868, with a significant increase occurring in the 1960s when a hundred animals were imported, laying the foundation for the breed's growth in Brazil. And the rest is history.

Nelore breed of cattle/ Wikipedia

Scientifically known as Bos indicus, the Nelore breed boasts superior qualities such as adaptability to hot climates, disease resistance, and meat quality. These cattle are known for their strength, resilience, and ability to thrive in tough conditions, making them highly valued in tropical areas.



Additionally, Nelore cattle are efficient converters of forage into meat, outperforming other breeds in this aspect.

This particular Nelore cow, Viatina-19 FIV Mara Imoveis, epitomises these traits, having been selectively bred to enhance her genetic advantages.

For more news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.


A 27-year-old model is set to make history by representing Saudi Arabia at the Miss Universe pageant for the first time ever.

According to a report in Khaleej Times, Rumy Alqahtani, a seasoned beauty pageant contestant and popular influencer with a million followers on Instagram, made the announcement on Monday. She expressed her excitement and honor at being chosen to represent the kingdom on such a prestigious international platform.

"I am thrilled to be part of the Miss Universe 2024 competition, marking Saudi Arabia's debut in this esteemed event," she wrote in Arabic on her Instagram account.

Alongside her announcement, Alqahtani shared stunning photos of herself in typical beauty queen attire: adorned in a strapless, sequined gown, wearing a tiara, and draped in the Saudi Arabian flag.

Originally from Riyadh, Alqahtani has a history of participating in global pageants, including her recent participation in Miss and Mrs Global Asian held in Malaysia a few weeks ago.

Historically, women in Saudi Arabia have faced significant challenges and restrictions in terms of their rights and freedoms. Until relatively recently, Saudi Arabia followed a strict interpretation of Islamic law that limited women's participation in public life and placed significant restrictions on their autonomy.

One of the key aspects of this restrictive environment was the guardianship system, where women were legally required to have a male guardian, typically a father, husband, brother, or even a son, who had authority over many aspects of their lives. This included decisions related to education, employment, travel, and marriage.

Until 2018, women in Saudi Arabia were not allowed to drive, which was a highly contentious issue both domestically and internationally. This ban on women driving was seen as a symbol of the broader restrictions on women's rights in the country.

In recent years, there have been gradual changes and reforms aimed at improving women's rights and increasing their participation in society. These changes have included allowing women to drive, granting them more opportunities for education and employment, and relaxing some of the strict guardianship laws.
Stellantis, the Italian-American automaker, is facing criticism after announcing the termination of more than 400 employees across its engineering, software, and technology divisions in the United States.

The company's decision to lay off employees during a mandatory work-from-home (WFH) day on March 22 has raised eyebrows and drawn scrutiny. Employees were reportedly instructed to join a remote call, during which they were informed about their abrupt dismissal.

layoff/shutterstock

Stellantis defended its actions by citing rigorous organizational reviews as the basis for the terminations, asserting that only 2% of employees in these divisions would be impacted. However, the exact number of affected employees has not been disclosed officially.

Despite this, a source close to the company's management revealed that around 400 workers were indeed let go of their roles. An anonymous employee affected by the layoffs told FOX News that it was a mass firing of everyone present during the call. Concerns were raised about the company's strategy to shift positions to countries with lower labor costs, such as India, Mexico, and Brazil, with employees viewing it as a move to enhance productivity and profits.

In response to the backlash, Stellantis released a statement explaining that these actions were necessary to align resources and protect the company's competitive edge amid evolving industry challenges and global competition. The company also mentioned providing affected workers with a separation package and transition support.

This incident is reminiscent of previous controversies in corporate layoffs, such as Goldman Sachs' handling of layoffs last year, where employees were blindsided during morning meetings, and Elon Musk's restructuring of Twitter, which resulted in abrupt terminations for some employees.
Anjali Chakra and Sufi Malik celebrated as an emblem of love transcending borders and social barriers and announced their split.



The couple gained international attention in 2019 when their engagement photos went viral, symbolizing hope and defiance against societal norms in both India and Pakistan.

However, the recent revelation of their breakup has shocked many. Sufi confessed to infidelity as the reason behind their separation, acknowledging her betrayal of Anjali's trust.

The couple's relationship had been hailed as a beacon of LGBTQ+ visibility in the region, where same-sex unions face immense social stigma and legal hurdles.

Their split highlights the complexities and challenges faced by LGBTQ+ individuals in navigating relationships within conservative societies.

Despite the dissolution of their romance, Anjali and Sufi remain influential figures in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights, showcasing the realities of love and its fragility amidst societal constraints.

What Happened Between Sufi And Anjali That They Broke Up Just Before Their Wedding?

Anjali Chakra and Sufi Malik, a lesbian couple from India and Pakistan, split up before their wedding | Image: Instagram

Social media influencers Anjali Chakra, hailing from India, and Sufi Malik from Pakistan, have publicly declared their relationship's termination and cancelled their forthcoming wedding plans.



Renowned for their vibrant celebration of South Asian culture and depiction of same-sex love, the couple gained widespread attention in 2019.

They announced their split via Instagram, attributing Sufi's infidelity as the reason behind it.

Anjali Chakra and Sufi Malik, a lesbian couple from India and Pakistan, split up before their wedding | Image: Instagram

Anjali and Sufi embarked on their journey together more than five years ago, captivating audiences with their depiction of love transcending cultural barriers and norms.



A year before their separation, their engagement was reminiscent of a fairy tale. Sufi proposed to Anjali at the iconic Empire State Building in New York, a moment they shared with their followers through a video post.

Nonetheless, their dream came crashing down when Sufi confessed to cheating on Anjali just weeks before their scheduled wedding.

"This news may surprise us, but our journey is different. We have made the difficult decision to cancel our wedding and bring our relationship to an end due to Sufi's betrayal," Anjali shared in her post.



Anjali Chakra and Sufi Malik, a lesbian couple from India and Pakistan, split up before their wedding | Image: Instagram

"In a moment of profound regret, I made a grievous mistake by betraying her trust, engaging in infidelity mere weeks before our wedding. My actions have caused her immense pain, surpassing my comprehension. I take full responsibility for my error and will continue to do so. My actions have inflicted wounds upon those dearest to me, including our loved ones, friends, and the community we hold dear," Sufi expressed in her Instagram statement.



Anjali Chakra and Sufi Malik, a lesbian couple from India and Pakistan, split up before their wedding | Image: Instagram

Where Can You Check Out The Post?



You can check out the post on Instagram posted by both Sufi Malik and Anjali Chakra.

What do you think about it? Do let us know in the comments.

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In starkly illustrating the evolving landscape of remote work, a company's decision to enforce a mandatory work-from-home (WFH) day culminated in a distressing outcome.



Despite the semblance of flexibility and adaptability associated with remote work, the firm unexpectedly terminated 400 employees during a remote call session.

This unprecedented move underscores the profound impact of digitalization on traditional employment structures and the inherent vulnerabilities workers face in remote settings.

While WFH policies have become increasingly prevalent, this incident serves as a sobering reminder of the potential drawbacks and ethical considerations surrounding remote work practices.

The suddenness and impersonal nature of the terminations via virtual means raise questions about the humaneness and transparency of such decisions in the digital age.

As organizations continue to navigate the complexities of remote work, the incident prompts reflection on the balance between efficiency, compassion, and ethical conduct in the modern workplace.

Who Laid Off 400 Employees?

Stellantis, an Italian-American automotive company, has cut more than 400 jobs in the United States' engineering, software, and technology sectors.

What Made This Company Laid Off 400 Employees From The Office?

The company called for mandatory WFH day, then managed to lay off 400 employees over a remote call | Image: X

Fortune magazine reported that Stellantis, an Italian-American automotive manufacturer, eliminated employees from over 400 roles across its engineering, software, and technology departments in the United States.



However, these layoffs occurred after the company implemented a mandatory remote work day on March 22.

According to the report, the carmaker informed its employees through a notice, stating, "We will be holding important operational meetings that require specific attention and participation. To ensure everyone can effectively participate, we have decided to implement a mandatory remote work day."

According to the report, white-collar employees who participated in the remote call were informed that they were being laid off, as recounted by a mechanical engineer who was terminated during the call.

Its a representative image created by using AI | Image: Binge

The engineer told Fox News, "It was a mass firing of everybody on the call."



He mentioned that the company is outsourcing jobs to India, Mexico, and Brazil, stating, "So they continue to push low-cost countries that are more efficient for the company and more profitable."

The automaker informed the Wall Street Journal that laid-off workers had received a comprehensive separation package and transition assistance.

They added, "As the auto industry continues to face unprecedented uncertainties and heightened competitive pressures around the world, Stellantis continues to make the appropriate structural decisions across the enterprise to improve efficiency and optimize our cost structure."

Where Can You Check Out The Post?

You can check out the post on X shared by @GuyDealership.

BREAKING:



Stellantis, the parent company of Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ram, is sending notices to its employees about a mandatory remote work day on Friday.



The reason?



Your guess is as good as mine, but a notice like this (on a Thursday) could potentially signal layoffs. pic.twitter.com/6rG9csCHBM  Car Dealership Guy (@GuyDealership) March 22, 2024

How Did The Internet React?

The post was shared just a few days back, and till now, it has gotten over 2.5 million views.

Internet reacts to the company called for mandatory WFH day, then managed to lay off 400 employees over a remote call | Image: X

Internet reacts to the company called for mandatory WFH day, then managed to lay off 400 employees over a remote call | Image: X

What do you think about it? Do let us know in the comments.



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Our jobs come with rules. It's just a part of life, and it's generally pointless to make a fuss if you disagree. But for some, it's enough to give up on that particular business entirely. We're discussing the unusual world of cruise ships and the various people that work on them.

It's a one-of-a-kind industry, requiring weeks of travel to picturesque sites throughout the world while ensuring that the paying customer receives the vacation of a lifetime that they desire.

Who shared the 'crazy and restrictive' rules that cruise workers have to follow?

Lucy Southerton, a cruise ship worker, has been on the ships for nearly a decade | Image: YouTube

Most persons who sign contracts to work on the vessels can spend anywhere from two to nine months on board. That's a long time living in small huts.



However, many people quit their contracts before they expire. Lucy Southerton, a cruise ship worker, has been on the ships for nearly a decade. When she's not working, she spends her time on Instagram and YouTube, posting cruise-related stuff.



What are some of the crazy rules?

Lucy from Birmingham often posts updates about her cruise ship experiences, including one about why cruise ship employees should avoid sleeping with each other for the first few weeks, if not months, on board. In her most recent YouTube video, Lucy discussed the arduous reason people leave the cruise business.

Lucy discussed the arduous reason people leave the cruise business | Image: Unsplash

And while it's certainly not for everyone, she also spoke about one particular regulation that crew must respect when they're working their cruise contracts. "Starting your cruise ship profession is likely to be exciting. Lucy adds, "You will meet wonderful people and visit beautiful places, but it is not for the faint of heart."



Which is the most surprising rule?

But is there one rule that consistently surprises people? Being restricted from certain portions of the ship.

Lucy says: "As a crew member, depending on your position, you may not be permitted to enter certain regions of the ship at specific times or at all. And people are like, "This is crazy," and depending on the cruise line, you may not be able to enter passenger areas unless you are working."

"If you have time off, you can only be in crew areas, which might feel extremely restricting. Rules can make people feel quite claustrophobic."

Check the video here.

What do you think about this? Tell us in the comments.

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The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) has revealed how terrorist groups are funded in the country.

According to a newsletter from the agency, terrorist groups receive funds through crowdfunding, online transactions, and betting platforms.

It disclosed 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.

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.

READ ALSO: Kidnappers Of Edo PDP Chairman Demand N500m

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 newsletter read.

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.

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 newsletter added.

The NFIU furthered 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.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on Monday, disclosed he will apologize to newspapers over the cancellation of any birthday plans for himself slated for March 29.

Tinubu said this while addressing members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

He acknowledged that newspapers that were expecting to make money from advertisements may have been hurt due to his warning to family, friends and well-wishers.

I know they will be angry with me. But I will apologize to them later, he said.

President Tinubu restated that such a birthday ceremony would be out of tune with the national mood, adding that he didnt want government agencies to use public money to place congratulatory advertorials for him.
Operatives of the the Nigeria Police Force in Rivers State has neutralized one Izuma David Odiereke popularly known as General Solution, in the Ahoada area of the State.

The suspect was until his death believed to be a notorious cult leader operating out of Owube kingdom in Ahoada West Local Government Area of the State.

General Solution who has been on the police wanted list since 2016, had previously evaded capture on multiple occasions.

Fortunately for the State Command, the notorious cultist and his gang members were engaged in a gun battle by the police at about 4 a.m on Monday and he lost his life.

READ ALSO: Defence Headquarters Declares Simon Ekpa, 96 Others Wanted

Speaking to newsmen while displaying Solutions dead body, the Commissioner of Police, Tunji Disu, said, weve been having series of attacks from this so called general that has just been killed.

He has been on the wanted list since 2016 close to about 10 years. He has been a serial killer and a lot of people have died through his hands. Nobody can fish; nobody can go to the farm because of this man.

Ipia clan is deserted because he kills and escapes at will. Because of him the clan is deserted, but today officers of this Command led by the DPO personally went after him, laid siege and luckily for us he has been gotten. So this is the end of the era of General Solution.
Michael Oyiga, a popular influencer and humanitarian, has stated that American YouTuber Kai Cenat donated $2,800 to help build a new school in Lagos Makoko slums.

It should be noted that the American visited Makoko as the first stop on his recent tour of Nigeria, when he spoke with some local youth and offered to assist the community.

Michael provided an update on the YouTubers philanthropic deed, noting that Cenat paid $2,800 to build a new facility at one of the schools he has funded.

He announced on Twitter that the construction project had finally commenced, two weeks after Kai Cenat donated funds for the school.

READ MORE: Reactions As VeryDarkMan Reportedly Faces Stringent Bail Terms

Micheal tweeted,

Two weeks ago, Kai Cenat came to one of the schools Ive been looking out for in the slums of Lagos and donated $2,800 for a new building. 3.9million Naira.

Today, the building construction has started. Just wanted to update everyone. For posterity sake

SEE POST:
Anthony Paparo, shown here at the Yeadon Borough Police Department in 2022, recently settled a federal discrimination lawsuit against Yeadon and the officials who voted to fire him. Read more

A former Yeadon police chief who contended that his firing in 2022 was racially motivated has settled a federal discrimination lawsuit against the borough and the officials who terminated him for $2.5 million, according to court filings obtained by The Inquirer on Tuesday.

Anthony Chachi Paparo said in the lawsuit that four members of the Yeadon Borough Council  former Borough Council President Sharon Council-Harris; then-Vice President Learin Johnson; and former council members Tomeka Jones-Waters and Carlette Brooks  conspired to replace him because he is white and nearly 90% of the towns residents are Black. The group also damaged his personal and professional reputation, he said, by distributing Fast Fact fliers about his firing to every resident in the borough.

The case had been scheduled for a jury trial next week. But Paparos lawyer, Harold Goodman, said Tuesday that depositions from other borough officials who supported the former chief and said he was targeted because of his race helped lead to an early resolution.

They saw that a trial very well could have resulted in an amount far greater than the settlement achieved, Goodman said, and at the cost of the residents of Yeadon being thrown into the public light throughout its course and the likelihood that the town itself could be made responsible.

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Goodman said he and his client were interested in a settlement amount that wouldnt jeopardize the financial security of the borough.

Under the Feb. 29 settlement agreement, Yeadon agreed to pay Paparo $2.4 million in damages and an additional $100,000 in lost wages. In his lawsuit, Paparo contended that he was owed money for unused sick time when he was fired.

In an interview Tuesday, Paparo, 60, said he was pleased with the resolution of the case and eager to move on with his life.

I cant express my gratitude for their courage to come forward and do the right thing, Paparo said of the officials who testified on his behalf. This case has no reflection on the great residents of the town of Yeadon. Their integrity and honor is still intact.

Paparo said he has struggled to find a new job in law enforcement since his firing  he said he applied to 150 positions, and has yet to receive an interview.

My life was turned completely upside down. I spent 37 years of my life being a cop, and thats all I know how to do, Paparo said. My reputation was destroyed, and Im hoping I can get my life back together now.

The officials named in the suit, three of whom no longer serve on the council, have denied Paparos assertion that his dismissal was about race. They said the decision to fire him stemmed from a $387,000 penalty the borough had to pay to the Fraternal Order of Police after Paparo improperly hired more part-time officers than the union contract allowed.

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, during the civil unrest that followed the death of George Floyd in 2020, the chief added 21 part-time officers to Yeadons force in contravention of the union contract. The FOP filed a grievance and won.

Paparo said he needed to supplement the boroughs police force amid staff shortages at a critical time. The borough officials balked at that explanation, saying he ignored multiple warnings from the FOP about the use of part-timers.

Robert DiDomenicis, the lawyer for the borough officials named as defendants in the lawsuit, declined to comment. The lawyer for the borough, Joseph Sanatore, did not return a request for comment.

In U.S. District Court filings, Sanatore said that although some of the council members may have been motivated by race in their individual votes to terminate [Paparo], other factors influenced their votes. He cited concerns about the FOP grievance, as well as a personal dispute between Paparo and one council member.

Paparos firing stirred upset in the Delaware County borough, which borders Southwest Philadelphia, sparking protests at council meetings in support the former chief and an online petition to save his job that garnered more than 1,000 signatures.

Yeadon Mayor Rohan Hepkins was also a vocal supporter of Paparos, along with some members of the council. But at a Feb. 17, 2022, meeting, the motion to fire Paparo passed with a 4-3 vote, supported by the officials named in the lawsuit.

Paparo thanked Hepkins for that support, as well as former borough councilmembers LaToya Monroe, Liana Roadcloud and Nicole Beaty.

I loved Yeadon, and from what you could see and everyone could see, they loved me, he said. And I never took that for granted. The support from them is what kept me going for these two years.
Blanche Carney, Philadelphia prisons commissioner, speaks to reporters after an inmate escaped in November  the fourth in six months. Read more

After years of disorder, a spike in prisoner deaths, and a string of escapes, Blanche Carney, the commissioner of Philadelphias Department of Prisons, is leaving the job, she told staffers on Monday.

Carney, who was tapped by former Mayor Jim Kenney in 2016 to oversee the citys jail complex on State Road in Northeast Philadelphia, tendered her retirement on March 8, and her last day in the role will be April 5, she said in the letter.

A spokesperson for the Department of Prisons confirmed her retirement but declined additional comment. Mayor Cherelle L. Parker said a national search is underway to find a replacement and she anticipates announcing a new leader of the department soon.

Carneys departure comes amid years of turmoil and scandal, including a troubling number of homicides and deaths inside the facilities and the escape of four people within just six months.

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The union representing Philadelphia correctional officers cast a unanimous vote of no confidence in Carney last year. The jails were in chaos, the union said, amid staffing shortages that put prisoners and staff in danger.

 READ MORE: 29 people died in Philly jails in the pandemic. City officials said they did 'a good job.'

In 2022, a federal judge appointed a monitor to oversee conditions at the jails, as part of the settlement of a class-action lawsuit. That monitoring was supposed to conclude at the end of 2023, but has been extended because the monitor found that the agency was still failing to meet its constitutional obligations. The monitor attributed much of that failure to a workforce now operating with a 40% job vacancy rate.

In a statement Monday, Parker thanked Carney and alluded to the challenges she faced, saying there will be no shortage of second-guessing her performance.

However, I have a great deal of respect for the job the Commissioner has done, Parker said. We wish her well, and thank her for her dedication she has demonstrated to our city.

Carney, 53, has spent 28 years  the majority of her career  working in Philadelphias jails, and when she was chosen to lead the department, she became the first woman to do so and, at the time, was one of the only female prisons commissioners in the country.

Carney, who was born and raised in Harrisburg, started as a social worker with Philadelphias prisons in 1995, and ascended through the ranks, later becoming deputy commissioner for restorative and transitional services. When the citys womens prison was opened in 2004, she helped create women-focused programs that included domestic violence resources and doula classes for pregnant people in custody.

But during the pandemic, as people in the jails were locked in their cells for days on end, the facility that houses around 4,500 became a hot spot of violence. Prisoners were able to hack their cell locks and pop out, causing riots or committing assaults. In 2021, the death toll rose to 18 people in just one year  more than died in New York Citys far larger Rikers Island. And, just in the last six months, there have been three more homicides within the jails.

 READ MORE: Two men escaped a Philly jail, and no one noticed for 18 hours

Commissioner Carneys tenure has seen the prison spiral and languish in crisis, said the Pennsylvania Prison Societys executive director, Claire Shubik-Richards, and it highlights the importance that if were going to have a safe city we need to have a safe prison.

She said addressing that crisis is a necessary prerequisite to enacting Parkers law-and-order vision.

If Mayor Parker wants more enforcement [and arrests], the first thing she needs to do, before she can do that, is get to a place where we have a safe jail. Right now that jail is no safer than the most dangerous streets of Philadelphia. People are being murdered. Drugs are rampant, Shubik-Richards said. If she wants more enforcement, she has to appoint someone who can make that jail safe.

A report from Pennsylvania Prison Society last year, based on interviews with dozens of incarcerated men, found that violence had surged within the facilities, lockdowns were frequent, and many men had not been outdoors in months.

Carney acknowledged those troubles in her letter to prisons staff, saying the first four years of her time in the role aligned with collaborative efforts with criminal justice partners to reduce the overreliance on jails for marginalized people.

But then came the coronavirus pandemic, which she said caused a tremendous strain on correctional operations worldwide, including to prisons staff and those in custody.

It was challenging to say the least, and I remained steadfast through the course, she wrote.

The department came under increased scrutiny after a string of inmates escaped custody, including one man accused of killing four people.

In the first escape, 18-year-old Ameen Hurst, who has been charged with four murders, and Nasir Grant, 24, broke out of the Philadelphia Industrial Correction Center  an unprecedented episode caused by a series of institutional failures.

Cell doors were easily manipulated open, a guard who fell asleep on her shift, external motion sensors had been turned off, and a known hole in the fence was left unrepaired all contributed to Hurst and Grants escape going undetected for 19 hours. Both were caught within about a week.

Then, in September, a 30-year-old woman briefly escaped from PICC by slipping out an unsecured door. Angie Molinuevo then climbed two razor-wire-lined fences before landing on rocks along the Delaware River banks, where prison staff captured her.

Finally, in late November, 34-year-old Gino Hagenkotter escaped while performing supervised work outside on the jail grounds. His body was found about two weeks later in an abandoned warehouse in Kensington. Officials said he died of a drug overdose.

Staff writer Anna Orso contributed to this article.
Quinta Brunson in a scene from "Abbott Elementary." Brunson is part of a cast voicing a new animated version of a Dr. Seuss book. Gilles Mingasson / Disney Read more

Quinta Brunson will join comedians Bill Hader (Barry) and Bowen Yang (SNL) in voicing a new animated version of the Dr. Seuss classic, The Cat in the Hat.

The movie, Warner Bros. Picture Animation and Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced Monday, is scheduled to open in theaters on March 6, 2026, according to Variety.

It is not clear what character the Abbott Elementary star will voice, however, the story written by Alessandro Carloni (King Fu Panda) and Eric Rivonoja (South Park), will feature the sly, top hat-wearing kitty cheering on siblings who need help adjusting to a new city and school.

Other celebrity voices include Xochitl Gomez (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness), Matt Berry (What We Do in the Shadows), and Paula Pell (Girls5eva).

The Cat in the Hat will be the first feature to debut in a slate of animated projects that Warner Bros. is developing with Dr. Seuss Enterprises.

At this years Emmy Awards, Brunson clinched the award for Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her portrayal of Janine Teagues in Abbott Elementary, a show she created about teachers in a Philadelphia public school. A graduate of Temple University, Brunson is set to deliver the keynote at her alma maters 137th commencement ceremony, receive an honorary degree, and be awarded the 2024 Lew Klein Excellence in the Media Award this May.
Eydie Miller-Ellis, chief of Penn Medicine's glaucoma service (end of table, in white coat) helps run a free eye screening in North Philadelphia. Some of the patients agreed to participate in a new study of genetic risk of the disease. Read more

A team led by University of Pennsylvania scientists has discovered three genetic variants that offer the first strong clues as to why glaucoma disproportionately affects Black people.

The variants are common in people with African ancestry and are associated with a significantly higher risk of developing the sight-robbing disease, the researchers found in their study of more than 11,000 volunteers, including 6,300 from the Philadelphia area.

More research is needed to determine if these variants  each consisting of just a single letter among the 3 billion pairs of letters that spell out the human genome  play a direct role in causing glaucoma. But if they stand up to scrutiny, the findings someday could be used to develop better treatments and identify people who could benefit from them, said Shefali Setia Verma, one of the lead study authors and an assistant professor at Penns Perelman School of Medicine.

The idea is that this can help identify individuals who are at higher risk before any symptoms occur, she said.

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Previous studies have found more than 170 other genetic variants that are involved in glaucoma, a condition in which the optic nerve becomes damaged, often as a result of increased pressure inside the eye. But most of those studies were conducted among white or Asian populations  despite the fact that glaucoma is more common in Black people and, when it occurs, is more likely to lead to blindness.

And most of the genetic variants discovered in those previous studies turned out to play little or no role in the disease for Black people, illustrating the need for diversity in study populations, said Penn physician-scientist Joan M. OBrien.

It was a hugely unmet need, she said.

Gaining trust from Black patients

Thats what prompted OBrien, Verma, and their colleagues to launch the new study, which is among the first  and by far the largest  conducted among Black people.

OBrien blamed the shortage of studies partly on the justifiable misgivings that many Black people hold about medical research, citing examples of misconduct such as the Tuskegee experiment in which Black men were not treated for syphilis.

Ongoing bias in medicine continues to contribute to mistrust. For instance, Black patients are less likely than white patients to receive pain medication, and less likely to be admitted to the hospital from the emergency room. Until recently, they had to wait longer than white patients for a kidney transplant.

Clearly there are reasons for individuals of African ancestry to distrust studies and distrust medicine and distrust many things related to science, she said. That doesnt excuse us from trying to involve people of African ancestry.

So she and her coauthors then embarked on an unusual campaign to enroll volunteers, spreading the word as they conducted vision screenings at predominantly Black churches, community centers, and health fairs. Eydie Miller-Ellis, a Penn ophthalmologist and study author who is Black, also promoted the study on Black-owned radio station WURD.

They ended up with 11,275 study participants, including the 6,300 that Penn physicians enrolled from the Philly area. The rest came from elsewhere in the United States, as well as Ghana and Nigeria, recruited by collaborators at other institutions.

The scientists started by comparing the genomes of study participants who had glaucoma with the genomes of participants who did not, identifying dozens of genetic variants that differed between the two groups.

Then winnowed down that list to the final three by conducting a series of laboratory studies in human cells. They also validated their findings by checking them against other genetic databases, including Penn Medicines own BioBank, a repository of blood and genetic samples of which 17% were contributed by Black people.

Glaucoma risk increase

All three variants were found in noncoding regions of the genome  what used to be erroneously referred to as junk DNA, or stretches of DNA that lie outside the genes. But as scientists have found in many other instances, these three variants, despite not being part of any gene, appear to play a role in the activity of nearby genes.

One of the variants was associated with a 75% increase in the risk of glaucoma. The other two each were linked to a 25% increase in risk of the disease.

The three variants appear to play some sort of causal role in the disease, but more work is needed to be sure what that is. OBrien, director of the Penn Center for Genetics of Complex Disease, hopes that someday the findings could be incorporated into a rapid test, suitable for use in a primary-care office.

Such a test would allow physicians to identify and counsel at-risk patients before they are aware of any symptoms. People with the disease often are unaware they have it, as it typically starts with declining peripheral vision, which patients may not notice at first.

The genetic findings also could guide the development of better drugs, OBrien said. Currently, physicians treat the disease by trying to lower the pressure inside patients eyes, first with medication and later, if needed, surgery.

But those tactics dont work for everyone in whom the disease is caused by elevated eye pressure, OBrien said. And in some cases, the disease can occur in people whose eye pressure is normal.

We know its not just the pressure, she said. But thats the only treatment we have to give.
Derek Gramm, a third-year cabinetmaker apprentice at the Carpenters Training Facility on Tuesday, March 14, 2023. Apprenticeships have long been a popular recruiting path for the construction trades, and now other industries are putting this kind of training model to work. Read more

When risk-mitigation firm Aon started a Philadelphia apprenticeship program in 2021, it was the worst time, in the middle of a pandemic, managing partner Mark Armstrong said. Across industries, quit rates were high and hiring was a challenge.

But Aons first Philadelphia cohort stuck with their program and graduated last August, earning full-time jobs at the company. They not only finished their coursework at school, but showed up for mentoring and training, Armstrong said, pointing to high retention levels associated with this method of recruiting.

Others have followed in their footsteps  Aon has brought on 30 Philadelphia apprentices since 2021 when it cofounded the Philadelphia Apprentice Network, which has onboarded more than 80 trainees. Its part of a budding trend in the region and nationally, with more industries embracing the learn-and-earn model.

A longtime norm in the construction trades, apprenticeships allow new hires to get tailored education with pay, with the guarantee of employment once theyve finished training.

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And, for some colleges, apprenticeship programs offer the chance to recruit students who are hesitant to take on coursework without knowing if theyll get a return on their investment.

So many students go to a four-year college and end up [working] at Starbucks said Larry Byron, director of workforce development for IT at Montgomery County Community College. MCCC is looking for employers to join its new apprenticeship program, which is geared toward new high school graduates as well as older candidates who are looking to make a career change.

Were helping to eliminate student debt by the student being paid up front, Byron said.

More apprenticeships in more industries

The number of active apprenticeships in Philadelphia and its surrounding counties has nearly doubled since 2014, according to data from the U.S. Department of Labor. Nationally, too, the number of apprenticeships has doubled in the decade.

While the city of Philadelphia still has the greatest number of apprenticeships in the region, the collar counties are accounting for a greater portion of learn-and-earn opportunities.

The majority of Pennsylvania apprenticeships are in construction  that was true 10 years ago, and remains true now  but more industries are getting in on the apprentice training model.

In Pennsylvania, the finance and insurance sector and the professional, scientific, and technical sector each had zero apprentices in 2014, according to Labor Department data. This year they have 56 and 51, respectively.

Public Administration apprenticeships in Pennsylvania have nearly doubled since 2014, with nearly 2,500 apprentices this year. Health care and social assistance, educational services, and manufacturing also have hundreds more apprentices in 2024 than they did in 2014.

Construction has continued to recruit growing numbers of apprentices in Pennsylvania. The state has over 10,000 construction apprentices this year, data shows, making an average wage of $19.29 per hour.

New Jersey has more than 5,800 construction apprentices this year, making an average of $20.81 per hour.

MCCC wants employers to outsource their new-hire training

MCCCs new apprenticeship program for information technology launched in January. The 18-month program begins with 94 hours of training over 90 days, including workplace safety and an industry-standard IT certification.

Trainees get paid while they attend class, and their instruction is paid for by the employer as well. The starting wage is around $18 per hour, Byron said.

By front-loading the necessary training before moving on to more college coursework and on-the-job mentorship, the program gives both employer and trainee an opportunity to make sure the IT career path is a good fit. MCCC used Ciscos networking academy program as a model, with the companys permission.

It goes beyond even what a lot of associates degree programs would offer, Byron said.

The college initially got 14 applicants and is currently seeking more apprentices and business partners to participate in the program. Byron said the program is meant to have between 10 and 20 apprentices per cohort, and new cohorts could start as frequently as every 90 days if the employer and apprentice demand exists. He hopes to see the areas pharmaceutical and biotech companies get involved as they look to grow their workforce.

We can make that connection with business and have the openings there, knowing we have the apprentices to fill them, Byron said.

Apprenticeships and diversity

Armstrong, of Aon, is also looking to get more area companies interested in apprenticeships.

Aon cofounded the Philadelphia Apprentice Network in 2021 with IT consultancy Accenture and Zurich Insurance Group. They based it on the Chicago Apprentice Network, which had started four years earlier with 25 apprentices and now includes 85 employers and over 1,000 apprentices.

At Aon, apprenticeships started with roles in IT and human resources. Leaders have been considering how the model might work for client-facing jobs as well.

The apprentice salaries start at $44,000 annually with twice-a-year merit increases. Aon also pays for apprentices tuition, books, and health care.

Armstrong said employers should see apprenticeships as a way to build a more diverse and inclusive workforce. Talent is evenly distributed throughout the community, but opportunities are not, he said.
Alex Ciambriello, of New York, is suing his former employer, Haddonfield-based trading card app company CollX, alleging the company denied his request for parental leave, then fired him shortly after he tried to take time off to assist his wife's recovery from surgery. Read more

When Alex Ciambriello started working at Haddonfield-based start-up CollX in 2022, he thought the job would be ideal for him as a parent of young children. It was a remote job, and the founder of the company had his own children, who actually came up with the idea for the company.

But after Ciambriello and his wife, Taj, welcomed their second child last year, the data engineer said, the rug got pulled out from under us.

First, Ciambriellos request for parental leave was denied, so he instead reluctantly used his two weeks of paid time off. He then requested an emergency day off about a month later, after his wife had undergone a medical procedure, but that request was denied and he was fired shortly afterward.

It put my family in a really awful position overnight, Ciambriello said. We were already living paycheck to paycheck, and suddenly were applying for Medicaid and food stamps.

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Ciambriello is now suing CollX and founder Ted Mann, alleging that they violated parental leave laws in New York state, where Ciambriello lived at the time of his second childs birth.

Giving birth should be a joyous and momentous occasion. But, without access to paid family leave, for many, it is instead a traumatic one, the lawsuit, filed March 22, said. CollXs illegal actions robbed Ciambriello of time he will never get back: his precious early moments with his newborn.

Mann said he believes Ciambriello was treated fairly during his time at CollX. We have a great office culture, great family culture, great working culture, he said.

Rejected requests for family leave

CollX launched an app in January 2022 that can scan a trading card and quickly find out how much money it is worth. Mann has said his children gave him the idea for the app.

Ciambriello started working part-time for CollX shortly after the app launched, and got elevated to a full-time role in October. Weeks later, he told his coworkers that his wife was pregnant, due in May 2023.

The Ciambriello family lived in Philadelphia when he started the job, but moved to New York that November to be closer to family. He gave CollX a heads up about the move, he said, and understood that it wasnt an issue because he was a remote worker.

Because of the move, Ciambriello was eligible for 12 weeks parental leave under the New York Paid Family Leave Law, according to his lawsuit, during which he would get just over $800 per week from the state and his job would be protected for him to return.

When Ciambriello submitted a leave request in January 2023, Mann said CollX was not obligated to comply with the state leave law.

Mann allegedly told Ciambriello, Once one person takes an extended leave, everyone else begins taking more time off and it ruins the company. I would understand if you were a woman, but youre not so we dont see the reason to give you extended leave, the suit said.

Ciambriello took two weeks of paid time off after his child was born by cesarean section.

A few weeks after he returned, his wife needed surgery. Ciambriello requested time off to get his wife and baby to medical appointments during that week, but his requests were denied.

Still recovering from surgery, Taj was forced to make the trip alone with both children, repeatedly, the lawsuit said.

Ciambriello kept up with his work while caring for his recovering wife and their children, the lawsuit said.

But Ciambriellos family was in a state of emergency. On June 20, even though it had not been approved, he did not work, though he did check his phone and Slack account for messages from coworkers, the lawsuit said.

He was fired the next day.

This is not OK

Hilary J. Orzick, an employment lawyer representing Ciambriello, said CollX employees are not covered by the federal Family Medical Leave Act because the company has fewer than 50 employees, but the New York state law still applies.

If you are working in New York, your employment is considered New York employment, a state website on Paid Family Leave says. Your employment must be localized in New York State, which means that most of your work is performed in New York, and any work performed outside the state is only incidental or temporary.

Ciambriello is seeking damages to compensate for the companys violation of state leave laws, as well as punitive damages based on the argument that CollX willfully ignored his rights.

I want to make it very clear to CollX and Ted Mann the CEO that this is not OK, Ciambriello said. I would hope this would be enough of a wake-up call.
John Last at The New Atlantis:

Brown bears once roamed widely across Western Europe. But already by the Middle Ages, hunting and habitat degradation had pushed their populations to the east and north. In the Alpine region of Italy, at times with the backing of the state, brown bears were hunted nearly to extinction  by the mid-1990s, just four were counted in the region around Trento, where Papi was killed.

For the past twenty-some years, however, an E.U.-funded program called Life Ursus has imported brown bears to Northern Italy to boost the regions number of breeding pairs, taking candidates from its eastern neighbor Slovenia, where forests less pressed upon by human activity are still capable of sheltering a reasonably healthy bear population.

Though the program has undoubtedly succeeded in its aim  the brown bear population is now estimated at over 100 in the region  it has not been without controversy.

more here.
Bucks County Commissioner Vice Chair Bob Harvie speaking at a news conference on Monday to announce the county's lawsuit against several major oil companies. Also pictured are Commissioner Chair Diane Ellis-Marseglia (left), Bucks County Solicitor Amy Fitzpatrick (second to left), and Commissioner Gene DiGirolamo (right). Read more

Bucks County on Monday filed a lawsuit against major oil companies alleging that they have deceived the public for decades about fossil fuels role in climate change  causing catastrophic impacts for the county from severe weather.

The 172-page complaint, filed in Common Pleas Court, is the first such legal action for a county or local government in Pennsylvania. And it follows similar suits filed by New Jersey and other states and local governments.

The lawsuit points to recent extreme weather and flooding in Bucks County, including approximately 7 inches of rainfall in just 45 minutes last July. At least seven people died as a result of the flooding.

 READ MORE: A Bucks County town reels from a flood tragedy and worries about what might happen next

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Since at least the 1950s, [oil company] scientists have consistently concluded that fossil fuels produce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas pollution that can have catastrophic consequences for the planet and its people, according to the lawsuit.

The industry took these internal scientific findings seriously, investing heavily to protect its own assets and infrastructure from rising seas, stronger storms, and other climate change impacts, the lawsuit says.

The companies engaged in a successful climate deception campaign to protect and promote fossil fuels, leading to increased greenhouse gas emissions, accelerated global warming, and devastating climate change impacts for the county, according to the lawsuit.

Bucks County, the lawsuit states, has and will continue to incur substantial costs responding to weather events caused by climate change and destabilization and taking measures to adapt to the impacts of climate change.

The defendants listed in the complaint include ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, BP, ConocoPhillips, Philips 66, and the trade group American Petroleum Institute.

In an emailed statement, ExxonMobil said the lawsuits claims are meritless and do nothing to address climate change; instead, they distract from the work were doing to lower emissions around the world.

Shell said in a statement: We agree that action is needed now on climate change, and we fully support the need for society to transition to a lower-carbon future. As we supply vital energy the world needs today, we continue to reduce our emissions and help customers reduce theirs.

Shell added: Addressing climate change requires a collaborative, society-wide approach. We do not believe the courtroom is the right venue to address climate change, but that smart policy from government and action from all sectors is the appropriate way to reach solutions and drive progress.

Ryan Meyers, senior vice president and general counsel for the American Petroleum Institute, said in an email: This ongoing, coordinated campaign to wage meritless, politicized lawsuits against a foundational American industry and its workers is nothing more than a distraction from important national conversations and an enormous waste of taxpayer resources. Climate policy is for Congress to debate and decide, not a patchwork of counties and courts.

The Center for Climate Integrity, a nonprofit advocacy organization that tracks such lawsuits, said that the attorneys general in eight states, including New Jersey, and the District of Columbia, as well as dozens of municipal governments are pursuing similar legal claims.

Richard Wiles, president of the Center for Climate Integrity, said in a statement: By taking Big Oil companies to court for their climate lies, Bucks County joins a growing wave of communities that are demanding accountability and taking action to make polluters pay for a crisis these companies knowingly fueled and lied about for decades.

Wiles added: More than one in four people in the U.S. now live in a community suing major fossil fuel companies to make them pay for their climate deception. Bucks County is the first Pennsylvania government to file a climate accountability lawsuit against Big Oil companies, but it likely wont be the last.

Bucks County Commissioner Chair Diane Ellis-Marseglia said the lawsuit is our tool to recoup costs and fund public works projects like bolstering or replacing bridges, retrofitting county-owned buildings and commencing stormwater management projects, all to help the county better prepare for severe weather in the future.

The county is represented by the law firm of DiCello Levitt.
Aizaz Gill (top left), Patrick Gushue (top right) Kevin Boyle (bottom left) and Sean Dougherty (bottom right) Read more

Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter

Good morning, Philly. On this cloudy Tuesday, Im heartened that warmer temps seem here to stay.

Today were taking a close look at a crucial, and unusual, primary race in the Far Northeasts 172nd District, where two members of powerful Democratic families will go head to head.

Plus, a mother whose son died by suicide is suing after a Philadelphia police officer allegedly took a photo at the scene, and it ended up on social media.

Read on for these stories and plenty more.

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 Julie Zeglen (@juliezeglen, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.

The next Election Day is Tuesday, April 23.

Pennsylvanians will choose their parties nominees for offices including president, U.S. Senate, U.S. House, and state House and Senate. These primaries will set up November matchups, which could tip the balance of power in both Harrisburg and Washington, D.C.

Case in point: The 172nd House District.

This primary is an usual one for the Far Northeast district. For one, the incumbent, State Rep. Kevin Boyle, does not have the backing of his party after a February outburst at a Montco bar. His challenger in the Democratic race, Sean Dougherty, hosted his campaign kick-off event mere days ago. Both come from politically powerful families.

And both of the districts Republican candidates, Aizaz Gill and Patrick Gushue, insist they can flip the seat  which could, in turn, flip the state house, where Dems currently hold a narrow one-seat majority. Government reporter Gillian McGoldrick explains the stakes.

P.S. Check out The Inquirers interactive Pa. 2024 Primary Voters Guide where well walk you through what your ballot will look like, and provide important context about the candidates and races.

Karen Brookins son, Marcus Boone, died by suicide two years ago. Today, she is mired in not only her grief, but also her fury over how Philadelphia police officers treated her firstborn immediately after his death.

Brookins has filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging that soon after Boone jumped from an I-95 overpass on March 18, 2022, an officer took a graphic photo at the scene. The image later circulated the internet and ended up in the hands of a stranger, who unknowingly showed it to the grieving mother.

This is my world. This is my son, she told The Inquirers Ellie Rushing. And theyre taking pictures and sending it around? Why?

Rushing spoke with Boones family members as they continue their search for answers.

If you or someone you know is suicidal, help is available: The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline offers help in more than 150 languages. Call or text 988. En Espanol, marca al 1-888-628-9454. If youre deaf or hard of hearing, call 1-800-799-4889.

What you should know today

 Trivia time

When is the best time to sell your home in the Philly area, according to a Realtor.com analysis?

A) Early spring  so, right about now

B) January

C) Mid-summer

D) Back-to-school time

Think you know? Check your answer.

What we're...

 Booking: Easter brunch at one of these family-friendly spots.

 Sweating over: The Inquirers Mascot Bracket. Its a close one!

 Rewatching: Chester County-based M. Night Shyamalans best movies, with the help of this definitive ranking.

 Unscramble the anagram

This Philly hardcore band just made its NPR debut  and opened up the first Tiny Desk Concert mosh pit.

LOU SLOG

Email us if you know the answer. Well select a reader at random to shout out here.

Cheers to Mary Beth Flynn, who correctly solved Mondays anagram: Quinta Brunson is the Abbott Elementary showrunner returning to Temple University as a commencement speaker in May (go Owls!). And, as was announced yesterday, Brunsons voice will be featured in a new animated version of The Cat in the Hat.

Photo of the day

Wishing you a smooth Tuesday, Philly. See you tomorrow.

By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirers Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.
The Pennsylvania state Capitol building is reflected in the windows of an office building on North Third Street in Harrisburg. Vouchers like those being considered by the legislature have led to some of the largest academic declines in the history of education research, writes Joshua M. Cowen. Read more

If youve ever run a small business or talked to a business owner, you might have heard the phrase under promise, over deliver as a strategy for customer service.

Unfortunately, when it comes to school voucher plans like those being considered by Pennsylvania lawmakers this spring, what happens is the opposite of a sound investment: a lot of overpromising ahead of woeful under-delivery.

As an expert on school vouchers, I think about the idea of whats promised in the rhetoric vs. what actually happens when the real cost sets in. To hear voucher lobbyists tell it  usually working for billionaires like Betsy DeVos, or Pennsylvanias own Jeff Yass  all thats needed to move American education forward is a fully privatized market of school choice, where parents are customers and education is the product.

As I testified to Pennsylvania lawmakers last fall, however, vouchers are the education equivalent of predatory lending.

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One promise that never holds up is the idea that states can afford to create voucher systems that underwrite private tuition for some children, while still keeping public school spending strong.

Other states that have passed or expanded voucher systems have rarely been able to sustain new investments in public schools. Even when those voucher bills also came with initial increases in public education funding. Six out of the last seven states to pass such bills have failed to keep up with just the national average in public school investment.

But for children and families  especially those who have been traditionally underserved by schools at different points in U.S. history  the cost of school vouchers goes beyond the price for taxpayers.

Although most voucher users in other states (about 70%) were, in fact, in private schools first, the academic results for the kids who transfer are disastrous. Statewide vouchers have led to some of the largest academic declines in the history of education research  drops in performance that were on par with how COVID-19 or Hurricane Katrina affected student learning.

Although school vouchers have enjoyed fits and starts of bipartisan support from time to time, todays push for universal voucher systems across the country is almost entirely the product of conservative politics. All 12 states that created or expanded some form of a voucher system in 2023 voted for Donald Trump in 2020. Of those that passed voucher laws since the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, only two (Arizona and New Hampshire) voted for Joe Biden that election year.

In states like Arkansas and Iowa, voucher laws either immediately followed or immediately preceded extreme new restrictions on reproductive care, a weakening of child labor laws, and other conservative policy priorities.

And this isnt just about electoral politics. The right-wing origins of school vouchers have real day-to-day implications for who gets to use them and who is left out. We know from states like Florida, Indiana, and Wisconsin that the latest voucher bills allow schools to discriminate against certain children if schools can claim they do so for religious reasons.

Todays push for universal voucher systems across the country is almost entirely the product of conservative politics.

Who pays that particular price? Examples include students with disabilities and children and parents from LGBTQ families, who may be asked to leave or not even admitted at all. And thats because when it comes to vouchers, its not really school choice at all. Families dont get their choice of schools; instead, schools get their choice of which families to admit.

And the price tag for all of this usually comes in wildly over budget anyway. The big culprit for those cost overruns goes back to who actually gets a voucher. Because most voucher users were in private schools first paid by the private sector before  voucher costs are actually new expenditures taxpayers have to make. In the worst-case scenario, Arizona, vouchers cost more than 1,000% beyond what their advocates first promised.

Despite claims some supporters make that vouchers are part of an efficient education market, the result is really the opposite of any strategy a successful business would recognize.

To put it plainly: The promises rarely pan out, and eventually, the check comes due.

Joshua M. Cowen, the author of The Privateers: How Billionaires Created a Culture War and Sold School Vouchers, is a professor of education policy at Michigan State University.
Everything about this years race in a Far Northeast Philadelphia state House district is unusual.

First, incumbent Democratic Rep. Kevin Boyle is running for reelection  without the support of his party, following an outburst at a Montgomery County bar in February.

The state Democratic Partys campaign arm is instead supporting Boyles primary opponent Sean Dougherty, a former assistant public defender who is the son of Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Kevin Dougherty and the nephew of former labor leader John Johnny Doc Dougherty.

That sets up a primary between two men from politically powerful Philadelphia families; Boyles older brother, U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle, has represented Philadelphia in Congress since 2014. The race will be closely watched as Democrats try to maintain and expand their narrow one-seat majority in the state House.

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Republicans are targeting the seat as one that they could flip in November. Democrats hold a voter registration advantage in the district, with 59% of registered voters. But two Republicans  Aizaz Gill and Patrick Gushue  are vying for the Republican nomination and believe they could convince voters in one of the more conservative areas of deep-blue Philadelphia to send them to Harrisburg.

The outcome of the 172nd District race in November will play a role in determining which party controls the state House.

Democratic primary: Kevin Boyle vs. Sean Dougherty

Sean Dougherty said he didnt decide to run for the seat until a February video of Boyles outburst at Gaul & Co. Malt House in Rockledge began circulating online. The seven-term state representative allegedly threatened to hit female employees and end this bar.

Boyle has been open about his struggles with his mental health in the past. After a psychotic episode that culminated in his 2021 arrest and calls for his resignation he issued a public letter to his constituents attributing the incidents as being related to Adderall he was taking for ADHD. (There is some research that shows a relationship between psychosis and Adderall usage, but it is relatively rare.) The arrest was expunged, and he was reelected again in 2022.

Boyles latest episode happened days before the deadline to file to run for reelection. And although he showed up in Harrisburg to file his paperwork, Boyle has not updated his campaign social media profiles in several years and no longer has an active campaign website.

He has been absent from House sessions in recent months, has not been appearing at political events in the district, and was stripped of his committee chairmanship last week; his district office is open only by appointment. He did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Boyle, 44, has represented the 172nd District since 2011 and previously served as the minority chair of the powerful State Government Committee, where he oversaw the tumultuous 2020 presidential election. More recently, he championed mental health legislation to increase access to treatment.

Sean Dougherty, for his part, hasnt started a campaign website or social media profiles yet. He said thats due to his late start to the campaign, and that he will launch them soon. He hosted a campaign kick-off event on Friday, just about a month before the April 23 primary election.

Dougherty, 30, described his campaign so far as a whirlwind, from deciding on a Friday night before the petition filing deadline that hed run to quitting his job as a public defender the following week. (He now works as a civil litigation lawyer at Center Citys Duffy Firm.)

Friday morning, Im in court telling judges Ill be ready for trial on Monday, Dougherty said. Monday morning, I went in  you cant be a defender and be political  so I said, Your honor, I need a continuance. I have to quit my job today.

Even before Boyles public outburst, Dougherty said, he and others in his neighborhood thought that they did not have someone advocating for them in Harrisburg. His time as a public defender  and his life growing up in a politically powerful family  drove him to throw my hat in the ring once Democrats began questioning Boyle as a viable candidate.

I want people to know that Im Sean, Im the neighborhood guy, Dougherty said. Im easy to talk to and Im easy to get along with. And I dont want to sound cocky, but I think no one works harder than me. Ive had to outwork and work harder than everyone in order to get where Im at.

Dougherty said he would support gun control reforms as a way to combat safety concerns, and wants to protect abortion access in Pennsylvania. Boyle has also supported gun control and abortion rights.

Republican primary: Aizaz Gill vs. Patrick Gushue

Republicans are targeting the seat and believe they have a shot of flipping it because it has a similar voter makeup to the district of State Rep. Martina White (R., Philadelphia). Registered voters in the 172nd District  which includes Fox Chase, Rhawnhurst, and Burholme  are 59% Democrat, 28% Republican, and 13% independent.

Gill, 31, is a consultant and leads the Burholme Town Watch and Civic Association. He managed City Councilmember Brian ONeills reelection campaign last year, and previously worked in former City Commissioner Al Schmidts office as a community liaison. He is endorsed by the Philadelphia Republican Party, as well as ONeill, former mayoral candidate David Oh, and U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick.

Gill immigrated to the United States with his parents from Pakistan when he was 9, as they fled religious persecution. This experience drives his commitment to civil service.

Gushue, 31, is an Afghanistan combat veteran and former Army ranger. The Father Judge High School graduate returned to the Northeast after eight years of military service, and is now pursuing a masters in public administration from the University of Pennsylvania. He is the son of two Philadelphia Police officers and wants to continue his familys history of public service by representing his neighbors in Harrisburg.

Both Republican candidates said they believe Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, a Democrat, is to blame for the districts concerns about safety. Gushue said he supports the creation of a special prosecutor for crimes around SEPTA property in Philadelphia, while Gill said he wants to see Krasner impeached. (Krasner was impeached by the state House in 2022, but proceedings in the Senate are on hold indefinitely.)

Gushue and Gill both said said they want to increase school funding, and both support using state funds to send students to private schools.

The Northeast Philadelphia district could help determine control of the state House

House Democrats need to maintain control of every seat if they want to hold on to their one-seat majority. While they hope to win even more seats, keeping the seat currently held by Boyle in Democratic control is crucial for Democrats to keep control of the state House.

Its very important. Its going to decide who controls the House, said John Sabatina Sr., the citys register of wills and the leader of the citys 56th Ward in the Northeast. Sabatinas ward opposed Boyle in the 2022 primary, and will support Dougherty in the April primary, he added.

Even without actively campaigning, Boyle will have the power of incumbency and name recognition on his side. But his own colleagues in the citys delegation to Harrisburg dont see him as a viable candidate, with its new political action committee writing checks to each of the other incumbent representatives who have primary challengers, except for Boyle.

Northeast Phillys more conservative tilt compared with the rest of the city makes it winnable for the right Republican, both GOP candidates said.

Its a district thats ripe for a pragmatic Republican, Gill said. Northeast Philadelphia is different. Its a suburb thats within the city, and it votes more conservatively than the rest of the city. Its just the reality of it.

And Sabatina, the Democratic ward leader, agreed.

Its never been firmly Democratic, Sabatina added, looking ahead to the November general election. A lot of people are registered Democrat and vote Republican, so I cant tell you, I couldnt predict what would happen.
The need for this coverage is becoming more and more imperative as the gig economy grows and is becoming less safe for workers, she said. We are regularly seeing examples of workplace health and safety practices in the gig economy that fall far short of the safe, secure workplace standards that we strive for in Queensland.
The QBE Foundation is committed to creating strong, resilient, and inclusive communities, and we are pleased to support First Australians Capital as they work to contribute to the long-term sustainability and growth of Indigenous businesses and fill a critical financing gap, she said. This also supports our commitment to our Reconciliation Action Plan as we continue our journey of creating meaningful relationships and promoting sustainable opportunities with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and organisations.
Hong Kong: Waste charge trial scheme set for Apr

(To watch the full media session with sign language interpretation, click here.)

Fourteen premises in the city have been selected to participate in a municipal solid waste charging demonstration scheme starting on April 1. Chief Executive John Lee said the scheme will be used to observe behavioural changes and gather peoples views.

Mr Lee explained the scheme when he was asked about municipal solid waste charging by reporters before he attended the Executive Council meeting this morning.

Mr Lee said: We all know that it is already the law for waste charging to take place.

What are the things that we need to address? These include some things we want to test in the dry run at these 14 locations. We want to, first of all, test how players understand the law, and what they anticipate as the challenges as they go through the actual exercise. We want to see how peoples behaviour in reducing garbage will be.

We also want to know the actual behavioural change of people who produce garbage, of the cleansing staff, of the estate management, and of business operators.

The Chief Executive reiterated that the Government has taken a pragmatic course of action in conducting the demonstration exercise and learning from the experience, as well as listening to the opinions of the players involved and society at large.

He said he has set up an inter-departmental working group under the supervision of Deputy Chief Secretary Cheuk Wing-hing to monitor, supervise and scrutinise the whole exercise.

Mr Lee added: I think a pragmatic government, serious about doing all things after listening to peoples views, and looking at results, statistics, and opinions of the people who are involved, will create community confidence in a government that is doing things for their benefit, taking their interests close to their heart, and doing the best to ensure societys interest is best served.

This story has been published on: 2024-03-26. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
The stable outlook is anchored by AM Bests expectation that AGCS Re Brazils risk-adjusted capitalization will continue to be classified at the highest level, bolstered by the companys capital management and financial agility. AM Best noted that Allianz is poised to retain its status as a dominant force in the international insurance market, backed by its stable operational achievements.
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




This deal, valued at 16.2 times earnings and priced at book value further demonstrates our focus and ability to execute on attractive terms and our commitment to unlocking shareholder value. With this transaction, we will have released $11 billion of capital since 2018 and improved core ROE by ~5% since 2017.
Inclusion in this ranking is an opportunity for industry professionals to be recognized for their hard work.
Meanwhile, Byrns expressed his enthusiasm, saying: Im excited to be working with Chaucer at this pivotal time for the weather insurance market and creating new products with clients at the heart of it. The growth in weather-related insurance has been accelerated by climate change, and as risks posed by unexpected weather patterns become more frequent, the need for insurance products is becoming more pronounced.
There are going to be implications in terms of what the eastern seaboard of the US now does to rearrange its logistics in order to account for this, because this is not going to be resolved in a quick manner.
STRs in Hawaii are already taxed at one of the highest rates in the country. Meanwhile, mainland owners have faced mounting pressure from Governor Josh Green to sell up or shift to a long-term rental model. But factoring in monthly HOA fees and mortgage costs, Jonathan was skeptical that his two-bedroom unit would be in budget for many long-term renters or buyers. Nor would it be suitable for families looking for in-demand three-bedroom properties, Jonathan said.
As we look forward to welcoming delegates to the inaugural [Re]Connect conference, Im particularly excited about the caliber of the speakers that will provide both an international perspective and local insight into Caymans reinsurance offering, Steve Papciak (pictured above), chair of the CIRCA marketing committee said. The overwhelmingly positive response we have received towards [Re]Connect highlights the potential for the future of this event and the industry as a whole.
This post is part of a series sponsored by AgentSync.

4 qualities that distinguish good insurance business data from bad

America may run on Dunkin, but insurance runs on data. Data impacts every part of insurance. Underwriting, rating, pricing, forms, marketing, claims handling  you name it, data influences it. Even the very foundation of our beloved industry is built on actuarial tables composed of hundreds of points of statistical data used to better predict risk.

Good insurance businesses use data to better understand their customers. Better insurance businesses use data to support not only their customers, but also their producers and their own processes. Bottom line: data is key to driving organizational growth. But the business decisions you make are only as good as the data you use to make them.

What makes insurance business data good?

Armed with good data, companies can make informed decisions about their processes and improve the way they operate. But what makes data good?

Its accurate and complete

A business can have access to all the data in the world, but it wont be of much use if the informations outdated or incomplete. Consider the producer onboarding process, or, to make things a little more complex, the variable lines broker onboarding process.

Getting a new variable lines broker onboarded and ready to sell requires collecting a ton of data. From background checks to E&O policies to verifying state insurance licenses and FINRA registration, its vital the information you receive is accurate and up-to-date to ensure no ones selling with an expired or invalid license.

Inaccurate and outdated producer or variable lines broker data adds uncertainty and unnecessary costs to a companys distribution management processes that can negatively impact the ability to adapt and scale.

Its structured

If you want an in-depth explanation of the difference between structured and unstructured data, you can read all about it here. The main thing to note is that unstructured data, like emails, word documents, and paper files, is much less efficient, accessible, and secure than structured data.

Too often, unstructured data is messy, redundant, and inaccurate. Think about how difficult it is for an insurance agent or customer service representative to answer a policyholders question when their personal information and policy data is scattered across several different locations. It can make even a simple task, like adding a new vehicle to an auto policy, much more tedious.

With structured data, information is collected, organized, and stored in a way that enables both people and technology to easily access and analyze it. Structured data gives business leaders a clearer view of whats happening across each part of their organization and during each step of their processes.

Its customizable

If youve already ditched locally stored spreadsheets and paper files in exchange for a cloud data warehouse, youre on the right track to unlocking good data. Often, the modern software systems you use to store your data can organize it into reports and dashboards in a way that gives you the insights you need to make better-informed decisions.

These days, its pretty standard for software vendors to offer a set of generic reports that your company can access with the click of a button. However, generating more detailed, specific, and customizable reports may not be possible, at least not without added costs. (Shameless brag: At AgentSync, we believe your data is yours and you should be able to use it however you want, without incurring extra fees).

With the ability to slice and dice business data to fit specific needs, insurance carriers, MGAs/MGUs, and agencies can expose process roadblocks, team inefficiencies, growth opportunities, and more.

Its easily digestible

If youre not a particularly technical person, large quantities of data can feel scary and hard to digest. While its important for your data to be easily readable and sharable across your entire tech stack, sometimes the human aspect is lost in translation.

For instance, when you think of the lines of authority a producer is licensed in, you probably think of words (like life, health, property, and casualty) rather than numbers. Your producer management software might analyze and interpret the lines each producer holds using numerical values, but if the information isnt presented back to you in a way that you can easily understand it becomes difficult to contextualize the data and use it to make informed business decisions.

How better data can benefit your insurance business

So your data checks all the boxes above, now what? Carriers, MGAs, and agencies should use their data to assess their current processes and drive both vertical and horizontal growth. Equipped with good producer data, insurance organizations can:

Eliminate workflow bottlenecks: With outdated, unstructured data, essential business processes like producer onboarding can be painfully slow. Your compliance team might be spending weeks (or even months!) tracking down all the information needed to validate a producers license. Having accurate, up-to-date data that your team can easily access when they need it most makes the entire onboarding process a lot quicker and a lot less painful for everyone involved.

With outdated, unstructured data, essential business processes like producer onboarding can be painfully slow. Your compliance team might be spending weeks (or even months!) tracking down all the information needed to validate a producers license. Having accurate, up-to-date data that your team can easily access when they need it most makes the entire onboarding process a lot quicker and a lot less painful for everyone involved. Improve the producer experience: Is there a drop-off point at which youre most likely to lose producers? Does it take way too long to get a new producer onboarded and ready to sell? Your data can tell you this! In a time when hiring and retaining top talent is harder than ever, creating a world-class producer experience is crucial to your organizations growth and success.

Is there a drop-off point at which youre most likely to lose producers? Does it take way too long to get a new producer onboarded and ready to sell? Your data can tell you this! In a time when hiring and retaining top talent is harder than ever, creating a world-class producer experience is crucial to your organizations growth and success. Reduce costs: Unreliable producer data costs you more than you think. For starters, therere the more obvious costs. Compliance violations like missed renewals, CE deadlines, or appointments carry some pretty hefty fees. Theres also the less visible (but just as lofty) expenses associated with bad data, like operational inefficiency and wasted manual effort. Having access to accurate and complete data exactly when you need it removes these unnecessary costs from your bottom line.

Unlock better business data with AgentSync Manage

Carriers, agencies, and MGA/MGUs rely on high-quality data to improve their processes and power their growth. Unlocking your insurance organizations data can lead to clearer insights into your distribution channel, a better understanding of which partners drive growth, and the ability to identify expansion opportunities that allow your business to scale intelligently.

With AgentSync Manage, customers receive the most up-to-date producer license and appointment data all in one convenient location. Our custom reporting capabilities give you visibility into your entire distribution channel in the way that best fits your unique business needs and with no additional fees. If youre ready to use better data to make better business decisions, schedule a demo today.
Newly-installed Maine Insurance Superintendent Robert Carey announced approval of an average workers compensation insurance loss cost decrease of 19%. The new loss costs go into effect for new and renewing policies as of April 1, 2024.

Carey said that if all insurers fully adopt the decrease, Maine businesses could save an estimated $55 million.

This latest action contributes to a cumulative 88.2% decrease in loss costs since workers compensation reforms were enacted in 1992. Last April, an average loss cost decrease of 11.9% went into effect.

The approved changes were filed on behalf of insurers by the advisory rating firm, National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI). The-approved loss costs are available to insurers to reference when filing their workers compensation rates with the Bureau of Insurance.

This is good news for Maine employers, said Carey, who was sworn into office late last month after being confirmed by the state Senate. The NCCI loss costs are the standard for most workers compensation coverage in Maine, and they are an important part of the rates charged for this coverage. This filing should result in lower workers compensation rates for the majority of Maine employers.

According to the state regulator, the 19% decrease is an average loss costs change, which ranges from -17.1% to -20.1% depending on the industry group. This is an average decrease so most Maine businesses should see decreases in premiums, but some individual businesses may see increases.

Loss costs are based on previous and projected losses and benefit payments. Maine has a competitive market for workers compensation insurance and each insurer sets its own rate level, subject to review by the Bureau. Insurers may also modify the NCCI loss costs, and they select their own expense and profit factors in setting rates.

Topics Workers' Compensation Talent Maine
Hong Kong: Govt continues to explain security law

(To watch the full media session with sign language interpretation, click here.)

Chief Executive John Lee said today that the Government will continue to explain to both local and overseas business sectors that the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance will create stability and security.

Answering questions from reporters ahead of the Executive Council meeting this morning, Mr Lee highlighted that attacks from overseas on the ordinance have continued.



As regard the overseas attacks against the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, which has come into effect on March 23, we know that a lot of overseas politicians and organisations, because of their own political interests and purposes, they will continue to attack Hong Kong.



They will continue to attack our law despite the very fact that their own countries have more stringent laws, more wide-ranging laws, and more embracing laws to deal with national security offences. And some countries actually have much harsher laws to protect their own national security.



A lot of them turn a blind eye to what we have done, when we have so confidently and openly written the protection and safeguarding of human rights and freedoms into our law, which may not be the case in their own countries laws.



In recent cases, we have seen evidence to indicate overseas politicians have been actively interfering in Hong Kong affairs. The motives of these people are very clear. But we will ensure that we will continue to explain the merit of our Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, which, on the one hand, is a defensive law to protect our own interests, so that people do not dare to think about breaking into our house to cause harm to our family members, and harm our national security.



The Chief Executive stressed that the Government has been putting effort into ensuring the community, in particular the business sector, is well informed about the advantages of the ordinance.



And we will ensure that we inform the community at large, both locally and overseas, that we have stringent safeguards in place to protect human rights and freedoms, which align with the international standards as described in the International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social & Cultural Rights.



We will, of course, talk to people in the business sector. We have been doing a lot of briefing sessions to chambers of commerce, both locally and chambers of foreign countries that are stationed in Hong Kong.



We will, of course, during our visits to overseas countries, continue to inform the business sector about the advantage of this law, which is to create stability and security, without which no investments can ever hope to thrive. With stability and security, then prosperity may come.

This story has been published on: 2024-03-26. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
A small town on Marylands Eastern Shore has suspended its entire police force pending the results of an investigation by state prosecutors, a largely unexplained decision that has left residents shocked, skeptical and on edge.

The unusually harsh crackdown on law enforcement in Ridgely suggests that even some of the countrys most rural communities are feeling the effects of the national reckoning on policing that unfolded in the wake of George Floyds killing.

With the Ridgely Police Department temporarily defunct, other public safety agencies have agreed to fill the void. But residents of the historic town are concerned about response times should they need assistance. And they remain entirely in the dark about why their police department was shut down.

Laura Cline, a longtime Ridgely resident, said shes frustrated with the lack of transparency from town leaders and law enforcement.

Whats very concerning is that they didnt communicate with us in an honest and open way, Cline said. Treat us with respect. Were adults  thinking, rational adults who deserve the truth.

In a statement posted to the town governments website last week, officials said Ridgelys three-member commission had suspended with pay the entirety of the Ridgely Police Department, and that an investigation is being conduced by the Office of State Prosecutor, which handles cases of public misconduct, election fraud, ethics law violations and more.

But Ridgely Director of Operations David Crist declined to provide The Associated Press with even basic information about the suspensions, including the number of officers on the force. The departments website says it employs half a dozen officers. The department made headlines several years ago when its then-chief was involved in the 2018 death of Anton Black in neighboring Greensboro. We were blindsided, said Holly Justice, an esthetician who owns a spa in Ridgely. It makes you question the integrity of people who are supposed to protect and serve.

Justice, whose business is located across the street from the police department, said she would often exchange greetings with officers. She said the recent developments feel like a betrayal because she considered them members of the community.

Like I knew those guys, she said. It just makes you wonder.

Past Issues

While the suspension came as a shock to residents, it isnt the first time Ridgely has faced questions about policing practices.

The department made headlines several years ago when its then-chief was involved in the 2018 death of Anton Black in neighboring Greensboro.

Black died after officers pinned him down for more than five minutes as they wrestled him into handcuffs and shackles. His family filed a wrongful death lawsuit and received a $5 million settlement from three Eastern Shore towns, including Ridgely, whose off-duty chief helped restrain the 19-year-old.

The current chief, Jeff Eckrich, spent most of his career at the Prince Georges County Police Department in the suburbs of Washington D.C., including 12 years as a homicide detective, before joining the department in Ridgely.

Ridgely officials said theyve made arrangements with the nearby Caroline County Sheriffs Office to respond to calls for service within the towns boundaries for now. Some residents worried that slower response times and a reduced law enforcement presence could make them targets for would-be criminals.

Caroline County Sheriff Donald Baker sought to assuage their concerns, saying his agency is well equipped to handle the extra calls. He said Maryland State Police would also pitch in.

Crime in the county has been notoriously low for decades. According to federal crime data, Caroline County, which includes Ridgely, has reported four homicides since 2000. And in Ridgely, violent crime peaked in 2010 with a total of 41 incidents reported. Small-town departments often receive little scrutiny in communities where crime is low and oversight is minimal, conditions exacerbated by the decline of local newspapers. More often than not, Ridgely police officers are dealing with minor public safety issues. The departments Facebook page is filled with posts about officers participating in community events and supporting local businesses. Other posts contain information about lost keys, credit cards, bikes and other items officers had recovered around town.

Small Town Charm

With a population of about 1,600, Ridgely boasts an abundance of small-town charm and a proud history rooted in the expansion of the American railroad in the late 1800s. An antique caboose sits on display outside the towns old train station, which was restored and renovated in 2017. The town hall and police department offices are housed in a historic building that once served as Caroline Countys only hospital.

The little local news coverage the town has received in recent years focused mostly on its annual winter festival, which draws thousands of visitors.

But several years ago  two years before Floyds death prompted nationwide protests against racism and police brutality  Blacks deadly arrest placed an unwelcome spotlight on the majority-white community and presented what has become a tragically familiar scene: a young Black man taking his last breaths during a traumatic encounter with police.

Police Reforms

Maryland lawmakers passed a package of police accountability measures in 2021 that included a bill in Blacks memory to expand public access to police disciplinary records because of questions surrounding past misconduct allegations against an officer involved in his death. The police chief who hired that officer in Greensboro later pleaded guilty to criminal misconduct for omitting information from his application for police certification.

Law enforcement agencies nationwide have struggled to recruit new members in recent years, especially in rural areas. Small-town departments often receive little scrutiny in communities where crime is low and oversight is minimal, conditions exacerbated by the decline of local newspapers.

An officer hired last year in Ridgely had faced misconduct allegations in Delaware before joining the department, court records show. That officer resigned in January. Another Ridgely officer was hired despite having an arrest record in Delaware.

While speculation has fueled the rumor mill in recent days, residents said, suspending the whole department suggests the problem is bigger than one officer.

It doesnt add up, said Gennie Woo, whose family has owned a general store in downtown Ridgely since 1983. Everybody is skeptical about what happened. We just want to know how and why.

Associated Press researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York contributed to this report.

Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Law Enforcement Maryland
Hannover Re will combine its global business in the areas of cyber and digital, creating a new specialty reinsurance business unit, effective April 1, 2024.

Hannover Re said the new business unit aims to enhance Hannover Res position as a trusted business partner for insurtechs and clients seeking coverage for cyber risks both in treaty and facultative reinsurance.

Reinsurance coverage of cyber business benefits from a centralized approach on a portfolio-level with regards to diversification, accumulation and cycle management, the company explained.

The move will also allow Hannover Re to expand its data and analytics capabilities and scale its cyber retrocession capacities.

The creation of a dedicated cyber and digital business unit allows us to create consistency and the best possible capacity for our clients and business partners, said Silke Sehm, member of Hannover Res Executive Board. For insurtechs and many clients seeking cyber risk protection, we are already the trusted reinsurance partner. At the same time, Hannover Res underwriting approach with a focus on profitability and long-term partnership will provide us with balanced and profitable growth in this area.

Stefan Sperlich will head the new cyber and digital business unit as managing director. He studied mathematics and joined Hannover Re in 2009 as a structured reinsurance underwriter with different regional responsibilities over the past 15 years. Since 2019, he has been leading the North American structured reinsurance business. In addition, he formed and headed Hannover Res digital business accelerator for property and casualty business.

Sperlich will report to Sehm, the responsible member at Hannover Res Executive Board.

The new unit will be located in Hannover and will be composed of Hannover Res highly experienced underwriters and experts in cyber and digital risks. The team will closely cooperate with the global market units and local offices to support business generation and client management.

Source: Hannover Re

Topics Cyber Underwriting Reinsurance
A U.S. judge on Monday threw out Elon Musks 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 Musks X Corp sued the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) because he didnt like its criticism, and thought its research would hurt Xs image and scare advertisers away.

X Corp has brought this case in order to punish CCDH for CCDH publications that criticized X Corpand 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 CCDHs 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 worlds 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 Breyers decision affirms his groups 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 havent 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 Xs 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 Xs 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 Xs 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 Musks frivolous lawsuit.

Musks 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.

Photograph: Elon Musk, CEO and founder of X Corp., the successor of Twitter. Photo credit: Bigstock

Topics Lawsuits
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 Chinas 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. Defense contractors, dissidents and security companies were also hit, 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 Britains 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.

Todays announcement exposes Chinas continuous and brash efforts to undermine our nations 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 weve seen in previous election cycles, actors like APT31 turn to political organizations to find the geopolitical intelligence that theyre tasked with collecting, Hultquist said.

Topics USA China
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that Chubb must cover restitution claims paid to ticket holders of the 2020 South by Southwest film festival cancelled due to COVID-19.

A three-judge panel reversed a summary judgment in favor of Federal Insurance Company (Chubb), finding that its policy exclusions did not preclude coverage to SXSW Ltd. over a class action lawsuit brought by festival pass holders.

The 2020 edition of SXSW was cancelled on March 6 by the city of Austin amidst the spread of the coronavirus. In April, two ticket holders, the Bromley Plaintiffs, filed a class action lawsuit against SXSW on behalf of themselves and all other people who purchased wristbands, tickets, passes, and badges to the festival. The Bromley Plaintiffs asserted claims for breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and conversion.

SXSW settled the case in February 2022. The festival offered class members $30 in addition to benefits from its prior deferral offer. In total, SXSW paid more than $1 million to settle the litigation.

SXSW sought to shift the cost on to its insurer. Chubb notified SXSW in May 2020 it would not defend or indemnify for the Bromley litigation. SXSW sued Chubb in October 2021 in federal court, alleging breach of contract, breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and violations of the Texas Insurance Code. SXSW sought a declaratory judgment that Chubb owed the festival duties to defend and indemnify the Bromley suit.

A magistrate ruled that exclusions under SXSWs policy with Chubb excused the insurer from the litigation, to which a district court agreed.

On appeal, the 5th Circuit found that the policys contract exclusion under entity liability coverage does not apply, nor does the professional services exclusion.

Though the policy clears Chubb of liability that arises out of a contract, the plaintiffs claims were not limited to breach-of-contract. Because the claims for unjust enrichment and conversion not arise from contracts, at least one claim in the lawsuit survives the contract exclusion, the panel found.

The court also rejected the professional services exclusion, finding that professional services does not extend to the action of SXSW providing refunds to ticket holders. The panel said it was persuaded by the Texas Supreme Courts repeated instructions to strictly construe exclusions against the insurer.

The panel also dismissed Chubbs contention that a restitution claim is not a covered loss.

Texas state courts have never held that restitution is per se uninsurable, the panels opinion says. Restitution might be uninsurable when the receipt of funds was unlawful  but there is no suggestion that SXSW acquired the plaintiffs money unlawfully. Accordingly, Federals argument about covered loss fails. The court remanded the case for further proceedings consistent with its opinion. Photo: Attendees crowd the Austin Convention Center during the South by Southwest Film and Interactive Festivals on Saturday, March 11, 2023, in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Jack Plunkett/Invision/AP)

Topics Lawsuits Texas Chubb
North Carolinians can no longer stack underinsured motorist policies to compare to liability limits in order to boost the amount of coverage in an accident, the state Supreme Court said last week in a decision that overturns 30 years of appeals court rulings.

Theres no doubt this is a significant ruling, said William Lipscomb, attorney for North Carolina Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co., which prevailed in the case. It drastically changes things back to the way the legislature drew it up.

The states UIM law is clear, the high court said in the decision. The only UIM limits that may be considered at the activation stage are those for the vehicle involved in the accident and insured under the owners policy,' the court said in overturning a 2022 appeals court decision in the case.

North Carolina law notes that a claimants underinsured coverage must be activated for his or her claim to proceed. And insureds must show that the at-fault vehicles liability limits are less than the claimants UIM coverage.

The appellate court had erred when it permitted motorist Matthew Bryan Hebert to stack and compare at the activation stage, adding his parents UIM policy to his own. The appeals court should not have allowed him to aggregate inter-policy all of the UIM policies available to defendant, regardless of their connection to the car involved in the accident, before comparing his UIM limits to the at-fault vehicles liability limits, the high court justices said.

The trial court in Wake County must now enter a judgment in favor of Farm Bureau, declaring that Hebert was not due the extra coverage, effectively ending the litigation, the Supreme Court said.

The case was complicated somewhat by the fact that Hebert was a passenger in his own car when the collision occurred. His 2004 Chevrolet Malibu was both the at-fault vehicle and the vehicle through which Hebert, as an injured party, sought UIM recovery.

Thats not an unusual situation, Lipscomb said.

When there are injured passengers in a single-vehicle accident, its pretty common, he said.

Hebert also had acknowledged in the litigation that his parents policy covered only him, not his car, a key distinction in the statute.

In 2020, Hebert was riding with two other people in his Malibu. Sincere Terrell Corbett was driving. The car collided with a car owned by William Coats, the court explained. Corbett and a passenger in Heberts car, Jamar Hicks, were killed. Hebert and another passenger, Chase Hawley, along with Coats, the other driver, were seriously injured.

All agreed that Corbett was at fault. Farm Bureau paid the $100,000 per-accident limit under Heberts liability policy and the four claimants and their estates agreed to divide the payout. Some $49,500 went to Hicks estate; $49,500 to Hawley; $900 to Coats; and $100 to Hebert.

Farm Bureau also paid $99,900 in UIM coverage under Heberts parents policy. Several months later, Farm Bureau asked the Wake County judge to declare that Heberts additional claim of UIM coverage under his own policy was not available: Heberts liability policy limits were equal to its UIM coverage, thus barring any further underinsured recovery, the insurer argued.

The Wake County trial judge disagreed, and the North Carolina Court of Appeals upheld the trial judge. A dissent by one appellate judge, however, sided with Farm Bureau on this particular type of claim, despite decades of stacking practice in the state.

The Supreme Courts opinion agreed with that dissent. The justices pointed out that for some 30 years, courts have allowed stacking of policies to help protect victims of auto accidents. But the opinion, written by Chief Justice Paul Newby, said the Court of Appeals had been misinterpreting the N.C. Motor Vehicle Safety and Financial Responsibility Act of 1953.

In the appellate courts view, the limits referred to in the statute were all of the UIM limits available to the claimant, Newby explained.

This interpretation, however, ignores the remainder of subdivision 20-279.21(b)(4)s first paragraph. In the sentences immediately surrounding subdivision 20-279.21(b)(4)s definitions of underinsured highway vehicle, limits appears thirteen times. In each of those instances, the statute refers to the per-person and per-accident limits under a singular policy, not limits from multiple policies.

The statute appears to allow inter-policy stacking, but only in the later, calculation stage of a claim, not at the initial activation stage, the justices wrote. Also, the statutory language on the activation is concerned with the claimants UIM policies for the vehicle, not all UIM policies for which the insured is eligible.

In other words, if an insureds UIM policy is not for the vehicle involved in the accident and insured under the owners policy, it is outside the scope of consideration when determining whether the at-fault vehicle is an underinsured highway vehicle, the Supreme Court noted.

Thus, the sum of Heberts liability policy limits is not less than the UIM limits and the Malibu does not meet the definition of an underinsured vehicle.

The case was watched by the plaintiff and defense bars. In an amicus brief, the North Carolina Advocates for Justice, a trial attorney association, said that Farm Bureaus argument was another example of an insurer seeking to undermine UIM coverage that has been in place for years.

By allowing the $100 to Hebert from his liability policy, Farm Bureau negated an additional $50,000 in additional UIM coverage, a policy Hebert had paid premiums on. That shortchanges the insured, attorneys Jon Ward, Paul Coates and Douglas Maynard Jr. wrote in the brief. The statute is clear and has not been misinterpreted by appeals courts, they said.

If the fundamental structure of UIM benefits is to shift in North Carolina, that change should come from the legislature, the brief noted.

In January, change is coming from the legislature. Under a 2023 law that takes effect in 2025, insurers and insureds must compare the amount of liability coverage to the damages suffered by victims of an accident, instead of comparing liability coverage to underinsured coverage for vehicles.

It will be a dramatically different equation, said Lipscomb, the Farm Bureau attorney, who is retiring from practice this week.

Related: South Carolina High Court in 2022 Said Stacking Allowed

Topics North Carolina
Nevada gambling regulators fined a hotel-casino in Laughlin a record $500,000 in a settlement with the state Gaming Control Board stemming from a pair of incidents involving security officers who roughed up a patron and a resort employee nearly two years ago.

The Nevada Gaming Commission unanimously approved the settlement Thursday with Don Laughlins Riverside Resort, which fired four of the security officers and reassigned the fifth to a different job following the separate incidents in 2022, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

The commission said the fine was the highest ever assessed for incidents of their kind.

One incident involved a customer who wouldnt leave a slot machine area during an accounting check at the resort about 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of Las Vegas along the Colorado River bordering Arizona. The other involved an unidentified Riverside employee who was falsely accused of smoking marijuana during his shift, the Riverside said.

In both cases, people were injured when in the hands of the security guards. The casino patron was thrown to the ground and reported a leg injury, the newspaper reported.

Riverside officials said they formed a review committee months later to address the incidents and to prevent similar actions from occurring again.

Riverside Chief Operating Officer Matthew Laughlin said during Thursdays hearing that different security guards were involved in the two incidents, and they failed to follow resort policy. He said the company didnt assess the personalities of the guards involved in the incidents before their hiring.

Instead of defusing the situation, Laughlin said, they (guards) took it to the next level.

Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Nevada
A man who says he was sexually abused as a boy by a priest in New Mexico in the 1960s sued the church and diocese this week, the latest case to surface in the state as the Roman Catholic Church wrestles with the global clergy sex abuse scandal.

The suit filed Tuesday in state district court in Las Cruces seeks unspecified compensation for the unnamed victim. His lawyers say he is now 62 and has been suffering in silence for over 50 years.

The complaint names as defendants St. Joseph Parish in Lordsburg and the Catholic Diocese of El Paso, Texas, which oversaw the southern New Mexico parish before the creation of the Las Cruces Diocese in the 1980s.

It details alleged abuse by the Rev. Lawrence Gaynor, who died in 1978 at age 75. Gaynor was included in a list of accused priests that was released by the El Paso diocese in 2019.

Many clergy abuse allegations in New Mexico date back decades. In 2022, the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, the states largest diocese and one of the nations oldest, reached a $121.5 million agreement to settle nearly 400 abuse claims.

In recent years the Las Cruces Diocese turned over to state prosecutors the personnel files of more than two dozen priests accused of sexually abusing children.

The new lawsuit says the plaintiff was the victim of sexual abuse and exploitation by Gaynor from around late 1967 to early 1968 when the priest was at St. Joseph Parish, with the abuse stopping only when the boy and his family moved away.

According to the suit, the El Paso Diocese was aware of Gaynors proclivity for child sexual abuse since 1965. It says the dioceses Bishop Sidney Metzger  who served in the post from 1942 to 1978 and died in 1986  disregarded explicit warnings from psychologists that Gaynor should be placed under indefinite supervision at an isolated monastery in Jemez Springs, New Mexico.

St. Joseph Parish is alleged to have done nothing to warn vulnerable parishioners when Gaynor was placed in Lordsburg.

The El Paso Diocese is aware of the lawsuit, spokesman Fernando Ceniceros said. He declined to comment further on the pending litigation.

There was no immediate response to phone messages seeking comment that were left with St. Joseph Parish on Thursday.

Ben Davis, an attorney with one of the Albuquerque law firms that filed the suit, said his firm has handled hundreds of clergy abuse cases since 2016.

Some settlements have been in seven figures, Davis said. But its not about the money. What we are seeking is justice for the victim.

Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits Trends Mexico New Mexico
The Japanese ambassador to Ireland has called on primary and secondary schools in Kerry to teach the Japanese language and for Kerry people to speak "a little bit of Japanese" to make even more sustainable the already more than three decades of happy marriage between company and community in the county.

Ambassador Norio Maruyama was speaking at MTU Tralee following a sod-turning ceremony at the adjoining Kerry Technology Park for the largest single foreign direct investment ever in Kerry at one time  the new 330m Astellas pharmaceutical plant.

The project was hailed as a game-changer for the region and an example of commitment to regional balance development  and a commitment by Government to a pro-enterprise competitive economy  regardless of any "personality changes".

Astellas Ireland, a wholly owned subsidiary of Astellas Pharma Inc has been in Killorglin, Co Kerry, since 1990. The company specialises in transplant, kidney, bladder, antibody and cancer drugs. This had been a happy marriage between the company and the community, the ambassador said.

Speaking a little Japanese going forward would make the relationship even more sustainable, Mr Maruyama said.

Astellas had decided to expand after more years in Kerry because both sides of the marriage  the company and the community  created the atmosphere.

To make this more sustainable would be "teaching the Japanese language in Kerry". This included primary and secondary schools and at the MTU level.

"If you can speak a little bit of Japanese", this would advance the relationship, he told the gathering.

In terms of learning Japanese in Europe, Ireland was number one, the ambassador said. The language was being taught already in 35 secondary schools.

The new facility, which has been designed with sustainability at its core, will accelerate the expansion of Astellas in-house production capabilities and ensure a stable supply of high-quality medicines to patients around the world, the sod-turning heard.

Six hundred construction jobs and 100 highly specialised roles in engineering, science, and technology will be created. The facility is planned to be operational by 2028.

The investment was next door to MTU and it will be a catalyst for other investments in the park, Enterprise Minister Simon Coveney said.

It was an important statement of intent too in the context of regional balance development in Ireland, by the IDA, outside of Dublin and its immediate environs, he said.

More than half the 243 IDA-supported projects were outside of Dublin last year.

Astellas Pharma chief manufacturing officer Hideki Shima said: Today marks a significant achievement for our company and reflects our continued commitment to expansion and innovation in the region.

"Not only will it further the Astellas vision to be at the forefront of healthcare change by turning innovative science into value for patients, but it will also be a growth opportunity for the many people who will bring this facility to life."

Planning for the facility based on the IDAs 45 acre site in Kerry Technology Park was granted by Kerry County Council in December. There had not been a single objection, it was noted on Monday.

On an environmental level, the building will incorporate international best practice in energy and environmental design. The project aims to cut water use by about half, reduce operational energy intensity by more than one-third, and produce zero waste to landfill.

These measures, along with onsite renewable technology including solar PV panels and biomass boiler, underpin Astellas efforts in the mitigation of climate change.

Astellas recently announced further investment in Kerry, taking over the lease of the Advanced Technology Building, also at Kerry Technology Park.
The European Commission is "responding to the need for a more flexible and simpler" Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue has said.

Speaking at the Agriculture and Fisheries Council on Tuesday in Brussels, Minister McConalogue welcomed the approach to "easing the administrative burden for farmers".

During its meeting on February 26, 2024, the Agriculture and Fisheries Council confirmed its intention to respond to the concerns voiced by farmers and urged the commission to come up with a proposal to amend the CAP regulations.

On March 15, the commission published its proposal.

Today, member states' representatives in the Special Committee on Agriculture endorsed a targeted review of certain basic acts of the CAP proposed by the European Commission.

This review seeks to address issues encountered, for instance, with the implementation of the CAP strategic plans and aims to deliver simplification, reduce the administrative burden, and provide greater flexibility for complying with certain environmental conditionalities.

Mr McConalogue said that farmers "need stability and space to plan their futures".

"I will continue to work with member states to ensure that we have a strong and effective CAP that continues to support sustainable food production in the EU," he added.

Endorsed changes

The Special Committee on Agriculture today endorsed changes to the Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition (GAEC) standards proposed by the European Commission.

GAECs are a set of nine standards beneficial to the environment and the climate that apply to farmers who receive support under the CAP.

One of the main proposed changes is for a general provision to be introduced allowing member states to grant temporary and targeted derogations from certain conditionality requirements in the event of unforeseen climate conditions that prevent farmers from complying with them.

Once per year, member states will have to inform the commission about such derogations.

Additionally, specific exemptions from certain GAEC standards are proposed, such as:

GAEC 6: member states will have more flexibility to decide which soils to protect and in which season, based on national and regional specificities;

GAEC 7: crop rotation will remain the main practice, but member states will be able to use crop diversification as an alternative;

GAEC 8: farmers will only be obliged to maintain existing landscape features and will from now on be encouraged, on a voluntary basis, to keep land fallow or to create new landscape features through eco-schemes.

The endorsed revision of CAP also exempts small farms of under 10 hectares from controls and penalties related to compliance with conditionality requirements under the CAP.

Since this concerns 65% of CAP beneficiaries but only accounts for around 10% of agricultural land, it is expected to reduce the administrative burden related to controls for farmers and national administrations but remain beneficial for the environment.

Market data

Mr McConalogue has also welcomed the commissions proposals to increase the requirement for gathering market data and to assess the implementation of the Unfair Trading Practices Directive to date.

I am pleased to see the commission address the position of farmers in the value chain. In Ireland, I have established a fully independent agri-food regulator, An Rialalai Agraibhia, to bring a new and enhanced focus to the regulation of unfair trading practices," he commented.

"I have also ensured that the regulator has an important function in analysis and reporting on price and market data. I am confident that these measures can enhance the position of farmers and improve transparency in the supply chain.

Protest

Today's developments come as European farmers took to the streets of Brussels again to show their frustration with environmental regulations, administrative burden, trade agreements, and squeezed margins.

The European Coordination Via Campesina (ECVC), a movement made up of farmers seeking fairer and more sustainable agricultural systems, said that the protest, led by one of their Belgian member organisations FUGEA, is seeking an "adequate response to our key demand centred on fair incomes and fair prices for farmers".

The ECVC said it is seeking an end to free-trade agreements and unfair competition, starting with a definite halt to negotiations on the EU-Mercosur deal; strengthening the EU Directive on Unfair Trading Practices to legally ensure that prices are higher than farmers' production costs; and the regulation of markets via the CAP to ensure fair and stable prices.

The movement said that the recent proposals from the European Commission are "insufficient to tackle the root causes that have driven farmer protests across Europe for months".
Hong Kong: Bernadette Linn attends forum in GZ

Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn today officiated at the Mainland & Hong Kong Construction Forum 2024, which was attended by over 800 industry practitioners from Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau.



Speaking at the opening ceremony for the event, held in Guangzhou, Ms Linn said that Hong Kongs construction industry has rich experience in undertaking large-scale infrastructure projects, adding that its professional engineering service standards are well recognised internationally.



Hong Kong construction and engineering-related professionals have participated in numerous overseas infrastructure projects, working together with Mainland enterprises in support of the Belt & Road Initiative, she added.



Ms Linn said she hoped the forum would serve as a cross-regional and high-level exchange platform for the construction industries of the Mainland, Hong Kong and Macau to draw on their collective wisdom to enhance construction and infrastructure standards in the Greater Bay Area.



Prior to attending the forum, the development chief met Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Housing & Urban-Rural Development (MOHURD) Wang Hui and Vice-Governor of the Peoples Government of Guangdong Zhang Shaokang to discuss co-operation on construction works.



The Development Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Government and Guangdongs Department of Housing & Urban-Rural Development signed a letter of intent on strengthening co-operation in construction and related engineering sectors.



Ms Linn said the letter will deepen bay area co-operation in the construction and engineering sectors, including through supporting the creation of a Guangdong-Hong Kong industry chain for the Modular Integrated Construction industry.



It will also support the joint formulation of bay area standards for technologies and products as well as joint personnel training in the construction and engineering sectors, she added.



Additionally, industry representatives from Guangdong and Hong Kong signed a number of agreements, including a memorandum of understanding between the University of Hong Kong and MOHURDs Centre of Science & Technology Industrial Development, an agreement between the Construction Industry Council and training institutes in Guangdong, and a joint advocacy statement involving relevant associations, institutes and chambers of commerce from the two places.

This story has been published on: 2024-03-26. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
A meeting of the National Fodder and Food Security Committee is expected to take place this week as farmers voice their concerns that a crisis could unfold.

Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue confirmed on Tuesday that he has requested a meeting to be held in recognition of ongoing and challenging weather conditions.

"Grass growth over the winter period has yielded strong pasture covers on farms, however, difficult weather conditions are delaying or restricting turnout," Mr McConalogue said.

"The challenge is more pronounced in certain parts of the country particularly where early grazing is a key management tool."

The minister said that Teagasc has advised that silage is available to purchase, and that some farmers had included the option of purchasing fodder in their winter feed budgeting plans.

Mr McConalogue added: It is important that the committee establishes the most up-to-date facts regarding the fodder and feed situation on farms and provides advice to assist farmers through this challenging period.

'Breaking point'

The Irish Farmers' Association has this week warned that there is a "deepening crisis" on farms due to the persistent wet weather and while all sectors are suffering, 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.

Fodder scheme

Farmers have urged the minister 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.

ICMSA president Denis Drennan said that the winter period has placed an "enormous mental strain on farmers from a financial and personal perspective and farmers were doing their utmost to manage their way through an extremely difficult spring".

Macra said that it is "crucial" that the fodder committee meets as soon as possible.

Macra president Elaine Houlihan said that farmers are facing "difficult decisions" in the coming days regarding fodder supplies, grassland management, future fodder stocks and cereal planting.

"Weather conditions remain challenging, and farmers need support and advice around future fodder decisions at farm level," Ms Houlihan said.

Met Eireann has said that over the coming days, unsettled weather with frequent rain and showers can be expected.
Mercier Press, the oldest independent publisher in Ireland, celebrates 80 years in business this year, a notable achievement in such a challenging industry. Founded in 1944 by Tipperary native Sean Feehan and his wife Mary, the Cork-based press went on to be a formidable and prolific presence in Irish publishing.

When he set up Mercier, Sean Feehan was a captain in the Irish Army, stationed at Collins Barracks in Cork. To call him the driving force behind the business would be something of an understatement. He was a man of unusual vision for his time, something which can be seen in an RTE archive clip from an interview he did with Breandan O hEithir for the television programme Feach in January, 1971.

Captain Sean Feehan

Speaking eloquently and fluently as Gaeilge, he describes how he got into publishing with a 90 loan. At the time of the interview, Mercier had already published more than 1,000 titles, across an impressive range of subjects. The breadth of the topics covered is evident in some of the books Feehan displays to the camera  Philosophy for Beginners is followed by Unusual Problems in Medical Ethics and then by Tom Barrys Guerrilla Days in Ireland. Also shown is a book on the problem of onanism, which many people may not like.

Obviously a deep thinker, Feehan talks about exploring theology and philosophy while studying at UCG, and describes the books he has published as saghas scathan dom fhein  a type of mirror of himself.

John Spillane joined Mercier Press in the 1960s as commercial manager, working closely with Sean Feehan and eventually taking over as managing director. Feehan remained chairman of Mercier Press until his death in 1991.

He was a man who was ahead of his time. He was not afraid of speaking his mind. He was a bit of a controversial figure in some ways but really the kind of person that a publisher should be. He had an opinion on everything and was not afraid to express it, even if it ruffled a lot of feathers, says Spillane.

The Mercier book shop on Bridge St in Cork in 1971.

As befits a press that was originally named after the Belgian cardinal and theological scholar, Cardinal Desire-Joseph Mercier, it initially specialised in religious texts. Its first book, The Music of Life by Fr James OMahony, was a big success, and demonstrated how Feehan meant to go on, encouraging the reader to question and challenge established Catholic dogma.

Spillane recalls how Feehans strategic thinking enabled Mercier to become a leading publisher of religious titles, not just in Ireland but globally.

He realised that, after the war, there was a lot of new religious thinking  much of it coming from Germany, Holland and France. So he decided to learn German. He would go to Germany a couple of weeks before the Frankfurt Book Fair, visit the major bookshops and find out the bestselling books coming from German theological authors. Then he would go to the book fair and buy the world English language rights, have them translated into English, then he would sell the rights to America, South Africa, Australia, the UK and New Zealand. That is how he built up the business.

However, Mercier faced a big threat to the business in the aftermath of the Second Vatican Council, Vatican II, which transformed the doctrine and practices of the Catholic church.

At the time, we were exporting much more than our home sales but then the Vatican Council came and it blew all of that asunder. Almost overnight, maybe 60% or 70% of our religious titles were no longer relevant. I had to send lorry loads of books to the waste paper company because there was no way you could sell them any more, says Spillane.

Feehan once again showed clarity of thought, quickly pivoting to publishing books of Irish interest, which was to become Merciers USP.

Cork native Victoria Pearson is an academic at the University of Ulster and is also a collector of Mercier Press titles. She says that Sean Feehan was so identifiable with Cork that she was surprised to hear that he had been born in Tipperary.

He was so synonymous with the city  hes like Fr Mathew, who was also from Tipperary but we presume hes from Cork, says Pearson.

She says it is clear from the titles that Mercier published that Feehan wanted to explore and challenge the status quo.

Even though Ireland seemed like a compliant place, under the surface there was a lot of questioning about what was going on.

The Tailor and Ansty by Eric Cross

She says one of the most significant in this regard was The Tailor and Ansty by Eric Cross, which was banned on its initial publication in 1942. A recounting of Crosss conversations with seanchai Timothy Buckley and his wife Anastasia who lived in Gougane Barra, Co Cork, it was branded pornographic for its references to sexual relations and premarital cohabitation. Mercier went on to publish it and the book has been in print ever since.

For Captain Feehan to champion Eric Cross would not have been a fashionable thing to do and could have hurt his business a lot, says Pearson.

She adds that Mercier also played a valuable role in providing books that were accessible and affordable to a working-class cohort who were eager for knowledge.

You can see that he is tapping into the market of people who could only afford primary education  secondary education wasnt free until 1966 and the majority of people left school aged 11 or 12. So you have all these people who didnt lack ability, they just lacked opportunity. Those Mercier Press books covering Irish history, the Irish language, Irish cultural studies, folklore, and so on, you could buy one for a nominal amount and you had access to very good scholarship.

The small paperback format in which many of the books were published also aided quick and easy reading.

They were that shape for a reason  they fit in your coat pocket or bag, you could read them on your lunch break and when you were finished with them, pass them on, says Pearson.

In the 1970s and '80s, Mercier continued to reflect Irish society, and the economic, social and political challenges that it faced, publishing books that explored topics including domestic violence, the conflict in the North and child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

In many ways, Captain Feehan could see what people were thinking but were afraid to say out loud, says Pearson. He would have been proud, no doubt, to see Mercier shortlisted last year for the prestigious International Publishers Association Prix Voltaire, which celebrates those standing up for freedom of expression.

Mercier has published countless Irish authors of note but one in particular is mentioned frequently  the legendary John B Keane who was published by Mercier from the start of his career. John Spillane says working with the Kerryman was one of the highlights of his long career.

I would frequently go down to Listowel, and sometimes we would conduct whatever business we had walking on the beach in Ballybunion and maybe in the pub on the way home. John B is still very important to us. We have three of his plays that come on and off the school syllabus and we sell a lot of them. It is very useful to a publisher to have titles that sell good quantities like that.

Mary Feehan of Mercier Press, with John Borgonovo and Conal Creedon at a book launch in the Bodega, Cork, in 2011. Picture: Richard Mills

In terms of the future for Mercier Press, Sean Feehans daughter Mary, who is in her 70s, is still involved in the business, and John Spillane also continues to have an input. The company appointed Dee Collins as head of books in 2020. She is overseeing the reissuing of some of the companys significant backlist and says that print on demand using digital technology has meant it is now far easier to publish older titles.

Mercier has always stayed true to its roots. It has never shied away from controversy and has published books that nobody else would have published. It has always been adaptable because the publishing industry changes all the time, she says.

Mercier will celebrate its significant milestone in April, with the publication of Ceoltoiri Chualann, the Band that Changed the Course of Irish Music, a history of the legendary traditional music collective founded by Sean O Riada, written by his son Peadar. It will be launched at a special event in Cork City Library as part of the World Book Festival.

Collins is optimistic for the future, saying that the market for books in Ireland is healthy. Mercier has seen quite a lot of changes, we have seen the death of the book heralded so often  back to when television came along first. Of course, people kept reading.

There is an irony in this reference to the continued resilience of the printed word despite such dire predictions. In the archived interview from RTE, Feehan declares go bhfuil re na leabhar beagnach thart  that the age of the book is nearly over. Extraordinarily, for 1971, decades ahead of the popularity of audiobooks, he then goes on to predict that tapes and the audio-visual cassette will eventually take over.

He could see that cassette players and radios were being put into cars and people could just pop them in and listen to them, like we would listen to podcasts now, says Pearson.

For the final word on Mercier and the remarkable legacy left by its singular founder, its hard to beat his own words, from the RTE interview: Nil fhios agam cad ta romhainn, ach rachaimid isteach ann: I dont know whats ahead of us but we will take it on.

'The Book of Kerryman Jokes' by Des MacHale, 'Skylark, Sing Your Lonely Song' by Bobby Sands, and Bill Cullen's 'It's a Long Way from Penny Apples'  just three of the books published by Mercier Press.

Kerryman jokes to Bobby Sands and Penny Apples: Ten notable books from Mercier Press

Mercier Press has published some incredible books through the decades... here's Marjorie Brennan's selection

The Story of Cork by Sean Beecher (1972)

A classic of local history, Beechers discursive exploration of Cork ranges widely over his native place. John Skeltons line drawings make for an iconic cover and the brief biographical notes at the end of the book are a master stroke.

Sean Beecher's 'The Story of Cork' and Kevin Danaher's 'The Year in Ireland'.

The Year in Ireland: Irish Calendar Customs by Kevin Danaher (1972)

A priceless survey of our history and heritage, Danahers classic work, now reissued, tracks native customs through a busy year  from New Year to Easter, May Day to Harvest and Christmas.

Irish Marriage  how are you! by Nuala Fennell (1974)

Decades before women achieved any kind of equality in Irish society, Mercier published this sobering account of marriage, including a powerful and shocking chapter on domestic violence.

The Kerryman joke books (1981-2001) by Des MacHale

Maths professor Des MacHale took on Corks neighbours in this phenomenally successful tongue-in-cheek series.

'Irish Marriage - How Are You!' by Nuala Fennell, and 'Letters of a Successful TD' by John B Keane.

Letters of a Successful TD by John B Keane (1987)

Keane is best remembered as a dramatist, but in terms of Irish political comedy, this series of epistolary musings has never been bettered.

Skylark, Sing Your Lonely Song: An Anthology of the Writings of Bobby Sands

Mercier issued a number of books relating to the hunger striker, including his prison diaries. This book is a comprehensive collection of his writings, with an introduction by Ulick OConnor.

The SAS in Ireland by Raymond Murray (1991)

In keeping with a long history of political engagement, Mercier published this analysis of the Special Air Service in Ireland, a brave and necessary book which emerged at a particular sensitive time in Anglo-Irish relations.

Its a Long Way from Penny Apples by Bill Cullen (2001)

This memoir by the Dublin businessman who grew up in a tenement became one of the most successful Irish books ever published.

Raymond Murray's 'The SAS in Ireland', Pat Fitzpatrick's '101 Reasons Why Cork is Better Than Dublin', and Ionbha: The Empathy Book for Ireland.

101 Reasons Why Cork is Better Than Dublin, by Pat Fitzpatrick (2019)

The ultimate flex for a publisher based in the Real Capital  the title speaks for itself.

Ionbha: The Empathy Book for Ireland (2022)

Co-edited by Cork actor Cillian Murphy, along with Gillian Browne, Pat Dolan and Mark Brennan, this anthology featuring a variety of contributors makes a powerful case for empathy as a cause for good.
The warrant used to search the home of the garda wrongly suspected of stealing a bicycle from his station contained false or incorrect information, the Irish Examiner has learned.

Last week, the final report from a disciplinary tribunal was sent to garda headquarters, nearly four years after the gardas home was raided by members of the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (NBCI).

According to sources, the report includes details of the warrant, which was obtained from a judge on the basis that there was prima facia evidence that the garda in question was suspected of removing not just a bicycle but a pair of very expensive bicycle wheels, which were valued at nearly 1,000.

The detail on the warrant was incorrect as there was nothing to suspect the garda in question had anything to do with the removal of the wheels.

Last week, the disciplinary tribunal officially cleared the garda of any wrongdoing.

He was initially suspended for a year while a criminal investigation was conducted.

Following a decision by the DPP that there was no basis for prosecution, he was put on restricted duties for the following three years.

It has been established that the garda gave the bicycle to an elderly farmer in an isolated area during covid to help him until he could access his own bicycle, which was unavailable because of the lockdown movement restrictions.

The case and the manner of the disciplinary proceedings have caused outrage among garda representative associations.

The disciplinary report also raises questions about statements from a supervisor who was involved in the case.

The potential discrepancy centres on whether the accused garda had informed a supervisor of his act of kindness with the bicycle prior to the issuing and execution of the search warrant on his home.

The garda insists that he did inform a supervisor that he had given the bike to the elderly farmer.

Last week, it was reported that the garda intends to sue the state over how he was treated in the whole affair.

While the bicycle in question was worth very little money, the pair of wheels that went missing at the same time were specialist and considered very valuable.

These wheels have never been recovered.

However, in obtaining the search warrant, information was compiled that conflated the two issues.

A review of the disciplinary report in Garda HQ is expected to examine why the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the primary crime-fighting unit in the organisation, was deployed to the midlands to investigate a missing bicycle.

A spokesperson for An Garda Siochana said the Board of Inquiry report is currently being reviewed by an assistant commissioner.

Commissioner Harris entirely accepts the board of inquiry made no adverse findings against the garda, the spokesperson said.

On Tuesday, at the annual conference of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee insisted that lessons needed to be learned from the case, saying that the timeline for investigations against gardai needs to be shorter.

The new policing Bill enables us to develop new protocols when it comes to suspensions, and when it comes to discipline," she said.

Of course, lessons need to be learned, even from recent cases. So as we're progressing these protocols, which I hope will be up and running in place by the summer.

It's beneficial for everybody involved that it's resolved as quickly as possible. And that is what we're working towards.

Commissioner Harris declined to comment on the specifics of the case and said he awaits written communication from the individuals legal representative.

The individual was entirely exonerated by the process and I wish him well in his service, Mr Harris said.
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, aged 39, of Cork Simon Community made that clear at Cork District Court.

The man is charged with possession of drugs and theft of a handbag.

Sergeant Aisling Murphy said the accused man was caught with 25 worth of drugs for his own use on April 29, 2023, at Paul St, Cork.

Shortly before 4pm 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 St 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.

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.
Gardai and firefighters attended the scene of a house fire on Monday night where a petrol can was found in one of the bedrooms and a young man living there allegedly told one officer at the scene: I did it, I set fire to the room.

Shane Hendricks, aged 25, of 12 Kilmore Heights, Knocknaheeny, Cork, appeared before Cork District Court on Tuesday charged with arson of his own family home.

Garda Cillian OConnell said gardai were opposed to bail being granted to the accused because of the seriousness of the offence that was alleged, namely arson.

Garda OConnell testified: Gardai attended a report of a house fire at 12 Kilmore Heights. On arrival, gardai were met by Cork city firefighters who informed gardai there had been a fire set in the rear bedroom.

A petrol can had been recovered from the bedroom and there was extensive damage to the bedroom. Gardai were also made aware that there were two occupants in the house when the fire was set but were out of it when the gardai arrived.

While gardai were in attendance, Shane Hendricks, of 12 Kilmore Heights, approached them and said to Garda David ODonoghue, I did it, I set fire to the room'.

On being searched at the scene he was found to have a burnt lighter in his pocket. He said in interview that he had consumed a number of cans of alcohol prior to starting the fire while at home and that he is currently off his medication which he is prescribed.

Frank Buttimer solicitor said the accused was applying for bail but Sgt Aisling Murphy said gardai were objecting.

When the defence suggested an alternative address the accused could live at if given bail, Sgt Murphy said time would be required to see if the accused would be welcome there.

The bail application was adjourned until March 27 with the accused remanded in custody until then.

Both prosecution and defence agreed that the accused was on prescribed medication but had not taken it for a number of days.
The UK and the United States have accused China of a global campaign of malicious cyber attacks in an unprecedented joint operation to reveal Beijings espionage.

Britain has publicly blamed China for targeting the Electoral Commission watchdog and for being behind a campaign of online reconnaissance aimed at the email accounts of MPs and peers.

Chinese spies are likely to use the stolen details to target dissidents and critics of Xi Jinpings government in the UK, British intelligence services believe.

US officials said the APT31 hacking group spent more than a decade targeting the sensitive data of politicians, journalists, academics, dissidents and American companies.

The prolific global hacking operation, backed by the Chinese government, sought to repress critics of the Chinese regime, compromise government institutions, and steal trade secrets, US deputy attorney general Lisa Monaco said.

The hackers sent more than 10,000 malicious emails to the targets to gain access to personal information, US prosecutors said, adding the criminals threatened to undermine democracies and threaten our national security.

The US charged seven of the alleged Chinese hackers on Monday.

The UK said Beijing-linked hackers were behind the attack on the Electoral Commission which exposed the personal data of 40 million voters, as well as 43 individuals including 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 were sanctioned in response to the hacks.

However, some of the MPs targeted by Beijing said the response did not go far enough.

They urged the UK government to toughen its stance on China by labelling it a threat to national security rather than an epoch-defining challenge, and to put China in the enhanced tier under the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme.

Conservative former minister Tim Loughton told Sky News: Were going to sanction two people, two pretty lowly officials, and one private company, which employs 50 people. That is just not good enough.

Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden telling the Commons Beijing was to blame for a cyberattack on the Electoral Commission (UK Parliament/Andy Bailey/PA)

Deputy British prime minister Oliver Dowden, who announced the measures in a Commons statement, appeared to suggest China could soon be declared a threat.

He told MPs that we are currently in the process of collective government agreement over the matter, and that clearly the conduct I have described today will have a very strong bearing on the decision that we make.

Cabinet tensions have reportedly surfaced over the issue, with some ministers pushing for tougher action on Beijing while others are resistant over concerns it could harm economic and trade relations.

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 Foreign Office to account for his countrys actions.

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.

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 UK 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.

Mr Dowden insisted the local elections in May and the general election later this year would be safe from Chinese cyber attacks.

He told the PA news agency: Yes, I can guarantee that our electoral processes will be safe and secure.

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.

On Tuesday, New Zealand alleged hackers linked to the Chinese government launched a state-sponsored operation that targeted the countrys parliament in 2021.

Minister responsible for the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB), Judith Collins, said in a statement: The GCSBs National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) completed a robust technical assessment following a compromise of the Parliamentary Counsel Office and the Parliamentary Service in 2021, and has attributed this activity to a PRC (China) state-sponsored group known as APT40.

Fortunately, in this instance, the NCSC worked with the impacted organisations to contain the activity and remove the actor shortly after they were able to access the network.

She added New Zealand will not follow the UK and US in sanctioning China as the country does not have a law allowing such penalties.

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.
A container ship lost power and crashed into a major bridge in the US city of Baltimore early on Tuesday, causing it to snap in several places and plunge into the river below.

The ship crashed into one of the bridges supports, causing the structure to break apart like a toy.

BREAKING: Ship collides with Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, causing it to collapse pic.twitter.com/OcOrSjOCRn  BNO News (@BNONews) March 26, 2024

Two people were rescued from the water, and officials said six people were still unaccounted for. All were believed to be those working on the bridge when it collapsed.

The construction workers were repairing potholes, Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld said at a news conference Tuesday.

The operators of the ship issued a mayday call moments before the crash that took down the bridge, enabling authorities to limit vehicle traffic on the span, Marylands governor said.

The ship, which is called Dali, reported losing power just before it struck a column on the bridge, authorities said. It tumbled into the water in a matter of seconds  a shocking spectacle that was captured on video and posted on social media. The vessel caught fire and thick, black smoke billowed out of it.

A US Coast Guard helicopter flies over the Dali container vessel after it struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge that collapsed into the Patapsco River in Baltimore, Maryland. Picture: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images

A preliminary investigation suggests that the crash was an accident and that theres no credible evidence of a terrorist attack, Governor of Maryland Wes Moore said.

US president Joe Biden was being briefed on the collision, the White House said.

Speaking at a press conference in Washington, Mr Biden called the events in Baltimore a "terrible accident" and said that the ongoing search and rescue operation was the "top priority".

"Everything so far indicates that this was a terrible accident. At this time, we have no other indication. No other reason to believe theres any intentional act here, he said.

Mr Biden also said that the federal government would pay for the reconstruction of the bridge and that he intends to visit Baltimore soon.

He also said that the residents of Baltimore, and those waiting for news on their loved ones, were in his thoughts.

"Were with you. Were going to stay with you as long as it takes. Youre Maryland tough, youre Baltimore strong," he said.

Earlier, Baltimore mayor Brandon Scott said: Never would you think that you would see, physically see, the Key Bridge tumble down like that.

It looked like something out of an action movie, Mr Scott said, calling it an unthinkable tragedy.

Photo taken from the X (formerly Twitter) feed @HarforCoFireEMS Harford County, MD Volunteer Fire & EMS showing a portion of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, US. Picture: Harford County, MD Volunteer Fire & EMS/PA Wire

Authorities said a crew of unknown size was working on the bridge at the time of the collapse and that sonar had detected cars in the water, which is about 50ft (15m) deep.

The temperature in the water was about 8C in the early hours of Tuesday, according to a buoy that collects data for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Jayme Krause was in the midst of another night shift at her workplace on shore when the cart of packages in front of her shook violently at around 2am. A coworker told her the bridge had collapsed and she ran out to look.

"I went over there, and sure as anything, it was gone, the whole bridge was just like, there was nothing there," she told Reuters in an interview.

"It was a shocking sight to see."

Earlier, Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore Fire Department, told The Associated Press: This is a dire emergency.

He called the collapse a developing mass casualty event, though he didnt know at the time how many people were affected.

He added that some cargo appeared to be dangling from the bridge.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore declared a state of emergency and said he was working to get federal resources deployed.

The FBI was also on the scene.

Parts of the Francis Scott Key Bridge remain after a container ship collided with a support. Picture: Jessica Gallagher/The Baltimore Banner via AP

Agencies reported receiving emergency calls around 1.30am (5.30am Irish time) reporting a vessel travelling outbound from Baltimore that had struck a column on the bridge, causing it to collapse.

Several vehicles were on the bridge at the time, including one the size of a tractor-trailer truck.

From a vantage point near the entrance to the bridge, jagged remnants of its steel frame were visible protruding from the water, with the on-ramp ending abruptly where the span once began.

Synergy Marine Group  which owns and manages the ship  confirmed the vessel hit a pillar of the bridge at about 1.30am while it was in control of two pilots.

It said all crew members, including the pilots, were accounted for and there were no reports of any injuries.

Danish shipping giant Maersk said it had chartered the vessel, which was carrying its customers cargo. No Maersk crew and personnel were on board.

The collapse caused Maersk share at the Nasdaq Copenhagen to plummet 2% in early Tuesday trading.

Mayor Brandon M Scott and Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr posted that emergency personnel were responding and rescue efforts were underway.

The Maryland Transportation Authority said: All lanes closed both directions for incident on I-695 Key Bridge. Traffic is being detoured.

The collapse is sure to create a logistical nightmare for months, if not years, for the East Coast, shutting down ship traffic at the Port of Baltimore and snarling cargo and commuter traffic.

The major bridge in Baltimore snapped and collapsed after a container ship rammed into it. Picture: WJLA via AP

The port's private and public terminals handled 847,158 autos and light trucks in 2023, the most of any US port.

The port also handles farm and construction machinery, sugar, gypsum and coal, according to a Maryland government website.

The bridge, which opened in 1977, spans the Patapsco River, a vital artery that along with the Port of Baltimore is a hub for shipping on the East Coast. It is named for the writer of The Star-Spangled Banner.

Tuesday's disaster may be the worst US bridge collapse since 2007 when the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis collapsed into the Mississippi River, killing 13.

- Additional reporting by Reuters
Hamas has rejected the latest proposal put forward by international mediators for a ceasefire and hostage release and Israel has blasted a UN Security Council resolution that called for both without linking them.

As the war in Gaza grinds through a sixth month, each side has publicly insisted that its own idea of victory is within reach, and late on Monday they rejected the latest international efforts to stem the bloodshed.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel can achieve its aims of dismantling Hamas and returning scores of hostages if it expands its ground offensive to the southern city of Rafah.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is still pushing for a ground offensive in Rafah (AP Photo/Leo Correa, Pool)

More than half of Gazas population has sought refuge in Rafah, many in crowded tent camps.

Hamas has said it will hold onto the hostages until Israel agrees to a more permanent ceasefire, withdraws its forces from Gaza and releases hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including top militants.

It said that it has rejected a recent proposal that fell short of those demands, which, if fulfilled, would allow it to claim an extremely costly victory.

There is no end in sight to the war, which has killed over 32,000 Palestinians, according to Gazas Health Ministry.

The fighting has left much of the Gaza Strip in ruins, displaced most of its residents and driven a third of its population of 2.3 million to the brink of famine.

An Israeli strike on a residential building in Rafah where three displaced families were sheltering killed at least 16 people, including nine children and four women, according to hospital records and relatives of the deceased.

On Monday, the Security Council finally managed to pass a resolution calling for a ceasefire.

The United States abstained instead of vetoing the measure, angering Israel in a major escalation of tensions between the two close allies.

The resolution calls for the release of all hostages held in Gaza but does not condition the ceasefire on it.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz told Army Radio on Tuesday that the resolution had emboldened Hamas by signalling that international pressure would end the war without it having to make any concessions.

Mr Katz said: The message delivered to Hamas yesterday  is that you dont have to hurry.

Aid drops into Gaza have been crucial as experts say the war has driven a third of its population of 2.3 million to the brink of famine (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

The war began on October 7, when Hamas-led militants stormed across the border and attacked communities in southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250 others.

It is still believed to be holding about 100 hostages and the remains of 30 others, after many were freed in November in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners.

The United States, Qatar and Egypt have spent several weeks trying to negotiate another ceasefire and hostage release, but those efforts appeared to have stalled.

Hamas said in a statement late on Monday that it has informed the mediators it will stick to an earlier position.

Hamas said Israel has not responded to its core demands of a comprehensive ceasefire, an (Israeli) withdrawal from the Strip, the return of displaced people and a real prisoner exchange.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, United States Ambassador and Representative to the United Nations, holds to abstain her vote as the United Nations Security Council passed a ceasefire resolution in Gaza (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

Hamas has previously proposed a phased process in which it would release all the remaining hostages in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the opening of its borders for aid and reconstruction, and the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including top militants serving life sentences.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected those demands as unrealistic.

He has vowed to resume Israels offensive after any hostage release and keep fighting until Hamas is destroyed, saying it is the only way to prevent a repeat of the October 7 attack.

But he has provided few details about what would follow any such victory and has largely rejected a post-war vision outlined by the US.

That approach has brought him into increasingly open conflict with President Joe Bidens administration, which has expressed mounting concern over civilian casualties while supplying Israel with crucial military aid and backing Israels aim of destroying Hamas.

The US had vetoed previous UN resolutions calling for a ceasefire.

The White House has urged Israel not to undertake a major ground operation in Rafah, warning that it could cause a humanitarian catastrophe.

The United Nations earlier passed a motion calling for a ceasefire (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

The administration was set to brief visiting Israeli officials on an alternative approach, but Mr Netanyahu called off their visit in response to the US abstention.

Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant is in Washington on a separate trip, however, and is to meet with US defence secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday.

On Monday, Mr Gallant vowed to continue the offensive until Israels aims are met.

We will operate against Hamas everywhere  including in places where we have not yet been, he said.

We have no moral right to stop the war while there are still hostages held in Gaza.
Firefighters in southern New Jersey came to the rescue of a dog who got stuck in a spare tyre.

The Franklinville Volunteer Fire Company crew found Daisy, an 11-month-old yellow Labrador when they responded to a Franklin Township home last Thursday.

Her neck was deep in the middle of the tyre rim and the firefighters worked quickly to devise a rescue plan while attempting to keep Daisy calm.

Firefighters first tried washing up liquid and oil to free the pup (Franklin Township Police Department via AP)

Lt Brandon Volpe told The Philadelphia Inquirer that the crew first used washing up liquid and water but could not free the dog, who was pretty stuck in there.

They then tried vegetable oil and when that did not work, they put cling film around her neck, hoping the oil and washing up liquid would make it slippery enough for her to slide down.

When that also failed, Mr Volpe remembered he had plasma cutters  used for cutting steel and metal  at his home, so the crew put Daisy on a red wagon and headed to his garage.

Mr Volpe recalls the dog panicked a little bit, but a fire blanket was put around her head and neck for protection.

Within five minutes, Daisy was free.
Julian Assange faces a further wait to find out whether his final UK bid to appeal over his extradition to the United States can go ahead at the High Court.

The WikiLeaks founder faces prosecution in the US over an alleged conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information following the publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

In a January 2021 ruling, then-district judge Vanessa Baraitser said that Assange should not be sent to the US, citing a real and oppressive risk of suicide, while ruling against him on all other issues.

But later that year, US authorities won their High Court bid to overturn this block, paving the way toward Assanges extradition.

During a two-day hearing in February, lawyers for the 52-year-old asked for the go-ahead to challenge the original judges dismissal of other parts of his case to prevent his extradition.

And in a judgment on Tuesday, Dame Victoria Sharp and Mr Justice Johnson dismissed most of Assanges legal arguments but said that unless assurances were given by the United States, he would be able to bring an appeal on three grounds.

The judges said the US authorities had three weeks to give those assurances, with a final decision to be made in late May.

Supporters of Julian Assange, marched to Downing Street from the Royal Courts of Justice in London (James Manning/PA)

At the start of Assanges bid last month, Mark Summers KC argued the USs prosecution would be retribution for his political opinions, meaning it would be unlawful to extradite him under UK law.

But Clair Dobbin KC, for the US, said the plans to extradite and prosecute Assange are based on his alleged actions, not his political opinions.

The hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice was attended by dozens of journalists and members of the public, with hundreds observing remotely.

Scores of Assange supporters demonstrated outside the central London courthouse over both days, waving banners and inviting passing drivers to honk their horns.
Hong Kong: Hung Shui Kiu station plan approved

The Chief Executive-in-Council today authorised the construction of the railway station at Hung Shui Kiu (HSK) under the Railways Ordinance, with works expected to start this year for completion in 2030.

As an intermediate station between Tin Shui Wai Station and Siu Hong Station on the Tuen Ma Line, HSK Station will primarily serve the future Hung Shui Kiu/Ha Tsuen New Development Area (HSK/HT NDA) in the western part of the Northern Metropolis.

The Government said HSK Station will offer an alternative transport choice for local residents. Currently, the commute via road-based transport between HSK/HT NDA and Tin Shui Wai Station or Siu Hong Station takes about 20 to 25 minutes during peak hours.

With the commissioning of HSK Station, the same journey by rail is expected to be shortened to about four minutes.

In the past few years, the Government and the MTR Corporation (MTRC) have been engaging the relevant local stakeholders, including District Council members, rural committee members and local residents, through various modes and channels, to provide information and exchange views on HSK Station.

During the period, many local residents expressed their desire for the station's early implementation.

The Government added that after the HSK Stations scheme was gazetted on February 24 last year, it received some objections and in collaboration with the MTRC, has carefully reviewed the grounds of each objection, met the objectors to explain the railway scheme and addressed their concerns with a view to allaying their doubts.

It has submitted the unwithdrawn objections to the Executive Council for consideration.

The Government made it clear that during the implementation of the HSK Station project, the MTRC will continue to maintain close communication with the relevant stakeholders.

The rail firm is also required to comply with the conditions set out in the environmental permit issued by the Director of Environmental Protection to minimise the disturbances to the environment to acceptable levels.

This story has been published on: 2024-03-26. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
It will be a challenge to catch people illegally entering the UK from Ireland who have not signed up to a new travel scheme, a British Home Office official has admitted.

An electronic travel authorisation (ETA) is a requirement for people who do not need a visa to come to the UK.

The programme is being extended to nationals of all countries but will not apply to Irish citizens because they have a right to travel to any part of the UK under the Common Travel Area.

Simon Bond, a senior director in the Home Office, was questioned by the House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee about enforcement.

Committee member Guy Sandhurst asked Mr Bond about a scenario in which he was a foreign national of villainous intent who enters the Republic of Ireland and could just hop on a plane to London despite not having an ETA.

He added: I may be committing a criminal offence, but how are your lot and the security people going to know that I have done this?

In his answer, Mr Bond admitted that is certainly a challenge, adding: The overall intent is to understand as much as possible about everyone coming to the UK, in order to upstream all of those checks.

Mr Sandhurst responded: If Im on a wicked mission for Mr Putin (Russian president Vladimir Putin) carrying dangerous poisons, that would be my route in, wouldnt it?

Mr Bond did not reply.

The ETA scheme was introduced in November 2023 but is currently only for nationals of Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

It is scheduled to be extended to include the European Union, the European Economic Area and Swiss nationals from early 2025, and the rest of the world this autumn.

Alfred Dubs suggested to immigration minister Tom Pursglove it is not a very satisfactory position that a tourist from a third country visiting the Republic of Ireland will be committing a criminal offence if they cross into Northern Ireland without an ETA.

The peer asked the minister how are you going to enforce this? given there are no immigration controls at the land border.

Mr Pursglove replied: The issue that I have with taking a different approach to this and to creating an exemption is the fact that it just blows a hole in the whole concept of trying to have that more enhanced border security.

We want to stop individuals from arriving at the UK border in the first place, understanding more about people who are making those journeys.

I think that as a government, weve been pragmatic in terms of what weve managed to agree in terms of the earlier exemption with those residents in Ireland who are third-country nationals.

I think that is a sensible approach that weve taken there.

We will obviously of course keep these policies under review but I think the fundamental concept that were trying to uphold here is one that is important and I wouldnt want to undermine that.

I think the key place that we should place our energy in relation to this, is to communicate what this change means for travellers.
A cargo ship rammed into Baltimores Francis Scott Bridge early on Tuesday, causing the span to collapse and rescuers to launch a massive search for at least six people who were missing.

Here is what we know so far about the disaster:

What exactly happened?

The operators of the Dali cargo ship issued a mayday call that the vessel had lost power moments before the crash, but the ship still headed toward the span a very, very rapid speed, Maryland Governor Wes Moore said.

The 985-foot-long vessel struck one of the 1.6-mile bridges supports, causing the span to break and fall into the water within seconds. The ship caught fire, and thick, black smoke billowed out of it.

Synergy Marine Group, which manages the ship, said it had been in the control of one or more pilots, who are local specialists who help navigate vessels safely into ports.

The ship was moving at eight knots, which is roughly 9mph, when it struck the span, the governor said.

The ship rammed into the major bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday, causing it to collapse in a matter of seconds. Picture: AP Photo/Matt Rourke

An inspection of the Dali last June at a port in Chile identified a problem with the ships propulsion and auxiliary machinery, according to Equasis, a shipping information system.

The deficiency involved gauges and thermometers, but the websites online records did not elaborate.

The most recent inspection listed for the Dali was conducted by the US Coast Guard in New York on September 13, 2023.

The standard examination did not identify any deficiencies, according to the Equasis data.

Last June, federal inspectors rated the 47-year-old bridge to be in fair condition. But the structure did not appear to have pier protection to withstand the crash, experts said.

If a bridge pier without adequate protection is hit by a ship of this size, there is very little that the bridge could do, according to Virginia Tech engineering professor Roberto Leon.

How many people are missing?

Two people were rescued, but officials said six people were still unaccounted for as of late morning. All were believed to be part of a construction crew that was repairing potholes on the bridge.

Sonar had detected cars in the water, which is about 50 feet deep. The water temperature was about 8C before dawn on Tuesday, according to a buoy that collects data for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Rescuers were searching for multiple people in the water throughout the day on Tuesday. Picture: WJLA via AP

Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore Fire Department, told The Associated Press that several vehicles were on the bridge at the time of the collapse, including one the size of an HGV.

He called the collapse a developing mass casualty event, though he did not know how many people were affected.

The ship is owned by Singapore-based Grace Ocean Private Ltd, which said all crew members, including the two pilots, were accounted for and there were no reports of injuries involving anyone who was on board.

The ships warning enabled authorities to limit vehicle traffic on the span. Plus, the accident occurred at 1.30am, long before the busy morning rush. The bridge carried an estimated 30,800 vehicles a day on average in 2019.

What impact could this have?

All ship traffic into and out of the Port of Baltimore has been suspended until further notice, though the port remains open to trucks, Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld said.

Last year, the port handled a record 52.3 million tons of foreign cargo worth 80 billion dollars, according to the state. In addition to cargo, more than than 444,000 passengers cruised out of the port in 2023.

The port is a major East Coast hub for shipping. The bridge spans the Patapsco River, which massive cargo ships use to reach the Chesapeake Bay and then the Atlantic Ocean.

The Dali was headed from Baltimore to Colombo, Sri Lanka, and flying under a Singapore flag, according to data from Marine Traffic.

President Joe Biden said that he plans to travel to Baltimore as quickly as I can and that he expects the federal government to pick up the entire cost of rebuilding the bridge.

How often does this happen?

A helicopter flies over a container ship as it rests against wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Picture: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

From 1960 to 2015, there were 35 major bridge collapses worldwide due to ship or barge collisions, with a total of 342 people killed, according to a 2018 report from the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure.

Eighteen of those collapses happened in the United States.

Among them were a 2002 incident in which a barge struck the Interstate 40 bridge over the Arkansas River at Webbers Falls, Oklahoma, sending vehicles plunging into the water. Fourteen people died and 11 were injured.

In 2001, a tugboat and barge struck the Queen Isabella Causeway in Port Isabel, Texas, causing a section of the bridge to tumble 80 feet into the bay below. Eight people were killed.

In 1993, barges being pushed by a towboat in dense fog hit and displaced the Big Bayou Canot railroad bridge near Mobile, Alabama.

Minutes later, an Amtrak train with 220 people onboard reached the displaced bridge and derailed, killing 47 people and injuring 103 others.
A New York judge has issued a gag order barring Donald Trump from making public statements about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush money criminal trial.

Judge Juan M Merchan cited Mr Trumps previous comments about him and others involved in the case, as well as a looming April 15 trial date in granting the prosecutions request for a gag order.

It is without question that the imminency of the risk of harm is now paramount, Mr Merchan wrote.

Prosecutors had asked for the gag order citing what they called his long history of making public and inflammatory remarks about people involved in his legal cases.

Former president Donald Trump leaves a pre-trial hearing (Mary Altaffer/AP)

The order also bars Mr Trump from making or directing others to make public statements about people involved in the trial, but it does not apply to the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg because he is an elected official.

The gag order adds to restrictions put in place after Mr Trumps arraignment last April that prohibits him from using evidence in the case to attack witnesses.

The trial, involving allegations related to hush money paid during Mr 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.

Mr Trumps lawyers accused Mr Braggs office of intentionally failing to pursue evidence from the 2018 federal investigation, which sent Mr Trumps former lawyer Michael Cohen to prison.

They contended prosecutors working under Mr Bragg, a Democrat, did so to gain an unfair advantage in the case and harm Mr Trumps election chances.

Mr Cohen, now a vocal Trump critic, is poised to be a key prosecution witness against his ex-boss.

Mr Merchan bristled at the defences claims at a hearing on Monday, saying the DAs office had no duty to collect evidence from the federal investigation, nor was the US 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.
Tuesday, Mar 26th, 2024 (11:38 am) - Score 1,360

Broadband ISP and network operator KCOM, which is the dominant operator of Hulls broadband and phone network in East Yorkshire, has today responded to Connexins negative criticism (here) of their recent feasibility study on infrastructure sharing (cable duct and pole access) by offering rivals a quicker way forward.

At present KCOM holds Significant Market Power (SMP) in the Hull area, which is something that new entrants like Connexin and MS3 have been seeking to change. The fastest and most efficient way of doing this is often by running new fibre via the incumbents existing cable ducts and poles. But while that works well with Openreachs regulated Physical Infrastructure Access (PIA) product, its a different story with KCOM.

The law does require KCOM to fairly share access to their existing infrastructure in Hull (ATI Regulations). However, rival operators expecting the same level of access, flexibility and affordability as the regulated PIA solution from Openreach have often run into problems with KCOMs confidential commercial terms, which are alleged to place an unfeasibly high price on access.

Connexin and others thus end up having to build lots of new infrastructure, such as poles, which tends to irritate local communities  especially those that have previously only had underground cables. In recent months, this also has become much more of a political issue (here and here). The UK government even called on operators to limit installation of telegraph poles (here), while Ofcom has warned that it lacks the power to do that (here).

KCOM recently attempted to start the process of addressing this by sharing the confidential results of a recent feasibility study they had conducted into infrastructure sharing (PIA) with Connexin, which was promptly criticised by the operators CEO, Furqan Alamgir, who said: KCOMs feasibility report is merely a 10-page document full of blank spaces and bullet points containing high level estimates no firm pricing, no committed timing, and no conclusion as to whether they deem infrastructure sharing feasible or not. This from a company that says it is committed to infrastructure sharing!

At the time a spokesperson for KCOM said they had been left surprised and disappointed to read the negative response to the feasibility study from one supplier and reaffirmed their commitment to engaging constructively with our suppliers.

The next steps

The latest development today is that KCOM has, following last weeks events, suggested a quicker way forward to Connexin and MS3, which theyre hoping will appeal to the providers. The details are quite thin, but the operator appears to be proposing a partnership to help co-develop a new pathway to accessing their existing ducts and telegraph poles to run new fibre.

KCOM said they intend to work constructively with Connexin and other broadband providers to find a simpler, industry-led solution that can be delivered expediently and efficiently and does not require complex new systems before it can be delivered. KCOM said they expect to work with Connexin and MS3 initially in targeted local areas over the next few months to see if this solution could work across the Hull region that it serves.

A KCOM spokesperson said: It is important that all providers listen carefully to community views on new telegraph poles. Weve always been ready to work with other operators to provide access to our ducts and poles to reduce their need for new infrastructure. There is a sensible way forward on this that benefits the communities that we serve, and we want to collaborate with Connexin and MS3 to put it into practice. The right thing to do, now, is to get the ball rolling, as soon as we can, and we hope to receive a positive response from Connexin and MS3 in the coming weeks.

The Hull-based broadband provider has updated Ofcom on the proposal and intends to launch the process by May 2024, with the aim to see results from this new initiative by the summer.

UPDATE 5:46pm

Weve had a comment from Connexin.
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.
Monticello, IL (61856)

Today

Thunderstorms likely. Low 51F. Winds ENE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms likely. Low 51F. Winds ENE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
03/26/2024



Jax State nursing students practice their skills in the simulation lab.

Niche.com, a nationally recognized site that provides rankings, report cards and reviews of colleges and universities, has named the Jacksonville State University School of Nursing to its list of Best College Nursing Programs in America.

Using key statistics and student reviews from data provided by the US Department of Education, the site ranked Jax State Nursing No. 51 out of 774 programs across the nation.

We are honored at the recognition of our program, said Dr. Betsy Gulledge, Chief Nursing Administrator and associate dean of the College of Health Professions and Wellness. JSU has been recognized as having a stellar nursing program for quite some time, however, we certainly appreciate when outside entities recognize us as well.

Housed within the College of Health Professions and Wellness, the School of Nursing is one of the largest units on JSUs campus. It offers a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Master of Science in Nursing, Doctor of Nursing Practice, and a RN-to-BSN program. This school year, the program moved into a state-of-the-art training facility, the JSU South Complex, which once served as a local hospital.

The school strives to provide a top-notch educational experience in order to prepare its students to care for anyone, anytime, anywhere, Gulledge said. I am incredibly proud and humbled by the many nurse educators and clinical agencies that work together in order to ensure our students are well-prepared for an ever-evolving healthcare environment.
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment)  The UN Security Council has finally passed a ceasefire resolution for Gaza, from which the US abstained, so it was passed by the other 14 members. Although UNSC resolutions are binding, and countries like Iraq and Iran have been severely punished for disobeying them, the US is running interference for the Netanyahu government by insisting that the resolution is non-binding.

Israels government was so furious at Joe Biden for abstaining rather than vetoing the resolution that it has canceled a planned trip to Washington. But this intransigence in the face of international law and international institutions could end up hurting Israel severely. Since the state is already under scrutiny for committing genocide by the International Court of Justice, its truculence and defiance of the UNSC can only harm its case.

In a further blow to Israeli policy, Francesca Albanese, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 of the UN Human Rights Council, issued a report Monday entitled Anatomy of a Genocide.

Albanese, an attorney with degrees from Pisa and SOAS in London, has worked for a decade with the UN on human rights law. She is also at the Institute for the Study of International Migration at Georgetown University as an Affiliate Scholar.

Her report begins, After five months of military operations, Israel has destroyed Gaza. She points out that the Israeli military has killed over 30,000 Palestinians, included over 13,000 children, and has wounded 71,000. She says that not only has 80% of the population been made refugees but 70% of the areas where people lived have been destroyed. So they have no place to return to. Corpses have decayed in homes, in the street or under the rubble.

The report concludes that Israels policies in Gaza give reasonable grounds to believe that the threshold indicating Israels commission of genocide is met.

The Special Rapporteur finds that Israeli authorities are misusing and distorting the international law governing the prosecution of war (jus in bello), disregarding their function in protecting innocent civilian noncombatants, in an attempt to legitimize genocidal violence against the Palestinian people. In other words, Israeli officials invocation of international humanitarian law is nothing more than a camouflage.

The Special Rapporteur argues that genocidal projects are inherent in settler-colonial states. She cites the mass killings of the Native Americans in the US, the First Nations in Australia, and the Herrero in Namibia. Since the settler-colonial state covets the land and the resources of the native people, it has a motive for provoking the disintegration of the native peoples social institutions and very identity.

AJ+ Video: How Israeli TV Sells Gazas Destruction

The report alleges, Israels settler movement and leaders have framed Gaza as a territory to be re-colonized and its population as invaders to be expelled. These unlawful claims are integral to the project of consolidating the exclusive and unassailable right of the Jewish people on the land of Greater Israel, as reaffirmed by Prime Minister Netanyahu in December 2022.

One of the problems for the Israeli governments attempts to defend itself against charges of genocide is how openly and volubly Netanyahu and his cronies have proclaimed their intentions and the racist bases for them.

Turning to the charges of genocide, the report notes that in just the first few months of the current Israeli campaign against Gaza, the Israeli army deployed

a) over 25,000 tons of explosives (equivalent to two nuclear bombs) on countless buildings

b) that these targets were chosen using Artificial Intelligence

c) that the Israeli military dropped 2000-pound bunker buster bombs in densely populated areas and even on the safe zones declared by that very Israeli military.

d) The Israelis killed an average of 250 people a day in this period, including 100 children a day, destroying entire neighborhoods and necessary infrastructure.

Albanese points out that by early December, the Israeli government was alleging that it had killed 7,000 terrorists in Gaza. But at that point only 5,000 adult males had been killed, so it is clear that the Israeli authorities considered all of them terrorists.

In a compelling bit of reasoning, she points out that This is indicative of an intent to indiscriminately target members of the protected group, assimilating them to active fighter status by default. That is, the Israeli governments triumphalist statistics are themselves genocidal.

She estimates moreover, that 10 children are dying of acute malnutrition daily that that over 500,000 Palestinians could die from malnutrition and poor health conditions in 2024.

So thats the first element of genocide, Killing members of the group.

The report then goes down the other criteria for genocide. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group? Check. This includes depriving them of needed medicines and inflicting psychological harm.

Then there is Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part. Check.

Here she mentions the destruction of 77% of healthcare facilities, 68% of telcoms, almost 50% of roads, and 60% of Gazas 439,000 homes, all the universities, 60% of schools, etc.

What about Genocidal intent? Check.

The Israeli officials have made this one a no-brainer. Albanese writes,

50. In the latest Gaza assault, direct evidence of genocidal intent is uniquely present. Vitriolic genocidal rhetoric has painted the whole population as the enemy to be eliminated and forcibly displaced.150 High-ranking Israeli officials with command authority have issued harrowing public statements evincing genocidal intent, including as follows: (a) President Isaac Herzog stated that an entire nation out thereis responsible for the 7 October attack, and that Israel would break their backbone;151 (b) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to Palestinians as Amalek152 and monsters.153 The Amalek reference is to a biblical passage in which God commands Saul Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.154 (c) Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant referred to Palestinians as human animals,155 and announced full offense on Gaza, having released all the restraints

Finally, the Israeli military has subverted basic principles of international humanitarian law, which makes a key distinction between combatants and noncombatants. In essence, Israels government has treated all Palestinians in Gaza as combatants. Moreover, the Israeli military has declared all civilian institutions to be Hamas power centers, obliterating the distinction between hospitals and military garrisons. While such objects can be legitimate targets if they are used by the enemy for military purposes, they are only targets while they are so being used. Israels army is treating them as legitimate targets if they ever were or potentially might be used by Hamas. It is thus ignoring the distinction between military and civilian objects.
(The Conversation)  It has emerged that the four gunmen charged in the murder of at least 139 concert-goers at Moscows Crocus City Hall theatre were all citizens of the small post-Soviet nation of Tajikistan in Central Asia.

Does their nationality have anything to do with their alleged terrorism? Many Russians probably think so.

Tajikistan, a landlocked country of 10 million sandwiched between Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and China, is the most impoverished of the former Soviet republics. Known for its corruption and political repression, it has chafed under the iron-fisted rule of President Emomali Rahmon since 1994.

There are estimated to be well over three million Tajiks living in Russia, about one-third of the total Tajik population. Most of them hold the precarious status of guest workers, holding low-paying jobs in construction, produce markets or even cleaning public toilets.

While Russias declining population has led to increasing reliance on foreign workers to fill such needs within its labour force, the attitude of Russians towards natives of Central Asia and the Caucasus region is generally negative.

Its similar to the American stereotype about Mexicans so infamously expressed by Donald Trump in 2015: Theyre bringing drugs. Theyre bringing crime. Theyre rapists.

CBC News Video: Why would ISIS-K attack Russia? | Front Burner

Non-Slavs are systematically discriminated against in Russia, and since 2022 they have been disproportionately conscripted and sent to Ukraine to serve as cannon fodder at the front.

Tajik exclusion

As I have described in a recent book, few nations in history have seen their standing so dramatically reduced as the Tajiks have over the past 100 years.

For more than a millennium, the Tajiks  Persian-speaking descendants of the ancient Sogdians who dominated the Silk Road  were Central Asias cultural elite.

Beginning with whats known as the New Persian Renaissance of the 10th century when their capital, Bukhara, came to rival Baghdad as a centre of Islamic learning and high culture, Tajiks were the principal scholars and bureaucrats of Central Asias major cities right up to the time of the Russian Revolution.

The famous medieval polymath Avicenna was an ethnic Tajik, as were the hadith collector Bukhari, the Sufi poet Rumi, and many others.

But as the most significant purveyors of Central Asias Islamic civilization, Tajiks were seen by the Bolsheviks as representing an obsolete legacy that socialism aimed to overcome.

The Tajiks were virtually excluded from the massive social and political restructuring imposed on Central Asia during the early years of the Soviet Union, with most of their historical territory, including the fabled cities of Samarkand and Bukhara, being awarded to the Turkic-speaking Uzbeks who were seen as being more malleable.

Only as late as 1929 were the Tajiks given their own republic, consisting mostly of marginal, mountainous territory and deprived of any major urban centres.

Impoverished

Throughout the 20th century, the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic was the most impoverished and underdeveloped region of the former Soviet Union, and it has retained that unfortunate status since independence in 1991.

From 1992-1997, the country was plunged into a devastating civil war that destroyed what infrastructure remained from the Soviet period. Since that time, Rahmon has used the threat of renewed civil conflict to vindicate his absolute rule.

The spectre of radical Islam emanating from neighbouring Afghanistan  where the Tajik population considerably outnumbers that of Tajikistan  has provided additional justification for Rahmons repressive policies.

In todays Tajikistan even those with a university education find it almost impossible to earn a salary that would enable them to build a normal family life.

Disempowered and humiliated by the system, they are easy prey for radical Islamic preachers who give them a sense of value and purpose.

The added backdrop of financial desperation makes for an explosive cocktail: one of the suspects in the recent Moscow attacks reportedly told his Russian interrogators that he was promised a cash reward of half a million Russian rubles (about US$5,300) to carry out his alleged atrocities..

Terrorism as desperation?

Normal, sane human beings everywhere are horrified by terrorist acts regardless of how they are justified by their perpetrators, and the long-suffering people of Tajikistan are no exception.

But unfortunately, the conditions under which a small number of extremists can perceive the psychopathic murder of innocent civilians for cash or ideology as an attractive option show no signs of abating.

Russias laughable attempt to somehow link the Moscow attacks to Ukraine is a clumsy diversion from the consequences of its relations with Central Asia.

Richard Foltz, Professor of Religions and Cultures, Concordia University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
VANCOUVER, BC, March 26, 2024 /CNW/ - Freegold Ventures Limited (TSX: FVL) ("Freegold" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce that further to its news release of March 8, 2024, the Company has closed its upsized brokered private placement offering for aggregate gross proceeds of $10,000,000). Paradigm Capital acted as sole agent (the "Agent") on the Offering.

In connection with the Offering, the Company entered into an agency agreement (the "Agency Agreement") dated March 26, 2024, between the Company and the Agent. In accordance with the Agency Agreement, 25,000,000 units of the Company (the "Units") were issued at a price of $0.40 per Unit. Each Unit is comprised of one common share of the Company (a "Unit Share") and one-half of one common share purchase warrant of the Company (each whole warrant, a "Warrant"). Each Warrant is exercisable to acquire one common share of the Company (a "Warrant Share") for 24 months from today's date at an exercise price of $0.52 per Warrant Share.

The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Offering to fund exploration activities on the Company's mineral projects in Alaska, and for general working capital and corporate purposes.

Mr. Eric Sprott, through 2176423 Ontario Ltd., a corporation beneficially owned and controlled by him, acquired 6,750,000 Units in the Offering for total consideration of $2,700,000. Prior to the Offering, Mr. Sprott beneficially owned or controlled 114,103,056 Shares and 6,875,000 Warrants representing approximately 27.1% of the outstanding Shares on a non-diluted basis and 28.2% on a partially-diluted basis assuming the exercise of such Warrants. Following the completion of the Offering, Mr. Sprott beneficially owns and controls 120,853,056 Shares and 10,250,000 Warrants representing approximately 27.1% of the outstanding Shares on a non-diluted basis and 28.7% on a partially-diluted basis assuming the exercise of such Warrants.

The Units were acquired by Sprott for investment purposes. Mr. Sprott has a long-term view of the investment and may acquire additional securities of Freegold Ventures including on the open market or through private acquisitions or sell securities of Freegold Ventures including on the open market or through private dispositions in the future depending on market conditions, reformulation of plans and/or other relevant factors.

Pursuant to Multilateral Instrument 61-101  Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"), the purchase of Units by Mr. Sprott was a "related party transaction". The Company was exempt from the requirements to obtain a formal valuation in connection with

the Offering in reliance on section 5.5(c) of MI 61-101, as the issuance of Units to Mr. Sprott was a distribution of securities of the Company to a related party for cash consideration. The issuance of the Units to Mr. Sprott was exempt from the requirement to obtain minority shareholder approval in reliance on section 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101 as neither the fair market value of the Units received by Mr. Sprott nor the proceeds for such securities received by the Company exceeded 25% of the Company's market capitalization as calculated in accordance with MI 61-101.

A material change report will be filed less than 21 days from the date of the closing of the Offering. Closing the Offering in this shorter period was reasonable in the circumstances as the Company determined the shorter period was necessary because the terms of the transaction were favorable to the Company, given uncertain market conditions time was of the essence in closing the Offering, and closing the Offering expeditiously was in the best interest of the Company and its shareholders.

The Offering is subject to the final approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange. The Units have been offered pursuant to the Listed Issuer Financing Exemption under National Instrument 45-106  Prospectus Exemptions in all Canadian provinces, except Quebec, and other qualifying jurisdictions. The Unit Shares, Warrants and Warrant Shares issued under the Listed Issuer Financing Exemption are not subject to resale restrictions pursuant to applicable Canadian securities laws.

There is an amended and restated offering document related to this Offering that can be accessed under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.com and on the Company's website.

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 U.S. state security laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States without registration under the U.S. Securities Act and all applicable state securities laws or compliance with requirements of an applicable exemption therefrom. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities in the United States, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

About Freegold Ventures Limited

Freegold is a TSX-listed company focused on exploration in Alaska and holds the Golden Summit Gold Project near Fairbanks and the Shorty Creek Copper-Gold Project near Livengood through leases

Forward-looking Information Cautionary Statement

This press release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking information" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this press release. Any statement that discusses predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release, include, without limitation, statements regarding the completion of, and the use of proceeds from, the Offering. In making the forward-looking statements contained in this press release, the Company has made certain assumptions. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that the expectations of any forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. Known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: availability of financing; delay or failure to receive required permits or regulatory approvals; and general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this press release. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions, changes in factors affecting such forward-looking statements or otherwise. See Freegold's Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31 2021, filed under Freegold's profile at www.sedar.com, for a detailed discussion of the risk factors associated with Freegold's operations
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Novo Resources Corp. (Novo or the Company) (ASX: NVO) (TSX: NVO & NVO.WT.A) (OTCQX: NSRPF) advises that Mr Michael Barrett has resigned as a director of the Company and Ms Karen ONeill has been appointed as an independent non-executive director of the Company.

Mr Mike Spreadborough, Executive Co-Chairman, shared On behalf of the Companys directors, employees, and stakeholders, I would like to sincerely thank Mr Barrett for his tireless commitment to Novo spanning over 6 years as a Non-executive Director and Chair of the Audit Risk and Corporate Governance Committee. We wish him all the best for future.

The Company is pleased to announce that Ms Karen ONeill has been appointed as independent non-executive director to the Board of the Company and will also Chair the Audit, Risk and Corporate Governance Committee. Ms ONeill is an experienced mining executive and finance professional with international operational experience across a variety of industries including resources, investment banking and professional services.

Ms ONeill is currently a non-executive director of Great Boulder Resources (ASX:GBR) and has previously served on boards of a number of ASX listed resource companies including Newfield Resources and Kingrose Mining Limited.

Mr Mike Spreadborough said, On behalf of the Board, we welcome Karen to the Novo team and look forward to her contribution as non-executive director. Karens extensive experience working with ASX companies in the exploration and mining sector will allow Novo to maintain strong financial, commercial and governance skills at the board level which in turn will assist the Company in its strategy to discover and develop top tier gold deposits.

Authorised for release by the Board of Directors.

CONTACT

Investors:

Mike Spreadborough

+61 8 6400 6100

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. North American Queries:

Leo Karabelas

+1 416 543 3120

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Media:

Cameron Gilenko

+61 466 984 953

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ABOUT NOVO

Novo explores and develops its prospective land package covering approximately 7,500 square kilometres in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, along with the 22 square kilometre Belltopper project in the Bendigo Tectonic Zone of Victoria, Australia. In addition to the Companys primary focus, Novo seeks to leverage its internal geological expertise to deliver value-accretive opportunities to its shareholders.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 26, 2024) - Prismo Metals Inc. (CSE:PRIZ) (OTCQB: PMOMF) ("Prismo" or the "Company") is pleased to announce assay results for samples taken in February during our ongoing exploration program at the Hot Breccia Project located in the heart of the prolific Arizona Copper Belt. The Hot Breccia property hosts a cluster of hydrothermal breccia pipes originating from at least 1 kilometer depth that incorporated a wide range of wallrock fragments including variably copper and gold mineralized sedimentary and intrusive units. These include a fragment of mineralized magnetite skarn encased within a quartz diorite porphyry that assayed 5.69% copper, 0.24 g/t gold and 32.8 g/t silver. Limited historical drilling in the area intersected similarly mineralized magnetite skarn at depth, apparently in place, indicating that extensive porphyry-related copper mineralization occurs at depth in the system. Prismo's recent (2023) ZTEM geophysical survey shows a large conductive feature (Figure 5) adjacent to the historical drilling that is interpreted to be a Resolution-like(1) porphyry-skarn mineralized centre.

"The widespread high-grade copper and gold mineralization we're finding on the property, combined with the features we're seeing in the breccia, suggests a potential large, mineralized porphyry centre at depth," said Dr. Craig Gibson, Prismo's President and CEO. "Rio Tinto and BHP's proposed Resolution Copper underground mine is expected to become the largest copper mine in North America, capable of producing up to 25 percent of U.S. copper demand each year at an average grade of 1.5% copper(1). We are also excited to note that some breccia fragments are derived from the same favorable sedimentary units that host South-32's Taylor-Hermosa deposit(2) (Figure 3), further suggesting that strong potential exists at Hot Breccia for similar, extensive carbonate replacement style mineralization surrounding the postulated porphyry centre."

Figure 1. Location of the Hot Breccia project (Source: public disclosure)

Figure 2. Copper (left) and Gold (right) for historic and Prismo samples plotted on drone orthophoto overlain on satellite image with quartz diorite dike swarm, small mines and prospects and historic drill holes. Hot Breccia land boundary shown in yellow. The inset in the upper left shows the location of the figure in the land package.

Figure 3. Location of the Hermosa Project (South32 Limited)

Table 1. Assays for samples taken in February from Hot Breccia

Sample Easting Northing Type Width (m) Cu_% Au_g/t Ag_g/t 256613 526,484 3,653,645 Dump - 0.98 6.5 1.4 256614 527,025 3,654,496 Dump - 0.24 0.7 1.6 256615 526,754 3,654,359 Chip 0.5 0.02 9.7 2.5 256616 526,563 3,653,713 Chip 0.5 0.02 0.3 0.5 256617 526,843 3,654,224 Chip 0.2 0.04 2.2 3.2 256618 525,978 3,653,864 Chip 2.3 0.10 0.6 9.5 256619 525,979 3,653,898 Selected 0.5 0.00 0.0 0.1 256621 527,204 3,654,235 Chip 2.0 0.12 0.1 7.3 256622 527,276 3,653,903 Chip 2.5 0.40 1.8 1.6 256623 527,581 3,654,583 Channel 0.8 0.14 0.6 10.9 256624 527,525 3,654,538 Channel 1.2 0.03 4.7 50.7 256625 527,174 3,654,280 Chip 1.2 0.01 0.0 1.2 256626 526,781 3,652,615 Chip 0.8 0.01 2.6 5.7 256627 526,770 3,652,485 Chip 0.03 0.0 0.8 256628 526,777 3,652,470 Chip 0.7 0.00 0.0 0.5 256629 526,817 3,652,229 Chip 1.0 0.00 <0.005 0.1 256630 526,670 3,652,304 Chip 1.5 0.68 0.0 2.6 256631 526,213 3,652,904 Chip 0.4 0.00 0.8 0.4 256632 526,160 3,652,867 Chip 1.2 1.86 0.2 1.7 256633 526,138 3,652,852 Chip 1.6 0.67 1.2 1.7 256634 526,609 3,654,216 Chip 0.9 0.02 0.2 1.1 256635 526,555 3,654,221 Selected 0.2 0.02 2.9 2.1 256636 526,578 3,654,232 Dump Dump 0.01 3.6 2.2 256637 525,734 3,654,260 Chip 2.5 0.00 0.0 0.0 256638 525,699 3,654,310 Dump Dump 0.01 5.6 1.1 256639 525,754 3,654,322 Chip 0.4 0.00 2.1 0.7 256641 526,123 3,654,474 Chip 1 0.02 0.5 4.3 256642 525,974 3,654,483 Chip 1.5 0.03 0.3 0.8 256643 525,905 3,654,416 Dump Dump 0.01 2.4 0.4 256644 526,935 3,653,704 Selected Grab 5.69 0.2 32.8

Note: Coordinates in WGS84.

Hydrothermal breccia pipes, for which the property is named, occur over several hundred square meters. Breccias cut vertically through volcanic rocks and are associated with Laramide-age porphyritic quartz diorite and diorite dikes like the one mentioned above. The breccia bodies are generally matrix supported and contain fragments of various lithologies not present at surface, including irregular to rounded fragments of sedimentary rocks such as limestone and quartzite, various intrusive and volcanic lithologies, and mineralized garnet and magnetite skarn. Skarn fragments have also been transported upwards by intrusions that form a dike swarm cutting northeasterly across the property.

The Paleozoic sedimentary rock sequence that hosts mineralization in nearby deposits (Freeport McMoran's Christmas Mine, AZ) is known to occur beneath the volcanic rocks several hundred meters below the surface. It is interpreted that both the breccia bodies and the dikes comprising the Hot Breccia project sliced vertically upwards ripping-up mineralized fragments from below and transporting them through the overlying volcanic cover rock exposing them in surface outcrops. These fragments were mineralized prior to transport and their high-grade assays herein reported suggest that underlying bedrock at depth is also likely mineralized.

Kennecott drilled seven holes on the project from 1972 to 1981 and Phelps Dodge drilled two holes on and near the current property all at shallower depth that the conductive body identified in our recent ZTEM survey (Figure 5). All drill holes intersected hydrothermal alteration within the volcanic rocks that overlie the typically better mineralized Paleozoic carbonate rocks with increasing alteration intensity downwards (see News Release of January 29, 2023). The carbonate host units have several copper intercepts reported to exceed 1% copper and elevated zinc.

Figure 4. Photos of multilithic breccia with rounded to angular fragments of various lithologies, left and center, and a fragment of copper bearing magnetite skarn within a quartz diorite porphyry dike, right.

Figure 5. View of the subsurface at Hot Breccia looking northeasterly showing the conductive body from the ZTEM survey and cross sections of the Christmas deposit and the Hot Breccia area. Historic drill holes are shown with copper assays as disks within the red ellipse; the magenta color indicates > 1% Copper.

Engagement of Capital Analytica

Prismo also announced that it has engaged Capital Analytica ("Analytica") to provide investor relations and communications services to the Company in exchange for compensation of $120,000. The services will include continuing social media consultation regarding engagement and enhancement, social sentiment reporting, social engagement reporting, discussion forum monitoring and reporting, corporate video dissemination, and investor relations services. The term of the agreement with Analytica is for a period of six months beginning on March 21, 2024. It is expected that services will be provided by Jeff French, the President of Analytica. Analytica is based in British Columbia and can be reached at 778-872-4551. Capital Analytica and its principals are arm's length to the Company and, as of the date hereof, to the Company's knowledge Analytica does not own any securities of the Company.

Alain Lambert, Executive Chairman of Prismo stated: "Commodity prices have recently strengthened which we believe will result in renewed investor interest for junior explorers with experienced management teams and excellent exploration projects. To that end, we are pleased to engage the Analytica team. They will help us reach a broader base of new investors. These efforts centered around social media marketing and engagement will complement other aspects of Prismo's 2024 investor relations efforts which will include attendance at various investment conferences and extensive road shows."

Shares for Debt Transactions

Prismo also announces that it has entered into debt settlement agreements (the "Settlement Agreements") with certain creditors of the Company (the "Creditors") pursuant to which the Company agreed to issue to the Creditors, and the Creditors agreed to accept, an aggregate of (i) 2,682,080 common shares of the Company (each, a "Common Share") at a price of $0.17 per Common Share in full and final settlement of accrued and outstanding indebtedness in the aggregate amount of $430,976 (the "Debt Settlement").

"Fifty-six percent of the shares to be issued will be issued to Prospeccion y Desarrollo Minero del Norte SA de CV ("ProDeMin"), (a total of 588,235 Common Shares) an exploration services company located in Mexico and controlled by our President & CEO Dr. Gibson; to Walnut Mines LLC, an Arizona based company which owns the Hot Breccia project (a total of 832,571 Common Shares), and as partial consideration of an option payment on the Palos Verdes property (a total of 80,097 Common Shares)," said Executive Chairman Alain Lambert. He added: "ProDeMin, as disclosed in our financial statements and MD&As, provides exploration services on our three projects. Our CEO's decision to increase his ownership in Prismo sends a strong message to our shareholders about the prospects of the Company. It is equally meaningful that Walnut Mines LLC has agreed to take an ownership position in Prismo is lieu of cash to make up for an approximate $95,000 exploration expenditure shortfall in 2023 as well as postponing a $100,000 option payment. We welcome them as shareholders of Prismo and thank them for their support."

Dr. Linus Keating CPG, the Manager of Hot Breccia owner Walnut Mines LLC stated today, "Walnut is pleased to see Prismo advancing the Hot Breccia projects. These partners have contributed good quality technical work that has significantly advanced this important porphyry copper property into a large-scale target. Walnut believes that a positive and ongoing relationship will progress into a resounding success."

All securities issued pursuant to the Debt Settlement will be subject to a statutory hold period of four months from the date of issuance, in accordance with applicable policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange.

None of the foregoing securities have been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "1933 Act") or any applicable state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons (as defined in Regulation S under the 1933 Act) or persons in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor will there be any sale of the foregoing securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

Multilateral Instrument 61-101

The Company will issue an aggregate of 588,235 Common Shares in connection with the Debt Settlement to ProDeMin, a company controlled by the President and CEO of Prismo, Dr. Craig Gibson, constituting, to that extent, a "related party transaction" as defined under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Securityholders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). The Company is exempt from the requirements to obtain a formal valuation and minority shareholder approval in connection with ProDeMin's participation in the Debt Settlement in reliance on sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101, as neither the fair market value of the Debt Settlement nor the securities issued in connection therewith, in so far as the Debt Settlement involves ProDeMin, exceeds 25% of the Company's market capitalization. The Company did not file a material change report more than 21 days before the expected closing of the Debt Settlement as the details of the Debt Settlement and the participation therein by ProDeMin were not settled until recently and the Company wishes to close on an expedited basis for sound business reasons.

Private Placement

Prismo also intends to complete a non-brokered private placement (the "Private Placement") consisting of one subscription for 754,411 units ("Units") at a price of $0.17 per Unit for total gross proceeds of CAD$128,250. Each Unit consists of one common share (a "Common Share") and one-half Common Share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each Warrant is exercisable for one additional Common Share at an exercise price of $0.25 for a period of 24 months.

Notes:

(1) Resolution Resolution Copper Arizona | BHP

(2) South-32's Taylor-Hermosa deposit Hermosa (south32.net)

QA/QC

Rock samples taken by Prismo were analyzed by multielement ICP-AES and MS methods by ALS Group, an internationally recognized analytical service provider. Gold was analyzed by fire assay using a 25-gram charge, with an AA finish. Cu over 1% was analyzed by an overrange method. Certified Reference Materials including standard pulps and coarse blank material were inserted in the sample stream at regular intervals.

Dr. Craig Gibson, PhD., CPG., a Qualified Person as defined by NI-43-01 regulations and President, CEO and a director of the Company, has reviewed and approved the technical disclosures in this news release.

About Hot Breccia

The Hot Breccia property consists of 1,420 hectares 227 contiguous mining claims located in the world class Arizona Copper Belt. The project lies about four kilometers from the historic Christmas mine which recorded production of about 481.6 million pounds of copper from 20.2 million tons at a grade of 1.2% Copper plus significant gold and silver (Sources: Arizona Geological Society Spring Field Trip Guide in 2014). Prismo has not been able to verify the Christmas production information and it is not necessarily indicative of the mineralization on the Hot Breccia property.

Prismo holds the option to earn up to a 75% interest in the project from Infinitum Copper Corp. (TSXV: INFI, OTCQB: INUMF), subject to a 2% NSR royalty to a private company, Walnut Mines LLC.

About Prismo

Prismo (CSE: PRIZ) is mining exploration company focused on two precious metal projects in Mexico (Palos Verdes and Los Pavitos) and a copper project in Arizona (Hot Breccia).

Please follow @PrismoMetals on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube

Prismo Metals Inc.

1100 - 1111 Melville St., Vancouver, British Columbia V6E 3V6

Contact:

Craig Gibson, President & Chief Executive Officer This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Jason Frame, Manager of Communications This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements other than statements of historical fact, including without limitation, statements regarding the anticipated content, commencement and exploration program results, the ability to complete future financings, required permitting, exploration programs and drilling, and the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company, including the expectation the Company will complete the Debt Settlement and the Private Placement are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct.

The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, the state of the financial markets for the Company's equity securities, the state of the commodity markets generally, variations in the nature, the analytical results from surface trenching and sampling program, including diamond drilling programs, the results of IP surveying, the results of soil and till sampling program. the quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located, variations in the market price of any mineral products the Company may produce or plan to produce, the inability of the Company to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required, including CSE acceptance, for its planned activities, the inability of the Company to produce minerals from its properties successfully or profitably, to continue its projected growth, to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies, the potential impact of COVID-19 (coronavirus) on the Company's exploration program and on the Company's general business, operations and financial condition, the inability of the Company to obtain CSE and regulatory approval to complete the Debt Settlement and Private Placement and other risks and uncertainties. All of the Company's Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials, including the technical reports filed with respect to the Company's mineral properties.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 26, 2024) - Benjamin Hill Mining Corp. (CSE: BNN) (OTCQB: BNNHF) (FSE: 5YZ0) ("BNN" or the "Company"), further to its press release of March 4, 2024, is pleased to announce that it has closed its previously announced private placement financing of an aggregate of 8,352,750 units (the "Units") at a price of $0.64 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of $5,345,760 (the "Offering").

The Offering was conducted on a "best efforts" private placement basis by Eight Capital, as lead agent and sole bookrunner (the "Agent"). The Offering was structured such that 6,792,500 Units (the "LIFE Units") for aggregate proceeds of $4,347,200 were sold pursuant to the "listed issuer financing" prospectus exemption whereby these securities will not subject to any hold period and 1,560,250 Units (the "Accredited Investor Units") for aggregate proceeds of $998,560 were offered pursuant to the "accredited investor" prospectus exemption whereby these securities will be subject to a statutory hold period of four months and one day. As the base Offering was oversubscribed, the Agent exercised an option granted by the Company to arrange for the sale of additional Units (the "Agent's Option"), included in the amounts above.

Each Unit consisted of one common share in the capital of the Company (a "Common Share") and one Common Share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Common Share of the Company (a "Warrant Share") for a period of 36 months following the issuance thereof at an exercise price of $0.80 per Warrant Share.

In accordance with National Instrument 45-106 - Prospectus Exemptions ("NI 45-106"), the LIFE Units were made available to purchasers resident in each of the Provinces of Canada, except Quebec, pursuant to the listed issuer financing exemption under Part 5A of NI 45-106 (the "Listed Issuer Financing Exemption"). The securities offered under the Listed Issuer Financing Exemption are not subject to a hold period in accordance with applicable Canadian securities laws.

The Accredited Investor Units were made available to purchasers resident in each of the Provinces of Canada, except Quebec, pursuant to the accredited investor exemption under Section 2.3 of NI 45-106, and re subject to a statutory hold period of four months plus one day from issuance in accordance with applicable Canadian securities laws.

In connection with the Offering, the Company filed an offering document (the "Offering Document") under the Company's profile at www.sedarplus.ca and on the Company's website at: www.benjaminhillmining.com.

Upon closing of the Offering, the Company paid to the Agent a cash commission of 6% of the aggregate proceeds of the Offering (including the exercise of the Agent's Option) and issued non-transferrable warrants of the Company exercisable at any time prior to the date that is 24 months from the Closing Date to acquire a number of Units equal to 6% of the number of Units issued pursuant to the Offering, at an exercise price equal to the Offering Price (in each case, other than pursuant to certain direct subscriptions).

The Company plans to use the proceeds from the LIFE Units to further the exploration and development of its Alotta Property and for general expenses and working capital. The proceeds of the Accredited Investor Units will be used in whole or part to fund the cash consideration payable under the Company's proposed acquisition of additional common shares of Aion Mining Corp. ("Aion"). If the Aion common share acquisition is completed as contemplated, the Company will increase its aggregate interest in Aion to a total 40% interest.

The Offering is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary approvals, including the approval of the Canadian Securities Exchange (the "CSE").

About Benjamin Hill Mining Corp.

Benjamin Hill Mining Corp. is a Canadian-listed junior exploration company focused on exploring and advancing the Alotta project. The Alotta project is a porphyry copper-gold-molybdenum prospect, located 50 km south of the Casino porphyry deposit in the unglaciated portion of the Dawson Range porphyry/epithermal belt in the Yukon Territory of Canada.

In addition, the Company holds a 20% interest in Aion Mining Corp., a company that is developing the fully permitted La Estrella coal project in Santander, Colombia. The project contains eight known seams of metallurgical and thermal coal.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

"Cole McClay", CEO Benjamin Hill Mining Corp.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain of the statements made and information contained herein may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, information concerning the Company's proposed use of the proceeds of the Offering. Forward-looking information is based on the views, opinions, intentions and estimates of management at the date the information is made, and is based on a number of assumptions and subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated or projected in the forward-looking information (including the actions of other parties who have agreed to do certain things and the approval of certain regulatory bodies). Many of these assumptions are based on factors and events that are not within the control of the Company and there is no assurance they will prove to be correct. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by applicable securities laws, or to comment on analyses, expectations or statements made by third parties in respect of the Company, its financial or operating results or its securities. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. We seek safe harbor.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / Pampa Metals Corp. ("Pampa Metals" or the "Company") (CSE:PM) (FSE:FIRA) (OTCQB:PMMCF) is pleased to report that diamond drillhole PIU-02 (refer figure 1) was completed to a downhole depth of 870m. The hole was orientated along an east-west section, proximate to historical drillholes P4 and P2 and designed to test the lateral extension of the mineralized body, primarily along the western edge of the Piuquenes Central porphyry.

Geology and Mineralization - Diamond Drillhole PIU-02

Moderate intensity porphyry A type quartz veinlets were intersected from 120 m downhole, with copper oxides evident between 218-232 m, partially coincident with a zone of moderate supergene copper enrichment from 226 to 380 m. Copper sulphide (chalcopyrite) mineralization is evident in quartz veining from 270 m.

Image 1: Porphyry A type quartz stockwork veining with potassic (K-Spar) altered vein halos, supergene Cu enrichment and Cu oxides overprinting potassic altered quartz-diorite porphyry (218m)

A significant increase in quartz veining is observed from 364m downhole, coincident with an increase in intermineral potassic alteration (Kfeldspar-quartz), higher magnetite content, lower presence of early biotite and the appearance of bornite and chalcopyrite mineralization. Bornite mineralization remains evident down to 610m, often more abundant than chalcopyrite, and coincident with an increased intensity of porphyry A type quartz veining and pulses of intermineral granodiorite porphyry. Bornite is disseminated in quartz veinlets, frequently intergrown with chalcopyrite. The bornite mineralized core remains open to depth.

Image 2: Intense porphyry A type quartz vein stockwork with disseminated chalcopyrite and bornite, overprinting early potassic altered diorite porphyry

From 610 m downhole the frequency of quartz veinlets, intermineral potassic alteration, magnetite content, and the presence of bornite decreases. Chalcopyrite-bornite mineralization remains present in the quartz veinlets, which frequently show thin Kfeldspar haloes. The outer periphery of the Piuquenes porphyry system can be observed from 690 m, with a predominance of early biotite over mafics along with disseminated magnetite, sporadic and thin quartz veinlets with a halo of potassium Kfeldspar and disseminated chalcopyrite and bornite overprinting diorite porphyry. From 690 m a late intermediate argillic event with chlorite is evident, along with veinlets and dissemination of pyrite/chalcopyrite-pyrite and specular magnetic hematite, grading to phyllic with selective chlorite-sericite and pervasive sericite veinlets, with fine dissemination of pyrite from 850 m to 870m (End of Hole).

Image 3: Intense porphyry A type quartz stockwork with strong disseminated chalcopyrite mineralization, overprinting intermineral potassic altered porphyry

Image 4: Porphyry A type quartz vein hosting coarse bornite mineralization, overprinting intermineral potassic altered porphyry

Assays have been prepared and dispatched to the ALS laboratory in Mendoza, results expected shortly.

Joseph van den Elsen, Pampa Metals President and CEO commented: "Following on from the exceptional copper-gold intersections reported in the first hole of our maiden drill campaign at the Piuquenes Project, we are very pleased to report the presence of wide intervals of both supergene enriched and strong primary copper mineralization in the 2nd hole of our current drill program. Our maiden drill campaign continues to extend the depth and lateral extensions of mineralization at Piuquenes Central with a bornite rich core now evident and open to depth. Bornite mineralized cores are commonly associated with high grade porphyry deposits globally and we look forward to further delineating this exciting opportunity. Subsequent drill campaigns will also test the undrilled Piuquenes East porphyry target and other nearby targets identified on the property."

Figure 1: PIU-02 Schematic Cross Section

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD INVESTOR CONTACT

Joseph van den Elsen | President & CEO Joseph van den Elsen | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ABOUT PAMPA METALS

Pampa Metals is a copper-gold exploration company listed on the Canadian Stock Exchange (CSE:PM), Frankfurt (FSE:FIRA), and OTC (OTCQB:PMMCF) exchanges.

In November 2023, the Company announced it had entered into an Option and Joint Venture Agreement for the acquisition of an 80% interest in the Piuquenes Copper-Gold Porphyry Project in San Juan Province, Argentina. Reported intervals of significant copper and gold mineralization at Piuquenes Central include:

413.5 m@ 0.47% Cu, 0.52 g/t Au (0.87% CuEq)* (167-580.5 m);

422 m @ 0.48% Cu, 0.61 g/t Au, 2.9 g/t Ag (1.00% CuEq)* (198 - 620m);

including 132m @ 0.71% Cu, 0.85 g/t Au, 4.3 g/t Ag (1.45% CuEq)* (220 - 352m);

including 80m @ 0.6% Cu, 0.77 g/t Au, 3.2 g/t Ag (1.30% CuEq)* (468 - 548m)

558.2 m @ 0.38% Cu, 0.42 g/t Au, 2.4 g/t Ag (0.73% CuEq)* (362-920.2 m EOH)

including 130 m @ 0.81% Cu, 0.6 g/t Au, 4 g/t Ag (1.31 % CuEq)* (362-492 m)

Qualified Person

Technical information in this news release has been approved by Mario Orrego G. Mr. Orrego G. is a Geologist, a Registered Member of the Chilean Mining Commission and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Orrego G. is a consultant to the Company.

* %CuEq values are calculated based on copper and gold metal prices: Cu = US$3.20/lb, Au = US$1,700/oz and Ag = US$ 20/oz. The formula utilized to calculate %CuEq is: Cu Eq Grade (%) = Cu Head Grade (%) + [(Au Head Grade (g/t) / 31.104) * (Au Price (US$/oz) / Cu Price (US$/lb) / 22.04) + [(Ag Head Grade (g/t) / 31.104) * (Ag Price (US$/oz) / Cu Price (US$/lb) / 22.04.

Neither the CSE nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT

This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical fact, that address events or developments that Pampa Metals expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will" or "may" occur. These statements are subject to various risks. Although Pampa Metals believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guaranteeing of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements.
VANCOUVER, BC / THE NEWSWIRE / March 26, 2024  Element79 Gold Corp. (CSE: ELEM) (OTC: ELMGF) (FSE: 7YS) ("Element79", the "Company) is pleased to provide additional updates on recent efforts on its Lucero property, further highlighting the flagship project's vast potential.

The latest underground mapping and channel sampling efforts on Element79's Lucero property have revealed additional insights, surpassing initial expectations. Accessible historical working, originally estimated at just 2.5 km, has been significantly. Recent work has documented an expansive network spanning 8.9 km of workings (Figure 1 and 2), with 85% now meticulously mapped and sampled. These findings significantly expand our understanding of Lucero's geological landscape, positioning the Company for unprecedented exploration opportunities.

To date a total of 19 adits have been mapped, with 10 additional adits remaining for underground mapping. In addition to discovery of significantly more accessible working, work done between October and December yielded significant insight into the project gold-silver mineralization. Below are some of the highlights of recent and historical workings:

Mineralization conforms to the intermediate sulfidation epithermal style, characterized by Au-Ag veins with associated lead and zinc sulphides.

Subvertical structures, hosted with dacite tuffs are the primary controls of the mineralized veins, with an average vein width of 0.40m.

Within the Apacheta zone, mineralization remains open at depth and towards the northwest.

Two structures exhibiting significant exploration potential for gold-silver mineralization have been identified: the Promesa vein and the Pillune sector.

Notably, the Pillune sector appears hosts a well-defined ore shoot, highlighting its substantial mineralization potential.

"As we advance on this journey of discovery, our commitment to unlocking Lucero's vast potential through collaborative relationships remains unwavering," said James Tworek, CEO of Element79. "With each milestone, we inch closer to realizing our vision of sustainable and responsible resource exploration and production. We remain dedicated to creating enduring value for our shareholders and fostering prosperity within the communities we operate."

Drawing from historical Buenaventura reports spanning 2005-2008, enriched by continued community engagement, Element79 has unearthed compelling prospects for exploration.

Figure 1. Lucero Project location map of fall 2023 underground mapping, focused on the Apacheta, Pillune and Sando Alcalde historic mining areas.

Figure 2. Isometric view with geology draped on topography, looking north, with recently mapped working (light yellow).

Notably, our exploration timeline underscores our efficient utilization of resources. This strategic resource allocation ensures the completion of ongoing initiatives and paves the way for secondary mapping and geochemistry programs in additional zones beyond Apacheta, Pillune, and Sando Alcalde.

"Lucero project's extensive potential continues to unfold as we compile drilling targets in the northwest region, where surface indicators of vuggy silica hint at underlying mineralization," said Kim Kirkland, Chief Operating Officer at Element79 and Registered Professional Geologist. "As we continue to chart new territories and push the boundaries of exploration on our flagship property, these prospects ignite a palpable sense of anticipation and excitement, propelling Element79 towards new frontiers of discovery."

Qualified Person

The technical information in this release has been reviewed and verified by Neil Pettigrew, M.Sc., P. Geo., Director of Element79 Gold and a "qualified person" as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

About Element79 Gold Corp.

Element79 Gold is a mining company focused on gold and silver committed to maximizing shareholder value through responsible mining practices and sustainable development of its projects. Element79 Gold's focus is on developing its past-producing, high-grade gold and silver mine, the Lucero project located in Arequipa, Peru, with the intent to restart production in 2024.

The Company also holds a portfolio of 5 properties along the Battle Mountain trend in Nevada, with the Clover and West Whistler projects believed to have significant potential for near-term resource development. Three properties in the Battle Mountain Portfolio are under contract for sale to Valdo Minerals Ltd., with an anticipated closing date in the first half of 2024. The Company has also signed an Option Agreement to sell the Maverick Springs project, an advanced-stage exploratory property with an Inferred Resource of 3.71MMoz AuEq (1.37MMoz Au and 175MMoz Ag) (see 43-101 technical report titled: Amended Technical Report on the Maverick Springs Project, Nevada, USA, by Allan Armitage, PhD., P.Geo, and Rohan Millar, B.Sc. P.Geo., dated October 7, 2022, available on SEDAR) and anticipates completing this sale on or before July 21, 2024.

In British Columbia, Element79 Gold has executed a Letter of Intent and funded a drilling program to acquire a private company that holds the option to 100% interest of the Snowbird High-Grade Gold Project, which consists of 10 mineral claims located in Central British Columbia, approximately 20km west of Fort St. James.

The Company has an option to acquire a 100% interest in the Dale Property, 90 unpatented mining claims located approximately 100 km southwest of Timmins, Ontario, and has recently announced that it has transferred this project to its wholly owned subsidiary, Synergy Metals Corp, and is advancing through the Plan of Arrangement spin-out process.

For more information about the Company, please visit www.element79.gold

Contact Information

For corporate matters, please contact:

James C. Tworek, Chief Executive Officer

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

For investor relations inquiries, please contact:

Investor Relations Department

Phone: +1.403.850.8050

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This press contains "forwardlooking information" and "forward-looking statements" under applicable securities laws (collectively, "forwardlooking statements"). These statements relate to future events or the Company's future performance, business prospects or opportunities that are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions of management made considering management's experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: the Company's business strategy; future planning processes; exploration activities; the timing and result of exploration activities; capital projects and exploration activities and the possible results thereof; acquisition opportunities; and the impact of acquisitions, if any, on the Company. Assumptions may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Consequently, forward-looking statements cannot be guaranteed. As such, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon forward-looking statements as there can be no assurance that the plans, assumptions or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forwardlooking statements. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "seek", "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "predict", "forecast", "potential", "target", "intend", "could", "might", "should", "believe" and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact and may be "forwardlooking statements".

Actual results may vary from forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to materially differ from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: the duration and effects of the coronavirus and COVID-19; risks related to the integration of acquisitions; actual results of exploration activities; conclusions of economic evaluations; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; commodity prices; variations in ore reserves, grade or recovery rates; actual performance of plant, equipment or processes relative to specifications and expectations; accidents; labour relations; relations with local communities; changes in national or local governments; changes in applicable legislation or application thereof; delays in obtaining approvals or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities; exchange rate fluctuations; requirements for additional capital; government regulation; environmental risks; reclamation expenses; outcomes of pending litigation; limitations on insurance coverage as well as those factors discussed in the Company's other public disclosure documents, available on www.sedarplus.ca. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in these forwardlooking statements are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forwardlooking statements included herein should not be unduly relied upon. These statements speak only as of the date hereof. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable laws.

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.
Drill hole HP24-002 Intersects a continuous 2.4 m (7.9 ft) interval with downhole probe readings ranging up to 2,162 cps

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 26, 2024) - Kraken Energy Corp. (CSE: UUSA) (OTCQB: UUSAF) (FSE: F2C) (the "Company" or "Kraken") is pleased to report that the Company has completed its maiden drilling program at the Harts Point Uranium Property ("Harts Point" or the "Property") in San Juan County, Utah.

The Phase I drilling program tested two targets spaced 5 kilometers ("km") (3.12 miles) apart, focused on confirming the presence of uranium mineralization indicated by radiometric anomalies in three historic oil wells on the Property.

"Our team is very pleased with the initial results from our maiden drilling program at Harts Point," stated CEO Matthew Schwab. "With the discovery of Lisbon Valley originating from the initial drilling of 7 holes over a strike length of 1.5 km, where only 3 drill holes intersected radioactivity, it gives us great confidence in the Property after drilling only two holes over a 5 km distance and intersecting elevated radioactivity in both."

"We look forward to continuing our work in Utah as we move forward with advanced exploration across our portfolio of exciting properties and look to capitalize on the project's exceptional potential to discover a trend of high-grade uranium deposits located within a pro-mining jurisdiction."

Downhole Gamma Probe Results:

Drillhole HP24-001 intersected a total of 12.9 meters (m) (42.3 feet ("ft")) of elevated radioactivity with downhole probe readings from 252 counts per second ("cps") up to 653 cps from 151.5 to 421.5 m (497.0 to 1,382.8 ft)

Including 270 to 653 cps over 1.0 m (3.2 ft) from 415.1 to 416.1 m (1,361.9 to 1,365.1 ft)

Drillhole HP24-002 intersected a total of 16.2 m (53.1 ft) of elevated radioactivity with downhole probe readings from 252 cps up to 2,162 cps from 107.8 to 390.4 m (353.6 to 1,280.7 ft)

Including 263 to 2,162 cps over 2.4 m (7.9 ft) from (1,261.2 to 1,269.1 ft)

* Background gamma readings through non-elevated zones typically range from 10-150 cps on the borehole gamma probe

"We're thrilled that our Joint Venture Partner, Kraken Energy has successfully completed their maiden drilling program at our Harts Point project in Utah. The discovery of uranium on the Harts Point anticline marks a pivotal moment in Colorado Plateau exploration as it validates our theory that uranium is not solely confined to the Lisbon Valley anticline indicating other known salt anticlines are also prospective for uranium. This success of the phase 1 program underscores the commitment of our combined Technical team's ability to find and explore previously overlooked potential uranium deposits on the plateau." - Clive Massey, President & CEO, Atomic Minerals Corp.

Harts Point Property Highlights:

World class uranium jurisdiction: located in the center of the Colorado Plateau, which has produced over 590 million ("M") pounds ("lbs") U 3 O 8 at 0.2 to 0.4% U 3 O 8 since the 1950s 1,5-8 .

located in the center of the Colorado Plateau, which has produced since the 1950s . Property consists of 324 lode mining claims on Bureau of Land Management (" BLM ") ground that covers an area of 2,622 hectares ("ha") (6,480 acres) .

on Bureau of Land Management (" ") ground that covers an area of . Harts Point Anticline is Analogous to the Lisbon Valley Anticline: where the Lisbon Valley Uranium District hosted 17 large uranium mines which produced approximately 80M lbs U 3 O 8 at 0.34% U 3 O 8 from 1948 to 1988 2 . The dimensions of these tabular sandstone-hosted uranium deposits range from 2 to 13 m (7 to 43 feet) thick, 100 to 3,048 m (328 to 10,000 feet) long, and 31 to 427 m (100 to 1,400 feet) wide 3 .

where the Lisbon Valley Uranium District hosted from 1948 to 1988 . Significant Historic Uranium Production: Several historic mines located 11 km (7 miles) west of the Harts Point Property produced approximately 280,000 lbs U 3 O 8 at 0.3% U 3 O 8 from the favorable Chinle Formation host rock 4 . The Lisbon Valley Anticline is located 31 km (19 miles) to the east of the Harts Point Property produced approximately 80M lbs U 3 O 8 0.34% U 3 O 8 2 .

Excellent Infrastructure: located approximately 64 km (40 miles) north of the White Mesa uranium processing facility. There is also excellent access throughout the Property, which is situated 45 km (28 miles) from the town of Monticello, Utah.

located approximately

Stock Option Grant:

The Company also announces that it has granted incentive stock options to purchase a total of 700,000 common shares at an exercise price of $0.20 per share for a period of five years, including 200,000 options to newly appointed director Marlis Yassin, 200,000 options to existing director Jesse Hahn, 200,000 options to existing investor relations firm Kin Communications (see the Company's news release dated December 20, 2022) and 100,000 options to Kin Communications' employee, Trenton Kwan as compensation for investor relations services, all in accordance with the provisions of the Company's stock option plan.

References:

1 Holger Albrethsen, Jr. and Frank E. McGinley (1982). Summary History of Domestic Procurement Under U.S. Atomic Energy Commission Contracts, September 1982.

2 Chenoweth, W.L. (1990). Lisbon Valley, Utah's Premier Uranium Area, a Summary of Exploration and Ore Production. Utah Geological Survey Open File Report 188, July 1990.

3 Gordon W. Weir and Willard P. Puffett (1981). Incomplete manuscript on stratigraphy and structural geology and uranium-vanadium and copper deposits of the Lisbon Valley area, Utah-Colorado. Open-File Report 81-39. Pages 153 to 163. United States Department of the Interior Geological Survey.

4 Chenoweth, W.L. (1993): The geology and Production History of the Uranium deposits in the White Canyon Mining District, San Juan County, Utah, Utah Geological Survey Miscellaneous Publication 93-3.

5 Mills, Stephanie E. and Bear Jordan (2021). Uranium and Vanadium Resources of Utah: An Update in the Era of Critical Minerals and Carbon Neutrality, Open File Report 735, Utah Geological Survey.

6 Chenoweth, William L. (1981). The Uranium - Vanadium Deposits of the Uravan Mineral Belt and Adjacent Areas, Colorado and Utah, New Mexico Geological Society Guidebook, 32nd Field Conference, Western Slope Colorado.

7 McLemore, Virginia T. and Willam L. Chenoweth (1989). Uranium Resources in New Mexico, Resource Map 18, New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources.

8 Chenoweth, William L. and Virginia T. McLemore (1989). Uranium Resources on the Colorado Plateau in Energy Frontiers in the Rockies, Albuquerque Geological Society.

Technical Information:

All scientific and technical information in this news release has been prepared by or reviewed and approved by Matthew Schwab, P.Geo., President and CEO of the Company, and Garrett Ainsworth, P.Geo., Chairman of the Company. Each of Mr. Schwab and Mr. Ainsworth is a Qualified Person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

The data disclosed in this news release is related to historical drilling results. Kraken has not undertaken any independent investigation of the sampling, nor has it independently analyzed the results of the historical exploration work in order to verify the results. Kraken considers these historical drill results relevant as the Company is using this data as a guide to plan exploration programs. The Company's current and future exploration work includes verification of the historical data through drilling.

Natural gamma radiation in the drill core that is reported in this news release was measured in counts per second (cps) using a Mount Sopris QL40-SGR-2G downhole spectral gamma tool. The Company considers greater than 250 cps on the downhole probe to be elevated radioactivity from the background radioactivity levels of 10 to 150 cps. The reader is cautioned that scintillometer readings are not directly or uniformly related to uranium grades of the rock sample measured and should be used only as a preliminary indication for the presence of radioactive materials. All depth measurements reported are down-hole and true thicknesses are yet to be determined. Samples from the drill core are split in half on site in 0.25 to 0.50 m intervals. One half of the split sample will be submitted to American Assay Laboratories ("AAL") (an ISO-17025 accredited facility) in Reno, Nevada for lithogeochemical analysis using the "26 element 4 acid + Boric Acid digestion ICP-OES+MS" package.

About the Harts Point Property:

Harts Point is located in the center of the Colorado Plateau, referred to by some as "the Athabasca Basin of the US" and is 64 kilometers ("km") (40 miles) north of the White Mesa Uranium Mill, the only fully licensed and operating conventional uranium mill in the United States. The Property consists of 324 lode mining claims on Bureau of Land Management ("BLM") ground and drill permits are in place for up to 20 exploration drill holes.

About Kraken Energy Corp.:

Kraken Energy Corp. is a new energy company advancing its portfolio of high-grade uranium properties in the Unites States. The Company is advancing its 100%-owned Apex Uranium Property, located 280 km (174 miles) east from Reno, Nevada which is recognized as Nevada's largest past-producing uranium mine. The Company has additionally entered into an option agreement to earn 100% of the Garfield Hills Uranium Property. The past-producing Garfield Hills Uranium Property covers 1,238 ha (3,060 acres) and is located 19 km (12 miles) east of Hawthorne in Mineral County, Nevada. Kraken Energy has also recently staked the Huber Hills Uranium Property, located 136 km (85 miles) north of Elko, Nevada which covers 1,044 ha (2,580 acres) and encompasses the historic Race Track open pit mine. The Company has recently entered into an option agreement to earn 75% of the Harts Point Uranium Property. The Harts Point Uranium Property covers 2,622 ha (6,480 acres) and is located 49 km (30 miles) northwest of Monticello in San Juan County, Utah.

For more information about the Company, please visit; www.krakenenergycorp.com.

On Behalf of the Board of Kraken Energy Corp.:

Matthew Schwab

President & Chief Executive Officer

Corporate Office:

Suite 907 - 1030 West Georgia Street

Vancouver, British Columbia

V6E 2Y3

T: (604) 628-2669

For investor relations inquiries, contact:

Kin Communications Inc.

T: (604) 684-6730

E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

This news release contains forward-looking information which is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this press release include our plans for exploration at the properties. These forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information. Risks that could change or prevent these statements from coming to fruition include changing costs for mining and processing; increased capital costs; the timing and content of upcoming work programs; geological interpretations based on drilling that may change with more detailed information; potential process methods and mineral recoveries assumption based on limited test work and by comparison to what are considered analogous deposits that with further test work may not be comparable; the availability of labour, equipment and markets for the products produced; and despite the current expected viability of the project, conditions changing such that the minerals on our property cannot be economically mined, or that the required permits to build and operate the envisaged mine can be obtained. The forward-looking information contained herein is given as of the date hereof and the Company assumes no responsibility to update or revise such information to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by law.




When convoys of Russian military vehicles entered the village of Dymer, Kyiv oblast, North of the Ukrainian capital, on February 25, 2022, it was the second day of the full-scale invasion. On March 20, 2022 - information appeared in the media that the Russians appointed their own head of the village, hung a tri-colored flag and organized a celebration with fireworks.

On March 28, RT channel aired a propaganda report on Russian military delivering tons of humanitarian aid to the residents of Dymer. The video was discussed on social media and publicized in the Facebook group Dymer community - from choices to elections. The video shows long lines of people receiving humanitarian aid from soldiers with machine guns.

Two days later, in the early morning, the Russians retreated from Dymer. The Ukrainian military and law enforcement entered the village. They started asking people questions and found out the names of those who allegedly collaborated with the occupiers.

Two such men were identified: Oleksandr Kharchenko, born in 1983, aka Sasha the Redhead, who, according to the investigation, was the head of the village, and Oleksandr Melnyk, born in 1977, aka Sasha the Shady, who became the deputy head. They were arrested and tried separately, although witnesses constantly referred to both of them when describing the circumstances of the occupation. Kharchenkos case was heard by the Solomianskyi District Court, and Melnyks by the Vyshhorodskyi District Court of Kyiv oblast.

Oleksandr Melnyk, during the Russian occupation of the village of Dymer in the Kyiv region, became the right hand of Kharchenko, whom he knew before the war. Photo :  Iryna Salii

It didnt look like he was scared

Kharchenko had lived in Dymer for a long time with his parents, single, running a small business, delivering logs with his vehicle. A few years prior, he had run for the village council, but failed to get elected and was never again involved in any public or political activity.

According to locals, for the first week and a half of Russian occupation, the head of Dymer, Volodymyr Pidkurgannyi, was delivering humanitarian aid despite heavy shelling. One man told the court that he unloaded a minibus with medications that were sent by Pidkurgannyi. But later, due to threats from the Russians, he would no longer be seen in Dymer.

Then, the office of the Village Councils head was allegedly taken over by Kharchenko, who said that it was necessary to restore order, that things used to be bad in Dymer. One of my friends said that Sasha had become the head of the village. We drove there, and they were distributing gasoline. Sasha was sitting in the office in the heads chair. We had a burst [pipe], and he wrote it down to let the Russians know so they would fix it. He said that there would be Russian money, that a school would be opened, local resident Svitlana told the court.

Kharchenko explains that people would gather at the village council to find out news and gossip. Russian soldiers would bring a field kitchen there every day and distribute meals and fuel to the locals. According to him, a representative of the Red Cross, also a member of the village council, Maryna Tsapok, and other concerned residents would often come. Those were people who needed to sort something out, such as people whose septic tanks were clogged, or people who needed to organize garbage collection or report someones disappearance.

Who exactly did I give instructions to?! How could I possibly have given any instructions if there were employees of the village council who were in direct contact with Pidkurgannyi? They managed all the facilities. Just because I was distributing humanitarian aid, I somehow got considered the head of the village council, Kharchenko argued.

It was Kharchenko who was filmed by the Russians in their propaganda video.

- Yes, I commented on what was happening at that moment on the square. No more, no less, he explained at the hearing.

- And what exactly was happening there? the prosecutor asked.

- Russian humanitarian aid was being distributed. A fellow came over with a camera and said: Can you comment? So thats what I did, so to speak.

- Did you enjoy living in occupation alongside the Russian military?

- How can anyone like destruction?

- You didnt like it?

- Of course not.

- And when you gave this interview, you made this comment: Dont be afraid, approach the Russian soldiers, ask them for help, we will help everyone.

- They will help. Do not twist the words! It was said: Do not stay in basements, do not starve. Russian soldiers are not aggressive towards the civilian population, they are giving out humanitarian aid. Come, take it and stop starving.

Local residents confirm that they saw Kharchenko during the distributions.

- On March 23-24, I saw with my own eyes that he [Kharchenko] was distributing Komsomolskaya Pravda newspapers in that location, one of the eyewitnesses told the court.

- What was Kharchenkos role? the judge asked.

- He was appointed to replace the head of the village.

- How was he elected?

- I dont know exactly, but I think it was suggested to him. It didnt look like he was scared.

The RT video does show Kharchenko standing in the street holding a pile of newspapers. The prosecutor brought to the court a bag containing 60 copies of Krasnaya Zvezda and 90 copies of Komsomolskaya Pravda, as well as Russian rations. After the de-occupation, they were found in the office of the village head, but Kharchenko claims that he did not put them there.

Judges examine Russian army dry food rations seized from the Dymer village council building. Photo :  Iryna Salii

The real owners of the place didnt introduce themselves

It is still uncertain as to how Kharchenko got to the leadership position. The indictment states that on March 16, 2022, a forcible meeting of residents was held to distribute humanitarian aid and Kharchenko introduced himself as the new head of the village representing the occupation authorities. But no direct witnesses to this meeting were brought to the trial.

People claimed that they were aware of everything through rumors: The Russian military appointed Kharchenko as the head of Dymer. There were talks about it in the village. Some viewed Kharchenko as a self-proclaimed leader.

Andriy Sologub is the director of the Lytvynivka Lyceum, in the Dymer village. During the occupation, he was the leader of the Vyshhorod Rapid Response Unit of the Ukrainian Red Cross Society. The Ukrainian Red Cross is non-political and helps everyone, regardless of nationality, race, or political preferences. The organization does not cooperate with the military. But the occupiers were constantly pressuring the Red Cross to cooperate, trying to convince the organization to distribute Russian humanitarian aid.

On March 18, Sologub learned that Dymer had a new head and the next day, at the invitation of the occupiers, he came to meet the new mayor.

On March 19, when I entered the office of the Dymer village council, Kharchenko, Melnyk and Klion [a Russian military man] were there. It seemed like Kharchenko was the owner of the office, but in fact, the real owners of the place were entirely different. They did not introduce themselves, they had no insignia. Later we found out that they were members of the 83rd Air Assault Brigade, which is stationed in the city of Ussuriysk. Kharchenko was sitting at a large desk, in the chair of the head of the territorial community. There was a huge map of Dymer in front of him, it was divided into sectors. Melnyk was there, sitting next to him. Melnyk had a notebook and was writing down, as if at a council meeting. Kharchenko said that he was the person responsible for utilities. Melnyk said he was in charge of electricity, asked me where he could find employees of DTEK [Donbas Fuel and Energy Corporation] or RES [regional maintenance service] to fix the power grid, Sologub testified.

Then came to the court Natalia Tkachenko, the chief accountant of the village council, who was still living in Dymer in March 2022. At first, I heard from the villagers that a new authority was going to be elected and it would be Oleksandr Kharchenko. I came to pick up my things. When I entered the village council building, he [Kharchenko] was in the heads office. I asked if I could go to my office. He said yes, so I just went and took my things. Then he came in with his friend, Oleksandr Melnyk... He was repeating: Theres work to be done, theres work to be done, she recounted.

Melnyk was angry with the authorities

Melnyk is a native of Cherkasy region. He used to live in Dymer, but at the time of the full-scale invasion, he lived with his wife in a rented house in the village of Lutizh. According to his landlady, he owned a dried fruit store. Kharchenko says Melnyk worked at a construction site and had a team of repairmen.

Lutizh was not taken by the Russians, but Melnyk and his wife deliberately went to the occupied territory. As he later explained in court, they went to pick up his mother-in-law from the village of Ivankiv. However, they never got to his mother-in-law, stopped in Dymer and settled in the premises of the Dymer Utility Plant. They claimed that it was dangerous to travel, and then the road was blocked, so they stayed in Dymer. According to the prosecution, Melnyk became Kharchenkos deputy head and combined this with the position of manager of the utility plant. Melnyk says that he simply moved into an empty building of the communal utility services with the permission of a friend and started helping people.

In the cold days of March, when people were coming to get humanitarian aid, Tsapok, member of the village council, noticed a stranger wearing gray summer sneakers. It was Melnyk arriving on a bicycle and asking the security guard at the church where he could buy shoes. The next day, she told the court, Melnyk approached her near the Fora store, where the occupiers were distributing food, and said that it was necessary to help people, and then he led the woman to the chief Russian, shook his hand and introduced her.

She then learned that Melnyk had been in business before, but it went bust more than once. He was very angry with the authorities. And he just wanted to climb a little bit more, Tsapok recalls. Melnyk partially confirmed this, saying that a missile hit his store in Lutizh.

Melnyk and Kharchenko do not deny that they have known each other for a long time. I met Kharchenko a long time ago. Ive probably known him for 10 years. Now I dont remember what the circumstances were. I was younger, maybe we went to the movies... Melnyk said in court.

We had to survive somehow

The legitimate village head, Pidkurgannyi, did not testify in the court hearings against Kharchenko and Melnyk. Neither prosecutors nor defence lawyers called him as a witness.

In response to the lawyers request, the Dymer village council reported that, due to the danger during the occupation, the council was working remotely. Representatives of the local authorities, including the head, were officially located on the premises of the Vyshhorod military administration.

Kharchenkos lawyer, Viktor Kashpur, repeatedly said that Kharchenko was essentially fulfilling the duties from which the legitimate village head had voluntarily withdrawn.

The defence lawyer referred to the provisions of the Geneva Convention stating that the occupation authorities must, if necessary, provide the inhabitants of the occupied territory with food and medicine. In other words, the Geneva Convention stipulates a certain degree of cooperation between local authorities and the occupiers, which is not considered a crime.

The defendants tried to prove that they did not belong to the occupation authorities but simply made arrangements with the Russians to help local civilians with the Red Cross, although they were not members of the organization. The investigation did not establish the salaries Kharchenko and Melnyk received while performing functions under occupation. There are no official documents signed by the accused in the case files.

Lawyer Pavlo Khaytov believes that Melnyk was engaged in volunteering to the occupied territory, and for doing so, he was rewarded with an indictment and detention. People might think that he is the deputy head of the Dymer village council or the director of a utility plant. If a person distributes food and the katsaps [pejorative for Russians] dont shoot him for it, there is only one answer - he is working for them, Khaytov says.

Melnyk claims that having a Red Cross armband, he was able to bring more than 100 people to the unoccupied territory. But there are no lists or photos to prove it. Furthermore, no one came to court to confirm these claims.

We had to survive somehow. The fact that we started distributing humanitarian aid alongside Russian soldiers was an offer we could not refuse. They said that if we did not cooperate, they would bomb our houses and create conditions that would make it very difficult to survive. I dont consider myself guilty, Kharchenko said in his final words before the judges left for the deliberation room. Melnyk said in his final speech that he believed his stay behind bars was a matter of time and hoped for a change in the law.

The court dismissed the defendants arguments. For the court, the witnesses testimonies showed that Kharchenko distributed Russian humanitarian aid on behalf of the invaders. Pidkurgannyi, the legitimate head of the village, also distributed humanitarian aid at the beginning of the occupation, but Kharchenko never helped him. Kharchenko was sentenced to 9 years in prison with confiscation of property, and Melnyk to 7 years, with confiscation.

After the hearing, the lawyer told Melnyk that they would see each other during the appeal. On his side, last summer Kharchenko filed a request to be exchanged and sent to Russia.

This report is part of our coverage of war crimes justice produced in partnership with Ukrainian journalists. A first version of this article was published on the "Sudovyi Reporter" website.
Hot Docs President Marie Nelson poses in this undated handout photo. Hot Docs' president Marie Nelson says a "perfect storm" led to Canada's largest documentary film festival's artistic director and 10 of its programmers quitting just before it was to announce its 2024 lineup. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Hot Docs *MANDATORY CREDIT*




Tuesday, March 26, 2024 - A n African man who is in a relationship with an older Mzungu woman brought her home to meet his parents for the first time.

He took to his Tiktok account and shared a video of his parents giving her a warm reception despite their huge age gap.

His mother was amazed by the mzungu's looks as she rubbed her hair.

His father also happily greeted the woman and hugged her.

They wined and dined together after welcoming her.

The video has sparked a lot of reactions on Tiktok, with many Tiktokers making fun of the young man.

Some accused the young man of falling in love with the woman because of money and soft life.

Poverty has really dealt with us, when your parents accept someone way older than them without remorse. I weep for us all, commented one of the Tiktokers.

May we never marry our mother age mate in search of greener pastures, wrote another Tiktoker.

Watch the video.

The Kenyan DAILY POST.


Tuesday, March 26, 2024  Part of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed early on Tuesday morning after a column was hit by a large container ship, sending cars and possibly people into the Patapsco River.

The Baltimore City Fire Department told CBS News that at about 1:30 a.m., 911 calls started coming in saying a vessel had hit a bridge column.

It was unclear how many vehicles were on the span but "there was surely a large tractor-trailer" on it.

"There are at least seven people" in the river and "the dive and rescue team has arrived on scene to locate the individuals."

The department said on its scanner that there was lots of diesel fuel in the water around the ship and that there were construction workers on the bridge pouring concrete at the time.

A Baltimore police spokesperson told CBS News there was a "partial bridge collapse, with workers possibly in the water."

The MidAtlantic Coast Guard said the 948-foot Singapore-flagged cargo ship Dali had struck the bridge. It was apparently en route from Baltimore to Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott said on social media that. I'm aware of and en route to the incident at the Key Bridge. ... Emergency personnel are on scene, and efforts are underway.

Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. said on social media that, "Rescue efforts are underway. Please pray for those impacted."

The Maryland Transportation Authority said all lanes were closed in both directions for an incident on I-695 Key Bridge and later posted that traffic was being detoured to I-95 and I-895.


Tuesday, March 26, 2024  A well-known pediatrician, Dr. Zamambo Siphokazi Mkhize, 39, has been murdered in South Africa.

Her lifeless body was found stuffed into the boot of her car in Imbali, Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal on 22 March 2024.

It is alleged that Zamambos husband got worried when his wife did not return from work or answer her phone. After speaking to Zamambos family and the tracking company of his wifes car, the husband decided to open a missing case.

At around 8pm the same night, SAPS found Zamambos vehicle abandoned on the J18 in Imbali, just 3km from her workplace. When the family arrived at the scene, they found her lifeless body in the boot.

Zamambo was allegedly shot in the head, and it appeared that she had been assaulted, as she had a bruised and swollen eye. Her handbag and her cell phone were missing from the car.

Dr Zamambo Mkhize was a pediatrician at Harry Gwala Regional Hospital in Pietermaritzburg.

She leaves behind her husband and children.

The KwaZulu-Natal health department in a statement on Monday, March 25, urged police to leave no stone unturned in their investigation.

"We wish to convey our heartfelt condolences to the family, friends and colleagues for this great loss. This is a huge loss to the department and the medical fraternity as her profession is critical to saving lives on a daily basis, said provincial health spokesperson Ntokozo Maphisa.

Provincial police spokesperson Col Robert Netshiunda said Plessislaer officers are investigating the murder.

Police responded to the scene and found the body of a woman with what looked like assault marks and a gunshot wound, said Netshiunda.

He said the suspects are unknown at this stage and the motive has not yet been established, though robbery could not be ruled out.


Tuesday, March 26, 2024  Sean "Diddy" Combs' sons, who were placed in handcuffs as Homeland Security carried out a raid on the Los Angeles and Miami homes of the rapper on Monday, March 25, have been released.

Law enforcement sources said that Diddys two sons, Justin Combs and King Combs, were reportedly detained at the scene of the raid on his Beverly Hills home.

ABC News has since reported that they were released without charges.

Diddy shares three kids  King, 25, and twins DLila Star and Jessie James, 16  with the late Kim Porter, with whom he had an on-and-off relationship from 1994 to 2007. (He also adopted Porters son, Quincy Brown, 32, from a prior relationship.)

The music mogul is also the father to three kids  Justin Dior, 29, Chance, 17, and Love Sean, 17 months  with Misa Hylton, Sarah Chapman and Dana Tran, respectively.


Tuesday, March 26, 2024  Sean 'Diddy' Combs' private jet has been tracked to the Caribbean Island of Antigua after his homes in Los Angeles and Miami were raided.

The 54-year-old rapper's personal LoveAir LLC Gulfstream 5 jet which he has owned and used for years is currently on the ground on the island, according to TMZ.

There is no indication yet if Diddy himself was on board the aircraft when it took off from the Van Nuys Airport in Los Angeles at 9 AM on Monday.

Diddy was later spotted around 3 PM PT Monday at the Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport, just a few hours after the raids started.

The rapper and music mogul was seen pacing around the Customs office at the airport, though he was not detained. He was reportedly waiting on others in his party, who were being questioned by federal officials.

Diddy was said to be boarding a separate private jet in Opa Locka on Monday when the feds arrived. He was said to be never cuffed or taken into custody, and, despite his other plane heading to Antigua, The rapper is not said to be on the run at all.

The private plane has had a busy few days, with stops in various locales across California.

It's unknown when the jet landed in Antigua, though it was gathered that the jet took off hours before both the rapper's homes in L.A. and Miami were raided.

The raids conducted by Homeland Security were in connection to an ongoing trafficking investigation.

The jet took off from Sacramento Executive Airport on Sunday evening at approximately 5:30 PM and landed in Palm Springs, California roughly an hour later.

Just one hour after landing in Palm Springs - at 7:30 PM - the plane took off again, landing at the Van Nuys Airport a half hour later at roughly 8 PM.

Then at 9 AM on Monday morning, the plane took off from Van Nuys, though it isn't clear yet when it landed in Antigua.

While the plane is grounded in Antigua, the flight data has yet to register him as officially landing yet.

Hours after the plane took off from Van Nuys Airport, federal agents descended upon Diddy's estates in Los Angeles and Miami.

At least two men were seen put in handcuffs during the Los Angeles raid, which some reports have claimed were Combs' own sons, King, 25, and Justin, 30, though that has yet to be confirmed.

A spokesperson for Homeland Security Investigations told DailyMail.com in a 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,' the statement concluded."


Tuesday, March 26, 2024  Music executive, Diddy's home has been raided by federal law enforcement operatives in what appears to be tied to sex trafficking allegations against him in recent months from different plaintiffs.

FOX11 shared a video that appears to show several individuals in handcuffs near the property, and a couple of them appear to be Diddy's sons, Justin and King Combs.

TMZ also obtained additional footage that shows federal agents rolling up to Diddy's via water. The video shows armed agents standing on a boat, and they too appear to be armed.

Diddy is in the crosshairs of law enforcement on both coasts of America, as federal agents descended on his Beverly Hills home.

Law enforcement sources also told TMZ that agents for Homeland Security are in the middle of raiding Diddy's properties. There are helicopters overhead and local law enforcement is also present, although Homeland Security is the lead agency.

There are law enforcement walking through the house with guns drawn and people are beingsecond volumeioned in the front of the house. Diddy's home in Miami has also been raided.

Confirming the raid, a rep for Homeland Security Investigations 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. We will provide further information as it becomes available.

There have been multiple allegations in several civil suits against Diddy, including human trafficking, all of which he has denied.

Here are videos from the raid below
Tuesday, March 26, 2024 - Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro has indirectly accused Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki of sabotaging President William Ruto and his agendas to transform the country by empowering the common man.

This follows the move by Kindiki to ban private cars operating as Public Service Vehicles.

Kindiki had announced that his ministry was turning its gaze on the cars after noticing that a number of the cars, especially Sientas and Noahs, operating in the public service sector without permits.

However, Ndindi Nyoro, who is also the chairman of the Budget Committee in the National Assembly, differed with Kindiki over the decision to ban private cars operating as Public Service Vehicles.

Speaking at a Church Service in his constituency on Sunday, Nyoro argued that all businesses should be accorded support to grow.

He further argued that the directive did not emanate from the government headed by Ruto, because unlike Kindiki, the president supports small businesses to grow.

"For those in the Kenyan transport sector, sometimes I read stories in the paper that I know are not from the government," he stated.

"For those carrying passengers, whether they are using matatus, Probox, and Sienta, our duty is to sit down and find ways to support them conduct their businesses without fear because this is a supportive government."

"Everywhere a Kenyan business person is, our work is to support them make a profit and enlarge their territories because they hold the economy," he added.

The Kenyan DAILY POST




Tuesday, March 26, 2024 - Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua is hoping to meet former President Uhuru Kenyatta and ask for forgiveness face-to-face for the atrocities he committed against him when they won the 2022 General Election.

Responding to questions from journalists at his Karen office, Gachagua welcomed the possibility of a potential meeting with Uhuru geared at ending the political animosity that saw the two fall out in the buildup to the 2022 presidential election.

The DP opened the door to such a meeting, stating that such scenarios always present themselves.

Gachagua stated that Mt Kenya unity will always take precedence and as such, he was always willing and ready to meet other leaders to achieve this cause.

During the interview, Gachagua revealed that he and Uhuru engaged in a heated exchange of words, a move that saw him send goons to steal his sheep and burn his farm in Ruiru.

He noted that he and the former President had been friends for seventeen years but fell out two years before the 2022 election, a fallout he asserted he regrets.

Gachagua also apologized to Mama Ngina Kenyatta, stating that the behaviour meted towards her by a section of United Democratic Alliance (UDA) politicians over her support for Azimio leader Raila Odinga was unbecoming.

The politics that we had during that period were not good, and I would never want us to play that kind of disrespectful politics again, stated Gachagua

The Kenyan DAILY POST
Tuesday, March 26, 2024 - The government of President William Ruto has proposed having a Diaspora Placement Agency whose mandate will be placing Kenyans in jobs abroad.

In a draft proposal named the Diaspora Policy 2024, the State Department for Diaspora Affairs (SDDA) has explained that the agency would regulate migration in ethical ways.

This has led to Government interventions that will ensure international job placements are ethical, well-coordinated, and backed by national and international legal frameworks, explained the draft.

Further, the agency will be tasked with curbing the haphazard and uncoordinated infringements of the rights of Kenyans working abroad.

According to the draft policy, the placement agency will also be seeking to leverage the demand for the Kenyan workforce in the diaspora.

Based on SDDA's document, Kenyan workers are in high demand because of their skills including; competency, and proficiency in English among other marketable traits.

However, the State Department explained that despite the demand for Kenyan workers abroad, there was a bottleneck in having some nations approve Kenyan qualifications and accreditations.

As such, the government aims to have Kenyan papers accredited in different countries to address the bottleneck

The agencys mandate will also span towards establishing a mechanism for collaboration with private recruitment associations in ensuring the placement of Kenyans abroad.

Further, the government will also aim to develop a database that will record the expertise, skills, and knowledge of Kenyans in the diaspora.

The Kenyan DAILY POST


Tuesday, March 26, 2024  France 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 last few months.

According to Macron, it explains why the French government on Sunday, March 24 increased the security alert to its highest level.

Russia, which has challenged claims by the United States that the Islamic State militant group orchestrated Fridays attack, suggested on Monday, March 25 that Ukraine was to blame for the attacks which Macron said 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 States affiliate in Afghanistan, which is known as ISIS-Khorasan or ISIS-K. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for Fridays 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.


Tuesday, March 26, 2024  King Charles is frustrated by the pace of his recuperation from cancer, his nephew Peter Phillips said on Sunday, March 24, becoming the first member of the royal family to speak in detail about how the monarch's state of health.

The insight into the kings mindset comes after Kate, Britains Princess of Wales, said on Friday she was undergoing preventative chemotherapy after she was diagnosed with cancer, a fresh health blow to the royal family.

Phillips, the eldest of the late Queen Elizabeths eight grandchildren and son of Princess Anne (pictured below) said in an interview that the King was frustrated as his recovery was taking longer than hed like.

Hes frustrated that he cant get on and do everything that he wants to be able to do, he said to Sky News Australia.

He said while the king was pragmatic and understood the need for recovery time, he was eager to get back to normality.

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?'

Charles, 75, is hoping to attend a scaled-down Easter service and family gathering next Sunday although his attendance will not be confirmed in advance.

Kensington Palace has said neither Kate nor her husband, heir to the throne Prince William, will be present for the Easter service.

Charles underwent a corrective procedure for an enlarged prostate in January.

Buckingham Palace then revealed in February that he was to have treatment for an unspecified form of cancer, meaning he has had to postpone his public royal duties.
Tuesday, March 26,2024 - An outspoken United Democratic Alliance (UDA) MP has called Trans Nzoia county Governor George Natembeya foolish for thinking that he can use goons to become the Luhya community kingpin.

This comes after Natembeya's and National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula's supporters clashed during a funeral on Friday in what is perceived as a supremacy battle over the region's political kingship.

Speaking on Tuesday, Kilifi North MP Owen Baya claimed that the chaos was initiated by Natembeya who intentionally arrived at the occasion with his alleged goons to cause unrest.

"He has been preparing to face Wetangula in a dual that is not civilized," he told a local TV station.

In Baya's view, the speculated battles are a residue of Natembeya's thirst for power and he is willing to go to any lengths to attain it.

"We have young leaders in this country who have no values and one of the leaders that we see now is Natembeya. He is so power hungry that he thinks the only way to dominate the region and to grasp power is to use the goons that we saw in that funeral," he said.

"That is the only thing that he understands."

The legislator maintained that Speaker Wetangula boasts a formidable political prominence in Kenya and Natembeya's moves will be futile.

The Kenyan DAILY POST






Tuesday, March 26, 2024  The Los Angeles home of Sean "Diddy" Combs that was raided by Homeland Security in connection with a trafficking investigation on Monday, March 26, reportedly has a grotto, underwater tunnel and more.

Also on Monday, Investigators raided Combs Miami home on Star Island, which he purchased in 2021.

Music producer and rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs purchased his swanky $40 million Los Angeles estate in 2014 and it's located in the lavish neighbourhood of Holmby Hills.

The home measures 17,000 square feet and has a 3,000-square-foot guesthouse, according to TMZ.

The European-style villa has a 35-seat theatre, a gym, a wine room and even an underwater swimming tunnel which connects to a grotto, the Los Angeles Times claims.

The mansion comes with eight bedrooms and 11 bathrooms. There's also a separate spa house which comes with a steam room, massage room and a beauty salon, TMZ reported.


Tuesday, March 26, 2024  Russia has charged four men over the attack at a Moscow concert hall that killed at least 137 people.

All four appeared to have been beaten and one was brought to court in a wheelchair on Sunday, March 24.

They were charged with committing an act of terrorism.

The Islamic State group, or IS, said it carried out the attack at Crocus City Hall on Friday, March 22, and posted video evidence.

The four suspects were named by Russian authorities as Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizoda, Shamsidin Fariduni and Muhammadsobir Fayzov.

Video showed three of them being marched by masked police into Basmanny district court in the Russian capital.





All appeared to have been beaten, Videos of brutal interrogation sessions were apparently leaked by Russian security forces, and reports suggest at least one had suffered electric shocks.

Asked about the alleged torture, Mr Peskov refused to comment.

A court statement on the Telegram messaging service said Mirzoyev had "admitted his guilt in full", while Rachabalizoda also "admitted guilt".

The men were identified as citizens of Tajikistan, Russia's state news agency Tass said.





All four are to be held in pre-trial detention until at least 22 May, the court added.

Recall that four gunmen on Friday night stormed the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, a northern Moscow suburb, and began firing on some of the estimated 6,000 people who were attending a rock concert. The attackers also set fires which engulfed the venue and caused the roof to collapse.

Russian authorities said 137 people were killed and more than 100 injured.

The men who appeared in court on Sunday were arrested in the Bryansk region around 14 hours after the attack, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said.

Watch video below.


Tuesday, March 26, 2024  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 Russian government 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 looked unresponsive.

The suspects, who are from the former Soviet 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.

The men 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 the Kremlin earlier alleged, without evidence, that the perpetrators planned to flee to Ukraine. Kyiv vehemently denied involvement and called the Kremlins claims absurd.

At a meeting with other government officials on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the attack had been carried out by radical Islamists.

We know that the crime was committed by radical Islamists, whose ideology the Islamic world itself has been fighting for centuries, Putin said.

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.

Rachabalizoda, born in 1994, told the court through an interpreter that he had Russian registration documents but could not remember where they were.

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.

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.
Tuesday, March 26, 2024  Former President Uhuru Kenyattas Niece Nana Gecaga is no longer the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Kenyatta International Convention Center (KICC).

This is after the government of President William Ruto finally announced her replacement.

Patricia Ondeng has been the acting CEO of the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC) after Ruto ended the tenure for Nana Gecaga.

Ruto, through Tourism Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua, appointed James Mbugua Mwaura as the next CEO for three years, taking over from Uhurus Niece.

In a gazette notice dated March 25, 2025, Mutua said Mbugua would assume office on Tuesday, March 26, 2024.

"In exercise of the powers conferred under section 48 (1) of the Tourism Act, 2011, the Cabinet Secretary for Tourism and Wildlife appoints- James Mbugia Mwaura to be the Chief Executive Officer of the Kenyatta International Convention Centre, for three (3) years, with effect from the 26th March 2024 Dated the 25th March 2024," the notice read in part.

Mwaura's primary responsibility will be to lead efforts in boosting Kenya's conference tourism sector and establishing the country as a preferred global destination for meetings.

Mwaura will be tasked with spearheading Kenyas conference tourism and positioning the destination globally as a preferred meeting destination of choice.

"His extensive knowledge of Conference Tourism also known as Meetings, Incentives Travel, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) matters will enable him to lead the corporation in enhancing its competitiveness, the gazette notice added.

The Kenyan DAILY POST
Tuesday, March 26, 2024  The country could be headed for another round of nationwide mass protests if Siaya Governor James Orengos warning is anything to go by.

Speaking in Siaya County during a meeting with ODM delegates in Siaya, Orengo warned President William Ruto to prepare for the return of nationwide protests, owing to the Governments delay in implementing the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) report.

He questioned the continued delay and stood firm in his resolve, warning that the trend was likely to plunge the country into nationwide protests witnessed frequently last year.

A section of Azimio leaders has been alleging that the Kenya Kwanza faction has been sabotaging the implementation of the report which seeks to find long-term solutions to the problems affecting Kenya.

We are demanding that the parties to the NADCO negotiation which was put together by Kalonzo Musyoka, Kimani Ichungwah and Opiyo Wandayi, implement the report, stated Orengo.

They must implement NADCO within the timelines that were agreed in the committee, otherwise we shall return to where we were, cautioned Orengo

This comes just a day after Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua declared that he now fully supports the NADCO report after initially habouring several reservations.

During an interview with journalists at his Karen office, Gachagua revealed that he had not seen any signs of a looming handshake between Ruto and Raila after the passage of the NADCO report.

The Kenyan DAILY POST
Tuesday, March 26, 2024 - President William Ruto has promised Bahati residents in Nairobi that they will not be rendered homeless due to the affordable housing units penned to be constructed in the area.

Speaking in Makadara over the weekend, Ruto revealed that instead, the government will pay two-year rent for the residents.

He explained that a section of Bahati residents needed to be relocated to pave the way for the construction of 8,000 housing units.

There will be no eviction, every Kenyan will be given somewhere to live as they wait for the houses to be built, that is our job, he promised.

We will give you money for two years you rent a place then when we finish the house you occupy your house.

Initially, Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja had noted that the residents unlike other Kenyans would not be asked to pay for new housing units.

He explained that the government was cognizant of the fact that the residents had stayed in county-owned houses for years.

We are not giving out the houses for free. We will consider the years the residents have been paying rent as a mortgage, he explained.

Ruto announced that the process would kickstart at the end of the year and be completed within twenty-four months.

The President noted that the two years rent would be paid in a lump sum with the residents being given cash to rent the houses.

It was not revealed how much each recipient would receive but the President reiterated that the whole process was voluntary.

The Kenyan DAILY POST
Tuesday, March 26, 2024 - Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has formed a task force to look into issues bedeviling the avocado sub-sector.

This is after avocado farmers in Muranga County differed with Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) officials on the mandatory Electronic Tax Invoice Management System (ETIMS) as stipulated under Section 23 A of the Finance Act 2023.

This scuffle promoted the DP to convene a meeting with avocado stakeholders and iron out the issue.

Members of the task force will include avocado farmers, aggregators, exporters and processors, and officials from the Ministries of National Treasury, Agriculture, Cooperative, and Trade.

Gachagua said Members of Parliament will discuss the particular clause and amend it to reflect the reality of the agriculture sector on the ground.

There are issues in every document and we will talk to stakeholders and look for a first aid solution as we give MPs ample time to amend section 23A, said the DP.

He said the task force will discuss and propose recommendations on all the issues raised by the value chain players, and have an actionable plan within 30 days so that activities of the sub-sector do not stall.

The Kenyan DAILY POST




Tuesday, March 26, 2024 - An ACK bishop has slammed Kenyans for comparing President William Ruto to the biblical 'Zacchaeus the tax collector'.

Speaking at ACK Emmanuel Church in Bahati, Nairobi, on Sunday, Nairobi ACK Bishop Joel Waweru said it was shameful for Kenyans to call the president names when he trying his level best to turn around the economy that was looted by former President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The bishop pointed out that the countrys problem is not taxation but corruption, which was deeply rooted in society and requires a concerted effort to eradicate.

"I have seen people referring to you in a manner that is not allowed. They have been comparing you to Zakayo.

"It is very shameful for Kenyans to compare you to Zakayo. Our work is to pray for you and your government," Waweru said.

Waweru asked Kenyans to respect the president, saying that God had a reason for putting Ruto in the position of serving over 50 million Kenyans.

I am in charge of around 130 priests in the Nairobi diocese and over 300,000 members of the congregation.

"I can tell you that it is not an easy task to shepherd all these people. What about the President, who is in charge of 50 million Kenyans?

"All should respect him since God had a good reason for putting him in that position, he stated.

The Kenyan DAILY POST


Tuesday, March 26, 2024  Two teachers from Westridge Primary School in Belvedere, Zimbabwe, were caught having s3x in the early hours of Saturday, March 25.

Local publications reported that Thomas Chikanga, 51, and Nomathamsanqa Nyathi, 36, had been having an affair since last month before being nabbed.

It is alleged that Nyathi took advantage of her husbands absence as a soldier to engage in the affair. She's been accused of introducing Chikanga to her children, including her 16-year-old daughter. She reportedly told them that Chikangas visits were related to his role as a teacher, concealing the true nature of their relationship.

Chikanga would have sleepovers at Nyathis Budiriro home and then slip away to his Highfield home before the crack of dawn to avoid being seen by the children. However, the two were recently caught in bed when Nyathis husband, Noel Matiza, unexpectedly returned from Kadoma following a tip-off.

Speaking to H-Metro, Chikanga claimed that Nyathi had informed him that she had separated from her husband, which was the reason he had spent numerous nights at her place. Chikanga, who is also married, mentioned that there was no reason to continue the affair since Nyathi had lied to him.

He said;

She lied to me that she had separated with her husband and that is why I slept here several times. We fell in love at the school where we share subjects for one class and we felt for each other and I had planned to take her in as my second wife. We started dating sometime in February this year. I do not see it right to continue with the affair after learning that Nomathamsanqa is still with her husband. I cannot be used to settle her differences with her husband.

Nyathi on her own part said she had an itch that needed to be scratched since her husband had neglected her and had not been coming back home from Kwekwe, where he works, for some time.

She said;

There was nothing I could do since my husband had abandoned me for long. I ended up dating my workmate and was prepared to be his second wife.

Her husband told the same publication that this was the second time he had caught her pants down with another man. The first time they separated after he found out that she was bedding his workmate. Matiza did not physically harm both Chikanga and Nyathi but said he was going to take Chikangas underwear to a native doctor.
Tuesday, March 26, 2024 - Who killed Martin Wahome Thairu? He left his house in Nairobi to travel all the way to Mwea to buy rice for his dear wife who runs a Cereal shop just to be told he was dead in a hotel in Mwea the same night he left.

My name is Dennis Kariuki Thairu, brother to the late Martin Wahome Thairu. writing this on behalf of our family and friends, to express our frustrations about how the DCI Wanguru has handled the investigations concerning the death of our brother Martin.

We are extremely worried that this case has not been handled with the usual professionalism and efficiency that Kenyans deserve and get from the DCI, denying us the truth and Justice for our brother, son, husband, and father.

Martin met his untimely death on the evening of Saturday 2nd December 2023 in Wanguru, Mwea. We learnt of his fate the next day as Martin was to embark on a journey to Nyeri on the morning of the 3rd with my aunt, but she could not reach him and instead, Martins phone was being picked up by a gentleman who identified himself as a policeman but could not give my aunt more details on his whereabouts.

My aunt called me and after explaining to me the situation I called Martins line and it was picked up on the third call by the same policeman who introduced himself as Mike Arusei, he informed me that Martin had apparently been taken ill, the previous night of 2nd, while in a lodging room at a club named CRUCIAL IN WANG'URU

He then told me that according to the staff at Crucial, he had started complaining that he was not feeling well after taking too much alcohol and they decided to book a room for him, still within the club, so that he can relax and feel better.

The staff also say that Martin had asked them to be checking up on him. They said that they later found him sweating and unresponsive whereby they called the clubs manager who came from his home and took him using his own vehicle, and in the company of a lady who manages the room, to KIMBIMBI HOSPITAL where Martin was declared dead while still in the vehicle outside the hospital.

The manager then reported the issue to KIMBIMBI POLICE STATION who then referred him to WANG'URU POLICE STATION since it was outside their jurisdiction. The Wanguru officers after receiving the report went to Kimbimbi Police station and viewed the deceased then took him to Kerugoya County Referral Hospital early Sunday morning.

They also mentioned having visited the club afterward but finding nothing unusual.

After speaking to Arusei on the phone, I proceeded with my cousin and uncle to Wanguru police station where we met Mr. Arusei and his colleague. They showed us Martins vehicle and his belongings, including his phone.

They then narrated to us the same version of events and that they(police) drove Martins car from the club to the police station and then informed us that a postmortem would be done on Tuesday 5th December.

The three of us then left the police station and proceeded to Kerugoya County Referral where we viewed Martins body for the first time. It was clear at first glance that he had been assaulted. His left cheek was heavily swollen. He had a bruise on his forehead and visible bruises on his right side along the rib cage area.

He had a white t-shirt which was stained with blood oozing from his nose on the left side, and a lot of dirt on his back as if he was lying down or being dragged on the ground.

As earlier promised by the police the postmortem was done on Tuesday afternoon by a Medical Officer named Francis Ndirangu Karomo. Before he started, I mentioned to him about the swollen cheek and the bruise on the forehead. Our uncle and two cousins were present during the postmortem.

He proceeded to begin the postmortem and at first, ONLY dissected Martins torso. According to him, Martins other internal organs were in good condition except for his lungs which had collapsed and were full of blood. He concluded that Martin vomited while in a SEMI-CONSCIOUS state and inhaled the vomit whose acid burnt the lungs resulting in heavy bleeding.

He also concluded the semi-conscious state was due to extreme alcohol ingestion. He, therefore, explained the cause of death as HYPOXIA DUE TO ASPIRATION OF STOMACH CONTENTS, AFTER ALCOHOL INTOXICATION. The doctor came out and when he explained the cause of death to us and gave us, the friends and family members present, an opportunity for questions.

At one point I asked him whether the SEMI-CONSCIOUS state could have been caused by any other factor e.g... trauma to the head, he could not rule it out and it was only then he asked us whether he should go back and examine his head to which we agreed. He had apparently written on his report that Martins head was normal.

On dissecting Martins head, he saw two violent traumas to the head, one on the forehead and another on the top of his head. While describing the location of the wounds, he ruled out falling as the cause of the two traumas and mentioned the trauma at the top of his head as more violent than the one on his forehead.

His brain was full of blood, but his skull was not broken. It was only then that he added to the report that the cause of death was Hypoxia due to aspiration of stomach contents, after alcohol intoxication and severe head injury. He also sent specimens from Martins body for toxicology tests at the Government Lab.

To this date, almost 2 months later we have never received the results of those tests. In conclusion, the doctor told us that the police would investigate the issue and Inspector Mike Arusei, who was also with us in the room, affirmed this promising us that they would leave no stone unturned in investigating the murder.

The staff at CRUCIAL maintain that Martin had been drinking since morning at 10 am and was in the company of a gentleman named JIMMY  an owner of a hotel named PIZZA ANNEX" who was also in the company of a LADY.

Martin was also in contact with another LADY he knew within Mwea who later joined him late in the evening, but she stayed outside the club. She did not go inside; instead, Martin opened the vehicle for her, and she stayed inside his car apparently waiting for him.

There is CCTV footage that shows the entrance of the club but none inside the club. The staff at Crucial say that at some point after they took Martin to the room, feeling unwell, they went to lock his vehicle and were surprised to find a lady inside.

They asked her to come inside the club to either stay with Martin in the room or alternatively leave as they intended to leave the vehicle locked. She got inside the club but then left the club a few minutes later and before Martin was taken to hospital. Jimmy, on the other hand, was apparently too drunk to accompany Martin to hospital.

There were statements taken from MR JIMMY who was in the company of Martin, the clubs bouncer also called JAMES, A waitress named SHARON, the lady who manages the lodgings and the lady who was in Martins car. None of the five mentioned any assault on Martin despite the autopsy claiming otherwise.

Its puzzling that the staff at Crucial, claimed to have been with Martin since late morning until the very end but none of them witnessed anything suspicious. The only plausible reason is that they are withholding information crucial to this case.

Martin was only 36yrs.He has left behind a very young family, a widow and two very young kids. He was the only sibling I had and our parents are long deceased.

The DCI has long proven its professionalism and track record in its investigations and handling serious cases, some of which are high profile. The conduct of DCI Wanguru is however contrary to that. They were in possession of Martins phone up until 11th January 2024.For the last two months, no information has been forthcoming from them.

All we as a family are answers to the following:

1. What happened to Martin on the night of 2nd December? Who was responsible for his death and why?

2. Why is there no mention of assault/violence in the accounts of the Crucial staff yet it was clear to the naked eye that Martin had been assaulted violently with the postmortem showing two violent traumas to his head?

3. Why didnt the Crucial staff take Martin to hospital when he apparently complained of not feeling well, instead taking him to their rooms?

4. ON POSTMORTEM..

1 Why didnt the medical officer originally dissect Martins head but was content to write that Martins head was in a normal condition on his final report?

2 Why was he content with the cause of death with only what he could see from Martins torso, if he concluded that Martin was in a semi-conscious state why did he not examine his head to rule out all possible reasons for him to be in that state?

3In his original conclusion that Martin was in a semi-conscious state how was he able to determine that Martin had taken alcohol at all? And if he did take alcohol, how did he determine it was enough to put him in that state?

4 How does acidity from vomit result in lungs bleeding?

5 Why didnt Kibimbi police station handle this matter and had to involve Wanguru Police Station?

Any assistance coming from you will be highly appreciated by Martins family and his loved ones.

































The Kenyan DAILY POST.
Tuesday, March 26, 2024 - Rarieda Member of Parliament, Otiende Amollo, has revealed why Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua apologised to former First Lady Mama Ngina Kenyatta after abusing her during the 2022 presidential campaigns.

Gachagua on Monday apologized to Mama Ngina, saying he erred in abusing her, whom she termed as her mother.

I am sorry for involving Mama Ngina Kenyatta in the last general elections politics. She is our mother. I therefore ask for forgiveness on behalf of our team for any inconvenience caused to her.

"I will never allow anyone to demean her or anyone from the region, Gachagua told Kameme TV.

However, according to Amollo, Gachagua's apology to Mama Ngina was not real because he wanted former President Uhuru Kenyatta to help him calm the rebellion against the government in the Mt Kenya region.

"I think it's a result of the things that are happening in Mt. Kenya region. Some disquiet is building, there are those that are contending to replace him from his seat and that is public knowledge," Amollo said.

He needs all the friends that he can gather and that includes Uhuru Kenyatta, the much the better for him, he added.

The Kenyan DAILY POST




Tuesday, March 26, 2024 - A vocal United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Member of Parliament has vowed to table a bill in the house that will make circumcision mandatory in the country.

Speaking on Monday, Mukurweini MP John Kaguchia said that he has alerted National Assemblys legal counsel Andala Eshitsimi indicating his intent to introduce legislation that will make circumcision mandatory.

The MP said that he took up the campaign to protect young boys who do not have a voice in society.

"Over the years, we have had many deaths of young boys undergoing traditional circumcision that sometimes goes bad.

"We are looking at circumcision not from a cultural perspective but from a health perspective," he said.

The legislator said that the government should make circumcision a public health concern.

"If you culturally believe in circumcision, you must do it healthily and a health practitioner should do it.

"If you don't practice circumcision as a matter of not believing in a culture, do it in the hospital as a public health requirement," he added.

The MP added that uncircumcised boys are more prone to HIV and other infections.

He said MPs who come from areas where they do not believe in circumcision traditionally are afraid to speak publicly.

Kaguchia said the bill will aim to enhance the safety of circumcision while significantly reducing the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases.

The Kenyan DAILY POST
Tuesday, March 26, 2024 - Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua is not taking prisoners as far as the fight against illicit brew is concerned.

The former Mathira Member of Parliament has vowed to heighten the fight against illicit brew in the country to the last drop of his blood.

On Sunday, Gachagua visited a family that lost members to alcohol and promised to do everything humanly possible to ensure no one loses a loved one to alcohol again.

"The devastating and sad stories of the impact of illicit brews, drugs, and substance abuse, particularly on families, are catastrophic.

"The story of 85-year-old Mama Grace Wahu, a widow, should prick the conscience of merchants of death, who package poison in the name of cheap alcohol and sell it to our youth.

"This afternoon, I visited the home of the grandmother at Kongoini village in Kiharu, Murang'a County, and listened to her tearjerking story," Gachagua said in a statement on X.

To Gachagua, the fact that a family can lose such several family members to alcohol should be considered a national shame.

"A mother of 11 lost her seven sons to the killer illicit liquor. The deep pain of burying her children as a result of this vice is a national shame. Mama Wahu's story is a clear demonstration of the danger we are facing.

"And this is the sad story almost everywhere, only that people are not giving personal accounts," he added.

He affirmed the government's commitment to combating the vice and said nothing would stop them from fighting it to the end.

"The government will not relent in the fight against killer brews. The William Samoei Ruto Administration will eradicate this menace.

"It is the right and most responsible thing to do. Nothing will stand in our way," he concluded.

The Kenyan DAILY POST
Ive created cartoons using DALL-E, each with its own humorous caption. Theyre all original ideas from me, but I used the AI to visualize them. Although they mostly touch on topics related to pulmonary and ICU medicine, I think they could catch the interest of a wide medical audience. Given the pulmonary theme, I decided to call the series Take a Breath.

Take a Breath!

Big brother Eddie knew from an early age he wanted to be a respiratory therapist.

The alphabetical aroma of acronym soup at the first-ever meeting of the interstitial lung disease expert committee.

How it feels to present a patient on rounds in the ICU as a new medical student.

Well, now that we are on dupilumab, what are we going to call ourselves?

Question: Why are inhalers so expensive when the medicines in the inhalers have all been around for decades?

Answer: Big Pharmas latest device patent for albuterol.

Thank you for my amazing family, friends, and health. Thank you for my successful academic pulmonary career and continuous RO1 funding for the last three decades. But please give me the strength to understand WTF the interstitium is.

I thought I had long COVID. But turns out I was just really bored while assigned to read all the pulmonary function tests for my hospital for the week after I returned to work.

Single maintenance and reliever therapy (SMART) works in almost all situations for a child with asthma.

Doctors flying across the country to attend a conference on climate change.

Well, Mr. Hirson, I know that Symbicort is the best inhaler for you, but unfortunately, the odds arent great that your insurance will approve it. Lets pull the lever and find out!

Drew Harris is a pulmonary and critical care physician.
Former President of Ireland Mary McAleese has said that she thinks that the running of the Catholic Church 'must change' and that it is 'no longer fit for purpose'.

It comes as the former President spoke in length about her thoughts of gender equality within the structures of the church, the exclusions of LGBTQIA+ people within the Catholic Church community and even her own experience and faith, at a conference.

Speaking of her reflection of Catholicism and her own faith, President McAleese identified a number of as issues she hopes to see improved including the power imbalance in the church, the exclusion of women from church roles and the treatment of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Ive read everything that has been written on theology that excludes women and Ive read nothing yet that is impressive, said Ms McAleese.

Its just enough to stop people from whinging and complaining and to look like youre doing something. But what youre doing is never really addressing the fundamental inequalities and the fundamental waste of talent.

I think the church has to change and the governance structure has to change. The hierarchical construct belongs to an old empire. Its no longer fit for purpose, she said.

The two-hour long event took place in Mary Immaculate College (MIC), Co Limerick and saw Dr Patricia Kieran, director of the Irish Institute for Catholic Studies (IICS) speak with Ms McAleese in front of an audience made up of the colleges students, staff and community.

In a detailed and wide-ranging conversation, Ms McAleese spoke about her upbringing in a Catholic family in a Protestant neighbourhood in Belfast, her perception of the Church in her formative years, her work as a lawyer, and her renewed focus on Catholicism since leaving Aras an Uachtarain in 2011.

What we dont have is, if you like, a stable forum in which our bishops meet the people of God on the basis of equality.

Our Episcopal conference, if it meets laypeople, they are brought in as invited guests or experts. I just dont think its the right fit, Ms McAleese said, while discussing how the Church could initiate conversation concerning integration with those who support it.

I think our bishops have had a massive problem because of the clerical abuse and trust being shattered. At the end of the day, due to the way it's structured at the moment, the decision still ends up being filtered through the numbers of bishops - they have to have a majority.
There are no known victims in the water who were in vehicles on the bridge at the time of the accident.
UN demand for Gaza cease-fire provokes strongest clash between US and Israel since war began

The United Nations Security Council issued its first demand for a cease-fire in Gaza, with the U.S. angering Israel by abstaining from the vote
Denton Loudermill filed a lawsuit against Congressman Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) over accusations of being a shooter at the Chiefs rally outside Union Station.
Acadian Timber Corp. (OTCMKTS:ACAZF  Get Free Report) declared a dividend on Thursday, March 21st, investing.com reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of 0.2153 per share on Monday, April 15th. This represents a dividend yield of 6.79%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This is a positive change from Acadian Timbers previous dividend of $0.21.

Acadian Timber Stock Performance

Shares of OTCMKTS ACAZF traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $12.79. 1,400 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,240. Acadian Timber has a 12 month low of $11.13 and a 12 month high of $13.81. The companys 50 day moving average price is $12.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.43.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Raymond James restated a buy rating and issued a $18.50 price target on shares of Acadian Timber in a research note on Monday, February 12th.

Acadian Timber Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Acadian Timber Corp. supplies primary forest products in Eastern Canada and the Northeastern United States. The company operates in two segments, NB Timberlands and Maine Timberlands. Its products include softwood and hardwood sawlogs, pulpwood, and biomass by-products. The company owns and manages freehold timberlands in New Brunswick and Maine; and provides timber services relating to Crown licensed timberlands in New Brunswick.

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Artis REIT (TSE:AX  Get Free Report) announced a monthly dividend on Friday, March 15th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Sunday, March 31st will be given a dividend of 0.05 per share on Monday, April 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of . The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th.

Artis REIT Price Performance

Artis REIT has a 52 week low of C$12.82 and a 52 week high of C$14.42.

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Artis REIT (TSE:AX  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported C($0.80) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$80.89 million for the quarter.

Artis REIT Company Profile

Artis Real Estate Investment Trust (Artis) is an unincorporated closed-end real estate investment trust (REIT). The Companys objective is to provide stable, reliable and tax efficient monthly cash distributions, as well as long-term appreciation in the value of Artis units. Its segments include Western Canada, which comprises British Columbia and Alberta; Central Canada, which comprises Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and Eastern Canada, which comprises Ontario.

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North Korea will refuse all contact with Japan, after Tokyo took issue with the problem of Japanese abductees and the North's nuclear program, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said Tuesday.

Kim Yo-jong, vice department director of the ruling Workers' Party's Central Committee, made the remark in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency, a day after she said Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had expressed a willingness to hold a summit with her brother.

"It was the Japanese side that knocked at the door first requesting 'the Japan-DPRK summit without preconditions,' and the DPRK only clarified its stand that it would welcome Japan if it is ready to make a new start, not being obsessed by the past," she said in an English-language statement, referring to North Korea by its formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The Japanese chief cabinet secretary, however, held a press conference Monday stating Tokyo's stand that "it can never accept the fact that the abduction issue was settled," she said.

"Letting out the expression of pending nuclear and missile issue which has nothing to do with it, it tried to interfere in and take issue with the exercise of sovereignty belonging to the DPRK's legitimate self-defense," she added.

The two countries have long been at odds over the issue of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 80s to train spies in Japanese culture and language.

The North later allowed five of the abductees to visit their homeland and claimed eight others were dead, but Tokyo has dismissed the claim and vowed to secure their safe return.

"The DPRK government has clearly understood once again the attitude of Japan and, accordingly, the DPRK side will pay no attention to and reject any contact and negotiations with the Japanese side," Kim said. "The DPRK-Japan summit is not a matter of concern to the DPRK."

In February, Kim said the North Korean regime was open to improving its relationship with Japan in response to Kishida's remarks that he felt a "strong need" to change the current relationship between Tokyo and Pyongyang.

On Tuesday, she accused the Japanese prime minister of using the two countries' relations for political gain amid low approval ratings.

"Japan has no courage to change history, promote regional peace and stability and take the first step for the fresh DPRK-Japan relations," she said. (Yonhap)
Angola, IN (46703)

Today

Rain likely. Thunder possible. Low near 40F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

Rain likely. Thunder possible. Low near 40F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%.
SHREVEPORT, La. -- Two former and one current Caddo Parish principals -- one of whom was nam
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Former US president Donald Trump and one of his lawyers Susan Necheles in court for a pre-trial hearing in his New York 'hush money' case
Address by Commissioner Lenarcic

Postovani predsjednice Vlade,

Postovani ministre Bozinovic,

Cestitam Hrvatskoj, cestitam Kanadi, na ovom danasnjem potpisu sporazuma.

We have come a long way since the European Commission started to talk with potential producers.

I thank Canada for facilitating this agreement, and the Canadian commercial corporation and de Havilland for its readiness to resume production.

Today we are signing into reality the first planes in a new generation of European aerial firefighting capacity.

Along with Greece, Croatia is one of the first countries to do this. I hope that your example will prompt others to sign contracts without delay so de Havilland can restart production.

These planes will help protect citizens, nature and property  not just in Croatia, but Europe-wide. They will be 100% funded by the European Commission as part of our strengthened rescEU European strategic reserve capacity.

This is one of many steps we have taken in recent years to keep Europeans safe as the impacts of climate breakdown intensify.

Ahead of last year's wildfire season, we have doubled the EU strategic reserve which now includes almost 30 firefighting planes and helicopters.

This preparation was most visibly proved right last summer, when we witnessed a record number of forest fires. Croatia was one of those that helped in putting them out.

In the last three summers alone, Croatia has helped to fight wildfires in Greece, Slovenia and Turkiye through our Union Civil Protection Mechanism.

Similarly, Croatia can count on solidarity from other EU Member States through the Union Civil Protection Mechanism when it needs support.

This was the case, you will remember, in the terrible earthquake that hit Croatia twice in 2020.

This is European solidarity at its best.

And it is needed now more than ever. Across our continent, wildfires are becoming more frequent and intense as climate breakdown continues.

We must be prepared for this reality. Both at a national and a European level.

Jos jednom cestitam i zahvaljujem Hrvatskoj sto je prihvatila tu vaznu ulogu u europskim naporima, da se bolje pripremi na ucinkovitije i brze reakcije na ocekivane klimatske katastrofe.

And I look forward to seeing our strengthened rescEU firefighting fleet on European soil soon.

Thank you.

Zarazeno ut 26.03.2024 11:03:00 Zdroj Evropska komise en Original ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/api/documents?reference=SPEECH/24/1724&language=en lang en guid /SPEECH/24/1724/
Possible anticompetitive conduct by Zoetis

The European Commission has opened a formal antitrust investigation to assess whether animal health company Zoetis may have breached EU competition rules by preventing the market launch of a competing novel biologic medicine used to treat chronic pain in dogs.

Zoetis is a global animal health company headquartered in the US. Zoetis' Librela is the first and only monoclonal antibody medicine approved in Europe to treat pain associated with osteoarthritis in dogs. The medicine is administered monthly and offers a novel pain relief option, particularly relevant for older dogs.

In parallel to developing Librela, Zoetis acquired another late-stage pipeline product for the same indication of pain relief, which was going to be commercialised in the European Economic Area (EEA') by a third party. The Commission is concerned that Zoetis may have engaged in exclusionary behaviour contrary to EU antitrust rules by terminating the development of this alternative pipeline product and refusing to transfer this pipeline medicine to the third party which in the EEA had exclusive commercialisation rights.

If proven, the behaviour under investigation may breach EU competition rules, which prohibit the abuse of a dominant position (Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union ('TFEU')) and Article 54 of the EEA Agreement.

This is the Commission's first formal investigation into a potential abuse relating to the exclusionary termination of a pipeline product which was to be commercialised by a third party.

The Commission will carry out its in-depth investigation as a matter of priority. The opening of a formal investigation does not prejudge its outcome.

Background

In November 2020, Virbac, a French company specialised in animal health, submitted a complaint against Zoetis.

The Commission carried out unannounced inspections at Zoetis' premises in Belgium in October 2021.

Article 102 TFEU prohibits the abuse of a dominant position that may affect trade within the EU and prevent or restrict competition. The implementation of this provision is defined in Regulation No 1/2003, which can also be applied by the national competition authorities.

Article 11(6) of Regulation No 1/2003 provides that the opening of proceedings by the Commission relieves the competition authorities of the Member States of their competence to apply EU competition rules to the practices concerned. Article 16(1) further provides that national courts must avoid adopting decisions which would conflict with a decision contemplated by the Commission in proceedings it has initiated.

The Commission has informed Zoetis and the competition authorities of the Member States that it has opened proceedings in this case.

There is no legal deadline for bringing an antitrust investigation to an end. Its duration depends on a number of factors, including the complexity of the case, the extent to which the companies concerned cooperate with the Commission and the exercise of the rights of defence.

More information on the investigation will be available on the Commission's competition website, in the public case register under the case number AT.40734.

Quote

Competition in veterinary medicines ensures pet owners can choose between different safe, innovative, and affordable medicines. This is why we are investigating whether Zoetis may have unlawfully prevented the entry of a novel medicine used to treat chronic pain in dogs which could have competed with its own biologic medicine Librela.

Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President in charge of competition policy 2024-03-25

Zarazeno ut 26.03.2024 14:03:00 Zdroj Evropska komise en Original ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/api/documents?reference=IP/24/1687&language=en lang en guid /IP/24/1687/
Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,

To begin with, I feel so honoured and privileged to be in this wonderful capital and largest city of Switzerland on behalf of my delegation. It is a great pleasure for me to address the 148th IPU Assembly meeting today and I wish to thank the honorable Chairpersons and Speakers, the honorable members of the IPU, and the organizers of this event for their tremendous efforts for the success of this prestigious event. Today's IPU assembly provides a timely platform for furthering cooperation among democracies.

Let me elaborate on my speech on the topic of Parliamentary Diplomacy. We all know that one of the fundamental principles of parliamentary diplomacy lies in the belief that dialogue and cooperation among parliamentarians can contribute to the resolution of conflicts, the promotion of human rights, and the advancement of shared values. Parliamentary diplomacy acts as a bridge between governments and citizens, ensuring that the concerns and perspectives of the people are taken into account in the formulation of foreign policies.

In recent times, parliamentary diplomacy has gained prominence as a tool for conflict prevention and resolution. By facilitating dialogue and understanding between nations at the legislative level, parliamentary diplomats contribute to creating an environment conducive to peaceful coexistence. This can be particularly valuable in regions marked by historical tensions or ongoing conflicts.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Parliamentary diplomacy includes parliamentary bilateral diplomacy, parliamentary multilateral diplomacy, Friendship Groups, International Conferences, Permanent delegations of Parliament to international organisations including international parliamentary organisations, visits of parliamentary delegations and promotion of democracy by Parliaments and Parliamentarians. Parliamentary diplomacy is an important perspective and alternative form of diplomacy. Even if not widely studied yet, Parliamentary diplomacy has developed lately by the increasing role of Parliaments and their enrollment in foreign affairs and issues related to international relations.

Moving away from the general situation, now I would like to draw your attention to the experience of the Parliament of Sri Lanka.

The Inter Parliamentary union is one of the largest networks in the world with both national and sub-national parliaments and is focused on countries that have some linkage to the system of parliament. Sri Lanka joined Inter-Parliamentary Union on 9th Feb 1949. Since then Sri Lanka actively participated in IPU assemblies and we had the opportunity to host several seminars and workshops of IPU in the past.

Meaningful opportunities exist for parliamentarians to participate in foreign policy through the parliamentary securitize process. Since the government is directly accountable to Parliament, Ministers who are responsible for foreign policy, as well as their officials, can be called upon to address important issues relating to treaties.

Further, Sectoral Oversight Committee on International Relations and Consultative Committee on Ministry of Foreign Affairs have wide mandates to inquire into all aspects of foreign policy, to examine legislation referred to them as well as the expenditure estimates of departments and agencies that are implementing foreign policy. Sectoral Oversight Committee on International Relations has wide mandates to inquire into all aspects of foreign policy, to examine legislation referred to them as well as the expenditure estimates of departments and agencies that are implementing foreign policy.

More direct and specific roles for Parliament in respect of national emergencies are set out in legislation. Other statutes concerned with national security and other emergencies require parliamentary oversight.

Moreover, the parliamentarization of international relations can be identified as a result of democratization. Be it through Friendship Groups Associations occasional visits, regular meetings or simply by participating in different regional and international parliamentary meetings or conferences. Sri Lanka has been a member of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) since gaining independence in 1948. As an active member of the CPA, the Sri Lanka Branch has hosted Annual Conferences in 1974, 1995 and 2012. Parliament of Sri Lanka is a founding member of the Association of SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians. Parliament of Sri Lanka has formed Friendship Associations with around 57 countries.

With regard to institutional diplomacy, the Speaker of a parliament participate in bilateral and multi-lateral meetings with other Speakers to learn about key issues, to discuss the impact of such issues and try to promote solutions to these issues. There are networks of parliaments that promote such meetings. Parliamentarians collaborate internationally in many ways with their colleagues from other parliaments. This is done through international organizations that are designed for meetings and gatherings of parliamentary assemblies.

Ladies and Gentleman,

Collaboration is also carried out by bilateral and multilateral parliamentary groups associations as well as various exchange programmes for staff and young professionals on the working level of the parliament. Parliamentarians have opportunities to act for peace, friendship among people, democracy, the rule of law, and human rights including at international level as well as national level. I would like to mention here, Open Parliament Initiatives were introduced in 2019 to bring the Parliament closer to the people more effectively. Open Parliament initiatives are expected to address the widening gap between the parliament and the citizens and enhance interaction with the people. Particularly, the Parliament has conducted several outreach programmes, workshops, and short courses on parliamentary practice and proceedings to educate university students, schools and local government members and officials on parliamentary practice and proceedings through the Department of Communication.

In recent times, parliamentary diplomacy has gained prominence as a tool for conflict prevention and resolution. By facilitating dialogue and understanding between nations at the legislative level, parliamentary diplomats contribute to creating an environment conducive to peaceful coexistence. This can be particularly valuable in regions marked by historical tensions or ongoing conflicts.

In conclusion, Parliamentary diplomacy stands as a beacon of hope in a world often marred by discord and strife. By emphasizing dialogue, cooperation, and inclusivity, it has the potential to build bridges and promote understanding among nations. As we navigate the complexities of the 21st century, let us recognize the vital role that parliamentary diplomacy in creating a more just, peaceful and interconnected world.

Thank you!

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NewsVoir

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], March 26: Faculty from Oakridge International School Bachupally (OISB) played a leading role in the groundbreaking Nord Anglia Education Teaching and Learning Conference held recently in Hanoi, Vietnam. This prestigious global event brought together over 200 educators from 15 countries, fostering collaboration and exploring innovative teaching methods to advance educational standards worldwide.

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The conference featured esteemed educators, thought leaders and practitioners sharing valuable insights on personalized learning, technology integration, and fostering inquiry-based learning environments. Attendees participated in workshops exploring cutting-edge methodologies and the importance of incorporating diverse perspectives into the curriculum to prepare students for success in an interconnected world.

Baljeet Oberoi, Principal, Oakridge International School Bachupally took centre stage as a presenter on educational leadership and innovation. Her presentation underscored the immense potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in revolutionizing teaching, learning, and even school administration. Oberoi highlighted how technology can empower educators and personalize learning pathways for students.

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Oberoi's quote, "The conference provided a platform to explore how technology is redefining the role of a teacher. It's a journey towards building flexible academic structures that can adapt to the challenges of our rapidly evolving world. AI has the potential to personalize learning experiences and empower educators in ways we haven't even imagined yet. At the same time with advancement of technology, well-being of our stakeholders is becoming enough more imperative. Prioritizing well-being encompasses nurturing physical, mental, and emotional health to foster a balanced and fulfilling life."

Special guest, Dr Elise Ecoff, Nord Anglia Education's Chief Education Officer, joined the conference virtually from the United Kingdom. Dr Ecoff shared pioneering developments in Nord Anglia's digital research and advancements, including the application of AI in education. Her insights focused on how these advancements will work together to create an enriching educational foundation for children.

Anuradha, Head of International Curriculum, emphasizes the power of innovation: "The conference was a dynamic space for innovative leaders ready to redefine education. The SEAMEl "Innovate" conference has set the stage for educators to lead the way in ensuring every learner thrives in this new landscape."

Subha Laxmi, SI Unit Coordinator said, "As someone who represents well-being, the SEAMEl conference offered unexpected insights. It provided the opportunity to meet with people involved with student well-being programs. There was a lot of talk about inclusion and how to make schools more inclusive."

For more information please visit, www.oakridge.in/bachupally.

Oakridge International School, Bachupally, a distinguished member of Nord Anglia Education, is part of a global network comprising 85 schools across 33 countries. This affiliation provides Oakridge students with access to extensive resources and unparalleled global opportunities, enriching their learning experience. Recognized for excellence, Oakridge Bachupally ranks as the 3rd Best International School in Hyderabad and holds the No. 1 position in the Northwest region according to the Times Education Excellence Ranking 2023. Additionally, it is among the Top 3 International Day Schools in Hyderabad and Telangana according to Education World India School Rankings 21-22.

(ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
PRNewswire

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], March 26: Tejas Networks (BSE: 540595) (NSE: TEJASNET) today announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Telecom Egypt (TE), ITIDA (Information Technology Industry Development Agency) and NTI (National Telecom Institute) to replicate its experience of implementing the Bharatnet (Rural Broadband Project) and NKN (National Knowledge Network) projects in Egypt. Other broad areas of cooperation include capacity building of Egyptian engineers and technicians on state-of-the-art telecom and networking technologies; establishing local manufacturing and R&D facilities for Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) products; and setting up technical support services in Egypt both for customers within the country as well as for the larger Africa and Middle East region.

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Hon'ble Dr. Amr Talaat, Minister of Communications and Information Technology of Egypt, said, "Today's MoU with Tejas Networks is one of the fruits of discussions that began in January 2023 to enhance cooperation between Egypt and India in the field of communications and information technology. It is a comprehensive agreement that seeks to promote localization of world-class communications products, inject new Indian investments into Egypt, create job opportunities, and develop research cadres in various fields of communications."

Speaking on the occasion, Eng. Mohamed Nasr El-Din, CEO and Managing Director of Telecom Egypt, said, "We are delighted to enter into a long-term strategic partnership with Tejas Networks, India's leading R&D-driven telecom and networking product company and a part of the Tata Group. Telecom Egypt has been consistently working towards enhancing its network infrastructure and developing its technical capabilities through cooperation with the largest companies in the world. The present MoU is aimed at providing Telecom Egypt with the latest communications technology in the world while ensuring that it provides the highest quality of infrastructure services."

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Anand Athreya, CEO and Managing Director of Tejas Networks, said, "Our MoU with Telecom Egypt is an important milestone for both organizations, as we jointly strive to accelerate the vision of a Digital Egypt by leveraging the best practices and learnings from Tejas's experience of successfully designing and delivering 500+ complex, carrier-class networks in India and beyond. We are committed to serving as a trusted advisor and technology partner for Egypt's digital transformation journey while nurturing its local ecosystem in telecom manufacturing, R&D, network planning, installation and maintenance."

Yogesh Verma, Vice President, Middle East and Africa (MEA), Tejas Networks, said, "Tejas has been operating in MEA for over a decade now and has extensive knowledge and insights about the local requirements and operating conditions to roll out cost-effective and scalable networks. Moreover, with our recent commercialization of 4G & 5G RAN products, the company now has an end-to-end portfolio to build both fixed and mobile networks. This MoU provides a great platform for us to expand our business in MEA, while deepening our collaboration with Telecom Egypt and other customers in the country."

About Tejas Networks Limited

Tejas Networks Ltd. designs and manufactures high-performance wireline and wireless networking products for telecommunications service providers, internet service providers, utilities, defence and government entities in over 75 countries. Tejas Networks Ltd. is a part of the Tata Group, with Panatone Finvest Ltd. (a subsidiary of Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd.) being the majority shareholder.

For more information, visit Tejas Networks Ltd. at https://www.tejasnetworks.com

About Telecom Egypt (WE)

Telecom Egypt is the first total telecom operator in Egypt providing all telecom services to its customers including fixed and mobile voice and data services. Telecom Egypt has a long history serving Egyptian customers for over 160 years maintaining a leadership position in the Egyptian telecom market by offering the most advanced technology, reliable infrastructure solutions and the widest network of submarine cables. The company also owns a 45% stake in Vodafone Egypt.

For more information, visit Telecom Egypt at https://www.te.egContact: Investor Relations | ir@india.tejasnetworks.com

SAFE HARBOUR

Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects are forward-looking statements, which involve a number of risks, and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements due to risks or uncertainties associated with our expectations with respect to, but not limited to, our ability to successfully implement our strategy and our growth and expansion plans, technological changes, our exposure to market risks, general economic and political conditions in India which have an impact on our business activities or investments, changes in the laws and regulations that apply to the industry in which the Company operates. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the Company.

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(ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PRNewswire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)

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Guwahati (Assam) [India], March 26 (ANI): Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Assam Minister and Assam Gana Parishad (AGP) chief Atul Bora attacked Congress and said that Congress was in power for a long time but they did nothing for Assam.

"Congress was in power for a long time but they did nothing," AGP chief Atul Bora said.

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"Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power. The amount of work that is being done in Assam and north-eastern states after this has never been done before," he added.

Earlier on March 16, a crucial meeting between the spokespersons of the Assam state BJP and Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) was held at AGP headquarters in Guwahati.

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President of AGP and Assam Agriculture Minister Atul Bora said that a meeting was held between the spokespersons of BJP and AGP to discuss on the coordination required between the alliance members BJP, AGP and United People's Party Liberal (UPPL) to ensure victory in the Lok Sabha polls and the target is to win in all the seats in the state.

Atul Bora said, "The meeting discussed in detail the important role to be played by the party spokespersons in ensuring the victory of the NDA candidates by further increasing engagement with the people through the media. We hope to win in all the seats of the state. The majority of the people of the State have benefited from various ambitious schemes and policies introduced by the Central Government under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the State Government under the strong leadership of Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma."He further said that spokespersons of both parties were urged to actively engage in campaigning on behalf of NDA candidates.

"The spokespersons of both parties decided to highlight in detail the ambitious initiatives and achievements of the Central and State Governments during the election campaign. At the beginning of the meeting, we congratulated the spokespersons of both the parties and urged them to actively engage in all forms of campaigning on behalf of the NDA candidates in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections," Atul Bora said.

The 2024 Lok Sabha polls in Assam will be held in three phases. The first phase of the polling will be held on April 19, followed by April 26 and May 7.

The BJP is contesting in 11 seats in Assam, while the AGP is contesting in two seats (Barpeta and Dhubri) and the United People's Party Liberal (UPPL) is contesting in one seat (Kokrajhar). AGP and UPPL are the other partners of the NDA and part of the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led Assam government.

During the 2019 General Assembly elections, the BJP competed in ten seats, while the AGP contested three and the Bodoland People's Front (BPF) contested one.

The BJP secured victory in nine out of the ten seats, the Congress and the All India United Democratic Front won three seats each and one was secured by independent candidate Naba Kumar Sarania. (ANI)

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Palakkad (Ker), Mar 26 (PTI) The BJP on Tuesday demanded the registration of a sedition case against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan over his recent speeches on the Citizenship Amendment Act, alleging they aimed to instill insecurity in the Muslim community and create "extreme religious blindness" among them.

Senior BJP leader P K Krishnadas accused the Marxist veteran of trying to create division in society and promote enmity among religious groups through his speeches against the CAA, implemented by the Centre.

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The recent speeches made by Vijayan on the topic were in violation of constitutional norms and the oath of office, and thus he lost the legal right to continue in the office, he claimed.

Referring to the statements made by Vijayan during the anti-CAA rally in Malappuram on Monday, the BJP leader said these were the arguments made by Mohammed Ali Jinnah while demanding two nations decades ago.

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"The CM said that Muslims were second-grade citizens in the country, and the Union government, the BJP, and the RSS were trying to drive them away into Pakistan by suspending their citizenship," Krishnadas said.

His words were a reflection of the ideology of Jinnah, who had also said that Muslims were second-grade citizens and insecure in India, and so there should be a separate nation for them.

"Vijayan was reiterating what Jinnah had said...His words were anti-national. So, a case of sedition should be registered against him," he said.

He also accused Vijayan of paving the way for a "religious riot" by creating division between Muslims and Christian and Hindu communities.

"Vijayan's speeches aimed to instill insecurity in the Muslim community and create "extreme religious blindness" among them," he further alleged.

The BJP leader also rubbished Vijayan's statement in Malappuram that the BJP and RSS might not know that the slogans like "Bharat Mata ki Jai" and "Jai Hind" were first raised by two Muslims and would they abandon them as they were coined by those belonging to the minority community.

Seeking to counter Vijayan, Krishnadas asked whether he and the other Left leaders would be ready to raise the slogans as they were coined by Muslims.

He also claimed that the CAA has nothing to do with the 18 crore Muslims in the country.

The saffron party's scathing attack against the Chief Minister came in the wake of the Left veteran recently addressing four consecutive rallies organised by the CPI(M) in the northern part of Kerala against the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).

During the rallies, Vijayan had attacked the BJP-led Union government over the implementation of the CAA and accused it of attempting to give citizenship on the basis of religion.

Reaching out to the minority community in Muslim-dominated Malappuram district on Monday, the veteran CPI(M) leader said Muslim rulers, cultural icons and officials had played a significant role in the country's history and independence movement.

He said Sangh Parivar leaders and activists advocating 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 real objective of CAA is to make the citizenship of migrated Muslim refugees illegal, the CM had alleged at the rally.

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Panaji (Goa) [India], March 26 (ANI): Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant expressed confidence that the BJP will win both seats, North Goa and South Goa in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Pramod Sawant said, "I am fully confident that Goa BJP will win both seats, North Goa and South Goa this time. With the kind enthusiasm that is there among the workers, we will win both seats 100 percent. I thank PM Modi because he has given reservation to women this time too (in their candidature)."

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According to the schedule, Goa will vote in just one phase on May 7 for its two Lok Sabha constituencies.

The coastal state has two Lok Sabha constituencies: North Goa and South Goa.

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The BJP announced the name of Shripad Yesso Naik to contest from North Goa in its first list of 195 candidates.

Dempo Industries executive director Pallavi Dempo is the first woman candidate in BJP's poll history in Goa who will contest Lok Sabha elections on the party ticket from South Goa.

The BJP has won this constituency only twice since 1962.

In the 2019 general elections, the North Goa seat was won by BJP candidate Shripad Yesso Naik, while the South Goa seat was won by Congress candidate Cosme Francisco Caitano Sardinha.

Voting for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections will be held in seven phases, starting on April 19 and ending on June 1. The results will be declared on June 4. (ANI)

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New Delhi, Mar 26 (PTI) The Delhi High Court has sought the Union government's stand on a plea by public think-tank Centre for Policy Research (CPR) against the cancellation of its FCRA licence.

Justice Chandra Dhari Singh, in an order passed last week, issued notice on the appeal by the organisation against the Union government's decision and granted time to its counsel to file a short response in two weeks.

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The appeal was "vehemently opposed" by the government's lawyer, the order noted.

On January 10, the Union Home Ministry cancelled the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) registration of CPR for allegedly misutilising foreign funds to affect India's economic interests, and aid protests and legal battles against development projects.

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When the FCRA registration of an organisation is cancelled or suspended, it is barred from receiving any funding from abroad or foreign donors. The public think-tank has termed the government move "incomprehensible and disproportionate".

The FCRA licence of the CPR was last renewed in 2016 and was due for renewal in 2021. The think-tank came under scrutiny after a survey was carried out by the Income Tax department in September 2022. Its FCRA licence was suspended in February 2023 for 180 days and then extended for another 180 days.

CPR had last year filed a petition challenging the suspension of its licence. This petition was, however, withdrawn by it a day after the Centre passed the order cancelling the certificate of registration under FCRA.

The matter would be heard next on April 25.

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New Delhi [India], March 26 (ANI): The Delhi High Court recently issued notice to the central government and sought its response to a plea against the cancellation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licence of the Centre for Policy Research (CPR).

Justice Chandra Dhari Singh issued a notice to the central government and asked them to file a short reply within two weeks.

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"Issue notice is accepted by the learned Central Government Standing Counsels (CGSC) appearing on behalf of the respondent. He vehemently opposed the instant appeal and prayed for some time to file a short response to the appeal as well as the accompanying application," Justice Singh ordered on March 20.

"Let a short response to the appeal as well as the accompanying application be filed within two weeks from today," Justice Singh ordered.

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The matter has been listed on April 25 for further hearing.

In February last year, the central government suspended the CPR's FCRA licence. Later on, the suspension was extended.

It is mandatory to have an FCRA registration to receive funds from foreign countries. (ANI)

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Pune, Mar 26 (PTI) Nationalist Congress Party (SP) leader Supriya Sule on Tuesday said a drought-like situation prevails in Maharashtra but those in power are busy making trips, a veiled reference to the recent visit of Mahayuti leaders to Delhi apparently over a seat-sharing deal for Lok Sabha elections.

"Those in power should stop their frequent trips (to Delhi) and concentrate on the issues faced by the common people who voted them to power. You should do something for drought management in the state," the Baramati MP told reporters.

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Asked about the speculation that the ruling Mahayuti is mulling to replace its candidate in Baramati, Sule said she was not aware of such development.

The Mahayuti alliance has not yet declared its candidate for the Baramati seat amid buzz that Deputy Chief Minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra Pawar will be pitted against Sule.

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"I am concerned about the drought-like situation in Maharashtra and also in Baramati, the need for fodder camps, and the demand for water tankers. All these issues are prevalent across the state," Sule said.

She said the drought-like situation is the most important challenge in the state.

Sule, daughter of veteran politician Sharad Pawar, also expressed her concerns over the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Hemant Soren, the former chief minister of Jharkhand, by the Enforcement Directorate.

Maha Vikas Aghadi will contest all 48 seats in Maharashtra and I will campaign for the candidates across the state, Sule added.

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New Delhi [India], March 26 (ANI): The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) summoned Dinesh Bobhate, an alleged aide of Shiv Sena (UBT) faction leader Anil Desai, in a money laundering case, officials said on Tuesday.

Bhobate has been asked to remain present before the ED this week, the ED said.

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In December last year, the CBI registered a disproportionate assets case against Bobhate, a senior assistant at New India Assurance Company, and his wife.

The ED initiated a money laundering case against Bobhate based on the CBI's corruption case, which alleges that Bobhate and his wife amassed disproportionate assets.

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Earlier on March 3, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Anil Desai was summoned by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai police.

Desai appeared for questioning on March 5 with regard to the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) allegation that the Uddhav Thackeray faction withdrew party funds even after the Election Commission recognised the Shinde faction as the real Shiv Sena, said Mumbai police.

The Shiv Sena split in June last year after Eknath Shinde, who was then a minister in the Uddhav Thackeray cabinet, splintered a coup within the ranks of the party and formed an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), securing the Chief Minister's post for himself.

The EOW is probing the details of the fund withdrawal and who withdrew them. The agency also received details of the withdrawal from the bank officer concerned. (ANI)

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Shimla, Mar 26 (PTI) Former Himachal Pradesh minister and BJP leader from Lahaul and Spiti assembly constituency, Ram Lal Markanda, on Tuesday quit the party to protest the fielding of Congress rebel Ravi Thakur who had defeated him on the seat in the last assembly election.

Hours after the BJP announced assembly tickets to all the six former Congress MLAs, disqualified from the House, Markanda quit the party and announced that he will contest the bypoll from Lahaul and Spiti, possibly as a Congress candidate.

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Markanada was the agriculture and tribal development minister during the previous BJP government led by Jai Ram Thakur. He had lost the 2022 assembly elections to Thakur, who was then in the Congress, by a margin of 1542 votes.

He was a frontrunner for the BJP ticket from Lahaul and Spiti. He resigned from the BJP as Congress rebel Thakur was named in the BJP list for assembly bypoll from the assembly constituency.

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The Himachal Pradesh Assembly bypolls will be held on June 1, along with the election to the four Lok Sabha seats in the state -- Hamirpur, Shimla, Mandi and Kangra.

"I have left the BJP today along with my supporters and would definitely contest the assembly polls," he told PTI over the phone.

A meeting of Lahaul and Spiti core committee has been convened tonight to chalk out the future strategy, Markanda said.

It is unfortunate that the BJP is taking such people who are against reservation and had hurled abuses against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the past, he said.

"I will contest the assembly bypolls for sure. There is a possibility of my contesting from the Congress party," he said.

"My people want me to contest elections for the development of Lahaul and Spiti," he said.

Talking to media persons here, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu also said some BJP leaders are in contact with the Congress.

The BJP on Tuesday named its candidates for the assembly bypolls in several states and fielded the six MLAs from the seats they held as Congress members before their disqualification. Thakur is a two-time legislator and was the chairman of state Congress Seva Dal and vice chairperson of National Commission for Schedule Tribes.

Besides Thakur from Lahaul and Spiti, the BJP nominated Sudhir Sharma from Dharamshala, Rajinder Rana from Sujanpur, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal from Barsar, Chetanya Sharma from Gagret and Devinder Kumar Bhutto from Kutlehar.

All the six of the Congress dissidents switched over to the BJP on March 23, nearly a month after being disqualified from the Himachal Pradesh Assembly for defying a party whip to be present in the House and vote in favour of the government during the cut motions and the budget.

These MLAs and three Independents had voted in favour of BJP nominee Harsh Mahajan in the Rajya Sabha elections held in the state on February 27, triggering a crisis for the Congress-led government in the state.

With the disqualification of the six Congress MLAs, the strength of the ruling party has come down from 40 to 34, including the Speaker who can vote only in the case of a tie during a floor test, in the 68-member assembly. The BJP has 25 members in the House.

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New Delhi, Mar 26 (PTI) Indian Coast Guard ship Samudra Paheredar, a specialised Pollution Control Vessel, is in Manila Bay in the Philippines as part of an overseas deployment to ASEAN countries, officials said on Tuesday.

The ship is equipped with specialised marine pollution control equipment and a Chetak Helicopter in pollution response configuration, designed to contain, and recover spilled oil and augment the operation, they said.

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The ICG ship arrived at Manila Bay on March 25 on a three-day visit.

"The visit of a specialised Pollution Control Vessels is part of a broader initiative aimed at demonstration of ICG's marine pollution response capabilities and shared concern and resolve towards marine pollution in the ASEAN region, besides bolstering bilateral cooperation with the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)," the Defence Ministry said in a statement here.

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The ICG ship is on an overseas deployment to ASEAN countries -- the Philippines, Vietnam, and Brunei -- from March 25 to April 12.

"The deployment is the third in a row by the Indian Coast Guard to ASEAN countries. Earlier in the year 2023, ICG Pollution Control Vessels visited Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia as part of the initiative," it said.

During this deployment, the ship is scheduled to make port calls in Manila (Philippines), Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam), and Muara (Brunei).

The demonstration at visiting ports includes pollution response training and a practical display of various equipment, the statement said.

Additionally, the ship has also embarked 25 cadets of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) to participate in the Indian government's initiative 'Puneet Sagar Abhiyan', and provide it an international outreach in coordination with partner nations, officials said.

As part of an overseas exchange programme, the NCC cadets, in coordination with ICG ship crew, partner agencies personnel, Indian embassy or mission staff, and local youth organisations will undertake beach clean-up and similar activities during the port call of the ship, the statement said.

"This visit holds significant importance in strengthening bilateral relationships with key maritime agencies, including the Philippine Coast Guard, Vietnam Coast Guard, and Brunei Maritime agencies," it said.

ICG has a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) towards enhanced maritime cooperation and maritime safety and security with the Coast Guards of the Philippines and Vietnam.

These relationships have evolved over the years to ensure safety, security and addressing of marine environment concerns in the region. The visit's agenda includes professional exchanges, cross-deck visits, joint exercises, as well as official and social engagements including visits to capacity-building facilities, the officials said.

"ICGS Samudra Paheredar, stationed on the east coast of India in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, is under the command of Deputy Inspector General Sudhir Ravindran. Over the years, Samudra Paheredar has successfully undertaken various Coast Guard operations, including pollution response, IMBL/EEZ surveillance, counter-transnational crimes, and maritime search and rescue (SAR)," the statement said.

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Bengaluru, March 26: Janata Dal (Secular) leader and former Chief Minister of Karnataka, HD Kumaraswamy, confirmed on Tuesday that he will contest the Lok Sabha elections as BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate from Mandya Lok Sabha constituency.

"Today, my decision is to contest from Mandya for the upcoming elections. BJP leaders advised me to contest from Mandya. Most of the party workers from Mandya also insisted. I will file a nomination and then campaign in the state," Kumaraswamy said while addressing a press conference in Bengaluru on Tuesday. Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Congress MP Ravneet Singh Bittu, Grandson of Former Punjab CM Beant Singh, From Ludhiana Constituency Joins BJP (Watch Video).

"Ramnagar district gave me political birth. Mysore and Mandya gave me political power. JD(S) did not lose morally in the last 2019 Lok Sabha elections. I have made many contributions to the development of the Ramnagar district. My heart has been treated three times in 12 years. It is the will of the gods and goddesses that this country needs me. God has been protecting me for that," he said.

He further said that the JD(S) joined the NDA to 'solve' the state's problems while alleging that the alliance with Congress earlier failed the party. "We joined the NDA alliance to solve the problems of Karnataka. In the past, we lost by allying with Congress. JD(S)-BJP leaders have joined forces and started campaigning in Bengaluru rural constituency," the former CM said. Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Ajit Pawar's NCP Fields Sunil Tatkare from Raigad.

Speaking of the party's remaining two seats, Hassan and Kolar, Kumaraswamy said, "There is no change in Hassan Lok Sabha constituency (Prajwal Revanna JDS MP), and the JD(S) candidate for Kolar Lok Sabha constituency is still not finalised. The JD (S) leader further said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to hold a big rally in Bengaluru in the run-up to the elections.

"Up to now, PM's future programmes regarding election campaigns aren't finalised. He may want a big rally in Bengaluru. For that, they may request the former PM (HD Deve Gowda)," he said. Kumaraswamy also informed about his health and said that he will refrain from 'high voltage campaigning'.

"High voltage election campaigning will not be there due to my health. Party workers will run the show. Let us see. The BJP has left the seat to our party," he remarked. Kumaraswamy returned home after a successful heart surgery on Sunday, March 24, from Apollo Hospital in Tamil Nadu's Chennai.

Earlier on Monday, BJP MP Tejasvi Surya said that the alliance of the BJP and Janata Dal (Secular) will have a "positive impact" on the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka. "BJP-JDS coming together has given strength to both parties at the grassroots levels. I'm very confident that in all 28 Lok Sabha seats, this alliance will have a very positive impact. In many seats where our vote shares are very good, it will further increase," Surya told ANI on Monday.

"Overall, this is going to do a lot of good for the state. I have also requested HD Kumaraswamy to join me at the time of nomination on April 4. He has blessed all of us. Even in Bengaluru South, all JD(S) workers are happy," he said. Karnataka, which has 28 Lok Sabha seats, will vote in two phases on April 26 and May 7.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress and JD-S fought together against the BJP and the combine was decimated. The BJP had won a record 25 seats; Congress and JD-S won just one seat each. The Lok Sabha Elections 2024 will be held in seven phases, starting on April 19. The counting of votes is on June 4.
Thane, March 26: One person has been arrested for allegedly kidnapping and killing a nine-year-old boy for a ransom of Rs 23 lakh in Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Tuesday. According to the police, the accused identified as Salman was a tailor by profession in the Goregaon Village of the Badalpur area of the Thane district. Sharing details about the incident, police said that the accused had kidnapped the child for a ransom of Rs 23 lakh. Maharashtra Shocker: Businessman Shot Dead by Suspended Constable Over Alleged Affair With Wife in Waluj, Arrested

"After the nine-year-old identified as Ibad did not return home after a considerable amount of time, the child's family started searching for him. Shortly after, the boy's father received a call from the accused who demanded a ransom of Rs 23 lakh in return for the child," said police. The boy's father told the police that by that time the news of Ibad's disappearance had spread throughout the village. Police and people living in rural areas had started searching for Ibad. Thane Shocker: Minor Girl Travels from Nepal to Maharashtra, Raped by Instagram Friend in Mumbra; Accused Arrested

Not long after, the accused made a call to Ibad's family, after which the police tracked the location of the accused. "In fear of getting caught in the crime, the accused however killed the child and hid the body behind his residence," police said. After having tracked the location of the accused, police searched the residence and thus found the body of the child. Subsequently, the accused Salman was arrested and the body was recovered from the spot. An investigation into the matter is underway.

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Bhopal/ Sagar (Madhya Pradesh) [India], March 26 (ANI): Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Tuesday extended wishes to the citizens of the state on the occasion of Holi Bhai Dooj.

The CM has also said that he is happy that he is a worker of a party which lifted a sister from the tribal community to the post of President.

Also Read | Gujarat Assembly By-Election 2024: BJP Announces Candidates for May 7 State Assembly Bypolls.

"Election time is going on and all the political parties are engaged in it with their respective strengths. I am happy that I am a worker of that party which for the first time in our country lifted a sister from the tribal community to the post of President. Today is the festival of Bhai Dooj. Today I am going to celebrate Bhai Dooj festival. I also extend my wishes to all the citizens of the state on this occasion," CM Yadav said.

"PM Narendra Modi has promised to bring 33% reservation for women in Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha. No one else can do this. After independence, Congress ruled for a long time, their leader was also the Prime Minister, but they stayed away from this decision. I hope people will appreciate and welcome his (PM Modi) decision. This shows the dedication of BJP towards the sisters of the nation," the CM said.

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Women have been given opportunities in all types of fields and the women are moving forward in all fields. The Madhya Pradesh government has also continuously worked for the women to move forward, he added.

A university named after Rani Avantika Bai University has been dedicated to Sagar. A cabinet meeting was held in Jabalpur in the name of Rani Durgavati. The state government will keep continuously taking such good decisions, CM Yadav further said.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister also participated in the 'Nari Shakti Vandan' program in Sagar district and addressed the public on the occasion.

"India and Indian culture is a big mystery for the people of the world. A specialty of our country is that there are over two hundred countries in the world but no country is named on the basis of mother. There is only one country, that is 'Mother India'," CM said.

"We get birth from our mother and the love we receive from our sister are also no less than that from our mother. On the occasion of Bhai Dooj, I salute all the sisters. The tilak applied on our forehead and the thread in our hands from our sisters are the basis of our strength and we get the courage to fight any force in the world."

He also hails prime minister Narendra Modi over his Swachh Bharat mission, PM awas Yojana, Ujjwala Yojana, women empowerment, New Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and others on the occasion. (ANI)

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New Delhi, Mar 26 (PTI) The NHRC has sent a notice to the Bihar government and the state's police chief over reports of alleged delayed police action in a case of sexual assault of a minor girl in Darbhanga district, according to officials.

The commission said in a statement on Tuesday that it has sought a detailed report within six weeks.

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The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken "suo motu cognisance of a media report that in Darbhanga district of Bihar, the police failed to know till the death of a 13-year-old rape victim that her parents and the village panchayat tried to settle the case by asking her tormentor to pay Rs 1.25 lakh to the family", it said.

"Reportedly, after receiving the amount the victim's family sent her to the house of the accused saying nobody would marry her. She stayed with the accused for five days before being thrown out. Subsequently, she was sent by her parents to her elder sister's house where she died 16 days after her sexual assault on March 1," the rights panel said in the statement.

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The commission has observed that the content of the media report, if true, amounted to a violation of the victim's human rights.

Accordingly, the NHRC has issued notices to the chief secretary and the director general of police of Bihar, seeking a detailed report.

"It should also include the status of the investigation conducted in the matter. The response from the authorities is expected at the earliest but not later than six weeks.

"According to the media report, on March 19, the victim was sexually assaulted by a man of the same village when she had gone to graze the cattle in the area coming under the jurisdiction of Vazidpur Police Station in Darbhanga district. Reportedly, the victim was not provided with any medical treatment. The police exhumed the body of the victim and sent it for a post-mortem examination," it said.

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New Delhi/Palakkad (Kerala), Mar 26 (PTI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to the BJP candidate in Kerala's Alathur Lok Sabha constituency, Prof T N Sarasu, on Tuesday and assured her that strict action would be taken against those involved in the alleged irregularities in the cooperative banks in the southern state.

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Party leaders said Modi, who called Professor Sarasu, inquired about her campaign progress in the Alathur seat.

The seat is reserved for the Scheduled Castes, and the candidature of Sarasu, a retired college principal, was announced on Sunday.

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During her conversation with the prime minister over the phone, Sarasu raised the issue of irregularities reported from certain cooperative banks in Kerala and sought his intervention to punish the guilty.

Responding to this, Modi said, "I am happy that, as the candidate, you are taking the issue of the people and common man's problems. It is a good thing for any public servant. I am happy to hear that you are raising the issue."

He said he had heard about it and had some details about it, agreeing with the candidate that "a lot of poor people have been affected."

"Our government will take strict action against everyone involved and we will ensure that the poor get justice. One more thing Sarasu ji I would like to tell you and that is that I will take legal advice and whatever property the ED (Enforcement Directorate) will attach and the money are involved, the common man's money, I will see that each and every paisa should return to the person concerned.

"We will strictly do that. On behalf of me, you can promise them that whatever property is attached by ED, that money will be returned to the people, those who had invested in the bank," Modi said.

One of the major cooperative scams was reported by the ruling CPI(M)-controlled Karuvannur Service Cooperative Bank in Thrissur district. The matter is currently being investigated by the ED, which has arrested a few individuals and interrogated local leaders of the CPI(M) in Thrissur district for their alleged involvement in it.

The central agency had also attached properties of a few persons allegedly involved in the scam.

The Alathur Lok Sabha constituency includes seven assembly segments, with four located in Palakkad district and three in Thrissur district, respectively.

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New Delhi, Mar 26 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday spoke with his Belgian counterpart Alexander De Croo and agreed to enhance cooperation and support for early restoration of peace and security in West Asia and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

During the telephone call, Modi also congratulated De Croo on the successful hosting of the First Nuclear Energy Summit in Brussels last week.

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After the conversation, Modi tweeted, "Spoke to Belgium PM @alexanderdecroo. Congratulated him on the success of the First Nuclear Energy Summit in Brussels. Exchanged views on strengthening bilateral ties; advancing India-EU Partnership under Belgian Presidency; and cooperation on regional and global issues."

De Croo also put out a tweet saying, "Called prime minister @narendramodi to discuss the conflicts in #Ukraine & #Gaza and protecting shipping lanes in the Red Sea. We also talked about our growing commercial relations #semiconductors #pharmaceuticals #greenhydrogen and the upcoming royal trade mission to India."

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In a statement, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said the two leaders "agreed upon the need to enhance cooperation and support for early restoration of peace and security in the West Asia region and Russia- Ukraine conflict", adding they also exchanged views on global and regional developments.

It said Modi and De Croo reviewed the excellent relations between India and Belgium.

"They discussed ways to further strengthen the bilateral partnership in diverse sectors including trade, investment, clean technologies, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, green hydrogen, IT, defence, ports, among others," the statement said.

The two leaders affirmed commitment to further bolster the India  EU Strategic Partnership under the ongoing Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

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New Delhi, March 26: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will kickstart Bharatiya Janata Party's campaign for the Lok Sabha Polls in Uttar Pradesh from Meerut where he will address a rally on March 30. Meerut is considered as the political capital of western Uttar Pradesh.BJP has fielded Arun Govil, from Meerut, the actor who played Ram in Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan in the 80s, encapsulating a message on the Ayodhya temple, which was inaugurated earlier this year.

Jayant Choudhary president of Rashtriya Lok Dal will also accompany him on the stage. This will mark the first event after the BJP-RLD alliance was formed. This is the fourth time that Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) has forged alliance with the BJP, as Jayant Chaudhary, represents the third generation of his family and the party. In this Lok Sabha election, the RLD is contesting in alliance with the BJP. Lok Sabha Elections 2024: From Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee, Sharad Pawar to Asaduddin Owaisi, 10 Key Political Figures Who Will Drive Narrative This Election.

The RLD has been allotted two Lok Sabha seats - Bijnor and Baghpat - as part of this alliance. Additionally, the BJP has given one legislative council seat to the RLD. With this alliance, RLD's national president Jayant Chaudhary will now be seen campaigning for BJP candidates, while senior BJP leaders will campaign for RLD candidates. In this sequence, Jayant Chaudhary's presence in Meerut alongside PM Modi is significant. Lok Sabha Elections 2024: BJP Releases First List of 195 Candidates, PM Narendra Modi To Contest General Polls From Varanasi; Check Full List.

It's worth noting that the Lok Sabha elections will be held in seven phases across the country, with voting on June 4 and results thereafter. The first phase of polling will take place on April 19, the second phase on April 26, the third phase on May 7, the fourth phase on May 13, the fifth phase on May 20, the sixth phase on May 25, and the seventh and final phase on June 1. Polling in Meerut will take place on April 26, during the second phase.
Sikar (Rajasthan) [India], March 26 (ANI): Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma on Tuesday highlighted the state's development under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging voters to reflect on India's pre-2014 era characterized by corruption, appeasement-based politics, and rising terrorism.

Addressing the nomination filing event of BJP leader Swami Subedanand, Bhajanlal Sharma said, "Swami Subedanand has filed the nomination for the third time from Sikar. You all need to remember the India that was before 2014. Before 2014, the way in which corruption in India, appeasement-based politics, and terrorism was at rise. After 2014, under the guidance of PM Modi, you all are witnessing the growth of the country." he said.

Also Read | Blood Transfusion Error: Two Patients in Critical Condition After Receiving Wrong Blood Types at Punes Aundh District Hospital, Probe Underway.

Recalling the historical significance and presence of the BJP in the state of Rajasthan, Bhajanlal said "former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee gave reservation to the Jatta from the Sikar soil, because he could understand the pain, he could feel the pain of farmers. During the tenure of the BJP in the central government of Rajasthan, Atal Bihari Vajpayee ensured that various schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Sadak Yojana and credit cards for farmers were effectively implemented to benefit them," Sharma said.

Taking a dig at the Congress government, Sharma alleged that the Rajasthan Congress has consistently misled the public by claiming to address the Yamuna issue to secure electoral victories.

Also Read | Lok Sabha Elections 2024: JD(S) Leader HD Kumaraswamy To Contest LS Polls From Karnataka's Mandya As BJP-Led NDA Candidate.

"The Rajasthan Congress has continuously fooled the people that they were doing something for the Yamuna issue and kept winning elections. They have always tried to fool the farmers. The Congress government hasn't even sent one letter to the central government citing the Yamuna issue," he said.

The Rajasthan Chief Minister, earlier launched a scathing attack at the former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, for 'misleading' the people with the help of loot and lies.

"On one hand, Sonia Gandhi is busy worrying about Rahul Gandhi and Ashok Gehlot is busy worrying about Vaibhav Gehlot, they are not concerned about the people of the country and the state. The people of the state will never forget the 'Yuvraj'. Now the people of the state are not going to fall prey to the tricks of the Yuvraj of Congress. The public knows that this is the same leader who had made a false promise of complete loan waiver," he said, while making an address in Jaipur. (ANI)

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Mumbai, Mar 26 (PTI) Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty tanked in early trade on Tuesday amid sustained foreign fund outflows and a weak trend in the US markets.

The 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 468.91 points to 72,363.03. The NSE Nifty declined 149.2 points to 21,947.55.

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From the Sensex basket, PowerGrid, Maruti, Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints, UltraTech Cement and Titan were the major laggards.

Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, IndusInd Bank and Tata Motors were among the gainers.

Also Read | Delhi: On Holi, Man Slits Throat of Wife; Accused Nabbed.

In Asian markets, Tokyo and Shanghai were quoting lower, while Seoul and Hong Kong traded in the positive territory.

Wall Street ended lower on Monday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,309.76 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

"Market is likely to consolidate this week in the absence of any known triggers for sharp up or down moves. Since the week is a truncated week of three trading days, volumes have dipped markedly indicating absence of significant directional move," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

Equity markets were closed on Monday for Holi.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.01 per cent to USD 86.74 a barrel.

On Friday, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 190.75 points or 0.26 per cent to settle at 72,831.94. The NSE Nifty had advanced 84.80 points or 0.39 per cent to 22,096.75.

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New Delhi, March 26: Does the rising number of OTP frauds and password hacking instances concern you? Researchers at IIT Mandi have developed a revolutionary system which will capture unique user biometric-based behaviour patterns for secure authentication, eliminating the use of conventional methods. The system called "adapID" has been developed in collaboration with Deep Algorithms with Amit Shukla from the Center for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR) at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi and J P Mishra from Deep Algorithms, spearheading the development of the tool -- a behaviour biometric-based authentication system leveraging haptics data.

Deep Algorithms is an IIT Mandi and IIT Kanpur incubated company with its head office in Hyderabad, Research and Development office in IIT Mandi and partner office in the USA. The system has already been granted a patent and has been deployed at a bank and a forensic company. The team is currently in talks with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) to use it for authentication in government schemes. IIT Mandi Takes Major Initiative To Address Mental Health Issues: New Academic Programme To Combine Indian Knowledge System With Scientific Innovations

Those involved in the development of the system explained that in today's digitally driven landscape, organisations encounter the daunting challenge of safeguarding sensitive data against relentless cyber threats while ensuring a seamless user experience. "Conventional authentication methods relying on passwords and static security measures prove inadequate, leaving organisations susceptible to breaches and burdening users with cumbersome access processes. "The escalating instances of cyber fraud, notably attributed to OTP compromises, have spurred organisations to seek robust solutions to fortify against unauthorised access and data breaches," Shukla told PTI.

"Traditional authentication methods, dependent on passwords and OTPs, increasingly succumb to phishing attacks and brute force breaches, thereby compromising security and user satisfaction. adapID will herald a paradigm shift in secure authentication by harnessing the potency of behavioural and physiological biometrics, offering unparalleled security measures," he added. Shukla explained that the innovative approach will obviate the necessity for passwords and OTPs, streamlining user access processes while bolstering defences against emerging threats.

"The adapID AI adaptive authentication integrates behavioural and physiological biometrics, presenting a multi-layered authentication framework that dynamically adapts to evolving user behaviour. This password-less authentication system will employ advanced technology, encompassing invisible keyboard features and decentralised web protocols, to establish a novel standard in secure authentication," he said. IIT Mandi Team To Make Useful Chemicals From Agriculture Residue and Paper Waste

"Our groundbreaking behaviour biometric-based system will redefine secure authentication, effectively eliminating the reliance on passwords and introducing seamless continuous authentication. "With adapID, we not only aim to revolutionise security protocols but also empower organisations to navigate the complexities of the digital age with unwavering confidence," he said. Deep Algorithms' J P Mishra explained that adapID addresses an array of cyber threats, including fraud, unauthorised access and phishing attacks, spanning across industries such as financial services, government, technology and critical infrastructure.

"By furnishing the most robust form of authentication and discerning anomalies in user behaviour, adapID equips organisations with a dynamic and adaptive security posture. As organisations navigate the intricate landscape of cybersecurity threats, adapID will emerge as a pioneering solution, presenting a dynamic, adaptive and secure authentication framework. "With its innovative integration of behavioural biometrics and continuous authentication, the innovation will establish a new benchmark in secure authentication, empowering organisations to safeguard sensitive data," Mishra said.

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Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], March 26 (ANI): The Trinamool Congress has filed a complaint with the Election Commission of India against Bharatiya Janata Party leader Dilip Ghosh for allegedly making controversial remarks against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

The Trinamool Congress said that BJP leader Dilip Ghosh has violated the Model Code of Conduct by making personal remarks.

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Earlier, while addressing reporters in Durgapur, BJP MP Dilip Ghosh said that wherever Mamata Banerjee goes, she calls herself the daughter of that state, and "she must identify her own father".

"When Didi (CM Mamata Banerjee) goes to Goa, she calls herself the daughter of Goa. When she goes to Tripura, she says that she is the daughter of Tripura. She should first identify her own father..." Dilip Ghosh said.

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Citing the clause under the poll code, which states that "no political party or candidate should indulge in any activities or make any statements that would amount to an attack on the personal life of any person or statements that may be malicious or offend decency and morality", the ruling Bengal party urged the Election Commission to immediately take action against BJP MP Dilip Ghosh.

"Mr Ghosh's comments not only cross the boundaries of decency but also perpetuate a culture of misogyny and disrespect towards women in positions of power," the letter to the poll body read.

The remarks by the BJP leader have drawn sharp criticism from the TMC leaders.

"Such mentality of BJP leaders humiliates Nari Shakti. He earlier made derogatory remarks against Maa Durga. He should be arrested under the POCSO Act for what he said about Mamata Banerjee..." TMC leader Kirti Azad said.

West Bengal Minister Shashi Panja said that BJP leader Dilip Ghosh is such a petty man and such people should be defeated in the upcoming elections.

"We are all the daughters of India. Wherever we go, we will be the daughters of India. Whichever state we visit, we will be its daughters. Dilip Ghosh is such a petty man. He is contesting elections and he thinks that he will win and become a public representative. Will such a man be the public representative?"

"The BJP's DNA and its character are so bad that they are attacking women and Mamata Didi. They want to suppress and weaken women if they grow powerful. If this is the mindset of politicians, what will be the mindset of workers? What impact will it have on the ground level? If you insult women, atrocities against them will increase. Such people should be defeated. The Election Commission should take action. They are so greedy for power that they can stoop to any level. It is their frustration that is in action," she added. (ANI)

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New Delhi, Mar 26 (PTI) Industrialist Anand Mahindra and his family on Tuesday pledged over Rs 500 crore for Hyderabad-based Mahindra University.

The capital, to be invested over the next five years starting FY25 till FY29, is being put in by Anand Mahindra and his family to add new disciplines and to make the university a centre of excellence.

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The Mahindra Group Chairman has also pledged a separate Rs 50 crore in his personal capacity for Indira Mahindra School of Education, a part of Mahindra University, in FY25.

Named in memory of Indira Mahindra, a teacher and Anand Mahindra's mother, the school aspires to be a centre of excellence in educational research, practice, and innovations.

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In an interaction with PTI, Mahindra said the university has set up multiple schools at the university campus in a very short time under the leadership of Vice-Chancellor Yajulu Medury.

"Now the goal is to really ramp up quickly, gain momentum, improve the quality, get the faculty and make sure the facilities for each of these colleges are superlative. And to that I am pledging Rs 500 crore to the university over a period of five years," he stated.

As part of the initiative, Rs 100 crore is being set aside for the overall university to start with this year, Mahindra said. An amount of Rs 50 crore is being marked separately towards Mahindra School of Education, he added.

Mahindra University (MU) was established in May 2020 as the brainchild of Vineet Nayar, former Vice Chairman of Tech Mahindra.

The university currently offers 35 programmes across five schools and four centres at the undergraduate, postgraduate and doctorate levels.

Two additional schools, including the School of Hospitality Management, are expected to be established in 2024-25.

"There is a school of liberal arts, as well as a school of hospitality that will be coming up," Mahindra stated.

MU has over 4,100 students enrolled, approximately 10 per cent of whom are at the postgraduate level.

The university has partnered with various global academic institutions, such as Centrale Supelec (erstwhile Acole Central Paris), Cornell SC Johnson School of Business, Virginia Tech, Babson College, the University of Florida, and La Trobe University, for curriculum building, student immersion and exchange programmes, faculty exchange programmes, and research collaborations.

This combined pledge of Rs 550 crore is the latest of many education initiatives that Anand Mahindra supports around India, including Mahindra United World College India and Mahindra International School.

In 1996, he started the Nanhi Kali programme, which has provided over 7 lakh underprivileged girls with access to high-quality education over the past two decades.

Besides, Mahindra is the Chairman of the Board of Naandi Foundation, an NGO focused on educating girls, skilling youth, and providing sustainable livelihoods to small farmers through biodynamic agriculture.

He also serves on the Founders' Board of The Rise Fund, a USD 2 billion impact fund.

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New Delhi, Mar 26 (PTI) Shares of SpiceJet on Tuesday jumped 4 per cent after the company said it has signed a pact with Export Development Canada (EDC) to settle liabilities worth USD 90.8 million (around Rs 755 crore).

The stock climbed 3.93 per cent to settle at Rs 61.06 apiece on the BSE. During the day, it jumped 7.23 per cent to Rs 63.

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In terms of volume, 93.12 lakh shares of the company were traded on the BSE during the day.

The liabilities stem from a loan acquired by the airline in 2011 for the procurement of 15 aircraft.

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The terms of the settlement pact will allow the airline to clear major liabilities, leading to a comprehensive revitalisation of the airline's balance sheet, SpiceJet said in a statement on Tuesday.

Under the agreement, SpiceJet will acquire full ownership of 13 EDC-financed Q400 aircraft, bolstering the airline's operational capabilities and fleet management, it said.

SpiceJet will pay a comprehensive settlement amount to resolve outstanding liabilities amounting to close to USD 91 million, the airline said.

This settlement will lead to savings worth USD 68.3 million (Rs 567 crore) for SpiceJet, it said.

"We have reached this settlement agreement with EDC. This significant milestone will allow us to strengthen our balance sheet," Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director of SpiceJet, said.

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Washington, March 26: A leadership shake-up at Boeing, including news 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 on Monday 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 January 1. 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. John Barnett Dies: Boeing Whistleblower Who Raised Concerns Over Production Standards Found Dead in US

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 January 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. 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.

Boeing's 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. Calhoun said the two companies were making progress in talks and it's very important. United Airlines Boeing 737 Makes Emergency Landing in Oregon After It Apparently Loses External Panel Mid-Flight

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 Max's 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 USD 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 USD 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 per cent in that time  24 per cent since the Alaska incident, through trading on Friday.

Last week, Chief Financial Officer Brian West warned that Boeing burned between USD 4 billion and USD 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 Calhoun's 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 Monday's news. Citi analyst Jason Gursky called the shake-up both predictable and thoughtful.

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 Boeing's 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 Boeing's 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 US defence 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 O'Leary said in a video posted on X that Deal did a good job at Boeing sales, but he's not the person to turn around the operation in Seattle, and that's where most of the problems have been in recent years. Shares of The Boeing Co. rose about 1 per cent in trading Monday.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Manila, Mar 26 (PTI) India has a long and distinguished maritime tradition whose civilisational imprint is still visible in this region, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday as he hailed the docking of an Indian Coast Guard ship here signified the deepening of bilateral ties with Manila.

Jaishankar, who is in the Philippines on the second leg of his three-nation tour, made the remarks during his visit to the Indian Coast Guard Ship 'Samudra Paheredar' during the vessel's port call to Manila.

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"My visit and the ship's presence signifies the deepening India-Philippines relations," he said.

"India has a long and distinguished maritime tradition, whose civilisational imprint is still visible in this region. Today, our Act East policy and the Indo-Pacific Vision have given it a more contemporary form," the minister said.

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He said that another noteworthy development is the Indo-Pacific maritime domain awareness initiative of which both countries are members that is aimed at fostering cooperation on a wide range of maritime activities and issues.

"Our collaboration with the ASEAN is a vital aspect of those endeavours... We have also seen the commencement of ASEAN-India maritime exercises. As seafaring nations, this is a strong bilateral bond between us," he said.

He said that the ship's presence in Manila happens to coincide with his own bilateral visit. And each, in their own way, signifies a deepening partnership, he added.

"The cooperation between the Coast Guards of our two nations was facilitated by an understanding of enhanced maritime cooperation that was reached last year," he said, adding that he was glad to note that specialised training courses in India have commenced.

"We value the presence of the Philippines in the search and rescue and pollution response exercises which have been conducted by the Indian Coast Guard. The visit of this pollution control vessel to the Philippines is significant because it highlights the shared challenges that we face in that domain," he said.

"Like-minded countries of the Indo-Pacific should be doing more with each other," he said.

"May it promote greater cooperation between our countries and may promote greater cooperation within the region and may it instill a greater sense of maritime interest and responsibility, particularly in the younger generations," he added.

He said he was glad to see that the ship carries the cadets of the National Cadet Corps, recalling that he was part of the NCC during his college days.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Manila [Philippines], March 26 (ANI): Amid tensions in the South China Sea, the Indian Coast Guard ship, Samudra Paheredar docked at the Manila Bay in the Philippines as part of a broader initiative aimed at demonstrating ICG Marine Pollution Response capabilities, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in an official release on Tuesday.

The ICG ship which arrived at the port on Monday, is on an overseas deployment to ASEAN countries namely the Philippines, Vietnam, and Brunei from 25 March to 12 April 2024 and is the third in a row by the Indian Coast Guard to ASEAN countries. Earlier in the year 2023, ICG Pollution Control Vessels visited Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia as part of the initiative.

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During its deployment, the ship is scheduled to make port calls in Manila (Philippines), Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam), and Muara (Brunei).

"Indian Coast Guard ship Samudra Paheredar, a specialized Pollution Control Vessel, arrived at Manila Bay, Philippines on 25 March 2024 on a three-day visit. The visit of specialized Pollution Control Vessels is part of a broader initiative aimed at demonstration of ICG Marine Pollution Response capabilities and shared concern & resolve towards Marine Pollution in the ASEAN region, besides bolstering bilateral cooperation with the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)," Ministry said in a release.

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"The ICG ship is on an overseas deployment to ASEAN countries namely the Philippines, Vietnam, and Brunei from 25 March to 12 April 2024. The deployment is the third in a row by the Indian Coast Guard to ASEAN countries. Earlier in the year 2023, ICG Pollution Control Vessels visited Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia as part of the initiative," it added.

The ICG Samudra Paheredar ship is equipped with specialized marine pollution control equipment and a Chetak Helicopter in Pollution Response configuration, designed to contain, and recover spilled oil and augment the operation. The demonstration at visiting ports includes Pollution Response training and a practical display of various equipment.

The deployment came even as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is on an official visit to Philippines and is holding series of meeting with prominent leaders in Manila.

Additionally, the ship has also embarked 25 National Cadet Corps (NCC) cadets to participate in the Government's initiative "Puneet Sagar Abhiyan," and provide it an international outreach in coordination with partner nations. As part of an overseas exchange program, the NCC cadets, in coordination with ICG ship crew, Partner agencies personnel, Indian Embassy/ Mission staff, and local youth organizations will undertake beach cleanup and similar activities during the port call of the ship, ministry said.

According to the release, "This visit holds significant importance in strengthening bilateral relationships with key maritime agencies, including the Philippine Coast Guard, Vietnam Coast Guard, and Brunei Maritime agencies. ICG has a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) towards Enhanced Maritime Cooperation and Maritime Safety and Security with the Coast Guards of the Philippines and Vietnam. These relationships have evolved over the years to ensure the safety, security, and marine environment concerns in the region."

"The visit's agenda includes professional exchanges, cross-deck visits, joint exercises, as well as official and social engagements including visits to capacity-building facilities," it added.

ICGS Samudra Paheredar, stationed on the East Coast of India in Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, is under the Command of Deputy Inspector General Sudhir Ravindran. Over the years, Samudra Paheredar has successfully undertaken various Coast Guard operations, including Pollution Response, IMBL/EEZ surveillance, counter-transnational crimes, and Maritime Search and Rescue (SAR).

Meanwhile, the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs, in a statement said that Manila conveyed its "strong protest against the aggressive actions" undertaken by China's Coast Guard and Chinese maritime militias against the Philippine mission near the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea.

The department said it has also instructed its mission in Beijing to lodge a formal complaint over the incident. The move comes a day after Philippines' National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano said the confrontation that injured three Filipino soldiers caused severe damage to the Unaizah May 4 vessel.

Jaishankar arrived in Manila after paying an official visit to Singapore and will visit Malaysia after the Philippines.

Jaishankar is on an official visit to these countries at the invitation of his counterparts, according to an official release of the Ministry of External Affairs.

The visit of the EAM spanning five days from March 23-27 will focus on enhancing bilateral relations with the three countries and will provide an opportunity for engagement on regional issues of mutual concern. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], March 26 (ANI): The United Kingdom's Littoral Response Group (LRG) arrived in Chennai on Tuesday as the first engagement of its deployment to the Indian Ocean region, the British High Commission informed in a statement.

The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) Argus and RFA Lyme Bay conducted maritime exercises with the Indian Navy as they entered the Arabian Sea. It will now undergo essential maintenance at the Larsen and Toubro shipyard in Kattupalli near Chennai.

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This is the first time a Royal Navy vessel will undergo maintenance at an Indian shipyard - a direct result of the logistics-sharing agreement signed between the UK and India in 2022.

Brigadier Nick Sawyer, Defence Advisor, British High Commission, said: "The visit of the Littoral Response Group attests to the UK's capability and commitment to the Indo-Pacific. The sight of Royal Navy ships undergoing essential maintenance at an Indian shipyard is yet another example of the India-UK Logistic Exchange Memorandum of Agreement in practice."

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"It also signals the continued growing importance of the strategic defence partnership between the UK and India as we build towards achieving the ambition set out in the India-UK 2030 Roadmap," he added.

Following the completion of its maintenance in India, the Littoral Response Group will operate in the Indo-Pacific to conduct training, exercises, and wider engagement with allies and partners.

Earlier, during Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's UK visit, India and UK agreed that the latter would send its naval groups-- Littoral Response Group and Carrier Strike Group -- to the Indian Ocean Region, in addition to holding multiple joint military exercises and expanding defence cooperation with India.

Notably, this was the first visit of an Indian Defence Minister to the UK in more than 20 years.

In the coming years, the UK and India will also embark on more complex exercises between their respective militaries, building up to a landmark joint exercise to be conducted before the end of 2030, supporting shared goals of protecting critical trade routes and upholding the international rules-based system, the UK government informed in a release. (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 York [US], March 26 (ANI): United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited the Wihdat Camp for Palestine refugees during his ongoing Ramadan solidarity visit to Jordan.

UN Chief Guterres is on a visit to meet Palestine refugees being served by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Jordan.

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"We are at a centre dedicated to the well-being of Palestine refugees. Allow me to begin with an invitation to join me in a moment of silence in tribute to our United Nations colleagues and all others who have been killed in this conflict," he said in his opening remarks.

Emphasising that UNRWA is a hot topic these days, he said that, however, one fundamental thing is often lost in the debate, i.e., people.

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He further highlighted that Jordan is home to 2.4 million Palestinian refugees, the largest number in the region.

During his visit, he also heard stories and saw a glimpse of UNRWA's exceptional work in the region.

"I had the privilege to visit a health centre where young mothers and their children are receiving high-quality primary health care, where labs perform state-of-the-art medical tests, and where a pharmacy is dispensing life-saving medication to patients at no charge," he said. Additionally, he sat in on science and English language classes at a girls' school and saw young women in a science lab learning and experimenting with principles from Archimedes.

"I visited a class teaching English along with the values of human rights and conflict resolution. I also met with 6 truly inspiring young student parliamentarian leaders, including 3 students from Gaza. It was a heartwarming visit in heartbreaking times," Guterres added.

UN Chief Guterres further emphasised that the UNRWA is a lifeline of hope and dignity, not just in Jordan, but also in Syria, Lebanon, the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

Further, he said that UNRWA is providing education for over half a million girls and boys, health care for around 2 million people, extending job opportunities and community and family support, and ensuring a social safety net for nearly half a million of the poorest Palestinians.

"Beyond and behind those facts, UNRWA is profoundly contributing in ways that can't be measured on a graph--advancing social cohesion, promoting stability and building peace," he said.

Guterres added, "Imagine if all of this was taken away. It would be cruel and incomprehensible - especially as we honour the 171 women and men of UNRWA who have been killed in Gaza - the largest number of deaths of UN staff in our history."

He further assured that UNRWA would ensure that it would abide by the values of the United Nations in all its actions.

"So, taking into account recent unacceptable events, an independent review is well underway to strengthen and improve UNRWA, and I look forward to its recommendations. We must strive to keep the one-of-a-kind services that UNRWA provides flowing because that keeps hope flowing," he said.

Guterres stressed that, in a darkening world, UNRWA is the one ray of light for millions of people.

"I trust that, working all together, we will be able to mobilise the international community to make sure that UNRWA will be able to provide its essential services to Palestinian refugees here in Jordan and in all other areas where UNRWA is active," he said. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Washington, DC [US], March 26 (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."

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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.

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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)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Washington, Mar 26 (AP) Hackers linked to the Chinese government launched a sweeping, state-backed operation that targeted US officials, journalists, corporations, pro-democracy activists and the UK's election watchdog, American and British authorities said on 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.

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The US Justice Department charged seven hackers, all believed to be living in China. The British government, in a related announcement, imposed sanctions on two of the defendants in connection with a breach that may have given the Chinese access to information on tens of millions of UK 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".

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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 US government officials and politicians and election campaign staff from both major US 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.

The Justice Department said the hackers also began targeting email accounts belonging to senior staffers of a presidential campaign in May 2020.

Britain's 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 on 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 on Monday they have been "subjected to harassment, impersonation and attempted hacking from China for some time".

APT31 has previously been accused of targeting US presidential campaigns and the information systems of Finland's parliament, among others.

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 before the announcement that countries should base their claims on evidence rather than "smear" others without factual basis.

"Cybersecurity issues should not be politicised," ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said.

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.

US 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 "considered but did not deploy" influence operations intended to affect the outcome. US officials say they believe Beijing prioritised a stable relationship with the US 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 on Monday does not alter that conclusion.

Even so, Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen, the Justice Department's top national security official, said in a statement that, "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." (AP)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Directed by Adam Wingard, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is a sequel to Godzilla vs Kong (2021), marking the fifth installment in the MonsterVerse franchise. Additionally, it stands as the 38th film in the Godzilla franchise and the 13th film in the King Kong franchise. Starring Rebecca Hall and Brian Tyree Henry, who reprise their roles from the previous film, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire has garnered positive reviews. The film that was screened at LAs TCL Chinese Theatre on March 25 has been hailed as The Most Enjoyable MonsterVerse Movie packed with Fun Kaiju Action. Godzilla x Kong Trailer: Legendary Monsters Team Up to Battle Colossal Threat in The New Empire.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire has left critics awestruck with its captivating visuals. The battles in this monster film have turned out to be jaw-dropping, and some critics have even hinted at the inclusion of surprises in the movie. The plot of the film reads, The film follows Godzilla and Kong, as they unite together against a mysterious Hollow Earth threat, and also focuses on the previously untold origins of the Titans and Skull Island. Lets check out some of the reactions on this film:

'Insane Action'

#GodzillaXKong is everything you could want from a showa-era inspired Kaiju film. INSANE action & loads of fun! It leans heavily into the lore & sci-fi elements of the MonsterVerse. Kongs the heart of the movie with Godzilla providing the brawn but Suko steals the show  pic.twitter.com/sMCg7awt44  Sammy J (@SammyJReacts) March 26, 2024

'Godzilla And Kong Take Centerstage'

#GodzillaXKong is nonstop/fun Kaiju action that fans of monster movies love. Both Godzilla and Kong take centerstage in this latest entry in Legendarys evolving Monsterverse. Brian Tyree Henry & Dan Stevens are fun together. But this movie belongs to the giant monsters. pic.twitter.com/daJ3UyIbsW  B E A N Z (Miss U Mom) (@BeanzGotGamez) March 26, 2024

The Most Enjoyable MonsterVerse Movie

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is the most enjoyable MonsterVerse movie yet, the one where it feels everybody understood the assignment. Story is a bit thin, but the titan smashing more than makes up for it. #GodzillaXKong pic.twitter.com/gk8gDeYXhT  Ian Sandwell (@ian_sandwell) March 26, 2024

'Epic Battles'

#GodzillaXKong is a momentous spectacle that dazzles with its vibrant technicolor visuals. The epic battles btwn the titans are jaw-dropping and are accompanied by a story with a gargantuan heart. Plus, theres Dan Stevens flexing in a Hawaiian shirt for 2 hours. pic.twitter.com/PsBMAdsQjH  Shannon | #FreePalestine  (@shannon_mcgrew) March 26, 2024

'Wild Kaiju Action'

#GodzillaXKong hits plenty of sweet spots for me! Tons of wild kaiju action, a brutal villain for Kong, a powered-up Godzilla, Dan Stevens having a blast, some legit surprises, and so many colors. Bring me more MonsterVerse! pic.twitter.com/eaxDkJwmnF  Aaron Neuwirth (@AaronsPS4) March 26, 2024

'Atomic Blast'

#GodzillaXKong is an ATOMIC BLAST! A fantastically weird, psychedelic trip through the Showa Era w/all the vibrance of an 80s album cover. This thing is an absurdist romp - crimson apes, frost dragons, a delightfully absurd Dan Stevens. Another FUN entry in the MonsterVerse! pic.twitter.com/Qmzx8Jytug  Griffin Schiller (@griffschiller) March 26, 2024

Adam Wingard had earlier shared, There has never been a monster before that covets power necessarily. A lot of time they go by instincts, no matter how evil they are, and so thats what makes him unique, reports PTI. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire also features Dan Stevens, Kaylee Hottle, Alex Ferns and Fala Chen. The film is scheduled for international release on March 27 and in the US on March 29.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 26, 2024 12:15 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
New Delhi, March 26: Daryaganj, a restaurant chain, has moved the Delhi High Court against certain alleged defamatory remarks attributed to the proprietors of Moti Mahal in a newspaper interview regarding the origin of "butter chicken". Moti Mahal in January moved the Delhi High Court on the issue of rightful claimant to the title of developing the iconic Indian culinary delights - butter chicken and dal makhani.

Its case against Daryaganj is over the usage of the tagline "Inventors of Butter Chicken and Dal Makhani". Moti Mahal alleges that Daryaganj is engaging in misleading practices by suggesting a connection between the two restaurants. Who Invented Butter Chicken and Dal Makhani? Was It Moti Mahal or Daryaganj? Delhi High Court To Decide on Credit for Two World-Famous Dishes.

The case was heard by a bench of Justice Sanjeev Narula in January, when he issued summons to the owners of Daryaganj, directing them to file a written response to the suit within a month. Additionally, he issued notice on Moti Mahal's application for an interim injunction, scheduling a hearing for May 29.

Now, the controversy has risen when statements made by Moti Mahal owners in an article, initially published in the Wall Street Journal and subsequently circulated by other media outlets, were deemed detrimental to Daryaganj's reputation. In response to the allegations, the owners of Moti Mahal have asserted that the remarks in question were presented from an "editorial perspective" and cannot be directly attributed to them. Butter Chicken Grabs a Spot in the List of 'Surprising New Iconic Dishes', Check Recipe of the Popular Indian Delicacy.

Justice Narula has now directed the proprietors of Moti Mahal to submit an affidavit affirming their effort to distance themselves from the disputed statements published in the articles. "Plaintiffs (Moti Mahal owners) are directed to submit an affidavit, elaborating on the assertions and affirming their effort to distance themselves from the disputed statement in the published articles. Let the same be filed within two weeks from today," Justice Narula stated in the recent order.

Daryaganj's application to the court stresses the damaging impact of the alleged defamatory remarks on its reputation and business interests. The statements not only disparaged their establishment but also raised concerns about prejudicing a fair adjudication on the lawsuit, it claimed.

The proprietors of Moti Mahal have sought to clarify that the expressions found in the article were not reflective of their direct communications or intentions, aiming to dissociate themselves from any perceived defamation. Moti Mahal's argument that the first branch of their restaurant was opened in the Daryaganj neighbourhood and it contends that this geographical association is being exploited by Daryaganj to imply a culinary relationship that doesn't exist.

The heart of the dispute lies in the historical claim of each restaurant to the invention of butter chicken and dal makhani. Moti Mahal credits its founder, the late Kundan Lal Gujral, with creating these iconic dishes that have become synonymous with Indian cuisine globally.

According to Moti Mahal, Gujral not only invented the tandoori chicken but also butter chicken and dal makhani, bringing them to India after the Partition. Moti Mahal's suit reveals a culinary narrative where Gujral, concerned about the unsold leftovers of chicken drying out, ingeniously invented the 'makhani' or butter sauce.

This sauce, a concoction of tomatoes, butter, cream, and spices, became the foundation of the delectable butter chicken. Moti Mahal further contends that the invention of dal makhani is intricately linked to the invention of butter chicken, as the same recipe was applied with black lentils to create it.

Daryaganj's senior counsel Amit Sibal had then vehemently rejected the allegations by senior advocate Sandeep Sethi, appearing for Moti Mahal, categorically labelling the entire suit "baseless", and underscoring the joint establishment of the first Moti Mahal restaurant in Peshawar by predecessors of both parties - Gujral of Moti Mahal and Jaggi of Daryaganj restaurant.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 26, 2024 11:19 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Pune, March 26: In a shocking incident, a 19-year-old physically handicapped girl was allegedly ragged in the hostel of a prominent educational institution and is currently admitted to a hospital, officials said here on Tuesday. According to the Lonavala Rural Police Station Inspector Kishor Dhumal, the family of the victim - identified as Kalyani Gajanan Nikam - has claimed that she was allegedly undergoing the trauma of teasing and taunts over her disability and other things, ostensibly by three of her room-mates for past more than two-three months.

Almost a fortnight ago, the three girls reportedly chased her, then confined Kalyani into a bathroom and repeatedly threatened her with some sharp-edged weapon, and even stabbed her twice. The alleged incident happened in her hostel room at the prestigious Sinhgad Institution's College where she was studying for the BBA/CA course, on the outskirts of the picturesque Lonavala hill-station. Ragging Victims, Witnesses To Be Punished if They Dont Report Such Incidents, Says Gujarat Government.

Terrified by the incident, Kalyani suffered a stroke and was rushed to a nearby hospital on March 12. Her condition is stated to be "serious" in the ICU and the police have launched a probe. When contacted by IANS, the hostel Rector Shivaji Desai and Jr. Estate Officer Pankaj T. Jadhav flatly denied that there was "any such incident in the girls hostel" as alleged by the Nikam family.

"This hostel has 700 girls living here safely, all the best facilities are provided to them, the said student or her family never complained to the hostel or college authorities and instead they directly approached the police," said Jadhav, steadfastly refusing to acknowledge the incident. He added that the girl had been suffering from certain "medical issues" for which she was undergoing treatment when she secured admission to the BBA/CA course in the college two years ago. Kolkata: After Jadavpur University, Ragging Menace Surfaces in Iconic Calcutta Medical College.

Inspector Dhumal said that taking cognizance of the parents' grievances, the Lonavala Rural Police Station has asked the college authorities to submit its internal report today (March 26), after which further measures would be initiated. "It is still not clear if the alleged ragging took place since the girl is in hospital, in a state of shock and unable to speak or record her statement. The college has apprised us of her health issues and even a medical team will check out the details," Inspector Dhumal told IANS.

Her family claimed to the local media that Kalyani had been subjected to harassment for more than a couple of months, but after the latest traumatic incident, she suffered a brain-stroke and her condition is reported to be delicate in a hospital in Pimpri-Chinchwad. The family said they had brought the matter to the notice of the college and the hostel authorities, who chose to ignore it, compelling them to approach the Lonavala Rural Police Station, and Kalyani's brother claimed she might even lapse into a coma.

The family further said that when they called up the father of one of the room-mates indulging in the "ragging" of Kalyani, he reportedly threatened them, claiming he was an army officer. The Nikam family has urged the police to make proper investigations and take stringent action against the three girls, while the college pointed out that they have an anti-ragging committee in place which will also look into the allegations.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 26, 2024 04:08 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Indore, March 26: Devotees will not be allowed to bring colours from outside into Madhya Pradesh's famous Mahakaleshwar temple during Rangpanchami on March 30, the administration has said in the wake of Monday's fire. At least 14 priests, including 'sevaks' (servitors), were injured in a fire that broke out in the sanctum sanctorum of the revered Shiva temple in Ujjain early on Monday during the bhasma aarti' ritual.

Along with Holi, the festival of colours is also celebrated in the Mahakaleshwar temple on Rangpanchami. We have decided that Shri Mahakaleshwar Temple Management Committee will arrange for herbal colour made from tesu' (palash) flowers on Rangpanchami, Ujjain District Collector Neeraj Kumar Singh told PTI on Tuesday. On Rangpanchami, he said, no devotee will be allowed to bring colours into the temple premises from outside. Holi Tragedy in Madhya Pradesh: Fire Breaks Out During 'Bhasma Aarti' in 'Garbhagriha' of Mahakal Temple in Ujjain, 13 People Injured; Video Shows Chaotic Scenes

The number of devotees on Rangpanchami will also be controlled during the bhasma aarti' held in the morning, he said. MP minister Kailash Vijayvargiya had expressed apprehension that the fire at the renowned temple might have been caused by chemicals in gulal', a coloured powder used in rituals and during Holi. 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," the minister had said on Monday.

It will be ensured that no chemical-laced gulal is used next time, he had added. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav had said that a detailed investigation was being done into the incident and it will also be probed if the fire broke out due to the presence of mica or any chemical in the gulal. Meanwhile, Dr Vinod Bhandari, founder president of Sri Aurobindo Institute of Medical Sciences (SAIMS), said that four more people, who were among those who suffered burns in the Mahakaleshwar Temple fire, have been admitted to their facility. Ujjain Mahakal Temple Fire Incident: Magisterial Probe Ordered, Those at Fault Wont Be Spared, Says Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav (Watch Videos)

We are treating a total of 12 people who sustained burn injuries in the incident. The health of all the patients is improving. Specialist doctors are monitoring their condition, he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the deadly terrorist attack in the Crocus City Hall in suburban Moscow was carried out by radical Islamists, but many questions still remain.
Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk ended his 21-day hunger strike on Tuesday. Wangchuk had launched "Climate Fast for "21 days (extendable till death)" on March 6. While ending his hunger strike on Tuesday, he insisted that his fight would continue. Sonam Wangchuk Urges People To Spread Word About ClimateFast in Ladakh, Says 'Mainstream Indian Media Cares More About Seema Haider' (Watch Video).

Sonam Wangchuk Ends 21-Day Hunger Strike

#WATCH | Sonam Wangchuk, an engineer turned educational reformist called off his hunger strike today in Leh, Ladakh. The hunger strike was for the statehood of Ladakh and the protection of the fragile Himalayan ecology. pic.twitter.com/TDjt2LUrIn  ANI (@ANI) March 26, 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.)
New Delhi, March 26: The European Union's antitrust regulators have initiated a thorough investigation on the Digital Markets Act into some of the world's biggest technology firms. The European Union is investigating Apple, Google and Meta for possible non-compliance with the DMA. This inquiry by the European Union could result in large penalties if these tech giants fail to comply with the rules. In order to ascertain whether their operations comply with the Digital Markets Act, Apple, Google as well as Meta are under close watch from EU and even Amazon has been included.

As per a report of ABP Live, EU antitrust regulators announced that they will begin investigations into the activities of Apple, Google and Meta Platforms for possible violations of the Digital Markets Act. As part of this investigation, authorities will be conducting inquiries into several areas including; app store policies, search engine preferences and any data usage models made by them. Since the DMA took effect on March 7, the EU wants to ensure that there is equal competition and to provide users with a range of alternatives. Google Rolls Out AI Overviews in Its Search Interface To See How GenAI Powered Overview Would Help General Population: Report.

EU Chief Thierry Breton on DMA enforcement says "The law is the law. We can't just sit around and wait". The European Commission has outlined specific areas of concern for each company. Google's Play Store policies and self-preferencing in search results are under review, while Apple's App Store rules and Safari browser preference will be examined. Meta's "pay or consent model" for user data handling is also under scrutiny, alongside Amazon's product ranking practices on its marketplace. Elon Musk Provides Update on Everything App X, Says The Circle Will Be Complete.

As per a report of English Jagran, these investigations are expected to conclude within a 12-month period, during which the companies may face fines up to 10 per cent of their global turnover for any proven violation. For repeated offenses, this could escalate to 20 per cent and in cases of systematic infringements, more drastic measures such as acquisition bans could be imposed.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 26, 2024 11:37 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Washington, March 26: The White House has said 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 US on Monday abstained from a United Nations Security Council vote on a draft resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza until the end of Ramadan. US abstention, instead of veto, effectively gave the green light to the measure, Xinhua news agency reported.

"We are kind of perplexed by this," John Kirby, spokesperson for the US 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". Israel-Hamas War: UN Security Council Passes Resolution Demanding Immediate Gaza Ceasefire

Kirby added that abstaining the draft resolution "does not represent a change at all" in US policy coping with the situation in Gaza. The US, 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 US "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 US, 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 Defence Minister Yoav Gallant arrived in Washington over the weekend, scheduling to hold respective talks with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday, and meet with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Tuesday. Benjamin Netanyahu Warns if US Does Not Veto UNSC Resolution Demanding Immediate Ceasefire in Gaza, Israel Delegation Will Not Visit

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

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 26, 2024 08:33 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
On 25 March sources from Brazils federal police (PF) confirmed to the media that the PF would investigate reports that former president(2019-2023), who faces multiple criminal investigations, stayed at the Hungarian embassy last month.

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On 25 March Chinas foreign ministry directly contradicted Paraguays Presidentover comments he made about exporting soybeans to the country and urged his government to quit making things up to justify its wrongful ties with Taiwan.

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Undocumented immigrants arriving in the United States often face a myriad of challenges, particularly when attempting to navigate the intricate landscape of entering the workforce or starting a business. From legal barriers to financial constraints, the journey towards entrepreneurship can be fraught with obstacles that test the toughness and resolve of even the most tenacious individuals. Yet, amidst the struggles and setbacks, stories of triumph and strength emerge, exemplified by individuals like Maria Gonzalez, whose journey from undocumented immigrant to advocate for Latina business owners serves as a beacon of hope and inspiration.

Arriving in the United States from Mexico at the age of 12, Gonzalez encountered a host of challenges as she sought to establish herself in her new homeland. Growing up in an environment marked by economic uncertainty and social upheaval, she faced adversity on multiple fronts, from navigating the complexities of immigration to confronting the harsh realities of teenage motherhood.

"I graduated from high school with a one-year-old baby," said Gonzalez. "My parents have 14 children, so the priority has always just been survival." Despite these obstacles, Gonzalez refused to be defined by her circumstances, harnessing her innate determination to forge a path toward a brighter future.

Even with the numerous challenges she encountered along the way, Gonzalez remained steadfast in her commitment to champion opportunities for herself and others in her community. Leveraging her experience as a lifelong community leader and owner of Gonzalez Insurance Group, she recognized the urgent need for support among Latino business owners, particularly in the wake of the 2008 recession.

In response to this pressing need, Gonzalez founded Adelante Community Development in 2014, a pioneering organization dedicated to empowering Latina entrepreneurs and fostering economic opportunity within underserved communities. Adelante provides aspiring entrepreneurs with the tools, resources, and support they need to succeed in the marketplace through a comprehensive array of programs and initiatives, including business development workshops, networking events, and access to capital.

Central to Adelante's mission is a commitment to challenging the status quo and creating abundant opportunities for the Latino community. Under Gonzalez's leadership, the organization has become a driving force for social innovation and community advocacy, spearheading initiatives to promote economic development, well-being, and equality for all.

Gonzalez has also recently returned to school, working towards degrees in business, cybersecurity, and computer systems. "It wasn't until later in my life that I realized that if I wanted to thrive, I really needed to be educated and learn the best business systems and skills that could help me build wealth and have a better quality of life," she said. Gonzalez plans to use what she learns to help Latinos understand the importance of digital education as the world becomes more and more digitized.

The journey that Gonzalez has undergone, from an undocumented immigrant to an advocate for Latino business owners, serves as a powerful reminder of the resilience that defines the immigrant experience. Through her tireless dedication and unwavering commitment to empowering others, Gonzalez has emerged as a true trailblazer in the realm of social innovation and community development, inspiring countless individuals to overcome adversity and pursue their dreams.
Javier Bardem is a famous actor who has been in many great movies, both in Spanish and English.

He's known for playing villains in some of them.

His family is also into acting. His mom, Pilar, was an actor in Spain, and his siblings, Carlos and Monica, are actors too.

Bardem is married to Penelope Cruz, who is also a famous Spanish actor.

He's won lots of awards for his acting and has been nominated for four Oscars.

Here are five of the best Javier Bardem movies:

No Country For Old Men (2007) - 93%

Anton Chigurh, despite his odd appearance and quirks like drinking milk, is a terrifying villain in cinema history.

Masking his rage with calmness, he's lethal. While viewers grasp his danger, characters often miss it.

Chigurh embodies chaos and is indifferent to morals, as seen in "No Country for Old Men," where he symbolizes the erosion of traditional values.

The Good Boss (2021) - 93%

In "The Good Boss," Bardem portrays Julio Blanco as a comedic yet despicable factory owner more focused on infidelity and trivial achievements than anything meaningful.

Bardem excels in this unsympathetic role, shedding light on societal issues amidst humor.

Unlike typical greedy characters, Julio masks his malevolence with a facade of friendliness.

Bardem's performance earned him the prestigious Goya Award for Best Actor, a significant honor in Spanish cinema, according to Screen Rant.

READ NEXT: Javier Bardem Dating History

Skyfall (2012) - 92%

"Skyfall" stands out as one of the best recent James Bond films, focusing on Bond grappling with the repercussions of a failed mission endangering fellow agents.

Bardem's portrayal of Silva, a menacing villain, is lauded for its intensity and charisma.

He embodies the quintessential Bond antagonist, striking fear and leaving a lasting impression.

Bardem's performance ensures his character's place in Bond film history, leaving anticipation for future adversaries in the franchise uncertain.

Collateral (2004) - 86%

In Michael Mann's "Collateral," taxi driver Max's (Jamie Foxx) night spirals into chaos when he encounters hired killer Vincent (Tom Cruise).

Javier Bardem portrays Felix Reyes-Torrena, the menacing drug lord who hired Vincent.

Despite limited screen time, Bardem amplifies tension, contributing to the film's gripping atmosphere alongside Cruise's unexpected villain role, making "Collateral" a memorable cinematic experience, Collider noted.

The Sea Inside (2004) - 84%

"The Sea Inside" is a sad and powerful movie based on a true story.

It's about Ramon Sampedro, a man who couldn't move his body from the neck down and spent 28 years fighting to end his own life with help from someone else.

The movie shows how hard it was for him mentally and how he got close to his lawyer, Julia, who supported him, and Rosa, a local woman who wanted him to keep living.

Bardem plays Ramon in the movie, and it's one of his toughest roles ever.

Ramon's story is already so hard, and Bardem does an amazing job showing all the emotions and struggles of a man who wants to die.

In this Javier Barden movie, his acting is touching and well done.

Even though the movie doesn't get talked about much, it's one of Bardem's best performances.

READ MORE: 3 Facts About Javier Bardem You Probably Didn't Know About

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Written by: Ross Key

WATCH: Javier Bardem Breaks Down His Most Iconic Characters - From GQ
Amidst the turmoil gripping Haiti, there's a glimmer of hope for those seeking refuge from the violence.

US green-card holders, along with Haitian nationals and others possessing valid travel documents, now have an opportunity to depart the troubled nation, provided they can safely reach Cap-Haitien, situated north of the capital, Port-au-Prince, according to Miami Herald.

Sunrise Airways, a Haiti-based airline that initiated services to Miami International Airport in October, has announced the resumption of flights this week from Cap-Haitien's Hugo Chavez International Airport to Miami.

According to spokeswoman Stephanie Armand, the airline will operate flights to Miami International Airport on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Additionally, beginning Monday, the carrier will introduce daily flight service between Les Cayes, located in the southern region of Haiti, and Cap-Haitien.

Before the eruption of violence, Sunrise Airways maintained daily domestic flights within Haiti.

It also facilitated flights between Miami International Airport and Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, scheduled for Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday.

Flights between Miami and Cap-Haitien were available on Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.

Cap-Haitien, Haiti's second-largest city, offers a comparatively tranquil environment in contrast to the chaos prevailing in Port-au-Prince.

The capital faces relentless attacks orchestrated by heavily armed gang leaders, leaving an estimated 3 million inhabitants confined amidst the violence.

READ NEXT: Haiti Transitional Council Almost Ready

Progress Towards Transitional Leadership

On Friday, Caribbean leaders assigned nine individuals the responsibility of finalizing the structure of a transitional presidential council, ArcaMax reports.

This council, which may consist of either nine members with voting rights or seven members along with two non-voting observers, will be responsible for overseeing the selection of a new president and prime minister to replace the outgoing leader, Ariel Henry.

Henry, who had been negotiating with Kenya for a multinational security force deployment and was returning to Haiti, has committed to stepping down once the council is established.

Despite mounting pressure from both Washington and the Caribbean Community for his resignation, Henry finds himself stranded in Puerto Rico, unable to return to Haiti.

The resumption of international flights from Cap-Haitien is happening concurrently with a rise in gang violence in Port-au-Prince.

Efforts to form a transitional presidential council, facilitated by the Caribbean Community and the United States, are still in progress.

Passengers Relieved Yet Troubled

Passengers arriving at Miami International Airport from Haiti expressed relief at escaping the turmoil, CBS News noted.

Many recounted harrowing experiences, including encounters with armed gangs and the sound of gunfire.

Gastor Desir, among them, described the situation in Haiti as dire and expressed gratitude for reaching the United States safely.

Wilson Joseph, reflecting on his recent visit to Haiti, emphasized the urgent need for governmental stability to alleviate the crisis.

Tania Diogene, shocked by the violence, highlighted the importance of government intervention in restoring peace.

Yves Stimfil, who journeyed to Haiti to evacuate his mother, recounted her relief at leaving the country, underscoring the pervasive fear among Haitians.

Ashley Norilus, returning from Cap-Haitien, conveyed the scarcity of essential resources, stressing the necessity of financial assistance to improve conditions.

Despite the resumption of flights from Cap-Haitien, uncertainties loom over Haiti's future, compounded by the ongoing struggle to establish transitional leadership.

READ MORE: Haiti Gang Attacks Wealthy Neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince

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Written by: Ross Key

WATCH: First charter flight with US citizens fleeing Haiti lands in Miami - From WPTV News - FL Palm Beaches and Treasure Coast
A severe storm has hit Brazil and triggered floods and landslides in its southeastern portion, leaving hundreds homeless and the death toll rising. Thousands of residents have also been forced to flee.

The most affected states are Espirito Santo and Rio de Janeiro, with rescuers racing to rescue trapped citizens and search for possible survivors. Dozens of soldiers, firefighters, and rescue dogs have already been deployed, with rescue operations still underway.

The scenes in these affected areas have been described by authorities as "chaotic," with over 5,400 people being forced to evacuate. Around 270 homes have already been destroyed, a lot of which came from when a landslide hit the popular tourist destination of Petropolis in Rio de Janeiro state, killing at least four people, per DW.

Around 90 people have been rescued across Rio de Janeiro state so far, with many more trapped under rubble still being rescued. However, more rain is expected to hit the region as rescuers race to keep them alive.

Brazil President Lula has acknowledged that the heavy rain Brazil is experiencing during its late summer season was an effect of climate change. He also pledged that the government would continue to work with state and local officials to "protect, prevent and repair flood damage."

Brazil Flood Death Toll Rises to 25

Many of the deaths were also in the two most affected states of Espirito Santo and Rio de Janeiro. The death toll from the heavy rains and the flooding and landslide that it caused has now reached 25. According to authorities, 15 of those 25 deaths came from Espirito Santo, with 13 of them coming from the town of Mimoso do Sul alone. Eight deaths were reported to have come from Rio de Janeiro state.

READ MORE: Robinho, Former Brazil and Real Madrid Soccer Star Arrested and Must Serve 9-Year Sentence Over Rape

However, according to the Associated Press, mayors and governors from all over Southeastern Brazil have been raising the alarm and warning residents that the heavy rains would be causing problems like landslides and heavy flooding. The alarm has been sounded since Thursday and is still going on, with more rain expected to come.

Rescue teams were reportedly forced to stop working on Friday because of the risk of new landslides. Their efforts finally restarted on Saturday afternoon, however.

Dramatic Rescue as Brazil Rescue Personnel Pull Out 4-Year-Old Girl from the Mud

One of the most harrowing images that came from this recent downpour was when rescuers managed to pull a 4-year-old girl out of the mud after a landslide destroyed several homes in the city of Petropolis in Rio de Janeiro state, just 69 kilometers (43 miles) north of the city of Rio de Janeiro.

The girl lived in one of the houses destroyed by the landslide, and according to the Associated Press, she managed to survive after her father protected her with his body. However, her father did not survive and was one of the four casualties in that tragic event.

READ MORE: Jair Bolsonaro Under Probe for Allegedly Harassing a Humpback Whale May Be Fined 2,500 Reais ($500)

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Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Brazil: 7 killed due to heavy rains in Rio De Janeiro | WION
Vice President Kamala Harris found herself clapping along with a smile as a man sang in Spanish outside a community center in Puerto Rico last week, unaware of the song's message until later.

The 59-year-old VP had visited the Goyoco community center in San Juan before encountering the singing protester in the courtyard. To be friendly, Harris nodded and clapped along with the protest song, only to stop abruptly when an aide informed her of its meaning, according to the New York Post.

The lyrics questioned the purpose of her visit, with the protester expressing curiosity about her thoughts on the territory's status. The Puerto Rico protest song also included calls for the liberation of Palestine and Haiti. Harris was accompanied by Mariana Reyes, executive director at La Goyco, and Frankie Miranda, president of the Hispanic Federation.

Harris' visit coincided with a renewed Democratic campaign targeting Latino voters ahead of the upcoming November US elections, although Puerto Ricans lack Electoral College votes for the presidency.

READ NEXT: VP Harris Slams Ron DeSantis

VP Harris Tours Puerto Rico, Addresses Hurricane Recovery Efforts

Kamala Harris visited the Goyoco community center in San Juan's Santurce neighborhood after speaking in Puerto Rico's capital. She toured the facility and met with center staff and community leaders.

As her motorcade arrived, it encountered a group of loud demonstrators and onlookers on the sidewalk, Fox News reports. One protester held a sign labeling Harris as a "war criminal," while another criticized the USA and Israel.

Before her visit to the community center, Harris inspected a residential home outside San Juan that had been damaged during Hurricane Maria. Through a federal program, the home was equipped with solar panels and water tanks.

She was accompanied by Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, Deputy Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Adrianne Todman, and Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi.

Harris emphasized the administration's commitment to Puerto Rico, stating they had invested over $140 billion.

She praised technological innovations aimed at making the island more resistant to hurricanes, highlighting the impact on families' quality of life and well-being.

Harris's Puerto Rico Trip Highlights Latino Voter Outreach

Kamala Harris makes her debut trip to Puerto Rico as vice president this Friday, as Democrats ramp up efforts to engage Latino voters ahead of the 2024 election, CBS News noted. The visit aims to spotlight the administration's support for the island's recovery and the global significance of Puerto Rican culture.

Recent CBS News polling from late February reveals a notable 12-point drop in President Biden's Hispanic support since 2020, indicating a challenging trend for Democrats. In response, Democrats are initiating outreach efforts early to reverse this decline.

Clarissa Martinez De Castro, vice president of the Latino Vote Initiative at Unidos US, commended the proactive outreach strategy, emphasizing its departure from the usual last-minute approach.

Due to the island's territorial status, Puerto Ricans cannot vote in the general election, but they will have the opportunity to cast a symbolic ballot this November for the first time.

Julio Ricardo Varela, founder of Latino Rebels, interprets the visit as a clear message to Puerto Rican voters in swing states for 2024. He sees it as an effort to demonstrate care for the island and contrast the current administration's actions with those of the previous one.

READ MORE: Ex-Trump Adviser, Peter Navarro Surrenders

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Written by: Ross Key

WATCH: Kamala Harris unknowingly claps to song in Spanish protesting her during Puerto Rico visit - From New York Post
In a tragic turn of events, a California mountain lion attack in a remote area west of Lake Tahoe resulted in the death of one man and left another injured. This incident, according to officials, marks the first fatal encounter with a mountain lion in California in two decades.

The harrowing event unfolded when an 18-year-old man placed a frantic call to 911 on Saturday afternoon, reporting that he and his brother, a California man, had fallen victim to an attack in Georgetown, a small town situated north of Placerville.

The caller, sustaining severe facial injuries during the altercation, was separated from his brother amid the chaos but managed to seek assistance, according to USA Today. He was promptly provided medical aid and rushed to a nearby medical facility for treatment.

Upon arrival at the scene, sheriff's deputies and paramedics embarked on a search for the missing California man. Their efforts led them to discover a mountain lion crouched beside a man lying on the ground.

In a bid to rescue the injured individual, deputies discharged their firearms, causing the mountain lion to flee.

Sadly, the 21-year-old victim succumbed to his injuries, with his identity remaining undisclosed at the time of reporting.

Prompt response teams, including representatives from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the El Dorado County Trapper, were swiftly deployed to the area. Their diligent search led to the location and subsequent euthanization of the California mountain lion responsible for the fatal attack, as confirmed by DNA analysis.

READ NEXT: Colorado Man Injured After Mountain Lion Attacked

Historical Context and State Response

The last recorded fatal mountain lion encounter occurred in 2004 when a 35-year-old California man tragically lost his life at Whiting Ranch Regional Park in Orange County.

However, historical data compiled by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife reveals a total of 21 reported mountain lion attacks in the state since 1986, excluding the recent incident.

Efforts by wildlife authorities led to the identification of the culprit, a California mountain lion weighing approximately 90 pounds and appearing healthy upon inspection, ABC News reports. Nevertheless, forensic examinations are underway to determine whether underlying health conditions contributed to the animal's behavior.

Moving forward, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife aims to investigate the circumstances surrounding the attack to prevent similar occurrences in the future.

Rare Nature of Mountain Lion Attacks

California mountain lion encounters resulting in harm to humans are rare, as emphasized by state wildlife agencies.

The recent fatality marks the first such incident in California in three decades. Prior to this, the last recorded fatal attack in El Dorado County transpired in April 1994, claiming the life of a 40-year-old woman in the Auburn State Recreation Area.

In a separate incident in 2023 near Half Moon Bay, a 5-year-old boy narrowly escaped serious injury when a mountain lion pounced on him during a family walk. The swift action of the boy's mother prevented further harm, allowing him to receive medical treatment for minor injuries sustained during the encounter.

Throughout California's history, fewer than 50 mountain lion attacks on humans have been reported since 1890, with only six proving fatal, CNN noted.

Wildlife officials stress the importance of remaining vigilant, particularly when venturing into areas inhabited by these elusive predators.

READ MORE: California Hiker Found Dead After Missing for a Week

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Written by: Ross Key

WATCH: Mountain lion euthanized after attacking brothers, killing 1 in Northern California | Update - From ABC10
Donald Trump has had a wild day. While he got what he wanted with a lowered bond and deadline extension for his New York fraud case, he did not get a delay for the porn star hush money trial, as it is still slated to go ahead next month.

According to CNN, the two rulings were made around an hour apart and in the same state, New York. Both cases challenged Trump's projected image as a rich billionaire and a conservative "family values" Republican.

Judge Juan Merchan ruled that the historic trial that would make Donald Trump the very first US president to criminally stand on trial will push through with jury selection on April 15 despite the Trump team's efforts to once again delay the already-delayed trial, which was supposed to have happened earlier this month.

Trump has been known for his "Delay Delay Delay" strategy as he tries to push all his trials back to after the November 2024 election when he will be running against President Joe Biden for the White House. He successfully pushed back the New York hush money trial previously because of the late production of documents but Judge Merchan placed his foot down on Trump's usual court antics.

However, for Trump personally, the bigger decision was when a New York appeals court allowed him to post a reduced bond worth $175 million instead of a much larger half-million he previously had to pay. The payment deadline has also been extended as the former president utters a huge sigh of relief as New York AG Letitia James would not be able to seize his properties just yet.

Donald Trump Has 10 Days To Get New York Fraud Case Bond

While he gets a lowered bond for the New York fraud ruling, this only means that his payment for the $454 million civil fraud judgment has only been delayed, and Trump still has to pay it if he cannot pay the $175 million lowered bond.

READ MORE: Donald Trump Threatened Mike Pence Before January 6 Capitol Insurrection, Ex-President's Valet Testified

The former president now only has 10 days to find a bond company that would be willing to pay that lowered bond amount given that over 30 companies already rejected him as they would not accept real estate as collateral in case his appeal fails.

This also means that if he does not find a bond company willing to work with him in 10 days, AG James can finally ask a judge so that she can seize his properties. Trump has stated that he will be paying that lowered bond.

New York Judge Shoots Down Donald Trump Attorneys' Argument Over Hush Money Case

Meanwhile, over at the porn star hush money case, Trump attorneys tried to once again delay the case, accusing Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office of intentionally failing to pursue evidence from the 2018 federal investigation. However, Judge Juan Merchan shot this argument down.

The judge told the defense that the DA's office did not have the duty to collect evidence from the federal investigation, nor was the US attorney's office required to provide these documents. The judge also noted that this was a "far cry" from the Trump team's claims that the prosecutors were "injecting themselves in the process and vehemently trying to obstruct your ability to get evidence."

READ MORE: Donald Trump's Own Vice President, Mike Pence, Will Not Endorse Him

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Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: 'Full speed ahead': Judge denies more delays, Trump hush money trial to start April 15 - MSNBC
Ecuador's youngest mayor, Brigitte Garcia, aged 27, was tragically found dead Sunday morning, as confirmed by the national police.

Garcia, mayor of San Vicente, a small coastal city, was discovered shot alongside her communications director, Jairo Loor, in what appears to be a rental car. Initial investigations suggest that the shots were fired from within the vehicle.

Further inquiries into the incident are currently underway, according to the police.

In a statement released on Sunday, the Ecuadorian Ministry of Government labeled the event as a "criminal action" and referenced the country's ongoing efforts against terrorism, organized crime, and political corruption, according to Reuters. However, no specific individuals or groups have been accused in connection with the killings.

The ministry expressed solidarity with the families of Garcia and Loor, emphasizing the government's commitment to ensuring that such crimes do not go unpunished.

Garcia, noted as Ecuador's youngest mayor, had garnered attention for her achievements.

Former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa expressed shock and grief over her untimely death on social media, emphasizing her significant role in the political landscape.

A memorial for Garcia is scheduled for Monday afternoon, with her burial planned for the following day, according to the San Vicente municipality.

READ NEXT: Presidential Candidate Fernando Villavicencio Assassination

Surge in Violence

Ecuador has been contending with a surge in violence attributed to armed gangs, prompting significant governmental action, CNN reports.

In January, the country declared a state of emergency following the escape of notorious gang leader Jose Adolfo Macias, also known as 'Fito,' from prison in Guayaquil.

President Daniel Noboa declared an "internal armed conflict" the following day, authorizing military operations to address the escalating violence.

Within less than two weeks of the decree, over 2,000 individuals were detained by the armed forces.

San Vicente Mayor Brigette Garcia, a member of the left-wing Citizen Revolution Party aligned with former President Correa, was elected amid this tumultuous period. She had actively worked to address community issues, such as improving access to clean drinking water in San Vicente.

Continued Threats to Politicians

San Vicente Mayor Brigette Garcia's tragic fate mirrors previous instances of violence targeting politicians in Ecuador's Manabi region, BBC noted.

In July, the mayor of Manta, Agustin Intriago, was fatally shot shortly after being re-elected.

Similarly, in February 2023, mayoral candidate Omar Menendez was murdered just before polling began in Puerto Lopez.

The violence has extended beyond Manabi, with presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio being gunned down in Quito in August. Prosecutors linked Villavicencio's murder to the Los Lobos criminal gang, who allegedly planned the attack from prison.

In response to the escalating violence, President Noboa declared a state of emergency, which has since been extended multiple times. The government claims to have conducted over 150,000 operations and detained more than 10,000 suspects since the declaration.

However, critics argue that Garcia's murder underscores the need for stronger measures to ensure the safety of elected officials.

Former presidential candidate Luisa Gonzalez highlighted the pervasive sense of insecurity in Ecuador, emphasizing the urgent need for comprehensive solutions.

The tragic death of Ecuador youngest Mayor Brigitte Garcia sheds light on the ongoing challenges country faces regarding political violence and organized crime. As investigations continue, there are calls for enhanced measures to safeguard public officials and address the root causes of violence in the country.

READ MORE: Ecuador Gang Members Arrested

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Written by: Ross Key

WATCH: Ecuador's Youngest Mayor Found Dead as Latin American Nation Fights Gang Violence |Firstpost America - From Firstpost
It was recently discovered that soon after Brazil's federal police confiscated former President Jair Bolsonaro's passport, he tried to flee and hid at the Embassy of Hungary for two nights. This prompted Brazilian authorities to investigate the incident and also call in the envoy from Hungary to explain why the former president hid there.

Footage from security cameras in the Hungarian Embassy in Brazil was obtained by The New York Times and it showed Bolsonaro arriving there and staying at the embassy for the next two days. While this was happening, Brazilian police investigated him for his various crimes, including his coup attempt.

Footage from the embassy showed that while he was staying there, Bolsonaro was often seen being "accompanied by two security guards and waited on by the Hungarian ambassador and staff members." It was noted that he cannot be arrested while at the embassy as this is considered part of Hungarian territory, not Brazil. Arresting him there could breach international laws.

Jair Bolsonaro was seen arriving at the entrance gate of the Hungarian embassy on February 12, 2024, at the height of the investigations, where many thought he could be arrested any day. However, he left around the afternoon of February 14.

He is believed to have sought to leverage his friendship with a fellow far-right leader, Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary, so he could evade the Brazilian justice system. Orban has been known for his friendship with various autocrats and far-right leaders like Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.

A plan to host Bolsonaro at the Hungarian embassy was confirmed by a Hungarian Embassy official, who spoke with The New York Times on the condition of anonymity. Bolsonaro himself has already confirmed he stayed at the Hungarian Embassy for two nights.

READ MORE: Jair Bolsonaro Under Probe for Allegedly Harassing a Humpback Whale May Be Fined 2,500 Reais ($500)

Hungary Envoy Summoned by Brazilian Government To Explain Jair Bolsonaro Sleepover

As soon as the New York Times revealed that Bolsonaro was sleeping at the Hungarian Embassy, Brazil's foreign ministry immediately summoned the Hungarian ambassador to explain why they allowed Bolsonaro to stay there.

However, according to The Guardian, during that entire 20-minute meeting with Brazilian diplomats on Monday afternoon, the ambassador from Hungary only maintained his silence.

Meanwhile, the New York Times report also resulted in Bolsonaro getting mocked online, with the Bolsonaro fujao hashtag locally trending in Brazil. It roughly translates to "Bolsonaro Runaway" to mock the former president's attempts to run away from justice with the help of Hungary.

Brazil Authorities Would Have Had Trouble if Jair Bolsonaro Continued Staying at the Hungarian Embassy

While Bolsonaro only stayed at the Hungarian Embassy for two nights, it could have been a disaster for Brazil as it could have ended up much like the situation in Panama, where its former President Ricardo Martinelli sought refuge in the Nicaraguan Embassy to evade arrest. This is because local authorities would not have any jurisdiction inside any foreign embassy.

Following the release of the report, Bolsonaro's lawyers released a statement that read, "In the days he was at the Hungarian embassy, by invitation, the former Brazilian president spoke to countless authorities from the friendly country for updates on the political scenarios of both nations," his lawyers said in the statement. "Any other interpretations ... constitute an evidently fictional work, with no connection to the reality of the facts."

READ MORE: Trials for Jair Bolsonaro Supporters Begin Over the January 8 Riots

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Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Bolsonaro passou dois dias na Embaixada da Hungria depois de perder passaporte diplomatico - Radio BandNews FM
In south Texas, authorities are investigating the tragic death of an 8-year-old girl who was found the body in a pool pipe at a hotel near Houston over the weekend.

A spokesperson from the Houston Police Department confirmed that the incident occurred on Saturday at the DoubleTree Hotel located on the city's northwest side, along US Highway 290, about 14 miles from downtown Houston.

Officers responded to the scene around 5:45 PM Saturday after receiving a report from the family about the Texas girl's disappearance, People reports.

Per the police statement, detectives from the homicide division revealed that the Texas girl had been swimming with family members in a "lazy river-style swimming pool" at the hotel before her death.

Later that evening, at approximately 11:30 PM, authorities discovered the Texas girl's body "inside a large pipe in the pool area."

Local news station KTRK-TV reported that her body was found following a review of security footage by a search crew, which showed her going underwater and not resurfacing.

READ NEXT: Texas: Three Drown Trying to Cross Rio Grande

Texas Girl's Pool Tragedy Prompts Investigation, Hotel Closure

Tim Miller, founder of Texas EquuSearch, expressed deep sorrow over the tragic incident, stating, "This is one of the saddest ones we've seen in a good while," as reported by ABC affiliate KTRK-TV.

The Texas girl has been identified as Aliyah Jaico by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Science, according to USA Today.

The institute stated that the preliminary cause of death is "drowning and mechanical asphyxia," suggesting an accidental demise.

Miller suggested that the Texas girl might have been drawn into the pipe due to a malfunction, causing it to pull water inward instead of pushing it out.

He recounted the emotional moments following the discovery of the girl's body, noting that many had to wipe away tears.

Following the incident, the pool at the DoubleTree Hotel in northwest Houston was closed after inspectors discovered several violations, as indicated by a document from the Houston Health Department shared by NBC affiliate KPRC-TV.

The closure will persist until all violations are addressed and the pool passes reinspection.

Despite requests for comment, the hotel declined to provide a statement to KTRK-TV but confirmed the temporary closure of the pool.

According to the March 25 document from the Houston Health Department, an environmental investigator cited numerous violations in the pool area, including the absence of essential safety features like proper signage.

The investigator also noted that the small pool's 32-inch channel drains lacked valid documentation regarding their function, installation date, and expiration date.

The pool area is being reinspected for April 22, according to the document.

Police stated that they are awaiting autopsy results as part of an ongoing investigation into the incident.

Reflecting on the tragedy, Miller expressed disbelief, stating, "I never, ever thought in a million years it was going to end up as bad as it ended up," emphasizing the profound grief experienced by the victim's family and anticipating a long and painful healing process.

Texas Girl Family Sues Hotel Over Pool Tragedy

Attorney Richard Nava has filed a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of Aliyah Jaico's family, naming DoubleTree by Hilton Houston Brookhollow, Unique Crown Hospitality LLC, and Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. as defendants.

The lawsuit alleges gross negligence by the Texas hotel, seeking damages of over $1 million and a jury trial, Click2Houston noted.

Jaico's family claims they were denied access to security footage after her disappearance, prompting a search involving Texas EquuSearch and police.

A review of the footage revealed that a Texas girl was submerged underwater.

Subsequent efforts to drain the pool led to the discovery of Jaico's body wedged in the malfunctioning equipment.

READ MORE: Fatal Mountain Lion Attack in California

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Written by: Ross Key

WATCH: 8-year-old drowned, sucked into Double Tree hotel pool pipe in Houston: officials - From Fox 26 Houston




Hundreds of protesters descended in downtown Dallas to protest SB4, the controversial Texas immigration law that allows law enforcement to arrest people on suspicion that they are in the country illegally. The law also allows judges to forcefully deport them.

Over 200 protesters marched around downtown Dallas on Sunday, calling to end the controversial Texas immigration law that organizers are saying would pose a threat to migrants and the Hispanic community all over the state as law enforcement could arrest people on suspicion alone.

"The unconstitutional law is one of the most extreme pieces of anti-immigrant legislation any state legislature has ever enacted," Tony Rodriguez, chair of the Brown Berets of DFW, told NBC Dallas Fort-Worth. Critics say that SB4 could lead to US citizens getting deported to Mexico.

"Basically, it gives them a free hand to just racially discriminate," added Xavier Velasquez, President of La Frontera Nos Cruzo, noting the racial ramifications it could have on the Latino community. "They can see a brown person and say oh, I think you're here illegally, and detain you."

"Getting the people out and showing that we're not happy, and somebody's going to listen to us," the protest organizer Velasquez added. He warned that the policy would put the Hispanic community in North Texas at risk, aiming to get leaders in both the Dallas City Hall and the rest of Texas to notice.

The protests are happening as the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is set to rule whether or not the controversial Texas immigration law that critics call the "Show Us Your Papers" law could take effect after the Republican-controlled state congress passed it.

Mexico Warns That Controversial Texas Immigration Law SB4 Could Lead to More Discrimination

It is not just the Hispanic community and the federal government that is against SB4, but also the Mexican government. The country has recently filed a court brief supporting the US DOJ's effort to oppose the controversial Texas immigration law.

READ NEXT: Texas Immigration Law: White House, Human Rights Groups, Legal Scholars Slam Supreme Court After Allowing State To Deport Migrants

"Mexico is deeply concerned that SB4 will be applied in a discriminatory manner and fears that its enforcement will lead to improper harassment, detention, removal, and criminalization of Mexican citizens and individuals of Latino appearance," the filing from Mexico read.

According to Reuters, the Biden administration has stated that the actions from the Texas government under Greg Abbott have interfered with immigration enforcement. SB4 is said to further interfere with that as the state may arrest some asylum seekers who are in the country legally.

What is the Texas Immigration Law, SB4?

Senate Bill 4, or SB4 for short, allows law enforcement agencies to enforce immigration law. This means that Texas authorities get the power to arrest individuals on suspicion that they are in the state illegally in the name of preventing what they call an "invasion."

Those arrested are then brought before a judge and given two choices: leave the country voluntarily or get jailed for a misdemeanor and then forcefully deported to Mexico.

However, opponents state that the law violates the Constitution as immigration enforcement is not the job of the state government, but the US federal government. Arizona previously tried its own version of this, only to be rejected by a conservative Supreme Court, per NPR.

READ MORE: Russia Spreading Disinformation About US Border Crisis To Undercut Ukraine Aid

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Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Hundreds gather in Dallas to protest SB4 - CBS Texas
A wave of dengue cases has gripped the Americas this year. In Puerto Rico, it has become an epidemic, as cases continue to rise from the mosquito-borne illness that is one of the deadliest in the world.

As a result of this surge of cases, the local government of the US Caribbean territory has announced a public health emergency. Government health officials have already identified 549 cases of dengue across the island, with almost half of those cases being concentrated in the capital of San Juan.

"This year, cases of dengue have surpassed historical records," said the US territory's Health Secretary Carlos Mellado in a statement.

Dengue fever has had major outbreaks in several parts of the Americas, including Florida, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, and Peru, according to the Buenos Aires Times. Brazil was particularly hit hard by the mosquito-borne disease, so was Argentina, which saw dengue spread all over the country in record numbers as well.

Despite dengue reaching epidemic levels in Puerto Rico, there is still no immediate impact on travel to or from the US territory, which remains a popular tourist destination for many across the world. However, Secretary Mellado stated the health emergency declaration will be able to make it easier for them to access funding for detection and prevention to help control the spread.

Hundreds Hospitalized in Puerto Rico Over Dengue Epidemic

As dengue fever hits epidemic levels in Puerto Rico, the Associated Press reported that hundreds on the island have already been hospitalized, over 340 and rising to be exact.

READ MORE: Puerto Rico Still Needs 'A Lot of Work' Over Its Hurricane and Earthquake Recovery, Says Federal Audit

Health officials in the US territory have already expressed their concerns as the number of cases has already reached over 500 before the first quarter even ended, almost reaching the halfway mark of last year's 1,293 cases.

The World Health Organization (WHO) noted that over 5 million dengue cases were reported worldwide last year. A vast majority of these cases, which has reached nearly 80% of all cases, came from the Western Hemisphere alone, with around 3 million cases so far this year alone.

It is noted that higher rainfall along with humidity and heat linked to climate change have contributed to a rise in cases, as mosquitoes need stagnant water in order to breed. More mosquitoes lead to the disease spreading even more.

Symptoms of Dengue Fever To Look Out For

Like all diseases, there are various symptoms to look out for, However, it should be noted that while some people can recover from getting sick from the disease in about a week, severe cases can lead to life-threatening emergencies.

According to the Mayo Clinic, symptoms to look out for include severe stomach pain, persistent vomiting, bleeding from your gums or nose, blood in your urine, stool or vomit, bleeding under the skin that might look like bruising, rapid breathing, fatigue, irritability, or restlessness.

READ MORE: Puerto Rico's Wrestling Culture and Its Underrated Pro Wrestlers

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Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Dengue 101 - Outbreak News TV
A former Sears Appliance & Hardware store that has sat vacant for nearly five years might finally get a new tenant at Northampton Crossings in Lower Nazareth.

Dublin, California-based Ross Dress for Less is slated to move into the empty storefront, Lori Seese, the townships planning & zoning administrator, told lehighvalleylive.com Tuesday.

National Realty & Development Corp., leasing agent for the mall at 3762 Easton-Nazareth Highway (Route 248), has already placed the discount department store chain on its leasing maps.

National Realty & Development submitted its building permit application for a tenant fit-out at the space, Seese said. No variance requests have been filed.

Its unclear when Ross plans to move into the shopping center. Harrison P. Lyss, managing director of real estate operations for National Realty & Development Corp., didnt immediately return a request for more information Tuesday morning.

This is the second regional site the national chain has been eyeing. Ross also plans to move into space vacated by Bed, Bath & Beyond at Southmont Plaza in Bethlehem Township. An applicant for that shopping centers owner, BRE DDR IVA, plans to appear at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday before the Bethlehem Township Zoning Hearing Board seeking variance approval for five exterior signs.

A timeframe for when the new store in Bethlehem Township could open is unclear. Connie Kao, who handles media relations for Ross Stores, Inc., didnt immediately return a request for information this week.

Ross Dress for Less is one of the largest off-price apparel and home fashion chains nationally. It sells in-season, name brand and designer apparel, accessories, footwear and home fashions at savings of 20% to 60% off department and specialty store regular prices daily, according to its website.

The chain announced a major expansion project earlier this month in a news release. Ross plans to open 90 new stores this year, including about 75 Ross locations and 15 dds Discounts, another of its stores. In the past two months, the chain opened 11 Ross Dress for Less and seven dds Discounts stores in 11 different states.

The new sites will join other regional stores in Hanover Township, Lehigh County; Salisbury and Whitehall townships in Lehigh County; and Greenwich Township in Warren County.

Northampton Crossings in June 2019 lost a major anchor when Sears Appliance & Hardware shuttered after about a month of liquidation sales. Approximately 96 Sears and Kmart sites nationally in 2019 were forced to close by newly-formed parent company Transformco in a move meant to streamline operations. Transformco was formed after Sears Holdings declared bankruptcy in October 2018.

The building has mostly sat vacant ever since with the exception of temporarily becoming a vaccination clinic for the Lehigh Valley Health Network during the coronavirus pandemic.

Once Ross fills the space, the bustling Northampton Crossings shopping center will have just one vacancy left  near Sams Club, according to leasing plans. Aside from anchor Sams Club, the strip mall also is home to anchors Kohls, Staples, Hobby Lobby and Walmart Supercenter. It is also home to smaller retailers, such as Crumbl Cookies, Club Pilates, VisionWorks, NTX Wireless, Wine & Spirits and Shoe Dept.

Restaurants include Franks Trattoria; Panera Bread; Starbucks; Red Robin, Arbys; Burger King; McDonalds; and Chipotle. Its also is home to Regal Cinemas.

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Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com.
Walmart has a free TV deal that youre not going to want to miss, if you need a new one or possibly two.

The Super Spring Savings Week deal is offering a free 65-inch Samsung Crystal UHD TV, when you purchase a 2024 Samsung TV model online through April 11.

To score the BOGO offer, youll need to first buy an eligible Samsungs 2024 smart TV online at Walmart. This includes Samsungs new Neo QLED 8K, Neo QLED, OLED or Frame TV, ranging in size from 43 to 98 inches. You will then receive a credit for a free 65-inch Samsung TU690T Crystal UHD TV as a gift.

A promo code for the free 65-inch TV will be emailed to you within 14-days of your eligible Samsung TV purchase from Walmart online. Youll need to redeem the free TV offer directly online with Samsung by June 10.

This is a great way to score the the latest Samsung smart TV model and receive a huge 65-inch model for that spare bedroom or rec room for free. But as mentioned, this is a limited-time deal that is only available while supplies last through April 11.

Adding to the bonus offer, Walmart is offering free shipping with your Samsung 2024 TV order with delivery slated for the first week of April, depending on model and location.

Here are some of the Samsung 2024 smart TVs you can buy online at Walmart to quality for the free 65-inch model with your purchase.

Samsung and Amazon are also offering the free 65-inch TV deal with the preorder of a 2024 Samsung TV.

You can shop for more TV deals at Walmart during its Super Spring Savings Week sale.

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Dawn Magyar can be reached at dmagyar@njadvancemedia.com. Have a tip? Tell us at nj.com/tips/.
A car fire is causing traffic delays along Route 80 in the Delaware Water Gap area of Monroe County, state transportation officials say.

The car caught fire sometime before 7:15 a.m. Tuesday in the eastbound lanes between exit 310 and Route 611, near the New Jersey border, according to 511pa.com, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportations traffic website. One lane is shut down with traffic moving slowly, according to the report.

Its unclear if anyone was hurt or what caused the fire. Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Anthony Petroski, public information officer for Troop N, couldnt immediately be reached for more information Tuesday morning.

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Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com.
When it comes to fishing in Pennsylvania, theres no doubt that trout is king, with anglers from one end of the state to the other looking forward to the opening day of the trout season each spring.

Last year, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) reports, there were more than 790,000 fishing licenses sold, with 543,000 of those anglers purchasing either a Trout Permit or Lake Erie/Trout Permit Combo.

This year, the agency is stocking approximately 3.2 million trout in 697 streams and 129 lakes, with the season getting underway at 8 a.m. April 6. Here in the Lehigh Valley, fishermen will find a wide variety of trout angling experiences, from popular streams like the Little Lehigh, Monocacy and Jordan creeks, to lesser-known, smaller gems that still offer tremendous angling opportunities.

Northampton County Waterways Conservation Officer (WCO) Zachary Rudd said hes proud of the diverse angling opportunities that exist in the county, especially considering its relatively small size.

We have some waterbodies like the Lehigh Canal in Walnutport, Bethlehem and Freemansburg that are very much a put-and-take trout fishery that lend themselves well to young anglers looking to learn and catch some trout in the process, Rudd said. We also have streams that support a wild trout population but are augmented with adult trout stockings. Some stream sections are purely a Class A water and receive no stockings and are managed as Catch and Release all year. All this (is) to say, whatever the preferred angling method or ability, there is something in the county for everyone.

Licenses

When you purchase your fishing license this year, you may notice the price has gone up again for 2024, and thats by design. After not receiving a license fee increase from the state legislature for more than a decade and half, the PFBC was granted the ability to set its own license fees starting in 2020.

The COVID years prompted an increase in license sales, so the agency held off raising prices and then implemented its first increase of $2.50 in 2023, followed by a second $2.50 increase for this year. The cost of a resident annual fishing license is now $27.97, while a trout permit will now set a person back $14.97. The PFBC noted the 2024 price increases will generate an estimated $2.4-$2.9 million annually for its fishing-related programs.

Our data showed us that we would eventually need about a $5 increase in license fees to bring revenue in line with operations, which we implemented over two years as separate $2.50 increases (approved) in 2022 and 2023, PFBC Communications Director Michael Parker said. As required when setting fees, we held several public meetings and continued to present our plan to the PA Senate and PA House Game and Fisheries Committees for review.

We did not receive any negative feedback regarding the license fees increases, (and) we do not anticipate any additional license fee increases at this time.

Youth go first

From 8 a.m.-7:30 p.m. March 30, the state will hold its annual Mentored Youth Trout Day. Parker notes that over its first decade the program saw tremendous growth. In 2014, the PFBC reports, there were about 4,200 participants based on the sale of Voluntary Youth Fishing Licenses and free Mentored Youth Trout Permits. Last year, there were approximately 34,000 participants based on those two figures.

Over the years, we have seen that number remain consistent in the 35,000 range, with the highest participation year being 2021 when we sold 11,004 Voluntary Youth Fishing Licenses and issued 31,035 free Mentored Youth Trout Permits, totaling just over 42,000 participants, Parker said. The program continues to be a success as a way for us to recruit younger anglers into the sport.

The mentored trout day is open to any angler age 15 and under with a Mentored Youth Trout Permit or a Voluntary Youth Fishing License. Youth participants can harvest two trout measuring seven inches or more, and while adult mentors can also fish, they are prohibited from possessing trout.

Those all-important fish

Of the 3.2 million trout going into the states waterways this year, roughly 2.4 million will be rainbow trout, 702,000 will be brown trout and 132,000 will be brookies. The PFBC notes about 70,000 of these fish will be brood trout that are 2.5- to 3.5-years old and average 14-20 inches long. Approximately 70% of the large fish are being stocked preseason, while the remaining 30% will be released during the season.

Overall, (our) Bellefonte State Fish Hatchery has provided Lehigh County with exceptionally nice trout, said Lehigh County WCO Travis Miller. The volunteers that assist with trout stocking have been very pleased.

Golden trout, sometimes referred to as palominos, always get anglers excited when they see them in the water, and this year the FPBC is stocking about 14,000 of those fish. About 75% will have been stocked by the time the mentored trout day comes in, while the remaining quarter will be released in-season.

Whats New

Anglers who fish certain sections on a handful of local waters that are stocked but also have robust wild trout populations need to be aware of a new regulation this year designed to protect the wild browns living in those waters.

Starting in 2024, the Martins Creek from the confluence of the East and West Branches downstream to the Bangor Sewage Treatment Plant, the Monocacy Creek from Illicks Mill Dam downstream to the Lehigh River and Little Lehigh Creek from Spring Creek downstream to the Wild Cherry Lane Bridge and from a quarter-mile upstream of the Country Club Road Bridge downstream to the Fish Hatchery Road Bridge will all be managed under new regulations that require any wild brown trout that are caught to be immediately released.

As far as stocked trout, only hatchery-raised rainbows are released in these stretches, and anglers will still be allowed to harvest five stocked trout daily, as long as they are seven inches or longer.

Both Rudd and Miller note it is uncommon to see anglers with a wild brown trout on the stringer on opening day. A big reason for this is that fishing for wild browns requires more specialized angling techniques and stocked trout are much more likely to inhale any reasonable enticement thrown their way.

Speaking for his county, Rudd stressed that the first step in enforcing the new regulation will be education. He noted the new information is included in the PFBCs fishing regulations summary book and the large posters that the agency puts out to highlight stretches of area waters managed under special regulations will be posted very soon.

Although it is the responsibility of the angler to be familiar with the regulations in every area they fish, being (its) a new regulation this will be taken into consideration, Rudd said.
Timahoe shopkeeper and farmer Patsy Fennell is Independent Ireland's first political candidate in Laois where he aims to win a seat on Laois County Council in June's local elections.

A statement announcing his candidature in the Graiguecullen / Portarlington Municipal District said Mr Fennell is a dedicated member of the Timahoe community and a passionate smallholding farmer.

It said that he aims to bring a fresh perspective and effective leadership to his local council with a commitment to preserving the vitality of rural communities and advocating for their fair representation.

It said Mr Fennell successfully ran a pest control business for 20 years before selling his business to acquire a local shop in the village of Timahoe.

The statement said that he was motivated to keep it open for the benefit of Timahoe and the surrounding areas because he understood the pivotal role of the shop as a community hub.

"The shop is more than just a business; it's the heart of our community," said the candidate.

"Myself and my wife Eileen are passionate about maintaining its role as a gathering place for locals, where friendships are formed, and community bonds are strengthened," he said

The statement said Mr Fennell is deeply involved in agriculture, operating a smallholding farm in the area with his wife Eileen. Concerned about the lack of resources and representation for rural communities in Timahoe and surrounding areas, the statement said Mr Fennell is determined to stand up for his fellow residents and secure the funding needed to support local initiatives and infrastructure projects.

"I believe that rural communities deserve a fairer deal and stronger representation in local and national government," affirms. "Independent Ireland offers real common-sense solutions that prioritize the needs of our people and our communities. I am proud to stand with them in this election," he said.

The Electoral Commission announced last November that Independent Ireland had been registered as a political party by Cork South West TD Michael Collins and the Limerick County TD Richard ODonoghue. It was boosted in February when the high-profile TD for Roscommon / Galway, Michael Fitzmaurice signed up. More BELOW PICTURE.

Pictured: Michael Fitzmaurice TD.

Dep Fitzmaurice gave his full backing to Mr Fennell, who will be aiming to win one of six seats in the district which borders Offaly, Kildare, Carlow and Kilkenny.

"Patsy epitomises what it means to be a dedicated member of a small rural community in Ireland," stated TD Fitzmaurice.

"His shop serves as a vital hub for community activities, and his experience as a farmer gives him unique insight into the challenges facing our agricultural sector. I am delighted that Patsy has chosen to run for Independent Ireland, and I urge the people of Timahoe and the surrounding areas to rally behind him and give him their full support."

Independent Ireland says its goal is to deliver real change for the people of Ireland.

The sitting councillors in the district are Cllr Paschal McEvoy, FF, Cllr Padraig Fleming, FF, Cllr Aidan Mullins, SF, Cllr PJ Kelly, Ind, Cllr Aisling Moran, non-party, Cllr Ben Brennan, non-party.
A former member of Fianna Fail who nearly won a seat at the last local elections for Renua has launched another tilt at winning a seat on Laois County Council.

This time out Dom Dunne is going it alone in his bid to win one of seven seats that are up for grabs in the big Portlaoise Municipal District.

The candidate, who lost out by 52 votes in 2019, believes he can emerge successfully from a crowded field of candidates in what is the biggest Laois Council electoral district.

"People want change and I don't believe all the sitting seven councillors seats are safe. In my manifesto, I have said that housing is a big issue.

"I know everyone running in elections will have housing down as a priority but it's the biggest issue facing us at the moment.

"I have three adult kids and, at present, none of them can even get on the property ladder," he said.

A statement said he also wants the courthouse removed from Main St to the site was purchased over two years ago.

Born in the Swan, Mr Dunne is married to Michelle. He is co-owner of Dublin Road Tyres, Portlaoise.

Outlining his aim to be a 'strong voice at local level, he identified his priorities as affordable and social housing, improvements and safety on roads, regeneration in towns and villages, more community grants to support community volunteers.

"Support Dom to be your community watchdog and bring a new energy to local politics," says his campaign flyer.

Mr Dunne describes himself as a community activist. He says he is the Chairperson of the Portlaoise St Patricks Day Parade Committee, the Chairperson of the Laois Branch Irish Guide Dogs, a member of Scoil Chriost Ri Parents Council, a member of the Portlaoise Hospital Action Committee and an active fundraiser for Irish Heart Foundation.

Mr Dunne contested the 2019 local election for Renua which has since disolved as a political party. He joined the party after leaving Fianna Fail who declined to select him as a candidate in the last local elections.

Mr Dunne is one of three former Fianna Fail members to declare as candidates in the local elections. Pauline Flanagan and Donal Kelly have departed since the 2019 poll in disputes over candidate selection with party HQ in Dublin. MORE BELOW PICTURE.

While, the Portlaoise District is dominated by the County Town, it also takes in Abbeyleix and Ballinakill and includes large rural area.

The sitting councillors are Cllr Willie Aird, FG, Cllr Thomasina Connell, FG, Cllr Barry Walsh, FG, Cllr John Joe Fennelly, FF, Cllr Catherine Fitzgerald, FF, Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley, SF, Cllr Marie Tuohy, Lab.
As part of a Meta initiative, Instagram is limiting the 'political content' on their users' feed.

First announced on February 9, the change has been implemented on the platform over the past couple of days.

Users will see less of what Meta deems to be "political content" in their feed, as well as in their recommendations.

Meta has described political content as laws, elections or social topics but the company has not provided more detail on what they deem to be political.

When the change was first announced in February, the company said they were focused on making Instagram "a great experience for everyone".

In recent days, the platform has already been criticised by social media users as they discovered they unwillingly have been involved in Meta's new initiative, which reduces the 'political content' on Instagram, as well as on Threads.

The company has been accused of censorship amid upcoming political elections and the war in Gaza.

Although, there is a way to turn it off.

Enabled by default, the feature is easy to change via Instagram settings.

From the 'settings and activity' section, users can go into 'settings and privacy', scroll down to the 'what you see' section. From there, users can tap 'content preferences' and select 'political content'.

Two options are available in this section. Either to 'limit political content from people you don't follow' or 'don't limit political content from people you don't follow'.
Pearse Doherty has criticised the placing of an Irish tricolour on the coffin of garda killer Pearse McAuley, saying he was not a republican.

McAuley, who was in his late 50s, was found dead in his home in Co Tyrone 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.

Simon Harris used his inaugural speech as Fine Gael leader to criticise the tricolour being draped over the coffin of a garda killer.

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.

Mr Doherty, a Donegal TD, said McAuley had nothing to do with Sinn Fein for many, many, many years.

And in the eyes of republicans, hes not a republican, Mr Doherty added.

The reference was made in relation to what happened to my colleague and how he treated my colleague in relation to the killing of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe.

The party has been very clear that we have condemned that on numerous occasions.

In relation to the funeral of Pearse McAuley we had no hand, act or part in it.

In relation to the placement of a tricolour, if it was our decision, one would not be on the coffin.
Stonepeak and Shizen Energy to Form Asian Onshore Wind Platform





Stonepeak, a leading alternative investment firm specializing in infrastructure and real assets, has completed an investment in TerraWind Renewables ("TerraWind"), an onshore wind energy platform, in partnership with Shizen Energy Inc. ("Shizen Energy"), a Japanese renewable energy company. As part of the transaction, Stonepeak has acquired an 80% interest in TerraWind, with Shizen Energy retaining the remaining 20% interest in the business. TerraWind will focus on the development of onshore wind projects in Japan and across the Asia-Pacific region.

Shizen Energy, founded in 2011 and headquartered in Japan, focuses on the development, financing, and management of renewable energy power plants. The Company's wind power-focused business segment has operated for almost ten years under the stewardship of a highly experienced management team with a proven track record of developing and constructing onshore wind assets. As of today, the onshore wind platform consists of 30MW of late-stage development assets in Japan and a pipeline of over 300MW across the Asia-Pacific region.

"As the need for renewable and reliable energy in Asia continues to grow, we have seen energy transition efforts accelerate across the region. TerraWind will seek to address that growing demand through the strategic expansion of Shizen Energy's onshore wind portfolio," said Ryan Chua, Senior Managing Director at Stonepeak. "With a strong existing business, secured, long-term contracts, and a robust pipeline, we are confident in both TerraWind's potential and fit as part of our global renewables strategy. We look forward to working with the Shizen Energy team ? with whom we have a strong existing relationship through our existing portfolio company, Synera Renewable Energy ? to bring these opportunities to bear and further the equitable distribution of renewable energy in the region."

"We are excited to close this new partnership for onshore wind with Stonepeak which builds on our existing relationship with Stonepeak's portfolio company Synera Renewable Energy, a leading Taiwanese offshore wind developer, whom we have partnered with since 2021. Shizen's core business since its foundation has been solar PV, which we will continue to promote strongly, however our customers require a variety of solutions to achieve their decarbonization goals, including energy storage, energy management systems, EVs, and also wind power. By focusing on new onshore wind project development, we believe TerraWind will realize many attractive projects for our corporate PPA customers in Asia," said Oliver Senter, Executive Officer at Shizen Energy responsible for Investment & Strategy.

About Stonepeak

Stonepeak is a leading alternative investment firm specializing in infrastructure and real assets with approximately USD 61.1 billion of assets under management. Through its investment in defensive, hard-asset businesses globally, Stonepeak aims to create value for its investors and portfolio companies, with a focus on downside protection and strong risk-adjusted returns. Stonepeak, as sponsor of private equity and credit investment vehicles, provides capital, operational support, and committed partnership to grow investments in its target sectors, which include communications, energy and energy transition, transport and logistics, and real estate. Stonepeak is headquartered in New York with offices in Hong Kong, Houston, London, Singapore, and Sydney. For more information, please visit www.stonepeak.com.

About Shizen Energy Inc.

Founded in June 2011. With the company purpose of "We take action for the blue planet," the company's business includes development, financing, and asset management of renewable energy power plants using solar power, wind power, small-scale hydroelectric power, and biomass. Since 2016, the company has also been focusing on its international operations, expanding its development and power generation projects in areas such as Southeast Asia and Brazil. In 2019, the company also entered the energy tech business, offering micro-grid and VPP construction, smart charging and discharging services for EVs, and other services through its self-developed EMS (energy management system). Shizen Energy Group has been involved in more than 1 GW of renewable energy generation internationally.

Headquarters: Fukuoka Ohori Bldg. 1-1-6 Arato, Chuo Ward, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka

Representative Directors: Ken Isono, Kenji Kawado, Masaya Hasegawa

URL: https://www.shizenenergy.net/en/

25 march 2024 at 17:05

News published onand distributed by:
Tejas Networks announces strategic partnership with Telecom Egypt





BENGALURU, India, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Tejas Networks (BSE: 540595) (NSE: TEJASNET) today announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Telecom Egypt (TE), ITIDA (Information Technology Industry Development Agency) and NTI (National Telecom Institute) to replicate its experience of implementing the Bharatnet (Rural Broadband Project) and NKN (National Knowledge Network) projects in Egypt. Other broad areas of cooperation include capacity building of Egyptian engineers and technicians on state-of-the-art telecom and networking technologies; establishing local manufacturing and R&D facilities for Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) products; and setting up technical support services in Egypt both for customers within the country as well as for the larger Africa and Middle East region.

Hon'ble Dr. Amr Talaat, Minister of Communications and Information Technology of Egypt, said, "Today's MoU with Tejas Networks is one of the fruits of discussions that began in January 2023 to enhance cooperation between Egypt and India in the field of communications and information technology. It is a comprehensive agreement that seeks to promote localization of world-class communications products, inject new Indian investments into Egypt, create job opportunities, and develop research cadres in various fields of communications."

Speaking on the occasion, Eng. Mohamed Nasr El-Din, CEO and Managing Director of Telecom Egypt, said, "We are delighted to enter into a long-term strategic partnership with Tejas Networks, India's leading R&D-driven telecom and networking products company and a part of the Tata Group. Telecom Egypt has been consistently working towards enhancing its network infrastructure and developing its technical capabilities through cooperation with the largest companies in the world. The present MoU is aimed at providing Telecom Egypt with the latest communications technology in the world while ensuring that it provides the highest quality of infrastructure services."

Mr. Anand Athreya, CEO and Managing Director of Tejas Networks, said, "Our MoU with Telecom Egypt is an important milestone for both organizations, as we jointly strive to accelerate the vision of a Digital Egypt by leveraging the best practices and learnings from Tejas's experience of successfully designing and delivering 500+ complex, carrier-class networks in India and beyond. We are committed to serving as a trusted advisor and technology partner for Egypt's digital transformation journey while nurturing its local ecosystem in telecom manufacturing, R&D, network planning, installation and maintenance."

Mr. Yogesh Verma, Vice President, Middle East and Africa (MEA), Tejas Networks, said, "Tejas has been operating in MEA for over a decade now and has extensive knowledge and insights about the local requirements and operating conditions to roll out cost-effective and scalable networks. Moreover, with our recent commercialization of 4G & 5G RAN products, the company now has an end-to-end portfolio to build both fixed and mobile networks. This MoU provides a great platform for us to expand our business in MEA while deepening our collaboration with Telecom Egypt and other customers in the country."

For more information, visit Tejas Networks Ltd. at https://www.tejasnetworks.com

Contact: Investor Relations | [email protected]

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/826177/Tejas_Networks_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Tejas Networks

26 march 2024 at 02:34

News published onand distributed by:
SWIFT CURRENT ENERGY ANNOUNCES POWER PURCHASE AGREEMENT AND TAX EQUITY FINANCING FOR 260 MW SOLAR PROJECT IN TEXAS





Solar energy generated from Tres Bahias Solar will supply power to City of Houston facilities via a PPA with an NRG Energy, Inc. affiliate

HOUSTON, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Swift Current Energy ("Swift Current") today announced that its 260 MWdc Tres Bahias Solar project ("Tres Bahias" or the "Project") located on the Gulf Coast of Texas is now powering City of Houston facilities through a power purchase agreement ("PPA") with an affiliate of NRG Energy, Inc. ("NRG Energy"). Tres Bahias is the largest operating solar project in Calhoun County, Texas and the third largest in the Texas Gulf Coast region.

UnitedHealth Group and Morgan Stanley Renewables Inc. are providing the tax equity for the Project. Swift Current previously announced that ING Capital, LLC provided construction financing for the Project, with Siemens Financial Services and Associated Bank as additional lenders in the construction financing. The construction loan for the Project has since been fully repaid. Swift Current developed Tres Bahias and remains the owner and operator of the Project.

"We are excited that Tres Bahias is now contributing pollution-free energy to the City of Houston's facilities," said Eric Lammers, CEO and Co-Founder of Swift Current Energy. "Swift Current continues to grow our operating portfolio, and we're pleased to be able to supply power to the City of Chicago through our Double Black Diamond project and now to the City of Houston through Tres Bahias. We are grateful for the commitment of Morgan Stanley Renewables Inc., UnitedHealth Group, NRG Energy and the City of Houston on this project."

The City of Houston's current electricity supply agreement includes several value-added programs ? including Tres Bahias. A portion of the solar energy generated from the Project will be used to power some City of Houston facilities.

"We are pleased to partner with Swift Current and continue to invest in the energy transition and decarbonization of the U.S. economy," said Jorge Iragorri, Managing Director and Head of Renewable Energy Investments at Morgan Stanley.

"This is an important project that will generate a new source of renewable energy and reduce carbon emissions," said Patricia L. Lewis, Executive Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer at UnitedHealth Group. "We look forward to seeing the impact of this investment as we continue our work to build healthy, sustainable communities."

American-based First Solar supplied the solar modules for the Project. Array Technologies, Inc. provided the solar trackers for the Project. IEA Constructors, a renewable energy engineering, procurement and construction provider, managed the construction of the Project.

Vinson & Elkins LLP and Husch Blackwell LLP represented Swift Current Energy in the transaction. Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP and Jackson Walker LLP represented Morgan Stanley Renewables Inc. Sidley Austin LLP represented NRG Energy.

About Swift Current Energy

Swift Current Energy is investing in renewable energy to create a sustainable future. Founded in 2016, the company develops, constructs, owns and operates highly competitive, utility-scale wind, solar and energy storage projects across the United States. Swift Current Energy is majority-owned by Buckeye Energy Holdings, with the other owners being IFM Net Zero Infrastructure Fund and Lookout Ridge Energy Partners. For more information, please visit swiftcurrentenergy.com.

SOURCE Swift Current Energy

26 march 2024 at 07:00

News published onand distributed by:
Mako Mining to Acquire Goldsource Mines Creating a Scalable Diversified Gold Producer with a Platform for Growth





Not for distribution to U.S. newswire services or dissemination in the United States

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / Mako Mining Corp. ("Mako") (TSXV:MKO)(OTCQX:MAKOF) and Goldsource Mines Inc. ("Goldsource") (TSXV:GXS)(OTCQX:GXSFF) are pleased to announce that they have entered into an arrangement agreement (the "Arrangement Agreement"), pursuant to which Mako will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Goldsource (the "Goldsource Shares"), in exchange for common shares of Mako (the "Mako Shares"), by way of a plan of arrangement (the "Transaction").

The Transaction will create a company that will combine Mako's highly profitable Nicaraguan gold operations and mine-building team with Goldsource's 100% owned Eagle Mountain Gold Project ("Eagle Mountain") in Guyana, South America. The combined company will bring together an experienced management team, proven in the construction and operation of scalable mines with low capital intensity profiles, and who have discovered new precious metal deposits across multiple jurisdictions over the last two decades. The new Mako will have the cash flow, project pipeline, proven management team, and district-scale exploration potential that will enhance Mako's current growth trajectory while creating a platform for rapid growth. Further details of the Transaction are outlined below.

Transaction Highlights

Geographic diversification and enhanced growth pipeline by combining Mako's high-grade and low-cost mining operations with Goldsource's low capital intensity Eagle Mountain project. Significant combined mineral endowment with district-scale exploration potential in both Nicaragua and Guyana

Leveraging Mako's proven engineering and construction teams to accelerate the development of Eagle Mountain. The January 2024 Preliminary Economic Assessment (" PEA ") for Eagle Mountain demonstrated potential for robust economics via a phased development plan with an after-tax internal rate of return (" IRR ") of 57% and an after-tax net present value (" NPV ") discounted at 5% of US$292 million at US$1,850 per ounce (" oz "). [1] The shallow open pit plan with an anticipated 15-year mine life is well suited for Mako's operating team

Mako's robust free cash flow generation and access to capital help accelerate and derisk the development of Eagle Mountain. Upon completion of the Transaction, it is anticipated that cash flow from Mako's San Albino mine (" San Albino ") in Nicaragua and its access to capital will be utilized to accelerate the development at Eagle Mountain and to reach a production decision as soon as practicable

Geological similarities between assets leverages recent mine building experience with near term development opportunities. Both San Albino and Eagle Mountain benefit from the advantageous geological structure of shallow dipping ore bodies, allowing for streamlined extraction processes and maximizing resource recovery. The plant flow sheet recommended for Eagle Mountain is nearly identical to the plant that Mako designed, engineered and successfully built themselves, which is expected to greatly reduce operational risk and potential for capex overruns

Proven team and Board of Directors unlocking synergies & creating value - Post Transaction, the consolidated company will be led by a strengthened board and management team to be comprised of Eric Fier (Chairman), Akiba Leisman (CEO), Steve Parsons (President) and Jesse Munoz (COO), with a proven track record and in-country expertise, including exploration success, mine building, operations, community engagement and monetization

Expanded capital markets presence & institutional shareholder base including key strategic investors - Concurrent with the execution of the Arrangement Agreement, funds managed by Wexford Capital LP (collectively, "Wexford"), Mako's largest shareholder, have provided Goldsource with a C$2 million bridge loan (the "Bridge Loan") to fund anticipated activities at Eagle Mountain through the completion of the Transaction

Akiba Leisman, Chief Executive Officer of Mako, commented: "This Transaction is a true "hand-in-glove" partnership. The scalability of Goldsource's Eagle Mountain is a direct analogue to that of Mako's San Albino mine. Both properties have district scale potential, with the ability to unlock that potential through cash flow. The teams have worked together as colleagues going back nearly two decades, which is expected to make integration of the two companies seamless. Lastly, this Transaction is the establishment of a platform for growth. The combined attributes of both companies are significantly better than what each individually brings to the table, and we expect to utilize this platform to grow Mako accretively and significantly."

Goldsource Executive Chairman, Eric Fier, CPG, P.Eng, stated, "Mako's successful approach to the development of the San Albino mine is something we watched closely during the 2020-2022 period, due in part because it is analogous to our plans for the development of Eagle Mountain, but also because we know Jesse Munoz and his construction team from prior projects that we've been involved with. This team has a solid track record and many decades of experience building mines, which is a unique offering for a junior gold producer and one that we believe is a great fit for our phased development plans at Eagle Mountain."

Goldsource Chief Executive Officer, Steve Parsons, P.Eng, stated, "The business combination with Mako offers Goldsource shareholders direct exposure to gold production and cash flow from the San Albino mine. The significant broadening of technical bandwidth, including Mako's mine development and construction expertise, is expected to expedite the timeline for establishing the Eagle Mountain Project as a near-term, low capital intensity development opportunity. Additionally, the business combination affords Goldsource shareholders exposure to Mako's aggressive exploration program at the high-grade San Albino mine and to the district-scale exploration potential which covers 28 km of prospective strike."

Benefits to Goldsource Shareholders:

Meaningful upfront premium of approximately 40.9% based on spot and approximately 52.1% based on Mako's and Goldsource's 20-day volume-weighted average price on the TSX Venture Exchange (the " TSXV ") as at March 25, 2024

") as at March 25, 2024 Clear path to over 100,000 ounces per year of gold production with a demonstrated record of fiscal discipline and history of shareholder value creation

Access to a strong balance sheet and robust cash flow generation to rapidly advance Eagle Mountain while funding exploration initiatives

Exposure to the San Albino-Murra gold district with over 28 km of strike length, with orogenic style gold mineralization across hundreds of targets identified within the ~188 km 2 land package

land package Backing by key strategic investors, notably Wexford, which will be providing the Bridge Loan to fund near-term anticipated activities at Eagle Mountain

With the consolidation of management and resources, Goldsource's shareholders gain exposure to an accelerated timeline to Eagle Mountain development by securing access to a well-capitalized gold producer with mine building expertise

Benefits to Mako Shareholders:

Addition of a high-quality gold asset in Guyana, a mining friendly country undergoing rapid growth and development, which is expected to enhance Mako's operating platform

Exposure to robust project economics from the January 2024 PEA outlining an after-tax IRR of 57% and an after-tax NPV discounted at 5% of US$292M[2]

Jurisdiction diversification reducing risk concentration associated with individual projects or regions

Exposure to an expected 15-year mine life, with a phased development plan and resources of 1,183,000 ounces of gold grading 1.18 g/t in indicated mineral resources, and an additional 582,000 ounces of gold grading 0.98 g/t in inferred mineral resources[3].

Accretive on key operating and financial per share metrics

Transaction Terms

Pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Arrangement Agreement, the holdersof the issued and outstanding Goldsource Shares will receive 0.2200 of a common share of Mako (each whole share, a "Mako Share") for each Goldsource Share held (the "Exchange Ratio"). Goldsource stock options ("Goldsource Options") that are outstanding immediately prior to the completion of the Transaction shall immediately vest and be exchanged for replacement options of Mako exercisable to acquire Mako Shares in accordance with the Exchange Ratio. Outstanding warrants of Goldsource will become exercisable, based on the Exchange Ratio,to purchase Mako Shares on substantially the same terms and conditions. The Transaction will be carried out by way of a court-approved plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia).

Upon completion of the Transaction, Mako will continue to be listed as a Tier 1 mining issuer on the TSXV under the same name and ticker symbol (MKO), and its common shares will continue to be quoted on the OTCQX under the same ticker symbol (MAKOF). Upon completion of the Transaction, the existing shareholders of Mako will own approximately 84% of Mako and the existing shareholders of Goldsource will own approximately 16% of Mako.As a result of the Transaction, Wexford's current ownership of Mako will be reduced from approximately 54.5% to approximately 45.6%.

The Arrangement Agreement contains customary deal-protection provisions including mutual non-solicitation covenants and a right of either party to match a superior proposal as defined in the Arrangement Agreement. Under certain circumstances, Mako or Goldsource may be entitled to a termination fee of C$1,350,000.

Officers and directors of Goldsource which hold approximately 4.5% of the outstanding Goldsource Shares and approximately 67.8% of the outstanding Goldsource Options, have entered into voting support agreements pursuant to which they have agreed, among other things, to vote their Goldsource Shares and Goldsource Options in favour of the Transaction.

Complete details of the Transaction will be included in a management information circular to be prepared by Goldsource and delivered to Goldsource securityholders in the coming weeks.

None of the securities to be issued pursuant to the Transaction have been or will be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws, and any securities issuable in the Transaction are anticipated to be issued in reliance upon available exemptions from such registration requirements pursuant to Section 3(a)(10) of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable exemptions under state securities laws. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities.

Conditions to Completion

The completion of the Transaction is subject to a number of terms and conditions, including without limitation the following: (a) approval of the Goldsource securityholders, as described below; (b) approval of the TSXV; (c) approval of the British Columbia Supreme Court; (d) there being no material adverse changes in respect of either Mako or Goldsource; and other standard conditions of closing for a transaction of this nature. There can be no assurance that all of the necessary approvals will be obtained or that all conditions of closing will be satisfied.

The Transaction is subject to the approval at a special meeting of Goldsource securityholders by (i) 662/3% of the votes cast by Goldsource shareholders, (ii) 662/3% of the votes cast by Goldsource shareholders and optionholders, voting as a single class, and (iii) a simple majority of the votes cast by Goldsource shareholders, excluding the votes cast by certain persons as required by Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions.

Bridge Loan

Concurrent with the execution of the Arrangement Agreement, Wexford, Mako's largest shareholder, provided Goldsource with the Bridge Loan in the amount of C$2,000,000 to fund anticipated activities of Goldsource at Eagle Mountain between the date hereof and the closing of the Transaction. The Bridge Loan is unsecured and will bear interest at a rate of 12% per annum, payable semi-annually, and will mature on March 26, 2025 (the "Maturity Date"). In the event that the Transaction has not been completed prior to the Maturity Date (other than as a result of a superior proposal of Mako or material breach by Mako of its representations, warranties and covenants under the Arrangement Agreement), the Bridge Loan will be repayable by Goldsource at 105% of par value, plus accrued interest.

Board of Directors and Management

Upon closing of the Transaction, the board of directors of Mako (the "Resulting Board") is expected to be comprised of seven (7) members, including two (2) nominees from Goldsource. Akiba Leisman will continue in his role as CEO of Mako, and Steve Parsons, current CEO of Goldsource, will become President of Mako. The head office will continue to be in Vancouver, Canada.

The Resulting Board is expected to be led by Eric Fier, as non-executive chairman, and is anticipated to include John Hick, Mario Caron, John Pontius, and a second Goldsource Nominee as independent directors, and Akiba Leisman and Paul Jacobi as non-independent directors. Mako also anticipates the addition of Mr. Ioannis Tsitos (currently President of Goldsource) and Rael Lipson (currently an independent director of Mako) in a technical advisory role.

Transaction Timeline

Pursuant to the Arrangement Agreement and subject to satisfying all necessary conditions and receipt of all required approvals, the parties anticipate completion of the Transaction in Q2 2024. Following completion of the Transaction, Goldsource Shares will be de-listed from the TSXV and Goldsource will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mako and cease to be a reporting issuer under Canadian securities laws.

Recommendations by the Boards of Directors and Fairness Opinions

After consultation with its financial and legal advisors, the board of directors of Mako unanimously approved the entering into of the Arrangement Agreement. Eight Capital provided a fairness opinion to the board of directors of Mako, stating that, as of the date of such opinion and based upon and subject to the assumptions, limitations and qualifications stated in such opinion, the consideration to be paid by Mako is fair, from a financial point of view, to Mako.

After consultation with its financial and legal advisors, the board of directors of Goldsource (the "Goldsource Board") unanimously approved the entering into of the Arrangement Agreement. The Goldsource Board recommends that Goldsource securityholders vote in favour of the Transaction. SCP Resource Finance LP provided a fairness opinion to the Goldsource Board, stating that, as of the date of such opinion and based upon and subject to the assumptions, limitations and qualifications stated in such opinion, the consideration to be received by Goldsource shareholders under the Transaction is fair, from a financial point of view, to such Goldsource shareholders.

Advisors and Counsel

Eight Capital is acting as financial advisor to Mako, and Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP is acting as legal counsel to Mako.

SCP Resource Finance LP is acting as financial advisor to Goldsource, and Koffman Kalef LLP is acting as legal counsel to Goldsource.

Qualified Persons

John Rust, SME, is a "qualified person" within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this news release on behalf of Mako. Mr. Rust has verified the data disclosed in this news release and no limitations were imposed on his verifications process.

Eric Fier, CPG, P.Eng, Executive Chairman of Goldsource, is a "qualified person" within the meaning of NI 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this news release on behalf of Goldsource. Mr. Fier has verified the data disclosed in this news release and no limitations were imposed on his verifications process.

Mr. Fier has also reviewed the technical report entitled "Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Eagle Mountain Gold Project, Guyana" dated March 1, 2024, with an effective date of January 16, 2024, which is available under Goldsource's profile at www.sedarplus.ca, on behalf of Mako. To the best of Mako's knowledge, information, and belief, there is no new material scientific or technical information that would make the disclosure of the PEA inaccurate or misleading.

AboutMako

Mako Mining Corp. is a publicly listed gold mining, development and exploration company. The Company operates the high-grade San Albino gold mine in Nueva Segovia, Nicaragua, which ranks as one of the highest-grade open pit gold mines globally. Mako's primary objective is to operate San Albino profitably and fund exploration of prospective targets on its district-scale land package.

About Goldsource

Goldsource Mines Inc. (www.goldsourcemines.com) is a Canadian exploration company focused on the 100%-owned Eagle Mountain gold project in Guyana, South America. The Company is led by an experienced management team, proven in making precious metals exploration discoveries and executing on phased project development in the Americas.

For further information about Mako, please contact Akiba Leisman, Chief Executive Officer, at (917) 558-5289 or [email protected], or visit our website at www.makominingcorp.com and our profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.

For further information about Goldsource, please contact Steve Parsons, Chief Executive Officer, at (604) 694-1760 or [email protected], or visit our website at www.goldsourcemines.com and our profile on SEDAR+ www.sedarplus.ca.

Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking information may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "targets", "expects", "is expected", "scheduled", "estimates", "outlook", "forecasts", "projection", "prospects", "strategy", "intends", "anticipates", "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or terminology which states that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "will", "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking information in this news release includes: expected timing and completion of the Transaction; the strengths, characteristics and expected benefits and synergies of the Transaction; receipt of court approval; approval of the Transaction by Goldsource securityholders at the special meeting of Goldsource securityholders; obtaining TSXV acceptance to complete the Transaction; the anticipated timing of the special meeting of Goldsource securityholders to vote on the Transaction and the related management information circular; the expected delisting of the Goldsource Shares from the TSXV; the composition of the post-Transaction Mako board and management team; expectations regarding the potential benefits and synergies of the Transaction and the ability of the combined company to successfully achieve business objectives, including integrating the companies or the effects of unexpected costs, liabilities or delays; expectations regarding mineral resources, results of the PEA and future production; expectations regarding financial strength, free cash flow generation, trading liquidity, and capital markets profile; expectations regarding future exploration and development, growth potential for Mako's and Goldsource's operations; availability of the exemption under Section 3(a)(10) of the U.S. Securities Act to the securities issuable in the Transaction; and the companies' assessments of, and expectations for, future business activities and operating performance. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, intentions, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including information in this news release regarding the Transaction, contain forward-looking information. Statements containing forward-looking information are not historical facts but instead represent the companies' expectations, estimates and projections regarding possible future events or circumstances. The forward-looking information included in this news release is based on the companies' opinions, estimates and assumptions in light of their experience and perception of historical trends,current conditions and expected future developments, their assumptions regarding the Transaction (including, but not limited to, their ability to close the Transaction on the terms contemplated, and to derive the anticipated benefits therefrom), as well as other factors that they currently believe are appropriate and reasonable in the circumstances. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is also based upon a number of assumptions, including the companies' ability to obtain the required securityholder, court and regulatory approvals in a timely matter, if at all; their ability to satisfy the terms and conditions precedent of the Arrangement Agreement in order to consummate the Transaction; assumptions in respect of current and future market conditions and the execution of the companies' business strategies, that operations in Mako's and Goldsource's properties will continue without interruption, and the absence of any other factors that could cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated, intended or implied. Despite a careful process to prepare and review the forward-looking information, there can be no assurance that the underlying opinions, estimates and assumptions will prove to be correct. Forward-looking information is also subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks,uncertainties and other factors include,but are not limited to, failure to receive the required securityholder, court, regulatory and other approvals necessary to effect the Transaction; the potential for a third party to make a superior proposal to the Transaction; that Mako and its shareholders will not realize the anticipated benefits following the completion of the Transaction; that the special meeting of Goldsource securityholders to vote on the Transaction will not occur at the anticipated timeframe; that Goldsource will be unable to repay the Bridge Loan, and those set forth under the caption "Risk and Uncertainties" in Mako's management's discussion and analysis for the nine months ended September 30, 2023, Goldsource's management's discussion and analysis for the nine months ended September 30, 2023, and other documents filed with or submitted to the Canadian securities regulatory authorities on the SEDAR+ website at www.sedarplus.ca.

Although the companies have attempted to identify important risk factors that could cause actual results or future events to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other risk factors not presently known to them or that they presently believe are not material that could also cause actual results or future events to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking information. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information, which speaks only as of the date made. The forward-looking information contained in this news release represents the companies' expectations as of the date of this news release and is subject to change after such date. Mako and Goldsource each disclaim any intention or obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. All of the forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by the foregoing cautionary statements.

[1] The PEA is preliminary in nature and includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the preliminary economic assessment will be realized. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. For additional information see the NI-43101 technical report entitled "Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Eagle Mountain Gold Project, Guyana" dated March 1, 2024, with an effective date of January 16, 2024, which is available under Goldsource's profile at www.sedarplus.ca.

[2] See note 1.

[3] For additional information see the technical report entitled "Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Eagle Mountain Gold Project, Guyana" dated March 1, 2024, with an effective date of January 16, 2024, which is available under Goldsource's profile at www.sedarplus.ca.

SOURCE: Mako Mining Corp.

26 march 2024 at 07:00

View the original press release on accesswire.comNews published onand distributed by:
Government of Canada awards initial contract for Program Icebreakers to Chantier Davie





QUEBEC, March 26, 2024 /CNW/ - Through the National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS), the Government of Canada is driving economic growth and creating good jobs, while ensuring that the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) has the ships it needs to carry out its important work.

Today, the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Public Services and Procurement, announced that the Government of Canada has awarded a first NSS contract to Chantier Davie Canada Inc. of Levis, Quebec, for initial work related to the construction of new Program Icebreakers. Under this $19.6-million contract including taxes, Chantier Davie will begin work to develop the initial design.

The new Program Icebreakers will replace the CCG's medium icebreakers that operate in Atlantic Canada and the St. Lawrence waterways during the winter, and in the Arctic during the summer. In Atlantic Canada, these Program Icebreakers will perform icebreaking services, escort ships through ice-covered waters and help clear ice from harbours and wharfs, which is essential to Canada's commercial fisheries. In the Arctic, they will provide icebreaking support to ships, ensuring the safe transport of vital supplies, goods and people in Canadian waters.

The Government of Canada's NSS is a long-term, multi-billion-dollar program focused on renewing the CCG and Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) fleets to ensure Canada's marine agencies have the modern ships they need to fulfill their missions, while revitalizing Canada's marine industry, creating good middle-class jobs, and maximizing economic benefits across the country. This contract is expected to create and sustain approximately 35 jobs annually.

Quotes

"This first contract awarded to Chantier Davie under the National Shipbuilding Strategy brings us a step closer to providing the Canadian Coast Guard with the next generation Arctic ships. They will be among the most advanced, sustainable and durable vessels tailored to the world's harshest environments. The new fleet will be symbolic of Canada's Arctic presence and crucial to keeping our country open for business year-round."

The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos

Minister of Public Services and Procurement

"A strong and well-equipped Canadian Coast Guard fleet is essential to protect Canadians on the water, and the marine environment. Today is an important step forward in renewing our icebreaking fleet, which is key to support the safe and efficient movement of goods in Canadian waters."

Mario Pelletier, Commissaire, Garde cotiere canadienne

"I congratulate Chantier Davie, with whom we recently concluded an Ontatenses, a strategic alliance, for this first contract awarded by the Government of Canada as part of the National Shipbuilding Strategy. I am delighted with this important contract which promises to be beneficial for the Huron-Wendat Nation, while Chantier Davie is committed, through this alliance, to implementing initiatives aimed at increasing its purchases from Huron-Wendat companies."

Remy Vincent, Grand Chief of the Huron-Wendat Nation

Quick facts

This contract enables the shipyard to initiate project planning phases, such as the initial design to evaluate the requirements to build the ships. As the Government of Canada and Chantier Davie progress in various pre-construction phases, a more defined build schedule will be determined.

and Chantier Davie progress in various pre-construction phases, a more defined build schedule will be determined. In May 2019 , the Government of Canada announced it would be procuring 6 new Program Icebreakers as part of the CCG fleet renewal, as well as its intention to add a third Canadian shipyard as a strategic partner under the NSS. A competitive process to select the new shipyard was launched later that year.

, the Government of announced it would be procuring 6 new Program Icebreakers as part of the CCG fleet renewal, as well as its intention to add a third Canadian shipyard as a strategic partner under the NSS. A competitive process to select the new shipyard was launched later that year. In April 2023 , as a result of a sophisticated, multi-step qualification process, the Government of Canada welcomed Chantier Davie as the third strategic partner under the NSS.

, as a result of a sophisticated, multi-step qualification process, the Government of welcomed Chantier Davie as the third strategic partner under the NSS. Chantier Davie has already played a critical role in supporting Canada's fleets, receiving over $2.895 billion in contracts since 2012 for various types of work on ships for the CCG, the RCN and Transport Canada.

fleets, receiving over in contracts since 2012 for various types of work on ships for the CCG, the RCN and Transport Canada. Previous work performed by Chantier Davie under the NSS includes acquiring and converting 3 medium interim icebreakers for the CCG, refitting the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Louis S. St?Laurent, converting the Motor Vessel Asterix to provide the RCN with an interim auxiliary oiler replenishment capability, and maintaining one of the RCN's Halifax-class frigates.

In addition, Chantier Davie is currently working on the design and construction of 2 ferries for Transport Canada.

Chantier Davie recently announced that it is partnering with the Huron-Wendat Nation to collaborate on initiatives designed to contribute to social, cultural and economic development.

NSS contracts awarded between 2012 and 2022 are estimated to have contributed close to $25 billion ( $2.1 billion annually) to Canada's gross domestic product, and created or maintained approximately 18,800 jobs annually between 2012 and 2023.

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SOURCE Public Services and Procurement Canada

26 march 2024 at 07:24

News published onand distributed by:
Vortex Energy Closes Charity Flow-Through Private Placement for Gross Proceeds of C$830,000





VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vortex Energy Corp. (CSE: VRTX | OTC: VTECF | FRA: AA3) ("Vortex" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has closed its previously announced non-brokered charity flow-through private placement of common shares of the Company (the "Offering") for gross proceeds to the Company of C$830,000.52 pursuant to an arrangement with Wealth Creation Preservation & Donation Inc. ("WCPD").



Pursuant to the Offering, the Company issued 2,441,178 "flow-through" common shares of the Company (each, a "Flow-Through Share") at a price of C$0.34 per Flow-Through Share. The Flow-Through Shares issued under the Offering are intended to qualify as "flow through shares" within the meaning of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the "Tax Act").

The gross proceeds raised from the Offering are expected to be used by the Company to incur eligible "Canadian exploration expenses" that are intended to qualify as "flow-through mining expenditures", as such terms are defined in the Tax Act, related to the Company's Robinsons River Salt Project.

In connection with the Offering, the Company has issued 103,750 finder's warrants, entitling the holder thereof to acquire one non-flow-through common share at an exercise price of C$0.40 until March 25th, 2026.

All securities issued in connection with the closing of the Offering are subject to a statutory hold period, in accordance with applicable securities laws, expiring on July 26th, 2024.

About Vortex Energy Corp.

Vortex Energy Corp. is an exploration stage company engaged principally in the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral properties in North America. The company is currently advancing its Robinson River Salt Project comprised of a total of 942 claims covering 23,500 hectares located approximately 35 linear kms south of the town of Stephenville in the Province of Newfoundland & Labrador. The Robinson River Salt Project is prospective for both salt and hydrogen salt cavern storage. The company is actively evaluating technologies to efficiently store hydrogen or energy in salt caverns. Vortex Energy Corp. also holds the Fire Eye Project, which is located in the Wollaston Domain of northern Saskatchewan, Canada.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

Paul Sparkes

Chief Executive Officer, Director

Contact

(778) 819-0164

[email protected]

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words "could", "intend", "expect", "believe", "will", "projected", "estimated" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on the Company's current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events.

In particular, this press release contains forward-looking information relating to, among other things, the Offering, including the expected use of proceeds from the Offering and the expectation that the Flow-Through Shares will qualify as flow-through shares as defined in the Tax Act. Various assumptions or factors are typically applied in drawing conclusions or making the forecasts or projections set out in forward-looking information, including the assumption that the Company will use the proceeds of the Offering as currently anticipated. Those assumptions and factors are based on information currently available to the Company. Although such statements are based on reasonable assumptions of the Company's management, there can be no assurance that any conclusions or forecasts will prove to be accurate.

Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such factors include: the risk that the Company does not use the proceeds from the Offering as currently expected, and the associated risks arising from such decision, including that the Company may be required to make payments to investors in the Offering and others as a result of a determination by the Company not to utilize the gross proceeds raised from the Offering for eligible "Canadian exploration expenses" that qualify as "flow-through mineral mining expenditures" within the meaning of the Tax Act; the risk that the Flow-Through Shares do not qualify as flow-through shares as defined in the Tax Act; risks inherent in the exploration and development of mineral deposits, including risks relating to receiving requisite permits and approvals, changes in project parameters or delays as plans continue to be redefined, that mineral exploration is inherently uncertain and that the results of mineral exploration may not be indicative of the actual geology or mineralization of a project; that mineral exploration may be unsuccessful or fail to achieve the results anticipated by the Company; that mineral exploration activities are often unsuccessful; risks relating to changes in mineral prices and the worldwide demand for and supply of minerals; and regulatory risks, including risks relating to the acquisition of the necessary licenses and permits. The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date hereof, and the Company is not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Because of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein.

The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed, approved, or disapproved the contents of this ?press release.

26 march 2024 at 08:00

News published onand distributed by:
Launch Alaska Selects VECKTA as Technology Partner to Enable Clean Energy Projects for U.S. Department of Energy-Backed Alaska Energyshed





VECKTA will facilitate clean energy deployments for communities in Northwest and Southeast Alaska as part of the Alaska Energyshed project.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska and SAN DIEGO, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Launch Alaska, a climate tech accelerator, has selected VECKTA, the source for onsite energy solutions, as its technology platform to facilitate clean energy deployments for communities in Northwest and Southeast Alaska as part of the Alaska Energyshed project.

"With VECKTA as our core technology, Alaska Energyshed will have a seamless, user-friendly, and democratized space for deploying the energy systems we desperately need," said Isaac Vanderburg , Launch Alaska president & CEO.

Burdened by high energy costs and aging grid infrastructure, Alaska communities desperately need clean, reliable, and affordable energy sources. The Alaska Energyshed, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), will identify and develop at least three clean energy projects across the Northwest Arctic and Southeast Alaska regions to help save money, reduce costs and environmental impacts from climate change, and improve local economies. The effort involves collaboration between Alaska communities and regional Alaska Native corporations, with VECKTA as an enabling technology partner.

"Establishing a repeatable, scalable process for assessing, designing, building, and financing optimal sites and onsite energy projects is critical. Alaskans bear some of the highest energy burdens in the country, with many communities paying 10 times the national average to heat their homes, and some spending 50 percent of their income on heating bills," said Isaac Vanderburg, Launch Alaska president & CEO. "With VECKTA as our core technology, Alaska Energyshed will have a seamless, user-friendly, and democratized space for deploying the energy systems we desperately need."

During the initial phase, VECKTA will adapt its platform for the program's specific needs, test custom tools with a core group of program users, and support piloting the program. Upon official program launch, Launch Alaska will use VECKTA's platform to assess all potential sites and model optimal projects based on site characteristics, available incentives, and viable technologies. Users can provide feedback on projects in their communities, manage their portfolios, issue RFPs, select from vetted vendors, and secure project funding through VECKTA's marketplace.

"Our principal mission is to create an interactive environment inside the VECKTA platform that empowers Energyshed users to assess, competitively source, and develop innovative energy projects in Alaska. With our purpose-built platform, users get the intelligence needed to make informed, confident decisions and the marketplace tools to take action," said Gareth Evans, VECKTA's CEO and founder. "The work we do with Energyshed will create a framework and process replicable by communities globally to accelerate the deployment of onsite energy systems. We can not emphasize enough how thrilled we are to play a central role in helping Alaska reach energy sovereignty and remove the heavy energy burden many of its communities bear."

Site data, 3-D models, and aerial imagery will be integrated into VECKTA's platform, enabling users to easily visualize detailed information. The Alaska Energyshed initiative will also involve securing at least a $10 million funding package for the first projects with plans to scale and expand. VECKTA and Launch Alaska will complete the initial project phase in December 2024.

About Launch Alaska

Launch Alaska is an Anchorage-based nonprofit on a mission to accelerate the energy transition and decarbonize the globe, starting in Alaska. We cultivate partnerships to connect climate tech companies and customers, catalyze Alaska's clean energy economy, and build a regenerative future for all. To learn more visit, www.launchalaska.com.

About VECKTA

A profitable, resilient, sustainable energy reality is achievable with VECKTA. Our development platform and marketplace streamline and modernize how onsite energy systems are deployed. VECKTA empowers entities that want to take control of their energy future, turn risk into opportunity, and build a lasting legacy. VECKTA is backed by leading VCs and corporate venture investors, including Goldman Sachs, Delta Airlines, Coca-Cola Company, and UPS. To learn more visit, www.veckta.com.

Media Contact

Sarah Riley, VECKTA, 1 (415)565-1403, [email protected], www.veckta.com

SOURCE VECKTA

26 march 2024 at 08:00

News published onand distributed by:
TiumBio Submits CTA for Phase 1b Clinical Trial of TU7710, a Long-acting Recombinant Activated Factor VII, in Hemophilia A or B Patients





TU7710 has the potential to be a highly effective and long-acting treatment for bleeding episodes as well as for preventing bleeding during surgery or invasive procedures in hemophilia patients with inhibitors

Interim results from an ongoing Phase 1a study in healthy male volunteers will be presented at International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) 2024 Congress

BOSTON and SEONGNAM, South Korea, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- TiumBio Co., Ltd. (Kosdaq: 321550), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing innovative therapeutics for patients with rare and incurable diseases, has announced the filing of a Clinical Trial Application (CTA) with the Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA) and the Spanish Agency of Medicines and Medical Products (AEMPS) to initiate a Phase 1b study of TU7710, a novel recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa) for hemophilia patients with inhibitors.

The Phase 1b clinical trial is an open-label, single and multiple-dose escalation study to assess the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of TU7710, aiming to determine the recommended Phase 2 dose. The trial will enroll up to 18 hemophilia A or B patients with inhibitors and will be conducted in Italy and Spain.

TU7710 is a long-acting rFVIIa with a half-life 6-7 times longer than NovoSeven, a rFVIIa widely accepted as a standard treatment, which is achieved through TiumBio's transferrin fusion protein technology. Thus, it will substantially reduce both burdens of treatment costs and frequent dosing of NovoSeven for patients.

TiumBio is currently conducting a Phase 1a study to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of TU7710 in healthy adult male volunteers. Interim results from the study will be present at the ISTH 2024.

"We believe that TU7710 will become a highly effective medication that can manage bleeding episodes and prevent bleeding during surgical operations with its longer half-life compared to NovoSeven," said Hun-taek Kim, Ph.D., MBA, Founder and CEO of TiumBio. "Our team has been developing TU7710 as an innovative hemophilia treatment option, which is strengthened by our experience with Afstyla, an FDA-approved recombinant Factor VIII originally discovered by our R&D team members at SK Chemicals," he added.

Hemophilia is a congenital bleeding disorder caused by the absence of deficiency of blood clotting factors. Blood coagulation factor VIII deficiency is classified as hemophilia type A, and blood coagulation factor IX deficiency is classified as hemophilia type B.

rFVIIa is a bypassing agent therapy for patients with hemophilia A or B who develop neutralizing antibodies, but there are currently only limited treatment options available on the market, including the leading drug NovoSeven, a product by Novo Nordisk.

About TiumBio Co., Ltd.

TiumBio (Kosdaq: 321550) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of innovative therapeutics for patients with rare and incurable diseases. Its mission is to expand the hope and happiness of mankind through our science. TiumBio boasts three leading pipeline assets: merigolix (code name: TU2670), TU2218, and TU7710, all in various stages of clinical development.

Merigolix is a once-daily, oral GnRH receptor antagonist being developed for the treatment of endometriosis and uterine fibroids and is undergoing in global Phase 2 clinical trials. TU2218 is a first-in-class oral immune-oncology therapy targeting TGF-? and VEGF pathways to promote response rates in cancer patients when used in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors. TU7710 is a novel rFVIIa designed to extend its half-life in order to provide more clinical benefits to hemophilia patients with inhibitors.

With its expertise in drug development, TiumBio is committed to the discovery and development of innovative treatments to ease the burden of debilitating diseases. For further information, visit our website at www.tiumbio.com/en and connect with us on LinkedIn.

Contacts:

Junseok Jang, Head of Corporate Communications & Investor Relations

[email protected]

Suna Cho, Manager, Corporate Communications & Investor Relations

[email protected]

Da-ye Song, Manager, Corporate Communications & Investor Relations

[email protected]

SOURCE TiumBio

26 march 2024 at 08:00

News published onand distributed by:
Martello Announces CEO and Board Appointments





Interim CEO Jim Clark appointed to CEO and Director; Microsoft executive Alec Saunders joins Board of Directors.

/NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION OR DISSEMINATION DIRECTLY, OR INDIRECTLY, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES./

OTTAWA, ON, March 26, 2024 /CNW/ - Martello Technologies Group Inc., ("Martello" or the "Company") (TSXV: MTLO), a provider of software that optimizes the Microsoft Modern Workplace for enterprise customers, is pleased to announce the appointments of Jim Clark as Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") and Director and software industry executive Alec Saunders to the Company's Board of Directors (the "Board"). Both appointments are effective April 1, 2024.

"I'm delighted to see Jim move into the role of CEO and Alec's appointment to our Board", said Terry Matthews, Chairman of Martello. "Jim's exemplary leadership as Interim CEO has fueled operational enhancements, propelling our trajectory towards revenue growth. I have full confidence in his ability to uphold our commitment to the Martello strategic vision and operational excellence in the CEO role. In addition, I look forward to the contribution that Alec will make to the Company, with his rich background in partner strategy and development within the Microsoft ecosystem, coupled with his entrepreneurial experience. Alec will undoubtedly contribute strategic insights that will help steer us towards success."

Jim Clark joined Martello in May 2022 as the Company's Chief Financial Officer ("CFO"), and in November 2023 assumed the additional role of Interim CEO. As Interim CEO Mr. Clark has optimized Martello's organizational structure and attracted high caliber talent to the Company while overseeing improvements to Martello's sales and demand generation processes, designed to accelerate revenue growth in the future. Mr. Clark brings more than 25 years' experience executing strategies and business plans to increase shareholder value in private and publicly traded organizations. Mr. Clark holds a CPA designation and a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Concordia University. The Company expects to announce the appointment of a CFO in due course.

"I am honoured to assume the position of CEO and eagerly anticipate accelerating growth with the re-focused Martello team", said Jim Clark. "My foremost objective is driving revenue growth and shareholder value through disciplined execution of our direct and channel sales strategy. Recent enhancements to our organizational structure, coupled with the internal promotion and recruitment of top-tier talent across the organization underscore our commitment to positioning Martello for robust growth as we advance into fiscal 2025."

Mr. Saunders is a software executive and entrepreneur who currently leads partner strategy for sustainability at Microsoft. In his 17-year tenure at Microsoft, he has held progressively senior roles in partner strategy and development for early-stage products, startups and business applications. He has founded three companies and served as VP Ecosystem and Developer Relations at Blackberry.

"I'm thrilled to be joining Martello at such a pivotal time in the Company's growth", said Mr. Saunders. "I look forward to working closely with the Martello team, particularly on partner strategy and development, helping the Company to tap into the trillion-dollar Microsoft partner ecosystem to bring Vantage DX to Microsoft Teams users globally."

All officer and director appointments are subject to TSXV approval.

About Martello Technologies Group

Martello (TSXV: MTLO) is a technology company that provides monitoring solutions to optimize the Microsoft Modern Workplace. The Company's products provide actionable insight on the performance and user experience of cloud business applications, while giving IT teams and service providers control and visibility of their entire IT infrastructure. Martello's software products include Vantage DX, which provides Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams end user experience monitoring and optimization. Martello is a public company headquartered in Ottawa, Canada with employees in Europe, North America and the Asia Pacific region. Learn more at http://www.martellotech.com

This press release does not constitute an offer of the securities of the Company for sale in the United States. The securities of the Company have not been registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, (the "1933 Act") as amended, and may not be offered or sold within the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration under the 1933 Act.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information can be identified by words such as: "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "goal," "seek," "believe," "project," "estimate," "expect," "strategy," "future," "likely," "may," "should," "will" and similar references to future periods and includes, but is not limited to, information, statements and expectations regarding activities, events or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future.

Forward-looking information is neither a statement of historical fact nor assurance of future performance. Instead, forward-looking information is based only on our current beliefs, expectations and assumptions regarding the future of our business, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking information relates to the future, such statements are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. Our actual results and financial condition may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking information. Therefore, you should not rely on any of the forward-looking information. Important factors that could cause our actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking information include, among others, the following:

Continued volatility in the capital or credit markets and the uncertainty of additional financing.

Our ability to maintain our current credit rating and the impact on our funding costs and competitive position if we do not do so.

Changes in customer demand.

Disruptions to our technology network including computer systems and software, as well as natural events such as severe weather, fires, floods and earthquakes or man-made or other disruptions of our operating systems, structures or equipment.

Delayed purchase timelines and disruptions to customer budgets, as well as Martello's ability to maintain business continuity as a result of COVID-19.

and other risks disclosed in the Company's filings with Canadian Securities Regulators, including the Company's annual information form for the year ended March 31, 2021 dated January 7, 2022 , which is available on the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Any forward-looking information provided by the Company in this news release is based only on information currently available and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking information, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

SOURCE Martello Technologies Group Inc.

26 march 2024 at 08:00

News published onand distributed by:
Uzum becomes first tech unicorn in Uzbekistan after raising over $100 mln in funding





TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Uzum, a leading digital services ecosystem in Uzbekistan, has secured more than $100 mln in funding through a combination of a Series A funding round and debt financing, making Uzum the first tech company in Uzbekistan to achieve unicorn status with a post-money valuation of over $1 billion. Uzum plans to use the funds to develop the country's IT and logistics infrastructure, as well as to fund its own BNPL-service.

Uzum secured over $50 mln in equity through a Series A funding round consisting wholly of primary investments. The round was led by the global venture capital firm FinSight Ventures (whose portfolio companies have included Intercom, ThoughtSpot, Automation Anywhere, Toss, GupShup, Razorpay, Bumble, Rappi, Carta and others), joined by Xanara Investment Management, a multifamily office in the UAE, and Uzum's senior management team. The company separately raised an additional $50+ mln in debt financing.

Investors taking part in the Series A funding round will receive stakes of less than 5% in the company. Given Uzum's strong performance in 2023 ? its first full year of operations ? and the ecosystem's enormous potential, the shareholders decided to not substantially dilute their ownership stakes during the funding round. In 2024, Uzum plans to raise additional financing of approximately $200 million in a Series B funding round from investors in the Middle East, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Combining e-commerce, fintech and banking services for individuals and small and medium-sized enterprises, the Uzum digital ecosystem includes a marketplace, an express delivery service, traditional and digital banks, a BNPL service, an automotive marketplace and an app for entrepreneurs. All of the ecosystem's components are now being integrated into two superapps: Uzum for individuals, and Uzum Business for legal entities. By the end of 2023, the Uzum ecosystem had 10 million monthly average users and net profit just shy of $100 million. Meanwhile, Uzum's retail banking and fintech businesses were among the leaders in the country in terms of profit, and its e-commerce business was the largest online platform in Uzbekistan by the number of users and number of orders, with turnover of around $150 million.

In 2024, Uzum plans to launch the largest logistics complex for e-commerce in the country, which is expected to increase e-commerce turnover on its platform by more than 150% during the year. It also plans to launch a number of ecosystem products for unsecured lending to individuals as well as small and medium-sized enterprises.

Alexey Garyunov, managing partner at FinSight Ventures, commented:

"We focus on FinTech, B2B SaaS and the e-commerce markets in the US and India, as well as investing in superapps in emerging markets. By combining convenient payment solutions with an e-commerce platform, Uzum achieved impressive results in just a year and a half, launching one of the top three apps in the country in terms of the number of downloads, trailing only instant messengers and social networks. Uzum has already become the national leader in its key business verticals (fintech and e-commerce) thanks to strong network effects and synergies between its various businesses. Uzbekistan is one of the markets where consumers moved from offline directly to mobile (bypassing the web browser stage), which makes this market ideal for creating a superapp that combines banking, fintech, e-commerce and other services in an ecosystem for consumers and entrepreneurs. We witnessed the success of Kaspi.kz in creating a superapp in neighboring Kazakhstan, Rappi in Latin America, and Toss in South Korea, and we are confident that Uzum, which has the necessary talent, resources and products, will repeat this success to become the national tech leader in Uzbekistan.

Djasur Djumaev, Uzum's founder and CEO, said:

"Digital services in Uzbekistan today are incredibly popular. We see this in the growth rates of the markets that we work in as well as in our own experience. In a little over a year, we have built an ecosystem whose services are used by more than 10 million people in Uzbekistan every month. Last year, we earned nearly $100 million in net profit, and we intend to increase this figure this year, partly by integrating services within the Uzum ecosystem. We also plan to add new business streams and services for business and private users to the ecosystem this year. We see tremendous interest in the Uzbek market and in Uzum's digital ecosystem as one of its drivers and, of course, this would not have been possible without the extraordinary team of world-class professionals who created the first tech unicorn in the country's history."

According to KPMG, Uzbekistan is home to the fastest-growing e-commerce market in Central Asia, with the potential to grow up to sevenfold by the end of 2027. At the same time, the country's GDP grew by 6% in 2023, and Uzbekistan plans to double this figure in the next few years. Experts note that the country's economy has the potential for growth and rapid digitalization thanks to several factors, including a high rate of Internet penetration, a young population, as well as a currently low penetration rate of banking and financial services.

About Uzum

Uzum is a digital ecosystem and the largest digital platform in Uzbekistan, providing services spanning e-commerce, express delivery, banking and fintech, and business development. More than 10 million people in Uzbekistan, or nearly one-third of the country's population, use Uzum services every month. Learn more at uzum.com.

About FinSight

FinSight Ventures is a venture capital firm specializing in investments in FinTech, B2B SaaS and e-commerce companies as well as other segments of the tech market. The company invests at various stages (from seed to later stages), covering the entire funding cycle for tech companies. FinSight focuses on the US and Indian markets and also invests on a more global scale in superapps in emerging markets. FinSight manages more than $500 million in assets, with investor returns of over $600 million since its founding in 2004.

One of the firm's biggest deals was its investment in Bumble, which Blackstone acquired in 2019. At the time of the deal, the company was valued at $3b. Having backed Bumble from the very beginning, Finsight VC was the sole financial investor in the company.

About Xanara

Xanara Investment Management is a multifamily office located in Dubai. The company specializes in managing client assets, provides family office services, and also advises on wealth creation and preservation.

For additional information please contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Uzum Group

26 march 2024 at 08:15

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Dialogue acquires Koble's assets to strengthen women's health offering





Canada's premier virtual healthcare and wellness platform enhances existing women's health offering through acquisition of assets from digital health and well-being platform, Koble

MONTREAL, March 26, 2024 /CNW/ - Deepening its commitment to supporting the health of all women, Dialogue Health Technologies Inc. ("Dialogue"), Canada's premier virtual healthcare and wellness platform, is announcing the acquisition of certain assets of Koble Care Inc. , ("Koble"), a digital health and well-being platform supporting women's health. The purchase includes Koble's entire suite of proprietary content, and related software and intellectual property. Koble's expert content will be integrated into Dialogue's Integrated Health Platform (IHP) . As Dialogue continues strengthening its support for the health of all women, Swati Matta, Koble Founder and CEO, will be joining Dialogue's team as Head of Women's Health.

With 1 in 4 Canadian women in the workplace experiencing mental health challenges, their well-being needs to be better supported. Women-specific health concerns are frequently overlooked in the workplace, and prioritizing support for these concerns is a business imperative in which employers play a crucial role. At Dialogue, the health of all women has always been a key part of our primary care and mental health scope of practice, where women of all ages can seek advice from our multidisciplinary care team. The key to improved health and well-being lies in prevention and education. The same is true for women's health. Building on Dialogue's existing partnership with Koble , this announcement will equip women to better prevent potential concerns and advocate for themselves when faced with important milestones such as pregnancy, postpartum, and return to work.

"We are very proud to strengthen our support for the health of all women, providing a holistic and centralized approach that has the patient at its core," shares Jean-Nicolas Guillemette, Chief Operating Officer at Dialogue. "This aligns with how we currently help millions of Canadians improve their well-being."

Koble's content is developed by a multidisciplinary team of health experts such as OBGYNs, Pelvic Floor Physiotherapists, Lactation Consultants, and Sleep Consultants. Their expertise brings recommendations around mental health, nutrition and fitness, career, loss, labour and birth, physical recovery, and infant care, empowering all women and their families every step of the way.

"Providing all individuals across the spectrum of womanhood with the support and resources they need to address physical and mental stresses that come with all important stages of life, including family building, has important downstream impacts," explained Dr. Stephanie Moynihan, Associate Medical Director at Dialogue. "Giving current and future mothers and parents key tools when they need them the most can help demystify, reassure, and empower them as they navigate pregnancy, parenting, and other important health milestones. A better understanding of the health concerns and needs of all women also helps reduce workplace stigma and societal taboos around women-specific health concerns."

Swati Matta's digital health experience, having built a beacon of support for thousands of families across Canada, will be key to Dialogue's next steps in creating an increasingly personalized, culturally responsive and inclusive service that addresses the unique challenges faced by all women.

"A few years ago, I embarked on a mission to bring equitable access to healthcare to all women. This is an exciting new chapter, as we bring critical resources to support millions of women through both challenging and rewarding periods of their lives", said Swati Matta, Founder and CEO of Koble. "I am thrilled to be joining the team at Dialogue to continue on this mission."

A key part of reducing stigma around women's health in the workplace starts with providing a holistic health and well-being strategy. As expectations towards supporting employee well-being increase, innovative employers need to expand the resources offered to their workforce to ensure that they are properly supporting and empowering women to lead healthier lives and improve their well-being, and aim to make workplaces healthier and more inclusive for all.

About Dialogue

Incorporated in 2016, Dialogue is Canada's premier virtual healthcare and wellness platform, providing affordable, on-demand access to quality care. Through our team of health professionals, we serve employers and organizations who have an interest in the health and well-being of their employees, members and their families. Our Integrated Health Platformtm is a one-stop healthcare hub that centralizes all of our programs in a single, user-friendly application, providing access to services 24 hours per day, 365 days per year from the convenience of a smartphone, computer or tablet. Dialogue is the first virtual care provider to receive the Accreditation Canada Primer award, a third-party validation of safety and high-level quality of care.

About Koble

Launched in 2022, Koble is a digital health and well-being platform for new and expecting parents. The Koble app offers personalized guidance for each stage, whether planning a family, pregnancy, postpartum, or returning to work after parental leave.

SOURCE Dialogue Health Technologies Inc.

26 march 2024 at 08:30

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PATEO, a Leading Enterprise in Automotive Intelligence Industry, Secures Another Equity Financing of Approximately 1.5 Billion Yuan





SHANGHAI, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- PATEO, an automotive intelligence industry player, has recently successfully secured a new round of financing of 1.5 billion yuan, which will be primarily invested in the R&D of a new generation of intelligent integrated domain control products, and used to accelerate the full-stack technological innovation of intelligent driving domain controller in an all-round manner. At the same time, it plans to dive deeper into cockpit-driving fusion solutions and high performance CCP (Central Computing Platform), build a new integrated smart manufacturing and supply chain system in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) with Shanghai as the axis, linking Zhejiang, Anhui, and Jiangsu, and make overall planning and arrangements for a future Lighthouse Factory in an area.

According to relevant resources, PATEO has recently obtained another financing of 1.5 billion yuan. This is another time that the company has attracted widespread attention in the industry after receiving a series of honors, including being recognized as a "National Enterprise Technology Center" and one of the first batch of innovative enterprise headquarters in Shanghai, and selected into the list of "Top 100 Shanghai Hard Core Technology Enterprises in 2024", and achieving a major breakthrough in successfully expanding the international market and winning overseas orders.

So far, it has completed several rounds of equity financing, receiving strategic investment from well-known financial investment institutions including Ping An Capital and CCB Trust (CCB Trust Co., Ltd.), state-owned investment platforms including Shanghai Guosheng Capital, Shenzhen Oriental Fortune Capital Investment Management Co., Ltd. (OFC), and Jinggangshan Investment, as well as multiple leading enterprises and institutions on the industry chain, including Dongfeng Motor Corporation (DFM), China FAW Group Corporation (China FAW), Xiaomi Corporation, Haier Capital, Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co., Ltd. (STEC), and China EV100.

While completing this equity financing, PATEO also signed a 19 billion yuan credit agreement with seven top state-owned banks, including Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and China Construction Bank (CCB). Since its establishment, PATEO has invested nearly 2 billion yuan in R&D, been attaching great importance to the accumulation of independent intellectual property rights (IIPRs) and the enhancement of technological innovation capabilities, accumulatively applied for 6,692 intellectual property rights (IPRs), 83% of which are invention patents, ranking first in China's intelligent automotive connectivity patents. It is learned that the funds raised this time will be mainly used to create a new generation of automotive intelligent integrated domain control products, including next-generation smart cockpits, autonomous driving, automotive-grade chips and advanced process modules, as well as display screens, conduct full-stack development of intelligent driving domain controllers, and make efforts in cabin-driving fusion solutions and high performance CCP. Meanwhile, PATEO will also implement a complete integrated deployment in the YRD with Shanghai headquarters as the center and achieving the coordinated development of Zhejiang, Anhui and Jiangsu, build smart manufacturing bases and an advanced supply chain system, and make overall planning and arrangements for a future Lighthouse Factory in an area.

Shao Jiang, Chief Analyst of Automotive Industry at TF Research Institute, said, "As a next-generation mobile intelligent terminal, computing and interaction are at the core of the automobile. In the second half of electric vehicle race, intelligence is the core for automakers to create product differentiation, hence the accelerated iteration of automotive product architecture and form. As an intelligence supplier with self-owned core technologies, PATEO has entered a period of leapfrog growth from 1 to 10 with the development of the industry. In the context that shares are increasingly concentrated among top industry players, enterprises with profound accumulation of IPRs and innovation capabilities will successfully occupy a leading position in the industry."

SOURCE PATEO

26 march 2024 at 08:35

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CU LIFT Fund Receives Strategic Investment from Reseda Group





The transaction provides both funding and technical resources.

AUSTIN, Texas, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- CU LIFT Fund, the "funding as a service" CUSO committed to helping credit unions grow their auto loan portfolios, announced that it has received a strategic investment from Reseda Group, a wholly-owned CUSO of Michigan State University Federal Credit Union. The investment will help finalize the development of the LIFT Network, a proprietary, closed-loop payment network that allows credit unions to fund direct auto loans instantly.

"Having Reseda Group as a strategic investor means more than just the financial resources it affords us," said CUSO founder Kirk Klinkhammer. "Reseda Group has become recognized industrywide as an innovator and leader in deploying advanced technology." He noted that MSUFCU has built one of the largest, most successful auto lending programs, not just among credit unions, but of all auto finance lenders. As a CU LIFT Fund client, MSUFCU will play a key role as an anchor in Michigan, driving participation of auto dealers and other credit unions around the state.

"A direct auto loan at the time of purchase is the ideal channel for any credit union. Unfortunately, it's not always the easiest channel for the member," said Reseda Group's Chief Operating Officer and MSUFCU's Chief Innovation Officer Ben Maxim. "CU LIFT Fund fixes that problem by creating the best possible member buying experience."

Klinkhammer added that other lending channels can commoditize a credit union's brand. "We embrace each credit union's brand and build upon the trusted relationship members have with their credit unions," he noted.

About Credit Union LIFT Fund

CU LIFT Fund's mission is to help credit unions directly fund more auto loans. The CUSO does this by creating a better overall member purchase experience while offering a unique value proposition for dealers that includes instant funding. CU LIFT Fund is committed to creating a nationwide ecosystem of credit unions and automobile dealers, giving credit unions a strong collective voice with dealers while preserving and promoting each credit union's individual brand. Visit us on the web and LinkedIn.

About Reseda Group

Headquartered in East Lansing, Michigan, Reseda Group is a wholly-owned credit union service organization of MSU Federal Credit Union (MSUFCU). Formed in 2021, Reseda Group changes the way people interact with their finances and how financial institutions engage with their consumers. By leveraging innovative products developed in-house and through its partnership ecosystem, Reseda Group is making financial technology and engagement solutions more accessible and approachable to the industry. Learn more at resedagroup.com .

Media Contact:

Sarah Snell Cooke

(443) 472-6276

[email protected]

SOURCE CU LIFT Fund

26 march 2024 at 08:36

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Arkon Energy Announces the Planned Listing of US Portfolio





HANNIBAL, Ohio, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Arkon Energy US Holdco LLC (previously Arkon Energy Ohio LLC) ("Arkon") announces that on 21 February 2024 it entered into a term sheet (the "Terms") relating to a potential transaction, including a business combination, with BM3EAC Corp. (the "Company"), a shell company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands as an exempted company with limited liability and listed on Euronext Amsterdam, the regulated market operated by Euronext Amsterdam N.V. (the "Potential Business Combination").

A transformative step for Arkon, as the consummation of this would result in the business becoming publicly listed.

This marks a transformative step for Arkon, as the consummation of this Potential Business Combination would result in the business becoming publicly listed on Europe's largest stock exchange.

Arkon is a Bitcoin data center infrastructure and mining business that buys, develops, and owns valuable data center infrastructure at the intersection of electricity and data processing at an industrial scale that helps power the trillion-dollar Bitcoin economy.

Arkon currently has 117 megawatts ("MW") of approved operating capacity across two data centers, including a 95MW flagship facility in Hannibal, Ohio, and a 22MW facility in Hopedale, Ohio. In addition, Arkon has binding agreements securing and entitling it to develop more sites in the United States, which would enable the Company to increase capacity by a further 190MW, bringing its total operating capacity to 307MW subject to successful funding and development of the sites. Arkon has signed a letter of intent to acquire an additional 100MW of further pipeline capacity within these same sites.

Arkon's business model is based on two verticals: (i) hosting third-party Bitcoin mining machines, and (ii) self-mining Bitcoin with its own machines. The business model is based on the ownership and management of the underlying infrastructure that powers the machines, designed to enable flexibility in balancing both verticals while taking advantage of the tailwinds in the Bitcoin ecosystem.

Josh Payne, Arkon's Founder and Chairman, stated, "On behalf of Arkon Energy, we are very excited to partner with BM3EAC on this potential transaction. The confluence of the upcoming block reward halving, the global shortage of near-term data center capacity and the significant increase in demand for low cost data center hosting creates the ideal conditions for those who already own a large portfolio of operating sites with substantial additional growth capacity in their portfolio's development pipeline. Arkon has spent the last two years consolidating the distressed market for high value, low power cost data center sites and infrastructure at attractive prices."

"Having now achieved significant economies of scale, we firmly believe that it is the right time to list our US portfolio and use that public platform to continue scaling the company's existing pipeline in Texas and Ohio."

While the Terms are generally indicative and non-binding on the parties, it does include certain binding terms including a 90-day mutual exclusivity period, during which the parties have agreed to work towards executing definitive agreements in respect of the Potential Business Combination. The Potential Business Combination is subject to certain pre-conditions including the completion of satisfactory due diligence by each party, respective board approvals, and completion of definitive agreements.

SOURCE Arkon Energy

26 march 2024 at 09:00

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Masco Corporation Announces Date for Earnings Release and Conference Call for 2024 First Quarter





Masco Corporation (NYSE: MAS) announced today that it will hold a conference call regarding 2024 first quarter results on Wednesday, April 24, 2024 at 8:00 a.m. ET. The conference call will be hosted by Masco President and Chief Executive Officer Keith Allman. Participants in the call are asked to register five to ten minutes prior to the scheduled start time by dialing 888-259-6580 or 206-962-3782. Please use the conference identification number 73983883.

The 2024 first quarter results and supplemental material will be distributed at 7:00 a.m. ET on April 24 and will be available on the Company's website at www.masco.com.

The conference call will be webcast simultaneously and in its entirety through the Masco Corporation website. Shareholders, media representatives and others interested in Masco may participate in the webcast by registering through the Investor Relations section on the Company's website.

A replay of the call will be available on Masco's website or by phone by dialing 877-674-7070 or 416-764-8692. Please use the playback passcode 983883 #. The telephone replay will be available approximately two hours after the end of the call and continue through May 23, 2024.

Headquartered in Livonia, Michigan, Masco Corporation is a global leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of branded home improvement and building products. Our portfolio of industry-leading brands includes Behr paint; Delta and hansgrohe faucets, bath and shower fixtures; Kichler decorative and outdoor lighting; Liberty branded decorative and functional hardware; and HotSpring spas. We leverage our powerful brands across product categories, sales channels and geographies to create value for our customers and shareholders. For more information about Masco Corporation, visit www.masco.com.

26 march 2024 at 09:05

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Helping build more homes, faster in Edmundston





EDMUNDSTON, NB, March 26, 2024 /CNW/ - With federal funding and federal leadership, we are changing how municipalities let housing get built in their communities. With a greater focus on higher density housing, student housing, homes near transit and affordable housing, we are going to get more homes built for Canadians at prices they can afford.

Today, the Government of Canada and the City of Edmundston announced that they reached an agreement to fast track 132 homes over the next three years. This work will help spur the construction of more than 1,900 homes over the next decade.

The agreement under the Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) will provide more than $4 million to eliminate barriers to building the housing we need, faster. Edmundston's Action Plan commits to eight local initiatives including streamlining permit approvals, converting surplus public lands into residential developments, changing bylaws to increase housing density in neighbourhoods, and developing pre-approved construction designs.

HAF is helping cut red tape and fast track at least 100,000 permitted new homes over the first three years, which cities and regions estimate will lead to the creation of more than 750,000 permitted new homes for people in towns, cities, and Indigenous communities across Canada over the next decade. It asks for innovative action plans from local governments, and once approved, provides upfront funding to ensure the timely building of new homes, as well as additional funds upon delivering results. Local governments are encouraged to think big and be bold in their approaches, which could include accelerating project timelines, allowing increased housing density, and encouraging affordable housing units.

The Government of Canada is making life more affordable for Canadians ? and housing is key to our work. We will continue to work with provincial, territorial, and municipal governments, as well as Indigenous partners, to keep building more homes for Canadians, faster.

Quotes:

"We are excited and proud to announce this partnership with Edmundston today. With initiatives like developing pre-approved building designs, making public lands available for housing, and allowing additional homes in low-density areas, the City will ensure that Edmundston has more of the kind of homes needed to tackle the housing crisis. We will keep working with cities, mayors, Indigenous partners, and all levels of government, to get more homes built for Canadians at prices they can afford." ? The Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities

"Our government is proud to be working with the City of Edmundston to ensure we are doing our part to fulfill the housing needs in our city and indeed across Canada. This funding of $4 million for housing in Edmundston will accelerate the development of safe and affordable housing to meet the needs of our rapidly growing city where we need it most." ? Rene Arseneault, Member of Parliament for Madawaska?Restigouche

"The City of Edmundston is very grateful to the Government of Canada for this important contribution to address the challenges we face regarding housing shortages. This partnership will allow us to create initiatives to offer more affordable housing, for individuals and families. The next three years will be decisive, in terms of housing for our region, and this investment will help kickstart construction projects which will respond to our current realities as well as our future needs. The City of Edmundston is committed to using these funds strategically in order to get the most out of them for our citizens' needs. The municipality aspires for its neighbourhoods to be vibrant, sustainable and inclusive, to ensure everyone feels at home. We wish to thank the Government of Canada for believing in our projects, the details of which will be presented to our population shortly." ? Eric Marquis, Mayor of Edmundston

Quick Facts:

Today's announcement was made by the Rene Arseneault, Member of Parliament for Madawaska?Restigouche, on behalf of the Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, and Eric Marquis , Mayor of Edmundston .

, Mayor of . Launched in March 2023 , the Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) is a $4 billion initiative from the Government of Canada that will run until 2026-27.

, the Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) is a $4 billion initiative from the Government of that will run until 2026-27. The Housing Accelerator Fund is part of Canada's National Housing Strategy (NHS), an $82+ billion plan to give more Canadians a place to call home. Progress on programs and initiatives are updated quarterly at www.placetocallhome.ca. The Housing Funding Initiatives Map shows affordable housing projects that have been developed.

National Housing Strategy (NHS), an $82+ billion plan to give more Canadians a place to call home. Progress on programs and initiatives are updated quarterly at www.placetocallhome.ca. The Housing Funding Initiatives Map shows affordable housing projects that have been developed. As of September 30, 2023 , the Government of Canada has committed over $38.89 billion to support the creation of almost 152,000 units and the repair of over 241,000 units. These measures prioritize those in greatest need, including seniors, Indigenous Peoples, people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, and women and children fleeing violence.

Associated Links:

SOURCE Government of Canada

26 march 2024 at 09:15

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Minister Valdez announces launch of Maia Inclusive Growth Project to support hundreds of women entrepreneurs across Canada





MONTREAL, March 26, 2024 /CNW/ - A more inclusive economy is a stronger economy. That's why the Government of Canada is dedicated to taking concrete action to support women entrepreneurs from coast to coast to coast, which will help build an economy that works for all Canadians.

Today, the Honourable Rechie Valdez, Minister of Small Business, announced the launch of the Maia Inclusive Growth Project along with Ruth Vachon, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Reseau des Femmes d'affaires du Quebec (RFAQ).

This project was made possible by $3.7 million in funding through the Government of Canada's Women Entrepreneurship Strategy Ecosystem Fund. It is being delivered by the RFAQ with EY, the Business Development Bank of Canada, Women's Enterprise Organizations of Canada and several other organizations dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs across Canada.

The Maia project will focus on diversifying the supply chain to help women entrepreneurs across Canada secure contracts with major buyers. To accomplish this, the RFAQ will educate large corporations on the benefits of diversifying their supply chains, and it will train and support women entrepreneurs on how to access these supply chains.

Support for women entrepreneurs will include:

raising awareness among 5000 women entrepreneurs across Canada about the importance of accessing new markets;

about the importance of accessing new markets; training and supporting 750 women entrepreneurs, including 200 from diverse backgrounds, to successfully integrate into the supply chains of large corporations; and

facilitating the certification of women-owned businesses by working with organizations such as the Canadian Aboriginal and Minority Supplier Council and the Inclusive Workplace and Supply Council of Canada .

This initiative is part of the historic investments the government has made since 2015 to support women, including legislating pay equity, enhancing the Canada Child Benefit, providing special funding to support women entrepreneurs during the pandemic, establishing agreements across the country for provinces and territories to provide $10-a-day child care, committing over $530 million for the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence, and introducing national pharmacare legislation that will offer universal access to free contraceptives.

Quotes

"The positive impacts of the Maia Inclusive Growth project are going to be felt nationwide by helping get women entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds on the radar of big business. Partners like the Reseau des Femmes d'affaires du Quebec are helping us increase the immense contributions women make to our economy and reduce the challenges they still face. Supporting women is more than the right thing to do; it's the smart thing to do for our economy, and I am proud of our government's Women Entrepreneurship Strategy for making these critical investments."

? The Honourable Rechie Valdez, Minister of Small Business

"We are very proud of this project, which brings together economic forces from across the country to facilitate women-owned businesses' inclusion in big business supply chains. It's a program that will not only accelerate the growth and enhancement of entrepreneurs' skills but also promote innovation and competitiveness among big businesses. Over time, we will also have helped make our society and economy fairer and more inclusive. In a nutshell, everybody wins!"

? Ruth Vachon, President and Director General, Reseau des Femmes d'affaires du Quebec

Quick facts

The Women Entrepreneurship Strategy (WES) is a nearly $7 billion investment that includes: the Women Entrepreneurship Loan Fund , which funds partner organizations to deliver loans of up to $50,000 to women business owners and entrepreneurs; the Inclusive Women Venture Capital Initiative , which seeks to build a more inclusive venture capital environment for Canadian women; the WES Ecosystem Fund , which is helping strengthen capacity within the entrepreneurship ecosystem and deliver the resources that women entrepreneurs need to start or grow a business; and the Women Entrepreneruship Knowledge Hub , which serves as a one-stop source of knowledge, data and best practices for women entrepreneurship.

investment that includes: The government is also investing in removing systemic barriers faced by diverse and intersectional women entrepreneurs through programs like the Black Entrepreneurship Program and the 2SLGBTQI+ Entrepreneurship Program.

Related links

Stay connected

Follow Canada Business on social media for business-related news: X (Twitter), Facebook, Instagram

SOURCE Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

26 march 2024 at 10:00

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IIAC TO HOST TOP DIGITAL CURRENCY EXPERTS FROM CANADA AND THE U.S. SHAPING THE FUTURE OF MONEY





CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

TORONTO, March 26, 2024 /CNW/ - The Investment Industry Association of Canada (IIAC) has unveiled a prominent panel of experts to discuss the future of money.

The exploration of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) has gained significant momentum worldwide, with over 130 countries, including Canada, actively engaged in CBDC research and development.

While CBDCs have the potential to transform the global payments landscape ? to improve its efficiency, lower transaction costs and increase financial inclusion ? concerns have been raised over privacy, cybersecurity, and government control.

In the U.S., the possibility of a U.S. CBDC has become a hot-button political issue.

Is a CBDC inevitable?

What is its true impact?

What influential role can and should the private sector play?

Join us on April 18 in Toronto for knowledgeable and provocative panel discussion that shines the spotlight on central banks' forays into digital currencies, tests the boundaries of our thinking, and prepares us for what may lie ahead.

Moderator:

Andreas Veneris, Connaught Scholar and Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, cross-appointed with Computer Science, University of Toronto

Speakers:

Yaya Fanusie, Adjunct Senior Fellow, Centre for a New American Security (CNAS); Director, Policy, AML & Cyber Risk, Crypto Council for Innovation (CCI); former CIA counterterrorism analyst

Jennifer Lassiter, Executive Director, Digital Dollar Project; Mosaic Fellow, Progressive Policy Institute

Andreas Park, Research Director, FinHub, Rotman School of Management; Professor of Finance, Department of Management, University of Toronto Mississauga & Rotman School of Management

Paul Samson, President, Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)

For media inquiries, please contact IIAC Public Affairs ([email protected]).

About the Investment Industry Association of Canada (IIAC)

Asset. Ally. Advocate.

The Investment Industry Association of Canada (IIAC) is the national association representing investment firms that provide products and services to Canadians.

The IIAC represents investment firms of every type including investment and mutual fund dealers, exempt market dealers, portfolio managers and investment fund managers.

Our Members:

Manufacture and distribute a range of investment products, including mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and prospectus exempt products,





Trade in debt and equity on all marketplaces,





Provide custodial and clearing services, and





Underwrite issuers in public and private markets.

Our Services:

Advocacy: A strong voice for issues that matter.





Forums: A place for industry to come together to address issues of significance.





Education: A center for accredited educational courses ? webcasts, seminars, and other events.





Resources: A source for industry data and practice resources.

https://iiac-accvm.ca/

SOURCE Investment Industry Association of Canada (IIAC)

26 march 2024 at 10:00

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WorkRamp Partners with NINJIO to Provide Cybersecurity Awareness Training Solutions





WorkRamp, the pioneer of the Learning Cloud, in the Learning Management System (LMS) category, has partnered with NINJIO, a pioneer in cybersecurity awareness training, to offer comprehensive solutions that protect businesses from online threats.

With NINJIO's award-winning NINJIO AWARE training content, WorkRamp's customers can deploy engaging and entertaining micro-learning cybersecurity videos to help keep their employees informed about the latest cyber threats, right in their LMS. These trainings have a proven track record in reducing risks and increasing employee awareness.

"It's not just about checking a box for non-negotiable security training; it's about securing your enterprise through your most important line of defense: your people," said Ted Blosser, CEO and Co-founder of WorkRamp. "That's why we're so excited to team up with a leader in cybersecurity awareness. NINJIO is evolving how we think about cybersecurity training and creating training content that is engaging and entertaining. This partnership is all about breaking away from the mold to offer a training approach that truly protects against threats."

The partnership enables WorkRamp to deliver cybersecurity awareness training to customers, tailored to meet the specific needs of each organization. Based on the belief that educational material must earn a user's attention to be successful, NINJIO's Hollywood writers develop episodes with proven storytelling techniques. Characters, animation, story arcs, and lessons come together to ensure users stay engaged with the episodes and learn the material.

"We are excited to partner with WorkRamp and provide our industry-leading cybersecurity training to their customers," said Annette Evans, Vice President Channel at NINJIO. "We look forward to helping WorkRamp enhance their cybersecurity awareness training offerings and help their customers stay safe from the latest cyber threats."

The partnership with NINJIO aligns with WorkRamp's mission to offer top-of-the-line cybersecurity solutions to its customers. With NINJIO's platform, WorkRamp can provide effective and engaging cybersecurity training that helps businesses of all sizes stay protected from online threats.

For more information on WorkRamp and its partnership with NINJIO, please visit https://www.workramp.com.

About WorkRamp

At WorkRamp, we believe that the best companies grow through learning. That's why hundreds of market leaders such as Box, Lattice, and Outreach choose the Learning Cloud to power employee and customer learning. Boost employee performance, grow revenue, and scale customer success with WorkRamp. To learn more, visit www.workramp.com.

Be sure to follow WorkRamp on LinkedIn to learn more about the latest product releases and enhancements.

About NINJIO

NINJIO is an all-in-one solution that lowers human-based cybersecurity risk through engaging training, personalized testing, and insightful reporting. Our multi-pronged approach to training focuses on the latest attack vectors to build employee knowledge and the behavioral science behind human engineering to sharpen users' intuition. The proprietary NINJIO Risk Algorithmtm identifies users' social engineering vulnerabilities based on NINJIO PHISH3D phishing simulation data and informs content delivery to provide a personalized experience that changes individual behavior.

26 march 2024 at 11:05

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A $45 million investment in green infrastructure projects across Saskatchewan aims to safeguard public health





REGINA, SK, March 26, 2024 /CNW/ - A joint investment of more than $45 million from federal, provincial, and local governments will support an increased supply of safe and reliable drinking water, effective wastewater treatment, and cleaner soil for communities across Saskatchewan.

These projects were announced today by Minister Sean Fraser and Minister Don McMorris.

The northwest of the province will see the decommissioning of non-engineered landfill sites for 18 municipalities, along with the redirection of waste to two new solid waste facilities. The new sites will serve 23 communities and are equipped with barriers to contain pollutants, keeping the soil and groundwater safe and clean.

Several other communities will also see infrastructure improvements. These include the decommissioning of landfills that do not adhere to environmental standards in the City of Humboldt, the towns of Wolseley, Duck Lake and Regina Beach, the Rural Municipality of Excel No. 71, and the villages of Beechy, Hodgeville, Mistatim, Rhein, and Wilcox. In addition, the Town of Eatonia will receive funding for wastewater treatment upgrades, while the Town of Gravelbourg will get upgrades to critical drinking watermains, protecting public health for generations to come.

Funding will also support the decommissioning of the Chelan and Peesane landfills in the Rural Municipality of Bjorkdale No. 426. This work includes designing and constructing final engineered covers and conducting land reclamation activities for future use.

Find out more about each of these projects and how they are going to benefit the environment around these communities across the province for years to come.

Quotes

"We are committed to supporting infrastructure projects that ensure communities can continue growing and thriving. We will continue making investments such as today's for the health, wellness, and sustainability of communities in Saskatchewan and across all of Canada."

The Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities

"Saskatchewan is committed to improving infrastructure and providing communities and their residents with the resources and funding to make valued and reliable upgrades. The additional funding to make projects like these a reality demonstrates our commitment to growing communities and improving life for our residents, regardless of where they call home in our province. These projects happen thanks to the partnerships from all involved for the betterment of Saskatchewan both today and for generations to come."

The Honourable Don McMorris, Saskatchewan's Minister of Government Relations

"Northern municipalities are grateful for these critical Federal and Provincial investments in our regional solid waste management solutions. Enabling waste diversion to sustainably operate regional facilities supports improvements to resident quality of life and recognizes the infrastructure needs of Saskatchewan's northern municipalities."

Paula Muench, Chairperson, Northern Municipal Trust Account Management Board

Quick facts

The federal government is investing $18,016,679 through the Green Infrastructure Stream (GIS) of the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP). The Government of Saskatchewan is investing $15,012,396 , and the municipalities are collectively contributing $12,012,621 to their respective projects.

through the Green Infrastructure Stream (GIS) of the Investing in Infrastructure Program (ICIP). The Government of is investing , and the municipalities are collectively contributing to their respective projects. This stream helps build greener communities by contributing to climate change preparedness, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and supporting renewable technologies.

Including today's announcement, over 190 infrastructure projects under the Green Infrastructure Stream have been announced in Saskatchewan , with a total federal contribution of more than $385 million and a total provincial contribution of nearly $275 million .

, with a total federal contribution of more than and a total provincial contribution of nearly . Under the Investing in Canada Plan, the federal government is investing more than $180 billion over 12 years in public transit projects, green infrastructure, social infrastructure, trade and transportation routes, and Canada's rural and northern communities.

Plan, the federal government is investing more than over 12 years in public transit projects, green infrastructure, social infrastructure, trade and transportation routes, and rural and northern communities. Infrastructure Canada helps address complex challenges that Canadians face every day?ranging from the rapid growth of our cities, to climate change, to environmental threats to our water and land.

helps address complex challenges that Canadians face every day?ranging from the rapid growth of our cities, to climate change, to environmental threats to our water and land. On December 18, 2023 , the federal government launched the Framework to Build a Green Prairie Economy, which highlights the need for a collaborative, region-specific approach to sustainability, focusing on strengthening the coordination of federal programs, and initiatives with significant investments. This Framework is a first step in a journey that will bring together multiple stakeholders. PrairiesCan, the federal department that diversifies the economy across the Canadian prairies, has dedicated $100 million over three years to support projects aligned with priority areas identified by Prairie stakeholders to build a stronger, more sustainable, and inclusive economy for the Prairie provinces and Canada .

, the federal government launched the Framework to Build a Green Prairie Economy, which highlights the need for a collaborative, region-specific approach to sustainability, focusing on strengthening the coordination of federal programs, and initiatives with significant investments. This Framework is a first step in a journey that will bring together multiple stakeholders. PrairiesCan, the federal department that diversifies the economy across the Canadian prairies, has dedicated over three years to support projects aligned with priority areas identified by Prairie stakeholders to build a stronger, more sustainable, and inclusive economy for the Prairie provinces and . Infrastructure Canada is supporting the Framework to Build a Green Prairie Economy to encourage greater collaboration on investment opportunities, leverage additional funding, and attract new investments across the Prairies that better meet their needs.

is supporting the Framework to Build a Green Prairie Economy to encourage greater collaboration on investment opportunities, leverage additional funding, and attract new investments across the Prairies that better meet their needs. Federal funding is conditional on fulfilling all requirements related to consultation with Indigenous groups and environmental assessment obligations.

Related products

Backgrounder: A $45 million investment in green infrastructure projects across Saskatchewan aims to safeguard public health

Associated links

Investing in Canada: Canada's Long-Term Infrastructure Plan

https://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/plan/icp-publication-pic-eng.html

Green Infrastructure Stream

https://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/plan/gi-iv-eng.html

Federal infrastructure investments in Saskatchewan

https://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/plan/prog-proj-sk-eng.html

Strengthened Climate Plan

https://www.canada.ca/en/services/environment/weather/climatechange/climate-plan/climate-plan-overview.html

Building a Green Prairie Economy Act

https://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/B-9.88/page-1.html

Building a Green Prairie Economy

https://www.canada.ca/en/prairies-economic-development/programs/green-prairie-economy.html

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn

Web: Infrastructure Canada

SOURCE Infrastructure Canada

26 march 2024 at 12:00

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Grants to promote healthy living for high school students across Canada





OTTAWA, ON, March 26, 2024 /CNW/ - Encouraging youth to learn about healthy habits can have long-lasting, positive effects on their overall health as they grow up. Even more beneficial is when young people are empowered to define their own health goals, bring forward their own solutions, and inspire their peers to live in a healthy way.

Today, the Honourable Ya'ara Saks, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health, announced the first round of successful projects under the School Health Grant for Youth program. Grants of up to $3,500 are approved for 81 high school students across Canada to develop youth-driven and youth-inspired initiatives that encourage and promote healthy living in their schools. The initiatives align with four health priorities: to reduce substance-related harms, foster positive mental health and well-being, promote healthy eating and nutrition, or encourage physical activity among their peers.

Building on the success of round one, Minister Saks also announced the launch of a second round of funding under the School Health Grant for Youth program. From now until April 15, students are encouraged to bring forward their best ideas for initiatives that take place either during the school year at school, or in the community during summer break.

For this second round of grants, youth are welcome to develop projects that address the mental health needs of young people affected by potentially traumatizing events in Canada and around the world. These projects can help create a safe space to gain a deeper understanding of different cultures and lifestyles to improve positive mental health in schools and communities.

For more information on the program, and how to apply, go to the School Health Grant for Youth webpage.

Quotes

"The School Health Grant for Youth is all about putting ideas into action. We want youth to feel empowered to take control of their mental and physical health, inspire others, and contribute to an environment of belonging and understanding in the classroom. I congratulate all the grant recipients from round one, and look forward to seeing the creative projects that students bring forward for round two."

The Honourable Ya'ara Saks

Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health

"The School Health Grant for Youth encourages young people to help each other with credible knowledge, tools and resources on mental and physical health that respond to their school's unique realities and needs. It is a great way for students to put ideas into action and give back to their school and community, while promoting healthy behaviours and gaining valuable life skills such as leadership and project planning. Congratulations to the recipients ? I can't wait to see what great ideas come forward in the second round."

The Honourable Mark Holland

Minister of Health

"Empowering the next generation through youth-led projects that prioritize physical activity not only helps young people to build healthier lifestyles but also invests in their leadership, mental health resilience and community engagement. Thank you to all those who champion these initiatives. The innovative ideas supported by this grant will help young people encourage their peers, as well as inspire more Canadians to lead healthy and active lives."

The Honourable Carla Qualtrough

Minister of Sport and Physical Activity

Associated Links

SOURCE Public Health Agency of Canada

26 march 2024 at 12:00

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Royale, a Trusted Canadian Tissue Brand for Over 60 Years, Launches A New Premium Diaper





DIEPPE, New Brunswick, March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canadians have trusted Royale tissue products for over 60 years and now the brand welcomes a new member to its family, baby diapers.



Royale Diaper Launch

A Media Snippet accompanying this announcement is available at: https://ml.globenewswire.com/1.0/snippet/2832/eng

"We're excited to launch our premium quality, Canadian-made diaper," said Robert K. Irving, President of Irving Consumer Products, who manufactures Royale diapers. "Our customers appreciate the quality and softness of Royale tissue products. We're proud to offer a new diaper choice to parents from a brand they trust, one that delivers dryness and comfort."

The baby diapers, from newborn to size seven, will be available starting in late May in Walmart locations across Canada. The diaper has up to 12-hour leak protection day or night and a

cloth-like feel. The outer layer is ultra soft and breathable to keep babies comfortable.

The diapers include wetness indicator strips that change colour when it's time to change the baby.

Royale diapers are hypoallergenic and free from chlorine bleaching and fragrances, so they're kind to baby's delicate skin. Packages include creative explorer illustrations of babies on trains, submarines, planes, Zambonis, and more.

"We're proud to be the only Canadian manufacturer of diapers and a trusted tissue brand," said Robert Irving. "We are confident Canadian parents will grow to appreciate this new high quality Royale diaper."

For information visit royale.ca/diapers.

About Royale

Royale products have been loved by Canadians for 60 years. Royale offers a full line of household paper products including bathroom tissue, paper towel, facial tissue, and napkins.

Royale is made by a proud Canadian company.

About Irving Consumer Products

Irving Consumer Products is one of North America's leading manufacturers of household paper and baby diaper products. Irving Consumer Products companies include Irving Tissue and Irving Personal Care. Irving Tissue produces premium household store brand paper products for many of North America's top retailers, in addition to some of the top-selling tissue brands in the marketplace. Irving Personal Care is the only manufacturer of baby diapers and training pants in Canada. Using state-of-the-art equipment and technology, they produce premium quality Royale diapers for Canadians and private label products for major North American customers.

26 march 2024 at 12:20

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Women and Gender Equality Canada launches Call for Nominations for 2024 Governor General's Awards in Commemoration of the Persons Case





OTTAWA, ON, March 26, 2024 /CNW/ - Advancing gender equality brings many benefits, for both individuals and Canadian society. When women, girls, and gender-diverse people are empowered and have equal access to opportunities in education, employment, and leadership positions, economies thrive. Recognizing those who are actively contributing to gender equality not only honours their achievements, but also inspires others to build a more inclusive and equal future.

Today, Women and Gender Equality Canada is calling for nominations for the 2024 Governor General's Awards in Commemoration of the Persons Case. These awards celebrate individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the advancement of gender equality in Canada.

Gender Equality ? it is the foundation from which everyone can lead healthy, happy, and fulfilling lives, serving as a catalyst for social progress and economic growth. When everyone has equal opportunities to participate in the economy, it leads to increased productivity and innovation, fostering a more inclusive society.

In previous years, award recipients have been recognized for their work across various fields. Among them are individuals like 2023 youth recipient Aditi Sivakumar, a medical student, philanthropist, and women's rights advocate who created "My Empowerment Platform", a website offering a wide range of tools and information on gender-based violence. And like Marlene Catterall, a community activist and former politician who was the first woman in Canada to be appointed as Chief Government Whip. Their achievements, along with those of many others, will inspire future generations to continue to move the needle of progress forward.

The submission deadline for the 2024 awards is July 1, 2024. To nominate a deserving individual, please visit WAGE's website.

Quick Facts

The Governor General's Awards in Commemoration of the Persons Case mark the day in 1929 when the historic decision to include women in the legal definition of "persons" was handed down by Canada's highest court of appeal. This milestone victory gave women the right to be appointed to the Senate of Canada and paved the way for women's increased participation in public and political life.

highest court of appeal. This milestone victory gave women the right to be appointed to the Senate of and paved the way for women's increased participation in public and political life. A video entitled "Women. Are. Persons." describes the Famous Five and the Persons Case, which opened the door for women to participate more fully in all aspects of Canadian life.

Over 200 people from coast to coast to coast have received the award since its creation in 1979.

Women's wages have grown steadily since the 1990s, but disparities persist. In 2023, women in Canada earned 88 cents for every dollar earned by men, suggesting a gap of 12%.

earned for every dollar earned by men, suggesting a gap of 12%. In 2020, only 16.8% of Canadian small and medium-sized businesses were owned by women, and were more likely to operate in young, small, low-growth and underfinanced sectors, such as retail trade, and other service sectors. These factors make it harder for women to access financing.

Women continue to be underrepresented in leadership positions. In 2023, women accounted for only 30% of those employed in legislative and senior management positions.

While progress has been achieved, with many women holding key federal cabinet positions, women remain underrepresented in politics. In 2024, women represent just over 30% of seats in the House of Commons, and of the 13 provincial and territorial premiers in Canada , only one is a woman.

, only one is a woman. McKinsey Global Institute estimates that achieving gender equality around the world could increase global GDP by $12 trillion over 10 years.

Associated Links

Follow Women and Gender Equality Canada:

SOURCE Women and Gender Equality Canada

26 march 2024 at 14:00

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Freedom Mortgage Wins 2024 National Top Workplaces USA Award





Honor marks the fourth year in a row the company has been ranked by its employees as a top place to work, nationwide

BOCA RATON, Fla., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Freedom Mortgage, one of the largest full-service independent mortgage companies, and a top Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Federal Housing Administration (FHA) (government-insured) lender in the U.S., has earned the 2024 Top Workplaces USA award, which was published in USA Today. The award is issued by Energage, a purpose-driven organization that develops solutions to build and brand Top Workplaces.

Freedom Mortgage is a 2024 Top Workplaces USA winner in 4th annual survey co-sponsored by Energage and USA TODAY.

This is the fourth straight year Freedom Mortgage has been honored with a Top Workplaces USA award. The Top Workplaces program has a 15-year history of surveying more than 20 million employees and also recognizes the top organizations across 60 markets for regional Top Workplaces awards.

"We are honored to, once again, receive this prestigious award," said Stanley C. Middleman, Freedom Mortgage president and CEO. "Being recognized as a Top Workplaces USA company reaffirms our commitment to fostering a culture of support, growth and community engagement that empowers Freedom Mortgage employees to thrive, both personally and professionally. I remain immensely proud of our team's dedication and contributions, which have made a significant impact on the communities we serve."

Eric Rubino, Energage CEO, said, "Earning a Top Workplaces award is a badge of honor for companies, especially because it comes authentically from their employees. That's something to be proud of. In today's market, leaders must ensure they're allowing employees to have a voice and be heard. That's paramount. Top Workplaces do this, and it pays dividends."

Middleman credits Freedom Mortgage employees for the company's continued success. Last year, the company serviced the mortgages of 2 million homeowners, representing over $460 billion in loans. Additionally, in 2023, Freedom Mortgage donated more than $660,000 and saw its highest employee volunteer engagement, with nearly 2,300 hours spent bettering local communities.

Energage's Top Workplaces USA program celebrates organizations with 150 or more employees that have built great cultures. Over 7,000 organizations were invited to participate in the Top Workplaces USA survey. Winners on the Top Workplaces USA list are chosen based solely on employee feedback gathered through an employee engagement survey, issued by Energage. Results are calculated by comparing the survey's research-based statements, including 15 Culture Drivers that have been proven to predict high performance against industry benchmarks.

One of the nation's largest independent mortgage companies, Freedom Mortgage is committed to fostering homeownership and financial betterment across the country. For more information on Freedom Mortgage, please visit FreedomMortgage.com. To join the company, please visit the careers page: Careers.FreedomMortgage.com/jobs/.

About Freedom Mortgage

Founded in 1990 and headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, Freedom Mortgage is an independent mortgage company that provides mortgage loans through retail, wholesale and correspondent channels. One of the nation's largest non-bank mortgage lenders and servicers, the company is licensed in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Freedom Mortgage is a top VA and FHA (government-insured) lender in the U.S. (Inside Mortgage Finance, January?September, 2023), and is one of the mortgage industry's largest philanthropic supporters of the USO of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The company is also renowned for its vibrant work environment, where all team members can thrive. In 2023, Freedom Mortgage was honored, for the third year in a row, as a Top Workplaces USA . Additionally, last year the company made it back on the Inc. 5000 Honor Roll, for the ninth time, as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the country. Freedom Mortgage's mission is to foster homeownership for all consumers across America. Freedom Mortgage, Lender NMLS ID: 2767. Equal Housing Opportunity. For more information visit FreedomMortgage.com.

FREEDOM MORTGAGE CONTACT:

Ellen Longo

609-678-0968

[email protected]

SOURCE Freedom Mortgage Corporation

26 march 2024 at 14:07

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Tom Stritikus Named 17th President of Occidental College





LOS ANGELES, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Occidental College Board of Trustees has appointed Dr. Tom Stritikus as the College's 17th president. Stritikus comes to Occidental from his position as president of Fort Lewis College, a public liberal arts college located in Durango, Colorado.

The board unanimously selected Stritikus at the conclusion of a national search, advised by a search committee drawn from all segments of the college community. He will begin his term at Occidental on July 1 and will succeed Harry J. Elam, Jr., who announced in August 2023 that he will leave the College on June 30 after a four-year presidency.

"I am honored to have been selected to lead Occidental, an institution that defines excellence, equity and service," Stritikus said. "I look forward to collaborating with world-class faculty and staff to engage the Los Angeles community and help students realize the full potential of an immersive liberal arts education."

Stritikus will bring to Occidental more than three decades of higher education leadership experience, as well as an abiding commitment to values of inclusive excellence and equity.

Prior to his presidency at Fort Lewis, he was a deputy director of education at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he developed funding plans for initiatives to improve outcomes for low-income students and youth of color nationwide. Prior to that, he served as the dean of the University of Washington's College of Education, which US News & World Report ranked as the sixth-best program in the nation during his tenure.

In his six years at Fort Lewis, Stritikus helped to reinvigorate a campus that served high percentages of first generation students and students of color. He oversaw record increases in fundraising and more than doubled the College's cash endowment.

He also led the college as it embraced its role as a Native American-serving institution, which included engaging with Tribal Nations as partners and reckoning with the college's complicated history as a former Native American boarding school.

"Dr. Stritikus' demonstrated success in creating an inclusive campus environment, bolstering experiential learning, accelerating financial support for the mission and programs at Fort Lewis and being a consistent advocate for students, faculty, and academic excellence speak well to the alignment of his skills and experience with the needs and opportunities in the Occidental community," said Lisa Link, chair of Occidental's Board of Trustees.

As president, Stritikus will lead Occidental in bringing to fruition the Occidental Promise , the College's integrated strategic plan. The plan focuses on providing students with a distinctive urban liberal arts experience grounded in the values of academic excellence, equity and justice, and immersive student learning in Los Angeles.

"The ability for our students to apply what they're learning to issues in Los Angeles ? one of the nation's most dynamic and important cities ? is a huge opportunity to show the world the value of a liberal arts education," Stritikus said.

Art Peck, the Occidental alumnus, parent, and trustee who chaired the Presidential Search Advisory Committee, said trustees saw in Stritikus a deep commitment to the liberal arts, a student and faculty-centric leader, a person who understands what makes Occidental special, and a personal and humble connection to the transformative power of higher education.

"We are confident that, working within the framework and vision of the Occidental Promise, Dr. Stritikus will continue to fulfill the College's mission of providing a diverse student body with an excellent educational experience that prepares them for leadership and citizenship in an increasingly complex world," Peck said.

Stritikus' scholarly work examines the effect of bilingual education policy and teacher practice on the academic lives of Latinx and Asian immigrants. A first-generation college student and son of immigrant parents, he received a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and earned his Ph.D. in language, literacy and culture from the University of California, Berkeley. He began his teaching experience as a Teach For America corps member in Baltimore.

Mark Suzman, CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, lauded Stritikus' commitment to educational access.

"Dr. Stritikus has been a great leader in higher education for many years, dedicating his career to making sure that all students ? no matter their background ? experience great teaching and have every opportunity to succeed," said Suzman.

Members of the Presidential Search Advisory Committee echoed the Board's enthusiasm about Stritikus.

"Dr. Stritikus' focus on building community partnerships during his time at Fort Lewis College resonates with Occidental's mission of immersive, community-based learning," said John McCormack, professor of biology, faculty council president and search committee member. "His time in both academia and philanthropy should give him a unique vantage point for pushing forward the implementation of our strategic plan."

Claire Kosek '25, who served as a student representative, said she believes Stritikus will be an outstanding president, mentor and friend to the Occidental community.

"Dr. Stritikus' vision for the college offers a bridge between the beauty of what Occidental is and the creativity to explore what Occidental could be," she said.

Elam said he looks forward to working with Stritikus and the Board to ensure a smooth leadership transition.

"I have had the privilege of working with Dr. Stritikus as a fellow elected board member of the American Council on Education," said President Elam. "I am excited to watch Occidental grow and thrive in new ways under his leadership and to see him build on initiatives that we have underway. "

The executive search firm Isaacson, Miller assisted Occidental College with the search.

Please visit the College's website for a suite of media assets, including an introductory video, high-resolution images and additional quotes.

About Occidental College

Founded in 1887 in Los Angeles, Occidental College, a private, coeducational college of the liberal arts and sciences, seeks to provide its students with a total educational experience of the highest quality?one that prepares them for leadership in an increasingly complex, interdependent, and pluralistic world. The distinctive interdisciplinary and multicultural focus of the College's academic program seeks to foster both the fulfillment of individual aspirations and a deeply rooted commitment to the public good.

Contact: Rachael Warecki

Office of Marketing and Communications

[email protected]

SOURCE Occidental College

26 march 2024 at 14:20

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TEAMSTERS WIN AGAINST YELLOW CORP. IN COURT, JUDGE SHOOTS DOWN COMPANY'S FRIVOLOUS LAWSUIT





Yellow Abuses Legal System with Phony Claims, Shows Contempt for Workers

WASHINGTON, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The International Brotherhood of Teamsters won a major victory against Yellow Corporation yesterday with the dismissal of the company's frivolous $137 million-dollar lawsuit by U.S. District Court Judge Julie A. Robinson.

The lawsuit, Yellow Corporation et al., v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters et al., was a blatant attempt by Yellow Corp. to undermine the rights of workers and discredit the Teamsters. The union vigorously defended its position and challenged the meritless breach of contract claims filed by Yellow Corp. The court agreed with the union's position that the lawsuit be dismissed.

"After years of corporate mismanagement, Yellow still never misses an opportunity to embarrass itself or bring further shame to what used to be one of America's strongest freight carriers. As the Teamsters expected, the court saw right through Yellow's PR stunt of a lawsuit," said Teamsters General President Sean M. O'Brien. "Yellow's greedy executives drove this company into the ground despite enormous, selfless sacrifice from its workforce for decades. This lawsuit represented management's desperate, last-ditch attempt to save face ? and they failed yet again."

Despite taking $5 billion in wage and benefit concessions from rank-and-file Teamsters since 2019 and $700 million in a federal government bailout, Yellow Corp. filed for bankruptcy in August of last year, but not before paying out millions of dollars in bonuses to its failed executives.

Yellow Corp. enriched its attorney in the now-dismissed lawsuit, Marc Kasowitz of Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP, with more than $1 million in fees since Dec. 21, 2023. Meanwhile, Yellow Corp.'s attorneys with Kirland & Ellis LLP are working to deny WARN Act claims from workers hurt by the company's bankruptcy.

"While Yellow abuses the legal system by filing bogus claims against the Teamsters Union, the company's lawyers are actively working to attack retirees and deny workers what they are legally owed," said Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman. "We will continue to fight to ensure that workers are protected and the abuse by Yellow's executives and their opportunist corporate lawyers is put to a stop."

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.3 million hardworking people in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Visit Teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at Facebook.com/teamsters .

Contact:

Kara Deniz, (202) 497-6610

[email protected]

SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters

26 march 2024 at 15:25

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The NWMO's 2023 annual report shows movement towards site selection with meaningful collaboration





TORONTO, March 26, 2024 /CNW/ - The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) has published our 2023 annual report, Creating the future together. The report looks at our accomplishments over the last year as we implement Canada's plan for the safe, long-term management of used nuclear fuel and begin planning for other types of radioactive waste.

"This year, we continued to collaborate in Canada and internationally, and use our leading technical expertise to further build our understanding ahead of a key milestone we expect to achieve in 2024: selecting a site for Canada's deep geological repository for used nuclear fuel," said Laurie Swami, President and CEO of the NWMO.

"Looking back on 2023, our progress demonstrates not only that our work is on the right track, but also that we are ready for what is next: a new phase of Canada's plan for used nuclear fuel, and taking on an important new mandate that closes the remaining gaps on nuclear waste management."

In accordance with the Nuclear Fuel Waste Act, the report was submitted to Canada's Energy and Natural Resources Minister, Jonathan Wilkinson, on March 26, 2024. As part of the open and transparent process required by the act, the report will be tabled in Parliament in the coming weeks.

Here are some key accomplishments from 2023, as outlined in the annual report:

We took steps towards developing hosting agreements with communities in the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation-Ignace area in northwestern Ontario and the Saugeen Ojibway Nation-South Bruce area in southern Ontario , as they determined how to decide and demonstrate willingness. These agreements outline roles, investments and expectations that we will have for each other once the site is selected.

and the Saugeen Ojibway Nation-South Bruce area in southern , as they determined how to decide and demonstrate willingness. These agreements outline roles, investments and expectations that we will have for each other once the site is selected. We strengthened important partnerships with international counterparts, including signing a new Statement of Intent to Co-operate on Used Nuclear Fuel Management with the United States Department of Energy and renewing a multi-year co-operation agreement with Andra in France . These partnerships are an incredible opportunity to share knowledge and best practices with international leaders in nuclear waste management and learn from them in return.

. These partnerships are an incredible opportunity to share knowledge and best practices with international leaders in nuclear waste management and learn from them in return. We released our Water Statement , which reflects on the importance of water, our ongoing commitment to protect it, and the role this commitment plays in the NWMO's Reconciliation journey. It was created with input from Indigenous peoples and aligns with Indigenous Knowledge. Similarly, we released our Sustainability Statement , which acknowledges our organization's commitment to a sustainable future.

, which reflects on the importance of water, our ongoing commitment to protect it, and the role this commitment plays in the NWMO's Reconciliation journey. It was created with input from Indigenous peoples and aligns with Indigenous Knowledge. Similarly, we released our , which acknowledges our organization's commitment to a sustainable future. We reached a key milestone in our work on Canada's Integrated Strategy for Radioactive Waste, a comprehensive strategy that closes the gaps in disposal of all Canada's radioactive waste from current electricity generation and the production of life-saving medical isotopes, with an eye to the future.

Integrated Strategy for Radioactive Waste, a comprehensive strategy that closes the gaps in disposal of all radioactive waste from current electricity generation and the production of life-saving medical isotopes, with an eye to the future. The federal government accepted the NWMO's recommendations, which we developed following two years of engagement with Canadians, Indigenous peoples, waste generators and other key members of the public.

The endorsement from the government sets in motion a new mandate for the NWMO to implement a deep geological repository for intermediate-level and non-fuel high-level radioactive waste.

In addition to the 2023 annual report, the NWMO has released our latest implementation plan, which outlines our planned activities for the next five years (2024-28). The implementation plan is regularly assessed and updated based in part on public input, and we want to hear from you! This is your chance to send us your thoughts on our implementation plan by filling out our online survey, available until June 7, 2024.

About the NWMO

Founded in 2002, the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) is a not-for-profit organization tasked with the safe, long-term management of Canada's intermediate- and high-level radioactive waste, in a manner that protects people and the environment for generations to come.

The NWMO has been guided for more than 20 years by a dedicated team of world-class scientists, engineers and Indigenous Knowledge Holders that are developing innovative and collaborative solutions for nuclear waste management.

Facebook Instagram X: @nwmocanada

LinkedIn: /company/nwmocanada

SOURCE Nuclear Waste Management Organization

26 march 2024 at 15:37

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Greenplaces Partners with Pat Croce & Company to Measure Carbon Footprint and Reduce Emissions





RALEIGH, N.C., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Greenplaces , the all-in-one sustainability platform, has announced a partnership with Pat Croce & Company , a distinguished family-operated company in the hospitality industry, to calculate their carbon footprint and establish sustainability goals.

Greenplaces' software and services enabled Pat Croce & Company to accurately calculate their carbon footprint, a significant step in their journey towards being more sustainable. Armed with this data, the company has been able to set ambitious goals aimed at reducing its environmental impact through sourcing renewable energy, reducing gas and water consumption, and engaging its supply chain to source more sustainable options.

"We are thrilled to collaborate with Greenplaces," said Jeff Sorg, CEO of Pat Croce & Company. "They have empowered us to understand the impact hospitality and restaurants have on the climate and actively engage in practices that are not only good for our business, but also contribute positively to our planet."

Pat Croce & Company is pioneering the way towards a greener future in the hospitality industry. In partnership with Greenplaces, the company invested in renewable energy credits equal to their 2022 electricity consumption. "We are proud to support Pat Croce & Company in their sustainability journey and driving new standards in the hospitality space for other businesses to follow," said Alex Lassiter, CEO of Greenplaces.

This collaboration underscores Pat Croce & Company's commitment to significantly reducing its carbon footprint and integrating sustainable practices into its broad portfolio of hospitality brands. With more visibility into their spend and usage patterns, Pat Croce & Company aims to launch, scale, and share sustainability practices that benefit not only their business but also the planet.

About Greenplaces | Greenplaces.com

Founded in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 2021, Greenplaces provides an all-in-one sustainability platform designed to make it easy for businesses of all sizes to meet their sustainability goals. By offering technology, tools, and expert guidance, Greenplaces helps businesses navigate the complexities of carbon reporting, reduce emissions, and foster a sustainable business model that benefits both the bottom line and the planet. For more information, visit greenplaces.com .

About Pat Croce and Company | patcroceandcompany.com

Pat Croce & Company is a family-run management company that owns, operates, and builds brands in the hospitality industry. Pat Croce & Company's journey began in 2005-2006 when Pirate Soul, the original pirate museum, and the Rum Barrel Bar & Grill launched its hospitality operations in Key West, FL. As they expanded throughout the island with different concepts, they built a strong team and a great local following. In 2010, the pirate museum was rebranded and moved north to the oldest city in Florida, St. Augustine. Ten years later, Pat Croce & Company expanded into State College, PA, with the purchase of some of the oldest and most iconic businesses in town, adding more seasoned industry people to their hospitality family and an opportunity to carry on the tradition of these beloved brands.

SOURCE GreenPlaces

26 march 2024 at 16:01

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MEDIA ADVISORY - The RCMP's Name the Foal contest is coming soon!





OTTAWA, ON, March 26, 2024 /CNW/ - The RCMP's annual Name the Foal contest is returning, from April 8 to 26. Children aged 14 years and younger, along with school classes from across Canada, are once again encouraged to submit their best names for our newborn horses. This year, we're looking for names starting with the letter "A."

These aren't just any baby horses. One day, they could go on to join the world-famous Musical Ride. We'll be naming up to 10 foals through this contest.

Quick facts:

The RCMP has been breeding its famous black horses since 1939.

The RCMP Musical Ride Breeding Program is one of the largest licensed Hanoverian breeders in Canada .

. The breeding program is internationally recognized for producing some of the finest horses in Canada .

. The newborns spend the first three years of their lives at the Packenham breeding farm, growing and developing before moving on to the Musical Ride.

The Musical Ride has played an important role in the organization since its first public performance in 1876.

Link: The RCMP's Name the Foal contest is coming soon

SOURCE Royal Canadian Mounted Police

26 march 2024 at 17:01

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A message broadcast on a large screen urges North Korean citizens to be on their guard against the coronavirus, in Pyongyang, May 23, 2022. KYODO VIA AP

Borders more tightly guarded than ever, trade with China at a standstill, and  despite these draconian measures  an out-of-control Covid-19 epidemic: North Korea has endured three particularly difficult years which it is still struggling to recover from, according to a report by the non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch.

Based on 147 interviews, information from North Korean state media and analysis of satellite images, the report by the human rights organization paints a picture of a society that is stifled by surveillance. The almost total closure of the borders from 2020 to 2022 has prevented escape from the country and put an end to legal trade, but above all to illegal trafficking, which enables many North Koreans to secure additional income.

'An even more repressive and isolated state'

"The governments persistent drive to control its population, overbroad and prolonged responses to the Covid-19 pandemic, and expanded nuclear weapons capabilities, have combined with the intensifying external pressures of UN Security Council sanctions to turn North Koreaalready effectively a country-wide prisoninto an even more repressive and isolated state," writes the report entitled "A Sense of Terror Stronger than a Bullet." It sheds some light on a situation that is all the more unfamiliar given that the few foreign diplomats and NGO employees left the country during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Back in January 2020, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) was one of the first countries to close its borders, just a few weeks after the initial outbreak of the virus in Wuhan, central China. A measure applied to the extreme, as border guards were ordered to "'unconditionally shoot' on sight any person or wild animal" attempting to cross the Chinese border in either direction. The number of escapees dropped from 1,047 in 2019 to 63 in 2021, and 196 in 2023. At least 16 people have been shot dead by guards since 2020, according to the report, which cites various press reports. To secure the border, hundreds of kilometers of barbed wire fences were erected, often in several parallel layers, and special forces were stationed on site.

Read more Subscribers only North Korea now views its southern neighbors as 'enemies'

The presence of these new soldiers has also prevented the illicit trafficking usually undertaken by officers on duty. At the same time, penalties for such activities have been stepped up: In August 2020, the DPRK passed an emergency quarantine law, punishing both the perpetrators of offenses and officials who did not ensure the enforcement of these rules. Penalties range from life sentences of hard labor to capital punishment. A climate of terror was reinforced by other laws, which were passed from 2020 to repress the spread of "anti-socialist ideology and culture", the act of "copying foreign culture" or "using South Korean intonations or slang."

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Corina Yoris, the new candidate of the Venezuelan opposition coalition for the July 28 presidential election. On the left, Maria Corina Machado, the former candidate, now ineligible. Caracas, March 22, 2024. FEDERICO PARRA / AFP

Maria Corina leaves, Corina takes her place. Maria Corina Machado, who was nominated in October 2023 following the primaries held by Venezuela's opposition coalition, was then declared ineligible by a court ruling in January. On Friday, March 22, she announced that she was handing over the presidential election candidacy representing the opposition union coalition  the Unitary Platform (PU)  to Corina Yoris, a university professor with no political experience. On July 28, Yoris will face the incumbent president, Nicolas Maduro, who is seeking a third term in office.

With degrees in philosophy and literature, a doctorate in history and membership in the Venezuelan Academy of Language, Yoris, who turned 80 in March, has had a brilliant academic career. She is, however, completely unknown to the electorate. Her appointment came as a surprise, putting an end to the discussions and negotiations that had been stirring up the PU parties for weeks.

Maria Corina Machado  who had initially ruled out withdrawing from the presidential race  waited until the last moment to announce that she had accepted being "represented": "Corina is not replacing Maria Corina, she is representing her," insisted sources close to Machado.

'We are all in the same boat'

The five-day deadline for filing presidential candidacies was due to end at midnight on Monday, March 25. By Monday evening, Yoris had still not been able to register for the election. On its X account, Yoris protested that her registration on the National Electoral Council (CNE) website was being "impeded," by blocking access to the platform for registration. Opposition figures have suspected a maneuver by the authorities to prevent Yoris from registering for the election, with Machado appealing to the international community on X.

Yoris' name was announced on Friday during a press conference at Machado's campaign headquarters in Caracas. "We have found an honorable person, in whom I have full confidence, to conduct this campaign with the support and trust of all," declared opposition leader Machado, adding: "I will continue to travel throughout Venezuela to bring strength and hope throughout the country. We're in the same boat. We make a great team."

Yoris, meanwhile, said she was ready to take up the "challenge." She spoke of her "tremendous commitment to the people, the citizens and Maria Corina." Both women pointed out that Machado had not given up on her candidacy, without specifying how she intended to pursue it.

Read more Subscribers only In Venezuela, Maduro threatens to move the presidential election forward to catch the opposition off guard

Conciliation was not the order of the day. Machado's entourage has been targeted by the justice system. Arrested on Wednesday, Henry Alvarez and Dignora Hernandez, who worked for her campaign, are still being held. In all, a dozen of Machado's associates have been arrested or are the subject of arrest warrants, having been accused of plotting against the government.

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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a law restricting social media access for minors under 16 on Monday, March 25, as the effects of the platforms on teens generate rising concern in the United States. Those 13 years old and younger will not be able to open a social media account in the state, and 14- and 15-year-olds will need parental consent to use such platforms.

Despite worries about social media, the law has also raised free speech concerns and comes at a time when right-wing state governments have pushed controversial "parental rights" legislation, notably affecting education. Lawmakers, DeSantis said, were "trying to help parents navigate this very difficult terrain that we have now with raising kids."

Read more Subscribers only French study reopens the debate on the impact of screen time for kids

Speaker of the Florida House Paul Renner said that social media is fraught with risks from traffickers and pedophiles, and that "social media platforms have caused a devastating effect in the mental well-being of our children."

Most platforms require users to be 13 or older, though they do little in terms of enforcement. Across the country, there has been rising concern about the effects of social media on child and teen development and learning. But the law has also sparked concerns among those worried it sets a precedent for restricting free speech online.

Read more A bad case of anti-TikTok fever in Washington

DeSantis, who ran an unsuccessful campaign for president and dropped out in January, has argued many times that parents should have more control over decisions affecting their children, particularly in education.

Parental rights legislation in Florida and other states has sought to give parents more input in areas deemed controversial, especially education around LGBTQ+ topics in schools. While the social media ban gives parents oversight on the matter, others say that the government should stay out of such fights altogether.

Read more Subscribers only No, tech bosses don't ban their kids from using screens

DeSantis previously vetoed a stricter social media ban, which would have blocked access for those under age 16. He said at the time that a better balance was needed between competing parental rights, privacy issues and free speech.
A LIMERICK MAN has been honoured for his 60 years of service in the Civil Defence.

Michael J Ryan from Corbally celebrated 60 years of service with Limerick City and County Civil Defence back in 2021, and was among 100 of his comrades to receive long service medals from Tanaiste and Minister for Defence Micheal Martin TD earlier this month.

The medals were awarded to members of Civil Defence from across the country in a national ceremony at Trinity College Dublin.

The medals were awarded for 30, 40, 50 and 60 years of service in the Civil Defence.

Mr Ryan, who had an interest in first aid since he was a child, joined the Civil Defence in 1961. He went on to become a first aid instructor in January 1975, and since then has acquired many various skills and qualifications.

Speaking at the event, the Tanaiste said: "I am delighted to formally honour the long and distinguished years of service of these Civil Defence members with the award of long service medals. As we see on a constant basis, the Civil Defence plays an essential role in so many aspects of daily life, whether responding to search and rescue, flooding or other events.

READ MORE: Limerick's ADAPT services mark their 50th anniversary

"It is because of this vital role that the Government is committed to continuing its investment in the modernisation of the Civil Defence to ensure that this invaluable organisation continues to grow and fulfil its crucial role in Irish society, he added.

Including Mr Ryan, 10 recipients received 60-year medals; one each from Cavan, and Wicklow, two from Louth and five from Dublin.

These volunteers joined in the 1960s, when younger recruits under the age of 18 were still allowed to join.

In addition to supporting the primary response agencies such as An Garda Siochana, the Fire Service and the HSE, Civil Defence also support their local communities through medical cover and other means for charity and other local events.
TEN JOBS are to be created as a British stationary retailer unveils plans to open in the heart of the city.

The Works is to open a branch at a vacant unit beside OMahonys Booksellers in OConnell Street.

The premises was formerly home to Compu b, before it closed its city centre branch.

The stationary retailer, which has 525 stores across Ireland and Britain, sells gifts, arts, crafts, toys, books and stationery.

Due to open in May, its new store in Limerick will measure around 2,000 square feet.

Its the 11th outlet the firm has opened in the Republic of Ireland.

Recruitment for positions in the store is currently ongoing, with vacancies for store manager, team leaders and sales assistants.

More information can be found at https://theworks.jobs.

A spokesperson for The Works said: We are delighted to be expanding our footprint in the Republic of Ireland and opening our newest store in Limerick in May. At The Works, we aim to inspire our customers to read, learn, create and play, and our stores play a very important part in this. OConnell Street is a hive of retail activity and we are very much looking forward to becoming a part of the localcommunity. We cant wait to welcome new customers from Limerick and the surrounding areas through the doors of our new store in the spring!

Meanwhile, in a further boost, council has revealed plans to put in place a team focused on keeping the city centre clean.

READ MORE: Speed limit measures will change culture of Limerick village

The team will be tasked with maintaining the cleanliness and upkeep of the public realm in the central area.

In addition to collaborating with the Councils existing cleaning and public realm teams, the team of five council staff will engage with traders and private property owners to address litter accumulation, with the goal of eliminating the problem of private littering.

Mayor Gerald Mitchell urged people to get behind the campaign.

Let's reject littering and take pride in our community. Together, we can cultivate a cleaner, more vibrant environment for everyone, he said.
LIMERICK-BORN Green Party TD Neasa Hourigan has revealed she has taken cocaine and ecstasy, while also calling for the legalisation of both cannabis and sex work.

In a Hot Press article, the TD also said that cocaine and heroin should be de-criminalised.

Ms Hourigan, originally from the North Circular Road, whose father Michael Hourigan is a former Fine Gael councillor and mayor of Limerick, stated that she would have no qualms about going into coalition with Sinn Fein.

Ms Hourigan opened up about her rebellious student days.

I tried it (cocaine) twice and I liked it so much I didnt try it again. And thats a scary thing. I didnt like myself on it. It was like a hyper-version of myself. It gave me a fright, Ms Hourigan said.

She also spoke about her experience with trying ecstasy.

It didnt change my life or anything. I wasnt going looking for it every weekend. It wasnt a big thing for me, honestly. Ive tried lots of different things, Ms Hourigan added.

The Limerick-born TD said she doubted that 160 TDs, plus Senators have lived a life having not done multiple types of drugs.

Like, thats utterly unbelievable. Its ridiculous lying when they say they havent done it, she added.

On the overall criminalisation of narcotics, Ms Hourigan said "I dont think you should criminalise somebody who is taking a drug.

READ MORE: Limerick teachers honoured for half a century of excellence in education

In regards to her views on cannabis use - she said "we have such a high percentage of people who are safely using it, that we should just legislate for it.

In terms of legalising sex work, Ms Hourigan expressed frustration that in Ireland, we confuse sex trafficking with sex work."

"Actually, we are one of the worst EU countries for prosecuting people for people trafficking," she said.

"And yet we criminalise sex workers on the basis of trafficking, she added.
STAFF AT Limerick Prison are remaining vigilant for a nitazene-type substance which has been associated with overdoses across the country.

According to a spokesperson for the Irish Prison Services, the dangerous substance known as N-Pyrrolidino protonitazene, which has been linked to a small number of overdoses in Irish correctional facilities, has not been detected in Limerick Prison so far.

However, staff in Limerick are remaining vigilant, and providing information to prisoners regarding the substance.

Naloxone, a life-saving medication that temporarily reverses the effects of opiates like heroin, has also been made available to Irish Prison Service staff.

READ MORE: Postgraduate Students' Union call emergency meeting regarding 'no confidence' in UL president

The HSE extended its red alert warning after an analysis conducted by the HSE National Drug Treatment Centre Laboratory confirmed the presence of the drug in the Irish Prison System.

The Irish Prison Service is working closely with the HSE in response to a number of overdose presentations in custody. The Prison Service has secured extra naloxone kits in the event of clinical intervention.

Extra vigilance is being taken across the prison estate and the Irish Prison Service has commenced an information campaign for prisoners around the dangers of consuming contraband, a spokesperson confirmed.
A NEW candidate has thrown her hat in the ring for Limericks directly elected mayor (DEM) - and says she will aim to tackle areas such as the homelessness crisis, the mental health crisis and provide transparency if elected.

Aontu member Sarah Beasley declared her intention to run for DEM on Tuesday saying she was prompted to run as she wants to use the office to highlight the fact that while Limerick is a gem, it is not shining as it should.

Referring to the Aontu office on Thomas Street in Limerick City, Ms Beasley said that they are absolutely inundated with people coming to them with truly serious problems.

They feel abandoned, ignored and hopeless, she added.

Ms Beasley gave a personal example of a friend who had died from suicide after living on the street for six years.

The world is a very cold place for people who have problems, despite all the platitudes and lip service about inclusion, Ms Beasley said.

We have a fabulous city; it is full of history, full of beauty and full of potential. However, we do have problems, serious problems, she added.

According to Ms Beasley, Limerick has a desperate housing issue and poor access to medical care.

People who never even contemplated they could be homeless, are homeless, families who never even contemplated they could be waiting for years for medical treatment, are on ever-lengthening waiting lists, she added.

Ms Beasley said that Limerick is in her bones.

I absolutely love and believe in it. It could quite literally be the jewel in the crown of the Mid-West, but the will has to be there. I cant think of another city in Ireland that has the amenities, both natural and man-made that we have, but is so taken for granted and beset with issues, she said.

Were consistently told that the country is awash with money, but weve never had so many people who are homeless. At every corner of Limerick City, we have people begging for money. They are not living; they are existing, and this is a black stain on our city, she added.

Ms Beasley highlighted spiralling levels of mental illness as one of the issues she intends to tackle.

We are blessed to have the Limerick Treaty Suicide Prevention group, I call them Street Angels who are patrolling the River Shannon day and night in a bid to try and prevent suicides, and they are doing sterling work, but they need more support, she said, pledging that if she is successful in her bid for DEM, she would give the group a permanent base to operate from.

READ MORE: TD hopes for good spread in the mayoral election

Ms Beasley said that part of the mental health crisis is no doubt being brought on by the huge strain and stress that people are under just trying to make ends meet.

We have little children who are in agony waiting for spondylosis treatment that they have been promised time and time again. This is horrendous both for them and their loved ones who have to watch them suffer, Ms Beasley added.

Ms Beasley said that money is currently not being spent in the best interests of the people.

Cynical promises are made to get votes and then broken just as quickly and nobody it seems is held to task. The lack of transparency and accountability is absolutely galling, Ms Beasley finished.

Aontu leader, Deputy Peadar Toibin TD endorsed Ms Beasleys bid, saying Sarah truly espouses everything that we as a party stand for.
THE CHANCELLOR of University of Limerick (UL) has called a meeting of all staff and students for this Thursday lunchtime.

It comes as pressure continues to mount on the college's president Prof Kerstin May after it emerged the institution lost 5.2m paying inflated prices for 20 homes in Rhebogue last year.

The news of the financial loss, which emerged in an email to staff and students on Friday last, has caused significant anger among the college population - both staff and students.

READ MORE: Jon Kenny opens up about cancer returning and 'matchmaking'

Now, in an email sent to staff and students shortly after 3pm this Tuesday afternoon - and seen by Limerick Live - John Kelly, UL corporate secretary has confirmed the university chancellor, Brigid Laffan, will be on campus later this week and would like to meet with staff and students. The email was addressed to all UL staff and students.

Mr Kelly wrote that the chancellor "would like to take this opportunity to meet with you in the University Concert Hall."

The meeting is set for 1.30pm.

Separately, the governing authority of UL is due to meet on the same afternoon.

Professor Eoin Devereux, the convenor of the only trade union on campus, UL Unite, which has 900 members, has encouraged attendance at the meeting in the Concert Hall.

In a separate email to union members this Tuesday afternoon, he wrote: "As convenor, I would strongly encourage all of you to attend this meeting with the chancellor on Thursday".

UL Unite members this Monday said they no longer had confidence in the leadership of Prof Mey. They also called for an investigation to take place into who is responsible for the overspend on the homes, which are occupied by third-level students.
HSE MID West is urging members of the public to avail of free walk-in MMR vaccine clinics in Limerick following an increase in measles cases in Ireland, UK, and Europe in recent weeks.

Measles is highly infectious and can be a serious infection. It causes a rash illness, with cough, runny nose, conjunctivitis and high fever.

Complications of measles include ear infections, pneumonia, febrile seizures and less commonly encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) and even death.

A number of cases have been recently reported in Ireland, with two or more cases of measles classed as an outbreak.

A man in Leinster died earlier this year after contracting the infection, the first measles death in Ireland in over 20 years.

As part of the HSEs national MMR vaccine campaign, over the coming days and weeks, there will be free vaccine clinics in Limerick and across the Mid-West, for both scheduled appointments or walk-ins.

The MMR vaccine is safe, and effective at preventing measles infection and serious illness.

Dr Siobhan Neville, consultant general paediatrician at University Hospital Limerick, and associate professsor of Paediatrics at UL, has encouraged parents and caregivers to double-check their children's vaccination status, and arrange catch-up if required.

"As cases have been so rare in recent years, it's easy to forget that measles can be an extremely serious illness, particularly for younger children and those who are immunocompromised. Vaccination is a safe and effective way to protect your child and those around them," she said.

The campaign focuses on delivering the MMR vaccine to key groups, who may have missed their vaccines in the past including children, young adults and healthcare workers.

Read More: Estate to bring 384 homes to Limerick suburb

The best protection against measles is vaccination. Two doses of MMR vaccine are needed and if a child or adult is not fully protected then MMR vaccines can be obtained from your GP or a HSE Vaccination Clinic.

How to get your vaccine

MMR vaccines are available free of charge from GPs to all groups, but primarily to those under 18 years, and from HSE community clinics for everyone eligible who is aged 5 years and over.

A number of clinics will be held across Limerick over the coming weeks, for both scheduled and walk-in appointments.

These include:

* St. Brendans Health Centre, Rosbrien, March 26 and April 2, 2.30pm-4.30pm

* Kings Island Primary Care, March 27, 3pm-5pm;

* Great National South Court Hotel Limerick, March 28 and 29, 10am-4pm, and April 1 and 2, 10am-2pm

* Hospital Health Centre, April 4, 9.30am12.30pm

* Ballynanty Health Centre, April 4, 2pm-4.30pm

* Southill Health Centre, April 5, 10am-1pm

* Castletroy Primary Care, April 5, 2.30pm-4.30pm

A full list of Vaccination Clinics is available here.

To book an appointment, visit hse.ie/mmr-vaccine/book-an-appointment.

Some walk-in appointments are also available.

Additionally, the HSE will also provide targeted clinics for specific groups including students and young people in education settings, underserved groups including refugees, applicants seeking protection and other minority groups.

Monitor for Symptoms

Stay vigilant for symptoms of measles. These include high fever, cough, runny nose and a characteristic red rash.

If you or a family member develop these symptoms, or have been in contact with someone with measles, stay at home and contact your doctor by phone for advice, and inform healthcare providers of any recent travel history.

If you think someone in your family has measles, phone your doctor immediately for advice. Keep the child or adult at home and refrain from visitors coming to your home unless they know they are protected against measles (they have had two doses of MMR vaccine).
Irish actor Niamh Algar has paid tribute to her beloved sister who she says taught here everything.

In a heartfelt tribute, the BAFTA winning actor wrote: "There are simply no words to describe the pain in losing a big sister. My heart is broken".

"She taught me everything, she touched and inspired so many she met and worked with, and accomplished more in her short life than most people would achieve in several lifetimes. She fought the Everest of all cancers and managed it with so much dignity, humility and strength.



"She's my hero and forever will be. Her kids are her world and the most beautiful extensions of her, an extraordinary legacy that I will forever be in awe of.



"I love you Lynne, you will never be forgotten," Niamh wrote.



She thanked the incredible medical teams at Beaumont, the Mater Hospital and the Irish Cancer Society.

Oscar winning actress Julianne Moore wrote: "Oh Niamh, Im so sorry. Sending you and your family love. Im thinking about you".

Bressie wrote: "I am so sorry Niamh. Your sister was an incredible force of nature. My very deepest condolences to you and all the family".

As Lynne passed away on Daffodil Day, Niamh and her family have urged people to support the Irish Cancer Society's Daffodil Day appeal. The family has also asked people to please donate to Brain Tumour Ireland

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Niamh Algar (@niamhalgar)

Her death notice on RIP.ie reads: Lynne Alexandra, ALGAR, Sundays Well Road, Mullingar, March 22, 2024. It is with deep regret that we announce the death of our beloved Lynne, who passed away peacefully in the presence of her loving family, following an illness bravely borne with great courage and dignity.

Cherished mother of Aille and Nuada, Lynne will be forever loved and always remembered by her adored children, their father Aaron, her heartbroken parents Dave and Angela, her dear brothers and sisters Kenneth, John, Jen and Niamh, sisters in-law, aunts, uncles, relatives, friends and neighbours.

Lynnes funeral was due to take place on Tuesday, March 26 in All Saints Church, Mullingar at 11am followed afterwards by cremation in Mount Jerome Crematorium, Dublin at 3.45pm.
Incidents involving people shoving camera phones in the faces of gardai and hurling abuse at them must end, the justice minister said, as she vowed to tackle insidious behaviour against members of the force.

Helen McEntee said the Government has increased the maximum sentence for attacks on officers from seven years to 12 because of the surge in assaults.

However, she has resisted changing the legislation to impose mandatory sentences for attacks on members of An Garda Siochana.

The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI), which is holding its annual conference in Westport, has called for the changes.

Ms McEntee, attending the conference on Tuesday, said: I acknowledge that its a really difficult environment. I would just acknowledge to the members here that I believe, in particular in recent years, more insidious behaviours have started to come through, not just online but in person.

We have seen an increase in assaults. Thats why weve increased the mandatory sentence for assaulting a member of An Garda Siochana from seven (years) to 12, reflecting the seriousness of this.

Thats why Im introducing body cameras. Its not just to support gardai in collecting evidence and bringing forward prosecutions, but also to protect them.

The day now where people shove cameras in gardai faces, where there is abuse hurled at them, has to end and gardai have to have the ability to be able to record a situation as it actually happens and to provide that as evidence as well.

Im also making sure that, when we introduce facial recognition technology, if a member is to be assaulted, that that technology can be applied.

This is an expansion of what we had originally proposed. That would be used for facial recognition, but I think its absolutely necessary and I hope that that sends a strong signal.

"Assaults are common, attacks frequent & abuse constant"@AGSI_Ireland President Paul Curran tells Justice Minister @HMcEntee that Gardai are working in violent, stressful & dangerous conditions The Association is calling for mandatory sentences for those who attack Gardai pic.twitter.com/sAXmrpvU9z  Paul Quinn (@PaulQuinnNews) March 26, 2024

The Fine Gael minister also said she has provided funding for mental health supports for gardai.

Ive worked with all of the associations, including the AGSI, to make sure that they can put those structures in place and that there is funding behind it, she added.

Ms McEntee also said politicians face a threatening environment.

Earlier this month, a man was found guilty of phoning in a bomb threat to Ms McEntees home.

Michael Murray, 52, formerly of Seafield Road, Killiney, Dublin, had pleaded not guilty to one count of knowingly making a false report giving rise to apprehension for the safety of someone while he was imprisoned in the Midlands Prison, Portlaoise, in 2021.

Asked how she feels about her personal safety, Ms McEntee said: In the same way that were talking about gardai working in a more threatening environment, I think the same can be said for politicians, and for many other professions as well.

Its about making sure that we respond in the most effective way possible, and we try and keep people safe. I think that work is under way.

We have an Oireachtas committee in particular thats working closely with the Garda Commissioner (Drew Harris), with my own colleagues and members to make sure that any types of supportive measures are needed to keep people safe right across the board.

She also said she would like to stay on as justice minister after the Cabinet reshuffle.

Its been a privilege to be appointed. It would be a privilege to be appointed again, she said.

But, most importantly, quite a lot of work thats been done focusing on keeping our streets safe, our community strong, making sure our Policing Bill is implemented, making sure we get body cameras on gardai, making sure facial recognition legislation passes with other legislation as well.

But of course thats a decision for any Taoiseach.
Where you go to buy a loaf of bread or a bunch of bananas could help determine the fate of the biggest-ever supermarket merger deal.

In Greeley, Colo., shoppers can head to King Soopers in the center of town, owned by supermarket giant Krogeror they can try a Safeway, owned by rival grocery-store operator Albertsons, about 2 miles away. On the northeast side is a Walmart that sells groceries, and it also has a Sprouts Farmers Market, as well as about a dozen dollar stores within 7 miles of town.

Kroger and Albertsons, which are fighting in court to defend their roughly $20 billion merger deal, argue that markets like Greeley show how intensely competitive the food-retail business has become.

Federal antitrust enforcers, who sued last month to block the Kroger-Albertsons deal, look differently at markets such as Greeley, a city of more than 100,000 about an hour north of Denver. By definition, Walmart and Target historically havent been classified as supermarkets. Sprouts ranks as a premium natural and organic store. Dollar stores are too limited in what they sell to be considered grocery competitors. Under the Federal Trade Commissions view, if Kroger and Albertsons merged, they would be the only major supermarket operator left in town.

Direct competition between Kroger and Albertsons has brought grocery prices down and the quality of grocery products and services up," the FTC said in its lawsuit. The proposed acquisition would destroy this."

Kroger responded in a court filing that regulators are willfully blind" to the reality of selling groceries in 2024: The landscape of grocery shopping has expanded to a diverse assortment of grocery retailers beyond the traditional supermarket."

When Kroger and Albertsons announced their deal in late 2022, company executives said that combining the countrys No. 1 and No. 2 pure-play supermarket operators was necessary to compete against retail powerhouses such as Walmart and Amazon.com, which have pushed further into the food business.

Walmart for years has been the biggest U.S. seller of groceries in terms of total sales. In Greeley, it has become the citys top grocery seller, according to investment firm Solomon Partners, which is working with Kroger and Albertsons. Merging would give the combined company added scale to operate efficiently, maintain employment and keep prices down for consumers, executives have said.

Lawmakers, union officials and consumer advocates have warned that the deal would reduce competition, increase prices and erode bargaining power for the stores union employees.

Consumers typically shop for groceries at about five different stores a month and make trips to about three different stores a week, according to FMI, a food-industry trade group. As the portion of Americans income spent on food hits a three-decade high, shoppers say they are frequenting more discount grocery stores.

Linda Rajlevsky, a 68-year-old retiree from Kenoza Lake, N.Y., drives 30 minutes once a week to Aldi for most of her groceries. She sometimes stops at the local Walmart for produce, and goes to Pecks, a local market, for meat, because it sells chickens that her neighbor raises, and other last-minute items. Every two months, she orders frozen seafood from Wild Alaskan, an online vendor.

Rajlevsky started making more trips to Aldi a year ago when food prices were on the rise, and shops there for most of her vegetables, snacks, cheeses and their selection of German food. I would call it a supermarket," Rajlevsky said.

According to regulators, discount grocery chains such as Aldi and Lidl are labeled as limited assortment stores," not supermarkets, because they dont have everything one-stop shoppers are looking for, including delis, bakeries and pharmacies.

To draw more shoppers and diversify their businesses, supermarket operators like Kroger and Albertsons have looked beyond produce, cereal and canned goods. The two chains together operate around 4,000 pharmacies, in addition to health clinics and delivery services.

Meanwhile, big-box retailers such as Walmart and Target have broadened their supercenters food offerings over the years to include deli counters, bakeries and expanded produce sections.

You can buy everything you buy in a grocery store and its probably cheaper," said James McCann, the former chief executive of European-based grocery chains Ahold USA and Carrefour France.

In its lawsuit seeking to block the Kroger-Albertsons deal, the FTC defined the market as traditional supermarkets where consumers can buy everything they need for the week in one place. When antitrust enforcers sue to block a merger, they focus on a particular market where competition would be lost.

The FTC argues in its lawsuit that many grocery sellers used by consumers arent one-stop-shop supermarkets. The lawsuit doesnt list Walmart as a direct competitor to a combined Kroger and Albertsons. The FTC also alleged that Whole Foods isnt a true competitor, because of its higher prices and focus on brands that many supermarkets dont carry.

Walmarts absence from the lawsuit is hard to square with the retail giants footprint in the grocery market, said Stephen Calkins, an antitrust law professor at Wayne State University.

I dont think they will succeed in excluding Walmart, Aldi and Lidl," Calkins said. They will not be able to define the market as narrowly as they would like."

Rather than argue that Walmart doesnt compete against Kroger and Albertsons for grocery sales, the FTC said that in markets where there is a Walmart, more competition is still needed if the two supermarket companies combine.

A federal judge in Oregon will decide whether Kroger has solved the FTCs competition concerns by agreeing to sell over 400 stores that Albertsons currently owns in states such as Washington and California. A hearing over the FTCs claims is scheduled for Aug. 26.

The FTC said that even if it included other stores where people shop for groceries in its one-stop-shop category, the merger would still be illegal in most areas because Krogers and Albertsonss combined market share would be too high.

McCann said discount stores, including Trader Joes and Aldi, sell mostly private-label products and are too limited in their product offerings to be considered real competitors to larger supermarkets. Whole Foods also doesnt carry many national brands and can be more expensive than a traditional supermarket, he said.

Its not quite the same shopping trip," McCann said.

Write to Patrick Thomas at patrick.thomas@wsj.com and Dave Michaels at dave.michaels@wsj.com
The count of broke businesses finding new homes jumped in the fiscal year nearing its close, as well-staffed bankruptcy courts amped up decision-making.

By the end of February, various tribunal benches had approved 250 resolution plans, compared to 185 in all of FY23. By the end of March, this fiscals count could rise to around 275, two people aware of the matter said, marking a near-50% jump over the previous year.

The pace of resolutions rose sharply as vacancies in benches of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) were filled up, and rule changes by regulator Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) improved the efficiency of the resolution processes under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), one of the persons said on the condition of anonymity.

Quick revival of distressed businesses under IBC is a priority for policymakers as it cleans up corporate and bank balance sheets, and enables a fresh cycle of private investmentscritical for adding momentum to economic growthto kick in.

Data available from IBBI showed that from 2016 (when IBC became operational) to December 2023, bankruptcy resolution plans were approved for 891 companies. From these cases, creditors realized 3.2 trillion, which is more than the fair value of the assets of 2.97 trillion, although it is less than their total claims of 10 trillion.

The second official said once resolution professionals get tribunal orders to recover dues from corporate guarantorsmostly promoters of defaulting companiesthe amounts that creditors realize under IBC will see a sharp jump. The path has been cleared for this by the Supreme Court, when it upheld the constitutional validity of insolvency resolution of personal guarantors last November, the person added.

Meanwhile, the number of corporate turnaround plans approved so far this year has gone up from about 42 in the June quarter to more than 80 in each of the September and December quarters, data available from IBBI showed.

Increasingly, resolution plans which do not have too much complexity are being cleared proactively in several benches," said Anoop Rawat, partner (insolvency and bankruptcy) at law firm Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co. Infusing similar efficiency in admission of cases will help in making IBC more effective in addressing distress in the corporate sector."

Experts said capital and efficient management are key elements of the revival of stressed assets under IBC, but many strategic investors that are looking to buy stressed assets face the challenge of finding a suitable asset due to key information not being available.

Most prospective resolution applicants, who are not already informed about the company, will not be able to form a view on whether to submit an expression of interest (EoI) in response to the information in Form G (invitation for EoI), explained Vishwas Panjiar, Partner, Nangia Andersen Llp, a business advisory firm.

Panjiar said it is also important to address doubts about the definition of secured creditors. In the Gujarat state tax officer vs Rainbow Papers Ltd case, the Supreme Court in September 2022 interpreted the definition of secured creditor to hold that any government or governmental authority shall be a secured creditor as the charge created by a statutory law can be considered as a security interest.

In January last year, the corporate affairs ministry captured the essence of security interest in a discussion paper as the result of a consensual transaction between parties and not any interest created through mere operation of a statute.

A clear legislative intent is required towards clearing these doubts. If the law is tentative on such a key matter, it would not evoke confidence enough to get the requisite resolution applicants to come and take over a sick company," said Panjiar.

Experts said banks should exercise caution when resorting to IBC, as its primary purpose should not be misconstrued as a mere debt recovery mechanism.

Utilizing IBC solely for debt recovery could potentially worsen issues within both banking and corporate sectors.

The essence of the IBC lies in rescuing viable companies in distress and facilitating the closure of unviable ones. Thus, its paramount that lenders view it through this lens and refrain from prematurely resorting to it as a recovery tool," said Mukesh Chand, senior counsel at law firm Economic Laws Practice (ELP).

Experts also pointed out that in the initial years of IBBI, many legacy cases under the erstwhile Board of Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR), with limited assets to attempt a restructure, were transferred to NCLT, leading to a high number of liquidations. As of December, liquidation orders were passed in the case of over 2,370 companies.
Troubled American plane manufacturer Boeing's board is likely to choose a new CEO from outside its ranks as it navigates operational and legal challenges under 66-year-old Dave Calhoun, as per a Reuters report.

Calhoun is set to step down by 2024-end to make way for a new CEO. This comes after the company's commercial planemaking chief and chairman have also exited amid the mounting controversies.

Also Read | Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun steps down, says 'board has been prepared'  Read full text here

The incoming CEO will face a plethora of tasks, including enhancing the company's safety culture, addressing quality concerns, and rebuilding trust among regulators, customers, and the general public. Moreover, Boeing must fulfil its objectives to increase production rates and bolster cash flow to alleviate debt pressures and compete more effectively with its European rival Airbus, the report noted.

External Candidate Most Likely

So, the question arises: who will take up the CEO role from Calhoun? Analysts told Reuters they expect an "outsider" to take the post after the most favoured candidate Stephanie Pope was appointed as Chief Operating Officer three months ago, and more recently as head of Boeing's commercial planes division.

"The company was teeing up Stephanie Pope to likely succeed Calhoun but that seems to have changed in favour of an external search for a new CEO. This could result in a high-profile hire," Stifel analyst Bert Subin told Reuters.

Also Read | Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun, other senior executives to step down after series of high-profile safety incidents

They added that an external candidate is also being favoured for a "fresh perspective" on addressing concerns regarding Boeing's quality and manufacturing practices.

Besides the industry watchers, unions on their part are advocating for a return to engineering leadership, to show prioritisation of quality and safety over shareholder interests, the report said.

Prospective Candidates for Boeing's CEO Post

 Industry observers highlighted General Electric CEO Larry Culp as a potential candidate possessing the leadership qualities needed to rebuild confidence in Boeing. However, Culp has reiterated his commitment to leading GE Aerospace. Notably, GE Aerospace is a key partner and supplier to Boeing.

Also Read | Biggest Challenge Facing New Boeing CEO Is Winning Over Airlines

 Another contender is Pat Shanahan, former Boeing executive and current CEO of Spirit Aerosystems, a key supplier for Boeing's troubled 737 MAX program. He was also once the acting United States Defense Secretary in the Trump administration.

Shanahan's prospects look bright since Spirit used to be a Boeing subsidiary till 2005 and is under discussions now for acquisition. Industry veteran Adam Pilarski told Reuters he is "the perfect outsider" who knows the company and the people.

 Greg Smith, another former Boeing Chief Financial Officer and current chairman of American Airlines is also speculated to be in the running for the CEO position. Notably, Calhoun beat Smith for the CEO seat in 2021.

 David Gitlin, a Boeing board member, has also been mentioned as a potential candidate, although it remains uncertain whether he would relinquish his current role as head of Carrier Global.

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The next leader of the American manufacturing icon will have to address some of the same issues that Calhoun, a longtime Boeing director, was brought on to clean up four years ago when the board he led ousted his predecessor.

Boeing said Monday that Calhoun will step aside by the end of the year, though he is expected to leave as soon as his replacement is found. Calhouns biggest ally on the board, Chairman Larry Kellner, is also stepping down, and the top executive for the commercial aircraft unit was replaced on Monday.

Airline executives and government officials said they welcomed the shake-up. The board has started searching for a new leader. While it will look at internal executives, it faces added pressure to bring on an outsider who can clean up quality issues that have slowed production of 737 MAX jets that airlines need.

They understand what they need to do," General Electric CEO Larry Culp said in an interview in mid-March, when asked about Boeing. As it was for us, a lot of work ahead."

Culp would know. He has just spent five years restructuring GE by splitting off business units, paying down debts and streamlining its factories. Soon he will oversee a slimmed-down GE Aerospace, which makes jet engines that go into the 737 MAX.

By setting Calhouns exit date at the end of the year, Boeing gave itself ample time to find a successor who the board hopes could instill confidence in the company internally and externally. And if other controversies surface at Boeing in the coming months, Calhoun can take the blame for them instead of the new CEO, executive advisers said.

Lets hope there arent any front-page scandals" to come, said Peter Crist, chairman of the executive search firm Crist Kolder Associates. But boards do think about that stuff."

A long transition could slow turnaround efforts: Outgoing CEOs rarely make bold strategy moves, and uncertainty at the top can ripple through a company, paralyzing decision-making and weighing on employees and other executives.

The faster they get someone in, the better," said Bill George, former chairman and CEO of Medtronic, who has co-written case studies on Boeings challenges. The new CEO is going to have a massive job."

Succession scramble

The shake-up announced Mondayafter a near-tragedy Jan. 5 on a 737 MAX flown by Alaska Airlineshighlighted shortcomings in the companys current succession plans. Boeings board had previously doubled down on Calhoun, extending his stay past the traditional retirement age of 65.

Calhoun, who turns 67 next month, had been preparing for his succession and, before the Alaska Airlines accident, had elevated one of his lieutenants, Stephanie Pope, to a No. 2 role, making her the heir apparent. But as the problems mounted, people familiar with them said that Calhoun, Kellner and other directors discussed the need to accelerate leadership changes.

Calhoun had told directors after the Alaska accident that the company had no immediate successor to commercial unit chief Stan Deal, keeping him in place for the time being, according to people familiar with the matter. Popes appointment to replace Deal in that role on Monday showed the board couldnt wait.

At the same time, several airline CEOs requested to take their concerns directly to Boeings board, asking the directors to spell out plans for fixing the manufacturers quality problems, The Wall Street Journal reported last week. Boeing countered by offering to send Kellner, former CEO of Continental Airlines, and other board members for meetings with individual airline bosses as soon as this week.

Those meetings will now feature Steve Mollenkopf, who is taking over as Boeings chairman and will lead the CEO search. The former Qualcomm CEO is a relative newcomer to Boeing, though he is well known in Silicon Valley circles and on Wall Street. He joined the aircraft makers board in 2020 and serves as a director at Dell Technologies.

The electrical engineer led Qualcomm through several high-profile challenges, repelling an activist investor, averting a hostile takeover and waging a legal battle with Apple, one of its biggest customers.

Struggles with Spirit

Calhoun had been trying to address Boeings supply-chain issues by cracking down on quality problems with fuselage maker Spirit AeroSystems. Boeing said this month it would stop accepting parts from Spirit that had flaws or problems.

The Alaska Airlines door plug had to be opened when it arrived at Boeings factory in Renton, Wash. Boeing workers then reinstalled it without bolts that are needed to keep it in place, investigators have said. A few months later, it blew off a plane full of passengers at 16,000 feet. There were no fatalities.

Calhoun is also in the midst of negotiations with Spirit about acquiring the company. A deal would mark a reversal of Boeings manufacturing strategy of outsourcing many components to focus on final assembly. Boeing had sold the Spirit factories in 2005.

Boeing and Spirit had hoped to announce a deal as soon as this week but havent yet been able to come to an agreement, a process complicated by the fact that Spirit also supplies parts to Boeings chief rival Airbus, said people familiar with the matter.

Fixing Boeings problems will be a big undertaking, Scott Kirby, Uniteds chief executive, said earlier this month.

This is not a 12-month issue. This is a two-decade issue," he said during an investor conference. The airline said in a statement Monday that it continues to root for Boeing and looks forward to working with the company during its leadership transition.

The Federal Aviation Administration, Boeings most important regulator, has been unsettled by what officials have seen at Boeing since the Alaska accident, current and former government officials said. Calhoun has been agreeable to the FAAs requested changes, one former FAA official said, but the agency hasnt seen enough results so far.

Calhoun has apologized for Boeings mistakes, slowed production and said the company is working with regulators and customers to address their concerns.

Growing tensions

The tension came to a head earlier this month. The FAA found multiple instances" of Boeing quality-control issues after conducting an audit of Boeings 737 production. Soon after, the company advised airlines to check cockpit seats on 787 Dreamliner jets after a seat mishap caused a terrifying plunge on a flight to New Zealand.

The Justice Department has been reviewing a 2021 settlement it reached with Boeing after two deadly MAX crashes and has opened a criminal investigation of the Alaska Airlines accident. The Federal Bureau of Investigation in recent days has reached out to passengers on the Jan. 5 flight identifying them as possible crime victims, generating news headlines that also got the boards attention, according to one person briefed on the matter.

Union leaders representing Boeing workers said in recent days that they were demanding a seat on the board for the first time in the companys nearly 108-year history, along with commitments that the next plane model be built at facilities with union members, not factories Boeing opened in other states.

We firmly believe our voice and the voice of the engineers must be heard at the highest level of the companys decision-making process," said Jon Holden, one of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers leaders. The safety of aircraft manufacturing isnt negotiable and must be safeguarded above all else."

Airline executives had expressed frustration for yearseven before the Jan. 5 blowoutat delivery delays that complicated planning and in some cases thwarted growth. The smallest and largest types of MAX jets havent been certified, and it is unclear when the FAA will sign off.

Southwest Airlines, which relies entirely on Boeing jets, said earlier this month that it would have to cut its schedule in the second half of the year. United, which had been waiting on the largest MAX variant, has said it can no longer rely on receiving those planes and is shopping for Airbus jets to replace them.

In his final months on the job, Calhouns role will likely morph into that of a caretaker, helping to prepare for a new CEO to take on the job, executive advisers said. His lame-duck status remains.

Is he going to be in a position to deal with some of the strategic challenges that need to be made?" said Harry Kraemer, a former chief executive of healthcare company Baxter International. God knows theyve got a lot of them."

Alison Sider and Emily Glazer contributed to this article.

Write to Sharon Terlep at sharon.terlep@wsj.com, Chip Cutter at chip.cutter@wsj.com and Andrew Tangel at andrew.tangel@wsj.com
In a move that could potentially shake up India's technology sector, global investment firm Carlyle Group Inc is exploring strategic options for its portfolio company, Hexaware Technologies Ltd. Among the possibilities under consideration is an initial public offering (IPO) in Mumbai that could raise a staggering $1 billion, according to a report by Bloomberg.

Also Read | Carlyle's Head of Direct Lending Aren LeeKong Is Leaving the Firm

The sources, who requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the discussions, reveal that Carlyle is engaging with potential underwriters to prepare for an IPO later this year or in 2025. If successful, the share sale could value Hexaware, an Indian information technology and business process outsourcing services provider, at a remarkable $4 billion or more, the report added.

Also Read | Carlyle and Insight Partners acquire risk-management business Exiger

Should Hexaware proceed with the IPO, it would mark a significant milestone, as it would be the largest public listing in India since the highly anticipated offering of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) in 2022. LIC's shares initially struggled but have since largely recovered, reflecting the resilience of the Indian market, as per the report.

Also Read: Carlyle in exclusive talks for $7 bln-plus Medtronic units deal: Sources

While an IPO appears to be the preferred option for Carlyle, the sources indicate that alternatives, such as a stake sale to an investment firm or an industry peer, are also being explored. However, they emphasise that these considerations are preliminary, and no final decisions have been made regarding the size, valuation, or timing of a potential transaction, as per the report.

Hexaware, which Carlyle acquired from Baring Private Equity Asia (now part of Sweden's EQT AB) in 2021, offers a range of services, including information technology, business process outsourcing, cloud computing, data analytics, and artificial intelligence solutions.

(With inputs from Bloomberg)

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India's state-run natural gas company, GAIL (India) Ltd, is preparing to commission the country's first green hydrogen project in the coming weeks. As reported by Reuters and confirmed by multiple sources within the company, this pioneering initiative is slated to commence operations at GAIL's Vijaipur complex in Madhya Pradesh by April.

The project comprises a 10-megawatt proton exchange membrane electrolyser imported from Canada for the production of green hydrogen. The report added that once operational, the unit is expected to produce approximately 4.3 metric tons of hydrogen per day, boasting a purity level of 99.999% by volume.

Also Read | India's first green hydrogen tender meets a chaotic end

Once the initial hiccups are sorted at the commissioning stage, we expect to start producing in a month's time," disclosed a source familiar with the matter, requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media, as quoted by Reuters.

The green hydrogen production unit will rely on renewable power sources, aligning with India's ambitious goal of reaching 5 million tons of annual green hydrogen production capacity by 2030. This project marks a significant stride in the country's pursuit of cleaner and more sustainable energy solutions.

Also Read | JSLs green hydrogen project gels with Indias vision for sustainable future: Scindia

While GAIL's communication office did not respond to requests for comment, the company's proactive efforts in the green hydrogen domain underscore its commitment to embracing emerging technologies and contributing to India's transition towards a greener future.

In a significant move towards embracing sustainable transportation, the Union government released guidelines for undertaking pilot projects to explore the use of green hydrogen in the transport sector on February 15. The 'Scheme Guidelines for Implementation of Pilot Projects for Use of Green Hydrogen in the Transport Sector' had been issued by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), as reported by Mint.

(With Inputs from Agencies)

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Italian-American automaker Stellantis has drawn criticism for its unconventional approach to laying off over 400 employees in its engineering, software, and technology divisions across the United States . The manner in which the terminations were carried out has raised eyebrows and reignited discussions around appropriate layoff etiquette.

According to reports, Stellantis instructed employees to attend a mandatory remote work day on Friday, March 22, under the guise of "important operational meetings," as quoted by Moneycontrol. In a notice sent the previous day, the carmaker stated, "We will be holding important operational meetings that require specific attention and participation. To ensure everyone can effectively participate, we have decided to implement a mandatory remote work day."

Livemint could not independently verify this news development.

However, during the remote call, white-collar workers were informed that they were being laid off. "It was a mass firing of everybody that was on the call," a mechanical engineer who lost their job during the call told Fox News. The engineer, who declined to be named, alleged that Stellantis is outsourcing jobs to India, Mexico, and Brazil, stating, "So they continue to push low-cost countries that are more efficient for the company and more profitable."

In a statement to the Wall Street Journal, Stellantis, which owns brands like Jeep and Chrysler, acknowledged the layoffs, stating, "As the auto industry continues to face unprecedented uncertainties and heightened competitive pressures around the world, Stellantis continues to make the appropriate structural decisions across the enterprise to improve efficiency and optimize our cost structure." The automaker also claimed that laid-off workers have been offered "a comprehensive separation package and transition assistance," as quoted by CNBC.

The Stellantis layoffs have reignited discussions surrounding appropriate layoff etiquette, an issue that has been hotly debated in recent months. Last year, during Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter, several employees discovered they had lost their jobs after being unable to log into their work email accounts. Similarly, Goldman Sachs faced backlash for conducting layoffs by emailing calendar invites for fake meetings at its New York headquarters, where employees were then informed of their termination.

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Visa, Mastercard and the largest U.S. credit-card issuing banks have agreed to a settlement with merchants that have been suing them for nearly two decades over the fees they charge for swiping credit cards.

In the deal, the credit-card networks and banks will lower the fees that merchants pay to accept credit cards. There is a range of these fees, typically referred to as swipe fees or interchange fees, but the average is about 2%.

The pact would lower the rates by 0.04 percentage point and keep them there for five years.

The proposed settlement would create some changes to give merchants more choice on accepting cards, allowing them to guide consumers to cards that have lower fees.

It would also give small businesses the ability to form groups to negotiate swipe fees, similar to what large retailers already do today.

The settlement requires approval from a federal judge in Brooklyn, N.Y. Earlier deals have dragged through years of rulings and appeals, which could happen again with this pact given the wide range of merchants involved and their varying opinions.

Visa said Tuesday it was making meaningful concessions to small businesses. Mastercard said the settlement will bring closure and value to business owners.

The legal team that struck this deal for the merchants said the settlement would provide immediate relief on fees and help eliminate restraints on their businesses.

Merchants first brought this contentious class-action lawsuit against Visa, Mastercard and banks in 2005. They alleged that the card network companies and banks have colluded to keep interchange fees inflated.

Interchange fees are set by the card network companies. Merchants then pay these fees to banks whenever consumers use credit cards to purchase goods and services. Though small individually, they add up to billions of dollars a year. The merchants wanted the ability to negotiate fees directly with the banks.

Visa, Mastercard and the banks have already settled part of the suit, agreeing to pay the merchants nearly $6 billion. Last year, an appeals court affirmed that settlement.

This new proposed settlement is to address the rest of the suit, where retailers wanted to address what they said was the anticompetitive nature of the card networks.

Visa and Mastercard face other battles over their dominance in the card industry.

U.S. senators are pushing legislation to give merchants the ability to process Visa and Mastercard credit cards over other payment networks.

There is also a bill aiming to cap the interchange fees on credit cards, similar to legislation that already regulates the fees on debit cards.

The Justice Department has asked for documents about debit cards in an antitrust investigation, both companies have said.

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Chinas premier and its central bank chief have sought to calm the countrys embattled property sector in recent days, but investors are waiting on something slightly more elusive: concrete steps.

Peoples Bank of China Gov. Pan Gongsheng on Monday offered up a mildly upbeat assessment of Chinas real estate market, saying the sector is showing some positive signals," according to a statement on the PBOCs website.

Chinese property stocks rose in early Tuesday trading after Pans comments, but then pared some of those gains.

Shares of Longfor Group rose as much as 5.8% in early trade in Hong Kong before paring those gains to 4.5%. China Resources Land gained as much as 6.6% and was last up 3.3%. China Vanke advanced 2.0%, while Shimao Group climbed 4.2%.

Pans comments on Monday followed a statement by Chinese Premier Li Qiang at a State Council meeting on Friday, where he said the real-estate industry is crucial to the overall economy and linked to the Chinese peoples vital interests.

Li called for more systematic planning of relevant supportive policies" to stimulate potential demand and stabilize the real-estate market, according to state media Xinhua.

Some analysts say the statements by Chinese officials indicate a sense of urgency among policymakers to revive the sector, but they note that a piecemeal approach will only move the needle a little.

We believe it has become clear that the marginal benefits from these [expected] easing measures would do little help to incentivize home buyers against the backdrop of an ailing economy in which people are anxious about future income and home price," Daiwa analyst William Wu said.

So in that sense, the market has become less and less sensitive to any conventional relaxation," he added.

While Lis statement may have helped to temporarily prop up property stocks, latest data reflect a different mood. New home sales by value in China plunged 32.7% in the first two months of the year from the year-earlier period. New-home sales by floor area dropped 25%, while new construction starts by property developers fell 29.7%.

Pans comments signals more policy support ahead, but we dont expect the banks will significantly increase new loans to private developers via loosening risk management controls," Morningstar analyst Iris Tan said.

China has undertaken a series of piecemeal measures like drafting up a whitelist to provide loans to developers, lowering mortgage rates and removing some financing restrictions that had been previously imposed on property developers, but none have overturned overall sentiment.

We believe any share price rally induced by stimulus measures would not be sustainable," Daiwas Wu said.

A slowing economic recovery and weak consumer sentiment have hurt the businesses of many property developers, leading to defaults on loan payments and substantial impairments on their income statements.

But even as policymakers have increased their rhetoric indicating stronger support to the economy," UOB economist Ho Woei Chen said investors think Beijing has no intention to unveil any substantial measures and may probably do just what is necessary to defuse greater risks to the economy."

Write to Tracy Qu at tracy.qu@wsj.com and Sherry Qin at sherry.qin@wsj.com

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The Shiv Sena (UBT) will announce the first list of candidates in Maharashtra on Tuesday for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections that are scheduled to take place in seven phases beginning on April 19, said party leader Sanjay Raut.

He said the list will feature 16 names of the Uddhav Thackeray-led opposition party, a constituent of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in the state, PTI reported.

"Shiv Sena's first list is ready, we will publish the list today. Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) is with us. They are important members of Maha Vikas Aghadi. The proposal of 4 seats remains," the Rajya Sabha MP told media persons.

So far, Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray has given indications that Amol Kiritkar (Mumbai North-West), Chandrahar Patil (Sangli), and Anant Gete (Raigad) will be party candidates from these three Lok Sabha seats.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena is also likely to release its first list of candidates in a day or two, party leader and Lok Sabha MP Rahul Shewale said.

Another MVA constituent, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) is yet to officially declare its candidates in the state for the April-May Lok Sabha polls. On the other hand, the Congress, which is also a part of the state-level grouping of the opposition parties, has declared its candidates on some seats where there is no tussle with its alliance partners.

The MVA constituents, who are also members of the INDIA bloc, have yet to finalize their seat-sharing arrangement. Maharashtra, which has 48 Lok Sabha seats, the second highest after Uttar Pradesh (80), will vote in five phases starting from April 19.

As the last date for filing nominations is March 27 for the five seats going to the polls in the first phase on April 19, it becomes necessary for parties who have not named nominees for these constituencies to do so by Tuesday.

(With PTI inputs)

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MUMBAI : Employees of ICICI Bank reached out to small shareholders of ICICI Securities on the broking units delisting vote that concluded on Tuesday, several investors who received the overtures said.

Five shareholders said the ICICI Banks branch employees have called and made home visits persuading them not just to vote, but also to vote in favour of delisting. While all five got calls, only one got a home visit. The callers sometimes even asked for proof of voting in the form of screenshots of a confirmation message received after e-voting, the investors said.

In June, the boards of private sector lender ICICI Bank and its broking arm ICICI Securities had approved the delisting of equity shares of ICICI Securities. Investors are proposed to receive 67 shares of ICICI Bank for every 100 shares of ICICI Securities they own. While ICICI Bank had appointed JM Financial Ltd, ICICI Securities had appointed BofA Securities India Ltd to provide a fairness opinion on the ratio based on the joint valuation report by PwC Business Consulting Services LLP and Ernst & Young Merchant Banking Services LLP.

While influential proxy advisory firms IiAS, InGovern and Stakeholders Empowerment Services (SES) whose opinion can sway the voting decisions of large institutional shareholders have greenlighted the resolution, some retail investors are unhappy with the swap ratio.

Last week, someone from ICICI Bank called me asking me to vote in favour of the resolution, telling me that the voting process is going on and I need to vote in favour of the delisting," said Sreenivas K, a 47-year-old engineer from Hyderabad. Sreenivas was taken by surprise and said he had already voted against the proposal.

Meanwhile, Apurba Das, a shareholder of ICICI Securities and a customer as well as shareholder of ICICI Bank, said that his relationship manager from the bank had been following up with him for several days to check if he had voted. While he maintains that the relationship manager did not explicitly ask him to vote in favour of the delisting, the relationship manager was implicitly nudging him towards it, he said.

After I voted, they asked for screenshots as proof of voting too," said Das.

Similarly, Tarun Balotia, a 31-year-old software engineer from Bengaluru got a visitor at his registered address in New Delhi. He said he first received a call on Tuesday morning from a person who identified herself as an ICICI Bank employee. The person told Balotia that she was at his home address in New Delhi and asked if he had voted on the delisting proposal.

She also asked me for the screenshot of the e-voting confirmation and I told her I do not have one but have already cast my vote," said Balotia. He said later at around 1:30 pm on Tuesday, he got calls from his father informing him that some employees of ICICI Bank visited the address, asking for a screenshot of e-voting. I told my father to tell them I was at work and not entertain them any further," said Balotia.

Emails sent to ICICI Bank and ICICI Securities remained unanswered till press time.

However, a person aware of the development said that at many banks, the relationship manager is not just in charge of the savings bank account of the customer, but also of his/her relationship at the whole bank level, including securities held in demat accounts. That, the person said, could be the reason why bank employees have called up some retail investors.

As of 31 December, ICICI Bank held 74.77% stake in ICICI Securities, while retail shareholders held 5.86%, while most of the remaining stake is held by mutual funds, foreign portfolio investors and the Life Insurance Corp. of India (LIC).

ICICI Bank is pushing for the delisting and merger of ICICI Securities because the current valuations are more attractive to the bank than to ISEC shareholders," said Ajit Dayal, founder, Quantum Mutual Fund which has a 0.09% stake in the broking subsidiary. Dayal said he is perplexed that even the proxy advisory firms have recommended investors to vote for the delisting. They are supposed to be neutral and keep the interest of investors in mind when recommending a resolution."

Experts pointed to two issues with the whole episode - possible breach of data privacy when shareholder information is shared, and solicitation of votes.

If the information of shareholders of ICICI Securities is shared with ICICI Bank employees for the purpose of vote solicitation, it raises concerns around data privacy and corporate governance," said Shriram Subramanian, founder and managing director of InGovern Research Services. If the services of a third party specializing in shareholder outreach are used, then its different."

Sachin Chaudhary, a Delhi-based engineer and shareholder of ICICI Securities, said he got calls from a person identifying as an ICICI Bank branch manager.

He asked me which way I would be voting and when I said I was against the delisting, he started convincing me to vote for it," Chaudhary told Mint. I told him I do not need his advice." Chaudhary said that he was surprised his contact details were with an ICICI Bank employee despite never having dealt with the bank as a customer or a shareholder. In fact, he is not even a customer of ICICI Securities, he said.

Founded in 1995, ICICI Securities provides institutional and retail broking services, including extending margin trade finance and ESOP finance, distribution of financial products, merchant banking and advisory services. The company got listed in 2018.
Crypto startups raising capital have been stuck in the mud for much of the past couple of years. They are starting to gain traction now thanks to one of the industrys key underlying assets: bitcoin.

The digital currencys price has jumped 38% in the past month to $71,010 as of Mondays market close and has surged 168% over the past six months, according to the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index. Bitcoin is a leading indicator of liquidity in the crypto startup and venture sector and its price swings have historically caused booms and busts in the startup market.

The recent rise has meant startups are having an easier time tapping venture firms that were previously on the fence about deals, investors and entrepreneurs say. Fundraising for crypto startups globally rose for the second consecutive month, with startups netting $735 million through Thursday, according to analytics provider CryptoRank. To be sure, the amount that startups are raising is a far cry from April 2022 when crypto startups raised roughly $7 billion.

LevelField Financial is one such company. The Houston-based financial services startup had been trying to raise capital for roughly a year, said Chief Executive Gene Grant II. Grant said he reached out to roughly 100 venture investors and many returned his calls but didnt move forward with a deal. Among the reasons, Grant said, were the lagging price of bitcoin, skepticism in the wake of cryptocurrency exchange FTXs collapse and banking sector turmoil.

Then the price of bitcoin jumped.

In the last couple of weeks people who we thought were dead were chasing us," Grant said. There has been a sea-change. Everyone feels good about the asset class again."

LevelField is now reviewing several offers for a roughly $9 million pre-Series A funding round, Grant said, adding that the startup is hoping to complete a deal in the next two weeks.

The price of bitcoin is closely tied to crypto startup and venture activity. The number of entrepreneurs entering the sector is historically tied to the price of bitcoin, according to a January report from crypto venture firm Electric Capital.

Rob Hadick, general partner at crypto venture firm Dragonfly, said a jump in the price of bitcoin makes limited partners, which invest in venture funds, more comfortable with crypto exposure. That, in turn, gives venture fund managers more confidence in their ability to raise subsequent funds, unlocking fresh capital for startups.

Whats clear is that LPs are starting to feel more comfortable about the space," Hadick said. Thats speeding up venture fund deployment."

San Francisco-based Dragonfly has roughly six startup investments pending, Hadick said, which is on pace with the firms investments over the past several years. The firm didnt slow its investing pace because of its long-term belief in the crypto market, he said.

Alex Marinier, the founder and general partner of venture firm New Form Capital, said more LPs have contacted him since bitcoin prices have surged. For the past two years, Marinier said he received little inbound interest from LPs about investing in his firm. In the past month, though, about a dozen LPs have contacted him.

Over the last two weeks, I can draw a correlation between the price of bitcoin and inbound from new LPs who want to learn more about our strategy," Marinier said. Were starting to see the return of interest from traditional institutional funds."

Marinier estimates that two-thirds of the companies in New Forms portfolio are indirect beneficiaries of bitcoins price rebound. Those startups become more valuable as the cryptocurrencys value increases, he said.

Write to Marc Vartabedian at marc.vartabedian@wsj.com
Dangerously oversold or still a long way to the top? The exhilarating upswing in small- and mid-cap shares over the past year has left experts divided on the maintainability of this bull run.

Interestingly, buyers, too, are neatly arrayed on opposite sides of the aisle, with retail investors shovelling money into small-cap counters with an almost religious fervour while institutions are taking a more guarded approach.

The recent spell of profit-booking notwithstanding, mid- and small-cap stocks are the undisputed winners of the current rally. Against the benchmark Niftys 30% jump over the past 12 months, the Nifty Midcap 100 index has climbed 57% and the Nifty Smallcap 100 a cool 65%.

Some constituents seem to have escaped the Earths gravitational pull altogether, including names like Indian Railway Finance Corp. Ltd (up 430%), BSE Ltd (416%), Suzlon Energy Ltd (397%) and Housing & Urban Development Corp. Ltd (328%).

What explains this ballistic run?

When we look at the mid- and small-caps, we must understand two factors," Kranthi Bathini, director- Equity Strategy of WealthMills Securities, said. First, the increased liquidity, with retail investors pouring money into MF schemes at an accelerated pace, which in turn is driving stock prices higher. The second aspect is most of these stocks have a low float, where even small inflows can cause exaggerated price movements," Bathini told Mint.

Not unsurprisingly, this dizzying rise has left many market watchers disoriented.

We find the valuations of the majority of the mid-cap and small-cap stocks to be quite expensive, especially in the context of their business models as well as their own history," analysts at Kotak Institutional Equities said in a recent note.

Kotak also highlighted a peculiar nature of the current rallyprice and time correction in better-quality stocks but a strong upmove in low-quality and narrative stocks" over the past six months.

The debate around low" and high" quality stocks notwithstanding, this segment of the market has come under heavy regulatory scrutiny in recent weeks.

In an unusual move, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) last month directed mutual funds to undertake a stress test of their small-cap and midcap funds.

Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch, too, observed that there are pockets of froth" in the market, adding that it is the nature of bubbles to burst.

Not just that, even the law enforcement agencies entered the fray, with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) freezing assets of a Dubai-based hawala operator" who allegedly channeled illicit funds into mid, small and microcap stocks.

While letters like PE, PB and RoA are par for the course, even the staunchest of investors can get cold feet when the letters ED pop up on screen.

This drumbeat of alarming headlines triggered a sell-off in these counters, prompting some participants to fret over a repeat of 2018, when the small-cap index had crashed around 45%.

But not everyone is so pessimistic.

For one, domestic macro is much stronger now, with the GDP growth soaring to 8.4% in Q3FY24 and all engines of growth firing in unison.

The 2018 fall was also driven by broader market sell off (Nifty dropped 7% during Jan-Oct 2018) on peak valuations (23% premium to previous 5-year mean) while the broader market valuation is still palatable currently at around 8% premium to 5-year mean.

"2018 was a period of several other adverse eventsInfrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS) led crisis to LTCG tax to the global tightening cycle while in the current context there is hope of rate cuts in the second half of the year," HSBC Global Research said in a report on 21 March.

HSBC added that it remains constructive on the broader market and any deep sell-off in midcaps from current levels seems unlikely.

Investors can also take heart from the fact that the smallcap show has not been all talk and no show.

During FY21-23, large-caps have delivered earnings growth of around 21% compared to 31% for mid-caps and 48% for small-caps.

Even in Q3FY24, profit after tax growth of BSE500 at 25.5% year-on-year outpaced that of Nifty 50 at 16.30%.

Fundamentals may just be in place, but does that justify the flights of fancy?

Adherents of the high risk high reward style of investing point out that volatility is a feature, not a bug, when it comes to midcaps. Knee-jerk reactions to headlines will only harm investors.

I think serious money can only be made in mid- and small-caps. But investors need to be highly stock-specific in this segment. They should prioritize companies with good earnings visibility, strong fundamentals and competent managements. If they follow these basics, the market will reward them generously," WealthMills Bathini added.
The initial public offering (IPO) of Aspire & Innovative Advertising Limited has opened for bidding today (Tuesday) and will remain open till Thursday (March 28). The Aspire & Innovative Advertising IPO, valued at 21.97 crore, consists of a fresh issue of 4,068,000 equity shares with a face value of 10 each. The entire issue is a fresh offering with no offer-for-sale component.

The net proceeds from the offering will be utilised for capex and working capital purposes, repayment of debt, and general corporate purposes. The price band for the offer has been fixed at 5154 per equity share, with a face value of 10 each.

Also Read: SRM Contractors IPO Retail and NII portion fully booked within hours of opening; check GMP, subscription status, more

For retail investors, the minimum lot size has been fixed at one lot, comprising 2000 shares. At the upper end of the IPO price band, at 54, retail investors are required to make a minimum investment of 108,000 per lot.

Aspire & Innovative Advertising is an SME IPO, with shares set to be listed on the NSE SME platform, tentatively scheduled for April 03, 2024.

Also Read: GConnect Logitech IPO opens today: GMP, price, subscription status, other details of BSE SME IPO in 10 points

About the Company

Aspire & Innovative Advertising operates in the consumer durables trading sector, offering a diverse range of products such as kitchen appliances, home appliances, mobile phones, and solar products from brands like Bajaj, Prestige, Vivo, Samsung, and more.

Their product lineup caters to various price points, ensuring accessibility to a wide range of customers across India, especially in rural and semi-urban areas. By consolidating multiple brands under one platform, the company aims to enhance the lifestyles of its customers.

Also Read: Stocks to buy: Coal India, Bajaj Finance, JSW Energy, Policybazaar among 12 stocks that can rise 8-27% in next 3-4 weeks

Established in 2017, their mission is to provide essential yet advanced products to rural and semi-urban populations, facilitating doorstep delivery to underserved areas, and particularly targeting unbanked and underbanked customer segments through strategic partnerships.

Subscription status on Day 01

The Aspire & Innovative IPO saw a subscription rate of 0.86 times as of 01:00 p.m. Among the different categories of investors, the retail category subscribed it 1.24 times, while the qualified institutional buyers (QIB) category subscribed 0.72 times, and the non-institutional investors (NII) category subscribed 0.14 times, as per the Chittorgarh.

Aspire & Innovative Advertising IPO Grey Market Premium

As per market observers, the Aspire & Innovative Advertising GMP or grey market premium today is 10 per share. With the upper end of the IPO price band set at 54 and the current premium in the grey market, the estimated listing price of Aspire & Innovative Advertising shares is 64 apiece, indicating a 19% increase over the issue price.

Also Read: SRM Contractors IPO opens today: GMP, review, subscription status, other details. Apply or not?

The 'grey market premium' reflects investors' willingness to pay more than the issue price.

Disclaimer: We advise investors to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.

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Penny stock Lloyds Enterprises has posted multibagger returns in the last 4 years, rising from 1.19 in March 2020 to around 28.8 currently. This implies a return of almost 2337%.

An investment of 1 lakh in this stock in March 2020 would have turned into over 24 lakh now.

Lloyds Enterprises Limited trades in iron and steel products in India. It also designs and manufactures heavy equipment, machinery, and systems for hydrocarbon, and oil and gas sectors, as well as steel plants, power plants, nuclear plant boilers, turnkey projects, etc. The company was formerly known as Shree Global Tradefin Limited and changed its name to Lloyds Enterprises Limited in September 2023. Lloyds Enterprises Limited was incorporated in 1986 and is headquartered in Mumbai, India.

Rehash - Multibagger Alert! SJVN soars 490% in 4 years, jumps from  20.75 to 122.4

The stock has surged over 333 percent in the last 1 year and lost over 24 percent in 2024 YTD, giving negative returns in 2 of the 3 months this year so far.

It has shed over 24 percent in March so far, after an over 3 percent decline in February and an over 3 percent surge in January this year.

Currently trading at 28.8, the stock is almost 40 percent away from its record high of 47.75, hit on October 17, 2023. Meanwhile, it has soared over 371 percent from its 52-week low of 6.12, hit on March 29, 2023.

The substantial surge in value indicates a robust wave of market confidence and favorable sentiment towards the stock, marking a noteworthy achievement for the company in the present market conditions.

Earnings

In the December quarter (Q3FY24), the company posted a significant multifold surge in its net profit at 48.20 crore as against 1.27 crore in the year-ago period. Meanwhile, the company's revenue also soared to 122.72 crore versus 1.81 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal year.

Brokerage view

As per ICICI Direct's analysis, the company is experiencing an increase in net cash flow and cash generated from its operational activities. Moreover, it has also posted good quarterly growth in the recent results. Also, the stock passes the majority of CANSLIM Investment criteria, added the brokerage

Meanwhile, its weaknesses, as per the brokerage are -

- Negative Breakdown First Support (LTP < S1)

- Weak performer: Stock lost more than 20 percent in 1 month

- Weak momentum: Price below Short, Medium and Long Term Averages

What are penny stocks?

Penny stocks are shares of small companies trading at low prices, often tied to startups or those facing financial challenges. These stocks are known for their low market capitalisation, limited trading volume, and speculative nature. Typically associated with early-stage ventures, they carry heightened risks due to their volatile price movements and difficulties in buying or selling shares without impacting prices.

Furthermore, penny stocks often operate in a regulatory environment with less oversight compared to larger firms, leaving them vulnerable to potential fraud or manipulation. While their low cost may attract investors seeking high returns, caution is necessary. Diligent research, thorough analysis, and effective risk management are essential when considering investments in penny stocks to navigate the inherent uncertainties and minimise potential losses.

Disclaimer: This story is for educational purposes only. Please speak to an investment advisor before making any investment decisions.

SJVN More Information

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Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd saw a 7.2% surge in its shares on Tuesday, March 26, following its agreement valued at 229 crore with the Airports Authority of India (AAI).

In a recent filing with the exchange, the company disclosed the execution of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Airports Authority of India. This MoU is geared towards streamlining the development of a subway or underpass, intended to link the operational area to the residential colony of the statutory body in Kolkata.

Also read: Lloyds Enterprises: Up 2337%, this penny stock turned 1 lakh into 24 lakh in 4 years

The projected cost for this construction endeavor is approximately 229.43 crore, inclusive of GST charges.

The Indian Railways Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) emerged as the top performer on the Nifty Midcap 100 index, with RVNL shares surging by as much as 7.2% to reach 267.8 apiece on the BSE.

Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) clinched the position of the lowest bidder (L1 bidder) for a project valued at 167.28 crore by South Eastern Railway on Wednesday, March 20, 2024. The contract for this project has been confirmed by South Eastern Railway.

The project involves the design, supply, construction, testing, and commissioning for the upgradation of the electric traction system from 1 x 25 KV to 2 x 25 KV traction system for the Rajkharsawan-Nayagarh-Bolani section of Chakradharpur division of South Eastern Railway. This upgrade aims to meet the 3,000 MT loading target, as stated by the company last week.

Also read: Stock market today: Zomato share price hits lifetime high. Experts see IPL 2024 link

RVNL's shares have witnessed an impressive growth of almost 50% in the last three months and are up by over 45% this year. Over the past year, the stock has delivered a remarkable return of 307% to its investors.

At 1:19 pm, RVNL shares were trading 4.8% higher at 261.8 apiece on the BSE.

RAIL VIKAS NIGAM More Information

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A war of words erupted between the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Congress leader Jairam Ramesh over the effectiveness of Atal Pension Yojana (APY).

It was started when the Mr Ramesh pointed out that while Ms Sitharaman lauded the pension scheme named after the veteran BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Mar 24 in Bengaluru, she did not mention, he alleged, that 83 percent of the subscribers are in the lowest slab of 1,000 pensions.

He quoted a study by Indian Council of Social Science Research to show that nearly one-third of subscribers who dropped out of the pension scheme did so because their accounts were opened without any explicit permission.

The study also shows that while 32 percent of the subscribers dropped out due to the bank opening the APY account without permission, 38 percent closed accounts because they wanted more money and 15 percent did not have money to run the account.

The Union Finance Minister gave a detailed rebuttal to these allegations and even quoted the legendary economists Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein.

ALSO READ: Atal Pension Yojana subscribers count cross 6-crore mark; 79 lakh enrolments this fiscal.

She wrote on her X account that Jairam Ramesh is being ignorant of the basis tenets of designing a good pension account.

She mentioned these vital points about APY:

1 Atal Pension Yojana is designed based on best practice choice architecture to automatically continue the premium payment unless the subscriber chooses to opt out.

This is a feature added deliberately based on economic research, as she points out.

This means the contribution continues year after year until the subscriber wants to discontinue the scheme.

2. The scheme offers a minimum of 8 percent return irrespective of the prevailing rates of interest. And in case there is a shortfall, the government even pays a subsidy to the PFRDA.

3. She rebuffed the allegation of hoodwinking and coercing investors. She also hit back saying that hoodwinking is done by the Congress party in the name of vote bank politics or minority appeasement.

4. She also addressed the allegation of majority of pension accounts being in the lower slabs by stating that the scheme is intended for the poor and lower middle class. "In fact, it shows the proper targeting of the scheme. If the offtake was at the higher end, that would be surprising!" she wrote.

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Delhi-based businessman Bharat Ranga has had it with Axis Bank. The 45-year-olds displeasure comes from the lenders recent devaluations on a suite of its credit cards. Ranga is particularly upset about the offerings taken away from Axis Magnusthe once most sought-after credit card.

Ranga is angry because he had upgraded to Burgundy membership, the premium banking programme of Axis Bank, in August last year to continue getting air miles and hotel loyalty transfer rewards benefit on Magnus cards that was offered exclusively to Burgundy members.

View Full Image Graphic: Pranay Bhardwaj

When Axis Bank announced the devaluation of Magnus last year in August, my wife and I had more than 800,000 Edge Rewards (Axis Banks reward points). We both upgraded to Burgundy accounts by opening fixed deposits (FDs) with the bank as we wanted to use our points efficiently. The bank also promised other additional benefits to Burgundy members, but most of those have been taken away just six months later," said Ranga.

The last two devaluations have not only reduced the value of our points, we also feel cheated, and that too by one of the large banks," he adds.

As a result, Ranga has decided to move his FDs upon maturity to another bank . I will move the majority of my business from Axis Bank. If they can pull this off with one product, they can do so with other products too," he said.

Ranga echoes the sentiment of many users of Axis Bank credit cards after the lender announced a host of devaluations on all its credit cards this week.

To be sure, devaluations of cards are legal and normal; all banks downgrade features on credit cards over time. So, why is it hurting Axis Bank cardholders?

Experts say the manner in which Axis Bank has downgraded the cards over the past six months has left users disgruntled.

The bank promoted Burgundy with superlative rewards and must have managed to get good business as Burgundy banking needs users to have a 30 lakh in total relationship value or 10 lakh as average quarterly balance in their accounts. But to treat the Burgundy clients at par with non-Burgundy ones and to remove a lot of the benefits within three to four months is absurd," said Tejas Ghongadi, co-founder, The Points Code, a platform that advises credit card users on how to optimize reward points.

Starting 20 April, Magnus Burgundy users will no longer get buy-one-get-one tickets on bookmyshowa movie ticket booking app, while concierge services are discontinued and spend categories of insurance, fuel and gold will neither earn rewards nor be counted for the annual spending threshold. Magnus card will be treated on a par with other non premium cards of Axis Bank. Besides, its airport meet and greet services have been reduced to four from the current eight.

Sumanta Mandal, founder, Technofino, a digital platform that reviews credit cards and other banking products, said the banks fickleness is damaging for both the customers as well as the bank. The rewards Axis bank was doling out on its premium cards were unsustainable to begin with so the devaluations were due. But, the bank keeps downgrading its cards once every two months and this has made Magnus and Reserve cards absolutely worthless. Its unfair for the users as they have paid fees for certain rewards and benefits, most of which are gone in a very short span," he said.

View Full Image Graphic: Pranay Bhardwaj

Abbas Zaidi, 28, is another victim of this devaluation. He paid a fee of 59,000 (including 18% goods and service tax) to renew his Axis Reserve credit card just three weeks before the recent downgrades were announced. He even had a plan to recover the fee on the ultra premium card: The 50,000 Edge Rewards given as annual benefit would have translated into about 22,000 worth of hotel loyalty points, four airport transfers would have saved him about 8,000 and the rest was be recovered through the rewards on regular spends. But, the plan has now fallen flat. I wont take any airport transfers in the coming month, so those will go to waste. Further, with the transfer partners grouped and caps introduced on them, Im not eager to spend through the card to accumulate reward points," said the Delhi-based entrepreneur.

One Magnus card user, who did not want to be identified, said he had renewed the card just three days before the bank announced the devaluations. I did not want to renew it but the banks salesperson persuaded me to renew it as it offered lounge access, airport meet and greet services and free movie tickets every month. Just three days later, all three benefits were revoked. To make a customer pay 11,000 fee on the pretext of certain features and discontinue them a few days later constitutes fraud, as far as I am concerned," the cardholder said. He could not get the fee reimbursed as he had used the card to make a payment soon after its renewal.

Sanjeev Moghe, president and head, cards and payments, Axis Bank, said We decided on the changes consciously, after much deliberation. While some benefits are removed, we have not changed the core value proposition of the cards, i.e. reward rate and transfer ratio on redemption partners."

On being asked whether the banks sales teams are not informed of such changes in advance so that the cards are stopped from being sold immediately before any downgrades, Moghe said it was key to keep this confidential, hence it was not done days in advance. However, the entire team was trained just before the communication to customers was sent out, he claimed.

Why Axis did what it did

Its the credit card issuers prerogative to make changes to a cards offerings as it deems fit. The devaluation of a card by way of downgrading of its features is a regular practice as high rewards are an expensive proposition for the lenders. In the case of Axis Bank, until seven months back, the lender was offering as much as 50,000 worth of monthly milestone benefits on every 1 lakh spent using Magnus.

No other bank has ever offered such rewards. What a card user would gain in five years from other banks, Axis Bank gave the same value in one year," said Ghongadi, adding that the changes being announced seem like knee-jerk reactions from the bank to contain losses.

View Full Image Graphic: Pranay Bhardwaj

A banking expert, who did not wish to be named, said the main problem with Axis Bank pertains to its purchase of air miles from airlines at expensive rates. Where the typical buying rate is about 30-50 paisa per mile, Axis Bank buys them at almost 1 per mile through an intermediary. Of course, the bank will bleed. Till it doesnt fix this, no degree of downgrades on cards will help," he said. Mint, however, could not independently verify this.

The common thread among devaluations across most credit card issuers is restrictions on airport lounge access.

According to Axiss new rules, its credit card holders will only be able to access domestic airport lounges if they spend 50,000 over the previous three months. Earlier, lounge access was complimentary in certain cards, irrespective of the spends. A single lounge visit would cost users a mere 2 using these cards and this amount, too, was refunded in many cases.

An official who works in Axis Banks cards division told Mint that one of the main reasons for this devaluation was the increased use of lounge access by cardholders. Airport lounges are quite crowded these days. Earlier, we had maybe 20-30% of all holders using their cards for access. Now this number is easily double that post the pandemic," the official said on condition of anonymity.

The official, however, could not provide exact numbers on how many Axis Bank credit card holders used lounge access. We buy these (lounge visits from airline partners) in bulk, based on the number of eligible cardholders and the trends of previous years. But that trend has gone up massively since 2021. Between the payments to the lounge and the [card] network, its a loss-making feature for us," he added.

To be sure, other banks have also cut down on lounge offerings on their cards. HDFC Bank revised lounge visits on its Regalia and Millennia cards in December 2023 to allow only up to two lounge visits each per quarter on a minimum spend of 1 lakh.

An email sent to HDFC Bank about this did not elicit any response.

What should cardholders do?

The revised Axis Bank rules will come into effect from 20 April, giving customers one month to decide on how to maximize their rewards.

One of the key changes is the grouping of airline and hotel transfer partners (into group A and B partners) and a cap on maximum rewards that can be transferred under each group. For instance, on Axis Reserve and Magnus, users can transfer up to 100,000 edge reward points to group A partners and up to 400,000 points to group B partners in a year. For Magnus Burgundy, it is 200,000 and 800,000 edge reward points , respectively.

Mandal says the catch here is that the redemption partners (airlines or hotel groups) used more frequently or offering better value, such as Accor Hotels, Marriott International, Qatar Airways, United Airlines and Singapore Airlines, among others, are all categorized in group A with a lower capping. I would strongly advise cardholders to transfer their existing rewards to the redemption partner of their choice before this classification kicks in," he said.

Do note that edge reward points of up to 200,000 redeemed in group A can not fulfil a familys free holiday plans. At best, a couple can get business class tickets to a foreign destination or stay in a luxury hotel. It would be difficult to get both with about 100,000 points," said Mandal.

Ghongadi agreed and said even 200,000 points are not enough to plan free flight tickets and hotel stay for a family of four.

As to whether it makes sense to continue using the cards, experts say that without the key spend categories such as insurance and utility payments, it would be difficult to achieve the annual fee waiver milestones and accumulate meaningful rewards. Do note that Axis Bank has also restricted rewards on purchase of gold jewellery and fuel on all its cards.

Axis Reserve card, say most financial experts, is no longer worth the fee.

At such a high fee, if most regular spends dont earn rewards, how is it any different from a lifetime free cashback card? With the removal of airport transfer benefits, paying about 60,000 fee on Reserve card is not worthwhile," said Mandal.

However, the Axis Atlas card, even after the recent downgrades, is still a valuable travel card at its current fee of 5,000. One can earn accelerated rewards on monthly spends of up to 2 lakh on air tickets and hotel bookings, which is a decent threshold as many people wont spend beyond that in a month. However, now, a maximum of 150,000 edge miles can be transferred in a year, out of which only 30,000 edge miles are allowed in group A, while the rest 120,000 can be transferred to group B. One edge mile is valued at 1.

The bottom line of the recent devaluations is that users should pare down their expectations of multiple free holidays earned with credit card rewards every year. Ghongadi said before Axis Banks exceptionally rewarding cards, the norm was one free family holiday per year with credit card points, which is what users can expect, going forward.
(Bloomberg) -- Crown Resorts retained the license to operate its flagship Melbourne casino, after a government-appointed manager found the company had rectified a litany of wrongdoing including underpaying taxes, facilitating money laundering and exploiting problem gamblers.

The decision is a let off for the Blackstone Inc.-owned company, which faced the nuclear option of being stripped of its license to run the casino.

The announcement Tuesday brings to an end an almost eight-year saga dating back to late 2016, when a crackdown by authorities in mainland China led to the conviction of more than a dozen Crown employees for illegally promoting gambling.

Then, in 2021, an inquiry found Crown was unsuitable to run the Melbourne casino and placed it under the supervision of the government-appointed manager Stephen OBryan for two years. He handed the regulator his confidential report card on the casino in January.

The commission is satisfied that the systemic" failures of Crown Melbourne are a thing of the past," Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission Chair Fran Thorn said at a press conference in Melbourne, where the watchdog is based.

Crown has faced a string of inquiries in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth in recent years that uncovered a swathe of misdeeds. The probes found Crown, which was part-owned by billionaire James Packer at the time, was unsuitable to run casinos in each city.

Most damning of all, the investigation into the Melbourne site in late 2021 found Crown had underpaid taxes, facilitated money laundering and exploited problem gamblers. Former judge Ray Finkelstein, who led the inquiry, described the companys behavior as illegal, dishonest, unethical and exploitative."

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(Bloomberg) -- Colombia and Brazil took the unusual step of criticizing Venezuela after the countrys opposition said it was blocked from registering its candidate for the July 28 election.

Preventing opposition candidates from taking part in the vote could undermine the international communitys trust, Colombias foreign affairs ministry warned President Nicolas Maduros government in a statement Tuesday.

Colombia expresses its concern about the recent events that occurred on the occasion of the registration of some presidential candidates," the foreign ministry said.

Brazils foreign affairs ministry also said that it is following the process with concern," especially as Venezuela has yet to provide any explanation for the obstruction. Both nations said problems facing the opposition raised concerns about free and fair elections.

The comments align Colombian President Gustavo Petro and Brazils Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva  leftists who have kept close ties with Venezuelas socialist government  with Argentina and six other Latin American nations that raised similar concerns Monday, after the opposition said it had been unable to register its candidate Corina Yoris ahead of the midnight deadline.

In a statement on X, Venezuelas foreign affairs minister Yvan Gil called Colombias comments a gross interference" in his nations internal affairs.

A Divided Opposition

Amid the criticism, the head of the opposition announced Tuesday afternoon that the countrys electoral council had granted a 12-hour extension to allow for the registration of a candidate. Omar Barboza, the president of the 10-party opposition coalition known as the Unitary Platform, said it had chosen to enter former ambassador Edmundo Gonzalez into the presidential race.

But that decision is unlikely to win the support of at least some key coalition members, including Maria Corina Machado, who overwhelmingly won an opposition primary last year but is banned from seeking office.

Earlier Tuesday, Machado said she would continue backing Yoris, who was chosen to replace her last week. The reaction followed a surprise move by opposition party A New Era to register Manuel Rosales, the governor of Zulia state, in the race just before the original deadline passed.

The struggle has threatened to divide the opposition, a result that would put Maduro on track for an all-but-certain reelection victory.

The entry of each candidate still needs approval from the electoral authority. Maduros government, which in late January ratified Machados ban and has cracked down on her allies in recent weeks, has invited international organizations to monitor the election, but none has confirmed attendance.

--With assistance from Nicolle Yapur.

(Updates with details of deadline extension from seventh paragraph, additional details and context throughout)

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation Monday that prohibits people under 14 years old from having social-media accounts, regardless of parental consent, one of the most restrictive laws aimed at curbing social-media access for minors.

Under the new law, social-media companies are required to close accounts believed to be used by minors under 14. The platforms must also cancel accounts at the request of parents or minors, and all information from the accounts must be deleted.

The law is set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2025.

Minors who are 14- or 15-years old can obtain a social-media account with parental consent, according to the new law. Accounts already belonging to teens of that age must be deleted if a parent or guardian hasnt consented.

Being buried in those devices all day is not the best way to grow upits not the best way to get a good education," DeSantis, a Republican, said at an event commemorating the bill signing on Monday.

The law doesnt name specific platforms, but targets social-media sites that rely on features such as notification alerts and autoplay videos that encourage compulsive viewing.

Supporters of the law have pointed to recent studies linking social media use among young adults to a higher risk of depression and mental-health challenges. It can also make them vulnerable to online bullying and predators.

A representative for Snap declined to comment. A representative for Meta Platforms didnt immediately comment. Representatives for X and TikTok didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.

Similar legislation has been proposed in other states, but those bills stop short of the total ban enacted in Florida. A federal judge in Arkansas blocked a law in late August that would have required age verification for social-media users and parental consent for minors accounts.

NetChoice, a tech-industry trade association whose members include Facebook parent Meta Platforms, TikTok and Snap, sued to stop the Arkansas law last June. The association brought similar legal challenges to proposed social-media restrictions in California and Ohio.

Some social-media platforms have already taken steps to restrict content shown to young users. On most sites, children under age 13 are protected by data-collection laws, but those typically dont apply to older minors.

In January, Meta announced new content-filtering measures for teens of all ages.

Instagram and Facebook now automatically restrict teens from harmful content including videos and posts about self-harm, graphic violence and eating disorders. Teens 16 and under are also shielded from sexually explicit content. Previously, teens could choose less stringent settings.

The content restrictions came after more than 40 states sued Meta, alleging the tech company misled the public about the dangers its platforms pose to young people.

Some of those dangers were detailed in The Wall Street Journals Facebook Files series in 2021, including an article that showed how Instagram knew its platform was toxic for many teen girls. Meta has said it didnt design its products to be addictive for teens.

Write to Ginger Adams Otis at Ginger.AdamsOtis@wsj.com and Victoria Albert at victoria.albert@wsj.com

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Arvind Kejriwal arrest: Security at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence has been bolstered by the Delhi Police following the AAP's announcement of a protest to gherao" the premises in response to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal 's arrest, as stated by an official on Tuesday.

Here are the top updates:

1. Delhi Police said on Tuesday that it has not given permission to AAP to hold any protest, ANI reported.

2. The Delhi government on Tuesday said that CM Arvind Kejriwal's arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in an excise policy-linked money laundering case, will not affect public services, social welfare schemes, and subsidies. All public services, social welfare schemes and subsidies currently given by the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi shall continue uninterrupted," said Delhi Government's Secretary of Planning Department, Niharika Rai. Read here.

3. The Delhi Police has strengthened security at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence after the AAP called for a gherao" to protest against the arrest of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, an officer said on Tuesday. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said, Due to security reasons, entry/exit at Lok Kalyan Marg Metro station, Gate no 3 of Patel Chowk Metro Station and Gate no 5 of Central Secretariat Metro station will remain closed till further notice." The police have also beefed up security in several other parts of the national capital. A Delhi Traffic Police officer said movement is likely to be affected in parts of New Delhi and Central Delhi due to the protest.

Also Read: Arvind Kejriwal should have respected: Assam CM Himanta Sarma on how Delhi CM could have avoided ED arrest

4. As reported by PTI, "Robust security arrangements have been made. We have installed layers of security to maintain law and order in the area," the Delhi Police officer said, adding, Section 144 (of the CrPC) is already imposed around the prime minister's residence and no one will be allowed to protest," he added.

5. Delhi Minister Gopal Rai had earlier announced plans to gherao" the prime minister's residence on Tuesday to protest against Kejriwal's arrest. Rai had also said that "mega protests" would be held nationwide.

6. On March 21, Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money-laundering case associated with the defunct excise policy. He remains in the agency's custody until Thursday. According to the central agency, the AAP national convenor stands accused of allegedly seeking kickbacks from liquor traders in return for favors.

7. The ED has also accused Kejriwal of being the kingpin and key conspirator" in the now-scrapped policy, in collusion with AAP leaders, ministers and other persons. Kejriwal has refuted the allegations and accused the BJP-led Centre of "manipulating investigative agencies for political motives".

Also Read: 'Modi ka sabse bada dar': AAP leaders launch 'DP campaign' to protest Arvind Kejriwal's arrest

8. Meanwhile, the Delhi Traffic Police has arranged seven diversion points for the smooth movement of vehicles in view of the protest. Commuters must avoid Kemal Ataturk Marg, Safdarjung Road, Akbar Road and Teen Murti Marg on Tuesday in view of the protest," PTI reported citing an officer.

9. The case involves accusations of irregularities and money laundering related to the formulation and execution of the Delhi Excise Policy 2022, which was subsequently nullified.

10. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been remanded to the custody of the Enforcement Directorate until March 28.

(With inputs from agencies)

ARVIND More Information

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All the 22 crew members on board the cargo ship that collided with the Baltimore bridge early Tuesday are Indians, the Synergy Marine Group said in a statement on Tuesday. All the crew members are safe, the company added.

As per the statement, the Singapore-flagged container ship "Dali" collided with one of the pillars of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore around 1:30 am local time.

Owners and managers of the Singapore-flagged container ship DALI" (IMO 9697428) report that the vessel collided with one of the pillars of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, Baltimore whilst under pilotage with two pilots onboard, at approximately 01 30 local time on 26th March," the press release read.

The company informed that all the crew members, including the two pilots, have been accounted for. "There are no reports of any injuries. There has also been no pollution," it added.

The company said, The DALI has now mobilised its Qualified Individual Incident response service".

ALSO READ: India rides the green wave as EU, US buy its clean ships

"The US Coast Guard and local officials have been notified, and the owners and managers are fully cooperating with Federal and State government agencies under an approved plan," it added.

Details of vessel 'Dali'

Sharing details of vessel 'Dali', the Synergy Marine Group said the capacity of the ship is 10,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit), while 4,679 TEU were onboard. It said the owner of the vessel is Grace Ocean Private Ltd; the crew members were all Indians and 22 in total. The vessel was "outbound from Baltimore to Colombo" in Sri Lanka.

What happened in Baltimore?

A container ship named the Dali was sailing down the Patapsco River when it struck a pylon of the bridge, crumpling almost the entire structure into the water. "There was no indication of terrorism," police were quoted by Reuters as saying.

ALSO READ: Local ship cover may get an India club flavour

The Francis Scott Key Bridge was one of three ways to cross the Baltimore Harbor and handled 31,000 cars per day or 11.3 million vehicles a year.

Traffic was suspended at the port after the collision. It is one of the smallest container ports on the Northeastern seaboard, handling about a tenth of the volume that passes through the Port of New York and New Jersey.

What caused the crash?

The Synergy Marine Group said the exact cause of the incident is yet to be ascertained.

However, Maryland state Governor Wes Moore as saying that the container ship had suffered a loss of power.

"We can confirm that the crew notified authorities of a power issue," Moore was quoted by news agency AFP as saying.

When asked by reporters whether the ship had lost power before smashing into one of the columns supporting the bridge, he replied, "yes."

'Mayday' call by ship helped in saving lives

According to officials, six people -- all members of a nighttime construction crew repairing potholes on the Francis Scott Key Bridge -- were missing.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore said that the container ship, before colliding with the Baltimore Bridge, made a 'mayday' call. This prompted officials to stop traffic and try to evacuate people on the bridge, the New York Times reported citing several federal and Maryland officials.

Governor Moore said that this rapid response helped save lives. "These people are heroes."

"We're thankful that between the Mayday and the collapse that we had officials who were able to begin to stop the flow of traffic," Moore was quoted by AFP as saying. "These people are heroes. They saved lives last night."

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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday said it would contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections on its own in Punjab. BJP state unit president Sunil Jakhar has said the saffron party will not tie up with former ally Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).

Jakhar noted that the move would benefit all sections of the society in Punjab. "The work done by the BJP for Punjab under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not hidden from anyone," he added.

Taking to microblogging platform X (formerly known as Twitter) Jakhar said, The decision was taken after speaking to leaders, party workers, and common people. The move will benefit all sections of the society here in Punjab. No one has worked for Punjab the way Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the Centre has," Jakhar said.

Polling for 13 seats in Punjab will be held on June 1.

The development comes almost a week after senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, when asked about the possibility of a tie-up with the SAD, had said, "Negotiations are on. We want all NDA parties to come together."

The Shiromani Akali Dal had walked out of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in September 2020 over the now-repealed farm laws. The controversial farm laws were revoked in November 2021, more than a year after farmers began protests along Delhi's borders, with the agitation going on until the legislations were taken back.

The SAD was one of the oldest allies of the BJP. The two parties had formed an alliance in 1996 and had been fighting elections together. In 2019, they won two Lok Sabha seats each in Punjab.

Punjab has 13 parliamentary seats, of which the BJP and SAD, contesting as allies in the former-led NDA, bagged four, with two candidates from each party emerging victorious, in the previous 2019 general elections. The Congress won eight seats, and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) one.

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The Delhi government on Tuesday said that CM Arvind Kejriwal's arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in an excise policy-linked money laundering case, will not affect public services, social welfare schemes, and subsidies.

All public services, social welfare schemes and subsidies currently given by the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi shall continue uninterrupted," said Delhi Government's Secretary of Planning Department, Niharika Rai.

People should not be misled by any fear-mongering and malicious disinformation in this regard," Rai said in a statement while appealing people to not fall prey to "rumor mongers, who would try to take advantage of the situation arising from the CM's arrest.

The statement comes after the Bharatiya Janata Party raised questions about the legitimacy of an order purportedly issued by Kejriwal from the lockup to address water and sewage issues in the city.

BJP national secretary Manjinder Singh Sira, in his letter to LG VK Saxena, said the AAP claimed to be directive by the Delhi CM did not carry the signature of Kejriwal, indicating that it was 'forged'.

The said purported Office Order shockingly does not even carry the Officer Order Number, date of issue and even the signature of Arvind Kejriwal is not there and hence it is clear that Ms. Atishi has unauthorizedly and illegally mis-used and abused her official capacity," the letter read.

He further said that Kejriwal cannot issue any such order without seeking prior permission from the court by seeking a change in the terms and conditions of the "remand order," which so far has not granted him any such permission.

"This order is illegal and unconstitutional; we demand an inquiry as to who is misusing CMO and for what personal gains!" he added.

The AAP supremo on March 26 issued the second order from jail for the health department, Delhi health minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said sharing the details of the order.

Delhi CM is worried about the health care of the state. He is worried that because he is jailed, the people of Delhi should not suffer because of it... The CM has received information that people are facing difficulties in the tests carried out at the Mohalla clinics," Bharadwaj said.

On March 24, Kejriwal issued his first government order from jail. The order was regarding Water Department of the Delhi Government, of which senior party leader Atishi is in charge.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with Rekha Patra, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate and victim of the Sandeshkhali violence. PM Modi called Patra and lauded her as Shakti Swaroopa, news agency ANI reported.

Shakti is a term in Hinduism, associated with goddesses like Durga and Kali.

PM Modi spoke to Patra about her campaign preparations, support among people for the BJP and more. Meanwhile, Patra detailed the ordeals faced by women in Sandeshkhali, the report added.

Rekha Patra will contest the Lok Sabha elections 2024 on a BJP ticket from Basirhat in West Bengal. The BJP candidate had raised her voice against the alleged atrocities by local Trinamool Congress (TMC) strongman Shajahan Sheikh and his associates.

There were allegations of sexual atrocities on women and land grabbing against Sheikh and his cohorts.

Sandeshkhali is a village in the Basirhat subdivision, which falls under the North 24 Parganas district. Basirhat, one of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal, is currently represented by the TMC.

Sheikh and some of his associates were arrested in connection with an attack on Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials and are in Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) custody.

Sheikh was suspended by the TMC in connection with allegations against him.

Who is Rekha Patra?

Rekha Patra is an alleged victim of torture at the hands of arrested and now-suspended TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh and his aides, news agency PTI reported.

She was among the most vocal protestors of Sandeshkhali. The police arrested Shibu Hazra, a local muscleman and Shajahan Sheikh's associate, based on her complaint.

Patra 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 narrated the plight of Sandeshkhali women to the PM.

The BJP had earlier shared a picture of Patra participating in Sandeshkhali Aandolan with her child in her arms.

Voices in favour and against Rekha Patra

According to PTI, handwritten posters appeared in a few places in the Sandeshkhali area, denouncing the candidature of BJP Lok Sabha poll nominee Rekha Patra.

Posters bearing slogans such as We don't want Rekha as a candidate" and We don't want Rekha Patra as BJP candidate" were found on Monday, a day after the BJP announced her nomination from the seat.

The BJP pointed fingers at the TMC for this, while the ruling party of West Bengal rejected the charge. A local BJP leader was quoted by PTI as saying, Those posters were not ours. The Trinamool Congress has done this to indulge in cheap politics."

Several women in the locality are happy that Patra got the nomination to contest the election. "We could not see an MP in the past. Now we may have an MP from our village," one of the local women said.

(With inputs from agencies)

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(Bloomberg) -- Morgan Stanleys exchange-traded lineup now holds more than $1 billion thanks to the firms first-ever mutual-fund conversions.

The issuer is flipping two fixed-income mutual funds  one that follows a total return bond strategy and one focused on short-duration municipal debt  into ETFs, the company said in a statement Monday. That brings Morgan Stanleys total ETF lineup to 14 funds.

The conversions come as Morgan Stanley seeks to expand its footprint in the increasingly competitive $9 trillion ETF market. While Morgan Stanley was an early supporter of the industry three decades ago, the firm didnt launch its own products until last year. It has since created ETFs under a handful of Morgan Stanleys brands, including Calvert, Parametric, and Eaton Vance. Mondays new converts show Morgan Stanleys deepening commitment to active, fixed-income ETFs, according to the firms global head of ETFs.

Were very focused on some of these industry trends, and the two major ones are fully transparent ETFs and the acceleration of fixed-income," Morgan Stanleys Anthony Rochte said in a phone interview. We thought long and hard about which mutual funds are we going to convert, and which brand will we use."

Industry players such as Dimensional Fund Advisors, JPMorgan Asset Management and Fidelity Investments have switched billions of dollars between vehicles after the first mutual fund conversion into an ETF was completed roughly three years ago. While Morgan Stanley has ventured into the process as well, the firm is very focused on net new organic launches," Rochte said.

The mutual funds will begin trading on Monday as the Eaton Vance Total Return Bond ETF (ticker EVTR) and the Eaton Vance Short Duration Municipal Income ETF (EVSM). The actively managed funds will charge 32 basis points and 19 basis points, respectively.

We work backwards. We start with where is there interest, where is there demand," Rochte said on Bloomberg Televisions ETF IQ on Monday. Theres insatiable appetite for income and yield in this environment, and thats really driven some of the new active products weve launched."

(Adds additional comments from Rochte in final paragraph. A previous version corrected to clarify the mutual funds werent branded as Eaton Vance)

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On March 26, 2024, Google honoured Bangladesh's Independence Day with a special Doodle on its homepage, celebrating the nation's hard-won freedom from Pakistan. The Doodle artwork features the national flag of Bangladesh, depicting a red circle on a green background.

Todays Doodle celebrates Independence Day in Bangladesh. The public holiday marks the moment Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared independence on this day in 1971," Google Doodle describes.

Bangladesh's journey to independence was a long and arduous one, marked by immense sacrifice and struggle. The roots of the movement can be traced back to 1947 when the British Indian Empire was partitioned into two independent nations  India and Pakistan. East Pakistan, which later became Bangladesh, was geographically separated from the western wing by over 1,000 miles of Indian territory.

Bangladesh Independence Day History

Tensions escalated as East Pakistanis grew increasingly dissatisfied with the political and economic domination by West Pakistan. The catalyst for the independence movement was the general election of 1970, where the Awami League, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, won a landslide victory. However, the government in West Pakistan refused to acknowledge the results, leading to widespread protests and civil disobedience.

On March 26, 1971, after a brutal crackdown by Pakistani forces, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared East Pakistan's independence as the sovereign nation of Bangladesh. A bitter nine-month war ensued, resulting in the loss of millions of lives and immense suffering. Finally, on December 16, 1971, the Pakistani military surrendered to the allied forces of Bangladesh and India, marking the birth of the new nation.

How is Bangladesh Independence Day celebrated?

Today, Bangladesh Independence Day is celebrated with great fervor across the country and by Bangladeshi communities worldwide. Parades, cultural programs, and tributes to the martyrs of the liberation war are held to commemorate the sacrifices made for freedom. The day holds immense significance as it symbolizes the resilience and determination of the Bangladeshi people in the face of adversity.

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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.

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, creating a potential financial crisis ahead of Mondays deadline to either pay his $454 million verdict or post a bond for 120% of the judgment. New York Attorney General Letitia James signaled she was ready to seize assets if Trump didnt comply.

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.

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This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.
TOKYO (AP)  Japans Cabinet on Tuesday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that its developing with Britain and Italy to other countries, in the latest move away from the countrys postwar pacifist principles.

The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japans role in the joint fighter jet project and part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security.

The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japans arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to countries other than the partners.

Japan has long restricted arms exports under the countrys pacifist constitution, but has rapidly taken steps to deregulate amid rising regional and global tensions, especially from nearby China.

The decision on jets will allow Japan to export lethal weapons it coproduces to other countries for the first time.

Japan is working with Italy and the U.K. to develop an advanced fighter jet to replace its aging fleet of American-designed F-2 fighters, and the Eurofighter Typhoons used by the U.K. and Italian militaries.

Japan, which was previously working on a homegrown design to be called the F-X, agreed in December 2022 to merge its effort with a British-Italian program called the Tempest. for deployment in 2035. The joint project, known as the Global Combat Air Program or GCAP, is based in the U.K.

Japan hopes the new plane will offer advanced capabilities Japan needs amid growing tensions in the region, giving it a technological edge against regional rivals China and Russia.

Because of its wartime past as aggressor and the devastation that followed its defeat in World War II, Japan adopted a constitution that limits its military to self-defense. The country long maintained a strict policy to limit transfers of military equipment and technology and ban all exports of lethal weapons.

Opponents have criticized Prime Minister Fumio Kishidas government for committing to the fighter jet project without providing an explanation to the public or seeking approval for the major policy change.

To address such concerns, the government is limiting exports of codeveloped lethal weapons to the jet for now, and has promised that no sales will be made for use in active wars.

The government also assured that the revised guideline for the time being only applies to the jet and that it would require Cabinet approval to do so. Potential purchasers will be also limited to the 15 countries that Japan has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals with.

Recent polls suggest that public opinion is divided on the plan.

In 2014, Japan began to export some nonlethal military supplies, and in a latest move last December, it approved a change that would allow sales of 80 lethal weapons and components that it manufactures under licenses from other countries back to the licensors. The change cleared the way for Japan to sell U.S.-designed Patriot missiles to the United States, helping replace munitions that Washington is sending to Ukraine.

In its decision, the Cabinet said that the arms export ban on finished products would hinder efforts to develop the new jet, and limit Japan to a supporting role in the project. Italy and the U.K. are eager to make sales of the jet in order to defray development and manufacturing costs.

Kishida sought Cabinet approval before signing the GCAP agreement in February, but it was delayed by resistance from his junior coalition partner, the Buddhist-backed Komeito party.

The change also comes as Kishida is planning an April state visit to Washington, where he is expected to stress Japans readiness to take on a greater role in military and defense industry partnerships.

Exports would also help boost Japans defense industry, which historically has catered only to the countrys Self Defense Force, as Kishida seeks to build up the military. Despite its effort over the past decade, the industry has still struggled to draw customers.

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US President Joe Biden on Tuesday said that the country's government should pay to rebuild the Baltimore bridge that collapsed earlier in the day and move "heaven and earth" to reopen the port at the earliest. He also urged the Congress to approve the funds for it.

"The search and rescue operation is our top priority. Ship traffic in the port of Baltimore has been suspended until further notice and we'll need to clear that channel before the ship traffic can resume," he told reporters at White House.

"It's my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge...The people of Baltimore can count on us."

The US President also said that the federal agencies are assisting with search and rescue efforts around the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

"Officials at the scene estimate eight people were unaccounted for. That number might change. Two have been rescued, one without injury and one in critical condition, and the search and rescue operation is continuing for all those remaining as we speak," he said adding that everything indicates that it was a "terrible accident".

Biden also said that there was "no other indication" to believe that it was an intentional act.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed after a heavily laden cargo ship lost power and smashed into a support column.

Synergy Marine Group, the owners of the ship, said that all 22 crew members on board the ship "Dali" were Indians. All of them are safe.

The accident has put a halt on one of the most important ports on the US East Coast. According to a report by Bloomberg, it has the potential to slow down the supply chains and drive up the cost of consumer goods ahead of the November election.

The clearing and re-construction of a new bridge is likely to cost billions of dollars. It comes at a time when Biden is already struggling to persuade lawmakers to approve emergency aid for Ukraine, Israel and the southwest border.

"The people of Baltimore can count on us," Biden said on Tuesday.

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Pakistan Suicide Bomb Attack : Five Chinese nationals and their Pakistani driver were killed after a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into the vehicle carrying Chinese engineers and workers. This is the third such attack in the last few weeks in Pakistan.

The incident took place on in Shangla district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Bakhat Zahir, local police chief, quoted by news agency AFP said that those killed were construction workers and engineers heading to the Dasu Dam. It is the biggest hydropower project in Pakistan. The bodies have been transported to a nearby hospital.

The security froces have launched a search operation in the area to look for the attackers, the report said. The Pakistani Taliban has been increasing attacks on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province which borders Afghanistan.

Last week, eight Baluchistan Liberation Army" militants were killed by Pakistani security forces after they opened fire on a convoy carrying Chinese citizens outside the Gwadar port. The port is Chinese-funded and is located in the southwestern Baluchistan province.

The BLA militants want independence from the Pakistani government.

In a statement, the country's interior minister Mohsin Naqvi offered condolences to the families of the deceased.

He said, "The enemy has targeted Chinese citizens who are the friends of Pakistan." He did not elaborate who he was referring to but vowed to "deal with an iron hand" those responsible, and expressed hope the attack wouldn't negatively impact Pakistani-Chinese relations.

Naqvi also visited China's embassy in Islamabad, where he briefed the Chinese ambassador, Jiang Zaidong, about the attack. Naqvi also promised a full investigation.

The report by AFP said that thousands of Chinese nationals work on projects related to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. The CPEC includes several projects like as road construction, power plants and agriculture. Experts consider CPEC as a lifeline for Pakistan's cash-strapped economy. The CPEC is a part of Chinas Belt and Road Initiative.

However, several Chinese laborers who are working on projects related to CPEC have been facing increased attacks in recent years.

In July 2021, at least 13 people, were killed in a suicide attack. Out of these, nine were Chinese nationals.

(With agency inputs)

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The world witnessed intensified globalization with advancements in ICT revolution. With the establishment of World Trade Organization in 1995, countries globally slashed tariffs and non-tariffs barriers and adopted policy frameworks to attract foreign direct investment. This facilitated the progress of global value chains (GVCs) that internationalized fragmentation of production thereby advancing economic growth, facilitating poverty reduction and increasing job creation.

As per the World Bank, currently about 50% of the global trade is via GVCs  a one percent increase in GVC participation betters the per-capita income of the nation one percent  this is twice as much as conventional trade.

The worlds fastest growing economy India contributes only about 2% to global merchandise exports. This is because the full potential of Indias manufacturing sector still remains untapped. In GDP terms, India is the third largest economy, globally. Indias growth so far has been on the back of strong domestic demand and growing service sector. But in terms of per-capita income, India remains in the low-middle income country group as per World Bank classification.

Low merchandise exports and low per-capita income in India persist due to weak linkage of India with GVCs in the manufacturing sector as compared to other emerging economies.

Recent geopolitical tensions have raised concerns over the current order of globalization. Global organizations continue to transition to a China plus one strategy to diversify their country's risks, amidst the Asian economies like India, Vietnam, South Korea, Malaysia and Japan, have a chance to allure these multinational organisations and GVCs.

Meanwhile, as the world advances towards Industry 5.0, semiconductors would play a crucial role in the global geopolitics, much like the role that reserves of oil and gas have played so far.

Semiconductors are the backbone of all the technology systems and electronics like mobile phone devices, wearable devices, computers, television sets, automotives, electronic warfare, satellites, drone, electric healthcare devices, microchips and IT hardware.

McKinsey & Company estimates that global semiconductor industry will grow to be a $1 trillion industry by 2030. The supply chain disruptions due to covid-19 made the world realize that currently China and Taiwan, dominate the value chains of semiconductor industry, which gave thrust to China plus one strategy as nations wanted to diversify the critical risks and security.

Recognizing the critical role of technology in development, the government of India has been taking initiatives to advance Indias digital trajectory since 1960s. In the last decade, the current dispensation has been exponentially able to advance Indias digital trajectory with initiatives like Digital India, Smart Cities and Indian Semiconductor Mission.

Semiconductors and components parts are at the very heart of the electronics industry. As per a Deloitte report Indias semiconductor market has a potential to grow to be $85 billion industry by 2030, generating about six lakh jobs in the country.

This is an opportune time for India to integrate in one of the most value chain intensive sectors which is electronics. So far, Indias gains from the new emerging order of globalization have been limited, mainly to the assembly lines. This can be attributed to Indias more protectionist trade policy in comparison to other emerging economies, which has eschewed Indias integration into GVCs.

There is a need to evaluate Indias trade policy measures so that it can take advantage of the current geo-political scenarios and attract investments from global corporations and GVCs.

India started to liberalize its economy in early 1990s, but the focus remained to remove the roadblocks on the inward looking growth. India reduced its peak tariff in the 1990s and early 2000s, but on an average the most favoured nation tariffs for manufactured merchandized remained high as compared to the other emerging economies.

As per the last report by India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) in comparison to import duties across six major manufacturing economies, including India, Vietnam and China; India has the highest average tariffs at 8.5% while China has an average tariff rate of 3.7% and Vietnams average tariffs rate is 0.7%.

The current dispensation is committed to make India an export manufacturing hub, and is showcasing mobile-phone manufacturing as the success story of Make in India initiative. Towards this aim, the government has been evolving a framework which would attract of production lines of export-oriented products such as smartphone manufacturing to India.

Recently, in January 2024, the government of India announced a cut in import duty from 15% to 10% on mobile-phone components such as battery covers, GSM antenna, camera lens, back cover, other mechanical items of plastic and metal, SIM socket and other parts. The import duty on inputs used for manufacture mobile parts has also recently been zero rated. Further, under the PLI scheme electronics manufacturing, specifically mobile-phones, is being aggressively promoted.

Reduction of import duties on mobile phone components over time has encouraged setting up more large scale mobile phone assembly lines in the country and advancing mobile phone exports. India recorded a CAGR of 23% between 2014 and 2022 for mobile device production, claiming its position as the second largest mobile device producer globally after China, as reported by Counterpoint.

India has a massive untapped potential to establish itself as a global electronics manufacturing export hub, specifically for mobile phones which contributed over 40% to domestic electronics production in FY-22.

Besides giving incentives to this industry by the way of cut in tariffs and subsides, what really is required to make manufacturing in India Atmanirbhar (self-sufficient) is to encourage and incentivize investment in research and development, which is the key to innovation.

Further, integrating into GVCs would facilitate India manufacturing units to learn and adopt to best technology and management practices thereby moving up the value chain, overtime.

Chavi Asrani is an assistant professor at O.P. Jindal Global University and a visiting fellow at Pahle India Foundation

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About a week after the U.S. and other Western countries froze funding to a U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees called Unrwa in late January, its top official flew to the Arab Gulf, hoping wealthy Arab monarchies would save the organization at a time when it is the main provider of humanitarian aid in Gaza.

The effort came up lacking. Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, raised $85 million from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates for 2024, far short of the funding lost when the U.S. and others cut off aid following allegations that at least a dozen agency employees took part in the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel. Last year, the U.S. alone gave the agency over $422 million.

The cash that Lazzarini has scrambled to pull together so far is enough to cover Unrwas expenses through May, agency officials say. Beyond then, without new funds, Unrwa says it will be forced to scale back its humanitarian activities in Gaza, which includes feeding and sheltering over a million people. Other U.N. agencies and charity groups rely heavily on Unrwa, with some 3,000 of its employees within the enclave overseeing most aid distribution and primary healthcare.

Lazzarini said the recent contributions by Arab and other donors have enabled the agency to continue to assist Palestinians. But for how long? We are functioning hand-to-mouth. Without additional funding we will be in uncharted territory," he told the U.N. recently.

Already, the majority of Gazas 2.2 million people are displaced, without access to adequate medical care and on the brink of famine. The prospect that the situation could worsen further persuaded several countriesincluding Canada, Sweden, Australia and Finlandto resume initially suspended funding in recent weeks.

Unrwa has been embroiled in controversy since Israel accused at least a dozen employees, including schoolteachers, of taking part in the Hamas-led attacks. Israel has also alleged that hundreds more Unrwa employees are members of armed wings of militant groups like Hamas. The agency fired the staffers allegedly linked to the attacks, and says Israel hasnt provided evidence that the involvement in militant groups goes beyond a few individuals. The U.N. has launched two investigations into the agencys neutrality.

Israel is pushing for Unrwa to be gradually phased out of Gaza and is lobbying its allies to replace the agency with other humanitarian groups there. Unrwa on Sunday said the Israeli military has barred the agency from delivering food to the northern part of the enclave, an area suffering from widespread acute malnutrition.

The U.S. wont resume funding anytime soon. A new spending package passed by Congress and that President Biden signed into law includes a provision that blocks Unrwa from receiving funds until at least March 2025. If Republican candidate Donald Trump is elected in November, it seems even less likely funding will resume: His administration cut off funding for Unrwa in 2018, saying its business model was irredeemably flawed."

Nothing can entirely fill the gap that the U.S. will leave if the U.S. doesnt resume funding," says Tamara Al-Rifai, an Unrwa spokeswoman. These emergency measures help us deal with immediate needs. We should be having longer-term, strategic conversations about whether Unrwa is sustainable."

Without new funding, the U.N. could be forced to rethink the agencys unusually broad mandate. It was created with the goal of providing emergency relief to refugees of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. It has since grown into a quasi-government structure, running primary and secondary schools, healthcare centers and even trash collection for stateless Palestinians across the Levant. Its annual expenses top $1.4 billion, the bulk of which is used to cover salaries for its 30,000 employees across Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

While most of the initial 700,000 or so refugees from the 1948 conflict have since died, Unrwa now looks after their descendants, a number that has grown to more than 5 million. No Arab country other than Jordan has been willing to give a significant number of the Palestinian refugees citizenship, leaving it to the U.N. to look after them. The U.S. has provided the bulk of Unrwa funding over the decades, but growing numbers of politicians in both major parties have concerns about the agency and its open-ended mission.

Arab monarchies have long preferred donating bilaterally to humanitarian causes rather than through the U.N. They dont want Unrwa to collapse but also see benefits in reforming it, such as by improving the way it screens staff to prevent Hamas from infiltrating it. They also dont see it as their job to step in fully to replace Western funding, according to people familiar with Gulf governments thinking.

Saudi Arabia last week pledged $40 million to Unrwa, earmarking it for the humanitarian response in Gaza. It is the single biggest contribution by a country to the agency since the scandal broke. But that compares with the $400 million in humanitarian aid for Ukraine that the kingdom announced in 2022.

The U.A.E. recently disbursed $20 million to Unrwa, funds it had promised last year but hadnt delivered. The country gave it on condition that the agency wouldnt frame it as new aid, or meant to bridge the other countries suspension of funds, according to people familiar with their thinking. Qatar pledged $25 million for 2024. Kuwait has made no commitment so far.

Some Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, are reluctant to commit large sums of money to Gaza until there is greater clarity on the enclaves political future. The kingdom has been pushing for a two-state solution in which a reformed Palestinian Authority would play a rolea possibility that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far ruled out.

They have their eyes on post-war reconstruction. Footing the bill for Unrwa reinforces the image that the Gulf will always come to the rescue," said Bader al-Saif, an expert on Persian Gulf and Arabian affairs at Kuwait University. They are certainly not rebuilding if thats not tied to concessions from Israel, and I dont know how thats going to come through in the current climate."

The U.S. provided the agency with $71 million so far this year before the funding pause, according to a State Department official. The U.S. generally made the payments in three tranches a year, meaning the cutoff in funding will become particularly acute in coming months. Germany, previously Unrwas second-largest donor, has made no contributions to the agency this year.

Unrwa was already struggling financially before the war in Gaza started.

Unlike most U.N. agencies, Unrwa doesnt draw on the U.N. general budget, except to help cover salaries for its small number of international staff. Instead, it relies on voluntary and unpredictable contributions from donors. The agency never fully recovered from the decision by the Trump administration that stopped its funding between 2018 and 2020.

At that time, countries including Germany and Gulf monarchies sharply raised their annual contributions, but not enough to wholly make up for the lost U.S. funding. Unrwa used the little savings it had to make up for those losses. Despite the resumption of U.S. assistance under Biden, Unrwa says it has ended each of the recent financial years with tens of millions of dollars in overdue bills to everyone from staff doctors to toilet-paper suppliers.

The funding suspensions announced in January risked having a near-immediate impact on Unrwa. Lazzarinis diplomatic push helped delay that by quickly securing additional cash from countries such as Spain and Ireland. The European Union earlier this month said it would make an initial 50 million payment to Unrwa, equivalent to $54 million, after the agency agreed to allow EU-appointed experts to audit the way it screens staff.

Write to Margherita Stancati at margherita.stancati@wsj.com and Stephen Kalin at stephen.kalin@wsj.com
The United States has said that it is closely monitoring the recent arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, adding that it "encourages a fair legal process".

We encourage a fair, transparent, and timely legal process for Chief Minister Kejriwal," newswire Reuters reported quoting a US spokesperson.

"The US is closely following reports of the arrest of Indian opposition figure Arvind Kejriwal," the spokesperson was quoted by Reuters as saying.

The spokesperson said this in response to an emailed query about the case in which India summoned a German envoy to protest against his government's remarks about the arrest.

What German spokesperson said earlier

Last week, a spokesperson of the German Foreign Ministry was asked about Arvind Kejriwal's arrest just ahead of the Lok Sabha elections and the Opposition's claim that the arrest is politically motivated".

In his response, German spokesperson Sebastian Fischer, had said Kejriwal is entitled to a fair and impartial trial, this includes he can make use of all available legal avenues without restrictions."

We have taken note of the case. India is a democratic country. We assume and expect that the standards relating to the Independence of the judiciary and basic Democratic principles will also be applied in this case," Fischer said.

"Like anyone facing the accusations, Mr Kejriwal is entitled to a fair and impartial trial. This includes that he makes use of all available legal avenues without restriction. The presumption of innocence is a central element of the rule of law and must apply to him," the Germany's spokesperson added.

India lodges protest against Germany's

statement

Following his statement, India's Ministry of External Affairs lodged a protest against it. "The German Deputy Chief of Mission in New Delhi was summoned today and conveyed Indias strong protest on their Foreign Office Spokespersons comments on our internal affairs," the ministry said.

We see such remarks as interfering in our judicial process and undermining the independence of our judiciary. India is a vibrant and robust democracy with the rule of law," the ministry said in a press release on Saturday.

The statement added law will take its own course in the instant matter - as it happens in all legal cases in the country, and elsewhere in the democratic world. Biased assumptions made on this account are most unwarranted," the statement said.

ARVIND More Information

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BJP MP Dilip Ghosh has courted controversy with his offensive remarks against West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee. Ghosh, in a personal attack, asked Banerjee to identify her own father.

In a video that went viral, Ghosh is seen saying that didi calls herself the daughter of whichever state she visits.

"...When Didi (CM Mamata Banerjee) goes to Goa, she calls herself daughter of Goa. When she goes to Tripura, she says that she is the daughter of Tripura. She should first identify her own father," he said.

TMC has filed a complaint with the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer against Ghosh for "passing derogatory and offensive comment personally attacking Mamata Banerjee, thereby violating Model Code of Conduct (MCC)"

To this, the TMC said that Ghosh has zero respect for women of Bengal and called him a disgrace in the name of political leadership.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the office handle of Trinamool Congress posted the video of Ghosh and wrote: Dilip Ghosh is a disgrace in the name of political leadership! From challenging the lineage of Maa Durga to now questioning the ancestry of Smt. Mamata Banerjee, he has wallowed in the filthiest depths of moral bankruptcy."

One thing is crystal clear: Ghosh has ZERO RESPECT for the women of Bengal, whether it be the revered goddess of Hinduism or the only woman Chief Minister of India," the post added.

Dilip Ghosh is frustrated

Talking to ANI, TMC leader Sushmita Dev said that Dilip Ghosh and the BJP is frustrated.

..Dilip Ghosh is frustrated. The kind of statements that he has made against Mamata Banerjee - that she should first give an identity of her father - has never before been heard against a woman in this country," she said.

Dev also contested that the kind of statements that the BJP is making against the West Bengal CM, is against the politics and traditions of India.

For the past two days, the leaders of BJP have been giving long speeches against the insult of one of their women candidates. But the kind of statements BJP is issuing against the only woman CM of this country is against the politics and traditions of this country. BJP is frustrated in Bengal. It is losing. The more the BJP insults Mamata Banerjee, the more people will be with her."

Slamming Ghosh for his remarks against Banerjee, the TMC leader claimed that his filthy thinking is that of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). I would like to tell Dilip Ghosh that we know where this filthy thinking of yours against women comes from. This is RSS' thinking - that which is against women..."

She also called the National Commission for Women (NCW) hypocrite for being silent when the BJP insults Mamata Banerjee.

"The respect that the people of Bengal give Mamata Didi, she is considered the daughter of the country. You are insulting her again and again, and you get a befitting reply of this in 2024. I would like to tell the BJP leaders and NCW chief - you are so concerned about the woman candidate of BJP but people like you should be ashamed that whenever Mamata Didi is insulted by the BJP, you stay silent. This is your hypocrisy. Country would give you a reply for the same."

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The Scindias, the influential members of the erstwhile royal family of Gwalior, have moved effortlessly between different political parties when it comes to fighting electoral battles on their home turf and Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia will carry forward this tradition when he files his nomination as the BJP candidate from the Guna Lok Sabha seat in Madhya Pradesh.

Five years after losing unexpectedly from Guna as the Congress candidate, Jyotiraditya Scindia, representing the current generation of the family in MP's politics, is back in the fray in his backyard, but this time as the nominee of his erstwhile political rival and with a different election symbol against his name on the EVM.

The 53-year-old politician is the grandson of one of the BJP founders, Vijaya Raje Scindia, and son of former Union minister the late Madhavrao Scindia. The Guna Lok Sabha seat, part of the Scindias' home turf which also includes Gwalior, is spread across eight assembly seats in Guna, Shivpuri and Ashok Nagar districts.

The Congress, looking to settle scores with Jyotiraditya Scindia in the poll fray after it lost its government in Madhya Pradesh following his exit exactly four years ago, is yet to name its candidate from Guna.

It was a rare electoral shock for former Gwalior royals when the Union Minister for Civil Aviation faced defeat in 2019 at the hands of the BJP candidate and his old loyalist, KP Yadav, by a margin of around 1.26 Lakh votes.

In 2024, Scindia is again testing electoral waters, but under the banner of a different party  the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)  the political home to his parental aunts  former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia and ex-MP minister Yashodhara Raje.

But the Guna Lok Sabha constituency's history suggested the Scindias have never fought their first and last elections from the same party.

The Union ministers grandmother, Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindia, contested her first election from the seat in 1957 on a Congress ticket and won. She contested as the Swatantra Party nominee in 1967 then from the BJP in 1989.

His father Madhavrao Scindia contested his first election from Guna on a Bharatiya Jan Sangh (BJS) ticket in 1971 and fought his last poll in 1999 as the Congress nominee before his death in a plane crash near New Delhi in 2001. The BJS is considered the forerunner of the BJP.

Senior journalist, author and political analyst Rasheed Kidwai says the Scindias political leanings seem to be settling down now.

After decades of consciously choosing divergent political parties, the house of Scindias is finally settling down as per their past and ideological leanings. The Sangh, Hindutva and right-wing has always been Scindia flavour in the monarchical era," Kidwai noted.

The Guna parliamentary seat was represented by Rajmata Scindia for 6 times, while her son Madhavrao Scindia won it on four occasions.

Besides Guna, Rajmata Scindia represented the Gwalior Lok Sabha seat, part of the family turf, once. Madhavrao Scindia was elected five times from Gwalior, once as the candidate of the Madhya Pradesh Vikas Congress, an outfit floated by him.

Rajmata Scindia's daughter Yashodhara Raje also represented the Gwalior seat in the Lok Sabha twice for the BJP.

Jyotiraditya Scindia has represented the Guna seat four times between 2002 and 2014, including after winning in a bypoll. A year after his defeat, he joined the BJP in March 2020 along with 22 Congress MLAs, leading to the collapse of the Kamal Nath-led government in Madhya Pradesh.

The defeat of Jyotiraditya Scindia in 2019 was the second setback for the Scindias in the Lok Sabha elections. In 1984, the Union ministers aunt and former Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje had faced defeat as the BJP candidate from the Bhind Lok Sabha seat. She was defeated by Congress candidate Krishna Singh Judeo, who belongs to the erstwhile royal family of Datia.

The Guna Lok Sabha constituency has more than 18.80 lakh voters and it will go to polls in the third phase on May 7.

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This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.
Israeli forces are fighting in a growing number of places in the Gaza Strip that they previously took and withdrew from, showing how Israel is struggling to eliminate Hamas and bring the Palestinian enclave under its control.

On Sunday, fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas militants intensified around Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis and Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, with the Israeli military saying it struck dozens of targets. Israeli troops previously fought battles in the same places in recent months and said that Hamass formations in those areas had been defeated and dismantled.

Israels war effort in Gaza has been hampered by the lack of a plan for how to stabilize the enclave after suppressing Hamass fighters. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected calls from Israels international partners, including the U.S. and key Arab countries, for a reformed Palestinian Authority to run Gaza.

Without a civil authority to restore order, security and basic services, and with the Israeli military disinclined to fully reoccupy the strip with troops on the ground, swaths of Gaza have descended into anarchy. The lack of security is impeding the delivery of humanitarian aid, contributing to a growing hunger crisis that international aid groups say is pushing Gazas population to the brink of famine.

Meanwhile, fighting around hospitals has raised concerns about the impact on a medical system already on its knees. The vacuum of security and governance has helped Hamass efforts to return to areas vacated by Israeli forces.

With no end to the war in sight, the pattern of repeatedly raiding Gazan hospitals and neighborhoods is turning into an endless ordeal for civilians and a source of growing diplomatic tensions between Israel and its allies, including the U.S.

The Biden administration is pressuring Israel to bring the war to a close soon, fearing the worsening international and domestic political fallout of the highly polarizing conflict. Israels war in Gaza has divided voters whose support President Biden needs for his re-election bid in November.

Israels invasion of Gaza followed the Oct. 7 attack by the U.S.-designated terrorist group Hamas on southern Israel, which killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, according to Israeli authorities.

Israels military response has killed more than 32,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to Palestinian health authorities, whose numbers dont distinguish between militants and civilians. Israels military has said the total estimated death toll is roughly accurate but disputes the composition, saying over one-third of the dead are militants.

Israels declared war aim of eliminating Hamas as a significant military and political entity set a high bar that will be difficult to achieve, said Yossi Mekelberg, a Middle East analyst at London-based think tank Chatham House. Anything less than that will be perceived as a failure," he said.

Israeli leaders proclaimed premature victories in Gaza City and Khan Younis, the enclaves two biggest cities, said Mekelberg. Now, with much of the Gaza Strip destroyed and Hamas fighters re-emerging and using guerrilla tactics, Israels leadership is divided on how to craft a coherent war plan, he said. Netanyahus government is reluctant to shift and seek a political solution to end this," he said.

Israels Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said earlier this year that the war would enter a prolonged phase of raids against remaining points of resistance by Hamas in northern Gaza. The period of raids would give way to a plan for stabilizing the Gaza Strip, he said.

Some Israeli analysts say the repeated combat operations in Gaza City were part of the plan. Once the Israeli forces are pulling out of a certain area, then [for] Hamas, its time to reconstitute," said retired Israeli Brig. Gen. Shlomo Brom. And what we are trying to do is prevent it, by this raid on Shifa and other similar raids that will follow."

However, criticism is growing in Israel and among the countrys international allies that the war effort is stagnating. More than 100 Israeli hostages remain in the captivity of Gaza militants, despite months of military operations and negotiations aimed at their release. Israel has yet to locate Hamass leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, who helped orchestrate the Oct. 7 attack.

Israel is also grappling with how to oust Hamas from the city of Rafah on Gazas southern border with Egypt, where it says Hamass battalions are still intact. About 1.4 million civilians are sheltering in Rafah, most of them refugees from other parts of Gaza. The U.S. is urging Israel not to launch a major ground assault there, warning of disastrous humanitarian consequences, but Netanyahu said his forces will proceed with or without U.S. backing.

Israel has greatly reduced the number of its troops in Gaza, from a peak of more than 60,000 to just a fraction of that currently, according to Israeli military officials and analysts. Israel activated hundreds of thousands of reservists in the beginning of the war but has demobilized most of those who were sent to Gaza, partly to relieve the pressure on Israels economy.

It works for a short campaign to have so many people not contribute to the economy," Mekelberg said. Not for a war that lasts six months."

Carrie Keller-Lynn contributed to this article.

Write to Omar Abdel-Baqui at omar.abdel-baqui@wsj.com and Marcus Walker at Marcus.Walker@wsj.com
LONDONBritish judges ruled that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange cant immediately be extradited to the U.S. to face spying charges, opening the way for months of further legal wrangling over the fate of the former hacker.

Assange, 52, who has spent the past five years in a London prison, is fighting a drawn-out legal battle with the British government to avoid being sent to the U.S. to face trial for publishing thousands of confidential military records and diplomatic cables that painted a highly critical picture of Americas actions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

British courts approved Assanges extradition to the U.S. in 2022, a decision he has since been trying to overturn. His lawyers last month argued that he should be given one final appeal, saying he faced prosecution in the U.S. for his political views, and that extradition would be an attack on his right to free speech.

Judges in the High Court on Tuesday sided with Assanges lawyers, saying he had a real prospect of success" on several of his grounds to appeal. The court said the U.S. now has three weeks to give further assurances that Assange wont be subject to prejudice at trial, that the Australian will be granted the same free-speech protections as a U.S. citizen and that the death penalty wont be imposed. The court will decide on May 20 if the assurances are satisfactory and make a final decision on whether Assange can appeal extradition.

U.S. prosecutors alleged that in 2010 Assange conspired to help former U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning break into a Defense Department computer system by trying to help her crack a password. He faces 18 counts of conspiring to disclose classified information and hack a military computer in relation to WikiLeakss releases.

Lawyers for Assange argued that he merely published information given to him, much as a journalist would, and so shouldnt face punishment. His lawyers say that any prosecution would set a negative precedent for governments to pursue investigative journalists.

During a hearing last month in London, lawyers representing the U.S. government said Assange risked the strategic and national security interests of the United States and put the safety of individuals at serious risk." Assange is not being prosecuted because of his political opinions, but that he was being prosecuted because he is alleged to have committed serious criminal offenses," it added. The U.S. government alleges that Assange didnt merely publish information but also helped hack databases to acquire it.

Justice Department officials and Assanges lawyers have held preliminary talks about a plea deal, according to people familiar with the matter, that would allow him to avoid serving time in a U.S. jail. Assanges lawyers say that they have no indication that Justice Department officials would agree to such a deal.

Several of those who directly took classified information to give to WikiLeaks have been put in jail. Manning served seven years before her sentence was commuted by President Obama. Joshua Schulte, a former Central Intelligence Agency officer, was this month sentenced to 40 years for stealing secrets and handing them to WikiLeaks in 2017.

Assanges lawyers alleged in court that handing him to U.S. authorities would subject him to inhumane treatment. As evidence, they pointed to a media report alleging the CIA had discussed the possibility of kidnapping or killing Assange, as well as comments by former CIA chief Mike Pompeo that WikiLeaks was a non-state hostile intelligence service." The CIA has in the past declined to comment. Lawyers representing the U.S. government said that the media report in question was opinion and that Pompeo was no longer in office.

In 2019, the U.S. formally requested that Assange be extradited to face charges. A British judge ruled Assange had a history of evading justice so should remain in prison awaiting decision on his deportation. A long-winded legal battle then played out. In January 2021, a British judge ruled Assange shouldnt be extradited, saying that given his mental state he would be at risk of suicide if convicted and held in a maximum-security prison.

But that decision was overturned after an appeal by U.S. authorities who gave a package of assurances, including a pledge he could be transferred to Australia to serve any sentence. Assange looked to appeal that decision but all his legal avenues were shut down one by one.

Write to Max Colchester at Max.Colchester@wsj.com and Aruna Viswanatha at aruna.viswanatha@wsj.com
South Koreas SK Hynix plans to invest roughly $4 billion to build an advanced chip-packaging facility in West Lafayette, Ind., according to people familiar with the matter, a boost to the Biden administrations ambitions to restore Americas standing as a semiconductor power.

The SK Hynix facility, with nearby access to Purdue University, home to one of the U.S.s biggest semiconductor and microelectronics-engineering programs, is expected to create around 800 to 1,000 new jobs, the people said. A mix of state and federal tax incentives and other forms of support are expected to be made available to help finance the project, the people said.

Operations could begin in 2028, one of the people said. SK Hynixs board is expected to soon vote on the matter to complete the decision.

SK Hynix, one of the worlds largest chip makers by revenue, has seen its profile skyrocket during the latest artificial-intelligence boom. It dominates in the so-called high-bandwidth memory," or HBM, market, with SK Hynix currently serving as the exclusive partner to Nvidias most advanced graphic-processor units. The two types of chips get bundled together, enabling faster data-processing speeds critical to generative AI tools, such as OpenAIs ChatGPT.

Based in Icheon, South Korea, SK Hynix has seen its market capitalization more than double in the past year to roughly 129 trillion Korean won, or roughly $96 billion. Kwak Noh-jung, SK Hynixs chief executive, earlier this year said AI could help drive the companys valuation to 200 trillion won.

A SK Hynix spokeswoman said that the company is reviewing its advanced chip packaging investment in the U.S., but hasnt made a final decision yet." The Financial Times earlier reported that SK Hynix planned a chip-packaging facility in Indiana.

Nvidias AI chips are the crown jewel of the semiconductor industry. Being able to claim at least some parts of the manufacturing supply chain for such prized tech components would represent a significant breakthrough for the U.S., when nearly all of the related production occurs in South Korea, Taiwan or other parts of Asia.

Advanced chip packagingthe final steps of semiconductor productionis a critical facet of the Biden administrations U.S. Chips Act, which sets aside at least roughly $3 billion to expand such domestic production. The deadline for firms to apply with the Commerce Department for subsidies is April 12. Recent advances in artificial intelligence, for example, would not be possible without advanced packaging," according to the Commerce Department website.

The SK Hynix factory would become the first major facility for large-scale HBM packaging in the U.S., said Dylan Patel, chief analyst at SemiAnalysis, a chip-industry consulting firm. It is also notable that the investment is coming from the industrys leading supplier of HBM, he said.

SK Hynix accounts for roughly 73% of the HBM market by memory gigabytes, with South Koreas Samsung Electronics at around 22% and Idaho-based Micron with about 5%, according to SemiAnalysiss latest estimates.

HBM is cutting-edge technology as it uses advanced packaging techniques and materials to enable individual DRAM chips to be stacked on one another and fused together. This dramatically expands the amount of data that can be handled at oncewith SK Hynixs next-generation HBM3E able to process the equivalent of 230 high-definition movies in a second. Memory comes in two major types, DRAM which enables devices to multi-task and NAND flash, which provides storage function on devices.

Last week, SK Hynix said it had begun mass production of HBM3E to be supplied to an unnamed customer from late March. Industry experts say that buyer is Nvidia, for use in the firms new system called the HGX H200 for AI computing, to be released in the coming months.

For now, SK Hynix produces and packages its HBM chips in South Korea. The West Lafayette factory would handle some of the packagingthe stacking and fusing of multiple DRAM chipsof the HBM chips. But the company also plans to handle other types of advanced packaging at the Indiana site, according to people familiar with the matter.

Nvidias most-advanced processor chips are made by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, or TSMC, the worlds largest contract chip maker. TSMC, at its Taiwan facilities, also handles the packaging of Nvidias processors with SK Hynixs HBM, according to industry analysts.

SK Hynix had also considered Arizona, home to a burgeoning chip industry, including sites from TSMC and Intel. But Indiana was ultimately chosen due in part to the pool of skilled engineers available through Purdue, the people said.

West Lafayette is also the planned site of a $1.8 billion facility owned by U.S. chip maker SkyWater Technology, a project announced in 2022.

The costs of SK Hynix to build its packaging facility in the U.S. are projected to be roughly 30% to 35% higher than building a similar one in South Korea, said Handel Jones, CEO of International Business Strategies, a chip-industry consulting firm. U.S. government funding is expected to help offset some of those added costs, he said.

SK Hynix is the chip-making arm of the SK conglomerate, one of South Koreas largest business groups. In July 2022, SK Chairman Chey Tae-won and other top officials visited the White House. They held a teleconference there with President Biden, who had contracted Covid-19 at the time.

At the meeting, Chey said the SK conglomerate would invest roughly $30 billion in the U.S. in the coming years, efforts that span chips, electric-vehicle batteries and biotechnology. About half of those investments, Chey said then, would be earmarked for the semiconductor sector.

Write to Jiyoung Sohn at jiyoung.sohn@wsj.com and John Keilman at john.keilman@wsj.com
Members of the Muscogee Creek Nation returned to Alabama this weekend for a memorial service on the 210th anniversary of the battle of Horseshoe Bend
Death of Missouri student Riley Strain appears accidental, police in Tennessee say

Police in Tennessee say the death of University of Missouri student Riley Strain appears to be accidental
The container ship Dali was not being piloted by its own crew, but by local pilots who are used specifically to avoid accidents like the one that occurred early Tuesday morning.
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.
A Cork woman travelled to Dublin to collect a 100,000 prize which she won in the Christmas Millionaire Raffle game with just days remaining before the prize claims deadline on March 30th.

Following a nationwide unclaimed prize appeal from the National Lottery, the lucky Cork woman told how she learned of her win through the Cork news website, CorkBeo.

"I don't usually keep up with the news, so I had no idea that such a significant prize remained unclaimed in the area," she explained. "It was like a bolt from the blue when I saw the article. Suddenly, I remembered buying a ticket for the draw, but I never imagined it could be the winning one.

When I scanned the ticket on my phone and saw the message pop up confirming my win, I was in disbelief. I set the ticket and the phone aside out of pure shock, but after a few hours, I finally composed myself to check again to make sure I wasnt dreaming," she said.

Remarkably, the delighted Cork woman admitted that the winning ticket which was purchased at the Friars Road Post Office in Turners Cross had been left in an old handbag since the draw after she received a new bag as a Christmas present. And to think the thing that could have cost me 100,000 was receiving a lovely new handbag for Christmas!

I feel so blessed that I came across the news article when I did because I cant imagine how I would have felt if I had found the ticket in a couple of months time, well after the prize claims deadline. I wont dwell on what could have been because I now have a cheque for 100,000 which will come in incredibly handy over the coming months.

Well be able to pay off whats left of our mortgage and a couple of bills. As a family, we have agreed that we deserve to splurge on ourselves a little bit, so well definitely be upgrading the car over the next couple of weeks, its incredibly exciting for us, she added.

A National Lottery spokesperson reminded all players of the importance of checking tickets to ensure that all prizes, big and small are claimed. Following a nationwide media awareness campaign for this particular Millionaire Raffle prize, we were absolutely over the moon to finally get the call from this player in Cork to confirm the win just before the prize claim deadline. With tens of thousands of prize winners in our main draws every single week, it is vital that all of our players make sure to check their tickets after every draw to ensure they do not miss out on any prizes.

"The most common hiding places we see for players storing lottery tickets are in their cars, in jeans pockets and in this case, in old handbags! When purchased, lottery tickets should be treated as a bearer instrument because, It Could Be You and the ticket may be worth a life-changing amount of money!
There is finally some good news on the weather front as a potential band of stormy weather that was seemingly heading toward Ireland is now going to hit England instead.

The update comes amid unsettled conditions nationwide with people left hoping for an upturn in weather fortunes before the Easter Bank Holiday weekend.

Alan O'Reilly from Carlow Weather gave the somewhat positive update: "In some potential good news for Bank Holiday Monday the latest charts show that low system heading for England rather than Ireland. Could change again yet but a positive update."

However, Met Eireann's forecast for the week and right into the Easter weekend is not good news with more rain and wind affecting much of the country.

Their outlook says: "Unsettled with frequent rain and showers, and the possibility of some flooding. Blustery at times also."

For Tuesday, they say "rain will continue over Connacht, Ulster, west Munster and north Leinster this afternoon. Turning brighter elsewhere with scattered heavy showers developing, bringing a chance of hail and isolated thunderstorms. Highest temperatures of 6 to 10 degrees in moderate northeast to east winds.

"Early tonight [Tuesday], rain will linger in Ulster, with a mix of clear spells and showers elsewhere. More persistent rain will develop in the south and southwest later, spreading northwards to most areas by morning. Lowest temperatures of 1 to 5 degrees in light to moderate easterly winds becoming southeasterly later."

The forecast continues: "Outbreaks of rain will gradually clear northwards on Wednesday morning and early afternoon. Sunny spells and showers will follow from the south for the rest of the day. Some showers will be heavy with the chance of hail and isolated thunderstorms, and with sleet possible on hills. Cool with highest temperatures of 5 to 9 degrees in moderate to fresh southeast to south winds.

"Wednesday night will be cold with showers mainly affecting Munster, Leinster and east Ulster, a few of them wintry on hills. Longer drier periods further west with clear spells. Lowest temperatures of -1 to 4 degrees, coldest over the western half of the country with frost and icy patches possible.

"Thursday will continue cold with bright or sunny spells and showers of rain or hail. These will be heaviest and most frequent in the east and north and a few may be thundery. Highest temperatures of 7 to 9 degrees with moderate northerly winds becoming westerly. On Thursday night, showers will become become isolated with clear spells and frost developing. Lowest temperatures of -1 to +2 degrees and light southerly or variable breezes."

For the Easter weekend, Met Eireann says "Good Friday will bring a mix of sunshine and showers. Some of the showers may be heavy with a continuing possibility of hail and thunder. Highest temperatures of 8 to 11 degrees with light to moderate southerly winds. Friday night will be another cold night with lowest temperatures of -2 to +4 degrees, coldest in the west.

"Easter Saturday will be somewhat milder with bright or sunny spells and some further showers, but not as many as previous days. Highest temperatures of 9 to 12 degrees with light breezes.

"Easter Sunday looks like being mainly dry with sunny spells and just a few showers. Highest temperatures of 10 to 12 degrees with light easterly breezes."

They conclude: "At the moment Easter Monday looks like being a wet day with rain spreading westwards over the country."
Local News

By Chris Boyle Published: March 26 2024

The Town of Islip takes immense pride in recognizing and celebrating the achievements, strength, and resilience of women from all walks of life.

March is National Women's History Month, serving as a poignant reminder of the profound impact women have on their communities and on the lives they touch.



The Town of Islip takes immense pride in recognizing and celebrating the achievements, strength, and resilience of women from all walks of life. Their unwavering dedication, passion, and tireless efforts contribute to the rich tapestry of our Town, making it a better place for everyone.



To celebrate March is Womens History Month, Town officials honored a few of the outstanding women from the community beginning with Holocaust survivor Edith Gross.



Born in Czechoslovakia in 1928, Edith Gross has lived a life of resilience, strength, and unwavering faith. Despite enduring the tragedy of losing her mother at a young age and the horrors of Nazi concentration camps during World War II, Edith never lost her sense of humanity and compassion. Her ability to find light in the darkest of times, exemplified by her generosity in sharing what she had, even when it was so little, is a testament to her indomitable spirit.



After being liberated by Allied forces, Edith embarked on a journey to rebuild her life, first in Israel and then in America. Overcoming the challenges of learning a new language and finding employment, she went on to create a beautiful family, becoming a beloved mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. Edith's legacy extends beyond her family, as she has dedicated herself to educating generations about the Holocaust, sharing her profound story and message of love, kindness, and unity. As the inaugural speaker at the Town of Islip Unity Council Lunchtime Speaker Series, Edith's words and wisdom have brought light to the world, making her an inspirational figure in our community and beyond.



"For her extraordinary life, tireless efforts, and the indelible mark she has left on countless lives, it is our privilege to recognize Edith Gross," said Supervisor Angie Carpenter.



Dr. Janice McCormack has dedicated over three decades to providing exceptional cardiovascular care to the Islip community. As a highly skilled and compassionate cardiologist at South Bay Cardiovascular Associates, she has touched the lives of countless men and women, offering expert diagnosis, treatment, and preventive care for a wide range of cardiac conditions. Her areas of expertise include echocardiography, cardio-obstetrics, adult congenital disease, and cardio-oncology, showcasing her commitment to staying at the forefront of her field.



Beyond her clinical practice, Dr. McCormack has made significant contributions to the advancement of women's heart health. She played a key role in launching the Good Samaritan Hospital Women's Heart Wellness Program, which focuses on treating women of childbearing age with underlying cardiovascular disease. Her tireless efforts to educate and empower the community through adult lecture series, school health fairs, and local food pantry support demonstrate her unwavering dedication to promoting heart-healthy habits and helping those in need. Dr. McCormack's outstanding achievements, coupled with her compassion and community involvement, make her a true role model and a deserving recipient of this Women's History Month recognition. Barbara Raymond-Obas, a tireless advocate for health equity and social justice, has made a profound mark on the communities she serves. Born and raised in Brooklyn by her single mother, a West Indies immigrant, Barbara learned the value of hard work and the importance of pursuing the American dream from an early age. Working hard to pay for her college education, she earned degrees in both human services and communications, laying the foundation for her impactful career in public health and community activism.



As the Director for Policy Organizational Strategy in the Office of Diversity Equity at FOCUS, Inc., and the Civic Engagement Chair for the NAACP, Barbara has been instrumental in creating policies that have improved the health services of Black and Brown communities, protected voters' rights, and promoted equal employment opportunities. Her unwavering commitment to uniting the community is evident through her involvement in numerous organizations, such as the NY State Community Action Association, HIV Advisory Board, and Women Diversity Network. Barbara's leadership in organizing events like the National Week of Prayer, Annual Multicultural Dinner, and Nassau/Suffolk ETE - Suffolk Knows Health Fair, demonstrates her dedication to ending the HIV epidemic, combating stigma, and promoting health screening and testing. Her belief that it takes a village to raise tomorrow's leaders inspires her tireless efforts to create a more equitable and just society for all.



Phyllis Boccio, a decorated EMT with an impressive 34 years of dedicated service to the Holbrook Fire Department, has made significant contributions to her community. Throughout her career, Phyllis has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to saving lives and ensuring the safety of those in need. Her exceptional skills and compassionate nature have earned her numerous accolades, including several Life-Saving Awards from the Holbrook Fire Department and a prestigious Life-Saving Award from the American Red Cross. Phyllis's expertise and leadership have been invaluable to the department, as evidenced by her roles as Second Lieutenant, First Lieutenant, and Captain, as well as her tireless efforts in mentoring and training incoming EMTs since 1991.



Phyllis's passion for serving others knows no bounds, as demonstrated by her remarkable response rate and dedication to her duties. In 2023 alone, she responded to an astounding 623 EMS alarms, 86 motor vehicle accidents, and 588 fire alarms, while also participating in 481 ambulance rides. Phyllis's commitment to her community is truly unparalleled. Even at the age of 80, she continues to re-certify as an EMT, showcasing her lifelong dedication to this noble profession.



Phyllis Boccio's selfless service, extraordinary achievements, and unwavering devotion to saving lives make her a shining example of the impact one person can have on their community, and a most deserving honoree for our Towns Women's History celebration.

CREDIT: Town of Islip
Local News

By Chris Boyle Published: March 26 2024

It is imperative that we take decisive action to save lives, said Supervisor Joseph Saladino.

Oyster Bay Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino and the Town Board took decisive action to address the opioid crisis and combat the proliferation of deadly substances in New York State and across the region. Recognizing the urgent need for change, the Town Board passed an official resolution in support of Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierneys efforts to amend New York State laws related to deadly substances such as fentanyl and xylazine.

As the opioid crisis continues to devastate families across our nation and in our community, with fatalities increasing across all communities and among all people, it is imperative that we take decisive action to save lives, said Supervisor Saladino. The Oyster Bay Town Board and I are proud to support the Suffolk County District Attorneys demands to amend state laws to increase punishment for drug dealers and ensure victims get the support they deserve. Together, we are sending a clear message that those who peddle deadly poison will be held accountable for their actions.

Under current New York State law, individuals can possess up to 8 oz. of fentanyl before bail can be set, a quantity capable of killing over 100,000 people. Additionally, the law does not recognize families of those lost to fentanyl as victims and prevents these families from receiving financial compensation. Moreover, the use of xylazine (a tranquilizer used to sedate large livestock animals) by drug dealers exacerbates the crisis, yet it remains legal to possess in our state. The Town of Oyster Bay resolution approved today formally declares the Town Boards support for DA Tierneys advocacy efforts to amend state law relating to these deadly substances and recognizes that drug dealers who peddle this poison are, in fact, dealing death to our residents.

The Oyster Bay Town Board is committed to taking decisive action to combat the opioid epidemic and protect the well-being of our residents, added Councilman Lou Imbroto. We stand in solidarity with District Attorney Tierneys campaign to save lives and keep families whole.
Israels 7th Brigade and soldiers from the Kfir Brigade conduct a series of operations in northern Khan Yunis in the Al-Qarara area. (IDF)

For the first time in two months, rockets were fired from Gaza at Ashdod and Ashkelon, two coastal Israeli cities south of Tel Aviv which were the major targets of hundreds of rocket attacks during the Hamas attack on October 7 and in the months following. After Israel launched its ground maneuver in Gaza in late October however, the rocket fire reduced.

In the last two months, rocket fire from Gaza has been reduced to near-zero in terms of daily launches. The last large barrages were on new years day just after midnight and again in mid-January when a barrage of fifty rockets targeted the southern Israeli city of Netivot. The IDF has reduced the time necessary to find and destroy rocket launchers and the perpetrators behind the launches. This has been made possible by IDF operations in various parts of Gaza wherein IDF forces essentially halved the strip into two by controlling a road across Gaza. It has also been made possible by a shift in tactics to target the launchers and close the loop on perpetrators. After the Netivot attack in January for example, the IDF found the rocket launcher within a day.

The IDF said on March 25 that the Hamas terrorist organization launched rockets from a humanitarian area in Deir al-Balah; the IDF located and struck the post from which the launches were fired toward the city of Ashdod, along with additional terror targets. The IDF also said that after the attack targeted Ashdod, the IDF sent in warplanes to destroy the post from which the launches took place. Following the strike, secondary explosions were identified, indicating the presence of additional weapons in the area, it said. The IDF emphasized that the attack took place from a humanitarian area in Deir al-Balah. An infographic put out by the IDF showed launch posts near tents, though it was not clear how this area was demarcated as a humanitarian area. Deir al-Balah is one of several areas in central Gaza known as central camps which continue to have a Hamas presence. Many of these areas, which are built around refugee camps established in the 1950s, are densely populated and have not been cleared by the IDF. Along with Rafah, they remain a Hamas stronghold.

The rocket launches on March 25 came as the IDF continued to operate around the Shifa hospital complex. The IDFs 162nd division has been controlling the Shifa sector since the IDF raid began the evening of March 17 and has cleared several buildings in the area. The Nahal brigades reconnaissance unit was used in the clearing, and they located many weapons that were hidden inside the various medical devices in the MRI complex as well as on the rooftop of the hospital, the IDF said. In total, the IDF has detained around 800 suspects in the area, with 500 of them identified as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad members. Moreover, up to 180 terrorists have been eliminated in gunfights near the hospital, the IDF said in a briefing on March 25.

According to the same IDF briefing, Israel is continuing to make preparations for an operation in Rafah. A large number of civilians are sheltering in that area and will need safe passage out of the city. Meanwhile, Israel is also in touch with US Central Command about US plans for a temporary floating dock off the coast of Gaza to facilitate humanitarian aid. Prior to the dock being built, around 30 trucks a day are entering northern Gaza and air drops continue. In addition, a second shipment of aid is scheduled to arrive by sea from Cyprus.

The renewed rocket fire suggests that Hamas is trying to reconstitute itself, and the Shifa raid shows that Hamas is concentrating commanders in northern Gaza after suffering losses in November. Meanwhile, the IDF continues operations in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, having carried out dozens of strikes on targets.

Reporting from Israel, Seth J. Frantzman is an adjunct fellow at FDD and a contributor to FDDs Long War Journal. He is the acting news editor and senior Middle East correspondent and analyst at The Jerusalem Post.
A ship has crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the US city of Baltimore, causing the bridge to fully collapse which has led to a number of casualties. The bridge has entirely collapsed into the Patapsco River and it is reported that up to 20 people and vehicles are believed to have fallen into the water.

Baltimore bridge collapses after being struck by cargo ship

The local fire department have said that a large vessel hit a column of the bridge at around 01:30 ET. There have been a number of videos circulating on social media showing the majority of the bridge plunging into the water.

The bridge is 3km (1.6 miles) long and is part of the major 695 highway orbital that encircles Baltimore. With Baltimore being a port city, it is common for large container vehicles to frequent that stretch of river.

Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse latest updates LIVE

Update narration

The US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg also released a statement: "I've spoken with Governor Moore and Mayor Scott to offer USDOT's (United States Secretary of Transportation) support following the vessel strike and collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge. "Rescue efforts remain underway and drivers in the Baltimore area should follow local responder guidance on detours and response."

Governor Wes Moore has said: "We are working with an interagency team to quickly deploy federal resources from the Biden Administration."

He thanks the "brave men and women who are carrying out efforts to rescue those involved and pray for everyone's safety."
Two Western Massachusetts residents were arrested in connection with a shooting on Interstate 391, which killed one man, Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gullunis office announced.

Noah Torres, 19, of Springfield, was charged with murder, possession of a large-capacity firearm without a license, possession of a large-capacity feeding device without a license and possession of ammunition, Gullunis office said in a statement on Tuesday.

Kiana Gonzalez, 22, of Holyoke, was charged with accessory after the fact, tampering or destruction of evidence, possession of a large-capacity firearm without a license, possession of a large-capacity feeding device without a license and possession of ammunition without a license.

Massachusetts State Police were notified of the shooting at around 8:45 p.m. on March 12, State Police said in a statement. They received a report that said there was a shooting on the southbound side of Interstate 391 in Chicopee.

At around 10 p.m., the car with four people inside drove to Bay State Medical Center, with some of whom were suffering from gunshot wounds ..., Gullunis office said.

One of the people shot, Guyton Winspeare, 35, of Chicopee, died at the hospital, Gullunis office said.

The other people in the car were uncooperative, leaving investigators trying to locate a crime scene, Gullunis office added. But investigators were able to find an area the morning after the shooting between exits 3 and 4.

Investigators developed probable cause for two suspects involved in the shooting, Gullunis office said. On Friday, March 22, an arrest warrant was issued for Torres. He was arraigned on Tuesday and will be held without bail.

Gonzalez was arraigned on Monday, March 25, and is in custody with bail set at $100,000.

Torres next court appearance is scheduled for April 25, and Gonzalezs next court date is on April 12.
Authorities in Massachusetts offered their support to the state of Maryland after a nearly 1,000-foot-long container ship lost power and plowed into a vital Baltimore bridge early Tuesday, causing a devastating collapse in a matter of seconds.

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey called the collision at the Francis Scott Key Bridge heartbreaking and said her thoughts were with the victims and survivors. She also sought to calm public concerns that a similar disaster could occur in the Bay State.
Two men from Dracut are facing charges after State Police say they attacked a truck driver with a hammer in a road rage incident on Interstate 495 in Bolton.

Javier Gutierrez Vargas, 23, and Juan Marin, 28, are both charged with two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and a single count of disorderly conduct, David Procopio, a State Police spokesman, said Tuesday morning. Both men are set to be arraigned in Clinton District Court after they posted bail.

The truck driver, a 28-year-old Maine man, was seriously injured but officials do not believe his injuries are life-threatening, Procopio said. He was taken to Leominster Hospital for treatment.

Vargas and Marin were arrested in Marlborough following the incident after State Police asked other agencies to look for them and the car they were driving, according to the statement. A third occupant of the vehicle they were in, a woman, was not charged.

State Police troopers went to a section of the highway in Bolton around 2 p.m. Monday for a report of an altercation with a weapon in the breakdown lane, Procopio said.
In the wake of the collapse of a Baltimore bridge and a frantic search for survivors Tuesday morning, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey is publicly offering to use state resources to help in the response efforts.

Just after 9 a.m., Healey wrote on social media that she has been in contact with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore to let him know that Massachusetts stands ready to support in any way we can.

Im keeping all those affected by the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in my thoughts as rescue efforts continue, the governor wrote.

Read more: Baltimore Key bridge collapse prompts search effort in water below

In response to Healeys post, several commenters noted that Massachusetts own bridges, especially the two bridges that connect the rest of the state to Cape Cod, have long been in disarray.

The Sagamore and Bourne bridge collapse will be much worse! one commenter wrote, replying to Healey.

The Sagamore and Bourne Bridges  which are owned by the federal government  have struggled to get dedicated funding from federal lawmakers, despite being deemed functionally obsolete.

Notably, Baltimores Francis Scott Key Bridge did not collapse due to decay, but because a cargo ship hit one of its supports early Tuesday morning. By 7 a.m., two people had be rescued, and first responders are looking for at least seven other people in the water.
The judge overseeing the murder case against Karen Read, the Mansfield woman charged in the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend, denied a motion by her attorneys to dismiss the case based on allegations of an improper investigation.

The denial came after a brief hearing Tuesday where Reads attorneys requested notes from the Norfolk County District Attorneys Office taken during conversations with witnesses. Her trial is scheduled to begin on April 16.
A Taunton woman accused of abusing three pre-K students from Mitchell Elementary School pleaded not guilty in court, Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruzs office announced.

Kathryn Rousseau, 56, pleaded not guilty to three counts of assault and battery on a person with intellectual disabilities in Brockton District Court on Tuesday, Cruzs office said in a statement. She was released on her own personal recognizance with the conditions that she stay away from and have no contact with the children, their families and witnesses from the school, and to stay away from the school itself.

The parent of one of the children, 4, went to Bridgewater police on March 14, Cruzs office said. The parent said a school staffer notified them about a report of suspected abuse or neglect filed to the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families against Rousseau, who has taught for 18 years.
A Medford dog walker who is facing an animal cruelty charge denied the allegations against him as he left his arraignment Monday, calling the charge a false report that is exaggerated.

Medford officers arrested and charged Frederick Ingrando, 33, on Sunday after witnesses reported seeing a dog walker hit one of the dogs he was walking in the head multiple times, police said previously. Officers identified Ingrando through a video of the incident provided by one of the witnesses.

Ingrando pleaded not guilty to the charge during his arraignment Monday in Somerville District Court, court records show. The judge released him on personal recognizance bail and ordered him to stay away from the dogs involved in the incident and their owners, but did not bar him from working with dogs altogether.

After the arraignment, Ingrando spoke to reporters as he left the courthouse.

Nothing happened. Its a false report, he said, before adding that he loves dogs.

Ingrandos father also made comments to reporters after the arraignment, asserting that his son was brought up the right way and has a condition.

Ingrando was a hired dog walker through the pet care services app Rover. After being notified of the allegations against Ingrando, Rover suspended his account and is now conducting an investigation of his handling of animals, the app said in a statement Tuesday.

We were shocked and disturbed to learn of this abhorrent behavior - there is zero tolerance for this type of treatment of pets in our community, Rover said in the statement.

Rover is also assisting police in their investigation to the fullest extent possible, the app said.

Videos of the incident that resulted in the charge were posted to Facebook on Monday. One video shows Ingrando roughly handling a Golden Retriever, and the other two show him arguing with a man who appears to be trying to intervene on behalf of the dogs.

As the two go back and forth while swearing at each other, Ingrando can be heard hurling racial slurs at the other man, who is Black.

After Ingrandos arrest, police took the five dogs in his care  which were being boarded in a single room  to a local kennel to await pick-up by their owners, NBC 10 Boston reported. The dogs are reportedly uninjured, but the kennel told the news station it is concerned about their emotional well-being.
A federal grand jury in Boston indicted an Ohio man accused of hiding his involvement in the Rwandan genocide, which killed over 800,000 people, Acting United States Attorney Joshua Levys office announced.

Eric Tabaro Nshimiye, who is also known as Eric Tabaro Nshimiyimana, of Uniontown, Ohio, was arrested on March 21 in Ohio on charges of falsifying, concealing and covering up a material fact by trick, scheme or device; obstruction of justice; and perjury, Levys office said in a statement.

The obstruction of justice and perjury charges stem from Nshimiye provided during the 2019 Boston-based trial of convicted Rwandan genocide perpetrator Jean Leonard Teganya, Levys office said.

After his initial court appearance in federal court in the Northern District of Ohio, Nshimiye was detained pending a detention hearing on March 31, and will appear in Boston at a later date, Levys office added.

In the early 1990s, Nshimiye was a medical student at the University of Rwanda campus in Butare, according to prosecutors. During that period, Rwanda had a significant ethnic division with roughly 85% of the country made up of Hutus, and 14% made up of Tutsis.

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Nshimiye and his classmate, Teganya, were well-known student members of the MRND political party that initiated the genocide, Levys office said. The youth wing of that political party, the Interahamwe, was notoriously violent, according to prosecutors.

The genocide began in 1994 when the Hutu presidents plane was shot down over Kigali, leading the Hutu ethnic majority to kill roughly 800,000 Tutsis over the course of 100 days, the statement said.

Nshimiye participated in the murders of Tutsi men, women, and children by hitting them in the head with a nail-studded club and then hacking them to death with a machete, Levys office said. He was also accused of participating in and aiding and abetting in the rape of several Tutsi woman during the genocide.

Charging documents cited by prosecutors point to specific instances when Nshimiye took place in the killings, including the murders of a 14-year-old boy and a man who sewed doctors coats at the university hospital. Witnesses in Rwanda were able to identify the locations of the killings and provided drawings of the weapons Nshimiye is accused of using, according to the statement.

Nshimiye fled Rwanda in the summer of 1994 following an attack by a Tutsi rebel group that drove genocidaires into the Democratic Republic of Congo, Levys office said. He then traveled to Kenya in 1995, where he was accused of lying to immigration officials to gain entry into the United States as a refugee.

He then emigrated to Ohio in 1995, where hes lived ever since. Nshimiye was also accused of repeatedly providing false information to officials about his involvement in the genocide for the next 30 years to establish lawful residence in the United States and then gain citizenship.

Our refuge and asylum laws exist to protect true victims of persecution  not the perpetrators, Levy said in a previous statement. The United States will not be a safe haven for suspected human rights violators and war criminals.
The owners of a Framingham restaurant were ordered by a federal court not to threaten or retaliate against employees as the U.S. Department of Labor investigates allegations the restaurant did not pay proper overtime compensation or keep records of workers pay and hours.

An investigation of Samba Steak and Sushi and China Gourmet began in late 2022 to determine if the restaurants were in compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act, the labor department said in a statement. The results of the investigation led the department to file suit in federal court in Massachusetts accusing Samba, and its sister restaurant, China Gourmet, and owners, Shi Yun Zhang and Risheng Xu, of violating the act.

In the complaint, officials say Zhang retaliated against employees who engaged in protected conduct, by discouraging them from talking to investigators and asking them to sign records that misrepresented the hours they worked, according to the statement. Zhang is also accused of demanding employees provide Social Security cards or risk being fired.

The injunction handed down by the court prohibits Zhang and Samba from firing employees or reducing their pay without first providing one weeks notice to the department, according to the statement. They must also provide a non-retaliatory business justification for the firing to the employee.

Samba and Zhang are barred from demanding immigration-related documents or information from employees, and can not tell employees not to talk to members of the department or to provide inaccurate information about their hours, the statement said.

The injunction also requires Samba and Zhang to post and provide employees with a notice of their rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act and allow a representative to read the notice to workers during paid working hours, according to the statement.

In investigations of both restaurants in 2020, the department found widespread wage and record keeping violations and subsequently reached settlements requiring the restaurants pay more than $250,000 in back wages and ensure future compliance with the act, the statement said.

The preliminary injunction in this case ensures that Sambas workers can stand up for their rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act without the fear of negative consequences, said Regional Solicitor of Labor Maia Fisher in Boston. The U.S. Department of Labor will work tirelessly to ensure that employers do not use threats, including immigration-related threats, to prevent workers from asserting their workplace rights.
A South Boston man facing a first-degree murder charge tied to a fatal shooting in December was ordered held without bail during his arraignment in Suffolk Superior Court Tuesday morning, according to prosecutors and court records.

Patrick Harland, 30, was also arraigned on charges of witness intimidation, accessory after the fact, carrying a firearm without a license, and seven counts of armed assault to murder, Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Haydens office said in a statement. Harland is accused of killing 41-year-old Curtis Effee, of Boston, in the early morning hours of Dec. 30, 2023, after a verbal fight.

On Dec. 29, 2023, Harland and his girlfriend went to an apartment at 417 Geneva Ave. in Dorchester. They spent several hours there, staying past midnight, when Harland got into what prosecutors called a verbal altercation with Effee. At 12:44 a.m., Harland messaged his girlfriends nephew, Dasahn Crowder.

Crowder responded seconds later by saying, Im coming now. Harland subsequently called Crowder, according to a statement of the case filed by prosecutors in Suffolk Superior Court provided to MassLive. Harland then told the people in the apartment that Crowder was coming to the address with a gun.

Three minutes later, Crowder and Tyrese Robinson arrived at 415 Geneva Ave., Assistant District Attorney Cailin M. Campbell wrote in the filing.

After Crowder and Robinson got to Geneva Avenue, a physical fight involving Harland, his girlfriend, and several others broke out on the street. Harland is accused of brandishing a knife and pointing it at Effee.

It is then that prosecutors say Crowder took out a gun and opened fire at Effee. A crowd of people had assembled on the street following the fight breaking out, including a 10-year-old boy and an 11-year-old girl, according to the filing.

A few moments after Crowder began firing, prosecutors say Robinson also began shooting at Effee. Effee was struck by the gunshots and died of his injuries, according to the filing.

Crowder and Robinson are accused of fleeing by car, while prosecutors say Harland left on foot.

Following the killing, Harlands girlfriend ended their relationship, according to the filing. After she did so, Harland is accused of sending messages to her threatening to report her as a missing person and to file a police report against her children. Harland also threatened to make reports against the womans mother so she would be evicted from her apartment, according to the filing.

Harland eventually followed through and posted a fake missing persons bulletin on Facebook claiming his ex-girlfriend was missing. In doing so, he publicly posted her minor childrens names and ages, as well as the address of her workplace, according to the filing.

Crowder and Robinson were both arrested on Dec. 31, and charged with first-degree murder in Dorchester District Court on January 2.

Harland was arrested Monday in Cambridge by the Boston Police Fugitive Unit.

It was not immediately clear Tuesday afternoon when Harland would return to court.
A 30-year-old South Boston man was arrested on a warrant charging him with murder on Monday, the third person arrested in connection with the shooting death of a man in Dorchester in December, police said.

Patrick Harland was taken into custody around 5:20 p.m. Monday in the area of North Point Park in Cambridge, Boston Police said in a statement. He is expected to be arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court.

Harlands arrest follows those of Tyreese Robinson, 19, of Randolph, and Dasahn Crowder, 21, of Quincy, on Dec. 31, the day after the shooting. Both Robinson and Crowder were wanted on warrants for murder issued out of Dorchester District Court, police said.

On Dec. 30, Boston police went to the area of 417 Geneva Ave. for a report of a person shot. When officers arrived they found a man later identified as Curtis Effee, 41, of Boston, had been shot. Effee was declared dead at the scene, the statement said.

The shooting remains under investigation by the Boston Police Departments Homicide Unit, and police encourage anyone with information to contact them at 617-343-4470. Anyone who wants to submit a tip anonymously can do so by calling the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1-800-494-TIPS or by texting the word TIP to CRIME (27463).
A truck driver was seriously injured after being struck with a hammer in what State Police described as a road rage incident on Interstate 495 South Monday afternoon, leading to the arrest of two men.

State Police troopers went to a section of the highway in Bolton around 2 p.m. Monday for a report of an altercation with a weapon in the breakdown lane, David Procopio, a State Police spokesman, said in a statement. State Police believe the driver of a tractor-trailer was assaulted by two men who were occupants of a Volkswagen GTI hatchback in an incident of road rage.

The driver of the tractor-trailer was struck with a hammer during the assault, sustaining serious injuries. He was taken to Leominster Hospital, where he remained as of Monday evening, Procopio said.

The two men who struck the truck driver left the area before police arrived, prompting State Police to issue an alert for other agencies to search for the vehicle and suspects. A short time later, the men were seen in Marlborough, and stopped and detained by Marlborough police, Procopio said. A third occupant of the vehicle, a woman, was not charged.

One of the two men was taken to Marlborough Hospital for treatment of injuries he suffered during the road rage incident, State Police said.

The charges against the two men were not immediately released, and were being finalized as of Monday evening, according to Procopio.


The U.S. Marshals Service is offering a $5,000 reward for information about the whereabouts of a man accused of killing a person during a nightclub shooting in Lawrence in December.

Both Lawrence police and the Marshals Service are looking for Franklin Laras, a Lawrence resident, who should be considered armed and dangerous, according to a wanted poster for Laras distributed by the service Tuesday. Laras is 5 feet 7 inches tall, and has tattoos on his chest and arms.

Lawrence police went to Energy Lounge at around 12:20 a.m. on Dec. 24, where they found Edward Javier-Perez, 29, had been shot. Javier-Perez was taken by ambulance to Lawrence General Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, the Essex County District Attorneys office said at the time.

Anyone with information about Laras location should contact the Marshals Service at 1-877-WANTED2 or online at usmarshals.gov/tips, according to the poster.
A pair of academic experts warned Tuesday that Auditor Diana DiZoglios push for explicit authority to audit the Legislature would dramatically offset the separation of state government power.

Professors from Harvard University and Northeastern University, who were invited by lawmakers to share their assessment of a proposal to empower the auditors office, echoed many of the concerns that top House and Senate Democrats have already raised about DiZoglios push.

David King, a public policy lecturer at Harvard, described the ballot question as a blindsided body check to this Legislature that would represent an unprecedented transfer of power into the executive branch.

And Jeremy Paul, a law professor at Northeastern, said he believes theres a significant likelihood the Massachusetts courts will be forced to invalidate the proposal as unconstitutional if voters enact it at the ballot box this fall.

DiZoglio, a former representative and senator who clashed with Democrat leaders in both branches during her tenure, has been pushing since she became auditor to subject the opaque House and Senate to additional scrutiny by her office.

Lawmakers have resisted, arguing that they already undergo their own audits. After the attorney general agreed that DiZoglio does not currently have the authority to audit the Legislature over its objections, the Methuen Democrat launched a ballot question campaign seeking that power from voters.

A special legislative committee reviewing the full field of potential 2024 ballot questions invited academic experts, DiZoglio and other supporters, and opponents including former Auditor Suzanne Bump to weigh in on the topic Tuesday.
(*This story was updated at 1:12 p.m. on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 with additional reporting.)

The U.S. Supreme Courts decision to hear oral arguments on a case seeking to limit access to a widely used abortion medication is just one more reminder of the high stakes of this Novembers presidential election, Gov. Maura Healey said Tuesday.

This is a Supreme Court designed and constructed by [former President] Donald Trump. People need to remember that as we face the next six months, the Democratic governor said during an appearance on WGBH radio.

Two years after the toppling of Roe v. Wade sparked a wave of restrictions on abortion access in Republican-led states, anti-choice activists have asked the majority conservative high court to ratify a ruling from a conservative federal appeals court that would limit access to the medication mifepristone, which was used in nearly two-thirds of all abortions in the United States last year.

Though a ruling is still months away, the high court appeared unsympathetic to that argument on Tuesday, according to published reports.

Justices across the ideological spectrum expressed skepticism that the antiabortion doctors who brought the challenge had the legal grounds  or the standing  to do so, the Washington Post reported Tuesday.

Still, states led by Democrats have been preparing for the unfolding court fight for nearly a year.

Last April, at Healeys request, the University of Massachusetts Amherst purchased roughly 15,000 doses of the medication as a hedge against an unfriendly ruling.

That purchase would provide enough doses to cover medication abortion for two years, WBUR reported.

On Tuesday, Healey reiterated her commitment to preserving access to the medication, even as she acknowledged that an unfriendly ruling would eventually impact the Bay State.

Obviously well see how the arguments go and what the courts decision [is], Healey told the station. We have mifepristone on supply and will continue to be in supply. Weve seen a continued attack by state Legislatures and the Supreme Court on reproductive freedoms.

Healey said the state has seen an uptick in people traveling to Massachusetts from out-of-state for abortion care since the high courts 2022 ruling sending the debate over abortion rights back to state capitols across the country.

Thats backed up by the data.

A 2023 study based on medical records from the states largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, showed a 37.5% increase in the first four months after the high courts ruling, compared to the same time the year before, WBUR reported.

We are going to continue to do everything we can to protect patients and protect access, Healey said.

In a statement, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., also underscored the political stakes of the high courts proceedings on Tuesday.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration already has made clear that mifepristone is safe and effective, and Americans have been safely using this medication for over twenty years, Warren said.

Let me be clear: this case is about Donald Trump and the Republican politicians marching us toward a full-on nationwide abortion ban, Warren continued. Its wrong and it threatens access to abortion in every state. We need to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade and protect reproductive freedom for all.
MSNBC superstar host Rachel Maddow went for the Ronna McDaniel kill shot on Monday night, using the first 30 minutes of her hour-long The Rachel Maddow Show to join her colleagues in their withering criticism of NBCs decision to McDaniel  an election denier, Donald Trump enabler and former Republican Party Chairman  as a paid political mouthpiece.

With the power that Maddow wields at the network, its difficult to imagine that McDaniel survives. Its also conceivable that Maddow demanded the chance to weigh in before a firing was announced. She called on the companys executives to reverse the decision.

In her monologue, Maddow said McDaniel will never be able to wash the sludge of the coup plot from her hands because she cant  and likely wont want to  stop the runaway train that she shifted into high gear before bailing out. The country will be dealing with McDaniels mortal sins for years, maybe generations, Maddow predicted.

She also said McDaniel has helped to cultivate the idea that political violence might be needed to restore Trump to the White House if he loses to incumbent Joe Biden in November.

She was part of a project, and what was the project? Maddow said. It was to use the power of the Republican Party, Republican officials and Republican officeholders in Washington, the National Republican Party that she runs ... to reject election results to take over the government and hold power by other means. And this project is now ongoing, right?

Now the project is to tell the American people that those efforts around the 2020 election were righteous, that 2020 election, it wasnt OK. Those election results were not correct. We shouldnt believe American elections. We shouldnt believe American elections are real elections. ... They should not be respected. Thats the project now, right?

I mean, it didnt work to overthrow the government the last time, but as long as you can build on that first effort, as long as you can keep up the anti-election mythology, then you are priming your people. Youre priming the American public to not accept the results of the next election, either. Youre telling them that theyre going to need to take power by other means, because the election isnt going to be how we do it anymore.

In addition to telling The Big Lie over and over, while she also vilified and insulted reporters, McDaniel was caught on tape urging Michigan officials not to certify the 2020 Michigan presidential results while promising to get them lawyers. Although she has not been charged, she is mentioned in the fake electors indictment court filings.

Maddow also broke news in her address to her viewers: She said that when McDaniels hiring first was announced, the leadership of MSNBC didnt object. It wasnt until the networks talent and other employees raised hell, that MSNBC executives folded and said McDaniel wouldnt appear on MSNBC.

On Sunday, McDaniel appeared on NBCs Meet the Press, and her debut was as expected  a disaster. Among other lies and gaslighting, she insisted that she had always believed that President Joe Biden won the 2020 election fair and square, but that, in her role as GOP Chairman, she promoted Trumps Big Lie because when youre the RNC Chair, you kind of take one for the whole team.

Maddow, like others before her, called B.S. on that, and Maddow blasted McDaniel and NBC executives for not having the guts to protect democracy. Maddowns monologue followed sneering and scathing indictments of their bosses by Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski (Morning Joe) and Nicolle Wallace (Deadline White House).

I want to associate myself with all my colleagues both at MSNBC and NBC News who have voiced loud and principled objections to our company putting on the payroll someone who hasnt just attacked us as journalists, but someone who is part of an ongoing project to get rid of our system of government, Maddow said, someone who still is trying to convince Americans that this election stuff it doesnt really work.

if you care what I think about this, I will tell you the fact that Ms. McDaniel is on the payroll at NBC News., to me, that is inexplicable. I mean you wouldnt hire a .. mobster to work in a DA s office, right? You wouldnt hire a pickpocket to work as a TSA screener. And so I find the decision to put her on the payroll is inexplicable and I hope they will reverse their decision.

Maddow added: And its not about, you know, Democratic Party vs. Republican Party. Its not about partisanship. Its not about right vs. left. Its not about being a political professional vs. some other kinds of person. Its not about being mean or nice to journalists. Its not about just being associated with Donald Trump and his time in the Republican Party. Its not even about lying or not lying. Its about our system of government and undermining elections and going after democracy as an ongoing project.

Former U.S. Representative Liz Cheney, whose investigation laid bare the multi-level coup scheme and led to criminal indictments, was one of the first to go after McDaniel. 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.
HOLYOKE  While the Holyoke school district was celebrating its emergence from years of state control, not everyone was happy, as school aides and secretaries on Monday protested their lack of a living wage.

After engaging in negotiations for more than a year, about 50 members of the Holyoke Paraprofessionals Association and Holyoke Public Schools Secretaries Association rallied outside of the School Committee meeting in which the end of receivership was announced. They were joined by district teachers, who were there in support of the groups effort in their quest for wages that would sustain them and their families.
A Castlebar-based county councillor who complained that the county town has been overrun with rats is to raise the issue with the HSE.

Cllr Michael Kilcoyne, who previously said rats were running wild in Castlebar, has tabled a question for todays meeting of the HSE Forum West regarding its role in pest control.

In a written reply, Maria Horkan, Principal Environmental Health Officer, said that the HSE has no pest control service.

Ms Horkan said that complainants living in private rental accommodation, or in properties and lands owned by local authorities, should contact the relevant local authority.

If the complaint refers to defective public drains or sewers, the complainant should be referred to Irish Water.

The HSE will advise private house holders and property owners on measures to deal with the problem of mice or rats within their property, she wrote.

The HSE will advise on both treatment measures and measures to take to maintain the property hygienically and on removing conditions that promote rodent harbourage. The HSE does not provide any treatment and property owners would be advised to consult with an approved pest control company should treatment be warranted.

Ms Harkin said that the county council should be able to advise on measures they take to maintain the rat population and how they avoid them becoming a problem within a town or any public area.

Traditionally the control of Rats in towns /cities and on public land would have been under the remit of the councils. They would have had a baiting programme for public sewers (including maintenance plus repair of drains and manhole covers), control of surface water pipes discharging into a watercourse, maintenance and baiting of breach fronts, canals and Parkland, she added.

They also control litter and waste disposal and derelict sites within cities and towns which in turn controls rat activity.

Local authorities and the EPA also have responsibility for waste management under the Derelict Sites Act 1990 and the Waste Management Act 1996.

The Waste Management Act imposes a general duty of care on holders of waste, under which a person may not hold, transport, recover or dispose of waste in a manner that causes, or is likely to cause, environmental pollution.

Enforcement actions against illegal waste activity are a matter for the local authorities and the Office of Environmental Enforcement (OEE) within the Environmental Protection Agency.
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 Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, March 25, 2024

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Monday signed a law that prohibits social media platforms from allowing anyone under 14 to create or maintain accounts, and also requires tech platforms to obtain parental consent before allowing 14- or 15-year olds to create or maintain accounts.

DeSantis stated Monday that the new statute gives parents a greater ability to protect their children.

Social media harms children in a variety of ways, the governor stated.

The measure (HB 3) could face a legal challenge from the tech industry, which has successfully sued to block enforcement of similar statutes in Arkansas and Ohio.

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Earlier this month, the tech industry backed group NetChoice urged DeSantis to veto the bill, arguing the statute violates the First Amendment by preventing teens from accessing lawful content.

If signed, HB 3 would violate minors First Amendment rights by imposing a blanket restriction on access to constitutionally protected speech for anyone who is either under the age of 14 or refuses to comply with its parental consent requirements, NetChoice vice president Carl Szabo said in a letter to DeSantis.

Szabo added that the law resembles an unconstitutional California statute that prohibited the sale of violent video games to minors, without parental consent. The Supreme Court struck down that law in a 2011 decision, ruling that it violated the First Amendment.

"No doubt a state possesses legitimate power to protect children from harm," Justice Antonin Scalia wrote for the majority in that case. "But that does not include a free-floating power to restrict the ideas to which children may be exposed."

Szabo argued to DeSantis that the social media bill was more troubling than California's attempt to regulate video games because the Florida law is not limited merely to 'violent' content but applies to 'social media companies' which offer a range of content including religious services, educational videos, advice on navigating mental health struggles and more.

Unless blocked by a court, the law will take effect January 2025.
by Teresa Buyikian , March 25, 2024

Smashburger has added a CEO with more than 30 years experience after an unannounced search.

Already in the role since Jan. 1, Denise Nelsen takes the position previously held by Smashburger co-founder and restaurant industry vet Tom Ryan. Smashburger is now wholly owned by Jollibee Foods Inc, and Ryan now serves as global taste advisor, according to his LinkedIn profile.

According to the company, Nelsen will cultivate and lead teams, integrate streamlined business processes and aim to deliver an impactful influence on all Smashburger's employees, locations and the communities they serve.

With (Nelsons) extensive experience and proven leadership in the food and beverage industry, she is set to propel the brand into a new era of growth," said Jollibee Group President and CEO Ernesto Tanmantiong in a release.

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Nelson served as Starbucks senior vice president of U.S. operations for almost five years. Working for the company for close to 30 years, she previously held various senior operations and support roles during her tenure, including vice president of operations, director of business operations, licensed stores, U.S., and regional vice president.

Jollibee, which has been rapidly increasing its U.S. footprint with its own Korean Fried Chicken restaurants in addition to Smashburger, includes 18 brands with over 6,800 stores across 34 countries, per the companys LinkedIn profile.
by Ray Schultz , March 25, 2024

Vox Media CRO has hired Ang Rogers as senior vice president, multicultural, equity & inclusion partnerships.

Rogers will work to enhance Vox Medias client partnerships with an eye toward helping them reach diverse audiences and achieve sustainability and social justice messaging.

She will connect brands with content grounded in inclusivity and identity, in Vox channels such as Juntos and Crowned from Popsugar and The Cut. She will also lead new product launches aimed at those audiences.

In addition, she will help advertisers tell their brand stories in partnership with Vox Media.

Previously, Rogers was the senior vice president of client partnerships at Vice Media Group.

Rogers is able to help clients reach diverse audiences in a meaningful and authentic way, and has a keen understanding of the rapidly shifting media landscape, says Geoff Schiller, chief revenue officer of Vox Media.
by Ray Schultz , March 25, 2024

A Canadian court has approved a process for reorganizing and selling Saltwire Network Inc., an Atlantic Canada news publisher that applied for protection from creditors earlier this month, according to CBC News.

Saltwire publishes the Halifax Chronicle Herald, The Guardian (Charlottetown) and The Telegram (St. John's).

The court also approved a plan for Headline Promotions, which is part of Saltwire and produced promotional products. It lost more than $303,000 in the last year, according to CBC.

The 10 employees of Headline Promotions will be laid off, although they will receive government-mandated coverage for staffers of bankrupt companies.

Also coming under court protection is The Halifax Herald Ltd., a company that operates the newspaper chain with Saltwire. Together, they owe $90 million, Yahoo Finance reports.

The companies will operate as is until May 3. Potential buyers have until April 24 to submit letters of interest. There is a June 24 deadline for court approval of any deals to occur.
by Joe Mandese @mp_joemandese, March 26, 2024

It's been nearly 10 months since the Association of National Advertisers updated its template for media agency contracts, recommending the inclusion of a clause that would require full disclosure and "prior consent" before agencies utilize AI to service their accounts. Since then, rapid advances in AI have been matched by ad industry announcements for integrating them, but until I saw an Adage.com story this morning reporting that big brands have begun adding restrictions to their agency contracts, I hadn't heard much more about it.

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In fact, I reached out to the ANA twice after it published an article in ANA Magazine citing the acceleration of AI integration among its membership, but so far, I haven't heard back.

I reached out, because I wanted to know how many clients have begun adding AI clauses to their agency contracts, and if so, what kinds of restrictions they've been requesting.

In the meantime, trade associations like the ANA have formed their own practices to advocate best practices for utilizing AI in advertising, media and marketing. In fact, the ANA has a conference on the subject slated for April 8-10 in Hollywood.

Eyeballing the agenda I don't notice anything espousing self-regulation for a rapidly advancing, disruptive technology that has the potential to wreak havoc on both businesses and consumers. But there at least is a good discussion slated on the "ethical and legal considerations" of AI for advertisers.

This morning, I also received a dispatch about a new AI initiative from the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), which in recent years has taken a very proactive stance on the implications of disruptive media technologies -- especially social media (see GARM), as well as the carbon impact advertising and media have on the climate crisis.

The WFA announced the formation of a new "AI Community" led by a leadership team of senior marketing, media, procurement, legal and marketing operations experts from the worlds biggest brands, whose goal is to help establish best practices, as well as mitigate legal, ethical and reputational risks for the ad industry (see the steering team below).

These steps are great, though largely informational and educational, which isn't surprising given how fast AI is evolving in the ad industry, but frankly, I think it's time for something more. Call it "GARM for AI," or something like that. I think it's time for the ad industry to organize a more collective, encompassing initiative to study the impact the integration of rapidly advancing AI technologies are having on the risk to both the industry and consumers alike.

Clearly this is tremendous upside to advertisers and agencies in utilizing AI to give enhance their super powers. But as Uncle Ben once told Spiderman, "With great power comes great responsibility."

As AI visionary Geoffrey Hinton said when he stepped away from his role leading Google's AI initiatives, its not as if we'll be able to put the AI genie back in its bottle, and that it's unregulated development poses a greater threat than climate change (see below).

So maybe the folks working on the WFA's new AI community can help get out in front of that and at least help develop a proactive ad industry response to it.

WFA "AI Community" Steering Committee:
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, March 26, 2024

Siding against Meta Platforms, a federal judge has rejected the company's bid to dismiss claims that it unlawfully collected taxpayers' information from online filing sites.

In a ruling issued late Monday, U.S. District Court Judge P. Casey Pitts held that the allegations against Meta, if proven true, could show that the company violated various state and federal privacy laws by gathering data through the Meta Pixel -- tracking code that's present on numerous sites.

But the decision -- while a significant defeat for Meta -- wasn't a complete loss for the company because Pitt narrowed the case by dismissing some of the claims, including an accusation that the company "stole" taxpayers' property.

The ruling comes in a battle dating to late 2022, when taxpayers alleged in a class-action complaint that the Meta Pixel wrongly collected their personal financial data from sites operated by H&R Block, TaxAct, and TaxSlayer.

The taxpayers filed suit soon after The Markup reported that the Meta Pixel, was on several popular tax services' sites.

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Last July, a separate report released by Democratic lawmakers found that online tax preparation services shared millions of users' sensitive information with Meta, Google, and other tech companies according to a new report released this week by Democratic lawmakers. Meta said at the time that it used the data for ad targeting and to train artificial intelligence algorithms, according to that report.

Google is facing separate litigation over the alleged data collection.

Meta urged Pitts to throw out the taxpayers' lawsuit at an early stage. Among other arguments, the company said it didn't "willfully obtain the information because its policies prohibit websites that use the Pixel from transmitting sensitive information.

Pitts rejected that argument as premature because it relies on facts that haven't yet been proven.

Metas argument presents a question of fact that the court cannot resolve at this stage, he wrote in a 40-page decision. Whatever agreements may have been in place, those agreements do not establish as a matter of law that Meta did not intend to receive the information plaintiffs claim was transmitted.
What is Legg-Calve-Perthes Disease?

Legg-Calve-Perthes Disease (LCPD), also known as Perthes Disease or Legg-Perthes Disease is a childhood bone disorder in which the blood supply to the head of the femur (thigh bone) is temporarily interrupted. Due to lack of blood flow, the head of the femur (the "ball" of the ball-and-socket joint of the hip) dies by a process called osteonecrosis or avascular necrosis (AVN). As the disease progresses, the head of the femur gradually begins to break apart. Over time, the blood supply to the femoral head is restored and the head eventually grows back. The entire process of bone death, degeneration and regeneration can take up to several years.

Nomenclature

Legg-Calve-Perthes Disease is named after three physicians, namely, Arthur Legg, Jacques Calve, and Georg Perthes, who in 1910 independently recognized the symptoms and provided a comprehensive description of the disease.

Epidemiology

The incidence of LCPD ranges between 0.4/100,000 to 29.0/100,000 children below 15 years of age. There is variability in the incidence or probability of occurrence and is more prevalent in white populations and in lower socioeconomic groups. LCPD usually occurs in the age group of 4-8 years (average 6.5 years). However, in Indian children, the average age is 9.5 years. The disease is 5 times more common in boys than girls, although greater bone damage occurs in girls. In 10-15% of cases, both hips are affected.

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What are the Four Stages of Legg-Calve-Perthes Disease?

The four stages of LCPD are briefly described below:

Avascular Necrosis (AVN) or Initial Stage: In this stage the blood supply to the femoral head is disrupted and the bone dies by AVN. The area becomes intensely inflamed and the child experiences pain and may start limping. This stage can last for several months.

In this stage the blood supply to the femoral head is disrupted and the bone dies by AVN. The area becomes intensely inflamed and the child experiences pain and may start limping. This stage can last for several months. Fragmentation or Resorptive Stage: In this stage, which can extend for 1-2 years, the body removes the dead bone tissue. As a result, the femoral head becomes weakened and begins to break up.

In this stage, which can extend for 1-2 years, the body removes the dead bone tissue. As a result, the femoral head becomes weakened and begins to break up. Reossification Stage: In this stage, the bone starts to regenerate and builds up the head of the femur. This stage is the longest and lasts for several years.

In this stage, the bone starts to regenerate and builds up the head of the femur. This stage is the longest and lasts for several years. Remodeling or Healed Stage: In this stage the ossification is almost complete and the femoral head attains its final shape through a process called bone remodeling. The degree of roundness achieved depends on several factors, including the degree of fragmentation that initially took place, as well as the age of the child when the disease process started. The younger the age, the better the ability to regenerate the bone.

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The exact cause of LCPD is unknown. However, it has been associated with epiphyseal dysplasia, trauma, toxic synovitis, steroid use, or slipped femur head. Moreover, some studies have suggested that inheritance or genetic factors could play a role. In fact, some cases of LCPD with autosomal dominant inheritance have been reported, with mutations in the COL2A1 gene.

The major symptoms experienced by children suffering from LCPD include the following:

Limping: This is one of the first symptoms, which may occur with or without pain.

This is one of the first symptoms, which may occur with or without pain. Pain: There may be pain in the hip, knee, thigh and/or groin.

There may be pain in the hip, knee, thigh and/or groin. Muscle Degeneration: There may be loss of muscle mass (muscle atrophy), in the thigh muscles. This can be accompanied by muscle spasms in the affected leg.

There may be loss of muscle mass (muscle atrophy), in the thigh muscles. This can be accompanied by muscle spasms in the affected leg. Restricted Mobility: There may be restricted movement in the hips, accompanied by inflammation of the membrane lining the hip joint (synovitis).

There may be restricted movement in the hips, accompanied by inflammation of the membrane lining the hip joint (synovitis). Short Stature: As the affected children become older, the length of their legs may differ (leg length discrepancy), leading to a short stature.

LCPD can be diagnosed by the following strategies:

Medical History: A detailed medical history of the child will be taken, especially to gather information whether there is a family history of the disease.

A detailed medical history of the child will be taken, especially to gather information whether there is a family history of the disease. Physical Exam: The doctor will carry out a thorough physical exam in order to assess the cause of the presenting symptoms, such as pain, limping and restricted mobility.

The doctor will carry out a thorough physical exam in order to assess the cause of the presenting symptoms, such as pain, limping and restricted mobility. X-Ray: Taking a standard X-ray of the upper end of the femur (capital femoral epiphysis) may reveal any abnormalities of the epiphysis. This will usually be sufficient to clinch the diagnosis.

Specialized Investigations: If in doubt, the doctor will order some specialized investigations. These may include the following:

If in doubt, the doctor will order some specialized investigations. These may include the following: Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI): In this imaging technique, a magnetic field and radio waves are used to create cross-sectional images of the upper end of the femur.

In this imaging technique, a magnetic field and radio waves are used to create cross-sectional images of the upper end of the femur.

Arthrography: In this technique, a contrast media is injected into the joint and imaged by radiography (X-rays) or in conjunction with fluoroscopy or MRI. The arthrogram provides a clear image of the soft tissues lining the joint, which helps to make an accurate diagnosis of the cause of the symptoms such as joint pain and/or inflammation.

In this technique, a contrast media is injected into the joint and imaged by radiography (X-rays) or in conjunction with fluoroscopy or MRI. The arthrogram provides a clear image of the soft tissues lining the joint, which helps to make an accurate diagnosis of the cause of the symptoms such as joint pain and/or inflammation.

Scintigraphy: In this procedure a radioactive substance is injected into the joint and a scintillation counter is used to pick-up the radiations to visualize the internal structure of the joint.

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Treatment involves the following strategies:

Medical Treatment: These include (i) medicines for pain management and reducing inflammation, (ii) physical therapy for increasing mobility, or (iii) using assistive devices like braces for providing support. However, these are useful for children below the age of 6 years.

These include (i) medicines for pain management and reducing inflammation, (ii) physical therapy for increasing mobility, or (iii) using assistive devices like braces for providing support. However, these are useful for children below the age of 6 years. Surgery: This is beneficial for children older than 6 years where the disease is more severe. The aim of surgery is to keep the head of the femur within the hip socket in order to maintain optimal mobility. The surgery is used to prevent the dislocation or collapse of the hip. The surgical procedure either tilts the ball so that it goes deeper into the socket, or rotates the socket so that it covers the ball better during walking. The surgeon may try both procedures simultaneously.

The prognosis for patients with LCPD depends on the degree of bone degeneration and associated deformity. Overall, the prognosis for recovery after treatment is very good for most children. Generally, diagnosis at a younger age is associated with a better outcome. In children diagnosed below the age of 5 years the chance of development of degenerative arthritis later in life is reportedly low, while diagnosis above 10 years of age increases the chances appreciably. Moreover, the more deformed the femoral head is during reossification, the greater is the chance of developing osteoarthritis of the hip later in life, which may sometimes require a total hip replacement.
About

Von Recklinghausen's disease, commonly known as Neurofibromatosis (NF), is an inheritable genetic disorder. It is caused by mutations in NF1 or NF2 gene.

There are three forms of Von Recklinghausens Disease: Neurofibromatosis type-1 or NF1, neurofibromatosis type-2 (NF2) and Schwannomatosis, classified as a variant of NF2.

Neurofibromatosis (NF) is autosomal dominant genetic disease, wherein you need to inherit an abnormal / diseased gene from only one parent to get the disease. The disease derives its name from the German pathologist Friedrich Daniel von Recklinghausen who first described the condition in 1882.

Patients with Neurofibromatosis develop multiple soft nerve-tumors (neurofibromas) and very often skin spots (cafe au lait spots). The disease can cause bones deformities and also affect the skin.

Although an autosomal dominant disease, approximately 50% of the cases reported are clinically sporadic. Thus a large number of cases of Neurofibromatosis(NF) are due to a spontaneous mutation, i.e. a change in a person's gene rather than a mutation inherited from a parent. NF has a prevalence of 1 in 3000 births.
JOURNALIST: It is the official debut of postal voting in the European elections of June. Deputy Minister, you recently visited Vienna and Stuttgart, where you briefed associations and members of the Greek Diaspora on the initiatives of the Greek Government regarding Greeks living abroad. What did you get out of this trip?



G. KOTSIRAS: During my visit to Vienna and Stuttgart, I had the opportunity to meet with Diaspora organizations and Greeks living in Austria and Germany. I was able to see their keen interest in developments in Greece and the initiatives of the Greek Government for the Diaspora. I informed them about the process of postal voting and invited them to register in time on the Ministry of Interiors platform epistoliki.ypes.gov.gr, so they could exercise their voting rights. We also discussed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Strategic Plan for Greeks Abroad, which was entered into consultation through the Ministrys website mfa.gr, and I sought their views. On this particular trip, as well as in every interaction with the Diaspora, I sense our compatriots enthusiasm and love of for the motherland, as well as their concern for preserving their Greek identity, especially the Greek language and culture, and passing them on to younger generations. This genuine and strong interest of the Diaspora increases our sense of responsibility and our determination to further enhance communication, cooperation, and our ties with Greeks all over the world.



JOURNALIST: You referred to the Foreign Ministrys Strategic Plan for Greeks Abroad. What are its primary objectives? What kind of actions does it include?



G. KOTSIRAS: With the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Strategic Plan for Greeks Abroad, we aim for the first time to form a comprehensive, cohesive policy for Greeks abroad, with a four-year horizon, specific targets, and actions to ensure continuity. The Plan reflects our vision to support the Greek element worldwide and to tighten our bonds with the Greek Diaspora. The Plan is structured around six strategic objectives: supporting and developing the Diaspora networks and structures, leveraging the Diasporas presence to promote issues of Greek interest, enhancing the Greek language, traditions, and culture with an emphasis on the new generation, maintaining and strengthening ties with Orthodox ecclesiastical institutions, enhancing bilateral and multilateral collaborations in the Diaspora sector, and upgrading the services provided by the Consular Authorities. Each objective is further analyzed into pillars, for which specific actions are planned. These include establishing a registry for Diaspora organizations and a website for the Greek Diaspora, educational exchange programs, hospitality and internships for young Diaspora members in Greece, expanding the digital platform for learning the Greek language staellinika.com, and the continuous digitization of services provided to Greeks abroad. Many proposals submitted by Diaspora members during the consultation will be incorporated into the final Plan. Beyond that, we strive to give the Strategic Plan a dynamic character. The actions will be evaluated and adjusted to achieve the best possible result.



JOURNALIST: Questions are being raised by opposition parties as to whether the postal voting process is safe following the alleged leak of personal data to Anna Michelle Asimakopoulou.



G. KOTSIRAS: The postal voting process is absolutely incorruptible. We adhere to best international practices from countries where postal voting has been implemented for decades and meet all specifications set by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Voters' personal data are fully protected by the EU's General Data Protection Regulation and by national legislation.



JOURNALIST: What feedback do you receive from Diaspora Greeks on this particular issue?



G. KOTSIRAS: The process of postal voting has been in place for decades in many countries worldwide. As such, most Diaspora Greeks are familiar with postal voting. Besides, the establishment of postal voting has been a long-standing request of Greeks living abroad and has been received with enthusiasm. The Diaspora Greeks are looking forward to the next step, which is to extend postal voting to national elections so that true equal treatment of Greek citizens is ensured, wherever they live.



JOURNALIST: Do you think that Greece has been slow to adopt postal voting?



G. KOTSIRAS: Let me remind you that the issue has been hotly debated since 2019, when the then government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis took the initiative, establishing the ability for Greek citizens living abroad to participate in elections from their place of residence. The legal conditions imposed at the time, to achieve consensus, were finally lifted in the summer of 2023, following the New Democracy party's renewal of popular mandate. Postal voting is a measure that deepens democracy, meets the demands of the times, strengthens the voice of Diaspora Greeks, and reduces their distance from the metropolitan center to the benefit of the entire Hellenism.



JOURNALIST: Two years on, the war continues in Ukraine. I would like your comment regarding the recent missile attack on the port of Odessa, at the time when the Greek Prime Minister was meeting the Ukrainian President.



G. KOTSIRAS: The recent missile attack on the port of Odessa, just a few hundred meters from the Greek delegation, reminded us all, in the most painful way, that the war in Ukraine rages on with intensity. This vindicates once again our country's choice to stand by Ukraine from the very beginning. We will continue to support Ukraine in its righteous cause and actively participate in the common European effort to restore its territorial integrity.



JOURNALIST: What is your response to those who are concerned about Greece's involvement in the military operation in the Red Sea?



G. KOTSIRAS: Greece's presence in the operations in the Red Sea is entirely compatible with our commitment to International Law and the Law of the Sea, and is part of international efforts to restore peace and stability in the region. As a major maritime power, it is of particular symbolism and substantial importance to defend free navigation and protect our commercial fleet and the lives of our sailors. A further escalation of the crisis in the Red Sea would have serious consequences for commodity and energy prices, international trade, and global security.






G. Kotsiras: By pursuing a principled foreign policy, we serve as a pillar of stability in the region



The particular emphasis placed by the Government on strengthening Greece's relations with the Greek Diaspora was underlined by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Giorgos Kotsiras, in an interview with ethnos.gr and journalist Katerina Kokkaliari, noting that "the road map for the next steps is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Strategic Plan for Greeks Abroad". Furthermore, he mentioned a series of initiatives in the diplomatic field, emphasising that "by pursuing a principled foreign policy, and having acquired increased diplomatic capital, we serve as a pillar of stability in the region".

When asked about Greek-Turkish relations, Mr. Kotsiras underscored that the existing disagreements between the two countries cannot be resolved overnight but "our aim is not to turn every disagreement into a crisis and to keep the channels of communication open". On the crisis in the Middle East, he noted that "Greece is present, being a consistent, reliable interlocutor for all parties" and will continue to actively support any initiative that promotes a just and viable solution to the Middle East issue. Regarding the war in Ukraine, he stated that "we have from the very first moment maintained a firm principled stance, against aggression and revisionism, with no ifs or buts" and "we will continue to actively engage in the common European effort to restore Ukraine's territorial integrity".



Lastly, in the run-up to the European elections, Mr. Kotsiras emphasized that establishing postal voting is a significant step toward Greek voters equal treatment and referred to our Consular Authorities contribution to inform Greeks abroad.



The full interview is as follows:



JOURNALIST: Greek-Turkish communication channels remain open. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet again in the spring. Of course, Ankara has just demonstrated that it has not abandoned its high-toned rhetoric. Do you believe there will be calm waters in the near future, and how easy will it be to refer to the Court in The Hague?



G. KOTSIRAS: We have set Greek-Turkish relations on a path of normalization which is an achievement that we have to preserve. The existing disagreements between Greece and Turkiye cannot be resolved overnight. But our aim is not to turn every disagreement into a crisis and to keep the channels of communication open. With prudence and self-confidence, we come step by step to the next stages of political dialogue, positive agenda, and confidence-building measures. Our main asset both in our relations with Turkiye and in our relations with the countries in the wider region is our unwavering adherence to the principles of International Law.



JOURNALIST: Are you concerned about the possibility of an escalation of tension in the Middle East and a crisis spillover? Do you believe that the international community could launch additional diplomatic initiatives at this juncture, and if so, what role might Greece play in such an effort?



G. KOTSIRAS: The escalation of tension in the Middle East is of deep concern to us. The tragic loss of civilian lives and the use of hostages as a negotiating tool flagrantly violate any notion of human dignity. An immediate cessation of hostilities and unhindered provision of humanitarian aid are required. The current diplomatic efforts for peace in the region should be supported and intensified.



Greece is present, being a consistent, reliable interlocutor for all parties. By pursuing a principled foreign policy, and having acquired increased diplomatic capital, we serve as a pillar of stability in the region. We are strongly opposed to any illegal use of force and will continue to actively support any initiative that promotes a just and viable solution to the Middle East issue and peace in the wider region and the world.



JOURNALIST: For the first time, Greeks living abroad who meet certain requirements (such as being registered on the electoral rolls) will be able to vote via postal voting in the upcoming European elections. What measures have been implemented to safeguard personal data and maintain the integrity of the voting process?



G. KOTSIRAS: Establishing postal voting beginning with the upcoming European elections will modernize the exercise of the right to vote and is a significant step toward Greek voters equal treatment. Greeks living abroad will be able to vote from their place of residence, without having to travel hundreds or thousands of kilometres, without any inconvenience.



The postal voting process, which begins with voter registration via the Ministry of Interior's electronic platform and is described in detail in Law 5083/2024, meets all the standards set by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) (to ensure the integrity of the vote). Furthermore voters personal data are fully protected by the EU General Data Protection Regulation and national legislation.



JOURNALIST: So far, how many Diaspora Greeks have registered to vote by postal voting and how could participation be increased?



G. KOTSIRAS: The website epistoliki.ypes.gov.gr, where one can register to vote by postal voting, regularly publishes statistics on the total number of registered voters. Already over 25,000 of our compatriots have registered - with the percentage of registrations from outside Greece increasing.

Given that this is a process that is being implemented for the first time, informing our compatriots around the world is crucial to increase participation. We are collaborating with the Ministry of Interior, which is leading the information campaign, to ensure that Greeks abroad are as fully informed as possible. Relevant instructions have already been provided to our consular Authorities across the world, which will aid in both informing citizens about the process and assisting those who are unable to register on the platform themselves. In all my recent visits abroad - to Chicago, Brussels, Vienna - I have noticed Greeks interest in postal voting. We hope that participation will increase significantly as we step up our information actions and approach the deadline for submitting the registration application.



JOURNALIST: In the latest opinion polls, New Democracy maintains a clear lead, and the gap with opposition parties is not closing. Are you concerned about the possibility of voters complacency in the European elections and a casual vote?



G. KOTSIRAS: Maintaining New Democracy's clear lead in opinion polls, as well as the results of the most recent national elections, reinforces our sense of responsibility to meet the expectations of the Greek people and to continue our multifaceted reform efforts to build an even stronger Greece, ensuring progress, prosperity, and security for all citizens - a truly European country. Undoubtedly, New Democracy's lead in the opinion polls is a recognition of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who has earned the confidence of both Greek voters and numerous leaders and personalities worldwide, upgrading our country's international image.



Certainly, we are not complacent, and we are aware that many problems persist. In order to resolve them we will have to fight battles at European level as well. A strong result in favour of New Democracy will strengthen Greece's voice in the decision-making centres in Brussels. We will engage in the battle of the European elections with all our strength, for the benefit of both Greece and Europe.



JOURNALIST: What initiatives will be undertaken in the near future to strengthen relations between Greece and the Greek Diaspora? What does the Ministry of Foreign Affairs strategic plan for Greeks abroad include?



G. KOTSIRAS: Enhancing Greece's relations with the Greek Diaspora has been a top priority for our government and we have demonstrated it in practice with a series of initiatives that will be continued. The road map for our next steps is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Strategic Plan for Greeks Abroad. For the first time, a unified, coherent strategy with specific objectives, pillars, and actions is developed for Greeks Abroad, with a four-year horizon to assure its continuity and duration. The Plans strategic objectives include, inter alia: supporting Greek Diaspora networks and structures, promoting the Greek language and culture, strengthening ties with Orthodox ecclesiastical institutions, upgrading services provided to Greeks Abroad, and reaching out to the new Diaspora.



The main pillars of the Strategic Plan have been entered into consultation via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' website mfa.gr and there has already been a response from Greeks around the world. .I invite every interested reader to read the Plan and provide feedback and suggestions. Our goal is for the Strategic Plan to have a dynamic character, with actions being evaluated and constantly readjusted. Two-way communication with Hellenism worldwide is our constant pursuit and a valuable guide for our next steps.



JOURNALIST: The Prime Minister recently met with V. Zelensky in Odessa, where a missile attack occurred during the visit, and mentioned Greece's continuous support for Ukraine. What is the significance of this visit?



G. KOTSIRAS: Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' recent visit to Odessa confirmed once again Greece's support for Ukraine's righteous fight to defend its national sovereignty. This is a firm principled stance that we have maintained, from the very first moment, against aggression and revisionism with no if or buts.



We participate in the EU's defence assistance to Ukraine, support its European and Euro-Atlantic perspective and played a leading role in the European Council's decision to disburse an additional 50 billion to assist Ukraine over the next four years. Moreover, looking ahead, we recently organised an international conference on Ukraines reconstruction at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.



We will continue to support Ukraine and actively engage in the common European effort to restore its territorial integrity.
The Air Force is still not flying Osprey aircraft in Japan despite getting the green light to lift a monthslong flight hold following a deadly crash off the country's southern coast, but the Marine Corps has put its aircraft based there back in the skies.

Rebecca Heyse, an Air Force Special Operations Command spokeswoman, told Military.com on Tuesday that none of the service's units have resumed flying the Osprey yet.

In contrast, the Marine Corps' 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, which is based in Okinawa, quickly moved to fly its MV-22s, announcing a return to flight status on March 14 -- less than a week after the hold was lifted, according to a statement released the same day.

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The aircraft -- which is flown by the Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force -- was allowed to return to flight in early March after Naval Air Systems Command and the V-22 Joint Program Office announced that they had discovered a new and not fully understood mechanical failure as part of the investigation into the Nov. 29 Air Force Osprey crash off the coast of Yakushima Island that left eight airmen dead.

The Navy doesn't have any Ospreys permanently stationed in Japan. A Navy spokesperson told Military.com on Tuesday that its CMV-22Bs based in San Diego, California, have begun the process of returning to flight.

Officials who allowed the aircraft to return to flight argued that data analysis led to the decision to deem the Osprey safe -- while refusing to disclose any information about what part failed or any major details on procedural changes that were made as part of the grounding being lifted.

"We have high confidence that we understand what component failed, and how it failed," Marine Col. Brian Taylor, the V-22 program manager, told reporters in a briefing in early March.

"I think what we are still working on is the 'why,'" Taylor said, noting that "this is the first time that we've seen this particular component fail in this way."

The Air Force's more cautious approach evokes parallels to how the public discovered the other yet-to-be resolved issue with the aircraft in 2022.

In August 2022, the Air Force briefly grounded its fleet of Ospreys after they experienced a series of hard clutch engagements that worried leaders in the service.

However, the very next day, the Marine Corps said not only that its Ospreys would keep flying but that its pilots could handle the issue, which it has known about for years.

The hard clutch problem is an issue with the Osprey's complex system of clutch assemblies that are supposed to enable one engine to fly the aircraft in the event of an engine failure. However, in some instances -- at least 15 mishaps -- those clutches have failed.

Military.com reported one such mishap with an Air Force Osprey that could have become fatal in 2017.

Despite assurances from the Marine Corps that the problem was under control, the clutch issue became deadly in June 2022 when one of its Ospreys crashed in the California desert, killing five Marines.

After that incident was investigated, Taylor also argued that data analysis of some of the more recent incidents involving the clutch led his office to conclude that replacing a critical component -- the input quill assembly -- more frequently was 99% effective despite skepticism from a Marine Corps widow of one of the pilots.

Now, the Marine Corps is again saying it has utmost confidence in the aircraft.

"The flight clearance by our NAVAIR, our adherence to proven operational risk management practices, our confidence in this amazing aircraft, and our faith in the professionalism of our pilots, crew and maintenance teams undergird our decision to return the Osprey to service," the 1st MAW said in its statement.

The Marine Corps is also very dependent on the Osprey. It owns nearly 350 aircraft, compared to the Air Force's roughly 50 airframes.

Lt. Gen. Karsten Heckl said in February that the Corps has seen "dramatic impacts" from the flying halt, while 1st MAW's commander, Maj. Gen. Eric Austin, said the Osprey is "key to the success" of his unit.

In the March statement, Austin said the Osprey "plays a central role in our ability to campaign, to respond in time of crisis, and ultimately to partner with our allies and maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific."

Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force, which also flies the Osprey, also resumed flights last week, according to a report from Japan Times.

Related: Ospreys Cleared to Fly Again After Deadly Crash Despite Mechanical Failure with Unknown Cause
The Army plans to launch its new online training platform Friday after a nearly three-month delay.

The Army Learning Management System, or ALMS, was taken offline last week. It's set to be replaced with the Army Training Information System, or ATIS. The online portal is host to the service's most critical training programs, including the Distributed Leader Courses, or DLC, which are prerequisites for noncommissioned officer promotions.

The move to upgrade the Army's online training website is part of a larger service effort to modernize the systems soldiers interact with daily, much of which is on antiquated website designs. In many cases, the Army's online systems are so user unfriendly, accessing basic information can be very difficult and often requires long online or unit-written tutorials.

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"This technical refresh was necessary to replace the older [system] that was reaching its end of life," Tara Clements, an Army spokesperson, told Military.com in a statement, adding that a major goal with ATIS is better usability, as ALMS saw many complaints of usability issues and a poor user interface.

This week ahead of ATIS' launch, the service is moving 150 million records and other sets of data from ALMS, migrating some 20 million records per day during the brief offline period. Users who have used ALMS within the past year will have full access to their training records, but those who haven't will need to request records.

The system was originally supposed to launch on Jan. 4, but was delayed due to issues migrating data.

"Our team will be working throughout the weekend to monitor the system and address any critical issues," Clements said.

The Army has a generally poor track record of keeping its online systems functioning, especially when they're new.

The move to launch ATIS comes after years of back-to-back tech bungles for the Army, including the Integrated Personnel and Pay System-Army, or IPPS-A, which was set to streamline and handle many of the service's administrative tasks under a single entity.

That $600 million project has been marred by issues since its launch in January last year, including when it accidentally kicked 25,000 beneficiaries off of Tricare. The platform spent much of last year suffering from issues with basic administrative functions.

The service's platform for education benefits, Army IgnitED, spent roughly two years bogged down with functionality issues preventing soldiers from attending school -- forcing some to pay out of pocket. The Army has since reimbursed them.

Related: Soldiers Unpaid: National Guard Hasn't Paid Out Thousands of Enlistment Bonuses
Service members, veterans and their families who live in rural areas in the U.S. are struggling to access medical care as hospitals and facilities continue to build back systems that were ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to lawmakers.

At a House Appropriations Committee hearing March 20, senior enlisted leaders were questioned on the loss of labor and delivery care -- along with other medical services -- near Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake in Ridgecrest, California, following the partial closure of local Ridgecrest Regional Hospital's labor and delivery wing.

"This loss in care means that our service members will now need to drive almost two hours to the next closest labor and delivery unit, which places an incredible hardship on our service members and their families," Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif., said during the hearing.

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The Defense Department previously pushed back on the claim that the pandemic impacted service member and veteran care through a report compiled in 2022, specifically when it came to those who live in areas of the country where health care may be difficult to access anyway.

"After reviewing data on rural hospital closures near a military base and the impact on access to care, the closures of rural hospitals during the FY 2016-2021 period had negligible impacts on readiness and access to care for Tricare beneficiaries," said the report, which was completed as part of the Fiscal 2022 National Defense Authorization Act.

Although closures that impacted maternity and emergency care were noted near military installations such as Coast Guard bases in Kodiak and Sitka, Alaska, and the Army's Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, the number of Tricare beneficiaries impacted per closure averaged only dozens per year.

But as closures continue, the problem has drawn the attention of senior military leadership, with decreased readiness considered an issue.

Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy James Honea told the committee last week that his service has been discussing the issue with the Defense Health Agency, which utilizes military personnel and provides medical care across all branches of the Defense Department.

"We're looking at [China Lake] like we would any other remote location, or overseas location where medical services are restricted," Honea said. "We will have to restrict assignments to those locations until we can provide that medical care, perhaps relocate service members who need that type of care so they can deliver somewhere else, and that's going to have to be across the board until we can get this all solved."

In addition to China Lake, Honea said similar issues are being seen for service members at Naval Base Kitsap in Bremerton, Washington.

"We used to have somewhere in the neighborhood of about 15 clinics that someone could go to," Honea said. "Now, there are three on that peninsula that are no longer accepting any new Tricare patients."

He said sailors and their loved ones there will have to drive to Joint Base Lewis-McChord -- around an hour and a half away -- to receive covered labor and delivery care.

The post-pandemic loss of health care due to decreasing patient numbers, staffing shortages and low reimbursement rates shuttered almost a dozen hospitals last year alone. A 2023 study by the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform suggested that there are more than 600 rural hospitals at risk of closing due to financial pressures, accounting for almost 30% of all rural hospitals across the U.S.

Because of similar shortfalls within the military's own medical system, the Defense Department announced a plan in December to return military members, veterans and their families to the military medical care community.

The goal is to review current staffing issues within military medicine, potentially shift care providers around as needed, and bring back Tricare beneficiaries who were pushed toward private-care options during a 2017 medical system overhaul, according to a memo sent by Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks to senior defense officials and obtained by Military.com.

The Defense Health Agency provided a comment on China Lake but could not immediately provide additional information on potential access shortfalls at other locations, despite a request from Military.com.

"China Lake is considered a medically underserved area. Low numbers of providers and transportation challenges make access to health care challenging to all population segments, including Tricare beneficiaries," Peter Graves, a DHA spokesperson, told Military.com in an email.

Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Weimer said his branch is already in talks with Hicks to shuffle its medical personnel around between clinics, hospitals and their units to best ensure care while staying combat ready, but so far it isn't working.

"We're struggling in this space," Weimer told lawmakers.

The issue is that the DHA's plan hinges on the availability of community-care options, which are disappearing. Ridgecrest Regional Hospital in California is one of 55 critical care hospitals -- facilities federally designated to receive certain reimbursements due to their importance within rural communities -- across 31 states within 40 miles of a U.S. military base.

"The transformation of the Defense Health Agency has relied largely on being able to access medical care outside of our military fence lines," Honea said during the hearing. "That transformation was based on assumptions that existed prior to COVID. ... Many of those assumptions are either no longer viable or no longer exist outside of our military fence lines, and that has manifested itself in different ways in different locations."

It remains unclear whether the solution lies with Congress, the Defense Department or both, but health care should be a guarantee regardless of where one serves, Valadao told Military.com in an interview.

"I just wanted to make sure that the folks in the military know that us as members of Congress are paying attention that they better make decisions wisely, so that we don't put ourselves in a bad situation," he said.

Editor's note: This story was updated with additional information on the Defense Health Agency's response.

-- Rachel Nostrant is a Marine Corps veteran and freelance journalist, with work published in Reuters, New York Magazine, Military Times and more.

Related: In Reversal, Defense Department Now Wants to Bring Tricare Beneficiaries Back to Military Health System
A year-old Pentagon policy of paying for travel for service members who need reproductive health care that is not offered by the military -- including abortions -- was used 12 times from June through December, the Pentagon confirmed Tuesday.

Paying for transportation, lodging and meals for those 12 round trips from a service member's home station to the location of their health care cost the department $44,791, Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said during a public briefing to reporters. It was unclear how many of those trips involved abortion services, the area of the policy that has generated the most controversy.

Still, the numbers indicate that the travel policy, which was created in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade and was the impetus for an Alabama Republican senator blocking hundreds of military promotions last year, has had minimal effect on a force of more than 2 million troops and a budget of more than $800 billion.

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"These policies ensure that service members and their families are afforded the time and flexibility to make private health care decisions, as well as supporting access to non-covered reproductive health care regardless of where they are stationed," Singh said.

She noted that the newly released data had several limitations, including that the department did not start tracking usage until months after the policy was implemented.

The Pentagon first announced in October 2022 that it would soon start providing travel allowances and offer administrative leave for service members who need reproductive health care that is not covered by the military and not offered by civilian doctors in the state they are based in.

The announcement came months after the Supreme Court issued the ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization in June 2022 that allowed states to start banning abortion. In February 2023, the Pentagon filled in more details about the policy and said it would take effect the following month.

While most attention on the policy has been related to abortion, it is also intended for service members who need to travel for fertility treatments such as in vitro fertilization, which has also recently come under threat by court rulings.

Days after the Pentagon's February 2023 announcement, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., announced he would block quick confirmations for all nominees to be general and flag officers until the Pentagon reversed the policy.

Tuberville's blockade lasted until December and eventually entangled more than 430 general and admiral nominees. As his Republican colleagues grew increasingly publicly frustrated that his actions were endangering national security, Tuberville dropped his hold in December with no concessions from the Pentagon and the reproductive health care policy still in place.

Among Tuberville's at-times shifting reasons for his protest were claims that the Pentagon policy could facilitate thousands of abortions a year. His claim was based on an estimate from a 2022 Rand Corp. report that between 2,573 and 4,136 active-duty service women have abortions annually. But the authors of the report had said it was likely fewer women would take advantage of the Pentagon policy.

Democrats, meanwhile, argued that Tuberville was risking the military chain of command over a policy that would have negligible effect compared to the overall size of the force and Pentagon budget.

Some of Tuberville's GOP supporters also pointed to the small number of troops expected to use the policy -- to argue the Pentagon was digging in its heels over a policy they contended there was little evidence was needed.

"My Republican colleagues and I asked you for evidence to support the Department of Defense's claim in a June 28, 2022, memorandum that the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization would have 'significant implications' for the 'readiness of the Force.' To date, we have yet to receive any substantive data to support these assertions," Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., wrote in a September letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

Wicker's letter also said he had "received information" that "approximately 12" women had used the travel and leave policy.

The data released by the Pentagon on Tuesday tracks how many round trips were taken, not how many service members used the policy. Some treatments such as IVF could require multiple trips to the doctor, and service members are allowed to use the policy more than once, meaning potentially fewer than 12 service members used the policy between June and December.

The Pentagon has also not tracked what type of reproductive health care service members were traveling for, meaning it's impossible to know whether anyone received an abortion.

And while travel and leave were available as early as March 2023, the Pentagon did not start tracking the policy's usage until August, Military.com reported. While the Pentagon was able to collect data from as early as June, that still leaves usage in March, April and May unaccounted for.

Singh described the numbers released Tuesday as a "snapshot."

Also still unknown is whether any service members took leave without applying for travel reimbursement. The Pentagon did not release data Tuesday on the number of administrative absences taken under the policy.

Related: Six Months After New Abortion Leave Policy, Pentagon Doesn't Know How Many Troops Have Used It
MOSCOW  Russian officials persisted Tuesday in saying Ukraine and the West had a role in last week's deadly Moscow concert hall attack despite vehement denials of involvement by Kyiv and a claim of responsibility by an affiliate of the Islamic State group.

Without offering any evidence, Alexander Bortnikov, head of the Federal Security Service, or FSB, followed similar allegations by President Vladimir Putin, who linked the attack to Ukraine even as he acknowledged that the suspects who were arrested were radical Islamists.

The IS affiliate claimed it carried out the attack, and U.S. intelligence said it had information confirming the group was responsible. French President Emmanuel Macron said France also has intelligence pointing to an IS entity as responsible for the attack.

But despite the signs pointing to IS, Putin insisted on alleged Ukrainian involvement  something that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected, accusing the Kremlin leader of trying to drum up fervor as his forces fight in Ukraine.

Bortnikov alleged that Western spy agencies also could have been involved in the deadliest terror attack on Russian soil in two decades, even as he acknowledged receiving a U.S. tip about the attack.

We believe that radical Islamists prepared the action, while Western special services have assisted it and Ukrainian special services had a direct part in it, Bortnikov said without giving details.

He repeated Putin's claim that the four gunmen were trying to escape to Ukraine when they were arrested. casting it as a proof of alleged involvement by Kyiv.

But that assertion was undercut slightly by Belarus' authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko. who said Tuesday the suspects were headed for Ukraine because they feared tight controls on the Belarus border.

Russia is still reeling from the attack Friday in which gunmen killed 139 people in the Crocus City Hall, a concert venue on the outskirts of Moscow. Health officials said about 90 people remain hospitalized, with 22 of them, including two children, in grave condition.

The four men accused of carrying out the attack appeared in a Moscow court on Sunday on terrorism charges and showed signs of severe beatings. One appeared to be barely conscious during the hearing.

The men are citizens of Tajikistan, authorities said, and were identified as Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, 32; Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, 30; Shamsidin Fariduni, 25; and Mukhammadsobir Faizov, 19. They were charged with committing a terrorist attack resulting in death, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

A senior Turkish security official confirmed Tuesday that two of them spent a short amount of time in Turkey before traveling together to Russia on March 2.

One of the suspects, Fariduni, entered Turkey on Feb. 20, checked into a hotel in Istanbuls Fatih district the next day, and checked out Feb. 27, the official said. The other, Rachabalizoda, checked into a hotel in the same district on Jan. 5, checking out on Jan. 21.

The official said Turkish authorities believe the two became radicalized in Russia" because they were not in Turkey for long. There was no warrant for their arrest so they were allowed to travel freely between Russia and Turkey, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make public statements.

The Islamic State group, which lost much of its ground after Russias military action in Syria, has long targeted Russia. In October 2015, a bomb planted by IS downed a Russian jetliner over the Sinai desert, 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, 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.

On Monday, Putin warned that more attacks could follow, alleging possible Western involvement. He didnt mention the warning about a possible imminent terrorist attack that the U.S. shared confidentially with Moscow two weeks before the raid.

Three days before the attack, Putin denounced the U.S. Embassys March 7 notice urging Americans to avoid crowds in Moscow, including concerts, calling it an attempt to frighten Russians and blackmail the Kremlin ahead of the presidential election.

Bortnikov said Russia was thankful for the warning but described it as very general.

The information about preparations for terror attacks in large gatherings of people was of a general nature," he said. Of course, we reacted to that information and took corresponding measures to prevent such incidents.

He added that the FSB acted on the tip, targeting a group of suspects he didn't identify but which eventually proved false.

We are thankful, of course, but we would like to see more specifics, Bortnikov said.

__

Associated Press writer Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, contributed.
Everything changed for the Military Assistance Command -- Vietnam (MACV), the U.S. military command sent to support the South Vietnamese regime, in 1968. MACV commander Army Gen. William Westmoreland, at the time the top U.S. general in Vietnam, was known for his perpetual positive outlook regarding the direction of the war, but even in his mind, things weren't going as well as expected.

Days before the Tet Offensive would turn American sentiment against the war, the North Vietnamese Army attacked the combat base at Khe Sanh, a Marine Corps outpost in South Vietnam's Quang Tri Province just below the demilitarized zone that divided North and South. The fighting there would be some of the most brutal of the entire war, and Westmoreland worried the base and its Marines might be entirely overrun by the enemy. He requested low-yield tactical nuclear weapons be moved into the south, should he need them on short notice to prevent the fall of Khe Sanh.

Westmoreland had taken command of MACV in June 1964, to much fanfare from the leadership in Washington. Under his leadership, American involvement in South Vietnam would balloon from 16,000 troops to more than half a million. He believed inflicting irreplaceable casualties on the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and its guerrilla fighters, the Viet Cong (VC), was the key to winning. By the end of 1967, however, little had changed, no matter what Gen. Westmoreland said publicly.

"I am absolutely certain that, whereas in 1965 the enemy was winning, today he is certainly losing," he told the National Press Club in November 1967.

Westmoreland pinned his hopes on drawing the PAVN into pitched battles and defeating its forces with air power and artillery, areas where American troops in the country had the upper hand. By January 1968, he and much of the Army leadership believed a climactic battle would take place at Khe Sanh.

Half of American combat battalions were in the northernmost section of South Vietnam by January 1968. (U.S. Army)

There were many reasons Khe Sanh was a natural target. It hosted the Army's Studies and Observations Group (SOG), a contingent of Special Forces soldiers who operated against the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Situated near the border with Laos, it also sat in the way of one of the enemy's major infiltration routes. Most importantly, all the available intelligence told the U.S. the North Vietnamese forces were moving at least two divisions, some 20,000-30,000 men, against the base.

While Washington and Saigon worried that Khe Sanh would become another Dien Bien Phu -- the disastrous pitched battle that cost France control of Vietnam in 1954 -- the ever-optimistic Westmoreland was openly confident that artillery, air power and helicopter resupply would win the day, convinced that superior firepower would finally overwhelm the enemy.

"After deliberate consideration, I ruled out abandoning Khe Sanh," Westmoreland would later say in his 1976 memoir, "A Soldier Reports." "To have done so would have been to cooperate with the enemy's grand design for seizing the two northern provinces and his constant efforts to carry the fight into populated areas."

In the days before the attack, Westmoreland reinforced Khe Sanh with two more Marine battalions, placed the Special Forces there under the command of III Marine Amphibious Force, moved a South Vietnamese Ranger battalion to the base, and shifted other resources toward the I Corps Tactical Zone in preparation to advance on Khe Sanh, if necessary. By the end of January, more than half of the U.S. combat battalions in South Vietnam were in the I Corps zone.

On Jan. 21, 1968, the communists finally began their attack on Khe Sanh. After they blew up the Marines' ammunition stores, the Air Force began launching B-52 attacks against the PAVN and against sites in Laos. Air Force cargo planes and helicopters also began an aerial resupply campaign while the Marine Corps began planning an amphibious invasion of North Vietnam as a potential diversion. Westmoreland was determined not to lose this battle.

Then, in the early morning hours of Jan. 30, an estimated 80,000 PAVN and Viet Cong troops struck more than 100 towns and cities across South Vietnam in a massive, coordinated attack. The Tet Offensive had begun, and the masses of troops set to support Khe Sanh were suddenly needed elsewhere, further threatening the American grip on the combat base. A relief expedition, codenamed Pegasus, would not advance on Khe Sanh until March 1968.

Supported by M48 Patton tanks, Marines move to clear buildings in street fighting near Hue University on February 3, 1968. (U.S. Marine Corps/Warrant Officer W. A. Parks)

"No single battlefield event in Vietnam elicited more public disparagement of my conduct during the Vietnam War than did my decision in early 1968 to stand and fight at Khe Sanh," Westmoreland wrote in his memoir.

Perhaps nothing is more indicative of Westmoreland's resolve at Khe Sanh than "Fracture Jaw," a plan he put forward to Adm. U.S. Grant Sharp Jr., the commander in chief, Pacific. On Jan. 24, 1968, Westmoreland asked Sharp to move tactical nuclear weapons into northern Quang Tri province as a last-ditch effort to prevent North Vietnamese forces from capturing Khe Sanh. The weapons would be moved by sea from Guam under the utmost secrecy and deployed in the mountains of South Vietnam around Khe Sanh.

Upon hearing the plan was set in motion, President Lyndon B. Johnson was livid and ordered Westmoreland to shut it down. Johnson was concerned that use of a nuclear weapon would draw China into the war. The president did not trust the generals in Vietnam and did not want them dictating the overall course of the war. Fracture Jaw was dead, but the fighting at Khe Sanh would continue until July of that year.

The Tet Offensive was a tactical disaster for the North Vietnamese. It all but destroyed the Viet Cong as a fighting force, and the North failed to hold onto any gains it made during the offensive. Estimates of communist casualties vary between 60,000 to 95,000 killed. In the end, both sides claimed victory at Khe Sanh. The Vietnamese believe they forced a U.S. withdrawal under fire while the Americans say they abandoned the base because it was no longer strategically necessary.

A Marine Corps sniper team searches for targets in the Khe Sanh Valley. (U.S. Marine Corps/David Douglas Duncan)

In June 1968, Westmoreland was sent to Washington to serve as chief of staff of the U.S. Army, replaced in Vietnam by Gen. Creighton Abrams. For the rest of his life, Westmoreland believed the Tet Offensive was a diversion and the real goal for the communists was Khe Sanh. Vietnam has never officially confirmed which was the goal and which was the diversion, but the North Vietnamese commander commented on the battle after the war

"Khe Sanh was not that important to us," said Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap, according to the book "Tet 1968: Understanding the Surprise." "It was the focus of attention in the United States because their prestige was at stake, but to us, it was part of the greater battle that would begin after Tet. It was only a diversion, but one to be exploited if we could cause many casualties and win a big victory."

Westmoreland remained steadfast in his decisions.

"Khe Sanh will stand in history, I am convinced, as a classic example of how to defeat a numerically superior besieging force by co-ordinated application of firepower," he wrote.

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For military spouses, maintaining a stable career path can prove challenging. Portable, in-demand skills are essential. For spouses with an interest in financial education, the FINRA Investor Education Foundation's Military Spouse Fellowship Program can help them earn their accredited financial counselor (AFC) certification.

FINRA stands for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, a nonprofit with congressional authority to oversee the financial broker-dealer industry. Spouses selected to a fellowship receive accessible training to prepare them for the AFC certification, including exam prep; support in obtaining the required experience hours; and a network of other military spouses who are AFCs.

Applications for the 2024 fellowships are open through April 15. A webinar explaining the program is scheduled for Thursday, March 28.

What Is an AFC?

An accredited financial counselor (AFC) is a personal financial professional who has completed education, testing and experience in financial counseling. AFC credential holders assist individuals and families in managing their finances effectively. They provide guidance on various financial topics, including budgeting, debt management, saving, investing and retirement planning.

Army spouse Samantha Gonzales loves helping others. "This fellowship gave me the opportunity to formalize my experiences and gave me the tools needed to help educate others to prevent them from amassing significant debt, to plan for their futures and to have confidence in their financial knowledge and ability," she said.



AFC professionals work in a wide variety of settings, including military family readiness centers, banks, credit unions, higher education institutions, government and private practice. Andi Wrenn was in one of the first fellowship classes. "I was lucky enough to get the fellowship, and within a year, I was hired to run a program in the government as a government contractor," she said.

And there are so many more options to put this credential to work.

"I was so lucky and grateful that with this credential and this type of work, I was able to keep my job every time we moved," said Katie Leiva, who currently works as the financial capability staff development manager at a credit union.

What's Included with the Fellowship?

The FINRA Foundation fellowship is a comprehensive package to help you become an AFC. The fellowship award includes the course materials and online access to the required educational components. It also includes an eight-week webinar review series that helps you learn the material. The fellowship covers the first two examination attempts.

Angelina Adame-Gignac was selected for the fellowship in 2022. Thanks to mentorship and training, she said she feels well-equipped "to guide others to a path of understanding financial literacy" and its importance.

In addition to academic and professional resources, the program includes an amazing community of military spouses, mentors and industry professionals. Through networking events, mentorship programs and online forums, participants can connect with peers facing similar challenges, share experiences and access valuable advice and guidance from seasoned professionals.

However, "the best thing about it," according to Leiva, "was the professional network that I became a part of, and that network continues to grow."

An important aspect of the program is that it is self-paced and can be done from anywhere. Heidi Clemons worked her studies around kids, homeschooling and a permanent change-of-station (PCS) move. "It took me awhile to finish out my hours," she said, "but now I've been helping the military and launched my own business to continue serving the military, help other AFCs and candidates and mentor FINRA fellows."

More About the Fellowship

The FINRA Foundation Military Spouse Fellowship is a partnership between the Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education (AFCPE) and the FINRA Investor Education Foundation (FINRA Foundation). More than 1,700 fellowships have been awarded since the program's inception in 2006.



One of the many great things about this program is that not only does it support the military spouses who get their AFC credential, but those fellows turn around and help others. Alise Jackson was a 2023 FINRA Foundation fellow and recently received her AFC credential. "The program itself and the opportunities to hone my skills were amazing," she said, and she learned a great deal that she "can now use to help others."

How to Apply

You are eligible for the FINRA Foundation fellowship if you are the spouse of a currently serving or retired member of the uniformed services or a surviving spouse of an active-duty or retired service member. Visit the foundations website to learn more and apply by April 15.

While the application is not particularly long or difficult, it will take some time. Plus, there is an optional letter of recommendation. So don't procrastinate until the last minute!

Keep Up With Military Pay Updates

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The Cubs released catcher Jorge Alfaro this evening, per Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun Times.

Alfaro, 31 in June, was in camp with the club on a minor league deal and had been informed last week that he wouldnt make the clubs Opening Day roster out of camp. As an Article XX(B) free agent, Alfaro had the right to opt out of his minors deal with Chicago if not added to the 40-man roster. Its unclear if he ever formally exercised that right, but hell now return to the open market where he can pursue opportunities elsewhere that may provide a clearer path to playing time at the big league level.

Once a consensus top-50 prospect in the sport, Alfaro was part of multiple significant trades as a youngster. After initially signing with the Rangers as an international free agent, he was included as part of the prospect package the club sent to Philadelphia in the Cole Hamels trade at the 2015 trade deadline. He made his big league debut with the Phillies the following year and slashed a solid .270/.327/.422 in 143 games with the club across three seasons before once again finding himself moved as part of the return in a blockbuster. This time, Alfaro was shipped to Miami as part of the return for All Star catcher J.T. Realmuto during the 2018-19 offseason.

Alfaros first season with the Marlins went rather well, as he slashed a respectable .262/.312/.425 with 18 home runs in 465 trips to the plate. His defense behind the plate left something to be desired, however, and over the next two seasons Alfaro would begin to deal with similar struggles on offense. In 123 games with the Marlins between the 2020 and 2021 seasons, he hit just .240/.282/.343 in 411 trips to the plate. That performance was good for a wRC+ of just 69, 31% worse than the league average hitter over that same period.

With his struggles with the glove now compounded by struggles at the plate, the Marlins decided to move on from Alfaro during the 2021-22 offseason by moving him to the Padres in a cash deal. Alfaro rebounded somewhat to post a decent 91 wRC+ in 82 games with the Padres in 2022 but found himself non-tendered that November, after which point he spent the 2023 campaign bouncing between several organizations while spending time with the Red Sox and Rockies at the major league level.

Looking ahead, it would be something of a surprise to see Alfaro land a major league deal given his struggles in recent years. With that being said, the Colombia natives prospect pedigree and previous offensive success at a position where upper-level depth is particularly valuable should make him one of the more attractive options to catching-needy clubs available on the market at this stage of the offseason, and its easy to imagine him finding a minor league deal where hell be more likely to impact the big league roster than he was in Chicago, where the Cubs are poised to rely on a tandem of Yan Gomes and Miguel Amaya behind the plate.
The Nationals announced today that they have selected the contract of right-hander Derek Law. In a corresponding move, right-hander Cade Cavalli was placed on the 60-day injured list. Cavalli underwent Tommy John surgery just over a year ago and evidently has at least a couple more months of rehab remaining, since hell now be ineligible to be activated until late May at the earliest.

Law, 33, is a veteran journeyman who will be joining the sixth team of his career, having previously pitched for the Giants, Blue Jays, Twins, Tigers and Reds. With Cincinnati last year, he tossed 55 innings with a 3.60 earned run average, though less impressive peripherals.

His 18.8% strikeout rate, 10.8% walk rate and 39.5% ground ball rate were each a bit worse than league averages. His .275 batting average on balls in play and 77.9% strand rate were both on the lucky side, which is why there was a sizeable gap between Laws ERA and his 4.62 FIP and 4.82 SIERA.

The Reds could have retained Law via arbitration, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting a fairly modest $1.4MM salary. They decided to non-tender Law instead, sending him to free agency. He signed a minors pact with the Nats, one that came with a $1.5MM salary if added to the major league roster. He has tossed 9 1/3 scoreless innings this spring, striking out 12 batters while issuing three walks. That strong showing will get him onto the Nats roster and lock in that salary.

The Nationals are in the midst of a rebuild and have given many roster spots to veterans this offseason. Jesse Winker, Eddie Rosario and Matt Barnes had their minor league contracts selected on Sunday. The club had earlier given major league deals to Joey Gallo and Dylan Floro.

The club is surely hoping that those players help the team, both by their own performances and by providing guidance to the younger players. If they are playing especially well, they could perhaps become midseason trade candidates, assuming the Nats arent in contention. Washington tried this approach last year with mixed results, as their Jeimer Candelario signing worked out great but the deals for Dominic Smith and Corey Dickerson less so.

Law will join Barnes and Floro as veteran arms in a Washington bullpen thats fairly light on experience. Kyle Finnegan, Hunter Harvey and Tanner Rainey are the most experienced of the returning players from last year, though each is slated for free agency after 2025 and could wind up on the trade block this summer. There will surely be lots of innings to cover throughout the year and Law will do his part to help out in that department. Even if he sticks with the club all year, hell still be shy of six years of service time and could be retained for 2025 via arbitration if the club is interested.
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.

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, Toledo and Cleveland, Ohio, Eerie, 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.
Polling is only a snapshot in time.

But with that caveat out of the way, things appear a touch rosier for President Joe Biden after months and months of polling that showed former President Donald Trump would sail to reelection if the rematch were held today.

The November contest will again be decided by at least a half-dozen swing states. And new polling from Bloomberg Tuesday showed Biden gaining ground in seven of them.

MC/Bloomberg: February  March



 Wisconsin: Trump +4  Biden +1

 Pennsylvania: Trump +6  Tie

 Michigan: Trump +2  Tie

 Nevada: Trump +6  Trump+2

 Georgia: Trump +6  Trump +7

 Arizona: Trump +6  Trump +5

 North Carolina: Trump +9  Trump +6 https://t.co/izCJQg6CyB pic.twitter.com/qE5yy2xQH8  InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) March 26, 2024

Compared to last month, Biden made incremental gains in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nevada, Georgia, Arizona and North Carolina.

To be fair to Trump, the Bloomberg poll shows hed still win if the contest were today. But the poll shows Biden, at least for now, narrowed  and in one case, overcame  his gap with Trump.

Per Bloomberg: Bidens more upbeat numbers come at an inflection point in a campaign matchup that has seemed predetermined for months. The president and Trump each clinched their parties nominations on March 12, beginning an extraordinarily long general election season.
ALLEN PARK, MI  A man already charged with raping and torturing elderly sisters is now also accused of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl on the same day, authorities said.

Around 8 a.m. on Sunday, March 17, Michael Shawn Holcomb, 52, of Ecorse, allegedly physically and sexually assaulted the young girl at a home on Meyer Avenue in Allen Park, and then fled the scene. He was arrested in Dearborn later that day after allegedly physically and sexually assaulting 78- and 85-year-old sisters inside their home.

RELATED: Michigan man charged with sexually assaulting, torturing pair of elderly women
ANN ARBOR, MI - The award-winning author behind the I Am series of historical childrens books is the keynote speaker this spring at the University of Michigan graduation.

Brad Meltzer is the main speaker at the May 4 ceremony at Michigan Stadium, university officials said. More information on the spring commencement ceremony can be found at commencement.umich.edu/ceremony-venue-details/spring-commencement. It is scheduled to start at 10 a.m.

Meltzer, a 1992 UM alumnus with a bachelors degree in history, has written 33 childrens books in the I Am series, otherwise known at the Ordinary People Change the World series. The series, which has more than 7 million copies in print, shows children the lives of famous historical figures, such as Abraham Lincoln or Walt Disney.

The four-time Emmy award-nominated television show Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum is based on Meltzers books. He has also written 13 novels for adults, hosts the Lost History and Decoded television shows on the History channel and published a comic book Justice League of America that won the Will Eisner Comic Industry Award in 2008.

Meltzer is also recommended to receive an honorary doctor of laws degree. The universitys Board of Regents are expected to approve this recommendation, as well as four others at its Thursday, March 28 meeting.

The others recommended for honorary degrees are neurosurgeon Alexa Canady, philanthropists Judith and Stanley Frankel and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Robin Givhan.

Canady is the first African American woman in the United States to be board-certified in neurosurgery. She was selected for an honorary degree for significantly advancing neurological research and championing equitable health care, officials said.

She graduated from the Ann Arbor university with a bachelors degree in 1971 and a doctor of medicine degree in 1975. By 1987, she joined Childrens Hospital of Michigan in Detroit as its chief of pediatric surgery, later chairing the hospitals Board of Trustees.

Her patients were children, usually younger than age 10, who had life-threatening illnesses, gunshot wounds, head trauma, hydrocephaly and other brain injuries and diseases, university officials said.

Canadys honors include being a member of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, a Michigan Womens Hall of Fame member, a 1993 winner of the American Medical Womens Associations Presidents Award, a Detroit News Michiganian of the Year winner in 2001 and the 2023 winner of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons Humanitarian Award.

Canady is recommended for a honorary doctor of science degree.

The Frankels have contributed to the university through gifts for the last 30 years, officials said.

Stanley Frankel, a 1963 UM alumnus with a bachelors degree in economics, heads the real estate development and management company Frankel Associates. Judith Frankel attended the university at the same time, later graduating from Wayne State and owning an antiques store in Troy.

The Frankels have supported a variety of projects, including the renovation of the Detroit Observatory, the founding of the Frankel Cardiovascular Center and the Frankel Institute for Heart and Brain Health and the international entrepreneurial organization Global Projects.

Stanley Frankel also served as vice chair of the leadership cabinet for The Michigan Difference, a $3.1 billion national capital campaign for the university launched in 2004.

The Frankels are recommended for honorary doctors of laws degree.

Givhan is the senior critic-at-large for The Washington Post, winning the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. Graduating from UM university in 1988, she provides commentary on American politics, race, business fashion and the arts.

One of Givhans more famous pieces was Fashions Racial Reckoning in 2020 after the death of George Floyd, documenting the fashion industrys discriminatory practices and efforts to be more inclusive to people of color.

Givhan is recommended for an honorary doctor of laws degree and will deliver the address at the Rackham Graduate Exercises on May 3.

If you would like more reporting like this delivered free to your inbox, click here and signup for our weekly newsletter: Michigan Schools.

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HOLLAND, MI -- The city of Hollands proposed $11.3 million ice rink will finally become a reality after years of brainstorming.

The city council approved the $11,364,953 budget to push the project forward during the March 20 meeting. The project will include a 14,000-square foot ice path, pavilions, picnic areas and restrooms at the iconic Window on the Waterfront Park.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI  The man accused of killing a woman and leaving her body on U.S. 131 had been deported to Mexico in fall 2020, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said.

Brandon Ortiz-Vite, 25, a citizen of Mexico, returned to the U.S. at some point without permission of immigration officials.

He allegedly killed Ruby Garcia, 25, of Grand Rapids, late Friday, March 22.

She was shot in the head before her body was left on the shoulder of southbound U.S. 131 near Leonard Street NW.

Ortiz-Vite had lived most of his life in Kent County but was not a U.S. citizen, a bond screener told a judge. He and Garcia were dating, police said.

Related: Man charged with felony murder, carjacking in death of woman found dead on U.S. 131

On Aug. 31, 2020, Ortiz-Vite was arrested by ICEs Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Detroit. An immigration judge with the Justice Departments Executive Office of Immigration Review ordered his removal on Sept. 24, 2020. He was returned to Mexico five days later.

At an unknown date and location Ortiz-Vite reentered the United States without inspection by an immigration official, an ICE spokesperson said in a statement.

Ortiz-Vite was arraigned Tuesday, March 26, by Grand Rapids District Judge Jennifer Faber, who ordered him held without bond on charges of felony murder, open murder, carjacking, carrying a concealed weapon and felony firearm.

Related: Person of interest is in custody after womans body found on U.S. 131

He had been dating Garcia when he allegedly shot and killed her late Friday, March 22, while in her red 2023 Mazda 3. Her body was found on the west shoulder of southbound U.S. 131 at Leonard Street NW.

A Kent County sheriffs lieutenant spotted the victims body. She had been shot in the head and appeared to have been run over by a vehicle, state police said in a probable-cause affidavit.

Text messages on her cellphone showed that the two met at her residence an hour before the killing.

The victims abandoned car was recovered the next day in a residential area north of South Haven. It showed damage from suspected gunshots with suspected blood inside. Ortiz-Vite called Allegan County 911 on Sunday to turn himself in. Police found him on 68th Street near Fennville.

He admitted shooting the victim in the head multiple times after the two had an argument, state police said. He told police he walked behind the car, opened the drivers door and  believing her to still be alive  fired another shot into her head, police said.

He unbuckled her seat belt and pulled her out, police said.

When arrested, Ortiz-Vite possessed a 9mm Taurus pistol, bought illegally, that he used in the killing, he told police.

On the day of Ortiz-Vites arrest, immigration agents filed a detainer with the Kent County Correctional Facility to hold Ortiz-Vite after his arrest in the killing. The detainer is a request to local or state law-enforcement to notify ICE before a non-U.S. citizen, subject to removal, is released from custody.
OTTAWA COUNTY, MI  Ottawa Sands County Park will be closed to the public until later this summer.

The park at 18153 N. Shore Drive in Ferrysburg is closing April 1, but will reopen sometime this summer due to construction projects and ecological restoration work.

Ottawa County Parks and Recreation will announce a specific reopening date at a later time. That announcement will be posted on the departments Facebook page.

When the park reopens, it will be outfitted with a number of new improvements, such as a day-use area parking lot and modern restroom, a paved 1.6-mile trail loop around the parks 80-acre inland lake and ecological improvements to the lake and other areas of the park.

Construction on these improvements come as work continues on the parks Idema Explorers Camp, which features three treehouses, five yurts and 10 tent campsites for overnight stays at the park.

The treehouses and yurts, which are located near a section of the Grand River channel known as the Sag, are expected to be available by late 2024 for overnight stays, parks officials said. Reservations wont be accepted until there is an exact open date for the lodgings.

Ottawa Sands County Park spans 353 acres and is located a half-mile from Lake Michigan and the countys North Beach Park. It features 219 acres of state designated critical dunes, 5,585 feet of Grand River frontage and an 80-acre man-made inland lake.

In summer 2018, the county purchased the property for about $11 million with the help of state grants, the Land Conservancy of West Michigan and the former property owner, Ottawa Sand Company. It opened to the public in fall 2018 with marked hiking trails, portable toilets and signage.

The overnight stay amenities were made possible by a $3.48 million gift from the Bill and Bea Idema Foundation.

All the projects are part of the first phase of a $9.1 million improvement plan that includes the paved walking paths and day-use bathroom but also other projects, like kayak access, park benches and a new Welcome Center near the camp.

In addition to the gift from the Bill and Bea Idema Foundation, the first phase of improvements is funded by state and federal grants, county funds and $3.4 million in federal stimulus dollars allocated by the county board.

The ecological restoration work will help conserve, improve and create habitat for animals that utilize wetlands, such as marsh birds and other migratory birds, various fish species and reptiles and amphibians, Ottawa County parks officials said.

The work also includes softening 3,300 feet of shoreline around the parks lake, expanding the lakes slope area where the water meets the land and incorporating woody debris along the shoreline and within the lake to create habitat.

Parks officials will also create wetland areas between the dunes to the south of the lake to increase biodiversity and ecosystem functions, providing habitat for birds, fish and amphibians.
NILES, MI -- A Popeyes Chicken employee was cut by a minor during a robbery, the Niles Police Department reports.

About 4:30 p.m. Monday, March 25, officers from the Niles Police Department were called to an armed robbery at Popeyes Louisiana Chicken at 306 S. 11th St., police said.

Officers learned the suspect, a young male, had left the scene in a vehicle with at least three other people.

Witnesses told police the robber entered the restaurant and walked through the employee-only door. The robber made his way to the employee-only area and brandished a knife, demanding money.

A male employee confronted the robber and a physical altercation occurred, police said.

The employee was cut by the suspect and suffered non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

Despite the violent encounter, the employees actions contributed to the suspect fleeing the restaurant empty-handed, the police department said in a news release.

Police received a tip and the Niles Police Department, working with the Michigan State Police and the Cass County Sheriffs Department, quickly located the suspect and the involved vehicle in the 2500 block of Juniper Road in Niles.

The suspect, a male juvenile, was apprehended there and has been charged with armed robbery, police said. Hes being held at the Berrien County Juvenile Center as he awaits further court proceedings.

Michigan State Police, Berrien County Sheriffs Department, Cass County Sheriffs Department, Niles Fire Department and SMCAS Ambulance Services assisted the Niles Police Department.

The cooperation among these entities played a crucial role in the rapid resolution of this incident, the police department said.

We are relieved that no one was seriously injured during this robbery attempt and that we were able to apprehend the suspect quickly, Niles Police Department said.

The Niles Police Department commends the bravery of the Popeyes employees, thanking the community for their vigilance and assistance to provide information that led to the suspects arrest.

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Catcher Donny Sands, one of three players acquired in the Gregory Soto trade, was released by the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday.

The Tigers plan to use catchers Dillon Dingler and Anthony Bemboom in Triple-A Toledo this year, squeezing Sands off the roster.

Sands, 27, made his Major League debut in 2022 with the Philadelphia Phillies, but only appeared as a pinch-hitter, going 0-for-3. The right-handed hitter was drafted in the eighth round of the 2015 draft by the New York Yankees and converted from an infielder to a catcher. He was traded to the Phillies after the 2021 season.

Sands hit well during his one year in the Phillies system, but couldnt repeat the production in 2023 with Triple-A Toledo. He hit .225 with a .671 OPS with five home runs in 371 plate appearances with the Mud Hens.

The Tigers designated him for assignment in December and then outrighted him to Toledo when he went unclaimed on waivers. Sands was given an invitation to spring training but played sparingly.

The departure of Sands leaves utility man Matt Vierling as the only player remaining from the trade that sent Soto and infielder Kody Clemens to the Phillies 14 months ago.

Infielder Nick Maton was designated for assignment in February and later traded to the Baltimore Orioles for cash.
Severe weather chances have increased today for a portion of central and southern Michigan. Forecast details from the National Weather Service show the biggest threats with this possible severe weather will come this afternoon and early evening. They include damaging wind gusts up to 60 mph, lightning strikes, power outages and the chance for a weak, isolated tornado.

Severe weather chances have increased from marginal to slight in the area shown in yellow on the map. This includes Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Lansing and Jackson. The higher risk area goes as far north as Alma, and stretches down to Coldwater.

The west side of this area has the highest risk for severe weather from 1 to 7 p.m. today, while the southeast side of the state will see its biggest window for this weather from 4 to 11 p.m. as the storm system tracks east and leaves Michigan.

Scattered thunderstorms are expected to move across lower Michigan this afternoon, National Weather Service meteorologists in Grand Rapids said. Some storms may be severe. Damaging winds and lightning are the main hazards, though a brief tornado cannot be ruled out. The highest risk is south of M-46 between U.S. 131 and U.S. 23. Stay weather aware today.

After the storm system moves out tonight, cooler weather will rush in and stick around for a couple days.
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Siddharth Upasani is a Special Correspondent at Moneycontrol. He has been covering the Indian economy, economic data, and monetary and fiscal policies for nine years. He tweets at @SiddharthUbiWan. Contact: siddharth.upasani@nw18.com
Jinit Parmar is a correspondent based out of Mumbai covering the banking sector, fintechs, NBFCs, insurance and more, tweets @jinitparmar10
Ashwin Mohan is Editor (Deals) at Moneycontrol and leads the M&A, private equity and equity capital market transactions coverage. He anchors the video show 'Deal Central ' and tweets at @ashwinmohansays. He has previously worked with ET NOW, CNBC TV-18 and The Times of India.
Santosh Nair is Executive Editor, Special Projects, Moneycontrol. He has been writing on the financial markets for over two decades, having previously worked with Business Standard, myiris.com, Crisil Market Wire and The Economic Times. He is also the author of the popular book on Indian markets, Bulls, Bears and Other Beasts.
General Election 2024 Highlights: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on March 26, released its sixth list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The sixth list includes three names, of whom two are from Rajasthan, and one from Manipur.

The party has fielded Kanhaiya Lal Meena from the Dausa Lok Sabha seat in Rajasthan and Indu Devi from the Karauli-Dolpur seat. Meanwhile, Thounaojam Basanta Kumar Singh will contest from the Inner Manipur seat.

This comes two days after the saffron party released its fifth list of candidates for the upcoming general election.

Meanwhile, the party will contest the Lok Sabha election alone in Punjab, BJP state unit president Sunil Jakhar said on March 26, ruling out an alliance with Akali Dal.

Meanwhile, this afternoon, PM Narendra Modi gave a call to Prof. TN Sarasu, the Keralan BJP candidate from Alathur, and enquired about her campaign.

On March 24, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) announced Dr. TN Sarasu as the party's candidate from the Alathur constituency. Dr. TN Sarasu was previously the principal of the Government Victoria College in Pallakad.

Later, PM Modi also called Basirhat-based BJP candidate Rekha Patra, a victim of Sandeshkhali, to discuss her campaign preparations. She was also addressed as "Shakti Swaroopa" by the prime minister. With Patra's candidature, the BJP is viewed as making a clear message in favour of the women of West Bengal and Sandeshkhali.
News Highlights: US President Joe Biden addresses the situation following the bridge collapse in Baltimore.

- Officials estimate eight people are unaccounted for, with two individuals already rescued.

- The search and rescue operation is ongoing for those still missing.

- Biden emphasizes that the incident appears to be a terrible accident, with no indication of intentional harm.
Javier Blas is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering energy and commodities. He previously was commodities editor at the Financial Times and is the coauthor of "The World for Sale: Money, Power, and the Traders Who Barter the Earths Resources."
in today's edition of Moneycontrol Pro Panorama: Bond demand remains strong, can SME IPOs continue its performance run, poll-bound...

The acquisition brings with it a manufacturing plant which Prince can leverage to scale-up the bath-ware fittings business. On optimal utilisation, the plant

Shares of Prince Pipes and Fittings gained 6 percent after the company said it is acquiring bath-ware fittings brand Aquel. Prince entered the bath-ware business in June 2023 and is still in a scale-up phase. In the December 2023 quarter, the bath-ware business clocked a revenue of Rs 6 crore and has potentially lost money at the net level.

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Marc Champion writes editorials on international affairs. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication.
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Last week, the State Bank of India (SBI) disclosed data on the now-defunct electoral bonds in two sets. Purchasing these bonds was voluntary; however, which entrepreneur would willingly part with their hard-earned money for grasping, self-serving politicians? They do so under coercion or incentives. Hence, voluntary donation is rather small, as is evident from the large number of companies absent from the list. Today, most large companies in corporate India are listed on the stock market. And yet, only about 100 listed companies across a few sectors have contributed to political parties through electoral bonds. Very few large companies (Nifty 200 stocks) feature on the list.

While there are Vedanta (over Rs400 crore), Bharti Airtel (Rs198 crore), Torrent Power (Rs106 crore) and United Phosphorus (Rs60 crore), most other companies on the list have donated small sums relative to their profits. Sun Pharmaceuticals, which made over Rs8,900 crore in net profit last year, donated Rs31.50 crore, barely 0.3%. Mahindra and Mahindra donated a similar amount (Rs25 crore) and so did Bajaj Finance (Rs20 crore), Bajaj Auto (Rs18 crore), Hero Motors (Rs20 crore), TVS Motor (Rs26 crore) and UltraTech Cement (Rs35 crore), Maruti Suzuki (Rs20 crore) and Piramal Enterprises (Rs48 crore).

More interesting is the fact that a large number of big listed companies did not donate through electoral bonds at all: Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Kotak Bank, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Titan, all the software giants like Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Wipro are missing. There are no multinationals on the list, nor is construction giant Larsen & Toubro (L&T), even though many other donors were from the construction sector.

For those who have donated, the question is: Where are the disclosures to shareholders? At a time when the market regulator and stock exchanges are insisting on extreme transparency, it is obvious that companies that have donated money to political parties should mandatorily disclose these to shareholders with an explanation. A quick check of some of the 2022-23 annual reports of large listed companies like Mahindra & Mahindra, Cipla, Bharti Airtel and Piramal Enterprises shows no mention of electoral bonds. Vedanta discloses donations in 'other expenses' with a footnote identifying that it was for electoral bonds. This disclosure is even more necessary for those who donated while facing charges, or, perhaps, other forms of scrutiny or coercion.

While many large listed companies do not figure as donors, it is interesting that all large listed pharmaceutical companies and many unlisted ones have emerged as donors. Several of them have been facing government action (some genuine, some allegedly trumped up) for tax evasion, poor quality of drugs, or overcharging. Among the big donors through electoral bonds are Divi's Laboratories (Rs55 crore), Cipla (Rs39.20 crore), Alkem Laboratories (Rs15 crore), Dr Reddy's (Rs84 crore), and Sun Pharma and Mankind Pharma (Rs24 crore). None of them has significant disclosures to offer regarding electoral bonds.

A close analysis of the electoral bonds makes it clear that companies are either donating out of fear or for incentivesquid pro quo for contracts, projects or orders. Of course, the line between incentives and coercion often blurs in the messy negotiations between political parties and businesses. In any case, shareholders and citizens remain in the dark in both situations. Take, for example, the massive capital expenditure by the Central government on roads, bridges, sanitation, drinking water, railway modernisation and energy. Winning bids for these projects is based on objective criteria but it is not always so in practice. These businesses also spend large sums in cash. Pamireddy Pitchi Reddy's four companies led by Megha Engineering (Rs966 crore) have emerged as the second biggest donor (Rs1200 crore) in the list. Megha reportedly purchased electoral bonds on several occasions, just before it secured major projects. BG Shirke Construction (donated Rs117 crore), the other major construction company in the list, bagged a huge affordable housing project and other deals in Maharashtra.

So, what can be done about disclosures, at least for listed companies? IFB Agro's annual report of 2022-23 provides a rare and only example of explicit disclosure: "The business continues to face issues as reported earlier and in order to maintain the continuity of the business and to protect the interest of all the stakeholders, the Company paid Rs 18.30 Crs towards subscription of the Electoral Bonds during the year. The Company has further paid Rs15 Crores towards subscription of Electoral Bonds in the Month of April 2023." In all, IFB Agro has paid over Rs92 crore in electoral bonds since 2021.

In West Bengal, where IFB Agro operates, politically powerful 'syndicates' dictate business activity, including the hiring of staff, contractors and suppliers and collecting regular payments. On 26 June 2020 and again on 22 December 2020, IFB Agro disclosed to stock exchanges that its distillery in south 24 Parganas was attacked by 150 armed goons. They forced the distillery to close, beat up employees and held them hostage. Despite complaints to the police, nothing happened. It also said that its alcohol business was suffering because it was "singled out by certain excise officials for not succumbing to their illegal demands." Since its complaints came to nothing, IFB Agro chose to publicly disclose its reasons for donation. Why can't other listed companies display the same courage as IFB Agro?

If listed companies do not want to disclose their reasons, they have another choice: follow the example of Kiran Mazumdar Shaw. She controls two listed companies (Syngene and Biocon) neither of which was a donor. But she decided to donate Rs6 crore from her personal account. Given the tens of cores of salaries promoter-managers pay themselves, they can certainly do this rather than spending shareholders' moneyand keeping them in the dark.

(This article first appeared in Business Standard newspaper)
On Tuesday, 1414 stocks advanced, 2545 declined and 141 remained unchanged, on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) with an advance decline ratio of 0.55 indicating negative closing of stocks in broader markets. The trend of the major indices on Tuesdays trading is given in the table below.

On NSE, 55 securities advanced and closed at a new 52-week high whereas 50 securities sank to close at their new 52-week lows. In sectoral indices, Nifty Media, Nifty IT and Nifty FMCG were among the biggest losers. Nifty Metal, Nifty Infrastructure and Nifty PSU Bank were among the biggest gainers.

Jindal Stainless (+2.40%) and IIT Kharagpur partnered to jointly work on metallurgical projects like primary alloy production and materials characterisation.

Maruti Suzuki India (-0.71%) recalled over 16,000 units of Baleno and WagonR to fix a possible defect in a part of the fuel pump motor.

RailTel Corporation of India (+1.29%) received the work order from Centre for Development of Advanced Computing for VMWare virtualization licences with 3 years support amounting to Rs36.35 crore.

Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals (+0.74%) was granted patent for an invention titled A Multi-stage Centrifugal Pump with Hybrid Diffusion Technology.

Reliance Industries (-0.92%) received approval to acquire 100% equity shares of MSKVY Nineteenth Solar SPV and MSKVY Twenty-second Solar SPV from MSEB Solar Agro Power in accordance with the terms of the tender awarded to the company for setting up of aggregate solar capacity of 128 MW across various sites in Maharashtra under the Mukhyamantri Saur Krushi Vahini Yojana 2.0.

Ujjivan Small Finance Bank (Ujjivan SFB) (-0.98%) has entered into a strategic partnership with Veefin Solutions, a leading Supply Chain Finance (SCF) solutions provider, to offer robust supply chain finance offerings, to meet the working capital needs for MSMEs.

Indoco Remedies (-0.96%) wholly owned subsidiary -- Warren Remedies has commenced its commercial production from its Greenfield manufacturing facility located at Aurangabad, Maharashtra to manufacture Pharmaceutical Intermediates and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs).

Solara Active Pharma Sciences (-1.72%) received approval from board of directors to sell 100% shareholding in SeQuent Penems.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) (+1.76%) entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 95% stake of Gopalpur Ports (GPL) from the existing shareholders.

Tejas Networks (-2.04%) had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Telecom Egypt (TE), ITIDA (Information Technology Industry Development Agency) and NTI (National Telecom Institute) to replicate its experience of implementing Bharatnet (Rural Broadband Project) and NKN (National Knowledge Network) projects in Egypt.

Bharat Wire Ropes (+0.67%) promoter bought net 42,000 shares through open market. Ugar Sugar works (-1.93%) promoter bought net 22,521 shares through open market. Krishana Phoschem (+1.55%) promoter bought net 10,301 shares through open market. Smartlink Holdings (+0.35%) promoter bought net 13,550 shares through open market. Medicamen Biotech (-3.37%) promoter sold net 200,000 shares through open market. Shrenik promoter sold net 6,590,000 shares through open market. Deepak Fertilizers and Petrochemicals Corporation (+1.17%) promoter bought net 31,000 shares through open market. Firstsource Solutions (+1.38%) insiders bought net 100,000 shares through open market.

The top gainers and top losers of the major indices are given in the table below:

The closing values of the major Asian indices are given in the table below:
Coming down heavily on Mumbai-based Avitel Post Studioz Ltd, the Supreme Court emphasised the need for early enforcement of the foreign award by the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) without showing any further indulgence to Avitel Post Studioz, the award debtors. The case relates to an award by SIAC in favour of HSBC PI Holdings (Mauritius) Ltd.

In an order issued earlier this month, the division bench of justice Hrishikesh Roy and justice Prashant Kumar Mishra said, "This long list of events points to a saga of award holders HSBC PI Holdings' protracted and arduous struggle to gather the fruits of the award. The award debtors raised multiple challenges and also defied the court's order. They had to serve jail time for such contemptuous actions. In this backdrop, the travails of award holders suggest a Pyrrhic victory. In this case, despite the award being in their favour, HSBC PI Holdings found itself embroiled in multiple litigations in different forums by the concerted and unmerited action of Avitel Post Studioz. It will bear mention here, that in every forum, the award debtors have lost, and courts' verdicts are in the favour of the award holders. Despite this, the benefit of the foreign award is still to reach HSBC PI Holdings."

"This sort of challenge, where arbitral bias is raised at the enforcement stage, must be discouraged by our courts to send out a clear message to the stakeholders that Indian courts would ensure enforcement of a foreign award unless it is demonstrable that there is a clear violation of morality and justice. The determination of bias should only be done by applying international standards. Refusal of enforcement of the foreign award should only be in a rare case where, non-adherence to International standards is clearly demonstrable," the bench says.

In April 2011, Avitel Post Studioz, promoted by Pradeep Shantiprasad Jain, Siddhartha Pradeep Jain and Hrishi Pradeep Jain (Jain family) and HSBC PI Holdings signed a share subscription agreement (SSA). As per the SSA, HSBC PI Holdings invested US$60mn (million) to acquire a 7.80% stake in Avitel Post Studioz.

This investment was based on Avitel's warranty and representation that it was at an advanced stage of finalising a contract with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which had the potential to generate revenues of up to US$1bn (billion) in the future.

However, HSBC PI Holdings became wary of Avitel's plan and did an investigation through Ernst & Young and KPMG Dubai. It found that the BBC contract was non-existent. HSBC PI Holdings alleged that around US$51mn from its US$60mn investment had been siphoned away to other companies owned or controlled by the Jain family.

HSBC PI Holdings initiated arbitral proceedings before SIAC, as per the agreement. The SIAC passed a final award in favour of HSBC PI Holdings and asked Avitel Post Studioz to pay US$60mn as damages for fraudulent misrepresentations.

HSBC PI Holdings initiated proceedings under section 9 of the Indian Arbitration Act before the Bombay High Court (HC). In its order, the HC directed Avitel Post Studioz to deposit US$60mn to enforce the award.

However, Avitel Post Studioz challenged the order before the Supreme Court, contending that the dispute was non-arbitrable under Indian law as it involved allegations of fraud which included serious criminal offences such as forgery and impersonation.

The apex court held that the dispute was arbitrable and that HSBC PI Holdings had a strong prima facie case in the enforcement proceedings, in the context of Section 9 proceedings in which HSBC PI Holdings had sought maintenance of the entire claim amount in Avitel's bank account.

Since Avitel Post Studioz and its chairman and directors failed to abide by the SC order, a contempt proceeding was initiated against them. On 11 July 2022, the apex court found that Avitel Post Studioz had deliberately and wilfully disobeyed its order and asked the company chairman and directors to remain present before the court.

However, the Jain family went abroad, resulting in the SC issuing warrants and look-out notices against them. It also asked the Union ministry of external affairs and the central bureau of investigation (CBI) to issue a red-corner notice against the Jain family.

Ultimately, the Jain family surrendered and, despite tendering an unconditional apology, the SC refused to accept it. They were sentenced to imprisonment for their conduct.

Avitel Post Studioz and the Jain family alleged that Christopher Lau, the presiding arbitrator, failed to make a full and frank disclosure of material facts and circumstances concerning his conflict of interest with the HSBC group.

The counsel for HSBC PI Holdings submitted that its sister concern HSBC (Singapore) Nominees Pte Ltd, holds 6.29% in Wing Tai on a trustee or nominee basis, and Wing Tai has no relationship with HSBC PI Holdings and is not part of the HSBC group.

"Mr Lau is has been an independent non-executive director of Wing Tai since 28 October 2013 and also the chairman of the audit and the risk committee of Wing Tai. But Mr Lau is not an employee of Wing Tai and therefore, it is wrong to say that he cannot discharge responsibility as an independent arbitrator or was incapacitated in any manner in rendering the final award," the counsel says.

After hearing both sides, the division bench observed that the Bombay HC rightly held that Avitel Post Studioz has failed to substantiate their allegation of bias, conflict of interest or the failure by the presiding arbitrator to render disclosure to the parties as an objection to the enforcement of the award.

"Even as the appeals filed by Avitel Post Studioz are dismissed, HSBC PI Holdings, notwithstanding their victory in all the legal battles until now, must not be allowed to feel that theirs is a case of winning the battle but losing the war," the SC says.
FILE PHOTO: The U.S. and Japan flags fly together outside the White House in Washington April 27, 2015.
The Winter Storm Warning issued for the western slope of the northern Sierra Nevada, will expire at 11 AM this morning (Thursday). Additionally, the Winter Weather Advisory issued for Yosemite National Park above 5,500 feet, will end at 5 PM this afternoon (Thursday).

The heaviest snow is occurring this morning, above 5,500 feet. Lingering snow showers are expected through this afternoon.

The snow levels currently range between 3,500 to 4,500 feet.

Additional snow accumulations above the 5,500 foot elevation, will range from half-a-foot to as much as fifteen inches. The higher you go, the more the snow.

Winds have been gusting as high as forty-five to fifty-five mph. Strong winds could cause tree damage.

Travel could be very difficult from delays, snow-covered roads, and chain controls.

If you must travel, slow down, use caution. Keep an extra flashlight, food, and water in your vehicle in case of an emergency.

The next system will bring periods of moderate snow Friday through Saturday with additional mountain travel impacts possible.
Mary Anne Schmidt recognized for making "HERstory" View Photo

Sonora, CA  The Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors, with a spice of controversy mixed in, took time to recognize Mary Anne Schmidt for making local HERstory.

The award is given out as part of Womens History Month to someone in each of Californias 58 counties as selected by the California State Senator for the region.

Democratic Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil selected Mary Anne Schmidt for Tuolumne County, who was nominated by District Five Supervisor Jaron Brandon. A representative from Alvarado Gils office was on hand at todays board meeting and several people praised Schmidt for being a member of the Tuolumne County Behavioral Health Board, a local campaign organizer, a Red Cross volunteer, and an advocate for justice and equality, womens reproductive rights, and against gun violence.

Supervisor Brandons nomination noted that she works tirelessly behind the scenes and is an independent voice for change.

Schmidt was in attendance and stated that she accepts the award with a humble heart.

She added, Yesterday I got a text referring to me as a troublemaker, and I took that as a compliment. Well-behaved women seldom make HERstory. And I raise my voice respectfully. Not so that I can shout, but so those without a voice can be heard.

Schmidt continued, One does not do things alone. Looking out at this audience tells me the real HERstory of what has been done in this county. Each of you contributes to this beautiful rural county and you will continue every single day of your life. Do not underestimate what you have done, and what you will continue to do, from making a simple phone call to a friend in need, to running a political campaign, to running for political office, delivering meals to our seniors, or supporting a family whose home has burned down.

A handful of people in the audience gave praise to Schmidt, and told stories about her, including Office of Emergency Services Assistant Director Dore Bietz, and Sonora City Councilman Andy Merrill.

It was then time for the board of supervisors to weigh in.

Supervisor Ryan Campbell stated, She (Schmidt) is the perfect example of what an involved citizen should be. Mary Anne has encouraged me, inspired me, and challenged me, in so many different ways over the years and showed me qualities in myself that I didnt even know that I had. She is one of those kind of people.

He said she is a hub of engagement in the community and is a true believer in the concept, If you want to complain, you have to do something about it.

Supervisor Brandon added, I challenge anybody to find someone who is more dedicated and spends more of their time serving others on various committees and showing up to meetings.

He said she is a model citizen and not a bystander. Brandon joked that she isnt afraid to tell him, personally, he is full of it, when he needs to hear it.

District Three Supervisor Anaiah Kirk took a counter opinion, and said he is really bummed out that the full group of supervisors didnt get to weigh in on the process ahead of Senator Alvarado-Gils selection. Indicating that he disagrees with Schmidt on various issues, he questioned the memo stating justice and equality and womens protective rights, which he said the latter is another word for abortion, which he strongly opposes. The memo also talked about Schmidt working against gun violence, which he indicated ties into Second Amendment rights. Kirk said if aspects of the memo were changed, he would have supported the presentation.

Board Chair David Goldemberg criticized Kirks statements, and responded, I dont think any one of us should be individually, or as a body, be taking a stance publicly on things like abortion and womens rights.

Supervisor Campbell told Kirk that Supervisor Brandon took the initiative to nominate Schmidt, and it is something that any of the supervisors could have done.

Supervisor Kathleen Haff was absent and didnt weigh in. The item was only a presentation on Senator Alvarado-Gils pick so no board vote was needed.

The memo announcing the selection, from Senator Alvarado-Gil, is below:

Since its inception in 1987, the Woman of the Year event has provided an opportunity for members of the legislature to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of remarkable women in California. This year, Senator Alvarado-Gil has selected Mary Anne Schmidt to be honored as Woman of the Year. Her tireless advocacy across various fronts exemplifies the spirit of this accolade. Mary Annes relentless pursuit of justice and equality, from organizing rallies for womens reproductive rights to advocating against gun violence, showcases her deep commitment to societal betterment. Her involvement with the Tuolumne County Behavioral Health Board, coupled with her passion for educational reform and environmental stewardship, highlights her multifaceted contributions to our community. Moreover, her engagement with the Red Cross and dedication to civic education stand as testaments to her unwavering commitment to service and community empowerment. Mary Annes influence extends through her advocacy for the arts, enriching our cultural landscape and fostering a more inclusive and empathetic society.
The Latest | Israel wont accept Hamas demands after militant group rejects cease-fire plan View Photo

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that his government will not accept Hamas delusional conditions for a cease-fire in Gaza. The militant group rejected the latest truce proposal because it says Israel is ignoring the groups core demands.

Hamas wants an end to the war and Israels full withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. Israel seeks to destroy Hamas and to recover all of the approximately 100 Israeli hostages still in Gaza, as well as the remains of some 30 others.

Netanyahu also rebuked Mondays U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a cease-fire. The councils legally binding demand for a pause in the war comes as much of the Gaza Strip is in ruins, most of its 2.3 million residents are displaced, and a third of the besieged population is on the brink of famine.

More than 32,000 people have been killed in Gaza and more than 74,000 wounded, according to Gazas Health Ministry, which doesnt differentiate between civilians and combatants in its tally. The ministry says women and children make up two-thirds of the dead.

Some 1,200 people were killed in Israel and another 250 people abducted when militants launched a surprise attack out of Gaza on Oct. 7, triggering the war.

Currently:

 Israel and Hamas dig in as pressure builds for a cease-fire in Gaza

 With its soldiers mired in Gaza, Israel also fighting over drafting the ultra-Orthodox

 Lebanese Sunni militant group head says coordination with Shiite Hezbollah is vital to fight Israel

 Pentagon urges Israel to protect civilians in Gaza as military chiefs meet

 Colombia threatens to break ties with Israel if it doesnt comply with UN cease-fire resolution

 Find more AP coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Heres the latest:

RUSSIA PUSHES BACK AGAINST U.S. CLAIMS THAT U.N. CEASE-FIRE RESOLUTION IS NOT BINDING

UNITED NATIONS  Russias ambassador to the United Nations ambassador strongly criticized the claim by United States officials that Mondays U.N. Security Council resolution demanding a cease-fire in Gaza is not legally binding.

Vassily Nebenzia got support from the U.N. deputy spokesman, Farhan Haq, and both pointed to Article 25 of the United Nations Charter, its founding document, which says all members of the 193-nation organization agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council.

Nebenzia quoted U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who said, We fully support some of the objectives in this nonbinding resolution. Her comments to the council came shortly after the cease-fire resolution was adopted 14-0, with the United States abstaining.

Nebenzia also cited U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby who said: Its a nonbinding resolution. So, theres no impact at all on Israel and Israels ability to continue to go after Hamas.

The Russian ambassador told the councils monthly Mideast meeting that the U.S.  one of the five veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council  has essentially openly stated that it does not accept the Charter of our organization, disavowing the hard won fruits of discussions in the council, and including the hard won and historic resolution on a cease-fire in Gaza.

Israel now has complete carte blanche and is not planning to stop until it razes Gaza to the ground with Washingtons blessing and despite a demand from the Security Council, Nebenzia said.

Haq, the deputy U.N. spokesman, told reporters Monday that, All Security Council resolutions are international law. On Tuesday, he held up the U.N. Charter saying the U.N. stands by Article 25.

As for implementation of the resolution, which also demanded the release of all Israeli hostages seized during Hamas Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel, Haq said implementing resolutions takes time.

The enforcement of resolutions is something that is ultimately up to the international community as a whole, Haq said.

ISRAELI MAN HELD HOSTAGE IN GAZA IS DECLARED DEAD, ADVOCACY GROUP SAYS

JERUSALEM  One of the Israeli hostages being held in Gaza has been confirmed killed, an advocacy group representing the hostages families said Tuesday.

It was not clear how Israeli authorities determined Uriel Baruch, 35, had been killed. Baruch was kidnapped from the Nova music festival during the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7.

Baruch is the latest hostage to be declared dead by Israeli authorities. Israel says 35 of the hostages remaining in the Gaza Strip are dead, either killed during Hamas initial attack or while in captivity.

Baruch, a techno music fan, leaves behind a wife and two children ages 8 and 5, according to the Hostages Families Forum.

As negotiations remain stalled on a deal to release the hostages and halt the war in Gaza, furious and desperate family members of hostages protested alongside supporters Tuesday evening, blocking the road outside of the militarys Tel Aviv headquarters by climbing inside large cages.

About 120 hostages were released during a temporary cease-fire in late November. Hamas-led militants took roughly 250 people into Gaza  among them men, women, children and older adults. About 100 people are believed to still be alive.

ISRAEL CONFIRMS AIRSTRIKE KILLED HAMAS NO. 3 COMMANDER IN GAZA

JERUSALEM  Israels military says it has confirmed that an airstrike earlier this month killed Marwan Issa, the deputy leader of Hamas armed wing in Gaza who helped plan the Oct. 7 attack.

Issa is the highest-ranking Hamas leader to have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war. Israel has killed several top Hamas leaders over the years, only to see them quickly replaced with little apparent impact on the groups operations.

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Tuesday that intelligence verified Issa was killed when fighter jets struck an underground compound in central Gaza between March 9 and 10 where Issa and another Hamas commander, Aziz Abu Tamaa, were believed to be located.

Hamas official Izzat al-Risheq said the Israeli announcement was intended to distract from the militarys failure to achieve its war goals in Gaza. In a statement released online, he said Israels narrative about the killing was not trustworthy.

The final say is the responsibility of the Qassam Brigade leadership, he said, referring to Hamas armed wing.

Issa, born in 1965, was the deputy to Mohammed Deif, the shadowy longtime leader of Hamas military wing who is said to have survived several previous Israeli attempts on his life.

Yehya Sinwar is Hamas top leader in Gaza and the alleged mastermind of the Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war. He spent over two decades in Israeli prisons before being released along with more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for a captive Israeli soldier in 2011. Both Deif and Sinwar are believed to be alive in Gaza.

Israel says it has killed over 13,000 Hamas fighters since the start of the war, without providing evidence, and claims to have largely dismantled the group in northern Gaza. But Hamas has continued to carry out attacks on Israeli troops in all parts of the territory.

NETANYAHU SAYS ISRAEL WILL NOT ACCEPT HAMAS DEMANDS

JERUSALEM  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will not accept Hamas demands for a cease-fire after the militant group rejected the latest proposal for a truce.

In a statement from his office Tuesday, Netanyahu accused Hamas of being uninterested in proceeding with negotiations toward a deal. He said Hamas rejection served as unfortunate testimony to the damage of the Security Council decision, which on Monday approved a resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire and the release of all hostages captured by Hamas, without linking the two.

In a statement late Monday, Hamas said it had informed mediators that it was sticking to its original position, which includes an end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Netanyahu said Israel would not give in to Hamas delusional demands and continue to work to destroy the militant groups military and governing capabilities, as well as seek the release of the remaining hostages.

U.N. RESOLUTION EMBOLDENED HAMAS TO REJECT CEASE-FIRE, ISRAELI F.M. SAYS

JERUSALEM  The United Nations Security Councils approval of a resolution calling for an immediate end to hostilities emboldened Hamas to reject the latest cease-fire proposal, Israel Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday.

Israel and Hamas are negotiating a cease-fire deal in exchange for the release of dozens of hostages still held by the militant group in Gaza. Hamas said late Monday that it was rejecting the latest proposal and sticking to its core demands, which include an end to the war and a full withdrawal from Gaza.

Katz told Israeli Army Radio that the U.N. resolution indicated to Hamas that international pressure was closing in on Israel and that it need only wait for the war to end through that pressure rather than agreeing to make any concessions.

The message delivered to Hamas yesterday  is that you dont have to hurry, Katz said. He also criticized the United States, Israels top ally, for not vetoing the resolution over its lack of a condemnation of Hamas and its Oct. 7 attack.

HAMAS REJECTS THE LATEST CEASE-FIRE PROPOSAL, SAYING ISRAEL IS IGNORING KEY DEMANDS

RAFAH, Gaza Strip  Hamas has rejected the latest cease-fire proposal, accusing Israel of ignoring its core demands, which include an end to the war and a full withdrawal from Gaza.

In a statement late Monday, the militant group said it had informed mediators that it was sticking to its original position, conveyed earlier in March. It said Israel had not responded to its core demands of a comprehensive cease-fire, an (Israeli) withdrawal from the Strip, the return of displaced people and a real prisoner exchange.

The statement came shortly after the United Nations Security Council approved a resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire and the release of all hostages held in Gaza.

Hamas is still believed to be holding some 100 hostages, as well as the remains of around 30 others. More than 100 hostages were freed during a weeklong cease-fire in November in exchange for the release of 240 Palestinian prisoners.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected Hamas demands, calling them delusional. He has vowed to resume Israels offensive after any hostage release and keep fighting until Hamas is destroyed.

By The Associated Press
Lebanese Sunni militant group head says coordination with Shiite Hezbollah is vital to fight Israel View Photo

BEIRUT (AP)  The head of a Lebanese Sunni political and militant group that has joined the Shiite militant group Hezbollah in its fight against Israel on Lebanons border said Tuesday that the conflict has helped strengthen cooperation between the two groups.

The Secretary-General of al-Jamaa al-Islamiya, or the Islamic Group, Sheikh Mohammed Takkoush said his faction decided to join the fighting along the Lebanon-Israel border because of Israels crushing offensive on the Gaza Strip and its strikes against Lebanese towns and villages killing civilians, including journalists, since the Israel-Hamas war started on Oct.7.

We decided to join (the battle) as a national, religious and moral duty. We did that to defend our land and villages, Takkoush told The Associated Press at his groups headquarters in Beirut. We also did so in support of our brothers in Gaza, where he said Israel was committing an open massacre.

Hamas led a surprise attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7 that killed around 1,200 people and took another 250 hostage. The ensuing Israeli bombardment and ground invasion of the Gaza Strip has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians there, according to local health officials. Since then, violence along the Lebanon-Israel border intensified, displacing tens of thousands of people on both sides

Takkoush said he believed Israel has ambitions to seize more territory not only in Palestine but in Lebanon too.

The Islamic Group is one of Lebanons main Sunni factions but has kept a low profile politically over the years. It has one member in Lebanons 128-seat legislature. Elections within the group in 2022 brought its leadership closer to Hamas.

Like Hamas, it is inspired by the ideology of the Pan-Arab Islamist political movement The Muslim Brotherhood, founded in Egypt in 1928 by a school teacher-turned-Islamic ideologue Hassan al-Banna.

It carries out attacks against Israel mainly from the southern city of Sidon where the group once enjoyed wide influence.

Takkoush said his group makes its own decisions in the field but coordinates closely with Hezbollah, and with the Lebanese branch of the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Part of (the attacks against Israeli forces) were in coordination with Hamas, which coordinates with Hezbollah, he said adding that direct cooperation with Hezbollah is on the rise and this is being reflected in the field. He did not elaborate further.

While the Lebanese border area is seen as a Hezbollah stronghold and its population is primarily Shiite, it also has Sunni villages, where the Islamic Group primarily operates.

The tensions between Islams two main sects  Sunni and Shiite  originated following the death of Prophet Muhammad in 632. It has reverberated across the wider Middle East till the present day thus making cooperation between Hezbollah and al-Jamaa al-Islamiya all the more rare.

The Islamic Groups armed wing, known as the Fajr Forces, has claimed responsibility for a series of attacks along the Lebanon-Israel border since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.

They have lost five fighters so far, Takkoush said, with three killed in an Israeli airstrike in a border area earlier this month.

The other two were killed in a Jan. 2, Israeli strike on an apartment in Beirut that targeted top Hamas official Saleh Arouri.

The groups use of weapons against Israel is not new. It founded its Fajr Forces in 1982 at the height of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon.

Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000 ending an 18-year occupation. But the Lebanese government says Israel still occupies the disputed Chebaa Farms and Kfar Chouba hills that Israel captured from Syria during the 1967 Mideast war.

In the current conflict, coordinating and cooperating with a movement like Hamas, the most honorable liberation movement, is an honor, Takkoush said.

Regarding his groups relations with Hezbollah, Takkoush said it had gone through ups and downs. They had differences regarding the conflicts in Syria and Yemen but put them aside to resist the Israeli occupation of parts of our Lebanese territories, he said.

Our relations with Hezbollah are good and growing and it is being strengthened as we go through war, Takkoush said.

Takkoush added that all the weapons they use, from bullets to rockets, are from their own arsenal. We did not get even a bullet from any side, he said.

As Hezbollah has solidified its position as the most powerful political and military entity in Lebanon, the countrys Sunni community has floundered in the absence of a strong leader.

Asked whether the Islamic Group is trying to fill the gap in Lebanons Sunni political leadership left behind by former Prime Minister Saad Hariri who quit politics two years ago, Takkoush said that Prime Minister Saad Hariri still has a base of support and popularity, but his group was not in the habit of filling anyones absence.

We introduce ourselves as partners in building generations and (state) institutions but we do not replace anyone, he said.

By BASSEM MROUE

Associated Press
UK court says Assange cant be extradited on espionage charges until US rules out death penalty

UK court says Assange cant be extradited on espionage charges until US rules out death penalty View Photo

LONDON (AP)  A British court ruled Tuesday that Julian Assange cant be extradited to the United States on espionage charges unless U.S. authorities guarantee he wont get the death penalty, giving the WikiLeaks founder a partial victory in his long legal battle over the sites publication of classified American documents.

Two High Court judges said they would grant Assange a new appeal unless U.S. authorities give further assurances within three weeks about what will happen to him. The ruling means the legal saga, which has dragged on for more than a decade, will continue  and Assange will remain inside Londons high-security Belmarsh Prison, where he has spent the last five years.

Judges Victoria Sharp and Jeremy Johnson said the U.S. must guarantee that Assange, who is Australian, is afforded the same First Amendment protections as a United States citizen, and that the death penalty is not imposed.

The judges said that if the U.S. files new assurances, we will give the parties an opportunity to make further submissions before we make a final decision on the application for leave to appeal. The judges said a hearing will be held May 20 if the U.S. makes those submissions.

The U.S. Justice Department declined to comment Tuesday.

Assanges supporters say he is a journalist protected by the First Amendment who exposed U.S. military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan that was in the public interest.

Assanges wife Stella Assange said the WikiLeaks founder is being persecuted because he exposed the true cost of war in human lives.

The Biden administration should not issue assurances. They should drop this shameful case, which should never have been brought, she said outside the High Court in London.

The ruling follows a two-day hearing in the High Court in February, where Assanges lawyer Edward Fitzgerald said American authorities were seeking to punish him for WikiLeaks exposure of criminality on the part of the U.S. government on an unprecedented scale, including torture and killings.

The U.S. government said Assanges actions went beyond journalism by soliciting, stealing and indiscriminately publishing classified government documents that endangered many people, including Iraqis and Afghans who had helped U.S. forces.

The judges rejected six of Assanges nine grounds of appeal, including the allegation that his prosecution is political. They said that while Assange acted out of political conviction  it does not follow however that the request for his extradition is made on account of his political views.

The judges also said Assange could not appeal based on allegations, made by his lawyers, that the CIA developed plans to kidnap or kill Assange during the years he spent holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, to prevent him from trying to flee.

The judges said plainly, these are allegations of the utmost seriousness, but concluded they had no bearing on the extradition request.

Extradition would result in him being lawfully in the custody of the United States authorities, and the reasons (if they can be called that) for rendition or kidnap or assassination then fall away, the ruling said.

They accepted three grounds or appeal: the threat to Assanges freedom of speech, Assanges claim that he faces disadvantage because he is not a U.S. citizen, and the risk he could receive the death penalty.

U.S. authorities have promised Assange would not receive capital punishment, but the judges said that nothing in the existing assurance explicitly prevents the imposition of the death penalty.

Jennifer Robinson, one of Assanges lawyers, said that even if we receive the assurances, were not confident we can rely on them.

Assange, 52, a computer expert, has been indicted in the U.S. on charges over Wikileaks publication in 2010 of hundreds of thousands of classified documents.

U.S. prosecutors say he conspired with U.S. army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to hack into a Pentagon computer and release secret diplomatic cables and military files on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Assange faces 17 counts under the Espionage Act and one charge of computer misuse. If convicted, his lawyers say he could receive a prison term of up to 175 years, though American authorities have said any sentence is likely to be much lower.

Assanges wife and supporters say his physical and mental health have suffered during more than a decade of legal battles and confinement.

My concerns about the precarious mental health of Julian Assange and his unfitness to be extradited, as well as the potential for him to receive a wholly disproportionate sentence in the United States, have not been assuaged by the court, said Alice Jill Edwards, the United Nations special rapporteur on torture, an independent expert for the world body.

Assanges legal troubles began in 2010, when he was arrested in London at the request of Sweden, which wanted to question him about allegations of rape and sexual assault made by two women. In 2012, Assange jumped bail and sought refuge inside the Ecuadorian Embassy.

The relationship between Assange and his hosts eventually soured, and he was evicted from the embassy in April 2019. British police immediately arrested and imprisoned him for breaching bail in 2012. Sweden dropped the sex crimes investigations in November 2019 because so much time had elapsed.

A U.K. district court judge rejected the U.S. extradition request in 2021 on the grounds that Assange was likely to kill himself if held under harsh U.S. prison conditions. Higher courts overturned that decision after getting assurances from the U.S. about his treatment. The British government signed an extradition order in June 2022.

___

Associated Press writers Brian Melley in London and Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.

By SYLVIA HUI and JILL LAWLESS

Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP)  The U.S. on Monday imposed sanctions on a collection of fintech firms and people, mostly in Russia, accused of enabling sanctions evasion.

Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned 13 firms  five of which are owned by an already sanctioned person  and 2 people who have all either helped build or operate blockchain-based services for, or enabled virtual currency payments in, the Russian financial sector, thus enabling potential sanctions evasion, according to U.S. Treasury.

Included in Mondays sanctions are a group of Moscow-based fintech companies and a Russia and UAE-based virtual currency exchange, among others.

Lawmakers and administration officials have voiced concerns that Russia may be using cryptocurrency to avoid pain from the avalanche of sanctions imposed on banks, oligarchs and the energy industry in response to Russias February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Experts say an increased reliance on cryptocurrency would be an inevitable avenue for Russia to try to prop up its financial transactions, but Treasury officials have rejected the claim that cryptocurrency could be a major driver of sanctions evasion.

Russia is increasingly turning to alternative payment mechanisms to circumvent U.S. sanctions and continue to fund its war against Ukraine, Treasury Under Secretary Brian E. Nelson.

As the Kremlin seeks to leverage entities in the financial technology space, Treasury will continue to expose and disrupt the companies that seek to help sanctioned Russian financial institutions reconnect to the global financial system.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Mondays action reaffirms the G7 commitment to curtail Russias use of the international financial system to further its war against Ukraine. It also reflects our continued efforts to target companies servicing Russias core financial infrastructure.

By FATIMA HUSSEIN

Associated Press
Russian massacre suspects homeland is plagued by poverty and religious strife View Photo

TALLINN, Estonia (AP)  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 Fayzov, 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 an 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 governments 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 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.

___

Bassem Mroue in Beirut, Lebanon, contributed to this report.

By JIM HEINTZ

Associated Press
Russian ambassador is a no-show after Poland summons him over a missile that entered its airspace

WARSAW, Poland (AP)  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 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.
The government has rejected requests from schools to allow both non-examination and examination classes to attend vacation school during the April holiday, saying pupils need a well-deserved break to rest and engage in independent learning.

It believes that a break from the academic routine will be beneficial to pupils physical and mental health, allowing them to recharge and be ready to resume classes on May 7, 2024.

In a statement yesterday, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, Mr Moses Mhike, said after extensive consultations, the Government had decided not to allow schools to hold vacation classes during the upcoming holiday.

The ministry notes with appreciation the requests that have been received from some of its sectors to allow for the uptake of the vacation school for examination classes of Grade 7, Ordinary and Advanced level during this April holiday.

Having consulted widely on the matter and taking cognisant of the fact that the school term had no disturbances at all to the teaching and learning programme, therefore, authority is not granted that schools facilitate a vacation school during the April school holidays for the Grade 7, Ordinary and Advanced level candidates, as well as for the non-examinations classes.

Pupils need this holiday break to rest and engage in independent learning where need be, including utilisation of the Zimbabwe Learning Passport amongst other alternative learning strategies, Mr Mhike said.

He said the educational term had progressed smoothly and that vacation classes would not be necessary.

The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education acknowledges the conduct of teaching and learning in all schools which went seamlessly during the first term of the year, fully embracing the 56 days set aside for that process.

The dedication, hard work, and unwavering commitment to educating and nurturing the young minds of our pupils have not gone unnoticed. The creativity and passion brought about by all our teachers in the classrooms that made learning engaging, interactive and inspiring for our pupils is commended and the ministry remains grateful.

Mr Mhike urged all Provincial Education Directors to strictly enforce this directive, ensuring that no vacation classes are held during the upcoming holiday.

The Government banned holiday lessons saying they were being abused by teachers who were no longer teaching during the course of the term.

The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has been taking various steps to enforce the ban on privately-paid extra lessons after it emerged that some teachers were not doing their work during normal learning hours to corruptly earn more income from desperate parents.

Under Government policy, teachers in the public system are forbidden from charging for extra lessons, although they may provide extra tuition for an entire class without extra pay.

A few days ago, the Zimbabwe Republic Police warned teachers against abusing pupils as well as demanding cash from parents for extra lessons, saying it is illegal.

This was said by Deputy Commissioner-General Stephen Mutamba during the 16th edition of the Commissioner General of Polices Schools Merit Awards in Harare.

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A police officer, identified as Prosper Chimbumu (33), appeared before Harare magistrate Donald Ndirowei on a theft charge after allegedly stealing US$25,000 from security guards who had recovered money dropped by fleeing armed robbers.

Chimbumu, who had been evading arrest, was apprehended after his accomplices, Since Asima (38), Perseverance Chisango (32), Weston Muzoriwa (37), and Fredrick Moyo (33), were granted bail of US$300 the previous week. The accused is a member of the Zimbabwe Republic Police and is stationed at Harare Central Police Station.

State prosecutor Anesu Chirenje informed the court that on February 25, two security officers had recovered US$53,000 that was dropped by armed robbers during a heist amounting to US$720,000 at Quest Finance Services. However, the two officers were subsequently arrested and pleaded guilty to the charges. Magistrate Ethel Chichera handed them a two-year prison sentence.

On March 6, 2024, the police received information alleging that the two officers from the reaction team had taken some of the cash dropped by the fleeing robbers for themselves. According to court documents, the police officers confronted one of the security officers, Cornelius Chimukange, at his residence and subjected him to severe assault. As a result, Chimukange confessed and surrendered US$15,000.

The court heard that the accused officers then went to the residence of the other security officer, Nesbert Kachungwe, where they interrogated his wife. She eventually handed over US$10,500. After establishing that US$10 500 was all that was left, the police officers released Kachungwe and his wife and they went away.

Subsequently, it is alleged that the accused officers shared the money among themselves. On March 12, detectives from CID Homicide Harare received a tip-off regarding the illicit collection of cash from the reaction officers. The total amount involved in the theft was US$25,500, and no funds were recovered.

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In February last year, a 45-year-old Indian businessman shot himself dead during a Facebook Live session after being harassed by money lenders.

In February 2022, Abu Mohsin Khan, the father-in-law of famous Bangladesh actor, Riaz Ahmed, shot himself dead during a Facebook Live session.

In September 2020, Iraq War veteran, Ronnie McNutt, 33, shot himself during a Facebook Live stream while his family and friends watched in horror.

Now, a Zimbabwean businessman, who was based in South Africa, joined this list on Sunday when he downed a drink, laced with poison, during a Facebook Live stream, as he commited suicide,

Sources said Kelvin Ngoshi had found out that his wife, identified as Kudzie, was having an illicit affair with one of his friends.

Sources said there was an altercation after Ngoshi confronted his wife with the allegations.

The case was reported to the police.

Ngoshi family spokesperson, Admit Ngoshi, told H-Metro that they are yet to get full information.

Yes, my brother committed suicide, said Admit.

We are yet to get full information surrounding the suicide.

Some of our team left the country to Johannesburg to find out the truth as well as collect the body.

If everything goes according to plan, Kelvins body will be brought to Zimbabwe and be buried at Nyakudya Village, under chief Chinamhora, in Domboshava.

Ngoshi had been running a transport business in South Africa.

He was based in Mpumalanga.

His friends watched helplessly as they saw Ngosi down the poison. HMetro.

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Serial human trafficker sentenced to 90 years in prison for deceiving job seekers

Caroline Ziyanga, a notorious human trafficker, has been handed a 90-year prison sentence after being found guilty on nine counts of trafficking. In a trial presided over by Harare magistrate Stanford Mambanje, Ziyanga received a ten-year sentence for each count.

Originally facing eleven counts, two were withdrawn prior to the plea. Magistrate Mambanje ruled that counts three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, and eleven would run concurrently, resulting in an effective sentence of 30 years.

The prosecution, led by Oscar Madhume, successfully demonstrated that Ziyanga and an accomplice named Hamidah orchestrated a scheme to traffic women to Oman under false pretenses. Ziyanga advertised lucrative job opportunities in Dubai, promising a monthly salary of US$800, which she disseminated through friends, relatives, associates, and neighbors.

Victims, desperate for employment, were referred to Ziyanga, believing she could assist them. However, upon acceptance of the offer, Ziyanga and Hamidah arranged visas and air tickets for Oman instead of Dubai.

Upon arrival in Oman, the victims quickly realized they had been deceived when their passports were confiscated. Instead of the promised jobs as nurse aides, they were forced into domestic servitude as housemaids and subjected to inhumane treatment.

Ziyangas conviction and lengthy sentence serve as a stern warning to other human traffickers, highlighting the serious consequences of exploiting vulnerable individuals seeking employment opportunities. The case also underscores the need for increased awareness, vigilance, and concerted efforts to combat human trafficking.

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Sonja Madzikandas potential settlement in high-profile divorce with businessman Sir Wicknell Chivayo

In a high-profile split, businessman Sir Wicknell Chivayo and his wife Sonja Madzikanda are heading towards a divorce after their seven-year union. The question on everyones mind is how much Sonja will receive from the dissolution of their marriage.

The couple tied the knot in 2017, and it was reported that a bride price of US$50,000 was paid. However, Sonja recently took to Instagram to announce the collapse of their marriage, sharing that they have been separated for a while. While the official separation is expected to be confirmed on May 1st, there are still several matters they need to iron out through ongoing discussions.

Regarding potential claims in the divorce, a lawyer (who preferred to remain anonymous) stated that the amendments made to the New Marriages Act would not apply retroactively to their marriage. Generally, marriages in Zimbabwe operate under the out of community of property principle. However, Sonja may still be able to make a substantial claim based on assets acquired during their marriage.

If assets, such as high-end cars, are registered under a companys name and Sonja holds shares in that company, she could potentially make a claim on those assets. Even if the assets are registered solely in Sir Wicknells name, Sonja may still have a basis for claiming a share if she can prove her contribution to their acquisition. In the case of multiple properties, there is a possibility that she could retain the matrimonial home while Sir Wicknell keeps the rest of the properties.

It is worth noting that even if the marriage was not formally registered, Sonja could still pursue a claim. The legal landscape surrounding divorce settlements can vary widely depending on the jurisdiction and specific circumstances of each case.

Looking at notable divorce cases from around the world, it becomes apparent that high-profile separations often involve significant financial settlements. In South Africa, an estranged wife sought interim spousal maintenance of R95,000 per month, as well as R6 million towards her legal costs. The couples luxurious home boasted extravagant features, including a diamond bathtub imported from the United Arab Emirates, valued at US$19,797, and a crystal chandelier worth US$54,772.60. Additionally, they owned several luxury flats in Clifton, Cape Town, and New York, with one valued at R80 million and another at R27 million.

Similarly, in Australia, a wife claimed US$278,000 in monthly support for herself and her son, along with US$24 million worth of properties, including a Swiss villa worth US$3.3 million. She argued that she needed at least US$1.2 million annually to cover the expenses of employing four full-time caregivers for her son.

While these examples illustrate substantial divorce settlements, it is important to remember that each case is unique, influenced by various factors such as jurisdiction, assets, and contributions made during the marriage.

As the divorce proceedings between Sir Wicknell Chivayo and Sonja Madzikanda unfold, the final settlement will ultimately be determined through negotiations or, if necessary, legal proceedings. The outcome and the exact amount Sonja will receive remain uncertain, but given the circumstances and potential claims, it is expected to be a significant sum.

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Beitbridge man sentenced to 20 years for rape of woman on funeral journey

A 33-year-old man from Beitbridge has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the rape of a 38-year-old woman who was en route to a funeral. The National Prosecuting Authority of Zimbabwe (NPAZ) released a statement detailing the incident, which occurred on March 9, 2024.

According to the NPAZ, the accused emerged from the bush armed with a sjambok and attacked three women who were making their way to a funeral in Chief Staudzes area, Beitbridge, at approximately 8:30 pm.

The three women escaped in different directions, but the accused followed the complainant caught up with her snatched her cell phone, and demanded xul intercourse with her at knifepoint.

He fled from the scene after raping the complainant once when he threatened to kill her if she made noise.

When the complainants companions found her, she narrated her ordeal and they went to the funeral where the elders assisted in reporting the incident to the police who along with the locals conducted a search party. The accused person was arrested after they tracked his shoe tracks leading to his residence. The stolen cellphone, okapi knife, and shoes he was wearing when he committed the crime were recovered, reads the statement.

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Yves here. Note the UN body that is set to release this report is not the International Court of Justice, which is not expected to rule on South Africas genocide filing any time soon, but the UN Human Rights Council. However, this report will serve as important evidence in that case. And in combination with the long-overdue UN resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire, this should increase Israels isolation. Israel is relying on the notion that it can ride out the slaughter because it has US backing. But as we have described, the conflict is already imposing large costs on Israels economy. These developments if nothing else will put more pressure on companies and countries not to do business with Israel.

Sadly, the Israel leadership and most of its population is high on blood lust and overweening sense of entitlement. And theres no ready way to get them to sober up. The only wild card I can see somewhat slowing the murderous conduct is Biden dying in office. Harris would correctly be seen as weak and not able to protect Israels back as well as Biden.

By Brett Wilkins, staff writer at Common Dreams. Originally published at Common Dreams

The United Nations Human Rights Council on Monday published a draft report that found reasonable grounds to believe that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, a move that came on the same day as the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in the ongoing war.

The advance unedited version of the reportentitled Anatomy of a Genocideconcludes that Israels far-right government and military have intentionally distorted jus in bello principles, subverting their protective functions, in an attempt to legitimize genocidal violence against the Palestinian people.

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, the draft report states, enumerating Israeli actions that violate Article II of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide: Killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to group members; and deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.

Israel has de facto treated an entire protected group and its life-sustaining infrastructure as terrorist or terrorist-supporting, thus transforming everything and everyone into either a target or collateral damage, hence killable or destroyable, the paper continues. In this way, no Palestinian in Gaza is safe by definition. This has had devastating, intentional effects, costing the lives of tens of thousands of Palestinians, destroying the fabric of life in Gaza, and causing irreparable harm to its entire population.

As the UNSC finally passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire in #Gaza, the UN special rapporteur @FranceskAlbss sobering new report lands: There are reasonable grounds to believe that the threshold indicating Israels commission of #genocide is met. pic.twitter.com/eX6sHq1990  Rohan Talbot (@rohantalbot) March 25, 2024



Israel rejected the report as an obscene inversion of reality.

According to Palestinian and international humanitarian officials, Israels 171-day Gaza onslaught has killed at least 32,333 Palestinians, most of them women and children, while wounding nearly 75,000 others and displacing around 90% of Gazas 2.3 million people. Thousands more Palestinians are missing and believed to be dead and buried beneath the rubble of bombed buildings. Disease and deadly starvation caused and exacerbated by Israels siege and blockade of Gaza are spreading rapidly.

Israels genocide on the Palestinians in Gaza is an escalatory stage of a long-standing settler-colonial process of erasure, the draft report asserts. For over seven decades this process has suffocated the Palestinian people as a groupdemographically, culturally, economically, and politicallyseeking to displace it and expropriate and control its land and resources.

Referring to the flight and ethnic cleansing of more than 750,000 Arabs from Palestine during the foundation of the modern state of Israel in 1948, the paper contends that the ongoing Nakba must be stopped and remedied once and for all. This is an imperative owed to the victims of this highly preventable tragedy, and to future generations in that land.

The draft report urges U.N. member states to enforce the prohibition of genocide in accordance with their obligations under international law. In January, the U.N.s International Court of Justice (ICJ) found that Israel was plausibly perpetrating genocide in Gaza and ordered the countrys government to take all measures within its power to prevent genocidal acts. Human rights defenders say Israel has ignored the order.

Israel and those states that have been complicit in what can be reasonably concluded to constitute genocide must be held accountable and deliver reparations commensurate with the destruction, death, and harm inflicted on the Palestinian people, the publication argues.

The draft report recommends measures including:

Immediate implementation of an arms embargo on Israel, as it appears to have failed to comply with the binding measures ordered by the ICJ;

Immediate referral of the situation in Palestine to the International Criminal Court in support of its ongoing investigation;

Ensuring that Israel, as well as states who have been complicit in the Gaza genocide, acknowledge the colossal harm done, commit to nonrepetition, with measures for prevention and full reparations, including the full cost of the reconstruction of Gaza;

Deploying an international protective presence to constrain the violence routinely used against Palestinians in the occupied territories; and

Ensuring that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is properly funded to enable it to meet the increased needs of Palestinians in Gaza.

Israel on Monday informed the U.N. that it will no longer allow UNRWA convoys carrying food aid into northern Gaza, even as the Palestinians are starving to death, a move that one humanitarian campaigner called a death sentence.
Yves here. A friend who did not believe in doctors and seemed remarkably robust for someone in their later 60s developed severe intestinal upset. To make a long and sad story short, about five weeks later after a colon operation, and starting chemo, shes dead. I know many of you have sad stories about friends and relatives dying, but its still a shock, particularly when it seemed like they would make it.

Heres How Wild Animals Died in New York City Last Year THE CITY :-(

Superspreaders: Humans pass twice as many viruses to animals as we catch from them ZMEScience

Is python meat sustainable alternative to industrial meat from farm animals? ZMEScience (Dr. Kevin). Eel is delish. I am told armadillo (favorite New Orleans area roadkill) and alligator are also delish. By contrast, venison save the tenderloin is pretty gamey and needs to be prepared properly (as in matching cut to cooking method and seasoning) to be tasty.

The Evolution of Animation, 18332017 Open Culture (Micael T)

Words, words, words New Criterions. Anthony L: Will we lose Shakespeare?

Perplexing Paradoxes Review: Straining Credulity Wall Street Journal (Anthony L)

Abortion pill Supreme Court ruling could impact entire drug industry STAT (Dr. Kevin)

Falling Down Bridge :-(

#COVID-19

Climate/Environment

China?

Haiti

European Disunion

Old Blighty

Smart meter customers face time-of-day charging plan Telegraph (Kevin W) 3 weeks ago it was @georgegalloway undermining UK democracy, now its China. We wonder who will be named next? If he were honest he would say that the Uniparty and the corporations they serve are the real threat to democracy in this country. The people want peace, good jobs https://t.co/lOtc5gkRZq  Workers Party of Britain (@WorkersPartyGB) March 26, 2024

Gaza

New Not-So-Cold War

Syraqistan

Imperial Collapse Watch

Trump

From Riot to Insurrection to Terrorism: January 6th Continues to be a Tragedy in the Eye of the Beholder Jonathan Turley

Musk reveals major political flip RT

Democrats en deshabille

Our No Longer Free Press

Falling Apart Boeing Airplanes

The Bezzle

How an anonymous letter caused chaos at McKinsey The Times (Dr. Kevin)

Guillotine Watch

Class Warfare

Antidote du jour (via):

And a bonus:

A second bonus:

See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here.
Street View is a monthly column taking a close look at development-related issues affecting different neighborhoods throughout the city.

In late 2022, real estate agent Brittania Nosworthy sold a house in Madison for $343,000 to Daniel Hernandez, an investor from Illinois. Hernandez had bought the property to rent on Airbnb and applied for a short-term rental permit in December 2022.

But there was one problem: The house wasnt zoned for non-owner-occupied short-term rentals. So in 2023, after Hernandez had allegedly spent $69,000 on furniture and $35,000 on improvements for the property, his permit was denied. He sold the property in March 2023 for $360,000. In February of this year, he filed a civil lawsuit against Nosworthy and her previous employer, Parks Village Nashville LLC. Hernandezs suit alleges that Nosworthy should have realized  and disclosed  that the homes zoning didnt allow Airbnb.

Hernandezs case is an example of what Nashvilles short-term rental code is now designed to block: an out-of-state investor operating a short-term rental in a residential area. His house had come up against a piece of legislation that has changed the makeup of Nashville neighborhoods and their relationship to short-term rentals like Airbnb and VRBO.

In 2018, the Metro Council voted to phase out non-owner-occupied short-term rentals in residential neighborhoods. As of Jan. 1, 2022, no new non-owner-occupied permits were issued in residentially zoned areas. But as reporter Hannah Herner wrote for our sister publication the Nashville Post in October 2023, this doesnt mean the number of short-term rentals has decreased as quickly as some residents would like. Metro law stipulates that once a short-term rental property in a residential zone changes hands, the permit cant be renewed; however, many owners can still hold onto properties for a long time.

Nosworthy tells the Scene she wasnt aware of the zoning changes impacting Hernandezs property; the listing happened a few months after Metros legislation took effect, and the local homeowners association had approved the property for Airbnb. When she found out Hernandez was suing her, she reached out to her broker. [The broker] said, Wow, youre the third one in the office, says Nosworthy. I guess a lot of agents werent aware of the transition.

Nosworthy says shes seen fewer investors looking for short-term rental properties since the restrictions took effect; some clients have shifted to long-term rentals instead.

+2 Street View: Airbnbs Bring Safety Concerns and Raise Housing Costs The majority of short-term rental properties are owned by investors who do little to enforce codes and standards

Nashvilles short-term rental market has grown explosively over the past decade. In 2015, Councilmember At-Large Burkley Allen (then a district councilmember) told WPLN that Nashville had 1,500 Airbnbs. In November 2022, the Scene reported that the city had 7,733. As of this writing, data-aggregating site insideairbnb.com estimates that Nashville has 8,850; 86.7 percent of Nashvilles current Airbnb stock (7,673 listings) are short-term rentals with a minimum required stay of less than 30 days, and 3,702 are held by hosts who own more than 10 properties. Some investors, like Goodnight and Host Extraordinaires, own hundreds of Nashville Airbnbs. While Metros legislation has slowed the growth of short-term rentals in some residential neighborhoods, their numbers are increasing overall.

Residential neighborhoods have also raised complaints about short-term rentals. A Street View story from 2022 chronicled the woes of residents witnessing shootings, late-night parties, safety concerns and noise. One group told the Scene that a party house in their residentially zoned neighborhood was secretly run by an out-of-state investor. These complaints have been happening for years; Metro Codes still hears complaints about noise and illegally operated rentals, though the latter can be difficult to prosecute.

Short-term rental restrictions, combined with distance to Lower Broadway and other local attractions, have meant that short-term rentals are largely clustered in particular areas  mostly in and around Nashvilles downtown core. At the time of writing, more than half of Nashvilles Airbnbs are in just four of the citys 35 council districts.

But in District 9, where Hernandez attempted to obtain a permit for an Airbnb, there are only 44 listings  0.5 percent of Nashvilles overall stock. By comparison, District 19 (in Nashvilles downtown core) currently has 2,068 listings. Districts 17 and 21 both have around 1,000 each; East Nashvilles District 5, where the Scene previously reported on short-term rental safety concerns, has 879.

So has Metros legislation changed where short-term rentals are in the city? Its a difficult question to answer in detail. It has certainly blocked some investors from purchasing properties in residential areas. Amid fierce debate over zoning and density and Nashvilles pressing shortage of affordable housing, these restrictions feel important. But with more than 1,000 new Airbnb listings in the past year-and-a-half, the zoning rules havent necessarily slowed short-term rental growth everywhere.

Nosworthy says shes staying away from selling short-term rental investment properties for the foreseeable future. But she also wants to be transparent, and says she agreed to an interview for this story so other people can learn from her mistakes. The more that people know the better, she says. Im not about hiding anything. So if I do something and its caused some sort of action, Im all about educating people.

Representatives for Daniel Hernandez declined to comment on the case.
Scene staff writer Eli Motycka was arrested by Vanderbilt University police while reporting on student protests regarding campus speech and Israel's military invasion of Gaza.

Motycka had previously reported on Vanderbilt students' frustrations with the university administration, which, according to emails shared with the Scene, appeared to obstruct the efforts of students who wanted to voice support for Palestine. This included the administration telling students they would not permit a Vanderbilt Student Government vote on a resolution supporting the divestment from and boycott of Israel. The setbacks culminated in an ongoing sit-in at campus.

Scene photographer Matt Masters captured the arrest on video, which you can view below.

Update, 3:57 p.m.: Davidson County District Attorney Glenn Funk told reporters through a spokesperson Tuesday afternoon, "This office will not prosecute a reporter for peacefully doing his or her job."

Update, 4:45 p.m.: Motycka was released from custody and returned to Vanderbilts campus by the arresting officer at 4 p.m. Tuesday. He was not charged with a crime. Public Defender Martesha Johnson Moore tells Motycka that Judicial Magistrate Timothy Lee did not find probable cause to hear Vanderbilts charges against Motycka.
REPORT: 63% of all abortions in 2023 were carried out using pills

A new report from abortion research NGO, the Guttmacher Institute reveals that abortion administered by medication made up 63 percent of all abortions in 2023

This development comes following a dramatic decline in access to surgical abortion following the Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision in 2022 which repealed federal protections for abortion.

In 2000, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of the medications mifepristone and misoprostol to bring about medication abortion after 10 weeks of gestation. Mifepristone, a drug that blocks the progesterone hormone, also primes the uterus to respond to the contraction-causing effect of misoprostol. Since then, the use of the two-drug regimen for medication abortion has been increasing steadily.

Moreover, the decision of the Supreme Court to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling in 2022 resulted in limited access to surgical abortion procedures. The ruling has shuttered abortion clinics and effectively curtailed surgical abortion access in more than a dozen states. This has, in turn, led to a stark decline in surgical abortions and made the public heavily rely on medication abortions. (Related: Abortions in the U.S. HAVE INCREASED since the overturning of Roe v. Wade.)

According to the Guttmacher Institute, approximately 642,700 medication abortions took place in the first full calendar year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The survey noted that the increase in total abortions was primarily concentrated in states where abortion remains legal.

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The report also noted that there was a sharp increase in abortions in states adjacent to jurisdictions that have enacted full or near-total abortion bans, indicating that many women in these pro-life states are crossing state lines to have abortions.

The reliance on medication abortion has seen a notable increase of 10 percent since 2020. Overall, the increase accounts for 63 percent of the total number of abortions in the formal healthcare system, excluding terminations procured through pills mailed into the United States from abroad.

Rachel Jones, the principal research scientist at the Guttmacher Institute, said that the increase in medication abortions is not a surprise.

"As abortion restrictions proliferate post-Dobbs, medication abortion may be the most viable option  or the only option  for some people, even if they would have preferred in-person procedural care," she said. "For example, it is now possible in some states, at least for health care providers, to mail mifepristone to people in their homes, so that saves patients travel costs and taking time off work."

Federal Appeals Court ruling restricts delivery and distribution of abortion drug

Access to medication abortion is also hanging on by a thread, with the Supreme Court set to hear oral arguments on March 26 on whether to preserve or end broad access provided for the two-drug regimen to induce abortions.

This comes after a panel of three judges on the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans reinstated restrictions on the delivery and distribution of mifepristone back in August.

"In loosening mifepristones safety restrictions, the FDA failed to address several important concerns about whether the drug would be safe for the women who use it," Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod, along with Judge Cory Wilson, wrote for the panel.

Meanwhile, Judge James Ho dissented, with Ho advocating for a complete revocation of the drug's approval, arguing that pregnancy is not an illness and therefore not subject to FDA approval under certain laws.

The ruling overturns parts of a lower court decision that would have rescinded the FDA's approval of mifepristone but still upholds limitations that would curtail its availability via mail order, restrict its usage to the first seven weeks of pregnancy instead of the previous ten and mandate its administration in the presence of a physician.

Check out Abortions.news for more stories related to the fight over abortion access.

Watch the full episode of the "Health Ranger Report" with Mike Adams and Susan Swift as they discuss the dismantling of the abortion cartels.

This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Alabama passes bill that protects IVF service providers from lawsuits following granting of legal personhood to embryos in the state.

POLITICIZED: Studies find abortion pill mifepristone dangerous, but medical journal retracts data ahead of Supreme Court hearing.

D.C. medical examiner will keep the remains of aborted babies recovered from abortion clinic, leaving open possibility of investigation and charges.

Ohio enshrines abortion into its constitution despite fervent opposition from pro-life advocates and religious leaders.

NO TO "ABORTION TRAFFICKING:" Lubbock County Commissioners Court approves anti-abortion transport ban.

Sources include:

Reuters.com 1

Reuters.com 2

APNews.com 1

APNews.com 2

Brighteon.com
Multinationals ready to embrace new opportunities in Chinese market

08:30, March 26, 2024 By Wang Siyuan ( Xinhua

* "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)

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.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
CIA deployed bomb techs, dog teams to D.C. on January 6, records unearthed by Judicial Watch show

In a bombshell announcement , Judicial Watch says it received 88 pages of Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive (ATF) records from the Department of Justice (DOJ) via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request showing that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was directly involved in the so-called "insurrection" at the United States Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (That sure is a mouthful of three- and four-letter federal agencies, eh?).

A Judicial Watch lawsuit filed after the DOJ failed to respond to an Aug. 10, 2023, FOIA request for records and other communications documenting shots being fired inside the U.S. Capitol building forced the release of these 88 pages, which cover records through June 5, 2023.

The DOJ also failed to respond to Judicial Watch requests for ATF Special Response Team assistance on Jan. 6, 2021, as shown in the case of Judicial Watch Inc. v U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:23-cv-01608).

In the newly obtained ATF records, a series of text messages under the heading of "January 7 Intel Chain" contains two separate references to CIA participation in the "riot." One of them refers to "two CIA bomb techs" who were said to be assisting with "a pipe bomb scene on New Jersey and D ST SE." The other references "several CIA dog teams on standby."

The group texts also reveal messages exchanged between names that are redacted at the 4 p.m. hour on January 6 about two explosive devices that were found at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) building, as well as one at the Republican National Committee (RNC) building that resulted in train traffic being "stopped."

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"It appears the powerplant is unfounded," one of the messages reads.

"Upper west Terrace of the capital [sic] breached by protesters," says another.

"USCP is sending out a Mutual Aid request," reads another.

"Capitol Police may be moving resources inside," another says.

"Protesters are cutting tarp at bottom of scaffolding and moving up through that," says another  and on and on they go.

Ashli Babbitt's shooting is also mentioned in the texts, referring to the incident as "1 civilian down with a gun shot [sic] wound to the chest on the 2nd floor. Gunshot victim has been extracted. Shooting was officer involved."

(Related: According to whistleblowers, the CIA was also involved in recruiting the patsy hijackers that were used to conduct the 9/11 false flag operation at the World Trade Center in New York City in 2001.)

CIA texts show Ashli Babbitt was shot by police

Text messages from the 2 p.m. hour include references to the breaching of the West Terrace, an explosion on the rotunda steps, and shots fired at the rotunda. One party said to another that "VP stuck inside last I heard," with another responding, "copy."

"Capitol PD shot someone dead on the house floor. Dead," another text reads, with another responding by taking the name of Jesus Christ in vain.

"Clearing Capitol now with bomb techs," reads another. "Lots of damage."

We know from the texts that various members of Congress were, in fact, evacuated to Fort McNair, located about two miles south of the Capitol "so they can continue their work," one reads.

In a series of particularly heavily redacted texts, there is discussion about the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) involvement as well as a discussion of devices located "at the gates to the Power Plant," and "LEO's [law enforcement officers] being attacked on the west side of Capitol with pieces of the restraining fence. Some officers injured."

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton issued a statement explaining that what these and the rest of the records show is "that CIA resources were deployed in reaction to the January 6 disturbance."

More related news about CIA corruption can be found at BigGovernment.news.

Sources for this article include:

JudicialWatch.org

NaturalNews.com
Report finds Denver taxpayers are footing skyrocketing costs to feed illegal immigrants

The way the migrant crisis is affecting Denver is getting even more bleak, as a new report has found that how much the city's taxpayers are spending to feed illegal immigrants is skyrocketing

The Denver City Council recently agreed to amend the city's contract with Colorado Hospitality Services Inc. (CHS) for the provision of meals for "guests" in migrant shelters across the city. The amended contract provides CHS with an additional $450,000 for a new total of $925,000 "for the purchase of meals."

The newly amended contract between the city and CHS will only be valid until March 31, Which means Denver taxpayers may have to spend nearly $1 million more to provide migrants with meals until 2025. (Related: As city reaches "breaking point," officials in sanctuary city Denver begin EVICTING illegals from overcrowded shelters.)

"Due to continued high shelter occupancy and feeding of migrants/newcomers, DHS [Denver Human Services] is nearly out of capacity on this PO [purchase order] and is seeking to increase it again."

Originally, CHS and DHS requested an additional $100,000 on Dec. 1, 2023, for a grand total of $475,000 in spending. On January, CHS and DHS asked the City Council to double its budget for a total of $950,000. This was slightly reduced to the current total of $925,000.

The CHS provided a breakdown of the daily cost for meals it provides. The costs are the same for weekdays, weekends and holidays:

Breakfast: $6.95

Lunch: $9.95

Dinner: $9.95

Kids meals: $3

Snacks: $3

Denver cutting spending on vital city services to provide for migrants

Denver currently has a "Newcomer and Migrant Support" program that allows individuals to donate essentials for migrants such as clothes, to provide cash contributions for the care of migrants and to volunteer at migrant shelters. The funds and goods provided go directly to the city's nonprofit partners who are handling the influx of illegals.

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This is in addition to the taxpayer-funded shelters provided. Migrant families with children can stay for up to six weeks, while those without children will be provided two weeks of shelter before they are discharged.

The city government stated that, while it remains a welcoming city, newcomers will need to arrive with a long-term plan due to Denver's limited resources. The municipal government stressed that it is unable to provide shelter for indefinite periods of time.

Since the beginning of the migrant crisis, the city of 715,000 residents has provided services to nearly 40,000 illegal immigrants. This has cost the city over $42 million, according to data from the mayor's office.

All of these services being provided to migrants are coming at the cost of vital city services. Democrat Mayor Mike Johnston recently announced that he was cutting $5 million from the funding of Denver Motor Vehicle offices and the Denver Parks and Recreation.

Denver continues to receive an influx of migrants and the cost is continuing to grow. The aid the city has received from the state and the federal government has done very little to alleviate the crisis.

Denver recently received a $3.5 million reimbursement from the state of Colorado and a $1.6 million advance from the Department of Homeland Security. The city is waiting for an additional $12.2 million in potential federal reimbursements that are currently pending.

The city currently faces a nearly $60 million budget deficit, and Johnston has said that for the city to maintain current services that are provided for migrants, taxpayers would have to pay over $100 million over the next year.

Denver currently faces a nearly $60 million budget deficit, and Johnston has said for the city to maintain current services that are provided for migrants, it would cost taxpayers well over $100 million over the next year.

Watch this Fox Business report on the border crisis showing how Denver is "close to the breaking point."

This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

TRAITORS: Democrats in Denver suggest hiring illegals for government jobs amid financial strains and layoffs in the city.

Large cities like Los Angeles and New York SUFFER as homelessness and illegal immigration crises collide.

Sanctuary city mayors admit being at the breaking point with migrant crisis, but they blame Texas Gov. Abbott instead of Biden's open borders.

Liberal mayors beg for help as migrant crisis spirals out of control, even in "sanctuary" cities.

Denver officials beg Texas border towns to divert illegal aliens away from their self-proclaimed sanctuary city.

Sources include:

JustTheNews.com

TheCenterSquare.com

Denver.Legistar.com

Brighteon.com
Georgian lawmaker urges UN not to confuse the rights of minorities with the harmful consequences of LGBT propaganda

The government of the Caucasus nation of Georgia recently introduced an anti-LGBT propaganda bill

Parliament Majority Leader Mamuka Mdinaradze of the governing Georgian Dream Party said this decision comes as the government accuses LGBT advocacy groups, including Tbilisi Pride and the United Nations, of working behind the scenes to destabilize the country with LGBT propaganda.

"Pride organized the training with the financing from the [United Nations Development Program]. The officials from Pride claimed that it was a workshop to counter Russian disinformation, while the UNDP has said that it had funded workshops about minority rights," the lawmaker said. "In fact, the topic of the conversation was the defense of pseudo-liberal propaganda."

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, who just assumed power last month following his predecessor's resignation, supported his party's decision to introduce the legislation, claiming that it is a fight not just against LGBT propaganda but also against "pseudo-liberal ideology."

Mdinaradze, echoing the sentiment of his party members, urged the UN and "other sponsors" of LGBT propaganda not to "confuse the rights of minorities with the harmful consequences of LGBT propaganda." (Related: WOKE TYRANNY: Aspiring foster parents could be prohibited from adopting children if they don't push gender ideology at home.)

He made this statement to emphasize his party's "principle position" of "protecting future generations from harmful effects" that come from LGBT propaganda while at the same time protecting the rights of LGBT individuals to live freely within Georgia.

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Mdinaradze also cited increasing challenges brought about by the rise of LGBT propaganda, such as efforts to erode the nuclear family structure and to legalize same-sex marriage, which was specifically prohibited by Georgian Dream when they amended the constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman for the purpose of starting a family.

"It is our duty to the Georgian society and its future to counter the targeted propaganda of the non-traditional way of life," he said.

Georgian Dream accused of trying to court voters ahead of elections

Analysts are suggesting that the party is positioning itself as the party for tradition and social conservatism to attract more voters ahead of the upcoming parliamentary election at the end of October.

Furthermore, Gigi Kobakhidze, writing for Civil Georgia, noted that introducing this bill early gives Georgian Dream time to roll it back or modify it if it fails to impress voters. The ruling party remains mum about the scope and exact content of the proposed legislation, but its rhetoric bears uncanny similarity with Russian and Hungarian legislation adopted earlier.

Georgian Dream officials believe the proposed ban will receive broad support because it reflects the sentiments of the majority of the mostly conservative population.

"We are a conservative society with centuries-old culture and values," said Georgian Dream Chairman and former Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, adding that Georgian children and the country's traditional way of life must be protected from "brazen propaganda."

Visit GenderConfused.com for more stories about the spread of LGBT propaganda worldwide.

Watch this video discussing Russia's decision to ban LGBT propaganda in the country.

This video is from the Russia Truth channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Bearded Spanish Army corporal "equipped with male organs" legally changes gender identity to unlock better military pay package, private rooms.

April Fool's? Calling a male person a "man" ILLEGAL in Scotland starting April 1.

Russian federal agents shut down "My Little Pony" convention on grounds it is "LGBTQ propaganda:" Report.

EU trying to force all member states, including resisters Hungary and Poland, to accept same-sex "marriage."

Polish socialist deputy justice minister announces amendments to penal code targeting so-called "hate speech."

Sources include:

RT.com

Civil.ge

Agenda.ge

Info.Imedi.ge

Brighteon.com
Canadian cops to car owners: Leave your keys at the front door so thieves will not have to break into your house

Canadian policemen are advising people to leave their keys in areas that are more accessible to criminals so they won't not have to break into their houses to steal them  a confrontation-less way to have cars stolen.

"To prevent the possibility of being attacked in your home, leave your fobs at your front door..." Toronto Police recommended amid rampant car theft in Canada. According to reports, a car is stolen every six minutes in the country.

At an Etobicoke community safety meeting last month, Toronto Police Service Constable Marco Ricciardi told attendees "To prevent the possibility of being attacked in your home, leave your fobs at your front door, because they're breaking into your home to steal your car. They don't want anything else." (Related: Criminals increasingly targeting KEYLESS VEHICLES in "carhacking" surge.)

Canadian police are literally telling people to leave their keys in more accessible areas so criminals can steal their cars easier https://t.co/oP00gsAHyr  Ari Hoffman (@thehoffather) March 14, 2024

People are aware of the rampant crimes. In fact, a New York Times report indicated that Dennis Wilson, owner of a Honda CR-V, installed two alarm systems, a tracking device, four AirTags and kept the key fob in a signal-jamming Faraday bag to deter thieves. The owner's home also has two motion-sensor floodlights pointed at his driveway which features a parking bollard. When the car is parked, he puts boot-style locks on all four wheels and a steering wheel club, even in the driveway, to keep it from being stolen. But car theft in Toronto have gotten so bad, they are to the point that car owners have even left notes on their vehicles' windows that doors were unlocked, hoping that the windows wouldn't be smashed in.

With all of these security gadgets, Wilson is convinced they will do no more than delay what seems inevitable as "professional" carnappers won't really be deterred by the defensive gear, and they'll make off with this Honda SUV just as they did with its predecessor, and its insurance replacement, which they returned to steal. "By no means do I think that I've stopped them," Wilson said. "All I've done is make it take an extra 10 minutes to steal my car."

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According to a local feature on blogTo, Toronto police had previously launched a campaign that told criminals how long they would have to finish a crime (an average of 22 minutes) before police would respond. The move was reportedly an attempt to prevent budget cuts.

Also, a report of the Canadian Finance and Leasing Association (CFLA) revealed in a new report that car theft has reached a critical point, costing the country a whopping $1 billion annually. It found a 300 percent surge in vehicle theft since 2015 in Toronto alone and last year marked the "most notorious" year for it. "It's become common, and we had to develop recommendations to address it," said Michael Rothe, president and CEO of the CFLA, in a statement. "Almost everyone I speak to has a story about vehicle theft and our latest report proves it."

Police backtracks "leave your fobs" advice

Following a massive social media backlash, Toronto police are taking back the statement they released on how to prevent auto theft.

Users on social media were quick to point out the "'irresponsible advice.' "Toronto Police have advised residents worried about the city's spiraling auto theft problem, just let thieves steal your car by leaving them the keys." The website thedrive.com, billed as "the chronicle of car culture," made a similar point.

"An officer at a recent community meeting suggested that people leave the keys to their vehicle in a Faraday bag by the front door," a post in X, former Twitter, said, without naming the officer in question. "While well-meaning, there are better ways to prevent auto theft-motivated home invasions."

An officer at a recent community meeting suggested that people leave the keys to their vehicle in a faraday bag by the front door. While well meaning, there are better ways to prevent auto theft motivated home invasions. Learn more here: https://t.co/z8JSOcIaCe pic.twitter.com/dLH92dirzd  Toronto Police (@TorontoPolice) March 14, 2024

The suggestions include parking in a garage if possible, keeping the driveway well-lit, and installing security measures in and around your home such as cameras, motion detectors, security film on glass windows, and multipoint door locks. The police also warned against posting on social media when you will be away on holiday. In the Etobicoke meeting, Ricciardi noted that keeping your routine unpredictable can help. "If I watch you for three or four days am I going to pick up your habits?" he asked. "And if that is, try to vary them a little bit."

Sources for this article include:

ThePostMillennial.com

NYTimes.com

BlogTo.com

NationalPost.com
New York City police raided vendors selling Islamic goods ahead of Ramadan: Report

The New York City Police Department raided a street in the city's borough of Queens, just two days before the start of Ramadan, where Bangladeshi street vendors were selling Islamic goods.

(Article republished from MiddleEastEye.net)

According to a report from THE CITY, the bustling stretch where approximately twelve vendors typically offer Islamic goods in the New York City borough was notably devoid of crates and tables laden with religious texts, prayer mats, and hijabs on Thursday.

This was after police officers instructed them to vacate the area on 8 March, issuing them tickets for unlicensed street vending, THE CITY reported.

One street vendor told the news outlet that the police officer told him to stop vending and gave him a $250 ticket. He, and others who were affected, expressed fear about returning to the area.

Several of them have now lost their entire source of income, leaving them grappling with the challenge of covering rent and grocery expenses, the news outlet wrote.

My biggest fear is that Ill get arrested for working without a license, street vendor MD Nasir Uddin, who supports his family of five including his three younger siblings, told THE CITY.

Im afraid I wont be able to help my family or provide for them anymore - thats my biggest fear.

Currently, there are over 11,920 people on a waiting list for a merchandise vendor licence. According to one report, there are currently over 20,000 vendors working in the city - a large portion without licences.

The licence is required for anyone who sells, leases or offers to sell or lease goods or services in a public space that is not a store.

Vendors are currently calling for the city to raise the number of licences granted to product merchants. This cap has remained fixed at 853 citywide for non-veteran sellers for decades.

In February, councilmember Pierina Ana Sanchez reintroduced a bill to the City Council.

If passed, it would mandate the city Department of Consumer and Worker Protection to issue 1,500 merchandise vendor licences each year for the following five years. After this period, the cap would be completely lifted.

When I look at this space, it looks empty right now, Uddin told THE CITY. Its a tough time for us. We had been looking forward to the customers.

Read more at: MiddleEastEye.net
Over 100 people in Russia DEAD in ISIS-claimed terrorist attack at concert venue right outside Moscow

Several gunmen killed over 100 people at the Crocus City Hall concert venue in Russia, just outside Moscow, in the worst terror attack to occur in Russia in years

An affiliate of the Islamic State (ISIS), the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), based primarily in Afghanistan and Central Asia, has claimed responsibility for the attack. Russian and American intelligence sources have confirmed to media outlets that there is "no reason to doubt" the ISKP's claim of responsibility.

In its statement, the ISKP said its fighters attacked on the outskirts of Moscow, "killing and wounding hundreds and causing great destruction to the place before they withdrew to their bases safely." The statement gave no further detail other than providing praise for the "Islamic fighters" who carried out the attack.

On Friday evening, March 22, the Russian rock band Picnic was scheduled to perform to a sold-out crowd at a 6,200-seat concert venue within the city hall's massive complex. The city hall is located in the city of Krasnogorsk, directly to the west of the capital and just 12 miles from the Kremlin.

Right before Picnic was about to perform, at around 8 p.m. local time, as concertgoers were being ushered in, at least four masked gunmen wearing camouflage entered the venue and opened fire with automatic weapons.

Many children and their parents were also at the hall attending a dancing competition. At least three children were reportedly killed in the attack. It is unclear if they were killed at the concert or the competition.

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.

During the attack on the concert hall, the perpetrators also sprayed flammable liquid and started a fire. Most of the city hall caught fire soon after.

Firefighters and other emergency services immediately responded, battling the massive blaze and evacuating thousands of people. Helicopters were also brought in to help fight the fire, but much of the roof at the concert venue collapsed before the fire could be controlled.

Initial reports indicated a death toll of 40 and over 100 injured. As of press time, the number of people killed has risen to at least 115, including three children.

Another 121 people have been hospitalized. The Russian Ministry of Health's data stated that 44 people, including two children, are in "serious" condition, while another 16 people, including one child, are in "extremely serious" condition.

The Health Ministry's report includes the identities of 41 of the 115 people known to have been killed in the attack. The youngest victim identified so far is a 33-year-old, and the oldest is 71.

The Crocus City Hall terrorist attack is the deadliest terror attack to hit Russia since the 2004 Beslan school hostage crisis and massacre that killed over 300 people. (Related: ISIS claims responsibility for twin bombings in Iran that killed dozens of people and injured hundreds more.)

Suspects detained, were trying to flee to Ukraine

The Federal Security Service (FSB) has confirmed that it has detained at least 11 suspects, including four people allegedly directly responsible for the attack.

One Russian lawmaker confirmed to state media that two of the suspects were detained following a car chase in the Bryansk Oblast, southwest of Moscow. Russian media have published a grainy CCTV picture of two of the alleged attackers in a white car.

The Bryansk region is right next to the northeastern border of Ukraine, suggesting that the suspects were trying to escape Russian authorities by seeking refuge in Kyiv. The FSB even noted that the suspects "had contacts on the Ukrainian side" who would have helped usher them to safety.

This information has made multiple Russian politicians accuse Ukraine of being involved in the attack, an accusation that Kyiv vehemently denies.

"Now we know in which country these bloody b------- planned to hide from persecution  Ukraine," wrote Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.

"Ukraine and its patrons are the main stakeholders in the terrorist attack at Crocus," said Russian member of parliament and former military officer Andrey Kartapalov, who added that "there must be a clear answer on the battlefield."

Watch this short clip from a man at the concert hall during the shooting.

This video is from the Cynthia's Pursuit of Truth channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Left-wing ECO-TERRORISTS set fire to Tesla gigafactory in Berlin.

DAMAGE CONTROL: Germany plotting to attack Crimean Bridge in Russia, leaked recording shows.

ISIS takes credit for fatal shooting during Catholic Mass in Istanbul.

Trump warns: There is now a 100% chance of major terror attacks in the U.S. thanks to Biden's OPEN BORDER policies.

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Sources include:

Breitbart.com

TheGuardian.com

BBC.com

Brighteon.com
Geopolitical analyst Peter Koenig believes the human brain is the battlefield of the future

Peter Koenig, a geopolitical analyst and a former senior economist at the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO), has warned that directed energy is "being weaponized" and that microwaves can target "brains."

Koenig advised that the public must also "recognize" the malicious "Illuminati" methods being used against humanity and stand up in unison against them. He added that educating the public is key to protecting the human brain, which he warns is "the ongoing and next battlefield."

In his 2018 presentation at the United States Military Academy (USMA), Dr. James Giordano, a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) neurologist and a weapons expert, warned that directed energy "can be and is being weaponized."

He also told attendees that the human brain "is the 21st century battlefield."

Giordano, who is also the Chief of the Neuroethics Studies Program at Georgetown University in Washington, explained that people's brains can be targeted by microwaves, like the type of the fifth generation (5G) mobile network and soon-to-come 6G.

This is bad news because 5G is actively being rolled out in many countries worldwide. Proponents claim that 5G is safe and benefits users because it can make the internet faster, in turn making computers and smartphones faster. However, the technology isn't just designed to "help advance digitization."

Experts like Giordano warn that while this may be true to a certain extent, 5G microwave towers are being built to target the public.

Sources have also revealed that the Fourth Industrial Revolution is in full swing.

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In 2018, Klaus Schwab, CEO of the World Economic Forum (WEF), published his book, "Shaping the Fourth Industrial Revolution."

In this book, Schwab wrote about several relevant topics such as:

Data ethics

The internet of things (IoT)

Embedding values in technologies

Artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics

Schwab's book also has a special chapter on "altering the human being" where he discussed biotechnologies, neurotechnologies and transhumanism, which was the science that Giordano also talked about back in 2018 and is currently being implemented.

Giordano explained that the science of neurotechnologies started at least 40 years ago and that he has been part of it for at least 35 years.

Brain can be targeted with 5G

William Binney, a former National Security Agency (NSA) Technical Director and whistleblower, also warned that if you are targeted, "there is virtually nothing you can do. The NSA is one of 15 U.S. Intelligence Agencies.

This means if the government wants a lead demonstrator to stop demonstrating, they can target his brain with 5G ultra-shortwaves.

Barrie Trower, an ex-MI5 microwave scientist and whistleblower, said 5G can be used to make someone depressed and even suicidal. He added that low-level micro-waves can cause cancer and leukemia.

Trower said that for the past 40 years or so, the U.K. Government, along with almost all the Anglo-Saxon governments, have been lying to the public to protect the profits of these "industries of death" and to hide their "evil objective of total surveillance and enslavement."

Additionally, Trower said "electronic telepathy" can be used to monitor the brain. If technology predicted that tiny, hardly visible chip-implants were necessary for the brain to electronically access someone's thinking, which resulted in the need for highly magnetic graphene oxide in many of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines, this may no longer be necessary. (Related: Mind over matter: Mind-controlled smart brain devices may become common by 2040, says expert.)

In other words, everyone, whether vaccinated or not, is vulnerable to mind interference through 5G shortwaves.

But it gets worse. You may not even notice it when you are targeted.

After all, there are different forms of mind manipulations. You may physically hear voices. This doesn't mean imagining voices, but you can physically hear voices that are saying anything, such as your fears or voices that will influence you to do something.

This technology may have already been applied to U.S. Embassy personnel in Havana, an incident that was first reported by U.S. and Canadian Embassy staff in Havana, Cuba, as "Havana Syndrome" in 2016.

This may be a group of idiopathic symptoms experienced mostly abroad by U.S. government officials and military personnel. The symptoms can vary in severity from pain and ringing in the ears to cognitive dysfunction.

The Havana Syndrome has allegedly also been reported by U.S. Embassy staff in China.

DARPA had a couple of contracts in 2011-2012 with the University of California for "electronic telepathy" so the organization can monitor the brains of people from a distance and determine what they are thinking.

Under a separate contract, the university was tasked to investigate sending signals to someone's brain, literally sending them messages saying what they must think and do. This technology, which is available today, could be used in your private life and your professional life.

The orders can be minor like obeying their orders without hesitation, or you can even be forced to commit murder.

As Giordano warned in 2018, the brain will be the battlefield of the future. Take this warning to heart. Pay more attention to your surroundings and the behavior of others. Avoid mainstream medication and exposure to short-wave antennas. Stay informed and don't let them manipulate you according to their will.

Visit FutureTech.news to learn more about the dangers of 5G.

Watch the video below to learn more about the benefits of 5G Defense Powder.

This video is from the Health Ranger Store channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

WATCH as Dr. Michael Nehls, author of The Indoctrinated Brain, explains how global mind manipulation really works.

Apocalypse now: The governments use of controlled chaos to maintain power.

The climate change vaccine: Inoculate your mind against the biggest hoax EVER.

Sources include:

Expose-News.com

Youtube.com

Brighteon.com
Poland confirms NATO troops are in Ukraine

The West wants warwith Russia. The Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has come straight out and admitted on Friday, March 8th, thatThey cant wait to draw the first blood. Russia hashad any intention of invading Europe. It has always been the other way around. This entire war was staged from the outset and was intended to force Russia to defend its own people in the Donbas. The West needs this war because the financial system can no longer be sustained. Governments default when they can no longer sell new debt to pay off the old. We are dangerously approaching that, and the war will be the excuse for default, like in World War II.

(Article republished from ArmstrongEconomics.com)

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she decided Denmark would send its artillery units to Ukraine. Meanwhile, NATO is moving nuclear missiles to the border with Russia. There is absolutely NOT ONE LEADER interested in seeking peace. Every single one is pushing for World War III ASAP. They all have their bunkers, so personally, they do not care about the people they are supposed to represent. The population has already been decided to be thinned out like a herd of sheep. Look at any war  more civilians ALWAYS die than soldiers.

There is no war where people have EVER been told the truth. Many in the so-called power positions were manipulated themselves. They are still debating the real causes behind World War I. I can tell you from what I know that the REAL reason behind the Iraq War was this idea of REGIME CHANGE throughout the Middle East would create peace by bringing in DEMOCRACY  which we do not even enjoy. Many officials do not know the real reason behind Iraq.

The object here has ALWAYS been Regime Change. These people convince themselves if they invade Russia and overthrow Putin, the Russian people will cheer. That is a bunch of Neocons patting each other on the back as to how brilliant they are. The sanctions on Russia were supposed to get the stupid Russian people to rise up and overthrow Putin to remove the sanctions. I never heard such stupidity in my life. This is why NOT A SINGLE REASON for war ever involves the truth. They manipulate those in power, like hand-puppets, to do their bidding, as we see it taking place right now.

While the computer shows that Trump should win, I still cannot see how they will allow that to take place. They need Biden, and they are looking to start this war by May or July/August, JUST IN CASE Trump wins and their assassination schemes fail.

Read more at: ArmstrongEconomics.com
If Republicans succeed at banning TikTok, you can say goodbye to Infowars and Brighteon, too

Conservative lawmakers are utterly embarrassing themselves by trying to ban TikTok while also claiming to support free speech and the First Amendment.

Republicans' goal is to simply put a stop to TikTok, and no other social media platform, because the social media app is Chinese (fact check: TikTok's CEO is Shou Zi Chew, a Singaporean). However, it is not that simple, and the right is learning this in real-time while also making a complete fool of itself.

Legislation called the RESTRICT Act, short for the "Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology Act"  yikes that's a mouthful  would allow the Secretary of Commerce to blacklist any tech product, service, or company linked to a "national adversary," in this case China, as decided by the secretary.

So, what exactly is a "foreign threat?" That is a good question. And how would the secretary mitigate it in the context of a platform like TikTok? That is another good question. The answer to both of these questions is the same: whatever the Secretary of Commerce arbitrarily decides.

The RESTRICT act, which is ostensibly being put in place to ban TikTok, is actually a Trojan horse for full government surveillanceand a total end to your right to privacy. pic.twitter.com/07wogYzQ1H  Catch Up (@CatchUpFeed) March 28, 2023

(Related: Be sure to check out our earlier coverage about why the anti-TikTok RESTRICT Act is an Orwellian nightmare for internet free speech and cannot be allowed to pass.)

RESTRICT Act, the PATRIOT Act for the internet

The obvious problem with the RESTRICT Act is its subjectively broad-reaching definitions for things like "foreign threat" and "mitigation." Just about anything could, in some stretch of the imagination, be dubbed a foreign threat and targeted as such for elimination.

This means that not just TikTok but all sorts of other platforms, including Infowars and Brighteon, could find themselves being targeted for elimination based on the "foreign threat" concept.

As Greg Price explained on X, the RESTRICT Act is basically just the PATRIOT Act, for those who lived through 9/11, but for the internet.

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 gives the government the ability to go after anyone they deem as a national security risk at which point they can access everything from their computer to video games to their Ring light," Price warns.

"Believe it or not, it gets even worse: If you [sic] find you in violation, they can put you in jail for 20 years, fine you $1M, and seize your property ... They can also deem any foreign government an adversary without informing congress [sic] and everything they do is not subjected to FOIA."

In other words, Republicans in Congress are trying to pass what amounts to a Stasi Act right here in the United States because they simply cannot stand the fact that TikTok is allowed to exist and be used in this country.

What is worse, the Biden regime is in full agreement with the proposition of a RESTRICT Act, stating that it is "very in favor" of its passage. This just goes to show that right and left are just two wings on the same bird.

"Republicans, mindlessly seeking a big win against China and tech, now that both are popular punching bags, nearly sleepwalked into passing a disastrous law," warns Revolver.

"The RESTRICT Act is a classic D.C. ploy. Savvy operators, exploiting the right's well-intentioned desire to combat China, offered them a temporary victory to lure them into a permanent long-term calamity."

Neither side of the political aisle can be trusted anymore to protect our free speech rights. Find out more at FirstAmendment.news.

Sources for this article include:

Revolver.news

Congress.gov

NaturalNews.com
Underground cities: Proof of human ingenuity and flexibility

Ancient kingdoms and civilizations around the world created cities underground , a phenomenon that has fascinated historians and archaeologists alike.

These cities were usually carved out of solid rock or built underground to give shelter, protection and refuge to the people. They served as defensive structures, hiding places during times of war or places of residence during hard weather conditions.

These cities are not only remarkable engineering achievements, but they also supply important insights into the lives and cultures of the people who settled them. They stand as proof of human ingenuity and flexibility in the face of different challenges throughout history.

There are dozens of notable examples of underground cities. Here are just six of them:

Derinkuyu: Turkey's ancient multi-layered city

Situated in Turkey's historic Cappadocia region, Derinkuyu is one of the biggest underground cities in the world. The captivating city was discovered in 1963 and is believed to have been constructed around the eighth century B.C.

Derinkuyu's 18-story interior was a self-contained metropolis that contained ventilation shafts, wells, kitchens, schoolrooms, oil presses, a bathhouse, a winery and living space for around 20,000 people. It also has livestock and storage facilities.

Making Derinkuyu even more intriguing is its link to other underground cities through a series of tunnels, operating as a complete underground network.

Hal Saflieni Hypogeum: Malta's subterranean temple

The Hal Saflieni Hypogeum in Malta is an ancient underground compound tracing back to 4,000 B.C.

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 believed to be one of the best-preserved prehistoric sites in the world. The unbelievable structure presents numerous levels and chambers, elaborately carved out of limestone rock.

The Hypogeum  another term for an underground temple or tomb  operated as a burial site and a location for ancient ritual practices. Its beautifully sculpted chambers keep the remains of over 7,000 individuals.

The most captivating aspect of this place is the acoustic properties discovered within its "oracle chamber," where sound echoes at extraordinary frequencies that studies claim may have been able to alter states of consciousness.

Petra: Jordan's Rose City

The ancient city of Petra in Jordan, also called the "Rose City" because of its pink sandstone cliffs, is an astonishing example of a partially underground city. The Nabateans  ancestors of today's Arabs  constructed Petra at around 600 B.C.

Petra features intricate rock-cut architecture that comprises tombs, temples and living quarters.

The most well-known monument in Petra is the Al-Khazneh, or the Treasury, a massive rock-cut tomb carved directly into the cliffside. Other major attractions include Ad Deir or the Monastery, the Royal Tombs and the Street of Facades.

Orvieto: Italian underground city

Settled atop a volcanic rock in Umbria in central Italy, the small city of Orvieto and its 20,000 residents attracts visitors due to its enormous collection of subterranean attractions.

Below the city's streets, a labyrinth of more than 1,200 caves, wells, tunnels and galleries shows Orvieto's rich history.

The Etruscans  a pre-Roman civilization  first inhabited the area in the ninth century B.C., and several underground features like cisterns and tombs date back to that era.

Over the centuries, the area's inhabitants have built up the underground area. This includes the Pozzo di San Patrizio, or the Well of St. Patrick. Completed in 1537, the well goes down 62 meters (203 feet) and is a dazzling example of Italian Renaissance engineering.

Lalibela: Ethiopia's rock-carved churches

The town of Lalibela in Ethiopia is famous for its series of amazing rock-carved churches. Constructed in the 12th and 13th centuries by the command of King Gebre Meskel Lalibela, these monolithic churches were hewn directly from the rock.

Lalibela, traditionally known as Roha, was intended to be a "New Jerusalem" for Ethiopian Christians and has since become an area of deep spiritual importance.

The 11 churches in Lalibela are connected through a series of tunnels, passages and underground chambers.

Prominent churches include the iconic cross-shaped Bete Giyorgis, or the Church of St. George, Bete Medhane Alem and the Church of the Savior of the World. The churches remain a pilgrimage destination for Ethiopian Christians.

Chan Chan: Peru's uncovered ancient civilization

Situated close to the northern coastal city of Trujillo, Peru, the ancient city of Chan Chan gives a glance into the captivating world of the Chimu civilization.

As one of the most comprehensive pre-Hispanic cities in South America, Chan Chan boasts an elaborate system of underground canals, tunnels, and spaces that permitted effective water and resource management during the city's heyday. (Related: Ancient Maya civilization purified water using filtration system made of crystal minerals.)

The city's evasive subterranean infrastructure also served as a refuge during severe weather conditions and possible invasions by aggressors.

Visitors can now explore the archaeological location of Chan Chan to reveal its rare history, which consists of both above-ground and underground remains of the Chimu civilization's intricate societal structure.

Watch this short video discussing Derinkuyu and other underground cities all over the world.

This video is from the Moab channel on Brighteon.com.

More related articles:

Ancient "embassy" in famed Mayan city hints at two allied states turned bitter foes.

Check out these 6 ancient civilizations that were hiding in plain sight, but never discovered prior to the advent of archeological LASER BEAM technology.

Archaeologists discover statues that may be depicting people from the lost civilization of Tartessos.

Sources include:

HistoryCooperative.org

JSTOR.com

History.com

Independent.com.mt

Brighteon.com
Border Patrol chief: Unlawful border crossers must face SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES

The head of the U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) has emphasized the need for serious consequences for unlawful border crossers amid an influx of illegals at the nation's border with Mexico.

USBP Chief Jason Owens stressed this point during an exclusive interview with CBS News. He told the news outlet's Camilo Montoya-Galvez that imposing "consequences" on illegal immigrants who enter the country unlawfully is very important. The interview incidentally focused on strategies to deter the unprecedented number of illegal border crossings under the Biden administration.

Among the consequences Owens put forward were prison time, "removal" from the country and a potential "ban" on re-entry for those caught crossing the border unlawfully. He also emphasized the crucial role of USBP agents in enforcing these consequences.

"Everything revolves around being able to deliver a consequence for an action that you don't want a person to commit. If people know that there's going to be a consequence for breaking the law, they're going to be less likely to do it," the USBP chief told Montoya-Galvez.

"Jail time  I'm talking about jail time. I'm talking about being removed from the country. I'm talking about being banned from being able to come back because you chose to come in the illegal way instead of the established lawful pathways that we set for you."

Owens also lauded the collaborative relationship between the USBP and the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) in protecting the southern border. He dubbed the DPS as an "invaluable partner" to the USBP, something YourNews pointed out as "a departure from the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) previous characterizations of the relationship between the federal and state agencies."

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"Owens' stance reflects an ongoing confrontation between Texas and the federal government over the state's authority in managing illegal immigration issues. Texas has asserted its constitutional right to self-defense, while DHS has accused state officials of disrupting federal operations and blocking [USBP] activities, particularly after Texas took control over Shelby Park in Eagle Pass." (Related: Biden regime threatens WAR with Texas over border security: "Give us access, or else.")

"[The USBP chief's] comments indicate a commitment to maintaining and strengthening the partnership between federal and Texas state authorities in the interest of national and community safety."

Owens has no comment about SB 4

The interview between Owens and Montoya-Galvez also touched on the Texas Senate Bill (SB 4), which is currently under judicial review. The USBP chief refrained from expressing an opinion on the measure, which allows Texas law enforcement to arrest and deport illegals that cross the border unlawfully. It also empowers judges to deport illegals taken into custody to Mexico.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed SB 4 into law in December, with the law originally set to take effect on March 5. But the Biden administration alongside other parties challenged it in court via an emergency request. According to the administration, individual states such as Texas have no authority to legislate on immigration.

U.S. District Judge David Ezra, who was appointed by the late former President Ronald Reagan, granted the preliminary injunction sought by the Biden administration. However, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Appeals Court said in a brief order that SB 4 could go into effect on March 10 if the U.S. Supreme Court declines to intervene. The high court did step in, siding with the Lone Star State.

The federal high court ruled in a 6-3 decision on March 19 that SB 4 can go into effect while litigation continues in lower courts. But this victory was short-lived, as the appellate court put the bill on hold.

Head over to BorderPatrol.news for similar stories.

Watch former U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell explain that the Left opened the border to gain new voters below.

This video is from the GalacticStorm channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Appeals court reverses lower court ruling: Police in Texas can now arrest illegal migrants starting March 11  UPDATE: Supreme Court issues temporary stay.

Abbott insists on Texas' right to defend itself amid federal injunction on state law that allows state authorities to deport illegals.

Biden's INVASION agenda wins: TREASONOUS judge suspends Texas law that allows cops to arrest illegal immigrants.

Appeals court blocks Texas immigration law just hours after Supreme Court ruled in the state's favor.

Supreme Court gives Texas green light to start arresting, deporting illegal aliens.

Sources include:

YourNews.com

ZeroHedge.com

Brighteon.com
U.S. seeks to reduce its heavy reliance on Russian uranium for nuclear power

When the House of Representatives recently passed a ban on the import of Russian uranium in an attempt to further discourage Russia from its activities in Ukraine, it led many to wonder just how much the country depends on Russia for its uranium supply.

According to statistics from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Russia supplied 24% of the enriched uranium that was used by American commercial reactors in 2022, making it the biggest foreign supplier of nuclear power to the U.S.

Meanwhile, 27% of the enriched uranium the U.S. uses is domestic, while it gets 12% from Germany, 11% from the UK and 9% from the Netherlands. Another 16% of the country's enriched uranium comes from other sources. After it is mined, uranium must be milled and mixed with water before being leached with acid to create the yellowcake that is refined and used for nuclear facilities.

When Russia first invaded Ukraine, the U.S. restricted imports of Russian-produced oil and gas, but it did not place any restrictions on Russian enriched uranium. Given that about one fourth of the enriched uranium that is used for powering the 90-plus commercial reactors in the U.S. came from Russia, it is not surprising that the country has been hesitant to add restrictions.

The U.S. isn't the only country that depends on Russia for its enriched uranium; a dozen other countries also get enriched uranium from Russia, many of whom are Ukrainian allies and members of NATO. In 2022, American companies paid more than $850 million to Russia for their nuclear fuel services; the total with European allies included is $1.7 billion, which means that the U.S. is helping to fund Russia's war against Ukraine even as it offers support and funding to Ukraine to defend itself.

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.

The U.S. currently uses nuclear energy for 18% of its electricity.

U.S. dependence on Russian uranium creates major energy security vulnerability

Although the U.S. developed considerable nuclear weapons infrastructure during the Cold War, much of it was aging out when the Cold War ended. Instead of making the significant investments that would have been needed to modernize the infrastructure, the U.S. found it more cost effective to purchase nuclear resources from Russia.

However, the downside of this dependence has been thrust into the spotlight thanks to the war in Ukraine, illustrating the huge energy security vulnerability that this poses to the U.S.

The bill also sees $2.2 billion being set aside to expand uranium enrichment capabilities in the U.S. to reduce its reliance on Russia. Expanding America's capacity for enriching uranium will require significant time and money, along with some degree of confidence that the demand will continue in the long term and the investment will therefore be justified. Some nuclear plant operators in the U.S. have already started to shift away from Russian uranium, but it is a change that could take quite some time.

Ahead of the House vote, the bill's sponsor, Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Washington) said: "The risks of continuing this dependence on Russia for our nuclear fuels are simply too great. It's weakening America's nuclear fuel infrastructure, which has declined significantly because of reliance on these cheap fuels."

Although the bill has yet to pass the Senate and is therefore not a law, the ban will take effect 90 days after it is signed. It has a waiver process that gives the Energy Department the power to permit some imports over the next three years should no viable alternatives be available and the Energy Secretary determines that it is in the national interest to import it. However, there are some concerns that this waiver will be exploited as a way of getting around the uranium ban.

Sources for this article include:

GreatGameIndia.com

Heritage.org
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signs bill banning use of taxpayer dollars for DEI programs in public institutions

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has signed a bill that prohibits universities, state agencies and K12 public schools from maintaining and funding diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs

The state law, known as Senate Bill 129, received resounding support from Alabama Republicans in both the state Senate and House of Representatives and is set to take effect in October.

Under the new law, universities, K12 school systems and state agencies are prohibited from sponsoring DEI programs, defined as any activity where attendance is based on one's race, sex, gender identity, ethnicity, national origin or sexual orientation. The legislation also prohibits the mandatory attendance of students, employees and contractors in classes or DEI-related training, orientation or coursework that advocates "divisive concepts," like racism and sexism.

SB 129 also grants state agencies the authority to discipline or terminate employees or contractors found to be in violation of the law.

The state law only prevents state funds from being allocated to DEI programs. It does not ban universities and other educational institutions from engaging in recruiting and outreach efforts for educational programs with a DEI slant.

Sen. Will Barfoot (R-Pike Road), one of the primary sponsors of SB 129, explained that the law seeks to "celebrate what people have in common, not erect walls that silo people into the idea that their race, religion, and sexual orientation solely define who they are and how society should view them."

"My administration has and will continue to value Alabama's rich diversity, however, I refuse to allow a few bad actors on college campuses  or wherever else for that matter  to go under the acronym of DEI, using taxpayer funds, to push their liberal political movement counter to what the majority of Alabamians believe," said Ivey.

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.

Other conservative states have also banned DEI programs in state-funded institutions

Alabama joins other conservative states that have introduced or passed legislation targeting DEI programs.

In 2023, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation that prohibits any state or federal tax dollars from going to DEI programs at state colleges or universities.

During the signing ceremony at the New College of Florida, DeSantis signed Senate Bill 266, one of three education-related bills he recently signed. The legislation "prohibits programs, majors, minors, curriculum and general education core courses that violate Florida law regarding prohibited discrimination or that are based on theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression and privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States and were created to maintain social, political and economic inequities."

Meanwhile, one of the other bills, House Bill 931, mandates state universities to establish offices responsible for hosting speakers representing diverse political viewpoints. It aims to dismantle "political filters" that influence hiring, promotion and admissions processes based on ideological alignments. (Related: DEI captures the University of Florida.)

Similarly, in June, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 17 into law, which mandates the closure of DEI offices across all state-funded colleges and universities. The law, which took effect in January 2024, also bars the establishment of new DEI programs within publicly funded higher education institutions in the Lone Star State. Additionally, it prohibits the compulsory nature of diversity training for both students and employees.

Under SB 17, institutions are prohibited from endorsing ideologies that advocate for differential treatment based on race, color, or ethnicity. Public educational bodies are barred from mandating the disclosure of racial or ethnic information from students and employees unless necessary for demographic purposes. Any public college or university found to have violated the new law would be unable to access state funds allocated to them.

Furthermore, SB 17 requires state officials to conduct studies every two years until 2029 to assess the impact of the law on students. The studies will specifically analyze rates of application, acceptance, enrollment, retention, graduation and grade point averages.

Visit PublicEducation.news for more stories about DEI programs in public universities and colleges.

Watch this video discussing a similar move by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to block DEI programs in state colleges and universities in the Sunshine State.

This video is from THE HEALTHY AMERICAN channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Texas governor signs bill ordering the CLOSURE of DEI offices across state-funded universities.

Woke University of Virginia spends $20 million on 235 DEI employees.

Harvard controversy saga continues: University DEI officer apparently plagiarized husbands academic work.

University of Florida LIED to Gov. DeSantis about money spent on DEI propaganda.

The Berkeley Files: Faculty applicants were ranked on their support for DEI policies and practices.

Sources include:

LifeSiteNews.com 1

Edition.CNN.com

APNews.com

LifeSiteNews.com 2

NBCNews.com

Brighteon.com
Hes coming for your guns: Biden launches centralized red flag hub to target threatening firearms owners

To help law enforcement, prosecutors, judges and other government leaders across America more easily implement their "red flag" gun laws, the Biden regime is creating a national center to coordinate the provision of training and technical assistance.

On March 23, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the creation of the National Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) Resource Center, a centralized training and technical assistance hub to streamline the enforcement of controversial red flag laws, which aim to take guns away from Americans "who pose a threat to themselves or others."

"Red flag laws basically let someone such as police, family members, or medical professionals bring a claim to an emergency court alleging that a person is mentally unwell and is a danger to themselves or others," is how one report explains them.

"If the court accepts the claim, that individual can then be 'flagged' and prevented from buying firearms, and it also allows the police to seize any guns in their possession."

(Related: Once Biden gets his hands on everyone's gun, his regime intends to launch another round of medical martial law even more extreme than what happened during the Wuhan coronavirus [COVID-19] "pandemic.")

DOJ spying on gun owners

Advocates of red flag laws say they are necessary to identify people who are too high-risk to own guns in order to stop them from exercising their Second Amendment rights. Opponents say that red flag laws are probably causing the founding fathers to roll in their graves.

"The launch of the National Extreme Risk Protection Order Resource Center will provide our partners across the country with valuable resources to keep firearms out of the hands of individuals who pose a threat to themselves or others," announced Attorney General Merrick Garland in favor of the new ERPO.

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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) opposes the ERPO, having written on X that the ERPO is not what it seems on the surface.

"Merrick Garland just announced a massive Red Flag Operation that the DOJ will be running by using EVERY spy tool the U.S. government has in order to violate American's Second Amendment!!" Greene wrote on X, adding that the DOJ under Biden has been "weaponized."

As of this writing, nearly half the country, including 21 states and the District of Columbia, has red laws on the books. While these red flag laws are civil orders as opposed to criminal ones, people who violate them could be found guilty of a criminal offense.

Vice President Kamala Harris proudly boasted on X that the Biden regime "invested" $750 million in taxpayer money to help implement these red flag laws, with more on the way to pass them in additional states.

"Today, I am calling on every state to take action, and we are launching a national red flag resource center to assist," Harris further wrote, drawing heavy criticism from her followers.

In collaboration with the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions (CGVS), the new ERBO will work to "address gun violence as an epidemic-level public health emergency" that "disproportionately impacts communities of color."

In order to function as intended, the ERBO requires "direct access to critical information that will enhance their ability to reduce firearm homicides and suicides." This, of course, means that spying will need to take place, just as Greene warned.

"What the hell is this evil?," tweeted Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.). "A Federal Red Flag center; We did not authorize this."

"Oh look. The DOJ just created a program to red flag Trump supporters at the same time they are allowing for illegals to have guns," added conservative political activist Laura Loomer.

The latest news about the federal government's assault on Americans' right to bear arms can be found at SecondAmendment.news.

Sources for this article include:

TheEpochTimes.com

NaturalNews.com
Biden wants taxpayers to shoulder $6B student loan debt of 78,000 public service workers

President Joe Biden has revealed a plan to cancel about $6 billion worth of student loan debt for 78,000 borrowers who are public service workers as part of the Democratic administration's ongoing effort to transfer the burdens of student loan borrowers onto the taxpayers.

The move increases the total amount of student debt "forgiven" by the current administration to approximately $150 billion for four million borrowers.

The cancellation targets public service workers, including teachers, nurses, and firefighters, who are eligible for forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLFP) established in 2007, aimed at relieving student debt for those in public service roles. The average amount of debt that will be canceled is about $77,000.

Biden, addressing the issue, stated: "These public service workers have dedicated their careers to serving their communities, but because of past administrative failures, never got the relief they were entitled to under the law." (Related: DEBT REVOLUTION? Tens of millions of student loan borrowers stage "massive student debt strike.")

Biden pushes student loan forgiveness despite legal opposition

Republicans, who have largely opposed student loan forgiveness measures as putting an unfair burden on taxpayers who will suddenly be beholden to the debt that has been "forgiven."

The GOP has also criticized Biden's student loan forgiveness initiatives as an attempt to skirt the rule of law. This comes after the Supreme Court back in June 2023 decided to halt an attempt by the White House to unilaterally "cancel" $430 billion worth of student loans.

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The decision was only a temporary setback for the government, with Biden vowing to explore all possible avenues as the executive to provide debt relief to Americans burdened by student loans.

As of June 2023, the Federal Student Aid website reports that there were about 43.4 million student loan borrowers in the United States. They hold a collective $1.63 trillion worth of debt, a figure that has tripled since the 2008 financial crisis, highlighting the growing urgency for the government to address the issue.

The PSFLP was established in 2007 by forme President George W. Bush to provide debt relief for Americans who go into public service. Certain employees of nonprofits may also be eligible for forgiveness.

Biden asserted that the plan is necessary to bring much-needed relief to borrowers whose debts are becoming "a barrier to opportunity."

"Because of the fixes my administration has made, we have now canceled student debt for over 870,000 public service workers  compared to only about 7,000 public service borrowers ever receiving forgiveness prior to my administration," claimed Biden in his statement. "And through all of our various student debt relief actions, nearly four million Americans have had their student debt canceled under my administration."

Borrowers who are eligible under the PSFLP to have at least some of their debt passed on to taxpayers will receive an email from the White House congratulating them on their relief.

The administration will also be sending emails directly to an additional 380,000 public service workers who will be eligible for debt forgiveness through the PSFLP within two years of the initiative.

The president's email to the borrowers will thank them for serving their communities and will notify them that if they continue their work in public service, they are on track to have their debt canceled within one to two years of additional work.

Watch this clip from Fox News discussing how President Joe Biden's student loan forgiveness measures are a way for him to effectively purchase the votes of young Americans.

This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Biden DID NOT wipe away debt via student loan forgiveness program  he only redistributed it to other taxpayers.

Biden defies Supreme Court on student debt cancellation, absurdly claims theres no cost to taxpayers.

Taxpayer money going down the drain: Biden circumvents SC decision, cancels $72M in student debt.

Biden admin to WIPE OUT $1.2B in federal student loans under new plan  essentially vote-buying using taxpayer money.

Sources include:

YourNews.com

BBC.com

NYPost.com

Brighteon.com
Admiral John Aquilino: China is building up its military and nuclear arsenal as it prepares to invade Taiwan by 2027

A top officer in the United States Navy has testified that China is currently building up its military and nuclear arsenal to a scale not seen since World War II as it prepares to invade Taiwan by 2027.

Admiral John Aquilino, the commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, noted that China has significantly increased its official defense budget, which now exceeds $223 billion  a 16 percent rise over recent years. Aquilino also stated that the People's Liberation Army (PLA), China's armed forces, has substantially expanded its arsenal with more than 400 new fighter aircraft and 20 new major warships while doubling its inventory of ballistic and cruise missiles since 2020. All this despite facing economic challenges.

He also mentioned that the PLA has been conducting rehearsals for operations against Taiwan, including simulations of encirclement with maritime and air blockades.

Moreover, Aquilino accused the Chinese military of using aggressive tactics to pressure Taiwan into accepting reunification.

"The well-documented, multidomain operation established a new, more dangerous status quo for PLA activity and posture around Taiwan, normalizing warship patrols around Taiwan and military flights crossing the Taiwan Strait centerline," he stated, noting that this ramp-up in military activity and pressure on Taiwan could not point to anything but preparations for an invasion of Taiwan.

"All indications point to the PLA meeting President Xi Jinpings directive to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. The PLAs actions indicate their ability to meet Xis preferred timeline to unify Taiwan with mainland China by force if directed," he added.

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In response to the claims, Jeff Liu, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, stated that there's nothing the country can do but prepare and strengthen its defenses.

"Regarding the speculation that China may attack Taiwan in 2027, there are different speculations and interpretations. However, we can't predict when China will launch a war, but we must make all preparations. The most important thing is to strengthen our own defense capabilities as an effective deterrent to China's use of force," Liu said. (Related: Taiwan: China may not be ready to invade by 2027.)

China has accused the U.S. of escalating tension in the Indo-Pacific region

Communist Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Lin Jian also responded to Aquilino's claims by reiterating Beijing's belief that Taiwanese concerns are an internal affair of China and that the U.S.'s so-called interference is escalating tensions in the region.

Some people in the U.S. have been trying to hype up the China-threat narrative to escalate tensions across the strait and instigate confrontation. We firmly oppose that, Jian told reporters during a press briefing in Beijing.

Even within the U.S. military establishment, doubts persist regarding China's intentions. U.S. Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., who also serves as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, suggested that Xi might not be inclined towards a forcible takeover of Taiwan.

Instead, Brown believes Xi will "try to use other ways" to get the democratically-governed island nation reunited with Beijing.

"I do think that Xi Jinping doesn't necessarily want to take Taiwan by force," Brown Jr. said back in November.

However, China's actions do not match their statements. In the latest meeting between Xi and President Joe Biden in California back in November, Xi urged the U.S. to cease its arms sales to Taiwan and support China's vision of peaceful reunification with the mainland.

"The U.S. side should take real actions to honor its commitment of not supporting 'Taiwan independence,' stop arming Taiwan, and support China's peaceful reunification," Xi told Biden during the meeting.

Read more stories about a potential conflict between China and Taiwan at CommunistChina.news.

Watch Brannon Howse of "Worldview Report" and David Zhang of the Epoch Times discussing the possibility of China invading Taiwan as early as 2024.

This video is from the Worldview Report channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Domestic crisis may force China to invade Taiwan, lawmaker warns.

China sanctions 5 U.S. defense corporations in answer to U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.

China continues to threaten Taiwanese airspace, deploying 10 WARPLANES to cross Taiwan Strait median line.

Taiwanese foreign minister expects China to manipulate the upcoming 2024 Presidential election in Taiwan.

Taiwan to buy 400 American anti-ship missiles as China continues to threaten the island nation.

Sources include:

Bloomberg.com

MSN.com

Newsweek.com

JapanTimes.co.jp

Brighteon.com
Bet on the CIA being the culprit in the Moscow mass murders, just like they were in the Las Vegas concert massacre, and as they will be in the upcoming black swan events

Random Association. Much like Free Association but without the clinical psychology stigma, it allows for the freedom of thought that enables rich imaginations to form. That may be my problem as I do realize that the subject today is only in my imagination and not anything proven. Yet. But it is all possible. Lets just call it a working theory for now.

(Article by Alan Barton republished from AllNewsPipeline.com)

Last year or the year before sometime I did a story on the Las Vegas mass shooting at a country music festival near the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas and concluded that what is officially known has NOTHING to do with what actually happened per the numerous first hand reports of the people involved and the few videos that were not confiscated by the authorities but somehow they and the truth did leak out. First, it was NOT a single shooter, it was numerous shooters and it was not from some hotel window but from people inside the venue as well as quick assaults in nearby hotel lobbies and even by helicopter. Who can put together such an attack and still get it all smoothed over to make it seem some poor lackey did it all? Only a large and well oiled machine, well get to that soon.

Supposedly the officially named perpetrator Mr. Paddock killed 58 people and wounded hundreds more before being shot himself, even though the swat teams were outside his door waiting for permission to enter and put stop to it all for a number of hours. I believe that like I believe Biden is anywhere near competent and Big Mike is female. We are not here to discuss that one, go look up my older column on it for more details. What we are here to discuss is the free, random association beginning that brought the LV false flag to my memory.

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Initial reports from the Crocus City Hall music venue in Moscow said at least 40 died, then later 50, and then 60, and now 133 as I write this without a final total with hundreds injured by a group of 4 masked terrorist gunmen went right in and slaughtered the young people there, just like happened in Las Vegas according to first hand witnesses. Dressed in combat fatigues and sporting fully automatic rifles, they went through the crowd with efficiency just as if they were highly trained operatives (again, just like in Las Vegas), as can be seen in the videos that are out showing the horrific scene.

Initial reports also claimed no one took responsibility, or at least claimed to be, but very soon after that ISIS claimed to be the perpetrators. One side says blame another and they blame yet another and so forth just as would be suspected in the opening barrages of propaganda and skirting blame or responsibility as is the normal. Some guy named ??????? ??????? did his best on X to thwart fears that it was Ukraine and said there is not the slightest doubt that the events in the Moscow suburbs will contribute to a sharp increase in military propaganda, accelerated militarization, expanded mobilization, and, ultimately, the scaling up of the war and that is the whole point of it all, obviously. But I do not accept the absolute that it was not Ukraine either. He did say something that we will get to quickly that long before the events in Crocus City Hall, we had heard public warnings from foreign embassies stationed in #Moscow about the possibility of such bloody excesses.

And of course, Putin claims that it must have been the Ukrainians because why would they attack their own people such as the many Chechen related terrorist mass slaughter attacks in public venues? Anyone that knows anything about Russian history knows that is about as false logic as can be given. And of course, NATO has been blamed as the culprit in order to start WWIII as one of their regular false flags. There is one claim however that stands out, and that is this one from our own State Department that was issued BEFORE the attack.

U.S. citizens should be advised to avoid large gatherings over the next 48 hours, This warning given 2 weeks before the attacks was dated March 7 2024. True, it may have been from intel that something may be up, but it is my contention that it all was well known to the system. OANN reported that They act like trained and trained fighters, the unnamed witness said. At the moment of entering the building, the guards and people standing at the door were killed. Then they blocked the main entrance.

The terrorists are armed with AKM assault rifles, they continued. Some carry unloads with various ammunition. At least two of the attackers are carrying backpacks, possibly with molotov cocktails and that appears to have been the case. Not just any old terrorists, but military efficient ones. Just like CIA operatives maybe?

This line from the above post is what I am considering the most telling, the West are the only ones who could possibly benefit from this situation. Putin already has all the support he needs to do whatever the hell he wants. That is a true statement, and the final one from that post is this line, Would they start WW3 to stop Trump? Absolutely. Again, an absolute truth.

One of the best descriptions I can remember seeing on just what NATO is and was designed for was that it is not just some post WWII group of nations out to make a joint defensive systems against a communist conspiracy or other foe, but was more likely the then brand new CIAs amalgam of power to make Eisenhowers warning of the evil of the military industrial complex a true to reality freak show. The CIA has been using NATO to start wars all over the globe pretending that somehow gaining control over the Koreans drug and human trafficking was fighting communism. No, they just got a lot richer as a side benefit to the massive monies made in pushing war production for the corporate controllers and the international bankers. That same scheme that worked so well also worked for Viet Nam and the CIA (what daddy Bush?) had Kennedy murdered to stop the satanic evil of the CIA drug and human trafficking trade. We see the same thing in controlling the Afghan poppy fields, and the control of the drug and human trafficking importation gangs being well armed by the Kenyan (fast and furious ring a bell?). We see it thwarted in the Russian revolution in Cuba but somehow the drug trade was not affected. Iraq was used as a showcase for Americas newest military weapons and to help control the drug and human trafficking in that arena as well. The most lucrative business arrangement outside of the central bankers (think Red Shields, the Rothschilds) as an addendum to the war machine factories is in drugs and victims to keep the whore houses busy and the blood donors for the satanic sacrifices for their evil churches.

Ukrainian Intelligence my well rounded arse, that is CIA propaganda network speaking. Nevertheless, the last line its about to get ugly is the working model here. Blame all they want on others, I am convinced my random association of Las Vegas and Moscow is right on track. The powers that be want war, not only to reduce the worlds population but to put EVERYTHING under very strict total control and military absolute power. No free will for you miniscule underling punks.

But then we did have ISIS claiming they did it didnt we. They claim responsibility for many things that they may or may not have done, just to keep the money coffers filled I suppose.

And then there is this one-

Mike Benz: I just have to break this down in a video to make it perfectly plain and clear to people whats happening with Hunter Biden and the CIA. Why was I saying a year and a half ago that the reason Hunter Biden is untouchable by the Justice Department is because he was part of a CIA operation. Multiple ones, actually.The NDI is the DNC wing of the National Endowment for Democracy, which is the top CIA cutout used in our tens of thousands of NGO swarms. NED ranks number one. It was created to be the NGO affiliate of the CIA. It was created to do overtly what the CIA was doing covertly and getting in trouble for doing in the 20th century.

It appears they (THEY being the NATO/CIA satanic groups) are well on their way to getting just what they want, another massive war. The problem this time is, that it will be almost impossible to contain and likely going nuclear before too long. The international crime syndicates (read as US Government including CIA, Justice Dept, and so forth) money laundering system formerly known as Ukraine and the massive drug/people industry is going absolutely nutz right now.

My money is on the CIA directly being the culprit, just as they were in Las Vegas, let alone all over the world and the upcoming Black Swan events.

God Bless

Mike Benz: Hunter Biden was Likely Involved with CIA in Ukraine - Led to Trump-Russia Propaganda

And just what is it they have in mind?

Catastrophic "BLACK SWAN" Event COMING Late 2024 | Elijah Schaffer

Read more at: AllNewsPipeline.com
WAR CRIME: IDF destroys main surgical wing of Al-Shifa Hospital, sabotaging ceasefire negotiations

Following a weeklong siege of Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza, the largest medical complex in the Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) destroyed the hospital's primary surgical building

This second siege of Al-Shifa Hospital, which began on March 18, stems from unsubstantiated claims from the IDF that "senior Hamas terrorists" were using the hospital to coordinate and facilitate terrorist activities.

The IDF reported that over 800 individuals have been detained during the operation, with approximately 480 of them identified as members of Hamas or its allied militant group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad. More than 140 other alleged Hamas terrorists have also been killed.

"Over the past day, the troops have eliminated terrorists and located weapons in the hospital area, while preventing harm to civilians, patients, medical teams, and medical equipment," the IDF said in a statement. (Related: Israel's Al-Shifa Hospital raid was THEATER  IDF substantially tampered with footage and evidence.)

According to reports from Middle East Eye, the building was targeted on March 21 as the IDF intensified its blockade of the hospital. Earlier on that same day, the IDF reportedly ordered civilians trapped inside through loudspeakers to surrender and evacuate the premises. This was followed by contradictory orders to not leave the building without the express permission of the IDF.

"We warned you, we warned you, we warned you," an IDF soldier said on loudspeaker. "Do not make a mistake; do not try us. If you leave the building [without the army's orders], the soldiers will shoot at you."

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Video footage captured the chaotic moments as women and children scrambled to comply with the orders, while the IDF took men away to illegal detention centers.

IDF accused of committing war crimes and sabotaging ceasefire negotiations

IDF Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi admitted that the Al-Shifa operation sought to apply pressure on Hamas' leadership and on the ongoing negotiations for the release of the remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza.

"In our operation here, we are serving two goals - hurting Hamas's leadership and putting pressure on the [hostage release] negotiations," he said.

In its own statement, Hamas also vehemently denied the IDF's accusation that it is harboring fighters within the hospital's complex.

Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of Gaza's government media office, refuted the claims. He argued that those killed were wounded patients and displaced individuals seeking refuge within the hospital.

"The Israeli occupation army practices lying and deception in spreading its narrative as part of justifying its continuous and law-breaking crimes, which violate international law, international humanitarian law," Al-Thawabta stated.

Meanwhile, Ismail Haniyeh, chairman of Hamas' political wing based out of Qatar, accused Israel of sabotaging ceasefire negotiations, as the raid occurred in a complex crowded with patients and displaced individuals.

"The actions of the Zionist occupation forces at Al-Shifa Medical Complex confirm their intent to obstruct the recovery of life in Gaza and dismantle essential aspects of human existence," said Haniyeh. "The deliberate targeting of police officers and government officials in Gaza illustrates their efforts to sow chaos and perpetuate violence among our resilient people. This also reveals the occupation leaders endeavor to sabotage ongoing negotiations in Doha."

Visit Chaos.news for more stories about the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine.

Watch this clip of Israel's relentless shelling in the Gaza Strip for the 11th consecutive day.

This video is from the Cynthia's Pursuit of Truth channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Washington Post investigation found no evidence that Hamas tunnels link to Al-Shifa Hospital.

Conflicting videos cast doubt on Israels claim that Al-Shifa hospital is Hamas main HQ.

Israel's claimed "evidence" of Hamas headquarters at Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza unraveling under scrutiny.

IDF raid of al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza produces nearly ZERO real evidence of claimed Hamas headquarters.

Those hidden tunnels underneath al-Shifa hospital in Gaza where Israel says Hamas militants are hiding? Israel BUILT them in 1983.

Sources include:

MiddleEastEye.net

MSN.com

Haaretz.com

ABCNews.go.com

English.AlArabiya.net

Brighteon.com
Latest Israeli attack on Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza KILLS 50 civilians, including several children

Gaza's media office has confirmed that around 50 civilians, including children, were executed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in its recent attack on the Al-Shifa Hospital complex.

"The Israeli occupation committed a bloody massacre, executing 50 citizens and arresting nearly 200 others in the [Al-Shifa] Medical Complex and its surroundings in Gaza City," said the media office in a statement. "We also received field information about  a number of children among those executed, as well as civilians, the sick, and the displaced." (Related: 40 percent of Palestinians killed in Gaza are children.)

According to the Gaza media office, the assault, which began at around 2 a.m. on March 18, has claimed the lives of at least 250 Palestinians, almost all of whom are civilians. The deputy director of the emergency department at al-Shifa Hospital also disclosed that there were around 20 doctors and 60 nurses working there, along with hundreds of patients, when the assault began.

The IDF launched the attack in and around the hospital shortly after Hamas' armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, disclosed details of a sniping operation that targeted and killed an officer from Israel's elite Shaldag Unit, the same unit that was allegedly involved in a previous devastating raid on the medical facility back in November.

Eyewitnesses described harrowing scenes of chaos and fear within the hospital, where nearly 20,000 displaced individuals had sought refuge.

"Tanks are surrounding us. We are hiding inside the tent. We hear tank fire in the vicinity of the compound," said Mahmoud al-Saudi, a civilian, in a recorded call to his brother.

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Meanwhile, another man inside the hospital named Mohammed al-Sayyid said in a voice message sent to journalists: "The soldiers [are] here inside the complex, there are dead and wounded and the soldiers arrested some young men."

Medical teams reported being unable to treat the wounded due to ongoing gunfire from Israeli forces, who allegedly targeted anyone approaching the hospital windows.

"We are trapped where we are inside the department," said 31-year-old surgical resident Dr. Amer Jedbeh. "A shell hit our building on the first floor, injuring several people. One man died - we could not save him. We are working only with first aid, essentially, we cannot operate because there is no electricity or water."

IDF claims Al-Shifa operation only targeted Hamas

In a statement, IDF chief spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari argued that the operation was conducted following the acquisition of "concrete intelligence that demanded immediate action."

He claimed that the operation targeted senior Hamas members who were allegedly using the medical facility as a base to coordinate attacks against Israel.

"We know that senior Hamas terrorists have regrouped inside Al-Shifa Hospital and are using it to command attacks against Israel. We call upon all Hamas terrorists hiding in hospitals to surrender immediately. Medical facilities should never be exploited for terror. Hamas must be held accountable," he said.

To support its claim, the IDF released unverified footage supposedly showing Israeli soldiers under fire from within the hospital compound, along with the detonation of an explosive device.

Hamas and health officials have vehemently denied these accusations.

The IDF declared 20 twenty terrorists were eliminated at Al-Shifa during recent engagements in and around the hospital complex, including the head of Hamas' internal security service operations directorate, Faiq al-Mabhouh, who was allegedly hiding in the compound and coordinating terrorist activities.

Watch this video about innocent children in Gaza getting bombed by Israeli forces.

This video is from the channel The Prisoner on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Psychiatrist: Children in Gaza developing symptoms of SEVERE TRAUMA.

Over 1,000 children in Gaza were amputated mostly WITHOUT ANESTHESIA.

WATCH: Israeli children sing we will annihilate everyone in Gaza.

Bombing innocent children in Gaza is not defence, it constitutes a grievous war crime.

REPORT: 60% of Gaza residents killed in Israeli airstrikes so far are WOMEN and CHILDREN.

Sources include:

TheCradle.co

BBC.com

Brighteon.com
Republican-controlled House passes $1.2 trillion spending bill, passes it to Senate HOURS before government shutdown

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives has passed a massive $1.2 trillion spending bill , which it then passed to the Democrat-controlled Senate merebefore the federal government was scheduled to shut down.

"On this vote, the Yeas are 286, the Nays are 134, two-thirds being in the affirmative," was the announced vote. "The rules are suspended, the resolution is agreed-to, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table."

BREAKING: House passes $1.2 trillion spending bill, sending it to Senate hours before shutdown. pic.twitter.com/5WxjCxtIvH  MSNBC (@MSNBC) March 22, 2024

After being passed to the Senate, the bill was advanced procedurally in a 78 to 18 vote, followed by another vote to pass it with 74 voting for and 24 against. President Joe Biden then signed it into law, funding the government through September.

After signing the pork-laden abomination, Biden thanked Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) "for their leadership."

(Related: While all of this was happening in Washington, the Tennessee Senate passed a bill to outlaw chemtrails.)

Congress to waste another $1.659 trillion this fiscal year

As usual, there was no actual risk of a substantial government shutdown, even as close as it got to one actually happening. The White House announced it had "ceased shutdown preparations" due to a Senate agreement, which came after Republicans demanded the passage of a series of amendments. After these amendments were included, the House passed the spending bill in a vote of 268 to 134.

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.

Keep in mind that this $1.2 trillion in wasteful spending comes on top of a $459 billion bill that Congress passed earlier this month. Total spending for the current fiscal year has now soared to $1.659 trillion.

"Nothing's easy these days," complained Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) after midnight while the Senate was voting. Murphy did, however, celebrate that Congress passed all 12 appropriations bills in one single year.

"Given the dysfunction of the House and slim majorities here, you know, there's something to be said for the fact that we finally got this done."

All the cash, which will come from U.S. taxpayers' pockets, will go towards funding all the useless federal agencies in Washington.

Upset about the spending bill's passage is the House Freedom Caucus, a group of about 30 ultraconservative lawmakers who thought that they would hold much more leverage over Congress than they actually do.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) called for House Speaker Johnson to be ousted from his position for passing the bill, but it does not appear that anything will come of her proposal.

"This is a bad bill," said Rep. Chip Roy (R-Tex.), a prominent member of the House Freedom Caucus. "We shouldn't put it on the floor and leadership owns it. This bill in real time is a failure. So we're going to have to figure out what to do about it."

On X, many people were outraged over the bill's passage, including one account calling for everyone to "stop paying taxes."

"This is beyond treasonous," this same account wrote about the spending bill.

Another warned that this action by Congress, including both sides of the political aisle, shows that "power has replaced public service" in D.C.

"They lie. They cheat. They exploit. They censor. They fabricate. They manipulate. They push a self-serving narrative ... The perils of government transpire when the corrupt and self-serving are allowed to dictate without consequence."

Someone else called the spending bill "$1.2 trillion spend on blackmail and bribes."

"This money should instead serve the taxpayers."

More of the latest news about America's government can be found at Corruption.news.

Sources for this article include:

Twitter.com

NBCNews.com

NBCNews.com

NaturalNews.com

USAToday.com
Farmers in Iraq struggled against the persistent drought and heatwaves, leaving people vulnerable to extreme weather events. To ensure crops will survive, farmers have used a water-saving irrigation system and sprinklers.

Climate change-driven drought and heatwaves are two problems in Iraq, impacting people's health and livelihood. Agriculture can suffer more due to low water supplies and intense drought, resulting in low harvests.

In a Nature World News (NWN) report, increasing climate change effects can become difficult for farmers and communities. Frequent extreme weather events can damage agriculture supplies, which can lead to surge of prices. In addition, poorer communities are more vulnerable, and could suffer more from severe drought.

As a result, effect weather prediction and sustainable farming practices are helpful to weather the devastating impacts of climate change.

Water-Saving Irrigation System and Sprinklers in Iraq: Saving from Drought

One sector affected by drought and climate is farming or agriculture in Iraq. To beat the country's drought, a farmer considered using a water-saving irrigation system to grow crops. In the village of Al-Azrakiya, the dry condition is also a problem.

However, it did not stop Mohammed Sami to find ways in reviving his crops amidst the growing concerns of drought and farmers struggled due to rain scarcity and low water supply. According to a report, Sami tried the automated sprinklers and drip irrigation to increase his farm efficiency.

The UN World Food Program (WFP) assisted in the installation of irrigation systems, which helped provide water for his one hectare lot. Sami is one of the 1,100 farmers who were helped by the WFP project.

As the country recovers from prolonged drought, sustainable farming and an efficient water-irrigation system are crucial to preventing crops from dying. As quoted in the report, some of the crops are eggplant, watermelon, barley, and cucumber.

Also Read: UN Warns Risk Of Regional Conflict As Water Stress Increases

Heatwaves in Iraq

In a 2023 report, the scorching heat hit the country, urging people to drink enough water and limit outdoor activities. Some construction workers were forced to work at night due to the hotter weather in the daylight. The situation became challenging due to the drought and lack of rain.

In addition, a UNICEF report warns of the potential impact of high heatwave frequencies on children in Iraq by 2050. Many children are exposed to extreme temperatures, which can worsen. The report explains the need for adaptation and mitigation to avoid the heat-related health risks to children, especially in poorer countries.

Rising temperatures threaten the country's fabled marshland. The United Nations (UN) raised concerns about the drop in water level, which is disastrous to wildlife and human populations.

Related Article: Changing Climate Conditions, Humidity Can Cause Transmissions of Parasitic Worms, Infectious Diseases

For more similar stories, don't forget to follow Nature World News.
The latest report shows that global climate change threatens Antarctic sea ice, which revealed a declining trend in 2024. Warming events cause the thinning and shrinking of ice, posing threats to polar animals and low-lying communities.

In a recent Nature World News (NWN) report, the decline in sea ice can lead to an alarming problem due to potential impacts on wildlife and sea-level rise. Communities can become vulnerable to rising waters and increased flooding.

Antarctica is crucial for the ecosystem and biodiversity, which many polar animals depend on. As a result, studying Antarctica is important to understand the potential effects of climate change and warming events on ice sheets.

Protecting Antarctica from decline holds ecological importance, as the region has suffered from different threats, including invasive species, marine pollution, global warming, illegal fishing practices, and bird flu.

Antarctic Sea Ice Still Under Decline

Researchers from NASA studied the near-historic lows of sea ice in Antarctica in 2024. The findings warn of a 46-year trend of ice thinning in the region, with alarmingly no sign of reversing. Rising temperatures have continued to threaten the sea ice, causing the sea ice coverage to plummet.

In February, the report found that February recorded a low in sea ice extent, reaching 1.99 million square kilometers. Antarctica has experienced lows for the third year in a row. Experts analyzed the shrinking using satellite data from the Nimbus-7 satellite and the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program.

In addition, the report warns of the effects of solar heating on sea ice decline. Long-term temperature fluctuations can significantly cause widespread shrinkage. As a result, understanding climate change will help provide new insights into mitigating the loss of ice.

"In 2016, we saw what some people are calling a regime shift. The Antarctic sea ice coverage dropped and has largely remained lower than normal. Over the past seven years, we've had three record lows," Walt Meier, a sea ice scientist, said, as quoted in a NASA report. Meier is also from the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado.

Also Read: Rising Sea Levels: New York, San Francisco, Other US Coastal Cities to Sink Into the Ocean by 2050 [Study]

Sea-Level Rise and Ice Melting

In a recent report, the melting of glaciers can cause an increase in water in oceans. The massive melting, due to warming conditions can lead to a significant sea level rise. As a result, protecting Antarctica and Greenland sea ice is crucial to preventing its devastating impacts on coastal areas and low-lying communities.

An increase in greenhouse gas emissions can exacerbate the warming event, contributing to an alarming loss of sea ice. Temperature fluctuations can affect many animals in the region, including penguins and polar bears. .

In Greenland, ice shrinking was also detected in the region, where ice sheets were replaced by barren rocks.

Related Article: Greenland Ice Sheet Alarms Scientists, Large Area Replaced With Wetland, Barren Rocks

For more similar stories, don't forget to follow Nature World News.
The US authorities ensure the safety of commercial milk supply as some dairy cattle tested positive for avian influenza or bird flu in Texas and Kansas.

The US Department of Agriculture confirmed that two dairy herds in Texas and two in Kansas had tested positive for avian flu. It is believed to be the first time bird flu, also known as highly pathogenic avian influenza, has been detected in livestock in the United States.

The cows appear to have been infected by wild birds, with dead birds discovered on several farms, according to the agency. The findings were released after several federal and state organizations began examining allegations of sick cows in Texas, Kansas, and New Mexico.

It comes a week after Minnesota officials disclosed that goats on a farm where poultry had been infected with bird flu had tested positive for the virus.

The commercial milk supply is safe, and the risk to consumers is low, according to the agency.

Dairies are supposed to only allow milk from healthy cows into the food supply, while milk from unwell animals is redirected or destroyed. Pasteurization also destroys viruses and other bacteria, and it is needed for milk sold in interstate commerce, the USDA added.

"At this stage, there is no concern about the safety of the commercial milk supply or that this circumstance poses a risk to consumer health," the agency said.

Dairy farmers in Texas become concerned three weeks ago when cattle began falling ill with what officials described as "mystery dairy cow disease," according to Texas Department of Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller.

Milk production plummeted, and the cows were lethargic and ate little.

Flu samples from sick cows have not contained genetic alterations known to increase the virus's likelihood of infecting humans, according to the agriculture agency, which also stated that the risk to the general population remains minimal.

Read Also: Bird Flu Outbreak in Seals Causes Urgent Mitigation Efforts to Slow Down the Virus Spread

Recovery Of Livestocks

Experts believed that livestock appear to recover naturally within seven to ten days.

This is in contrast to bird flu outbreaks in poultry, which require the slaughter of entire flocks to eradicate the virus. Since 2022, outbreaks have resulted in the loss of around 80 million birds from commercial flocks in the United States.

So far, the virus appears to be infecting around 10% of lactating dairy cows in afflicted herds, according to Michael Payne, a food animal veterinarian and biosecurity expert at the University of California-Davis Western Institute for Food Safety and Security.

Officials described it as a quickly changing situation. The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are participating, as are officials from all three states.

Iowa, another dairy-heavy state, has stated that it is monitoring the situation.

Dairy industry executives stated that producers have begun increased biosecurity procedures on U.S. farms, such as limiting traffic into and out of premises and restricting visits to employees and key individuals.

Payne highlighted that bird flu had already been detected in 48 different mammal species, and that it was likely just a matter of time before avian influenza spread to ruminants.

Related Article: Bird Flu Detected in Antarctica for the First Time Raises Risk of Catastrophic Breeding Failure Among Isolated Penguins
According to information published by the Western Naval Command on March 25, 2024, eight submarines were observed operating together off the Western Seaboard in a recent exercise in the Indian Ocean. This move is reflective of the Indian Navy's intention to assert its presence and readiness in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) amidst the growing maritime assertiveness of the PLA Navy.

Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link

Eight Indian submarines. (Picture source: Indian Navy)

The Chinese Navy, or the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), has a significantly larger fleet than the Indian Navy, with the PLAN operating the world's second-largest Navy in terms of tonnage and a battle force of approximately 350 surface ships and submarines.

Submarine Capabilities:

China has a clear advantage in the submarine domain, with a larger fleet of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) and nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs).

The PLAN operates six Jin-class SSBNs capable of launching JL-2 submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) with a range of 7,200km, compared to India's single SSBN, INS Arihant.

The PLAN also has a significant number of advanced conventional submarines, including the Yuan-class equipped with air-independent propulsion (AIP) systems for enhanced stealth and endurance.

Aircraft Carriers and Seaborne Airpower:

The Chinese Navy has two aircraft carriers, CNS Liaoning and CNS Shandong, which can deploy more sea-based aircraft than India's sole aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya. However, India is not far behind, with INS Vikrant joining its fleet and plans for a third carrier, INS Vishaal.

The Indian Navy focusing on playing a critical role in the Indo-Pacific region to maintain open sea lanes and freedom of navigation. India is increasingly viewed as a key player in countering Chinese influence in the region, with strategic partnerships, notably with the United States.

Conversely, China's naval strategy emphasizes access to strategic ports and extending its operational reach, supported by rapid shipbuilding capabilities that outpace many other countries.
Mumbai, March 26

A ctor, producer and entrepreneur Alia Bhatt is all set to host her first 'Hope Gala' in London.

As per a source close to the actress' team, Alia will host Hope Gala on March 28 in partnership with the Mandarin Oriental hotel group at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London. This is in support of Alia's chosen charity Salaam Bombay which is focused on engaging Mumbai's most vulnerable 'at-risk' children through in-school programmes (leadership and advocacy) and after-school academies (skill building) that help build their confidence, self-esteem and commit them to stay in school.

Reportedly, the Gala will be attended by prolific industrialists and philanthropists from India and London

Meanwhile, on the work front, Alia has recently completed shooting for 'Jigra', which also stars Vedang Raina.

Announcing the wrap, a few days ago, she shared candid photos from the sets of the movie on her Instagram featuring herself and Vedang.Sharing the post, she wrote, "jigra oh... abki teri baari ho @vedangraina & that's a film wrap on #JIGRA @vasanbala @swapsagram. See you soon... 27th September 2024 at a cinema near you."

In the photos, Alia was seen in an all-new short hair look for the film. Alia and Vedang were seen in a candid mood as they sat beside each other.

Vedang also shared the same pictures and expressed her excitement on his Instagram handle. He wrote, "And that's a wrap on Jigra @aliaabhatt. A film and a character that has given me as much as taken away from me. A journey that's meant everything. See you at the movies on 27th September."

Helmed by Vasan Bala, 'Jigra' is co-produced by Karan Johar and Alia herself. The film is all set to hit the theatres on September 27, 2024.

Director Vasan Bala has previously helmed films like 'Monica O My Darling', a crime thriller film 'Peddlers' and 'Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota'.'Jigra' was announced last year in September.

The announcement video showed the film is a tale of a sister's love for her brother and how she would do anything to protect him.'Jigra' marks Alia and Vasan's first on-screen collaboration.

Alia will also be seen in director Farhan Akhtar's film 'Jee Le Zaraa' alongside Priyanka Chopra and Katrina Kaif. The film promises to be another tale of friendship in the lineage of 'Dil Chahta Hai' and 'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara'. However, the work on the film has not started yet.

Alia Bhatt to host 'Hope Gala' in London, deets inside

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Chennai, March 26

A combined effort from the batters powered the Chennai Super Kings to a massive total of 206/6 against the Gujarat Titans in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.

GT would need to pull off a record chase at Chepauk following Shivam Dube and Rachin Ravindra's demolition.

Put to bat, CSK got off to a flying start, despite losing Rachin Ravindra's wicket in the final over of the powerplay. The young New Zealand opener once again spread his wings in the powerplay and amassed 46 off just 20 deliveries.

He took the onus of scoring runs, while skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad provided the ideal support on the other end. Rachin's fiery knock brought up the third successive 50-plus opening partnership for CSK against GT.

Rachin's transition from strike rotation to effortlessly picking up boundaries was a sight to behold as he struck six fours and three maximums. Rashid Khan brought an end to Rachin's onslaught but the left-handed batter's effort helped CSK amass 69/1.

Ajinkya Rahane walked back before he could adjust to the surface. Shivam Dube came and wasted no time getting going as he sent the ball sailing into the stand on two consecutive deliveries. Gaikwad (46), who used a cautious approach, got nicked by Spencer Johnson before he could complete his 50.

Dube continued his onslaught on one end while Daryl Mitchell took his time to get his innings going. The left-handed batter picked up Mohit Sharma's back-of-the-hand delivery and smoked it straight into the stands. He picked up a double in the final ball of his over to raise his bat for 50 in 22 deliveries.

GT skipper Shubman Gill introduced Rashid back into the attack and instantly reaped rewards. The Afghanistan spinner removed Dube on the second ball of the 19th over.

Sameer Rizvi came in and joined the action straightaway with a six on his very first ball in the IPL. On the final ball of the over, he tonked another maximum to bring up 15 runs from the over.

In the final over, he tried to pick Mohit Sharma's undercooked yorker but failed to get the elevation, with David Miller taking the catch comfortably. CSK ended the innings with a score of 206/6.

Brief Score: CSK 206/6 (Shivam Dube 51, Rachin Ravindra 46; Rashid Khan 2-49) vs GT.

IPL 2024: Dube, Rachin's carnage powers CSK to 206/6 against GT

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This is the first installment of a series of Braver Conversations columns, authored by local Braver Angels members and appearing every two weeks in Town Hall. Matt Hausman is the organizations Illinois red state coordinator and founding member of its East Central Illinois alliance.

Braver Angels is a national organization dedicated to bringing Americans together to bridge the partisan divide, with a local presence in East Central Illinois. Readers are encouraged to join these Braver Conversations and submit questions or topics they want to see addressed by local members. Learn more and submit questions by going to the state website at IL.braverangels.org.
Unit 4 responds Thursday: "Champaign Unit 4 Schools is extremely proud of our diverse student body and workforce. While we vehemently deny the accuracy of the information shared by Mr. (Ron) Langacker, we will not offer further comment at this time out of respect to our employees." Says Langacker: "Ill stand by everything Ive said, and the truth will come out in the end."
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This rape of this young girl would not have occurred if they had just followed the policies that were there," an expert witnessed called by said of The Pavilion Friday. Attorneys for the girls' mother are seeking millions in damages.
Lori A. DeYoung is clinical social worker and three-degree graduate from the University of Illinois. She recently retired from the Department of Veteran Affairs and has returned to her private practice as a contractual therapist/parent educator for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. She resides in Fithian in the childhood home that her parents, Tony and Bette Cushwa Davis, built when they adopted her in 1961. She is the parent of three adult children.
Researchers have identified a new complex-carbohydrate biomolecule, or glycan, that plays a key role in the nasal colonization of the Bordetella bacteria responsible for whooping cough. The discovery could make it possible to create a new drug or vaccine that interferes with the glycan to greatly reduce or even stop ongoing Bordetella transmission.

Bordetella pertussis is the cause of the respiratory infection pertussis, which is widely known as whooping cough. Today's pertussis vaccines keep people from getting severely sick, but they don't eliminate the bacteria because it excels at colonizing, growing and persisting inside the nose. This means that despite more than 99% of people being vaccinated in the U.S., whooping cough continues to spread, leading to infections among vulnerable populations, particularly infants and elderly people.

Yang Su led the study at the University of Georgia in Athens.

Our newly discovered glycan is crucial for the bacteria to maintain its ability to efficiently colonize the nose and transmit to a new host. By understanding the biochemical and molecular function of genes and enzymes involved in its formation, we can now intervene in the production of this glycan." Yang Su, doctoral candidate, department of biochemistry and molecular biology, University of Georgia

Su 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. He is co-advised by Maor Bar-Peled and Eric T. Harvill, both from the University of Georgia, and collaborates with Andrew Preston from the University of Bath in the UK and Thomas M. Krunkosky from the University of Georgia.

"My multidisciplinary approach integrates enzymology, glycan structural analyses, genetics, airway cell models and mouse infection models," said Su. "To my knowledge, this is the first report of a glycan that is significant for the early colonization in the nose of its host."

Glycans are biomolecules made of chains of carbohydrates such as polysaccharides. They are essential in various biological processes, including cellcell recognition, signaling and immune response modulation.

In a previous study, the researchers discovered that a glycan known as transmission extracellular polysaccharide (tEPS) was required for Bordetella to spread among hosts. They then discovered that the production of tEPS glycan was related to another group of genes. The investigators suspected that this new group of genes likely produced another glycan, but nothing was known about its function or structure.

In the new work, the researchers eliminated the genes that expressed this unknown glycan from bacteria to see if they could uncover its function. The resulting Bordetella mutant showed a 70% reduction in its ability to colonize the nose of mice within six hours of inoculation. The mutant also showed a significantly reduced ability to transmit from the original host to a new host.

The researchers discovered that this new glycan, which they named bordetellea colonization oligosaccharide, or b-Cool, is found in multiple Bordetella species, including those infecting dogs and other animals, as well as in strains of Bordetella pertussis isolated from patients. This suggests that targeting b-Cool could lead to the development of vaccines and medications that would be effective against both animal and human infections.

The researchers are now working to understand how b-Cool mediates Bordetella colonization in the nose, information that will help develop therapeutics that interfere with colonization. They are also developing a vaccine that targets the b-Cool glycan, which they plan to test in various hosts.
University of Queensland researchers have developed a method to predict if a child is likely to develop sepsis and go into organ failure.

Associate Professor Lachlan Coin from UQ's Institute for Molecular Bioscience said sepsis was a life-threatening condition where a severe immune response to infection causes organ damage.

Our research involved more than 900 critically ill children in the emergency departments and intensive care units of four Queensland hospitals. Blood samples were taken from these patients at the acute stage of their infection, and we analysed which genes were activated or deactivated. We were able to identify patterns of gene expression which could predict whether the child would develop organ failure within the next 24 hours, as well as whether the child had a bacterial or viral infection or a non-infectious inflammatory syndrome." Lachlan Coin, Associate Professor, UQ's Institute for Molecular Bioscience

Professor Luregn Schlapbach from UQ's Child Health Research Centre said sepsis is best treated when recognized early, so the finding could help clinicians in the future.

"Diagnosing sepsis is often challenging because many pediatric illnesses can present the same," Professor Schlapbach said.

"Having precision markers that tell you whether a child is going to develop the condition is urgently needed.

"Currently doctors give antibiotics, fluids and increase observation of any child if sepsis is suspected, but unfortunately that means there are children who receive unnecessary treatment."

Professor Schlapbach said more research was needed before the findings could help clinicians to act pre-emptively.

"Our next step will be to transfer what we have discovered to a point-of-care platform, which means we can potentially generate the results from a blood test within an hour," he said.

The research was funded by the Australian Government Medical Research Future Fund Genomic Health Futures Mission, Children's Hospital Foundation Queensland, Brisbane Diamantina Health Partners, Emergency Medicine Foundation, Gold Coast Hospital Foundation, Far North Queensland Foundation, Townsville Hospital and Health Services SERTA Grant and Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre.

Dr Coin is also a Professor at the Doherty Institute at the University of Melbourne.

The research paper was published in Lancet Child and Adolescent Health.
Scientists have developed a new lung surfactant that is produced synthetically rather than relying on the use of animal tissues. With further development, the formulation could provide a cheaper and more readily available alternative to Infasurf, a medication used to prevent and treat respiratory distress in premature babies.

Surfactants are substances that decrease surface tension where liquids interface with other liquids, gases or solids. In addition to their use in medicines, they are found in a wide range of products including detergents, cosmetics, motor oils and adhesives.

Suzanne Farver Lukjan, a lecturer in chemistry at Troy University in Alabama, led the work.

A synthetic surfactant could potentially have a longer shelf life, lower production costs, have less batch variability and pose less risk of an immune response compared to animal-derived lung surfactants. We hope our formulation will one day be used in hospitals." Suzanne Farver Lukjan, lecturer in chemistry, Troy University in Alabama

Lukjan 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.

Lung surfactants help premature babies breathe while their lung cells finish developing. In addition to offering a potential alternative to replace Infasurf for babies, researchers say the new synthetic surfactant could be useful for treating adults with lung injuries as a result of diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, miner's lung or emphysema.

Researchers have previously attempted to develop synthetic lung surfactants, but some have been removed from the market and others have not been able to lower surface tension as well as animal-derived formulations.

In the new work, Lukjan's team created candidate surfactants from synthetic lipids (fats) and peptides (short chains of amino acids) and then tested their surface-tension-lowering capabilities. They aimed to mimic the composition, lipid phase behavior and biophysical function of Infasurf as closely as possible.

After tweaking a step in the sample preparation process, the researchers found a few formulations that showed particular promise. Although tests demonstrated that the chemical behavior of the synthetic surfactants was quite different from that of Infasurf, the new surfactants were able to mimic the drug's functionality in terms of lowering surface tension and seem to achieve the optimal range in terms of peptide concentration.

As a next step, Lukjan said, the group plans to continue to refine and test their formulation to further optimize the combination of lipids and peptides. The surfactant would also need to undergo safety testing before it could be used clinically.

This work was partially funded by ONY Biotech Inc., maker of Infasurf.
A new research paper was published in Oncotarget's Volume 15 on March 14, 2024, entitled, "ABT199/venetoclax synergism with thiotepa enhances the cytotoxicity of fludarabine, cladribine and busulfan in AML cells."

ABT199/venetoclax, an inhibitor of the pro-survival BCL-2 protein, has improved AML treatment. Its efficacy in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), when combined with other chemotherapeutic drugs, has not been thoroughly investigated. In this new study, researchers Benigno C. Valdez, Bin Yuan, David Murray, Jeremy L. Ramdial, Uday Popat, Yago Nieto, and Borje S. Andersson from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and the University of Alberta demonstrate the synergistic cytotoxicity of ABT199/venetoclax with the DNA alkylator thiotepa (Thio) in AML cells.

"The results may provide relevant information for the design of clinical trials using these drugs to circumvent recognized drug-resistance mechanisms when used as part of pre-transplant conditioning regimens for AML patients undergoing allogenic HSCT."

Cleavage of Caspase 3, PARP1 and HSP90, as well as increased Annexin V positivity, suggest potent activation of apoptosis by this two-drug combination; increased levels of -H2AX, P-CHK1 (S317), P-CHK2 (S19) and P-SMC1 (S957) indicate an enhanced DNA damage response. Likewise, the increased level of P-SAPK/JNK (T183/Y185) and decreased P-PI3Kp85 (Y458) suggest enhanced activation of stress signaling pathways. These molecular readouts were synergistically enhanced when ABT199/venetoclax and Thio were combined with fludarabine, cladribine and busulfan.

The five-drug combination decreased the levels of BCL-2, BCL-xL and MCL-1, suggesting its potential clinical relevance in overcoming ABT199/venetoclax resistance. Moreover, this combination is active against P53-negative and FLT3-ITD-positive cell lines. Enhanced activation of apoptosis was observed in leukemia patient-derived cell samples exposed to the five-drug combination, suggesting a clinical relevance.

"The results provide a rationale for clinical trials using these two- and five-drug combinations as part of a conditioning regimen for AML patients undergoing HSCT."
Should you run to the bathroom now? Or can you hold it until you get home? A new implant and associated smartphone app may someday remove the guess work from the equation.

Northwestern University researchers have developed a new soft, flexible, battery-free implant that attaches to the bladder wall to sense filling. Then, it wirelessly -; and simultaneously -; transmits data to a smartphone app, so users can monitor their bladder fullness in real time.

The study will be published next week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). It marks the first example of a bioelectronic sensor that enables continuous monitoring of bladder function for a prolonged period.

While this new device is unnecessary for the average person, it 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. The sensor system also can enable clinicians to monitor their patients remotely and continuously to make more informed -; and faster -; treatment decisions.

"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," said Northwestern's Guillermo A. Ameer, who co-led the work. "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."

An expert in regenerative engineering, Ameer is the Daniel Hale Williams Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering and professor of surgery at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. He also directs the Center for Advanced Regenerative Engineering and the predoctoral Regenerative Engineering Training Program, funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Ameer co-led the study with Northwestern's John A. Rogers and Arun Sharma. A bioelectronics pioneer, Rogers is the Louis Simpson and Kimberly Querrey Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Biomedical Engineering and Neurological Surgery at McCormick and Feinberg. He also directs the Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics. Sharma is a research associate professor of urology at Feinberg and of biomedical engineering at McCormick. He also is director of pediatric urological regenerative medicine at Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago.

How it works and initial results

Due to problems with nerves, brain or spinal cord, millions of Americans suffer from dysfunctional bladders. These issues can arise from congenital defects such as spina bifida -; where a person is born with a damaged spine -; or traumatic injuries sustained at any point in life. When left untreated, severe bladder dysfunction can cause routine infections and urination issues, eventually leading to kidney damage, which affects the entire body. Enabling physicians to remotely monitor their patients could enable faster interventions.

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 key advance here is in the development of super soft, ultrathin, stretchable strain gauges that can gently wrap the outside surface of the bladder, without imposing any mechanical constraints on the natural filling and voiding behaviors." John A. Rogers, Northwestern University

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 strain from very low volumes of urine.

"This work is the first of its kind that is scaled for human use," Ameer said. "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."

Bladder regeneration and function restoration

Although the new technology is useful on its own, Ameer envisions it as one component of a fully integrated system for bladder function restoration.

Just last month, Ameer and Sharma introduced a biodegradable synthetic, flexible "bladder patch," which was published in PNAS Nexus. Seeded with the patient's own stem cells, the citrate-based "patch" -; referred to as a pro-regenerative scaffold (PRS) -; enables the surgeon to reconstruct or rebuild the bladder without the need to harvest intestinal tissue, the current clinical standard for this surgery. The "patch," which expands and contracts with the native bladder tissue, supports the migration and growth of bladder cells. Then it slowly dissolves, leaving behind new bladder tissue. The researchers demonstrated that the new tissue remained functional throughout the two-year study.

"We are working to integrate our bladder regeneration technology with this novel wireless bladder monitoring technology to restore bladder function and monitor the recovery process after surgery," Ameer said. "This work brings us closer to the reality of smart regenerative systems, which are implantable pro-regenerative devices capable of probing their microenvironment, wirelessly reporting those findings outside the body (to the patient, caregiver or manufacturer) and enabling on-demand or programmed responses to change course and improve device performance or safety."

"This technology represents a significant advancement, as there are currently no other tissue engineering-based approaches available to these patients," Sharma said. "I am confident this will help improve the quality of life for many patients who will now be able to avoid the use of intestinal tissues and its myriad complications."

Next: Urinating on demand

Ameer continues to work with Rogers and Sharma to build new functionalities into the system. They currently are exploring ways that the implant could stimulate the bladder to induce urination on demand.

"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," Ameer said. "Also, one day, patients will be able to trigger urination, on demand, through their smartphone."

Ameer, Sharma and Rogers are members of the Simpson Querrey Institute for BioNanotechnology. Ameer and Rogers also are members of the Chemistry of Life Processes Institute and the International Institute for Nanotechnology; and Rogers is a member of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University.

The study, "A wireless, implantable bioelectronic system for monitoring urinary bladder function following surgical recovery," was supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease and the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering.
One January morning in 2021, Carol Rosen took a standard treatment for metastatic breast cancer. Three gruesome weeks later, she died in excruciating pain from the very drug meant to prolong her life.

Rosen, a 70-year-old retired schoolteacher, passed her final days in anguish, enduring severe diarrhea and nausea and terrible sores in her mouth that kept her from eating, drinking, and, eventually, speaking. Skin peeled off her body. Her kidneys and liver failed. "Your body burns from the inside out," said Rosen's daughter, Lindsay Murray, of Andover, Massachusetts.

Rosen was one of more than 275,000 cancer patients in the United States who are infused each year with fluorouracil, known as 5-FU, or, as in Rosen's case, take a nearly identical drug in pill form called capecitabine. These common types of chemotherapy are no picnic for anyone, but for patients who are deficient in an enzyme that metabolizes the drugs, they can be torturous or deadly.

Those patients essentially overdose because the drugs stay in the body for hours rather than being quickly metabolized and excreted. The drugs kill an estimated 1 in 1,000 patients who take them  hundreds each year  and severely sicken or hospitalize 1 in 50. Doctors can test for the deficiency and get results within a week  and then either switch drugs or lower the dosage if patients have a genetic variant that carries risk.

Yet a recent survey found that only 3% of U.S. oncologists routinely order the tests before dosing patients with 5-FU or capecitabine. That's because the most widely followed U.S. cancer treatment guidelines  issued by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network  don't recommend preemptive testing.

The FDA added new warnings about the lethal risks of 5-FU to the drug's label on March 21 following queries from KFF Health News about its policy. However, it did not require doctors to administer the test before prescribing the chemotherapy.

The agency, whose plan to expand its oversight of laboratory testing was the subject of a House hearing, also March 21, has said it could not endorse the 5-FU toxicity tests because it's never reviewed them.

But the FDA at present does not review most diagnostic tests, said Daniel Hertz, an associate professor at the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy. For years, with other doctors and pharmacists, he has petitioned the FDA to put a black box warning on the drug's label urging prescribers to test for the deficiency.

"FDA has responsibility to assure that drugs are used safely and effectively," he said. The failure to warn, he said, "is an abdication of their responsibility."

The update is "a small step in the right direction, but not the sea change we need," he said.

Europe ahead on safety

British and European Union drug authorities have recommended the testing since 2020. A small but growing number of U.S. hospital systems, professional groups, and health advocates, including the American Cancer Society, also endorse routine testing. Most U.S. insurers, private and public, will cover the tests, which Medicare reimburses for $175, although tests may cost more depending on how many variants they screen for.

In its latest guidelines on colon cancer, the Cancer Network panel noted that not everyone with a risky gene variant gets sick from the drug, and that lower dosing for patients carrying such a variant could rob them of a cure or remission. Many doctors on the panel, including the University of Colorado oncologist Wells Messersmith, have said they have never witnessed a 5-FU death.

In European hospitals, the practice is to start patients with a half- or quarter-dose of 5-FU if tests show a patient is a poor metabolizer, then raise the dose if the patient responds well to the drug. Advocates for the approach say American oncology leaders are dragging their feet unnecessarily, and harming people in the process.

"I think it's the intransigence of people sitting on these panels, the mindset of 'We are oncologists, drugs are our tools, we don't want to go looking for reasons not to use our tools,'" said Gabriel Brooks, an oncologist and researcher at the Dartmouth Cancer Center.

Oncologists are accustomed to chemotherapy's toxicity and tend to have a "no pain, no gain" attitude, he said. 5-FU has been in use since the 1950s.

Yet "anybody who's had a patient die like this will want to test everyone," said Robert Diasio of the Mayo Clinic, who helped carry out major studies of the genetic deficiency in 1988.

Oncologists often deploy genetic tests to match tumors in cancer patients with the expensive drugs used to shrink them. But the same can't always be said for gene tests aimed at improving safety, said Mark Fleury, policy director at the American Cancer Society's Cancer Action Network.

When a test can show whether a new drug is appropriate, "there are a lot more forces aligned to ensure that testing is done," he said. "The same stakeholders and forces are not involved" with a generic like 5-FU, first approved in 1962, and costing roughly $17 for a month's treatment.

Oncology is not the only area in medicine in which scientific advances, many of them taxpayer-funded, lag in implementation. For instance, few cardiologists test patients before they go on Plavix, a brand name for the anti-blood-clotting agent clopidogrel, although it doesn't prevent blood clots as it's supposed to in a quarter of the 4 million Americans prescribed it each year. In 2021, the state of Hawaii won an $834 million judgment from drugmakers it accused of falsely advertising the drug as safe and effective for Native Hawaiians, more than half of whom lack the main enzyme to process clopidogrel.

The fluoropyrimidine enzyme deficiency numbers are smaller  and people with the deficiency aren't at severe risk if they use topical cream forms of the drug for skin cancers. Yet even a single miserable, medically caused death was meaningful to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, where Carol Rosen was among more than 1,000 patients treated with fluoropyrimidine in 2021.

Her daughter was grief-stricken and furious after Rosen's death. "I wanted to sue the hospital. I wanted to sue the oncologist," Murray said. "But I realized that wasn't what my mom would want."

Instead, she wrote Dana-Farber's chief quality officer, Joe Jacobson, urging routine testing. He responded the same day, and the hospital quickly adopted a testing system that now covers more than 90% of prospective fluoropyrimidine patients. About 50 patients with risky variants were detected in the first 10 months, Jacobson said.

Dana-Farber uses a Mayo Clinic test that searches for eight potentially dangerous variants of the relevant gene. Veterans Affairs hospitals use a 11-variant test, while most others check for only four variants.

Different tests may be needed for different ancestries

The more variants a test screens for, the better the chance of finding rarer gene forms in ethnically diverse populations. For example, different variants are responsible for the worst deficiencies in people of African and European ancestry, respectively. There are tests that scan for hundreds of variants that might slow metabolism of the drug, but they take longer and cost more.

These are bitter facts for Scott Kapoor, a Toronto-area emergency room physician whose brother, Anil Kapoor, died in February 2023 of 5-FU poisoning.

Anil Kapoor was a well-known urologist and surgeon, an outgoing speaker, researcher, clinician, and irreverent friend whose funeral drew hundreds. His death at age 58, only weeks after he was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer, stunned and infuriated his family.

In Ontario, where Kapoor was treated, the health system had just begun testing for four gene variants discovered in studies of mostly European populations. Anil Kapoor and his siblings, the Canadian-born children of Indian immigrants, carry a gene form that's apparently associated with South Asian ancestry.

Scott Kapoor supports broader testing for the defect  only about half of Toronto's inhabitants are of European descent  and argues that an antidote to fluoropyrimidine poisoning, approved by the FDA in 2015, should be on hand. However, it works only for a few days after ingestion of the drug and definitive symptoms often take longer to emerge.

Most importantly, he said, patients must be aware of the risk. "You tell them, 'I am going to give you a drug with a 1 in 1,000 chance of killing you. You can take this test. Most patients would be, 'I want to get that test and I'll pay for it,' or they'd just say, 'Cut the dose in half.'"

Alan Venook, the University of California-San Francisco oncologist who co-chairs the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, has led resistance to mandatory testing because the answers provided by the test, in his view, are often murky and could lead to undertreatment.

"If one patient is not cured, then you giveth and you taketh away," he said. "Maybe you took it away by not giving adequate treatment."

Instead of testing and potentially cutting a first dose of curative therapy, "I err on the latter, acknowledging they will get sick," he said. About 25 years ago, one of his patients died of 5-FU toxicity and "I regret that dearly," he said. "But unhelpful information may lead us in the wrong direction."

In September, seven months after his brother's death, Kapoor was boarding a cruise ship on the Tyrrhenian Sea near Rome when he happened to meet a woman whose husband, Atlanta municipal judge Gary Markwell, had died the year before after taking a single 5-FU dose at age 77.

"I was like  that's exactly what happened to my brother."

Murray senses momentum toward mandatory testing. In 2022, the Oregon Health & Science University paid $1 million to settle a suit after an overdose death.

"What's going to break that barrier is the lawsuits, and the big institutions like Dana-Farber who are implementing programs and seeing them succeed," she said. "I think providers are going to feel kind of bullied into a corner. They're going to continue to hear from families and they are going to have to do something about it."
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common childhood cancer, disproportionately affects children of Hispanic/Latino origin in the United States. They are 30-40% more likely to get ALL than non-Hispanic white children, but the exact genetic basis and cause of that increased risk are unknown.

Now, a study from the Keck School of Medicine of USC has revealed a key genetic variant contributing towards the increased risk, as well as details about the biological basis of ALL. The team used genetic fine-mapping analysis, a statistical method that allows researchers to disentangle the separate effects of genetic variants in a region of the genome. They identified a variant found at a relatively high frequency in people of Hispanic/Latino origin that increases ALL risk by around 1.4 times. The study, funded in part by the National Institutes of Health, was just published in the journal Cell Genomics.

"Combined with the fact that around 30% of Hispanic/Latino people in the United States carry this gene variant, but it's basically absent in people of predominantly European ancestry, we think it's an important contributor to the increased ALL risk among this group," said the study's lead author, Adam de Smith, PhD, an assistant professor of population and public health sciences and a member of the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center at the Keck School of Medicine, as well as a scholar of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

The researchers also performed tests to better understand how the variant, located on the IKZF1 gene, which underlies B-cell development, relates to ALL through its influence on the development of B-cells, a type of white blood cell known to be disrupted by the disease.

Together, the analyses in our study provide the statistical, biological and evolutionary insights behind this increased risk, and may ultimately aid scientists working to develop screening tools and therapies for ALL." Charleston Chiang, PhD, associate professor of population and public health sciences and associate director of the Center of Genetic Epidemiology at the Keck School of Medicine and study's co-senior author

The genetic basis of leukemia risk

To pinpoint the genetic basis of the elevated ALL risk Hispanic/Latino children face, the researchers analyzed genetic data from the California Cancer Records Linkage Project. Their dataset included 1,878 Hispanic/Latino children in California with ALL and 8,411 without the condition; 1,162 non-Hispanic white children with ALL and 57,341 without; and 318 East Asian children with ALL and 5,017 without.

The research team focused on the IKZF1 gene, known to relate to ALL but never before linked with ethnic risk disparities. Using genetic fine-mapping analysis, they independently analyzed each position along the gene-;known as a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-;to determine whether having a certain variant increased ALL risk.

They found three independent SNPs linked to higher ALL incidence, one of which was present in about 30% of people of Hispanic/Latino origin in the U.S. and less than 1% of people of primarily European origin. Although overall risk for the disease is low across all racial/ethnic groups, children with that gene variant, located at SNP rs76880433, were 1.44 times as likely to develop ALL as children without the variant.

The genetic ancestry of most Hispanics/Latinos can be traced to Europe, Africa, and Indigenous America. Further investigation revealed that the risk variant was specifically linked with Indigenous American ancestry and may have become more common in this group because it conferred a selective advantage at some point in human history.

Next, the Keck School of Medicine team partnered with co-senior author Vijay Sankaran, MD, PhD, an associate professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and attending physician at the Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, to conduct a series of experiments to better understand how the genetic variant at IKZF1 increases risk for ALL.

One experiment analyzed chromatin accessibility, a test which indicates how fully a given gene can be expressed. The researchers found that the risk variant reduced chromatin accessibility, preventing IKZF1 proteins from being fully expressed.

Sankaran and his team also conducted experiments with stem cells, finding that "knocking out" the IKZF1 gene caused B-cell development to stall in its early stages.

"Looking at all of this together, we think that the risk variant is reducing IKZF1 expression," de Smith said. "By doing so, it's keeping B-cells in a more immature state, which would increase ALL risk by giving the cells more chance to develop mutations that could eventually lead to overt leukemia."

Leukemia screening and treatment

The new insights about IKZF1 bring researchers one step closer to developing effective screening tools to predict who may develop ALL, but more research is needed. In addition, the findings provide important clues about potential ways to treat the disease, for instance by progressing B-cell development after it stalls.

"We also need to understand whether this variant is associated with different patient outcomes, such as the risk of relapse or chances of survival, and why that might be," de Smith said.

He and his colleagues also hope to explore whether the newly identified risk variant helps explain the even higher risk of ALL among Hispanic/Latino adolescents and young adults, who are more than twice as likely to get the disease than people who are non-Hispanic white.

About this research

In addition to de Smith, Chiang and Sankaran, the study's other authors are Soyoung Jeon, Jalen Langie, Tsz-Fung Chan, Steven Gazal, Nicholas Mancuso and Joseph Wiemels from the Center for Genetic Epidemiology and the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine of USC; Lara Wahlster, Susan Black, Liam Cato, Soumyaa Mazumder and Fulong Yu from Boston Children's Hospital and Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; Linda Kachuri from the Stanford University School of Medicine; Nathan Nakatsuka from the New York Genome Center; Guangze Xia from the Guangzhou National Laboratory, Guangzhoi, China; Wenjian Yang and Jun Yang from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis; Celeste Eng, Donglei Hu, Esteban Gonzalez Burchard and Elad Ziv from the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, San Francisco; Catherine Metayer from the School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley; and Xiaomei Ma from the Yale School of Public Health.

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health [R01CA262263, R01CA155461, R00CA246076, R35GM142783, R01DK103794, R01CA265726]; the New York Stem Cell Foundation; and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Presidential Priorities Initiative.
Under the agreement, Closed Loop Medicine  a leading TechBio company  and pharmaceutical company, Teva UK, will investigate opportunities to use Closed Loop Medicines proprietary software as a medical device (SaMD) technology platform which aims to advance the development of personalized medicines, improve drug efficacy and outcomes in patients with specific chronic disorders by combining dose-optimized drug therapy with digital care.

Dr Paul Goldsmith, Chief Medical Officer and Innovation Officer, Co-Founder and President of Closed Loop Medicine, said: As clinicians, we know that dosing of drugs is a huge problem. In the most extreme cases, we are seeing patients having severe adverse events, for example when required to change dose levels to undergo surgery. Being able to predict personalized dose levels could be transformational.

This strategic partnership harnesses Closed Loop Medicines proprietary SaMD and combines it with Tevas pharmaceutical products creating the opportunity for digital companions to be prescribed alongside traditional therapeutics, enabling real-world data integration and improved effectiveness of innovative and known medicines.

Recent clinical trial results for a hypertension product, CLM-HT01, have demonstrated the technologys ability to dose-optimize drug therapy and minimize side effects whilst achieving blood pressure control, with exceptionally high medication adherence.1

Personalized medicine is an aspiration of the modern healthcare system, yet existing medicines are typically prescribed based on their average effects in a population and rarely dose-optimized for the individual. This one size fits all approach results in increased side effects and adverse reactions, medication non-adherence and consequently poorer patient outcomes and higher healthcare costs for payors. For example, the annual cost of drug-related morbidity and mortality resulting from non-optimized medication was estimated at $528.4 billion in the US, in 2016,2 and the projected annual cost of adverse drug reactions alone to the NHS is 2.21 billion.3

Kim Innes, Tevas General Manager, UK & Ireland, said: We are excited to be working with Closed Loop Medicine, who have demonstrated themselves to be compelling innovators in the area of personalized medicine. We know that the patient experience can sometimes be less than optimal and as the largest supplier of medicines to the NHS, the potential to combine drug & digital could create significant improvements to lives of patients at great scale. We are very excited about the future of this partnership.

Dr. Hakim Yadi OBE, CEO & Co-Founder of Closed Loop Medicine, commented: It is a fantastic opportunity to be working with the Teva team to explore ways in which our combined expertise can advance the delivery of personalized medicine solutions, globally. He added: The integration of real-world data enables personalization of dosing that has historically not been readily available to clinicians before. This commercial partnership is an example of the potential and scalability of our SaMD technology platform, demonstrating the value that can be added by integrating software to well-known and trusted brands to improve disease management and patient outcomes at an individual level.
What is hereditary cancer?

Hereditary cancer is caused by germline mutations, typically following an inheritance pattern within a family. In contrast, sporadic cancer is caused by somatic mutations interacting with environmental factors and lacks any observable family inheritance pattern.

Clinical and genetic heterogeneity are distinctive characteristics of hereditary cancer. These cancers are generally represented by various tumor syndromes. There are hundreds of tumor-susceptibility genes associated with hereditary cancers.

Image Credit: Billion Photos/Shutterstock.com

For instance, BRCA1 and BRCA2 are the most prevalent tumor-susceptibility genes associated with hereditary breast cancer and ovarian cancer, while MLH1 and MSH2 genes are linked to Lynch syndrome and the TP53 gene to Li-Fraumeni syndrome.

Early detection and intervention of hereditary cancer can substantially enhance treatment outcomes and the overall prognosis for the patient.

It is important to note that certain rare genes with pathogenic mutations can be detected in hereditary cancers, such as the CFTR mutation, commonly associated with cystic fibrosis.

BGI Genomics webinar: Advancing Precision Oncology Through Genetic Panels

In a recent webinar titled "Advancing Precision Oncology Through Genetic Panels: Comprehensive Evaluation and Patient-Centric Care," experts Dr. Benjamin Garcia-Bloj and Dr. Ahmet Uludag shared crucial insights shaping the future of precision oncology, highlighting their exceptional performance.

During the webinar, Dr. Garcia-Bloj introduced the audience to hereditary cancer testing, delved into ongoing clinical projects using NGS panels, and emphasized the significant benefits of hereditary cancer testing in precision oncology through real-world case studies.

Dr. Uludag centered his discussion on advancing precision oncology in Turkey, highlighting the clinical significance of NGS technology. He clarified why larger panels are preferred for precision medicine recommendations, offering valuable insights into the evolving landscape of precision oncology.

About the speakers

Dr. Benjamin Garcia-Blo

Dr. Benjamin Garcia-Bloj, a seasoned physician and Doctor in medical sciences, specializes in precision medicine and Genomics, particularly in oncology. With a decade-long tenure in academia and teaching, he is renowned internationally for his expertise. Dr. Garcia-Bloj is currently working as Medical Director at Centro de Oncologia de Precision, Santiago, Chile.

Dr. Ahmet Uludag

Assoc. Dr. Ahmet Uludag completed his doctoral studies in the Medical Genetics program at Eskisehir Osmangazi University. Until 2016, he served as an academician at Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University Faculty of Medicine. Since 2018, he has been employed as a Medical Genetics specialist at Next Genetic Center, assuming the role of chairman of the board of directors at the same institution in 2021.

Watch the Webinar Now

BGI Genomics: Roundtable on Hereditary Cancer with Experts from Turkey & China

In a recent round table discussion conducted by BGI Genomics, Professor Gary Lu and Dr. Ahmet Uludag discussed their perspectives on the significance of genetic testing for diagnosing hereditary cancer. They emphasized the importance of understanding hereditary versus sporadic cancer, common tumor susceptibility genes, and the impact of genetic testing on treatment management.

Professor Gary Lu highlighted the importance of considering rare genes with pathogenic mutations in hereditary cancer diagnosis. He shared a case where a CFTR mutation was identified through panel testing, confirming hereditary cancer in a family. Lu stressed the necessity of genetic testing in cases of rare cancers to identify germ mutations.

Dr. Ahmet Uludag underscored the importance of careful patient selection for genetic testing based on medical and family history. He mentioned guidelines recommending testing for certain cancers and predicts an increasing need for testing in the future. Dr. Uludag also discussed different genetic testing methods and personalized management for patients with positive results.

About the speakers

Professor Gary Lu

Professor Gary Lu is a seasoned cancer researcher specializing in hereditary cancer. With nine years at MD Anderson Cancer Center, he now focuses on this field in China post-retirement, aiming to make impactful contributions to cancer treatment. Understanding genetic testing for hereditary cancer diagnosis

Dr. Ahmet Uludag

Assoc. Dr. Ahmet Uludag has been an Medical Genetics specialist at Next Genetic Center since 2018.

For cancer patients, the decision to undergo genetic testing for the diagnosis of hereditary tumors is complex and requires careful consideration of the patients medical and family history. Identifying germline mutations in tumor-susceptibility genes, achieved through genetic testing using a blood sample, can facilitate the diagnosis of hereditary cancer.

For patients, particularly those diagnosed at a young age or those facing multiple primary cancers, bilateral occurrences, or rare cancer types, genetic testing can significantly contribute to the diagnosis of hereditary cancer. Genetic testing also aids in guiding treatment decisions and assessing the risk of other cancers developing.

For example, a patient with vaginal melanoma underwent genetic testing and was subsequently diagnosed with hereditary melanoma due to the identification of a CDKN2A mutation.

Genetic testing methods currently available for the diagnosis of hereditary cancer include next-generation sequencing (NGS), polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and PCR amplification restriction endonuclease (REA) for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) for deletions and amplifications, and preimplantation genetic testing (PGT-M) for embryos.

Image Credit: Natali _ Mis/Shutterstock.com

Hereditary cancer risk management

The interpretation of test results is essential in genetic testing for families with a history of hereditary cancer. Positive results provide a straightforward diagnosis, but dealing with variants of uncertain significance (VUS) can be challenging and require careful interpretation. There must be a clear distinction between phenotype and genotype.

In addition to the test results, both the family's cancer history and clinical feature information (such as age, age of cancer occurrence, number of cancers, and whether the cancer is bilateral or rare cancer) are crucial for the management process.

There are three parts of management for hereditary cancer family:

Cancer patients: Patients should prioritize personalized treatment and monitor for signs of cancer recurrence (particularly minimal residual disease), the development of new primary cancers, and the occurrence of therapy-related leukemia. Carriers: Education is important for tumor occurrence monitoring. Carriers must know what they need to pay attention to. For example, BRCA gene mutation carriers should know how to discover and manage breast nodes for early breast cancer detection, as well as monitor irregular menstruation for the early detection of ovarian cancer. Non-cancer baby birth: Young carriers or young cancer patients planning to have children should be informed about the necessary tests to ensure the birth of a non-cancer baby. PGT-M is available in most reproductive centers and is a good test to prevent the transplantation of fertilized eggs with mutated genes.

Genetic counseling for concerns about hereditary cancer

Individuals with a familial cancer history who wish to evaluate the risk of hereditary cancer should undergo professional cancer genetic counseling, both for the person undergoing testing and their family members.

There are three parts to genetic counseling:

Professional counseling: Patients, carriers, and the family must understand the risk of developing cancer throughout their lives and the types of cancer that could occur. They must know how to detect the occurrence of cancer and understand the necessary steps for early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. They must also engage in health management post-treatment. Psychological counseling: Psychological counseling is important for the entire family, whether supporting the patient during treatment or recovery or helping carriers cope with the potential occurrence of cancer. Maintaining an optimistic mindset is essential for their overall well-being. Ethical counseling: Ethical considerations may vary across systems, but it is crucial to adhere to principles outlined in policies. Patient or family autonomy remains important within any policy.

Diagnosis and treatment: The influence of personalized management in hereditary cancers

Personalized management can affect the diagnosis and treatment of hereditary cancers. For example, the status of homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) is critical in determining the effectiveness of the assessment of PARP inhibitors. This information guides clinicians in deciding whether to administer these drugs, particularly in cases of ovarian cancer. In mainland China, BGI Genomics offers HRD score testing.

Image Credit: Anusorn Nakdee/Shutterstock.com

BGI Genomics: Comprehensive hereditary cancer panels

BGI Genomics provides comprehensive hereditary cancer panels encompassing 90 genes associated with 25 types of hereditary cancers.

These panels enable a thorough analysis of genetic mutations, providing valuable insights for risk assessment, diagnosis, and treatment planning. This includes the detailed risk management and assessment information provided in BGI Genomics' genetic testing report.

BGI Genomics' expertise in sequencing and data analysis ensures the detection of various genetic mutations, including single nucleotide variants, insertions, deletions, and copy number variants. Notably, BGI Genomics has conducted over 40,000 BRCA1 and BRCA2 tests, with a VUS rate of 4% in ovarian cancer.

BGI Genomics' extensive testing capacity allows for efficiently processing a high volume of samples. The company maintains a strict quality management system to ensure authoritative genetic testing results.

Insights from BGI Genomics

When a family finds out that they have a hereditary cancer risk, how do you manage the entire family's sort of process for testing and the same kind of decision making through that?

Professor Gary Lu: There are three key aspects to consider when dealing with hereditary cancer within a family. The first aspect centers around the cancer patient. For individuals already diagnosed with cancer, personalized treatment is of utmost importance. After treatment, ongoing monitoring through tools like Minimal Residual Disease (MRD) assessments is critical to detect any potential recurrences. Furthermore, vigilance is required to identify any new primary cancers, allowing for early diagnosis and swift intervention. This concern extends to sporadic cancer cases, with particular attention to therapy-related leukemia, which presents unique treatment challenges. The second aspect that must be considered is the mutated gene carriers, who may not have developed cancer themselves. These carriers serve as a sort of "minister" guiding others in their family toward understanding and managing the hereditary cancer syndrome associated with the genetic mutation. For instance, I had a patient with a specific genetic mutation related to breast and ovarian cancers. After genetic counseling, I advised her on how to monitor her health and when to take special precautions. A few months later, she reported feeling unwell despite no visible changes in her breast. However, irregular menstrual cycles, altered blood color, and abdominal pain raised concerns. I recommended a CA125 test, which revealed a ninefold increase over normal levels. Subsequent MRI scans detected an ovarian mass, prompting swift action. Detecting primary cancers in carriers is crucial, underscoring the importance of education and early intervention. The third group encompasses young carriers who want to have children. In this scenario, our objective is to guide them through Preimplantation Genetic Testing (PGT) to ensure that their offspring are not born with cancer-related genetic mutations. PGT prevents the transfer of these mutations to the next generation, offering hope for cancer-free births. Ahmet Uludag: Our approach involves several important steps in our clinic when we encounter families with a hereditary cancer history. First and foremost, we provide genetic counseling to the family, offering genetic testing if deemed necessary. This initial step helps identify individuals who might be at risk for hereditary cancer and provides valuable information regarding screening and preventive measures. Following genetic counseling and testing, we establish a plan for regular screenings. Those with a family history of hereditary cancer often require routine screenings, such as mammograms or colonoscopies, among others, to detect any potential issues at an early stage. Additionally, we emphasize the significance of lifestyle modifications. Encouraging healthy choices, including maintaining a healthy weight, regular exercise, and abstaining from tobacco and alcohol, plays a pivotal role in reducing the risk of cancer development. Finally, we place great emphasis on providing support and education to families dealing with hereditary cancer. Access to resources that offer guidance on coping with the emotional and psychological impact of a cancer diagnosis is crucial for these individuals and their loved ones. Comprehensive support and education are integral components of our approach to managing hereditary cancer in families.

BGI Genomics was chosen as the central laboratory for a pivotal cancer study in collaboration with AstraZeneca, and the data generated from this partnership played a significant role in obtaining FDA approval for Olaparib in January 2018. Could you shed some light on the unique strengths and capabilities of BGI Genomics that made it an ideal choice for conducting these crucial tests?

Professor Gary Lu: BGI Genomics offers comprehensive hereditary cancer panels ecompassing 90 genes associated with 20 different types of hereditary cancers. These panels facilitate a thorough examination of genetic mutations, providing valuable insights for risk assessment, diagnosis, and treatment planning. The expertise of BGI Genomics sequencing and data analysis specialists ensures the detection of various types of genetic mutations, including single nucleotide variants, insertions, deletions, and copy number variations, which are paramount in cancer research and diagnosis. One of BGI Genomics' remarkable strengths lies in its extensive experience, having conducted over 40,000 BRCA1 and BRCA2 tests. This experience extends to ovarian cancer, where BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations play a significant role, with a notable reduction in the rate of BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations detected, particularly in ovarian cancer cases, dropping to as low as 4%. Ovarian and breast cancers are prevalent among women and often have hereditary components. Moreover, BGI Genomics upholds rigorous quality management standards, ensuring the delivery of reliable and authorized genetic testing results. Personally, I have had a close and successful collaboration with BGI Genomics, recommending many of my patients utilize their genetic testing services for hereditary cancer.

Watch "Roundtable on Hereditary Cancer with Experts from Turkey & China - Part 1"

About BGI Genomics

BGI Genomics headquartered in Shenzhen, China, is the world's leading integrated solutions provider of precision medicine. Their services cover more than 100 countries and regions, involving more than 2,300 medical institutions. In July 2017, as a subsidiary of BGI Group, BGI Genomics (300676.SZ) was officially listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

They provide academic institutions, pharmaceutical companies, healthcare providers, and other organizations with integrated genomic sequencing, proteomic services, clinical testing, and solutions across a broad range of applications.

Sponsored Content Policy: News-Medical.net publishes articles and related content that may be derived from sources where we have existing commercial relationships, provided such content adds value to the core editorial ethos of News-Medical.Net which is to educate and inform site visitors interested in medical research, science, medical devices and treatments.
Stocks To Watch On March 26: Taking cues from a global rally, domestic equities surged last week after the US central bank hinted at rate cuts later this year. In todays trade, shares of Ashok Leyland, Mankind Pharma, Vedanta, Lupin, Paradeep Phosphates among others will be in focus due to various developments.

UltraTech Cement: The company has added 1 million metric tonnes per annum (MTPA) of brownfield cement capacity at its Uttarakhand unit, bringing the total unit capacity to 2.1 MTPA.

Mankind Pharma: Beige is planning to sell up to a 2.90 percent stake in Mankind Pharma through block deals, reported CNBC TV 18. The offer price is expected to be in the range of Rs 2,103-2,214 per share, representing a discount of 0-5 percent to Fridays closing price. Presently, Beige holds a 2.99 percent stake in Mankind.

RIL: Reliance Industries acquired a 100 per cent stake in MSKVY Nineteenth Solar SPV and MSKVY Twenty-second Solar SPV from MSEB Solar Agro Power.

Vedanta: Mining conglomerate Vedanta is looking to invest $6 billion across businesses that span from aluminium and zinc to iron ore, steel and oil and gas as it looks to add at least $2.5 billion to annual EBITDA.

Paytm: Praveen Sharma has resigned from the post of SVP  Business of One 97 Communications with effect from March 31.

ICICI Securities: The company has received a warning from SEBI following an inspection of its books and records related to merchant banking activities.

JSW Energy: The companys step-down unit has entered into an agreement with Reliance Power to acquire a 45 MW wind power project in Maharashtra for Rs 132 crore.

RVNL: Rail Vikas Nigam has signed an MoU with the Airports Authority of India to construct a subway connecting the operational area to the residential colony in Kolkata, with an estimated cost of Rs 229.43 crore.

Financial Services stocks: IIFL Finance Ltd and JM Financial Products Ltd (JMFPL) are set to undergo a special audit to delve deeper into their regulatory breaches, as the RBI has initiated the process to appoint auditors for this purpose.

Lupin: The pharmaceutical major is set to sell its trade generics businesses in India for Rs 100-120 crore on a slump sale basis.

HAL: Hindustan Aeronautics secured an order worth Rs 194 crore from the Guyana Defence Force.

Sanghi Industries: The company saw promoter Ambuja Cements divest a 2 per cent stake in the company for Rs 258 crore, reducing the promoters stake to 60.44 per cent.

Medplus Health: The companys services received a temporary suspension order for two of its stores.

Maruti Suzuki India: The company recalled 11,185 units of the Baleno and 4,190 units of the Wagon R due to a possible fuel pump motor defect. Additionally, it agreed to acquire a 6.44 per cent stake in Amlgo Labs for Rs 1.99 crore.

Eicher Motors: The company established a wholly owned subsidiary in the Netherlands named Royal Enfield Europe BV.
BSEB Bihar Board Matric Result 2024 LIVE

The Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) is set to declare the Class 10 (Matric) exam results soon. Once the results have been released, students who took the class 10 Matric exams can access them at biharboardonline.bihar.gov.in. As per reports, the BSEB class 10 results will be declared this month. The Bihar Board hasnt, however, released an official statement regarding the timing and date of the result.

The Bihar Board 10th examination was conducted from February 15 to February 23, 2024. The Bihar Board Matric topper verification is expected to begin on March 27, and the board plans to publish further information on the matter soon.

To pass the exam, students must receive at least 33 per cent of the possible marks in each topic and 150 marks in total. The results and names of the toppers will be revealed on the day of the result announcement at a press conference hosted by BSEB and attended by the state minister of education. The Bihar Board matriculation test this year is said to have been taken by roughly 16 lakh students.
The Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) has announced the intermediate batches of 2023-24 on March 23. The board has also released the list of toppers in different streams including arts, commerce, and science. Following the declaration, the BSEB held a press conference at the Main Hall of Sinha Library in Patna. At the conference, the board detailed the names of the toppers, overall pass percentages, and more. As per the announcement, the overall passing percentage of this year has shown a significant improvement. It has stood at 87.21%.

According to the declaration, Tushar Kumar hailing from Dariapur, Saran has secured the first position with a total score of 482 out of 500. He belongs to the arts stream and has gained 96.4% of the score. He is followed by Mritunjay Kumar from Science, who has secured the second position in the state with 481 marks and 96.2%. Priya Kumar from commerce stream has secured 478 marks with 95.6%.

In the toppers list, Simran Gupta and Varun Kumar from science have secured fourth and fifth position, respectively with 477 marks each in the 2023-24 exam.

The names in the list include the students belonging to ordinary families that majorly struggle financially. While some students fathers sell vegetables, others work as farmers. One of the most common things in all the students is their big dreams and ambitions.

According to a News18 report, Mrityunjay Kumar hails from Siwan district. He studies at GM High School in Barharia. His father Rajesh Prasad owns a grocery shop in the region and provides for the family. While talking on News18, Mrityunjay mentioned that he will be preparing for the UPSC examination in the future.

Priya Kumar from Sheikhpura is a student of Mahatma Gandhi Adarsh High School in Barbigha. She mentioned that she is aspiring to pursue her career in the banking sector.

According to the BSEB, a total of 12,91,684 students, comprising 6,22,217 girls and 6,69,467 boys have appeared in the examination this year. Out of which, as many as 11,26,439 students have passed the exam.
The exams for the graduation students of Veer Kunwar Singh University in Arrah, Bihar, are likely to be postponed due to upcoming Lok Sabha elections 2024.

The University administration may postpone a few examinations due to clash with polling dates. Apart from this, the administration is also facing a dilemma over exam centres as several colleges could also be used at polling centres.

The university management is considering alternative ways to avoid disruption in conduct of examinations amid elections.

According to the schedule, Veer Kunwar Singh Universitys Graduation Part 3 exams for Session 2021-24 will be held from April 5. This year, over 80 thousand students are going to appear for the examination. In the meantime, the Lok Sabha election dates were announced recently. There is now a clash between the voting and examination dates. As a result, the entire examination schedule may be changed.

Many colleges in the Bhojpur, Buxar, Rohtas, and Kaimur districts have their graduation Part 3 examinations. Now that the Lok Sabha elections dates are announced, polling parties and election centres are reportedly planned in some of these colleges.

This year, examination centres will be established in 44 colleges in the districts of Bhojpur, Buxar, Rohtas, and Kaimur. With the release of the Lok Sabha Election schedule, most of the colleges are expected to be used as polling centres.

The Maharaja College in Arrah has been designated as a Lok Sabha election training centre. In addition, Al Hafeez College in Arrah and Jawaharlal Nehru College Dehri-on-Sone in Rohtas district have been designated for election-related activities. Moreover, election-related operations, as well as the deployment of military personnel, are also being carried out from the HD Jain College in Arrah. The university administration is now deliberating whether or not to designate certain colleges as examination centres.

Speaking to News18, Controller of Examinations of Veer Kunwar Singh University Dr Anwar Imam said that there is pressure from the Raj Bhavan Secretariat to continue the academic sessions as per the schedule. The Education Department and Raj Bhavan have requested that the exams be conducted per the prescribed calendar. Also, a plan has been developed for conducting the exams, Dr Imam added.

The graduation examination subjects are organised into four groups. The examinations will be conducted daily, depending on the group, Dr Anwar Imam explained.

The Lok Sabha Elections 2024 will be held in seven phases, from April 19 to June 1. Polling in Bihar for all 40 Lok Sabha seats will be held across 7 phases.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) had previously invited online applications from eligible Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs). The applications were in accordance with Regulation 3(A) and Regulation 3(B)(b) of the UGC (Open and Distance Learning courses and Online courses) Regulations, 2020, and its subsequent amendments, for the recognition of courses under the Open and Distance Learning (ODL) mode.

On the basis of that online application form, a list of HEIs recognised to offer online and ODL programs has been published by the UGC. Students can visit the official UGC-DEB website at deb.ugc.ac.in/Search/Course and access a comprehensive list of universities providing diverse online courses.

The UGC has approved approximately 80 universities to offer multiple online distance learning undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. The universities include Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi, Netaji Subhas Open University in Kolkata, Amity University in Uttar Pradesh, Maulana Azad National Urdu University in Hyderabad, Punjab University in Chandigarh, Dibrugarh University in Assam, and Guntur University in Andhra Pradesh.

In an official notification, the University Grants Commission said, The Higher Educational Institution shall also adhere to the policy of territorial jurisdiction and learner support centres (LSC) as specified in Annexures III and VIII of the University Grants Commission (Open and Distance Learning Programmes and Online Programmes) Regulations, 2O2O, and its amendments.

Meanwhile, the commission has also issued guidelines that students should take care of while applying to any institute for online distance learning programmes.

Students shall confirm the recognition status of HEI for offering ODL and online education for the session opted for admission on the UGC DEB website, check the details on the HEIs web portal, take note of prohibited programmes and the prohibition of franchising arrangements, and ensure that all activities are being conducted within the territorial jurisdiction for ODL programmes, the Commission added.

These regulations lay down the minimum standards of instruction for the grant of degrees at the UG and PG levels and grant of post graduate diploma of duration of two years in Open and Distance Learning and/or Online mode, the UGC concluded.

For the academic session beginning February 2024, the last date for admissions to ODL and online programmes is scheduled for March 31, 2024. The Higher Educational Institutions are required to upload student admission details on the UGC-DEB website by April 15.
The BJP on Tuesday named six disqualified Congress MLAs as its candidates for the Himachal Pradesh Assembly bypolls, triggering a rebellion by party leaders who expected they would be fielded from these seats.

Hours after the BJP announcement, former minister Ram Lal Markanda quit the party and announced he would definitely contest the bypolls. BJP leader Ranjit Singh also said he will contest as an Independent.

Former minister Virender Kanwar, who was defeated last time by one of the Congress rebels, expressed displeasure over the announcement by his party.

The BJP nominated the six former MLAs from the same seats they held as Congress members before their disqualification from the House.

Sudhir Sharma has been fielded from Dharamshala, Ravi Thakur from Lahaul and Spiti, Rajinder Rana from Sujanpur, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal from Barsar, Chetanya Sharma from Gagret and Devinder Kumar Bhutto from Kutlehar.

All six of them switched over to the BJP from the Congress on March 23, nearly a month after being disqualified from the House for defying a party whip to be present and vote in favour of the Congress-led government during the cut motions and budget.

Markanda quit the party to protest the fielding of Ravi Thakur, who had defeated him on the Lahaul and Spiti seat in the last Assembly election by a margin of 1,542 votes.

The entire BJP block unit of Lahaul Spiti also resigned in protest against the partys decision and pledged support to Markanda.

Markanada, a former agriculture and tribal development minister during the previous BJP government led by Jai Ram Thakur, was a frontrunner for the BJP ticket from the Lahaul and Spiti Assembly seat.

I will contest the Assembly bypolls for sure. There is a possibility of my contesting from the Congress, Markanda said, adding that a meeting of the Lahaul and Spiti core committee has been convened to chalk out the future strategy.

Former BJP rural development and Panchayati raj minister Virender Kanwar said the people of his constituency are upset that the BJP nominated Congress rebel Devinder Kumar Bhutto, a first-time MLA, from Kutlehar in his place.

The party is above everything but the people of my constituency are disappointed and want that the decision of the party should be reviewed by conducting a fresh survey on popularity in the area. Bhutto worked like a dictator in the past 15 months and has lost his goodwill, he told PTI.

The BJPs Ranjit Singh, who lost to his Congress rival Rajendra Rana in the 2022 assembly polls by a margin of 399 votes, said he would contest as an Independent.

In the Lok Sabha elections, I will support the party candidate Union minister Anurag Singh Thakur but in the by-polls, I will contest as an Independent candidate, he added.

Talking to media persons here on Tuesday, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said some BJP leaders, including Markanda and Rakesh Kalia of Gagret, were in contact with the Congress.

People of Himachal are intelligent, believe in democracy and would give a befitting reply to those practising aaya ram, gaya ram culture in Dev Bhumi Himachal, especially those who sold themselves, he said.

I want to inform you that even the 25 sitting legislators of the BJP are feeling suffocated, Sukhu added.

Among the names announced by the BJP, Sudhir Sharma is a four-term MLA and former minister while Rajinder Rana defeated former chief minister and BJP candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal in 2017.

Three-time legislator Lakhanpal is a former chief parliamentary secretary, while Ravi Thakur, a two-time legislator, is a former chairman of the state Congress Seva Dal and ex-vice chairperson of the National Commission for Schedule Tribes.

Chetanya Sharma and Devinder Kumar Bhutto are first-time MLAs. These MLAs and three Independents had voted in favour of the BJP nominee Harsh Mahajan in the Rajya Sabha polls held in the state on February 27, triggering a crisis for the Congress-led government in the state.

The three independents, Ashish Sharma (Hamirpur constituency), Hoshiyar Singh (Dehra) and K L Thakur (Nalagarh), submitted their resignation on March 22 and joined the BJP on the next day.

With the disqualification of six Congress MLAs, the strength of the ruling party came down from 40 to 34, including the Speaker who can vote only in the case of a tie during a floor test, in the 68-member Assembly. The BJP has 25 members.

Ever since the Rajya Sabha polls, the BJP and Congress have been trading charges with the ruling party slamming the opposition for hatching a conspiracy to topple the democratically elected government in the state by using money power and maintaining that the public will not forgive the Congress rebels for their betrayal.

The BJP has said that the Congress government is in the minority and the chief minister should have resigned on moral grounds.
The BJPs Himachal Pradesh unit on Tuesday filed a complaint with the states chief electoral officer, seeking legal action against the Congress leaders Supriya Shrinate and H S Ahir after demeaning remarks on Kangana Ranaut and Mandi were posted on their social media handles.

Actor Kangana Ranaut is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Himachal Pradeshs Mandi on a BJP ticket.

The BJPs complaint said that the Congress leaders have misused social media to try and demean its Lok Sabha candidate Ranaut.

These remarks, derogatory and sexually oriented, which undermine the dignity of a woman are also in violation of the mandatory guidelines of the Model Code of Conduct.

These individuals used vile and vulgar language on social media platforms against Kangana Ranaut which is also a clear infringement of her right to dignity and decency as envisaged in Chapter III of the Constitution of India, the party stated.

It accused the Congress leaders of intending to assassinate Kangana Ranauts character. The BJP also said that the highly objectionable and indecent statements clearly show that the Congress has no respect towards the law of the land.

Former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jai Ram Thakur, in a statement, condemned the remarks on Mandi that were posted on Shrinates social media account and said she has made a big mistake as people visit Mandi, also known as choti Kashi, with faith.

The BJP is examining the legal angles and moving towards registering a case in this matter, said Thakur who is also the leader of opposition in Himachal Pradesh.

It is unfortunate that being a woman herself, the Congress spokesperson has made such remarks against another woman and now she is trying to retract by saying that someone has used her other account, the BJP leader.

The people of Himachal Pradesh will not spare the Congress and it will have to face the consequences not only in Mandi but in the entire state and other parts of the country in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, he said.

Earlier, in her clarification, Shrinate had said that many people have access to her Facebook and Instagram accounts, and someone from them made the inappropriate post.

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 had said.

Thakur also asked what action Shrinate has taken against those who used her account and what she has to say about the comments made in reply to her social media posts.

Ranaut also hit out at Shrinate, saying every woman, irrespective of her background and profession, deserves dignity.

The Congress has been in the crosshairs after demeaning remarks on Ranaut and Mandi were posted on the social media handles of its leaders Supriya Shrinate and H S Ahir.

Party leader Sandeep Dikshit said the party has always believed there is no place for such language in public discourse and the matter should end with Shrinate clearing the air.
Implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), allegations of sexual assault and forcible land grab in Sandeshkhali, corruption charges, including the recruitment and ration scam, against the Mamata Banerjee government and overall Hindu consolidation  the Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) list for 38 of the 42 seats in West Bengal takes all of it into consideration.

It also reflects the BJPs change in strategy. Some sitting MPs, including a central minister, have been fielded from different seats, at least three turncoats got candidature and the idea of fielding Muslim candidates in seats that have Muslim majority has been shunted. The BJP, in the assembly election in 2021 in Bengal, had fielded at least seven Muslim candidates, primarily in Malda and Murshidabad, in contrast to no Muslim candidate in 2019.

ALSO READ | Shakti Swaroopa: PM Modi Dials Sandeshkhali Protester Rekha Patra Who Is Contesting LS Polls On BJP Ticket

This election season, the BJP has so far fielded only one Muslim candidate in Kerala, keeping the demography and related issues in mind.

MUSLIM FACTOR VS HINDU CONSOLIDATION

West Bengals demography and its location play a crucial role in the elections. The state has at least 28-30% Muslim population. Seven districts are located near two constituencies that have over 60% Muslim population, along with constituencies that have over 35-40% of Muslim vote share, which will be seen as a deciding factor in the elections.

Of the 38 Lok Sabha seats, four seats in Murshidabad and Malda districts, with Muslim population over 50-60% in some areas, did not get a candidate from the community on the BJPs list. Candidates for the remaining four seats, which are still to be announced, are unlikely to be Muslim too. The decision shows that the BJP will be going on the Hindutva plank in Bengal.

The BJP is focused on Hindu consolidation using CAA, and is trying to ensure that the SC, ST and Dalit Hindu or refugee Hindu votes do not split. Senior leaders of the party and its affiliated organisations have gone through all complex calculations of Bengals voter base and vote shares of different castes in different regions.

ALSO READ | BJP Takes Outsider Jibe At Mamata After TMC List Starring Yusuf Pathan

The message is loud and clear. If Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress (TMC) are going all out to save their Muslim vote bank, the BJP will take the electoral-political position needed to consolidate all Hindu votes in the region.

According to a senior leader in Bengal BJP, the party has also considered the voting pattern of Muslims in the region vis-a-vis the voting pattern of Hindus. Banerjee is confident of her Muslim vote bank as she knows that Muslims traditionally opt for block voting, while Hindu votes, especially in a state like Bengal, can never be consolidated. So the candidates need to be decided based on issues and strategies need to be designed based on the demography, he said.

SLOW AND STRATEGIC

Both the TMC and its main Opposition BJP have announced their lists for the battle of Bengal.

Even as the list of TMC candidates was announced by partys national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, in the presence of state CM and party chief Mamata Banerjee, from the partys public meeting in Kolkata with much pomp and show almost a fortnight ago, the BJP has been slow and strategic" in announcing names, said senior BJP leaders.

ALSO READ | West Bengal Lok Sabha Elections: Sandeshkhali Protester, Ex-Judge Abhijit Ganguly Among Surprises in BJP List

The BJP, which expects to cross last Lok Sabha elections tally, has conducted multiple ground surveys. The decision to notify the CAA, spearheading a movement around the allegations of sexual assault and land grab in Sandeshkhali and adjacent areas, and building a momentum around corruption charges against Banerjees government are reflections of those surveys.

Candidates such as Rekha Patra, the woman who first registered complaint of sexual assault and became the face of the womens movement in Sandeshkhali, or retired justice Abhijit Ganguly, who made observations against the TMC in connection with the recruitment scam, are non-political. But the party picked them to keep the issues alive. These are the faces of all those movements," said another senior central BJP leader. We have our old guards on the list too. In some places, some sitting candidates were changed as our surveys suggested so," he added.
Its a second homecoming for mining baron and Gangavati MLA Gali Janardhana Reddy in the BJP; a decision he claims was made in the nations interest and to secure a hat-trick for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Modi is our mantra and he is the true Vishwaguru I am happy to be back home. BJP is in my blood, and nothing gives me more happiness than returning to the place I truly belong to, said Reddy in an interview to News18 shortly after his official rejoining ceremony.

Reddy described his decision as vital for the nation, aiming to contribute towards the BJPs success in Karnataka and bolster Prime Minister Modis poll pitch, potentially inching closer to the 400-seat mark in the Lok Sabha.

My sole objective is to ensure that Modi ji is re-elected for the third time. This time, it will be a hat-trick for him. The whole world is looking towards our country and PM Modi is responsible for this. I want to do my work as a party worker and ensure a solid win for our leader, he added.

Reddy also merged his two-year-old party, the Kalyana Rajya Pragati Paksha (KRPP), with the BJP. The KRPP was launched in 2022 after Reddys split from the saffron party, severing a political relationship spanning over two decades.

I see a very positive situation for the BJP in the country as well as within the party. Yes, I have merged my party as this is where I am meant to be, Reddy said. I had left the party due to certain reasons. But today, it feels like returning to my mothers lap, filled with love. It doesnt feel like I am re-entering the BJP karyalaya after 13 years.

Reddys homecoming is anticipated to transfer his political influence over districts such as Ballari, Koppal, Chitradurga, and Bagalkote to the BJP, which the party hopes will boost electoral prospects in the parliamentary polls.

The middle brother of the famous Reddy trio from Karnatakas mine-rich Ballari, Janardhana Reddy re-entered active politics just before the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections after a 12-year hiatus. Arrested in a multi-crore illegal mining case in 2011, Reddy has largely maintained a low profile since his release on bail in 2015, with several court-imposed restrictions.

What stirred controversy in 2018 was Reddy sharing the dais with BS Yediyurappa and then Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan alongside the BJP candidate for Molkalmuru, Sriramulu, during the Assembly elections. Sriramulu, a former BJP minister, is a close associate of the Reddys.

Janardhana Reddy was seen quietly campaigning for Sriramulu while sitting in a farmhouse on the outskirts of Chitradurga district a few kilometres from Ballari, adhering to the court ruling of staying away from the Ballari district itself.

The BJP distanced itself from Reddy after his arrest. Asked about Reddys association with the party, then BJP national president Amit Shah had responded: The BJP has nothing to do with Janardhana Reddy.

Reddy recently met Amit Shah, now the Union Home Minister, in New Delhi before his readmission into the BJP.

Clearly, Reddy retains the support and blessings of senior BJP leader and parliamentary board member BS Yediyurappa, despite his revolt against him in 2009.

Janardhana Reddy and others have rejoined the BJP, and in my opinion, it is a very good decision that he has taken. This will strengthen our party, Yediyurappa remarked.

Addressing claims that he had accused the BJP of betrayal leading to the formation of his own party, Reddy clarified: I did not say that the BJP betrayed me. I said some people did, and now all that is in the past. I am back as a humble worker, with the intent to honestly work for the BJP.

Interestingly, in the recently held Rajya Sabha elections, Janardhana Reddy had extended his support to Congress candidate Ajay Maken.

BJP insiders reveal Reddy had been actively communicating with the partys central leadership since December about his interest in returning to the fold. He, however, faced stiff resistance from certain quarters within the state and central units of the party.

Unable to secure a BJP ticket, Reddy had decided to form his own party in 2022 and won the Gangavati seat in the 2023 elections. His wife Aruna contested on the party symbol in Ballari, but lost the election.

Having established themselves as successful iron ore exporters, Reddy, along with his brothers, Karunakara and Somashekhar, found their political calling in the early 1990s when senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj contested from the Ballari Lok Sabha seat in 1999 against Congress president Sonia Gandhi. At the time, Ballari, known earlier as Bellary, was a Congress stronghold, posing a challenge to Swaraj.

The Reddy brothers, sons of a police constable, worked tirelessly for Swaraj, whom they affectionately called thayee (mother in Kannada), to ensure a win.

Though Swaraj lost, her political campaign had impressed many in Ballari. Janardhana Reddys involvement paved the way for the brothers to take control of the region, and the mining family played a pivotal role in building the BJP from ground zero, adding a significant number of seats to the party kitty.

Janardhana Reddy, known for his opulent lifestyle, including owning a fleet of luxury cars and a helicopter, had faced severe backlash when he hosted a lavish wedding allegedly worth Rs 500 crore for his daughter Brahmani at the peak of demonetization in 2016.
As India gears up for Lok Sabha elections 2024, Meta, the parent company of social media giants like Facebook and Instagram, has announced its strategy to combat misinformation, ensure election integrity, and promote transparency on its platforms.

Misinformation, in the form of audio or video or image or text, on social media poses a significant challenge during elections due to its ability to rapidly spread and influence public opinion. With the proliferation of digital platforms, misinformation can easily reach a wide audience, often exploiting echo chambers and confirmation biases. False narratives, manipulated content, and fake news can sway voter perceptions, undermine trust in electoral processes, and even incite violence.

Moreover, the anonymity afforded by social media allows malicious actors to disseminate misinformation unchecked, making it difficult to discern fact from fiction. As a result, combating misinformation on social media has become imperative to safeguard the integrity of elections and ensure informed decision-making among voters.

The Ministry of Electronics and IT has frequently dispatched advisories to social media platforms, emphasizing adherence to IT rules and underscoring the paramount importance of prioritising the safety of Digital Nagariks (digital citizens) from misinformation and deepfakes.

It is a legal obligation for online platforms to prevent the spread of misinformation by any user under the IT Rules, 2021. They are further mandated to remove such content within 36 hours upon receiving a report from either a user or government authority. Failure to comply with this requirement invokes Rule 7, which empowers aggrieved individuals to take platforms to court under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Platforms must take proactive measures to combat this threat, MoS Rajeev Chandrasekhar had stated.

In a recent blog post, Meta outlined its multifaceted approach to supporting free and fair elections, drawing on its extensive resources and global expertise in safeguarding democratic processes.

The Meta Way

It stated that with a workforce of approximately 40,000 individuals dedicated to safety and security globally, Meta has invested over $20 billion in teams and technology since 2016. This includes 15,000 content reviewers proficient in more than 70 languages, including 20 Indian languages, who scrutinise content across its platforms.

Meta has developed industry-leading transparency tools for ads related to social issues, elections, or politics, along with robust policies to prevent election interference and voter fraud. Additionally, it boasts the largest third-party fact-checking program among social media platforms, collaborating with 11 partners across India covering 16 languages.

To address the evolving threat landscape, Meta will establish an India-specific Elections Operations Center, comprising experts from various domains within the company. This centre will monitor and mitigate potential threats in real time across Metas apps and technologies.

In collaboration with the Election Commission of India through the Voluntary Code of Ethics, Meta aims to swiftly respond to unlawful content flagged by the commission. The platform will intensify efforts to remove misinformation that could suppress voting or incite violence, especially false claims targeting religious communities.

Moreover, acknowledging the risks associated with the misuse of AI-generated content, Meta has committed to monitoring emerging trends and updating its policies accordingly. It stated that the platform enforces stringent Community Standards and Guidelines governing all content, whether generated by AI or individuals. Moreover, AI-generated content undergoes scrutiny by independent fact-checkers, with altered content experiencing reduced distribution.

In a bid to enhance transparency, Meta mandates advertisers globally to disclose the use of AI or digital methods in creating or altering political or social issue ads in certain cases. Advertisers must complete an authorization process and include a paid for by disclaimer, with all relevant information stored in the publicly accessible Ad Library for seven years.

Beyond combating misinformation, Meta is actively engaged in consumer education initiatives to empower users in identifying and addressing falsehoods. Collaborating with the Misinformation Combat Alliance, Meta has introduced a WhatsApp helpline to tackle AI-generated misinformation, complemented by training sessions for law enforcement officials.

Meta said that WhatsApp continues to implement measures to curb virality, limiting message forwarding and providing users with greater control over their privacy settings.

As the countdown to the elections begins, in late March, Meta will launch the Celebrate Each Vote campaign in collaboration with national and regional creators to foster voter awareness and combat voter apathy. Through these initiatives, Meta aims to uphold the integrity of democratic processes and foster informed civic participation in Indias upcoming elections.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will be contesting roughly 440 seats in the Lok Sabha polls starting from April 19. The party has already declared candidates for 90 per cent of these seats, 402, nearly four weeks before the votes in the first phase are cast in a 44-day-long election.

The BJP has dropped as many as 100 or nearly a third of its present Lok Sabha MPs from the polls. There are multiple messages behind this strategy.

One, it means each BJP candidate in the upcoming elections gets at least a month to campaign in his or her constituency. This is vital in a fight where the BJP is looking to up its strike rate of winning seats from 70 per cent in 2019 to 83 per cent in 2024 to achieve Prime Minister Narendra Modis ambitious aim of 370 seats for the party.

Two, dropping as many as 100 MPs means the BJP has been ruthless in casting aside its incumbent parliamentarians who the party thinks cant win again. This includes some big names and union ministers like General VK Singh from Ghaziabad, Ashwini Choubey from Buxar, and Meenakshi Lekhi from New Delhi. The BJP has also dropped controversial leaders like Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, Ramesh Bidhuri, and Pravesh Verma.

The effort is to cut anti-incumbency, though the party maintains that the factor is at work against the dropped candidates while the Prime Ministers appeal remains strong. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his first message to the cadre at the national convention had made it clear  that BJPs candidate on each seat is the Lotus, a senior BJP leader told News18.

Third, the party has carefully negotiated tie-ups aiming towards 370 seats for itself and 400-plus for the National Democratic Alliance. Like the alliance with the Telugu Desam Party and Pawan Kalyan in Andhra Pradesh which has brightened the BJPs chances in six seats it will contest in the state after drawing a blank the last time.

The alliance with the Biju Janata Dal has not worked as the BJP thinks Sambit Patra and Aparajita Sarangi have the best chance to win from Puri and Bhubaneswar respectively. But the BJD was not ready to part with these seats.

The BJP has not declared candidates for any seat in Punjab so far where talks with the Akali Dal are ongoing and the state goes to polls in the last phase on June 1.

In Maharashtra, the BJP has declared candidates for 23 seats out of the 27 it plans to contest in an alliance with Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar.

Compared to the BJPs 402 candidates so far, the Congress has declared nominees for 193 seats out of the 280-odd it plans to contest in the upcoming elections. While the BJP has declared nearly all its high-profile candidates including PM Modi and Amit Shah in the first list itself from their traditional seats of Varanasi and Gandhinagar respectively, the Congress has so far inexplicably not declared who will contest from its traditional seats of Raebareli and Amethi.

In a do-for-die election, one would have expected the Gandhi brother-sister duo to be the first names on the Congress list from Amethi and Raebareli to convince the cadre that the party means business in these polls. But the suspense is still on, with the BJP also keeping its Raebareli pick on hold as it awaits the Congress to blink first.
All seems to be not well in the BJP-JDS alliance in Karnataka, where leaders and workers of both parties clashed with each other during a joint meeting in Tumkur Lok Sabha constituency on Monday. The two sides clashed on stage at an election meeting organised in Thuruvekere to campaign for the alliance candidate and BJP leader V Somanna.

The scuffle broke out when JDS MLA MT Krishnappa, while addressing the meeting, pointed out that BJPs Kondajji Vishwanath was responsible for his defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Vishwanath, who was in the JDS before he crossed over to the BJP, was visibly upset with the claim and stepped forward to speak. But before he could say anything, Somanna stopped him.

Meanwhile, most JDS workers in the state believed that there was some truth in Krishnappas words.

The matter was resolved later, but it has put a spotlight on the ideological differences between the two allies. BJP and JDS, which are used more to being at odds with each other, trying to put up a joint front to ensure a formidable fight against the Congress.

As part of the seat-searing agreement, while BJP will contest 25 of the 28 seats in the state, JDS has been promised three seats  Hassan, Mandya and Kolar.

With the alliance, while the JDS is fighting to remain the mainstream after the recent setback in the assembly election, the BJP is hoping to cash on Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowdas partys Vokkaliga support base in the Old Mysuru region.

Devegowdas son-in-law Dr Manjunath is also contesting from Bengaluru Rural Lok Sabha seat on a BJP ticket. He will take on Congress veteran DK Suresh, brother of Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar.
Lok Sabha Election 2024: Congress MP from Punjabs Ludhiana, Ravneet Singh Bittu joined the BJP on Tuesday ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Earlier in the day, the BJP released its sixth list of three Lok Sabha candidates from Rajasthan and Manipur, dropping all three sitting MPs.

On the other hand, the first candidate list of Shiv Sena (UBT) in Maharashtra for the ensuing Lok Sabha elections is scheduled to be formally declared today (March 26). The list of the Uddhav Thackeray-led opposition party, a constituent of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in the state, will feature up to 16 names, according to party leader Sanjay Raut.

Another MVA constituent, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) is also yet to officially declare its candidates in the state for the April-May Lok Sabha polls. On the other hand, the Congress, which is also a part of the state-level grouping of the opposition parties, has declared its candidates on some seats where there is no tussle with its alliance partners.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena is also likely to release its first list of candidates in a day or two, party leader and Lok Sabha MP Rahul Shewale said.
jVanchit Bahujan Aghadi chief Prakash Ambedkar will soon be clearing his stand about joining the Maha Vikas Aghadi for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. He is likely to make this announcement in Maharashtras Akola on Wednesday (March 27).

The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) had offered Ambedkar three seats in response to his demand of contesting from 27. According to sources, he had refused to take this offer following which negotiations came to a standstill.

Last week, the VBA chief set a deadline of March 26 for the Shiv Sena (UBT) to conclude alliance talks and give his party some clarity. He has called a meeting of VBA leaders in Akola on Tuesday evening, where the current scenario will be discussed and a decision made.

Ambedkar is likely to file his nomination from Akola on March 28. Last year, he allied with the Shiv Sena calling it Bhim shakti and Shiv shakti. There were several questions about the alliance as NCP leader Sharad Pawar and Ambedkar have had trouble in the past. Later, Pawar agreed to take him on board.

Sources close to Ambedkar said the VBA leadership is unhappy with how the MVA has treated them, especially as the party is prepared to contest from 27 seats. The Shiv Sena (UBT) being the alliance partner also did not support Ambedkar during seat-sharing talks, and he felt that Uddhav Thackeray should have first held seat-sharing talks with the VBA rather than the MVA, they added.

Sources further said the VBA had offered the MVA a list of seats it was prepared for and confident about. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the party was in alliance with the AIMIM and ended up splitting Congress and NCP votes on seven to eight seats.

Together, the VBA-AIMIM alliance had managed to attract Dalit and Muslim majority votes last time. But, since the AIMIM is no longer a part of the alliance, it will be interesting to see if Ambedkar decides to contest as a standalone party this time and whether he can attract those Muslim votes.

There are, however, questions about what will happen if he does put up candidates against the MVA, and if that will ultimately end up helping the BJP.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday called up Rekha Patra, the Bharatiya Janata Partys Lok Sabha candidate from West Bengals Basirhat seat, and praised her as Shakti Swarupa for raising her voice against alleged atrocities by the states ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) members in Sandeshkhali village.

The second phone conversation the PM had was with Prof TN Sarasu, the BJPs candidate from the Alathur seat in Kerala, who has allegedly been targeted by the Left-leaning Students Federation of India (SFI).

The larger message from the conversations with the two women nominees in states ruled by BJP rivals that have witnessed many instances of violence linked to electoral politics is that the saffron party stands firmly with such candidates who have stood up against alleged excesses by the local administrations and rival ideologies.

While Patra is being seen as someone who brought before the world what was happening in Sandeshkhalis she was also one of the five women who met Narendra Modi in Barasat after his rally there this month. On the other hand, Professor Sarasu during her bid to improve the educational system and environment has allegedly received a number of threats from SFI.

While speaking to Patra, PM Modi said that the people of Bengal, especially the women, would bless her. Enquiring about her election campaign, he said, You fought a very courageous battle against some of the most powerful people and were responsible for sending them to jail.

Patra in turn urged the Prime Minister to help the women of the region, who, she said, largely hadnt been able to vote since 2011. The situation in Sandeshkhali has been a matter of concern since 2011. If we were allowed to vote freely then this situation would not have prevailed, she said. I want to protect the honour of the people hereThis fight will continue

We hope that the Election Commission takes strong cognisance and ensures that the women get their right to vote, the PM responded.

Kerala is another state where the BJP wishes to make inroads as part of its Mission South. So far, the saffron party has not tasted any success there, failing to get even a single MP from the state in 2014 and 2019. Kerala has seen a string of violent clashes in recent years between activists linked to Left-wing as well as Right-wing outfits.

However, the BJP is confident of making some impact this time with the inclusion of leaders like Prof Sarasu. One of the key aspects that the PM was interested in learning about during his conversation with her was how the youth and the women were reacting to her candidature and what were the prospects for the BJP in the upcoming elections. The former principal of Government Victoria College in Palakkad said to the Prime Minister that the response was very encouraging. I am talking to people about Modi ki Guarantee. I am very sure that the BJP will do very well in the upcoming elections, she said.

What drew praise from PM Modi for Prof Sarasu was her focus on issues concerning the common man. While speaking to the Prime Minister, she requested for an investigation into the cooperative bank scam. I am very happy to see that you are already talking about public issues and raising issues of the common mans interest, the PM said, while assuring the people of Kerala that the scam would be looked into. He also conveyed that several complaints had been received on the matter for which legal options were being looked into. During the course of the investigation, whatever money was recovered by the ED and other agencies by attaching assets of these scamsters would be returned to the people of the state, the Prime Minister assured.

In the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections beginning next month where the biggest focus of the saffron party will be on the messaging to the women and the youth, these conversations of the Prime Minister directly with the contestants on the ground indicate that while the BJP is confident of getting a third term at the Centre, the top leadership is pushing hard to claim new turf.

Through its decade-long reign at the Centre, the BJP has been constantly focusing on breaching rivals bastions. In a state like West Bengal, the party failed to unseat the ruling TMC in the 2021 assembly elections but stunned most people during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls by winning 18 seats, up from two in 2014.

With two union ministers, V Muraleedharan and Rajeev Chandrasekhar, in the fray from Kerala aside from other popular candidates like Suresh Gopi from Thrissur, the BJP, which was able to conquer the Left bastion of Tripura in 2017, is hopeful that Gods Own Country will give its blessings this time.
Protests erupted in Andhra Pradeshs Rayalaseema region as thousands of people took to the streets on Tuesday to voice their dissatisfaction against the Singanamala YSRCP candidate, M. Veeranjaneyulu.

The ruling YSR Congress Party has faced criticism following the announcement of its list of 175 candidates for the upcoming Assembly and Lok Sabha elections.

Expressing dissatisfaction over Veeranjaneyulus nomination, senior YSRCP leader Satyanarayana Reddy urged the party high command to replace him with a stronger contender.

We stand with YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and want the party to secure Singanamala. However, we cannot support the declared candidate. A faction within Singanamalas party has misused the trust bestowed by the Chief Minister. We are not ready to support this candidate and want the high command to replace the same with a stronger candidate, Satyanarayana Reddy told the media.

These protests arise at a crucial time for the YSRCP, as they prepare for their toughest electoral battle yet ahead of the elections.

With the BJP-TDP and JSP forming an alliance, reports indicate an increasingly challenging landscape for the ruling party. Given that the protests are unfolding in the Rayalaseema region, long considered the stronghold of the Jagan Mohan Reddy family, their impact is expected to extend far beyond the contested seat.

On March 16, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSRCP announced the list of its candidates for 24 out of 25 Lok Sabha constituencies on March 16. The candidates include ten from the Backward Classes, four from the Scheduled Castes, and nine from Other Castes. However, the candidate for Anakapalle was withheld for reasons unknown.
Weve all heard about the worlds largest family residing in Mizoram, headed by the late Ziona Chana, who passed away in 2017 at the age of 76, leaving behind 38 wives, 89 children, and 36 grandchildren. This colossal household comprises 199 family members.

Now, another family, which has essentially become a village, has come under the spotlight across various media platforms. This extended family resides in a village in Assams Sonitpur district.

The Nepali Paam village, where the family resides, garners attention, especially during elections, as all 300 families in the village belong to the same lineage, descendants of Ron Bahadur Thapa. Currently, his family counts over 2500 members, with 1200 eligible voters.

Ron Bahadur Thapa, a Gorkha, settled in the riverine area of Sonitpur district in the mid-20th century. A skilled farmer, he found the land fertile for agriculture and prospered over time. He married five women and had 12 sons and 10 daughters. He passed away in 1997.

The Nepali Paam village, which falls under the Tezpur constituency, has its unique identity as it originated from a single family. As the family grew, they separated for better living conditions but remained nearby. Thus, this village was formed in the Phulaguri area and was called Nepali Paam.

Our father married five times, and we are 22 children (12 boys and 10 girls). We have our own children and when we found it difficult to live under a single roof, we have started living separately. Our sons, grandsons also married, and most of them also live separately. Thus we are now 300 families in this village. No other families are there in this Nepali Paam village. We have 65 grandsons and 70 granddaughters, said Til Bahadur Thapa, the eldest son of Ron Bahadur Thapa and now the village head, adding that some of the families opted for jobs instead of agricultural work.

On the other hand, Ron Bahadur Thapa married off his daughters and helped them settle nearby. Currently, except for two, all married daughters of Ron Bahadur Thapa live in Nepali Paam.

Our sisters live nearby with their families. Our father ensured they had places to live so we could stay close, added Til Bhadur Thapa.

However, the differences between Assams Ron Bahadur Thapa family and Mizorams Ziona Chana family are that, while Chanas family still lives together, Bahadurs extended family began living separately over time. Bahadur married five times, whereas Chana married 38 times.

Presently, Nepali Paam has attracted attention from all candidates contesting in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. As a village of a single family, Nepali Paams 1,200 voters will vote for the candidate chosen by the family elders. Therefore, every candidate is striving to maintain good relations with the village elders, particularly Til Bahadur Thapa, the eldest son of Ron Bahadur Thapa and the village head.
For the first time since the Israel-Hamas war broke out in October, the United Nations Security Council has passed a resolution calling for immediate ceasefire in Gaza during Ramadan.

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.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged Israel on Monday 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.

Why is the Ceasefire Important?

Famine is likely to occur in northern Gaza in May, and could spread in the adjoining areas by July, according to a UN-backed report by a global authority on food security released last week.

The IPC (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification) announcement reflects the dire situation that the people of Gaza are facing, said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Before this crisis, there was enough food in Gaza to feed the population. Malnutrition was a rare occurrence. Now, people are dying, and many more are sick. Over a million people are expected to face catastrophic hunger unless significantly more food is allowed to enter Gaza.

According to the IPC report, without a significant and immediate increase in deliveries of food, water and other essential supplies, conditions will continue deteriorating. Virtually all households are already skipping meals every day and adults are reducing their meals so that children can eat.

What Does It Mean for US-Israel Diplomacy?

Interestingly, the US did not veto for the resolution, considering how it could flare up tensions with its ally Israel.

The US decision prompted Israelis Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel his scheduled trip to the States by his top advisors. He said US failure to vote against the resolution was a clear retreat from its previous position and would hurt Israels war efforts and bid to release more than 130 hostages still held by Hamas.

White House spokesperson John Kirby, however, said the vote does not represent shift in our policy.

Reports show that the US had previously vetoed similar resolutions calling for a ceasefire, saying such a move could be wrong amid the negotiations for a truce and hostage release. The US has used it veto power to protect Israel against Hamas for the October 7 attack that killed 1,200 people.

How are the Nations Reacting?

It was the Hamas massacre that started this war, Israels UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan said, as quoted by news agency Reuters. 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.

Lebanons 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 UN vote.

Chinas UN Ambassador Zhang Jun told the Security Council, 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.

Israels ambassador to UN Gilad Erdan, however, said, It (resolution) is harmful to these efforts because it gives Hamas terrorists hope to get a ceasefire without releasing the hostages. All members of the council  should have voted against this shameless resolution.

The European Commissions President, Usula von der Leyen also welcome the resolution, and said its implementation is vital for the protection of all civilians.
A 9-year-old boy, kidnapped from outside his local mosque after evening prayers, was found dead in a sack in Maharashtras Thane on Monday.

The terrifying incident took place in Goregaon village in Thanes Badlapur on Sunday evening, when the key accused  a local tailor, Salman Maulvi  kidnapped the boy, Ibad, in a bid to extort Rs 23 lakh in ransom for building a new house, NDTV reported.

Reportedly, Maulvis motive was to get finance for the construction of his new house.

Ibads family realised his disappearance when he didnt return home after the evening prayers for a long time. They frantically searched the neighbourhood, looking for their son.

Just when they were searching for Ibad under the tense circumstance, his father  Muddasir  received a call demanding ransom in exchange for his son. However, the caller did not reveal any other details and ended the call abruptly.

A dual search operation began when the villagers also found out about the 9-year-olds disappearance. Police launched an extensive search in the area, while the villagers also set out to find missing Ibad.

Sensing the rising tension, the kidnapper tried to avoid getting caught by changing his SIM card, the report added.

Police on Monday afternoon finally tracked down Maulvis residence, only to discover Ibads corpse in a sack, hidden in the backyard of the house.

Dr DS Swami, Thane Superintendent of Police was reportedly quoted as saying, After the kidnap, there was a ransom call made. The accused is in our custody. Investigation is being done behind the motive for murdering the child.

Salman Maulvis brother, Safuan Maulvi, was also arrested in connection with the crime. Police identified Salman as the key suspect and is currently looking into the possible involvement of other family members in this brutal crime, said senior Badlapur police officer, Govind Patil.

An FIR has been registered in the matter.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said the central government will consider revoking the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in Jammu and Kashmir. In an interview with the JK Media Group, Shah also said the government has plans to pull back troops in the Union Territory (UT) and leave law and order to the Jammu and Kashmir Police alone.

Soon the police of Jammu and Kashmir will take care of law and order, and the troops will be withdrawn gradually. We have made a blueprint for seven years, and we working on strengthening the police of Jammu and Kashmir. Most of the violent incidents are handled by the police since they are at the forefront, and the central forces support them. Therefore, a change in the culture can be witnessed, he said, adding that earlier the UTs police was not trusted but today they are leading the operations.

On the controversial AFSPA, the home minister said, We will also think of revoking AFSPA. The AFSPA gives the armed forces personnel, operating in the disturbed areas, sweeping powers to search, arrest and to open fire if they deem it necessary for the maintenance of public order.

An area or district is notified as disturbed under the AFSPA to facilitate the operations of the armed forces. Shah had earlier said the AFSPA has been removed in 70 per cent areas in the northeastern states even though it is in force in J-K.

There have been demands from various organisations and individuals in J-K and the northeastern states to revoke the AFSPA. Shah said the assembly elections will be held in J-K before September.

Enshrining democracy in Jammu and Kashmir is Prime Minister Narendra Modis promise and it will be fulfilled. However, this democracy will not be confined to three families alone and will be a peoples democracy, he said. The Supreme Court had directed to conduct the assembly polls in the UT before September.

On the issues that have emerged around the reservation of SCs, STs and OBCs, Shah said for the first time, the OBCs of J-K have been given reservation by the Modi government and women have been given one-third reservation. OBC reservations have been made in the panchayat and the urban local bodies.

We have made space for the SCs and the STs. Without reducing the share of the Gujjar and Bakarwals, the Pahadis have been given 10 per cent reservation. And special provisions have been made to accommodate the displaced people from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, he said.

The Centre is determined to ensure that these benefits percolate to the grassroots level, he said. Shah claimed that National Conference (NC) leader Farooq Abdullah and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti tried their best to create acrimony on these reservations but the people have understood their intentions now.

He asked why the NC did not give reservation to these people in the last over 75 years. The home minister claimed Abdullah had left for England when terrorism was at its peak. Both Abdullah and Mehbooba have no right to speak about on the issue, he added.

The number of fake encounters that took place during their time has never been matched by any other regime, he said. Shah said in the last five years, not a single fake encounter has taken place. Rather the FIRs have been lodged against the people involved in fake encounters, he added.

We will have a dialogue with the youths of Kashmir and not with the organisations that have roots in Pakistan. They are responsible for the deaths of 40,000 youths, he said.

He said the Modi government has banned 12 organisations for their involvement in terror activities, designated 36 individuals as terrorists, registered more than 22 cases to stop terror finance and seized properties worth Rs 150 crore.

As many as 90 properties were also attached and 134 bank accounts have been frozen, he said. We have enshrined peace, and peace cannot be bought. Whoever wants to have a dialogue has to do so within the ambit of the Constitution, he said.

Shah said the Hurriyat Conference has no place in the process of dialogue. He also made it clear that the BJP and the entire Parliament believe that the POK is an integral part of India.

The Muslim brothers are also Indians and the Hindu brothers living in POK are also Indians and the land which has been illegally occupied by Pakistan also belongs to India. It is the goal of every Indian, every Kashmiri to get it back, he said.

The home minister said in 2010, there were 2564 incidents of stone-pelting which now is zero. From 2004 to 2014, there were 7217 terror incidents. That has reduced to 2227 from 2014 to 2023, and this is almost a 70 per cent reduction, he said.

Shah said the total number of deaths from 2004 to 2014 was 2829 and it has come down to 915 during 2014-23, which is a 68 per cent decrease. The deaths of civilians was 1770 and has decreased to 341, which is an 81 per cent drop. The deaths of security forces decreased from 1060 to 574, which is a 46 per cent decrease, he said.

The senior BJP leader said without the support of the people, such a comprehensive change can never take place. The people who talk about Islam should know that 85 per cent of the deceased were our Muslim brothers and sisters, he said.

Shah also asked the youths of J-K to stay away from the conspiracies of Pakistan. Today Pakistan is shrouded by the scourge of hunger and poverty and even people there see Kashmir as heaven. I want to tell everyone that if anyone can save Kashmir, he is Prime Minister Modi, he said.

The home minister said the Modi government is boosting the morale of the security forces by giving jobs to the family members of the martyrs. Today, not a single martyrs family is left without a job, he said.
Delhis Rouse Avenue court on Tuesday sent Bharat Rashtriya Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha to 14-day judicial custody in the Delhi excise policy scam case. Kavitha was produced before the court on the conclusion of her custody remand.

Special Judge Kaveri Baweja passed the order after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) did not seek an extension of her custodial interrogation. During the proceedings, Kavithas advocate Nitesh Rana sought interim bail on the grounds of her minor sons exam.

The counsel for the ED countered the bail, saying even if interim bail is to be considered, then opportunity must be given for filing a reply.

The ED underlined that for both interim and regular bail there were stringent provisions under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The court will hear her interim bail plea of April 1.

Kavithas counsel also sought permission for physically inspecting the documents submitted by the agency in a sealed cover under provisions 19 (2) of the PMLA. According to the provision, the authorities concerned, immediately after making an arrest were required to forward the arrest order along with the material in its possession to the court.

The federal probe agency told the court that during her remand period, ED recorded the BRS leaders statement, interrogated her and confronted her with several individuals and digital records.

The ED has alleged that Kavitha, the daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, was a key member of the South Group that has been accused of paying the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) kickbacks of Rs 100 crore in return for a big share of liquor licences in the national capital.

Earlier, while entering the courtroom, the BRS MLC said, This is not a money laundering case but a political laundering case. It is a fabricated and false case. We will come out clean.

On March 23, ED raided the houses of Kavithas nephew Meka Sri Sharan Rao and sister-in-law Akila. As per a report by Deccan Chronicle, ED is likely to arrest some of her family members

Earlier, the court had directed that the BRS leaders ED custody should be subject to the same terms and conditions regarding the interrogation at a place having CCTV cameras and preserving the footage.
The Delhi Police on Tuesday tightened security arrangements at Prime Minister Narendra Modis residence and other areas in the national capital amid the Aam Aadmi Partys call for a gherao protest against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in the excise policy case.

Robust security arrangements have been made. We have installed layers of security to maintain law and order in the area, the Delhi Police officer said, adding that, Section 144 (of the CrPC) is already imposed around the prime ministers residence and no one will be allowed to protest.

DELHI METRO SECURITY UPDATE

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) also shared a security update on X and said, Due to security reasons, entry/exit at Lok Kalyan Marg Metro station, Gate no 3 of Patel Chowk Metro Station and Gate no 5 of Central Secretariat Metro station will remain closed till further notice.

Security UpdateDue to security reasons, entry/exit at Lok Kalyan Marg Metro station, Gate no 3 of Patel Chowk Metro Station and Gate no 5 of Central Secretariat Metro station will remain closed till further notice.  Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (@OfficialDMRC) March 26, 2024

Heavy security deployment also took place outside the Patel chowk metro station in view of the Arvind Kejriwal-led partys call for gherao protest.

#WATCH | Security heightened with the deployment of police outside Patel Chowk metro station, in view of AAPs PM residence gherao protest against the arrest of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in liquor policy case. pic.twitter.com/PFkdhqeaUc ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2024

DELHI TRAFFIC POLICE ISSUES ADVISORY

Meanwhile, the Delhi Traffic Police also issued advisory for commuters in view of the special Law and Order arrangement in the national capital. An officer said that movement is likely to be affected in parts of New Delhi and Central Delhi due to the protest.

Traffic AdvisoryIn view of special Law & Order arrangement in New Delhi area on 26.03.2024, traffic will be affected. Kindly follow the advisory#DPTrafficAdvisory pic.twitter.com/5BUosjCzmy  Delhi Traffic Police (@dtptraffic) March 25, 2024

TRAFFIC RESTRICTIONS:

No vehicle will be allowed to halt or park anywhere on the Tughlak road, Safdarjung road and Kemal Ataturk Marg.

General entry for public will also not be allowed.

Vehicles parked on the above mentioned roads will be towed away and fined for improper parking and obstruction of lawful instructions. The towed vehicles would be parked at Kali Bari Margs Traffic Pit.

DIVERSION POINTS (AS PER REQUIREMENT):

Aurobindo Chowk

Tughlak Road

Roundabout Samrat hotel

Roundabout Gymkhana Post Office

Roundabout Teen Murti Haifa

Roundabout Niti Marg

Roundabout Kautilya Marg

ROUTES TO AVOID:

Kemal Ataturk Marg

Safdarjung Road

Akbar Road

Teen Murti Marg

The advisory requested commuters to cooperate and bypass the mentioned roads and urged them to plan their trips around these areas accordingly. People heading towards bus depot, railway station or the Indira Gandhi International Airport have also been advised to plan their travel with sufficient time in hand.

Delhi Minister Gopal Rai earlier announced the partys plans to gherao the prime ministers residence on Tuesday to protest against the Delhi chief ministers arrest. Rai had also said that mega protests would be held nationwide.

Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the federal agency on March 21 in connection with the excise policy scam case and is in its custody till March 28.

The AAP national convenor is accused of soliciting kickbacks from liquor traders in exchange for favours, the central agency has claimed. The ED also accused Kejriwal of being the kingpin and key conspirator in the case related to the now-scrapped policy, in collusion with AAP leaders, ministers and other persons.

However, Kejriwal rubbished the allegations and accused the BJP-led Centre of manipulating investigative agencies for political motives.

(With PTI inputs)
KERALA LOTTERY STHREE SAKTHI SS-408 RESULT ON TUESDAY, MARCH 26, LIVE UPDATES: The Kerala State Lottery Department has announced the results of the Sthree Sakthi SS-408 lucky draw for Tuesday, March 26. Check the full list of winning numbers below.

ALSO READ: Kerala Lottery Result Today LIVE: Akshaya AK-645 WINNERS for March 31, 2024; First Prize Rs 70 Lakh!

FULL LIST OF WINNING NUMBERS FOR STHREE SAKTHI SS-408 LOTTERY

WINNING NUMBERS FOR CONSOLATION PRIZE WORTH RS 8,000 ARE

SN 648015

SO 648015

SP 648015

SR 648015

SS 648015

ST 648015

SU 648015

SV 648015

SX 648015

SY 648015

SZ 648015

WINNING NUMBER FOR 1ST PRIZE WORTH RS 75 LAKH IS SW 648015 (VAIKKOM)

Agent Name: MEENAKSHY M

Agency No: K 768

WINNING NUMBER FOR 2ND PRIZE WORTH RS 10 LAKH IS SW 418076 (ALAPPUZHA)

Agent Name: P D ALEXANDER

Agency No: A 1867

WINNING NUMBERS FOR 3RD PRIZE WORTH RS 5,000 ARE

0192 0332 1260 1946 2278 2574 2701 2710 3218 4665 4672 4854 5085 6981 8469 8608 9615 9919

WINNING NUMBERS FOR 4TH PRIZE WORTH RS 2,000 ARE

0178 1892 2935 4151 5142 5187 5601 6371 7446 9412

WINNING NUMBERS FOR 5TH PRIZE WORTH RS 1,000 ARE

0524 0783 0867 1235 1450 2745 3814 4912 4959 5770 5778 6457 6596 7172 7221 7342 7926 8034 8162 8200

WINNING NUMBERS FOR 6TH PRIZE WORTH RS 500 ARE

0249 0355 0566 0756 1339 1588 2044 2095 2170 2252 2360 2373 2565 2892 2912 2968 3339 3461 3522 3550 4055 4284 4571 4704 5238 5255 5269 5376 5414 5647 5725 5732 5852 5909 6191 6284 6627 6647 6684 6691 7156 7395 7518 7609 7680 7756 7825 8050 8209 8222 8637 9462

WINNING NUMBERS FOR 7TH PRIZE WORTH RS 200 ARE

0143 0455 0835 0903 0913 1048 1149 1206 1410 1758 1985 2775 2876 2971 3287 3527 4016 4032 4251 4441 4493 4512 4700 4770 4943 5040 5235 5605 5999 6418 6430 6451 6701 6818 7278 7373 7538 8000 8245 8325 9331 9399 9825 9966 9996

WINNING NUMBERS FOR 8TH PRIZE WORTH RS 100 ARE

0053 0105 0116 0126 0137 0218 0363 0419 0877 1134 1159 1228 1416 1597 1628 1672 1728 1947 1971 1990 2238 2263 2522 2526 2561 2663 2700 2730 2844 2961 2963 3083 3135 3147 3239 3296 3306 3473 3524 3539 3636 3714 3741 3776 3844 3927 4067 4138 4258 4297 4360 4487 4671 4709 4890 4916 5023 5024 5168 5284 5293 5343 5604 5720 5787 5838 5956 6024 6067 6072 6094 6171 6210 6240 6373 6410 6411 6585 6606 6693 6715 6747 6783 6798 6808 6866 6877 7016 7049 7078 7120 7189 7240 7295 7370 7517 7571 7572 7639 7649 7881 7931 8048 8233 8324 8653 8673 8717 8799 8815 8895 8992 9073 9124 9261 9295 9397 9440 9460 9597 9664 9707 9728 9862 9916 9957

KERALA LOTTERY RESULT: STHREE SAKTHI SS-408 PRIZE STRUCTURE

1st Prize: Rs 75 lakh

2nd Prize: Rs. 10 lakh

3rd Prize: Rs. 5,000

4th Prize: Rs. 2,000

5th Prize: Rs. 1,000

6th Prize: Rs. 500

7th Prize: Rs. 200

8th Prize: Rs. 100

Consolation Prize: Rs. 8,000

HOW TO VERIFY KERALA STHREE SAKTHI SS-408 LOTTERY RESULTS?

Participants who want to confirm the winning numbers in the Sthree Sakthi SS-408 lottery results have two alternatives. They can either visit the Kerala Lottery Departments official website, www.keralalottery.info, or pay a visit to the lottery office.

HOW TO COLLECT YOUR PRIZE MONEY?

Individuals can check the status of their lottery ticket by comparing the ticket numbers to the winning numbers listed in the Kerala Government Gazette. After a match is validated, winners must claim their prizes in person at the Kerala lottery office in Thiruvananthapuram within 30 days after the results announcement. For authentication purposes, the winning ticket must be displayed alongside appropriate identification proof.

Kerala Lottery Summer Bumper BR-96 Results on March 27, 2024

The Kerala State Lottery Department will announce the results of the Summer Bumper BR-96 lucky draw on March 27, 2024 at 2 pm. The first prize winner will receive Rs 10 crore. The second prize holder will get Rs 50 lakh, and the third prize winner will be rewarded with Rs 5 lakh.

The bumper lottery ticket was released by Kerala State Minister K.N. Balagopal. MLA Antony Raju presided over the event.

By purchasing a ticket worth Rs 250, you have a chance to win up to Rs 10 crore. The tickets are available in six series: SA, SB, SC, SD, SE, and SG.

KERALA SUMMER BUMPER LOTTERY PRIZE STRUCTURE
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday emphasised that both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the entire Parliament firmly believe that Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) is an integral part of India, asserting that both Muslims and Hindus living there are Indians.

During an interview with the JK Media Group, Amit Shah stated, The Muslims and Hindus brothers living in POK are Indians, and the land, which has been illegally occupied by Pakistan, belongs to India. It is the goal of every Indian, every Kashmiri to get it back.

The Union Minister also urged the youth of Jammu and Kashmir to steer clear of Pakistans conspiracies.

Today Pakistan is shrouded by the scourge of hunger and poverty and even people there see Kashmir as heaven. I want to tell everyone that if anyone can save Kashmir, he is Prime Minister Modi, he said.

People Misled on Article 370

While speaking on the governments decision to revoke Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, Shah highlighted that the people in the Valley were misled with misinformation regarding the abrogation.

It was always said that once Article 370 is abrogated, the culture, language and existence of Kashmiriyat will be threatened. It is now five years after the abrogation but nothing such has happened. Kashmiris are free today, the importance of the Kashmiri language, and food culture have enhanced and tourists are flocking to the tourist spots of Kashmir, the minister said.

During the interview, Shah addressed several myths surrounding Article 370, including claims that lakhs of people would move to Kashmir, threatening the very existence of Kashmiriyat. He stated that such myth has been debunked.

Under the shadows of Article 370, a separatist ideology was shaped and the youths of Jammu and Kashmir were dragged into terrorism. Pakistan misused this situation and in the last 4 decades, more than 40,000 youths lost their lives, Shah remarked.

The Home Minister highlighted that Jammu and Kashmir is now progressing. Terrorism is on the decline, and incidents of stone-pelting have completely stopped. An anti-corruption bureau has been established to curb corruption, ensuring that public funds reach the intended recipients, he added.

Centre Planning to Revoke AFSPA

Regarding the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, Shah also disclosed the central governments plan to consider revoking the act in Jammu and Kashmir, indicating that the Centre intends to withdraw troops from the Union Territory (UT) and entrust law and order responsibilities solely to the Jammu and Kashmir Police.

We have plans to pull back troops and leave law and order to the Jammu and Kashmir Police alone. Earlier, the Jammu and Kashmir police was not trusted but today they are leading the operations, he stated.

(With inputs from PTI)
Swami Smaranananda ji Maharaj, the revered President of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission died on Tuesday at 8:14 pm, the mission said in a statement. Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid condolences on the demise of the 94-year-old monk and said he left an indelible mark on countless hearts and minds. His compassion and wisdom will continue to inspire generations, the prime minister said.

With deep sorrow we announce the passing away of Swami Smarananandaji, President of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, on Tuesday, 26 March 2024 at 8:14 pm at Ramakrishna Mission Seva Pratishthan hospital, Kolkata. He was 94, Ramakrishna Mission said in a statement on microblogging site X.

PM Modi recalled his interaction with Swami Smaranananda ji Maharaj, who had dedicated his life to spirituality and service during his visit to the Belur math in 2020.

Srimat Swami Smaranananda ji Maharaj, the revered President of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission dedicated his life to spirituality and service. He left an indelible mark on countless hearts and minds. His compassion and wisdom will continue to inspire generations.I had pic.twitter.com/lK1mYKbKQt  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 26, 2024

I had a very close relation with him over the years. I recall my visit to Belur Math in 2020 when I had interacted with him. A few weeks ago in Kolkata, I had also visited the hospital and enquired about his health. My thoughts are with the countless devotees of the Belur Math. Om Shanti, the prime minister said in an X post.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah also paid tribute to Swami Smaranananda ji Maharaj saying his absence leaves a void that will be difficult to fill.

Srimat Swami Smaranananda Ji Maharaj of Ramakrishna Math was a spiritual giant whose scholarly knowledge ignited minds with enlightenment and whose compassionate presence could fill hearts with divine bliss. Maharaj Jis absence leaves a void that will be difficult to fill but the legacy of his wisdom will remain our guiding light. My condolences are with his countless followers, the Home Minister said in an X post.
Dr Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director  Apollo Hospitals Group, on Tuesday met spiritual leader Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, who underwent an emergency brain surgery at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in New Delhi after suffering life-threatening" bleeding in the skull last week.

Visited @SadhguruJV guruji at @HospitalsApollo  it was heartwarming to see him sitting up & in good spirit. Wishing him a speedy recovery & continued good health," Reddy posted on X.

Indraprastha Apollo Hospital had announced in a statement that the surgery was performed on March 17 to remove bleeding in the skull." Following the procedure, Sadhguru was weaned off the ventilator. The hospital reported that he had made steady progress".

The Isha Foundation was founded by the 66-year-old spiritual guru. Sadhguru is also well known for starting several initiatives and environmental conservation projects including Save Soil and Rally for Rivers.

In addition, Sadhguru recorded a video from his hospital bed on Instagram, talking about the surgery. The Apollo hospital neurosurgeons cut through my skull to try and find something but found nothing  totally empty. So they gave up and patched it up. Here I am in Delhi with the patched-up skull but no damaged brain," he added.

Following the news, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to X, sharing his conversation with Sadhguru. He wrote, Spoke to @SadhguruJV Ji and wished him good health and a speedy recovery." In his reply, Sadhguru wrote, Beloved Pradhan Mantriji, I should not be a Concern to you. You have a Nation to conduct. Overwhelmed by your concern, on my way to recovery. Dhanyavad."

Later, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar also took to X, wishing Sadhguru a speedy recovery. Deeply concerned on hearing about Sadhguru jis surgery. Wish him a speedy and full recovery," he wrote.

Today when I saw Sadhguru ji lay on ICU bed I was suddenly hit by the mortal nature of his existence, before this it never occurred to me that he is bones, blood, flesh just like us," actor Kangana Ranaut said. I felt God has collapsed, I felt earth has shifted, sky has abandoned me, I feel my head spinning, I cant make sense of this reality and choose not to believe this but then suddenly I break down," she added.
Saudi Arabia has achieved a significant milestone by officially entering the Miss Universe pageant this year for the first time. The global event is set to take place in Mexico on September 18.

In an announcement shared on Instagram, 27-year-old Rumy Alqahtani revealed her participation as the Kingdoms first-ever contestant in the international beauty pageant.

I am honored to participate in the Miss Universe 2024 competition. This marks the first participation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the Miss Universe pageant, the Riyadh-born model and content creator wrote in her post on Monday.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by rumy alqahtani |   (@rumy_alqahtani)

Alqahtanis participation follows in the footsteps of Bahrains Lujane Yacoub, who represented her country in the Miss Universe pageant last year, becoming the first woman from the Gulf region to do so.

Who is Rumy Alqahtani?

Alqahtanis involvement is hailed as a milestone in empowering Saudi women. She has previously represented the Kingdom in numerous international competitions, including Miss Asia in Malaysia, Miss Arab Peace, and Miss Europe, according to a report by Gulf Today.

Apart from being crowned Miss Saudi Arabia, she holds titles such as Miss Middle East (Saudi Arabia), Miss Arab World Peace 2021, and Miss Woman (Saudi Arabia). With a million followers on Instagram and thousands more on other social media platforms, she holds a Bachelors degree in dentistry and is fluent in English, French, and Arabic.

This historic move reflects Saudi Arabias ongoing transformation under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud.

Known as MBS, the 38-year-old de facto ruler has overseen changes in the countrys history since becoming crown prince in June 2017.

He has spearheaded the ambitious Vision 2030 plan aimed at bringing social and economic reforms to Saudi Arabia. Women are now permitted to drive, attend public sporting events and concerts alongside men, and obtain passports without male guardian approval. The Kingdom has also lifted its ban on cinemas and encouraged mixed-gender events, marking a significant departure from its traditional norms.
Good Friday is a day when Christians all around the world commemorate the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The day is observed on the Friday before Easter Sunday and is an important occasion in the Christian faith.

ALSO READ: Good Friday 2024: Wishes, Messages, Quotes, Images, Facebook & WhatsApp Status

Christians believe that Jesus Christs death on the cross served as the final sacrifice that could atone for sins. It is thought that Christ provided a means of eternal life for Christians by atoning for humanitys sins through his death. Because of Jesus supreme sacrifice, which made it possible for people to be saved and for God and humanity to be reconciled, the day is regarded as good.

Good Friday is observed as a day of grief, penance, and fasting. Good Friday services at churches commemorate Jesus crucifixion with readings, hymns, and prayers. A reading of the Passion narrative is frequently included in these services since it depicts the events that led up to Jesus death as well as his final words from the cross.

ALSO READ: Holy Week Timeline: A Day-by-Day Guide From Palm Sunday to Easter 2024

On Good Friday, many Christians fast or abstain from eating meat as a form of penance.

When Is Good Friday In 2024?

Good Friday, also known as Holy Friday or Great Friday, will be observed on March 29 this year. Meanwhile, Easter is scheduled for Sunday, March 31. However, the date of Good Friday varies from year to year since it is determined by the lunar cycle.

ALSO READ: Good Friday 2024: 10 Meaningful Quotes, and Teachings of Jesus Christ for Reflection

Why Is It Called Good Friday?

Good Friday is termed good because of its religious significance to Christians, who believe that Jesus death on the cross was the final sacrifice for humanitys sins. For Christians, this sacrifice signifies the ultimate act of love and redemption, and it is appropriate because it precedes his resurrection on Easter, the most important religious event for Christians.

Another hypothesis is that the good in Good Friday refers to the words original meaning in Old English, which is holy. As a result, Good Friday is sometimes known as Holy Friday.

Good Friday 2024: History

Good Friday dates back to when Jesus was arrested by royal soldiers and sentenced to death by crucifixion. The Bible says that Jesus was crucified on Friday, which is why it is called Good Friday. Many Christians around the world remember and mourn the day on which Jesus Christ died on the cross.

Good Friday 2024: Significance And How Do We Observe It?

Good Friday is significant because it commemorates Jesus Christs willing suffering and death on the cross for the forgiveness of sinners. Christians believe that Jesus Christs death and resurrection prepared the way for humanity to be reconciled with God and inherit eternal life.

Many Christians observe Good Friday with various forms of worship and reflection, including attending church services, fasting, and engaging in acts of repentance and self-denial. Some traditions, such as the Stations of the Cross, involve crucifixion reenactments.

Good Friday 2024: Can You Eat Meat?

Many Christians abstain from eating meat on Fridays as a form of sacrifice, believing that on Good Friday, Jesus sacrificed his flesh for humanity. Meanwhile, reports are stating that Christians avoid eating meat and instead include fish in their meals. Because fish comes from the sea, it is thought to have a different type of flesh.

Good Friday 2024: Quotes
Aishwarya Rai attended a Holi party in Mumbai with Abhishek Bachchan and their daughter, Aaradhya Bachchan. Photos have surfaced online revealed Aishwarya, Abhishek and Aaradhya attended a Holi party in Mumbai with their friends. The trio was seen wearing white outfits and were covered in Holi colours. Aishwarya looked beautiful without make-up and brought back memories of all the Holi-themed music videos she appeared in. Abhishek and Aaradhya were also seen decked up in white.

In the photos shared on X by a fan account, Aishwarya, Abhishek and Aaradhya were seen enjoying a party in a lawn. They were surrounded by their friends. They posed for a few selfies with their fellow guests and also took pictures together as a family. Check out the photos below:

Queen Aishwarya Rai celebrating Holi with husband , daughter and friends #AishwaryaRaiBachchan #HappyHoli pic.twitter.com/AbS5pmWgXl Empress Aishwarya Fan (@badass_aishfan) March 25, 2024

The photos were also shared on Reddit and fans were thrilled to see Aishwarya having a ball. 1st picture and AB-Ash together , a fan noted. They look happy , added another. Mashallah. They all look so happy, a third fan wrote.

Aishwarya and Abhishek attended the Holi party hours after they celebrated Holika Dahan with the Bachchan family. The Bachchan family members  Abhishek, Aishwarya, Shweta Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan and Navya Naveli Nanda  were seen at Amitabhs Mumbai bungalow, offering prayers on the eve of Holi. The family sported white outfits as they lit a pyre set up in the house. Navya took to Instagram and shared a few photos.

Navya shared a photo in which Abhishek was seen offering his prayers to the pyre. He and Navya then shared a sweet moment in which they applied holi to each other. The photo was photobombed by Aishwarya. In the photo, Aishwarya sported a thick sindoor and a massive bindi, seemingly applied with holi powder. Aishwarya appeared to stand next to Aaradhya, who sported a red outfit.
American actress Anne Hathway disclosed in her most recent Vanity Fair cover story that as a young performer just breaking into Hollywood she was told she had no sex appeal. Hathway appeared on the magazines April cover and talked with the publication in a feature article published on March 25.

I was like, Im a Scorpio. I know what Im like on a Saturday night, she said.

She said that in the early years of her Hollywood fame, the societal concept of what it meant to be attractive was far more limited than it is today.

Hathaway stated The male gaze was very dominant, very pervasive, and very juvenile, adding that in the modern film and television industry, a persons sentiments are considerably more important than their physical appearance.

The actress is set to feature in the romantic comedy The Idea of You, which centres on a forty-year-old divorcee who begins dating a well-known British boyband member who is younger and popular.

The movie, which releases on Prime Video on May 2, is based on the well-known book by Robinne Lee and features plenty of sensuous moments.

Hathaway stated to the magazine of the film, I feel ready to be a sexual creature out loud. Its not like one healthy, consensual female orgasm (OK, multiple) is going to change the world but Im really happy to be part of a story that takes pleasure in female pleasure.

Anne Hathaway is living life out loudafter years of self-recrimination and internet noise.For VFs April issue, the Oscar-winning actor speaks to VFs @juliewmiller about her relationship with her public persona, motherhood, and asserting her sexual power. : pic.twitter.com/g99y8pgdoP  VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) March 25, 2024

It hasnt always been a joyful 25 years of her profession, the Oscar winner admitted.

Hathway disclosed that the internet animosity that surrounds her prevented her from getting roles, even after she won an Oscar in 2013.

She said that a lot of people wouldnt offer her work because they were worried about how toxic her internet persona had become.

Hathaway was referring to criticism she faced in the early 2010s when some on social media referred to her as annoying because of her apparent frankness and enthusiasm for acting.

In 2013, the term Hathahate became popular after Hathaway won an Oscar for her role in Les Miserables. She referenced the movies song I Dreamed a Dream in her victory speech, stating, It came true.

At this time, Hathaway was cast by director Christopher Nolan in the science fiction movie Interstellar, which came out in 2014. She called the movie a blessing during the bad times.

I dont know if he knew that he was backing me at the time, but it had that effect.
The upcoming DC series, The Penguin, is scheduled to be released on Max late in 2024. The Batman spinoff series is being teased by Colin Farrell, who describes it as incredibly violent. The series will feature Farrell as Oswald Cobblepot, a Gotham City gangster.

In an interview with Jonatan Blomberg of MovieZine, Farrell was asked what fans might anticipate from The Penguin while he was promoting his new Apple TV+ series Sugar. The actor told the publication that the TV series is incredibly violent, which should satisfy fans of The Batman who were hoping for an extremely violent R-rated version of the movie. Prior to Matt Reeves The Batman hitting theatres in March 2022, the films rating generated a lot of internet debate. Although many comic book fans had hoped for the first Dark Knight movie to get an R rating, it was only given a PG-13.

When it came to filming The Penguin series, Farrell remarked, It was a long and really wonderful experience.

Its dark; thats what I can tell you about it. Its really dark. Its really heavy, I think it certainly was doing it. Which is not to say I didnt have fun, I had an amazing time doing it. Its incredibly violent.

He claimed that it is the story of a mans ascent to the position of power or social standing that he has always fantasised about having.

The actor stated that Carmine Falcones death at the very end of The Batman creates a vacuum in Gotham that has to be filled and that numerous individuals are vying for that authority.

This is Oswalds story as he attempts to reach the top despite remarkable challenges, he added.

Apart from Farrell, who was recently nominated for an Academy Award, the cast for the villains solo series includes Cristin Milioti (How I Met Your Mother), who plays Sofia Falcone, the daughter of Carmine and Oswalds main obstacle for dominance of Gothams criminal underworld.

Rival gangsters Salvatore Maroni and Johnny Vitti are portrayed by Clancy Brown (Gen V) and Michael Kelly (House of Cards), respectively.

In addition, Michael Zegen, who starred in The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel, plays Alberto, Sofias brother. The supporting cast is comprised of Francois Chau, Carmen Ejogo, Theo Rossi, and Rhenzy Feliz.
Tamil superstar Kamal Haasan has finished shooting for the eagerly awaited film Indian 2. He recently shared that both Indian 2 and Indian 3 are done filming. In an interview with The Hindu, Kamal Haasan, who was last seen in the 2022 movie Vikram, said that he has completed shooting for Indian 2 and Indian 3.

He said, I cant make up for the lost time. Also, we cannot speed up production as the quantity doesnt matter, quality does. We have completed Indian 2 and Indian 3. The post-production work of Indian 2 is currently happening. We will start work on Indian 3 post-production after we finish it.

The actor, who has also been roped in for Mani Ratnams Thug Life, spoke about the film. He said, The shooting of Mani Ratnams Thug Life will start soon after the campaign (election) ends. Also, Ive done a cameo in a film called Kalki 2898 AD.

Kamal Haasan-starrer Indian 2 has been creating buzz since it was announced, back in 2018. The filming started in 2019. Due to various reasons, including overshooting of budget as well as an unfortunate accident on set that resulted in the death of a crew member, the film was put on hold for years. Further, the Covid-19 pandemic caused an additional delay in the project. Later, the shooting was also postponed due to a clash of opinions between Lyca Productions and films director S Shankar. After a long wait and settling all the issues, Indian 2s filming has finally come to an end reportedly. As per the latest report, the makers are now planning to release the film on the same date (May 9) as its first part. Indian released on May 9, 1996. An official confirmation regarding this is yet to be released.

Indian 2 stars a huge cast including Siddharth, Kajal Aggarwal, Rahul Preet Singh, Samuthirakani, Bobby Simha, and Priya Bhavani Shankar. Reportedly, Shankar has also brought to life on-screen departed actors Vivek and Nedumudi Venu through CGI and body doubles.
Thirty Buddhist cultural relics have been returned to the Chinese mainland from Taiwan thanks to the joint efforts of people on both sides of the Strait. The relics were escorted to Beijing by a delegation of about 200 people from the United Association of Humanistic Buddhism, Chunghua. Most of the relics were believed to have been stolen from Shanxi province before being taken overseas. They were transferred to the National Cultural Heritage Administration on Monday, marking the largest return of lost relics to the mainland from Taiwan in recent years. Thirteen of the returned pieces, including the heads of broken Buddhist images and painted sculptures of Buddha, were shown at a donation ceremony at the National Museum of China in Beijing on Monday. Initiated by Hsing Yun, a late Buddhist master, and the Fo Guang Shan Monastery in Kaohsiung, the United Association of Humanistic Buddhism, Chunghua, was founded in 2015 and now includes over 400 temples and organizations across Taiwan. Wu Chih-yang, co-president of the association, said the returned relics were collected by "warmhearted people" from overseas and then gathered by the association. "There is always a long story behind each lost item, but destiny rediscovers them, and the key is thus to bring them home," Wu said. "Donation of these items is not only an exchange of cultural heritage and Buddhist circles across the Strait. It's a higher level communication concerning our deep emotion." The relics are generally considered to be from the Song (960-1279) to Ming (1368-1644) Dynasty. Sammy Yang, vice-chancellor of Taipei's Shih Hsin University and a member at the association, said a preliminary appraisal in Taiwan two years ago indicated a high degree of similarity in the artistic styles, materials and craftsmanship of some of the painted sculptures with others in Buddhist temples in Shanxi province. Analysis of cutting marks on some head statues led to speculation that they may have been stolen about 30 years ago, considering some Buddhist statues were cut and stolen from a Shanxi temple in an identical way in 1993. They were later found and returned from Taiwan in 1999. But Yang said other relics in the group may have been stolen much longer ago. In March 2016, Hsing Yun and his followers escorted the lost head of a 6th-century Buddhist statue to Beijing and donated it back to the mainland. That piece was stolen from a temple in Hebei province and later collected by a Taiwan entrepreneur who is a Fo Guang Shan Monastery pilgrim. At the donation ceremony in 2016, also held at the National Museum of China, Hsing Yun promised to bring more lost items back. He died about a year ago. "Hsing Yun established an outstanding example for people to safeguard Chinese cultural relics," Sun Yeli, minister of culture and tourism, said at the museum on Monday. "Again, we see his unfulfilled wish get realized." Sun said comprehensive studies of the relics will be soon launched. Related exhibitions will also be organized to allow people on both sides of the Strait to benefit from the fruits of the joint protection of cultural relics. "Cultural communication has always played a crucial role in enhancing people-to-people connectivity across the Strait and strengthening our links," Sun said.


Ranbir Kapoor hopes to bring Raha Kapoor, his and Alia Bhatts daughter, on Kapil Sharmas show, The Great Indian Kapil Show. The actor will be seen on the first episode of Kapils new Netflix show. In a new promo released, Ranbir opened up about being a father and gushed about Raha. He called himself a burp specialist and added that he couldnt wait to bring her to the show.

Have you changed diapers, Ranbir?" Archana asked him in the new promo. I was a burp specialist," Ranbir revealed. When Raha enters the room, his face lights up," Neetu added. I cant wait to bring her on your show," Ranbir said. Watch the promo below:

Kapil is reuniting with Sunil Grover on the show after six years. In 2018, the two comedians were returning from Australia after a show when they got into a fight onboard a flight and had a fallout. The duo has reunited for the show, leaving fans excited.

The show also stars Krushna Abhishek, Kiku Sharda, Rajiv Thakur and Archana Puran Singh.

Speaking about the show in a press statement, Kapil said, As seen in the trailer, were back! For all our fans in India, we love you, and for our global fans, especially in Korea and Mongolia whove been missing us, were coming to Netflix on March 30! Sunil, Krushna, Kiku, Rajiv and I have been friends for a very long time and how you see us on screen, is how we are in real life. And yes, we love Archana ji  I had to say this because shes holding my house help hostage. The Great Indian Kapil Show is an extension of all of us in many ways and thanks to Netflix, you can watch us anytime, anywhere. Just remember, a new episode drops every Saturday."

The show premieres on March 30.
Rebel Wilson is claiming Sacha Baron Cohen has tried to stop the release of her upcoming memoir, Rebel Rising. Wilson and Baron Cohen starred together The Brothers Grimsby in 2016. I will not be bullied or silenced with high priced lawyer or PR crisis managers, Wilson wrote on her Instagram stories on Monday. The a**hole that I am talking about in ONE CHAPTER of my book is Sacha Baron Cohen.

Without naming Baron Cohen, Wilson had previously written on social media: Hes trying to stop press coming out about my new book. But the book WILL come out and you will all know the truth.

In her posts, Wilson did not specify what she wrote about Baron Cohen. However, a spokesperson for the comedian and actor told CNN Wilsons claims are false.

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 spokesperson said.

When I first came to Hollywood, people were like, yeah, I have a no a**hole policy, means like, yeah, I dont work with a**holes. I was like, Oh yeah. I mean, that sounds sensible or logical. But then it really sunk in because I worked with a massive a**hole and yeah, now I definitely have a no a**holes policy, Wilson said in a video shared on Instagram earlier this month.

In a 2016 interview with UK Marie Claire, Wilson spoke about Baron Cohen wanting her to film a nude scene in The Brothers Grimsby, which she declined.

You want to know that the people (behind the camera) have a certain sensibility and decency, Wilson said at the time. And a lot of times in comedy theyre not those people.

Rebel Rising is due to release on April 2.
Farah Khan and Shah Rukh Khan have remained close friends over the years and have witnessed several important milestones in each others lives. Shah Rukh was not only the first person outside Farahs family to know that she was expecting triplets but also one of her first friends to visit her after she gave birth. In an interview for Nova IVF Fertilitys YouTube channel, Farah Khan recalled how Shah Rukhs visit caused a stampede at the hospital.

Read More: Farah Khan Says SRK Caused Stampede In Hospital After Her Triplets Birth: Patients With IV Drips

Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah fame actress Jennifer Mistry has won sexual harassment case against Asit Kumarr Modi. The actress confirmed the same on Tuesday and revealed that the court verdict was out on February 15, 2024. Modi has now been asked to clear Mistrys outstanding dues. The court has also asked the producer to pay Rs 5 lakh to Jennifer as compensation.

Read More: TMKOC: Jennifer Mistry WINS Sexual Harassment Case, Asit Modi To Pay Rs 5 Lakh Compensation

The trailer of Bade Miyan Chote Miyan starring Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff was unveiled today in Mumbai. It saw both the action stars packing some solid punches and engaging in never-seen-before, high-octane action sequences. The trailer also gave a glimpse of Prithviraj Sukumaran, who plays Pralay, the antagonist in the film. Earlier, in an interview, the Malayalam superstar spoke about how inspirational Akshay is and how he also admires him as a father as his son, Aarav, came to the sets of Bade Miyan Chote Miyan in Glasgow.

Read More: Akshay Kumar Calls Prithviraj Sukumarans Dedication To The Goat Life Unbelievable: I Usually Dont | Exclusive

Sunil Grover has opened up about his fight with Kapil Sharma and joked that it was a publicity stunt they did for Netflix long before the streaming giant set foot in India. The duo has reunited after seven years for The Great Indian Kapil Show. Ahead of the shows premiere, Kapil and Sunil sat down for a press conference and addressed the infamous fight. Sunil poked fun at their now-ended feud and said that it was all pre-planned years ago.

Read More: Sunil Grover BREAKS Silence on 7-Year Fight With Kapil Sharma, Says It Was Publicity Stunt For

Taapsee Pannu celebrated her first Holi after her reported wedding with husband Mathias Boe and the first photo from the bash has surfaced online. News18 was the first to report on Monday, March 25, that Taapsee and Mathias have tied the knot. Although the couple has yet to react to the report, one of their friends seemingly shared the first picture of the couple after their wedding and fans noticed Taapsee sporting sindoor in the picture. The tika was applied with the Holi colour.

Read More: Taapsee Pannu Sports Sindoor in FIRST Photo After Wedding; Plays Holi With Husband Mathias Boe
Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah fame actress Jennifer Mistry is unhappy and disappointed even after winning the sexual harassment case against Asit Kumarr Modi. On Tuesday, the actress was speaking to a publication when she argued that she was sure that Asit Modi would be found guilty. However, Jennifer also said Rs 5 lakh can not be the amount to be paid for causing mental trauma to a person for one entire year.

Only I know what I went through in this period. People called me names, they thought I was fabricating the story and trying to gain publicity. My career went for a toss as people are reluctant to give me work because of the tags that Asit Modi gave, she told Pinkvilla.

Jennifer Mistry further argued that the entire controversy spoiled her career. He told people that I was problematic on the sets, threw tantrums, and was unprofessional. This has impacted adversely on my career, she said and then added, In this one year, I have contemplated committing suicide at least a hundred times. I just take a step back remembering my young daughter

Jennifer shared that she would drag Asit Modi to the High Court and continued by saying, If I let go of him by allowing him to pay an amount of 5 lakh rupees, it will only mean that anyone can get away with causing so much distress and trauma to others by paying some money. This is not what my fight is.

For the unversed, Jennifer Mistry used to play the role of Mrs Roshan Sodhi in TMKOC. However, she left the show in 2023 and later filed a complaint against Asit Kumarr Modi, the shows Project Head Sohail Ramani and executive producer Jatin Bajaj for alleged sexual harassment at the workplace. The three were booked under sections 354 and 509 (Assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Earlier today, Jennifer confirmed winning the case when she revealed that the court verdict was out on February 15, 2024. Modi has now been asked to clear Mistrys outstanding dues. The court has also asked the producer to pay Rs 5 lakh to Jennifer as compensation. However, no punishment has been given to Sohail Ramani and Jatin Bajaj.
Triptii Dimri praised Priyanka Chopra for her confidence and bravery in moving to another country to restart her career. In an interview with Vogue India, when asked what she admires about Priyanka, Triptii said she likes that Priyanka is really confident. She said, She is very confident, and it takes guts to go to another country and start your career again. I think she had the guts to do that. Theres so much to learn from an actor like her. I think shes brilliant in every film she has done, especially Barfi.

When I watched Barfi, I couldnt recognise her. I think thats one quality I want in myself as well. If I do a project and I want people to say that, She doesnt feel like Triptii. I think thats the biggest compliment for an actor, she further added.

In January this year, during an interview with Hello Magazine, Triptii praised Priyanka. When asked about the biggest influence in your life, she had mention PeeCee. There are many, but I would say my sister. I love the way she leads her lifebalancing work and home life. Shes always calm and can communicate well, have difficult conversations; a quality I lack. Among the actresses, its Priyanka Chopra [Jonas]Im really inspired by her; shes a very talented, versatile actress, she had said.

Priyanka kicked off her US career with the thriller series Quantico (2015-18), portraying Alex Parrish. She made her Hollywood debut as the antagonist Victoria Leeds in Baywatch. Her filmography also includes A Kid Like Jake, Isnt It Romantic, The Matrix Resurrections, Citadel, and Love Again.

In her upcoming projects, Priyanka will star in Heads of State alongside John Cena and Idris Elba. Shell also voice a character in an upcoming Disneynature film called Tiger. Additionally, shes set to appear in The Bluff, directed by Frank E Flowers, alongside Karl Urban.
Vignesh Shivan and Nayanthara have often given us major couple goals. They have always left their fans mesmerised with their chemistry. On Monday, Vignesh took to his social handle and shared a series of photos of his wife Nayanthara with his sons Uyir and Ulag. In no time it went viral as fans were also reacting to it.

Taking to his Instagram handle, Vignesh wrote, Getting back home to my Uyirs & Ulagams after an unforgettable shooting experience in Singapore & Malaysia! Cant wait to embrace and take in all the love thats been waiting at home for weeks together. In the photos, he is seen kissing his sons and in the second and third, Nayanthara is seen playing, holding them. One of the fans wrote, You guys are always glued together know inseparable one has straight hair like Nayan and the other has curly hair like you sema cute ladoos.

Take a look here:

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Vignesh Shivan (@wikkiofficial)

Lately, he has been in the news for his upcoming film, Love Insurance Corporation (LIC). It is an upcoming romantic comedy film and has created a lot of hype among Vignesh Shivans fans in Kollywood. Now, there are reports regarding the recent schedule of the project. Vignesh Shivans highly anticipated film, Love Insurance Corporation (LIC) is currently undergoing its special schedule in Singapore. As per reports, the cast and crew of the film have joined the Singapore schedule there. It has been found that the makers are running the Singapore schedule quietly without announcing it outside and gathering the attention of the media. Some of the members of the crew of the project have revealed that important scenes of the film are being shot in Singapore.

Nayanthara and Vignesh Shivan were in the headlines following their divorce rumours. But Nayanthara recently shared a bunch of romantic photos which in no time went viral. Fans were seen reacting to it and also called them a cute couple. In one of the photos, the Pathaan actress was seen getting a kiss from her hubby.
After Supriya Shrinate entered the Congress, it didnt take long for the top leadership to make her the partys social media head. Articulate, well-versed in Hindi and English, and experience in media were the right credentials.

But today the same social media has come to bite her. A post from her verified Instagram account had a picture of actress Kangana Ranaut and another of a mandi or a marketplace. The Bharatiya Janata Party has just announced Kangana as its Lok Sabha election candidate from Himachal Pradeshs mandi seat.

The suggestion was derogatory and it soon became viral. Interestingly, the post, which was later deleted, was spread widely by many social media accounts linked to the Congress.

Supriya Shrinate issued a statement saying access to her account was misused purportedly by someone on her team. Many in the Congress like Pawan Khera and Srinivas BV came out in her support.

But others in the party are not convinced. They are worried about the political fallout. Will the Prime Minister speak up, make this an election issue, and accuse the Congress and INDIA front of being anti-women? Just recently, Rahul Gandhis Shakti remarks stirred up a controversy and the PM had used it to attack the Congress.

First the facts. News 18 has learnt that there are at least six people who have access to Supriyas account. Its normal practice which is followed by many other parties too. But each post is vetted at three levels. The final responsibility lies with those at the helm, and in this case, its Supriya. So the buck stops with her.

But will any action follow? So far everyone is mum. However, sources confirm that the person who put out the post has been served a notice and laid off. But the BJP is in no mood to let this issue die down.

The Congress has worked on controlling the damage. Party social media handles have pushed an earlier interview of Kangana where she made a derogatory comment about Urmila Matondkar. But the question is, does one wrong justify another? Also with Lok Sabha polls around the corner, can this goof-up be ignored?

The BJP has unleashed all its top women leaders, from Smriti Trani to Khushbu Sundar, to attack the post. Kangana Ranaut herself has issued a statement.

There is no denying that under Supriya Shrinate the Congress social media wing has become aggressive and often gives the BJP a run for its money. Supriya herself is very combative on television debates and this is one reason why she has earned the confidence of the Gandhis, especially Priyanka.

However, can the Congress afford to ignore this issue, given the fierce fight for womens votes to win the Lok Sabha battle?
The Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday is likely to gherao Prime Minister Narendra Modis residence and stage a protest against Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwals arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the excise policy scam case.

AAP leaders and party workers on Monday had changed the display pictures of their social media profiles with the one that shows Kejriwal behind bars to express solidarity with the partys chief.

Protests from the party and its supporters continued in the national capital with the burning of effigies, candle march, etc.

DELHI HC TO HEAR ARVIND KEJRIWALS PETITION TOMORROW

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday will hear Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals plea challenging the alleged illegal arrest made by the Enforcement Directorate.

The plea also challenges the order dated March 22 by which the court sent him to EDs custody for seven days.

A HC bench headed by Justice Swarna Kanta Sharma will heard Kejriwals petition.

DELHI BJP PRESIDENT DETAINED DURING PROTEST

Police detained Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva amid the partys protest demanding resignation of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.

#WATCH | Delhi BJP President Virendraa Sachdeva detained during partys protest demanding resignation of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal pic.twitter.com/EJRnHn8D9J ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2024

Delhi Police used water cannons at the party workers marching towards the Secretariat during the protest.

BJP HOLDS PROTEST SEEKING KEJRIWALS RESIGNATION

While AAP is protesting against Arvind Kejriwals arrest at Patel Chowk, the BJP is protesting at ITO demanding the Delhi CMs resignation.

#WATCH | Delhi: BJP holds massive protests at the ITO demanding the resignation of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal who is in ED custody in the Delhi Liquor Excise Case pic.twitter.com/8TyjWllXjC ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2024

State BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said, The CM of Delhi is corrupt and dishonest and he has looted the people of Delhi. We are going to the Secretariat to demand his resignation

The government is not running from the jail. Just like AAPs character, the orders are also fake Arvind Kejriwal has to resign, he added.

While BJP MP Manoj Tiwari took a jibe at Kejriwals order from ED custody regarding water supply and sewer facilities and said, After being arrested, it is now that Kejriwal has remembered that they could not provide water and sewer facilities to the people of Delhi

They are doing press conferences that they could not provide medicines in the hospitals. They have accepted today that they have put Delhi into a plight in last 9-10 years, Tiwari told news agency ANI.

SUNITA KEJRIWAL TO TAKE PART IN INDIA BLOCS MARCH 31 RALLY

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwals wife Sunita will be present at the INDIA blocs protest against the AAP chiefs arrest at Ram Leela Maidan on March 31.

AAP PROTESTS OUTSIDE PATEL CHOWK METRO STATION; PUNJAB MINISTER DETAINED

Aam Aadmi Party leaders and party workers are protesting against CM Arvind Kejriwals arrest outside the Patel Chowk metro station amid heavy security arrangements.

Police made announcements that Section 144 had been imposed and asked the agitators to clear the within five minutes.

#WATCH | Delhi: Punjab Minister and AAP leader Harjot Singh Bains was detained by Delhi Police from outside of the Patel Nagar Metro station. pic.twitter.com/XCDqQUaYNL ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2024

However, the party leaders and workers continued with their protest, following which AAP leader and Punjab Minister Harjot Singh Bains was detained by the Delhi Police. Senior party leader Somnath Bharti was also detained.

Taking to X, Bharti wrote, The BJP-led central government is targeting everyone who is honest so that it can save the corrupt.

ARVIND KEJRIWAL ISSUES 2ND ORDER FROM ED CUSTODY

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday issued his second order from inside the Enforcement Directorates custody.

Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj  addressing a press conference  said that CM Arvind Kejriwal has taken note of the unavailability of hospitals and mohalla clinics in several areas. He added that many of these clinics, if available, are not able to conduct free tests for the people.

He wants to ensure that the poor get free medicine, who unlike the middle class cannot afford to buy them, Bharadwaj said.

Kejriwal has asked the Health Minister to ensure free tests be done in mohalla clinics and that medicines are available to provide in hospitals and clincis.

I would like to tell you on behalf of the CM that he is concerned about you. CMs orders are like Gods instructions and we will comply with it, Bharadwaj added.

Notably, the Health minister did not clarify as to how did he receive the orders from Kejriwal.

DELHI POLICE BEEFS UP SECURITY AHEAD OF GHERAO PROTEST

Ahead of AAPs gherao protest call against the arrest of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, the police has tightened security at Prime Minister Narendra Modis residence.

Security has also been beefed up in several other parts of the national capital. A Delhi Traffic Police official said that movement in parts of New and Central Delhi is likely to be affected due to the protest.

Section 144 (of the CrPC) is already imposed around the prime ministers residence and no one will be allowed to protest, the Delhi Police officer said.

AAP LIKELY TO PROTEST OUTSIDE PM MODIS RESIDENCE, BJP READY WITH COUNTER-PROTEST

The Arvind Kejriwal led-AAP is likely to protest against the Delhi CMs arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in the excise policy case.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party has also planned a mega march in the national capital on Tuesday, which will be led by the partys Delhi chief Virendra Sachdeva. It will start from Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium and conclude at the Delhi Secretariat, NDTV reported.

AAP STARTS SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN

AAP leaders and party workers on Monday kickstarted a social media campaign by changing the display picture of their social media profiles. The picture, which shows Arvind Kejriwal behind bars, is an expression of solidarity from the party workers to him.

These pictures have the caption, Modi ka Sabse Bada Dar Kejriwal (Modis biggest fear, Kejriwal).

The party urged people to extend their support for saving the constitution and democracy in the nation.

AAP minister Atishi said that since Kejriwal was the only leader who could challenge the prime minister, the ED arrested him without any evidence right after the schedule of the Lok Sabha elections being announced. She also claimed that the probe agency could not produce any evidence against the Delhi CM despite its two-year-long probe into the alleged excise policy scam.

AAP TO HOLD MAIN BHI KEJRIWAL CAMPAIGN

The Aam Aadmi Party will hold a Main Bhi Kejriwal campaign and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal will not resign from his post, the party decided during a meeting on Sunday.

This was AAPs first major meeting after Kejriwals arrest and it was chaired by AAP national general secretary (organisation) Dr Sandeep Pathak.

Pathak said that the Main Bhi Kejriwal will start soon under which stickers will be pasted outside houses and on auto-rickshaws, adding that hoardings will also be put up.

Those attending the INDIA blocs rally on March 31, should come with the Main Bhi Kejriwal stickers pasted on their vehicles, Pathak said.

He added that he had received an order from Kejriwal to hold a rally on March 31 and that the party will ensure that it turns out successful.

ED TO LOOK INTO KEJRIWALS 1ST ORDER FROM CUSTODY

The Enforcement Directorate on Monday took cognisance of the first order issued by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal from the agencys custody to initiate public welfare works related to the water department.

The federal agency said that it will initiate a probe to ascertain whether the directions were in line with the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) courts order issued to the ED and the CM during his custody period.

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 an hour between 6 and 7 pm, apart from his lawyers for another half hour.

Reportedly, it was said that neither any computer not paper was given to Arvind Kejriwal from the ED headquarters.

(With PTI inputs)
Responding to the row over an objectionable social media post against her shared by Congress leader Supriya Shrinate, Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut on Tuesday said she would discuss the further course of action on the matter with BJP President JP Nadda in Delhi.

The BJPs Lok Sabha poll candidate from Himachal Pradeshs Mandi said, We have reacted to the row over the objectionable post. BJP chief JP Nadda has asked me to meet him. Will be able to speak on the matter after the meeting with him.

The actor added that she would discuss if she had to take any legal action against Congress Supriya Shrinate during the meeting with Nadda.

According to sources, Kangana Ranaut will meet the BJP chief on Tuesday evening in Delhi.

#WATCH | Every woman deserves dignity, says Kangana Ranaut, BJP candidate from HPs Mandi Lok Sabha seat on Congress leader Supriya Shrinates objectionable post pic.twitter.com/kLt0h7Imq9 ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2024

She added that the people of Mandi were hurt by Shrinates post. Mandi is called chota-Kashi. People of Mandi are hurt because of this derogatory remark, She said.

The now-taken down derogatory post on Instagram, which was made a day after the BJP fielded Kangana Ranaut from Himachal Pradeshs Mandi, showed a photo of scantily-clad Kangana Ranaut, with a derogatory caption.

Supriya Shrinate later claimed that the social media post was made by someone who had access to her Facebook and Instagram accounts. She also blamed a parody account that was misusing her name on X. However, Shrinates clarification was met with strong criticism from BJP leaders and other politicians.

Ranaut had responded to the derogatory post on social media, saying every woman deserves her dignity.

Responding to the row, BJP leader Bansuri Swaraj said, Such derogatory words were used for someone who is Indias daughter and a woman. This is very shocking, and has shown the mentality of the Congress. The top leadership of the Congress should apologise for this.

VIDEO | Heres what BJP leader Bansuri Swaraj (@BansuriSwaraj) said on Congress leader Supriya Shrinates remarks on Kangana Ranaut.Such derogatory words were used for someone who is Indias daughter and a woman. This is very shocking, and has shown the mentality of the pic.twitter.com/PBvDMtMezB  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) March 26, 2024

Commenting on the row and responding to Ranauts claim that Congress did not respect women, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu responded to the row and said, She is the daughter of Himachal. Her parents live here. Her father was made the General Secretary of Congress in Mandi. We started Mahila Samman Nidhi by distributing Rs.1500 among the women.

#WATCH | Shimla: On Congress leader Supriya Shrinates post on BJP candidate from Mandi Kangana Ranaut, Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu says, She is the daughter of Himachal. Her parents live here. Her father was made the General Secretary of Congress in Mandi We pic.twitter.com/Ox5GWPiZIp ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2024

Meanwhile, the National Commission for Women (NCW), through a letter to the Election Commission of India (ECI), has sought strict action against Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate and party leader HS Ahir for their lewd and derogatory social media posts against actor Kangana Ranaut.
Chief Minister M K Stalin on Tuesday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modis is merely witnessing attacks against Tamil Nadu fishermen by Sri Lanka, which is waging an undeclared war against the states fisherfolk.

Addressing an election rally here, Stalin demanded to know why Modi is hesitant to question Sri Lanka over attacks against Tamil Nadu fishermen.

Stalin asked if Modi would be quiet if Gujarat fishermen were attacked by Pakistan. The CM asked: You (Modi) are a big Vishwa guru, cannot you condemn Sri Lanka, for attacks on TN fishermen.

Mocking Modi, Stalin, also the president of the ruling DMK, asked whether PM Modi is Vishwa guru (global guru) or Moun Guru (silent guru). Fishermen of Tamil Nadu are demanding answers from PM Modi on Sri Lankan attacks on fishers, he said.

In the run-up to the 2014 LS polls, Modi had blamed Congress as weak for Sri Lankan attacks on fishermen, he is however, a spectator now to attacks, Stalin alleged.

Stalin wondered how Modi sought votes from Tamil Nadu fishermen, for whom he has done nothing. On farmers issues, he asked if treating ryots like enemies is Modi model. Hitting out at PM Modi for what he called sticker campaign, the CM said the Centres housing scheme was named Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, but Tamil Nadu contributed 60 per cent to it.

In one of his rallies in Tamil Nadu, Modi had recently attacked the DMK regime for taking credit for Central schemes and for affixing its stickers on Union government initiatives.

Stalin asked: Has PM Modi fulfilled any of his promises made for Tamil Nadu, he asked. Years ago, Modi had said Rameswaram will be made a world-class destination. Has it been done? he asked.

Following heavy rains and floods in December 2023, Stalin said Modi had conveyed to him over phone that he was deputing Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to assess the damage.

The Prime Minister had told him that funds will be allocated towards relief initiatives following assessment. Stalin alleged, however, Modi had only lied to him. It was Modi who lied to me, a person elected as Chief Minister by the people. Training his guns on AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami, Stalin said the leader of opposition did not even pretend to attack Modi in his poll campaign. He asked Palaniswami if BJP is his partys boss and dubbed the AIADMK a party without ideology, that betrays Tamil Nadu.

He mocked Modi as the owner of AIADMK chief Palaniswami, who visited Tamil Nadu only during the election season. The DMK president said Palaniswami, has however, given him happiness by asserting in Tiruchirappalli on Sunday that the LS poll fight is only between the DMK and AIADMK.

Palaniswami has an understanding at least to that extent and I am happy. The AIADMK leader has also started criticising Tamil Nadu Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin and it was another aspect that made him happy, the Chief Minister said. Palaniswami had on March 24 slammed Udhayanidhi over the AIIMS project issue.

DMK leader Kanimozhi is the ruling party nominee from Thoothukudi, a coastal city in southern Tamil Nadu.
The Scindias, the influential members of the erstwhile royal family of Gwalior, have moved effortlessly between different political parties when it comes to fighting electoral battles on their home turf and Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia will carry forward this tradition when he files his nomination as the BJP candidate from the Guna Lok Sabha seat in Madhya Pradesh.

Five years after losing unexpectedly from Guna as the Congress candidate, Jyotiraditya Scindia, representing the current generation of the family in MPs politics, is back in the fray in his backyard, but this time as the nominee of his erstwhile political rival and with a different election symbol against his name on the EVM.

The 53-year-old politician is the grandson of one of the BJP founders, Vijaya Raje Scindia, and son of former Union minister the late Madhavrao Scindia. The Guna Lok Sabha seat, part of the Scindias home turf which also includes Gwalior, is spread across eight assembly seats in Guna, Shivpuri and Ashok Nagar districts. The Congress, looking to settle scores with Jyotiraditya Scindia in the poll fray after it lost its government in Madhya Pradesh following his exit exactly four years ago, is yet to name its candidate from Guna.

It was a rare electoral shock for former Gwalior royals when the Union Minister for Civil Aviation faced defeat in 2019 at the hands of the BJP candidate and his old loyalist, KP Yadav, by a margin of around 1.26 Lakh votes. In 2024, Scindia is again testing electoral waters, but under the banner of a different party the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) the political home to his parental aunts former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia and ex-MP minister Yashodhara Raje.

But the Guna Lok Sabha constituencys history suggested the Scindias have never fought their first and last elections from the same party. The Union ministers grandmother, Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindia, contested her first election from the seat in 1957 on a Congress ticket and won. She contested as the Swatantra Party nominee in 1967 then from the BJP in 1989.

His father Madhavrao Scindia contested his first election from Guna on a Bharatiya Jan Sangh (BJS) ticket in 1971 and fought his last poll in 1999 as the Congress nominee before his death in a plane crash near New Delhi in 2001. The BJS is considered the forerunner of the BJP. Senior journalist, author and political analyst Rasheed Kidwai says the Scindias political leanings seem to be settling down now.

After decades of consciously choosing divergent political parties, the house of Scindias is finally settling down as per their past and ideological leanings. The Sangh, Hindutva and right-wing has always been Scindia flavour in the monarchical era, Kidwai noted. The Guna parliamentary seat was represented by Rajmata Scindia for 6 times, while her son Madhavrao Scindia won it on four occasions.

Besides Guna, Rajmata Scindia represented the Gwalior Lok Sabha seat, part of the family turf, once. Madhavrao Scindia was elected five times from Gwalior, once as the candidate of the Madhya Pradesh Vikas Congress, an outfit floated by him. Rajmata Scindias daughter Yashodhara Raje also represented the Gwalior seat in the Lok Sabha twice for the BJP.

Jyotiraditya Scindia has represented the Guna seat four times between 2002 and 2014, including after winning in a bypoll. A year after his defeat, he joined the BJP in March 2020 along with 22 Congress MLAs, leading to the collapse of the Kamal Nath-led government in Madhya Pradesh. The defeat of Jyotiraditya Scindia in 2019 was the second setback for the Scindias in the Lok Sabha elections. In 1984, the Union ministers aunt and former Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje had faced defeat as the BJP candidate from the Bhind Lok Sabha seat. She was defeated by Congress candidate Krishna Singh Judeo, who belongs to the erstwhile royal family of Datia. The Guna Lok Sabha constituency has more than 18.80 lakh voters and it will go to polls in the third phase on May 7.
Ravneet Singh Bittu, Congress MP from Punjabs Ludhiana joined the BJP on Tuesday ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. He is the grandson of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh.

#WATCH | Delhi | Congress Lok Sabha MP Ravneet Singh Bittu joins the BJP. pic.twitter.com/RcLPyPJ4i0 ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2024

I am thankful to PM Narendra ModiI can say with confidence that PM Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah share a lot of love for Punjab and they wish to do a lot for the stateWhy should Punjab be left behind? Bittu said after joining the BJP.

The Prime Minister and the Home Minister always took it positively whenever I raised the issues of PunjabWe want to take Punjab forward, he added.

#WATCH | Delhi: Ravneet Singh Bittu says, I am thankful to PM Narendra ModiI can say with confidence that PM Modi and Union Home Minister share a lot of love for Punjab and they wish to do a lot for the stateWhy should Punjab be left behind? https://t.co/Ih3qU6OMx9 pic.twitter.com/xCs2z8CjwJ ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2024

Ravneet Singh Bittu had been openly critical of AAP despite Rahul Gandhis support for Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal, who was arrested by the ED on March 21 in the liquor policy scam case.

Kejriwal and party rose to power promising Swaraj & Jan Lokpal, but ironically theyve turned out to be the biggest thugs. This corruption case in Delhi is just the tip of the iceberg. Punjabs looted money by runaway Chadha is yet to be recovered, Bittu had posted on microblogging site X, a day after Kejriwal was arrested.

Who is Ravneet Singh Bittu?

Ravneet Bittu had won the Ludhiana seat for a second time consecutively in 2019. In March 2021, Bittu was briefly appointed the leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha when the existing Congress Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury was busy in the 2021 West Bengal election campaigns. He served as the leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha till July 2021.
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.

Reaching out to the minority community in this Muslim-dominated north Kerala district, the veteran CPI(M) leader said Muslim rulers, cultural icons and officials had played a significant role in the countrys 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 to Malappuram, have asked those who sat in front of them to chant the slogan Bharat Mata Ki Jai. Who coined the slogan? I dont know whether the Sangh Parivar knows that his name is Azimullah Khan, the CM said.

He remarked that he didnt 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 Shahjahans 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 countrys 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 wont 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 didnt 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 Hitlers fascist ideologies.

Vijayan also referred to RSS ideologue M S Golwalkars 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.
Apple Vision Pro headset will be available in China this year, and the update was reportedly shared by companys Tim Cook himself. Cook has gone to China recently, where he is rumoured to meet the Baidu team and launch the new Apple Store in the region.

Cooks update on Vision Pro for China was posted via Weibo, hinting at the headsets availability by May or June this year, which is just a few months away now. China is a big market for Apple, but its fortunes with iPhone sales have dwindled in the past few quarters, thanks to the threat posed by local brand Huawei in the country.

The visit of Cook in the region is no coincidence in this regard, but the update about Vision Pro launching in the country will please the consumers. Apple is also expected to expand the reach of its mixed reality headset in other parts of the world but still no sign of the premium gadget launching in India.

Apple has started viewing the Indian market as a strong alternative to China for its production needs, which is going to expand the production line beyond iPhones and have the MacBooks and iPad made in the country in the next few years.

The first Vision Pro model costs over Rs 3 lakh, which might deter Apple from launching it in India, but the company seems to have tracked a lot of interest in the product, which could force the brand to alter its plans eventually.

Vision Pro has generated excitement among many, and the early set of reviews have talked about the marvel of the gadget, which has a lot of drawbacks that needs to be improved upon with the second-gen model. The visionOS platform is one-of-kind to a large extent but Meta feels that its Quest headsets are better and cheaper than what Apple has dished out of its gallery.
Anjali Chakra and Sufi Malik, the Queer Indian-Pakistani couple whose breathtaking photos once illuminated social media, took an unexpected turn this weekend. Amidst a blaze of online fervour, they disclosed not only the cancellation of their impending wedding but also an unsettling tale of infidelity. In separate Instagram posts, they laid bare the heartbreaking truthSufis betrayal had shattered their dreams of matrimony.

Anjali, with a mix of candour and grace, revealed, This may come as a shock, but our journey is shifting. We have decided to call off our wedding and end our relationship due to infidelity committed by Sufi. She requested for compassion, urging that absolutely no negativity be directed towards her partner.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Anjali (@anjalichakra)

Sufi, on the other hand, took responsibility for her actions, admitting to cheating on her fiancee just weeks before their planned wedding.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sufi Malik (@sufi.sun)

This revelation comes after a five-year journey together, ending in an engagement just a year prior. As the dust settled, Anjali even clarified the removal of their online wedding registry, dispelling any whispers of them pulling a prank.

Also Read: Lesbian Couple Ties Knot in Kolkata Temple Despite Familys Disapproval, Heres What Happened

But, Who are They?

Anjali Chakra and Sufi Malik are a pair of influential Californians. Malik, an artist and teacher, and Chakra, an event planner, initially crossed paths on Tumblr. After seven years, they officially began dating, with Anjali taking the first step by messaging Sufi about her experiences as a queer South Asian woman. Their relationship blossomed, leading to an in-person meeting in New York and the start of their romantic journey in 2018.

Their fame skyrocketed in 2019 when they participated in an ad campaign for Borrow the Bazaar. Despite having two weddings to attend that weekend, they agreed to the shoot in exchange for free attire rentals. When the photos were shared online, they quickly went viral.

A New York Love Story pic.twitter.com/nve9ToKg9y Sarowar (@therealsarowar) July 28, 2019

With their diverse backgroundsSufi being Muslim and Pakistani, and Anjali Hindu and Indiantheir love story transcended cultural barriers, eliciting widespread enthusiasm and joy.

Their subsequent viral moments, including anniversary snapshots in traditional attire, further cemented their place as symbols of love and acceptance.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sufi Malik (@sufi.sun)

In 2022, they joyously announced their engagement, with Anjali calling it the easiest yes of her life. Until recently, their wedding planning seemed to be progressing smoothly, with updates regularly shared on social media.

But now, the recent announcement of their breakup has brought their fairy tale to an abrupt halt.
A man from Ohio, USA, Adam Sizemore, found himself in legal trouble after allegedly placing multiple calls to his childs school to voice complaints about excessive homework. Police reports indicate that Sizemore not only expressed frustration with the homework load but also allegedly made threats and used profanity directed at the principal of Kramer Elementary School. Detective Sergeant Adam Price of the Oxford Police Department disclosed that Sizemore initially called the school repeatedly, insisting on speaking with the principal. However, upon being informed that the principal was unavailable, he escalated the situation by contacting the police department. According to the detective, Sizemore proceeded to call the police station approximately 18 to 19 times within an hour, leading to his subsequent arrest.

According to reports, two police officers even visited the mans home, but Sizemore refused to open the door. As a result, one officer went to the school and discovered that the man was still making calls. However, Sizemore denied accusations made against him and claimed that many of them were not true. Talking to Today, he said, Im a single dad of a boy and a girl and Im just trying to do the best I can and thats all I can do. People make mistakes.

As per the police report, Adam Sizemore attempted to contact Principal Jason Merz regarding his concerns about the homework load, but Merz was unavailable. After he was directed to Merzs voicemail, the man used offensive language against schools secretaries and even made weird demands. As per the evidence provided by the school, the officer reportedly observed that Sizemores speech was unclear and inquired if he was intoxicated, to which Sizemore admitted that he was high.

As per the police report obtained by the portal, Sizemore continued to curse at me and call me names. He also told me he was going to make sure I lost my job. I explained to Sizemore if (he) called again, I would file a Telecommunication Harassment charge on him. I ended up hanging up on him. Sizemore called right back with the same behaviour he was warned about.

Reportedly, when Sizemore finally spoke with Principal Jason Merz, he expressed his frustration with his son having too much homework and even used foul language. Merz terminated the call due to his behaviour, but he resumed contacting Kramer Elementary School the next day. In a voicemail left for Principal Merz, the man suggested the principal handle the situation like an adult. Following these incidents, the father was arrested outside his home.

Detective Sergeant Adam Price stated that Adam Sizemore has been charged with two counts of telecommunications harassment and one count of menacing. If the man is found guilty, he could face a maximum penalty of a $1,000 (approximately Rs 83,000) fine and up to six months in jail for each count.
Zomato co-founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal was bestowed with the Entrepreneur Of The Year Award on Friday. He received the prestigious award from Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. During the event, Grecia Munoz showed her unwavering support to Goyal. Later, she also gave a heartwarming shoutout for Goyal by sharing a series of Instagram Stories.

In one of the pictures, Deepinder Goyal can be seen receiving the award, while Grecia captured the moment from the audience. And the award goes to, she wrote. Another picture shows the couple standing side by side with a simple white heart emoji.

During the awards ceremony, Goyal expressed gratitude for the achievement and said, I come from a very small town in Punjab. The message is, no matter where you come from, you can actually make it. He was also seen addressing the recent controversy that his company faced after announcing the pure veg fleet. Mentioning that the company has carried out a survey on the same, he anticipated that the order numbers would rise if there were veg fleets. The way we grew up, none of us knew the historical context of it so we were indifferent to it. But when we got the feedback, we understood and made the change, he added.

Deepinder Goyals marriage to Grecia Munoz

The Zomato founder recently made it to the headlines following reports of his marriage to Mexican model Grecia Munoz. As per the reports, Deepinder Goyal and Grecia got married a couple of months ago and recently returned from their honeymoon. Munozs current Instagram bio reads, Born in Mexico now at home in India.

Notably, this marks Goyals second marriage. He was previously married to Kanchan Joshi, whom he met while studying at the Indian Institute of Technology  Delhi.

Who is Grecia Munoz?

Hailing from Mexico, Grecia Munoz started her career as a model and later ventured into her luxury consumer products startup. Besides that, she has also tried her hands at hosting television shows.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Grecia Munoz (@greciamunozp)

As Grecia presently resides in India as her new abode, she recently also shared pictures from her Dilli Darshan, showing her visit to some iconic places like Qutub Minar and Red Fort.
IndiGo Airlines is back in the news. This time  over the poor luggage management. Days after being heavily criticised for their unhygienic kitchen, the airline services have once again caught the ire of online users after a woman dropped a post on social media highlighting its mismanagement while dealing with passengers luggage. The disappointed woman, in her post, added a picture of her damaged luggage and took a sarcastic dig at the airline services.

Shrankhla Srivastava, on her X (Formerly Twitter) handle, wrote, Dear IndiGo6E, Thank you for taking care of my luggage. Soon after being shared, her post started gaining momentum and within a day, it went viral on social media. As the post continued to be circulated, it also caught the attention of IndiGo Airlines.

The airline, in response, issued an apology while also expressing regret. Hi, we sincerely regret the inconvenience caused. We request you please allow us some time to check. Well connect with you.

Hi, we sincerely regret the inconvenience caused. We request you please allow us some time to check. We'll connect with you. ~Mousmi IndiGo (@IndiGo6E) March 23, 2024

Despite the apology by the airline services, Shrankhlas post instigated people to share their similar experiences with the flight. Highlighting how IndiGo is least bothered about the luggage of their passengers, a user shared, IndiGo destroyed my American Tourister wheels on the Mumbai Bangalore Sector, for them destroying luggage is a norm, I have seen their baggage handlers putting luggage into the aircraft, they are least bothered, everyone can see if they are sitting on the opp side of the gate.

IndiGo destroyed my American Tourister wheels on the Mumbai Bangalore Sector, for them destroying luggage is a norm, I have seen their baggage handlers putting luggage into the aircraft, they are least bothered, everyone can see if they are sitting on the opp side of the gate. philiposejohn (@philiposejohn) March 26, 2024

Meanwhile, a few others also called out IndiGo for poor services and alleged it never responds to the passengers despite seeking an apology on social media handles.

As the incident garnered traction online, the airline issued an official statement.

We are aware of an image circulating on social media regarding a passengers experience with their baggage while travelling with IndiGo. The passenger didnt report this incident to the customer service team on arrival. However, we are looking into the matter and have provided available redressal through vouchers. We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused to our passenger.

IndiGos alleged poor luggage management made headlines days after another woman shared her harrowing experience with the airlines. Yavanika Raj Shah posted a picture on her social media handle to showcase a missing seat cushion on an IndiGo flight. As per her tweet, she was flying from Bengaluru to Bhopal on flight 6E 6465. The airline had responded to the woman saying that the seat cushions were replaced before the flight for cleaning purposes.
Technology has surely changed our lifestyle. It has made daily tasks quicker and hassle free. The innovative way people have been using technology often leaves us stunned, and a recent video that surfaced on the internet proves that there are no limits to how and who can use tech for their benefit. A visually challenged beggar in Assams Guwahati recently went viral asking for alms while wearing a PhonePe QR code card around his neck.

The viral footage shows the man, Dashrath, who was carrying a PhonePe card with a QR code around his neck, approaching two passengers in a car, and one of them scans the QR code, sending him Rs 10. The beggar brings his phone close to his ear to hear the notice that money has been placed in his account. The clip was posted by a X user who wrote, Stumbled upon a remarkable scene in bustling Guwahati  a beggar seamlessly integrating digital transactions into his plea for help, using PhonePe! Technology truly knows no bounds. Its a testament to the power of technology to transcend barriers, even those of socio-economic status. A thought-provoking moment that speaks volumes about the evolving landscape of compassion and innovation. Lets ponder on this intriguing intersection of humanity and digital advancement.

Stumbled upon a remarkable scene in bustling #Guwahati  a beggar seamlessly integrating digital transactions into his plea for help, using PhonePe! Technology truly knows no bounds. It's a testament to the power of technology to transcend barriers, even those of socio-economic pic.twitter.com/7s5h5zFM5i Gauravv Somani (@somanigaurav) March 24, 2024

However, netizens had divided opinions after watching the clip. One of them praised how technological advancements were beneficial for people who struggled like Dashrath. The user stated, Awesome He has transcended all the barriers of collection and the pain of counting and then traveling to the bank for deposit. Direct to the account. Gazab brains. Whoever did this to him had given him a lot of ease and peace of mind.

Awesome He has trancended all the barriers of collection and the pain of counting and then traveling to the bank for deposit.Direct to the account. Gazab brains. Whoever did this to him had given him a lot of ease and peace of mind. PRABAL BANERJEE (@PRABAL_B1972) March 25, 2024

This people are not begger they are professional doing business .because this people.real begger are suffering. Azar Khan (@azarkhan44) March 25, 2024

While another stated that it shows the man was faking about his condition and has resorted to begging as a means to earn money. The person wrote, This people are not beggars, they are professionals doing business. Real beggars are suffering.

Heights of Digital Transactions  pic.twitter.com/TYtxr5ciu0 Rishi Bagree (@rishibagree) November 18, 2023

This was not the first time digital payments were used to warm alms. Last year, a video of a transwoman in Bengaluru taking money via UPI went viral. In the video, the transwoman is seen seeking money from a biker, who asks if she has any other form of payment besides cash. She promptly drew up a card containing a QR code. The man on the bike then successfully transferred money to her.
A suicide bomber attacked a bus in Pakistan on Tuesday, killing five Chinese nationals on board, sources told CNN-News18.

The attacker rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a convoy of Chinese engineers going from Islamabad to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, they added. This is the second such attack in the past week.

Chinese ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zaidong met Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi over a terrorist attack near Dasu Hydropower Project in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Attacks on Chinese nationals are a serious threat to Pakistans international relations, said observers. Beijing has asked the Pakistan army multiple times to provide proper protection to its citizens there.

According to the local police, no one has claimed responsibility for Tuesdays attack so far.

PNS Siddique, Pakistans second-largest naval air station, in Turbat, came under attack this week by intense gunfire and multiple explosions.

According to reports, locals said that over a dozen blasts were heard in Turbat town, while the firing continued for several hours.
At least five Chinese nationals were killed on Tuesday when an explosive-packed vehicle rammed into their bus in Pakistans troubled northwestern province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, officials said.

The Chinese nationals, who were killed in todays horrific attack, were working on the Dasu hydropower project.

The engineers, mostly foreign nationals, were travelling from a hydroelectric dam construction site towards the capital Islamabad when the bombing happened near Besham City.

However, this is not the first time that Chinese nationals have become targets of militant attacks in Pakistan. Chinese are often targeted in Pakistan, where Beijing has huge investments under its Belt and Road initiative which has seen it ink two $2 trillion in contracts around the world.

Heres a brief account of attacks where Chinese nationals were targeted or killed in Pakistan:

August 2023: Fidayeen Attack In Gwadar Killed 4 Chinese

At least four Chinese nationals were killed in an attack by armed rebels in Pakistans Balochistan province on August 13, 2023. According to local media reports, Pakistani security forces killed two terrorists in a gunfight in retaliation.

The attack was carried out by the suicide squad, Majeed Brigade, of the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), news agency Associated Press reported.

September 2022: Chinese Dentish Shot Dead in Karachi

A young Chinese man was shot dead while a Chinese dentist couple were critically wounded when a man posing as a patient, wearing a surgical mask, entered their clinic in a busy commercial area in Pakistans Karachi and opened indiscriminate fire on the victims.

April 2022: 3 Chinese Killed in Karachi Suicide Bombing

Three teachers from China and a driver were killed in a suicide bombing near a Chinese language learning centre in Pakistans Karachi in April 2022. The four victims were in a van near the University of Karachis Confucius Institute when the blast ripped through the vehicle.

A female suicide bomber was responsible for the attack, the Karachi police said in a statement.

August 2021: 9 Chinese Killed in Bus Explosion

At least nine Chinese citizens were killed in August 2021 after a bus carrying construction workers in Pakistans far north plunged into a ravine following an explosion, the Pakistani foreign ministry said.

Later, then Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi confirmed it was a suicide bombing by Islamist militants backed by the Indian and Afghan intelligence agencies.

August 20, 2021: Vehicle Carrying Chinese Nationals Targeted by Suicide Bombers

At least two children were killed and a Chinese citizen was wounded in a suicide attack in southern Pakistan in August 2021. The suicide blast took place at East Bay Road in the port of Gwadar.

Balochistan Liberation Army, a separatist militant organisation claimed responsibility for the attack.
Afghan women will be publicly flogged and stoned to death for crimes like adultery, Talibans supreme leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada has purportedly declared in a new audio message in which he also challenges Western democracies. The audio, released online by the national broadcaster, also announces the strict implementation of the Islamic code of Shariah.

You say its a violation of womens rights when we stone them (women) to death But we will soon implement the punishment for adultery. We will flog women in public. We will stone them to death in public, Akhundzada declared.

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.

According to Akhundzada, womens rights as advocated by the international community are against the Talibans rigid 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. 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.

It did not finish 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.

Akhundzada rarely appears in public or leaves the Taliban heartland in Afghanistans southern Kandahar province. He surrounds himself with other religious scholars and allies who oppose education and work for women.

Despite initial promises of a more moderate rule than during their previous stint in power in the 1990s, the Taliban have imposed harsh measures since seizing Afghanistan in August 2021 as US and NATO forces were pulling out.

As they did during their previous rule of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, the Taliban gradually reimposed their harsh interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia, barring girls from school beyond the sixth grade and women from almost all jobs, public spaces, gyms and recently closing beauty salons.

The measures have triggered a fierce international uproar, increasing the countrys isolation at a time when its economy has collapsed  and worsening a humanitarian crisis.
A series of airstrikes in eastern Syria on Tuesday killed more than a dozen people, including an Iranian military adviser and a team member working for the World Health Organization, officials and reports said.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the airstrikes in Syrias eastern province of Deir el-Zour that borders Iraq.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said the strikes killed 15 people including an Iranian adviser with Irans paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, two of his bodyguards as well as nine Iraqi fighters from an Iran-backed group and two Syrians working with the Iranians. It added that a Syrian engineer was also killed.

Irans state news agency confirmed that a Revolutionary Guard member was killed in Syria.

Dama Post, a pro-government media outlet in Syria, said the strikes targeted the provincial capital of Deir el-Zour that carries the same name, and the towns of Mayadeen and Boukamal. It said 20 people, including women and children, were among the dead.

The World Health Organization said one of its team members, engineer Emad Shehab, was killed in one of the strikes that hit his building. It said Shehab, 42, served as a WHO focal point for water, sanitation, and hygiene in the province since 2022.

There was no claim of responsibility for the strikes. Israel frequently launches strikes on Iran-linked targets in Syria but rarely acknowledges them.

In neighboring Lebanon, state-run National News Agency reported an Israeli airstrike on the northeastern village of Zboud in the region of Hermel. It said the strike hit a mountainous area, without giving details or whether there were casualties.

The Israeli armys Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee posted on X, formerly Twitter, that Israels air force struck a military complex used by Hezbollahs aerial unit in Zboud. He said the strike hit several buildings and an airstrip.

Adraee said that strike was in retaliation for Hezbollah firing rockets at Mount Meron air traffic control base in northern Israel.

Earlier Tuesday, Hezbollah said its fighters fired missiles toward the base in Mount Meron in retaliation for an airstrike on east Lebanon on Sunday that killed a Syrian citizen. Later in the day, Hezbollah said it fired more than 50 rockets on an Israeli command center in Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in retaliation for the strike on Zboud.
All 22-member crew aboard the container ship that crashed into Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore were Indians, the vessel management company said, adding that they were all safe and secure. Maryland Governor Wes Moore called the Indian crew heroes for their prompt warning before the collision because of which many lives were saved.

All crew members, including the two pilots, have been accounted for and there are no reports of any injuries. There has also been no pollution, the charter manager, Synergy Marine Group said. The registered owner of the Singapore-flagged ship is Grace Ocean Pte Ltd.

Owners and managers of the Singapore-flagged container ship DALI (IMO 9697428) report that the vessel collided with one of the pillars of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, Baltimore whilst under pilotage with two pilots onboard, at approximately 0130 local time on 26th March. All https://t.co/G6oPKuzkOw ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2024

The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed after a 948-foot container vessel collided with it in the early hours of Tuesday. Multiple vehicles fell into the water following the collision.

According to footage of the accident that surfaced on microblogging site X, the Singapore-flagged container ship called the Dali was seen crashing into the bridge that caught fire before sinking leading multiple vehicles to fall into the Patapsco River. The Dali was leaving Baltimore en route to Colombo, Sri Lanka.

At least six people believed to be part of a construction crew that was repairing potholes on the bridge remain missing, Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul J Wiedefeld said at a news conference, according to a CNN report.

Two people have been rescued so far with the local authorities fearing that six others are still missing as a search operation is underway.

Quoting police, a Reuters report said among the rescued, one person is said to be unharmed while the other one is critically injured.

Ship Crew Warned of Power Issues Before Collision

Quoting officials, a CNN report said the crew of the container ship that collided with the Francis Scott Key bridge warned of power issues before the collision.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore noted that the warning from the ships crew likely saved lives.

Maryland Governor Calls Indian Crew Heroes

Maryland Governor Wes Moore called the Indian crew heroes for their prompt warning so that authorities were able to stop the flow of traffic so more cars were not on the bridge. These people are heroes, they saved a lot of lives last might, he said.

All lanes closed in both directions for the incident on I-695 Key Bridge. Traffic is being detoured, the Maryland Transportation Authority posted on X. According to port data, it is the busiest US port for car shipments, handling more than 750,000 vehicles in 2022.
Pakistani security forces on Tuesday said they killed four militants who tried to sneak into PNS Siddique, one of the biggest naval air stations in the country.

Residents reported hearing more than a dozen explosions in Turbat town, with gunfire starting around 10pm and persisting late into the night, according to a report by Pakistan-based Dawn.

A separate report by the Associated Press which cited the Pakistan Army said the terrorists were killed during an overnight raid on their hideout in the northwestern part of the country bordering Afghanistan.

The raid by the Pakistani army came hours after militants from the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) snuck into a navy air base in Balochistan province.

Pakistan-based news media outlets said that a soldier from the Balochistan Frontier Corps (FC) also died in the attack.

Security forces in the vicinity were immediately mobilised to support the naval troops. Synergetic and effective response by the armed forces enabled the killing of all four terrorists in the ensuing joint clearance operation, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.

The report by the Associated Press said that Pakistan security forces found a cache of weapons, ammunition, and explosives in the intelligence-based operation conducted at the hideout in Dera Ismail Khan, a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

BLA claimed responsibility for the attack and said that its Majeed Brigade had led the attack. The soldier and the four attackers were killed in the ensuing shootout in Turbat district. The army said no damage was caused to the Siddiqui air station.

BLA was designated a terrorist group by Pakistan, the United Kingdom and the United States years ago.

The armed men attacked from three sides of the airport boundary, but security forces responded immediately and foiled their attempt to infiltrate the premise, Makran Commissioner Saeed Ahmed Umrani was quoted as saying by the Dawn.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif commended the Pakistan Army for foiling the terror attack.
India firmly supports the Philippines in upholding its national sovereignty and wants to explore new areas of cooperation, including in defence and security, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday, amid Manilas maritime dispute with China in the South China Sea.

Jaishankars remarks came at a joint press conference with his counterpart Enrique Manalo in Manila after their meeting.

Warm and productive meeting with @SecManalo of Philippines. Wide-ranging discussion on advancing ties in political, defence, security & maritime cooperation, trade & investment, infrastructure, development cooperation, education, digital, technology, culture and consular domains, Jaishankar posted on X.

They also exchanged views on global, regional and multilateral issues including the Indo-Pacific, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), West Asia, Ukraine, Non-Aligned Movement and the UN.

As two democracies committed to a rules-based order, look forward to intensifying our cooperation, he said.

Addressing the press conference with Manalo, Jaishankar said: I take this opportunity to firmly reiterate Indias support to the Philippines for upholding its national sovereignty. As the world changes, it is essential that countries like India and the Philippines cooperate more closely to shape the emerging order, he said.

Every country has the right to uphold and enforce its national sovereignty, he said in response to a question.

That is something that we have also discussed, he added.

On a question on Indias plans to expand defence cooperation with the Philippines amid development in the South China Sea, Jaishankar said: You need to look at that cooperation on its own merits. It is not necessarily linked to a particular situation.

But its natural today that two countries whose trust and comfort are growing so rapidly that we will look at various new areas of cooperation. And certainly defence and security is one of them, he said.

Honoured to call-on President @bongbongmarcos of the Philippines. Conveyed the personal greetings of President @rashtrapatibhvn and PM @narendramodi.Valued his warm sentiments towards the partnership. His guidance for taking it to new areas will strengthen collaboration pic.twitter.com/DbpwcktMeG  Dr. S. Jaishankar (Modi Ka Parivar) (@DrSJaishankar) March 26, 2024

China claims most of the South China Sea. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have counterclaims.

China has deployed hundreds of coastguard vessels throughout the South China Sea to patrol what it considers its waters, despite a 2016 Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling in a case brought by the Philippines that said the claim had no basis under international laws.

Manalo said the Philippines consistently reaffirmed the need to abide by international law and also for international rules and regulations when it comes to the maritime area.

Speaking about Beijings recent activities in the South China Sea, he accused China of trying to prevent Philippine ships from supplying its troops.

India and the Philippines have a very deep interest in ensuring a free open and inclusive Indo-Pacific Ocean and in this region. And it is in this context that we are having extensive discussions regularly on defence cooperation, and security cooperation, mainly also with a view to supporting an international rules-based order, Manalo said.

Jaishankar said every country has an interest in maritime security and safety.

In our case probably it is more than many other countries normally would have, he said.

As our relationship goes, as I pointed out it was natural to look at defence and security, he said. Indias ties with the Philippines have seen very perceptible growth in recent times, Jaishankar said.

Meetings and visits are one indicator of the growing closeness between our two nations. But this is equally visible in a range of domains starting from trade and investment and extending to health and food security, to education and science and technology, defence and maritime cooperation, etc, he said, The bilateral trade crossed the USD 3 billion level last year, he said and expressed confidence that it would continue to grow.

My message in the discussions with Secretary Manalo was that India, as the 5th largest economy currently, growing at about 7 per cent annually, is preparing to step up its engagement with the Philippines, Jaishankar said.

The two nations are moving ahead on Quick Impact Projects in agriculture, health and capacity building.

Indian companies have been active here, as much as in the digital infrastructure as in the physical one. There is considerable interest in the Indian corporate sector in stepping that up. The growing comfort and trust between us is also reflected in the ongoing supply of rice from India as an exceptional measure, he said.

As two seafaring nations of the Indo-Pacific, our maritime cooperation holds great potential. Last year, we signed agreements on enhanced maritime cooperation and white shipping, Jaishankar said.

Jaishankar said he and his counterpart discussed our shared interests in ensuring maritime safety, given that our two countries contribute so much to the global shipping industry.

The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea is particularly important in it as the constitution of the seas, Jaishankar said.

All parties must adhere to it in its entirety, both in letter and in spirit, he said.

He also briefed him about the Indian Navys deployments in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea to counter ongoing threats.

And he himself has spoken about the rescue of MV True Confidence by one of our ships, INS Kolkata. And there have been some other instances, I think since then, MV, Lila Norfolk, as well which involved some crew from the Philippines, Jaishankar said.

The partnership between India and the Philippines also has a larger context in terms of the engagement with the ASEAN, Jaishankar said.

We look forward to its steering India-ASEAN cooperation, especially in regard to reviewing the trade agreement, building connectivity and deepening people-to-people contacts, he said.

As a nation deeply invested in this region because of its Act East policy and Indo-Pacific vision, India follows all developments with great interest, Jaishankar said.

We are strongly supportive of ASEANs centrality, cohesion and unity. We are also convinced that the progress and prosperity of this region are best served by staunch adherence to a rules-based order, Jaishankar said.

We are also both societies that contribute significantly to the global workplace. We would like to see more resilient supply chains and trusted digital partnerships, Jaishankar said.

Our activities serve to strengthen the cause of the Global South in different domains. Our commitment to democratic values is deep and abiding. We are both nations who value the autonomy of decision-making and favour a multipolar world, with a multipolar Asia at its core, he said.

These convergences, based on an expanding bilateral partnership, today drive the upward trajectory of ties.

Jaishankar said as the two nations move towards the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, he is confident that there is much more that awaits them.
Five Chinese citizens were killed on Tuesday when a suicide bomber targeted their vehicle in northwest Pakistan, news agency AFP said. Five Chinese and their local driver were killed in the attack, Muhammad Ali Gandapur, a senior police official in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, was quoted as saying by the news agency.

A total of six people, including the driver, have died in the terror attack.

The suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a convoy of engineers, according to a report by news agency Reuters.

The engineers, mostly foreign nationals, were travelling from a hydroelectric dam construction site towards the capital Islamabad when the bombing happened near Besham city.

Chinese citizens are often targeted by militants in Pakistan, where Beijing has huge investments under its Belt and Road initiative which has seen it ink two $2 trillion in contracts around the world.

In 2021 a bus carrying engineers to a construction site near a dam in northwest Pakistan was hit by a bomb, killing 13 people including nine Chinese workers.
Former US president Donald Trump called US President Joe Biden dumb and blamed him for the October 7 attacks, claiming that the attacks would not have happened if he were the president and that Hamas did not respect Biden. He also claimed that Bidens policies strengthened Iran who then enabled its proxies to plan such an attack.

He cant put two sentences together. He cant talk. Hes a very dumb person. Hes a dumb person. His foreign policy throughout 50 years has been horrible, Trump was quoted as saying by Israel Hayom, a Hebrew-language daily newspaper.

It was an attack that I blame on Biden because they have no respect for him. They would have never done that attack if I were there. Biden is not a friend of Israel. Because if Biden was a friend of Israel, October 7 would have never happened, Trump said, repeating a claim he has made several times since the October 7 attacks.

Trump also warned Israel that it risked losing international support but defended Israels war on Hamas after the terror group killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in an unprecedented attack.

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, the former president said.

He, however, said moving images coming out of Gaza meant Israel would lose global support. 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, Trump said.

I think Israel wanted to show that its tough, but sometimes you shouldnt be doing that. Israel has to get better with the promotional and with the public relations, because right now theyre in ruin, the former president further added.

According to reports by Spectrum News and the Associated Press, the Israel Hayom is widely seen as a mouthpiece for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and is owned by the Adelsons. The family made its fortune through casinos and donated generously to Trumps 2016 and 2020 campaigns.

Trump earlier met the family matriarch, Miriam Adelson, in February to discuss his campaign.

Trump lashed out at the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for letting him down and said Netanyahu was not prepared for the deadly incursion from Gaza.

He also lashed out at Jews who voted for Democrats. I think if you have to convince them, you got a problem because that should be automatic. Im not Jewish. And yet Israel for me is very important. How could a Jewish person vote for Kamala Harris? She supports the enemy! Trump said.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, scrapped his aides planned trip to Washington on Monday where they were expected to discuss plans for an offensive in the Gaza city of Rafah.

The steps were taken after the US refrained from using a veto to block a United Nations Security Council resolution which was backed by Russia and China calling for a ceasefire without any preconditions.

Israel said it felt the US decision was harming its effort to contain Hamas and hurting its attempts to free hostages. (It is) a clear retreat from the consistent US position in the Security Council since the beginning of the war. (It) gives Hamas hope that international pressure will allow them to get a ceasefire without releasing our hostages, the statement from the Prime Ministers Office, Israel said.

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 going in on the ground in Rafah, the US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.

Israel PM Netanyahu had earlier warned that he would call off the visit of Israeli national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi and his strategic affairs minister to Washington if the US veto was not used on UNSC Resolution 2728.

The Gaza war broke out with Hamass 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.

Militants also seized about 250 hostages, of whom Israel believes around 130 are still held in Gaza, including 33 presumed dead.

Vowing to destroy Hamas and free the captives, Israel has carried out a relentless bombardment and ground invasion of the coastal territory.

The health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip on Monday put the total Palestinian death toll at 32,333, most of them women and children.

Hamas welcomed the Security Council resolution and reaffirmed its readiness to negotiate the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Meanwhile, firebrand right-wing Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called the UNSC antisemitic. The Security Council decision proves that the United Nations is anti-Semitic, and its Secretary General is anti-Semitic and encourages Hamas, Ben-Gvir said.
The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed after a large boat collided with it in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland which crosses the Patapsco River has reportedly Collapsed within the last few minutes after being Struck by a Large Container Ship; a Mass Casualty Incident has been Declared with over a Dozen Cars and many Individuals said to pic.twitter.com/SsPMU8Mjph OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 26, 2024

Following the collision, multiple vehicles fell into the water. The authorities said they are trying to rescue at least twenty people.

The large vessel was seen crashing into the bridge. It caught fire before sinking and led multiple vehicles to fall into the Patapsco River, according to footage going viral on social media site X.

Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore Fire Department, said the search is one for at least twenty people who are believed to be in the water. Cartwright said that the agencies received 911 calls around 1:30am (local time) where they said a vessel travelling outbound from Baltimore had struck a column on the bridge, causing it to collapse. Multiple vehicles were on the bridge at the time, including one the size of a tractor-trailer.

Our focus right now is trying to rescue and recover these people, Cartwright was quoted as saying by the Associated Press. He termed the collapse a developing mass casualty event.

This is a dire emergency, he said. Some cargo or retainers (are) hanging from the bridge, he further added citing why emergency responders are operating cautiously as there are unsafe and unstable conditions.

Ship monitoring website MarineTraffic showed a Singapore-flagged container ship called the Dali stopped under the bridge early Tuesday.

All lanes closed in both directions for the incident on I-695 Key Bridge. Traffic is being detoured, the Maryland Transportation Authority posted on X.

Statement by Ship Company on Collision

All crew members, including the two pilots, have been accounted for and there are no reports of any injuries. There has also been no pollution, the owners of the Singapore-flagged vessel said in a statement.

Whilst the exact cause of the incident is yet to be determined, the DALI has now mobilised its Qualified Individual Incident response service. The US Coast Guard and local officials have been notified, and the owners and managers are fully cooperating with Federal and State government agencies under an approved plan, the statement added.

#BREAKING: Morning Daylight reveals the aftermath of the mass casualty event of the Scott Key Bridge collapse#Baltimore | #Maryland Watch As morning daylight approaches, it reveals the devastating aftermath of an early morning incident after a large cargo ship from pic.twitter.com/zzXBuUB5m0  R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) March 26, 2024

Mayor Brandon M. Scott and Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. posted that emergency personnel were responding and rescue efforts were underway.

The governor of Maryland declared a state of emergency early Tuesday after a major bridge in the city of Baltimore collapsed, sending up to 20 people into the harbor below.

I have declared a State of Emergency here in Maryland and we are working with an interagency team to quickly deploy federal resources from the Biden Administration, Governor Wes Moore posted on X, formerly Twitter.

A police spokesperson from the Baltimore Police Department told NBC News that people were possibly in the river.

I can confirm at 1:35 a.m., Baltimore City police were notified of a partial bridge collapse, with workers possibly in the water, at the Francis Scott Key Bridge, Detective Niki Fennoy said in a statement.

Mayor Brandon M. Scott and Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. posted that emergency personnel were responding and rescue efforts were underway.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge opened in 1977.
Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged that the attack on the concert hall in suburban Moscow was carried out by Islamic militants on Monday but suggested that it benefitted Ukraine and that Kyiv may have played a role.

He said 11 people had been detained, including the four suspected gunmen, who he said had made their way to the Bryansk region and tried to slip into Ukraine.

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 Piknik.

The Russian President said that the motive of the attack was to sow panic among Russian citizens and could also be intended to show their own population that not all is lost for the Kyiv regime, in a reference to Ukraine.

Alexander Bastrykin, head of Russias Investigative Committee, told the Kremlin meeting the death toll had risen to 139, with 182 people wounded.

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. The question that arises is who benefits from this? Putin asked, according to the report by Reuters.

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, he further added, while speaking at a meeting held after the attack to discuss measures taken in response to the attack.

Meanwhile, France joined the US in saying intelligence indicated Islamic State was responsible.

The US earlier said that it warned Russia under the duty to warn protocol about an imminent attack and that intelligence indicates an Afghan affiliate, Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K), was responsible.

Moscows Basmanny district court remanded four men of Tajik origin on terrorism charges on suspicion of carrying out the attack. Three men were remanded in custody on suspicion of complicity. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack and has released what it says is footage from the massacre.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy derided Putins 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.

When he is gone, the need for terror and violence will disappear with him, Zelenskiy said.

Ukraine has denied any role in Fridays shooting and Zelenskiy has accused Putin of seeking to divert blame.

Ear Cut, Stuffed Into Mouth

Unverified videos of interrogations on social media showed one of the perpetrators ear cut off and stuffed into his mouth. Detained 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 journalists 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.
The UK accused China on Monday of targeting democratic institutions and parliamentarians in two cyber campaigns. The UK government also summoned the Chinese envoy and unveiled new sanctions against Beijing.

The Rishi Sunak government said that China-backed groups targeted the UK Electoral Commission, UK parliamentary accounts and lawmakers critical of China through cyber attacks in 2021 and 2022.

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.

Dowden said that the UK parliaments cybersecurity measures blocked a second campaign against lawmakers. The Chinese ambassador to London has been summoned to account for Chinas conduct, Dowden said.

The UK government hit two individuals and one company linked to the Chinese-backed group suspected of orchestrating the campaign, APT31, with sanctions as a response.

Conservative MP Iain Duncan Smith, one of the targeted lawmakers, said Beijing should be labelled a threat to the UK.

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.

Meanwhile, the New Zealand government on Tuesday also accused a Chinese state-sponsored group for an attack on the countrys Parliamentary Counsel Office.

The countrys 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 countrys biggest trade partner.

China Says Accusations Malicious Slander

China hit back by saying that the claims coming out of London and Wellington are malicious slander and groundless.

The Chinese embassy in Britain hit back, calling the claim completely unfounded and accusing London of malicious slander.

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 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 Chinese embassy in Wellington termed the allegations that it carried out a malicious cyber attack against New Zealands parliament as groundless.

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. Authorities in Washington recently said they had charged seven Chinese nationals in connection with a 14-year campaign against critics of Beijing.

China has never encouraged, supported or condoned cyberattacks, the embassy statement said.
American authorities charged hackers linked to the Chinese government for launching a sweeping, state-backed operation that targeted US officials, journalists, corporations and pro-democracy activists, according to a report by Associated Press.

The US authorities said that the campaign went for 14 years, beginning in 2010.

The campaign targeted critics of the Chinese government, aimed to steal trade secrets of American corporations and spied on and tracked high-level political figures.

Later, the UK and New Zealand government also joined the US government in charging these China-based hackers for launching cyber attacks on UK parliamentarians and its electoral commission and targeting New Zealands Parliament in 2021.

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. APT31 has previously been accused of targeting US presidential campaigns and the information systems of Finlands parliament, among others.

The US 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 UK 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.

Modus Operandi

The Chinese 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, the report by the Associated Press said.

When the victims of the scam opened the email, a tracking software was installed allowing 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 US government officials and politicians and election campaign staff from both major US 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, the hackers heavily focused their phishing on Washington-based journalists, including White House correspondents, just prior to the January 6 Capitol Hill riots.

The Chinese embassy accused the US of jumping to an unwarranted conclusion and making groundless accusations against China without valid evidence.

Cybersecurity issues should not be politicised. We hope all parties will stop spreading false information, take a responsible attitude, and work together to maintain peace and security in cyberspace. It is extremely irresponsible and is a complete distortion of facts. China firmly opposes this, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said.

The UK, meanwhile, summoned the Chinese envoy and New Zealand said that accusing China was a big step it was taking against its largest trading partner.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has refused to directly blame the Islamic State for the Moscow concert hall terror attack despite a claim by the extremist group and has implied that the attackers had links to Ukraine.

It should, however, be noted that Putin has acknowledged that radical Islamists were behind the attacks.

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 but he does not directly mention Islamic State.

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. France and the US also said that they have reasons to believe, based on intel inputs they received, that the Islamic State is behind the attacks.

The US also said that it warned Russia of an attack that would target mass gatherings earlier under its duty to warn policy.

Russian authorities detained 11 people in connection with Fridays attack and four of the suspects  with bruises and cuts on their swollen faces  were dragged into the capitals Basmanny district court before dozens of reporters.

The court identified them as Muhammadsobir Fayzov, Shamsidin Fariduni, Rachabalizoda Saidakrami and Dalerjon Mirzoyev. Russian state media said they were all citizens of Tajikistan. Two of them pleaded guilty, the court said.

Meanwhile, Turkey said that two out of the detained 11  Rachabalizoda Saidakrami and Shamsidin Fariduni  travelled freely to Russia as no arrest warrants were issued against them and claimed they were radicalised in Russia, according to the AFP, raising concerns for Putin as well as FSB as questions arise regarding the scope of the security lapse by Russian authorities.

Too Much Focus On Ukraine, Dissidents

Former US intelligence officials and Western security analysts pointed out that the principal security agency of Russia, FSB, has its hands full. They have to hunt down Ukrainian saboteurs inside Russia, keep dissidents silent, disrupt operations of hostile foreign intelligence agencies while also checking for rising terror threats.

You cant do everything. 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, Daniel Hoffman, a former senior CIA operations officer who served as the agencys Moscow station chief, was quoted as saying by Reuters.

An admission of slip-up by the successor agency to the Soviet Unions KGB could hurt Putins credibility as he began his fifth presidential term after his reelection.

It also can be seen as a tactic to escalate the so-called military operation in Ukraine as Putin sees that the Russian Army has the upper hand on the battlefield over two years into the war.

The FSB has said Fridays concert hall attack was painstakingly planned and that the gunmen had carefully hidden their weapons.

But despite the FSBs statement, questions also arise regarding the previous claims that the Russian government has tackled the threat from jihadists. It also poses tough questions for the Kremlin regarding its so-called sphere of influence as the terrorists were from Tajikistan.

Tajikistans strongman leader Emomali Rahmon and Vladimir Putin share a close relationship and an AFP report said that around one million Tajiks travel to Russia every year, and the number is growing.

2,300 Tajiks have joined IS since 2015, including the high-profile case of a former Tajik police commander who defected to IS.

Over the past three years, 24 of our citizens have committed terrorist acts in 10 countries. The number of young people who have joined terrorist organisations, including IS, has increased, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon said.

The FSB and Kremlin could also be accused of not paying adequate attention to who is entering the nation, as evidenced by Turkeys claims, which contributed to the slip-up, putting Putin, who once headed the FSB, in a tough spot.

Russian citizens were also quick to point out that the security as the Crocus City Hall was less compared to the police presence at memorials planned to commemorate the life of Putin-critic Alexei Navalny who died in a Russian penal colony under mysterious circumstances.

Russia has fought Islamist radicals earlier as well. Putin in his first term began his presidential tenure by fighting a long, bloody fight in southern Russias Dagestan and Chechnya provinces against radical Islamists but since these elements were suppressed, Russian authorities may have led to believe that jihadists did not pose much of a threat.

But many Russian commentators 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.
As the marriage between businessman Sir Wicknell Chivayo and his wife Sonja Madzikanda collapses, the BIG question is  how much will she get out of this seven-year union?

In 2017 Chivayo married Sonja Madzikanda and it was reported that a bride price of US$50 000 was paid.

Sonja took to Instagram to reveal that their marriage has collapsed.

For the past two, three weeks, with all these such kind of squabbles, back and forth happening and I just kind like watching in the background, she said.

But, really, I wanna say thank you to everyone who has reached out.

Myself and the kids are doing good. Its actually Minanas birthday on Friday and we are looking forward to that, Easter is around the corner, and again we are looking forward to that.

Myself and Wicknell are no longer together, we havent been together for a while. It will just be made official, I think, probably it is just going to be more official and direct on the first of May.

There are just a few things we need to iron out and we are still gonna be going back and forth about it but those people who know, know.

So, all I can say, is he can do whatever he wants, with whoever he wants. He is allowed to do that as a single guy and I am also single.

We still here, I am still gonna be John and Minanas mom and I am sure Wicknell will still be a good dad to them.

Love doesnt win all the time, we not gonna keep forcing things. So, I appreciate everyone who has reached out.

So, how much will she get from this celebrity divorce?

A lawyer, who H-Metro reached out to, said he didnt want to be named but told us Sonja would be due to a substantial claim if she chooses to make a claim.

The amendments which were done in the New Marriages Act do not apply to their marriage because the law doesnt apply retrospectively.

Generally, marriages in Zimbabwe are out of community of property, but when making a claim she will have to consider what they acquired during their marriage.

For example, if the assets they have, including the top-of-the-range cars, are registered in a companys name and she can claim if she has shares in the company.

In the event they are registered in his name, she can still claim from the basis that the assets were acquired through a partnership. She must, however, be able to prove, the role she played in the acquisition of those assets and if they have multiple properties, there is a chance that she can get the matrimonial home and he keeps the rest of the properties.

Even if the marriage was not registered, the lawyer said Sonja could still claim.

SOUTH AFRICA, FEBRUARY 2023

An estranged wife turned to the Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg, to claim interim spousal maintenance of R95 000 a month, pending the final divorce, as well as R6million towards her legal costs. The luxurious furnishings at their house included a diamond bathtub imported from the United Arab Emirates, valued at US$19 797, installed in the wifes en-suite bathroom. There was a crystal chandelier to the value of US$54 772.60. There were several luxury flats in Clifton, Cape Town, and in New York  one valued at R80m and another at R27m.

AUSTRALIA, MARCH 2020

The wife claimed US$278,000 monthly support for her and her son. She also claimed US$24M worth of properties which included a US$3.3M Swiss villa. She said she needed, at least US$1.2M a year to pay for four full-time careers for the son.

USA

Melinda Gates got US$76 billion after divorcing Bill Gates, MacKenzie Bezos got US$38 billion after leaving Jeff Bezos and Jocelyn Wildenstein got US$3.8 billion from her divorce. H Metro
THE Office of the President and Cabinet yesterday slammed an extortionist organisation that has been abusing the name of the First Lady, Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa and her office by purporting to grant interest-free loans for projects.

The Office of the President and Cabinet wishes to categorically disassociate the First Lady, Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa and her Office, from some extortionist organisation posted on social media as MicroFinance Auxillia Mnangagwa.

This entrapping post purports to grant interest-free loans for projects which it claims are associated with the First Lady of Zimbabwe, Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa, said Mr George Charamba, the Deputy Chief Secretary (Presidential Communications).

Mr Charamba said the public is advised that this is a false and extortionate communication inserted by crooks who use social media for their dirty ends, and thus should be ignored and shunned.

By this Press statement, the Zimbabwe Republic Police is being informed, and also directed to investigate this attempted cybercrime so culprits behind it are brought to book, he said. Herald
Zimbabwes first Education Minister at independence, Dr Dzingai Mutumbuka was on Wednesday granted a condonation order which gives him 10 days to file an application for the rescission of Justice Chinamhoras judgment.

Mutumbuka was evicted from his plush US$600 000 house in Chisipite, Harare late last year after alleged fraudsters forged title deeds to the home and sold it for US$45 000. His eviction was granted through a ruling made by Justice Webster Chinamhora who later resigned amid allegations of corruption.

The condonation was granted by consent by High Court Judge, Justice Benjamin Chikowore after the application faced no opposition from Advocate Method Ndlovu who appeared for Harrison Marange and his wife Dementia Zirenga (the defendants and buyers of Mutumbukas house).

Mutumbuka is being represented by Tomukudza Mudzimbasekwa of Sawyer Mkushi Legal Practitioners.

The next stage after getting the condonation order is to file papers for the rescission of Justice Chinamhoras judgment which process must be done within the next 10 days.

The challenge that Mutumbukas lawyers might now face is that the transcript of Justice Chinamhoras ruling is not available including on the electronic case platform. Masvingo Mirror
A SERIAL human trafficker, who was convicted of nine counts of trafficking after she hoodwinked nine desperate job seekers that they had found employment in Dubai but they ended up in Oman, was sentenced to 90 years in prison.

Caroline Ziyanga was convicted after a full trial by Harare magistrate Stanford Mambanje who sentenced her to ten years for each count.

Initially, she was facing eleven counts but two were withdrawn before plea.

Magistrate Mambanje, however, stated that counts three, four and five, six, seven and eight as well as nine, ten and eleven will run concurrently hence 30 years are effective.

The State represented by Oscar Madhume proved that sometime in January 2022, Ziyanga acted together with one Hamidah to traffic women to Oman for the purposes of enslavement and sexual exploitation.

She advertised non-existent lucrative jobs in Dubai through friends, relatives, associates and neighbours.

The complainants were referred to her as she was known to be assisting people to get employment in Dubai where she claimed they would get paid a salary of US$800 per month.

Acting on that misrepresentation, the complainants accepted the offer.

Ziyanga and Hamidah then processed visas and secured the air tickets for Oman instead of Dubai.

The complainants realised that they had been deceived on arrival in Oman when their passports were confiscated.

They were then forced to start working as housemaids, instead of nurse aides, and were subjected to inhumane treatment. H Metro
Ecuador's youngest mayor has been shot dead in what her party describes as an assassination. Brigitte Garcia, the 27-year-old mayor of the coastal town of San Vicente, was found dead in a car Sunday alongside communications director Jairo Loor, the BBC reports. Police say the shots that killed the pair were fired from inside the rented vehicle. Ecuador is in the third month of a state of emergency declared by President Daniel Noboa amid rising drug-related violence . San Vicente is in Manabi province, an area hit especially hard by violence linked to cocaine-trafficking gangs.

The motive for the killings is unclear. CBS News reports that in one of her final posts on social media, Garcia wrote about a project to bring water to the community, saying, "Together, we're building a brighter future." Garcia was a member of former President Rafael Correa's Citizen Revolution Movement party, reports Reuters. In a post on X, Luisa Gonzalez, the party's presidential candidate in last year's election, called the killing an assassination. "I have no words, in shock, nobody is safe in Ecuador NOBODY," she said, per Reuters. Another presidential candidate, Fernando Villavicencio, was assassinated at a rally north of Quito last year. (More Ecuador stories.)
The US 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 UK'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 UK voters held by the Electoral Commission, as well as for cyberespionage targeting lawmakers who have been outspoken about the China threat, the AP reports.

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 since 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.

Ahead of the sanctions announcement, 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.

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 US critical infrastructure sectors, "directly endangering US national security."

(More China hacking stories.)
Federal agents searched homes in Miami and Los Angeles on Monday that are associated with Sean Combs, who has been accused in lawsuits of sexual assault and sex trafficking. The raid was conducted by the Department of Homeland Security, NBC News reports, under warrants issued by the Southern District of New York, as part of a federal investigation. A representative for Combs, who also goes by "Diddy," did not immediately comment on the searches; the hip-hop mogul previously denied the accusations.
Chick-fil-A will drop its decade-long commitment to serving antibiotic-free chicken, the fast food company announced Monday. Starting this spring, the chicken chain's "No Antibiotics Ever" pledge, launched in 2014, will shift to a "No Antibiotics Important To Human Medicine" (NAIHM) pledge, the firm said in its statement . The move comes as poultry farmers across the country have seen their flocks devastated by the current avian flu outbreak and have been struggling to keep supply up as a result, NBC News reports. Tyson Foods, for example, already dropped its own "No Antibiotics Ever" pledge last July, similarly explaining that it would be using "non-medically important antibiotics" in some chicken, the Wall Street Journal reported at the time. Completely antibiotic-free chicken has become increasingly difficult to source.

Chick-fil-A says its chicken will still be free of added fillers, artificial preservatives, steroids, and added hormones, and that animal-specific antibiotics will only be given if a chicken and those around it become sick (The NAIHM rules still prohibit the use of antibiotics for any reason other than treating illnesses, meaning they cannot be used to promote animal growth). Health officials have long warned that humans' increasing resistance to antibiotics is partially due to the widespread use of such drugs in livestock, the Washington Post reports. But the Food and Drug Administration says that using antibiotics commonly used to treat human ailments is more of a concern in animals than using drugs that are specifically meant to treat animal illnesses. (More Chick-Fil-A stories.)
Hamas has rejected the latest ceasefire proposal, accusing Israel of ignoring its core demands, which include an end to the war and a full withdrawal from Gaza, the AP reports. The statement came shortly after the United Nations Security Council approved a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire and the release of all hostages held in Gaza. The vote provoked the strongest clash between Israel and the United States since the war began, when the US decided not to use its veto power Monday. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a high-level delegation's planned visit to Washington.

In a statement late Monday, Hamas said it had informed mediators that it was sticking to its original position, conveyed earlier in March. It said Israel had not responded to its core demands of a "comprehensive ceasefire, an (Israeli) withdrawal from the Strip, the return of displaced people and a real prisoner exchange." Netanyahu has rejected the militant group's demands, calling them "delusional." He has vowed to resume Israel's offensive after any hostage release and keep fighting until Hamas is destroyed. Also Monday, Donald Trump warned Israel that it should "finish up" its war in Gaza because it's "losing a lot of support," Politico reports.

(More Israel-Hamas war stories.)
Black Panther's target demographic isn't necessarily the white octogenarian set, and you can count Disney activist investor Nelson Peltz as not a fan of the highly rated 2018 action-adventure flick. Peltz recently gave a wide-ranging interview with the Financial Times in which he criticized a too "woke" Disney. "People go to watch a movie or a show to be entertained," Peltz, whose hedge fund Trian Partners, along with fellow activist investor Blackwells Capital, is trying to seize two seats on Disney's board, said in the FT chat last week. "They don't go to get a message."

The 81-year-old then went after last year's The Marvels and then Black Panther specifically, which "portrayed female and Black superheroes, respectively," notes FT. "Why do I have to have a Marvel that's all women?" he complained. "Not that I have anything against women, but why do I have to do that? Why can't I have Marvels that are both? Why do I need an all-Black cast?" Variety notes that The Marvels doesn't feature an all-female cast, nor does Black Panther host an all-Black one. The outlet also notes that Peltz has acknowledged in the past his lack of experience in the media industry.

Blackwells Capital, for one, wasn't thrilled with Peltz's remarks, calling them "disturbing public statements," per the Wrap. In a statement Monday, Blackwells called Peltz's comments "an affront to Disney's customers, employees, and shareholders" and said he should be disqualified from a board seat. Disney's take, in its own statement: "Imagine the damage Peltz would do in Disney's boardroom with these perspectives."

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As for Iger, Peltz insists he's not trying to see the Disney CEO dumped. "I don't want Iger to go," he told FT. He adds: "Disney is stupid because I'm not trying to fire Bob Iger, I want to help him." He also weighs in on a suit that accused him of being a "bully billionaire." "That's probably true," he says. "What sense is being a billionaire if you're not a bully?" Much more of his interview here. (More Nelson Peltz stories.)
Days after Brazilian police raided the homes of Jair Bolsonaro's top allies last month, the former president turned up at the Hungarian embassy in Brasilia, where Brazilian police have no authority. Bolsonaro, whose passport had been seized by authorities, stayed two nights at the embassy, from Feb. 12 to Feb. 14, according to surveillance video obtained by the New York Times , which describes the event as "an apparent bid for asylum." Bolsonaro is the target of several criminal investigations in Brazil. Last week, police accused him of tampering with the health ministry's database to falsify his COVID-19 vaccination data . He's also being investigated for alleged efforts to overthrow the results of the 2022 presidential election, which he lost.

Brazil's Federal Police is now investigating the sleepover, too, per the AP. Brazil's Foreign Ministry summoned the Hungarian ambassador for an explanation Monday, but Miklos Halmai reportedly "remained silent," per the Guardian. Asked about the footage himself, Bolsonaro didn't deny he was at the embassy. "I have a circle of friends with some heads of state around the world. They are worried," he said, per the Guardian. "I talk to them about matters in our country's interest," he added. "The rest is speculation." Earlier this month, Bolonaro told a crowd he was "not afraid" of being arrested. After spending months in the US, "I decided to come back here at all costs," he said. However, many onlookers view this as an attempt to evade justice.

Bolsonaro was forced to surrender his passport on Feb. 8 as part of an investigation into an alleged coup. Two of his aides were arrested. That same day, far-right Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a leader Bolsonaro once described as a "brother," offered words of support. "An honest patriot," Orban wrote on X alongside a photo of the two shaking hands. "Keep on fighting, Mr. President!" Four days later, Bolsonaro arrived at the Hungarian embassy with two security guards, was met by Halmai, and taken to residential apartments, per the Times. There were then only a handful of Hungarian diplomats on site as local staff were given time off for Carnival. They were to return to work Feb. 14, but were told that day to stay home for the rest of the week, per the Times. (More Jair Bolsonaro stories.)
There was good and bad but overall, Monday was a great day for Donald Trump and, as Bloomberg reports, "the single-greatest day on record for the former president's wealth." In merging his social media company Trump Media and Technology Group with Digital World Acquisition Corp., Trump took ownership of 58% of DWAC, which is to begin trading under the ticket DJT on Tuesday. DWAC shares jumped 20% Monday, closing around $50, meaning Trump's stake in the company is valued at $3.9 billion, Bloomberg reports. That raises Trump's net worth to $6.5 billion and puts him for the first time on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the list of the world's 500 wealthiest people, though he's unable to sell his shares for six months.

There are reasons to be cautious. "Experts warn that the market is overvaluing Trump Media given the company's fundamentals," CNN reports. It pulled in just $3.4 million in revenue in the first nine months of last year while posting a net loss of $49 million. It's also failing to retain users, with US monthly active users on iOS and Android down 39% year-over-year. But "there are definitely people who like Trump and want to support him. They're probably buying the stock," Kristi Marvin of SPACInsider tells Time. "And there's probably other people thinking: If he wins the presidency, who knows?" Basically, there's some hope that if Trump retakes the White House, his social media site Truth Social would receive a boost. (More Donald Trump stories.)
An Ohio man who acknowledged making death threats in voicemails left for then-Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs during the 2022 election season was sentenced Monday to 2 1/2 years in prison, reports the AP . Joshua Russell of Bucyrus, Ohio, had pleaded guilty in late August to a federal charge of making an interstate threat against Hobbs, a Democrat who, as secretary of state, was Arizona's chief elections officer in 2022 and now serves as the state's governor. US 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 state's office.

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." The judge rejected Russell's 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 sentence.

Hobbs was not present in court during the sentencing hearing. The three voicemails left by Russell were among the countless threats made against her for her role in certifying Joe Biden's 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. 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. (More Katie Hobbs stories.)
Rescuers in Baltimore were looking for at least seven people in the Patapsco River after the Francis Scott Bridge collapsed in Baltimore early Tuesday. A cargo ship struck the bridge about 1:30am, sending cars and at least one tractor-trailer into the water, reports the Baltimore Sun.

Rescues: Two people were pulled from the water, and one is in serious condition, per the AP. The water temperature was about 47 degrees. "This is a dire emergency," said Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore Fire Department.

Two people were pulled from the water, and one is in serious condition, per the AP. The water temperature was about 47 degrees. "This is a dire emergency," said Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore Fire Department. The ship: The vessel that struck the bridge is a 948-foot-long cargo vessel named the Dali, per the New York Times. None of its crew members, including two pilots, were injured. The ship, flying under a Singapore flag, had left the Port of Baltimore about 1am, bound for Sri Lanka, reports WTOP.

The vessel that struck the bridge is a 948-foot-long cargo vessel named the Dali, per the New York Times. None of its crew members, including two pilots, were injured. The ship, flying under a Singapore flag, had left the Port of Baltimore about 1am, bound for Sri Lanka, reports WTOP. Video: Watch the moment the bridge collapses here, via the Guardian.
Terminator star Arnold Schwarzenegger says he "became a little bit more of a machine" with heart surgery last week. On his " Arnold's Pump Club " podcast Monday, the former California governor revealed that he had a pacemaker fitted and is "doing great," CNN reports. "I had my surgery on Monday and by Friday I was already at a big environmental event with my friend and fellow fitness crusader Jane Fonda," he said.

The 76-year-old was born with a bicuspid aortic valve, a congenital heart defect, USA Today reports. He has had heart surgery three times to replace valves, most recently in 2020. On his podcast, Schwarzenegger said doctors told him it was time to get a pacemaker because scar tissue from surgery had made his heartbeat irregular. Schwarzenegger, who thanked staff at the Cleveland Clinic, joked that his medical team wanted "many more seasons" of Fubar, his Netflix series.

Schwarzenegger said sharing details of his condition "goes against so much of my upbringing in Austria, where nobody ever talked about medical issues. Everything related to healthcare was kept to yourself." But, he said, it felt right to talk about it because "going against my secretive instinct and being transparent helps people." He added: "I know a lot of you are probably dealing with your own health challenges, and I want you to know you aren't alone. And if you're putting something off out of fear, I hope I inspire you to listen to your doctors and take care of yourself." (More Arnold Schwarzenegger stories.)
A quarter-mile white steel tube running alongside a railway line in the windswept northern Netherlands could usher in a new era in the transportation of people and freight. The tube is the heart of the new European Hyperloop Center that opened Tuesday and will be a proving ground in coming years for developers of the evolving technology, per the AP.

What it is: Hyperloop, once trumpeted by Elon Musk, involves capsules floating on magnetic fields zipping at speeds of around 435 mph through low-pressure tubes. Its advocates tout it as far more efficient than short-haul flights, high-speed rail, and freight trucks. However, since Musk unveiled the concept that he said could shuttle passengers the nearly 400 miles between Los Angeles and San Francisco in 30 minutes, it has progressed at a much slower pace from the drawing board toward the real world.

Hyperloop, once trumpeted by Elon Musk, involves capsules floating on magnetic fields zipping at speeds of around 435 mph through low-pressure tubes. Its advocates tout it as far more efficient than short-haul flights, high-speed rail, and freight trucks. However, since Musk unveiled the concept that he said could shuttle passengers the nearly 400 miles between Los Angeles and San Francisco in 30 minutes, it has progressed at a much slower pace from the drawing board toward the real world. What's next: A test capsule built by Dutch hyperloop pioneer Hardt Hyperloop will take part next month in the first tests at the center, which is funded by private investment as well as government contributions. "I expect by 2030 you will have the first hyperloop route, maybe five kilometers (three miles) in which people will actually be transporting passengers," said the center's director, Sascha Lamme. "Actually there's already preparations being done for such routes in, for example, Italy or India."
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday agreed to pay nearly $300,000 in restitution under a deal to end criminal securities fraud charges that have shadowed the Republican for nearly a decade. The announcement by special prosecutors in a Houston courtroom came less than three weeks before Paxton was set to stand trial on felony charges that could have led to a prison sentence. It was the closest Paxtonwho was indicted in 2015has ever come to trial over accusations that he duped investors in a tech startup near Dallas, the AP reports.

Under the 18-month agreement, the special prosecutors would drop three felony counts against Paxton as long as he pays full restitution to his victims, and completes 100 hours of community service and 15 hours of legal ethics education. Paxton said nothing in the courtroom, other than affirming to state District Judge Andrea Beall that he signed the agreement, and he avoided reporters by leaving the court through a back door. But in a statement released later Tuesday, Paxton remained defiant following his latest legal and political victory. Just six months earlier, he was acquitted of corruption charges in an impeachment trial in the Texas Senate.

"There will never be a conviction in this case nor am I guilty," said Paxton, who also thanked his family and supporters "for sticking by my side." The agreement lets Paxton remain in his elected position and doesn't affect his law license. Houston attorney Brian Wice, who was a special prosecutor in the case, described the deal as a victory that requires Paxton to repay investors, including Byron Cook, a former GOP lawmaker who served with Paxton in the Texas Legislature, and the estate of Joel Hochberg, a South Florida businessman who died last year. Paxton had been accused of defrauding investors in a Dallas-area tech company called Servergy by not disclosing that he was being paid by the company to recruit them. (More Ken Paxton stories.)
With many families only just making ends meet, one unexpected bill was all it took to put them on the street, Welch said.

"It only takes one thing to go wrong - the car breaks down, or the washing machine or fridge. Then it's just a plummet into a huge hole."

Welch said she'd helped whanau living in cow sheds and teepees, and a family of nine living in two cars parked next to Kerikeri's public toilets.

She'd also fed families living in caravans without power or running water, whose children didn't go to school because they couldn't afford transport or uniforms.

Another family she'd helped was ecstatic to finally get what they thought was a long-term rental - only to be evicted a few months later to make way for summer Airbnb guests.

Welch said property management companies played a part in the crisis by insisting on annual rent increases.

Some people had lost their jobs during the pandemic due to vaccine mandates, and had then lost their homes when they couldn't keep up with mortgage payments.

"There's car parks around Northland full of people living in their cars. It seems to be getting worse and worse."

Council's formal strategy is years away

The crisis has prompted the Far North District Council to develop a housing strategy, in the hope of emulating Hastings' success in turning around its housing woes.

Since introducing a "place-based housing strategy" in 2019, Hastings has managed to slash the number of people living in emergency accommodation.

Measures taken by the Hawke's Bay city include encouraging developers to build affordable rentals on council land, more public housing through Kainga Ora, new subdivisions, converting inner-city buildings into apartments, and community housing projects, including papakainga on Maori land.

Far North Deputy Mayor Kelly Stratford, who shares the housing portfolio with councillor Babe Kapa, said Northland's long-standing housing problems were worsened by Cyclone Gabrielle, when many unconsented homes were badly damaged.

"They were just demolished, and there were gaps in being able to assist them," Stratford said.

Like Welch, she had seen an increase in the number of working families living in car parks intended for freedom campers, because they couldn't afford current rents.

"People are sleeping in their cars because they can't find a place to live. They're in there overnight, but then the next morning they're off to work."

In Northland, finding a rental was often a case of "who you know" - which made it difficult for families moving to the region for employment.

Anyone who had missed payments in the past, or who had been the subject of noise complaints, found it almost impossible, she said.

Stratford said she knew the effects of rental insecurity from personal experience.

Her family had rented the same home for the past four years, but before that they had been forced to move seven times in two years.

"It causes anxiety. Children just don't settle. It's really good if children can stay with the same school, but that's a challenge if you move out of the area, because you have to fork out for bus trips or car travel. Not everybody has the ability to do that. So they change schools and that impacts on education," she said.

"It impacts on health as well, especially if they move so far away from their doctor they need to register with a new medical provider, and you know how difficult that is."

Stratford said the council was not about to start building homes, but it would work more closely with iwi and hapu, housing agencies and developers to reduce barriers to building affordable homes.

"The goal is to help get people into homes faster. Although the strategy won't be completed for a couple of years, we've already identified resource consenting and building consenting processes we can change."

The strategy would also look at the issue of empty homes.

In Russell, for example, up to 70 percent of homes are said to be occupied only a few weeks a year - despite the town's dire shortage of worker accommodation.

Stratford said the strategy would try to quantify the number of empty homes in the district, and explore ways to encourage owners to allow them to be tenanted.

"There's the carrot approach or the big stick approach. We'll investigate incentivising them to help address the housing crisis rather than run Airbnb or Bookabach."

Relaxing consent rules could provide quicker builds - housing commentator

Hamish Abercrombie, general manager of Kerikeri-based construction firm Site Scope, said the government could make affordable homes more accessible by removing the requirement for building consents for homes under 60 square metres.

Currently sleepouts of up to 30 sq m did not need a consent, but that was only if they did not have plumbing.

"We see smaller homes as a solution for a range of whanau across New Zealand, mainly because the cost of housing has increased so much in the last few years," Abercrombie said.

"The barriers we're facing to try and get affordable housing to these whanau are massive. We can see that with the social housing wait list - there's over 30,000 people on there at the moment - and a lot of these people just need one- or two-bedroom homes."

"With a smaller home obviously there's a lot less to go wrong than, say, a 400 sq m home, yet the regulation is much the same. Taking a risk-based approach would ease some of that, and make it faster and more affordable to build houses."

Abercrombie said he'd pushed that message with government ministers during a Housing Expo at Waitangi in February.

Councils could also make a difference by changing their planning rules, he said.

The price of land was a major factor in the overall cost of any home, especially given the minimum lot sizes enforced in many parts of the country.

In the rural Far North, for example, a house lot had to be at least 3000 sq m.

Reducing the minimum size would make land, and hence housing, much more affordable, he said.

Health effects of housing issues pressing - iwi

Meanwhile, some iwi organisations in Northland are reinventing themselves as housing providers in an attempt to address the problem.

One of those is Kaikohe-based Te Hau Ora o Ngapuhi, originally a health service provider.

Chief executive Tia Ashby said the organisation branched into housing after realising there was little point fixing people's health if they just kept getting sick because of damp, cold, overcrowded homes - or because they lived on the streets or in their vehicles.

"Being an iwi Maori health provider we naturally have a holistic model of healthcare. We wanted to stop being the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff. We needed to focus on prevention," she said.

"Housing is a key social determinant of health, meaning that living conditions, including quality, affordability and stability, significantly impact health and well-being."

Investing in housing was also more cost effective in the long run, Ashby said.

A child that developed rheumatic heart disease as a result of poor living conditions, for example, would likely require lifelong medical treatment and eventually open-heart surgery.

The cost to the health system, not to mention the toll on the child's quality of life, was enormous.

Ashby said her organisation provided a range of housing options based on people's needs.

That included helping people into tenancies, and providing transitional housing for men coming out of prison so they didn't end up back on the street.

Te Hau Ora o Ngapuhi, in partnership with council-owned company Far North Holdings, was also building social housing on Kaikohe's former RSA site.

Ten affordable rental units opened last year with 50 more under construction.

The organisation's next goal was to build 100 owner-occupied affordable homes, catering to working families shut out of the property market by high prices.

"We call them the working poor. These are families where both parents are working but they're still struggling to make ends meet. The goal of home ownership keeps on sliding away due to rising living costs," Ashby said.

"So we're not just catering to people in emergency situations, it's the whole continuum. We're empowering people with tools to get them out of homelessness and into home ownership."

Ashby said the government could help by making sure it continued to invest in community housing providers - "because they're the ones at the coalface" - and cutting red tape around resource consents.

Monika Welch just hoped change would come soon.

She felt worn down by the scale of the problem and the desperation of families needing somewhere to live.

"It's just terrible. It makes me sick and sad inside. It's quite overwhelming really."
A rainbow-painted crossing in Gisborne's CBD has been painted over in what the mayor describes as an act of hatred and division.

Mayor Rehette Stoltz said the crossing, which was painted on December 20, 2021, was painted over with white on Monday night.

She added that reinstating the rainbow crossing will be done "as quickly as we can".

"Gisborne District Council strongly condemns the vandalism done last night.

"We accept that people hold different views however there is no place for hate or bigotry in Tairawhiti."

Stolz said the rainbow crossing had been a "solid message that we are an inclusive region".

Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki shared a photo to X, formerly Twitter, saying protesters "have had enough and they are painting over the rainbow crossing".
Safety warnings have been lifted in Karaka and residents allowed outside after a gas leak in the area on Tuesday night.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand responded to the leak south of Auckland after a tunnelling machine struck a gas main.

Three fire trucks were sent to the scene after large amounts of gas went into the air, with concerns it could impact residents.

An emergency response team from power authority Vector shut down the gas main late on Tuesday night.

Newshub.
The director of Russia's most powerful security agency said on Tuesday he believed Ukraine, along with the US and UK, were involved in the attack on a concert hall just outside Moscow that killed at least 139 people.



Ukraine, which has repeatedly denied any link with Friday's attack, dismissed the Russian accusations as lies. Islamic State, the militant group that once sought control over swathes of Iraq and Syria, claimed responsibility for the mass shooting.

"We believe that the action was prepared by both the Islamist radicals themselves and was facilitated by Western special services," Alexander Bortnikov, director of the Federal Security Service (FSB), said on television.

"The special services of Ukraine are directly related to this," Bortnikov said, adding Kyiv had helped prepare Islamist radicals at an unidentified location in the Middle East.

When asked by Russian reporters if Ukraine and its allies, the US and UK, were involved in the attack on the concert hall, Bortnikov said: "We think that's the case. In any case, we are now talking about the texture that we have.

"This is general information."

Bortnikov, 72, who has served as head of the FSB since 2008, said Moscow had yet to identify those who specifically ordered the deadliest attack inside Russia for two decades, but said retaliatory measures would be taken.

He offered no specific evidence for the claims, which hardliners in Moscow could use to justify an escalation of the war in Ukraine and to explain how Russian security services failed to prevent the attack.

Since President Vladimir Putin sent forces into Ukraine in 2022, the Kremlin has cast the West - and particularly the US and BUK - as enemies whose decision to support Ukraine essentially outs them as parties to war with Russia.

Russia has repeatedly said blasts on the Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea in September 2022 were carried out by the US and UK. Washington and London have denied those accusations.
Twelve people drowned trying to reach aid dropped by plane off a Gaza beach, Palestinian health authorities said on Tuesday (local time), amid growing fears of famine nearly six months into Israel's military campaign.

Video of the airdrop obtained by Reuters showed crowds of people running towards the beach, in Beit Lahia in north Gaza, as crates with parachutes floated down, then people standing deep in water and bodies being pulled onto the sand.

In Washington, the Pentagon said three of the 18 bundles of airdropped aid into Gaza on Monday had parachute malfunctions and fell into the water, but could not confirm if anyone was killed trying to reach the aid.

It was the latest in a string of incidents involving deaths during aid deliveries in the crowded Palestinian enclave where some people are foraging for weeds to eat and baking barely edible bread from animal feed.

A piece of paper retrieved from Monday's airdrop said in Arabic written over an American flag that the aid was from the United States.
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%.
UN Security Council for first time demands Gaza ceasefire as US abstains

UN Security Council for first time demands Gaza ceasefire as US abstains

AFP | United Nations

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

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.

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."

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.

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."
AFP | Amman

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres yesterday defended the UN agency for Palestinian refugees as a lifeline of hope and dignity and called for a surge of aid into Gaza.

During a visit to Jordans Wihdat refugee camp in the capital Amman, Guterres said it would be cruel and incomprehensible to halt UNRWAs vital services to Palestinian refugees across the region.

His remarks come as the agency faces a financing crisis after some key donor countries cut off funding following Israeli accusations that several UNRWA staff in Gaza were involved in the October 7 Hamas attack.

On Sunday, the chief of the UN agency, Philippe Lazzarini, said that Israel had definitively barred it from making aid deliveries into northern Gaza, where the threat of famine is highest. Guterres called the decision to block UNRWA convoys totally unacceptable and said it is absolutely essential to have massive supply of humanitarian aid now, this means opening more entry points.

The agency employs some 30,000 people across the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, providing healthcare, education and other basic services.

We must strive to keep the one-of-a-kind services that UNRWA provides flowing because that keeps hope flowing, Guterres said during his visit to the camp. In a darkening world, UNRWA is the one ray of light for millions of people. I see that hope here. Now more than ever, we must not take away that hope.

He also sought to honour the 171 women and men of UNRWA who have been killed in Gaza -- the largest number of deaths of UN staff in our history. Israel had in January alleged that 12 of the agencys 13,000 employees in Gaza were involved in the October 7 attack on southern Israel.

Multiple governments suspended their contributions to the agency, although several have since resumed payments. The United Nations has launched both an internal and an independent investigation but has said Israel has not provided it with any evidence to support the claims against its staff.
The newest addition to the McDonald's Canada menu is now available at participating restaurants

across the country

TORONTO, March 26, 2024 /CNW/ - An iced coffee is nice. But a Cold Brew Coffee? That's smooth. Starting March 26, Canadians will be able to order the new McCafe Cold Brew Coffee at participating McDonald's restaurants across the country.

Starting March 26, Canadians will be able to order the new McCafe Cold Brew Coffee in five varieties at participating restaurants: Cold Brew (unsweetened), French Vanilla Cream Cold Brew, Caramel Cream Cold Brew, Sweetened Cold Brew with Cream, and Cold Brew with Sugar-Free Syrup & Cream. (CNW Group/McDonald's Canada)

"Good things take time. Just as the cold-brew process enhances the smooth, delicious flavour of cold brew, we invested time in perfecting our recipe and are confident our guests will love it," said Chef Jeff Anderson, Culinary Innovation Lead at McDonald's Canada. "Whether you're a long-time cold brew lover or trying it for the first time, we're excited to give our guests a new way to enjoy McCafe coffee."

Made with Arabica beans, the new McCafe Cold Brew offers a different flavour experience than McCafe iced coffee, making it ideal for guests who prefer a stronger and bolder coffee taste for a refreshing start to their morning or an afternoon pick-me-up.

Guests can choose from five different varieties: Cold Brew (unsweetened), French Vanilla Cream Cold Brew, Caramel Cream Cold Brew, Sweetened Cold Brew with Cream, and Cold Brew with Sugar-Free Syrup & Cream. Guests can substitute cream for milk at no extra cost.

"We take pride in our legacy of delivering consistently delicious coffee experiences, making each visit to our restaurants unforgettable for our guests," said Alyssa Buetikofer, Chief Marketing Officer, McDonald's Canada. "Earlier this year, we introduced a whole new look and feel to the McCafe packaging line up and are thrilled to now announce the next phase in the evolution of the McCafe brand with the introduction of Cold Brew."

The new McCafe Cold Brew Coffee will be served in the newly redesigned sleek and sophisticated cup featuring the Golden Arches and McCafe brush script logo on a clear background. It is now available at participating restaurants across Canada, at the Drive-Thru, on the McDonald's app and through McDelivery.

About McDonald's Canada

In 1967, Canada welcomed the first McDonald's restaurant to Richmond, British Columbia. Today, McDonald's Restaurants of Canada Limited has become part of the Canadian fabric, serving more than one million guests every day. In both franchised and corporate-owned restaurants, nearly 100,000 people are employed from coast to coast to coast, and more than 90 per cent of McDonald's 1,400 Canadian restaurants are locally owned and operated by independent franchisees. Of the almost $1 billion spent on food, more than 85 per cent is purchased from suppliers in Canada. For more information on McDonald's Canada, visit mcdonalds.ca.

SOURCE McDonald's Canada

For further information: Canada Impact, McDonald's Canada, [email protected]
MARKHAM, ON, March 26, 2024 /CNW/ - Wholehealth Pharmacy Partners is proud to support Canadians in protecting themselves, their loved ones, and the global community by launching Dose4Dose, a national campaign in partnership with I Boost Immunity. Until March 2025, for every eligible vaccine (including HPV, Meningitis B, Pneumonia, RSV, and Shingles) at a Wholehealth pharmacy across Canada, a matching dose of a children's measles, polio, or tetanus vaccine will be donated through UNICEF Canada, with a goal of up to 30,000 doses donated worldwide.

Wholehealth partners with I Boost Immunity to donate essential childhood measles, polio, and tetanus vaccines to children worldwide through UNICEF Canada. (CNW Group/Wholehealth Pharmacy Partners)

"With up to 1 in 4 Canadian adults missing a routine vaccination, this initiative aims to support adult immunizations in Canada while improving access to lifesaving vaccines for children worldwide," explains Dr. Molly Yang, Pharmacist and Director of Pharmacy Innovation & Professional Affairs at Wholehealth. "Considering recent measles and other outbreaks, it is more important than ever to address vaccination gaps from a local and global perspective."

1 in 5 children around the world do not have access to essential immunizations. Dose4Dose reinforces Wholehealth's continued dedication to advancing healthcare equity and making a tangible impact on the lives of vulnerable populations.

"Our shared goal is to increase awareness about the importance of vaccination and improve immunization rates both here in Canada and across the globe," says Shannon Turner, Executive Director at the Public Health Association of British Columbia. "By getting vaccinated at Wholehealth Pharmacies, Canadians can play an active role in helping protect tens of thousands of the world's most vulnerable children, all while protecting themselves and their communities from vaccine-preventable diseases."

Canadians can participate in Dose4Dose in two ways, by receiving an eligible vaccine or, for those who are not due for vaccines, by completing short educational quizzes online.

"Public education and awareness of all vaccines at all stages of life needs to re-emerge as a public health priority," shares Dr. Christine Palmay, family physician and vaccine expert. "Given the past 3 years of COVID-related challenges, embracing a proactive approach to health seems like the only way we can, as a society, reclaim wellness as a community."

With 81% of Canadians trusting and regarding the pharmacy as a safe place to get a vaccine, pharmacies continue to play an essential, and growing, role in immunizations. Dean Miller, President of Wholehealth affirms, "We are pleased to support pharmacies and their communities with this initiative, ask your local independent Wholehealth pharmacy about the Dose4Dose campaign!"

About Wholehealth Pharmacy Partners

Wholehealth Pharmacy Partners is a Canadian pharmacy banner established in 2016, with 200+ locations nationwide. Wholehealth provides expert clinical, operational, and purchasing support to independent pharmacies. Through their innovative programs, Wholehealth aims to leverage evidence-based practices to enhance patient care, health equity, and community engagement. For more information, visit: wholehealthpharmacy.ca

About I Boost Immunity

I Boost Immunity is a digital learning platform administered by the Public Health Association of BC - designed to match local learning with global giving. The website uses online quizzes and articles to raise local literacy about immunization, and pairs it with a global reward: childhood vaccines through UNICEF. For each quiz you pass on I Boost Immunity, the site will donate one vaccine to immunize a child in support of UNICEF Canada. For more information, visit www.iboostimmunity.com.

Wholehealth invites members of the media to learn more about Dose4Dose and the impact it aims to achieve.

SOURCE Wholehealth Pharmacy Partners

For further information: To schedule an interview or for more information, please contact: [email protected] or [email protected]
The Nigerian Army has planned to release more than 200 detainees absolved of having links to the Boko Haram sect.

The repentant detainees were arrested by the military at various raids in the heat of insurgency.

It was gathered that they would be handed over to the Borno State Government for proper reintegration into society.

According to the report, the event will take place at Giwa Barracks in Maiduguri, the state capital, on Tuesday morning.

No fewer than 200 cleared Boko Haram suspects who are being cleared of any wrongdoing by security operatives, and they will be handed over to the Borno State Government for rehabilitation and reintegration.

The handing over ceremony is set to be this morning (Tuesday) at 10am at Giwa Barracks, the report said.

The State Commissioner for Women Affairs, Zuwaira Gambo and her Information and Internal Security counterpart, Prof Tar Umar, will receive the clear detainees on behalf of the state government.








Bandits who abducted 50 people from the Madaka Market in Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State have reportedly killed nine of the abductees.





Findings reveal that apart from the 22 earlier killed during the attack, nine more persons abducted have been killed.





The victims, mostly women, were abducted last Thursday and were being transported to the adjoining forest of the Allawa area when the bandits executed the brutal killings.





According to the district head of Madaka, Isah Bawale Madaka, seven people were killed in Kukoki village while moving into the forest, with an additional two individuals losing their lives en route.





He said, In Kukoki village while going into the forest around Shiroro local government area of Niger State they killed seven people and killed additional two people while moving towards the forest.





Madaka also stated that over 30 bodies have been buried so far, raising questions about the bandits motives as they have not demanded ransom for the abducted individuals.





He stated that for the past few days, he had tried to keep tabs on the route of the bandits and how to ensure the safety of the people abducted.





The Emir of Kalgara, Alhaji Ahmed Attahiru Gunna, and Hon Ismaila Modibbo, the representative of Rafi/Shiroro/Munya Federal Constituency, visited the injured victims to offer support and condolences.




Romelu Lukakus time at Stamford Bridge could be coming to an end.





According to reports from La Gazzetta dello Sport, Chelsea is looking to sell the striker to a Saudi Arabian club for a reported 34 million fee.





While AS Roma was interested in the Belgium international, they were unwilling to pay the hefty 40 million price tag that Chelsea placed on him.





With interest from the Middle East, the Blues are hoping to cash in on Lukaku who appears to have no future in London.





It is not the first time that Lukaku, who is currently on loan at Roma from Chelsea, has been linked with a move to Saudi Arabia.





Saudi Arabia club Al Hilal had reportedly made an offer for the former Manchester United star last summer, which he ultimately rejected.
An afternoon downpour has reportedly washed away Ochanja market road constructed by Governor Chukwuma Soludos administration barely one week ago.

Ochanja market is located in Onitsha South local government area of the state.

NigerianEye sighted a viral video of the washed road on Tuesday morning, posted by one Onyebuchi Nwafor, showing the coated asphalts piled out with pieces scattered and water-logged on some parts of the road.

A voice on the video expressed concern over the poor and shoddy job the administration is executing despite paying billions of taxpayers money for the projects.

A post accompanying the video, partly read: Wonders they say shall never happen, but unfortunately, it happened.

Prof Chukwuma Soludos one week old Road washed away in a split second.

The Dubai-Taiwan Ochanja market road in Onitsha constructed with billions of Anambra taxpayers money has just been washed away by just one episode of 20 minutes rainfall on Monday, 25th of March, 2024

The rainfall exposed the nature of poor quality jobs executed by the government.

Just a few weeks ago, at the same Ochanja Market, a storey-building under construction by the same government collapsed, killing an unknown number of people.

By the time the rainfall is fully established in June, more poorly executed construction by the Anambra State Government could be laid bare for the blind to see.

Meanwhile, the state government hasnt yet reacted to the video.




The Edo State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Tony Aziegbemi has regained freedom from his abductors after 11 days.

The PDP chairman was abducted by armed men on Friday, March 15, 2024 at 11 pm at the entrance to his house after a meeting with the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki.

The kidnappers had demanded for N500 million ransom to release their victim.

Senator Odion Ugbesia confirmed the release of the state PDP chairman.

Ugbesia, who spoke to newsmen on phone simply said, Yes, I just spoke to him, it is true. To God be the glory.

Meanwhile, a statement signed by Clem Aziegbemi, on behalf of the Aziegbemis family, thanked the general public for the show of love and solidarity to the family throughout the unfortunate incident.

As a member of the Aziegbemi family, we say thank you all for your great show of love and solidarity with us all through the period of the unfortunate and ugly abduction of our beloved son, brother, cousin, and leader, Dr Tony Aziegbemi for his unhurt release.

Thank you, all. We are most grateful for all your valuable contributions through prayers and steadfastness, he said.




Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, has dissolved the State Task Force on Sanitation.





Fubara announced this during a meeting at the Government House in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, signifying a shift in the states sanitation management approach.





The governor also appointed Prince Ohia, the Special Adviser on Environmental Sanitation, to oversee sanitation efforts on an interim basis.





Ohia will lead sanitation initiatives until further decisions are made regarding the leadership of the Rivers State Waste Management Agency (RIWAMA).




The Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Lagos State, Mr Philip Aivoji, has expressed support for state police.





He made this remark in an interview with newsmen on Tuesday in Lagos, saying the problem of insecurity would be reduced substantially if state police were adopted in the country.





He was reacting to the proposed creation of state police in the ongoing constitutional amendment by the National Assembly.





Aivoji said state police would address many of the countrys internal security problems if well managed.





The PDP chief, who was recently abducted by kidnappers and later released, said no effort should be spared at checkmating the rising Insecurity across states of the federation.





This call has been on for quite some time now as we look at the growing cases of kidnapping and violent crimes taking place across the country.





The issue of the state police is a welcome development.





What I understand by the state police is that we get people in their environment and train them to police people in that locality.





This is because they know the people in the environment and they can identify those who are natives of the area and when we have non-natives, they will be able to question such and know where they are coming from.





So, if it is properly done and handled with all honesty, it will help a lot, he said.




President Bola Tinubu on Monday approved the creation of the renewed hope infrastructure development fund (RHIDF).

In a statement, Ajuri Ngelale, presidential spokesperson, said the fund will facilitate effective infrastructure development across the pivotal areas of agriculture, transportation, ports, aviation, energy, healthcare, and education.

Ngelale said the fund will invest in critical national projects that will, among other things, promote growth, enhance local value-addition, create employment opportunities, and stimulate technological innovation and exports.

He added that the fund will raise financing through equity investments, budgetary allocations, special purpose vehicles (SPV), public-private partnerships (PPPs) and multilateral development financing.

Ngelale said Tinubu also directed that the presidential infrastructure development fund (PIDF), a brain child of the Buhari administration, be absorbed into the RHIDF to eliminate administrative inefficiencies.

He noted that the president said projects sponsored under the fund should reflect an equitable national spread to benefit every Nigerian.




UEFA will allow Manchester United play in the Europa League if they qualify, despite Sir Jim Ratcliffe still being the owner at Nice.





According to UEFAs new regulations, teams owned by the same owners will not be allowed to enter into the same competitions.





This means that under such rules, United would have been barred from competing in the Europa League next season, as their new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe is the majority shareholder at Ligue 1 side Nice.





Erik ten Hags men are currently sixth in the Premier League and if they finish in the position, they will qualify for the Europa League, but so are Nice.





In such a situation, Nice would have been allowed to play in the competition, as their position in their league is higher than that of the Red Devils.





But the Daily Mail reports that UEFA general secretary Theodore Theodoridis was at Old Trafford for Uniteds league clash against West Ham on February 4.





After the match, Theodoridis reportedly discussed the matter with the English club and he assured that the issue would be resolved.
A 76-year-old Bergen County man has been arrested and charged with sexually assaulting a child in Hackensack, officials said.

Phillip Porter of Hackensack was charged with first-degree aggravated sexual assault, and second-degree sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child, according to the Bergen County Prosecutors Office.

The Hackensack Police Department contacted county officials about the alleged sexual assault on Saturday, it was stated in a news release. Officials said the child was under the age of 13.

Porter 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
Sections of the famous boardwalk in Wildwood have turned red thanks to new sections of wood being installed in time for summer.

Work to install sections of cumaru, a Brazilian wood considered by officials to be dense and durable, is being paid for using funds from the $100 million in Gov. Phil Murphys budget dedicated to rehabbing structures along the coastline.

Ocean City and the Wildwoods boardwalk are considered to be the lifeblood of Cape May County, housing some of the areas largest employers, such as Moreys Piers.

In Wildwood, efforts to mend the boardwalk gained ground about three years ago, when Murphy announced $4 million in state money for the boardwalk during an Independence Day visit. Since then, Wildwood has been given allocations totaling $12 million from the state each year to help, officials said Monday.

The type of wood being used is likely to last for between 70 and 80 years, Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. said.

Rides on the citys renowned tram car will also likely be smoother because of the wood, he said.

If you care about your community, you care about the infrastructure of that community, Troiano said. The boardwalk is probably one of the largest generators of revenue for Trenton.

The city has previously used ipe, another Brazilian wood, to replace other sections, but Troiano found cumaru, learning Atlantic Citys boardwalk also features pieces of the same wood.

Thousands of pieces have been laid down between Schellenger and Spicer avenues. Workers have been busy finishing the project so steel fencing can be removed to welcome back visitors, which Troiano expects by Easter weekend.

A construction worker uses a collection of tools on the Wildwoods' Boardwalk near Schellenger Avenue on Monday, March 25, 2024.Eric Conklin

Wildwood is planning to use about $8 million in state funding to replace hundreds of wooden planks north of the citys convention center, officials said. At the time of Murphys visit a handful of summers ago, officials said at least $60 million would be needed to fully replace the entire span.

The U.S. Economic Development Administration has provided $3.2 million in grants, with Wildwood matching another $5.95 million, city officials said in a recent statement.

Both the boardwalks surface and supports beneath the wooded beams have been considered by officials to be in a dire state of decay. Lawmakers, in recent years, conferred with local leaders in attempts to secure funding to replace the aging spans.

We take a lot of pride in what we have here, Troiano said. It was tough when you had a boardwalk that looked like who did it and ran.

Cumaru, also known as Brazilian teak, is commonly found in South America. It was recently considered to be endangered by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, potentially leading to the wood trade to slow in the future.

Wildwood also used ipe, another Brazilian wood, on other sections of the boardwalk. The city steered away from using it again out of concerns from environmentalists, Troiano said.

Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. holds a piece of cumaru wood on Monday, March 25, 2024, explaining how the material will be more sturdy for the city's boardwalk.Eric Conklin

Rich Harron, Wildwoods superintendent of public works, said the wood isnt as hollow as other types on the market. Its reddish-brown tint has intrigued Jersey Shore enthusiasts and locals, but that color should fade relatively quickly, officials said.

Important to officials is the wood has fewer knots in the pieces. Throughout the boardwalk, knots, a term to describe points on wood that lift off of the surface, can be found, creating a safety risk for those walking by.

Its a failure point, Harron said.

The repairs follow what local officials say was a record-breaking summer tourist season for Wildwood.

The Greater Wildwoods Tourism Improvement and Development Authority recently reported that tourism revenue for lodging and prepared food and beverage, a key revenue driver, was 31% higher in 2023 than the five-year average tourism revenues.

The 2020 pandemic season numbers were not used in this comparison.

The Wildwoods continue to perform well above industry benchmarks for tourism growth each year by developing strategic marketing and public relations initiatives aimed at communicating the major attributes that have made the Wildwoods a truly unique family vacation destination, said Louis Belasco, executive director for the authority.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the local news you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription.

Eric Conklin may be reached at econklin@njadvancemedia.com.
Actor Rebel Wilson says that Sacha Baron Cohen has tried to stop the publication of her forthcoming memoir.

The book, Rebel Rising, has a chapter dedicated to Baron Cohen, she says.

In a March 15 Instagram post (see below), Wilson teased her book with a video.

When I first came to Hollywood, people were like, Yeah, I have a no a--hole policy ... It really sunk in what they were meaning by that, older people in the industry, because I worked with a massive a--hole, and, yeah, now I definitely have a no a--holes policy.

With that, she held up the book, due out April 2.

The chapter on said a--hole is chapter 23, she said. That guy was a massive a--hole.

Wilson, 44, shared who she was talking about in a post on her Instagram stories over the weekend.

I will not be bullied or silenced by high priced lawyers or PR crisis managers, she said, referencing efforts to stop the book. The a--hole that I am talking about in ONE CHAPTER of my book is: Sacha Baron Cohen.

The Australian actor worked with Baron Cohen on the 2016 movie The Brothers Grimsby, which he wrote and produced.

While the contents of Wilsons chapter on Baron Cohen havent yet been made public, his representative released a statement to Variety and other outlets.

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 statement said.

In the film, Wilson played Dawn Grobham, girlfriend of Baron Cohens character Nobby Butcher (Cohens real-life wife, Isla Fisher, was also in the film).

Wilson talked about The Brothers Grimsby on Australian radios The Kyle and Jackie O Show in 2014, alleging Baron Cohen had harassed her by pressuring her to do a nude scene in the movie.

Every day hes like, Just go naked, it will be funny, Wilson said he told her. Remember in Borat when I did that naked scene? It was hilarious.

She said she refused to do the nude scene and a body double was brought in.

Wilson also alleged that Baron Cohen, 52, asked her to stick her finger up my butt, which wasnt in the script.

After she said as much, she claims the English actor persisted in asking her to do it, saying it would be a really funny bit. She instead agreed to slap him once on the rear.

Video contains profanity

Thank you for reading. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription.

Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com and followed at @AmyKup.
If you want to experience the best R&B night of your life, then look no further than Maxwells tour.

The three-time Grammy Award-winning artist will begin The Serenade Tour on Sept. 14 in Hollywood, Fla. and will wrap up his tour on Oct. 27 in Los Angeles.

While on tour, Maxwell will perform in Brooklyn, N.Y. at the Barclays Center on Sept. 25.

He will also perform at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. on Oct. 6.

Jazmine Sullivan and October London are set to open for the duration of The Serenade Tour.

This tour marks a reunion with the R&B artist and Sullivan, who joined him on his Maxwell 08 Tour.

The Ticketmaster and Live Nation presales for The Serenade Tour begin on March 28 at 10 a.m. and will wrap up the same day at 10 p.m. through Ticketmaster.

Maxwells artist presale will begin on March 27 at 10 a.m and will end on March 28 at 10 p.m. through Ticketmaster.

The general sale will then begin on March 29 at 10 a.m. through Ticketmaster.

If you missed out on getting tickets through the presales and general sale, then you can find them on secondary market websites StubHub, Vivid Seats, TicketCity and SeatGeek.

First-time Vivid Seats users can save $20 on ticket orders over $200 by entering promo code NJ20 at checkout.

TicketCity users can save $15 on orders over $400 using promo code TCITYSAVE15 at checkout.

A complete list of Maxwells tour dates is available here.

Upcoming 2024 tours heading to MSG

Maxwell is not the only artist heading to the Prudential Center while on tour.

Here are a few more artists you dont want to miss out on: Jelly Roll, Kacey Musgraves, Nicki Minaj and Justin Timberlake.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Nicole Iuzzolino can be reached at niuzzolino@njadvancemedia.com. Have a tip? Tell us at nj.com/tips.
BALTIMORE  A container ship rammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday, triggering a response from New Jersey first responders as while local officials continued investigated the crashs cause.

Two people were pulled from the waters, one in serious condition, according to Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace. He said authorities may be looking for upwards of seven people but he said that number could change. It was not clear if the two rescued were included in the seven.

The vessel appears to have crashed into one of the supports of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, according to a video posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. The ship caught fire, and thick, black smoke billowed out of it.

This is a dire emergency, Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore Fire Department, told The Associated Press. Though he said it was too early to know how many people were affected, he called the collapse a developing mass casualty event.

The Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore collapsed overnight after being struck by a ship in the early morning of Tuesday, March 26. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff)TNS

The temperature in the river was about 47 degrees in the early hours of Tuesday, according to a buoy that collects data for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Cartwright added that some cargo appeared to be dangling from the bridge, which spans the Patapsco River at the entrance to a busy harbor. The river leads to the Port of Baltimore, a major hub for shipping on the East Coast. Opened in 1977, the bridge is named for the writer of The Star-Spangled Banner.

The force of the collision caused the bridge to snap in several places, leading to it plunging into the river below. Several vehicles fell into the chilly waters, and rescuers were initially searching for at least seven people.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore declared a state of emergency and said he was working to get federal resources deployed. The FBI was also on the scene.

In New Jersey, a Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Atlantic City was dispatched to the scene. They joined other teams from Curtis Bay and Annapolis for an active search and rescue, according to the Coast Guard.

The teams involvement in the operation was unclear Tuesday.

Gov. Phil Murphy told reporters Monday he was in contact with Moore, pledging all of our help to Maryland. He said the collapse doesnt have apparent implications to New Jersey.

Its horrific, Murphy said.

Synergy Marine Group  which owns and manages the ship called the Dali  confirmed the vessel hit a pillar of the bridge at about 1:30 a.m. while it was in control of two pilots. It said all crew members, including the pilots, were accounted for and there are no reports of any injuries.

Several vehicles were on the bridge at the time, including one the size of a tractor-trailer truck, according to Cartwright.

From a vantage point near the entrance to the bridge, jagged remnants of its steel frame were visible protruding from the water, with the on-ramp ending abruptly where the span once began.

A vessel called Dali was headed from Baltimore to Colombo, Sri Lanka, as its final destination, according to Marine Traffic and Vessel Finder. The ship was flying under a Singapore flag, WTOP radio station reported, citing Petty Officer Matthew West from the Coast Guard in Baltimore.

Vessel traffic records for the Port of New York and New Jersey shows the Dali had been at Port Elizabeth in New Jersey just last week. The Dali had arrived in Port Elizabeth on March 19 and left two days later bound for Norfolk, Virginia. The Dali then headed north to Baltimore.

37 1 / 37 Bridge collapses in Baltimore, Md.

Mayor Brandon M. Scott and Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. posted that emergency personnel were responding and rescue efforts were underway.

All lanes closed both directions for incident on I-695 Key Bridge. Traffic is being detoured, the Maryland Transportation Authority posted on X.

In 2001, a freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed in a tunnel in downtown Baltimore and caught fire, spewing black smoke into surrounding neighborhoods and forcing officials to temporarily close all major roads into the city.

NJ Advance Media staff writers Ted Sherman and Eric Conklin contributed to this report.
A recent trip to the X Museum in Beijing, where two solos of Chinese artist Xing Wanli and German artist Alexander Basil are underway, provides visitors an experience seesawing between disarray and order, between noise and stillness, as well as between reality and fantasy. On view at the museum's first floor are more than 40 paintings created by Xing since 2018. Using bold, expressive brush strokes, the artist painted against moody, mysterious backgrounds, figures with identities hard to pin down and objects such as a clunky, old home computer and fragments of its keyboard, which mystify and enchant the viewer while filling them with some sort of nostalgia. Born in North China's Hebei province in 1992, Xing studied at Sichuan Fine Arts Institute and Xi'an Academy of Fine Arts. The Chengdu-based artist is into modern literature and has created a body of work inspired by British writer Joseph Conrad, American writer Thomas Pynchon and especially Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami. For example, the Beijing solo features the artist's "Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World" series, whose title was borrowed from Murakami's 1985 eponymous novel. Also on show are paintings filled with the scenery and imagery that the artist extracted from Murakami's 1Q84, a three-volume novel published between 2009 and 2010, and tinted with his own understanding and memory. While Xing's somewhat pandemoniac, magical realistic canvases invite the viewer onto a trip down memory lane or into the literary unknown, the work of Alexander Basil, on display at the museum's second floor, opens a window into the artist's private, intimate world and inspires visitors to turn inward and explore their true identity. Greeting the eye are subdued colors such as brown, beige, and taupe, and compositions of mathematical beauty evocative of those of M.C. Escher. A bald, bearded man with rosy skin, curvy limbs, considered as the artist's self-portrait, populates almost every painting on show. The subject is often unclothed and portrayed in domestic environments such as in the kitchen, in bed, or in the bathtub, surrounded by everyday objects, including laptops, cellphones, mirrors, and tables. What intrigues Chinese audience is that the subject seems to possess the super power of 72 bian (72 transformations) that Monkey King in the novel Journey to the West, has. His face humorously appears in the tip of a burnt match, in a lighter's dancing flame, or in a moth flying towards a bright light bulb which is also made of his face; his body can be as fluid as spilled wine from a glass or a puddle of water on the stove bench spilling from a boiling pot. Whatever form the figure assumes, he never loses his skeptical, defensive stare, like a gesture of defiance against the viewer's gaze or examination. Born in Russia in 1997 and raised in Germany, Basil has studied at the Kunstakademie Dusseldorf and the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. The X Museum exhibition marks Basil's debut in China. The two exhibitions run through May 30. X Museum has rolled out a new ticket policy. Visitors can choose to pay X yuan (any amount above 10 yuan) to view the ongoing exhibitions. If you go: Monday to Sunday: 10:00-18:00 (last entry at 17:30) X Museum, Langyuan Station, E1 (Building 10), No.53 Banjieta Road, Chaoyang district, Beijing


A married couple who previously lived in New Jersey admitted they stole at least $4.5 million from more than 100 victims in an online romance scam that lasted for more than three years.

Former Maple Shade resident Martins Friday Inalegwu, 35, and his wife Steincy Mathieu, 27, met their victims by using online dating and social media websites and later had contact with victims by email and phone to pave the way for the fraud, the U.S. Attorneys Office for New Jersey said.

The two also ran apartment rental scams, authorities said.

After striking up relationships, Inalegwu and Mathieu asked the victims to send money to them or their associates for made-up emergencies during a scam that ran from October 2016 to May 2020, federal prosecutors said.

The victims agreed to wire money or mail checks to Inalegwu and/or Mathieu. In some instances, the couple received money by Western Union or MoneyGram or arranged for their targets to send money to their co-conspirators bank accounts in other countries, including in Turkey and Nigeria. The couple also paid no income taxes on the money they illegally received.

Inalegwu pleaded guilty Monday to conducting an unlawful money transmitting business and four counts of tax evasion. Mathieu pleaded guilty on Nov. 28, 2023 to two counts tax evasion.

Another Burlington County woman  Oluwaseyi Fatolu, 56, of Springfield  pleaded guilty on Jan. 8 to operating an unlawful money transmitting business. Charges are still pending against Nigerian national Moses Chukwuebuka Alexander, according to court documents.

All fraud schemes hurt victims who end up losing part or all of their hard-earned fortunes, savings or retirements, FBI  Newark Special Agent in Charge James E. Dennehy said in a statement. However, romance scams take on an insidious level of harm. Few of us would want to admit we fell for this type of scam, but were all human and scammers prey on that fact. The subjects are owning up to their crimes, but it may not provide much solace for the victims left broke and heartbroken.

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Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com.
A New Jersey man is facing drug charges in Nebraska after troopers pulled over his speeding car on Interstate 80 on Saturday and allegedly found 20 pounds of cocaine in hidden compartments in the vehicle.

Pablo Suruy Hernandez, 40, of Paterson, was stopped on the eastbound side near mile marker 360 in Waco at about 12:15 p.m., the Nebraska State Patrol said in a news release. Trooper searched the car after becoming suspicious of criminal activity, authorities said.

Hernandez was charged with possession of a controlled substance and possession with intent to deliver. He was sent to the York County jail.

Waco is about 100 miles west of Omaha.

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Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com.
By Perry Halkitis, PhD, and Boris Lushniak, MD

Its budget season in Washington, D.C., and while the general conversation has revolved around the typical topicsfunding the government, immigration, the presidential electionan undercurrent has surprisingly been the COVID-19 pandemic. Like the virus itself, the controversies swirling around the pandemic response never went away.

Regrettably, this just cannot be ignored. To date, 1.2 million people in the U.S. have died in the pandemic. We lead the world in COVID-19 deaths recorded over the past week, the past 28 days, and since the pandemic started. We need to focus on how to prevent more deaths, not how to ignore them. In short, people continue to get sick and die, in part because a mere 1 in 5 Americans has taken advantage of the most updated vaccine formulation.

Drs. Anthony Fauci, the former chief medical advisor to President Trump, and Francis Collins, the former Director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), recently provided closed-door depositions before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic to discuss the governments response to COVID. This will be followed by what is sure to be a boisterous hearing this Spring, which some members are likely to imply that we would have been better off if the U.S. had embraced a less restrictive approach as a public health strategy.

Congress has and continues to justify funding cuts for COVID-19 vaccines, tests, and research on the grounds that we will soon reach herd immunity, rendering them unnecessary. But that is a fallacy, and has been from the very beginning. During the negotiations for the Debt deal last year Congress clawed back over $13 billion across the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and other response agencies for vaccine distribution, research and pharmaceutical supply chain recovery.

Libertarians who opposed all public health measures focused on the Great Barrington Declaration. Written in October 2020, when there was no vaccine for COVID-19 and thousands were dying daily, the Declaration proposed quarantining only those whose immune systems were compromised -- as if this was an option for those economically stressed and other disadvantaged groups. Everyone else would go about their lives, contract the COVID-19 infection and presumably survive without repercussion, gaining a level of immunity from the antibodies generated by the infection with a blind eye to the reality of long COVID-19 and the unknown long term results of this infection

The Declaration placed individual preference and self-service above the public health, assigning the blame to the person and not the obligation of our societyregardless of the death toll. Now we see members of Congress embracing the Great Barrington Declaration yet again.

Yes, efforts to minimize in person social interaction were potentially harmful to mental health and well-being, especially for the youngalthough, unlike many of us older Americans, younger ones prefer their e-interactions. And yet, we believe using public health measures to protect more people was far preferable  the good of the whole is the basis of our social covenant. The declaration called for adopting measures to protect the vulnerable, which makes sense, but the idea was to isolate the most vulnerable, namely older adults, while allowing the rest of society to operate as usual.

While it is true that older adults were much more likely to die if they contracted COVID-19, more than 275,000 Americans died who were not retirement age. We also saw that many older people who were isolated in nursing homes were, in fact, not adequately protected from COVID because the very people caring for them could not be isolated. At times, they inadvertently brought the virus into the nursing homes. Proponents of herd immunity also failed to consider that hospitals would (and, in fact, did) become overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients, which caused severe bed shortages, a reduction of elective procedures (cancer screenings among them), staffing shortages and many people leaving the health care field.

The policies of Sweden and China also demonstrated the limitations and dangers of the herd immunity approach. At the outset of the pandemic, Sweden took the approach that they would isolate the elderly and let everyone else go about their normal daily lives. This resulted in a much higher death rate in Sweden compared to other Scandinavian countries that urged everyone to stay home and wear masks.

In China, there was a massive effort to shut the country down, and at first, this prevented many people from getting COVID. These measures were so draconian that people rebelled, and the country rushed to re-open without mechanisms to keep its citizens safe. More than 1 million people were estimated to have died in the ensuing wave.

In short, the Great Barrington Declaration ignored altruism, a cornerstone of effective prevention strategies. When the Declaration was published, the public health community forcefully opposed it in a statement that said in part, The declaration is not a strategy, it is a political statement Combatting the pandemic with lockdowns or full reopening is not a binary, either/or choice. We need to embrace common-sense public-health practices that allow for a safe reopening of the economy and a return to in-person work and learning while also using proven strategies to reduce the spread of the virus.

As Congress continues to rehash the federal response to COVID-19, we can all agree that it is practically impossible to avoid mistakes when dealing with a novel pathogen. But the COVID-19 response compares favorably with the missteps made at the beginning of the AIDS crisis, when a laissez-faire attitude like the one in the declaration cost hundreds of thousands of lives and the perpetuation of the pandemic 40-plus years later.

Instead, the federal government successfully bent the curve and made it possible for millions to obtain a vaccine in one year, which saved countless lives.

In preparing for the next pandemic, public debate is important. But scientifically proven public health approaches to combatting this pandemic made a significant impact. We must not discount this lesson and distort the history of COVID-19, imperfect though it may be, as we are bound to see more pandemics in our lifetimes.

Perry N. Halkitis, PhD, MS, MPH, is Dean, Distinguished Professor, and Hunterdon Professor of Public Health and Health Equity at the Rutgers School of Public Health.

Boris D. Lushniak, MD, MPH, is Dean and Professor at the University of Maryland School of Public Health.

Murphy admits COVID mistakes, vows to improve N.J. pandemic response after critical report - https://t.co/p1qCe7CTHx https://t.co/T6eP44z3To  The Grade (@thegrade_) March 14, 2024

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By John Reichman, Esq.

Governor Murphy has sued the federal government over its approval of New Yorks congestion pricing plan. There is a way to settle the dispute that benefits both New Jersey and New York.

I represent 34 New Jersey environmental, labor, and transit groups who submitted an amici brief in support of the tolling program. We believe congestion pricing is in New Jerseys interest; the vast majority of New Jersey residents who commute into Manhattans Central Business District (CBD) use public transit and will benefit from congestion pricing. It will also make our air cleaner, reduce greenhouse gases, and reduce commute times for those who continue to drive.

But a good program can be made better by using some of the tolling revenue to improve mass transit from New Jersey into the CBD.

The tolling program is projected to raise approximately $1 billion in annual revenue over the next ten years, part of which will fund improved Metro-North and LIRR service into Manhattan; a carrot and stick approach whereby New York commuters will pay more to drive into the CBD, but also will be incentivized to use transit through improved service.

For New Jersey commuters there is only the stick; no funds are allocated to improve transit into Manhattan. Meanwhile NJ Transit (NJT) is also facing a fiscal crisis. NJT riders are facing a 15% fare hike. Next year, NJTs projected deficit will be between $700 million and $1 billion. While the Governor has proposed a corporate transit fee (CTF) to address this deficit, its passage is uncertain. Further, even if the CTF passes, NJTs capital budget will remain chronically underfunded as the Governor continues to call for NJT capital funds to be used to pay for operating expenses. This has led to many crucial infrastructure projects remaining unfunded.

These facts ineluctably lead to what would be a fair, and indeed obvious, settlement of the action: in return for New Jersey discontinuing the action, New York would provide $500 million in dedicated funding to NJ Transit, $50 million annually, over the ten-year life of the tolling program, to pay for capital programs to improve mass transit into the CBD.

This is a win-win solution.

For New Jersey, It would provide NJT with desperately needed funds. Politically, the Governor could rightfully claim an important victory and justification for filing the action. It would also neutralize the complaints by environmental and progressive groups and editorials that the Governor is wrong and hypocritical in opposing a plan that would reduce greenhouse gases and toxic pollutants. There are innumerable ways this money could be used to improve commutes into New Jersey such as one ride train trips from Bergen County, weekend train service and improved and increased bus service through the Holland Tunnel.

New Jersey would also be giving up little. Even if New Jersey prevails in the lawsuit, that will only delay, but not ultimately preclude, the tolling program.

This settlement would also benefit New York. The MTA has already delayed projects it is planning because of the lawsuit, which with appeals could go on indefinitely. Improving commutes by transit from New Jersey into the CBD would further a central goal of the tolling program, keeping vehicles out of the CBD. Indeed, from a policy perspective, there is no logical reason why funding should be provided to Metro-North and the LIRR, but not NJT. The combined annual budgets of New York State and the MTA is approximately $240 billion. $50 million annually is couch cushion money for them.

Its past time for New York and New Jersey to settle the action in a way that benefits both states.

Attorney John Reichman is a member of the EmpowerNJ Steering Committee and environment committee chair of the BlueWaveNJ.
Polling is only a snapshot in time.

But with that caveat out of the way, things appear a touch rosier for President Joe Biden after months and months of polling that showed former President Donald Trump would sail to reelection if the rematch were held today.

The November contest will again be decided by at least a half-dozen swing states. And new polling from Bloomberg Tuesday showed Biden gaining ground in seven of them.

MC/Bloomberg: February  March



 Wisconsin: Trump +4  Biden +1

 Pennsylvania: Trump +6  Tie

 Michigan: Trump +2  Tie

 Nevada: Trump +6  Trump+2

 Georgia: Trump +6  Trump +7

 Arizona: Trump +6  Trump +5

 North Carolina: Trump +9  Trump +6 https://t.co/izCJQg6CyB pic.twitter.com/qE5yy2xQH8  InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) March 26, 2024

Compared to last month, Biden made incremental gains in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nevada, Georgia, Arizona and North Carolina.

To be fair to Trump, the Bloomberg poll shows hed still win if the contest were today. But the poll shows Biden, at least for now, narrowed  and in one case, overcame  his gap with Trump.

Per Bloomberg: Bidens more upbeat numbers come at an inflection point in a campaign matchup that has seemed predetermined for months. The president and Trump each clinched their parties nominations on March 12, beginning an extraordinarily long general election season.

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Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MatthewArco.
MSNBC superstar host Rachel Maddow went for the Ronna McDaniel kill shot on Monday night, using the first 30 minutes of her hour-long The Rachel Maddow Show to join her colleagues in their withering criticism of NBCs decision to McDaniel  an election denier, Donald Trump enabler and former Republican Party Chairman  as a paid political mouthpiece.

With the power that Maddow wields at the network, its difficult to imagine that McDaniel survives. Its also conceivable that Maddow demanded the chance to weigh in before a firing was announced. She called on the companys executives to reverse the decision.

In her monologue, Maddow said McDaniel will never be able to wash the sludge of the coup plot from her hands because she cant  and likely wont want to  stop the runaway train that she shifted into high gear before bailing out. The country will be dealing with McDaniels mortal sins for years, maybe generations, Maddow predicted.

She also said McDaniel has helped to cultivate the idea that political violence might be needed to restore Trump to the White House if he loses to incumbent Joe Biden in November.

She was part of a project, and what was the project? Maddow said. It was to use the power of the Republican Party, Republican officials and Republican officeholders in Washington, the National Republican Party that she runs ... to reject election results to take over the government and hold power by other means. And this project is now ongoing, right?

MORE:

Boycott! NBC, MSNBC face threats from most influential viewers after hiring Trump-loving proven liar

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Lies, lies, lies out of the gate: NBC disaster Ronna McDaniel roasted as she tries to revise Trump history

Now the project is to tell the American people that those efforts around the 2020 election were righteous, that 2020 election, it wasnt OK. Those election results were not correct. We shouldnt believe American elections. We shouldnt believe American elections are real elections. ... They should not be respected. Thats the project now, right?

I mean, it didnt work to overthrow the government the last time, but as long as you can build on that first effort, as long as you can keep up the anti-election mythology, then you are priming your people. Youre priming the American public to not accept the results of the next election, either. Youre telling them that theyre going to need to take power by other means, because the election isnt going to be how we do it anymore.

In addition to telling The Big Lie over and over, while she also vilified and insulted reporters, McDaniel was caught on tape urging Michigan officials not to certify the 2020 Michigan presidential results while promising to get them lawyers. Although she has not been charged, she is mentioned in the fake electors indictment court filings.

Maddow also broke news in her address to her viewers: She said that when McDaniels hiring first was announced, the leadership of MSNBC didnt object. It wasnt until the networks talent and other employees raised hell, that MSNBC executives folded and said McDaniel wouldnt appear on MSNBC.

On Sunday, McDaniel appeared on NBCs Meet the Press, and her debut was as expected  a disaster. Among other lies and gaslighting, she insisted that she had always believed that President Joe Biden won the 2020 election fair and square, but that, in her role as GOP Chairman, she promoted Trumps Big Lie because when youre the RNC Chair, you kind of take one for the whole team.

Maddow, like others before her, called B.S. on that, and Maddow blasted McDaniel and NBC executives for not having the guts to protect democracy. Maddowns monologue followed sneering and scathing indictments of their bosses by Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski (Morning Joe) and Nicolle Wallace (Deadline White House).

I want to associate myself with all my colleagues both at MSNBC and NBC News who have voiced loud and principled objections to our company putting on the payroll someone who hasnt just attacked us as journalists, but someone who is part of an ongoing project to get rid of our system of government, Maddow said, someone who still is trying to convince Americans that this election stuff it doesnt really work.

if you care what I think about this, I will tell you the fact that Ms. McDaniel is on the payroll at NBC News., to me, that is inexplicable. I mean you wouldnt hire a .. mobster to work in a DA s office, right? You wouldnt hire a pickpocket to work as a TSA screener. And so I find the decision to put her on the payroll is inexplicable and I hope they will reverse their decision.

Maddow added: And its not about, you know, Democratic Party vs. Republican Party. Its not about partisanship. Its not about right vs. left. Its not about being a political professional vs. some other kinds of person. Its not about being mean or nice to journalists. Its not about just being associated with Donald Trump and his time in the Republican Party. Its not even about lying or not lying. Its about our system of government and undermining elections and going after democracy as an ongoing project.

Former U.S. Representative Liz Cheney, whose investigation laid bare the multi-level coup scheme and led to criminal indictments, was one of the first to go after McDaniel. 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.

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State budget analysts on Monday predicted stagnating and feeble revenues collections for the new fiscal year and warned that New Jerseys robust surplus will be nearly depleted if spending continues at the current pace by 2027.

This was the first time the nonpartisan analysts at the state Office of Legislative Services, along with state Treasury officials, addressed members of the New Jersey Legislature since Gov. Phil Murphy unveiled a proposed $55.9 billion state budget in February for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

OLS Budget and Finance Officer Thomas Koenig and Revenue and Economic Policy Analyst Oscar Mendez spoke first, delivering what was at times a grim message to the state Assembly Budget Committee in Trenton.

Murphys budget proposes spending $1.8 billion more than it collects in taxes and other revenues in the upcoming fiscal year, Koenig said.

Nearly gone are the pandemic budgets that were flush with federal aid and ever-leaping collections and surpluses, Koenig said. Cheerfulness is not usually a hallmark of budget presentations by budget officers, and it will not be today.

Revenues are expected to rise from $52.2 billion this fiscal year to $54.1 billion in the coming year, but that increase is inflated by Murphys suggested transfer of $585 million from a separate Debt Defeasance and Prevention Fund, which was created when the state sought to pay down the billions it borrowed when the economy tanked in 2020. If the state did not have that money to move to the budgets general fund, revenues would only be up by 2.4%, or $1.3 billion.

Murphy proposes taking $2 billion from its surplus account, leaving $6.1 billion for emergencies. This follows his decision last year to use $2.4 billion from the surplus for the current budget year.

The remaining $6.1 billion surplus is still ample  the fifth highest in state history, Koenig said. But if the state continues to spend down its surplus at this rate, this would raise concerns about the sustainability of the states fiscal path, he said.

State Treasurer Elizabeth Muoio also shared upon questioning from the committee that health insurance premiums for public employees could once again rise in the double digits.

Increasing demand for outpatient surgeries and prescriptions for weight loss drugs, as well as a spike in emergency room visits are driving costs up for the State Health Benefits Plan, treasury officials said. The state has set aside $120 million in anticipation of premiums rising but more information will be available at a later date, she said.

It does seem there will be an Increase and it could be significant, Muoio said.

In 2022, the State Health Benefits Commission approved rate increases of about 21% on state worker health plans and nearly 23% on local government benefits, but reached a last-minute deal that shifted the majority of the cost increases to the state rather than state employees. Local employees who rely on the state health plan were not part of the deal and many municipalities left the state plan to find cheaper alternatives.

The hearing also foreshadowed what is likely to be a point of contention between the Democratically controlled Legislature and Murphy: whether the budget will lay the groundwork for launching Stay NJ, a property tax reduction program for senior citizens set to take effect in 2026.

Spearheaded by state Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex, the Stay NJ law would cut property taxes by up to 50% on primary residences for people who are 65 and older and earn less than $500,000 a year, starting in 2026. The maximum annual benefit would be $6,500. But certain benchmarks in the state budget must be met in order for Stay NJ to launch, including a minimum budget surplus of 12%.

The budget Murphy introduced sets aside $6.1 billion, which is just 11.1%, coming up short of the 12%.

Assemblyman Roy Freiman, D-Somerset, noted the gap between the surplus and the minimal amount for Stay NJ and asked: Whats the thought process for that?

The surplus is very close to 12%, Muoio said, noting it would be up to the Legislature to decide how it will change Murphys budget proposal.

Democrats on the committee also inquired about the Murphy administrations plans to transfer nearly $600 million from debt-relief account into the budgets general fund during the 2025 fiscal year.

It could be counted as surplus, Freiman said.

NJ Advance Media staff writers Brent Johnson and Karin Price Mueller contributed to this report.

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Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on X @SusanKLivio.
The 16-year-old girl killed in a two-vehicle collision last week in Deptford has been identified as a local high school student and athlete.

Sophia Bennett, of Washington Township, was a student in the Washington Township School District, according to Washington Township Mayor Laurie Burns.

Our hearts ache for her family, friends, and the community affected by this devastating loss. The passing of such a young life is an unimaginable sorrow, and we extend our sincerest condolences and support during this difficult time, Burns wrote in a Facebook post. As a community, let us come together to mourn, to support one another, and to honor the memory of this sweet child we lost too soon.

A report by CBS News in Philadelphia said Bennett was a softball player, swimmer and sophomore at Washington Township High School.

She was a beautiful person who truly enriched the lives of those who knew her, said a letter that was sent to parents from the high school principal and district schools superintendent, CBS reported. Her warmth, kindness and spirit touched the lives of many, and her presence will be deeply missed by students, teachers, staff and all who knew her.

Officers in Deptford responded to the intersection of Hurffville Road and Deptford Center Road around 8 p.m. on March 22, according to the Deptford Township Police Department.

Bennett was a passenger in one of the cars, which was driven by a 17-year-old boy from Gibbstown, police said. She was pronounced dead at the scene, and the boy was seriously injured and taken to Cooper University Hospital in Camden, police said.

The other vehicles driver, a 27-year-old Deptford woman, was also injured and was transported to Jefferson Hospital in Washington Township for treatment.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation.

Burns said the Washington Township School District is offering support services for anyone in need.

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Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com.
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After Saturdays elections, Louisiana Democratic Party Chair Katie Bernhardt's chances of keeping her position as party head arent looking good.

At least one candidate, former state Rep. Randal Gaines of LaPlace, 68, has already announced hes running for chair. And there are a host of candidates who may also challenge Bernhardt, who despite losing her own race Saturday has said she will defend her role as chair.

Other potential candidates include 32-year-old Louisiana Public Service Commissioner Davante Lewis, who has said hes considering a run, two-time statewide candidate Caroline Fayard, 24-year-old Bogalusa Mayor Tyrin Truong and state Rep. Jason Hughes of New Orleans.

Bernhardt on Saturday lost her seat on the Democratic State Central Committee, the 210-member body that elects the party chair and other leadership roles in the party. Attorney Madeleine Brumley Clavier defeated her handily, receiving 600 votes to Bernhardts 337 in a race with 12% turnout.

The new state committee also now includes 61 members of Blue Reboot, a reform group whose members have all pledged to vote against Bernhardt. Plus, committee members who supported her for chair in 2020 may not vote for her again, given Democrats poor showing in the elections last fall and hard feelings about her ad floating a run for governor last year.

She's a weakened candidate on every front, Blue Reboot organizer Lynda Woolard told Gambit. I haven't talked to many people or heard a tale of many people who are saying that she's the right course to continue taking.

Clavier, a Blue Reboot member, ran on a reform platform, saying the party needs to take strong positions on issues that Democratic voters care about rather than trying to play the middle out of fears of alienating conservative voters.

Running candidates who moderate on policy to try to win over conservative voters has not produced results, she wrote on her website. With polarization on the rise and voter turnout remaining stubbornly low, there is no reason to think it ever will.

Bob Mann, who spent more than two decades working in Louisiana Democratic politics, said hes never seen such a public effort to reform the party.

This is the most interest and most enthusiasm I've seen for the party in at least the last 20 years, he said.

Anyone can run for chair, not just those on the state committee. Gaines, Lewis and Hughes all have seats on the new DSCC. Fayard lost her DSCC race, while Truong didnt run for a seat on the committee.

Woolard says she believes Blue Reboot will try to have a unified voice" in the party chair race. Should Lewis run, as a Blue Reboot member, he could receive his fellow members votes.

While Bernhardt has not set a date yet for leadership elections, state law says the party must hold one within 40 days of Saturdays election.

Woolard, who ran against Bernhardt for chair in 2020, said that the next chair will need to work on bringing everybody together, unifying the party, but also motivating and inspiring voters.

But both she and Mann also agreed a new chair wont solve all the partys problems.

I don't think that it changes a whole lot if the only thing that changes is Katie Bernhardt for somebody else, Mann said.

Woolard said the chair will need Democrats working on all fronts  including at the local level and support staff and executive committee at the state level  to raise money and create programs to register Democrats and get them to the polls.

On that front, Woolard said she's encouraged by the fact that some Blue Reboot candidates who lost their DSCC race won their races for seats on their local Democratic Parish Executive Committees  which means they can work on building the party up at the parish level. She also said Blue Reboots efforts have inspired new faces to get involved in political organizing across the state.

I've repeatedly had people message me or say to me like, 'This is the first time I felt hope in a long time, she said. While it's just the beginning, I think it's been able to show people that if you organize and you get energized around something that you can make progress."
Charities and community organisations in Ilfracombe are set to benefit from a groundbreaking partnership between FareShare and Tesco, offering access to free surplus food to support vulnerable individuals and families in the local area.

FareShare, renowned as the UK's largest food redistribution charity, is extending its reach to Ilfracombe, urging local charities and community groups to join the thousands already benefiting from surplus food sourced from local supermarkets.

FareShare has an extensive network of over 8,500 charities and community groups, and aims to tackle food waste while supporting social good.

Last year alone, FareShare redistributed the equivalent of nearly 128 million meals, making a significant impact on food insecurity while also preventing 95,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

Through the FareShare Go program, communities are connected to Tesco stores in their vicinity, ensuring that quality surplus food is redirected to those in need rather than being wasted, thereby curbing greenhouse gas emissions.

Tesco currently redistributes two million meals worth of food each month and organisations in Ilfracombe are being urged to register for the programme.

Charities and organisations in Ilfracombe are now encouraged to register for the program to access this valuable resource.

Tony McElroy, Head of Campaigns at Tesco, said: "The aim of our partnership with FareShare is to make sure no food goes to waste in our stores and to help make a difference to the lives of people in communities we serve across the UK."

Katie Sadler, Head of FareShare Go, said: Through our FareShare Go scheme, we work closely with Tesco to ensure that food ends up on peoples plates rather than going to waste.

Organisations interested in benefiting from the scheme can register their interest on the FareShare website: https://fareshare.org.uk/getting-food/
SFF Presents will host another all-day painting class with renowned local painter, Paul Alan Bennett, on Saturday, April 27, at Sisters Art Works. Registration opens on Wednesday, March 27, at 10 a.m. at https://aftontickets.com/learn-to-paint and is limited to 10 people. Participants must be 18 or older to enroll; no experience necessary.

Bennett attended the Maryland Institute of Art and lived in Greece for six years where he taught art and got a masters degree in Greek History with an emphasis on Greek Art. Hes published three collections of his work, including Hug, Night Skies, and Pandemic Portraits and has painted the stage backdrops for five Bend Opera productions. By his own estimate, Bennett has taught painting to more than 25,000 students over the years.

Students will begin by participating in a guided pencil drawing to cover the basics of composition and expression. Bennett will cover techniques on color mixing and working with a brush before setting students loose to complete at least two paintings. To conclude the day, the class will gather to discuss their processes and share their work.

Students should come dressed to paint and move around. The class will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the JAM studio on the second floor of the Sisters Art Works building. All supplies and lunch will be provided, with gluten-free and vegan options available.

The recommended tuition for the class is $150/person. SFF Presents is offering pay-what-you-can pricing to help eliminate financial barriers. For more information, please visit https://www.sffpresents.org/learn-to-paint
The primary election is May 21 and ballots will be mailed May 1. There are only two races. One for County Commissioner Position #2, and the other for Deschutes County Sheriff. Both are four-year terms.

There are eight measures on the ballot, none affecting Sisters nor which Sisters voters can vote.

This is the first commissioner election since voters approved a measure to make such races non-partisan. Thus the top two vote getters will appear on the November ballot. Phil Chang is the incumbent for Position 2 and is seeking re-election. Judy Trego, executive director of Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce, and Rob Imhoff of Bend, owner of Broken Top Window Coverings, filed to run against Chang.

Samuel Facey of La Pine filed and then withdrew. Thirty minutes before the filing closing deadline, Brian Huntamer of Bend added his name to the race. Huntamer is currently unemployed but lists real estate, construction, and drug and alcohol counseling in his background statement.

More details of the candidates will be found in the voters pamphlet to be mailed prior to the election.

The Nugget asked each candidate a set of questions and their responses are as follows:

What strengths/assets do you bring to voters in Sisters Country (boundaries of Sisters School District)?

Imhoff: My focus is on "getting things done" to improve the lives of all citizens of Deschutes County. I have a proven track record of doing hard work and utilizing all of my relationships to get things accomplished. I will continually learn and grow from people around me, this includes everyone in Sisters Country. I think folks living in and around Sisters will find me to be approachable, honest, and focused.

Trego: I am running for Deschutes County Commissioner because I have the skills, experience, and temperament to do the job.

Huntamer: I am honest, a good communicator, empathetic, and experienced in working in collaboration with others in problem solving. I am a U.S. Army veteran with an extensive background in real estate and construction, and experience as an alcohol and drug counselor.

Chang: I know Sisters Country and many community leaders well because I have worked to improve public safety and maintain quality of life in the Sisters area for 20 years. I helped plan and implement hazardous fuels reduction projects on the Deschutes National Forest that helped prevent the Pole Creek Fire (2012) and the Milli Fire (2017) from burning into the City of Sisters, Tollgate, Crossroads, and Black Butte Ranch. I have helped to steward Whychus and Indian Ford Creeks so they provide better fish and wildlife habitat, run clean and cold, and pose less flood risk to nearby residences.

I learned a great deal about the hopes and concerns of Sisters Country residents when I staffed the first Sisters visioning project in 2006-2007. I've been involved in efforts to transfer portions of the Sisters Ranger District administrative site to City or private ownership since 2005  efforts that are now providing land for homes, businesses, and public spaces right in the center of the City.

Why should a Sisters Country citizen vote for you?

Imhoff: If we specifically focus on things that matter to Sisters, then traffic, wildfire, managed growth, and homelessness would require the most attention from our county leaders. I will work hard to listen and provide a voice for those citizens who are the most affected by each of these issues.

Trego: The Sisters community should vote for me because qualifications matter. I bring a breadth of knowledge and experience that includes my current position working for a small business association, as the founder and president for the Sisters Community Foundation, whose mission is to help people of limited means in the community, and I previously served as a community advocate in Sisters working to reduce the root causes of poverty for the Central Oregon Partnership.

My government experience includes: serving as chief of staff for an Oregon state senator, a constituent services manager for the U.S. House of Representatives, and as an elected Sisters city councilor and council president.

I currently serve on the Deschutes County budget committee and previously on the Deschutes County commission on Children and Families and the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council.

Huntamer: My bond with Sisters Country and Deschutes County is not just professional; it's profoundly personal. Since 1978, it has been my home, a place where I've raised my family and witnessed generations thrive. My children and grandchildren have been nurtured by the schools here, with some having graduated from Sisters High School and others currently pursuing their education in Bend. I personally received my higher education from COCC and OSU.

Chang: In my first term as Deschutes County Commissioner, I voted to allocate millions of the County's American Rescue Plan funds to affordable housing and child care projects in Sisters. I represented Sisters Country concerns about community wildfire protection to Salem, and helped get legislation, state agency support, and funding to help reduce risk to Sisters area homes. I've supported the City in thinking growth management and meeting state requirements for buildable land supply. I successfully advocated to expand County Homeless Outreach Service Team staffing in Sisters Country to help unhoused people with behavioral health take steps out of homelessness. I helped establish a partnership with the Deschutes Trails Coalition to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in County Transient Room Tax revenue in trails projects in Sisters Country and beyond. In a second term I will keep focusing on making sure Sisters Country continues to be a great place to live, work, play, and raise a family.

I'm a pragmatic problem solver who uses input from community members and real data and analysis to tackle problems instead of partisan political ideology. I know how to bring people with diverse perspectives together to collaboratively develop solutions and then build public-public and public-private partnerships to implement solutions. I show up for Sisters City Council meetings, Citizens4Community forums, and major community events like the Folk Festival, and I offer Coffee with a Commissioner events and online Town Halls so that I can listen to the hopes and concerns of Sisters Country residents and answer County-related j19 questions.

What do you see as the biggest concerns facing citizens of Sisters Country?

Imhoff: I have heard from many Sisters Country residents who feel wildfire resilience is their biggest concern. I would agree, as we have seen in years past. This is specific to acquiring and maintaining insurance on their homes and property. We must have proper forest land management coupled with wildfire mitigation techniques, all while maintaining a strong level of access to the forests.

Trego: The largest concern facing Sisters is growth and the challenges that come with growth including workforce, affordable housing, infrastructure, and traffic. Homelessness has also been at the forefront of community discussions.

Huntamer: Sisters Country has grown a lot over the past several years, but is still a very desirable community; however, it faces several challenges including affordable housing, homelessness, traffic concerns, and public safety.

Chang: Workforce and affordable housing is extremely scarce in Sisters Country. This is why so many workers need to commute to Sisters, and it also explains why a significant number of people who work in the City of Sisters live unhoused on federal lands just outside the City. The underlying reasons for this shortage of affordable and workforce housing are the cost of building housing, the scarcity of buildable lands, and the decoupling of housing prices from local salaries and wages.

How would you remedy/mitigate those concerns?

Imhoff: Deschutes County should be a leader in wildfire and natural resource policies in Oregon. Resilience, working with federal and state partners, and mitigating wildfire risk to levels as low as possible, will be major tasks to focus on for our commission. To this end, all this comes with prioritizing our resources, including our firefighters. I get things done and will work hard to get this done for our friends and neighbors.

Trego: I will work with the city to support workforce, affordable housing, and infrastructure improvements, and continue to advocate for funding from the county, state, and federal government, as well as the private sector to develop sustainable workforce, affordable housing, and infrastructure. Sisters is a successful community built with innovation and a pioneering spirit. There are solutions to the homeless crisis facing our community.

I have been working in the area of homelessness prevention, reducing poverty, and substance abuse prevention for many years. I will partner with the Homeless Leadership Council, the Coordinated Office of Homelessness, the county and the private sector to address the serious challenges facing our homeless population and our community.

Huntamer: My strategy begins with listening-genuinely understanding the diverse needs of our citizens. I believe in fostering a collaborative effort between the community and government to tackle our challenges head-on. Homelessness, a particularly contentious issue, demands a balanced approach. My empathy for individuals seeking temporary shelter and food does not overlook the broader implications for public safety, community well-being, and the rights of landowners, schools, and the use of public lands.

Chang: In my time on the Board of Commissioners, the County has helped to address the cost of building housing by contributing funds to land purchases and construction costs for development of deed-restricted affordable housing with Habitat for Humanity and the City of Sisters. The County needs to help create long term local sources of public financing for affordable housing projects. In 2023 the County authorized development of Accessory Dwelling Units on rural residential properties outside incorporated cities in order to produce more workforce and affordable housing. The County can support the City of Sisters with increasing the supply of buildable lands by providing community development expertise and analysis as the City evaluates expanding its Urban Growth Boundary.
Acquiring land for home-building projects is a bigger challenge for Habitat for Humanity than actually building homes.

As it seeks to add workforce housing to its primary mission of affordable housing, Sisters Habitat for Humanity is eagerly awaiting a decision from the State of Oregon for its grant application.

Beginning in 2017 Oregon launched its statewide housing plan in response to the critical shortage of affordable homes, especially for lower income earners. The same plan included efforts to ease homelessness. (OHCS) Oregon Housing and Community Services was formed and, over the years since, the state legislature has produced myriad funding bills, some assisted by federal dollars.

OHCS estimates that Oregon is 8,000 homes short of meeting needs. No community is exempt from the issue. In Sisters, Habitat for Humanity has been the leader in tackling the problem. To date they have delivered 78 affordable homes to the community with more in construction.

Those homes were in the category of affordable, meaning those homes went to families whose median income was less than 80 percent of the surrounding area. The median household income ($93,802) for zip code 97759 is more than Deschutes County ($82,042), Jefferson County ($69,345), Linn County ($69,523), and Sisters city ($84,088). For all of Oregon it is $65,667.

OHCS is a sprawling agency with several components. One, the General Housing Account Program (GHAP), expands the state's supply of housing for low- and very-low-income Oregonians. GHAP resources support two primary activities: developing affordable multifamily housing and increasing the capacity of OHCS partners to meet the state's affordable-housing needs. All projected uses are subject to revenue availability. 25% of GHAP funds are set aside to support Veterans.

It is from GHAP that Habitat hopes to get a slice of the pie.

"It is competitive," said Peter Hoover, executive director for Habitat. "We're optimistic but there are no guarantees. We just have to wait along with all the other applicants for the decision, which we think will be around June."

Habitat has a clear idea of what housing it would like to build with the funds, but until the money is in hand they cannot make a formal application to the City for approvals and permits. Like all construction in Sisters it must be submitted to the Community Development Department for review.

Habitat has acquired three parcels of land on which the homes would be built. One, under contract, sits on the north side of Adams Avenue just west of Larch Street. A second, owned outright, also on Adams, is at the intersection of Cedar Street, and the third, four times as large as the other two is on Larch Street one block north of Adams.

"Land, as we all know, is scarce," said Hoover. "Finding suitable land is much harder than building the homes."

These three parcels will be able to accommodate 19 affordable homes and up to seven homes for workforce housing, homes where the median family income can be up to 120 percent of

the area's.

As with many towns like Sisters, characterized by retirees and empty nesters, homes are often unaffordable for the essential workers needed for a sustainable community  first responders, teachers, and service employees, for example.

Habitat was hoping to build yet another 20-some homes and made an unsolicited $1.25 million (full appraised price) offer for land directly across the street from its Larch Street holding. That land is owned by Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church and sits behind its building and parking lot on North Fir Street.

The land has been vacant for 39 years and the church has no known plans for its future use. In a more than 2-to-1 vote, church members voted to reject Habitat's offer.

Upon learning of the church's decision from community members (not Habitat), The Nugget sought comment from Pastor Ron Gregg. Gregg asked that The Nugget not report on the matter.

Hoover expressed hope that at some point in the future the church may reconsider an offer.

Meanwhile, Habitat, in partnership with Sisters Woodlands and other funding, is moving forward with two more workforce units. Sisters Woodlands is a 300-plus mixed-use project bound by Pine Street, Hwy. 20, and Barclay Drive.
Nick Sundstrom's favorite client to work with is someone willing to explore and be curious about their thoughts, emotions, and history. He has worked with adults, teens, couples, and families in a number of different settings.

A licensed clinical social worker (LCSW), who has been in practice for 31 years, Sundstrom is now seeing clients in Sisters at 220 South Pine Street, Suite 102. He spends one-to-two days a week in an office in Redmond as well.

Sundstrom says he is wired for "working with people and finding opportunities to foster growth and healing." He has worked in Portland and Central Oregon in both inpatient and outpatient mental health settings, as well as in private group practice offices. After recently being engaged administratively helping grow a group practice, he is happy to return full-time to his first love - helping facilitate changes with individuals and couples. He has also been consulting with the Redmond Fire Department concerning mental health services offered to first responders.

He employs a variety of modalities in his practice including, but not limited to, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and eye movement desensitization and re-processing therapy (EMDR).

Sundstrom is a native Oregonian, growing up in the east Portland area and attending Sam Barlow High School. He received his LCSW degree from Portland State University. While in Portland, he worked for the child welfare department with families involved in the court system as well as in an inpatient mental health facility.

Sundstrom and his family moved to Sisters in 2006. All three of their children attended Sisters schools, with their youngest set to graduate this year from Sisters High School. Their two older children are pursuing post-graduate degrees. He and his wife have been together for 39 years.

In his free time, Sundstrom enjoys bird hunting with his two dogs, a Braque Francais Pyrenean (French pointing dog) and a Vizsla. He and his wife enjoy kayaking, being out in nature, and experiencing all that Sisters Country has to offer.

Sundstrom explained his role in counseling sessions is not to tell people what he thinks they should do. Rather, he provides considerations and thoughts for the client to examine and reach their own conclusions regarding healthy choices. He is a strong believer in the importance of collaboration, both between therapist and client, and therapist and the client's other care providers.

"While working in Portland and Bend psychiatric units, the importance of collaboration of care became very clear. Working as a part of a multidisciplinary team of nurses, psychiatrists, and mental health technicians, they all had pieces of information surrounding the people we were serving. This experience, along with working in a mental health group practice, where I was responsible for communicating with community partners, has shaped the importance of working collaboratively. Often the mental health and primary care have been siloed and it doesn't need to be that way. The importance of the primary care provider (PCP) or behavioral health consultant (BHC) in clinics that have them, often leads to improved health outcomes for the client. By coordinating with the PCP and BHC, especially if there is a new concern or something raised in counseling that could impact their overall medical health, their issue may be addressed quicker and have options or solutions to remediate the issue," Sundstrom explained.

Sundstrom can be reached at (541) 903-5822 or by email at [email protected] for a free 15-minute consultation. He is available for appointments both in-person and online.
Kevin Cramer took a long and winding path to service as a volunteer firefighter with Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District.

Helping people in need - that's the fundamental mission and purpose of the men and women who volunteer with the Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District.

There are many different ways to help fulfill that mission - and many paths to becoming a volunteer.

"My journey with the fire service has been long," Firefighter Kevin Cramer told The Nugget last week. "It's got a lot of holes in it; it's not continuous."

As a young man, he was on a path toward the fire service in southern Missouri, but deviated from that course for marriage and a job in Chicago. He was living in Seattle when he decided he was pretty much done with corporate life, and he explored switching careers into the fire service. However, as he talked with friends in the field, he realized that the vast majority of calls in the fire service are medical - and that wasn't where his heart and interest lay.

"If it's all medical, that would be hard for me," he realized.

So he set the dream aside again. When he and his family moved to Sisters five years ago so that his daughter Tatum could attend Sisters High School, he saw the volunteer firefighters working at the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show.

"Here it is in my life again - different circumstances," he thought.

He met with Captain Jeff Liming to inquire about volunteering - and he's been at it ever since.

This spring, there is an opportunity for others to follow the desire to serve into volunteering with the Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District (SCSFD). The District is currently accepting applications for the upcoming Spring Volunteer Firefighter Academy, set to begin April 24. There is a particular need for volunteers for the Camp Sherman and Whychus Canyon Estates stations.

Christi Davis lives at the Camp Sherman station as she serves as a volunteer. Davis had been seeking to become a career firefighter.

"I have health conditions now that prevent me doing it full-time as a career," she explained.

Davis had her EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) license and still wanted to serve - so she volunteered. Being available in Camp Sherman makes her a critical resource for the District, especially in the winter.

"Being able to respond from Camp Sherman and be able to get to a patient in a more timely way" is valuable, she explained. With her background, she can provide information on a situation and "help the duty staff out and also establish patient care a little quicker."

There is always a valuable role to be played by volunteers responding to calls.

"There's always something to do," said Mike Terwilliger, who has been volunteering for five years. "Whether five people show up, or 15, there's always something to do."

Terwilliger got involved with Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District through his neighbor, Ben Duda, Sisters Unit Wildland Fire Supervisor with the Oregon Department of Forestry. Duda is also a volunteer firefighter with SCSFD. Duda urged Terwilliger to enter the fire service - and he did.

Terwilliger started out as a wildland firefighter (a job he continues to work each summer) and wasn't initially sure he was interested in structural firefighting. Turns out he loves it. He became a firefighter with SCSFD, and is soon to head off for an intensive training to earn his EMT certification.

He says he looks forward to being "able to be a little more participatory on medical calls."

One of the key aspects of volunteering with SCSFD is that each volunteer has plenty of space to find his or her areas of strength and interest. Terwilliger and Davis want to participate in medical care; Cramer does not. Each can find their role.

For Cramer, that means, among other duties, driving an ambulance. That's a critical need for the District, and frees up an EMT to be at work where he or she is most needed - in the back of the ambulance.

"Being an ambulance driver got me added value to the district, but it also keeps me in my comfort zone," Cramer said.

Finding that comfort zone can take time. Cramer remembers feeling pressure when he started the initial Academy training. Just getting into his gear and into the truck was a challenge, and he made mistakes. He told The Nugget that the staff at SCSFD was always encouraging, assuring him that he would catch on. And he did. But after he finished his initial training, he still felt less than fully ready psychologically. He didn't initially respond to calls "because I was scared," he said.

He started responding to clean-up details, an unglamorous but critical aspect of responding to calls. He started building his confidence, and started doing more. That's all part of the journey for many volunteers.

"You get those moments when you're challenged, and you're scared - and you get that affirmation," he said. "You start to find where you fit."

Terwilliger, who instructs at the Academy, affirms that the culture at SCSFD is all about teaching and learning and getting better incrementally over time.

"Everybody wants to see you succeed," he said.

Cramer says that there has to be a willingness to serve at the foundation. Then comes ability - what you have a knack for and are suited to do. Then there's capability.

"Capability comes through the department," he said. "They teach you how to do this stuff. They give you that capability through training."

It's a process, and no one is a world-beater right off the bat.

"I've been doing this for about five years, and it's only in the last year that I've felt comfortable doing everything. Give yourself time. And the department gives you time."

Volunteers have to determine for themselves how their service fits in with the other commitments in their life, like work and family.

Davis acknowledges that it's important to attend as many of the regular Tuesday evening trainings as possible so that if you're responding to a call you can be an asset and make a difference.

"I think it has to be more than an every-once-in-a-while hobby," she said.

Still, nobody expects volunteers to make it to everything. Davis works a full-time job.

"If you're at work, there's not an obligation to leave work," she noted.

Davis noted that volunteers also do a lot of community outreach activities.

"It feels really important to show up for those things," she said. "The impact you can have feels really meaningful."

Davis estimates that last year she went on about 25 or 30 calls. So far this year, she's been out on a handful.

Terwilliger concurred that there is flexibility built into the system. During the day, he's broadly available across the District. At night, he has his phone app set to respond only to calls for his Whychus Creek Canyon Estates neighborhood substation.

And volunteers can choose what types of calls they respond to.

"If a car accident isn't for you - don't go," he said.

All three of the volunteers The Nugget spoke with emphasized the sense of camaraderie and community they feel. Terwilliger noted that it's not just with SCSFD

- it also includes working with Cloverdale and Black Butte Ranch.

"That cluster of three is a really good group to be with," he said.

Davis loves her Camp Sherman outfit.

"The volunteers in Camp Sherman are awesome," she said. "The people out there are really great people to be around, outside of calls."

Whether a volunteer wants to stay at the basic level or advance volunteer service into a career, SCSFD provides the support and training appropriate to each volunteer's goals. There are multiple certifications offered to volunteers during their tenure with the District that include driving and operating fire engines, ambulances, and wildland firefighting trucks, CPR and first aid training, wildland firefighting qualifications, and many others.

Photo provided Mike Terwilliger mans an apparatus in training with the Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District.

The 11-week academy begins April 22. It will host a combination of new volunteers for Sisters-Camp Sherman Rural Fire Protection, as well as Cloverdale Rural Fire Protection District. The academy will focus on hands-on training in multiple skills such as fire suppression, deploying ground ladders, hose deployment, structural search and rescue, property conservation/overhaul, vehicle extrication, ropes and knots, and many other integral skills that our firefighters need to understand. The academy also will focus on firefighter knowledge and skills that include topics such as firefighter safety, communications, building construction, hazmat awareness/operations, and fire dynamics.

Once recruits have completed the academy and earned their Firefighter 1 certification, they can begin responding to emergency calls with the department, as well as scheduling volunteer shifts to help with daily staffing.

For more information, contact Volunteer Coordinator Captain Jeff Liming at 541-549-0771.
Sisters' taste of warm temperatures and bright sunshine earlier this month heralded spring, and a hint of summer. It's a welcome tease - and also a reminder that we're headed into wildfire season.

Local officials met informally with a group of Sisters area citizens on Wednesday, March 20, at Sisters Fire Hall, to talk about wildfire preparedness.

According to Andrew Myhra of the Sisters Ranger District, it's a little early to predict what kind of wildfire season we're facing. Snow and rainfall have eased drought conditions in Central Oregon, and Myhra noted that the region is at 110 percent of its "normal" snowpack.

"The thing to keep an eye on is how fast that comes off," Myhra said. The quicker and earlier the snowpack melts off, the earlier potential fire fuels like grasses start to cure.

Weather indicators are not strong or clear yet, but early indications for April, May, and June point to likely above-average temperatures and below-average precipitation.

Myhra noted that the Sisters Ranger District is planning a series of prescribed burns in partnership with private landowners that will tie in fuels reduction in Glaze Meadow east of Black Butte Ranch with the broader SAFR (Sisters Area Fuels Reduction Project). Local residents should be aware that there will be smoke from prescribed burning later in the spring.

Local residents are encouraged to take home-hardening and the creation of defensible space seriously. Replacing flammable home materials with fire resistant materials, and clearing brush and other flammable vegetation from around the home makes a significant difference in a home's survivability in a wildfire. City of Sisters Principal Planner Matthew Martin noted that the City is working on code updates that would require higher standards for homes in vulnerable areas of town.

Deschutes County Emergency Services Manager Nathan Garibay urged residents to be prepared for evacuation; know the routes out of your neighborhood, and have essential items prepared so you don't have to put together a "go bag" at the last minute.

He also urged the attendees to sign up for Deschutes Alerts, which sends out phone messages when there is an incident in the area that may require action. In the event of an emergency, Deschutes County officials can identify an affected area and send a message that describes the situation and recommend protective actions people should take. Deschutes Alerts will automatically call all land-line and opt-in telephone numbers within that geographic area and deliver the recorded message.

"If you do nothing tonight but go home and sign up for alerts, you've just made yourself a little safer," he said.

Sign up for Deschutes Alerts at https://www.deschutes.org/911/page/sign-deschutes-alerts.
There is nothing quite like sitting across the table from a fisherperson. There is genuine happiness in their eyes, laughter, and pats on the back. Their faces light up like a warm campfire when they start spinning yarns with hands outstretched ("It was that big!").

We eavesdropped as the older guys shared the location of their favorite fishing holes. Some kids from a middle school fly tying club sparkled with anticipation and awe as they took in every word. Best of all, there was the shared love of fly fishing and the art of fly tying with all its glorious gear.

I was honored to join this enclave of dedicated men and women at the 2024 Northwest Fly Tyer and Fly Fishing Expo in Albany, Oregon March 8 and 9. They invited me to tie a commemorative fly I'd created to celebrate Pearl Harbor's anniversary. I named it "Pearl Harbor Remembrance."

I crafted several variations of "Remembrance," and finally settled on an adaptation of a classic salmon fly pattern. Like my book, "Pearl Harbor's Final Warning," it took me years to perfect it since I'm an intermediate tyer who leans more to the beginner's side of tying.

Before the show, I'd set up a card table in the family room and practiced and practiced, making sure my thread was flat like Jerry Criss taught me, watching my proportions as Sherry Steele had explained, and guiding my wraps John Kreft style so they didn't overlap. Expert tyers, all; wonderfully patient people who teach and share their knowledge with anyone who asks as long as it doesn't interfere with their fishing time.

As I sat tying my fly at the Expo, the guy beside me did a finish knot and parachute loop I'd never seen before. I stopped tying when my audience left to watch him. He'd gone back to some old tyers' books to learn his "new" methods. It's always nice to hear that some people still use books. And he had some great tools. Really great.

Fly fishing and tying is the ultimate sport for gearheads. There is not just one type of hackle plier; there are dozens. His hackle pliers were engineering perfection: flexible, precise, small, and handy. I grabbed my notepad and noted the South Dakota fly shop that carried them. By the time my shift ended, I was sure the new tools I coveted were well over a hundred bucks.

Someone interrupted my lustful reverie about new pliers and a magnetic material holder and asked, "Are you the lady that's tying the mouse pattern that catches trout?"

"No, but let me know when you find her," I said.

A trout eating a mouse - how fabulous is that? It'd have to be a big one, for sure.

And so the day went. People stopped and chatted, asked questions, and shared stories. Some had their dogs with them, others had their children or partner in tow. My favorite encounter was with a seven-and-a-half-year-old girl and her dad. She was enthralled with fly fishing and tying. She told me, "I make pink flies that sparkle." And her dad's eyes smiled.

At the banquet and live auction that evening, I sat next to Jeff Perin, our local fly shop owner and resident fly fisherman extraordinaire. I gulped down his words like a trout during a salmon fly hatch. He was leading a trip to Belize soon. If only I had the money! He'd just gotten back from Argentina. Holy cow, Argentina! And yes, the fly tyers in his shop still use my long-deceased father-in-law's table. I felt like I was in the presence of the water master himself.

I am so fortunate. The richness of fly tying and fishing came into my life after I retired, thanks to one magnificent woman, Sherry Steele. I would never have met Jerry, John, or Jeff without her. She has done more to keep fly fishing alive than anyone I know. She organizes Expos, holds Zoom tying meetings, founded our fly-tying guild, and teaches fly-tying whenever possible. The MC at the dinner announced her name at least four times.

Sherry has been my mentor and guide. She has never charged me a dime and is always there when I need a helping hand. She is a rare gift to Sisters Country. Like our fabulous sunrises, she brightens the fly fishing community with her light and generosity, for which I will always be grateful.

Thanks to Sherry, I've started two of my grandkids fly-tying. Iden is learning the art of taking a break as we progress to ever-smaller hooks. His eight-year-old sister, Harley, loves to tie pink sparkle flies, too. They eagerly await summer and dream of tight lines and "fish that big" slurping up their flies on the crystal clear waters of the Metolius River. So do I.

Valarie J. Anderson is an award winning author and a member of the FFI since 2009. She is also a founding member of the Central Oregon Fly Tyers Guild in Sisters.
EAST CHICAGO  A 22-year-old man has been charged with gunning down another man Sunday afternoon on a sidewalk in the 1000 W. block of 145th Street, according to East Chicago police.

Christian R. Maldonado is charged with murder, dealing cocaine, and two counts of unlawful carrying of a handgun, police said.

Intoxicated man continued rage against Portage police even from jail cell, report says 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."

The charges stem back to Sunday when police said they were called out around 3:30 p.m. and found an unresponsive man on the sidewalk bleeding from the head. Police found one spent shell casing on the ground near his body, according to information in a probable-cause affidavit.

The victim was later identified by the Lake County Coroner's Office as 27-year-old Luis Ramirez. His death was ruled a homicide from one gunshot wound to the head, according to the coroner's office.

A witness said she arrived to the area to drop off Ramirez's son, according to the affidavit. While Ramirez strapped his son into a car seat, an unknown man came up to Ramirez and the two began to argue, the affidavit said.

As the witness drove from the scene, she reported hearing a single gunshot from the area. She quickly turned her car around and saw Ramirez on the ground, bleeding.

Another witness reported seeing the shooter running from the scene wearing a white and black sweatshirt with the number "23" on it and police reportedly located the man. When an officer shouted at him to to stop and turn around, the man, later identified as Maldonado, fled into an apartment building on the 4200 block of Homerlee Avenue.

Porter judge rejects plea in alleged OWI crash that left woman dead, child injured Porter Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Clymer did not explain his decision, which came at the start of what was supposed to be a sentencing hearing in the case.

While police were securing a search warrant, Maldonado exited the building and surrendered, the department said. Detectives found a weapon with the same caliber as the shell casing found on the scene and found a black and white sweatshirt with the number "23" on the front, as described by a witness.

When police spoke to Maldonado, he denied being in the area when the shooting took place and said he had been home all day, the affidavit said.

Detectives found video footage from a nearby surveillance camera that corroborated witness accounts of the story. A man who matched Maldonado's description approached Ramirez and the two men briefly interacted. Ramirez walks away from the man and "appears to collapse as if he was shot," the affidavit said.

Maldonado is reportedly in custody at the Lake County Jail.

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
CROWN POINT  The Lake County Coroner's Office has identified the three males slain in separate incidents over the weekend in Hammond, Whiting and East Chicago, and has officially classified each of their deaths as a homicide.

According to the coroner's office, Tommy Washington, 53, of Hammond, was stabbed to death early Saturday morning at 2333 169th St., Hammond.

In Whiting, Damien Abenante, 14, of Chicago, was shot at 1600 LaPorte Ave. around 5 p.m. Saturday, and pronounced dead about an hour later at the St. Catherine's Hospital Emergency Room in East Chicago, the coroner said.

Also shot to death was Luis Ramirez, 27, on Sunday afternoon near his home in the 1000 block of W. 145th St., East Chicago, according to the coroner's office.

Anyone with information about any of the killings is asked to contact the police department where the slaying occurred.

Gallery: Take a virtual tour of Indiana's state parks Brown County State Park Chain O' Lakes State Park Charlestown State Park Clifty Falls State Park Falls of the Ohio State Park Fort Harrison State Park Harmonie State Park Lincoln State Park McCormick's Creek State Park Mounds State Park O'Bannon Woods State Park Ouabache State Park Pokagon State Park Potato Creek State Park Prophetstown State Park Shades State Park Shakamak State Park Spring Mill State Park Summit Lake State Park Tippecanoe River State Park Turkey Run State Park Versailles State Park White River State Park Whitewater Memorial State Park
CROWN POINT  The City of Crown Point and the Crown Point Police Department are aware of the location of Snow the white deer as of Tuesday evening.

Snow moved locations Tuesday after being struck by a vehicle Monday in the 400 block of South Main Street, Crown Point police said.

The Indiana Department of Natural resources has recommended members of the public leave her alone if they see her, to avoid causing additional stress. The extent of her injuries was unclear Tuesday afternoon.

Staff with a rehabilitation center spent Tuesday attempting to locate Snow.

The city, police department and Indiana DNR have determined the best course of action for Snow is to leave her alone to begin to heal in her natural habitat.

"We do not want to cause her additional pain or stress by attempting to capture her, potentially causing further injury," the City of Crown Point said. "We are requesting the public let her be and do not approach her if they see her."

The white deer has been spotted roaming around Crown Point for years.

"City of Crown Point staff and the Crown Point Police Department appreciate everyone's concerns regarding Snow," Crown Point police said in a statement. "The city hopes she makes a quick recovery."

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
VALPARAISO  Portage resident Richard Cooley will face jurors on a murder charge next week, just more than a year after allegedly pressing a gun to his wife's chest and pulling the trigger.

Cooley, now 64, claims the shooting was an accident.

But the results of an autopsy paint a different picture and determined she died from a single gunshot wound to her chest, police said.

"This gunshot wound was a hard contact wound to the chest, meaning the gun was pressed against her chest," the charging document says. "This determination was based upon soot with no stippling and inferior hard contact muzzle abrasion on the wound itself and soot present on the shirt that Dana Cooley was wearing at the time she was shot."

"This information is contrary to the version of events as told by Richard Cooley," police said.

The trial is scheduled to begin Monday before Porter Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Clymer.

When Cooley called police to the home late morning on Feb. 13, 2023, he told officers he accidentally shot his 47-year-old wife while she sat in a chair, a charging document says.

Officers arrived to the house in the 2100 block Damon Street to find Dana Cooley unresponsive and not breathing with an injury to the center of her chest, Portage police said. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Intoxicated man continued rage against Portage police even from jail cell, report says 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."

The trial was set to get underway in August, but was derailed by the discovery of a last-minute witness.

Defense attorney Russell Brown Jr. said prosecutors discovered the new witness shortly before the August trial date and thus he needed time to investigate as part of his preparation.

Two weeks is set aside for the trial and Porter County Deputy Prosecutor Harry Peterson had said he anticipates taking five to six days to present evidence against Cooley.
Snow, the legendary white deer often seen around Crown Point, was hurt in a car accident Monday.

"The Crown Point Police Department responded to an incident involving the deer around 4:20 p.m. Monday, March 25, in the 400 block of South Main Street," City of Crown Point Communications Director Mary Freda-Flores said. "The city is working with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources to find a rehabilitation center for the deer. Please avoid the area and do not disturb the deer."

No further information was immediately available about how badly the white deer was hurt or what its condition was.

The white deer has been a regular for years in Crown Point, where it's often spotted roaming through backyards, woods and fields. The beloved deer often shows up in photos on social media and has other nicknames around town like "Ghost," "Casper" and "Pearl."

She's easy to spot because of her bright white color, making her stand out more than deer that might otherwise blend into pockets of woods.

Albinism in deer is a rarity that's caused by a genetic anomaly, according to Joe Caudell, Indiana's deer biologist and assistant director of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Division of Fish and Wildlife. A 1963 issue of the Journal of Mammalogy found that only 0.025% of deer that were harvested were albino.

Another study found that deer harvested in the late 1950s and early 1960s in neighboring Michigan ranged from 0.02% in the Upper Peninsula to 0.08% in the Lower Peninsula, Caudell had told The Times, saying Indiana would have a similar percentage.

He estimates he gets six of seven calls a year about white deer, which the DNR does not track.
Northwest Indiana is growing, reaching a record population as Lake County surpassed a half million people for the first time since 1982.

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates Lake County's population grew from 499,657 in 2022 to 500,598 in 2023. It's the first time Lake County's population exceeded the half million mark since it was 508,830 in 1982. It plummeted to 499,963 the next year as a downturn in the steel industry drove an exodus out of Lake County in search of better jobs elsewhere.

Lake County is second in population in Indiana to only Marion County, which is home to the capital city of Indianapolis. Lake County's population peaked at an estimated 551,100 in 1971 before the steel industry that had long been its largest employer started to decline.

Lake County's peak during an official U.S. Census count  which take place once every 10 years  was 546,253 in 1970.

"In 2023, the population of Lake County rose above 500,000 for the first time in more than 40 years," Indiana University Assistant Professor of Economics Micah Pollak said. "The population of Lake County now sits only 8.4% below its historical peak."

Five of Northwest Indiana's seven counties grew in population last year. The population of Porter County grew from 174,848 in 2022 to 175,335 in 2023, Jasper County from 33,345 in 2022 to 33,535 in 2023, Starke County from 23,203 in 2022 to 23,206 in 2023 and Newton County from 13,839 in to 13,960 in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The estimated population of LaPorte County fell from 111,812 in 2022 to 111,706 in 2023, while the estimated population of Pulaski County dipped from an estimated 12,449 in 2022 to 12,385 in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The overall population of the seven-county Northwest Indiana region grew to a record 870,725, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

"Whether you define the Region as the three, four or seven counties in in the corner of the state, the population in Northwest Indiana today is at the highest level ever recorded," Pollak said. "The latest U.S. Census population estimates are a continuation of a trend in population growth for Northwest Indiana which first began in 2019 and reflects a reversal of the significant population declines the region saw during the 1990s and 2010s. This is an excellent sign for Northwest Indiana, as the clearest indicator of economic prosperity and a strong future is when people make the choice to live here."

Northwest Indiana has been growing because of economic growth brought in part by diversification beyond heavy manufacturing and efforts to position the Region more as a bedroom community to Chicago, such as through the South Shore Line Double-Tracking and West Lake Corridor projects.

"The largest driver of this growth is positive net domestic migration, or more people choosing to remain in Northwest Indiana or move here, than choosing to leave," Pollak said. "For Lake County, more than 80% of the population growth in recent years is the result of positive net domestic migration. For Porter County, the entirety of population growth can be attributed to positive net domestic migration."

Northwest Indiana has been able to attract new residents from Illinois and elsewhere due in part to amenities like the Indiana Dunes National Park.

"One of the key factors responsible for this recent growth in population is our growing focus on quality of place," he said. "The most effective way to attract educated and high-skill workers as well as encourage those living here to remain and build their lives, is to invest more in the amenities which provide a greater quality of life to our residents."

Indiana as a whole gained 29,925 residents last year, reaching a population of 6.86 million. That's roughly the same as the state's population growth of about 30,170 immigrants between 2010 and 2020, which declined during coronavirus pandemic.

Indianas growth was fueled by another year of exceptionally high net in-migration, said Matt Kinghorn, senior demographer at the Indiana Business Research Center. The state had a net inflow of nearly 22,500 residents last year, which is the third consecutive year this measure topped the 20,000-residents mark. For context, we estimate the state had an average net in-migration of 9,100 people per year last decade.
Chesterton fire Easter Egg Hunt Chesterton firefighters and their families pose with Sparky the Fire Dog and the Easter bunny after the Chesterton Firefighter's Union 4600 ho

CHESTERTON  In celebration of the Easter season, the Chesterton Firefighter's Union 4600 hosted their first-ever Easter Egg Hunt Saturday morning at Dogwood Park.

Children ages 11 and under explored the east lawn of the park playground for the multicolored plastic eggs filled with candy and other prizes that were donated by local businesses, including area fast food restaurants, candy shops, toy stores, construction and health clubs, said Chesterton Fire Chief Sean O'Donnell.

Easter resurrects the 'miracle' of faith despite fading number of believers For an increasing amount of Americans, Easter is more about searching for colored eggs than searching for Christian faith.

Approximately 500 people showed up for the inaugural event, O'Donnell said. Families took photos with special guests Sparky the Fire Dog and the Easter Bunny.

"It's a pleasure to be part of an organization that loves to do a lot for the community throughout the year," O'Donnell said. "These men and women deserve to be known."

O'Donnell was named the new fire chief in October after he served 26 years with the Gary Fire Department.

Three-and-a-half of O'Donnell's years with the Gary Fire Department were spent as fire chief.

O'Donnell said he is pleased with the staff of the Chesterton Fire Department and that he has seen them do charity work within the community, including donations made to a local food pantry, to a foster care organization and to Toys for Tots during the holiday season.

"They do it because they care," O'Donnell said of the 17 full-time firefighters at the Chesterton Fire Department. "They really care about the Duneland communities."

Chesterton fire Easter Egg Hunt Chesterton Firefighter's Union 4600 hosted their first-ever Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday morning at Dogwood Park.
A police officer died on Monday after being shot during a traffic stop in Queens, the police and city officials said.

The suspected gunman, Guy Rivera, 34, who was sitting in the passenger seat, was also wounded, the police said. He was the first to fire his gun during the evening encounter in Far Rockaway, striking the officer, Jonathan Diller, in the torso below his protective vest, Police Commissioner Edward A. Caban said at a news conference at Jamaica Hospital, where Officer Diller was taken.

The officers partner returned fire, striking the man, who was also taken to Jamaica Hospital, where he is being treated for his injuries, officials said at the news conference. The driver, Lindy Jones, 41, was taken into police custody.

This is a devastating moment, said Mayor Eric Adams, who also spoke at the news conference. We have to bury another cop, he added.
At 11 a.m. Monday, a New York appeals court made Donald J. Trumps day, rescuing him from financial devastation in a civil fraud case.

By noon, the New York judge overseeing his criminal case had nearly ruined it, setting Mr. Trumps trial for next month and all but ensuring he will hold the dubious distinction of becoming the first former American president to be criminally prosecuted.

The contrasting outcomes of Mr. Trumps twin New York legal crises  a triumph in the civil case and a setback in the criminal one  set the former president on a winding path as he seeks to navigate around an array of legal troubles to recapture the White House.

Unfolding in rapid succession in his hometown courts, the days events captured the disorienting reality of having a candidate who is also a defendant. And they showed that nothing about the months until Election Day will be easy, linear or normal  for Mr. Trump or the nation.
An Ohio man who threatened to kill Katie Hobbs in 2022 during her successful bid for governor of Arizona was sentenced on Monday to two and a half years in prison, prosecutors announced.

The man, Joshua Russell, 46, of Ohio, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Arizona in August to one count of making an interstate threat, according to the Justice Department. He was indicted in December 2022 on charges that he had left several voice messages containing death threats with the office of Ms. Hobbs, who was then Arizonas secretary of state.

Ms. Hobbs, a Democrat, was the states top election official when Joe Bidens 2020 victory there was certified. She was not named in court documents, but a letter filed in court last week on Mr. Russells behalf was addressed to her.

In the letter, Mr. Russell apologized to Ms. Hobbs and said that he was being treated for anger and drug and alcohol abuse, which he cited as a factor in making the threats.
A former speaker of the Ohio State House of Representatives, now serving a 20-year federal prison sentence, was indicted on 10 more state felony charges on Monday in connection with a sprawling bribery scheme that handed a $1.3 billion bailout to a major regional energy utility.

The charges against the former speaker, Larry Householder, followed an inquiry by the Ohio Organized Crime Commission that also produced indictments last month of two former executives of the Akron-based utility, FirstEnergy Corporation.

The two men  Chuck Jones, a former FirstEnergy chief executive officer, and Michael Dowling, a senior vice president  were charged with funneling $4.3 million in bribes to the former chairman of the Ohio Public Utility Commission, Sam Randazzo. They and Mr. Randazzo, who was also indicted, have pleaded not guilty to a total of 27 charges.

The FirstEnergy case has been called the largest political scandal in Ohio history. Mr. Householder was convicted of accepting $60 million in bribes in exchange for shepherding into law a mammoth bailout of two unprofitable nuclear power plants owned by a subsidiary of the utility, as well as two coal-fired electric plants and solar energy projects.
With the release of Cowboy Carter, Beyonces eighth solo album and the one that finds her exploring  and testing  the boundaries of country music, much of the early conversation has centered on whether the country music industry would rally around her. Beyonce is one of the most commercially successful and creatively vibrant pop stars of the 21st century  certainly her arrival would be greeted with hurrahs, no?

Not quite.

Rather than being feted with a welcome party, Beyonce has been met largely with shrugs. Texas Hold Em  one of the two singles she released in advance of the album  is a savvy blend of old and new. It displays a familiarity with the sonic principles of old-fashioned country, while maintaining the infectiousness of current pop. Nevertheless, it has received extremely modest attention at country radio. Beyonce is Black, and a woman, two groups that contemporary Nashville has consistently marginalized and shortchanged. And no amount of built-in celebrity appears to be able to undo that.

Contemporary mainstream country music often feels like a closed loop of white male storytelling. Which is why whether or not Beyonce and Nashville can find common cause is, in every way, a red herring. Neither is particularly interested in the other  the tradition-shaped country music business will accept certain kinds of outsiders but isnt set up to accommodate a Black female star of Beyonces stature, and she is focusing on country as art and inspiration and sociopolitical plaything, not industry. The spurn is mutual.
A 948-foot cargo ship that left the Port of Baltimore early this morning collided just minutes later with a pillar of a major bridge, quickly causing much of the bridge to collapse into the water. Divers and other emergency responders searched for six construction workers who had been fixing potholes on the Francis Scott Key Bridge when it fell and are now missing. Two other workers were rescued from the water.

Heres the latest.

Federal officials said they had launched an investigation into how the crash occurred. The crew of the ship, a massive vessel headed for Sri Lanka, had issued a warning that it had lost power before the collision. That heads-up gave officials enough time to stop traffic at both ends of the bridge. It undoubtedly saved lives, President Biden said.

Biden also said that he expected the federal government would pay to rebuild the bridge, which had a four-lane highway that carried more than 30,000 commuters each day. It can take years to rebuild after collapses of such magnitude.

The governor of Maryland called the episode a terrible accident, adding that there was no credible evidence of a terrorist attack. An inspection last year of the ship, called the Dali, reported that it had a deficiency related to propulsion and auxiliary machinery. Other recent collapses have raised questions about the ability of bridges to withstand crashes.
Putin insisted Ukraine could have been behind terror attack

President Vladimir Putin of Russia acknowledged for the first time that radical Islamists had carried out the attack on a concert hall near Moscow, while insisting that Ukraine could still have played a role.

This atrocity can be just an element in a series of attempts of those who have been at war with our country since 2014, Putin said during a publicly broadcast meeting with government officials, referring to the Ukrainian government. He questioned why the four suspects in the Friday attack, which killed at least 139 people, had been captured in a part of Russia that borders Ukraine.

Russian state media has been pushing the narrative that Ukraine was behind the attack, even though the Islamic State claimed responsibility. The U.S. and France both said that an Islamic State entity was responsible, and Ukraine has denied involvement. Russian investigators have shown no evidence that the four suspects, migrant workers from Tajikistan, have any connection to Ukraine.

The suspects: The four men looked battered when they were arraigned, and videos of them being tortured and beaten during interrogation circulated widely on Russian social media. A New York Times visual investigation linked them to the attack.
Domestic politics deepen U.S.-Israel divide

Relations between the U.S. and Israel appear to have sunk to a new low after the U.S. abstained from a U.N. vote that allowed a Gaza cease-fire resolution to pass  and domestic politics in both countries are adding to the division.

In the U.S., President Biden is facing outrage from supporters and global allies about the toll of civilian deaths in the war, and Israels seeming reluctance to allow enough aid into Gaza. At the same time, Donald Trumps son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and his former ambassador to Israel have amplified policy proposals embraced by Israels far-right wing, which call for the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza and the annexation of the West Bank by Israel.

In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing sharp criticism from his far-right coalition partners over any indication that he is hesitating in the war against Hamas or in the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Netanyahu and his far-right partners have made increasingly bellicose remarks against the Biden administration. In a recent interview, the national security minister accused Biden of tacitly supporting Israels enemies.

Even as the Biden-Netanyahu rift grows, Israels defense minister yesterday tried to shore up U.S. support during a second day of meetings with top Biden administration officials in Washington. The Israeli military yesterday pressed on with its bombardment of Gaza, saying its fighter jets had struck over 60 targets.
It seems like an issue everyone can agree on: Financial professionals should be required to handle our retirement money with the utmost care, putting investors interests first.

But that type of care comes in degrees, and deciding exactly how far advisers should go has been the center of heated debate for nearly 15 years, pitting financial industry stakeholders, who argue their existing regulatory framework is enough, against the U.S. Labor Department, the retirement plan regulator, which says there are gaping holes.

The issue has re-emerged as the department prepares to release a final rule that would require more financial professionals to act as fiduciaries  that is, theyd be held to the highest standard, across the investment landscape, when providing advice on retirement money held or destined for tax-advantaged accounts, like individual retirement accounts.

Most retirement plan administrators who oversee the trillions of dollars held in 401(k) plans are already held to this standard, part of a 1974 law known as ERISA, which was established to oversee private pension plans before 401(k)s existed. But it doesnt generally apply, for example, when workers roll over their pile of money into an I.R.A. when they leave a job or retire from the work force. Nearly 5.7 million people rolled $620 billion into I.R.A.s in 2020, according to the latest Internal Revenue Service data.
As pale morning light flickered across the Seine, Capt. Freddy Badar steered his hulking river barge, Le Bosphore, past picturesque Normandy villages and snow-fringed woodlands, setting a course for Paris.

Onboard were containers packed with furniture, electronics and clothing loaded the night before from a cargo ship that had docked in Le Havre, the seaport in northern France. Had the cargo continued by road, 120 trucks would have clogged the highways. Using Le Bosphore and its crew of four prevented tons of carbon emissions from entering the atmosphere.

The river is part of a wider solution for cleaner transport and the environment, Captain Badar said, his eyes scanning other vessels carrying wares up and down the Seine. But theres much more that we could be doing.

As the European Union steps up its battle against climate change, it needs to decarbonize freight transport, responsible for a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions.
The decision by NBC News to hire Ronna McDaniel, the former chair of the Republican National Committee, as a political commentator set off a round of sharp criticism from her new colleagues in recent days. Leading on-air figures at NBC and its cable cousin, MSNBC, including Chuck Todd and Rachel Maddow, took the unusual step of condemning their bosses decision in public.

Those internal critics have said that by hiring Ms. McDaniel, the network was authorizing election denialism. In the days after the 2020 election, Ms. McDaniel promoted some false theories pushed by then-President Donald J. Trump, including that votes had been miscounted in key battleground states, and she helped pressure election officials in one Michigan county to hold off from certifying the results. She has since tried to downplay her role in questioning the integrity of the election, and on Sunday, she said on Meet The Press that President Biden had defeated Mr. Trump fair and square.

Many mainstream news organizations have focused on the internal tensions at NBC. But the uproar at the network has played out differently among many conservative commentators, who have argued that it shows how the journalists at NBC News are overwhelmingly liberal and intolerant of conservative views.

Fox News

In one segment, after playing clips in which Mr. Todd and the MSNBC hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski described their opposition to Ms. McDaniels hire on the air, panelists on the Fox News show Americas Newsroom expressed incredulity at the backlash.
Even before the deadly toll of the attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday became clear, officials in Russia linked it to the war against Ukraine and a broader conflict with the West. Ninety minutes after first reports of the attack, Dmitri A. Medvedev, the former president and the deputy chairman of the Kremlins security council, darkly hinted at terrorists of the Kyiv regime.

The claim of responsibility by the Islamic State did little to temper the Kremlins narrative, which has unspooled in a torrent of unsupported accusations and baseless, even fanciful conspiracy theories spread across social media.

When President Vladimir V. Putin said radical Islamists had carried out the attack, he called it just an element in a series of attempts of those who have been at war with our country since 2014, an explicit reference to Ukraine and the upheaval that year that led to the illegal annexation of Crimea.

They need a Big Lie, said Nina Khrushcheva, a professor of international affairs at the New School in New York, who has written extensively on Russian politics and propaganda.
Headliner

Beefbar

It took Riccardo Giraudi, the Monte Carlo native with a global empire of Beefbars and other brands, 20 years to finally open a restaurant in New York. The TriBeCa space that had housed the original Nobu is now fitted with plush upholstery and 90 seats, an open kitchen and a separate bar area in the former Nobu Next Door. Mr. Giraudi, whose family has been in the wholesale meat business in Monaco since 1968 and whose restaurants in Europe showcase American beef with great success, is in partnership in the United States with Tribeca Hospitality Group, for which this is their first venture. If this works we have a huge opportunity in the United States, said Aqib Rahman, who owns the group with other family members. Like many newly minted steakhouses, the owners insist this is not a traditional steakhouse. But just like the others theres an emphasis on seafood. Other choices include items like a Black Angus kathi roll, Kobe beef gyozas, tuna rib-eye with shiso chimichurri, and Korean-style skirt steak. Theres no sense in just bringing American steaks back to New York, Mr. Giraudi said. Traditional cuts of Wagyu and Black Angus are served. The executive chef is Peter Jin. (Opens April 4)

105 Hudson Street (Franklin Street), 646-663-6050, beefbar.com.

Openings

Penny

They do it for sushi, so why not seafood? At the new upstairs spot directly above their restaurant Claud in the East Village, Joshua Pinsky and Chase Sinzer provide bar and counter seating for seafood thats displayed directly behind the white marble food counter in a bright, narrow room. In addition to freshly shucked oysters and other raw bar items, the menu includes lobster served with brown butter, beggars purses, cod with clams, and an oyster pan roast under pastry. A wine list starts at $12 for a glass of white. The restaurant is open only Monday through Friday evenings.

90 East 10th Street, penny-nyc.com.

Frena

With Stephen Vaknin a co-owner, the former Taboon space has not lost its Middle Eastern approach; the chef and a partner, Efi Naon is the same. Its predecessor was named for the taboon oven, and now its named for the Moroccan bread baked in one, also called a frena, usually on hot stones. The dining room and bar are bright and airy. The menu calls on Morocco and Israel with typical dips for the bread, Moroccan cigar filled pastries, bourekas, merguez with gigante beans, latke-crusted sea bass, crab shawarma toast, and lamb in a clay pot. The wine list includes a syrah from Morocco and a cabernet sauvignon from Israel. (Wednesday)

773 Tenth Avenue (52nd Street), 646-503-1464, frena.nyc.

Maries

Miguel Trinidad, the chef best known for his food at the Filipino restaurants Maharlika and Jeepney, has joined forces with the restaurateur Brandon Boccellari to interpret Italy. The menu includes focaccia with Calabrian chile butter, veal carpaccio, porchetta, skate piccata, 100-layer eggplant, four pasta cuts served with a choice of sauces, and duck ropa vieja suggesting the Caribbean. The dining room is done in a contemporary style with a long bar and a copper ceiling. (Friday)

195 Wyckoff Avenue (Harman Street), Bushwick, Brooklyn, 718-316-6227, mariesnyc.com.
If there is value in seeing these events recapped, it is in the power of seeing the parents confront Jones in court. (Over two trials, in Texas and Connecticut, they won more than $1 billion in damages.) It is also in the horror of seeing just how confidently Jones deflects questions and tries to steer proceedings to his advantage  denying the families what Alissa Parker, Emilies mother, calls a moment of reflection from him.

The Truth vs. Alex Jones offers a lesson in just how vicious and pervasive conspiracy theories can become and a chilling portrait of how little they may trouble their purveyors.

The Truth vs. Alex Jones

Not rated. Running time: 2 hours 1 minute. Watch on Max.
In his three years as a New York City police officer, Jonathan Diller, 31, did not shy away from working tougher areas of southeast Queens near Kennedy International Airport.

Over his short but promising police career, he racked up scores of arrests and had already been decorated three times for excellent police duty.

And on the home front, a 40-minute drive east on Long Island, his life as a family man was also blooming. He and his wife, Stephanie, had moved into a modest colonial in Massapequa Park as newlyweds and last year had a son, Ryan.

Ryans baby teeth were just coming in, and last weekend, Officer Diller was pulling the toddler in a wagon on the front lawn, never prouder.
The New York judge presiding over one of Donald J. Trumps criminal trials imposed a gag order on Tuesday that prohibits him from attacking witnesses, prosecutors and jurors, the latest effort to rein in the former presidents wrathful rhetoric about his legal opponents.

The judge, Juan M. Merchan, imposed the order at the request of the Manhattan district attorneys office, which brought the case against Mr. Trump. The district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, has accused Mr. Trump of covering up a potential sex scandal during and after his 2016 campaign.

The ruling comes on the heels of Justice Merchans setting an April 15 trial date, rejecting Mr. Trumps latest effort to delay the proceeding while he seeks to reclaim the White House. It will mark the first prosecution of a former American president, and it might be the only one of Mr. Trumps criminal cases to go to trial before voters head to the polls in November.

Under the judges order, Mr. Trump cannot make, or direct others to make, statements about witnesses roles in the case. Mr. Trump is also barred from commenting on prosecutors, court staff and their relatives if he intends to interfere with their work on the case. Any comments whatsoever about jurors are banned as well, the judge ruled, citing an array of hostile remarks Mr. Trump has made about grand jurors, prosecutors and others.
Emergency workers and researchers use the term critical incident to describe a traumatic event. Its estimated that people, on average, will experience two to three critical incidents in their lifetimes. My first came at 8 years old, when my father made his first suicide attempt. Five years and five attempts later, he was dead. Ive been compelled to explore mental health issues  and their potential solutions  ever since.

Research has found that throughout a career, an emergency worker may experience over 180 critical incidents. While observing emergency workers in this documentary, I was amazed by their ability to work so calmly through crises and transition quickly in and out of their home lives. But I came to understand that there was a toll paid for this form of public service, as emergency workers experience rates of behavioral health issues that are notably higher than the general populations. We depend on emergency workers to provide service during our most vulnerable moments, but these experiences place them critically at risk for issues like PTSD, substance abuse and suicide.

After more than a decade spent working as a peer-support facilitator in suicide prevention and postvention, which involves assisting survivors in the grief process, I slowly became aware of the growing body of evidence supporting psychedelic-assisted therapies as a medical intervention for the types of behavioral health issues I encountered. Like many, I was skeptical. But I eventually learned that major institutions like the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (for which I volunteer) and the Department of Veterans Affairs have supported research into psychedelics such as ketamine. The V.A. even announced this year that it will fund new studies on MDMA and psilocybin-assisted psychotherapies.

I wrote previously that the American West has some of the nations worst outcomes for behavioral health issues such as substance abuse and suicide. Growing up in Wyoming, I also saw how the West is home to some of the countrys most conservative cultural and political views on psychedelics. In making this film, I wanted to address that gap and challenge the assumptions of what a typical psychedelic user can and should look like.
There are two plausible hypotheses regarding Fridays terrorist attack at a concert hall outside Moscow, in which at least 139 people were killed. The first is that it was an inside job  orchestrated by Russian security services, or at least carried out with their foreknowledge.

The second is that it wasnt.

In open societies, conspiracy theories are for cranks. In closed societies, theyre a reasonable (if not always correct) way to understand political phenomena.

In 1999, more than 300 Russians were killed and 1,700 injured in a series of apartment bombings for which authorities blamed Chechen terrorists. The bombings served as a pretext for Vladimir Putin  who had ascended swiftly from secondary apparatchik to director of the Federal Security Service, or F.S.B., to prime minister  to launch the second Chechen war.

Then something strange happened. The police found three enormous sacks of white powder in the basement of an apartment building in the city of Ryazan, connected to a detonator and timer set to go off at 5:30 in the morning. Initial tests of the powder found it contained the same explosive, hexogen, that had been used in other bombings.
As the week began, it looked as though Donald Trump would finally face consequences  or at least, a consequence  for his actions.

Last month, a New York state trial court found the former president liable for inflating his net worth and misleading banks and insurers in order to receive favorable loans for his various businesses and commercial enterprises. The judge, Arthur F. Engoron, imposed a penalty of $454 million, to be paid into the states general fund. Letitia James, New Yorks attorney general, gave Trump a 30-day grace period to secure bond as he pursued appeal of the judgment. If he does not have funds to pay off the judgment, then we will seek judgment enforcement mechanisms in court, and we will ask the judge to seize his assets, James said last month.

As of Sunday, Trump did not have the funds lined up. He could not find a company willing to pledge nearly half a billion dollars on his behalf. And even if he could, he would need to pledge at least as much in collateral to the company.

Almost any other defendant would have to face the consequences of coming to court empty-handed. It was in a criminal case, yes, but Kalief Browder  arrested at 16 for an alleged robbery  spent three years at Rikers, without trial, because his family could not afford a $3,000 bond. Not Trump. On Monday, the day the money was due, a New York appeals court said that it would accept a far smaller bond of $175 million, a significant and unexpected victory for the former president. He has 10 days to pay.
Defendant has been given a reasonable amount of time.

JUDGE JUAN M. MERCHAN, who rejected a motion to further delay former President Donald J. Trumps criminal trial in Manhattan. The trial is set to begin on April 15.
The oceanfront Eden Roc Hotel is an icon of Miami Modernist architecture, a style that epitomized the postwar glamour and grandeur of Miami Beach. Two turquoise panels wrap the white facade. The oval canister perched atop the building resembles a cruise ships funnel. Crooners like Frank Sinatra, Harry Belafonte, and Sammy Davis, Jr., stayed and played there.

But a new Florida law could make it easier for hotels like the Eden Roc and other architectural icons along Miami Beachs coastline to be demolished.

The battle pits the pressures of development and climate change against the benefits of historical preservation, in a city that has long paved over its past and prizes the new, shiny, and glitzy.

Supporters say the law addresses environmental and safety challenges of aging properties after the deadly 2021 collapse of the Champlain Towers South condo. But critics believe the legislation is a pretext to facilitate the demolition of historical buildings  ones that give Miami Beach its distinct look  to make way for high-rise luxury condos.
I once dreamed a kiss that hadnt yet happened. I dreamed the angle at which our heads tilted, the fit of my fingers behind her ear, the exact pressure exerted on the lips by this transfer of trust and tenderness.

Freud, who catalyzed the study of dreams with his foundational 1899 treatise, would have discounted this as a mere chimera of the wishful unconscious. But what we have since discovered about the mind  particularly about the dream-rich sleep state of rapid-eye movement, or REM, unknown in Freuds day  suggests another possibility for the adaptive function of these parallel lives in the night.

One cold morning not long after the kiss dream, I watched a young night heron sleep on a naked branch over the pond in Brooklyn Bridge Park, head folded into chest, and found myself wondering whether birds dream.

The recognition that nonhuman animals dream dates at least as far back as the days of Aristotle, who watched a sleeping dog bark and deemed it unambiguous evidence of mental life. But by the time Descartes catalyzed the Enlightenment in the 17th century, he had reduced other animals to mere automatons, tainting centuries of science with the assumption that anything unlike us is inherently inferior.
For years, the U.S. investors who backed ByteDance, the Chinese internet company that owns TikTok, have wrestled with the complexities of owning a piece of a geopolitically fraught social media app.

Now its gotten even more complicated.

A bill to force ByteDance to sell TikTok is winding its way through the Senate after sailing through the House this month. Questions about whether TikToks Chinese ties make it a national security threat are mounting. And U.S. investors including General Atlantic, Susquehanna International Group and Sequoia Capital  which collectively poured billions into ByteDance  are facing increased pressure from state and federal lawmakers to answer for their investments in Chinese companies.

Last year, a House committee began examining U.S. investments in Chinese companies. The Biden administration has curbed U.S. investments in China. In December, a Missouri pension board voted to divest from some Chinese investments, after political pressure from the state treasurer. And Florida passed legislation this month to require the states Board of Administration to sell off its stakes in Chinese-owned companies.

All of this comes on top of existing issues with owning a piece of ByteDance. The Beijing-based company has grown into one of the worlds most highly valued start-ups, worth $225 billion, according to CB Insights. Thats a boon, at least on paper, for U.S. investors who put money into ByteDance when it was a smaller company.
In a greasy spoon just off the New Jersey Turnpike, two men sit down for coffee. One, Walter Scott (Count Stovall), is a descendant of Dred Scott, and the other, Jim Taney (John L. Payne), is a great-great nephew of Roger B. Taney, the Supreme Court chief justice who, in 1857, wrote the opinion in the Dred Scott decision, which declared that Black people could never be citizens.

Jim requested this meeting with Walter in hopes of apologizing for arguably the worst decision in Supreme Court history. As a premise for a story, one could scarcely ask for richer material. But something was lost in the execution of American Rot, a flat-footed play by Kate Taney Billingsley, who is an actual descendant of the former chief justice.

That this La MaMa production, directed by Estelle Parsons, is based on Billingsleys fleet audio play, starring Sam Waterston and John Douglas Thompson, is especially puzzling. In just 30 minutes, that audio production, titled A Man of His Time, effectively dramatized two descendants of historic figures locking horns, interrogating their own biases and seeking middle ground.

In expanding the story for the version now running at the Ellen Stewart Theater, Billingsley added 12 supporting characters, most of whom make up Black and white choruses, representing the woke commentariat and unreconstructed racists. Stationed in segregated sections of Christina Weppners barely-there diner, the two factions are served by an insufferable waitress (Suzanne DiDonna), who has placed a feather in her hair after snatching it from a Native American man in the opening sequence. She then proceeds to toss off white nationalist comments with alarming frequency, and is eager for something called the Appropriation Festival, which promises feathers, fringe, fentanyl!
The large container ship that collided with the Key Bridge in Baltimore, leading to its near-total collapse, appeared to strike a critical component, known as a pylon or pier, according to several engineers who have reviewed footage of the incident.

Without the pier, they said, it was impossible for other components of the bridge to assume the load and keep the bridge standing.

The piers on a bridge act as a kind of leg and are what is known as nonredundant parts of a bridges structure. If a pier is somehow taken out, there is nothing to compensate for the missing structural support, and a collapse of the bridge is all but inevitable, most of the analysts said.
The Baltimore bridge disaster on Tuesday upended operations at one of the nations busiest ports, with disruptions likely to be felt for weeks by companies shipping goods in and out of the country  and possibly by consumers as well.

The upheaval will be especially notable for auto makers and coal producers for whom Baltimore has become one of the most vital shipping destinations in the United States.

As officials began to investigate why a nearly 1,000-foot cargo ship ran into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the middle of the night, companies that transport goods to suppliers and stores scrambled to get trucks to the other East Coast ports receiving goods diverted from Baltimore. Ships sat idle elsewhere, unsure where and when to dock.

Its going to cause a lot of chaos, said Paul Brashier, vice president for drayage and intermodal at ITS Logistics.

The closure of the Port of Baltimore is the latest hit to global supply chains, which have been strained by monthslong crises at the Panama Canal, which has had to slash traffic because of low water levels; and the Suez Canal, which shipping companies are avoiding because of attacks by the Houthis on vessels in the Red Sea.

The auto industry now faces new supply headaches.

Last year, 570,000 vehicles were imported through Baltimore, according to Sina Golara, an assistant professor of supply chain management at Georgia State University. Thats a huge amount, he said, equivalent to nearly a quarter of the current inventory of new cars in the United States.
A bill introduced in the California Legislature on Friday will seek reparations for the families of people who were displaced from their homes in Los Angeles in the 1950s on land that eventually became the site of Dodger Stadium.

The bill, introduced by Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo, Democrat of Los Angeles, came after years of calls from organizers who have asked for reparations, either through money or the return of land that they contend was taken from their families.

The land, nestled between the San Gabriel Mountains and downtown Los Angeles, is widely known today as Chavez Ravine. But more than 60 years ago, the roughly 300-acre expanse was the three communities of Palo Verde, La Loma and Bishop, where about 1,800 families, most of whom were Mexican American, lived, according to the bill.

The residents of those communities were displaced in the 1950s by the city of Los Angeles, which had said that the land was needed to build affordable housing, according to the bill. The housing project was never built, and eventually the land was acquired by the Dodgers after they moved to Los Angeles from Brooklyn in the late 1950s.
The Dali was less than 30 minutes into its planned 27-day journey when the ship ran into the Francis Scott Key Bridge on Tuesday.

The ship, which was sailing under the Singaporean flag, was on its way to Sri Lanka and was supposed to arrive there on April 22, according to VesselFinder, a ship tracking website.

The Dali, which is nearly 1,000 feet long, left the Baltimore port around 1 a.m. Eastern on Tuesday. The ship had two pilots onboard, according to a statement by its owners, Grace Ocean Investment. There were 22 crew members on board, the Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore said in a statement. There were no reports of any injuries, Grace Ocean said.

Before heading off on its voyage, the Dali had returned to the United States from Panama on March 19, harboring in New York. It then arrived on Saturday in Baltimore, where it spent two days in the port.

Maersk, the shipping giant, said in a statement on Tuesday that it had chartered the vessel, which was carrying Maersk cargo. No Maersk crew and personnel were onboard, the statement said, adding that the company was monitoring the investigations being carried out by the authorities and by Synergy Group, the company that was operating the vessel.

We are horrified by what has happened in Baltimore, and our thoughts are with all of those affected, the Maersk statement said.

The Dali was built in 2015 by the South Korea-based Hyundai Heavy Industries. The following year, the ship was involved in a minor incident when it hit a stone wall at the port of Antwerp. The Dali sustained damage at the time, but no one was injured.
It was 2014, and Erin Morrow Hawley was fighting against the egg-laying hens of Missouri. Specifically, a new requirement that chicken cages have enough space for the hens to stand up, turn around and stretch out.

A law professor from five generations of ranchers and the wife of Senator Josh Hawley, Ms. Hawley joined a challenge to California, which required more spacious enclosures for hens laying eggs to be sold there. The state where she taught, Missouri, sold a third of its eggs to California, and Ms. Hawley believed that a blue state had no right to impose its values and rules on Missouris farmers.

She joined in a lawsuit against Californias attorney general at the time, Kamala Harris. A judge found that the challengers could show no direct injury and dismissed the case. Ms. Hawley continued teaching, and Ms. Harris became Joe Bidens vice president.

Ten years later, Ms. Hawley, 44, is now at the center of one of the countrys most heated cultural battles about bodily autonomy, gender roles and abortion. On Tuesday, for the first time since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court considered a case involving nationwide limits on abortion access. And Ms. Hawley was the woman standing before the justices, arguing to sharply curtail access to the abortion pill.
She posed as a down-on-her-luck heiress who was battling with her Irish family over an exorbitant inheritance. Sympathizers lent her tens of thousands of dollars.

But Marianne Smyth, who was born in Maine, was not an Irish heiress, and there was no fortune. She has been accused over the years of using elaborate deceptions to swindle hefty sums of money in schemes that led to two felony convictions.

Now Ms. Smyth, 54, is facing more accusations, this time from the authorities in the United Kingdom, who are seeking her extradition from the United States. The charges, for fraud and theft, date from March 2008 to October 2010, when Ms. Smyth was living in Northern Ireland, according to a complaint filed in federal court in Maine. She was arrested last month in Maine, the U.S. Marshals Service said.

The arrest was a miracle, said Johnathan Walton, a Los Angeles-based reality television producer who has made it his personal mission to expose Ms. Smyth, after she was convicted of stealing more than $63,000 from him.
The giant container ship that struck and downed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore in the early hours of March 26 remains pinned under the twisted remains of the bridge. Officials have outlined plans for their effort to recover the bodies of victims, free the vessel, dismantle the wreckage and reopen the citys port as quickly as possible.

They have begun to clean up the debris to clear the channel to one of the nations busiest ports, and so far have removed a 200-ton piece of the bridge, officials said. As part of the operation, officials brought in a crane capable of lifting 1,000 tons.

On another front, federal investigators said that they were interviewing key crew members and examining hours of data recordings. But the investigation into the ship crash could take years, they said.

The bridge is a part of Interstate 695 and a critical transportation link on the East Coast to one of the largest ports in the country. The disaster has become Americas deadliest bridge collapse in more than a decade.
President Biden said on Tuesday that the federal government would pay the entire cost of reconstructing the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, adding that he hoped it would be rebuilt and reopened as soon as humanly possible.

Mr. Bidens midday remarks from the White House came as he sought to demonstrate a robust federal government response to the bridge disaster, the second on a major interstate highway in the nations Northeast Corridor in 10 months.

The presidents optimism about rebuilding Baltimores bridge follows the successful effort last summer to put back together an Interstate 95 overpass in Philadelphia that collapsed after a fire.

Mr. Biden visited six days later and stood alongside Pennsylvanias governor for an announcement that the overpass would be repaired and reopened within two weeks. Baltimores bridge collapse is a far larger infrastructure project that is all but certain to take much longer to repair. Mr. Biden said at the White House that he expected to visit as soon as I can. No trip has yet been arranged, officials said.
President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris used a North Carolina visit on Tuesday to highlight their administrations work on expanding access to affordable health care, as Democrats seek a contrast with Republicans on the issue.

Speaking to a crowd of more than 200 Democratic leaders and supporters in the gymnasium of a community center near downtown Raleigh, the president and vice president attacked Republicans for seeking to repeal or limit parts of the Affordable Care Act. Ms. Harris called them extremists, who are trying to take away medical care in our country or make it more expensive.

Mr. Biden echoed those denouncements and pointed blame at his rival, former President Donald J. Trump, for repeatedly trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act and for spreading disinformation about Covid-19 as the death toll soared.

Trump didnt level with the American people. He told Americans, all they had to do was inject bleach into themselves, Mr. Biden said.
President Bidens campaign is working to reach across the generation gap to the tens of millions of predominantly younger voters on TikTok, where the challenges are daunting and the rewards difficult to track.

The obstacles range from anger over the war in Gaza to what social media experts describe as the unavoidably uncool nature of supporting the administration in power.

Mr. Biden, 81, joined the app owned by a Chinese company last month, in what was widely seen as an effort to communicate with voters under 30, among whom he has polled poorly for months. In interviews and surveys, those voters indicated an unawareness about his administrations accomplishments, something a word of mouth campaign on TikTok could alleviate.




* "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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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)
As the election approaches, President Biden is making regular calls to former President Barack Obama to catch up on the race or to talk about family. But Mr. Obama is making calls of his own to Jeffrey D. Zients, the White House chief of staff, and to top aides at the Biden campaign to strategize and relay advice.

This level of engagement illustrates Mr. Obamas support for Mr. Biden, but also what one of his senior aides characterized as Mr. Obamas grave concern that Mr. Biden could lose to former President Donald J. Trump. The aide, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said that Mr. Obama has always been worried about a Biden loss. And so, the aide added, he is prepared to eke it out alongside his former vice president in an election that could come down to slim margins in a handful of states.

Perhaps for the first time, the two are on the same page about Mr. Bidens future. In a sign of things to come, they are to appear together, with former President Bill Clinton, at a major fund-raiser for the Biden campaign at Radio City Music Hall in New York on Thursday.

It was not always this way.

In 2015, as Mr. Biden was grieving the loss of his eldest son, Beau, and contemplating running for the presidency, it was Mr. Obama who gently suggested that it was not his time. In a memoir, Promise Me, Dad, Mr. Biden wrote that Mr. Obama told him that if he could appoint anyone to be president for the next eight years, it would have been Mr. Biden. The vice president wrote that the mere possibility of a presidential campaign, which Beau wanted, gave us purpose and hope  a way to defy the fates.
Bearing colorful signs and banners that read Doctors Not Doctrine and Abortion is Health Care, hundreds of activists chanted, marched and rallied for hours outside the Supreme Court starting Tuesday morning, before the justices weighed the availability of a commonly used abortion pill.

Supporters of abortion rights outnumbered those opposing abortion, but the two factions occasionally sparred with rallying calls, including over the safety of the pill, mifepristone. (Studies show that is, in fact, safe for terminating a pregnancy.)

Some had traveled across the country to demonstrate. Courtney Brown, a coffee shop owner who helped found an abortion rights group in Amarillo, Texas, where the case originated, described her town as ground zero in the fight over abortion.

She added, Im just ready to fight back because were so tired of having those rights stripped away.
Even as Palestinian-rights organizers focus their ire on President Biden, the advisers who shaped Donald J. Trumps Middle East policies when he was president have amplified calls for the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza and the annexation of the West Bank by Israel.

Those policy prescriptions, voiced by Mr. Trumps son-in-law Jared Kushner and his former ambassador to Israel, David M. Friedman, suggest a right-wing approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict exceeding even the Trump administrations lopsidedly pro-Israeli proposals for a two-state solution. Mr. Trump was contradictory on the policies he would pursue in an interview with a conservative Israeli publication. But he did say he would be meeting with Mr. Friedman to discuss the former ambassadors plan for Israeli annexation of the West Bank.

Yet rather than raising alarm bells, some Palestinian organizers still maintain that Mr. Biden is the true threat, and that rhetoric from his Republican challenger cannot compare to policies that they say have already led to the killing of tens of thousands of Palestinians.

The fear of a second Trump term no longer resonates, said Abed Ayoub, the national executive director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, who has been organizing Arab American and progressive voters in Michigan.
When Nikki Haley dropped out of the 2024 presidential race in early March, she withheld endorsing Donald J. Trump and extended a pointed invitation for him to court her and the political coalition she constructed. This is now his time for choosing, she said then.

It has been nearly three weeks. He has not called.

There has never been very much magnanimity in the MAGA movement.

But as Mr. Trump prepares for a rematch against President Biden that is expected to offer little margin for error  the last race was decided by fewer than 50,000 votes across three states  the question is whether Mr. Trumps decision to bypass any sort of reconciliation with Ms. Haley after a brutal and personal primary will matter.

Even out of the race, Ms. Haley has continued to pull in a significant number of voters in ongoing primary contests. Across the five swing states that have held primaries so far  Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina and Nevada  a total of about 750,000 people cast ballots for Ms. Haley.
The word inexorably has appeared in 49 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on Aug. 8 in Repeat After Her: There Is No Dance Without Dance Education by Brian Seibert:

In dance education circles, her first name is enough. Everyone knows Jody. They call her the doyenne of dance, the godmother. They speak of her as the No. 1 cheerleader, the most tireless and tenacious champion, the general.  Shes a force of nature, said David C. Banks, the New York City schools chancellor. He has been at the job for 20 months  months filled with calls, emails and texts from Arnhold, with meetings and joint visits to schools. We all know the arts are a good thing, he said. She is the voice in your ear that will not let you forget how important they are. (He also called her a sweetheart.) Even in interviews, Arnhold educates, buttonholes, lobbies for her cause  graciously but inexorably. She repeats her sayings, like There is no dance without dance education. She means, in part, that the next great dancers and choreographers might now be in a kindergarten class in Brooklyn, in need of exposure. She also means that the future dance audience is there.

Daily Word Challenge

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Based on the definition and example provided, write a sentence using todays Word of the Day and share it as a comment on this article. It is most important that your sentence makes sense and demonstrates that you understand the words definition, but we also encourage you to be creative and have fun.

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To get the economy back on track, China is trying to champion its domestic companies and reassure entrepreneurs that its ready for business.

Its efforts are running into a problem: an online army of Chinese nationalists who have taken it upon themselves to punish perceived insults to the country  including from some of Chinas leading business figures.

In recent weeks, bloggers who usually rail against the United States have turned on Chinas richest man, calling him unpatriotic, and encouraged boycotts that have wiped out billions from his beverage companys market value. When fellow tycoons defended him, they were attacked as well, by users whose profiles featured photos of the Chinese flag.

As the fervor spread, social media users also hounded Huawei, the crown jewel of Chinas tech industry, accusing it of secretly admiring Japan. Others accused a prestigious university of being too cozy with the United States, and demanded the works of a Nobel-winning Chinese author be removed from circulation for purportedly smearing national heroes.
Five Chinese workers were killed on Tuesday when a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle into their convoy in northern Pakistan, the latest in a string of terrorist attacks highlighting the security challenges Pakistan faces in protecting Chinese personnel.

The Chinese laborers were working on the Dasu dam, a hydropower project on the Indus River in the northwestern province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The convoy was moving to Dasu from Islamabad and came under attack around 1 p.m., officials said.

Over the past week, terrorist attacks also struck a Pakistani military air base and a strategic port in the southwest of the country, where China has invested billions in infrastructure projects. The string of attacks has challenged the close economic and strategic ties between the two countries.

China is estimated to have spent some $62 billion on projects in Pakistan, mostly to build a transportation corridor through Baluchistan to a new Chinese-operated deepwater port in the Pakistani town of Gwadar.
Two British judges are set to decide on Tuesday whether Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, will be granted the right to appeal an extradition order to the United States, where he is facing charges under the Espionage Act.

Mr. Assange has been held in a London prison since 2019, accused by the United States of violations in connection with the obtaining and publishing of classified government documents on WikiLeaks in 2010.

In April 2022, a London court ordered his extradition to the United States. Priti Patel, Britains home secretary at the time, approved the extradition. Last month, two High Court judges heard Mr. Assanges final bid for an appeal. The judges are expected to hand down a written decision at 10:30 a.m. local time (6:30 a.m. Eastern) on Tuesday.

Here are the most likely scenarios.

Mr. Assange is allowed to appeal.

In this case, Mr. Assange would be allowed to have a full appeals case heard in front of the British court on new grounds. That could open the door to a new decision about his extradition.
The High Court in London ruled on Tuesday that Julian Assange, the embattled WikiLeaks founder, cannot be immediately extradited to the United States, saying American authorities must offer assurances about his treatment first, including over his First Amendment rights and protection from the death penalty.

The decision had been highly anticipated as the moment the court would decide if Mr. Assange had exhausted his challenges within British courts. Instead, in a nuanced ruling, two judges determined that clarity on his fate would again be on hold.

The two High Court judges said that the court will grant leave to appeal on narrow grounds, unless a satisfactory assurance is provided by the Government of the United States of America.

The court has given the United States three weeks to give satisfactory assurances that Mr. Assange is permitted to rely on the First Amendment to the United States Constitution (which protects free speech), that he is not prejudiced at trial (including sentence) by reason of his nationality, that he is afforded the same First Amendment protections as a United States citizen and that the death penalty is not imposed.
The bloody terrorist attack on a concert hall near Moscow had barely subsided before Russia launched a disinformation campaign suggesting that Ukraine and the West were somehow behind it, pushing a version of events molded to fit the Kremlin war narrative and downplay a significant security failure.

President Vladimir V. Putin has hinted several times that Kyiv and Washington played a part, and the latest to join the chorus was Aleksandr Bortnikov, the director of the Federal Security Service, the top security agency in Russia. On Tuesday he said, without offering any evidence, that the assault was prepared by both radical Islamists themselves and, naturally, facilitated by Western special services.

The United States and other Western governments have said repeatedly that the Islamic State  which itself has issued two claims of responsibility  was behind the assault. U.S. security officials named a specific branch of the organization, the Islamic State in Khorasan. Plus Washington warned Russia both publicly and privately on March 7 about the threat of an attack on an unspecified concert venue.

But on Friday evening, gunmen infiltrated the Crocus City Hall and opened fire, killing 139 people and injuring many others.
Two men accused in the terrorist attack on a Moscow concert hall spent time in Istanbul just weeks before the assault, a senior Turkish security official said on Tuesday, adding that the shortness of the mens visits suggested that they had not been radicalized in Turkey.

The information came on the same day that the Turkish Interior minister, Ali Yerlikaya, wrote on the platform X that the Turkish security services had caught 147 people alleged to have connections to the Islamic State since last June.

Mr. Yerlikaya did not say how many of those suspects had been apprehended since the concert hall attack in Moscow last week or whether any of those previously arrested were believed to have links to that attack. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the assault.

Speaking on condition of anonymity because of government protocols, the senior security official said that one of the attack suspects who traveled to Turkey, Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, arrived in Istanbul on Jan. 5 and spent 16 days in a hotel in the citys Fatih District. He left for Moscow on March 2, the official said.
Relations between President Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel appear to have sunk to a new low, with both men pressed hard by domestic politics and looming elections.

Mr. Biden is facing outrage from global allies and his own supporters about the toll of civilian deaths in the war against Hamas and Israels restrictions on allowing food and medicine into Gaza amid critical shortages. On Monday, Mr. Biden allowed the U.N. Security Council to pass a resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, as the U.S. ambassador abstained rather than vetoing the measure, as the United States had done in the past.

In response, Mr. Netanyahu, who is trying to keep his own far-right coalition government in power, called off a planned high-level delegation to Washington for meetings with U.S. officials to discuss alternatives to a planned Israeli offensive into Rafah, the southern Gaza city where more than a million people have sought refuge.

Mr. Netanyahu, however, allowed his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, to remain in Washington for talks with top Biden administration officials.
Israels defense minister, Yoav Gallant, second from left, with his U.S. counterpart, Lloyd J. Austin III, far right, at the Pentagon on Tuesday.

Israels defense minister, Yoav Gallant, and the U.S. defense secretary, Lloyd J. Austin III, met at the Pentagon on Tuesday to discuss the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Gaza and Israels plan to invade the southern city of Rafah, where U.S. officials have warned that a major military action could lead to catastrophe.

The meeting came amid growing friction between the two allies a day after the U.S. decision to allow the passage of a U.N. resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza. Afterward, Israels prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, declared that he was scrapping a plan to dispatch a delegation to Washington to discuss the potential offensive in Rafah.

Remarks by Mr. Gallant and Mr. Austin before the meeting underscored the divide. While both noted their countries commitment to Israels security, Mr. Gallant emphasized what he said was the urgent need to destroy Hamas, secure the release of Israelis taken hostage in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks and ensure Israels military edge and capabilities.

Mr. Austin focused on the dire consequences the war has had for Palestinian civilians. The number of civilian casualties is far too high, and the amount of humanitarian aid is far too low, he said. The safety of Palestinians in Rafah, where more than a million people are holed up, was a top priority, he added.

Image People recovering items from their homes after Israeli airstrikes in Rafah, Gaza, on Tuesday. Credit... Mohammed Salem/Reuters

After the meeting, a senior Defense Department official said Mr. Austin presented the broad outlines of the Biden administrations alternative approach to a major combat operation in Rafah. The main points were a focus on precision targeting intended to root out Hamas leadership, credible and effective steps to evacuate civilians sheltering there, an increase in humanitarian aid and securing the border between Gaza and Egypt.

The official, who spoke on a call with reporters on the condition of anonymity to discuss confidential talks, said that the Israelis were receptive to the priorities raised by Mr. Austin and that there would be additional meetings in the future.

Senior administration officials have said that any Israeli operation that did not adequately mitigate the risks to civilians in Rafah would be a mistake and exacerbate the dire living conditions in the enclave. Without proper planning or preparations, the senior Defense Department official said, a major ground operation into Rafah could dramatically restrict the flow of already insufficient humanitarian assistance into Gaza when just the opposite needs to happen.

Speaking with reporters after his meeting with Mr. Austin, Mr. Gallant said Israel would not be deterred in its war aims. Our goals are simple: We need to destroy Hamas as a military and governing organization in Gaza, he said. It means that the military framework must be destroyed.

The ability of Hamas to act as an organized military with a centralized command and control must be destroyed, he said. There is not a military capability, there is a terrorist capability.

The Israeli minister said he also discussed with his American counterpart maintaining Israels qualitative military advantage in the region (American officials said the sales of F-15 and F-35 fighters and Apache helicopter gunships were discussed). And Mr. Gallant said he and Mr. Austin talked about the urgency of efforts to recover more than 100 hostages still held by Hamas and the increasingly dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

We discussed the humanitarian efforts in Gaza  not only in terms of bringing the aid in but the real issue of distribution, Mr. Gallant said. Hamas is doing everything to sabotage the delivery of aid and to create pressure at the expense of the Palestinian people. This includes blocking routes and looting.

Mr. Gallant  who was also expected to sit down with the C.I.A. director, William J. Burns, a key figure in the negotiations between Israel and Hamas  met with Mr. Austin a day after the United States abstained from a vote on a cease-fire resolution at the U.N. Security Council, a decision that Mr. Netanyahu said harms the war effort as well as the effort to liberate the hostages.

Image Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield registered the U.S. abstention during a vote on Monday at the U.N. Security Council on a resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza. The measure was adopted. Credit... Angela Weiss/Agence France-Presse  Getty Images

Hopes for a breakthrough in the talks for a deal to halt the fighting and secure the release of Israeli hostages appeared to remain distant on Tuesday. Hamas said late Monday that the latest proposal on the table did not meet its demands.

The talks in recent days have been hung up on the number of Palestinian prisoners to be released, in particular those serving extended sentences for violence against Israelis, according to two U.S. officials and an Israeli official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.

Last week, the U.S. delegation  led by Mr. Burns  proposed a compromise to try to bridge the gap, which Israel has accepted, according to the Israeli official and another person familiar with the negotiations. A Hamas statement on Monday appeared to reject it, saying it was demanding Israels withdrawal from Gaza and a true prisoner exchange.
The authorities in Gaza said late Tuesday that a total of 12 people had drowned while trying to retrieve airdropped aid that had fallen into the Mediterranean, calling for an end to the airdrops  a last resort to get urgently needed food and other supplies into the enclave  and an increase in deliveries by land.

People waded into the water from a beach in northern Gaza on Monday afternoon to get the aid packages, according to Ahmed Abu Qamar, a Gaza-based researcher for EuroMed Rights, a human rights group, who said he had spoken to witnesses. He also said that around a dozen people had drowned, saying that at least one had become entangled in a parachute.

It was not possible to confirm the details independently and it was not clear which country was responsible for the airdrop in question.

Three of approximately 80 aid bundles dropped by the United States on Monday were reported to have had parachute malfunctions and landed in the water, a Pentagon spokeswoman, Sabrina Singh, said at a news conference on Tuesday.
Amit Soussana, an Israeli lawyer, was abducted from her home on Oct. 7, beaten and dragged into Gaza by at least 10 men, some armed. Several days into her captivity, she said, her guard began asking about her sex life.

Ms. Soussana said she was held alone in a childs bedroom, chained by her left ankle. Sometimes, the guard would enter, sit beside her on the bed, lift her shirt and touch her, she said.

He also repeatedly asked when her period was due. When her period ended, around Oct. 18, she tried to put him off by pretending that she was bleeding for nearly a week, she recalled.

Around Oct. 24, the guard, who called himself Muhammad, attacked her, she said.

Early that morning, she said, Muhammad unlocked her chain and left her in the bathroom. After she undressed and began washing herself in the bathtub, Muhammad returned and stood in the doorway, holding a pistol.
Gabriela Sibori

The National Association of Broadcasters names Gabriela Sibori senior director of communications on its public affairs team. Sibori was most recently a senior adviser at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, developing and executing strategic communications addressing such issues as mental health, COVID-19, cybersecurity and civil rights. Before that, she worked at the Washington Office on Latin America. In her new post, Sibori will serve as a spokesperson for the association and will help develop and execute messaging strategies to advance broadcasters policy agenda before Congress and the Federal Communications Commission. "Gaby is a seasoned policy communicator whose years of government service have equipped her with a profound understanding of effective and strategic communications, said NAB EVP, public affairs and chief of staff Michelle Lehman.

Bob Wiltfong

Edelson PC, a Chicago-based law firm specializing in high-stakes class and mass-action plaintiffs work, brings on former "Daily Show with Jon Stewart" correspondent Bob Wiltfong as director of communications & impact. Wiltfong also worked for 10 years in local TV news; appeared on such TV programs as "Modern Family," "30 Rock" and "Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia"; and recently presented a TED Talk on How to Take the BS Out of Business Speak. At Edelson, Wiltfong will direct the firms internal and external communications efforts, which will include supplying content to the firms Edelson Creative pursuits. Our firms success is predicated on one fundamental principle: the plaintiffs bar is broken and the only way forward is to stop looking at how others do things and focus instead on doing whats right, said Edelson PC founder & CEO Jay Edelson. Bob is a perfect match for that ethos.

Jenifer Yokley

Blink Charging, a manufacturer, owner, operator and provider of electric vehicle charging equipment and services, promotes Jenifer Yokley to CMO. Yokley was previously Blinks SVP of marketing and head of governmental affairs. Before that, she was SVP of marketing at property technology provider Allbridge and VP of global marketing at Trilliant Networks. In her new post, Yokley is tasked with developing products and services to address the evolving needs of businesses and drivers. She has already proven herself to be an adept leader and skilled team builder, said Blink Charging president and CEO Brendan Jones. With her elevated role, I'm confident she will be a key leader in advancing Blink to the next level of evolution and success while further championing our global mission."
Yndira Marin

LLYC has announced that Yndira Marin has rejoined the Madrid-based firm as director of operations and GM for the US.

She was at the Council of the Americas for the past four years, exiting in January as senior director and co-chair of its Bravo Business Awards program.

Prior to joining the Council, Marin was director of LLYCs Miami office, leading multinational accounts for clients in the airline, technology, logistics, healthcare and NGO sectors.

She also did PA stints at Burson-Marsteller and Newlink, and was program specialist at the Organization of American States.

Alejandro Romero, CEO of LLYC, called Marin a valuable and strategic addition to its US business as it pursues our growth plan in in the worlds most important market for our industry.
Serious concerns have been raised about the future of a historic building in Offaly

Many people in Birr are concerned about the future of the town's former Workhouse.

One of the most important heritage buildings in Offaly, it was gutted by fire in 2017 and has remained in dilapidation since then, gradually deteriorating year on year.

There had been great hopes that the premises would be turned into a care centre for dementia sufferers, but sadly this has come to nothing.

Now there's a real danger that nothing will ever be done with the building and it will be allowed to fall into complete rack and ruin.

Since the inception of Birr 20:20 in 2015, the restoration of the Workhouse has always been in the group's sights.

In September 2018 a Birr 20:20 meeting was told that the building had been purchased by Castle Rook, a Canadian/Chinese company with its Irish base in Louth, and restoration was about to get underway, focusing initially on the roof, which is riddled with holes. The building was also badly damaged by fire in 2017 initiated by a group of young vandals.

Detailed plans were shown during the September 2018 meeting to great enthusiasm. Access, the meeting was told, had been secured to the left of the building, leading past a proposed museum.

Castle Rook said it was proposing to transform the Workhouse into a centre providing care for those with dementia.

The proposed centre would provide a roofed pavilion for seating; a landscaped sculpture park; a glass walled dining area to retain connection with the public cafe, community day care centre, creche and playground.

Mylo robots would also be in use. The Mylo robot connects to the resident's wristband and can monitor heartbeat and bloodpressure, as well as being programmable as a reminder not only for medication times, but also for me time at the treatment centre.

The September 2018 meeting was also told that capital was in place for the purchase and initial works.

An extensive discussion took place on the popular Facebook page Well Mush Birr Memories Old and New last weekend with many people commenting about the state of the building. It's obvious that it's a very live issue in the town.

Can the owners of this building not be brought in for a chat to maybe come up with a future plan? asked one of the commentators on the Facebook page.

I attended a meeting hosted by Birr Historical Society five and a half years ago, said another, when two people from Castlerook said they were going to turn the Workhouse into a centre for Dementia care. We haven't heard a word since.

We have the librarian, the late Violet Doolin, to thank for the memorial there. She was an amazing, inspiring woman who really loved her area.

Like Kilmainham Jail, commented one person, this building makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck.

I am currently in the middle of finishing a number of video adverts and info videos for Portumna Workhouse, said Dickie Donnelly, who oversees the Well Mush page. I highly recommend everyone to go and see the Museum that has developed over there via a hardworking team of volunteers and committee members. Irish history restored at its best. While I was filming it I couldn't help but think of the state our own workhouse is in.

My first job was in Birr Shoes in the Workhouse, commented one man. I worked in the old Chapel Room. Sad to see it decaying and falling down.
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.
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.
Sinn Fein spokesperson Pa Daly Td has called for the government to scrap their Hate Speech legislation.

Teachta Daly said:

Government must scrap their Hate Speech legislation. It is abundantly clear that this legislation has been badly thought through and is not fit for purpose. It must not proceed."

I am calling on the the leader of Fine Gael, Simon Harris, to clarify whether it is his intention to press ahead with the Hate Speech Bill."

Sinn Fein has raised a number of serious concerns about flaws in this legislation as it has proceeded through the Oirecahtas. Unfortunately the government has pressed ahead bullishly without taking on board any of the concerns which have been raised by Sinn Fein and others. It is for this reason that we voted against the legislation in the Seanad in June.

It is clear to me and to Sinn Fein that this Bill does not have support across the political spectrum. It must be scrapped. Simon Harris must make his position clear as a matter of urgency.
Gardai are investigating a fatal single-vehicle road traffic collision that occurred on the morning of Friday 15th March 2024 in Galway city.

Shortly before 7am, a car collided with a wall and entered the water in the Menlo area.

A female front-seat passenger, aged in her 30s, was taken to University Hospital Galway in a critical condition. She was pronounced deceased earlier today (Monday 25th March 2024).

The driver, a man in his 40s, was also taken to hospital at the time.

The road was closed for a time and a technical examination of the scene by Forensic Collision Investigators was conducted.

Gardai are appealing for any witnesses to this collision to come forward.

Any road users who may have camera footage (including dash-cam) and were travelling in the Menlo area of Galway city between 6am and 7am on Friday 15th March 2024 are asked to make this footage available to Gardai.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Gaillimh Garda Station on 091 538000, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station.
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.
Posts exhorting Indians not to defecate in public spaces in Canada have come up on social media, claiming the boards in Hindi were put up by Canadian municipal authorities amidst an influx of Indian migrants.



The text accompanying a photograph said the municipalities in Canada have put up posters in Hindi in parks and beaches, urging Indians not to defecate in open public spaces. It also said public defecation is common in India, where millions of people do not have toilet facilities.

The probe

A reverse image check of the photograph led us to a similar picture on Shutterstock, a stock image/footage provider. The picture was posted on May 1, 2018, with the caption, "Beaches are not Toilets." It also said the posters were put up at Accra in Ghana.

A comparison of the social media photograph with that of Shutterstock's website revealed that the pictured man's face has been changed. Also, the wording in the Shutterstock picture has been changed to "Stop open defecation" in the viral photograph.

Further keyword search revealed that the Shuttermedia picture was published by various media houses in 2018. Posts on X also showed the original picture.

According to available information, the original boards were part of a public health scheme funded by the United Nations and Canada. The Canadian government's logo could be seen along with those of the Ghana government and UNICEF. Reports said Canada has been working with UNICEF to end public defaecation in the African country.

Reports also said Canada had shelled out about $8,50,000 for the project. The original pictures had grabbed much attention in Ghana and Canada. Reports also quoted UNICEF officials.

Though we enquired if Canadian municipalities have run a similar campaign targeting Indians no reports were found.

Finding

The picture that has gone viral is a digitally altered one. The original posters were used in Ghana.


Scott Ritter: Unmasking NATO-Ukraine-ISIS Ties Behind Russia's Terror Crisis -- Moscow's Retaliation Scott Ritter Alert: Unmasking NATO-Ukraine-ISIS Ties Behind Russia's Terror Crisis -- A Prelude to Moscow's Retaliation Dive into ...

(Image by YouTube, Channel: Sneha Bakli Vlogs) Details DMCA



Last week at least 137 Russians were killed at the Crocus rock concert outside of Moscow. Untold numbers were wounded, some remaining in critical condition. ISIS K has reportedly claimed responsibility.

However, according to "Democracy Now" (DN) do you know who the real culprit is?

"Putin!"

That's the takeaway the program's audience was left with at the end of today's program (3/25/24).

The presentation said little about the attack itself, much less about its impact on the Russian people. Nothing at all about how or by whom the attack was planned. No real identification of "ISIS K." Nothing but denials about Ukraine, and not even a mention of possible U.S. involvement.

Instead, DN's report was all about "Putin" (never "President Putin" or "Mr. Putin," only a disdainful "Putin.")

Accordingly, DN centralized interviews with two anti-Kremlin guests whose evident intention was to blame the whole tragedy on the Russian president. The guests were Nina Khrushcheva, Professor of international affairs at the New School, and Moscow correspondent of The New Yorker, Joshua Yaffa. According to both:

The attack represents a major failure of Putin and his security apparatus.

It was the result of longstanding Russian mistreatment of the country's substantial Muslim population.

The United States had responsibly and generously warned the Kremlin about the impending attack.

However, its paranoid president chose to ignore the warnings referring to them as "blackmail."

Moreover, with zero evidence, only the Russian president's "paranoia" has made him accuse Ukraine of being involved.

Furthermore, It's a mistake to jump to the conclusion that the perpetrators of the attack were attempting an escape to Ukraine, since their route was interrupted by Russian police 140 miles from that supposed destination.

After all, Putin's interests are not in protecting the Russian people, but only his own authoritarian regime that has been responsible for the assassination of Alexi Navalny and has imprisoned more people than were incarcerated under previous Soviet leaders.

Shockingly, when they appeared in court, those arrested for the crime bore marks of torture.

And of course, Russia's (already week's long) attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure is an attempt to divert attention from Putin's own failures.

I found all that extremely disappointing - especially since (to her credit) Amy Goodman's coverage of world events does not usually follow the direction mandated by U.S. propaganda. However, in this case, it clearly did.

Instead of the usual denunciations of "Putin" it would have been much more informative to investigate the actual perpetrators of last week's massacre. Ex-CIA personnel such as Ray McGovern and Larry Johnson could have helped with that. So could an interview with Scott Ritter (see below). Together or separately, they might have contextualized the horrific event by pointing out:

Victoria Nuland's cryptic statement about "nasty surprises" in store for Russia in its near future.

The Russian president's un-paranoid reasons for suspecting U.S. involvement in the attack given longstanding U.S connections with ISIS in Afghanistan, Syria, and elsewhere to wage war specifically against Russia.

A long history of U.S. sponsorship of terrorist attacks on Russia including its recent destruction of the Nord Stream Pipeline.

John Kirby's strange premature disavowal of Ukrainian responsibility for the massacre before allowing any time whatsoever for investigation. (This was like the immediate indictment of "Putin" for the death of Alexi Navalny and for that of Yevgeny Prigozhin before their corpses were even cold.)

The attack's convenient (for the west) and distracting effect in the wake of Mr. Putin's recent landslide victory in a presidential election that (according to non-Russian sources) witnessed a voter turnout of 70% and a vote 87% for Mr. Putin.

In any case, here's what Russian expert and former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter had to say about the Crocus tragedy:

The attack indeed represents a puzzling failure on the part of President Putin's security apparatus. It has much to answer for.

However, that's far from the point that needs highlighting - viz., the event's perpetrators and possible connections to Russia's avowed enemies, Ukraine, and the United States.

The attack's attribution to Muslim terrorists also provides reason to doubt such jihadist identification since the killers atypically accepted money for their crime and did not choose "martyrdom" rather than surrender in its aftermath.

On March 7 th (well before the Russian elections) the United States did indeed issue a warning to U.S. residents in Russia about impending terrorist attacks and the advisability of staying away from large gatherings such as concerts.

(well before the Russian elections) the United States did indeed issue a warning to U.S. residents in Russia about impending terrorist attacks and the advisability of staying away from large gatherings such as concerts. The Russians "know everything" about the attack and the destination of its fleeing perpetrators.

Principal sources of official information are the captured cell phones of the fugitives.

Additionally, their phone conversations were intercepted in real time as they fled towards the Ukrainian border.

Both sources also contain incriminating information such as videos made while surveilling the crime site just before Russia's presidential elections.

Such evidence suggests that the mass shooting was planned to disrupt that process, but that heavy security surrounding it forced postponement of the crime.

Phone information has also allowed authorities to track down the terrorist cell in Moscow that provided logistical support for their comrades.

All those arrested are currently divulging much more information that will soon come to light.

The lesson to be drawn from all this is one of extreme caution. Putin is not the issue here. Possible connection with Ukraine and the CIA is.

And regardless of what we might think of Scott Ritter's analysis, it signals the complications of the questions at hand, the importance of not jumping to conclusions and of asking the right questions.

Propaganda, fake news, changing the subject, and gaslighting are everywhere. Even "Democracy Now," even Amy Goodman are not immune from disseminating Russophobia. They too can be fooled by the Grand Wurlitzer of U.S. propaganda voiced by characters such as Khrushcheva, and Jaffa.

The lesson here (as always) is to focus on the heart of the matter, don't allow misdirection of attention; retain constant suspicion of anything our government tells us. They're all liars. Ex-CIA director Mike Pompeo put it best when he said as much:


LIVE: Outside Crocus City Hall in Moscow days after Russia attack Live from outside Crocus City Hall in Moscow days after the attack that killed more than 130 people in Russia. #russia #moscow ...

(Image by YouTube, Channel: Associated Press) Details DMCA



Aftermath of Crocus City Hall terrorist attack on March 19, 2024

It's been a week since the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue outside Moscow.

According to Russian investigators 139 people have been killed, 137 of them gunned down indiscriminately during the massacre and two died in the hospital.

Thus far "Russian security services have detained seven alleged perpetrators as well as four of their suspected accomplices" [1]

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said, "This attack was carried out by radical Islamists who we know carried out the attack". "We want to know who ordered it".

Going further "Putin noted that the fact the terrorists were headed for Ukraine posed questions that needed answering".

The suspects are now held in custody and all "identified as ethnic Tajiks".

Meanwhile the US and its allies have insisted Ukraine had nothing to do with the terrorist attack accusing the Islamic State (formally ISIS) as the perpetrators. But they have offered no proof to these allegations.

Putin also maintains the investigation must be "professional, without any political bias".

Though it is early in the investigation if it reveals Kiev was behind the attack the Russian special military operation in Ukraine will likely intensify.

Before speculating what the investigation may conclude in its findings one thing is crucial. It must be thorough leaving no stone unturned.

The Russian people expect justice for those massacred and the perpetrators be held to account. Capital punishment is outlawed in the Russian constitution though calls for it be repealed have been made because of the heinousness of this crime.

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On Mar 14, International Women's Peace Group (IWPG, Chairwoman Hyun Sook Yoon), participated in HWPL's 8th Annual Commemoration of the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW) held at the Peace Institute located in Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi Province and urged for support toward the DPCW. Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL, Chairman Man Hee Lee) has proclaimed the 10 Articles 38 Clauses of the DPCW in 2016, and ever 
Sydney, Australia - Printer Repairs Australia, a well-established leader in the printer repair industry, continues to uphold its reputation for fast, reliable, and quality service since its inception in 1996. With over 30 years of combined experience, the company specializes in servicing a wide range of printer brands, including HP, Canon, Lexmark, Epson, Kyocera, Fuji Xerox, Brother, and Samsung. The core values of Printer Repairs Australia revolve around providing exceptional customer 
Dear Lizzy,

Is it considered rude to attend a community egg hunt (advertised as open to all) hosted at a neighborhood church but not the service? I do not wish to offend any church organizers on their important Easter holiday. Should I just take my kid to a spring party hosted by a farm or realtor association? Thanks for your advice and happy spring!

Just Looking For Eggs

Dear Just Looking For Eggs,

I am not a Christian and didnt grow up going to church, but I have been to church plenty of times  the free Bible camp I attended for one day because of the toys they handed out, LDS services when I spent Saturday night at my friends house in middle school, every church in town when I was trying to either rebel or better understand my Catholic boyfriend when I was 18.

In the majority of my experiences, I would say churches are very open to anyone from the community taking part in their activities. Part of the deal with churches is that they are trying to grow, so community activities are a way to meet new potential members. This means I would say, yes, go and skip the services if you want, but know you might get recruited, at least a little.

Since my experience is one-sided and its not the church side, I asked a couple coworkers of mine who have been or are churchgoers what they thought about your question.

Churches arent just about worship services, said my boss, Life and Culture editor Grant Butler, who grew up going to church. Many churches are about building community, and are interested in knowing the people who live around them even if they dont attend. Offering an egg hunt thats open for all is a way for a church to introduce itself to neighbors. Someone attending an egg hunt might learn about things the church does beyond the sanctuary, like running a food pantry, or hosting AA meetings.

My other sometimes-boss, Here is Oregon editor, Kjerstin Gabrielson, agreed with Grant.

Every church I know aims to be a welcoming place for visitors. Id recommend reaching out to the church hosting an egg hunt if you have concerns, she said. Beaverton Christian hosts a big event.

Kjerstin had some additional advice.

I was one of the volunteers at a little parish that put on egg hunts, and you do have to acknowledge that these are events led by volunteers doing the best they can, with no idea how many folks might show up, she said.

So be a gracious guest. Help your child understand that its important to be considerate of the little ones around them. Dont expect full-service anything or an endless supply of candy and eggs. And acknowledge that this is a place that will celebrate Easter as the Christian holiday proclaiming the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. As long as youre good with that, I say go.

There you have it! Go and be respectful! Enjoy the candy and eggs!

Lizzy

P.S. If you live in the Portland area, we have a whole list of Easter egg hunts!

Have a burning question? Send me an email at lacker@oregonian.com or tweet @lizzzyacker! Or, if you want to ask me a question with total anonymity, use this Google form.

Read and listen to more Why Tho? here.
A wounded 29-year-old Portland man was wheeled into the Multnomah County Justice Center courtroom Monday afternoon, three days after police said he beat a man to death on Portlands Eastbank Esplanade.

Abel Nistor had a black right eye and a wound on his right temple, and did not speak during the court appearance. His court-appointed attorney asked to enter a plea on Nistors behalf on April 2, after a grand jury hearing.

Nistor, who is identified as homeless in court records, is facing a charge of second-degree murder after police said he violently assaulted a man near Southeast Madison Street around 4:30 a.m. Friday.

Police have not yet publicly identified the victim.

A man who drove by the alleged attack told police he saw the suspect later identified as Nistor straddling a man, punching him in the head at least 15 times and saying, He needs to die, according to a probable cause affidavit.

A security guard on her way to work that morning also told police a woman had flagged her down, saying a man nearby was being beaten to death. The guard drove to the scene and saw a man on the ground with blood gurgling from his mouth. As she was rendering first aid to the man, Nistor approached her carrying a rock, the affidavit states.

The guard told police she stood up and told Nistor to drop the rock, but he walked past her and toward a garbage truck driver standing nearby. The guard told him to drop the rock again, and when he didnt, she fired her stun gun into his back, causing him to collapse, according to the affidavit.

Portland police responded and took Nistor to a hospital with unspecified injuries. He was later booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center, police said.

Nistor is also accused of violating the terms of his parole agreement related to an October conviction in Multnomah County Circuit Court for fourth-degree assault. He strangled his father inside his Southeast Portland home while claiming he was a demon last February, according to court records.

Eight years prior to that, Nistor killed his brothers dog and was sentenced to six months in jail.

He has been in and out of jail, taken anger management courses and spent time in the states psychiatric hospital, court records show.

Fridays killing occurred one week after 38-year-old Fernando Luis Aguirre was fatally stabbed on a pathway that runs over the Steel Bridge. In January, two other people were killed on or near the waterfront. One man was stabbed near Northwest Naito Parkway and Everett Street and one man was shot near Southeast Water Avenue and Salmon Street.

-- Catalina Gaitan covers public safety, politics, policing and more. You can reach Catalina at cgaitan@oregonian.com.

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Teachers in the Salem-Keizer School District would get a 6.25% raise this year, a $6,000 retention bonus and more pay for bilingual and special education employees under a tentative two-year contract agreement reached early Tuesday morning.

The deal means teachers will not go on strike, despite voting overwhelmingly to authorize a strike last week for the first time in district history.
The spring thaw has revealed a bounty of inviting theater choices in the Portland area. This season, have the time of your afterlife at the Broadway smash Beetlejuice, discover what evil emerges From a Hole in the Ground, and learn the behind-the-music secrets of The Supremes.

Heres the rundown of 10 must-see spring shows.

Yohen  Produced by PassinArt Theatre with Portland Playhouse

A quote at the opening of Philip Kan Gotandas absorbing two-character play defines yohen as an accident in the kiln firing that results in transformation of the pot.

The result could be a viewed as a unique feature or an ugly flaw. Either way, it never goes away.

After 30 years of marriage, James, who is Black, and Sumi, who is Japanese, question whether their yohen, their cultural differences, have been driving them apart. Gotanda takes a jewelers lens look at the couples intricate, fracturing truths.

Is their marriage, as Sumi wonders, kizumono, ceramics so flawed they are broken and used to pave the dirt road? Or could it be  the audience hopes  the accident that turns out right?

March 29-April 21, Brunish Theatre, 1111 S.W. Broadway, passinart.org/yohen-by-philip-kan-gotanda/

"Yohen" is produced by PassinArt Theatre with Portland Playhouse this spring.PassinArt Theatre

Beetlejuice  Broadway in Portland

Hands down, one of the biggest theater stories of 2023 was U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colorado, groping her date during the Denver tour stop of this family-friendly Broadway musical. It was all caught on security camera, and the pair were kicked out of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.

Now just imagine the fun youll have seeing an entire performance of Beetlejuice when the tour arrives at the Keller Auditorium. Based on Tim Burtons 1988 horror-comedy hit, the monstrous stage version amps up the tunes and converts Burtons Gothic-bizarro aesthetic into fantastic set pieces, costumes and practical special effects.

April 9-14; Keller Auditorium, 222 S.W. Clay St.; portland.broadway.com/shows/beetlejuice/

Fertile Ground Festival

After a four-year suspension of all in-person events, the usually wintertime showcase springs into a new phase.

FG: The Next Generation promises a cornucopia of local, live and still curiously vague acts of creation. Look for buds of creative expression across the metro area, from a mini-festival of original plays at Chapel Theatre in Milwaukie to an artists meet-and-greet mixer at the Vault Theater in Hillsboro.

April 12-21, various locations, fertilegroundpdx.org

Mission Gibbons  Imago Theatre

More than a micro-dose of fun, Carol Triffles pre-hysterical absurdist play follows a trio of stoned backpackers who somehow time-trip, fittingly, back to the Stone Age. Even if youve never dropped windowpane acid, hiked through Forest Park and encountered cavemen just before the apocalypse, this speculative satire is worth B.C.ing.

April 12-27, Imago Theatre, 17 S.E. Eighth Ave., imagotheatre.com

Passing Strange  Portland Playhouse

Portland Playhouses spring musical will immerse audiences in an expansive set, fourth-wall breaking performances and nonstop joyful noise. This original take on the 2008 Broadway show tracks the globe-hopping adventures of a young Black artist searching for his identity through music  all in an exhilarating rock-concert format. Fight the urge to stage dive.

April 17-May 26, Portland Playhouse, 602 N.E. Prescott St., portlandplayhouse.org

Coriolanus  Portland Center Stage

Dense, long, pointedly political and hung on an unlikable hero, its no wonder Coriolanus is one of Shakespeares least produced, least loved plays.

But this fresh version of the Roman tragedy modernizes the Bards verse, trims the runtime from three to two hours, and stars an eager female and nonbinary cast ready to rock every rhyme.

In an aggressively programmed season that could be subtitled PCS presents The Oregon Voters Pamphlet, this finger-wagging reminder of our upcoming presidential election somehow looks both didactic and entertaining.

If you cant make the Portland show, the same production, directed by Oregon Shakespeare Festival Associate Artistic Director Rosa Joshi, moves to Ashland this summer.

April 20-May 19, U.S. Bank Main Stage at the Armory, 128 N.W. 11th Ave., pcs.org;

July 23- Oct. 13, Thomas Theatre at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, www.osfashland.org

From a Hole in the Ground  Corrib Theatre

Actor/playwright/poet/sorcerer Ken Yoshikawa summons monsters and malevolent forces straight from Irish mythology for his original thriller.

Yoshikawa, who is biracial, said his playwriting partnership with Irish-focused Corrib Theatre company had sparked exploration of his own Irish roots.

From a Hole in the Ground is for me an opportunity to learn and do, to enter in, have a sense of being a guest, and accepting an opportunity to play and experiment, he said.

Discovering and getting to know characters is a sweet and tender process, and the research is a curious dive into a winding river.

April 26-May 19, Alberta House, 5131 N.E. 23rd Ave., corribtheatre.org/from-a-hole-in-the-ground/

See "Uncle Vanya" May 2-26 at 21ten Theatre.21ten Theatre

Uncle Vanya  21ten Theatre

Professor Serebryakov wants to sell. His brother-in-law Vanya says nyet. He and his niece Sonya have spent years keeping up Serebryakovs four-bedroom/two-bath rustic Russian estate, only to have the professor and his new trophy wife unload it. They try Stalin. But when Pushkin comes to shove, will the rancorous relatives get chucked into the cherry orchard?

21ten Theatre stages a lean, conversational-style interpretation of Anton Chekhovs simmering tale of real estate, resentment and romance.

While the cast is stellar, the Southeast venues intimate 40-seat theater is the productions big tsar.

May 2-26, 21ten Theatre, 2110 S.E. 10th Ave., www.21ten.org

The Spitfire Grill  Broadway Rose Theatre

The Spitfire Grill is a tender, tiny musical with a heart as big as 10 Mamma Mias!

When a former convict takes a job in a rural Wisconsin cafe, she scrambles up a mess of emotions among the nosy townsfolk. Composers/librettists James Valcq and Fred Alley turned a 1990s movie dud into a regional theater gem, winning over audiences with its folksy score, quirky characters and all-around sweet vibe.

May 30-June 23, Broadway Rose Theatre New Stage, 12850 S.W. Grant Ave., Tigard; broadwayrose.org.

Flo  Triangle Productions

Florence Ballard, a founding member of The Supremes, steps out of the shadow of Diana Ross to give her account of her time with the 1960s supergroup. It aint pretty. In fact, for his new musical biography, Triangle Productions founder Don Horn says he wants to dispel myths many people thought were true from the musical and movie Dreamgirls.

No one-hit wonder, Horn always strikes gold with under-sung cultural heroes.

June 6-22, The Sanctuary at Sandy Plaza, 1785 N.E. Sandy Blvd., trianglepro.org

 Lee Williams, for The Oregonian/OregonLive
One day this winter, K. traveled from her home outside of Oregon to Portland and then to Hood River. She spent the night in a hotel and the next day, she became one of the growing number of people who have used Oregons legal psilocybin program.

Since its implementation, many in Oregons burgeoning psilocybin industry say that like K., a major percentage of people accessing the service in Oregon are traveling from out of state or even out of the country. Whether this out-of-state business will be enough to help psilocybin startups make it through the first years of the program is still an open question, but people in the industry are optimistic.
Gov. Tina Kotek this month ordered that her wife, Aimee Kotek Wilson, be provided a consistent security detail by the Oregon State Police when attending events on behalf of the governors office, said Elisabeth Shepard, Koteks spokesperson.

Kotek Wilson has occasionally had security protection when representing the governors office at public events in the past, Shepard said. She did not say what the upgraded protection will look like or how much it will cost. This change was made using existing resources from the governors office budget, Shepard said in a statement Monday night.

Kotek Wilson will attend the National Governors Association First Spouses Retreat in Utah later this week. The Oregon State Police will provide security protection to Kotek Wilson on the trip, Shepard said.

The security detail is among the state resources that the governors office has allocated for the first lady.

On Sunday, the governors office also announced that Kotek had brought on Meliah Masiba, a Department of Administrative Services employee, on a sixth-month rotation to explore the creation of an Office of the First Spouse. Masiba will be paid a $144,000 annual salary, or $72,000 for the six-month rotation, the same rate she was paid in her previous role, Shepard said.

The total price for creating an Office of the First Spouse is unknown, Shepard said. She did not say if Kotek will ask the Legislature to fund the office. She said the governors office is in the early phases of determining the feasibility of creating the office, which she said exists in many other states.

Kotek has not requested an ethics opinion from the Oregon Government Ethics Commission regarding the first ladys role in the governors office or the formation of an Office of the First Spouse, according to Susan Myers, the commissions executive director.

The establishment of the Office of the First Spouse is in preliminary stages, Shepard said. Ensuring compliance with state ethics laws is being embedded into the process.

Kotek Wilson also has a scheduler, Yasmin Solorio. Shepard said neither Solorio nor Masiba report directly to the first lady. She did not say how much Solorio is paid.

Kotek Wilsons role in her wifes office has come into focus over the last few days since the governors office announced Friday that three top Kotek staffers were departing.

The outgoing staffers are Chief of Staff Andrea Cooper, Deputy Chief of Staff Lindsey OBrien and Special Advisor Abby Tibbs. Deputy Chief of Staff for Public Administration Chris Warner is taking over as Koteks chief of staff, her office announced last week.

Two sources who said they had spoken directly with people in Koteks office told The Oregonian/OregonLive that ongoing tensions between Cooper and Kotek Wilson led to Coopers departure. One of those people said the tension also led to OBrien and Tibbs leaving.

Kotek Wilson, who has worked as a social worker and holds a masters degree in the field, has taken a hands-on role in her wifes administration. Shepard said the governor holds weekly meetings with staff to discuss behavioral health initiatives and that Kotek Wilson has attended several of those meetings in the last year, in light of her professional experience as a social worker.

She also regularly attends weekly meetings that pertain to Koteks schedule and travel, Shepard said.

Kotek Wilson also has an 8 foot by 8 foot office inside the governors office, a similar size to other office spaces within the building, according to Shepard.

However, Shepard said that Kotek Wilson is a volunteer and does not receive a paycheck from the state. Kotek Wilson has not earned an income in either of the last two years, according to Shepard and Koteks Statement of Economic Interest.

The first lady has not received state income and there are no plans for the first lady to receive a state paycheck at any point, Shepard said. She will continue to be a volunteer and has no outside employment.

Kotek and Kotek Wilson both declined interview requests through a spokesperson.

Most Oregon first spouses have been less involved than Kotek Wilson has thus far in her wifes work as governor. Kotek Wilson, for instance, took part in the vast majority of meetings and tours with the governor on Koteks listening tour visits to all 36 Oregon counties. Shepard said she has gone to events on behalf of the governors office less than monthly on average since Kotek took office.

In John Kitzhabers third term, however, he allowed his fiancee Cylvia Hayes to play a powerful role in influencing some policies and recommending some personnel choices. They both got into serious ethical trouble  not because of Hayes policy work per se but because she accepted paid contracts from parties with a specific interest in policies she tried to promote.

Hayes eventually agreed to pay $44,000 for ethics violations arising from her use of public office for personal profit. She acknowledged securing work as a paid consultant by playing off her role as unpaid adviser to Kitzhaber. He resigned over the scandal.

 Carlos Fuentes covers state politics and government. Reach him at 503-221-5386 or cfuentes@oregonian.com.

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Portland gets a brief break in the rain Tuesday when forecasters give the area only a 30% chance of showers.

The National Weather Service says morning showers will taper off through the day as a shortwave ridge builds overhead by the afternoon. This will give the metro area some sun breaks. The high will be a few degrees warmer than on Monday reaching about 56 degrees. Locations that see more sun breaks may warm even a few degrees more.

Active weather returns on Wednesday with most areas east of the Coast Range expecting moderate-to-heavy rain at times. Portland will see steady rain before noon, then showers as the rainy front continues eastward out of the Willamette Valley. Rainfall totals may range from a half inch to three quarters of an inch depending on location.

South winds will be strong at times gusts to 24-35 mph in the valleys and up to 50 mph along the coast. The high will be about 55 degrees.

Those driving over or recreating in the Cascades should not see much snowfall below about 5,000 feet during the day. Snow levels will lower back down near 4,000 feet by the evening.

Portland has a slight chance of thunderstorms overnight and into early Thursday.

Much of Thursday will be showery, and winds still breezy. The metro area has a 20-30% chance of gusts as high as 40 mph by the afternoon. The high temp will reach near 53 degrees.

But the news is not all bad during Oregons spring break. Friday will offer up some improving conditions with much of the rain pushing south towards California. This will leave the northwestern part of Oregon under a weaker flow with only a few lingering showers early in the day. By the afternoon, skies should be partly sunny, and temps will warm to about 62 degrees.

The extended forecast promises a warming trend going into the weekend with partly sunny skies and highs staying in the 60s.
A China alumni symposium on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was held in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi Sunday, with participants who included senior officials, scholars and students underscoring its positive impacts across socioeconomic spheres. NAIROBI, March 25 (Xinhua) -- A China alumni symposium on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was held in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi Sunday, with participants who included senior officials, scholars and students underscoring its positive impacts across socioeconomic spheres. Held at the headquarters of Moja Expressway Company, the operator of the Chinese-built 27.1-km Nairobi Expressway, the symposium was organized by the Belt and Road College of Beijing Normal University, and supported by China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC). The one-day symposium sought to capture thoughts and suggestions from Kenyans who have studied in China regarding the transformative impacts of BRI, and raise its visibility locally. Xu Jianping, director general of the Department of Regional Opening-up at the National Development and Reform Commission of China, said that projects including infrastructure, agriculture, health sector, and capacity building under BRI have unleashed benefits to Kenya and the African continent, besides deepening ties with China. The cooperation between China and Kenya 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. He reiterated China's commitment to implementing high-quality BRI cooperation as the initiative enters its second decade. Jafeth Atito, an alumnus from Beijing Normal University currently working for Kenya's State Department of East African Affairs, said that the BRI has facilitated the implementation of cross-border infrastructure projects, fostering trade in goods and services. He emphasized that building the skills of local people and facilitating knowledge and technology transfer between China and Kenya will be key to realizing the full benefits of BRI. Benjamin Tetile, an officer with the National Police Service Commission and alumnus of Beijing Normal University, said that skills transfer that is embedded in BRI has fostered Sino-Kenyan cooperation. Francis Munyua, also an alumnus of Beijing Normal University who undertook a thesis on the impacts of BRI projects in Kenya, said they have created jobs, opened the Kenyan hinterland, and enhanced Sino-Kenyan trade. Henry Rotich, chairman of the Kenya-China Alumni Association, said that infrastructure projects domiciled under the BRI including ports, railways and highways have enhanced connectivity, human interactions and commerce. "I'm happy to see big projects that are being built under BRI. One of the impacts of the BRI is shortening the distance for people, making businesses easier to do," Rotich said. He singled out the 480-km Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), a BRI project for easing the mobility of passengers and bulk cargo in Kenya and neighboring countries. Zhao Lianzhi, deputy general manager of CRBC, observed that under BRI, Sino-Kenyan friendship and cooperation have thrived, anchored on the implementation of modern infrastructure projects and skills development for the local youth. Zhao mentioned that CRBC has since 2016 provided 100 Kenyan youth with scholarships to pursue bachelor's degrees in railway-related technologies at Beijing Jiaotong University. As the world's largest developing country and the continent home to most developing countries, China and Africa, in the spirit of China-Africa friendship and cooperation, are joining hands to advance their respective modernization with distinctive features to build a closer high-level China-Africa community with a shared future. At the end of the event, Hu Biliang, executive dean of the Belt and Road College, presented alumni with certificates and encouraged them to continue to use what they have learned in China to promote local development and enhance the friendship between the two countries.
Cairo, Egypt (PANA) - Israels ongoing restrictions and its new ban on aid deliveries by the largest United Nations agency on the ground in war-torn Gaza are already having a grave impact, the interim UN coordinator in the Occupied Palestinian Territory warned
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The Libyan Foreign Ministry of the Government of National Unity has welcomed the UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip during the holy month of Ramadan
Billerud Reaches Agreement to Sell Idled Wisconsin Rapids Mill to Investment Group

The Wisconsin Rapids paper mill, which at one time employed 900 people, was closed in July 2020 by former ownwer Verso Corporation. The mill had the capacity to produce 540,000 tons per year of graphic papers. The Wisconsin Rapids paper mill, which at one time employed 900 people, was closed in July 2020 by former ownwer Verso Corporation. The mill had the capacity to produce 540,000 tons per year of graphic papers.

March 25, 2024 - Billerud on March 21 announced that it has reached terms with the Capital Recovery Group, LLC (CRG, LLC) for the sale of the idled Wisconsin Rapids Mill and related assets. This decision follows a thorough exploration of viable and sustainable alternatives for the mill since its idling in July 2020.

The anticipated completion of this transaction is scheduled for April 2024.

Billerud however, emphasized that it remains fully committed to the ownership and operation of the Wisconsin Rapids Converting Facility.

"This facility plays a key role in converting rolls of paper produced at our Escanaba and Quinnesec mills into folio and digital sheets, as well as sheeting cartonboard imported from our European mills. Our Midwest facilities are strategically located to ensure that we can continue to deliver our products quickly, efficiently, and cost-effectively to meet our customers' needs," the company said in a letter to its suppliers.

"We take immense pride in the rich legacy of the Wisconsin Rapids Mill within the paper and pulp industry and its contributions to the local community. Looking ahead, we are eager to continue this legacy through our converting facility, which will not only preserve over 130 jobs in the area but also indirectly support numerous roles across our supply chain," Billerud said.

Agreement Reached with Investment Group

In a separate press release on March 25, the Investment group PCR Rapids 1, LLC (PCR) said that it has reached terms with Billerud Americas Corporation for the purchase of the idled Wisconsin Rapids Mill and associated assets and soon will initiate a globally marketed effort to identify parties interested in buying the entire mill site or select portions.

PCR is a consortium of investment firms Capital Recovery Group, LLC, Rabin Worldwide, and PPL Group LLC.

According to PCR, the Wisconsin Rapids Mill site consists of approximately 1,400 acres of land, one million square feet of building space, and roughly over one mile of frontage on the Wisconsin River. The available assets include a paper and pulp mill, support services buildings, parking lots, pre-cleared and undeveloped lots, and large stretches of residential and commercial land.

PCR plans to market valuable paper machines and other significant operating equipment while searching for potential operational users.

The closure of the Wisconsin Rapids mill in 2020 was primarily due to the decline in demand for graphic papers, which was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

SOURCE: Billerud and PPL Group; CRG
Metsa Group Shuts Down Kemi Bioproduct Mill in Finland Due to Gas Explosion

March 26, 2024 - A gas explosion occurred at Metsa Group's Kemi bioproduct mill in the evaporation plant during welding work on Thursday 21 March 2024. Three people were slightly exposed to hydrogen sulphide and were referred for a health check. The persons have returned to work after the check-up.

After securing the area, an investigation into the material damage was launched. According to current information, the repair work will take 10 - 12 weeks. The production will be started when the repair work has been completed and the safe operation of the mill has been ensured.

The extent of the damage is currently being investigated, and the timetable will be refined as the investigations progress.

The production shutdown at the Kemi bioproduct mill led also to a production shutdown at Metsa Board's Kemi board mill, which is part of the same mill integrate. The unbleached pulp needed for the board mill cannot be produced without the chemical cycle of the bioproduct mill.

The Kemi bioproduct mill, which started-up in September of 2023, has the capacity to produce 1,020,000 tonnes per year (tpy) of softwood pulp, 300,000 tpy of hardwood pulp, and 180,000tpy of unbleached pulp. In addition, the mill produces tall oil and turpentine, as well as two terawatt hours of renewable electricity per year.

Metsa Group uses wood to make recyclable products for the day-to-day lives of millions of people globally. The Group focuses on wood supply and forest services, wood products, pulp, paperboards, and tissue and greaseproof papers.

SOURCE: Metsa Group
Photo: (Photo : William Thomas Cain / Getty Images)

A 3-year-old witness recounts the murder of pregnant Amish mother Rebekah Byler, 23, in Sparta Township, Pennsylvania.

An eyewitness account of the brutal murder has provided investigators with vital details, prompting a concerted effort to unravel the circumstances surrounding this heartbreaking crime.

The child recounted how a green truck pulled into their driveway in Sparta Township, Pennsylvania. Subsequently, a man wearing sneakers entered their residence and carried out the brutal assault on the child's mother.

The court records detail that Byler suffered fatal gunshot wounds to the head and multiple sharp force wounds to her neck during the tragic incident.

3-Year-Old Witnesses Murder of Pregnant Amish Mother

In a tragic turn of events, an Amish woman in Sparta Township lost her life in a brutal attack witnessed by her young children, as detailed in recently disclosed court records.

The 3-year-old son of Rebekah Byler provided crucial information to authorities, recounting the chilling moments when a man entered their home and fatally assaulted his mother. The incident unfolded on February 26, resulting in Rebekah Byler's untimely death from gunshot wounds and severe neck injuries.

Following extensive investigations, authorities arrested Shawn Cranston, a 52-year-old individual from Corry, Pennsylvania, on March 2. Cranston now faces serious charges, including criminal homicide, criminal homicide of an unborn child, burglary, and criminal trespass.

The timeline of events leading up to the discovery of Rebekah Byler's lifeless body adds layers of complexity to the case. Julie Warner, a driver for the victim's family, recounted her movements on the day of the murder.

Warner mentioned that at approximately 8:15 a.m., she provided transportation to the victim's husband, Andy Byler, from their residence to various work sites. Upon returning to Andy Byler's home later in the day, Warner and Andy were met with the tragic scene of Rebekah Byler's untimely death.

Surveillance footage from the vicinity captured crucial moments on the day of the murder. The footage showed a red Jeep departing from Cranston's residence in the morning hours and returning later in the afternoon.

Additionally, the video footage depicted an unidentified white, bald individual at Cranston's home, handling items associated with the red Jeep.

The documents also mentioned an incident where a fire appeared to have broken out at Cranston's property that same afternoon. Forensic evidence further links Cranston to the crime scene.

A piece of a rubber glove recovered from the murder site reportedly matches a glove found in the trash at Cranston's residence. Additionally, tire tread impressions discovered at the crime scene bear resemblance to the tire tread on Cranston's red Jeep, according to the documents.

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Unsual Behavior Before the Murder

Andy Byler recounted to law enforcement officials a concerning encounter that occurred approximately two weeks prior to his wife's tragic murder.

According to official documents, Andy described an unsettling visit from a bald, white man with a white beard who arrived at their residence during the night.

The documents indicate that the man expressed interest in purchasing the house when confronted by Andy.

In a separate account detailed in the documents, Katie Byler, a neighbor of the victim, relayed her experiences with a man named John, who had previously served as a driver for her husband.

The documents mention that when John was unavailable for transportation services, he recommended his father, Shawn, as a substitute driver.

Katie's husband, upon accepting a ride from Shawn, immediately sensed unease in his presence, as stated in the court documents. Katie Byler and others residing with her shared similar sentiments, describing peculiar encounters with Shawn from December to February.

According to their statements to law enforcement, Shawn would unexpectedly appear at their residence after providing transportation services.

On one occasion, Shawn arrived in a Jeep and parked in their driveway, wearing all black attire and carrying a small pistol in a holster on his belt.

Witnesses reported that Shawn's behavior seemed erratic, as he wandered around the property, inquiring about their church attendance and expressing a desire to accompany them.

Furthermore, a neighbor of Rebekah Byler informed police about a suspicious incident that occurred ten days before the murder.

The neighbor reported seeing a bald, white man driving a red SUV who briefly stopped at her driveway before heading towards Rebekah Byler's house.

Another witness corroborated these accounts, confirming that they had seen Cranston's vehicle drive by ten days prior to the murder.

The witness expressed a belief that the driver's name was Shawn, aligning with the details provided in the official documents.

These accounts detailed in the court documents highlight a series of unsettling interactions and incidents leading up to the tragic murder of Rebekah Byler, underscoring the complexity of the ongoing investigation and the urgency of apprehending those responsible.

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Photo: (Photo : Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images )

Florida is set to enforce one of the strictest social media limitations for children, pending legal difficulties after Republican Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law on Monday. The legislation will stop social media accounts for children under 14, and parental approval will be needed for those aged 14 and 15.

Unrestricted Social Media's Adverse Effects on Minors

This version of the bill serves a slightly softened approach from an earlier proposal that Governor DeSantis vetoed just before the end of the legislative session, following discussions with Republican Speaker Paul Renner.

Renner, whose essential legislative focus was the passage of this bill, highlighted the need to interfere on behalf of minors, citing their susceptibility to addictive technologies.

Under the originally proposed legislation, children under 16 would have been banned from major social media platforms disregarding parental consent. However, through negotiation with Renner, DeSantis agreed to improve language addressing his concerns, leading to the passage of an altered bill.

Similar legislation has been considered in other states, with Arkansas facing legal challenges over a law requiring parental consent for minors to create social media accounts.

Advocates in Florida believe their bill stands a better chance of surviving legal scrutiny because it targets the addictive features of social media platforms rather than their content.

Both Renner and DeSantis anticipate legal challenges, particularly concerning First Amendment rights. DeSantis conveyed determination in the bill's constitutionality, conflicting it with the latest striking down of the "Stop Woke Act" by an appeals court.

Despite concerns about online security, opponents disagree that the law may violate the First Amendment rights of young users and hinder their access to online data.

The bill passed with overwhelming support from both chambers, with some Democrats joining Republicans in its approval. However, critics contend that it impinges on parental rights and advocates for alternative ways, such as enhanced parental oversight tools and investments in mental health systems.

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Minors Will Need Parental Authorization to Join Any Social Media Platform

During the bill-signing ceremony, Governor DeSantis conveyed appreciation for the cooperation effort aimed at helping parents navigate the difficulties of raising children in the digital age.

Notably, a former version of the bill, which Governor DeSantis vetoed, proposed stricter scope, including a ban on social media for children under 16 and a necessity for Florida residents to give identification to join social media platforms.

Scheduled to take effect in January 2025, HB3 reflects growing efforts nationwide to regulate social media, driven by parental concerns about online safety.

Calls for regulation have intensified, with over 200 organizations urging Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to prioritize the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA).

In January, tech CEOs faced a congressional investigation over online child security, reaffirming their commitment to comforting danger and emphasizing existing security measures.

Supporters of Florida's new law, including House Speaker Paul Renner, contend that unrestricted social media use poses a danger to kid's mental health and exposes them to probable risks from online predators.

However, similar laws enacted in other states, such as Ohio and Arkansas, have faced legal challenges from industry coalitions like NetChoice LLC, alleging violations of the First Amendment.

Both Governor DeSantis and Speaker Renner acknowledged potential legal challenges but emphasized the bill's constitutionality, focusing on addressing the addictive features of social media rather than regulating speech.

Despite criticism from industry representatives like NetChoice, who deem the law unconstitutional, Governor DeSantis remains confident in its fairness and alignment with constitutional principles.

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Photo: (Photo : John Moore / Getty Images)

In southern Maryland, recent legal proceedings have unfolded against three middle school students charged with hate crimes. The accusations involve the public display of swastikas, Nazi salutes, and disparaging remarks directed at a fellow student's religious beliefs, as detailed by county prosecutors.

These students, all 13 years of age, are enrolled at Plum Point Middle School in Calvert, as confirmed by a statement from the office of prosecutor Robert Harvey.

Maryland Middle Schoolers Charged for Hate Crimes

According to officials from the Calvert County State's Attorney's Office, the harassment incidents commenced in December, persisting despite repeated pleas to desist.

Eventually, the victim reported the ongoing misconduct to the Maryland State Police, prompting an investigation that led to charges being laid against the accused.

Located approximately 50 miles southeast of Washington, D.C., Plum Point Middle School serves students in grades six through eight. Due to their underage status, the identities of the defendants have been withheld.

The legal process has seen the charges forwarded to the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services for further action. These developments were made public through a recent news release from prosecutors, although specific details regarding the derogatory remarks have not been disclosed.

State's Attorney Robert Harvey, in a statement, expressed astonishment at the persistence of religious persecution, emphasizing Maryland's historical foundation on the principle of religious toleration.

The case highlights ongoing societal challenges and the imperative of combating discriminatory behaviors, particularly within educational institutions. It serves as a reminder of the enduring importance of fostering a culture of respect, acceptance, and tolerance toward diverse beliefs and backgrounds.

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Nazi Salutes and Religious Harassment

In recent events, allegations have surfaced regarding the behavior of certain students at Plum Point Middle School in Maryland.

According to statements from the prosecutor's office, these students are accused of displaying swastikas, making Nazi salutes, and directing offensive comments towards a classmate based on their religious beliefs.

The charging documents, as quoted by the prosecutor, outline the nature of these accusations. The students in question have been charged as juveniles, and their identities have been kept confidential, as confirmed by the prosecutor's office. Specific details regarding the offensive comments have not been disclosed publicly.

The timeline of the alleged behavior indicates that it began in December and persisted for several months, despite repeated requests to cease, as stated by officials from Harvey's office.

Authorities from Calvert County Public Schools have not immediately responded to requests for comment regarding these allegations. However, the school system's website includes a clear statement denouncing racism, bullying, discrimination, white supremacy, hate, and racial inequity in any form within their school community.

A report released in March 2023 by the Anti-Defamation League highlighted a concerning increase in antisemitic incidents in Maryland and nationwide. Responding to this report, Maryland Governor Wes Moore expressed strong disapproval of the increase, emphasizing that hate has no place in the state and vowing to address such actions.

The charges related to these incidents will be forwarded to the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services for appropriate legal action.

State's Attorney Robert Harvey, reflecting on Maryland's foundation of religious toleration, expressed astonishment that religious persecution persists centuries later. He called on parents, schools, faith leaders, and community members to ensure that children understand the importance of rejecting religious persecution in society.

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Photo: (Photo : Scott Olson / Getty Images )

Federal regulators have imposed a substantial fine of nearly $300,000 on a Tennessee manufacturer for breaching child labor laws.

The manufacturer, Tuff Torq Corp., known for producing outdoor-power-equipment components for renowned brands like John Deere, Toro, and Yamaha, was found to have employed minors as young as 14 to operate hazardous machinery and exceed legal working hours, as disclosed by the Labor Department in a recent statement.

The civil penalty of $296,951 serves as a stark reminder of the stringent enforcement of federal regulations concerning child labor and underscores the imperative for companies to adhere to these laws to avoid significant financial repercussions.

Tennessee Mechanical Manufacturing Company Pays $1.5M Fine

The stipulation also mandates Tuff Torq to allocate $1.5 million from its profits directly associated with the employment of the 10 minors discovered at its Morristown, Tennessee, facility. This allocation, as confirmed by a spokesperson from the Labor Department, is intended "for the benefit of the children employed illegally." Notably, these minors were identified to be as young as 14 years old.

The legal judgment was formalized in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, subsequent to an extensive investigation by the Labor Department's wage and hour division.

The investigation unearthed instances where Tuff Torq had engaged multiple minors in perilous tasks, a clear violation of labor regulations. The inquiry, initiated months earlier, culminated in January with compelling evidence of these labor violations.

Notably, investigators observed a minor operating a power-driven hoisting apparatus, an activity strictly prohibited for individuals below the age of 18.

Jessica Looman, the administrator overseeing the wage and hour division, expressed deep concern, stating, "Even one child working in a dangerous environment is too many." She emphasized the alarming surge in child labor violations over the past year, underscoring the risks posed to children's well-being.

Looman further emphasized the significance of the agreement, asserting that it compels Tuff Torq to take immediate and substantial measures to cease the illegal employment of minors.

Read Also: 3-Year-Old Recounts Sparta Township Murder of Pregnant Amish Mother

Child Labor Violations in the US

Furthermore, Tuff Torq has agreed to specific measures as part of the enforcement action. These measures include collaborating with a community-based organization to deliver regular training sessions to employees, managers, and contractors. Additionally, they are establishing an anonymous reporting line for any concerns related to child labor or suspected labor violations.

Moreover, Tuff Torq has consented to allowing unannounced and warrantless inspections of its factory premises for a period of three years. This enforcement action coincides with a concerning trend of increasing child labor violations nationwide, as highlighted by labor officials.

In the fiscal year 2023 alone, the Labor Department investigated a staggering 955 cases involving 5,792 children across the country. Among these cases were 502 instances where children were employed in violation of hazardous occupation standards. This underscores the urgent need for stricter enforcement and vigilance in safeguarding young workers.

Tuff Torq factory, in a recent statement, clarified that it did not directly hire the underage workers involved in the violations. Instead, these individuals were contracted through a temporary workforce staffing agency, although the agency remains unnamed in the statement.

The company's statement emphasized Tuff Torq's commitment to ethical labor practices and ensuring that its products and services are developed under fair conditions. They expressed a dedication to strengthening training and compliance programs while actively engaging with suppliers to uphold ethical labor standards across their supply chain.

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The Book of Mormon was first published on the 26th of March in 1830, in Palmyra, New York. Im fascinated with our indigenous American religions and the Church of Latter Day Saints is perhaps the most successful of them all. Although in its multiplicity I suspect our New Thought movement does give it a run for its money in that most successful category.

The Book is one of various sacred texts to be first published here in North America in European languages. There are a number. Isis Unveiled: A Master-Key to the Mysteries of Ancient and Modern Science and Theology, the Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ, Science and Health with a Key to Scriptures, the Urantia Book, the Course in Miracles, and Dianetics: the Modern Science of Mental Health quickly come to mind.

Each has had influences in different ways. But the Book of Mormon perhaps rises above the others with the size and scope of the religious organization for whom it is sacred scripture. Well over sixteen and a half million people profess the faith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, half of these in North America, the majority of those within hailing distance of Utah.

The book purports to be the record of the lost tribes of Israel and what happened when they came to the Americas, first in the year 2220 BCE, and others following in the year 600 CE.

The prophet Joseph Smith claimed he was presented with golden plates written in Reformed Egyptian, and special spectacles that allowed him to translate them into English. It has since become the primary theological source for the foundations of the Church.

Those who find the historicity of the book unlikely look to other sources for its origins. Most assume it was composed by Smith, possibly assisted by Oliver Cowdery and Sidney Rigdon. Some speculate a large part of it was derived from an unpublished romance by Solomon Spalding. Others suggest the importance of the Wonders of Nature by Josiah Priest, and or the View of the Hebrews by Ethan Smith. And of course, with a major assist from the King James version of the Bible, which certainly provides the cast of language for the Book.

Whatever, it has become the source text for a major American religion.

So, a pause to note the event
I had the opportunity to preview a new three-part miniseries that is coming soon to Netflix. It is called Testament: The Story of Moses, and as a fan of the Expanse I will share that Dominique Tipper plays Zipporah. She shared a couple of photos on Instagram as well as this comment: Even if youre not religious, I think youll like it. And if you are, there are different people from different faiths and backgrounds talking about the significance of Moses to their religion or just the significance of Moses in general. Ultimately, its a great story, and the performances are beauts. Everyone gave their all. Enjoy!

The series began with an alert warning viewers not to treat scholarly commentary as consensus. Initially I bristled but later I realized that it was emphasizing that what the scholars they interviewed and featured might at times be offering their own views, or summarizing one ancient authors view, rather than offering something that reflects a widely held view.

Most of my scholarship focuses on historical matters and so when watching the series it took some effort to force myself out of that mindset. Testament is about the story of Moses. It features Jewish, Christian, and Muslim scholars and clergy, but not to comment on subjects like archaeology and evidence. Instead, they present and reflect on how the story is told in the Bible, and how it is expanded, interpreted, and otherwise explored in the later literature of Jewish midrash and the Quran. Along with the commentary, there is an effective dramatization of the main details of the story, filling in elements from tradition at times while in others simply doing what any filmmaker or storyteller needs to do in order to turn the bear bones we get in the Bible into a full-fledged narrative. It was great to see scholars like Carol Meyers and Pete Enns featured. Enns drew attention to the way the story presents a battle between gods, with Yahweh showing himself more powerful in precisely the domains of expertise of Egyptian deities.

For me, it was particularly striking to watch the series version of the story of the plague in which water is turned into blood. Thanks to a wonderful activity that Jeffrey Stackert shared at the Midwest SBL, I have often used Exodus 7:14-25 to introduce students to source criticism. The narrative as it stands makes it impossible to answer such seemingly simple questions as whose staff is featured, what is done with the staff, and what water is affected. Is it Moses staff, Aarons, or perhaps even Yahwehs? Is the water struck or is the staff held over it? Is it the water of the Nile or all the water in Egypt? If the latter (in that last question) then the digging around the Nile for water and the turning of water to blood by Egyptian magicians would be impossible and make no sense. In order to depict the story on TV, the difficulties need to be ignored and elided. I dont have a problem with that. The person who combined their sources into the current narrative felt that it was possible to appreciate the resulting story. I point this out not as an attempt to assert the superiority of historical and source criticism, but to emphasize that the exploration of the final form of the narrative is only one of many options for interpreters, and the fact that turning the narrative into on screen reenactment has to ignore certain puzzling details should invite those who enjoy this presentation of the story to dig further and deeper.

I loved seeing characters who are often played down or neglected in Christian exploration of these stories, such as Bithia and Jethro, fleshed out in the way they were. The overall depiction of Moses and Pharaoh, of Miriam and Aaron, and countless other characters was done in a compelling and enjoyable way. If youre an academic, youll inevitably have points you wish were not skipped over or were addressed differently, but I suspect youll find that this series offers a great starting point for discussion. If youre a person interested for whatever reason in getting to know this story better both in its earliest textual form and in the form in which Jews, Christians, and Muslims have retold it, this show provides a convenient and enjoyable entry point into that rich and rewarding world.

Check out the trailer below, and then go watch it when it releases on Netflix on March 27th!


Schneider joins forces with BPX, for exclusive customer event at German Innovation Hub

Schneider Electric welcomes OEMs and system integrators to its Global Machinery Innovation Hub to showcase its latest innovations.





Schneider Electric UK and BPX, Schneider Electric's only 'Master' level Industrial Automation Distributor (IAD) in UK&I, are proud to have collaborated to host an exclusive event in Marktheidenfeld, Germany, from 11-13 March 2024.



The event welcomed a range of OEMs and SIs to the Schneider Electric Industrial Automation Machinery Innovation Hub in Marktheidenfeld, where they received exclusive insight into the latest innovations in industrial control, automation, robotics, and software solutions offered by Schneider Electric.



Attendees spent three days with the Martheidenfeld team to gain valuable insight into EcoStruxure Machine Expert Twin, Lexium MC12 Multi-Carrier System and their full portfolio of robotic solutions, including the new Lexium Cobot, all designed to enhance safety, productivity, and efficiency across various stages of machine design, build, integration, and maintenance



Because of the Hubs strategic location, it is regularly used for events like this that enable stakeholders to come together and drive innovation within the ecosystem.



Robert Haynes, Head of Robotics and Automation at Schneider Electric said: "We were thrilled to invite valued ecosystem players and BPX customers to join us at the Schneider Electric Innovation Hub in Marktheidenfeld.



This event represents a unique opportunity for attendees to explore Schneider Electric's comprehensive portfolio of automation solutions whilst also providing a platform for a huge range of key industry members to exchange ideas on common roadblocks, manufacturing trends and the future of industry.



As Schneider Electric's Master IAD and having worked with the company since 1967, BPX is able to bring its customers unparalleled expertise in control, automation, and associated technologies.



With a commitment to guiding clients through product selection, applications, programming methods, and industry best practices, BPX provides an end-to-end service for Schneider Electric solutions.



Richard Thompson, Head of Systems, Services & Solutions at BPX, said: We are committed to creating and maintaining an efficient supply chain ecosystem, and events like this present a unique opportunity for members at every point of that ecosystem to witness the technology and processes they will be working with in the future, firsthand.



Together with Schneider Electric, we aim to empower our customers to drive industry excellence and achieve sustainable growth in both the short and long term.



Schneider Electric is championing the drive toward a more connected ecosystem of partners throughout the supply chain.



Its Alliance Partner programme enables OEMs and SIs to deliver efficient and tailored services that are designed to meet the needs of the end-users no matter the project. Alliance Partners work closely with Schneider Electric to receive the latest training in necessary systems and processes and receive enhanced technical support. Find out more here.



Contact Details and Archive...
When Panos Panay, the former EVP and Chief Product Officer, left Microsoft, Windows and Surface split up into separate groups. Now it seems that theyve been unified once again. Pavan Davuluri, a company veteran, will now run both the Windows and Surface teams, according to a memo obtained by The Verge.

Last year when Panos Panay left Microsoft, his responsibilities were split. Mikhail Parakhin led Bing and Bing Chat, and took Windows and Web Experiences like Edge under his wing. Pavan Davuluri maintained his position as general manager of Surface. Yusuf Mehdi, Microsofts consumer chief, was there to handle external OEM relationships.

About a week ago, Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella outlined a shift in which Mustafa Suleyman left Inflection and Googles DeepMind to lead a new Microsoft AI division. Under Suleyman would be Mikhail Parakhin and his Copilot, Edge, and Bing teams. Parakhin also reportedly managed Windows engineering, according to one of his employees. Now, Parakhin is exploring new roles, The Verge reported, which probably means that he has left the company.

Why does this shakeup matter? Because Surface and Windows have gone together like cookies and cream. Microsoft has used the Surface lineup as a showcase for changes the company has made in terms of a new operating system, apps, services, or some combination of all of them. Separating the hardware and the software isnt unheard of, but it would break away from the unified, holistic approach Microsoft has generally preached. Now, things are back to the way they were.

Davuluri still reports to Rajesh Jha, Microsofts head of experiences and devices  or did when PCWorld asked about the reporting hierarchy last week. Put another way, Copilot, Edge, Bing, Surface, and Windows are now being managed by though the same chain of command. Thats good news, as those are all generally consumer-facing products.

The management shuffle may not have any effect on the Surface or Windows roadmap  though who knows?  but most of Microsofts consumer products should move forward together.
The Vice President and flagbearer of the NPP, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has told members of the Council of Indigenous Business Association of Ghana (CIBA) that his new tax reforms policy is carefully thought through to enhance the growth of businesses, especially indigenous businesses.



Following his major policy address last month, Dr. Bawumia has been interacting with various stakeholders to further explain his policies to them and seek their views and suggestions.



On Monday, March 25, in Accra, the Vice President had an extensive interactive session with CIBA, the largest informal group in the country.



While answering series of questions from members of the association, Dr. Bawumia explained a number of his policies including his proposed new tax reforms, which he said, are aimed at boosting the business community to make them competitive.



Dr. Bawumia explained that the tax amnesty for businesses and individuals which his government will introduce from 2025 as well as the flat tax rate are aimed at simplifying tax payment for businesses.



"The new tax reforms I have outlined including the flat tax rate will make the tax system transparent and easy to calculate. For instance, if your tax is based on simple percentage of your profit, you can easily calculate what you have to pay yourself and file your own tax. You don't have to wait for any tax official to come to you and find the process difficult to understand", Dr. Bawumia said.



He added; "If the tax rate is flat, it will be more transparent, simple and easy to understand. This is what many businesses need to help them and also to make it very competitive for them. Many businesses and individuals continue to complain about the tax system including harassment they face. It is because the process is not transparent and you feel overburdened. We want to correct this and help your businesses grow."



Among the tax reforms, the Vice President also stated that import duties on containers will be flat with exchange rates for import duties also left stable over a period to ensure predictability in import duties.



The NPP flagbearer further noted his government will benchmark Ghana's import duties with Togo or make it lower to ensure Ghana does not lose out to Togo over low import duties.



Dr. Bawumia reiterated his commitment to cancelling the e-levy tax to further boost businesses and his quest for a cashless society.



Members of CIBA include the Ghana National Association of Garages, National Drinking Bar-operators Association, Ghana Bar Operators Association, National Association of Beauticians and Hairdressers, National Refrigerators and Air Condition Workshop Owners Association, Federation of Ghana Goldsmith and Jewelers Association, Ghana Traditional Caterers Association, Ghana Electronics Serving Technicians Association, Ghana Association of Barbers and Barbering Salon Owners, Ghana National Tailors and Dressmakers Association and National Cooperative Bitchers Association.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia says one of his key policies to boost the indigenous business community is to formalize them.



Speaking at a consultative meeting with members of the Council of Indigenous Business Association of Ghana (CIBA) in Accra on Monday March 25, 2024, the Vice President cum presidential candidate of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) said many indigenous Ghanaian businesses which constitute majority of the business community "are not formalized and they have been sadly excluded. This exclusion does not augur well for formulation of policies and planning as well as the growth of these businesses in the informal sector".



"It is important for indigenous businesses that have not yet been registered to register and formally be part of the Ghanaian business community", he urged them.



Dr. Bawumia added that he will engage with leadership of CIBA to formalize their members ensuring their businesses get registered by the Registrar General.



"You constitute a large part of the business community and you play a big role in job creation and our economy but you have been excluded because many of your businesses are not registered. There is so much to gain from being formalized and I am committed to seeing your businesses formalized and included...As we seek to get your businesses formalized, it is also important to further simplify business registration process to encourage more people to register."



In this regard, Dr. Bawumia told members of CIBA that having studied the business registration process of Estonia which takes about 30 minutes, he is eager to replicate it in Ghana to encourage more businesses.



The Vice President also reiterated his commitment to introduce tax reforms in 2025 such as granting tax amnesty to businesses and individuals and cancelling some taxes including E-Levy, expounding that his tax reforms will majorly boost businesses and ensure transparency in the tax system.



The membership of CIBA include the Ghana National Association of Garages, National Drinking Bar-operators Association, Ghana Bar Operators Association, National Association of Beauticians and Hairdressers, National Refrigerators and Air Condition Workshop Owners Association, Federation of Ghana Goldsmith and Jewelers Association, Ghana Traditional Caterers Association, Ghana Electronics Serving Technicians Association, Ghana Association of Barbers and Barbering Salon Owners, Ghana National Tailors and Dressmakers Association and National Cooperative Bitchers Association.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said that the provision of tablets to Senior High School (SHS) students under the Ghana Smart School Project will unlock a plethora of opportunities for the nation's youth.



During the official launch of the initiative at the Accra International Conference Center on Monday, March 25, 2024, President Akufo-Addo expressed his optimism about the impact of equipping SHS students with digital tablets.



"Providing tablets to our SHS students will open doors to endless opportunities. That is one student, and one tablet under the Ghana Smart Schools Project. The tablets are fitted with digital content to aid research, teaching, and learning," he said.



He said the provision of the tablets underscores his government's commitment to leveraging technology to revolutionize education and empower students with access to cutting-edge learning resources.



The Ghana Smart School Project, which aims to distribute 1.3 million educational tablets to SHS students nationwide, marks a significant step towards bridging the digital divide and preparing Ghana's youth for the demands of the 21st-century workforce.



In addition to providing tablets, the government plans to construct approximately 100 smart SHSs within the next two years, further enhancing the learning environment and ensuring that students have access to state-of-the-art facilities.



Education Minister Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum echoed the President's sentiments, affirming the transformative potential of the Ghana Smart School Project. He emphasized the importance of equipping students with the tools they need to succeed in an increasingly digital world.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The ravaging sea is inching towards unprotected portions of the coast around the Aboadze Thermal Plant in the Shama District in the Western Region, threatening the long term survival of the existing portion of the sea defence project.



The existing sea defence wall in the area is intended to protect the thermal units of the Volta River Authority (VRA) and Takoradi International Company.



However, between one of the newly built Twin-City Power (Amandi) and the VRAs thermal units is a long stretch of about 700 metres without a defence wall.



That stretch is currently being eroded as the ravaging sea steadily eats away the shore.



Engineers have expressed concern that the situation could compromise the Aboadze Thermal Plant and Twin-City Energy Power Plant installations in the long term.



If the erosion impacts the Aboadze power enclave, the country could lose a substantial part of its energy generation mix.



The Aboadze Thermal Plant and the Twin City Energy generate up to about 530 megawatts of power per day.



The Head of Coastal Division of the Ghana Hydrological Authority, Yiadom Boakye Akoto, told the Daily Graphic that the situation is a threat to the power plants.



The concerns expressed by Mr Boakye Akoto, an engineer, comes on the heels of similar issues observed by the Minister of Works and Housing, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, during a working tour of the Central Region last Thursday.



Considering the investments in these plants, the economic benefits of the infrastructure far outweigh the cost of protecting the shore, Mr Boakye Akoto said.



He said there were three lines of coconut plants as part of a defence line to protect the area from erosion but two of those lines had since been lost, with the third one currently under threat.



The beach fronting these assets has remained vulnerable to the harsh conditions of tidal waves and sea level rises due to climate change.



Erosion, recession



He said the unprotected section was vulnerable to the threat of coastal erosion and recession.



The exposure of the unprotected section of the coastline to the vagaries of tidal wave impacts could result in massive erosion of the coastline and adjoining land, and thus pose a threat to the Takoradi Thermal Power Station, Twin City Energy and other critical state assets within the enclave in the medium to long term.



This situation is negatively impacting power plant installations and the community at large. It is feared the nation might lose huge investment made in these power stations if the coastline fronting these assets is not protected, he told the Daily Graphic.



Mr Boakye Akoto said Aboadzes neighbouring coastline, the Shama-Anlo beach, was under serious threat due to tidal wave impacts, stressing that beaches near Shama-Anlo had recently been rapidly degrading at an alarming rate.



The main cause of this incident is the sea level rise brought on by climate change and its associated repercussions.



Moreso, economic fishing activities along the shores of Aboadze, Shama, and Anlo beaches are on the decline due to tidal wave impacts, erosion of landing sites for fishing boats, and other factors.



Until recently, coastal protection works built by the Hydrological Services Department (now Ghana Hydrological Authority) provided relief to areas of the coastline.



Without a doubt, the exposed and unprotected coastal sections of the Aboadze thermal power enclave and Shama-Anlo beaches remain vulnerable to tidal wave effects.



Implementation of a coastal protection scheme to safeguard the nation's power generation assets, mitigate coastline erosion, and lessen tidal flooding is required. This will enhance economic growth along the coastal communities of Aboadze and Shama-Anlo, Mr Boakye Akoto said.



Sand winning



Sand winning is threatening portions of the sea defence project in the capital of the Central Region.



This came to light during an inspection of some sea defence projects by the Minister of Works and Housing, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, last Thursday.



He inspected works on sea defence projects in Anomabo, Cape Coast, Elmina, and Komenda.



Mr Oppong Nkrumah raised the concern with the Omanhen of the Oguaa Traditional Area, Osabarimba Kwesi Atta II, and appealed to traditional authorities in the project area to help protect such huge infrastructure developments.



Osabarimba Kwesi Atta said the traditional council had already observed the problem with sand winning at the shore, and the impact it could have on some of the project sites.



He said that had compelled the traditional council and the district assembly to set up a task force to apprehend perpetrators, and pledged that the traditional council would support efforts to stop the menace.



Mr Oppong Nkrumah later told the media that the government was committed to getting contractors on all stalled sea defence projects back to site to complete them.



He said some of the sea defence projects could be completed in two months.



He stressed that the eight sea defence projects commenced in 2017 were all more than 80 per cent done.



He said while some of the work had delayed due to financial challenges, all such issues had been resolved and contractors had agreed to go back to the sites.



The minister engaged various stakeholders, including fishermen, during the tour and addressed various concerns raised during the interactions.

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.

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Dr. Gideon Boako has responded to the reaction of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) workers regarding Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia's claim that businesses are being harassed in the name of tax collection.



On Wednesday, March 20, Dr Bawumia attributed this issue to the GRA's imposition of unattainable targets on its officers, leading to excessive taxation of existing businesses.



Bawumia Calls Out GRA



Dr Bawumia, during a meeting with the Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry members, said the current tax regime is a burden on businesses.



They are harassing businesses. That harassment is coming from the sort of targets that are created at their office. They are setting unrealistic targets. And this is because the tax base is so narrow, you say to them, 'this is your target for this month', and they are trying to figure out where do I go.



Then for them, it is very easy, you go back to where you had it the last time. You go to taxpayers, the people who are already paying taxes and then you have to come up with a new reason why they should pay more and so you come up with all sorts of stuff," he said.



GRA Reaction



But GRA staff say the Vice President's statements undermine their hard work.



We would like to state unequivocally that, we, the workers of GRA, find this statement unfortunate and consider it as an attack on the efforts of the hardworking staff of the Authority, which, if not discontinued, would incur the displeasure of workers, disrupt revenue collection efforts, and breed industrial disharmony, they said in a press release.



They added; We wish to place on record that the unprecedented growth in Tax revenue collected in 2023, which yielded in excess of GH113bn, is a major factor that has kept Ghana in the IMF bailout program. It is also an undeniable fact that the GRA has since the 2020 fiscal year met and, in some cases, exceeded the annual revenue targets despite the challenges of COVID-19.



The Authority also said, "the least we expect from the Vice President, if he would not appreciate the efforts of the Authority in raising Tax Revenue, is not to put the lives of our hardworking staff at risk with such unfortunate comments".



Bawumia's Spokesperson Claps Back



Tackling the issue during Peace FM's Monday edition of the "Kokrokoo" show, the spokesperson for Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Dr. Gideon Boako, explained that the Vice President had no intention to downplay the hard work of the GRA staff; rather, his comments were in response to the harassment that some GRA officers subject business owners to.



According to him, Dr. Bawumia's concerns are that there should be a flat tax system to enable business owners to gain enough income to ease the tax pressure on them and furthermore discourage the culture of harassment.



"They have problems with a certain report, as if the Vice President says they are not doing their work effectively. I am saying that that is not what the Vice President said, and it must be settled that the Vice President did not impugn on the integrity of the GRA workers or suggest that the GRA workers aren't doing their job well.



"One thing is clear that Ghanaian businessmen have a problem with our tax system. One of the issues they have is what they describe as harassment from some officers of the Ghana Revenue Authority, and this is what the Vice President spoke about," Dr. Boako fired back at the GRA.



Watch video below





He was of the strong conviction that the Vice President's initiative to introduce a flat tax rate will improve businesses and boost the economy.



"When we do this, it will boost the economy because tax revenue is also a function of income. If a person's business is not progressing, there is no way he/she can pay the tax to you. So, as an economist as he is, he knows very well that total revenue is a function of price and quantity, therefore, if your income is not enough, either you increase your price or the quantity. If you increase the price and there is a high quantity, we, the buyers, also have a certain aversion to increases in price," he stressed.



He added, "What he (Bawumia) is doing is that we should reduce that price with the same quantity or increase quantities. The Vice President therefore says we should focus on the number of tax payers and reduce the taxes so that if there are more tax payers and because the tax is moderate, you will get the same revenue that you want."



"It was not for the Vice President's interest to rebuke GRA staff or their attitude towards businesses in the open," he concluded.





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has commissioned the 2nd National Fire Service Training School built by the Akufo-Addo Government, bringing the total number of Fire Service Training Schools in Ghana to three.



Before the present government assumed office in 2017, Ghana had only one Fire Service Training School, located in Accra. About two months ago, Vice President Bawumia commissioned the nation's second Fire Service Training School in Wungu, in the North East Region.



Speaking at the commissioning of the third Fire Service Training School at Duayaw- Nkwanta in the Tano North District of the Ahafo Region, Dr. Bawumia said the commissioning marked the "unwavering commitment" of the Government towards strengthening the fire service and protecting lives and property.



"It is with immense pride and gratitude that I stand before you today, on this historic occasionthe commissioning of the first phase of the Duayaw Nkwanta Fire Academy and Training School. This milestone reflects the unwavering commitment of the Government of Ghana to the safety and well-being of its citizens," Dr Bawumia said.



"This training school stands as a testament to the government's pledge in 2017 to increase the number of training schools for the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) from one (1) to four (4) since independence," Dr. Bawumia added.



"We are happy to be here in less than seven (7) weeks following the successful commissioning of the Wungu Fire Academy and Training School in the North East Region on Friday, January 19, 2024, to commission the second and third Fire Academy and Training School in the country, specifically here at Duayaw Nkwanta in the Ahafo Region."



"Today's event which marks another significant step towards achieving the government's commitment to protecting its citizenry is unwavering," Dr. Bawumia added.





The newly-commissioned training school has modern training facilities and equipment, including two hydraulic platforms to reach the 16th floor, to fight fires and effect rescue for key institutions such as the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS). This, Dr. Bawumia described as "a strategic move to ensure the safety of lives, businesses, livelihoods, and property."



The Vice President also highlighted the significant support the government has offered the Ghana National Fire Service, including the provision of modern equipment and expansion of the human resource capacity of the Service in the past 7 years to respond efficiently to emergencies.



Among the equipment are: command vehicles, modern fire engines, drones, rapid intervention vehicles, buses, appropriate personal protective equipment (APPEs), and rescue and firefighting equipment.



"This investment in modern equipment aligns with the government's vision to empower the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) to deliver on its lawful mandate of saving lives and properties.



"These resources will not only enhance the Ghana National Fire Services capacity to handle diverse and complex firefighting scenarios but also contribute to the overall safety and security of our communities."



The support, Dr. Bawumia continued, has impacted positively on the operations of the Ghana Fire Service.



"The Service in 2022, recorded 6154 fires as against 5973 fires in 2023 which translates to a 2.94% rate of reduction. This feat is clearly a testament to the effectiveness of the government's initiatives, support, training, and the dedicated efforts of the firefighting force," the Vice President stated.



On the staff strength of the Service, Dr. Bawumia noted that the current government has almost doubled the personnel of the Fire Service from the number it met in 2017.





"It is unprecedented in the history of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) for a single government to recruit over 7000 personnel, increasing the workforce to over 15000 in just 7 years."



"This achievement, spearheaded by the NPP Government, led by His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, showcases the administration's commitment to enhancing the capabilities of our firefighting force to provide world class emergency firefighting and rescue services to the good people of this great country of ours."



Despite the huge contributions and successes chalked, Dr. Bawumia stressed that a lot more has to be done to protect lives and property, assuring that government is ever committed to support the Service realize its vision and mandate.



The Acting President of the Duayaw Nkwanta Traditional Council, Nana Boakye Bonsu, expressed gratitude to government, for the training school.



The Chief Fire Officer, on behalf of the Service, expresses gratitude to the Government for what he described as immense support, the Government has offered the Service, which he said, has significantly boosted their operations.



The 3rd Fire Service Academy and Training School built by the Akufo-Addo Government, is ready for commissioning in the Eastern Region.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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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









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A 19-year-old final-year student of the Esiama Senior High Technical School in the Ellembelle district, Philip Armah Ludtroth, met his untimely death when he attempted to jump the school's fence wall.



He was from Tarkwa in the Western Region.



Sources close to the media said that Philip Armah Ludtroth attempted to jump the school's wall to buy gari outside the school premises, but unfortunately landed on his neck and sustained a severe neck sprain.



The District Director of Education, Wilfred Adodoadji, confirmed the incident to this reporter in Ellembelle.



He said the incident happened on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, adding that that day was declared Heroes Day in the school.



The event, which is celebrated annually, is an occasion to honour retirees of the Ghana Education Service and current members of the GES in the Ellembelle District.



The director said the mother of the deceased visited the school with provisions for her child but was not allowed to see him since it was not a weekend.



Mr. Adodoadji said the school's security later handed over the provisions to the boy after the program.



However, Philip tried to sneak out of the school premises during the night by jumping the school fence wall, but unfortunately landed on his neck and sustained a neck sprain.



The Director said he was rushed to a clinic at Esiama but was referred to St. Martin's de Porres Hospital at Eikwe, where he was pronounced dead.



The body of the late Philip has been deposited at the Eikwe Hospital morgue, pending an autopsy.













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Former Minister for Agriculture Kwesi Ahwoi has admitted that he erred in comments made at an event to celebrate the National Democratic Congress (NDC) 's vice presidential candidate for the 2024 elections, Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang.



His comments, suggesting that Naana Jane could become president if her boss, John Mahama, does not complete his term, were met with critical reactions online.



In a statement issued late Sunday (March 24, 2024), he disclosed that he misspoke and that the comments had been taken the wrong way.



"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," his statement read in part.



He subsequently apologised to Mahama, Naana Jane, and the NDC before rallying the faithful to do whatever it takes to win power in December 2024.



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 faithfuls 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 light-hearted 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: ghanaweb.com









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Early results from Senegal's presidential vote put opposition candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye ahead, sending his supporters to celebrate in the streets, though his main rival from the ruling coalition said a run-off would be needed to determine the winner.



At least five of the 19 candidates in the race issued statements congratulating Faye as results trickled in after the election on Sunday.



Former prime minister Amadou Ba, the ruling coalition's candidate, said, however, that celebrations were premature.



"For our part, and considering the feedback of the results from our team of experts, we are certain that, in the worst-case scenario, we will go to a run-off," Ba's campaign said in a statement.



Millions took part in a peaceful day of voting to elect Senegal's fifth president following three years of unprecedented political turbulence that sparked violent anti-government protests and buoyed support for the opposition.



At stake is the potential end of an administration led by outgoing President Macky Sall that has promoted investor-friendly policies but failed to ease economic hardship in one of coup-prone West Africa's more stable democracies.



Voters had a choice of 19 contenders to replace Sall, who is stepping down after a second term marred by unrest over the prosecution of firebrand opposition leader Ousmane Sonko and concerns that the president wanted to extend his mandate past the constitutional limit.



The incumbent was not on the ballot for the first time in Senegal's history. His ruling coalition picked Ba, 62, as its candidate.



EARLY TALLIES



About 7.3 million people were registered to vote in the country of around 18 million. Turnout was at around 71%, according to state television RTS.



Election day ran smoothly, with no major incidents reported.



The first set of tallies announced on television showed Faye had won the majority of votes, triggering widespread street celebrations in the capital Dakar.



Jubilant supporters gathered in Sonko's neighbourhood as supporters set off fireworks, waved Senegalese flags and blew vuvuzelas.



At least five opposition candidates later declared Faye the winner, effectively conceding defeat. They included one of the main contenders, Anta Babacar Ngom, who wished Faye success as leader of Senegal in a statement.



It was not clear how many of the 15,633 polling stations have been counted so far.



Final provisional results are expected by Tuesday. A second round of voting will only take place if no candidate secures the more than 50% majority required to prevent a run-off.



'DIOMAYE IS SONKO'



Sonko, in jail until recently, was disqualified from the race because of a defamation conviction. He is backing Faye, the co-creator of his now-dissolved Pastef party, who was also detained almost a year ago on charges including defamation and contempt of court.



An amnesty law passed this month allowed their release days before the vote.



They have campaigned together under the banner "Diomaye is Sonko". Some high-profile politicians and opposition candidates have backed Faye's candidacy.



"The population is choosing between continuation and rupture," Faye said after casting his vote, urging contenders to accept the winner.



Sall, first elected in 2012, is leaving office after a drop in popularity that deepened when authorities sought to postpone the vote to December. It was initially scheduled for Feb. 25.



The move stoked unrest and concerns about authoritarian overreach, prompting Senegal's Constitutional Council to rule the vote should go ahead before the end of Sall's mandate on April 2.



Faye has promised to root out corruption, restore stability and prioritise economic sovereignty, appealing to the urban youth frustrated by a lack of jobs in a country where 60% of the population is younger than 25.





Source: reuters.com









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Founder of the New Force and presidential hopeful Nana Kwame Bediako, popularly known as Freedom Jacob Caesar, has opined that he does not agree to the 24-hour economy policy that is being propagated by the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress, John Dramani Mahama.



Cheddar mentioned that, instead of having a 24-hour economy, he would rather champion a 24-hour shift system for workers.



He said, I dont agree to a 24-hour economy; I agree to 24-hour shifts if we have the power; the 24-hour shift work will happen best for industrialization.



In an exclusive interview on TV3 on Monday, March 25, the leader of the New Force said his government will tackle the actual needs of Ghanaians.



Speaking about his industrialization campaign, Freedom Jacob Caesar noted that the industrialization revolution is the way to go in planting Ghana on the path of transformation.



According to him, the industrial revolution will create job opportunities for the teeming youth of the country who are without jobs.



He added that the research he has done while embarking on regional tours in Ghana revealed that over 60 percent of the youth are without jobs.



He said, Over 60 percent of the people are unemployed; we want to embark on an industrial revolution that we want to put in the region.



This is the 16th industrial revolution, and whatever resources the country has should be shared equitably.



He describes himself as the one with the master plan that will change Ghanas economic status when he is voted into office in December 2024.



I am a developer, I am an industrialist, I a visionary, i am a humanitarian philanthropist, 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.



He added, 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









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Vice President and the December 2024 presidential candidate for the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has highlighted some qualities that Ghanas next president should possess in order to move the country forward.



Dr. Bawumia said, considering the achievements chalked by the Akufo-led government, that Ghana does not need a President who would draw the country back but Ghana needs a visionary leader with a proven track record and credibility to solve generational problems, declaring that he has proven to be a problem solver through policies he has spearheaded as Vice President.



Speaking at the NPP International Conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Saturday, March 23, Dr. Bawumia said, 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.



Dr. Bawumia referenced a number of policy initiatives he has spearheaded as Vice President, which, according to him, are addressing generational problems of the country.



Buttressing his impactful contributions, such as the digital national identity system to solve the generational problem of lack of national identity and exclusion; the digital national property address system to address the problem of lack of property identity; mobile money interoperability to resolve the issue of financial exclusion and promote a cashless society; the digitalization of public services to promote efficiency and reduce corruption; and the delivery of essential drugs to remote areas through drones, as well as other policies, including One Ambulance-One Constituency and Agenda 111 hospitals.



He said, I have not been President before, but through my role as Vice President, I have demonstrated that I will be a hard-working President who will work very hard to address problems confronting our sustainable development.



Comparing himself to his main contender, John Mahama, Dr. Bawumia stated unequivocally that, considering his track record, work ethics, and vision, he is a better candidate than Mahama, whom he said has already been rejected twice due to his poor performance when he got the chance to be president; hence, Ghanaians should consider voting for the NPP with Bawumia as the president.



Former President Mahama has been president before, but what was his track record? He failed. He failed to tackle corruption and many other problems. Economically, if you look at all the economic data in the 4th Republic, Mahama has been the worst president.



He added that John Mahama doesnt represent change because he was there as president and he has been rejected twice in 2016 and 2020. I have not been president before, and my record as vice president is there for all to see. John Mahama represents the past and I represent the next chapter and future of our country.

Source: Kobina Darlington/peacefmonline.com









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Featured Video
Despite the recent wave of power outages affecting regions across Ghana, Energy Minister Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh has staunchly defended the energy sector under President Nana Akufo-Addos administration, asserting that it surpasses the previous regime led by John Mahama.



Criticism has surfaced in various parts of the country, particularly in Greater Accra, where citizens have faced disruptions due to the erratic supply of electricity, prompting frustration towards the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).



As demands for a structured load-shedding timetable have mounted to aid in planning amidst the power crisis, ECG has rebuffed such calls, maintaining that there is no official dumsor, negating the necessity for a prescribed schedule.



Addressing concerns at the NPP campaign team inauguration in the Ashanti Region, Dr. Opoku Prempeh highlighted the strides made within the energy sector under the NPP government, emphasizing a significant enhancement compared to the previous NDC administration.



In an apparent comparison of the two administrations energy performances over their respective four-year terms, Dr. Opoku Prempeh asserted, the NPP administration Energy Sector is 300 times better than that of Mahama.



Assuring the public of ongoing efforts to rectify the current challenges, Dr. Opoku Prempeh acknowledged the complexities involved in elevating the energy sector, pledging continuous commitment from his ministry to improve the situation progressively.



Dismissing the need for a load-shedding timetable, Dr. Opoku Prempeh echoed ECGs stance and condemned the proposition, questioning the intentions of those advocating for it, stating, Let those who want the timetable bring it. I dont know of any timetable because the ECG has said it is not necessary. Why would someone just wish evil for the country?

Source: dailyguidenetwork.com









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Featured Video
The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has informed members of the Council of Indigenous Business Association of Ghana (CIBA) that the new tax reforms he intends to introduce during his tenure as President are carefully thought through to help the growth of businesses, especially indigenous businesses.



On Monday, March 25 in Accra, the Vice President and flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), had an extensive interactive session with CIBA, the largest informal group in Ghana.



The vice president, during his Big Vision lecture at the University of Professional Studies in Accra, revealed as part of his policies, plans to introduce policies that will help small and medium scale businesses.



While answering a series of questions from members of the association, Dr. Bawumia explained a number of his policies, including his proposed new tax reforms, which he said, are aimed at boosting the business community, including indigenous businesses, to make them competitive.



Dr. Bawumia explained that the tax amnesty, as announced for businesses and individuals, which his government will introduce from 2025 should he be elected President, as well as the flat tax rate, are aimed at simplifying tax payment for businesses to help their growth.



He said, "The new tax reforms I have outlined, including the flat tax rate will make the tax system transparent and easy to calculate. For instance, if your tax is based on a simple percentage of your profit, you can easily calculate what you have to pay yourself and file your own tax. You don't have to wait for any tax official to come to you and find the process difficult to understand."



Dr. Bawumia added, "If the tax rate is flat, it will be more transparent, simple and easy to understand. This is what many businesses need to help them and also to make it very competitive for them. Many businesses and individuals continue to complain about the tax system, including the harassment they face. It is because the process is not transparent and you feel overburdened. We want to correct this and help your businesses grow."









Source: Kobina Darlington/peacefmonline.com









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Featured Video
The Director of Communications for the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Richard Ahiagbah has urged Ghanaians to choose progress and stability over chaos in the 2024 elections.



According to him, the 2024 election is critical for Ghana's future and it must be about more than ideas and visions.



He urged Ghanaians to consider how much time a candidate has to implement their plans.



Mr. Ahiagbah, on his facebook page, said; Former President Mahama has admitted that it's impossible to transform a country in four years. So, even if he wins, he won't be able to deliver on his promises. Why vote for someone who can't make a real difference?



Furthermore, if Mahama wins, he will be a lame duck from day one. The struggle for leadership within the NDC will begin immediately, leading to chaos and uncertainty for our nation.



He appealed to the electorates saying we need a leader who can hit the ground running and tackle our country's challenges head-on.



To him, Dr. Bawumia is the right candidate for the job. He has the time, energy, and vision to deliver bold solutions for our future. Choose progress and stability over chaos.



Vote Bawumia for President.





Source: Josephine Acheampomaa/[email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Seasoned journalist, Kwesi Pratt has castigated Vice President and NPP flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia over his promises to the business community in Ghana.



Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has promised to implement a flat tax and tax amnesty system to provide reprieve to business owners if elected President.



The Vice President, at a meeting with the Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry members, described the current tax regime as burdensome and condemned the harassment that some Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) staff subject business owners to.



They are harassing businesses. That harassment is coming from the sort of targets that are created at their office. They are setting unrealistic targets. And this is because the tax base is so narrow, you say to them, 'this is your target for this month', and they are trying to figure out where do I go.



Then for them, it is very easy, you go back to where you had it the last time. You go to taxpayers, the people who are already paying taxes and then you have to come up with a new reason why they should pay more and so you come up with all sorts of stuff," he said.



But the GRA staff are not pleased with Dr. Bawumias comments, as, to them, it undermine their hard work.



We would like to state unequivocally that we, the workers of GRA, find this statement unfortunate and consider it as an attack on the efforts of the hardworking staff of the Authority, which, if not discontinued, would incur the displeasure of workers, disrupt revenue collection efforts, and breed industrial disharmony, they said in a press release.



Tackling the issue during Kokrokoo morning show on Peace FM, Kwesi Pratt asked the Vice President whats stopping him from implementing his tax reforms now.



He wondered why he wanted to wait to become president before he introduced policies aimed at alleviating the plight of business owners.



Is he not the Vice President? You are in government, what are you doing now? he queried.



He also noted that Dr. Bawumia, as leader of the Economic Management Team, sits in cabinet meetings, so he sought to find out if he tabled his recommendations, such as his resolve to cancel E-Levy, before them.



If you cant persuade your own colleagues to do what is right, there is a problem," Mr. Pratt argued.



He admonished Dr. Bawumia to cut down on the promises because you can do it now," stressing its becoming too many.





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Veteran Nollywood actor, Amaechi Muonagor, has died after a prolonged illness, at the age of 62.



This was disclosed by a social commentator, Morris Monye, via his X handle, on Sunday.



Muonagor was said to have suffered kidney failure and was on dialysis.



The sudden news of his demise comes just few days after a viral video where he solicited funds to help him have a Kidney transplant.



Monye wrote, Deeply heartbroken by the news of Amaechi Muonagors passing.



He was a talented Nollywood actor whose presence on our screens was truly masterful.



We watched with concern as he battled health issues, offering whatever support we could to help him seek treatment in India.



This tragic loss highlights the need for better healthcare in our country.



The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Muonagor, a native of Idemili, in Anambra, was born Aug. 20, 1962.



He was an actor and producer. In 2016, he was nominated for AMVCA 2017 Best Actor in a comedy.



In 1989, after his youth service, Muonagor started working for the News Agency of Nigeria. He left his job a few years later for an acting role in his first movie as Akunatakasi in Taboo 1, a Nigerian movie.

Source: graphic.com.gh









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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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.

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WILLIAMSPORT  A Snyder County man is facing at least a 15-year sentence after pleading guilty in U.S. Middle District Court to a charge of production of child pornography.

The charge to which Richard J. Krouse Jr., 58, of Beavertown, admitted Tuesday carries a mandatory 15-year mandatory minimum sentence.

But according to the plea agreement the parties have agreed to recommend a 20-year term.
President Joe Biden has cracked the 50% threshold among Pennsylvania voters and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey has stretched his lead over Republican challenger Dave McCormick, according to a new poll.

Harrisburg-based Susquehanna Polling & Research released its latest poll on Monday that showed Biden leading former President Donald Trump 50% to 45%, which would be the most support Biden has received in recent polling in Pennsylvania.

In January, Susquehanna determined that Biden led Trump 47% to 36%, so Trump has gained ground even though Biden has hit the 50% mark.

Susquehanna president James Lee said Biden is winning among independents and that Trump is underperforming in the solidly red T area  stretching from the Maryland line through the states center to the counties bordering New York  when his current numbers are compared to 2016, the year he won Pennsylvania.

Trump HAS to match or exceed his 2016 margins in conservative areas of the Commonwealth in order to win, especially because Bidens lead in the collar counties around Philadelphia is even larger than what he won this same area by in the past, said Lee.

Even as his numbers climbed, Bidens job approval rating remains abysmal with just 39% of voters approving the job hes doing as president and 55% disapproving.

As for the Senate race, the poll has Casey leading McCormick 48% to 42%. Thats good news for Casey, who was leading 46% to 42% in Susquehannas January poll.

Susquehanna surveyed 450 registered Pennsylvania voters for the latest poll, which has a margin of error of +/- 4.62 percentage points.
How adorable is this?

Dwayne The Rock Johnson conjured up his character Maui from Disneys animated film Moana and sang a special song for a 2-year-old named Naomi, whos currently battling a brain disorder.

As it turns out, Youre Welcome is her favorite song from her seemingly all-time favorite movie, which premiered back in 2016.

The actor was able to meet the young girl through a partnership with the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

But before becoming Maui and serenading his little fan with the song, he shared how important meeting her was to him.

I have something really special to share with you guys, he says in a video posted to X, formerly known as Twitter. Its pretty important as well, and I want you guys to be a part of it, because I do believe that energy and positivity and mana, I believe that it is real. And it has a real impact and affect on people who need it, especially children.

For those who arent familiar, the Make-A-Wish Foundation aims to grant the wishes of children who are battling critical illnesses. Through this mission, the foundation creates life-changing moments for those children and their families, providing hope during times of struggle.
Willie Nelsons famous 4th of July Picnic concert will not be held in Texas for the first time in 14 years.

It will be held much closer to Pennsylvania.

The concert, which also includes Bob Dylan, Alison Krauss and Robert Plant and Maren Morris will be held instead at Freedom Mortgage Pavilion in Camden, New Jersey - just over the Delaware River from Philadelphia.

The concert, which starts at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 4, also will include Mavis Staples and Celisse.

Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, March 29, on Ticketmaster. Presales including those for Citi card members are underway now.

For the first time ever, Willie Nelsons annual 4th of July Picnic  one of the most anticipated concert events each summer  will take place in the Birthplace of America!

This Fourth of July, the Philadelphia area will be the epicenter of music, history, and celebration as Willie Nelsons renowned 4th of July Picnic descends upon the City of Brotherly Love. This historic event will take place at Freedom Mortgage Pavilion in Camden, N.J., set against the backdrop of some of Americas most storied landmarks, on July 4, 2024, said BlackBird Presents.

From country to folk to rock n roll, this years picnic this years picnic promises an unforgettable experience for everyone, uniting generations of music lovers in celebration of Americas birthday. Fans can look forward to a day filled with great live music, delicious food, and drinks to celebrate the 4th of July holiday.

Nelson said in the news release, I am thrilled to bring the 4th of July Picnic to Philadelphia for the first time in our storied history. Its an honor to host such an extraordinary lineup of talent in the birthplace of our country. We cant wait to celebrate Independence Day with you.

Just a few days later, on July 7, Nelson will bring the 2024 Outlaw Music Festival to Hersheypark Stadium.

The festival also includes Dylan, Krauss, Plant and and Celisse.

You can find tickets for the July 7 concert here: Ticketmaster, Stubhub, Vivid Seats, SeatGeek
The solar eclipse on April 8 is expected to draw thousands of people to Erie, Pa., potentially making for some traffic issues due to the higher volume.

Its also expected to mix things up a bit in the sky nationwide as well.

The U.S. Department of Transportations Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a warning to airmen this week regarding the eclipse, explaining that there may be possible impacts to air traffic and airports along the eclipse path.

Among these impacts are reroutes as well as potential airborne holding, with the FAA very heavily encouraging those working at airports to coordinate their departure times as early as possible.

There may be a higher traffic volume than normal anticipated at airports along the eclipse, the FAA statement reads. Traffic should anticipate delays during peak traffic periods.

Parking may be limited  particularly at the smaller, uncontrolled airports.

This, of course, applies to people traveling that day as well: If you have a flight thats either departing or returning the day of Monday, April 8, prepare yourself for some lag times and potential long waits thanks to those pesky sun and moon.

PennLive previously reported how millions of people are expected to travel throughout the country just for the chance to see the eclipse on its path of totality.

It will likely be the most-viewed astronomical event in American, says expert eclipse cartographer and co-founder of Great American Eclipse, Michael Zeiler.

When you combine the populations of Mexico, USA, and Canada that live inside the path of totality, and add all of those who will travel on eclipse day, a totally of 50 million North Americans witnessing totality is possible.

If you are flying the day of the eclipse, it would perhaps be prudent to check the status of your flight prior to leaving for the airport that day.
Governor Josh Shapiro and First Lady Lori Shapiro hosted about 140 pre-Kindergarten students, along with teachers and advocates who visited the Governors Residence Tuesday for the annual Easter egg hunt.

The event included a visit from the Easter bunny, a rabbit and baby goat petting areas, arts and crafts, story area and snacks for the kids.
A whole lot of people will be heading to Pennsylvania in a couple of weeks.

Thats because the Keystone State is on the path of totality for Aprils solar eclipse, prompting many folks to travel just to experience this extraordinary astronomical event.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) recently sent out a press release detailing officials gameplan as to how to make things a little more organized during April 8s solar eclipse. Specifically, with the traffic.

Pennsylvania is lucky to be one of only 13 states in the path of totality for this eclipse, bringing residents and visitors a unique viewing opportunity in our own backyard, states PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll via the release.

We are coordinating across agencies as well as with local governments and regional organizations to plan for the likelihood of traffic congestion that day with an emphasis on safety for our residents and eclipse tourists.

The release goes on to say that as many as 200,000 people are expected to visit Erie on the day of the eclipse, as the city will be experiencing one of the longest periods of darkness on that day.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission will keep all lanes of traffic opening heading got and from Erie on I-79 via the Cranberry Interchange (Exit #28) during this time. Additional maintenance personnel will be present in the vent of an emergency.

PennDOT has also created a special website people may reference to find different route suggestions in order to avoid high traffic volume.

Its important to realize that if you know an event is going to happen, you can plan to minimize its impact, says Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) Director, Randy Padfield. Make sure that youve taken care of routine errands before April 8 or take care of them the next day.

This totality will happen between around 3:16 p.m. and 3:20 p.m.
Someone in York County has become $100,000 richer.

King Tobacco Express, 49 W. Market St., York, will receive a $500 bonus for selling a winning Powerball ticket on March 25, according to a press release from the Pennsylvania Lottery.

The ticket matched four of five white balls drawn -- 7-11-19-53-68 -- and the red Powerball 23 to win $100,000. Had

The winners are not known until the tickets have been validated and the prizes have been claimed, lottery officials said.

Winners should immediately sign the back of their ticket. Winners have one year to claim their prize.

Online winnings automatically appear in the players account after the claim has been processed. Players can visit palottery.com for more information.

The Powerball jackpot has been rolling since it was last won on Jan. 1. Its currently at an estimated $865 million. As of early Tuesday, Powerball tickets in Pa. were being sold at a rate of an estimated $612 per minute, officials said.

The last time a Powerball jackpot was won in Pennsylvania was on Aug. 3, 2022, the press release said.

If you have a gambling problem and are located in Pennsylvania, call 1-800-GAMBLER or contact the 24-hour helpline chat at https://www.pacouncil.com/chatline.
By Michelle Deal-Zimmerman and Hayes Gardner, The Baltimore Sun (TNS)

BALTIMORE  Baltimores Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed early Tuesday morning after a support column was struck by a container ship, sending at least seven cars into the Patapsco River, launching a search-and-rescue operation and prompting Gov. Wes Moore to declare a state of emergency.

In a Tuesday morning news conference, just a few hours after the incident, Baltimore Fire Department Chief James Wallace said authorities are still very much in an active search and rescue posture, noting they are searching for upwards of seven individuals and that sonar has detected the presence of vehicles in the water. There is no indication that the event was intentional, Wallace said.

This is a tragedy that you could never imagine  It looked like something out of an action movie, Mayor Brandon Scott said.

All traffic has been rerouted from the 1.6-mile steel bridge that is part of Interstate 695.

37 1 / 37 Bridge collapses in Baltimore, Md.

What happened

Video from the incident shows the container ship, billowing smoke, hitting a support beam and quickly causing much of the bridge to collapse. Just before the crash, the ships lights appear to turn off, then on, then off again.

The ship had been under the operation of a pilot.

We know that we have a long road ahead, not just in search and rescue, but in the fallout from this, Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. said in the news conference.

Priscilla Thompson, who lives on the water in Dundalk facing the Key Bridge, was awoken in the middle of the night by the horrible sound of crashing steel. I really thought it was an earthquake or something because it shook this house so bad, she said. It shook it  it really rattled it  for four or five seconds.

And then, it got real quiet, she said.

Rescue operation

Moore said in a statement that he has declared a state of emergency and will work to quickly deploy federal resources.

We are thankful for the brave men and women who are carrying out efforts to rescue those involved and pray for everyones safety, Moore said in the statement. We will remain in close contact with federal, state, and local entities that are carrying out rescue efforts as we continue to assess and respond to this tragedy.

A spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard said the 948-foot, Singapore-flagged cargo ship Dali struck the bridge at approximately 1:20 a.m.

We are deploying assets in response, said Petty Officer First Class Matthew West, including two response boats from Curtis Bay and one from Annapolis. A helicopter was also deployed to assist in the search and rescue and several police helicopters were seen circling the area Tuesday morning.

The ship was built in 2015 and arriving from Norfolk, Virginia, according to Vessel Finder, a ship tracking website. It departed from the Port of Baltimore around 1:00 a.m., according to MarineTraffic, a separate tracking website.

Parts of the Francis Scott Key Bridge remain after a container ship collided with a support Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Baltimore. The major bridge in Baltimore snapped and collapsed after a container ship rammed into it early Tuesday, and several vehicles fell into the river below. Rescuers were searching for multiple people in the water. (AP Photo/Steve Ruark)AP

The cause of the incident is yet to be determined, according to a statement from Dalis owners and managers. Two pilots were aboard the ship and they, as well as all 22 Indian crew members, have been accounted for and there are no reports of any injuries.

There has been no pollution, the ships manager, Synergy Marine Group, said. Wallace said authorities had not confirmed if any fuel spilled into the water, but said there had been an odor of diesel fuel.

The National Data Buoy Center reported water temperatures in that area of the Patapsco were about 49 degrees at 4 a.m. The air temperature was 41 and winds were light.

Chadonne Grant, an overnight security officer at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, said Tuesday morning that the hospital had admitted several patients involved with the collapse. She didnt know how many  not a lot  but said they were brought in by helicopter about 2:30 a.m. or 3 a.m.

Federal help

On X, the site formerly known as Twitter, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said hed been in contact with Moore and Scott and had offered the U.S. Department of Transportations support following the vessel strike and collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge.

The Maryland Department of Emergency Management has staff on-site, and is coordinating with the governors office, the state police and the traffic authority in response to the bridge collapse. Agency spokesman Travis Brown said that the department has raised its emergency operation centers status to advanced, and that the state joint operations center is in full swing.

Ive spoken with Gov. Moore and Mayor Scott to offer USDOTs support following the vessel strike and collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge. Rescue efforts remain underway and drivers in the Baltimore area should follow local responder guidance on detours and response.  Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) March 26, 2024

The Maryland Transportation Authority noted on social media that Interstate 95 and I-895 tunnels are alternative ways to travel across the harbor. Vehicles transporting hazardous materials, however, are prohibited in tunnels and should use the western section of I-695 around tunnels, the authority posted.

A White House official said in a statement to The Baltimore Sun that there is no indication of any nefarious intent.

Our hearts go out to the families of those who remain missing as a result of this horrific incident, the statement said, in part.

History of the bridge

The Key Bridge, which opened in March 1977 after five years of construction and cost an estimated $110 million, is named for the writer of The Star-Spangled Banner. The bridge is one of the Baltimore harbors three toll crossings.

The bridge carried more than 12.4 million commercial and passenger vehicles in 2023  roughly 34,000 a day  according to a Maryland state government report issued last November.

Parts of the Francis Scott Key Bridge remain after a container ship collided with a support Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Baltimore. The major bridge in Baltimore snapped and collapsed after a container ship rammed into it early Tuesday, and several vehicles fell into the river below. Rescuers were searching for multiple people in the water. (WJLA via AP)AP

Tuesday morning before daybreak, 50-year-old Lupe Lucas and her son stood along the waters edge in Dundalk, gazing at the area the Key Bridge once spanned.

The center of the bridge had disappeared, save for a section collapsed on top of the large ship.

When the sun rises, and theres nothing there, thats going to be heartbreaking for a lot of people, she said.

Baltimore Sun reporters Christine Condon, Natalie Jones, Hannah Gaskill, Sam Janesch, Jonathan Pitts and Lorraine Mirabella contributed to this article.
The operator of the ship that crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, causing it to collapse early Tuesday, has been sued in the past five years over worker injuries.

Synergy Marine, which operated the ship that hit the bridge, and the ships owner, Grace Ocean Private Ltd, have been sued at least four times in U.S. federal court on allegations of negligence and other claims tied to worker injuries on other ships owned and operated by the Singapore-based companies.

One lawsuit, in 2019, involved a man from Oregon who broke several bones when a rope ladder he was using to board a refrigerated cargo vessel snapped, sending him 25 feet to the ground.

Also that year, a Texas worker was injured when a hatch on the same ship, the M/V Star Leader, was prematurely opened without warning by a ships crew member.

37 1 / 37 Bridge collapses in Baltimore, Md.

In 2021, a longshoreman in Savannah, Georgia, sued Synergy when he tumbled 5 feet on a gangway whose handrail collapsed, injuring his back and shoulder.

All three lawsuits were settled out of court.

A fourth case, involving a worker at the port of Houston who was pinned underneath a stack of metal pipes he was trying to remove, was dismissed.
FRANKLINVILLE, N.J. (AP)  Firefighters in southern New Jersey came to the rescue of a dog who got stuck in a spare tire.

The Franklinville Volunteer Fire Company crew found Daisy, an 11-month-old yellow Labrador, when they responded to a Franklin Township home last Thursday. Her neck was deep in the middle of the tire rim, and the firefighters worked quickly to devise a rescue plan while attempting to keep Daisy calm.

Lt. Brandon Volpe told The Philadelphia Inquirer that the crew first used dish soap and water but couldnt free the dog, who was pretty stuck in there. They then tried vegetable oil, and when that didnt work they put plastic wrap around her neck, hoping the oil and soap would make it slippery enough for her to slide down.

When that also failed, Volpe remembered he had plasma cutters  used for cutting steel and metal  at his home, so the crew put Daisy on a red wagon and headed to Volpes garage.

Volpe recalls the dog panicked a little bit, but a fire blanket was put around her head and neck for protection. Within five minutes, Daisy was free.
The recent news that Royal Caribbean is halting trips to its private beach in Labadee, Haiti, is just the latest in a string of recent travel warnings and problems that have plagued island tourist destinations this year.

Royal Caribbean announced on March 14 that its cruise liners wouldnt be stopping at its private beach as the country struggles with rampant gang violence and political turmoil.

Due to the evolving situation in Haiti, and in an abundance of caution, were temporarily suspending our visits to Labadee for our entire fleet, Assistant Vice President Aurora Yera-Rodriguez said in a statement. We continue to monitor and assess the situation with our Global Security & Intelligence Team.

The decision comes after the U.S. embassy in Haiti urged U.S. citizens to not travel to Haiti, and for any citizens currently in the country to leave as soon as possible.

Anti-government gangs in Haiti have been battling police and shut down both of the countrys international airports. On March 3, a mass prison break in Port-au-Prince led the government to declare a state of emergency after thousands of inmates escaped.

But Haiti is not the only vacation destination that has been met with travel warnings from the U.S. government (though it is arguably the most dangerous of them all to visit right now).

In late February, the U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Mexico issued a warning for anyone planning to visit the country during spring break, highlighting a list of potential threats that included violent crime, consuming unregulated drugs or alcohol, and counterfeit medication.

While noting that the vast majority of people who travel to Mexico do so safely, the embassy emphasized in its warning that crime, including violent crime, can occur anywhere in Mexico, including in popular tourist destinations.

U.S. citizens should exercise increased caution in the downtown areas of popular spring break locations including Cancun, Playa Del Carmen, and Tulum, especially after dark, the warning said.

Back in late January, the United States government issued a security warning and travel advisory for the Bahamas, saying that the country is dangerous for tourists due to the high level of crime, especially in the capital city of Nassau.

Murders have occurred at all hours including in broad daylight on the streets, the U.S. Embassy in Nassau said in a statement, noting that 18 murders have taken place in the capital since the beginning of the year. Retaliatory gang violence has been the primary motive in 2024 murders.

Prior to that, the U.S. State Department issued a level 3 reconsider travel advisory for Jamaica on Jan. 23, saying travelers should rethink going to Jamaica due to high crime and a lack of adequate medical services.

The advisory said that violent crimes, such as home invasions, armed robberies, sexual assaults, and homicides, are common in the country at the moment, and that sexual assaults occur frequently, including at all-inclusive resorts.

Leaders in Jamaica and the Bahamas both pushed back against these warnings, saying that their respective countries remain safe and secure destinations for tourists.

Sometimes, the unintended consequences of policies is they cause great harm and damage to the stability and safety of other countries, Edmund Bartlett, tourism minister for the country, told the Miami Herald back in February.

The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism said that the advisory does not reflect general safety in the Bahamas, a country of 16 tourism destinations, and many more islands.
By Tony Roberts, Baltimore Sun (TNS)

Baltimores Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed early Tuesday morning after a support column was struck by a vessel, sending cars into the Patapsco River, launching a search-and-rescue operation and prompting Gov. Wes Moore to declare a state of emergency.

Heres what you should know about the Francis Scott Key bridge:

What is the history of the bridges name?

The Francis Scott Key Bridge is named for Francis Scott Key, the author of the Star Spangled Banner. The site of the bridge is believed to be within 100 yards of where Key saw the bombing of Fort McHenry on Sept. 12, 1814 which inspired the words for what became the national anthem.

The battle at Fort McHenry was a key victory over British forces during the War of 1812. The American flag raised on Sept. 14, 1814, celebrated the victory and inspired the words broad stripes and bright stars in Keys song.

When was the bridge open?

Construction for the 1.6-mile Francis Scott Key Bridge started in 1972 and it opened on March 23, 1977.

In the 1960s, the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel reached its traffic capacity, leading the state to conceive of and build the Francis Scott Key Bridge. The bridge was the final link for the Baltimore Beltway, I-695.

The steel bridge is one of the Baltimore harbors three toll crossings. Its located on the I-695 outer-harbor crossing. Its part of a 10.9 miles long beltway span including a dual-span drawbridge over Curtis Creek and two parallel bridge structures carrying traffic over Bear Creek, according to the Maryland Transportation Authority.

How many people used the bridge?

The bridge, which cost about $110 million in the 1970s, was seen as an efficient alternative because it has lower operating and maintenance cost as well as more traffic lanes than the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel.

The bridge carried more than 12.4 million commercial and passenger vehicles in 2023, according to a Maryland state government report issued last November.

The Key Bridge allows wide loads and hazardous material that cant go through the Harbor Tunnel or Fort McHenry Tunnel. Vehicles transporting hazardous materials are prohibited in tunnels and should use the western section of I-695 around tunnels, the MDTA posted on social media.

FILE - The vessel Zhen Hua 13, carrying four giant shipping cranes for delivery and installation at the Port of Baltimore, passes under the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Wednesday, June 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)AP

What was the economic impact of the bridge?

With the collapse of the Key Bridge, one of Marylands major sources of personal and business revenues is at a halt.

The Port of Baltimore has created about 15,300 direct jobs, with nearly 140,000 jobs linked to port activities, according to a statement from Gov. Wes Moore in a February news release.

Moore said in the statement the port ranks first among the nations ports for volume of autos and light trucks, roll on/roll off heavy farm and construction machinery, imported sugar and imported gypsum.

The Port of Baltimore handled 847,158 cars and light trucks in 2023 which led other all other ports in the nation in the 13th consecutive year, according to the February release.
Update: Baltimore bridge collapse is a tragedy that you could never imagine: mayor

Baltimores Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed after being hit around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday by a cargo ship, and part of it crumbled into the Patapsco River below.

Heres what we know about the incident so far:

What happened?

A Singapore-flagged vessel, the 948-foot Dali, crashed into the Key Bridge about 1:30 a.m., Matthew West, a Coast Guard petty officer first class in Baltimore, told the Washington Post.

A video shows the cargo ship losing power just before hitting a bridge support beam.

Check this out: video (sped up at parts) with a better breakdown of the entire incident, resulting in the container ship striking the Key Bridge: pic.twitter.com/Hw67SHzjKl  DMV News Live (@DCNewsLive) March 26, 2024

There are reports that the cargo ship caught fire after the crash.

CNN, citing maritime tracking website MarineTraffic, reported that the ship stopped in Baltimore, where it was leaving to head to Colombo, Sri Lanka. The ship is around 984 feet long with a width of around 157 feet, according to MarineTraffic data.

Was anyone killed?

Kevin Cartwright, the director of communications for the Baltimore Fire Department, told the Baltimore Sun that there were vehicles and possibly a tractor-trailer that went into the water.

At a 6:15 a.m. news conference, city officials said two people had been rescued from the water. One of those rescued was unhurt; the other was badly injured, they said. City and county officials said they are continuing to search for at least seven people in the water.

CNN reported that as many as 20 people went into the river. Citing public affairs officer Kimberly Reaves, CNN said the Coast Guard has boats and a helicopter helping with the rescue mission, along with state and local agencies.

The Maryland Transportation Secretary said during a news conference that there were a number of workers repairing the bridges concrete deck when it collapsed, The New York Times said.

Reaves said it is unclear if there are any casualties.

The Volunteer Firefighters from @jmvfc8, the Volunteer Swift Water Team and the @HarfordCoDES Special Operations Team are assisting the Unified Command at the Baltimore Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse. pic.twitter.com/ipoTR2HljY  Harford Co., MD Fire & EMS (@HarforCoFireEMS) March 26, 2024

How old is the bridge?

The Francis Scott Key Bridge is a 1.6-mile steel bridge that is part of Interstate 695. It spans the Patapsco River, an East Coast shipping hub. The bridge opened in 1977 and is named for the writer of The Star-Spangled Banner, who is from Maryland.

Whats happening Tuesday morning?

As of 6 a.m., dozens of emergency crews are on both sides of the bridge, working on getting people and vehicles out of the river. I-695 is closed in the area.

The temperature in the river was about 47 degrees in the early hours of Tuesday, the Associated Press said.

At a Tuesday morning press conference, Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace said rescuers can dive into water at this temperature but are fighting river currents. Search-and-rescue crews used sonar technology to locate submerged vehicles, according to The Baltimore Sun.

Wallace told reporters that emergency responders have not yet confirmed if the cargo ship spilled fuel into the river after impact.

Information from CNN, The Baltimore Sun, the Associated Press and the Washington Post.

This story has been updated with details from the mayors news conference.
A police incident in Lebanon on Tuesday afternoon closed several roads and schools in the area. As of 4:30 p.m., the incident has been resolved, but limited details about the situation are available.

Police responded to the 800 block of Chestnut Street around noon on Tuesday, but it is not clear at this time what prompted the call. Police later put out a news release saying no hostages were involved, despite social media rumors.

Multiple police officers were seen in the area with their guns drawn.
By Robert Moran, The Philadelphia Inquirer (TNS)

PHILADELPHIA  Bucks County on Monday filed a lawsuit against major oil companies alleging that they have deceived the public for decades about fossil fuels role in climate change  causing catastrophic impacts for the county from severe weather.

The 172-page complaint, filed in Common Pleas Court, is the first such legal action for a county or local government in Pennsylvania. And it follows similar suits filed by New Jersey and other states and local governments.

The lawsuit points to recent extreme weather and flooding in Bucks County, including approximately 7 inches of rainfall in just 45 minutes last July. At least seven people died as a result of the flooding.

Since at least the 1950s, (oil company) scientists have consistently concluded that fossil fuels produce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas pollution that can have catastrophic consequences for the planet and its people, according to the lawsuit.

The industry took these internal scientific findings seriously, investing heavily to protect its own assets and infrastructure from rising seas, stronger storms and other climate change impacts, the lawsuit says.

The companies engaged in a successful climate deception campaign to protect and promote fossil fuels, leading to increased greenhouse gas emissions, accelerated global warming, and devastating climate change impacts for the county, according to the lawsuit.

Bucks County, the lawsuit states, has and will continue to incur substantial costs responding to weather events caused by climate change and destabilization and taking measures to adapt to the impacts of climate change.

The defendants listed in the complaint include ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, BP, ConocoPhillips, Philips 66 and trade group American Petroleum Institute.

In an emailed statement, ExxonMobil said the lawsuits claims are meritless and do nothing to address climate change; instead, they distract from the work were doing to lower emissions around the world.

Ryan Meyers, senior vice president and general counsel for the American Petroleum Institute, said in an email: This ongoing, coordinated campaign to wage meritless, politicized lawsuits against a foundational American industry and its workers is nothing more than a distraction from important national conversations and an enormous waste of taxpayer resources. Climate policy is for Congress to debate and decide, not a patchwork of counties and courts.

The Center for Climate Integrity, a nonprofit advocacy organization that tracks such lawsuits, said that the attorneys general in eight states, including New Jersey, and the District of Columbia, as well as dozens of municipal governments are pursuing similar legal claims.

Richard Wiles, president of the Center for Climate Integrity, said in a statement: By taking Big Oil companies to court for their climate lies, Bucks County joins a growing wave of communities that are demanding accountability and taking action to make polluters pay for a crisis these companies knowingly fueled and lied about for decades.

Wiles added: More than one in four people in the U.S. now live in a community suing major fossil fuel companies to make them pay for their climate deception. Bucks County is the first Pennsylvania government to file a climate accountability lawsuit against Big Oil companies, but it likely wont be the last.

Bucks County Commissioner Chair Diane Ellis-Marseglia said the lawsuit is our tool to recoup costs and fund public works projects like bolstering or replacing bridges, retrofitting county-owned buildings and commencing stormwater management projects, all to help the county better prepare for severe weather in the future.

The county is represented by the law firm of DiCello Levitt.
888poker Mystery Bounty Main Event Champion To Be Crowned on March 26

March 26, 2024 Matthew Pitt Senior Editor

They say that all good things must come to an end, and that is the case in the latest Mystery Bounty Festival at 888poker. Only three numbered events are without their champion, including the $300,000 guaranteed Main Event, which concludes on March 26 under the watchful eyes of the 888poker Twitch channel.

The $300,000 guaranteed was reached thanks to 1,597 players buying in over the course of a dozen or so Day 1s. Only 251 of those starters progressed to Day 2, with Day 2 whittling the field down to the eight-handed final table.

Mystery bounties came into play from the start of Day 2, and 23 players bagged four-figure sums, with three locking in five-figure amounts.

Nineteenth-place finisher "AlCunningham" opened a mystery bounty envelope containing $12,000, as did "CPU0r," who reached the final table with enough chips for sixth place at the restart. However, New Zealand's "Flopzilla_XD" may have fallen in 46th place for $508, but one of the mystery bounties they secured weighed in at an impressive $30,000!

Find Your Perfect 888poker Tournament Use the PokerNews Online Tournament Calendar to find your perfect 888poker tournament. Find the OTC here

$300,000 Mystery Bounty Festival Main Event Final Table Chip Counts

Rank Player Country Chips Big Blinds Bounties 1 MMDpoker1 Romania 3,882,204 78 $3,562 2 kellerassel0 Germany 2,822,876 57 $562 3 AnitaKiraly Romania 2,504,920 50 $2,887 4 doga10 Brazil 1,881,714 38 $5,062 5 QdEqTeCalaz Brazil 1,877,446 38 $225 6 CPU0r 1,372,100 27 $15,675 7 KaizenStyle Brazil 1,133,215 22 $7,687 8 Sheglov Ukraine 495,525 10 $6,862

Although all the biggest mystery bounties have been claimed, the eight finalists who return to their seats at 7:00 p.m. GMT have plenty to play for. Nobody will take home less than $3,066 for their efforts, plus any mystery bounties they have accumulated along the way. The top three finishers lock in at least $13,297, with the champion securing a $24,749 payday.

Start-of-Day 2 chipleader "MMDpoker1" of Romania built on their impressive start and is the player to catch when the cards are back in the air. "MMDpoker1" has 3,882,204 chips, the equivalent of 78 big blinds, at their disposal. It would be quite the achievement to lead a tournament of this size from start to finish.

Germany's "kellerassel0" returns to the action second in chips with a 2,822,876 stack (57 big blinds), while the leader's fellow Romanian "AnitaKiraly" has 2,504,920 chips (50 big blinds) and takes their seat in the top three.

Only "Sheglov" of Ukraine is super short; when the action resumes, they have 495,525 chips (10 big blinds).

Mini Main Event Ends in a Three-Way Deal

While the $300,000 guaranteed Mystery Bounty Main Event was edging towards its final table, the $50,000 Mini Main Event was busy crowning its worthy champion. A field of 2,736 players ensured the guarantee was blown away, with 888poker awarding $62,928 instead.

More than $11,600 of the pot was distributed to the top three finishers, who struck a deal at the tournament's business end.

Germanys "timotobias" is the player forever known to be this event's champion they scooped $3,871 in total. "ParttimeF1sh" finished second for $3,786, with "Hodor83" finishing third albeit it with $3,948 in prize money, the largest sum of the three dealmakers.

The tournament's biggest winner was "zendayushka" of Montenegro. They fell in 51st place but not before opening a golden envelope containing a $5,000 mystery bounty. In total, "zendayushka" walked away with $5,364.

$50,000 Mystery Bounty Mini Main Event Final Table Results

Rank Player Country Bounties Prize Total Prize 1 Timotobias Germany $167 $3,704 $3,871* 2 ParttimeF1sh $14 $3,772 $3,786* 3 Hodor83 United Kingdom $291 $3,657 $3,948* 4 Earnshaw Brazil $584 $1,896 $2,480 5 kiabalo Brazil $1,027 $1,395 $2,423 6 Checkmynutts Romania $13 $1,024 $1,037 7 Johnssoni Finland $57 $758 $815 8 tazvan.morar Romania $1,055 $565 $1,620

888poker Mystery Bounty Festival Results

Event Buy-in Entrants Prize Pool Champion Prize #1  Mystery Bounty Opening Mini $11 1,948 $19,480 blackday1997 $1,822 #2  Mystery Bounty Opening Mid $55 859 $42,950 Alysson1994 $4,693 #3  Mystery Bounty Opening $109 1,171 $120,000 LODDENThinks $9,620 #4  Mystery Bounty 6-Max Mini $11 1,241 $12,140 SaintGoal $1,416 #5  Mystery Bounty 6-Max $55 337 $16,850 swig207 $2,965 #6  Mystery Bounty Mid $16.50 892 $13,380 AAGrimnir $1,441 #7  Mystery Bounty Mini $8.80 795 $6,360 1bravo90 $648 #8  Mystery Bounty $55 291 $15,000 Alysson1994 $3,878 #9  Mystery Bounty Mini $11 1,261 $12,610 PaiDeTodos $1,459 #10  Mystery Bounty $33 420 $12,600 winsistente $2,685 #11  Mystery Bounty Turbo Deep $55 285 $14,250 Allejo7 $2,032 #12  Mystery Bounty Turbo Deep Mini $5.50 1,088 $5,440 WeemarkCug1 $514 #13  Mystery Bounty Mini $11 1,364 $13,640 TiltingDaisy $1,362 #14  Mystery Bounty $109 137 $13,700 rekych.kg $2,876 #15  PLO Mystery Bounty $11 234 $2,340 aduandrei $457 #16  Mystery Bounty 6-Max $55 268 $13,400 zxcdsaqwe $3,052 #17  Mystery Bounty 6-Max Mini $22 535 $10,700 Jaote23 $1,323 #18  Mystery Bounty Mini $11 1,854 $18,540 cmsRio $1,753 #19  Mystery Bounty $55 815 $40,750 MikiDave $3,857 #20  Mystery Bounty High $109 372 $37,200 Came2click $6,340 #21  Mystery Bounty Big or Small $11 1,201 $12,010 Thiago_ricci $1,293 #22  Mystery Bounty Big or Small $22 580 $11,600 Jacquespaul $1,561 #23  Mystery Bounty Mini Main Event $25 2,736 $62,928 Timotobias $3,871

Remaining 888poker Mystery Bounty Festival Schedule (Numbered Events)

Only the Mystery Bounty Festival Closing Events remain on the schedule. Will round off the series with an impressive victory?

Date Time (GMT) Event Buy-in Guarantee Tue 26 Mar 5:00 p.m. #25  Mystery Bounty Closing Event Mini $11 $10,000 6:30 p.m. #26  Mystery Bounty Closing Event $55 $15,000 7:00 p.m. #24  Mystery Bounty Main Event Final Table $300,000

Sharelines The 888poker Mystery Bounty Festival Main Event has reached its eight-handed final table.
In a call with reporters ahead of the Supreme Courts Mifepristone hearing, the Biden campaign and surrogates cut through the GOP smokescreen by pointing to Project 2025.

Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez pointed to Project 2025 as a comprehensive plan to take reproductive freedom and Mifepristone away from women, Trumps close advisors and allies have publicly released a comprehensive strategy to rip away access to reproductive health care, including banning medication abortion and restricting access to contraception, without the help of Congress. The President and Vice President are the only candidates who believe that reproductive health care decisions belong to women and their doctors  not politicians or the government. These are the stakes in 2024 and were going to continue to make sure that every single voter knows it.

The campaign was pointing to Project 2025, which is the comprehensive Trump presidential transition and policy plan that lays out how Trump and his allies plan to take reproductive freedom away from women and impose a national abortion ban without an act of Congress.

Later a reporter asked how Democrats can counter Republicans not seeming to have a unified plan on abortion.

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Reproductive Freedom for All President Mini Timmaraju said, Number one just for clarification a 15-week abortion ban is still an abortion ban and as we showed in Virginia Americans hate abortion bans. They will not fall for it if they

will not stand for it so we need to be really clear we know how to beat back a 15-week abortion ban and it is a ban and theres no room for quote compromise on this issue number one number two you know with or without unanimity in the GOP if Trump gets elected he can still push through a national abortion ban without Congress

that was the point of talking about Project 2025 the Comstock Act, and all the other plans they have. Imagine how much more damage they could do in four years if allowed to continue.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) was also on the call and she warned about what Republicans in Congress are targeting, Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans are prepared to use every tool in their toolbox to control womens bodies  banning abortion nationwide, ending access to IVF, and even attacking contraception access. Weve seen what happens when Donald Trump and extremists get their way: 10-year-old rape survivors are forced to travel across state lines for care. Mothers, hoping for a baby, heartbroken when the pregnancy goes wrong, turned away from the emergency room and forced to wait until they are at the brink of death while doctors are barred from helping. Families, who have been wanting and praying that IVF can help them have a baby, saw Republicans in Congress block a bill to protect IVF.

The Supreme Court hearing on the abortion pill is just the start. The Biden campaign is sounding the alarm that Project 2025 puts it all in writing.

The American people cant afford to be fooled by more Republican double talk and smokescreens. Republicans have put into writing exactly what they are going to do if Trump wins, and it is up to every freedom-loving American to stop them.

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President Bidens leadership was on display as he vowed that the Francis Scott Key Bridge will be rebuilt and he intends for the federal government to pay for it.

The President said, I want to say, were with you. Were going to stay with you as long as it takes. Like the governor said, youre Maryland tough, youre Baltimore strong and were going to get through this together. And I promise most were not leaving. 

President Biden vowed to protect the jobs that are impacted by the port closing, and told the people of Maryland that is his expectation that the federal government will pay for the bridge to be rebuilt, My transportation secretary is there now. As I told Governor Moore, Im directing my team to move heaven and Earth to reopen the port and rebuild the bridge as soon as humanly possible, and were going to work hand in hand to support Maryland and give them whenever they asked for. Were going to work with our partners in Congress to make sure the state gets the support it needs. Its my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of the reconstruction of that bridge. I expect the congress to support my effort.

Video of President Biden:

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Bidens strength and leadership in these situations might make it easy for some to forget how bad Trump and his administration were at the basics of governing. Handling an accident or a natural disaster is Presidency 101. The basics of the job necessitate an ability for the federal government to effectively be there and help states and localities with accidents or disasters happen.

For four years, Trump consistently failed to meet this basis standard of presidential competence.

With Biden as president, the American people can trust that the federal government will be there if tragedy strikes.

That is not something that could be said while Donald Trump was in office.

The Francis Scott Bridge collapse is an example of why presidential leadership matters.

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While interviewing Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), Fox Newss Maria Bartiromo tried to connect the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore to the border.

Bartiromo said:

Let me also get your take on whats going on in terms of world affairs. The White House has issued a statement on this saying that theres no indication of the nefarious intent in the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. The ship involved in the collapse of the bridge is 948 feet long called the Dolly, a Singaporean flag container.

But of course, youve been talking a lot about the potential for wrongdoing or potential for foul play given the wide open border. That is why you have been so adamant. Why has the Republicans had such a hard time securing this border? The president says hes not going to take his executive action. You know that.

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Video:

Maria Bartiromo tries to link the Francis Scott Key bridge collapse in Baltimore to the wide open border pic.twitter.com/bkMdvFNa3g  Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 26, 2024

Fox News only has one narrative for the 2024 election, and that is everything bad that happens is President Bidens fault, and Bidens border policies are to blame for it all.

The border has nothing to do with an accident where the container ship sent a distress signal as it was having issues before it hit the bridge. That distress signal and the quick action of official saved lives as they were able to keep people off of the bridge.

The FBI has said that there is no indication that the collapse of the bridge is related to terrorism. What happened in Baltimore appears to have been a horrible accident, but Fox News is never beneath exploiting a tragic event to push their fear-based narrative of border hysteria.

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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is demanding a full investigation into whether the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge was an accident.

Greene posted, There should be a serious investigation into the horrifying tragedy of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Maryland. Is this an intentional attack or an accident? Praying for the victims, survivors, and families 

A serious investigation has already started. The Secretary of Transportation, the Coast Guard, federal law enforcement, and transportation safety officials are on the scene.

If, by a serious investigation, Rep. Greene suggested a House Republican investigation, then it would absolutely not be possible because House Republicans have shown themselves to be unserious people.

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There is not a cover-up. The cargo ship sent a distress signal and warned officials that they were having mechanical issues. The distress signal allowed the bridge to be closed so that more people were not harmed. Terrorists dont let people know in advance so that lives can be saved.

When an accident happens or disaster strikes, the nation needs serious people in charge.

Rep. Greene is not a serious person. Conspiracy theories are not governing, and Greene is treading into conspiracy theory territory with her post.

In Trumps party, conspiracies pass for governing, and the questioning of basic facts is another way of undermining trust in government.

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Teens who want to learn skills to become effective leaders can participate in a special program.

Applications are now open for the North Augusta Chamber of Commerce Foundations 2024 Junior Leadership Academy.

The program, for rising ninth graders in Aiken County, would provide the tools and resources necessary for successful leadership development, according to a media release from North Augusta Chamber of Commerce.

During the month of June, participants can engage in a comprehensive curriculum that includes identifying their own characteristics, personality traits and strengths, as well as gaining an understanding of community needs, opportunities, challenges and resources.

The program also helps in developing communication, team-building and leadership skills for students to interact with peers from other schools, community leaders and decision-makers, the release said.

The goal of the program is to help students develop important leadership skills, learn about their community and make valuable connections with local leaders.

The program is open to public, private and homeschool students, with the application being due at 4 p.m. March 28. The program will consist of an orientation, seven full-day sessions, one half-day session and a graduation ceremony.

For more information on how to apply, visit bit.ly/2024JLA.
WASHINGTON  The Supreme Court on Tuesday seemed likely to preserve access to a medication that was used in nearly two-thirds of all abortions in the U.S. last year, in the court's first abortion case since conservative justices overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago.

In nearly 90 minutes of arguments, a consensus appeared to emerge that the abortion opponents who challenged the FDA's approval of the medication, mifepristone, and subsequent actions to ease access to it, lack the legal right or standing to sue.

Such a decision would leave in place the current rules that allow patients to receive the drug through the mail, without any need for an in-person visit with a doctor, and to take the medication to induce an abortion through 10 weeks of pregnancy. Should the court take the no-standing route, it would avoid the more politically sensitive aspects of the case.

The high court's return to the abortion thicket is taking place in a political and regulatory landscape that was reshaped by its abortion decision in 2022 that led many Republican-led states to ban or severely restrict abortion.

Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, the Biden administration's top Supreme Court lawyer, said the court should dismiss the case and make clear that anti-abortion doctors and organizations don't "come within 100 miles" of having standing.

Even three justices who were in the majority to overturn Roe posed skeptical questions about standing to the lawyer for the abortion opponents. Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh are former President Donald Trump's three Supreme Court appointees.

Barrett, for example, seemed to doubt that the doctors identified by lawyer Erin Hawley could show that were actually harmed by the FDA's actions, one of the requirements for showing standing.

"The difficulty, to me, is that the affidavits do read more like conscience objections," Barrett said.

Kavanaugh had only one question during the entire session and it too seemed to be focused on the technical issue of standing. He asked Prelogar to confirm that "under federal law, no doctors can be forced against their consciences to perform or assist in an abortion."
HUNTING ISLAND  Chunks of broken concrete litter the shoreline and theres a precipitous drop off the edge of the parking lot, clear indicators that natures relentless forces are holding sway over a popular Hunting Island boat launch.

The damage caused by erosion and resulting concerns for public safely led to an unpopular decision by South Carolina State Parks to close Russ Point Landing, which sits on Fripp Inlet at the southern tip of Hunting Island, starting April 1.

The reason for the closure is that the erosion is so bad that its got to the point that it isnt safe for the public to access it, said Sam Queen, director of corporate communications for South Carolina State Parks. She noted that the erosion has eaten away at the parking lot and reduced it to only 16 spots.

A sign announcing the closure went up at the landing March 15, and since then a cadre of local, state and federal resources have scrambled to find a solution that will allow the site to remain in use.

Beaufort County Councilman David Bartholomew said the reaction hes received to the closure has been entirely negative.

We are a boating and fishing community, and thats a prime access to the ocean and our marshes. People want it to remain open, Bartholomew said.

While the efforts have succeeded in marshaling resources to find an eventual solution to the erosion issues, there appears to be little chance that closure of the landing on at least a temporary basis can be avoided.

We are moving forward with the April 1 closure because theres no solution we can put in place now to prevent that, said Queen.

State Rep. Shannon Erickson, R-Beaufort, visited the landing and observed the effects of the erosion, which she said was occurring at a particularly fast rate near the boat launch.

I dont think anybody wants to close that boat landing, but theres a two- to four-foot drop-off. Its really eroding pretty quickly, Erickson said.
SAINT HELENA ISLAND  Community ties and Gullah Geechee heritage will be major pillars of a new charter school coming to Saint Helena Island.

Sea Islands Heritage Academy was approved by the Public Charter School District Board of Trustees in April 2023 and recently announced its inaugural school year is planned to begin in August.

For Executive Director Alana Jenkins, the opening has been a years-long process.

Jenkins spent a decade at charter schools in New York City as a teacher, a dean of students and an assistant principal of humanities. Shes also a fellow at BES, a national nonprofit that identifies and prepares leaders to transform education in their communities.

She has family ties to Beaufort County and in 2020 began to lay the groundwork for a new charter school that would primarily serve students north of the Broad River. She was living in Beaufort County at the time and had recently experienced the death of a student.

It really impacted me deeply, Jenkins said. (The student) really thrived in the school environment. There was kind of a sacred bubble of school, but like many people outside of that bubble, he really struggled.

Jenkins set out to learn how that sacred bubble could be expanded into the students communities. Heritage Academys founders began interviews with Saint Helena Island residents.

The things we heard over and over again was that we were not taking care of each other in (the) community very well because were not honoring where were from and embedding that in our students, Jenkins said.

Jenkins and fellow Heritage Academy board members began to develop an education model they hope can change that narrative.

School mission and curriculum

In its first year, the Sea Islands Heritage Academy aims to enroll up to 150 sixth and seventh graders, with an additional grade added each year until the institute serves students through 12th grade.
BLUFFTON  A weekend of violence that left three dead shook Beaufort County from St. Helena Island to Bluffton.

The weekend started with the discovery of two bodies in a home on Pearl Harbor Lane on St. Helena Island around 9 p.m. March 22.

Christiana Alkire, 41, and David Gardner, 38, were both shot to death by an unknown assailant in the home they shared. Their identities were released by the Beaufort County Coroner's Office.

Family members went to the home to check on Alkire and Gardner after not hearing from them for several day, which was reportedly out of character for the pair.

The circumstances surrounding the deaths are currently under investigation, and preliminary information indicates that both were homicide victims. Maj. Angela Viens, spokesperson for the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office told The Post and Courier that there is no indication that the deaths resulted from a murder-suicide.

The Sheriffs Office urges anyone with information related to this investigation to contact Investigator Jennifer Petrone at 843-255-3440, or if wishing to remain anonymous and for a possible reward, Crime Stoppers of the Lowcountry at 843-554-1110.

In a second incident, a 77-year-old Sun City resident is behind bars after an alleged murder-suicide went awry.

Deputies responded to a Penny Creek Drive home after a man called 911 and reported that he and his wife had committed suicide.

The body of Catherine Rounds, also 77, was discovered by deputies on their arrival. The Coroner's Office reported that she had been suffocated.

Her husband, John K. Rounds, sustained lacerations in what law enforcement said was an unsuccessful suicide attempt.

John Rounds was treated at Coastal Carolina Hospital and taken into custody upon his release from the hospital. He was booked into the Beaufort County Detention Center and charged with a single count of murder. According to county records, he remains confined at this time.
Clean water sustains just about everything, and for generations, the water in parts of Berkeley County has been pulled from the ground through aging wells filling cups, bowls, pots and sinks. Generations of people have been raised on it. Read moreClean water coming to rural parts of Berkeley County
The stunning bridge collapse in Baltimore isn't likely to have a big impact on vessel traffic or volumes in Charleston, maritime experts say, with much closer ports able to absorb the cargo that will be diverted over the coming months.

Barbara Melvin, CEO of the S.C. State Ports Authority, said the agency is able to support container lines and shippers affected by the early-morning ship collision March 26 that brought down part of the Francis Scott Key Bridge over the Patapsco River.

As a U.S. East Coast port, S.C. Ports and the entire maritime community stand ready to assist any ocean carrier customers and importers and exporters in this time of tragedy," Melvin said in a written statement. "We are here to offer support to ensure fluidity in the U.S. supply chains, which is critical to our economy and daily lives.

Most of the diverted cargo is expected to be rerouted to ports in closer proximity to Baltimore, which is roughly 600 miles from Charleston.

People right now are figuring out where are they going and what are their options, said Ami Daniel, CEO of Israel-based maritime intelligence company Windward.

Shipping expert Lars Jensen said on his LinkedIn page that cargo previously bound for Baltimore  the nation's 17th-biggest container port  will likely move to the Port of Virginia in Norfolk or the Port of New York and New Jersey. Those two ports handle more than 50 percent of all cargo moving through the East Coast and have capacity to take on the extra containers.

Both ports have seen double-digit percentage drops from the number of containers they handled a year ago, so they have room.

Jensen, with Copehagen-based Vespucci Maritime, said "it appears Norfolk and New York-New Jersey combined have sufficient capacity to take the spillover from Baltimore. Of course, not without some disruptive effects as none of this is preplanned into the supply chains and hence some bottleneck effects and delays are to be anticipated in the short term."
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
GREENVILLE  The Greenville County Library System will relocate two books with LGBTQ themes from its young adult section and another from its juvenile collection to adult sections after a vote from its governing board.

The move marks the second time in a month the board has overruled library staff to move material intended for younger readers to an adult area.

Two of the books  "Flamer" and 'We are the Ants"  were taken out of the library's young adult section, which is curated for ages 13-17.

Ahead of the March 25 vote, the board cited the library system's sexually explicit materials policy, which was created last year, as the basis for relocating the titles.

Board members said multiple scenes in the graphic novel "Flamer" violated library system policy, including a panel in which a teen at a Boy Scout camp holds up a soda bottle, saying that he and other boys had masturbated into it, and that if another camper did not ejaculate into it as well, he would have to drink it.

"We are the Ants" includes references to sexual assault and self harm that the board said also violated its requirements for being shelved in the young adult collection.

During the same meeting, the board removed the book "Rick" from its juvenile section, which is for children 12 and under.

The title, the board determined, violated a newly created policy, enacted last month, which prohibits books that discuss trans issues from the juvenile and children's sections and requires they be moved to the parenting and early childhood collection.

The book features a trans middle school student, as well as a Q&A section that discusses trans subjects, including pronouns. The book is by the same author as "Melissa", which the board moved to the PET section at the same meeting it created the policy regarding children's books with trans themes.

Before moving "Melissa" to the PET collection last month, it had been years since the committee considered a content appeal, according to library staff.
Summerville, SC (29483)

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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
With the recent substantial increase in mortgage interest rates, many homeowners have been asking, Will this finally cause home prices to drop? In a market where rates are predicted to rise even further this year, buyer affordability could take a serious hit. To give you a better idea of w Read moreAre home prices falling?
Disbarred attorney and convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh is not telling the truth about his missing assets or of everyone who may have helped him steal millions, federal prosecutors say, revealing they believe yet another lawyer may have played a role in his schemes.

In a series of motions filed March 26, prosecutors acknowledged that a federal grand jury was still investigating the Murdaugh case. And they said that after four meetings with Murdaugh last year, they didnt believe he was being completely truthful about some $6 million they cant account for.

So under the terms of his agreement to plead guilty to nearly two dozen federal charges, the U.S. Attorneys Office decided to subject him to a polygraph test. An FBI examiner asked him about the missing money and the involvement of another attorney in (his) criminal conduct.

He did not pass. In fact, prosecutors said, all of Murdaughs responses  indicated deception.

The prosecution team, led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Limehouse, disclosed the polygraph results in a motion to rip up their plea agreement with Murdaugh. Federal prosecutors had agreed that if Murdaugh cooperated, they would ask a judge to let him serve his federal and state sentences at the same time.

In addition to two life sentences for the June 2021 murders of his wife, Maggie, and son Paul, Murdaugh agreed a 27-year term in state prison related to his vast financial crimes. He pleaded guilty to stealing millions of dollars from clients, his law firm and others who trusted him, as well as money laundering and tax evasion.

The financial crime sentences will mean little unless Murdaughs murder convictions are overturned. (He is currently appealing the verdicts.) But if they are, stacking the state and federal prison terms could serve to provide additional insurance to prosecutors that he will not walk free any time soon.
Silly us. When Atlantic Beach officials told The Post and Couriers Nicole Ziege the towns Election Commission was meeting on Wednesday to certify the results of the town election held last November, we thought that meant the commission was going to  certify the results. Read moreEditorial: How long will SC Legislature let Atlantic Beach keep disenfranchising voters?
Myrtle Beach's ordinance would define the misdemeanor as a crime motivated by bias or hate towards people because of actual or perceived race, color, creed, religion, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, physical or mental disability, or national origin.

It states that crimes motived by hate or bias are an affront to the values held by the City of Myrtle Beach.

On Valentines Day 2023, the city passed a resolution supporting statewide hate crime legislation. That resolution was given to the state Senate, House of Representatives and governor.

The state House of Representatives has passed the Clementa C. Pinckney Hate Crimes Act, but it has yet to be voted on by the full Senate. The act calls for a fine not to exceed $10,000 and imprisonment of up to five years.

Pinckney was one of nine people murdered in 2015 at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston by white supremacist Dylann Roof. Pinckney was a state senator and a pastor at Emanuel AME Church.

Since the state legislature moves on a two-year cycle, if the bill does not pass this session it would have to be refiled and begin the process again in January.

I thought it was the right thing to pass it January a year ago, Livingston said. But this law, to me, is going to be more about helping the victims recover from the crime. The victim didnt do anything to cause the crime. It's just that, who they are caused it. And I think once you realize that, it gets marked as a hate crime by the police. Thats important, to mark it correctly.

Myrtle Beach Mayor Brenda Bethune and City Councilman Gregg Smith said the proposed ordinance sends a message to state legislators.

When we realized that the state was not going to pass a bill, we just felt that it was important for us to do one on our own, as other municipalities have done," Bethune said. "[It's] to show our community that we are not going to condone any type of crime that involves hatred. And it's important when we look at economic development and we try to attract businesses that want to locate here. They want to know that it's a safe place for people to come to and a safe place for them to invest their money in and we want that for the entire state, not just for certain cities.
Taylor alleges the FBI arrested him without probable cause while not considering or investigating Moody, who had a history of sexual crimes against minors and who had evaded parole before Drexel disappeared.

Taylor, who is Black, alleges he became the third generation of men in his family to be falsely arrested for "kidnapping innocent White women," and that his family has dealt with years of harassment, death threats and lost opportunities after being prosecuted in the court of public opinion.

Two of his uncles were falsely arrested for the unsolved North Charleston murder of Shannon McConaughey in 1998. His father was falsely arrested for an attempted kidnapping in Myrtle Beach just 15 months after Drexel disappeared, per the complaint.

And Taylor has accused the FBI of not retracting its public accusation against him and his father until Moody's guilty plea in 2022. The FBI had publicly marked him and his father as primary suspects in Drexel's case in 2016, and that accusation had remained even though the two were allegedly ruled out as suspects by 2018.

McKaig said the suit is meant to share the true story behind what happened during the FBI's investigation, and his client hopes to hold the FBI accountable for the emotional distress his family endured in the six years leading up to Moody's arrest.

"No amount of money can undo the damage the government caused, but we should demand accountability from the people charged with upholding the law," McKaig said. "If the FBI can do this to the Taylor's and just walk away, they can do it to you and your family. That's not justice, and the American people deserve better."

The FBI office in Columbia declined to comment on the pending litigation.

The accusations begin

Drexel, 17, of Chili, N.Y., disappeared while on a spring break trip to Myrtle Beach in 2009. She was last seen alive at the Blue Water Resort in Myrtle Beach.

Moody, a registered sex offender, kidnapped Drexel and drove to a campsite at Pole Yard Boat Landing, a spot near the North Santee River south of Georgetown where he liked to fish.
Attention businesses and entrepreneurs: The government wants to help you.

Charleston Countys Business Concierge Program is meant to help companies in the area, as well as new businesses, with any issue at no cost to the company or taxpaying residents.

The program started in 1993 after it was decided the Navy base would close in Charleston. Steve Dykes, Charleston Countys executive director of economic development, said there was a communitywide panic at the time because the economic impacts of losing the base were unknown.

Pretty quickly, it crystallized into recruiting new industry, taking care of our existing companies, helping them expand and then trying to improve the business climate in Charleston, Dykes said.

Now, the county has helped at least eight companies expand, and recruited six established businesses in the past year.

Charleston County's Fiscal Year 2025-27 Strategic Plan includes the goal of annually assisting 200 existing companies and start-ups in the information technology, life sciences, manufacturing and logistics sectors through the Business Concierge Program.

Dykes said the program is funded by 7.5 percent of the revenues generated by the "fee in lieu of taxes," a program the county started in 1995. He said this revenue results in an annual budget of roughly $4 million a year.

Dykes said that after learning most jobs are created by existed companies, he and his colleagues decided to concentrate more on helping established employers rather than on recruiting new businesses, as other counties do. The effort later was named the Business Concierge Program: County employees would help businesses like a concierge assists hotel guests.

The program, which operates under the county's Economic Development Department, provides a number of services to businesses, according to Jay Kramer, county project manager of existing industry. Some of those services include facilitating business expansions, supplier development and marketing assistance via press releases.
Charleston's harbor pilots, the people responsible for safely guiding commercial vessels to and from the Port of Charleston, say they plan to evaluate their operations following the March 26 incident in Baltimore in which a bridge collapsed after being hit by a containership.

"Our entire maritime and logistics community works together every day to safely move freight," Crayton Walters, president of the Charleston Branch Pilots Association, said in a written joint statement with South Carolina transportation and ports leaders.

Walters said the agencies "have already had initial conversations regarding the incident," and will jointly review harbor operations, procedures and state infrastructure.

Our thoughts and prayers are with those in Baltimore today impacted by this tragic incident," he said. "Like everyone in the maritime industries, we are standing by for details of what the causal factors of this incident were. Harbor pilots nationwide are highly trained, undergo emergency ship handling training and receive extensive continuing education on a regular basis, including simulation training for emergency scenarios.

Harbor pilots guide containerships and other vessels, such as cruise ships, through the entrance channel to the Port of Charleston, and their knowledge of local waterways  including depths, currents and potential hazards  can be invaluable to containership crews who may never have experienced the harbor before.

In Charleston, there are 20 licensed harbor pilots who work a week-on, week-off schedule but no more than 12 hours without a rest period. They can be dispatched 24 hours a day, seven days a week from their headquarters building, which includes sleeping quarters and eating facilities, at 6 Concord St.

A pilot typically will ride one of the agency's four pilot launch vessels out to sea to meet a containership as far as 20 miles off the coast. The smaller vessel will pull alongside a containership and then the pilot will board the larger vessel by jumping onto a waiting rope ladder. The pilot will then be escorted to the containe ship's bridge, where the pilot will conduct a brief inspection to ensure safety and become acquainted with the ship's captain and senior crew.
The S.C. Department of Transportation has decided to replace the Don Holt Bridge over the Cooper River with a wider and taller one as part of an Interstate 526 widening project that will aid the State Ports Authority.

The decision announced March 26 comes a week after the SPA agreed to buy the WestRock paper mill property that abuts the North Charleston Terminal for $105 million.

Port officials had been confidently predicting the bridge would be replaced, allowing larger containerships to reach the North Charleston port site on the upper Cooper River.

"The South Carolina Department of Transportation is playing a pivotal role in the project," the SPA said March 19, in announcing the WestRock purchase. "As part of its expansion of Interstate 526, SCDOT plans to replace the Don Holt Bridge, which will remove height constraints for larger vessels."

The 155-foot-tall, 27,065-foot-long bridge currently limits individual cargo ships bound for the North Charleston Terminal to about 8,000 20-foot containers, but modern ships can carry twice as many, or more.

Modernizing the terminal, raising the Don Holt Bridge, deepening the Cooper River and purchasing the former WestRock property are all critical components that will yield a state-of-the-art North Charleston Terminal, SPA CEO Barbara Melvin said when the WestRock deal was announced.

The DOT's confirmation that it plans to replace the Don Holt came as the state addressed a catastrophe in Baltimore, where a containership struck and demolished the Francis Scott Key Bridge during the early morning hours of March 26, sending vehicles into the water.

"Certainly, our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Baltimore right now," said incoming DOT Secretary Justin Powell.

Replacing the Don Holt would be a key part of a much-larger project. The state's plan to widen I-526 to eight lanes, from West Ashley to Mount Pleasant, is a multibillion-dollar venture that's divided into two parts due to its scope and cost.
GREENVILLE  When Cesar Salas was 8 years old, his mother brought him and his sister to the United States from Mexico, but at the time, he didnt understand why they left.

He had food, toys and a place to sleep, but he didnt know his mother, a single parent who worked two jobs, sometimes skipped meals so he and his sister could eat.

Now, Salas is an adult with DACA status, a temporary federal designation that lets him legally live and work in the United States with protection from deportation but without a pathway to citizenship.

If he and more than 5,000 others like him could have access to occupational and professional licenses, the state would see a $67.7 million economic boost each year, according to a new study from Clemson University researchers.

Recipients of DACA, which stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, must reapply to the program every two years, cannot have any serious criminal charges, must attend school or serve in the military, and must have been brought to the country before they turned 16.

In South Carolina, state law prohibits Salas and 5,500 other DACA recipients in the state from working in the more than 40 fields that require licenses from the state, including nursing, teaching and real estate.

Advocates say the change would connect high-qualified workers with better paying jobs, but debates over immigration have raged as border crossings hit a historic peak at the end of 2023 and as the presidential election inches closer.

DACA remains in legal limbo after various federal court rulings blocked future applicants but allowed for renewals as challenges to the program wind their way through the judicial system.
MCCLELLANVILLE  Joan Taylor remembers the moment she found out her son had been named a suspect in the 2009 disappearance of Brittanee Drexel like it was yesterday.

She remembers being confused  Taylor and her son had never heard of Taquan Brown, a jailhouse informant who told the FBI in 2016 that Timothy DaShaun Taylor Jr. sexually assaulted the 17-year-old girl before his father shot her and dumped her body into an alligator pit. The story sounded completely ludicrous to the tight-knit family, Joan Taylor said.

But it quickly caught the attention of the media and the public, forever linking Timothy Taylor with Drexels disappearance and a crime the now 30-year-old has long insisted he never committed.

Joan Taylor spoke at a May 19 news conference to address the recent arrest of another man in connection with the Drexel case. She was joined at the conference by her husband, Timothy Shaun Taylor Sr., and a dozen other family members and close friends. Her son, however, did not attend the event.

Georgetown County sheriffs deputies arrested Raymond Douglas Moody on May 4 for obstruction of justice in the case. This week, Sheriff Carter Weaver announced additional charges of murder, kidnapping and first-degree criminal sexual conduct have been leveled against the 62-year-old man.

Authorities say Moody abducted, raped and strangled Drexel to death on April 25, 2009  the day she disappeared while on a spring break trip in Myrtle Beach.

Moody confessed to the crime last week and told authorities where Drexel was buried, according to the Sheriffs Office. Investigators found her remains in a 4-foot grave dug in a wooded area west of Georgetown, 13 years after she was last seen leaving the Blue Water Resort.

Authorities identified Moody, a registered sex offender, in 2012 as a person of interest in Drexels disappearance. He was previously convicted of raping a child under the age of 14 in California in 1983 and for failing to register as a sex offender in South Carolina in 2010.
A former College of Charleston paleontologist and his wife surrendered to campus police March 26 in connection with the theft of thousands of dollars worth of rare fossils that vanished from the school's Mace Brown Museum of Natural History, college officials said.

Robert Boessenecker, 38, faces a charge of grand larceny. He was booked into the Charleston County jail shortly after 9 a.m. along with his wife, Sarah Michalies, 37. She is charged with breach of trust, jail records show.

Both were released later in the morning after they each posted $2,500 bail, court records state.

The pair is implicated in the theft of $8,634 worth of fossils from the Calhoun Street museum where they worked. Campus police launched an investigation in early March after a rare dolphin jaw fossil was discovered to be missing from the museum's collection. Investigators later searched three locations tied to the couple and recovered more than 60 items belonging to the museum, according to arrest affidavits.

The couple voluntarily returned to Charleston from an out-of-state location to turn themselves in to police, said Sterling Chillico, Boessenecker's attorney. She said Boessenecker strongly maintains that all of the recovered items were "in his rightful possession" and that the allegations against him are false, stemming from "personal animosities and hidden agendas." She added that Boessenecker looks forward to clearing his name and preserving his professional reputation.

Boessenecker, who left the Mace Brown Museum in August 2023, is considered a rising star in the field of paleontology. He's made headlines by discovering new species of ancient sea creatures and appearing on Discovery Channel's Shark Week.
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
With all 170 seats up for election in June, the Legislature has been spending even more time than usual this session on culture-war legislation, hoping to appease extremists who hold inordinate sway in primaries while thankfully still constituting a minority of South Carolina voters.

But while the Senate has been more than willing to push through contentious legislation to order the state pension fund not to do things it would never do and kowtowing to gun extremists, Senate leaders have also prioritized far more substantive bills, which would never be confused for populist, much less red-meat, legislation  bills that will go a long way to improve South Carolinas government if they make it into law.

There was the long-awaited consolidation of six overlapping and uncoordinated health delivery agencies, important improvements to the way the Legislature elects judges and now a measure to eliminate the comptroller general as an elected office.

The last one, which the Senate could start debating as soon as today, is an outgrowth of last years revelation that S.C. Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom had spent decades concealing what grew to at least a $3.5 billion overstatement of our states assets. As pressure mounted over the accounting problem but more over the honesty problem, Mr. Eckstrom resigned from the job last April. That led to a lot of House-Senate posturing and politicking over how to replace him and finally, when that ended in stalemate, Gov. Henry McMasters appointment of a professional instead of a politician  state Budget Director Brian Gaines  to serve as interim comptroller.
FLORENCE  Jon Weiss Jr. says he knew House of Hope of the Pee Dee would be the perfect fit when he arrived home after his November 2022 job interview with Chief Executive Officer Bryan Braddock.

Weiss pulled into his driveway and said a quick prayer asking God for a sign that House of Hope would be his next step in life.

"Sure enough, I went into my house and went to the fridge to get a bottle of water. Guess what was in the dead center of that fridge  a House of Hope magnet that I had never seen in my life," Weiss said.

Weiss's wife, Anna, had used the magnet to hang a Christmas card on the refrigerator.

"That was the moment I knew that God had a bigger purpose for me and the House of Hope was where he was calling me," Weiss said.

In January 2023, Weiss joined House of Hope of the Pee Dee as vice president of business development.

Earlier this month, the House of Hope board of directors announced Weiss as the ministry's new chief executive officer. Weiss replaced Braddock, who resigned as CEO in February. Braddock was House of Hope's CEO for 10 years.

House of Hope of the Pee Dee offers food, housing and clothing for the homeless. The ministry works to lead them to faith in Christ and help them become contributing members to society.

It also houses an addiction recovery program.

House of Hope of the Pee Dee doesn't receive any state or federal money. Church and individual donations provide 50 percent of its operating budget, Weiss said.

Braddock will continue to stay involved with House of Hope as a ministry consultant. He will work with Weiss and the board to create a seamless transition and maintain the ministry's focus of serving the community with a spirit of excellence.

Congressman Russell Fry's office recently announced Braddock will serve as the South Carolina 7th Congressional District's economic development and outreach director, which is a new position.
FLORENCE  AESC doubled its already historic investment in Florence County again, with the electric vehicle battery maker announcing a $1.5 billion investment that's expected to create 1,080 jobs.

Gov. Henry McMaster's office announced the deal March 26. The investment will be used to create a second site in the Pee Dee to manufacture cells for EV batteries.

The additional building will provide components for the Mexico assembly operations of the BMW Group.

The first factory, where construction got underway in 2023, was designed to supply the German automaker's EV plant in Spartanburg.

The total promised capital investment by AESC now is $3.12 billion with employment expected to climb to 2,700 jobs from 1,600.

AESC's expansion signifies more than just economic growth  it symbolizes a commitment to sustainable innovation, Florence County Council Chairman William Schofield said. Beyond the immediate impact on job creation, AESC's presence will catalyze a ripple effect across our local economy.

The expansion comes after the state approved $111 million in economic bonds for the battery plant this month, the third round of public funds for the company.

Infrastructure costs and training center improvements would be funded alongside the second building, according to documents attached to the Joint Bond Review Committee last week. The State Fiscal Accountability Authority authorized the use of the funds during its March 26 meeting.

Hiring Information Hiring Information Anyone interested in working at the Florence location should visit readySCs website.

"South Carolina is a crucial part of our strategy to power next generation electric vehicles for customers across the U.S. by manufacturing high-performance, longer EV batteries locally," AESC chief executive Shoichi Matsumoto said in a written statement.
A man involved in an inheritance scheme is set to plead guilty in the District Court of Guam on Thursday.

A plea agreement was filed in the District Court of Guam for Marcus Unigwe, who was one of several defendants charged in connection to an inheritance scheme that victimized dozens of people on Guam.

The terms of the plea agreement state Unigwe will plead guilty to conspiracy to operate an unlawful money-transmitting business, which carries a maximum five-year prison sentence and no more than a $250,000 fine.

The factual basis for the plea states Unigwe, between 2018 and Nov. 30, 2019, was engaged in a conspiracy to transport funds derived from "an advance inheritance scam conducted via the internet that involved Guam-based victims."

Unigwe, a Nigerian citizen and resident of Georgia, additionally owned and operated Richland Concepts LLC in Atlanta, a company that bought used vehicles at auctions and shipped them to Ghana and Nigeria. Unigwe, however, used the company's bank account to obtain "laundered funds" from co-defendants in Texas.

According to the plea, Unigwe obtained a total of $947,200 across about 30 transactions between March through July 2019.

After the plea agreement was filed, Unigwe was scheduled to be sentenced on Thursday in the District Court of Guam.

Co-defendants

The co-defendants from Texas who sent money to Unigwe were Mekayda and Monique Jones, who made the trip to Guam for their trial in the federal court in February 2023.

As a result of the trial, Monique Jones was found guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to launder monetary instruments and 25 counts of wire fraud and was sentenced to four years in prison and ordered to pay $578,130 in restitution.

Mekayda Jones was found guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to launder monetary instruments and 14 counts of wire fraud and was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay $387,160 in restitution.

Sally Roberto, a resident of Guam, was also on trial in February 2023 with Mekayda and Monique Jones. Roberto was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $1,030,990 in restitution for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and 38 counts of wire fraud.

During the trial, federal prosecutors revealed the scheme began in 2015 with Teresa Pereda, when she was convinced by a woman on Facebook that she would receive money from the woman's inheritance if she paid processing fees.

Pereda wasn't on trial because she had already been sentenced to eight years in federal prison when she ran out of money after convincing others on the island, including Roberto, to pay money with the same promise.

As for Monique Jones and Mekayda Jones, two women from Texas, they never interacted with Roberto but were instead "money movers" for co-defendant Onyebachum Oseji, who asked the women to move his money among their bank accounts and wire money to other companies.

Other co-defendants, along with Oseji, included Jide Abimbola, Okechukwu Iwuji and Unigwe, who were Nigerian citizens with Florida addresses charged in connection to the conspiracy, which involved sending the wired money to Nigeria, according to Post files.

Iwuji was sentenced to 45 months, while Abimbola and Oseji have yet to be sentenced.
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Servis will replace current CFO Rick Soenen who is retiring.WINNIPEG, MB / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / Cando Rail & Terminals, one of North America's largest owners and operators of first and last-mile rail infrastructure, is pleased to announce the appointment of Nate Servis as Chief Financial Officer. Servis officially joined the senior leadership team on March 26, 2024, replacing Rick Soenen who is retiring.Nate Servis Headshot Nate Servis is Cando Rail & Terminals' new CFOServis brings a wealth of knowledge of the Transportation & Logistics sector from his 15+ years of Wall Street investment banking experience. He spent the last ~15 years at Wells Fargo Securities, most recently as a Managing Director in the Industrials group, where he was responsible for the origination and execution of M&A and capital raising transactions for clients in the Transportation & Logistics sector. Over the last few years, Servis led the firm's coverage of the rail sector and brings deep knowledge of and relationships with Class I and short line railroads, rail service providers, and port and terminal operators, in addition to investors that target the sector. Servis led the sale of Cando Rail & Terminals to AIMCo in November 2022.Brian Cornick, President & CEO of Cando Rail & Terminals, highlights the importance of this strategic hire as Cando invests organically and inorganically in critical infrastructure to support shipper-customers and Class I partners."As we continue on our tremendous growth trajectory, balancing organic growth with strategic acquisitions is a cornerstone of our playbook, and bringing in Nate will enhance these efforts," says Cornick. "In addition, Nate brings relationships and credibility with key players in the United States, a core strategic growth area for Cando. His deep understanding of our company and industry, combined with his strategic finance track record, will help propel Cando to new heights." Prior to joining Wells Fargo Securities, Servis began his career at Robert W. Baird in the Consumer & Industrials investment banking group. Servis holds a B.A. in economics, with a concentration in finance, from Dartmouth College.Contact InformationJulie Pomehichuk Director, Marketing & Communicationsjulie.pomehichuk@candorail.com 12048685542SOURCE: Cando Rail & TerminalsView the original press release on newswire.com
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by Charu AdesnikNORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / The Social Impact Partner Spotlight series highlights various Cisco non-profit organization partners that are helping transform the lives of individuals and communities. This blog features Cisco's partnership with Living Goods, One Acre Fund, Solar Sister, and Trickle Up, highlighting the amazing work these organizations are doing to advance economic empowerment, especially for women, globally.International Women's Day is celebrated around the world on March 8. This year's theme, Inspire Inclusion, is a bedrock of Cisco's Social Impact partnerships where we aim to support an inclusive future for all - and recently exceeded our ten-year goal to positively impact one billion people by 2025. As a technology company, we believe in the power of technology to connect the unconnected, and to have impact at scale. We support our non-profit partners to ideate, iterate, and launch tech-enabled solutions. We provide ongoing support to help our partners validate the impact of these solutions, and then take these solutions to scale. Our financial support is complemented with donations of our technology to help our partners securely and efficiently deliver their programs and services. We also tap into our global employee community to provide strategic guidance and technical expertise as needed.Learn more about four of Cisco's partners - Living Goods, One Acre Fund, Solar Sister, and Trickle Up - who helped us reach our goal by providing people, especially women, with equitable access to the knowledge, skills, and resources needed to support themselves and their families toward long-term independence, resilience, and economic security.Living Goods"When I started as a community health worker, I saw that women - including teens and underage girls - needed better support to reverse the high maternal and child death rates and to escape generational cycles of dependency and poverty," says Miriam. "It struck me how enhancing women's access to information, healthcare, education, and capacity to meaningfully participate in economic activities not only changed their lives but transformed their entire families as well. When women succeed, the whole community thrives."-Miriam Mbithe, Community Health Worker, Living GoodsOver 5 million children die each year due to preventable and treatable diseases like pneumonia, diarrhea, and malaria. Sub-Saharan Africa has one of the highest child and maternal mortality rates.Community health workers (CHWs) are a low-cost and high-impact health solution. Living Goods supports more than 11,400 digitally empowered community health workers in Burkina Faso, Kenya, and Uganda to deliver life-saving care to more than 6 million people each year. External studies have validated that they are reducing child mortality by 27% and child stunting by 7% at a cost of around $2 per person per year. In 2023, CHWs also ensured that 95% of pregnant women supported gave birth at a health facility, and that 95% of children under the age of two were fully immunized.Living Goods ensures CHWs have the digital tools, training, medicine, supervision, and compensation they need to cost-effectively save lives at scale; and they partner with governments to sustainably transform how healthcare is delivered. Investing in CHWs not only improves health outcomes, but also creates opportunities for the primarily female CHWs to contribute to their households, local economies, and the overall development of their communities.With Cisco's support over the last several years, Living Goods has enhanced their digital tools to improve the quality and scale of community health. Cisco has provided support for their mobile technology platform, data warehouse creation, predictive algorithms to target interventions to at-risk families, performance management, and interoperability with government systems. Most recently, Cisco is supporting Living Goods to enhance their data infrastructure and tools, transform the current data architecture to an improved self-service data stack, and strengthen their ability to generate insights from data.Get involved:You can support community health workers to save lives and improve livelihoods by giving a tax-deductible donationFollow Living Goods on social media to stay up to date on their work: Linkedin, Instagram, FacebookOne Acre Fund"If I hadn't started this program, years from now there would be a difference in how my children would be able to use this land." -Trina Mwiinga, farmer, Zambia, One Acre FundOne Acre Fund was founded in 2006 with a simple mission: in everything we do, we place farmers first, and we measure success in our ability to make more farmers more prosperous. While others may see poverty in rural Africa as an enduring, intractable problem, One Acre Fund sees a powerful chance to eradicate extreme hunger and poverty by making one profession radically more productive: farming. They designed an integrated solution that enables smallholder farmers to dramatically increase their productivity within one planting season through training, financing, and delivery of high quality-farming inputs. They have spent the past decade working to scale as quickly as possible; today, supporting more than 4 million farmers.One Acre Fund and Cisco began our work together in 2021, when Cisco provided the early-stage funding that enabled them to launch their farmer-facing app Tupande Online. This app offers farmers in Kenya a flexible new tech-enabled channel through which they can access the One Acre Fund program. Cisco's early support helped them to grow this initiative from the concept stage all the way to a scaled product that has now been downloaded over 125 thousand times and won the Vibrant Digital Africa Award for the Best Agri App in Kenya. One Acre Fund has big plans for this app in the coming years: they intend to scale it to even more farmers in Kenya, and to add additional farmer-facing services such as linkages to commercial value chains that will offer farmers even higher prices for their crops.Today, One Acre Fund is the world's leading organization serving African smallholders. Crucially, they carefully tailor their core program to ensure services are accessible to women, who make up over two thirds of the farmers with whom they work:For instance, half of all our field staff are women. This staffing choice builds distinctive gender sensitivity into all client interactions and mitigates inherent bias. To overcome cultural norms that may impede women's employment and role in financial decision-making, they typically deliver loans and trainings to farmer groups rather than individuals, leveraging and reinforcing positive, c
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NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / Maximus' Corporate Communications team is finding ways to embody the company's values of compassion and collaboration through its Communications for Good project in partnership with the Maximus Foundation. "This initiative aligns with the Foundation's goals to build transformational partnerships by providing our nonprofit partners support beyond the grant," said Arvenita Washington Cherry, Ph.D., Maximus Foundation President and Chairperson and Vice-President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. "We are grateful and hope this will inspire similar skills-based volunteerism across the business." This initiative harnesses the expertise of the Corporate Communications team to provide support, guidance, and communications services to Maximus Foundation grantees. FACETS, an outreach program that has cared for children and families in Fairfax County, Virginia, since 1988, is the first organization to participate in the team's Communications for Good project."I had a desire to find meaningful ways for my team to contribute to the organizations supported by the Maximus Foundation. Communications for Good is not just about offering our expertise; it's a heartfelt commitment to the communities where we live and work where we can make a tangible difference," said Jared Curtis, Director of Corporate Communications.Jerry Caruso, Senior Vice President of Tax Management, is a Maximus Foundation donor and serves as a FACETS board member."I thought it was an exceptional concept to assist organizations that would benefit from the expertise of the Corporate Communications team," he said. "This project is a unique opportunity for FACETS to tap into a program that helps expand their communications toolkit. The Communications for Good program is evidence of the impact an organization such as Maximus can have on a community by partnering with organizations who may not have access to the type of resources we have." The team met with FACETS during their on-site team meeting on February 8. FACETS employees explained their communications needs, which included social media engagement, public awareness, and storytelling to highlight programs and employees. The Maximus team's 13 employees offered expertise on topics including social and digital media, writing and editing, strategy, and marketing. As part of this program, the team will work with FACETS to provide agency-style services free of charge.Tessa Robinette, FACETS Resource Development Manager, said the FACETS team was thankful for the communications support."Our resources and capacity are often so stretched that it is difficult to find the time to develop or execute a communications strategy with the intention to detail and innovation it deserves," she said. "It is incredible to be receiving extra support from professionals in the field. With it being a large and experienced team, we were looking forward to how they could advise us." The FACETS team was looking for outside perspective and analysis of their communications plan for some of their upcoming events and insight on the new website and branding they planned to launch this year, Tessa said. Corporate Communications also provided some existing materials to assist with FACETS' rebranding and content creation processes."They were able to provide specific fine-tuning and executive advice for each step of the proposed plans," Tessa explained. This included social media support, internal and external communications support, and guidance for an effective brand rollout and storytelling.With a comprehensive look at FACETS' current and future strategies, the team walked away with a new point of view, excited to implement recommendations and tools the Corporate Communications team provided, said Katie Davenport, FACETS Chief of Staff."The FACETS team left there so refreshed and ready to use some of the tools that were shared," she said. "I'm not only energized about the recommendations but also validated on some of the pain points we get hung up on as a small team." Robinette agreed, adding that the team's outside perspective was "the most valuable aspect of this initiative."The team at Maximus was incredibly eager to delve into what we already had going on and offer changes to improve effectiveness," Robinette said. "Working with Maximus thus far has been such a pleasure and we have already begun using a couple of their suggestions." This project is a collaborative effort between the team, partner organizations, and the Maximus Foundation, Curtis added. Each employee is encouraged to volunteer their time and leverage their expertise."In addition to giving their time, the team can provide insight, recommendations, and support to address the specific communications needs of these organizations," he said. "Our hope is through this program, we can help empower these organizations to effectively convey their mission, amplify their impact, and encourage more support in the community." View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Maximus on 3 blmedia.com Contact Info: Spokesperson: MaximusWebsite: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/maximus Email: info@3 blmedia.com SOURCE: Maximus
PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-26 05:30:49

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LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / If your in Los Angeles and looking for something fun to do? Look no further. In the heart of the San Fernando Valley, nestled in Reseda CA, is a Kava Bar & Botanical Lounge that serves the sacred plant Kava. Here you can meet others who also drink this ceremonious drink. Kava Bar & Botanical Lounge also serves Coffee, K-Tea, Matcha and Dessert Drinks. Every Friday an event is usually planned or something is going on. There are arcade games for gamers and wifi for the studious type. All are welcome at Kava Bar & Botanical Lounge Based on recent trends, Kava is becoming a great social drink. People who drink it loosen up, relax and slip into a happy and relaxed mood. And the best part is it gives one a good night's sleep without the inconvenience of nursing a nasty hangover the following morning. Everyday more and more adults are not drinking alcohol and looking for alternatives to party with and live a healthy lifestyle.Ceremonious Kava is served in coconut shellsKava Dragonfruit Lemonade with KavaPremium mocktails are what we specialize in! Every drink at Kava Bar & Botanical Lounge is prepared with love and can be customized to your liking. Looking for a specific sensation or want to remove or add an ingredient? We got you covered here and ensure your first kava experience is the best. We make sure that you love our drinks by preparing them with the freshest organic ingredients. We have over 25+ drink combinations for you to try!All of our Kava is COA lab certified and free of impurities. We prepare our Kava in house daily and ensure each batch is fresh & strong. We have a close relationship with an amazing family from the Solomon Islands. We are so happy to help them and are also excited to share this great plant with others at our Kava Bar. The Kava Culture is very common on the Solomon Islands and we plan to make it big here also.Fresh batches of Kava imported regularly from family friendsOur friends from the Solomon IslandsSOURCE: Kava Bar & Botanical Lounge
PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-26 14:01:44

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By signing the pledge, the fintech cements its commitment to access to capital for historically underutilized small businesses pursuing infrastructure contractsLOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / The Equity in Infrastructure Project and Lendistry announce today that the fintech has signed the Equity in Infrastructure Pledge. While most signatories are public agencies that create and maintain infrastructure, most recently New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority, the Baltimore/Washington International Airport and the Airport Minority Advisory Council (AMAC), Lendistry is the first financial institution to sign the pledge.Everett K. Sands, CEO of Lendistry Everett K. Sands holding the signed Equity in Infrastructure PledgeEIP's coalition now includes 59 CEOs of transit authorities, airports, ports, water districts, industry associations, and engineering and financial firms from across the country, and the White House has directly called upon Bipartisan Infrastructure Law grantees to sign the Pledge. EIP's mission is to build generational wealth and reduce the racial wealth gap by improving public infrastructure contracting practices to create more prime, joint venture and equity contracting opportunities for Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUBs)."Nationwide, infrastructure projects are creating more opportunities for underserved and undercapitalized communities to grow. But to turn those opportunities into wins, small business contractors need access to mobilization capital," says Everett K. Sands, CEO of Lendistry. "Lendistry is proud to sign the Equity in Infrastructure Pledge, and I encourage other financial institutions to do the same so we can keep changing the lending ecosystem for the better." "EIP's Coalition of the Committed is united in the belief that America does better when more people have a fair shot at the American Dream," said EIP Co-Chair Phil Washington, who is CEO of the Denver International Airport."In contrast to the increasing legal attacks on statutory programs that invest in infrastructure, we represent a voluntary, CEO-level moral and ethical commitment to do the right thing that will help us continue making progress no matter what," said EIP Co-Chair John Porcari, who served as US Deputy Secretary of Transportation."As industry leaders, we know that creating opportunities for Historically Underutilized Businesses increases competition and delivers more value from investments in infrastructure - for our public agencies and for the communities they serve," said EIP Co-Chair Dorval Carter, Jr., who is President of the Chicago Transit Authority."We know how critical access to capital is for Historically Underutilized Businesses, so Lendistry brings especially valuable insights and support to EIP," said EIP Co-Chair Rick Jacobs, a longtime advisor to infrastructure agencies, companies and related labor unions.About LendistryB.S.D. Capital, Inc. dba Lendistry ( lendistry.com) is a minority-led fintech that provides innovative lending products and access to grant programs for small businesses nationwide. Headquartered in a Los Angeles Opportunity Zone, Lendistry uses technology and community partnerships to overcome systemic gaps that inhibit access to capital, and to empower its customers with responsible financing options. Based on its reputation for deploying funds efficiently and equitably, Lendistry's leadership is often called upon to share their expertise with both government and private organizations. Lendistry has both Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and Community Development Entity (CDE) certifications and is a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco. Lendistry SBLC, LLC is an SBA Preferred Lender and the nation's only African American-led SBA designated Small Business Lending Company. In collaboration with The Center by Lendistry, a nonprofit business education organization, Lendistry dedicates itself to providing economic opportunities and progressive growth for underserved urban and rural small business borrowers and their communities.About the Equity in Infrastructure ProjectEIP's coalition includes 59 CEOs of transit authorities, airports, ports, water districts, industry associations, and engineering and financial firms from across the country, and the White House has directly called upon Bipartisan Infrastructure Law grantees to sign the Pledge. EIP's mission is to build generational wealth and reduce the racial wealth gap by improving public infrastructure contracting practices to create more prime, joint venture and equity contracting opportunities for Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUBs).In addition to its national coalition, EIP recently launched its California Plan, which brings together infrastructure agencies to accelerate progress in the state and, given California's diversity and size, to accelerate progress nationally.Contact InformationKate KearnsCommunications managercommunications@ lendistry.com SOURCE: LendistryView the original press release on newswire.com
PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-26 13:02:23

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TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / Magna Terra Minerals Inc. (the "Company" or "Magna Terra") (TSX-V:MTT) is pleased to announce through its 100% owned Argentine subsidiary Atala Resources S.A. ("Atala"), that Oroplata S.A. ("Oroplata"), a subsidiary of Newmont Corporation ("Newmont"), has provided a detailed summary report of its 2023 exploration program undertaken to date on the Boleadora Project ("Boleadora"). In addition, Oroplata has made the third anniversary option payment of US$150,000 to Atala under the option agreement (see details below). Boleadora encompasses ~55,000 hectares in 12 exploration licenses located 17 kilometres southeast along strike from Newmont's Cerro Negro mine along the Margaritas-Boleadoras Corridor, the host to both projects located in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. (Figure 1).Based on 2023 fieldwork, Newmont has identified a 10 by 8 kilometre priority target area, corresponding with previously identified zones 1, 2 and 3 along the Margaritas-Boleadoras Corridor (Figure 2). Assay results from 2023 drainage sediment and rock-chip samples show that anomalous precious metals (Au, Ag) and pathfinder elements (As, Sb, Hg, Tl, Li, Ba and Se) are associated with silica alteration, host fault zones, sinter structures and subtle hyperspectral responses that are indicative of deeper hydrothermal activity and gold mineralization at the Cerro Negro mine (Table 1). Based on the recent field work, Newmont plans further follow-up exploration activities for 2024.Boleadora Project HighlightsLarge land package comprising ~55,000 hectares; 17 kilometres along strike from Newmont's Cerro Negro Mine and associated with the Margaritas-Boleadoras Corridor; Located in a geological environment that is host to large low-sulphidation epithermal gold deposits like Cerro Negro as well as other large precious metals deposits in the prolific yet underexplored Deseado Massif region of Santa Cruz Province; Recognition of a large 10 by 8 km exploration target based on 2023 geochemical sampling and hyperspectral surveying; and Significant ongoing financial and exploration commitment by Newmont with exploration plans for 2024. "We are very pleased to see Newmont, using their proprietary exploration techniques and expertise, continue to refine exploration targets on the Boleadora Project with recent work outlining a large 10 by 8 kilometre zone of anomalous precious-metal and pathfinder elements. This work supports the potential existence of a low-sulphidation epithermal environment associated with the Margaritas-Boleadoras Corridor along strike from the Cerro Negro mine. We look forward to Newmont's continued exploration work on the property in 2024 as they advance the project towards drill testing of the highest priority targets. The US$150,000 payment will allow Magna Terra to sustain all property maintenance obligations on our Argentinian portfolio outside of Boleadora as we continue to seek strategic partners to advance these other assets." ~ Lew Lawrick, President and CEO, Magna Terra Minerals Inc.2023 Exploration ResultsAccording to Newmont geologists, Boleadora is underlain by extensive Jurassic volcanic sequences that include welded pumice crystal-rich rhyolitic ignimbrites cut by bimodal subvolcanic domes. Main structural trends include northwest, north-northwest, and east-west corridors with chalcedonic and opaline silica veins with massive textures up to one-metre wide, and silica sinter in up to 50 metre by 50 metre exposures that might correspond to shallower levels of a low-sulphidation epithermal system (Figure 2). This geology is favourable for hosting low-sulphidation epithermal gold mineralization similar in style to the nearby Cerro Negro and Cerro Vanguardia deposits.Since first assessing the project in 2019, Newmont subsidiary Oroplata has collected 233 rock-chip samples (surface float and outcrop), 134 drainage sediment samples for analysis via Bulk Leach Extractable Gold ("BLEG"), 526 Terrain Mapping Geochemistry (TMG') soil samples and completed a hyperspectral survey covering the main geological areas of interest. This includes 526 TMG samples and 35 rock-chip samples collected in 2023 that have further refined and supported the 10 exploration targets identified on the property to date.Figure 1: Location of Magna Terra exploration projects in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina including the Boleadora Project outlined in red in the northwest of the map near the San Jose and Cerro Negro mines. Table 1: Geochemical maximum and statistical threshold values for precious metal and pathfinder elements from drainage sediment BLEG samples at the Boleadora Project.Figure 2: Boleadora generalized geology, gold from sediment samples and with structural interpretation at district scale (courtesy Newmont).Boleadora Purchase AgreementNewmont entered into an Option to Purchase Agreement with Magna Terra (see press release dated June 9, 2020) that will pay Magna Terra US$1 million as follows: US$25,000 on signing and six installments totalling US$975,000 payable within six years from the date of the Agreement, with US$325,000 paid to date. In addition, Magna Terra retains a 2% NSR ("Royalty") on the Boleadora Project. The Royalty can be reduced to 1% by payment of US$2.5 million to Magna Terra at anytime, and is capped at US$20 million.Qualified PersonThis news release has been reviewed and approved by David A. Copeland, P. Geo., Chief Geologist with Signal Gold Inc., a "Qualified Person", under National Instrument 43-101 - Standard for Disclosure for Mineral Projects.About Magna TerraMagna Terra Minerals Inc. is a precious metals focused exploration company, headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Magna Terra owns two district-scale, resource stage gold exploration projects in the top-tier mining jurisdictions of New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador. Further, the Company maintains a significant exploration portfolio in the province of Santa Cruz, Argentina which includes its Boleadora Project being advanced by Newmont Corp. under an option to purchase agreement; a precious metals discovery on its Luna Roja Project proximal to Cerrado Gold's operating Don Nicholas Project, as well as several additional district scale drill ready projects available for purchase or option/joint venture.Forward Looking StatementsNeither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward Looking InformationThis news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-loo
PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-26 17:57:18

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CHICAGO, IL / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / In the dynamic landscape of the financial industry, Mauricio Garcia stands out as a beacon of expertise and innovation. With a distinguished career spanning over two decades, Garcia has not only solidified his reputation as a retirement planning specialist but has also emerged as a prominent figure in leveraging social media and technology for financial strategies. His journey from a first-generation immigrant to the first millionaire in his family is a testament to his entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to empowering individuals across North America.Mauricio Garcia's foray into the world of finance began in 1999, driven by a desire to break free from the conventional paradigm of trading time for money. As a first-generation immigrant, Garcia recognized the transformative power of financial literacy and sought to be a part of the solution to the global issue of financial illiteracy. With a focus on the USA, Mexico, and Canada, Garcia embarked on a mission to educate and empower individuals to achieve financial independence and prosperity.What sets Garcia apart is his ability to blend traditional financial strategies with cutting-edge technology and social media savvy. Collaborating with industry titans such as Hubert Humphrey and Stephen Gross, Garcia has played a pivotal role in shaping the landscape of the financial sector. Together, they are spearheading the establishment of a third billion-dollar company in the financial sector, with Garcia's expertise in social media and technology serving as a driving force behind their ambitious endeavor.At the core of Garcia's mission is his commitment to empowering financial professionals across North America. Through the development of innovative software tools, Garcia has enabled over 50,000 agents in the insurance and financial industry to harness the power of social media and automation. These tools not only streamline the training process but also empower agents to provide top-tier services and support to their clients, ultimately transforming lives and shaping futures.Looking ahead, Mauricio Garcia envisions a future where financial literacy is accessible to all. Through his Media Company, Dimensional Media Streaming LLC, Garcia aims to inspire individuals to embrace entrepreneurship and take advantage of the free enterprise systems worldwide. With a focus on education and empowerment, Garcia is paving the way for a future where financial independence is within reach for everyone.About Mauricio Garcia:Mauricio Garcia's journey from humble beginnings to entrepreneurial success is a testament to the transformative power of financial literacy and innovation. Through his unwavering commitment to empowering individuals across North America, Garcia is not only shaping the future of the financial industry but also paving the way for a more financially literate and prosperous society.Media Contact:Name: Mauricio GarciaEmail: mauriciofitek@ live.com Website: garciamauricio.com Location: 11405 Old Roswell Road, Alpharetta, GA 30009SOURCE: Mauricio Garcia
PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-26 17:15:28

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Students Across the Country Competed to Create the Next Great Innovation in Soy-Based Textiles; Winner Chosen for a Moth Designed TextileST. LOUIS, MO / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / Today U.S. Soy announced the national innovative winner of theNEXTILE: The Soy in Textiles Design Challenge .In its inaugural year, the NEXTILE Design Challenge invited design students across the country to leverage their creative and problem-solving skills to produce the next sustainable innovation in textile design. The catch? Students must create their products using one versatile ingredient - soybeans. Each participating individual or team received a design kit including seven sustainable, soy-based materials: soy thread, soy leather, soy French Terry, organic pigment and other soy products. Project submissions leveraged one or more of these ingredients to produce new textile threads, dyes, paints, designs and more.U.S. Soy has long been a key ingredient for product innovation, going all the way back to Henry Ford who used soy-based paints, textile materials and plastics for automobile design. And today, U.S. Soy is used in more than 1,000 products on the market - from tires and shoes to fabrics and artificial grass. As a renewable crop grown on U.S. farms, and replenishing the soil annually with each growing season, soy is an important frontier for biobased products.We are proud to announce the national winner is Kasandra Wright from University of Arkansas, for her stunning moth design textile sample, symbolizing transformation, survival and new beginnings."Throughout this experience, I learned about the importance of what soy-based products can provide in the apparel and textile industry," Wright said. "Soy fiber has an excellent drape and is a beautiful alternative to protein fibers as a sustainable material for apparel." As the winner, Wright will receive a $1,000 scholarship."I was very impressed with the whole thought process of Kasandra's end product using the soy-based material that was provided," said Kathryn Phillips, chief curator at Springs Creative Product Group who served as a judge of the competition. "I truly believe this soy-based textile design has a broader commercial appeal in apparel as well as home products." The judging panel was so impressed with the competitors, they elected to award a $500 scholarship to the second-place runner-up, Anna Stuffelbeam of North Carolina State University for her foliage applique sample inspired by the plants that made up her fabric's materials - soy, pomegranate and madder.The national winner was chosen from a pool of students who advanced past the first round of judging, which included students from six schools across the country. Judges from Levander Design, Springs Creative Products Group, United Soybean Board and Modern Meadow chose the winner and runner-up."It's been incredible to see how our soybeans come to life in the creative hands of these talented students, especially Kasandra and Anna," said Carla Schultz, Michigan soybean farmer and United Soybean Board director who served as a judge of the competition. "I'm so impressed with their designs - they were artful, progressive and captivating. I'm beyond excited by the creative thinking we saw in the inaugural NEXTILE Challenge. I'm excited for the future of each competitor who participated and for the future of soy." U.S. soybean farmers and industry partners consistently push the limits of innovation to discover and deliver solutions to the biggest challenges our world faces, such as food security and climate change. NEXTILE was created to put sustainable soy materials into the hands of the brightest young minds in design to create the next generation of eco-friendly textile solutions.Learn more about NEXTILE, the participating schools and students, and the next round of U.S. Soy-based sustainable innovation at www.ussoy.org/nextile ###About U.S. SoyRepresenting the positive global human impact of soy grown in the United States, the U.S. Soy brand exists to carry forward soy's promise to transform global nutrition, provide climate-forward solutions, and support progress for people and their communities. U.S. Soy is powered by the innovation of the industry; the unsurpassed quality, reliability and sustainability of the soybeans grown by our farming families who invest through checkoff dollars; and the commitment of the organizations that raise awareness, build demand, develop new markets and discover new uses for soy and soy products. U.S. Soy envisions a world where soy is a fundamental ingredient in solving the broad challenges of humanity. To learn more about U.S. Soy visit ussoy.org View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from U.S. Soy on 3 blmedia.com Contact Info: Spokesperson: U.S. SoyWebsite: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/us-soyEmail: info@3 blmedia.com SOURCE: U.S. Soy
PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-26 14:01:47

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The premium homeowners insurance provider achieves rank 135 on annual Forbes list; Earns Best Company Outlook and Best HR Team from ComparablyBOSTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / For the second year in a row,Openly , the premium homeowners insurance provider, was named one of Forbes' 2024 America's Best Startup Employers . The Company ranked number 135 on this year's list, up from number 320 in 2023, due to its continued growth and employee satisfaction. Openly also earned recognition across two Comparably awards;Best Company Outlookfor small/medium-sized businesses andBest HR Team .Founded in 2017, Openly has steadily grown to more than 350 employees across 42 states. 2023 saw the continued ascension of the company, which announced a $100M Series D funding round, the launch of itsState of the Independent Agent Survey , and the ongoing expansion of its partnership network, including partnerships with Artigem and Trellis."Openly has been a people-first company since the very beginning, and we pride ourselves on creating an environment that engages people and instills a sense of pride in our collective work," said Ty Harris, CEO of Openly. "Owning a home is a milestone achievement, and our employees play a big role in helping to protect that asset through our work with independent agents. It's because of our employees' dedication that we continue to succeed, and we look forward to further investing in our team and the culture we've built so we can continue to grow together." As a part of the company's commitment to creating a culture focused on employee engagement, Openly holds annual in-person team offsites to promote collaboration, as well as its signature Openlyfest, where employees come together annually to celebrate wins, develop and hone skills, and discuss the company's future. Some of Openly's unique benefits for employees also include:Zero-cost premium healthcare options for employees and their dependents A monthly "Be Well" program reimbursement for costs associated with well-being and paid time off to focus on holistic wellness A work-from-home stipend to create a comfortable home office space Paid volunteer service hours Forbes' list of America's Best Startup Employers 2024, in partnership with market research company Statista, was compiled by evaluating 7 million data points on 20,000 companies. Each company was considered based on employer reputation, employee satisfaction, and company growth. Only companies headquartered in the U.S., founded between 2014 and 2021, employing at least 50 employees, and exhibiting a startup structure were considered for the evaluation. The final list ranks the top 500 employers.For the achievements within Comparably's awards system, Openly ranks 24th in Comparably's Best Company Outlook awards for small/medium-sized businesses. Companies were measured on how confident employees are about the future success of their company, how likely they are to recommend to a friend (eNPS - employee Net Promoter Score), and if they're typically excited to go to work each day.Openly was also recognized for its stellar HR Team, making the Best HR Team list alongside the likes of AT&T, Uber, and HubSpot. Rankings were decided on more than 16 core culture metrics, including executive leadership, coworkers, environment, compensation, growth opportunities, happiness, perks & benefits, work-life balance, company outlook, and more.Comparably Awards are based on sentiment feedback from current employees who anonymously rated their employers on Comparably.com during a 12-month look-back period. Answers were given a numerical score and then compared to companies of similar size. For fairness and statistical significance, more weight was given to companies with more employee ratings relative to their size. The final data set was compiled from 20 million ratings across 70,000 companies.For more information, please visitOpenly's website .About OpenlyOpenlyis a remote-first premium homeowners insurance provider. Its centralized platform offers comprehensive coverage, market-leading technology, and exceptional service. Founded by industry veterans in 2017, Openly is dedicated to delivering modern and transparent homeowners insurance and empowering independent agents across America. In 2023, Openly was named aForbes America's Best Startup EmployerandInc. Best Workplace . For more information, visitOpenly.comorlinkedin.com/openlyllc Contact:Ross StevensCaliber Corporate Advisers for Openlyross@ calibercorporate.com SOURCE: Openly
PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-26 12:47:31

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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / Pampa Metals Corp. ("Pampa Metals" or the "Company") (CSE:PM)(FSE:FIRA)(OTCQB:PMMCF) is pleased to report that diamond drillhole PIU-02 (refer figure 1) was completed to a downhole depth of 870m. The hole was orientated along an east-west section, proximate to historical drillholes P4 and P2 and designed to test the lateral extension of the mineralized body, primarily along the western edge of the Piuquenes Central porphyry.Geology and Mineralization - Diamond Drillhole PIU-02Moderate intensity porphyry A type quartz veinlets were intersected from 120 m downhole, with copper oxides evident between 218-232 m, partially coincident with a zone of moderate supergene copper enrichment from 226 to 380 m. Copper sulphide (chalcopyrite) mineralization is evident in quartz veining from 270 m.Image 1: Porphyry A type quartz stockwork veining with potassic (K-Spar) altered vein halos, supergene Cu enrichment and Cu oxides overprinting potassic altered quartz-diorite porphyry (218m)A significant increase in quartz veining is observed from 364m downhole, coincident with an increase in intermineral potassic alteration (Kfeldspar-quartz), higher magnetite content, lower presence of early biotite and the appearance of bornite and chalcopyrite mineralization. Bornite mineralization remains evident down to 610m, often more abundant than chalcopyrite, and coincident with an increased intensity of porphyry A type quartz veining and pulses of intermineral granodiorite porphyry. Bornite is disseminated in quartz veinlets, frequently intergrown with chalcopyrite. The bornite mineralized core remains open to depth.Image 2: Intense porphyry A type quartz vein stockwork with disseminated chalcopyrite and bornite, overprinting early potassic altered diorite porphyryFrom 610 m downhole the frequency of quartz veinlets, intermineral potassic alteration, magnetite content, and the presence of bornite decreases. Chalcopyrite-bornite mineralization remains present in the quartz veinlets, which frequently show thin Kfeldspar haloes. The outer periphery of the Piuquenes porphyry system can be observed from 690 m, with a predominance of early biotite over mafics along with disseminated magnetite, sporadic and thin quartz veinlets with a halo of potassium Kfeldspar and disseminated chalcopyrite and bornite overprinting diorite porphyry. From 690 m a late intermediate argillic event with chlorite is evident, along with veinlets and dissemination of pyrite/chalcopyrite-pyrite and specular magnetic hematite, grading to phyllic with selective chlorite-sericite and pervasive sericite veinlets, with fine dissemination of pyrite from 850 m to 870m (End of Hole).Image 3: Intense porphyry A type quartz stockwork with strong disseminated chalcopyrite mineralization, overprinting intermineral potassic altered porphyryImage 4: Porphyry A type quartz vein hosting coarse bornite mineralization, overprinting intermineral potassic altered porphyryAssays have been prepared and dispatched to the ALS laboratory in Mendoza, results expected shortly.Joseph van den Elsen, Pampa Metals President and CEO commented: "Following on from the exceptional copper-gold intersections reported in the first hole of our maiden drill campaign at the Piuquenes Project, we are very pleased to report the presence of wide intervals of both supergene enriched and strong primary copper mineralization in the 2nd hole of our current drill program. Our maiden drill campaign continues to extend the depth and lateral extensions of mineralization at Piuquenes Central with a bornite rich core now evident and open to depth. Bornite mineralized cores are commonly associated with high grade porphyry deposits globally and we look forward to further delineating this exciting opportunity. Subsequent drill campaigns will also test the undrilled Piuquenes East porphyry target and other nearby targets identified on the property." Figure 1: PIU-02 Schematic Cross SectionON BEHALF OF THE BOARD INVESTOR CONTACTJoseph van den Elsen | President & CEO Joseph van den Elsen | Joseph@ pampametals.com ABOUT PAMPA METALSPampa Metals is a copper-gold exploration company listed on the Canadian Stock Exchange (CSE:PM), Frankfurt (FSE:FIRA), and OTC (OTCQB:PMMCF) exchanges.In November 2023, the Company announced it had entered into an Option and Joint Venture Agreement for the acquisition of an 80% interest in the Piuquenes Copper-Gold Porphyry Project in San Juan Province, Argentina. Reported intervals of significant copper and gold mineralization at Piuquenes Central include:413.5 m@ 0.47% Cu, 0.52 g/t Au (0.87% CuEq)* (167-580.5 m);422 m @ 0.48% Cu, 0.61 g/t Au, 2.9 g/t Ag (1.00% CuEq)* (198 - 620m);including 132m @ 0.71% Cu, 0.85 g/t Au, 4.3 g/t Ag (1.45% CuEq)* (220 - 352m);including 80m @ 0.6% Cu, 0.77 g/t Au, 3.2 g/t Ag (1.30% CuEq)* (468 - 548m)558.2 m @ 0.38% Cu, 0.42 g/t Au, 2.4 g/t Ag (0.73% CuEq)* (362-920.2 m EOH)including 130 m @ 0.81% Cu, 0.6 g/t Au, 4 g/t Ag (1.31 % CuEq)* (362-492 m)Qualified PersonTechnical information in this news release has been approved by Mario Orrego G. Mr. Orrego G. is a Geologist, a Registered Member of the Chilean Mining Commission and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Orrego G. is a consultant to the Company.* %CuEq values are calculated based on copper and gold metal prices: Cu = US$3.20/lb, Au = US$1,700/oz and Ag = US$ 20/oz. The formula utilized to calculate %CuEq is: Cu Eq Grade (%) = Cu Head Grade (%) + [(Au Head Grade (g/t) / 31.104) * (Au Price (US$/oz) / Cu Price (US$/lb) / 22.04) + [(Ag Head Grade (g/t) / 31.104) * (Ag Price (US$/oz) / Cu Price (US$/lb) / 22.04.Neither the CSE nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTThis news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical fact, that address events or developments that Pampa Metals expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will" or "may" occur. These statements are subject to various risks. Although Pampa Metals believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guaranteeing of future performance and actual result
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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 /Perk Labs Inc. (CSE:PERK)(OTC PINK:PKLBF)(FKT:PKLB) ("Perk" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce that Bird Fuels has selected Perk's subsidiary Getit Technologies Inc. ("Getit") as its payment technology provider. The agreement provides Bird Fuels with a custom-branded, unified payment portal capable of processing a wide range of sales transactions for a variety of different transaction types.Bird Fuels is a large bulk fuel, lubricant, propane and HVAC provider. Bird Fuels has offices in Collingwood, Owen Sound, and Orangeville, and services their customers throughout Southwestern Ontario using their cardlock refueling stations, and fleet of fuel and propane trucks for customer delivery."We selected Getit to enhance our customers' digital experience," said Michael Bird, Managing Partner at Bird Fuels. "We're confident our customers will appreciate the ease and simplicity of credit card management, fully online ordering and payment, and the ability to process multiple transaction types all on one unified platform. Additionally, our customers' security is our top priority, and Getit's PCI-compliant payment processing helps us uphold that commitment." The flexibility of Getit's platform allows Bird Fuels to manage the sale of its more than 1,000 retail items and numerous service offerings. Getit also enables Bird Fuels to quickly and conveniently update its product offerings, details, specifications, and stock."Under the Bird Fuels agreement, we expect to process as much as $20 million in digital payments a year, representing an estimated $280,000 to $400,000 in transactional revenues, with a 45% gross margin" said Ryan Hardy, CEO of Perk. "We're looking forward to demonstrating the scalability, security, and flexibility of the Getit platform with a complex purchase environment with this partnership with Bird Fuels." About Perk Labs Inc.Perk Labs Inc., (CSE:PERK)(OTCPINK:PKLBF)(FKT:PKLB), the owner of Getit Technologies Inc. and Perk Hero Software Inc. ("Perk Labs"), provides innovative mobile ordering and payment systems, allowing customers the ability to scan a QR code or NFC sticker to order and pay for their purchases directly from their phone. Perk Labs specializes in providing a single unified payment interface for complex purchase environments - environments that have multiple retailers processing an array of different transactions, including food and beverage purchases, merchandise sales, ticketing, registrations, donations, parking fees, and service payments. Perk Labs provides a custom-branded solution that is ideal for multi-transaction brands such as stadiums and arenas, university and college campuses, conference centers, hotels and resorts, festivals and events, and professional service companies.For more information, contact: Ryan HardyCEO(833) 338-0299 investors@ perklabs.io Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking information or forward-looking statements (collectively "forward-looking information") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information is typically identified by words such as: "may", "believe", "thinks", "expect", "exploring", "expand", "could", "anticipate", "intend", "estimate", "plan", "pursue", "potentially", "projected", "should", "will" and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. These forward-looking statements, which involve risks and uncertainties, relate to, among other things, the discussion of the Company's business strategies and its expectations concerning future operations, and expectations of future revenues for the Company. Although the Company considers these forward-looking statements to be reasonable based on information currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect, and the forward-looking statements in this release are subject to numerous risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause future results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking information provided by the Company is not a guarantee of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Undue reliance should not be placed on such forward-looking information, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are based will occur.SOURCE: Perk Labs Inc.
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Boss Babes' and Leading Ladies' empower female franchise ownersCHARLOTTESVILLE, VA / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / In honor of Women's History Month,Premium Service Brands(PSB), a leader in the home services franchising industry, proudly highlights its commitment to empowering women within its network through two all-female peer groups.Understanding the challenges women may face as franchise owners, PSB established two all-female peer groups, "Leading Ladies" and "Boss Babes," to provide a supportive and empowering environment for its female franchisees. Spearheaded by Kate Horner, brand lead for PSB's The Grout Medic, these groups offer a platform for women to share experiences, challenges, and successes, fostering community and collaboration among PSB's female entrepreneurs."The feedback from 'Leading Ladies' and 'Boss Babes' has been overwhelmingly positive," Horner said. "These groups serve as a support network and enable our women owners to voice their challenges and celebrate their achievements in a space where they feel understood and valued." In addition to supporting its female franchise owners, PSB is also leading by example in its support staff with three franchise veterans on its leadership team:As Chief Marketing Officer, Madeline Zook brings her extensive experience developing comprehensive marketing strategies to drive brand awareness and growth across PSB's franchise network. Roxanne Conrad relies on her tenure as a 360 Painting franchisee in her role as Senior Vice President of Operations, where she focuses on system development and helping franchise owners scale their businesses. Danielle Wright serves as PSB's Chief Development Officer, leading the franchise development team, focusing on strategy, market planning, and new franchisee recruitment."Empowering women to succeed in business is not just a commitment we make during Women's History Month - it's a core value that we live by year-round," said Paul Flick, PSB's CEO. "With initiatives like our all-female peer groups and the addition of talented women to leadership positions within our executive team, we are proud to support the growth and success of women in the home services industry." PSB's dedication to fostering an inclusive and supportive environment for women underscores its commitment to diversity and equality within the franchising community. As the company continues to grow, it remains focused on creating opportunities for all entrepreneurs to succeed.###ABOUT PREMIUM SERVICE BRANDS: Headquartered in Charlottesville, Va., Premium Service Brands (PSB) is a leader in home services franchise opportunities. PSB provides services to an ever-expanding customer base by building meaningful connections and creating lifelong customers. The company's lineup of niche home services brands includes 360 Painting, ProLift Garage Doors, Maid Right, Kitchen Wise & Closet Wise, Window Gang, Rubbish Works Junk Removal, The Grout Medic, House Doctors, and RooterMan. To get started building a new future with a franchise of your own, visitwww.premiumservicebrands.com Media Contact: Rachael Purl 919-459-8161 rpurl@919 marketing.com SOURCE: Premium Service Brands
PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-26 18:05:24

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Inclusion of sites in Edmonton, Alberta, and Frankfurt/Main in Germany increases geographical diversitySECAUCUS, N.J. / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / Retarus has expanded its collaboration with longstanding carrier partner ThinkTel. Independent connections between multiple data centers in Canada and Germany makes the worldwide Retarus fax network even more resilient in the event of a disruption and ensures optimum quality for last mile delivery. All Retarus Cloud Fax customers communicating to or from Canada stand to benefit.ThinkTel, a division of Distributel, has long been a permanent fixture in Retarus' globe-spanning carrier network. In recent years, the demand for secure fax transmission to Canada has risen steadily. Thus far, there has already been a dependable, managed connection between the data centers of ThinkTel, in Toronto, and Retarus, in Munich. Now, the companies' sites in Edmonton and Frankfurt have been added. This will facilitate intelligent load balancing, an increase in capacity, and a corresponding rise in the service level, which will immediately benefit all Retarus customers communicating to or from Canada."We are proud to provide our customers with increased connection capacities between Europe and Canada. As a result, the communication between European and Canadian companies via the Retarus Cloud Fax platform has become even more resistant to potential disruption. With the highest possible quality. So that every message sent is sure to arrive!" comments Martin Hager, founder and CEO of Retarus. "In ThinkTel, we've got a longstanding, reliable partner to achieve precisely that." The heart of the Retarus Messaging Platform is the company's own infrastructure in seven data centers distributed around the globe. These sites are connected through dedicated lines leased from various Tier 1 carriers, complemented by local providers, to ensure optimum quality at all times for customers with exacting requirements.About Retarus Retarus is a global provider of cloud solutions, modernizing and securing the digital communications and data exchange of organizations and public authorities. Key products are digital Cloud Fax, SMS, Transactional Email, Email Security, Supply Chain Integration, and Intelligent Document Processing. Retarus operates globally distributed data centers, providing these in-house developed solutions with top performance, security, and data protection. Headquartered in Munich and founded in 1992, Retarus is privately owned and proud of its innovative strength. The company employs around 500 people in 20 locations on four continents. Nearly half of the companies listed in the S&P Global 100 already place their trust in Retarus and, along with leading analysts, confirm the outstanding quality and reliability of its services. Retarus generates around 40 percent of its revenue in the US and offers its products both directly and in close cooperation with selected partners. More information: www.retarus.com Contact InformationJames PepeCorporate Communications Managerpress@ retarus.com +1 201 205-5954SOURCE: RetarusView the original press release on newswire.com
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BERLIN, GERMANY / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / Diagnostic company SphingoTec announces a significant change in its management team. Joerg Menten, Managing Director and CEO, leaves the company to enter into retirement. Dr. Angelo Moesslang, Managing Director and CFO, leaves SphingoTec after the completion of a 3-year term. SphingoTec is pleased to announce the following appointments to its management team, mainly selected from the internal ranks:Deborah Bergmann as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr. Florian Uhle as Managing Director and Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Nicole Witzmann as Chief Financial Officer (CFO)Dr. Gerald Moeller, Chairman of the Advisory Board at SphingoTec, said, "On behalf of the Advisory Board, I would like to thank Joerg Menten and Dr. Angelo Moesslang for successfully leading the company during the past years in a challenging external environment, preparing SphingoTec for entering into first commercial agreements, and streamlining the company's complex portfolio. This will allow their successors to focus on the key value drivers going forward. Furthermore, I congratulate Deborah Bergmann, Dr. Florian Uhle, and Nicole Witzmann on their appointments. Their hands-on experience in our global industry will help grow our company to become a key provider of diagnostic innovations in critical care.The long-term and multi-faceted past management roles of Deborah Bergmann within the company offer an experienced and dynamic leader. Dr. Florian Uhle is completing the team with his deep understanding of critical care settings and experience in translating science into clinical routine practice, and Nicole Witzmann with her successful track record in ensuring financing structure, fundraising, and allocation of funds for successfully achieving relevant milestones. I look forward to dynamic and focused actions with the new management team." Deborah Bergmann, CEO of SphingoTec, stated, "With gratitude to the outgoing management team for their dedicated leadership, I am honored by this appointment and committed to building upon their foundation. Together with the team, we will expand the global reach of our biomarker innovations, focusing on enhancing patient care and addressing unmet clinical needs. Our collective effort aims to reshape diagnostic standards in critical care while focusing on further licensing agreements and assisting current partners and pharma cooperations. Additionally, we are committed to supporting existing customers as routine users, particularly university hospitals, and strengthening the scientific and clinical evidence around our diagnostic tests." Deborah Bergmann appointed as Managing Director and CEO: Deborah Bergmann brings a wealth of experience and a deep understanding of SphingoTec's mission. With a Master's degree in Biochemistry from the University of Potsdam, Ms. Bergmann has been an integral part of SphingoTec's journey from its inception. Her multifaceted contributions across research and development, marketing, sales, and business development have been instrumental in securing the company's first routine users, driving sales conversion of reference customers, and overseeing the out-licensing activities. Ms. Bergmann's leadership skills and international cooperation aptitude have facilitated the company's expansion into global markets, underscoring her commitment to advancing diagnostic standards in critical care.Dr. Florian Uhle appointed as Managing Director and CMO: Dr. Florian Uhle brings over 15 years of experience in healthcare. With a diploma in Biology from the Justus-Liebig University, a Master of Science in Clinical Research and Translational Medicine from the University of Leipzig, and a Ph.D. in Translational Critical Care from the Justus-Liebig University, Dr. Uhle has held several leadership roles within Inflammatix Inc. and the University Hospitals Heidelberg and Giessen. His expertise in diagnostic research activities and innovation-oriented initiatives, coupled with his extensive publication record in renowned scientific journals, positions him as a valuable leader to SphingoTec. Dr. Uhle is committed to bridging the gap between research and clinical practice, ensuring that SphingoTec's diagnostic innovations translate into tangible improvements in patient outcomes.Nicole Witzmann joins SphingoTec as CFO: Nicole Witzmann assumes the role of Chief Financial Officer, bringing over eight years of corporate finance experience in the healthcare industry. With a Master's degree in Business Communication from the University of Applied Sciences Berlin (HTW Berlin), Ms. Witzmann previously served as CFO at InfanDx. She was instrumental as Head of Finance at Adrenomed AG, ensuring financial oversight and fundraising. Her expertise aligns seamlessly with SphingoTec's strategic objectives: allocating financial resources, which aims to achieve tangible milestones, fostering shareholder value, and substantial advancements in patient care.About SphingoTecSphingoTec GmbH ("SphingoTec"; Hennigsdorf near Berlin, Germany) is a commercial-stage diagnostic company focusing on innovative critical care biomarkers for diagnosing, predicting, and monitoring acute medical conditions. SphingoTec's innovative markers are made available on different IVD platforms. SphingoTec's proprietary biomarker portfolio includes Proenkephalin A 119-159 (penKid), a biomarker for the assessment of kidney function in critical diseases, and bioactive Adrenomedullin 1-52 (bio-ADM), a biomarker for the assessment of endothelial function in conditions like sepsis.Media contact: Ruxandra LenzHead of Marketing and CommunicationSphingoTec GmbHNeuendorfstr. 15 A16761 HennigsdorfTel. +49-3302-20565-0SOURCE: SphingoTec GmbH
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The premier social media platform and Twitter alternative reaffirms its commitment to user safety and data integrity.NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 /Spoutible, the emerging social media network founded on the principles of meaningful and toxic-free engagement and free from hate speech, harassment, and misinformation, has reaffirmed its commitment to protecting users' privacy and security by contracting with two leading cybersecurity companies.Spoutible Spoutible has engaged Wallarm to safeguard its API endpoints and provide additional security services. Spoutible has also leveraged the expertise of A-LIGN to conduct threat assessments and evaluate security practices."Our decision to partner with two leading cybersecurity companies underscores Spoutible's unwavering commitment to user safety and platform integrity," Spoutible CEO Christopher Bouzy said. "In an era where digital environments are increasingly vulnerable, ensuring a secure and welcoming online community is not just our priority-it's our responsibility." Bouzy said that, "Wallarm is already integrated at Spoutible and enhancing API security while reinforcing the company's overall security posture." Wallarm, founded in 2016, and based in San Francisco, CA, is recognized as the leading end-to-end API and application security company, serving a broad global client base.Wallarm's platform is designed to offer integrated best-in-class API Security and WAAP capabilities to deliver comprehensive discovery of web apps and API endpoints, protect against emerging threats, and provide automated incident response."Spoutible partnered with A-LIGN to conduct a quarterly external threat assessment. While no critical vulnerabilities were identified, A-LIGN provided recommendations for strengthening Spoutible's security," Bouzy said.A-LIGN, founded in 2009, is a security and compliance partner listing more than 4,000 clients worldwide. The firm provides audit services to ensure its clients comply with global cybersecurity standards and is the leading provider of SOC 2 audits, which cover data integrity and privacy."By partnering with Wallarm and A-LIGN, Spoutible is demonstrating that it will take the strongest proactive measures to protect our users' data and foster trust in our platform," Bouzy said.To learn more about Spoutible, the social network that provides toxic-free engagement and a Twitter alternative, visit spoutible.com About SpoutibleSpoutible's mission is to reshape the social media landscape with a commitment to diversity, inclusivity, and user safety. Founded with a vision to combat online harassment, hate speech, and misinformation, Spoutible employs strict policies and transparent rules to create a haven for safe, respectful, and meaningful online interactions.About WallarmWallarm, the integrated App and API Security company, provides robust protection for APIs, web applications, microservices, and serverless workloads running in cloud-native environments. Our platform supports modern tech stacks, offering dozens of deployment options in cloud and Kubernetes-based environments, and also provides a full cloud solution. Wallarm is headquartered in San Francisco, California, and is backed by Toba Capital, Y ombinator, Partech, and other investors.About A-LIGNA-LIGN is the leading provider of high-quality, efficient cybersecurity compliance programs. Combining experienced auditors and audit management technology, A-LIGN provides the widest breadth and depth of services including SOC 2, ISO 27001, HITRUST, FedRAMP, and PCI. A-LIGN is the number one issuer of SOC 2 and HITRUST and a top three FedRAMP assessor. To learn more, visit a-lign.com Contact Information:Buse Kayarbuse.kayar@issuerdirect.com Related ImagesSpoutibleWallarmA-LIGNSOURCE: SpoutibleView the original press release on newswire.com
PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-26 12:01:16

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MONTREAL, QC / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / SRQ Resources Inc. (TSXV:SRQ) ("SRQ" or the "Company") is pleased to present its exploration plans for its Lac Brule project in Quebec including additional geophysical surveys and a 2024 drilling program.Dr. Marc-Antoine Audet, SRQ's President & CEO, will present the findings from previous work and the 2024 projected exploration program during a live virtual non-deal roadshow hosted by Renmark Financial on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, at 12:00 P.M. EDT. Investors and interested parties are invited to register here using the latest version of Google Chrome. Access to a replay of the event will be available on Renmark Financial's website at www.renmarkfinancial.com/vndrs To date, SRQ has discovered three sequences of magmatic intrusions ("UM") with mineralized pyroxenites at Lac Brule.Highlights of Mineralization Characteristics at Lac Brule's UM Complex:The UM complex is composed of meta-pyroxenite and meta-peridotite, both of which intrude the highly metamorphic host rock sequence:The meta-pyroxenite has mineralized horizons containing up to 30% sulphides The sulphides present are mainly pyrrhotite (iron + minor nickel carrier), chalcopyrite (copper carrier) and cobalt-rich pentlandite (nickel and cobalt carrier)About SRQ Resources Inc.SRQ is a Canadian base metals company exploring for nickel. copper and platinum in the province of Quebec. A near-surface Ni-Cu project. Lac Brule is located on a 288 km virgin exploration property at a five-hour drive from Montreal. The project's prospectivity for base metals has been confirmed by geological mapping. the presence of a surface gossan, and geophysical surveys. The presence of the historic Renzy Ni-Cu mine located 50 kilometers to the south-east and at the heart of the large regional pattern further adds to the area's mineral exploration appeal. For more information about SRQ. please visit SRQ's website at www.srqexploration.com/ About Renmark Financial Communications Inc.Founded in 1999. Renmark is a privately held full-service investor relations firm. located in Atlanta. New York. Toronto and Montreal. For the past 25 years. Renmark has provided services in investor relations. media relations and web development representing small. medium and large cap public companies listed on all major North American exchanges. On a daily basis, Renmark team of professionals enhance client's visibility within the retail market space as corporate communicators. With the largest roadshow footprint in North America. and a state-of-the-art media studio, Renmark hosts a multitude of live streaming Virtual Non-Deal Roadshows across North America and Europe.Contact Information:Marc-Antoine Audet. President and CEO ceo@ srqexploration.com Tel: (514) 726-4158Renmark Financial Communications Inc. Bettina Filippone: bfilippone@ renmarkfinancial.com Tel: (416) 644-2020 or (514) 939-3989 www.renmarkfinancial.com/ Forward-Looking Statements and Forward-Looking Information:Certain of the statements made and information contained herein are "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements and forward-looking information characterized by terms such as "will", could", "expect", "estimate", "evidence", "potential", "appears", "seems", "suggest", are inherently subject to significant business, economic, and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Known and unknown factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements and forward-looking information, and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements and information. Such factors include, but are not limited to: the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development; assumptions relating to the trading price of the Company's common shares; the ability of the Company to convert resources in reserves, its ability to see through the next phase of development on any project, its ability to produce a pre-feasibility study or a feasibility study regarding any project, its ability to execute on its development plans in terms of metallurgy or exploration, the availability of financing for activities, risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results and the estimation of mineral resources and reserves, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits, the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations, metal price fluctuations, environmental and regulatory requirements, availability of permits, escalating costs of remediation and mitigation, risk of title loss, the effects of accidents, equipment breakdowns, labour disputes or other unanticipated difficulties with or interruptions in exploration or development, the potential for delays in exploration or development activities, the inherent uncertainty of cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses, commodity price fluctuations, currency fluctuations, expectations and beliefs of management and other risks and uncertainties. Many of these uncertainties and contingencies can affect the Company's actual results and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements and forward-looking information made by or expressed on behalf of the Company. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.Neither the TSX-V nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX-V) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.SOURCE: SRQ Resources
PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-26 17:01:00

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DENVER, CO / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / Staffing Referrals, the #1 automated referral management (ARM) platform for the staffing industry, is thrilled to announce the winners of the inauguralReferral Impact Awards . These awards recognize staffing firms that are successfully building and engaging talent communities and leveraging that engagement to attract candidate referrals and grow their business.The awards underscore the critical role that a positive talent experience plays in achieving success within the staffing industry. For staffing firms, a vibrant talent community is a key differentiator not only in attracting top candidates but also in securing new business opportunities. The effectiveness of a firm's referral program indicates the depth and robustness of their relationships with the members of their talent community.The 2024 Referral Impact Awards comprise three categories of excellence.Community BuilderThis award celebrates staffing firms that generate the most active participation with their referral program. The winners demonstrate exceptional engagement, fostering a supportive and interactive environment for their talent.A24Group Blue Chip Talent Broadstaff ComResource FlexTrades GHR Healthcare Graham Personnel Services Healthcare Staffing Professionals Heitmeyer Consulting HireCall iSphere Innovation Partners MyWorkChoice Nextaff Resource 1 SecureTek Solutions Shiftfillers SitePro Solutions StaffHealth Staffmax TLC Nursing TOPS Staffing Uniti Med Voca WorldWide HealthStaff Worx Zeal Clinical Staffing Most ReferredThis award recognizes the firms that earn the most candidate referrals from their ambassador network. It highlights the power of reputation and trust in the staffing industry.A24Group Amare Medical Network Benchmark IT Blue Chip Talent ComResource Covelo Group Enscicon FlexTrades GHR Healthcare Healthcare Staffing Professionals Heitmeyer Consulting I.K. Hofmann USA iSphere Innovation Partners Job1USA MAS Medical Staffing MedWave Healthcare Staffing QS Nurses Staffmax Staff Relief Teamit TOPS Staffing Uniti Med WorldWide HealthStaff Voca Worx Best-in-ClassThis award honors the firms that most successfully harness referrals to grow their business. The winners have placed a significant percentage of referral candidates into jobs, showcasing the effectiveness of their referral programs.Allegiance Staffing Cardinal Services CrossMed Health Doherty Staffing Solutions Employment Solutions Fettig.jobs Healthcare Staffing Professionals Heitmeyer Consulting Integrity Staffing Solutions MAS Medical Staffing Partners Personnel SEEK Careers Staffworks Group Uniti Med Your Employment Solutions"The Referral Impact Awards are not just about recognizing the hard work and success of these firms," said David Folwell, President at Staffing Referrals. "They are also about setting a benchmark for excellence in the industry. Our goal is to inspire agencies to build, engage, and grow their talent communities by creating better and more transparent candidate experiences." The 2024 Referral Impact Awards are based on data collected in the Staffing Referrals platform from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2023. Only firms with at least 6 months' worth of data were included. Interested in being considered for the 2025 awards?Sign up with Staffing Referralsand start leveraging your referral program to its fullest potential.About Staffing ReferralsAs the #1 automated referral management (ARM) platform, Staffing Referrals helps agencies turn their talent pool into a competitive advantage. Founded in 2017, the staffing software elevates the candidate experience, reduces agency dependency on job boards, and eliminates administrative workload. Staffing Referrals is integrated with leading applicant tracking systems (ATSs) including Bullhorn, Avionte, TargetRecruit, JobDiva, and LaborEdge.To learn more about Staffing Referrals and to request a demo of the software, visit https://staffingreferrals.com/ Email: sales@ staffingreferrals.com Phone: (800) 496-1727SOURCE: Staffing Referrals
PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-26 19:21:23

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ESTES PARK, CO / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / Taranis Resources Inc. ("Taranis" or the "Company") ( TSX.V:TRO)(OTCQB:TNREF) is pleased to provide an update on its 100%-owned Thor Project located 8 km northeast of the town of Trout Lake, British Columbia.Taranis has received approval of its Notice of Work "(NoW") permit application that was filed in August 2022 (19 months ago). This happened after Taranis's legal counsel (McMillan LLP) initiated legal proceedings in the British Columbia Supreme Court."It is regrettable we had to bring court action before getting the NoW issued, but we are very pleased to now have it in hand and put this behind us" said Taranis President and CEO John Gardiner."Taranis is now reviewing the NoW details and planning its activities for 2024. Taranis is committed to working constructively with the Indigenous groups and local communities, and managing our work in a sound environmental manner" said Mr. Gardiner. "Just as we have done in this area for the last 18 years." Qualified PersonExploration activities at Thor were overseen by John Gardiner (P. Geo.), who is a Qualified Person under the meaning of Canadian National Instrument 43-101. John Gardiner is a principal of John J. Gardiner & Associates, LLC which operates in British Columbia under Firm Permit Number 1002256.For additional information on Taranis or its 100%-owned Thor project in British Columbia, visit www.taranisresources.com Taranis currently has 94,587,027 shares issued and outstanding (109,262,027 shares on a fully-diluted basis).TARANIS RESOURCES INC.Per: John J. Gardiner (P. Geo.), President and CEOFor further information contact:John J. Gardiner681 Conifer LaneEstes Park, Colorado 80517Phone: (303) 716-5922 Cell: (720) 209-3049johnjgardiner@ earthlink.net NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS NEWS RELEASE.This News Release may contain forward looking statements based on assumptions and judgments of management regarding future events or results that may prove to be inaccurate as a result of factors beyond its control, and actual results may differ materially from expected results.SOURCE: Taranis Resources Inc.
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TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / Theralase Technologies Inc. ("Theralase" or the "Company") (TSXV:TLT)(OTCQB:TLTFF), a clinical stage pharmaceutical company focused on the research and development of light activated Photo Dynamic Compounds ("PDCs") and their associated drug formulations, used to safely and effectively destroy various cancers, bacteria and viruses, announced today that it is hosting Advisory Board meetings to present the latest Study II interim clinical data to its Principal Investigators ("PIs") at the Canadian Urological Association ("CUA") Bladder Cancer Forum and the American Urology Association ("AUA"), respectively.Study II is a Phase II clinical study that provides a Study Procedure (Study Drug activated by a Study Device) for patients diagnosed with Bacillus Calmette Guerin ("BCG")-Unresponsive Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer ("NMIBC") Carcinoma In-Situ ("CIS").An advisory board meeting is scheduled to take place on April 12, 2024, during the Bladder Cancer Forum 2024 located in Toronto, Ontario to provide an update to all Canadian Principal Investigators ("PIs") of the Study II interim clinical data and to discuss opportunities for patient enrollment.An advisory board meeting is scheduled to take place on May 4th, 2024, during the 2024 American Urology Association ("AUA") meeting in San Antonio, Texas to provide an update to all Canadian and US-based PIs of the Study II interim clinical data and to discuss opportunities for patient enrollment.Arkady Mandel MD, PhD, DSc, Chief Scientific Officer of Theralase stated, "Patients with BCG-Unresponsive NMIBC CIS have limited treatment options other than bladder removal surgery. We look forward to discussing the strong, interim clinical data from Study II with the PIs of the study, who are key opinion leaders in the Canadian and US urologic community. The interim clinical data to be presented details the safety and efficacy of Ruvidar-based photodynamic therapy PDT for the treatment of BCG-Unresponsive NMIBC CIS. The current interim Phase II clinical study analysis demonstrates a significant clinical advantage of the Theralase technology in the current treatment landscape and provides potential for a novel, effective and lasting treatment option for these patients. Moving forward, we are continuing to advance new patient recruitment with the goal of completing patient recruitment for our Phase II study by year end".About the Canadian Urological Association The Canadian Urological Association ("CUA") is proud to have been part of the development of urology in Canada since 1945. The CUA exists to promote the highest standard of urologic care for Canadians and to advance the science of urology.About the American Urological Association Founded in 1902, with more than 20,000 members worldwide, the American Urological Association ("AUA") is a premier urologic association, providing invaluable support to the urologic community with the mission is to promote the highest standards of urological clinical care through education, research and the formulation of health care policy.About Theralase Technologies Inc.: Theralase is a clinical stage pharmaceutical company dedicated to the research and development of light activated compounds, their associated drug formulations and the light systems that activate them, with a primary objective of efficacy and a secondary objective of safety in the destruction of various cancers, bacteria and viruses.Additional information is available at www.theralase.com and www.sedar.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.Forward Looking Statements:This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Such statements include; but, are not limited to statements regarding the Company's proposed development plans with respect to Photo Dynamic Compounds and their drug formulations. Forward looking statements may be identified by the use of the words "may, "should", "will", "anticipates", "believes", "plans", "expects", "estimate", "potential for" and similar expressions; including, statements related to the current expectations of Company's management for future research, development and commercialization of the Company's Photo Dynamic Compounds and their drug formulations, preclinical research, clinical studies and regulatory approvals.These statements involve significant risks, uncertainties and assumptions; including, the ability of the Company to: adequately fund and secure the requisite regulatory approvals to commercially market a treatment for bladder cancer in a timely fashion and implement its commercialization strategy. Other risks include: the ability of the Company to successfully complete its Phase II BCG-Unresponsive NMIBC CIS clinical study , access to sufficient capital to fund the Company's operations may not be available or may not be available on terms that are commercially favorable to the Company, the Company's drug formulations may not be effective against the diseases tested in its clinical studies, the Company's fails to comply with the term of license agreements with third parties and as a result loses the right to use key intellectual property in its business, the Company's ability to protect its intellectual property, the timing and success of submission, acceptance and approval of regulatory filings. Many of these factors that will determine actual results are beyond the Company's ability to control or predict.Readers should not unduly rely on these forward- looking statements which are not a guarantee of future performance. There can be no assurance that forward looking statements will prove to be accurate as such forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results or future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements.Although the forward-looking statements contained in the press release are based upon what management currently believes to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure prospective investors that actual results, performance or achievements will be consistent with these forward-looking statements.All forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and are subject to change. Except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to update such statements.For More Information: 1.866. THE.LASE (843-5273)416.699.LASE (5273) www.theralase.com Kristina Hachey, CPAChief F
YEREVAN, MARCH 26, ARMENPRESS. Israel canceled a visit to Washington by a senior delegation to discuss Israels threatened offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah after the U.S. abstained in a Security Council vote and allowed the Council to pass a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, CNN reports.

The US had previously vetoed similar resolutions calling for a ceasefire. The US abstention on Mondays vote allowed the latest resolution to pass, when the other 14 members of the 15-strong council voted yes.

The resolution, put forward by the 10 non-permanent members of the Security Council, demands 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, CNN adds.

Both Hamas and the Palestinian authority welcomed the resolution, while Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan criticized the Security Council for passing a measure that called for a ceasefire without conditioning it on the release of the hostages. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on X his country will not abide by the resolution, will destroy Hamas and continue to fight until the last of the hostages returns home.

The UN vote on Monday came as tensions grow over a looming Israeli military operation in Gazas southern city of Rafah. The US has been calling on Israel to explain how it will protect the 1.4 million Palestinians seeking refuge there, the report adds.

Israels national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi and Ron Dermer, a member of the war cabinet and close adviser to Netanyahu, had been scheduled to travel to Washington on Monday night to discuss the offensive and US alternatives.

US National Security spokesman John Kirby said Washington was disappointed by the decision to cancel the trip.

Separately, Israel agreed to a US proposal on a prisoner-hostage deal, according to CNN analyst Barak Ravids reporting on the recent round of talks in Doha. The reported deal could see the release of around 700 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of 40 Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
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Marlin Equity Partners has signed a binding agreement to acquire a majority stake in Treasury Intelligence Solutions. The investment puts the company in a great position to continue investing in organic and inorganic growth opportunities across the Office of the CFO. Co-founder Joerg Wiemer, Aquiline Capital Partners LP, and the Management Team retain significant minority positions in the company.BERLIN, GERMANY / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / Today, Treasury Intelligence Solutions ("TIS"), a global leader in cloud-native cash management, liquidity and payment solutions, announced that it has signed a binding agreement to secure majority growth investment from Marlin Equity Partners ("Marlin"). The investment positions TIS to execute on organic and inorganic strategic initiatives to further serve the Office of the CFO. The agreement is subject to customary regulatory clearance. A closing of the transaction is expected in the second quarter.TIS' Group CEO Erik Masing commented "this exciting partnership with Marlin will fuel our international expansion efforts, leveraging their expertise to broaden our partnerships and strengthen our product offering. In an era of supply chain disruption, rate volatility and macroeconomic uncertainty, the importance of liquidity management, working capital optimization, and secure, efficient B2B payments has never been higher for our customers. The Marlin team demonstrated a deep appreciation for the strength of our value proposition and a strong alignment with our strategic goals." Chris Calhoun, TIS' CEO of Americas, added "Marlin's deep understanding of the European and U.S. markets, as well as their experience in the Office of the CFO and monetization of data and payments in particular were the key reasons we were keen to partner with them." "The TIS team impressed us with their strategic and innovative product offering, strong banking integrations and dedicated customers focus. The company's mission-critical platform is well positioned to deliver continued growth in the global market for B2B payments, cashflow and treasury management solutions," said Konstantin von Bismarck from Marlin. "We are excited to welcome TIS to our family of software businesses and are thrilled to support the company's vision of helping more enterprises effectively, securely and transparently manage their treasury needs." Raymond James served as exclusive financial advisor to TIS. Guggenheim Securities, LLC served as exclusive financial advisor to Marlin.About Treasury Intelligence Solutions (TIS) TIS helps Chief Financial Officers, Treasurers, and Finance teams transform their global cash flow, liquidity, and payment functions. Since 2010, our award-winning cloud platform and robust service model have empowered the entire office of the CFO to collaborate more effectively and attain maximum efficiency, automation, and control. With over 11,000 banking options, $80 billion in daily cash managed, and $2.7 trillion in annual transaction volume, TIS has a proven track record of combining our extensive market expertise with tailored client and community feedback to drive digital transformation for companies of all sizes and industries. For more information, please visit www.tispayments.com About Marlin Equity Partners Marlin Equity Partners is a global investment firm with approximately $9 billion in capital commitments. The firm is focused on providing corporate parents, shareholders and other stakeholders with tailored solutions that meet their business and liquidity needs. Marlin invests in businesses across multiple industries where its capital base, industry relationships and extensive network of operational resources significantly strengthen a company's outlook and enhance value. Since its inception, Marlin, through its group of funds and related companies, has successfully completed over 200 acquisitions. The firm is headquartered in Los Angeles, California, with an additional office in London. For more information, please visit www.marlinequity.com About Aquiline Capital Partners LP Aquiline Capital Partners LP is a private investment specialist based in New York, London, Philadelphia, and Greenwich, Connecticut, that invests across financial services and related technologies. The firm has $10.1 billion in assets under management as of September 30, 2023. For more information about Aquiline, its investment professionals, and its portfolio companies, visit www.aquiline.com Contact InformationJennifer KnutelEVP Global Marketingjennifer.knutel@tispayments.com SOURCE: Treasury Intelligence Solutions (TIS)View the original press release on newswire.com
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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / Xebra Brands Ltd. ("Xebra" or the "Company") (CSE:XBRA)(OTCQB:XBRAF)(FSE:9YC0), a cannabis company, is excited to announce the signing of a manufacturing agreement on March 22, 2024 with Restorative Botanicals, a leading provider of premium CBD products. This collaboration marks a significant milestone for Xebra as it enhances its product portfolio with it's first Mexican product launch of premium CBD tinctures.Under the terms of the agreement, Restorative Botanicals will manufacture a bespoke CBD tincture exclusively for the Elements CBD brand, leveraging their expertise in crafting high-quality, cannabinoid-infused products. The CBD tinctures, tailored to meet Xebra's specifications, will offer consumers a premium wellness solution aimed at delivering on consumer needs.The CBD products will be manufactured in the US, allowing Xebra to import finished products prior to receiving all federally approved confirmations from the COFEPRIS for domestically produced products. Xebra's long-term goal remains to manufacture locally in Mexico, but as consumers and retailers eagerly await domestically produced products, Xebra unlocks another commercial route through their import authorizations to satisfy these consumer needs. Xebra will introduce these Element branded products to prime the retail and commercial pathways in Mexico and lay the foundation for greater expansion and lower cost of production once domestic products are manufactured.Restorative Botanicals is renowned for its commitment to quality and innovation in the CBD industry. With a focus on natural ingredients and sustainable practices, Restorative Botanicals has earned a reputation for delivering premium CBD products that prioritise consumer well-being.The bespoke CBD tincture crafted by Restorative Botanicals for Xebra will feature:High-quality, broad-spectrum CBD extract sourced from organic hemp Meticulously selected botanical ingredients for enhanced efficacy and flavor Rigorous testing and quality assurance measures to ensure potency and purityRodrigo Gallardo, Interim CEO of Xebra Brands Ltd, commented, "We are excited to partner with Restorative Botanicals to commercialize our unique product offerings ahead of domestic production. This collaboration ignites a commercial pathway to revenue by allowing our team to unlock the Mexican CBD market and start forging partnerships with retailers and commercial outlets." For more information, please contact:Rodrigo Gallardo Interim CEO+1 (833) XEBRA 88 ir@ xebrabrands.com Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking InformationCertain information contained in this press release constitutes forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. Any statements that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements, these include, without limitation, statements regarding Xebra Brands Ltd.'s expectations in respect of its ability to successfully execute its business plan or business model, the ability to obtain necessary approvals in connection with the Debt Settlement; its ability to enter into and execute partnerships or joint venture opportunities on acceptable terms; its ability to provide economic, environmental, social, or any benefits of any type in the communities it operates in or may operate it in the future; its ability to be a first mover in a country, or to obtain or retain government licenses, permits or authorizations in general, or specifically in Mexico, Canada, or elsewhere, including cannabis authorizations from the Mexican Health Regulatory Agency (COFEPRIS); its ability to satisfy the conditions of authorizations granted by COFEPRIS; its ability to successfully apply for, obtain and retain trademarks and other intellectual property in any jurisdiction; its ability to be cost competitive; its ability to commercialize, cultivate, grow, or process hemp or cannabis in Mexico, Canada, or elsewhere and related plans and timing; its ability to manufacture, commercialize or sell its CBD products,, wellness products, or other products in Mexico, Canada, or elsewhere, and its related plans and claims, including market interest and availability; its ability to create wellness products that have a therapeutic effect or benefit; plans for future growth and the direction of the business; plans to increase product volumes, the capacity of existing facilities, supplies from third party growers and contractors; expected growth of the cannabis industry generally; management's expectations, beliefs and assumptions in general, including manufacturing costs, production activity and market potential in Mexico or any jurisdiction; events or developments that Xebra expects to take place in the future; general economic conditions; and other risk factors described in the MD&A of the Company for the period ended November 30, 2023. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, are forward-looking information and statements. The words "aim", "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "contemplate", "target", "intends", "continue", "plans", "budget", "estimate", "may", "will", and similar expressions identify forward-looking information and statements. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by Xebra as of the dates of such statements, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Known and unknown factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, the inability of Xebra to retain the authorizations granted by COFEPRIS, failure to receive required regulatory approvals for securities offerings, the inability to generate sufficient revenues or to raise sufficient funds to carry out its business plan; changes in government legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments in various countries; risks associated with agriculture and cultivation activities generally, including inclement weather, access to supply of seeds, poor crop yields, and spoilage; compliance with import and export laws of various countries; significant fluctuations in cannabis prices and transportation costs; the risk of obtaining necessary licenses and permits; inability to identify, negotiate and complete potential acquisitions, dispositions or joint ventures for any reason; the ability to retain key employees; dependence on third parties for services and supplies; non-performance by contractual counter-partie
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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / Zoth , a real-world assets (RWA) protocol that bridges traditional finance with on-chain finance has successfully scaled its on-chain trade finance facility by tokenizing receivables in Southeast Asia usingTradeFinexon theXDC Network . This expands Zoth's vision across the Middle East, LATAM, and Southeast Asia, creating a global liquidity infrastructure to address global trade challenges. The receivables tokenization utilized TradeFinex's open-source smart contract standards and was funded by Zoth's LP Ecosystem using theFathom Dollar $FXD .This deal involves Zoth facilitating liquidity for the Singapore subsidiary of a US entity, a global leader in e-learning, while the counterparty is a government entity of Singapore. The transaction was done on the XDC Network blockchain, with TradeFinex, a dApp within the XDC ecosystem beingone of the liquidity providers for the deal . This facility raised $FXD 350,000 for the entity, with plans to expand financing to USD10 million via Zoth, which is focused on driving trade finance in Southeast Asia.The success of this deal highlights the efficiency of blockchain-based financing for real-world challenges powered by Zoth's proprietary Technology.Dive into the pool details here: https://app.zoth.io/trade_finance_receivables/65fb0052815b8a869d118c3b#underlying_assets "Our collaboration with TradeFinex and XDC Network has led to a second successful deal. We're building the first liquidity infrastructure focused on simplifying global finance and addressing the credit gap in emerging markets," said Pritam Dutta, Founder of Zoth.Added Chen Shanlong, Marketing and Partnerships Lead of XDC Network and TradeFinex, "This deal is in line with XDC Network's emphasis in Real World Assets (RWA) and TradeFinex's focus on supporting startups and in the process reducing the funding gap in the currently underserved Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) space." Zoth successfully achieved several milestones during the pool:Conversion of paper-based invoices into electronic invoices. Tokenization and fractionalization of the electronic invoices. Provision of capital against the fractionalized electronic invoice for a 120-day period using the FXD stablecoin. Participants in the pilot included:Zoth: Loan Originator & Tokenization PlatformTradeFinex: Open Source Smart Contracts Standard Reshaping Trade Finance and Supply Chain FinanceFathom: FXD Stablecoin IssuerXDC Network: An enterprise-grade, carbon-neutral blockchain with fast transactions, near-zero gas fees, and interoperability, powering secure and efficient trade finance, payments, and RWA tokenization. Solutions used in the pilot:TradeFinex: Blockchain-based P2P marketplace for trade financing. Resource for Open-Source Smart-Contract Standards for RWA Focused Private Credit Solutions Blockchain Network: XDC Network is an Enterprise-Grade, Open-Source Blockchain Protocol. $FXD: Stablecoin Soft Pegged to USD and Overcollateralized Using the $XDC TokenThis is an important milestone between Zoth and TradeFinex, using the XDC Network protocol and $FXD as one of its stablecoins.About Zoth:Zoth is an ecosystem that bridges liquidity between traditional finance (TradFi) and on-chain finance, one RWA at a time, thereby facilitating the flow of assets and capital between these sectors.The inaugural offering, Zoth - Fixed Income (Zoth-Fi), represents an institutional-grade fixed income marketplace that enables investor access to premium fixed-income assets through stablecoins. Zoth includes a wide range of asset classes, such as trade finance receivables, sovereign government bonds, and corporate credit.About TradeFinex:TradeFinex is an open TradeFi protocol and marketplace for real-world asset pools. It utilizes open-source smart contract technology for trade asset pooling, aggregation, and distribution to alternative asset investors. Built on the XDC Network, TradeFinex leverages blockchain technology to offer a secure, transparent, and efficient mechanism for various trade finance transactions.About XDC Network:XDC Network is an open-source, carbon-neutral, enterprise-grade, EVM-compatible, Layer 1 blockchain that has been operationally successful since 2019. The network obtains consensus via a specially delegated proof-of-stake (XDPoS) technique that allows for 2-second transaction times, near-zero gas expenses ($0.0001), over 2000 TPS, and interoperability with ISO 20022 financial messaging standards. The XDC Network powers a wide range of novel blockchain use cases, including trade finance, payment, and RWA tokenization, that are secure, scalable, and highly efficient.Find more information about XDC Network by visiting our website XinFin.org XDC.org and follow us on our social medias:Twitter||Telegram||LinkedIn||Reddit||Facebook||ForumPR ContactZEX PR WIRE info@ zexprwire.com SOURCE: Zoth
The Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) on Monday expressed concerns over the clearing of the Central Bank of Nigeria forex backlog, highlighting challenges faced by member companies.

The CBN, on 20 March, announced it had cleared all valid foreign exchange backlogs.

While commending the CBN for clearing the backlog, the association reiterated the need to take drastic steps to address the unmet forex requests by some members of private sector operators.

In a statement by its National President, Dele Oye, the association hailed President Bola Tinubu and the CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, for the move.

However, he said several NACCIMA member companies and other private sector operators have challenged the CBN over claims of clearing the forex backlog.

Mr Oye revealed that despite the CBNs commitment to providing foreign exchange, many NACCIMA members have reported that their funds in Naira have been retained for extended periods, some for over a year. He said the lack of communication from banks or the CBN has left their business operations in uncertainty.

In February, NACCIMA as part of the Organized Private Sector of Nigeria (OPSN) sought the intervention of the Honourable Minister of Finance to address these issues, emphasizing the need for transparency and expedited resolution. Additionally, NACCIMA, along with NASSI and NASME with other associations, raised these concerns with the Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment during a courtesy visit that same month, the statement said.

The gravity of the situation was acknowledged by the National Assembly, which led to a summoning of the Honourable Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment to discuss the matter further.

As part of the Hon Minister of Industry Trade and Investment preparation for the National Assembly Summons, a stakeholder meeting Comprising of NACCIMA, MAN, affected banks and customers was convened by the Honourable Minister of Industry Trade and Investment at the Bank of Industry in Lagos on the21 March.

At the meeting, it was gathered that there has been a lack of formal communication from the CBN regarding the rejection of foreign exchange bids. Furthermore, it was revealed that Deloitte, the consulting firm engaged by the CBN for verification purposes, had not directly engaged with the affected banks or their customers for clarification on any contentious transactions, he said.

Mr Oye said after the meeting, it was agreed that direct engagement with the CBN is crucial and the minister urged all parties to engage in dialogue and advised against actions like litigation that could hinder discussions.

NACCIMA, thereafter, appealed to the CBN to closely collaborate with the minister of industry, trade, and investment, as well as the banking sector and their clients, to resolve outstanding issues regarding legitimate letters of credit.

The association emphasised that government obligations extend beyond individual tenures, stressing the need to honour legitimate transactions initiated under previous administrations with the same level of commitment.

While we acknowledge the strides made in addressing trade claims, we urge for a more comprehensive and transparent approach to resolving the remaining foreign exchange allocations, the association said.

This will not only support the integrity of banking processes but also bolster the confidence of the private sector in Nigerias financial institutions and the broader economic policies of the government.

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Nigerian radio host turned-actress Ada Ogunkeye, better known as Folu Storms, has made her mark as the lead in Afefe, one of the series in MTVs five-part anthology, In Bloom.

In Bloom is a collaboration between MTV Staying Alive Foundation, Paramount Global, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, presenting a compelling five-part short film anthology dedicated to advancing gender equality.

Directed by talented female filmmakers from Nigeria, Kenya, India, the US, and Brazil, this anthology boldly confronts gender-based challenges, including period poverty, child marriage, gender-based violence, HIV, self-stigma, family planning, and womens economic empowerment.

Each film in the anthology carries its unique narrative, shedding light on diverse experiences and struggles.

They include Afefe by Dolapo LowlaDee Adeleke (Nigeria), featuring Folu Storms; Period by Nicole Teeny (USA), featuring Yasmina El-Abd; Alta by Priyanka Banerjee (India), featuring Mazel Vyas; Mare by Giuliana Monterio (Brazil), featuring Vanessa Giacomo; and Kifungo by Voline Ogutu (Kenya), featuring Brenda Wairimu.

Within this anthology are multiple short films, each presenting its narrative yet bound by a common thread of theme or authorship.

In Afefe, Folu Storms embodies the character of Simi, portraying Nigerian womens challenges.

Afefe follows the story of a young wife and mother, Simi, whose elderly and ailing mother-in-law moves in unexpectedly, ending her ability to work at her craft as a hairstylist.

Playing Simi

Reflecting on her role, Folu told PREMIUM TIMES that the character she played, Simi, epitomises the essence of many Nigerian women  diligent, nurturing, and devoted to family and work.

She added that her story resonates with countless women who bear immense burdens silently.

The 37-year-old actress said, Simi is a hard worker, a mother, and a wife. She is somebody who believes very much in duty and responsibility. In the story, she is allowed to be elevated on her chosen path.

She said, Simi is somebody we all recognise, especially in Nigeria. There are dynamic and hardworking Nigerian women everywhere. Women carry so much on their backs, but nobody knows it publicly. Simis character shows us how easy it is for society to sideline someone who has put everything into work and her family: Afefe and the In Bloom anthology challenge societys perception and expectations.

She sheds light on the unrecognised labour often shouldered by women in Nigerian households, emphasising that women are often compelled to sacrifice their aspirations, whether they are the primary breadwinners or not.

She said, So many women have been told to put their dreams aside, whether they are the breadwinners or not. Simi is somebody we can empathise and connect with. Some of us are her, and I hope everyone else pays attention to how they can support someone like this and ensure she does not give up on her dreams, which will have a long-term effect on her family and benefit society.

Folu also advocates for open dialogue among women, urging them to reclaim their dreams and seek support, stressing the importance of communal assistance. She remarks, Women mustnt bear their burdens alone. Sharing our challenges fosters solidarity and paves the way for collective solutions.

She said, If a woman is not in a good place mentally or physically, it is going to be very hard to raise children who are in a good place, and it is going to be challenging to have a society that is in a good place.

My big message to women is to talk to their sisters and other women. You can find solutions when you share your challenges within your unique family setup. There are ways women would bend for you that you dont expect. If you dont reach out and ask for help, it wont come.

Women have difficulties in asking for help. We feel we are meant to burden ourselves alone with everything, which is wrong. Also, talk to the men in your family. A disservice we sometimes do is not explaining to them how difficult it is for us as women.

According to her, portraying the character of Simi in the anthology was a delight, as she found a personal connection with the role and its representation of the struggles many Nigerian women face.

MTV Staying Alive Foundation adds that the series Afefe catalyses change, amplifying marginalised voices and fostering dialogues essential for dismantling systemic inequalities.

Addressing these pressing issues head-on, In Bloom contributes significantly to pursuing the UNs Sustainable Development Goal Number 5: Gender Equality.

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Following his victory in Sundays Presidential election, Senegals President-elect Bassirou Diomaye Faye has praised outgoing President Macky Sall for allowing a smooth election to take place and accepting his victory at the polls.

In his response to the outpouring of support for his victory, the 44 year old tax inspector said he will govern with humility and will immediately begin the process of national reconciliation.

Earlier, President Sall, whose party lost at the polls, had taken to his X page to join in congratulating Mr Faye. I salute the smooth running of the presidential election of March 24, 2024 and congratulate the winner, Mr. Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who the trends show as the winner. It is the victory of Senegalese democracy, he said.

Mr Faye, whose victory was largely attributed to the peoples love for his colleague and friend, the radical opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko, who was banned from participating in the elections, praised the latter for his unwavering support.

Both had worked together as tax inspectors and formed a close friendship leading to the formation of the PANDEF party which was recently banned.

Mr Sonkos ability to galvanize the youth population of Senegal made him a thorn in the flesh of President Sall for the last three years. He accused the president of trying to run for an illegal third term.

Until ten days ago they were both in jail, Mr Sonko for allegedly inciting the public and Mr Faye for criticizing Mr Sonkos arrest and detention.

Fears that the election would be volatile however failed to materialise as was the concern that it may lead to a run-off between the two leading candidates, Mr Faye and the ruling partys candidate and President Salls ally, Amadou Ba.

As the nation awaits a formal declaration of the winner by the electoral body when counting eventually ends, preliminary figures show that Mr Faye has already won about 58 percent of the votes against his main opponents 33 percent, ensuring that no run-off will be necessary.

The president-elect may yet increase this margin and Mr Ba, who said on Sunday night that he was ready for a runoff vote in two weeks if he or any of the other candidates were unable to secure the mandated 50 per cent votes, on Monday conceded victory and wished the winner well.

In a statement, Mr Ba said that in view of the trends in the results of the presidential election, he had called Mr Faye to congratulate him on his victory pending the official proclamation.

I pray to the Almighty to grant him the energy and strength necessary to assume this high office at the head of our country, he said.

In his first address to the media after the elections, Mr Faye restated his commitment to fighting corruption in the country in order to give substance to the immense hope and aspirations of the people.

I am committed to govern with humility in transparency and to fight corruption. In electing me, the Senegalese people have chosen to break with the past, he said.

Shortly after casting his vote on Sunday, Mr Faye had told the media that the election was between continuity, which his major opponent represented and rupture with the past.

Nineteen candidates were on the presidential ballot, including the only female candidate, Anta Babacar Ngom, but two dropped out to back Faye. Some 7.3 million Senegalese were eligible to vote in the election but it is not clear how many voted in the end.

A formal announcement of Mr Fayes victory is expected to be made as jubilations continue in the capital city, Dakar.

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A Chinese man has been sentenced to death by hanging for killing his Nigerian girlfriend, Ummukulsum Buhari, in Kano State.

Geng Quandong, 47, was charged by the state government with culpable homicide over the death of Ms Buhari.

Mr Quandong killed Ms Buhari, 23, at Janbalu quarters in September 2022 for allegedly refusing to marry him after allegedly exploiting him.

The Kano State High Court sentenced Mr Quarong to death by hanging after convicting him for the killing.

Delivering judgment, Sanusi Ado-Maaji held that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.

The defendants testimony is inconsistent. I hereby find him guilty, the judge said.

However, the judge opened a window for a reprieve for the condemned man, saying: I hereby recommend mercy by the Kano State Governor on behalf of the convict.

The Attorney-General of Kano State, Haruna Dederi, who is also the prosecution counsel, had told the court that the convict committed the offence on 16 September 2022, at Janbulo Quarters Kano.

He said on that date at about 9 p.m., the convict stabbed the deceased with a knife in her house situated at Janbulo Quarters Kano for undisclosed reasons.

The victim was rushed to the Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital Kano where she was confirmed dead by a medical doctor.

The defendant had pleaded not guilty to the charge after which the prosecution presented six witnesses and four exhibits.

According to the prosecutor, the offence contravenes the provision of section 221(b) of the Penal Code.

The defence counsel, Muhummad Danazumi, presented the defendant to defend himself, and one other witness and tendered five exhibits.

Mr Danazumi urged the court to recommend the defendant for the prerogative of mercy under section 313 of ACJL.

In his testimony, the convict said: I didnt kill Ummulkhulsum intentionally but I stabbed her in self-defence after she grabbed my testes.

He pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy in its judgement.

Speaking with journalists shortly after the judgment, the victims mother, Fatima Zubairu, expressed satisfaction with the judges decision.

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The police in Rivers State said they have killed a notorious cult leader, Izuma Odiereke, also known as Solution, in the state.

The slain man allegedly led a cult group known as the Greenland Cult which operated mainly around Owube Kingdom in Ahoada West Local Government Area of Rivers State, and was said to have been on the police wanted list.

Mr Odierekes body was on display at the Ahoada Area Command, where the Commissioner of Police in Rivers State, Olatunji Disu, told reporters that he was killed at about 4 a.m on Monday during a shootout with police operatives.

We have been under attack from him and his cult group for some time, Mr Disu told reporters.

The command declared him wanted in 2016 due to numerous killings attributed to him. He is a serial killer, and his criminal activities have rendered his clan deserted.

The text of Mr Disus press briefing was contained in a Monday statement issued by the police spokesperson in the state, Grace Iringe-Koko, which was forwarded to PREMIUM TIMES.

Ms Iringe-Koko described the killing of Mr Odiereke as a significant victory against criminality in Rivers.

The police commissioner, Mr Disu, said, The reign of terror perpetrated by Odiereke came to an end when the command led a successful operation to his camp at Api forest, situated between Odiereke Ubie and Joinkarama 4 in Ahoada West Local Government Area.

Despite his attempts to evade capture, the command maintained relentless pursuit, eventually leading to his neutralisation.

Solidarity with police

Members of the Ahoada West community, according to the police statement, came around the station to show solidarity and appreciation to the police in the state.

Even though he is from Ahoada West and was neutralised there, the ripple effects of reduced criminality will benefit my local government area, the Chairperson of Ahoada East Local Government Council, Ben Eke was quoted as saying.

Seji Ebenezer, the traditional Ruler of Owube community, where the slain Odiereke was from, said, The community is relieved. This young man has been a terror, engaging in serial killings, kidnappings, and notorious cult activities.

The police spokesperson, Ms Iringe-Koko, said the police in Rivers remain committed to ensuring the safety and security of all residents, and this successful operation marks a significant step forward in achieving that goal.

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Governor Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State, on Tuesday, commenced distribution of food items to 214,500 beneficiaries across the state.

The governor, at the Pantami Township Stadium, Gombe, the venue of the distribution, said that the food items were for both Muslims and Christians, currently observing Lent/Ramadan.

He said that the food items distribution was a demonstration of his administrations commitment to help the less privileged and vulnerable persons through difficult times.

The governor said since during the COVID-19 pandemic to the recent removal of fuel subsidy, his administration had taken steps to alleviate the sufferings of the people.

He said, the removal of fuel subsidy last year, though a difficult yet necessary decision, brought untold economic hardship to the people.

In our efforts to alleviate the sufferings, we rolled out a palliative food distribution programme in August 2023, targeting 420,000 beneficiaries.

In January this year, we continued this noble initiative by launching the second phase of the programme, reaching an additional 90,000 beneficiaries.

With the coming of the holy month of Ramadan, a time of reflection, compassion, and generosity, we stand ready to extend our support once again

and today, we are commencing another round of palliative food distribution, with renewed focus on reaching 214,500 beneficiaries.

The governor said that the gesture was not merely about providing sustenance, but ensuring that residents observed the fast with dignity and gratitude.

According to him, the palliative distribution has been extended to civil servants in the state through the monthly payment of N10,000 wage grants in the last seven months.

He disclosed that the state government had also paid billions of naira in the backlog of gratuities to ease financial burden on people.

Mr Yahaya stated that his administration was aware of the challenges faced by residents, while assuring continued support whenever the need arose.

He pleaded with leaders and good-spirited individuals to support the poor and vulnerable in their communities, especially during the Holy Month of Ramadan and the Christian Lent Season.

He said I urge our people to be their brothers keepers, by showing compassion and kindness in their interaction with one another.

He urged the distribution committee to ensure that the food items reached the intended beneficiaries, and warned against act of sabotage, adding that such acts would not be condoned.

The Emir of Gombe, Abubakar Shehu-Abubakar III, who spoke on behalf of the beneficiaries, commended the governor for always extending palliative to those in need.

Mr Shehu-Abubakar said the food items would go a long way in assisting the poor amid the hardship.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that items distributed include rice, maize, spaghetti and sugar.

(NAN)

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Following the death of an All Progressives Congress governorship aspirant in Ondo State, Paul Akintelure, on Tuesday, other aspirants of the party have suspended their campaigns to mourn the departed party man.

The late Akintelure gave up the ghost at the age of 61 in the early hours of Tuesday in Lagos state after complaining of chest pain, which he had been battling with over the last four days.

The APC primary election is slated for 25 April to elect the candidate to represent the party in the November governorship election.

Leading the pack is Olusola Oke, who has announced the suspension of his campaign activities indefinitely.

I am, therefore, constrained by this sad event to suspend all my political activities in honour of our departed compatriot, Mr Oke said.

His campaign organisation announced the postponement of his campaign tours of Tuesday and Wednesday, 26 and 27 March, 2024, respectively in honour of the departed.

It said new dates for the tours would be announced later.

It is my prayer that the departed shall find repose in the bosom of the Lord Almighty. May God give all members of his immediate family, friends and political associates the fortitude to handle the great loss, Mr Oke said.

Another aspirant, Wale Akinterinwa, has also called off his campaigns for the same reason.

Mr Akinterinwa said his campaign activities, earlier planned to kick off Tuesday, 26 March, 2024, with a praise worship at his country home in Ile-Oluji, was suspended in honour of a friend and comrade.

I am saddened by the news of the passing of a friend and comrade. Following this sad incident, I have decided to suspend all political activities of our campaign organisation, he said.

Also, Olugbenga Edema, who is one of the leading aspirants, announced he was putting off his campaign activities temporarily following the development.

According to him, the decision to put the campaign on hold underscores the gravity of the loss and the importance of honouring Mr Akintelures memory during this challenging period.

The deceased was the running mate of the late Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu during the 2012 election under the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

Mr Akintelure, a medical doctor, who hailed from Igbotako, Okitipupa Local Council Area of the state, was among the top three aspirants considered by some elders within the party known as Ondo APC Aborigines as the most preferred among the over 20 aspirants.

Governor of the State, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, who is also an APC aspirant, in his condolence statement on Tuesday, expressed shock at the death of Mr Akintelure.

Dr. Akintelure was a wonderful human being and was a core progressive. He was very consistent and loyal to the tenets of progressive politics in Ondo State and Nigeria.

He was a friend and associate. He conducted his private business and public affairs with so much decorum and humility to the admiration of many. We have lost a complete gentleman. He will be greatly missed, the Governor said.

Governor Aiyedatiwa added that the death of Mr Akintelure at this critical time in the life of the State was saddening and prayed for the repose of his soul.

The APC in Ondo State has also expressed sadness over the passage of Mr Akintelure.

A statement by Alex Kalejaiye, the Publicity Secretary of the party, noted Mr Akintelure was a governorship aspirant, getting ready to participate in the partys primary scheduled for next month.

Akintelure was a highly refined and consistent political figure, whose position was that the essence of being in politics is to build the people and the land, the statement read in part.

The contributions of the departed political leader to the development and stability of the Ondo State chapter of APC will not be forgotten.

The State chapter condoles with the immediate family, Igbotako Community, his political associates, and the Nigerian Medical Association. May his soul rest in peace, it added.

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YEREVAN, MARCH 26, ARMENPRESS. Ucom announces the launch of the modernization efforts aimed at enhancing the coverage and end-user performance of existing 4G+ networks in the regions of Armenia and the upgrade and expansion of the mobile network in preparation for the delivery of 5G-ready services.

With the first batch from planned shipments of this year Ucom received an up-to-date systems and radio modules from Nokia. These up-to-date modules will be utilized to modernize a portion of Ucoms regional sites enhancing coverage in those areas and extending LTE technology.

The latest released baseband and radio modules are designed to support all known mobile technologies simultaneously, including 3G/4G+. This also will facilitate a seamless transition to 5G in the future, requiring only a software reconfiguration.

"According to our vision, expanding and modernizing our regional networks is one of Ucoms primary goals, as well as laying down the network of the future preparing our equipment to support 5G technology. Today this is the first step we take with our partners at Nokia, but our subscribers will see the difference very soon gaining access to high quality services like in Yerevan," stated Ralph Yirikian, Director General of Ucom.

In partnership with Nokia, Ucom aims to modernize and expand its mobile network, preparing it for the transition to 5G across Armenia. Additionally, Nokia will update the core infrastructure of Ucom's fixed and mobile network and introduce a high-capacity IP transport network.
Vice President Kashim Shettima has emphasised the critical role of effective communication in shaping societal narratives in the face of the increasing prevalence of disinformation and propaganda.

Mr Shettima spoke as the special guest of honour at the inaugural Summit of Spokespersons organised by the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) and the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation in Abuja on Tuesday.

In his address titled Constructive Narrative Amidst the Chaos, Mr Shettima, who was represented by his spokesperson, Stanley Nkwocha, highlighted the importance of building a positive image and reputation, stressing the profound impact of individuals reputations on the conversations surrounding them.

He stated the power wielded by spokespersons in maintaining social order and called for truthful communication to counter falsehoods and targeted agendas.

Every one of us is as good as his image; this image can be revered or distorted, but that is the essence of image building. The story revolving around each person or entity is derived from the conversations about and surrounding them.

This reality makes those who speak for them as powerful as the subject they represent. This makes you the most powerful force in the maintenance of social order. So, I am truly honoured to join the gathering of the shapers of the world as we know it.

In the life of a nation, the power of a single word to stabilise or disrupt cannot be underestimated; therefore, it is crucial to exchange ideas as we share knowledge and as we build relationships, we do so within a framework of order, not chaos.

This maiden summit of spokespersons arises at a timely intervention in the world where lies and propaganda vie for dominance amidst the complexity of our daily existence.

Those of us in the public sphere know very well that at some point falling prey to false narratives and targeted agendas is inescapable. These are usually aimed at undermining and misrepresenting ones ideas or perceptions. The importance of diligent and effective communication is never more evident than when confronted with the deceptive tactics of fake news merchants who dedicate their lives to casting shadows on lofty efforts and aspirations to inform and enlighten the world, he said.

Positive narrative

Drawing parallels with President Bola Tinubus commitment to citizen engagement and accurate information dissemination, Mr Shettima echoed the call to craft narratives that reshape Nigerias story and reinvent society.

He said, President Bola Tinubu has reassured the nation of his belief in citizen communication and engagement. He believes that the citizens of Nigeria must by right and necessity be informed truthfully, accurately, and promptly. This is the most practical antidote for ways of partisan and sectional agenda promoted by hacks invested in tearing the nation apart.

He urged participants to navigate the complexities of the evolving media landscape with clarity and responsibility, encouraging active engagement with diverse perspectives to foster dialogue and consensus-building.

The vice president reminded attendees of the importance of inclusivity in the national discourse, urging them to respect differing viewpoints and embrace the diversity of perspectives that enrich the fabric of Nigerian society.

As experts and professionals, this invites you to partner with us in crafting the right narratives to change the Nigeria story and reinvent our society. Indeed, we owe the world a great obligation and obligation that ensures that every one of us looks at ourselves as partners in building the Nigeria of our dreams.

The power of the spokespersons comes with great responsibility, to communicate with clarity the evolving global media landscape makes your job more complex than ever before, the rise of social media has not only given birth to 24 news cycles where information spreads and has stretched society into another dimension.

As experts, there is not much I can ask of you, other than to remind you to always listen and internalise feedback, engage with people of diverse perspectives, foster dialogue and build consensus. It is a small price to pay for aggregating the needs and expectations of this nation. Always leave an empty seat for someone to join your table and never treat anyone as inconsequential because their views dont align with yours, he reiterated.

National narrative is paramount

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said crafting a national narrative is paramount for the spokespersons as it can unite the nation.

Mr. Idris, who was the chief host, told participants that Nigeria requires growth, stability, and development through effective communication.

He stated that the participants should be aware that communication is not about words but the enduring impact the utterance makes.

He encouraged the spokespersons to use communication to build relationships because it is anchored in truth.

He advised them to ensure trust returns to the art of communication through accurate and timely information dissemination.

Need for non-violent communication

In a welcome remarks, the President of NIPR, Ike Neliaku, rallied for a concerted effort towards non-violent communication in Nigeria.

He stressed the imperative of assembling top-tier experts from both domestic and international spheres, particularly those with firsthand experience as spokespersons who have weathered intense pressure.

Mr Neliakus call to action comes at a critical juncture, as Nigeria grapples with multifaceted challenges that demand clarity and cohesion in messaging.

He underscored the detrimental consequences of individuals assuming roles beyond their capabilities, cautioning against the ensuing chaos and discord.

Emphasising the profound impact of words on shaping the nations collective consciousness, Mr. Neliaku articulated the NIPRs core mission: to nurture the growth and development of Nigeria. His impassioned plea for spokespersons to recognise their role as stewards of the nations narrative underscores the pivotal role of effective communication in steering the country towards progress.

As we begin the processes of non-violent communication, we have to assemble the best brains within and outside of Nigeria, those who had been spokespersons know how it is. They had faced pressure and so on. They are coming to share with us especially when we have a clinic. This is essential because at a time like this when survival has become an issue, people now take on roles they are not called to do and once that happens, they become disasters because they cannot do what they have assigned to themselves that is why we have a lot of chaos.

The words we speak are life and spirit, in that way, we will be able to teach the spokespersons to first of all realise that they are Nigerians. We take our lives from the life of the nation as an institute. Our primary responsibility is to see to the growth and development of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, he said.

The event had many dignitaries in attendance such as the Deputy Governor of Kwara State, Kayode Alabi, Chief Executive Officer, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, United States Embassy Spokesperson, Robert Gabor, Senate Committee Chairman on Open Market, Osita Izunaso, and Former Director-General, Nigerian Television Authority, Tonnie Iredia, who was the keynote speaker.

More Picture:

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The Governor of Kano State, Abba Yusuf, has asked for the approval of the state House of Assembly to create four new ministries.

The governor had earlier on Tuesday presented the names of four nominees for confirmation as commissioners.

Mr Yusuf initially appointed 19 commissioners after he assumed office on 29 May but, in July, appointed three more commissioners  Amina Sani; Ali Namadi and Ibrahim Fagge.

The latest four commissioner-nominees, if confirmed by the state lawmakers, will take the number of commissioners in his cabinet to 26. His predecessor, Abdullahi Ganduje, had 21 commissioners.

PREMIUM TIMES also gathered that Mr Yusuf is considering appointing a son of his political godfather and former governor of the state, Rabiu Kwankwaso, as commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Eradication.

Mr Yusuf earlier presented the name of Mustapha Kwankwaso and three others to the states House of Assembly on Tuesday for screening.

The governor asked the lawmakers to approve for him to create additional four ministries for effective governance.

The assemblys spokesperson, Kamaluddeen Shawai, confirmed that the lawmakers received the governors request for the creation of additional ministries.

The Kano State House of Assembly Speaker, Rt Hon Jibrin Ismail Falgore has confirmed the request from the Kano State Governor, Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf for the creation of new ministries in the state.

The Speaker said he was notified through a letter sent to the State House of Assembly by Gov. Yusuf, intimating the House of his administrations intention to establish new ministries in the state.

Rt Hon. Falgore read the letter before the members of the House, quoting the Governor to have said that the establishment of the proposed ministries was part of his administrations plans to improve efficiency and performance in the state, Mr Shawai said in a statement.

The proposed ministries are Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Eradication; Solid Minerals Resources, Power and Renewable Energy, Internal Security and Special Service, Mr Shawai added.

The new ministries are expected to be run by the new commissioners the governor nominated. Among them is a former commissioner for Land and Physical Planning, Adamu Aliyu, who was sacked last September for issuing a death threat to judges of the states governorship electoral petition tribunal,.

The two other nominees are Usman Karaye and Abduljabbar Garko.

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A group, the National Youth Leaders Forum of Political Parties in Nigeria (NYLFPPN), has set the target of March 2027 for the incorporation of the Not Too Young To Run Act into the constitutions of all political parties in the country.

This is contained in the document it unveiled on Monday in Abuja.

The event was organised by the Westminister Foundation for Democracy (WFD) under its Nigeria Open Political Party (NOPP) project.

The document, titled: Strategy for Promoting Youths Participation in Political Party Systems (2024-2027), contains six goals set by political parties.

Not Too Young to Run (NTYTR) Act was signed in 2018 by former President Muhammadu Buhari.

The legislation resulted in a reduction in the age qualification for the office of the President from 40 years to 35 years, the House of Representatives from 30 years to 25 years, and the State House of Assembly from 30 years to 25 years.

The move by the forum is to ensure that all political parties adopt the provision of the Act into their constitutions.

There are 18 registered political parties in Nigeria.

PREMIUM TIMES reported the adoption of the draft document in February. Now, the youth leaders have put a time frame within which it would achieve all the goals in the document.

The group has set May 2025 as the target date to achieve a 35 per cent affirmative action quota in all political parties.

It has also agreed to ensure the Implementation of the 35 per cent youth affirmative action in appointments into executive positions, including cabinets, boards and other governance structures at all levels.

Waiver for elective positions.

On the waiver of fees for youth aspirants, NYLFPPN set a December 2024 deadline to accomplish that goal, and March 2027 for all political parties to amend their constitutions to recognise youth as people within the age bracket of 18-35 years.

Meanwhile, the group is also seeking the establishment of youth wings in all political parties by May 2025

Well get Tinubu, others involved in implementation

In his remarks, the Chairman of the forum and Youth Leader of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Muhammed Musa, said the forum will ensure the implementation of the document by engaging relevant groups and individuals.

Mr Musa said the forum is going to inform President Bola Tinubu of the recommendations in the document.

Todays public presentation of the action plan is a culmination of months of diligent collaboration, extensive research, and thoughtful deliberation.

This comprehensive roadmap outlines a clear and actionable framework for promoting youth participation, fostering gender equality, and enhancing the overall inclusivity within political parties.

As we gather here today, let us acknowledge the pivotal role that our youth play in shaping the destiny of our nation, he said.

In his remarks, the Country Director of WFD, Adebowale Olorunmola, said that young people must rise to take over leadership and to work.

He said the action plan that has been developed is the beginning of the work and that the youth must engage in its implementation to be represented in governance.

Young people need to organise more, we need to network more among ourselves, we need to be more focused on the issues in the political terrain that we need to engage so that we dont play politics as usual but politics with results.

We need to make a departure from politics of money to politics of service and politics of results. Again, we need to be very deliberate with our plan and we need to take ownership of the process, he said

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The Chairperson of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State, Tony Aziegbemi, abducted on 15 March in Benin, has been freed.

The News Agency of Nigeria gathered that Mr Aziegbemi reunited with his family at 3 a.m. on Tuesday after 10 days in captivity.

Clem Aziegbemi, on behalf of the family, said the PDP leader was released unhurt.

As a member of the Aziegbemi family, we say thank you all for your great show of love and solidarity with us all through the period of the abduction of our beloved son, brother, cousin, and leader, Dr Tony Aziegbemi.

Thank you, all. We are most grateful for all your valuable contributions through prayers and steadfastness. God bless, he said.

Mr Aziegbemi was ambushed at the Bishop Edokpolor Boulevard Junction, off Country Home, GRA Benin City, while returning from the Government House, where he held a meeting with Governor Godwin Obaseki

His abduction came less than a month after his party conducted a primary election for the 21 September governorship election in the state.

When contacted, the police spokesperson in Edo, Chidi Nwabuzor, said the police would soon issue an official statement on the development.

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The publisher of a Kaduna-based newspaper, Desert Herald Newspaper, Tukur Mamu, has written to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, demanding the retracting of his profiling and designation as a Terrorist Financier.

This was contained in a letter dated 25 March, written on his behalf by his lawyer, J.J. Usman, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), and addressed to the Attorney-General of the Federation.

Mr Usman said the letter was submitted and an acknowledged copy was received.

According to the letter, Mr Mamu gave a seven-day ultimatum for the retraction of the publication, to prevent litigation.

We are Counsel to MR. TUKUR MOHAMMED MAMU (hereinafter referred to as Our Client) on whose firm and absolute instruction we relate with you on the above subject matter.

Recall that Our Client was arraigned by the Federal Government of Nigeria, particularly before the Federal High Court, Abuja Division in CHARGE NO:

FHC/ABJ/CR/96/2023 between THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA V, TUKUR MOHAMMED MAMU.

In furtherance to this, it is remarkable to note that your office is currently prosecuting Our Client on allegations concerning terrorism,

Attached herewith is a certified true copy of the said Charge marked

as ANNEXURE A for ease of reference.

It is lamentable to observe that on 19/03/2024: while the case against Our Client is still pending, the social media was saturated by a publication allegedly emanating from and authorized by your good office.

However, the said publication was specifically made by the Nigerian Sanctions Committee wherein Our Client was profiled and designated as a Terrorist (TERRORIST FINANCIER).

As at the time of this missive, no Court of competent jurisdiction in Nigeria has designated Our Client as such.

Attached herewith is a copy of the publication downloaded from the online marked as ANNEXURE B for ease of reference.

It is common knowledge that the administration of criminal justice system in Nigeria is not only antithetic to, but forbids media trial in whatever guise.

We vehemently condemn the actions of the Nigerian Sanctions Committee being a violation of the rule of natural justice and prejudicial to Our Client who is undergoing trial, and whose trial is still pending in SUIT FHCIABJ/CR/96/2023.

It is sardonic and very disheartening that this publication is coming from the Nigerian Sanctions Committee; which ordinarily should be fueling the front burner in championing the course for the sustenance of the Rule of Law in Nigeria.

Albeit, the Nigerian Sanctions Committee lacks the statutory mandate to pronounce on, and to designate Mr. Tukur Mohammed Mamu as a Terrorist Financier; even when it is a notorious fact that Mr. Tukur Mohammed Mamu is undergoing trial. It is so, particularly that the court has not made any pronouncement detailing him to be one.

It is our firm position that the action of the Nigerian Sanctions Committee is not just tantamount to the usurpation of the Courts power provided under Section 6 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended); but is a mockery of the Nigerian judicial system.

We do not doubt the a deliberate ploy to soil the name and the hard-earned reputation of Our Client in whose favour the constitutional right to the presumption of innocence inures.

By the publication above referred, it becomes crystal clear that the Federal Government of Nigeria is the Complainant against Our Client; the prosecutor of Our Client and now putting itself in a head-on collision with the judicial power of the court by assuming adjudicatory position thereon. Adjusting Our Client as a Terrorist has eroded all the jurisprudential tenets of the rules of natural justice.

Based on the aforesaid, we demand in very clear and unequivocal terms, the

immediate Retraction of the said Publication within 7 days from the receipt of this letter dated 25h March 2024.

Failure to comply with Our Clients demand. We will have no hesitation in seeking redress in the Court of law for the ventilation of Our Clients grievances, the letter, which was copied to the Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, Mr Mamus lawyer said.

Mr Mamu is facing terrorism-related charges after he was arrested in Egypt, in September 2022, while on his way to Saudi Arabia for the lesser Hajj with members of his family.

He led the negotiation for the release of some of the passengers kidnapped from a Kaduna-bound train attacked by terrorists in March 2022.

He is still being detained by the State Security Service (SSS). On Wednesday, the Nigerian government listed Mr Mamu alongside 14 others as terrorism financiers.

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A State High Court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has ruled that Celestine Omehia is not a former governor of the state and as such, not entitled to pensions and other benefits meant for former governors and their deputies.

The judge, Daketima Kio, who gave the ruling, however dismissed as lacking in merit the claim by the state government that Mr Omehia should refund N695 million which he collected as pensions.

Justice Kio held that Mr Omehia did not compel anybody to pay him the said money, Channels Television reported but did not state when the ruling was given.

Mr Omehia instituted the suit against the state government.

Background

Rotimi Amaechi, who was then Speaker of Rivers Assembly, won the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship primary in the state for the 2007 general election.

But the PDP replaced Mr Amaechis name with that of Mr Omehia, a development that forced Mr Ameachi to challenge the decision of the party in the court.

While Mr Amaechi was in court, the PDP won in the election, with Mr Omehia as its flag bearer. He was sworn in as governor on 29 May 2007.

In October 2007, the Supreme Court ruled that Mr Amaechi was the rightful candidate of the PDP and hence winner of the April 2007 election.

Consequently, Mr Ameachi was sworn in as governor of the oil-rich state on 26 October 2007.

Mr Amaechi, throughout his eight years as governor did not recognise Mr Omehia as a former governor of the state but his successor, Nyesom Wike, after assuming office as governor in May 2015, accorded Mr Omehia the status of former governor and directed that benefits accrued to former governors of the state including pensions be paid to Mr Omehia.

Eight years later, Mr Wike aspired to become Nigerias President but lost in the PDP primary to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

After losing to Atiku, he threw his weight behind then APC presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, now president.

Mr Omehia and other PDP members in the state were, however, still supporting Atiku.

Angered by the development, Mr Wike derecognised Mr Omehia as a former governor of the state, and asked him to refund all the benefits he enjoyed while he was enjoying the status of former governor.

But Justice Kio held that from every fact, Mr Omehia never applied for recognition by the state government or Rivers Assembly, hence the state government cannot legitimately demand the money paid wrongly to Mr Omehia, Punch newspaper reported.

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Experts have called for the rejigging of the countrys public audit system and processes to curb corruption and improve accountability across government parastatals.

The call was made during a virtual session organised by PREMIUM TIMES and the UDEME project of the Centre for Journalism and Innovation (CJID), to discuss the findings of the 2020 federal audit report.

The programme held on Friday on social media platform X (previously Twitter), was moderated by Oladehinde Olawoyin, an editor at PREMIUM TIMES.

Panelists include: Olusegun Elemo, Executive Director at the Paradigm Leadership Support Initiative (PLSI); Maria Gowon, Programme Manager at Integrity Organisation; Ayo Ladipo, Head of Budgit Foundations Tracka project and financial expert, Kalu Ajah.

Mr Elemo identified the perpetual delays in the release of the audit reports over the years as a major issue plaguing Nigerias public sector.

The 2019 audit report came out about 23 months after the end of the financial year. Now, the 2020 report came out about 36 or 37 months after the end of that financial year. So you can see the trend and how it is getting worse, he said.

Describing the nations audit laws as embarrasingly obsolete, Mr Elemo said there was a need to sort out legal bottlenecks and the timely submission of financial accounts to curb financial irregularities.

We have the Audit Ordinance Act of 1956, a pre-independence audit framework and that alone is not sufficient to provide the legal mandate by which that office should function, he said. Today, theres no timeline stating when the Accountant General should submit the financial statement to the Auditor General, and oftentimes, weve had a situation where the delay actually happens from the office of the Accountant General.

Beyond issues with audit laws, Trackas Ayo Ladipo ascribed most of the financial irregularities in the public sector to the lack of transparency in the budgetary and procurement processes of government establishments.

She urged government agencies to democratize information to allow the citizens, the media and civil societies to contribute to the process. Publish all the details of all the projects under you, the status, the payments youve made, the specifics of what should be done, and let the people do the tracking and give you the feedback, she said.

Ms Ladipo said this issue led to amongst other infractions, the allocation of public projects to agencies without operational capacity or mandate to execute them, like in the case of a fashion company assigned construction projects.

An agency is making payments for construction of buildings and so on to a fashion design agency. That means either you violated something in the procurement process or something went wrong, because theres no way a fashion design company is equipped to take on construction contracts. But then this audit report shows how much of it is happening on a grand scale. One thing I would have liked was if the audit report was naming and shaming some of them, she said.

To stem the tide of these infractions, Maria Gowon called for the government to adopt technological and evidence-based interventions as well as prioritize funding for the same, to support audit processes.

Mr Elemo supported the call, advocating for documents to be prepared in reproducible, open data format that can allow civil society and anybody else to process the data so easily.

The panelists stressed the need to strengthen the powers of the Auditor General beyond mere recommendations to enforcement and sanctions, starting with the enactment of the Federal Audit Billwhich had been declined assent by previous administrationsto ensure the administrative independence of the office, especially its operational and the financial autonomy.

We published a report last year about consequence management in the public sector. Because theres no consequence for anything, people decide to continue to do whatever they want to, Ms Ladipo said. She noted that the situation may have caused MDAs to believe that the Auditor Generals office only gives recommendation or ask questions, and so they [MDAs] can decide to do whatever they like or not answer or not respond [to the Auditor Generals queries].

They also suggested the publication of the names and details of people found responsible for mismanagement and other financial irregularities, as well as interventions that will engender behavioural change in the society in addition to the improved laws and enforcement.

Organisers of the virtual session, CJIDs UDEME project said it was part of its routine engagement with citizens and other stakeholders to dissect trending accountability issues in the country, in a bid to improve public enlightenment.

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The National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Tuesday met with state chairmen of the party with a view to reviewing the tenure of the leadership of the party in 26 states.

The meeting was held behind closed-doors at the partys National Secretariat in Abuja.

The National Organising Secretary of the party, Umar Bature, who addressed the chairmen before the meeting dissolved proceeding to a closed session, said it was convened to end the existing crises across the state chapters.

Mr Bature listed Edo, Bayelsa, Gombe and Rivers as states that their leadership needed to be reviewed from state, local government to the ward level in order to prevent crisis.

There is a division within the Edo State Chapter of the PDP ahead of the governorship election in the state in September.

The State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, and his deputy, Philip Shaibu, alongside their supporters, have been in disagreement over who should be the PDP candidate in the forthcoming governorship election.

Mr Shaibu and Asue Ighodalo, who is Mr Obasekis favourite candidate, are the major contenders for the partys ticket.

Mr Ighodalo emerged the governorship candidate of the party at the primary election attended by the governor and other senior members of the party on 22 February while Mr Shaibu picked the ticket at a parallel primary election in which he was the only aspirant on the same day.

The PDP NWC subsequently presented Mr Ighodalo with the Certificate of Return while Mr Shaibu threatened legal action.

Addressing the meeting at Tuesdays meeting, Mr Bature said the tenure of the leadership of Edo State Chapter and some other states had expired long ago and that it was necessary review it.

We are here to review the tenure of about 26 states, in terms of ward, local government and state.

If you recall most of the current executives in the states were elected four years ago, where congresses were conducted on a staggered basis due to the COVID-19 issues.

We have about four to five states that their tenure has expired from the ward to the state, that is Edo, Bayelsa, Gombe and Rivers State, there are others which are staggered.

So, in order not to create vacuum or go into a crisis, that is why we have called this meeting.

Also we have issues and crises in these states. We decided to call you for this meeting to interact with you on the way forward pending when the NEC will sit and decide on all these, he said.

The national organising secretary urged the leadership of the party across the country to take constitutional process into consideration before appointing new executives from state level to local government and ward levels.

He specifically said names of the replacement of the executives should be transmitted to the NWC who will then decide if they are qualified to be in the positions.

Also if there are vacancies due to death and resignation, please dont replace any name, dont fix another person for issues that will come up later. If this meeting decides that everybody will go as caretaker, leave the EXCO the way they are.

Submit the list to us as it is, if there are 15 people and five have joined another party, submit the remaining 10. Dont replace them.

After the elections we expected the state chapters to give us their reports, that is the post 2023 election result.

A lot of the states have not submitted their reports and we need those reports to be compiled for the next NEC meeting, Mr Bature said.

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President Macky Sall of Senegal has bemoaned the high cost of organising elections in Africa.

The president, whose tenure ends on 2 April when the new president-elect, Bassirou Faye, takes over, said while democracy remains the best form of government, the process of choosing leaders is quite ruinous to the economy of African nations.

Mr Sall spoke when the head of the ECOWAS observer group to witness Sundays presidential election, Ibrahim Gambari, paid him a courtesy visit on Monday.

He said his country spent over 14 billion CFA ($23 million) to organise the election.

The president who appeared content with the way the elections went even though the candidate of his party, former Prime Minister Amadou Ba, lost, said he was happy to have overseen a peaceful and successful election.

President Sall, however, lamented what he called the overwhelming and unfair powers wielded by certain institutions in Senegal. Although he did not mention any specific group, it was easy to see that he was referring to the constitutional court which had rejected his call for the postponement of the elections.

The judges had also vetoed the demands of leading Islamic clerics in the country to postpone voting until after Ramadan.

President Sall noted that the sort of power wielded by some of these institutions was contrary to the Constitution of Senegal which said no one must have more powers than the duly elected representatives of the people, either in the executive branch or the legislature.

The ECOWAS head of mission agreed with the Senegalese president that the cost of the election was indeed high. He recalled that when he supervised an election in Congo, it cost the government over 500 million dollars to conduct the polls.

He said it is important to look into the prohibitive cost of elections.

The former undersecretary of the United Nations praised the people of Senegal for upholding the tenets of democracy and organising a peaceful election.

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The Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, has called for the revitalisation of two irrigation projects in his state to improve food security in the country.

Mr Zulum disclosed this to journalists after meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the State House, Abuja.

The projects  South Chad and Yauri irrigations  have been threatened by the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeastern state.

Now that we are having relative peace in Borno State, theres need for the government to ensure reestablishment of South Chad irrigation project, Mr Zulum told journalists.

The South Chad irrigation project, he said, has the potential to produce food to cater for the needs of the entire northern Nigeria or I can say even the entire country.

To revitalise the project, the governor said, Mr Tinubu should consider establishing a very strong security outfit in the Lake Chad Basin so that people shall have access to the agricultural lands.

He also called for the revitalisation of the Yauri irrigation project.

ALSO READ: Jigawa governor begs Tinubu to complete Hadejia irrigation valley

Inshallah, when these two irrigation projects are reestablished, I believe the issue of food security will be addressed not only in Borno State but also in Nigeria, the governor explained.

Repatriating Nigerians living in Cameroon

Another issue Mr Zulum said he discussed with the president was the return of Nigerians taking refuge in the Republic of Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

Thousands of Nigerians, many of them from Borno State, are seeking refuge in the neighbouring countries due to the insecurity in their communities.

We have started repatriating them during the last administration. But because of the election period and rainy season, we stopped the repatriation exercise, the governor said, adding that the president has vowed to resume the repatriation exercise.

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BOAO, MARCH 26, ARMENPRESS. The Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), held annually in the Chinese resort town of Boao in Hainan Province, will be held from March 26 to 29.

This years BFA conference, which will be held under the theme "Asia and the World: Common Challenges, Shared Responsibilities, will feature panel discussions, roundtables and CEO dialogues, covering multiple Asia-focused topics such as improving the investment ecosystem, deepening financial cooperation, as well as boosting industrial and supply chain partnership. Speakers will also discuss the global economic outlook, among other issues.

The BFA announced on its website that the agenda will also include discussions on topics such as AI, the future of new energy vehicles, and high-quality Belt and Road Cooperation.

Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Chinese National Peoples Congress Zhao Leji will attend the opening plenary session on March 28.

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Nauru David W.R. Adeang, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, Prime Minister of Dominica Roosevelt Skerrit, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Daren Tang, Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Mathias Cormann are among the expected participants at the forum announced by the BFA.

Earlier in 2024, BFA Secretary-General Li Baodong, announcing this years session, said that pursuing peace, seeking development and promoting cooperation remain the dominant and shared aspiration of the international community. Li emphasized that nations around the world should collectively address various global challenges and jointly bear the responsibility for promoting peace and prosperity. Only through shared responsibility and genuine cooperation among the international community can we steer the world towards continued peace and prosperity, he said.

Headquartered in China, the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) is an international organization jointly initiated by 29 member states. BFA holds its annual conference in Boao, Hainan on a regular basis. The founding purpose of BFA was to promote economic integration in Asia. Its mission now is to pool positive energy for the development of Asia and the world. Ban Ki-moon, the former UN Secretary-General, serves as BFA Chairman.

This article has been written within the framework of the China International Press Communication Center (CIPCC) 2024 media exchange program.
The Governor of Zamfara State, Dauda Lawal, has called for an increase in the number of troops deployed to the state.

He made the call on Monday when he visited the Chief of Defence Staff, Christopher Gwabin Musa, at the Defence Headquarters in Abuja.

A statement by the governors spokesperson, Sulaiman Bala Idris, disclosed that the governor, during the meeting, briefed the chief of defence staff about the security situation in Zamfara State.

Mr Lawal expressed concerns over the resurgence of attacks in some parts of his state and appealed to Mr Musa, an army general, to deploy more troops and weapons to the state.

He said: Today, I am here to discuss the issue of insecurity that has been affecting Zamfara State. I was here a few months ago for the same reason.

Recently, there have been recurring issues with bandit attacks in some areas of the state.

Yesterday, an attack occurred in Tsafe LGA, resulting in fatalities, including a member of our Community Protection Guards (CPG). Military operational vehicles, including those of the Community Protection Guards, were set on fire by bandits.

We are experiencing a shortage of personnel in Zamfara as some officers have been redeployed to the Northeast.

Farmers are unable to tend to their farms, and the continuous assaults have claimed numerous lives.

I would like to use this opportunity to urge you to mobilise and deploy troops to Zamfara. Such action is crucial for combating the threat of insecurity and reinstating peace in the state.

The deployment of security forces will undoubtedly uplift the peoples spirit and discourage criminals from engaging in their nefarious deeds, the governor added.

Responding, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Musa, appreciated Governor Lawals efforts in fighting banditry in Zamfara State.

He said: I want to express my appreciation for your efforts in combatting insecurity. We plan to adjust and reposition resources using the same approach as Maiduguri.

We are convening a conference with all theatre commanders and stakeholders to address the issue of attacks, which deeply saddens us.

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The Governor of Zamfara State, Dauda Lawal has held talks with President Bola Tinubu over the alarming increase in banditry and related criminal activities in the northwestern state.

The meeting took place on Tuesday behind closed doors inside the presidents office at the Presidential Villa, Asokoro, Abuja.

A statement by the spokesperson of the Zamfara governor, Sulaiman Bala Idris, disclosed that the governor briefed President Tinubu on the security situation in Zamfara State, particularly the resurgence of attacks in some local government areas.

According to Mr Idris, President Tinubu and the governor discussed various strategies and measures to tackle the challenging situation, including enhanced security deployment, intelligence gathering and community engagement programmes.

The meeting also highlighted the need to address the root causes of the problem, such as poverty and unemployment, which have contributed to the rise in criminal activities in the state.

Mr Idris further disclosed in the statement: Today, Governor Dauda Lawal met with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the Presidential Villa to discuss critical issues concerning the security situation in Zamfara State.

During the closed-door meeting, Governor Lawal informed the President that, over the past 13 years, Zamfara State has emerged as the hub of banditry in northwestern Nigeria.

The Governor appealed to President Tinubu for presidential intervention in providing the military with adequate personnel, weapons, and logistics, as they are insufficient in Zamfara. He also requested sufficient air support to assist ground troops.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has assured the governor of his commitment to providing all essential support and logistics to the security forces to guarantee the restoration of peace in Zamfara.

Furthermore, the President reaffirmed his administrations position against negotiating with bandits and paying ransoms to kidnappers, actions that he believes only serve to empower them.

Governor had on Monday held a meeting with the Chief of Defence Staff, Christopher Musa in Abuja to discuss the worsening insecurity in the state. Mr Musa, a serving Nigerian Army General assured him that his request for deployment of more soldiers to the state would be attended to.

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At least 11 people were on Sunday killed and 20 others abducted when bandits attacked the Gidan Zuma community in Bungudu Local Government Area of Zamfara State.

Residents said the abducted victims were mostly women and children. They said the attackers were unchallenged after local vigilantes manning the community went to defend a neighbouring community under attack.

Gidan Zuma is a few kilometres from Bungudu town, the headquarters of the local government, which is about 12 kilometres from Gusau, the Zamfara State capital.

Until Sundays incident, the community rarely suffered attacks due to its local defence mechanism that scared away armed bandits.

The attackers invaded the town on Sunday after they got a hint that our vigilante members went to assist the neighbouring community that was under attack, a resident told PREMIUM TIMES asking not to be named for security reasons.

The gunmen first killed five people at the entrance of the town and killed six others at the climax of their operation inside the town.

Another resident whose wife and child were among those abducted told BBC Hausa service on Monday how the attack happened.

He said the attack happened during the day when most of the residents were observing the Islamic Ramadan fast.

I dont know the condition of my family now, I watched as they went away with my wife backing the child, I was helpless, he said.

READ ALSO: Bandits release seven victims kidnapped in Kaduna

When PREMIUM TIMES contacted the police spokesperson in Zamfara, Yazeed Abubakar, he said he was out for an official engagement and is yet to be briefed about the incident.

Zamfara is one of the states most affected by terrorism in North-west Nigeria. Different terror groups, locally called bandits, operate in the region, killing and kidnapping residents at will.

The terrorists travel in a long convoy of motorcycles to reach their targets despite the presence of security personnel in the areas.

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The Governor of Kano State, Abba Yusuf, has nominated a son of his political godfather and former governor of the state, Rabiu Kwankwaso, for appointment as a commissioner.

Mr Yusuf presented the name of Mustapha Kwankwaso and three others to the states House of Assembly on Tuesday for consideration as members of his cabinet.

A former commissioner for Land and Physical Planning, Adamu Aliyu, who was sacked last September for issuing a death threat to judges of the states governorship electoral petition tribunal, is among the nominees.

The assemblys spokesperson, Kamaluddeen Shawai, confirmed that the lawmakers received four names for screening and confirmation for the appointment.

Until his appointment, Mr Kwankwaso ran Key Special Academy, a private school owned by his father, located in Gwarinpa, Abuja.

The other nominees are Usman Karaye and Abduljabbar Garko.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how Mr Aliyu issued the death threat during a protest and prayer session organised by the state government for a favourable outcome for the party at the election tribunal.

Mr Aliyu also promised to unleash mayhem on residents of the state, one worse than what residents of neighbouring Kaduna and Zamfara were going through.

He said if the tribunal judges ruled against the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in the petition, they may pay with their lives.

I am sending this message to the tribunal judges, any judge that allows himself to be used and collect bribes and pass judgment that is not right, we want to tell him he must choose between his life and the bribe money he collected.

We are promising you (our supporters), we are receiving your complaints, the votes you cast on his excellency (Governor Yusuf) will not go in vain unless we lose our lives or the Kano State will fall.

Another message for the leaders. You have seen the conflict (banditry) in Zamfara, Kaduna, and Katsina, I swear because of this governorship seat, everyone will die. The conflict that will start in Kano will be more deadly than the ones in those states and Borno, Mr Aliyu said before he was relieved of his appointment.

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The police in Akwa Ibom State said they have killed three suspected armed robbers in the state.

The suspected robbers were shot dead while robbing a national museum in a village near Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area of the state, according to a statement, on Tuesday, from the police spokesperson in the state, Odiko Macdon.

One suspect was arrested while others escaped with bullet wounds, the statement said.

Mr Macdon, a chief superintendent of police, said operatives from Ikot Ekpene Division, responded on 20 March to a distress call, engaged the suspects, numbering about 10, in a shootout and were able to kill three of them.

He said that a locally-made pistol, one expended, one live cartridge and vandalised wire cables, among other items, were recovered in the operation.

The gang is said to be responsible for robberies around Ikot Ekpene and environs, he said.

On the directive of the Commissioner of Police, Waheed Ayilara, the operatives took the fight to the criminals hideouts and brought them to book for a peaceful Akwa Ibom, Mr Macdon said.

The police spokesperson warned those engaging in robberies, kidnappings and other violent crimes to be ready to bear the consequences if they did not desist forthwith.

(NAN)

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The leader of the Senate, Opeyemi Bamidele, on Tuesday disclosed that the federal government has approved the dualistion of Ado-Ekiti-Ikere-Akoko road, a 31-kilometre highway that connects Ekiti State to the Federal Capital Territory through Ondo, Edo and Kogi states.

Recall that workers and students of the Federal Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti had, on Monday, staged a peaceful protest to register their frustrations about the deplorable state of the said road.

Mr Bamidele, who was reacting to the Monday protest in a statement signed by his media office and made available to journalists in Ado Ekiti, said the construction of the highway was already captured in the 2024 Appropriation Act.

The senator said he had spoken about the road reconstruction during a feedback session he had with the Chancellor of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Afe Babalola on Monday.

Mr Bamidele said that the Ado-Ekiti-Ikere-Akoko road was one of the 12 federal roads connecting Ekiti State to Kogi, Kwara, Ondo and Osun states, that had suffered neglect even before the democratic transition in 1999.

With Bamideles intervention, however, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approved the dualisation of the road considering its strategic significance to Ekiti and other states directly and indirectly bordering it. The other federal roads that connect Ekiti to Kogi, Kwara, Ondo and Osun are still deplorable and dilapidated, seriously begging for the attention of the federal and state governments.

Among others, the roads include Ifaki-Otun road, Ifaki-Ilasa-Omuo road, Ado-Ikere road, Ado-Ijan-Ikare road, Ado-Iyin-Aramoko road, Aramoko-Efon-Ijebu Ijesa road, Efon-Iwaraja and Otun-Erinmope-Odo Owa road, the statement read.

He explained that the reason for the dualisation of the road is due to the volume of traffic on this inter-state highway that connects Ekiti to Abuja through Ondo, Edo and Kogi states. It is a decision taken by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Aside, it is not only that the road was captured in the 2024 Appropriation Act. The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has identified it to the management and staff of the Federal Ministry of Works as a priority federal road, whose reconstruction must take off this fiscal year.

The federal government has already commenced the design of the road because what was decided was that the road should be dualised from Ejigbo in Ado Ekiti up till 31 kilometres to Ikare Akoko. We will continue from there as a single lane, the statement said.

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Julian Assange will not immediately be extradited to the US to face espionage charges, after judges delayed a final decision over whether he can appeal his case.

It was feared that the WikiLeaks founder, who is currently detained at Belmarsh high-security prison, could have been put on a plane in a matter of days if a last-ditch legal bid for an appeal failed.

His team claim that the 52-year-old could face up to 175 years in prison if he is convicted of publishing hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. They argue that the decision to prosecute him is state retaliation for his political views.

In a January 2021 ruling, district judge Vanessa Baraitser said that Mr Assange should not be sent to the US, citing a real and oppressive risk of suicide, while ruling against him on all other issues.

But later that year, the US authorities won their High Court bid to overturn this block, paving the way towards Mr Assanges extradition.

During a two-day hearing in February, lawyers for the 52-year-old asked for the go-ahead to challenge the original judges dismissal of other parts of his case, in an effort to prevent his extradition.

They argued that he was being prosecuted in retaliation for his political views, meaning it would be unlawful to extradite him under UK law. Mark Summers KC told the court: This is a paradigm example of state retaliation for the expression of political opinion.

But judges announced on Tuesday that the 52-year-old would not be immediately extradited, and offered the US government and the US secretary of state three more weeks to provide the court with satisfactory assurances.

Dame Victoria Sharp and Mr Justice Johnson dismissed most of Mr Assanges legal arguments, but said that unless assurances were given by the United States, he would be able to bring an appeal on three grounds.

The judges said the US authorities had three weeks to give those assurances  with a final decision to be made in late May.

Story continues

Stella Assange outside the High Court ahead of Tuesdays hearing (Reuters)

In a 66-page ruling, Dame Victoria, who is president of the Kings Bench Division of the High Court of Justice, said: Before making a final decision on the application for leave to appeal, we will give the respondent an opportunity to give assurances. If assurances are not given then we will grant leave to appeal without a further hearing.

If assurances are given then we will give the parties an opportunity to make further submissions before we make a final decision on the application for leave to appeal.

The assurances requested include that Mr Assange is not prejudiced at trial (including sentence) by reason of his nationality, that he is afforded the same first-amendment protections as a United States citizen, and that the death penalty is not imposed.

The judges rejected Mr Assanges lawyers claims that he was being prosecuted for his political opinions and would not face a fair trial.

However, they said he could be granted leave to appeal on the grounds of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which relate to freedom of expression, if he is treated as a foreign citizen in a US court. The judges therefore asked for assurances that he will be entitled to rely on the countrys first-amendment protections.

They also warned that without adequate assurances from the US, Assange could be granted leave to appeal on the grounds that he could face charges that carry the death penalty.

Supporters rally outside the High Court in London (Reuters)

Speaking after the judgment, Mr Assanges wife Stella said: What the courts have done has been to invite a political intervention from the United States... to send a letter saying Its all OK. I find this astounding.

This case is a retribution. It is a signal to all of you that, if you expose the interests that are driving war, they will come after you, they will put you in prison and will try to kill you.

The Biden administration should not issue assurances. They should drop this shameful case that should never have been brought.

Although the WikiLeaks founder was granted permission to leave prison for the two-day hearing last month, he was too unwell to attend.

Hundreds of supporters rallied outside the Royal Courts of Justice chanting Free, free Julian Assange and No extradition.

In written submissions, Mr Summers and Edward Fitzgerald KC, for Mr Assange, had argued that the US was trying to suppress those who were willing and prepared to hold officials to account for alleged wrongdoing during the war on terror. Mr Assange was one of those targets, they said.

However, lawyers for the US said Mr Assange had put lives at imminent risk by publishing the names of those who had helped the country in unredacted classified documents in one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the United States.

Supporters outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London in February during the two-day hearing (PA)

These were documents that disclosed to the world the unredacted names of human sources who had provided information to the US, Clair Dobbin KC told the court, adding that this separates Mr Assange from The New York Times and other news outlets, which also published information exposed by WikiLeaks.

Mr Assanges wife previously warned that the outcome of the appeal bid is life or death for her husband  whose health has deteriorated in prison, where he spends 22 hours a day in confinement.

The Australian national has been in prison since he was removed from the Ecuadorian embassy in 2019.

More follows on this breaking news story...
A joint investment from BII and Idemitsu will support the renewable energy platform's target to build over 300 MW of greenfield solar power capacity for commercial and industrial customers in the region.

The solar projects are expected to help displace consumption of on-grid electricity and avoid 270,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.

SINGAPORE, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- British International Investment (BII), the UK's development finance institution (DFI) and impact investor, and Idemitsu Kosan (IKC), one of Japan's leading energy companies, today announced a joint investment into Skye Renewables Energy Pte Ltd. (Skye), a South-East Asia-focused renewable energy platform, forming a strong partnership to support the development of greenfield solar projects and decarbonisation of the region.

Front, from left to right: Srini Nagarajan, Managing Director and Head of Asia, British International Investment, Misako Fukui, Managing Director, Idemitsu Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd and Ross Coull, Founder of Skye Renewables. Back, from left to right: Kara Owen, British High Commissioner to Singapore and Lauren Babuik, Head of Singapore Climate, Energy and Nature Team, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. British International Investment, Idemitsu and Skye Renewables signed on Monday in a partnership to accelerate decarbonisation in South-East Asia.

South-East Asia is a region with an increasing demand for power and a high reliance on fossil fuels which creates an opportunity for the growth of renewable energy as part of decarbonisation efforts. While primary energy demand in the region is expected to grow by 1.8 times by 2050, renewable energy demand is estimated to grow by 4.4 times based on the current policy landscape.[1]

Established in 2022, Skye develops solar projects and provides off-grid clean energy to commercial and industrial (C&I) customers in the region including the Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia, under long term power purchase agreements.

The C&I sector accounts for a significant portion of energy demand in South-East Asia. Providing solar power to C&I businesses offers a good opportunity to keep pace with the region's growing energy demand in a sustainable way and help countries to achieve their sustainability goals. Governments have introduced supportive policies for this nascent segment to scale clean energy deployment in C&I sectors and accelerate energy transition across the region.

Drawing from BII and IKC's extensive track record in the renewable energy sector globally, the investment aims to support the region's sustainability goals by transforming Skye into a scaled-up regional renewable energy platform with a solar capacity of over 300MW in the coming years.

As Skye grows, the solar projects are expected to help avoid 270,000 tonnes of CO2e annually, which is equivalent to the emissions generated by over 47,000 homes' electricity use in a year.

Kara Owen, British High Commissioner to Singapore, said: "The UK and Singapore committed under the UK-Singapore Strategic Partnership and Green Economy Framework to deepen our government and private sector collaboration in the South-East Asian region so that we can effectively support sustainable infrastructure and investment. This is vital to ensure we're working together as closely as we can, to support regional climate, green economy, and energy transition goals.

BII is a unique and valuable part of the UK's development and investment partnership toolkit, and I'm delighted to see their progress since opening their Indo-Pacific office in Singapore nearly 18 months ago. This first direct equity investment by them in South-East Asia will support Skye Renewables to scale up renewable energy solutions in an important and growing area of decarbonisation need: the commercial and industrial sector. It will unlock clean energy, create green jobs, and bring the closer collaboration and investment in the region's sustainable development that the UK wants to see."

Srini Nagarajan, Managing Director and Head of Asia at BII, said: "This investment marks the first direct equity investment by BII in South-East Asia since our re-entry to the region in 2022. Skye provides BII the opportunity to work with experienced partners like IKC, to scale up this renewable energy platform that will benefit the region. Our goal is to boost climate finance in the region and so we look forward to supporting more greenfield renewable energy capacity and local governments' efforts on decarbonisation."

Hiroshi Yoshida, General Manager of Power & Renewables Business Department at IKC, commented: "We formed a partnership with Skye in 2022 and have made significant progress in the C&I rooftop solar space in South-East Asia. Now, with the addition of BII as a new partner to Skye, who has a proven track record of success in the global renewable energy sector, we believe it will create great synergy among us. By leveraging the strengths of each company, we aim to further grow Skye as a renewable energy platform in South-East Asia and contribute to a decarbonised society."

Ross Coull, Founder of Skye Renewables, commented: "We are absolutely delighted that BII has chosen Skye as their first direct equity investment in South-East Asia. Their track record in renewable energy across multiple markets is extensive and I am sure that they will bring a huge amount of value to Skye; they will be a great partner to support our ambitions of decarbonising corporate activity in the region."

This investment supports UN SDG 7 on Affordable and Clean Energy and SDG13 on Climate Action.

Notes to editors:

About British International Investment

British International Investment is the UK's development finance institution and impact investor.

British International Investment is a trusted investment partner to businesses in Africa , Asia and the Caribbean .

, and the . It invests to support the UK Government's Clean Green Initiative and to create productive, sustainable and inclusive economies in our markets.

Between 2022-2026, at least 30 per cent of BII's total new commitments by value will be in climate finance.

BII intends to deploy up to 500m in climate finance projects in Southeast Asia to support decarbonisation in the region.

to support decarbonisation in the region. BII is also a founding member of the 2X Challenge which has raised over $27billion to empower women's economic development.

which has raised over to empower women's economic development. The company has investments in over 1,470 businesses across 65 countries and total assets of 8.1 billion.

For more information, visit: www.bii.co.uk | watch here .

| . Follow British International Investment on LinkedIn and X.

About Idemitsu

Established in 1940, Idemitsu is one of Japan's leading producers and suppliers of energy.

leading producers and suppliers of energy. Idemitsu operates through 67 business bases across the world, in the areas of fuel oil, petrochemicals, lubricants, electronic materials, electric power and renewable energy, oil and gas development, and coal.

About Skye

Skye Renewables is an energy-as-a-service solar company with operations in Philippines , Vietnam , Singapore and Malaysia .

, , and . The company supports blue chip organisations by deploying solar systems on their premises and selling them the renewable energy via long-term contracts.

In addition, as the regulations continue to develop in South-East Asia, Skye Renewables can provide renewable energy from larger 'off-site' systems.

For more information, visit: www.skyerenewables.com.

[1] https://www.iea.org/reports/southeast-asia-energy-outlook-2022/key-findings

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RIGA, Latvia, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Mintos, the multi-asset platform offering a unique mix of alternative and traditional assets, has announced today its plan to launch a crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube, Europe's largest private market investment platform.

Mintos, fully regulated under MiFID in the European Union, serves over 500,000 investors in the EU with assets under administration exceeding 600 million. The company is now seizing a time-limited opportunity to invite both its existing customers and the broader public to become shareholders, providing them with a rare chance to join its journey of becoming the leading choice for retail investors in Europe for long-term wealth building.

Mintos has partnered with Crowdcube, the leading European crowdfunding platform for investment into private companies, who have worked with some of Europe's largest fintechs including Revolut, Qonto, and Monzo.

Martins Sulte, CEO and Co-Founder of Mintos: "At Mintos, we're pleased to address the significant gap in the EU's investment landscape, meeting the increasing demand for both alternative and traditional investments. By offering easy-to-use investment tools, we aim to increase retail investor participation and build long-term wealth across Europe. We firmly believe that our future growth lies in expanding our presence across the continent. With successful launches in Germany, Italy, Spain, France and the Netherlands, we're committed to targeting additional key markets in the near future, and we want to give our customers the possibility to be a part of this growth journey"

Matt Cooper, Co-CEO of Crowdcube: "We're excited to welcome Mintos back to Crowdcube as they use our platform to strengthen and deepen their relationships with new and existing customers across Europe. They recognise the strategic value of engaging their community, transforming customers into owners, and integrating this approach into their business operations."

Mintos' main goal with this campaign will be to fuel the company's growth and expand its investor base. This includes launching the platform in new countries and further strengthening its market presence in those where it is already established. The plan is to also introduce new products, providing more options for diversification and long-term growth to investors across Europe.

Investors interested in joining Mintos' crowdfunding campaign can pre-register to secure early access, with the campaign scheduled to go live to the general public on April 10th.

For more information and to invest, visit the crowdfunding campaign page on Mintos https://www.mintos.com/en/crowdfunding/ .

Important: Investing in unlisted businesses comes with the risk of partial or total loss of invested funds along with the risk of illiquidity.

on Crowdcube thanks to new regulations on crowdfunding (Regulation (EU) 2020/1503).

For more information contact:

Giulia Meloni - Global Communications Lead

Email: giulia.meloni@mintos.com

+491627383049

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SHENZHEN, China, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/  The Shenzhen-Milan Lifestyle Week launched on March 20 in Nanshan, Shenzhen, unveiling a curated lineup of fashion-forward events, including an intimate Roundtable Discussion, the much-anticipated Nanshan Fashion Tour, a groundbreaking Skyline Fashion Show, an elegantly themed Fashion Night, and a spectacular drone show. Running parallel to these festivities, the debut of the promotional short film "NANSHAN NEW LOOK" paid homage to Nanshan's sartorial culture. A centerpiece of the Lifestyle Week is the Shenzhen-Milan Pioneer Fashion Art Exhibition, held in Nanshan District's historical area Nantou City until April 14. The exhibition brings together nine of Nanshan's and Milan's up-and-coming fashion brands, among them, Italian couturiers VIA PIAVE 33, Meltin(Pot), alessandro enriquez, ALABAMA muse, FRANCESCA BELLAVITA alongside Nanshan's own sartorial innovators CHAURISING, PERMU, PANTTERFLY and Lynn Gong. The exhibit offered an array of style sensations, from the latest in pret-a-porter to timeless classics, artisanal crafts, immersive art installations, and striking multimedia presentations.

Hosted in Nantou City, an area with a profound historical narrative dating back nearly 1,700 years, the exhibition highlights Shenzhen's rich multicultural backdrop, now rejuvenated through thoughtful preservation efforts. Amidst the event, a pivotal memorandum of cooperation was signed by a Nanshan District government dignitary and Maria Rosa Azzolina, President of the Italy-China Institute. The agreement signifies a deepened commitment to fostering cultural and economic ties between Milan and Nanshan, underlining the global interconnectedness of the fashion industry.

On March 20th, the "Skyline Fashion Show" elevated Lifestyle Week to new heights at the Super HQ Base International Hall, where Shenzhen's original designer brand, CHAU-RISING, unveiled its latest seasonal collection. The event highlighted the district's ongoing commitment to fostering innovation within the fashion sector.

The event sets in motion Nanshan's role in redefining the fashion landscape, heralding the launch of an ambitious plan to cultivate its original designer brands. This strategic move aims to invigorate the fashion buying economy, champion the rise of new independent labels, and propel China's independent original design industry into the global spotlight. With a solid foundation in place, the district is poised to become a magnet for international fashion brands, opening the doors for more emerging labels with the potential to make their mark on the domestic fashion scene.

SOURCE Nantou City
TAIPEI , March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- AEWIN provides a series of performant Network Appliances and Edge Server powered by single AMD Zen 4c EPYC 8004 processor codenamed Siena. The latest AMD Siena CPU is produced with 5nm manufacturing technology to have up to 64 cores (extreme density of 2CCX/CCD) and 225W TDP with lower energy consumption compared to EPYC SP5. Siena SP6 CPU has the best performance per watt and is with the support of rich I/O and CXL 1.1.

AEWIN High Performance Network Appliances and Edge Servers Powered by AMD Siena

SCB-1945 (1U) and SCB-1947A (2U) are two performant Network Appliances supporting 12x DDR5 sockets and 4x/8x PCIe Gen5 slots for AEWIN self-design NICs with 1G to 100G copper/fiber interfaces (with/without bypass function) or other accelerators and NVMe SSDs. Both models provide the flexibility to change 2x front panel PCIe slots to 1x PCIe x16 slot for installing off-the-shelf add-on card for additional functions required. It can support 400G NIC card installed such as NVIDIA Mellanox PCIe 5.0 NIC.

They deliver high throughput and low latency for compute intensive workloads. Customer can choose to have internal storage with high-capacity support, up to 4x native SATA/mSATA SSD. The mainboard itself also supports dual M.2 2280 NVMe SSD as high-speed OS boot devices. Benefited from the Siena CPU with energy efficiency, both models feature extraordinary computing performance and short-depth design (SCB-1945: 548mm; SCB-1947A: 600mm) to achieve faster speeds for Edge Computing and Networking.

To further expand the ability of AI, the SCB-1947C is a 2U, single-socket Edge Computing Server offering dual-width PCIe x16 slots to support GPU/FPGA cards for intelligent applications. In addition to the GPU slots, there are 4x PCIe 5.0 x8 slots available for NIC, accelerators, or NVMe SSDs. Tasks requiring AI workloads can be handled effortlessly at the edge by SCB-1947C.

Regarding the reliability and cybersecurity, the SCB-1945 and SCB-1947 series support OT006B module for AEWIN Trusted Secure Boot (TSB V2 module) to deliver the first line of firmware security defense during boot-up process. TPM 2.0 module is also supported to allow authentication of hardware devices to ensure the integrity of the hardware platform.

Featuring great performance, excellent power efficiency, rich I/O, advanced security technologies, extraordinary expandability, and the best TCO, both SCB-1945 and SCB-1947 series are ready to be deployed for diverse applications including Networking, Cybersecurity, MEC, EdgeAI, Edge Computing, Storage, and more. Don't hesitate to tailor your solution with AEWIN offerings!

SCB-1945: 1U Network Appliance with single AMD Zen 4c EPYC 8004 Processor (Siena), total 4x PCIe Gen5 x8 slots for NICs, Accelerators & NVMe SSDs

SCB-1947 Series: 2U Network Appliance/Edge Computing Server with single AMD Zen 4c EPYC 8004 Processor (Siena), 2x DW PCIe5.0 x16 slots for FHFL GPU cards plus 4x PCIe Gen5 x8 slots or 8x PCIe Gen5 x8 slots for NICs, Accelerators & NVMe SSDs

For more information, please visit: https://www.aewin.com/ or contact us.

SOURCE AEWIN Tech.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- DataPath, Inc. today announced the launch of Accelergent Growth Solutions to help companies in the benefits, financial services, and insurance industries accelerate their growth and profitability. Accelergent offers expert business process management, outsourcing, automation, and marketing services, allowing businesses to focus on core competencies and revenue-generating activities.

The new organization expands a 15+ year partnership between DataPath, Inc. and its sister company, Overbrook Technology Services (OTS).

John Robbins, Jr., president and CEO of DataPath, Inc., explains, "Customer experience is king, but maintaining excellent service while continuing to grow is increasingly difficult to achieve in light of staffing needs, turnover, and incremental labor costs. That is where Accelergent steps in. Accelergent is seamlessly adaptable to any technology stack or administrative platform and offers a solution that reduces operational costs by up to 60%, enhances efficiency, and readies you for growth on any scale."

Accelergent assists companies in optimizing business processes, expanding capabilities, supplementing personnel, and navigating high demand periods. With a 99% accuracy rate, Accelergent has processed over 3.5 million claims and numerous enrollments, plan setups, and COBRA transactions. The organization also offers additional services such as invoice processing, benefits administration systems integration, file processing, non-discrimination testing, process automation, technology services, and award-winning marketing services.

Robbins continued, "During times of market and societal change, driving value becomes increasingly important. A company's operating model can be essential to that effort by optimizing and transforming business processes, enhancing resiliency, increasing agility and competitive advantages, and ultimately, achieving better business outcomes."

About Accelergent Growth Solutions

Accelergent Growth Solutions (accelergent.com) helps companies accelerate growth and profitability by freeing them to focus on core competencies and revenue-generating activities. The organization provides expert business process management, outsourcing, technology, and award-winning marketing services to the benefits, financial services, and insurance industries.

About DataPath, Inc.

A full-service technology and growth solutions provider for 40 years, DataPath, Inc. (dpath.com) offers the all-in-one Summit platform for CDH, HSA, Well-Being, COBRA, and Billing administration. Its wholly owned subsidiary, DataPath Financial Services, Inc., is an approved non-bank HSA custodian.

About Overbrook Technology Services

Overbrook Technology Services offers comprehensive outsourcing services to benefit administrators, including secure BPO solutions and back-office support. Based in Kochi, Kerala, India, OTS is a trusted partner in managing complex plans and benefits with an accuracy rate consistently higher than 99%.

Media Contact:

Melissa Howard, [email protected]

SOURCE DataPath, Inc.
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Poker players who want to rev up their bankroll are heading to ACR Poker. The popular online poker site is debuting its Turbo Boost Series from April 7th-13th, with over $2 Million in guaranteed prize pools, plus 10 coveted seats to ACR's biggest Venom tournament ever.

Don't miss your chance to be a part of this electrifying series and compete for big prizes. Start your engines and join us for the Turbo Boost Series now! $2 Million GTD (April 7th-13th)

"The $12.5 Million Venom starts on Sunday, April 14th and we're looking to qualify as many players as possible," stated ACR Pro, Chris Moneymaker. "So, start your engines and play in the Turbo Boost Series to win cash, plus your seat to our biggest tourney ever which includes three $1 Million prizes."

The week-long Turbo Boost Series, guaranteeing $2 Million in prize pools, offers 31 added events with buy-ins ranging from just $1.10 to $630. That means players of all bankroll sizes can compete in this high-octane series before they accelerate into the Venom.

Players will also have the opportunity to compete in the Leaderboard Competition, awarding 10 seats, worth $26,500 in value, to the $12.5 Million Venom. This will consist of two separate leaderboards based on Low ($33 and less) and High ($44 and up) buy-ins. Players who win their seat will automatically be registered for Day 1A of the Venom, so they should clear their schedule for that day.

In addition to the Turbo Boost Series and the Venom, Moneymaker highlighted two special Super Sunday events coming to ACR Poker's April lineup. The first, on April 7th, will offer a monster $500,000 guarantee for a $215 buy-in across two days. On April 14th, the second event will feature a $100,000 prize pool for a low buy-in of $16.50.

For more info on the Turbo Boost Series, visit the promo page at ACRPoker.eu.

About ACR Poker

Formerly known as Americas Cardroom, ACR Poker joined the Winning Poker Network in 2011. The Winning Poker Network has been dealing cards since 2001 and continues to be one of the most trusted names in the industry. Rated first place for payment processing and cashout reliability repeatedly over the last few years, ACR Poker offers outstanding customer service and a friendly environment for all poker players around the world.

Media Contact:

Adam Neal

+447845582487

SOURCE ACR Poker
WARNING  GRAPHIC CONTENT: The distressing moment an Aussie woman was run over by a three-tonne ute, leaving her with severe injuries, has been caught on CCTV.

The graphic incident unfolded as Christine Moore sat on a kerb in a Perth laneway next to Coventry Village Shopping Centre one Saturday night last month. Footage published by 9 News Perth shows the 40-year-old hunched in front of a Chevrolet Silverado as a driver and passenger climb inside.

CCTV has captured the distressing moment Christine Moore was run over by a Chevrolet ute in Perth last month. Source: 9 News Perth

The pair appear to be oblivious of Christine as the ute inches forward, dragging the mum of four along the bitumen and trapping her under the front of the car.

One of the front tyres then crushes Christine before the driver of the Chevrolet stops and looks out the window for any obstruction. Failing to see anything under the vehicle, he drives off, bouncing the back wheel off her head.

I believe I had an angel on my shoulder, because I shouldnt be here, Christine told 9 News on Monday.

The mum said she was left with a fractured eye socket, three broken ribs, bowel and ligament injuries, and scarring on her arm and chest from the gravel.

Police claim woman was drinking

After realising what had happened, the driver stopped and rendered first aid before paramedics arrived and rushed Christine to hospital with serious injuries, a WA Police spokesperson told Yahoo News.

Police claim the 40-year-old had been drinking at a licensed premise in the shopping centre at 10pm on February 10 when security staff asked her to leave the premises. She has gone into the laneway between the carpark and Walter Road West, the spokesperson said.

Christine Moore was left with severe injuries after the incident. Source: 9 News Perth

The owner of a Chevrolet Silverado that was parked in the laneway has got into his vehicle to drive off, not realising the woman was lying in front of his vehicle.

Story continues

However, Christine denies the claim she had been drinking and said she has not been contacted by police. An investigation is ongoing.

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
DUBLIN, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Africa Insurance Market Report by Type (Life Insurance, Non-Life Insurance), and Country 2024-2032" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The African insurance market size reached US$ 87.4 Billion in 2023 and is forecast to reach US$153.9 Billion by 2032, exhibiting a growth rate (CAGR) of 6.5% during 2023-2032. The growing number of working-age individuals, the accelerating awareness and education fostering a culture of insurance, and collaboration between the insurance industry and banking or financial institutions are some of the major factors propelling the market.

Africa's youthful population, characterized by a growing number of working-age individuals, provides a large potential market for life, health, and other types of insurance products. With more young individuals entering the workforce and becoming financially independent, the demand for various insurance products is poised to rise. Along with this, the push towards financial literacy also extends to training insurance professionals, ensuring that they are equipped to offer the right products and services. This increased awareness and education are fostering a culture of insurance, contributing to the growth and stability of the industry in Africa.

In addition, the presence of multinational corporations and foreign investment in various sectors in Africa is significantly supporting the market. International businesses often bring global best practices, including risk management and insurance coverage, further stimulating the local insurance market. Apart from this, collaboration between the insurance industry and banking or financial institutions has led to innovative distribution channels. Therefore, it is contributing to the market. Moreover, the emergence of micro-insurance products targeting low-income individuals and small businesses is creating a positive market outlook.

Africa Insurance Market Trends/Drivers:

Regulatory Environment and Government Initiatives

Many African governments have recognized the vital role that insurance can play in economic development and stability. As a result, there has been a push towards creating a more supportive regulatory environment for the insurance industry. These regulations often focus on ensuring transparency, solvency, and consumer protection, thus building trust in the industry. Additionally, government initiatives such as mandatory insurance requirements for certain sectors, like motor or healthcare, can drive growth. In confluence with this, collaboration with international regulatory bodies and adherence to global standards further strengthens the sector, making it more attractive to both domestic and foreign investors. This progressive regulatory landscape is playing a crucial role in shaping the insurance industry in Africa.

Technological Advancements and Digitalization

Technology is playing a transformative role in the African insurance industry. Along with this, the rise of mobile technology, in particular, has provided an unprecedented opportunity to reach vast, previously underserved populations. Mobile platforms enable the delivery of micro-insurance products tailored to the specific needs of various segments of the population, particularly in rural areas. The digitalization of processes not only allows for more efficient operations but also enhances customer experience through easier access to products and services. Insurtech companies are emerging, utilizing big data, artificial intelligence, and other innovative technologies to create more personalized and responsive insurance solutions. This technological evolution is significantly driving growth and innovation within the industry.

Africa Insurance Industry Segmentation:

The report provides an analysis of the key trends in each segment of the Africa insurance market report, along with forecasts at the regional and country levels from 2024-2032. The report has categorized the market based on type.

Breakup by Type:

Life Insurance

Non-life Insurance

Automobile Insurance

Fire Insurance

Liability Insurance

Other Insurances

Life insurance dominates the market

The report has provided a detailed breakup and analysis of the market based on the type. This includes life insurance, and non-life insurance (automobile insurance, fire insurance, liability insurance, and other insurances). According to the report, life insurance represented the largest segment.

In the intricate tapestry of the Africa insurance industry, the life insurance sector is being significantly shaped by the continent's shifting demographics. This can be supported by the growing middle class and increased life expectancy. This, in turn, has catalyzed a rise in the demand for life insurance products as individuals seek to safeguard their families' futures. Along with this, the rapid pace of urbanization and improved accessibility to information have expanded the reach of insurance providers, fostering a deeper level of consumer engagement. In addition, the infusion of digital technologies into traditional insurance practices has brought forth operational efficiencies, simplifying policy issuance and claims processing. This seamless integration has not only expedited transactions but also enriched the overall customer journey. Simultaneously, progressive regulatory reforms aimed at enhancing consumer protection have bolstered confidence in life insurance products. As risk awareness matures, both individuals and businesses are gravitating towards comprehensive life insurance coverage to mitigate potential uncertainties. Apart from this, the imperative to ensure financial stability is gaining traction. This evolving mindset has thrust the life insurance segment into the spotlight, with providers that adeptly tailor their offerings to resonate with the unique demands of African markets poised for prominence.

South Africa hold the largest share in the Africa insurance market

A detailed breakup and analysis of the market based on the price range has also been provided in the report. This includes South Africa, Morocco, Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, Algeria, Angola, Namibia, Tunisia, Mauritius, and Others. According to the report, South Africa accounted for the largest market share.

Within the realm of the South Africa insurance industry, a constellation of pivotal market drivers is shaping its trajectory. Demographic dynamics play a central role, as the country experiences shifts in population composition, with an expanding middle class and an aging population. This evolution has elevated awareness about financial security and retirement planning, propelling the demand for various insurance products. Technological advancements are another cornerstone, revolutionizing how insurance is accessed and managed. The ubiquity of digital platforms has expedited policy issuance, claims processing, and customer interactions, thereby enhancing overall satisfaction.

Regulatory developments wield considerable influence, fostering an environment of consumer protection and industry transparency. In addition, the rise of insurtech initiatives and innovative distribution models further diversifies the insurance landscape, catering to a broader spectrum of customer preferences. South Africa's economic fluctuations and exposure to various risks, both natural and financial, have underscored the value of comprehensive insurance coverage. This, coupled with the evolving understanding of risk mitigation, has encouraged the growth of insurance adoption across diverse sectors.

Competitive Landscape:

The key players in the market are engaging in a multitude of strategic endeavors to address the evolving demands and opportunities within the industry. Additionally, numerous insurance companies are capitalizing on digital transformation, incorporating advanced technologies to streamline their operations, enhance customer experiences, and optimize distribution channels. This includes the development of user-friendly mobile applications, online policy management platforms, and AI-driven customer support systems. Along with this, insurers are tailoring their product portfolios to align with specific regional and demographic needs. They are crafting innovative insurance solutions that cater to diverse segments, such as microinsurance for low-income individuals, agricultural insurance for farmers, and specialized coverage for emerging industries like fintech and renewable energy.

In addition, the increasing demand for ethical and sustainable practices is positively influencing the market. Some insurers are integrating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles into their operations. This includes offering ESG-aligned insurance products and adopting responsible investment strategies. Furthermore, insurance companies are partnering with insurtech startups, technology firms, and data providers to enhance underwriting processes, which is contributing to the market.

The report has provided a comprehensive analysis of the competitive landscape in the market.

Some of the key players in the market include:

African Life Assurance

The Liberty Holdings

Libya Insurance

MISR Insurance Holding

Momentum Metropolitan

Old Mutual

Sage Term Life Insurance

Sanlam Life Insurance

Santam

Societe Nationale Des Assurances

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/dd92nl

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

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SOURCE Research and Markets
Infusion of Capital to Establish The Center for Faculty Research and Teaching Excellence, Modernize Quigley Hall for Premiere Academic Programs, and Endow Faculty-Led Student Research

MEADVILLE, Pa., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Allegheny College, one of the nation's oldest and most innovative four-year colleges, where multidisciplinary learning breaks the conventional mold, is pleased to announce new gifts totaling $14 million from three multi-generational alumni families. The gifts will ensure that Allegheny College continues to provide an exceptional education, giving students and faculty the freedom to explore new ideas and pursue innovative solutions to real-world problems. This brings the Allegheny College gift total during President Cole's short tenure to over $70 million.

A $7 million gift from Dag Skattum ('84) and Julie Grosjean Skattum ('85) will establish and endow The Center for Faculty Research and Teaching Excellence, which will be the campus hub for faculty development, transformational teaching, research, and educational technology. The Center will support faculty and advance Allegheny College's mission to create independent and creative thinkers who excel in a diverse and interconnected world.

Allegheny College Announces $14 Million in New Gifts from Skattum, Tillotson, and Nelson Multi-Generational Families Post this

Three generations of the Skattum family are Allegheny College alumni, and the family's generosity and leadership have guided the College for decades. Julie Skattum is vice chair of Allegheny College's board of trustees, where Dag previously served and held leadership roles. With this gift to date, the Skattum's contributions to Allegheny College total $10 million. They hope their gift will inspire other alumni and donors who are committed to higher education to support this exceptional institution that means so much to them. They credit Pat Tippie's ('56) extraordinary commitment for inspiring them to think bolder about their commitment.

A $5 million gift from the Tillotson Family, including $4 million from Carol Hefren Tillotson ('54) and $1 million from Kim Tillotson Fleming and Curt Fleming will support academic excellence through the modernization of Quigley Hall, transforming it into a state-of-the-art space that reflects the stellar programming and faculty of the business and economics and political science departments that call it home. Quigley Hall is the home of The Bruce R. Thompson Center for Business & Economics, Allegheny's Center for Political Participation (CPP), whose work involves both civic education and civic engagement, and Allegheny's Law & Policy Program, which connects students with leading scholars and political practitioners, research opportunities, and internships. Building improvements will include an upgraded lecture hall, state-of-the-art technology, and greater accessibility, which will organically enhance the student and visitor experience.

Carol and her late husband Bill Tillotson ('52) have a history as proud Allegheny College alumni and leaders. Their daughter Kim received an honorary degree from Allegheny College and serves as a longtime member of the board of trustees' investment committee and as a trustee emeritus. Kim and Curt Fleming are proud parents of Grant Fleming ('11) and Todd Fleming ('15) who followed three generations into the family business. The Tillotson family's gift ensures that their deep roots and strong legacy with Allegheny College will endure. With this gift, the Tillotson and Fleming Family have donated $8 million to Allegheny College.

"Allegheny College has always been a forward-thinking institution that continually looks for new ways to expand students' minds and give them the knowledge and skills to excel," believe Carol and Kim. "It is a privilege to support Allegheny's groundbreaking work."

In honor of her 50th reunion in 2023, Christine Scott Nelson ('73) made a $2 million gift to create an endowed fund that will further enhance opportunities for faculty-led undergraduate research, a hallmark of an Allegheny College education as exemplified by the College receiving the inaugural national Award for Undergraduate Research Accomplishments from the Council of Undergraduate Research. This gift brings her total giving to $8.5 million. The Nelson family has two generations of Allegheny College alumni.

"These gifts help ensure that Allegheny College will be at the forefront of academic excellence for decades to come," said Angela Haddad, provost and dean of the faculty. "We are fortunate to have support from multi-generational families like the Skattums, Tillotsons, Flemings and Nelsons who believe in our mission to prepare students and faculty to make a meaningful difference in a complex world."

###

About Allegheny College

Allegheny College, founded in 1815, is one of the nation's most historic and innovative four-year colleges, with the unique requirement of completing a major and minor in different academic areas. This multidisciplinary learning breaks the conventional mold to provide creative, independent thinkers with a path for educational depth and intellectual growth, preparing them for careers that may not yet exist. Located in western Pennsylvania, Allegheny College is one of 40 colleges featured in Loren Pope's "Colleges That Change Lives." In its 2024 rankings, U.S. News & World Report recognized Allegheny College as one of the country's top 100 national liberal arts colleges  and one of the top 25 best for undergraduate research and creative activities.

Media Contact

Ivy Cohen

Ivy Cohen Corporate Communications

212-399-0026

[email protected]

SOURCE Allegheny College
Designed with our guests in mind, the cabins offer quiet luxury amidst the surrounding Gifford Pinchot forest and access to the area's top hikes and water sports- including windsurfing and fly fishing, foraging, and telling tall tales around a campfire under the stars. Each cabin is complete with an outdoor fire pit, a kitchenette, indoor gas fireplace and sitting area, king bed, private bath, and complimentary drink coupons to neighboring Backwoods Pub. With #astrotourism and #optoutside top of mind for many travelers in 2024, this getaway located approximately an hour outside of Portland is just what the doctor ordered. With user-friendly navigation on the site, travelers can explore accommodations, amenities, and the unique experiences that Backwoods Cabins provides before arriving at the comforts of their cabin away from home. From romantic getaways to adventurous outings and family travel to corporate retreats, this destination and site is your first step to an unforgettable visit to the picturesque town of Carson, Washington.

Slow Down and Take In Nature:

Experience Columbia River Gorge like a local with access to the best activities, guides, and experiences.

Indulge in looking at the stars without light pollution.

Discover what Forest Bathing is all about, enjoying time in nature on your terms.

Play on the water in one of the best windsurfing destinations in the U.S.

All guests receive premium access to Backwoods Pub for reservations

About Backwoods Cabins

Nestled in the Cascades, you'll find eight private cabins tucked away from the city in the Columbia River Gorge. Each is equipped with a cozy living space complete with gas fireplace, intimate kitchenette, private bedroom, secluded porch and personal outdoor fire pit. The Backwoods Cabins are the perfect destination for those seeking a unique and memorable stay in the heart of the breathtaking Columbia River Gorge.

Connect with us: Follow us on social media for the latest news and updates.

We look forward to welcoming you to the Backwoods Cabins and making your stay memorable. Visit our new website today and start planning your next getaway.

SOURCE Backwoods Cabins
The Rachael Ray Foundation and the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation partner to support ProStart classrooms and educators. Apply here through May 1.

WASHINGTON, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Starting today, high schools across the country can apply for a $5,000 grant from The Rachael Ray Foundation and the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF) to expand their ProStart career and technical education (CTE) programs. Applications are now open through May 1 at ChooseRestaurants.org/ProStartGrowGrant.

Forty-eight high schools with current ProStart programs, or those with culinary arts programs committed to joining ProStart, will be selected to receive a 2024 Rachael Ray Foundation ProStart Grow Grant to upgrade their classrooms or purchase new teaching resources and supplies. The grants empower educators with tools to bring ProStart's foundational restaurant management and culinary arts curriculum to life for their students, instilling career-building skills in the restaurant, foodservice, and hospitality industry.

Grants are available for high school culinary arts programs. Post this

"ProStart is the bridge between high school students and the various careers that span across the restaurant, hospitality, and foodservice industry. Its true magic lies in the educators who bring the program to life in classrooms nationwide," said Rachael Ray. "I am always so excited to support these educators with the resources they need to invest in the next generation of industry professionals."

This year marks the fifth round of Grow Grant funding provided through The Rachael Ray Foundation, which has awarded $950,000 across 113 grants to help schools that demonstrate a strong need to engage and educate students through ProStart's CTE program. Additionally, over the past 17 years, more than 260 scholarships have been provided by Rachael Ray's Yum-o! organization and The Rachael Ray Foundation.

"We're grateful for the ongoing partnership of the Rachael Ray Foundation. Its commitment to ProStart and the educators who show up each day to give their students unique classroom experiences and a purposeful connection to our industry has made a measurable impact across over 100 ProStart classrooms to-date," says Rob Gifford, president of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation.

ProStart students learn the essentials of culinary arts and restaurant management through its two-year CTE program, found at a mix of public high schools and career technical education centers across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Guam. More than an elective curriculum, ProStart is designed to link students to the restaurant industry, equipping them with certifications and competencies, over 400 hours of practical work experience, and access to restaurant and hospitality apprenticeship and scholarship opportunities. Culinary students learn to prepare a three-course meal in 60 minutes without access to running water or electricity, using only two butane burners. Restaurant management students develop a business case proposal for an original restaurant concept, with emphasis on business development, marketing strategy, and daily foodservice operations. Learn more about ProStart here.

"This grant has made a huge difference in the lives of our students and our community," says Kelly Delacruz, a ProStart educator at New Horizons Regional Education Centers in New Richlands, Minnesota, which received a 2023 Rachael Ray Foundation ProStart Grow Grant. "Students now have an opportunity to receive on-the-job skills to prepare them for entry level positions. It has given our ProStart students something to take pride in."

The NRAEF facilitates the Grow Grant application process. Current ProStart schools or those onboarding/incoming in the 2024-2025 academic year are eligible to apply. Each school must submit a complete application. If selected, new ProStart schools are required to sign an agreement joining the program for the next school year or return the funds. Applicants have through May 1, 2024, to complete their submissions for the NRAEF's consideration by clicking here.

About the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF)

As the supporting philanthropic foundation of the National Restaurant Association, the NRAEF's charitable mission includes enhancing the industry's training and education, career development, and community engagement efforts. The NRAEF and its programs work to Attract, Empower, and Advance today's and tomorrow's restaurant and foodservice workforce. NRAEF programs include: ProStart  a high-school career and technical education program; Restaurant Ready/HOPES  Partnering with community based organizations to provide people with skills training and job opportunities; Military  helping military servicemen and women transition their skills to restaurant and foodservice careers; Scholarships  financial assistance for students pursuing restaurant, foodservice and hospitality degrees; and the Restaurant & Hospitality Leadership Center (RHLC)  accredited apprenticeship programs designed to build the careers of service professionals. For more information on the NRAEF, visit ChooseRestaurants.org. Click here for the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation's 2022 Annual Impact Report.

About The Rachael Ray Foundation

The Rachael Ray Foundation (RRF) is a private foundation that is fully funded by the proceeds from the sale of Rachael Ray Nutrish. RRF was launched by Rachael in 2016 to better support the causes she cares for most such as helping animals in need. Additionally, RRF works with organizations that support the mission of Yum-o!, Rachael's 501c3, in order to bolster and amplify their efforts through additional funding. Yum-o! empowers kids and their families to develop healthy relationships with food and cooking. It also teaches families to cook, feeds hungry kids, and funds cooking education, among other initiatives.

SOURCE National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation
SEONGNAM, South Korea, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Aptamer Sciences Inc. (KOSDAQ, 291650) announced the filing of an Investigational New Drug (IND) application for the phase 1 clinical trial of AST-201 with the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on March 12th, 2024.

AST-201 structure & mechanism of action

AST-201, the company's pioneering candidate in its pipeline, is an ApDCTM (Aptamer-Drug Conjugate) designed to target GPC3 protein, which exhibits high expression levels in specific cancer cells, notably liver cancer. It comprises gemcitabine as the payload and an aptamer that selectively binds to GPC3 protein. Gemcitabine, a proven systemic anticancer agent, is widely utilized in treating various cancers, including ovarian, breast, non-small cell lung, and pancreatic cancer. The choice of gemcitabine as the payload was deliberate, owing to its moderate toxicity profile, particularly suitable for liver targeting, given the organ's susceptibility to drug toxicity. Additionally, gemcitabine's nature as a DNA analogue facilitates its synthesis within the aptamer DNA sequence. The company's strategic focus on liver cancer addresses significant unmet medical needs, as evidenced by AST-201's superior efficacy over sorafenib in animal models and its synergistic effect when co-administered with anti-PD-1 therapy.

Liver cancer poses a significant health challenge, particularly in East Asia, with a dismal survival rate. While combination therapies such as atezolizumab and bevacizumab have emerged as standard treatments for advanced liver cancer, recent findings published in Nature Medicine suggest their limited efficacy in certain liver cancer populations with high GPC3 expression levels, highlighting substantial unmet medical needs. In this context, AST-201 offers a promising therapeutic approach by specifically targeting GPC3.

The planned phase 1 trial seeks to evaluate the safety, pharmacokinetic profile, and preliminary efficacy of AST-201 in patients with GPC3-positive advanced solid tumors. Notably, Dr. Hong Jae Chon from CHA Bundang Medical Center, a prominent medical oncologist in South Korea, will serve as the coordinating investigator. The trial will be conducted across four hospitals, including CHA Bundang Medical Center, Samsung Medical Center, Severance Hospital, and the National Cancer Center in South Korea.

Dr. Chon remarked, "GPC3 has garnered considerable attention in liver cancer therapeutic development among biopharmaceutical companies," expressing optimism that "AST-201 may emerge as a novel treatment option for liver cancer patients."

Aptamer Sciences Inc. aims to showcase the clinical benefits of AST-201 and the technological value of its ApDCTM platform through this trial. Moreover, the company anticipates that this milestone will propel its research and development efforts, enhancing the competitiveness of its subsequent hemato-oncology pipeline products, including AST-202 targeting CD25, ApRC (Aptamer Radioligand Conjugate), ApIS (Aptamer Immune Stimulator Conjugate), and so on.

Dr. Dong-il Han, CEO of Aptamer Sciences Inc., emphasized, "Since the second aptamer drug Izervay approved by FDA last year, aptamer technology has garnered significant attention in the pharmaceutical market," highlighting, "The AST-201 clinical trial will showcase the technological capabilities of the ApDCTM platform and expedite ongoing technology transfer discussion with multiple partners. This milestone underscores Aptamer Sciences Inc.'s commitment to advancing innovative therapies and addressing critical unmet needs in oncology."

Fig 1. AST-201 structure (Among the sequence of GPC3 aptamer, the payload of gemcitabine is conjugated as the part of sequence.)

Fig 2. AST-201 mechanism of action

1. AST-201 targets and binds to the GPC3 protein located on the surface of cancer cells.

2. The drug undergoes internalization into the cancer cell by endocytosis.

3. After the lysosomal degradation, gemcitabine monophosphate (dFdCMP), the active form of gemcitabine, is released within the cell leading to programmed cell death of the tumor cell (apoptosis).

About Aptamer Sciences, Inc.

Aptamer Sciences Inc., listed on KOSDAQ in South Korea, is a global leading company in aptamer field. The company has established an integrated aptamer technology platform, called ApDCTM (Aptamer Drug Conjugate) and focused on developing oncology pipelines.

For more information, please visit the website, www.aptsci.com/en or contact [email protected].

SOURCE Aptamer Sciences Inc.
Supporting Skyward, the SDVOSB will develop an AI/ML platform leveraging generative AI to relieve user burden across the federal agency

MILLSBORO, Del., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Aquia Inc., a cloud and cybersecurity-focused digital services company, today announced its support of an artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) opportunity at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) under the SEAS IT program, "Support for Enterprise Architecture Services Information Technology."

As a subcontractor to Skyward IT Solutions, LLC (Skyward), and alongside Friends From the City, Aquia will support the 5-year, $24 million contract with CMS to develop an AI/ML platform within the Office of Information Technology (OIT) that will leverage generative AI (genAI) to relieve user burden across CMS.

"Aquia is proud to support CMS on this transformative effort, utilizing emerging technologies such as AI/ML to serve the CMS stakeholders leveraging our expertise and desire to drive secure use of innovative technologies," said Chris Hughes, co-founder and president of Aquia.

Aquia brings significant past performance with CMS to the table, including support of the following initiatives  to name a few:

Developing and continuously securing Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) environments at CMS

Creating and deploying a zero trust policy and maturity model

Driving the creation of CMS's first-ever SaaS Governance program

Aquia, Skyward, and Friends From the City are all members of the Digital Services Coalition, a collection of agile technology and design firms committed to bringing the innovation and agility that's become the backbone of commercial digital services to the government.

About Aquia Inc.



Securing The Digital Transformation 

Aquia is a cloud and cybersecurity-focused digital services company. We provide engineering and advisory expertise for secure software delivery; security automation; SaaS security; cloud-native architecture; and governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) innovation.

We are passionate about helping mission owners pursue digital modernization, adopt innovative technologies, and navigate complex regulatory and compliance landscapes.

Founded in 2021 by United States veterans, we are a service-disabled, veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) passionate about making our country digitally capable and secure, and driving transformational change across the public and private sectors. As an Amazon Web Services (AWS) Advanced Tier partner, we help companies pursue innovation, reduce costs, and scale their operations efficiently. Learn more at aquia.us.

Contact:

Aquia Inc.

***@aquia.us

Photo(s):

https://www.prlog.org/13013168

Press release distributed by PRLog

SOURCE Aquia Inc.
Beatbot's Robotic Pool Cleaners Make Their Debut in Europe, Offering Industry-First Features Prioritizing Efficiency and Convenience

LONDON, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Beatbot, the brand re-defining the cutting-edge pool cleaning robot, announces today its official entry into the European market, making the brand's industry-leading AquaSense and AquaSense Pro commercially available to European buyers. The brand's expansion into European markets broadens the distribution of advanced technology and further develops the company's international presence.

Beatbot AquaSense Pro, along with its regular model Beatbot AquaSense Officially Available in Europe

With a mission to simplify pool care and enhance the pool ownership experience, Beatbot has already achieved significant milestones in the United States market, including selling out the first 1,000 pre-order units in less than 30 days, which is a remarkable feat for a product in the $2,000 price range. Beatbot's high demand in the U.S. demonstrates the potential success in European markets. Beatbot's AquaSense Pro, the world's 5-in-1 robotic pool cleaner, was also awarded the prestigious iF Design Award. Together, these accomplishments highlight Beatbot's industry-leading intelligent engineering and project success in the market.

"We are excited to be able to offer optimal pool cleaning efficiency, enhance pool health and provide unparalleled convenience to European consumers," said York, CMO of Beatbot. "Our most recent model, the AquaSense Pro, offers unique powerful floor scrubbing, agile wall climbing, waterline cleaning, built-in water purification system, and intelligent path optimization that consumers aren't able to get from other brands. We are thrilled to announce that Beatbot's commitment to revolutionizing pool care experiences is expanding, marching towards its eventual availability worldwide."

Pool Robots With Intelligent Engineering

Beatbot's AquaSense series includes the brand's two robot pool cleaners:

The AquaSense Pro leverages the first five-in-one pool cleaning covering water clarification, water surface, floor, walls and waterline and a nine-motor system to provide the industry's most cutting-edge pool cleaning solution available. Equipped with 20 sensors including 2 ultrasonic sensors and a quad-core 1.8GHz processor for intelligent path optimization, Beatbot AquaSense Pro is smart enough to handle water clarification, water surface, waterline, walls and floor, enabling full coverage and high efficiency. It offers auto return and surface parking thanks to the industry-first MemoryPark technology and Simulated Flight Propulsion technology. The system's brushless main-pump motor delivers up to powerful wall cleaning with 5500 GPH suction. Its award-winning cordless design, coupled with two-by-two independent roller brushes, ensures comprehensive cleaning coverage. The systems engineering and design prioritize safety, with 15 certifications. Users experience convenience with a cordless charging dock, long-lasting 10400mAh battery, and smart app control.





leverages the first five-in-one pool cleaning covering water clarification, water surface, floor, walls and waterline and a nine-motor system to provide the industry's most cutting-edge pool cleaning solution available. Equipped with 20 sensors including 2 ultrasonic sensors and a quad-core 1.8GHz processor for intelligent path optimization, Beatbot AquaSense Pro is smart enough to handle water clarification, water surface, waterline, walls and floor, enabling full coverage and high efficiency. It offers auto return and surface parking thanks to the industry-first MemoryPark technology and Simulated Flight Propulsion technology. The system's brushless main-pump motor delivers up to powerful wall cleaning with 5500 GPH suction. Its award-winning cordless design, coupled with two-by-two independent roller brushes, ensures comprehensive cleaning coverage. The systems engineering and design prioritize safety, with 15 certifications. Users experience convenience with a cordless charging dock, long-lasting 10400mAh battery, and smart app control. The AquaSense model is a cordless robotic pool cleaner that combines intelligent path optimization with a 15-sensor system, a quad-core 1.8GHz processor, brushless main-pump motor with up to 5500 GPH suction and two-by-two ultra-long independent roller brushes for a heightened cleaning. With advanced cleaning area up to 2,260 square feet for long continuous cleaning and industry-first auto return and waterline parking, it ensures easy retrieval after a comprehensive clean. Backed by 15+ certifications including ETL, CEC, and IP68 for safety and reliability, the Beatbot AquaSense is the industry's smartest choice in cordless pool cleaning.

Beatbot's innovative technologies, such as CleverNav Smart Navigation System, industry-first ClearWater Clarifying System and user-friendly design, set its pool robots apart. These robots offer customers a hassle-free pool care experience with features including the intelligent return and parking near edge for easy retrieval.

European consumers can experience superior pool cleaning technology and discover more about the Beatbot AquaSense Pro (MSRP 2,499) and its regular variant, the Beatbot AquaSense (MSRP 1,499), at the brand's official website.

To celebrate the official launch in Europe, Beatbot is offering a special offer starting on March 20, 2024, and ending on April 10, 2024. Buyers will receive a 300 discount on the Beatbot AquaSense Pro and a 200 discount on the Beatbot AquaSense.

About Beatbot:

Beatbot is a technology brand dedicated to the global robotization of swimming pool environments. Founded by industry experts with over 10 years of experience in leading home robotics companies, the company is growing rapidly, with offices in multiple countries and a strong team of over 80 R&D members. Pioneering core technologies like brushless water pumps, AUV spatial locomotion, sonar laser SLAM, and space mapping navigation algorithms, Beatbot has secured numerous patents and pioneered industry-first innovations. Currently, we hold over 131 patents (granted and under application), including 51 patents for inventions. The brand aims to lead the world in smart, all-in-one pool care robotics, inheriting the legacy of top-tier home robotics companies and is driven by a commitment to product excellence. Beatbot's mission is to redefine pool care, address industry challenges, enhance performance, and deliver hassle-free pool care experiences.

Media Contact:

Caroline Lam

[email protected]

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2372080/image.jpg
PHILADELPHIA, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Berger Montague, a premiere complex civil litigation trial firm, now with over 100 attorneys and a large support staff, is pleased to announce that it is continuing its growth trajectory by taking new office space in Washington, D.C. The new offices are in the historic McLachlen Bank Building, at 1001 G Street NW, Suite 400 East, Washington DC, 20001.

Berger Montague's new office will be helmed by shareholder Daniel J. Walker, an accomplished antitrust litigator who rejoined Berger Montague in 2017 after serving three years in the Health Care Division at the Federal Trade Commission.

"After having a smaller office in Washington, D.C. for many years, we are excited to be moving into this new, much more substantial, space in the heart of the city," said Berger Montague Chairman Eric L. Cramer. "It's a fantastic location in a beautiful building that offers room for growth of our DC footprint. We look forward to being able to attract the top legal talent from the DC area, including out of governmental agencies and from the non-profit world, to join our unparalleled team of legal professionals. This expansion will help the firm benefit its growing list of clients in cutting edge and socially important cases in multiple fields."



Cramer added, "this new office is yet another step in our strategic plan to become the best and most desirable plaintiffs' law firm in the United States for attorneys to work, and it will provide yet another location to serve our large and growing client base."

Daniel J. Walker will be joined in the Washington, D.C. office by a team of attorneys including shareholder Alexandra Piazza, who works in the firm's Employment Law Department, as well as Senior Counsel Julie Selesnick and Karen Handorf, who are nationally known healthcare litigation attorneys. Prior to joining Berger Montague, Handorf, like Walker, had a distinguished career in government service, having spent 25 years at the U.S. Department of Labor, where she was the Deputy Associate Solicitor in the Plan Benefits Security Division. The Washington DC office will also house attorney Hope Brinn, who concentrates her practice in prosecuting complex antitrust matters.

"Our firm is growing, and Washington, D.C. is a great place for our diverse plaintiff-oriented litigation practice," said Walker. "Our plan is that by investing in this office, we will become a destination firm for the most talented attorneys including those coming from government and non-profit positions."



Berger Montague is one of the nation's preeminent full-spectrum complex civil litigation, class action, and mass tort law firms, with over 54 years of having precedent-setting lead roles in the fields of antitrust, securities, mass torts, civil and human rights, whistleblower cases, employment, and consumer litigation. The firm is headquartered in Philadelphia, and now has offices in Chicago, Minneapolis, San Diego, San Francisco, Toronto, Washington, D.C., and Wilmington, Delaware.

Contact: Daniel J. Walker at 202-559-9745 or [email protected]

SOURCE Berger Montague
DALLAS, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In a groundbreaking move poised to revolutionize the patient intake and resupply processes, Bonafide and Synthpop have announced a strategic partnership. The announcement comes during MedTrade 2024, the year's most anticipated Durable Medical Equipment (DME) conference.

"We're excited to make Synthpop's AI agents available to Bonafide customers... to set new industry standards." Post this Imagine your rockstar team member processing every new order in seconds. With intake, you can manage higher volumes from your trusted referral sources to increase revenue and get patients treated, faster. Set yourself apart from competition by implementing intelligent technology!

Bonafide is the #1 ERP software for DME and HME workflow management. Synthpop uses advanced AI solutions to streamline workflows, making it a perfect match to enhance and scale the Bonafide product offering. The healthcare and AI experts at Synthpop are developing a custom solution to power the evolution of Bonafide's software. The result is a system that is touchless, more efficient and accurate, and gets patients the care they need, faster.

Synthpop offers AI agents specializing in DME workflows, directly integrated within Bonafide's software solution. Elad Ferber, CEO of Synthpop, shared his vision for the partnership: "Our mission at Synthpop is to use AI to make complex processes touchless - improving speed and accuracy without compromising security. We're excited to make Synthpop's AI agents available to Bonafide customers, and elevate Bonafide's already stellar offering to set new industry standards."

Tom Waller, Senior Director of Client Engagement at Bonafide, emphasized the customer-centric focus of the partnership, "At Bonafide, we're constantly seeking ways to not just meet, but exceed our clients' expectations. This partnership with Synthpop is a testament to our commitment to innovation and excellence. By streamlining the patient intake process, we're not just improving our software; we're enhancing the care that patients receive."

The announcement of this partnership at MedTrade 2024 underscores both companies' commitment to advancing healthcare technology and improving patient outcomes. Attendees at the conference will have the opportunity to witness firsthand the potential of this collaboration to reshape the future of patient care, at booth 633.

About Bonafide

Bonafide is the leading provider of ERP software solutions for the DME and HME industries. Bonafide's software solution helps maximize efficiency, productivity and profitability for DME and HME suppliers. With a focus on innovation and customer service, Bonafide delivers comprehensive management solutions that streamline operations, enhance productivity, and improve patient care. www.bonafide.com

About Synthpop

Synthpop's AI agents perform complex healthcare administrative tasks - from referral processing, to instantly validating medical orders and prescriptions vs. payor and clinical guidelines. Following human Standard Operating Procedures, Synthpop's agents are scalable, instant and touchless, escalating for human review only when necessary. Synthpop leverages multimodal Large Language Models (LLMs) to streamline healthcare, one workflow at a time. www.synthpop.ai

For more information, please email [email protected]

SOURCE Synthpop
TOLEDO, Ohio, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Bostwick-Braun Company's strategic decision to make its industrial services and products arm the company's exclusive business focus motivated the sale, announced last week, of its wholesale hardware operations, company officials say.

On March 19, Bostwick-Braun, headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, announced that House-Hasson Hardware of Knoxville, Tenn., had made a formal purchase offer for its hardware division, including its related inventory and warehouses. This transaction follows the company's decision to concentrate 100% of its focus on its industrial distribution markets.

"Selling our hardware division enables us to focus all our energies on Bostwick-Braun Industrial," said Pete Richichi, CEO. "We serve thousands of industrial customers in four states and sell nationally through our website. This transaction will deepen our industrial customer relationships and expand our product offerings."

Primarily serving manufacturers, construction companies, and metalworking shops, Bostwick-Braun Industrial is a family of companies providing goods and services to industrial customers. These companies and key product offerings include:

Columbus Fasteners Corp. (CFC) -fasteners, anchors, strut, other construction, and industrial supplies

Wayne Fasteners, Inc. - fasteners' power tools, metal working tools, abrasives, and band saw blades

EBN Industrial Supply  general construction and industrial supplies, including a wide variety of fastener and metal working tools

JMC Sales & Engineering  metalworking tools, tooling accessories, saw blades, customized blades, and an authorized Lennox Welding Center

MSI  Power tools and accessories, ladders, and other general industrial supplies

Collectively, Bostwick-Braun Industrial companies distribute 125,000 stock-keeping units (SKU) from 13 warehouses in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. The company's sales staff provides expert service and support to its customers and is augmented by its website, www.bbindustrialsupply.com.

Bostwick-Braun's history dates to 1855. Until 12 years ago, the company principally supplied independent hardware stores. Its business started to change when, through acquisitions, Bostwick-Braun entered the industrial services field.

"Bostwick-Braun has a remarkable, and in many ways, unequaled history," Richichi said. "A business doesn't survive and grow over nearly 170 years without evolving. We will continue to provide customers with an extensive line of quality products by employee-owners who are committed to great customer service."

Bostwick-Braun is an 100% employee-owned company with 240 employee-owners.

"All of us at Bostwick-Braun have a personal stake in doing the best for every one of our customers," Richichi said. "We're excited about our new focus and moving forward exclusively with industrial distribution."

Contact:

George Korda

(865) 567-2163

[email protected]

SOURCE Bostwick-Braun Industrial
Palestinian children wait to receive food in Rafah (Reuters)

United Nations officials and aid workers on the ground in Gaza have warned of paper thin children and a cruel death by famine within the besieged territory  as international pressure mounts to hammer out a ceasefire during fraught talks taking place in Qatar.

After months of infighting, the UN Security Council passed a resolution on Monday calling for an immediate truce.

Hamas has rejected the latest proposal for a ceasefire deal as it wants any truce to lead to an end to the war. Israel says it is willing to consider only a temporary pause in the fighting.

After six months of war, aid workers say time is running out for 1.1 million Palestinians who are either on the cusp of famine or already experiencing such conditions.

In Gaza, Unicef spokesperson James Elder described seeing paper thin children in a hospital in the north and incubators full of underweight babies from malnourished mothers.

Lifesaving aid is being obstructed. Lives are being lost, he said. I saw children whose malnutrition state was so severe, skeletal.

Speaking to The Independent from the European Gaza Hospital near Khan Younis  a city that has been the focus of one of Israels most ferocious ground assaults  veteran humanitarians said the situation was beyond comprehension.

The only words to use are paper thin. There are children and women with literally no flesh on them, which only complicates the recovery process when they are injured, said Arvind Das, head of the Gaza team for the International Rescue Committee (IRC).

He told The Independent that he and his colleagues would normally administer supplements and intravenous fluids to the malnourished, but we had none to give.

A Palestinian man retrieves belongings from the site of an Israeli strike on a house, in Rafah, southern Gaza (Reuters)

Dr Konstantina Ilia Karydi, an anaesthetist working with the EMT at the hospital, called the situation unimaginable. This hospital had an original capacity of just 200 beds, and at the moment it has expanded to 1,000 beds, she said. 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.

Story continues

Dr Husam Basheer, an orthopaedic surgeon there, said supplies were so low they sometimes lacked gauze for surgery.

Mr Das, who has spent decades manning emergency responses in Afghanistan and Syria as well as in South Sudan, Sudan, Central African Republic and Iraq, said the catastrophe in Gaza right now is beyond anything he has ever seen.

He warned that, even if a ceasefire was in place, there would need to be an immediate opening up of all access points to Gaza to handle the unprecedented crisis.

I thought I had seen everything, that I had seen the worst, but not until now, he told The Independent, adding that his heart was breaking.

The situation is rapidly collapsing. I have not seen such a crisis like this anywhere else in the world. The war must stop immediately and in a sustained way. We do not have time to lose. This is a complete failure of humanity.

UN agencies have blamed Israel for restricting aid to Gaza, labelling it a possible war crime  an accusation vehemently denied by Israel.

There appears to be no end in sight for the war, which erupted in October when Hamas militants launched a bloody attack on southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages, 134 of whom remain inside the besieged enclave.

Since then, Palestinian medics in the Hamas-run territory say Israels unprecedented bombardment of the 42km-long strip has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians, the vast majority of them women and children.

The fighting has left much of the Gaza Strip in ruins, displaced most of its residents, and created widespread hunger.

Palestinians evacuate from Gaza City in northern Gaza (AFP/Getty)

On Tuesday, an expert told the UNs Human Rights Council that she believed Israels actions amounted to genocide, and called on countries to immediately impose sanctions and an arms embargo.

I find that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the threshold indicating the commission of the crime of genocide against Palestinians as a group in Gaza has been met, Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Occupied Territories, said in Geneva.

Israels diplomatic mission in Geneva, which did not attend the session, rejected her findings. Instead of seeking the truth, this special rapporteur tries to fit weak arguments to her distorted and obscene inversion of reality, it said.

Israel also categorically denies strangling aid to Gaza, despite claims from several UN aid agencies that Israel is using hunger as a weapon.

But pressure is mounting for more aid access routes into Gaza to be opened. At the moment there are two land crossings open in the south of Gaza, and none in the north  where civilians rely on dangerous airdrops and the rare delivery of aid that has been driven up from the south.

Mr Das described the IRCs medical teams working in hospitals overflowing with patients, and said that there are 30,000 displaced people under heavy shelling from Israeli tanks.

The group said that, since 7 October, the Israeli military has conducted more than 400 attacks on healthcare facilities and personnel in Gaza, which means every single hospital has been affected.

Citing the Palestinian health ministry, they said that at least 340 healthcare workers have been killed and more than 160 others have been detained.

There have also been reports of allegations that healthcare workers have been subjected to torture. Israel denies targeting civilians and medical staff  and also denies allegations of torture.

Mr Das said that in the centre of Gaza, in Deir al-Balah, he visited a shelter for the internally displaced, which before the war was a centre for vocational training and was meant to hold just 500 people.

He found it packed with 80,000 people inside and 30,000 people outside.

There was one toilet for every 700 people. Each person had just a 1.5-metre square space  women were compelled to deliver their babies in that.

He said there were outbreaks of hepatitis and other viral diseases and that deadly dehydration and malnourishment were now common.

Humanitarian aid falls through the sky towards the Gaza Strip after being dropped from an aircraft (Reuters)

On Tuesday, the UNs humanitarian office, OCHA, called for Israel to revoke an apparent ban on food deliveries to northern Gaza by UNRWA, which is also the largest UN agency operating and delivering aid.

Israel said on Monday that it would stop working with UNRWA in Gaza, blaming the aid agency for perpetuating the conflict. It has accused 12 of UNRWAs 13,000 members of staff of taking part in Hamass attack.

The agency said Israel had told it that it would no longer approve its food convoys to northern Gaza, and that such requests had been denied since 21 March. UNRWA also said that it only had sufficient funds to run its operations until the end of May, after many donors paused their funding.

The decision must be revoked, OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke told a UN briefing in Geneva. You cannot claim to adhere to these international provisions of law when you block UNRWA food convoys.

Meanwhile, talks for a truce are limping on in Doha, despite initial reports that they might break down over Hamass demand for an end to the war and Israels fury at the UN resolution calling for a ceasefire.

The resolution, which calls for the release of all hostages held in Gaza but does not predicate the ceasefire on it, only passed after Israels closest ally, the US, abstained from voting.

Since then, Hamas has rejected the latest proposal, saying it will hold on to the hostages until Israel agrees to a more permanent ceasefire, withdraws its forces from Gaza, and releases hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including top militants.

Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz told Army Radio on Tuesday that the resolution was to blame for emboldening Hamas by signalling that international pressure would end the war without the militant group having to make any concessions.

Benjamin Netanyahu  who in a rage even cancelled an Israeli delegation to Washington  said it proved that Hamas is not interested in continuing negotiations towards a deal.

For weeks, the sides have been discussing a potential truce of around 42 days, during which around 40 Israeli hostages would be released in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

Israel says it is willing to consider only a temporary pause in the fighting, while Hamas wants any deal to lead to an end to the war.

Mr Netanyahu's office said that Hamas had made delusional demands, which it said showed that the Palestinians were not interested in a deal. Hamas has accused Israel of stalling at the talks while it carries out its military offensive.

UK foreign office minister Andrew Mitchell joined world leaders in welcoming the UN resolution calling for a ceasefire as a significant step, which the UK government was focused on making sure was implemented as quickly as possible.

Labours shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, described it as a turning point in efforts to stop the fighting in Gaza.

Mr Das said the fighting had to stop immediately and that there must be an immediate opening of access points into Gaza to avert the worst disaster.

This is a stain on humanity. No matter what your politics, it is too painful to see women and children and incidents of people dying and suffering like this. I have not seen this before.
HOUSTON and TUPELO, Miss., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Cadence Bank (NYSE: CADE) will release its first quarter 2024 earnings on Monday, April 22, 2024, after the close of the financial markets. It will also hold its earnings webcast on Tuesday, April 23, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. CT.

The webcast will be live coverage of management's conference call with analysts and can be found by visiting: https://ir.cadencebank.com/events . This will be an interactive session between management and analysts; others may listen to the live broadcast as it happens. The conference call will also be available in archived format at the same web address.

About Cadence Bank

Cadence Bank (NYSE: CADE) is a leading regional banking franchise with approximately $50 billion in assets and over 350 branch locations across the South and Texas. Cadence provides consumers, businesses and corporations with a full range of innovative banking and financial solutions. Services and products include consumer banking, consumer loans, mortgages, home equity lines and loans, credit cards, commercial and business banking, treasury management, specialized lending, asset-based lending, commercial real estate, equipment financing, correspondent banking, SBA lending, foreign exchange, wealth management, investment and trust services, financial planning and retirement plan management. Cadence is committed to a culture of respect, diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in both its workplace and communities. Cadence Bank, Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender.

SOURCE Cadence Bank
AUBURN HILLS, Mich., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ --

The Camp Jeep test track brings Jeep off-road adventure to the city, offering consumers an interactive adventure experience

This is the first auto show that will feature the new 2024 Jeep Gladiator and Jeep Wrangler on the Camp Jeep test track

Since its debut in 2004, Camp Jeep has been a huge draw at the New York International Auto Show, giving more than a half-million test rides

The Camp Jeep test track brings Jeep off-road adventure to the city and will offer free test rides to all New York International Auto Show attendees.

Camp Jeep returns to the New York International Auto Show, celebrating the 20th anniversary of offering free off-road rides to auto show attendees.

The 28,000-square-foot outdoor exhibit at this year's New York International Auto Show gives consumers a firsthand look at the Trail Rated capability standards engineered into Jeep vehicles for ground clearance, traction, stability, articulation, breakover, off-camber and suspension. The fan-favorite, 28-foot-high Jeep Mountain, with 45-degree approach and departure angles, is the tallest and steepest at any auto show.

The new 2024 Jeep Gladiator and Jeep Wrangler will be among the vehicles available for off-road rides. The following Jeep vehicles will be on the Camp Jeep track, allowing riders to feel just how capable, yet comfortable, the Jeep lineup of vehicles are:

2024 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon

2024 Jeep Wrangler 4xe

2024 Jeep Wrangler 392

2024 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon

Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe Trailhawk

Jeep Grand Cherokee L Summit

Since its debut in 2004 in New York, Camp Jeep has been a huge draw at the New York International Auto Show, giving more than 501,000 test track rides in all the newest Jeep 4x4s. Overall, more than 3.45 million people have experienced Camp Jeep at more than 190 events in the U.S.

Camp Jeep is located outside of the Jacob Javits Convention Center and is free to the public from March 29  April 7. The track will be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., except for Sunday, April 7 when the hours will be 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

For more information about the New York International Auto Show, visit www.autoshowny.com.

Jeep Brand

Built on more than 80 years of legendary heritage, Jeep is the authentic SUV brand that delivers legendary off-road capability, interior refinement, high-tech features and versatility to people who seek extraordinary journeys. The Jeep brand delivers an open invitation to live life to the fullest by offering a broad portfolio of vehicles that continues to provide owners with a sense of safety and security to handle any journey with confidence. Jeep Wave, a premium owner loyalty and customer care program that is available to the entire Jeep 4x4 lineup, is filled with benefits and exclusive perks to deliver Jeep brand owners the utmost care and dedicated 24/7 support. The legendary Jeep brand's off-road capability is enhanced by a global electrification initiative that is transforming 4xe into the new 4x4 in pursuit of the brand's vision of accomplishing Zero Emission Freedom and added 4x4 capability. All Jeep brand vehicles will offer an electrified variant by 2025.

Follow Jeep and company news and video on:

Company blog: http://blog.stellantisnorthamerica.com

Media website: http://media.stellantisnorthamerica.com

Jeep brand: www.jeep.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/jeep

Instagram: www.instagram.com/jeep

Twitter: www.twitter.com/jeep

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/jeep

YouTube: www.youtube.com/thejeepchannel or https://www.youtube.com/StellantisNA

SOURCE Stellantis
GAITHERSBURG, Md., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Cardinality.ai , a data technology company helping government agencies achieve better outcomes through innovative, AI-enabled, pre-built solutions, welcomes Toni Blue , as our new VP of Growth and Strategic Accounts.

Toni joins Cardinality at an exciting time, following the company's 2024 Leadership Kickoff in Maryland in March. This event served as the perfect platform to welcome her along with several other new team members.

As Cardinality continues to grow, Toni's role will be to develop a strong go-to-market strategy that aligns with the company's mission: making a positive difference in people's lives. Her primary focus will be strengthening relationships with strategic accounts and building long-lasting partnerships. A lover of people, Toni deeply cares about creating equitable access to human service programs for vulnerable populations. Beginning her career as a caseworker, she rose to become a leader who has truly impacted lives. Her dedication earned her the prestigious 2021 VDSS Leader of the Year award for her contributions to the Virginia Department of Social Services where she served for more than twenty years.

"At Cardinality, we are mission-focused and we care! Toni echoes our mission and we are excited to have her join us as we march towards the next phase of our organization. Her experience and expertise will be instrumental as we improve our technology to better serve those who need it most.", said Kevin Jones , COO of Cardinality.

About Cardinality

Cardinality empowers Government agencies to achieve better outcomes by eliminating friction and improving the experience of citizens and government workers using Artificial Intelligence (AI) Case Management Solutions.

Cardinality's focus and dedication are expressed through innovative pre-built solutions, by for-cause data technologists who have experience implementing large, complex, mission-critical systems. With Cardinality, agencies are empowered to provide better services, engage constituents and communities more easily and often, and improve worker and citizen satisfaction.

Cardinality is recognized as a leading GovTech company (2020-2024) and as the AWS State & Local Government Partner of the Year (2022). Cardinality was recently named a 'Rising Star' at the 2024 SLEDIE Awards for Industry Excellence, held at the Beyond the Beltway event by e.Republic .

Media Contact

Erin Yeazell

513-560-5560

[email protected]

www.cardyai.com

SOURCE Cardinality.ai
World's largest cruise company finalizes agreement with Meyer Werft for new world-class cruise ship scheduled for delivery in 2028

MIAMI, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), the world's largest cruise company, today announced it has signed an agreement with Meyer Werft shipyard for a fifth Excel-class cruise ship for its namesake Carnival Cruise Line brand, with the delivery set for 2028.

Carnival Cruise Line's Excel Class Ships

In mid-February Carnival Corporation had announced the first newbuild order placed in five years with news that a fourth Excel-class ship would join the Carnival Cruise Line fleet in Spring 2027. This announcement confirms an 11th Excel-class ship for the corporation's fleet across four of its world-class brands, and the fifth to be sailed by Carnival Cruise Line.

"Carnival's Excel-class fleet will soon be a quintet of these very popular ships that provide outstanding guest amenities and tremendous operating efficiencies," said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. "Since the introduction of Mardi Gras in 2021 and the subsequent expansion with Carnival Celebration in 2022 and Carnival Jubilee in 2023, these Excel-class ships are driving excitement, demand, and strong guest satisfaction ratings. With the arrival of Carnival Firenze in April, we are completing the addition of five ships to our fleet in less than 20 months, and then we will pivot to another phase of growth with these two Excel ships."

This fifth Excel-class ship will be built on the same platform as its sisters, with the 180,000-ton ship powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG) and designed to carry over 6,400 guests and 1,800 crew.

"This new order continues to balance our commitment to growth with our responsible capital approach to utilize strong free cash flow over the next several years to strategically improve our balance sheet, significantly reduce our leverage levels and continue to transfer value from debt holders to shareholders," said Josh Weinstein, CEO of Carnival Corporation & plc.

"Carnival Cruise Line continues to perform at an outstanding level, and we are focused on adding capacity across the company where it aligns with demand and our position in the marketplace. This measured capacity growth strategy will result in our adding one to two ships per year beginning in 2027, and we will be identifying additional fleet plans over the coming months for our cruise lines to meet capacity demand and improve execution across all aspects of our operation, with the benefit of yielding higher return on invested capital," said Weinstein.

"We are proud of the role the Excel-class from MEYER WERFT and MEYER TURKU has played in contributing to the success of Carnival Corporation for many years now. We look forward to continuing this success story together," said Bernd Eikens, CEO MEYER Group.

This order is contingent upon financing, which is expected to be completed later this year.

About Carnival Corporation & plc

Carnival Corporation & plc is the largest global cruise company, and among the largest leisure travel companies, with a portfolio of world-class cruise lines  AIDA Cruises, Carnival Cruise Line, Costa Cruises, Cunard, Holland America Line, P&O Cruises (Australia), P&O Cruises (UK), Princess Cruises, and Seabourn.

Additional information can be found on www.carnivalcorp.com , www.aida.de , www.carnival.com , www.costacruise.com , www.cunard.com , www.hollandamerica.com , www.pocruises.com.au , www.pocruises.com , www.princess.com, and www.seabourn.com .

For information on Carnival Corporation's industry-leading sustainability initiatives, visit www.carnivalsustainability.com .

SOURCE Carnival Corporation & plc
CUPERTINO, Calif., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- We are thrilled to share that NebulaGraph has reached a significant milestone on our journey of empowering enterprises with stable and reliable infrastructure software! We have reached 10,000 stars on GitHub! It is not easy as only 3,400 GitHub repos have more than 10,000 stars all over the world. This achievement comes five years after our initial release, and we couldn't have done it without you.

"The graph databases that were available in the market at the time were basically either standalone versions or not highly scalable. After fully understanding the industry's demand for graph databases, and recognizing the shortcomings of existing graph database products, I began to invest in the research and development of NebulaGraph in 2018." Sherman Ye, the founder and CEO of Vesoft, said. "From the moment we wrote the first line of code for NebulaGraph, we realized that it had to be an open-source, distributed, linearly scalable, and high-performance graph database."

NebulaGraph hits 10K stars on GitHub, marking a milestone in its journey of providing reliable infrastructure software. Post this

We want to extend a heartfelt THANK YOU to each one of you in the community for your participation, contribution and support. From contributing codes and reporting bugs, to providing sincere feedback on our product, you have been instrumental in helping us reach this milestone.

Since NebulaGraph's first beta release in May 2019, We have achieved:

106 contributors

2,599 merged pull requests

25 releases

5,000,000+ downloads

2,000+ enterprise users

Let's take a look back at how we got here with top 10 milestones and what you could expect next!

Our journey commenced in October 2018, with the establishment of Vesoft to embark on the NebulaGraph project. By June 2019, we had launched the initial alpha version of NebulaGraph, turning it open-source and inviting a broader community to experiment and provide feedback. By October 2019, 360 Digital had incorporated NebulaGraph into their production, marking a significant milestone in the product's maturity.

We've seen tremendous growth since then. We held our first large annual community conference, NebulaGraph User Conference, in October 2021, to engage our community to share their experiences and expectations. In September 2022, we launched NebulaGraph on AWS, Azure and Alibaba Cloud , and soon followed by a rapid community growth and 1,000 enterprise users by the end of the year.

Our hard work did not go unnoticed. In August 2023, Gartner recognized Vesoft as a trusted vendor for NebulaGraph, a leading open-source distributed graph database renowned for its exceptional management capabilities of datasets containing hundreds of billions of vertices and trillions of edges, and DB-Engines ranked it as the top 3 graph databases worldwide since Apr 2023.

In September 2023, we introduced "Graph RAG" with Llamindex , a concept leveraging knowledge graphs and Large Language Models (LLMs) to enhance search engines' contextual understanding. And now, we've reached our most recent milestone: 10,000 GitHub stars!

"I am extremely proud and grateful to see 10,000 stars on GitHub," says Sherman Ye. "This represents the support from our open-source community users, which will continue to inspire and drive us to create better products for the community. The achievements of NebulaGraph today couldn't be made without the support of the community. Thank you to everyone involved in the journey."

In the days ahead, NebulaGraph is set to continue its exciting journey of innovation and growth. We are devoted to strengthening the stability and performance of NebulaGraph, making it faster, easier to use and more intuitive. Furthermore, we are broadening our suite of offerings with the development of the NebulaGraph DbaaS version and the roll-out of new features in our upcoming major releases. As we explore the possibilities of graph technology, we are committed to helping businesses harness their data's potential by providing robust infrastructure software. As always, we are grounding our work on user insights and feedback, and we are excited to have such a committed community!

In conclusion, we are incredibly thankful to our community for all the support and feedback we have received over the years! Your contributions have made NebulaGraph a battle-tested distributed scalable graph database. We are so excited about the journey ahead to empower more enterprises to unlock the relationship between hidden data, and we are looking forward to your continued support and feedback!

Here's to the next 10,000 stars!

About Vesoft

Vesoft is devoted to the development of NebulaGraph, an open-source, distributed and scalable graph database. With the ability to handle super-large-scale data sets with hundreds of billions of nodes and trillions of edges while maintaining millisecond-level query latency, NebulaGraph is trusted by leading corporations worldwide across sectors such as banking, financial services, e-commerce, telecommunications, and more. From financial risk management to real-time recommendations and knowledge graph creation, NebulaGraph excels in diverse business scenarios. Headquartered in Cupertino, California, Vesoft is committed to empowering enterprises with stable and reliable infrastructure software. Get started for free at https://www.nebula-graph.io/.

Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Vesoft
Growth and expanded resources underscore Cetera's commitment to legal and regulatory compliance in service to financial professionals

SAN DIEGO, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Cetera Financial Group (Cetera), the premier financial advisor Wealth Hub, announced today that it has expanded its legal team to include a key new hire as well as multiple internal promotions and transitions into the department. The growth signals Cetera's commitment to serving advisors with industry-best legal resources in an increasing regulatory environment. The changes include:

Scott Kirwin joins Cetera as Deputy General Counsel, where he will focus on retirement and collaborate with multiple internal teams, including M&A integration, advisory products, and platforms. Kirwin comes to Cetera with an extensive background in investments and brokerage firms, having spent more than 15 years in the legal department at Fidelity Investments. Kirwin attended Harvard Law School and holds a bachelor's degree in political science and history from Northeastern University .

joins Cetera as Deputy General Counsel, where he will focus on retirement and collaborate with multiple internal teams, including M&A integration, advisory products, and platforms. Kirwin comes to Cetera with an extensive background in investments and brokerage firms, having spent more than 15 years in the legal department at Fidelity Investments. Kirwin attended and holds a bachelor's degree in political science and history from . Jeremy Carr has been promoted to the role of Deputy General Counsel. In this new role, he joins the legal leadership team and will expand his business support leadership to cover multiple departments firm wide. Carr joined Cetera's legal department in 2016 and previously served as Senior Counsel and Chief Counsel. He attended UCLA School of Law and holds a bachelor's degree in history from University of California , Berkeley.

has been promoted to the role of Deputy General Counsel. In this new role, he joins the legal leadership team and will expand his business support leadership to cover multiple departments firm wide. Carr joined Cetera's legal department in 2016 and previously served as Senior Counsel and Chief Counsel. He attended UCLA School of Law and holds a bachelor's degree in history from , Berkeley. Winnie Lee is Deputy General Counsel and will lead M&A efforts and special projects while overseeing an experienced team of transactional attorneys. Lee joined Cetera's legal department in 2021 after serving as Deputy General Counsel for Fir Tree Partners, a New York -based private investment firm that invests worldwide in public and private companies, real estate and sovereign debt. Lee attended Brooklyn Law School and holds a bachelor's degree from University at Buffalo .

is Deputy General Counsel and will lead M&A efforts and special projects while overseeing an experienced team of transactional attorneys. Lee joined Cetera's legal department in 2021 after serving as Deputy General Counsel for Fir Tree Partners, a -based private investment firm that invests worldwide in public and private companies, real estate and sovereign debt. Lee attended Brooklyn Law School and holds a bachelor's degree from . Mark Quinn , Cetera's Head of Regulatory Affairs since 2015, transitioned to the legal team from Cetera's risk department. Quinn is Cetera's primary representative for outreach to regulatory agencies and legislative bodies regarding development of law and policy and has more than 40 years of legal experience. He previously served as chief risk officer for First Allied Securities and holds an MBA and Doctor of Law (J.D.) from University of Denver .

"In today's increasing regulatory environment, we are committed to delivering the best legal service possible to help Cetera and our advisors achieve their collective goals," said Lisa Gok, Chief Legal Officer at Cetera. "With these new appointments, I am confident that Cetera's legal department represents a powerful team that is comprised of the industry's best and brightest legal minds. I am pleased to welcome these talented individuals to the team, where their contributions will be critical to Cetera's continued success growing and serving our financial professionals."

Visit www.cetera.com for more information.

About Cetera

Cetera Financial Group, which is owned by Cetera Holdings (collectively, Cetera), is the premier financial advisor Wealth Hub where financial advisors and institutions optimize their control and value creation. Breaking away from a commoditized and homogenous IBD model, Cetera offers financial professionals and institutions the latest solutions, support, and services to grow, scale, or transition with a merger, sale, investment, or succession plan. Cetera proudly serves independent financial advisors, tax professionals, licensed administrators, large enterprises, as well as institutions, such as banks and credit unions, providing an established and repeatable blueprint for scalable growth.

Home to more than 12,000 financial professionals and their teams, Cetera oversees more than $475 billion in assets under administration and $190 billion in assets under management, as of December 20, 2023. In a recent advisor satisfaction survey of more than 32,000 reviews, Cetera's Voice of Customer (VoC) program vigorously measures advisor experience and satisfaction 24/7. Currently, it's ranked 4.8 out of 5 stars.

Visit www.cetera.com, and follow Cetera on LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.

"Cetera Financial Group" refers to the network of independent retail firms encompassing, among others, Cetera Advisors LLC, Cetera Advisor Networks LLC, Cetera Investment Services LLC (marketed as Cetera Financial Institutions or Cetera Investors), and Cetera Financial Specialists LLC. All firms are FINRA/SIPC members. Located at: 655 W. Broadway, 11th Floor, San Diego, CA 92101.

SOURCE Cetera Financial Group
Sustainability focus and rapid charging cables are driving the EV charging cable market to a projected CAGR of 22.24% by 2034, according to Future Market Insights. Their report dives deeper into what's fueling this growth, along with challenges and opportunities. Gain investment insights and market analysis to make strategic decisions.

/PRNewswire/ -- The EV charging cable market is slated to have a valuation of US$ 2,281.63 million in 2024. The blossoming electric vehicle industry is spelling out positive things for the EV charging cable market. As sustainability concerns lead to a greater number of EVs populating streets, the need for EV charging cables is strengthened.

The EV charging cable industry is slated to progress at a CAGR of 22.24% through 2034. The government projects not only giving a boost to electrical vehicles but also to their accessories are set to see demand for EV charging cables skyrocket. As more charging stations get built, the infrastructure for the use of EV charging cables is improving, which is also marked to impact the market positively.

By the time 2034 rolls around, the EV charging cable market's value is forecasted to hit US$ 16,992.56 million. The manufacture of EV charging cables allowing convenience to users in the form of home charging is envisioned to add considerable value to the market. Various fast charging cables are also slated to help the market's value cross significant thresholds.

The market players are being helped by governments making the manufacture of EV charging cables easier. Cutting import duties and various other incentives are seeing the production of EVs and EV charging cables amplify.

Key Coverage in the EV Charging Cable Industry Report

EV Charging Cable Market Size and Share Analysis

sales of EV charging cables worldwide assessment

coverage of growth opportunities for EV charging cable manufacturers

Electric vehicle charging cables industry report

Demand-side and Supply-side Trends Analysis of EV Charging Cable Industry

EV charging cord market Investment Feasibility Matrix

PESTLE and Porter's Analysis

Download the Sample PDF report to explore key market insights and trends: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-13262

"Technology like built-cooling systems and temperature sensors are seeing EV charging cables become more popular. With the help of technology and growing eco-consciousness, the EV charging cable market's progress is being charted," says Nikhil Kaitwade (Associate Vice President at Future Market Insights, Inc.).

Key Takeaways from the EV Charging Cable Market

The EV charging cable market is expected to be US$ 2,281.63 million in size in 2024.

in size in 2024. AC is the top power supply in the market. AC is expected to account for 92.0% of the market share in 2024.

Fast 7-22 kW charging cables are the dominant cables when it comes to charging speed. For 2024, fast 7-22 kW charging cables are anticipated to account for 50.2% of the market share.

India is expected to be a promising country in terms of progress for the market. The country is forecasted to have a CAGR of 35.4% from 2024 to 2034 in the market.

is expected to be a promising country in terms of progress for the market. The country is forecasted to have a CAGR of 35.4% from 2024 to 2034 in the market. Japan and Australia are poised to be lucrative countries for the market. For the forecast period, the CAGR for Japan and Australia is predicted to be 29.2% and 26.9% respectively.

and are poised to be lucrative countries for the market. For the forecast period, the CAGR for and is predicted to be 29.2% and 26.9% respectively. The market is expected to progress at a CAGR of 25.6% in Canada .

Competition Analysis of the EV Charging Cable Market

To keep up with rapid technological developments, a considerable amount of investment is being put into Research and Development. Variety in product offerings is also sought. Some of the prominent companies in the market include OSRAM Licht AG, Phoenix Contact, DYDEN Corporation, and Prysmian S.p.A.

Recent Developments in the EV charging cable Market

In March 2024 , the EZLift cable management system for EVs was launched by FLO.

, the EZLift cable management system for EVs was launched by FLO. In June 2022 , Kempower's S-Series got an upgrade with the introduction of fast-charging liquid-cooled cables.

Purchase now and gain full access to the EV Charging Cable Industry report, featuring comprehensive Market Forecast, Company Share Analysis, Competition Intelligence, DROT Analysis, Market Dynamics and Challenges, and Strategic Growth Initiatives.

About the Author:

Nikhil Kaitwade (Associate Vice President at Future Market Insights, Inc.) has over a decade of experience in market research and business consulting. He has successfully delivered 1500+ client assignments, predominantly in Automotive, Chemicals, Industrial Equipment, Oil & Gas, and Service industries.

His core competency circles around developing research methodology, creating a unique analysis framework, statistical data models for pricing analysis, competition mapping, and market feasibility analysis. His expertise also extends wide and beyond analysis, advising clients on identifying growth potential in established and niche market segments, investment/divestment decisions, and market entry decision-making.

Nikhil holds an MBA degree in Marketing and IT and a Graduate in Mechanical Engineering. Nikhil has authored several publications and quoted in journals like EMS Now, EPR Magazine, and EE Times.

Explore FMI's Extensive Coverage in the Automotive Domain:

About Future Market Insights (FMI)

Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting service provider, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in Dubai and has delivery centers in the UK, the U.S., and India. FMI's latest market research reports and industry analysis help businesses navigate challenges and make critical decisions with confidence and clarity amidst breakneck competition. Our customized and syndicated market research reports deliver actionable insights that drive sustainable growth. A team of expert-led analysts at FMI continuously tracks emerging trends and events in a broad range of industries to ensure that our clients prepare for the evolving needs of their consumers.

Contact Us

Nandini Singh Sawlani

Future Market Insights Inc.

Christiana Corporate, 200 Continental Drive,

Suite 401, Newark, Delaware - 19713, USA

T: +1-845-579-5705

For Sales Enquiries: [email protected]

Website: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com

LinkedIn| Twitter| Blogs | YouTube

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1197648/3531122/FMI_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Future Market Insights
NEW BERLIN, N.Y., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Chobani, a next generation food and beverage company known for its high-quality Greek yogurt, has named Ben Boyd to its executive leadership team as Chief Communications Officer. Boyd will report to Chobani's Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Hamdi Ulukaya, and will take on responsibility for all of Chobani's communications including external media relations, internal communications, impact communications and corporate reputation.

Ben Boyd

"I am excited to welcome Ben into Chobani as we embark on our next phase of growth now with La Colombe as a vitally important part of our family. Ben's experience deepening authentic connections with consumers, stakeholders, and communities is what we need at this point in our journey as a business and brand," said Chobani founder and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya. "Ben is a proven, people-first leader who believes deeply in the importance of collaboration and community, and we couldn't be happier to bring him onboard to help advance our mission of making good food for all."

Boyd joins Chobani from Peloton where he expanded and led the communications function, serving as a key leader at a time of significant business transformation. With more than 25 years of industry experience, Boyd is a forward-thinking leader with a track record of building and leading world-class communications operations. Boyd brings a powerful understanding of how to navigate and shape the public conversation around mission driven brands and high-quality products.

"I'm thrilled to be joining Chobani, a brand whose impressive growth is matched in its ability to contribute to and directly impact the communities it serves. I look forward to working with Hamdi, Kevin and the leadership team, ensuring the communications function drives business value by shaping and sharing Chobani's transformative impact and innovation stories while also engaging and motivating our team members," said Boyd.

Boyd assumes the role from Nishant Roy who will continue to serve as Chobani's Chief Impact Officer, working to address child hunger in Chobani's communities while also using the power of the La Colombe business to make an even greater difference.

About Chobani

Chobani is a food maker with a mission of making high-quality and nutritious food accessible to more people, while elevating our communities and making the world a healthier place. In short: making good food for all. In support of this mission, Chobani is a purpose-driven, people-first, food-and-wellness-focused company, and has been since its founding in 2005 by Hamdi Ulukaya, an immigrant to the U.S. The Company manufactures yogurt, oat milk, and creamers  Chobani yogurt is America's No.1 yogurt brand, made with natural ingredients without artificial preservatives. Following the 2023 acquisition of La Colombe, a leading coffee roaster with a shared commitment to quality, craftmanship and impact, the Company began selling cold-pressed espresso and lattes on tap at 32 cafes, as well as Ready to Drink (RTD) coffee beverages at retail.

Chobani uses food as a force for good in the world  putting humanity first in everything it does. The company's philanthropic efforts prioritize giving back to its communities and beyond: working to eradicate child hunger, supporting immigrants, refugees and underrepresented people, honoring veterans, and protecting the planet. Chobani manufactures its products in New York, Idaho, Michigan and Australia, and its products are available throughout North America and distributed in Australia and other select markets.

For more information, please visit www.chobani.com and www.lacolombe.com, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

SOURCE Chobani, LLC
DUBLIN, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Chondroitin Sulfate for Pet Supplements Market - Forecasts from 2024 to 2029" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Chondroitin sulfate, a natural compound present in cartilage, the protective tissue surrounding bones in joints, is a prevalent ingredient in pet supplements aimed at promoting joint health, particularly for dogs and cats grappling with osteoarthritis (OA). Pet owners often turn to daily joint supplements when addressing bone and joint diseases in their pets. These supplements, known as chondroprotective, also find use in mitigating inflammation in various bodily areas, particularly those exposed to fluids or mucus. For instance, pets with frequent urination due to an irritated bladder lining can benefit from formulations containing glucosamine and chondroitin.

Many pet owners prefer chondroprotective like glucosamine and chondroitin due to their holistic approach, promoting overall pet well-being rather than merely alleviating symptoms. Additionally, these supplements tend to have few side effects and enable pets to rely less on prescription medications. Importantly, chondroprotective supplements are generally considered safe for long-term use, potentially for a pet's lifespan. It is advisable to administer chondroitin supplements in response to joint injuries, initiating joint supplements early in a pet's life is also recommended as a preventive measure.

Market Drivers

Rise in Pet Ownership

Worldwide, there is a growing trend of integrating pets into changing lifestyles, with pets becoming integral companions across the globe. The COVID-19 pandemic witnessed an upswing in pet adoption, notably in the United States, where the percentage of households with at least one dog increased from 38% to 45% between 2016 and 2020, and cat ownership experienced a steady rise from 25% to 29% in 2022. In China, 74 million households own dogs, the United States has 85 million dog owners, and the European Union boasts 92 million dog owners. These figures underscore the global significance of pets and their impact on the chondroitin sulfate market.

Growing awareness of the significance of chondroitin sulfate

Chondroitin sulfate is gaining popularity in the pet supplement sector as awareness grows regarding its potential advantages for enhancing joint health in dogs and cats. Faced with concerns about possible side effects, pet owners are increasingly inclined toward natural methods to address their pet's well-being. Chondroitin sulfate, sourced from natural origins such as cartilage and shellfish, aligns with this preference, presenting a potentially safer alternative. Pet caregivers are becoming increasingly cognizant of the adverse impact of osteoarthritis (OA) on their pets' quality of life.

Market Challenges

Regulatory challenges posing a hurdle

Navigating regulatory challenges poses an obstacle in the realm of pet supplements. At present, AAFCO exclusively oversees the labelling of supplements categorized as "food-type". Despite a growing body of scientific information on veterinary pet supplements and nutraceuticals, there persists a scarcity of quality control, safety, and efficacy data for the majority of these marketed substances and the corresponding products available for purchase. Despite this evidence gap, the utilization of veterinary supplements and nutraceuticals is on the rise. It is imperative for veterinarians and pet owners alike to advocate for enhanced enforcement of regulations governing these products and to call for manufacturers to collaborate more closely with researchers for the betterment of pets as well as the market.

By pet type, chondroitin sulfate for the pet supplements market is divided into dogs and cats

The chondroitin sulfate for the pet supplement market is segmented into two categories, i.e, dogs and cats- In the United States, 65.1 million households consider dogs integral family members. The feline companionship is also cherished, as revealed by the 46.5 million households that own a cat, according to the American Pet Products Association (APPA). Notably, the APPA highlights that a significant portion of pet owners in the U.S. are millennials, underscoring the growing importance of pets in the lives of this demographic.

Europe is anticipated to hold a notable share of the chondroitin sulfate for pet supplements

Europe is projected to account for a notable share of the chondroitin sulfate for pet supplements owing to the people's huge ownership of pets in these regions. As the FEDIAF Facts & Figures states the expanding landscape of pet ownership in Europe, indicates that 90 million households in the European Union have embraced the companionship of a pet, representing 46% of households. The breakdown of this pet population reveals approximately 110 million cats, 90 million dogs, 50 million birds, 30 million small mammals, 15 million aquariums, and 10 million terrariums, showcasing the diverse array of pets that contribute to the rich tapestry of European households.

Market Segmentation

By Purity Level

99% Level

Others

By Pet Type

Cat

Dog

By Geography

North America

USA

Others

Europe , Middle East , And Africa

, , And Africa UK

Germany

France

Others

Asia Pacific

China

Japan

South Korea

Others

Companies Profiled

Unibridge

Shandong Haiyu Biological Co., Ltd

ZPD A/S

Shandong Runxin Biotechnology Co., Ltd

Bioiberica S.A.U.

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/snbmbu

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In honor of Workers Memorial Day, CICB is hosting a safety awareness seminar for managers, supervisors, and safety personnel in the crane & rigging industry.

HOUSTON and ORLANDO, Fla., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Workers Memorial Day is held in honor and recognition of those who lost their lives while on the job. In recognition of this important day, on April 26, 2024, CICB is hosting a Crane & Rigging Safety Awareness Seminar for managers, supervisors, and safety personnel in the lifting industry. A strong safety culture starts at the top, driven by committed leaders. Understanding the importance of well-informed management, CICB is offering this seminar to industry professionals as a public service.

The seminar will cover essential topics for managers and supervisors in the industry. Topics will include the recent changes to the ASME B30 standards and inspection record-keeping, crane operator, rigger, and signalperson requirements. The seminar will be held at CICB's Houston and Orlando training centers.

"Awareness training helps establish safer job sites by equipping managers with a heightened perception of safety," states Jerry Longtin, General Manager of CICB. "They carry this knowledge on the job, stopping unsafe practices on the frontlines and imparting what they learned to newer employees."

For more information about the safety seminar, contact CICB at 800-327-1386.

About CICB

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, CICB is a veteran-owned company that provides world-class education, evaluation, and consultation for safe lifting operations. Companies that value eliminating incidents, reducing expenses, and OSHA compliance have relied on CICB's subject matter experts since 1969. Their dedication to lifting safety has earned the trust of clients across all 50 states, four continents, and every branch of the U.S. military. For additional information, please visit https://www.cicb.com .

Media Contact

Venssen Soto

CICB

800-327-8031

[email protected]

SOURCE Crane Inspection & Certification Bureau LLC
Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko says the gunmen who attacked a concert hall near Moscow may have wanted to flee to his country, according to state news agency Belta.

Lukashenko said that security measures were put in place along Belarus' border with Russia when it became apparent, after the attack on the Crocus City Hall on Friday, that the perpetrators had driven a car into the Russian region of Bryansk, which borders Belarus and Ukraine.

The authoritarian long-term ruler of the ex-Soviet republic, which is allied with Russia, said that the attackers "were therefore unable to enter Belarus. They saw that. That's why they turned around and drove towards the Ukrainian-Russian border".

Russia on Tuesday remanded in custody a Kyrgyzstan-born man suspected of involvement in the mass shooting and sent investigators to Tajikistan to question the families of four men charged with carrying out the attack.

Eight suspects have been remanded in pre-trial detention since gunmen sprayed concertgoers with bullets in the deadliest attack in Russia in two decades, days after President Vladimir Putin celebrated an election that handed him a fifth term.

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility and released footage from the attack.

The United States and France say intelligence suggests the group was indeed behind the attack, in which 139 people were killed and 182 wounded.

Putin said on Monday the attack had been carried out by Islamic militants but also suggested that Ukraine, which is at war with Russia, may have played a role.

Ukraine has denied any role.

The militants have not identified any of the attackers.

Russia has said the four suspected gunmen have confessed but some showed signs of injuries when they appeared in court, raising concern they had been tortured.

Russia's commissioner for human rights said detention of suspects should be carried out in accordance with the law, TASS news agency reported, after videos were published showing the interrogation of the suspects.

Story continues

Human rights commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova says torture must not be used on detainees. (EPA PHOTO)

One had part of his ear cut off during questioning.

"It is absolutely unacceptable to use torture on detainees and defendants," the commissioner, Tatyana Moskalkova, was quoted as saying by TASS.

Russian authorities have said they are investigating.

Three Tajik sources told Reuters on Tuesday that Russian investigators were in Tajikistan questioning the families of the four suspected gunmen, saying their relatives had been brought to the capital Dushanbe from their home towns.

On Tuesday, Putin said he hoped prosecutors would do everything to ensure the attackers would be justly punished.

Alisher Kasimov is accused of providing accommodation to four shooting suspects. (EPA PHOTO)

Kyrgyzstan-born Alisher Kasimov, remanded in custody on Tuesday, was led into the court room bent double - like the other suspects - before his handcuffs were removed.

He showed no visible signs of injury.

He is accused of providing accommodation to the four Tajik men accused of carrying out the attack.

The Tajik sources said Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon was personally overseeing the Tajik part of the investigation into the Moscow attack, which he said was a "terrible and shameful event".

Russian investigators say that after firing from Kalashnikov AK-47 weapons, the attackers set fire to the building with petrol before leaving, hitting a family with two young children as they sped out of the car park.

Earlier this month, Rakhmon said his government was alarmed by the activity of radical Islamist preachers who were "brainwashing" Tajik youths, making them susceptible to manipulation by foreign groups and intelligence agencies.

with DPA
CINCINNATI, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Cincinnati Children's has again been named one of America's Most Innovative Companies by Fortune  remaining the top-rated pediatric health system while rising in the national ranking of organizations across all industries.

We are dedicated to improving child health at home and worldwide through exceptional clinical care and research. Post this Abby Hess, DNP, a nurse practitioner and clinical researcher at Cincinnati Childrens, was recently granted a patent for her invention of the EZ Induction video game. Kids control the game by breathing into an anesthesia mask, which shifts the focus from something scary to a fun way to fall asleep before surgery. The product is used in routine clinical practice at Cincinnati Childrens, and LittleSeed Calming Technologies has licensed the right to market EZ Induction to other hospitals.

"We are honored to be recognized by Fortune as the most innovative children's health system in the country," said Steve Davis, MD, president and chief executive officer of Cincinnati Children's. "Our success is a team effort, dedicated to improving child health at home and worldwide through exceptional clinical care and cutting-edge research. Our innovation team helps to translate this into patient care globally."

About 19,000 people work at Cincinnati Children's, and nearly one-third are engaged in research, including scientists, medical providers and support staff. Those innovators are developing breakthroughs in areas that range from treatments and therapeutics to medical devices and digital solutions. Cincinnati Children's also has a long history of creating, developing and testing vaccines.

"While we celebrate our own achievements in enhancing child health, we are also committed to exploring others' solutions beyond our walls," said Todd Ponsky, MD, interim vice president of Innovation Ventures, the tech transfer and commercialization office at Cincinnati Children's. "Our next innovation phase will focus on addressing unmet needs in child health and tackling large-scale problems through strategic partnerships."

Of the 200 most innovative companies cited by Fortune for 2024, Cincinnati Children's ranked No. 60  up from No. 76 in last year's inaugural listing.

The innovations at Cincinnati Children's are generated by scientific researchers and those on the front lines such as physicians and nurse practitioners, whose creative ideas often turn into improved care for patients in our region as well as kids throughout the world. Each year, families from all 50 states and dozens of countries travel to Cincinnati Children's to receive care for complex or rare disorders.

Highlights over the past 10 years at Cincinnati Children's include:

2,033 U.S. and international patent applications

658 U.S . and international patents issued

253 licenses executed

13 active start-up companies based on intellectual property from Cincinnati Children's

217 licensed products/tools

Such innovations have helped create jobs within the health system as well as at spinout companies, other startups and established firms that license Cincinnati Children's technology.

Fortune and research firm Statista ranked Cincinnati Children's and other companies based on product innovation, process innovation and innovation culture. That involved analyzing the quantity and value of a company's intellectual property (including the global technological strength and influence of patents)  and surveying experts such as patent attorneys, recruiters and management consultants. Also considered were how a company develops and uses new and innovative technologies and production processes. In addition, employees were surveyed with regard to what extent a company fosters a spirit of entrepreneurship and creativity while allowing the implementation of new ideas.

About Cincinnati Children's

Cincinnati Children's ranks No. 1 in the nation in U.S. News & World Report's 2023-24 listing of Best Children's Hospitals. A nonprofit, academic medical center established in 1883, Cincinnati Children's is also one of the top two recipients of pediatric research grants from the National Institutes of Health. The medical center is internationally recognized for improving child health and transforming delivery of care through globally recognized research, education, and innovation. Additional information about technologies developed at Cincinnati Children's may be found at Innovation.CincinnatiChildrens.org

SOURCE Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Chicagoland Walk is the largest suicide prevention event in the U.S.

CHICAGO, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- On September 14, a community of people from across the region will come together for largest suicide prevention event in the country: the Out of the Darkness (OOTD) Chicagoland Walk. This annual event helps prevent suicide as well as bring hope to those affected by suicide. Sponsored by the Illinois Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), the three-mile walk starts at Montrose Harbor and runs from 9:00 a.m.  1:00 p.m. on September 14, 2024.

Walkers gather at the start of the Chicagoland Walk

The Chicagoland Walk is one of hundreds held in cities throughout the country. Since 2004, these events give people the courage to open up about their own connections to the cause and provide a platform to create a culture that's smarter about mental health. The event features a mental health services tent, education outreach, a powerful Why We Walk Wall that honors those lost to suicide, and honor beads that signify how suicide has touched each participant.

Suicide is one of the leading causes of death for all ages. In 2021, suicide was the 2nd leading cause of death for ages 20-24, the 3rd leading cause of death for ages 10-19, and the 4th leading cause of death for ages 35-44. In Illinois, suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death for ages 10-34 and 6th leading cause for ages 35-54.

"In my eleventh year of volunteering, I continue to be deeply touched by the profound impact AFSP has on those affected by suicide," said Liz Catalano, volunteer with AFSP-IL and The OOTD Chicagoland Walk. When I volunteer, I am granted the opportunity to forge connections with strangers who eventually become like family. At the annual Out of the Darkness Walk, we exchange stories, laughter, embraces, and tears. Being part of this remarkable event has not only aided me in my personal struggles but also nurtured my growth along my own journey."

Participants can sign up as individuals or as a team. AFSP-Illinois hopes to raise $920,000 or more this year, which is invested in life-saving research, education, advocacy, and support for those impacted by suicide.

"As someone who has struggled with my own mental health and seen those I love struggle, the Out of the Darkness Chicagoland Walk is a wonderful opportunity to heal, advocate for change and raise essential funds for suicide prevention," said Maggy Kucera, volunteer lead, OOTD Chicagoland Walk. "I volunteer to bring hope and healing to this incredible community."

Nationally, nine in ten individuals who die by suicide were living with a diagnosable mental health condition at the time of their death, with these conditions often being undiagnosed or untreated. As a leading cause of death, suicide is a public health problem, but can be prevented through education and advocacy. Research shows that there is no single cause for suicide, and suicide risk increases when several health factors and life stressors converge to create an experience of hopelessness and despair. People can learn the warning signs at afsp.org/signs.

"Twenty years ago, my cousin Mark died by suicide and I went searching for answers. I found the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and I found comfort and hope," said Phil Martinez, OOTD Chicagoland Walk Chair and chair of AFSP-IL. "Nothing could erase the pain of the loss we all felt. But that comfort and hope was something that I could share with my family and loved ones. I volunteered for the Out of the Darkness Overnight Walk so I could help bring that same comfort and hope to other families and friends of loved ones who died by suicide."

AFSP and its Illinois Chapter are dedicated to improved research, education, and advocacy. Through its statewide network of volunteers, AFSP Illinois offers prevention education programs that emphasize the importance of research-proven self-care techniques as well as the value of engaging professional support.

About the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention:

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is dedicated to saving lives and bringing hope to individuals affected by suicide. The organization creates a culture that is smart regarding mental health through educational programs, advocation for suicide prevention, and providing support for those affected by suicide. All donations go towards these efforts with the goal to greatly reduce the national suicide rate.

For more: www.afsp.org/Illinois

Chicagoland Walk: chicagowalk.org

If you or someone you know is at risk of suicide, please call or text the U.S. National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.

Statistics on Suicide: https://afsp.org/suicide-statistics

Suicide Prevention Resources: www.afsp.org/resources

Suicide Warning Signs: www.afsp.org/signs

Media: Reporting on Suicide Prevention: www.afsp.org/reporting-on-suicide-prevention

Video: B-roll of 2023 Chicagoland Walk 2023 Chicago Out of the Darkness Walk B-roll_SOTS 10_21_23 (vimeo.com)

SOURCE American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
CHICAGO, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The report "Core Materials Market by Type (Foam, Balsa, and Honeycomb), End- use Industry (Wind Energy, Marine, Aerospace & Defense, Automotive & Transportation, Construction & Industrial), and Region - Global Forecast to 2028", size is USD 1.6 billion in 2023 and is estimated to reach USD 3.0 billion by 2028, at a CAGR of 13.5%, during the forecast period.

Core materials such as foam, honeycomb and balsa are used in composite structures. Due to an increase in demand from the aerospace and defense industry, wind energy, and automotive and transportation industries, the global core materials market is expected to witness significant growth during the forecast period. There are stringent regulations and laws being imposed by governments in many geographic regions regarding carbon emissions and sustainability in aerospace and automotive sectors. Thus, the demand for core materials is expected to grow gradually in many end use industries across various geographic locations.

Browse in-depth TOC on "Core Materials Market"

290  Tables

62  Figures

259  Pages

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Lightweight foam core materials are expected to have a significant market share in the global core material market during the forecast period.

Foam is a lightweight and sturdy material; thus, it is the most preferred and economical core material solution in many end use industries. Foams have an excellent strength-to-weight ratio, and this material is easy to process and shape into complex structures. Due to these properties and exemplary mechanical strength and recyclability foam cores are used in various end use industries like wind energy, aerospace, and defense, marine, automotive and transportation, and others. Foam cores are used in sandwich structures to enhance overall structure and mechanisms of composites. Foam cores are manufactured from different thermoplastic and thermoset polymers, including PET, PVC, PU, PEI, SAN, and PMI. Foam core materials can be produced at different densities which range from 2lb/ft3 (30 kg/m3) to 20 lb/ft3 (300 kg/ m3) by changing the blowing agents, the ratio of ingredients in polymers, and adjusting the gas pressure. The foam that holds the maximum share in the foam core material market is the PET foam due to its excellent properties.

The wind energy end use industry is expected to hold the largest share in the global core materials market during the forecast period, in terms of volume and value.

Core materials are used extensively in the wind turbine blades as sandwich panels in the composite structures, hence wind energy is a major end-use industry in the core material market. The wind turbine blades are made by combining core materials and glass- reinforced polyester or epoxy. The core materials that are mainly used in wind energy industry are foam and balsa. Balsa foam core is made from end grain balsa, which is a natural product, this material is used in wind blades because of its excellent mechanical properties, such as high strength-to-weight ratio making them ideal for applications requiring strength and stiffness while being lightweight.

The wind energy capacity is steadily increasing in many geographical regions owing to focus on sustainability and global climate change. Thereby, the demand from wind turbine blade manufacturers has experienced a surge, thereby raising the core material demand from the wind energy end use industry.

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Asia Pacific region to account for the largest market share in the global core materials market during the forecast period.

Countries like India, China, South Korea, and Japan are rapidly developing countries in terms of product innovation and technological advances in many end use industries like wind energy, aerospace & defense, marine, automotive, construction & building, and other industries. The rapidly growing wind energy sector is a significant contributor to the core material market in the Asia Pacific region. These factors are expected to drive the core material market during the coming years in this region.

Key Players:

Prominent companies in the core material market include Gurit Holdings AG (Switzerland), Hexcel Corporation (US), 3A Composites (Switzerland), Evonik Industries AG (Germany), Armacell (Luxembourg), Diab Group (Sweden), The Gill Corporation (US), Euro Composites (Luxembourg), Changzhou Tiansheng New Materials Co., Ltd. (China), Plascore Inc. (US), and Toray Industries, Inc. (US).

Browse Adjacent Market: Fibers & Composites Market Research Reports & Consulting

Related Reports:

Composites Market - Global Forecast to 2028

Carbon Fiber Market - Global Forecast to 2029

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Cox Farms sets the global standard in growing fresh produce for a growing population, regardless of calendar or climate

ATLANTA, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Cox Enterprises announces the launch of Cox Farms, a new business focused on sustainable food and agriculture.

Cox Farms represents Cox's commitment to making the world a better place by future-proofing the world of produce and further enhancing the company's more than $2 billion investment in sustainable businesses and technologies. Today, Cox Farms includes indoor farming companies Mucci Farms and BrightFarms, and it will continue to pursue additional ventures and investments in the indoor agriculture space.

Cox Farms. The future of food grows here.

"We are excited to build and scale a better future for farmers and consumers by ensuring a safe, secure and sustainable food supply, regardless of calendar or climate," said Steve Bradley, president of Cox Farms. "This is a significant milestone for us, as we are disrupting traditional agriculture and bringing the promise of indoor agriculture to fruition at a scale never seen before."

Cox Enterprises, a multigenerational family-owned business, has a long history in agriculture dating back 125 years when Ohio farmer-turned-entrepreneur James M. Cox planted the seeds for his first business venture. Today, the company is pioneering the food supply chain revolution through the development of a multinational network of indoor farms. With Mucci Farms and BrightFarms in its growing portfolio, Cox Farms is one of the largest greenhouse operators in North America, harvesting 360 million pounds of produce annually.

"As multigenerational family businesses rooted in a passion for growing fresh produce, we are thrilled to be part of the Cox Farms family as we embark on a partnership fueled by shared values and a collective vision for the future of farming," said Bert Mucci, CEO and managing partner at Mucci Farms. "Our mutual drive to innovate in the agriculture space at all levels fuels our mission to enhance accessibility and promote the consumption of clean, sustainable, fruits and vegetables."

Re-imagining agriculture, Cox Farms achieves stable conditions in greenhouses, with a higher yield per acre, and no harmful chemicals or pesticides. Cox Farms is setting a new standard in quality, breaking yield records year-round, and serving the biggest names in retail across thousands of stores.

"BrightFarms is pioneering the future of sustainable agriculture with our advanced indoor farming methods, focusing on producing the freshest, most sustainable leafy greens locally," said Steve Platt, CEO of BrightFarms. "Together, we are poised to accelerate and expand our mission, leveraging shared resources and vision to build operation capacity that will make healthy, locally-grown food more accessible while caring for our planet."

With anticipated revenues approaching $1 billion and a workforce comprising nearly 2,500 dedicated and passionate employees, Cox Farms embodies a triple-bottom-line philosophy that strives to improve the planet, elevate human health and ensure robust financial returns.

About Cox Enterprises

Cox Enterprises is dedicated to empowering people to build a better future for the next generation. Cox is a leader in the broadband, automotive, and media industries, as well as a leading investment platform with strategic positions in emerging technologies driving the future of agriculture, renewable energy, health care, and public sector software. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Cox is a global company with $23 billion in annual revenues and a proud 125-year history. To learn more about Cox and its commitment to its people, planet and communities, visit coxenterprises.com.

About Cox Farms

Cox Farms is redefining farming and setting the global standard in growing a safe, secure, and responsible food supply capable of feeding a growing population, regardless of calendar or climate. Through our multinational network of indoor farms and consumer brands, including BrightFarms and Mucci Farms, the business is one of the largest greenhouse operators in North America with anticipated revenues approaching $1 billion and a workforce comprising nearly 2,500 dedicated employees. Cox Farms is future-proofing the world of produce with clean, flavorful products serving the biggest names in retail and foodservice. Owned by Cox Enterprises, a multigenerational family-owned business with a long history in agriculture, Cox Farms represents Cox's commitment to improving the planet and elevating human health. Learn More at CoxFarmsGrowers.com

SOURCE Cox Enterprises
CTA Construction Managers was awarded the contract for the 94,000 square foot school campus in Newton, MA. The project includes renovating an existing structure, once part of Aquinas College, and construction of a new addition.

NEWTON, Mass., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- CTA Construction Managers, based in Waltham, MA was awarded the contract for the 94,000 square foot school campus in Newton. The contract includes renovation of an existing structure, once part of Aquinas College, and construction of a new addition.

The team at CTA along with architectural firm Arrowsteet, Owner's Project Management firm Hill-LiRo, city officials, and members of the community recently celebrated moving into the construction phase of the project at the groundbreaking ceremony.

CTA Construction Managers Celebrates Groundbreaking for Lincoln-Eliot Elementary School

"Building demolition work was recently completed, and we are finishing up interior abatement and interior demolition work," said Jeff Hazelwood, Principal, CTA Construction. "We will be starting site work and foundations for the new addition very soon" he continued.

"The project will deliver renovations and additions to the former Aquinas College building and allow the City to relocate the Lincoln Eliot Elementary School," said Vivian Varbedian, Vice President at Hill-LiRo. "This project allows this city to address its population growth, replace end-of-life building systems, and create safe, inviting, and state of the art learning environments for its students," she added.

"The original building was constructed in 1965 and was ready for dramatic improvements after the City acquired the property in 2015. Our team was excited to collaborate with the Newton School Department and the OPM to transform the structure into a modern, state-of-the-art elementary school while meeting the City's ambitious sustainability and energy efficiency goals." said Larry Spang, Partner and Project Director from Arrowstreet.

"We are very happy to be moving forward at a rapid pace," said Josh Morse, Public Buildings Commissioner for the City of Newton. "Newton's vibrant and growing community will benefit greatly from the project, which addresses aging and crowded facility issues at Lincoln-Eliot," he continued.

This will be the 47th large-scale school construction project CTA Construction Managers has built in Massachusetts. The new school complex is scheduled to be completed during the 2025-2026 academic year. CTA Construction Managers and Arrowstreet previously worked together on The Ben Franklin Classical Charter School, which won the prestigious Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects.

About CTA Construction Managers LLC

CTA Construction Managers is an award-winning construction management and general contracting firm specializing in municipal, academic, multi-family residential, commercial, and senior care facilities. Based in Waltham, Massachusetts, CTA Construction's portfolio of projects total over $1.5 billion. Founded in 2000, CTA has awarded over $100,000,000 in contracts to certified small, disadvantaged, minority, and women owned partners. CTA is a leader in green building, helping numerous clients build sustainably and meet LEED and MA-CHPS standards. For more information, please visit: https://ctaconstruction.com/

Press Contact:

Cori DiDonato, CTA Construction

8662768981

Home | CTA Construction managers

SOURCE CTA Construction Managers LLC
AUGUSTA, Ga., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Cybercriminals are not just evolving; they are thriving. According to one cybersecurity expert, the ever-increasing intertwining of our lives with technology necessitates a vigilant defense by every organization to ward off cyber threats.

Cyberspace Guardians: A Comprehensive Guide for Choosing the Right CISO Sly Cotton

"Protecting personal data requires the utmost care to preserve treasured memories, home privacy, and life's conveniences," says Sylvester "Sly" Cotton, PhD, who had a distinguished career within the Department of Defense and the US Army dedicated to the security of digital infrastructure. He is the author of Cyberspace Guardians: A Comprehensive Guide for Choosing the Right CISO (2023, distributed by Indie Books International).

"A skilled chief information security officer (CISO) is the vanguard of hope against persistent threats," emphasized Cotton.

The influence of this combat veteran, a retired US Army Colonel, extends beyond the military sphere. Cotton's expertise found resonance in academia and industry, including Unisys Corporation, Engility/SAIC, CALIBRE Systems, and Jacobs.

"The CISO's battlefield is not just in the trenches of code and data; it extends to boardrooms, team huddles, and strategy brainstorming sessions," says Cotton. "Their leadership finesse, communication prowess, collaborative spirit, adaptability, and strategic mindset form the magical bridge linking the worlds of IT and business strategy."

He earned his Information Systems and Technology Management Doctorate from the University of Phoenix, Master's Degrees from the Webster University and the US Army War College, and undergraduate degree from Alcorn State University. His credentials as a Project Management Professional (PMP) and a certified ITIL Service Manager accentuate his commitment to industry best practices.

Cotton asserts that CISOs are not merely executors of technical tasks. "The transformative role necessitates a multifaceted skillseta blend of technical acuity, strategic foresight, leadership, and the talent to predict and tackle complex security threats."

Here are the hard and soft skills Cotton says you should look for in a great cyber security chief officer:

Technical Expertise: This technical savvy empowers the CISO to predict and combat cybersecurity threats, fortifying the organization's digital fortress. A CISO must exhibit a comprehensive knowledge of diverse cybersecurity aspects, like encryption, network security, cloud computing, and data protection. Risk Management: This ability necessitates a harmonious blend of technical understanding and strategic foresight to foresee potential threats and craft preemptive countermeasures. This also involves creating a culture of security awareness within the organization. Compliance: The CISO must ensure the organization's adherence to an ever-evolving landscape of laws and regulations related to data security and privacy. Failure to comply can result in severe penalties and damage to the organization's reputation, making this skill absolutely critical. Incident Response: This capability involves developing comprehensive incident response plans, coordinating response teams, and ensuring the quick recovery of affected systems. Incident response also encompasses communication skills. Vendor Management: This skill involves evaluating vendors' security practices, monitoring their compliance, and dealing with potential vulnerabilities. A CISO must ensure that all partners in the business ecosystem uphold the same high-security standard. Leadership: This role goes beyond being an expert on cyber threats. It is about leading the organization with a clear vision, communicating effectively with various stakeholders, and making critical decisions under pressure. Communication: A CISO must possess excellent communication skills to relay information about cybersecurity to various audiences effectively and must be adept at tailoring their communication to the audience's understanding level. Collaboration: They must work closely with IT, legal, HR, and operations to ensure a holistic approach to cybersecurity. This collaboration enables them to align security strategies with the broader organizational objectives and ensures that all departments comply with the organization's security policies. Adaptability: A CISO must be highly adaptable, constantly updating their knowledge and skills to stay ahead of the curve. This adaptability extends to managing changes within the organization, such as new technologies or business processes, ensuring that the organization's security measures remain robust despite these changes. Strategic Thinking: They predict looming threats and architect far-reaching security strategies. This foresight blooms from a profound understanding of the organization's business objectives, the current cybersecurity landscape, and potential future trends.

"CISOs must be visionary leaders, helming the complex task of safeguarding an organization's digital assets while ensuring that security roadblocks do not hinder its strategic ambitions," says Cotton.

About Indie Book International

Indie Books International ( Indie Books International. ) serves as an independent publishing and book distribution alternative for strategic consultants and thought leaders.

Contact

Henry Devries

[email protected]

619-540-3031

SOURCE Sly Cotton
Offering empowers enterprises to replace Oracle and Teradata systems rapidly with Microsoft Fabric

SAN FRANCISCO, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Datometry, the pioneer in database system virtualization, announced today support in Datometry Hyper-Q for Microsoft Fabric as a destination platform. With Datometry Hyper-Q, enterprises can move workloads rapidly from legacy databases, including Oracle and Teradata, to Microsoft Fabric, eliminating the risks typically associated with database migrations.

Innovative enterprises are eager to migrate applications and workloads from legacy databases and adopt Microsoft Fabric as part of their digital transformation initiatives. However, conventional database migrations hold them back because of the cost, time, and risk involved. Ultimately, the legacy technology and its vendor lock-in put the enterprise at risk of losing competitiveness.

With Datometry Hyper-Q, customers now have an effective path to adopting Microsoft Fabric at a fraction of the cost and time. The Datometry Hyper-Q platform makes existing applications work instantly with Fabric without changing SQL or application code. Datometry and Microsoft's combined technology gives enterprises a powerful, cost-effective drop-in replacement for Oracle and Teradata systems.

Datometry Hyper-Q translates SQL and API calls in real-time. Thus, existing workloads and applications can instantly run on Fabric without the burden of conventional migrations. For existing Datometry customers, the newly announced support for Fabric facilitates also upgrades of workloads previously moved to Synapse.

Datometry offers enterprises looking to adopt Microsoft Fabric free assessments of their Oracle and Teradata workloads using Datometry qInsight, a $9,950 value. To inquire about applicable limitations and to join the program, interested parties can contact Datometry at [email protected].

"We're excited to offer Hyper-Q now also for Microsoft Fabric," said Mike Waas, CEO of Datometry. "More and more enterprises are actively looking to escape the limitations of legacy databases but are afraid of the cost and risk of a conventional database migration. In contrast, with Datometry and Fabric, they upgrade to powerful next-generation technology risk-free and without the hassle of a conventional database migration."

About Datometry

Datometry is the leader in database system virtualization. With Datometry Hyper-Q, enterprises can run their existing applications directly on next-generation databases without needing costly and risk-laden database migrations. Datometry counts leading Fortune 500 and Global 2000 enterprises worldwide among their customers. For more information, visit www.datometry.com

Media Contact

Kristin Diodonet

Datometry

[email protected]

SOURCE Datometry
NEW YORK, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In the era medical breakthroughs, advancements in Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) therapeutics stand out as a beacon of hope. The diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) therapeutics market size is forecasted to witness remarkable growth from 2023 to 2027, with an estimated increase of USD 2,061.88 million and a CAGR of 7.96%.

For more insights on the historic data (2017 to 2021) and forecast market size (2023 to 2027)  Request a report sample

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) Therapeutics Market 2023-2027

What fuels this growth?

Several factors come into play. The rise in the geriatric population, coupled with an increasing incidence of DLBCL, propels the demand for innovative treatments. Notably, the approval of therapeutics for patients with relapsed or refractory DLBCL marks a significant stride in this journey.

One of the key drivers of this growth is the continuous focus on regulatory approvals for therapeutics tailored to the needs of patients with relapsed or refractory DLBCL. For instance, Bristol Myers Squibb received approval for lisocabtagene maraleucel (liso-cel, Breyanzi), a CAR T-cell therapy indicated for various types of lymphoma, including DLBCL. Similarly, ADC Therapeutics SA's Biologics License Application for loncastuximab tesirine (Lonca) was accepted by the US FDA, offering another ray of hope for patients battling DLBCL.

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Moreover, technological advances are revolutionizing the landscape of DLBCL treatment. From chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy to gene therapy, companies like Novartis and Gilead are pioneering innovative therapies that promise increased efficacy and reduced treatment efforts.

However, amidst this progress, challenges persist. The high cost of DLBCL treatment remains a major hurdle, hindering market growth. Drugs like vincristine, doxorubicin, and prednisone come with hefty price tags, and chemotherapy prolongs treatment duration, further escalating costs. Additionally, inadequate distribution networks in underdeveloped regions exacerbate the issue, posing challenges in access to essential therapeutics.

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Despite challenges, the DLBCL therapeutics market is poised for significant expansion. Hospital pharmacies emerge as a pivotal segment, driving market growth through their crucial role in the safe and effective administration of DLBCL therapeutics. With responsibilities ranging from storage to patient education, hospital pharmacies play a vital role in ensuring the best possible care for DLBCL patients.

Geographically, North America leads the charge, contributing 46% to the global market growth. The region's robust healthcare infrastructure and the prevalence of DLBCL underscore the need for advanced treatment options. While the US boasts various approved therapies, the high cost poses a challenge, albeit mitigated by patient assistance programs.

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Analyst Review

The landscape of Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) therapeutics is undergoing significant evolution, driven by collaborative initiatives, biomarker discovery, and advancements in immunotherapy. DLBCL, one of the most prevalent types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, has seen a paradigm shift in its standard of care, moving towards personalized medicine and patient-centric care models.

One of the key drivers of this evolution is the identification of biomarkers that aid in diagnosis and treatment selection. Genetic and molecular profiles are now extensively utilized to tailor biomarker-driven treatment strategies, allowing for more precise and effective therapies.

Immunotherapy has emerged as a promising avenue in DLBCL treatment, with novel drugs revolutionizing patient outcomes. The development of checkpoint inhibitors and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy has expanded treatment options and improved survival rates.

Collaborative clinical trials play a crucial role in evaluating the efficacy of these novel therapies and refining standard treatment protocols. Healthcare infrastructure development has facilitated access to these trials, ensuring that patients have the opportunity to participate in cutting-edge research.

Furthermore, digitalization in healthcare has streamlined the management of DLBCL, facilitating data sharing, remote monitoring, and telemedicine consultations. This digital transformation has also enhanced diagnostic imaging techniques, allowing for earlier detection and more accurate staging of the disease.

In outpatient treatment settings, the emphasis is on providing comprehensive care while minimizing hospitalization, improving patient comfort, and reducing healthcare costs. Diagnostic devices enable rapid and precise assessment of DLBCL, guiding treatment decisions and monitoring response to therapy.

While RCHOP therapy remains a cornerstone in DLBCL treatment, there is a growing trend towards personalized regimens tailored to individual patient characteristics. This personalized approach extends to radiation therapy and surgical interventions, with advancements in equipment and techniques enhancing treatment precision and minimizing side effects.

Despite these advancements, challenges remain in ensuring equitable access to novel drugs and cutting-edge treatments, particularly in regions with limited healthcare infrastructure. However, ongoing efforts in healthcare digitalization and infrastructure development are gradually bridging this gap, offering hope for improved outcomes for patients with DLBCL.

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Market Overview

The Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) therapeutics market is witnessing dynamic evolution driven by collaborative initiatives and biomarker discoveries, enhancing patient awareness and diagnosis. Immunotherapy advancements have revolutionized standard of care, while personalized medicine tailors treatments to individual patients. Healthcare infrastructure development facilitates access to novel drugs in outpatient settings, promoting patient-centric care models. Collaborative clinical trials harness collective expertise, fueling innovation. Diagnostic imaging advances aid in early detection. Healthcare digitalization streamlines data management, optimizing outcomes. Despite increasing incidence rates, prevalence of DLBCL underscores urgent need for effective interventions. Amidst these challenges, ongoing efforts promise brighter prospects, reshaping the landscape of DLBCL therapeutics for improved patient outcomes.

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Related Reports:

The bispecific antibodies for cancer market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 8.82% between 2022 and 2027. The size of the market is forecast to increase by USD 400.72 million . The increasing prevalence of cancer is notably driving the market growth, although factors such as the high cost of drugs may impede the market growth.

is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 8.82% between 2022 and 2027. The size of the market is forecast to increase by . The increasing prevalence of cancer is notably driving the market growth, although factors such as the high cost of drugs may impede the market growth. The gene therapy market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 19.91% between 2022 and 2027. The size of the market is forecast to increase by USD 4,613.9 million . The increase in special drug designations is notably driving the cell and gene therapy market growth, although factors such as the high treatment cost may impede the market growth.

Table of contents:

1 Executive Summary

2 Landscape

3 Sizing

4 Historic Size

5 Five Forces Analysis

6 Segmentations

7 Customer Landscape

8 Geographic Landscape

9 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

10 Vendor Landscape

11 Vendor Analysis

12 Appendix

About US

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

Contact

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media & Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.technavio.com/

SOURCE Technavio
JERSEY CITY, N.J., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- InsightAce Analytic Pvt. Ltd. announces the release of a market assessment report on the "Global Digital Diagnostics Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Application (Cardiology, Oncology, Neurology, Pathology), End-User (Hospitals, Clinical Laboratories), And Product (Hardware And Software), Region, Market Outlook And Industry Analysis 2031"

The Global Digital Diagnostics Market is estimated to reach over USD 6.32 billion by 2031, exhibiting a CAGR of 18.48% during the forecast period.

Digital Diagnostics Market Report Scope:

Report Attribute Specifications Market Size Value In 2023 USD 1.66 Bn Revenue Forecast In 2031 USD 6.32 Bn Growth Rate CAGR CAGR of 18.48% from 2024 to 2031 Quantitative Units Representation of revenue in US$ Bn and CAGR from 2024 to 2031 Historic Year 2019 to 2023 Forecast Year 2024-2031 Report Coverage The forecast of revenue, the position of the company, the competitive market structure, growth prospects, and trends Segments Covered By Product, Application, and End-User Regional Scope North America; Europe; Asia Pacific; Latin America; Middle East & Africa Country Scope U.S.; Canada; U.K.; Germany; China; India; Japan; Brazil; Mexico; France; Italy; Spain; South East Asia; South Korea

Request for Sample Pages: https://www.insightaceanalytic.com/request-sample/2372

Digital technologies are applied to healthcare diagnostics to change the way diseases are identified, tracked, and treated. This process is known as digital diagnostics. Digital diagnostics offer a more accurate and practical approach to healthcare diagnostics, lowering mistakes, improving accuracy, and enabling early treatments by utilizing data analytics, Al algorithms, and remote patient monitoring.

Digital diagnostics has the potential to enhance test accessibility by overcoming limitations associated with operating hours and personnel availability, which are factors that impede traditional diagnostics.

It can also increase access to diagnostics in low-resource settings, which is more prevalent in high-income, middle-income, and low-income countries, where inadequate infrastructure and medical personnel pose an additional obstacle. Patients may acquire access to superior health information, develop the ability to self-manage their health, ensure adherence to medical treatment, and embrace healthier lifestyles by utilizing digital diagnostics.

The growing use of digital health technologies, growing healthcare expenditures, and the demand for precise and readily available diagnostic solutions are all expected to propel the digital diagnostics market's rise in the upcoming years. Long-standing competitors and recent arrivals can benefit significantly from this market's chances to take advantage of the rising need for cutting-edge diagnostic technology.

List of Prominent Players in the Digital Diagnostics Market:

F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings

GE Healthcare

Siemens Healthineers

Medtronic plc

Nano-X Imaging Ltd.

Koninklijke Philips N.V.

Digital Diagnostics Inc.

Riverain Technologies

VUNO, Inc.

AliveCor, Inc.

Behold.ai.

Brainomix

Healthy.io

Canon Inc.

Market Dynamics:

Drivers-

Heart disease, diabetes, and cancer are typical chronic illnesses that cause substantial concerns for the world's healthcare systems. Using digital diagnostics to treat chronic diseases has several benefits.

Wearable technology, at-home testing, and remote monitoring can assist with early detection, enabling earlier intervention and reducing the disease burden. Furthermore, electronic diagnostics provide ongoing patient health data monitoring, allowing for more effective sickness treatment and customized drug adjustments.

Challenges:

One major issue is that patients and healthcare professionals need to be made aware of digital diagnostics. Digital diagnostic technology may not be widely used since a number of healthcare professionals may not be aware of its potential and advantages. Similarly, patients might not be aware of the benefits and accessibility of the tools. This ignorance could hinder the use of digital diagnostics and restrict the growth of the sector.

Regional Trends:

The North American digital diagnostics market is expected to register a significant market share in revenue and is projected to develop at a high CAGR soon. The expanding use of cutting-edge technologies, rising investments from both public and private entities, and rising product launches and initiatives by significant market players are all factors contributing to the expansion of the market in the region. For instance, PathAI announced the release of its AISightTM digital pathology image management system (IMS) for pathology laboratories in August 2023.

This will additionally offer effective, comprehensive digital pathology workflows. Besides, Asia Pacific had a substantial share of the market. The rising prices of computer-aided diagnostics in the Asia-Pacific healthcare region are among the causes driving this growth. Growing awareness of these technologies' advantages contributes to developing the digital diagnostics market in Asia-Pacific.

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Recent Developments:

In Feb 2024 , Roche disclosed that it had signed an arrangement with PathAI. PathAI will collaborate exclusively with Roche Tissue Diagnostics (RTD) to develop AI-enabled digital pathology algorithms in the companion diagnostics market, according to the conditions of the agreement. RTD will collaborate exclusively with PathAI for a set period as the sole external algorithm development business for AI-powered companion diagnostics while keeping the opportunity to create its own algorithms for companion diagnostics. PathAI will retain the freedom to develop algorithms outside of companion diagnostics.

, Roche disclosed that it had signed an arrangement with PathAI. PathAI will collaborate exclusively with Roche Tissue Diagnostics (RTD) to develop AI-enabled digital pathology algorithms in the companion diagnostics market, according to the conditions of the agreement. RTD will collaborate exclusively with PathAI for a set period as the sole external algorithm development business for AI-powered companion diagnostics while keeping the opportunity to create its own algorithms for companion diagnostics. PathAI will retain the freedom to develop algorithms outside of companion diagnostics. In May 2022 : In its most recent round of funding, the MedTech startup TestCard raised $10 million , which it will broadly use to expand the market for its current product line and introduce new offerings, including flu, pregnancy, CKD, and diabetes tests.

: In its most recent round of funding, the MedTech startup TestCard raised , which it will broadly use to expand the market for its current product line and introduce new offerings, including flu, pregnancy, CKD, and diabetes tests. In February 2022 : In order to enable customers to request tests and potentially collect samples from home, Labcorp introduced Labcorp OnDemand, an online platform. The best diagnostic tests will be more easily accessible to people due to this platform.

Segmentation of Digital Diagnostics Market-

By Product-

Hardware

Software

By Application-

Cardiology

Oncology

Neurology

Pathology

Others

By End-User-

Hospitals

Clinical Laboratories

Others

By Region-

North America-

The US

Canada

Mexico

Europe-

Germany

The UK

France

Italy

Spain

Rest of Europe

Asia-Pacific-

China

Japan

India

South Korea

Southeast Asia

Rest of Asia Pacific

Latin America-

Brazil

Argentina

Rest of Latin America

Middle East & Africa-

GCC Countries

South Africa

Rest of Middle East and Africa

For More Customization @ https://www.insightaceanalytic.com/customisation/2372

Why should buy this report:

To receive a comprehensive analysis of the prospects for global Digital Diagnostics market

To receive industry overview and future trends of global Digital Diagnostics market

To analyze the Digital Diagnostics market drivers and challenges

To get information on the Digital Diagnostics market size value (US$ Mn) forecast till 2031

Major Investments, Mergers & Acquisition in global Digital Diagnostics market industry

Other Related Reports Published by InsightAce Analytic:

AI-Based Digital Pathology Solutions Market

Smart or AI In-Vitro Diagnostics Market

Virtual Diagnostic Market

Digital Health Market

Cardiac AI Monitoring and Diagnostics Market

About Us:

InsightAce Analytic is a market research and consulting firm that enables clients to make strategic decisions. Our qualitative and quantitative market intelligence solutions inform the need for market and competitive intelligence to expand businesses. We help clients gain competitive advantage by identifying untapped markets, exploring new and competing technologies, segmenting potential markets and repositioning products. Our expertise is in providing syndicated and custom market intelligence reports with an in-depth analysis with key market insights in a timely and cost-effective manner.

Contact US:

InsightAce Analytic Pvt. Ltd.

Tel.: +1 551 226 6109

Email: [email protected]

Site Visit: www.insightaceanalytic.com

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SOURCE InsightAce Analytic Pvt. Ltd
AUSTIN, Texas, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Upgraded Points is looking for a seasoned movie-watcher in its latest contest. The 'Get Paid To Binge-Watch 15 Travel Movies' contest will reward 1 lucky winner with $1,500 to binge-watch 15 travel movies and record trends in trips, destinations, themes, and more.

"Travel isn't just about visiting new places," said Keri Stooksbury, Upgraded Points' editor-in-chief. "Traveling is a luxury, and by creating this contest, we wanted to give someone the opportunity to go on a journey themselves from the comfort of their home."

Sounds like a trip worth taking? The gig awaits the contestant with the best entry. Read more for contest information!

Contest Eligibility

The ideal applicant will have:

A deep love for exploring different cultures, destinations, and experiences.

An avid interest in cinema, with a keen eye for storytelling, cinematography, and the ability to appreciate films from various genres.

An adventurous and open-minded attitude to explore and appreciate the diversity of travel experiences depicted in films.

The skill to tell stories that connect the dots between cinematic experiences and real-world travel, making readers feel as if they're part of the journey.

A knack for research to uncover interesting facts about the movie, context, and how they can relate to current travel opportunities.

The winner will be asked to binge-watch the following films, take notes, and report on specific information throughout the movies:

"Back to the Future" "Barbie" "Bucket List" "Dune" "Eat, Pray, Love" "Into The Wild" "Leap Year" "Midnight in Paris " "Out of Africa " "Shrek" "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" "The Way" "Under the Tuscan Sun" "War Dogs" "Wild"

The winner will receive a separate worksheet for each movie. All movies will need to be watched, and all worksheets will need to be completed by June 21, 2024.

Applicants must be 18 years or older and a U.S. citizen or permanent resident to apply. Disregarding any of these requirements is grounds for immediate disqualification.

How To Apply

Those interested in entering the contest must fill out the form found on the Upgraded Points website . The application will ask a few questions about why the contestant should be considered, if they enjoy traveling, and why. All fields must be filled out completely.

The deadline for contest entries is Friday, May 10, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. ET. Contestants will need to submit their applications by that date to be considered. After this date, no further entries to the contest will be permitted.

The Prize

The winner will be announced on Friday, May 24, 2024, and will receive a $1,500 payment. They will also receive a $75 Amazon gift card to cover the cost of renting the required films.

About Upgraded Points

Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Upgraded Points is a travel company that helps to demystify the complex world of travel and credit cards. Launched in 2016 by Alex Miller, Upgraded Points uses targeted research efforts and in-depth studies to help travelers maximize their travel, points, and experiences. Learn more at: UpgradedPoints.com .

Media Contact:

Alex Miller, Founder

1-214-646-8866

[email protected]

SOURCE Upgraded Points
An Aussie learner motorcyclist has had his licence suspended and been served a court notice after being caught allegedly obstructing his number plates in a bid to "avoid the tolls", marking the latest in a string of plate-related offences taking place across the country.

NSW Police say the learner rider, aged 18, was caught at 4.30am on Friday allegedly obstructing the number plates on his motorbike while travelling at 107km/h on the Anzac Bridge in Sydney  a 60 zone.

The Vaucluse man allegedly told police when he was pulled over he had hidden his plates from view so he could "avoid the tolls".

A learner motorbike rider has had his licence suspended and been given a court notice after he was found to have allegedly obstructed his number plates in a bid to 'avoid tolls'. Source: NSW Police

Shocking find after being 'arrested and searched'

After inquiries, officers found the man was on bail over domestic violence charges. A part of the man's bail requirements was that he "not commit any further offences", police say. He was arrested, searched and allegedly found to be in possession of a bag of cocaine in his wallet.

His licence was suspended and he was refused bail ahead of a court appearance. The Vaucluse man is the latest to be charged with number plate-related offences, after a long list of incidents having taken place around the nation.

The teenage rider will appear before a court. Source: Traffic and Highway Patrol Command - NSW Police Force

Number plate drama unfolds across Australia

Global headlines were made last month when antisemitic plates were spotted in Sydney, appearing to reference the date of a brutal massacre. A few years ago in Victoria, a wannabe "criminal mastermind" was caught out by police after they spotted his suspicious-looking number plate.

A Yahoo reader recently sent us a set of relatable plates which read: "CBF-247"  ostensibly alluding to the quintessentially Aussie phrase "can't be f***ed". Another set, that may also resonate with some, were recently spotted that read: "IH8PPL2".

Story continues

Earlier in March, a number plate altered with paint in South Australia caught the attention of authorities, warning people that modifying them can result in serious penalties.

Meanwhile a few months ago, a driver was caught sporting not one, but two plates in a bizarre scene snapped on a Sydney road.

The South Australian "number plate" has been criticised by authorities who said it was highly illegal. Source: Reddit

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
AHMEDABAD, India and SAN JOSE, Calif., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- eInfochips, a leading provider of digital transformation and product engineering services, has once again demonstrated its industry-leading position in the Zinnov Zones Digital Engineering and ER&D Services Ratings 2023.

This year, eInfochips retained its position in the leadership quadrant for overall Engineering Research & Development (ER&D) services, as well as in the overall small and medium ER&D service providers category.

The Zinnov Zones ratings are published annually to assess the capabilities of global technology service providers. These ratings evaluate the service provider ecosystem based on multiple parameters across various industry verticals, micro-verticals and industries, as well as geographies, for both overall services and specific use cases.

eInfochips has also been featured as a leader in Semiconductor ER&D for tenth year in a row. The company's expanded semiconductor design services portfolio, covering front- and back-end design, along with new offerings such as formal verification and analog layout, has helped it receive a "noteworthy player" special mention.

Besides these rankings, eInfochips has been featured in 18 other quadrants, including Industry 4.0, digital engineering, data & AI Engineering, hyperscalers services and others.

"We are thrilled to retain our leadership across multiple domains in the Zinnov Zones 2023 ratings," said Bharath Aitha, vice president of marketing for eInfochips. "This is a testament to our relentless pursuit of engineering excellence and our commitment to delivering transformative solutions to our clients."

"eInfochips' deep expertise in emerging technologies, such as IoT, AI, cloud, has enabled it to accelerate innovation and time-to-market for its clients," said Sidhant Rastogi, President at Zinnov. "Moreover, Conxero, a solution it developed with more than 3000 assets, helps it accelerate the digital transformation journey of their clients, while scaling their cloud-enabled products and/or services. eInfochips' specialty labs and its Centers of Excellence (COEs) focused on industry verticals coupled with its sustained commitment to understanding clients affirms its recognition in the Zinnov Zones Digital Engineering and ER&D Services Ratings 2023."

About eInfochips

eInfochips, an Arrow Electronics company, is a leading provider of digital transformation and product engineering services. With 500-plus products developed and 40 million deployments in 140 countries, eInfochips continues to fuel technological innovations in multiple verticals. eInfochips accelerates time to market for its customers with its expertise in the areas of cloud, IoT, AI/ML, digital twins, hyper automation and cybersecurity.

About Zinnov

Founded in 2002, Zinnov is a global management consulting and strategy advisory firm with a presence in New York, Santa Clara, Seattle, Houston, Bangalore, Gurgaon, Paris and Pune. With a team of experienced consultants, subject matter experts and research professionals, Zinnov has partnered with global enterprises, FORTUNE 2000 companies, global system integrators, and private equity firms across their value creation journeys to develop actionable insights  across revenue, talent, innovation, scale, and optimization. For more information, visit Zinnov .

SOURCE eInfochips
Boldyn Networks, WICOAR Technologies, Oulu University Hospital and the University of Oulu are working together to bring advanced technology for efficient patient care.

A private 5G network will be the foundation for wireless wearable technologies at Oulu University Hospital in Finland.

LONDON, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Boldyn Networks (Boldyn), the University of Oulu, Oulu University Hospital, and WICOAR Technologies, have received the official funding decision by the European Commission in the CEF Digital1 program for their "Hola 5G Oulu" project. Working together as a consortium the four parties will collaborate to bring a private 5G network to Oulu University Hospital and enable wireless wearable solutions for more efficient patient care. The network is considered the first ever private 5G network to be deployed at an operating hospital in Europe.

Oulu University Hospital in Finland

The "Hola 5G Oulu" project is about creating a robust and secure network for highly demanding healthcare environments and related use cases. Starting with one entire floor of the patient ward and selected operating theatres that serve as a platform for research and development, furthering the role of Oulu as a centre of technological and medical innovation.

The consortium will research and develop advanced data sharing and visualisation techniques aiming to define efficient patient care.

Petri Parviainen, Senior Key Account Manager at Boldyn Networks said: "We're bringing our expertise in large, connected venues as well as bespoke private networks to deliver a solution that will undoubtedly be replicated in other hospitals in Finland and globally. Our consortium partnerships exemplify a concerted effort towards creating a healthcare system that is future-proof to comply with the fast-paced societal changes and technological evolution." He added: "A private 5G network, with its high capacity and high-security nature, will provide the hospital with a reliable network, that can enable innovative healthcare-supporting solutions and solidly maintain its performance, even in the disturbance of a blackout."

As part of the use cases, the private 5G network will be the foundation for WICOAR Technologies to research and develop wireless wearable solutions that can be an integral part of the hospital areas and improve the healthcare experience for both patients and doctors. Wearable solutions retrieve live patient data, including medical imaging and test results, so doctors can make diagnoses easily and quickly during patient visits, reducing the time needed in front of the computer and increasing the time spent with the patient. Wearables also reduce the workload of nurses as they do not need to retrieve data before the patient's appointment. Additionally, wearables can recreate visuals of patients' vital monitoring, past diagnoses, and medical results for surgeons.

The 5G private network will also allow anaesthetists to see and monitor all details of a surgery remotely and guide other doctors in the operating theatre even if not present in the room. This will be more secure for patients who can be at ease during procedures.

Oulu University Hospital is the main hospital of Pohde, the wellbeing services county of North Ostrobothnia in Finland. Kirsti Ylitalo-Katajisto, Pohde's social and healthcare organising director, recognises the transformative potential of new technology in healthcare: "Collaboration between businesses and the public sector is crucial to cultivate an environment conducive to the adoption of innovative technologies in healthcare, ultimately benefiting our patients. Pohde aspires to be a pioneer in this domain, and we are delighted to receive EU support for this groundbreaking technology implementation within our hospital, ensuring it benefits all stakeholders."

Rauno Jokelainen, a member of the WICOAR board said: "WICOAR Technologies is a pioneering Finnish startup driven by the desire to easily integrate patient data into daily patient care safely and quickly. The new technology reduces the time spent on patient work while increasing the face-to-face contact with the patient by reducing the work involving collecting patient data on a terminal in the office."

"The University of Oulu will lead a thorough testing program for "Hola 5G Oulu", prioritising patient safety with rigorous network testing. Additionally, streamlined workflows are achieved through usability testing of wireless wearables, ensuring smooth integration into the hospital environment. This meticulous approach minimises disruption, ultimately paving the way for a transformed approach to patient care", said Mikael von und zu Fraunberg, Professor of Neurosurgery, Chief Physician of Neurosurgery, University of Oulu & Oulu University Hospital.

This initiative, funded by the EU and led by Boldyn Networks, Oulu University Hospital, and WICOAR Technologies, marks a significant leap forward in European healthcare. By establishing the first private 5G network within a functioning hospital, the project lays the groundwork for secure, efficient patient care through innovative wearable technologies. This will ultimately lead to improved patient care and a more efficient workflow for healthcare professionals.

1The Connecting Europe Facility  Digital (CEF Digital) aims to leverage public and private investments in digital connectivity infrastructures of common European interest. Together with other funding instruments, including the Recovery and Resilience Facility and the InvestEU, CEF Digital will help support an unprecedented amount of investments devoted to safe, secure, and sustainable high-performance infrastructure. In particular, Gigabit and 5G networks across the EU.

-END-

About Boldyn NetworksBoldyn Networks is one of the world's largest neutral host providers, delivering the advanced shared network infrastructure needed for a smart, inclusive, and sustainable future. It brings together the combined scale and expertise of seven leading companies with a single purpose: to unlock the power of an interconnected future. From interconnected transit, venues and enterprises to smart cities, next-generation, and bespoke private networks, Boldyn enables new possibilities in the way people live, work and play. Bringing connectivity to the most complex environments. Our portfolio is harnessing fibre, advancing 4G/LTE, accelerating 5G, preparing for 6Gand looking beyond to the next breakthroughs. With headquarters in the UK our global operations span North America, Europe, and Asia. Boldyn Networks. Reimagine tomorrow. Transform today. Learn more at: www.boldyn.com

About Oulu University Hospital

Oulu University Hospital (OYS) is an innovative, research, and development-oriented provider of high-quality healthcare. It is the northernmost of the five university hospitals in Finland and part of the wellbeing services county of North Ostrobothnia.

Our hospital is being renewed and rebuilt by 2030. The objective is to build safe, resilient, sustainable, and functional academic hospital facilities that will serve half of Finland geographically. Alongside the construction of new facilities, we are also renewing our operating models to meet future requirements. Our vision for change is to become the world's smartest hospital, where the newest technologies, modern facilities, and up-to-date expertise will combine to ensure effective specialized medical care.

About University of Oulu

University of Oulu  Working for a more sustainable, more intelligent, and more humane world.

The University of Oulu is an international science university that creates new knowledge, well-being and innovations for the future through research and education. The University of Oulu, founded in 1958, is one of the largest and most multidisciplinary universities in Finland. The university of Oulu has over 3800 employees and over 13,800 students in 8 faculties.

In all its activities, the University of Oulu strives for excellent quality and high efficiency. Our researchers produce nearly 3000 scientific publications each year, and several new research-driven startups arise yearly. The University of Oulu conducts impactful and responsible research. Our aim is to provide an excellent student experience and a healthy university community. Our values are: Creating new, taking responsibility, and succeeding together. Sustainable development is a goal in all of our operations.

Learn more at https://www.oulu.fi/en/university

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

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NEW YORK, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Europe small kitchen appliances market size is set for significant growth between 2023 and 2027, with a projected increase of USD 3,800.15 million, accelerating at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 5.23%. This forecast comes in light of several key factors shaping the market landscape.

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Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Europe Small Kitchen Appliances Market 2023-2027

The market's expansion is driven by various factors, including the surging popularity of premium kitchen appliances, increased innovation, compliance with international safety standards, and the evolving landscape of kitchen designs. As consumer preferences shift towards convenience and efficiency, manufacturers are responding with a plethora of advanced products, including smart appliances.

The food preparation and cooking segment lead the market, encompassing a wide array of appliances such as coffee makers, blenders, food processors, and electric fryers. In particular, the demand for health-conscious cooking solutions is driving the adoption of mixers, juicers, and blenders, with the UK emerging as a primary market in Europe.

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Distribution channels are also evolving, with a significant shift towards online retailing complementing traditional offline channels. Specialty stores, hypermarkets, and online platforms are witnessing increased traction, offering consumers a diverse range of products at competitive prices. Moreover, strategic alliances and partnerships among companies are enhancing market visibility and catering to region-specific demands effectively.

Major players in the European small kitchen appliances market include AGA Rangemaster Ltd., AB Electrolux, Breville USA Inc., and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., among others. These companies are leveraging various strategies, including mergers and acquisitions, geographical expansions, and product launches, to consolidate their market presence and meet evolving consumer needs.

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Technological advancements play a pivotal role in shaping market dynamics, with consumers showing a growing preference for innovative and eco-friendly appliances. Smart features, energy efficiency, and convenience are driving the demand for technologically advanced products, resulting in a surge in premium pricing.

The online retail segment is experiencing robust growth, fueled by the adoption of multi-channel business models and increasing internet connectivity. Rising employment rates, especially among women, further contribute to the online sales growth, as consumers seek convenient shopping options amidst their busy lifestyles.

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However, the market also faces challenges, including fluctuating raw material prices and increasing operational costs. Manufacturers are tasked with maintaining competitive prices while delivering efficient and innovative products to meet consumer expectations.

Analyst Review

In the rapidly evolving landscape of modern homes across Europe, the demand for small kitchen appliances is witnessing a substantial surge. This trend is primarily attributed to the interconnectedness of technologies and the rising living standards among consumers. As the tech-savvy young generation increasingly seeks convenience in their hectic lifestyles, the market for small kitchen appliances is experiencing significant growth.

Connected technologies have revolutionized the way consumers interact with kitchen electrical appliances. Blenders, food processors, coffee makers, and other small kitchen appliances are now equipped with value-added features that enhance the cooking experience. From air fryers offering healthier cooking options to microwave ovens segment catering to diverse needs such as reheating food, disinfecting kitchen items, and even heating beauty products, the market is brimming with innovation aimed at providing effective results with minimal manual efforts.

The rise in urbanization and the expanding working population have further fueled this demand. With lifestyle patterns shifting towards convenience and efficiency, consumers are increasingly turning to energy-efficient appliances that complement their busy routines. This has led to a rise in the adoption of small kitchen appliances, especially among urban dwellers with rising purchasing power.

Moreover, the proliferation of smart homes has acted as a catalyst for the small kitchen appliances market. These modern homes are equipped with devices that can be controlled remotely via internet connections, mobile apps, and networked devices. This integration of technology not only adds convenience but also enhances the overall cooking experience for consumers.

In the Europe small kitchen appliances market, manufacturers are keenly observing consumer preferences to introduce products that align with evolving lifestyle patterns. Whether it's blenders designed for making citrus fruits juicier or microwave ovens equipped with features like roasting garlic, de-crystallizing honey, and proofing bread, the market is teeming with innovations aimed at meeting the diverse needs of consumers.

As consumers prioritize convenience and efficiency, manufacturers are focusing on developing cost-effective yet energy-efficient appliances. This not only reduces energy consumption but also caters to the growing environmental consciousness among consumers.

In conclusion, the Europe small kitchen appliances market is witnessing remarkable growth driven by factors such as interconnected technologies, rising living standards, and the increasing demand for convenience among the tech-savvy young generation. With smart homes becoming the norm and consumer preferences evolving, manufacturers are poised to continue innovating and introducing products that redefine the cooking experience in modern households.

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Market Overview

In Europe, the small kitchen appliances market is experiencing a transformative shift fueled by tech-savvy consumers embracing connected technologies. This shift isn't just about convenience but also improving living standards by minimizing manual efforts while delivering effective results. Value-added features like air fryers are revolutionizing the cooking experience, offering healthier options without compromising taste. Within this market segment, microwave ovens stand out as essential kitchen electrical appliances. They're evolving beyond basic heating functions, integrating advanced features for diverse cooking needs. As consumers prioritize convenience and health, manufacturers are innovating to meet these demands, driving the growth of the microwave ovens segment. In this dynamic landscape, Europe's small kitchen appliances market continues to thrive, catering to the evolving needs of modern households.

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Related Reports:

The smart kitchen appliance market size is expected to increase to USD 13,293.08 million from 2022 to 2027, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 13.4%. This market segmentation is by product (smart large cooking appliance, smart refrigerator, smart small cooking appliance, and smart dishwasher), distribution channel (offline and online), and geography (North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and Middle East and Africa).

The size of the France home appliances market is expected to increase by USD 3.62 billion from 2022 to 2027, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 4.46%. This report extensively covers market segmentation by product (major household appliances and small household appliances) and distribution channel (offline and online).

Table of contents

1 Executive Summary

2 Landscape

3 Sizing

4 Historic Size

5 Five Forces Analysis

6 Segmentations

7 Customer Landscape

8 Geographic Landscape

9 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

10 Vendor Landscape

11 Vendor Analysis

12 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
SINGAPORE, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- OKX, a leading Web3 technology company, has issued updates for March 26, 2024.

OKX Marketplace Facilitates Trading of Solana T22 NFTs Through Sniper and Tensor

OKX Marketplace has launched a new feature that allows users to trade Solana T22 NFTs, such as GH0ST and Elements, through Sniper and Tensor. This addition marks a milestone in the evolution of the OKX Marketplace, providing users with more options for trading NFTs.

Solana T22s, sometimes known as SPL22s, is a new token standard that provides enhanced functionality and versatility over traditional Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). T22 tokens offer the ability to break down a single NFT into multiple tokens, which can then be traded individually. This offers users more affordable access to high-value NFT projects, while providing additional liquidity for those projects.

T22 tokens not only have implications for DeFi, but they also play a significant role in 'hybrid DeFi,' which refers to the innovative combination of both NFTs and tokens within DeFi, creating a multifaceted financial landscape. T22 can be utilized to establish liquidity pools, and can offer bonuses and other potential advantages to token holders or those who secure their tokens.

In recent weeks, OKX Marketplace has expanded its offerings by adding support for Sniper's Solana NFTs. On March 18, 2024, OKX announced a new upgrade that enables users to view and accept bids for Tensor. As the Solana ecosystem continues to evolve, so too does OKX Marketplace, constantly seeking new ways to improve and enhance the user experience.

For more information, please visit the OKX Support Center.

For further information, please contact:

[email protected]

About OKX

A leading global technology company driving the future of Web3, OKX provides a comprehensive suite of products to meet the needs of beginners and experts alike, including:

OKX Wallet: The world's most powerful, secure and versatile crypto wallet which gives users access to over 80 blockchains while allowing them to take custody of their own funds. The wallet includes MPC technology which allows users to easily recover access to their wallet independently, removing the need for traditional, 'written down' seed phrases. In addition, OKX Wallet's account abstraction-powered Smart Account enables users to pay for transactions on multiple blockchains using USDC or USDT, and interact with multiple contracts via a single transaction.

wallet which gives users access to over 80 blockchains while allowing them to take custody of their own funds. The wallet includes MPC technology which allows users to easily recover access to their wallet independently, removing the need for traditional, 'written down' seed phrases. In addition, OKX Wallet's account abstraction-powered enables users to pay for transactions on multiple blockchains using USDC or USDT, and interact with multiple contracts via a single transaction. DEX: A multi-chain, cross-chain decentralized exchange aggregator of 400+ other DEXs and approximately 20 bridges, with 200,000+ coins and more than 20 blockchains supported.

exchange aggregator of 400+ other DEXs and approximately 20 bridges, with 200,000+ coins and more than 20 blockchains supported. NFT Marketplace: A multi-chain, zero-fee NFT marketplace that gives users access to NFT listings across seven top-tier marketplaces including OpenSea, MagicEden, LooksRare and Blur.

Web3 DeFi : A powerful DeFi platform that supports earning and staking on about 70 protocols across more than 10 chains.

OKX partners with a number of the world's top brands and athletes, including English Premier League champions Manchester City F.C., McLaren Formula 1, The Tribeca Festival, Olympian Scotty James, and F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo.

As a leader building innovative technology products, OKX believes in challenging the status quo. The company recently launched a global brand campaign entitled, The System Needs a Rewrite, which advocates for a new paradigm led by Web3 self-managed technology.

To learn more about OKX, download our app or visit: okx.com

Disclaimer

SOURCE OKX
HSINCHU, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Formerica Optoelectronics Inc., headquartered in Hsinchu, Taiwan, proudly announces the introduction of the TES-717H8-P8M, a pioneering 800G OSFP to 2x400G immersion fanout Active Optical Cable (AOC). This groundbreaking innovation is set to be showcased with a live demo of 400G immersion AOC (TQS-R167A-X8M05) at the OFC Conference and Exhibition in San Diego, at booth #1423, from March 26 to March 28, 2024. Engineered to meet the sophisticated demands of AI/ML data centers, the Infiniband-compatible TES-717H8-P8M is an integral component for servers utilizing immersion liquid cooling systems. It significantly reduces the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and OPEX while improving sustainability for data centers.

In today's data-driven world, the quest for efficient, high-performance cooling solutions is paramount, especially for data centers challenged with the immense heat generated by high-power computing activities, such as those associated with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML). Immersion liquid cooling technology, which the TES-717H8-P8M features, presents a transformative solution by immersing server components in a thermally conductive fluid. This enhances cooling efficiency and also significantly lowers energy consumption, thereby reducing the overall TCO for data center operators.

The TES-717H8-P8M offers compatibility with both InfiniBand and Ethernet, maximizing flexibility and high-speed connectivity essential for the efficient operation of Generative AI data centers. This 800G OSFP to 2x400G immersion fanout AOC is designed from the ground up to support the rigorous bandwidth and latency requirements of cutting-edge computing systems, optimizing performance and reliability in immersion liquid cooling systems.

"We are excited to present the TES-717H8-P8M at this year's OFC Conference, highlighting Formerica Optoelectronics' commitment to innovation and our role in contribution to data center cooling technology," said Peter Liu, GM and VP of Sales & Marketing for Formerica Optoelectronics. "By integrating our products into immersion liquid cooling systems, we address the urgent need for efficient cooling solutions and enable data centers to drastically reduce their carbon footprint and Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE), taking a significant step forward improving the sustainability and economic efficiency of high-performance computing."

Attendees of the OFC Conference and Exhibition are invited to visit booth #1423 to witness the remarkable capabilities of the TES-717H8-P8M and explore how Formerica Optoelectronics Inc. is spearheading the adoption of immersion liquid cooling technologies in the industry. This event will serve as an invaluable platform for industry leaders and professionals to engage with the latest trends and innovations in optical communication and data center solutions.

About Formerica Optoelectronics Inc.

Formerica Optoelectronics Inc. is a global leader in the design and manufacturing of optical transceiver solutions, serving the data center, networking, and telecommunications sectors. Located in Hsinchu, Taiwan, Formerica Optoelectronics Inc. is dedicated to driving technological advancements, prioritizing quality, innovation, and customer service. The company is committed to delivering solutions that meet the complex challenges of today's data communication networks, contributing to the development of future-ready, cost-effective data center infrastructures.

For more information on Formerica Optoelectronics Inc.:

Website: https://www.formericaoe.com/

Headquarter: 5F-11, No.38, Taiyuan St., Zhubei City, Hsinchu County 30265, Taiwan (R.O.C)

E-Mail :[email protected]

SOURCE Formerica Optoelectronics Inc.
"We are excited to showcase the breathtaking destinations and world-class design awaiting guests aboard Four Seasons Yachts as we approach our inaugural season in 2026," says Alejandro Reynal, President and Chief Executive Officer, Four Seasons. "At Four Seasons, guest-centricity has always been the foundation of our luxury service offering and our exceptional Yacht will extend this approach to the seas. Our teams are dedicated to innovating and delivering genuine service, ensuring each journey is defined by comfort, elegance, and personalization, setting a new standard for luxury hospitality experiences at sea."

A Journey Across Crystal Clear Caribbean Waters and Magnificent Mediterranean Seas

In its debut year, Four Seasons Yachts will explore more than 130 distinct destinations across over 30 countries and territories. All itineraries are crafted with flexibility in mind, allowing guests to tailor their own adventure as they explore beyond the familiar. The team curating each itinerary understands the nuances of these locales, ensuring each experience is truly extraordinary. Enhancing itineraries are customizable with pre-and-post hotel and overland programs at beloved Four Seasons hotels and resorts.

The first Four Seasons Yacht, currently under construction in Ancona, Italy, will travel westbound as part of its repositioning and will welcome guests to set sail amid the serene turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea from January to March 2026. The first Caribbean itineraries feature seven nights of exploration through the most exciting yachting destinations including Saint Barthelemy (St Barths), Nevis, the Grenadines, St Lucia, Barbados, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Curacao and Aruba. Destination highlights include indulging in the dazzling nightlife of St Barths, discovering Martinique's volcanic coral reefs and lush rainforest landscapes, a marina day in St Lucia's Tobago Cays, and much more.

With more destinations and details to be unveiled in the coming months, the first Grand Mediterranean voyages will begin in March 2026 and will include sailings through Croatia, Gibraltar, Montenegro, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Turkiye. The Mediterranean itinerary will also highlight the Greek Isles, with stops in Athens, Ios, Santorini, Milos, and more. Guests will explore under-the-radar islands steeped in culture and history, offering a variety of experiences that go above and beyond the ordinary of Mediterranean sailings.

Bespoke Suite Designs Focused on Comfort, Connection and Care

In collaboration with Tillberg Design of Sweden and the Yacht's Creative Director, Prosper Assouline, the Yacht's suite design embodies the essence of intuitive luxury, each a sanctuary of tranquility with panoramic views, elegant interiors, thoughtful details and a residential feel that creates the sense of a welcoming home at sea.

"Our goal was to craft an environment that feels both familiar and extraordinary, with warm hues and open designs. We are creating an inviting, welcoming environment that reflects the same feeling one experiences at a Four Seasons hotel or resort," says Fredrik Johannson, Partner and Executive Director of Tillberg Design of Sweden. "At the same time, we are designing a look and feel that is unique to this project, creating an elegant yet simple interior that stands out on its own, while blending beautifully with the majestic seas that will surround it."

With 50% more living space per guest than currently available with any competitor at sea, all suites will offer floor-to-ceiling windows showcasing sweeping sea views, double vanity bathrooms with spacious showers and closets, expansive private terraces, and dynamic use of space and light.

The Yacht's extensive network of adjoining suites will feature an innovative system that connects accommodations with modular walls, offering numerous options of vertical and horizontal combinations within the signature suites. This versatility will unlock more than 100 different connection options and the unique opportunity to reserve an entire side of a deck, perfect for those travelling with family, friends, or larger groups. For example, this one-of-a-kind design will allow for more than 13,000 square feet (1,200 square metres) of total living space.

A New Suite Standard: Funnel and Loft Suites

The largest accommodations are seven signature suites ranging from 2,981 to 9,975 square feet (277 to 927 square metres) of indoor and outdoor living space. They offer two to three bedrooms, separate living rooms, indoor and outdoor dining space, splash pools, outdoor showers, and the option to connect to additional suites.

The premier signature suite accommodations  the Funnel and Loft Suites  both feature three bedrooms, outdoor showers, and splash pools. The largest on board, the Funnel Suite, housed within the Yacht's glass-enclosed funnel, is 9,975 square feet (927 square metres), spanning four levels of living space. The suite's towering floor-to-ceiling wraparound windows, made up of the largest contiguous piece of glass at sea, is a one-of-a-kind engineering feat offering stunning 280-degree panoramic views. The Loft Suite is 7,952 square feet (739 square metres) and can accommodate large group sizes of up to 20 people by connecting with seven additional suites, the largest number of connecting suites available.

When exploring beyond the comforts of their stunning suites, guests can enjoy 11 dining options, spa and wellness offerings, a state-of-the-art transverse marina, and the stern pool, set to be one of the largest in the industry at nearly 19 metres long and 5 metres wide (65 feet long and 18 feet wide). Its unique hydraulic lift design will allow the pool deck to level out, creating an expansive outdoor space for weddings, celebrations and other events.

Four Seasons Yachts will redefine luxury at sea with its all-suite, residential style product, best in class design and the brand's renowned service and care delivered through a 1:1 guest-to-staff ratio.

For more information visit fourseasonsyachts.com and to express interest in a future sailing, please join the list.

For more images, please see here.

About Four Seasons

Four Seasons opened its first hotel in 1961 and since that time has become a global leader in luxury hospitality and branded residential, with a focus on genuine and unparalleled service experiences. Four Seasons currently operates 129 hotels and resorts, and 53 residential properties, in major city centres and resort destinations in 47 countries. The company continues to grow with a guest-centric mindset, including a global pipeline of more than 60 projects under planning or in development. In addition to its hotels and resorts, Four Seasons experiential offerings include more than 600 restaurants and bars globally, the Four Seasons Private Jet Experience, Four Seasons Drive Experience, and the upcoming Four Seasons Yachts. Four Seasons consistently ranks among the world's best hotels, resorts, restaurants and bars, and most prestigious luxury hospitality brand in reader polls, traveller reviews and industry awards. For more information and reservations, visit fourseasons.com. For the latest news, visit press.fourseasons.com.

About Marc-Henry Cruise Holdings LTD

Marc-Henry Cruise Holdings LTD was founded and conceived by luxury entrepreneur Nadim Ashi, who serves as executive chair of the newly formed yacht company. Ashi is the owner of Fort Partners and the visionary responsible for Four Seasons Hotel at The Surf Club, Surfside, Florida and multiple other properties, including the future Four Seasons hotel in Rome. Marc-Henry Cruise Holdings LTD is incorporated in Valletta, Malta and is responsible for yacht sales and marketing, marine, technical operations, navigation, deployment strategy, port operations, reservations, and related shoreside and vessel crewing.

About Fincantieri

Fincantieri is one of the world's largest shipbuilding groups, the only one active in all high-tech marine industry sectors. It is leader in the construction and transformation of cruise, naval and oil & gas and wind offshore vessels, as well as in the production of systems and component equipment, after-sales services and marine interiors solutions. Thanks to the expertise developed in the management of complex projects, the Group boasts first-class references in infrastructures, and is a reference player in digital technologies and cybersecurity, electronics and advanced systems.

With over 230 years of history and more than 7,000 ships built, Fincantieri maintains its know-how, expertise and management centres in Italy, here employing 10,000 workers and creating around 90,000 jobs, which double worldwide thanks to a production network of 18 shipyards operating in four continents and with almost 21,000 employees. www.fincantieri.com

Leslie Lefkowitz

Four Seasons Yachts Press

[email protected]

Stephanie Moyer

KWT Global

[email protected]

SOURCE Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts
SYDNEY, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Celebrating nearly two decades in the Forex and CFDs industry, FP Markets continues to excel in meeting the needs of traders and investors, earning it repeated industry acknowledgement in numerous key areas. The Best-In-Class status for excellence was awarded to FP Markets in multiple prestigious categories at the Forexbrokers.com 2024 Awards on 23 January, marking an impressive series of consecutive accolades:

Commissions and Fees (4 th consecutive year)

consecutive year) MetaTrader (4 th consecutive year)

consecutive year) Algo Trading (3rd consecutive year)

FP Markets Named Best In Class for Commissions & Fees, Algo Trading and MetaTrader

The Best-In-Class awards highlight and further cement FP Markets' position as an industry leader in competitive pricing and market-leading technology that's recognised for its extensive support for algorithmic, systematic traders. At FP Markets, clients can also choose from a wide selection of cost-effective Trading Accounts, accommodating both active and longer-term investors.

FP Markets CEO Craig Allison commented: "The consistent recognition in core areas of the industry is a testament to the team's steadfast dedication and commitment; we are proud to receive continued acknowledgement and to be a broker that understands its traders and investors. From providing low-cost pricing structures to a range of leading Trading Platforms, including MetaTrader and cTrader, as well as our new partnership with TradingView, and a dedicated 24/7 Multilingual Customer Support Team, this has been the driving force behind traders continually choosing FP Markets as their broker of choice."

Founded in 2016, Forexbrokers.com is an online provider of impartial Forex Broker reviews. The company has published close to 200,000 words of research and has had more than 8 million views, establishing it as the number-one broker comparison website for traders and investors. As the demand for regulated and transparent brokers continues to grow, Forexbrokers.com offers a specialised website for the Forex space where traders and investors can receive in-depth, unbiased reviews on international Forex brokers. Their data-driven approach provides the most accurate reviews in the industry, meaning that companies recognised are leading global industry members.

FP Markets offers access to over 10,000 trading instruments, providing traders access to CFDs across Forex, Indices, Commodities, Stocks, ETFs, Bonds and Digital Currencies, making it one of the most extensive offerings in the industry on cutting-edge platforms, including MT4, MT5, cTrader, TradingView, and Iress, all of which are available through iOS and Android. Over the past 19 years, FP Markets has learned that consistently tight spreads, fast execution, cutting-edge platforms, a wide product range, and first-rate customer support are the key ingredients that give serious traders the confidence to trade.

Notes to Editors

About FP Markets:

FP Markets is a Multi-Regulated Forex and CFDs Broker with over 18 years of industry experience.

The company offers highly competitive interbank Forex spreads starting from 0.0 pips.

Traders can choose from the leading powerful online trading platforms, including FP Markets' Mobile App, MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, WebTrader, cTrader. TradingView, and Iress.

Investment Trends has recognised the company's outstanding 24/7 multilingual customer service and awarded "The Highest Overall Client Satisfaction Award" for five consecutive years.

FP Markets has been awarded the "Best Global Forex Value Broker" for five consecutive years (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023) at the Global Forex Awards.

FP Markets has been awarded the "Best Forex Broker  Europe " and the "Best Forex Partners Programme  Asia " at the Global Forex Awards 2022 and 2023.

" and the "Best Forex Partners Programme  " at the Global Forex Awards 2022 and 2023. FP Markets has been awarded "Best Trade Execution" at the Ultimate Fintech Awards 2022.

FP Markets crowned "Best CFD Broker in Africa " at FAME Awards 2023.

" at FAME Awards 2023. FP Markets Awarded "Best Trade Execution" and "Most Transparent Broker" at the Ultimate Fintech Awards APAC 2023.

For more information on FP Markets' comprehensive range of products and services, visit https://www.fpmarkets.com.

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SOURCE FP MARKETS
ROCKLIN, Calif., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Gemini Legal Support, Inc., a privately-owned, technology-focused, legal products and services company, today announced that the hub of their civil-law-focused services and operations has moved from Monterey to Salinas to better accommodate the company's local employees.

Sayler Legal, a Gemini Legal Support, Inc. Company Gemini-Sayler's new civil ops hub in Salinas, Calif.

The new Salinas location saves, on average, 1.5 commute hours per day for each local employee. The 2,900-square-foot office located at 450 Lincoln Avenue, is significantly larger than the former location, and has offices, workstations, conference facilities, records storage and IT equipment used to scan and process documents.

The Salinas location is one of three Gemini Legal offices. The company also leases office space in West Covina, Calif., for employees local to Southern California. In December of last year, Gemini Legal purchased commercial office property in Rocklin, Calif., to house the growing company's headquarters and central operations.

"All of our employees in Monterey County live much closer to Salinas, which drove our decision to move once our existing lease expired," said Tony Daugherty, president at Gemini Legal. "We have a decades-long affiliation with the stunning Monterey area and appreciate its community and support of local businesses, and our affinity for the area remains."

The move to Salinas will have no foreseeable impact on the company's clients, which include law firms in areas of workers' compensation and civil law. Employees in the Salinas office provide court services, process serving, records retrieval, service of process and other legal services.

ABOUT GEMINI LEGAL

Gemini Legal Support, Inc., founded in 2004, develops and provides legal products and services, and applies experience and integrity to enhance justice for law firms. Gemini Legal Support's electronic court filing, and document management system have become the industry standard. The company is headquartered in Rocklin, Calif., with sales teams operating throughout the state. For more information visit gemini.legal or call 877.739.7481.

SOURCE Gemini Legal
DUBLIN, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Exosome Market: Size, Forecast, Trials, and Trends, 2023" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Exosome technologies have been developing rapidly in recent years and substantial growth is expected for the market as they get integrated into the fields of liquid biopsy, precision medicine, and regenerative medicine. In particular, cancer-derived exosomes influence the invasive potential of cells by regulating angiogenesis, metastasis, and immunity, making them an extremely useful source of biomarkers for use in cancer detection, diagnosis, and therapeutic selection.

The cargo contained within exosomes can offer prognostic information for a range of diseases - including cardiovascular, renal, neurodegenerative, and metabolic diseases - as well as cancer. Researchers investigating exosome biomarkers have discovered, identified, and reported the presence of hundreds of biomolecules within the lumen of exosomes. This discovery has compelled a rapid rise in exosome-related cancer biomarker research, including the use of exosomes for the detection, monitoring, and treatment of a diverse range of oncologic conditions.

Importantly, exosomes are present within a diverse range of biofluids, including serum, plasma, urine, seminal fluid, CSF, saliva, tears, and breast milk. For this reason, exosome-based diagnostics are minimally invasive, offering ease of use and speed of detection. Exosomes can also act as prognostic indicators and predictors of a patient's response to a specific course of treatment.

Exosomes are also being explored for their use as cell-free therapeutics. For example, if a patient has a disease caused by a missing or defective protein or microRNA, the patient's exosomes can be isolated, modified with the appropriate siRNA or protein, and injected back into the patient for treatment. Numerous approaches are being researched for creating drug-loaded exosomes and exosomes themselves can exert powerful effects. For example, mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) derived exosomes have the capacity to suppress inflammation, prevent scar tissue formation, and mediate a healthy immune response.

For these reasons, exosomes have gone from being overlooked to rapidly gaining momentum as a novel strategy for accessing the therapeutic effects of cells without the risks and difficulties of administering cells to patients. Although exosomes were discovered more than 30 years ago, it was not until recently that the scientific community began to give credit to exosomes for a range of promising traits.

When exosome publications are analyzed, U.S. authors have published approximately 40% of the articles and China comes in second place. When the term "exosome" is searched in the scientific literature, Dr. Susanne Gabrielsson from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden is the leading author. When the term "extracellular vesicles" is searched, Unicyte AG, a regenerative medicine unit of Fresenius Medical Care, takes the lead. Headquartered in Switzerland, the company has published more than 100 papers on exosomes and extracellular vesicles in combination with Professor Giovanni Camussi.

To date, three pharma companies (Takeda, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, and Roche Pharmaceutical Company) have signed partnership deals with exosome companies offering payment terms structured to deliver at or around $1 billion dollars. Within the past 5 years, there have been at least 7 partnership deals within the exosome industry, 8 large venture capital events, and 2 landmark acquisitions.

Globally, there are at least 204 clinical trials focusing on exosome-related studies. Of these, 114 trials are evaluating exosome-based therapeutics and 74 trials are testing exosome-based diagnostic tests. Currently, 93 of the exosome trials (45%) are observational studies and 111 of them (55%) are interventional studies. The exosome industry has also achieved two approvals of FDA-approved diagnostic tests: Bio-Techne's ExoDx Prostate IntelliScore Test for prostate cancer and Guardant's 360 CDx test for non-small cell lung cancer.

To characterize the rapidly expanding exosome market, the analyst has released a 312-page global market report that explores the growing demand for exosome therapeutics, diagnostics, research tools, and manufacturing technologies. The report reveals trend rate data for exosome patents, grants, scientific publications, and clinical trials. It highlights information about exosome industry partnerships, merger and acquisition (M&A) activity, and financing events. It features company profiles for 118 global competitors from across the exosome marketplace. Importantly, it presents market size determinations by market segment with forecasts through 2030.

Today the exosome industry is witnessing:

A surging number of scientific papers investigating exosomes and their applications

Rising numbers of clinical trials investigating exosome therapeutics and diagnostics

Swelling appetite among investors for exosome technology

An increasingly competitive IP environment

A diverse range of co-development partnerships

Proliferating numbers of exosome competitors in all major life science markets worldwide

Companies Mentioned

101 Bio

Abbexa

Abnova

Adipomics

Aegle Therapeutics

Aethlon Medical

AgeX Therapeutics

Ambiotech

AMS Biotechnology, Ltd. (AMSBIO)

Anjarium Biosciences

Antibodies-Online

Aposcience

Aruna Bio

ArunA Biomedical

Astellas

Avalon GloboCare Corp.

Aviva Systems Biology

Azymus Therapeutics

Beckman Coulter Life Sciences

Bio-Techne

BioCat GmbH

BioFluidica

Biological Dynamics

Biorbyt

BioRegenerative Sciences

BioVision

Boehringer Ingelheim

BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics

BreStem Therapeutics

Capricor Therapeutics

Carmine Therapeutics

CD Bioparticles

Cell Care Therapeutics

Cell Factory BVBA/Esperite

Cell Guidance Systems

Cellarcus Biosciences

CEVEC

Ciola

CK-Exogene

Clara Biotech

Codiak Biosciences

Coya Therapeutics

Craif

Creative Bioarray

Creative Biolabs

Creative Medical Technology Holdings

Creative Proteomics

CreativeBiostructure

Curexsys GmbH

CUSABIO TECHNOLOGY

Diadem Biotherapeutics

Direct Bio

DLdevelop

Eli Lilly

Entelexo Biotherapeutics

EverZom

Evomic Science

Evora Biosciences SAS

Evotec SE

Evox Therapeutics, Ltd.

ExBiome BV

Excella Bio

ExoCan Healthcare Technologies

ExoCoBio

Exocyte Therapeutics

Exogenus Therapeutics

ExoPERT

Exopharm Pty., Ltd.

Exosome Diagnostics, Inc (Bio-Techne)

Exosome Sciences

ExosomeDx (biotechne)

ExosomePlus

Exosomics

ExoVectory

Exrkine

Florica Therapeutics

Fresenius Medical Care

GenWay Biotech

HansaBioMed Lifesiences

ILIAS Biologics

Innocan Pharma

Innovex Therapeutics

INOVIQ

Intezyne

Invent Biotechnologies

Izon Science

Jazz Pharmaceuticals

Kimera Labs

La Trobe University

Leading Biology

LifeSpan Biosciences

Lonza Group

Mantra Bio

MDimune

Miltenyi Biotech

miR Scientific

Mursla

MyBioSource

NanoSomics

NanoSomiX

NanoView Biosciences

Navigo Proteins

NeurExo Sciences

NeuroDex

New England Peptide

Norgen Biotek

Novus Biologicals

nRix Dx

NurExone Biologic

Oasis Diagnostics

OmniSpirant

Organicell

Orgenesis

OriGene Technologies

Paracrine Therapeutics

PureTech Health

QIAGEN

Recipharms

ReNeuron

RION

Roche Pharmaceutical

RoosterBio

Rosetta Exosome

Sarepta Therapeutics

System Biosciences

Takeda

Tavec Pharma

Theoria Science

Thermo Fisher Scientific

TransGen Biotech

TriArm Therapeutics

UCI

Unicyte

United Therapeutics

Univercells Technologies

University of Adelaide

Versatope Therapeutics

Vesigen Therapeutics

VivaZome Therapeutics

Xollent Biotech

XOStem

YMAIR Genomics

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/y2q3a4

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

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SOURCE Research and Markets
Global Wealth Management announces new location.

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Wealth Management, a leading financial services firm, is pleased to announce the opening of its newest office location in Coral Springs, Florida. This expansion marks a significant milestone in the company's growth strategy and demonstrates its commitment to better serve clients in the region. Situated in the vibrant business district of Coral Springs, the new office will provide comprehensive wealth management services to individuals, families, and businesses seeking expert financial guidance. With a team of seasoned financial advisors and wealth managers, Global Wealth Management is poised to offer personalized solutions tailored to meet the unique needs and goals of each client.

"We are excited to establish a presence in Coral Springs and further expand our reach within the community," said Grant Conness, Managing Director of Global Wealth Management. "Our mission is to help people create a confident and worry-free plan to simplify and protect their retirement. This new office underscores our commitment to delivering exceptional service and value to our clients." In celebration of the grand opening, Global Wealth Management invites members of the community to visit the new office located at 4500 N. University Drive, Suite 200 and explore the comprehensive suite of financial services available. The firm looks forward to building strong relationships with clients in Coral Springs and contributing to their long-term financial success. For more information about Global Wealth Management and its services, please visit askglobalwealth.com or contact the Coral Springs office at 866-405-1031.

About Global Wealth Management

Global Wealth Management (GWM) is an independent Fort Lauderdale-based investment management firm that specializes in retirement, income, and estate planning strategies for individuals and families planning for and living in retirement. GWM is led by financial investment advisors Andrew M. Costa and Grant Conness, their firm caters to a wide array of clients in South Florida and throughout the nation. GWM's main office is located at 1301 E. Broward Blvd. Suite 200, in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

Advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory (GWM), a Registered Investment Adviser. Insurance services offered separately through Global Wealth Retirement Planning, LLC.

Contact: Natalie Aguirre Global Wealth Management, Marketing Division

Phone: 954-533-7144

[email protected]

SOURCE Global Wealth Management
The Rev Theatre Co. has announced the addition of a performance by the Glenn Miller Orchestra to its 2024 season at the Merry-Go-Round Playhouse at Emerson Park in Owasco.

The iconic jazz orchestra, with 86 years of history, will perform at 2 and 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 26, at the playhouse.

Audiences can expect to hear favorites like Moonlight Serenade, Little Brown Jug, Dont Sit Under the Apple Tree, In the Mood and Pennsylvania 6-5000, The Rev said in a news release.

In addition to our spectacular 2024 season, The Rev is thrilled to bring a bit more happiness and nostalgia to the playhouse!" The Rev Producing Artistic Producer Brett Smock said. "Were so glad we can host this legendary orchestra and we look forward to offering more of these special, limited engagement performances in the future."

One of the most successful band leaders in the swing era of the '30s and '40s, Glenn Miller disbanded the act in 1942 to volunteer for the Army. He would disappear in December 1944 during a flight to a performance in France. But with the release of the Jimmy Stewart film "The Glenn Miller Story" in 1954, Miller's estate authorized the creation of the Glenn Miller Orchestra two years later.

The orchestra's 18 members continue to perform original Miller arrangements and modern selections arranged in his style and sound.

Tickets for the Owasco performances are $55.

The Rev's 2024 season will also include "Jersey Boys" June 5-22, "Newsies" July 10-27, "Bandstand" Aug. 14-31 and "May We All" Sept. 18-Oct. 5.

For more information, or to order tickets, call (315) 255-1785 or visit therevtheatre.com.
New Highcon Beam 3 offering improved quality and 50% increased production per shift, to be shown for the first time at drupa 2024

New large-format Vulcan[1], with a 1.4 x 1.7 sheet size, is taking shape in Highcon's labs

DUESSELDORF, Germany, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Highcon today announced a new portfolio line-up ahead of drupa 2024, addressing the fastest-growing segments of paperboard packaging. Responding to a global market with continuously growing demand for smaller production batch sizes, faster delivery, increased sustainability and enhanced customer experience, the company's new portfolio accelerates Highcon's strategy of mainstreaming digital die cutting by focusing on productivity, efficiency and quality. The new portfolio line-up includes:

For Folding Carton, the Highcon Beam 3 with optional new Beam Writer for offline writing of DART foils, will allow customers to produce around 50% more per shift than with Beam 2 - while delivering higher and more consistent quality 2 .

. For Corrugated Packaging and Display: The Vulcan 1 , a revolutionary next-generation system with 1.4 x 1.7 (55" x 66") sheet size, still under development, will enable the full benefits of digital die cutting to mainstream corrugated production. An upgrade to the Highcon Beam 2C that delivers up to 50% enhanced productivity when paired with the optional Beam Writer and facilitates the expansion of Highcon's footprint in the short- and medium-run corrugated market - especially for POS and web-to-pack.



New Highcon Beam 3

The new Highcon Beam 3 has been developed to respond to the feedback of both customers and prospects over recent years. It is packed with innovations and enhancements that will allow customers to be more productive and address a broader range of applications. A converter will be able to run 10 jobs with an average run length of 1000 sheets every shift. This will typically drive an ROI for customers of less than two years in a two shift operation.

Prior to the first Beam 3 shipping to drupa 2024, Highcon will be performing a field upgrade to an existing Beam 2 system at Eurographic, in Poland. "We're excited to be the first customer to receive the Productivity & Quality Boost Package that will bring Beam 3 performance to our system," said Bartosz Nowakowski, GM of Eurographic Group in Poland. "The surge in production per shift is poised to make a significant impact on our operations."

New Highcon Beam Writer

The new Highcon Beam Writer, compatible with all Highcon Beam systems already installed, enables customers to create creasing rules using Highcon's proprietary DART system and 5th Generation Consumables offline. For every 100 jobs per month, Beam Writer can free up more than 16 hours of Beam capacity, or two full shifts, improving productivity and increasing capacity.

"I've always believed that there is a place for an offline DART writing system," said Charles Linney, Director of Linney. "Although the current inline system works very well, the offline Beam Writer could save us 10 minutes per job, which equates to over 50 hours a month."

New Highcon Vulcan

The new Highcon Vulcan will enter mainstream corrugated production and address a painful gap in current solutions. It has a maximum sheet size of 1.4 x 1.7 meters (55" x 66") and supports boards up to 5mm, including microflute, B-, C-, and EB-flutes. Like all Highcon systems, Vulcan will combine true physical creasing with laser cutting, and will have a maximum throughput of 3000 full-size sheets per hour (up to7000 sqm/hr or 75,000 sqft/hr). It will have a job changeover time of 5-10 minutes.

"Highcon's Vulcan will find a very broad footprint across the corrugated industry, complementing analog die cutting and solving the intractable problems of fast reaction, small orders and eliminating MOQs," said Richard Brown, President of The BoxMaker.

As product development started, four 'Foundation Customers' including Thimm, The BoxMaker, UDS (Poland) and Grupak (Mexico), placed deposits on Vulcan systems in 2022. In 2023, Schumacher Packaging joined the Foundation Customer program and signed an MOU to purchase 5-10 units of Vulcan from Highcon before 2030.

"Schumacher Packaging is an innovation leader and digital visionary," said Bjoern Schumacher, CEO. "We are very pleased with our Highcon Beam 2C, but Vulcan is the system that can start the inevitable digitalization of corrugated finishing. Seeing is believing, and the demonstration of the prototype that I saw in Israel last June, convinced me that Vulcan will be game-changing for us."

During the tough economic environment of 2023, Highcon slowed down the Vulcan development with the intention to resume the program fully before the end of 2024. During 2026, the first Vulcan unit is targeted to ship for Alpha testing at a customer site.

Highcon is offering thought-leading customers the option to secure a finite number of early delivery slots. These slots will only be converted into binding orders following a successful production demo.

Upgraded Highcon Beam 2C

Based on a running speed that is ~15% faster3, the upgraded Highcon Beam 2C offers higher productivity for corrugated customers with faster sheet throughput. When used in conjunction with the new optional Beam Writer, it will offer corrugated customers approximately 50% higher productivity per shift for typical customer job baskets. It also includes the Digital die cutting Workflow Package (DWP) for smoother, more effective and automated integration into a site's production workflow.

drupa 2024

At drupa, Highcon's booth (Hall 9, B24) will showcase its customers and their work as well as Highcon's new solution portfolio, together with samples from the breakthrough Vulcan prototype.

"In this challenging environment, Highcon's customers are successfully using 'the right tool for the right job' to optimize their plant productivity, overcome capacity limitations, improve agility, cost-effectiveness and efficiency and better serve their customers  all while maximizing their return on investment," said Shlomo Nimrodi, Highcon's CEO.

"Inspired by our amazing customers, their feedback and how they're using our solutions today - as well as inputs that we've received over several years - Highcon will be demonstrating how digital die cutting is becoming mainstream. The time to die cut digitally has arrived,"

Download press release and images from online gallery:

https://highcon.sharepoint.com/:f:/s/ExternalShare/Ei-lmKH6lohOgktOONpCtr8B1MCQH7P7sCCit5BEDfiX-A?e=yGuRDz

About Highcon

Highcon develops, markets, sells and supports a portfolio of digital cutting and creasing systems that cover a wide range of formats, substrates and applications. The Highcon technology is transforming the industry, by providing cost effective solutions to the increasing manufacturing inefficiencies facing folding carton and corrugated carton manufacturers as the result of the emerging market trends of e-commerce, shorter time to market, lower job sizes and a drive to sustainability. Such requirements cannot be accommodated by the expensive and slow conventional die-making and setup process. The Highcon digital technology bridges the gap between agile production and design flexibility delivering improved responsiveness, JIT production, short runs, customization of structure and design, and the ability to perform a wide range of applications in-house. Highcon products are installed at customer sites around the world, including some multi-national companies, effectively supporting the needs of global and local brands. Highcon is a publicly traded Company in the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (HICN) and its leading investors are Landa Ventures owned by Benny Landa and JVP led by Erel Margalit. For more details: www.highcon.net.

1 Internal R&D Codename  Not a commercial product name. Highcon will announce a commercial name for the product in the future.

2 Actual increase depends on job basket; calculation for representative job basket.

3 Actual increase is job-dependent  the 15% has been measured by Highcon across a representative basket of jobs

SOURCE Highcon
CHARLOTTETOWN, PE, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Honibe, the beloved Canadian honey-based products brand, is buzzing with excitement to announce the launch of its vibrant new packaging, a refreshing makeover inspired by the beauty of nature and driven by consumer feedback. As a brand deeply committed to purity, sustainability, and wellness, Honibe aims to captivate consumers with its revamped look.

Dean Williams, CEO of Honibe, expressed enthusiasm about the brand's transformation, stating, "Our new packaging is more than just a visual upgrade  it's a reflection of our dedication to providing consumers with the highest quality honey-based products. We've listened to our customers' feedback and designed packaging that not only showcases honey as our #1 ingredient but also captures the essence of nature's beauty."

Eins Mutuc, Marketing Director of Honibe, emphasized the importance of creating packaging that resonates with consumers and highlighted the legendary benefits of honey. "Honey has long been revered for its incredible health benefits and natural sweetness. From its immune-boosting properties to its soothing effect on sore throats, honey embodies nature's goodness. Our goal was to create packaging that not only stands out on the shelves but also tells our honey story. Each design element, from the vibrant colors to the honey-inspired graphics, communicates our brand's commitment to authenticity and purity."

Dean Williams also addressed the concerning trend of "honeywashing" in the industry. "Honeywashing is deceptive and undermines the integrity of honey-based products. Unlike some brands that claim to use honey but often contain minimal amounts or none at all, Honibe products are made with real honey as the #1 ingredient. We're committed to transparency and ensuring that our customers receive the genuine goodness of honey in every product."

The new packaging will be rolling out across Honibe's product range, including honey gummies, honey drops, and honey lozenges. Consumers can expect the same high-quality products inside, now presented in eye-catching and authentic packaging that celebrates the essence and goodness of honey.

Watch out for the unveiling of Honibe's new packaging on shelves beginning May 2024. It's time to experience the sweetness of Honibe in a whole new light!

For more information about Honibe and its products, visit honibe.com.

About Honibe:

Honibe is a Canadian brand specializing in honey-based wellness products. Founded in 2007, Honibe has established itself as a trusted provider of natural, high-quality solutions for health-conscious consumers. Headquartered in Prince Edward Island, Canada, Honibe is committed to promoting health and well-being through the power of honey.

Media Contact:

Eins Mutuc

Marketing Director

[email protected]

SOURCE Island Abbey Nutritionals
Documentation of a Back Injury Can Make All the Difference in a Car Accident Claim says Tucker Lawyers

NEW YORK, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The aftermath of a car accident can leave any victims startled and shaken. Under these circumstances, most people are not thinking about providing evidence of their injuries for future use. However, evidence of injury is vital should the victim choose to bring a compensation claim forward.

After an accident, any victims must seek immediate medical aid, regardless of their perception of the severity of their injuries. Medical practitioners, beyond providing aid, will be able to thoroughly document any injuries sustained because of the accident.

If a victim decides to not immediately seek medical attention, they should do so as soon as they can after the accident. The practitioner will still be able to outline how the victim sustained their injuries and supply documentation.

Medical records are not the only form of evidence that victims can supply following their back injury. Any documentation of the accident scene will help connect the victim's injury to the accident. This documentation can include photographs of the scene, damage, and injuries, as well as witness testimonies, dash cam footage, and more.

If a victim has collected evidence of the accident scene and their injuries, their next move should be to hire an experienced car accident or personal injury attorney.

The attorneys at Tucker Lawyers are exceptionally knowledgeable in the fields of personal injury and car accident claims. Based in New York City and Long Island, the team navigates claims with passion, dedication, and integrity.

Managing Attorney, John Tucker, states, "We understand how stressful a car accident can be. We work to alleviate your pressure and to provide the most diligent representation."

About Tucker Lawyers

Tucker Lawyers is comprised of experienced, honest, and reliable attorneys. Their areas of focus lie predominantly in the field of personal injury. The focus allows them to dedicate their resources, time, and energy to providing the best possible representation for their clients. The attorneys at Tucker Lawyers see themselves as members of a thriving community and strive to give back to their fellow members. They do this not only through their legal work but with their community outreach and involvement. Their devotion to community is why many turn to them for car accident or personal injury claims. Contact Tucker Lawyers in New York at (516) 399-2364.

This press release was issued through 24-7PressRelease.com. For further information, visit http://www.24-7pressrelease.com.

SOURCE Tucker Lawyers
'The Indiana Jones of Food' is unveiling the most extraordinary ingredients, just as he's been doing throughout his travels in over 120 countries.

MALIBU, Calif., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Exploring food all over the world with seasoned food archaeologist John Robert Sutton is the pioneering podcast concept of the brand-new CurtCo Media series, Foods That Matter . Think Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown meets Somebody Feed Phil. This podcast is for the epicures, the foodies, and the gastronauts who crave a culinary thrill and are ready to be transported to different corners of the world through stories of adventure with food, wine, and spirits.

Foods That Matter Cover Art

Like the paint dealer to Picasso, John's day job is to scour the globe to bring the best ingredients to top grocery stores and Michelin star chefs, aiding in the creation of the world's most astounding meals with unique and sustainable ingredients. By tuning into John's adventures, you gain insider knowledge on trending foods, deep insights into food culture, and a comprehensive understanding of what you're eating. Each episode leaves you feeling more equipped to make better purchase decisions by providing important truths, like how "free-range" and "organic" chicken may not always mean what consumers expect.

"The only thing in life that you control is what you choose to put into your mouth with your two hands. It's sacred. Choose wisely," explains John.

John has met incredible people along his adventures and in each episode he'll be joined by at least one of them, including people like Matthew Wadiak, the Founder and COO of Blue Apron, Francisco Martinez Neri, the mayor of Oaxaca, Mexico, and Matthew Dolan, Food Network's Beat Bobby Flay contestant (Season 30 Episode 2).

The presenting sponsor of Foods That Matter is Watkins , award-winning extracts, spices & herbs, seasoning blends, grilling rubs & marinades, artificial dye-free baking decorations, and more crafted in the USA since 1868. The free podcast is available on all major platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music , Spotify , and Goodpods .

About CurtCo Media:

CurtCo Media - with its talented producers and creative team - provides listeners with quality podcasts, featuring authoritative hosts, distinguished guests, and inspiring storytellers. The company presents many nationally-recognized series, covering topics such as scripted sci-fi (SOLAR), luxury (Cars That Matter, Travel That Matters, Wines That Matter) and others.

Media Contact:

Catrin Skaperdas

3108773001

[email protected]

SOURCE CurtCo Media
BOSTON, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The mining industry has always been perceived as a high-emitting and resource-heavy industry  one that contributes 2-3% of all global CO 2 emissions. However, within the last few years, the industry has followed the path of other vehicle sectors and embraced electrification. The use of EVs in global mining is on the rise and could be set to change attitudes towards the industry at large. The new IDTechEx report, "Electric Vehicles in Mining 2024-2044: Technologies, Players, and Forecasts", finds that the electric mining vehicle market is on the cusp of rapid growth, with a 20-year CAGR of 38% forecasted.

Key benefits of electric mining vehicles. Source: IDTechEx

Electric vehicles offer multiple benefits over traditional combustion engines, including emissions, economics, safety, and productivity. This article will explore these factors to demonstrate why mining companies and vehicle manufacturers have been so keen to embrace electrification.

GHG Emissions

It is widely known that transitioning from ICE automobiles to EVs provides the benefit of zero CO2 emissions at the point of use. This benefit is even more pronounced when it comes to mining vehicles. Of all the emissions produced by the global mining industry, 40-50% is derived from the diesel combustion engines of vehicles.

The global haul truck population, numbering just over 55 thousand, emits 174 megatonnes of CO 2 annually  the same as almost 38 million road cars. The introduction of electric haul trucks and other electric mining vehicles creates huge potential for the decarbonization of mining and allows mining companies and OEMs to meet their individual emissions targets.

Miner Health and Safety

Diesel combustion engines significantly compromise local air quality, emitting NOx and particulate matter that are hazardous to worker safety. In an underground mine, miners and vehicles can spend entire working days in close proximity in a confined tunnel. Transitioning to EVs will minimize workers' exposure to pollutants and deliver short- and long-term health benefits.

Working in mines also means working under exposure to high heat, noise, and vibration  all of which pose further safety risks and are made worse by diesel vehicles. Electric mining vehicles produce far less noise and vibration to contend with and generate over 75% less heat than their diesel counterparts. From a health and safety standpoint, EVs are far superior to incumbent mining machines.

Mining Productivity

Due to the use of electric motors, electric mining vehicles can achieve improved torque and acceleration, higher average speeds, and better performance when traveling on grades (as much as 50% faster on steep grades). Loaders specifically benefit further from the improved torque through smoother loading and faster load times. All these factors come together to result in faster vehicle cycles, increasing mining productivity by 10-20%.

The Bottom Line

Most crucial to the adoption of electric mining vehicles is the significant reductions they offer in total cost of ownership. EVs will come at a considerable premium due to the added costs of batteries, but battery pricing in the mining industry has been coming down, and given that volumes of electric mining equipment are expected to grow, there is room for it to fall even further.

The most potent savings that electrification provides comes from eliminating diesel costs. IDTechEx has calculated that the diesel costs to operate a haul truck and an underground vehicle can be over US$8.5 million and US$1.5 million, respectively, over 10 years. For an EV alternative, the electricity costs needed are as low as US$3.1 million and US$350 thousand. EVs can create massive opportunities for mines to save millions per vehicle, and they will naturally be inclined to extend these benefits over their fleets at large. Vehicle economics are also less sensitive to electricity prices than diesel prices, affording companies a level of protection against price volatility.

Adding to this are the operational costs saved through reductions in maintenance. Replacing the mechanical driveline of mining vehicles with electric ones brings with it fewer moving parts and less maintenance. Vehicles demand less downtime and resources for repairs and can spend more time in operation.

The new IDTechEx report, "Electric Vehicles in Mining 2024-2044: Technologies, Players, and Forecasts", provides deeper analyses and quantification of these key cost factors in electrification and analyzes over 70 electric mining vehicles from OEMs, including Caterpillar, Komatsu, Sandvik, Epiroc, and XCMG. It finds that electrification of mining vehicles will be favorable from a total cost of ownership perspective over a wide range of vehicle types. Mining companies will be encouraged to switch over by the savings they can provide and the improvements to working conditions  while OEMs will ramp up production to meet this demand.

To find out more about this new IDTechEx report, including downloadable sample pages, please visit www.IDTechEx.com/EVMining.

For the full portfolio of electric vehicle research from IDTechEx, please visit www.IDTechEx.com/Research/EV.

Upcoming free-to-attend webinar

Why Electric Vehicles Will Disrupt the Mining Industry

Pranav Jaswani, Technology Analyst at IDTechEx and author of this article, will be presenting a free-to-attend webinar on the topic on Wednesday 17 April 2024 - Why Electric Vehicles Will Disrupt the Mining Industry.

This webinar will include:

An overview of key mining vehicles

Advantages and barriers to electrification

Overview and developments of the electric haul truck market

Analysis of electric haul truck costs and potential savings

IDTechEx's outlook and conclusions

Please click here to check timings and register for your specific time zone.

If you are unable to make the date, please register anyway to receive the links to the on-demand recording (available for a limited time) and webinar slides as soon as they are available.

About IDTechEx:

IDTechEx provides trusted independent research on emerging technologies and their markets. Since 1999, we have been helping our clients to understand new technologies, their supply chains, market requirements, opportunities and forecasts. For more information, contact [email protected] or visit www.IDTechEx.com.

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Media Contact:

Lucy Rogers

Sales and Marketing Administrator

[email protected]

+44(0)1223 812300

Social Media Links:

Twitter: www.twitter.com/IDTechEx

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SOURCE IDTechEx
BURLINGAME, Calif., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- CoherentMI published a report, titled, India Aroma Chemicals Market was valued at US$ 276.1 Million in the year 2023, and is anticipated to reach a US$ 418.6 Million by 2031, with growing at a CAGR of 5.34% during forecast period 2023-2030.

Market Dynamics:

The growth of the India aroma chemicals market can be attributed to the flourishing fragrance industry in the region. With the increasing disposable income of consumers and their changing preferences towards personal care and cosmetics products, there is a rising demand for aroma chemicals in various applications such as perfumes, deodorants, and soaps. Additionally, the growing awareness about hygiene and wellness among the population is further driving the market growth.

India Aroma Chemicals Market Snapshot:

Report Coverage Details Study Period 2024 - 2031 Base Year of Estimation 2023 CAGR 5.34 % Largest Market India Market Concentration High Major Players International Flavors & Fragrance Inc., The Anthea Group, Privi Speciality Chemicals Limited, Eternis Fine Chemical Limited., S H Kelkar and Company Limited and Among Others. Segments Covered By Product Type, By End User Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, and Trends Growth Drivers  Growth Of Perfumery Industry

 Growing Food & Beverages Industry Restraints & Challenges  Synthetic Chemicals Included in Perfumes and Their Possible Health Impacts

 High Research and Development Costs

Key Market Takeaways:

India Aroma Chemicals Market Size is anticipated to witness a CAGR of 5.34% during the forecast period 2024-2031, driven by the growing demand for aroma chemicals in the food and beverages industry.

during the forecast period 2024-2031, driven by the growing demand for aroma chemicals in the food and beverages industry. On the basis of Composition, the Amines segment is expected to witness significant growth, owing to the versatility of amines in creating a wide range of flavors.

On the basis of Application, Food and beverages products segment is expected to dominate, as manufacturers are focusing on introducing new and unique flavors to cater to the evolving consumer preferences.

In terms of regions, metro cities are expected to hold a dominant position in the market, due to the presence of a large number of food processing units and the growing popularity of gourmet food products.

Key players operating in the India aroma chemicals market include BASF, Bell Flavors & Fragrances Company, and other major players who are investing in research and development activities to introduce new flavor profiles in the market.

Market Trends:

One of the key trends in the India aroma chemicals market is the shift towards natural and organic ingredients. Consumers are increasingly looking for products that are made from natural and sustainable sources, leading to the adoption of natural aroma chemicals in the fragrance industry. Another trend is the rising popularity of exotic and unique fragrances, driving the demand for innovative aroma chemicals that can create differentiated products in the market.

Recent Advancement:

In December 2020 , a recently constructed PU system products factory that use pre-polymer reactor technology to boost production capacity and serve a range of application in furniture, appliances, and construction has been expanded, according to a statement from BASF SE.

Read complete market research report, "India Aroma Chemicals Market, By Base Oil Type, By Application, By End Use Industry, and other Segment Forecast 2024-2031", Published by CoherentMI.

Market Opportunities:

Increasing Demand for Natural Aroma Chemicals in Cosmetics and Toiletries

The India aroma chemicals market is experiencing a significant growth opportunity with the increasing demand for natural aroma chemicals in cosmetics and toiletries. Consumers are becoming more aware of the ingredients in their personal care products and are seeking natural alternatives to harsh chemicals. This has led to a surge in demand for natural aroma chemicals derived from plant sources such as esters and terpenes.

Growing Demand for Aroma Chemicals in Food and Beverages Industry

Another market opportunity in the India aroma chemicals market is the growing demand for aroma chemicals in the food and beverages industry. Aroma chemicals are widely used in the food industry to enhance the flavor and fragrance of various products such as beverages, confectionery, bakery, and savory snacks. With the rise in disposable income and changing consumer preferences, there is a growing demand for innovative and exotic flavors in the food and beverages sector.

Finally, the India aroma chemicals market is witnessing lucrative opportunities driven by the increasing demand for natural aroma chemicals in cosmetics and toiletries, as well as the growing demand for aroma chemicals in the food and beverages industry. Key players in the market are focusing on developing innovative products to cater to the evolving consumer preferences and capitalize on the market growth potential. With the right strategies and investments, the India aroma chemicals market is poised for substantial growth in the forecast period.

India Aroma Chemicals Market Segmentation:

India Aroma Chemicals Market, By Composition: Esters Geranyl Acetate Methyl Acetate Methyl Formate Methyl Propionate Others Amines Trimethylamine Cadadverine Pyridine Others Linear Terpenes Geraniol Myrcene Citronellol Others Cyclic Terpenes Camphor Menthol Eucalyptol Others Aromatic Eugenol Vanillin Anisole Benzaldehyde Others

India Aroma Chemicals Market, By Application: Cosmetic and Toiletries Food and Beverages products Home care products Fragrances Soap and Detergents Others



Get your copy of this premium research report now @ https://www.coherentmi.com/industry-reports/india-aroma-chemicals-market/buyNow

Top Questions Answered in this Report:

What factors are impeding the growth of the market for India Aroma Chemicals? What are the primary drivers fostering growth in the market for India Aroma Chemicals? Which segment stands out as the leading component in the India Aroma Chemicals Market? Who are the key players actively involved in the India Aroma Chemicals Market? Which region is poised to take the lead in the India Aroma Chemicals Market? What is the projected CAGR for the India Aroma Chemicals Market?

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At CoherentMI, we are a leading global market intelligence company dedicated to providing comprehensive insights, analysis, and strategic solutions to empower businesses and organizations worldwide. Moreover, CoherentMI is a subsidiary of Coherent Market Insights Pvt Ltd., which is a market intelligence and consulting organization that helps businesses in critical business decisions. With our cutting-edge technology and experienced team of industry experts, we deliver actionable intelligence that helps our clients make informed decisions and stay ahead in today's rapidly changing business landscape.

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SOURCE Coherent Market Insights
Advertising on INEO Retail Media in the US is growing quickly

SURREY, BC, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - INEO Tech Corp. (TSXV: INEO) (OTCQB: INEOF) (the "Company" or "INEO"), provides an update on the progress of INEO Retail Media, an operating division of INEO Solutions Inc.

INEO Provides Update on Retail Media Division. Advertising on INEO Retail Media in the US is growing quickly. Exclusive in-store advertising inventory on prominently placed digital signage is a difference maker for INEO. (CNW Group/INEO Tech Corp.)

"INEO Retail Media has made great progress in the three months since we launched the division," stated Kyle Hall, CEO of INEO. "In less than 90 days, led by the leadership of Salim Tharani, INEO has signed representation agreements with US based specialist media firms 45:10 and All Over Media; listed INEO's US store advertising inventory on the programmatic advertising providers Vistar Media, Hivestack and Broadsign; started integration with programmatic advertising provider Place Exchange, and; continued to push ahead with our own direct sales efforts. These initiatives have resulted in eight advertisers placing ad campaigns with INEO Retail Media on our US store network in March to date. Furthermore, the Company continues to actively sell advertising on the Canadian Liquor Store network, focusing on direct relationships to secure campaigns."

Salim Tharani commented, "Our exclusive in-store advertising inventory on prominently placed digital signage is a difference maker for INEO. We are able to set ourselves apart from other forms of advertising, and with our focus on analytics and data-driven results, we can compete effectively with digital marketing and Connected TV. Signing these specialist media firms augments our own team's coverage to let more agencies and brands know who INEO is and get a piece of their national and/or regional advertising campaign dollars directed at the INEO Network. Working with the programmatic providers delivers instant access to the INEO screens for all advertisers. INEO is well positioned to be a leader of in-store Retail Media."

Key Features of INEO Retail Media:

Network Scope:

Today, the INEO Media Network has an inventory of more than 2.8 billion annual advertising impressions and 29 million customers. This number is expected to grow to more than 27 billion annual advertising impressions and 250 million customers within the next 3 years.

Exclusive In-Store Placement:

Leveraging INEO's exclusive contracts with its large retail partners, INEO's advertising solutions ensure maximum visibility and engagement with the target audience for the full time they are in the store.

Data-Driven Targeting:

Harnessing the power of INEO's data analytics, INEO Retail Media enables brands to deliver targeted messages to consumers based on their geo-location, location within the store and shopping patterns.

Enhanced Shopper Experience:

By integrating seamlessly into the retail environment, INEO's advertising solutions contribute to an enhanced shopping experience for consumers, providing valuable information and promotions.

Measurable Results:

Offering comprehensive analytics and reporting tools, INEO Retail Media allows brands to track the effectiveness of their campaigns in real-time, ensuring a measurable return on investment.

Collaborative Partnerships:

INEO has already forged strategic partnerships with major retail chains, establishing a robust network which enables brands to connect with a diverse and extensive audience.

Explore the unique offerings and retail partnerships at www.ineoretailmedia.com .

INEO Tech Corp.

Per: "Kyle Hall"

Kyle Hall, Chief Executive Officer and Director

About INEO Tech Corp. (TSXV: INEO; OTCQB: INEOF)

INEO Tech Corp., through its wholly owned subsidiary, INEO Solutions Inc., operates the INEO Media Network, a digital advertising and analytics solution for retailers, and INEO Retail Media, an advertising sales provider for in-store retail media. INEO is headquartered in Surrey, Canada and publicly traded on the TSX-Venture Exchange under the symbol "INEO" and on the OTCQB under the symbol "INEOF".

For more information please visit:

Website: www.ineosolutionsinc.com

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/ineosolutions

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ineosolutionsinc

Instagram: www.instagram.com/ineosolutionsinc

Twitter: www.twitter.com/INEOsolutions

Forward-Looking Statements

Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the disclosure document, any information released or received with respect to the Company may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in securities of the Company should be considered highly speculative.

This news release contains forward-looking information, which involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual events to differ materially from current expectations. Important factors  including the availability of funds, acceptance of the Company's products, competition, and general market conditions  that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations are disclosed in the Company's documents filed on SEDAR, including the Annual Information Form for the year ended June 30, 2022 filed on SEDAR on November 4, 2022. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation, except to the extent required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE INEO Tech Corp.
MERCED, Calif., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Central Valley Journalism Collaborative (CVJC) has launched The Merced FOCUS , a nonprofit news source committed to revitalizing journalism in Merced County and its neighboring communities within California's Central Valley. The launch of the site  found online at themercedfocus.org  marks a significant milestone in CVJC's mission to address the critical need for reliable local news coverage in the region.

The Merced FOCUS  along with EL ENFOQUE Merced , its Spanish language companion site  provides comprehensive and impartial reporting on issues vital to the community's well-being. With a focus on local news, investigative journalism, and community engagement, The Merced FOCUS aspires to empower residents with the information they need to make informed decisions and actively participate in civic life.

The Merced FOCUS: CVJC Launches Nonpartisan, Nonprofit Newsroom Dedicated to serving Merced County & surrounding areas Post this

The Merced FOCUS newsroom comprises a dedicated team of journalists and community contributors who are passionate about serving the public interest and holding power to account. By leveraging digital platforms and innovative storytelling techniques, The Merced FOCUS will deliver timely, relevant, and impactful journalism to residents across the region.

"With the launch of The Merced FOCUS, we reaffirm our dedication to partnering with Merced residents and leaders in highlighting the challenges and opportunities our communities face," Alma Martinez, executive director of the Central Valley Journalism Collaborative, said. "At CVJC, we recognize the essential role of journalism in upholding democracy and strengthening communities. With the launch of The Merced FOCUS, we are reaffirming our commitment to serving the people of Merced County and the Central Valley by delivering high-quality, independent journalism that reflects the diversity and complexity of our region."

Joe Kieta, executive editor of CVJC, echoed Martinez's comments. "The Merced FOCUS represents a collaborative effort to reimagine the future of local journalism in the Central Valley. Through rigorous reporting and meaningful storytelling, we aim to shed light on issues that matter most to our audience."

Merced, like many other Central Valley counties, has experienced a decline in locally produced news, leaving many communities without a reliable source of information. As The Merced FOCUS embarks on this journey to revitalize local news in the Central Valley, the support of community members, organizations, and stakeholders will be instrumental in ensuring its success.

Merced, located in the heart of California's Central Valley, stands as a microcosm of the challenges and triumphs that resonate across the region. As a community deeply rooted in agriculture, education, and cultural diversity, Merced serves as a dynamic crossroads where urban and rural lifestyles intersect. However, within the past decade, local news coverage has declined, leaving a void in local news. Recognizing this need, The Merced FOCUS is poised to help cover the gap in local journalism.

The Merced FOCUS has no paywall and all content is free. Visit themercedfocus.org to sign up for free email updates.

About The Merced FOCUS:

The Merced FOCUS is a nonprofit and nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to delivering high-quality, fact-based local journalism that empowers and informs the Merced community and the wider Central Valley. Our mission is to amplify the community's voices and narratives, providing a platform for varied perspectives and delivering news that shines a light on important community issues.

About Central Valley Journalism Collaborative:

Launched by the James B. McClatchy Foundation (JBMF) in 2021, the Central Valley Journalism Collaborative (CVJC) is a new nonprofit infrastructure dedicated to keeping public service journalism thriving in California's Central Valley. It aims to fortify First Amendment press freedoms, strengthen diversity in journalism, and give visibility to perspectives often marginalized in mainstream news.

PRESS CONTACT:

Dayanna M. Carlos

[email protected]

(559) 289-9885

SOURCE Central Valley Journalism Collaborative
Jane Gold connects consumers, brands, and dispensaries for exclusive rewards and cash-back opportunities

SANTA CRUZ, Calif., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Jane Technologies, Inc. ("Jane"), the cannabis industry's leading e-commerce provider, today announced Jane Gold , a first-of-its-kind consumer rewards program built to benefit the entire industry ecosystem. This patented technology allows cannabis brands that cannot ship direct-to-consumer the ability to provide exclusive cash-back rewards to consumers across Jane's dispensary partner network.

Jane Gold rewards consumers with brand-sponsored cash back.

Jane Gold makes getting cash back on cannabis purchases simple and personalized. By joining for free, consumers qualify to earn exclusive cash back from their favorite brands, discovering new and beloved products with a customized experience. Jane Gold enables consumers to quickly and securely link their bank accounts to receive cash-back rebates directly from the brands, without having to burden the dispensary. It is worth noting that due to current regulations, these bank-to-bank (or ACH) transfers are the only legal way to complete cashless cannabis transactions in the industry today.

Brands that participated in the beta launch of the Jane Gold program saw an average increase of 7% in overall sales, with 60% of those sales coming from first-time shoppers. Dispensaries on the Jane Gold network received brand-subsidized discounts without reducing their margins, resulting in a 30% increase in average order value (AOV) per customer. Dispensaries that participated in the beta launch of the Jane Gold program experienced a 12% increase in sales, while non-participating dispensaries in the same geographic market saw an 18% decrease in sales.

"Jane Gold has been a powerful program to drive retail demand," shared Drew Hyland, Head of Marketing at Papa & Barkley. "Using product and category-specific offers we target prospects browsing on Jane and remarket to our existing customers. With a 7X ROI, Jane's products are by far the most effective direct-response products available in the cannabis market."

"Discovering Jane Gold, a dispensary-agnostic cashback program, offered a breakthrough solution we have yet to see as a brand," expressed Kaitlin Mackenzie, Director of Content & Strategy at Wana Brands. "With a supportive team, it addresses long-standing issues, empowering brands to execute targeted discounting strategies and foster direct consumer connections."

"Jane Gold is truly a groundbreaking innovation that unlocks a new paradigm for omnichannel ecommerce  something the likes of which Uber, Shopify, and Amazon have yet to implement in the retail verticals they serve," said Socrates Rosenfeld, CEO and Co-Founder of Jane. "We built this program in the spirit of creating a win-win-win model that serves the customer, brand and retailer equally, and it furthers our mission of expanding legal cannabis access to as many people as we possibly can."

Brands and retailers interested in participating in Jane Gold can learn more here.

About Jane Technologies, Inc.

Jane is the cannabis industry's leading digital provider, powering 2,500+ dispensaries and brands across 39 U.S. state markets as well as Canada. The Jane platform provides dispensaries and brands a turnkey e-commerce solution, ads engine, market analytics, iOS app, payments and point-of-sale technologies. The company has been recognized with multiple distinctions including Inc. 5000's Fastest-Growing Companies (2023), Forbes' America's Best Startup Employers (2023 & 2024), Forbes' The Cannabis 42.0 (2023), Inc.'s Best Workplaces (2023), Green Market Report's Best E-Commerce Technology (2022) and Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 (2022). For more information on Jane, visit www.iheartjane.com or email [email protected] .

SOURCE Jane Technologies, Inc.
Annual Day of Giving is Busiest of the Year

MANASQUAN, N.J., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Tomorrow, Wednesday, March 27, Jersey Mike's Subs is giving a full day's sales  expected to be over $21 million  to charity. It's the sub company's 14th Annual Day of Giving when more than 2,700 Jersey Mike's Subs restaurants nationwide will donate 100 percent of salesnot just the profitto more than 200 local charities. ( View/download b-roll )

On Wednesday, March 27, Jersey Mike's Subs is donating 100 percent of sales to more than 200 local charities. Post this Actor and New Jersey native, Danny DeVito, joins Jersey Mike's Founder and CEO Peter Cancro in the sub chains recent commercial inviting everyone to buy lunch or dinner at Jersey Mikes on Day of Giving, March 27, when all proceeds go to important local causes.

Day of Giving is the culmination of Jersey Mike's March Month of Giving fundraising campaign. All month, Jersey Mike's has collected donations from customers for partner charities including hospitals, youth organizations, food banks and more. For a list of restaurant locations and charity partners, please visit www.jerseymikes.com/mog/charities.

"Please join us and make a difference this Wednesday, March 27, when 100 percent of sales from every sub will be given back to the community," said Peter Cancro, Jersey Mike's founder and CEO.

Actor, comedian and New Jersey native, Danny DeVito, joins Cancro in the sub chain's recent commercial inviting everyone to buy lunch or dinner at Jersey Mike's on Day of Giving when all proceeds go to important local causes.

(Watch commercial)

Day of Giving is Jersey Mike's busiest day of the year. Each location prepares by staffing up and ordering extra food, ensuring there is plenty of meat, cheese, bread, onions, lettuce, tomatoes, and bacon to meet the high demand.

The more you order, the more Jersey Mike's gives. Whether in-store, through Jersey Mike's app or through third-party delivery partners, proceeds from every single sale this Wednesday  including subs, chips, drinks, and catering orders will go to local charities.

Since Month of Giving began in 2011, Jersey Mike's has raised more than $88 million for local charities.

For more information, visit: www.jerseymikes.com/mog

About Jersey Mike's

Jersey Mike's Subs, with more than 3,000 locations open and in development, serves authentic fresh sliced/fresh grilled subs on in-store freshly baked bread  the same recipe it started with in 1956. Passion for giving in Jersey Mike's local communities is reflected in its mission statement "Givingmaking a difference in someone's life." For more information, please visit jerseymikes.com.

Contact: Kyle Potvin, [email protected], 917-838-4500

SOURCE Jersey Mikes Subs
As public opposition mounts, a proposed 80-bed homeless shelter suffered a setback at the Auburn Zoning Board of Appeals meeting Monday.

The board voted 5-2 to reject Housing Visions' request for a use variance at 85-93 North St.  the site of the former Holy Family School.

Housing Visions, a Syracuse-based nonprofit organization, has entered into a contract with the Diocese of Rochester to buy the school. Chris Trevisani, vice president of business development for Housing Visions, told Cayuga County legislators in October that the school would be used for up to 20 permanent housing units and recreation space.

But the use variance application suggests that plan was altered because of opposition to a separate Housing Visions project to construct an 80-bed homeless shelter at 290-292 Grant Ave. The new facility would replace a smaller, existing shelter at the site.

An application was submitted to the city of Auburn Planning Board for the Grant Avenue project, but it has been tabled to allow for an environmental review.

During the public forum portion of the zoning board meeting, several residents spoke in opposition to placing a homeless shelter at the former school on North Street.

Barbara Jean Foster, who lives at Schwartz Towers across from the former Holy Family School, said she would not feel safe going to her car or walking outside if there was a homeless shelter nearby. Other Schwartz Towers residents expressed similar opinions at the meeting.

"The last stage of my life should not be spent in fear or shame of the area I choose to live in," Foster said. "Please don't let this happen."

Tony Ventura, who has spoken out against Housing Visions' plans for the Grant Avenue property, told the board he doesn't think "our community needs the homeless shelter here." He also questioned whether government agencies and local organizations are seeking out homeless individuals to justify the shelter's construction.

Proponents of the project have said there is a need for the shelter. Christine Bianco, commissioner of the county Department of Social Services, said her agency provided emergency housing to 455 adults and 175 in children in 2023  a four-year high. By comparison, 249 adults and 89 children were assisted in 2020.

Existing shelters aren't large enough to meet the growing demand. For now, the county is housing many of the homeless individuals in hotels. For each room, the county pays at least $100 per night.

There are other disadvantages with hotels, supporters say. Hotels lack support services for the homeless population and security. With the proposed shelter, whether it's on Grant Avenue or North Street, there would be support services and security measures.

But the question before the zoning board was whether to grant a use variance because the former Holy Family School is in a residential zoning area. After two hours of presentations and public comments, five of the seven board members voted against approving the use variance. Most of the board members who opposed the use variance said the project would either not fit the character of the neighborhood or bring negative changes to the area.

When the vote was official, most attendees at the meeting applauded.
JND Recognized for Third Time in National Law Journal Hall of Fame

SEATTLE, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- JND Legal Administration (JND), the U.S. leader in legal management and administration services, has again been named the nation's #1 Class Action Claims Administrator by The National Law Journal (NLJ) in its 13th annual 'Best Of' supplement. Having been voted the #1 Class Action Claims Administrator for four consecutive years, JND has received the additional distinction of being listed in the NLJ Hall of Fame for the third time.

JND was founded by Jennifer Keough, Neil Zola and David Isaac in 2016 and was named #1 Class Action Claims Administrator in the country by the National Law Journal in its very first year of operation. The company now staffs more than 300 employees across four offices, offering industry-leading class action settlement administration, eDiscovery and litigation support, incident response, and legal notice services. Routinely selected by attorneys on both sides of the aisle as well as by government agencies and Fortune 500 companies to handle large and complex class action administrations, JND is the settlement administrator for the $2.67 billion Blue Cross Blue Shield Antitrust Settlement, the $1.3 billion Equifax Data Breach Settlement, the largest data breach settlement in history, and the $208 million National Association of Realtors Antitrust Settlement (file a claim at www.realestatecommissionlitigation.com), among hundreds of other recent matters.

"We are honored that the readers of the National Law Journal have selected JND as the nation's top class action claims administration firm for the fourth straight year," says Jennifer Keough, CEO of JND. "We thank our clients for their continued trust and confidence in handling their most complex matters."

Every year since its founding, JND has received the top honor from a leading legal publication. In addition to the National Law Journal, JND has also achieved top rankings in other ALM Media-administered regional programs, including Best of the Midwest, Best of New York Law Journal, Best of New Jersey Law Journal and Best of Texas Lawyer, for providing exceptional legal management and class action administration services.

To access the full online edition of The National Law Journal 'Best of 2024' Survey, click here.

About JND Legal Administration

JND Legal Administration is the nation's foremost legal services management and settlement administration solutions provider. Founded by industry veterans Jennifer Keough, Neil Zola, and David Isaac, the company serves plaintiff and defendant law firms, global corporations, and U.S. government entities across five main service lines and has offices in California, Minnesota, New York, and Washington. For more information, visit www.JNDLA.com.

Media Contact:

Joe Sexton

JND Legal Administration

[email protected]

Tel: +1 800-207-7160

www.JNDLA.com

SOURCE JND Legal Administration
Submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) of Stapokibart (CM310) for the treatment of moderate-to-severe AD in adults. The NDA was accepted by the China's NMPA and granted priority review.

NMPA and granted priority review. Advanced a Phase III clinical study of Stapokibart for the treatment of CRSwNP in 2023. The results of the clinical trial are positive with co-primary endpoints both achieved. We expect to file an NDA for CRSwNP indication in 2024.

Launched and advanced Phase III clinical studies respectively to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Stapokibart in patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis under background therapy and in adolescent subjects with moderate-to-severe AD.

Entered into a global exclusive license agreement with AstraZeneca for the research, development, registration, manufacturing and commercialization of CMG901 and received an upfront payment of US$63 million in 2023. As of the date of this announcement, AstraZeneca has conducted multiple clinical studies regarding CMG901/AZD0901 for the treatment of advanced solid tumors.

in 2023. As of the date of this announcement, AstraZeneca has conducted multiple clinical studies regarding CMG901/AZD0901 for the treatment of advanced solid tumors. Rapidly expanded manufacturing capacity and continue to recruit talents to meet the growing needs of commercialized sales of products, research and development, clinical, production and operation of the Company.

CHENGDU, China, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Keymed Biosciences Inc. (HKEX: 02162) today announced its 2023 annual results, along with recent pipeline highlights and corporate updates.

"We made solid advances across our business in 2023 toward our goal to become a fully-integrated innovative biopharmaceutical company," said Dr. Bo Chen, Chairman, Executive Director, and Chief Executive Officer of Keymed Biosciences. "We successfully filed for NDA for Stapokibart (CM310), gaining priority review status, and have reported positive results from multiple clinical studies. We continued to develop our innovative and differentiated pipelines, actively explored value-accretive strategic partnerships, further expanded our cGMP-compliant manufacturing capacity and efficiently prepared for the company to become a commercial organization. The year 2024 is set to be an exciting one for Keymed, as the commercialization of our first product will propel us from being a clinical-stage biotech to a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company. We will build on our plans to enable the successful launch of our product, as we continually strive to develop, manufacture and commercialize innovative biological therapies for patients worldwide."

Pipeline Highlights

The progress of core pipeline products:

Stapokibart (CM310) (IL-4R antibody)

Submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) of Stapokibart (CM310) for the treatment of moderate-to-severe AD in adults. The NDA was accepted by the China's NMPA and granted priority review.

NMPA and granted priority review. Launched a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled Phase III clinical study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Stapokibart in adolescent subjects with moderate-to-severe AD in February 2024 , and the patient enrollment is currently in progress.

, and the patient enrollment is currently in progress. Advanced a Phase III clinical study of Stapokibart for the treatment of CRSwNP and completed the unblinding of data from the double-blind treatment period and the preliminary statistical analysis in December. The results of the Phase III clinical trial are positive with co-primary endpoints both achieved. We expect to file an NDA for CRSwNP indication in 2024.

Launched and advanced a Phase III clinical study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Stapokibart in patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis under background therapy in 2023, and a multi-center, single-arm Phase II clinical study to evaluate the safety of Stapokibart in patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis.

Our partner, CSPC, has initiated the critical Phase II/III clinical study for the treatment of moderate-to-severe asthma, and the patient enrollment is currently in progress.

CMG901/AZD0901 (Claudin 18.2 antibody conjugated)

Entered into a global exclusive license agreement with AstraZeneca for the research, development, registration, manufacturing and commercialization of CMG901 and received an upfront payment of US$63 million in 2023.

in 2023. As of the date of this announcement, AstraZeneca has conducted multiple clinical studies regarding CMG901/AZD0901 for the treatment of advanced solid tumors.

In November 2023 , the latest data from Phase I clinical study of CMG901 in the treatment of advanced gastric/gastroesophageal junction (G/GEJ) cancer has been presented by way of oral presentation at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Plenary Series. Among 89 evaluable patients with claudin 18.2-positive G/GEJ cancer confirmed objective response rate (ORR) and confirmed disease control rate (DCR) were 33% and 70%, respectively. Among others,CMG901 showed a 42% confirmed ORR in 2.2 mg/kg dose cohort, with median progression free survival (mPFS) of 4.8 months.

CM313 (CD38 antibody)

Continuously proceeded with a Phase I clinical trial of CM313 to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, immunogenicity, and preliminary efficacy of CM313 monotherapy in hematological malignancies including relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) and lymphoma.

In June 2023 , we presented, in the form of a poster, the latest data from the Phase I clinical study of CM313 for the treatment of RRMM and relapsed/refractory lymphoma at the 28th European Hematology Association (EHA) Congress 2023. CM313 exhibited a good safety profile in general in this study for it at dose levels of 2.0 mg/kg and yielded preliminary efficacy in patients with RRMM.

, we presented, in the form of a poster, the latest data from the Phase I clinical study of CM313 for the treatment of RRMM and relapsed/refractory lymphoma at the 28th European Hematology Association (EHA) Congress 2023. CM313 exhibited a good safety profile in general in this study for it at dose levels of 2.0 mg/kg and yielded preliminary efficacy in patients with RRMM. Continuously proceeded with a Phase Ib/IIa clinical study in 2023 to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, immunogenicity and preliminary efficacy of CM313 injection in subjects with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

In December 2023 , the latest data from the investigator-initiated single-arm, open-label, exploratory clinical study to evaluate CM313, which aimed to evaluate the safety and preliminary efficacy of CM313 for the treatment of primary immune thrombocytopenia in adults, were presented in a poster form at the 65th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting. As of June 30, 2023 , a total of 21 patients were enrolled in the study. 7 subjects completed 8 treatments with follow-up period of more than 8 weeks. Among the 7 patients, 100.0% (7/7) achieved a platelet count 50  109/L within 8 weeks after administration with the first dose, with a median time to response of 1 week (range from 1 to 3).

CM326 (TSLP antibody)

Continuously proceeded with a Phase II clinical study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of CM326 in adult patients with moderate-to-severe AD.

Continuously proceeded with a Phase Ib/IIa clinical trial to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics, immunogenicity, and preliminary efficacy of CM326 in subjects with CRSwNP.

Our partner, CSPC, has initiated the Phase II clinical study for the treatment of moderate-to-severe asthma.

Progress of other pipeline products:

CM355/ICP-B02 (CD20xCD3 bispecific antibody)

Continuously proceeded with a Phase I/II clinical trial to assess the safety, tolerability, PK, and the preliminary anti-tumor activity of CM355 in relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (r/r NHL). As of the date of this announcement, all the 13 patients who were treated CM355 at dose 6mg achieved response with the ORR of 100%.

CM336 (BCMAxCD3 bispecific antibody)

Continuously proceeded with a Phase I/II clinical study in 2023 to assess the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and the anti-tumor activity of CM336 in RRMM.

CM350 (GPC3xCD3 bispecific antibody)

Continuously proceeded with a Phase I/II clinical study in 2023 to assess the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and the preliminary efficacy of CM350 in patients with advanced solid tumors.

CM338 (MASP-2 antibody)

Continuously proceeded with a Phase II clinical study in 2023 to evaluate the efficacy and safety of CM338 injection in subjects with immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN).

CM369/ICP-B05 (CCR8 antibody)

Continuously proceeded with a Phase I trial to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetic characteristics, and efficacy of CM369 in subjects with advanced solid tumors and relapsed or refractory NHL. We will explore the combination of CM369 with other immunotherapies in various cancer indications after collecting the safety data of monotherapy.

CM383 (A protofibrils antibody)

Submitted an IND application for CM383 in February 2024 , and we are about to conduct a Phase I clinical study of the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and immunogenicity of single dose-escalation administration in healthy subjects.

Financial and Business Highlights

Revenue amounted to RMB354 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 , mainly representing collaboration income from AstraZeneca in respect of granting the relevant license; R&D expenses increased by RMB89 million to RMB596 million ; As at December 31, 2023 , our time deposits, cash and cash equivalents and bank wealth management products amounted to RMB2,719 million .

for the year ended , mainly representing collaboration income from AstraZeneca in respect of granting the relevant license; R&D expenses increased by to ; As at , our time deposits, cash and cash equivalents and bank wealth management products amounted to . The production capacity of the production base in Chengdu has reached 18,600 litres in total, and all the designs thereof are in compliance with the requirements of cGMP of the NMPA and FDA.

has reached 18,600 litres in total, and all the designs thereof are in compliance with the requirements of cGMP of the NMPA and FDA. Continue to recruit talents to meet the growing needs of commercialized sales of products, research and development, clinical, production and operation of the Company.

About Keymed Biosciences Inc.

Keymed Biosciences Inc. (HKEX: 02162) focuses on the urgent unmet clinical needs, and is committed to providing high-quality, affordable, innovative therapies for patients in China and overseas. Keymed was founded by medical and scientific experts from world-renowned universities who have strong experience in the transformation of scientific and technological achievements to commercialization at home and abroad. The core leadership team includes the inventors of the first PD-1 antibody drugs that were pioneered and approved in the United States and China. The Company was listed on the main board of Hong Kong Stock Exchange on July 8, 2021.

To accelerate the efficiency of our research and discovery, we have established a fully-integrated platform encompassing all of the key functions in the biologic drug development. These include target validation, lead molecule discovery and optimization, preclinical evaluation, process development, translational research, clinical development and manufacturing. This integrated platform has enabled us to rapidly and cost-effectively identify, build, expand and advance our diversified pipeline of innovative and differentiated antibody-based therapies, including monoclonal antibodies, antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) and bispecific antibodies.

For more information, please visit www.keymedbio.com.

SOURCE Keymed
NEW STUDY PATHWAYS TO ASIA, EUROPE, AND LATIN AMERICA

OSLO, Norway and TAMPERE, Finland, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Keystone Education Group ("Keystone") has announced today the acquisition of global education providers, Edunation and Asia Exchange.

Fredrik Hogemark, CEO of Keystone, said, "This is a landmark moment in the history of Keystone, opening the door for millions of students to study opportunities in Asia, Europe, and Latin America.

"Last year, 120 million students used Keystone as part of their study search journey, and over 70,000 directly enrolled into a program through our services. With the help of Edunation and Asia Exchange, we expect to support thousands more in 2024 and beyond.

"These students will benefit from access to an expanded range of programs, including gap years, study abroad, pathways, and full degrees.

"We have built a strong network of international education agencies across Europe, and now it is time to take the next step in our global strategy by expanding further into the Asia-Pacific region," he said.

Founded by Harri Suominen and Tuomas Kauppinen, Asia Exchange was established in 2007 to help others benefit from the "life-changing experience" of studying abroad - inspired by their own experiences as exchange students in Asia during the mid-2000s.

Ten years later, they launched Edunation in 2017, providing pathways to work and study in the founders' native Finland, and it has grown quickly to become the nation's leading provider in recruiting foreign students to Finland.

"We are proud and humbled to be able to join a global powerhouse in the field of international education, especially one with roots in the Nordics," said Suominen.

"Asia Exchange will bring substantial strategic benefits to Keystone Education Group as the Asia authority of study abroad with a unique model enabling accessible study abroad for the many, not the few. Edunation has been committed to revolutionizing international student recruitment, guided by a vision of creating pathways for students worldwide to access high-quality education opportunities in the Nordics.

"With Keystone, we will further elevate our services and offerings to students, educational institutions, and partners throughout the Nordics and beyond. We are excited to welcome more international talents to the happiest countries in the world. Together, we will make a true impact," he said.

Asia Exchange has helped 10,000 students from 115 different countries to study at universities in unique destinations such as South Korea, Bali Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Costa Rica, and Mexico.

Edunation focuses on expanding global access to Finnish education, cooperating with Finnish universities and colleges to provide degree programs, top-ups, language training and pathways for more than 1000 students every year. It has strong strategic partnerships with many Finnish employers, with the goal of not only helping with education, but also securing students a job in the "happiest country in world".

On Keystone's long-term vision, Hogemark said the deal would bring the company closer to its ultimate goal of becoming "the global leader in education matchmaking," offering a comprehensive one-stop solution for all student marketing and recruitment needs while helping students along their educational journey.

"We aim to be a valued partner for both students and universities, connecting and supporting them throughout the entire process  from research and discovery to application, enrollment, and retention," he said.

"Whether a student wants to find study options at home or abroad, our mission is to help them discover and successfully access these opportunities."

The deal follows the acquisition of German study search platform studddy in 2023, as well as key players within international student marketing and recruitment, including FindAUniversity, UniQuest, and a range of student-athlete agencies such as AGM Sports, Sport-Scholarships, and Future Elite.

Edunation and Asia Exchange will join Keystone's network of student recruitment agencies within the Keystone Study Abroad division, including Blueberry and Study Outside Norway (SONOR).

For press queries, please get in touch with Ashlee-Maree Courtney-Eman, VP of Corporate Marketing ([email protected] , +47 475 13 692 )

For investor queries, please get in touch with:

Kenneth Nyhus Hanssen, Chief Financial Officer ( [email protected] , +47 41352703)

Fredrik Soderlindh, Head of M&A ( [email protected] , +46 707 976 595).

About Keystone Education Group

Keystone is trusted by more than 120 million students annually, helping them pursue higher education. In turn, Keystone helps over 5500 education institutions reach, recruit, and enroll prospective students in more than 190 countries across 500+ student websites, including Masterstudies.com, Bachelorstudies.com, Fernstudium.ae, Studentum.se, and FindaPhD.com.

Keystone also operates a range of global student recruitment services including UniQuest, Blueberry, SONOR, and Keystone Sports. Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, Keystone is backed by Viking Venture and Verdane, two leading Nordic venture firms. Keystone has more than 800+ employees worldwide, with offices across the Nordics, Germany, Spain, and the UK.

About Asia Exchange and Edunation

Asia Exchange provides access to study abroad in unique destinations in Asia. We focus on affordable semesters abroad, summer and language schools, and full degrees. We offer study-abroad opportunities also in Europe and Americas via Beyond Abroad. All programs are conducted in English, and all come with one day acceptance process.

Edunation helps students to reach their professional ambitions, by helping them to gain world-class education and career. We help students from around the world to have access to Nordic education system and lifestyle, through our pathway and university collaboration.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/keystone-academic-solutions/r/keystone-education-group-acquires-asia-exchange-and-edunation,c3952220

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SOURCE Keystone Academic Solutions
Kogod's Proactive AI Education Framework Prepares Students for a Competitive and Changing Job Market

WASHINGTON, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Kogod School of Business at American University announced today that artificial intelligence (AI) is now infused into its academic curriculum and day-to-day practices. The full rollout of more than 20 new and updated courses in the fall 2024 semester ensures incoming and existing Kogod students graduate with industry-leading expertise in AI and machine learning (ML). Kogod's plan also includes faculty and staff trainings, new certificate offerings for students, private sector engagement and partnership, and operational overhauls to remain current as new technology develops.

Kogod School of Business infuses AI throughout its curriculum.

With the new curricular changes, Kogod students will master prompt engineering and programmingessential AI concepts and toolsand will gain experience with R, Python and AI/ML Models. The redesigned curriculum consists of "AI Sage" courses, which include deep immersion into the use of AI in a real-world context, and "AI Artisan" courses, which discuss the application of AI in a more abstract and theoretical way. AI courses and workshops are also now requirements of the undergraduate core curriculum for incoming students. Not only will students learn how to use different AI platforms and tools, but they will also learn about the inherent risks and ethical challenges underlying AI technology.

"Artificial intelligence is here to stay, and business students need to be prepared to utilize applications for generative AI on day one of their future jobs," said Kogod School of Business Dean David Marchick. "To prepare our students to enter the global marketplace, we are being aggressive and bold with our curriculum. American University, like many others, is accelerating its AI-focused research agenda. But the driving force behind the changes we announce today is the impact we will have on the student experienceand on student outcomes after they leave us."

Kogod has made deep investments in hiring faculty with AI/ML expertise. Angela Virtu and Shawn Janzen joined Kogod in 2023, and two additional experts in AI/ML will join the full-time faculty this fall. A significant number of Kogod's faculty currently use AI tools in their coursework, and real-time learning for faculty and staff ensures coursework and the school's day-to-day practices are aligned with the rapidly changing field of AI. In April, Kogod will host the first of many industry panels featuring executives across sectorsfrom marketing to finance to techwhere AI is driving business change.

"Digital transformation is not new, but to see it at such scale is very telling," said Gwanhoo Lee, chair of Kogod's Department of Information Technology & Analytics. "Kogod is moving swiftly to adapt to the market, and we are eager to continue updating and improving our approach as the AI landscape continues to change at pace."

Learn more about the Kogod School of Business' approach to artificial intelligence education here.

ABOUT KOGOD SCHOOL OF BUSINESS:

American University's Kogod School of Business, established in Washington, D.C., more than 60 years ago, aims to equip and empower its community to use business as a force for meaningful change. Kogod graduates are leaders on Wall Street and in the corporate world, but also work for non-profits, government agencies and social-service organizations. Washington, D.C., serves as a laboratory for learning through work, internships, and other forms of experiential education. Kogod is the oldest accredited business school in Washington, D.C. The school is accredited by The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International), which represents the highest standard of achievement for business schools worldwide.

ABOUT AMERICAN UNIVERSITY:

American University leverages the power and purpose of scholarship, learning, and community to impact our changing world. AU's faculty, students, staff, and alumni are changemakers who shape the future from sustainability to social justice to the sciences. Building on our 130-year history of education and research in the public interest, we say 'Challenge Accepted' to addressing the world's pressing issues. Our Change Can't Wait comprehensive campaign creates transformative educational opportunities, advances research with impact, and builds stronger communities.

SOURCE American University
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and DENVER, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Kytopen Corp., a leader in the development of manufacturing platforms and workflows for advanced therapeutic medicines, announces the launch of the Flowfect Technology Access Program ("TAP") for early access to partners. TAP provides therapeutic partners with a Flowfect Tx manufacturing system and hands-on support from Kytopen's specialized field applications team to take partner therapeutics from proof-of-concept testing through process development optimization and into clinical and commercial manufacturing.

Kytopen's Flowfect platform uniquely integrates continuous fluid flow with electric fields to gently deliver payloads to engineered cells and extracellular vesicles for a range of therapeutic and research applications. This highly tunable system of adjusting mechanical, electrical, and chemical variables maximizes cell health, safety, and platform scalability across a range of cell types and payloads.

"The Kytopen team is excited and proud to launch our Technology Access Program. Flowfect is innovative in that it is a purpose-built manufacturing platform that can scale down to R&D and process development." said Kytopen CEO, Michael Chiu, Ph.D. "Our combination of a continuous transfection platform, a high throughput process development platform, and a world-class applications team means our partners will be able to rapidly move their advanced therapeutics to manufacturing."

"The Flowfect platform is compelling which inspired us to collaborate with Kytopen to rapidly plan different workflow formulations for loading mesenchymal stem/stromal cell (MSC) derived extracellular vesicles." said Jon Rowley, Founder and Chief Product Officer at RoosterBio. "Kytopen's technical team has been fantastic to work with as we are developing exosome loading applications with potential broad utility to advanced therapy product developers."

Earlier this year, Kytopen significantly expanded its process development and applications team with the hiring of researchers formerly from Artisan Bio, a developer of novel CRISPR editing systems and cell therapies, to support the incoming Technology Access Program partners and development of templated manufacturing processes for emerging non-viral applications. "Our new team has brought in applied industry skills across immunology, advanced computational analysis, mammalian CRISPR editing, off-target editing safety, and process development optimization, and will work closely with our TAP partners to accelerate their development and achieve manufacturing success," said Luke Ursell, Ph.D., Kytopen's VP of Business Development. This expansion of commercial and application capabilities was supported by a financing round that closed in January and was led by Northpond Ventures.

The Kytopen commercial team will be attending upcoming conferences at Meeting on the Med in Rome in April, and BIO Interational in San Diego in June. Please reach out to [email protected] to request more information on the Flowfect Technology Access Program.

About Kytopen

Kytopen, headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts and with an R&D site in Denver, Colorado, is a leading biotechnology company specializing in the development and commercialization of non-viral manufacturing platforms to accelerate the processes of manufacturing, development, and discovery of advanced therapeutic applications. In May 2023, Kytopen unveiled the Flowfect Discover, an automated high-throughput genome engineering system, and disclosed strategic partnerships with industry-leading Contract Development and Manufacturing Organizations (CDMOs) and translational academic medical centers. By combining Flowfect Discover with the large-scale manufacturing Flowfect Tx system in process development workflows, developers can now surmount manufacturing challenges during the discovery stage, fostering swifter and more cost-effective innovation. For more information on Flowfect, please contact [email protected].

SOURCE Kytopen
GREENWICH, Conn., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- L Catterton, a leading global consumer-focused investment firm, today announced a significant investment in Storyteller Overland (the "Company"), a leading innovator in adventure vehicle manufacturing.

Since its founding in 2018, Storyteller Overland has grown to become a trusted provider of premium Class B RV and expedition vehicles designed to empower lifelong adventurers to embark on unforgettable journeys. In addition to its vehicles sold at more than 40 dealers across the U.S., the Company also offers adventure gear, accessories, and technology for a loyal community of outdoor lifestyle enthusiasts, with a reputation for superior quality and craftsmanship.

With the support of L Catterton's investment, Storyteller Overland plans to accelerate its product development initiatives, invest in manufacturing capabilities, and enhance its dealer network to better serve a growing customer base. Additionally, the partnership will enable Storyteller Overland to explore new opportunities for expansion and innovation within the outdoor adventure market.

"With its strong product offering, sizable dealer network, and engaged community of adventurers, Storyteller Overland is the clear leader in the adventure vehicle space," said Matt Nugent, a Partner in L Catterton's Growth Fund. "In just a few years since its founding, Storyteller Overland has captured considerable market share and has established itself as the new standard of excellence for Class B RVs. We look forward to working with the Storyteller Overland team to continue growing its adventurer community and to help them reach new levels of success."

"We are so excited for this brilliant partnership with L Catterton," said Jeffrey Hunter, CEO of Storyteller Overland. "Their deep expertise in the consumer sector, coupled with their track record of supporting high-growth companies, makes them an ideal partner as we continue to expand our business and bring our vision of adventure to more people around the world."

L Catterton has significant experience investing in outdoor brands. Current and past investments in the space include Pinarello, Getaway, Airxcel, Truck Hero, Heartland RV, and Leslie's, among others.

L Catterton is joined by RX3 Growth Partners, Wheelhouse, and Virentes Partners Group.

About L Catterton

L Catterton is a market-leading consumer-focused investment firm, managing approximately $34 billion of equity capital across three multi-product platforms: private equity, credit, and real estate. Leveraging deep category insight, operational excellence, and a broad network of strategic relationships, L Catterton's team of more than 200 investment and operating professionals across 17 offices partners with management teams to drive differentiated value creation across its portfolio. Founded in 1989, the firm has made around 275 investments in some of the world's most iconic consumer brands. For more information about L Catterton, please visit lcatterton.com.

About Storyteller Overland

Storyteller Overland is a Birmingham, AL-based authentic adventure lifestyle brand with a strong, industry-leading presence and reputation for innovation in the burgeoning Class B RV and expedition vehicle manufacturing space. Founded in 2018 by a stellar team of custom vehicle manufacturing veterans and outdoor lifestyle enthusiasts, the company's prime directive is to constantly inspire and equip its growing community of roadtrippers, vanlifers, overlanders, and nomads with the proper gear, resources, and mindset to "Live Free. Explore Endlessly. Tell Better Stories." Along with its flagship MODE adventure vans and GXV HILT adventure trucks, Storyteller Overland offers a unique see-thru pricing model coupled with a style of customer service and community engagement that provides an unprecedented level of on-demand technical and warranty support for all of its owners out on the open road and beyond.

Contact:



L Catterton

Julie Hamilton

[email protected]

+1 203 742 5185

Storyteller Overland

Summer Rogers

[email protected]

+1 205 243 2557

SOURCE L Catterton
A report from Leaf Home finds rising bottled water consumption, untested taps, and low public awareness of threats to drinking water.

NEW YORK, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- A new study by Leaf Home highlights a significant disconnect between Americans' concerns about drinking water and their actual habits. The study reveals that, despite citing contaminants as their top worry, a vast majority of Americans (63%) have never had their drinking water tested. Additionally, the study found a significant rise in bottled water consumption (69%), increasing by nearly 20% since 2022. These findings also showcase a dependence on unreliable indicators of water safety, such as taste and appearance, and a lack of awareness about threats from microplastics and forever chemicals.

To eliminate this knowledge gap and empower communities, Leaf Home and Nextdoor are partnering on a multi-city initiative leading up to National Drinking Water Week, the first week of May. Free water testingboth in-home and in public locationswill be offered in select cities, starting with Tampa, Houston, Cleveland and Detroit. Members of the community are encouraged to share their results on the Nextdoor app to elevate awareness of local tap water conditions with neighbors, and potentially win free home water purification systems.

"There's a surprising contrast between people's behavior, concerns, and awareness of water issues," said Jon Bostock, CEO at Leaf Home. "This new study exposes a blind spot of consumers relying on guesses about water safety. Americans are overwhelmingly unaware of threats like forever chemicals, which traditional filtration methods may not be equipped to handle and are silently showing up in 60% of U.S. tap water."

Key findings from the report include:

Lack of awareness about drinking water quality and safety.

Only 13% of Americans know about forever chemicals (PFAs) and 17% about microplastics.

Nearly a quarter have received a boil water advisory, which did not impact the trust in drinking water for 41%.

66% are interested in learning more about their home's water quality and safety; the rate increases to 72% in urban areas.

Taste, appearance, and smell are the top factors used by Americans to determine the safety of drinking water.

Top Issues and Solutions.

Contaminants, hard water, taste, and chlorine are the top issues cited by Americans about drinking water.

The top water purification solutions in place are bottled water, refrigerator filters, and pitcher-style filtration.

One third of Americans think nothing can be done to improve their water quality or don't know what to do.

By working together, Leaf Home and Nextdoor aim to raise awareness about water quality and provide actionable solutions for healthier homes. As 95% of Nextdoor neighbors are the main/joint household decision-makers, Nextdoor is the perfect place to drive awareness around Leaf Home's filtered water solutions.

To view the full report, please visit: https://www.leafhome.com/2024-better-water-together-report

About the report

Leaf Home worked with Morning Consult to survey 2,193 respondents in the United States February 28, 2024, and March 4, 2024 about their attitudes, perceptions, and concerns about tap water.

About Leaf Home

Leaf Home , is a home improvement products and services company in North America with more than 200 locations, providing gutter protection (LeafFilter), home safety products, water purification, windows and doors, kitchen and bath, and more. With more than 50% of consumers worried about the cost and effort of home maintenance, Leaf Home focuses on enhancing the safety, enjoyment and comfort of homeowners and their families. Trusted by millions of homeowners across U.S. and Canada, Leaf Home and its products have earned numerous awards and recognition from Good Housekeeping, Qualified Remodeler, Angi, Consumer Reports, This Old House and more. Leaf Home has been consistently named one of the fastest growing private companies by Inc 5000 and recognized as a top employer nationally. For more information, visit https://www.leafhome.com

About Nextdoor

Nextdoor (NYSE: KIND) is the neighborhood network. Neighbors, businesses of all sizes, and public agencies in more than 330,000 neighborhoods across 11 countries turn to Nextdoor to connect to the neighborhoods that matter to them so that they can thrive. As a purpose-driven company, Nextdoor leverages innovative technology to cultivate a kinder world where everyone has a neighborhood they can rely on  both online and in the real world. Download the app or join the neighborhood at nextdoor.com. For more information and assets, visit nextdoor.com/newsroom.

Media Contact: [email protected], 813-526-1195

SOURCE Leaf Home Solutions
Reflecting on the extended partnership, Napolitano remarked, "My advocacy for gold and silver as foundational elements of economic security aligns seamlessly with Lear Capital's mission. I am delighted to further our collaboration, championing the essential work of safeguarding personal wealth against the fiscal uncertainties perpetuated by our government's policies."

Napolitano's influence extends beyond his role with Lear Capital, as he continues to enlighten audiences through his weekly show "Freedom File" on Newsmax's N2 streaming service, and his "Judging Freedom" podcast and YouTube channel. His platforms consistently draw about 10 million viewers monthly, offering critical perspectives on freedom, law, and governance.

Kevin DeMeritt, Founder and Chairman of Lear Capital, expressed his enthusiasm about the continued alliance, stating, "Having Judge Napolitano, with his profound expertise and respected voice, continue to stand with us is a great honor. His 24-year tenure at Fox News resonated with countless Americans, and we are thrilled to reconnect him with viewers and listeners who value his wisdom and insights."

Since March 2023, Lear Capital's campaigns featuring Napolitano have reached audiences nationwide, emphasizing the importance of precious metals in financial planning and wealth preservation.

About Lear Capital:

Founded in 1997, Lear Capital is a leading precious metals company. Lear Capital provides the tools needed to securely purchase and sell precious metals. The company offers a diverse suite of intelligent resources including real-time pricing, regular email alerts, newsletters, and personal sales representatives to answer questions. Lear Capital enables its customers to stay current on the latest developments in the gold and precious metals market.

For more information, please visit http://www.learcapital.com .

SOURCE Lear Capital
RUSKIN, Fla., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Lennar, one of the nation's leading homebuilders, has announced the start of sales at Townes at Southshore Pointe, offering brand new, contemporary townhomes at an exceptional price point, just south of greater Tampa.

Lennars Tampa Division is now selling at Townes at Southshore Pointe, a new townhome community in Ruskin, Fl. With prices starting in the $200,000s, Townes at Southshore Pointe opens the door of home ownership to a wide range of future residents.

"Townes at Southshore Pointe are beautifully designed and finished, giving homebuyers the opportunity to own their own Lennar home with pricing that begins in the high $200,000s," said Lennar Tampa Division President Steve Smith. "This will be a valuable addition to the community and opens the door of home ownership to a wide range of future residents ready to enjoy the best that the Southshore Area of Tampa has to offer."

Townhomes at Southshore Pointe range from 1,513 to 1,634 square feet, with two to three bedrooms and two-and-a-half baths. The all-two-story floorplans  Windsor, Glenmoor and Hampton  offer convenient, open-concept designs that maximize space and flow easily between modern kitchens, generous living areas, versatile loft spaces, comfortable bedrooms and lavish owner's suites.

Each townhome includes covered patios, an attached one-car garage and modern exteriors with complimentary color palettes that differentiate each unique residence.

Every townhome also offers Lennar's signature Everything's Included program, where the homebuilder's most popular options and upgrades are built into the base price of the home. At Townes at Southshore Pointe, this includes solid surface countertops, ceramic tile throughout and stainless steel appliances, along with a host of other carefully curated interior touches and designer fixtures.

Pricing for townhomes at Townes at Southshore Pointe begins in the high $200,000s.

Residents at Townes at Southshore Pointe will enjoy a future pool and cabana amenity exclusive to residents, and a location surrounded by major highways for convenient commutes across the Tampa Bay area.

The popular Bahia and Apollo beaches are a short drive away, as are neighborhood shopping and dining, and world-class medical services at St. Joseph's Hospital.

Townes at Southshore Pointe is located at 222 Tulip Banded Way in Ruskin, Florida. The community is selling by appointment only. For more information, call (844) 478-5429 or visit the Townes at Southshore Pointe community website.

About Lennar Corporation

Lennar Corporation, founded in 1954, is one of the nation's leading builders of quality homes for all generations. Lennar builds affordable, move-up and active adult homes primarily under the Lennar brand name. Lennar's Financial Services segment provides mortgage financing, title and closing services primarily for buyers of Lennar's homes and, through LMF Commercial, originates mortgage loans secured primarily by commercial real estate properties throughout the United States. Lennar's Multifamily segment is a nationwide developer of high-quality multifamily rental properties. LENX drives Lennar's technology, innovation and strategic investments. For more information about Lennar, please visit www.lennar.com.

Contact: Danielle Tocco

Vice President Communications

Lennar Corporation

[email protected]

Direct Line: 949.789.1633

SOURCE Lennar Corporation
ATLANTA, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Liquid Web, in collaboration with VMware, today announced the launch of their brand new business continuity solution: Disaster Recovery, powered by VMware Cloud Director Availability (VCDA).

As a leading provider of cloud hosting for small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs), the VCDA addition to Liquid Web's Private Cloud solution empowers businesses with proven disaster recovery capabilities, providing confidence in the face of uncertainty.

"Our new Business Continuity offering prevents lost revenue and defends our customers against cyberattacks." Post this

With efficient onboarding featuring simplified migrations, configurable RPOs, and reliable data-loss protection, disaster recovery ensures swift restoration from outages.

Plans are customized to fit the needs of each customer, but all disaster recovery plans include flexible application recovery, continuous DR health checks, detailed reporting, on-demand resiliency, and non-disruptive testing so customers can quickly orchestrate and ensure their disaster recovery plans meet their needs.

"We continue to innovate our Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BCDR) solutions that add powerful capabilities to reduce customer risk and protect their bottom line," says Ken Wallace, Liquid Web's VMware Product Manager. "We're pleased to offer new capabilities in Business Continuity that will prevent loss of revenue and defend our customers against cyberattacks, including ransomware."

Beyond business continuity, customers also benefit from Liquid Web's enterprise-level features and functionality at affordable prices for small to midsize businesses. Combining VMware's multi-cloud capabilities with the strength of Liquid Web's managed offerings, customers gain peace of mind knowing their business continuity needs are met.

Liquid Web Private Cloud, powered by VMware, allows businesses to confidently expand their online presence, handle increased traffic, and meet the evolving demands of their customers. The solution is ideal for businesses that want to consolidate resources to reduce costs, modernize their infrastructure for increased performance, reliability, and security, or simply add scalability to better position for future growth.

Small and mid-size businesses seeking enterprise-grade solutions access all the advantages of traditional public cloud  workload flexibility, scalability, and rapid provisioning  with the security of an isolated, high-performance dedicated infrastructure.

"We're focused on providing growing businesses with a cost-effective way to rapidly deploy cloud-hosted websites and applications while delivering the power of an enterprise solution  all at a price point that SMBs can afford and with the help they need every step of the way," says Wallace.

Learn more about Private Cloud Powered by VMware , and contact Liquid Web to get a custom disaster recovery quote today.

About Liquid Web

Building on 25+ years of success, Liquid Web delivers industry-leading hosting for mission-critical sites, stores, and applications to SMBs and the designers, developers, and agencies who create for them. Currently managing over 500,000 sites, Liquid Web's expansive reach is a testament to its reliability and the trust it has garnered from its customers. The company's success is built on the foundation of a world-class team of industry experts dedicated to delivering excellence 24/7/365. As a leader in customer service, the rapidly expanding brand has been recognized among INC. Magazine's 5000 Fastest-Growing Companies for 12 years. Learn more about Liquid Web .

Media Contact

Andy Bissonette

Sr. Director of Marketing, Liquid Web

[email protected]

SOURCE Liquid Web
PHOENIX  The room sits behind a chain-link fence, then black iron gates. Guards block the entrance, which requires a security badge to access. The glass surrounding it is shatterproof.

What merits all these layers of protection is somewhat surprising: tabulating machines that count votes in Arizona's Maricopa County.

The security measures are a necessary expense, said the county's recorder, Stephen Richer, as Arizona and its largest county became hotbeds of election misinformation that drives harassment toward election workers.

"What would be even more of a shame is if we couldn't look the workers in the eye and say we're doing everything possible to make sure that you're safe," he said.

Richer's job is to oversee voter registration and early voting, but much of his time has been diverted to preparing for disinformation and its consequences. The state's razor-thin presidential outcome in 2020 made it a national epicenter for conspiracy theories about voter fraud and phony results.

The false claims promoted by prominent Republican candidates drove protesters to rally outside vote-counting centers and to patrol drop boxes. They have led to death threats against election workers and their families and prompted top election officials to quit.

Election meddlers also attempted to hack the state's electronic systems, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said.

The challenges come as understaffed and underfunded election offices nationwide deal with persistent misinformation and harassment of election workers, artificial intelligence deepfakes, potential cyberattacks from foreign governments and criminal ransomware attacks.

With looming elections this fall, Republican Richer and Democrat Fontes are taking more aggressive steps than ever to rebuild trust with Arizona voters, knock down disinformation and immediately address threats.

They said they are hoping it's enough to counter an onslaught they know is coming in November.

Fontes, a Marine Corps veteran, brought his military mindset to the office since he started last year. He deployed "tiger teams" to troubleshoot problems and hosted simulations on AI-generated disinformation.

He also created a four-person information security team. One member is solely devoted to monitoring the internet for election-related disinformation and threats.

Conservatives in other states balked at their election offices partnering with companies to track online postings, arguing it enables government surveillance and censorship. Arizonans voting before last Tuesday's presidential primary in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe also weren't convinced.

"You're monitoring it for threats? Sure. You need to ensure safety," said Thomas Abia, 40. But he called monitoring for falsehoods a "gray area."

Fontes defends the need for the dedicated staffer, whose name he declined to share to protect that person's safety.

"Yeah, we are surveilling a certain group," he said. "We're surveilling people that want to destroy our democracy. And that's not political."

The team's leader, chief information security officer Michael Moore, used to do similar work for Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix. He said after seeing threats that disrupted workers' lives, he believes those who spread misinformation are responsible.

"Sophisticated snake oil salesmen are telling people what they want to hear in the election conspiracy vein  and that emboldens people to take action," Moore said.

Fontes and Richer agree that rebuilding public trust will require transparency.

Fontes is testing a statewide system for voters to receive text messages when their ballot is mailed, delivered, returned and counted. Richer recently hosted his first "Ask Me Anything" live video session on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

Misinformation created doubt among many voters.

Jane Carter, a 62-year-old property manager, is one of them. The Republican said she doesn't have faith in election officials.

"I don't have a lot of confidence in anybody that's doing anything, really," she said.

Carter said her concerns grew when a 101-year-old she looks after received multiple ballots in the mail.

Signature verification and other security measures make the chances of fraud by mail ballot exceedingly low. But Richer said he has been culling voter lists to minimize the number of ballot packets sent to the wrong place, in hopes it can boost voter confidence.

His office also posts 24-hour live feeds of the tabulation center, even when some activists harassed workers shown on camera.

"We continue to default on the side of transparency and then try to address the consequences when they're negative," he said.

Turning around public perception is proving difficult.

In the recent presidential primary, Richer noticed a conservative activist complaining on X about receiving two mailed ballots. He suspected she changed addresses too close to the election, resulting in a second ballot delivered to her new home.

That would be no cause for concern: As soon as the new ballot went out, the county's system would void the initial ballot and it would never be counted.

Richer responded to the post to explain but people on the internet still used the post to claim elections weren't reliable.

Richer said he's had to accept that some people won't change their minds.

When a voter during the presidential primary posted on X to say "I don't trust you," Richer responded the best way he knew how.

"OK," he wrote. "Let me know if there's anything I can do to help you think otherwise."

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
Black Lotus Labs reveals how TheMoon malware used end-of-life routers to power a notorious cybercrime service called Faceless, urges consumers to secure devices

DENVER, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Black Lotus Labs, Lumen Technologies' (NYSE: LUMN) threat intelligence team, has identified a new multi-year campaign targeting end-of-life, or outdated small office/home office (SOHO) routers and IoT devices. An updated version of TheMoon malware has reemerged and is fueling a cybercriminal anonymity service called Faceless. Lumen has stopped all traffic to and from the infrastructures associated with TheMoon and Faceless across its global network. Small office routers continue to be a key target for cybercriminals. In less than two years, Black Lotus Labs has discovered six large malware campaigns using compromised SOHO routers.

For detailed technical analysis of TheMoon and Faceless, read our latest blog, "The Darkside of TheMoon".

Cybercriminals join forces

Lumen first reported on TheMoon in 2019. It reemerged in 2023 and quietly operated while growing to over 40,000 web robots (bots) from 88 countries in the first two months of 2024. Black Lotus Labs discovered that most of these bots are used as the foundation of a notorious, cybercriminal-focused proxy service known as Faceless. TheMoon allowed Faceless operators to anonymously send malicious traffic through outdated routers and devices owned by consumers and small businesses.

"Black Lotus Labs' advanced network visibility allows us to uncover threats other researchers can't see. TheMoon botnet quietly returned with its criminal operations, but we were able to see it and stop the attacks across our network," said Mark Dehus, senior director of threat intelligence at Lumen Black Lotus Labs. "The attackers behind Faceless are using the botnets from this malware to create an anonymous proxy network by abusing outdated and unsupported routers to run their criminal networks. We believe these cybercriminals are using these networks to steal data and information from their victims, including the financial sector."

How it works

Black Lotus Labs believes TheMoon is the main or sole provider of bots to Faceless. This proxy service gives its users the chance to impersonate a legitimate user in a chosen country. Faceless doesn't require customer identification. This allows users to stay anonymous as they send malicious traffic through the routers attempting to steal valuable data.

"TheMoon malware is a serious threat not only to the owners of the compromised SOHO devices, but also the victims exploited through this anonymous proxy network," continued Dehus. "We urge consumers to update and secure their devices to prevent them from becoming part of these malicious networks."

Stopping the threat

Consumers and businesses should take steps to protect their routers from cybercriminals.

Reboot : Consumers who use SOHO routers should regularly reboot their devices and install security updates and patches when available.

: Consumers who use SOHO routers should regularly reboot their devices and install security updates and patches when available. Update old routers: Consumers and business should replace end-of-life devices with vendor-supported models to help ensure security updates are in place.

IT professionals:

Install protection : Remote workers can invite threats to a company network. Install Web Application Firewalls to protect company assets from communicating with bots.

: Remote workers can invite threats to a company network. Install Web Application Firewalls to protect company assets from communicating with bots. Monitor activity : Look for suspicious login attempts, even those that come from residential IP addresses.

: Look for suspicious login attempts, even those that come from residential IP addresses. Encrypt data: Use the latest cryptographic protocols, such as TLS (Transport Layer Security) to encrypt data sent over the internet. This helps secure email and website services.

Cybersecurity threats are growing and putting organizations at risk. Lumen will soon offer a new proactive defense solution that spots and isolates threats before they reach business networks and applications. This provides protection against advanced cyberattacks and malicious activity. Businesses can also turn to Lumen Rapid Threat Defense, powered by Lumen Black Lotus Labs threat intelligence. The team uses global network data from the Lumen network, one of the world's largest and most deeply peered networks. Experienced researchers use their expertise to create machine learning algorithms that detect, classify, and validate threats.

For more tips on best practices for securing routers, visit Canadian Centre for Cyber Security.

Threat protection continues

Black Lotus Labs has added the threat intelligence from this campaign into the Lumen security portfolio to help quickly detect these threats in the future. The team continues to monitor new infrastructure to identify and stop suspicious behaviors and attacks. To help protect the larger cybercrime ecosystem, Lumen shares its research with experts in the broader security research community so they can also identify and act on these threats.

Additional information

About Lumen Technologies:

Lumen connects the world. We are igniting business growth by connecting people, data, and applications  quickly, securely, and effortlessly. Everything we do at Lumen takes advantage of our network strength. From metro connectivity to long-haul data transport to our edge cloud, security, and managed service capabilities, we meet our customers' needs today and as they build for tomorrow. For news and insights visit news.lumen.com, LinkedIn: /lumentechnologies, Twitter: @lumentechco, Facebook: /lumentechnologies, Instagram: @lumentechnologies, and YouTube: /lumentechnologies.

SOURCE Lumen Technologies
HARRISBURG, Pa., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- d'Vinci Interactive has launched Mandated Reporter Academy, a comprehensive, evidence-based, online training solution for people obligated to report child abuse. At the heart of the solution is the iLookOut for Child Abuse training course, an interactive training program developed by a team of professionals from Penn State College of Medicine, including original course creator Dr. Benjamin Levi, and experts in abuse prevention and reporting, and online learning.

The interactive iLookOut program has a video-based storyline that immerses learners in realistic scenarios, challenging them to make decisions on how to respond to possible abuse. This approach prepares mandated reporters to meet their professional, ethical, and legal responsibilities.

A video-based storyline immerses learners in realistic scenarios to learn how to respond to possible child abuse. Post this

Recognizing the challenges organizations have in making sure their employees and volunteers receive this essential training, d'Vinci has licensed iLookOut and related educational resources from The Penn State Research Foundation. d'Vinci can tailor the course to meet the varied training requirements mandated across all states and for different types of organizations.

iLookOut is the recommended course for Head Start nationwide, is certified in Pennsylvania and Maine, and meets training requirements for those states. The iLookOut curriculum in Mandated Reporter Academy was developed and modified based on a significant study funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. That study found that learners taking the iLookOut course had greater changes in knowledge and attitudes about the subject matter than standard online mandated reporter training. Other studies have also shown that iLookOut has more innovative features, such as gamification and microlearning, than other available mandated reporter training solutions.

Beyond the core iLookOut course, Mandated Reporter Academy provides additional training and support materials, catering to both individual and institutional needs. For organizations, Mandated Reporter Academy offers powerful tools to efficiently distribute, manage, and report on training completion and certification. The tools help organizations streamline the compliance process and ensure that their employees and volunteers are well prepared to act in the best interest of the children they serve.

States and organizations can implement Mandated Reporter Academy, including the iLookOut online course by contacting d'Vinci at [email protected].

About d'Vinci Interactive:

d'Vinci Interactive specializes in creating educational experiences that combine creative design, educational content, and technology solutions. d'Vinci pushes the boundaries of online education in critical areas such as child abuse prevention and reporting.

Media Contact: Susan Cort, 717-901-4123

SOURCE d'Vinci Interactive
EHR Software Provider Serving College Health and Counseling Clinics Reinforces Its Commitment to Security

ATLANTA, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Medicat, the leading provider of electronic health record (EHR) software solutions for colleges and universities across the United States, proudly announces the attainment of the Texas Risk and Authorization Management Program (TX-RAMP) Level 2 Certification.

The achievement of this certification reaffirms Medicat's dedication to delivering an EHR solution tailored to the security needs of its two dozen college and university clients located in Texas.

TX-RAMP is a cybersecurity framework designed to ensure that cloud computing services used by Texas public entities, such as public schools, meet strict security standards to protect sensitive data.

"Reaching Texas RAMP Level 2 Certification is a significant milestone for Medicat and underscores our longstanding commitment to providing best-in-class EHR solutions to college health and counseling clinics," said Michael Meyers, Director of Information Technology at Medicat. "This achievement reflects our continuous efforts to prioritize data security and uphold the highest standards of excellence in serving our clients."

Medicat empowers institutions to streamline clinical processes, enhance patient care, and improve the student experience. With TX-RAMP Level 2 Certification, Medicat further solidifies its position as a trusted partner for colleges and universities seeking a robust, compliant, and secure EHR solution.

To learn more about the certification and Medicat's other commitments to security and compliance, please visit our website .

About Medicat

Medicat is the #1 EHR software provider in college health . Student health and counseling clinics use Medicat to support practice management, documentation, workflow automation, and the student experience, enabling providers to do what they do best  keeping students healthy.

SOURCE Medicat
The Coalition Aims to Harness the Unique Perspective and Collective Power of Black Mayors on the Front Lines of the Fight Against Crime

Over 20 Mayors and Representatives from 12 States Will Attend the Inaugural Meeting

MEMPHIS, Tenn., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Memphis Mayor Paul Young, in partnership with the African American Mayors Association (AAMA), announced the launch of the Black Mayors' Coalition on Crime (BMCC), an initiative to harness the collective power of black mayors across the nation to fight crime. The inaugural meeting will take place in Memphis on March 27-28 and will host 21 mayors and their proxies from Washington D.C., IN, TN, MO, MS, LA, AR, GA, AZ, CA, and NC. Young has received support from big-city mayors, including Mayor Eric Adams from New York City and Mayor Karen Bass from Los Angeles.

Memphis, Tennessee Mayor Paul Young

"For the first time in history, we have an unprecedented number of black mayors in some of our biggest cities: Mayor Adams in New York City, Mayor Bass in Los Angeles, and Mayor Johnson in Chicago, to name a few," said Young, "not to mention hundreds of others, like myself who represent millions of Americans in small-to-medium and large-sized cities across the country. Many of these leaders come from the communities most affected by crime, so they have a unique perspective on solving it."

"Across our great and diverse country, there's one thing that every city has in common: public safety is the prerequisite to prosperity," said New York City Mayor Adams. "As a former police officer, I know firsthand that public safety is not just about keeping people safe  it is also about making sure people feel safe. I applaud Mayor Young for convening the Black Mayors Coalition on Crime to have an honest conversation around protecting our cities and delivering peace of mind at a time when our communities need it most."

Dr. Russell Wigginton, President of the National Civil Rights Museum (NCRM), will facilitate the two-day event. It will include a keynote by the Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ) on crime trends and perspectives in the U.S. Cities will also present case studies on successful crime-fighting initiatives, including "Operation SCARLET" (Stolen Car & Recovery Law Enforcement Team) from Charlotte, NC, and "Operation Good" from Jackson, MS.

As the largest majority-minority city in the United States, Mayor Young presides over a city, like most cities in America, wrestling with the issue of crime. Young has been outspoken about his approach to crime since entering office on January 1, 2024. He will spearhead the high-profile national initiative because he believes these issues can be solved if mayors can collaborate and provide a powerful, unified voice representing millions of constituents.

According to a recent Gallup poll of Americans, worry about crime in the U.S. is at its highest level since 2016, and according to government national crime data, the U.S. homicide rate is at its highest point in 25 years.

"The time is now for us to speak with one voice, to call for national and local policy change and funding, and to share our collective learnings to create the meaningful change that will reduce crime in all of our communities," said Young.

When asked if participation was limited to black mayors, Young said that the Coalition will be open to anyone who can contribute to solving the issue, stating, "My hope is that this will be the start of a broad ongoing national effort to find real solutions to this very complex issue. I believe we can leverage our collective platforms to create change in the policies, laws, and resources needed to reverse the trend and heal our communities. We cannot wait."

Phyllis Dickerson, CEO of the African American Mayors Association, says, "I'm excited about this new initiative and the fresh perspective Mayor Young brings to confronting crimean urgent quality-of-life matter in our cities and communities. It's clear that this united front among our mayors paired with bold strategies is necessary. He commands our full backing and support."

A press briefing is scheduled after the closed-door Mayors' meeting on Thursday, March 28 at 3:30pm CT in downtown Memphis and will also be broadcast live via Zoom. If you'd like to attend in-person or online, please email [email protected].

Media contact:

Lindsay Stevens

213-200-9638

SOURCE Black Mayors Coalition on Crime
Latest COMvergence Report Ranks Mindshare #1 Globally in New Billings

NEW YORK and LONDON and SINGAPORE and SHANGHAI, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Mindshare, the media services company that is part of GroupM and WPP, has capped off a stellar first quarter of 2024 with a string of impressive award wins across several prestigious industry rankings and award shows. Accolades for the agency include Global Agency Network of the Year at the MMA SMARTIES X, Media Agency of the Year at the MMA SMARTIES North America, and Media Network of the Year at Spikes Asia, along with taking the #1 spot in both the WARC Media 100 and Effective 100 rankings. Additionally, Mindshare is ranked #1 globally in new billings for 2023 by COMvergence.

Mindshare global awards list

"The breadth of these recognitions is a testament to the trust and collaborative partnership we've built with our clients," said Adam Gerhart, Global CEO, Mindshare. "When clients lean in, embrace true partnership, and make brave decisions with us, the impact of the work is undeniable in driving measurable growth and positive impact for their businesses."

Global Agency Network of the Year at MMA SMARTIES X

Mindshare was named Global Agency Network of the Year, and Mindshare China was named Media Agency of the Year, at the MMA SMARTIES X Awards, which honors global marketing campaigns that achieve significant business impact through innovation. The agency network took home 32 awards across North America and APAC, including 13 Gold, 9 Silver, 9 Bronze and Best in Show for Mindshare China for its Louis Vuitton Aranya Show campaign. Additionally, WPP took home the award for Holding Agency Company of the Year.

Media Agency of the Year at MMA SMARTIES North America

Mindshare triumphed at the MMA Smarties North America awards, a premier awards program recognizing excellence and creativity in modern marketing campaigns. Mindshare was named Media Agency of the Year for North America and netted 9 Gold, 3 Silver and 7 Bronze for campaigns driving innovation in commerce, social impact, full-funnel marketing, and more. Among its wins, the agency took home Best in Show for its #StandUpToJewishHate campaign with the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism (FCAS) and WPP sister agency VML.

#1 Agency in 2024 WARC Media 100 and 2024 WARC Effective 100

Mindshare's New York office secured the #1 position on the 2024 WARC Media 100, solidifying the agency's position as a global leader in media excellence. Mindshare also secured the #2 spot globally for Media Network, highlighting the consistent strength of its full network worldwide, with award-winning campaigns in different markets spanning Unilever, Tyson Foods, the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, Castrol, Visit Sweden, Honest Eggs Co, and BlackRock. Mindshare offices in the top 100 Media Agencies, all of which made the top third of the list, include London (#14), Shanghai (#20), Melbourne (#22), and Ho Chi Minh City (#32).

Mindshare New York also took the #1 Media Agency spot for effectiveness and was ranked as one of the top ten global networks for effectiveness on the 2024 WARC Effective 100, the ultimate independent global benchmark celebrating excellence in advertising effectiveness.

"Creativity and effectiveness are inextricably synonymous. There is a persistent industry myth that creating effective media programs means depriving them of creativity and bold ideas and relying on 'tried-and-true' approaches," says Gerhart. "The work that WARC does helps to dispel that myth and thread the link between the two. Being the top agency for the WARC Media 100 and WARC Effective 100 underscores this connection. I'm proud of our accomplishments and grateful for our clients' fierce commitment to big ideas, risk-taking, and enduring growth."

Media Network of the Year at Spikes Asia

Mindshare was honored as Media Network of the Year by Spikes Asia, APAC's most prestigious and sought-after award for creativity and marketing effectiveness. This recognition highlights Mindshare's commitment to delivering exceptional media solutions for its clients across the Asia Pacific region. Mindshare was credited in the Media category with four wins (1 Gold, 1 Bronze, 2 Shortlists). In addition, the agency was credited across other categories with 5 Grand Prix, 4 Gold Spikes, 2 Silver Spikes, 1 Bronze Spike and 16 Shortlists.

Innovation and Impact Leading to Good Growth

Mindshare's award-winning performance is a testament to its unwavering commitment to delivering Good Growth for its clients. This dedication is further underscored by COMvergence's latest report, which ranked Mindshare #1 in new billings globally for 2023, securing an impressive $1.89 billion. The agency's success across diverse brands and award-winning campaigns exemplifies its ability to leverage data-driven insights and creative approaches to drive enduring business results.

About Mindshare

Mindshare is a media services company that accelerates Good Growth for its clients in the age of transformation. The solutions we create are both Good for consumers and drive Growth for our clients. We were the first purpose-built company created by WPP and today we are 10,000 people working in 116 offices in 86 countries, helping to drive Good Growth for our clients, our people, the industry, and the world. www.mindshareworld.com

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2371380/V3_Mindshare_GLobal_Awards_List.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/378623/mindshare_Logo.jpg
Dr. Omar Ishrak and Dr. Gil Weinberg to Headline Medical Tech Conference

AUSTIN, Texas, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The upcoming UltraCon 2024 conference, organized by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM), is set to spotlight groundbreaking advancements in medical technology with keynotes from industry luminaries Dr. Omar Ishrak and Dr. Gil Weinberg. This premier event, taking place from April 610 in Austin, Texas, will draw professionals from across the medical imaging spectrum to discuss the future of ultrasound technology and its applications.

"With visionaries like Dr. Ishrak and Dr. Weinberg leading our keynote sessions, we're not just looking at the future of ultrasound; we're actively shaping it," said Dr. Richard Hoppmann, MD, FACP, FAIUM, President of the AIUM. "Their groundbreaking work exemplifies the spirit of innovation that drives our field forward, offering new ways to enhance patient care and improve lives."

Known for his transformative leadership at Medtronic and GE Healthcare Systems, Dr. Ishrak has been a central figure in the advancement of medical technology, consistently championing the expansion and integration of ultrasound technology across various facets of healthcare. In his upcoming presentation, "Views on the Future of Ultrasound Technology," Dr. Ishrak will provide a comprehensive overview of ultrasound technologyfrom technical innovations to its critical role in clinical improvement and its strategic importance in the healthcare ecosystem. He will also highlight the remarkable opportunities it presents for widespread application and accessibility, as well as discuss the expanding use of ultrasound not only in diagnostics but also in enhancing clinical outcomes.

"The future of ultrasound technology lies at the intersection of innovation and patient care," stated Dr. Ishrak. "Ultrasound will play a significant role in shaping the future of healthcare, and at UltraCon 2024, I look forward to exploring how advancements in imaging can redefine what's possible in diagnostics and treatment."

Attendees can also look forward to insights on the application of high-intensity ultrasound as a direct form of therapy, and how the innovative combination of high-intensity ultrasound with pharmaceutical approacheslike liquid biopsy and the increased permeability of the blood-brain barriercan revolutionize patient care.

Also taking the stage will be Dr. Weinberg, whose keynote, "Sonic Prosthetics: Giving Amputees Robotic Arms That Play By Ear," will explore the intersection of robotics, music, and prosthetics. Dr. Weinberg's pioneering work in developing prosthetic robotic arms for amputees demonstrates a novel use of ultrasound signals to control robotic limbs with unparalleled precision and musicality. This innovative approach not only advances prosthetic technology but also opens new possibilities for amputees to engage in musical creation, showcasing the potential of robotics to enhance human expression and rehabilitation.

"By harnessing the power of ultrasound and machine learning, we aim to provide amputees not just with new limbs, but with new possibilities for expression and interaction," said Dr. Weinberg. "This innovative approach exemplifies the incredible advancements we can achieve when we blend technology with the human spirit of resilience and creativity, and I'm excited to share my learnings with UltraCon attendees in Austin."

As UltraCon 2024 prepares to welcome attendees in Austin, it sets the stage for discussions that will likely shape the trajectory of medical technology in the years to come. With its focus on innovation, the conference is poised to highlight the transformative impact of advanced technologies on medical diagnostics, treatment, and patient care.

For registration and additional information about UltraCon 2024, please visit https://ultracon2024.eventscribe.net/ .

For a list of all UltraCon 2024 exhibitors, please visit this link .

About the AIUM

The American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine plays a vital role in advancing the application and understanding of ultrasound in medicine. Through its commitment to education, research, and the establishment of clinical standards, the AIUM ensures that its members are at the forefront of medical excellence and patient care.

SOURCE American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM)
WASHINGTON, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- George W. S. Abbey, former director of NASA's Johnson Space Center, died Sunday, March 24, in Houston after an illness. The Seattle native was 91.

"A true visionary, Mr. Abbey demonstrated transformational leadership as Johnson's seventh center director. During his tenure, the space shuttle flew more than 25 successful missions; the joint U.S. and Russian Shuttle-Mir Program was completed, providing important information for long-duration spaceflight," said Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA Johnson. "He was instrumental in the Johnson team's involvement in developing and launching the first elements of the International Space Station, which marked the beginning of a new era in space exploration. On behalf of NASA's Johnson Space Center, we send our condolences to Mr. Abbey's loved ones during this difficult time."

Abbey had a long and storied career in human spaceflight that began with NASA in 1964 and continued beyond his retirement from the agency. As the director of flight operations, he oversaw selection of NASA's first space shuttle astronauts, mission operations, and the new shuttle program's approach and landing tests.

From 1987 to 1993, Abbey supported NASA Headquarters in Washington, serving in key roles in human spaceflight, and on the National Space Council. He returned to Johnson in 1994, first as deputy director, then director, leading the development and launch of the space station. Abbey retired from the agency in 2003.

In December 2021, NASA named the Saturn V rocket display park outside Johnson's main gate for Abbey. Abbey instituted the Longhorn Project, a vital STEM program that provides students with hands-on agricultural experiences and academic scholarships. He leaves behind a legacy of excellence and lasting impact as he will continue to inspire over 1.2 million visitors who visit the George W.S. Abbey Rocket Park annually.

"Abbey's dedication to human spaceflight remained steadfast. As the NASA family mourns his passing, we are grateful for his leadership and the legacy he leaves behind," Wyche said.

Abbey is survived by his five children, his eight grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, nieces, and nephews.

Learn more about Abbey's career in support of NASA at:

https://www.nasa.gov/people/george-w-s-abbey/

NASA Johnson Space Center news releases and other information are available automatically by sending an Internet electronic mail message to [email protected]. In the body of the message (not the subject line) users should type "subscribe hsfnews" (no quotes). This will add the email address that sent the subscribe message to the news release distribution list. The system will reply with a confirmation via E-mail of each subscription. Once you have subscribed you will receive future news releases via e-mail.

SOURCE NASA
WASHINGTON, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA has chosen the first science instruments designed for astronauts to deploy on the surface of the Moon during Artemis III. Once installed near the lunar South Pole, the three instruments will collect valuable scientific data about the lunar environment, the lunar interior, and how to sustain a long-duration human presence on the Moon, which will help prepare NASA to send astronauts to Mars.

Artist's concept of an Artemis astronaut deploying an instrument on the lunar surface. Credits: NASA

"Artemis marks a bold new era of exploration, where human presence amplifies scientific discovery. With these innovative instruments stationed on the Moon's surface, we're embarking on a transformative journey that will kick-start the ability to conduct human-machine teaming - an entirely new way of doing science," said NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy. "These three deployed instruments were chosen to begin scientific investigations that will address key Moon to Mars science objectives."

The instruments will address three Artemis science objectives: understanding planetary processes, understanding the character and origin of lunar polar volatiles, and investigating and mitigating exploration risks. They were specifically chosen because of their unique installation requirements that necessitate deployment by humans during moonwalks. All three payloads were selected for further development to fly on Artemis III that's targeted to launch in 2026, however, final manifesting decisions about the mission will be determined at a later date. Members of these payload teams will become members of NASA's Artemis III science team.

The Lunar Environment Monitoring Station (LEMS) is a compact, autonomous seismometer suite designed to carry out continuous, long-term monitoring of the seismic environment, namely ground motion from moonquakes, in the lunar south polar region. The instrument will characterize the regional structure of the Moon's crust and mantle, which will add valuable information to lunar formation and evolution models. LEMS previously received four years of NASA's Development and Advancement of Lunar Instrumentation funding for engineering development and risk reduction. It is intended to operate on the lunar surface from three months up to two years and may become a key station in a future global lunar geophysical network. LEMS is led by Dr. Mehdi Benna, from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

Lunar Effects on Agricultural Flora (LEAF) will investigate the lunar surface environment's effects on space crops. LEAF will be the first experiment to observe plant photosynthesis, growth, and systemic stress responses in space-radiation and partial gravity. Plant growth and development data, along with environmental parameters measured by LEAF, will help scientists understand the use of plants grown on the Moon for both human nutrition and life support on the Moon and beyond. LEAF is led by Christine Escobar of Space Lab Technologies, LLC, in Boulder, Colorado.

The Lunar Dielectric Analyzer (LDA) will measure the regolith's ability to propagate an electric field, which is a key parameter in the search for lunar volatiles, especially ice. It will gather essential information about the structure of the Moon's subsurface, monitor dielectric changes caused by the changing angle of the Sun as the Moon rotates, and look for possible frost formation or ice deposits. LDA, an internationally contributed payload, is led by Dr. Hideaki Miyamoto of the University of Tokyo and supported by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency).

"These three scientific instruments will be our first opportunity since Apollo to leverage the unique capabilities of human explorers to conduct transformative lunar science," said Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration in NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. "These payloads mark our first steps toward implementing the recommendations for the high-priority science outlined in the Artemis III Science Definition Team report."

Artemis III, the first mission to return astronauts to the surface of the Moon in more than 50 years, will explore the south polar region of the Moon, within 6 degrees of latitude from the South Pole. Several proposed landing regions for the mission are located among some of the oldest parts of the Moon. Together with the permanently shadowed regions, they provide the opportunity to learn about the history of the Moon through previously unstudied lunar materials.

With the Artemis campaign, NASA will land the first woman, first person of color, and its first international partner astronaut on the Moon, and establish long-term exploration for scientific discovery and preparation for human missions to Mars for the benefit of all.

For more information on Artemis science, visit:

https://science.nasa.gov/lunar-science

SOURCE NASA
"Demand for our products continues to grow and opening this new facility  our first manufacturing operation in North Carolina  allows us to better serve our consumers, particularly in the eastern and southeastern parts of the country," Purina Chief Executive Officer Nina Leigh Krueger said. "Our new factory in Eden is a huge step to continue meeting that growing demand, and the latest example of the continued investment being made across our U.S. manufacturing network. We're grateful for the support and partnership across the region, and are confident we're building a facility, and a passionate team, that will represent this community proudly for generations to come."

The new Purina factory in Eden has already created more than 300 new positions, with plans to add more personnel in the future. Between 2020 and 2025, Nestle is on track to invest $2 billion in Purina's factory and capital expansion projects to enhance its manufacturing footprint. A 24th factory is currently under construction in Williamsburg Township, Ohio, and is expected to be fully operational in the next 12 months. North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper recognized the significant investment and commitment from all parties to make the facility a reality.



"We continued to believe that the brewery in Eden could be used for a new manufacturer and we are excited that with this grand opening Nestle Purina is ready to make a new home in North Carolina with 300 new employees," said Governor Cooper. "They will find here a well-trained, dedicated and diverse workforce along with support for their efforts to have this new plant embrace renewable energy and sustainability."

The grand opening celebration also featured North Carolina State Senator Phil Berger who spoke alongside several other Purina leaders including Chief Technical Officer Nolan Terry, Manufacturing Vice President Casey Hansen and Eden Factory Manager Will Steiner. Rockingham County Economic Development Director Leigh Cockram also spoke on behalf of the region.

"Factory of the future"

The new 1.3-million-square-foot Purina facility in Eden  which repurposes 80 percent of a former brewery's existing structure  features several modern technologies which transform and enhance the overall production process, including the first-ever vertical dryer installed in a Purina U.S. factory as well as automated systems in warehousing and the freezer space. The new facility also features a first-of-its-kind Manufacturing Experience Center, designed to introduce modern manufacturing to the next generation of workforce.

"We have been looking forward to this day for a very long time and are so grateful for the contributions of so many incredible associates who've been working hard to bring this factory to life" said Will Steiner, factory manager of the new Purina factory in Eden. "So much amazing collaboration has gone into this project, but what's most exciting is we can now really get to work and produce many of our pet food brands that pets love and owners trust. We have a great team in place to bring Purina's quality and safety standards to life in Eden."

Nestled on 1,350 acres extending to the Virginia state line, the new Purina factory in Eden, North Carolina, marks the 23rd Purina manufacturing operation in the U.S. Eden will operate as a zero waste for disposal facility. Across its manufacturing network, Purina is working to conserve water and achieve 100 percent renewable electricity at its factories by 2025.

Community donations

The grand opening event featured donations from Purina to local organizations granted through its Trust Fund, which was established by company founder William H. Danforth and supports partners working to positively impact communities where Purina has operations.

Purina made a $30,000 donation to expand industrial and applied technologies programs at Rockingham Community College. The funds support the opening of a new Center for Workforce Development building, enhancing the community's current and future workforces with training opportunities to better support high-technology employment opportunities. The 3D printing room inside the new structure will also be named in honor of Nestle Purina. The check was presented to Mark Kinlaw, President of Rockingham Community College.

Purina's $10,000 donation to Dan River Basin Association supports the organization's 'Tails on Trails' initiative, designed to encourage pets and people to explore nature together. The program will host bi-monthly guided hikes designed with pets in mind and provide printed maps of dog-friendly trails around Rockingham County; as well as an online map featuring dog-friendly trails across the entire 16-county Dan River Basin. The check was presented to Tiffany Haworth, Executive Director of Dan River Basin Association.

Purina also recently delivered a donation which helped renovate and reopen the Purina Bark Park inside Freedom Park in Eden; helped fund the installation of an electronic kiosk at the Rockingham County Veterans Park; and supported Help, Incorporated and the opening of a new facility, the SquareOne Family Justice Center, which provides crisis care to abuse victims in a centralized location. The local team regularly supports Rockingham County Animal Shelter and Friends of Eden Animal Rescue with donated product, and also helps feed the K9 officers of the Eden Police Force.

In 2023, Purina invested more than $30 million to support programs that aim to bring and keep pets and people together and to forge partnerships that help communities and the environment thrive.

About Nestle Purina PetCare

Nestle Purina PetCare creates richer lives for pets and the people who love them. Founded in 1894, Purina has helped dogs and cats live longer, healthier lives by offering scientifically based nutritional innovations. Purina manufactures some of the world's most trusted and popular pet care products, including Purina ONE, Pro Plan, Friskies and Tidy Cats. Our more than 11,000 U.S. associates take pride in our trusted pet food, treat and litter brands that feed 46 million dogs and 68 million cats every year. More than 500 Purina scientists, veterinarians, and pet care experts ensure our commitment to unsurpassed quality and nutrition.

Purina promotes responsible pet care through our scientific research, our products, and our support for pet-related organizations. Over the past five years, Purina has contributed more than $150 million towards organizations that bring, and keep, people and pets together, as well as those that help our communities and environment thrive.

Purina is part of Nestle, a global leader in Nutrition, Health and Wellness. For more information, visit purina.com or subscribe here to get the latest Purina news.

SOURCE Nestle Purina PetCare
Highlights:

Phase I testing used three surface bulk samples and 19 composites from drill core comprising the full range of rock types and gold and silver grades encountered across Atlanta . Mineralization at Atlanta can be broadly characterized by two major host domains: 1) Silicified breccias found within and below the main Atlanta unconformity, and 2) Volcanics found above the main Atlanta unconformity ( refer to cross sections A-A and B-B in Figures 3-4 below).





. Mineralization at can be broadly characterized by two major host domains: 1) Silicified breccias found the main unconformity, and 2) Volcanics found the main unconformity ( Results of Phase I support conventional Nevada oxide processing methods for Atlanta whereby :



Silicified breccias are amenable to conventional milling for high-grade material and High-Pressure Grinding Roll (" HPGR ") crushing and heap leaching for the lower-grade material.



Volcanics are amenable to conventional milling for high-grade material and Conventional Crush or Run-of-Mine (" ROM ") heap leaching for the lower-grade material.





: Applicable to process plant scenarios , gold extraction from fine milling at a 200-mesh grind (P80=75m) show a weighted average extraction of 91.7% for gold hosted in volcanics and 85.9% for the high-grade silica breccias .





, gold extraction from fine milling at a 200-mesh grind (P80=75m) show a weighted average extraction of and . Silver extraction from fine milling at a 200-mesh grind (P80=75m) show a weighted average 65.3% in the volcanics and 41.3% in the silica breccias. At coarser crush size silver extractions are similar between the two metallurgical domains.





Applicable to heap leach scenarios , gold extraction from conventional crushing (P80=12.5 mm) shows a weighted average extraction of 87.1% for gold hosted in volcanics. Gold extraction from HPGR crushed composites (using medium press force) shows a weighted average 71.4% extraction from low-grade silica breccias .





, gold extraction from conventional crushing (P80=12.5 mm) shows a weighted average extraction of Gold extraction from HPGR crushed composites (using medium press force) shows a weighted average . A Phase 2 metallurgical PQ core drilling program has now been completed to fill some gaps in the target resource envelope and further laboratory testing utilizing material from this drilling is scheduled to start later in 2024. The location of these holes can be found in the drill hole plan map below in Figure 2.

Bulk Sample and Phase 1 metallurgical test work at Atlanta has been supervised by Gary Simmons (MMSA QP Number: 01013QP), formerly the Director of Metallurgy and Technology for Newmont Mining Corp. Mr. Simmons has supervised and managed numerous Carlin-style metallurgical testing programs in the Great Basin with characteristics similar to those found at Atlanta.

Mr. Simmons commented, "Historic production at Atlanta focused on near-surface high-grade silica breccia ores that were processed and recovered using conventional oxide milling practices. Historical records (1979-85) indicate recoveries from the silica breccias necessitated a fine-grind milling and Merrill-Crowe recovery process that averaged 81% for gold and 42% for silver at ball mill grind P 80 = 120m (microns). This historical milling operation was challenged by the hard and abrasive nature of the silica breccias, resulting in elevated-maintenance and operating costs in primary, secondary, and tertiary crushing circuits.

"Today's results confirm that conventional oxide milling, and HPGR crush heap-leach or ROM heap-leach, depending on mineralization type, are well suited for processing gold and silver mineralization at Atlanta. Referring to a conceptual Atlanta generalized flowsheet in Figure 1 below, a straightforward process breaks out the host mineralization into their respective silica breccia and volcanic units, running high-grade mineralization through a mill and processing lower grade material via a combination HPGR crush and ROM heap leaching. The adoption of HPGR crushing technology (used at other mines in Nevada and around the world) will eliminate SAG milling of silica breccias and high-grade volcanics that in turn should result in reduced overall operating cost against a conventional SABC (Semi-Autogenous-Ball Mill-Crusher) circuit design. It is anticipated that this process will be more cost-effective than historical methods, resulting in lower process cutoff grades and potential for economic extraction of gold and silver from a larger volume of material."

Collin Kettell, Founder & CEO of Nevada King, stated, "Positive results from the Phase 1 metallurgical test work released today indicate a clear path forward for processing Atlanta's gold and silver mineralization via a combination of crushed and run-of-mine heap leaching together with conventional milling of high-grade mineralization. In a major departure from historical processing and test-work at Atlanta, the potential for using HPGR crushing, as indicated by Phase 1 enhanced test recoveries, could result in very significant benefits and opportunities for flow sheet development in a future potential mining operation. Test results also indicate significantly higher Au/Ag recoveries in the volcanic section, which is fast becoming a major component of the overall mineralized footprint at Atlanta. Looking forward, ongoing resource modeling and metallurgical studies will focus on optimizing the potential economics of mining and processing scenarios utilizing the alternative process options for which this Phase 1 testing program has indicated positive extraction results."

Test Results Summary:

Atlanta mineralized resources have been characterized into two major resource categories for gold and silver processing: 1. Silicified breccias (mineralized material in and below the main Atlanta unconformity) and Volcanics (mineralized material above the main Atlanta unconformity).

A breakout of the materials tested above and below the Atlanta unconformity and the laboratory metallurgy gold extraction test results are summarized in Table 1. A full range of rock types at Atlanta have been tested and test results clearly show the significant metallurgical difference between the silicified breccias and the volcanics. A similar table summarizing silver extractions for Atlanta can be found in Table 2.

Silicified breccias, below the unconformity, are hard and abrasive rocks and have a high degree of sensitivity to process feed particle size.

Victory Metals, Inc. (Nevada King Gold Corp.) NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Atlanta Project dated December 22, 2020 , reported historic Atlanta mill recoveries, for the years 1979-85 at 81% for Au and 42% for Ag, at operating ball mill grind P80 = 120m (microns).





, reported historic mill recoveries, for the years 1979-85 at 81% for Au and 42% for Ag, at operating ball mill grind P80 = 120m (microns). Silicified breccias are amenable to High Pressure Grinding Roll (HPGR) comminution, where high-grade would report to a mill and lower-grade to heap leaching. The determination between higher-grade and lower-grade material will be dependent upon future economic analysis.





Of significant note is that as the silica breccia gold grade decreases (<1.7 ppm Au), gold extraction increases at coarser P80 particle size, as shown in Table 1. Thus, reinforcing the benefit of milling higher grade and HPGR crush-heap leaching of the lower grade resources.





Volcanics, above the unconformity, are relatively insensitive to process feed particle size and can be characterized as equal or similar to central Nevada commercial heap leach operations.





Volcanics are amenable to conventional milling, conventional crush heap leaching and/or ROM heap leaching.

Gold extraction from fine milling at a 200 mesh grind (P80=75m) show a weighted average:

91.7% extraction in the volcanics





87.5 % extraction in the low-grade silica breccias





85.9% extraction in the high-grade silica breccias

Gold extraction from conventional crushing (P80=12.5 mm) show a weighted average:

87.1% extraction from volcanics





62.1% extraction from low-grade silica breccias





37.0% extraction from high grade silica breccias

Gold extraction from HPGR crushed composites show a weighted average:

81.9% extraction from volcanics (only four of the nine volcanic composites were tested using HPGR as the remaining five composites contained elevated levels fines and are not suitable for HPGR processing)





71.4% extraction from low-grade silica breccias (<1.7 ppm Au)





50.4% extraction from high-grade silica breccias











Gold Met Balances



KCA

Sample

No. Comp ID Unconf*1

Abv/Below Atlanta Geology 37m BR 75m BR 1,700m BR 12.5mm Column 25.0mm Column HPGR Column



Formation Subunit Au Ext

% Calc Hd

Au (ppm) Au Ext

% Calc Hd

Au (ppm) Au Ext

% Calc Hd

Au (ppm) Au Et

% Calc Hd

Au (ppm) Au Ext

% Calc Hd

Au (ppm) Au Ext

% Calc Hd

Au (ppm)













































96607 A ATV-3 Above VolInt Qtz latite porph, Int. 83.4 1.820 86.5 1.823 64.6 1.941 70.3 1.874



75.5 1.979



96609 A ATV-5 Above Tww Volc. Ss 93.3 0.312 88.9 0.126 67.4 0.141



72.1 0.140







96616 A ATV-12 Above Tww Dacite tuff 92.8 0.500 96.2 0.521 78.4 0.509 84.7 0.476



87.8 0.500



96617 A ATV-13 Above Tww Dacite tuff 80.4 1.539 84.8 1.498 77.6 1.462



81.5 1.865







96619 A ATV-15 Above VolInt Tuff dike bxa 90.0 6.363 92.0 6.793 82.0 6.927



82.4 7.165







96620 A ATV-16 Above VolInt Qtz latite porph, Int. 90.7 0.529 90.7 0.593 86.6 0.610 88.8 0.633











96621 A ATV-17 Above SBX-2 hydro-breccia 83.9 1.214 88.6 1.324 73.3 1.209 76.1 1.403



81.7 1.440



96622 A ATV-18 Above VolInt Qtz latite porph, Int. 86.7 1.531 88.0 1.639 81.8 1.566 86.3 1.666



88.0 1.615



96623 A ATV-19 Above BXZ Dolomite 97.1 7.951 95.4 7.174 91.8 7.842 93.0 8.250











Wt Average





90.9 2.418 91.7 2.388 83.1 2.467 87.1 2.384 82.0 3.057 81.9 1.384









































96612 A ATV-8 Below Oes Dolomite 78.5 0.237 82.4 0.289 50.8 0.299 44.0 0.218











96610 A ATV-6 Below VolInt tuff dike bxa 94.9 0.375 94.3 0.348 64.0 0.336 44.6 0.249



60.6 0.277



96614 A ATV-10 Below SBX Wk Si Dolomite 77.5 0.244 83.2 0.333 68.9 0.360 57.1 0.331



66.4 0.277



96601 B ABS#1 Below Ol Silicified Dolomite 80.3 0.340 76.6 0.337 55.8 0.344 52.1 0.349



62.9 0.375



96615 A ATV-11 Below SBX SBX 87.0 0.575 87.7 0.570 61.9 0.559 48.4 0.531



62.4 0.558



96605 A ATV-1 Below VolInt Qtz latite porph, Int. 85.8 1.166 86.4 1.157 53.8 1.131 46.2 1.147



60.7 1.121



96603 B ABS#3 Below SBX SBX 91.4 1.549 88.5 1.465 80.6 1.692 82.6 1.422



84.1 1.624



96602 B ABS#2 Below SBX SBX 92.1 1.539 90.2 1.442 74.5 1.599 65.1 1.550



74.1 1.594



Wt Average (<1.7 ppm Au)





88.6 0.753 87.5 0.743 68.3 0.790 61.2 0.725



71.4 0.832









































96613 A ATV-9 Below SBX SBX 91.0 2.344 90.0 2.412 53.3 2.617 39.9 2.534



53.1 2.643



96618 A ATV-14

VolInt Silicified Ryolite Int. 85.0 2.462 80.6 2.248 45.9 1.967 46.8 1.992



54.9 1.958



96611 A ATV-7 Below SBX SBX 93.5 2.487 93.5 2.253 52.8 2.321 35.2 2.306



53.8 2.278



96608 A ATV-4 Below SBX SBX 90.6 4.742 80.5 5.117 47.8 5.009 32.8 5.400



40.9 6.452



96606 A ATV-2 Below BXZ volc tuff bxa 94.1 6.166 88.1 5.961 66.8 6.150







56.3 6.304



Wt Average (>1.7 ppm Au)





91.5 3.640 85.9 3.598 55.5 3.613 37.0 3.058



50.4 3.927









































*1 - Unconformity - Below: Gold Extraction % is highly senstivity to feed particle size, Unconformity - Above: Gold Extraction % has low sensitivity to feed particle size.





Table 1. Gold Metallurgical Results, Bottle Roll & Column Leach Tests















Silver Met Balances*2



KCA

Sample No. Comp ID Unconf*2 Abv/Below Atlanta Geology 37m BR 75m BR 1,700m BR 12.5mm Columns 25mm Columns HPGR Columns



Formation Subunit Ag Ext

% Calc Hd

Ag (ppm) Ag Ext

% Calc Hd

Ag (ppm) Ag Ext

% Calc Hd

Ag (ppm) Ag Ext

% Calc Hd

Ag (ppm) Ag Ext

% Calc Hd

Ag (ppm) Ag Ext

% Calc Hd

Ag (ppm)













































96607 A ATV-3 Above VolInt Qtz latite porph, Int. 43.2 2.5 24.3 4.6 13.1 4.9 12.4 4.0



13.7 5.2



96609 A ATV-5 Above Tww Volc. Ss 55.7 2.0 22.3 3.8 8.2 3.8



9.4 3.07







96616 A ATV-12 Above Tww Dacite tuff 36.0 0.4 8.0 1.5 8.5 0.9 11.6 0.9



8.9 0.8



96617 A ATV-13 Above Tww Dacite tuff 77.9 1.1 37.2 2.3 47.1 1.5



60.6 0.99







96619 A ATV-15 Above VolInt Tuff dike bxa 83.2 69.1 82.3 63.1 38.4 66.6



30.8 65.04







96620 A ATV-16 Above VolInt Qtz latite porph, Int. 20.4 3.4 14.9 3.9 7.4 3.1 6.6 3.7











96621 A ATV-17 Above SBX-2 hydro-breccia 61.1 36.2 64.6 38.6 33.4 38.2 29.1 46.6



37.6 35.8



96622 A ATV-18 Above VolInt Qtz latite porph, Int. 44.4 1.4 34.0 2.1 44.4 1.2 27.2 1.8



23.8 1.9



96623 A ATV-19 Above BXZ Dolomite 52.6 32.0 56.9 33.9 35.6 31.4 45.4 45.0











Wt Average





68.1 16.5 65.3 17.1 34.3 16.9 34.7 17.0 30.3 23.033 33.6 10.9









































96612 A ATV-8 Below Oes Dolomite 40.0 1.0 20.2 1.8 5.7 2.3 8.8 1.0











96618 A ATV-14

VolInt Silicified Ryolite Int. 83.5 1.7 49.7 2.5 43.9 1.7 35.9 1.7



38.8 2.4



96605 A ATV-1 Below VolInt Qtz latite porph, Int. 64.1 2.5 34.4 4.0 18.4 4.1 16.1 3.6



24.5 3.3



96610 A ATV-6 Below VolInt tuff dike bxa 70.1 3.0 39.8 4.3 29.0 5.0 25.5 4.0



27.6 4.5



96614 A ATV-10 Below SBX Wk Si Dolomite 55.4 2.5 22.4 5.1 10.3 5.5 4.7 5.7



7.7 5.9



96602 B ABS#2 Below SBX SBX 56.8 15.9 54.4 15.2 52.8 13.3 29.7 12.7



34.2 14.0



96606 A ATV-2 Below BXZ volc tuff bxa 55.1 10.8 24.9 18.5 16.5 15.8 9.4 16.8











96608 A ATV-4 Below SBX SBX 53.7 12.8 21.6 23.0 8.7 19.0 3.2 21.3



7.1 22.7



96615 A ATV-11 Below SBX SBX 78.8 25.7 62.0 34.7 46.3 32.9 29.0 30.4



42.8 30.4



96611 A ATV-7 Below SBX SBX 57.8 21.5 35.6 33.2 24.9 27.6 28.1 37.5



31.7 37.9



96613 A ATV-9 Below SBX SBX 73.9 35.6 56.5 47.7 64.7 42.3 53.2 47.7



61.6 50.7



96601 B ABS#1 Below Ol Silicified Dolomite 23.8 65.2 23.5 62.6 9.6 51.5 3.5 63.9



8.5 62.7



96603 B ABS#3 Below SBX SBX 43.2 134.9 46.0 119.7 31.5 132.2 22.1 122.6



28.5 132.0



Wt Average





48.5 25.6 41.3 28.7 31.4 27.2 22.4 28.4



29.8 33.3









































*2 - Silver grades are lower and extractions are higher in resources above the unconformity.



















Table 2. Silver Metallurgical Results, Bottle Roll & Column Leach Tests











QA/QC Protocols

All PQ-diameter core for the Phase 1 testing program was  cut with a diamond saw, with the  sample being sent to American Assay Lab in Reno, Nevada, while the  samples were sent to Kappes and Cassiday Associates, also in Reno. Samples were cut under the Company's supervision in its Winnemucca, Nevada, warehouse and all samples were placed in heavy canvas bags. CRF standards and coarse blanks were inserted into the sample stream on a one-in-twenty sample basis, meaning both inserts are included in each 20-sample group. Samples were shipped by a local contractor in large sample shipping crates directly to American Assay Lab in Reno, Nevada, with full custody being maintained at all times. At American Assay Lab, samples were weighted then crushed to 75% passing 2mm and pulverized to 85% passing 75 microns in order to produce a 300g pulverized split. Prepared samples are initially run using a four acid + boric acid digestion process and conventional mutli-element ICP-OES analysis. Gold assays are initially run using 30-gram samples by lead fire assay with an OES finish to a 0.003 ppm detection limit, with samples greater than 10 ppm finished gravimetrically. Every sample is also run through a cyanide leach for gold with an ICP-OES finish. The QA/QC procedure involves regular submission of Certified Analytical Standards and property-specific duplicates.

Qualified Person

The geological information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Calvin R. Herron, P.Geo., who is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101"). Mr. Herron is not independent for purposes of NI 43-101 as he is Exploration Manager of Nevada King.

About Nevada King Gold Corp.

Nevada King is the third largest mineral claim holder in the State of Nevada, behind Nevada Gold Mines (Barrick/Newmont) and Kinross Gold. Starting in 2016 the Company has staked large project areas hosting significant historical exploration work along the Battle Mountain trend located close to current or former producing gold mines. These project areas were initially targeted based on their potential for hosting multi-million ounce gold deposits and were subsequently staked following a detailed geological evaluation. District-scale projects in Nevada King's portfolio include (1) the 100% owned Atlanta Mine, located 100km southeast of Ely, (2) the Lewis and Horse Mountain-Mill Creek projects, both located between Nevada Gold Mines' large Phoenix and Pipeline mines, and (3) the Iron Point project, located 35km east of Winnemucca, Nevada.

The Atlanta Mine is a historical gold-silver producer with a NI 43-101 compliant pit-constrained resource of 460,000 oz Au in the measured and indicated category (11.0M tonnes at 1.3 g/t) plus an inferred resource of 142,000 oz Au (5.3M tonnes at 0.83 g/t). See the NI 43-101 Technical Report on Resources titled "Atlanta Property, Lincoln County, NV" with an effective date of October 6, 2020, and a report date of December 22, 2020, as prepared by Gustavson Associates and filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.com).

Resource Category Tonnes (000s) Au Grade (ppm) Contained Au

Oz Ag Grade (ppm) Contained Ag

Oz Measured 4,130 1.51 200,000 14.0 1,860,000 Indicated 6,910 1.17 260,000 10.6 2,360,000 Measured + Indicated 11,000 1.30 460,000 11.9 4,220,000 Inferred 5,310 0.83 142,000 7.3 1,240,000 Table 3. NI 43-101 Mineral Resources at the Atlanta Mine



Please see the Company's website at www.nevadaking.ca.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward Looking Information

This news release contains certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, without limitation, statements relating the future operations and activities of Nevada King, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "potential", "possible", and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions, or results "will", "may", "could", or "should" occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements in this news release relate to, among other things, statements regarding extraction results from the Phase I program and the effect thereof, laboratory testing of material from the Company's Phase 2 metallurgical PQ core drilling program, and the effect of extraction results thereof. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Forward-looking statements reflect the beliefs, opinions and projections on the date the statements are made and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by Nevada King, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and the parties have made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. Such factors include, without limitation, the ability to complete proposed exploration work, the results of exploration, continued availability of capital, and changes in general economic, market and business conditions. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release concerning these items. There is no certainty, and the Company cannot provide assurance, that the results of the Phase I program will be realized in part or at all. The findings will require further assessment and analysis, including additional met core variability testing, comminution and environmental characterization and design engineering studies. Nevada King does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by applicable securities laws.

SOURCE Nevada King Gold Corp.
Russia's annual car output was around 1.5 million units. Then came its invasion of Ukraine, prompting global brands to shut shop and ship out. And while the invasion has had wide-reaching ramifications on the economy of the country, the automotive industry has taken a severe hit in particular. Now, a revival with the hopes of Chinese help is planned. But will it come?

When global brands like Hyundai and Mercedes exited the Russian market, their factories and operations were taken over by local entrepreneurs. It may have seemed like a great deal at the time because these brands were quick to move away in the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022. Several international sanctions imposed on the country remain in effect till date. But while options for new cars fell drastically, Chinese companies moved in to plug the wide gap and walk away with profit. And it is this profit on China-made cars sold in Russia that these brands would look to focus on.

Also check these Cars Find more Cars Hyundai i20 1197 cc 1197 cc Petrol Petrol  7.04 - 11.21 Lakhs Compare View Offers UPCOMING Hyundai Tucson 2024 1999 cc 1999 cc Petrol Petrol  30 Lakhs View Details Hyundai Exter 1197 cc 1197 cc Multiple Multiple  6 - 10.15 Lakhs Compare View Offers Hyundai Creta 1497 cc 1497 cc Multiple Multiple  11 - 20.15 Lakhs Compare View Offers UPCOMING Hyundai Nexo 1499.0 cc 1499.0 cc Petrol Petrol  65 Lakhs View Details Hyundai Venue 1493 cc 1493 cc Multiple Multiple  7.94 - 13.48 Lakhs Compare View Offers

What could it mean for local Russian entrepreneurs who are looking at restarting operations within the country? Seeking help from Chinese automotive companies would be obvious but analysts believe that these same companies would more likely continue to ship out their vehicles from China rather than enter into partnerships in China.

China and Russia do not have formal treaty alliance as far as the governments are concerned. But both countries are close economic partners. Bloomberg recently quoted a Russia-based independent consultant as saying that Chinese auto companies with a Russia presence may not be inclined to make their cars in Russia. Finished products from China are more profitable when shipped and sold in Russia rather than the same cars made in Russia," explained Sergey Burgazliev.

Russia saw sales of around one lakh cars before its invasion of Ukraine. This has fallen to a fraction since 2022 with factors like low supply, high prices and an overall mute consumer sentiments playing a big role. While local brands have seen an uptick in demand for their respective models, the options are as few as supply.

First Published Date:
Rental office now open for pre-leasing at 6020 Weldon Spring Parkway

MINNETONKA, Minn., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- New Perspective, the award-winning senior living company headquartered in Minnetonka, MN, proudly announces the opening of its leasing office for its newest community. Set to welcome residents in mid-summer 2024, this vibrant community is located at 400 Siedentop Rd. Weldon Spring, Missouri.

The temporary leasing office, located at 6020 Weldon Spring Parkway, is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. CT. Additionally, appointments are available outside regular hours and on weekends. The leasing office is situated a half-mile from the new community. Interested individuals can schedule appointments at 636-229-1311.

"We are looking forward to the opening of our first location in the St. Louis area," said New Perspective co-CEO Ryan Novaczyk. "When my family started the company, we set out to create a place where seniors can thrive in their golden years. Since the start, we've become known for exceptional, award-winning senior care."

The community will offer an array of senior living options, including independent living, assisted living and memory care. Additionally, it will boast a variety of amenities such as multiple dining venues, a state-of-the-art fitness center, salon services, a chapel/community room, engaging activities, on-site physical therapy and wellness services, as well as chef-designed culinary offerings.

"We know residents and their families will appreciate the appearance and functionality of the building, but it's our team of people who will make a lasting impact," said New Perspective co-CEO Chris Hyatt. "I am proud of the fact that, as a company, we consistently receive 9.5 out of 10 stars on resident satisfaction reviews for the friendliness and helpfulness of our team."

For information, please visit NPSeniorLiving.com .

About New Perspective:

Founded in 1998, New Perspective is a family-owned company that develops, owns, and operates 40 vibrant senior living communities in Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Missouri. Its foundational belief  that all seniors deserve to Live Life on Purpose and age with dignity  was forged from the personal experience of Founder, Todd Novaczyk, and his family. For seven years, they cared for his mother-in-law, Betty Berkeley , in their home as she struggled to maintain her strong, independent spirit while coping with Alzheimer's disease.

Media Contact: Kevin Hurd

612-351-8442

[email protected]

NPSeniorLiving.com

SOURCE New Perspective
Former President & CEO of Subaru of America Recognized at World's Greatest Auto Disruptors Awards at Newsweek World Trade Center Headquarters



CAMDEN, N.J., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Former Subaru of America, Inc. President and CEO Thomas J. Doll has received the "Legacy of Disruption" honor at the third annual Newsweek World's Greatest Auto Disruptors awards. The awards ceremony takes place just ahead of the New York International Auto Show at Newsweek's headquarters in One World Trade Center in New York City.

Newsweek honors Tom Doll with "Legacy of Disruption" award for his work in making Subaru "More Than a Car Company" Post this Former Subaru of America, Inc. President and CEO Thomas J. Doll has received the Legacy of Disruption honor at the third annual Newsweek Worlds Greatest Auto Disruptors awards. The award is given to an individual who has driven fundamental and transformative change in the automotive market with measurable, real-world results achieved over decades in the industry. The Newsweek Legacy of Disruption award honors Tom Doll's work implementing the Subaru Share the Love Event in 2008 and pushing Subaru to become More Than a Car Company, disrupting the auto industry and becoming a trailblazer and a blueprint for corporate philanthropic initiatives.

The award is given to an individual who has driven fundamental and transformative change in the automotive market with measurable, real-world results achieved over decades in the industry. The award honors Doll's work implementing the Share the Love Event in 2008 and pushing Subaru to become "More Than a Car Company," disrupting the auto industry and becoming a trailblazer and a blueprint for corporate philanthropic initiatives. These efforts enabled Subaru and its retailers to work together in building trust with customers while separating themselves from competitors.

Thomas J. Doll, former President and CEO of Subaru of America, Inc.: "It is an honor to receive this award and share it with my extended Subaru family. I am eternally grateful for all the passionate people I have met along my journey and most importantly, for the work we did to come together with a purpose. At its core, our business is about building trusting relationships, which is the foundation that allows us to differentiate our brand. I'm proud to leave a legacy of disruption by recognizing when change was needed, never being afraid to try something new, and working collaboratively to transform the impact we can have on the world around us."

During Doll's tenure of almost 42 years, he helmed a remarkable transformation of the Subaru brand, reaching an unprecedented 11 years of consecutive sales growth including setting an all-time record of 700,117 vehicle sales in 2019. He changed the relationship with Subaru retailers to consistently be ranked at the top of the industry, encouraged employees to feel confident in themselves, and dedicated space to enriching the lives of employees, retailers, vendor partners and customers. He was most recently serving the company as an advisor and helping leadership transition to the next generation before officially retiring in January of this year.

This year's World's Greatest Auto Disruptors were selected from a list of candidates compiled by Newsweek, which considered every major automaker and was based on their cumulative merits for the past year. Winners were chosen based on their executive decision making, corporate strategy, product development, and publicity that is driving fundamental, transformative change in the automotive market, with the Legacy of Disruption Award honoring an individual who has achieved these results over decades in the industry.

About Subaru of America, Inc.

Subaru of America, Inc. (SOA) is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Subaru Corporation of Japan. Headquartered at a zero-landfill office in Camden, N.J., the company markets and distributes Subaru vehicles, parts, and accessories through a network of more than 630 retailers across the United States. All Subaru products are manufactured in zero-landfill plants and Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc. is the only U.S. automobile manufacturing plant to be designated a backyard wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. SOA is guided by the Subaru Love Promise, which is the company's vision to show love and respect to everyone, and to support its communities and customers nationwide. Over the past 20 years, SOA and the SOA Foundation have donated more than $300 million to causes the Subaru family cares about, and its employees have logged nearly 88,000 volunteer hours. As a company, Subaru believes it is important to do its part in making a positive impact in the world because it is the right thing to do. For additional information visit media.subaru.com. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

About Newsweek

Newsweek is the modern global digital news organization built around the iconic, 90-year-old American magazine. Newsweek reaches 100 million people each month with its thought-provoking news, opinion, images, graphics, and video delivered across a dozen print and digital platforms. Headquartered in New York City, Newsweek also publishes international editions in EMEA and Asia.

Diane Anton

Corporate Communications Manager

(856) 488-5093

[email protected]

Adam Leiter

Corporate Communications Specialist

(856) 488-8668

[email protected]

SOURCE Subaru of America, Inc.
Featuring Keynote by Kara Swisher, Fresh Research from IBM, and a Leadership Seminar Experience with the Aspen Institute

CHICAGO, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- NextUp, the premier nonprofit dedicated to advancing all women in business, announced today that the 2024 Symposium & Forum, will take place Monday, June 3 through June 5 at the JW Marriott Washington, D.C. in our nation's capital. With over 300 attendees, this three-day conference activates the power of the NextUp community to drive impact and sustainable change.

This year's conference, made possible through the generous support of The Coca-Cola Company, will open with the inaugural NextUp Executive Symposium, which will bring together leading HR and business leaders in conversations about developing the next generation of leaders. The session will open with the presentation of an innovative research collaboration between the IBM Institute for Business Value and NextUp examining the opportunities and barriers for women in the leadership pipeline.

Kara Swisher, host of the "Pivot" and "On with Kara Swisher" podcasts and Editor-at-Large at New York Magazine, will keynote the multi-day event.

"We're proud to bring our premier thought-leadership event to Washington, D.C., where powerful conversations will open minds and create opportunities," shared NextUp CEO Lisa Baird. "This event is about creating actionable change and ensuring that every woman in business has the support, resources, and network needed to thrive."

Attendees will also learn from business leaders and experts including Christina Bieniek, Deputy CEO of Deloitte Consulting LLP; Nellie Borrero, Global Inclusion & Diversity Senior Strategic Advisor at Accenture; Kalissa Hendrickson, PhD, Managing Director, Executive Leadership Seminars of the Aspen Institute; Julie Daum, Leader of the North American Board Practice, Spencer Stuart; David Glasgow, Executive Director, Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging, NYU School of Law; and Wendy Davidson, President and CEO, Hain Celestial Group, among others.

"The Coca-Cola Company is honored to be the presenting sponsor of such a powerful event," says Dagmar Boggs, President of Foodservice and On-Premise, North America Operating Unit at The Coca-Cola Company. "As a founding partner of NextUp, we are thrilled to see its continued impact supporting the next generation of talent."

To learn more and register for the 2024 NextUp Symposium & Forum, visit nextupisnow.org/forum/.

Arrangements for the appearance of Kara Swisher made through UTA Speakers, New York, NY.

About NextUp

For more than 20 years, NextUp has brought professional women, allies and corporate partners together to champion gender equity and Advance All Women in Business. NextUp has a powerful, growing community of more than 17,000 members and 300+ national corporate partners and regional sponsors. NextUp works to create leadership opportunities, amplify women's voices in the workplace and ensure that all women in business can seize opportunities now and in the future. To learn more about NextUp, visit nextupisnow.org or on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram @nextupisnow.

Contact: Shannon Hollingsworth | AMZG Agency | (203) 424-1387 | [email protected]

SOURCE NextUp
Acquisition of London-based specialist intermediary will bolster NFP's employee benefits capabilities, specifically in the private medical insurance market

BIRMINGHAM, England, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- NFP, an international middle market property and casualty broker, benefits consultant, wealth manager, HR services consultant and retirement plan advisor, today announced its acquisition of Get Medical Plans Limited, an independent private medical insurance intermediary. Get Medical Plans founders Marc Benjamin and Sanjeev Mallipeddi will continue to lead and manage the London-based business.

"We are delighted to welcome Marc, Sanjeev and the entire Get Medical Plans team to NFP," said Iain Chadwick, managing director of Employee Benefits for NFP in Europe. "Adding the expertise of the Get Medical Plans team and their solutions will help NFP better support our clients and grow our presence in the rapidly expanding independent medical insurance market."

With more than 40 years of combined experience in the private healthcare industry, Benjamin and Mallipeddi excel at simplifying the medical insurance broking process and sourcing solutions that best align with their customers' bespoke needs. As part of NFP, they can now introduce their services to more clients and expand their positive impact on businesses and individuals who need support navigating the health insurance landscape and finding plans that better address the challenges they face.

"We are delighted to join NFP, especially as the company continues to expand in the UK," said Benjamin and Mallipeddi. "This partnership will enable Get Medical Plans to continue to deliver a first-class service to our clients by accessing the resources and range of services within a global organisation, while also giving us the ability to reach new customers."

About NFP

NFP's business in Europe is a leading international insurance brokerage and consulting firm, which, through a dedicated team of over 500 professionals, provides a wide range of solutions to satisfy clients' business risk and people needs. These solutions span specialised commercial business insurance, employee benefits, people consultancy, health and safety, and individual financial planning. NFP's subject matter specialists, underpinned by leading technology solutions, partner productively to deliver sustainable and tailored solutions to meet clients' unique needs and enable their success.

Visit NFP.co.uk to discover how NFP empowers clients to meet their goals.

SOURCE NFP
AMSTERDAM, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Norgine B.V. today announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has adopted a positive opinion recommending approval of NPJ5008 (dantrolene sodium hemiheptahydrate) for the treatment of malignant hyperthermia.

The European Commission (EC) will now review the CHMP's recommendation. If approved, the centralized marketing authorization would be valid in all 27 EU member states, as well as in Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway and would be the first new treatment in Europe for malignant hyperthermia in over forty years. Submissions to the UK MHRA and Swiss Medic are ongoing.

Dr David Gillen, Chief Medical Officer of Norgine, added: "We are delighted to have received a positive CHMP opinion for NPJ5008. Malignant hyperthermia (MH) is thankfully a rare medical emergency following anaesthesia. Nevertheless, it is clear that effective management of MH is critically important to improve clinical outcomes. NPJ5008 will allow faster administration compared to the existing dantrolene formulation and therefore, we believe, better outcomes for all European patients with MH."

For further information please contact:

[email protected]

www.norgine.com

Follow us @norgine

Notes to Editors:

About Malignant Hyperthermia

Malignant hyperthermia (MH) is a rare life-threatening pharmacogenetic disorder of skeletal muscles that presents as an exaggerated hypermetabolic response to volatile anaesthetic agents and depolarizing muscle relaxants.[1]

About NPJ5008

NPJ5008 is a novel formulation of dantrolene that has been developed by Norgine to shorten preparation and administration times versus DANTRIUM IV (dantrolene sodium). Each vial of NPJ5008 contains 120mg of dantrolene and is reconstituted in 20 mL of water for injections for intravenous administration.[2]

About Norgine

Norgine is a leading European specialist pharmaceutical company that has been bringing transformative medicines to patients for over a century. Our commitment to transforming people's lives drives everything we do and our European experience, fully integrated infrastructure and exceptional partnership approach enable us to quickly apply creative solutions to bring life-changing medicines to patients that they may not otherwise be able to access. Norgine is proud to have helped more than 25 million patients around the world in 2022 and generated 530 million in net product sales, a growth of nearly 5% over 2021.

Norgine has a direct presence in 16 European countries, as well as Australia and New Zealand. We also have a strong global network of partnerships in non-Norgine markets. We are a flexible and fully integrated pharmaceutical business, with manufacturing (Hengoed, Wales and Dreux, France), third party supply networks and significant product development capabilities, in addition to our sales and marketing infrastructure. This enables us to acquire, develop and commercialise specialist and innovative products that make a real difference to the lives of patients around the world.

NORGINE and the sail logo are trademarks of the Norgine group of companies.

References:

Kaur et al. Mo Med. 2019;116(2):154159. Ng Kwet Shing RH, et al. Eur J Anaesthesiol. 2024;41:110.

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/597589/Norgine_Logo.jpg
LAS VEGAS, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Pacific Processing, a leading provider of ATM equipment, services, and portfolio management, today announces a $10M capital raise to fund ATM portfolio "Partial Acquisitions" or full acquisitions and within seven key markets throughout Southern California and Las Vegas, in addition to a nationwide "Micro Partnership" offering. Qualifying ATM portfolios should have between 25-250 machines.

These unique and blended acquisition/partnership strategies will allow independent ATM deployers (IADs) to grow their business by selling a piece of their company and rolling that cash back into their cash-loading inventory. Partnering with Pacific Processing leverages access to capital, industry knowledge, unique proprietary forecasting algorithms, and software enhancement tools that maximize operational efficiency, uptime and profitability.

"When I first started my ATM business in 2008 - with just a $5,000 loan - I continuously plateaued through different partner investors. I often outgrew their capital capacities faster than anticipated," said Gianni Del Vecchio, CEO and Founder of Pacific Processing, "What I needed was a funding source that allowed my company to unlock it's full growth potential without inhibiting the needs of our very cash-intensive business."

"It doesn't have to be this way," says Del Vecchio. "Having built my fleet from scratch, I respect the hustle and grind of ATM operators, physically installing hundreds of ATMs with my own bare hands and performing over 10,000 cash loads over 15 years. I built this fund to alleviate the cash-intensive hamster wheel pressure felt by IADs that often prevents them from having a higher quality of life and the ability to grow to their maximum potential. The goal with this acquisition/partnership program is to help IADs accomplish their dream of being a business owner, instead of having the business 'own them.'"

"Now that I've found the right capital partner, our organic growth has more than doubled and we are well positioned to help would-be partner IADs that show ambitious growth trajectories from 'getting stuck' scaling their own companies through this unique growth model," Del Vecchio continues.

"Pacific Processing's "Partial Acquisition" and "Micro Partnership" offerings are designed to allow ATM operators to scale more quickly, take more than a three-day vacation, not suffer to keep machines afloat through every single federal holiday weekend, and have more control over their growth."

Pacific Processing is making full or Partial Acquisitions strategically in the following markets:

Los Angeles County, CA

Riverside County, CA

San Bernardino, CA

Ventura County, CA

Orange County, CA

San Diego County, CA

Clark County, NV ( Greater Las Vegas Area )

The company's goal is to purchase 50-100% of the portfolio. If a full acquisition is completed, Pacific Processing will take over vaulting the ATMs within three months. "This is an ideal option for those who are ready to exit the business or need a strategic partner to allow them to make alternative investments or grow their portfolio," says Del Vecchio.

Pacific Processing is also making nationwide Micro Partnerships where it buys 50-75% of the ATM portfolio, allowing the seller to continue profiting by vaulting the ATMs for a minimum of 36 months. "This option is designed for IADs that want to supplement their vault cash with their recently redeemed cash and continue vaulting their terminals with lower frequency intervals, reinvest the capital back into growth strategies, or make alternative investments."

In continued growth situations, Pacific Processing will support and fund the operator in a pro-rata fashion to keep ownership percentages equal to the time of investment, ensuring success and quality care of the capital investment. A quarterly rolling valuation on the ATM Portfolio will be conducted to measure and track growth over time.

Although all business inquiries will be considered, ATM portfolios meeting the following criteria, will take priority:

25-250 ATMs

$5,000 -75,000/month gross profit

-75,000/month gross profit 70% or more contract coverage

Processing-only businesses and IADs with at least ten fully trained affiliates with a minimum of 70% contract coverage and/or merchant-owned portfolios, with strong contract coverage, will also be considered.

Interested IADs are invited to SUBMIT DEALS HERE or send an email directly to [email protected].

ABOUT PACFIC PROCESSING  Founded in 2008 by Gianni Del Vecchio, Pacific Processing has quickly become a leader in the US ATM industry. Today, the company offers ATM placement services, cash management, ATM portfolio management, Mobile ATMs for special events as well as a full suite of merchant services and credit card processing. With offices San Diego, Los Angeles, Las Vegas (Corporate), Pacific Processing has access to over 250 certified ATM service technicians and affiliates in all 50 states, including Puerto Rico.

Founder Gianni Del Vecchio is a thought leader in the industry holding two patents for innovative ATM technology. He and his team from KLEAR Technologies Inc. were also awarded the first ever ATM Industry Association Next Gen product certification for its patented product, SecurPair in 2021. For more information, visit www.pacificprocessing.com, email [email protected] or call 1-855-472-2776, 1-855-4-PACPRO.

Contact:

Gianni Del Vecchio, CEO & Founder

Pacific Processing

***@pacificprocessing.com

Photos:

https://www.prlog.org/13013243

Press release distributed by PRLog

SOURCE Pacific Processing
Dealer Day at CONNECTIONS brings local and regional installers, integrators, and dealers together with smart home technology and service executives

DALLAS, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Parks Associates announced today it will host Dealer Day at CONNECTIONS on Wednesday, May 8, 2024, during the 28th annual CONNECTIONS: The Premier Connected Home Conference. The research firm will host CONNECTIONS on May 7-9 at the Hilton Dallas/Plano Granite Park Hotel, with a special invitation for local and regional dealers, integrators, and installers to join on May 8 to network and attend educational sessions focused on the next generation of home services, new revenue strategies, the role of AI in the smart home, insurance partnerships and risk reduction, and the role of interoperability.

Parks Associates Hosts Dealer Day at the 28th Annual CONNECTIONS: The Premier Connected Home Conference, Wednesday, May 8, 2024, at the Hilton Granite Park Hotel in Dallas/Plano Parks Associates

Parks Associates research shows that 42% of US internet households have some kind of home security solution, 17% own a smart thermostat, and 5% have a smart lighting system. Consumers continue to add connected devices to their homes, creating more opportunity for integration and additional, value-added services. The average US internet households has 17 connected devices, and Parks Associates forecasts annual revenues from core smart home product categories will be $12.6 billion in 2027.

"While many consumers buy smart home devices from retail, the professional installer channel is strong, especially for security and advanced control and automation solutions," said Elizabeth Parks, President and CMO, Parks Associates. "We are so excited to bring together the technology companies with the dealer and integrator distribution channel for networking, learning, and collaboration."

The agenda for Dealer Day at CONNECTIONS includes a keynote from Michael Martin, CEO and co-founder, RapidSOS, and the following sessions:

Insurance Opportunities in the Smart Home

Solving False Alarms: Tech Transforming Home Security

Multifamily: Integrated Living Experiences

Home Security Transforming to Home Services

Why Interoperability Matters

In addition, Nice will host a special VIP Dealer Reception for smart home dealers, integrators, and installers on Wednesday, May 8, in partnership with the 28th annual CONNECTIONS: The Premier Connected Home Conference. Nice is an international leader in home automation, smart home, and home security, with the aim of combining functionality and design to simplify people's daily lives.

CONNECTIONS sponsors include Cox Communities; Nice; Ivani; Kaadas Smart Locks; Kwikset; Rapid Response Monitoring; SkyBell; Ubiety Technologies; Alarm.com; Cardinal Peak, an FPT Software Company; Shelly; SmartThings; Becklar; Calix; bluesalve partners; Midea; RSPNDR; Trident IoT; Xailient; Affiliated Monitoring; Origin; and the Z-Wave Alliance.

Keynotes:

Steve Chazin , VP, Products, Alarm.com

, VP, Products, Alarm.com Katie Espeseth , VP - New Products, EPB

, VP - New Products, EPB Roger Lewis , VP, GVTC

, VP, GVTC John Mack , EVP and MD, Co-Head Investment Banking, Imperial Capital

, EVP and MD, Co-Head Investment Banking, Imperial Capital Michael Martin , CEO, RapidSOS

Dealer Day at CONNECTIONS is supported by The Electronic Security Association. Parks Associates' market research helps to track and assess the growth of residential and small-to-medium business markets. Its events bring together the leading industry players across all home ecosystems to help advance the market through research, collaboration, and partnerships.

For 28 years, CONNECTIONS has brought together thousands of industry players from the consumer technology ecosystem for networking opportunities and consumer and industry research. Register now.

About CONNECTIONS

Parks Associates' 28th annual CONNECTIONS: The Premier Connected Home Conference is hosted May 7-9, 2024, in Plano, Texas, and brings industry leaders together to provide insights and business forecasting about the adoption of technology including broadband, smart home, security, connected health, energy, and home automation.

CONNECTIONS provides ongoing insights throughout the year with virtual and in person conference sessions. Parks Associates analyst team leads the conference sessions, which are focused on technology innovations, consumer adoption and trends, product and service forecasts, and the evaluation of new business strategies, partnerships, monetization opportunities, and value-added service design.

CONNECTIONS is a pivotal platform for partnerships and exploring the future of technology adoption and its impact on consumers and businesses. www.connectionsus.com

Mindi Sue Sternblitz-Rubenstein

Parks Associates

972.490.1113

[email protected]

SOURCE Parks Associates
Dropshop combines shopping, gaming and free trials to form a one-of-a-kind experience for everyone to save money

NEW YORK, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Dropshop (www.trydropshop.com) is a game-changing ecommerce platform that combines brand discovery and online discount shopping. With Dropshop, customers can now purchase products for free simply by completing certain tasks and earning credits.

The concept is simple - consumers are able to complete 'tasks', which are a combination of games, streaming services, free trials and more. You can complete a set number of tasks to get the product for free or complete any number of tasks, with each task lowering the price of the product.

Some tasks may require a small payment, but many are completely free. Once enough credits are accumulated, customers can redeem those credits for products of their choice.

What makes Dropshop so compelling is the variety of tasks available. Whether it's engaging with a specific product or service, or simply playing a game, customers have the flexibility to choose how they earn credits. This makes the shopping experience not only rewarding but also fun.

Dropshop has partnered with over 100,000 product manufacturers and nearly 500 brands.

"We are thrilled to introduce Dropshop to the world," said Ari Kassman, founder of Dropshop. "We believe that shopping should be a rewarded experience. Paying with tasks will revolutionize how people shop. It's that simple - with Dropshop, people get more and spend less."

To learn more about Dropshop and start earning credits today, visit www.trydropshop.com.

SOURCE Dropshop
Free tool for all businesses to help disclose GHG emissions

Enterprise-grade solution for SMB and large organizations

Intuitive, self-guided workflows  no prior experience required

Persefoni Pro, a free, enterprise-grade tool, enables businesses to create accurate carbon footprints for internal and external stakeholders

TEMPE, Ariz., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Persefoni, a leading Climate Management & Accounting Platform (CMAP) for enterprises and financial institutions, today announced the formal release of Persefoni Pro , leveraging nearly five years of AI breakthroughs and pioneering thought leadership. With Persefoni Pro, SMBs and large enterprises alike are able to achieve for free and require no existing sustainability experience, the same quality and trust in calculations as our flagship Persefoni Advanced product, used by many of the world's largest companies. This release marks more than two years of development and real-world application and feedback.

Businesses of all sizes now have a free, comprehensive enterprise-grade solution for creating accurate carbon footprints they can share with stakeholders, both internally and externally. Functioning similarly to intuitive self-guided software such as Intuit Inc.'s TurboTax, Persefoni Pro enables businesses to collect, identify, and disclose a comprehensive emissions footprint with no first-hand sustainability experience; Persefoni Pro leads users through the process based on factors like their industry, location, and operational scale, and dynamically adapts, posing new inquiries built upon earlier responses.

Persefoni Pro, a free enterprise-grade tool enables businesses to create accurate carbon footprints for all stakeholders Post this

This is a game changer for businesses of all sizes:

Small and medium-sized businesses can quickly and affordably calculate and share their emissions without the significant investments previously required for this task; going forward, users can immediately submit results for future supplier requests.

Large enterprises can better engage and gather real-time, higher-quality data from their supply chains  improving the accuracy of their own climate disclosures, unlocking data to drive more informed decision-making, and potentially reducing the risk of non-compliance, litigation, and greenwashing claims.

Financial services companies can gather better data from their portfolio companies  supporting more informed investment decisions.

Kentaro Kawamori, CEO and Co-founder of Persefoni, said: "Carbon footprints are meant to be shared, and it should be easy and free. Whether you're sharing your footprint internally or with external suppliers, investors, regulators, or the public, the ultimate benefit is using more accurate and complete data to drive better decision-making." Adding, "We already have Global 2000 companies using Persefoni Pro for their own calculations, let alone their supply chains. While Pro may represent the culmination of many years of development and achievements in AI, including proprietary, advanced GPT models, it's only the first step in this process. Before the summer, we will release additional one-click regulatory reporting, advanced calculations, and more GPT features. Material network effects have been unlocked now that emissions data has become easier to gather, manage, and share."

This year, a raft of regulations  Canada's CSSB, Europe's CSRD, the state of California's Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act, and other jurisdictions around the world  require large organizations to collect and disclose their global Scope 3 emissions. These emissions account for the largest portion of many companies' overall emissions profiles, and Persefoni Pro not only makes gathering data for this mandatory reporting a breeze, it does so with enterprise-grade security, including SOC I, SOC II, and ISO 27001 certifications.

Many of the world's largest companies and financial institutions trust Persefoni - including strategic integrations with market leaders like Workiva , and partnerships with global services firms like Bain & Co. , Deloitte, and ERM. Indeed, industry leaders like MSCI and Deloitte Tohmatsu have already selected Persefoni Pro.

Persefoni is enabling a quantum shift forward in climate data access, simplicity, global supply chain management, and data quality. The future of carbon accounting and management is here.

About Persefoni

Persefoni AI Inc. offers businesses and financial institutions the software and AI tools to manage their organization's climate-related data, disclosures, and performance with the same level of rigor and confidence as their financial reporting systems. With our platform, users can streamline their carbon footprint calculations, develop and oversee decarbonization strategies, and generate audit-ready sustainability reports.

For more information about Persefoni, please visit https://www.persefoni.com/ .

SOURCE Persefoni
COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Power a Clean Future Ohio (PCFO) is thrilled to celebrate the addition of the City of Akron as its 50th member community. This achievement represents a major milestone in the organization's work to support communities across the state in adopting and implementing clean energy solutions.

PCFO launched in 2020, supported by a nonpartisan coalition of advocates, community organizations, and businesses committed to building a future that is powered by clean energy and prioritizes the health and well-being of Ohioans. Today, 44% of Ohioans reside in PCFO Communities committed to growing equitably and sustainably.

PCFO has received unwavering support and commitment from its philanthropic funders and partner organizations that have furthered the organization's mission of reducing carbon emissions in Ohio and helped reach this significant milestone.

"I want to recognize the crucial leadership of PCFO over the last four years. Many of our local governments have aligned together and positioned their environmental goals with transformational federal funding opportunities," said Lillian Kuri, Cleveland Foundation President & CEO. "The Cleveland Foundation's investment in PCFO ensures that Greater Cleveland communities, small businesses, and households will accelerate implementation of emissions reductions while safeguarding affordability and economic opportunity for all in the region."

"PCFO's efforts in Ohio are unlike anything happening across the country. I am inspired by the ever-growing momentum of local leaders in our state in taking on the climate and environmental justice challenges we face," said John Mitterholzer, program director for Climate and Environmental Justice at the George Gund Foundation. "The work PCFO does is critical and indispensable. The George Gund Foundation is proud to continue our support of this work through our partnership with PCFO."

"I'm excited to team up with Power a Clean Future Ohio to pursue efforts that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve environmental sustainability overall," said Akron Mayor Shammas Malik before joining as the organization's 50th partner community. Through PCFO's relationships with mayors and city officials across the state, the organization has facilitated a platform for dialogue and action that benefits residents, businesses, and the environment.

The organization remains committed to growing its impact across the state and building towards a clean, prosperous future for all Ohioans. "I am inspired and optimistic about our state's ability to address these challenging, complex problems because Ohio's local leaders are demonstrating real leadership and a willingness to meet the moment on the climate challenge," said PCFO Executive Director Joe Flarida.

SOURCE Power A Clean Future Ohio
Beijing (Gasgoo)- On March 25, BAIC Motor Corporation Limited (BAIC Motor) announced its annual performance for the year ended December 31, 2023. According to the financial report, BAIC Motor achieved a revenue of 197.949 billion yuan in 2023, representing a year-on-year rise of 3.93%.

Photo credit: BAIC Motor

The automakers net profit was approximately 3.03 billion yuan in 2023, reflecting a decrease of 27.8% compared to the previous year. In terms of sales, BAIC Motor sold a total of 1.042 million vehicles in the past year, which climbed up 7.3% year over year. Among them, sales of new energy vehicles reached 102,000 units, surging 46.6% from a year ago.

During the reporting period, BAIC Motor introduced over 10 new vehicle models, including the new X7, new Mofang (X6), and the all-new EU5 PLUS from the BEIJING brand, the all-new E-Class Long-Wheelbase, new-generation GLC, and the all-new EQE pure electric SUV from Beijing Benz, as well as the MUFASA, the seventh-generation Elantra facelift, and N-line models from Beijing Hyundai. This continuous product innovation strategy has contributed to sales conversion and consolidated the company's development foundation in 2023.

In terms of research and development, BAIC Motor emphasized the importance of R&D capabilities for future development. In 2023, its total R&D expenditure amounted to approximately 3.57 billion yuan, jumping 31.7% from the previous year, which was primarily driven by the increased R&D investment in new energy vehicles, including off-road models.
2023 was a turnaround year, according to the results of Prevue's first-annual survey of in-house corporate incentive planners. Budgets are up, international trips are back, and the outlook for the coming year looks bright.

MIAMI, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Prevue Meetings & Incentives, a Worth International Media brand, is a leading authority in the meetings and incentives industries has released the findings of its first-annual survey of in-house corporate incentive planners. The Corporate Incentive Trends Survey is based on responses from 382 planners from Prevue's audience. Respondents came from a variety of industries, with the largest percentage coming from technology (26%), financial and insurance (24%), and manufacturing (23%), followed by automotive, direct sales and other industries. The majority of respondents plan incentives that target the sales force (47%), dealers/distributors (44%) or the distribution channel (22%), though a quarter of companies said they run incentive trips for employees whose roles are not directly tied to sales quotas.

"This survey is clear proof that incentive travel programs work," says Prevue Editor Barbara Scofidio. "While companies had to pull back for a couple of years, they are once again investing in incentives and choosing locations around the globe. For this survey, we went straight to the sourcethe people within corporations who plan these tripsand we plan to continue it annually."

2023 was a turnaround year, according to the results. Budgets are up, international trips are back and the outlook for this year looks bright. 60% of respondents reported that their companies' sales increased in 2023, with another 21% saying that sales had remained the same as in 2022. That growth filtered down to incentive budgets, with 51 percent of respondents saying their budgets had increased in 2023; however, a significant number (35%) reported having to work with the same budgets in 2023 as they had in 2022. There were also a small number of respondents (15%) doing more with less. The outlook for 2024 is slightly more positive, with 58% of respondents saying their incentive budgets will increase; however, 24% saying they will stay the same and 18% who will be working with smaller budgets.

The average per-person budget for 2023 incentives was $6,177, which increased from last year for 49% of the respondents, stayed the same for 30% and decreased for 21% of respondents. Including spouses or partners on the trip remains a priority for companies, with only 17% of respondents saying they do not invite a guest.

Group sizes for incentive programs have traditionally been small, and a majority (58%) of this year's respondents reported an average of under 200 attendees. Just 15% of respondents plan programs for more than 500 attendees. The most popular trip length is five days, four nights (22%), followed by three days, two nights (21%). A small fraction of companies sponsor trips of 7 days or longerjust 12%.

For additional survey results on destination choices, cruises, individual incentives and more click here.

Prevue Meetings & Incentives is a multiplatform brand that inspires planners by providing immersive experiential travel coverage, professional development and thought leadership. Prevue offers a 360-degree approach to providing its meeting planner decision maker audience with the informative content, tools, data, and events to perform at their best and create unique, creative, and exceptional meetings, incentives, conventions, conferences and events. Prevue's publication and digital content, webinars, Visionary Summit events, e-newsletters and more are the perfect resources for meeting planners to perform their jobs and stay informed about the meetings and incentives industry. Prevue Meetings & Incentives is a product of Worth International Media. For more information about Worth International Media's brands and services, visit worthit.com or call (305) 828-0123.

MEDIA CONTACT: Nicole Narciso

PHONE: (305) 828-0123, ext. 118

EMAIL: [email protected]

SOURCE Prevue Meetings & Incentives
LONDON, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In honour of International Women's Day, Procurement Magazine, a BizClik brand, is proud to launch the Top 100 Women in Procurement - celebrating the most inspiring women in the Procurement sector.

This definitive list of 100 women champions the influential leaders and pioneers in procurement who are elevating and driving momentum for the movement, as well as those who are leading the charge when it comes to investment, innovation, capitalising on strategic opportunities, and supporting other underrepresented groups.

Paving the way for future generations, these women are creating space at the table for new faces, growth and innovations.

For further details on the Top 100 Women supplement, and to explore the incredible digital transformation journeys of these global pioneers, click HERE .

Glen White, Founder and CEO of BizClik says:

"This year's Top 100 Women in Procurement highlights the leaders who are dedicated to making a positive impact. BizClik and Procurement Magazine continue to be proud to celebrate the successful women driving leadership and advocacy across their industries and organisations."

You can read the latest news in Procurement Magazine by clicking HERE .

You can now sign up for the Procurement & Supply Chain Events portfolio, HERE .

SOURCE BizClik
Nashville podcast has guests, listeners from America and multiple foreign nations

NASHVILLE, Tenn., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Public Relations Review Podcast" proudly announces its exceptional achievement of being included in APPLE Podcast's rankings as being among its top one percent of podcasts worldwide. This accolade solidifies its position as an invaluable resource for public relations professionals seeking insightful content to enhance their daily practice.

Peter Woolfolk, founder of the Public Relations Review Podcast Public Relations Review Podcast proudly announces its exceptional achievement of being included in APPLE Podcast's rankings as being among its top one percent of podcasts worldwide.

Founded by Peter Woolfolk, a public relations professional with 25+ years of senior level experience, the podcast has a mission to empower PR practitioners with practical knowledge and expertise. Public Relations Review Podcast has produced an impressive 130+ episodes to date. Each episode offers a deep dive into the dynamic world of public relations, featuring engaging discussions, expert insights, and real-world case studies that resonate with both newcomers and seasoned professionals.

Public Relations Review Podcast has consistently proven its excellence, regularly receiving rankings as one of the "Best PR Podcasts" in America. The podcast's unwavering commitment to quality content has made it a go-to source for PR professionals seeking to stay ahead in an ever-evolving industry. Notably, Public Relations Review Podcast has also earned several prestigious awards:

"Podcast Innovator of the Year 2023Southern USA ," from the UK's Innovation in Business

," from the UK's Innovation in Business Nashville PRSA's Parthenon Award locally

the GOLD "Stevie Award" from American Business Awards nationally

These accolades serve to further cement its status as a trailblazing podcast in the PR field. Its commitment to excellence and dedication to advancing the PR profession has earned it the respect and admiration of listeners and industry peers alike.

One of the standout features of Public Relations Review Podcasts is its diverse range of guests. Located in 49 of the 50 U.S. states and seven foreign countries, these guests bring a wealth of perspectives and experiences to the podcast's discussions. The Public Relations Review Podcast's global audience, located in 142 countries covering 2,700+ cities, benefits from this rich tapestry of voices, gaining insights into regional and industry-specific PR practices from around the country.

"Public Relations Review Podcast was born out of a desire to provide PR professionals with valuable insights and strategies they can implement in their daily work," said Peter Woolfolk, the podcast's passionate host, producer and PR expert. "We are immensely proud of reaching this milestone, and we remain committed to delivering high-quality content that elevates the PR community."

With its global recognition and unwavering commitment to delivering top-notch PR content, Public Relations Review Podcast continues to set new standards in the podcasting world. As it celebrates this remarkable achievement, the podcast producer looks forward to welcoming even more listeners, guests and applicable content into its growing community.

The "Public Relations Review Podcast" is produced by Communications Strategies headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.

Media Contact:

Peter Woolfolk

615-309-8402

[email protected]

SOURCE Public Relations Review Podcast
Pioneering Conversational Customer Experience Platform Recognized for Advancing Customer

Service through AI Innovation

BOZEMAN, Mont., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Quiq, the next-generation conversational customer experience (CCX) platform, is proud to announce that we have been chosen for inclusion in this year's Enterprise Connect's 2024 Innovation Showcase (EC24). Each year the Innovation Showcase recognizes a handful of trailblazing companies aligned with a theme. In 2024, the theme is Customer Experience.

Quiq was chosen based on three criteria: its potential to enhance customer experience, its potential for business impact, and its suitability for enterprise use. Since unveiling the first LLM-powered AI Assistant for LOOP Insurance in September last year, Quiq has been at the forefront of assisting various companies in automating their customer service inquiries, solidifying its position as the industry leader in live LLM implementations. Quiq's early understanding of the power of LLMs and fast rate of innovation to develop safe and accurate LLM-powered AI Assistants was recognized by the Innovation Showcase judges.

"The results our customers are achieving underscore exactly how transformative generative AI is going to be for customer service and contact center operations," said Mike Myer, CEO and Founder of Quiq. "For instance, Molekule achieved a remarkable 60% automated resolution using Quiq's LLM-powered AI Assistant, while Accor saw a doubling in intent-to-book metrics with our technology. It's an honor to be selected for the Innovation Showcase at Enterprise Connect this year. I'm proud to be helping enterprises plot a course to the next generation of customer service that combines AI and humans to deliver better and more efficient CX."

About the Selection Process

In his article ' Celebrating Innovative #CX #C24 ' on NoJitter, Dave Michels from TalkingPointz remarked, "As the industry shifts from a tech focus to an outcome-based focus, it's a pivotal time in how enterprises approach customer service. This year's Innovation Showcase participants reflect that shift."

Michels introduced the other judges for EC24: Dominic Kent from UC Marketing, Maribel Lopez from Lopez Research, and David Myron from Omdia. The judges commended the outstanding quality of the applicant companies.

"This year's showcase had the potential to be flooded with "me too" AI applications. It was refreshing to see the unique, innovative, and enterprise-ready ways communications tech can make agents more efficient while improving customer experiences," said Kent.

About Enterprise Connect

For over 30 years, Enterprise Connect has been the leading conference and exhibition for enterprise communications and collaboration in North America. This year, it will be held from March 25-28, 2024 in Gaylord Palms, Orlando, FL. Enterprise Connect brings corporate IT decision-makers together with the industry's vendors, channel partners, analysts, and consultants to focus on the issues central to enterprise communications and collaboration.

Enterprise Connect owns and produces No Jitter, which provides daily blogging and analysis of enterprise communications, and it also serves the community with multiple virtual events, a weekly email newsletter, research surveys, and a Webinar series.

About Quiq

Quiq is a trailblazer in the Conversational CX space, revolutionizing how businesses interact with their customers. Leveraging the power of Generative AI and Large Language Models, Quiq automatically resolves conversations across various messaging and voice channels. Quiq's next-generation contact center works to route higher-value conversations to human agents. The world's leading brands use Quiq to provide exceptional customer experiences using the latest in AI technology.

For more information, please contact:

Cristina Bravo Olmo

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Quiq, Inc.
ORLANDO, Fla., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Red 6, a revolutionary Augmented Reality (AR) technology firm at the forefront of synthetic air combat training and augmented reality applications, signed a memorandum of understanding today with AERALIS, the creators of the ground-breaking modular aircraft system.

The companies announced the collaboration to jointly define the future of pilot training at the world's premier Military Flight Training conference in London this week.

Source: Red Six Aerospace, Inc.

"Red 6 is excited about the prospect of collaborating with AERALIS to enhance our collective influence on the future of UK MOD aviation," said Daniel Robinson, Founder and CEO of Red 6.

AERALIS, in collaboration with the UK MOD's Pyramid team, employs an innovative open software architecture that can swiftly integrate Red 6's ATARS (Airborne Tactical Augmented Reality System) and future updates directly into the AERALIS system, bypassing costly redesigns and certifications. This ensures that military pilots will always have the most advanced training solution available.

AERALIS CEO Tristan Crawford said, "We are delighted to announce this MOU with Red 6, a company at the forefront of synthetic air combat training whose expertise in AR technologies will perfectly complement our innovative aircraft system. Working with Red 6 gives us the opportunity to provide a fully integrated augmented reality solution with seamless capability upgrades through life using the cutting-edge AERALIS integrated digital environment. We are looking forward to working together to further enhance our world-leading training solution."

We are confident that this initiative will significantly enhance the capabilities and readiness of our military personnel, fostering a brighter future for our defense forces.

ABOUT RED 6

Red 6, founded in 2018, is the creator of the Airborne Tactical Augmented Reality System (ATARS) and Augmented Reality Command and Analytic Data Environment (ARCADE). Red 6 systems are the first wide field-of-view, full-color demonstrably proven outdoor augmented reality solution that operates in dynamic outdoor environments. Together, they bring virtual and constructive assets into the real world by allowing pilots and ground operators to see synthetic threats in real-time, outdoors, and critically, in high-speed environments.

ABOUT AERALIS

The AERALIS modular aircraft system will revolutionise defence aviation. Featuring open-architecture avionics and a common fuselage with different outer wings and engine nacelles, AERALIS spans basic training to advanced, companion trainers, aggressor, support, and combat aircraft, slashing costs of development, production, training, support & upgrade, and addressing Net Zero targets.

SOURCE Red Six Aerospace, Inc.
Emergency Room Utilization Increased 138 Percent Nationally from 2021 to 2022

NEW YORK, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Retail clinic utilization increased 202 percent nationally from 2021 to 2022, and emergency room (ER) utilization increased 138 percent.1 Retail clinics and ERs had the greatest increases in utilization among the places of service studiedwhich also included urgent care centers, telehealth and ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs)in a new FAIR Health white paper containing the seventh annual edition of FH Healthcare Indicators and FH Medical Price Index. Like the previous editions, this year's edition of FH Healthcare Indicators and FH Medical Price Index is intended to provide perspective for all healthcare stakeholders in a rapidly changing healthcare environment.

FH Healthcare Indicators

FH Healthcare Indicators reveal trends and patterns in the places where patients receive healthcare. Focusing on alternative places of service and ERs, FH Healthcare Indicators evaluate changes in utilization, geographic and demographic factors, diagnoses, procedures and costs.

Among the other key findings:

ASC utilization increased 88 percent nationally from 2021 to 2022; urgent care center utilization increased 43 percent and telehealth 8 percent in the same period.

ER services accounted for 4.2 percent of all medical claim lines nationally in 2022, the highest percentage among the places of service studied. Telehealth accounted for 3.9 percent of medical claim lines, urgent care centers 2.1 percent, ASCs 1.1 percent and retail clinics 0.2 percent. The remainder of the services were rendered in traditional places of service, such as physician offices.

In 2022, as in previous years, more claim lines were submitted for females than males in most age groups in these alternative places of service and ERs.

In 2022, New York was one of the top five states for use of urgent care centers and telehealth, as measured by the percentage of medical claim lines accounted for by those places of service, but it was not among the top five states for retail clinics.

was one of the top five states for use of urgent care centers and telehealth, as measured by the percentage of medical claim lines accounted for by those places of service, but it was not among the top five states for retail clinics. In 2022, COVID-19 remained on the list of most common diagnostic categories in retail clinics, urgent care centers, telehealth and ERs (for individuals over the age of 22). However, COVID-19 diagnoses rose in the rankings of retail clinics and telehealth, fell in those of ERs and stayed the same in those of urgent care centers.

Across offices, urgent care centers and retail clinics in 2022, the highest median allowed amount for CPT 2 99204 (new patient office or other outpatient visit, 45-59 minutes) was in offices at $183 , while the median allowed amount for urgent care centers was $174 and for retail clinics $149 .

FH Medical Price Index

FH Medical Price Index reports shifts in costs and facilitates useful comparisons among medical prices in six procedure categories from May 2012 to November 2023:

Professional evaluation and management (E&M; excluding E&Ms performed in a hospital setting);

Hospital E&M (excluding E&Ms performed in a professional setting, such as typical office visits);

Medicine (excluding E&Ms);

Surgery (procedures for which the physician would bill);

Pathology and laboratory (including both technical and professional components, e.g., both equipment and professional services); and

Radiology (including both technical and professional components).

The reports reflect professional fees and related costs; they do not include facility fees.

For the period November 2022 to November 2023:

In the charge amount index, professional E&Ms and medicine each increased five percent, the greatest percent increase in the six procedure categories. The pathology and laboratory charge amount index increased four percent, while the surgery charge amount index increased three percent.

Hospital E&Ms and radiology each increased one percent, the smallest percent increase in charge amount index.

In the allowed amount index, professional E&Ms and hospital E&Ms each increased three percent. The pathology and laboratory allowed amount index grew two percent, while the medicine and surgery allowed amount indices each increased one percent.

Radiology was the only category to have a decrease in allowed amount index, four percent.

FAIR Health President Robin Gelburd stated: "We hope that this new edition of FH Healthcare Indicators and FH Medical Price Index, like those in previous years, continues to inform decision making by payors, providers, government officials, policy makers, academic researchers and the general public."

For the new white paper, FH Healthcare Indicators and FH Medical Price Index 2024: An Annual View of Place of Service Trends and Medical Pricing, click here.

Follow us on X @FAIRHealth

About FAIR Health

FAIR Health is a national, independent nonprofit organization that qualifies as a public charity under section 501(c)(3) of the federal tax code. It is dedicated to bringing transparency to healthcare costs and health insurance information through data products, consumer resources and health systems research support. FAIR Health possesses the nation's largest collection of private healthcare claims data, which includes over 45 billion claim records and is growing at a rate of over 3 billion claim records a year. FAIR Health licenses its privately billed data and data productsincluding benchmark modules, data visualizations, custom analytics and market indicesto commercial insurers and self-insurers, employers, providers, hospitals and healthcare systems, government agencies, researchers and others. Certified by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as a national Qualified Entity, FAIR Health also receives data representing the experience of all individuals enrolled in traditional Medicare Parts A, B and D, which accounts for a separate collection of over 47 billion claim records; FAIR Health includes among the private claims data in its database, data on Medicare Advantage enrollees. FAIR Health can produce insightful analytic reports and data products based on combined Medicare and commercial claims data for government, providers, payors and other authorized users. FAIR Health's systems for processing and storing protected health information have earned HITRUST CSF certification and achieved AICPA SOC 2 Type 2 compliance by meeting the rigorous data security requirements of these standards. As a testament to the reliability and objectivity of FAIR Health data, the data have been incorporated in statutes and regulations around the country and designated as the official, neutral data source for a variety of state health programs, including workers' compensation and personal injury protection (PIP) programs. FAIR Health data serve as an official reference point in support of certain state balance billing laws that protect consumers against bills for surprise out-of-network and emergency services. FAIR Health also uses its database to power a free consumer website available in English and Spanish, which enables consumers to estimate and plan for their healthcare expenditures and offers a rich educational platform on health insurance. An English/Spanish mobile app offers the same educational platform in a concise format and links to the cost estimation tools. The website has been honored by the White House Summit on Smart Disclosure, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), URAC, the eHealthcare Leadership Awards, appPicker, Employee Benefit News and Kiplinger's Personal Finance. For more information on FAIR Health, visit fairhealth.org.

Contact:

Rachel Kent

Executive Director of Communications and Marketing

FAIR Health

646-396-0795

[email protected]

1 Utilization in this study is a relative, normalized measure, not an absolute one. See Methodology section of the white paper.

2 CPT  2023 American Medical Association (AMA). All rights reserved.

SOURCE FAIR Health
Rheem Honored for Sustained Excellence by Demonstrating Commitment to Energy Efficiency and Leadership in Sustainability

ATLANTA, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Rheem, a leading global manufacturer of HVAC and water heating products, earned the United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) 2024 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year  Sustained Excellence Award. This marks the fourth consecutive year EPA recognized Rheem as a Partner of the Year.

Rheem Named Energy Star Partner of the Year for Fourth Consecutive Year.

"Winning this prestigious award for four consecutive years is not only a testament to our ongoing efforts but also a reaffirmation of our position as leaders in promoting environmental stewardship and energy conservation. It reflects the hard work, dedication and innovation of every member of our team," said Kevin Ruppelt, senior vice president and general manager, Rheem's US air conditioning division.

The highest level of EPA recognition a manufacturer can receive, the ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year Award is given to businesses that demonstrate best practices, exhibiting organization-wide energy savings and a steadfast commitment to environmental protection through energy efficiency. Additionally, to receive the Sustained Excellence recognition, companies must continue to surpass their achievements from previous years, making outstanding contributions to a clean energy economy.

"Rheem is committed to providing the highest-performing sustainable products available in the marketplace. Receiving the ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year award again this year further encourages our team to continue setting the pace by focusing on well-designed, environmentally friendly solutions. We appreciate ENERGY STAR's recognition and congratulate our team," said Greg Miller, senior vice president and general manager, Rheem's US water heating division.

EPA named Rheem as a Partner of the Year  Sustained Excellence based on several factors, including Rheem's extensive line of high-efficiency, ENERGY STAR-certified heating, cooling and water heating products and the company's continued efforts and commitment to protecting the environment through sustainable operations, training and marketing efforts. Rheem's A Greater Degree of Good initiative ensures that sustainability is embedded in every facet of the organization.

EPA noted in 2023, Rheem demonstrated true leadership through product innovation, an unwavering commitment to building awareness and contractor know-how in the heat pump water space, as well as held an active leadership role on the ENERGY STAR Manufacturers Action Council. Rheem exemplified true industry leadership through training more than 450,000 plumbers, contractors and key influencers around the world on sustainable products and practices to date. Rheem also maintained responsible operations by reducing emissions and diverting more than 80 million tons of waste from landfill annually at the company's manufacturing plants. All are driving factors contributing to Rheem's ongoing success.

Award recipients are selected from a network of thousands of ENERGY STAR partners. For a complete list of 2024 winners and more information about the ENERGY STAR awards program, visit energystar.gov/awardwinners. For more information on Rheem products, please visit www.rheem.com, and to learn more about Rheem's sustainability mission, visit www.rheem.com/sustainability.

About Rheem

Founded in 1925, Rheem Manufacturing is a global leader committed to delivering innovative products that save energy and support a more sustainable future. Rheem is the only manufacturer in the world that produces heating, cooling, water heating, pool & spa heating and commercial refrigeration products, and is America's #1 water-heating brand with products available in more than 80 countries. Paloma Co., Ltd. of Nagoya, Japan, acquired the iconic Rheem brand in 1988, and today the company's portfolio of premium brands include Rheem, Ruud, Friedrich, Raypak, Sure Comfort, WeatherKing, Eemax, Richmond, IBC, Intergas, Splendid, Solahart, EverHot, and MHG, as well as commercial refrigeration brands Russell, Witt, ColdZone and Kramer, which are part of the Heat Transfer Products Group (HTPG) division.

About ENERGY STAR

ENERGY STAR is the government-backed symbol for energy efficiency, providing simple, credible, and unbiased information that consumers and businesses rely on to make well-informed decisions. Thousands of industrial, commercial, utility, state, and local organizationsincluding more than 40 percent of the Fortune 500rely on their partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to deliver cost-saving energy efficiency solutions. Since 1992, ENERGY STAR and its partners helped American families and businesses avoid more than $500 billion in energy costs and achieve more than 4 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas reductions. More background information about ENERGY STAR's impacts can be found at www.energystar.gov/impacts and state-level information can be found at https://www.energystar.gov/partner-resources/energy-star-resources-states.

SOURCE Rheem
Newly Created Leadership Roles to Support Firm's Continued Evolution and Allocator-Operator Model

BOSTON, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Rockpoint, a Boston-based real estate private equity firm, today announced that Managing Members Tom Gilbane and Aric Shalev have been appointed Co-Presidents of the firm.

As Co-Presidents, Mr. Gilbane and Mr. Shalev will take on expanded leadership roles and continue to be involved in all aspects of Rockpoint's investment, operational, and fundraising activities, supporting the firm's mission to generate strong risk-adjusted returns on behalf of Rockpoint's premier global investor base. They will also continue to work closely with Co-Founders and Managing Members Bill Walton and Keith Gelb, who continue to lead the firm.

"Rockpoint was founded with the goal of investing in real estate assets that have compelling opportunities to enhance value for the benefit of our investor partners, and Tom and Aric have been invaluable to that mission and the growth of the firm for over 20 years," said Mr. Walton. "We are proud to promote these tremendous leaders to positions of increased responsibility and visibility to ensure the continuity and success of Rockpoint well into the future. Tom and Aric have demonstrated consistent commitment to excellence, as evidenced by their contributions to Rockpoint's longstanding investment track record, and we are confident they will help drive Rockpoint's continued success in their new roles."

"Tom and Aric are exemplary partners and respected leaders both inside and outside of Rockpoint," said Mr. Gelb. "They bring complementary skillsets and market expertise to the Co-President roles, based on their outstanding work internally, with our investor partners, and in the investment markets in which they operate. As we continue to evolve as a firm, Tom's and Aric's combined experience will serve our investors well and enable us to lean further into our differentiators as a vertically integrated investor and operator with a deep and talented team at Rockpoint and Rockhill."

Mr. Gilbane has served as a Managing Member at Rockpoint since 2011, overseeing the firm's eastern United States day-to-day investment and asset management activities from Rockpoint's Boston office. Prior to Rockpoint, Mr. Gilbane worked at Rockpoint's predecessor firm, Westbrook Real Estate Partners, L.L.C. ("WREP"), where he was involved in the firm's United States and European investment and asset management activities. Before joining WREP in 1999, Mr. Gilbane worked at Merrill Lynch in the Real Estate Investment Banking Group.

Mr. Shalev has also served as a Managing Member at Rockpoint since 2011, overseeing the firm's western United States day-to-day investment and asset management activities from Rockpoint's San Francisco office. Previously, Mr. Shalev was involved in WREP's western United States investment and asset management activities. Prior to joining WREP in 1997, Mr. Shalev worked at Morgan Stanley in the Mergers, Acquisitions, and Restructuring Group.

"Aric and I look forward to continuing to work alongside Bill and Keith and the entire Rockpoint team to execute on the firm's proven and differentiated strategy," said Mr. Gilbane. "With nearly 30 years of real estate investment experience, we have conviction around our processes and approach to investing in and managing high-quality assets and delivering consistent performance through ever-changing market environments."

"Tom and I are excited to continue supporting the Rockpoint team and the growth of the firm in this expanded role alongside Bill and Keith," said Mr. Shalev. "With our new leadership structure, we are well positioned to capitalize on a range of new opportunities in today's dislocated real estate environment, while continuing to be a trusted partner to our investors around the world."

About Rockpoint

Rockpoint is a real estate private equity firm that employs a fundamental value approach to investing, targeting select product types and markets throughout the United States. The firm applies a consistent and disciplined investment approach across its investment programs, which span distinct return profiles. Rockpoint continually assesses market opportunities and evaluates potential investments relative to intrinsic value, replacement cost and cash flow, targeting investments that Rockpoint believes are inefficiently priced or misunderstood by the broader market. Rockpoint proactively pursues opportunities that exhibit strong value potential that can be realized through impactful asset management. Since 1994, the firm's co-founders with others have sponsored 19 investment vehicles and related co-investment vehicles through Rockpoint and a predecessor firm and have invested or committed to invest in 503 transactions with a total peak capitalization of approximately $80 billion. To learn more, visit www.rockpoint.com.

Contact

Jon Keehner / Sarah Salky / Erik Carlson

Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher

(212) 355-4449

[email protected]

SOURCE Rockpoint Group, L.L.C.
WASHINGTON, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Following is a statement from Emily Wilkins, president of the National Press Club and Gil Klein, president of the National Press Club Journalism Institute on today's decision by a Russian court to extend the detention of the Wall Street Journal's Evan Gershkovich beyond one year until June 2024.

"When Evan Gershkovich was unjustly detained a year ago this week, Russian officials were quick to say 'he was caught red-handed' breaking the law. They made it seem as if the case were a slam-dunk. Nothing could be further from the truth.

"Under Russian law, prosecutors are allowed to extend detention beyond the normal limit of one year for "complex cases"and only under rare occasions. Today the prosecution took that step  extending Evan's detention to late-June. This is outrageous.

"This is not about detention. It is not about process. It is not about needing more time to organize a complex case. This is simply punishment for Evan. It is deprivation of liberty. It is certainly a violation of Evan's rights. Prosecutors initially asserted that Evan's case was not complex at all, claiming obvious evidence against him. They've had opportunity in multiple court appearances, to show any evidence they claim to have. They have not put forward so much as a shred.

"Today when prosecutors asked for and received yet another extended detention they proved the lie of their initially contrived assertions. Evan was innocent when arrested, is innocent today, and will be innocent in June. He will also be innocent at the end of any trial that may take place. There is simply no case against him. He should be released at once and without conditions."

Founded in 1908, the National Press Club is the world's leading professional organization for journalists. With more than 3,000 members representing nearly every major news organization, the Club is a leading voice for press freedom in the U.S. and worldwide.

The National Press Club Journalism Institute promotes an engaged, global citizenry through a free and independent press and via programs and trainings. The NPCJI is the non-profit affiliate of the National Press Club.

Contact: Bill McCarren, 202-662-7534 for the National Press Club

SOURCE National Press Club
New agreement will promote safely managed sanitation with a specific focus on women, girls and rural consumers

DHAKA, Bangladesh, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- SATO , an award-winning social business that empowers people everywhere to live a better life, every day, and to enjoy a brighter future through innovative sanitation and hygiene solutions, is pleased to announce it has signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with iDE Bangladesh, an international NGO that aims to improve income, livelihood, and well-being for rural communities with its various interventions ranging from agricultural market systems, renewable energy, climate-smart technologies to increasing access to improved sanitation for rural households in Bangladesh.

SATO PARTNERS WITH iDE BANGLADESH TO EXPAND ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE SANITATION AND HYGIENE

Part of LIXIL , a global maker of pioneering water and housing products, SATO designs and sells innovative, affordable and water-saving products. Its first product, the award-winning SATO Pan, had its launch in Bangladesh 11 years ago and is now used by millions of people around the world. Given the success of the SATO pan, SATO is increasing its product line in this core market and launched both the SATO V-trap and the SATO Tap in Bangladesh last year.

SATO and iDE's MOU is expected to improve the lives of consumers across Bangladesh and aims to accelerate the country's progress towards the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goal 6.2. According to iDE, 39% of Bangladeshis do not have access to an improved toilet, creating health, social and ecological risks. Poor sanitation also disproportionately impacts women and girls, who must make unsafe, often solo trips to shared latrines or use open pits during their menstrual cycle. This initiative will address these consumer challenges, placing a specific focus on enhancing access to improved sanitation for women and girls in Bangladesh.

Under the terms of the MOU, SATO and iDE will leverage their combined resources and expertise to effectively address the challenges associated with improving sanitation in rural communities. This will see both organisations collaborate closely to develop communication and promotional tools targeting consumers, partners, masons, microfinance institutions, and government agencies to build demand and improve access to SATO's award-winning, water-saving, and affordable products across Bangladesh.

iDE will also share knowledge with SATO, drawing on its unique relationships with development and research organisations and government entities in Bangladesh. This will drive the continued evolution of SATO's product portfolio, and marketing efforts in Bangladesh for years to come.

Suguru Sakata, Leader, Asia at SATO, said: "We're proud of the impact that we've delivered in Bangladesh to date. Our award-winning, innovative and affordable products create better lives, every day, for consumers who were previously without access to improved sanitation. We want to accelerate our impact, empowering more consumers to unlock health, social and economic value through improved sanitation. This new MOU with iDE, which builds on our longstanding and highly successful working relationship, will go one step further by building consumer demand for and access to better sanitation.

Sameer Karki, Country Director at iDE Bangladesh, said: "Bangladesh has made significant progress in sanitation over recent decades; however, millions still lack access to improved sanitation facilities today, and innovative solutions and service delivery are required to achieve SDG 6 goals. With this MoU, iDE will leverage its unique expertise in engaging markets and key stakeholder groups to improve lives further and build dignity and prosperity in Bangladesh. This MoU also highlights the collaborative partnership between the development sector and the private sector in tackling complex global issues."

To find out more about SATO and iDE's work in Bangladesh, visit:

www.sato.lixil.com/bangladesh

www.ideglobal.org/bangladesh

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2371291/SATO_iDE_Bangladesh.jpg

SOURCE SATO
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.

Geely Galaxy E5 set to make debut at Auto China 2024

On March 26, Geely's new energy vehicle range Galaxy announced that its latest all-electric SUV model has been named the Geely Galaxy E5. The new model is expected to make its debut at the Auto China 2024, set to open in April 2024, with a projected price range of 150,000 yuan to 200,000 yuan.

Geely Galaxy E5; photo credit: Geely Galaxy

SGMW releases images of Baojun Yep Plus model

On March 25, SAIC-GM-Wuling's Baojun brand unveiled images of the Baojun Yep Plus model, which rides on a fire new vehicle platform. The new model will feature a five-door design and offer five exterior color options. It is set to officially hit the market in April.





Baojun Yep Plus; photo credit: Baojun

All-New DENZA N7 to hit market on Apr. 1

The all-new DENZA N7 model from BYD's DENZA brand will officially hit the market on April 1. Positioned as a mid-size all-electric SUV, it features a brand-new front fascia design and optimized configurations. It has been reported that the new vehicle is already available at dealerships.





All-New DENZA N7; photo credit: DENZA

CATL, Tesla co-working on fast-charging battery development for EVs

During the first One Earth Summit held in Hong Kong on March 25, Zeng Yuqun, the Chairman and General Manager of CATL, revealed in an interview that the company is in collaboration with Tesla to develop fast-charging batteries for electric vehicles (EVs). The partnership focuses on researching new electrochemical structures and other battery technologies.

XPENG announces foray into ASEAN market

On March 26, during the 45th Bangkok International Motor Show, Chinese smart electric vehicle maker XPENG announced a long-term strategic partnership with Neo Mobility Asia, a leading Thai dealer group. This collaboration marks XPENG's official entry into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ("ASEAN") market, signifying a crucial step in its global expansion strategy.

ZEEKR X's right-hand drive version debuts in Thailand

On March 25, 2024, the Bangkok International Motor Show raised its curtains, marking a significant presence for ZEEKR Intelligent Technology. The Geely-owned electric vehicle maker made a splash with the debut of its ZEEKR X, ZEEKR 009, and ZEEKR 007 models, introducing the right-hand drive version of the ZEEKR X to the global stage for the first time.

V2X solution developer PATEO bags 19-billion-yuan credit line from seven banks in China

On March 26, PATEO, a Chinese V2X tech company, signed credit agreements with seven banks, including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Bank of Communications, Bank of Shanghai, Industrial Bank, and China Merchants Bank, securing a total credit line of 19 billion yuan.

Ji Yue rolls out V1.4.0 OTA upgrade with enhanced intelligent capabilities

On March 25, Ji Yue, the automotive robot (Robocar) brand jointly developed by Baidu and Geely, hosted the AI DAY 2024 event, where it announced the release of the OTA V1.4.0 software upgrade. This upgrade encompasses various domains, including intelligent driving, smart cabin, intelligent connectivity, and electrification.

BAIC Motor's 2023 annual revenue rises 3.9% YoY to 197.949 billion yuan

On March 25, BAIC Motor Corporation Limited (BAIC Motor) announced its annual performance for the year ended December 31, 2023. According to the financial report, BAIC Motor achieved a revenue of 197.949 billion yuan in 2023, representing a year-on-year rise of 3.93%.

Leapmotor's annual revenue hits new high in 2023

On March 25, Chinese new energy vehicle manufacturer Leapmotor released its full-year financial report for 2023, revealing record-high revenue and delivery figures.

According to the report, in 2023, Leapmotor's annual revenue reached 16.75 billion yuan, surging 35.2% compared to the previous year.

Horizon Robotics submits IPO prospectus to Hong Kong Stock Exchange

On March 26, Horizon Robotics, a leading provider of ADAS and AD solutions for passenger vehicles, officially submitted its IPO prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and China Securities as its joint sponsors.

Great Wall Motor kicks off pre-sale of Shanhai POER pickup in Thailand

On March 25, Great Wall Motor's premium intelligent pickup truck, the Shanhai POER, made an impressive appearance at the Bangkok International Motor Show 2024 in Thailand, and officially commenced its pre-sale in the local market.
SUZHOU, China, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Recently, Scivita Medical Technology Co., Ltd. ("Scivita Medical") and Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX), a leading global medical technology company, joined hands again to sign an expanded strategic cooperation arrangement.

The Strategic Cooperation Arrangement Signing Ceremony between Scivita Medical and Boston Scientific Dr. Chin To (left), Co-founder, General Manager, and Chief Technology Officer of Scivita Medical, Mike Jones (right), senior vice president and president, Endoscopy, Boston Scientific

The introduction of iterative endoscopic technology has brought about a positive transformation in the field of endoscopy, making it an interventional tool that combines diagnosis and treatment. Single-use videoscopes are considered a solution to cross-infection in traditional endoscopy, making them a promising solution for the future medical endoscope market. The global market value of single-use videoscope was USD 0.5 billion in 2020, and is estimated to increase to USD 9.2 billion in 2030, according to Frost & Sullivan.

Scivita Medical is a medical device company that provides minimally invasive diagnosis and treatment solutions, and focuses on research, development and commercialization of medical endoscopes and related products. The company has made globalization its strategic goal. Scivita Medical is making progress towards this goal through strategic cooperations with Chinese enterprises and multinational companies, like Boston Scientific.

Under the arrangement, Scivita Medical will expand its relationship with Boston Scientific for strategic co-development and global distribution activities. Such activities may include collaboration on the co-development of future endoscopic devices, and global distribution opportunities for Scivita Medical's single-use endoscope and imaging devices. It is expected that this expanded arrangement will help bring Scivita Medical products to more hospitals and patients throughout China and other global geographies.

"We are excited to further our relationship with Scivita Medical which we anticipate will help provide physicians with more device options in geographies around the world," said Mike Jones, senior vice president and president, Endoscopy, Boston Scientific. "We look forward to successfully building on that relationship with this new arrangement."

"I am delighted to announce the deepened collaboration between Scivita Medical and Boston Scientific, a leading global medical technology company. This strengthened relationship will help us combine our core strengths and expertise to deliver high-quality single-use endoscope solutions to doctors and patients in various regions across the globe. Working with a company like Boston Scientific is crucial to Scivita Medical's globalization strategy. We will continue to focus on innovative research and development, expand our business cooperation models, and provide more innovative, high-quality, and accessible products to benefit doctors and patients worldwide," said that Dr. Chin To, Co-founder, General Manager, and Chief Technology Officer of Scivita Medical.

About Scivita Medical

Founded in 2016, Scivita Medical is a medical device company that provides minimally invasive diagnosis and treatment solutions, and focuses on research, development and commercialization of medical endoscopes and related products. Scivita Medical takes 'Globalization' as its core strategy and has established R&D centers both in China and Japan. With solid in-house R&D capabilities, Scivita Medical has established a unique technology platform built upon five synergistic core technologies, and built a comprehensive portfolio of endoscope products and therapeutic products covering all types of endoscope procedures conducted by the various clinical departments, to address diverse medical needs. Adhering to its value of 'Clinical Focus' 'Collaborative Innovation' 'People Oriented' 'Excellence & Efficiency', Scivita Medical will continuously upgrade its core technologies, improve market penetration with excellent products aiming to become the preferred brand, trusted by doctors and patients around the world.

For more information, please visit: scivitamedical.com/#/

SOURCE Scivita Medical
MIAMI, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- It is no secret to those who look around that immigrants are the backbone of the modern workforce. Whether it is those on temporary visas or some kind of work visa, the economy would not prosper if it were not for the work of immigrants.

However, this poses an interesting situation for many companies who want to hire immigrants as the visa process is not only complicated for the applicants but also for the employers. Thankfully, there are those who seek to alleviate this problem by creating solutions. One of these such groups is Sekou Clarke Law Firm and its Business Immigration Incubator program.

The Business Immigration Incubator emerged from a visionary initiative by Sekou Clarke Law Group and Auctus Marketing Partners to address the unique challenges faced by immigrant entrepreneurs. Leveraging their extensive experience in immigration law and business consultancy, they recognized the immense potential within immigrant communities to drive innovation and economic growth. Consequently, the Incubator was born, fueled by a commitment to empower aspiring immigrant entrepreneurs on their journey to business success.

Creating the incubator was a result of the beautiful marriage of the Sekou Clarke's Law Group expertise and their passion in the immigration space. Sekou Clarke's initial pursuit of a degree in tourism showcased his passion for the service industry. However, his MBA in marketing further highlighted his deep-seated interest in business and its development. Combining this with his law degree and passion for Immigration, Sekou embarked on a remarkable path to establish Business Immigration Incubator, a venture that aims to bridge the gap and create access for immigrant entrepreneurs, foreign nationals, and startup companies to support their journey to success.

The Business Immigration Incubator's objective aims to provide a supportive environment for immigrant business owners and entrepreneurs to thrive. By offering shared workspace, mentorship, networking opportunities, access to resources, and guidance on immigration benefits, they aim to accelerate the growth and success of immigrant-led businesses and start-ups. Furthermore, funding opportunities will be available for those who qualify, ensuring a comprehensive support system for immigrant entrepreneurs navigating the challenges of establishing businesses in Orlando.

The idea for the Business Immigration Incubator, in addition to being a merging of the Sekou Clarke Law Group's passions, was also built out of experience from their interactions with countless immigrant entrepreneurs navigating the complexities of starting and scaling a business in a new country. With about a quarter of Orlando's population being made up of immigrants, it was also something created out of necessity. They recognized a pressing need for tailored support systems in the community, however, currently, there is a gap in resources to address the needs of both immigrant entrepreneurs and foreign national tourists interested in business ventures or investments in Orlando.

What makes the Business Immigration Incubator so unique is that they offer a five-pronged approach to helping immigrant entrepreneurs in their quest to help others. The primary goals of the Business Immigration Incubator are:

Foster Business Growth: - Support immigrant business owners in scaling their businesses, expanding their operations, and achieving sustainable growth through access to resources and expert guidance. Facilitate Knowledge Exchange: - Create a platform for immigrant entrepreneurs to share experiences, challenges, and best practices, fostering a collaborative learning environment that promotes innovation and growth. Build a Strong Network: - Facilitate networking opportunities among immigrant business owners, mentors, and industry experts to encourage partnerships, collaborations, and access to potential investors, creating a supportive ecosystem for business success. Enhance Access to Resources: - Provide entrepreneurs with access to legal counsel, industry experts, and other resources critical for business success, empowering them to make informed decisions and overcome barriers. Empower Immigrant Entrepreneurs: - Empower immigrant entrepreneurs by equipping them with the necessary skills, knowledge, and support to overcome challenges, achieve their business goals, and seize opportunities in the US market. The Business Immigration Incubator Program by AUCTUS Marketing Partners (AMP) aims to create a community of immigrant entrepreneurs, create access, and foster innovation, economic growth, and diversity in the business landscape.

"By offering shared workspace, mentorship, networking opportunities, access to resources, and guidance on immigration benefits, we aim to accelerate the growth and success of immigrant-led businesses and start-ups. This is also an opportunity to celebrate our growth and express gratitude to our cherished clients, partners, and community. The festivities will continue at Downtown Orlando's newest luxury Supper Club, Debonair, where Sekou Clarke Law Group will be providing Free Immigration Consultations plus the opportunity to mingle with industry professionals for networking opportunities that could elevate your business or career, and more!" Sekou Law Group explains.

The Business Immigration Incubator is led by the mind of Sekou Clarke. In addition to running a law firm, Sekou has dedicated his life to helping others, namely immigrants. He details the importance of his work below:

"The Business Immigration Incubator aims to be a catalyst for success for immigrant entrepreneurs, providing them with the necessary support and resources to turn their business visions into reality in the United States. Our mission is to empower immigrant entrepreneurs with the knowledge, resources, and support necessary to thrive in the U.S. business landscape, ultimately contributing to economic growth and diversity."

Contact:

Paula Henderson

561-768-4444

[email protected]

SOURCE Business Immigration Incubator
ROSKILDE, Denmark, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In a significant development for the wind energy sector, Shanghai Electric Wind Power Group, a subsidiary of Shanghai Electric (SEHK:2727, SSE:601727), a company renowned for its dedication to clean energy equipment, recently celebrated the fifth anniversary of its European Innovation Center ("the Center") in Rosklide, Denmark.

In a significant development for the wind energy sector, Shanghai Electric Wind Power Group, a subsidiary of Shanghai Electric, focused on clean energy equipment, celebrated the fifth anniversary of its European Innovation Center.

At the 5th International Symposium on Leading Edge Erosion of Wind Turbine Blades the Technical University of Denmark held recently, Koji Fukami, Senior Blade Design Expert, presented his research titled "Engineering Estimation of Severe Leading Edge Roughness Effect". His study, conducted in collaboration with the Center, introduces a novel approach to estimating the impact of leading-edge roughness on wind turbine blades in high precipitation environments both offshore and onshore.

"There's a crucial need to bridge academia and the wind energy industry, looking for more practical, time-efficient, and cost-effective methods to assess and optimize blade designs under harsh conditions," Koji Fukami stated.

Wind turbine blades play a critical role in the effectiveness of wind power generation, with their integrity directly affecting the system's productivity. Erosion, especially from wind force, is a frequent issue. The industry acknowledges rain erosion as the main culprit behind damage to the blades' leading edges.

Megawatt-class blades operate at tip speeds exceeding 90m/s where raindrops can hit with significant force akin to bullets causing substantial tearing forces. This repetitive impact leads to fatigue processes where coatings peel off under continuous hits and lateral tearing forces resulting in protective layer damage eventually compromising the entire leading-edge protective structure.

In designing blades and airfoils for real-world operation, addressing the influence of severe environmental conditions is imperative for robust performance. The new approach presented enables precise simulation for blade design with a reduction in computational demand, making the design process faster, less costly, and more functional. This cutting-edge modeling method plays a crucial role in securing the robustness and dependability of wind turbine blades in electrical wind power as they confront more extreme climatic challenges.

This method employs concepts from unsteady aerodynamics to optimize airfoil designs, drawing on simulation results that reflect real operational conditions. The high degree of alignment between the simulation data from this method and the experimental data publicly released by the University of Illinois indicates a strong match between the two sets of results.

This coming November, the Center will initiate a new round of collaboration with the Technical University of Denmark, focusing on wind tunnel experiments to test the performance of new airfoil designs and to evaluate new simulation methods.

The Center, founded in March 2019, has capitalized on Denmark's strategic strengths in the wind energy sector, encompassing wind turbine technology, sector growth, application know-how, and the requisite natural settings for wind energy installations. This approach has drawn a multitude of elite engineering specialists to the Center.

Rapidly evolving from a startup in a single office to a modern science and innovation center with a significant employee base, the Center has to date achieved a range of successes in technology innovation projects and acquired numerous patents. These advancements are being progressively utilized to empower advancements in control algorithms, load analysis, blade design, and the optimization of wind farms.

For more information, please visit https://www.shanghai-electric.com/listed_en/windpower/.

SOURCE Shanghai Electric
The multi-year partnership will help train hundreds of South Sudanese women in entrepreneurship, leading to the foundation of dozens of small businesses.

SEATTLE, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the mother and daughter-founded snack brand, SkinnyDipped , is delighted to announce their social impact partnership with the actor and social activist, Forest Whitaker and his Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative (WPDI). The multi-year (2023-2025), $400K partnership with WPDI's Women's Livelihood Program aims to increase economic and educational opportunities for women living in South Sudan, catalyze the creation of new small businesses along the way and provide future women entrepreneurs with the tools they need for success.

SKINNYDIPPED ANNOUNCES SOCIAL IMPACT PARTNERSHIP WITH FOREST WHITAKER AND THE WHITAKER PEACE & DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE SKINNYDIPPED ANNOUNCES SOCIAL IMPACT PARTNERSHIP WITH FOREST WHITAKER AND THE WHITAKER PEACE & DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE

Deeply rooted cultural norms and patriarchal practices can act as formidable barriers to personal and financial independence, impacting women's lives in a myriad of ways. Women are denied land rights and ownership of resources, and South Sudan has the highest maternal mortality rate in the world. With SkinnyDipped's support, the Women Livelihood Program will provide a wider range of opportunities, reaching over 420 South Sudanese women from vulnerable backgrounds and providing expanded education opportunities in Business and Conflict Resolution. The partnership will also help to launch over 42 small businesses through WPDI's mentorship program and seed capital grants.

"We're so proud to partner with WPDI, an organization that champions female empowerment, education and entrepreneurship across the globe," says Breezy Griffith, Founder and CEO of SkinnyDipped. "Together, we'll support educational programs that will help empower women and communities with valuable business and leadership skills, changing their futures and creating more independence for hundreds of women in South Sudan'."

SkinnyDipped has long and passionately advocated on behalf of female entrepreneurs. They know that a seemingly small idea like the one they conjured from their kitchen table can grow into a successful company with big impact. In the framework of the partnership, participants in the Women Livelihood Program will be trained in applied business skills before developing business plans. Approved business ideas will then benefit from mentoring and capital seed funding from WPDI, helping kickstart small entrepreneurial programs in communities lacking socio-economic stability. The goal? To put women at the forefront of sustainable development at a local level.

"Since starting WPDI, I've sought out partners that genuinely match my passion for helping create lasting change," says WPDI founder, Forest Whitaker. "SkinnyDipped immediately recognized the need for and the value in our Women's Livelihood Program, and their support will help many more women's dreams of starting a business in South Sudan come to life."

Impressive outcomes from WPDI's Women Livelihood Program worldwide highlight the lasting benefits of the on-the-ground effort, with 252 businesses and 2,170 jobs created over the past six years. Notably, 90% of these businesses were still operational in 2023, outperforming the average survival rates for African businesses by 67%.

WPDI and SkinnyDipped's joint efforts in supporting gender equality and women's empowerment are laser focused, positively impacting marginalized women in the Central Equatoria State of South Sudan. This partnership aims to help transform the present and future for girls, adolescents, and women in underserved communities.

About SkinnyDipped

Based in Seattle, WA, SkinnyDipped has evolved from its kitchen table origins to one of the fastest-growing female-founded companies in the U.S. Founded by the mother-daughter duo of Breezy and Val Griffith, SkinnyDipped is committed to creating delicious, better-for-you and anxiety-free snacks comprised of less sugar  and no dirty secrets. All products are made with non-GMO ingredients, are gluten-free and Kosher and contain no artificial sweeteners, colors or flavors. All their almonds are sourced from certified bee-friendly farms. In addition to being better for you, SkinnyDipped is also committed to doing better around the world. Available nationwide at Target, Walmart. Kroger and many more retailers, SkinnyDipped is all about empowered snacking  and never having to choose between happy and healthy. Dive into snacks with no strings attached.

About WPDI

The Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative (WPDI) is a non-governmental organization with an international scope and reach, founded in 2012 by the artist, social activist and UNESCO Special Envoy for Peace, Forest Whitaker. WPDI is committed to fostering peace, gender equality, sustainability and resilience in countries and places affected by violence, poverty and marginalization. In Africa, Europe, as well as Latin and North America, WPDI develops a wide range of programs aimed at training and supporting underprivileged individuals and groups, with a particular focus on youth and women, enabling them to become empowered as mediators, educators, entrepreneurs, and leaders, fostering positive transformation within their communities and beyond.

Press Contact:

Johanna Albertsson

[email protected]

3233630519

SOURCE SkinnyDipped
BURLINGAME, Calif., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- CoherentMI published a report, titled, South Korea Methyl Methacrylate Market was valued at US$ 337.2 Million in the year 2023 and is anticipated to reach US$ 503.9 Million by 2031, at a CAGR of 5.1% during forecast period 2024-2031.

Market Dynamics:

The growth of the South Korea MMA market can be attributed to the increasing demand from end-use industries such as automotive, electronics, and construction. The versatile properties of MMA, such as high impact resistance and transparency, make it a preferred material in various applications, driving market growth. Additionally, advancements in manufacturing technologies and the growing trend of lightweight materials are further boosting market demand.

South Korea Methyl Methacrylate Market Snapshot:

Report Coverage Details Study Period 2024 - 2031 Base Year of Estimation 2023 CAGR 5.1 % Largest Market South Korea Market Concentration High Major Players BASF SE, Evonik Industries AG, Arkema Group, The Dow Chemical Company, Sumitomo Chemical Company Limited and Among Others. Segments Covered By Application, By End Use Industry Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, and Trends Growth Drivers Growing Demand from Construction and Automotive Industries



Expansion of applications into new areas like coatings and paints Restraints & Challenges Adverse Effects of MMA On Human Health



Presence of substitutes

Key Market Takeaways:

South Korea Methyl Methacrylate (MMA) market Size is anticipated to witness a CAGR of 5.1% during the forecast period 2024-2031, owing to the growing demand for MMA in various industries.

On the basis of application, the Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA) segment is expected to hold a dominant position, owing to its wide range of applications in different industries.

By end-use industry, the building & construction segment is expected to dominate the market, driven by the increasing construction activities in South Korea . South Korea is expected to hold a dominant position in the market over the forecast period.

. is expected to hold a dominant position in the market over the forecast period. Key players operating in the South Korea MMA market include BASF SE, Evonik Industries AG, Arkema Group, The Dow Chemical Company, among others. These key players are focusing on product development and strategic partnerships to gain a competitive edge in the market.

Market Trends:

One key trend in the South Korea MMA market is the shift towards bio-based MMA products due to increasing environmental concerns and regulations. Manufacturers are focusing on developing sustainable MMA products derived from renewable resources to cater to the growing demand for eco-friendly solutions. Another trend is the rising adoption of MMA in 3D printing applications, enabling the production of complex and customized products with high precision. This trend is expected to drive market growth in the coming years.

Market Opportunities:

One of the key market opportunities in the South Korea Methyl Methacrylate (MMA) market lies in the segment of Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA) applications. With PMMA dominating this segment, it is expected to hold a dominant position in the market during the forecast period. PMMA is widely used in various industries such as building & construction, automotive, electronics, aerospace, paints & coatings, medical, among others. The growing demand for PMMA in these industries is expected to drive the market growth in South Korea.

Another market opportunity in the South Korea MMA market is in the segment of building & construction in the end-use industry category. With building & construction industry dominating this segment, it is expected to hold a significant market share during the forecast period. The rising construction activities in South Korea, along with the increasing use of MMA in construction materials, is expected to fuel the market growth in the region.

Read complete market research report, "South Korea Methyl Methacrylate Market Size And Share Analysis - Growth Trends And Forecasts (2024 - 2031)", Published by CoherentMI.

Finally, The South Korea Methyl Methacrylate (MMA) market presents promising opportunities in the segments of Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA) applications and building & construction industry. With the growing demand for MMA in various industries and the increasing construction activities in South Korea, the market is expected to witness significant growth during the forecast period. Key players in the market are also actively engaged in product development and strategic partnerships to strengthen their market position. Overall, the South Korea MMA market is poised for growth and offers lucrative opportunities for market players in the coming years.

South Korea Methyl Methacrylate (MMA) Market Segmentation:

South Korea Methyl Methacrylate (MMA) Market, By Application:

Polymethyl Methacrylate (MMA)



Surface Coating



Others

South Korea Methyl Methacrylate (MMA) Market, By End-use Industry:

Building & Construction



Automotive



Electronics



Aerospace



Paints & Coatings



Medical



Others

Purchase this Exclusive report @ https://www.coherentmi.com/industry-reports/south-korea-methyl-methacrylate-market/buyNow

Top Questions Answered in this Report:

What factors are impeding the growth of the South Korea Methyl Methacrylate Market? What are the primary drivers fueling the growth of the South Korea Methyl Methacrylate Market? Which segment stands out as the leading component in the South Korea Methyl Methacrylate Market? Who are the key players actively participating in the South Korea Methyl Methacrylate Market? Which region is poised to take the lead in the South Korea Methyl Methacrylate Market? What is the projected CAGR for the South Korea Methyl Methacrylate Market?

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INDIANAPOLIS, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Static Media is pleased to announce the acquisition of the well-established and prestigious food brand TheTakeout.com, a digital platform for obsessive food lovers founded in 2016.

Previously owned by G/O Media, The Takeout joins Static Media's robust family of prominent food brands Tasting Table, Daily Meal, Food Republic, Mashed, Foodie, and recently acquired Chowhoundwhich reach a combined 38 million monthly visitors.

The Takeout is on a mission to make people's lives better through food. Post this

The Takeout is on a mission to make people's lives better through food. The brand celebrates gourmet and everyday dishes with equal enthusiasmsharing the latest food trends, expert cooking advice, and taste tests in an authoritative and accessible way. Whether you're a passionate home cook, a devoted foodie, or simply someone who enjoys a good meal, The Takeout offers something for everyone.

With this acquisition, The Takeout will continue to serve food aficionados and empower individuals to explore the many possibilities of the culinary world.

"We are thrilled to be adding The Takeout to our esteemed collection of food brands. The Takeout is a highly reputable and distinguished brand and a go-to destination for all things food. As the seventh food brand to join our portfolio, The Takeout embodies our unwavering commitment to celebrating the artistry and diversity of food. Moreover, it complements our existing food vertical, enriching our offerings and reinforcing our positioning as leaders in the food space," said Reggie Renner, CEO and co-founder of Static Media.

About Static Media

Established in 2012, Static Media is a leading digital media company. The company owns and operates twenty-four brands, serving an audience of over 100 million monthly website visitors. Through a strong digital presence, Static Media brands cover a wide range of topics, providing real-time news, original insights, exclusive interviews, and expert advice. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, the company comprises more than 200 employees, with editorial and creative teams making up the majority of the workforce. This virtual-first team produces and distributes content across its brands.

For more information, please visit www.static.com.

SOURCE Static Media Inc.
NEW YORK, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Focused on supporting moms pursuing a career in lactation support, Momcozy introduced its Lactation Consultant Scholarship Fund in 2023 and is pleased to announce that 14 recipients have been selected. The fund provides full exam reimbursements to moms who passed their IBCLC exam in 2022 or 2023 to become International Board Certified Lactation Consultants. IBCLCs are the highest accredited profession in lactation, supporting moms with personalized breastfeeding support.

Supporting Breastfeeding Advocacy: Momcozy Announces 2023 Lactation Consultant Scholarship Fund Recipients

The global maternity and baby brand, focused on putting moms first, was established in 2018 and serves over 3 million moms in 40+ countries worldwide. Designed to eliminate expensive fees for moms to help other moms, the fund has been one of many initiatives Momcozy has enacted in pursuit of better maternity outcomes.

"Successful breastfeeding is made possible because of the countless professionals in a myriad of disciplines walking alongside moms and their families daily," shares Lalaina Rabary, North American Marketing Manager for Momcozy. "It's important for us not just to support these individuals with words, but action and the Lactation Consultant Scholarship Fund is an extension of that commitment."

Mari Wills, a recipient of the Momcozy Lactation Consultant Scholarship Fund shares, "Receiving this scholarship is an immense honor for me, particularly as a proud member of the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) community. This recognition is not just a personal achievement, it's a beacon of progress toward a more inclusive and diverse future within the lactation field."

Diversity, equity, and inclusion were core components of the fund with priority given to those from historically underrepresented groups and individuals who have demonstrated breastfeeding leadership and advocacy in their communities.

"For aspiring IBCLCs, the high cost of the exam can be a hindrance and reason to not pursue lactation as a profession," adds Rabary. "We hope to reduce this barrier to entry while joining a larger effort to ensure greater representation which mirrors the full scope of US families."

This relief was acutely felt by Georgia-based recipient Natasha Jovin.

"As a single mom trying to make a better life for my daughter and me the reimbursement of the exam makes a big impact on our day to day. It takes some weight off of me, allowing me to make more space to do what I love."

Recipient Briana Shelley adds, "For me, receiving this scholarship is validating. Everything I do is grassroots and free and sometimes I can feel burnout creeping in. Receiving this scholarship has given me the validation that what I am doing is incredibly important for my community and helps me continue to do this work for free."

Shelly, a U.S. active duty Air Force spouse, looks forward to putting the scholarship funds toward advanced education increasing her ability to serve families to meet their breastfeeding goals.

"Each recipient embodies strength, resilience, and a deep commitment to supporting all moms. We are grateful to be a part of their journies," Rabary concludes.

For more information on the Momcozy, the Lactation Consultant Scholarship Fund or to schedule an interview, email [email protected] .

About Momcozy:

Since 2018, Momcozy has been bringing the best in comfort to mothers with its wearable breast pumps, nursing bras, and other mom-care products. Endorsed by 3 million mothers in over 40 countries, Momcozy is a companion to women from pregnancy to early motherhood. With continuous innovation and a commitment to creating cozy designs, born from love, Momcozy is growing in reach and impact to make moms' lives easier around the world.

Contact:

Lalaina Rabary

Momcozy, Marketing Manager - North America

[email protected]

SOURCE Momcozy
NEW YORK, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Surgical Sutures Market is set to grow by USD 1.102 billion from 2023 to 2027 progressing at a CAGR of over 4.68% during the forecast period. North America is estimated to contribute 36% to the growth of the global market during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current global market scenario, the latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. The market is driven by Increase in volume of surgeries.

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Surgical Sutures Market 2023-2027

Here is an Exclusive report talking about Market scenarios with a historical period (2017-2021) and forecast period (2023-2027).

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Report Coverage Details Page number 160 Base year 2022 Historic period 2017-2021 Forecast period 2023-2027 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 4.68% Market growth 2023-2027 USD 1,102.57 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023(%) 4.28 Regional analysis North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of World (ROW) Performing market contribution North America at 36% Key countries US, Germany, UK, Japan, and China

The report on the surgical sutures market provides a holistic update, market size and forecast, trends, growth drivers, and challenges, as well as vendor analysis.

Market Dynamics

Growing demand for natural and antimicrobial coating surgical sutures is driving market growth:

The rising demand for natural and antimicrobial coating surgical sutures is fueling market expansion. These sutures, categorized as absorbable and non-absorbable, are pivotal in medical treatments. Natural absorbable sutures like Chromic Gut and STARCRYL polyglycolic acid types are gaining traction for scarless wound healing. Ethicon's antibacterial-coated sutures combat Surgical Site Infections (SSIs), recommended by many healthcare bodies. The preference for natural absorbable sutures over synthetic types is projected to drive market growth.

Technological advancements or improvements in suture-assist devices are a major trend in the market.

Growing preference toward MIS is hindering market growth and forecasting.

Market Segmentation

The surgical sutures market analysis includes Product, End-user and geography landscape. This study identifies the emergence of smart sutures, technological advancements, or improvements in suture-assist devices, Growing focus on emerging economies as one of the prime reasons driving the surgical sutures market growth during the next few years.

North America is projected to contribute 36% to the global market growth during the forecast period. In the US, factors such as favorable reimbursement policies, rising healthcare spending, and increased product approvals drive market growth. Canada's market, characterized by diversification and technology-driven approaches, benefits from growing healthcare expenditure and demand for advanced medical technologies.

is projected to contribute 36% to the global market growth during the forecast period. In the US, factors such as favorable reimbursement policies, rising healthcare spending, and increased product approvals drive market growth. market, characterized by diversification and technology-driven approaches, benefits from growing healthcare expenditure and demand for advanced medical technologies. Hospitals, which may be private entities or working under government institutions, are well-equipped with advanced medical facilities. Hospitals have technologically advanced medical equipment to detect and diagnose the most critical cases and perform surgeries. They have a state-of-the-art infrastructure that caters to the growing demand for physicians and patients. The increase in the volume of surgeries will positively increase the share of the hospitals segment, as the sutures are used to close the wound after surgery.

This report presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources through an analysis of key parameters

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Companies Mentioned

B. Braun SE

Boston Scientific Corp.

Conmed Corp.

DemeTECH Corp.

GPC Medical Ltd.

HLL Lifecare Ltd.

Integra Lifesciences Holdings Corp.

Internacional Farmaceutica SA de CV

Johnson and Johnson

Lotus Surgicals Pvt. Ltd.

Lux Sutures AS

Medtronic Plc

Orion Sutures India Pvt Ltd.

Peters Surgical

Smith and Nephew plc

Surgical Specialties Corp.

Sutcon Sutures

Teleflex Inc.

Theragenics Corp.

Unisur Lifecare Pvt. Ltd.

B. Braun SE - The company offers surgical sutures such as Optilene, Dafilon, and Supramid.

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Analyst Review:

The Global Surgical Sutures Market is witnessing robust growth, fueled by the increasing demand for advanced medical suturing devices and wound healing products. Key market players such as CP Medical, Atramat, Medtronic (Covidien), and others are driving innovation in the field, catering to diverse surgical needs and ensuring optimal patient outcomes.

The market valuation for surgical sutures is on the rise, with companies like Teleflex Incorporated (Teleflex Medical OEM), Sutumed, and others contributing to its growth. Products segments such as knotted absorbable sutures, knotless absorbable sutures, knotted non-absorbable sutures, and knotless non-absorbable sutures are witnessing increased sales, supported by advancements in synthetic materials, suture coatings, and braiding technologies. Specialty sutures like Triclosan-coated polyglactin 910 by Dolphin Sutures are gaining traction due to their antibacterial properties, enhancing patient outcome improvement and safe recovery. The market also sees opportunities in therapeutic procedures across various surgical techniques, including minimally invasive procedures and cardiovascular surgeries.

With an aging population and rising prevalence of chronic diseases, surgical interventions such as joint replacements and cardiac procedures are increasing, driving the demand for advanced wound closure solutions like tissue adhesives and hemostats. However, pricing pressures and distribution challenges remain key considerations for stakeholders, necessitating strategic selling and portfolio diversification to capitalize on emerging opportunities in underpenetrated markets.

The Surgical Sutures Market witnesses active participation from key players such as Unisur Lifecare Pvt Ltd. (Universal Sutures), GMD Group, Dynek Pvt Ltd., Unilene, Advanced MedTech Solutions Pvt. Ltd, and Corza Medical. Future Market Insights conducted an industry trend analysis, revealing significant growth potential driven by factors like rising injuries from road accidents, increasing demand for cosmetic procedures, and the surge in orthopedic interventions. Sales analysis and pricing studies indicate a growing preference for surgical staples and advanced suture thread segments, particularly in orthopedic and internal tissue surgeries. Regulatory requirements and healthcare infrastructure play pivotal roles in shaping market dynamics, while research and development organizations drive innovation. With a focus on addressing complications and meeting regulatory standards, new players entering the market need to understand buying behavior and decision-making groups. Distribution channels, payer preferences, and the influence of healthcare professionals further impact product sales. Key opportunities lie in addressing the needs of diverse surgical applications, such as skin, blood vessels, and internal tissues, with effective product offerings. Conference materials and webinars provide valuable insights for key stakeholders, guiding strategic decisions and enhancing market competitiveness.

Market Overview:

The Surgical Sutures Market is a vital component of the broader Wound Closure Devices market, catering to a diverse range of medical procedures and patient needs. Key players in the industry, such as DemeTECH Corporation, Kono Seisakusho Co., Ltd, and Mani Inc., alongside others like Olimp Surgical Sutures and Unisur Lifecare Pvt Ltd., drive innovation and competition. Surgical sutures play a crucial role in closing wounds across various tissues and organs, reducing scar formation and promoting optimal healing. Barbed sutures and antibacterial sutures address specific needs, while alternative wound closure methods offer versatility in surgical procedures. Market analysis encompasses product segment sales, revenue, and pricing, alongside industry trend, patent, and conference materials analysis. With increasing healthcare coverage and reimbursement schemes, the market witnesses growth opportunities, particularly in trauma, burns, and orthopedic and cardiovascular procedures. The market's competitive landscape involves manufacturers, distributors, and research organizations, catering to the evolving needs of healthcare facilities and end users.

Related Reports:

The absorbable sutures market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 4.33% between 2022 and 2027. The market size is forecasted to increase by USD 622.72 million.

The global dental sutures market size is estimated to grow by USD 102.95 million at a CAGR of 6.72% between 2022 and 2027.

Key Topics Covered:

1 Executive Summary

2 Landscape

3 Sizing

4 Historic Size

5 Five Forces Analysis

6 Segmentations

7 Customer Landscape

8 Geographic Landscape

9 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

10 Vendor Landscape

11 Vendor Analysis

12 Appendix

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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.

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NEW YORK, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Teleperformance, a global leader in digital business services, announced today that it assisted nearly 225,000 people in situations of vulnerability worldwide last year through its Citizen of the World program, which provides support mainly through education and disaster relief programs.

Over the past few years, people around the world have grappled with the impact of war and several natural disasters. Entire communities, schools, and families have suffered, and Teleperformance has worked closely with global and local organizations to provide aid and support.

Since its inception in 2006, the Teleperformance Citizen of the World program has made more than 70 million in cash and in-kind donations to help improve lives around the world, particularly vulnerable children and their families. In 2023 alone, Teleperformance supported many philanthropic activities across the globe through its Citizen of the World program, including:

Philippines

Teleperformance employees helped refurbish and refresh classrooms in nine elementary schools in the communities where the company operates, which benefited more than 8,000 students. The company also donated much-needed school supplies to 1,000 first-grade students in need.

Sudan

Teleperformance aided 46,000 people affected by the ongoing conflict in Sudan, through nutrition, vaccination and water sanitation programs for displaced children and families.

Turkiye and Syria

The program provided shelter, medical supplies and temporary school classrooms aiding approximately 16,000 people affected by the 2023 earthquakes in Turkiye and Syria.

Learn more about Teleperformance Citizen of the Word projects in different countries here.

Teleperformance (TEP  ISIN: FR0000051807  Reuters: TEPRF.PA - Bloomberg: TEP FP), is a global leader in digital business services which consistently seeks to blend the best of advanced technology with human empathy to deliver enhanced customer care that is simpler, faster, and safer for the world's biggest brands and their customers. The Group's comprehensive, AI-powered service portfolio ranges from front office customer care to back-office functions, including operations consulting and high-value digital transformation services. It also offers a range of specialized services such as collections, interpreting and localization, visa and consular services, and recruitment process outsourcing services. The teams of multilingual, inspired, and passionate experts and advisors, spread in close to 100 countries, as well as the Group's local presence allows it to be a force of good in supporting communities, clients, and the environment. In 2023, Teleperformance reported consolidated revenue of 8,345 million (US$9 billion) and net profit of 602 million.

Teleperformance shares are traded on the Euronext Paris market, Compartment A, and are eligible for the deferred settlement service. They are included in the following indices: CAC 40, STOXX 600, S&P Europe 350, MSCI Global Standard and Euronext Tech Leaders. In the area of corporate social responsibility, Teleperformance shares are included in the CAC 40 ESG since September 2022, the Euronext Vigeo Euro 120 index since 2015, the MSCI Europe ESG Leaders index since 2019, the FTSE4Good index since 2018 and the S&P Global 1200 ESG index since 2017.

For more information: www.teleperformance.com.

SOURCE Teleperformance
INDIANAPOLIS, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Christie Farrell Lee & Bell, a renowned Indiana personal injury law firm, has announced a significant victory in a groundbreaking case against automotive giant Tesla Motors, Inc. In a verdict that marks one of the largest vehicle collision compensations in Indiana's state legal history, Marion Superior Court has ordered Tesla Motors, Inc. to pay $42,481,243.00 to the guardianship estate of Christopher Dugan.

This landmark decision not only exemplifies Christie Farrell Lee & Bell's commitment to their clients but also showcases their legal prowess in challenging complex cases against major corporations. The firm collaborated with Nicholas Rowley and Karen Zahka of Trial Lawyers for Justice to represent Christopher Dugan and his family in this pivotal lawsuit.

Christie Farrell Lee & Bell has announced a $42 million verdict against automotive giant Tesla Motors, Inc. Post this

Christopher Dugan, a devoted father and engineer, sustained life-changing injuries in a 2017 incident involving a Tesla employee and a Tesla-owned vehicle, which resulted in a traumatic brain injury and partial foot amputation. The lawsuit sought justice and accountability for Chris's immense suffering and the challenges faced by his family.

The trial, led by attorneys Lee Christie, Katie Marshall, and the team from Trial Lawyers for Justice, highlighted Tesla's negligence and disregard for safety. The jury's verdict, initially awarding $60.6 million in damages before adjustments for comparative fault, reflects the significant impact of Tesla's actions on the victim's life and the acknowledgment of the firm's relentless advocacy.

"Tesla will likely not pay this jury verdict because Elon Musk has been personally making the decisions. Musk and Tesla made the decision not to accept responsibility up to this point in time," as Nicholas Rowley of Trial Lawyers for Justice noted.

Lee Christie commented on the outcome, emphasizing the journey ahead for Mr. Dugan and the importance of the verdict in providing the necessary resources for his rehabilitation and the well-being of his family. "This verdict, while it cannot undo the harm suffered, is a step towards ensuring that Chris and his daughter are supported through this incredibly difficult time," said Christie.

For further information or inquiries, please contact Christie Farrell Lee & Bell.

Christie Farrell Lee & Bell is Indiana's leading personal injury law firm, recognized for its compassionate advocacy and unwavering commitment to justice. The firm is dedicated to helping those impacted by negligence navigate the complexities of the legal system and achieve meaningful compensation.

Contact:

Katie Marshall

[email protected]

SOURCE Christie Farrell Lee & Bell
Beijing (Gasgoo)- On March 26, PATEO, a Chinese V2X tech company, signed credit agreements with seven banks, including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Bank of Communications, Bank of Shanghai, Industrial Bank, and China Merchants Bank, securing a total credit line of 19 billion yuan.

Signing ceremony; photo credit: PATEO

Additionally, PATEO has entered into a strategic cooperation agreement with Guotai Junan, further propelling the company towards greater achievements.

Established in 2009, Shanghai-based PATEO is a leading player in the field of V2X. Its business scope encompasses in-vehicle data, automotive electronic hardware, operating systems, software, voice AI and map integration, TSP (Transit Signal Priority) V2X service operation, intelligent automotive PaaS (Platform as a Service) and SaaS (Software as a Service) cloud services, payment solutions, communication operations, and new business models related to automotive digitalization.

PATEO currently employs over 1,200 professionals and has R&D centers in Nanjing, Shenyang, Dalian, Shenzhen, and Wuhan cities, as well as offices in Changchun, Beijing, and Frankfurt.

PATEO has already served nearly 30 automotive brands with nearly 100 vehicle models. The company have successfully implemented over a thousand projects and collaborated with major automakers such as FAW Group, Dongfeng Motor, and SAIC Motor, as well as prominent ICT companies and new energy vehicle manufacturers like ZEEKR, AVATR, VOYAH, and NETA Auto.

According to the company, PATEO has invested nearly 2 billion yuan in R&D since its inception and continues to allocate nearly 30% of its annual revenue to further enhance its R&D capabilities.
EPLive 2024 is a two-day conference that draws the world's top cardiac electrophysiology experts

AUSTIN, Texas, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- On April 18 and 19, 2024, the Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute (TCAI) at St. David's Medical Center will host its seventh international symposium on complex arrhythmias, EPLive 2024.

EPLive is an intensive, two-day educational meeting for physicians, advanced practice registered nurses and allied health professionals who have an interest in treating complex cardiac arrhythmias, a condition in which the heart beats with an irregular or abnormal rhythm. Live cases, which are broadcast with expert commentary from the state-of-the-art Electrophysiology Center at St. David's Medical Center, will serve as the primary teaching tool.

"The Texas Cardiac Arrythmia Institute is honored to bring together the world's leading cardiac electrophysiology experts to present live and recorded cases that showcase the accomplishments and the future of our field," Andrea Natale, M.D., F.H.R.S., F.A.C.C., F.E.S.C., cardiac electrophysiologist and executive medical director of TCAI and EPLive course director, said. "The cases, which highlight advances in the treatment of cardiac arrythmias, will help further improve patient outcomes across the globe."

Cardiac arrhythmias are caused by problems with the heart's electrical system. While many cardiac arrhythmias are treated using modern ablation procedureswhich rely on extreme heat or cold to destroy targeted areas associated with abnormal heart rhythmsEPLive will focus on Pulsed Field Ablation (PFA). This form of ablation, the latest advancement in electrophysiology, produces high-frequency electrical pulses to attack muscle cells that cause irregular heart rhythms without using excess heat or cold. The non-thermal approach does not damage surrounding tissue and, therefore, enhances patient outcomes.

Atrial fibrillation (A Fib) cases, including PFA, represent one of the four sections of the conference. EPLive will also feature Ventricular Tachycardia (VT) ablation cases, Left Atrial Appendage (LAA) closure cases and devices, and new technology. The sessions consist of a combination of live and recorded cases from TCAI and some of the world's premier centers: Cleveland Clinic, Houston Methodist, Kansas City Heart Rhythm Institute, Massachusetts General, MedStar Health (Washington, D.C.), Mt. Sinai Hospital (New York), Mozina Heart Center (Italy), St. Bernard's Heart and Vascular Center (Arkansas), UC Health Center (Colorado), University of Chicago Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and Vancouver General Hospital (Canada).

The conference will also focus on a variety of objectives, including:

Identifying processes to reduce complications and promote safety measures for patients during A Fib ablation and other cardiac arrhythmias.

Demonstrating understanding of the latest evidence and guidelines in arrhythmia management and treatment with new technology.

Applying approaches that best utilize the new technologies demonstrated to optimize clinical outcomes.

Identifying processes that can benefit from the integration of new technologies and promote safer procedures for the patient.

Identifying processes to reduce complications and promote safety measures for the patient during complex cardiac device implants lead extractions.

Along with Dr. Natale, EPLive will feature presentations by several TCAI physicians, including course co-director, Amin Al-Ahmad, M.D., Mohamed Bassiouny, M.D., David Burkland, M.D., Robert Canby, M.D., Joseph Gallinghouse, M.D., Rodney Horton, M.D., Patrick Hranitzky, M.D., and Jason Zagrodzky, M.D.

Physicians will receive a maximum of 14.5 American Medical Association (AMA) Physician's Recognition Award (PRA) Category 1 Credit hours at the conference.

The Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute features the leading robotic electrophysiology center in North America. The 72,000-square-foot center, which opened in 2019, includes six electrophysiology labs equipped with advanced technology for treatment of complex arrhythmias. The institute's team of world-renowned physicians is one of the largest electrophysiology practices in the United States, providing unparalleled experience, expertise and exceptional care.

For more information, visit EP-Live.com.

Media Contact: ECPR Texas

Matt Grilli

[email protected]

(630) 800-9533

SOURCE The Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute at St. David's Medical Center
DUBLIN, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Market for Biodegradable Microbeads 2024-2035" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Plastic microbeads are a multi-billion dollar market, with applications in markets ranging from cosmetics to oil & gas. However, their use is limited in some applications, and regulatory curbs regarding use are likely to increase. Replacement of plastic microbeads with biodegradable and non-toxic alternatives is increasingly important and the market will grow to meet both regulatory demands and increased use of microbeads in healthcare (e.g. pharmaceuticals and drug delivery), food and beverages), paints and coatings, and cosmetics and personal care sectors.

Microplastics can be separated into primary and secondary microplastics. Primary microplastics are mostly thermoset and thermoplast plastic materials that have been added to products to fulfil a certain function. For example, these synthetic non-degradable polymers are used in personal care and cosmetics for exfoliation, film formation, sorbents for delivering active ingredients, skin conditioning etc.. While some of these microbeads are clearly visible, others are in the micro- or nanometre range. Personal care and cosmetic products since the 1990s have been increasingly formulated to include microbeads to improve their abrasive and other qualities. Many companies have curtailed their use or pivoted to natural alternatives, but it still represents a sizeable global market.

Secondary microplastics are formed by the fragmentation of macroplastics (>5 mm) by processes such as weathering of plastic litter and paint layers, as well as wear of car tyres and are the main focus of environmental concerns. However, primary microplastics also raise issues and are a target for regulation. Therefore the developments of biobased and natural alternatives has grown in recent years.

The Global Market for Biodegradable Microbeads 2024-2035 offers an in-depth analysis of the market dynamics, key players, and future opportunities within this rapidly evolving sector, covering the period from 2017 to 2035. The report examines the current state of the microplastics market, providing a detailed classification of microplastics and their applications across various industries, and the potential of biodegradable materials as replacements for conventional microplastics. Biodegradable microbead materials types covered include natural polymers, polysaccharides, proteins, and polyesters. The report assesses the likelihood of these materials penetrating different sectors, such as personal care, cosmetics, agriculture, paints & coatings, detergents, oil & gas, and medical products.

One of the key highlights of this report is its comprehensive analysis of microplastic usage and the potential for biodegradable alternatives across these sectors. By providing a detailed breakdown of the current market size and forecasts for both primary microparticles and biodegradable microbeads, segmented by sector and region (in tonnes and USD), the report enables stakeholders to identify lucrative opportunities and make informed strategic decisions.

Moreover, the report features profiles of leading producers and developers of biodegradable microbead materials, offering valuable insights into their product portfolios, production capacities, and growth strategies. This information is crucial for companies seeking to establish partnerships, collaborate on research and development, or stay ahead of the competition in this dynamic market. Companies profiled include Ajinomoto Co., Inc., Andritz Oy, Asahi Kasei Corporation, BASF, Bioweg, CELLiCON, CH-Bioforce Oy, Croda, Daicel Corporation, Green Science Alliance, Lactips, LignoPure GmbH, Naturbeads and TerraVerdae BioWorks.

As concerns about the environmental impact of microplastics continue to mount, the demand for sustainable and biodegradable alternatives is expected to soar. This report serves as an essential resource for companies, researchers, and investors looking to capitalize on this trend and contribute to a greener future. By providing a comprehensive understanding of the market landscape, key players, and growth prospects, this report empowers stakeholders to navigate the challenges and seize the opportunities presented by the global shift towards eco-friendly microbeads and microplastic alternatives.

Key Topics Covered:

1 REPORT METHODOLOGY

2 MICROPLASTICS MARKET

2.1 Microplastics added to products

2.1.1 Classification

2.1.2 Function and applications

2.2 Microplastics legislation

2.2.1 REACH

3 BIODEGRADABLE MICROBEADS MATERIALS

3.1 Use as an alternative to microplastics

3.2 Natural hard materials

3.3 Natural polymers

3.3.1 Polysaccharides

3.3.1.1 Starch

3.3.1.2 Cellulose

3.3.1.2.1 Microcrystalline cellulose (MCC)

3.3.1.2.2 Regenerated cellulose microspheres

3.3.1.2.3 Cellulose nanocrystals

3.3.1.2.4 Bacterial nanocellulose (BNC)

3.3.1.3 Chitin

3.3.2 Proteins

3.3.2.1 Collagen/Gelatin

3.3.2.2 Casein

3.3.3 Polyesters

3.3.3.1 Polyhydroxyalkanoates

3.3.3.2 Polylactic acid

3.3.4 Other natural polymers

3.3.4.1 Lignin

3.3.4.2 Alginate

4 MARKETS FOR BIODEGRADABLE MICROBEADS

4.1 Likelihood of market penetration of natural microplastic alternatives, by market

4.2 Personal care

4.3 Cosmetics

4.4 Agriculture and horticulture

4.5 Paints & coatings

4.6 Soap, detergents and maintenance products

4.7 Oil and gas

4.8 Medical products

4.9 Global market size

5 PRODUCER PROFILES

A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes

Ajinomoto Co., Inc.

Andritz Oy

Asahi Kasei Corporation

BASF

Bioweg

CELLiCON

CH-Bioforce Oy

Croda

Daicel Corporation

Green Science Alliance

Lactips

LignoPure GmbH

Naturbeads

TerraVerdae BioWorks

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/dr1pzm

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Announces Second Accelerating Change Together Grant Application Funding

NEWPORT NEWS, Va., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the BayPort Foundation, Ferguson, and Newport News Shipbuilding, a division of HII, have announced a community partnership to fund a three-year, $500,000 transformational grant called Accelerating Change Together (ACT). The grant will run from 2024 to 2026 and aims to invest in the Hampton Roads nonprofit community to build upon education and develop a skilled workforce that benefits the nation.

The ACT Grant was initially launched in 2022. The inaugural year's grant provided an instant lift in equipment funding, enabling the Virginia Beach Education Foundation and Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS) to add a new two-year, half-day Advanced Technology Center Renewable Energy Technologies program.

"The initial results of our founding investment were more successful than we could have hoped. The sustainable VBCPS program switch from fiber optics to renewable energy prepares future-ready students to enter the workforce," said Nancy Porter, VP of Marketing at BayPort Credit Union and Executive Director of the BayPort Foundation. "We are excited to support a second funding and help local nonprofits to dream of new ways to expand their programs and collaborate with others to make a positive change in the communities we serve."

"This funding is vital, and Ferguson Cares is honored to be a part of the ACT Grant collaborative for the second year. Through this financial support, we'll be able to supply the essential resources necessary for advancing our shared goal in fostering a strong workforce pipeline and increasing civic engagement," said Melissa Hazelwood, Director of Social Impact at Ferguson.

"The ACT Grant builds on HII's belief in educational support as the foundation of our nation's security," said Gary Artybridge, Manager of Corporate Citizenship & Education Outreach at Newport News Shipbuilding. "We proudly support various STEM education initiatives at elementary, middle, and high schools, and college programs that support our workforce development needs. The ACT Grant is an extension of that mission."

Virginia Natural Gas has joined BayPort, Ferguson, and Newport News Shipbuilding in the 2024 funding launch and its education and workforce development mission. The ACT Grant extends the four companies' existing charitable giving and social impact efforts.

The ACT Grant Contributions Committee will host a breakfast panel discussion on May 22 at the Mariners' Museum and Park in Newport News. This event will discuss the ACT Grant process and answer questions about the application form. The deadline for applications is July 31, 2024. For additional information on the ACT Grant and eligibility requirements, please visit actgrant.org.

About BayPort Foundation

BayPort Foundation is the charitable arm of BayPort Credit Union, headquartered in Newport News, Virginia and was established to extend the credit union's philosophy of "people helping people." The Foundation is an extension of the credit union's charitable giving. BayPort Credit Union commits more than half a million dollars in annual corporate donations and pays all the Foundation's overhead to ensure that 100% of the Foundation donations support its mission. For more information, visit bayportfoundation.org.

About Ferguson

Ferguson plc (NYSE: FERG; LSE: FERG) is a leading value-added distributor providing expertise, solutions and products from infrastructure, plumbing and appliances to HVAC, fire, fabrication and more. We exist to help make our customers' complex projects simple, successful and sustainable. Ferguson is headquartered in the U.K., with operations in North America. For more information, please visit fergusonplc.com or follow Ferguson on LinkedIn.

About HII

HII is a global, all-domain defense provider. HII's mission is to deliver the world's most powerful ships and all-domain solutions in service of the nation, creating the advantage for our customers to protect peace and freedom around the world. As the nation's largest military shipbuilder, and with a more than 135-year history of advancing U.S. national security, HII delivers critical capabilities extending from ships to unmanned systems, cyber, ISR, AI/ML and synthetic training. Headquartered in Virginia, HII's workforce is 44,000 strong. For more information, please visit hii.com.

SOURCE BayPort Credit Union
LOS ANGELES, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Occidental College Board of Trustees has appointed Dr. Tom Stritikus as the College's 17th president. Stritikus comes to Occidental from his position as president of Fort Lewis College, a public liberal arts college located in Durango, Colorado.

Tom Stritikus has been named 17th President of Occidental College. Photo courtesy of Occidental College

The board unanimously selected Stritikus at the conclusion of a national search, advised by a search committee drawn from all segments of the college community. He will begin his term at Occidental on July 1 and will succeed Harry J. Elam, Jr., who announced in August 2023 that he will leave the College on June 30 after a four-year presidency.

"I am honored to have been selected to lead Occidental, an institution that defines excellence, equity and service," Stritikus said. "I look forward to collaborating with world-class faculty and staff to engage the Los Angeles community and help students realize the full potential of an immersive liberal arts education."

Stritikus will bring to Occidental more than three decades of higher education leadership experience, as well as an abiding commitment to values of inclusive excellence and equity.

Prior to his presidency at Fort Lewis, he was a deputy director of education at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he developed funding plans for initiatives to improve outcomes for low-income students and youth of color nationwide. Prior to that, he served as the dean of the University of Washington's College of Education, which US News & World Report ranked as the sixth-best program in the nation during his tenure.

In his six years at Fort Lewis, Stritikus helped to reinvigorate a campus that served high percentages of first generation students and students of color. He oversaw record increases in fundraising and more than doubled the College's cash endowment.

He also led the college as it embraced its role as a Native American-serving institution, which included engaging with Tribal Nations as partners and reckoning with the college's complicated history as a former Native American boarding school.

"Dr. Stritikus' demonstrated success in creating an inclusive campus environment, bolstering experiential learning, accelerating financial support for the mission and programs at Fort Lewis and being a consistent advocate for students, faculty, and academic excellence speak well to the alignment of his skills and experience with the needs and opportunities in the Occidental community," said Lisa Link, chair of Occidental's Board of Trustees.

As president, Stritikus will lead Occidental in bringing to fruition the Occidental Promise , the College's integrated strategic plan. The plan focuses on providing students with a distinctive urban liberal arts experience grounded in the values of academic excellence, equity and justice, and immersive student learning in Los Angeles.

"The ability for our students to apply what they're learning to issues in Los Angeles  one of the nation's most dynamic and important cities  is a huge opportunity to show the world the value of a liberal arts education," Stritikus said.

Art Peck, the Occidental alumnus, parent, and trustee who chaired the Presidential Search Advisory Committee, said trustees saw in Stritikus a deep commitment to the liberal arts, a student and faculty-centric leader, a person who understands what makes Occidental special, and a personal and humble connection to the transformative power of higher education.

"We are confident that, working within the framework and vision of the Occidental Promise, Dr. Stritikus will continue to fulfill the College's mission of providing a diverse student body with an excellent educational experience that prepares them for leadership and citizenship in an increasingly complex world," Peck said.

Stritikus' scholarly work examines the effect of bilingual education policy and teacher practice on the academic lives of Latinx and Asian immigrants. A first-generation college student and son of immigrant parents, he received a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and earned his Ph.D. in language, literacy and culture from the University of California, Berkeley. He began his teaching experience as a Teach For America corps member in Baltimore.

Mark Suzman, CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, lauded Stritikus' commitment to educational access.

"Dr. Stritikus has been a great leader in higher education for many years, dedicating his career to making sure that all students  no matter their background  experience great teaching and have every opportunity to succeed," said Suzman.

Members of the Presidential Search Advisory Committee echoed the Board's enthusiasm about Stritikus.

"Dr. Stritikus' focus on building community partnerships during his time at Fort Lewis College resonates with Occidental's mission of immersive, community-based learning," said John McCormack, professor of biology, faculty council president and search committee member. "His time in both academia and philanthropy should give him a unique vantage point for pushing forward the implementation of our strategic plan."

Claire Kosek '25, who served as a student representative, said she believes Stritikus will be an outstanding president, mentor and friend to the Occidental community.

"Dr. Stritikus' vision for the college offers a bridge between the beauty of what Occidental is and the creativity to explore what Occidental could be," she said.

Elam said he looks forward to working with Stritikus and the Board to ensure a smooth leadership transition.

"I have had the privilege of working with Dr. Stritikus as a fellow elected board member of the American Council on Education," said President Elam. "I am excited to watch Occidental grow and thrive in new ways under his leadership and to see him build on initiatives that we have underway. "

The executive search firm Isaacson, Miller assisted Occidental College with the search.

Please visit the College's website for a suite of media assets, including an introductory video, high-resolution images and additional quotes.

About Occidental College

Founded in 1887 in Los Angeles, Occidental College, a private, coeducational college of the liberal arts and sciences, seeks to provide its students with a total educational experience of the highest qualityone that prepares them for leadership in an increasingly complex, interdependent, and pluralistic world. The distinctive interdisciplinary and multicultural focus of the College's academic program seeks to foster both the fulfillment of individual aspirations and a deeply rooted commitment to the public good.

Contact: Rachael Warecki

Office of Marketing and Communications

[email protected]

SOURCE Occidental College
Leading the Charge Against Traditional Pay Models to Elevate Driver Compensation

JOPLIN, Mo., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In a groundbreaking shift from industry norms, Tri-State Motor Transit announces the launch of a revolutionary pay structure for its DOD Team Drivers, promising an unparalleled seven-day workweek guarantee of $2,300 starting April 1, 2024. This initiative shatters the traditional pay-per-mile paradigm and firmly positions Tri-State as the vanguard of Driver compensation and welfare in the logistics sector.

Tri-State Motor Transit

Michael Fisk, Vice President of Hiring, Safety, and Development stated, "It's a new dawn for the American truck Driver, who is the backbone of our nation's economy. For too long, their compensation hasn't matched their immense contribution. At Tri-State, we're changing the narrative, prioritizing Driver stability, respect, and a compensation package that reflects their invaluable work and dedication."

The innovative compensation strategy responds to the challenges Drivers face in the industry, including unpredictable earnings and a lack of respect for their profession. The new Tri-State model guarantees significant earnings for DOD individual team Drivers and DOD Teams, advocating for enhanced Driver welfare and professional acknowledgment within the transportation industry.

"Finally, a company that sees our worth and sets the bar high for how Drivers should be compensated. Tri-State's new pay structure brings not just financial stability but a renewed sense of respect for our profession," shared Ty Lander, an OTR Driver at Tri-State since 2012.

The initiative is part of Tri-State's mission to redefine industry standards, focusing on fairness, transparency, and respect for its Drivers. "Our goal isn't just to offer competitive pay; it's about redefining the value placed on our Drivers' crucial role within our success and the logistics industry at large," Fisk added.

About Tri-State Motor Transit:

Tri-State Motor Transit (TSMT) is a specialized logistics and transportation leader headquartered in Joplin, Missouri. With over 90 years of experience, TSMT has established itself as the go-to carrier for high-security shipments, including sensitive military freight, requiring the utmost care and confidentiality. As a pivotal player in the U.S. logistics and supply chain sector, TSMT dedicates itself to offering unparalleled services nationwide, ensuring safety, reliability, and efficiency in every shipment.

At Tri-State, our mission is to exceed expectations, not only in terms of the secure and timely delivery of cargo but also in our commitment to our Drivers' welfare and professional growth. Recognizing our team's critical role in our success and the broader economy, we strive to provide a work environment based on dignity, respect, and fair compensation. Our innovative pay structures and emphasis on Driver satisfaction underscore our dedication to leading the industry forward, both in technological advancements and workforce treatment.

For more information about Tri-State and to explore the opportunities to join our team or utilize our specialized transportation services, please visit tristatehazmat.com

Media Contact:

Michael Fisk

Email: [email protected]

Phone Number: 623.344.1206

SOURCE Tri-State Motor Transit
NEW YORK, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The global tunable diode laser analyzer (TDLA) market size is expected to witness significant growth between 2023 and 2027. The market size is estimated to increase by USD 208.96 million, with a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.55%. This growth is driven by various factors, including mounting concerns regarding greenhouse gas emissions, expansion of the oil and gas sector, and the increasing adoption of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology.

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Tunable Diode Laser Analyzer (TDLA) Market 2023-2027

For more insights on the historic data (2017 to 2021) and forecast market size (2023 to 2027) - Request a sample report

Market Dynamics

Analysts have meticulously examined the data from 2022, using it as the base year to identify key drivers, trends, and challenges in the TDLA market. The surge in greenhouse gas emissions, particularly from industries like oil and gas and chemicals, has prompted governments worldwide to introduce stringent environmental protection policies. This has fueled the demand for TDLAs, which play a vital role in detecting and measuring the concentration of harmful gases like H2O, H2S, CO2, NH3, and C2H2 in industrial processes.

Key Trends

One of the significant trends shaping the TDLA market is the advancement in gas analyzer technologies. Companies are developing innovative solutions like hybrid combustion analysis, which combines in-situ and extractive gas analysis techniques. For instance, HORIBA Ltd recently introduced HyEVO, a hydrogen gas analyzer capable of precise measurements even in high-moisture environments. Such technological advancements are expected to drive market growth, catering to various industries including petrochemicals, power generation, and medical applications.

For more insights on the historic data (2017 to 2021) and forecast market size (2023 to 2027) - Request a sample report

Market Challenges

Despite the promising growth prospects, the TDLA market faces challenges, notably the rising preference for rented or leased equipment due to the high upfront costs associated with TDLAs. Small-scale industries, such as cement, fertilizer, and paper and pulp manufacturers, prefer renting or leasing TDLAs to mitigate capital expenses. This trend could potentially hinder market expansion during the forecast period.

Market Segmentation

The market is segmented based on technology, type, and geography. In-situ TDLA systems, known for their durability and precision, are witnessing significant demand, especially in the chemical and petrochemical industries. Oxygen analyzers, a type of TDLA, are utilized for measuring oxygen levels in gas streams, triggering alarms when concentrations deviate from predetermined limits. Geographically, the Asia-Pacific region, driven by semiconductor manufacturing plants in countries like China, Taiwan, and South Korea, is anticipated to contribute substantially to market growth.

For more insights on the historic data (2017 to 2021) and forecast market size (2023 to 2027) - Request a sample report

Major Market Players

Leading companies in the TDLA market are implementing various strategies such as strategic alliances, product launches, and geographical expansion to strengthen their market presence. Key players include Sacher Lasertechnik GmbH, BOREAL LASER INC., Emerson Electric Co., Siemens AG, and Yokogawa Electric Corp., among others.

Analyst Review

The growth of the TDLA market is propelled by increased process automation across industries. TDLAs are instrumental in calibrating and analyzing gas mixtures with high precision, ensuring compliance with environmental regulations. Ongoing research and development efforts are focused on enhancing TDLA capabilities and reducing lead time in the supply chain.

The Tunable Diode Laser Analyzer (TDLA) market is experiencing robust growth driven by increasing demand for advanced environmental monitoring and stringent regulatory standards across various industries. TDLA, known for its high sensitivity, selectivity, and ability to measure trace gases accurately, has become a cornerstone in ensuring a safe and healthy environment.

One of the key factors driving the growth of the TDLA market is its versatility in applications. From ambient air quality monitoring to stack emissions and process gas analysis, TDLAs find applications across a wide range of industries including metal production, chemical manufacturing, wastewater treatment, and the oil & gas sector.

Calibration is a critical aspect of TDLA operation, involving the use of certified gas mixtures and performed at specified intervals to maintain accuracy. Qualified personnel are essential for ensuring precise calibration and operation of TDLAs, particularly in industries where environmental regulations are stringent.

Advanced environmental monitoring mandates the need for TDLAs with enhanced capabilities to detect impurities in gas samples with high sensitivity and selectivity. This is particularly crucial in industries such as power generation and combustion control, where maintaining optimal air quality is paramount.

Extractive-based TDLAs, equipped with measurement cells designed to withstand varying temperature and pressure conditions, offer reliable performance in harsh industrial environments. Additionally, the integration of TDLAs with increased process automation systems enhances efficiency and ensures compliance with environmental regulations.

Low maintenance costs associated with TDLAs make them an attractive choice for industries seeking cost-effective solutions for continuous gas analysis. Moreover, research and development activities aimed at further improving TDLA performance and expanding their application areas continue to drive market growth.

However, challenges such as lead time in supply chain management and compliance with evolving environmental regulations pose significant hurdles for market players. Despite these challenges, the TDLA market is poised for continued expansion, fueled by the growing emphasis on environmental sustainability and the need for accurate and reliable gas analysis solutions across various industries.

For more insights on the historic data (2017 to 2021) and forecast market size (2023 to 2027) - Request a sample report

Market Overview

The TDLA market is poised for substantial growth in the coming years, driven by factors like environmental concerns, technological advancements, and increasing industrial automation. As industries strive to achieve regulatory compliance and maintain a safe working environment, the demand for TDLAs is expected to surge, presenting lucrative opportunities for market players globally.

The Tunable Diode Laser Analyzer (TDLA) market is experiencing significant growth driven by a rising demand for advanced environmental monitoring solutions. TDLA, renowned for its high sensitivity and selectivity, plays a pivotal role in various industries such as ambient air quality, stack emissions, and process gas analysis. Calibration, using certified gas mixtures, is crucial for ensuring accurate measurements, necessitating a regular frequency of calibration by qualified personnel. TDLA technology ensures a safe and healthy environment by precisely detecting trace gases. As industries prioritize environmental sustainability and regulatory compliance, the TDLA industry continues to evolve, offering innovative solutions for efficient monitoring and control.

For more insights on the historic data (2017 to 2021) and forecast market size (2023 to 2027) - Request a sample report

Related Reports:

The test and measurement market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 5.1% between 2022 and 2027. The size of the market is forecast to increase by USD 9,119.5 million . The increase in the number of smart-connected devices is notably driving the market growth, although factors such as economic volatility and the highly cyclic nature of the electronics industry may impede the market growth.

is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 5.1% between 2022 and 2027. The size of the market is forecast to increase by . The increase in the number of smart-connected devices is notably driving the market growth, although factors such as economic volatility and the highly cyclic nature of the electronics industry may impede the market growth. The magnetic field sensor market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 9.29% between 2022 and 2027. The size of the market is forecast to increase by USD 2,718.4 million . The growing demand for e-compasses is notably driving the market growth, although factors such as increasing time-to-market due to long-drawn design may impede the market growth.

Table of contents:

1 Executive Summary

2 Landscape

3 Sizing

4 Historic Size

5 Five Forces Analysis

6 Segmentations

7 Customer Landscape

8 Geographic Landscape

9 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

10 Vendor Landscape

11 Vendor Analysis

12 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
Settlement Includes Rate Roll Back and Five-Year Rate Cap that Will Deliver Close to $30 Billion in Near-Term Swipe Fee Savings

Settlement Eliminates Anti-Steering Restrictions, Providing Merchants with Ability to Competitively Price at the Network and Card Level and Discount at the Issuer Level, and Facilitates the Formation of Buying Groups to Empower Small Merchants

NEW YORK, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- A landmark antitrust class action settlement has been reached between U.S. merchants and Visa Inc. ("Visa") and Mastercard Incorporated ("Mastercard") to resolve claims for injunctive relief in In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation. The settlement, which is among the largest in U.S. antitrust history, is subject to approval by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. The class includes all merchants who accepted Visa or Mastercard debit or credit cards in the United States at any time during the period between December 18, 2020 and the date of entry of final judgment by the court. The class is represented by Steve Shadowen of Hilliard Shadowen LLP; Robert Eisler of Grant & Eisenhofer PA; Michael Freed of Freed Kanner London & Millen LLC; and Linda Nussbaum of Nussbaum Law Group, P.C.

The settlement eliminates anti-competitive restraints that will deliver U.S. merchants billions of near- and long-term savings. At least $29.79 billion in savings will be realized in the five years following approval of the settlement from agreed upon caps and rollbacks on credit card processing fees, or "swipe fees." Experts expect substantially greater additional savings as the agreed upon policy changes provide merchants of all sizes with new negotiating leverage against Visa and Mastercard. Under the proposed settlement terms, the amount of transactions eligible to be competitively priced by merchants will increase from less than 20% of transactions to 96%.

Steve Shadowen, co-lead counsel, said, "This settlement is the culmination of eight years of hard-fought litigation and detailed, painstaking negotiations. It provides comprehensive market-based solutions to too-high swipe fees, while providing immediate fee relief to merchants as they make these new competitive tools work for them."

Robert Eisler, co-lead counsel, said, "This settlement achieves our goal of eliminating anti-competitive restraints and providing immediate and meaningful savings to all U.S. merchants, small and large."

Michael Freed, co-lead counsel, said, "This is about securing policy changes that empower merchants over the long term, promote competition and restore balance to the market."

Linda Nussbaum, co-lead counsel, said, "This settlement implements tools that will benefit merchants, big and small, while ensuring that the ecosystem remains conducive to the innovation that serves both merchants and consumers. In addition to rollbacks and caps, a merchant education program will facilitate merchant understanding of the rules changes and the benefits that can be achieved."

"The Settlement Agreement opens competitive doors that have been closed for decades, while providing rate relief to every merchant that accepts Visa or Mastercard credit cards," said Nobel laureate economist Dr. Joseph Stiglitz, who submitted a declaration on the settlement and its effects.

The settlement represents a major improvement upon the original agreement that was overturned by the Second Circuit in 2016. Key terms of the settlement include:

1) Applying three separate brakes to swipe fees, putting an end to their 25-year relentless upward spiral and delivering merchants at least $29.79 billion in savings over the next five years.

Brake 1: Visa and Mastercard will roll back the posted swipe fee of every merchant by at least four basis points for at least three years. Brake 2 : For a period of five years, Visa and Mastercard will not raise the swipe fees of any merchant above the posted rates that existed as of December 31, 2023 . Brake 3: For a period of five years, the average effective systemwide swipe fee for Visa and Mastercard must be at least seven basis points below the current average rate. An independent auditor will verify the calculations.



2) Removing anti-steering restrictions and enabling competitive pricing.

Merchants can charge for using a Visa or Mastercard credit card, regardless of whether they can charge for using American Express, whose rules for merchants were upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018. Merchants can discount at the issuer level thereby steering consumers to more preferred cards and promoting increased competition among the networks and the numerous credit card issuers. Merchants will be able to adjust prices based on the costs associated with accepting different credit cards, promoting efficient price signaling and enhancing transparency for consumers. Merchants will be permitted to provide customers truthful information as to why they are applying a charge for credit card use.



3) Increasing small merchants' ability to negotiate lower swipe fees from Visa and Mastercard.

Visa and Mastercard must negotiate swipe fees in good faith with merchant buying groups, and the agreement provides a streamlined process for resolving disputes.



4) Allocating $15 million for a merchant education program to advise and inform merchants on the settlement and effectively utilizing the rule changes.

This will be the first independent merchant education program, available free of charge to all merchants of every size and category.



Importantly, the settlement prohibits Visa and Mastercard from circumventing the injunctive relief, providing strong anti-circumvention provisions and independent verification and calculations on swipe fees.

The settlement stems from a 2005 lawsuit which alleged that merchants paid excessive fees to accept Visa and Mastercard credit cards, and that Visa and Mastercard and their member banks acted in violation of antitrust laws. This injunctive relief follows the $5.54 billion financial settlement for all U.S. merchant class members which was finalized and approved by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in March 2023.

For more information, please visit www.gelaw.com/settlements/interchange-antitrust-litigation-settlement-information for a copy of the court filing of the settlement and the declaration by Dr. Joseph Stiglitz.

Media Contact

Brandy Bergman/Nicholas Leasure/Kelsey Thomas

Reevemark

[email protected]

(212) 433-4600

SOURCE Hilliard Shadowen LLP
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Uzum, a leading digital services ecosystem in Uzbekistan, has secured more than $100 mln in funding through a combination of a Series A funding round and debt financing, making Uzum the first tech company in Uzbekistan to achieve unicorn status with a post-money valuation of over $1 billion. Uzum plans to use the funds to develop the country's IT and logistics infrastructure, as well as to fund its own BNPL-service.

Uzum secured over $50 mln in equity through a Series A funding round consisting wholly of primary investments. The round was led by the global venture capital firm FinSight Ventures (whose portfolio companies have included Intercom, ThoughtSpot, Automation Anywhere, Toss, GupShup, Razorpay, Bumble, Rappi, Carta and others), joined by Xanara Investment Management, a multifamily office in the UAE, and Uzum's senior management team. The company separately raised an additional $50+ mln in debt financing.

Investors taking part in the Series A funding round will receive stakes of less than 5% in the company. Given Uzum's strong performance in 2023  its first full year of operations  and the ecosystem's enormous potential, the shareholders decided to not substantially dilute their ownership stakes during the funding round. In 2024, Uzum plans to raise additional financing of approximately $200 million in a Series B funding round from investors in the Middle East, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Combining e-commerce, fintech and banking services for individuals and small and medium-sized enterprises, the Uzum digital ecosystem includes a marketplace, an express delivery service, traditional and digital banks, a BNPL service, an automotive marketplace and an app for entrepreneurs. All of the ecosystem's components are now being integrated into two superapps: Uzum for individuals, and Uzum Business for legal entities. By the end of 2023, the Uzum ecosystem had 10 million monthly average users and net profit just shy of $100 million. Meanwhile, Uzum's retail banking and fintech businesses were among the leaders in the country in terms of profit, and its e-commerce business was the largest online platform in Uzbekistan by the number of users and number of orders, with turnover of around $150 million.

In 2024, Uzum plans to launch the largest logistics complex for e-commerce in the country, which is expected to increase e-commerce turnover on its platform by more than 150% during the year. It also plans to launch a number of ecosystem products for unsecured lending to individuals as well as small and medium-sized enterprises.

Alexey Garyunov, managing partner at FinSight Ventures, commented:

"We focus on FinTech, B2B SaaS and the e-commerce markets in the US and India, as well as investing in superapps in emerging markets. By combining convenient payment solutions with an e-commerce platform, Uzum achieved impressive results in just a year and a half, launching one of the top three apps in the country in terms of the number of downloads, trailing only instant messengers and social networks. Uzum has already become the national leader in its key business verticals (fintech and e-commerce) thanks to strong network effects and synergies between its various businesses. Uzbekistan is one of the markets where consumers moved from offline directly to mobile (bypassing the web browser stage), which makes this market ideal for creating a superapp that combines banking, fintech, e-commerce and other services in an ecosystem for consumers and entrepreneurs. We witnessed the success of Kaspi.kz in creating a superapp in neighboring Kazakhstan, Rappi in Latin America, and Toss in South Korea, and we are confident that Uzum, which has the necessary talent, resources and products, will repeat this success to become the national tech leader in Uzbekistan.

Djasur Djumaev, Uzum's founder and CEO, said:

"Digital services in Uzbekistan today are incredibly popular. We see this in the growth rates of the markets that we work in as well as in our own experience. In a little over a year, we have built an ecosystem whose services are used by more than 10 million people in Uzbekistan every month. Last year, we earned nearly $100 million in net profit, and we intend to increase this figure this year, partly by integrating services within the Uzum ecosystem. We also plan to add new business streams and services for business and private users to the ecosystem this year. We see tremendous interest in the Uzbek market and in Uzum's digital ecosystem as one of its drivers and, of course, this would not have been possible without the extraordinary team of world-class professionals who created the first tech unicorn in the country's history."

According to KPMG, Uzbekistan is home to the fastest-growing e-commerce market in Central Asia, with the potential to grow up to sevenfold by the end of 2027. At the same time, the country's GDP grew by 6% in 2023, and Uzbekistan plans to double this figure in the next few years. Experts note that the country's economy has the potential for growth and rapid digitalization thanks to several factors, including a high rate of Internet penetration, a young population, as well as a currently low penetration rate of banking and financial services.

About Uzum

Uzum is a digital ecosystem and the largest digital platform in Uzbekistan, providing services spanning e-commerce, express delivery, banking and fintech, and business development. More than 10 million people in Uzbekistan, or nearly one-third of the country's population, use Uzum services every month. Learn more at uzum.com.

About FinSight

FinSight Ventures is a venture capital firm specializing in investments in FinTech, B2B SaaS and e-commerce companies as well as other segments of the tech market. The company invests at various stages (from seed to later stages), covering the entire funding cycle for tech companies. FinSight focuses on the US and Indian markets and also invests on a more global scale in superapps in emerging markets. FinSight manages more than $500 million in assets, with investor returns of over $600 million since its founding in 2004.

One of the firm's biggest deals was its investment in Bumble, which Blackstone acquired in 2019. At the time of the deal, the company was valued at $3b. Having backed Bumble from the very beginning, Finsight VC was the sole financial investor in the company.

About Xanara

Xanara Investment Management is a multifamily office located in Dubai. The company specializes in managing client assets, provides family office services, and also advises on wealth creation and preservation.

For additional information please contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Uzum Group
CARY, N.C., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- On March 25, 2024, BookLife rendered its assessment of the new book published by Washington Comix, Black Justice: The Awakening. BookLife characterized the book as, "this rousing superhero debut and origin story boasts a compelling cast, polished art, a savvy understanding of crime, cops, and media, and above all a welcome emphasis on what justice actually means-and what it takes to pursue it."

Cover

BookLife is a website from Publishers Weekly dedicated to indie authors. Publishers Weekly has been reviewing self-published books since 2010 when it began its PW Select program. In May 2014, Publishers Weekly joined forces with tech company Mediapolis, Inc. to launch BookLife.

BookLife commended Black Justice with its inclusion in the Editor's Pick. The Editor's Pick denotes a book of outstanding quality. BookLife reviews books assigning letter grades (from A+ to C) for five production elements: cover art, interior design and typography, illustrations (if applicable), editing, and marketing copy. Black Justice received high grades with an A for cover art, A for Design and typography, A for Illustrations, A- for editing, and A- for marketing copy.

"I am ecstatic about the review and I could not be happier to see that the work struck a chord with the reviewers," said Dr. David Washington, the author of the graphic novel. Black Justice represents Washington's first work in the fiction genre. "Most of my writing has been in the professional space and non-fiction area. However, I wanted to try something different. And a graphic novel is very different," explains Washington.

BookLife also made glowing commentary about the artwork of the book with the following statement: "Zhengis Tasbolatov's art is crisp, clear, and compelling, whether characters are engaged in thoughtful colloquies or armed combat."

The plot of the book is an African American entrepreneur and former Special Forces operator, Dr. Chris Withers, comes face-to-face with a system of injustice that drives him to vigilantism as Black Justice. Withers encounters supervillains, a corrupt police system, and social issues that stand in the way of him finding justice, but he persists through the process.

The graphic novel, Black Justice: The Awakening is scheduled for release on Tuesday, April 2, 2024, on Amazon Kindle, and April 16, 2024, for paperback. The book will be available on Amazon.com and WashingtonComix.com.

Contact Information

Ms. May Cortez

Media Relations

Phone: 919-256-3774

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Washington Comix
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- During the first One Earth Summit held in Hong Kong on March 25, Zeng Yuqun, the Chairman and General Manager of CATL, revealed in an interview that the company is in collaboration with Tesla to develop fast-charging batteries for electric vehicles (EVs). The partnership focuses on researching new electrochemical structures and other battery technologies.

Additionally, Mr. Zeng disclosed that CATL is supplying equipment for Tesla's factory in Nevada, USA.

Mr. Zeng Yuqun; photo credit: CATL

At the summit, Mr. Zeng emphasized the importance of "open innovation" in driving global sustainable development. He highlighted the severe challenges posed by climate change, uneven technological development, and the slowing pace of energy transition in some regions. "Humanity has never been in greater need of a global consensus. We must truly reach a consensus, using open innovation to advance technology and actively respond to the challenges of climate change," Zeng stated.

Since its inception, CATL has focused on three strategic directions of development and has built four major innovation systems, with open innovation being a key practice.

Internally, CATL continues to increase its R&D investments, exploring cutting-edge technologies and advanced solutions. In 2023, its R&D expenditure reached 18.4 billion.

Externally, CATL innovates in cooperation models, sharing technological achievements to promote global technological inclusivity. For example, CATL has adopted the LRS (Licence Royalty Service) model with its clients in the US, assisting OEMs and battery manufacturers in quickly establishing battery factories through technology sharing. This open approach aims to accelerate the global energy transition and climate change response.

In February 2023, Ford Motor announced the plan to build a battery factory near Marshall, Michigan, USA. In this project, CATL would provide Ford Motor with patent licensing, equipment support, on-site production management, and supply chain quality management assistance for building a battery plant in the US, without taking any stake in this battery factory and only collecting technology service fees. This is known as the LRS model.

The project, with an investment of $3.5 billion covered by Ford Motor, initially planned a production capacity of 35GWh, which was reduced to 20GWh in the second half of 2023, aiming for operation by 2026.

On August 16, 2023 CATL launched Shenxing, the worlds first 4C superfast charging LFP battery, capable of delivering 400 km of driving range with a 10-minute charge as well as a range of over 700 km on a single full charge. Shenxing is expected to considerably alleviate fast charging anxiety for EV users, and opens up an era of EV superfast charging.

In January 2024, CATL surpassed LG Energy Solution in the global electric vehicle battery market excluding China with an installed capacity of 5.7GWh, which accounted for 25.8% of the entire market and jumped 28.5% year on year, securing the top spot for the first time.
DONGGUAN, ChinaRecently, sex toys manufactured by Dingfoo have passed FDA testing and been awarded a 2024 FDA certificate.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States is responsible for testing medical devices before they are sold. However, sex toys are not within its jurisdiction as most of them are not considered medical devices.

To ensure that the quality of its products meets the safety requirements of medical devices, Dingfoo has classified its sex toy products as medical devices and applied for and passed FDA testing for many years. Additionally, Dingfoo has production workshops that comply with EU GMP standards and has obtained ISO 9001, 13485 medical device quality management system, and US FDA certification. Products are certified by CE, ROHS, FCC, and other authorities. Dingfoo has comprehensive industry certifications, winning cooperation with brands such as Durex and Jissbon.

According to data from Chinese media iMedia Research, as of June 2023, there were 25,893 adult product companies in Guangdong Province, China. As a leading company in the sex toy industry, in recent years, Dingfoo has covered new patent technologies in linear transmission and shock, arc pulse vibration, simulated apex squirters, quick interface multi-purpose vibration, pulse wave devices, and short-range quick-charge male masturbator cups, covering disciplines such as materials, mechanics, machinery, and ergonomics. Underlying these basic technologies, Dingfoo releases more than ten new products every month.

For more information, visit dingfoo.com.
Washington, March 26 : The White House has said 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 US on Monday abstained from a United Nations Security Council vote on a draft resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza until the end of Ramadan. US abstention, instead of veto, effectively gave the green light to the measure, Xinhua news agency reported.

"We are kind of perplexed by this," John Kirby, spokesperson for the US 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 US policy coping with the situation in Gaza.

The US, 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 US "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 US, 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 Defence Minister Yoav Gallant arrived in Washington over the weekend, scheduling to hold respective talks with US 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".
New York, March 26 : An appeals court in New York has cut the bond in US former President Donald Trump's business fraud case by more than half and granted a ten-day period for coming up with the smaller bond.

Trump, his two sons, one business associate and business organizations need to fulfil a bond of $175 million within ten days rather than paying a total of $464.576 million, Xinhua news agency reported, citing a ruling by an appellate panel under the New York Supreme Court.

The latest ruling is seen as a win for Trump and his assets probably will avoid being seized by New York Attorney General Letitia James, the plaintiff in Trump's business fraud case.

Trump said on Monday that he respected the decision, and cash or a bond would be put up very quickly.

Earlier, Trump's lawyers told the appeals court that it was impossible to post the bond in full and proposed a bond of $100 million instead.

The judgment of $464 million plus interest against Trump and the other defendants in the case still stands, according to a spokesperson with the New York Attorney General's office.

Arthur F. Engoron, a judge of New York County Supreme Court, delivered the decree on February 16 with heavy punishment against Trump and other defendants.

The appeals court also stayed the enforcement of some other parts of the previous ruling centring on barring defendants from doing business and applying for loans in New York.

Meanwhile, Juan Merchan, another judge in New York, said on Monday that the criminal trial against Trump regarding election interference will begin on April 15 with jury selection.

Earlier, Merchan planned to begin the trial on March 25 but dismissed Trump's motion to toss out the indictment altogether or delay the trial further on Monday.

Arraigned in the case in early April 2023, Trump faces charges that he falsified business records during the 2016 presidential campaign to make "hush-money" payments to porn star Stormy Daniels and keep her quiet about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump before.
Moscow, March 26 : Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the deadly terrorist attack in the Crocus City Hall in suburban Moscow was carried out by radical Islamists, but many questions still remain.

"We know that the crime was committed by the hands of radical Islamists, whose ideology the Islamic world itself has been fighting for centuries," Putin said on Monday at a meeting on measures taken after the terrorist attack.

The Russian President said it is already known who carried out the terrorist attack, but now "we are interested in who ordered the crime", Xinhua news agency reported.

He said that the US, through various channels, is trying to convince everyone that there is supposedly no Kiev trace in the bloody terrorist attack.

However, Putin believes questions still remain. "It is necessary to obtain answers to a number of questions, for example, are radical, even terrorist, Islamic organizations really interested in striking Russia, which today stands for a fair solution to the escalating Middle East conflict," he said.

Putin also noted that it is necessary to answer the question of why the terrorists tried to go to Ukraine after committing a crime in Crocus, and who was waiting for them there.

Calling the attack an act of intimidation, Putin said, "The question arises who benefits from this."

The investigation into the terrorist attack should be carried out to the highest degree professionally, objectively and without political bias, despite the general desire to punish the perpetrators, Putin added.
Islamabad, March 26 : At least four insurgents were reportedly killed by security forces after they attacked a station of the Pakistan Navy on Monday night in the Turbat city of Balochistan.

Four "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, Xinhua news agency reported, citing security sources.

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 outfit Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) released a statement to claim the attack.
Tel Aviv, March 26 : The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said that its troops in Gaza have found a cache of weapons at Al-Shifa Hospital's maternity ward and MRI centre.

The IDF in a statement on Monday night said that its troops seized Kalashnikov rifles, explosives, mortars, grenades, and several other assault rifles from the maternity ward and MRI centre of the hospital. The weapons were hidden between medical equipment.

The IDF statement also said that its troops "eliminated many terrorists inside the hospital who attacked them".

According to IDF, Hamas was operating in a systematic and cynical manner from hospitals and other such places, using civilians as human shields.
Los Angeles, March 26 : Hollywood star Arnold Schwarzenegger, who previously has undergone three open-heart surgeries, shared on his daily wellness podcast that he recently had a pacemaker put in to help regulate his heart.

"Last Monday, I had surgery to become a little bit more of a machine: I got a pacemaker," he said, reports ew.com.

"First of all, I want you to know I'm doing great! I had my surgery on Monday, and by Friday, I was already at a big environmental event with my friend and fellow fitness crusader, Jane Fonda. Nobody would ever have thought I started the week with a surgery."

Schwarzenegger thanked his medical team by saying: "All of the doctors and nurses took amazing care of me and made the surgery as painless as possible."

The 'Terminator' star has been keeping a check on his cardiac health due to a genetic heart condition that took his mother's life in 1998, when she did not get the valve replacement surgery she required.

He underwent two surgeries in 1997, during which doctors replaced his pulmonic and aortic valves. He had them replaced again in 2018 and 2020. Scar tissue from the surgeries caused Schwarzenegger to have an irregular heartbeat, which he continued to monitor.

"I stayed in touch with my medical team and visited in person at least once a year to get a full check-up and see how my heart was doing," he said.

"That's life with a genetic heart issue. But you won't hear me complaining."

Schwarzenegger learned his need for a pacemaker earlier this month when he underwent a string of tests as part of his regular checkups. His doctor advised him to have the pacemaker installed as soon as possible.

"Monday, I went under and got my new machine part installed. Like I said, by Friday, I was out doing my normal environmental work, and nobody knew anything. I can't do my serious training in the gym for a while, but I will be 100 per cent ready for FUBAR next month!"

Schwarzenegger concluded the segment by admitting that it's not in his nature to be so public about his health, but that he's realised over the years how much being open about his own struggles can help others.
New Delhi, March 26 : Amid the ongoing controversy surrounding the Delhi Chief Minister's first order issued from the custody of the ED on Sunday, another directive has been issued to the health department by CM Arvind Kejriwal on smooth functioning of the AAP's flagship Mohalla Clinics.

AAP sources confirmed that the directive pertained to the health department and it was conveyed by the Chief Minister through a memorandum to Delhi Minister, Saurabh Bharadwaj, who oversees the health portfolio.

Addressing a press conference on the directive of the CM, Health Minister Bharadwaj stated that the CM is concerned about the lack of availability of medicines and free tests in many hospitals and Mohalla Clinics.

Bharadwaj said that CM Kejriwal has emphasised that no one should suffer, even if he is in ED custody.

"He directed me to take prompt and necessary actions to ensure that medicines and tests are both free and available at hospitals and Mohalla Clinics," said Bharadwaj.

Earlier on Sunday, CM Kejriwal had issued the first order while in the ED's custody, directing Water Minister Atishi to resolve water and sewage issues in the national Capital.

Meanwhile, as the issue of authenticity looms on the directions issued by CM Kejriwal from ED's custody, legal experts said that there is no permission to the CM by the court to issue orders.

"The Aam Aadmi Party is issuing these orders in the name of Arvind Kejriwal because the court has not granted permission to issue any orders to the CM due to his remand by the ED," said Supreme Court lawyer Vineet Jindal.

"These orders are not being issued for any work but are being done for political gain, which is legally incorrect," he said.

"Arvind Kejriwal is exaggerating his distress so that when action is taken, allegations can be levelled against the BJP," he alleged.

CM Kejriwal, who was arrested on March 21 and subsequently remanded to ED custody until March 28 by a Delhi court, faces allegations of direct involvement in a conspiracy related to the formulation of an excise policy favouring specific individuals.

CM Kejriwal is also accused of soliciting kickbacks from liquor businessmen in exchange of favours, as claimed by the probe agency.
New Delhi, March 26 : A leading business conglomerate with diverse interests, LNJ Bhilwara Group to bring Bhilwara Sur Sangam 2024, a musical brilliance to Kamani Auditorium in New Delhi, celebrating India's rich musical heritage. The 11th edition of the two-day event is scheduled from March 30 - 31.

Expressing his thoughts, Ravi Jhunjhunwala, Chairman- of LNJ Bhilwara Group, said, "India boasts a wealth of cultural and musical heritage. Our musical legacy is exceptionally diverse and spans centuries. Through Bhilwara Sur Sangam, the LNJ Bhilwara Group reaffirms its commitment to preserving and promoting Indian music. We are proud to bring illustrious musical maestros under one roof to celebrate the timeless beauty of Indian music and ensure that it resonates far and wide."

The annual celebration, which has been honouring India's classical musical legacy for over a decade, will be graced by some of the country's distinguished classical maestros.

On the first day, renowned violinist Manas Kumar and eminent vocalist Dr. Ashwini Bhide Deshpande will weave a symphony of music that will stir the soul.

On the second day, vocalist Ustad Waseem Ahmed Khan and sitarist Pandit Budhaditya Mukherjee will enchant the audience with their captivating renditions.

Bhilwara Sur Sangam is an effort by LNJ Bhilwara Group to promote and preserve the musical heritage of India, passed down for generations. Through this event, the organization aims to foster a deeper sense of appreciation for the cultural and artistic richness of India among the future generation.

IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in
My Dead Friend Zoe, credit: SXSW.

Merit (Sonequa Martin-Green) is an Afghanistan war veteran who has a particular routine of getting up every morning and going for a run. On these runs, flashbacks of her time in service flood her mind  a specific one sticks out with her best friend Zoe (Natalie Morales) playing Rihannas Umbrella in a Humvee with an iPod on its last legs. Its a beautiful memory, but you cant help but wonder what exactly Merit is running from or what immense, invincible weight she carries. Zoe is right with her, making jokes and wisecracking about certain decisions in her Portland, Oregon home tucked away in a corner. Its then we find out in director Kyle Hausmann-Stokess feature that Zoe is actually dead and an amalgamation of survivors guilt and PTSD running rampant in Merits heart and might.

Theres no question that veterans face an absolute mountain of adversity when it comes to the horrors they see through the lens of combat and then returning home in trying to adjust their brains with their sense of normalcy forever changed. My Dead Friend Zoe, also executed produced by Kansas City Chiefs Tight End Travis Kelce, approaches this aspect from different viewpoints  one from a specific character and another from different generations.

Drawing from his experience serving five years as a paratrooper, Hausmann-Stokes, with co-writer AJ Bermudez, provides this film with a personal touch that makes this experience feel like these characters are in our community. Merits post-service life isnt exactly rosy, as an incident of anger has made group therapy a mandatory part of her life. Its there where shes reluctant to share anything bothering her, much to the dismay of counselor Dr. Cole (played by Morgan Freeman). He gives her a choice: open up, or he wont sign off on the necessary paperwork to give her the all-clear. This is with Zoe as a voice in the background, telling Merit she doesnt need this. What Hausmann-Stokes is playing with is using Moraless character as a barrier to Merits inability to forgive herself for whatever happened to Zoe.

Martin-Green and Moraless banter works, and you can see why they were so close through their sporadic use of flashbacks throughout their service together. While Zoes specter takes on a completely different form in the present day, the film strives to provide her with an entire arc of what she was afraid of.

If fighting a war gives you purpose, what happens when no battle is left to fight? Is it possible to turn that switch off when you come back home? Hausmann-Stokes provides that question to ponder as well. In addition to her inner struggle, Merit has choices concerning family, or, in this case, being the caretaker for her grandfather Dale (Ed Harris). Long retired from his active service, Dale is battling with the early stages of Alzheimers and the death of his wife/Merits grandmother. Theres an overture to put Dale in a nursing home, but the beautiful countryside of his extensive home also serves as a mode of comfort and routine for him.

Harriss acting exquisitely portrays a thorny, sometimes vulnerable older man trying to make sense of what life is now that he has lost (and could potentially lose) the pillars of his life. Its something he and Martin-Green come together to expound upon with their characters; they both go through different learning experiences.

When a potential love interest with a manager in a hard-to-get-into assisted living facility (played by Utkarsh Ambudkar) started to form for Merit begins to form, thats where the collision of emotional words starts to fight with one another. My Dead Friend Zoe keeps the details of the title characters death close to its chest in a prolonged cadence. However, it amounts to a crescendo you might not expect and is a bit more realistic to the amount of heaviness Merit is trying to outrun.

Ultimately, the film has to juggle its main concepts and, in the end, figure out the best way for them to have a satisfying conclusion. How the narrative has to keep Zoes character around to ensure shes not forgotten is not necessarily clean  but neither is the process of trying to heal from a traumatic event. Hausmann-Stokess interest lies in the before and after; sometimes, dealing with the look of scar tissue and how it got there is the most painstaking process.
Ahmedabad, March 26 : The Adani Green Energy Gallery, inaugurated at the Science Museum in London, UK on Tuesday aims to explore options that will help generate energy sustainably, decarbonise and fight climate change.

The 'Energy Revolution: The Adani Green Energy Gallery', is a free gallery that "shows how the past, present and future are shaped by human imagination and innovation and explores how we all have a role to play in deciding our energy future", the company said in a statement.

"Today is a red-letter day that marks the opening of The Adani Green Energy Gallery at the @sciencemuseum in London. We are proud of the partnership with the Science Museum, led by Sir Timothy Laurence and Sir Ian Blatchford, that made this stunning gallery a reality. This gallery will serve as a pivotal public space in the understanding of sustainability, transformative technology and climate science," said Gautam Adani, Chairman, Adani Group, in a post on X.com.

In 'Future Planet', visitors can take a look at how complex computer-based models are used by scientists to understand the planet Earth, and how it can explain the future of climate.

At the centre of the gallery stands a moving sculpture called 'Only Breath'. It signifies the power of nature to inspire technological change.

"Through the sponsorship of the gallery, we aim to inspire young minds, scientists and innovators to imagine a future powered by clean energy and build a carbon-free world. It is an initiative to stimulate their interest, curiosity and awareness, and encourage their active participation in creating clean technologies. The gallery brings together the global community to enable the shift towards energy efficiency, clean energy adoption and carbon emissions reduction," added Sagar Adani, Executive Director, Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL), in the statement.
Kolkata, March 26 : Daily reports of the activities of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) already deployed in West Bengal will have to be sent to the national headquarters of the Election Commission from the end of the current month.

Starting from March 29, the report of activities of the deployed personnel for the previous day will reach the office of ECI daily at 10 a.m., said insiders from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal.

The EC observers for different areas will send their reports to the office of CEO and the latter in turn will compile and send them to ECI

Sources in the CEO office said that the daily reports were being sought to ensure that CAPF personnel already deployed remain at the optimum level of efficiency so that they can be utilized to the best as per requirement evolving any time.

The sources also said that the proposed exercise of daily reports was also intended at avoiding complaints from a section of the political parties that CAPF personnel were kept idle and not utilized effectively for area domination to avoid pre-poll violence.

Already 150 companies of CAPF personnel are deployed in different pockets in West Bengal and another 27 companies are scheduled to arrive in the state during the current week.

Of the 27 companies, the maximum deployment will be from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) with 15 companies, followed by Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) with seven and Border Security Force (BSF) with five.

The Election Commission has already earmarked a deployment of 920 companies of CAPF for West Bengal for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls. This is the highest among all Indian states (including Jammu and Kashmir).

The commission had started deploying CAPF companies even before the dates of polls and counting were announced earlier this month.
New Delhi, March 26 : Embarking on a solo trip to Kolkata doesn't have to drain your wallet. With its rich cultural heritage, bustling streets, and vibrant atmosphere, Kolkata offers a plethora of budget-friendly activities for solo travellers.

From shopping to relishing a boat ride at Ganga Ghat, and finding inner peace at parks, there's something for every budget-conscious adventurer in the City of Joy.

Discover the top five must-do activities for solo travellers seeking an affordable yet memorable experience in Kolkata.

Affordable Shopping: Explore the bustling streets of Dharmatala for shopping at a bargain price.

Amazing Nightlife: Kolkata is also known for its bustling nightlife there are various budget-friendly cafes you can hop on for example Sabka Club, where you can jig to the latest tunes.

Sipping and Chilling: Taking after the nickname the City of Surprise is an amazing place for writers and readers. Grab a book to read or a notepad to jot down ideas while relaxing and enjoying the city view from the Boho Sky Cafe, known for its laid-back atmosphere, and delicious food.

Ganga Boat Ride: Enjoy a scenic boat ride along the Hooghly River at Prinsep Ghat, taking in panoramic views of the city's skyline and historical landmarks.

Meditation and Relaxation: Find serenity amidst nature at temples, and parks, where you can meditate, stroll through lush greenery, and enjoy various recreational activities at minimal cost.

These activities offer a perfect blend of cultural experiences, nightlife, relaxation, and outdoor adventures while keeping your budget in check. Enjoy your solo trip to Kolkata!

IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in
Hyderabad, March 26 : It will be a battle of prestige for Telangana Chief Minister, A Revanth Reddy, in Malkajgiri Lok Sabha constituency, the largest in the country with over 36 lakh voters.

Looking to replicate the 2019 campaign model, CM Revanth Reddy as the President of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee, is personally steering the party's ship in the constituency located on the periphery of Hyderabad, which is often termed as 'Mini India' for being home to migrants from various states.

The Congress party has fielded Sunitha Reddy, who is the chairperson of the Vikarabad Zilla Parishad, for the Malkajgiri Lok Sabha constituency.

Revanth Reddy, who was elected to the Lok Sabha from this constituency in the previous election, has increased the stakes with his assertion that winning the seat is not only about the candidate but also about him as the Chief Minister, as he went on to become the Chief Minister after winning Malkajgiri.

While the candidates of all the three main parties are first-time contestants in the constituency, the challenge for the Congress party remains the same.

When Revanth Reddy entered the fray in 2019, all the seven Assembly segments under Malkajgiri Lok Sabha constituency were held by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and in the recently-held elections BRS bagged all the Assembly seats once again.

At a meeting with party leaders from the constituency last week, CM Revanth Reddy asked them to work hard to ensure that the Congress' flag flutters high in the May 13 election.

He said the Malkajgiri model should be replicated in other constituencies so that the party achieves its target of winning 14 out of 17 seats in the state.

The 2019 model involves forming three layers of coordination committees.

Facing the first major political challenge after leading the Congress to power in the state, CM Revanth Reddy plans to strengthen booth-level committees.

He, however, noted that while the Congress swept the recent Assembly elections across the state, the results in Assembly segments under Malkajgiri Lok Sabha constituency were not to the party's expectations.

"If we had won four out of seven Assembly seats, we could have undertaken development works. That's why the Congress should win the Malkajgiri Lok Sabha seat so that development works can be taken up," he said.

In 2019, Revanth Reddy was elected from here, defeating his nearest rival Marri Rajashekar Reddy of TRS (now BRS) by 10,919 votes.

Revanth Reddy had polled 6,03,748 votes while Marri Rajashekar Reddy secured 5,92,829 votes. The BJP's N Ramchander Rao had garnered 3,04,282 votes.

Created in 2008 as a result of the delimitation process, the constituency always witnessed three-cornered or multi-cornered contests.

Sarve Satyanarayana of the Congress was the first to get elected from Malkajgiri in 2009, defeating his nearest rival T Bheemsen of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) by 93,226 votes.

In 2014, Malla Reddy of the TDP was elected from here, defeating Mynampally Hanumanth Rao of the TRS by 28,371 votes.

This was the first election after the formation of Telangana and the TDP's victory was attributed to the support by migrants from Seemandhra (Rayalaseema and Andhra) who were then concerned about their safety in the new state. Malla Reddy later switched loyalties to the TRS.

Comprising Assembly segments spread in Hyderabad, its twin city Secunderabad and neighbouring districts of Rangareddy and Medchal, it is also a huge constituency in terms of area. In 2018, TRS bagged six out of seven Assembly seats.

The lone Congress MLA, Sudheer Reddy, who was elected from LB Nagar, also crossed over to the TRS. In the recent Assembly elections, the BRS captured all Assembly segments.

One of the segments Secunderabad Cantonment fell vacant last month due to the death of newly-elected MLA, Lasya Nanditha.

Bye-election to this Assembly seat is also scheduled along with the Lok Sabha polls. This has further added significance to the elections this time.

Sri Ganesh, who had contested on a BJP ticket and finished as runner-up in Secunderabad Cantonment, has joined the Congress, giving a boost to the ruling party.

Stakes are high for all the three major parties in Malkajgiri.

While the Congress will be looking to retain the seat, both BRS and BJP are in search of their maiden victory here.

Defection of several BRS leaders to the Congress after Assembly elections has put BRS on the back foot.

What gives hope to the Congress party is the fact that in 2019 it won the seat despite BRS winning all seven Assembly segments in the polls held a few months earlier.

The BJP has fielded former minister Eatala Rajender in Malkajgiri. The senior leader is testing his fortunes in Lok Sabha polls after failing to retain Huzurabad Assembly seat in the recent elections.

Rajender had emerged as a prominent face in the state BJP after he won the bitterly-contested Huzurabad bye-election in 2021 on the saffron party's ticket, a few months after he was dropped from the state Cabinet by then Chief Minister, KC Rao (KCR) on allegations of land grabbing.

The BJP's campaign in Malkajgiri began on a high note with Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, conducting a roadshow here on March 15, drawing a huge public response. The BJP will be looking to bank on the 'Modi factor' and the perceived support for the party among the urban electorate.

The Congress party's Sunitha Reddy, who is the chairperson of the Vikarabad Zilla Parishad, along with her husband and former minister Patnam Mahender Reddy quit BRS to join the Congress last month.

The BRS has fielded Ragidi Laxma Reddy who quit the Congress to join BRS a few days before the recent Assembly elections after he was denied a ticket from Uppal constituency.
Mumbai, March 26 : Vivek Budakoti, the director of the upcoming Raveena Tandon-starrer streaming film 'Patna Shuklla', has shared that writers and directors can only provide words or the crack the right situation but ultimately it's the actor who has to breathe life into a character and make it believable on the screen.

The director spoke about his experience of working with actress Raveena Tandon on the film.

The actress plays the titular role in the film of a lawyer, who goes above and beyond her duty to help a student fight a scam in the education system.

Elaborating on the same, Vivek said: "It was quite a wonderful experience. Never for a moment did I feel that I was working with a star. She became part of the entire process, by blurring the lines between herself and Tanvi Shukla. As writers and directors we can provide words, but it is the actor that provides meaning to those words by infusing life into it."

Vivek shared that working with the actress on the film has been a memorable experience for him, and he never felt like he was working with a star because Raveena was always eager to better her craft and lend authenticity to her part in the film.

The director further mentioned that although Tanvi Shukla and Raveena Tandon are two completely different personalities, in their own distinctive way yet they share the same soul.

"With Raveena at the helm, sometimes even a mundane line or a dialogue can sound so interesting and refreshing. Despite being an experienced actor, she was keen and willing to tap into her raw emotions to surprise us and perhaps herself too. And that, for me, is the hallmark of a good actor", he added.

Produced by Arbaaz Khan Productions, the courtroom drama drops on Disney+ Hotstar on March 29.
Kochi, March 26 : The Kerala High Court on Tuesday initiated suo motu proceedings after a two-year-old child was assaulted and killed by her father.

Justice Devan Ramachandran said he was shocked that such a thing took place in Kerala. "The factum of such an event happening in our state shocks our conscience and certainly must be an eye-opener," said the court.

The court also pointed out that according to the reports, complaints had been raised about incidents in the house of the child but they were not taken seriously by the police.

"When children are involved and they are the victims of any such violence I am certain that this court is enjoined to act under the parens patriae jurisdiction notwithstanding whether the perpetrator is the father or any other near relative. This court cannot ignore the cries of the young child who must have suffered immeasurably when being attacked particularly if the news reporting is accurate ... This pains this court indescribably. I am therefore of the firm view that there should be some protocol so that the police are in a position to intervene when any such incident is brought to light. For this purpose, I propose a suo motu action and I propose that the respondents be the State Police Chief, the Superintendent of Police Malappuram and the concerned Station House Officer," said the court.

The father of the two-year-old girl, Muhammad Faiz, was arrested late Monday night. The child's mother has alleged that Faiz had beaten and killed her daughter.
New Delhi, March 26 : Mumbai has surpassed Beijing to emerge as Asia's new billionaire capital while India has overtaken Germany to become the third-ranked country globally with 271 billionaires, according to the latest Hurun Research Institute report.

"Mumbai was the fastest-growing billionaire capital in the world, adding 26 in the year and taking it to third in the world and Asia's billionaire capital. New Delhi broke into the Top 10 for the first time," the report states.

India's economic prowess was further underscored by the remarkable surge in its billionaire population. The country added a staggering 94 new billionaires, the highest of any nation except the United States, bringing the total to 271 ultra-high-net-worth individuals. This surge, the highest since 2013, is a testament to the soaring confidence in the Indian economy, as noted by Rupert Hoogewerf, the institute's chairman and chief researcher.

Indian billionaires' cumulative wealth reached US$1 trillion, surpassing China's average wealth per billionaire (US$3.2 billion vs US$3.8 billion), the 2024 Hurun Global Rich List report states.

The report highlights that industry-wise the pharmaceutical sector leads the pack with 39 billionaires, followed by the automobile and auto components industry (27), and the chemicals sector (24).

Collectively, the wealth of Indian billionaires amounts to a phenomenal $1 trillion, accounting for 7 per cent of the global billionaire wealth, reflecting the countryas substantial economic influence.

The rise of startups, particularly in the booming Artificial Intelligence (AI) space, is a significant contributor as well. This trend aligns with the global focus on AI, which emerged as the biggest driver of wealth creation, generating over half of all new wealth this year.

With a young, tech-savvy population and a growing focus on innovation, India is well-positioned to capitalise on this AI revolution, potentially fuelling the creation of even more billionaires in the coming years, the report added.

Leading the Indian billionaire list is Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Industries, with a staggering net worth of $115 billion. Closely following is Gautam Adani, the founder of the Adani Group energy conglomerate, with assets valued at $86 billion, marking a $33 billion surge in wealth attributed to a rally in his companies' shares.

While India's billionaire population soared, China witnessed a decline, with the report stating, "China had a bad year. HK was down 20 per cent, Shenzhen down 19 per cent, and Shanghai down 7 per cent."

This downturn can be attributed to the crisis in the countryas real estate and volatile stock market problems in the renewable energy sectors.
Lucknow, March 26 : Several political families will be conspicuous by their absence in the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh (UP) this time.

For the first time in 25 years, it looks like the Gandhi family will not be a part of elections in UP.

Though the Congress has not yet declared candidates for Amethi and Raebareli a" the two seats that are considered Gandhi bastions a" there are no indications that senior party leader Rahul Gandhi or his sister Priyanka Gandhi will contest from UP.

Former party chief Rahul Gandhias candidature has already been announced from Wayanad in Kerala.

Though UPCC chief Ajay Rai insists that a member of the Gandhi family will contest from UP, sources close to the family say that a party loyalist would be named for both, Amethi and Raebareli seats.

Another family that will not be in the fray is that of former Prime Minister, late Chaudhary Charan Singh. His son Ajit Singh passed away in 2021 and Chaudhary Charan Singhas grandson Jayant Chaudhary, who took over the reins of the party, is now a Rajya Sabha member and is not contesting the elections.

Most of the royal families of UP are also out of the electoral contest this time. Dr Sanjay Sinh, the erstwhile Raja of Amethi, and his wife Ameeta Sinh, a former MLA, are also not contesting the elections.

Dr Sinh had contested the Sultanpur Lok Sabha seat in 2019 on a Congress ticket but was ranked at the third position. Thereafter, the couple has been keeping a low profile and even their supporters are unsure of their political future now.

Another political family that will be missing in action in UP is Begum Noor Bano, who belongs to the erstwhile royal family of Rampur, and her son Nawab Kazim Ali. Both are not contesting polls this year.

Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid and his wife Louise Khurshid will also be missing in action during the election.

Salman Khurshidas Farrukhabad seat has been given to the Samajwadi Party in the seat sharing agreement and Khurshid made his displeasure amply clear in a social media post recently.

A family that has been forced by circumstances to bow out of the electoral arena is that of Mukhtar Ansari. Ansari has been in jail since 2005 and though he had been contesting and winning elections from behind bars, his conviction in eight cases will not allow him to contest polls this time.

His brother Sibgatullah Ansari, a former MLA, has taken a sabbatical from politics and his son Abbas Ansari, also a sitting MLA, is in jail.

Mukhtaras eldest brother Afzal Ansari, however, has been named as a candidate from Ghazipur Lok Sabha seat by the Samajwadi Party.

The family of erstwhile don and former minister, late Hari Shankar Tiwari, is also out of the election scene. His younger son and former MLA Vinay Shankar Tiwari is in the ED net while the elder son Bhishm Shankar Tiwari, a former MP, is not contesting the polls this time.

The Tiwari family wields considerable influence in eastern UP, especially over Brahmin voters, and their absence in elections could change the caste arithmetic to an extent.

Azam Khan and his family will also not be visible in the elections in the Rampur Lok Sabha seat. Azam Khan and his son Abdullah Azam are in jail and his wife Tanzeem Fatima, a former MP, has not shown any inclination to contest the elections.

The only family that will be seen in full force in the upcoming elections is the Yadav family. The candidature of Dimple Yadav from Mainpuri, Shivpal Yadav from Budaun, Akshay Yadav from Firozabad and Dharmendra Yadav from Azamgarh has already been announced and sources say that Akhilesh Yadav could contest the polls from Kannauj.
Akshara Singh flaunts her hair, makeup in new photos; sends Holi greetings to fans in Bihar. Image Source: IANS News

Mumbai, March 26 : Bhojpuri actress Akshara Singh on Tuesday shared some pictures, flaunting her hair and makeup, and asked fans when they are celebrating the festival of Holi.

Taking to Instagram, Akshara shared a series of pictures, wherein she is wearing a white shirt, and is posing with a full face of makeup and hair styled in soft waves.

Akshara, who hails from Bihar, and the state is celebrating Holi on March 26, captioned the post as: "What's up guys? aapke yahan Holi kab hai? #happyholi."

The fans commented on her post and said: "Mrignaini", "Aaj se hi hai Holi start". One user said: "aaj hai Singh ji".

Akshara is known for her participation in 'Bigg Boss OTT'. She has also featured in projects like 'Porus', 'Satya', 'Tabadala', and 'Dhadkan'.
New Delhi, March 26 : Delhi Police have issued over 800 challans for drunken driving on the occasion of Holi celebrations across the national capital, an official said on Tuesday.

According to the data shared by traffic cops, a total of 824 individuals have been challaned for drunken driving, and 1,524 challans have been issued to the violators for driving or riding on a two-wheeler without a helmet on the day of Holi.

"Further, 1,241 other individuals were also prosecuted for other offences like tinted glass, triple riding, driving without seat belts, etc," the data stated.

A senior traffic police officer said that statistics have also revealed a notable decline in road accidents on Holi 2024 compared to the previous year, attributable to the strict enforcement and deterrent effect of prosecution.

"On analysis and comparison of accidents that took place on the day of Holi in the years 2023 and 2024, it has come out that only 11 accidents have been reported this year as compared to 24 in the previous year, leading to a smaller number of fatalities in the current year. This has become possible due to the robust measures implemented by the Delhi Traffic Police during the festival," said the official.

Throughout the day during Holi celebrations, Delhi Traffic Police had deployed additional personnel across key junctions and thoroughfares, equipped with breathalysers and conducting rigorous checks on motorists.

The crackdown specifically targeted individuals driving under the influence of alcohol and those neglecting to wear helmets, two prevalent factors contributing to road accidents.
Screen grab: WWE Raw

There was a moment during Monday nights episode of WWE Raw where superstar Drew McIntyre broke the fourth wall for viewers at home.

During a lengthy promo segment featuring CM Punk, McIntyre and his Wrestlemania XL opponent Seth Rollins, Punk  who is injured  weighed his options for how he could still be involved in the match. As the audience in Rosemont, Illinois, made it clear they wanted him to serve as the special guest referee, the Straight Edge Superstar did his best to persuade them that he isnt fit for the role.

In all fairness, I really I dont think I could be objectively fair with these two dips***s , said Punk, who has on-screen conflicts with both McIntyre and Rollins.

PG, brother, McIntyre replied, in reference to the TV-PG rating that has largely defined WWE programming since the late-2000s.

CM Punk on possibly being a special guest referee at #WrestleMania: To be fair, I dont think I could be objectively fair with these two dipshits. Drew McIntyre: PG, brother. This version of McIntyre has not missed since turning heel.  #WWERaw pic.twitter.com/dU4nKQIM9z  PW Chronicle (@_PWChronicle) March 26, 2024



McIntyres quip appeared to be just that  a lighthearted line in what was one of the better promo battles in recent memory. As it turned out, it helped to set up the swerve of all swerves, as Raw went off the air an hour later following a segment that was anything but TV-PG.

As you may have heard, Dwayne The Rock Johnson is back in professional wrestling, involved in a multilayered WrestleMania main event feud featuring Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes and Rollins. For the uninitiated, Ill try to be brief:

Rhodes won the annual Royal Rumble match and was set to challenge Reigns to a rematch after losing to the WWE Universal champion at last years WrestleMania. For reasons that remain unclear, Rhodes seemingly handed his title shot over to The Rock  Reigns real-life cousin  which led to a revolt from WWE fans who wanted to see Rhodes finish his story. Rather than sticking with its plans, WWE pivoted, turning The Rock heel (bad guy) and having him team with Reigns against Rhodes and Rollins on Night 1 of WrestleMania XL. If The Rock and Reigns win, then the Night 2 main event between Reigns and Rhodes (who took his title shot back from The Rock) will be Bloodline Rules, meaning anything goes. But if Rhodes and Rollins win, then the title match will be interference-free, a clear advantage for Rhodes considering Reigns matches often contain copious amounts of cheating on his behalf.

Got it?

Yet despite WrestleMania XL being less than two weeks away, neither The Rock nor Reigns were advertised to appear on the penultimate Raw. But as Rhodes  the son of professional wrestling legend Dusty Rhodes  cut a show-opening promo, it was interrupted by a surprise appearance from The Rock, who made his way to the ring, whispered something to the American Nightmare and then left.

In an ensuing segment, backstage interviewer Jackie Redmond asked The Rock what had said. The Peoples Champ responded by telling her to ask Rhodes and proceeded to seemingly leave the arena for the night.

But as the main event match between Jey Uso and Shinsuke Nakamura devolved into a backstage brawl, Rhodes found himself fighting off Reigns Bloodline cohorts Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa. After successfully doing so, Rhodes was then attacked by another member of The Bloodline  The Rock  who handed out one of the most memorable ass-beatings in professional wrestling history.

Over the course Raws final six minutes, The Rock made his rival bleed, threatened his mother, spit on him, called the audience pieces of s**t and told Rhodes this is what happens when you f**k with the final boss. The PG Era, this was not. If anything, it was reminiscent of WWEs famed Attitude Era of the late-1990s.

For the uninitiated who have somehow made it this far, a quick refresher: In the mid-1990s, WWE (then-WWF) was involved in a heated battle with rival promotion WCW. After losing several stars  Hulk Hogan, Macho Man Randy Savage, Bret Hart, Diesel and Razor Ramon, etc.  to WCW, WWF was left without much of an identity, as it had previously thrived with larger-than-life, cartoon-like characters.

Enter the Attitude Era, in which WWF embraced realism, violence, sexuality and cursing while constantly blurring the lines between fiction and reality. With stars like Stone Cold Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Mankind, The Undertaker  and of course, The Rock  the pivot proved seismic, as WWF not only defeated WCW, but purchased its competition in 2001.

For many wrestling fans of a certain age (including this author) the Monday Night Wars of the late-1990s is considered professional wrestlings glory days, with the Attitude Era serving as the gold standard of what a promotion can be capable of. In the time since, WWE initially failed to recapture that magic before ultimately shifting to a more family-friendly strategy that has proven plenty profitable, but also opened the door for new competition, such as All Elite Wrestling (AEW).

Thats not to say that WWE hasnt been enjoyable  in fact, its post-pandemic product has largely been considered its best since the Attitude Era. But for as much as WWEs creative (and production) has improved since Vince McMahons departure from the company, there has still been an underlying sense that this is still a product aimed at selling John Cena (or Cody Rhodes) t-shirts to elementary school-aged kids.

And truthfully, that will always be a huge part of the product. Even the Attitude Era, for better or worse, appealed to kids. Theres a reason why nostalgia-based meme accounts still post about sixth graders doing the DX crotch chop 25 years ago (if you know, you know).

But the beautiful thing about pro wrestling is that its a variety show; theres something for everybody. And thanks to this years WrestleMania build, for the first time in a long time, that also includes the adults.

Not just because of the nostalgia provided by The Rocks return, but also because of the storyline surrounding it. WWE isnt just listening to its audience  its getting ahead of it. A Rock and Roman Reigns tag team or Cody Rhodes being beaten to bloody pulp wasnt even something anybody realized they wanted until WWE had already made both happen.

And yeah, cussing and blood are cool, but this is actually good storytelling too. The feud between Rhodes and the Bloodline is intertwined with nearly every other aspect of WWEs current product. When WrestleMania XL wraps up next week, it wont just feel like the culmination of a single storyline, but an entire years worth of WWE programming.

The big question in all of this is how much of this Attitude Era 2.0 is here to stay how much of it will disappear when The Rock returns to Hollywood? At this point, its impossible to know. But WWEs growing partnership with Netflix bodes well for such hopes, as does McMahons permanent departure from the company.

WWEs build to WrestleMania XL hasnt been perfect; based on how the storyline has played out, many are rightfully wondering why the Night 2 main event will feature Rhodes vs. Reigns and not Rhodes vs. The Rock. But that also leaves the company with an exciting mix of obvious direction and unpredictability moving forward.

Thats something it hasnt been to say since well, you get it.
Lucknow: BSP National President Mayawati addresses party leaders of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Image Source: IANS News

Lucknow, March 26 : Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati has demanded action against those responsible for bullying Dalit families in Mukhtiyapur village of Najibabad in Bijnor district.

Mayawati, on Tuesday, posted on X about the attack on Dalits, and has demanded strict action from the government.

Mayawati wrote that in the incident, several people were injured in the attack on Dalit families by feudal elements of the Mukhtyarpur village of Najibabad in Bijnor district.

"The government should take strict action against the culprits under the SC/ST Act so that the election environment does not deteriorate. The Election Commission should also take cognisance of this," she wrote.

According to reports, the incident took place on Monday during Holi celebrations when two parties clashed over a minor dispute in the village. Both sides reportedly opened fire and several people were injured. One Pradeep suffered a deep wound on his neck.

Meanwhile, after receiving the information, the police team led by police station in-charge Rajendra Singh Pundir reached the village.

Pundir said that reports have been filed from both parties and additional forces have been deployed in the village.
Lucknow, March 26 : The BJP has said that women's support has been in favour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath because of the women-centric schemes which were being run by the Central and state governments.

A party spokesperson, on Tuesday, said that the trend has been turning stronger after 2017 when the "double engine government' was formed.

"Women play a vital role in deciding the electoral fortunes of the parties. Like always, all the parties are trying to consolidate women voters. But if we look at the voting pattern in the last few elections, the trend has been inclined towards the BJP," the spokesperson said.

The state government is running schemes to cater to women from their birth, to their education and then marriage.

"Many types of schemes are being provided to women to make them self-reliant. Due to better law and order situation in the state, women are now able to live without fear. The state's female labour force participation rate has reached 32.1 per cent. Women who are moving towards security, respect and self-reliance can play an important role in fulfilling PM Modi's resolve of winning 80 out of 80 seats in the state this time," the spokesperson said in a statement.

Uttar Pradesh has 15.34 crore voters, including 7.17 crore women, who can prove to be a deciding factor.

The spokesperson said that participation of women voters is continuously increasing in the state. At present, the participation of women voters has been very important in supporting chief minister Adityanath to form the government.

In the last few years, the voting pattern in UP has been such that women are voting more than men.

In 2017, 63.31 per cent women voters had voted, whereas in the 2019 Lok Sabha it was 67.18 per cent.

According to an estimate, women voting has increased by 15 per cent in the last three decades. This is a clear indication of the increasing political consciousness among women.
Lucknow, March 26 : Uttar Pradesh was once considered to be the stronghold of the Congress party as the Amethi and Rae Bareli constituencies have always sent Gandhi-family scions to the parliament.

However, Congress has been reduced to just one MP in the outgoing Lok Sabha and two MLAs in the 403-member Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly.

In the upcoming Lok Sabha election, the Congress faces a do-or-die battle in Uttar Pradesh as the party is low on confidence, lacks leadership and also faces a dearth of candidates.

The Congress currently has no representation in the legislative council of Uttar Pradesh.

The Congress secured 6.36 per cent of the votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The biggest setback in these elections was that senior party leader Rahul Gandhi had suffered a defeat in Amethi where union minister Smriti Irani emerged victorious in the last election.

The cadres sunk into the realms of despair and the party's vote share plummeted to a mere 2.33 per cent in the 2022 UP legislative assembly polls.

Any further decline in the party's performance in the upcoming elections will result in no representation for the Congress from Uttar Pradesh, a state that has sent nine prime ministers to the Lok Sabha.

The Congress faces the challenge of working out political equations and evaluating winnability as it selects its candidates for 17 out of 80 seats it is contesting in alliance with the Samajwadi Party in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The foremost challenge for the Congress is not only to defend Rae Bareli but also to increase its tally in Uttar Pradesh.

The party is yet to announce candidates for two key parliamentary (Amethi and Rae Bareli) constituencies. It is not yet known if a member of the Gandhi family will contest these seats.

Sonia Gandhi was the only Congress candidate who won in Uttar Pradesh in 2019. She got 55.78 per cent votes in Rae Bareli. Rahul Gandhi with 43.84 per cent votes lost to Smriti Irani in Amethi five years ago. Irani won with 49.69 per cent votes.

Sonia Gandhi has since taken the Rajya Sabha route to parliament through Rajasthan.

Congress fortunes have been going downhill since 2009 when the party won 21 seats.

It won only two seats in 2014 and one in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Of the 17 seats given to the Congress for the 2024 election, the party had won only six in 2009 -- Rae Bareli, Amethi, Kanpur, Maharajganj, Jhansi and Barabanki.

The Congress, so far, has named candidates for three of the six seats - Alok Mishra in Kanpur, Tanuj Punia in Barabanki and Pradeep Jain Aditya in Jhansi.

Initial reports say that Congress candidates in Saharanpur (Imran Masood) and Amroha (Danish Ali) have taken an early lead and with the caste arithmetic favouring them, they could help the Congress increase its tally.

A former UPCC president, who spoke to IANS on condition of anonymity, said that the problem is that no one in UP is there to guide the candidates or address their problems.

"The UPCC President Ajay Rai is a candidate himself. Besides, there is no direction to the campaign. All other parties have their campaigns ready but our candidates are groping in the dark," he said.

With every electoral arithmetic pitted against the grand old party, can Congress do the impossible and revive its tally in an all-important state of the country?
Patna, March 26 : The INDIA bloc in Bihar has not been able to resolve its seat-sharing problems delaying the announcement of candidates.

The RJD has announced six candidates so far, and sources have said that it is finalising many more names without consulting others in the bloc.

Sources have also said that the Congress was demanding 10 seats in the state which has led to a disagreement with the RJD. However, Lalu Prasad, on the other hand does not want to repeat his "mistake" of giving 70 seats to the Congress in the 2020 Assembly election. The Congress performed miserably and won only 19 seats.

"There is no dispute between the RJD and Congress party, but the latter is demanding more seats in Bihar and not even explaining the details of the candidates. Without discussing the profiles of candidates, how can seat-sharing be possible? RJD national president Lalu Prasad Yadav is in Delhi and negotiation will take place with the top leadership of Congress," said Shivanand Tiwari, the national vice president of RJD.

Sources have said that the Congress is eyeing Kishanganj, Supaul, Katihar, Darbhanga, Purnea, Aurangabad, Buxar, Patna Sahib, Begusarai and Sasaram.

The RJD has already announced its candidate, Abhay Kushwaha, from Aurangabad. The party is also likely to give the ticket to Bima Bharti from the Purnea Lok Sabha seat.

Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, the Bahubali leader and four-time MP, has claimed that he will contest Purnea seat at any cost. Pappu Yadav merged his party named Jan Adhikar Party in Congress on March 20 with the aim to contest from Purnea on the ticket of the grand old party. This is an alarm bell for the RJD.

While uploading a post on social media account X, Pappu Yadav said: "I would rather die but not leave Purnea and Congress party."

Similarly Nikhil Kumar, the former Governor of Kerala and Congress leader has opened a front against RJD as well. He wants to contest the Aurangabad seat.

"It is not a good thing to make a one-sided decision. It is demoralising for the party workers. They should respect the coalition pact," said Ashitnath Tiwari, spokesperson of Congress in Bihar.
Northern Sea Route will be one more ocean route for India to secure its energy and other resources. Image Source: IANS News

Sochi : March 26 (IANS) The Northern Sea Route (NSR) will be one more alternative route for India to add to its energy security and others, said a senior official at the Indian Embassy in Russia.

"India's main expectation in NSR is that it is one more alternative sea route. It will add to our energy security," said Ved Prakash Singh, First Secretary, Head of Economic and Commercial Wing, Embassy of India in Russia.

He was speaking at the two-day global nuclear power conference-cum-exhibition AtomExpo 2024 held here on the topic 'Northern Sea Route: Infinite Potential of the Artic'.

He said when Russia's Vladivostok is connected with Chennai it will help in connecting the Eastern part of India with Russia.

The NSR is about 5,600 km of sea route in the Arctic waters under Russia's exclusive economic zone.

Currently, the freight on this route is carried by vessels during a short time when the ice melts but owing to climate change, it is expected the waters will be navigable throughout the year and Russia wants to develop this route as an alternative route than the current Suez Canal.

Referring to India's deep relations with Russia Prakash said the bilateral trade between the two countries have increased dramatically in recent times to touch about $55 billion between April-January in FY24.

The trade balance is hugely in favour of Russia as Indian exports  chemicals, pharmaceuticals and others account only for about $3 billion while imports into India from Russia account for the remaining. Russia ships oil, fertilisers, coal, diamonds and others to India.

Prakash said discussions are on with Russia to source automobile components, textiles, machine cutting tools and others from India.

According to him, the sea route Vladivostok-Chennai will save about 40% time and cost.

India's interest in NSR is to make it a part of its port-led development programme in Sagarmala  port-led development of cities.

Prakash said India's involvement in NSR will be in research, education, and the impact on ecology.

He said the Arctic region is an untapped region for energy and other resources.

Prakash said the two countries are considering setting up a Joint Working Group to discuss the issues and India is looking at Russia for its cooperation in the early formation of the group.

Russia has to propose the members for this group based on which India will nominate its representatives.

The NSR currently serves the Arctic ports and major rivers of Siberia by importing fuel, equipment, food and exporting timber and minerals. Some parts of the route are only free of ice for two months per year, but melting Arctic ice caps are likely to increase traffic and the route's commercial viability.

(Venkatachari Jagannathan can be reached at v.jagannathan@ians.in)
Of the 57 IPOs in 2023, 41 received mega response of more than 10 times. Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi, March 26 : Overall public equity fundraising increased by a huge 142 per cent to Rs 1.86 lakh crore in 2023-24 from Rs 76,911 crore in 2022-23.

Pranav Haldea, Managing Director, Prime Database, said 76 Indian corporates raised Rs 61,915 crore through main board IPOs in financial year 2023-24, 19 per cent higher than the Rs 52,116 crore mobilised by 37 IPOs in 2022-23.

The largest IPO in 2023-24 was from Mankind Pharma (Rs 4,326 crore). This was followed by Tata Technologies (Rs 3,043 crore) and JSW Infrastructure (Rs 2,800 crore).

The overall response from the public, according to Prime Database was excellent. Of the 75 IPOs for which response data is available, 54 IPOs received a mega response of more than 10 times (of which 22 IPOs more than 50 times) while 11 IPOs were oversubscribed by more than 3 times. The balance 10 IPOs were oversubscribed between 1 to 3 times.

51 of the 75 IPOs are trading above the issue price, as per the closing price of March 21, with an average return of 65 per cent.

According to Pranav Haldea, IPO response was further buoyed by strong listing performance. Average listing gain (based on closing price on listing date) increased to 29 per cent, in comparison to 9 per cent in 2022-23. Of the 75 IPOs, 48 gave a return of over 10 per cent. Vibhor Steel gave a stupendous return of 193 per cent followed BLS E-Services (175 per cent) and Tata Technologies (163 per cent).

2023-24 saw 96 companies filing their offer document with SEBI for approval (in comparison to 75 in 2022-23). On the other hand, 2023-24 also saw 37 companies looking to raise nearly Rs 59,000 crore letting their approval lapse, two companies looking to raise Rs 1,000 crore withdrawing their offer document and SEBI returning the offer document of a further five companies looking to raise Rs 2,500 crore.

The pipeline continues to remain strong. Nineteen companies proposing to raise nearly Rs 25,000 crore are presently holding SEBI approval while another 37 companies looking to raise about a45,000 crore are awaiting SEBI approval.

According to Haldea, despite the upcoming general elections, the next couple of months should still see a few IPOs being launched.

QIPs also saw a huge jump with 55 companies mobilising Rs 68,933 crore through QIPs in 2023-24, nearly 7 times higher than Rs 9,019 crore raised in 2022-23. The largest QIP was from Bajaj Finance raising Rs 8,800 crore, accounting for 13 per cent of the total QIP amount. QIPs were dominated by Banking and Financial Services companies with them accounting for 58 per cent (Rs 40,020 crore) of the overall amount.

Of the total equity mobilisation of Rs 1,86,108 crore, the fresh capital amount was Rs 1,25,267 crore (67 per cent in comparison to 36 per cent last year), the remaining Rs 60,840 crore being offered for sale.

(Sanjeev Sharma can be reached at Sanjeev.s@ians.in)
Chennai, March 26 : The Tamil Nadu government informed the Madras High Court that the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commission in Chennai has issued a temporary travel document to Murugan alias Sriharan, who is a convict released in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

Additional Public Prosecutor R. Muniyapparaj appearing before a division bench of the Madras High Court comprising Justices R. Suresh Kumar and K. Kumaresh Babu on Tuesday said that the Sri Lankan High Commission has informed the state government on the issuance of travel documents.

He told the court that it was now the Foreigners Regional Registration Officer (FRRO) to issue a deportation order and after that the released convict could travel to Sri Lanka.

The Division Bench recorded the submission and closed a writ petition filed by Murugan.

The court directed the Director of Rehabilitation under the state government to issue an identity card to him so that he could fly out of the country.

The division bench of the Madras High Court also told the petitioneras counsel P. Pugalenthi that the identity card would not be necessary now since the high commission had already issued the travel document.

It may be noted that Sriharan alias Murugan, his wife Nalini Sriharan, Robert Payas, Ravichandran, Jayakumar and late Santhan alias Suthenthiraja had been released in the assassination case after being incarcerated for more than 32 years in various prisons. Santhan was issued a travel pass to travel to Sri Lanka, but he died in February.
In its Kolkata-Dakshin bastion retaining the last winning margin is TMCs main headache. Image Source: IANS News

Kolkata, March 26 : Even in the midst of the surging anti-incumbency factor and pro-BJP opinion poll projections in West Bengal, the ruling Trinamool Congress can expect a comfortable victory in Kolkata-Dakshin.

Apart from an extremely strong candidate in the sitting Trinamool Congress MP, Mala Roy, who is also the Chairperson of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, there are several other reasons which keep the ruling party ahead of its competitors here.

Kolkata-Dakshin is often considered the most-pampered Lok Sabha constituency in West Bengal as it has been nurtured by the ruling party, the state administration and the civic authorities.

One of the reasons for this is that Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, is not just a voter from and resident of Kolkata-Dakshin, but she was also an elected MP from here for six consecutive terms since 1991, before she resigned in 2011 after becoming CM.

So the CMas long political and emotional connect with this constituency has always kept Kolkata-Dakshin in the spotlight for special attention.

Plus, Mala Royas twin role has helped her nurture the constituency in an orchestrated manner.

Apart from this, four out of the seven MLAs of the seven Assembly constituencies under Kolkata-Dakshin are heavyweight members in the state Cabinet, which includes Mamata Banerjee (Bhabanipur), Firhad Hakim (Kolkata Port), Javed Ahmed Khan (Kasba) and Babul Supriyo (Ballygunge).

Before his arrest, former state education minister and Trinamool Congress Secretary General, Partha Chatterjee, the number of MLAs was five as Chatterjee is the sitting TMC legislator from Behala-Paschim, under Kolkata-Dakshin.

This heavyweight representation is keeping the ruling party a couple of miles ahead even before the beginning of the Lok Sabha race.

In such a situation the only headache for Mala Roy is whether she will be able to retain her 2019 Lok Sabha poll winning margin of over 1,50,000 votes and share of 47.50 per cent of the total votes polled.

On the other hand, the BJP has fielded Debasree Chaudhuri, its sitting Lok Sabha member from Raiganj Lok Sabha constituency in North Dinajpur District from Kolkata-Dakshin this time.

With Kolkata-Dakshin being an unknown turf for her, Debasree Chaudhuri is depending on the slogans of development under the leadership of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, to catch the attention of the voters of the constituency.

Also in the fray is CPI(M)as Saira Shah Halim, quite an interesting personality both in terms of pedigree and professional achievement.

The niece of iconic actor Naseeruddin Shah and daughter of former Deputy Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Zameer Uddin Shah (Retired), Saira Shah Halim, before joining politics was a business development and communications trainer with the West Bengal Electronics Industry Development Corporation Limited.

Plus, after marriage she inherited the legacy of Marxist leanings as her husband Dr Fuad Halim, is a popular leader of the CPI(M). Dr Fuad Halimas father, late Hashim Abdul Halim, had been the longest-serving Speaker of the West Bengal Assembly from 1982 to 2011.
Mumbai, March 26 : NCP President and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Tuesday said that the MahaYuti's seat sharing agreement and candidates will be announced at a joint press conference on Thursday (March 28) in Mumbai.

"Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and I will address a joint press conference on March 28 in Mumbai to declare the seat sharing arrangement among the MahaYuti partners and the name of constituency wise candidates," Ajit Pawar said.

He went on to add that the 99 per cent seat sharing deal is being finalised among the MahaYuti partners especially after the meeting held on Saturday night with Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Ajit Pawar's announcement is important as the aspirants especially from NCP and Shiv Sena were getting impatient due to the time taken for the release of seat sharing formula. This is when BJP has already announced 23 candidates.

Ajit Pawar, who chaired the meeting of party ministers, legislators and functionaries at Pune, announced NCP's nomination from Raigad constituency to state unit chief and sitting MP Sunil Tatkare who is expected to be pitted against Shiv Sena- UBT nominee and former union minister Anant Gite.

On Shinde faction deputy leader Shivajirao Adhalrao's entry into NCP and nomination from Shirur seat in Pune district, Ajit Pawar said that it was a well thought out decision after taking into consideration all factors and leaders from six assembly constituencies.

Ajit Pawar admitted that his party had demanded many seats but cited that BJP had won 23 seats and Shiv Sena (before the split) bagged 18 seats in 2019 elections. NCP (before the split) had won four seats in the last general elections.

He said that BJP has already announced 23 candidates so far and noted that of the 18 MPs of Shiv Sena, 13 MPs are with Chief Minister Shinde and the balance five with Shiv Sena (UBT).

Ajit Pawar in the meanwhile declared division of work among the ministers and legislators asking them to work in unity with the allies BJP, Shiv Sena and Rashtriya Samaj Paksha for the victory on maximum seats in Maharashtra.

Ministers and legislators have been assigned the 48 constituency wise responsibilities with a focus on increasing outreach with voters, he said.

Ajit Pawar hailed the BJP led government's performance under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that India has gained recognition globally and a number of projects including airports, ports, roads, railways were carried out in the last 10 years.
New Delhi, March 26 : A 27-year-old woman died after her throat was allegedly slit by some sharp object allegedly by her husband and in-laws in outer Delhi's Alipur area, an official said on Tuesday.

The official said that they have apprehended the accused identified as Manjeet (30), his father Bhim (52), his mother Meena (48), and brother Manish (27).

Sharing details, police said that on Monday at 6:50 p.m., information regarding a quarrel between husband and wife was received at Alipur police station following which a police team rushed to the spot.

"The woman was rushed to the hospital, where she was declared brought dead," said a senior police official, adding that the body was shifted to the mortuary for autopsy.

The official said that an FIR was registered after a complaint was filed by the family members of the victim.

The initial probe revealed that there was some dowry-related issue. "However, police teams are probing the incident," the official added.
Srinagar, March 26 : After the regional National Conference (NC) headed by Dr. Farooq Abdullah took the wind out of the People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) sails, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) headed by Mehbooba Mufti is left with no option other than dig in its feet.

The PAGD was formed in 2019 to keep the BJP out of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).

It was decided that the alliance partners, the NC, PDP, CPI(M), Awami National Conference (ANC) and others would fight the BJP together by fielding common candidates for all elections, including those of the Lok Sabha and the Assembly.

The NC has already announced that it will field candidates for all the three Lok Sabha seats in the Valley.

This announcement sounded the death knell for the PAGD in J&K.

With NC deciding to concede no seat to the PDP, there are only two options left open for the party. It either eats the humble pie and keeps licking its wounds or decides to assert itself by fielding candidates for the Lok Sabha elections.

Whatever else might be said about Mehbooba Mufti, but one thing goes without saying, she won't allow the PDP to be sacrificed at the NC's electoral altar.

"We are a political party and what good is a political party that remains out of elections?" said a senior PDP leader, who for obvious reasons did not want to be named.

NC Vice President, Omar Abdullah has said that his party would announce the names of its candidates for the three Lok Sabha seats in the Valley "at the appropriate time" and after the Eid festival that falls around April 10.

Even as Omar Abdullah tries to keep the suspense alive, the cat is already out of the bag. According to the party's rivals, the NC has decided to field "Mian Altaf Ahmad from the Anantnag-Rajouri seat, Dr. Farooq Abdullah from Srinagar and Omar Abdullah from the Baramulla seat."

"If he still believes that there is some kind of suspense in his choice of candidates, let him prove us wrong by naming somebody other than these three persons", said a senior leader of the J&K Apni Party headed by Syed Altaf Bukhari.

PDP insiders believe there is a catch to Omar Abdullah's so-called suspense.

"He wants us to blink first by announcing our candidates for the three Lok Sabha seats in the Valley before the NC makes its choice of candidates formal. But if he thinks that the PDP will blink first and announce its candidates before the NC does, he is mistaken.

"Thinking that we will announce candidates before the NC, so that he (Omar Abdullah) can blame the demise of the PAGD on us, is grossly underestimating Mehbooba Mufti.

"We have all the time in the world to wait for the NC to carry the PAGD's coffin to the graveyard", said a PDP insiders close to Mehbooba Mufti.

The long and short of this wait and watch game between the NC and the PDP is that the two parties will finally field candidates against each other in all the seats.

Mostly likely, Mehbooba Mufti will stand from the Anantnag-Rajouri seat which is her home constituency and also the perceived stronghold of her party.

For Srinagar, the PDP could field Waheed Para, the strong, well-entrenched youth leader belonging to Pulwama District which is now part of the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat.

For Baramulla, Mir Mohammad Fayaz, former Rajya Sabha member, who recently rejoined the PDP, could be fielded by the party.

The net result of the PDP and the NC fighting against each other would be division of the Kashmiri-speaking Muslim votes of the Valley.

The NC and the PDP fielding candidates against each other would turn out to be an advantage for the BJP in the Anantnag-Rajouri constituency and for those supported by the BJP in Srinagar and Baramulla, if it decides not to field its own candidates for these two seats.

In this scenario, Srinagar will cease to be a cakewalk for Dr. Farooq Abdullah.

These permutations and combinations become further compounded by the J&K Apni Party also deciding to field its candidates for the Lok Sabha seats in the Valley.

In a nutshell, the days of foregone supremacy of any single political party in the Valley are over. Each one of them will have to fight the Lok Sabha elections with all their might and wait for the final choice of the voters with bated breath.
New Delhi, March 26 : Meta's oversight board on Tuesday asked the company to end its blanket ban on the Arabic word "shaheed", roughly translated as "martyr" in English.

The Board's year-long extensive review revealed that Meta's current blanket ban on the word "shaheed", which it had said could be used to praise or approve of terrorism, "has led to widespread and unnecessary censorship affecting the freedom of expression of millions of users".

"Meta should end its blanket ban on "shaheed", as this has had a discriminatory and disproportionate impact on freedom of expression and information sharing, outweighing concerns the word could have been used to promote terrorism," the board said. The board admitted that Meta's "approach could have caused swathes of content to be wrongly removed".

"Terrorism destroys lives and undermines the very fabric of our societies, but it is counterproductive to stop journalists from reporting on terrorist groups and to limit peopleas ability to debate and condemn the violence they see around them just because of the presence of a single word," said Oversight Board co-chair Helle Thorning-Schmidt, in the statement.

Meta conducted a policy review into its moderation of "shaheed" in 2020 but was unable to decide on how to proceed and asked the Board to intervene in 2023.

The independent body extended its research to see how people use Meta's platforms and then the context of the October 7 terrorist attacks in Israel, followed by ongoing Israeli military operations in Gaza.

The board, meanwhile, also suggested removing "shaheed", only "when it is linked to a clear sign of violence (like imagery of weapons) or when it otherwise breaks Metaas rules (for example, glorifying a designated individual)".

This, it said "will see the most harmful material removed, while minimising the chances of intentionally or accidentally removing non-violating content posted around the world".
Mumbai, March 26 : Bhojpuri star and BJP MP from Gorakhpur, Ravi Kishan has shared a colourful video celebrating Holi with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and his team.

Taking to Instagram, Ravi who is known for his in 'Hera Pheri', 'Banke Bihari M.L.A', 'Devra Bada Satawela', 'Tanu Weds Manu', among others, shared a Reel video, wherein he can be seen dressed in an orange shirt and grey trousers.

He has a garland of flowers around his neck and is seen distributing gujiyas to the party workers. He is seen interacting with his team.

The video also has a glimpse of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath showering flowers and colours on the party workers.

The post is captioned in Hindi as: "Jogira sara ra ra ra ra ra Holi hai bhaiya ho".

On the work front, he was recently seen as V.D. Tyagi in the gavel-slamming courtroom comedy, 'Maamla Legal Hai'.

The show is a light-hearted series promising a delightful blend of humour, heartwarming scenes and wordplay using legal jargon.

Set within the fictional confines of the Patparganj District Court, the eight-episode series explores the surreal world of the law through the eyes of its eccentric lawyers, who argue bizarre cases and represent odd clients.

It features an ensemble star cast -- Yashpal Sharma, Nidhi Bisht, Anant V. Joshi, Naila Grewal, Anjum Batra and Vijay Rajoria.

'Maamla Legal Hai' is airing on Netflix.
New Delhi, March 26 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday spoke to Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and discussed ways to further strengthen bilateral ties while congratulating him on the successful hosting of the First Nuclear Energy Summit.

In a telephone conversation, the two leaders affirmed their commitment to further bolster the Indiaa"EU Strategic Partnership under the ongoing Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

"Spoke to Belgium PM @alexanderdecroo. Congratulated him on the success of the First Nuclear Energy Summit in Brussels. Exchanged views on strengthening bilateral ties; advancing India-EU Partnership under Belgian Presidency; and cooperation on regional and global issues," Prime Minister Modi wrote in a post on X on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Modi and his Belgian counterpart reviewed the "excellent relations" between India and Belgium and discussed ways to further strengthen the bilateral partnership in diverse sectors.

These included trade, investment, clean technologies, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, green hydrogen, IT, defence, and ports, among others.

They agreed upon the need to enhance cooperation and support for the early restoration of peace and security in the West Asia region and the Russia-Ukraine war, a statement from the Prime Minister's Office said.

Exchanging views on regional and global developments, the two leaders agreed to remain in touch.

The first-ever Nuclear Energy Summit, held in Brussels last week, was jointly organised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Belgium.

For the summit, global leaders came together to reaffirm their commitment to nuclear energy as a way to reduce carbon emissions and meet development goals.

In a statement delivered at the summit, India said that as a responsible nuclear power with advanced technology, it remains committed to expanding peaceful applications of nuclear technology, both in the power and non-power sectors, while ensuring the security of nuclear and radiological materials.

"India has a robust nuclear safety culture and impeccable safety record. India will continue to support the Agency in its efforts to provide a robust, sustainable and visible global nuclear safety and security framework," Ajit Kumar Mohanty, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission, said.

"Our aim is for nuclear energy to have significant share in electricity mix of India by the year 2047 when India celebrates 100 years of independence."

Mohanty added that as a medium-term target, India aims to achieve tripling nuclear power generation capacity by 2030 from around 7.5 GW at present.

Speaking of India's three-stage nuclear power programme, India in a statement at the summit said that the country is committed to full international civil nuclear cooperation for the development needs of the nation, and is engaged in discussions with foreign companies to further expand the nuclear energy programme.
Sana Sayyad gets pampered by 'Kundali Bhagya' team during Ramadan: 'Get proper rest, work for limited hrs'. Image Source: IANS News

Mumbai, March 26 : Actress Sana Sayyad has shared how during Ramadan the team of her show 'Kundali Bhagya' has been incredibly supportive, and takes care of her as she is fasting.

As the holy month of Ramadan unfolds, Sana has been fasting through the day amidst her busy shooting schedules.

The evening prayer marks the end of her fast, and she eagerly looks forward to indulging in the array of iftar delicacies together with her team.

She shared that fasting is not just about refraining from physical nourishment, but also about cultivating a deeper connection with spirituality and being grateful to God for everything.

Sana said: "For me, fasting is not just about abstaining from food and drink; It's about exercising patience, empathy, and self-control. The unit and our co-stars have been incredibly supportive. On the sets, my beloved team ensures that they are taking extra care of me and other members of the unit who have been fasting."

"They see to it that we get proper rest and work only for a limited number of hours comfortably, especially during the fasting time. I appreciate the camaraderie and support among the cast and crew, as we all gather to share meals and break our fast together," she shared.

Sana added: "They understand the significance of Ramadan for us and ensure that the atmosphere remains positive and pleasant."

The show features actors like Shraddha Arya (as Preeta), Shakti Anand (as Karan), Paras Kalnawat (as Rajveer), Sana (as Palki), Baseer Ali (as Shaurya), Shalini Mahal (as Shanaya).

'Kundali Bhagya' airs on Zee TV.
Panaji, March 26 : INDIA bloc on Tuesday protested in Panaji over the arrest of the AAP National Convener Arvind Kejriwal by the Enforcement Directorate.

The opposition party leaders including MLAs, who tried to enter Azad Maidan in Panaji, were initially restrained by the huge police force. However, later they were allowed to address the media.

Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao, AAP President Amit Palekar, Goa Forward President and MLA Vijai Sardesai, NCP (sharad Pawar group) President Jose Philip, Shivsena (UBT) President Jitesh Kamat and others were present.

Yuri Alemao slammed the BJP government for not allowing them to enter the Azad Maidan.

"This place is (known) to mark protest, but BJP did 'gundagardi' and showed its dictatorship by restraining us from entering by using police force," Alemao alleged.

"This is a murder of democracy by the BJP. Whenever we expose them, they try to silence us. Kejriwal, who is a Chief Minister, has been arrested at the time of the election. This is the first time that such a thing has happened," Alemao said.

"It is not only the arrest of Kejriwal, but of every individual. If you raise a voice against the government they put people in jail," Alemao said.

Amit Palekar said that the BJP is afraid of opposition and hence they didn't allow even MLAs to enter Azad Maidan.

"Officers tried to stop us. We all have come together to fight against such practices," he said.

He said that the BJP has been exposed through electoral bonds and hence to divert issues they are arresting opposition leaders.

Vijai Sardesai said that this is an unprecedented arrest at a time when the code of conduct is in force. "Kejriwal has been arrested in an old case, if they wanted to arrest him, then it should have been done earlier, why did they wait till the code of conduct? They can arrest opposition or anyone who speaks against the government," Sardesai said.

"Do they (BJP) give guarantees that democracy will remain alive? Are they trying to make opposition 'mukt Bharat'. Our country should not become like Pakistan, it should not become a 'Banana Republic," Sardesaid said.
London, March 26 : Wikileaks founder Julian Assange faces a further wait to find out whether he can bring an appeal against his extradition to the US, the British High Court ruled on Tuesday.

According to the ruling, a decision on the appeal has been adjourned to May 20 as the court is seeking assurances from the US, including that Assange could rely on the First Amendment to the US Constitution and that he would not be sentenced to death if convicted, Xinhua news agency reported.

"If those assurances are not given, then leave to appeal will be given and there will then be an appeal hearing," a summary of the judgment said.

Speaking outside the High Court in London, Assange's wife Stella Assange said she is "astounded" by the court's decision to delay her husband's appeal.

"What the courts have done has been to invite a political intervention from the US," she said.

"I find this astounding."
New Delhi: BJP MP Dilip Ghosh at the Parliament, on the second part of Budget Session, in New Delhi on Thursday, March 24, 2022. (Photo: Qamar Sibtain/IANS). Image Source: IANS News

Kolkata, March 26 : Trinamool Congress on Tuesday filed a complaint with the Election Commission of India (ECI) through the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal against BJP's Bardhaman-Durgapur candidate, Dilip Ghosh, accusing him of using derogatory comments about Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during a briefing of media persons.

In the complaint forwarded to the office of CEO, West Bengal, the ruling party has accused Ghosh, also the former state president of BJP West Bengal, of casting aspersions about the Chief Ministeras family lineage.

According to Trinamool Congress, such comments on the part of Ghosh were a clear violation of the model code of conduct (MCC) which disallows any political party or candidate from indulging in any activities or making any statements that would amount to an attack on the personal life of any person or statements that may be malicious or offending decency and morality.

In the letter to the CEO, West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress leadership has also requested the former to issue directions refraining Ghosh and other BJP candidates or leaders from making such personal comments against the Chief Minister or any other leader or candidate of Trinamool Congress.

Trinamool Congress has also requested the CEO, West Bengal to initiate immediate action against Dilip Ghosh for blatant violation of the MCC.
New Delhi, March 26 : The Delhi High Court has held that it is well-settled that the right to life encompasses not only the preservation of physical existence but also "quality of life", which includes access to necessary medical treatment and healthcare services, and that right to health entails "entitlement to adequate healthcare facilities".

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharmaas recent observation came while allowing liquor businessman Sameer Mahendru to be admitted to VNA Hospital, Delhi, for undergoing arthroscopic medial meniscal repair surgery, for a period of four weeks till April 20.

Mahendru is an accused in the money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam,

aWhile adjudicating matters concerning the health and wellbeing of an accused, the court is duty-bound to ensure that the accusedas right to life and the right to health is not violated. These basic human and fundamental rights are not contingent upon one being a common citizen or an accused, but are inherent to every individual, including those accused of crimes," the court observed.

However, Justice Sharma said that Mahendru shall continue to be in the custody of the Jail Superintendent concerned, who shall ensure that appropriate and adequate security is provided/deputed in the hospital since the accused will continue to remain in judicial custody though under treatment in the hospital.

The court had earlier denied interim bail to Mahendru, who had sought the relief as his and his wife's medical condition was severely compromised. The businessman had also claimed that he has to undergo knee surgery and his wife, who has developed post-surgery complications, has to be taken care of.

Justice Sharma, who heard the plea, had noted that Mahendru's medical condition cannot be categorised as a "life-threatening situation".

"... the knee surgery which is to be undergone by the applicant is not of such a nature which necessitates the applicant's release on interim bail only," the judge said. However, she had allowed him to be taken to the hospital for the surgery while in custody on the date concerned.

The court had asked him to file a fresh application after getting a new date for the surgery.

Perusing the documents filed, the court also noted that the date of surgery, which was initially fixed for February 26, has not been rescheduled.

"Thus, the applicant will be at liberty to get the date of the surgery rescheduled and thereafter, move a fresh application before this court for seeking appropriate directions," the court said.

Special counsel for the ED had also told the judge that he had no objection to Mahendru's prayer to get his surgery performed.

According to the prosecution, Mahendru was a significant beneficiary of excise policy violations, operating an alcoholic beverage manufacturing unit and holding wholesale and retail licences in his and his familyas names.
What the law says and what is the possibility of Kejriwal governing from jail: Legal experts speak. Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi, March 26 : Whether Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal - who issued two orders from the Enforcement Directorate's custody over water and sewage issues in the national capital - is legally entitled to pass such orders or should he be debarred from holding the office like a public servant? New Delhi, March 26 (IANS) Whether Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal a" who issued two orders from the Enforcement Directorate's custody over water and sewage issues in the national capital a" is legally entitled to pass such orders or should he be debarred from holding the office like a public servant?

After his arrest, the Delhi Chief Minister first issued an order to Water Minister Atishi from the custody of the ED on Sunday, another directive was issued on Tuesday to the Health Department on the smooth functioning of the AAP's flagship Mohalla Clinics.

When AAP sources claim that the Chief Minister will continue to operate the government from jail, the two orders raise a significant question of constitutional morality. Undoubtedly, running a government from inside jail is bound to face logistical hurdles and functional limitations, particularly when the Chief Minister has to follow jail norms and would need prior approval from the court every time for the meetings, to sign the files, etc.

Why not a lawmaker get sacked automatically, if he or she is in judicial custody like an IAS officer or a court staffer is arrested and put in judicial custody for over 48 hours, then they are suspended?

The Supreme Court in 2022 had dismissed as withdrawn a PIL seeking a direction to the then Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government in Maharashtra to sack jailed NCP leader Nawab Malik as a minister as well as seeking a direction to the Delhi government to sack minister Satyendar Jain, who was arrested in connection with criminal cases.

Refusing to entertain the plea, the top court had observed that if the PIL is allowed, then it will completely submerge the principle of separation of power.

aWe cannot incorporate disqualification in this manner and send somebody out," the apex court had said, making it clear that it cannot enact a provision which becomes a binding law and an elected representative is thrown out of the House.

Along the same lines, a plea seeking the removal of jailed Tamil Nadu Minister Senthil Balaji from the state Council of Ministers was dismissed by the Supreme Court in January this year. The petitioner questioned the propriety of Balaji continuing in the cabinet even after he was sent to judicial custody in a money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the alleged cash-for-jobs scam.

Though the Madras High Court did not direct his removal, it had observed that the continuance of Balaji as a Minister without Portfolio serves no purpose and does not augur well with the Principles of Constitutional ethos on goodness, good governance and purity in administration.

Chief Minister Kejriwal a" who at this stage is only accused of soliciting kickbacks from liquor businessmen in exchange for favours a" does not come within the purview of the 2013 Supreme Court decision in the Lily Thomas case, which had laid down that once a member of Parliament or a state legislature is convicted by a court and sentenced for two years, he or she is immediately disqualified from House.

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Manoj Tiwari has cast doubt on the authenticity of the directive allegedly sent by CM Kejriwal to Delhi Minister Atishi, questioning the timing of its issuance.

BJP National Secretary, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, lodged a complaint with Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinay Kumar Saxena and ED against Delhi Minister Atishi and others.

Sirsa alleged that the AAP leaders presented an illegal order in the name of the Delhi Chief Minister, claiming that the Chief Minister issued it while in ED custody.

Describing this act as entirely illegal, unconstitutional, and an abuse of the office of the Delhi CM, Sirsa asserted that it amounts to a criminal conspiracy. He emphasised that Arvind Kejriwal could not have issued such an order while under ED custody.

Sirsa further claimed that he has urged the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi to investigate the unlawful takeover of the Delhi CM's office and its illegal operation. He called for action to be taken by registering a case against Atishi and other individuals involved in this matter.

The issue of authenticity deepens when there is no permission to the CM by the court to issue orders from EDas custody and these directives may possibly be aimed at political gains.

Meanwhile, the Delhi governmentas Planning Secretary has issued orders that all welfare schemes of the city government will continue to operate and said that schemes and governance are never specific to individuals, but continue in the normal course.

Kejriwal, who was arrested last week and subsequently remanded to ED custody until March 28 by a Delhi court, faces allegations of direct involvement in a conspiracy related to the formulation of excise policy favouring specific individuals.

The ED has said that Kejriwal is the "kingpin and key conspirator" in the now-scrapped excise policy in collusion with AAP ministers, leaders and other persons.

On the other hand, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader has refuted the accusations levelled against him and has accused the BJP-led Central government of "manipulating investigative agencies for political motives".
Hyderabad, March 26 : Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) Working President K.T. Rama Rao on Tuesday predicted that Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy will join the BJP after the Lok Sabha elections.

He said Revanth Reddy would become the first leader in the country to join the BJP after the Lok Sabha polls.

Addressing a meeting of BRS leaders, Rama Rao added that Revanth Reddy's silence regarding accusations of his ties with the BJP indicates a possible impending move.

The BRS leader said if the Telangana Chief Minister has no plans to switch allegiance, he should publicly declare his commitment to remain with the Congress until the end.

Accusations have surfaced against Revanth Reddy that he has been extorting money from businessmen in the state and forwarding it to the Congress High Command in New Delhi, KTR added.

The BRS leader alleged that The Telangana Chief Minister has already dispatched Rs 2,500 crore to Delhi for the upcoming parliamentary polls.

To amass such huge money, Revanth Reddy allegedly halted the issuance of permissions for buildings and layouts over the past three months, pressuring real estate stakeholders for funds under the threat of denial of approvals, KTR said.

Addressing a meeting of BRS leaders from Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency, KTR highlighted the dwindling power of the Congress, predicting that it would not secure more than 40 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

He asserted that only formidable regional political entities like TMC, AAP and BRS could thwart the BJP wave across the country, emphasising the growing support for local parties over Congress.

KTR criticised the Telangana Chief Minister for aligning himself with BJP's ideology despite the Congress ruling the state, contrasting his stance with that of national party leaders.

He accused Revanth Reddy of endorsing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Gujarat model, thus becoming subservient to Modi as a "chhota bhai" (younger brother).

Consequently, KTR affirmed that the Telangana Chef Minister would likely be the first Indian leader to join the BJP post the parliamentary elections.

In addition, the BRS leader rebuked Revanth Reddy for his recent public remarks, likening him to a "thief carrying scissors in his pocket".

KTR also dared the Telangana Chief Minister to take action against the culprits behind the alleged scams propagated by the Congress government, which he deemed as "distractions from the party's failures in fulfilling electoral promises".

The BRS leader criticised BRS MLA Danam Nagender for recently joining the Congress, calling it as "opportunistic politics".

He vowed to challenge Danam's decision by defeating him on the Secunderabad parliamentary seat and in the upcoming Khairatabad by-election.

KTR demanded swift action from the Assembly Speaker on the BRS' complaint against Danam Nagender, threatening to pursue disqualification through legal channels if necessary.

The BRS leader criticised Secunderabad MP and Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy, saying he made no contribution to the city's development and demanded accountability for his actions during his tenure.

KTR referred to Kishan Reddy as an "accidental" MP and Union Minister, given his previous loss in the Amberpet constituency during the last Assembly elections.
New Delhi, March 26 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday spoke to Professor TN Sarasu, BJP's Lok Sabha candidate from Alathur constituency in Kerala over phone and enquired about her poll preparedness and the election campaign in the run-up to the 2024 Parliamentary elections.

In the audio clip that has gone viral, Professor Sarasu told PM Modi that she was taking forward the messages of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' and 'Modi ki Guarantee' to woo the electorate.

When queried by PM Modi about difficulties during her college tenure, Professor Sarasu explained how people with Left affiliations tried to 'bully and browbeat' her while she undertook a series of reforms to streamline the functioning of the college.

Notably, TN Sarasu served at the Government Victoria college in Pallakad for nearly three decades and retired as its Principal, some years ago.

However, her retirement grabbed a lot of media attention, not because of a glorious end to her career but because of hounding allegedly by the Students' Federation of India (SFI), the student wing of the Communist Party of India (CPI-M).

The professor was greeted with a photo of grave as her 'retirement gift' in 2016, for which a police complaint was also lodged.

While speaking to PM Modi, TN Sarasu escalated the issue of rampant corruption under Kerala co-operative banks, purportedly governed by CPI-M leaders.

She informed the Prime Minister about the miserable plight of poor citizens who were striving for a basic livelihood, as their money had been looted by powerful men with connections in the state administration.

PM Modi promised strict action against all the accused in the Kerala co-operative bank scam and also said that all those with clout will be made to pay for the injustices.

"As and when ED attaches the properties of these accused, it will be made sure that those rightfully owned by people are returned to them," PM Modi told Sarasu.

She also briefed the Prime Minister about her efforts to bring people to election booths and encourage them to exercise their franchisee.

"Kerala is proud of you. I am confident that the people of Alathur will choose you to represent them in the Parliament," PM Modi remarked in the closing note.
New Delhi, 26 March : University Grants Commission (UGC) on Tuesday extended the deadline for online submission of the application form for the CUET-UG to 31 March, upto 09:50 P.M.

Earlier, the deadline was March 26.

UGC Chairman Professor M Jagadesh Kumar said that the decision has been taken based on the request received from candidates and other stakeholders. He asked students to visit exams.nta.ac.in/CUET-UG/ for the latest updates.

This year more than 200 universities and institutions will use CUET-UG scores for the first year's undergraduate admissions. It includes 46 Central universities, 36 state universities, 20 Deemed, 105 private universities and 6 government institutions.

The Ministry of Education and UGC have mandated the National Testing Agency to conduct the Common University Entrance Test (CUET (UG)-2024 for admission into Undergraduate Programmes in central universities and other participating universities, institutions, organisations and autonomous colleges.

UGC Chairman said that the CUET (UG)-2024 provides a single window opportunity to students seeking admission in any of the Central Universities (CUs) or other participating organisations (including State Universities, Deemed and Private Universities) across the country. The list of universities is dynamic, and more universities are joining the test.

The application of CUET (UG) a" 2024 was launched on the website exams.nta.ac.in/CUET-UG/ on 27th February 2024 and is now closing on 31 March.

All eligible candidates are encouraged to apply for CUET (UG) - 2024 as soon as possible to avoid the last-minute rush, Kumar added.
Nagpur, March 26 : The Congress on Tuesday called upon the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies Nationalist Congress Party (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT) to accommodate Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi's demands to ensure he remains with the Opposition alliance.

The VBA, led by Prakash Ambedkar, has reportedly staked claim on at least 6 Lok Sabha seats, but the MVA is reluctant to give up such a large chunk, having offered him 4 constituencies in the past which he had rejected outright and even snapped ties with MVA.

Maharashtra unit Congress President Nana Patole said that his party had taken one step forward to accept Ambedkar's conditions and asked the other MVA allies to consider it positively.

Party leaders explained that in case the MVA concedes to the VBA demands, each of the major allies may have to part with two seats each from their respective quotas, even as an aggressive Ambedkar reached Akola to file his nomination papers on Wednesday.

Patole further said that the MVA has finalised its seat-distribution for 46 of the 48 Lok Sabha constituencies, barring two.

They are -- Bhiwandi, claimed by the NCP (SP) and Sangli coveted by SS (UBT), with the latter having announced its prospective nominee, irking the Congress.

Patole said that the MVA allies must adhere to the principles of alliance and urged the NCP (SP) and SS (UBT) to give up their claims on Bhiwandi and Sangli, as the Congress has strong candidates to take on the ruling MahaYuti alliance of Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party-Nationalist Congress Party.

He frowned at the unilateral announcement of SS (UBT) candidate for Sangli seat, terming it as "improper, and should not have happened without discussions with other allies" and considering the strengths or weaknesses of the potential candidates of all the MVA parties.

Patole reiterated that the it is the duty of the MVA and other like-minded parties to give a resounding defeat to the Bharatiya Janata Party and MahaYuti in order to save democracy and the Constitution.
Gurugram, March 26 : Gurugram Police has seized property worth Rs 1.28 crore belonging to an alleged drug peddler who was arrested from the city in November 2023.

The alleged drug peddler has been identified as Ramakant of Bihar, who has been booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, Kolkata. He had allegedly acquired assets from the proceeds of the narcotics trade. Seized properties included a plot, cash amount and car.

The properties were purchased from illegal money from drug trafficking within the past several years in his name as well as in the name of his wife, the police said in a statement.

The drug peddler Ramakant was arrested on 7 November last year with illegal drugs. He is also facing trial in this case, police said.

The Gurugram had earlier sent a detailed proposal for confirmation of seizure/forfeiture of the properties earned out of illegal drugs business to the office of Competent Authority and Administrator of NDPS Act, Kolkata, as per provision of Sec.68 (F) NDPS Act, 1985.

The Competent Authority, Kolkata under the NDPS Act has been pleased to pass an order to confiscate a huge amount of property worth Rs1.28 crores acquired by Ramakant from the proceeds of drug peddling, the statement added.
New Delhi, March 26 : With the arrest of four men, the Delhi Police's Special Cell on Tuesday claimed to have busted an interstate drug cartel and recovered 15 kgs of Heroin, valued over Rs 80 crore.

The accused were identified as Dilli Ram (31), Prakash Poudyel (30), Arjun (27), all residents of Manipur and Sanjay Kumar Saha (53), a resident of West Bengal.

The officials said that the seized contraband of drugs was bought from Manipur while Prakash Poudyel, Dilliram and Arjun indulged in illegal drug trafficking for the last three years.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Amit Kaushik said that a team was working on information that an interstate narcotic drug cartel is active in the states of Manipur, Assam, West Bengal and Delhi when on March 21, specific information was received that members of a gang had collected a big consignment of Heroin from Manipur.

It was also revealed that they would deliver this consignment of heroin to the Delhi based contacts near Rajghat Bus Depot towards Kashmiri Gate, Delhi between 2:15 p.m. and 3 p.m on March 21.

"Accordingly, a trap was laid and Poudyel, Dilliram and Arjun were nabbed. A total of 15 kgs heroin was recovered from their possession," said the DCP, adding that on their instance Saha was also arrested from West Bengal.

On interrogation, all the accused disclosed that they are members of a drug syndicate involved in trafficking drugs from cross-border Myanmar side to different parts of India.

The DCP said that due to superior quality and the economical rates in comparison to narcotic drugs earlier manufactured in traditional areas of licit opium growing areas in the country, narcotic drug trafficking has increased from neighbouring countries.

"Further interrogation of arrested drug suppliers is in progress to identify their remaining associates and members of the syndicate," the DCP added.
Thiruvananthapuram, March 26 : A government college teacher for a quarter of a century and college principal for a year, Prof T.N. Sarasu, who has been fielded by the BJP from Kerala's Alathur (SC) Lok Sabha constituency, had refused to bow to political pressures and was "rewarded" with a symbolic grave dug for her on the day of her retirement in 2016.

As she retired as the principal of the state-run Victoria College, Palakkad, a symbolic grave was prepared in front of the college's main building with an inscription saying that it was dug for Sarasu, and even a wreath placed on the grave, decorated with yellow and pink flowers.

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who called her up and discussed her poll preparations, questioned her about the incident, she said: "The college had teachers attached to the Leftist organisation besides the SFI student wing and they wanted me to do what they wanted, which I did not do."

Prof Sarasu now has a different goal: seeking justice for victims of cooperative bank scams in the state.

After asking her about the election campaign and wishing her all the best, Sarasu asked PM Modi if she could raise an issue, and he instantly told her to say that. Sarasu then told the Prime Minister about the numerous scams in the Cooperative banks that are run by the CPI-M leaders who have looted money, especially those depositors hailing from poor and middle-class families.

"I am very happy that you have raised the issues of the common people. I have also some details of what you have raised. I assure you that the government will take strict action and you can tell the people that whatever assets the Enforcement Directorate has attached will be used to pay the money of the poor depositors," said PM Modi.

Sarasu also told PM Modi that she was taking forward the messages of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' and 'Modi ki Guarantee' to woo the electorate.

She also briefed the Prime Minister about her efforts to bring people to election booths and encourage them to exercise their franchise.

"Kerala is proud of you. I am confident that the people of Alathur will choose you to represent them in the Parliament," PM Modi remarked in the closing note.

Sarasu has worked as a teacher for 25 years and for one year, she was as a principal.

She would be involved in a triangular contest against sitting Congress MP Remya Haridas, and Devaswom Minister & senior CPI-M leader K. Radhakrishnan.

Polling is scheduled to be held in Kerala's all 20 Lok Sabha constituencies on April 26.
Ayesha Khan says Gangs of Godavari team let her get comfortable as she was new to Telugu. Image Source: IANS News

Mumbai, March 26 : Actress Ayesha Khan, who is receiving a lot of positive response to her special song 'Motha' from the Telugu movie 'Gangs of Godavari', received a warm welcome on the sets of the film.

The actress shared with IANS that never for once did she feel out of place and alien to the setting despite being new to the language.

Ayesha told IANS: "It's such a fun song! I absolutely enjoyed working on this special song for Gangs Of Godavari. Telugu cinema has been gaining relevance across the country quickly and I'm glad to be a part of it in this way. Matching Vishwak Sen's level of energy while performing was extremely fun and thrilling. Working with Krishna Chaitanya sir, in the guidance of Bhanu master and team was an absolute honour."

She further mentioned: "The energy on set was amazing, to say the least, and since I am new to the language, they very lovingly let me get comfortable with it and prepare for it. On set, everyone was highly energetic and excited to shoot the song and I think that beautifully translated into the video. Some of my most favourite Telugu song by Yuvan Shankar Raja Gaaru have to be 'Emaindhi Eevela', 'Egire Mabbulona' and 'Chiru Chiru'."
New Delhi, March 26 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday spoke to two women Lok Sabha candidates on the phone -- Rekha Patra, the Sandeshkhali survivor contesting the upcoming general election on a BJP ticket from West Bengal's Basirhat seat and Prof TN Sarasu, the BJP candidate from Kerala's Alathur constituency, who was targeted by the SFI members.

In the telephonic conversation, PM Modi not only enquired about their campaigning but also assured personal and party support in helping them draw up electoral strategy and taking the message to the masses. Notably, PM Modi's motivational calls to women candidates come at a time when the Congress is facing harsh criticism and diatribe for casting aspersions and taking slanderous jibes at the women power.

PM Modi's conversation with Rekha Patra, the face of Sandeshkhali movement, and TN Sarasu, the Kerala professor facing vicious attack for reforms, is not a one-off incident, rather it shows BJP's firm commitment and resolve for women empowerment.

PM Modi described Rekha Patra as 'Shakti Swaroopa' while he lent an ear to TN Sarasu's difficult times during her tenure as college teacher.

He assured both the women nominees of all the support and also wished them 'good luck' in the election.

With PM Modi motivating and boosting the morale of women nominees, who battled against the odds and rose to national prominence, the message goes loud and clear about Centre's priorities for women.

Centre's 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' and the passage of women's reservation bill are two shining examples of its thrust on increased women's participation in the public sphere.

On the other hand, the Congress is seen floundering on multiple aspects.

First, Rahul Gandhi's public gaffe on destroying the 'shakti', a form of goddess in Hindu religion, drew huge backlash and then the Congress social media in-charge as well as national spokesperson's denigrating remarks on Kangana Ranaut's candidature put the party on backfoot.

Supriya Shrinate kicked up a major storm when she mocked Kangana Ranaut's nominaton as BJP Lok Sabha nominee from Himachal's Mandi constituency and has been rightfully at the receiving end of the netizens and the right wing.

Many netizens said that her Instagram post on Kangana's nomination, 'Mandi mein kya bhaav chal raha hai' shows not just her but party's anti-women mindset. The Congress did no good either as it stood by her side and backed her despite knowing that her comments crossed the line.

Supriya later clarified by claiming that the post was made by some other person, with access to her account. But the damage was done.

Now, the question arises whether Congress has missed the plot and is it getting desperate in the run-up to 2024 elections and driven by the hatred for BJP and women, as claimed by the latter?

While the parties engage in verbal exchanges, the optics game clearly favours the BJP.

And, PM Modi is seen leading the BJP's women empowerment mission from the front.
Jaipur, March 26 : Rajasthan Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Praveen Gupta, said on Tuesday that 360 degree efforts are being made by the State Election Department for monitoring "fake news and hate speech to conduct fair and transparent elections in the state".

The Election Department is keeping a close eye on the information related to the election process, including electronic voting machines, law and order, voter list and voting on social media, he added.

"The committees formed at the state and district level and the police department are constantly keeping an eye on the election process. As nodal officers of these committees, officials of the Information and Public Relations Department are continuously monitoring the activities on social media," he said.

CEO Gupta added that as per the instructions received from the Election Commission of India, the State Election Department has prepared a quick response management plan to control fake news, wrong and misleading information on social media.

Under this plan, a three-member committee is working in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer to send misleading information to the Election Commission of India, he said.

"This committee keeps a vigil on the information related to elections at the state level. With the help of the social media and fact check team of the Information and Public Relations Department, the information broadcasted and published on social media, news channels, newspapers, FM and other sources is checked 24 hours a day and requisite action is taken," he added.

The Chief Electoral Officer said that if these teams monitoring at the state level receive any suspicious information on social media, then its fact check is done from the concerned districts.

"If this information is found to be incorrect or misleading, it is sent to the Election Commission of India with a clickable link within three to four hours for its removal or further action. To make this process more effective and quick, a WhatsApp group of the state has also been formed."

This group includes nodal officers and their team members of the committees formed for fact-checking at the district and state level, who take immediate action on such news, CEO Gupta added.

The Chief Electoral Officer said that in coordination with the District Information and Public Relations Officer in all the districts, the Social Media and Fact Check team closely analyses the information broadcast and published on district level social media platforms, local news channels, local newspapers and other sources and present it to the state level committee for action as per requirement.

He added that the State Election Department has made innovations to curb fake news, wrong and misleading information being spread on social media.

Ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, joint efforts are being made by the State Election Department and the police for fact-checking.

Nearly 80 police officers have been appointed across the state for monitoring up to the local level.

At the state level, Inspector General of Police Sharat Kaviraj has been appointed as the nodal officer.

Additional Superintendent of Police-level officers have been made nodal officers in the districts, who will take action in cases of spreading fake news according to the Indian Penal Code and decision of the courts.
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New Delhi, March 26 : The Delhi High Court has directed the Delhi Police to safeguard the vital personal information of complainants in missing persons cases.

A division bench of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Manoj Jain directed the Commissioner of Delhi Police to take all necessary steps to ensure that in all such cases, the "vital personal information of complainant is not put in public domain and only the name and contact details of SHO or IO of the case are reflected on ZIPNET".

The Zonal Integrated Police Network (ZIPNet)as objective is to share crime and criminal information in real-time.

The court's directive came in response to a habeas corpus petition filed by a mother seeking the production of her minor son, who had gone missing.

The petitioner's father-in-law had received WhatsApp messages from unknown numbers demanding money in exchange for information about the missing child, raising concerns about potential extortion attempts.

Despite extensive efforts by the Delhi Police, including searches on ZIPNET, social media groups, and nationwide alerts, the whereabouts of the missing child remained unknown.

As police informed the court that ZIPNet, which allows public access to complainants' contact details, had become a target for cybercriminals who exploited this information to extort money, the court directed it to restrict access to complainants' personal information, ensuring that only the contact details of the SHO or IO are visible to the public.

The court adjourned the case to April 10, directing the Delhi Police to take necessary steps to locate the missing son while also implementing measures to protect the privacy and safety of complainants in similar cases.
Kolkata, March 26 : Tension prevailed on Tuesday at Santipur in Nadia district of West Bengal following accusations against the son of a Trinamool Congress leader of raping a minor girl.

The accused, as identified by the local BJP leadership, is Pintu Biswas, son of a local Trinamool Congress strongman, Arjun Biswas.

The victim is a 15-year-old minor girl who had lost her father a few years back.

The incident allegedly took place late Monday night.

The uncle of the victim is the local booth president of BJP.

Speaking to the mediapersons, he said that the victim was alone at the residence while the accused abducted her, took her to a nearby cattle-shed and raped her there. The victim was later hospitalised in critical condition and bleeding profusely.

Later, on the basis of the complaint filed by the victim's mother, the accused was arrested.

Speaking to the media, sitting BJP Lok Sabha member of Ranaghat, Jagannath Sarkar said that the victim was targeted because her family members are associated with BJP.

"We demand the arrest of not only the accused but also the members of his family, since the entire event was pre-planned," Sarkar said.

BJP's Information Technology cell chief and the party's co-incharge, West Bengal, Amit Malviya too launched a scathing attack against Trinamool Congress over the incident through a social media post.

"TMC is known for sheltering and harbouring sexual predators. Mamata Banerjee has not only failed the women of #Sandeshkhali but Bengal. She has, almost always, provided protection to the perpetrators, including Sheikh Shahjahan," Malviya said in a message posted on X.

However, Trinamool Congress Santipur block president Kanai Debnath has accused the BJP of unnecessarily giving the event a political twist by bringing the rape angle in an "emotional relationship" between the "victim" and the "accused".

"Both of them had been in a relationship for quite some time. Now there is an attempt to frame him because he is associated with Trinamool Congress," said Debnath.
Mumbai, March 26 : NCP chief Ajit Pawar and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar announced the nomination of former MP Shivajirao Adhalrao, who joined the party on Tuesday, from the Shirur constituency in Pune district.

He made this announcement after Adhalrao, who was the deputy leader of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, quit the party and joined the NCP.

Ajit Pawar, at the rally held in Manchar, asked the party workers to work hard for Adhalraoas victory as his victory is important to make Narendra Modi the Prime Minister for the third time.

Adhalrao is set to take on the sitting MP and NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar nominee Amol Kolhe. Adhalrao had won the Shirur seat on a Shiv Sena ticket in the 2004, 2009, and 2014 Lok Sabha elections but lost the 2019 polls to NCP's Kolhe.

Adhalrao had left the NCP in 2004 and joined Shiv Sena. It was Adhalraoas homecoming to NCP but now headed by Ajit Pawar, who admitted that despite the NCPas efforts, Adhalrao won three elections but lost to celebrity Amol Kolhe in 2019.

"However, in the coming elections, you have to work hard for the victory of Adhalrao defeating Kolhe in the Shirur constituency. His election will help further boost the development in the constituency mainly due to the double engine at the Centre and in Maharashtra," he said.

Ajit Pawar asked the party workers not to be complacent as the candidate from the opposition (Kolhe) is an actor and will impress the voters through his acting. He lashed out at Kolhe for remaining inactive during his five-year term.

"You need an MP who will be available 24x7. Adhalrao will be available for you all the time unlike Kolhe," he noted.

He asked the voters to give a margin of 1 lakh votes in Ambegaon tehsil alone from where Adhalrao hails.

"You have to focus on activating the booth-level machinery. Donat go to other villages but work hard in your respective villages for Adhalraoas victory with a higher margin," he said.

Ajit Pawar targeted Kolhe for his criticism of Adhalraoas entry into the NCP after quitting the Shiv Sena, saying that it was a homecoming for Adhalrao.

He recalled that it was because of him that Kolhe was inducted in the NCP from Shiv Sena and fielded in the Shirur seat.

He made a blistering attack against the opposition for running a campaign that the BJP, if it returns to power, would change the Constitution. "Why was the Constitution not changed in the last 10 years? Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has recently said that it wonat be possible. So a misinformation campaign is being run by the opposition and we have to expose them during outreach with the voters," he said.
Imphal, March 27 : Manipur's apex tribal body, the Indigenous Tribal Leader's Forum (ITLF) on Tuesday asked tribals belonging to the Kuki-Zomi community to "abstain from contesting" in the Outer Manipur Lok Sabha (ST) seat but cast their votes.

It also asked the Kuki-Zo people and village volunteers not to comply with the state governmentas orders to deposit their licensed arms ahead of the Lok Sabha election.

ITLF Chairman Pagin Haokip and Secretary Muan Tombing, in a joint statement, said: "As Indian citizens, we advise our community members to exercise their right to franchise by voting in the upcoming Lok Sabha election but abstain from contesting for the Outer Manipur Parliament seat."

They said that the decision was taken following consultation with constituent tribes.

The Congress has fielded former MLA Alfred Kanngam S. Arthur as its candidate, while the Naga People's Front (NPF) has nominated Kachui Timothy Zimik in the seat, reserved for the tribals. Both of them belong to the Tangkhul Naga community.

Arthur is a consensus candidate of the Congress-led 10-party alliance in Manipur while Zimik is a retired Indian Revenue Service officer. The ruling BJP already announced that they will support the NPF nominee.

The ITLF's direction on weapons came as the District Magistrates of Manipur's 16 districts, following the directions of the Election Commission, issued orders asking all licensed gun owners to deposit their weapons at the nearest police stations by this month to ensure no untoward incidents occur during the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections.

"The state government's attempt to view the current dispensation based solely on election-related matters and thus issuing orders for submission of weapons to arms license holders at jurisdictional police stations may not serve appropriately considering the plight and uncertainty we are facing. This will only invite more controversy and insecurity that will rightly offend the Kuki-Zo people," the apex tribal body said.

ITLF Chairman Haokip and Secretary Tombing, in the joint statement, said: "We need every available weapon to defend our aright to lifea and our land from the nefarious intent of the majority Meitei community, which is hell-bent on killing and driving us out of our homes."

Alleging that licensed guns that were submitted in 2023 have not been returned so far, the ITLF requested every Kuki-Zo man and woman, and village volunteers "should not comply with the perverse and hateful ideologies..".

During the ethnic violence, which broke out in Manipur on May 3 last year, violent mobs, attackers and various groups looted around 5,000 arms, including sophisticated weapons, and lakhs of ammunition from the armouries of the security forces in different districts. Several militant outfits both in the valley and in hilly areas are in possession of a large cache of arms and ammunition and occasionally engage in gun battles with the security forces.

A senior Manipur Police official had said that most of the looted arms and ammunition were recovered and massive searches and numerous efforts were on to recover more.

Of Manipur's two seats, voting would be held in the Inner Manipur parliamentary constituency in the first phase of polling on April 19, and Outer Manipur would go to polls in two phases - April 19 and April 26.
Jaipur, March 27 : Former Congress candidate from Jaipur constituency for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls Sunil Sharma, who was replaced by ex-Rajasthan minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas over the 'Jaipur Dialogues' row, on Tuesday criticised party leader Shashi Tharoor, saying the Thiruvananthapuram MP should also give up his ticket as he was ready to come to the show (which has right-leaning views) to participate in a session.

Sunil Sharma also claimed that Shashi Tharoor asked for five-star accommodation and a business class ticket. Tharoor had earlier slammed Sharma after he was given a Congress ticket, saying the latter was closely linked to 'Jaipur Dialogues'.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Sunil Sharma said that Tharoor was ready to come to 'Jaipur Dialogues', and had even praised it.

"Now, since I have returned the ticket, Tharoor should also do that," he said.

"Tharoor was ready to come to Jaipur Dialogues in October 2018... he had a session with David Frawley. I am giving documentary evidence of the bargain he made. Tharoor's office asked to provide business class tickets and five-star hotel facilities to attend the programme. Sanjay Dixit, the man behind 'Jaipur Dialogues', had approved his request.

"When Tharoor was messaged, he accepted the invite and asked him to send the invitation to his office email address and complete the remaining formalities," he added.

Sunil Sharma further said: "By staying in Congress, I will expose those who blackmail the party by calling themselves progressive. Those who praised this organisation raised questions about me for sharing the stage."
Singapore President walks on Jaisalmer streets to explore the city. Image Source: IANS News

Jaipur, March 27 : Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who is a visit to Rajasthan's Jaisalmer city, visited the historic Patwa Haveli on Tuesday.

He was seen walking on the streets of Jaisalmer on the second day of his visit.

Many foreign guests accompanying the Singapore President also visited Patwa Haveli.

He was impressed by the embroidery works of Jaisalmer at Chidiya Haveli, and also bought some local products.

He also invited Chidiya Haveli members to organise an exhibition of embroidered products in Singapore.

The Singapore President arrived here on a 4-day visit on Monday.

He was in Patwa Haveli for more than an hour.
Unity, not victory our priority, says Kumaraswamy on RS polls. Image Source: IANS News

Hassan : , March 27 (IANS) Former Prime Minister and JD(S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda has announced that his son, former Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy will contest from state's Mandya parliamentary seat as NDA candidate.

Deve Gowda told reporters on Tuesday that the decision to field Kumaraswamy, who is also JD(S) state president, in Lok Sabha polls from the Mandya seat was taken amid mounting public demand. "People are demanding that Kumaraswamy should contest from Mandya. In the core committee meeting as well, all members suggested that he should contest from Mandya," Deve Gowda said.

The former Chief Minister's son Nikhil Kumaraswamy had lost to independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh from Mandya in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

The JD(S) supremo further said that the name of senior leader Mallesh Babu has been finalised from the Kolar seat.

Deve Gowda's grandson and former Karnataka Minister H. D. Revanna's son sitting JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna will be contesting as the NDA candidate from the Hassan seat.

Earlier in the day, Kumaraswamy in a media briefing indicated that he would contest from Mandya amid mounting public pressure on him.

Congress has fielded Venkatarame Gowda popularly known as aStar Chandrua from the Mandya seat dominated by Vokkaligas. Star Chandru is a close associate of Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar.
Bengaluru, March 27 : With the return of mining baron-turned-politician Gali Janardhana Reddy to the BJP after over a decade, the party is hoping to further consolidate its base in Karnataka, especially in the Kalyan Karnataka region.

Reddy, the sitting MLA from the Gangavathi seat, had merged his Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha (KRPP) with the BJP. The move is seen as galvanising the party workers in Bellary, Gadag, Raichur, Koppal, Vijayanagar, and Kalaburagi districts.

In the previous Assembly elections, the Congress had won all five seats in Bellary, four out of six in Koppal, three of five seats in Vijayanagar, six out of seven in Kalaburagi, and two of four seats in Gadag.

Former minister B. Sriramulu and many other political heavyweights from the region had lost.

After the declaration of Sriramulu as the BJP candidate for the Bellary Lok Sabha seat, the BJP realised that the Reddy factor would cost the party dearly.

Welcoming the leader, former CM B.S. Yediyurappa had stated that the BJP will be significantly strengthened after Reddyas joining.

"We will utilise his services in the coming days appropriately. We are happy with the joining of Reddy. He has come to the party accepting the leadership of PM Narendra Modi and with the aim of helping the BJP win in all Parliamentary seats," he said.

Janardhana Reddy came to prominence in state politics under the patronage of BJP stalwart Sushma Swaraj, when she contested against Congress leader Sonia Gandhi for the Parliamentary election in 1999 from Bellary constituency. He played an important role in installing the BJP government under the leadership of former Yediyurappa in 2008.

However, differences soon cropped up between Yediyurappa and Reddy. In 2010, Reddy was jailed and only released from prison after three and a half years. Meanwhile, the BJP central leadership and his mentor, Sushma Swaraj maintained their distance and it was assumed that it was the end of Reddy's political career.

However, Reddy was in the news in 2016 for the lavish wedding of his daughter in Bengaluru. It was alleged that he had spent Rs 550 crore on the wedding during the times of demonetisation. The BJP had informally advised party leaders and central ministers not to attend the wedding.

Reddyas latest political move to join hands with former CM Yediyurappa has surprised many as he had supported the Congress candidate during the Rajya Sabha election recently. Sources say that the BJP leadership was concerned over the impact of guarantee schemes implemented by the Congress government. Since the region is predominantly backward, it was assumed that the voters might tilt towards Congress. However, with the return of Reddy, the party is hoping to reach out to the voters
Patna/New Delhi, March 27 : RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Tuesday said that the seat sharing of the INDIA bloc has been finalised and will be announced in Patna in one or two days.

Interacting with the media persons in New Delhi, he said: "The RJD and Congress have an old alliance in the country and we have an understanding with each other. The seat-sharing formula has been finalised and will be announced in one or two days in Patna."

"The leaders of BJP are spreading rumours that INDIA bloc will break in Bihar but it is not the case. The INDIA bloc is united in Bihar. The RJD, Congress and left parties will contest together in this election in Bihar and we will give surprising results," he said.

Tejashwi Yadav and his father and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav are in Delhi, where, according to sources, they have discussed the seat-sharing formula with the top leaders of the Congress party. The RJD has announced tickets to six candidates in Bihar, ahead of the announcement of the seat-sharing formula.
Imphal, March 27 : Ten tribal Manipur MLAs, belonging to the Kuki-Zomi-Hmar community, have urged the Election Commission to make special arrangements for voting for displaced tribals scattered in different parts of the country after the ethnic violence broke out in the state on May 3 last year.

In a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, the ten MLAs said that the eligible voters among some 50,000 displaced Kuki-Zomi-Hmar people living outside Manipur should be allowed to cast their votes using Aadhaar cards and other valid documents as many of them would have lost their voter identity cards.

The letter said that after the communal conflict broke out on May 3 last year in Manipur, many people have fled the Imphal Valley after their houses, properties and churches have been looted, burnt and destroyed.

"The communal violence has resulted so far in the death of over 160 innocent civilians of our community, burning and destruction of over 360 churches, over 205 villages, and over 7,000 houses in the Imphal valley and different hill districts. As a solution to the conflict remains elusive and with the situation still volatile, none of our displaced people are in a position to return to the Imphal Valley and their villages compelling them to take shelter in different parts of the country, including Mizoram, Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Delhi as well as several other cities."

"This suffering of ours, which is among the few human tragedies witnessed by independent India, should not be allowed to turn into a classic case of denial of universal adult franchise guaranteed under Article 326 of the Indian constitution," the MLAsa letter to the CEC said.

It said that if suitable arrangements are not made for the displaced people taking shelter in different parts of the country, many genuine voters would be deprived of their constitutional rights to exercise their franchise as provided under the constitution.

Meanwhile, Manipur Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Pradeep Kumar Jha earlier said that the Election Commission has decided to set up special polling stations in relief camps in Manipur to facilitate voters living in the camps.

However, the plan to set up special polling stations in relief camps is limited to the stateas territorial jurisdiction only, he had added.

The Manipur government is currently operating around 320 relief camps with more than 59,000 men, women and children staying there.

Of Manipur's two Lok Sabha seats, polling would be held in the Inner Manipur parliamentary constituency in the first phase of polling on April 19, and Outer Manipur (reserved for tribals) would go to polls in two phases a" April 19 and April 26.
Beatrice High School Freshman participated in a Youth Frontiers retreat on respect on Tuesday.

Youth Frontiers is an organization that works in schools with educators to provide experiences to build character and to build community within the school.

Retreat leaders Joshua Johnson and Sean Donovan traveled from Minneapolis, Minnesota to lead the student workshops.

Johnson said the respect retreat at the high school was about inspiring the students.

We are inspiring them to respect themselves more, he said. Also, to respect others more and to stand up for the value of respect.

Johnson said the five-hour retreats are interactive with activity, music, and personal stories.

The morning started with high energy and interactive activities before students broke into small groups and began discussing questions. Later the students made commitments of their behavior around the topic of respect.

BHS Principal Jason Sutter said Youth Frontiers is an opportunity for the students.

The Youth Frontiers organization provides our scholars an opportunity to learn about respect and how we respect and earn the respect of others, he said. The nice thing about having this group come into our school is that it provides a high energy, youthful and meaningful experience for our students. Sometimes when we are learning concepts or wanting to take on new challenges, it is valuable to have "outside" energy and enthusiasm to provide a new perspective, approach and plan for success.

Sutter said he was impressed with the engagement that Youth Frontiers last year.

I was impressed with last years work. This small group of presenters form a strong relationship with our students in quick fashion and really work to include all aspects and perspectives from our students, so all are heard and valued.

On Wednesday Johnson and Donovan will be at the Beatrice Middle School.

On Wednesday the seventh graders will be doing a retreat on courage, Johnson said. Moral courage. To do the right thing even when its difficult. To follow your heart and not the crowd. It may not be the popular thing to do, but the right thing to do.

BMS Principal Andrew Haake said middle school is the perfect age group to teach courage.

Middle School is a perfect age group to specifically teach about courage and doing the right thing as students are changing physically, emotionally, and socially during these three years of their lives, he said. The retreat will act as a "springboard" to allow our staff to build on their retreat experience while delivering day-to-day lessons surrounding courage.

Fifth graders will travel to the BMS on Thursday to participate in the kindness retreat.

They will be working on the Golden Rule, Johnson said. We will talk about how their words and actions matter. They will learn about kindness boomerangs. When they throw out kindness, it is more likely to come back to them.

Paddock Lane Elementary Principal Betty Replogle said she was looking forward to the retreat.

Last year the Youth Frontiers leadership team did an excellent job of getting all students involved and the staff worked hand in hand to keep the momentum going for the entire day, she said. This years retreat will be a mixture of short presentations followed by student activities. The students will be up and moving the majority of the time, and in doing so will have the opportunity to meet students from the opposite school.

When your students and staff leave a day's activity with smiles on their faces, and continue to talk about the experience, you know it was a great day, she said.
New Delhi, March 27 : Two orders issued by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal from the custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) over water and sewage issues in the national capital have triggered a controversy about the legitimacy and legality of such a step -- which could potentially multiply legal hassles for the Delhi CM as well as the Aam Aam Party (AAP).

The probe agency is examining the veracity and source of the so-called directives issued by CM Kejriwal to his ministerial colleagues Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj.

The ED is very likely to raise the legality of sending such orders before the Rouse Avenue Court when Kejriwal is presented next before the court on the expiry of his existing remand timeline.

After his arrest, CM Kejriwal first issued an order to Water Minister Atishi from the custody of the ED on Sunday, while another directive was issued on Tuesday to the health department on smooth functioning of the AAP's flagship Mohalla Clinics.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has claimed that CM Kejriwal, despite being remanded to ED custody, is more concerned about the people of the national capital than himself.

However, the issuance of directives by Kejriwal in custody has triggered allegations of illegal operations and unlawful takeover of the Delhi CM's office.

The opposition BJP has questioned the authenticity of the directive allegedly sent by CM Kejriwal to Delhi minister Atishi, questioning the timing of its issuance.

BJP national secretary, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, alleged that the AAP leaders presented an illegal order in the name of the Delhi Chief Minister, claiming that the Chief Minister issued it while in ED custody.

Describing this act as entirely illegal, unconstitutional, and an abuse of the office of the Delhi CM, Sirsa lodged a complaint with Delhi Lt Governor V.K. Saxena and ED, seeking registration of a case against Atishi and other individuals for hatching a criminal conspiracy. Along the same lines, Supreme Court lawyer Vineet Jindal has urged the L-G to initiate an investigation into the "gross violation of legal procedures" by CM Kejriwal.

In his letter, Jindal said that standard legal procedures dictate that any individual, irrespective of his or her post, even a government official in remand, cannot engage in communication with the outside world without explicit court approval.

"In Kejriwal's case, only his spouse and legal counsel have been granted permission to meet him. The court has not granted any permission to Arvind Kejriwal to communicate any formal order or decisions as CM of Delhi from ED custody," he said.

On the contrary, constitutional expert and former Secretary General of Lok Sabha P.D.T. Achary said that since Kejriwal has not resigned and has not been disqualified under operation of law, he continues to remain in the constitutional position as Chief Minister. Achary said that there exists no bar under the Constitution for a person to hold the CM post or discharge his or duties while he or she is in custody, obviously subjected to rules provided under the prison manual.

However, there exist practical problems since the CM has to preside over Cabinet meetings, take decisions on files, consult the Chief Secretary and other officials, he added.

Achary highlighted that Kejriwal is not an ordinary accused but the Chief Minister of Delhi and the courts could allow him to function as a CM within the jail precincts or in custody.

"There is no constitutional infirmity in passing of directives from custody. He can issue orders in custody. He is performing his duties as a Chief Minister," he said. However, the issue of authenticity of these directives is to be dealt with independently, particularly when there was no permission to the CM by the court to issue orders from the ED's custody.
Siddharthnagar : , March 27 (IANS) Two Chinese nationals, including a woman, were arrested at Siddharthnagar's Kakrahwa post on the Indo-Nepal border after they were found entering Uttar Pradesh illegally.

The man was identified as Zhou Pulin, 27, a native of Sichuan in China, while the woman was identified as Yuan Yuhan, 22, a native of Chongqing in China.

They claimed to have reached Nepal and were making their way into India when they were intercepted by the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) on Tuesday.

An FIR was registered, and police said that the Chinese embassy was informed about the action.

Superintendent of Police, Siddharthnagar, Prachi Singh said that the SSB had intercepted the two on the Indo-Nepal border and asked about their whereabouts in Hindi. However, when they did not respond, the team asked them the same in English and they could not respond.

After this, the SSB contacted the police and district administration authorities.

A team comprising women constables checked their documents and found two passports inscribed with the People's Republic of China and visas for Nepal in their possession.

"We informed the Chinese embassy and also sought help from some interpreters," said another officer.

A police officer said that the intelligence agencies have been also informed about the two. The two failed to give any satisfactory answer for illegally entering Indian territory.

"We have booked them under the contravention of the Passport Act and a probe is underway," said the officer.

Police also recovered Rs 7450, $10, and 53 Chinese Yuan from their possession.
Bengaluru, March 27 : The Karnataka Police have arrested a bus conductor of the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) for allegedly assaulting a female passenger.

The arrested conductor has been identified as Honnappa Nagappa Agasar.

According to the police, the victim, 24-year-old Tanzula Ismail Peerzade, in her complaint said that the incident took place on Tuesday morning when she was travelling from Bilekahalli to Shivajinagar on a BMTC bus.

Tanzula said that the conductor refused to issue her a ticket despite her repeated requests.

"Subsequently, I requested the driver to stop the bus near a police station to file a complaint... the conductor approached me, hurled abuses, grabbed my clothes, pulled my hair, and slapped me. When I attempted to record the incident on my mobile phone, he snatched it from me and threw it away," the complainant said.

Tanzula further claimed that the conductor also threatened her.

Following her complaint, the police arrested the accused conductor. However, police sources said that the accused shared a different account of the incident.

The conductor claimed that he asked for the victim's Aadhar card to issue her a free ticket. However, she did not show her Aadhar card even after two stops. "When I requested her to either show the Aadhar card or purchase a ticket, the woman became furious, engaged in an argument, and slapped him first," the accused told the police.

Police have registered a case under IPC Sections 354, 323, 506, and 509. They are conducting an investigation to verify the statements of the accused and the victim.

Meanwhile, a video of the incident captured by a co-passenger went viral on social media.

Notably, under the Shakthi Guarantee Scheme, women from Karnataka can travel free of cost on BMTC and KSRTC buses by showing a valid government identity card.
French author-illustrator Laurent de Brunhoff, acclaimed for carrying on the legacy of beloved character Babar the elephant, first illustrated by his father Jean, died on March 22 at his home in Key West, Fla., following complications from a stroke. He was 98.

Laurent de Brunhoff was born August 25, 1925, in Paris, France, the eldest son of artistically accomplished parents Jean, a painter, and Cecile, a pianist. Laurents early years were an essential part of the familiar Babar origin story. Laurent was five years old, and his brother Mathieu four, when their mother made up a favorite bedtime adventure about a baby elephant who was dramatically orphaned in the great forest and found his way to the city. We were so excited about the story, and we told our father about it, de Brunhoff told PW in a 2000 interview.

My father was an Impressionist painter, de Brunhoff recalled. I think he discovered himself as an artist creating these books. He wanted my mothers name on the title page, and she said, No, Im sure youre going to do more books by yourself. And thats exactly what happened. Father invented the name Babar, he invented the old lady [who takes Babar in, in the books], who was not part of the original story my mother told, De Brunhoff said. He enjoyed himself so much thats how he started to work on the whole series.

By the end of 1930, Jean de Brunhoff had fashioned a picture book dummy for the family to enjoy, featuring Babar transforming into a nattily dressed (in his signature green suit and derby hat), automobile-driving gent introduced to the finer things in life by the kind, wealthy old lady before he returns to the great forest and is crowned King. And in 1931, de Brunhoffs brother-in-law Lucien Vogel, who was publisher of fashion magazine Le jardin des modes, facilitated the official publication of The Story of Babar, the Little Elephant via an arm of publishing company Conde Nast. It was published in the U.S. by Louise Bonino Williams at Smith & Haas (acquired by Random House in 1936) in 1933. That debut was an immediate hit in France and a second volume was soon underway.

Laurent de Brunhoff was already fond of drawing at a young age, and he spent more and more time doing it while he had a front-row seat to his fathers creation of six Babar books in quick succession. Babar was always there, he told PW, of his childhood years. My father started to make the second book, Travels with Babar, the year after The Story of Babar; the year after that, Babar the King. Each year there was another title, another story. Babar was a brother, also a friend to my brother and me.

In October 1937, 12-year-old Laurent experienced a devastating loss when his father Jean died of tuberculosis at the age of 37. World War II began shortly after that, and Laurent finished high school in Paris. In 1944, he rented a studio in the Montparnasse area of the city and began to study painting with his fathers teacher. At the same time, I was playing with the idea of Babar, to go on with the story of my brother and friend, he told PW. His mother Cecile had already turned down several offers from publishers to do the same. Mother had refused the idea of someone else carrying on the idea, de Brunhoff said. But of course with me she was delighted. So, I came up with the idea of Arthur, the cousin, who was close to my age. The first of de Brunhoffs own books about the lovable elephant, Babars Cousin: That Rascal Arthur, was published in France in 1946 and then by Random House in the U.S. in 1948 to great success.

In 1951, de Brunhoff married Marie-Claude Bloch, who would become a scout in Paris for Putnam. The couple had two children, who served as inspiration for a boy and a girl character introduced in 1957s Babar and the Professor.

De Brunhoff approached his work as a picture-book creator with reverence, and, also with the desire to put his stamp on things. At first I found it very hard to get exactly the same elephant design as my father, he told PW in 1968. But after a while I got it pretty well, although I can still see the difference. And even as Laurents original tales greatly expanded Babars worldtaking the pachyderm protagonist to Bird Island, America, and Another Planetdeep inside there is the same philosophy, the same love, the same understanding of each other, he said.

By the 1970s Random House had become de Brunhoffs primary publisher. This era also saw Babar move beyond the printed page to adorn various licensed products and media adaptations including the animated NBC-TV specials The Story of Babar (1968) and Babar Comes to America (1971), narrated by Peter Ustinov and produced by Lee Mendelson/Bill Melendez Productions. De Brunhoff supervised the U.S. television projects and wrote the screenplays.

De Brunhoff moved to the U.S. in 1985 as his first marriage ended, and settled in Middletown, Conn. with Wesleyan professor and writer Phyllis Rose, whom he had met in Paris, and they married in 1990. De Brunhoff and Rose collaborated on numerous Babar texts over the years. In 1987 he broadened Babars world yet again with the introduction of the elephants daughter, Isabelle, in Babars Little Girl (Random House). For much of the 1990s, de Brunhoff stepped away from childrens books and went back to his abstract painting. But the publishing hiatus came to an end when de Brunhoff came upon the idea for a new Babar adventure during a camping trip in Yosemite. That book would become Babar and the Succotash Bird (2000), his first of many projects with Howard Reeves, then founding publisher of the newly launched Abrams Books for Young Readers division.

In all, de Brunhoff wrote and illustrated more than 45 books starring Babarwhich have been translated into more than 18 languages and have sold millions of copies around the worldas well as several other titles including a trio of books in the 1960s featuring Serafina the Giraffe. In a 1961 PW interview, de Brunhoff was asked why he thought young readers loved the Babar books so much. [It may be due to] the compromise they offer between the everyday life of children and the world of fantasy, he said. Upon the release of Succotash, he reflected on what it was like to take up his fathers mantle. To be able to understand the world of Babar and to be able to go on with it, for this world to live forever, has been the most pleasurable part, he told PW. The challenge of being faithful to my father was not a burden for me. After a few years, Babar was my own. I adore my fathers books. I think hes a genius. But Im totally at ease with Babar. The challenge is my desire to be perfect.

Reeves, now editor at large at Abrams Books for Young Readers and Amulet, who worked with de Brunhoff for nearly 20 years, shared this remembrance: I first met Laurent when I purchased his new book Succotash Bird as well as his backlist. Working closely with Laurent and later with his wife, we began reissuing two Babar backlist books a season, in a slightly edited format. We produced the backlist books from the original art, treating them with all the love and enthusiasm we always have with any new title. In almost all cases the art still existed and was in Laurents possession.

I have missed working with him over the past few years. His last book was Babars Guide to Paris, in 2017. A fitting tribute to a man and his friend in the legendary green suit, who first met in the City of Light. They brought joy, humor, and warmth into so many lives, in so many countries, for so many, many years.

And Jason M. Wells, former publicist and marketing director at Abrams Books for Young Readers, came to call de Brunhoff a good friend over their 16-year professional relationship. When Laurent brought Babar to Abrams in the early 2000s, he saw himself as a fine artist and a yoga devotee, he said. That was reflected in the books he crafted and his marketing activities. Some of the finest museums in the country hosted packed book signings with him, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Art Institute in Chicago, and San Francisco MoMA. The French consulate in New York hosted an epic party for Laurent and Babar during a BookExpo. Babars new adventures reflected some of Laurents passions, which brought him a different kind of professional success that he found very satisfying. It was a magical time to be working with him.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  During the week of April 1-5, Purdue Universitys College of Agriculture will host Ag Week on Memorial Mall. Ag Week is an annual series of student-led events that highlight the giant leaps occurring within the College of Agriculture and the agriculture industry.

The Purdue Ag Week Task Force, a team of 20 students, has planned the following events:

Milk Monday (April 1): In collaboration with the Purdue Dairy Club, Milk Monday will focus on production agriculture in the dairy industry by displaying educational booths, bringing live cattle on campus from the Purdue Animal Sciences Research and Education Center, and distributing milk and grilled cheese sandwiches.

Tech Tuesday (April 2): Tech Tuesday will highlight ground-breaking technological advancements that impact the agriculture industry of today and tomorrow. Industry professionals will also showcase their equipment on Memorial Mall.

Burger Bash, Ag Expo and Cultivating Conversations (Wednesday, April 3): Partnering with the Indiana Beef Cattle Association, students will serve beef, turkey and plant-based burgers and share information about the production processes for each. Ag Expo will promote opportunities within the agriculture sector through educational booths sponsored by industry representatives. Following Burger Bash, the Ag Week Task Force will host Cultivating Conversations. This event is open to the public and will feature Jay Akridge, former Purdue University provost and dean of the College of Agriculture, and Gebisa Ejeta, presidential fellow and Distinguished Professor of Agronomy.

Hammer Down Hunger (Thursday, April 4): Hammer Down Hunger provides students with the opportunity to help combat local and international food insecurity by packing meals with the organization Pack Away Hunger. In 2023, students packed over 60,000 meals and dispersed them throughout Indiana food deserts and internationally to Ukraine. This year their goal is to pack over 65,000 meals.

Farm to Fork Friday (April 5): Ag Week concludes with Farm to Fork Friday, an opportunity for Indiana producers to educate students about their production processes. This year, the event will showcase products grown in Indiana and abroad.

Each day during this week, College of Agriculture student organizations will also set up booths on Memorial Mall from 10 a.m-3 p.m. to promote their clubs and share information about their sector of the agriculture industry. The Ag Week Task Force will also be handing out free promotional items daily. Stay connected with Purdue Ag Week on Instagram, Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter) and YouTube at @PurdueAgWeek.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a public research institution demonstrating excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities and with two colleges in the top four in the United States, Purdue discovers and disseminates knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 105,000 students study at Purdue across modalities and locations, including nearly 50,000 in person on the West Lafayette campus. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdues main campus has frozen tuition 13 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap  including its first comprehensive urban campus in Indianapolis, the new Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business, and Purdue Computes  at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.

Writer and media contact: Abby Meier, meier21@purdue.edu

Agricultural Communications: 765-494-8415;

Maureen Manier, Department Head, mmanier@purdue.edu

Agriculture News Page
Alstom has secured an order from the Polish intermodal transport group CLIP Intermodal for the supply of 13 third-generation Traxx multi-system locomotives.

Designed for use throughout the European corridor of France, Belgium, Luxemburg, Germany, Austria and Poland, the locomotive bodies will be manufactured at the Alstom facility at Wrocaw in Poland and the Alstom site at Kassel in Germany will produce the units.

The contract includes the supply of the locomotives and two years of preventive maintenance during the warranty period.

Traxx locomotives in Italy. // Credit: Alstom

These latest versions of the Traxx multi-system locomotives feature high operational efficiency, reliability, energy efficiency and accessible service, and haul heavier loads than other locomotives in the same class.

They have a top speed of 160 km per hour, and will incorporate the Onvia signalling system, which is Alstom's bespoke version of the European Train Control System (ETCS) and enables the locomotives to operate across national borders countries and lines, in both ETCS and legacy system modes.

The contract with CLIP Intermodal marks our first delivery of locomotives to a domestic, private operator in the European France  Poland corridor. Sawomir Cyza, Managing Director of Alstom Polska

Alstom's Traxx locomotives are based on a modular design enabling them to operate single or multi-country freight and passenger services from AC, DC and multi-system supplies.

They can also be equipped with Last Mile' functionality, which allows them to operate on non-electrified lines in areas such as ports, industrial areas, and terminals.

Alstom Traxx multi-system locomotive for PCC Intermodal in Poland. // Credit: Alstom

Alstom has previously received orders for Traxx locomotives from PCC Intermodal in Poland, and Polo Mercitalia (FS Group) in Italy.

Following the expansion of our Intermodal Terminal in Swarzedz, the purchase of modern multi-system locomotives is another milestone in the development of CLIP Group. As our terminal has eight reloading tracks, with an annual capacity of over 1 million TEU, and our own fleet accounts to 500 intermodal wagons, it has been natural for us to invest in our own locomotives. I am convinced that Traxx locomotives will strengthen the position of CLIP Intermodal, contributing to the further development of sustainable and low-emission European transport corridors. We focus on intermodal transport as it has huge potential, especially in the context of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The development of this type of transport is also the best response to the challenges that stand in the way of improving network capacity and traffic safety in transport. Agnieszka Hips, CEO of CLIP Group S.A.

Traxx electric locomotive // Credit: Alstom
When President Bidens supporters attacked him for describing the man who allegedly murdered Georgia co-ed Laken Reilly as an illegal, they shined a light on one of the most contested words in American politics.

Laken Riley: High-profile victim.

The progressive push to describe border crossers as undocumented or unauthorized can also serve to downplay and obscure the massive issue of crime perpetrated and spawned by the influx of millions of migrants since Biden was elected  often in ways that leave the migrants themselves as victims.

While migrant advocates argue that illegal arrivals commit crimes at lower rates than Americans, the claim is unverifiable because the federal government and most states do not break down crimes by immigration status.

Criminologists also note that it ignores the vast web of statutory crimes concurrent with illegal immigration  drug smuggling, human trafficking, child labor violations, prostitution, the black market in employment, and so on.

Jose Antonio Ibarra: Suspect in Laken Riley's killing -- or the "illegal" as Biden put it, to the dismay of his more euphemistically inclined supporters.

What remains undeniable by the law of averages is that the massive surge in immigration since the Biden administration relaxed border policies  a surge that it puts at more than 4 million people, but other sources millions more  has been accompanied by much more crime, however unquantifiable.

Millions of migrants, though not all, run afoul of laws by their situation more than by overtly malign criminal intent. But their first step across the border is a lawbreaking one, and it is often followed by life on the laws margins: living in the U.S. without insurance or proper work papers, providing illicit labor for unscrupulous or blase employers, turning to black markets for counterfeit Social Security cards, and often becoming targets for robbers or extortionists. Their desire to come to America creates a vast pool of criminality involving them or those illegally profiting from them.

On some criminal matters, like homicides, weve got a good sense of the scale there whether we solve them all or not, said Alex Nowrasteh, a vice president at the Cato Institute who studies the economic impact of immigration. But some of this other stuff is like all black markets in that it is opaque behavior. We dont know how much crime there might be and in a sense I think its sort of unknowable.

An outer layer of this criminal onion is the so-called coyotes who smuggle migrants to the southern border. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, which is sympathetic to the plight of refugees, paints a brutally stark picture of the exploitive lawbreakers who lurk behind the caravans and trucks and trains heading north.

Shown, from the first United Nations "Global Study on Smuggling of Migrants," which says smugglers "expose migrants to a range of risks; violence, theft, exploitation, sexual violence, kidnapping and even death along many routes."

Some criminal groups view migrants as simply one of many commodities to be smuggled, alongside drugs and firearms, it noted in a 2018 report. Since the smuggling of migrants is a highly profitable illicit activity with a relatively low risk of detection, it is attractive to criminals.

The United Nations also acknowledges the near impossibility of quantifying these criminal enterprises. Assessing the real size of this crime is a complex matter, owing to its underground nature and the difficulty of identifying when irregular migration is being facilitated by smugglers, it said.

In order to pay back these smugglers or the people willing to host them in the U.S., many migrants  no one knows how many  are often dragooned into illicit behavior.

"Even people who may come here with no criminal intent at all may find themselves involved in some sort of criminal activity because the cartels that control the immigration channels are going to get their money one way or another, said Ira Mehlman, media director for the Federation of American Immigration Reform, which seeks policies to seal the border from illegal penetrations. Going to work for the cartels is one way they can pay off their debts. Others may find themselves pressed into indentured servitude or, even worse, being trafficked in the sex trades.

Although they gets little attention in the United States, the crimes associated with migration begin south of the border. Since Joe Biden sent a clear signal while running for president that he would welcome mass immigration, tens of thousands of people along the Central American isthmus have been inspired to migrate and have become victims too. Vulnerable and poor people making the more than 2,000-mile trek from the Darien Gap in Panama to the Texas border have been preyed upon physically and economically, contributing to the enormous human cost.

Making the 2,000-mile-plus trek from the Darien Gap in Panama to Texas, risking rape and plunder along the way.

As millions of people have put themselves needlessly in the hands of cartels and smugglers to make the journey to the Southwest border, an untold number have suffered violence, degradation, and abuse at the hands of these ruthless organizations, while countless others have perished or simply been left to die in the jungles and deserts along the way, according to the majority report from the House Committee on Homeland Security last October.

Darien Gap: Untold numbers "left to die in the jungles."

Todd Bensman, a writer with the conservative Center for Immigration Studies who has traveled extensively along the northward immigration routes, said travelers are frequently victimized and crime has exploded along with record increases in the numbers of people on the move.

Its not all about killings  they are getting raped and robbed, too, Bensman said. There are loan sharks who let victims know they know where family members are located  thats a crime. And people are desperate, they are forced to steal food, there have been assaults on police, and recently a camp in Panama was burned down.

Criminologists say part of the problem in measuring migrant-related crime in the United States is sanctuary jurisdictions that do not cooperate with federal immigration agencies. Sanctuary enforcement is also not a category traditionally tracked by law enforcement agencies. Nowrasteh said that several years ago he sent Freedom of Information Act requests to all 50 states seeking data on crime committed by or on immigrants and only Texas offered a response. Since then, he believes, Georgia has begun amassing statistics, but the state has not yet issued any public reports.

Grim arithmetic suggests the human costs of the unprecedented tide of illegal immigration under Biden, according to multiple reports and congressional testimony. A case in point is the hundreds of thousands of unaccompanied alien children, the innocuous-sounding phrase employed by a bureaucracy focused on avoiding the use of illegals who are newly arrived in the Biden years. Their oversight and handling has been mishandled, unintentionally or otherwise, by federal agencies, with the results of minors being trafficked and U.S. child labor laws being violated.

A 2023 report by the conservative Heritage Foundation found arrests for human trafficking rose by 50% and convictions for the crime by 80% in federal fiscal year 2022. Of those trafficked, 72% were immigrants, most here illegally, the report concluded. There was bipartisan outrage last July when the Labor Department revealed illegal child labor cases had risen by 44% in the last year.

The impacts are seen across the United States. The New York Post reports that a street in Corona, Queens, has been transformed into the citys boldest open-air market for sex  one so popular with pervs that its advertised on YouTube. As police enforcement wanes and immigration surges nearly a dozen brothels have [also] set up shop along Roosevelt Avenue near Junction Boulevard.

San Francisco's Tenderloin: You can tell the Honduran migrant pushers, the "Hondos." They're better-dressed.

RealClearInvestigations has reported that many of the drug dealers who have turned San Franciscos Tenderloin district into an open-air drug market are migrants connected to Mexicos Sinaloa cartel. The drug pushers are easy to spot: Unlike the users, they look healthy and wear clean clothes, Leighton Woodhouse reported. Theyre almost universally young men, mostly Honduran (on the streets of San Francisco theyre called Hondos).

Describing the plight of twelve-year-old roofers in Florida and Tennessee, underage slaughterhouse workers in Delaware, Mississippi and North Carolina, and children sawing planks of wood on overnight shifts in South Dakota, the New York Times has reported that migrant children, who have been coming into the United States without their parents in record numbers, are ending up in some of the most punishing jobs in the country.



Victims like Marcus Calvillo, left, face nightmares. Right, the illegal alien convict who stole his identity.

Millions of migrants working for legal businesses are also breaking the law. RCI has reported that the historic surge of illegal immigrants across Americas southern border is fueling a hidden crime spree few in Washington seem willing or able to address: widespread identity theft victimizing unwitting Americans perpetrated by migrants who need U.S. credentials to work.  Federal authorities have found that well over 1 million are using Social Security numbers belonging to someone else  i.e. stolen or shared with a relative or acquaintance  or numbers that are fabricated.

Such theft implicates many American citizens, who hire migrants with no such documents or who turn a blind eye to potentially stolen IDs.

Other Americans fall victim to crime connected to migration. For example, seizures of fentanyl, the synthetic painkiller the Centers for Disease Control blamed for a record 112,000 overdose deaths in 2023, have skyrocketed. In 2021, law enforcement agencies seized some 11.2 thousand pounds of the lethal drug, but in just two years the Chinese-abetted trade through Mexico has more than doubled, hitting 27,000 pounds last year, according to Customs and Border Patrol figures. Some immigration and drug experts believe the vast numbers of people crossing the border make it harder to interdict the flow of narcotics into the U.S.

Just two days before Biden used the description of illegal to describe Jose Antonio Ibarra, the 26-year-old suspected Venezuelan gang member accused of killing Laken Riley after entering the U.S. illegally in Texas in 2022, the Texas Department of Public Safety heralded the third anniversary of its Operation Lone Star. The figures offered a window into the law enforcement situation on what is something like Ground Zero of the illegal immigration to the U.S.

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott described the operation as a direct consequence of the Biden administrations deliberate failure to enforce existing U.S. immigration law. As of March, Operation Lone Star has resulted in over 503,800 illegal immigrant apprehensions and more than 40,400 criminal arrests, with more than 36,100 felony charges, the states Department of Public Safety said. In addition, authorities reported seizing over 469 million lethal doses of fentanyl during this border mission.

Disputed, and Elusive, Crime Stats

A migrant delivers a flying kick during a cop beatdown in Times Square in February: Migrant advocates call such incidents an aberration.

Despite all this, many immigration advocates continue to insist that immigrants tend to commit crimes at a lower rate than native-born Americans.

The news and social media may be filled with headline-grabbing incidents, such as the gang of migrants in New York City who beat police officers in Times Square. But Nan Wu, research director of the liberal American Immigration Council, told RCI the idea the U.S. is under some tidal crime wave due to the millions of illegal immigrants that have poured into the country during Bidens first term is a sensationalist myth.

Perhaps the most widely cited study of this kind is one based on Texas statistics from 2012 to 2018 published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Relative to undocumented immigrants, the study reported, US-born citizens are over 2 times more likely to be arrested for violent crimes, 2.5 times more likely to be arrested for drug crimes, and over 4 times more likely to be arrested for property crimes.

But not all experts agree. Jason Richwine and Steven Caramota of CIS have criticized the PNAS study for failing to take into account further discoveries made by Texas authorities. It is a misleading claim for several reasons, the two claimed. First, studies claiming it as fact are inescapably flawed, because most cities and states do not keep or publish data on criminals immigration status, rendering suspect any conclusions drawn from what data is available.

Because the rates increase when the immigration status of people already serving time in Texas jails is taken into account, PNAS did not capture the full extent of the problem, Richwine told RCI.

People have been way too hasty to draw firm conclusions because its not clear that Texas [statistics] are definitive  its not, he said. More states should do what Texas does and Texas should be more transparent about what theyre doing.

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to questions from RCI about migrant crime, nor did the Texas Department of Public Safety. But the dispute underscores the truth, acknowledged by all sides, that the paucity of reliable information leaves the only certain conclusion that there is more crime, regardless of perpetrator, because of the influx of more than 7 million people in three years.

With law enforcement agencies in some cases it is willful blindness because they refuse to cooperate in any meaningful way, Mehlman said. If they acknowledge the extent of the crime committed by illegal aliens, they would have to explain to the public why they continue to maintain sanctuary policies that shield criminal aliens.

There are also other problems with the widely cited figures on crime rates. One that plagues all crime research, as Herrmann told RCI, is that crimes are under-reported. Experts must rely on available law enforcement data and it is understood that for various reasons such figures are not comprehensive.

'Intellectual Fraud'

Image from the 2023 Epoch documentary "Gotaways," about the many likely criminals who, unlike other border crossers, don't give themselves up.

The numbers are misleading for another reason, too. Border Patrol agents told RCI that most people coming across illegally give themselves up quickly, knowing that current policies will allow them to be released into the U.S. with an expectation they appear for a court date years later. But the border crossers looking to stay in the shadows are more likely to be those with criminal pasts or inclinations, meaning a higher percentage of them would be among the at least 1.6 million gotaways Customs and Border Protection estimates have entered the U.S. illegally since 2021.

In fiscal 2023, it said in its most recent annual report, U.S. Enforcement and Removal Operations removed 3,406 known or suspected gang members, an increase of 27.7% over FY2022, and 139 known or suspected terrorists, a 148.2% increase over FY2022. It elaborated: ERO officials made 170,590 administrative arrests, representing a 19.5% increase in overall arrests from FY2022. Of the total arrests ICE conducted in FY2023, 43% of those arrested had criminal convictions or pending criminal charges, up from 32.5% in FY2022.

The House Committee on Homeland Security majority report in October said Border Patrol had recorded 35,450 arrests of illegal aliens with criminal backgrounds, approximately 14,000 more total such arrests than the previous four fiscal years combined.

Those apprehended with prior convictions had been found to have committed a wide range of crimes including assault, battery, domestic violence, and other sexual offenses, as well as driving under the influence, burglary, and theft, the report noted.

The committees Republican members were harshly critical of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas handling of immigration, and their report was one more reason Mayorkas was impeached in February.

The harsh reality, one often voiced by survivors  Laken Rileys parents among them  is that the horrific migrant crimes that draw national outrage might not have happened at all if laws were enforced.

We have no idea if that would have changed anything, but hes here illegally, Laken Rileys heartbroken father, Jason, said Mar. 18. That he might not have been here had we had secure borders.

In the aftermath of Rileys shocking abduction and killing, her parents and others were incredulous that a man with prior arrests since his illegal entry to the U.S. and alleged ties to Venezuelan criminal gangs was in the country at all. The Border Patrol Union laid the blame squarely on Bidens border policies.

Christopher Herrmann, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said such anguish is understandable, and said that trying to view the incidents dispassionately offers nothing that will be satisfying to any victim. Yet he said the same argument could be extended to other horrible murders  gun crimes, for instance, in which so often the lethal weapon was illegally obtained and possessed. The crime should never have happened, in other words, if laws were properly observed.

But Bensman finds that logic unpersuasive. Because opening the border has been a deliberate, sustained policy of the Biden administration, it has introduced the criminal, rather than his tools, into the equation.

You cant compare illegal crimes to crimes by illegals  its the wrong comparison because the second one is 100% preventable and unnecessary whereas were stuck, as it were, with U.S. crime. The whole theyre not as bad argument about illegal immigrants is an intellectual fraud, its giving them an escape hatch when here its clear: the perpetrator should have been deported.
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THIS PROPERTY IS A CASH SALE WITH A DOC FEE OF $149. THIS MEANS, WHATEVER YOU WIN AT, ADD $149. IF YOU HAVE A NEW ACCOUNT YOU MUST MESSAGE WITH YOUR INTENTION TO BID! PLEASE DO NOT WASTE 10 DAYS OF OUR TIME AND THE CLAIM TO BE FILED ON YOUR EBAY ACOUNT FOR PHONIESFOR EXAMPLE:BID $1,000.00 ADD $149.00 =. THE TOTAL DUE IS $1,149.00 Parcel: 71203070Size: 2.73 acrePower: NOSeptic allowed: YESWells Allowed: YesOffgrid allowed: YESTAXES: 51.48 GPS: 37.098500, -105.503500 IF YOU HAVE A NEW ACCOUNT YOU ...

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The Billings Chamber of Commerce presents the Native American Business Summit sponsored by Wells Fargo for all Indigenous entrepreneurs, makers and creators on Thursday, April 4 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Montana State University Billings in the Glacier Room.

The summit is designed to empower and elevate Indigenous businesses and individuals in the region, facilitating a convergence of heritage, innovation, and economic empowerment for small business development and Indigenous business growth. Participants will receive a full startup roadmap presented by Big Sky Economic Development and will learn about the fundamental elements of owning a successful business, financing options, business planning, and resources to kickstart their venture.

I'm looking forward to connecting with more Native American businesses and entrepreneurs. Native-owned businesses are unique in that we inherently rely on our ingenuity and can create innovative solutions with limited resources, said Bethany Yellowtail, owner of B Yellowtail. Imagine what is possible when we can come together and exchange resources and knowledge. I truly believe there is great potential for Native businesses to thrive, especially when we support each other.

Attendees will also connect with other entrepreneurs, mentors, investors and essential services that offer a resilient network of support. Resource panelists include the Billings Chamber of Commerce, Visit Southeast Montana, Plenty Doors Community Development Corporation, Montana Department of Commerce, Downtown Billings Alliance, and Western Native Voice.

Additionally, participants will hear local business success stories that will offer support, inspiration and mentorship opportunities. Panelists include B. Yellowtail, 406 Native Roots, The Beauty Lodge, Transitional Marketing, and Cora Kay Productions.

"I am an Indigenous woman-owned business in Billings, and I look forward to connecting resources and networking with other businesses said Cora Chandler of Cora Kay Productions. This event is innovative and valuable in connecting our Indigenous and non-Indigenous community businesses so we can work together for business growth."

Registration is available online at BillingsChamber.com. The event is open to everyone at any stage of their business journey. Lunch will be provided for all attendees. For more information, contact Billings Chamber of Commerce Workforce Development Manager Cathy Grider.

With a focus on business growth through diversity, equity, and inclusion the Chambers online business resource center, www.BillingsDEI.com has resources and information to begin ones DEI journey of building welcoming and belonging in the workplace.
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THIS PROPERTY IS A CASH SALE WITH A DOC FEE OF $149. THIS MEANS, WHATEVER YOU WIN AT, ADD $149. FOR EXAMPLE:BID $1,000.00 ADD $149.00 =. THE TOTAL DUE IS $1,149.00 Address: 2408 PRINCESS CIR Horseshoe Bend, AR 72512, USASize: Approximate .26 acre lotParcel: 800-04562-000TAX: 79.95Power near: NOSeptic is allowed F YOU HAVE A NEW ACCOUNT YOU MUST MESSAGE WITH YOUR INTENTION TO BID! PLEASE DO NOT WASTE 10 DAYS OF OUR TIME AND THE CLAIM TO BE FILED ON YOUR EBAY ACOUNT FOR PHONIES"Unlock your dream p...

Price: $ 499 Seller State of Residence: Florida Type: Homesite, Lot Zoning: Residential State/Province: Arkansas Location: 334**, Boynton Beach, Florida

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HILTON GRAND VACATION CLUB THE CRANE Barbados, Carribean Situated in sunny St. Philip, The Crane, a Hilton Grand Vacations Club welcomes all who cross its shores to a historic beach hideaway unlike anywhere else. Founded as Barbados first hotel in 1887, The Crane is the oldest continuously operating resort in the Caribbean and marks Hilton Grand Vacations first Barbados timeshare footstep on its golden sands. This scenic beachfront resort offers multi-bedroom suites with four-poster beds, ...

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CBS announced Monday that Trisha Yearwood will receive the June Carter Cash Humanitarian Award at the Country Music Television Awards on April 7. It is the first year the CMT Music Awards are awarding this honor.

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The June Carter Cash Humanitarian Award recognizes an artist or singing group "who demonstrates an exceptional dedication to community and their fellow artists."

Yearwood works with Habitat for Humanity, cancer charities, children's health, MusiCares, the Starkey Hearing Foundation, Humane Society and established the Dottie's Yard animal rescue.

Yearwood will also perform a new song she wrote at the CMT Awards. "Put It In a Song" will be the first single from her upcoming album.

CMT announced this year's nominees March 13. Kelsea Ballerini will host.

Performers already announced include Ballerini, Bailey Zimmerman, Jelly Roll, Jordan Davis, Keith Urban, Lainey Wilson, NEEDTOBREATHE and Sam Hunt . CMT will also present new specials on Little Big Town and Nickelback and Hardy the weekend of the awards.

The CMT Awards air at 8 p.m. EDT on CBS.
Big brands could pivot easily if TikTok goes away. For many small businesses, it's another story

A lot of What ifs still surround a bill the U.S. House passed last week that would mandate TikToks Beijing-based parent company to sell its stake in the platform or face a nationwide ban
The city of Sparks has agreed to a $525,000 settlement with an ex-police officer who filed a lawsuit in 2021 accusing the city of violating his free speech rights by suspending him for contentious comments he posted on his private social media account
Thrust on infrastructure and capital expenditure is expected to continue in the Union Budget for FY25.

Ahead of the general elections, bureaucrats have started preparations for the full Budget for financial year 2024-2025 (FY25) expected to be presented either in June or July, official sources said.

While any major policy changes or announcements would be factored in only after the new government comes into power, the official sources indicated that the work had begun on several other aspects of the Budget.

Industry sources said they had shared certain tax proposals that are being considered by the finance ministry.

"We are expecting a consultation once the new government takes over and the Budget exercise is in full swing," a senior industry executive said.

Separately, ministries are preparing a vision document for the 100 days after the elections and the next five years towards achieving the Viksit Bharat goal.

Thrust on infrastructure and capital expenditure is expected to continue in the Union Budget for FY25.

Last month, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said next-generation reforms would be on top of the government's agenda in its third term.

The plan will touch upon factors of production, such as land, labour, capital, and entrepreneurship, along with digital infrastructure.

'The reforms will touch on all factors of production -- be it land, labour, or capital. I'll also add one, which may not fit into the traditional definition of what factors of production are, and that is digital infrastructure,' she said at the Federation of Indian Chambers and Commerce of Industry's national conclave on Viksit Bharat@2047: Viksit Bharat & Industry.

On February 1, Sitharaman had presented the Interim Budget sticking to the fiscal consolidation glide path that had previously been announced, which is supposed to take the fiscal deficit down to 'below 4.5 per cent' of GDP, by 2025-2026.

The fiscal deficit for 2024-2025 is projected to be 5.1 per cent of GDP; that will do more than half the work of getting to 4.5 per cent from the 5.8 per cent of GDP that the deficit is expected to be in the ongoing financial year.

The Interim Budget, which was a vote on account, essentially made provisions for managing expenses and revenues for a short period until a new government is elected.

A full Budget for the remaining portion of the financial year will be presented after the new government takes office after the general elections.

The government would also announce the details of the reforms-linked 500-year interest-free loans to states worth Rs 75,000 crore (Rs 750 billion).

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
DRDO's failures over the decades have contributed significantly to India becoming the world's biggest weapons importer, points out Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).

IMAGE: The Indian Army's Main Battle Tank Arjun Mk-1A. Photograph: ANI Photo

The government-appointed K Vijay Raghavan committee for restructuring the Defence Research and Development Organisation to develop high-end technologies for future warfare submitted its report to the government two months ago.

DRDO headquarters is supposed to get back to the government in three months. What happens next only time will tell.

But it may be recalled that the corporatisation (which should have actually privatised) of the Ordnance Factory Board and the 41 Ordnance Factories under it took three studies over a number of years.

Then too, all that happened was their conversion to DPSUs with the same management, same workers and the same work culture.

Not surprising, facing criticism for poor output, the advisor to the defence minister was forced to say last year that these DPSUs be allowed some time -- how much only to get their act together?

In a report tabled in Parliament in December 2022, the Comptroller and Auditor General had pointed out DRDO's 'history of failures' that included even 'mission-mode' high-priority projects that have 'high outcome certainty, as they depend on technologies that are already available, proven and readily accessible'.

According to CAG, there were projects that DRDO declared as success even though they did not achieve key objectives.

'In 119 of 178 projects,' said the CAG report, 'the original time schedules could not be adhered to. In 49 cases, the additional time was in fact more than 100 per cent of the original timeframe.'

'Overall, delays ranged from 16 to 500 per cent, and extensions for completion of projects were taken multiple times.'

Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt in a written response to a query in the Rajya Sabha on February 22, 2023, said 'as on date, DRDO is working on 55 mission mode projects out of which 23 projects are delayed'.

CAG has periodically pointed out DRDO's delayed projects, cost overruns, sub-standard products and product costs higher than the same products available off-the-shelf in the open market.

DRDO's failures over the decades have contributed significantly to India becoming the world's biggest weapons importer.

Despite the much vaunted indigenisation or Atmanirbhar Bharat in defence, the latest SIPRI report states that India's arms imports increased by 4.7 per cent between 2014 and 2018 and 2019 and 2023, making it the world's biggest arms importer in 2019 to 2023 with a 9.8 percent share of all arms imports.

DRDO's failures span from its inability in provisioning a state-of-the-art assault rifle, aero engine for jet fighter aircraft to a state-of-the-art unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for the armed forces despite the UAVs' high importance in the battlefield observed in the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, Ukraine, the Red Sea and arming of China's Peoples' Liberation Army.

This has resulted in India depending on foreign procurement with the Israeli Searcher, Heron Mark-I and Mark II drones largely making up for the requirement of almost 150 UAVs in this category.

Faced with criticism and the specter of restructuring, DRDO has gone on the offensive.

Sponsored media and articles blame the Army for delays in projects like the Futuristic Infantry Combat Vehicle (FICV) and the Arjun Mk-1A.

One sponsored article claims the Army has always given stepmotherly treatment to DRDO by favouring the Russian T-90 tank over DRDO's Arjun Tank!

It further says that the Arjun Tank Project could suffer another 'devastating delay' thanks to the Army's decades-long reluctance to back it.

The reason being given is Germany shutting down the production line of the German-made 1400 HP MTU MB 838 Ka-501 V10 diesel-engine, powering the Arjun Mk-1 tank.

Here the question is, did the Army ask for the German diesel engine for the Arjun Mk-1 tank?

Why could DRDO not produce the required engine? What about aero-engines?

How many decades have the Kaveri engine taken and with what end results?

Shouldn't DRDO be ashamed that the J40 jet engine by the Indian start-up DG Propulsion has successfully clogged an one-hour endurance test already.

What about the finances and man-hours wasted on the Tapas BH-201 UAV?

A perpetual DRDO crib is Army GSQRs 'asking for the moon', as well as subsequent changes in the GSQR sought by the Army.

Closer scrutiny would indicate that the Army's GSQR is based on global developments in the defence sector, certainly not science fiction.

If DRDO feels this is asking for the moon, this should be pointed out at the very beginning rather than grabbing it with both hands by green horn scientists to avail development funds.

A second alternative for DRDO is to study the GSQR and propose a workable 'interim' prototype and the final 'prototype' giving time schedules for both.

As for the Army seeking subsequent changes in GSQR, shouldn't this be viewed in the backdrop of rapid technological changes and DRDO projects taking decades to fructify.

Also, the Army's projections to DRDO can hardly be equated with that of the Navy which is a smaller service.

The cold truth is that DRDO is the biggest hindrance to privatisation, the latter being the need of the hour in order to speed up self-reliance.

Privatisation in the defence sector is catching up, but far from the required level.

DRDO is adept at taking over inventions in the private sector, aside from other reasons, mass production facilities for financial profiting.

The Services, however, continue their efforts in concert with private players.

The Army is currently working with 340 indigenous defence industries for fructification of 230 contracts by 2025, which entails an outlay of Rs 2.5 lakh crore.

Admittedly, DRDO has shown sporadic sparks of brilliance, the hallmark being missile development, for which the credit must go to A P J Abdul Kalam.

At times, fate has also played its role.

The Akash Missile System developed as a replacement of the Russian Kvadrat to provide mobile air defence cover for mechanised forces failed miserably during trials.

It could not negotiate even small sand dunes and could not take on slow-moving helicopters either.

Therefore, it was given to the Air Force as part of a layered point air defence in conjunction with other air defence systems.

Later, it was later introduced in the Army as well.

In addition to its main agenda of suggesting ways to reform DRDO and create an indigenous defence production ecosystem, the K Vijay Raghavan committee report also recommends a larger role to the private sector in defence, limiting DRDO's role to research and development without being involved in developing prototypes or technology demonstrators.

Also, any production and further development should be done by selected private players or public sector undertakings.

Hopefully, this will be followed in real earnest because the governmental defence-industrial set up nexus with the bureaucracy is well entrenched.

DRDO is the hen that delivers golden eggs, contributing also to whichever political party is in power.

Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd), PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, SC is a former Special Forces officer.

He is a third generation army officer and participated in the 1971 India-Pakistan War and in Operation Bluestar.

He commanded a Special Forces Battalion in Sri Lanka, a Brigade on the Siachen Glacier, a Division in Ladakh and a Strike Corps in the South Western Theatre.

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
A Billings teen was charged with burglary this week after allegedly raiding a gun locker during a house party last year.

A Yellowstone County district judge signed a $250,000 warrant Monday for the arrest of the 17-year-old. Among the guns that went missing after the party last spring were a submachine gun, a pink Glock and a handgun with a Trump 2020 engraving. Local investigators assigned to the burglary allegedly found messages on social media of the teenage suspect trying to sell the stolen weapons.

In March 2023, the Yellowstone County Sheriffs Office responded to a burglary report from a home on the 5900 block of Creek Drive. YCSO deputies spoke with a family, and learned that a teenage girl hosted a party at the house, according to charging documents.

Following that party, six guns and a silencer were missing from a gun room inside the home. The room was apparently supposed to be closed off behind a locked door that was opened at some point during the party.

Roughly 20 people allegedly come to the house throughout the party, the 17-year-old suspect among them. In the weeks after the burglary, YCSO detectives spoke with witnesses at the party, court documents said, and a mother of one of the party-goers contacted police when she found a pistol with a Trump 2020 engraving in her daughters room. The handgun was one of the six reported stolen.

Other weapons and gear stolen that night included handguns, a submachine fitted with a silencer and a silencer for a .45-caliber firearm. The total value of the stolen items was nearly $12,000, court documents said.

Investigators received warrants to comb through multiple social media accounts alleged to belong to those who attended the party in March 2023. That search led detectives to the 17-year-olds Snapchat account, through which he was offering some of the stolen guns in exchange for cash, according to court documents.

His social media posts also contained photos of himself posing with a gun similar to one of the stolen firearms, court documents said. An agent with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also contributed to the investigation.

In May 2023, YSCO personnel were investigating a report of gunfire near the Duck Creek Fishing Access site along the Yellowstone River when they found the suspect and four others in a vehicle, court documents said. Deputies and Montana Highway Patrol troopers searched the vehicle and allegedly found a backpack containing one of the handguns stolen from the house party.

Yellowstone County prosecutors charged the 17-year-old with burglary on Monday. District Judge Thomas Pardy signed a $250,000 warrant for his arrest the same day.

Billings teens allegedly using social media to sell stolen guns or guns associated with violent crimes in the city is not unique to this case. Detectives with the Billings Police Department uncovered a network of gun exchanges between teenagers connected to a fatal shooting outside of a carnival in 2023, according to court documents.

In the latest Youth Risk Behavioral Survey of Montana students published by the Department of Public Health and Human Services, a little over 11% of Yellowstone County students reported being threatened with a weapon in the past year.

If convicted of burglary, the teenage suspect could be sentenced up to 20 years in prison and face a fine of up to $50,000. As of Tuesday afternoon, he had yet to be assigned a day to appear in court.
'After giving my own money to this party, I was insulted.'

'Neither this party nor its leaders have no respect for women.'

IMAGE: Padmaja Venugopal joins the Bharatiya Janata Party in the presence of BJP leader Prakash Javadekar and Kerala BJP President K Surendran at the party headquarters in New Delhi, March 7, 2024. Photograph: Shrikant Singh/ANI Photo

Padmaja Venugopal, daughter of the late Congress leader and former Kerala chief minister K Karunakaran, joining the Bharatiya Janata Party made the front pages in Kerala.

A video of Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Brinda Karat then went viral in Kerala.

In the video, Karat spoke eloquently about the daughter of a former chief minister leaving the Congress. She said it depicted the pathetic state of the Congress in Kerala. She did not mention any name.

After finishing the long sentence, she looked at the translator. He just said, 'Padmaja poyi' (Padmaja is gone).

Karat was baffled for a moment before exclaiming that everybody understood what she was trying to say.

After making innumerable phone calls, Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier finally spoke to Padmaja when she was on her way to campaign for her new party in Vadakara, a seat her elder brother K Muraleedharan had won in 2019.

Muraleedharan has moved to Thrissur -- Karunakaran's home turf -- where he is taking on he BJP's Suresh Gopi.

Have you been feeling dissatisfied with the Congress for some time? Or was it a sudden decision to leave the Congress and join the BJP?

No, it was not a sudden decision. I have been thinking about leaving after what happened to me in the last two elections. They gave me the ticket to contest, but they also saw to it that I lost the elections.

This is the way the Kerala state Congress treats women. They make sure that all the women candidates lose the election.

You mean the workers?

No. There are some leaders who behave like this. After the last assembly election, I decided then that I have had enough of this party.

Many years ago, the government had given some land in Thrissur to build a memorial for my father. It has been 14 years since Achan (father) passed away but nothing has come up in the land.

I felt this was a party that would not even give justice to Achan. Then, what can I expect?

After giving my own money to this party, I was insulted. Neither this party nor its leaders have no respect for women.

After suffering so many insults, I thought, enough!

I had no plans to join the BJP when I decided to leave the Congress. But then I was quite impressed by Modiji's leadership qualities, and that was why I chose the BJP. I believe a party will grow only when it has a strong leader.

Did you send feelers to the BJP, or did they approach you?

They approached me. If not, I would not have joined.

You said, the state Congress does not respect women. The BJP also is known for its patriarchal views on women...

Have you seen the way they treat women? They are extremely respectful towards women. They perceive a woman as mother. So, you will never have to face any insults in this party.

The BJP of today is not the BJP of the past. They have become very inclusive in their approach. Have you noticed the candidates for this election? Anil Antony from Pathanamthitta, Abdul Salam from Malappuram, etc.

IMAGE: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge along with Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and leader Rahul Gandhi at the Congress Working Committee meeting in New Delhi, March 19, 2024. Photograph: Rahul Singh/ANI Photo

In what way was the Congress disrespectful to you?

How many women are there in the state executive committee? How many women are given tickets in this election? Only the sitting MP was given the ticket to contest.

On the other hand, the BJP has given tickets to four women.

You said you had been experiencing misogyny for quite a few years. Did you tell Sonia Gandhi when she was the party president?

Many times. She really wanted to promote women, but the party leaders in Kerala were never in favour of that. If there were 10 candidates, they would give only one seat to a woman and divide the rest among themselves.

I understood that Sonia Gandhi was upset about this, but she could not do anything. Now, she is not active because of ill health. So, I lost all hope for any solution to the problems I faced.

At your Thrissur press conference you alleged that the state leadership asked lakhs of rupees from you if you wanted to travel in the open jeep with Priyanka Gandhi...

My request was not to travel in Priyanka Gandhi's vehicle.

In 2016, even before the election was declared, they told me they would campaign for me only if I paid a certain amount. They knew I was going to be a candidate.

IMAGE: Padmaja Venugopal welcomed by senior BJP leader Kummanam Rajasekharan at the Kerala party office in Thiruvananthapuram, March 8, 2024. Photograph: Shrikant Singh/ANI Photo

How much did they ask for?

Around 50 lakhs. I said, I have been contributing whatever I can to the party. I asked, why should I give you separately?' They threatened me that none of them would help me in the campaign.

I gave them what I could.

At the press conference, you said Rs 22 lakhs..

Yes, Rs 22 lakhs. I withdrew money from my account and gave them. But they were not happy with the amount.

When Priyanka Gandhi came to campaign in Thrissur, I said I should be with her in the jeep as I was the candidate. Their response was, we decide who goes with her.

I saw Prathapan, the MP with her in the jeep when I was the candidate. If you look at the Malayalam newspapers of the next day, you will see the headline, Prathapan in, Padmaja out!

Another incident that happened to me was, the day before the meeting when I went to inspect the place, I found that there was not a single photo of mine there. I had to seek the help of Youth Congress workers to paste my posters.

At the meeting when they called out the names, my name was the fifth when my name should have been the first as I was the candidate.

I was the state vice president then, but they took the post away from me and made me an executive member.

In the election, I lost by just 900 votes only because those leaders were out to defeat me.

The last straw was not doing anything for my father's memorial.

If I have to list the insults I had to bear from the state leaders, the list will be very long.

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
Aam Aadmi Party leaders and workers took to the streets on Tuesday against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's arrest, with many being detained at Patel Chowk as they tried to march towards the prime minister's residence on Lok Kalyan Marg raising slogans of 'Inquilab Zindabad' and 'Kejriwal Zindabad'.

IMAGE: AAP workers detained by Delhi Police from outside of the Patel Nagar Metro station during a protest on Tuesday. Photograph: ANI on X

Claiming that the Delhi Police has turned the national capital into a 'fortress', AAP Delhi unit convener Gopal Rai told a press conference that the way the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government has imposed restrictions under section 144 'across the city', it seems Delhi has become a 'police state'.

Police beefed up security in several parts of the national capital, including around the PM's residence and Central Delhi, by deploying its personnel and those of paramilitary forces.

While the Lok Kalyan Marg metro station is shut, entry and exit are restricted at the Patel Chowk and the Central Secretariat metro stations till further notice.

Senior AAP leader Somnath Bharti, Delhi Assembly Deputy Speaker Rakhi Birla and Punjab Minister Harjot Singh Bains were among those detained by police.

"I want to warn the Centre that this movement will not stop with the use of police force," Rai said and claimed that women workers of his party were dragged and detained.

AAP workers and leaders started reaching near the Patel Chowk metro station in groups since morning as the party had called for a 'gherao' at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence.

Prohibitory orders under section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure are imposed in the Patel Chowk area and police cannot allow anyone to gather, a senior officer said and added that in view of this, 'we have to clear this area'.

"We will not allow anybody to gather here," he said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Devesh Kumar had earlier warned that those who gather at the chowk to demonstrate would be detained immediately.

Rai asserted that the fight against the 'dictatorship' in the country is the struggle of those who love democracy and the Constitution, and announced that preparations are now underway for a "maharally" at the Ramleela ground here on March 31.

In this, lakhs of people will be present and prominent leaders of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) will raise their voice against Kejriwal's arrest, Rai said.

The bloc was formed by some opposition parties, including the AAP, the Congress, the Trinamool Congress, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Samajwadi Party, to counter the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls.

AAP national convener Kejriwal, who was arrested on March 21 and subsequently remanded to the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) custody till March 28 by a Delhi court, faces allegations of direct involvement in a conspiracy related to the formulation of the excise policy favouring specific individuals.

"The BJP-led central government is targeting everyone who is honest so that it can save the corrupt," Kavita, one of the protesters, said.

Bharti in a post on X said he has been detained by police along with Rakhi Birla.

'Delhi Police for no rhyme or reason along with Deputy Speaker Rakhi Birla and many volunteers of AAP and supporters of Arvind Kejriwal Ji. It's shocking to see that while the Delhi Police are arresting peacefully protesting AAP supporters, they are doing nothing to stop @BJP4India,' Bharti posted.

Leaders and workers of the BJP's Delhi unit also staged a demonstration on Tuesday demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Kejriwal.

Police said at least 57 BJP workers were detained and water cannons used during the party's demonstration.

Kejriwal has refuted the accusations levelled against him and has accused the BJP-led central government of 'manipulating investigative agencies for political motives'.

The ED has said that Kejriwal is the 'kingpin and key conspirator' in the now-scrapped excise policy in collusion with AAP ministers, leaders and other persons.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu called Kangana Ranaut the 'daughter of Himachal' amid the backlash the Congress is facing over a purportedly objectionable post against the actress-turned politician.

IMAGE: Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut offers prayers at Somnath Temple. Photograph: ANI Photo

The row started after a purported post by Supriya Shrinate on Monday, featuring a picture of Ranaut dressed in a corset top with an objectionable caption, was widely shared on social media.

The post has since been deleted after a hue and cry from several BJP leaders and others.

Supriya Shrinate also claimed that her social media handle had been hacked and misused and she would never demean another woman.

Ranaut has been fielded by the BJP from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh for the upcoming general elections.

"She (Kangana Ranaut) is the daughter of Himachal. Her parents live here. Her father was made the General Secretary of Congress in Mandi...," CM Sukhu told reporters in Shimla on Tuesday

Replying to a query, the CM said, "We started Mahila Samman Nidhi by distributing Rs 1500 among the women and many other schemes."

Several BJP leaders have come out in support of the actress-turned politician and criticised the Congress.
The Supreme Court has quashed the bail condition imposed by the Orissa high court on a man that he shall not be involved in any political activity, saying it will breach his fundamental rights.

IMAGE: The Supreme Court of India. Photograph: ANI Photo

A bench of Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta passed the order on a plea filed by Siba Shankar Das, a former mayor of Berhampur Municipal Corporation, against the January 18 order of the high court.

The high court had dismissed his application seeking withdrawal of the bail condition which said that he "shall not create any untoward situation in public and shall not be involved in any political activities, directly or indirectly".

The condition was imposed by the high court while ordering his release on bail in August 2022.

"We find that the imposition of such condition would breach the fundamental rights of the appellant and no such conditions could have been imposed," the apex court said in its March 22 order.

"We, therefore, quash and set aside the condition imposed by the high court, to the extent the same is extracted above," it said.

Das had approached the high court seeking modification of the condition imposed by it in the August 11, 2022 order while directing his release on bail.

His counsel had told the high court that the appellant being a political person may be permitted to take part in political activities in view of the ensuing general election.

The State had objected to his prayer and said that after being released on bail, a murderous attempt was made on him.

"Upon hearing both parties and considering present situation as it remains a fact that he was not only involved in other cases but also murderous attempt was made upon him, it would be unjustified to modify the condition of the bail permitting the appellant to take part in political activities which would be in further deterrence of law and order situation in the locality involving the appellant," the high court had said.
A source in the know said two-three of the seven bullet train corridors could be included as a practical election promise.

Kindly note the image has been published only for representational purposes.. Photograph: Kyodovia Reuters

The Bharatiya Janata Party is likely to include a promise of multiple high-speed rail (HSR) or bullet-train corridors in the coming five years as part of its election manifesto, sources aware of the matter told Business Standard.

"Building on what was committed five years ago, multiple projects for high-speed rail are being considered as a key promise for the next five years. The manifesto is likely to have these commitments," a senior BJP figure aware of the developments told this newspaper.

In the 2019 general election manifesto, too, the BJP had said it would expand high-speed trains in India.

'We will expand connectivity and experience of high-speed trains and new version trains such as Vande Bharat Express across the length and breadth of the country in the next five years,' the BJP's manifesto said five years ago.

Since then, the Centre has done feasibility studies for bullet trains on trunk routes and undertaken assessment work on multiple corridors.

Currently, the Centre is working on the 508 km-long Mumbai-Ahmedabad HSR project, which is expected to be flagged off in 2026 and will initially cover Surat-Bilimora in Gujarat, and the full stretch is expected to be completed in 2028 -- six years past its original deadline.

In 2022, the Centre had told Parliament that seven corridors were currently under consideration -- Delhi-Varanasi (813 km), Delhi-Ahmedabad (878 km), Mumbai-Nagpur (765 km), Mumbai-Hyderabad (671 km), Chennai-Bengaluru-Mysuru (435 km), Delhi-Chandigarh-Amritsar (459 km), and Varanasi-Howrah (760 km).

The seven projects were put on a fast track for early preparation works such as feasibility studies and detailed project reports, which are necessary to establish the economic viability of infrastructure projects through a metric known as internal rate of return (IRR).

At the original cost, the IRR for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train has been estimated at nearly 12 per cent.

However, this may have been impacted because the cost of the project has reportedly risen by at least Rs 60,000 crore (Rs 600 billion) owing to a six-year delay from its original deadline of 2022.

Another source in the know said realistically two-three of the seven corridors could be included as a practical election promise, considering that feasibility studies and detailed project reports (DPRs) had been submitted and seen by the ministry of railways.

Among the proposed projects, the Delhi-Varanasi corridor has been demanded by the government of Uttar Pradesh and the ministry of civil aviation for enhanced connectivity to the state's cities and upcoming airports such as Jewar, near Delhi, Business Standard had reported in October 2023.

In August 2023, it had been widely reported that the Railway Board was not keen on the project as the curvature of the route proposed did not allow for smooth operations of bullet trains, which require straight tracks to operate at speeds up to 320 km per hour.

The reports were denied by the Railway Board at the time, saying that the project was under consideration and the ministry had no issue with the DPR.

The other projects, so far, remain in limbo. Officially, the Centre said in February no decision had been taken on the seven corridors.

'The decision to sanction any HSR Corridor/Project depends on many factors such as outcome of DPR, techno-economic feasibility, availability of resources and financing options,' Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told the Rajya Sabha last month.

The project has been criticised as an 'exercise in vanity' by the Opposition, but the Centre is convinced of the economic potential of these modern trains.

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
Early on March 26, 2024, the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States collapsed after it was struck by a container ship, the Dali.

Following the incident, Maryland Governor Wes Moore declared a state of emergency on Monday, CNN reported.

Maritime tracking Web site MarineTraffic showed that the Singapore-flagged ship stopped in Baltimore, where it was departing with a destination of Colombo, Sri Lanka.

The Web site showed the ship stopped around 1:30 AM ET (Eastern Time) and was surrounded by first response boats.

Six members of a construction crew repairing pot holes on the bridge are missing. Two other crew members have been rescued -- one was seriously injured and is in hospital, the other was uninjured.

The Dali -- whose 22 member crew, PTI's Yoshita Singh tweeted on Monday evening are all Indians -- is around 300 metres (984 feet) long with a width of around 48 metres (157 feet), according to MarineTraffic data.

The ship was chartered by Maersk and carrying their customers' cargo, the Danish shipping company told CNN.

One tweet said the ship had lost power before the collision with the bridge, which is named after Francis Scott Key, the man who wrote the American national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner.

Key wrote The Star Spangled Banner on the HMS Minden, which was built in a Bombay dockyard in 1810 by Jamsetjee Bomanjee Wadia, the 19th century shipbuilder and ancestor of Bombay Dyeing tycoon Nusli Wadia (who turned 80 on February 15, 2024).

IMAGE: A view of the Dali cargo vessel which crashed into the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore causing it to collapse. Photograph: Julia Nikhinson/Reuters

IMAGE: A Coast Guard search and rescue helicopter flies over the Dali. Photograph: Julia Nikhinson/Reuters

IMAGE: A US Coast Guard vessel secures the perimeter after the crash. Photograph: Julia Nikhinson/Reuters

IMAGE: A view of the bridge after the collapse. Photograph: Julia Nikhinson/Reuters

Photograph: Julia Nikhinson/Reuters

Photograph: Julia Nikhinson/Reuters

Photograph: Julia Nikhinson/Reuters

IMAGE: Emergency personnel work near the scene of the bridge collapse. Photograph: Julia Nikhinson/Reuters

IMAGE: A general view shows the bridge, as seen from the Baltimore side. Photograph: Nathan Howard/Reuters

IMAGE: Emergency personnel and media crew members work near the bridge collapse as seen from the Baltimore side. Photograph: Nathan Howard/Reuters

IMAGE: A view of the bridge after it collapsed. Photograph: Harford County MD Fire & EMS/Handout via Reuters

Photograph: Julia Nikhinson/Reuters

With inputs from Agencies.

Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
The National Commission for Women (NCW) on Monday wrote to the Election Commission demanding strict action against Congress leaders Supriya Shrinate and H S Ahir for their derogatory comments against actress Kangana Ranaut, who is the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from Mandi Lok Sabha seat.

IMAGE: Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut offers prayers at Somnath Temple. Photograph: ANI Photo

Shrinate's Instagram post containing objectionable remarks about Ranaut has been removed from her Instagram handle.

Ahir, state joint co-ordinator of Kisan Congress, also made derogatory remarks against her.

The NCW said its chairperson Rekha Sharma has written to the Election Commission demanding action against Shrinate and Ahir.

'National Commission for Women is appalled by the disgraceful conduct of Ms. Supriya Shrinate and Mr. H.S. Ahir, who made lewd and derogatory remarks about @KanganaTeam on social media. Such behavior is intolerable and goes against the dignity of women. @sharmarekha 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.

#RespectWomen,' the NCW said in a post.

Ranaut also hit out at Shrinate, saying that she has played various roles and 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,' Ranaut tweeted.

Shrinate clarified that many people have access to her Facebook and Instagram accounts, and 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.
'Election funding needs a little more transparency.'

IMAGE: Students with their faces painted as part of an awareness campaign for first-generation voters ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in Chennai, March 19, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

The controversy surrounding electoral bonds will not influence voters, and therefore, will not affect the coming general elections, according to a dipstick survey of 10 CEOs by Business Standard.

The nationwide survey of CEOs found that all respondents believe that disclosing the names of political donors via electoral bonds will neither influence voters nor affect the results of the Lok Sabha elections.

Following an order from the Supreme Court, the State Bank of India submitted data on the donors and recipients of such bonds to the Election Commission of India.

This information was subsequently published on the Election Commission Web site.

Asked to rate the Narendra Modi government'S performance in its second inning, in terms of governance and development, on a scale of 1 to 5 (with 5 being the best and 1 being the worst), the CEOs gave an average rating of 4.1.

The lowest rating was 3 (from one respondent), and the highest was 5 (from two respondents).

"The past five years have been challenging. However, when viewed against the backdrop of global growth, it's clear that we have performed well. Therefore, I would give it the highest rating of 5," said a top executive, who requested to remain anonymous.

As many as 30 per cent of respondents said that State funding of elections should be encouraged to prevent corporate/private donations, while a similar proportion disagreed; 40 per cent of respondents did not comment on State funding of elections.

"It should be mandatory for both parties and corporations to disclose (donations). The details should be clearly stated in companies' annual reports and submitted to the Election Commission of India by the parties," suggested a CEO.

Half of the respondents said they do not have a board-approved policy on political donations, while 40 per cent said they do.

"Election funding needs a little more transparency. We could learn from how donations are handled in the Western world," said the CEO of a consumer products company.

When asked about their wish list for the government over the next five years, the CEOs mentioned several measures, including the implementation of a national logistics policy, job creation through skill development programmes, and increased support for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Reducing regulatory interference to ease business operations was also suggested as a priority for the next government.

"There needs to be a greater push towards local production. The rural economy is slowing down, so measures need to be taken to boost rural consumption," said another CEO.

A top executive said that Indian businesses are dependent on the country's GDP growth.

"We're pleased with the 7.5-8 per cent GDP growth in India, and we hope that growth will continue, regardless of which government is in power. The government's subsidies to the poor are also being converted into expenditure," said another CEO.

Asked about the most significant constituencies in their view, the CEOs said that seats from where the prime minister, former chief ministers, and senior Opposition party leaders are contesting will be important to watch.

Varanasi, Amethi, and Rae Bareli were cited as the most important constituencies, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi will seek his third term from Varanasi and the other two are pocket boroughs of the Gandhi family (even as Sonia Gandhi who until recently was Rae Bareli MP has been elected to the Rajya Sabha and Rahul Gandhi lost the Amethi seat in 2019).

Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Delhi, and Tamil Nadu were among the states to watch, according to the CEOs.

Dev Chatterjee, Sharleen D'Souza, Raghav Aggarwal, Ishita Dutt, Sohini Das and Shine Jacob contributed to this report.

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
Every woman, irrespective of her background and profession, deserves dignity, actor Kangana Ranaut said on Tuesday as Congress leaders' comments on Mandi from where she is contesting the Lok Sabha elections snowballed into a massive political row.

IMAGE: Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut at Ram Janmabhoomi Temple ahead of its 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony, in Ayodhya, January 22, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

Ranaut, who makes her political debut as a Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh, said she was particularly pained by the derogatory comments on the constituency that is often referred to as Chhota Kashi the world over.

The Congress has been in the crosshairs after demeaning remarks on Ranaut and Mandi were posted on the social media handles of its leaders Supriya Shrinate and H S Ahir.

"Whatever be the profession of a woman, be it a teacher, actress, journalist, politician or a sex worker, all of them deserve dignity. I'm pained especially because of the deplorable comments made about Mandi... All of us who come from Mandi have been hurt by the comments," Ranaut told reporters outside the Chandigarh airport.

Asked whether she plans to take any action against the two Congress leaders, the Queen actor, often in the news for her controversial comments on a range of issues, said she had been called to Delhi by BJP president J P Nadda and would respond only after meeting him.

"I have to maintain the dignity of the party. I can't walk before it. I have to walk with them and follow their instructions," the 37-year-old said.

A host of BJP leaders, including Bansuri Swaraj, Amit Malviya and former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jai Ram Thakur, spoke up on the issue.

Congress spokesperson Shrinate said in her defence on Monday, when the controversy erupted, that many people have access to her Facebook and

Instagram accounts and one of them made the inappropriate post.

She also said she had deleted the post and will take action against a parody account that is using her name.

But that had little impact.

"If your account is posting what a parody account posts, then it simply means that admins of both accounts are same. One has to be self conceited, to the point of being deranged, to do so. Also the admins must have very low opinion of you to post such offensive stuff and get away," Malviya said.

Bansuri Swaraj, daughter of the late Sushma Swaraj and the party's candidate from New Delhi, said the top leadership of the Congress must apologise.

"Such derogatory words were used for someone who is India's daughter and a woman. This is very shocking, and has shown the mentality of the Congress. The top leadership of the Congress should apologise for this," she told PTI.

Thakur added in a statement that the remarks would be legally examined and the BJP was moving towards registering a case.

Shrinate, he said, had made a big mistake as people of faith come to Mandi, which is known as Chhoti Kashi and is an abode for over 300 temples.

"It is unfortunate that being a woman herself, the Congress spokesperson has made such remarks against another woman and now she is trying to retract by saying that someone has used her other account, Thakur said.

Union minister Smriti Irani and BJP's Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher have also added their voice to the chorus of condemnation. While Irani is a former TV actor, Kher continues to be a prominent face in Hindi films.

There were others who backed Ranaut.

Targeting Shrinate, former Congress leader Sharmistha Mukherjee said, "She's saying access', not hacked! One gives access to SM accounts only to known & trusted people. Nothing left of Congress ideology with the Rahul-Congress gang. Nari Nyay' is nothing but an empty slogan by a bunch of hypocrites!"

Former diplomat Lakshmi Puri termed the remarks against the actor "despicable, derogatory & condemnable".

"That it should come from another woman politician is all the more galling -- how can we as women become transmitters of toxic patriarchy & demeaning slurs & insults that scrape at the bottom of the barrel of indignity!" she posted on X.

Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera took up cudgels on his colleague's behalf.

Anybody who has known my colleague @SupriyaShrinate will vouch for the fact that she can never resort to such objectionable language ever.

Congress' Srinivas BV agreed that the remarks against Ranaut from Shrinate's account were "absolutely derogatory".

However, he also raked up Ranaut's past controversial statement in which she had called actor-politician Urmila Matondkar a "soft porn star".

The National Commission for Women (NCW) has written to the Election Commission demanding strict action against Shrinate and Ahir.

"National Commission for Women is appalled by the disgraceful conduct of Ms. Supriya Shrinate and Mr H S Ahir, who made lewd and derogatory remarks about @KanganaTeam on social media. Such behavior is intolerable and goes against the dignity of women... " the NCW said in a post on Monday.

Ranaut took the opportunity to hit out at Shrinate and remind her of the many roles she had done.

"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'," Ranaut said in a post on X on Monday.

"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 said.
The United Nations Security Council on Monday passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza for the month of Ramzan, a breakthrough coming after more than five months since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Image only for representation. Photograph: Chip East/Reuters

The 15-nation Council adopted the resolution, put forth by the 10 non-permanent elected members of the Council, with 14 nations voting in favour, none against and an abstention by permanent member the United States.

'The Security Council just approved a long-awaited resolution on Gaza, demanding an immediate ceasefire, and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages,' UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a post on X.

'This resolution must be implemented. Failure would be unforgivable,' he said.

The resolution 'demands an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramzan respected by all parties leading to a lasting sustainable ceasefire, and also demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, as well as ensuring humanitarian access to address their medical and other humanitarian needs, and further demands that the parties comply with their obligations under international law in relation to all persons they detain'.

US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said that the resolution rightly acknowledges that, during the month of Ramzan, 'we must recommit to peace. Hamas can do that by accepting the deal on the table. A ceasefire can begin immediately with the release of the first hostage'.

"And so, we must put pressure on Hamas to do just that. This is the only path to securing a ceasefire and the release of hostages, as we have all called for today. That is what this resolution means, a ceasefire of any duration must come with the release of hostages. This is the only path," she said.

She said that with the adoption of the resolution, 'this Council spoke out in support of the ongoing diplomatic efforts, led by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt, to bring about an immediate and sustainable ceasefire, secure the immediate release of all hostages, and help alleviate the tremendous suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, who are in dire need of protection and life-saving humanitarian assistance'.

The US envoy said that the only path to a durable end to this conflict is the release of all hostages.

United Kingdom's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Barbara Woodward said her country has long been calling for an immediate humanitarian pause leading to a sustainable ceasefire without a return to destruction, fighting and loss of life, as the fastest way to get hostages out and aid in.

"That is what this resolution calls for and why the United Kingdom voted yes on this text," she said.

Woodward voiced regret that this resolution has not condemned the terrorist attacks perpetrated by Hamas on October 7. The UK condemns these attacks unequivocally.

"This resolution sets out the urgent demand for the unconditional release of all hostages. And we welcome the ongoing diplomatic efforts by Egypt, Qatar and the United States to this end," she said.

Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Guyana said that after more than five months of a 'war of utter terror and destruction', a ceasefire is the difference between life and death for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and others.

"This demand [by the Council] comes at a significant time as Palestinians are observing the holy month of Ramzan," she said.

Louis Charbonneau, UN director at Human Rights Watch, said that Israel needs to immediately respond to the UN Security Council resolution adopted today by facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid, ending the starvation of Gaza's population, and halting unlawful attacks.

"Palestinian armed groups should immediately release all civilians held hostage. The US and other countries should use their leverage to end atrocities by suspending arms transfers to Israel."

The adoption of the resolution comes more than five months after the latest conflict in Gaza erupted following the October 7 Hamas attacks against Israel.

The Security Council, with its primary responsibility of maintaining international peace and security, has remained deeply divided and has till now not been able to adopt any resolution on a ceasefire in Gaza.

According to an update by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Between October 7, 2023, and March 25, at least 32,333 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 74,694 Palestinians were injured.

Over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on October 7, the day of the Hamas attack.

As of March 25, the Israeli authorities estimate that 134 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld, the UN agency said.
A Billings man accused of conducting armed patrols on the sidewalk in front of his residence, which is across the street from Broadwater Elementary School, admitted to a firearms crime Monday, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.

The defendant, Gabriel Cowan Metcalf, 49, pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm in a school zone, as charged in an indictment. Metcalf faces a maximum of five years in prison, a $100,000 fine and three years of supervised release.

From Aug. 2 to Aug. 17, Metcalf was accused of possessing a 20-gauge shotgun within 1,000 feet of Broadwater Elementary School, which is located along Broadwater Avenue, from 4th Street West to 5th Street West.

Parents of children attending Broadwater had called police for months to report the man pacing on his lawn while armed with the shotgun. Their concerns prompted school officials to move outdoor activities to the back of the building, out of view of the man's property, and restrict parts of the playground.

School officials also wrapped portions of the fence surrounding the playground in tarp out of caution as the new school year for Billings Public Schools started in late August.

Metcalf lives on Broadwater Avenue, directly across from Broadwater. On Aug. 2, the Billings Police Department received a call regarding Metcalf pacing around with a firearm in front of his residence.

A police detective saw Metcalf walk onto the property of a business that is located next door to Metcalfs residence. The same day, a woman stepped outside of a nearby residence and saw Metcalf walking up the driveway and coming toward her with firearm slung over his shoulder.

In addition, multiple Billings residents saw Metcalf walking on the 400 block of Broadwater Avenue with a firearm. On Aug. 11, a resident saw Metcalf standing on the sidewalk and carrying a firearm while staring into traffic and looking directly at Broadwater School.

Another resident saw Metcalf walking westbound on the sidewalk while carrying a firearm on Aug. 13 and that same day, another resident saw Metcalf sanding on the edge of the sidewalk in front of his residence with a firearm slung over his shoulder.

Four days later law enforcement officers spoke to Metcalf, who admitted to following cars while carrying a firearm, walking to the nearby business and escorting his mother down the street to her shop while carrying a firearm.

Metcalf further told officers he patrolled daily and usually went around the block once or twice a week, but that lately he had done it several times a day. Law enforcement served a search warrant at Metcalfs residence and seized a 20-gauge shotgun and six rounds of ammunition. The shotgun was the firearm Metcalf described as using to patrol.

The sidewalks and streets in front of Metcalfs residence are public property within 1,000 feet from the school and are a school zone as defined in federal law.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas A. Godfrey and Zeno B. Baucus are prosecuting the case. The Billings Police Department and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives conducted the investigation.

U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters presided. The court will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Sentencing is set for Aug. 2. Metcalfs release on conditions was continued pending further proceedings.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make neighborhoods safer.
Jailed gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari was on Tuesday hospitalised for around 14 hours in Uttar Pradesh's Banda after he complained of abdominal pain.

IMAGE: Mukhtar Ansari in a Prayagraj court on December 28, 2022. Photograph: ANI Photo

Principal of Rani Durgavati Medical College, Banda, Sunil Kaushal said that Ansari was admitted to hospital at around 3.45 am following "pain in the stomach and problem in urinating and excretion" .

Subsequently, his problems were resolved. "At around 5.45 pm on Tuesday, Mukhtar Ansari was discharged from the ICU ward of the medical college, and the jail administration took him back to prison," he said.

Earlier, his brother and Ghazipur MP Afzal Ansari, who reached the hospital, alleged that he was given poison in jail.

An official statement of the prison department released in Lucknow this afternoon said, "Due to the sudden deterioration in the health of prisoner Mukhtar Ansari and falling in the toilet in the night, he was immediately given treatment by the jail doctor.

"After informing the district administration, a team of doctors was called by which the prisoner was referred to the medical college in the night itself. The prisoner was admitted to Medical College Banda under police protection where he is undergoing treatment."

Mukhtar Ansari, 60, is a five-time former MLA from Mau Sadar seat and has been behind bars in UP and Punjab since 2005. He has over 60 criminal cases pending against him. He has been sentenced in eight cases since September 2022 by different courts of UP and was lodged in the Banda jail.

His name was on the list of 66 gangsters issued by Uttar Pradesh Police last year. His family members had earlier expressed apprehension that Mukhtar Ansari could be killed in a fake encounter.

Afzal Ansari claimed on Tuesday, "Mukhtar said that he was given poisonous a substance in food in jail. This happened for the second time. Around 40 days ago also he was given poison. And recently on March 19 of March 22, he was again given this (poison) due to which his condition is bad."

Afzal Ansari said that during the virtual hearing of a case in a Barabanki court on March 21, Mukhtar's lawyer had filed an application in the court alleging that his client had been given "slow poison" in jail due to which his condition was deteriorating.

Mukhtar Ansari's son Umar Ansari alleged that he was not allowed to meet his father despite his name being on the visitors' list along with that of his uncle Afzal Ansari.

Afzal Ansari had earlier in the day told PTI, "We have got a message from Mohammadabad police station in Ghazipur informing us that Mukhtar is ill and is being admitted to Medical College, Banda. Family members have been asked to come for his help."

He said he had called the Chief Minister's Office before leaving for Banda but could not contact Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who is in Gorakhpur.

He said the purpose of calling the Chief Minister's Office was to request that his brother be admitted to the Medanta Hospital in Lucknow or any other big hospital if adequate arrangements are not made at Banda Medical College.

"If the government does not bear the cost of treatment, the family will bear this expense," he said.
However, he suggested that Ukraine was also somehow involved.

IMAGE: Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizoda, a suspect in the shooting attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue, is escorted after a court hearing at the Basmanny district court in Moscow, on March 24, 2024. Photograph: Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged for the first time that 'radical Islamists' were responsible for last week's attack on a concert hall outside Moscow.

However, he suggested that Ukraine was also somehow involved, Al Jazeera reported.

Russian authorities have detained 11 people in connection with the March 22 attack on Crocus City Hall.

In a televised meeting on Monday, Putin said, "We know that the crime was committed by the hands of radical Islamists, whose ideology the Islamic world itself has been fighting for centuries."

"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 with the hands of the neo-Nazi Kyiv regime," he said, referring to Ukraine, according to Al Jazeera report.

Putin stressed that it was necessary to respond to that question.

He asked, "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?"

Putin said the planned terrorist attack hoped to sow panic but it was met with unity and resolve to counter this evil, according to the transcript released on the Kremlin website.

He did not mention ISIS which claimed responsibility for the Moscow attack.

He said, "We know whose hands were used to commit this atrocity against Russia and its people. We want to know who ordered it."

Since Friday, the Islamic State in Khorasan Province has said several times that it was behind the attack, and ISIL-affiliated media channels have released graphic videos of the gunmen during the attack.

After ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, United States intelligence has backed up its claims.

On Monday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov refused to assign blame and asked reporters to wait for the results of the probe in Russia, Al Jazeera reported.

He even refused to comment on reports that the US warned authorities in Moscow on March 7 about a possible attack and said that any such intelligence is confidential.

On Sunday, a Moscow court charged four men with carrying out a 'terrorist' attack. At their court appearance, the gunmen showed signs of being severely beaten.

The four suspects, named by Russian authorities as Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, Saidakrami Rachabalizodu, Shamsidin Fariduni and Muhammadsobir Fayzov were tried in Basmanny Court in Moscow.

All four are to be held in detention until at least May 22, the court said.

One of the men charged with committing the terror attack is a Tajik national, TASS reported.

All four are from Tajikistan and have been in Russia on either temporary or expired visas, CNN reported.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said the investigation is being conducted. However, he promised that 'the perpetrators will be punished. They do not deserve mercy'.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who now serves as deputy head of Russia's Security Council, asked authorities to 'kill them all'.

According to the Russian Investigative Committee, a total of 137 people died in the March 22 terror attack at the Crocus City Hall music venue and the death toll is likely to go up further.

The Moscow Region health ministry reported 182 people injured.

A total of 11 people involved in the attack were apprehended, including four suspected attackers, who sought to flee towards the Ukrainian border, TASS reported.

During his televised address, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Ukraine prepared a 'window' for the attackers to cross the border and vowed to identify and punish everyone behind the attack. He also declared March 24 a national mourning day.

Putin had said, "We will investigate this terrorist attack and we already have some results. All the four perpetrators, who were directly involved who were gunning people down, killing people."

"They were found and apprehended. They tried to escape. They were moving towards the border with Ukraine and we have data that suggests that they were about to be moved towards the territory of Ukraine by those in Ukraine," he added.

The concert venue, with an estimated capacity of 7,500, was almost full when the terrorists struck and the assault took place ahead of a performance by the Russian rock band Picnic, RT news agency reported earlier.

According to the mobile phone footage and eyewitness accounts, at least five gunmen wearing military-style gear and carrying assault rifles first opened fire at unarmed security guards at the main entrance to the venue.

They then proceeded to shoot indiscriminately at the fleeing crowd of panicked visitors.

Once the terrorists reached the concert hall, they appeared to set fire to rows of chairs inside, with the blaze quickly engulfing much of the building, including its roof.

According to a CNN report, the US warned Moscow that ISIS terrorists were determined to target Russia in the days before assailants stormed Crocus City Hall in an attack that killed scores of people, but Vladimir Putin rejected the advice, calling it 'provocative'.

US National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said the US government had 'shared this information with Russian authorities in accordance with its longstanding 'duty to warn' policy'.
The Indian embassy in Washington condoled the 'unfortunate accident' after a cargo ship lost power and rammed into a major bridge in Baltimore on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, destroying the span in a matter of seconds and plunging it into the river in a terrifying collapse that could disrupt a vital shipping port for months. Six people were missing.

IMAGE: A view of the Dali cargo vessel which crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge causing it to collapse in Baltimore, Maryland, US, March 26, 2024. Photograph: Julia Nikhinson/Reuters

The ship's crew -- all Indian, 22 in total -- issued a mayday call moments before the crash took down the Francis Scott Key Bridge, enabling authorities to limit vehicle traffic on the span, Maryland's governor said.

Owners and managers of the Singapore-flagged container ship Dali report that the vessel collided with one of the pillars of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, whilst under pilotage with two pilots onboard, at approximately 01:30 local time on March 26, ship management company Synergy Marine Group said in a statement.

'Our heartfelt condolences to all affected by the unfortunate accident at the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore,' the Indian embassy said in a post on X.

The embassy said it has created a dedicated hotline 'for any Indian citizens that may be affected/require assistance'.

The embassy is ascertaining details regarding the vessel's crew.

The Dali had an 'all Indian' crew of 22 people onboard, according to ship management company Synergy Marine Group.

The ship, outbound from Baltimore to Colombo, struck a 1.6-mile-long, four-lane bridge in Baltimore in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Shortly after the collision, the bridge collapsed, crashing on the cargo ship.

Grace Ocean Private Ltd owns the vessel with a capacity of 10,000 TEU, with onboard units totalling 4,679 TEU. The vessel's tons deadweight is 116,851 DWT.

The crew alerted transportation personnel about losing control of the vessel, enabling authorities to close the Baltimore bridge to traffic before the devastating collision, 'undoubtedly' saving lives, US President Joe Biden said.

'Personnel onboard the ship were able to alert the Maryland department of transportation that they had lost control of their vessel. As a result, local authorities were able to close the bridge to traffic before the bridge was struck, which undoubtedly saved lives,' Biden said.

The investigation into the collision so far indicates 'that this was a terrible accident. At this time, we have no other indication, no other reason to believe if there is any intentional act here,' Biden said.

The port of Baltimore, Biden said, is one of the nation's largest shipping hubs and handled a record amount of cargo last year.

'It's also the top port in America (for) imports and exports of automobiles and light trucks, around 850,000 vehicles go through that port every year,' he said.

'And we're gonna get it up and running again as soon as possible,' Biden said adding that thousands of jobs depend on that port. 'And we're going to do everything we can to protect those jobs and help those workers.'

Biden noted that the bridge is also critical for travel, not just for Baltimore, but for the Northeast corridor. Over 30,000 vehicles cross the Francis Scott Key Bridge daily and it is among the most important elements for the economy in the Northeast, he said.

The crew alerted authorities about a 'power issue' before the collision, Maryland Governor Wes Moore said, adding that this Mayday call enabled workers to stop more vehicular traffic from coming onto the bridge.

Moore was asked whether the crew on the Dali alerted authorities about losing propulsion and was in trouble.

'Yes,' Moore replied when asked whether the crew had lost power on the ship. The governor said the ship was coming in "at a very rapid speed."

The ship lost power and rammed into the bridge, causing the span to buckle into the river below and plunging a construction crew and several vehicles into the dangerously cold waters.

'We do know that the investigation is currently going on. But I have to say I'm thankful for the folks who, once the warning came up and once notification came up that there was a Mayday, who literally by being able to stop cars from coming over the bridge. These people are heroes, they saved lives last night,' he said.

Moore added that the preliminary investigation 'points to an accident. We haven't seen any credible evidence of a terrorist attack.'

'We are horrified by what has happened in Baltimore, and our thoughts are with all of those affected,' Maersk said in a statement.

'We can confirm that the container vessel Dali, operated by charter vessel company Synergy Group, is time chartered by Maersk and is carrying Maersk customers' cargo. No Maersk crew and personnel were onboard the vessel,' the statement said.

'We are closely following the investigations conducted by authorities and Synergy, and we will do our utmost to keep our customers informed.'
Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk on Tuesday evening ended his 21-day-long hunger strike in support of the demand for statehood for Ladakh and its inclusion in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.

IMAGE: Sonam Wangchuk, an engineer turned educational reformist calls off his hunger strike in Leh, Ladakh, March 26, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

Earlier in the day, he made a fresh appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to fulfil the promises made to the people of the Union Territory and also called upon people to use their franchise in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections very carefully in the interest of the nation.

"The first phase of the hunger strike is ending today but this is not the end of the agitation, Wangchuk said after taking a glass of juice from a minor girl here amid a massive turnout of people at the protest venue.

The renowned education reformist said the end of the hunger strike is the beginning of a new phase of the ongoing agitation.

"We will continue our struggle (in support of our demands). The gathering of 10,000 people at the venue and participation of over 60,000 others over the past 20 days are a testimony of the people's aspirations," he said.

He said the struggle is an issue not only concerning Ladakh but the whole country.

He lauded the people of different cities across the country for their support and said this has boosted their morale and he is confident of seeing the country becoming a great nation in the times to come.

Wangchuk has been on the "climate fast" in sub-zero temperatures since March 6, a day after talks between joint representatives of Leh-based Apex Body and Kargil Democratic Alliance, which are jointly spearheading the agitation to demand statehood for Ladakh and its inclusion in the Sixth Schedule, and the central government hit a deadlock.

The Sixth Schedule contains provisions related to the administration of tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram through autonomous district councils.

A three-day hunger strike, organised by the KDA in Kargil, also ended this evening. The Leh-based Apex Body and KDA will announce the future course of action on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, actor Prakash Raj on Tuesday visited Wangchuk, extended his support to their protest and said when the governments do not keep their promises, the people have no option but to unite and raise their voice in accordance with their constitutional rights.

"It's my birthday today...and I'm celebrating by showing solidarity with @Wangchuk66 and the people of Ladakh who are fighting for us..our country..our environment and our future...let's stand by them, he wrote on X.

In video messages shared on X, Wangchuk reminding the prime minister of the promises made by the BJP in its election manifestoes and said Modi is a devotee of Lord Ram and should follow his teaching of 'pran jaye par vachan na jaye' (one may lose their life, but must not break their promise).

"While India is the mother of democracy, we citizens have a very special power. We are the kingmakers, we can compel a government to change their ways or change the government if that doesn't work. Let us remember to use our ballot power very carefully this time in the interest of the nation," said Wangchuk, whose life inspired Aamir Khan's character Rancho in Bollywood blockbuster "3 Idiots".

Lok Sabha elections will be held in seven phases from April 19 to June 1. Ladakh will go to polls in the fifth phase on May 20.

Over the past 20 days, Wangchuk said, around 60,000 of Ladakh's three lakh residents have participated in the hunger strike demonstrating their pain but "no word came from this government".

"We are trying to remind and awaken the consciousness of our Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to safeguard the fragile ecosystem of Himalayan mountains in Ladakh and the unique indigenous tribal cultures that thrive here.

"We do not think of Modi and Amit (Shah) as just politicians, we would rather like to think of them as statesmen and for that they will have to show some character and some farsightedness," the climate activist said.
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Two UK judges delayed a decision Tuesday on whether to grant WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange a last-ditch appeal against extradition to the United States, giving Washington three weeks to provide further "assurances" in the case.

The US wants the 52-year-old Australian citizen to stand trial there for WikiLeaks' publication of hundreds of thousands of secret military and diplomatic files in 2010 relating to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Attempting to halt the process, Assange had suffered a string of court losses in the long-running legal saga, which his supporters see as a battle for media freedom.

But following two days of evidence last month, the judges in London said he had "a real prospect of success" on three of his nine grounds of appeal.

Victoria Sharp and Jeremy Johnson gave Washington three weeks to allay concerns that he will be prejudiced at trial because he is not an American citizen and that he could face the death penalty if convicted.

"Before making a final decision on the application for leave to appeal, we will give the respondent an opportunity to give assurances," the pair wrote in their 66-page ruling.

"If assurances are not given then we will grant leave to appeal without a further hearing.

"If assurances are given then we will give the parties an opportunity to make further submissions before we make a final decision."

- 'Astounding' -

Tuesday's ruling, which was released online, means Assange will remain at the high-security prison in southeast London where has been held since 2019.

He did not attend February's hearing either in person or remotely due to illness.

If he is eventually granted another appeal, the case will be heard in a London court.

But if the judges are swayed by the US's reassurances, Assange will have exhausted all UK appeals and be extradited.

His team has previously indicated, however, that they will ask the European courts to intervene and that they would be given 14 days to do so.

Assange's wife Stella, who has led the campaign to block his extradition, called the latest decision "astounding".

"What the courts have done is to invite political intervention from the United States, to send a letter saying 'it is all OK'," she told reporters outside the court.

Campaign groups including Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders also called for Assange's release.

"The US must stop its politically motivated prosecution of Assange, which puts Assange and media freedom at risk worldwide," said Simon Crowther, Amnesty's legal adviser.

- Legal saga -

The US indicted Assange multiple times between 2018 and 2020 but US President Joe Biden has faced persistent domestic and international pressure to drop the case filed under his predecessor Donald Trump.

Major media organisations, press freedom advocates and the Australian parliament have all denounced the prosecution under the 1917 Espionage Act, which has never been used over the publishing of classified information.

Washington alleges that Assange and others at WikiLeaks recruited and agreed with hackers to conduct "one of the largest compromises of classified information" in US history.

During last month's hearing, lawyers for the US government defended the case on various legal grounds.

Lawyers for Assange submitted that the charges were "political" and that he was being prosecuted "for engaging in ordinary journalistic practice of obtaining and publishing classified information".

They also argued that the decades-long prison sentence he faces if convicted was "disproportionate".

Before going to prison, Assange spent seven years holed up in Ecuador's London embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faced accusations of sexual assault which were later dropped.

The High Court had blocked his extradition, but then reversed the decision on appeal in 2021 after the US vowed not to imprison him in its most extreme prison, "ADX Florence".

It also pledged not to subject him to the harsh regime known as "Special Administrative Measures", and to allow him to eventually serve out his sentence in Australia.

In March 2022, the UK Supreme Court refused permission to appeal, arguing Assange failed to "raise an arguable point of law".

Months later, ex-interior minister Priti Patel formally signed off on his extradition.

Assange is seeking permission to review that decision and the 2021 appeal ruling.

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Yellowstone National Park officials have captured 29 bison for possible enrollment in the agency's live transfer program, according to information first provided by the advocacy group Buffalo Field Campaign.

The bison were some of the first to migrate north out of the park into the Gardiner Basin this winter.

Last winter featured one of the largest bison migrations in decades due to harsh winter conditions. The big migration also led to the highest hunter harvest just outside the park. Between native and nonnative hunters, animals captured for slaughter and those wounded and euthanized, 1,551 bison were killed last year.

Last week, another group of 49 bison migrated beyond Yellowstone's border where five were shot by tribal hunters on Sunday morning in Beattie Gulch, on the Custer Gallatin National Forest, Buffalo Field Campaign reported.

The remaining bison then retreated back into the park.

Wild buffalo herds should be thriving on millions of acres of national public trust lands but for the capitulation of the U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service to Montanas plan of managing wild buffalo for extinction, said James Holt, Buffalo Field Campaign's executive director, in a statement.

Montana officials have never called for the extinction of bison but want the park's population to remain low to avoid the chance that any migrate out of the park.

Buffalo Field Campaign has joined a lawsuit seeking to protect the animals under the Endangered Species Act, which the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is reviewing.

In a recent interview during the Yellowstone Summit, Chris Geremia, the park's bison biologist, highlighted the "incredible value" of the last migratory bison herd in the Lower 48 States, which also faces a complete suite of predators.

Due to Montana officials' fear of bison transmitting brucellosis to cattle, bison movement outside the park is limited to tolerance zones near Gardiner and West Yellowstone. Meanwhile, elk  which also carry the disease  are free to roam although monitored by the state's wildlife agency.

"(Bison) are just bursting to get out of this park and get back to where they used to roam," Geremia said.

Last winter's tribal hunts, which are controlled by the eight treaty tribes, drew scrutiny due to the large number of animals killed. Geremia said park officials are struggling with when the hunting is too much and whether the Park Service should hold animals to protect them.

"I can't even start to tell you how incredibly hard it is to try to orchestrate this and also empower people to be part of the solution," he said. "It's a very, very difficult effort of trying to figure out how it's going to work."

George Bumann, who hosted the conversation with Geremia, said wildlife issues in the park are almost on a par with politics and religion when it comes to fervor and opposing views.

A resident of the Gardiner area, Bumann said it was difficult to watch last year's hunts and questioned what is the best way to honor the national mammal of the United States.

"We recognize how hard this is," Geremia said. "We don't try to hide from this. We're trying to do something nearly impossible, to thread this needle of conflict."

Part of that threading involves capturing bison and holding those that test negative for exposure to brucellosis in quarantine. After a year-and-a-half of negative tests, the quarantined males can be shipped to the Fort Peck Reservation for eventual distribution to participating tribes. Female bison must pass three years of testing and quarantine before they can be shipped to tribes through the Bison Transfer Program.

The Park Service is working on a new bison management plan that has been denounced by Montana officials who want to see the park's bison population at no more than 3,000 animals. Last fall, the park's herd was estimated at about 4,800 animals.

Buffalo Field Campaign is a nonprofit group based in West Yellowstone.
A Bismarck man faces charges in connection with an alleged altercation at a Mandan business over a car belonging to a third party.

Lonnie Creath III is charged with one count of terrorizing with a dangerous weapon and one count of disorderly conduct after Mandan police took him into custody Saturday. Creath, 31, had been identified as the person who entered a Mandan business the preceding day and allegedly threatened staff over a car that reportedly belonged to a friend of his, according to Mandan Police spokesperson Lt. Brent Wilmeth.

While at the business, Creath began yelling and using hand gestures that reportedly frightened business employees who felt he might be reaching for a firearm, according to an affidavit. The document states employees saw an outline of an object in Creath's clothing they suspected was a gun. One employee reportedly told police he feared for his life until Creath left.

Police were able to identify Creath using surveillance video provided by the business, and they issued an alert that led officers to conduct a traffic stop of a vehicle on Saturday, according to the affidavit. The driver was identified as Creath. A search of the vehicle revealed a 9 mm handgun in the driver's side door, according to the affidavit.

The affidavit does not name the business, but court documents show Creath has been ordered to not have any contact with Five Star Motors.

Creath faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison if convicted on the most serious charge. He was in custody at the Burleigh Morton Detention Center on a $2,500 cash bond. The attorney indicated in court records did not immediately respond to a Tribune request for comment.

Creath's next court appearance is scheduled for July 8. He could enter pleas at that time.
The National Cyber Security Centre has revealed a Chinese hacking group known as APT40 hacked systems at the Parliamentary Counsel Office and the Parliamentary Service in 2021.

GCSB director-general Andrew Clark said today the agencys investigations and responses confirmed parts of the two services network had been compromised by a malicious cyber actor.

At a press conference this morning Clark said while some data had been extracted from the affected systems, none were considered strategic or sensitive.

The attack was detected very soon after it occurred, he said, while declining to provide specific timeframes.

"The NCSC provided extensive support to the victim organisations to reduce the impact of the compromise and delivered advice to other organisations potentially at risk by association," Clark said.

"Analysis of the tactics and techniques used by the actor enabled us to confidently link the actor to a People's Republic of China (PRC) state-sponsored group known as APT40."
Authorities have been trying to evict families living in the Tamok Lake area to make way for high-rise development.

A metal sign put up by Prek Pnov district authorities stands in front of land that they claim residents in the Tamok Lake area of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, agreed to swap for land in a different location, March 26, 2024.

A long-running land dispute in Cambodias capital of Phnom Penh took another twist Tuesday when authorities posted a big sign saying that evicted residents have agreed to move to another location  even though most residents said that wasnt true.

The dispute began nearly five years ago when former Prime Minister Hun Sen gave residential land near Tamok Lake to developers who plan to build a high-rise building.

Ever since, authorities have been trying to evict about 200 families from their homes in the Samrong Tbong community in the capitals Prek Pnov district.

Land disputes are common in Cambodia and other Southeast Asian countries. Government officials routinely seize land for lucrative real estate ventures, leaving displaced local residents with little or no recourse.

About three weeks ago, about 50 residents began a protest on the land  some of them in waist-deep muddy water around the construction site  to demand that President Hun Manets government grant them the right to keep their land.

On Tuesday, district authorities put up a metal sign nearly two meters, or 6 feet, wide, saying: This location has been settled according to [government] policy.

A view of some of the houses in the Tamok Lake area of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 26, 2024. (Citizen journalist)

But representatives of the community say the sign does not reflect the will of the majority.

Samrong Tbong community representative Sea Davy told Radio Free Asia that 27 families accepted land swaps with the authorities, while 70 others refused the deal, wanting to remain on their land and build houses.

She asked the government to grant residents, who do not want land in a different area, the right to build on their own land.

The land dispute has left some of the people impoverished and with high debt, while some children have dropped out of school to help their parents earn a living.

RFA was unable to reach Phnom Penh Gov. Khuong Sreng or district Gov. Them Sam An for comment.

Residents say they will continue to protest until a solution is found.

Translated by Yun Samean for RFA Khmer. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
Although three-quarters of migrants surveyed in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand said they suffered some type of abuse while leaving their homelands via people-smuggling networks, nearly half said they would do it again, the United Nations said in a report released Tuesday.

The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime conducted a survey of nearly 4,800 migrants and refugees in those three countries who had turned to illegal networks to smuggle them into Southeast Asia, the UNODCs regional office in Bangkok said in its report.

The respondents were abused by the military, police, smugglers, border guards or criminal gangs, according to the report titled Migrant Smuggling in Southeast Asia. Those who took part in the survey were from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Pakistan, Somalia and Vietnam, and included Rohingya.

Migrant smuggling is often not a free or voluntary choice, but an act of desperation, to seek security, safety or opportunity, or freedom from threat of harm, oppression or corruption, said Masood Karimipour, UNODC regional representative in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

The data shows that smugglers may be individual actors, loosely connected criminals, or organized groups. Bringing them to justice is an important part of protecting the people seeking safety and a better life, he said in a statement that accompanied the reports release.

The report found that military and police were seen as likely to carry out physical violence; ask for bribes or engage in extortion; cause death; and commit sexual violence during the journey.

Non-physical violence (e.g., harassment) is more common for men (18% of smuggled men surveyed) than women (13%). Eleven percent of women and 6% of men experienced sexual violence, while 9% of men and 6% of women witnessed death, the report said.

About one-quarter of the respondents said that climate issues including floods, drought or extreme temperatures drove them to seek out smugglers.

Climate issues are particularly relevant for smuggled Bangladeshis; three out of four Bangladeshis surveyed said that climate-related or natural environment issues influenced their decision to leave, the UNODC said.

A similar number said they were pulled into having to bribe officials, or give them gifts or perform favors during their travels.

[P]eople think that they need smugglers to help them deal with corrupt authorities, the report said.

Despite this, Among smuggled people surveyed, almost half (48%) stated that they would have taken the journey anyway, knowing what they did now about the conditions, 40% said that they would not have and 12% were undecided, the report said.

It found that more than two out of every three respondents said they, family or friends had initiated contact with smugglers through social media, by phone or in person. They pay fees averaging US$2,380.

Nearly 90% of Rohingya  members of a persecuted and stateless Muslim minority group from Myanmar  told interviewers that they used smugglers to get to Malaysia, Thailand or Indonesia.

In light of the report released by UNODC, RFA-affiliate BenarNews reached out and interviewed three Rohingya who had relied on people-smuggling networks in their efforts to migrate to countries in Southeast Asia other than Myanmar.

Rohingya Shobbir Hussain (left) and fellow refugees Sirajul Mustafa, Abdul Kalam and Hafiz Ayasullah stand near the Balee Meuseuraya Aceh Building, a meeting building in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, March 25, 2024. (Nurdin Hasan/BenarNews)





One of the three, Shobbir Hussain, 18, is among 2,000 Rohingya who have been sheltering in Indonesias Aceh region since October 2023.

Along with about 130 other Rohingya, he arrived in Aceh Besar regency on Dec. 10, from the Coxs Bazar refugee camp in Bangladesh, after weeks adrift at sea.

Shobbir said his parents sent him on his journey to have a better life.

Life in the Coxs Bazar refugee camp, Bangladesh, is no longer safe. There are frequent acts of violence, kidnapping and extortion, Shobbir said.

It turns out here is not what I expected either, he said.

Four months after arriving in Aceh, Shobbir said his life is much like it was in the Bangladesh camp  his time is spent eating and sleeping.

There is nothing to do, even though I want to go to school or work.

Shobbir said his father paid smugglers to take him by a wooden boat across the rough Andaman Sea  a 45-day journey to Indonesia  after they promised a better life in Indonesia or Malaysia. He said he did not know how much his father had paid for him to leave.

His father, mother and seven siblings lived in a cramped Coxs Bazar refugee camp after they were forced to leave Rakhine state following a brutal offensive launched by the Myanmar military in 2017.

Our house was burned down and the Myanmar military shot dead one of my younger brothers. Thats why we fled to Bangladesh, he said.

Fled to Malaysia

Meanwhile in Malaysia, Shahidullah Mohd Hosein, said his parents paid smugglers to help him leave a crowded refugee camp in search of better opportunities abroad.

Shahidullah lived in the Kutapalong refugee camp in Bangladesh after his family fled the prosecution in Myanmar. His family and about 1 million other Rohingya live in camps and settlements in and around Coxs Bazar.

Shahidullah said he had no future in the camp.

There are a lot of groups who kidnap people to demand ransom, and if the family of the kidnapped person does not pay, they threaten to kill that person, Shahidullah, 29, told BenarNews.

He said groups have burned shelters in the crowded camps at night, leaving families homeless.

Shahidullah said he reached out to a syndicate to arrange passage to Malaysia. Before long the syndicate demanded his mother pay 500,000 Bangladeshi taka ($4,565) to transport him to Malaysia. He arrived in Malaysia in September 2023.

I did not know how my mother was able to get the money. But after a few days I was sent to a boat with around 100 other Rohingya.

It took us one month and some trekking to get us to Malaysia. We had no food throughout the journey and could only eat when we were on land, he said, adding that the group had to resort to eating leaves while trekking through jungles.

Shahidullahs journey ended last September in Ampang, near Malaysias capital of Kuala Lumpur, where he has been housed by the Rohingya expatriate community.

Rohingya Halima Khatun, 25, seen here in a Coxs Bazar refugee camp, returned to Bangladesh last month after spending 13 months incarcerated in Myanmar after her effort to travel to Malaysia failed, March 8, 2024. (Sharif Khiam/BenarNews)

In Bangladesh, a Rohingya woman has returned to a refugee camp after her attempt to travel to Myanmar for an arranged marriage led to spending more than a year in a Myanmar prison.

Halima Khatun saw her father killed by Burmese troops in Myanmars Rakhine state on Aug. 25, 2017. Her mother took her and two sisters across the border where they sheltered at a Bangladesh seeking shelter in the Teknaf refugee camp.

Halima, who was 18 at the time, said she fled the camp in late 2022 to travel to Malaysia assisted by human traffickers. Instead, she spent 13 months in prison after being arrested by Myanmar authorities when the boats engine broke down during the sea voyage.

My family was unable to trace me during those 13 months. They assumed I had drowned in the sea or died anyhow, she told BenarNews during an interview.

Following her release from prison, Halima returned to Bangladesh in February with assistance from Myanmar relatives.

My marriage to Habibur Rahman, a young Rohingya guy in Malaysia, was planned. He was the one who attempted to utilize the Dalal syndicate to get me there, she said. The term means brokers.

One of the brokers involved in my journey to Malaysia was a Rohingya living in Myanmar; another was a local Bangladeshi, Halima said.

The traffickers demanded 800,000 taka ($7,289) as payment for transporting her to Malaysia.

She was traveling with several Rohingya men and women, as well as some Bangladeshis.

After leaving Shamila [a Rakhine state village], we stayed on that boat for 22 days before moving on to another small boat for two days and two nights. Then, as the boat [engine stalled], the sailors rushed away.

Then the military arrived and rescued us. After that, a police car drove all of us to a place where we were for 12 days, she said.

Sentenced to two years in a Myanmar prison, Halima spent 13 months incarcerated.

About three weeks ago, Halima paid a broker fee to cross the Naf river by boat and return to Bangladesh.

Halima said the man who promised to marry her had already married another Rohingya girl from a camp in Bangladesh and took her to Malaysia.

Abdur Rahman in Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh, Ahmad Mustakim Zulkifli in Kuala Lumpur and Nurdin Hasan in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, contributed to this report.

BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news organization.
The ministry of state security says reporting on military details could land nationalistic influencers in prison.

Military vehicles carry DF-10 ship-launched cruise missiles during a parade commemorating the 70th anniversary of Japan's surrender during World War II held in front of Tiananmen Gate in Beijing, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015.

China's Ministry of State Security has warned the country's social media influencers, particularly military enthusiasts and former state employees with access to confidential information, that they are at risk of breaching national security laws in their bid to attract fans.

"With the rise of self-media, a casual video or comment can attract a lot of attention online, and anyone can become an online celebrity," the ministry said in a post on Tuesday to its official WeChat account.

"Knowledge-sharing and outdoor check-in accounts are very popular ... but they need to improve their awareness of national security," the post warned.

The growth of amateur military enthusiasts has come amid a rise in popularity for nationalistic commentators who like to brag about China's military might online, particularly with regard to a potential invasion of democratic Taiwan.

"Military fan" content has proliferated behind the Great Firewall of internet censorship in recent years, as it is often produced by little pink creators of nationalistic content, which drives large amounts of traffic on Chinese social media.

Some like to report on the latest high-tech weaponry and equipment being deployed by the People's Liberation Army, analyze the strengths of its command regions and theaters, or engage in military plane-spotting, including aircraft identifying marks, according to state media reports.

Meanwhile, on YouTube, short videos have also appeared in large numbers on channels like China Defense and Military Tube and CCTVs China Military, using official state media footage and sometimes an AI voice-over and subtitles in English that appear aimed at an overseas audience.

But official warnings are growing that some influencers appear to be going too far, amid a nationwide crackdown on the flow of information under ruling Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping.

The latest Ministry of State Security post follows a warning from the Ministry in December that any military fans reporting details of construction projects, technical specifications or the deployment of new military equipment could be prosecuted, with prison sentences of 3-7 years for the most serious offenders.

In January, a People's Liberation Army-affiliated media organization Jun Zhengping Studio complained publicly after a blogger shared tips on how to sneak into a restricted military zone on the Xiaohongshu social media platform.

The post was illustrated with a photo of a young woman scaling a chain-link fence at a restricted facility near the central city of Wuhan, close to a big red sign that reads "No Entry. Restricted Military Area."

The Ministry's post on Tuesday said former civil servants, defense officials and scientific researchers have used their insider knowledge to drive traffic to their accounts, taking advantage of public curiosity about secret matters, even before the statute of limitations on that knowledge has expired.

"Anyone striving to become an internet celebrity must always pay attention to their words and deeds, and never leak national secrets or endanger national security," the account warned, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

It singled out "outdoor enthusiasts" who like to check in at restricted areas "as a gimmick to attract attention," and who take photos around military restricted zones regardless of warning notices.

"Illegal actions like breaking into military restricted areas in order to attract fans seriously disrupts the orderly management of important military areas, and may even provide an opportunity for overseas spies and intelligence agencies to spy on and analyze our military deployment, endangering national security," the report said, citing the ministry.

"Areas under military management and classified sensitive areas are not tourist attractions," it said, calling on social media platforms to weed out content of this kind.

Under Chinese law, the country's citizens are obliged to protect military facilities, the post warned.

"Any behavior that disrupts the orderly management of military restricted areas or threatens safety at military facilities will be severely punished by law," the Ministry warned.

Translated by Luisetta Mudie.
Police are stopping people in public and checking their phones for apps used to get around censorship.

Commuters browse their smartphones as they ride on a subway train in Hong Kong on Feb. 7, 2023.

Police in China are stepping up spot searches of peoples phones for apps enabling them to bypass the Great Firewall of government internet censorship, residents told Radio Free Asia in recent interviews.

A resident of the southwestern province of Sichuan who gave only the surname Huang for fear of reprisals said he had recently been stopped on the subway in the provincial capital, Chengdu.

This happened to me in Chengdu, Huang said. A police officer stopped me on the subway and wanted to check my phone, but I didn't allow him to.

I told him he had no law enforcement powers and he let it go, he said.

Chinese authorities have stepped up spot checking operations on the streets and on public transport in the years since the white paper protest movement of 2022, which the government blamed on infiltration by foreign forces, and have been forcing people to download an anti-fraud app that monitors their phone usage, according to recent interviews.

Huang said he has also seen police checking peoples phones on the streets of Shanghai and Beijing.

A screenshot of an SMS alert from the Hubei provincial police department warning a phone user to stop using circumvention tools to get around Chinas Great Firewall. (RFA)





A resident of the northeastern province of Jilin who gave only the surname Zhang for fear of reprisals said police have been stepping up similar checks where he lives.

You have to be very clandestine to get around the Great Firewall, Zhang said. Circumvention tools and viewing overseas websites are not allowed.

Generally speaking, nobody dares to post photos that have come from outside the Great Firewall to WeChat, he said. If you do, your account will be blocked.

He said anyone who gets hauled in to drink tea with the feared state security police will have their phone checked as a matter of routine, meaning that people need to delete such software or reset to factory settings to avoid discovery.

He said that while some uncensored content occasionally gets through, there isnt as much as before the current crackdown.

According to Huang, the current crackdown was sparked by the white paper protests, after which the authorities have targeted university students to crack down on people going over the wall to get content that hasnt been censored by the ruling Chinese Communist Party.

You have to be especially careful

A mobile phone repair specialist in the southern province of Guangdong who declined to be named for fear of reprisals said the police-approved anti-fraud app can also detect the presence of circumvention tools on any phone where it has been installed.

As long as your phone has the anti-fraud app installed, they will know what you are doing, she said.

You have to be especially careful now if you want to get around the Wall.

A screenshot provided by a resident of the central province of Hubei showed an SMS alert from the provincial police department warning them that circumvention software had been detected on their phone, in violation of the Online Security Law.

People hold white sheets of paper during a protest over COVID-19 restrictions after a vigil for the victims of a fire in Urumqi, in Beijing, Nov. 28, 2022. (Thomas Peter/Reuters)





The user was ordered to cease and desist or report to the local police station, on pain of further enforcement measures, according to the text message.

According to the X citizen journalist account Mr Li is not your teacher, a student at the School of Electronic Information and Computer Engineering at Sichuans Institute of Industrial Technology was recently disciplined for ignoring online security regulations and using software to bypass the Great Firewall on many occasions between Feb. 29 and March 11, according to a photo of the schools disciplinary announcement.

They had accessed content on overseas websites and reposted it to two WeChat groups, which violates the schools student regulations, the notice said.

The student was given a warning under the colleges disciplinary code, it said.

Last month, Chinas state security police started combing through the accounts follower list and putting pressure on people living in China to unfollow it, the journalist reported.

Chinas Cyberspace Administration has also been stepping up its campaign to remove unapproved content from Chinese social media platforms, reporting that it revoked the licenses of more than 10,000 websites in 2023, and hauled in more than 10,000 for interviews.

The websites were being targeted for spreading false information, incitement of confrontation and other harmful content, state news agency Xinhua reported on Jan. 31.

Translated by Luisetta Mudie.
Since the Arakan Army announced the offensive, the group has killed 20 junta troops in a township bordering Bangladesh.

Updated at March 26, 2024 at 5:55 p.m. ET.

Ninety junta soldiers surrendered to an ethnic army on Monday in Myanmar, residents told Radio Free Asia.

The Arakan Army, one of the many ethnic groups opposing the military, launched an attack on a junta base in western Myanmars Rakhine state. It is located in Maungdaw township, south of the Bangladesh border, civilians living in a nearby village said.

Since the Arakan Army ended a year-long ceasefire by launching an offensive on Nov. 13, 2023, the group has captured eight townships across Rakhine state and one neighboring township in northern Chin state. The group declared in early March they intend to fight for total control of Rakhine.

Junta troops have retaliated in territories lost to the Arakan Army with indiscriminate and deadly attacks on civilians, killing more than 70 in March alone.

Some of the more than 120 soldiers in Ah Shey Rakhine villages junta base managed to flee during the Monday capture, but the remaining about 90 troops surrendered around noon, according to a resident of nearby Ta Man Thar village.

Thirty-five junta soldiers have fled, but the remaining troops in the camp surrendered in the afternoon when the Arakan Army asked them to surrender, he told RFA, asking to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals.

Rebel group spokesman Khaing Thu Kha did not respond to RFAs inquiries.

While the Arakan Army has not released any updated information on the Ah Shey offensive, a press release stated the armed group killed 20 junta soldiers attempting to flee from Ta Man Thar camp during an attack on Sunday.

Residents told RFA they have frequently fled the area since junta troops occupied the base in late November and began attacking nearby villages.

Arrest warrants for doctors

Also in Maungdaw township, residents told RFA that junta authorities have issued arrest warrants for two of the areas leading doctors who have defied a recent order to relocate to Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine state.

On March 1, the junta shut down the public hospital and several private clinics in the township amid recent intense fighting with the Arakan Army.

Doctors and other medical personnel were told to relocate to Sittwe, leaving residents without access to health care.

On Monday, junta authorities directed police to arrest the townships medical superintendent, Dr. Nu Kaythi San, and assistant doctor Dr. Aung Naing Lin to prevent their departure from the country.

They were alleged to have fled to an area controlled by the Arakan Army, residents said.

As a resident, I feel sad, a Maungdaw resident familiar with the situation told RFA. With these warrants in place, who would be willing to work at the hospital? If there are no health workers to serve, the health of the townships residents will be more of a concern.

Maungdaws public hospital has remained shut since March 1, but most doctors and other health workers have refrained from relocating to Sittwe.

RFAs attempts to reach Hla Thein, the juntas spokesperson for Rakhine state, for comment on the arrest warrants were unsuccessful.

Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan, Mike Firn and Matt Reed.

Updates with material about arrest warrants for doctors at a public hospital in the region.
75 people were rescued last week and brought to shore after their wooden boat overturned.

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. BenarNews is an online news outlet affiliated with Radio Free Asia.
Editor's note: This is the first in a series of three stories on the Republican candidates for North Dakota's lone U.S. House seat.

Alex Balazs knows hes a member of a party whose presumptive presidential nominee has campaigned extensively on the idea of draining the swamp in Washington. But he thinks someone with experience in the nations capital might be the best fit to achieve that goal.

Balazs, of Cando, is seeking the Republican nomination for North Dakotas sole seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, which is being vacated by Rep. Kelly Armstrong, who is running for governor. Balazs posits that his experience of more than a decade as a U.S. State Department employee has uniquely prepared him to take action on his first day in office.

After years of working in the military, and years of working in federal service, and understanding how things work back there, working at the state level is markedly different than working at the federal level, Balazs said. And thats not saying you can't learn it  you can. But I think that time is of the essence right now.

Balazs characterizes himself as one of the solid working people who has helped implement government programs for the benefit of Americans, saying he gained the insight needed to make him an effective lawmaker while avoiding what he views as Washington corruption. Hes also a veteran with experience in the Air Force, Navy and Army Reserves spanning from 1978 to 2003.

Growing up in Wisconsin, Balazs would often spend time in the summer at his grandfathers North Dakota homestead. He served the country starting after his high school graduation, but said it was natural for him to end up back in North Dakota. He bought the family homestead in 2003 and moved to the state permanently in 2014 upon his retirement from federal service.

Seeking the endorsement

U.S. representative candidates have taken varying approaches to the state Republican Party endorsement process this year. Public Service Commissioner Julie Fedorchak has said she will seek the endorsement but proceed to the primary election no matter the result. Former state Rep. Rick Becker is ineligible for the party's nomination due to his decision to run as an independent in the state's 2022 U.S. Senate race. Former state Sen. Tom Campbell, a Grafton potato farmer, was another House candidate but withdrew from the race.

Balazs said he plans to seek the state partys endorsement at this years convention, which is scheduled for the first week of April in Fargo. He said the party needs to stay together on these things. He did not say whether he would consider continuing his campaign if he didnt win the party's backing, answering that he is working extra hard to make sure I get the endorsement because that's the road I want to go.

There's a process involved there, he said. I think all processes can be modified and changed, and they need to from time to time, but right now that's the process.

Navigating Washington

Balazs said his experience handling budgets for federal projects would enable him to advocate in Congress for spending cuts while identifying necessities. Fiscal responsibility is at the front of his mind as he campaigns, he said, as his stance as a constitutionalist means he thinks the federal government needs to be more careful with its spending and focus on single issues rather than omnibus bills that encompass multiple subjects.

It gives us our guidance. We don't need to go in and change it, Balazs said of the Constitution. We need to follow laws that are there already, and I don't think we need to try to write a whole bunch of new laws. We need to enforce those that are out there.

Balazs said he also sees border security as one of the most pressing issues facing Americans, and that he also hopes to focus on protecting gun rights.

North Dakotas next U.S. representative will head into a Congress experiencing significant gridlock. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, R-Ga., filed a motion late last week to oust yet another speaker of the House. A $1.2 trillion spending package was passed just hours before a potential government shutdown after debates on federal funding that have lasted six months into the fiscal year. And 2023 saw the fewest laws passed in decades, with legislators drawing out negotiations on substantial pieces of legislation such as the latest installation of the Farm Bill -- the country's most prominent piece of recurring agriculture legislation.

Balazs said some of these issues can be solved by relegating them to the states, but that he hopes to look for consensus on important programs and find a balance between pushback on important issues and progress for North Dakota residents benefit.

He also said he isnt interested in politics for the financial benefits, and instead sees it as an extension of his previous service to the country.

My farm is paid for. I don't need their money. I don't need to be bought off by anybody, so I can take a stand, Balazs said. And here's the other thing. I know who the bad actors are. I know what to do, and you can do a lot as a congressman to stop that.
In an unusually combative exhortation, the Catholic priests also called on the Marcos administration to take a firmer stance.

The bishops are nothing if not blunt.

Chinas incursions in the South China Sea have wrought havoc on the lives of our fisherfolk in the Philippines, six Filipino Church leaders said in a rare and surprisingly combative pastoral exhortation issued last month.

The governments response to the territorial trespasses, meanwhile, amounts to a policy of appeasing the Chinese aggressors.

We seek peace, and it cannot be a moral option to wage war, the bishops said. But the statement also offers a case for defending the Philippines' territorial integrity in the longstanding maritime dispute.

If diplomatic efforts falter then it is permissible, morally necessary even, to have recourse to the friendship of allies who can help us defend what is ours!

Workers sort fish at a market in Masinloc, Zambales, Feb. 27, 2024. (RFA)

The 519-word statement doesnt name its potential allies, but the United States and the Philippines signed a Mutual Defense Treaty in 1951 that calls on both nations to support each other if one of them is attacked by a third party.

The letter was so blunt that Justin Baquisal, a Philippine security analyst, said he had to read it twice.

This is the first time that theyve spoken with this tone, Baquisal said. The usual tactic before is they would issue an oratio imperata, which is sort of a like a call for prayer. But this time, this is very explicit. This is a political statement. It is very much directed at the government. It is directed at China.

A smaller catch

It isnt clear how the statement will affect the dispute over the South China Sea, which in recent weeks has grown even more tense. In a country where more than 80% of the population considers themselves Catholic, the church carries considerable political weight.

At the least, the statement gives political cover to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who has spoken more forcefully against Chinas actions than his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte.

The livelihood of our people depends on what we have on the seaside, said Bishop Bartolome Santos, Jr., who leads the diocese in Iba in the western Philippine province of Zambales and was one of the six who signed the letter.

We need to be proactive and stand beside our people so they can have some hope. We need to give them energy and encouragement  to not give up and stand our ground.

Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said China has indisputable sovereignty over the area and that it was completely legitimate and legal for Chinese ships to operate there.

A mass at St. John the Evangelist Cathedral in Dagupan City, Dec. 16, 2020. More than 80% of Filipinos are Catholic. (Jojo Rinoza/BenarNews)

But the bishops said that fishermen in Zambales have long relied on the Scarborough Shoal, an atoll 124 nautical miles, or 230 kilometers, west from the coastline of Luzon, the largest island in northern Philippines.

Called Bajo de Masinloc by the locals, the shoal was where they fished for large grouper and bluefin tuna.

At the Masinloc market these days its mostly just anchovies, mackerels and small tuna for sale. Filipino fishermen from the area told RFA that their catch has been cut by as much as two thirds since the Chinese coast guard started trying to block access to the area in 2012.

Tolomeo Farones said he was forced to quit altogether.

The boat owner sold our boat because we couldnt go to sea thanks to Chinas harassment, and it would just be rotten lying around, he said in an interview.

Farones now makes a living as a janitor at a local school.

Fishing boats are seen pulled up on the shore in Masinloc, Zambales, Feb. 26, 2024. (RFA)

Another flashpoint

In their exhortation, the six bishops said Filipino fishermen have to venture far into the open sea, risking their lives to make a catch and then still face the threat of being bullied by Chinese fishing and naval vessels.

In 2016, the Philippine government brought China to a tribunal under the 1982 United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea.

The tribunal ruled that almost all Chinese claims in the South China Sea are illegitimate, but Manila did little to stake its claim.

It has already been decided by international law that it belongs to us, we should not allow China to take over, said Bishop Broderick Pabillo, an outspoken priest serving in northern Palawan who also signed the statement.

We are calling on the government to be more firm in their stance to protect our territorial waters and our sovereignty which are being taken over by China.

Liu, the Chinese Embassy spokesman, said that China does not accept or recognize the tribunals ruling.

Bishop Bartolome Santos Jr. was ordained as the 5th Bishop of Iba, Zambales, on April 30, 2018. He is seen in this undated photo. (The Catholic Church of the Philippines)

Pabillos congregants fish the Second Thomas Shoal off the coast of Palawan, some 500 miles south of Masinloc.

Chinese and Philippine coast guard vessels have been confronting each other in recent months near where the Philippines deliberately grounded a World War II-era ship to serve as a military outpost and mark its territorial claims.

I dont know what China will do, but I think were doing something, making China realize that we will not take this sitting down, Pabillo said.

Analyst Baquisal said that the statement from the bishops represents an escalation of rhetoric that could put further pressure on the government to confront China.

Manila has set aside a budget to construct a facility for the troops stationed on the warship this year.

China already said it wont allow such a facility to be constructed. If that event happens then I expect the Catholic Church will play an active role in denouncing Chinas blockade in that area, Baquisal said.

The 300-year-old St. Augustine Cathedral is the main church in the Diocese of Iba in the province of Zambales. (RFA)

A history of activism

The Catholic Church has been entangled in Philippine politics since Spanish explorers set foot in the country in the early 1500s.

More than 90 million Filipinos, or 81% of the countrys population, call themselves Catholics, giving the Church outsized political influence. The Catholic Church was, in fact, the most prominent voice of dissent against former President Dutertes war on drugs, which killed thousands. Many priests received death threats for their activism, but public support for the anti-drug campaign fell.

In 1986, religious groups led by Cardinal Jaime Sin, the archbishop of Manila, played a prominent role in the so-called People Power Revolution. The protests eventually led Marcos father, President Ferdinand Marcos, to flee to exile after years of ruling the country as a dictator.

Of course the Catholic Church is not an armed organization, but we need to be proactive in one way or another, Bishop Santos told RFA.

We have to stand beside our people. We also have to give them hope and ... to give them at least the energy and encouragement, not just to give up but still we have to stand our ground."

Edited by Jim Snyder, Abby Seiff and Imran Vittachi.
A village official and senior monastery administrator are still detained, sources say.

Chinese authorities arrest Tibetan monks protesting the construction of a hydropower dam project on the Drichu River in Dege county, southwestern China's Sichuan province, Feb. 22, 2024.

Chinese authorities have released hundreds of monks and other Tibetans arrested in February for peacefully protesting the construction of a dam in a Tibetan-populated area of Sichuan province, but are still holding two accused of being ringleaders, two sources inside Tibet said.

Tenzin Sangpo, senior administrator of Wonto Monastery, and a village official named Tenzin, were arrested on Feb. 23 on suspicion of leading protests last month against the Gangtuo Dam project in Dege county, or Derge in Tibetan, in the provinces Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.

The dam is expected to submerge six monasteries, including Wonto, and force the resettlement of at least two major communities along the Drichu River, or Jinsha River in Chinese.

All told, more than 1,000 Tibetan monks and residents of Dege county were arrested for protesting. Several of those arrested, including Sangpo and Tenzin, were transferred from where they were previously detained to the larger Dege County Detention Center.

Sangpo and Tenzin have been handed over to the government Procuratorate Office, responsible for investigating and prosecuting serious criminal cases, said the sources who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals by authorities.

Since then, authorities have provided no details about their whereabouts or the charges against them, the sources said.

The local Tibetan people are worried that the government will accuse them of having instigated the February protests and being responsible for sharing information with the outside world, said the first source, referring to Sangpo and Tenzin.

Another monk, who has assumed the responsibility of monastery administrator in place of Sangpo, was also briefly detained by authorities, the sources said.

Beaten and given little food or water

One monk who was arrested, detained and released said authorities kept those arrested in crowded cells meant to hold fewer than eight people.

They also fed the detainees poor quality tsampa  ground-up, roasted barley flour that is a Himalayan staple  fit for horses, mules or other animals.

Some days, we were not given any water to drink, he said. On other days, when there was water, we were given very little.

Authorities also slapped the monks and made them run around the prison grounds as punishment for their crimes or beat them if they refused to run, the monk said.



One monk was beaten so badly that he could not even speak, he said. He is now under medical treatment.

Tenzin Sangpo (L), senior administrator of Wonto Monastery and village official Tenzin (R), both from Wangbuding township, Dege county, in southwestern China's Sichuan province are seen in undated photos. (Citizen journalist)

Tibetans who had been arrested were pressured to incriminate each other, causing psychological trauma, said the sources.

Since the protests and arrests in February, authorities have been closely monitoring villages and monasteries on both sides of the Drichu River, and no outsiders have been allowed to enter the township, sources said.

They have set up five checkpoints between Wonto village and Dege county, with dozens of police at each, they said.

Villages residents and monks from Wonto Monastery are not free to travel unless they have a permit to visit the county, the sources added.

Before the protests, there were more than 50 younger monks at Wonto Monastery, but they were sent to the county government school after the protests.

Future of dam project uncertain

Chinese officials and media reports have given mixed and contradictory information about the future of the dam project.

The Gangtuo Dam is part of a plan that Chinas National Development and Reform Commission announced in 2012 to build a massive 13-tier hydropower complex on the Drichu. The total planned capacity of the 13 hydropower stations is 13,920 megawatts.

Some have said that its future is uncertain, with preliminary checks being conducted to determine whether it is possible to complete it, sources said. Their findings will be presented to the State Council, the national cabinet of China, for a final decision.

But others made clear that the Gangtuo Dam project would continue, with a visiting county official telling the leaders of the project coordination team to adhere to their work orders and make arrangements for the next step of work, according to a local Chinese government announcement.

Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son said Hanoi's collective leadership means its core policies will remain the same.

Vietnam President Vo Van Thuong arrives for the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation at Beijing airport on October 17, 2023 in Beijing, China.

Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuongs resignation last week amid corruption allegations will have little impact on Vietnams direction, the countrys foreign minister said in Washington on Tuesday.

Speaking in English at the Brookings Institution, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son said the collective leadership model used in Hanoi meant Thuongs surprise ouster represented only a change of personnel.

The resignation of the president, I think, will not affect our foreign policy as well as our own [domestic] policy of economic development, Son said. We have collective leadership. We have collective foreign policy. We have collective-decided economic-path development.

Vietnams policies, Son said, were not decided by individual leaders but instead by the congresses of the Communist Party of Vietnam every five years. Accordingly, the fact that one or two figures in the leadership has resigned does not change much, he explained.

Military delegates attend the closing ceremony of the 12th National Congress of Vietnam Communist Party in Hanoi, Vietnam Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016. (Kham/AP)

Thuongs ouster should be welcomed by the international community and foreign investors, Son added, calling it a sign of the seriousness of Vietnams Blazing Furnace anti-graft campaign.

Thuong, who is 53, resigned as president on Wednesday over corruption in Quang Ngai province between 2010 and 2014, while he was serving as the provincial Communist Party secretary. Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan is now serving as acting president.

Thuong had only been in office for about a year, having replaced former President Nguyen Xuan Phuc in March 2023 after Phuc stepped down to take responsibility for COVID-19 scandals.

Analysts, though, have speculated his downfall may have been engineered by Public Security Minister To Lam, who could have ambitions to become president or even party secretary-general.

The party secretary-general  currently 79-year-old Nguyen Phu Trong, in power since 2011 and the spearhead of the anti-corruption efforts  is the most powerful figure in Vietnam, followed by the prime minister and the largely ceremonial office of president.

Trongs current term as secretary-general ends in 2026.

Deepening ties

At Brookings on Monday, Son also spoke about the long journey to friendship Vietnam and America had walked since the 1970s.

He praised the turnaround in relations, noting that trade between the two countries had grown 245 times to US$110 billion since bilateral ties were officially normalized in 1995 under the Clinton administration.

Mutual trust and understanding, he said, is now at a high, marked by last years upgrading of relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership during U.S. President Joe Biden trip to Hanoi.

That was no small feat, he said.

Normalization of ties still took some two decades after the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, Son recalled, with Hanoi and Washington again ending up on opposite sides during the 1980s Cambodian Civil War following Hanois 1979 invasion and occupation of Cambodia.

Backed by the Soviet Union, the last Vietnamese troops did not withdraw from Cambodia until September 1989, prior to the 1991 U.N.-run elections there that came with the end of the Cold War.

After the [Vietnam] War, when Vietnam helped the Cambodian people cope with the genocidal regime of Pol Pot and [Khmer Rouge Foreign Minister] Ieng Sary  again, the international community and our American friends here still did not understand why, Son said.

From the war, and then misunderstanding of each other for quite some time, we entered normalization 30 years after that, he said.

During his trip to Washington this week, Son also met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. A readout from the State Department said Son and Blinken discussed, among other things, Hanois human rights record.

Son alluded to those discussions on Tuesday.

Although we still have differences, we now have goodwill [and] frank and candid dialogue, he said. After so many ups and downs, the relationship between our two countries is now a model in international relations, especially for countries currently at war.

Edited by Malcolm Foster.
Nguyen Van Lam, administrator of the Facebook account The Diary of Patriots, appears in court in this undated photo.

A court in Vietnam on Tuesday sentenced a man to eight years in prison for managing a Facebook page that shared news and content that authorities said was against the state.

Nguyen Van Lam, 33, was the administrator of The Diary of Patriots, a page on Metas social media platform that authorities said defamed and smeared Vietnam's senior leaders.

Lam was convicted in the Tien Giang Peoples Court in southern Vietnam of making, storing, disseminating, propagandizing anti-state information and materials under Article 117 of Vietnams Penal Code, which is criticized by rights groups as being an intentionally vague law that allows Hanoi to stifle dissent.

According to the indictment, Lam, a native of Vinh Hoa commune, Vinh Loc district in Thanh Hoa province, regularly visited websites and social media pages to read posts and articles with bad content and therefore developed a hostile and anti-state attitude.

He used the Facebook account Nguyen Lam to put up 19 posts with content distorting and defaming the system of one-party rule in Vietnam, it said..

There are multiple pages on Facebook with the same name, and Lam may have had connections to more than one of them, state media said.

One of the Diary of Patriots pages had more than 800,000 followers.

The earliest page was created in 2011, at the beginning of widespread demonstrations against Chinas claims and aggressiveness in the South China Sea. Though Vietnam upholds its own claims, it often stifles anti-China dissent.

Restricting freedom of speech

The arrest was aimed at punishing those who had created a forum for people to discuss and share multifaceted information in the spirit of freedom of speech, said a member of that page who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons.

I am against the punishments against those who exercise human rights and promote human rights values, he told RFA Vietnamese in a text message, saying that he did not know Lam personally.

He called on Vietnamese authorities to adopt the worlds civilized standards, and said that the international community has a responsibility not to ignore Vietnams crackdowns on activists while supporting Hanois bid to stay on the U.N. Human Rights Council.

State media reports did not include information about Lams arrest.

RFA attempted to find details about his arrest by contacting the Tien Giang provincial police department, but staff who answered the phone refused to respond to queries.

Lam did nothing criminal by managing pages on social media, said Phil Robertson, Deputy Asia Director for New York-based Human Rights Watch.

He should be immediately and unconditionally released, Robertson said. Sadly, it looks like Vietnams leaders will not stop this crackdown until they have imprisoned every last activist in the country.

In July 2023, Ho Chi Minh City police arrested Phan Tat Thanh, who was allegedly the former administrator of The Diary of Patriots page, charging him with propaganda against the state under Article 117.

RFAs database shows that since January 2024, the Vietnamese government has arrested six activists on the same charges and sentenced one to six years in prison for the same accusation.

Translated by Anna Vu. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.
Vu Minh Duc fainted during questioning and was rushed to the hospital, police say.

The family of a 31-year-old man who died in police custody in Vietnam say his body showed signs of torture.

On March 22, Vu Minh Duc was summoned to a police station in Long Thanh district, Dong Nai province, for questioning about his involvement in an October 2023 quarrel which escalated into what his family described as gang violence. He would be dead by the end of the day.

Its the latest example of a person dying in suspicious circumstances while in police custody.

Duc, the primary breadwinner of his household and a father of two children, including a one-year old, was called into the interrogation room at 10:30 a.m. Two relatives who accompanied him to the station were asked not to enter, a relative, who requested anonymity for safety reasons, told Radio Free Asia. He said that Duc had been in good health without any major illnesses or symptoms of disease.

About 3:00 p.m, the investigator phoned Ducs wife and asked her to sign some papers. When she went to the station, they explained that while they were taking Ducs testimony, he fainted, so they took him to the hospital for emergency care.

One of Ducs brothers told the Phap Luat Online newspaper that the police wanted Ducs wife to sign papers related to his health.

By the end of the day, Duc had been to another hospital. When the family arrived at the second hospital, the doctors told them that he died at about 9:30 p.m.

We saw the corpse and took some photos, said a family member who didnt want to be named for fear of reprisals. We saw bruises and signs of possibly bloody vomit in his mouth. The hospital concluded that the cause of death was multiple injuries, as there were bruises on the body.

The photos shared with RFA showed injuries on the left leg, the neck, and the mouth with evidence of dried blood. Additionally the back of Ducs left thigh had dark purple bruises.

At least 16 people died in police stations or detention facilities between 2018 and 2021, according to statistics collected by RFA from Vietnamese state-owned media reports. Many of those deaths have been publicized by relatives on social media.

Since then several more have suffered a similar fate.

Most recently on March 8, villagers in Dak Lak province found the body of Christian preacher Y Bum Bya hanging in the local cemetery.

The Central Highlands Evangelical Church of Christ, to which he belonged, released a statement on March 19 saying Y Bum Bya was murdered after being repeatedly beaten and threatened by local police.

The police had asked him to meet them in the cemetery saying they wanted to return his mobile phone, the church said.

An hour later villagers discovered his body. There was no suicide note. Police declined to discuss the case on the phone with RFA.

In the case of Vu Minh Duc, state media reported that his family requested the National Autopsy Institute to clarify the cause of death. They took his body home on Monday to prepare for a funeral.

RFA attempted to contact investigator Luu Quang Trung of the Long Thanh district police, whose name was on Ducs summons paper, but he did not pick up the phone.

Officers at the station said that inquiries about the case could only be made in person.

Translated by An Nguyen. Edited by Eugene Whong and Mike Firn.
One image has been shared again and again on social media in the Caucasus since last weeks deadly terrorist attack at a Moscow concert hall: a photo of a handsome young couple dressed up and pulled in tight to each other at a white-tablecloth event.

Lilit Israelian, whose long, black hair is falling in ringlets over a flower-print dress to frame a delicate smile, was Armenian. Her husband, Vugar Huseynov, with short-cropped black hair and an assured smile to match his black-tie attire, was ethnic Azerbaijani. They were among the victims of the March 22 attack.

To be an Armenian and an Azerbaijani and face all that resistance, fall in love and get married, its so rare to see.... My God, give them the most beautiful corner of heaven.

To many in the Caucasus, the tragedy of their murders was compounded by the improbability of a match that spans the deep ethnic divide stemming from a decades-long conflict.



To be an Armenian and an Azerbaijani and face all that resistance, fall in love and get married, its so rare to see, one person wrote on X, formerly Twitter. Then three or four terrorists come and take their lives like nothing. My God, give them the most beautiful corner of heaven.



Huseynov and Israelian both worked at Moscows Vnukovo International Airport; the aviation services firm UTG reported that Huseynov was a current employee and that Israelian had previously worked for the company. Israelians family told Russian media that they had a 1 1/2-year-old child.



Little has been reported about the background of the couples story, but it is safe to say that they must have faced strong resistance from their respective communities.



In a 2009 survey, 92 percent of Armenians said they would disapprove of an Armenian woman marrying an Azerbaijani man. The corresponding figure among Azerbaijanis about Armenians was 99 percent.



In Soviet times, marriages between Armenians and Azerbaijanis were a more regular occurrence in places with large mixed populations like Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, where ethnic Armenians composed between 10 and 20 percent of residents. Mixed marriages were an icon of Bakuvian cosmopolitanism, wrote Laurence Broers, associate fellow at the London-based Chatham House's Russia and Eurasia Program.

What a cruel world. May they rest in peace and may their kid grow up knowing that his mom and dads love defied cultural boundaries to create him."

But when the conflict over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh blew up as the Soviet Union collapsed, that era of coexistence in Armenia and Azerbaijan came to an end. Virtually all ethnic Armenians fled Azerbaijan -- or were driven out -- and vice versa; the very few who remained were typically people in mixed marriages or their children and who in many cases kept that aspect of their lives under wraps.



In places where Armenians and Azerbaijanis have continued to live as neighbors, like Georgia or Russia, mixed marriages still occur but are exceedingly rare. Russia doesnt keep data on marriages by ethnicity, making it impossible to know how many Armenian-Azerbaijan pairs there are.



I am half Armenian and half Azerbaijani myself and proud of it. This is so heartbreaking, one Reddit user wrote in a thread about the couples death. There are very few couples like this left. What a cruel world. May they rest in peace and may their kid grow up knowing that his mom and dads love defied cultural boundaries to create him. I hope their kid grows up healthy, strong, and proud of his roots.



Aside from his rare family story, Huseynov also distinguished himself by his selfless bravery during the attack. Video by eyewitnesses captured him trying to use overturned tables to shield his wife and other victims and slow the attackers.

Let their memory make peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan."

Colleagues spoke of Vugar as capable and kind, wrote the Russian Telegram channel Mash, which was the first to report on the identities of Huseynov and Israelian.



As news spread about the couples tragic fate alongside at least 137 other dead victims, among the grieving reactions there were inevitably cruel comments reflecting an entrenched rivalry fueled by repeated wars and ethnic violence since the 1990s.

He got married to an Armenian and karma caught up with him, one commenter on an Azerbaijani Telegram page wrote.

How did they give their daughter to a Turk? Are they also Azeri? a commenter on an Armenian page wrote, employing what is many Armenian nationalists shorthand for Azerbaijanis, who have close linguistic and historical ties to Turks.



But comments like that were quickly reproached and voted down.



Let their memory make peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan. No more wars in the 21st century, wrote one Twitter user.

RIP to my Armenian sister and her Azerbaijani husband, wrote another. Dont let the political world destroy us.
One day in January, in the western Belarusian city of Barysau, the mother of a former political prisoner heard her doorbell ring at 7 a.m. Unsuspectingly, Aksana Khinevich opened the door, and a KGB ID card flashed before her eyes.



"Did you get help from INeedHelpBY via e-delivery? she recalled the officer asking her.



That has become a dangerous question in Belarus.



As of late February, according to the Belarusian human rights organization Vyasna, at least 100 Belarusians had faced prosecution after accepting a two-week supply of food from individuals registered with INeedHelpBY, an online U.S. nonprofit that uses a Telegram bot to match donors with Belarusians whose active political position cost them their job or other income or led to a large fine, time in custody, or other restrictions on their freedom.

Fines push people to the brink of poverty. And they turn to us because they have nothing to fear anymore."

Thousands of Belarusians have been detained or imprisoned since wide-scale protests in 2020 against presidential election results that gave Alyaksandr Lukashenka a sixth term in office despite extensive evidence of fraud.



Khinevichs son, Anatol, an IT specialist, spent 2 1/2 years in prison after being detained in the 2020 protests. With a monthly salary of just 300 rubles ($92) as a caregiver and a disabled mother to support, Khinevich told the KGB that she had received help from INeedHelpBY (BY is an abbreviation for Belarus) during this difficult period.



What is illegal if a person helps someone?" she told RFE/RLs Belarus Service.



But to Belarusian prosecutors and security forces, such help amounts to using foreign donations to carry out extremist activities, under Article 24.15 of Belaruss Code of Administrative Offenses.



On January 23, the same day the Belarusian State Security Committee, or KGB, listed INeedHelpBY as an extremist organization, police throughout the country detained, interrogated, and searched the residences of at least 287 people, mostly women, according to Vyasna, which Minsk considers an extremist organization. One of the cited reasons was the receipt of groceries from INeedHelpBY.



The resulting cases marked the first time that Article 24.15 has been applied, according to the Belarusian human rights organization Human Constanta.



According to INeedHelpBYs Instagram channel, the group coordinated some $1.7 million worth of such assistance as of the end of 2023.



According to nine court rulings studied by RFE/RLs Belarus Service, people convicted of the offense have been sentenced to detention, confiscation of the donated goods, and fines equal to the value of the donations.



A woman caring for a small child in the western city of Lida was ordered in January to pay a fine of 1,000 rubles ($300), as well as 18,144 rubles ($5,550), the assessed value of the INeedHelpBY groceries.



Even receiving 300 rubles ($92) worth of groceries can result in fines.



In the western town of Navahrudak, a court found that a retired man who had received the groceries since 2022 threatened to harm state and public interests." He was ordered to pay the state the 300 ruble ($92) assessed value of the groceries, pay a fine of 600 rubles ($184), and surrender his laptop and a nonworking cell phone.



One woman who said she lost her job after receiving groceries via INeedHelpBY told RFE/RL that a 2023 travel ban for people deemed a national-security threat or undergoing administrative court proceedings means that such people have no way out since they cannot work abroad to pay off the fine.



As of mid-March, some of the detainees remained in pretrial detention, suspected of abetting extremist activities, a criminal offense, according to Vyasna and relatives of detainees.



The founder of INeedHelpBY, Pilip Haurysheu, whose LinkedIn profile identifies him as a pathologists assistant at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida, declined to answer questions from RFE/RL about the governments crackdown on these donations.

INeedHelpBY manager Alyaksey Lyavonchyk has conceded that grocery recipients can face jail or fines. Nonetheless, he anticipated 250 requests for help in March, the independent Belarusian news site Pozyrk (View) reported on March 5.



We remain the only group that can promptly deliver aid to Belarus, Lyavonchyk said. Fines push people to the brink of poverty. And they turn to us because they have nothing to fear anymore."



A Russian-language warning on the INeedHelpBY site advises donors under investigation to delete the organizations Telegram bot, which facilitates the donations, clear their caches, unsubscribe from the nonprofits social media channels, and request INeedHelpBY to purge their personal data.



The charitys website says the group has experienced no data leaks.



It urges users to tell police the food they received was a donation from friends, acquaintances, and compatriots, and not from the nonprofit itself, which orders the food online on behalf of donors -- mostly from the Belarusian hypermarket chain Evroopt, according to the court cases.



But that distinction made no difference to the KGB officer who searched Khinevichs apartment during the January 23 raid and had her detained overnight.

The officer, she said, confiscated two computer drives as well as flash drives, telephones, books, poems written by her son, and a sticker in the red and white colors used by the Belarusian pro-democracy movement.



After being fined 400 rubles ($122) for allegedly insulting a police officer  a charge Khinevich denies  she learned that the KGB would pursue the case further. Within a few days, she migrated to Lithuania to join her son, who was released from a Belarusian prison in February 2023.



On February 9, a Barysau Administrative Court judge fined her 800 rubles ($245) and ordered her to pay 2,854 rubles ($871.40), the assessed value of the groceries she received between February 2022 and April 2023. Khinevich, who joined the trial from Vilnius via the video-messaging app Viber, plans to appeal the verdict.



Despite the government pressure, INeedHelpBY has given no indication of stopping its emergency food assistance. The organization will continue to help the repressed and their relatives in Belarus," Lyavonchyk told Pozyrk.

Written by Elizabeth Owen based on reporting by RFE/RLs Belarus Service
1 Exiled Belarusians held a sunset march through the streets of the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, on March 25 to commemorate the 106th anniversary of Belarus's declaration of independence.



The Belarus People's Republic declared its independence on March 25, 1918, and remained autonomous until December 1918, when it was absorbed into the newly established Soviet Union.
Beekeepers in Hungary say their "survival is at stake" because of plunging domestic honey prices. Some say the recent government decision to lift the ban on Ukrainian honey imports will hurt local producers. But others point to a bigger issue: cheap, "fake" honey flooding the market from China.
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."
A resolution to be considered by North Dakota Republican Party delegates at their upcoming convention would define life as beginning at fertilization and call for criminal penalties for anyone who kills a pre-born human being.

Its one of 15 policy resolutions that will be advanced to NDGOP delegates during the convention April 5-6 in Fargo, the North Dakota Monitor reported.

The resolution supporting equal protection for the unborn does not mention in vitro fertilization, but says the right to life should be protected regardless of a human beings size, stage of development, environment, degree of dependency, or circumstances surrounding conception.

The Alabama Supreme Court recently ruled that frozen embryos outside the womb are children, causing uncertainty for IVF treatments in that state.

The proposed NDGOP resolution says anyone who kills a pre-born human should answer for a crime, including a principal offender, accomplice, or co-conspirator. North Dakota bans abortion, but the law does not have penalties for the mother.

John Trandem, first vice chair for the NDGOP, said resolutions must be passed by a two-thirds majority of delegates at the convention to be officially accepted by the party.

Andrew Nyhus, executive director for the NDGOP, said each resolution is not binding, but rather gauges where the party lines up on issues during an election cycle.

Resolutions are just statements that the body chooses to make, Nyhus said. Its statements that are separate and distinct from the platform that stand during this (election) cycle until the next convention.

Other proposals include:

A statement reaffirming the states constitutional definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman. It also urges the state attorney general to oppose any attempt in court to restrict the religious freedom of people and organizations who hold sincere religious beliefs that marriage is between a man and a woman.

A resolution opposing adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the Century Code (state law) as a protected class. It also supports the restoration of gender dysphoric individuals, that they may embrace and be comfortable with their natural biological state.

A resolution supporting legislative efforts to eliminate property tax. The measure states merely collecting these taxes is a waste of millions of dollars and their existence is a chief complaint among North Dakota voters.

A statement urging legislators to pass universal school choice containing protections for private, charter and home schools. The resolution also allows for taxpayer funds to follow students to the place that best fits their educational needs.

A measure opposed to cronyism. The resolution states a government body that takes money from some to give it to others for any reason whatsoever is distorting the market. It says current policy grants special favors to the politically well-connected through economic development policy and the Department of Commerce.

A resolution that objects to COVID-19 vaccines and government-imposed mandates.

A call for lawmakers to prohibit the use of state funds for programs and offices that promote diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

The resolutions were advanced to the convention from the North Dakota Republican state committee meeting on March 23 and are different from the partys platform.

Trandem said delegates will be able to vote on the resolutions individually rather than as a block, which he called unprecedented.

Ive been to every convention since 2000 and weve never divided them all, Trandem said.

He added, by separating the resolutions, it gives the delegates a chance to weigh in on specific issues without having to vote for an entire package that may have included items they dont support.

Trandem said delegates will not be allowed to debate or change the resolutions from the floor.

In a letter from the NDGOP state resolutions committee, Sen. Bob Paulson, R-Minot, co-chair for the committee, said 43 resolutions were advanced for consideration before a subcommittee curated the final list to the 15 resolutions that were presented to the NDGOP state committee. The resolutions committee was made up of: Paulson; Rep. Jim Jonas, R-West Fargo; Rep. Karen Karls, R-Bismarck; Rep. Rose Christensen, R-Rogers; Rep. Donna Henderson, R-Calvin; and Delvin Boehm, Amber Vibeto, Isaiah Deal, Dan Gwynn and Richard Glynn.

Resolutions can serve as a policy tool, Nyhus said. If you are a policymaker, youll have to judge for yourself as to how much you care that two-thirds of the convention supports that statement.

Sandi Sanford, chair of the NDGOP, agreed with Nyhus that no one should be held accountable for their support, or opposition, to each of the resolutions.

This year, state party officials are circulating the resolutions ahead of the convention so more delegates will have time to absorb them and be better prepared to vote on the measures.

I think sometimes they can go through these and they fly through these and its just too quick, Sanford said.

About 1,600 delegates have registered for the convention, she said.
Afghans are being pushed back, fenced out, and left to fend for themselves in the face of Taliban persecution and widespread hunger.

Hundreds of thousands of undocumented Afghans have been kicked out of neighboring countries and forcibly returned to Afghanistan in recent months. Millions more are slated to join them, complicating the already daunting humanitarian effort to stave off a famine.

Underscoring that Afghans are not welcome, neighboring states are rolling out the barbed wire in an attempt to keep them out.



Returnee Overload



Over the course of a year, a total of 1.5 million Afghans have been forcibly returned to Afghanistan by various countries, the Taliban said earlier this month.



Most, according to migration officials, were sent back by Pakistan, Iran, and Turkey -- for decades destinations for Afghan migrant workers as well as refugees looking to escape war and poverty. Others have been sent back from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

That number could more than double if Iran and Pakistan fully carry out their goals of deporting all undocumented Afghans, including asylum-seekers who face persecution under the Taliban and some who have not lived in their home country for decades or were born abroad.



Pakistan was initially accommodating to Afghans fleeing Taliban rule, serving as a temporary destination for many as they sought asylum in a third country.



But since October 2023, when Islamabad announced its plans to expel more than 1.7 million "undocumented foreigners," more than a half million Afghans have been forced to leave Pakistan, Abdulmatallab Haqqani, spokesman for the Talibans Refugees and Repatriations Ministry, said this week.



Some of the new arrivals are now trying to resettle in a homeland they have never stepped foot in, and most are being held in temporary tent camps set up along Afghanistan's eastern border with Pakistan, where aid groups are struggling to provide them with emergency relief.

More than half of Afghanistan's population of around 40 million faces a food security crisis that is approaching the level of a famine, according to aid and rights groups.



According to the UN's World Food Program, the situation is contributing to "a humanitarian crisis of incredible proportions" that has "grown even more complex and severe since the Taliban took control" in August 2021. The UN body warns that Afghanistan is on the brink of economic collapse, with the currency struggling and food prices on the rise.



The vast majority of the returnees aim to return to their provinces of origin, according to the International Organization for Migration Afghanistan, but many have no homes or livelihoods to return to.



The new arrivals have been welcomed in Afghanistan, UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) senior public information officer Caroline Gluck told RFE/RL in written comments, but "there are limited capacities to offer them the support they need."

"The arrival of around a half million Afghans from Pakistan is putting a huge strain on already limited services -- from health to shelter, work opportunities, and schools," Gluck said.



"Many have arrived, having spent all their life in Pakistan and never having set foot in Afghanistan," Gluck added, noting that more than 23 million Afghans are in need of humanitarian aid.



Like many returnees, Abdul Basit, a migrant who recently left Pakistan and moved to Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar Province, has experienced difficulties settling back in.



Basit told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi that there is no work and he and other deportees spend much of their time bouncing around from government office to government office.

The situation now promises to get even worse, with a second phase set to begin on April 15 to expel Afghan citizens from Pakistan, meaning more than 1 million Afghans could be potentially deported.



To the west, Iran is also engaged in a concerted effort to push out Afghans.



According to Iranian officials, more than 1 million undocumented Afghans have been deported in the past year. That number, too, could more than double, with Tehran saying it intends to expel half of the 5 million Afghans it estimates live in Iran.



In the meantime, Iran has taken steps to make Afghans' lives difficult on its territory, with migrants and refugees barred from living in, traveling to, or seeking employment in more than half of Iran's 31 provinces.



Amid rising resentment against Afghan migrant workers whom some Iranians accuse of stealing their jobs, parliamentary committees and officials have also discussed plans that would introduce strict punishments for renting homes or hiring undocumented foreigners.

Heydayatullah, an Afghan laborer who gave only his first name to Radio Azadi, said he was recently deported from Iran after spending only 20 days in the country.



He said that now that he is back in Afghanistan, he is unemployed and has no way of supporting his family of six.



Nasir Ahmad, a 30-year-old who was deported from Iran and has tried to settle in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e Sharif, said "there is no work in Afghanistan" and that he had depended on traveling to Iran to support his wife and children. Now, he says, he is ready to work for a pittance if only he could find employment.



Fenced Out



From all sides, Afghanistan's neighbors are taking steps to prevent Afghans from entering their territory, a situation that has led to tensions and occasional clashes.



The efforts are far-reaching, including Tajikistan calling on fellow members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to establish a "security belt" along the Afghan border to combat drug trafficking, and Turkey's construction of a 170-kilometer wall along its border with Iran that is widely seen as intended to keep Afghan migrants out.

But most of the work is being done along Afghanistan's borders with Pakistan and Iran.



In April 2023, Pakistan announced it was "98 percent" done installing fencing along its around 2,600-kilometer border with Afghanistan. Ahmed Sharif, the spokesman for the Pakistani military's media department, said the barrier was intended to prevent "terrorists" from crossing into Pakistani territory.



But the fence also reinforces Islamabad's anti-migrant position, observers suggest, and has posed difficulties for traders on both sides.



Running along the contentious Durand Line border that the Taliban does not recognize as legitimate, the fence has also left Taliban officials bristling. Having previously boasted about destroying the barbed wire fencing, the Taliban has said it will not allow the fence to be completed.



Tensions along the border have risen considerably in recent days, with Islamabad this week launching retaliatory air strikes on armed groups it says have carried out militant attacks in Pakistan and are hiding out in Afghanistan.



The Taliban, in turn, said its forces had fired at Pakistani positions in retaliation on March 17.

Iran, meanwhile, has launched its own initiative to block the paths of Afghans across its 920-kilometer border with Afghanistan.



Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said in January that the project was a "complete plan" that went beyond the erection of a wall along a porous 74-kilometer stretch of the border, stressing it is a top priority to seal gaps in the border that are being "misused."



Observers note the initiative comes after Iran accused extremist groups in Afghanistan of attacks on Iranian territory as well as following clashes between Iranian and Taliban border forces that reportedly led the Taliban to reinforce the border.



Aziz Maaraj, a former Afghan diplomat in Iran, told Radio Azadi that "Iran is installing cameras and barbed wire" to prevent smuggling and the entrance of illegal migrants, as well as to protect itself against future clashes and possible militant attacks.



Fereshta Abbasi, a researcher in the Asia division at Human Rights Watch, told RFE/RL that "definitely, Iran and Pakistan are trying to send the message to Afghans that they are not welcome."



Contributing to the problem is that the international community has been slow in living up to commitments to resettle Afghan asylum seekers and refugees who fled after the Taliban seized power. That has left thousands of Afghans who did find temporary refuge in neighboring countries as they awaited processing at the risk of having to return to the persecution and insecurity they fled.

"Some of these people who are now being forced to leave Pakistan and Iran are the ones whose lives are not safe inside Afghanistan," Abbasi said.



"The Taliban have arbitrarily detained journalists, human rights activists, former government employees, and former security officers. These people have been tortured. In some cases, they have been forced to disappear and killed," she added.



Outside countries have also been slow to deliver money, leaving the coffers of the UN's 2024 humanitarian response plan at just 3 percent of expected levels, coming after the 2023 plan was only funded by half, according to Abbasi.



"These governments are not living up to their commitments," Abassi said, adding that Afghans who worked with the previous Western-backed government or alongside Western forces are at particular risk. "They need to be reminded of the fact that they are leaving those Afghans behind who have stood by them."
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 entered a concert hall just outside Moscow on March 22 and opened fire, killing at least 139 people in the deadliest terror attack in Russia since the hostage crisis at a school in Beslan, in the North Caucasus, in September 2004. The extremist group Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, which came five days after President Vladimir Putin secured a new term in a tightly controlled election marred by evidence of massive fraud.

Russia expert Mark Galeotti is a political analyst, author, and honorary professor at the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES) in London. RFE/RL's Steve Gutterman spoke to him about the Crocus City Hall attack on the March 25 edition of The Week Ahead In Russia podcast. (Subscribe here.)

RFE/RL: This was the first major attack of its kind in Russia since, I believe, 2017. And by far the deadliest in almost 20 years, since the Beslan school hostage crisis in September 2004, which ended with more than 330 people dead, more than half of them children. Mark, for my first question, I'm going to refer back to Beslan. After that attack, [Russian President Vladimir] Putin put some of the blame on Washington and the West, insinuating they were supporting Islamic militants in the North Caucasus in an effort to weaken or destroy Russia -- the latter part of which has been, of course, a common accusation or theme of Putin's over the ensuing 20 years: that the West is out to to hold Russia back and essentially destroy it.



In his first public remarks on the Crocus City Hall attack, which came more than 18 hours after the attack, [Putin] claimed without providing evidence that Ukraine had provided a window on the border between Russia and Ukraine to enable the attackers to try to escape. And there's been plenty of propaganda in the Russian media pointing the finger at Ukraine. Kyiv has adamantly denied any involvement. And of course, Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility.

The United States has indicated that it believes IS was behind it. Mark, what do you think about these Russian insinuations? What about those who say Russia could have staged this as a false flag? After all, Putin has used terror attacks in the past as a pretext to clamp down on dissent inside Russia.



Mark Galeotti: We tend to obviously come back to these false flag allegations, particularly because of the 1999 apartment bombings that in so many ways eased the way for a relatively unknown Putin to become president. However, just because there was that one particular case, we shouldn't assume everything that happens is a false flag -- as, to be perfectly honest, some people in the wonderful and deranged world of social media do.

If one looks at many of the kind of the specific data points that people claim demonstrate that there was something iffy about it -- lets very quickly break it down. The idea that, "Oh, well, there were no security guards at Crocus." Well, we know that there were. The Agalarovs, the owners, have said so, and at least one [security guard], I think, was killed in the attack. And we have other cases of security guards leading people to safety and so forth. So that's not true.

LISTEN: Author and analyst Mark Galeotti, an honorary professor at the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies in London, joins host Steve Gutterman on The Week Ahead In Russia podcast:

[As to] the idea that it's impossible given the density of security cameras and everything else in Moscow -- well, let's face it, even highly secure areas are vulnerable. And particularly Crocus -- I mean, its not actually in Moscow; it's in this sort of commuter belt town, just outside the Ring Road. So it's not really in the main security zone.



As regards the suggestion that it took an hour for any emergency services to arrive, even though there's a base of the National Guard's OMON police just about a 10-minute drive down the road, in fact, it seems to have taken more like 30 to 35 minutes for them to arrive, and the terrorists were out in 20 to 25 minutes.



More to the point, it escapes the notice of people that these things take time; it takes time for people to raise the alarm, for people to realize quite what's going on, for orders to be given for the special weapons forces to be mobilized, issued their guns, loaded up into vans, and so forth. Actually, basically what we have seen is really what one could have expected.



One always has to look at motivation. Putin at the moment, I don't think, needs pretexts or mandates: Hes just awarded himself, after all, an 87 percent vote in the presidential election. He, frankly, is doing every vicious thing he can to the Ukrainians, pretty much. It's not like there's some key escalation. I think it's highly unlikely that this will be used as a pretext for some kind of national mobilization unless he was already planning it.

Given that, actually, he ends up looking quite weak out of this, because there's not going to be some kind of great cathartic outcome. I think we can set aside the false flag notion, just as we can set aside the Ukraine element. To be sure, both HUR (Ukrainian military intelligence) and the SBU (the Ukrainian Security Service) have been carrying out what we could call, sort of, terrorist tactic operations within Russia, sometimes precisely by recruiting dupes or blackmailing them into attacks. But nonethelessthere is absolutely no evidence Ukraine had any responsibility in this. In that case, this is just classic Putin just using it as an opportunity to demonize them.

In fact, this is, I think, exactly what it looks like: Islamic State Khorasan, which is the sort of affiliate in Afghanistan, Pakistan, [and] Central Asia, has long regarded the Russian crusaders as being their main target; they carried out a variety of terrorist attacks in Russia over recent years, and indeed seem to have been behinda case on the 7th of March that the FSB prevented, which was going to be an armed attack on a synagogue in Kaluga.



These are people who clearly have the means to carry out terrorist operations, particularly armed terrorist operations. They clearly have the desire to do so, and indeed, not only have they claimed credit, but they have also demonstrated a certain amount of information about the attack.



RFE/RL: You mentioned in your podcast yesterday that Putin, when he finally did come out and make remarks about this attackmade no mention of Islamic State, let alone Islamic State-Khorasan, even though IS had already claimed responsibility. (In subsequent comments aired late on March 25, Putin said the attack had been carried out by radical Islamists but suggested without evidence that Ukraine and the West may have played roles.) And I guess the only country or entity that he did mention was Ukraine. There had also been a U.S. warning a couple of weeks earlier about potential IS attacks, although I guess that covered the 48-hour period, so it was [some] time ago. Why do you think Putin avoided mention of Islamic State?



Galeotti: It's a combination of things. It may well be precisely embarrassment, having so publicly just a few days earlier criticized America for its warning, saying that in fact it was all a sort of a provocation and attempt at intimidation. Maybe he didn't actually want to admit, "Yeah, OK, fair enough, maybe it was Islamic State after all."

Secondly, I think there is a clear political desire to use this precisely to vilify the Ukrainians. You know, we've got to remember that his war in Ukraine is really not a broadly popular war. Thats not to say that most Russians are actively opposed to it, but certainly the actual support for it is small and probably -- its hard to tell -- diminishing. So from his point of view, anytime he can adduce something as evidence that Kyiv is in the grip of a neo-Nazi terroristic state, thats good -- for him.



Perhaps most importantly, there is actually a serious policy dilemma here. If he says, "Yes, this was Islamic State, operating through the medium of Central Asian residents and guest workers," then, firstly, it aggravates racial tensions, which actually is a problematic issue in a multiethnic, multi-confessional state like the Russian Federation where 10 percent of the population is Muslim. But it also actually then begs the question: What are you going to do about it?

The inevitable corollary would be some kind of crackdown on Central Asians, which as we know from past experience would be handled in a fairly thuggish and insensitive way. At the moment, Russia cannot afford to alienate and drive out these Central Asian workers -- it needs them. It needs them to do the work that frankly, there aren't Russians to do, or that Russians don't want to do.



At the moment, there is a labor crisis: Between the impact of the war and the need to have the defense factories running at full pelt, there is actually a shortage of labor. So, to actually exacerbate that by risking driving Central Asians out of the country -- that would directly impact his war effort and also have diplomatic implications with his relationships with the Central Asian countries, which are feeling much, much less intimidated by Moscow now, and which Moscow needs because these are crucial routes for sanctions-busting smuggling into Russia of all kinds of spare parts, materials, microchips, whatever, that the war effort needs.

In this respect, I think he was afraid, frankly, of pointing the finger at the Central Asians: They have become in some ways the new Navalny: the threat which he dare not speak their name. Therefore he just defaulted to these, frankly, rather lackluster and unconvincing claims about some sort of unspecified Ukrainian connection.



RFE/RL: My second question has a few strands. One, why has this happened now? Two, does Russianow face a major new or revived threat of militant attacks? And three, how are Putin and the government likely to respondboth within Russia and in terms of any actions abroad or any change in the way Moscow is waging its war against Ukraine?



Galeotti: We have to recognize that Russia has continued to face a terrorist threat -- again, it just tends not to be in the news, because it's not as kind of horrifically high profile and bloody, or else, as with that synagogue attack, they are forestalled by the authorities, but this is actually a constant, low-level issue.

Why now? I think these [kinds of attacks] tend to be opportunistic rather than anything else. In many cases, its just when there are people who have been groomed or who have radicalized themselves to the pitch where they're willing to carry out an attack, where often the odds of survival or escape are actually relatively limited....



One can point to certainly some factors that might have contributed. It may well bethat, in fact, the security forces have been rather distracted by the two priorities coming down from the Kremlin, which is Ukrainian sabotage attacks and the domestic political opposition. But I think that only goes so far.



The FSB is a pretty massive organization. It's not like it doesn't still have people working on the counterterrorism beat. This is not, for example, like we saw after 9/11, where there was this massive reorientation of the American internal law and order and security apparatus toward counterterrorism, which meant you did suddenly get people being yanked off, for example, the Russia counterespionage desks, and being hurriedly retrained and sent into new expanded counterterrorism elements. We've not had that kind of structural reorientation of the FSB, and so forth.

So, you know, I think ultimately, it's just one of these things: Unfortunately, the depressingly banal answer is these things will happen, and they will happen when they happen, because sometimes the terrorists will get through.



[As for] in the context of how Russia will respond, we can almost think of this in three dimensions. One of them is, assuming that they keep pushing this notion of the Ukraine dimension -- and it's quite interesting that, yes, this is very much coming out of the usual toxic, outspoken Kremlin talking heads, on television and the like, and also in the more tabloid press. But actually, the more professional observers and commentators are being a lot more restrained about this. They're certainly not saying Ukraine was behind this; they are maybe accepting that there was an element of facilitating, but.

I have a suspicion that there is a degree of embarrassment within the more professional community about this fairly blatantly false claim. So what we might get is some kind of extra-performative attack, as we've seen in the past, like when the Kerch bridge was downed. But maybe it will be in the context of the current spate of Russian missile and drone attacks. It probably won't really change anything. In Ukraine, there isn't really much scope for escalation.

WATCH: 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.



In terms of domestic security, a lot will depend on how the politics of the situation emerges. We've seen these horrific videos of security forces dealing with the alleged terrorists, one of whom seems to have his genitals attached to an electric battery, and the other who seems to have had part of his ear cut off and put in his mouth.



I suppose in part this may be an attempt to assuage the angers of the Russian population, which are understandable. If it doesn't work, if people are still calling for action, then just simply in order to satisfy the baying of the majority Putin may well be willing to actually countenance some kind of crackdown on a minority. So we still may well see him forced into a position where he has to do some kind of performative bloodletting. I think he's trying to avoid it, but if that's what he'll do, that's what he'll do.



The third real issue in terms of the response is this: It was striking when, before the terrorist attack, we had presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov make this interview with [Russian media outlet] Argumenty i Fakty, which caused a certain amount of commotion because he used the w word related to Ukraine: the word war. Now some people are saying, "Oh, well, this was Peskov admitting that Russia is at war." Well, that's not actually what he was saying. He was simply reiterating the wider question about the fact that as far as the Kremlin is concerned, what's happening in Ukraine -- the "special military operation," so-called -- is just one part, one front of a wider war with the West.

Putin had used that language in his state of-the-union [address on February 29] and so forth. It's nothing new. But the interesting thing about Peskovs interview, by my lights, was his mention of this notion of this war being important in terms of shaping Russians sense of their internal mobilization. That's a key element: The idea that Russians now think of themselves in a wartime footing, where there is no more middle ground between patriots and traitors, and everyone must push all their efforts.



In that context, the interesting thing is: What do Russians internalize about the threats facing them? Do they actually think everything is about Ukraine and the West? Do they actually think this is about some kind of nasty, insidious terrorist attack? Or do they actually begin to think of Putin as, frankly, failing? He's already failed as the Great Provider because their quality of life is beginning to be impinged. Is he also failing as the Great Defender?

And if that begins to take root, then I think we'll see the Kremlin being pushed into even more extreme actions to try and demonstrate to Russians that it is indeed still able to protect them from all the enemies besieging them. But the point is, these are all things we're going to have to watch play out in the coming weeks.

RFE/RL: What kind of actions might those be, do you think, if Putin and the Kremlin feel that Russians are starting to see him as a failure? There have been plenty of things that have happened since the summer -- there was [Wagner chief Yevgeny] Prigozhins mutiny, and now this attack. What do you think Putin might try to do to reassure Russians that he is the Great Protector?



Galeotti: The interesting thing is that all the options are pretty much self-harming ones. Obviously, we can expect a lot of security theater, we can expect a lot more uniforms on the streets, and document checks and all that kind of thing, which actually have very little effect in terms of real security but make people believe things are being done.



Beyond that, though -- especially if it becomes harder and harder to sustain the Ukraine connection. When you've visibly got four Central Asians as your assassins, and also a sort of support network who apparently are also largely or entirely drawn from Central Asian origins, people will quickly enough draw their own conclusions.



Already, if you look at Russian social media, the Islamic State dimension and the ethnic dimension is being played up a lot. So, Putin is not able to capture the national debate in that way. If he's going to act against that -- I mentioned about the risks of some kind of crackdown on Central Asians. We've also got people arguing that there should be an end to uncontrolled migration -- not that it is uncontrolled migration, but you know, actually making it harder for Central Asians to come to Russia, [with] more security checks and document checks and so forth. That might be done.

But if so, again, it's going to make it harder and less economically viable for people to come to Russia. We might even actually see people wanting to review the visa regulations relating to particularly Tajikistan, because the four [alleged suspects Russian courts have ordered held in pretrial detention] are all of Tajik extraction, which is already worrying and annoying the Tajik authorities.

We may well see a series of moves which are essentially designed to satisfy Russians, but which in practice will both damage the Russian economy and damage Russias standing with its crucial Central Asian allies.



RFE/RL: Another question about the U.S. warning: Putin really, as you said, dismissed and kind of angrily criticized the U.S. warning that there could be an attack. Why do you think he did that? What does it say about relations between Russia and the West and the United States? Obviously [relations] are in extremely bad shape. But in the past, they've listened to each other on these kinds of warnings sometimes.



Galeotti: I think the Americans clearly gave this warning in good faith. However, Putin has a tendency to mirror-image. I suspect that just as he probably wouldn't hesitate to issue a bogus warning for political, informational purposes, I think that when those 48 hours the warning pertained to -- which was March 8-9 -- had passed without incident, I think he got angry and thought this was, in fact, an attempt by the Americans to rattle Russians before the election.

Remember, one of the key Kremlin goals was precisely to ensure that there was a high turnout. If people are worried that some place where you cluster together might become a terrorist attack, then conceivably it might have affected turnout. So, I think Putin, imputing on Americans precisely the kind of goals that he might have had, decided to angrily strike back.



It's also worth noting that we are in a position where we really don't know much about the nature of this warning. American sources are saying, Oh, it was all pretty specific. Russian sources are saying it was all pretty generic. The Americans also been saying that they think that there's been a heightened risk from Islamic State-Khorasan since November -- well, that was months ago.

To say that there may be an attack, and it may be an attack on some large gathering, including concerts, and it may be at some point this month, is not really very actionable. Now, that said, at the moment, I have no idea. I have no idea whether in fact, it was, "We think it's going to be, you know, on a Friday at a major concert," which is actually quite usefully actionable, or whether it was very general.



The point is that regardless of what the professionals might have thought -- and there are some suggestions of a slightly increased police presence at some events and so forth this month -- it's clear Putin had just convinced himself that those perfidious Americans could not possibly be actually passing on a good-faith warning and that it was all just some attempt to undermine his own triumph [in the election].

The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
In his first remarks following the assault on a concert hall outside Moscow on March 22, more than 18 hours after gunmen killed at least 139 people in the deadliest terror attack in Russia in 20 years, President Vladimir Putin made no mention of the extremist group Islamic State, which had already claimed responsibility.

He did mention Ukraine, however, stating that Kyiv had provided a window on the border between the two countries to enable the attackers to try to escape. He did not provide evidence.

In subsequent comments late on March 25, Putin said that radical Islamists had carried out the attack, for which the United States has said Islamic State-Khorasan, an affiliate of the extremist group Islamic State (IS), bore sole responsibility. But he also doubled down on intimations that Ukraine played a role -- and also pointed a finger at the United States and the West.

Among other wording clearly meant to convey to Russians that Ukraine and the West were behind the attack, Putin said that the United States was using every channel to try to convince its satellites and other countriesthat there is supposedly no indication of involvement by Kyiv. And he suggested that the attack was part of what he described as efforts by Ukraine, carrying out the orders of its Western handlers, to sow panic in Russia as Moscows forces make gains in the invasion of its neighbor.

Meanwhile, state-run media in Russia have avidly played up the idea that Ukraine and the West were behind the attack, as have senior officials and lawmakers. In a brief exchange posted on Telegram, a reporter asked Security Council Secretary and close Putin ally Nikolai Patrushev, [IS] or Ukraine? and Patrushev replied, Of course, Ukraine.

Placing blame abroad for things that happen in Russia -- from terror attacks to peaceful opposition protests -- is nothing new for Putin. He has been doing it since at least 2004, after the hostage crisis that left more than 330 people dead at a school in the southern town of Beslan, insinuating that Washington and the West were supporting Islamic militants in the North Caucasus in an effort to weaken Russia.

But the stakes this time may be particularly high: Putin has just secured a new six-year term in an election marred by evidence of wide-scale fraud, and his decision to launch an all-out invasion of Ukraine has led to a long, grueling war and hundreds of thousands of Russian casualties instead of the speedy subjugation of Kyiv that he apparently expected.

Here are some of the reasons Putin is pointing the finger at Kyiv and the West in the Crocus City Hall attack.

The Narrative

Since the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Putin has tried to turn Russia into a country where a war footing is a matter of course, a fact of life, and to use it to tighten his grip on the country. His spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, recently called for internal mobilization, suggesting Russians should not just back the war outwardly but believe in it as something like a matter of faith -- a striking suggestion given that, for most Russians, support for the war is passive and without personal enthusiasm.

Increasingly, Putin has sought to convince citizens that the country is fighting not a war of aggression against Ukraine but rather an existentially crucial defensive war in which Ukraine is just a tool in the hands of Washington and the West, which are bent on dominating or destroying Russia. This view is enforced through laws that the state has been using to silence Russians who criticize or question the war on Ukraine.

In that narrative, theres little room for a deadly attack by Islamic extremists. The Crocus City Hall attack could suggest that Putin has taken his eye off threats that are more imminent, or more real, than those he says are posed by the West.

The 'Failure'

Against that backdrop, suggesting the attack was ultimately the work of the West may be a bid to soften the blow, symbolic as it may be, from what Alexander Vershbow, a fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank and a former U.S. ambassador to Moscow, said was a serious intelligence failure.

Missing such a threat would be particularly hard to explain in light of the fact that earlier in March, the United States had warned Russia of intelligence indicating extremists had imminent plans for an attack -- and the fact that Putin, three days before it happened, had publicly dismissed the warning as a provocative effort to intimidate and destabilize our society.

So one motive for suggesting that the United States may have had a role in the attack could have been to fit the U.S. warning -- which came ahead of the March 15-17 presidential election -- into the broader narrative of a war in which Russias adversaries would stop at nothing to get the upper hand.

Ukraine has denied any role in the attack, and U.S. National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said on March 24 that there was no Ukrainian involvement whatsoever."

The Dilemma

While theres no visible evidence of a connection with Ukraine, there is an apparent link with Central Asia: Russian authorities have detained at least 11 people and ordered eight of them held in pretrial detention, including four citizens of Tajikistan who are accused of carrying out the shooting.

Because Russia relies substantially on labor migrants from Tajikistan and other Central Asian countries, the identity of the alleged suspects poses a serious policy dilemma for Putin, said Mark Galeotti, an analyst of Russian politics and security issues.

If he says, Yes, this was Islamic State, operating through the medium of Central Asian residents and guest workers, then, firstly, it aggravates racial tensions, which actually is a problematic issue in a multiethnic, multi-confessional state like the Russian Federation where 10 percent of the population is Muslim. But it also actually then begs the question: What are you going to do about it?

The inevitable corollary would be some kind of crackdown on Central Asians, which as we know from past experience would be handled in a fairly thuggish and insensitive way, he said. At the moment, Russia cannot afford to alienate and drive out these Central Asian workers -- it needs them. Between the impact of the war and the need to have the defense factories running at full pelt, there is actually a shortage of labor.

The attack has worsened ethnic tensions, and the public display of graphic footage appearing to show Russian security officers abusing the detainees could be designed to slake any thirst for revenge. But Putin may be hoping to avoid broad steps such as placing heavier restrictions on entry to Russia for citizens of Tajikistan and its neighbors, Galeotti said, because it would damage the Russian economy and damage Russias standing with its crucial Central Asian allies.
DUSHANBE -- Locals in a village outside the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, described Faridun Shamsiddin as a coward and said they were shocked by news their fellow villager was among the suspects in the deadly terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall near Moscow on March 22.

I never noticed anything suspicious in his actions. He left for Russia six months ago and has been sending money home to his family, a relative of Shamsiddin in the village of Loyob told RFE/RL on March 25.



Speaking on condition of anonymity, the man said Shamsiddin, 25, worked at a local bakery before moving to Russia and could not have killed a sparrow. He was a coward.



Married with a son, Shamsiddin was a convicted sex offender and sentenced to seven years in prison for sexual harassment, a relative said. He was granted an early release in 2020.



Asked about Shamsiddins religious beliefs, the Loyob resident said he wasnt a practicing Muslim: He never prayed or fasted, and he drank alcohol.

WATCH: RFE/RL has reached out to relatives in Tajikistan and trawled the social media accounts of some of the eight men who have now been charged over the Moscow shootings, in which at least 139 people were killed at the Crocus City Hall concert venue.



Shamsiddin was among four Tajik citizens charged with carrying out the massacre at the Crocus concert venue in Krasnogorsk that killed at least 139 people in the worst terrorist attack in Russia in two decades. The extremist group Islamic State has claimed responsibility.



Videos released on March 23 showed Shamsiddin telling Russian investigators after being captured that he carried out the attack for money. He said he was paid by unknown people who contacted him via Telegram and instructed him to kill people in return for 1 million rubles (about $10,500). Shamsiddin also claimed he had received half of the money before the attack and said he flew on March 4 from Russia to Turkey, where he went to cross the border to be able to extend his stay in Russia.



RFE/RL cannot independently verify the authenticity of the videos or if his statements were made under duress.



Shamsiddin appeared before Moscows Basman district court along with three other defendants -- Muhammadsobir Faizov, Dalerjon Mirzoev, and Saidakram Rajabalizoda.



'Nonreligious, Party-Loving Teenager'



In Tajikistan, the mens family members were rounded up by authorities for questioning, neighbors told RFE/RL correspondents, who visited the hometowns of the suspects.



Shamsiddins wife, parents, and mother-in-law have been taken to Dushanbe for interrogation, a relative said. "His sister and her three children were deported from Russia, and also her husband filed for divorced from her [because of Shamsiddin's actions].



In Dushanbe, Faizovs mother, Sairam Faizova, said she was in disbelief that her 19-year-old son is alleged to have committed such an atrocity.



Hes not a person who would do something like this. He must have been brainwashed by someone, Faizova said.



Faizova described her son as nonreligious and someone who loved going to wedding banquets and dancing at get-togethers with his friends in Dushanbe.



He even dreamed of studying in China, she added.

Faizova said that before the attack she had been in regular contact with her son, who worked at a barber shop in the Russian city of Ivanovo until quitting in November because of his low salary. Faizov told his family he had since been in St. Petersburg selling fruit, she said.



The last time Faizova spoke to her son on the phone was one day before the terrorist attack.



We spoke twice that day, in the morning and evening. He would only say that he was doing well and asked about me. He talked about his job and said everything will be fine, she said.



Faizov shared Russian songs on his VKontakte social media account and posted photos and videos of himself driving a car and working at the My Style barbershop.



One of Faizovs friends on VKontakte is Shohin Safolzoda, a person named by Russian authorities as one of the suspects in the Crocus City Hall attack.



The youngest of four brothers, Faizov left for Russia after graduating from high school nearly two years ago to help his family financially.



Faizov and his parents shared the same house with his married elder brothers and have been trying to save money to buy land to build another house.

An elder brother of Faizov was taken for questioning by Tajik authorities after the attack and hasnt yet returned home, the mother said. She also has no contact with her husband, who also works in Russia.



Authorities took away our phones. We cant call anyone, she said.



Faizova pleaded with Tajik authorities to return her son and the other suspects brought to Tajikistan, taking into consideration their young ages.



I ask [the authorities] to bring home these young men who have been deceived, the mother said, adding that the entire family was suffering the consequences of her sons actions.



Faizov was brought to the court in Moscow in a wheelchair and wearing hospital clothes. He was reportedly injured during or after his arrest and showed signs of beating. One interrogation video showed Faizov asking investigators: Have I done something? A still from a video was also circulated online suggesting Faizov had lost his left eye after being detained.



Reluctant To Talk



In Rajabalizodas home village of Chamanzor, 15 kilometers east of Dushanbe, most locals were reluctant to talk to our correspondents, saying they dont know him.



In the family home of Rajabalizoda, 30, a relative said on March 26 that he was alone at home after police took the terror suspects mother, brother, wife, and two uncles to Dushanbe for questioning. The relative didnt want to give his name.

The head of the neighborhood committee has also been taken in for questioning, one neighbor said on condition of anonymity. Vahdat district officials were not immediately available for comment.



Tajik security sources were quoted by Reuters as saying that Russian investigators were also in Tajikistan on March 26, questioning family members of the suspects.



Several other Tajik citizens -- including a 62-year-old father and his two sons -- were also detained in Russia in connection with the attack. One of the sons was registered as the owner of the car the suspects allegedly used to flee the scene of the attack, Russian officials said.



Another suspect in custody is Alisher Kasimov, a Russian citizen who was born in Kyrgyzstan.

Written by Farangis Najibullah in Prague based on reporting by RFE/RLs Tajik Service
RFE/RL has reached out to relatives in Tajikistan and trawled the social media accounts of some of the eight men who have now been charged over the Moscow shootings, in which at least 139 people were killed at the Crocus City Hall concert venue.
It was the winter of 2021 when Philbert Shortys family found his abandoned car stuck in the mud outside the small community of Tsaile near the Arizona-New Mexico state line. We knew something happened from the get-go," said his uncle, Ben Shorty. We couldnt find any answers.

Family members reported the 44-year-old man missing. And for the next two years, they searched -- hiking through remote canyons on the Navajo Nation, placing advertisements on the radio and posting across social media in hopes of unearthing any clues.

The efforts produced nothing. They had no way of knowing hed been killed more than a week before they reported him missing.

They remained unaware even as U.S. prosecutors finalized a plea deal last summer with Shiloh Aaron Oldrock, who was charged in connection with Shorty's death as a result of a separate investigation into the killing and beheading of Oldrock's uncle. The 30-year-old Fargo, North Dakota, man told authorities his uncle had threatened to kill him during an alcohol-fueled fight that came eight months after the pair conspired to cover up Shorty's death by dismembering and burning his body on Jan. 29, 2021.

In both cases, Oldrock told investigators, a night of heavy drinking and fighting ended in death at his uncle's home near Navajo, New Mexico.

The details of this tale are more gruesome than most. Yet to those living in Indian Country, the elements underlying the tragedy are all too familiar. Generations of unaddressed trauma combine with substance abuse to create a dangerous recipe that often ends in violence, and law enforcement resources and social support programs are too sparse to offer much help.

Deaths and disappearances

Shortys story is one of many across the United States and Canada, where high rates of missing persons and unsolved killings involving Indigenous people have captured the attention of policymakers at the highest levels.

In 2019, former President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing a task force. Congress followed in 2020 by passing two key pieces of legislation aimed at addressing the crisis. U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, who had championed legislation as a congresswoman, has been working under the Biden administration to solve some of the systemic problems and jurisdictional challenges that have left victims' families feeling invisible.

The Interior Department is several weeks past a deadline for responding to a set of recommendations from a special commission that spent months traveling the country, speaking with family members, advocates and police officials about how best to tackle the epidemic.

Commission members heard hours of heartbreaking testimony from family members who have fought to keep their cases in the spotlight, often memorializing those lost with prayer vigils, special blankets and buttons, traditional ribbon skirts and red handprints painted on sidewalks and buildings.

Like others, Shorty's family now knows the suffering will linger despite the increased emphasis on solving such crimes.

Shorty's family had been left in the dark about what happened, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico Alexander Uballez acknowledged in a November sentencing memo that referred to Shorty by only his initials  PS. Wrote Uballez: They are just beginning to grieve as they were only informed recently that PS was deceased, rather than missing.

Uballez expressed hope that putting Oldrock behind bars would bring some closure, saying that Shorty's elderly aunt could stop looking down the driveway in hopes her nephew might one day return.

Uballez said Oldrock's convictions were part of the U.S. Justice Department's duty to bring answers to tribal communities. While no amount of investigation or prosecution will bring back a loved one, he said, law enforcement partners will meet each case "with urgency, transparency and coordination.

Unanswered questions

That vow of transparency is what has Native American families frustrated. Many say authorities regularly fail to communicate about the status of pending cases. In Shorty's case, unanswered questions about whether there were any remains recovered have left his family guessing as to whether they can ever have a burial for him.

The investigators never called me. They were supposed to but never did, Ben Shorty said in a recent interview. It was all done behind closed doors.

The FBIs most recent list of missing people from the Navajo Nation still included Philbert Shorty. That's despite investigators having had reason to believe he was dead as early as October 2021 with Oldrock's confession. A medical investigators report issued the following spring said that while it couldn't be confirmed conclusively, communications with law enforcement suggested that charred remains found at the home of Oldrock's uncle likely were those of Shorty.

Darlene Gomez, an Albuquerque attorney, has represented dozens of Native American families. The handling of Shorty's case doesn't surprise her.

The FBI does this all the time," she said. They dont even talk to the family until there is an indictment. And very often they dont say anything at all.

While there is a need to keep confidential certain details as investigations move forward, federal authorities did not immediately respond to questions by The Associated Press about the process for sharing information with families and whether people were assigned to serve as liaisons to help families as cases move through the system.

The federal Not Invisible Act Commission devoted part of its 212-page report to related concerns and recommendations. The report references stories shared by families about difficulties in accessing police and autopsy reports: Families are often kept waiting, not knowing if the person identified is their family member or not knowing the cause and circumstances of death nor how the body of their family member was handled."

It all rings true for Bernadine Beyale, the daughter of retired Navajo police officers who founded the non-profit 4 Corners K-9 Search and Rescue in Farmington, New Mexico, in 2022. Her group has conducted dozens of individual searches, and she has helped to build bridges between families and law enforcement to help families avoid feeling like their cases are falling through cracks.

Even if (law enforcement) would just talk to the families, say, `We dont have anything yet but were still working on it,' it would help," she said.

'As transparent as possible'

Records obtained by the AP show that a witness gave a ride to Oldrock in October 2021. He had cuts on his face and blood on his hands and clothes. He told the driver he had just killed his uncle, identified as Erwin Beach. He said he believed Beach had killed his grandmother a year earlier and was going to kill him, too.

Oldrock told the FBI he stabbed Beach repeatedly after Beach swung an axe at him during a drunken fight. Oldrock said the chain of violent events that October day began much the same way as when Shorty was killed months earlier -- with heavy drinking. Oldrock was sentenced in November to 35 years in prison for second-degree murder in the killing of Beach and involuntary manslaughter in Shorty's death.

Whether details are unveiled through court documents or they come from investigators in the field, Beyale acknowledges it can be difficult to decide how to share information with victims families.

If we find a body or remains, I dont give a lot of details," she said. But I try to be as transparent as possible and tell them we dont have a positive ID but we found remains in this area.

Beyale tries to persuade families who want to conduct their own search to let her do it instead. I always ask them if they are not only physically ready to do a search like that, but also mentally ready to find something," she said. "They always say, `Yeah, yeah.' But they are not. I've not found one family that was mentally ready.

Shortys family still hopes to have a funeral. They're ready for closure but are -- still -- waiting on investigators.

What are we supposed to bury? Just nothing? At least some ashes or something," Ben Shorty said. "We got nothing still.

___

Sonner reported from Reno, Nevada. Associated Press reporter Susan Montoya Bryan contributed to this report from Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The Montana Stockgrowers Association (MSGA) is hosting a Producer Profitability listening session for all area ranchers on Tuesday, April 2 at 5 p.m. MDT at the Sidney Livestock Center. The local MSGA board, plus staff from the Helena office, invite all Montana and North Dakota livestock producers to attend and provide input and ideas on where the American livestock industry can be strengthened. Membership in MSGA is not required.

Local member Kristin Larson said one of the concerns is how to get more cows back into production after having so many sold in recent years due to drought and various other factors. The other is how to enable young people to make a living as a rancher. She said the markets are still very good but there are issues and MSGA wants to hear about them from producers.

The session is part of MSGAs Producer Profitability Initiative, a grass roots movement started and led by cattle ranchers who have a vision to create a sustainable future for the American livestock industry.
Family farmers and ranchers from Montana traveled to Scottsdale, AZ., March 10-12 for the 122nd National Farmers Union convention. Delegates and attendees heard from nationally known speakers, administration officials, and each other during policy debate.

Over the past year, NFU has increased membership by more than 12,600 members, as well as continued the impactful Fairness for Farmers campaign. This campaign and meetings with administration officials in the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Department of Environmental Quality have elevated issues of importance to farmers, like right to repair, and anti-competitive practices and market concentration.

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack also took time to address attendees with updates on the Farm Bill and answer questions.

He also announced a Product of the USA labeling rule that requires packages of meat labeled as "Product of the USA" to be born, raised, and processed in the USA. Product with packaging that includes an image of the U.S. flag must also be born, raised, and processed in the U.S.

MFU President Walter Schweitzer called the rule a "great first step" toward mandatory country of origin labeling and said the rule will give U.S. ranchers credit for their high- quality product and give consumers confidence because of truthful labels.

Half of the convention schedule is dedicated to policy considerations, debate, and votes. Policy informs the organization and dictates which issues NFU's president and staff will promote or oppose. Montana's delegation played an active role during policy consideration.

Federal farm subsidies were one issue that was discussed during policy work. As a family farm organization, NFU is concerned that 85 percent of farm subsidy money goes to the largest 15 percent of farms. Numerous policy proposals discussed methods of redirecting government funding. Most proposals generated spirited debate but failed to pass. One proposal would have altered the way the Farm Service Agency Credit Programs evaluated retirement accounts. The change was opposed by Montana delegate Sarah Degn who said, "I came back to the farm with a little bit saved in a retirement account from a previous career. Having to liquidate that account to finance my farm or call that an asset to acquire a loan would have incurred a huge penalty. Farmers deserve to save for retirement too."

Sometimes national policy must be expanded because regional or state needs have become relevant nationally. Erik Somerfeld, an MFU board member and veteran delegate, proposed and successfully passed new policy.

"MFU has had policy opposing the removal of dams on the Snake and Columbia River systems since 1999. Until the last year or so, we hadn't been worried that this could happen. Now that it is possible, we passed policy at National to protect the hydropower produced and the grain shipped by those river systems," Somerfeld explained.

Whether it was networking with NFU members from around the country, learning from industry experts, hearing updates from Biden Administration officials about their headway tackling anti-competitive practices, or helping craft policy to direct the organization in the coming year, MFU delegates left convention hopeful, inspired, and more dedicated to the success of family farms and ranches than ever.

"I'm inspired and reminded why farming is so important. I come home ready and eager to go to work," MFU member John Wicks said. "This administration is listening to our concerns and actually taking action. It's refreshing to see the work of all these people come to fruition for family farms, and it shows that being involved is important and is the only way to get results."

Montana Farmers Union has worked more than 100 years for family farms, ranches, and rural communities. MFU supports its members through: Strong education programs for both youth and adults, by advocating member-driven policies and legislation at the state and federal level, and cooperation through producer-owned co-ops. For more information, visit http://www.montanafarmersunion.com.
A Memorial Service was held Monday March 18, 2024 at 10:30 A.M. at Pella Lutheran Church, Sidney, MT, with Pastor Barb Haugerud officiating. A luncheon followed the service for a time of fellowship and sharing. Steve's ashes will be scattered on the farm in a private family ceremony. In lieu of flowers, please consider making donations to the Boys and Girls Club or Pella Lutheran Church in Steve's name. Fulkerson Stevenson Funeral Home, Sidney, MT, is assisting the family. Remembrances, condolences, and pictures may be shared with the family at http://www.fulkersons.com.

Steven Jay Joslin, rural Sidney, MT, passed away on Monday, March 11, 2024, at his home on the family farm surrounded by loved ones at the age of 81 after a short but courageous battle with ALS.

Steve was born at the Sidney Hospital on Feb. 20, 1943, to Glen and Sena (Hundtoft) Joslin. He attended Ridgelawn School through his eighth-grade year. He graduated from Sidney High School in 1961. He was a lifelong resident of the area. After high school graduation, Steve went to work at Boeing in Seattle, WA, but his heart belonged in Montana to work on the family's farm with his father.

Steve married Annette (Schaaf) Joslin on Dec. 27, 1975. He took over the operation of the farm in 1974. He, along with Annette, spent decades expanding the successful farm business. Steve was honored as an outstanding sugar beet farmer several times.

Steve loved the farm, his family and travel. He and Annette were fortunate enough to enjoy Australia, Russia, Europe and Florida. He was always open to exciting new experiences and foods. His quiet, gentle manner made it easy for him to make new friends. Most who knew Steve were familiar with his sense of humor. He did SO love to tease Annette. They enjoyed almost 50 years of laughter. In addition, he was an incredibly generous man sharing his good fortune with family and charitable organizations.

Steve is survived by his wife, Annette; daughter Theresa (Mike); grandson Dmitri, Sidney; granddaughter Brianna (Jon) Schaefer, Belle Fourche, SD; William Steppe, Idaho; brother Joe (Kathy), Sidney; sister Betty Erlandsen, New Hope, MN; sister Carolyn Joslin, Coeur d'Alene, ID; brother Alan (Jan), Chanhassen, MN; three great grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.

Preceding Steve in death were his parents Glen and Sena, and several brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law. He was a lifelong member of Pella Lutheran Church.

In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations be made to Boys and Girls Club of Richland County or Pella Lutheran Church.

Steve faced his ALS diagnosis with dignity and humor. He was lovingly cared for at home by his wife, daughter and grandson. He left this world as he wanted: "on the farm!"
ALEXANDER TCHEREPNIN (Continued)

After 1933, coincident with concert tours to the Middle East and the Orient, Tcherepnin began to look for a way to escape what he called "my own self-imposed technical formulas," and he soon found it in folklore. He reinvestigated Russian, Georgian, Armenian, Azerbaijan and Persian music, later becoming especially intrigued by Chinese and Japanese folk melodies. Results were immediate: the 1933 Russian Dances for orchestra, a lightweight though effective melange (which, in a graph-like appraisal of his output he himself made in the late 1950s, found only recently in his papers, he classed rather harshly as one of his low points); the Five "Chinese" Concert Etudes for piano of 1934-36, brilliant yet delicate and lyrical; the Suite georgienne for piano and string orchestra of 1938, subtle, refined, emotionally restrained.

Lee Hsien Ming and Alexander

Throughout his visits to the Far East between 1934 and 1937, Tcherepnin taught composers in China and Japan and, with the receipts from his concerts, generously established in Tokyo a press, Collection Tcherepnine, for the publication of his pupils' works. (The prominent Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu once told the author that many in his country consider Tcherepnin a father-figure of Japanese serious music.) It was in the Orient, in Shanghai, that he met a talented young Chinese pianist Lee Hsien Ming, who later became his second wife. Ming had won a scholarship to study in Brussels, so Tcherepnin was able to continue his courtship back in Europe.

During World War II, Alexander and Ming and the composer's father and mother had no choice but to remain in Nazi-occupied Paris, having tried unsuccessfully to escape. Tcherepnin supported the family on his meager earnings from composition lessons and what he called "utility music." He noted that there was a great decline in the quality of his work during the war. "To live through the Occupation was not easy, and I had to compose lots of trash--for dancers, for music halls, and so on, which had to be signed by another name because I was Russian." Little of Tcherepnin's wartime music has survived, which is perhaps just as well, for on his aforementioned graph the year 1944 ranks as the nadir of his entire career.

Alexander and Ming with Ivan and Serge

"Immediately after the end of the Occupation, even before the end of the war," he wrote, "my fertility returned." Once again he began to compose worthwhile music and to resume traveling and concertizing. After he toured America in 1948, he and Ming accepted teaching positions at DePaul University in Chicago, and he later wrote that coming to the United States in 1949 was "the great change in my life." In 1950 his children arrived, and the family stayed in Chicago for 15 years, becoming U. S. citizens in 1958. Tcherepnin resigned from DePaul in 1964 and settled in New York, in order to devote himself entirely to composition and to performing in American and Europe. The Tcherepnins had three sons, Peter, Serge and Ivan, the last two of whom became the family's third generation of composers.

Tcherepnin himself quite accurately labeled his music from 1950 on as "synthesis." He was involved in a conscious effort to consolidate and develop all the previous elements of his style, the instinctive, the simplified, the systematic and synthetic, the folkloristic. "I was looking," he said, "for pure creation, broader forms, rhythmic development and free application of everything I had obtained and experienced."

Ivan and Alexander

There is no question but that the synthesis process made possible some of Tcherepnin's most imposing works, scores replete with melody so wide-ranging as to suggest atonality, dramatic contrasts between simple and complex part writing, polytonal chords so complex and dense as to form tone clusters, and free, invented forms--all constituting an emotionally cool, impressively balanced neo-Romanticism. Among the masterpieces of this last period are the 1959 Symphonic Prayer for orchestra, with its powerfully discordant nine-tone opening and its stunning, perhaps unique, alleluia climax, and the dramatic, intensely lyrical Symphony No. 4 (1957--premiered by Charles Munch and the Boston Symphony Orchestra), tightly argued yet expansive, full of invention and contrast, culminating in a majestic, dissonant polyphonic finale based on a medieval Russian church chant. Also notable in this regard are the Symphony No. 2 (1947-51--premiered by Rafael Kubelik and the Chicago Symphony), Twelve Preludes for Piano (1952- 53), Eight Pieces for Piano (1954-55), Divertimento for Orchestra (1955-57--premiered by Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony), Serenade for string orchestra (1964) and Piano Concertos Nos. 5 (1963) and 6 (1965--premiered by Margrit Weber).

In 1967, Tcherepnin became the second White Russian emigre composer officially invited back to the U. S. S. R. for concerts, the first having been Igor Stravinsky five years earlier. In Moscow, Tcherepnin was soloist in his Second Piano Concerto, and many of the Soviet Union's finest musicians, among them Emil Gilels and Sviatoslav Richter, came to honor him; he then went on to play in Leningrad and Tbilisi, the cities of his childhood and youth.

Being on his native soil after nearly half a century and finding his music enthusiastically accepted was a heady experience. In a letter to the author from Moscow dated May 15, 1967, Tcherepnin described the previous two weeks as "an uninterrupted going," with concerts, broadcasts, "meeting old friends, making new ones, extravagant hospitality...wonderful, attentive, warm audiences. Altogether unique experience, seems to me so natural, so familiar, to be here as if I had never left." In another letter: "Most important and stimulating for me is the 'open door' to the country of my origin--for me and my music--which certainly will mark the rest of my life and is a sort of guarantee that after my death I will not be forgotten."

That Tcherepnin will be forgotten, either in Russia or in the West, is unlikely. He left, at his death, too much of genuine worth. He thought of composing as a duty, "I feel that the process of composition is for the professional composer (at least for me) not a pleasure but a heavy responsibility, a continuous effort resulting from the urge to create. Pleasure comes only when the composition is completed." He himself had rigorous standards, and he once gently but firmly admonished an aspiring student, "Remember Stravinsky's advice: the most important utensil of the composer is the eraser. More you erase, better will be what stays."

Tcherepnin, of course, heeded Stravinsky's counsel the greater part of the time, but, as with all fecund artists, there were occasional lapses. His art, as he frankly acknowledged in his graph appraisal, had its peaks and plateaus--and canyons. As an example, only one opus number from the towering Fourth Symphony is an orchestral suite called Georgiana, a treacly confection gummed together with Georgian folk tunes. (Tcherepnin seemed to me to be less than delighted when Leopold Stokowski programmed Georgiana in the 1960s.) But it should be noted that this was a composer who thought it necessary to write not only works that might stand the test of time but also to provide more accessible, useful scores. Tcherepnin was not a believer in another Stravinsky dictum that every piece should be a masterpiece; and, partly as a rest from his more serious efforts, he took pleasure in creating occasional crowd- pleasers--like the rousing Symphonic March of 1951 and the genial Harmonica Concerto of 1953.

To sum up, Tcherepnin was a major figure, a fact well known in Europe if not entirely appreciated here in his adopted country. At this writing, more than five years after Tcherepnin's death and not long after the 85th anniversary of his birth, there are increasing indications across the United States that his music is enjoying a revival. One anticipates his major works being performed more often by American orchestras and instrumentalists. After all, as Virgil Thomson put it, Tcherepnin's art "has at all periods been filled with poetry and bravura"-- qualities too often at a premium in 20th-century music.

Alexander Tcherepnin was a "compleat" composer, an elegant pianist, a discerning, sympathetic teacher, an extraordinarily civilized man. Those who knew him suspect they will not see his like again.
Kangana Ranaut and Congress MP Supriya Srinath's Controversy Explained

Kangana Ranaut is contesting elections from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh on a Bharatiya Janata Party ticket.

Kangana Ranaut and Congress MP Supriya Srinath Controversy News: A derogatory post by a Congress MP on actress Kangana Ranaut's electoral debut has sparked a fresh controversy, with the National Commission for Women demanding action against the politician. The posting of Kangana Ranaut's photo on Congress spokesperson Supriya Srinath's Instagram account arrived weeks before the Lok Sabha elections in 2024.

Kangana Ranaut is contesting Lok Sabha elections 2024 from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh on a Bharatiya Janata Party ticket. The actress took to social media to respond to Shrinate's remarks, pointing out that she has played various roles, "from a prostitute in Rajjo to a revolutionary leader in Thalaivii. 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."

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In the meanwhile, Supriya Shrinate released a video statement in which she said that "inappropriate posts" made under her username were posted without her knowledge.

"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," she said.

She accused a parody account running in her name of making the post "offensive". "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 account to Twitter," added Supriya Shrinate.



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5 Chinese Nationals Killed In Northwest Pakistan In Suicide Bomb Attack

"Five Chinese nationals and their Pakistani driver were slaughtered during the assault," Mohammad Ali Gandapur said.

Pakistan Suicide Bomb Attack News: In a shocking development, as many as 5 Chinese nationals were killed in the suicide bomb attack in Northwest Pakistan.

Mohammad Ali Gandapur, the territorial police chief, said that a suicide aircraft slammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a caravan of Chinese engineers. A suicide aircraft slammed an explosives-laden vehicle into an escort of Chinese engineers that was on its way from Islamabad to their camp in Dasu within the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa area, Mohammad Ali Gandapur, the territorial police chief, told a news organization.

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"Five Chinese nationals and their Pakistani driver were slaughtered during the assault," Mohammad Ali Gandapur said.

Dasu is the location of a major dam and the region has been assaulted in the past. An impact on a transport murdered 13 individuals, counting nine Chinese nationals, in 2021.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police had reached the spot and begun alleviation operations. The rest of the individuals within the caravan have been secured, Mohammad Ali Gandapur said.

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Pakistan's naval air station in Turbat under attack again!

Majeed Brigade of the outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) took credit for the attack.

Pakistan Turbat Naval Air Station Attack News: In a shocking development, Pakistan's second-largest PNS Siddique Naval Air Station in Turbat was attacked on Monday, local media reported.

According to information, the Majeed Brigade of the outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) took credit for the attack on the naval air base in Turbat.

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Majeed Brigades blames both China and Pakistan for exploiting the resources. BLA claimed that fighter jets had invaded the air base. Chinese-made drones are also reportedly being used at the facility. As the situation evolved, military activity increased significantly in Turbat, with several helicopters patrolling the skies.

According to ground reports, heavy gunfire and explosions continued for more than three hours. It was reported that the Frontier Corps had blocked several major roads in Turbat and that a large force of Frontier Corps personnel was advancing towards the naval airfield. The BLA said it killed "more than a dozen" Pakistani personnel in the attack.

Additionally, the BLA also released an audio clip in which one of the militants allegedly attacked PNS Siddique, in which the militants claimed that various vehicles were attacked. Following the attack, a state of emergency was declared at Turbat Teaching Hospital and all doctors were ordered to report to duty immediately by District Health Officer Kesh.

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This was the second attack by his BLA Majeed Brigade on Turbat this week and the third this year. Prior to this, the BLA targeted Mach City on January 29, followed by an attack on the military intelligence headquarters in Gwadar on March 20.

The ensuing clash left two Pakistani soldiers and eight terrorists dead following an attack on Pakistan's Gwadar Port Authority complex. With several explosions and gunshots.

The increase in terrorist activities in Pakistan, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, is due to the end of the ceasefire between the Pakistani government and the banned militant group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan in November 2022.

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Indian shares traded slightly lower in early trade on Tuesday, with sentiment dented by mixed global cues and rising oil prices amid heightened geopolitical tensions.

The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex was down325 points, or half a percent, at 72,507 while the broader NSE Nifty index was down 74 points, or 0.3 percent, at 22,023.

Bharti Airtel dropped 1 percent on news it is preparing to hike telecom tariffs post Lok Sabha elections.

Paytm declined 1.6 percent after denying reports of layoffs.

ICICI Securities fell about 2 percent after Norway's Norges Bank Investment Management voted against the proposed merger of the company with ICICI Bank, and supported its delisting.

Maruti Suzuki shed 1.3 percent after it acquired a 6.44 percent stake in Delhi NCR-based artificial intelligence startup Amlgo Labs.

Tech Mahindra was down half a percent as it announced the merger of two U.S.-based subsidiaries.

IIFL Finance slumped 4.6 percent and JM Financial tumbled 3.7 percent. The RBI has initiated a special audit for breaches by the companies.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
A federal judge in San Francisco, California has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Elon Musk and his X Corp. against the Center for Countering Digital Hate or CCDH, a non-profit hate speech research organization.

In a statement, the CCDH said the judge has granted its motion to dismiss and strike all claims in the lawsuit.

Following Musk's acquisition of X, formerly Twitter, in 2022, CCDH had published reports about the rise of racist, antisemitic and extremist content on the social media platform.

Musk and X filed the lawsuit on July 31, 2023 seeking to blame CCDH for tens of millions of dollars in lost advertising revenue after the nonprofit reported on hate speech and misinformation on X. Musk tweeted recently that the "CCDH is a truly evil organization that just wants to destroy the first amendment under the guise of doing good!"

CCDH filed a motion in November to strike X's claims under California's law against Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation as well as a motion to dismiss the case in its entirety.

In his ruling, Charles Breyer, United States District Judge of the Northern District of California, denied Musk and X's request to re-plead the case, calling the lawsuit baseless and intimidatory, after CCDH argued that it was a transparent attempt to shut down its free speech.

In his ruling granting CCDH's motion, Breyer said, "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. 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, during a hearing last month, reportedly had described parts of the lawsuit as one of the most vapid extensions of law that he has ever heard. The judge also asked Musk's lawyers then about not filing a defamation lawsuit if it felt that CCDH was making false and damaging claims in its reports.

He further said now, "The Court notes, too, that X Corp.'s motivation in bringing this case is 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 If CCDH's publications were defamatory, that would be one thing, but X Corp. has carefully avoided saying that they are."

Meanwhile, Imran Ahmed, CEO and founder of the CCDH, said the courts have affirmed its fundamental right to research, to speak, to advocate, and to hold accountable social media companies for decisions they make behind closed doors that affect kids, democracy, and fundamental human rights and civil liberties.

Ahmed added that he expects the landmark ruling to 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.

Judge Breyer also granted a motion by Stichting European Climate Foundation to have claims against it dismissed.

Musk is meanwhile facing a number of lawsuits, including a class-action lawsuit from former X employees, alleging that the billionaire fired them following the acquisition without a significant severance pay.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Oil prices held Monday's gains as heightened geopolitical tensions exacerbated supply concerns.

Benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.2 percent to $86.21 a barrel, while WTI crude futures were up 0.2 percent at $82.10.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has publicly acknowledged that "radical Islamists" were behind the recent attack on a concert hall outside Moscow.

At the same time, Putin also suggested a potential involvement of Ukraine in the incident, which occurred on March 22 at Crocus City Hall.

Elsewhere, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cancelled a trip to Washington by an Israeli delegation of top officials after the U.S. abstained from a vote at the United Nations Security Council calling for a Gaza cease-fire.

As the conflict in Gaza enters its sixth month, both Israel and Hamas have rejected the most recent attempts by international mediators to stop the carnage.

The Yemen-based Houthi militants have warned Saudi Arabia that it would be a target if it provides aid and support to the US-British aggression against the group.

The warning comes amid increased attacks against vessels in the Red Sea claimed by the Iran-backed group in support of Palestinians.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Market Analysis
Partly reflecting a rebound in orders for transportation equipment, the Commerce Department released a report on Tuesday showing a notable increase in new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods in the month of February.

The report said durable goods orders jumped by 1.4 percent in February after plummeting by a revised 6.9 percent in January.

Economists had expected durable goods orders to shoot up by 1.3 percent compared to the 6.2 percent slump that had been reported for the previous month.

"The report gives support to the argument that weather disruptions and seasonal adjustment issues rendered January data unrepresentative of underlying trends," said FHN Financial Economic Analyst Mark Streiber and FHN Financial Macro Strategist Will Compernolle.

They added, "Considering the high amount of recent data noise, we do not expect this release to change the market's or Fed's understanding of the overall economic narrative."

Orders for transportation equipment led the way higher, surging by 3.3 percent in February after plunging by 18.3 percent in January.

The rebound came as orders for non-defense aircraft and parts soared by 24.6 percent in February following a 63.5 percent nosedive in January.

Excluding the rebound in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders climbed by 0.5 percent in February after falling by 0.3 percent in January. Economists had expected a 0.4 percent increase.

Sharp increases in orders for machinery and primary metals helped offset notable decreases in orders for electrical equipment, appliances and components and computers and electronic products.

The report also said orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a key indicator of spending, climbed by 0.7 percent in February after falling by 0.4 percent in January.

Meanwhile, shipments in the same category, which is the source data for equipment investment in GDP, fell by 0.4 percent in February after advancing by 0.8 percent in January.

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Dairy cows in the central U.S. states, of Texas and Kansas, test positive for the avian influenza virus, marking the first-time bird flu has been found in livestock.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture or USDA announced that a H5N1 strain was found in the unpasteurized clinical samples of milk from the infected cows at two dairy farms in Texas and Kansas. The virus was also found in a nose and throat swab from a cow in another dairy in Texas.

The virus is reportedly also harming the older dairy cattle in New Mexico, causing symptoms such as a "drop in milk production, loss of appetite, and changes in manure consistency".

The department said its officials, along with the Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and state veterinary and public authorities, have started investigation in those states, as well as in New Mexico.

"The first detection of HPAI in dairy cattle in Texas and Kansas underscores the importance of adherence to biosecurity measures, vigilance in monitoring for disease, and immediately involving your veterinarian when something seems 'off,'" American Veterinary Medical Association president Dr. Rena Carlson said. "A complete evaluation, including the collection and submission of laboratory samples and reporting to state animal health officials when appropriate, and in a timely fashion, are incredibly important."

According to CDC and USDA, avian flu is primarily transmitted through birds, causing symptoms such as discoloration of legs, twisting of neck, loss of appetite, lethargy, and eyelid swelling. The government had culled around 58 million birds last year to limit the spread of bird flu.

The USDA said that initial testing by the National Veterinary Services Laboratories has found that the chances of the virus transmitting to humans are low for now.

On carrying out some additional testing on the farms, the USDA found that the wild birds might have introduced the virus to the cows. However, it ensured that, the commercial milk supply "remains safe due to both federal animal health requirements and pasteurization."

The agency explained that the U.S. dairies only permit milk from healthy cows for further process whereas the milk from sick cows is destroyed.

It further stated that in case contaminated milk enters the supply system, the mandatory pasteurization process will ensure the milk's safety as it "has continually proven to inactivate bacteria and viruses".

The USDA ensured, "Milk loss resulting from symptomatic cattle to date is too limited to have a major impact on supply and there should be no impact on the price of milk or other dairy products."

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Archbishop Thabo Makgoba will receive his Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) on 04 April 2024 at 14:30 during the Rhodes University graduation ceremony

For Archbishop Thabo Makgobas significant impact on society, Rhodes University will confer upon him the degree of Doctor of Laws (LLD) (honoris causa).

This honorary degree is in recognition of Archbishop Makgoba's role as a voice of reason and a conscience of society, where he has been a steadfast advocate against corruption and the abuse of power. His unwavering commitment to justice and ethical leadership has not only made him a respected figure within the Anglican Church but also a revered leader and moral compass in broader societal matters, further cementing his legacy as a champion for integrity, human rights, and social justice in South Africa and beyond.

Makgoba, born on December 15, 1960, in Alexandra, Johannesburg, is the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town and a notable figure in South Africa for his work in social justice, education, and his advocacy on environmental issues. He began his ministry in the Diocese of Johannesburg, serving in various roles before becoming the bishop suffragan of the Diocese of Grahamstown. He was elected as the Archbishop of Cape Town in 2007, becoming the youngest person to hold this position.

Makgoba's academic journey includes a PhD in Business Administration from the University of Cape Town, focusing on African workplace spirituality in South African mines. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the Allan Gray School for Values at UCT and has served as the Chancellor of the University of the Western Cape since 2012. To this effect, The Archbishop Thabo Makgoba Development Trust (ATMDT), established in 2012, operates as a small grant-giving entity. It focuses on three pivotal areas: education, food security, and the pursuit of social justice.

Furthermore, the ATMDT has contributed endowments to various universities for the purpose of conducting an annual lecture centered on Values-Based Leadership. In this tradition, the Rhodes Business School is set to present its 10th ATMDT Annual Lecture in the year 2024.

Makgoba's views on social justice and inclusivity are particularly notable. He has been open to discussions regarding the Anglican Church's stance on homosexuality, advocating for the church to provide pastoral guidelines for homosexual couples in "covenanted partnerships." His leadership saw the Anglican Diocese of Cape Town pass a resolution in 2009 to work towards more inclusive pastoral care. Despite facing setbacks, such as the rejection of proposals to bless same-sex unions by church synods, Makgoba has continued to advocate for inclusivity within the church.

Archbishop Makgoba's contributions extend beyond the church into the wider community. He has used his platform to make political statements on current affairs, condemning violence and supporting peaceful resolutions to conflicts. He has received numerous accolades for his service, including the Cross of St Augustine from the Archbishop of Canterbury in 2008 and several honorary doctorates from universities worldwide. His published works include "Faith and Courage: Praying with Mandela" and "Connectedness," reflecting his engagement with spiritual leadership and community connectivity.

In a podcast interview with Nicky Gumbel, Archbishop Makgoba shared insights into his dream for South Africa, the importance of forgiveness, and his relationship with Nelson Mandela. He spoke about growing up in a dangerous region of South Africa, facing racial injustice and gang violence, yet holding a forgiving disposition taught by his mother. His relationship with Mandela was marked by profound respect and shared moments of prayer and laughter, emphasising the former president's teachings on fighting against injustice.

Archbishop Makgoba's life and work embody a commitment to social justice, inclusivity, and the transformative power of forgiveness and spiritual leadership in addressing societal challenges.

Archbishop Makgoba will receive his Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) on 04 April 2024 at 14:30 during the Rhodes University graduation ceremony.
Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have captured a detailed image of NGC 1651, a globular cluster located in the constellation of Mensa.

Globular clusters are densely packed, spherical collections of hundreds of thousands or even millions of stars.

They are among the oldest known objects in the Universe and are preferentially associated with the oldest components of galaxies.

Our Milky Way Galaxy hosts at least 150 such objects and a few more are likely to exist hidden behind the Galaxys thick disk.

NGC 1651 is part of the Large Magellanic Cloud, the largest and brightest of the Milky Ways satellite galaxies.

First discovered by the English astronomer John Herschel on November 3, 1834, this globular cluster lies approximately 162,000 light-years away in the constellation of Mensa.

Otherwise known as ESO 55-30 or LW 12, NGC 1651 has a diameter of 120 light-years.

A notable feature of this image is that NGC 1651 almost fills the entire image, even though globular clusters are only about 10 to 300 light-years in diameter, Hubble astronomers said.

In contrast, there are numerous Hubble images that feature entire galaxies  which can be tens or hundreds of millions of light-years in diameter  that also more or less fill the whole image.

The color image of NGC 1651 is made up of observations from Hubbles Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) in the near-infrared and optical parts of the spectrum.

A common misconception is that Hubble and other large telescopes manage to observe wildly differently sized celestial objects by zooming in on them, as one would with a specialized camera here on Earth, the astronomers said.

However, whilst small telescopes might have the option to zoom in and out to a certain extent, large telescopes do not.

Each telescopes instrument has a fixed field of view (the size of the region of sky that it can observe in a single observation).

For example, the ultraviolet/visible light channel of WFC3, the channel and instrument that were used to collect the data used in this image, has a field of view roughly one twelfth the diameter of the Moon as seen from Earth.

Whenever WFC3 makes an observation, that is the size of the region of sky that it can observe.

The reason that Hubble can observe objects of such wildly different sizes is two-fold, they said.

Firstly, the distance to an object will determine how big it appears to be from Earth, so entire galaxies that are relatively far away might take up the same amount of space in the sky as a globular cluster like NGC 1651 that is relatively close by.

In fact, theres a distant spiral galaxy lurking in this image, directly left of the cluster  though undoubtedly much larger than this star cluster, it appears small enough here to blend in with foreground stars!

Secondly, multiple images spanning different parts of the sky can be mosaiced together to create single images of objects that are too big for Hubbles field of view.
Fisher-Price has laid off 75 to 100 workers at its headquarters in East Aurora.

The company is moving three of its brands to the Mattel headquarters in El Segundo, Calif.: Barney, Thomas & Friends and Imaginext.

Workers in a variety of positions on a number of levels supporting those brands were laid off. Some workers last day will be Tuesday, others will stay on into June to see the brands through their transition to California. Workers were told they could reapply for their jobs in California.

Fisher-Price declined to answer questions on the record, and declined to say how many workers are left at Fisher-Price in East Aurora, which employed about 750 people six years ago  its most recent employment report.

Beyond our global Mattel employee totals, we dont break out by office. East Aurora campus totals also fluctuate given season workforce, Mattel said in a statement.

Fisher-Price said it has no plans to close operations in East Aurora or move the Fisher-Price headquarters away.

There is no change regarding the headquarters location for Fisher-Price. It remains East Aurora, Mattel said in a statement.

In Mattels 2024 Virtual Investor Presentation earlier this month, Mattel Chief Brand Officer Lisa McKnight detailed some of the companys restructuring goals.

Going forward, we expect to drive topline growth and increase profitability in the preschool segment by leveraging our global scale, deep catalogue of iconic preschool brands, as well as relationships with third party IP owners, she said. Aligned with our strategy for Fisher-Price, we are evolving our structure to manage these two new segments.

Fisher Price Core would continue to be managed from East Aurora, where we have a unique skill set and expertise in early child development, she said.

The preschool business will move to El Segundo to leverage the strength of our global brand teams expertise and create closer collaboration with our franchise management and studio partners, she said.

Were taking active steps and making strategic changes to Fisher-Price and the Infant, Toddler, and Pre-School category as a whole. We believe we can grow topline and improve margins to drive sustainable profitable growth, McKnight said.

In a letter to Mattel last month, activist investor Barington Capital Group urged the company to fix or sell its American Girl and Fisher-Price brands.

The long decline at both Fisher-Price and American Girl suggests that Mattel may not be the right owner of these brands. We believe that these brands are now detracting from the success at Mattels other segments and hurting shareholder value, James Mitarotonda, Barringtons chairman, wrote in the letter.

Mattels Fisher-Price and American Girl segments have witnessed dramatic and consistent revenue declines over a multi-year period, he wrote.

Things have been steadily declining at Fisher-Price in East Aurora for years. Founded in 1930 by Herm Fisher and Irving Price, it was once a major employer where toys were designed and manufactured.

By 1991, Fisher-Price had cut its 3,400-person workforce in half. The company lost another 450 workers when it closed its East Aurora toy-making operations, 720 when it closed its Holland manufacturing site and 250 more when it cut back at its Medina plant.

An additional 170 jobs were shed at the East Aurora headquarters. Those closures were a result of Mattel and Fisher-Price moving toy manufacturing to plants in Mexico and China.

Fisher-Price was bought by Mattel in 1993. Mattel immediately cut about 100 redundant corporate positions.

In 1995, it trimmed an additional 700 employees from its Medina factory before closing it for good in 1997. In 2013, Mattel consolidated certain operations to Mattels North America Division in El Segundo. That move resulted in the loss of 100 workers in East Aurora.

Millions of Fisher-Price Rock N Play Sleepers have been recalled since 2019, after being tied to roughly 100 infant deaths.

Earlier this year, it was announced that Fisher-Prices top-ranking executive in East Aurora, Chuck Scothon, would leave Fisher-Price after three decades with the company.
Remote monitoring technology specialist Big Technologies reported double-digit organic revenue growth of 10% in its preliminary results on Tuesday, reaching 55.2m compared to 50.2m in 2022.

The AIM-traded firm said that despite a slight decrease in gross margin to 70.7% in 2023 from 72.5% a year earlier, it maintained strong profitability, with statutory operating profit at 16.8m, down from 20.6m, and adjusted operating profit rising to 28.2m from 27.1m.

Adjusted EBITDA reached 33m, up from 30.5m year-on-year, with the margin relatively stable at 59.8%, compared to 60.7% a year earlier.

Operational highlights included the establishment of a new office in Latin America and the mobilisation of resources to support a new customer in the Asia-Pacific region.

The company said it also expanded its business development efforts in the US, bolstering its sales team to drive growth in the country.

Additionally, Big Technologies launched Buddi substance detection technologies and finalised the development of its first body-worn alcohol detection technology, the Buddi AlcoTag.

Looking ahead, the company said it anticipated maintaining momentum into the new financial year, supported by a solid pipeline of opportunities and a clear strategy for business development and investment.

Despite potential short-term headwinds resulting from the end of a contract in Colombia, Big Technologies said it expected to remain highly profitable and cash-generative in 2024.

The board said it was confident in a return to growth in 2025 and beyond, buoyed by long-term growth drivers in criminal justice, where electronic monitoring offered a viable alternative to incarceration.

In difficult market conditions, 2023 has seen the group deliver a strong performance with continued growth in sales, profits and our cash reserves, said chief executive officer Sara Murray.

We continue to invest in the business and in our market-leading suite of monitoring products and expect to see growth in the coming years.

Murray said the company was obviously disappointed with the outcome in Colombia, with a customer that it had served for a number of years.

We see a pipeline of attractive business opportunities around the globe and will continue to work diligently to grow, and decrease concentration in, our revenue stream.

At 1356 GMT, shares in Big Technologies were up 2.34% at 132.53p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
Trade at the vital US port of Baltimore has come to a standstill after a container cargo ship hit and collapsed a large section of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

The port is the biggest port facility for specialised cargo - roll-on/roll-off ships - and passenger facilities. It has seen growth in large container ships such as the 289-metre-long Dali carrying goods for the shipping giant Maersk that hit a pillar of the bridge around on Tuesday morning.

"The bridge is seen as an essential link on the Baltimore Beltway. US infrastructure is ageing and sometimes unsafe and will give (President Joe) Biden more reason to ramp up infrastructure spending," said analysts at broker SP Angel.

Officials are searching for survivors, including road repair crews who had been working on the bridge  part of Interstate highway 695  when the cargo ship struck.

Baltimore fire chief James Wallace told reporters at a news conference that officials were searching for upwards of seven people with two others pulled from the water - one of whom was in serious condition.

The ship lost power and issued a mayday call shortly before striking the bridge, which gave authorities a brief opportunity to stop cars and try to evacuate the span before it collapsed, the New York Times cited unnamed federal and state officials. CCTV footage of the incident appeared to show the Dali's lights darken twice before impact.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com
Gambling operator 888 Holdings reported a significant uptick in revenue in its 2023 results on Tuesday, up 38% to 1.71bn, while adjusted EBITDA jumped 41% to 308.3m on a reported basis.

The London-listed owner of brands including William Hill said adjusted profit after tax declined 25% to 48.1m, while losses after tax narrowed 53% to 56.4m.

Adjusted earnings per share decreased 29% to 10.7p, while losses per share dropped 55% to 12.6p.

Pro forma results showed revenue stability at 1.71bn, down 8% year-on-year, with adjusted EBITDA largely unchanged at 308.3m, 1% weaker year-on-year.

The firm said it maintained a healthy cash position of 128m, excluding customer balances, and undrawn revolving credit facilities of 150m, resulting in total liquidity of 278m.

Net debt remained stable at 1.71bn, yielding an adjusted net debt-to-EBITDA ratio of 5.6x.

Under its new value creation plan (VCP), 888 Holdings appointed Per Widerstrom as its new chief executive officer and bolstered its executive team with new appointments to drive execution.

The group said it had reset its operating model to enhance accountability and efficiency, leading to approximately 30m in annual cost savings.

A strategic framework had been established, with a focus on operational excellence and six strategic initiatives to drive value creation.

Additionally, the group said it had simplified its market archetypes to focus on core markets and optimise markets, with a strategic review of the US B2C business underway.

Looking ahead, 888 said it was aiming to deliver sustainable revenue growth of 5% to 9% per year, expand the adjusted EBITDA margin by around 100 basis points annually, and reduce leverage to below 3.5x by the end of 2026.

Current trading suggested first-quarter revenue to be in the range of 420m to 430m, with a positive outlook for 2024 revenue in line with medium-term targets.

The board added that the proposed change of its name to Evoke plc reflected its multi-brand operating model and vision to provide world-class betting and gaming experiences.

It said it remained confident in achieving adjusted EBITDA expectations for 2024, and was committed to driving long-term sustainable growth and value creation.

It is incredibly exciting to announce our value creation plan, our strategy for success, our new financial targets, and our new corporate identity, said chief executive officer Per Widerstrom.

Today marks the beginning of an exciting new dawn for this business.

Having joined the company in October, my conviction in the significant opportunity for the group is stronger than ever.

Widerstrom said the company had acted with pace, decisiveness and urgency to build a clear strategy to deliver success.

These actions include significantly strengthening our executive leadership team and developing a new strategic framework and value creation plan.

I firmly believe that the group now has all the key ingredients for long-term success - leading positions in growing markets with high and rising barriers to entry; powerful proprietary technology; a top-class management team; and some of the strongest betting and gaming brands in the world.

We are now clear on what success looks like, we have the team and capabilities to deliver, and I am confident that the execution of our plan will deliver a high return on equity from sustainable profitable growth, enhanced by deleveraging.

At 1026 GMT, shares in 888 Holdings were up 6.74% at 89.45p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
UK engineering group Smiths named a new chief executive and launched a 100m share buyback as it reaffirmed annual guidance after a rise in half-year earnings.

The company which covers the industrial, energy and aerospace sectors said insider Roland Carter would take over as CEO , succeeding Paul Keel who will step down with immediate effect.

Carter ran Smiths Detection, which makes security screening systems and was involved in establishing the group's joint venture in China as its head of Asia-Pacific.

Group operating profit for the six months to January 31 rose 2.7% to 192m. Orders grew 16.5%, although revenue in its general industrial division  its biggest sector  fell 5.5%.

For full-year 2024, we reaffirm our guidance of organic revenue growth within our medium-term target range of 4-6%, underpinned by record order books, the company said.

We expect growth to improve in the second half, supported by continued strength in end markets such as aerospace, security and energy, and gradually improving market conditions in US HVAC and semiconductors. We also reaffirm our expectation for continued margin expansion.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com
The Buffalo Zoo development director is leaving one of Buffalos historic attractions for another  the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site.

Roosevelt Inaugural Site gets upgrades to prep for 50th anniversary Major work is currently being done at the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site, including reconstruction of the buildings Greek Revival

Spencer Morgan, 38, on Monday will become executive director of the Ansley Wilcox House, 641 Delaware Ave., the mansion near the intersection of North Street, where the 26th president of the United States was abruptly sworn into office in September 1901 following the assassination of William McKinley at the Pan-American Exposition.

Morgan succeeds Stanton H. Hudson Jr., who has filled those shoes for the past 10 years and was involved with the board of trustees in a number of capacities for 20 years before that, including a stint as board president.

Stanton has been a vital part of the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site for the past three decades, and were grateful for all he has done to advance our mission and grow our impact, said Christopher Copeland, the board president. Now, we are excited to welcome Spencer Morgan as the sites new executive director. His passion, vision and experience working with museums, foundations and nonprofits make him a great fit to lead our organization into its next chapter.

Morgan, who grew up in Allegany and lives in Hamburg, was chosen after a nationwide search led by an executive search firm.

Becoming executive director means Morgan has come full circle at the Roosevelt site. He was as an intern there in 2008.

I think the Roosevelt Inaugural Site is the embodiment of who we are as the city of Buffalo and Western New York, by telling the history of our city and how we as a community have risen from tragedy, Morgan said.

The two responsibilities of the site, he said, are telling that local and national history, including that Buffalo was one of just four locations where a president took the oath of office outside Washington, D.C.

Programming that emphasizes the sites relevance to todays issues and topics will be a primary focus, Morgan said, along with diversifying revenue and income.

Morgan worked two years as development director at the zoo. He also has held roles as a gift officer with the Fredonia College Foundation at SUNY Fredonia, grants and special events coordinator at Villa Maria College, director of development and marketing at Buffalo Niagara Heritage Village, and curator at the Steel Plant Museum of WNY.

He holds a masters degree in history, with a concentration in museum studies, from SUNY Buffalo State University, and has a Certified Fund Raising Executive credential from CFRE International.

The Roosevelt Inaugural Site was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966 and is the only National Park Service site in the United States with a local board of trustees responsible for management, maintenance, operations, planning and interpretation.

Hudson, who has played an outsized role there, said he needs to step down due to health concerns.

His long involvement with the historic site had provided him the wonderful opportunity to get to know so many dedicated people, from board members to volunteers. Its just been a terrific experience, he said.

I am really happy we have a new generation of leadership coming in, Hudson said. Its really more important than ever to garner as much support as possible from the local community. I think Spencer is very well positioned to help the site, especially in that regard.

Hudson said he heard Morgan speak at a recent meet-and-greet with the board about his love of history, and that his lifes dream was to run a historic site.

This gives him that opportunity, Hudson said. I know hes going to do a marvelous job.
Are 200,000 jobs really supported by the oil and gas industry in the North Sea? Campaigners and MPs are questioning the longstanding government claim. Ministers have repeatedly used the 200,000 jobs figure as justification for pushing ahead with more fossil fuel developments despite the escalating climate crisis and widespread opposition from scientists and energy experts.  Guardian

The Newcastle United co-owner Amanda Staveley faces having to pay a Greek shipping magnate more than 3m after a high court legal battle. Staveley had been issued with a statutory demand by businessman Victor Restis, who claimed she was liable to pay him 3.4m owed from an investment he made in her business ventures.  Guardian

Britain is producing the smallest amount of energy on record as a plunge in North Sea fossil fuels leaves the country more reliant than ever on imports. Around 40pc of oil and gas used in the UK is shipped in from abroad, according to a new report from Offshore Energies UK (OEUK). Meanwhile, 11pc of electricity is brought in using undersea cables linked to the Continent.  Telegraph

ITVs legal bill soared to 24m last year as bosses grappled with the fallout from the Phillip Schofield scandal. The broadcasting giant racked up millions of pounds in legal costs in 2023, some of which related to a KC review into Mr Schofields affair with a young colleague. The This Morning presenter stepped down from ITV in May last year after admitting to an unwise, but not illegal relationship with a male studio runner more than three decades his junior.  Telegraph

A former City figure and his wife who allegedly received at least 23.9 million from London Capital & Finance have agreed a settlement with administrators of the collapsed minibonds business, it has emerged. Simon and Helen Hume-Kendall were accused of using the money they received from London Capital & Finance, which the firm had raised by selling toxic minibonds to thousands of small investors, to finance a luxury lifestyle, including lifetime membership of Annabels, the private members club in London, and expensive travel.  The Times

Executives of an insolvent Aim-quoted in-game video advertising company have bought the business out of administration via an apparent pre-pack sale. James Draper, the founder and chief executive of Bidstack, said they had acquired Bidstack Limited and all the operating entities of the group from administrators at Alvarez & Marsal Europe.  The Times
On Sunday morning, more than 350 booksellers from 28 countries gathered at the Centro Cultural de Belem in Lisbon, Portugal, for the second iteration of the RISE Bookselling Conference. After welcome remarks from European and International Booksellers Federation presidents Fabian Paagman and Jean-Luc Treutenaere, Portuguese author Afonso Cruz gave the morning's keynote talk.

Alfonso Cruz

A musician, multi-disciplinary artist and the author of more than 30 books, Cruz recalled that when he was working on what became his first book, Encyclopedia of Universal Story, he "wasn't thinking of being a writer." He had a background in animation, and was "just writing" for the sake of it. After the success of Encyclopedia of Universal Story, he went on to write many more titles, for both adults and children.

Some of those he mentioned were The Books That Devoured My Father, about a child reading the books in his father's library after the latter's death; an adult novel called Kokoschka's Doll, named for the life-sized doll that Austrian painter Oskar Kokoschka commissioned after the end of his love affair with Alma Mahler; and a satire of capitalism called Let's Buy a Poet, in which people who are deemed less economically valuable can be purchased as pets.

Cruz explained that many of his books, including some for adults, feature illustrations, and he dislikes the stereotype that books with illustrations are automatically for children. He remarked that these same illustrations, which are supposedly for kids, would be pieces of art if they were simply framed and hung on a wall.

Innovative Ideas in the Bookshop

Among yesterday's panels, one focused on "innovative ideas in the bookshop." Pasi Vainio of Vinhan Kirjakauppa in Ruovesi, "in the middle of nowhere" in Finland, described how his store, founded in 1903, has made itself into a bookseller with connections and customers far beyond its village of 4,000 inhabitants. Besides the bookshop, which is "the core of the business," there is an art gallery, a book cafe and bar, an upstairs floor with bedrooms that is a b&b in the summer and a retreat for authors, artists, and musicians in the winter, a laundromat in the basement, and something most bookstores don't have: a sauna.

Left to right: Pasi Vainio, Jan Smedh, Tom Rowley, and moderator Sheila O'Reilly of the Booksellers Association of the U.K. and Ireland.

Through social media and "lots of events," including a very popular three-day festival of literature in the summer, the store attracted 50,000 visitors last year and "35,000 paying customers." In Finland, Vainio concluded, people have said "the physical book is in a big crisis. I say if that's the case, I'm living in a dream world."

Jan Smedh of Sweden's English Bookshop, with locations in Uppsala, Stockholm, and Gothenburg, noted that his stores are not "expat shops." Fully 95% of customers are "Swedes who read for pleasure in English."

Smedh outlined some of the programs and events that the store puts on to attract customers:

Swish-a-Book from Santa is a Christmas gift program (Swish is a Swedish payment system similar to Venmo), under which customers arrange to have gift-wrapped books sent in December.

A monthly book club that features one title in each of 11 categories and includes reading groups for seven of them at all three English Bookshops. It also has a subscription component available for 3, 6 or 12 months, in which customers receive "surprise packages."

A new 2024 reading challenge introduced in the Gothenburg shop that lists 52 books to read during the year and includes a Facebook discussion group.

An informal program whereby the shops bring over English-language authors from abroad who stay with Smedh, do events, and are the focus of a staff dinner at Smedh's home. Besides leading to good connections with authors and publishers abroad, the events are extremely important for staff, who feel "privileged and connected," Smedh said.

Tom Rowley, who founded Backstory in London in 2002, said he based his bookshop and bar in large part on Kramers (formerly known as Kramerbooks & Afterwords) in Washington, D.C., which he visited frequently while working in the capital as a journalist. "I wanted a bar that was integrated, not a bookstore and a cafe," he said, so that the "bookseller becomes a publican," in the tradition of a British pub.

Rowley aims to attract as many people as possible who don't usually read books and promotes the idea of "the bookshop as a place for everyone." Toward that end, he hosts many non-book events, particularly a weekly music concert.

From the beginning Rowley also embraced the Internet. "I figured that the Internet is not our enemy but can be our friend," he said. One example: the store's fiction and nonfiction book clubs take place entirely on Zoom, which has many advantages, including reaching customers worldwide and getting "bigger-name authors than we might otherwise."

He also said that he relishes being able to innovate in small ways every day. "If something doesn't work," he said. "We do something else."

Rowley writes a weekly newsletter and asked the audience to contribute to this coming week's version by sending him a note about what their stores' current bestselling title is and why. --Alex Mutter & John Mutter
Adani Ports has announced its acquisition of a 95% stake in Odisha's Gopalpur Port at an equity valuation of 13.49 billion rupees ($161.74 million). Under the terms of the agreement, with an enterprise value of Rs 30.80 billion, Adani Ports will acquire 56% of Gopalpur Port from real-estate conglomerate Shapoorji Pallonji Group (SP Group) and 39% from Orissa Stevedores.

Karan Adani, managing director at Adani Ports, said, GPL (Gopalpur Port) will add to the Adani Group's pan-India port network, east coast vs west coast cargo volume parity and strengthen APSEZ's integrated logistics approach. Gopalpur Port manages dry bulk cargo such as iron ore, coal, limestone, ilmenite, and alumina. Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) oversees approximately 12 ports and terminals situated along both the west and east coasts of India.

Shapoorji Pallonji Group has disclosed the sale of Gopalpur Port to Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd, marking its second port divestment in recent months. Previously, the conglomerate had sold Dharamtar Port to JSW Infrastructure Limited for Rs 710 crore. The acquisition of Gopalpur Port in Odisha took place in 2017, after which the Shapoorji Pallonji Group initiated port operations following the construction of infrastructure and the establishment of partnerships. Deutsche Bank provided advisory support to the Shapoorji Pallonji Group for this transaction.
An Orchard Park father claims in a lawsuit that the Orchard Park School District retaliated against him after he challenged Covid-19 protocols in 2021.

Robert Robby Dinero maintains he had a target on his back due to his leadership in opposition to protocols, withering criticisms of the School Board and superintendent, who he called cowards and hypocrites, and after he successfully challenged hybrid education in State Supreme Court, according to his latest suit, filed March 12 in U.S. District Court.

The former gym owner became widely known for his anti-masking and anti-lockdown views during the first two years of the pandemic, sharing them online and with local, state and national media.

The district said it would vigorously defend itself against allegations of wrongdoing.

Dinero was prohibited from entering school buildings in November 2021 because he would not comply with district Covid-19 protocols and his disrespectful, disorderly and hostile conduct while on school grounds, according to district officials.

Afterward, he was charged with trespassing three times at the schools his four children attended. He was found not guilty of two misdemeanor charges and found guilty of a trespass violation.

After Dinero emailed the superintendent seeking permission to attend an ice cream social fun night, he was charged with contempt of court for violating an order of protection, according to court papers. That charge was dismissed.

Covid court case heats up over mask mandate at Orchard Park gym The court fight over pandemic restrictions has escalated between the state and an Orchard Park gym owner, with the latest legal sparring featu

After the arrests, his pistol license was suspended and he surrendered his revolver to the Police Department, his lawsuit states.

Dinero also claims the school district targeted his children after they attended school without wearing masks on Jan. 24, 2022, the day after a State Supreme Court judge in Nassau County struck down the mask mandate. The two high-schoolers were told to leave the building and Dinero picked them up, while two children in an elementary school put on masks and returned to class.

Dinero alleges the school district and the Orchard Park Police Department violated his Constitutional rights under the First, Fourth and 14th amendments. He accused them of arresting him without probable cause after he spoke out.

The district stands behind the actions it took during the Covid-19 pandemic, including but not limited to prioritizing a safe and healthy environment for all students in compliance with applicable health guidelines in effect at that time, school district officials told The Buffalo News in a statement. The District will vigorously defend itself against any allegations of wrongdoing and has no further comment at this time regarding the specific allegations asserted in the complaint.

The police chief declined to comment on the pending litigation upon the advice of legal representation.
Pavan Davuluri, an alumnus of IIT Madras, has ascended to the helm of Microsoft's Windows and Surface divisions, marking a significant milestone in his 23-year tenure with the tech giant. His appointment follows the departure of Panos Panay, who departed for Amazon last year, leaving behind a void that Davuluri is now tasked with filling. This transition underscores the prominence of Indian talent in leadership roles within major US tech companies, alongside luminaries such as Sundar Pichai and Satya Nadella.

Davuluri's journey to this pivotal position traces back to his education at IIT Madras, where he honed his skills before joining Microsoft. Armed with a postgraduate degree from the University of Maryland, he embarked on a remarkable trajectory within the company, starting as the Reliability Component Manager and steadily climbing the ranks.

The reorganization within Microsoft, as outlined in an internal memo by Rajesh Jha, reflects a strategic realignment aimed at synergizing Windows Experiences and Windows + Devices under the Experiences + Devices (E+D) division. This consolidation is envisioned to foster a cohesive approach towards developing cutting-edge solutions spanning Windows client and cloud environments, tailored for the AI era.

Davuluri's expanded portfolio, encompassing both Windows and Surface, underscores his depth of expertise and strategic vision. By assuming leadership of these critical domains, he is entrusted with steering Microsoft's endeavors in crafting innovative systems, experiences, and devices that resonate with the demands of contemporary users.

The memo elucidates the ripple effects of this organizational overhaul, with Mikhail Parakhin transitioning to explore new roles under Kevin Scott's guidance. This shift underscores Microsoft's commitment to nurturing talent and fostering internal mobility, ensuring that adept professionals like Parakhin can leverage their skills in novel domains.

Moreover, the integration of the Web Experiences team within the Microsoft AI organization signals a concerted effort to leverage artificial intelligence in refining products and services. This alignment with Microsoft AI's objectives reflects a forward-looking approach, poised to harness the transformative potential of AI across diverse domains.

The collaborative ethos permeating these organizational changes is palpable, with leaders like Shilpa Ranganathan and Jeff Johnson poised to directly support Davuluri in his new role. This collective endeavor aims to capitalize on synergies, fostering innovation and agility in addressing evolving market dynamics.

Rajesh Jha's enthusiasm about integrating AI products like Copilot into E+D offerings underscores Microsoft's commitment to driving technological innovation at the nexus of AI and user experiences. This forward-looking stance positions Microsoft at the vanguard of industry trends, poised to deliver value-added solutions that resonate with consumers and enterprises alike.
Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty are expected to start the day flat on March 26, 2024, as global cues are mixed. As of 7:10 am, Gift Nifty futures were down 41 points at 22,124 compared to the Nifty futures last closing price.

Religare Enterprises: The company recently held a vote among its shareholders to determine whether or not to invest in its subsidiary, MIC Insurance Web Aggregator, and to amend its Articles of Association. Unfortunately, the resolutions did not meet the necessary approval threshold, with a majority of voters opposing the proposed investment in MIC. Out of the 62 percent of shareholders who participated, 74 percent voted against the investment. While the amendment to the Articles of Association was supported by 68 percent of participating shareholders, the scrutinizer's report revealed that 14 members, who held 6.98 crore shares, abstained from voting, and one member cast 2.07 lakh fewer votes than their shareholding, leading to their votes being considered invalid.

Mahindra Lifespace Developers: The company has recently announced its plans to invest approximately Rs 6,000 crore in its residential business over the next four years. The investment is aimed at boosting its business growth, with the goal of increasing its residential business from Rs 2,268 crore to Rs 8,000 crore by the fiscal year 2028, which is a five-fold increase. To achieve this target, the company plans to launch projects with a total gross development value (GDV) of Rs 45,000 crore during this period.

Eicher Motors: The manufacturer of Royal Enfield motorcycles has established a subsidiary in the Netherlands, as a response to the difficulties posed by Brexit in transporting parts to mainland Europe. The company is currently discussing the establishment of a warehouse, possibly in Germany or France, to facilitate the delivery of non-motorcycle items such as spare parts and branded merchandise. Arun Gopal, the international head of Royal Enfield, stated in an interview that Brexit has complicated the transportation of materials between the UK and Europe. He also pointed out that the UK's geographical distance from certain parts of Europe necessitated a warehouse that could more efficiently serve those regions.

Mankind Pharma: An affiliate of private equity firm ChrysCapital, Beige Ltd, plans to sell up to 2.90 percent of its stake in Mankind Pharma Ltd through block transactions. The sale price is expected to range between Rs 2,103 and Rs 2,214, which is lower than the current market price (CMP) by 0-5 percent. The transaction is estimated to be around Rs 2,460 crore, according to insiders familiar with the matter. Beige Ltd currently holds a 2.99 percent stake in Mankind Pharma Ltd.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone: Adani Ports has announced their plans to acquire a 95 percent stake in Gopalpur Port, located in Odisha. The equity value of the deal is Rs 13.49 billion ($161.74 million). The acquisition will involve Adani Ports acquiring a 56 percent stake from the real estate giant Shapoorji Pallonji Group and a 39 percent stake from Orissa Stevedores. The total enterprise value of the transaction is estimated to be Rs 30.80 billion.

IIFL Finance, JM Financial Products: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has started the process of appointing auditors to conduct a special audit of IIFL Finance and JM Financial Products due to regulatory violations. The RBI has released two separate tenders for the appointment of auditors for these two non-banking finance companies (NBFCs). The tender document states that audit firms that are on the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)'s panel for forensic audits are eligible to participate in the tender process. The deadline for bid submission is April 8, and the selected firms will begin their work on April 12, 2024.

Tech Mahindra: An IT services and consulting firm recently announced its plan to consolidate its wholly-owned subsidiary, Born Group, with its parent company, Tech Mahindra (Americas) Inc. On Friday, March 22, 2024, both companies approved the merger. The Pune-based company disclosed, via a regulatory filing, that the merger plan for Born Group, Inc. (a wholly-owned subsidiary) with its parent company, Tech Mahindra (Americas) Inc. (a wholly-owned material subsidiary), was approved by both entities. The aim of the consolidation is to streamline business operations, reduce operational costs, and mitigate compliance risks.

Vedanta: The mining conglomerate has recently announced ambitious plans to invest $6 billion (Rs 50,000 crore) across various sectors, which include aluminium, zinc, iron ore, steel, and oil and gas. The primary objective of this investment is to increase the company's annual EBITDA by at least $2.5 billion (Rs 20,750 crore). The executives of the company stated this goal during an investors meeting. The company has also revealed a pipeline of more than 50 active projects and expansions that are designed to drive growth. These initiatives are expected to generate additional revenue of more than $6 billion. Furthermore, Vedanta expects an increase in EBITDA from the projected $5 billion for the current fiscal year ending March 31, to $6 billion in the next fiscal year, and potentially reaching $7.5 billion by FY27.

Hinduja Global Solutions: On March 22, a business process management company announced that it has agreed to sell its optical fibre assets to its subsidiary, Indusind Media and Communications Ltd (IMCL), for a sum of Rs 208.04 crore. The company has entered into an agreement for this transaction, as stated in a stock exchange filing. IMCL is a subsidiary of Hinduja Global Solutions Ltd, with a 77.55 percent share capital held by the latter, making it a related party. However, the transaction is being carried out at arm's length, and to ensure its fairness, an independent valuation report was procured by the company.

ICICI Securities: On March 22, ICICI Securities said that it had received an administrative warning from the On March 22, ICICI Securities said that it had received an administrative warning from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) concerning its Merchant Banking operations. The warning was delivered via an email dated March 22, 2024. The warning is linked to SEBI's inspection of ICICI Securities' Merchant Banking activities' books and records, which took place in December 2023. Despite the warning, ICICI Securities has assured that it will not affect its financial, operational, or other activities in any way.

Lupin: Lupin, a pharmaceutical company, has announced its plans to separate its trade generics business in India and move it to a fully owned subsidiary called Lupin Life Sciences Ltd (LLSL). This transfer is expected to cost between Rs 100-120 crore. The Board of Directors of Lupin Limited approved the plan in a meeting held on March 22, 2024. Lupin plans to carve out its trade generics business in India and transfer it to LLSL on a slump sale basis, as per a stock exchange filing.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  An officer for the New York City Police Department was shot and killed during a traffic stop in Queens Monday evening.

Mayor Eric Adams held a press conference at Jamaica Hospital in that borough to share with the public details about the slaying.

We lost one of our sons today and it is extremely painful. It is extremely painful, Adams said, addressing reporters at the hospital.

Watch as @NYCMayor, @NYPDPC and NYPD executives provide an update on an ongoing investigation in Queens. https://t.co/i8slnloxPJ  NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) March 26, 2024

According to the NYPD, at approximately 5:50 p.m. in the Far Rockaway neighborhood, Officer Jonathan Diller, 31, and his partner attempted to conduct a routine vehicle stop for a gray Kia SUV illegally parked at a bus stop.

After approaching the car, the suspect inside the vehicle displayed a firearm and pointed it toward the officers, said Police Commissioner Edward Caban. Shots were fired and one of our officers were struck.

There were two individuals inside of the vehicle  the passenger shot the officer not the driver, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said.

According to the New York Post, the suspect who allegedly shot Diller has been identified by sources as 34-year-old Guy Rivera, while Lindy Jones, 41, has been identified by sources as the driver.

Officers conducted a lawful traffic stop at 14-14 Mott Ave., Far Rockaway, Queens, that resulted in the death of uniformed Officer Jonathan Diller. (Google Maps)Google Maps

According to Kenny, Rivera was given a lawful order to step out of the car numerous times, which he refused.

Officers then attempted to take him out of the car and rather than stepping out of the vehicle, Rivera shot the officer, Kenny said.

According to Caban, Diller was shot in the torso underneath his bulletproof vest and transported in critical condition to Jamaica Hospital.

Dillers partner fired back, striking Rivera in the back, according to officials. Rivera was also brought to Jamaica Hospital in stable condition, according to the Post.

Below is the firearm recovered at today's officer involved shooting in the confines of the @NYPD101Pct. https://t.co/feTkyvDFlE pic.twitter.com/ikHEZM3qMK  NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) March 26, 2024

Hes [Diller] been with the department three years, he has over 70 arrests, said Kenny. This is the kind of officer, although shot, still stayed in the fight and was trying to unarm the person that had shot him as he was on the floor.

Once the gun hit the ground, Diller was able to grab the firearm as Rivera was reaching for it, police said.

OFFICER JONATHAN DILLER

Diller had been with the police department for three years, was married and had a young child, Caban said on the social media platform X.

According to the Post, Diller was the father of a 1-year-old boy.

We struggle to find the words to express the tragedy of losing one of our own, Caban wrote.

Adams, a former police captain, said he met with Dillers grieving widow. He called the shooting a senseless act of violence.

Can I say it any clearer? It is the good guys against the bad guys, he said. And these bad guys are violent. They carry guns. And the symbol of our public safety, which is that police uniform, they have a total disregard for.

A CHAOTIC SCENE

It happened so fast, one bystander, Melissa Morgan, 39, told the Daily News. The police officer fell on the floor and the other officers dragged the two guys out of the car. I was running for cover.

Another witness, Deon Peters, told the New York Post he saw Diller on the ground.

He was moving, he was saying Im hit, Im hit, Peters said.

The slaying was the first of an NYPD officer since 2022, when two officers, Wilbert Mora, 27, and Jason Rivera, 22, were ambushed in a Harlem apartment building after responding to a domestic disturbance call, according to the Associated Press.

Patrick Hendry, the president of the Police Benevolent Association of New York, expressed anger.

These attacks on New York City police officers have to end right now, he said. We have a family upstairs thats devastated. We have police officers in this hallway who lost a brother. It has to end now.

A HISTORY OF CRIME

Rivera, who has 21 prior arrests, was last released from a New York prison in 2021 after serving five years behind bars for criminal possession of a controlled substance, according to the Post.

According to the outlet, the accused shooter also served another stint in prison starting in 2011 over a first-degree assault charge before he was released in 2014.

Jones, the driver of the vehicle had previously been arrested for possession of a firearm in April of 2023, according to Kenny.

According to the Daily News, Jones, who has 14 prior arrests, was convicted of attempted murder and robbery in 2003. He served 10 years in prison and was released in 2013, according to the outlet.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Wagner College has launched a new doctorate program in occupational therapy, starting this summer.

The college, located on Grymes Hill, is now accepting applications for its new doctor of occupational therapy (OTD) program  available to students with an earned bachelors degree. Students can apply at wagner.edu/occupational-therapy/admissions/.

For those passionate about making a tangible difference in the lives of individuals, groups and communities, the new OTD program at Wagner presents an exciting opportunity to embark on a rewarding career in occupational therapy, said David Pallister, director of Wagners occupational therapy program.

Occupations, according to Pallister, are the everyday activities that people are required or choose to do that make life productive and satisfying. Occupational therapists work in rehabilitation centers, hospitals, schools, skilled nursing facilities, private practice, assisted living facilities, home health, industrial settings and across a variety of emerging and innovative practice areas. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there is a projected 12% rise in occupational therapy jobs from 2022 through 2032.

Occupational therapy practitioners call upon their strong foundations in the biological, physical, social and behavioral sciences that support their vast understanding of occupation across the lifespan, Pallister said. Occupational therapists make a profound difference in peoples lives by helping them overcome physical, cognitive, developmental, age-related, and mental health challenges through the engagement of meaningful life activities, or occupations.

The new program features both classroom and experiential learning opportunities. The program begins each summer semester, with the first cohort scheduled for June 2024.

In the third and final year of study, all students complete 24 weeks of full-time fieldwork and a 14-week capstone experience.

Graduates of the program will be considered entry-level occupational therapists and eligible to sit for the National Board for the Certification of Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) Certification Exam, which allows graduates to apply for licensure to practice occupational therapy in the state or states of their choice.

Here are the academic requirements for a student to apply to the OTD program at Wagner College.

An earned bachelors degree (three to four years of full-time study; in any field, from a regionally accredited US institution)

3.0 minimum overall GPA (4.0 scale)

B- minimum individual prerequisite course grades

All prerequisite coursework completed (with recorded grades) prior to program start

Sciences & math GPA and individual grades in college-level science and math courses taken into consideration

A GRE or GMAT, which are standardized tests that are part of the admissions process for many graduate schools, are not required.

Wagner College also has plans to develop a six-year bachelors to occupational therapy doctorate degree program, which should soon be available to its undergraduate students.

Wagner College has a proud history of preparing nurses and other health-science professionals to serve communities here on Staten Island and across the country, said Wagner College Provost Tarshia Stanley. We are launching our occupational therapy program to meet an area of need that health providers are increasingly recognizing and to offer students another option for a fulfilling family and community-sustaining career in the health sciences.

Read more about the new program at wagner.edu/occupational-therapy/.
The Staten Island FerryHawks continue to beef up the roster ahead of opening day, particularly on the pitching staff.

The club inked a pair of left-handed hurlers on Monday, including one returnee. Brooklyn native Christian Allegretti is back in St. George after re-signing with the team, while former Minor Leaguer Aaron Leasher is also coming aboard.

Allegretti, a product of Xaverian HS and Bryant University, previously played in the Frontier League and in Panama before joining the FerryHawks in 2023. The 24-year-old posted a 1-3 record and 6.58 era in 28 games last season, striking out 43 in 39.2 innings.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  A new law signed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday restricts children under 14 from having their own social media accounts.

Under the new law, known as HB 3, children ages 14 and 15 will need a parents permission to be able to sign up and sign in.

At the same time, anyone visiting pornographic or sexually explicit websites will be required to use age verification.

Social media harms children in a variety of ways, DeSantis said in a statement. HB 3 gives parents a greater ability to protect their children.

According to the Daily News, a popular adult website blocked Texas residents from accessing their site after a similar bill was signed there, while comparable laws passed in other states are being challenged in the courts on free speech grounds.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  The U.S. Department of State is urging citizens to avoid traveling to Ecuador and is currently limiting travel for U.S. personnel in the country due to civil unrest, crime and kidnapping.

The level 2 travel advisory follows the March 7 extension of a nationwide state of emergency to continue through April 8.

According to the travel advisory, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa declared on Jan. 8 that a nationwide state of emergency was in effect for 60 days due to an internal armed conflict and military action being taken against organized criminal gangs throughout the country.

The U.S. Embassy in Ecuador points out that violent crimes such as murder, assault, kidnapping and armed robbery are common across the country and that the rate of violent crime is significantly higher in areas where criminal organizations operate.

The embassy also warns that demonstrations frequently take place in the country and that demonstrators often block local roads and major highways.

With some demonstrations lasting weeks, blocked roads may significantly reduce access to public transportation, health services and airports, and travel within and between cities.

The embassy goes on to say that with much of the countrys territory being sparsely populated and isolated, first responders and U.S. government officials access is extremely limited and can lead to significant delays in assistance to U.S. citizens.

In 2023, there were approximately 44.5 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in Ecuador  almost double the homicide rate of 25.9 reported in 2022.

If you decide to travel to Ecuador, the State Department suggests you:
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  An NYPD police officer was killed Monday night after being shot during an early evening traffic stop in Queens, NBC News is reporting.

The incident occurred just before 6 p.m. in Far Rockaway near Mott Avenue and Beach 19th Street, the report said.

According to the report, after being struck in the abdomen by a bullet shot by a 34-year-old suspect, the officer fired back, hitting the suspect in the back.

The officer, 31, was transported to Jamaica Hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

The suspect was taken to an area hospital in unknown condition, the report said.
IN CLASS: This feature is part of an ongoing education column highlighting the various activities that engage school communities.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  A new space at PS 58 in New Springville will offer peace and tranquility to students and staff to help restore their mental health during the school day.

The Galaxy of Mindfulness is a meditation and sensory room created by Buddha Booth  an organization that creates mindful spaces across educational environments. The space aims to help lower stress and anxiety, reduce behavioral issues, promote social-emotional well-being, improve working memory, extend attention span and much more.

The new space was themed as a galaxy to fit in with the schools name, the Space Shuttle Columbia School. From the floor, to the walls, and even up to the ceiling, the room has been decorated to look like space  with glow-in-the dark paint, images of space shuttles and much more.

There are several centers in which students can participate in mindfulness activities, including a roundtable with cushions, a serenity center, a waterfall and a meditation pod.

Students are able to sign up for mindfulness time in the room through a school schedule.

DEANS LIST

Some Staten Island students studying at Fairleigh Dickinson University have been named to the Honors List for the fall 2023 semester. These students attend the universitys Florham campus in Madison, New Jersey To qualify for the Honors List, a student must carry a 3.5 or better grade point average out of a possible 4.0 and be enrolled in a minimum of 12 letter-graded hours (four courses).

The students named to the Honors List include:

Andrew Dada

Nicholas Psathas

Veronica Ryan

Luca Bonello

Aleksandra Khmil

Mina Rizkalla

Maggie Banney

Stephen Sforza

Jenna Immitt

Adam Rogers

Emily Lamie

Kleo Kushova

Christine Fahmy

Gina Ishak

Mary Girgis

Olivia Abruzzo

Rana Soliman

Giuliana Marino

Kerolos Gerges

Ethan Yak

Joseph Cusumano

Mark Gerges

Anthony Giardina

Macrina Boutros

Lauren Immitt

Sophia Roloph

Fairleigh Dickinson University features more than 100 liberal arts and professional degree programs, two international campuses and much more.

SEND US YOUR STORIES

Do you have a story idea for the In Class education column? Email education reporter Annalise Knudson at aknudson@siadvance.com.
Editors Note: The author of this article is a Staten Island Academy student who participates in the Advance/SILive.com High School Journalism Immersion program. She did the writing and research for this piece. She also handled the photos, along with staff reporter Priya Shahi. The High School Journalism Immersion is designed to help young people explore the world of community journalism.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Staten Island Academy recently hosted its annual school-wide Chinese Lunar New Year celebration on its Todt Hill campus, featuring traditional Chinese food, a lion dance performance and more.

I think celebrating the Chinese New Year is a very meaningful thing. It helps everyone better understand Chinese culture, and it makes me feel warm in experiencing traditions from home in a foreign environment, said En Cheng (Harry) Ning, a sophomore international student.

In Chinese culture, there are 12 zodiac signs: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. Many celebrations and traditions of Chinese Lunar New Year have rich symbolic meanings. In Chinese mythology, at the beginning of every new year, a monster named Nian would attack villagers. After learning that Nian feared the color red, bright lights and loud noises, the villagers would light bright red lanterns, hang red scrolls and launch fireworks.

Having a large international student population from China, Staten Island Academy students from Pre-K3 to 12th grade all celebrated Chinese Lunar New Year this year. The theme of Staten Island Academys annual fundraising gala, hosted earlier this month, was also Year of the Dragon.

As part of the school-wide observance, high school Mandarin learners read books about the origin story of the zodiacs to the younger grades, and many bulletin boards around the school featured Chinese Lunar New Year-related work.

Staten Island Academy recently hosted its annual school-wide Chinese Lunar New Year celebration on its Todt Hill campus, featuring traditional Chinese food, a lion dance performance and more. (Patricia Block-Sheehan for the Staten Island Advance)(Patricia Block-Sheehan for the Staten Island Advance)

Last year, as part of my Mandarin language class, my peers and I were taught about the 12 Chinese Zodiac and the intriguing folklore of its origins; we learned about each animal and what it represents in Chinese culture. After that, we had the opportunity to share this knowledge with students in our Lower School by reading a picture book called Rubys Chinese New Year. The colorful illustrations really brought the story to life and the students all enjoyed learning!, said Meagan Lee, a sophomore.

Students in Mandarin classes tried Chinese sweets and practiced Chinese calligraphy. Additionally, students were allowed to deviate from the typical dress code and wear articles of red clothing, as red and gold are lucky colors in Chinese culture. The head of schools dog and campus celebrity, Tigger, was also dressed to the nines in a new year-themed outfit.

During a high school assembly, Mandarin II and IV students rapped the lyrics of Ting Mama De Hua, by famous Taiwanese music artist Jay Chou.

Staten Island Academy recently hosted its annual school-wide Chinese Lunar New Year celebration on its Todt Hill campus, featuring traditional Chinese food, a lion dance performance and more. (Patricia Block-Sheehan for the Staten Island Advance)(Patricia Block-Sheehan for the Staten Island Advance)

Throughout the day, parent volunteers cooked and served traditional and symbolic foods like noodles, oranges and dumplings for all grades to try. Additionally, students had the opportunity to learn how to write spring couplets with ink and a Chinese brush. These couplets were used to festively line the hallways as decorations for the new year.

Finally, at the end of the day, all grades gathered in the gymnasium to watch a special lion and dragon dance. The room was filled with applause and laughter (with a few excited squeals coming from the younger grades). The performance was generously donated by the Lin family, who stated that they wanted to share their happiness in the spirit of Chinese Lunar New Year.

A lion and dragon dance performance at Staten Island Academy, Todt Hill, was part of this year's annual Chinese New Year celebration in February. (Staten Island Advance/Priya Shahi)Priya Shahi

Not only do the festivities serve as an entertaining and educational experience for all grades, they also help international students feel at home in a foreign country, foster a sense of belonging and unity among Staten Island Academy students -- celebrating the cultural diversity of the community.

Its an honor for me and my colleague Dr. [Yue] Chen to be once again organizing a Lunar New Year celebration for the SIA community, stated Wan Wan Weng, dean of International Students. First of all, its always meaningful for me personally to celebrate this festival with students, colleagues and parents, since most of my family are not in the U.S. and this festival is about family reunion. I definitely feel more of a sense of belonging during the process. Its my hope that the international students who come to study abroad here at SIA from China also feel the same way.

Pictured here is the Lin family, who donated the lion and dragon dance performance as part of the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration at the school. (Courtesy of Patricia Block-Sheehan)Patricia Block-Sheehan

The school offered a special thanks to Mandarin teachers Weng and Chen, Head of School Dr. Eileen Corigliano, the Lin family, parent volunteers and all teachers and students who worked to make the celebration possible.

Staten Island Academy recently hosted its annual school-wide Chinese Lunar New Year celebration on its Todt Hill campus, featuring traditional Chinese food, a lion dance performance and more. (Patricia Block-Sheehan for the Staten Island Advance)(Patricia Block-Sheehan for the Staten Island Advance)

Its also a privilege that as a Mandarin Chinese instructor, I am able to introduce the Chinese culture to community members who do not observe or know much about this holiday and its traditions. Seeing the genuine excitement on peoples faces reminds me that even though we may face more and more division in todays world, we are indeed stronger when we are united, Weng said.

Please view additional photos from the event in the gallery below.
People didnt used to talk about the effect on survivors of the tragic Cleveland Hill School fire 70 years ago Sunday.

I just think things were dealt with differently in the 50s, Superintendent Jon MacSwan said. The tragedy, the pain, the hurt that maybe people wanted to discuss and bring forward, I dont think it was dealt with in a way that we deal with tragedy now.

That has changed.

Wednesday, the district will commemorate the 70th anniversary of the fire that killed 15.

More than 300 have signed up to attend the remembrance, including Barbara Blackburn, of Williamsville, who only 10 minutes before the blaze broke out had been in the music room where it did most of its damage.

Its an incredible story of loss and tragedy and strength and resilience, MacSwan said of the fire and its aftermath.

Blackburn passed her friends going into the ill-fated classroom as they entered and she and her classmates exited.

The 15 sixth graders who died were among about 38 students in the music class when fire swept through the wooden annex building on the Mapleview Drive campus in Cheektowaga.

Ten were found huddled by the windows, where they tried to get out. Another five died in the hospital. At least 19 were injured.

Hundreds more in the school had invisible scars.

We didnt really talk about it that much, Blackburn told The Buffalo News last week. I dont know why.

The fire started at 11:22 a.m. Wednesday, March 31, 1954, the day after Cleveland Hill and other schools had been closed in the region because of an early spring snowstorm.

Music teacher Melba Seibold stood in the front of the annex room, instructing her students on the proper use of rhythm sticks.

A student teacher sat at the piano. A choir gown salesman unboxed new gowns in the back of the room.

Then all of a sudden in the hall, floor to ceiling, this red fire came by, with black specs in it, Seibold told The News in 2004.

With the hallway blocked by fire, the windows were the only other option, but they would not open. Terrified children and adults started breaking the window panes with their hands and a chair.

Not everyone got out.

Survivors are in their early 80s now, but the memories have not dimmed.

Blackburn remembers the gong of the fire alarm.

We hadnt noticed any smoke when we came back or even when we were sitting there, and this gong went out, she said.

They left the classroom and encountered smoke.

We had to go down three flights of stairs and its getting pretty smoky at that time, she said.

Students went to the front of the high school, and were taken to the auditorium to wait. The principal, his voice breaking, told them fire had erupted.

Several hours later, coats were brought to the students. Blackburn remembers walking home in the snow without her boots, which were still in her classroom.

Some children had trouble sleeping after the fire. Others got more clingy with their parents. Blackburn was afraid to light a match for years.

The thought of fire really bothered me, she said. You know, I worried about fires a lot.

She didnt light a match until she and her husband, who was in the Air Force, were living in Germany, and the old range in their first apartment had to be started that way.

That was the first time I lit a match, I think, since the fire, and I had to get used to it, she said.

Blackburn also remembers going back to school within a couple of days of the fire.

We opened up school back in the 50s shortly after the fire and tried to keep going forward like nothing had ever happened, MacSwan said.

That changed as years went by.

A small plaque marked the 40th anniversary, and the district erected a stone memorial for the 50th in 2004. School officials at the time said they wanted to remember the tragedy and the heroism, without offending those who wanted to forget.

After MacSwan joined the district nearly 14 years ago, he started getting questions about why the district had not done more to mark the calamity.

The stone memorial was moved to a more accessible location outside the district office for the 60th anniversary. The following year, the district installed a permanent interactive remembrance wall in a well-trafficked spot where most students pass daily. Teachers use it as a learning tool.

A Look Back: Cleveland Hill School Annex The fire that swallowed up the simple, wooden annex sandwiched between Cleveland Hills elementary and high schools is thought to be the deadliest school fire in the history of the

A grand jury convened after the fire determined it started either by spontaneous combustion in the lavatories or a closet, or in the outer chambers or duct work of the schools coal-fueled boiler. Under that theory, coal dust in the loft ignited.

Building codes and emergency response improved after the blaze, and no child has since died in a school fire in New York State, according to state Education Department files.

Today, state regulations require rescue windows in classrooms to have a minimum 6-square-foot opening. Fire extinguishers, fire alarms, frequent drills and sprinkler systems are required.

On the day of the fire, calls went to police, who notified the fire department. Today, automatic audible fire alarms inside schools are directly connected to police and fire departments.

Those are some of the things eighth grade social studies teacher Betty Haynes tells her students.

She talks about the history of the Cedar Grove community within the school district, where housing was put up in the early 1940s for the workers in the Curtiss Wright factory who built planes during World War II.

Because of the tremendous growth in population, wooden annexes were built to accommodate all the children in school.

Then we talk about what happened that day, she said.

They discuss the heroic acts of students pushing one another out the windows, other teachers rushing to see what they could do, and of the elementary teacher who carried two students to safety, knowing that her daughter was trapped in the building.

While she is teaching them about the fire and its aftermath, they are learning valuable history lessons and research skills, Haynes said.

You talk about the event, but its not the focus, she said. The people are always the focus.




An Orwigsburg man is locked up in Schuylkill County Prison for an alleged rape of a woman in East Brunswick Township.According to court papers filed by the Pennsylvania State Police at Frackville, the incident began Thursday evening at the victim's home.The victim said that when she returned home from work, Hakeem Lee, 35, of Orwigsburg forced her inside her house and began to question her about who she was sleeping with. Lee reportedly ripped off her clothes and raped her.The victim said she tried to escape and yell for help, but Lee would cover her mouth and didn't allow her to use the bathroom or her cell phone.Once Lee was fell asleep, the victim took her cell phone and fled the home.The victim called police who arrived and found Lee sleeping in the bedroom and took him into custody.Troopers charged Lee with multiple accounts of felony aggravated assault without consent and forcible compulsion, rape, sexual assault, and strangulation, along with misdemeanor indecent assault, loitering and prowling at night, and false imprisonment.He was arraigned before on-call Magisterial District Judge Stephen Bayer and locked up in Schuylkill County Prison on $100,000 straight cash bail.Lee remains locked up awaiting a preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge Andrew Serina scheduled for April 9th, 2024.
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It was just over a year ago that Bob McCarthy and I traveled to Niagara County to visit George Borrelli, the longtime Buffalo News political reporter who preceded McCarthy on the politics beat.

I listened intently as the two men with decades of political reporting experience traded stories about mayors, governors, political battles and newspaper lore. I went home that day feeling like I was carrying on a great tradition as politics writer for The News  and I knew I had big shoes to fill.

A year later, Im stepping away from the beat and from The Buffalo News to pursue an opportunity elsewhere. But I feel even luckier than I did that day in Niagara County because I got an inside look at politics in Western New York during an exciting but uncertain time in our democracy. After a year on various campaign trails, here are a few parting thoughts.

It is easy with all the pomp and circumstance surrounding elected officials to view them differently, either because we feel they are above us and on a pedestal, or below us and in the gutters of the vicious right-versus-left split in our nations politics.

I like to tell people that I believe our leaders are in large part reflective of the people they represent. About a third of them are really bright  smart people who have a passion for public service and who throw themselves into the work of the people. Much of the public has no idea what kind of sacrifice  especially in todays nasty political climate  they and their families make on a daily basis.

Im thinking of one source of mine, in particular: the single mom who spends her days in a top position in county government, spends her weekends running campaigns for up-and-coming elected officials and who also finds the time to serve as a member of a local school board.

Democracy is not a spectator sport, she once told me. If you want to make a difference, if you want to change your community, you have to get involved.

Another third of politicians and staffers are followers  they will put their finger in the air, determine which way the political winds are blowing and adjust their sails accordingly. Theyre happy to take orders from party bosses or consultants who advise them on the politics of each situation and how their actions might ensure their political survival.

And then theres a group  you would probably find a few people like this in any workplace  who are pretenders. They are not particularly smart, their ethics are questionable at best and they are in it mostly for themselves or to get their family members and friends jobs. You talk to these people and think, How did you ever get elected?

Which brings us to the system. The Erie County Democratic and Republican machines are still largely in control of politics in this region in ways that they have been for years. Just ask the progressive Democrats who have made a lot of noise in the last few years but who have struggled to get elected. Theres a reason theyre called machines: They work, and they get people elected, warts and all.

Ive tried to stay in my lane with the Politics Now newsletter and my occasional columns about the local political scene. I havent delved too deeply into national politics and have tried to think and write independently.

But I worry about what will happen to our politics  and our government  come November.

Former President Donald Trump has said there will be a bloodbath if he does not defeat President Biden. Trump is no longer just defying the norms of our democracy. He has shown  on Jan. 6 and many times since  a willingness to destroy our system of governance if it means holding on to power.

Like many Americans, I wish we could hit a reset button on the election and move on from both Biden and Trump. But that is not how politics works. If Ive learned anything in the past year, again, it is that our politics are a mirror of ourselves. The solution to getting back to unity, to normalcy, to a time when we disagreed but didnt demonize, lies within us. We created this problem and we can fix it.

I wont have a front-row seat to this struggle anymore. But Ill be watching closely. And Ill always be grateful for the year I had on this important and fascinating beat, following in the footsteps of two legends.
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Exclusive Eating outJust open Behind the green velvet curtain is the most surprising (and tiny) opening of 2024 Smaller than most and harder to find, a new Yarra Valley venue takes diners to another realm, where it feels like you have your own private chef. Are you ready to enter Emerald City? Emma Breheny March 27, 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

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Its definitely a unique space. I cant say I know anywhere quite like it, says chef Joel Alderdice, talking about his restaurant Emerald City. That might be the understatement of the year. Alderdices debut is the size of some other restaurants wine cellars and hidden behind a green velvet curtain at the back of a whisky bar in Healesville. Named after the mythical destination of The Wizard of Oz, just four diners at a time get to sit under a pendant light made of 240 panels of green glass while resting their elbows on a piece of centuries-old Tasmanian myrtle timber, which acts as both dining table and bar. Emerald City chef Joel Alderdice behind the counter of his four-seat restaurant. Simon Schluter Once you pull that curtain back, youll be like: what the hell is this space? says Alderdice.

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The chef, who just left hatted TarraWarra Estate, dreamed up the project with his landlords Brendan and Kate Cavanagh, owners of Cavanaghs Whisky and Alehouse, who also asked Alderdice to handle snacks at the front of their venue. At the back, hell be cooking tasting menus for just eight guests each day (12 on weekends), with no additional chefs and no waiters. Diners who want privacy need not apply. Once you pull that curtain back, youll be like: what the hell is this space? Joel Alderdice But with the intimate size comes a more tailored experience. Although there are matched drinks, if someone prefers beer to wine, Alderdice will pick something especially for that course. The first bite of his 12-dish menu ($175) is puffed sorghum tossed through Yarra Valley maker Stone & Crows butter. Its a play on popcorn, a nod to the escapism of the tiny curtained-off space.

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A raft of snacks at Emerald City. Simon Schluter Then, a raft of snacks arrives, perhaps devilled eggs or a vegan riff on Thailands ma hor (pineapple with pork, prawn and shallots). Diners can add on a smaller version of the rainbow trout served at TarraWarra Estate (pictured). Bonnie Savage His signature rainbow rainbow trout from TarraWarra has been remodelled to proportions that fit its new home: trout rillettes instead of a fillet, but with garnishes that are just as technicoloured. Its all these balanced bites that are really exciting. I really like eating that way, with lots of punchy flavours, says Alderdice.

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Larger courses include tempura mushrooms using the latest delivery of fantastic funghi from nearby growers Unearthed Co. Mushrooms, and pork jowl thats cured, set, and then grilled over a hibachi. Alderdice cooks solely on that and an induction cooktop. Hibachi-grilled pork jowl with preserved plum. Simon Schluter Emerald City is part of a growing number of scaled-down restaurants, such as Chae, Greasy Zoes and Matsu, that seat fewer than a dozen guests as owners seek work-life balance, sidestep staff shortages, and pursue better margins. Alderdice says its a smarter way of using spaces to their maximum potential, and reckons more dual-purpose venues like his will come. Until then, follow the yellow brick road to Healesville.

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The suggested title change has been approved by the Podiatry Board of Australia and will now need approval from state health ministers. While stripping these practitioners from using the title surgeon, the review said it was not possible to stop them using doctor as this was not a protected title. A spokesperson for federal Health Minister Mark Butler said the recommendations will be discussed at a future meeting where all state ministers are present. The next meeting is in April, although the agenda has not yet been set. The review said the 130 submissions were divided between supporters, made up of podiatric surgeons and their lobbyists, and critics, including orthopaedic surgeons and medical professionals, which it said reflected a longstanding turf war in the industry. It found that the bulk of complaints related to nine podiatric surgeons, out of a total of 40 nationally, but concluded this should not be taken as representative of the broader profession.

Given the very small number of both podiatric surgeons and notications about podiatric surgeons, any generalisations and comparisons should be made with caution, Paterson said. Loading Podiatry Board chair Cylie Williams said the recommendations would strengthen the safety of podiatric surgery. We had significant concerns over the high rate of complaints concerning some practitioners. This is why we commissioned this review to find out if there were wider issues across the profession, she said. The review made 14 recommendations across registration, training, title, advertising, handling of complaints and safety and quality of the system.

It found podiatric surgeons education was sufficient, although called for an improvement to continuing professional development standards as well as guidelines around patient selection and pre- and post-operative care to be developed to promote safe practice. Current registration standards do not assure competent and safe practice, it found. Serious or repeated failure to meet the guidelines could have consequences for a practitioners registration. The review analysed the number of complaints made about podiatric surgeons to AHPRA, finding the total number was almost nine times higher than a comparable group of orthopaedic surgeons. Concerningly, 66 per cent of the notifications received about podiatric surgeons over that period relate to nine podiatric surgeons who were each the subject of three or more notifications.

However, it concluded the review of notifications, which relies on patients proactively making complaints about their treatment, does not show that most podiatric surgeons are practising unsafely. The review found 15 of the 25 podiatric surgeons who received at least one notification were registered before the national law came into place, highlighting that newer graduates are less likely to be subject to a complaint. Some patients have suffered significant harm due to a range of contributing factors, including poor patient selection, inappropriate surgical procedures, poor operative techniques and substandard after-care. They deserve to have their complaints properly investigated by regulators, with appropriate remedial action, and to be compensated if they bring a successful civil claim in the courts, it said. It also found repeated breaches of rules to prevent advertising in healthcare and that regulatory interventions were ineffectual. It recommended strengthening AHPRAs enforcement approach to take a tougher, deterrent approach to repeat offenders.

Consumers are vulnerable to exaggerated or misrepresented claims about the training, skills and experience of a practitioner, and the benefits of their treatments. Some information on podiatric surgeons websites appears to exaggerate the practitioners training, qualifications, registration, experience and competence. The review looked at 17 complaints about advertising that breached guidelines, including testimonials, unreasonable expectation of beneficial treatment, false or misleading use of specialist title. In each case the matter was closed after an educational letter to the advertiser and a subsequent check to confirm compliance. In no case was a prosecution brought, even though one podiatric surgeon was the subject of multiple advertising complaints. AHPRA needs to take a tougher, deterrent approach to repeat offenders. The review found that regulatory investigations into podiatric surgeons were hampered by a difficulty in finding independent expert clinical advice in such a small profession. It also criticised transparency of historic conditions.

At present, the community is denied access to information on the register of practitioners about whether a practitioner has been subject to multiple notifications or had conditions imposed because their clinical practice did not meet an acceptable standard. This issue is broader than podiatric surgeons. It warrants further consideration by AHPRA and health ministers across all health professions to better meet the principle of transparency enshrined in the National Law and the legitimate expectations of the community. David Lunz is head of the Australian Orthopaedic Association and has been pushing for the term surgeon to be protected for years. Credit: Steven Siewert AHPRA chief executive Martin Fletcher said some recommendations will be implemented immediately while others require additional consultation. David Lunz, an orthopaedic surgeon and former president of the Australian Orthopaedic Associations Foot and Ankle Society, said surgical podiatrist was too similar to the current title.
The outrage unleashed by Roberts actions would reverberate globally, and the furore eventually sparked new legislation, passed last week, substantially stripping the power of ministers to veto grants. A caricature of Richard Haldane published in Vanity Fair, 1896. Credit: Wikimedia So why did the incident spark such a volcanic response from scientists, and how were ministers fingers finally prised from the handle of the funding axe? The violation of Haldanes principle To understand that, we must touch on Richard Haldane, a cigar-chomping politician booted from the British war cabinet amid the throes of World War I after the press became suspicious of his German sympathies. (Haldane was fluent in German and admired the enemy nations science and education policies.)

After the war, Haldane  a philosopher as much as a politician  sent an 80-page treatise to the prime minister that would become as important to the soul of modern science as the secular state is to modern democracy, as put by Nature editor Ehsan Masood. The report advocated for science-backed policymaking and planted the seed for roles now fundamental to our governments, such as chief scientists and medical officers. Most significantly, the document established the Haldane principle, the idea researchers should decide how public money is spent on science  not politicians. The idea became sacred to academic freedom and how modern science should operate as an independent, objective force for social good. The axing of six peer-approved research projects, under the cover of Christmas, was a direct violation of Haldanes law. Robert said at the time he didnt believe the projects represented value for money, but offered no further feedback to gutted researchers. And this had happened before.

A track record of political interference Brendan Nelson axed several ARC applications in 2005 and 06. Simon Birmingham nixed 11 projects worth $4.2 million in 2018 and made his scepticism of the projects value clear on Twitter. Admittedly, some research projects may seem frivolous or esoteric at first glance. The non-bookish among us might look at one of the projects axed by Robert  $165,000 for Finding friendship in early English literature  and roll their eyes. Arent there cancers to cure? But lets look deeper.

The academic behind that project, Professor Daniel Anlezark, is an expert in medieval literature. Part of the research would examine why obsession with the Middle and Dark Ages was becoming a hallmark of far-right extremism. As pointed out in the Australian Financial Review, the man who killed 51 people five years ago in Christchurch mosques had covered his gun and clothing in symbols only medieval historians could decode. The point is the tangible impact of academic pursuits isnt always obvious. But ARC-funded projects are rarely frivolous. Months of rigorous, competitive scrutiny by an independent panel sees to that. Researchers get angry After Roberts Christmas manoeuvre, universities issued furious statements condemning the intervention. Thousands of protesting academics signed open letters. Two members of ARCs College of Experts quit, angry and heartsore. Leading international science journal Nature ran an editorial blasting the law that allowed Australian ministers to veto research grants.

The fury led to a review into ARC which found the vetoes had dramatically eroded trust and damaged Australias international standing as a research partner. As a result of the review, legislation passed last week to establish an ARC board that will approve grants, rather than the minister of the day  a major win for adherents of Haldanes principle. (The minister retains the ability to intervene for national security reasons.) Collin, whose climate advocacy research is now funded and underway, says: Its very, very pleasing to see this. It feels like Australia is now in line with other democracies. Professor Sven Rogge, science dean at the University of NSW who appeared at the Senate inquiry into the ministerial vetoes, also welcomed the move and said he feared politicians continuing to kill certain projects would encourage academic self-censorship.

Its very important that the government sets the policy and the expectations and after that, the ARC, with peer review, handles the best practice of funding, according to the Haldane principle, Rogge says. What next? Now scientists are focusing on improving other aspects of the research ecosystem  chief among them the 17-year low in research funding as a percentage of GDP. Australia is at 1.7 per cent while the average for other OECD nations is 2.7 per cent. Thats part of the reason Rogge is launching a program at UNSW called Pact for Impact, a new method of quantifying sciences contribution to society in the hopes of encouraging more businesses to invest in R&D. An example of a new matrix used by UNSW as part of a new program to quantify sciences impact and attract business investment in research. Credit: UNSW
A man has been arrested and charged with murder after a 24-year-old was gunned down in broad daylight while he sat in his car in western Sydney last year.

Marvin Oraiha was shot dead outside an Elizabeth Hills home on the afternoon of May 22, in what police described as an execution-style gangland shooting.

Marvin Oraiha, 24, was shot dead in his car in Elizabeth Hills on May 22 last year.

Police allege Oraiha was shot several times. Paramedics tried to save him, but he died at the scene.

On Tuesday, they detained 23-year-old Joseph Lima  their sixth arrest over the incident  during a search warrant at a Glen Alpine home. He was taken to Campbelltown Police Station where he was charged with murder.
Author and columnist Peter FitzSimons has asked the Federal Court to order Bruce Lehrmann to pay his costs of producing documents during the former Liberal staffers high-stakes defamation case against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson.

The application, filed on March 14 and released by the court on Tuesday, will be determined at the same time as Justice Michael Lee deals with the legal costs of the proceedings generally.

Lisa Wilkinson, Bruce Lehrmann and Peter FitzSimons. Credit: Dominic Lorrimer, Kate Geraghty, Wolter Peeters

Lee reserved his decision in the defamation case in December and will deliver his decision on April 4. Costs will be determined at a later date.

Before the trial, Lehrmann issued subpoenas to FitzSimons and Penguin Random House to produce documents relating to Brittany Higgins $325,000 book deal with the publisher. FitzSimons helped negotiate the deal. He produced documents to the court on July 7 last year.
Be smart and strategic in how you ask your employer to contribute to the cost of your studies - or even pay for them outright.

March 27, 2024

by Melinda Ham
But now he now wants it gone.

Indeed, our man even wrote a couple of years ago that life in the city wouldnt bear thinking about without the race.

The regular on Channel Tens The Project and columniser with Melbournes US-owned tabloid, was a long-term booster of the Australian Grand Prix, broadcast by Prices home network, Ten, and Foxtel.

Writing in the paper in November, Price was gracious enough to give the operation 16 months to get out of town, but was firm in his newfound conviction that the Labor state government ought to just rip up its hosting deal  Commonwealth Games-style  with Formula 1 owner Liberty Media.

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Price argued the sweetheart deal between the state and Liberty negotiated by former premier Dan Andrews a couple of years back to keep the race here, isnt a patch on the sweetheart deal struck by former premier Jeff Kennett, back in the 90s, to pinch the event from Adelaide.

Maybe Steve pondered these things while he was at the race on Sunday, enjoying the Albert Park trackside hospitality in both the Marriott Bonvoy Lounge and the Paramount+ suite.

We called Price on Tuesday, to see whether his hardline stance on the grand prix would preclude him from rocking up to the race again  although you have to wonder if the event has a future at all, now the Channel Ten man has pulled his support.
Fast-forward to the current day, and the cost-of-living pressures and shorter career cycles have had an impact across the tertiary education sector, pushing universities to continue to refine the shape and delivery of their postgraduate programs to attract candidates. Postgraduate enrolments have not bounced back from the pandemic as strongly as those for undergraduate enrolments, says University of Technology Sydney deputy vice-chancellor Professor Kylie Readman, who also cites cost-of-living pressures, increased awareness of the importance of balancing work and lifestyle, and shorter career cycles. Professor Kylie Readman, deputy vice-chancellor of the University of Technology Sydney. Shrinking numbers of Commonwealth-supported postgraduate grants and the increasing economic squeeze have driven more students to carefully weigh the value and cost of courses. Postgraduate education is a rapidly changing field, Readman says. Its nature and form and mode are changing fast and value for money really matters. A course has to result in a career improvement.

The largest postgraduate fields of study at UTS are health, business, education and IT, reflecting a nationwide skew to practical and career-boosting postgraduate qualifications  particularly in shorter courses such as graduate certificates and graduate diplomas. This growing appetite for short and stackable courses is changing the nature of postgraduate education in Australia. Students can opt to study for a graduate diploma or a graduate certificate qualification, knowing the qualification can be added to other short-course qualifications and form the basis of a higher degree. Thats really important for students now, Readman says. They like to know its possible they can translate, should they want to. Employer-driven, short-form credentials are another important development, she adds, with courses co-designed by employers and academic experts for as few as 300 students who learn the required skills and also earn an academic credit.

Sixty per cent of postgraduate students in Australia now study online, an option which suits an older and often working cohort of students. Ryan OHare, the chief executive of Keypath, an organisation which assists universities  including 10 in Australia  to better understand the postgraduate market, says online postgraduate courses have been the dominant option for five years, a trend that began pre-COVID. Postgraduate students are typically 25 to 45 years old, working full-time or part-time, and want to upskill, reskill, change careers and stay relevant, OHare says, adding that more than half of all postgraduate enrolments are in the fields of health, and society and culture, followed by management and commerce. Course flexibility is key and high-quality online tuition essential. The ever-popular master of business administration (MBA) degree has been one of the most sought-after postgraduate courses across many universities over the past two years, he adds, followed by courses relating to a helping profession, such as psychology, counselling, public health, mental health, teaching and social work.

OHare says courses in information technology, such as data science, fintech, cybersecurity and analytics boomed during the pandemic years, but demand has fallen away since government subsidies were cut back. Loading The dean and chief academic officer of Victoria University (VU) Online, Professor Chris Walsh, says almost all VU postgraduate online students have family responsibilities and full-time jobs, so flexibility is essential to allow them to manage their schedules. The university offers most masters degrees in 12 units, which means a student who can manage six units a year can complete a masters degree in two years. Four-unit graduate certificates take about eight months. In line with sector-wide trends, mental health courses have boomed at Victoria University.

During COVID, we saw there was a lot of interest in mental health, Walsh says. People were isolated, without the same access to services. So, we decided to start a series of mental health courses at the postgraduate level. With demand boosted by the Victorian governments decision to post a mental health worker in every school, these new courses  mental health, mental health nursing, and child and adolescent mental health  are now VUs three most popular postgraduate options. Walsh says postgraduate courses must be rigorously tailored to meet demand, and the university considers various elements in terms of launching new or substantially updated postgraduate courses. These include industry trends in terms of available jobs, competitor analysis, student demand and employer demand.

If you know employers are looking for students with these degrees and its a trend over time, thats probably where we need to focus on creating a new course, Walsh says. More postgraduate stories from Campus Working reality: How do you work full-time, study at the same time and stay sane? Three postgraduate students who have done exactly that reveal what its really like and what skills they needed to be a success. The MBA effect: Thinking an MBA will work magic on your career? According to the experts, it depends on why you are doing it and how you use your new powers.
Under academic supervision, you write a doctoral thesis that is 70,000 to 100,000 words long. Most universities require you to do a masters by research before a PhD. A professional doctorate makes an original contribution to a particular area of professional practice and you do coursework and a thesis of between 70,000 to 100,000 words long. Swinburne University of Technology offers a unique Impact PhD where you complete your PhD as part of a team of other research students, from across a range of disciplines, working collaboratively on a broad challenge identified by an industry partner. You conduct research at the university, as well as immersing yourself in the industry partners workplace. Why study a postgraduate course now? Students are often prompted to undertake postgraduate study to accelerate their careers into more senior leadership roles, top up their knowledge, keep up with the latest developments in their field of work or to switch career paths altogether, says Nick Fahy, the head of future student recruitment at UNSW.

Some professions, such as architecture, psychology, medicine and physiotherapy, require a postgraduate degree to practice. In business and finance, a master of business administration (MBA) is a post-experience degree, designed for working professionals with work and career experience which they can enhance with a specialised course. For example, at the University of Technology Sydney, nurses who want to step up into a management role often take a master of health services management to learn skills to navigate the politics, policy and data in healthcare. Postgraduate study can be used to accelerate careers or switch paths. Credit: istock Professor Damian Blake, Deakin Universitys head of school for the School of Education, says Deakins master of teaching can be completed in 18 months using the universitys trimester system. The master of teaching programs prepare you to become a highly skilled and knowledgeable teacher who can make a real difference in the lives of young people, he says. You can choose a primary, secondary or early childhood pathway.

How long does postgraduate study take? You can either enrol right away in a masters or, depending on how long you want to study and how deep you want to go into a subject, you can start with a graduate certificate, add on a graduate diploma and then tackle a masters a bit later. Loading It generally takes students four or five months to complete a graduate certificate and then a total of about 12 months to complete a graduate diploma. The graduate diploma incorporates the same course options as a certificate but then builds on that knowledge and deepens your skills with more units.

Adding further required units, and possibly a masters project, will turn that into a full masters degree. Masters degrees are generally one to two years. If you study part-time, then it will take longer. International students visas require them to study full-time. PhDs take an average of three to five years. Does a masters degree have to be two years? If your prior qualifications, work experience or other learning are sufficient, you may be eligible for admission to a one-year masters. You may not have to complete all the core zone units. Often in a one-year masters you study through all the semesters and do not have the summer semester break. For example, the University of Queenslands one-year degrees include a master of conservation biology taught in intensive blocks, a master of clinical pharmacy and a master of finance and investment management.

What does postgraduate study cost? The cost of postgraduate study varies for each course, and you can find them on each universitys website. Some courses offer domestic students a limited number of Commonwealth Supported Places (CSPs) which are subsidised by the government. For example, at the University of Newcastle, full-fee-paying domestic students studying a master of architecture pay $34,890. If you have a CSP, the price is $8974 for the whole degree. Fees for a masters by research and a PhD differ widely but most domestic students obtain a scholarship that will cover all of their tuition fees. Also see the Commonwealth governments Research Training Program for more information, given that most PhDs are government funded. How can you get help to pay tuition?


China urges U.S. to immediately stop meddling in Hong Kong affairs

Xinhua) 08:35, March 26, 2024

BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- China strongly deplores and firmly opposes the U.S. once and again discrediting and smearing Hong Kong's Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, and urges the U.S. to immediately stop meddling in Hong Kong affairs, which are China's internal affairs, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Monday.

Lin made the remarks at a regular press briefing when answering a query concerning U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's recent remarks on Hong Kong's Safeguarding National Security Ordinance.

"I would like to stress that Hong Kong affairs are purely China's internal affairs, no foreign country has the right to make irresponsible remarks," Lin said.

Noting that the publication in the gazette and coming into force of the Ordinance marks that Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has effectively fulfilled its constitutional responsibility stipulated in Article 23 of the Basic Law, he said that it will further consolidate the security foundation for Hong Kong's 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," said Lin.

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, he said.

"It provides effective protection for the normal business activities of foreign institutions, organizations and personnel in Hong Kong and their need for international exchanges," he said, noting that 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," Lin said.

The U.S. itself has an airtight national security system, with a large number of laws and unparalleled extraterritoriality, however, it keeps pointing fingers at Hong Kong's Safeguarding National Security Ordinance. "This is sheer political manipulation and hypocritical double standards," he said.

Lin noted that the Chinese government remains unwavering in its determination to safeguard the nation's sovereignty, security and development interests and to implement the "one country, two systems" policy.

"We urge the U.S. to earnestly respect China's 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 China's internal affairs," the spokesperson said.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
Q: Its reported that a terrorist attack caused Chinese casualties in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan on March 26. Whats the Foreign Ministrys comment?

A: At around 1 p.m. local time on March 26, five Chinese and one Pakistani nationals were killed in a terrorist attack on the vehicle of the Dasu Hydropower Project undertaken by a Chinese company in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.

China strongly condemns this terrorist attack. We express deep condolences over the lives lost and extend sincere sympathies to the bereaved families. China asks Pakistan to thoroughly investigate the incident as soon as possible, hunt down the perpetrators and bring them to justice. Meanwhile, we ask Pakistan to take effective measures to protect the safety and security of Chinese nationals, institutions and projects in Pakistan. China is working with Pakistan on the follow-up work with all-out effort. The Chinese Embassy in Pakistan has reminded Chinese citizens and businesses in Pakistan to closely follow the local security situation, take extra safety precautions, strengthen security measures and do their best to guard against terrorist attacks.

That afternoon, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif visited the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan to convey condolences and sympathies to the bereaved families and the Chinese government. He strongly condemned the terrorist attack and said that terrorists attempt to harm Pakistan-China friendship will never succeed. On the same day, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, the Foreign Minister, the Interior Minister, and several other political figures strongly condemned the attack and expressed condolences over the lives lost.

China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic cooperative partners and iron-clad brothers, and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) greatly contributes to the socioeconomic development of Pakistan. No attempt to undermine China-Pakistan cooperation will succeed. China opposes all forms of terrorism and firmly supports Pakistan in fighting terrorism. China will work with Pakistan with even stronger commitment to do everything possible to protect the safety and security of Chinese personnel, projects and institutions in Pakistan.
The Town of Tonawanda is poised to purchase an office building from an Amherst businessman who is accused in a federal indictment of misusing more than $3 million in pandemic relief funds.

The town as soon as next month could reach a deal with Hormoz Mansouri to purchase his building at 2060 Sheridan Drive, off Colvin Boulevard, for $1.1 million, Tonawanda Supervisor Joseph Emminger confirmed Monday evening.

The town would consolidate three separately located departments into one development services center at a cost far lower than constructing a new building or an addition, Emminger said.

He said the town was aware of the indictment when it began negotiations with Mansouri but the pending charges were no reason for the town to look elsewhere.

He also denied Mansouris past generosity as a campaign donor  he has contributed thousands of dollars to town Democrats among hundreds of thousands of dollars to area political candidates  played any role in the transaction.

Were not conducting business with him, Emminger said. We did a real estate transaction. Buying and selling property, you know, it happens every day of the week. And we had an appraisal done. So we paid fair market value for the property. I think we got a good deal.

News of the pending transaction was first reported by WIVB-TV.

Emminger said the town for more than a decade has sought to consolidate three departments, now scattered throughout Tonawanda, that serve developers and others doing business with the town: Building, now on Belmont Avenue; Engineering, now in the Municipal Building along Delaware Road; and Planning & Development, on Sheridan Parkside Drive.

The town hired a consultant to explore whether to build additions at town offices on Belmont, at the Sheridan Parkside Community Center or at the Highway Department. The cost, as of January 2016, ranged from $3 million to $4.1 million, so the town set aside the plans, Emminger said.

Officials revived the consolidation idea after learning in 2022 that Mansouri had listed his building at 2060 Sheridan for sale for $1.4 million.

Emminger said an appraisal from that fall put the value of the two-story building at $1 million while Mansouris appraisal found a value of $1.275 million.

The town agreed to the price of $1.1 million after Mansouri agreed to include furniture and equipment as part of the sale, the town supervisor said.

By then, Mansouri was the subject of a 40-count federal indictment handed up in May 2022. The case remains active and is expected to go to trial this summer.

Emminger said Town Attorney Michael Kooshoian checked with the U.S. Attorneys Office to see whether Mansouri was allowed to sell the property. The town received assurances that, yes, he was, Emminger said.

Asked whether it was appropriate for the town to do business with someone accused of widespread financial fraud, Emminger rejected the premise of the question.

Its not illegal. Its not illegal, he said. Its a real estate transaction.

Mansouri was once a prominent local political donor. He gave more than $500,000 to lawmakers and political committees between 1999 and 2021, including numerous donations totaling $6,925 to the Town of Tonawanda Democratic Committee.

How long ago was that? It was years ago. Years ago, said Emminger, a Democrat like every other member of the Town Board. The last such donation was in 2019, state elections records show.

Mansouri has not donated directly to Emminger, online records show, but he did give $100 to Council Member Carl Szarek last June.

Emminger said any donations did not sway the towns decision-making.

No, we operate in the open. I mean, this is an open transaction here, he said. An opportunity presented itself. There was a property that fits the towns needs.

Town Republicans see more nefarious interests at work.

Hormoz Mansouri was a supporter of my opponents campaign last year, Matthew Braun, a former town GOP chairman who unsuccessfully challenged Szarek in last falls election, wrote on Facebook. Now YOUR taxpayer dollars are buying a property from him for over a MILLION DOLLARS. What you allow will continue.

The Town Board could approve the sale contract at a meeting in April, Emminger said.

A Mansouri owned-company, El Team, recently won a $175,000 contract from the City of Buffalo to help make improvements in two city parks.

News of the link to Mansouri proved embarrassing to Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown and to members of the Buffalo Common Council.

Brown claimed he and members of his administration werent aware that someone under federal indictment had received a contract from the citys Department of Public Works, Parks and Streets.

El Team, an architecture, engineering, planning and construction services company, responded to a request for proposals from the city and was ultimately selected for a contract to improve Shoshone and Trinidad parks.

After Mansouri made a presentation at a public meeting on March 11, The Buffalo News the next morning began reaching out to city officials to ask how and why he got the contract.

By that afternoon, Mansouri notified the Brown administration his firm was withdrawing from the project.

One day later, Brown told reporters city officials appropriately followed the company-selection process but his administration would explore changes that would indicate whether applicants faced legal issues.

Brown also denied that Mansouris previous political donations played a role in his companys selection. Mansouri gave Brown $10,175 in contributions from February 2000 to December 2015, according to campaign finance records.
At least 45 police investigations and an unknown number of criminal trials may have been compromised by allegations members of Victoria Polices elite covert operations division falsified surveillance reports that may have been used as evidence in court cases.

The alleged misconduct of a small number of highly trained surveillance operatives has sparked a corruption inquiry, urgent briefings to the Office of Public Prosecutions (OPP) and an audit to determine the number of criminal trials potentially impacted.

Internal investigators are probing allegations of falsified surveillance logs. Credit: Illustration: Marija Ercegovac

In revelations that raise fresh questions about the integrity of the forces interactions with Victorias court system, The Age has confirmed internal affairs investigators are probing allegations that the surveillance operatives falsified logs to claim they were monitoring suspects when they were not doing so, and that some of these logs may have been accepted as reliable evidence during criminal prosecutions.

Three law enforcement sources, who spoke confidentially because they are not authorised to comment publicly, confirmed the anti-corruption probe and audit had been launched late last year.
Warning: This story contains graphic content.

A Perth woman who learned her ex-husband had been acquitted of sexually abusing her two daughters attempted to take her own life and allowed her children to do the same, a court has heard.

Details of the horrific ordeal were revealed in the WA Supreme Court on Tuesday as the woman, who cannot be named to protect the identity of her children, was jailed for allowing her daughters to suffer harm as a result of neglect.

The woman was sentenced in the WA Supreme Court on Tuesday. Credit: Holly Thompson

The court was told the childrens father had been charged with 28 counts of sexual abuse of his two daughters in 2019, which went to trial in Perths District Court three years later. In July 2022, a jury found him not guilty of the accusations and his former wife was made aware of the outcome.
Perth principals have lined up to call out unbearable pressure on teachers being blamed for classroom violence and aggression, which they say is not down to school culture.

Belinda Provis, leader of the respected All Saints College, was the first to speak out, citing alarming data about students plummeting mental health, their behaviour being among the worst in the world and huge numbers of teachers feeling unsafe.

She said government recommendations on behaviour were missing the point and tinkering with the curriculum and rearranging classroom furniture was not going to cut it.

Children are being let down by their role models outside the classroom, say teachers. Credit: Composite / Getty Images

She said schools did not exist in a vacuum, children were being raised by an increasingly disrespectful village, and a larger conversation about courtesy and respect in Australian culture was needed.
Labors push to speed up big gas project approvals has put its long-awaited fuel efficiency standards at risk, with the Greens threatening to withhold their support for the scheme to cut car emissions unless Resources Minister Madeleine King backs down.

Greens leader Adam Bandt said on Tuesday King was a roadblock to the governments New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES), which is likely to rely on crossbench support after the Coalition dubbed it a ute tax and warned it would push up the cost of new vehicles.

Resources Minister Madeleine King wants to simplify the assessment process for offshore gas projects. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen.

If Labor really values the NVES bill, Madeline King should withdraw her blatant attempt to ignore First Nations voices and fast-track climate-destroying gas projects, Bandt said.

Kings bill to reform offshore gas assessments, which is expected to have Coalition backing, was set to be debated in the Senate this week but has been paused amid fierce opposition from Indigenous leaders and the Greens.
NSW Premier Chris Minns says Police Minister Yasmin Catley will stay in the job until at least the 2027 state election, saying he has enormous faith in the work she is undertaking.

Despite an ongoing furore over her offices recommendation of former Spotlight producer Steve Jackson to the highly remunerated role as executive director of public affairs at NSW Police, Minns said his under-fire minister retained his absolute confidence.

Premier Chris Minns has defended under-fire Police Minister Yasmin Catley. Credit: Steven Siewert

Revelations involving Jackson, appointed to the role last week, have embroiled Catleys office after this masthead reported her chief of staff, Ross Neilson, who is a personal acquaintance of Jackson, had recommended the veteran media figure for the NSW Police position.

The recommendation has come under scrutiny after photos began circulating of Jackson sitting next to a naked Sydney socialite taken in her apartment after an interview in December 2019. The woman, who the Herald has opted not to name, told a media outlet on Saturday that the pictures were taken at her lowest ebb.
The owner of an apartment in the blighted Mascot Towers, who is set to walk away with precisely nothing from the official deal to end the saga, has accused the government of the ultimate betrayal by breaking a core election promise.

In February 2023, just a month-and-a-half before the last NSW state election, the then-opposition Labor party issued a press release pledging it would partner with owners to remediate the building with a loan or as acting guarantor for a loan.

Derek and Rachel Williams outside Mascot Towers. Credit: Louise Kennerley

Instead, theyve set up a deal to sell it to an investor consortium with the aim of allowing most owner-occupiers to walk away debt-free from their homes, which has now been accepted by 75 per cent of owners. This is a completely different solution and one thats broken our trust and our hearts, said Derek Williams.

Everyone will have lost so much money, and many of us will now be renting for the rest of our lives. When the Minns government wanted our votes, they promised the voters of NSW an equitable deal to help us. Instead, were being bullied into accepting something that ruins us.
Australian start-up darling Canva has made its largest acquisition to date, targeting professional designers with the takeover of Photoshop rival Affinity for an undisclosed sum.

UK outfit Affinity was founded in 1987 and its subscription software, including Affinity Design, Affinity Photo and Affinity Publisher, is used by around three million people globally, many of whom are professional designers. That lucrative segment of users will be crucial for Canva if it wants to achieve its aspirations of becoming a design software giant.

Canva co-founders (from left) Cliff Obrecht, Cameron Adams and Melanie Perkins.

Canvas free-to-use graphic design tools are popular for social media graphics and presentations, and co-founder Cameron Adams said his company had been previously focused on the 99 per cent of workers without design training. He said the Affinity acquisition was squarely about luring professional designers onto the combined Canva platform.

According to Adams, the deal came together in less than two months.
The president said the search and rescue operation is our top priority. I know every minute in that circumstance feels like a lifetime, Biden said to people who are still awaiting word on those missing after the collapse. Biden, who called the collision a terrible accident, was asked why the federal government should pick up the tab if the ship and its operator were potentially to blame. That could be but were not going to wait for that to happen. Were going to pay for it to get the bridge rebuilt and opened, Biden said. Eyewitness Jayme Krause told how she was in the midst of another night shift at her workplace on shore when the cart of packages in front of her shook violently at around 2am. A coworker told her the bridge had collapsed and she ran out to look.

I went over there, and sure as anything, it was gone, the whole bridge was just like, there was nothing there, she told Reuters in an interview. It was a shocking sight to see. A dramatic live video showed the ship ploughing into one of the bridges supports. The headlights of vehicles could be seen on the 2.6 kilometre-long Francis Scott Key Bridge as it crashed down into the Patapsco River and the ship caught fire. Never would you think that you would see, physically see, the Key Bridge tumble down like that. It looked like something out of an action movie, said Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, calling it an unthinkable tragedy. Sonar has indicated that there are vehicles in the water, where the temperature was about eight degrees Celsius, according to a buoy that collects data for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Asked if the incident could have been something more than an accident, Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley said: There is absolutely no indication that there is any terrorism, or that this was done on purpose. Parts of the Francis Scott Key Bridge remain after a container ship collided with a support. Credit: AP He said police were working with the FBI and other state agencies to gather intel but again stressed there was no evidence of any foul play. Earlier, Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore Fire Department, said that several vehicles were on the bridge at the time, including one the size of a semi-trailer. Cartwright said that some cargo appeared to be dangling from the bridge, which spans the Patapsco River at the entrance to a busy harbour. The river leads to the Port of Baltimore, a major hub for shipping on the east coast. Opened in 1977, the bridge is named for the writer of The Star-Spangled Banner.

Baltimore ports private and public terminals handled 847,158 automobiles and light trucks in 2023, the most of any US port. The port also handles farm and construction machinery, sugar, gypsum and coal, according to a Maryland government website. Ships sailing to the US port of Baltimore dropped anchor in waters nearby while vessels were stranded inside the port after traffic was halted following the collapse, shipping data showed on Tuesday. Port traffic was suspended until further notice, Maryland transportation authorities said. The bridge is almost three times as long as the Sydney Harbour Bridge and forms part of a critical road link between Washington, DC, and New York City.

It is part of Interstate 695 and is also used by a large number of Baltimore commuters. Synergy Marine Group  which owns and manages the ship called the Dali  confirmed the vessel hit a pillar of the bridge at about 1:30am while two pilots were in control. It said all crew members, including the pilots, were accounted for and there were no reports of any injuries. A screenshot showing the Dali hitting the bridge. Credit: VesselFinder.com From a vantage point near the entrance to the bridge, jagged remnants of its steel frame were visible protruding from the water, with the on-ramp ending abruptly where the span once began. The Dali was headed from Baltimore to Colombo, Sri Lanka as its final destination, according to Marine Traffic and Vessel Finder. The ship was flying under a Singapore flag, WTOP radio station reported, citing Petty Officer Matthew West from the Coast Guard in Baltimore.
Washington: Robert F Kennedy jnr has chosen Nicole Shanahan to be his vice presidential pick as he mounts an independent White House bid that has spooked national Democrats.

Shanahan, 38, the former wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin, is a California lawyer and philanthropist who has never held elected office. Shanahan leads Bia-Echo Foundation, an organisation she founded to direct money towards issues including womens reproductive science, criminal justice reform and environmental causes.

Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. right, waves on stage with Nicole Shanahan, after announcing her as his running mate. Credit: AP

Nicole and I both left the Democratic Party, Kennedy, the nephew of former president John F Kennedy and son of ex-attorney-general Robert Kennedy, said. Our values didnt change. The Democratic Party did.

Im so proud to introduce to you the next vice president of the United States, my fellow lawyer, a brilliant scientist, technologist, a fierce warrior mom, Nicole Shanahan, Kennedy said.
Beijings use of Chinese nationals to further its ambitions in the Pacific has received a setback by the revelation that their man in Suva is mentioned in Australian spy agency documents as having links with organised crime and drug shipments.

Twelve months ago, our three-part series Red Alert identified China as far and away our most dangerous security threat, with an expert panel warning of the prospect of war with Beijing within three years. Then last June, in exclusive interviews with the Herald and 60 Minutes by Nick McKenzie, police chiefs belonging to the secretive Five Eyes Law Enforcement Group  comprising Australia, the United States, Britain, Canada and New Zealand  issued a damning critique of Chinas covert plan to place organised criminals as agents of influence in Pacific island nations and corrupt local politicians.

Now, McKenzie and 60 Minutes have reported that Zhao Fugang, a Suva hotelier and property developer, has been named in federal security agency reports as a senior member of a crime network facilitating large illicit drug shipments to Australia at least since 2004 and providing a Fijian safe hub for drug shipments, on behalf of South American cartels and others. The report outlines suspicions that Zhao is involved with a regional crime network that seeks to influence the environment to provide cover for Chinese organised crime and that he is well-connected to other Chinese organised crime leaders in the Pacific. Zhaos naming in the reports does not mean he is guilty of a crime, only that he is suspected of involvement in criminal activity. Regardless, it will create headaches for the Fijian government.

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Fugang migrated to Fiji in 1998 and, according to one of his associates, quickly built a reputation as a man capable of helping Chinese businesses, officials, and tourists navigate the Pacific Island nation. In 2001, he launched a travel company and, in the following two decades, secured Fijian citizenship and built a business empire spanning the Yue Lai Hotel in Suva, a migration agency and a property development business.
The good news is that no cases of measles have been reported in Western New York for several years. Indeed, the only current cases in the state are in New York City.

But no one should be deceived. Reports of the disease are rising around the country as the anti-vaccine crowd puts their own children  and those of others  at risk of illness and even death. Erie County residents already know, after the craziness surrounding the Covid-19 vaccines, that this region has no immunity from those who would substitute their own evidence-free beliefs over medical facts, regardless of the dangers they may cause.

One of the reasons New York is faring as well as it is likely stems from the states sensible decision to abolish the religious exemption that had previously allowed unvaccinated children to attend school. As Pope Francis concluded regarding Covid, there is no plausible nexus between religion and vaccinations.

What is more, the change in policy didnt violate the rights of parents who object to immunizations, as long as they are willing to home-school their children. What it did do was to prevent those parents from endangering the health of other peoples children.

Those dangers are real. As the New York State Department of Health reports, while complications of measles can be as mild as diarrhea and ear infections. more serious cases include pneumonia and brain swelling. Long-term serious complications include a brain infection that can lead to permanent brain damage. During pregnancy, measles increases the risk of early labor, miscarriage and low birth weight. A small number of those infected with measles are hospitalized. Some die.

There was a time, not long ago, when it seemed that measles had been contained and would no longer be a threat. The anti-vax movement put at least a temporary an end to that hopeful development and, while cases remain comparatively few, there have already been more this year than in all of 2023.

But back to the good news: Most people in Erie County seem to acknowledge the value of childhood immunizations. In New York, those include shots for polio, hepatitis B and chicken pox, as well as two combination shots  one for diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, the other for measles, mumps and rubella. We should all keep it up. Call it responsible citizenship.

Whats your opinion? Send it to us at lettertoeditor@buffnews.com. Letters should be a maximum of 300 words and must convey an opinion. The column does not print poetry, announcements of community events or thank you letters. A writer or household may appear only once every 30 days. All letters are subject to fact-checking and editing.
Some comments on a March 18 piece by Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson titled Harris dogged fight for abortion rights

The author ends the title by stating that the fight should scare the GOP. I say the fight for the right to take the lives of a million unborn innocent children every year should scare all of us.

The author states that one wonders what it is about the concept of bodily autonomy that the Republicans dont understand. I wonder what it is about killing one million innocent unborn children per year that the author and 66 percent of American adults dont understand. In abortion there are two bodies involved, the mothers and the childs. Doesnt the concept of bodily autonomy apply to the childs body as well? What would the child say if asked?

The author writes that the Biden-Harris re-election campaign sees reproductive rights as one of its most powerful issues that Public opinion is clearly with the Democrats. This is indeed a sad day for America, when ones vote demands the right to kill innocent unborn in return. A majority that claims such a right cannot at the same time claim to be a great nation.

Greatness values human life. We have been taught by more compassionate hearts and greater minds that intervention in a pregnancy is justified only when its purpose is to save a life, the mothers, the childs, hopefully both, never to end one. American public opinion must find its way back to this fundamental truth if its claim to greatness must be more than a mere illusion.

Frank Notaro

Amherst
Japan attempts to revive Moon lander after second lunar night



Tokyo, March 26 (AFP) Mar 26, 2024



Japan's space agency said on Tuesday it will try to revive its Moon lander after a second frigid, two-week lunar night, following a surprising awakening last month.

The unmanned Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) touched down in January at a wonky angle that left its solar panels facing the wrong way.

As the sun's angle shifted, it came back to life for two days and carried out scientific observations of a crater with a high-spec camera.

But the probe, which was not designed for the freezing, two-week-long lunar nights, when the temperature plunges to minus 133 degrees, was shut down in early February.

It was then woken up weeks later before being put back to sleep in early March, ahead of another scheduled operation attempt.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said on Tuesday that it hoped "there will be enough sunlight on the solar cells to start up SLIM around this evening".

"The project team will begin operations today to restart SLIM after the second lunar night," it said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

JAXA added that it is uncertain if SLIM would respond on Tuesday night as it has been exposed to extreme temperatures.

An uncrewed American lander called Odysseus, which became the first private spaceship on the Moon, was unable to wake up, its manufacturer said on Saturday, even after its solar panels were projected to receive enough sunlight to turn on its radio.

SLIM, dubbed the "Moon Sniper" for its precision landing technology, touched down within its target landing zone on January 20.

The feat was a win for Japan's space programme after a string of recent failures, making the nation only the fifth to achieve a "soft landing" on the Moon, after the United States, the Soviet Union, China and India.

The aim of the mission is to examine a part of the Moon's mantle -- the usually deep inner layer beneath its crust -- that is believed to be accessible.

NASA is planning to return astronauts to the Moon later this decade.

The US, along with international partners, wants to eventually develop long-term habitats in the region, harvesting polar ice for drinking water -- and for rocket fuel for eventual onward voyages to Mars.
Alibaba withdraws Hong Kong IPO for logistics arm



Beijing, March 26 (AFP) Mar 26, 2024



Chinese e-commerce titan Alibaba is withdrawing a planned initial public offering for its logistics arm Cainiao, the company said Tuesday, as a major company overhaul faces setbacks.

The leading tech firm faces fierce competition from rivals such as JD.com, Pinduoduo and Douyin, China's version of video app TikTok.

Cainiao has "withdrawn its initial public offering and listing application on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange," Alibaba Group said in a filing on Tuesday.

The group, which currently owns 63.7 percent of shares in Cainiao, will instead offer to buy back the remaining equity held by minority shareholders, for a total of $3.75 billion.

Alibaba said on Tuesday it had called off the listing, announced in September last year, to "support Cainiao to execute a long-term strategic expansion of its global logistics network".

The decision comes after Alibaba announced in November the cancellation of a planned spin-off of its cloud computing business -- also part of its company restructuring programme.

A pioneer in Chinese online shopping, the group is listed in New York and Hong Kong.

Based in eastern China's Hangzhou, Alibaba is a key player in the country's digital sector and is considered a barometer of consumer spending in the world's second-largest economy.

The company published disappointing quarterly results last month, recording a 77 percent drop on-year of its net profit in the quarter ending December 31.
Transport of the future? Europe's longest hyperloop centre opens



Veendam, Netherlands, March 26 (AFP) Mar 26, 2024



Europe's longest tunnel for testing hyperloop technology opens Wednesday in the Netherlands, with operators hoping passengers could one day be whisked from Amsterdam to Barcelona in a couple of hours.

On a disused railway centre near Veendam in the north of the country sits a sleek Y-shaped white tunnel 420 metres (1,380 feet) long made up of 34 interconnected pipes around 2.5 metres wide.

Nearly all the air is sucked out of the tunnel to reduce air resistance and a vehicle is propelled using magnets at speeds that could eventually reach 1,000 kilometres per hour.

The European Hyperloop Centre is the world's only facility to feature a "lane switch", a tunnel branching off from the main track, allowing scientists to test what happens when a vehicle changes course at high speed.

"You need this to create a network. The lane switch is a diverging part of the infrastructure, so one part goes for example to Paris, the other one heads off to Berlin," said centre director Sascha Lamme.

Lamme predicted a network of 10,000 kilometres of hyperloop tunnels criss-crossing Europe by 2050.

"If you look at how highways were developed over time, it goes exponentially when the technology is ready," the 33-year-old told AFP.

"We have made something that is very scalable. It can go very quickly. So it should really be possible to get into a station in Amsterdam and travel to a city like Barcelona in two hours," he said.

"Just like you do with an airplane, but without all the hassle."

Dutch-based firm Hardt Hyperloop plans to run initial vehicle tests in the coming weeks and the centre is open to companies developing any aspect of hyperloop technology.

However, the scientists admit there is a "long road" before the technology is completely ready and they are still some way off testing with passengers.

Full-scale passenger operations should be available by 2030, Lamme said, probably on a short route of around five kilometres -- from an airport to a city for example.



- 'Barf ride' -



SpaceX and Tesla tycoon Elon Musk brought hyperloop into popular culture with a 2013 paper proposing a "fifth mode of transport" linking San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Musk said a hyperloop tube could link the two cities in around 30 minutes, compared to up to six hours by road or one hour by plane.

Since then, several cities around the world have toyed with the idea, research projects have gobbled up millions of dollars, but hyperloop has still yet to get off the ground.

British businessman Richard Branson sent two passengers 500 metres in the Nevada desert in 2020, but his Virgin Hyperloop firm, which later became Hyperloop One, folded late last year.

But testing and research remains intense -- China has a longer facility allowing them to reach speeds of nearly 700 kilometres per hour, said Lamme.

Supporters say the hyperloop produces no pollution, no noise, and blends into the background both in urban and countryside environments.

"The energy consumption of the hyperloop as a transportation mode is much lower (than others)," said Marinus Van der Meijs, technology and engineering director at Hardt Hyperloop.

"It also requires less space to operate because we have these tubes that can easily be placed underground or elevated. So we have a lower infrastructure footprint" the 33-year-old told AFP.

Critics say the technology is pie in the sky and questions remain about the passenger experience of being fired through a narrow tunnel at close to the speed of sound.

Transport blogger Alon Levy famously described Musk's initial proposal as a "barf ride".

But Van der Meijs said the acceleration should not feel very different to a high-speed train.

"The passengers will be going faster, but it's all about the forces. It's similar to an aircraft. When it's up in the air and travelling at a constant speed, you don't feel it."

"We will make it a very comfortable ride," said Lamme.

"You could imagine a capsule with a nice ceiling which might display stars or a nice sunny day. Especially, when you get in, you'll get to your destination in a very short time."
News / National

by Staff reporter

Public Service Labour and Social Welfare Minister, July Moyo yesterday said the government is currently distributing food relief to vulnerable households faced with low grain yields during the drought-ravaged 2022/23 summer cropping season.He says a new food aid scheme will begin after the dry harvest season to rescue those faced with starvation.Most parts of the country have written off the staple maize crop due to the current El Nino-induced drought ravaging the region.Zimbabwe is experiencing one of the worst droughts in living memory which has seen widespread crop failure and decimation of livestock amid a disastrous farming season.This is threatening millions of people, especially the poor and vulnerable, with food insecurity and hunger.The United Nations World Food Programme says it is working with government and humanitarian aid agencies to provide food to 2.7 million rural people in the country as the El Nino weather phenomenon fuels a devastating drought crisis in southern Africa amid recurrent and protracted dry spells.
US raises concerns on Rafah offensive with Israeli defense chief



Washington, March 26 (AFP) Mar 26, 2024



Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised US opposition to a major ground operation in Rafah with Israel's defense minister on Monday, after a delegation to discuss Washington's concerns was scrapped earlier in the day.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed to send the delegation to Washington but cancelled it after the United States abstained on a UN Security Council resolution that demanded an immediate ceasefire during Ramadan.

In his meeting with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in Washington, Blinken reiterated US "opposition to a major ground operation in Rafah," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

Such a move "would further jeopardize the welfare of the more than 1.4 million Palestinian civilians sheltering there," Miller said.

Netanyahu's determination to launch a ground operation in Rafah, the city on Gaza's southern border where most of the territory's population is sheltering, has become a key point of contention.

Blinken "underscored that alternatives exist to a major ground invasion that would both better ensure Israel's security and protect Palestinian civilians," Miller said.

The two additionally "discussed the need to immediately surge and sustain additional humanitarian assistance to meet the needs of civilians in Gaza," he added.

Israel said earlier in the day that the United States abstention "hurts" both its war effort and attempts to release hostages.

It was "a clear retreat from the consistent position of the US," Netanyahu's office said.
Japan's cabinet approves fighter jet exports



Tokyo, March 26 (AFP) Mar 26, 2024



Japan's cabinet on Tuesday eased strict transfer rules for military equipment to allow the export of next-generation fighter jets being developed with Britain and Italy.

The three countries are pooling their know-how in cutting-edge air combat technology to develop the jet, which they hope will be ready by 2035.

Government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said the cabinet had approved the change to Japan's arms export rules, following agreement by the ruling coalition earlier this month.

Previously the export of military equipment to a third country was forbidden, although there have been some exceptions in recent years.

"The plan to make fighter jets with capabilities essential for the security of our nation must be realised, to ensure that our nation's defences won't be compromised," Hayashi told reporters.

"We need to have a system in place that would allow us to transfer defence equipment to countries other than our partners, and to make contributions on par with the UK and Italy."

The planes can only go to countries not involved in active conflicts and that have signed an international pledge to use the weapons in accordance with UN charters.

Each individual export will need cabinet approval -- a "stringent system" that "allows us to demonstrate to people in Japan and the world that we will maintain our fundamental principles as a pacifist nation", Hayashi said.

Japan's post-war constitution limits its military to ostensibly defensive measures.

Even so, the country has overhauled its security policy in recent years, explicitly outlining the challenge posed by China. It plans to ramp up defence spending to the NATO standard of two percent of GDP by 2027.
East Syria strikes kill nine pro-Iran fighters: monitor



Beirut, March 26 (AFP) Mar 26, 2024



At least nine pro-Iranian fighters, including a commander, were killed in air strikes in eastern Syria on Tuesday, a war monitor said.

"Nine pro-Iranian fighters, including a leader and a Syrian, were killed and more than 20 wounded in air strikes targeting the villa they were staying in, which served as a communications centre," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The Britain-based monitor said it had no word on who carried out the strikes and there was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes targeting pro-Iranian groups fighting alongside the forces of President Bashar al-Assad in the country's more than a decade-old civil war.

The United States has carried out a much smaller number of strikes against pro-Iran groups in eastern Syria which it holds responsible for a flurry of attacks on US interests in Iraq and Syria during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Media close to the Syrian government said the latest strikes were American.

The Observatory said that a few hours earlier, an Iranian cargo plane flew from Damascus to the eastern city of Deir Ezzor carrying technical equipment and soldiers of Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

The villa which was targeted and completely destroyed in the strike had been taken over by the Guards, who are responsible for Iran's foreign operations.

The strikes were the first of their kind in eastern Syria since early February, the Observatory said.

Then, US strikes targeting the eastern cities of Deir Ezzor and Al-Madayeen killed 29 pro-Iran fighters in response to a deadly drone attack on a US base which killed three US soldiers just across the border into Jordan.
Seven Chadian soldiers killed in mine blast



N'Djamena, March 26 (AFP) Mar 26, 2024



Seven Chadian soldiers were killed when their vehicle hit a landmine in a lawless region where jihadist groups including Nigeria's Boko Haram and an Islamic State offshoot are active.

President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno said several other soldiers were injured in Monday's blast in Tchoukou Telia in the restive Lake Chad region, about 200 kilometres (125 miles) from the capital N'Djamena.

"Their vehicle struck a mine while they were patrolling," he said. "Seven soldiers were killed and several others injured".

Deby Itno took power after his father Idriss Deby Itno, who ruled Chad with an iron fist for more than 30 years, died in 2021 while fighting rebels.

He is a candidate in a May 6 presidential election and faces no real challenge as authorities this weekend barred 10 candidates, including two fierce opponents of the military regime, from standing.

The Chadian army regularly kills or captures jihadists in the Lake Chad region but also suffers losses though this has considerably decreased over the past year.

Lake Chad, a vast expanse of water and marshland, straddles the borders of Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad.

It has been the site of frequent attacks from fighters from Boko Haram as well as Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).

dwi-gir/ach/rox
Syria strikes kill 13, including Iran Guard: monitor



Beirut, March 26 (AFP) Mar 26, 2024



At least nine pro-Tehran fighters, including an Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander, were among 13 people killed in air strikes in eastern Syria on Tuesday, a war monitor said.

"Nine pro-Iranian fighters, including a Revolutionary Guards commander, were killed in air strikes targeting the villa they were staying in, which served as a communications centre," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

It said four people were killed in a separate strike in the town of Albu Kamal on the Iraqi border.

The Britain-based monitor said it had no word on who carried out the strikes and there was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes targeting pro-Iranian groups fighting alongside the forces of President Bashar al-Assad in the country's more than a decade-old civil war.

The United States has carried out a much smaller number of strikes against pro-Iran groups in eastern Syria which it holds responsible for a flurry of attacks on US interests in Iraq and Syria during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Media close to the Syrian government said the latest strikes were American.

The Observatory said that just one of the fighters killed in the villa was Syrian. It said that 10 Syrian civilians who lived nearby were among more than 30 people wounded.

"We heard loud explosions which woke us up, then the sound of ambulances," said Hammoud al-Jabbour, who lives less than 100 metres (yards) from the villa which was targeted.

"It was one of the biggest strikes I've heard -- the windows of my house were shattered, the power was cut in several neighbourhoods and the main roads were closed."

The Observatory said that a few hours earlier, an Iranian cargo plane flew from Damascus to the eastern city of Deir Ezzor carrying technical equipment and soldiers of Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

The villa which was targeted and completely destroyed in the strike had been taken over by the Guards, who are responsible for Iran's foreign operations.

The strikes were the first of their kind in eastern Syria since early February, the Observatory said.

Then, US strikes targeting the eastern cities of Deir Ezzor and Al-Madayeen killed 29 pro-Iran fighters in response to a deadly drone attack on a US base which killed three US soldiers just across the border into Jordan.

Pro-Iran groups have since cut back their attacks on US targets in Syria, the Observatory said.

In early March, an Iranian Revolutionary Guard was killed along with two other people in an Israeli strike on the Mediterranean coastal city of Baniyas.
Ukraine says weekend attack damaged four Russian ships



Kyiv, Ukraine, March 26 (AFP) Mar 26, 2024



The Ukrainian navy said Tuesday it had damaged four Russian naval ships in a weekend missile attack on Crimea, according to new information.

The armed forces had said previously that an overnight attack from Saturday to Sunday damaged only two amphibious landing ships: the Yamal and the Azov.

According to updated information, "Ukraine's defence forces (also) successfully damaged the spy ship Ivan Khurs and the Konstantin Olshansky large landing ship", the navy said on Facebook.

Russia has not commented on this claim.

Ukraine has claimed to have destroyed around a third of Russia's Black Sea Fleet since the Russian inasion in February 2022.

The Soviet-era Konstantin Olshansky became part of Ukraine's naval fleet in 1996 but the Russians captured it in 2014 when they annexed Crimea.

Ukrainian navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk said on Tuesday that the ship had been disused for a long time and docked in the port city of Sevastopol.

But the Russians recently decided to restore it and secretly substitute it for one of the Russian ships damaged in the war, the spokesman claimed.

"So the decision was taken to hit this ship with our Neptune missile."

"The ship was hit, the damage is being clarified. In any case, this ship is not operational as of now."

Pletenchuk said the Ukrainian strike also damaged reconnaissance equipment on the other ship, the Ivan Khurs, so it will not be able to carry out missions in the near future. This more modern ship was launched in 2017.
Syria strikes kill 15 including Iran Guard: monitor



Beirut, March 26 (AFP) Mar 26, 2024



Air strikes in eastern Syria on Tuesday killed at least 15 people, most of them pro-Iran fighters including an Iranian Revolutionary Guard, a war monitor said, with Iranian media confirming the guard's death.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights did not say who carried out the strikes in Deir Ezzor province, which has been targeted by both US and Israeli raids in the past.

A US defence official told AFP the United States "did not conduct any airstrikes" overnight.

The Observatory said that "an Iranian Revolutionary Guards adviser, his two Iranian security escorts, two Syrian fighters" and five other combatants belonging to pro-Iran groups were killed in a villa in Deir Ezzor city.

Iran's state news agency IRNA reported the attack was "carried out by the Zionist regime", its term for Israel.

It identified the dead guard as Behrouz Vahedi, saying he belonged to the Quds force, the foreign operations arm of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The Observatory said the villa "served as a communications centre" in the area, reporting that the building was destroyed and its Syrian owner, a civilian, was also killed.

Four other fighters were killed in a separate strike in the town of Albu Kamal on the Iraqi border, said the Britain-based Observatory, which has a network of sources inside Syria.

It said in total nine of the dead in the strikes were Iraqi nationals.

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes targeting pro-Iranian groups fighting alongside the forces of President Bashar al-Assad in the country's 13-year civil war.

The US has carried out fewer strikes in eastern Syria against pro-Iran groups, which it blames for a flurry of attacks on US interests in Iraq and Syria during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.



- 'Windows shattered' -



Hammoud al-Jabbour, who lives a short walk from the villa, told AFP he was woken up by the sound of explosions.

"It was one of the biggest strikes I've heard," he said.

"The windows of my house were shattered, the power was cut in several neighbourhoods and the main roads were closed."

The Observatory said an Iranian cargo plane flew from Damascus to Deir Ezzor city shortly before the strike, carrying technical equipment and the Guards adviser.

The Observatory said he was in charge of telecommunications.

The strikes were the first of their kind in eastern Syria since early February, the Observatory said.

US strikes in February killed 29 pro-Iran fighters in Deir Ezzor and Mayadeen areas in response to a deadly drone attack on a US base that killed three US soldiers across the border in Jordan.

Pro-Iran groups have since cut back their attacks on US targets in Syria, the Observatory said.

In early March, an Iranian Revolutionary Guard was killed along with two other people in an Israeli strike on the Syrian Mediterranean city of Banias.

burs/lg/jxb
News / National

by Staff reporter

President Emmerson Mnangagwa's special envoy and self-proclaimed prophet Uebert Angel is being accused of engineering a smear campaign to extort money from a prominent church leader.Tension has been brewing between Tabernacle of Grace Church leader and founder Apostle Batsirai Java and Angel in the past weeks, culminating in the pulling down of the former's Facebook pages by men believed to be linked to Mnangagwa's ambassador to America and the United Kingdom.So huge was the tension that Java was threatened with "extermination" by Angel's allies, who have also been boasting that they cannot be arrested because of their boss's close links to Mnangagwa.They claim that Angel is the fourth most powerful man in Zimbabwe.The plot is said to involve Tinashe Exevier Mutamiri, also known as Prof Ex, who runs the Christian blog.Mutamiri last week attacked Java for cursing on the pulpit whoever pulled down his church's Facebook account.The plot involved paying women to testify claiming they had been sexually abused by Java, recording them and ordering the Tabernacle of Grace Church founder to pay US$50 000 for the audio recordings not to be released.Several efforts to quell the escalating war, including invoking Mnangagwa's son, Emmerson Junior, and some high-ranking government officials in the mediation process between the two church leaders faltered, with Angel's camp unrelenting in their onslaught on Java after he refused to pay "for what I have not done".The war started when disgraced Light World Ministries leader Jacob Dube, known as Jay Israel, visited Java and warned him that Angel was not happy with him and warned that he would be in trouble unless he publicly apologised to him.Israel's unsolicited visit came after some men, who claimed to have been sent by Angel approached one of Java's liutenants, Deacon Robert Chikombera and told him that Angel was not happy because Java attacked him at a prophetic meeting held last year.The emissary disclosed that Angel was also of the view that Java was behind the challenges his church in Zimbabwe was facing in reference to his dwindling followers.The aide said Angel was also of the view that Java was sponsoring journalists to write negative stories about him.When Israel visited Java he disclosed that Angel wanted a public apology for Proff Ex to stop the imminent attack, claiming "everything was being done around Proff Ex.""It was Israel who proposed the US$50 000 figure," a well-placed source said."He gave Apostle Java a deadline to pay or risk having Proff Ex release the damning videos.Apostle Java is said to have flatly refused to give the money claiming that he never sexually abused anyone, and he could not pay for something that he did not do."This infuriated Israel."After Java refused to pay, Israel went around several publications trying to influence them to smear him, but the publications released damning reports exposing his attempt to extort Java.This forced him to release a vague statement distancing himself from allegations he did not disclose in the statement.He, however, supported Angel, saying he was "a figure of harmony actively engaged in fostering unity among the Christians and spreading the pure gospel of Jesus Christ."Angel himself is said to have visited Java at his home in the company of so-called prophet Passion Java a fortnight ago to try to give an impression that he wanted peace after realising the matter was fast getting out of control.Angel disclosed his hatred of Java through calls he made to allies and relatives of the Tabernacle of Grace founder, including instructing Israel to lie that a robbery case 5312338 reported at Marlborough Police Station that took place at Java's place in 2022 was a misunderstanding between Java and a lover he identified as Nyasha, who is alleged to be the ambassador's girlfriend.He also claimed that instead of fighting him, Java was supposed to be grateful because he is the one protecting him since he was not a member of Zanu-PF."He is not known in Zanu-PF, if I say he has done this and that to me, he will be in trouble immediately," Angel said.In some audios from a defector from Angel's camp, it is said "Israel likes money too much and Proff Ex is very evil," and was currently being paid huge money to pay witnesses in SA to drop rape and money laundering charges against Shephard Bushiri so that he is removed from Interpol wanted list."Jay Israel has his own problems, he likes money, and he will not deny if you call him," Angel disclosed.An Angel defector said: "Proff Ex is very evil; he is extremely evil. He has brought down many partners of Jeremiah Omoto."Proff Ex has already posted on Facebook that one of the witnesses in Bushiri's case had suddenly withdrawn her charges claiming she was paid to bring down the Malawian preacher.Recently, Angel allegedly dragged Vice-President Kembo Mohadi to Malawi to meet Bushiri and seek his protection from Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera.Proff Ex is also doing the same for Angel, who is facing an investigation by the British government over many cases.Java last week cursed one Nyamayaro, without giving the full name, for pulling down his Facebook pages, and three days later, one Stewart Nyamayaro, through Chasi, Maguwudze Legal Practitioners, who are also Angel's lawyers, wrote to him demanding a retraction.The Facebook pages were pulled down soon after pictures of Angel with Prophet Emmanuel Makandiwa went viral.Java refused to comment saying: "I don't want to be dragged into that."Proff Ex denied accusations that he was involved in the plot, saying: "I have never been paid by Prophet Angel nor do I have any affiliation with him."He did not respond to a follow up question on why he had never attacked Angel or Bushiri as he does with other charismatic church leaders.In an interview, Angel's aide, Felix Chikase said it was the first time he heard of such information."What I know is that the Prophet does not do these kinds of deals. It's actually my first time hearing it from you," Chikase told The Standard yesterday evening.No comment could be obtained from Israel.
Niger regime chief talks 'security cooperation' with Putin



Niamey, Niger, March 26 (AFP) Mar 26, 2024



The head of Niger's military regime General Abdourahamane Tiani spoke on Tuesday by telephone to Russian President Vladimir Putin about "strengthening security cooperation", according to an official communique.

The two countries had already agreed in January to strengthen military ties when Niger Prime Minister Ali Lamine Zeine led a delegation to Moscow.

Niger, one of the world's poorest countries, had been a frontline partner of the West in battling jihadists in the Sahel but has embraced Russia as a fledgling defence partner since the elected president was ousted last year.

The two heads of state "talked of the need for strengthening security cooperation... to face current threats," said the Nigerien communique read out on public radio.

They also discussed "projects for multi-sector and global strategic cooperation," it added without further explanation.

General Tiani, who has led Niger since the July coup, thanked Putin for Russia's "support" for the Sahel country and its struggle for national sovereignty.

A Russian delegation also visited Niger last December.

The United States still stations some 1,000 troops in Niger although movements have been limited since the coup and Washington has curbed assistance to the government.

A senior US delegation went to Niamey in mid-March to renew contact with the junta, but said they failed to meet Tiani.

The new regime has denounced military cooperation with the West, shunning colonial ties with France.

Niger had previously been an important base for France's military efforts to quell Islamist extremism stemming from the Sahel region.

Niger joined neighbours Mali and Burkina Faso at the start of the month in announcing the creation of a joint force to battle the long-running jihadist rebellions raging in the three nations.

They had announced in January their intention to withdraw from regional bloc the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
US defense chief to Israel counterpart: Gaza toll 'too high'



Washington, March 26 (AFP) Mar 26, 2024



US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant Tuesday that civilian casualties in Gaza are "too high," and said the two would talk about alternatives to a major Israeli operation in the territory's south.

A separate Israeli delegation was supposed to visit Washington to discuss US concerns over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plans to launch an assault on the southern city of Rafah, where much of Gaza's population has sought refuge.

But Israel scrapped that visit after the United States abstained in a Monday vote on a UN Security Council resolution that called for a Gaza ceasefire, allowing it to pass.

"In Gaza today, the number of civilian casualties is far too high, and the amount of humanitarian aid is far too low," Austin said at the beginning of the meeting, adding that it would include discussion of alternatives for targeting Hamas in Rafah.

Gallant meanwhile said they would talk about "developments in Gaza and the means to achieve our goals: the destruction of Hamas organization and bringing back the Israeli hostages."

Roughly 130 people are still believed to be held in Gaza after they were seized in the shock Hamas attack on October 7 that resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli figures.

Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 32,414 people in Gaza, 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 and the humanitarian situation worsens.
Mali's junta bans opposition coalition: decree



Dakar, March 26 (AFP) Mar 26, 2024



Mali's ruling junta has banned the activities of a rare new opposition coalition in Bamako citing "threats of disturbance to public order," according to an official decree seen by AFP on Tuesday.

The country has been under military rule since back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021, with the security situation compounded by a humanitarian and political crisis.

The coalition, named "Action Synergy for Mali", was set up in February and is made up of 30 opposition parties including supporters of an influential imam, Mahmoud Dicko.

"Due to the security situation and the risk of threats to public order, the activities of the 'Action Synergy for Mali' group are formally banned throughout the entire district of Bamako," said a decree dated on Monday from the capital's governor Abdoulaye Coulibaly.

The coalition rejected the ban, describing it as an "illegitimate and illegal decision that violates the freedom of association and expression guaranteed by the constitution".

The group is highly critical of the junta and has proposed "a new way" for Malians who have seen the country ravaged by different groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group since 2012.

"Expectations of the people were far from being met," the coalition has said.

The governor pointed to "multiple actions" by the coalition that he said were in "violation of current regulations".

In mid-March, the United Nations said it was "deeply concerned" by the dissolution of civil society organisations and "increasing restrictions" on human rights and fundamental freedoms in Mali.

At least four organisations have been dissolved since December 2023, including groups relating to good governance, elections and opposition, a UN spokesperson said in a statement.
EDMONTON, AB, March 26, 2024 /CNW/ - AutoCanada Inc. ("AutoCanada" or the "Company") (TSX: ACQ), a multi-location North American automobile dealership group, announced today that Steve Carlisle and Christopher Harris have been nominated for election to its Board of Directors at the Company's 2024 Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be held on May 2, 2024.

AutoCanada Inc. Logo (CNW Group/AutoCanada Inc.)

Steve Carlisle recently retired from his position as Executive Vice President and President of General Motors North America, after more than four decades with General Motors. Before leading General Motors North America, Steve had been Senior Vice President and President of Cadillac and President and Managing Director, General Motors of Canada. Over the course of his career with General Motors, Steve has held other senior leadership positions, including Vice President, Global Product Planning, Vice President, U.S. Sales Operations, and President, Southeast Asia Operations. Steve obtained his Master of Business Administration from the MIT Sloan School of Management and his Bachelor of Applied Science from the University of Waterloo.

Christopher Harris is currently a Partner at Imperial Capital, a private equity firm based in Toronto, Ontario focusing on healthcare, business and consumer services investments. Chris has significant experience in investments involving fragmented sector consolidations such as express car washes and environmental consulting. Chris joined Imperial Capital in 2007 from KPMG where he worked in the M&A Transaction Services department. Chris obtained his Master of Business Administration from the University of Oxford and his Bachelor of Commerce from Queen's University. He is also a Chartered Professional Accountant.

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"We are very excited to welcome Steve and Chris to our Board of Directors. Steve brings extensive and unparalleled OEM experience and strategic acumen, offering invaluable guidance during a period of industry transformation, while bringing the perspective of our most important business partners to the boardroom. Chris' expertise in multi-site consolidation roll-up investments and financial prowess provides essential guidance for managing our growth trajectory," said Paul Antony, Executive Chair.

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Current directors Paul Antony, Rhonda English, Stephen Green, Barry James and Elias Olmeta have been nominated for re-election as directors, while Dennis DesRosiers and Lee Matheson will be retiring from their positions. "We would like to thank Dennis and Lee for their years of dedicated service to AutoCanada. Their guidance has been invaluable while the Company has evolved and grown," said Paul Antony, Executive Chair.

About AutoCanada

AutoCanada is a leading North American multi-location automobile dealership group currently operating 84 franchised dealerships, comprised of 28 brands, in eight provinces in Canada as well as a group in Illinois, USA. AutoCanada currently sells Acura, Alfa Romeo, Audi, BMW, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, FIAT, Ford, GMC, Honda, Hyundai, Infiniti, Jeep, Kia, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, MINI, Nissan, Porsche, Ram, Subaru, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo branded vehicles. In addition, AutoCanada's Canadian Operations segment currently operates three used vehicle dealerships and one used vehicle auction business supporting the Used Digital Retail Division, 13 RightRide division locations, and 11 stand-alone collision centres within our group of 27 collision centres. In 2023, the Company generated revenue in excess of $6 billion and our dealerships sold over 100,000 retail vehicles.

Additional Information

Additional information about AutoCanada is available at the Company's website at www.autocan.ca and www.sedarplus.ca.

SOURCE AutoCanada Inc.

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"Become" is the most reminiscent of the original series. Perhaps it was Rick and Michonne encountering survivors in the woods or them finding the supply of ramen, which evokes S7:E12, "Say Yes," when Rick and Michonne found a warehouse stocked with MREs (meals-ready-to-eat). The couple is still basking in love's afterglow, but the apocalypse is relentless, and danger comes for them in the form of decorated Warrant Officer Jadis Stokes. Through flashbacks and flashforwards, "Become" concludes Jadis Stokes's (aka Anne's) story.

I enjoyed the flashback interactions between Gabriel and Anne. Through their exposition, we are introduced to the central conflict for this episode: Jadis's identity conflict. I examine the intricate relationship between Jadis's name and her identity. For example, in the Chronicle of Narnia series, author C. S. Lewis uses the character of Jadis to explore themes of tyranny, the abuse of power, and redemption. Do you see how these themes play out with Warrant Officer Jadis Stokes in the CRM? Anne, on the other hand, means 'favor' or 'grace.' Throughout this episode, note how Michonne, Rick, and Gabriel refer to her as Anne, not Jadis. As Anne, she maintains her lines of relationship with Gabriel, who serves as her spiritual guide, confessor, and redeemer. In doing so, he drives the plot forward. Tyranny or graceyou can feel Jadis's conflict?

There were other nods to the importance of a character's name. For example, Michonne hates the named license plates because there is never one with her name. This situation symbolizes her uniqueness in the Walking Dead universe and Rick's life. Rick asked if the "junior" license plate was a good gift for RJ. Michonne emphasizes that no one ever calls RJ Junior but that RJ insists on calling himself the 'little brave man.' In all these instances, the writers want us to understand that our identity, our name, carries our personal history, meaning, and expectations, underscoring the complexity of the relationship between individuals and the collective, between the personal and the public.

"Become  THE WALKING DEAD: THE ONES WHO LIVE, Pictured: Danai Gurira as Michonne. Photo: AMC 2024 AMC Networks. All Rights Reserved

The Walking Dead, at its core, is an opus to material, spiritual, and human loss. To deal with her losses, Jadis vacillates between saving her humanity as the artist Anne and saving all humanity as Warrant Officer Jadis of the CRM. Jadis waxes nostalgically about the life she lived as Anne. She regrets her cruel and difficult actions when she's not with him. Father Gabriel challenges: "If you're here expressing doubts, isn't that a sign that that isn't who you are?" She rebuffs him and hastens to leave. Because he continues questioning who she is, Father Gabriel gives Jadis a ring meant for Rick and Michonne's nuptials. He tells Jadis that the ring is a symbol of faith. Of love, foreshadowing the ring's importance in this story.

In another pivotal flashback, Jadis has her gun trained on Gabriel. He calls her out, stating: "You're lying. You don't keep coming back. You never left. Go ahead. You should shoot me. Make me understand. Show me who you've become." Jadis doesn't shoot him. Gabriel concludes, "You came to me to find an answer. You just found it." She becomes the artist Anne.

I thoroughly enjoyed this episode, "Become," with caveats. First, Chief Content Officer Scott Gimple confirmed that someone from the original series would appear in The Ones Who Live. Fear the Walking Dead mentioned Rick Grimes, leading many of us to hope for a Morgan Jones instead of a Father Gabriel appearance. While mildly disappointed, I understood, as detailed above, why it had to be Father Gabriel. However, the pacing and frequency of these flashbacks bordered on excessive.

Second, the flashforward fight scenes between Rick, Michonne, Jadis, and the survivors were more problematic. For example, the survivors Rick and Michonne encountered are feeble, and it is hard to understand how they survived this long. Third, when Jadis catches Rick and Michonne sleeping, she behaves like a Bond villain (or maybe an Austin Powers-type villain) by over-explaining why she did not want to "leave things unsaid." In her mind, Jadis delayed killing Rick and Michonne to thank them for dying, thereby preserving the CRM's secrets and guaranteeing that Judith and RJ would have a better world in which to grow up. Jadis's reasons sound like excuses to Rick and Michonne. In stereotypical villain fashion, all that talking gives Rick and Michonne the upper hand. Jadis gets wounded. There is a predictable double-cross that results from a negotiation between Rick and Jadis that is reminiscent of their negotiations over guns in Season 7. I found this interchange tedious. Eventually, Jadis comes out on the losing end of this exchange, bitten by the reanimated survivors she enlisted to help her.

"Become  THE WALKING DEAD: THE ONES WHO LIVE, Pictured: Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes. Photo: AMC 2024 AMC Networks. All Rights Reserved

As Anne died, she acknowledged that Gabriel had shown her who she had become. She says: "I wish I had died as an artist when it was never about survival. It was about truth. My peace." Pollyanna McIntosh's (Jadis/Anne) delivery was pitch-perfect here. It evoked emotions that ran the gamut between nostalgic longing and tragic grief. This scene reminded me of Nat's death when he asked Michonne if she could tell if Rick was still Rick.

Anne's dying acts include telling Rick and Michonne where her dossier on Alexandria is hidden and asking them not to go after the CRM. But, Michonne says, "No!" "The CRM is not the answer, and it must end." Finally, Anne gives Rick a ring Gabriel gave her, imploring, "Go ahead. Do what you said you would do. Please." This declaration to Rick has a double meaningto both kill her and marry Michonne.

Jadis believed the CRM was "about survival, about what comes after." Rick acknowledges that Jadis had the grace and favor to leave them alive for a reason. Ironically, Rick and Michonne realize that they share the same goal. Michonne says, "I see how we can make it better. And if we can, we have to." Michonne's statement resonates with why Okafor chose Rick and Thorne to change the CRM from the inside. Okafor articulates that they possess what the CRM needs to become. In S1:E1, Okafor avowed, "If either of you had a chance to save the world, you would. You'd have to." Do you see the parallel?

Regarding other commitments, Rick and Michonne exchange vows using the ring (a symbol of faith. Of love) that Jadis gave them. I know some viewers grow impatient with the 'love stuff,' but for me, the love Rick expressed in the following vow: "It's a broken world. You are the only one who can put it back together (unlike Lori). 'Til my last breath, I am yours," distinguishes The Ones Who Live from other stories in the Walking Dead Universe. His words melt my bones. This is a love story, and others need to recognize and respect that.

"Become  THE WALKING DEAD: THE ONES WHO LIVE, Pictured: Danai Gurira as Michonne and Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes. Photo: AMC 2024 AMC Networks. All Rights Reserved

Like most, I wanted Jadis to get her comeuppance for taking Rick away from his wife and kids. However, The Ones Who Live excels at completely defined characterizations, even for one-episode characters like Okafor or Nat. I empathized with Jadis's struggle to reclaim her core identity as her story unfolded. In less than an hour, the writer brought so much depth, dimension, and dignity to her character's arc that I felt a skosh uncomfortable with Rick staring down the barrel of his gun like he had when he put down the walker, Sophia.

Could anyone else relate to my review of the latest episode? What are your predictions for the finale? Please share your thoughts and feedback on my review. Also, let me know how you think the show will end. Thank you.




The police and Kirklees council did little to assist him, as he found, in a travesty of a natural justice, that he and his family were effectively living as fugitives. His fears were understandable: six months before, Samuel Paty, a history teacher, had been beheaded outside the Paris school where he worked by an 18-year-old jihadist after showing his pupils a cartoon of Muhammad in a class on free speech. Since the original furore in March 2021, the unnamed teacher has experienced suicidal thoughts and lives with the debilitating consequences of PTSD.
We look to the Government to make the changes, as outlined within this report, that will enable more schemes like Y:Cubes to be built within London as a vital link in the chain for young people who are setting out in life, added James.
 December: Assange presents himself to London police and appears at an extradition hearing where he is remanded in custody. He is later granted conditional bail at the High Court in London after his supporters offer 240,000 in cash and sureties. US President Donald Trump calls for the death penalty for Assange.
Image source: Getty Images

Written by Demetris Afxentiou at The Motley Fool Canada

Alimentation Couche-Tard (TSX:ATD) is a name recognizable to most Canadians and investors. Unfortunately, the stock made headlines this week for another reason by missing earnings expectations. But does this mean investors should look elsewhere for growth or continue to buy Alimentation Couche-Tard stock?

Lets try to answer that question.

The name that everyone knows, and the stock you will love

For those unfamiliar with the stock, Alimentation Couche-Tard is one of the largest gas station and convenience store retailers on the planet. The company boasts well over 14,000 locations in over two dozen countries around the world.

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If youre contemplating whether to buy Alimentation Couche-Tard stock, youre not alone. For over a decade, Alimentation Couche-Tard has been one of the best-performing stocks on the market.

Part of the reason for that is the necessary yet often dismissive nature of its business.

In short, gas stations and by extension, their adjoining convenience stores are not destinations we go to, but rather interim stops we make on the way to somewhere else. This could be fueling up before going out for the evening or grabbing some milk and eggs on the way home.

That key point makes Couche-Tard a defensive part of the market that isnt going anywhere. Additionally, Couche-Tard has become a master at identifying and selling those goods.

Another key point is Couche-Tards appetite for expansion. The company has flawlessly executed a series of well-executed acquisitions over the years. And more importantly, Couche-Tards superb management team has looked to integrate the best parts of each acquisition into the business.

Lets get on with the not-so-good recent news

Even with a largely defensive stock that has massive growth appeal like Couche-Tard, there is always some risk. And Couche-Tards recently reported Q3 results were in a word, underwhelming. This has led some to question whether or not to buy Alimentation Couche-Tard stock.

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Specifically, revenue came in 2.2% lower over the same period last year, at $US19.6 billion. That dip followed on with net income coming in 16% lower to US$623.4 million, while on a per share basis the company came in US$0.08 lower to US$0.65 per share.

Part of the reason for the dip, at least according to CEO Brian Hannasch, is the trade-down behaviour were seeing in other parts of the market. What this means is that customers, particularly lower-income patrons who are already strained by the added volatility of rising costs, are being forced to trade-down to more affordable options.

As a result of the not-so-good results, Couche Tard has seen its stock price shed 8% this week.

But there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Despite the mammoth recent drop in the stock price, it still trades at an attractive P/E of just 18. Furthermore, the company still forecasts strong growth over the next several years, forecasting annual growth of 7%.

And theres also Couche-Tards growing European business. Specifically, the company completed a whopping $3.1 billion euro deal for the European assets of TotalEnergies last year.

This included retail locations in Germany and the Netherlands, as well as a significant share of sites in Belgium and Luxembourg. Overall, the deal increased the presence of Couche-Tard in the competitive European market by a whopping 80%.

For investors contemplating whether to buy Alimentation Couche-Tard stock, thats a pretty strong case.

Buy Alimentation Couche-Tard stock for something extra

Apart from that long-term growth potential and overall appeal, Couche-Tard can tease prospective investors with one more point  a dividend.

The company offers investors a quarterly dividend, which currently carries a paltry yield of just 0.86%. Thats hardly a reason which will top the scales to buy Alimentation Couche-Tard stock, but it is covered and growing.

Its just yet one more item to add to a growing list of reasons to consider Couche-Tard.

In my opinion, investors should buy Alimentation Couche-Tard stock as part of a larger, well-diversified portfolio.

The post Should You Buy Alimentation Couche-Tard Stock? appeared first on The Motley Fool Canada.

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Fool contributor Demetris Afxentiou has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alimentation Couche-Tard. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

2024
Council planning officers recommended approval of the scheme in a report after ruling it to be of a suitable high quality and design. They said the land had already been developed and the scheme would not cause substantial harm to the MOL, while helping to meet housing need in the borough. Officers added the proposed five-storey blocks did not comply with council policy but would have a limited impact on the skyline, while concluding the impact on surrounding roads would be acceptable.
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.
Neria Sharabi, who says they both suffer PTSD as a result of the murderous Hamas attacks, demanded an apology from the UK Government and the dismissal of the Border Force officer after they were grilled for two hours before they were allowed into the country on Sunday.
The Christchurch MP added: "In the same way as I don't think many people in Venice use gondolas as a means of getting from A to B quickly, pedicabs are not I think essentially used as a means as an alternative to getting on a bus or the Underground, they are there for a bit of fun and recreation.
Her circumstances were fully laid out in a mitigation letter to the court from her son, but prosecuting bodies frequently do not see letters like this due to 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.
Junior doctors are starting their careers earning 13.65 an hour in Wales. Is that all they are worth? They are providing lifesaving care after training for years and are shouldering up to 100,000 of debt. We will continue our fight for fair pay for all doctors working in the NHS. It is no surprise that we are losing doctors as they search for better pay and conditions elsewhere. Losing our doctors at a time when waiting lists are at record highs will mean patients suffering more than they are already."
Some falsely claimed her video was AI-generated with a few even going as far as to doctor Kates message to look as if it was coming from Princess Diana or Meghan Markle, to try and prove how easy it would be to alter it.
Former school teacher Peter McCormack, 42, was killed and three others were injured in the shooting at the Thierafurth Inn in Kilcoo on November 19 1992.
In a speech, he said: There is no doubt that the market has changed hugely since the licence fee was introduced and I think it is right to ask fundamental questions about its longevity in a world that is now full of choice
A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: We are supporting the family of a British man who has died in Mauritius and are in contact with the local authorities.
MONTREAL  Canadian National Railway Co. has released a new Indigenous relations policy for the railway months after its advisory council of prominent Indigenous leaders resigned en masse.

The policy includes principles on cultural awareness and employee engagement, people and employment, community engagement and relationships, economic reconciliation and environmental stewardship and safety.

"CN is deeply committed to reconciliation and continuing to work collaboratively alongside Indigenous communities across our network," CN chief legal officer Olivier Chouc said in a news release.

"By acknowledging our past and embracing our responsibilities, we are laying a stronger foundation to continue to develop respectful, sustainable, and mutually beneficial relationships with Indigenous peoples."

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The council resigned at the end of last year after its co-chairs said the company failed to acknowledge past wrongs and follow its recommendations for reconciliation.

The new policy follows CNs acknowledgment of the historical role railways have played as part of colonial policies. That acknowledgment was published in December on the heels of the council's mass resignation.

The railway is one of a number of major Canadian corporations that have appointed Indigenous advisory councils in the last few years in response to a call to action by the federal Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

The commission called on the corporate sector to commit to meaningful consultation and respectful relationships with Indigenous people, and to ensure they have equitable access to jobs, training, and education opportunities as well as long-term sustainable benefits from economic development projects.

But Indigenous business experts have said these goals remain far off, as evidenced by the resignation of CN's Indigenous advisory council.

Some have urged corporate Canada to move beyond window dressing to real action, including by setting targets for Indigenous representation at the board level and hiring targets across the organization.

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Such measures could also include procurement agreements to ensure Indigenous-owned businesses are being granted fair access to corporate contracts.

Melanie Allaire, CN's head of Indigenous relations, said the company is developing its first Reconciliation Action Plan, which is meant to outline specific and measurable initiatives for CN to track its progress. The plan will be announced later this year.

This new policy is just one piece of the comprehensive work being undertaken at CN to build strong and meaningful relationships with Indigenous peoples," Allaire said in a statement.

CN says its network operates within or adjacent to nearly 230 reserve lands of more than 120 First Nations and Metis communities in Canada and seven Tribal reservations in the United States.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 26, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:CNR)

The Canadian Press
SHENZHEN, China, March 26, 2024 /CNW/  The Shenzhen-Milan Lifestyle Week launched on March 20 in Nanshan, Shenzhen, unveiling a curated lineup of fashion-forward events, including an intimate Roundtable Discussion, the much-anticipated Nanshan Fashion Tour, a groundbreaking Skyline Fashion Show, an elegantly themed Fashion Night, and a spectacular drone show. Running parallel to these festivities, the debut of the promotional short film "NANSHAN NEW LOOK" paid homage to Nanshan's sartorial culture. A centerpiece of the Lifestyle Week is the Shenzhen-Milan Pioneer Fashion Art Exhibition, held in Nanshan District's historical area Nantou City until April 14. The exhibition brings together nine of Nanshan's and Milan's up-and-coming fashion brands, among them, Italian couturiers VIA PIAVE 33, Meltin(Pot), alessandro enriquez, ALABAMA muse, FRANCESCA BELLAVITA alongside Nanshan's own sartorial innovators CHAURISING, PERMU, PANTTERFLY and Lynn Gong. The exhibit offered an array of style sensations, from the latest in pret-a-porter to timeless classics, artisanal crafts, immersive art installations, and striking multimedia presentations.

Hosted in Nantou City, an area with a profound historical narrative dating back nearly 1,700 years, the exhibition highlights Shenzhen's rich multicultural backdrop, now rejuvenated through thoughtful preservation efforts. Amidst the event, a pivotal memorandum of cooperation was signed by a Nanshan District government dignitary and Maria Rosa Azzolina, President of the Italy-China Institute. The agreement signifies a deepened commitment to fostering cultural and economic ties between Milan and Nanshan, underlining the global interconnectedness of the fashion industry.

On March 20th, the "Skyline Fashion Show" elevated Lifestyle Week to new heights at the Super HQ Base International Hall, where Shenzhen's original designer brand, CHAU-RISING, unveiled its latest seasonal collection. The event highlighted the district's ongoing commitment to fostering innovation within the fashion sector.

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The event sets in motion Nanshan's role in redefining the fashion landscape, heralding the launch of an ambitious plan to cultivate its original designer brands. This strategic move aims to invigorate the fashion buying economy, champion the rise of new independent labels, and propel China's independent original design industry into the global spotlight. With a solid foundation in place, the district is poised to become a magnet for international fashion brands, opening the doors for more emerging labels with the potential to make their mark on the domestic fashion scene.

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The Chamber of Deputies rejected, on Tuesday, the simple motion against the minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR), Florin Barbu, initiated by Save Romania Union (USR) deputies and entitled "Odes for Ceausescu do not save Romanian agriculture".

There were 77 "for" votes, 149 "against" votes, 7 abstentions, and 10 deputies did not vote.

The USR deputies requested, in the simple motion, that prime minister Marcel Ciolacu dismiss the minister of Agriculture, Florin Barbu, arguing that he should leave the position he holds "for someone more skilled and less nostalgic for communism".

The signatories of the motion consider that Florin Barbu treats the farmers with contempt and defies the Romanians who pay increased prices daily, in the market and in the shops.

According to the text of the motion, products with capped prices have disappeared from the shelf or have been made more expensive by reducing the weight per product, and the National Institute of Statistics (INS) announces that food prices continue to rise.

The initiators claimed that, instead, the Minister of Agriculture promoted a law by which reeds from the Danube Delta will be used by companies close to "the local PSD baron Paul Stanescu".

The motion was debated on Monday by the plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies.
BUON MA THUOT, Vietnam (AP)  Le Van Tam is no stranger to how the vagaries of global trade can determine the fortunes of small coffee farmers like him.

He first planted coffee in a patch of land outside Buon Ma Thuot city in Vietnam's Central Highland region in 1995. For years, his focus was on quantity, not quality. Tam used ample amounts of fertilizer and pesticides to boost his yields, and global prices determined how well he did.

Then, in 2019, he teamed up with Le Dinh Tu of Aeroco Coffee, an organic exporter to Europe and the U.S., and adopted more sustainable methods, turning his coffee plantation (field) into a a sun-dappled forest. The coffee grows side-by-side with tamarind trees that add nitrogen to the soil and provide support for black pepper vines. Grass helps keep the soil moist and the mix of plants discourages pest outbreaks. The pepper also adds to Tam's income.

The output hasnt increased, but the products value has, he said.

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In the 1990s, Tam was among thousands of Vietnamese farmers who planted more than a million hectares of coffee, mostly robusta, to take advantage of high global prices. By 2000, Vietnam had become the second-largest producer of coffee, which provides a tenth of its export income.

Vietnam is hoping that farmers like Tam will benefit from a potential reordering of how coffee is traded due to more stringent European laws to stop deforestation.

The European Deforestation Regulation or EUDR will outlaw sales of products like coffee from December 30, 2024, if companies can't prove they are not linked with deforestation. The new rules don't just seek to reduce risks of illegal logging and its scope is wide: It will apply to cocoa, coffee, soy, palm oil, wood, rubber, and cattle. To sell those products in Europe big companies will have to provide evidence showing they come from land where forests haven't been cut since 2020. Smaller companies have till July 2025 to do so.

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Deforestation is the second-biggest source of carbon emissions after fossil fuels. Europe ranked second behind China in the amount of deforestation caused by its imports in 2017, according to a 2021 World Wildlife Fund report. If implemented well, the EUDR could help reduce this, especially if the more stringent standards for tracing where products come from becomes the new normal, Helen Bellfield a policy director at Global Canopy told The Associated Press in an interview.

It's not failsafe. Companies can just sell products that don't meet the new requirements elsewhere, without reducing deforestation. Thousands of small farmers unable to provide the potentially expensive data could be left out. Much depends on how countries and companies react to the new laws, Bellfield said. Countries must help smaller farmers by building national systems ensure their exports are traceable. Otherwise, companies may just buy from very large farms that can prove they have complied.

Already, orders for Ethiopian grown coffee have fallen. And Peru lacks the capacity to provide information needed for coffee and cocoa grown in the Peruvian Amazon.

This is on top of other challenges, which in Vietnam include worsening droughts and receding ground water levels.

There will be winners and losers, she said.

Vietnam can't afford to lose  Europe is the largest market for its coffee, comprising 40% of its coffee exports. Six weeks after the EUDR was approved, Vietnam's agriculture ministry started working to prepare coffee growing provinces for the shift. It has since rolled out a national plan that includes a database of where crops are grown and mechanisms to make this information traceable.

The Southeast Asian nation has long promoted more sustainable farming methods, viewing laws like the EUDR as an an inevitable change," according to an August 2023 agriculture ministry communique. The EUDR could help accelerate such a transformation, according to agriculture minister Le Minh Hoang.

Tam and Tu, his export partner, were quick to adapt.

Even if the costs are higher, Tu said, they can get better prices for their high quality coffee

We must choose the highest quality. Otherwise, we will always be laborers, Tu said, while sipping a cup of his favorite coffee at his company's coffee processing factory adjoining Tam's farm. This is where trucks laden with red coffee cherries, both robusta and arabica, arrive from other farms, where the pulp of the fruit removed and beans of coffee laid out on tables to dry in the sun.

Tu already has certificates from international agencies for sustainability that will enable him to deal with the EUDR. Such certificates typically address the issue of deforestation, although some tweaks may be needed, said David Hadley, program director for regulatory impacts at the non-profit group Preferred by Nature in Costa Rica.

Ensuring that Vietnam's roughly half a million small farmers, who produce about 85% of its coffee, are able to collect and provide data showing their farms did not cause deforestation remains a challenge. Some may struggle to use smartphones to collect geolocation coordinates. Small exporters need to set up systems to prevent other uncertified products from being mixed with coffee that meets EUDR requirements, said Loan Le of International Economics Consulting.

Farmers also will need documents proving they have complied with national laws for land use, environmental protection and labor, Le said. Moreover, coffee's long value chain  from producing beans to collecting them and processing them  requires digital systems to ensure records are error-free.

Brazil, the worlds largest coffee producer, is better placed, said Bellfield of Global Canopy, since its coffee grows on plantations that far are away from forests and it has a relatively well organized supply chain. Also, Brazilian-grown coffee is most likely to meet the EUDR requirements, according to a 2024 Brazilian study, because much of it is exported to the EU, Brazil has fewer small farmers, and about a third of its coffee growing acreage already has some kind of sustainability certification.

The EUDR has acknowledged concerns for less well prepared suppliers by giving them more time and said the European government will work with impacted countries to enable the transition while paying particular attention to the needs of small holders and Indigenous communities. A review in 2028 will also look at impacts on smallholders.

"Despite this we still anticipate it being costly and difficult for small holder farming communities, she said.

In Peru, collecting information about hundreds of thousands of small farmers is difficult given the country's weak institutions and the fact that most farmers lack land titles, according to a study of EUDR impacts by the Amazon Business Alliance, a joint-initiative by USAID, Canada and the nonprofit group Conservation International.

Ethiopia, where coffee makes up about a third of total export earnings according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report, has been slow to react. The national plan it rolled out in February 2024 fails to resolve the fundamental issue of how to gather required data from millions of small farmers and provide that information to buyers, said Gizat Worku, head of the Ethiopian Coffee Exporters Association.

That requires a huge amount of resources, he said

Gizat, who like many Ethiopians goes by his first name, said that orders are falling due to doubts about the country's ability to comply with the EUDR. Some traders are contemplating switching to other markets, like the Middle East or China, where Ethiopian coffee is booming, he said. But switching markets isn't easy.

These regulations are going to have a tremendous impact, Gizat said.

______

The Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Aniruddha Ghosal, The Associated Press
BERKELEY  The overhauls at Boeings commercial airplane business, including the impending departure of CEO David Calhoun, may have an impact on the companys St. Louis-based defense programs, analysts said Monday.

Boeings commercial business has drawn intense public and regulatory attention in recent months. And the companys defense programs, which employ about 15,800 in the region, are in a separate business unit.

But the one isnt entirely insulated from the other, and the widespread commercial shakeup at Boeing, announced Monday, may indeed have an impact on the defense unit, experts said.

I see no evidence of quality-control issues on the defense side, said Loren Thompson, a longtime defense analyst. However, the financial health of the defense business was closely tied to revenues generated by the 737.

Bold bets on the defense side  like the St. Louis-made T-7 trainer and MQ-25 refueling drone  were made on the assumption that the company could expect continued, strong cash flow from the 737 passenger jet, Thompson said.

Bryan Clark, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, said the commercial and defense units are fairly well separated, and its unclear whether the company has actually shifted many dollars from one to the other. But, he added, investors did generally feel better about the company because of the revenues coming in on the commercial side.

Jeff Windau, industrials analyst with Edward Jones, said quality changes made in the commercial business  like, for instance, stepped-up scrutiny of suppliers  will likely also be considered for the defense business.

By and large, theres going to be a lot of scrutiny on quality overall. And thats going to apply across the businesses, Windau said.

Boeing declined to comment beyond a press release announcing the leadership changes.

The St. Louis region is home to Boeings second-largest workforce after Washington state. The local operations are mostly focused on military aircraft including the F-18 and F-15 fighter jets, the T-7A trainer plane and the MQ-25 drone. The company also makes munitions at a plant in St. Charles.

Boeings commercial airplane business 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 Boeings 737 factory near Seattle gave the company failing grades on nearly three dozen aspects of production.

Bloomberg reported last week that the company was exploring the sale of pieces of its defense business.

The head of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Stan Deal, retired Monday. He will be succeeded by Boeings chief operating officer, Stephanie Pope. Board Chair Larry Kellner will not stand for reelection at the companys annual shareholder meeting. Steve Mollenkopf, the former Qualcomm CEO who has served on Boeings board since 2020, will succeed him and lead the CEO selection process.

Calhouns end-of-year departure may suggest the company plans to search externally for a successor, said Thompson, the defense analyst.

Calhouns job is going to have a very steep learning curve for anyone who replaces him, Thompson said. That curve would unfold over years if it was an outsider to the industry. ... Even within the industry, Calhoun has very few peers.

Calhoun was a Boeing director when he became CEO in January 2020, replacing Dennis Muilenburg, who was fired in the 2019 aftermath of the 737 Max crashes. Muilenburg has since become board chair of an advanced manufacturing project in St. Louis Vandeventer neighborhood and founded a firm that invests in early-stage aerospace companies.

The leadership moves announced Monday are a sign that the company wants to make real improvements to culture and quality in Boeings commercial business, Windau said.

Still, real change will be a lengthy process. Wall Street, he noted, appeared to view the news in the same way: Boeing stock jumped Monday morning on the announcement, but closed just 1.4% over the Friday closing price.

Switching out some of the management pieces isnt going to fix it overnight, Windau said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
ST. LOUIS  City prosecutors charged a 32-year-old man with murder Tuesday after a shooting outside of a gas station this month left another man dead.

Willie M. Warren, of Jennings, is facing charges of first-degree murder, armed criminal action and unlawful possession of a firearm in the shooting of Eugene Stapleton, 39, outside of the Crown Food Mart at 1451 North Kingshighway.

Charges say surveillance video showed a group of people fighting outside of the store on March 10. Warren approached the group with a gun in his right hand, hidden behind his back.

Stapleton then separated from the larger group, and Warren fired, court documents say.

Bond information was not available for Warren on Tuesday afternoon.
Missouris top lawyer has launched an investigation into diversity, equity and inclusion practices in the Hazelwood School District after a fight off school grounds this month left a student in critical condition.

In a letter sent to the district and riddled with errors, Attorney General Andrew Bailey said the investigation would focus on how the school districts DEI programs contributed to the incident, which was captured on a viral video.

The community deserves answers on how Hazelwoods radical DEI programs resulted in such despicable safety failures that has resulted in a student fighting for her life, Bailey said in a statement announcing the investigation. There must be accountability.

Its unclear exactly what role Bailey thinks DEI programs played in the brutal beating of Kaylee Gain, a sophomore at Hazelwood East High School. Neither the school district nor police has mentioned race as a factor in the fight, and they have not confirmed the race of Kaylee or her 15-year-old attacker.

Hazelwood School District pens scathing response to AG Baileys DEI investigation Hazelwood School District on Tuesday accused Missouri's top lawyer of spouting falsehoods, disrespecting school districts and leveraging an "obvious racial bias against majority-minority school districts."

Video of the fight shows a girl who appears to be Black smashing the head of Kaylee, who appears to be white, into the pavement repeatedly during a large brawl. Kaylee suffered brain bleeding and swelling and remained unconscious this week.

The video spread quickly online, and some in right-wing social media circles immediately claimed that race must have been a factor.

The girl accused of assaulting Kaylee was arrested and charged in juvenile court. Many, including Bailey, have called for her to be charged as an adult, but that decision will ultimately be up to a juvenile court judge.

The letter marked the latest instance of Bailey jumping into the culture war fray thats enveloped several suburban school boards in the St. Louis area since the pandemic. Late last month, Bailey sent four cease-and-desist letters to area school districts, levying claims of discrimination or illegal behavior that school officials have adamantly denied.

In a statement Friday, Hazelwood School District officials said they take great pride in the districts commitment to DEI.

Contrary to recent statements, HSD does not prioritize DEI initiatives at the expense of student safety, the statement reads. Rather, we believe that fostering an inclusive environment is essential to ensuring the well-being of every member of our school community.

DEI has become a political rallying cry among conservative politicians along with Critical Race Theory, a once-obscure academic concept on the pervasion of racism in society. DEI seeks to promote the fair treatment of underrepresented groups, whether that be race, disability, or any other aspect of a person that has subjected them to discrimination.

But GOP politicians and lawmakers have interpreted DEI has a mechanism for encouraging discrimination, and U.S. Republican officials have vowed to remove DEI from schools.

In both the letter to Hazelwood and the statement announcing the investigation, Bailey got several key facts wrong, including the time and date of the fight.

The fight happened about 15 minutes after Hazelwood schools released students on Friday, March 8, but Bailey claimed the fight happened in the middle of the school day on Monday, March 11.

Bailey also lamented that no school resource officers were on the scene, but the fight happened in a residential area about a quarter-mile from the school.

At the start of the 2021 school year, Hazelwood had no SROs in schools after the district tried to require officers to undergo 10 hours of diversity, equity and inclusion training. The three police departments that provided the district SROs  St. Louis County, Florissant and Hazelwood  did not agree to the training.

Bailey claimed SROs are still not present at the school. The district did not immediately confirm if that was true.

But the district does have a School Safety Department, which staffs licensed school safety officers and monitors at each of the districts middle and high schools. There are 40 safety officers listed in the districts staff directory.

Bailey also criticized Hazelwood School Boards 2020 adoption of its statement of solidarity. The statement committed the board to speak firmly against any racism, discrimination and senseless violence against people regardless of their identities or backgrounds.

The attorney generals letter demanded several records from Hazelwood, including all complaints or feedback about the districts DEI Action Plan.

The districts DEI plan was part of a chorus of online scrutiny against the district in the weeks since Gains assault.

The social media account Libs of TikTok, a far-right social media handle with nearly 3 million followers on X, formerly known as Twitter, combed through the plan and criticized the districts use of restorative practices. In a school context, the practices generally refer to alternative methods of discipline, used in part to rectify historically disproportionate uses of certain punishments on minority students.

The focus on Hazelwoods commitment to DEI also seemed to have caught the attention of billionaire Bill Ackman, a fervent critic of DEI.

Ackman, an American hedge fund manager, donated $10,000 last week to a GoFundMe campaign created for Kaylee.

A representative of Ackmans fund, Pershing Square Capital Management, which oversees $18 billion in assets, confirmed his donation but declined to comment on what motivated Ackman to donate.

In its statement, Hazelwood officials stood by the districts unwavering commitment to promoting DEI within the district.

These values are not negotiable, and we will continue to prioritize them in all aspects of our work as community leaders, the statement reads.
ST. LOUIS  Police on Tuesday identified the man who died Jan. 31 in a double shooting in the city's Near North Riverfront neighborhood.

Officers were called to the 900 block of Dock Street about 9:45 a.m., police said.

Chad Duren, 43, was found dead at the scene and another man was taken to a hospital, police said.

Duren lived in the 1900 block of Marcus Avenue in the city's Greater Ville neighborhood.

Officers found a vehicle reportedly involved in the shooting and chased the car when it sped off.

The pursuit culminated in the arrest of a 36-year-old man, police said.

Additional information was not immediately available.
EDWARDSVILLE  The school board here is moving forward with a $6.8 million high school renovation that includes a gender-neutral bathroom.

The restroom will include 18 stalls with floor-to-ceiling walls and doors as part of a major renovation effort in the commons area of Edwardsville High School.

The approval came after about an hour of public discussion at an Edwardsville School Board meeting Monday night. About half of the 16 residents who spoke at the meeting urged the board to reject the gender-neutral bathrooms.

I am very upset that our society is even considering these things, said Melissa Thomas, pastor of New Creation Church and a mother of five children, all of whom have attended school in the district. She then prayed at the podium.

The board eventually voted 5-2 to approve construction contracts for the expansion, which is expected to be completed by August 2025.

Mondays meeting marked the latest example of school bathrooms at the forefront of gender identity culture wars in Missouri and across the U.S. Critics have said gender-neutral bathrooms invite opportunities for sexual violence and perpetuate an ideology with which they dont agree, while supporters argue they create safer spaces for students of all gender identities and encourage inclusivity.

There is no way we arent going to upset somebody in this process, school board member Bob Paty, one of the two members who voted against approving the contracts, said during Mondays meeting. Thats pretty clear. In my house, I dont have a problem with the design, to be honest. My bigger concern is the court of public opinion.

Several of Mondays speakers who opposed the bathrooms cited fears of increased violence and bullying. Thomas husband, Harold Thomas, called the bathrooms evil, and another woman said girls would be uncomfortable in a bathroom full of boys.

But others who supported the project said research shows no increase in violence with the installation of gender-neutral bathrooms. They argued that violence in school restrooms is more often perpetrated by cisgender heterosexual students against their transgender and nonbinary peers.

Concerns about safety in gender-neutral bathrooms often stem from misunderstandings or unfounded fears rather than empirical evidence, said Byron Hotson, the father of an eighth grader in the district. Research from schools who have implemented gender-neutral facilities shows positive outcomes.

Edwardsvilles decision stands in stark contrast to Wentzville School District, which voted in January to require students, faculty and any person inside a district building to use restrooms and locker rooms of the individuals reproductive biology at birth, starting April 3.

During Mondays meeting, one speaker argued gender-neutral bathrooms would bring transgender medical care to the schools campus and the dissemination of the morning-after pill, an emergency contraceptive for women.

Luke Slater, a junior at Edwardsville High, told the board that many transgender people have anxiety about safety in bathrooms. For now, he said, the high school has one single-toilet bathroom that any person can use, for a school of more than 2,000 students.

From my experience as a transgender man, he said, I have rarely ever felt safe in a public restroom.
ST. LOUIS COUNTY  Hazelwood School District on Tuesday accused Missouris top lawyer of spouting falsehoods, disrespecting school districts and leveraging an obvious racial bias against majority-minority school districts.

In a letter sent to Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, the district lambasted Baileys claims that radical DEI programs in the district are to blame for a brutal after-school brawl this month that left a student hospitalized with brain injuries.

It is disappointing to have an attorney general that intentionally disrespects public school district administrators and elected officials by sending error-filled correspondence to intimidate and threaten their leadership, wrote Cindy Reeds Ormsby, an attorney representing the school district.

The letter was a response to Baileys announcement on Friday that he was investigating the districts diversity, equity and inclusion programs amid fallout from the fight. But it was unclear why Bailey thought the fight  which appeared to involve a Black attacker and a white victim  was related to the schools DEI practices.

Video of the fight went viral, and some online pointed to race as a factor. But neither police nor the school district have said race played a role.

It is surprising that you are opening an investigation based on lies that you could have easily ascertained if you would have taken a few minutes to fact check prior to sending your correspondence, the district wrote. However, I am not surprised that you continue to politicize your appointment to the office of Attorney General by spouting falsehoods that only serve to rile your base without complying with the Rules of Ethics to which you are bound.

The school district corrected several errors in Baileys announcement and letter to the district, including the date and time of the fight. Bailey incorrectly said the fight happened during the middle of the school day on March 11, but it happened after school on March 8. A news release on Baileys website still includes the wrong date and time.

Hazelwoods letter also questioned why Bailey set his focus on the district when others in north St. Louis County have also experienced issues with school violence  one of which resulted in the recent death of 14-year-old Justin Brooks in Jennings. And last month, at McCluer North in the Ferguson-Florissant School District, several fights in one day put the building under precautionary lockdown, with in-person classes canceled the next day.

Is that because you have assumed, without official verification, that the March 8 altercation was between a white student and a Black student, while the other incidents were Black-on-Black student or student/teacher encounters? the letter read. Do you value white students safety more than Black students safety?

Hazelwoods letter marked the latest example of a school district firing back after Bailey jumped into culture war issues in schools. In several of those cases, the districts argued Baileys claims were not rooted in fact.

In February, for example, Bailey sent a cease-and-desist letter to Parkway School District after he claimed the district was preventing students from forming religious-based clubs like Fellowship of Christian Athletes. When pressed for details by an attorney for the district, a staffer in Baileys office said a student had been denied an opportunity to start an FCA club at Parkway South, according to a letter to Bailey from attorney Margaret Hesse.

But the school already had an FCA club, as did the districts other three high schools.

In Hazelwood, Bailey claimed on Friday the district had no school resource officers, which he said was partly to blame for the fight even though it happened off school grounds.

The absence of SROs on the scene is directly attributable to Hazelwoods insistence on prioritizing race-based policies over basic student safety, Bailey wrote in a letter informing the district of his offices investigation.

But Ormsby, the lawyer for the district, said the district does have SROs.

Hazelwood School District has schools in three jurisdictions: St. Louis County, Florissant and Hazelwood. The district has a contract with Hazelwood to put SROs in schools that are within Hazelwoods city limits, according to the letter.

For schools outside of Hazelwood  like Hazelwood East, the high school attended by the two girls involved in the fight  the district has more than 60 security officers and security monitors, Ormsby wrote.

Hazelwoods letter noted that SROs would not have prevented the fight in question, as it happened about a quarter-mile from the school.

And a large part of Hazelwoods letter chastised Bailey for what the district said was a politically motivated investigation. Ormsby questioned if the attorney general believed the fight was really a racial issue caused by Hazelwoods belief in the importance of DEI for all.

About 80% of Hazelwoods student population is Black, according to 2021 data.

Do you understand that without equity, there is inequity and without inclusion, there is exclusion? read the districts letter. It is the Hazelwood School District and its Boards expectation that you use your position and resources honorably, to ensure that all Missouri citizens are regarded and treated equally.
ST. LOUIS COUNTY  Two more candidates are eyeing the seat of St. Louis County Councilwoman Kelli Dunaway, who announced earlier this year she would not seek reelection.

Republican Sudhir Rathod and Democrat Lequeshiah Young, both of Maryland Heights, are running for District 2, according to county candidate filings. Neither had active campaign finance committees as of Tuesday.

Young will face two other candidates in the Aug. 6 Democratic primary.

Nicole Greer, a city councilwoman in Creve Coeur, and Missouri state Rep. Gretchen Bangert, a Democrat from Florissant whose term ends this year, are also running.

Rathod was the only Republican candidate who had filed as of Tuesdays deadline.

District 2 includes Bridgeton, Maryland Heights, Hazelwood, St. Ann, Woodson Terrace, Breckenridge Hills, as well as parts of Overland, Florissant, Olivette, Creve Coeur and Chesterfield.

The general election is Nov. 5.
JEFFERSON CITY  A company central to a controversy that has infuriated many rural Missouri residents on Tuesday defended its practice of spreading meatpacking sludge on the states farmland.

Denali Water Solutions, an Arkansas-based firm that collects the waste products from beef, chicken, pork and turkey production facilities, called on members of the Senate Agriculture Committee to amend legislation aimed at regulating the industry.

Rob Curry, chief environmental officer at Denali, said the company takes its role in the meatpacking industry seriously. If the proposed law isnt amended, he signaled that higher production costs could affect consumers in the pocketbook.

The company serves 20 food processors employing 11,000 workers in Missouri.

We support updates to the regulations. There is zero desire in our company to not follow the rules, Curry said. Weve been here doing this for 25 years.

But he said the current proposal is too broad and could be improved with some tweaks. He said he believes the main issue is the odor that comes with spreading animal waste on open land.

The material is safe, but it does smell bad, Curry said.

Denny Henderson, a Barry County rancher, said hes used the material as fertilizer on his 400-acre farm for the past three years.

Ive never had any bad effects on my cattle and calves, Henderson said. It smells a little bad for a while. Id hate to see it go away.

Steve Johnson, a Newton County farmer, has used the material to fertilize his hay business for more than a decade. He called on lawmakers to ensure the company can continue to operate.

Without this product, I dont have hay to sell, Johnson said. We as farmers are very conscientious about our neighbors.

Before the Missouri Department of Natural Resources stepped in late last year, the firm would fill tanker trucks with the sludge and offer it to farmers as a free fertilizer. The material is stored in open lagoons until field conditions are right for the application.

Under a DNR order, the company is now emptying the massive storage pits and transferring it to wastewater treatment facilities.

As part of a compromise with regulators, Denali has agreed to pay $21,000 in fines.

Residents who have called for rules limiting the storage of the material in open air pits, as well as tougher rules on how it is applied to agricultural land, argued against loosening a House bill that aims to address the smelly problem.

Sammy Helm, who farms 1,500 acres in McDonald and Newton counties, told members of the Senate panel that previous applications of sludge near his property, some of which contained chicken bone grit, have leaked into a spring. He said the lack of rules have given companies a green light to operate in Missouri.

This is the place to go because it has the least amount of regulation, Helm said.

Gasconade County resident William Wymore said the rancid sludge can damage Missouris environment.

It can create dead zones in our streams, Wymore told the committee.

Under the House version, companies like Denali that want to build storage lagoons for animal byproducts would be required to test the waste monthly for heavy metals and pathogens and to make sure those materials are not being spread on cropland.

The proposal  which exempts large animal feeding operations because they are regulated under a different set of rules  also would require groundwater-monitoring wells to make sure the material isnt seeping into creeks, rivers and lakes.

Rep. Ed Lewis, R-Moberly, who is sponsoring the proposal, said companies have exploited a loophole that affects the environment and the agriculture industry.

Lewis said the 15 million-gallon storage lagoon in Randolph County was built without a permit. He said the practice needs to be regulated to protect the environment and avoid affecting nearby residents.

I am not against proper land application of sludge, Lewis said. That is not what this is about.

The legislation is seen as a balancing act between environmental concerns and a push by Gov. Mike Parson, a cattle rancher who is backing efforts to boost Missouris role in the meat processing industry.

I hope we can find a happy medium, said Sen. Sandy Crawford, R-Buffalo.
JEFFERSON CITY  Two state legislators who had been seeking different offices abandoned their bids on Tuesday and instead filed paperwork to run for secretary of state.

State Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, R-Arnold, dropped her bid to represent the 3rd Congressional District and joined the Republican race for secretary of state. Earlier Tuesday, House Speaker Dean Plocher ended a campaign for lieutenant governor and launched his bid for secretary of state.

Plocher and Coleman were the second and third candidates, respectively, to officially file for the secretary of states race after Senate President Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, said last week he wasnt running.

On Monday, Jamie Corley of University City became the first newcomer to add her name to the list of Republican secretary of state candidates. She had run a campaign to overturn Missouris near-total abortion ban  a moderate proposal more restrictive than a competing effort  but later scrapped the campaign.

While Corley quickly faced criticism from the right flank of the party for that effort, Plocher has faced scrutiny by the House Ethics Committee on a litany of issues.

Coleman, who is sponsoring an effort to make citizen-led constitutional amendments more difficult, said on social media site X, formerly Twitter, There is no more important job than protecting the integrity of our elections and our founding documents.

And by the end of the day Thursday, a fourth newcomer had joined the secretary of states race: Wentzville Municipal Judge Mike Carter, who ran for state Senate two years ago.

All told, eight Republicans were running to be the states top elections officer by the close of filing Tuesday.

Other Republican candidates for secretary of state include state Sen. Denny Hoskins of Warrensburg; Greene County Clerk Shane Schoeller of Willard; state Rep. Adam Schwadron of St. Charles; and Valentina Gomez of St. Louis.

Also Tuesday, state Treasurer Vivek Malek, a Republican appointed by Gov. Mike Parson, filed to run for a full four-year term as treasurer.

On the Democratic side, Mark Osmack of St. Louis County filed Tuesday to run for treasurer, giving Democrats at least one candidate for all statewide offices on the ballot (which are currently all held by Republicans).

In the treasurers office, Malek has faced criticism for a partnership with a politically connected company that has distributed unregulated slot machines throughout the state. In a deal he since pulled out of, stickers advertising the treasurers unclaimed property program were placed on Torch Electronics machines throughout the state.

He has also faced criticism for his handling of the MOScholars education voucher program. One of his opponents in the Republican primary, state Sen. Andrew Koenig of Manchester, suggested he would do a better job of promoting the program.

Other Republican candidates running for treasurer include House Appropriations Chairman Cody Smith of Carthage and Lori Rook of Springfield. Later Tuesday, Tina Goodrick of St. Joseph and Karan Pujji of St. Louis County also joined the Republican race for treasurer.

Osmack, meanwhile, said in 2019 he would run for state Senate in 2020 against Koenig for his Senate seat. He was not happy after state Rep. Deb Lavender decided to jump into the race and dropped his bid.

Before that, Osmack, an Army veteran, ran in the Democratic primary for the 2nd Congressional District in 2018, coming in second.

Local primaries in store

Voters in certain legislative districts that overwhelmingly favor one party or another are set to see competitive primary contests on Aug. 6.

Missouris open primary system allows any voter to participate in either the Democratic, Republican or Libertarian primaries.

Some local races to watch:

1st Congressional District: U.S. Rep. Cori Bush will again face big-name competition as she seeks a third term. She faces St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell and former state Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal. Democrat Ron Harshaw of St. Louis also joined the race last week.

U.S. Rep. Cori Bush will again face big-name competition as she seeks a third term. She faces St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell and former state Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal. Democrat Ron Harshaw of St. Louis also joined the race last week. 3rd Congressional District: Eight Republicans were vying to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer in Congress: Arnie Dienoff of OFallon; Chad Bicknell of Arnold; Kyle Bone of De Soto; Brandon Wilkinson of Cedar Hill; former state Sen. Bob Onder of Lake Saint Louis; former state Sen. Kurt Schaefer of Columbia; state Rep. Justin Hicks of Lake Saint Louis; and Bruce A. Bowman, who filed Tuesday.

Eight Republicans were vying to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer in Congress: Arnie Dienoff of OFallon; Chad Bicknell of Arnold; Kyle Bone of De Soto; Brandon Wilkinson of Cedar Hill; former state Sen. Bob Onder of Lake Saint Louis; former state Sen. Kurt Schaefer of Columbia; state Rep. Justin Hicks of Lake Saint Louis; and Bruce A. Bowman, who filed Tuesday. 13th Senate District: Incumbent state Sen. Angela Mosley of Florissant is running for a second four-year term in the district covering parts of north St. Louis County. She will face first-term state Rep. Chantelle Nickson-Clark of Florissant in the Democratic primary. Nickson-Clark is allied with County Council Chairwoman Shalonda Webb, who has clashed with Mosley and her sister, former Councilwoman Rochelle Walton Gray, in the past.

General election races

All 163 seats in the Missouri House will be up for grabs in the Nov. 5 general election.

Republicans still control two-thirds majorities in the House and Senate. Democrats have flipped several House seats in recent years and are looking to build on that in 2024. There are also state Senate races that could become competitive.

The biggest fights between Republicans and Democrats will likely play out in certain suburban districts that have a mixed partisan composition, according to recent election returns. Republicans have locked up the states rural areas, and Democrats continue to win urban and many suburban seats.

Top targets for both parties in the St. Louis area could include:

105th House District: The St. Charles-based 105th House district is open as the incumbent, Adam Schwadron, runs in the GOP secretary of state primary. He beat Democrat Cindy Berne of St. Charles in a race decided by fewer than 100 votes. This time, Berne is set to face Republican Colin Wellenkamp of St. Charles.

The St. Charles-based 105th House district is open as the incumbent, Adam Schwadron, runs in the GOP secretary of state primary. He beat Democrat Cindy Berne of St. Charles in a race decided by fewer than 100 votes. This time, Berne is set to face Republican Colin Wellenkamp of St. Charles. 98th House District: The west St. Louis County district including Manchester, Twin Oaks and Valley Park is being vacated by term-limited state Rep. Deb Lavender, D-Manchester. Democrat Jaclyn Zimmermann is set to face the winner of a Republican primary between Tim Bosch and Carol Veillette.

The west St. Louis County district including Manchester, Twin Oaks and Valley Park is being vacated by term-limited state Rep. Deb Lavender, D-Manchester. Democrat Jaclyn Zimmermann is set to face the winner of a Republican primary between Tim Bosch and Carol Veillette. 100th House District: First-term incumbent Republican state Rep. Philip Oehlerking, R-Ballwin, faces two opponents in the Republican primary, Jason Jennings and Brant Harber, both of Ballwin. Democrat Colin Lovett is running again after losing to Oehlerking two years ago by fewer than 200 votes.

First-term incumbent Republican state Rep. Philip Oehlerking, R-Ballwin, faces two opponents in the Republican primary, Jason Jennings and Brant Harber, both of Ballwin. Democrat Colin Lovett is running again after losing to Oehlerking two years ago by fewer than 200 votes. The 15th Senate District: With incumbent Andrew Koenig facing term limits, three Republicans are running to replace him in the GOP-leaning district: County Councilman Mark Harder, Wildwood Mayor Jim Bowlin and former state Rep. David Gregory of Chesterfield. Democrats believe their candidate, Joe Pereles, a former executive for Drury Hotels, can put the district in play. Libertarian Jeff Coleman filed to run Tuesday.
Resources to be Shared with Prisoners and their Families Across Eastern Europe

NEWS PROVIDED BYMarch 26, 2024WASHINGTON and FORT WORTH, Texas, March 26, 2024 / Standard Newswire / -- Prison Fellowship International (PFI) and Eastern European Mission (EEM) have signed a new agreement to provide 71,000 adult, 8,500 teen and 34,500 child-friendly Bibles to seven PFI national affiliates across Eastern Europe, which will be distributed to prisoners and their families in the months and years to come. The organizations, who previously worked together to distribute approximately 15,000 Bibles to PFI affiliates across Eastern Europe, have greatly expanded their partnership to provide Bibles and scripture resources to graduates and beneficiaries of PFI's in-prison and family programs across the region.EEM publishes, prints and distributes Bibles and Bible-based materials in more than 35 countries and more than 25 languages through a vast network of partner churches and organizations. Through this partnership, Bibles will be published in Albanian, Hungarian, Russian, Romanian and Ukrainian. They will be distributed to graduates of The Prisoner's Journey , families and children enrolled in PromisePath and beneficiaries of each ministry's other local programs."Ensuring those in prison and their families have access to Bible-based scripture and resources is at the heart of all we do," said David Van Patten, Chief Operating Officer of Prison Fellowship International. "Partnering with EEM to get the most relevant, meaningful scripture resources to those in Eastern Europe is the perfect solution for the growing and complex needs our ministries have there."Eastern Europe, once an area where communism repressed religion, is finding religion has once again become important to individual and national identity. According to Pew Research Center , most Eastern European adults believe in God and identify with a religion, however are not highly observant of their faith."God's Word is very clear about Jesus' love and care for the prisoner," said Bob Burckle, President of Eastern European Mission. "Together, with Prison Fellowship International, we are able to help our supporters meet the call to minister to those in prison, leveraging our wide range of resources and extensive network of churches to augment the work PFI is already doing in prisons and with families across the region."PFI has a long-standing presence in Eastern Europe, with its first chartered ministry signed in the early 1990s, and is now home to ten partner ministries. Both organizations expect a long-lasting partnership and to continue transforming the lives of prisoners and their families with the Good News for years to come.Since 1979, Prison Fellowship International has helped prisoners experience transformation from the inside out through the healing power of the Gospel. Its mission is to transform the lives of prisoners, their families and victims through a global network of ministry partners. Eastern European Mission was established in 1961 to provide Bibles and Bible-based materials throughout the former communist bloc countries in Eastern Europe. Today, EEM publishes and prints Bibles and New Testaments as well as Teen Bibles, Children's Bibles and coloring books, distributing them through a vast network of partner churches and organizations reaching more than 35 countries in more than 25 different languages, delivering nearly 2 million Bibles in 2023.SOURCE Prison Fellowship InternationalCONTACT: Ella Cueva, 703-554-8670, ecueva@pfi.org
The iconic Canadian burger brand built on charbroiled customization thanks guests with 1,650 free burgers, nostalgic discounts and limited-edition merchandise

VAUGHAN, ON, March 26, 2024 /CNW/ - Harvey's is celebrating 65 years of customized burgers with the launch of the Harvey's Burger Hunt. Starting today, the burger brand will hide 1,650 free burger cards near Harvey's locations and iconic landmarks across the country, including four VIP Cards that will give the lucky winners free 'Harvey's for a year'.

A look at Harveys restaurant in 1959 and now as the brand celebrates its 65th anniversary. (CNW Group/Harveys)

On April 1 (no joke!), the homegrown chain is also kicking off a $1.65 Original Burger offer, available through the Harvey's app for a limited time to celebrate the burger that started it all.

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"Harvey's is honoured to be celebrating 65 years of creating customized burgers just the way Canadians like them," says Michael Nault, COO of Harvey's Canada. "Delivering a personalized approach to every meal continues to be what drives us forward and we are excited to invite our guests to help us mark the occasion in a variety of fun and engaging ways."

To add to the celebrations, starting April 1, Harvey's will release limited-edition, retro inspired merchandise and made-to-order t-shirts where Canadians can have their own name printed between the brand's iconic bun logo. Five dollars from each item sold will go to Tree Canada, in support of their collective goal of planting 250,000 trees by 2026.

"Harvey's has been a staple of quality food and great memories for many generations," says Nault. "It's important to us that our guests who have supported us for 65 years, and our future guests, feel part of our celebrations and continue to enjoy making their burger a beautiful thing for years to come."

Home-grown customization

Harvey's was founded in 1959 by Montrealer Richard Mauran, whose vision for a made-to-order, charcoal-broiled hamburger, topped the way you like it, was a novel idea among Canadian quick-service restaurants. Nearly 300 locations later and this vision is still 20/20, offering quality, made-to-order food and millions of topping combinations. Along the way, it has expanded its menu with new options to customize, including chicken sandwiches, poutine and its famous Angus burgers.

Story continues

Canadians who want to join Harvey's in celebrating can find out more by visiting: harveys.ca.

About Harvey's

Harvey's is an iconic Canadian restaurant chain that has been feeding Canadian families since 1959. Serving delicious flame-grilled burgers made with 100% Canadian beef and topped the way you want them, Harvey's has been a staple in Canadian communities for 65 years.

About Recipe

Founded in 1883, RECIPE Unlimited Corporation is Canada's largest full-service restaurant company. The Company franchises and/or operates some of the most recognized brands in the country including Swiss Chalet, Harvey's, St-Hubert, The Keg, Montana's, Kelseys, East Side Mario's, New York Fries, Bier Markt, The Landing Group of Restaurants, Original Joe's, State & Main, Elephant & Castle, The Burger's Priest, The Pickle Barrel, Marigolds & Onions, Blanco Cantina, Anejo, and Fresh Kitchen + Juice Bar.

RECIPE's iconic brands have established the organization as a nationally recognized franchisor of choice. More information about the Company is available at www.recipeunlimited.com.

SOURCE Harveys

Cision

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2024/26/c8261.html
CLAYTON  St. Louis County needs to lease office space for operations because of an impending deadline to vacate or update its existing downtown Clayton headquarters, according to County Executive Sam Page.

The county must either install fire sprinklers at the aging Lawrence K. Roos administration building to comply with Claytons city code or find a new home by 2028.

But the County Council hasnt picked a solution, and now there might not be enough time to renovate the building or build a new one, Page wrote in a letter the council will consider at its Tuesday meeting.

The deadline for renovating or moving out of the Roos building is moving ever closer, putting St. Louis County in jeopardy of violating fire safety codes, Page wrote. No action is not an option.

Page asked the council to approve nearly $2.7 million to hire a real estate brokerage firm that would help the county find and lease space for its administrative and customer service offices  operations that may happen anywhere in the county.

The firm would also find a place for County Council meetings, which must take place in Clayton, according to county law.

The countys contractors and officials from the Department of Transportation and Public Works are worried the county is running out of time, even to find space to lease, said Page spokesman Doug Moore.

The $2.7 million would not pay for building out or renovating any leased space, according to Pages letter. But a brokerage firm would help the county figure out how much a lease might cost.

The request might meet an impasse at the council.

Council Chair Shalonda Webb, a Democrat from unincorporated North County, said Monday shes unwilling to move forward on a lease unless Page releases long-delayed pandemic relief aid for several nonprofits serving St. Louis County residents. The county executive has said his office cant administer those funds unless the council reverses budget cuts it made last year.

Until you can make good to the promises of the people of St. Louis County, who have trusted and believed in you, I dont have the capacity to do anything else, Webb said.

Webb instead suggested on Monday using Rams settlement money to pay the nonprofits. That could bypass Pages office and provide unrestricted payments to the nonprofits, she said. If the council approves that idea, Webb said, she would consider moving forward with the headquarters project, dubbed Project Cornerstone.

Meanwhile, Democratic Councilwoman Lisa Clancy of Maplewood on Monday requested a resolution calling for a new, state-of-the-art county and police headquarters.

County residents visit the 10-story Roos building at 41 South Central Avenue to pay taxes and get marriage licenses, among other services.

The county already leases space for two satellite service centers, in the former Northwest Plaza in St. Ann and off Lemay Ferry Road in South County.

St. Louis County has been aware for years it needs a new or renovated building.

In 2016, the city of Clayton updated its fire codes to require all high-rises be retrofitted with sprinklers by Jan. 1, 2028. Noncompliant building owners could be fined up to $1,000 a day and get hit with higher insurance rates.

The county began exploring ideas in 2019. But it wasnt until last year that Pages administration and the council considered concrete steps.

Last June, the countys contractors from WSP Global Inc. presented a range of options to the council and urged it to act quickly because any project would be a major undertaking. But the council didnt take up the issue until last month when Pages office asked councilmembers to advance the project.

Options range from $276 million for renovations at the existing building to $612 million for a new county building, a new mid-county satellite office and a renovated police headquarters in downtown Clayton. The contractors suggested paying for them by a property tax increase over 20 years, which would require voter approval.

WSP estimated the least-expensive option would cost the owner of a $255,000 house about $3 a month on property taxes; the most-expensive would cost $8.
JEFFERSON CITY  State Rep. Brad Christ, a south St. Louis County Republican and freshman legislator, is carrying the mantle for a second year on legislation that would end local control of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.

Under Christs proposal, the St. Louis Police Department would be run by a board of police commissioners made up of four members appointed by the governor and the citys mayor. Currently, the department is run by a police chief selected by the mayor.

The measure won first-round approval in the Legislatures lower chamber on a voice vote Tuesday. Floor debate surfaced impassioned and familiar arguments.

Christ said his bill isnt a crime plan and implied that Mayor Tishaura O. Jones is to blame for a disaffected police force and failing city facing a public safety crisis.

This is to create a better foundation for SLMPD that has been decimated by an administration, which in turn has decimated St. Louis city with crime, he said.

From the depth of my soul, there is not a racist bone in my body, said Christ. This has nothing to do with race. This has to do with supporting our police and saving the citizens of the city of St. Louis.

He was responding to comments by Rep. Peter Merideth, D-St. Louis, who said that a Civil War-era white supremacist state government ended local control of the police department, which led to more than a century of state control.

When control was returned to St. Louis in 2013, a white man was mayor, Merideth said.

Rep. LaKeySha Bosley, D-St. Louis city, also framed the effort as, at least in part, related to race since the change is being proposed when an African American woman is St. Louis mayor for the first time in history.

Bosley, who spoke emphatically and admitted her comments were an aggressive response to an aggressive takeover of St. Louis police, also characterized the effort as decidedly partisan.

I think youre trying to push this as a: We dont want to listen to Democrats in the city, so were going to put it in the hands of a majority Republican Legislature who we believe we can trust, she said.

Rep. Justin Sparks, R-Wildwood, a former St. Louis County police officer, said proposed state control of SLMPD is the result of local St. Louis leaders supporting a foolish and dangerous policy called defund the police to score cheap political points, resulting in a mass exodus of city police officers.

Whats happening in St. Louis is an embarrassment to this entire state, said Rep. Lane Roberts, a former Joplin police chief and law enforcement veteran. Politics  and not public safety  is driving the debate, he said.

Like last year, Jones has been forthright in her displeasure with state lawmakers attempts to exercise greater control over the city, visiting the Capitol last month to lobby against the police takeover and slashing the citys earnings tax.

Jones at the end of 2022 selected Robert Tracy for the police departments top position. Hes been the citys police commissioner for a little over a year.

This legislation is House Bill 1481.
TAPACHULA, Mexico  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 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 is 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.
JERUSALEM  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday vowed to press ahead with Israel's offensive and blasted a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a pause in the fighting, saying it had emboldened Hamas to reject a separate proposal for a cease-fire and hostage release.

As the war in Gaza grinds through a sixth month, each side has publicly insisted that its own idea of victory is in reach and rejected international efforts to stem the bloodshed.

Netanyahu has said Israel can achieve its aims of dismantling Hamas and returning scores of hostages if it expands its ground offensive to the southern city of Rafah, where over half of Gaza's population has sought refuge, many in crowded tent camps.

Hamas has said it will hold onto the hostages until Israel agrees to a more permanent cease-fire, withdraws its forces from Gaza and releases hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including top militants. It said late Monday that it has rejected a recent proposal that fell short of those demands  which, if fulfilled, would allow it to claim an extremely costly victory.

Netanyahu said in a statement that the announcement proved clearly that Hamas is not interested in continuing negotiations toward a deal and served as unfortunate testimony to the damage of the Security Council decision.

Israel will not surrender to Hamas delusional demands and will continue to act to achieve all the goals of the war: releasing all the hostages, destroying Hamas' military and governing capabilities and ensuring that Gaza will never again be a threat to Israel.

The war has killed over 32,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally but says women and children make up about two-thirds of those killed. The fighting has left much of the Gaza Strip in ruins, displaced most its residents and driven a third of its population of 2.3 million to the brink of famine.

An Israeli strike late Monday on a residential building in Rafah where three displaced families were sheltering killed at least 16 people, including nine children and four women, according to hospital records and relatives of the deceased. An Associated Press reporter saw the bodies arrive at a hospital.

On Monday, the Security Council finally managed to pass a resolution calling for a cease-fire as the United States abstained instead of vetoing the measure, angering Israel in a major escalation of tensions between the two close allies. The resolution calls for the release of all hostages held in Gaza but did not condition the cease-fire on it.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz told Army Radio on Tuesday that the resolution had emboldened Hamas by signaling that international pressure would end the war without it having to make any concessions.

The message delivered to Hamas yesterday  is that you dont have to hurry, Katz said.

The war began on Oct. 7, when Hamas-led militants stormed across the border and attacked communities in southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250 others. It is still believed to be holding about 100 hostages and the remains of 30 others, after most of the rest were freed in November in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners.

The United States, Qatar and Egypt have spent several weeks trying to negotiate another cease-fire and hostage release, but those efforts appeared to have stalled.

Hamas said late Monday that Israel has not responded to its core demands of a comprehensive cease-fire, an (Israeli) withdrawal from the Strip, the return of displaced people and a real prisoner exchange.

Majed al-Ansari, a spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry of Qatar, which is currently hosting the talks, told reporters that the negotiations were still ongoing, without providing details.

Hamas has previously proposed a phased process in which it would release all the remaining hostages in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the opening of its borders for aid and reconstruction, and the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including top militants serving life sentences.

Netanyahu has vowed to resume Israels offensive after any hostage release and keep fighting until Hamas is destroyed, saying it's the only way to prevent a repeat of the Oct. 7 attack. But he has provided few details about what would follow any such victory and has largely rejected a postwar vision outlined by the U.S.

That approach has brought him into increasingly open conflict with President Joe Biden's administration, which has expressed mounting concern over civilian casualties while supplying Israel with crucial military aid and backing Israel's aim of destroying Hamas. The U.S. had vetoed previous U.N. resolutions calling for a cease-fire.

The White House has urged Israel not to undertake a major ground operation in Rafah, warning that it could cause a humanitarian catastrophe. The administration was set to brief visiting Israeli officials on an alternative approach, but Netanyahu called off their visit in response to the U.S. abstention at the U.N.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is in Washington on a separate trip, however, and is to meet with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday.

Shurafa reported from Rafah, Gaza Strip.
LONDON  A British court ruled Tuesday that Julian Assange cant be extradited to the United States on espionage charges unless U.S. authorities guarantee he wont get the death penalty, giving the WikiLeaks founder a partial victory in his long legal battle over the sites publication of classified American documents.

Two High Court judges said they would grant Assange a new appeal unless U.S. authorities give further assurances within three weeks about what will happen to him. The ruling means the legal saga, which has dragged on for more than a decade, will continue  and Assange will remain inside Londons high-security Belmarsh Prison, where he has spent the last five years.

Judges Victoria Sharp and Jeremy Johnson said the U.S. must guarantee that Assange, who is Australian, is afforded the same First Amendment protections as a United States citizen, and that the death penalty is not imposed.

The judges said that if the U.S. files new assurances, "we will give the parties an opportunity to make further submissions before we make a final decision on the application for leave to appeal. The judges said a hearing will be held May 20 if the U.S. makes those submissions.

Assanges supporters say he is a journalist protected by the First Amendment who exposed U.S. military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan that was in the public interest. They have argued his prosecution is politically motivated and he cant get a fair trial in the U.S.

Assanges wife Stella Assange said the WikiLeaks founder is being persecuted because he exposed the true cost of war in human lives.

The Biden administration should not issue assurances. They should drop this shameful case, which should never have been brought," she said outside the High Court in London.

The ruling follows a two-day hearing in the High Court in February, where Assanges lawyer Edward Fitzgerald said American authorities were seeking to punish him for WikiLeaks exposure of criminality on the part of the U.S. government on an unprecedented scale, including torture and killings.

The U.S. government said Assanges actions went beyond journalism by soliciting, stealing and indiscriminately publishing classified government documents that endangered innocent lives.

The judges rejected six of Assanges nine grounds of appeal, including the allegation that his prosecution is political. They said that while Assange acted out of political conviction  it does not follow however that the request for his extradition is made on account of his political views.

They accepted three grounds or appeal: the threat to Assanges freedom of speech, Assanges claim that he faces disadvantage because he is not a U.S. citizen, and the risk he could receive the death penalty.

U.S. authorities have promised Assange would not receive capital punishment, but the judges said that "nothing in the existing assurance explicitly prevents the imposition of the death penalty.

Assange, 52, an Australian computer expert, has been indicted in the U.S. on charges over Wikileaks publication in 2010 of hundreds of thousands of classified documents.

U.S. prosecutors say he conspired with U.S. army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to hack into a Pentagon computer and release secret diplomatic cables and military files on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Assange faces 17 espionage counts and one charge of computer misuse. If convicted, his lawyers say he could receive a prison term of up to 175 years, though American authorities have said any sentence is likely to be much lower.

Assanges wife and supporters say his physical and mental health have suffered during more than a decade of legal battles, including seven years in self-exile in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and the last five years in prison.

Assanges legal troubles began in 2010, when he was arrested in London at the request of Sweden, which wanted to question him about allegations of rape and sexual assault made by two women. In 2012, Assange jumped bail and sought refuge inside the Ecuadorian Embassy.

The relationship between Assange and his hosts eventually soured, and he was evicted from the embassy in April 2019. British police immediately arrested and imprisoned him for breaching bail in 2012. Sweden dropped the sex crimes investigations in November 2019 because so much time had elapsed.

A U.K. district court judge rejected the U.S. extradition request in 2021 on the grounds that Assange was likely to kill himself if held under harsh U.S. prison conditions. Higher courts overturned that decision after getting assurances from the U.S. about his treatment. The British government signed an extradition order in June 2022.

Associated Press writer Brian Melley contributed to this report.
Does Andrew Bailey possess a single, solitary molecule of shame?

Editorial: The Bailey Tally ... Let us count the ways. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey was appointed to the office to fill a vacancy starti

Its perhaps a provocative question but a relevant one at this point. In his 15 months on the job, Missouris Republican attorney general has demonstrated again and again that virtually nothing is beneath him when it comes to debasing his public office for the sake of culture-war politics.

His latest stunt is so disgraceful that it qualifies as self-parody  or would if it didnt involve the deadly serious topic of critical injuries to a young woman.

A horrific video shows Kaylee Gain, 16, being pummeled on pavement by another teenage girl during a fight on March 8 near Hazelwood East High School. Though Kaylee is white and her attacker as seen on the video is Black, its not at all clear that race was a factor. The bystander video shows it was part of a broader melee in which multiple students were fighting with one another.

Yet Bailey already knows the culprit: Its the schools focus on diversity, equity and inclusion for students of all races. In a typically made-for-Fox-News announcement, he has launched an investigation into the schools DEI policies.

In case anyone missed the piercing sound of that dog whistle, let us be clear: This is nothing more or less than Missouris top legal official stoking racial animus in order to appeal to the worst bigotry of the Republican base in an election year. Its also the blatant politicization of a tragedy.

Kaylee suffered a skull fracture but thankfully survived. At last report, she was out of intensive care and breathing on her own. (Donations to her medical expenses can be made at www.gofundme.com/f/kaylee-on-her-road-to-recovery.) Her 15-year-old attacker has been arrested and charged in juvenile court.

School violence is a real problem today; its causes are debatable. But only in the upside-down moral universe of fringe-right politics could it be blamed on school policies that promote racial diversity and tolerance.

The community deserves answers on how Hazelwoods radical DEI programs resulted in such despicable safety failures that has resulted in a student fighting for her life, reads Baileys announcement of his investigation.

Not only does the announcement insert Baileys office where it doesnt belong (a typical Bailey strategy) and declare its conclusion in advance, it doesnt even bother to get basic facts of the incident correct.

As the Post-Dispatchs Monica Obradovic reports, the announcement cites an inaccurate date, claims it happened during school hours and criticizes the absence of any school officials to stop the fight. In fact, the fight happened after school hours and about a quarter-mile away from the school.

Baileys core argument is that fostering racial tolerance and inclusion via DEI policies violates anti-discrimination laws. Its a ludicrous but common trope on the political right these days  that any discussion or recognition at all of racial disadvantages faced by Black Americans is somehow discriminatory against whites.

Not that purveyors of this twisted philosophy are truly colorblind. Quite the opposite. Is it even imaginable that Bailey would be launching this performative investigation had the races of the victim and attacker been reversed?

We already have a good indication of an answer from a previous criminal case: After a white Kansas City police officer was convicted of manslaughter for the shooting death of an unarmed Black man in his own driveway, Bailey  whose job includes representing the state in court when criminal defendants appeal their convictions  stunned local prosecutors by officially siding with the cop.

That case is among many that this Editorial Board has cataloged in what weve dubbed The Bailey Tally. Its a running list of the many instances in which this singularly craven demagogue of a public official has abused his office with blatantly ideological, often ridiculous legal actions clearly meant to toss red meat to the far-right edges of his Republican base while failing in fundamental ways to actually do his job.

Space limitations preclude us from outlining all it here, but we encourage readers to take a look at the full list, which is posted at STLToday.com/opinion.

The hard-to-watch video of Kaylee being assaulted has, inevitably, spawned racist commentary and emboldened those who view it as evidence of their racist worldview.

Responsible political leaders work to diffuse that kind of ugly sentiment in the wake of societally explosive incidents like this one. Then there are, unfortunately, political arsonists like Bailey, who are always eager to feed that fire for their own purposes.

Bailey was appointed to his current office last year to fill a vacancy. He seeks election to the office this year. It would be a tragedy on top of a tragedy if he is rewarded for this latest shameless stunt with an electoral victory.

Editorial: The Bailey Tally ... Let us count the ways. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey was appointed to the office to fill a vacancy starting in January 2023. He is now seeking the Republic
March 26, 2024: Twenty-first century China follows the money when it comes to which of the two Koreas it has the closest relationship with. That means wealthy South Korea rather than poverty stricken North Korea. During the 1950-53 Korean War China obeyed the request of its then patron Russia to send troops into Korea, to save the Russian-backed North Korean forces from defeat by American-led forces. Half a million Chinese troops forced the American led forces back .The Chinese offensive was halted halfway to the southern tip of Korea. The stalemated fighting halted in 1953 when both sides agreed an armistice along what became known as DMZ or Demilitarized Zone. Now there were two Koreas, the Western supported South Korea, and the Chinese and Russian supported North Korea.

Western nations, led by the United States supported a democratic and free-market South Korea. It took several decades to get that working but, once democracy and a free market were established, South Korea became incredibly wealthy, especially compared to the socialist state of North Korea.

Russia, until the 1990s, supported North Korea with resources and military aid. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the Russian aid stopped and North Korea experienced a decade of poverty and starvation that killed about ten percent of the population. Then a newly prosperous market-economy China offered aid to North Korea. China was still a communist dictatorship but wanted to prevent an economic and political collapse in North Korea, where China had supported three generations of the ruling Kim dynasty. First there was Kim Il Sung from 1948 to 1994, then his son Kim Jong Il from 1994 to 2011, and currently Kim Jong Un. In 2021, the two countries renewed the 1961 Sino-North Korean Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance for another twenty years.

Despite its historical ties to the North, Chinas economic reforms and subsequent prosperity led to growing trade with South Korea. North Korea viewed Chinas resuming diplomatic relations with South Korea in 1992 as a betrayal. China regarded Kim Jong Ils 1994 succession of Kim Il Sung with caution. Strains in the relationship further deepened when North Korea tested a nuclear weapon in 2006 and China supported international economic UN Security Council Resolution 1718, which imposed sanctions on Pyongyang. With this resolution and subsequent ones, Beijing signaled a shift in tone, from diplomatic support to punishment.

In 2017, China denounced a North Korean missile test launch earlier that year and called for a cessation of actions that increased tensions on the Korean Peninsula. But the announcement of a U.S.-North Korea summit between U.S President Donald Trump and Kim catalyzed Beijing to restore ties with Pyongyang to maintain its regional influence. This produced five summits between Xi and Kim in less than one year.

As relations have improved, Chinas punitive steps against the North have eased. While Beijing has backed UN resolutions against Pyongyang, in some cases, it has withheld support until they were watered down. Additionally, Western officials and experts have doubted Chinas commitment to implementing even limited trade restrictions, and they periodically accused the country of circumventing sanctions prior to 2020, when the UN Security Council consensus upholding sanctions against North Korea broke down. Encouraged by the restoration of a strategic China-North Korea relationship, Pyongyang vocally supports a One China policy in Taiwan and Hong Kong and defends Beijings treatment of Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang as a remarkable achievement of human rights.

Whats the status of their economic relationship?

China accounts for more than 90 percent of North Koreas total imports and exports, despite sanctions and a setback from the COVID-19 pandemic. Bilateral trade increased tenfold between 2000 and 2015, peaking in 2014 at $6.86 billion, according to figures from the Seoul-based Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA). But UN Security Council sanctions in 2016, which Beijing voted for, reversed the growth of North Koreas trade.

Chinese trade data showed that Beijing upheld some of the UN sanctions against Pyongyang through 2018, including the suspension of fuel sales and restrictions on financial activities. Yet the flow of non-sanctioned goods remained steady and informal trade (smuggling) continued for items such as diesel fuel, seafood, silkworms, and cell phones.

In January 2020, as COVID-19 spread through China, North Korea shut its borders and halted practically all trade, resulting in a 4.5 percent decline in North Koreas economy that year. Trade with China resumed in 2022 and, by the end of 2023, bilateral trade had recovered to 82 percent of 2019 pre-pandemic levels, totaling $2.3 billion. North Korea is not a part of Chinas Belt and Road Initiative.

Beijing provides aid directly to Pyongyang, primarily in food and energy assistance. North Korea, has repeatedly faced extensive droughts and severe flooding which seriously damage harvests, threatening the food supply. Famine in the 1990s killed about ten percent of North Koreas people. Today, UN agencies estimate that more than 40 percent of the population, or almost eleven million people, is undernourished and food insecure. Food insecurity and related health concerns were further exacerbated by severe flooding caused by typhoons in 2020 and North Koreas self-imposed isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, during the height of the pandemic and when cases were surging in North Korea, Kim refused vaccine offers from the UN-backed COVAX initiative and from China. But North Korea rolled out vaccines later that year, and analysts speculated that China was likely the supplier.

China has also expanded physical links to North Korea. In 2015, it opened a bulk-cargo and container shipping route to boost North Koreas export of coal to China, and it established a high-speed rail route connecting the Chinese border city of Dandong to Shenyang, the provincial capital of Chinas northeastern Liaoning Province. The same year, the Guomenwan border trade zone opened in Dandong. Intended to bolster bilateral economic exchanges, the zone is modeled after the Rason economic zone and the Sinujiu special administrative zone established in North Korea in the early 1990s and 2002, respectively.

What are Chinas priorities?

China regards stability on the Korean Peninsula as its primary interest in the bilateral relationship. Its support for North Korea ensures a buffer between China and the democratic South, which is home to around 28,500 U.S. troops and marines. While the Chinese certainly would prefer that North Korea not have nuclear weapons, their greatest fear is regime collapse, Dartmouth College Associate Professor Jennifer Lind wrote in 2017.

The specter of hundreds of thousands of North Korean refugees flooding into China has long been a worry for Beijing. Chinas repatriation of North Koreans escaping across the border has consistently triggered condemnation from human rights groups and, in 2006, Beijing constructed a barbed-wire border fence to prevent migrants from crossing. The majority of North Korean refugees first make their way to China before moving to other parts of Asia, including South Korea. However, tightened border controls under Kim Jong Un have drastically decreased the outflow of refugees.

Though Beijing favors a stable relationship with Pyongyang, it has attempted to balance ties with Seoul. China was South Koreas top trading partner in 2022 and the destination for over 20 percent of the Souths exports. Meanwhile, South Korea ranked fourth among Chinas trade partners.

Do the two countries have a defense alliance?

Experts say China has been ambivalent about its commitment to defend North Korea in case of military conflict. The 1961 Sino-North Korean Treaty says China is obliged to intervene against unprovoked aggression, but this defense agreement has never been invoked. The Chinese government tried to persuade North Korean leaders to revoke the clause that would force Beijing to come to Pyongyangs defense, said Bonnie Glaser, the managing director of the Indo-Pacific program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, at a 2014 CFR event. It has also intimated that if Pyongyang initiates conflict, it will not abide by its treaty obligation and instead stay neutral.

Kim and Xi had not met for years but appeared to strike a more amicable chord in March 2018, when the two held a secretive meeting in Beijing that marked the North Korean leaders first trip abroad since coming to power in 2011. Xi heralded the tradition of friendship between China and North Korea, and Kim reiterated a commitment to denuclearization and a willingness to hold a dialogue with the United States. The two leaders have met four more times over the course of the year, and during a 2019 meeting, Xi was welcomed to Pyongyang, marking the first time a Chinese leader visited North Korea since 2005. (Xi previously traveled there in 2008, as vice president.) However, no major agreements to improve bilateral relations emerged.

In November 2023, North and South Korea abandoned their 2018 Comprehensive Military Agreement, which laid out measures to diffuse military tensions along the countries shared border. Since then, North Korea has been escalating its military testing and defenses, and Chinas reaction has been cautious. While Pyongyangs low-level aggression is nothing new, Kims policy shift to disregard efforts toward unification with the South as remnants of the past could be provocation for war, writes Sue Mi Terry, former director of the Asia Program and the Hyundai Motor-Korea Foundation Center for Korean History and Public Policy at the Wilson Center, in Foreign Affairs. Beijing has expressed concern about U.S. sanctions imposed on North Korea and urged all sides to exercise restraint following Pyongyangs various ballistic missile launches. At the same time, China and Russia have consistently vetoed UN sanctions responding to the missile test that would have imposed additional restrictions on gas imports.
March 25th ribbon-cutting festivities also include $20,000 in donations to two local nonprofits

REDMOND, WA / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / KeyBank, a Fortune 500 company with regional headquarters in Seattle, announced the opening of a new branch on Redmond Ridge.

This new, full-service branch is located at 23475 NE Novelty Hill Road in Redmond. Doors opened to the public on February 26th. The ribbon cutting took place March 25th with community members in attendance and a grand opening event will take place in April.

To commemorate the new Redmond Ridge neighborhood branch opening, KeyBank also invested in two local nonprofit groups. HopeLink and Together Center each received a $10,000 donation from Key to further their missions to help the local community.

"KeyBank is excited at the opportunity this new branch provides for us to become an integral part of the Ridge community," said Matt Hill, KeyBank's Seattle Cascades market president and commercial banking leader. "Redmond Ridge is the 17th most populated city in the state and continues to be a fast-growing hub for business and recreation. This new location highlights Key's continued investment in Washington, and we are excited to work more closely with our neighbors, clients, and community partners."

The new branch will highlight KeyBank's state-of-the-art financial wellness center model, which is staffed with financial wellness consultants, rather than a traditional teller line. All transactions will be completed at desks, where consultants will also conduct comprehensive financial wellness reviews and discussions. Clients can also meet with specialists in mortgage, investments, business banking and more at the new location.

In addition to high-touch banking services, the new branch will feature digital video screens and a client hospitality area that can double as an area for financial seminars and group presentations with clients and the public, as well as a drive-up teller line, ATM, and free parking.

"KeyBank's financial wellness centers are uniquely designed to give our clients a more personal banking experience, with even better access to a full suite of products and services," said Derek Pender, regional retail leader for KeyBank. "This model has been well received across the KeyBank footprint, and we are excited to bring this more consultative approach to Redmond Ridge and demonstrate our commitment to helping our clients move forward on their financial journey. The advice our bankers provide is our most valuable asset, and we cannot wait for the community to get to know them and reach their financial goals."

ABOUT KEYBANK

KeyCorp's roots trace back nearly 200 years to Albany, New York. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Key is one of the nation's largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $188 billion at December 31, 2023. Key provides deposit, lending, cash management, and investment services to individuals and businesses in 15 states under the name KeyBank National Association through a network of approximately 1,000 branches and approximately 1,200 ATMs. Key also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as merger and acquisition advice, public and private debt and equity, syndications and derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under the KeyBanc Capital Markets trade name. For more information, visit https://www.key.com/. KeyBank is Member FDIC.

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from KeyBank on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: KeyBank

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/keybank

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE: KeyBank

View the original press release on accesswire.com
As Australian businesses look to keep pace with the biggest trends in 2024, Liberty has solutions to help business owners stay up to date.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / The Australian Government has detailed its top business trends for 2024, highlighting the focus areas for those businesses looking to get and stay ahead.

The key trends for the coming months include improving sustainability, adopting Artificial Intelligence (AI), and increasing resilience.

Leading lender Liberty has outlined how a flexible lending solution could support the growth plans of business owners choosing to leverage these trends.

According to Head of Communications Kate Jenkinson, a business loan can play a pivotal role in implementing business improvements.

"In 2024, businesses need to prepare for anything, which means being flexible and adaptable," Ms Jenkinson said.

"Liberty's suite of business loans caters to the unique needs of business owners looking to invest in their future."

Liberty offers a range of lending solutions with fast turnaround times, designed to support business customers to secure funds when required.

"For more than 26 years, Liberty has supported borrowers with free-thinking loans to help them get closer to their goals - and we'll continue striving to help businesses of all shapes and sizes secure the funds they need to thrive."

Recognising that no two borrowers are alike, Liberty takes the time to individually assess each loan application and focus on the big picture. For those who may not fit traditional lending criteria, this may have a significant impact on the success of their application.

Whether for short term financial needs or long-term expansion strategies, Liberty business loans can help to open more doors.

"With decades of experience working with business owners, Liberty has the expertise to provide solutions that work for their unique needs," said Ms Jenkinson.

About Liberty

As one of Australia's leading non-bank lenders, Liberty offers innovative solutions to support customers with greater choice. Over more than 26 years, this free-thinking approach to loan solutions has seen more than 850,000 customers across a wide range of home, car, personal and business loans, as well as SMSF lending and insurance products. Liberty remains the only non-bank lender with an investment-grade credit rating offering custom and prime solutions to help more people get financial.

Approved applicants only. Lending criteria apply. Fees and charges are payable. Liberty Financial Pty Ltd ACN 077 248 983 and Secure Funding Pty Ltd ABN 25 081 982 87 2 Australian Credit Licence 388133, together trading as Liberty Financial.

Contact Information:

Kate Jenkinson

Manager - Group Communications

+61 3 8635 8892

[email protected]

SOURCE: Liberty

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RAHWAY, NJ / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / The Merck Foundation, a private charitable organization funded by Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, has made an $11 million, six-year (2023 - 2028) commitment to University of New Mexico Health (UNM Health) in support of its new initiative to bring high-quality care to an estimated 11 million people living with cancer in underserved communities throughout India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam. The new initiative aims to train and mentor more than 33,000 local health workers and is being led by Project ECHO at UNM Health, a global movement to democratize knowledge and expand access to best-practice care.

This support builds on a $7 million, five-year commitment the Merck Foundation made to UNM Health in 2017. Project ECHO used that funding to help improve access to high-quality specialty care for complex chronic conditions, such as hepatitis C, HIV and tuberculosis, and non-communicable diseases, like diabetes, in underserved areas across India and Vietnam.

The Merck Foundation is committed to advancing global health equity and will continue to support innovative initiatives that aim to improve the health and well-being of people around the world.

About the Merck Foundation

The Merck Foundation (Foundation) is a U.S.-based, private charitable organization. Established in 1957 by Merck, a leading global biopharmaceutical company, the Foundation is funded entirely by the company and is Merck's chief source of funding support to qualified non-profit charitable organizations. Since its inception, the Foundation has contributed more than $1 billion to support important initiatives that address critical global health and societal needs that are consistent with Merck's purpose: to save and improve lives around the world. For more information, visit www.merck.com/company-overview/sustainability/philanthropy/.

Media Contact:

Robert Josephson

(203) 914-2372

View original content here.

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Merck & Co., Inc. on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Merck & Co., Inc.

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/merck-co-inc

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE: Merck & Co., Inc.

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Cuba Gooding Jr accused of sexual assault in Sean Diddy Combs lawsuit (AP)

Cuba Gooding Jr has been named in an amended lawsuit that accuses music mogul Sean Diddy Combs of sex trafficking, sexual assault and the distribution of narcotics and firearms.

The actor, known for films including Boyz N the Hood and Jerry Maguire, was named as part of an amendment filed on Monday. The lawsuit, filed in February, is being brought against Combs and others, including his son Justin Combs, by producer Rodney Lil Rod Jones.

The lawsuit now alleges that Gooding Jr sexually harassed and assaulted Mr Jones after being groomed and then passed off by Combs to the actor.

The alleged incident took place while on Combs yacht. According to the amended suit, the mogul suggested that Gooding Jr get to know Mr Jones better and left them alone in a makeshift studio.

Cuba Gooding Jr began touching, groping, and fondling Mr Jones legs, his upper inner thighs near his groin, the small of his back near his buttocks, and his shoulders, the lawsuit stated.

Music mogul Sean Diddy Combs has been accused of sex trafficking and sexual assault among other things (Getty Images)

According to Mr Jones he was extremely uncomfortable and proceeded to lean away from Mr Gooding Jr. He rejected his advances and Mr Gooding Jr did not stop until Mr Jones forcibly pushed him away.

The lawsuit described Gooding Jr as a relevant actor who has fallen from grace due to several sexual assault lawsuits and a recent guilty plea for sexual assault. His alleged actions were described as willful, wanton and malicious.

At all relevant times, Mr Gooding Jr acted with conscious disregard for Plaintiffs rights and feelings, acted with the knowledge of or with reckless disregard for the fact that his conduct was certain to cause injury and/or humiliation to Plaintiff, and intended to cause fear, physical injury and/or pain and suffering to Plaintiff, it stated.

The Independent has contacted representatives of Gooding Jr for comment on the accusations.

Mr Jones filed his original lawsuit back in February, accusing Combs of sex trafficking, sexual assault, and the solicitation and distribution of illegal narcotics and firearms.

Story continues

The lawsuit described Gooding Jr as a relevant actor who has fallen from grace due to several sexual assault lawsuits (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

According to the suit, Mr Jones had lived with Combs from September 2022 to September 2023 while helping produce songs for the rappers Love album. He also spent several weeks on the rappers yacht.

Throughout this time, the lawsuit stated, Mr Jones witnessed, experienced, and endured many things that went far beyond his role. Mr Jones allegedly secured hundreds of hours of Combs, his staff and his guests, allegedly engaging in serious in serious illegally, the lawsuit stated.

According to the suit, Mr Jones has irrefutable evidence of, among other things, the distribution of drugs including ecstasy and cocaine and the distribution of unregistered firearms.

Combs also allegedly provided laced alcoholic beverages to minors and sex workers at his homes in California and Florida, the lawsuit stated.

The Independent has reached out to representatives for Combs for comment.

It comes after homes belonging to Combs in Los Angeles and Miami were raided by officials from US Homeland Security on Monday in connection with a federal sex trafficking investigation.

Homes belonging to Combs in Los Angeles and Miami were raided by officials from US Homeland Security on Monday (AP)

In a statement issued on Monday, Homeland Security said: Earlier today, Homeland Security Investigations 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.

Fox 11 shared video footage of the raid taken from an overhead helicopter that showed several individuals in handcuffs outside the property, including two men.

The rapper and music mogul  who is credited with helping launch the careers of artists including Biggie Smalls, Mary J Blige and Usher  has faced a string of varying accusations in the past six months.

Another lawsuit, filed in December, alleged that Combs had gang-raped a 17-year-old girl in 2003.

The plaintiff, identified as Jane Doe, accused Combs of plying her with drugs and alcohol at his New York studio and then raping her along with two associates.

The suit accused Combs of a sex trafficking scheme, in which Jane Doe was flown by private jet from her home in Michigan to New York.

Combs has vehemently denied all accusations against him and vowed to fight for my name, my family and for the truth.
Grant of performance share awards under Long Term Incentive Plan and Notification of transactions by PDMRs

MANCHESTER, UK / ACCESSWIRE / ,March 26, 2024 / The Pebble Group plc (AIM:PEBB)(OTCQX:PEBBF), a leading provider of technology, services and products to the global promotional products industry, announces that on 26 March 2024 the Company made awards of 3,009,191 in the form of nil cost options or conditional share awards (Performance Shares) under The Pebble Group plc Long Term Incentive Plan (LTIP) to a number of senior employees across the Group, including to the Persons Discharging Managerial Responsibilities (PDMR), as detailed below:

PDMR Number of Performance Shares Christopher Lee 465,672 Claire Thomson 343,284 Karl Whiteside 202,626

The vesting of all the Performance Shares is conditional on meeting performance conditions measured over a three-year period as described below.

Performance conditions

1. Adjusted Earnings Per Share ("EPS") Target[1]

Up to 70% of the total Performance Shares will vest dependent upon the achievement of cumulative adjusted EPS targets for the three years ending 31 December 2026, determined as follows:

Cumulative Adjusted EPS for the three year period to 31 December 2026 Portion of Ordinary Shares vesting subject to Adjusted EPS target Below 15.5p No vesting 15.5p 25% 16.4p 60% 17.4p or more 100%

2. Total Shareholder Return ("TSR") Target

Up to 30% of the total Performance Shares will vest dependent upon the performance of the Company's Absolute TSR measured over the three year period ending 31 December 2026. The share price at the start of this period was 60.2pence, being the average closing price of the Company's shares over the three trading days ending on the day before the start of the performance period.

Annualised TSR for the three year period to 31 December 2026 Portion of Ordinary Shares vesting subject to TSR Target Below 8.0% per annum No vesting 8.0% per annum 25% 11.3% per annum 60% 15% per annum 100%

A holding period of two years from date of vesting is applicable to the LTIP awards granted to the Executive Directors of the Company.

The making of these awards at these levels and with these performance conditions is considered by the Remuneration Committee to be in accordance with the Company's Remuneration Policy with regard to the Executive Directors.

The Remuneration Committee has discretion to adjust the level of vesting if in its opinion such level of vesting resulting from the application of the performance conditions is considered not to be a fair and accurate reflection of the performance of the Company or a fair and accurate reflection of the award holder's performance or where there is any other factor or any other circumstances which would make the level of vesting inappropriate without adjustment.

The information set out below is provided in accordance with the requirements of Regulation 19(3) of the EU Market Abuse Regulation No 596/2014:

1 Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities/person closely associated (a) Name 1. Christopher Lee 2. Claire Thomson 3. Karl Whiteside 2 Reason for the notification (a) Position/status 1. Chief Executive Officer 2. Chief Financial Officer 3. Group MD, Brand Addition (b) Initial notification/Amendment Initial notification 3 Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor (a) Name The Pebble Group plc (b) LEI 213800LZUQAYBHDEQY04 4 Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted (a) Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument Identification code Ordinary shares of 1 pence each ISIN GB00BK71XP16 PEBB.L (b) Nature of the transaction Award of nil-cost options or conditional share awards pursuant to The Pebble Group plc Long Term Incentive Plan (c) Price(s) and volume(s) Price(s) Volume(s) 1 2 3 NIL NIL NIL 465,672 343,284 202,626 (d) Aggregated information - Aggregated volume - Price N/A (e) Date of the transaction 26 March 2024 (f) Place of the transaction Outside a trading venue

Enquiries:

The Pebble Group

Chris Lee, Chief Executive Officer

Claire Thomson, Chief Financial Officer

+44 (0) 750 012 4121 Temple Bar Advisory (Financial PR)

Alex Child-Villiers

Sam Livingstone

+44 (0) 207 183 1190

[email protected] Grant Thornton UK LLP (Nominated Adviser)

Samantha Harrison / Harrison Clarke / Ciara Donnelly

+44 (0) 207 184 4384 Berenberg (Corporate Broker)

Ben Wright / Mark Whitmore / Richard Andrews

+44 (0) 203 207 7800

About The Pebble Group

The Pebble Group is a provider of digital commerce, products and related services to the global promotional products industry, comprising two differentiated businesses, Facilisgroup and Brand Addition, focused on specific areas of the promotional products market. For further information, please visit www.thepebblegroup.com .

[1] Adjusted basic earnings per share represents Adjusted Earnings meaning profit after tax before amortisation of acquired intangible assets, share-based payments charge and exceptional items divided by a weighted average number of shares. It may also include adjustments as the Remuneration Committee of the Board, in its absolute discretion, may determine.

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 [email protected] or visit www.rns.com.

SOURCE: The Pebble Group PLC

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TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / Think Research Corporation (TSXV:THNK) (" Think " or the " Company ") is pleased to provide an update with respect to its previously announced going private transaction by way of plan of arrangement (the " Arrangement "), pursuant to which Beedie Investments Ltd. (" Beedie Capital ") agreed to acquire all of the common shares in the capital of the Company (the " Shares "), other than those Shares owned by Beedie Capital and other shareholders comprised of certain directors and executive officers of the Company as well as other persons (the " Continuing Shareholders "), for cash consideration of $0.32 per Share (the " Consideration "), on the terms and subject to the conditions of an arrangement agreement dated February 15, 2024 (the " Arrangement Agreement ").

Expiry of "Go-Shop" Period

The Arrangement Agreement between the Company and Beedie Capital included a "go-shop" provision which provided the Company with a 30-day period to solicit interest from third parties to submit an acquisition proposal that is superior to the Arrangement. Following the execution and announcement of the Arrangement Agreement, Think initiated the "go-shop" process with its financial advisor, Canaccord Genuity Corp. (" Canaccord "). Canaccord contacted a total of 34 potential buyers as part of the "go-shop" process. The "go-shop" period expired on March 16, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. (Toronto time) with no acquisition proposal having been received. Think is now subject to a non-solicitation covenant with customary "fiduciary out" provisions under the terms of the Arrangement Agreement.

Special Meeting of Shareholders

As previously announced and further detailed in the Company's information circular dated March 1, 2024 (the " Information Circular "), the special meeting (the " Meeting ") of Shareholders to consider and vote on the arrangement resolution (the " Arrangement Resolution ") is scheduled to be held in a virtual only format via live audio webcast on April 4, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. (Toronto time) at https://virtual-meetings.tsxtrust.com/en/1623 . Shareholders of record as of the close of business on March 1, 2024, are entitled to receive notice and vote at the Meeting.

Pursuant to the interim order of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial List) dated March 1, 2024, and Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions (" MI 61-101 "), the Arrangement Resolution will require the affirmative vote of: (a) at least two-thirds (2/3) of the votes cast by the Shareholders present in person or represented by proxy and entitled to vote at the Meeting; and (b) a simple majority of the votes cast by the Shareholders present in person or represented by proxy and entitled to vote at the Meeting, other than the Continuing Shareholders and any other person required to be excluded for the purpose of such vote under section 8.1(2) of MI 61-101 (the " Minority Vote "). As such, 21,404,804 Shares held by the Continuing Shareholders as of the record date of March 1, 2024 and 2,934,900 Shares held by Beedie Capital, for a total of 24,339,704 Shares (representing approximately 30.72% of the outstanding Shares in aggregate), will be excluded for the purposes of the Minority Vote, assuming such Shares have been voted prior to the proxy deadline or at the Meeting. As of the date of this news release, a complete list of Continuing Shareholders is attached to this news release as Schedule "A", as such Persons may be added or removed by written consent of the Parties prior to closing of the Arrangement or as may be amended in accordance with the terms of the Arrangement Agreement.

Completion of the Arrangement is subject to customary conditions, including obtaining the required approvals from Shareholders at the Meeting (as detailed above) and receiving the final order of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial List). It is anticipated that the Arrangement will be completed in the second quarter of 2024. The Information Circular and related materials for the Meeting are available under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca and on Think's website at www.thinkresearch.com .

Think has retained Morrow Sodali to act as proxy solicitation agent and to respond to inquiries from Shareholders. Shareholders who have any questions about the information contained in the Information Circular or need assistance voting or completing their form of proxy or voting information form may contact Morrow Sodali either: (a) by email at [email protected] ; or (b) by telephone at 1-888-444-0591 (toll-free in North America) or 1-289-695-3075 (outside North America).

To keep current with, and obtain information about voting your Shares, please visit www.thinkresearch.com .

Update Regarding Concurrent Sales Processes and Other Matters

Pursuant to the Arrangement Agreement, and as disclosed in the Information Circular, Think engaged two independent M&A advisors (the " M&A Advisors ") in April 2023 and July 2023, respectively, to run sales processes with respect to BioPharma Services Inc. (" BioPharma ") and Clinic 360 Inc. (" Clinic 360 "). The Arrangement Agreement permitted these processes to continue after signing until the end of the "go-shop" period and, as such, the M&A Advisors continued to engage third parties to solicit interest in both BioPharma and Clinic 360. Notwithstanding that the "go-shop" period has ended, Beedie Capital has provided its consent to continue the sales processes for both BioPharma and Clinic 360 for a period of 30-days following the expiry date of the "go-shop" period. No letter of intent has been executed with, nor has exclusivity been granted to, any party.

The special committee (" Special Committee ") of the Company's board of directors (" Board of Directors ") and Canaccord have been kept fully apprised of the status of the sales processes since the Arrangement Agreement was executed on February 15, 2024. At the time the Arrangement Agreement was executed, both the Special Committee and Canaccord separately considered the status of the sales processes as part of their evaluation. After taking that information into account, Canaccord determined that the Consideration to be received by the holders of shares (the " Shareholders ") under the Arrangement Agreement was fair, from a financial point of view, to the Shareholders (other than the Continuing Shareholders and Beedie Capital) (the " Fairness Opinion "). Furthermore, after careful deliberation, including having regard to such sales processes, the Special Committee determined that the Arrangement is in the best interest of the Company and recommended that Shareholders vote in favour of the Arrangement.

The Fairness Opinion itself was based on an analysis that was conducted using traditional methodologies, which included a comparable companies analysis, precedent transaction analysis, discounted cash flow analysis and a sum-of-the-parts analysis (as the Company has several distinct business lines and assets, including BioPharma and Clinic 360). A key consideration of the analysis was the Company's operating performance and management's short-term forecast (as at the time of the analysis). The result of Canaccord's full analyses provided a range of per Share values that supported its view of the fairness of the Consideration, from a financial point of view, to be received by the Shareholders (other than the Continuing Shareholders and Beedie Capital) pursuant to the Arrangement.

In addition, the Special Committee and the Board of Directors were fully aware of the Canaccord fee arrangement, being: (a) a fixed fee in respect of Canaccord Fairness Opinion; and (b) a contingency fee upon the successful completion of the Arrangement (as further detailed in the Information Circular). Throughout the process, including after Think's engagement of Canaccord and prior to the execution of Arrangement Agreement, the Special Committee and the Board of Directors considered the merits of retaining a separate independent financial advisor to provide an independent fairness opinion on a fixed fee basis; however, determined that it would not be necessary nor beneficial to Think and its Shareholders. Some of the factors that led the Special Committee and the Board in reaching this conclusion are as follows: (i) the Arrangement provides an all-cash consideration at a premium of 100% relative to the closing Share price on February 15, 2024 (being the trading day prior to the announcement of the Arrangement); (ii) approximately 48% of Shareholders supported the Arrangement through duly executed voting support agreements; (iii) the additional costs associated with obtaining a second fairness opinion at a time of financial hardship for the Company; and (iv) Canaccord's well regarded reputation as a financial advisor.

Forward Looking Information

This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information may be identified by statements including words such as: "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "budget," "believe," "project," "estimate," "expect," "scheduled," "forecast," "strategy," "future," "likely," "may," "to be," "could,", "would," "should," "will" and similar references to future periods or the negative or comparable terminology, as well as terms usually used in the future and the conditional.

Statements including forward-looking information may include, without limitation, the timing of various steps to be completed in connection with the Arrangement, future events and other statements that are not material facts. Forward-looking information is based on assumptions that may prove to be incorrect, including but not limited to, that the parties will receive, in a timely manner and on satisfactory terms, the necessary court, shareholder and regulatory approvals, and that the parties will otherwise be able to satisfy, in a timely manner, the other conditions to the closing of the Arrangement, and current expectations and analyses made by the Company and its management in light of experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors appropriate under the circumstances. The Company considers these assumptions to be reasonable in the circumstances. However, there can be no assurance that such assumptions will reflect the actual outcome of such items or factors. By its nature, forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties, changes in circumstances and other factors that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of the Company's control which may cause actual results to differ materially from the any future or potential results expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking information include, among others: (a) the possibility that the Arrangement will not be completed on the terms and conditions, or on the timing, currently contemplated, and that it may not be completed at all, due to a failure to obtain or satisfy, in a timely manner or otherwise, required shareholder, regulatory and court approvals and other conditions of closing necessary to complete the Arrangement or for other reasons; (b) the possibility of adverse reactions or changes in business resulting from the announcement or completion of the Arrangement; (c) risks relating to the Company's ability to retain and attract key personnel during the interim period; (d) the possibility of litigation relating to the Arrangement; (e) the potential of a third party making a superior proposal; (f) risks related to diverting management's attention from the Company's ongoing business operations; and (g) other risks inherent to the business carried out by the Company and factors beyond its control which could have a material adverse effect on the Company or its ability to complete the Arrangement. The Company has assumed that the risk factors referred to above will not cause such forward-looking statements and information to differ materially from actual results or events. The reader is cautioned to consider these and other factors, uncertainties and potential events carefully and not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

Other than as specifically required by applicable Canadian securities law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statement is made, whether as a result of new information, future events or results, or otherwise.

About Think Research Corporation

Think Research Corporation is an industry leader in delivering knowledge-based digital health software solutions. The Company's focused mission is to organize the world's health knowledge so everyone gets the best care. Its evidence-based healthcare technology solutions support the clinical decision-making process and standardization of care to facilitate better health care outcomes. The Company gathers, develops, and delivers knowledge-based solutions globally to customers including enterprise clients, hospitals, health regions, healthcare professionals, and / or governments. The Company has gathered a significant amount of data by building its repository of knowledge through its network and group of companies.

The Company licenses its solutions to over 14,200 facilities for over 320,000 primary care, acute care, and long-term care doctors, nurses and pharmacists that rely on the content and data provided by the Company to support their practices. Millions of patients and residents annually receive better care due to the essential data that the Company produces, manages and delivers.

In addition, the Company collects and manages pharmaceutical and clinical trial data via its BioPharma Services subsidiary. BioPharma Services is a leading provider of bioequivalence and Phase 1 clinical research services to pharmaceutical companies globally. The Company's other services include a network of digital-first primary care clinics and medical clinics that provide elective surgery. Visit www.thinkresearch.com for more details.

About Beedie Capital

Beedie Capital is a multi-strategy direct investment platform that manages the alternative investments for Beedie, one of the largest private companies in Western Canada. It deploys capital using a flexible, evergreen mandate, and applies a highly agnostic approach to the duration, structure and size of its investments. Beedie Capital combines the strategic capabilities of an institutional investment platform with the flexibility and entrepreneurial mindset of a privately owned business. Beedie Capital invests in any sector, with a core focus on Technology, Tech-enabled Services, and Metals and Mining, and seeks to grow its invested capital alongside the enterprise value of its investments. For further information on Beedie Capital, please visit www.beediecapital.com .

For further information, please contact:

Mark Sakamoto

Executive Vice President

Think Research Corporation

Direct: 416-388-7119

[email protected]

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SCHEDULE "A"

Shareholders Excluded from the Minority Approval Vote

Continuing Shareholder Number of shares 2241781 Ontario Inc. 122,733 4333209 Canada 565,400 Abe Schwartz 107,269 Akhil Bahdi 231,600 Alfred Wong 280,848 Alka Modi 43,751 Anna Taylor 351,541 Brynne Eaton-Auvaa 160,928 Bulent Pakdil 484,076 David Schmeler 72,667 Derek Laishley 96,500 Dermot Sweeny 172,636 Don Reddick 2,336,600 Gary Fine 185,000 Gera Family Trust 53,000 Gerald D. Tripp and Karen Tripp 312,500 Ian Gragtmans 113,636 IC 1101 Investments Inc. 227,272 James Hamilton Muirhead 200,000 Janet Kimura 46,811 Jeffrey Mandel 359,964 Joe Luca 200,000 Joel Prussky Investments 125,000 John Hayes 74,566 M. Shier & Associates 385,124 Mark McLeod 90,909 Mark Sakamoto 1,699,472 Maxi-Message Marketing Ltd. 77,612 Michael Stewart 164,008 N&M Medical Enterprises Inc. 975,667 Navine Aggarwal 433,195 The Nirula Cosentine Family Trust 232,500 Patrick Craib 54,354 Renzo DiCarlo 2,327,642 Rusell Liashley Professional Corp 215,000 Russell Laishley 217,000 Sachin Aggarwal 3,024,065 Sam Mandel 1,250,000 Saurabh Mukhi 671,639 Sawan Gaogna 33,533 Schwartz Technologies Holding Corporation 1,500,000 Scott Reddick 600,000 Sophie Mandel 40,000 Thomas Volk 302,400 Vinod Gera 72,750 Zych Corp 113,636 Continuing Shareholder Total as of March 1, 2024 21,404,804 Purchaser Shares Excluded from the Minority Approval Vote Beedie Investments Ltd. (Ryan K. Beedie) 2,934,900 Total Excluded Shares as of March 1, 2024 24,339,704

SOURCE: Think Research

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Marlin Equity Partners has signed a binding agreement to acquire a majority stake in Treasury Intelligence Solutions. The investment puts the company in a great position to continue investing in organic and inorganic growth opportunities across the Office of the CFO. Co-founder Joerg Wiemer, Aquiline Capital Partners LP, and the Management Team retain significant minority positions in the company.

BERLIN, GERMANY / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / Today, Treasury Intelligence Solutions ("TIS"), a global leader in cloud-native cash management, liquidity and payment solutions, announced that it has signed a binding agreement to secure majority growth investment from Marlin Equity Partners ("Marlin"). The investment positions TIS to execute on organic and inorganic strategic initiatives to further serve the Office of the CFO. The agreement is subject to customary regulatory clearance. A closing of the transaction is expected in the second quarter.

TIS' Group CEO Erik Masing commented "this exciting partnership with Marlin will fuel our international expansion efforts, leveraging their expertise to broaden our partnerships and strengthen our product offering. In an era of supply chain disruption, rate volatility and macroeconomic uncertainty, the importance of liquidity management, working capital optimization, and secure, efficient B2B payments has never been higher for our customers. The Marlin team demonstrated a deep appreciation for the strength of our value proposition and a strong alignment with our strategic goals."

Chris Calhoun, TIS' CEO of Americas, added "Marlin's deep understanding of the European and U.S. markets, as well as their experience in the Office of the CFO and monetization of data and payments in particular were the key reasons we were keen to partner with them."

"The TIS team impressed us with their strategic and innovative product offering, strong banking integrations and dedicated customers focus. The company's mission-critical platform is well positioned to deliver continued growth in the global market for B2B payments, cashflow and treasury management solutions," said Konstantin von Bismarck from Marlin. "We are excited to welcome TIS to our family of software businesses and are thrilled to support the company's vision of helping more enterprises effectively, securely and transparently manage their treasury needs."

Raymond James served as exclusive financial advisor to TIS. Guggenheim Securities, LLC served as exclusive financial advisor to Marlin.

About Treasury Intelligence Solutions (TIS)

TIS helps Chief Financial Officers, Treasurers, and Finance teams transform their global cash flow, liquidity, and payment functions. Since 2010, our award-winning cloud platform and robust service model have empowered the entire office of the CFO to collaborate more effectively and attain maximum efficiency, automation, and control. With over 11,000 banking options, $80 billion in daily cash managed, and $2.7 trillion in annual transaction volume, TIS has a proven track record of combining our extensive market expertise with tailored client and community feedback to drive digital transformation for companies of all sizes and industries. For more information, please visit www.tispayments.com.

About Marlin Equity Partners

Marlin Equity Partners is a global investment firm with approximately $9 billion in capital commitments. The firm is focused on providing corporate parents, shareholders and other stakeholders with tailored solutions that meet their business and liquidity needs. Marlin invests in businesses across multiple industries where its capital base, industry relationships and extensive network of operational resources significantly strengthen a company's outlook and enhance value. Since its inception, Marlin, through its group of funds and related companies, has successfully completed over 200 acquisitions. The firm is headquartered in Los Angeles, California, with an additional office in London. For more information, please visit www.marlinequity.com.

About Aquiline Capital Partners LP

Aquiline Capital Partners LP is a private investment specialist based in New York, London, Philadelphia, and Greenwich, Connecticut, that invests across financial services and related technologies. The firm has $10.1 billion in assets under management as of September 30, 2023. For more information about Aquiline, its investment professionals, and its portfolio companies, visit www.aquiline.com.

Contact Information

Jennifer Knutel

EVP Global Marketing

[email protected]

SOURCE: Treasury Intelligence Solutions (TIS)

View the original press release on newswire.com.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / Xebra Brands Ltd. ("Xebra" or the "Company") (CSE:XBRA)(OTCQB: XBRAF)(FSE:9YC0), a cannabis company, is excited to announce the signing of a manufacturing agreement on March 22, 2024 with Restorative Botanicals, a leading provider of premium CBD products. This collaboration marks a significant milestone for Xebra as it enhances its product portfolio with it's first Mexican product launch of premium CBD tinctures.

Under the terms of the agreement, Restorative Botanicals will manufacture a bespoke CBD tincture exclusively for the Elements CBD brand, leveraging their expertise in crafting high-quality, cannabinoid-infused products. The CBD tinctures, tailored to meet Xebra's specifications, will offer consumers a premium wellness solution aimed at delivering on consumer needs.

The CBD products will be manufactured in the US, allowing Xebra to import finished products prior to receiving all federally approved confirmations from the COFEPRIS for domestically produced products. Xebra's long-term goal remains to manufacture locally in Mexico, but as consumers and retailers eagerly await domestically produced products, Xebra unlocks another commercial route through their import authorizations to satisfy these consumer needs. Xebra will introduce these Element branded products to prime the retail and commercial pathways in Mexico and lay the foundation for greater expansion and lower cost of production once domestic products are manufactured.

Restorative Botanicals is renowned for its commitment to quality and innovation in the CBD industry. With a focus on natural ingredients and sustainable practices, Restorative Botanicals has earned a reputation for delivering premium CBD products that prioritise consumer well-being.

The bespoke CBD tincture crafted by Restorative Botanicals for Xebra will feature:

High-quality, broad-spectrum CBD extract sourced from organic hemp

Meticulously selected botanical ingredients for enhanced efficacy and flavor

Rigorous testing and quality assurance measures to ensure potency and purity

Rodrigo Gallardo, Interim CEO of Xebra Brands Ltd, commented, "We are excited to partner with Restorative Botanicals to commercialize our unique product offerings ahead of domestic production. This collaboration ignites a commercial pathway to revenue by allowing our team to unlock the Mexican CBD market and start forging partnerships with retailers and commercial outlets."

For more information, please contact:

Rodrigo Gallardo Interim CEO

+1 (833) XEBRA 88

[email protected]

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Certain information contained in this press release constitutes forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. Any statements that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements, these include, without limitation, statements regarding Xebra Brands Ltd.'s expectations in respect of its ability to successfully execute its business plan or business model, the ability to obtain necessary approvals in connection with the Debt Settlement; its ability to enter into and execute partnerships or joint venture opportunities on acceptable terms; its ability to provide economic, environmental, social, or any benefits of any type in the communities it operates in or may operate it in the future; its ability to be a first mover in a country, or to obtain or retain government licenses, permits or authorizations in general, or specifically in Mexico, Canada, or elsewhere, including cannabis authorizations from the Mexican Health Regulatory Agency (COFEPRIS); its ability to satisfy the conditions of authorizations granted by COFEPRIS; its ability to successfully apply for, obtain and retain trademarks and other intellectual property in any jurisdiction; its ability to be cost competitive; its ability to commercialize, cultivate, grow, or process hemp or cannabis in Mexico, Canada, or elsewhere and related plans and timing; its ability to manufacture, commercialize or sell its CBD products,, wellness products, or other products in Mexico, Canada, or elsewhere, and its related plans and claims, including market interest and availability; its ability to create wellness products that have a therapeutic effect or benefit; plans for future growth and the direction of the business; plans to increase product volumes, the capacity of existing facilities, supplies from third party growers and contractors; expected growth of the cannabis industry generally; management's expectations, beliefs and assumptions in general, including manufacturing costs, production activity and market potential in Mexico or any jurisdiction; events or developments that Xebra expects to take place in the future; general economic conditions; and other risk factors described in the MD&A of the Company for the period ended November 30, 2023. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, are forward-looking information and statements. The words "aim", "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "contemplate", "target", "intends", "continue", "plans", "budget", "estimate", "may", "will", and similar expressions identify forward-looking information and statements. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by Xebra as of the dates of such statements, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Known and unknown factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, the inability of Xebra to retain the authorizations granted by COFEPRIS, failure to receive required regulatory approvals for securities offerings, the inability to generate sufficient revenues or to raise sufficient funds to carry out its business plan; changes in government legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments in various countries; risks associated with agriculture and cultivation activities generally, including inclement weather, access to supply of seeds, poor crop yields, and spoilage; compliance with import and export laws of various countries; significant fluctuations in cannabis prices and transportation costs; the risk of obtaining necessary licenses and permits; inability to identify, negotiate and complete potential acquisitions, dispositions or joint ventures for any reason; the ability to retain key employees; dependence on third parties for services and supplies; non-performance by contractual counter-parties; general economic conditions; the continued growth in global demand for cannabis products and the continued increase in jurisdictions legalizing cannabis; and the timely receipt of regulatory approvals for license applications on terms satisfactory to Xebra. In addition, there is no assurance Xebra will: be a low-cost producer or exporter; obtain a dominant market position in any jurisdiction; have products that will be unique. The foregoing list is not exhaustive and Xebra undertakes no obligation to update or revise any of the foregoing except as required by law. Many of these uncertainties and contingencies could affect Xebra's actual performance and cause its actual performance to differ materially from what has been expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, Xebra. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and readers should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those set out in such statements.

SOURCE: Xebra Brands Ltd.

View the original press release on accesswire.com
AESCs $1.5 billion investment will create 1,080 new jobs for the local community

COLUMBIA, S.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- AESC (the Company), a world-leading battery technology company, today announced the expansion of its lithium-ion electric vehicle battery manufacturing operations in Florence County. The Companys $1.5 billion investment will create 1,080 new jobs. This investment follows AESCs initial announcement in December 2022 and expansion announcement in December 2023, resulting in a total investment of $3.12 billion and supporting 2,700 new jobs across the local community.

We greatly value our partnership with South Carolina and Florence County as we strengthen our work together through this latest expansion that enhances our commitment to create high value jobs in the region and invest in the state, said AESC CEO Shoichi Matsumoto. South Carolina is a crucial part of our strategy to power next generation electric vehicles for customers across the U.S. by manufacturing high-performance, longer-range EV batteries locally. Through our collaborative efforts, I am excited that we are able to support thousands of new workers and increase both AESC and South Carolinas leadership in providing advanced clean energy transportation solutions.

AESCs second expansion in less than four months in Florence County signals yet another vote of confidence in our state and our people, said Governor Henry McMaster. This investment is another monumental win for Florence County, and we look forward to the substantial impact this will have throughout South Carolina.

In 2022, the Company announced a multi-year partnership with BMW to supply technology-leading battery cells to be used in the next generation electric vehicle models produced at Plant Spartanburg. AESCs latest expansion will extend the partnership to additionally provide electric vehicle battery components for BMW Groups Mexico Assembly Operations.

With this expansion of AESCs strong production footprint in the United States, the Company will construct a second state-of-the-art electric vehicle battery manufacturing facility adjacent to the first building which broke ground in June 2023. The AESC campus is located in the more than 1,000-acre Florence Global Technology Park.

Operations are expected to be online in 2027. Individuals interested in joining the AESC team should visit readySCs recruitment website to learn about future opportunities or visit the Companys careers page to explore current opportunities. Companies interested in becoming an AESC supplier should complete S.C. Commerces online interest form.

ADDITIONAL QUOTES

South Carolina is proud to have AESC as a key player in our states burgeoning electric vehicle industry. Its expanding presence has helped our state assemble the backbone of the ecosystem that will take us through the entire life cycle of the electric vehicle battery. -Secretary of Commerce Harry M. Lightsey III

AESC's unwavering dedication to Florence County marks a transformative moment, now bringing forth a total creation of 2,700 jobs and injecting over $3.12 billion in capital investment into the local economy. As a global leader in advanced lithium-ion battery technology, AESC's expansion signifies more than just economic growthit symbolizes a commitment to sustainable innovation. Beyond the immediate impact on job creation, AESC's presence will catalyze a ripple effect across our local economy. -Florence County Council Chair William Schofield

As we continue to move Florence forward, we celebrate AESCs expansion and continued growth in Florence. Todays announcement signifies increased opportunity for our citizens to obtain one of the 2,700 new jobs AESC will create in our community. -Florence Mayor Teresa Myers Ervin

Todays announcement by AESC is a truly remarkable economic development achievement. The continued momentum of AESCs presence in Florence County brings even more high-level jobs and opportunities to residents of the region. This landmark initiative epitomizes the strength of our regions business climate, and we commend AESC for their commitment to South Carolina. -NESA Executive Committee Chairman Yancey McGill

Our states economy is booming and projects like this continue to show the world that South Carolina and Florence County are thriving and open for business. Duke Energy is excited to continue to work with AESC to provide them with the reliable, affordable and sustainable energy they need to ensure their success here in the Palmetto State for many years to come. -Duke Energy South Carolina President Mike Callahan

About AESC

AESC is a global leader in the development and manufacturing of high-performance batteries. Incorporated and headquartered in Japan, AESC is a standalone business focused exclusively on advanced battery technologies for electric vehicles and energy storage systems. Our diverse management team spearheads operations across major facilities spanning the U.S., U.K., France, Spain, China, Japan and other key locations in Europe and Asia. Our global presence and streamlined operations enable us to provide more innovation to the worlds leading OEMs as they pursue clean energy transportation solutions.

About S.C. Department of Commerce

As South Carolina's leading economic development agency, the Department of Commerce works to recruit new businesses and help existing business grow. S.C. Commerce has recruited world-class companies to South Carolina such as BMW, Boeing, Continental, Giti Tire, LPL Financial Holdings, Mercedes-Benz Vans, Samsung, Toray and Volvo Cars and also supports startups, small and existing business, innovation and rural development initiatives. S.C. Commerce partners with the S.C. Technical College System via readySC to support workforce training and recruiting, and with the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce, which provides worker training and employment opportunities within the state. With a strong international footprint, the Palmetto State has consistently been among the top in the nation for attracting jobs through foreign direct investment on a per capita basis  recognized by multiple economic development publications for its pro-business climate. For more information, visit www.SCcommerce.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240326548175/en/



AESC MEDIA:

FGS Global

[email protected]



S.C. COMMERCE MEDIA:

Kelly Coakley

Director of Marketing and Communications

South Carolina Department of Commerce

(803) 737-1998

[email protected]

www.SCcommerce.com

Source: AESC
Together, they will host two free homebuyer education seminars on March 28 and April 9

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- American National Bank of Texas (ANBTX) will join with Good Urban Development (GUD), to host two free seminars as part of ANBTXs ongoing homebuyer education series. GUD is a joint venture between Dallas nonprofit Urban Specialists Incorporated and Lewisville-based Matthews Southwest, a full-service private real-estate development company that has spearheaded many community-oriented projects, including the recent Mill City 50, a transformative housing development in the Mill City neighborhood in Southeast Dallas.

Both seminars will be held at South Side on Lamar in the Cedars District of Dallas on March 28 and April 9 and will specifically cater to homebuyers interested in living in the Mill City 50 development, which features 50 two-story, single-family homes.

The instructor-led seminars will guide participants through the process of buying  and owning  a home. Topics include reviewing potential loan options and common mortgage terms as well as understanding all the steps, from applying to underwriting to closing. Participants will also leave the seminar with a copy of the ANBTX First-Time Homebuyers Guide to use as a reference during their homebuying journey.

Were honored to work alongside an organization like the Good Urban Development that values homeownership as much as we do  as a generational wealth-builder and a pathway to a better future, said Fannon Meador, Community Development Officer at ANBTX. Through this support, we will continue to serve and strengthen Southern Dallas through homebuyer education and affordable homeownership with affordable home loan options, such as our Ignite Home Loan Program.

Homes in the Mill City 50 development start at $210,000 and range from 1,400-2,000 square feet. Theyll feature three bedrooms, a one-car garage and fenced backyards and target families with annual median incomes (AMI) between 60% and 120%. Matthews Southwest has brought many workforce housing options to market in Southern Dallas including The Galbraith and home builds in the 10th Street Historic District and The Bottom District.

These homes elevate the standard of living for low- to moderate-income residents and give the opportunity of home ownership to a population being squeezed out of the housing market, said Shannon Brown-Key, President of Good Urban Development. Thanks to our partnership with ANBTX, were laying the building blocks for a stronger community and developments like Mill City 50 are the infrastructure needed to forever revitalize Southern Dallas.

The project broke ground in November 2023 and is expected to be completed in March.

To learn more about Mill City 50, visit www.matthewssouthwest.com/projects/mill-city-50. To RSVP for a homebuyer education seminar, visit www.anbtx.com/homebuyer-seminar.

ABOUT AMERICAN NATIONAL BANK OF TEXAS

American National Bank of Texas, founded in 1875 in Terrell, Texas, is an independently owned bank with assets over $5.5 billion and 30 locations throughout North Texas, serving Collin, Dallas, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Rockwall, Tarrant, and Van Zandt Counties. As a community bank, American National Bank of Texas offers traditional banking products and services to individuals, businesses and municipal governments, as well as individual and corporate trust, investment and estate planning services through their Wealth Management Group. ANBTX has consistently been ranked one of the Top Workplaces DFW by The Dallas Morning News. Visit American National Bank of Texas online at www.anbtx.com.

Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender. NMLS #445248

American National Bank of Texas is not affiliated with Good Urban Development.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240326520645/en/

Owen Ramsey

Cooksey Communications

945-455-9903

[email protected]

Source: American National Bank of Texas
Experienced leader to oversee companys Implementation teams

FRANKLIN, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Monarch Professional Services Group (Monarch), a Core10 division providing implementation and customer success services for leading financial service SaaS platforms, today announced Anthony Alexander has been named as Vice President, Operations and Delivery. In this role, Alexander will manage Monarchs day-to-day operations to execute its strategic objectives and vision.

Lee Farabaugh, President of Monarch, said, Anthony has been a long-standing leader at Core10, guiding our teams to deliver the best-in-class implementation and onboarding services possible for our clients. He is a perfect fit for this new position and is crucial to Monarchs growth and future success.

Previously, Alexander was Director of Application Services at Core10, a U.S.-based provider of lending, account opening, and BaaS products, as well as software development services where he led the professional services team to drive implementations, develop successful relationships and ensure processes ran smoothly and efficiently. Alexander also worked at Putnam County Bank, a community bank in Hurricane, West Virginia, and participated in the Generation West Virginia Impact Fellowship, a program designed to help early-career professionals find their footing in the Mountain State.

Since joining Core10 nearly five years ago, Ive gained exposure to the SaaS space, project management and developed a deep understanding of the challenges associated with software implementation, Alexander said. Im thrilled to be part of Monarch and be able to offer a new approach to offload the often-burdensome task of implementation and onboarding with Monarch's best-in-class specialists.

Monarch empowers organizations in the B2B SaaS financial services, capital markets and wealth management industries to streamline software adoption and optimize technology stack efficiency. The organizations implementation experts offer a consultative-based approach to help craft and configure tailored workflows for end users in CRM and SaaS platform configuration, customer success, managed services and business intelligence. Monarch also serves as a Salesforce consulting partner, specializing in implementation and configuration of the platform.

About Monarch

Monarch, a new division of Core10, provides implementation and customer success services for leading financial service CRM and SaaS platforms. The company streamlines the software adoption process for SaaS businesses to onboard customers faster, keep customers longer and generate more revenue. Outside of implementing software solutions, Monarch specializes in building custom connectors between SaaS and CRM products and serves as a key consulting partner to Salesforce. Monarchs Hereshore alternative to offshoring keeps tech jobs in mid-sized North American communities.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240326658926/en/

Angelo D. Jones II / Laura Lenz

[email protected] / [email protected]

678.781.7230 / 678.781.7226

Source: Monarch Professional Services Group
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Breakout Ventures, the home for creative bioscience entrepreneurs, is pleased to welcome five new venture partners. These industry leaders will lend their experience to diligence new investments and advise Breakouts portfolio companies on product development and commercialization strategy.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240326339729/en/

From left to right, top then bottom row: Sridhar Iyengar, PhD: Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Elemental Machines; Coco Krumme, PhD: Founder, Leeward Co; Rebecca Nugent, PhD: VP of HTP Operations, Tessera Therapeutics; Walter Solomon: Board Director; Ilan Zipkin, PhD: Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Supercede Therapeutics (Graphic: Business Wire)

Weve had the pleasure of knowing these founders and advisors for many years and are delighted to have them join us as an extension of our team, said Lindy Fishburne, Managing Partner, Breakout Ventures. Their experience spans from the earliest stages of product development to large-scale commercial success at the forefront of the bio-revolution.

Venture partners include:

Sridhar Iyengar, PhD: Sridhar is a serial founder, angel investor, and advisor to science-driven startups in the Boston ecosystem. He is the founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Elemental Machines, a company integrating hardware, software, and data science solutions to redefine connectivity in laboratory and manufacturing spaces. Sridhar holds over 100 US and international patents and received his Ph.D. from Cambridge University as a Marshall Scholar.

Coco Krumme, PhD: Coco is an applied mathematician and founder of Leeward Co, a boutique computational sciences consultancy. She has led data teams in Silicon Valley, taught in the data science programs at UC Berkeley and University of Michigan, and is author of the popular science book Optimal Illusions. Coco holds a PhD from MIT and a BS from Yale.

Rebecca Nugent, PhD: Rebecca is an R&D executive focused on commercializing biotechnology research in synthetic biology, genomics, and biopharma. She is the VP of HTP Operations at Tessera Therapeutics, a company pioneering genome engineering technology. She led Synthegos research department and spent six years at Twist Bioscience developing synthetic biology products. Rebecca received her PhD from the University of Southern California.

Walter Solomon: Walter has spent his career driving growth in both Fortune 500 corporations and Inc 5000 start-ups across a wide range of industries including life sciences, chemicals, and consumer products/retail. As the Vice President and Chief Growth Officer for Ashland Inc., Walter led the companys transformation into a $6 billion global specialty materials and retail company. Walter advises numerous portfolio companies of VC and PE firms, including as a board member for Checkerspot, a Breakout Ventures investment. He holds a BS from the University of Virginia.

Ilan Zipkin, PhD: Ilan has been a life science investor and entrepreneur for over 20 years as a partner with institutional and corporate venture funds. Most recently, he was a partner at Aditum Bio, guiding negotiation of therapeutic product in-licenses and new company formation. He is currently the founder and CEO of Supercede Therapeutics, a small molecule drug development company. Ilan holds a PhD in cell biology and biochemistry from UCSF.

Breakout supports our portfolio companies with more than just capital, and we are excited to welcome this group of insightful leaders.

To learn more about Breakout Ventures, visit: https://www.breakout.vc/.

About Breakout Ventures

Breakout Ventures is the home for creative bioscience entrepreneurs. We invest in early-stage companies harnessing the power of technology, biology, and chemistry to build solutions for human health and sustainability. Our team has spent the last decade supporting science-driven companies moving with urgency. We partner with bold founders throughout the entire life cycle, from seed to scale. Portfolio companies include Twelve, Immusoft, Ecovative, Cytovale and ZymoChem.

Breakout Ventures was founded in 2016 and is based in San Francisco, CA.

Breakout Ventures. Building a future powered by science.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240326339729/en/

Press

Susanna Harris

[email protected]

Source: Breakout Ventures
HALIFAX-KJIPUKTUK, Nova Scotia--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Nova Scotia is deeply disappointed to learn that our elected representatives have chosen to exclude unions from discussions about violence in schools.

CUPE Nova Scotia denounces the recent motion passed by members of the Provincial Standing Committee on Public Accounts that limits witnesses testifying at a future meeting to address an upcoming report from the Auditor General titled Preventing and Addressing Violence in Public Schools.

The motion, from MLA Nolan Young, lists only one witness: the Deputy Minister of the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development Elwin LeRoux. CUPE Nova Scotia also expresses its support for the Nova Scotia Teachers Union (NSTU) and its statement on this matter.

Its workers who are dealing with violence in the workplace every single day. If the government chooses to prevent unions from participating in discussions about violence in schools, they are choosing to shut out the voices of those working on the frontlines of this issue, said CUPE Nova Scotia President Nan McFadgen.

CUPE Nova Scotia represents 5,000 school support staff across the province and have issued a letter to the office of the Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, Becky Druhan, to participate in meetings with the Safe and Inclusive Schools Working Group in December. The Minister has yet to reply to the letter or the multiple requests sent thereafter, seeking a response.

In 2022, CUPE Nova Scotia conducted a survey among school support staff on their experience of violence in schools. In response, 50% of our members said they did not receive a response to workplace violence reports. Forty-three percent said that their employer does not do enough to prevent workplace violence. The results of this survey have also been sent to Minister Druhans office, with no reply.

While we welcome efforts to investigate this pressing issue, it should not, and cannot, come at the expense of one of the largest groups of employees within the school system, said Nelson Scott, Chair of the Nova Scotia School Board Council of Unions (NSSBCU). The NSSBCU is the bargaining council for the eight CUPE locals representing school support staff across the province.

CUPE Nova Scotia implores the Provincial Standing Committee to reconsider this decision and stands in solidarity with the NSTU, who have made the same request.

:sm/cope 491

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240326284850/en/

For more information:

Nan McFadgen

President, CUPE Nova Scotia

902-759-3231

Nelson Scott

Chair, NSSBCU

902-574-1380

Haseena Manek

CUPE Atlantic Communications Officer

[email protected]

Source: Canadian Union of Public Employees
DENVER & TEL AVIV, Israel--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Emet Surgical, developers of innovative tools to improve surgery outcomes, today announced that it has opened its StartEngine share offering that will help the company reach its goal of enhancing cancer patient surgery outcomes while providing improved ROI for healthcare providers and insurers.

The company intends to use the net proceeds from its StartEngine offering to purchase components and contract manufacturing services needed for product production, fund research and development efforts, and cover the costs associated with patent applications and FDA approval, among others, all in accordance with the companys general business plans and goals. Participants in the StartEngine campaign will be among the first investors of a pioneering medical technology company that is part of an estimated $536.12 billion global medical device market.

StartEngine is the leading equity crowdfunding platform. The company has hosted over 1,000 successful funding rounds between Reg. CF and Reg. A

Emet Surgicals progress to this point has been aided by its membership in the Colorado BioScience Association (CBSA), and participation in Startup Nation Central finder business platform, Israeli NGO promoting Israeli innovation around the world. Both organizations have provided guidance and enabled connections that set Emet Surgical apart from its competitors and other early-stage startups.

Emet Surgical has emerged as a leader in developing cutting-edge surgical solutions that empower healthcare professionals and enhance the quality of patient care. In consultation with medical professionals in the US and Israel, the company has developed solutions that serve as the foundation for more efficient and effective surgeon and pathologist communication.

TrueMargin is an easy-to-use tumor margin-marking system that requires no new tools and no new training for surgeons and can be simply added to the surgical and pathology workflows. TrueMargin overcomes conventional tumor marking that is often incomplete by providing specific in-vivo and ex-vivo location and orientation details. Emet Surgicals goal for TrueMargin is to secure FDA 510(k) clearance as well as other country registrations with volume production and distribution starting 60 days after clearance.

TrueGastro is a highly visible method of marking the colon for surveillance and surgery. TrueGastro is intended to replace outdated and risky marking techniques made ineffective with the shift from open to minimally invasive colon cancer surgeries. TrueGastro is now in the final engineering phase and testing is anticipated to begin later this year.

Tumor and structure marking tools currently available do not meet todays needs nor are keeping pace with advanced surgical techniques, said Witkow. Emet Surgical is aiming to improve cancer surgery outcomes by offering innovative tools that enable collaboration between surgeons and other medical specialists who are involved in the patients care. But we can't do it alone. We believe StartEngine will engage investors who appreciate our product goals and investment opportunity. By participating in our StartEngine offering, investors will have an opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a revolutionary offering aiming to improve cancer patient outcomes while empowering surgeons to achieve better outcomes and reduce treatment costs.

Emet Surgicals assets consist of intellectual property applications and grants, product designs and the engineering and manufacturing drawings and work plans needed to manufacture products. Its quality and regulatory consultant developed a custom quality management system necessary to support the requirements of US and European Union medical device regulatory bodies. Six thousand product samples have been produced proving the plans and testing of the companys TrueMargin products at independent labs along with their documentation have been submitted to the US FDA in the form of an application for 510(k) clearance. The company has filed applications for two provisional utility patents and two design patents.

Those interested in reserving a spot in the StartEngine funding round can visit https://www.startengine.com/offering/emetsurgical

About Emet Surgical

Taking its name from the Hebrew word for truth, Emet Surgical is enabling true surgeon/pathologist collaboration. Emet Surgicals TrueMargin tumor margin marking tools, now under regulatory review, provide surgeons and pathologists with specific in-vivo and ex-vivo tumor margin, location, and orientation details. TrueMargin tools for open, minimally invasive, and robotic procedures enable communication and collaboration not seen before. Founded in 2022, the company is headquartered in Denver with significant operations in Tel Aviv and Haifa, Israel. Additional information is available at www.EmetSurgical.com or by emailing [email protected].

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240326648146/en/

Mark Smith, JPR Communications

[email protected]

Source: Emet Surgical
Julia Nikhinson/Reuters

Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed early on Tuesday morning.

A livestream captured the moment a ship collided with one of the bridge's support beams.

Authorities are calling it a "mass casualty event" and say 20 people went into the water.

Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed on Tuesday morning after it was struck by a large container ship.

A video of the incident was posted early on Tuesday morning to X, formerly Twitter. In the video, the container ship the Dali is seen colliding with one of the bridge's support beams. Smoke is seen billowing from the ship before the bridge began crumbling.

BREAKING: Ship collides with Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, causing it to collapse pic.twitter.com/OcOrSjOCRn  BNO News (@BNONews) March 26, 2024

"MAJOR BALTIMORE TRAFFIC ALERT: AVOID I-695 southeast corridor. I-695 Key Bridge collapse due to ship strike," the Maryland Transportation Authority said in an X post on Tuesday morning.

A representative for the Baltimore Police Department told ABC News that "at 1:35 a.m., Baltimore City police were notified of a partial bridge collapse, with workers possibly in the water, at the Francis Scott Key Bridge."

Emergency services teams, including divers and at least two helicopters, responded to the scene, per Baltimore County's police scanner in the hour and a half after the bridge's collapse.

Wes Moore, governor of Maryland, declared a state of emergency early on Tuesday.

He said he was working to "quickly deploy federal resources from the Biden Administration," per the BBC.

In a news conference later in the day, Moore said that the crew on the ship notified authorities they had lost power.

Moore told reporters that the ship was moving at a "very rapid speed" and that the call to the authorities stopped a greater disaster from occurring, with cars redirected away from the bridge.

Story continues

He also said the bridge was "fully up to code" and had no structural issues.

Paul Wiedefeld, Maryland's transportation secretary, told reporters that there were workers on the bridge at the time repairing potholes, and that six people were unaccounted for.

The White House said it was "closely monitoring" the situation, and that there was no indication of any nefarious intent.

"Our hearts go out to the families of those who remain missing as a result of this horrific incident," a spokesperson told BI in a statement.

Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said on X that he had offered the DOT's support to Moore and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott.

A view of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on March 26, 2024, shared by local rescue services. Harford County Maryland Fire and EMS/Facebook

The Baltimore Fire Department estimates that up to 20 people people went into the water, the BBC reported.

Baltimore Fire Department Chief James Wallace said at a press conference early Tuesday that two people had been recovered from the water. One refused service, while another was transported to a local trauma center "in very serious condition," he said.

The fire department had not made contact with the ship's captain yet, he said.

A livestream view of the area at around 3:00 a.m. local time showed the bridge's structure partially submerged in the harbor and in several pieces.

A view of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on March 26, 2024, shared by local rescue services. Harford County, Maryland, Fire and EMS

An unclassified Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency report said that the ship "lost propulsion" as it was leaving port, ABC News reported.

The crew notified officials that they had lost control and warned of a possible collision, the report said, per ABC News.

Structural engineer Ian Firth told the BBC that the heavy ship would have struck the bridge support backed by many thousands of metric tons.

"The support is a very, relatively, flimsy structure when you look at it, it's a kind of trestle structure with individual legs," he told the outlet. "So, the bridge has collapsed simply as a result of this very large impact force."

Barbara Rossi, an engineering professor at the University of Oxford, told BI: "According to what I could see online, the bridge has received a huge impact force on one of its supporting structures."

"The impacting force must have been immense," she said.

The collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore after being struck by a container ship on Tuesday. Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

The Dali is owned by Grace Ocean, a Singapore-based firm. The firm confirmed in a statement on Tuesday morning that their vessel had struck one of the bridge's pillars, per TradeWinds.

"All crew members, including the two pilots, have been accounted for and there are no reports of any injuries. There has also been no pollution," read the firm's statement.

It had 22 crew aboard, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore said in a statement.

According to Grace Ocean, the vessel was bound for Colombo, Sri Lanka when the accident took place.

The Dali, a Singapore-flagged cargo ship, was seen stationary on VesselFinder.com's vessel-tracking map. Screengrab/VesselFinder.com

Maersk, the ship's charterer, confirmed that vessel company Synergy Group operates the ship. Maersk's spokesperson told BI in a statement that the company is "horrified" by the events, and added that no Maersk employees were on board.

"We are closely following the investigations conducted by authorities and Synergy," it added.

As of Tuesday morning, authorities warned mariners and drone operators to avoid the waters and nearby airspace.

Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski, Jr. said in an X post that the authorities "are closely monitoring the ongoing situation at the Key Bridge."

"Our prayers remain with all those impacted," Olszewski wrote.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge opened in March 1977 as the final link in the Baltimore Beltway, according to the MDTA.

It cost $60.3 million to build and is 10.9 miles long, per the MDTA.

Read the original article on Business Insider
First-time activation of land-based services in Australias northern and southern regions, maritime services in Australian waters, and commercial service in New Zealand.

Multi-year, multi-million-dollar agreement enabling Sat One to bring high-speed, low latency connectivity to its most remote customers

Building on OneWeb roll-out momentum in Australasia

PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Regulatory News:

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240326436075/en/

Eutelsat Group (ISIN: FR0010221234 - Euronext Paris / London Stock Exchange: ETL), announces that Sat One, is leveraging its OneWeb LEO constellation for the first-time activation of land-based services across Australias remote northern and southern regions, maritime services in Australian waters, and commercial service in New Zealand.

Satellite service company Sat One and Eutelsat OneWeb have a multi-year, multi-million dollar agreement enabling Sat One to bring high-speed, low latency connectivity to its most remote customers. With Eutelsat OneWebs LEO now operational in Australia and New Zealand, Sat One has begun providing services to enterprises, including mine sites, and remote communities as well as maritime customers.

Today heralds a new chapter for connectivity, tailored to Australasia's unique landscapes and seascapes," remarked Daniel Fairbairn, Chief Executive Officer of Sat One. "Our agreement with Eutelsat OneWeb enables us to lead the market in providing enterprise grade, resilient, high-speed, low-latency LEO services that stand up to the harsh outback, the wet tropics, and New Zealand's freezing conditions, as well as the demanding marine environments. We're ensuring that enterprises remain connected and competitive no matter how remote or challenging their operations. Sat One is the One company that customers turn to for Enterprise LEO.

Cyril Dujardin, Co-President of Eutelsat Groups Connectivity Business Unit said, We are delighted to announce the launch of our LEO services for customers in Australia and New Zealand. As a trusted connectivity provider, Sat One understands the complex needs of modern businesses and maritime operations. We are excited by the start of these services and looking forward to building on our partnership with Sat One.

The activation follows the launch last month of Eutelsat OneWeb LEO backhaul in Australia by the Australian telecom operator, Telstra.

END

About Sat.One

Sat One, established in 2021 and headquartered in Perth, revolutionises enterprise connectivity across Australia and New Zealand with leading low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellite technology. Sat One eliminates digital divides, delivering super-fast, reliable enterprise connectivity, even in remote areas. As the master distributor for Eutelsat OneWeb's LEO satellite services, Sat One delivers unmatched communication solutions underpinned by strategic partnerships with industry leaders like Intellian, Kymeta, Hughes, and Inster.

Our commitment to innovation extends to custom, agile services across critical sectors, including Mining, Energy, Construction, Government, and more, empowering them with low-latency connectivity essential for operational excellence. Sat One represents the future of enterprise communication, offering comprehensive, tailored solutions that drive growth and transform digital engagement.

Find out more at: https://sat.one/

About Eutelsat Group

Eutelsat Group is a global leader in satellite communications, delivering connectivity and broadcast services worldwide. The Group was formed through the combination of Eutelsat and OneWeb in 2023, becoming the first fully integrated GEO-LEO satellite operator with a fleet of 35 geostationary (GEO) satellites and a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) constellation of more than 600 satellites. The Group addresses customers' needs in four key verticals of Video, where it distributes more than 6,500 television channels, and the high-growth connectivity markets of Mobile Connectivity, Fixed Connectivity, and Government Services. Eutelsat Groups unique suite of in-orbit assets and on-ground infrastructure enables it to deliver integrated solutions to meet the needs of global customers. The Company is headquartered in Paris and Eutelsat Group employs more than 1,700 people from more than 50 countries. The Group is committed to delivering safe, resilient, and environmentally sustainable connectivity to help bridge the digital divide. The Company is listed on the Euronext Paris Stock Exchange (ticker: ETL) and the London Stock Exchange (ticker: ETL).

Find out more at www.eutelsat.com

DISCLAIMER

The forward-looking statements included herein are for illustrative purposes only and are based on managements views and assumptions as of the date of this document. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks. For illustrative purposes only, such risks include but are not limited to: risks related to the health crisis; operational risks related to satellite failures or impaired satellite performance, or failure to roll out the deployment plan as planned and within the expected timeframe; risks related to the trend in the satellite telecommunications market resulting from increased competition or technological changes affecting the market; risks related to the international dimension of the Group's customers and activities; risks related to the adoption of international rules on frequency coordination and financial risks related, inter alia, to the financial guarantee granted to the Intergovernmental Organization's closed pension fund, and foreign exchange risk. Eutelsat Communications expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any projections, forecasts or estimates contained in this document to reflect any change in events, conditions, assumptions, or circumstances on which any such statements are based, unless so required by applicable law. The information contained in this document is not based on historical fact and should not be construed as a guarantee that the facts or data mentioned will occur. This information is based on data, assumptions and estimates that the Group considers as reasonable.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240326436075/en/

Media enquiries

Joanna Darlington

Tel. +33 674 521 531

[email protected]

Anita Baltagi

Tel. +33 643 930 178

[email protected]

Katie Dowd

Tel. +1 202 271 2209

[email protected]

Investors

Joanna Darlington

Tel. +33 674 521 531

[email protected]

Hugo Laurens Berge

+33 670 80 95 58

[email protected]

Source: Eutelsat Group
2023 Marked the Third-Busiest Year for Dealership Buy-Sell Activity Despite Declining Profits

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Haig Partners LLC, released its closely followed Haig Report for Q4 2023, which tracks trends in auto retail and their impacts on dealership values. Demand for dealerships was strong through the end of 2023, with an estimated 528 dealerships trading hands, the third-highest annual volume on record (as predicted in the Q3 2023 Haig Report). Dealership profits, although ticking downward, were still 2.3x higher than pre-pandemic levels, keeping buyers and investors alike attracted to auto dealerships.

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There have been significant changes in market share since the pandemic. This table shows the number of new units sold per dealership location in 2019 and in 2023. From this chart, it is clear that certain brands, like Mazda and Kia, have performed very well in recent years, while other brands, like Honda, Mercedes-Benz and Infiniti, have struggled significantly. These relative changes in volume also point to changes in the level of dealership profits, and therefore, dealership values, for each of these brands. (Graphic: Business Wire)

In 2023, Haig Partners advised on two record-setting deals, fetching the highest price for Toyota and Stellantis dealerships. Al Hendrickson Toyota sold for the highest price ever paid for a dealership of any kind at the time, and Lake Norman CDJR set a record for the highest value paid for a Stellantis store. In the first quarter of 2024, Haig Partners advised on the record-setting sale of South Motors / Vista Motors. Although the transaction price cannot be disclosed, it is believed that the sale represented the highest values ever paid for BMW and Honda dealerships.

Profits per dealership for the publicly traded retailers declined an estimated 23% from 2022 to 2023. In Q4 2023, average profits per store fell 31% from Q4 2022, and it seems likely the decline will continue for the foreseeable future due to rising inventories and higher floorplan expense. Even at this lower level, however, per dealership profits in Q4 2023 were still an estimated 78% higher than they were in Q4 2019, just before the pandemic struck. Dealers we speak with believe profits will decline again through 2024, perhaps ending up an estimated 15% below current levels.

Haig Partners estimates that the average blue sky value per publicly owned dealership at the end of 2023 declined by 14% from 2022, a little over 1% per month through the year. The decline in blue sky values was less than the decline in profits, as buyers had already factored in their expectations of declining profits. Haig Partners believes blue sky values for most dealerships will continue to decline in 2024 as their profits continue to moderate.

Highlights from the Q4 2023 Haig Report include:

2023 was the third-busiest year in automotive history for dealership M&A, with an estimated 528 dealerships bought/sold.

Approximately 90% of the dealerships were acquired by private dealers or investors.

Public company spending on domestic auto dealership acquisitions reached $2.8B in 2023, the second-highest amount on record and 50% higher than in 2022.

The average publicly owned dealership made $5M in FY2023, a 23% drop from year-end 2022.

Average estimated profits per dealership were 78% higher in Q4 2023 compared to Q4 2019, before the pandemic hit.

Average estimated blue sky values declined 14% from the record levels seen in 2022 but are still more than 2x 2019 levels.

Alan Haig, President of Haig Partners, shared, We are seeing mixed trends in auto retail today, which are pushing down dealership profits and dealership values. Sharply rising inventories and floorplan expense are pushing down profits at most stores. At the same time, vehicle prices and loan rates for consumers are far higher than before the pandemic, and that is suppressing the pent-up demand that we believe exists in the market. Even with this decline in profits dealers are still making far more than they were before the pandemic. In Q4 2023, the average dealership still generated profits that we estimate were 78% higher than in Q4 2019.

We are seeing similar trends in dealership buy-sells. Sales of dealerships have fallen from the peak level in 2021 of 707 rooftops to an estimated 528 in 2023. And estimated average blue sky per dealership has fallen from a peak of $25M in 2022 to $21.4M in 2023. But even at these lower values, dealerships are still far more valuable today than in the past. Life is getting harder for auto dealers, but its still pretty darn good.

Our firm had the pleasure of representing sellers of 23 dealerships from five transactions so far this year, setting records for values paid for BMW and Honda dealerships. And, based on the number of other dealers we are advising, we believe that 2024 will be another strong year for dealership buy-sells. Sellers are still getting strong prices for their dealerships and buyers remain aggressive as they look to add to their growing portfolios. Our team prides itself on maximizing the value for dealers. Therefore we encourage owners to contact us to learn more about what their business might be worth, or trends impacting the value of their dealerships.

Q4 2023 Haig Report Highlights

Franchise valuation ranges and takeaways. There have been significant changes in market share since the pandemic. From 2019 to 2023, certain brands like Mazda and Kia have performed very well, while other brands like Honda and Infiniti have struggled significantly. These relative changes in volume also point to changes in the level of dealership profits, and therefore, dealership values for each of these brands.

There have been significant changes in market share since the pandemic. From 2019 to 2023, certain brands like Mazda and Kia have performed very well, while other brands like Honda and Infiniti have struggled significantly. These relative changes in volume also point to changes in the level of dealership profits, and therefore, dealership values for each of these brands. Buy-sell outlook. We expect the buy-sell market to remain highly active in 2024, possibly at the same levels we saw in 2023. Our pipeline of pending transactions is robust. Our newest clients have decided that with the best years of auto retail behind us, they prefer to take advantage before profits dip further. With valuations still elevated well above pre-pandemic levels, owners of high-value dealerships can sell their stores for high prices and move onto the next stages of their lives (or reinvest back into auto retail).

We expect the buy-sell market to remain highly active in 2024, possibly at the same levels we saw in 2023. Our pipeline of pending transactions is robust. Our newest clients have decided that with the best years of auto retail behind us, they prefer to take advantage before profits dip further. With valuations still elevated well above pre-pandemic levels, owners of high-value dealerships can sell their stores for high prices and move onto the next stages of their lives (or reinvest back into auto retail). New vehicle inventory surges. At the end of January, new vehicle inventories were at their highest level since June 2020, according to Cox Automotive. We had hoped that the OEMs would have learned a lesson during the post-pandemic era  to produce one less car than the market demands  but it appears that for many factories, they are looking at short-term incentives and missing the bigger picture.

At the end of January, new vehicle inventories were at their highest level since June 2020, according to Cox Automotive. We had hoped that the OEMs would have learned a lesson during the post-pandemic era  to produce one less car than the market demands  but it appears that for many factories, they are looking at short-term incentives and missing the bigger picture. New vehicle affordability is slightly improving. The average transaction price (ATP) for a new vehicle in Q4 2023 was $45,679, according to data from J.D. Power. This ATP represents a 1.3% decrease from Q4 2022, which saw the highest new vehicle ATP on record.

The average transaction price (ATP) for a new vehicle in Q4 2023 was $45,679, according to data from J.D. Power. This ATP represents a 1.3% decrease from Q4 2022, which saw the highest new vehicle ATP on record. Public auto retailers want to acquire platforms and divest underperformers in 2024. The publicly traded auto retailers remained acquisitive throughout 2023, spending 52% more than 2022 on US auto dealerships. Spending across the publics was lumpy, however, with a wide range of spending and strategies. Asbury spent $1.5B on a large platform, or more than half of all public company spending in 2023 on US auto dealerships. Lithia spent an estimated $500M on another platform, and one of the public retailers did not invest in any new dealerships. Based on Q4 2023 earnings calls, we expect the public auto retailers to remain acquisitive in 2024.

If you are interested in diversifying your group through acquisitions or considering what your business might be worth, contact any member of our team to have a confidential conversation.

______

About The Haig Report

The Haig Report, the leading industry quarterly report that tracks trends in auto retail and their impact on dealership values, includes data and analysis on the performance of auto dealerships, discusses noteworthy events impacting the automotive retail industry, identifies trends in the M&A market for dealerships, provides guidance on estimated value ranges for different franchises and shares an outlook for the automotive retail buy-sell market. The Haig Report is based on data gathered from reputable public sources and interviews with leading dealer groups and dealers, bankers, lawyers and accountants who specialize in auto retail.

About Haig Partners

Haig Partners is a leading buy-sell advisory firm that helps owners of higher-value auto, truck, RV, and motorsports dealerships maximize the value of their businesses when they are ready to sell. The team at Haig Partners has advised on the purchase or sale of more than 575 dealerships with a total value of over $11 billion. It has represented 27 dealership groups that qualify for the Top 150 Dealership Groups list published by Automotive News, more than any other firm. Clients of Haig Partners benefit from the group's collective experience as previous executives with leading companies such as Ally Financial, AutoNation, Bank of America, Credit Suisse, Deloitte, FORVIS, J.P. Morgan, the Sewell Automotive Companies and Toyota Financial Services. Leveraging its unmatched expertise and extensive relationships, Haig Partners guides clients to successful outcomes through a confidential and customized sales process. The firm authors The Haig Report, the leading industry quarterly report that tracks trends in auto retail and their impact on dealership values, and co-authors NADAs Guide, Buying and Selling a Dealership. Haig Partners team members are frequent speakers at industry conferences and are regularly quoted in reputable media outlets, including Reuters, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, CNBC, BBC, Automotive News, Wards, CarDealershipGuy and CBT News. For more information, visit www.haigpartners.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240326562497/en/

Media Contact:

Aimee Allen, Chief Growth Officer, Haig Partners

[email protected] | (603) 933-2194

Source: Haig Partners LLC
E-Scopics Ultraportable, Software-Based Hepatoscope Is Currently Available To Identify Patients Who Can Benefit From Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Rezdiffra

AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- E-Scopics, the France-based medical ultrasound company and creator of a unique software-based liver assessment tool, welcomed the announcement that Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Rezdiffra (resmetirom) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat certain forms of liver disease. This is a timely and exciting development in the fight against metabolism-related liver disease, which is on the rise globally. It follows another exciting advance in the same fight: the FDA clearance, CE mark, and full commercialization of the Hepatoscope, a point-of-care, software-based ultrasound application that can be used to identify, prioritize, and monitor the patients who will benefit most from Madrigals new drug.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240326361352/en/

Liver-Assessment Tool Hepatoscope Cleared for Use in U.S. and Europe Just as First Medication for MASH* Gains FDA Approval; E-Scopics Ultraportable, Software-Based Hepatoscope Is Currently Available To Identify Patients Who Can Benefit From Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Rezdiffra (Photo: Business Wire)

Approximately 1.5 million patients have been diagnosed with metabolic dysfunction associated steatohepatitis (MASH) in the U.S., and it is estimated that the precursor to MASHmetabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease or MASLDwill affect more than half of all American adults by 2040. The MASLD spectrum ranges from a simple, generally nonprogressive fat buildup in the liver all the way to MASH, which can lead to cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and death. The economic burden attributed to effects of MASLD in the U.S. exceeds $100 billion annually.

The development of fibrosis in patients with MASLD is associated with major adverse liver outcomes and liver-related mortality, so identifying patients with fibrosis is a crucial step in getting them effective treatment. Rezdiffra can be prescribed in patients assessed with fibrosis stages F2 to F3 without a liver biopsy. However, patients with fibrosis level F2 to F3 still have to be identified, and Liver Stiffness Measurement (LSM) is the non-invasive exam of choice for this identification. E-Scopics Hepatoscope uses imaging guidance and image processing software to enable any healthcare professional to obtain accurate, reproducible LSMs at the bedside. These measurements, along with the Hepatoscopes visualization of other tissue properties, can help physicians with the diagnosis, monitoring, and clinical management of adult and pediatric patients with liver disease.

Commenting on the Rezdiffra news, Dr. Naim Alkhouri, Chief Medical Officer and Director of the Steatotic Liver Disease Program at Arizona Liver Health in Phoenix, observed, Because MASLD is so widely underdiagnosed, the Hepatoscope is also a part of this story. Getting point-of-care ultrasound to more frontline cliniciansand having that tool generate a liver scan automaticallywill help us identify patients who should be referred to hepatologists. By assessing patients at risk and referring those who need it, we can better organize the MASLD-MASH patient care pathway to capitalize on breakthroughs like these.

Dr. Edward A. Mena, President and CEO of the California Liver Research Institute and of the Pasadena Liver Center was impressed with the results of Madrigals clinical trials and thrilled to learn about the FDA approval. Rezdiffra comes at a critical time for liver care, he observed. Medication that can reverse some of the worst impacts of MASH will be a huge help to our patients. The Hepatoscope is the necessary diagnostic complement to this revolutionary new treatment, as it will help us identify more patients who stand to benefit from it.

There are millions of individuals with undiagnosed MASH, said Dr. Julio Gutierrez, Associate Professor of Medicine at Scripps Center for Organ Transplant in La Jolla, CA. Having an FDA-approved therapy will signal to patients and providers that there are care options. Point-of-care devices like the Hepatoscope, which can be used to quickly triage patients in the clinic, is a key element in how we will handle the avalanche of patients.

This kind of direct impact was exactly the goal when E-Scopics selected the Hepatoscope as its platforms first application, said Claude Cohen-Bacrie, the companys Founder and CEO. We knew that MASLD was on the rise globally, and recognized that the medical community needed less expensive, more portable, easier-to-use tools to accurately screen for the disease. The Hepatoscope application can be loaded onto a consumer laptop or tablet, and our Ultrasound-as-a-Service model means any clinic can get access to this premium ultrasound technology via an affordable monthly or pay-per-use subscription. Questions of access matter more than ever, he concluded, as patients stand to benefit from these newer, more effective forms of treatment.

* Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatohepatitis

About E-Scopics:

E-Scopics S.A.S is a MedTech company headquartered in France. The company advances the accessibility, affordability, and ease of use of premium ultrasound tools at the point of care. Its agile software platform has dematerialized and automated ultrasound imaging technologies. Ultrasound-as-a-Service products derived from this platform are specific Apps commercialized with pay-per-use or subscription business models. The company's first product, the Hepatoscope, leverages quantitative imaging capabilities to help any clinician assess liver fibrosis and steatosisimportant markers of MASLD-MASHnon-invasively at the bedside. To learn more, visit www.escopics.com

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Dan Conley

Beacon Communications

[email protected]

312-593-8461

Source: E-Scopics
Class settlement ensures no increases for five years, maintains consumer protections and value; encourages strong, ongoing competition and innovation

PURCHASE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Mastercard (NYSE: MA) has reached an agreement to reduce its U.S. credit card interchange rates for at least a five-year period as part of a legal settlement with merchants.

The settlement, which also features a set of adjustments to Mastercards network rules, allows small businesses and all merchants to continue to benefit from accepting electronic payments while delivering consumers a simple and secure way to pay.

The agreement  agreed to by Mastercard, Visa and the court-appointed class counsel  provides all merchants with clarity and certainty on several areas related to their acceptance of payment cards, including:

Interchange rate reduction  Payment networks, including Mastercard, will reduce the published and effective interchange rate on U.S.-issued consumer credit and commercial credit transactions at U.S. merchant locations.

Five-year rate cap  The interchange reduction will effectively serve as a cap for a period of five years and will apply to all U.S.-issued credit programs, including new products required to be accepted under the Mastercard brand. The effort delivers merchants the certainty and visibility of their acceptance programs while supporting continued competition within the industry.

Simplified surcharging and discounting rules  As part of the settlement agreement, the networks will activate a simplified approach to credit card transaction surcharging, providing merchants more optionality. These rules will maintain core consumer protections and transparency, replacing standards that had been updated in 2012.

This agreement brings closure to a long-standing dispute by delivering substantial certainty and value to business owners, including flexibility in how they manage acceptance of card programs, said Rob Beard, Chief Legal Officer, General Counsel and Head of Global Policy at Mastercard. As the court reviews the settlement, we will focus our energy on continuing to provide consumers, small businesses and all business owners what they expect from Mastercard  a better payments experience, strong value and peace of mind.

The settlement is subject to final approval by the Eastern District Court of New York. Upon final approval of the class settlement by the court, Mastercard will have resolved the vast majority of all pending U.S. merchant litigations that are directed at seeking changes to the companys interchange structure and merchant acceptance rules.

In agreeing to the settlement, Mastercard does not admit to any improper conduct with respect to the plaintiffs allegations. All rules practice changes will occur after approval of the settlement, most likely in late 2024 or early 2025.

This agreement follows a prior settlement with a damages class. That litigation and the impact to Mastercard are described in more detail in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year-ended December 31, 2023.

About Mastercard (NYSE: MA)

Mastercard is a global technology company in the payments industry. Our mission is to connect and power an inclusive, digital economy that benefits everyone, everywhere by making transactions safe, simple, smart and accessible. Using secure data and networks, partnerships and passion, our innovations and solutions help individuals, financial institutions, governments and businesses realize their greatest potential. With connections across more than 210 countries and territories, we are building a sustainable world that unlocks priceless possibilities for all.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical facts may be forward-looking statements. When used in this press release, the words believe, expect, could, may, would, will, trend and similar words are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements that relate to Mastercards future prospects, developments and business strategies, as well as the impact of the settlement agreement on Mastercards business. We caution you to not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, as they speak only as of the date they are made. Except for the companys ongoing obligations under the U.S. federal securities laws, the company does not intend to update or otherwise revise the forward-looking information to reflect actual results of operations, changes in financial condition, changes in estimates, expectations or assumptions, changes in general economic or industry conditions or other circumstances arising and/or existing since the preparation of this press release or to reflect the occurrence of any unanticipated events.

Many factors and uncertainties relating to our operations and our business environment, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control, influence whether any forward-looking statements can or will be achieved. Any one of these factors could cause our actual results or the impact of the settlement agreement to differ materially from those expressed or implied in writing in any forward-looking statements made by Mastercard or on its behalf. Such factors related to the settlement agreement include, but are not limited to, whether court approval of the settlement agreement will be obtained.

For additional information on other factors related to Mastercards overall business that could cause Mastercards actual results to differ materially from expected results, please see the companys filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the companys Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, and any subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K.

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Mastercard Investor Relations Contact

Devin Corr, 914-249-4565

[email protected]

Mastercard Communications Contact

Seth Eisen, 914-249-3153

[email protected]

Source: Mastercard Investor Relations
Research published in Science Advances Demonstrates Electrical Control of Quantum Dots

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- NTT Research, Inc., a division of NTT (TYO: 9432), today announced that scientists from its Physics & Informatics (PHI) Lab have achieved quantum control of exciton wavefunctions in two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors. In an article published in Science Advances, a team lead by PHI Lab Research Scientist Thibault Chervy and ETH Zurich Professor Puneet Murthy documented their success in trapping excitons in various geometries, including quantum dots, and controlling them to achieve independent energy tunability over scalable arrays.

This breakthrough was achieved at the PHI Lab in collaboration with scientists from ETH Zurich, Stanford University, and the National Institute for Materials Science in Japan. Excitons, which are formed when a material absorbs photons, are crucial for applications ranging from light harvesting and generation to quantum information processing. However, achieving fine control over their quantum mechanical state has been plagued with scalability issues due to limitations in existing fabrication techniques. In particular, the control over position and energy of quantum dots has been a major hindrance to scaling up towards quantum applications. This new work unlocks possibilities for engineering exciton dynamics and interactions at the nanometer scale, with implications for optoelectronic devices and quantum nonlinear optics.

Quantum dots, whose discovery and synthesis were recognized in a 2023 Nobel Prize, have already been deployed in next-generation video displays, biological markers, cryptographic schemes, and elsewhere. Their application to quantum optical computing, a focus of the PHI Labs research agenda, however, has so far been limited to very small-scale systems. In contrast with todays digital computers that perform Boolean logic using capacitors either to block electrons or allow them to flow, optical computing faces this challenge: Photons do not, by nature, interact with each other. While this feature is useful for optical communication, it severely limits computational applications. Nonlinear optical materials offer one approach, by enabling photonic collision that can be used as a resource for logic. (Another group in the PHI Lab is focusing on one such material, thin-film lithium niobate.) The team led by Chervy is working at a more fundamental level. The question that we address is basically how far can you push this, he said. If you had a system where the interactions or nonlinearity would be so strong that one photon in the system would block the passage of a second photon, that would be like a logic operation at the level of single quantum particles, which puts you into the realm of quantum information processing. This is what we tried to achieve, trapping light within confined excitonic states.

Short-lived excitons have constituent electrical charges (an electron and an electron-hole) which makes them good mediators of interactions between photons. Applying electric fields to control the motion of excitons on heterostructure devices that feature a 2D semiconductor flake (0.7 nanometers or three atoms thick), Chervy, Murthy, et al. demonstrate different geometries of containment, such as quantum dots and quantum rings. Most significantly, these containment sites are formed at controllable positions and tunable energies. The technique in this paper shows that you can decide where you will trap the exciton, but also at which energy it will get trapped, Chervy said.

Scalability is another breakthrough. You want an architecture that can scale up to hundreds of sites, Chervy said. This is why the fact that it's electrically controllable is very important, because we know how to control voltages on large scales. For example, CMOS technologies are very good at controlling gate voltages on billions of transistors. And our architecture is no different in nature from a transistor  we are just keeping a well-defined voltage potential across a tiny little junction.

The researchers believe their work opens up several new directions, not only for future technological applications but also for fundamental physics. We have shown the versatility of our technique in defining quantum dots and rings electrically, said Jenny Hu, primary co-author and Stanford University Ph.D. student (in Professor Tony Heinzs Research Group). This gives us an unprecedented level of control over the properties of the semiconductor at the nanoscale. The next step will be to investigate deeper the nature of light emitted from these structures and find ways of integrating such structures into cutting-edge photonics architectures.

In addition to conducting research into quasi-particles and non-linear materials, PHI Lab scientists are engaged in work surrounding the coherent Ising machine (CIM), a network of optical parametric oscillators programmed to solve problems mapped to an Ising model. PHI Lab scientists are also exploring neuroscience for its relevance to new computational frameworks. In pursuit of this ambitious agenda, the PHI Lab has reached joint research agreements with the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Cornell University, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Notre Dame University, Stanford University, Swinburne University of Technology, the Tokyo Institute of Technology and the University of Michigan. The PHI Lab has also entered a joint research agreement with the NASA Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley.

About NTT Research

NTT Research opened its offices in July 2019 as a new Silicon Valley startup to conduct basic research and advance technologies that promote positive change for humankind. Currently, three labs are housed at NTT Research facilities in Sunnyvale: the Physics and Informatics (PHI) Lab, the Cryptography and Information Security (CIS) Lab, and the Medical and Health Informatics (MEI) Lab. The organization aims to upgrade reality in three areas: 1) quantum information, neuroscience and photonics; 2) cryptographic and information security; and 3) medical and health informatics. NTT Research is part of NTT, a global technology and business solutions provider with an annual R&D budget of $3.6 billion.

NTT and the NTT logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of NIPPON TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE CORPORATION and/or its affiliates. All other referenced product names are trademarks of their respective owners.  2022 NIPPON TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE CORPORATION

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NTT Research Contact:

Chris Shaw

Chief Marketing Officer

NTT Research

+1-312-888-5412

[email protected]

Media Contact:

Stephen Russell

Wireside Communications

For NTT Research

+1-804-362-7484

[email protected]

Source: NTT Research, Inc.
Enviromaintenance services Mobile Home Parks in the Greater Central Texas Region with small-scale replacement systems requiring advanced treatment and tank technologies.

CLEARWATER, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- OriginClear Inc. (OTC Other: OCLN), the Clean Water Innovation Hub, announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Modular Water Systems (MWS) and Enviromaintenance of Georgetown, TX to collaborate on sales of standardized systems in the Greater Central Texas Region, from Waco to San Antonio.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240326210198/en/

Enviromaintenance is a leading provider of large community scale-on-site wastewater treatment and disposal systems, with a significant market presence in the Mobile Home Park (MHP) industry in the greater Austin area. The company plans to recommend Modular Water Systems fully integrated, modular wastewater treatment systems to MHPs, thereby providing mobile home park owners an affordable, reliable and efficient way to treat their wastewater. (Graphic - OriginClear)

Enviromaintenance (www.enviromaintenance.com) is a leading provider of large community scale-on-site wastewater treatment and disposal systems, with a significant market presence in the Mobile Home Park (MHP) industry in the greater Austin area. The company plans to recommend MWSs fully integrated, modular wastewater treatment systems to MHPs, thereby providing mobile home park owners an affordable, reliable and efficient way to treat their wastewater.

Tightening regulatory requirements combined with older failing on-site septic drain field systems are driving the need for upgrades to full on-site wastewater treatment systems  essentially a micro-utility in every MHP.

MWS, a division of OriginClear subsidiary Water On Demand, manufactures a series of robust and durable wastewater treatment systems and has commercialized highly-standardized systems for MHPs, incorporating either IFAS (Integrated Film Activated Sludge) or MBR (Membrane Bio Reactor) treatment capabilities.

Dan Early, PE, and his innovative MWS team have perfected an effective treatment approach for compact wastewater systems with a treatment capacity of 5,000 gallons per day, said Enviromaintenance owner Bryan Klepzig. Modular Water Systems ability to manufacture large rectangular structural plastic tanks, whether standardized individual tanks for bulk storage or larger multi-compartment tanks, reflects a game-changing ability to deliver not only the tank but an integrated treatment system capability. This is exciting as it offers the ability to deliver projects in less time while also providing a superior system that will last decades longer than conventional concrete tank-based projects.

Klepzig went on to say, Modular Water Systems and its affiliated Water On Demand business model can offer a unique financing model that makes these systems affordable for MHP owners, while enabling them to significantly reduce their dependence on expensive municipal water grids. This combination of project financing and equipment delivery could turbocharge the rollout of these systems, as it greatly simplifies the delivery of much-needed on-site wastewater solutions. We are honored to help pilot this new way of solving a problem within the current system of wastewater treatment.

Bryan Klepzig and Enviromaintenance are uniquely positioned in the Greater Central Texas Region, have an awesome track record of project success, and have an expanding network of business relationships, said Daniel M. Early, P.E., president of Modular Water Systems (www.modularwater.com). Their local repute and capabilities combined with OriginClears MWS treatment systems will create a dynamic relationship that should capture a tremendous market share of work in the greater Austin region and beyond.

A recent video illustrated the speed and ease of installation at a Mobile Home Park location:

https://youtu.be/Mr4wZojKJ2g?si=TPhSOLMhk5xBxGcf

Were very excited that Enviromaintenance has agreed to be our first pilot partner in exploiting these standardized systems, added Early. Our recent EVT 5K-IFAS system approval by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) represents a watershed event. This regulatory approval precedent will now allow Modular Water Systems to dramatically increase its treatment systems footprint in central Texas.

The Partners acknowledged that the MOU is non-binding and no contractual relationship has been created but agree to work together towards a definitive agreement in the true spirit of partnership.

About OriginClear Inc.

Challenging the government monopoly on water treatment, local businesses are demanding the ability to treat and recycle their water. To serve the pent-up demand, OriginClear has now developed a world-class combination: Water On Demand is a fintech open to Main Street investors, Progressive Water Treatment is the can-do engineering company, and Modular Water Systems builds proprietary, drop-in-place systems. Get live weekly updates every Thursday by signing up at www.originclear.com/ceo.

For more information, visit the companys website: https://www.originclear.com/

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No Offer or Solicitation

This communication does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, or a solicitation of any vote or approval, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.

Safe Harbor Statement

Matters discussed in this release contain forward-looking statements. When used in this release, the words anticipate, believe, estimate, may, intend, expect, plans and similar expressions identify such forward-looking statements. Actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those contemplated, expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained herein.

These forward-looking statements are based largely on the expectations of the Company and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. These include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties associated with our history of losses and our need to raise additional financing, the acceptance of our products and technology in the marketplace, our ability to demonstrate the commercial viability of our products and technology and our need to increase the size of our organization, and if or when the Company will receive and/or fulfill its obligations under any purchaser orders. Further information on the Company's risk factors is contained in the Company's quarterly and annual reports as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason except as may be required under applicable law.

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Media and Investor Relations Contact

M Public Relations

Ann Pedersen (402) 547-6001

[email protected]

www.mpublicrelations.com

Source: OriginClear Inc.
Wider Design Provides Flexibility, Added Protection for Vented Ridge Applications

TACOMA, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Today, PABCO Roofing Products, celebrating 40 years of industry innovation and distinction, has begun shipping Shadow Cap Wide, a new, wider version of its ridge cap. More than three inches wider than the companys standard Shadow Cap product, Shadow Cap Wide is the optimal shingle option for coverage, color matching, and vented ridge applications.

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PABCO Roofing Products ships its new Shadow Cap Wide ridge cap providing roofing flexibility and added protection for vented ridges. Available in eight colors, Shadow Cap Wide is the optimal shingle choice for coverage, color matching, and vented ridge applications. (Graphic: Business Wire)

Available in eight colors, Shadow Cap Wide complements all PABCO Roofing Products shingle lines. The new product also includes Algae Defender with copper granules to provide defense against black streaks caused by blue-green algae. In addition to superior performance, each Shadow Cap Wide color is engineered to meet the high aesthetic standards of all PABCO Roofing shingle lines.

PABCO Roofing's Shadow Cap Wide provides enhanced flexibility for accommodating diverse roofline styles. This innovative enhancement to the PABCO Roofing collection allows for a unified solution across different ridges, hips, gables, and vented ridge systems, showcasing a commitment to versatility and performance. Each bundle covers 31 linear feet of ridge cap and is designed for easy application.

The new Shadow Cap Wide meets key industry performance ratings and requirements:

UL 790 Class A fire rating in the U.S.

CAN/ULC-S107 fire rating in Canada

ASTM D3161 Class A wind rating

Our new Shadow Cap Wide provides definition, depth, and contrast, and is perfectly color-matched to complement all of our exceptional shingle lines, said Gerry Kilian, Director, Sales and Marketing, PABCO Roofing Products. Shadow Cap Wide is the latest innovation that provides a superior solution for our contractors and the customers they serve.

PABCO Roofing Products offers five shingle lines in an array of colors, and a selection of superior options to meet the needs of diverse environments. There is a PABCO Roofing Products asphalt shingle made precisely for any price range and application, from new construction to the replacement of an existing roof. Contractors and homeowners seeking a meticulously engineered, great-looking, uniquely dependable asphalt shingle manufactured by a company with decades of experience will find superb options from PABCO Roofing Products.

About PABCO Roofing Products

PABCO Roofing Products has been creating best-in-class roofing materials for its customers for 40 years. The company stands apart by offering its clients a full range of premium products with the personalized service of a trusted local business. PABCO Roofing Products is a family-focused company that truly values its relationships and delivers a remarkable product and exceptional service each and every time. PABCO Roofing Products is a division of PABCO Building Products which services the building industry in the western United States and Canada. PABCO Building Products is a wholly owned subsidiary of Pacific Coast Building Products, Inc. a manufacturer and supplier of superior building materials for more than 70 years. For more information, please visit www.pabcoroofing.com, Facebook, Houzz, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, X, YouTube.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240326753173/en/

Ray Vincenzo

(206) 290-4431

[email protected]

Source: PABCO Roofing Products
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Phison Electronics (8299TT), a leading provider of NAND controllers and NAND storage solutions, today announced a pivotal strategic collaboration with industry giant MediaTek to push forward innovations in generative artificial intelligence (Generative AI) computing and services, and meet demand for fine-tuning AI model computations across industries. Under the collaboration, Phison's cutting-edge AI computing service, aiDAPTIV+, will pair with MediaTek's premier generative AI service platform, MediaTek DaVinci, heralding a new epoch for AI computing and application services and accelerating the adoption of generative AI in everyday life.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240325762546/en/

Phison and MediaTek partner for GenAI platform. (Graphic: Phison)

MediaTek DaVinci is an advanced, open platform for generative AI services, built on the Generative AI Service Framework (GAISF). MediaTek DaVinci enables developers to build a variety of plugins for enterprise applications, fostering a vibrant ecosystem and enhancing the user experience.

Phison's aiDAPTIV+ features a pioneering SSD-integrated AI computing architecture that breaks down large AI models for concurrent operation with SSDs. This approach significantly reduces infrastructure costs and boosts computational efficiency, enabling the training of substantial AI models with limited GPU and DRAM resources. aiDAPTIV+ has already demonstrated its effectiveness in the Industry 4.0 sector and is poised to accelerate AI transformation across various sectors, bolstering business competitiveness. Additionally, aiDAPTIV+ consumes less power than traditional AI server setups for the same AI model fine-tuning tasks and this aligns with the current trend of minimizing energy consumption and carbon footprint.

Phison's aiDAPTIV+ has showcased its significance in industrial application in the world's first mass-produced AOI optical inspection system with integrated SSD co-processing. Also, aiDAPTIV+ has elevated the recognition accuracy of Taiwanese AI for Professor Yuan-Fu Liao at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University. Phisons synergy with MediaTek DaVinci will broaden the reach of aiDAPTIV+ technology, injecting new momentum into the AI service market by delivering unparalleled user experiences and fostering a broader landscape for innovation for developers.

"aiDAPTIV+ is set to revolutionize AI model fine-tuning, and MediaTek DaVinci has already made significant strides in AI services, said Dr. Wei Lin, CTO, Phison. Together, we aim to swiftly integrate AI into everyday life and create greater value for our clients.

Phison's aiDAPTIV+ enhances our platform with unparalleled edge computing power and creates new prospects for our users and developers, said Jason Yeh, Assistant General Manager of AI and Data Engineering Division at MediaTek. With this collaboration, we look forward to establishing a profound impact on the entire industry and creating a smarter future together.

The collaboration between Phison and MediaTek promises:

An innovative AI computing architecture: aiDAPTIV+'s model decomposition and SSD co-processing enable training of larger AI models. Enhanced cost-efficiency: It is expected to lower AI service hardware costs, broadening and economizing AI technology applications. Enhanced scalability of the MediaTek DaVinci platform capabilities: Combination with aiDAPTIV+ offers developers more opportunities to develop diverse, customized plugins and assistants for various applications. Swift deployment of edge AI applications: aiDAPTIV+'s model decomposition allows for rapid adaptation to various application needs. ESG-aligned solutions: aiDAPTIV+ reduces the power needed for AI model fine-tuning, lessening energy consumption and carbon footprint, in step with environmental trends.

Moreover, the Phison-MediaTek collaboration equips AI server providers with a comprehensive on-premise software and hardware solution, enhancing the competitiveness of AI server products and providing the client slide with all-in-one AI services.

Phison and MediaTek believe that their collaboration will bring a competitive edge to AI server providers, expedite the adoption of AI technology, and create added value for end-users that builds an intelligent future with AI everywhere.

[PHISON IR Distribution List Application Form]

If you would like to receive Phison press releases or announcements, please register with our IR distribution application form in this link: Phison IR Distribution List

[PHISONs Quick Facts]

Over 23 years of experience in NAND controller IC design and module integration.

Over 3,800 employees globally, and more than 75% are engineers.

Nearly 2,000 memory-related patents globally.

Target long-term revenue of over NT$100 billion through the 5+5 growth strategy.

Exceeds 20% of the global market share of SSD controllers.

Exceeds 40% of the global market share of Automotive NAND controllers.

Unique business model that can produce consistently strong cashflow and profits over long-term NAND memory market cycles.

Committed to maintaining long-term partnerships with our global NAND flash supply sources and with our downstream module customers.

[About PHISON]

Phison Electronics Corp. (TPEX: 8299) is a global leader in NAND flash controller, storage solutions, signal integrity IC and AI solution provider. We provide a variety of services from controller design, system integration, IP licensing to total turnkey solutions, covering applications across SSD (PCIe/SATA/PATA), eMMC, UFS, SD and USB interfaces, reaching out to consumer, industrial and enterprise markets. As an active member of industry associations, Phison is on the Board of Directors for SDA, ONFI, UFSA and a contributor for JEDEC, PCI-SIG, MIPI, NVMe, and IEEE-SA.

To know more about Phison, please visit Phison Website or Phison Q&A for details. Read more on our blog: www.phisonblog.com

[Forward-looking Statements]

Information included in this press release that are not historical in nature are "forward-looking statements". Phison cautions readers that forward-looking statements are based on Phisons reasonable knowledge and current expectations, and are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those contained in such forward-looking statements for a variety of reasons including without limitation, risks associated with demand and supply change, manufacturing and supply capacity, design-win, time to market, market competition, industrial cyclicality, customers financial condition, exchange rate fluctuation, legal actions, amendments of the laws and regulations, global economy change, natural disasters, and other unexpected events which may disrupt Phisons business and operations. Accordingly, readers should not place reliance on any forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, Phison undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

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PHISON Spokesperson

Antonio Yu

TEL: +886-37-586-896 #10019

Mobile: +886-979-105-026

Email: [email protected]

PHISON Deputy Spokesperson

Kuo-Ting Lu

TEL: +886-37-586-896 #26022

Mobile: +886-979-075-330

Email: [email protected]

Phison media inquiries:

[email protected]

[email protected]

Phison product inquiries:

[email protected]

Source: Phison Electronics
New SmartBear DevOps Academy in Bangalore supports growing demand for skilled cloud engineers in the region

SOMERVILLE, Mass. & BANGALORE, India--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- SmartBear, a leading provider of software development and visibility solutions, is increasing its investment in India as the market potential for software development solutions in the region continues to expand. SmartBear launched a new DevOps Academy, a best-in-class DevOps training program in Bangalore to prepare entry-level participants with the hands-on skills and confidence to be a successful cloud engineer. SmartBear is currently supporting more than 150 customers across India, representing fintech, health care, and transportation and logistics. The company opened an office in Bangalore in May of last year.

The potential market for software development solutions in India is substantial and continues to expand rapidly as does the increasing demand for skilled developers and cloud engineers, said Dan Faulkner, Chief Product Officer at SmartBear. We are actively engaging in the recruitment, training, and mentorship of software engineers, bringing technical talent into the companys learning center of excellence. SmartBear is proud to continue its commitment to India and the Bangalore community.

SmartBear received more than 4,000 applications for the 8-week paid DevOps Academy program that is based on two 2023 graduating classes of the companys successful SmartBear Developer Academy program in Poland and includes in-classroom, online, and practical learning designed for career progression at SmartBear. An immersive experience, SmartBear DevOps Academy offers project planning in collaboration with a diverse team, including developers, automation engineers, product managers, and UI/UX designers.

The successful Poland developer programs resulted in 91% of interns accepting full-time employee positions at SmartBears Wroclaw office. Nearly 20% of the February 2023 class was women with the October class comprising 36% women. SmartBear is working with local universities and educational institutions in Bangalore as well as channel partners across the region to attract the best, most diverse new talent.

Upon successful completion of the program, participants in Bangalore will be assigned to one of SmartBears award-winning product groups, including test management and automation, API development, and application stability. SmartBear is converging its toolsets this year into three integrated hubs  API Hub, Test Hub, and Insight Hub  for the industrys most comprehensive API development, testing, and production readiness.

SmartBear has also been actively expanding its presence in India and the wider APAC region through strategic partnerships with local companies, most recently with Netpoleon India.

About SmartBear

SmartBear provides a portfolio of trusted capabilities that give software development teams around the world visibility into end-to-end quality through test management and automation, API development lifecycle, and application stability, ensuring each software release is better than the last. Our award-winning products include SwaggerHub, TestComplete, BugSnag, ReadyAPI, Zephyr, PactFlow, and Stoplight, among others. SmartBear is trusted by over 16 million developers, testers, and software engineers at 32,000+ organizations  including innovators like Adobe, JetBlue, FedEx, and Microsoft. With an active peer-to-peer community, we meet customers where they are to help make our technology-driven world a better place. SmartBear is committed to ethical corporate practices and social responsibility, promoting good in all the communities we serve. Learn more at smartbear.com, or follow on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook.

All trademarks recognized.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240325824402/en/

Tracy Wemett

BroadPR

+1-617-868-5031

[email protected]

Source: SmartBear
LADERA RANCH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- SmartStop Self Storage REIT, Inc. ("SmartStop or the Company"), a self-managed and fully integrated self-storage company, announced its inaugural sponsorship of the prestigious Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach taking place April 19-21, 2024 in Long Beach, California. This marks the first time SmartStop has partnered with the renowned racing event, showcasing its commitment to supporting local communities and thrilling sporting experiences.

As a sponsor, SmartStop aims to contribute to the events excitement while demonstrating its dedication to the Southern California community. Part of SmartStops sponsorship includes an exhibit in the events Lifestyle Expo where visitors can see the No. 66 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet that Tony Kanaan drove in his final NTT INDYCAR SERIES racethe 2023 Indianapolis 500. Kanaan will be signing autographs in SmartStops booth #1358. SmartStop will also distribute Free Friday vouchers at its 21 Southern California locations.

Commenting on the sponsorship, H. Michael Schwartz, Chairman and CEO of SmartStop, expressed his enthusiasm: "We are incredibly excited to be sponsoring the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach for the first time. This event holds a special place in the hearts of racing enthusiasts and locals alike, and we are proud to show our support for the race and its passionate fans. At SmartStop, we understand the importance of community engagement, and this sponsorship allows us to connect with visitors in a meaningful way."

The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, featuring an electrifying lineup of races, including the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, has become a staple of the Southern California sporting calendar. SmartStop's sponsorship underscores its commitment to fostering memorable experiences and supporting events that unite communities. For more information about SmartStop, visit www.smartstopselfstorage.com.

About SmartStop Self Storage REIT, Inc. (SmartStop)

SmartStop Self Storage REIT, Inc. (SmartStop) is a self-managed REIT with a fully integrated operations team of approximately 500 self-storage professionals focused on growing the SmartStop Self Storage brand. SmartStop, through its indirect subsidiary SmartStop REIT Advisors, LLC, also sponsors other self-storage programs. As of March 26, 2024, SmartStop has an owned or managed portfolio of 195 operating properties in 22 states and Canada, comprising approximately 137,500 units and 15.5 million rentable square feet. SmartStop and its affiliates own or manage 34 operating self-storage properties in Canada, which total approximately 29,700 units and 3.0 million rentable square feet. Additional information regarding SmartStop is available at www.smartstopselfstorage.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240326659281/en/

David Corak

VP of Corporate Finance

SmartStop Self Storage REIT, Inc.

[email protected]

Source: SmartStop Self Storage REIT, Inc.
Isabel Infantes/Reuters

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was handed a boost in his yearslong legal battle on Tuesday as a British court ruled that he will not be extradited to the U.S. immediately.

Londons High Court judgment found the Australian journalist has a real prospect of success in three of his grounds for appeal against a 2022 decision from the U.K. government allowing his extradition to face espionage charges. But before a decision is taken on whether he can launch a full appeal, the court has asked for specific assurances from the U.S. about what could happen to Assange. If the assurances arent filed, his leave to appeal will be granted automatically.

WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange Too Sick to Attend Extradition Hearing

Mr. Assange will not, therefore, be extradited immediately, the court said. The U.S. government has been given three weeks to make assurances that Assange will be allowed to rely on the First Amendment protecting free speech, that he wont be prejudiced at trial on the grounds of his nationality, that hell receive the same First Amendment rights as an American citizen, and that he will not face the death penalty.

If the assurances are received, both parties will be able to make new representations at a hearing on May 20, the court said. A final decision on leave to appeal would be made after that hearing if the assurances are satisfactory.

American prosecutors want to put the 52-year-old on trial for charges related to the publication of a tranche of classified U.S. intelligence files in 2010. They say Assange is not being prosecuted for the publication of the secret documents but rather for allegedly helping and conspiring with ex-U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in illegally obtaining them. (Manning was ultimately sentenced to 35 years in prison, but former President Barack Obama commuted her sentence, after shed served seven years, during his last days in office in 2017.)

According to prosecutors and Assanges critics, the leaks put lives at risk. Assanges supporters, conversely, say he is being unfairly persecuted for exposing American malfeasance; the leaks brought to light information about civilian deaths during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, among other revelations.

Story continues

Assange has been indicted on 17 espionage charges and one count of computer misuse. If convicted, he could potentially face a sentence of up to 175 years in prison, Assanges lawyers say, though lawyers for the U.S. have previously said he would likely face a much less severe punishment.

Assanges family say his health has suffered in recent years. Last month, his lawyer said he was unable to attend a two-day hearing at the London court because he was too ill, while his brother told a British TV station that Assange is going through an immense amount of suffering behind bars.

Assange was taken to Belmarsh Prisonwhere he has spent the last five yearsfollowing his arrest in April 2019, after Ecuador ended its offer of diplomatic asylum in its London embassy. Hed lived in a cramped office in the embassy for seven years, first entering in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden on allegations of rape and sexual misconduct that were eventually dropped. Assange was dragged out of the diplomatic building after his relationship with the Ecuadorian government broke down and he was quickly taken into custody by British police for skipping bail.

Following Tuesdays ruling, Assanges wife, Stella Assange, said her husband remains exposed to the death penalty and said she was astounded that the court chose to delay making a decision on his appeal, according to the BBC. She also alleged that the judgment invited a political intervention from the U.S.

If Assanges fight against extradition ultimately fails in the English judicial system, his lawyers have vowed to apply to the European Court of Human Rights, which could intervene to prevent the U.K. from sending Assange across the Atlantic.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Regulatory News:

The Combined General Meeting of Clariane (Paris: CLARI) shareholders was held on 26 March 2024, chaired by Jean-Pierre Duprieu, Chairman of the Board of Directors, and attended by Sophie Boissard, Group Chief Executive Officer, Philippe Garin, Group Chief Financial Officer, Amandine Daviet, Group Corporate Secretary, members of the Board of Directors and the Statutory Auditors.

The Combined General Meeting approved by a large majority all the resolutions put to the vote of the shareholders.

Capital increase

The adoption by Clariane's shareholders of the resolutions relating to the planned 300 million capital increase is a further step towards its completion, scheduled for late June 2024 or September 2024. The completion of this new step is part of the plan announced on 14 November 2023 to strengthen the Group's financial structure and reduce its debt and financial leverage.

The capital increase remains subject to the lifting of the following conditions precedent:

Authorisation from the relevant competition authorities for Predicas possible acquisition of control over Clariane in the event that the exercise of the guarantee granted by Predica as part of the capital increase leads Predica to acquire control of Clariane;

An amendment to the terms and conditions of the OCEANE bonds maturing in 2027 (0.875%  FR0013489739) in order to exclude early redemption provisions in the event that Predica acquires control over Clariane through the Capital Increase;

Submission by the independent appraiser appointed by the Companys Board of Directors of a fairness opinion confirming the fairness of the terms and conditions of the Capital Increase and the related agreements, including underwriting commitments;

Approval of the prospectus for the Capital Increase by the AMF.

It should be noted that the Capital Increase will provide for shareholders preferential subscription rights to be maintained so that shareholders can subscribe to it in order to maintain their stake while taking advantage of the discount. Otherwise, shareholders who do not wish to exercise their preferential subscription rights will be subject to significant dilution, which may be offset in whole or in part by the sale of their preferential subscription rights.

Lastly, the Company points out that the Capital Increase is an essential condition of its financial structure strengthening plan and that if it is not carried out, the Company would be obliged to place itself under appropriate protection in order to renegotiate its debt with its creditors.

Governance

Shareholders also approved the ratification of the co-option of Matthieu Lance as a director. Matthieu Lance's diversified and recognized experience in the financial sector will enhance the skills of the Board of Directors, in particular by providing expertise in the fields of investments, asset management, real-estate management and mergers & acquisitions. The Board will also benefit from Matthieu Lance's experience on the boards of other listed companies.

Record of decisions

Full voting results will be available on the www.clariane.com website.

A replay of the General Meeting will be available in the Investors section of the www.clariane.com website.

About Clariane

Clariane is the leading European community for care in times of vulnerability. It has operations in seven countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain.

Relying on their diverse expertise, each year the Groups 70,000 professionals provide services to over 900,000 patients and residents in three main areas of activity: long-term care nursing home (Korian, Seniors Residencias,etc.), healthcare facilities and services (Inicea, Ita, Grupo 5, Lebenswert, etc.), and alternative living solutions (Petits-fils, Les essentiels, Ages&Vie, etc.).

In June 2023, Clariane became a purpose-driven company and added to its bylaws a new corporate purpose, common to all its activities: To take care of each persons humanity in times of vulnerability.

Clariane has been listed on Euronext Paris Section A since November 2006

Euronext ticker: CLARI - ISIN: FR0010386334

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240326009982/en/

Investor relations

Stephane Bisseuil

Head of Investor Relations

+33 6 58 60 68 69

[email protected]

Press Contacts

Matthieu Desplats

Press relations Director

+33 6 58 09 01 61

[email protected]

Julie Mary

Press relations Manager

+33 6 59 72 50 69

[email protected]

Florian Bachelet

Press relations Manager

+33 6 79 86 78 23

[email protected]

Source: Clariane
Dallas attorney recognized for excellence in plaintiffs personal injury litigation

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Peer attorneys have again selected Dallas-based trial lawyer John T. Burkhead for the Texas Rising Stars list of the state's top young attorneys, recognizing his exceptional advocacy for plaintiffs in consequential personal injury cases.

Mr. Burkhead is a respected member of The Law Offices of Frank L. Branson, one of the most renowned litigation boutiques in the Southwest. His practice emphasizes advocacy for individuals affected by trucking and transportation accidents, worksite mishaps, oilfield injuries, and hazardous product liabilities, and underscores a commitment to seeking justice for the injured.

"At the Law Offices of Frank L. Branson, we are committed to tirelessly advocating for our clients' best interests, ensuring they receive the support they deserve throughout their recovery," stated Mr. Burkhead. "Being recognized for our dedication by peers within the legal community is incredibly affirming."

Mr. Burkhead is actively involved in professional organizations such as the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers, the Dallas Bar Association, the Dallas Trial Lawyers Association, and the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, demonstrating his commitment to staying connected with the legal community and upholding the highest standards of legal advocacy.

The Texas Rising Stars list celebrates the exceptional contributions of the state's leading attorneys under 40 years old or with less than a decade of legal experience. Recipients are chosen through peer nominations, independent evaluations, and assessments by distinct advisory panels. Mr. Burkhead has been consistently recognized on this prestigious list since 2016.

The Law Offices of Frank L. Branson represents clients in cases involving complex product liability, catastrophic injury, commercial air crashes, professional negligence, and business torts. To learn more about the firm, visit http://www.flbranson.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240326044421/en/

Tamlyn Sheng

214.559.4630

[email protected]

Source: The Law Offices of Frank L. Branson
MILAN, Italy--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Trustfull, a leading risktech platform utilizing silent checks on phone, email, IP address, and device intelligence to combat fraud across onboarding, authentication, and payments, announces the appointment of Jim Greenwell as Executive Advisor.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240326786868/en/

Jim Greenwell (Photo: Business Wire)

Greenwell joins the company with deep experience in the digital identity and mobility space, most recently serving as an executive adviser to Thomson Reuters and AuthenticID, as well as serving on the advisory boards of Prove and Gravy Analytics. Jim is the former CEO of Danal, Inc., having led the companys growth and innovation within the mobile identity and authentication space for over a decade through its sale to Boku, Inc. (LON: BOKU) in 2019. During his tenure, Jim created successful global partnerships and enduring customer relationships in a broad range of industries, including financial services, government, e-commerce, and wireless. One World Identity recognized Jim as one of the top four CEOs in Identity and Authentication in 2018 and one of the Top 100 Influencers in Identity in 2019.

Prior to Danal, Jim was CEO and President at ACE*COMM Corporation focusing on Telecom OSS/BSS software. Prior to ACE*COMM, Jim was the COO/SVP of the Americas and AsiaPac for LCC International where he grew the mobile network design business. Jim began his career as a military intelligence officer in the U.S. Army where he served in Northern Iraq and Turkey as part of the Kurdish relief effort following Desert Storm.

In his role as Executive Advisor, Greenwell will collaborate closely with Trustfull's leadership team to further enhance the platform's capabilities and drive its expansion into new markets.

Commenting on the appointment, Trustfull CEO Marko Maras said, "We are thrilled to welcome Jim to Trustfull as our Executive Advisor. His deep understanding of the industry and proven track record of driving growth and innovation will be invaluable as we continue to empower businesses with advanced fraud prevention solutions."

Jim Greenwell also expressed his enthusiasm about joining Trustfull, stating, "I am honored to join Trustfull as Executive Advisor. The company's commitment to leveraging cutting-edge technology to combat fraud is truly impressive, and I look forward to working closely with the team to further strengthen Trustfull's position as a leader in the industry."

Greenwell's appointment comes at a pivotal time for Trustfull as it continues to innovate and expand its suite of fraud prevention solutions, helping businesses mitigate risks and protect their assets in an increasingly digital landscape.

About Trustfull

Trustfull is a cloud-based digital risk intelligence platform. Utilizing silent checks on multiple signals including phone number, email address, IP address, device, and browser, Trustfull helps companies across different industries assess risks an provide a safer online experience. Main use cases include: KYC, AML, Account Takeover, Promo Abuse and Transaction Monitoring.

For more information: http://www.trustfull.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240326786868/en/

Media Contacts:

Lisa Messina ([email protected]) +39 347 9520130

Source: Trustfull
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- After nearly 20 years of litigation, Visa (NYSE: V) today announced it has agreed to a landmark settlement with U.S. merchants, more than 90 percent of which are small businesses, lowering credit interchange rates and capping those rates into 2030. The settlement also provides updates to several key network rules giving merchants more choice in how they accept digital payments.

The agreements multi-year benefits for businesses include:

Lower interchange rates. The settlement will reduce credit interchange rates for U.S. merchants, comprised largely of small businesses.

Interchange rates will not go up. The agreement will cap the reduced credit interchange rates for five years, providing an unprecedented level of cost certainty long sought by merchants.

New ways to manage costs. The settlement gives merchants greater flexibility at the point-of-sale, including the opportunity to steer to preferred payment methods and more optionality around surcharging. It also provides funding for new programs to educate small businesses about payment acceptance options and how to best manage costs.

By negotiating directly with merchants, we have reached a settlement with meaningful concessions that address true pain points small businesses have identified, said Kim Lawrence, President, North America, Visa. Importantly, we are making these concessions while also maintaining the safety, security, innovation, protections, rewards and access to credit that are so important to millions of Americans and to our economy.

Todays settlement agreement with merchants resolves claims against Visa, Mastercard and other defendants brought by the injunctive relief class in the lawsuit entitled In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation. It is subject to approval by the court.

About Visa

Visa (NYSE: V) is a world leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable, and secure payments network, enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. We believe that economies that include everyone everywhere, uplift everyone everywhere and see access as foundational to the future of money movement. Learn more at visa.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally are identified by words such as will, is expected, and other similar expressions. Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the terms of the settlement agreement and expectations regarding the impact of the settlement agreement.

By their nature, forward-looking statements: (i) speak only as of the date they are made; (ii) are not statements of historical fact or guarantees of future performance; and (iii) are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions or changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict or quantify. Therefore, actual results could differ materially and adversely from Visas forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors, including the timing and outcome of the court approval process, Visas ability to recognize the intended benefits of the settlement, Visas ability to effect its obligations under the settlement agreement, and various other factors, including those contained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2023, and our other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

You should not place undue reliance on such statements. Except as required by law, we do not intend to update or revise any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240325345937/en/

Curtis Blessing

[email protected]

Source: Visa Inc.
The John Palmour Manufacturing Center for Silicon Carbide (the JP) is a $5 billion investment that will bring jobs, economic growth to North Carolina

SILER CITY, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Today, Wolfspeed, Inc. (NYSE: WOLF), the global leader in silicon carbide technology, hosted Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) and other local officials, community partners, and employees at a ceremony to celebrate the topping out of construction at the $5 billion John Palmour Manufacturing Center for Silicon Carbide. Located in Chatham County, North Carolina, the JP will produce 200mm silicon carbide wafers, significantly expanding Wolfspeeds materials capacity, and meet the demand for next generation semiconductors critical to the energy transition and AI.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240326668100/en/

Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) joined Wolfspeed President and CEO Gregg Lowe in signing ceremonial last beam at the Topping Out ceremony for The John Palmour Manufacturing Center for Silicon Carbide (Photo: Business Wire)

We are excited to mark this critical milestone alongside our hard-working team, loyal customers, community partners, and ardent supporters like Senator Thom Tillis, said Wolfspeed President and CEO, Gregg Lowe. This facility is a testament to Wolfspeeds commitment to our local community and domestic workforce, furthering our position as the global leader in silicon carbide production. The JP will help maintain Americas lead in energy innovation, and unlock significant benefits for our local community by growing the states economy by more than $17.5 billion over the next two decades and creating 1,800 good-paying jobs by 2030.

Wolfspeeds $5 billion investment in Chatham County is another example of why North Carolina is the best state in the country to do business, said Senator Tillis. I was proud to vote in favor of the CHIPS and Science Act, which provides critical support for domestic semiconductor manufacturing, and I applaud Wolfspeeds commitment to developing technology here in North Carolina that supports our national security and economic interests.

The JP represents a total investment of $5 billion, complemented by public and private support, to help accelerate the transition from silicon to silicon carbide and ramp up supply of this material recently deemed as critical to the energy transition by the U.S. Department of Energy. By the end of 2024, phase one of construction is expected to be completed on the 445-acre site.

The ramp of the JP will support recently signed customer agreements with Renesas, Infineon, and additional companies, while driving meaningful progress towards Wolfspeeds long-term growth strategy. The JP will primarily produce 200mm silicon carbide wafers, which are 1.7x larger than 150mm wafers, translating to more efficient wafers and ultimately, lower costs. The JP underpins Wolfspeed's vision of accelerating the adoption of silicon carbide semiconductors across a wide array of end-markets and unlocking a new era of energy efficiency.

Wolfspeed currently produces more than 60% of the worlds silicon carbide materials at its Durham, N.C. headquarters, and is engaged in a $6.5 billion capacity expansion effort to dramatically increase production.

About Wolfspeed

Wolfspeed (NYSE: WOLF) leads the market in the worldwide adoption of silicon carbide technologies. We provide industry-leading solutions for efficient energy consumption and a sustainable future. Wolfspeeds product families include silicon carbide material and power devices targeted for various applications such as electric vehicles, fast charging, and renewable energy and storage. We unleash the power of possibilities through hard work, collaboration and a passion for innovation. Learn more at www.wolfspeed.com.

X (formerly Twitter): @Wolfspeed

LinkedIn: @Wolfspeed

Wolfspeed is a registered trademark of Wolfspeed, Inc.

Forward Looking Statements:

This press release contains forward-looking statements by Wolfspeed involving risks and uncertainties, both known and unknown, that may cause Wolfspeeds actual results to differ materially from those indicated. Actual results may differ materially due to a number of factors, including risks associated with Wolfspeeds expansion plans, including, among other things, design and construction delays and cost overruns, timing and amount of government incentives actually received, and delays or other difficulties in preparing for and ramping production; the risk of production or supply chain challenges that impact Wolfspeeds ability to ship in sufficient quantities to satisfy customer requirements; the continued pace of the transition to using silicon carbide devices in electric vehicles and other industrial uses; the risk that Wolfspeed may be unable to manufacture its products with sufficiently low cost to offer them at competitive prices or with acceptable margins; customer acceptance of Wolfspeeds products; the risk that demand for silicon carbide will not grow as Wolfspeed expects; the rapid development of new technology and competing products that may impair demand or render Wolfspeeds products obsolete; and other factors discussed in Wolfspeeds filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 25, 2023, and subsequent filings. For additional product and company information, please refer to www.wolfspeed.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240326668100/en/

Media Relations:

Bridget Johnson

Head of Corporate Marketing and Communications

847-269-2970

[email protected]

Investor Relations:

Tyler Gronbach

VP, Investor Relations

919-407-4820

[email protected]

Source: Wolfspeed, Inc.
The Yamilah III, an oil tanker is seen anchored in New York Harbor in New York City, U.S., May 24, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

By Laura Sanicola

(Reuters) -Oil prices settled lower on Tuesday as investors took a more mixed view toward the loss of Russian refinery capacity after recent Ukrainian attacks.

Front-month Brent crude futures due to expire on Thursday settled down 50 cents at $86.25 a barrel while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures settled down 33 cents, or 0.4%, at $81.62.

The more actively traded Brent futures for June settled down 33 cents at $85.96.

Oil prices edged lower after Russia's government ordered companies to cut output in the second quarter to meet a 9 million barrels per day (bpd) target to comply with pledges to the OPEC+ consumer group.

Russia, among the top three global oil producers and one of the largest exporters of oil products, is also contending with a spate of recent attacks on its oil refineries by Ukraine and has mounted its own attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

Russian oil refining capacity shut down by the attacks has reached 14% of the country's total capacity, Reuters calculations showed on Tuesday.

"Gasoline is seeing the support of reduced availability to the global market from curtailed Russian exports that has filtered through to the U.S.," said Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch and Associates in Galena, Illinois.

FGE analysts said they expect a structural decline in Russian refinery runs and do not see them regaining 2023 levels even in the second half of this year.

Trading was muted ahead of data that could provide insight into when central banks may begin interest rate cuts, which often boost demand for oil.

The crucial February reading of the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, the U.S. Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, is due on Friday, when markets are closed for the Good Friday holiday.

"The Fed promised these cuts but there's really no guarantee that it will be delivered right away, so the market is trading tentatively," said Frank Monkam, senior portfolio manager for Antimo LLC.

Meanwhile, a slightly weaker U.S. dollar offered some support to oil prices. A weaker dollar typically makes oil cheaper for oil buyers holding other currencies.

OPEC+ is unlikely to make any oil output policy changes until a full ministerial gathering in June, three OPEC+ sources told Reuters ahead of next week's gathering of ministers that is not expected to make any policy recommendations.

Rising geopolitical premiums as the Israel-Gaza conflict continues were also set to sustain price levels. Iran-backed Houthi militants on Tuesday said they had mounted six attacks on ships in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea over the past 72 hours.

U.S. crude oil and distillate inventories rose last week, while gasoline stockpiles fell, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday.

Crude stocks rose by 9.3 million barrels in the week ended March 22, the sources said on condition of anonymity. Gasoline inventories fell by 4.4 million barrels, and distillate stocks rose by 531,000 barrels.

Official government data will be published on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. ET.

(Additional reporting by Noah Browning and Natalie Grover in London, Colleen Howe in Beijing and Trixie Yap in Singapore; Editing by Jason Neely, David Goodman and Bill Berkrot)
Recently, Scivita Medical Technology Co., Ltd. ("Scivita Medical") and Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX), a leading global medical technology company, joined hands again to sign an expanded strategic cooperation arrangement.

The introduction of iterative endoscopic technology has brought about a positive transformation in the field of endoscopy, making it an interventional tool that combines diagnosis and treatment. Single-use videoscopes are considered a solution to cross-infection in traditional endoscopy, making them a promising solution for the future medical endoscope market. The global market value of single-use videoscope was USD 0.5 billion in 2020, and is estimated to increase to USD 9.2 billion in 2030, according to Frost & Sullivan.

Scivita Medical is a medical device company that provides minimally invasive diagnosis and treatment solutions, and focuses on research, development and commercialization of medical endoscopes and related products. The company has made globalization its strategic goal. Scivita Medical is making progress towards this goal through strategic cooperations with Chinese enterprises and multinational companies, like Boston Scientific.

Under the arrangement, Scivita Medical will expand its relationship with Boston Scientific for strategic co-development and global distribution activities. Such activities may include collaboration on the co-development of future endoscopic devices, and global distribution opportunities for Scivita Medical's single-use endoscope and imaging devices. It is expected that this expanded arrangement will help bring Scivita Medical products to more hospitals and patients throughout China and other global geographies.

"We are excited to further our relationship with Scivita Medical which we anticipate will help provide physicians with more device options in geographies around the world," said Mike Jones , senior vice president and president, Endoscopy, Boston Scientific. "We look forward to successfully building on that relationship with this new arrangement."

"I am delighted to announce the deepened collaboration between Scivita Medical and Boston Scientific, a leading global medical technology company. This strengthened relationship will help us combine our core strengths and expertise to deliver high-quality single-use endoscope solutions to doctors and patients in various regions across the globe. Working with a company like Boston Scientific is crucial to Scivita Medical's globalization strategy. We will continue to focus on innovative research and development, expand our business cooperation models, and provide more innovative, high-quality, and accessible products to benefit doctors and patients worldwide," said that Dr. Chin To, Co-founder, General Manager, and Chief Technology Officer of Scivita Medical.
MAIA Biotechnology, Inc., (NYSE American: MAIA) (MAIA, the Company), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing targeted immunotherapies for cancer, today announced that independent director Ms. Adelina Louie Ngar Yee made an individual purchase of 170,940 shares of the Companys common stock as part of the Companys recent private placement of common stock and warrants.

Vlad Vitoc, M.D., MAIAs Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented, Our ongoing progress has encouraged our top investors to continue participating in our offerings. We appreciate the support of our top investor, Adelina, alongside Stan Smiths participation in the same offering. We look forward to providing additional updates on our pipeline as we move forward with our development of novel cancer treatments.

Ms. Adelina Louie, MAIA director since 2020, said, I believe MAIA is at the critical point of bringing life-changing therapies to large populations of cancer sufferers and Im proud to offer my support as an investor and board member.

Ms. Louie has 30 years of service with HSBC Group in a variety of functions, principally with businesses of Global Banking and Markets including investment and securities management, asset management, and global research. Most recently she was the Chief Operating Officer of Internal Audit at HSBC Group.
Mastercard (NYSE: MA) has reached an agreement to reduce its U.S. credit card interchange rates for at least a five-year period as part of a legal settlement with merchants.

The settlement, which also features a set of adjustments to Mastercards network rules, allows small businesses and all merchants to continue to benefit from accepting electronic payments while delivering consumers a simple and secure way to pay.

The agreement  agreed to by Mastercard, Visa and the court-appointed class counsel  provides all merchants with clarity and certainty on several areas related to their acceptance of payment cards, including:

Interchange rate reduction  Payment networks, including Mastercard, will reduce the published and effective interchange rate on U.S.-issued consumer credit and commercial credit transactions at U.S. merchant locations.

Five-year rate cap  The interchange reduction will effectively serve as a cap for a period of five years and will apply to all U.S.-issued credit programs, including new products required to be accepted under the Mastercard brand. The effort delivers merchants the certainty and visibility of their acceptance programs while supporting continued competition within the industry.

Simplified surcharging and discounting rules  As part of the settlement agreement, the networks will activate a simplified approach to credit card transaction surcharging, providing merchants more optionality. These rules will maintain core consumer protections and transparency, replacing standards that had been updated in 2012.

This agreement brings closure to a long-standing dispute by delivering substantial certainty and value to business owners, including flexibility in how they manage acceptance of card programs, said Rob Beard, Chief Legal Officer, General Counsel and Head of Global Policy at Mastercard. As the court reviews the settlement, we will focus our energy on continuing to provide consumers, small businesses and all business owners what they expect from Mastercard  a better payments experience, strong value and peace of mind.

The settlement is subject to final approval by the Eastern District Court of New York. Upon final approval of the class settlement by the court, Mastercard will have resolved the vast majority of all pending U.S. merchant litigations that are directed at seeking changes to the companys interchange structure and merchant acceptance rules.

In agreeing to the settlement, Mastercard does not admit to any improper conduct with respect to the plaintiffs allegations. All rules practice changes will occur after approval of the settlement, most likely in late 2024 or early 2025.

This agreement follows a prior settlement with a damages class. That litigation and the impact to Mastercard are described in more detail in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year-ended December 31, 2023.
After nearly 20 years of litigation, Visa (NYSE: V) today announced it has agreed to a landmark settlement with U.S. merchants, more than 90 percent of which are small businesses, lowering credit interchange rates and capping those rates into 2030. The settlement also provides updates to several key network rules giving merchants more choice in how they accept digital payments.

The agreements multi-year benefits for businesses include:

Lower interchange rates. The settlement will reduce credit interchange rates for U.S. merchants, comprised largely of small businesses.

Interchange rates will not go up. The agreement will cap the reduced credit interchange rates for five years, providing an unprecedented level of cost certainty long sought by merchants.

New ways to manage costs. The settlement gives merchants greater flexibility at the point-of-sale, including the opportunity to steer to preferred payment methods and more optionality around surcharging. It also provides funding for new programs to educate small businesses about payment acceptance options and how to best manage costs.

By negotiating directly with merchants, we have reached a settlement with meaningful concessions that address true pain points small businesses have identified, said Kim Lawrence, President, North America, Visa. Importantly, we are making these concessions while also maintaining the safety, security, innovation, protections, rewards and access to credit that are so important to millions of Americans and to our economy.

Todays settlement agreement with merchants resolves claims against Visa, Mastercard and other defendants brought by the injunctive relief class in the lawsuit entitled In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation. It is subject to approval by the court.
The moon passes in front of the sun for a total solar eclipse visible from Farmington, Mo., Monday, Aug. 21, 2017. (Anthony Souffle/Star Tribune via The Associated Press - image credit)

Don't let your excitement for the eclipse be clouded by the possibility of overcast skies, says one Windsor astronomer.

Environment Canada's April cloud cover data for the last 30 years suggests the chance of clear skies in Windsor during the eclipse is 19.7 per cent. When combined with the chance of mostly clear skies, the percentage rises to 28.7 per cent.

The likelihood of broken or overcast skies tops 30 per cent.

Despite the past trends, University of Windsor astronomy professor Steve Pellarin says it's still too early to know what the day will be like.

"I wouldn't count on any forecast more than five days in advance, because the weather is so changeable in such a short period of time," he said.

"Usually it's a last minute decision that people have to make."

Pellarin added that people should check the weather the day before the eclipse, as that will give a more accurate picture.

And even if it is cloudy, Pellarin says it's still worth going outside for at least 20 minutes before and after totality to see the change in brightness, temperature and wind.

"If you can hang out outside and see if there's a break in the clouds, it's worth even just a glimpse of it, because it's once in our lifetime that it's going to come through this part of Essex County and it is spectacular," he said.

Steven Pellarin is an astronomer at the University of Windsor.

Steve Pellarin is an astronomer at the University of Windsor. Here he is pictured in December 2022. (Jennifer La Grassa/CBC)

For people who are especially determined to see the eclipse, they need to "be prepared to move" in the case of clouds, Pellarin said.

He said if it's cloudy in Windsor-Essex, then it's likely cloudy all the way up to Niagara Falls.

"So your best bet is to actually head away from the lakes," he said.

Pellarin says depending on how committed you are to catching the phenomenon, people could consider driving to western Ohio or Indiana.

Story continues

Will you see anything if it's cloudy?

If there is cloud cover, Pellarin says it still will get quite dark, which is something he believes people should experience.

"It'll get dark and the streetlights will come on," he said.

He says there could also be a drop in temperature and a breeze that picks up before and after totality.

The breeze, he says, is a result of cold air in the moon's shadow which gets denser and wants to sink. As it sinks, it will hit the Earth's surface and is compressed by the air above it, causing it to pick up speed, he described.

But Pellarin says this depends on how thick and how high the clouds are.

If the clouds are low, he says they could block the cold air from sinking and insulate the ground, meaning that there might not be much of a breeze.
Paid press release content from Evertise Financial. The StreetInsider.com news staff was not involved in its creation.

Washington, DC March 26, 2024 As Haiti grapples with escalating violence and a deepening humanitarian crisis, the HDN Foundation reaffirms its commitment to the well-being of Haiti and its people. The foundation is taking proactive steps to address the urgent needs of the Haitian population and calls upon the global community to join hands in supporting this noble cause.

Recent weeks have witnessed a disturbing surge in gang violence, with upscale neighborhoods of the capital, Port-au-Prince, being targeted, leaving many dead and homes looted. Meanwhile, in poorer areas, the scarcity of food and water has reached critical levels, exacerbating an already dire situation. Hospitals and clinics have been forced to close, leaving thousands without access to urgent medical care.

The HDN Foundation recognizes the urgency of the situation and is mobilizing resources to provide immediate assistance to those affected. Despite the challenges posed by the security environment, the foundation remains steadfast in its mission to alleviate the suffering of the Haitian people.

Our hearts go out to the people of Haiti during this challenging time, said Jacques, CEO of the HDN Foundation. We are deeply concerned about the escalating violence and its devastating impact on innocent lives. Now, more than ever, it is imperative that we come together to support the people of Haiti and help them rebuild their communities.

In addition to providing emergency relief, the HDN Foundation is also focusing on long-term solutions to address the root causes of the crisis. This includes supporting initiatives aimed at promoting stability, economic development, and social cohesion in Haiti.

The foundation recognizes that the road ahead will not be easy, but remains committed to standing in solidarity with the Haitian people as they navigate these challenging times. By working together, we can make a difference and bring hope to those who need it most.

We urge the international community to join us in supporting Haiti and its people, added Jacques Jonassaint. Together, we can make a meaningful impact and help Haiti emerge stronger from this crisis.

Join HDN in its mission to empower Haiti and its people and contribute to HDNs initiative to end food insecurity in Haiti. Click here to donate: https://hdn.org/donate/.

To learn more about HDNs advocacy initiatives and how you can support their mission, please visit https: //hdn.org/.

Media Contact:

Jacques Jonassaint

Email: [email protected]

Location: Washington, DC

###

About the Haitian Development Network:

The Haitian Development Network Foundation (HDN Foundation) is a 501c3 non-profit organization that promotes economic and social development in Haiti. Our goal is to empower the Haitian people by providing them with the necessary resources and support to enjoy a good life. To learn more about HDN and our work, please visit our website at https://hdn.org/.
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Krispy Kreme doughnuts is seen on a paper bag in Dublin, Ireland, December 21, 2021. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne/File Photo

(Reuters) -Krispy Kreme said its donuts would be available across McDonald's U.S. restaurants by the end of 2026 as the companies expand a pilot project, sending its shares surging 23% on Tuesday.

The companies were testing the program in 160 McDonald's restaurants in the Lexington and Louisville, Kentucky areas as part of the partnership that began in October 2022.

The phased roll-out of the program will begin in the second half of 2024, the companies said.

Krispy Kreme said it would not supply its donuts to any other quick service restaurant in the U.S. through Dec. 31, 2026, as part of the agreement.

The company has been aiming to open its outlets in at least 75,000 points of access such as quick-service restaurants and grocery stores around the world through a hub-and-spoke model.

Krispy Kreme said in February that it ended 2023 with 2,300 more points of access than 2022.

The company's shares were at an eight-month high, and were headed for their highest percentage rise ever, at current levels.

McDonald's has about 14,000 stores in the U.S., and said in December that it planned to open about 10,000 restaurants globally by 2027.

The company has struggled with weak overseas demand at its restaurants as a result of boycott campaigns against the burger giant in some international markets related to the Israel-Hamas conflict, as well as tough macro economic conditions in China.

(Reporting by Juveria Tabassum; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
Mesa, Ariz., March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wrapping up Womens History Month, Aqua-Tots Swim School has been recognized by Franchise Business Review as a 2024 Top Franchise for Women. Only 100 brands were named to the annual list of award winners.

Aqua-Tots Swim School, the largest international swim school franchise, is on a mission to save lives by teaching children all over the world how to become safe and confident swimmers for life. With more than 150 locations in 14 countries, their 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.

Franchise Business Review (FBR), a franchise research firm that performs independent surveys of franchisee satisfaction, provides the only reviews of franchises based solely on actual franchisee satisfaction and performance. Franchise Business Review publishes its rankings of top franchises in its annual Guide to Todays Top Franchises, as well as in quarterly reports throughout the year that recognize the top franchises in specific sectors.

Aqua-Tots Swim School was among 350 franchise brands, representing over 8,500 female franchise owners, that participated in Franchise Business Reviews research on the Top Franchises for Women. Aqua-Tots Swim Schools franchisees were surveyed on 33 benchmark questions about their experience and satisfaction regarding critical areas of their franchise systems, including leadership, training & support, financial opportunity, and work/life balance.

Franchising is a terrific option for women seeking business ownership on a full- or part-time basis, said Michelle Rowan, president and COO of Franchise Business Review. With so many franchise opportunities to choose from, its critical to do in-depth research to understand how satisfied current female franchise owners are with the training and support, work/life balance, financial opportunity, culture, and leadership of any brand theyre considering before making an investment. When you look at the brands on this years list of the Top Franchises for Women, 89% of women said they enjoy being part of their franchise organizations and 88% said they enjoy operating the business, making them all excellent options for women looking to make the transition to business ownership.

Aqua-Tots Swim Schools survey data showed the highest rankings in their franchisees willingness to do it again, recommend the franchise opportunity to others, and their enjoyment of the organization. The honesty and integrity of the franchisor as well as the franchisees respect of the franchisor were also among the highest ranking benchmarks.

Im incredibly proud of this award, said Jon Martin, COO of Aqua-Tots Swim School. As a father to two daughters, Im proud to be a part of a business that values their safety as well as any aspirations they may have of business ownership. I have watched colleagues, mothers, wives and friends take their place at the helm of entrepreneurship with Aqua-Tots, and helping them succeed as women in business is something that continues to be nothing short of rewarding.

In addition to the Top Franchise for Women award, Aqua-Tots Swim School has received Franchise Business Reviews Top Franchises award for three consecutive years, Most Profitable Franchises award in 2023, and Top Franchises Culture award in 2022.

Visit FranchiseBusinessReview.com to see the full list of the 2024 Top Franchises. Visit Aqua-Tots Franchise Development to learn more about franchising with Aqua-Tots Swim School.

###

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.

About Franchise Business Review

Franchise Business Review (FBR) is a leading market research firm serving the franchise sector. FBR measures the satisfaction and engagement of franchisees and franchise employees and publishes various guides and reports for entrepreneurs considering an investment in a franchise business. Since 2005, FBR has surveyed hundreds of thousands of franchise owners and over 1,200 leading franchise companies. FBR publishes free and unbiased franchisee satisfaction research reports throughout the year online at www.FranchiseBusinessReview.com. To read our publications, visit https://franchisebusinessreview.com/page/publications/.

Jacquelyn Lambert Aqua-Tots Swim School Franchise Headquarters 480-621-3226 [email protected] Ali Forman Franchise Business Review 603.319.4818 [email protected]

Source: Aqua-Tots Swim Schools
Charleston, SC, March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Just released for fans of Civil War-era historical fiction and stories about the perils of slavery, Bound and Determined: The White Slave of Oryza Hope Plantation aims to give readers an incredible coming-of-age journey. Readers are invited to join Johnny, a young man of incredible resilience and physical strength, as he traverses the perils of poverty, deceit, his fractured family, and the brutality of slavery.

In 1815 Charleston, South Carolina, the struggling widow Esther Fowler and her son, Johnny, catch the attention of a wealthy rice planter named Charles Smith. Smith predicts an economic boom in his region but faces a shortage of field workers for his plantation. Smith coerces Esther into sending her teenage son Johnny to work on Oryza Hope Plantation alongside Black slaves. On the plantation, Johnny faces language barriers, daily abuse from an overseer named Tillitson, and the ever-present threat of venomous snakes. While Smith indulges in social events and a mulatto lover, Johnny longs to return home to his mother and best friend, Billy. One day, the slaves inform Johnny that his mother and sisters have relocated to North Carolina. They urge Johnny to take his stubborn brother, Elvis, and make the two-hundred-mile journey to reunite with his family. Uncertain if the message is true, Johnny must decide whether to flee the plantation or remain in a place devoid of happiness.

Bound and Determined tells a story of determination and courage and will appeal to readers who love family sagas and historical fiction set during the Civil War Era. The novel is based on actual events in the life of the authors ancestor.

Bound and Determined: The White Slave of Oryza Hope Plantation is available for purchase online at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com.

About the Author:

S.C. Fowler inherited his love of reading from his bibliophilic parents, a passion shared with his siblings. At the tender age of nine, Fowler began his literary journey in the pages of the Bible and Mark Twain. In college, he studied foreign language and American literature. Retired from a career in the transportation industry, the author and his wife reside in Iowa with two cats and a surplus of fishing equipment.

Media Contact: S. C. Fowler, [email protected]

Available for interviews: Author, S. C. Fowler

Attachment

Leah Joseph Palmetto Publishing [email protected]

Source: Palmetto Publishing
TORONTO, March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Doug Fords obsession with tax cuts and tax credits in todays provincial Budget sounds the death knell for Ontarios languishing public services, says the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL). The devastating result will be the loss of nearly $8 billion in revenue in 2023-24, which is urgently needed to restore public services like health care and education.

This Budget will make life harder and more expensive for the people of Ontario, said Laura Walton, OFL President. When you dont fund the services people need, it forces them to pay out of pocket and that makes the cost-of-living crisis worse for workers and their families.

Ford is essentially telling workers: We dont care that youre hurting, were going to make you pay more.

According to Statistics Canada, Ontarios 2022 program spending per capita was nearly $4,000 less than in other provinces the lowest program spending per person anywhere in Canada.

The decision to starve our public services is not just incompetence, added Walton. Ford is hell-bent on privatizing these services, especially health care, and letting the private sector make huge profits off the things Ontarians need.

Recent reports show dire staffing shortages in Ontario hospitals, long-term care homes, and schools. Nearly $1 billion was spent last year to fill shifts with nurses and personal support workers from private staffing agencies, while more than a quarter of schools experience daily teacher shortages and nearly half have daily shortages of education support workers.

Workers are exiting these sectors in droves, as a result of this totally unnecessary staffing crisis, said Walton. Meanwhile, the estimated wages Ford owes to workers affected by Bill 124 is approaching $14 billion.

As Ontarios public health care system continues to crumble, ads for private health care options to the tune of $450 per person per annually are popping up on public transit in Toronto.

Other sectors, such as Ontarios universities and colleges, are also at a breaking point, as decades of underfunding, coupled with rising enrollment, stretch the post-secondary education system to its limit.

Ford may try to distract us from this crisis by pointing to targeted investments in infrastructure, noted Walton. But weve heard these promises before remember the Greenbelt scandal? Ontarians need real investments that benefit regular working people, not Fords developer and donor buddies.

According to the Financial Accountability Office, Fords government directed nearly five per cent less of last years infrastructure budget to health care, education, transit, and municipal projects underspending nearly $6.5 billion for those services, despite the urgent need for funds.

Based on its Enough Is Enough campaign, and in consultation with workers across all sectors in Ontario, the OFL prepared a comprehensive suite of public policy solutions in its pre-Budget submission, none of which appear in this Budget.The Ontario Federation of Labour represents 54 unions and one million workers in Ontario. It is the largest provincial labour federation in Canada. Visit OFL.ca and follow @OFLabour on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.

For more information, please contact:

Jenny SellathuraiInterim Director of CommunicationsOntario Federation of Labour[email protected] | 416-894-3456

cj/COPE343

Source: Ontario Federation of Labour
PALM BEACH, Fla., March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FN Media Group News Commentary - The Global Electronic Warfare market size has been steadily rising and is projected by numerous reports to continue to see significant growth throughout the decade. The electronic warfare market is marked by the presence of global and local players competing in technology and product offerings; Some major market players are Lockheed Martin Corporation, L3Harris Technologies, Inc., Northrop Grumman Corporation, RTX Corporation, and Leonardo S.p.A., amongst others. A report from Mordor Intelligence projected that the Electronic Warfare Market size is estimated at USD 19.30 billion in 2024, and is expected to reach USD 24.76 billion by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 5.11% during the forecast period (2024-2029). The report said: The ongoing border disputes between several nations as well as the changing nature of modern warfare are expected to generate substantial demand for sophisticated electronic warfare systems that possess advanced capabilities thereby generating significant market growth during the forecast period. Moreover, the development of multilayered defensive systems owing to significant technological developments as well as the growing integration of electronics into military hardware is expected to bolster the growth of the market in the coming years. Significant progress in terms of the development of cognitive electronic warfare which refers to the integration of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and neural networks to manufacture faster systems with minimal lag in threat detection and tracking will alter the current market dynamics, drive innovation from the market players and create potential business opportunities during the forecast period. Active defense stocks in news today include: KULR Technology Group, Inc. (NYSE: KULR), Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC), RTX Corporation (NYSE: RTX), General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE: GD).

Mordor Intelligence concluded: Various players in the market are investing significantly in research and developing advanced next-generation warfare products having higher electromagnetic capabilities. Furthermore, various players are collaborating with defense forces worldwide to understand the military requirements and develop cutting-edge technologies such as radio frequency-enabled cyber (cyber capabilities within electronic warfare systems) while also working towards business expansion. In addition, the higher geographical presence of international companies coupled with significantly growing investment in new technologies as compared to their regional counterparts is anticipated to lead to international companies increasing their market share significantly in the years to come.

KULR Technology Group, Inc. (NYSE American: KULR) Enters into an Agreement with Lockheed Martin for Heat Sink Advancements in Precision Missile Electronics - KULR Technology Group, (the "Company" or "KULR"), a global leader in sustainable energy management, today proudly announces receiving a six-figure contract from Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) for developing phase change material ("PCM") heat sinks that are pivotal for the thermal regulation of essential electronics within long-range precision missiles. This achievement follows a series of successful evaluations that showcased the efficiency of KULR's solutions in cooling critical onboard systems. With over two decades of pioneering work in heat dissipation technologies, KULR has become a trusted provider for demanding sectors, including defense, aerospace, and beyond. This latest contract with Lockheed Martin underscores KULR's role as a source of innovative cooling solutions.

KULR's PCM heat sinks stand out for their efficient, lightweight, and durable design, ideal for managing the heat loads of systems requiring intense, short bursts of power. Such capabilities are crucial for maintaining the reliability and performance of sophisticated missile electronics. Lockheed Martin's selection of KULR for this project reflects confidence in the company's ability to meet the high standards required for aerospace and defense applications.

Ted Krupp, KULRs VP of Sales and Marketing, expressed pride in this collaboration, stating, "Our partnership with Lockheed Martin validates our drive for excellence and innovation in managing high-stakes thermal challenges. Our work is critical for enhancing the capabilities of precision-guided weaponry." KULR remains at the forefront of thermal regulation technology, continuously evolving its solutions to support safer, more efficient electronic and battery systems across a variety of applications.

According to Straits Research, the global electronic warfare market size is estimated to reach an expected value of USD 27.79 billion by 2030, registering a CAGR of 5.8% during the forecast period of 2022 to 2030. CONTINUED Read this entire press release and more news for KULR at: https://www.financialnewsmedia.com/news-kulr/



In other defense industry developments of note:

Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) recently successfully completed a Missile Defense Agency (MDA) acquisition milestone for the nation's modernized long range ballistic missile interceptor. The company completed the first Knowledge Point  known as KP1  ahead of schedule, taking a major contractual step forward that allows its Next Generation Interceptor (NGI) program to continue development towards the Critical Design Review (CDR).

During KP1, the MDA evaluated Lockheed Martin's development progress to date. This includes completing design review milestones and demonstrating significant maturation across critical technologies, manufacturing readiness, and utility of the company's NGI Software Factory. This KP1 achievement follows the program's All Up Round Preliminary Design Review, which Lockheed Martin executed on-schedule in September.

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) recently completed tests of several crucial elements of the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), marking significant progress for the program in its engineering, manufacturing and development phase.

Forward and aft sections of a Sentinel ICBM missile were evaluated through a rigorous test campaign at the companys Strategic Missile Test and Production Complex in Promontory, Utah. The tests lower risk for the program with important data about the missiles inflight structural dynamics. Data from the tests help engineering teams mature models, lower risk and ensure flight success.

The shroud fly-off and missile modal tests were part of the companys engineering, manufacturing, and development (EMD), or design, contract for Sentinel. Northrop Grumman is closely partnered with the Air Force as the EMD phase progresses and key milestones are achieved.

Pratt & Whitney, an RTX Corporation (NYSE: RTX) business, recently received full funding in the recently passed fiscal year 2024 Defense Appropriations bill for its F135 Engine Core Upgrade, which will modernize the F-35's propulsion system to increase durability and fully-enable Block 4 capabilities and beyond starting in 2029.

"This bill will allow Pratt & Whitney to deliver the current and future propulsion capabilities that will keep the United States and its allies on the cutting edge of fighter engine technology," said Jill Albertelli, president of Pratt & Whitney Military Engines. "We are incredibly thankful to our congressional allies for their steadfast commitment to supporting these programs."

General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE: GD) - General Dynamics European Land Systems - Steyr (GDELS) recently announced that it has been awarded a contract to deliver an additional 225 PANDUR 6x6 EVO wheeled armored vehicles to the Austrian Armed Forces. The contract has an initial value of 1.2 billion euros (U.S. $1.3 billion).

GDELS already has 100 PANDUR EVO vehicles under contract, with the third batch currently in production and delivery. In addition to the delivery of state-of-the-art personnel carriers and flexible conversion kits for medical, and command & control missions, the order includes eight new vehicle variants, including vehicles equipped with a 120 mm mortar combat system, as well as mobile air defense and electronic warfare variants.

About FN Media Group:

At FN Media Group, via our top-rated online news portal at www.financialnewsmedia.com, we are one of the very few select firms providing top tier one syndicated news distribution, targeted ticker tag press releases and stock market news coverage for todays emerging companies.

Follow us on Facebook to receive the latest news updates: https://www.facebook.com/financialnewsmedia

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DISCLAIMER: FN Media Group LLC (FNM), which owns and operates Financialnewsmedia.com and MarketNewsUpdates.com, is a third party publisher and news dissemination service provider, which disseminates electronic information through multiple online media channels. FNM is NOT affiliated in any manner with any company mentioned herein. FNM and its affiliated companies are a news dissemination solutions provider and are NOT a registered broker/dealer/analyst/adviser, holds no investment licenses and may NOT sell, offer to sell or offer to buy any security. FNM's market updates, news alerts and corporate profiles are NOT a solicitation or recommendation to buy, sell or hold securities. The material in this release is intended to be strictly informational and is NEVER to be construed or interpreted as research material. All readers are strongly urged to perform research and due diligence on their own and consult a licensed financial professional before considering any level of investing in stocks. All material included herein is republished content and details which were previously disseminated by the companies mentioned in this release. FNM is not liable for any investment decisions by its readers or subscribers. Investors are cautioned that they may lose all or a portion of their investment when investing in stocks. For current services performed FNM was compensated forty two hundred dollars for news coverage of the current press releases issued by KULR Technology Group, Inc. by a non-affiliated third party. FNM HOLDS NO SHARES OF ANY COMPANY NAMED IN THIS RELEASE.



This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. "Forward-looking statements" describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as "may", "future", "plan" or "planned", "will" or "should", "expected," "anticipates", "draft", "eventually" or "projected". You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, and other risks identified in a company's annual report on Form 10-K or 10-KSB and other filings made by such company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements included herein, and not place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements in this release are made as of the date hereof and FNM undertakes no obligation to update such statements.



Contact Information:

Media Contact email: [email protected] - +1(561)325-8757

SOURCE: FN Media Group
Company Raises $2.8 Million From Qualified Investors to Fund Product Development, Market Expansion and Manufacturing

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hapbee Technologies, Inc. (TSXV: HAPB) (OTCQB: HAPBF) (FSE: HA1) (Hapbee or the Company), the digital wellness technology company is pleased to announce that it has completed a non-brokered private placement of units of the Company (Units) for aggregate gross proceeds to the Company of CAD$2,785,000 (the Offering). This capital enables us to continue to evolve our products and to expand our market presence and manufacturing, said Yona Shtern, CEO and Executive Chairman of Hapbee.



As part of the Offering, the Company issued 50,636,363 Units at a price of CAD$0.055 per Unit (the Offering Price), which consisted in the issuance of 50,636,363 subordinate voting shares of the Company (Shares) and 50,636,363 Share purchase warrants (Warrants) with each Warrant entitling the holder thereof to acquire one Share at a price of CAD$0.11 per Share for a period of 3 years from the closing date of the Offering.

The expiry date of the Warrants will be subject to prior acceleration, at the discretion of the Company, should the volume weighted average price of the Companys listed Shares on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV), or any other stock exchange on which the Companys Shares are then listed, is greater than CAD$0.40 for a period of 10 consecutive trading days, the whole in accordance with the terms of the Warrants. Each Share and Warrant issued (including the Shares underlying the Warrants) will be subject to a hold period of four months plus one day following the closing of the Offering (the Hold Period) pursuant to Canadian and US securities laws.

Any net proceeds received by the Company from the Offering are intended to be used for product development, manufacturing, business development, working capital and general corporate purposes. The Offering remains subject to the final approval of the TSXV.

The Company is also delighted to welcome Jaylen Brown who will join Hapbee as Chief Innovation Officer and Rizwan Shah who will join as Chief Commercial Officer. Both participated in the round.

The securities offered pursuant to the Offering have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the U.S. Securities Act), or the securities laws of any state of the United States (as such term is defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act) (the United States), and may not be offered or sold within the United States, or to, or for the account or benefit of a U.S. Person (as defined in Rule 902(k) of Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act) or a person in the United States, except in transactions exempt from registration under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable U.S. state securities laws. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities offered hereby within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons.

About Hapbee

Hapbee is a digital wellness technology company that aims to help people take control of how they sleep, perform and feel. Hapbees digital wellness library of Blends and Routines utilizes patented ultra-low radio frequency energy (ulRFE), designed to help optimize users' sleep, productivity, recovery, and downtime. Hapbee devices and subscriptions are available for purchase at Hapbee.com and through a growing network of select distributors.

You can learn more about how Hapbee works at www.hapbee.com/science.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements included in this news release constitute forward-looking information or statements (collectively, "forward-looking statements"), including those identified by the expressions "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "may", "should" and similar expressions to the extent they relate to the Company or its management. The forward-looking statements are not historical facts but reflect current expectations regarding future results or events. This news release contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and various estimates, factors and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. Any statements about the intended use of proceeds from the Offering are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions which are difficult to predict. Such statements and information are based on numerous assumptions regarding the Companys ability to meet its planned product marketing and development initiatives and the Companys ability to achieve its e-commerce rollout and full-scale commercial launch as anticipated.

Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, delays in design, production, manufacturing, development or releases of signal blends, collection of data from customer use, or the Company may not be able to achieve its targets as anticipated or at all; changes in legislation and regulations; increase in operating costs; equipment failures; failure of counterparties to perform their contractual obligations; litigation; the loss of key directors, employees, advisors or consultants and fees charged by service providers. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. These risks, uncertainties and assumptions include, but are not limited to, those described in Hapbee's annual information form dated January 27, 2021, a copy of which is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, and could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statements. These statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those implied by such statements. The Company assumes no responsibility to update or revise forward-looking information to reflect new events or circumstances unless required by law. Readers should not place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements.

Neither 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 release.

For further information contact

Media Contact: Jon Sheeri

[email protected]

T: 1 888-841-7086

E: [email protected]

W: www.hapbee.com
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Imperial Metals Corporation (Imperial or the Company) (TSX: III) reports drill results from Red Chris since the last update on July 24, 2023 and Mount Polley.

At Red Chris, drill hole RC875 was drilled south to north into the East Ridge, the opposite direction to most of the drilling to date, to confirm the down-dip continuity of mineralization in the East Ridge zone. The initial results from hole RC875 (previously reported in the July 24, 2023 news release) returned an intercept of 406 metres grading 1.0% copper and 1.1g/t gold from 486 metres, that includes 248 metres grading 1.4% copper and 1.6 g/t gold from 644 metres. The remaining assays results for this hole have been received and the intercept is now 532 metres grading 0.98% copper and 1.1 g/t gold from 486 metres. This hole was targeted to be drilled to a depth of 1,200 metres but was abandoned at 1,018 metres due to access problems.

The underground drill has collared a hole to test for additional mineralization east of the East Ridge Exploration Target. This hole is designed to test 100 metres below where hole RC876 (previously reported in the July 24, 2023 news release) returned an interval of 274 metres grading 0.45% copper and 0.67 g/t gold from 998 metres. This 274 metre intercept included higher grade intervals of 42 metres grading 1.1% copper and 1.5 g/t gold from 1,080 metres, 14 metres grading 0.63% copper and 1.7 g/t gold from 1,144 metres and 26 metres grading 0.5% copper and 1.1 g/t gold from 1,170 metres. This drilling, located approximately 200 metres east of the defined East Ridge Exploration Target, demonstrates the prospectivity of this area for additional discoveries.

Red Chris drilling in 2023 included six reconnaissance holes. The reconnaissance holes tested targets to the west in the Gully and Far West zones, most of which intersect zones of low-grade copper-gold mineralization. Of interest, the mineralization in the Far West zone is predominantly gold, an example of which is a 56 metre interval in hole RC892 located in the Far West zone that grades 0.05% copper and 0.46 g/t gold from 504 metres.

There were four drills working until July when drilling was reduced to a single underground drill, drilling from stations along the exploration decline. Most of the drilling since the previous update was into the East Zone block cave macroblock 1 to gather more data for the block cave study.

Since January, four holes have been drilled; two to gather more data for the block cave study and two geotechnical holes designed to gather further information on ground conditions where underground development is planned.

At Mount Polley a diamond drilling program of a minimum 5,000 metres drilling started on March 3rd, focusing on two goals. The first is to test for mineralization around the perimeter of the planned Springer pit where there are gaps in the 3-dimensional mineralization model. The second goal is to follow-up on last years successful drilling in the Springer zone, by filling gaps in the drilling of the zone and by continuing to test the zone at depth. The first two drill holes of this program have been completed and the third is in progress.

Jim Miller-Tait, P.Geo., Imperial Metals Vice President Exploration, is the designated Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 for the Red Chris exploration program and has reviewed this news release. Red Chris samples for the 2022/2023 drilling reported were analysed at Bureau Veritas Mineral Laboratories in Vancouver. A full QA/QC program using blanks, standards and duplicates was completed for all diamond drilling samples submitted to the labs. Significant assay intervals reported represent apparent widths. Insufficient geological information is available to confirm the geological model and true width of significant assay intervals.

Drillhole data is available on imperialmetals.com.

About Imperial

Imperial is a Vancouver based exploration, mine development and operating company with holdings that include the Mount Polley mine (100%), the Huckleberry mine (100%), and the Red Chris mine (30%). Imperial also holds a portfolio of 23 greenfield exploration properties in British Columbia.

Company Contacts

Brian Kynoch | President | 604.669.8959Darb S. Dhillon | Chief Financial Officer | 604.488.2658Jim Miller-Tait | Vice President Exploration | 604.488.2676

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, relating to exploration, drilling and mineralization at the Red Chris and Mount Polley mines; assay results; the interpretation of drilling and assay results; the results of the drilling program, mineralization and the discovery of zones of mineralization; and plans for future exploration and drilling at the Mount Polley mine and the timing of same. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts; they are generally, but not always, identified by the words expects, plans, anticipates, believes, interpreted, intends, estimates, projects, aims, suggests, demonstrates, encouraging, indicate, often, target, future, likely, pending, potential, goal, objective, prospective, possibly, preliminary, and similar expressions, or that events or conditions will, would, may, can, could or should occur, or are those statements, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions that forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Companys management on the date the statements are made, and they involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Except to the extent required by applicable securities laws and the policies of the Toronto Stock Exchange, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if managements beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause future results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include risks associated with possible accidents and other risks associated with mineral exploration operations, the risk that the Company will encounter unanticipated geological factors, risks associated with the interpretation of assay results and the drilling program, the possibility that the Company may not be able to secure permitting and other governmental clearances necessary to carry out the Companys exploration plans, the risk that the Company will not be able to raise sufficient funds to carry out its business plans, and the risk of political uncertainties and regulatory or legal changes that might interfere with the Companys business and prospects. The reader is urged to refer to the Companys Annual Information Form and Managements Discussion and Analysis, publicly available through the Canadian Securities Administrators System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR+) at www.sedarplus.ca for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects.

Source: Imperial Metals Corporation
Washington, D.C., March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Continuing its legacy of more than 50 years of strong partnerships with governments across the nation, MissionSquare Retirement is proud to announce it will continue providing retirement services to five jurisdictions in California and another in Texas. A staunch advocate for retirement security and financial well-being, MissionSquare Retirement has renewed partnerships with:

Central California Alliance for Health

City of Bedford, Texas

City of Kingsburg, California

City of Orange, California

City of San Marcos, California

San Luis and Delta Mendota Water

Andrew Whiting, Senior Vice President and Chief Sales Officer, said, "MissionSquare remains focused on public service employees, which means we fully understand the unique financial and retirement needs of those who serve our communities. For these dedicated public workers in California and Texas, we will leverage our 50 years of experience to help ensure they are financially prepared for a secure retirement. Preparing for retirement is only getting more challenging in todays economic environment, and MissionSquare Retirement stands ready to help public employees meet the challenge."

Recent research from MissionSquare Research Institute details the financial challenges facing public service workers, which are particularly acute for women. When comparing the sentiment of younger public service employees by gender, only 23% of women feel very financially secure as compared to 43% of men. Also, the ability to save and invest for retirement among younger public workers varies significantly by gender. For example, 64% of younger women say they cannot afford to save more, significantly higher than men (46%).

About MissionSquare Retirement

Since our founding in 1972, MissionSquare Retirement has been dedicated to simplifying the path to retirement security for public service employees. As a mission-based, nonstock, nonprofit financial services company, we manage and administer over $76.5 billion in assets.* Our commitment to delivering results-oriented retirement plans, education, investments, and personalized advice sets us apart. Explore how we enable public service workers to build a secure financial future. For more information, visit www.missionsq.org or follow the company on Facebook, LinkedIn, and X.

*As of February 29, 2024. Includes 457, 401, 403(b), Retirement Health Savings (RHS) plans, Employer Investment Program (EIP) plans, affiliated IRAs, and investment-only assets.

###
CHANTILLY, Va., March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Parsons Corporation (NYSE: PSN) announced today that the company was awarded a $28 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to provide intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance command and control and space software baselines for the Air Force Research Laboratorys (AFRL) Global Application Research, Development, Engineering, and Maintenance (GARDEM) program. The contract includes one three-year performance period and extends Parsons portfolio of work supporting the Department of Defense (DOD) and Intelligence Community (IC), delivering exquisite software capabilities across the all-domain battlespace.

Parsons delivers value for national security customers like the U.S. Air Force by integrating technologies, transforming data, and customizing site-specific capabilities to meet their varying mission demands, said Mike Kushin, president of the Defense and Intelligence sector for Parsons. In a rapidly evolving threat ecosystem, its imperative that our defense and intelligence apparatus maintains intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance dominance, requiring agile development of technologies and tools, which we are proud to continue delivering to the AFRL.

The GARDEM contract vehicle provides research, development, prototyping, integration, testing, demonstration, deployment, and maintenance of innovative technologies and concepts on a continuous timeline through the contract life cycle. The programs leverage Parsons cyber expertise to identify toolset weaknesses and deliver needed enhancements to meet the needs of the Air Force, DOD, IC, and other federal agency end-users.

For decades, Parsons has provided all-domain support to the Department of the Air Force, including strategy and planning, network operations, space operations, edge computing, full-spectrum cyber, and next-generation command and control systems. GARDEM is a $427 million multiple-award contract vehicle with a mission to create and implement updated software baselines, allowing federal customers across all domains to assess critical information from multiple data sources. Parsons has won multiple task orders on the contract since it was first awarded in 2019.

To learn more about Parsons cyber and intelligence capabilities, visit Parsons.com/cyber/.

About Parsons:Parsons (NYSE: PSN) is a leading disruptive technology provider in the national security and global infrastructure markets, with capabilities across cyber and intelligence, space and missile defense, transportation, environmental remediation, urban development, and critical infrastructure protection. Please visit parsons.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook to learn how we're making an impact.

Media Contact:Angie Benfield+1 803.334.5277[email protected]

Investor Relations Contact:Dave Spille+ 1 703.775.6191[email protected]

Source: Parsons Services Company
Sean Diddy Combs private jet taken off tracking app after claims he fled to the Caribbean before home raids (Getty Images)

A private jet belonging to Sean Diddy Combs has been removed from a popular flight tracking website, amid accusations of sex trafficking and sexual assault against the music mogul.

The aircraft was reportedly spotted in the Caribbean, after US authorities raided homes belonging to the rapper in Los Angeles and Miami on Monday.

The black, 20-seat black Gulfstream Aerospace G550 aircraft is registered to LoveAir LLC, reportedly owned by Combs.

According to flight information the plane landed in Antigua shortly after news of the raids broke. It was unconfirmed whether or not Combs was on board.

TMZ also reported, based on flight data that is no longer available publicly, that the jet had travelled across California between Sunday and Monday, taking off from Sacramento Executive Airport Sunday evening around 5.30pm and landing at Palm Springs International Airport about an hour later.

Officers from US Homeland Security raided homes belonging to Combs on Monday (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

It later took off again, stopping at Van Nuys Airport, just north of Los Angeles. Some time later it left Van Nuys and landed in Antigua, according to TMZ.

However, on Tuesday flight data was no longer available online. A statement on FlightAware.com read: This aircraft [ N1969C ] is not available for public tracking per request from the owner/operator.

Speculation as to Combs whereabouts have circulated since the raids on Monday. Aerial footage from Fox 11 showed individuals being taken out of the Los Angeles property in handcuffs.

In a statement on Monday, Homeland Security said: Earlier today, Homeland Security Investigations 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.

Combs has been hit with a series of lawsuits over the last six months (AP)

Combs, who is credited with helping launch the careers of multiple artists such as Biggie Smalls, Usher and Mary J Blige, has been hit with a series of lawsuits over the last six months, including allegations of sexual assault.

Story continues

In February, a male music producer accused Combs of sexually assaulting him and forcing him to sleep with sex workers.

An amendment to the lawsuit filed on Monday also named actor Cuba Gooding Jr and accused him of sexual harassment and sexual assault.

Combs has previously denied all allegations against him.

The Independent has reached out to representatives of both Combs and Gooding Jr for comment.
LONDON, UK, March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pixalate, the global market-leading ad fraud protection, privacy, and compliance analytics platform, today released the February 2024 Global Top Grossing Mobile Apps Report - Google Play Store. The report includes estimates on top grossing mobile apps in open programmatic advertising revenue by global region across the Google Play Store, as measured by Pixalate.Regions examined include North America, Asia-Pacific (APAC), Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), and Latin America (LATAM). To compile this research, Pixalates data science team analyzed more than 3.6 million mobile apps from the Google Play Store (including delisted apps) as of February 2024. Key Findings:

APAC regions top grossing mobile app in the Google Play Store is Wynk Music: MP3, Song, Podcast, bringing in an estimated $2M, up from $574k in January 2024

EMEA regions top grossing mobile app in the Google Play store, Opera browser with AI, more than doubled estimated open programmatic ad spend from $736k in January 2024 to $2M in February 2024

Kwai - download & share video was the top grossing mobile app for LATAM in the Google Play store, earning an estimated $2M in open programmatic revenue, flat when compared to January 2024

The top grossing app Kik  Messaging & Chat App for North America in the Google Play Store earned an estimated $3M in open programmatic advertising, up from $1M in January 2024

February 2024 Top Grossing Mobile Apps in the Google Play StoreAPAC

Wynk Music: MP3, Song, Podcast: $2M estimated open programmatic ad revenue SnackVideo: $2M estimated open programmatic ad revenue Candy Crush Saga: $1M estimated open programmatic ad revenue

EMEA

Opera browser with AI: $2M estimated open programmatic ad revenue imo-International Calls & Chat: $1M estimated open programmatic ad revenue Likee - Short Video Community: $1M estimated open programmatic ad revenue

LATAM

Kwai - download & share video: $2M estimated open programmatic ad revenue Music Player & MP3:Lark Player: $1M estimated open programmatic ad revenue Amino: Communities and Fandom: $882k estimated open programmatic ad revenue

North America

Kik  Messaging & Chat App: $3M estimated open programmatic ad revenue TuneIn Radio: Music & Sports: $3M estimated open programmatic ad revenue TumblrFandom, Art, Chaos: $3M estimated open programmatic ad revenue

Download a complimentary copy of the report today: Pixalates Top Grossing Mobile Apps in Google Play Store - February 2024.About PixalatePixalate is a global market-leading ad fraud protection, privacy, and compliance analytics platform. Pixalate works 24/7 to guard your reputation and grow your media value by offering the only system of coordinated solutions across display, app, video, and CTV for the detection and elimination of ad fraud. Pixalate is an MRC-accredited service for the detection and filtration of sophisticated invalid traffic (SIVT) across desktop and mobile web, mobile in-app, and CTV advertising. www.pixalate.comDisclaimer

The content of this press release, and the Top Grossing Mobile Apps (the Report), reflect Pixalate's opinions with respect to factors that Pixalate believes can be useful to the digital media industry. Pixalate's opinions are just that, opinions, which means that they are neither facts nor guarantees. Pixalate is sharing this data not to impugn the standing or reputation of any entity, person or app, but, instead, to report findings and trends pertaining to programmatic advertising activity in the time period studied.

Nina Talcott Pixalate Inc. [email protected]

Source: Pixalate Inc.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Prime Mining Corp. (Prime, or the Company) (TSV: PRYM) (OTCQX: PRMNF) (Frankfurt: O4V3) is pleased to report its operating and financial results for the full year ended December 31, 2023. Prime is focused on the exploration and development of its wholly owned high-grade Los Reyes Gold-Silver Project in Sinaloa State, Mexico (Los Reyes or the Project).

Prime Chief Executive Officer Scott Hicks commented, 2023 was a year of transformation for Prime, setting the stage for our 2024 drilling and technical programs, which include 40,000 metres of drilling. As we continue to explore Los Reyes and expand our technical understanding of the project, we remain dedicated to sustainable growth and project advancement. Thank you to our team and local communities for their ongoing support and efforts in advancing Los Reyes.

Corporate Highlights During the Quarter (Unless otherwise stated, all amounts are presented in Canadian dollars.)

On November 29th, Prime announced that the Company would begin trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX") on December 5, 2023 following its graduation from the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV"), with its trading symbol remaining unchanged as "PRYM".

On December 5th, Prime advised that trading in its common shares was halted at the open of markets as the TSXV delisting was not completed concurrently by the TSXV, resulting in a trading halt, with trading on the TSX expected to begin at the open of markets on December 6, 2023.

On December 6th, Prime announced that trading in its common shares has commenced on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) under the existing ticker symbol PRYM, following Primes graduation and delisting from the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV).

Exploration Highlights During the Quarter

On November 8, 2023, Prime reported high-grade drilling results from Tahonitas from the Z-T Trend at Los Reyes, with highlights:

2.49 grams per tonne (gpt) gold-equivalent (AuEq) (2.11 gpt Au and 29.3 gpt Ag) over 20.1 metres (m) estimated true width (etw) in hole 23TA-79, including: 6.30 gpt AuEq (5.74 gpt Au and 42.9 gpt Ag) over 6.3 m etw.

2.00 gpt AuEq (1.06 gpt Au and 72.6 gpt Ag) over 5.5 m etw in hole 23TA-80, including: 3.59 gpt AuEq (2.57 gpt Au and 78.5 gpt Ag) over 1.8 m etw.

1.14 gpt AuEq (1.04 gpt Au and 7.7 gpt Ag) over 4.45 m etw in hole 23TA-73, including: 3.51 gpt AuEq (3.26 gpt Au and 19.6 gpt Ag) over 1.0 m etw.



On December 13, 2023, Prime reported high-grade drilling results from Noche Buena and San Miguel East from the Central Trend at Los Reyes, with highlights:

Central Area - Noche Buena highlights:

4.49 gpt AuEq (1.48 gpt Au and 232.6 gpt Ag) over 5.0 m etw in hole 23NB-51, including: 8.00 gpt AuEq (2.7 gpt Au and 409.4 gpt Ag) over 2.6 m etw; and 3.51 gpt AuEq (3.36 gpt Au and 11.9 gpt Ag) over 1.2 m etw.

3.81 gpt AuEq (1.62 gpt Au and 169.2 gpt Ag) over 2.6 m etw in hole 23NB-53, including: 8.21 gpt AuEq (2.77 gpt Au and 420.0 gpt Ag) over 1.0 m etw;

1.23 gpt AuEq (0.45 gpt Au and 60.0 gpt Ag) over 8.4 m etw in hole 23NB-52, including: 3.25 gpt AuEq (1.25 gpt Au and 154.7 gpt Ag) over 1.6 m etw.



Central Area  San Miguel East highlights:

1.33 gpt AuEq (0.55 gpt Au and 60.1 gpt Ag) over 4.4 m etw in hole 23SME-37, including: 2.65 gpt AuEq (2.03 gpt Au and 48.2 gpt Ag) over 0.7 m etw;

2.23 gpt AuEq (0.99 gpt Au and 95.9 gpt Ag) over 1.4 m etw in hole 23SME-34.

Mining Law Ruling

Following a process commenced by the Company in July 2023, a Federal judge in Mexico has granted its applications for Federal protection, or Amparos, to conduct its activities under the previous (1994) mining-related laws, and is thereby not subject to the 2023 reforms for both the Los Reyes Project, as well as the adjacent El Rey claim once the latter claim is granted.

Critical to the rulings, the granted applications protect the Los Reyes Project and El Rey claims constitutionally from any further changes to mining related laws in Mexico. This protection extends to the 2023 mining-related laws, which included reforms to water usage, reclamation considerations and the scope and term of mining concessions.

As expected and required by law, the government has appealed the rulings. However, the rulings are expected to be upheld given the procedural shortcomings of the 2023 mining law implementation and likelihood that the 2023 reforms will be deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

Maintaining Health and Safety Protocols

Prime remains engaged with local stakeholders and is proactive in monitoring employees and contractors concerning general health conditions. The Company continues to closely adhere to the directives of all levels of government and relevant health authorities in Mexico and Canada.

Community Engagement and Environmental Stewardship Strategy

We continued to gather environmental and community data in the quarter in support of our ESG programs, including completion of a materiality assessment, strategic plan, and disclosure matrix. We strive to minimize the environmental footprint of our activities and ensure that Los Reyes has a positive impact on our host communities.

The Company released its initial sustainability report during April 2023 which establishes a baseline and a new yardstick to measure our progress in meeting our commitments regarding sustainability and stewardship of the environment, relevant social issues, and corporate governance.

Selected Financial Data

The following selected financial data is summarized from the Companys consolidated financial statements and related notes thereto (the Financial Statements) for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2023 and 2022. A copy of the Financial Statements and MD&A is available at www.primeminingcorp.ca or on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Year ended December 31, 2023 Year ended December 31, 2022 Loss and comprehensive loss $ (24,389,430 ) $ (27,372,260 ) Loss per share  basic and diluted $ (0.18 ) $ (0.24 )

December 31, 2023 December 31, 2022 Cash $ 33,811,215 $ 23,811,434 Total assets $ 47,908,403 $ 38,105,206 Total current liabilities $ 2,470,659 $ 1,209,140 Total liabilities $ 3,295,811 $ 2,092,161 Total shareholders equity $ 44,612,592 $ 36,013,045

2024 Outlook

Prime is targeting 40,000 metres in its 2024 drill program and will continue to evaluate drilling plans using its success-based approach. This evaluation will also include prioritization of targets based on probability of resource development and generative area discovery potential.

Five drill rigs are currently active on site at Los Reyes, with 2024 exploration focused on:

Extending the high-grade Z-T Area shoots that remain open at depth, as well as along strike, both north and south.

shoots that remain open at depth, as well as along strike, both north and south. Expanding the known high-grade mineralization at Guadalupe East .

. Increasing the Central Area resource through additions at Noche Buena and its connection to San Miguel East.

through additions at Noche Buena and its connection to San Miguel East. Generative target drilling of high-grade intercepts at Las Primas, Mariposa, Fresnillo, Mina and others to further develop the resource potential at Los Reyes.

QA/QC Protocols and Sampling Procedures

Drill core at the Los Reyes project is drilled in predominately HQ size (63.5 millimetre mm), reducing to NQ (47.6 mm) when required. Drill core samples are generally 1.50 m long along the core axis with allowance for shorter or longer intervals if required to suit geological constraints. After logging intervals are identified to be sampled, the core is cut and one half is submitted for assay. RC drilling returns rock chips and fines from a 133.35 mm diameter tricone bit. The returns are homogenized and split into 2 halves, with one half submitted for analysis and the other half stored.

Sample QA/QC measures include unmarked certified reference materials, blanks, and field duplicates as well as preparation duplicates are inserted into the sample sequence and make up approximately 8% of the samples submitted to the laboratory for each drill hole.

Samples are picked up from the Project by the laboratory personnel and transported to their facilities in Durango or Hermosillo Mexico, for sample preparation. Sample analysis is carried out by Bureau Veritas and ALS Labs, with fire assay, including over limits fire assay re-analysis, completed at their respective Hermosillo, Mexico laboratories and multi-element analysis completed in North Vancouver, Canada. Drill core sample preparation includes fine crushing of the sample to at least 70% passing less than 2 mm, sample splitting using a riffle splitter, and pulverizing a 250-gram split to at least 85% passing 75 microns.

Gold in diamond drill core is analyzed by fire assay and atomic absorption spectroscopy of a 30 g sample (code FA430 or Au-AA23). Multi-element chemistry is analyzed by 4-Acid digestion of a 0.25-gram sample split (code MA300 or ME-ICP61) with detection by inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometer for a full suite of elements.

Gold assay techniques FA430 and Au-AA23 have an upper detection limit of 10 ppm. Any sample that produces an over-limit gold value via the initial assay technique is sent for gravimetric finish via method FA-530 or Au-GRA21. Silver analyses by MA300 and ME-ICP61 have an upper limit of 200 ppm and 100 ppm, respectively. Samples with over-limit silver values are re-analyzed by fire assay with gravimetric finish FA530 or Au-GRA21.

Both Bureau Veritas and ALS Labs are ISO/IEC accredited assay laboratories.

Additional Notes

Metres is represented by m; etw is Estimated True Width and is based on drill hole geometry or comparisons with other on-section drill holes; Au refers to gold, and Ag refers to silver; gpt is grams per metric tonne; some figures may not sum due to rounding; Composite assay grades presented in summary tables are calculated using a Au grade minimum average of 0.20 gpt or 1.0 gpt as indicated in Au Cut-off column of Summary Tables. Maximum internal waste included in any reported composite interval is 3.00 m. The 1.00 gpt Au cut-off is used to define higher-grade cores within the lower-grade halo.

Gold equivalent grades are calculated based on an assumed gold price of US$1,700 per ounce and silver price of $22 per ounce, based on the formula AuEq grade (gpt) = Au grade + (Ag grade x ($22 / $1,700)). Metallurgical recoveries are not considered in the in-situ grade estimate but are estimated to be 93% and 83% for gold and silver, respectively, when processed in a mill, and 72% and 25% respectively when heap-leached.

About the Los Reyes Gold and Silver Project

Los Reyes is a rapidly evolving high-grade, low sulphidation epithermal gold-silver project located in Sinaloa State, Mexico. Since acquiring Los Reyes in 2019, Prime has spent approximately CAD$48 million on direct exploration activities and has completed over 168,000 metres of drilling. On May 2, 2023, Prime announced an updated multi-million-ounce high-grade open pit constrained resource (see the May 2, 2023 press release for more details).

May 2, 2023 Resource Statement

Drilling is on-going and suggests that the three known main deposit areas (Guadalupe, Central and Z-T) are larger than previously reported. Potential also exists for new discoveries where mineralized trends have been identified outside of the currently defined resource areas.

Historic operating results indicate that an estimated 1 million ounces of gold and 60 million ounces of silver were recovered from five separate operations at Los Reyes between 1770 and 1990. Prior to Primes acquisition, recent operators of Los Reyes had spent approximately US$20 million on exploration, engineering, and prefeasibility studies.

Qualified Person

Scott Smith, P.Geo., Executive Vice President of Exploration, is a qualified person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical content in this news release.

About Prime Mining

Prime is managed by an ideal mix of successful mining executives, strong capital markets personnel and experienced local operators all focused on unlocking the full potential of the Los Reyes Project. The Company has a well-planned capital structure with a strong management team and insider ownership. Prime is targeting a material resource expansion at Los Reyes through a combination of new generative area discoveries and growth, while also building on technical de-risking activities to support eventual project development.

For further information, please visit https://primeminingcorp.ca/ or direct enquiries to:

Scott HicksCEO & Director

Indi GopinathanVP Capital Markets & Business Development

Prime Mining Corp.710  1030 West Georgia St.Vancouver, BC V6E 2Y3 Canada+1(604) 238-1659[email protected]

Cautionary Notes to U.S. Investors Concerning Resource EstimatesThis news release has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the securities laws in effect in Canada, which differ from the requirements of the U.S. securities laws. In particular, and without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the terms mineral reserve, proven mineral reserve, probable mineral reserve, inferred mineral resources, indicated mineral resources, measured mineral resources and mineral resources used or referenced in this presentation are Canadian mineral disclosure terms as defined in accordance with National Instrument 43-101  Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101) under the guidelines set out in the 2014 Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, Definitions and Guidelines, May 2014 (the CIM Standards). The CIM Standards differ from the mineral property disclosure requirements of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) in Regulation S-K Subpart 1300 (the SEC Modernization Rules) under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act). As a foreign private issuer that is eligible to file reports with the SEC pursuant to the multijurisdictional disclosure system, the Company is not required to provide disclosure on its mineral properties under the SEC Modernization Rules and will continue to provide disclosure under NI 43-101 and the CIM Standards. Accordingly, the Companys disclosure of mineralization and other technical information may differ significantly from the information that would be disclosed had the Company prepared the information under the standards adopted under the SEC Modernization Rules.

Forward Looking InformationThis news release contains certain forward-looking information and forward-looking statements within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation as may be amended from time to time, including, without limitation, statements regarding the perceived merit of the Companys properties, including additional exploration potential of Los Reyes, potential quantity and/or grade of minerals, the potential size of the mineralized zone, metallurgical recoveries, and the Companys exploration and development plans in Mexico. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts which address events, results, outcomes, or developments that the Company expects to occur. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Companys management on the date the statements are made, and they involve several risks and uncertainties. Certain material assumptions regarding such forward-looking statements were made, including without limitation, assumptions regarding the price of gold, silver and copper; the accuracy of mineral resource estimations; that there will be no material adverse change affecting the Company or its properties; that all required approvals will be obtained, including concession renewals and permitting; that political and legal developments will be consistent with current expectations; that currency and exchange rates will be consistent with current levels; and that there will be no significant disruptions affecting the Company or its properties. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Forward-looking statements involve significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These risks include, but are not limited to: risks related to uncertainties inherent in the preparation of mineral resource estimates, including but not limited to changes to the cost assumptions, variations in quantity of mineralized material, grade or recovery rates, changes to geotechnical or hydrogeological considerations, failure of plant, equipment or processes, changes to availability of power or the power rates, ability to maintain social license, changes to interest or tax rates, changes in project parameters, delays and costs inherent to consulting and accommodating rights of local communities, environmental risks, title risks, including concession renewal, commodity price and exchange rate fluctuations, risks relating to COVID-19, delays in or failure to receive access agreements or amended permits, risks inherent in the estimation of mineral resources; and risks associated with executing the Companys objectives and strategies, including costs and expenses, as well as those risk factors discussed in the Company's most recently filed management's discussion and analysis, as well as its annual information form dated August 21, 2023, available on www.sedarplus.ca. Except as required by the securities disclosure laws and regulations applicable to the Company, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if managements beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/65e17b11-b64f-4958-9852-24f5bd628f5e

May 2023 Mineral Resource Estimate May 2023 Mineral Resource Estimate

Source: Prime Mining Corp.
TORONTO, March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Further to the announcement by Psyence Group Inc ("Psyence" or the "Company") (CSE: PSYG) of its plans for the strategic restructuring of its non-clinical business through a conditional M&A transaction (the "Transaction"), Psyence is pleased to announce that the conditions to implement the Transaction have been met and that the Transaction has closed.

Psyence has built a network of potential clients and customers, and successfully and lawfully distributed psilocybin internationally, both itself and via its strategic partners. Psyence plans to leverage its experience and expertise in the sector to build a pipeline of business, a route-to-market, as well as a lawful and fully licensed distribution network and logistics plan for the distribution of psilocybin globally. Psyence will play a vital role in ensuring the commercial success of the Transaction target non-clinical assets and business and will continue exploring new markets for medical grade psilocybin and active pharmaceutical ingredients.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS:

Certain statements in this news release related to Psyence Group Inc and its subsidiaries (collectively the "Company") are forward-looking statements and are prospective in nature. Forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts, but rather on current expectations and projections about future events and are therefore subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from the future results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as "may", "should", "could", "intend", "estimate", "plan", "anticipate", "expect", "believe" or "continue", or the negative thereof or similar variations. Forward-looking statements in this news release include statements regarding the successful development and commercialisation of products and services from the Transaction target non-clinical assets and businesses and Psyence's ability to build a pipeline of business for such products and services. These forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions, including the assumptions that fund raising efforts will yield favourable results to attract sufficient private investment to realise strategic goals. There are numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and the Companys plans and objectives to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information. These risks and uncertainties include not raising sufficient private investment to execute business objectives and that the products developed will not find commercial success in the global medical, R&D and OTC markets. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. These and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking information are based on estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice. Except as required by law, the Company does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.

The Company makes no medical, treatment or health benefit claims about the Companys proposed products. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Health Canada or other similar regulatory authorities have not evaluated claims regarding psilocybin, psilocybin analogues, or other psychedelic compounds or nutraceutical products. The efficacy of such products has not been confirmed by approved research. There is no assurance that the use of psilocybin, psilocybin analogues, or other psychedelic compounds or nutraceuticals can diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or condition. Vigorous scientific research and clinical trials are needed. The Company has not conducted clinical trials for the use of its proposed products. Any references to quality, consistency, efficacy, and safety of potential products do not imply that the Company verified such in clinical trials or that the Company will complete such trials. If the Company cannot obtain the approvals or research necessary to commercialize its business, it may have a material adverse effect on the Companys performance and operations.

Contact Information

Email: [email protected]Media Inquiries: [email protected]General Information: [email protected]Phone: +1 416-477-1708

ABOUT PSYENCE GROUP: www.psyence.com

Psyence is a life science biotechnology company listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE: PSYG), with a focus on natural psychedelics. Psyence works with nature-derived psilocybin products for the healing of psychological trauma and its mental health consequences in the context of palliative care. Our name "Psyence" combines the words psychedelic and science to affirm our commitment to producing psychedelic medicines developed through evidence-based research. Informed by nature and guided by science, we built and operate one of the worlds first federally licensed commercial psilocybin mushroom cultivation and production facilities in Southern Africa. Our team brings international experience in both business and science and includes experts in mycology, neurology, palliative care, and drug development. We work to develop advanced nature-derived psilocybin products for clinical research and development.

Our divisions, Psyence Production and Psyence Function anchor an international collaboration, with operations in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Southern Africa, and a presence in the United States and Australia.

Learn more at www.psyence.com and on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Source: Psyence Group Inc.
HIGHLIGHTS

Significant drill intercepts from the 2023 Nunyerry North program of shallow reverse circulation drilling were re-analysed by multi-pot PhotonAssay. The drill program comprised 30 holes for 2,424 m.

program of shallow reverse circulation drilling were re-analysed by multi-pot PhotonAssay. The drill program comprised 30 holes for 2,424 m. This larger sample methodology (500 g to 4 kg assayed per sample) has upgraded a number of the existing significant intercepts, with new intercepts including: 6 m @ 6.12 g/t Au from 37 m (NC017) 11 m @ 2.52 g/t Au from 22 m, including 6 m at 4.19 g/t Au from 22 m (NC014) 13 m @ 1.89 g/t Au from surface (NC004) 4 m @ 5.71 g/t Au from 40 m (NC015) 17 m @ 1.34 g/t Au from 37 m, including 4 m at 3.77 g/t Au from 50 m (NC022) 14 m at 1.14 g/t Au from 39 m, including 4 m at 2.16 g/t Au from 41 m (NC006)

Re-assay of larger samples using PhotonAssay indicates that there is a significant component of coarse gold within the mineralised system at Nunyerry North, consequently future drilling will be assessed using the multi-pot PhotonAssay methodology.

consequently future drilling will be assessed using the multi-pot PhotonAssay methodology. Follow-up drill planning at Nunyerry North includes ~ 4,000 m of reverse circulation drilling. The program will test the 2 km strike extent of the surface soil gold anomaly, down plunge of existing intercepts, and at depth for repeat mineralisation. Diamond drilling will test for multiple stacked lodes below best intercepts to date.

includes ~ 4,000 m of reverse circulation drilling. The program will test the 2 km strike extent of the surface soil gold anomaly, down plunge of existing intercepts, and at depth for repeat mineralisation. Diamond drilling will test for multiple stacked lodes below best intercepts to date. Near Karratha , further drill testing is scheduled to take place in Q2 2024 at three prospects to test for gold and gold-copper(+-platinum-palladium) mineralisation.

, further drill testing is scheduled to take place in Q2 2024 at three prospects to test for gold and gold-copper(+-platinum-palladium) mineralisation. Novo is well-funded for ongoing exploration activities with a cash balance of A$17.4 million (C$15.4 million) and an investment portfolio comprising A$39.3 million (C$34.8 million) in ASX-listed and unlisted companies as at 25 March 2024.

Commenting on the high-grade results from Nunyerry North, Novo Executive Co-Chairman and Acting CEO Mike Spreadborough said

It is exciting to see a significant grade increase in the Nunyerry North drill results, some of which are close to surface and demonstrate the substantial upside potential of this Project. Plans are in in place for phase two follow-up drill program, which has been designed to test extensions of the known target horizon, structural targets and a potential mineralised porphyry intrusion.

Our exploration activity across key Western Australian assets continues to deliver exciting results and importantly, we are well-funded to continue our strong exploration program throughout 2024.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Novo Resources Corp. (Novo or the Company) (ASX: NVO) (TSX: NVO & NVO.WT.A) (OTCQX: NSRPF) is pleased to announce updated, high-grade results from the maiden reverse circulation (RC) drill program completed at Nunnery North in late 2023.

Novo is also pleased to outline the 2024 exploration plans for Nunyerry North, at the Egina Gold Camp, as well as planned exploration programs near Karratha. The Nunyerry North project is a 70:30 joint venture with the Creasy Group.1

Novo is in a strong financial position to execute its exploration plans in 2024, with a cash balance of A$17.4 million (C$15.4 million) as at 25 March 2024. In addition, Novos investment portfolio of shares held in ASX-listed companies and unlisted companies is currently valued at A$39.3 million (C$34.8 million).

Novo is debt free and carries no rehabilitation liabilities. See below the metrics used in relation to the valuation of Novos investment portfolio.

NUNYERRY NORTH EXPLORATION PROGRAM

The Egina Gold Camp is a contiguous tenement package, targeted on a series of structurally complex, gold-fertile corridors, hosted by rocks of the Mallina Basin in the north and mafic / ultramafic sequences further south (Figure 1). These corridors trend towards De Greys 11.5 Moz Hemi Gold Project2 to the north and northeast. This tenure has been one of the main focus areas of Novos exploration programs over the last eighteen months, culminating in the Egina JV with De Grey, and delineation of the Nunyerry North orogenic gold prospect.

Figure 1: Novo tenure showing priority prospects, joint venture interests and the location of drilling at Nunyerry North and Becher.

The Nunyerry North prospect is located along the southern extent of the Tabba Tabba Shear, a deep tapping gold-fertile structural corridor where Novo plans to test several key prospects in 2024.

Nunyerry North Phase 1 Drilling Results Update

Initial results from both surface and drilling samples indicated visible gold or coarse nuggety gold, with early trials conducted to assess gold variability3. Based on the results, Novo resubmitted all significant drill intercepts for multi-pot PhotonAssay whereby all sample material was split over multiple PhotonAssay pots. The final assay result was calculated as the weighted average of the pot grade and pot weight which resulted in larger overall sample weights and more accurate assay results.

All significant intercepts noted below are now derived from multi-pot PhotonAssay analysis, with an average sample size of approximately 2 kg, or four pots per sample. Whilst many significant intercepts have improved by analysing a larger sample size, the distribution of coarse gold is by definition variable, and as a consequence not all re-assaying resulted in an assay upgrade.

Updated results now include best intercepts of:

6 m at 6.12 g/t Au from 37 m, including 5 m at 7.28 g/t Au from 37 m (NC017)

at Au from 37 m, including 5 m at 7.28 g/t Au from 37 m (NC017) 11 m at 2.52 g/t Au from 22 m, including 6 m at 4.19 g/t Au from 22 m (NC014)

at Au from 22 m, including 6 m at 4.19 g/t Au from 22 m (NC014) 13 m at 1.89 g/t Au from surface, including 4 m at 2.56 g/t Au from 3 m (NC004)

Au from surface, including 4 m at 2.56 g/t Au from 3 m (NC004) 4 m at 5.71 g/t Au from 40 m, including 3 m at 7.47 g/t Au from 41 m (NC015)

Au from 40 m, including 3 m at 7.47 g/t Au from 41 m (NC015) 17 m at 1.34 g/t Au from 37 m, including 4 m at 3.77 g/t Au from 50 m; 18 m at 0.60 g/t Au from 75 m and 7 m at 1.78 g/t Au from 59 m (NC022)  highlighting significant mineralization over a 55 m intercept .

Au from 37 m, including 4 m at 3.77 g/t Au from 50 m; 18 m at 0.60 g/t Au from 75 m and 7 m at 1.78 g/t Au from 59 m (NC022)  highlighting significant mineralization over a 55 m intercept 14 m at 1.14 g/t Au from 39 m (NC006)

Au from 39 m (NC006) 16 m at 0.99 g/t Au from 2 m (NC008)

Au from 2 m (NC008) 13 m at 0.91 g/t Au from 53 m (NC024)

Au from 53 m (NC024) 5 m at 3.12 g/t Au from 26 m, including 4 m at 3.81 g/t Au from 26 m and 13 m at 0.80 g/t Au from surface (NC027)

See Appendix 2 for comprehensive assay results. Intercepts are calculated using up to 3 m internal dilution and 0.3 g/t Au cut-off) (see Appendix 1 for hole locations).

Out of the 30 holes drilled and assayed, 22 have returned a result greater than one gram * metre. The program to date has only tested approximately 200 m of strike extent of the surface soil anomaly, with an additional ~ 2 km remaining untested.

Mineralisation is associated with arrays of white quartz veins with minor sulphides including chalcopyrite, hosted by a mafic unit within a dominantly ultramafic package. The mafic may be constrained by the north dipping Freyda Shear and Skadi Shear, with the largest intercept (NC022) adjacent to the Aurora Fault (Figures 2 and 3).

First pass drilling defined several zones of mineralised quartz veining with interpreted shallow east plunge (intersection of the vein arrays and the Freyda and Skadi Shear Zones). Several mineralised zones are completely blind. It is likely that additional blind lodes exist along the target stratigraphy, suggesting that the more subdued surface soil anomalies over the target stratigraphy are equally as prospective as the area drill tested to date.

Figure 2 Nunyerry North long section (looking NNW) showing m x g/t Au (downhole width)

Figure 3: Nunyerry North geological interpretation, 2023 drill hole location and new drill target areas.

Nunyerry North Forward Exploration Program

Detailed mapping has generated a solid geology interpretation and 3D structural model to better facilitate follow up drill planning. An additional thirty regional rock samples (Appendix 3) were collected from potential new structural targets. The ~4,000 m RC drilling program, which is scheduled to start in Q2 2024, proposes to test multiple targets derived from the mapping program and surface geochemical sampling:

Approximately 2 km strike extent of the mapped target stratigraphy with coinciding surface soil anomalism will be drill tested at a nominal drill line spacing of 80 m. In particular, structural intersections with the shears and cross-cutting Aurora and Estrid Faults will be targeted.

A moderate surface anomaly exists over the mapped porphyry intrusion west of the Estrid Fault, with several rock samples returning up to 2.87 g/t gold from narrow brecciated quartz veins within the porphyry. Intrusion hosted gold has not previously been identified in the district, and drilling is planned to test for mineralisation style and tenor.

A series of structures have been mapped that are parallel to the Aurora Fault or the Freyda and Skadi shears. These represent proof of concept targets that have the potential to delineate additional parallel lodes in parallel basalt. Some of these target positions have returned rock sample results of up to 6.4 g/t Au.

KARRATHA EXPLORATION PROGRAM

A maiden RC drill program is planned to test three prospects in the Karratha district, with programs to be completed at Railway Bore, East Well, and North Whundo.

Drilling is scheduled to start in Q2 2024 and will total ~3,500 m to test gold and gold-copper(+-platinum-palladium) targets defined by a combination of mapping, surface geochemistry and historic geophysics (IP chargeability anomalies).

NOVO FINANCIAL UPDATE

As at 25 March 2024, Novo has a cash balance of A$17.4 million (C$15.4 million).

In addition, Novo has an investment portfolio of shares held in ASX-listed and unlisted companies that is valued at A$39.3 million (C$34.8 million), this consists of:

(1) ASX-listed companies, valued at A$1.4 million (C$1.2 million) based on the closing price of those shares on 25 March 2024; and

(2) Unlisted companies, valued at A$37.9 million (C$33.6 million).

Ticker Number of shares held Novo interest ValueA$000 ValueC$000 (1) ASX-listed shares* Kalamazoo Resources Limited ASX: KZR 10,000,000 5.78% $870 $771 GBM Resources Limited ASX: GBZ 11,363,637 1.55% $102 $91 Calidus Resources Limited ASX: CAI 1,347,089 0.22% $162 $143 Kali Metals Limited (commenced trading January 8, 2024) ASX: KM1 566,947 0.39% $238 $211 (2) Unlisted shares** Elementum 3D Inc. Unlisted (US$) 2,076,560 9.01% $21,572 $19,112 San Cristobel Mining Inc. Unlisted (US$) 2,000,000 4.32% $16,387 $14,519

*ASX-listed shares were converted to C$ using an exchange rate of 1.1287 : 1.

**The valuation of the unlisted shares is in line with managements valuation as at 31 December 2023, converted using an exchange rate as at 25 March 2024 from US$ to C$ of 1 : 1.3494 and C$ to A$ of 1 : 1.1287 and taking into account the methodologies described in the Companys 2023 annual consolidated financial statements (2023 Annual Financial Statements).

As outlined in the 2023 Annual Financial Statements4, shares held in Elementum 3D and San Cristobal Mining are initially recognised at fair value (and remeasured with reference to share prices at which funds are raised with third-party investors) or were based on independent valuations performed. For further information on Novos investment portfolio, please refer to Novos website.

ANALYTIC METHODOLOGY

One metre cone split samples of RC chips were split directly off the cyclone on the drill rig and were sent to Intertek Genalysis (Intertek) in Perth, Western Australia with the entire sample smart crushed to -3mm (NVO02 prep code), with a 500 g split sample analysed for gold using PhotonAssay (PHXR/AU01). Remaining drill spoil was retained on site in numbered green bags.

QA/QC for RC samples are inserted at the rate of 4 x 600g standards per 100, 4 x 600g blanks per 100 (including 2 coarse and 2 -80# blanks) and 4 riffle split duplicates per 100, providing a total of 12% QA/QC. Intertek also inserts PhotonAssay certified standards at the rate of 2 per hundred.

The first 4 drill holes were also assayed using four acid digest and 50 g charge fire assay FA50/OE as a comparative exercise, after pulverizing a cone split duplicate sample to -80# (SP64 FA50/OE). The first four drill hole significant intercepts were also analysed by 1kg 106-micron screen fire assay with ICP-OES finish (Code SF 100/OE), using the Chrysos and coarse rejects.

All sample intervals greater than 0.1 g/t Au or part of an interval that falls within an interpreted mineralisation shape were resubmitted for multiple PhotonAssay analysis. This comprised a total of 436 samples. In most cases (299 samples), these were selected from remaining pulverised material available in the laboratory, averaging four pots per analysis. For 137 samples, new material was obtained by riffle splitting an approximately 2.5 kg aliquot from the field drill spoil. Samples were analysed in full by splitting the crushed material into multiple PhotonAssay pots (PHXR/AU01) until all material was exhausted. This ensures that there is no further sample error by splitting sample material and provides a more representative assay result.

There were no limitations to the verification process and all relevant data was verified by a qualified person/competent person (as defined in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101) and the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (JORC Code) respectively) by reviewing the analytical procedures undertaken by Intertek.

ABOUT NOVO

Novo explores and develops its prospective land package covering approximately 7,500 square kilometres in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, along with the 22 square kilometre Belltopper project in the Bendigo Tectonic Zone of Victoria, Australia. In addition to the Companys primary focus, Novo seeks to leverage its internal geological expertise to deliver value-accretive opportunities to its shareholders.

Authorised for release by the Board of Directors.

CONTACT

Investors:Mike Spreadborough +61 8 6400 6100 [email protected] North American Queries:Leo Karabelas+1 416 543 3120 [email protected] Media:Cameron Gilenko+61 466 984 953 [email protected]

QP STATEMENT

Mrs. Karen (Kas) De Luca (MAIG), is the qualified person, as defined under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, responsible for, and having reviewed and approved, the technical information contained in this news release. Mrs De Luca is Novos General Manger Exploration.

JORC COMPLIANCE STATEMENT

The information in this report that relates to new exploration results at Nunyerry North is based on information compiled by Ms De Luca, who is a full-time employee of Novo Resources Corp. Ms De Luca is a Competent Person who is a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists. Ms De Luca has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralisation and the type of deposits under consideration and to the activity being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the 'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves'. Ms De Luca consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on her information in the form and context in which it appears.

The information in this news release that relates to previously reported exploration results at Nunyerry North is extracted from Novo's announcement titled Successful RC Drill Program Completed Nunyerry North, RC Drilling Commenced at Bercher released to ASX on 15 November 2023 and which is available to view at www.asx.com.au. The Company confirms that the form and context in which the Competent Persons findings are presented have not been materially modified from the original market

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Some statements in this news release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Canadian and Australian securities law and regulations. In this news release, such statements include but are not limited to planned exploration activities and the timing of such. These statements address future events and conditions and, as such, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the statements. Such factors include, without limitation, customary risks of the resource industry and the risk factors identified in Novos annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2022 which is available under Novos profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca and in the Companys prospectus dated 2 August 2023 which is available at www.asx.com.au. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date those statements are made. Except as required by applicable law, Novo assumes no obligation to update or to publicly announce the results of any change to any forward-looking statement contained or incorporated by reference herein to reflect actual results, future events or developments, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting the forward-looking statements. If Novo updates any forward-looking statement(s), no inference should be drawn that the Company will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements.

_______________1 Novo holds a 70% interest in gold rights, other mineral rights, legal interest and mining information pursuant to the Croyden JV agreement as announced previously in Novo news release dated 15 June 2020. See also Novos Prospectus released to ASX on 7 September 2023.2 Refer to De Greys public disclosure record for further details including news release Hemi Gold Project Resource Update, 21 November 2023, relating to De Greys Hemi. Withnell and Wingina mining centres. No assurance can be given that a similar (or any) commercially viable mineral deposit will be determined at Novos Becher Project3 Refer to ASX Announcement, Successful RC Drill Program Completed Nunyerry North, 15 November 20234 Refer to Note 4 of the 2023 Annual Financial Statements.

APPENDIX

Appendix 1 - Nunyerry North RC drill hole locations in MGA_2020 zone 50 final DGPS survey

HOLE_ID EASTING (m) NORTHING (m) RL (m) AZI DIP DEPTH (m) NC001 590,752 7,619,490 277 331 -46 52 NC002 590,756 7,619,480 274 333 -49 78 NC003 590,764 7,619,461 269 334 -49 90 NC004 590,793 7,619,496 270 337 -45 52 NC005 590,801 7,619,478 268 332 -50 120 NC006 590,809 7,619,460 266 338 -53 120 NC007 590,810 7,619,459 266 281 -44 66 NC008 590,704 7,619,452 275 337 -54 48 NC009 590,720 7,619,512 283 160 -78 48 NC010 590,689 7,619,485 281 327 -43 54 NC011 590,693 7,619,475 282 329 -58 102 NC012 590,770 7,619,449 267 337 -56 102 NC013 590,815 7,619,444 265 337 -55 102 NC014 590,836 7,619,493 270 332 -43 54 NC015 590,845 7,619,474 267 331 -60 114 NC016 590,849 7,619,466 265 333 -70 102 NC017 590,878 7,619,491 265 339 -54 102 NC018 590,892 7,619,475 263 341 -57 102 NC019 590,650 7,619,474 271 333 -45 54 NC020 590,626 7,619,425 266 332 -44 102 NC021 590,616 7,619,465 270 91 -50 54 NC022 590,664 7,619,438 269 335 -51 102 NC023 590,769 7,619,449 267 331 -74 102 NC024 590,710 7,619,432 269 337 -46 88 NC025 591,080 7,619,513 263 69 -45 72 NC026 591,194 7,619,458 260 339 -44 102 NC027 591,156 7,619,459 263 338 -45 102 NC028 591,165 7,619,440 259 337 -46 60 NC029 590,769 7,619,457 268 360 -88 42 NC030 591,168 7,619,441 259 360 -90 36

Appendix 2 - Nunyerry North RC drill results at a 0.3 g/t Au cut-off and 3 m internal dilution. Higher grade sections are at a 1.0 g/t Au cut-off and 1 m internal dilution.

Hole ID width m Au g/t From m intercept NC001 13 0.56 1 13 m at 0.56 g/t Au from 1 m Including 1 1.67 13 1 m at 1.67 g/t Au from 13 m NC002 1 3.68 2 1 m at 3.68 g/t Au from 2 m NC002 1 0.34 8 1 m at 0.34 g/t Au from 8 m NC002 5 1.25 16 5 m at 1.25 g/t Au from 16 m Including 4 1.38 16 4 m at 1.38 g/t Au from 16 m NC002 8 0.44 26 8 m at 0.44 g/t Au from 26 m NC002 5 0.74 60 5 m at 0.74 g/t Au from 60 m Including 1 1.91 63 1 m at 1.91 g/t Au from 63 m NC003 6 0.64 0 6 m at 0.64 g/t Au from 0 m Including 2 1.18 4 2 m at 1.18 g/t Au from 4 m NC003 3 0.86 32 3 m at 0.86 g/t Au from 32 m Including 1 1.90 32 1 m at 1.90 g/t Au from 32 m NC004 13 1.89 0 13 m at 1.89 g/t Au from 0 m Including 1 8.17 0 1 m at 8.17 g/t Au from 0 m and 4 2.56 3 4 m at 2.56 g/t Au from 3 m and 2 1.99 10 2 m at 1.99 g/t Au from 10 m NC005 4 1.00 3 4 m at 1.00 g/t Au from 3 m Including 3 1.01 4 3 m at 1.01 g/t Au from 4 m NC005 4 1.00 24 4 m at 1.00 g/t Au from 24 m Including 3 1.18 24 3 m at 1.18 g/t Au from 24 m NC005 1 0.51 79 1 m at 0.51 g/t Au from 79 m NC005 1 0.42 83 1 m at 0.42 g/t Au from 83 m NC005 1 0.80 90 1 m at 0.80 g/t Au from 90 m NC006 14 1.14 39 14 m at 1.14 g/t Au from 39 m Including 4 2.16 41 4 m at 2.16 g/t Au from 41 m and 1 3.86 48 1 m at 3.86 g/t Au from 48 m NC007 NSI NC008 16 0.99 2 16 m at 0.99 g/t Au from 2 m Including 1 1.23 2 1 m at 1.23 g/t Au from 2 m and 1 3.58 6 1 m at 3.58 g/t Au from 6 m and 1 5.30 10 1 m at 5.30 g/t Au from 10 m and 1 3.09 17 1 m at 3.09 g/t Au from 17 m NC009 NSI NC010 8 0.59 10 8 m at 0.59 g/t Au from 10 m Including 1 1.19 11 1 m at 1.19 g/t Au from 11 m and 1 1.71 15 1 m at 1.71 g/t Au from 15 m NC011 1 0.31 27 1 m at 0.31 g/t Au from 27 m NC011 1 0.45 30 1 m at 0.45 g/t Au from 30 m NC011 4 1.56 79 4 m at 1.55 g/t Au from 79 m Including 3 1.83 79 3 m at 1.83 g/t Au from 79 m NC011 4 0.63 87 4 m at 0.63 g/t Au from 87 m Including 1 1.43 89 1 m at 1.43 g/t Au from 89 m NC011 1 0.40 101 1 m at 0.40 g/t Au from 101 m NC012 1 0.38 55 1 m at 0.38 g/t Au from 55 m NC012 3 1.11 95 3 m at 1.11 g/t Au from 95 m Including 1 2.50 95 1 m at 2.50 g/t Au from 95 m NC012 2 0.99 100 2 m at 0.99 g/t Au from 100 m Including 1 1.44 100 1 m at 1.44 g/t Au from 100 m NC013 1 0.59 66 1 m at 0.59 g/t Au from 66 m NC014 11 2.52 22 11 m at 2.52 g/t Au from 22 m Including 6 4.19 22 6 m at 4.19 g/t Au from 22 m and 1 1.24 32 1 m at 1.24 g/t Au from 32 m NC015 1 0.48 0 1 m at 0.48 g/t Au from 0 m NC015 1 0.74 13 1 m at 0.73 g/t Au from 13 m NC015 1 0.31 34 1 m at 0.31 g/t Au from 34 m NC015 4 5.71 40 4 m at 5.71 g/t Au from 40 m Including 3 7.47 41 3 m at 7.47 g/t Au from 41 m NC015 1 0.41 87 1 m at 0.41 g/t Au from 87 m NC015 2 1.33 95 2 m at 1.33 g/t Au from 95 m NC016 4 0.33 3 4 m at 0.33 g/t Au from 3 m NC016 2 1.33 36 2 m at 1.32 g/t Au from 36 m NC016 1 0.44 58 1 m at 0.44 g/t Au from 58 m NC016 7 1.26 72 7 m at 1.26 g/t Au from 72 m Including 1 6.98 72 1 m at 6.98 g/t Au from 72 m NC017 2 2.41 31 2 m at 2.41 g/t Au from 31 m Including 1 4.01 32 1 m at 4.01 g/t Au from 32 m NC017 6 6.12 37 6 m at 6.12 g/t Au from 37 m Including 5 7.28 37 5 m at 7.28 g/t Au from 37 m NC017 1 0.37 100 1 m at 0.37 g/t Au from 100 m NC018 1 0.31 26 1 m at 0.31 g/t Au from 26 m NC018 1 0.33 47 1 m at 0.33 g/t Au from 47 m NC018 2 1.36 52 2 m at 1.35 g/t Au from 52 m Including 1 2.38 52 1 m at 2.38 g/t Au from 52 m NC018 1 1.88 58 1 m at 1.88 g/t Au from 58 m NC018 1 0.46 75 1 m at 0.46 g/t Au from 75 m NC019 1 0.31 30 1 m at 0.31 g/t Au from 30 m NC020 1 0.42 60 1 m at 0.42 g/t Au from 60 m NC020 1 1.84 85 1 m at 1.84 g/t Au from 85 m NC021 9 0.94 45 9 m at 0.94 g/t Au from 45 m Including 1 6.00 48 1 m at 6.00 g/t Au from 48 m and 1 1.02 52 1 m at 1.02 g/t Au from 52 m NC022 17 1.34 37 17 m at 1.34 g/t Au from 37 m Including 3 1.08 37 3 m at 1.08 g/t Au from 37 m and 1 2.22 42 1 m at 2.22 g/t Au from 42 m and 4 3.77 50 4 m at 3.77 g/t Au from 50 m NC022 7 1.78 59 7 m at 1.78 g/t Au from 59 m Including 1 2.78 60 1 m at 2.78 g/t Au from 60 m and 2 4.60 64 2 m at 4.60 g/t Au from 64 m NC022 18 0.61 75 18 m at 0.60 g/t Au from 75 m Including 3 1.43 79 3 m at 1.43 g/t Au from 79 m and 1 2.00 86 1 m at 2.00 g/t Au from 86 m and 1 1.41 91 1 m at 1.41 g/t Au from 91 m NC023 NSI NC024 1 0.48 43 1 m at 0.48 g/t Au from 43 m NC024 13 0.91 53 13 m at 0.91 g/t Au from 53 m Including 1 2.00 58 1 m at 2.00 g/t Au from 58 m and 1 4.10 61 1 m at 4.10 g/t Au from 61 m and 1 2.94 64 1 m at 2.94 g/t Au from 64 m NC024 4 0.40 78 4 m at 0.40 g/t Au from 78 m NC025 3 2.51 28 3 m at 2.51 g/t Au from 28 m Including 2 3.41 29 2 m at 3.41 g/t Au from 29 m NC025 4 0.36 68 4 m at 0.36 g/t Au from 68 m NC026 NSI NC027 13 0.80 0 13 m at 0.80 g/t Au from 0 m Including 3 1.57 6 3 m at 1.57 g/t Au from 6 m NC027 1 0.37 19 1 m at 0.37 g/t Au from 19 m NC027 5 3.12 26 5 m at 3.12 g/t Au from 26 m Including 4 3.81 26 4 m at 3.81 g/t Au from 26 m NC028 NSI NC029 NSI NC030 Not assayed

Appendix 3 - Nunyerry North spot rock sample results

Sample id Type Prospect Easting GDA94 Z50 Northing GDA94 Z50 RL m Au ppm Au method A008868 rock chip Nunyerry North 591,202 7,619221 252 0.0025 FA50/OE A008871 rock chip Nunyerry North 591,146 7,619110 269 0.0025 FA50/OE A008872 rock chip Nunyerry North 591,111 7,619159 286 0.0025 FA50/OE A008875 rock chip Nunyerry North 591,097 7,619211 276 0.0025 FA50/OE A008876 rock chip Nunyerry North 591,091 7,619208 277 0.0025 FA50/OE A008903 rock chip Nunyerry North 590,435 7,619102 268 0.009 FA50/OE A008911 rock chip Nunyerry North 591,246 7,619243 265 0.047 FA50/OE A008913 rock chip Nunyerry North 591,214 7,619238 257 0.0025 FA50/OE A008863 rock chip Nunyerry North 590,468 7,619353 285 0.0025 FA50/OE A008864 rock chip Nunyerry North 590,497 7,619362 278 0.042 FA50/OE A008869 rock chip Nunyerry North 591,212 7,619237 253 0.0025 FA50/OE A008870 rock chip Nunyerry North 591,247 7,619252 260 0.007 FA50/OE A008873 rock chip Nunyerry North 591,100 7,619219 273 0.0025 FA50/OE A008902 rock chip Nunyerry North 590,461 7,619095 265 0.021 FA50/OE A008904 rock chip Nunyerry North 590,356 7,619079 274 0.044 FA50/OE A008905 rock chip Nunyerry North 590,336 7,619106 274 6.368 FA50/OE A008906 rock chip Nunyerry North 590,281 7,619087 287 0.0025 FA50/OE A008907 rock chip Nunyerry North 590,248 7,619,110 287 0.0025 FA50/OE A008908 rock chip Nunyerry North 590,265 7,619,126 276 0.013 FA50/OE A008909 rock chip Nunyerry North 591,239 7,619,240 261 0.007 FA50/OE A008910 rock chip Nunyerry North 591,257 7,619,236 263 2.985 FA50/OE A008912 rock chip Nunyerry North 591,263 7,619,245 263 0.008 FA50/OE W19936 rock chip Nunyerry North 590,548 7,619,390 286 0.066 FA50/OE W19937 rock chip Nunyerry North 590,565 7,619,397 286 1.806 FA50/OE W19938 rock chip Nunyerry North 590,580 7,619,413 281 0.023 FA50/OE W19984 rock chip Nunyerry North 590,433 7,619,347 290 0.008 FA50/OE W19985 rock chip Nunyerry North 590,434 7,619,345 289 0.0025 FA50/OE W19934 rock chip Nunyerry North 590,564 7,619,362 277 0.04 FA50/OE W19935 rock chip Nunyerry North 590,565 7,619,382 282 0.008 FA50/OE W19986 rock chip Nunyerry North 590,460 7,619,346 285 0.017 FA50/OE

JORC Code, 2012 Edition  Table1

Section 1 Sampling Techniques and Data

(Criteria listed in the preceding section also apply to this section.)

Criteria JORC Code explanation Commentary Sampling techniques Nature and quality of sampling (e.g., cut channels, random chips, or specific specialised industry standard measurement tools appropriate to the minerals under investigation, such as down hole gamma sondes, or handheld XRF instruments, etc). These examples should not be taken as limiting the broad meaning of sampling.

Include reference to measures taken to ensure sample representivity and the appropriate calibration of any measurement tools or systems used.

Aspects of the determination of mineralisation that are Material to the Public Report.

In cases where industry standard work has been done this would be relatively simple (e.g., reverse circulation drilling was used to obtain 1 m samples from which 3 kg was pulverised to produce a 30 g charge for fire assay). In other cases, more explanation may be required, such as where there is coarse gold that has inherent sampling problems. Unusual commodities or mineralisation types (e.g., submarine nodules) may warrant disclosure of detailed information. The Nunyerry North Prospect located in the Egina Gold Camp was tested using reverse circulation (RC) drilling.

Drill holes were located to intersect the main interpreted vein sets and obliquely intersect shears and faults.

RC drilling obtained one metre split samples from a face sampling hammer bit using an industry standard cone splitter attached to the cyclone to collect an approximately 2-3 kg split material in pre-numbered calico bags.

Regular air and manual cleaning of the cyclone was conducted at the end of every hole, to remove buildup of dust and chip material where present.

Standards, blanks and replicate assays were inserted into the sample sequence in the field.

A downhole Reflex single shot and downhole gyro survey tool were calibrated prior to the drilling program commencing, and a pXRF machine for multi-element analysis was calibrated every day.

The 2-3 kg sample was dried and crushed to

For a subset of samples, the remaining crushed material was pulverized to 75 m at 85% passing and tested using 50 gram Fire Assay and/or 1 kg Screen Fire Assay.

Remaining crushed material or material riffle split from green bags were submitted to be crushed, and analysed using multiple PhotonAssay for a larger sample better representing coarse gold systems.

Based on statistical analysis of these results, there is no evidence to suggest the samples are not representative.

Rock chips samples were collected by grab sampling 1  3 kg of material which was dispatched to Intertek Genalysis, Western Australia for analysis. Rock chips were also analysed by pXRF in the field. Sample sites were selected based on lithological representivity and the same sampling technique was employed at each sample site where possible. Drilling techniques Drill type (e.g., core, reverse circulation, open-hole hammer, rotary air blast, auger, Bangka, sonic, etc) and details (e.g., core diameter, triple or standard tube, depth of diamond tails, face-sampling bit, or other type, whether core is oriented and if so, by what method, etc). A total of 29 RC holes and 1 open hole percussion for an aggregate total of 2,424 m were completed with depths ranging from 36 m to 120 m, averaging 80.8 m. RC drilling was undertaken using a 5  inch face sampling hammer bit. Drill sample recovery Method of recording and assessing core and chip sample recoveries and results assessed.

Measures taken to maximise sample recovery and ensure representative nature of the samples.

Whether a relationship exists between sample recovery and grade and whether sample bias may have occurred due to preferential loss/gain of fine/coarse material. The samples were visually checked for recovery as an estimate of variance from the average 100% recovery and were checked for moisture content and sample quality (contamination), recorded every metre by the geologist.

The cyclone was routinely cleaned ensuring no material build up.

The ground conditions were excellent with consistent recoveries and generally dry samples (96.5%), minimal moist samples (2.1 % of the total) and negligible wet samples (1.4 % of the total).

The cyclone emits minimal dust such that sample bias by losing fines and concentrating coarse material is deemed to be negligible.

The possibility of sample bias through selective recoveries is considered negligible and there is no relationship between grade and sample recoveries/quality or moisture content. Logging Whether core and chip samples have been geologically and geotechnically logged to a level of detail to support appropriate Mineral Resource estimation, mining studies and metallurgical studies.

Whether logging is qualitative or quantitative in nature. Core (or costean, channel, etc) photography.

The total length and percentage of the relevant intersections logged. One metre RC drill samples were directly split on the drill rig using an industry standard cone splitter to collect approximately 2-3 kg of split material in a pre-numbered calico bag and the remainder of the sample (bulk sample) collected in a numbered large green plastic bag and laid out in rows or 20 or 30 samples. The bulk sample was speared diagonally to collect a representation of the material for each metre. The speared 1m sample was sieved to separate the fine and coarse material. The geologist then logged chips from each metre in direct sunlight (including lithology, grain size, colour, alteration, weathering, vein percent and sulphide mineralogy) before part of the sample was placed in a chip tray for permanent storage. Fine material was collected in chip trays and analysed using the pXRF for pathfinder elements.

2,424 m were logged representing all drilled meters from all drill holes.

The logging was qualitative, except for logging of vein percent which was quantitative.

For rock samples, a brief description of characteristics was recorded at each sample site Sub-sampling techniques and sample preparation If core, whether cut or sawn and whether quarter, half or all core taken.

If non-core, whether riffled, tube sampled, rotary split, etc and whether sampled wet or dry.

For all sample types, the nature, quality, and appropriateness of the sample preparation technique.

Quality control procedures adopted for all sub-sampling stages to maximise representivity of samples.

Measures taken to ensure that the sampling is representative of the in-situ material collected, including for instance results for field duplicate/second-half sampling.

Whether sample sizes are appropriate to the grain size of the material being sampled. One metre RC drill samples were directly split on the drill rig using an industry standard cone splitter to collect approximately 2-3 kg of split material in a pre-numbered calico bag.

All samples were dry crushed to minus 2 mm by Intertek Genalysis using a smart crusher to create a 500 g aliquot, then assayed for gold by Chrysos PhotonAssay.

A parallel series of cone split 1m samples (to test variance of the gold techniques being used) from the first 4 drill holes (totaling 296 samples, incl 24 QAQC) were dry crushed to minus 2mm and pulverized (SP64) to 95% passing 80 m by Intertek Genalysis to create a 50 g charge, then assayed for gold by fire assay FA50/OE.

The first four drill hole significant intercepts were also analysed by 1kg 106 microns screen fire assay and ICP-OES finish (Code SF 100/OE), using the Chrysos and coarse reject residues.

All significant zones (> 0.1 ppm and/or part of an interpreted mineralised position) were analysed again using multiple PhotonAssay pots. These samples were selected from existing coarse reject residues already at the lab, or riffle split from coarse bulk sample material on the drill site.

pXRF readings of multielements were taken using a NITON XLT5 model, on the fine material collected during sieving of the chips for logging. The fines were compressed into chip trays and transported to an airconditioned office where the fine sample was analyzed using 90 second total reading time and 4 filters. The Niton pXRF machine was calibrated daily and QAQC protocols of at least 4 standards per 80 samples was maintained.

Rock chip samples were dry crushed and pulverised (SP64) by Intertek Genalysis to create a 50 g charge, then assayed for gold by fire assay FA50/OE and for 48 multielement using four acid digest  MS finish (4A/MS).

The sampling techniques and sample size is considered appropriate for this style of gold mineralisation. Quality of assay data and laboratory tests The nature, quality and appropriateness of the assaying and laboratory procedures used and whether the technique is considered partial or total.

For geophysical tools, spectrometers, handheld XRF instruments, etc, the parameters used in determining the analysis including instrument make and model, reading times, calibrations factors applied and their derivation, etc.

Nature of quality control procedures adopted (e.g., standards, blanks, duplicates, external laboratory checks) and whether acceptable levels of accuracy (if lack of bias) and precision have been established. Chrysos PhotonAssay and fire assay techniques are considered appropriate and industry standard for Au with the detection limits as stated.

The assay technique is regarded as total analysis.

The RC and rock sample methodology noted above is considered appropriate for orogenic gold style mineralization with possible coarse gold.

The following blind to the lab QAQC protocols submitted with each batch were adhered to: 1 CRM coarse blanks and 1 CRM 200 micron blanks per 100 samples, 2 Certified Reference Material standards per 100 appropriate for the style of assaying being undertaken, and 4 riffle split field duplicates per 100 samples; No QAQC issues were detected. The accuracy and precision of the data revealed that the data is consistent with levels routinely achieved for Au assay data and no grade bias is present. Verification of sampling and assaying The verification of significant intersections by either independent or alternative company personnel.

The use of twinned holes.

Documentation of primary data, data entry procedures, data verification, data storage (physical and electronic) protocols.

Discuss any adjustment to assay data. Primary data was collected using database compatible excel templates which were then forwarded to the database manager email for upload to the Geobank (v2022.5) database, buffered through a validation portal that ensures code, interval and primary record compliance. Geobank is a front-end UX/UI tender software platform (developed and sold by Micromine) attached to a SQL v15.1 server.

Assay data were loaded from lab certificates received from the registered laboratory by an internal database manager or external database consultant, and industry-standard audit trails and chain-of-custody was adhered to.

Significant intercepts were calculated using a 0.3 g/t Au cut-off and up to 3 m consecutive internal dilution. High grade components use a 1 g/t Au cut-off and allow 1 m consecutive internal dilution. These generated in Micromine and were verified by at least two company geologists via manual and automatic calculations.

Verification included checking the data against original logs, utilising laboratory certificates and cross-checking drill sections.

No adjustments of the assay data were made. Location of data points Accuracy and quality of surveys used to locate drill holes (collar and down-hole surveys), trenches, mine workings and other locations used in Mineral Resource estimation.

Specification of the grid system used.

Quality and adequacy of topographic control. All RC drill holes were drilled on locations marked by pegs which were established using a DGPS (Trimble RTK system) with a  10cm easting and northing accuracy, and  20 cm vertical accuracy.

The datum used is GDA2020 zone 50.

Drill holes were drilled within 3 m of the original peg with co-ordinates changed accordingly where holes were moved slightly from the original peg position.

Drill holes were surveyed using an RTK (with a  10cm easting and northing accuracy, and  20 cm vertical accuracy) at the end of the program to ascertain the exact location of the final drill hole.

The RTK DGPS data was used for topographic control.

A reflex down hole multi-shot camera was utilized for the first 11 drill holes (NC001 to NC011), 3m back from the hammer within a stainless steel (non-magnetic) 6m starter rod at the rate of roughly every 20m downhole.

A north seeking gyro was utilized from drill hole NC012 at the rate of approximately every 20m downhole.

The top 9 to 15 m of drillholes NC001, NC002, NC003, NC004, NC006, NC007 and NC009, were resurveyed using the north seeking gyro.

The drill holes generally show only minor deviation in both azimuth and dip.

All surface sample reconnaissance locations were recorded in by hand-held GPS using the GDA94-Z50 co-ordinate system. Data spacing and distribution Data spacing for reporting of Exploration Results.

Whether the data spacing, and distribution is sufficient to establish the degree of geological and grade continuity appropriate for the Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve estimation procedure(s) and classifications applied.

Whether sample compositing has been applied. Data spacing is sufficient to demonstrate grade and geological continuity.

The drillholes were collared on sections approximately 40 to 60 metres apart with holes spaced at approximately 20 m spacings on section.

1 m spaced drill samples were collected. Samples were not composited. Orientation of data in relation to geological structure Whether the orientation of sampling achieves unbiased sampling of possible structures and the extent to which this is known, considering the deposit type.

If the relationship between the drilling orientation and the orientation of key mineralised structures is considered to have introduced a sampling bias, this should be assessed and reported if material. The geology of the Nunyerry North target area includes sheeted quartz vein-related gold mineralization, juxtaposed by regional shears and offset faults in E-W trending stratigraphy dipping to the north at 80 degrees. The shears dip to the north at 55 to 70 degrees, and the offset faults dip to the east-northeast at about 70-75 degrees. Two main quartz vein sets are identified: one dipping 20 to 60 degrees toward the SSE and the second sub-vertical set steeply dipping and striking N to NNE.

Drill holes were collared at approximately 336 degrees azimuth to intersect the main vein sets, with three holes drilling towards 066-, 280- and 090-degrees azimuth to intersect the cross-cutting faults and secondary vein sets. The drill holes dip between 090 and 45 degrees.

No sampling bias is recognized with preliminary sectional interpretations highlighting the dip of mineralised vein sets to be 60 degrees to the SSW. Sample security The measures taken to ensure sample security. RC samples were collected in calico bags provided to the drillers at the start of each hole. Calico bags were tied up and placed on the green bags before being placed in polyweave bags which were zip tied and removed from the drill site daily.

Rock samples are collected by Novo staff

Samples were transported to Karratha by Novo staff and placed into bulka bags in a locked shed.

All samples are stored and managed on site by internal staff.

Samples were transported by reputable transport companies to a registered laboratory. Chain of custody is maintained by con notes and tracking numbers from Karratha to the registered laboratory.

At the registered laboratory the individual samples are registered and tracked through the preparation and analysis process. Audits or reviews The results of any audits or reviews of sampling techniques and data. No audits have been undertaken.

Section 2 Reporting of Exploration Results

(Criteria listed in the preceding section also apply to this section.)

Criteria JORC Code explanation Commentary Mineral tenement and land tenure status Type, reference name/number, location and ownership including agreements or material issues with third parties such as joint ventures, partnerships, overriding royalties, native title interests, historical sites, wilderness or national park and environmental settings.

The security of the tenure held at the time of reporting along with any known impediments to obtaining a license to operate in the area. The Nunyerry North prospect is on Exploration License E47/2973, located in the broader Egina Gold Camp, and 150 km from Port Hedland. The tenement is subject to a Joint Venture agreement with Novo Resources holding a 70% interest and the remaining 30% held by Rockford Metals Pty Ltd, an entity of Mark Gareth Creasy (Creasy Group).

There are several Registered Heritage Sites within this tenement, however not overlapping with the immediate drilling area.

The Prospect is covered by the granted Yindjibarndi People and RTIO Indigenous Land Use Agreement (Initial ILUA) (WI2014/005) and is subject to a land access and mineral exploration agreement with the Native Title Holders.

The tenements are currently in good standing and there are no known impediments. Exploration done by other parties Acknowledgment and appraisal of exploration by other parties. Numerous companies had worked in the general area in the past including; 1968 (A13076), US Steel Corporation Complete, 1977 (A7202), Occidental Minerals Corporation of Australia, 1977 (A7237, A7238, A7308), CRA Exploration Pty Ltd Explored, 1981 (A10873), West Coast Holdings Ltd, Command Minerals NL, 1982 (A11291), Pancontinental Mining Ltd, 1985 (A17643), CRA Exploration Pty Ltd, 1995-1996 (A44168, A47363), Mark Creasy, 1996 (A47385), Kilkenny Gold NL Explored, 1998 (A54099, A54394), Kilkenny Gold NL Gold, 2004 (A68128), Bullion Minerals-Farno McMahon Pty Ltd, 2008 (A77811, A81531) and Chalice Gold Mines Ltd

2016 - 2018 Rockford Metals Ltd (Creasy Group). Rockford Metals were the first company to define the Nunyerry North Prospect as a target. Upon granting, geological reconnaissance, rock chip, soil and stream sampling was completed targeting gold associated with the Mallina Formation, quartz veins within Archean mafic/ultramafic greenstone belt rocks and regional locations returning maxima of 20.7 ppm Au (rock chip sample), 650 ppb Au (soil sample) and 745 ppb Au (stream sample). Surface soil geochemical sampling was targeting a gold anomalous quartz veins hosted within Archaean mafic/ultramafic Greenstone Belt rocks. The gold content varies from 0.001 to 2.13 ppm (average is 0.25 ppm) and defined a 1.3 km long, 200 m wide >30 ppb Au gold anomaly in a broadly anomalous 2 km long zone with several lower order 500 m long >10 ppb Au anomalies.

In 2018, an aeromagnetic/radiometric survey was completed over the Nunyerry Project by Rockford Metals Ltd at 30 m sensor height and 50 m line spacing for a total of 21,829 line kilometres. Geology Deposit type, geological setting, and style of mineralisation. The target area includes orogenic structurally controlled quartz vein-related gold mineralisation within a sequence of ultramafic komatiites and mafic rocks, juxtaposed by regional shears and offset faults. The target hosts a 1.4 km long, high-order surface soil anomaly, where rock chip sampling in 2021 returned peak high-grade results from quartz veins including 30.3 g/t Au, 21.1 g/t Au and 9.0 g/t Au; with additional sampling in 2022 delivering 8.81 g/t Au and 7.39 g/t Au. Drill hole Information A summary of all information material to the understanding of the exploration results including a tabulation of the following information for all Material drill holes, including Easting and northing of the drill hole collar, Elevation or RL (Reduced Level  elevation above sea level in metres) of the drill hole collar, dip and azimuth of the hole, down hole length and interception depth plus hole length.

If the exclusion of this information is justified on the basis that the information is not Material and this exclusion does not detract from the understanding of the report, the Competent Person should clearly explain why this is the case. All relevant information for the Nunyerry North RC drill program is summarized in the release Appendix - Table 1 Data aggregation methods In reporting Exploration Results, weighting averaging techniques, maximum and/or minimum grade truncations (e.g., cutting of high grades) and cut-off grades are usually Material and should be stated.

Where aggregate intercepts incorporate short lengths of high-grade results and longer lengths of low-grade results, the procedure used for such aggregation should be stated and some typical examples of such aggregations should be shown in detail.

The assumptions used for any reporting of metal equivalent values should be clearly stated. All significant drill intercepts were calculated using a 0.3 g/t Au cut-off and up to 3 m consecutive internal dilution.

Higher grade components of significant intercepts were calculated using a 1 g/t Au cut-off and up to 1 m consecutive internal dilution.

No upper cut-off grades were applied.

All samples are 1 m splits.

Gold is the only metal of economic significance being reported. Relationship between mineralisation widths and intercept lengths These relationships are particularly important in the reporting of Exploration Results.

If the geometry of the mineralisation with respect to the drill hole angle is known, its nature should be reported.

If it is not known and only the down hole lengths are reported, there should be a clear statement to this effect (e.g., down hole length, true width not known). Preliminary sectional interpretation highlights that the main veins interpreted were intersected roughly perpendicular to the drill holes.

Estimates for true widths are between 75% and 100% of the downhole intercept. Diagrams Appropriate maps and sections (with scales) and tabulations of intercepts should be included for any significant discovery being reported. These should include, but not be limited to a plan view of drill hole collar locations and appropriate sectional views. Refer to the body of the release for appropriate maps and diagrams. Balanced reporting Where comprehensive reporting of all Exploration Results is not practicable, representative reporting of both low and high grades and/or widths should be practiced to avoid misleading reporting of Exploration Results. All significant drilling intercepts are provided in the body of the main report and all intercepts reported in Appendix Table 2 Other substantive exploration data Other exploration data, if meaningful and material, should be reported including (but not limited to): geological observations; geophysical survey results; geochemical survey results; bulk samples  size and method of treatment; metallurgical test results; bulk density, groundwater, geotechnical and rock characteristics; potential deleterious or contaminating substances. No additional data. Further work The nature and scale of planned further work (e.g., tests for lateral extensions or depth extensions or large-scale step-out drilling).

Diagrams clearly highlighting the areas of possible extensions, including the main geological interpretations and future drilling areas, provided this information is not commercially sensitive. Refer to the body of the release.

(No Section 3 or 4 report as no Mineral Resources or Ore Reserves are reported in this Appendix)

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e89da28f-dfb6-4d0f-a59a-0e361f849463

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/57e4c7d4-e293-4eed-b96b-c33efb9ab4ee

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8372d2b1-e038-407c-8612-e9b6ccfa4189

Figure 1: Novo tenure showing priority prospects, joint venture interests and the location of drilling at Nunyerry North and Becher. Figure 1: Novo tenure showing priority prospects, joint venture interests and the location of drilling at Nunyerry North and Becher. Figure 2 Nunyerry North long section (looking NNW) showing m x g/t Au (downhole width) Figure 2 Nunyerry North long section (looking NNW) showing m x g/t Au (downhole width) Figure 3: Nunyerry North geological interpretation, 2023 drill hole location and new drill target areas. Figure 3: Nunyerry North geological interpretation, 2023 drill hole location and new drill target areas.

Source: Novo Resources Corp.
Toronto, March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- York University has long been a leader in health education and research, and we are excited to welcome the Ontario governments newest investment in the future of health care in York Region and beyond, announced today as part of the 2024 Budget: Building a Better Ontario. This announcement of $9M in start-up funding will support further development and planning toward a new School of Medicine at York University and helps accelerate the pace and path to new medical doctor programs in the fastest growing region in Ontario.

This new investment to support increased physician education in Ontario comes at a critical time and marks an important milestone in Yorks trajectory as an internationally recognized leader in higher education. I want to thank Premier Ford and his government for being responsive to this pressing need, for their vision and clear commitment to a healthier future for Ontarians, said Rhonda Lenton, president and vice-chancellor.

York University has continued to advance plans to establish a new School of Medicine, having submitted a formal proposal to the provincial government in 2022. The School is an extension of Yorks commitment to respond to student program interests and community needs for high quality health care. York has been a leader in advancing cross-disciplinary health programming and research, including the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research, Krembil Centre for Health Management and Leadership, the Centre for Disease Modelling, Sustainable Environmental Management, and one of Canadas largest Nursing and Nurse Practitioner programs.

With the goal to create the foremost community-based doctor education in Canada, Yorks School of Medicine would prepare the next generation of talented frontline primary care doctors who represent the diversity of the communities in which they live and have the tools to thrive in a new, integrative, team-based health care environment. Plans include developing a unique bridging program to ensure no qualified future doctor goes without access to medical education.

The City of Vaughan has been an early supporter and valued partner throughout the planning and development of this initiative, and has agreed to transfer land to the University to build the School of Medicine within the Vaughan Healthcare Centre Precinct beside Mackenzie Healths Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital.

My foremost priority in King and Vaughan is delivering better healthcare, closer to home, said Stephen Lecce, MPP for King-Vaughan. "That is why I have championed this critically important investment for our community that will train more family doctors to serve our growing needs. Our government is proud to fund York Universitys medical school in Vaughan that will help ensure residents have access to a family doctor in the heart of our community."

On behalf of the City of Vaughan, I want to thank the Premier and the Government of Ontario for todays funding announcement for the much-needed York University School of Medicine as part of the Ontario Governments 2024 Budget. This critical infrastructure will have far-reaching impacts on future students and patients and is foundational to one of our most ambitious projects to date: the Vaughan Healthcare Centre Precinct (VHCP). When built, this new medical school will play a vital role in delivering more family doctors for communities like Vaughan. This is another important step forward on our journey toward becoming a leading destination for healthcare excellence. We will continue to raise the profile of the VHCP and ensure that Vaughan is recognized for health care innovation, said Mayor Steven Del Duca.

Mackenzie Health is thrilled to partner with York University for the creation of the York University School of Medicine. The provincial governments commitment in the 2024 Ontario Budget is a very positive step forward and were excited for what lies ahead. We see the need for additional primary care providers in Ontario every day; approximately a quarter of the patients who come to our Emergency Departments do not have a family doctor. Now more than ever, we need to work together to consider new ways to attract and retain primary care providers. The York University School of Medicine  located adjacent to Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital in the Vaughan Healthcare Centre Precinct, and minutes away from Mackenzie Richmond Hill Hospital  is well-positioned to address this challenge, Altaf Stationwala, Mackenzie Health President and CEO.

Early support from Yorks strong network of community health providers, hospitals, and municipalities with whom we have been working has been instrumental throughout the School of Medicine planning phase. I am grateful for our many highly skilled and thoughtful partners for their leadership and insights, and we look forward to continuing to grow and expand our work with them, said Lenton.

-30-

York University is a modern, multi-campus, urban university located in Toronto, Ontario. Backed by a diverse group of students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners, we bring a uniquely global perspective to help solve societal challenges, drive positive change, and prepare our students for success. York's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education. Yorks campuses in Costa Rica and India offer students exceptional transnational learning opportunities and innovative programs. Together, we can make things right for our communities, our planet, and our future.

Barbara Joy York University 416-333-3374 [email protected]

Source: York University
FILE PHOTO: A general view of the Phillips 66 Company's Los Angeles Refinery, which processes domestic & imported crude oil into gasoline, aviation and diesel fuels, at sunset in Carson, California, U.S., March 11, 2022. Picture taken with a drone. REUTER

By David French

(Reuters) -U.S. oil refiner Phillips 66 is exploring a sale of its 25% stake in the Rockies Express Pipeline that it hopes could be worth more than $1 billion, including debt, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

The Rockies Express Pipeline (REX) is a 1,700-mile (2730-km)interstate natural gas pipeline, stretching from Wyoming and Colorado in the U.S. West to Eastern Ohio.

Phillips 66 is working with its advisers on talks with potential buyers, which include private equity firms and infrastructure funds, the sources said, requesting anonymity as the discussions are confidential.

The Houston-based company is hoping to command a premium to the stake's current book value of $451 million, the sources said, adding bidders would also need to assume debt obligations worth more than $500 million associated with the stake.

A spokesperson for Phillips 66 declined to comment.

Phillips 66, which has a market value of $67 billion, is aiming to raise about $3 billion from asset sales this year.

In an interview earlier on Tuesday, Chief Executive Mark Lashier said the company was in discussions with potential buyers for asset sales, but it was not in a rush to complete divestments. He declined to name the assets referenced in those discussions.

The company has come under pressure in recent months from Elliott Management, which disclosed a stake in November and pushed for Phillips 66 to improve its refining operations and revamp its board of directors.

The activist investor and Phillips 66 agreed last month to add a new board member approved by the investment firm, and to work together to identify a second director appointment.

The remainder of the REX pipeline is controlled by privately owned Tallgrass Energy.

Stakes in pipelines, such as REX, are attractive to financial investors as they like businesses with steady cash flow, the sources said, adding stakes in interstate pipelines are not marketed to buyers often.

(Reporting by David French in New York; Additional Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston; Editing by Anirban Sen, Andrea Ricci and Jonathan Oatis)
LOS ANGELES, CA - (NewMediaWire) - March 26, 2024 - In an exciting new update, US Nuclears Overhoff division recently delivered the first batch of tritium monitoring systems to the nations largest public power company. US Nuclear is proud to be a supplier for this customer, who services most of Tennessee and parts of six surrounding states, providing power for over 10 million people that is 60% carbon-free through a diverse energy portfolio. US Nuclears tritium monitors will be used at one of the power generating stations to continuously monitor the tritium concentration in air at various locations and provide an early alarm warning if levels rise too high and protecting worker and environmental safety.

The tritium monitor that was provided for this job was the Model Triathalon-H3 Smart Tritium Air Monitor. This model includes a color touch-screen display and integrated CPU for enhanced functionality and is housed in a NEMA-4/IP-66 rated carbon steel wall-mount enclosure for long-term, continuous operation. Additionally, this unit was qualified to operate in nuclear power generating stations through seismic and electromagnetic compatibility testing. The Model Triathalon-H3 is one of Overhoffs newer tritium monitors that is quickly gaining popularity.

US Nuclears Overhoff branch is working on finishing the second and final batch of tritium monitors for this customer which will be delivered in the next 1-2 months. This job underscores US Nuclears dedication to providing state-of-the-art tritium monitors to meet the demands of this rapidly growing industry.

Safe Harbor Act

This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ from expectations, estimates and projections and, consequently, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Words such as "expect," "estimate," "project," "budget," "forecast," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "may," "will," "could," "should," "believes," "predicts," "potential," "continue," and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from the expected results.

Investors may find additional information regarding US Nuclear Corp. at the SEC website at http://www.sec.gov, or the companys website at www.usnuclearcorp.com.

CONTACT:

US Nuclear Corp. (OTC-QB: UCLE)

Robert I. Goldstein, President, CEO, and Chairman

Michael Hastings, Chief Financial Officer

Ph: (818) 883 7043

Email: [email protected]

http://usnuclearcorp.com

https://overhoff.com/

https://tech-associates.com/
Las Vegas, Nevada and Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 26, 2024) - Body and Mind Inc. (CSE: BAMM) (OTCQB: BMMJ) (the "Company" or "BaM"), a multi-state operations-focused cannabis company, is pleased to announce its financial results for the second quarter of fiscal year 2024 ended January 31, 2024 and to provide shareholders with an operational update. All financial information is provided in U.S. dollars unless otherwise indicated.

Q2 FY2024 (ended January 31, 2024) Financial Highlights:

Revenue of $4.4 million in Q2 FY2024, as compared to $4.4 million in Q2 FY2023.

Net Loss of $0.2 million, as compared to Net Loss of $2.7 million in Q2 FY2023.

Gross margin improved to 45.7% in Q2 FY2024, as compared 39.9% in Q1 FY2023.

The Company had 147,686,393 common shares outstanding as of March 25, 2024.

Q2 FY 2024 Summary & Comparison to Q2 FY 2023 (in Millions of US$) Q2 FY 2024 Q2 FY 2023 Revenue $4.4 $4.4 Net Operating Profit (Loss) ($0.8) ($1.4) Net Income/(Loss) ($0.2) ($2.7)

Q2 FY2024 Operational Highlights:

As part of the Company's continuing effort to focus efforts on its highest return projects in Illinois and New Jersey, entered into a definitive agreement to divest the Company's Nevada cultivation and production operations for total consideration of $2 million. For more details, see the Company's press release issued on February 1, 2024.

Advanced New Jersey state license application in conjunction with BaM Body and Mind Dispensary NJ, Inc. The dispensary facility will be 4,000 square feet with more than 100 parking places for easy access and convenient shopping. Demolition has been completed and the building permit is expected soon.

Continued construction on the Lynwood, Illinois dispensary with building interior and exterior almost complete, roadwork approvals in process and exterior excavation mostly completed. The Company expects the Lynwood dispensary to open sometime in the first half of calendar 2024.

Management Commentary

"The most recent quarter reflects our work to improve financial performance, improve margins and streamline our operations to support building our operations in Illinois and New Jersey," stated Michael Mills, CEO of Body and Mind. "Nevada's wholesale pricing challenges and wholesale tax structure made it difficult to see the Company's Nevada operations generating sufficient profits over the long term when compared with the opportunity presented by taking the proceeds from Nevada's sale and continuing to build on our Illinois and New Jersey opportunities. We feel the Illinois and New Jersey markets continue to be underserved and offer significant opportunities for revenue growth as we expand our brand and bring our skilled teams to these new markets."

For further details, please see the Company's recent Form 10-Q filing on EDGAR at www.sec.gov/edgar/search, and the interim financial statements filed on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.

About Body and Mind Inc.

BaM is an operations-focused cannabis company with active retail operations in Illinois and California and pending retail operations in Illinois and New Jersey. We work daily to increase our market share through delighting customers while also continuing to hone our operational efficiencies to drive profits. We are primarily guided by the metric of return on investment. Currently, we believe the most significant return on investment projects in front of us are successful retail cannabis store launches in Illinois and New Jersey, which augment our existing retail footprint. We also believe that our team's core operational skillsets will create significant future shareholder value as the cannabis industry matures.

Please visit www.bodyandmind.com for more information.

Instagram: @bodyandmindBaM

Twitter: @bodyandmindBaM

For further information, please contact:

Company Contact:

Michael Mills

CEO

Tel: 800-361-6312

[email protected]

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

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 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 activities, variations in the underlying assumptions associated with the estimation of activities, 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. 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. 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.

Certain matters discussed in this news release and oral statements made from time to time by representatives of the Company may constitute forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations will be achieved. Forward-looking information is subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Many of these factors are beyond the Company's ability to control or predict. 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. 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 press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/203115
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 26, 2024) - GOLD HUNTER RESOURCES INC. (CSE: HUNT) (the "Company" or "Gold Hunter") is excited to announce that it has completed the previously announced sale of its wholly-owned subsidiary, 1451366 B.C. Ltd. (the "Subsidiary") to FireFly Metals Ltd. ("FireFly") (formerly AuTECO Minerals Ltd.), an Australian-based company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX: FFM), pursuant to the terms and conditions of the share purchase and sale agreement, dated December 21, 2023, (the "Purchase Agreement").

FireFly has completed the acquisition of all of the common shares (the "Shares") of the Subsidiary in exchange for the issuance to Gold Hunter of 30,290,624 common shares in FireFly Metals (each, a "FireFly Share") valued at approximately CDN$15 million (the "Transaction").

Prior to closing the Transaction (the "Closing"), the Company completed a reorganization of its mineral assets such that the Subsidiary held all its mineral claims and assets, or the option to acquire such mineral claims and assets, in Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada (collectively, the "Claims") comprised of 624 mineral claims on the Company's Rambler Property and 52 on the Company's Tilt Cove Property. Upon completion of the sale, FireFly assumed all related obligations and liabilities regarding the Claims and any royalties on the Claims.

Gold Hunter's CEO Comments on the Closing of the Transaction

"This is an important moment in Gold Hunter's journey, having successfully closed a transaction that we believe provides value to our shareholders but also marks a new chapter in the revitalization of Newfoundland's Baie Verte Peninsula's mining sector. This deal with FireFly Metals, led by a group known for its strategic vision and community-focused approach, aligns well with our mission to unlock value while fostering sustainable development. As new shareholders of FireFly, we are tremendously excited for the short and long-term developments planned. FireFly has demonstrated their abilities to aggressively and effectively develop valuable assets, and we believe that the Baie Verte district will flourish into a significant VMS camp under their guidance.

I am grateful for the trust and support of our shareholders, whose strong approval of the transaction speaks volumes. As we look ahead, our focus shifts towards identifying and advancing new projects of merit. With a treasury bolstered by this transaction, we are uniquely positioned to leverage the current market's opportunities to consolidate other districts. This strategy not only aims to strengthen our portfolio but also gives Gold Hunter's shareholders additional opportunities for realizing value. The future is bright for Gold Hunter, and we invite our shareholders to continue this journey with us, as we explore new horizons and build upon our legacy of innovation and strategic growth."

In connection with the Closing, FireFly has issued 3,029,062 FireFly Shares as a finder's fee to Kluane Capital FZCO ("Kluane") pursuant to a finder's fee agreement between Kluane and the Company dated September 29, 2023 (the "Kluane Agreement"). In accordance with the Purchase Agreement, the Company assigned the Kluane Agreement to the Subsidiary prior to the Closing, after which, FireFly assumed the obligations and liabilities under the Kluane Agreement, including the payment of the finder's fee to Kluane.

FireFly Metals Overview

FireFly, is an emerging leader in the copper-gold sector, focusing on advancing the high-grade Green Bay Copper-Gold project in Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada, which they acquired earlier this year for AUS$65 million. Immediately after acquiring this project, they launched a 40,000 metre drill program, demonstrating an aggressive commitment to expanding the deposit. This approach aligns very well with Gold Hunter's surrounding mineral claims, giving FireFly a true district scale opportunity to build an exciting VMS camp. Additionally, FireFly Metals holds a 70% interest in the high-grade Pickle Crow Project in the world-class Uchi sub-province of Ontario, Canada.

Exercise of the Mineral Property Option Agreement dated January 17, 2022, as amended on December 21, 2023

Concurrently with Closing, we are pleased to announce that FireFly has exercised the option (the "Option") to acquire a 100% interest in the Marwan I claim group (the "Optioned Claims") (to be now known as the "Marwan/Lewis Project") located in Newfoundland & Labrador, pursuant to the terms of the mineral property option agreement dated January 17, 2022, as amended on December 21, 2023 (the "Option Agreement").

As previously announced by the Company on December 21, 2023 and January 18, 2024, the Option could be fully exercised by the Company upon the issuance of 6,000,000 common shares in the capital of the Company (each, a "GH Share") and a cash payment of $500,000 to be paid no later than August 1, 2024, subject to an accelerated payment provision upon the sale of the Subsidiary. The Company completed the issuance of the 6,000,000 GH Shares on January 4, 2024 and FireFly completed the cash payment immediately following the Closing.

In connection with the exercise of the Option Agreement, and further to the Company's news release dated March 20, 2024, Mango Research & Management Inc. ("Mango") and Canal Front Investments Inc. ("Canal", and together with Mango, the "Finders") will receive a finder's fee equal to a $40,000 cash payment and the issuance of 480,000 GH Shares, all to be divided equally (the "Finder's Fee"). The cash portion of the Finder's Fee will be paid by FireFly and the GH Shares will be issued by the Company to the Finders. The Finder's Fee constitutes a related party transaction under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 ("MI 61-101") as Sean Kingsley, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Gold Hunter, is also the sole director, officer, and shareholder of Mango. The Company has relied on exemptions contained in MI 61-101 for an exemption from the formal valuation requirement and minority shareholder approval requirement. Specifically, the Company has relied on the exemption contained in section 5.5(b) for an exemption from the formal valuation requirement because the Company is not listed on the specified markets identified in section 5.5(b) of MI 61-101. The Company has relied on the exemption contained in section 5.7(a) from the minority approval requirement as the Finder's Fee payable to Mango is not more than 25 per cent of the Company's market capitalization.

Distribution of FireFly Shares through Plan of Arrangement

With the completion of the Transaction and the FireFly Shares issued to the Company, the Company will work towards obtaining court approval for a statutory plan of arrangement (the "Arrangement") under section 288 of the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) pursuant to which the Company plans to distribute a portion of the FireFly Shares to the Shareholders on a pro-rata basis proportionate to their current shareholding in Gold Hunter, or for certain Shareholders resident in the U.S. who do not qualify as accredited investors as defined in Rule 501(a) of Regulation D, as promulgated by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, a cash payment in lieu of the FireFly Shares (collectively, the "Distribution").

The completion of the Distribution remains subject to a number of conditions including without limitation, approval of the Supreme Court of British Columbia and compliance with applicable securities laws. The Company will provide additional details regarding the Distribution as they become available.

As previously announced on March 20, 2024, at an annual general and special meeting of shareholders (the "Shareholders") of the Company held on March 15, 2024 (the "Meeting"), the Transaction and the Distribution each received the support of Shareholders holding 25,286,122 GH Shares represented by proxy or in person at the Meeting, being 64.85% of the total issued and outstanding GH Shares eligible to vote at the Meeting, and 98.49% of the total GH Shares voted at the Meeting in person or by proxy.

About Gold Hunter Resources Inc.

Gold Hunter Resources is a mineral exploration company committed to the evaluation and development of mineral-rich regions in Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as Ontario, Canada. Our operations are concentrated in areas known for their abundant mineral resources. Gold Hunter is dedicated to unveiling the full potential of our project sites in a manner that prioritizes responsibility and sustainability.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors,

GOLD HUNTER RESOURCES INC.

"Sean A. Kingsley"

President, CEO, and Director

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +1 604-440-8474

www.goldhunterresources.com

Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements:

This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian legislation. Forward-Looking statements are typically identified by words such as: "believes", "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "estimates", "plans", "may", "should", "would", "will", "potential", "scheduled" or variations of such words and phrases and similar expressions, which, by their nature, refer to future events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. All statements in this news release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations and orientations regarding the future. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable and reflect expectations of future developments and other factors which management believes to be reasonable and relevant, the Company can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation, that market fundamentals will support the viability of critical mineral resource exploration, the availability of sufficient financing required for the Company to carry out its planned future activities, the Company obtaining court approval and complying with all applicable securities laws with respect to the Distribution, and FireFly's ability to develop the Baie Verte district. Other factors may also adversely affect the future results or performance of the Company, including general economic, market or business conditions, future prices of minerals, changes in the financial markets and in the demand for minerals, changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting the mineral exploration industry, as well as the risks and uncertainties related to the Company, such as a failure by the Company to obtain court approval or comply with applicable securities laws with respect to the Distribution, and other risk factors which are more fully described in the Company's annual and quarterly management's discussion and analysis and in other filings made by the Company with Canadian securities regulatory authorities under the Company's SEDAR+ profile. Ongoing labour shortages, inflationary pressures, rising interest rates, the global financial climate and the conflict in Ukraine and surrounding regions are some additional factors that are affecting current economic conditions and increasing economic uncertainty, which may impact the Company's operating performance, financial position, and future prospects. Collectively, the potential impacts of this economic environment pose risks that are currently indescribable and immeasurable. No assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will occur or, if they do occur, what benefits the Company will obtain from them. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and, accordingly, are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty of such statements. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update such forwardlooking information whether because of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/203109
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 26, 2024) - Governance Professionals of Canada (GPC) celebrates the 2nd Annual National Governance Professionals Day on Wednesday, March 27, 2024, along with its 30th anniversary year, and is doing so under the theme - "Three decades of excellence: Honoring governance professionals in shaping a resilient future".

Marked as the last Wednesday of March each year, National Governance Professionals Day was launched with an aim to bring awareness and to celebrate Canadian Governance Professionals for their outstanding contributions to ensuring excellence in governance in Canadian organizations.

Who are governance professionals? They hold various titles from: Chief Governance Officer, Corporate Secretary, Corporate Counsel, Executive Director, Head of Compliance, Risk, Legal, and they are responsible for: implementing governance policies and procedures, monitoring compliance, supporting the Board and its committee meetings and processes, fostering a culture of transparency and accountability and managing the space between the Board and Management& among many other key contributions.

They play a crucial role in ensuring that an organization is operating in an efficient, ethical, and compliant manner and that the organization is following leading governance practices to protect it from potential risks. Governance professionals have undergone a remarkable evolution over the last 30 years and GPC recognizes the key role that they play in organizations across all sectors of Canada's economy.

Lynn Beauregard, President, Governance Professionals of Canada (GPC) said, "The 2nd Annual National Governance Professionals Day is an opportunity to honour and acknowledge the dedication, expertise, and commitment of governance professionals across the country. We are proud to have launched this initiative to emphasize the value these individuals bring to their Boards and organizations in a highly challenging business environment."

GPC invites all organizations, stakeholders, and individuals to join us in celebrating the 2nd Annual National Governance Professionals Day by recognizing their efforts and highlighting their significant contributions.

Post on LinkedIn and X under the hashtag #GovernanceProfessionalsDay and tag us to join in the conversation!

Click HERE for more information on National Governance Professionals Day and how to observe it.

Some of our local chapters across Canada are also celebrating National Governance Professionals Day in their respective cities with fun and interesting in-person events.

Click HERE to know your how your local chapter is celebrating National Governance Professionals Day this year.

For further information, contact:

Shweta Retharekar

Marketing & Special Projects Manager,

GPC

2 St. Clair Ave W, 18Th Floor, Toronto, ON, M4V 1L5, Canada

Phone: 416-921-5449

Email: [email protected]

Website: http://www.gpcanada.org/

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/203129
Dubai, United Arab Emirates--(Newsfile Corp. - March 26, 2024) - GTC Group, a leading global provider of financial solutions, proudly announces a strategic partnership with Blue Hat Technology, a forefront innovator in digital and technological services. This landmark alliance signed on 11 March 2024 aims to significantly bolster GTC Group's technological infrastructure, enhancing its product offerings and providing customers with unparalleled service.





GTC joins forces with Blue Hat

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10247/203132_ff11d7e724916bbc_001full.jpg

Through this partnership, GTC Group aims to leverage Blue Hat Technology's cutting-edge solutions to optimize operational efficiency, improve customer experience, and drive digital transformation across its global operations. This collaboration marks a pivotal step in GTC Group's strategy to integrate the latest technology into its services, ensuring it remains at the competitive edge of the financial industry.

Blue Hat Technology brings to the table its advanced expertise, which will be instrumental in developing new platforms and services for GTC Group. This collaboration is expected to result in the launch of groundbreaking products and services, designed to meet the evolving needs of customers in the digital age.





GTC Group Announces Strategic Partnership with Blue Hat

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The partnership is also expected to generate significant economic benefits, including job creation and business opportunities in the tech and financial sectors. Both companies are committed to leveraging their collective strengths to foster innovation, drive growth, and deliver lasting value to their customers, employees, and stakeholders.





Strong alliance between the two parties

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For more information about GTC Group and its partnership with Blue Hat Technology, please visit [gtcfx.com].

About GTC Group

GTC Group is a global leader in financial solutions, providing a wide range of services including [services offered]. With a commitment to innovation and excellence, GTC Group serves clients worldwide, helping them to navigate the complexities of the financial markets.

About Blue Hat Technology

Blue Hat Technology is at the forefront of technological innovation. With a focus on developing cutting-edge solutions, Blue Hat Technology aims to transform industries and enhance the way businesses operate.

Media Details

Contact Person: Jason Al-Masri

Company name: GTC Group LLC-FZ

Phone: [+971 800 667788](tel:+971 800 667788),

Email: [email protected]

City & Country: Dubai, UAE

Website:https://gtcfx.com/

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/203132
Sydney, Australia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 26, 2024) - In a landmark move aiming to redefine the frontier of cryptocurrency investment in Australia, Maher and James Capital introduces a visionary approach to digital asset management. Founded by industry stalwarts Matthew Maher and Alex James, this pioneering firm marries traditional financial acumen with innovative crypto expertise. The launch signals a new era for Australian investors, offering a seamless bridge to the dynamic world of cryptocurrencies.





Maher and James Capital

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Background

Cryptocurrency continues to captivate the global market with its potential for high returns and democratization of financial services. However, its intrinsic volatility and complexity have often sidelined potential investors, particularly those accustomed to the traditional financial ecosystem. Recognizing this gap, Matthew Maher and Alex James, with their formidable combination of traditional finance and crypto asset fluency, have crafted a brokerage firm designed to demystify crypto investments.

Vision and Strategy

Maher and James Capital is not just another crypto brokerage firm; it's a comprehensive platform built on the pillars of education, security, and personalized investment strategies. The founders' objective is clear: to empower investors by providing a clear path through the often convoluted landscape of cryptocurrency investing. The firm's approach is distinguished by its dedication to client education, ensuring investors are not only confident but also informed about investment choices and strategies.

Client-Centric Approach

At the heart of Maher and James Capital is a philosophy that every investor's needs are unique. Rejecting a one-size-fits-all model, the firm specializes in creating bespoke investment solutions that resonate with the individual goals and risk appetites of its clients. This personalized service is underscored by a commitment to long-term client relationships.

Unparalleled Security

In the volatile realm of digital assets, security is paramount. Maher and James Capital introduces a state-of-the-art, multi-layered security protocol that sets a new benchmark in asset protection. From advanced encryption measures and stringent verification processes to secure cold storage practices, the firm aims to protect the integrity and safety of client investments.

Service Offerings

Maher and James Capital's suite of services encompasses a broad spectrum of investment support, including:

Expert Guidance : Leveraging the founders' extensive experience in both traditional finance and crypto markets to offer strategic investment advice.

: Leveraging the founders' extensive experience in both traditional finance and crypto markets to offer strategic investment advice. Educational Resources : Empowering clients with the knowledge to navigate the crypto space confidently.

: Empowering clients with the knowledge to navigate the crypto space confidently. Tailored Investment Strategies : Customizing investment plans to meet diverse financial goals and risk tolerances.

: Customizing investment plans to meet diverse financial goals and risk tolerances. Robust Security: Prioritizing the protection of client assets through cutting-edge technology and best practices.

A New Paradigm

This launch is more than just the inception of a new firm; it represents a paradigm shift in the Australian financial landscape. Maher and James Capital aims to transform the crypto brokerage domain by integrating expert investment strategies, strong security measures, and an unwavering focus on client needs and aspirations.

The Future of Finance

As the digital asset marketplace continues to evolve, Maher and James Capital is at the forefront, guiding Australian investors to navigate this promising yet complex terrain confidently. The firm's foundation-rooted in expertise, innovation, and a deep commitment to client successaiming for more secure and strategic crypto investment in Australia.

Invitation to Explore

Maher and James Capital warmly invites Australian investors, both seasoned and newcomers, to explore the vast potential of cryptocurrency investments. To learn more about the firm's pioneering approach and service offerings, visit maherandjames.com, contact [email protected], or call +61 2 8527 3560.

Media contact:

Anna M

maherandjames.com

[email protected]

call +61 2 8527 3560

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/203157
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - March 26, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced insider trading charges against Andreas Andy Bechtolsheim, the founder and Chief Architect of Silicon Valley-based technology company Arista Networks, Inc. To settle the SECs charges, Bechtolsheim agreed to pay a civil penalty of nearly $1 million.



According to the SECs complaint, Bechtolsheim misappropriated material nonpublic information regarding the impending acquisition of Acacia Communications, Inc., a manufacturer of highspeed optical interconnect products. The SEC alleges that Bechtolsheim, who was Arista Networkss chair at the time, learned of Acacias impending acquisition on July 8, 2019, through his and Arista Networkss longstanding relationship with another multinational technology company that was also considering acquiring Acacia and consulted with Bechtolsheim concerning the potential acquisition. Immediately after learning this information, Bechtolsheim allegedly traded Acacia options in the accounts of a close relative and an associate. The next day, July 9, 2019, before the market opened, Acacia and Cisco announced that Cisco had agreed to acquire Acacia for $70 per share. That day, Acacias stock price increased by 35.1 percent. According to the SECs complaint, Bechtolsheims trading generated combined illegal profits of $415,726 in the accounts of his relative and associate.



We allege that Bechtolsheim, while serving as the chairman of a publicly traded company, abused the trust of a longtime business contact who had shared highly sensitive information about an imminent corporate acquisition, said Joseph G. Sansone, Chief of the SECs Market Abuse Unit. We will continue to pursue and prosecute misconduct by trusted insiders at all levels of the corporate hierarchy.



Without admitting or denying the allegations in the SECs complaint, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Bechtolsheim settled the SECs charges by agreeing to be barred from serving as an officer or director of a public company for five years and to pay a civil monetary penalty of $923,740. The settlement is subject to court approval.



The SECs investigation was conducted by John P. Mogg of the Division of Enforcements Market Abuse Unit in the San Francisco Regional Office with assistance from Patrick McCluskey, John S. Rymas, and Ainsley Kerr of the Market Abuse Units Analysis and Detection Center. The matter was supervised by Rahul Kolhatkar and Mr. Sansone. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.



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HONG KONG, Mar 26, 2024 - (ACN Newswire) - - ALO Parent Education App/Digital Platform (ALO) is collaborating with The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK) to provide greater support for students with special educational needs (SEN) and their parents. Celebrating its one-year anniversary, ALO has announced significant system updates and an expansion of its content, including collaboration with the Hong Kong Police Force to promote child protection messages. To mark this momentous occasion, ALO organized the "ALO and EdUHK Collaboration " Launch Ceremony and Inaugural Seminar. The event not only unveiled the scope and direction of the collaboration with EdUHK but also featured accomplished professionals from the education sector sharing insights on different topics, including the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in the field of education. Representative from the Hong Kong Police Force was also present to promote child protection messages. Distinguished guests in attendance included Mr. Jeff SZE Chun Fai, JP, Under Secretary for Education; Professor Kenneth SIN Kuen Fung, MH, EdUHK; Ms. YU Hoi Kwan, Chief Superintendent of Police (Crime Support); Mr. Eugene FONG Yick-jin, Chairman of Committee on Home-School Co-operation; Mr. Henry TONG Sau-Chai, MH, JP, Vice Chairman of HKTA The Yuen Yuen Institute; Dr. Kevin YUNG Wai Ho, EdUHK; and Mr. CM CHUNG, Principal of Shanghai Alumni Primary School, among others.

The officiating guest, Mr. Jeff SZE Chun Fai, JP, Under Secretary for Education, expressed, "I am pleased to attend the 'ALO and EdUHK Collaboration' Launch Ceremony and Inaugural Seminar, and also celebrate ALO's first anniversary. It is gratifying to witness the continuous improvement of the ALO Parent Education App/Digital Platform over the past year, as well as its efforts to connect with more schools to expand services and enhance the quality of parental education in Hong Kong. Additionally, I am delighted to see the collaboration between ALO and EdUHKm that enables parents to systematically learn effective parenting methods and knowledge through the digital platform. I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank the ALO team and EdUHK for their ongoing efforts and contributions to parental education."

"ALO utilises artificial intelligence technology and combines it with the expertise and experience of the EdUHK team. For parents of students with special educational needs, the journey of parenting is never smooth. The Education Bureau attaches great importance to parental education. The care and love of parents, along with the guidance and support of schools, are crucial for nurturing children's growth. The Education Bureau is committed to supporting parents with diverse needs, including initiatives such as the "Smart Parent Net" information platform and the "SENSE" website. These platforms provide essential information for supporting students' physical and mental development, as well as practical information and videos to assist parents in caring for children with special educational needs, helping them establish a positive parent-child relationship and promote children's overall development. The successful implementation of parental education relies on the support and collaboration from various stakeholders. The collaboration between ALO, EdUHK, and the Hong Kong Police Force serves as a testament to the importance of interdisciplinary and cross-professional cooperation. In the days ahead, I hope that we can continue to work together to enhance society's emphasis on parental education, creating a joyful and healthy learning and growth experience for children, enabling them to enjoy learning, unleash their potential, and fully develop their strengths," Jeff added.

Mr. Peter TSANG Cheung, JP, the founder of ALO, stated, "Since its launch in 2023, ALO has been serving for a year. I would like to express my gratitude to all colleagues for their hard work, as well as the support and encouragement from the society. ALO has achieved significant milestones during this time. We have garnered participation from over 100 schools and received positive feedback from principals and teachers responsible for parent education, who are eager for the speedy activation of ALO. We are committed to continuously gathering feedback and improving the platform's content quality and quantity, enhancing functionality and user experience, and expanding our range of services. In the upcoming enhanced version, ALO 4.0, we will introduce new categories such as 'Special Education,' 'National Education,' and 'Law-abidingness Education.' Through collaborations with various partners, we aim to provide more authoritative content. Notably, ALO will collaborate with EdUHK to launch the Parent Education and Special Education Certificate Course. We are also grateful for our collaboration with the Hong Kong Police Force in promoting child protection messages to the public. Looking ahead, we anticipate ALO's continued engagement with diverse sectors of society in creating a happier and more nurturing environment for the next generation."

Collaboration with EdUHK to launch Parent Education and Special Education Certificate Courses, seizing the "golden period" to provide support for SEN Students

To better support SEN students, it is essential to identify and intervene during the critical "golden period" between the ages of 3 and 6. Accessing support services early on greatly enhances their integration into the mainstream education system. However, the demand for SEN support services currently surpasses the available supply in Hong Kong. Consequently, parents face significant pressure and may experience emotional difficulties due to the caregiving responsibilities involved. In this collaboration, EdUHK is supporting ALO to address the unique learning needs of SEN students. Together, they are launching Parent Education and Special Education Certificate Course, which aims to provide tailored support to SEN students and facilitate their seamless integration into the mainstream education system.

Regarding this collaboration, Professor John LEE Chi Kin, JP, President of EdUHK, expressed, "In the process of children's holistic development, parents play a crucial role. Currently, the EdUHK's teacher training programs also cover topics related to parent education, including communication with children, parent-school cooperation, and parental support. At the same time, EdUHK is actively developing various educational resources, such as e-learning materials for special education, to assist parents in teaching their children at home. I am delighted that the EdUHK team from the Institute of Special Needs and Inclusive Education (ISNIE) will collaborate with ALO to provide information and training on special education. This collaboration will enable parents to better understand their children's needs, abilities, interests, and aspirations, fostering their growth in a positive environment. I sincerely wish for the steady development of the collaboration between EdUHK and ALO, jointly promoting parent education and the holistic development of students."

Seminar centered around two key topics: the application of AI in education and how to create an ideal environment for children's growth

ALO's inaugural seminar focused on two key topics: the application of AI in education and creating a better growth environment for children to unleash their potential. The development of AI has brought revolutionary changes to our daily lives, and ALO, as an easy-to-use and digitally-driven interactive platform, keeps up with the times by actively incorporating AI elements to enhance content quality and comprehensively address the challenges of parenting and education in Hong Kong. During the seminar, ALO showcased examples of AI applications, such as the introduction of a virtual teacher avatar function and an AI-powered video generation platform. These innovations significantly reduce teachers' workload, enhance students' learning motivation, and greatly increase teaching flexibility. For instance, teachers no longer need to regularly record videos for students learning at home. Instead, they can simply input the content and generate videos using generative AI. Dr. Kevin YUNG Wai Ho from EdUHK demonstrated how artificial intelligence can facilitate self-directed learning at the event.

Dr. Kevin YUNG Wai Ho, from EdUHK, discussed the role of AI in instructional transformation, stating, "Artificial intelligence brings significant autonomous motivation to students in teaching. Its advantages include providing personalized instruction, adaptive learning, 24/7 availability of services, supporting the role of teachers, meeting the needs of non-mainstream and special education, avoiding human bias, and providing real-time feedback/actions." Dr. Kevin Yung also mentioned that he has personally witnessed the impressive generation of AI virtual characters, whose lip movements and body gestures are very natural. This has made him look forward to the greater contributions that ALO can make in education in the future.

Mr. CM CHUNG, Principal of Shanghai Alumni Primary School, shared practical examples of AI integration in teaching and expressed, " Shanghai Alumni Primary School has been implementing ALO for some time, and indeed, artificial intelligence brings revolutionary new learning modes and educational methods, providing practical assistance for school operations. Teachers can pre-record videos, input text content, and automatically generate videos with teaching presentations, significantly reducing time costs. For students with special educational needs, the teaching pace or replay can be adjusted according to their needs and absorption abilities. Particularly during the peak of influenza season, even if teachers are absent due to illness, substitute teachers can easily access teaching materials from the intranet, ensuring smooth progression of the curriculum."

Professor Kenneth SIN Kuen Fung, MH, from EdUHK, shared insights on assisting underprivileged students in unleashing their potential, remarking, " In recent years, Hong Kong adopts a dual-track mode in providing special education, resulting in an increasing number of students with SEN attending mainstream schools. In fact, many SEN students have exceptional talents. For example, a few years ago, an autistic athlete represented Hong Kong in the Special Olympics and won a gold medal. The truth is that many students have untapped talents, and with the use of technology, they can be discovered and nurtured, benefiting more students, schools, and teachers."

Additionally, the event invited eight principals from kindergartens, primary schools, secondary schools, and special schools participate in sharing session. They shared their views on how parents and schools can collaborate to create a better growth environment for children, including Mr. Henry TONG Sau-Chai, MH, JP, Vice Chairman of HKTA The Yuen Yuen Institute; Mr SAU Hang-chor, Principal of Sam Shui Natives Association Lau Pun Cheung School; Ms. KAN Shuk-Ching, Principal of ELCHK Ma On Shan Lutheran Primary School; Mr. Paul CHEUK Tak-Kan, Principal of Tung Wan Mok Law Shui Wah School; Mr. CHEN Tak-Nam, Principal of Hoi Ping Chamber of Commerce Secondary School; Mr. Alan LAI Chun-Wing, Principal of HKTA The Yuen Yuen Institute No.3 Secondary School; Mr. CHU Ka-Tim, Principal of Shatin Pui Ying College; Mr. Eddie LAM Tak-Yuk, Principal of Tseung Kwan O Methodist Primary School; Ms. LI Wai-Man, Principal of S.K.H. Kindly Light Church Holy Carpenter Kindergarten Nursery; and Mr. Eugene FONG Yick-jin, Chairman of Committee on Home-School Co-operation.

ALO's enhanced 4.0 version features a collaboration with the Hong Kong Police Force to promote child protection messages and advocate for the well-being of parents.

ALO has continuously gathered feedback and expanded its service coverage, this includes collaborating with different government departments and university institutions to provide authoritative content, aiming to assist parents in various situations within the community. In response to the latest educational needs, ALO enhanced its 4.0 version by introducing the categories of 'National Education' and 'Law-abidingness Education.' Simultaneously, ALO collaborates with the Hong Kong Police Force to provide the latest information, such as Crime Prevention Alerts, and also promote messages related to child protection to the general public.

Ms. YU Hoi Kwan, Chief Superintendent of Police (Crime Support), expressed her thoughts on the collaboration, stating, "I am delighted to collaborate with ALO through the 'Crime Alerts Network (CAN)' and 'SafeCity Ambassadors' initiatives, providing the platform with the latest crime prevention and child protection information. ALO's lively and engaging animations enhance public awareness of law-abidingness, allowing parents to familiarize themselves with legal knowledge and methods of seeking assistance in child protection. This collaboration complements the work of law enforcement agencies, working hand in hand to promote the safety and well-being of children."

According to the Curriculum Framework on Parent Education by the Education Bureau, the four major categories of parent education include "Understanding of Child Development," "Promotion of Healthy, Happy and Balanced Development of Children," "Promotion of Parents' Physical and Psychological Well-being," and "Fostering Home-school Co-operation and Communication." However, the aspect of "Promotion of Parents' Physical and Psychological Well-being" is often overlooked. Recognizing this, ALO is committed to incorporating content in this category into its platform. Mr. Peter TSANG Cheung, JP, the founder of ALO, also shares his experience in practices such as "Stake-Standing" and Tai Chi Chuan, which he has cultivated over the years, through the ALO mobile application, aiming to promote the physical and mental well-being of the public, including parents, principals, teachers, and students.

Looking ahead, Mr. Peter TSANG Cheung, JP, the founder of ALO, stated, "As an educator, one of the most important principles is to keep pace with the times and ensure that students acquire knowledge and skills that meet the needs of the era when they enter society. ALO, as an educational platform, has never stopped improving the quality and quantity of its content, optimizing functionality and user experience, and expanding its service coverage. We aim to provide the necessary assistance to parents facing various situations in society, enabling the next generation to grow up in a joyful and happy environment. In the future, ALO will stay true to its original mission of 'Unite Hong Kong to Support Parents ; Build a Prosperous Society Through Positive Parenting,' contributing to the construction of a prosperous society in Hong Kong!"

Photos download: https://bit.ly/3vf46x6

About ALO

Established in 2021, ALO is Hong Kong's first parent education digital app/platform system launched by the non-profit organization Children Social Network (CSN). Based on the Curriculum Framework on Parent Education launched by the Education Bureau (EDB) for kindergartens and primary schools, ALO creates authoritative, systematic as well as interesting multimedia positive parenting information, providing a holistic support for the promotion of parent education. The content covers four major aspects "understanding of child development", "promotion of healthy, happy and balanced development of children, "promotion of parents' physical and psychological well-being" and "fostering home school cooperation & communication."

Supported by a team of education professionals responsible for planning, producing, supporting, and supervising the multimedia content for parent education, ALO responds flexibly to the need of modern parents on raising children, and offers a new space for home-school interaction, communication as well as experience sharing for local schools and parents. Together with different industry sectors, ALO is committed to working towards the future of children.

This press release is issued by Strategic Communications Consultants Limited on behalf of ALO. For any enquiries, please contact:

Strategic Communication Consulting Services Limited (SCC)

Andico Tsui

Tel: 2114 4346 / 6902 3831

Email: [email protected]

Fax: 2114 0880

Copyright 2024 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
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Hedge Fund Expert Joseph Samuels Gives Back With Grant Fund



The Joseph Samuels Grant for Musical Theater, founded by esteemed visionary Joseph Samuels, offers a beacon of opportunity to passionate individuals pursuing excellence in the realm of musical theater. With an unwavering commitment to nurturing emerging talent, Joseph Samuels proudly announces the availability of this prestigious grant.

Open to aspiring artists worldwide above 18, the Joseph Samuels Grant for Musical Theater provides a transformative opportunity for playwrights, composers, lyricists, directors, choreographers, performers, and other dedicated individuals to realize their artistic aspirations. With a generous amount of $1,000, this grant aims to support the educational endeavors of individuals who demonstrate exceptional talent, creativity, and a genuine commitment to the craft of musical theater.

Applicants are invited to reflect on their journey and passion for musical theater through a compelling essay, addressing fundamental questions that illuminate their dedication and vision for the future of the industry. With a keen emphasis on diversity and inclusivity, the Joseph Samuels Grant for Musical Theater welcomes individuals from all backgrounds to contribute to the vibrant landscape of musical theater.

Joseph Samuels of Islet Capital, renowned for his innovative contributions in the financial industry as the founder of Islet Capital Management, channels his passion for excellence into the arts through this visionary initiative. A native of New Jersey and a distinguished alumnus of Rutgers UniversityNew Brunswick, Joseph Samuels brings a wealth of experience and insight to the world of musical theater.

"The Joseph Samuels Grant for Musical Theater represents a convergence of my passion for innovation and the transformative power of the arts," says Joseph Samuels. "Through this grant, we aim to empower aspiring artists to realize their full potential and make a lasting impact on the world of musical theater."

The application deadline for the Joseph Samuels Grant for Musical Theater is December 15, 2024, with the winner set to be announced on January 15, 2025. Applicants are encouraged to seize this extraordinary opportunity to advance their careers and contribute to the rich tapestry of musical theater.

For more information and to apply, please visit https://josephsamuelsgrant.com/.

About Joseph Samuels:

Joseph Samuels, a hedge fund expert and visionary leader and founder of Islet Capital Management, renowned for his innovative contributions to the financial industry. A native of New Jersey and a graduate of Rutgers UniversityNew Brunswick, Joseph channels his passion for excellence into the arts through initiatives such as the Joseph Samuels Grant for Musical Theater, aimed at nurturing emerging talent and fostering creativity in musical theater.

Contact Info:

Name: Joseph Samuels

Email: Send Email

Organization: Joseph Samuels Grant

Website: https://josephsamuelsgrant.com



Release ID: 89125344

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Lowenthal Abrams, P.C., renowned for its advocacy in medical malpractice, extends its services to Allegheny and Erie Counties. Their expertise in navigating complex claims ensures justice and compensation for those affected by healthcare negligence.



Lowenthal Abrams, P.C., a distinguished law firm recognized for its advocacy on behalf of victims of medical negligence, is pleased to announce the expansion of its medical malpractice injury attorney services to encompass Allegheny and Erie Counties. This strategic initiative is designed to provide comprehensive legal support and representation for individuals and families adversely affected by medical malpractice, emphasizing the firm's commitment to justice and compensation for those wronged by healthcare professionals.

The escalation of medical malpractice incidents within Allegheny and Erie Counties underscores the imperative for adept legal representation. Lowenthal Abrams, P.C. leverages profound expertise in medical malpractice law, enabling the firm's attorneys to adeptly navigate the complexities inherent in such claims. From surgical errors and misdiagnoses to medication errors and nursing home neglect, the potential for severe injury or wrongful death necessitates a meticulous approach to claim investigation, utilizing medical experts to substantiate allegations of negligence.

Lowenthal Abrams, P.C. employs a personalized strategy for each case, acknowledging the unique circumstances and profound emotional and physical impact on victims and their families. The firm ensures transparent communication throughout the legal process, keeping clients informed from evidence collection and medical record review to negotiations with insurance companies and litigation, if necessary.

In addition to direct legal representation, Lowenthal Abrams, P.C. engages in advocacy for healthcare reform, aiming to elevate healthcare standards and prevent future instances of malpractice. This commitment to both individual and systemic change is indicative of the firm's comprehensive approach to legal services, underscoring a commitment to community well-being and the betterment of healthcare practices.

Residents of Allegheny and Erie Counties encountering the repercussions of medical malpractice are invited to consult with Lowenthal Abrams, P.C. to discuss their case and explore legal options. The firm stands ready to provide expert legal counsel and representation, guiding clients through the complexities of the legal landscape toward achieving the best possible outcome.

The landscape of medical malpractice claims encompasses a broad spectrum of errors and oversights, from heart attack misdiagnosis and stroke misdiagnosis to delayed cancer diagnosis. These critical failures by health care providers in Allegheny County and beyond can have devastating consequences for patients and their families, including birth injuries, severe progression of diseases, and, in some cases, wrongful death. Lowenthal Abrams, P.C., with a dedicated team of medical malpractice lawyers, stands ready to confront these challenges, advocating for the rights and compensation of affected individuals.

Medical errors, such as anesthesia errors, emergency room errors, and hospital errors, compound the risk to patients, necessitating a thorough investigation and expert legal representation. Medical malpractice attorneys at Lowenthal Abrams, P.C. possess the requisite knowledge and experience to navigate the complex medical and legal aspects of these cases. By offering an initial consultation, the firm assesses the merits of a medical malpractice claim, guiding injury victims through the intricacies of the legal process, from medical treatment documentation to the pursuit of a personal injury claim or wrongful death claims.

The emotional and physical toll of medical mistakes on patients and their families is immeasurable. Beyond the immediate medical care required to address such errors, victims often face long-term consequences, including loss of enjoyment of life and significant emotional distress. Financial recovery through medical malpractice lawsuits becomes a crucial step in addressing the burden of medical bills and compensating for the loss of enjoyment and life alterations. Lowenthal Abrams, P.C. approaches each case with a deep understanding of the personal impact of medical negligence, working tirelessly to secure the financial recovery necessary for a semblance of normalcy post-injury.

Time limits for filing a claim present another critical aspect for consideration by potential plaintiffs in medical malpractice cases. Understanding and adhering to these time constraints are vital for the success of a medical malpractice claim. Lowenthal Abrams, P.C.'s attorneys are well-versed in the statutes governing medical malpractice lawsuits in Pennsylvania, including Allegheny County, ensuring that all necessary steps are taken within the legal timelines to preserve the rights of injury victims.

Lowenthal Abrams, P.C. operates on a contingency basis, affirming its commitment to providing accessible legal services to those affected by medical negligence. This arrangement underscores the firm's belief in the validity and importance of each case it undertakes, ensuring that victims seeking justice and financial recovery for medical malpractice, from delayed diagnosis to birth injuries and beyond, are supported regardless of their current financial situation. Through diligent advocacy, meticulous case preparation, and compassionate client relations, Lowenthal Abrams, P.C. endeavors to uphold the highest standards of legal representation for individuals and families devastated by medical malpractice.

About Lowenthal Abrams, P.C.:

Lowenthal Abrams, P.C. is a premier law firm specializing in medical malpractice, personal injury, workers' compensation, and wrongful death cases. With an experienced team of attorneys and medical professionals, Lowenthal Abrams, P.C. offers unparalleled legal representation to victims of negligence across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. Dedicated to justice and the well-being of clients, Lowenthal Abrams, P.C. is a trusted advocate in the legal community.

Contact Info:

Name: Jeffrey P. Lowenthal

Email: Send Email

Organization: Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C.

Address: 555 E City Ave. Suite 500, Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania 19004, United States

Website: https://lowenthalabrams.com/



Release ID: 89125422

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New York's Stephen Carolan Gives Back With Scholarship Fund



Renowned Obstetrics and Gynecology expert, Dr. Stephen Carolan, proudly announces the establishment of the Dr. Stephen Carolan Scholarship for Medical Students, aimed at fostering excellence in the field of women's health.

The Dr. Stephen Carolan Scholarship for Medical Students is an esteemed opportunity for aspiring medical professionals to be recognized, supported, and mentored. With a one-time award of $1,000, this scholarship seeks to honor students dedicated to advancing healthcare, particularly within the realms of Obstetrics and Gynecology, laparoscopic and robotic surgery, or womens health.

Welcome to the heart of the Dr. Stephen Carolan Scholarship for Medical Studentsan initiative inspired by the remarkable journey of Dr. Stephen Carolan, MD FACOG. Dr. Carolans unwavering commitment to excellence, coupled with his profound impact on the fields of Obstetrics and Gynecology, serves as the driving force behind this scholarship.

A Summa Cum Laude graduate in Biology from St. Johns University and a Harrison Scholar at New York Medical College, Dr. Stephen Carolans academic prowess laid the foundation for a stellar career. With licensure in both New York and Connecticut, and certifications from prestigious organizations, he became a beacon of expertise and innovation.

Dr. Stephen Carolans journey as an Attending Physician at WestMed Medical Group and Director of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Greenwich Hospital reflects his dedication to advancing womens health. His formal teaching roles at Yale/Bridgeport and New York Medical College further demonstrate his commitment to shaping the next generation of medical professionals.

The Dr. Stephen Carolan Scholarship for Medical Students is not just a financial award; its an opportunity for aspiring medical professionals to be recognized, supported, and mentored. As students navigate their paths in Obstetrics and Gynecology, laparoscopic and robotic surgery, or womens health, they are invited to be part of this legacy. Applicants are encouraged to submit a compelling essay (500-700 words) reflecting on significant experiences or challenges that have shaped their commitment to Obstetrics and Gynecology, along with their vision for positively impacting the future of healthcare, emphasizing womens health.

To be considered for the Dr. Stephen Carolan Scholarship for Medical Students, applicants must meet the following criteria:

Academic Dedication: Current enrollment in a medical school program with a focus on Obstetrics and Gynecology, laparoscopic and robotic surgery, or womens health.

Passion for Healthcare: Demonstrate a genuine passion for advancing healthcare, particularly within the field of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Academic Excellence: Maintain a strong academic record, showcasing dedication and excellence in medical studies.

Vision for Impact: Clearly articulate a vision for positively impacting the future of healthcare, emphasizing womens health.

Essay Contest: Submit a compelling essay (500-700 words) addressing the provided prompt.

The deadline to apply for the scholarship is September 15, 2024. The winner will be announced on October 15, 2024.

For more information and to apply, please visit the official website: https://drstephencarolanscholarship.com/

Dr. Stephen Carolan Scholarship for Medical Students is a testament to Dr. Stephen Carolans enduring commitment to excellence in womens health and medical education.



Contact Info:

Name: Dr. Stephen Carolan

Email: Send Email

Organization: Dr. Stephen Carolan Scholarship

Website: http://[email protected]



Release ID: 89125345

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atNorth to provide further capacity at its ICE03 site in order to increase security and provide geographical redundancy for Advania's clients.

REYKJAVIK, Iceland , March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- atNorth, a leading Nordic colocation, high-performance computing, and artificial intelligence service provider announced today an expansion of its partnership with Nordic IT services corporation, Advania, providing additional capacity at its state of the art ICE03 site in Iceland which opened last year.

Advania is a long-standing customer of atNorth at its ICE01 site in Reykjavik in addition to some of atNorth's other data centers in Sweden and Finland . The expansion to the ICE03 campus allows for further geographical separation of their infrastructure and highlights the business's focus on data security, not to mention the benefits of redundancy and performance optimization.

"atNorth's ICE03 site in Akureyri helps to ensure our data security", says Hafsteinn Gumundsson , Executive Director of IT operations and services at Advania, citing as an example that the regulatory framework of some companies that work with sensitive databases calls for data to be stored in geographically different locations. "It is now possible to achieve such separation and mirroring of data domestically by utilizing two of atNorth's sites in Iceland ."

"We are delighted that Advania has chosen to expand into our ICE03 data center as part of our long standing relationship", says Eyjolfur Magnus Kristinsson, CEO at atNorth. "We are proud to be able to offer increased services where security and connectivity is ensured and carbon footprint is minimised".

atNorth's ICE03 data center is located in the town of Akureyri which is in the north of Iceland and therefore benefits from the country's cool climate and renewable energy sources. Akureyri is becoming increasingly attractive as a thriving technology hub as a result of investment in better and more resilient connectivity in the region.

The news follows atNorth's recent announcement of three new sites, FIN02, a 15MW site near Helsinki , Finland , FIN04, a 60MW mega site in Kouvola, Finland and DEN01, a 30MW data center in Copenhagen, Denmark . This significant expansion of atNorth's data center footprint is in direct response to an increased demand for its sustainable high-performance infrastructure.

About atNorth

atNorth is a leading Nordic data center services company that offers sustainable, cost-effective, scalable colocation and high-performance computing services trusted by industry-leading organizations. The business acquired leading High-Performance Computing (HPC) provider, Gompute, in 2023 enabling a compelling full stack offering tailored to AI and other critical high-performance workloads.

With sustainability at its core, atNorth's data centers run on renewable energy resources and support circular economy principles. All atNorth sites leverage innovative design, power efficiency, and intelligent operations to provide long-term infrastructure and flexible colocation deployments. The tailor-made solutions enable businesses to calculate, simulate, train and visualize data workloads in an efficient, cost-optimized way.

atNorth is headquartered in Reykjavik, Iceland and operates seven data centers in strategic locations across the Nordics, with additional sites to open in Helsinki, Finland and in Denmark in Q4 2024, as well as its tenth site ready for operation in Kouvola, Finland in 2025.

For more information, visit atNorth.com or follow atNorth on LinkedIn or Facebook.

About Advania

Advania is a leading MSP provider operating across the Nordics and in the UK. Advania offers a variety of managed services where clients can outsource specific IT operations and services. In Iceland Advania is providing scalable on demand infrastructure and application services with customers across all industries.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/atnorth/r/advania-expands-into-second-atnorth-data-center-site-in-iceland,c3951741

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SOURCE atNorth
ARLINGTON, Texas , March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Agora Data, a fintech company that provides technology, capital, and guidance with predictable loan performance and analytics for the subprime automotive industry, announces the addition of Robin Dukes as Vice President of Strategic Alliances. Robin joins Agora as an exceptional automotive executive with an extensive background working in dealerships and companies that support the automotive industry. She is responsible for leading nationwide efforts collaborating with ancillary product providers, affiliations, their agents, and other trusted partners of dealerships to increase a dealership's profitability.

"Robin is an effective leader with an extensive background, experience, and relationships in retail automotive as a reliable resource who will help car dealers realize more profitability and growth," said Chris Barry , SVP of Agora Data. "Robin's exceptional customer service combined with her high energy and passion for the automotive industry contributes to her years of exceptional success."

"I'm thrilled to be with Agora as they are leading auto finance innovation and delivering a unique opportunity for dealerships to realize income development," said Robin Dukes , VP of Strategic Alliances. "Agora is an extension of the dealership's team focused on improving production and increasing revenue."

Robin has an impressive leadership background in all areas of automotive including fixed ops, F&I, income development, aftermarket and ancillary products and services. She recently spent 12 years with Solera/Spireon as National Vice President of Sales. She also has been a trusted industry consultant, leveraging her 20 years working in various sales positions in dealerships as general manager, general sales manager, finance director, and finance manager for various franchise and independent dealerships throughout the U.S.

About Agora Data, Inc.

Agora Data, Inc. is an automotive industry fintech revolutionizing financing for dealers and finance companies. Auto dealerships can secure affordable capital to build their own non-prime captive finance companies, obtain actionable loan performance data to improve their lending portfolios, and use a wide range of solutions to grow their business safely. Powered by patent pending artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technology, auto dealers and finance companies can access real-time data analytics and planning resources to help optimize the performance of their portfolios. Agora Data made history by closing the first-ever crowdsourced non-prime auto securitization in 2020 and continually brings groundbreaking financing solutions to an underserved market. For more information, visit www.agoradata.com.

Press Contact:

Shelly Vandeven

1-877-592-4672

https://agoradata.com

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SOURCE Agora Data, Inc.
SEONGNAM, South Korea and AURORA, Colo. , March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Bridge Biotherapeutics (KQ288330), a South Korean clinical-stage biotech company developing novel drugs for cancer, fibrosis, and inflammation, announced a research collaboration with Dr. Raul Torres's Lab at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. The collaboration will focus on exploring the potential of BBT-877, a novel autotaxin (ATX) inhibitor, as an immuno-oncology treatment for cancer.

Throughout his previous and ongoing research, Dr. Raul Torres , Professor of Immunology and Microbiology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, has shown that lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) plays a role in modulating CD8 T cell immunosurveillance and metabolism, ultimately disrupting the body's anti-tumor immunity.[i] LPA, a lipid that increases in its concentration across various cancer types, interacts with six different G protein-coupled receptors (LPA receptor 1-6, LPAR 1-6) to activate pathways and downstream signaling molecules leading to inflammation and fibrosis. According to recent research by Dr. Torres , the engagement of LPAR5 to LPA leads to the inhibition of cytotoxic function of CD8 T cells, thereby allowing cancer cells to evade immune surveillance. Silencing the inhibitory signaling of the LPA-LPAR5 pathway by reducing LPA levels is expected to enhance CD8 T cell immunity and improve effectiveness in killing cancer.[ii]

The joint research effort is focused on BBT-877, a novel ATX inhibitor that has been found to reduce LPA production by as much as 90% in human studies. The goal is to assess BBT-877's potential as an immuno-oncology treatment. Early findings suggest that it may boost the immune system's ability to attack cancer cells by enhancing antigen-specific target cell killing, reducing LPA-mediated activation of LPAR5, and suppressing T cell dysfunction, leading to stronger anti-tumor immunity.

"We are excited to collaborate with Dr. Torres's Lab to investigate the potential of BBT-877 as a novel immuno-oncology treatment," said James Lee , CEO of Bridge Biotherapeutics. " Dr. Torres's groundbreaking research on the role of the LPA-LPAR axis and T cell antigen receptor signaling in anti-tumor immunity has suggested the potential of autotaxin inhibitors to expand its indication into immuno-oncology," he added.

Dr. Raul Torres , Professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, stated, "By collaborating with Bridge Biotherapeutics, we aim to deepen our understanding of the intricate mechanisms underlying anti-tumor immunity with regards to the LPA-LPAR axis and to translate scientific findings into novel therapeutic strategies that can enhance immune responses against cancer."

Under the terms of the collaboration, Bridge Biotherapeutics will provide financial support and access to BBT-877, while Dr. Raul Torres's Lab will contribute its expertise in immunology and cancer biology. Together, the two entities will conduct preclinical studies to evaluate the therapeutic potential of BBT-877 in enhancing anti-tumor immunity.

About Bridge Biotherapeutics, Inc.

Bridge Biotherapeutics Inc., based in the Republic of Korea and the U.S. , is a publicly traded, clinical-stage biotech company founded in 2015. Bridge Biotherapeutics is engaged in the discovery and development of novel therapeutics, focusing on therapeutic areas with high unmet needs, including fibrotic diseases and cancers. The company is developing BBT-877, a novel autotaxin inhibitor for the treatment of fibrotic diseases including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), and BBT-207, a potent targeted cancer therapy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with EGFR C797S mutations. Learn more at https://www.bridgebiorx.com/en/.

About Autotaxin

Autotaxin (ATX), a protein of approximately 900 amino acids discovered in the early 1990s, is an important enzyme for generating the lipid-signaling molecule, lysophosphatidic acid (LPA). Autotaxin's lysophospholipase D activity converts lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) into LPA, which engages in signaling via LPA receptors. LPA signaling results in cell proliferation, migration, secretion of cytokines and chemokines, and reduction of cell apoptosis. Ultimately, autotaxin has a pathogenic role in processes of inflammation and fibrosis, making it an attractive drug target.

[i] Turner, Jacqueline A et al. "Lysophosphatidic acid modulates CD8 T cell immunosurveillance and metabolism to impair anti-tumor immunity." Nature communications vol. 14,1 3214. 3 Jun. 2023 , doi:10.1038/s41467-023-38933-4 [ii] Mathew, Divij et al. "LPA5 Is an Inhibitory Receptor That Suppresses CD8 T-Cell Cytotoxic Function via Disruption of Early TCR Signaling." Frontiers in immunology vol. 10 1159. 28 May. 2019 , doi:10.3389/fimmu.2019.01159

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SOURCE Bridge Biotherapeutics, Inc.
Kentucky Patients Overcome Insurmountable Challenges in Their Recovery Journeys

CINCINNATI , March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- BrightView Health is serving a record number of patients recovering from a substance use disorder  more than 5,000 just in Kentucky . Since opening its first Kentucky location in 2020, BrightView has expanded to offer its addiction treatment program to Kentuckians in all regions of the state. With 17 centers, most residents in the Bluegrass state now live within 30 minutes of a BrightView center.

Every single one of BrightView's 5,000 patients has a unique story that has been rewritten because of their recovery. Overdoses have been avoided, parents have gotten children back, employment has been achieved, education milestones have been reached, relapses have been prevented, and more. Further, BrightView patients have seen a material decrease in arrests and justice system involvement and reduced use of emergency medical services throughout the state.

BrightView's medical, behavioral health, social services, and laboratory staff have provided more than 156,000 hours of behavioral health and more than 73,000 hours of medical care to the states' most vulnerable populations. The scope of services helps patients rebuild their lives as part of their recovery and achieve key goals like completing high school equivalency, finding employment, navigating the child and family services system, purchasing reliable transportation, and beyond.

A patient at BrightView's Hazard center stated, "I know if it wasn't for the people here, I couldn't have done this on my own. They don't look down on you or judge you by your past. I'm very proud of where I am at in life right now."

"Too many Kentucky residents have died because of their addiction," said Rhonda Roper , BrightView's Vice President of Quality Operations, "At BrightView, we are treating that disease. With BrightView's best-in-class care, published outcomes data, contributions to scientific research, and comprehensive care model, we are honored to lead the conversation on recovery in the state."

"Addiction can affect anyone at any time," said Crystal Barajas , BrightView's Community Outreach Manager in Louisville . "That is why we are out in our communities providing resources and care to those who need it."

BrightView plans to open additional centers in Kentucky by the end of the year. The centers will serve patients in Lexington and Louisville region.

About BrightView:

Founded in 2015, BrightView provides comprehensive, evidence-based outpatient addiction treatment to thousands of patients in recovery from substance use disorder throughout 7 states.

The organization's more than 85 centers provide a practical treatment approach that includes medication assisted treatment (MAT), individual counseling, group therapy, and wraparound social services, as well as work on co-occurring disorders. Locations are generally able to dispense medication on-site, which makes treatment comfortable and convenient for patients.

BrightView's compassionate and professional staff create an accessible and welcoming environment for physical and emotional healing. BrightView is committed to treating each patient with respect, providing positive reinforcement, and achieving long-term wellness. To learn more, please visit brightviewhealth.com .

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SOURCE BrightView Health
Discover the future of logistics at this major event taking place on April 17 and 18 in Santo Domingo . An excellent venue for you to consolidate business relationships and learn about supply chain and logistics opportunities.

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic , March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Under the slogan "Connecting Global Opportunities", the Dominican Republic Logistics Summit 2024 (DRLS2024), which will take place on April 17 and 18 at the El Embajador hotel in Santo Domingo , offers an exclusive opportunity to delve into the infrastructure, logistical capabilities, and strategic position of the Dominican Republic . The event will offer a diverse program, with conferences and panels led by industry experts, face to face B2B sessions and guided tours of leading logistics facilities.

Industry Expert Forum

Sharing top-level knowledge: A great opportunity to be inspired by global thought leaders such as Jim Tompkins , Diego Paramo Atalaya, Ana Maria San Carlos, and Steve Robinson , among other expert speakers, who will address topics such as Innovation, Connectivity, Sustainability in Logistics and Nearshoring Opportunities, setting the tone for in depth discussions and collaboration.

Broad Industry Participation

Designed for decision-makers in supply chain areas such as distributors, manufacturing, retailers and wholesale representing industries such as medical devices, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, fashion, food and beverage, automotive, electronics, equipment, and machinery industries, among others, with the potential to position inventories and regional distribution in the Dominican Republic .

Strategic Position and Infrastructure Excellence

The privileged strategic location of the Dominican Republic is complemented by its unparalled connectivity via the nations 8 international airports, 10 maritime ports, and a robust land infrastructure system. Additionally the country boasts a comprehensive network of logistics operators and free zones driving the country's growing role in international trade, further supported by a dynamic growth economy as well as legal and social stability.

Secure Your Place at the Forefront of Industry Evolution

For registration details and additional information, visit the official website at https://drls2024.com/ and follow @dlrs2024 on social media for the latest updates. Embark on this journey to Santo Domingo to explore its immense potential and be part of the logistics and commercial strength of the Dominican Republic .

CONTACT: Info@drls2024

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SOURCE Dominican Republic Logistics Summit 2024
With cross-border e-commerce now comprising the bulk of China's exports, DHgate emphasized the importance of innovative business growth at its 2024 Seller Conference.

SHENZHEN, China , March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- DHgate , the global leading B2B cross-border e-commerce marketplace, hosted its 2024 Seller Conference in Shenzhen on March 26th, 2024 , where the company also announced their core strategy for 2024  to further innovate their B2B2C model and AI capabilities, along with a focus on improving user experience and localization.

To an audience of more than 1,500 platform sellers, DHGATE Group's Co-CEO Chun Li announced that in 2025, the DHgate marketplace will focus on developing and integrating AI technology as well as implementing a thorough quality upgrade of supply chain services. The platform will also prioritize acquiring new business customers in new scenarios, enhance the customer experience and market localization, improve overseas services for brands and selected suppliers, as well as promote B2B AI models and AIGC applications.

"DHgate's goal for 2024 and the coming decade is to work with our partners to upgrade each others' capabilities for mutual success," said Chun during his 2024 Seller Conference keynote speech.

"We are researching and implementing new ways to innovate on our B2B2C model so that brands are more empowered and have an easier time finding and selecting sellers. We are also exploring ways to make it easier than ever for sellers to export their products overseas."

DHGATE has officially launched the 'Pick Program' for products that meet high standards in business, quality and service, aiming to curate 1 million Pick products by the end of 2024.

DHGATE Group's 2024 strategy focuses on improving product and service quality, enhancing the buyer experience, and global expansion of its logistics and payment services. The group is set to further develop its intelligent cross-border logistics platform, DHLink, offering delivery options for seven days, 15 days and 25 day-delivery to cater to diverse seller needs. Additionally, DHGATE will establish their smart international supply chain network, DHPort, providing sea, land, and air transportation logistics and door-to-door solutions to enhance customer fulfillment certainty and stability. DHPort will also introduce overseas cloud warehouses covering North America , South America , Europe , and Asia . Another key focus is DHGATE Group's newest offering, DHmogo, which provides an FOB model-based fulfillment solution targeting European and American small businesses. The platform is also expanding payment services, including Token one-click payments, more than 10 local European payment methods, and advancements in post-payment options to 16 countries worldwide, significantly enhancing the consumer purchasing experience.

Ahead of the Curve With Social Commerce

By keeping a close eye on market and consumer trends since its founding, DHGATE Group has also shown remarkable foresight in predicting the rise of social commerce and being one of the first movers to offer social commerce services to business owners and entrepreneurs.

On multiple occasions, DHGATE Group Founder, Chairperson and CEO Diane Wang has shared: "We must seize this window of opportunity for the breakthrough of social commerce in overseas markets, as it is the best stage for a new generation of Chinese companies to showcase their capabilities."

MyyShop leverages DHGATE Group's robust supply chain capabilities to provide B2B2C social commerce services for overseas creators.

Integrating AI with E-commerce

DHgate also predicts that AI technology will profoundly subvert B2B e-commerce within the next 10 years. In line with this evolving trend, this year DHgate is innovating on their AI-integrated offerings to improve business efficiency for cross-border sellers. The company is introducing a large-scale B2B AI vertical model and an AI-generated content application for cross border e-commerce.

DHGATE Group unveiled its first large-scale AI model, 'Feitian (Apsara)', at the conference. Leveraging 20 years of data, Feitian addresses AI challenges for cross-border e-commerce, boosting conversions and sales. DHGATE plans to enhance merchant operations with AI, offering new features such as smart coupons and improved buyer experiences.

"We are especially committed to offering increased multilingual and localization capabilities in key markets, in order to give our customers the most convenient and memorable user journey possible," Chun shared.

Empowering Female Entrepreneurs with The Inner Mountain Foundation

Seller Conference visitors also had the opportunity to learn more about The Inner Mountain Foundation , a newly-launched global women's empowerment organization focused on empowering female entrepreneurs. It is an initiative started by Diane to foster a community of like-minded women who can lead, nurture, and inspire those around them  starting with themselves  by providing access to various entrepreneurial resources, mentorship, training, information, support, recognition, and even funding for women-owned businesses.

During the Seller Conference, the Foundation hosted an experiential 'The Inner Mountain Space' event which provided a sanctuary for self-discovery and empowerment. Various activities in 'The Inner Mountain Space' also encouraged participants to listen to their inner voice and share it with others, as they embarked on a journey of self-exploration with the Inner Mountain community.

"We've received tremendous support from communities all around the world for The Inner Mountain Foundation's pursuit of women empowerment," Diane said.

"Our China chapter is already going strong with multiple successful programs running since last year, and this year we are launching our California chapter with numerous events that highlight the Foundation's focus on women helping women. Our aim is to empower women the world over to establish success on their own terms, so they can in turn inspire and nurture more and more women to do the same."

About DHgate

Founded in 2004, DHgate has become the leading B2B cross-border e-commerce marketplace in China , boasting over 34 million live listings annually. Through their global operations and offices, including in the USA and UK , DHgate reaches millions of people with trusted products and services. As of December 31, 2022 , DHgate served more than 59.6 million registered buyers from 225 countries and regions, connecting them to over 2.54 million sellers in China and other countries.

For more information, please visit DHgate.com and follow @DHgate.com .

About The Inner Mountain Foundation

The Inner Mountain Foundation promotes the empowerment of women through education, community, and outreach. We are led by our Founder and Chairperson Diane Wang , who first articulated the principles of Inner Mountain Thinking in her 2024 book, The Inner Mountain . As a global foundation and women's empowerment community, we invest in impact-making educational resources that we seek to make as broadly accessible as possible. Our goal is to focus the work of the Inner Mountain on the soft skills training that we believe helps equip women to be their greatest, most empowered selves across their most wholly integrated life (connecting the self with work, family, community, and legacy).

For more information, please visit innermountain.org

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SOURCE DHGATE Group
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. , March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- We are thrilled to announce the launch of our brand-new DocOrigin logo! Our revamped logo symbolizes our ongoing evolution and our constant striving for perfection.

In addition to our new visual identity, we are excited to announce the release of DocOrigin v3.3.004.01 and Web Services v1.3.7, available March 12, 2024 . This comprehensive update enhances the document design and merge functionalities as well as our Web Services, delivering a smoother and more efficient user experience across the board.

Enhanced Design and Merge Capabilities

In the Design module, users will experience optimized workflow and visual management. A new dockable window for scripts has been introduced, alongside improved visualization of objects and enhanced support for Unicode characters in file paths, streamlining the design process.

Merge has received a substantial upgrade, featuring a redesigned stitching process when duplexing, an enhanced Global search algorithm, and improved stability when working with TIFF images. We have also improved handling of form paths with Unicode characters.

Refined Tools and Services

Targeted adjustments to FolderMonitor and FilterEditor focus on better error handling. New configuration options in ConfigEditor allow for more precise setup and document creation. Our Windows software setup now includes an updated cURL v8.4.0, and the Linux and AIX setups have been enhanced with Default-PCL* output configuration files.

Webservices 1.3.7 includes several improvements. Issues related to cleanup, including the missed deletion of files with certain prefixes and the excessive deletion of data in some cases, have been fixed. Additional enhancements include the ability to stop tasks upon application unload, logs being directed to the DocOrigin User/Logs folder, and enhanced support for Unicode returned via jobInfo.properties.

Explore New Features and Enhancements

These updates demonstrate our unwavering commitment to providing a powerful and user-friendly document creation and management solution. We invite you to explore these new features and enhancements, which collectively aim to enhance your document design and processing tasks, offering a comprehensive upgrade experience across both the main platform and Web Services.

To get the latest installer(s), contact your DocOrigin service provider requesting a download link.

Upcoming Events

Join us at upcoming industry events to learn more about our latest innovations and to connect with our team:

May 7 - May 10 , BLUEPRINT 4D  Global Oracle Conference : With 6 exciting programs in the works, BLUEPRINT 4D is where JD Edwards, PeopleSoft, and Oracle Cloud customers come together for insights, innovation, and community. Hear from a host of special guest speakers, Oracle executives, and industry specialists. Connect with an Eclipse team member at Booth #1114!

, BLUEPRINT 4D  : With 6 exciting programs in the works, BLUEPRINT 4D is where JD Edwards, PeopleSoft, and Oracle Cloud customers come together for insights, innovation, and community. Hear from a host of special guest speakers, Oracle executives, and industry specialists. Connect with an Eclipse team member at Booth #1114! June 17 - June 20 , Ascend: Ascend is the Oracle user community event that unites functional users, IT professionals, and experts for frank discussion and practical education. Presented by the Oracle Applications & Technology Users Group (OATUG) and Oracle HCM Users Group (OHUG), Ascend delivers reliable insights, time-and-money-saving strategies, and valuable opportunities to connect with the global user community. Connect with an Eclipse team member at booth #604!

Contact

For more information about DocOrigin and our products, please visit www.EclipseCorp.US or contact 678-408-1245.

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SOURCE Eclipse Corporation
Innovative pathology device developer partnered with leading lab to invent a new, first-in-class product

BALTIMORE , March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In conjunction with a poster presentation at the United States and Canada Association of Pathologists Annual (USCAP) meeting titled "Current State of Intra-/Interobserver Accuracy and Reproducibility in Tissue Biopsy Grossing and Comparison to an Automated Vision System"  Poster #198, FormaPath is pleased to announce nToto, a new automated tissue visualization system (ATVS) developed in collaboration with Mayo Clinic's Advanced Diagnostics Laboratory.

FormaPath is pleased to announce nToto, a new automated tissue visualization system

Common grossing metrics have not been captured or examined before, due to a lack of standardization in tissue grossing techniques. The goal of the study was to characterize and quantify inter- and intra-operator variability in routine gross dissection procedures performed by human technicians.

Using the results of this study to establish a baseline for comparison, FormaPath was able to confirm the feasibility of an AI-enabled, automated grossing system for standard tissue biopsies.

nToto combines state-of-the-art robotics and computer vision technology, powered by a proprietary model, which validates samples during specimen intake, transfers them to the appropriate tissue cassettes, and populates the digital grossing report with previously uncaptured data points. It is intended to support high-throughput AP Labs seeking to streamline the process of preparing tissue specimens for downstream analysis and reporting. This new system also helps mitigate the chronic labor shortage affecting the entire lab sector, relieving the lab staff of repetitive and tedious tasks.

The first nToto system is now in beta testing at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester , MN, and production units will be rolled-out to several other labs later this year, with full commercialization in 2025.

About FormaPath:

FormaPath is working to revolutionize cancer specimen preparation by introducing cutting-edge laboratory devices that can augment human operators performing time-intensive procedures. This will raise the bar to set a new level of reproducible consistency. Our "hands-free" automated solutions minimize human errors, allowing for rapid and accurate sample processing, with faster turnaround times, and increasing efficiency.

With a commitment to research and innovation, we are empowering healthcare professionals to make informed and timely decisions, to help them provide every cancer patient with their best chance at a positive outcome.

To learn more, visit us at www.FormaPath.com.

Contact:

Phil Lonsdale

Commercial Strategy, FormaPath

[email protected]

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SOURCE FormaPath
Industry Leading Dog Boarding and Daycare Franchise Receives Significant Investment from its Largest Multi-Unit Franchisee

Multi-Unit Growth Guides Development as Company Leadership Looks to Open 100 Locations by end of 2025

Pet Industry Surges as Consumer Spending Continues to Rise

FANWOOD, N.J. , March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- K9 Resorts Luxury Pet Hotel , multi-award-winning luxury boarding and dog daycare franchise brand, announced today it has received the strongest endorsement a franchisor could envision  a strategic $10M investment from one of its own multi-unit franchisees. Partners Pacific Resorts, LLC  a multi-unit, multi-brand franchise group that owns 30 K9 Resorts locations and has ties to internationally renowned hospitality group, Kerzner International, founders and former owners of The Atlantis  made the investment to help K9 Resorts further its potential to champion the pet hospitality industry.

As the pet industry surges, luxury pet resort franchise receives a $10M investment from global hospitality leaders.

Executives of K9 Resorts said the investment is a strong testament to the brand's franchise opportunity, superior franchisee support and best-in-class pet care experience.

"In our 19 years of operation, K9 Resorts has carved its name into the top tier of pet care through our customized care and cutting-edge facilities," said Jason Parker , Co-Founder and CEO of K9 Resorts Franchising, LLC. "With this strategic investment from Partners Pacific Resorts, K9 Resorts will continue to maintain and anticipate the exciting growth trajectory of the pet care industry. We are thrilled to deepen our relationship with Phil, Vanessa, Alan, and Chris, who are true trailblazers in the luxury hospitality industry, and look forward to working together to take K9 Resorts to the next level."

K9 Resorts is leading the pack among luxury pet care franchises with more than 165 resorts across 28 states currently operating or in various stages of development. Pet boarding is on a trajectory to become a $35.8 billion industry by 2031 with an expected compound annual growth rate of 6.4% . With the incoming investment from Partners Pacific Resorts, K9 Resorts is poised to further dominate the luxury sector of the market.

Partners Pacific Resorts, LLC, owned by Vanessa Kerzner , Alan Leibman , Chris Leslie , and Phil Nisbet , have made a significant $10M investment in K9 Holdings, LLC, the parent company of K9 Resorts, expanding their presence in the luxury hospitality sector. Both Kerzner and Leibman bring extensive experience from their backgrounds in the luxury hotel industry, with Kerzner having been a former owner and board member of Atlantis Bahamas and One & Only Hotels, and Leibman previously serving as CEO of Kerzner International. Leslie spent 32 years on Wall Street , with the last two decades specifically in sales management, holding a seat on the operating committees of two international bank's capital markets fixed income divisions.

Having worked with Kerzner International, a prominent international hotel and resort developer renowned for properties such as Atlantis Resorts, Kerzner and Leibman are well-versed in identifying concepts with global appeal and driving them to success. Leibman expressed confidence in the growth potential of the luxury pet hotel industry, particularly with K9 Resorts, citing their deep understanding of the brand and the industry.

"Coming from backgrounds in the luxury hotel industry, we know first-hand how to identify concepts that will appeal to the masses and make the appropriate investments to take those businesses to the next level," said Leibman. "Our commitment to the luxury pet hotel industry with K9 Resorts has cemented our belief that it has incredible growth potential in the coming years. We know the K9 Resorts brand intimately and believe its proven business model combined with elite services will project the franchise into becoming a household name."

Partners Pacific Resorts, LLC currently consists of 30 K9 Resorts locations while Leibman and Nisbet separately own 67 Jersey Mike's Subs and Wingstop franchise locations. Their significant contribution to K9 Holdings reflects Kerzner, Leibman, Leslie, and Nisbet's interest in building more equity within the luxury pet space, specifically through the franchise model of K9 Resorts.

K9 Holdings LLC was represented by Fox Rothschild , Partners Pacific Resorts LLC was represented by Kirkland & Ellis, and Steven and Jason Parker were represented by Lowenstein Sandler.

News of the investment coincides with the addition of Philip Nisbet to K9 Resorts' board of directors. Nisbet is the co-founder of World Insurance Associates, LLC, named a 'Top 30 US Insurance Agency' by Business Insurance and Insurance Journal. Through his work as a co-founder & partner of Prospect Capital Restaurants, Nisbet and his team have opened 67 franchise restaurants in five states. Nisbet began franchising with K9 Resorts in 2023 and is commemorating his one-year anniversary with the brand by taking on an advisory role on the board.

With the addition of Nisbet to the board of directors, he joins an impressive group of industry leaders including K9 Resorts co-founders Steven and Jason Parker ; Steve Beagelman , CEO of SMB Franchise Advisors, who has been a co-investor and firm advisor for more than 14 years; and Bernard Markey and Bill Stewart , Managing Partners of Navigator Partners. A family office style private equity firm based in New Jersey , Navigator Partners has more than 20 years of experience investing in and partnering with growing franchisor management teams, and was K9 Resorts' first external investor in 2016.

According to the IFA's 2024 Economic Outlook Report, the franchise industry is expected to grow by 1.9% this year. With personal services maintaining its position as the top industry for franchise expansion, and the pet services sector being a dominator of this list, there has never been a more opportune time to join K9 Resorts.

K9 Resorts is actively seeking single and multi-unit owners to bring luxury pet boarding and daycare to their community.

To learn more about the K9 Resorts franchise opportunity, visit www.k9franchise.com . To learn more about K9 Resorts Luxury Pet Hotels, visit www.k9resorts.com .

About K9 Resorts

K9 Resorts Luxury Pet Hotel (www.k9resorts.com) strives to offer the best pet care experience for all the dogs in its care and has been honored with four consecutive IBPSA Pet Care Business Excellence Awards from 2019  2022. Founded in 2005, by Steven & Jason Parker , each K9 Resort is custom-designed with hospital-grade ventilation systems, antimicrobial flooring, cage-free luxury boarding and world-class, professionally trained staff members. Recommended by numerous pet professionals and several major publications, K9 Resorts is proud to lead the way in the pet hospitality industry.

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SOURCE K9 Resorts Luxury Pet Hotel
SEWARD, Neb. , March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- HerdDogg Inc., the leader in data-driven livestock management, announced today the closure of its Series A-4 Preferred Equity financing, securing a significant investment to accelerate commercialization and fuel innovative hardware and data solutions for the beef and dairy industries.

The equity fundraise was led by Serra Ventures and Wonder Fund North Dakota, with additional investments from Innova Memphis, Open Prairie , Sheldon Group, Trailhead Capital, and Lever VC. This group of investors' expertise and extensive resource network will provide HerdDogg with support and guidance as it embarks on its next phase of growth.

"We're excited to continue our investment in HerdDogg as its growth accelerates," said Rob Schultz , managing partner at Serra Ventures, "The company's unique hardware and data platform make it well positioned to be a game changer for animal health and traceability."

"We're proud to invest in HerdDogg as it expands in North Dakota ," said Kevin O'Leary of Wonder Fund of North Dakota, "The company will bring technology and other high-value jobs to the state while assisting cattle producers worldwide reduce operational costs and increase profitability."

For more information about HerdDogg, please visit www.herddogg.com .

About HerdDogg Inc.:

HerdDogg, the leader in data-driven livestock management, provides dairy and beef producers with its patented Bluetooth ear tags and data platform to give producers the visibility and data they need to make more money from every animal they raise.

About Serra Ventures:

Serra Ventures is a venture capital firm investing in early-stage technology companies throughout the U.S. and in selected international regions. The Serra AgTech fund partners with entrepreneurs to build technology businesses which improve efficiencies in the food and agriculture industry. Serra Ventures has offices in San Diego , Chicago , Park City , and Champaign, Illinois . The managing partners are former successful entrepreneurs who seek to serve their portfolio companies with real-world insight, hard work, and a valuable network.

About Wonder Fund North Dakota:

Wonder Fund North Dakota is a partnership between O'Leary Ventures (OLV) and the North Dakota development Fund (NDDF) managing a $45 million direct investment program aimed at bolstering economic growth in the state by investing in early-stage businesses. O'Leary Ventures is a generalist venture capital investment platform managed by Kevin O'Leary and his team with a diverse track record of investing across many business sectors. As an investor for over three decades and as a host of hit TV series Shark Tank and Dragon's Den, O'Leary has invested in many early-stage companies and has a proven track record of identifying and supporting great entrepreneurs with outstanding executional skills.

Contact: [email protected], (833) 437-3364

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SOURCE HerdDogg
WASHINGTON , March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Inc., a nonprofit educational organization honoring the achievements of outstanding individuals and encouraging youth to pursue their dreams through higher education, today announced the Beacon of Hope Scholarship Program in partnership with the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI). The scholarship program will provide access to higher education to foreign-born survivors of human trafficking, unaccompanied children, refugees, and asylum seekers for whom there is a pathway to U.S. residency or citizenship.

"The Horatio Alger Association believes that every young person should have access to the benefits and opportunities higher education provides," said Terrence J. Giroux , executive director, Horatio Alger Association. "The Beacon of Hope Scholarship Program serves as a testament to our unwavering commitment to providing those in need with the necessary tools to rebuild their lives and to support deserving youth on their pathway to achieving the American Dream through U.S. citizenship."

The first of its kind, the Beacon of Hope Scholarship will be bestowed annually to students across the U.S. who have overcome the daunting adversity of trafficking and forced displacement and exhibit a strong commitment to furthering their education. The United Nations Refugee Agency reported that the enrollment level in college or university was only 6% among refugees and asylees, underscoring the importance of providing sensitive populations with affordable access to higher education. In its first year, the program will award 100 scholarships categorized as either College/University or Career and Technical Education (CTE) to accommodate the diverse academic and career preferences of applicants. The College/University Beacon of Hope Program will award scholarships of $10,000 , and its CTE equivalent will award scholarships of $5,000 . All recipients will have access to Scholar Support Services such as academic, wellness and professional resources.

"We are honored to partner with the Horatio Alger Association to advance its critical mission of providing young people with access to higher education," stated Eskinder Negash, USCRI President and CEO. "This program ensures displaced people can gain an education they otherwise would not have had access to through scholarship funds and proves that, when given the opportunity, everyone can achieve their dreams."

Due to the sensitivities of the populations involved, USCRI will distribute the scholarship opportunity directly to their clients who will then apply to the Horatio Alger Association for consideration. Following application review and Scholar selection, students will be categorized as College/University or CTE Scholars based on their preferred academic paths. To be eligible, College/University Scholars must be enrolled full-time as a high school Senior in the US, or have completed high school (or earned a high school equivalency credential) by July 1st ., exhibit a strong commitment toward pursuing and completing a bachelor's degree at an accredited non-profit public or private institution, maintain a minimum grade point average of 2.0, and display integrity and perseverance in overcoming adversity. CTE Scholars must complete high school by July 1 (or earn a high school equivalency credential), plan to enroll in an associate's degree, technical certificate or diploma program by Fall 2024 that will lead to employment, and attend a not-for-profit secondary institution. All Scholars must also demonstrate a critical financial need and be "lawfully present in the United States " at the time of applying.

"We are proud to launch this special and impactful new program," said James F. Dicke , chairman, Horatio Alger Association and 2015 Horatio Alger Award recipient. "With an increasing number of young people being forcibly displaced worldwide, it's crucial that we all do our part in supporting them as they overcome their past and chase a brighter future."

Applications for the inaugural Beacon of Hope Scholarships will open on March 25, 2024 . For more information about Horatio Alger Association, visit our website, or follow the Association on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

About Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans:

Founded in 1947, the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Inc. is dedicated to the simple but powerful belief that hard work, honesty and determination can conquer all obstacles. The Association honors the achievements of outstanding leaders who have accomplished remarkable successes in spite of adversity by bestowing upon them the Horatio Alger Award and inducting them as lifetime Members. Horatio Alger Members support promising young people with the resources and confidence needed to overcome adversity in pursuit of their dreams through higher education. Through the generosity of its Members and friends, in 2023, the Association awarded more than $18 million in undergraduate and graduate need-based scholarships to 1,800 students across the United States and Canada , and provided college support and mentoring services to its Scholars. Over the past 40 years, more than $245 million has been awarded in undergraduate, graduate, military veteran and career and technical education scholarships to more than 35,000 deserving students. For more information, please visit www.horatioalger.org.

About U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants:

The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI), established in 1911, is a nongovernmental, not-for-profit international organization dedicated to addressing the needs and rights of refugees, unaccompanied migrating children, trafficking survivors, and other immigrants in all 50 states, El Salvador , Honduras , Kenya , and Mexico . USCRI advocates for the rights of refugees and immigrants both nationally and globally, helping to drive humanitarian policies, practices, and law. To learn more about USCRI, please visit www.refugees.org.

CONTACT:

Carly Colombo

[email protected]

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SOURCE Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Inc.
LOS ANGELES , March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- ImmPACT Bio USA, Inc. ("ImmPACT Bio"), a clinical-stage company developing transformative logic-gate-based chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies for treating cancer and autoimmune diseases, today announced that it will participate at the 2024 Cell and Gene Meeting on the Med, to be held from April 9-11, 2024 in Rome, Italy .

Sumant Ramachandra , M.D., Ph.D., ImmPACT Bio's chief executive officer, will provide a company presentation on Tuesday, April 9, 2024 at 12:00 PM CET . Dr. Ramachandra will also participate in an individual presentation and panel discussion entitled, "Advances in Targeting Autoimmune Disease," on Wednesday, April 10, 2024 at 10:45 AM CET .

Virtual attendance is available which includes a livestream of ImmPACT Bio's presentation and the ability to view all conference sessions on-demand. Please visit https://meetingonthemed.com/ for full information including registration.

About ImmPACT Bio

ImmPACT Bio USA, Inc., is a clinical-stage company dedicated to the discovery of transformative chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies that address key biological challenges in treating cancer and autoimmune diseases. The company's logic-gate-based CAR T-cell platforms, licensed from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Technology Development Group, are specifically designed to deplete B cells, prevent antigen escape, and overcome the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. The company's technology is based on the work of pioneering scientists Yvonne Chen , Ph.D., and Antoni Ribas , M.D., Ph.D., both from UCLA. For more information, visit http://www.immpact-bio.com.

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SOURCE ImmPACT Bio USA Inc.
Jeff adds 30+ years of experience serving industry leaders including Lowes , Kentuckiana Home Furnishings, and Ashley Furniture

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. , March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Elite Rewards, a leading incentive marketing firm, is thrilled to welcome Jeff Magner as its new Vice President of Growth and Client Strategy. Magner's responsibilities include driving traffic, boosting conversions, and growing revenue for existing and new clients.

"Elite Rewards is thrilled to have Jeff join the team, his deep understanding of the retail and furniture industry will help propel Elite's success as we expand," said Tom Coffeen , Senior VP of Sales. "We've worked with Jeff successfully over the years, as a client, helping him grow companies' revenues understanding if they don't win, we don't win. I believe this similar philosophy has eventually brought us together."

Jeff's experience includes management and sales roles working for Montgomery Ward, Sears, Family Christian Stores, Lowes , Ashley Furniture and most recently Dufresne Spencer Group (DSG), where he served as Senior Vice President of Marketing. Jeff's expertise spans over 30+ years in customer service, human resources, sales, general business, mergers, and acquisitions. His journey in the furniture industry began over two decades ago when he opened an Ashley licensee store in Louisville, Kentucky , successfully achieving $20 million in revenue upon its launch.

"At Elite, I have the ability to leverage the relationships, experience, and lessons learned over the years to quickly and positively impact the revenue growth of our clients," said Magner. "I've worked with these guys so much and so successfully handling millions of dollars with no problems, I decided it was time to join the team."

Jeff's addition continues Elite's growth over the last five years, extending their reach from Tampa to New York , to Houston and as far west as California . The team will now have the ability for Elite to provide their concierge customer service to the local business community.

"We have worked with Jeff for years now and there is nothing better than adding a trusted partner and industry expert to the team," said Coffeen. Adding Jeff will allow us to enhance client's strategies, promotions and solutions throughout different buying periods and economic uncertainties.

Those wishing to learn more about Elite Rewards, please visit www.eliterewards.biz , or contact J.B. Siegel , Press contact at [email protected] , tel: 727-543-8100.

About Elite Rewards

Elite Rewards is a leading incentive marketing company headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida . Elite specializes in providing incentives that positively impact behavior, whether in the workplace or the marketplace. The team has over 25 years of experience implementing successful programs across various vertical markets including Furniture, Mattress, Automotive, Healthcare, and FinTech.

Press Contact:

J.B. Siegel

Midnight Consulting

[email protected]

Tel: 727-543-8100

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SOURCE Elite Rewards
The last Beer Baron was a glimpse into how the sausage (this column) is made.

That piece, a paean of concern for Minnesotas great Fair State Brewery Co-op, was filed (right up against deadline, as I do) just as news began to break about Karben4s own Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.

The Sunday edition is produced far enough ahead that it was too late to change course once the unfortunate miss was discovered.

The situations of Karben4 and Fair State sound eerily similar  essentially that the beer business is really tough these days but that the brewery will remain a going concern as it sorts out its debts.

We arent going anywhere! the brewery said in a Facebook post after the dust settled. We are eternally grateful for the support you have shown our business over the past decade plus, and we ask that you continue to provide us with an unbreakable foundation as we navigate through this restructuring. We plan to emerge on the other side stronger than ever.

However, a court filing last week by Karben4 co-founder Alex Evans, who sued his partners last November over K4s acquisition of the Ale Asylum brand, seeks to dismiss the bankruptcy suit. It claims Evans was not consulted in the Chapter 11 filing and alleges that operating co-founders Zak and Ryan Koga breached their fiduciary duties.

Its been a messy few years for Karben4, but the takeaway from the Fair State column applies here, probably with more intensity due to its closeness to home: If you value something  a beer, a brewery, a restaurant, a space  support it. The scars of the pandemic remain on nearly every beer business, years later, and fresh wounds from shifting consumer sentiment are emerging. We saw it with Ale Asylum not long ago: If you like a brewerys beer, you gotta buy it, or it may leave. And it may not come back.

Minocqua to Madison

Northwoods firebrand Minocqua Brewing Co. opened a taproom on the East Side last weekend.

The taproom, in the former Trixies Growlers to Go-Go at 2927 E. Washington Ave., features a giant slogan  Drink beer and dont be racist  and is touted in a Facebook post as a space that progressive-minded folks will love.

Starting in 2020, Kirk Bangstad, who has owned the brewery since 2016, has used the once-venerable Northwoods brewpub to spew left-leaning partisan polemic, flouted local ordinances while claiming political persecution, and lost both a defamation lawsuit to a local newspaper publisher and a state Assembly election. He has been using other breweries to contract-brew beer (some with quality problems) with liberal themes using Democratic politicians likenesses while donating some proceeds to a liberal super PAC affiliated with the brewery.

Var-sity, Var-sity

Potosi Brewing Co. is introducing a beer this spring thats billed as a runway to hooking up University of Wisconsin athletes with name, image and likeness deals.

Varsity Golden Ale is a new year-round, 4% ABV crusher developed over many iterations at the southwestern Wisconsin brewery. Itll be available statewide in mid-April on draft and about a month later in cans.

The hook, though, is a partnership with The Varsity Collective, an organization founded in 2022 to help Badgers athletes pursue NIL opportunities. Potosi, which operates as a nonprofit with all its profits donated to charity, will direct 20% of proceeds from the beer to The Varsity Collective.

New Glarus watch

Its going to be a good spring for the Beer Baron, folks, as New Glarus Brewing is bringing back two of my favorite beers, period.

Kid Kolsch returned last week after a year of getting lost in the summer seasonal shuffle, including in a new format: 12-packs of cans. This years iteration is as good as I remember it from 2022: Light and fluffy, perhaps a touch more of its distinctive candylike malt sweetness than I remember  to no fault.

More good news is that Kid isnt displacing anything else; Totally Naked pale lager returns as usual around mid-April.

And New Glarus is also adding to its year-round lineup for the first time in years: Pilsner, introduced last year, returns in May and isnt leaving, at least for the foreseeable future. Its another beer I drank the you-know-what out of last year, and I will be availing myself of 12-packs again this year.

Great Taste tickets

If youre reading this in Madison, you probably already have the first Sunday in May circled on your calendar. Its the traditional in-person sale date for tickets to the Great Taste of the Midwest, the best beer festival in the country.

The outlets for this years sale (May 5) will be:

The Cider Farm, 8216 Watts Road

Delta Beer Lab, 167 E. Badger Road

Giant Jones Brewing, 931 E. Main St.

Karben4, 3698 Kinsman Blvd.

The Malt House, 2609 E. Washington Ave.

Vintage Brewing Co., 674 S. Whitney Way

Working Draft Beer, 1129 E. Wilson St.

Tickets, $70, also will be available via an online lottery at lottery.greattaste.org with registration open May 6-10.
HOUSTON , March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- KBR (NYSE: KBR) will host an Investor Day on Wednesday, May 8, 2024 , at the New York Stock Exchange with presentations given by members of KBR's executive leadership team.

Due to limited capacity, in-person attendance is by invitation only. A live audio webcast and presentation will be posted on the day of the event. All interested individuals may register for the live webcast at investors.kbr.com and a replay will be made available at the conclusion of the event.

About KBR

We deliver science, technology and engineering solutions to governments and companies around the world. KBR employs approximately 34,000 people worldwide with customers in more than 80 countries and operations in over 30 countries.

KBR is proud to work with its customers across the globe to provide technology, value-added services, and long-term operations and maintenance services to ensure consistent delivery with predictable results. At KBR, We Deliver.

Visit www.kbr.com.

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SOURCE KBR, Inc.
Submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) of Stapokibart (CM310) for the treatment of moderate-to-severe AD in adults. The NDA was accepted by the China's NMPA and granted priority review.

NMPA and granted priority review. Advanced a Phase III clinical study of Stapokibart for the treatment of CRSwNP in 2023. The results of the clinical trial are positive with co-primary endpoints both achieved. We expect to file an NDA for CRSwNP indication in 2024.

Launched and advanced Phase III clinical studies respectively to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Stapokibart in patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis under background therapy and in adolescent subjects with moderate-to-severe AD.

Entered into a global exclusive license agreement with AstraZeneca for the research, development, registration, manufacturing and commercialization of CMG901 and received an upfront payment of US$63 million in 2023. As of the date of this announcement, AstraZeneca has conducted multiple clinical studies regarding CMG901/AZD0901 for the treatment of advanced solid tumors.

in 2023. As of the date of this announcement, AstraZeneca has conducted multiple clinical studies regarding CMG901/AZD0901 for the treatment of advanced solid tumors. Rapidly expanded manufacturing capacity and continue to recruit talents to meet the growing needs of commercialized sales of products, research and development, clinical, production and operation of the Company.

CHENGDU, China , March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Keymed Biosciences Inc. (HKEX: 02162) today announced its 2023 annual results, along with recent pipeline highlights and corporate updates.

"We made solid advances across our business in 2023 toward our goal to become a fully-integrated innovative biopharmaceutical company," said Dr. Bo Chen , Chairman, Executive Director, and Chief Executive Officer of Keymed Biosciences. "We successfully filed for NDA for Stapokibart (CM310), gaining priority review status, and have reported positive results from multiple clinical studies. We continued to develop our innovative and differentiated pipelines, actively explored value-accretive strategic partnerships, further expanded our cGMP-compliant manufacturing capacity and efficiently prepared for the company to become a commercial organization. The year 2024 is set to be an exciting one for Keymed, as the commercialization of our first product will propel us from being a clinical-stage biotech to a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company. We will build on our plans to enable the successful launch of our product, as we continually strive to develop, manufacture and commercialize innovative biological therapies for patients worldwide."

Pipeline Highlights

The progress of core pipeline products:

Stapokibart (CM310) (IL-4R antibody)

Submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) of Stapokibart (CM310) for the treatment of moderate-to-severe AD in adults. The NDA was accepted by the China's NMPA and granted priority review.

NMPA and granted priority review. Launched a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled Phase III clinical study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Stapokibart in adolescent subjects with moderate-to-severe AD in February 2024 , and the patient enrollment is currently in progress.

, and the patient enrollment is currently in progress. Advanced a Phase III clinical study of Stapokibart for the treatment of CRSwNP and completed the unblinding of data from the double-blind treatment period and the preliminary statistical analysis in December. The results of the Phase III clinical trial are positive with co-primary endpoints both achieved. We expect to file an NDA for CRSwNP indication in 2024.

Launched and advanced a Phase III clinical study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Stapokibart in patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis under background therapy in 2023, and a multi-center, single-arm Phase II clinical study to evaluate the safety of Stapokibart in patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis.

Our partner, CSPC, has initiated the critical Phase II/III clinical study for the treatment of moderate-to-severe asthma, and the patient enrollment is currently in progress.

CMG901/AZD0901 (Claudin 18.2 antibody conjugated)

Entered into a global exclusive license agreement with AstraZeneca for the research, development, registration, manufacturing and commercialization of CMG901 and received an upfront payment of US$63 million in 2023.

in 2023. As of the date of this announcement, AstraZeneca has conducted multiple clinical studies regarding CMG901/AZD0901 for the treatment of advanced solid tumors.

In November 2023 , the latest data from Phase I clinical study of CMG901 in the treatment of advanced gastric/gastroesophageal junction (G/GEJ) cancer has been presented by way of oral presentation at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Plenary Series . Among 89 evaluable patients with claudin 18.2-positive G/GEJ cancer confirmed objective response rate (ORR) and confirmed disease control rate (DCR) were 33% and 70%, respectively. Among others,CMG901 showed a 42% confirmed ORR in 2.2 mg/kg dose cohort, with median progression free survival (mPFS) of 4.8 months.

CM313 (CD38 antibody)

Continuously proceeded with a Phase I clinical trial of CM313 to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, immunogenicity, and preliminary efficacy of CM313 monotherapy in hematological malignancies including relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) and lymphoma.

In June 2023 , we presented, in the form of a poster, the latest data from the Phase I clinical study of CM313 for the treatment of RRMM and relapsed/refractory lymphoma at the 28th European Hematology Association (EHA) Congress 2023. CM313 exhibited a good safety profile in general in this study for it at dose levels of 2.0 mg/kg and yielded preliminary efficacy in patients with RRMM.

, we presented, in the form of a poster, the latest data from the Phase I clinical study of CM313 for the treatment of RRMM and relapsed/refractory lymphoma at the 28th 2023. CM313 exhibited a good safety profile in general in this study for it at dose levels of 2.0 mg/kg and yielded preliminary efficacy in patients with RRMM. Continuously proceeded with a Phase Ib/IIa clinical study in 2023 to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, immunogenicity and preliminary efficacy of CM313 injection in subjects with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

In December 2023 , the latest data from the investigator-initiated single-arm, open-label, exploratory clinical study to evaluate CM313, which aimed to evaluate the safety and preliminary efficacy of CM313 for the treatment of primary immune thrombocytopenia in adults, were presented in a poster form at the 65th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting. As of June 30, 2023 , a total of 21 patients were enrolled in the study. 7 subjects completed 8 treatments with follow-up period of more than 8 weeks. Among the 7 patients, 100.0% (7/7) achieved a platelet count 50  109/L within 8 weeks after administration with the first dose, with a median time to response of 1 week (range from 1 to 3).

CM326 (TSLP antibody)

Continuously proceeded with a Phase II clinical study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of CM326 in adult patients with moderate-to-severe AD.

Continuously proceeded with a Phase Ib/IIa clinical trial to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics, immunogenicity, and preliminary efficacy of CM326 in subjects with CRSwNP.

Our partner, CSPC, has initiated the Phase II clinical study for the treatment of moderate-to-severe asthma.

Progress of other pipeline products:

CM355/ICP-B02 (CD20xCD3 bispecific antibody)

Continuously proceeded with a Phase I/II clinical trial to assess the safety, tolerability, PK, and the preliminary anti-tumor activity of CM355 in relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (r/r NHL). As of the date of this announcement, all the 13 patients who were treated CM355 at dose 6mg achieved response with the ORR of 100%.

CM336 (BCMAxCD3 bispecific antibody)

Continuously proceeded with a Phase I/II clinical study in 2023 to assess the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and the anti-tumor activity of CM336 in RRMM.

CM350 (GPC3xCD3 bispecific antibody)

Continuously proceeded with a Phase I/II clinical study in 2023 to assess the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and the preliminary efficacy of CM350 in patients with advanced solid tumors.

CM338 (MASP-2 antibody)

Continuously proceeded with a Phase II clinical study in 2023 to evaluate the efficacy and safety of CM338 injection in subjects with immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN).

CM369/ICP-B05 (CCR8 antibody)

Continuously proceeded with a Phase I trial to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetic characteristics, and efficacy of CM369 in subjects with advanced solid tumors and relapsed or refractory NHL. We will explore the combination of CM369 with other immunotherapies in various cancer indications after collecting the safety data of monotherapy.

CM383 (A protofibrils antibody)

Submitted an IND application for CM383 in February 2024 , and we are about to conduct a Phase I clinical study of the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and immunogenicity of single dose-escalation administration in healthy subjects.

Financial and Business Highlights

Revenue amounted to RMB354 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 , mainly representing collaboration income from AstraZeneca in respect of granting the relevant license; R&D expenses increased by RMB89 million to RMB596 million ; As at December 31, 2023 , our time deposits, cash and cash equivalents and bank wealth management products amounted to RMB2,719 million .

for the year ended , mainly representing collaboration income from AstraZeneca in respect of granting the relevant license; R&D expenses increased by to ; As at , our time deposits, cash and cash equivalents and bank wealth management products amounted to . The production capacity of the production base in Chengdu has reached 18,600 litres in total, and all the designs thereof are in compliance with the requirements of cGMP of the NMPA and FDA.

has reached 18,600 litres in total, and all the designs thereof are in compliance with the requirements of cGMP of the NMPA and FDA. Continue to recruit talents to meet the growing needs of commercialized sales of products, research and development, clinical, production and operation of the Company.

About Keymed Biosciences Inc.

Keymed Biosciences Inc. (HKEX: 02162) focuses on the urgent unmet clinical needs, and is committed to providing high-quality, affordable, innovative therapies for patients in China and overseas. Keymed was founded by medical and scientific experts from world-renowned universities who have strong experience in the transformation of scientific and technological achievements to commercialization at home and abroad. The core leadership team includes the inventors of the first PD-1 antibody drugs that were pioneered and approved in the United States and China . The Company was listed on the main board of Hong Kong Stock Exchange on July 8, 2021 .

To accelerate the efficiency of our research and discovery, we have established a fully-integrated platform encompassing all of the key functions in the biologic drug development. These include target validation, lead molecule discovery and optimization, preclinical evaluation, process development, translational research, clinical development and manufacturing. This integrated platform has enabled us to rapidly and cost-effectively identify, build, expand and advance our diversified pipeline of innovative and differentiated antibody-based therapies, including monoclonal antibodies, antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) and bispecific antibodies.

For more information, please visit www.keymedbio.com.

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SOURCE Keymed
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. , March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Gruet Winery, a sparkling wine favorite by sommeliers, is celebrating the 35th anniversary of its first domestic wine release. Coinciding with the anniversary, Gruet has proudly appointed Carrie Gurule , a member of the Gruet winemaker team since 2016 and a distinguished figure in the New Mexico viticulture community to head winemaker, effective immediately.

"Carrie has been a critical and reliable component of our team as we've grown the Gruet brand in recent years," said Phil Kazanjian , Chief Operations Officer at Gruet Winery. "Her unwavering positivity, deep reverence for terroir, and ability to bring the best result from vineyard to bottle make her an excellent choice to uphold Gruet's legacy of creating high quality Methode Champenoise sparkling wines."

The first female head winemaker in Gruet's history, Carrie brings a wealth of experience to the role, having studied under French, Italian, New Zealand , and American winemakers, including Laurent Gruet , son of Gilbert Gruet . She brings specialized experience in vineyard and winery operations management, and has been responsible for Gruet's cellar processes, quality control, and lab management.

"Since joining the team in 2016, I've remained deeply grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with industry leaders and continue refining my skills across all aspects of sparkling winemaking," said Gurule. "It's a true honor for me to continue investing my passion and expertise into this remarkable legacy brand rooted in my home state."

The anniversary also heralds the debut of Le Spritz ready-to-drink wine cocktails. Inspired by the timeless Hugo Spritz, Le Fleuriste infuses elderflower, sun-ripened lemons, honey, wild roses, and spearmint. L'Orangerie, reminiscent of the classic Aperol spritz, features Chinotto Orange, grapefruit extract, herbaceous bitters, and natural botanicals.

Gruet takes pride in its commitment to quality and authenticity. Crafted with the same passion and savoir-faire that has made Gruet a leading American sparkling wine brand, Le Spritz has no artificial flavors with 50% less sugar than the respective spritz cocktails. Naturally gluten-free, this ready-to-drink sparkler caters to all.

Le Fleuriste and L'Orangerie can be found at the Gruet Albuquerque and Santa Fe locations as well as select Safeway, Target and Food Lion locations nationally. Celebrate the release of our Le Spritz lineup on Saturday, April 27 from 3:00  4:00 p.m. with tastes of Le Fleuriste and L'Orangerie, hor d'oeuvres and a limited-edition Le Spritz glass. Reserve your spot now for Albuquerque and Santa Fe .

About Gruet

Founded in 1984, Gruet Winery specializes in Methode Champenoise sparkling wines. With roots originating from Gilbert Gruet's Champagne house in Bethon, France , the New Mexico -based winery produces Pinot Noir and Chardonnay-based sparkling wines and a small collection of still wines. More than 35 vintages later, Gruet Winery has achieved unprecedented acclaim and remains a favorite of the nation's top sommeliers.

About Carrie Gurule

A member of the winemaking team since 2016, Carrie has traveled widely, studying under French, Italian, New Zealand , and American winemakers. She brings specialized experience in vineyard and winery operations management, and was responsible for Gruet's cellar processes, quality control, and lab management prior to her shift to lead winemaker. In New Mexico , where Carrie was born and raised, she embraced the art of making sparkling wine in the Champagne-style method for which Gruet is beloved.

Research as of 2/20

Le Fleuriste is 54% less sugar than the traditional comparative wine cocktail [Hugo Spritz].

L'Orangerie is 57.8% less sugar than the traditional comparative wine cocktail [Aperol Spritz].

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SOURCE Gruet Winery
MOAB, Utah , March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Take an adventure with the Jeep brand at Easter Jeep Safari 2024 in Moab, Utah .

WHAT: An annual Jeep brand enthusiast off-road adventure that gathers the Jeep brand community to experience a true off-road adventure in the unique landscapes of Moab, Utah .

Jeep offers a legendary itinerary for the annual event with exciting activities, including test drives, a Jeep Performance Parts Trail Mixer event, amazing raffle prizes, product demonstrations, exciting concept vehicles and off-road rides. At the Jeep Ride and Drive registration tent, attendees can sign up to get behind the wheel in a Jeep vehicle with a professional driver for a trail drive out to Baby Lion's Back or choose a shorter on-road test drive. Consumers who complete a ride and drive and a survey will receive a Jeep-branded gift while supplies last.

Trail and city/street ride and drives are available in a variety of Jeep vehicles, including:

Trail Ride Vehicles Wrangler Rubicon 4xe Wrangler Rubicon 392 Gladiator Rubicon





Street/City Drive Vehicles Grand Wagoneer Wagoneer Grand Cherokee Wrangler Compass



Consumers will also have the chance to check out exciting concept vehicles on display from the Jeep brand, including:

Jeep Low Down Concept

Jeep Willys Dispatcher Concept

Jeep Gladiator Rubicon High Top Concept

Jeep Vacationeer Concept

During the Moab Easter Jeep Safari event, the Jeep brand will be providing attendees an exclusive opportunity to experience a special drive along Baby Lion's Back with the brand. Attendees are able to pre-register now to drive an all-new Jeep model on this special 30-minute drive, an on-trail experience in a lead/follow format safe for various skill levels. Spots are filling fast, but attendees can pre-register.

Everyone who registers with Jeep will be automatically entered into the 2024 National Sweepstakes for a chance to win $100,000 toward any eligible vehicle from the Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep or Ram Truck brands. A winner will be announced in 2025.

WHERE:

Walker Drug Store

290 N. Main Street

Moab, Utah 84532

WHEN:

Tuesday, March 26 : 10 a.m.  7 p.m.

Wednesday, March 27 : 10 a.m.  7 p.m.

Trail Mixer: 5 p.m.  7 p.m.

Thursday, March 28 : 10 a.m.  7 p.m.

Friday, March 29 : 4 a.m.  7 p.m.

WHY:

During the Moab Easter Jeep Safari event, the Jeep brand provides an opportunity to engage with a variety of vehicles, speak with knowledgeable product specialists and receive memorable takeaways from the experience.

HOW:

Members of the media can schedule an appointment for an on-site test drive.

Jeep Brand

Built on more than 80 years of legendary heritage, Jeep is the authentic SUV brand that delivers legendary off-road capability, interior refinement, high-tech features and versatility to people who seek extraordinary journeys. The Jeep brand delivers an open invitation to live life to the fullest by offering a broad portfolio of vehicles that continues to provide owners with a sense of safety and security to handle any journey with confidence. Jeep Wave, a premium owner loyalty and customer care program that is available to the entire Jeep 4x4 lineup, is filled with benefits and exclusive perks to deliver Jeep brand owners the utmost care and dedicated 24/7 support. The legendary Jeep brand's off-road capability is enhanced by a global electrification initiative that is transforming 4xe into the new 4x4 in pursuit of the brand's vision of accomplishing Zero Emission Freedom and added 4x4 capability. All Jeep brand vehicles will offer an electrified variant by 2025.

Follow Jeep and company news and video on:

Company blog: http://blog.stellantisnorthamerica.com

Media website: http://media.stellantisnorthamerica.com

Jeep brand: www.jeep.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/jeep

Instagram: www.instagram.com/jeep

Twitter: www.twitter.com/jeep

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/jeep

YouTube: www.youtube.com/thejeepchannel or https://www.youtube.com/StellantisNA

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SOURCE Stellantis
ANKENY, Iowa , March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Mom's Meals, the leading provider of home-delivered meals in the health care industry, announced today it will be donating 30,000 medically tailored meals this year to people who are food insecure and not otherwise eligible for programs to help them get the nutrition they need. This commitment builds on the nearly 47,000 meals donated over the past four years in collaboration with community-based organizations through Mom's Meals' Hunger Challenge initiative.

"Our mission is to improve life through better nutrition at home," said Chris Choi , Mom's Meals chief executive officer. "During our 25-year history, we've worked to reduce food insecurity wherever we can because it's an integral part of why we exist as an organization. However, the need is greater than it's ever been, and we remain committed to doing our part to end food insecurity in the communities we serve."

Mom's Meals' corporate social responsibility efforts are focused on food insecurity by:

Ensuring equitable food access  While Mom's Meals delivers millions of medically tailored meals to individuals nationwide every year, team members also work closely with health plans, health care providers, state and local governments and community-based organizations to ensure access is continually expanded to vulnerable Americans. The organization collaborates with these entities to develop innovative programs and policies to deliver nutrition to populations in need. That work results not only in reducing food insecurities, but also results in improved health outcomes, reduced hospital readmissions and lower total health care costs.

While Mom's Meals delivers millions of medically tailored meals to individuals nationwide every year, team members also work closely with health plans, health care providers, state and local governments and community-based organizations to ensure access is continually expanded to vulnerable Americans. The organization collaborates with these entities to develop innovative programs and policies to deliver nutrition to populations in need. That work results not only in reducing food insecurities, but also results in improved health outcomes, reduced hospital readmissions and lower total health care costs. Supporting our communities  Mom's Meals has opportunities to support other like-minded organizations who are working to reduce food insecurity. Which is why in the last five years, the organization has donated more than $252,000 worth of ingredients to local foodbanks to help those in need.

Mom's Meals has opportunities to support other like-minded organizations who are working to reduce food insecurity. Which is why in the last five years, the organization has donated more than worth of ingredients to local foodbanks to help those in need. Engaging employees  Employees showcase Mom's Meals' core values in the communities where they live, work and play. Over the past 10 years, over 9,500 pounds of food has been donated during employee led food drives. In addition, over 500 employee volunteer hours have been logged at Meals from the Heartland. Extending beyond their local communities, employees have also helped to donate more than $15,000 worth of supplies and food to Puerto Rico for hurricane relief.

"As an organization, we are proud to contribute to reducing food insecurity in our communities because we know the positive impact that proper nutrition can have on an individual's overall health and well-being. We're committed to making a difference today and in even greater ways as we look toward the next 25 years and beyond," notes Choi.

About Mom's Meals

Mom's Meals provides fully prepared, refrigerated, home-delivered meals through Medicaid or Medicare Advantage health plan benefits or for direct purchase. Mom's Meals delivers nationwide and offers many medically tailored options for different health conditions. Its long-term care, chronic care and post-discharge care programs allow clients to lead healthier lives while remaining independent at home. For more information, visit www.MomsMeals.com.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/moms-meals-increases-support-to-reduce-food-insecurity-302100006.html

SOURCE Mom's Meals
1.3-million-square-foot facility repurposes former brewery while establishing 'factory of the future'

EDEN, N.C. , March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- State officials, community partners and Nestle Purina PetCare leaders gathered today to commemorate the official opening of the pet care company's newest pet food factory in Eden, North Carolina . The grand opening celebration is the culmination of more than three years of work to bring the more than $450 million operation to life and establish the first Nestle manufacturing facility in the state.

"Demand for our products continues to grow and opening this new facility  our first manufacturing operation in North Carolina  allows us to better serve our consumers, particularly in the eastern and southeastern parts of the country," Purina Chief Executive Officer Nina Leigh Krueger said. "Our new factory in Eden is a huge step to continue meeting that growing demand, and the latest example of the continued investment being made across our U.S. manufacturing network. We're grateful for the support and partnership across the region, and are confident we're building a facility, and a passionate team, that will represent this community proudly for generations to come."

The new Purina factory in Eden has already created more than 300 new positions, with plans to add more personnel in the future. Between 2020 and 2025, Nestle is on track to invest $2 billion in Purina's factory and capital expansion projects to enhance its manufacturing footprint. A 24th factory is currently under construction in Williamsburg Township, Ohio , and is expected to be fully operational in the next 12 months. North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper recognized the significant investment and commitment from all parties to make the facility a reality.



"We continued to believe that the brewery in Eden could be used for a new manufacturer and we are excited that with this grand opening Nestle Purina is ready to make a new home in North Carolina with 300 new employees," said Governor Cooper . "They will find here a well-trained, dedicated and diverse workforce along with support for their efforts to have this new plant embrace renewable energy and sustainability."

The grand opening celebration also featured North Carolina State Senator Phil Berger who spoke alongside several other Purina leaders including Chief Technical Officer Nolan Terry , Manufacturing Vice President Casey Hansen and Eden Factory Manager Will Steiner . Rockingham County Economic Development Director Leigh Cockram also spoke on behalf of the region.

"Factory of the future"

The new 1.3-million-square-foot Purina facility in Eden  which repurposes 80 percent of a former brewery's existing structure  features several modern technologies which transform and enhance the overall production process, including the first-ever vertical dryer installed in a Purina U.S. factory as well as automated systems in warehousing and the freezer space. The new facility also features a first-of-its-kind Manufacturing Experience Center, designed to introduce modern manufacturing to the next generation of workforce.

"We have been looking forward to this day for a very long time and are so grateful for the contributions of so many incredible associates who've been working hard to bring this factory to life" said Will Steiner , factory manager of the new Purina factory in Eden . "So much amazing collaboration has gone into this project, but what's most exciting is we can now really get to work and produce many of our pet food brands that pets love and owners trust. We have a great team in place to bring Purina's quality and safety standards to life in Eden ."

Nestled on 1,350 acres extending to the Virginia state line, the new Purina factory in Eden, North Carolina , marks the 23rdPurina manufacturing operation in the U.S. Eden will operate as a zero waste for disposal facility. Across its manufacturing network, Purina is working to conserve water and achieve 100 percent renewable electricity at its factories by 2025.

Community donations

The grand opening event featured donations from Purina to local organizations granted through its Trust Fund, which was established by company founder William H. Danforth and supports partners working to positively impact communities where Purina has operations.

Purina made a $30,000 donation to expand industrial and applied technologies programs at Rockingham Community College. The funds support the opening of a new Center for Workforce Development building, enhancing the community's current and future workforces with training opportunities to better support high-technology employment opportunities. The 3D printing room inside the new structure will also be named in honor of Nestle Purina. The check was presented to Mark Kinlaw , President of Rockingham Community College.

Purina's $10,000 donation to Dan River Basin Association supports the organization's 'Tails on Trails' initiative, designed to encourage pets and people to explore nature together. The program will host bi-monthly guided hikes designed with pets in mind and provide printed maps of dog-friendly trails around Rockingham County ; as well as an online map featuring dog-friendly trails across the entire 16-county Dan River Basin . The check was presented to Tiffany Haworth , Executive Director of Dan River Basin Association.

Purina also recently delivered a donation which helped renovate and reopen the Purina Bark Park inside Freedom Park in Eden ; helped fund the installation of an electronic kiosk at the Rockingham County Veterans Park ; and supported Help, Incorporated and the opening of a new facility, the SquareOne Family Justice Center, which provides crisis care to abuse victims in a centralized location. The local team regularly supports Rockingham County Animal Shelter and Friends of Eden Animal Rescue with donated product, and also helps feed the K9 officers of the Eden Police Force.

In 2023, Purina invested more than $30 million to support programs that aim to bring and keep pets and people together and to forge partnerships that help communities and the environment thrive.

About Nestle Purina PetCare

Nestle Purina PetCare creates richer lives for pets and the people who love them. Founded in 1894, Purina has helped dogs and cats live longer, healthier lives by offering scientifically based nutritional innovations. Purina manufactures some of the world's most trusted and popular pet care products, including Purina ONE, Pro Plan, Friskies and Tidy Cats. Our more than 11,000 U.S. associates take pride in our trusted pet food, treat and litter brands that feed 46 million dogs and 68 million cats every year. More than 500 Purina scientists, veterinarians, and pet care experts ensure our commitment to unsurpassed quality and nutrition.

Purina promotes responsible pet care through our scientific research, our products, and our support for pet-related organizations. Over the past five years, Purina has contributed more than $150 million towards organizations that bring, and keep, people and pets together, as well as those that help our communities and environment thrive.

Purina is part of Nestle, a global leader in Nutrition, Health and Wellness. For more information, visit purina.com or subscribe here to get the latest Purina news.

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SOURCE Nestle Purina PetCare
GOTHENBURG, Sweden , March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The shareholders of Vitrolife AB (publ), corporate identity number 556354-3452 (`the Company') are hereby invited to attend the Annual General Meeting of shareholders on Thursday 25 April 2024 at 4.00 pm at the Elite Park Avenue Hotel , Kungsportsavenyn 36-38 in Gothenburg, Sweden . The entrance opens at 3.30 pm .

Shareholders who wish to attend the Annual General Meeting must:

be recorded in the share register prepared by Euroclear Sweden AB relating to the circumstances on 17 April 2024 ; and

relating to the circumstances on ; and notify their attendance in accordance with the instructions in the Notice by 19 April 2024 .

Shareholders who have had their shares registered with a nominee through a bank or other nominee must temporarily register the shares in their own name in the share register kept by Euroclear Sweden AB in order to participate in the meeting. Shareholders who wish to participate in the AGM by postal voting must give notice of their participation by casting their postal votes in accordance with the instructions under the heading Postal voting in the notice so that the postal votes are received by Euroclear Sweden AB no later than 19 April 2024 .

The following proposals will be amongst those presented at the Annual General Meeting:

The Board of Directors proposes a dividend of SEK 1.00 per share and Tuesday 29 April 2024 as the record day for the dividend.

The Election Committee proposes that the Board shall consist of five members. The Election Committee proposes re-election of the Board members Lars Holmqvist , Pia Marions , Henrik Blomquist , Karen Lykke Srensen and Jon Sigurdsson. It is proposed that Jon Sigurdsson is the Chairman of the Board. Remuneration to the Board members is proposed to be in total SEK 3,300,000 of which SEK 1,200,000 to the Chairman of the Board, SEK 400,000 to each of the other members of the Board, SEK 150,000 to the Chairman of the Audit Committee and SEK 75,000 to each of the other members of the Audit Committee, SEK 100,000 to the Chairman of the Remuneration Committee and SEK 50,000 to each of the other members of the Remuneration Committee. The proposal means a decrease of 8% in the board fees compared to the previous year ( SEK 3,600,000 ) due to the decrease in number of board members. This proposal means an increase of SEK 100,000 to the Audit Committee. During 2023 a formal process of appointment of auditors was concluded and the Election Committee proposes to re-appoint Deloitte as auditors for the for a period of three years, with annual elections at the Annual General Meeting. The Election Committee proposes re-election of the auditor for a mandate period of one year with unchanged remuneration principles.

Authorization for the Board to resolve to issue new shares up until the next Annual General Meeting.

Authorization for the Board to resolve on acquisition of the company's own shares up until the next Annual General Meeting.

Attachment: Full notice

Gothenburg 26 March 2024

VITROLIFE AB (publ)

The Board of Directors

The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact persons set out above, at 26-03-2024 18:00 CET .

CONTACT:

For further information contact:

Jon Sigurdsson, Chairman of the board, email: [email protected]

Patrik Tolf , CFO, phone +4631-766 90 21, email: [email protected]

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/vitrolife-ab--publ-/r/notice-to-attend-the-annual-general-meeting-of-vitrolife-ab--publ-,c3944989

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/1031/3944989/2698471.pdf Notice to attend the Annual General Meeting of Vitrolife AB (publ)

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SOURCE Vitrolife AB (publ)
INDIANAPOLIS , March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Static Media is pleased to announce the acquisition of the well-established and prestigious food brand TheTakeout.com, a digital platform for obsessive food lovers founded in 2016.

The Takeout is on a mission to make people's lives better through food.

Previously owned by G/O Media, The Takeout joins Static Media's robust family of prominent food brands Tasting Table, Daily Meal, Food Republic, Mashed, Foodie, and recently acquired Chowhoundwhich reach a combined 38 million monthly visitors.

The Takeout is on a mission to make people's lives better through food. The brand celebrates gourmet and everyday dishes with equal enthusiasmsharing the latest food trends, expert cooking advice, and taste tests in an authoritative and accessible way. Whether you're a passionate home cook, a devoted foodie, or simply someone who enjoys a good meal, The Takeout offers something for everyone.

With this acquisition, The Takeout will continue to serve food aficionados and empower individuals to explore the many possibilities of the culinary world.

"We are thrilled to be adding The Takeout to our esteemed collection of food brands. The Takeout is a highly reputable and distinguished brand and a go-to destination for all things food. As the seventh food brand to join our portfolio, The Takeout embodies our unwavering commitment to celebrating the artistry and diversity of food. Moreover, it complements our existing food vertical, enriching our offerings and reinforcing our positioning as leaders in the food space," said Reggie Renner , CEO and co-founder of Static Media.

About Static Media

Established in 2012, Static Media is a leading digital media company. The company owns and operates twenty-four brands, serving an audience of over 100 million monthly website visitors. Through a strong digital presence, Static Media brands cover a wide range of topics, providing real-time news, original insights, exclusive interviews, and expert advice. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana , the company comprises more than 200 employees, with editorial and creative teams making up the majority of the workforce. This virtual-first team produces and distributes content across its brands.

For more information, please visit www.static.com.

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SOURCE Static Media Inc.
Yellow Abuses Legal System with Phony Claims, Shows Contempt for Workers

WASHINGTON , March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The International Brotherhood of Teamsters won a major victory against Yellow Corporation yesterday with the dismissal of the company's frivolous $137 million-dollar lawsuit by U.S. District Court Judge Julie A. Robinson .

The lawsuit, Yellow Corporation et al., v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters et al., was a blatant attempt by Yellow Corp. to undermine the rights of workers and discredit the Teamsters. The union vigorously defended its position and challenged the meritless breach of contract claims filed by Yellow Corp. The court agreed with the union's position that the lawsuit be dismissed.

"After years of corporate mismanagement, Yellow still never misses an opportunity to embarrass itself or bring further shame to what used to be one of America's strongest freight carriers. As the Teamsters expected, the court saw right through Yellow's PR stunt of a lawsuit," said Teamsters General President Sean M. O'Brien . "Yellow's greedy executives drove this company into the ground despite enormous, selfless sacrifice from its workforce for decades. This lawsuit represented management's desperate, last-ditch attempt to save face  and they failed yet again."

Despite taking $5 billion in wage and benefit concessions from rank-and-file Teamsters since 2019 and $700 million in a federal government bailout, Yellow Corp. filed for bankruptcy in August of last year, but not before paying out millions of dollars in bonuses to its failed executives.

Yellow Corp. enriched its attorney in the now-dismissed lawsuit, Marc Kasowitz of Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP, with more than $1 million in fees since Dec. 21, 2023 . Meanwhile, Yellow Corp.'s attorneys with Kirland & Ellis LLP are working to deny WARN Act claims from workers hurt by the company's bankruptcy.

"While Yellow abuses the legal system by filing bogus claims against the Teamsters Union, the company's lawyers are actively working to attack retirees and deny workers what they are legally owed," said Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman . "We will continue to fight to ensure that workers are protected and the abuse by Yellow's executives and their opportunist corporate lawyers is put to a stop."

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.3 million hardworking people in the U.S. , Canada , and Puerto Rico . Visit Teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at Facebook.com/teamsters .

Contact:

Kara Deniz, (202) 497-6610

[email protected]

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SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters
ALPHARETTA, Ga. and RICHMOND, Va. and EDINBURGH, Scotland , March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- WorkLLama, technology provider of an AI-driven, talent marketing, relationship management, and direct sourcing platform, together with Daxtra, a leader in AI-powered recruitment technology, have announced a strategic partnership featuring new product integrations. This marks a transformative step forward in talent acquisition, offering unparalleled capabilities to streamline recruitment processes and elevate the candidate experience.

The integration will bring a market-leading, comprehensive suite of features designed to empower recruiters, curators, and hiring managers together with advanced search, match, and aggregation capabilities. Making Daxtra's AI technology available with WorkLLama's applicant tracking system (ATS) will enable recruiters to harness the full potential of their candidate data in WorkLLama while leveraging cutting-edge solutions for enhanced efficiency and effectiveness. Ultimately, this will help recruiters improve time-to-fill, cost-to-hire, and the overall user experience.

With these integrated solutions, sourcing and recruiting teams can effortlessly search for candidates across job boards directly within WorkLLama's ATS, eliminating the need to switch between platforms. Recruiters can easily import candidates into WorkLLama, identifying duplicates, tracking previous searches, assessing candidate capabilities, and building talent pools. These talent pools can be nurtured throughout the candidate journey, improving retention, reducing back-outs, and increasing future referrals.

"The enhanced search, match, and aggregation capabilities means recruiters can leverage structured data searches, and use this data to make data-driven, informed decisions," said Sugandan Dinakaran, Head of Product, WorkLLama. "This automation streamlines candidate identification and ranking for hiring managers and frees up time for strategic workforce planning."

"Daxtra is committed to delivering unmatched value to our customers and revolutionizing the way organizations attract, engage, and hire top talent," said Terry Bustamante , vice president of Alliances and Partnerships at Daxtra. "By combining Daxtra's intelligent automation capabilities with WorkLLama's talent management suite, we'll be able to provide a better experience for recruiters, employers and candidates."

About WorkLLama

WorkLLama is a total talent management and engagement suite. We create communities of highly engaged talent with a single, modern, AI-driven talent marketing, relationship management, and direct sourcing platform. Visit us at www.workllama.com. Follow us on LinkedIn.

About Daxtra

Daxtra specializes in intelligent recruitment automation, AI-powered search and match, and multilingual resume and job parsing in 40+ languages. Built on AI and machine learning, our technology seamlessly integrates with recruitment tech stacks. Headquartered in the U.K. , Daxtra has been developing innovative recruitment software since 2002 and supports customers globally via offices in Europe , North America , and Asia-Pacific .

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SOURCE WorkLLama
Former President Donald Trump will make his first trip of the 2024 election cycle to Wisconsin with a stop in Green Bay next week on the day of the states presidential primary.

Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, will hold a rally at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the Hyatt Regency Green Bay in Green Bay, according to a media advisory posted on his campaign website.

Although hes on the Republican primary ballot Tuesday, Trump and Democratic President Joe Biden have already secured enough delegates to become their parties nominees, making the outcome of next weeks vote purely symbolic.

But his visit to the battleground state comes amid increased attention placed on Wisconsin by Biden, who has made six trips to the state so far this year. Wisconsin is once again expected to play a crucial role in determining the outcome of the November presidential election, which appears all but certain to be a rematch between Biden and Trump.

After many visits to Wisconsin from President Biden, Vice President (Kamala) Harris, and Democratic leaders, Donald Trump finally decided to make time to visit our state in between his busy schedule of hiding out in his country club, calling for cuts to Social Security, and calling into white supremacist radio shows to spew antisemitism, Bidens Wisconsin campaign spokesperson Timothy White said in a statement. This November, Wisconsin will send him packing just like we did in 2020.

The former president last visited Wisconsin in 2022 to stump for GOP gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels, who launched a failed campaign to oust Democratic Gov. Tony Evers that year.

Trump spent much of that speech, held days before the Aug. 9 primary, promoting the lie that the 2020 election was rigged and stolen.

I ran twice, I won twice ... now we may just have to do it again and bring our country back, Trump said at the time, hinting to what would eventually become his 2024 presidential campaign.

Trump also lobbed criticisms at fellow Republicans such as former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, who lost to Michels in the GOP gubernatorial primary that year, and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, who rejected the former presidents calls to overturn the states 2020 election.

While the relationship between Vos and Trump has soured over the years, Vos last week offered an endorsement for the former president  after saying last year he didnt think Trump could beat Biden.

Its going to be, do you think the policies that Joe Biden has put in place over the course of the past four years are better for the country, or were times better under Donald Trump, when we actually had low inflation, low taxes, more control at the border? Vos said to reporters in Madison last Tuesday.

Biden defeated Trump in Wisconsin by almost 21,000 votes in 2020, four years after Trumps equally narrow 2016 win over Democrat Hillary Clinton in the state.

Democrats have seen considerable success in recent statewide elections, including liberal state Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewiczs victory last April, which shifted the states high court to a liberal majority for the first time in more than a decade, and Evers successful bid for a second term in 2022.

However, Republicans are hopeful that a heated presidential election, buoyed by the Republican National Convention this summer in Milwaukee, could spell a successful year for GOP candidates.

Close race

Heading toward November, 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.

Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapses
Palestinians gather at the sea to collect aid airdropped by an airplane, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in the northern Gaza Strip, March 25, 2024. REUTERS

GAZA (Reuters) -Twelve people drowned trying to reach aid dropped by plane off a Gaza beach, Palestinian health authorities said on Tuesday, amid growing fears of famine nearly six months into Israel's military campaign.

Video of the airdrop obtained by Reuters showed crowds of people running towards the beach, in Beit Lahia in north Gaza, as crates with parachutes floated down, then people standing deep in water and bodies being pulled onto the sand.

In Washington, the Pentagon said three of the 18 bundles of airdropped aid into Gaza on Monday had parachute malfunctions and fell into the water, but could not confirm if anyone was killed trying to reach the aid.

It was the latest in a string of incidents involving deaths during aid deliveries in the crowded Palestinian enclave where some people are foraging for weeds to eat and baking barely edible bread from animal feed.

A piece of paper retrieved from Monday's airdrop said in Arabic written over an American flag that the aid was from the United States.

The video showed the apparently lifeless body of a bearded young man being hauled onto the beach, the eyes open but unmoving, and another man trying to revive him with chest compressions as somebody said, "It's over."

"He swam to get food for his children and he was martyred," said a man standing on the beach who did not give his name.

"They should deliver aid through the (overland) crossings. Why are they doing this to us?"

Aid agencies say only about a fifth of required supplies are entering Gaza as Israel persists with an air and ground offensive, triggered by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, that has shattered the enclave, pushing parts of it into famine already.

They say deliveries by air or sea directly onto Hamas-run Gaza's beaches are no substitute for increased supplies coming in by land via Israel or Egypt.

AID DELIVERY CRISIS

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged Israel to give an "ironclad commitment" for unfettered aid access into the Gaza Strip and described the number of trucks blocked at the border as "a moral outrage".

Israel says it puts no limit on the amount of humanitarian aid entering Gaza and blames problems in it reaching civilians within the enclave on U.N. agencies, which it says are inefficient.

Distribution of aid inside Gaza has been complicated, particularly in the north, and last month health authorities in Gaza said Israeli troops killed more than 100 people trying to take aid from a convoy.

Israel's military disputed that account, saying people who had rushed the convoy had been crushed to death by the crowd or aid trucks.

It has banned UNRWA, the main U.N. agency working in Gaza which it accuses of complicity with Hamas, from carrying out aid deliveries to the north, UNRWA's head said on Sunday.

UNRWA denies it is complicit with Hamas and is awaiting the results of investigations into its handling of the accusations, which have led some donors to pause funding.

The U.N. humanitarian office urged Israel on Tuesday to revoke an apparent ban on food aid to north Gaza by UNRWA, saying people there were facing a "cruel death by famine".

UNRWA communications director Juliette Touma said the reported drownings showed the best way to deliver aid was by trucks run by aid agencies.

"These tragic reports coming from Gaza are yet another indication that the most efficient, fastest, safest way to reach people with much-needed humanitarian assistance is via road and via the humanitarian organisations including UNRWA who are working on the ground," Touma said.

(Reporting by Saleh Salem. Additional reporting by Idrees Ali in Washington; writing by Angus McDowall; editing by Mark Heinrich and Howard Goller)
FILE PHOTO: An Apple logo is pictured in an Apple store in Paris, France, March 6, 2024. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo

(Reuters) -Apple will hold its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) from June 10 to June 14, it said on Tuesday, amid reports that the iPhone-maker was in talks for AI partnership and could unveil significant changes to the iOS.

The event, which will be available online, will highlight updates to the software powering iPhones, iPads and other Apple devices, the company said. Some developers and students will be invited in-person at Apple Park on the opening day, it added.

Investors are closely watching for updates on artificial intelligence development at Apple, which has so far spoken little about incorporating the technology into its devices. The company earlier this year lost the crown as the world's most valuable company to Microsoft.

Apple plans to use AI technology such as Google's Gemini for a chatbot within Apple's operating systems, while the iPhone maker's own AI engine will handle more behind-the-scenes tasks throughout the new software, Bloomberg News reported earlier this month.

The company also plans to make the iPhone home screen more customizable in iOS 18, which some reports have said could mark the biggest update to the iPhone operating system in years.

The developers conference comes at a time when sales of Apple's iPhone remain weak, while those of Macs and iPads have fallen amid a worldwide slump in gadget sales.

At last year's conference, Apple unveiled the Vision Pro mixed reality headset, a new core processor, and new computers.

(Reporting by Yuvraj Malik in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
FILE PHOTO: A view shows the office of TikTok after the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill that would give TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance about six months to divest the U.S. assets of the short-video app or face a ban, in Culver

(Reuters) -The U.S. Federal Trade Commission could resolve its investigation into Chinese-owned short video app TikTok over allegedly faulty privacy and data security practices by either filing suit or reaching a settlement in the coming weeks, a source told Reuters.

Politico earlier reported the potential FTC action on Tuesday citing people with direct knowledge of the matter. The FTC and TikTok declined to comment. The Justice Department did not immediately comment.

Reuters in 2020 reported the FTC and the U.S. Justice Department were looking into allegations the popular social media app failed to live up to a 2019 agreement aimed at protecting children's privacy.

The probe is separate from ongoing concerns in Congress about the potential that the data of TikTok's 170 million U.S. users could be improperly accessed by the Chinese government. TikTok denies the allegation and says it has robust data security provisions.

Earlier in March, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted to pass a bill giving ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, about six months to sell the U.S. assets of the app or face a ban, citing national security concerns.

Senators are still undecided on how to proceed.

The White House had said the Senate should take "swift action," and President Joe Biden said he would sign the bill.

In 2021, ByteDance agreed to a $92 million class-action settlement to settle data privacy claims from some U.S. TikTok users.

(Reporting by Ananya Mariam Rajesh in Bengaluru and David Shepardson in New York; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri and Stephen Coates)
U.S. President Joe Biden arrives to speak about on the ongoing response to the Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore, Maryland, in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., March 26, 2024. REUTERS/Craig Hudson

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden pledged that the federal government will pay the full cost to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, one of the nation's busiest arteries that collapsed hours earlier on Tuesday after being struck by a massive freight ship.

It's my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge and I expect the Congress to support my effort," Biden said, speaking from the White House ahead of a trip to North Carolina.

A massive freight ship stacked high with containers smashed into a bridge while sailing out of Baltimore, Maryland, early on Tuesday, sending cars and people into the river below and closing one of the busiest ports on the U.S. Eastern Seaboard.

Rescuers pulled out two survivors, one of whom was hospitalized, and were searching for more in the Patapsco River after huge metal spans of the 1.6-mile (2.57 km) Francis Scott Key Bridge crumpled into the icy water at around 1:30 a.m. (0530 GMT).

"I know every minute in that circumstance feels like a lifetime, Biden said to people who are still awaiting word on those missing after the collapse. The president said the search and rescue operation is our top priority.

The Francis Scott Key bridge was a main thoroughfare for drivers between New York and Washington who sought to avoid downtown Baltimore. It was one of three ways to cross the Baltimore Harbor, with a traffic volume of 31,000 cars per day or 11.3 million vehicles a year.

Biden, who called the collision a "terrible accident," was asked why the federal government should pick up the tab if the ship and its operator were potentially to blame.

"That could be but we're not going to wait for that to happen. We're going to pay for it to get the bridge rebuilt and opened," Biden said.

Large scale infrastructure projects are typically paid for by a combination of state and federal governments.

Biden said he would go to Baltimore as quickly as I can, but did not give exact timing.

(Reporting By Steve Holland and Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Heather Timmons and Josie Kao)
FILE PHOTO: Signage is seen outside the Blackstone Group headquarters in New York City, U.S., January 18, 2023. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon/File Photo

By Abigail Summerville

(Reuters) - Private equity firm Blackstone is considering a sale of Trilliant Food & Nutrition that could value the U.S. company behind the Victor Allen's and Aspen Ridge coffee brands at about $600 million including debt, three people familiar with the matter said.

Blackstone has tapped Bank of America as financial adviser on the potential sale, the sources said.

Trilliant generates nearly $60 million of annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, the sources added.

Blackstone and Bank of America declined to comment. Trilliant did not respond to requests for comment.

Trilliant makes private label and branded beverages, including coffee grounds, coffee pods, teas and fruit drink mixes. The Wisconsin-based company was founded in 1979 by Victor Allen Mondry and changed its name from Victor Allen's Coffee to Trilliant in 2013.

While Trilliant's business has taken a hit from a jump in raw material costs it has benefited from consumers seeking the convenience of single-serve and ready-to-drink coffee, as well as growing demand for cheaper private-label products, credit ratings agency Moody's Investors Service said last year.

Blackstone gained majority ownership of the company through a preferred equity investment in 2017.

It invested $291 million in the form of payment-in-kind notes, which grow each year as the company adds to the notes balance instead of paying Blackstone annual interest.

(Reporting by Abigail Summerville in New York; Editing by David Goodman)
FILE PHOTO: Dave Calhoun, CEO of Boeing, speaks on stage during the delivery of the final 747 jet at their plant in Everett, Washington, U.S. January 31, 2023. REUTERS/David Ryder/File Photo

By Shivansh Tiwary and Nathan Gomes

(Reuters) - Boeing CEO David Calhoun will leave the troubled aircraft maker at the end of the year, leaving a difficult turnaround job to his yet-to-be-named successor.

Calhoun - a veteran crisis manager - was hired in 2020 to steer the planemaker out of a reputation setback after crashes in 2018 and 2019 killed nearly 350 people and caused the grounding of its best-selling 737 MAX jet.

But his tenure might not join the list of his successful earlier stints including at Caterpillar, General Electric and media company Nielsen, leaving when the iconic planemaker is struggling to resolve production issues and safety concerns.

The Jan. 5 mid-air panel blowout was the most recent in a spate of safety issues that have shaken the industry's confidence in Boeing and hampered its ability to increase production to meet high demand for jets.

COMPETITION

Under Calhoun's leadership, the company has struggled to keep pace with competitor Airbus.

Boeing stock has lost 43% of its value since Calhoun took the top job on Jan. 13, 2020, underperforming the benchmark S&P 500 index.

Rival Airbus added more than 26% to its market cap during the same period.

While both planemakers have received bumper orders for their jets as airlines try to cater to a post-pandemic travel boom, Boeing's production and quality issues have frustrated customers.

Airbus, meanwhile, has been steadily growing single-aisle market share with its A320 jet family in the wake of multiple crises involving the MAX.

There have, however, been some bright spots.

The Arlington, Virginia-based planemaker's revenue has edged past Airbus over the past four years.

Airbus and Boeing reported a negative cash flow in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic brought the sector to a halt after restrictions across the world dented demand for air travel and, thus, new airplanes.

Airbus experienced better cash flow performance in 2021 and 2022. Boeing performed better in the last year and 2020.

However, Boeing expects to burn more cash than expected in the current quarter as fewer deliveries, lower production volumes at its commercial division and pressure on working capital affect its free cash flow.

(Reporting by Shivansh Tiwary and Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru; editing by Arpan Varghese and Sriraj Kalluvila)
FILE PHOTO: A Boeing 737 Max aircraft during a display at the Farnborough International Airshow, in Farnborough, Britain, July 20, 2022. REUTERS/Peter Cziborra/File Photo

By Allison Lampert and Tim Hepher

(Reuters) -Boeing's board has begun the search for a big-hitter to take the helm of the troubled planemaker following the turbulent tenure of CEO Dave Calhoun, with many industry executives and analysts predicting it will seek an outside remedy.

Facing mounting pressure from airlines, regulators and investors, Boeing on Monday announced a broader than expected shakeup with Calhoun, 66, stepping down by year-end on the heels of the company's commercial planemaking chief and its chairman.

The U.S. planemaker has been wrestling with a growing crisis following a January mid-air panel blowout on a 737 MAX plane.

The new CEO will face numerous tasks, including improving the company's safety culture, addressing quality issues and regaining the trust of regulators, customers and the public.

Boeing will also have to deliver on goals to ramp up production and boost cashflow as it tries to reduce debt and make up ground against European rival Airbus.

Just three months ago, Boeing appeared to anoint Stephanie Pope as a future leader after naming her chief operating officer following a successful stint running its services division.

But on Monday, Pope was named head of Boeing's commercial airplanes division, replacing Stan Deal who retires, with responsibilities including the MAX factory.

Her new position makes a move into the top job less likely, at least for now, analysts said.

"The company was teeing up Stephanie Pope to likely succeed Calhoun but that seems to have changed in favor of an external search for a new CEO," Stifel analyst Bert Subin said.

"This could result in a high-profile hire."

GE, SPIRIT CEOS

Many investors say GE CEO Larry Culp has the star quality Boeing desperately needs to rebuild confidence, having split the historic conglomerate into three public companies.

But Culp recently told reporters he was fully focused on leading GE Aerospace as a standalone engine maker, and that he looked forward to continuing to serve Boeing as a key partner and supplier.

GE is due to complete the split next week.

Pat Shanahan, an ex-Boeing executive and once acting U.S. defense secretary in the Trump administration who now heads struggling MAX fuselage supplier Spirit Aerosystems, is also cited as a possible frontrunner.

Shanahan could be elevated once the planemaker completes talks to buy Spirit, which was a Boeing subsidiary until 2005.

"He is the perfect outsider; he knows Boeing inside and out, and now knows the people who produce fuselages and who look like they will be part of Boeing again," said industry veteran Adam Pilarski, who in January questioned how long Calhoun could last.

Shanahan might not want to commit to five years at Boeing, said a former company executive who worked with the former Boeing production chief. "This is an endurance game," said the executive, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Spirit said Shanahan's "sole priority remains building a culture of safety at Spirit AeroSystems."

OTHER OPTIONS

Another Boeing veteran tipped for a possible return, industry sources said, is former Chief Financial Officer Greg Smith, who was edged out by Calhoun in 2021 and is now chairman of American Airlines.

Smith spent part of his career overseeing supply chains. American Airlines did not respond to a request for comment.

Boeing board member David Gitlin has been widely mentioned as a potential CEO candidate, but analysts said it was unclear whether he would be willing to give up his post as head of ventilation group Carrier Global. Boeing and Carrier declined to comment.

Several analysts said Boeing would prefer a clean break to stem a tide of safety criticism from regulators and Congress.

"(Boeing's) culture of quality and manufacturing has been called into question over recent issues, and a new, outside perspective on operations could be encouraging for investors," said RBC Capital Markets analyst Ken Herbert.

But unions, some of whom are entering a new phase of contract negotiations, want a return to basics after widespread criticism that Boeing has promoted shareholder value over quality and safety.

Ray Goforth, executive director of a key union at Boeing and Spirit, said the planemaker's next CEO should be an engineer.

"This company thrived under engineering leadership for decades, but has lurched from crisis to crisis," said the head of union SPEEA, which counts engineers among its members.

(Reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal and Tim Hepher in Paris; Additional reporting by David Shepardson in Wahington and Shristi Achar and Shivansh Tiwary in Bangalore; Editing by Jamie Freed)
LONDON (Reuters) -Britain on Tuesday summoned the charge daffaires of the Chinese Embassy in London after accusing Chinese state-backed hackers of stealing data from Britain's elections watchdog and carrying out a surveillance operation against parliamentarians.

Britain said the Chinese hackers stole the voter registration data  mostly names and addresses  of about 40 million people from the Electoral Commission and tried to break into lawmakers' emails.

"The (Foreign Office) set out the governments unequivocal condemnation of Chinese state-affiliated organisations and individuals undertaking malicious cyber activity against UK democratic institutions and parliamentarians," a spokesperson for Britain's Foreign Office said in a statement.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Tuesday the government is close to finalising a new foreign influence registration system that would require anyone working undeclared for a foreign country in the so-called "enhanced tier" to declare their activity.

Under Britains new National Security Act, individuals, such as lawyers, a public relations company or an undercover spy working for a country in the "enhanced tier" would have to record their activity in a register or face prosecution.

British Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden said on Monday that China's alleged hacking of British democratic institutions meant there was a "strong case for including the country in the enhanced tier.

China has denied the spying allegations. The Chinese embassy in London said on Monday the claims said the claims were "completely fabricated" and it will make "a justified and necessary response".

The British government has previously said it would be inappropriate to call China a "threat" because it is too simplistic to view relations with the worlds second biggest economy through a single word.

(Reporting by Sarah Young, Andrew MacAskill and Sachin Ravikumar; Editing by Alistair Smout)
FILE PHOTO: People view examples of the Parthenon sculptures, sometimes referred to in the UK as the Elgin Marbles, on display at the British Museum in London, Britain, November 29, 2023. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File Photo

By Sam Tobin

LONDON (Reuters) - A London court on Tuesday ordered a former curator at the British Museum accused of stealing hundreds of artefacts to provide the museum with a list of all items he is suspected of taking and to return those still in his possession.

The museum, one of the most visited in the world, reported in August that hundreds of items had been stolen from its collection or were missing, highlighting internal organisational failings and leading to the exit of its director.

Peter Higgs, the museum's curator of Ancient Greek collections and the acting head of the Greece and Rome department, was sacked after the alleged thefts came to light.

He is currently under police investigation but has not been charged. The British Museum has brought a civil lawsuit against Higgs and it said he had filed a defence which showed he intended to dispute the claim.

Higgs was not represented at the hearing at London's High Court on Tuesday, but lawyers acting for him in relation to the criminal investigation were present. They declined to comment.

The British Museum, which holds treasures such as the Rosetta Stone and the Parthenon marbles, has said the stolen items included gold rings, earrings and other pieces of jewellery dating back to ancient Greek and Roman periods.

The museum's lawyer Daniel Burgess said in court documents: "While the full extent of the thefts is unknown, it is presently believed that over 1,800 items were stolen or damaged and that many hundreds of them were sold or offered for sale by (Higgs)."

Burgess added that Higgs tried to "cover his tracks by, among other things, using false names, creating false documents and manipulating records held on the Museum's IT systems".

The British Museum has had 356 items returned so far, Burgess said.

Judge Heather Williams granted the museum an order requiring Higgs to return items he may still have and provide information about the whereabouts of missing items or their proceeds.

(Reporting by Sam Tobin; Editing by Nick Macfie)
By Joe Cash and Sarah Wu

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will accelerate the development of "new productive forces" and bolster stability and security for the global economy, Vice President Han Zheng told an investment forum in Beijing, as the world's no.2 economy seeks to reassure anxious foreign firms.

The term "new productive forces" was coined by President Xi Jinping last September, underscoring the need for economic development based on innovation in advanced sectors.

"Further establishing a market-orientated, law-based and international business environment will be key to the continuous optimisation of China's business environment and improving its attractiveness to foreign firms," Han told an audience at the inaugural Invest China Summit, that included the CEOs of Aramco, AstraZeneca, and Pfizer.

China will "provide safe, stable, high-quality and efficient supply chain support to the operation of the global economy," Han added.

Foreign businesses have been trying to reconcile Chinese leaders' public overtures towards overseas investment with the rolling out of a broader anti-espionage law, raids on consultancies and due diligence firms, and exit bans.

Foreign investment flows into China shrank nearly 20% in the first two months of the year, data released on Friday showed, and officials have been stepping up efforts to attract investors at a time when many companies have been looking to "de-risk" supply chains and operations away from China.

The Invest China Summit followed the China Development Forum from March 24-25. It coincides with the first day of the Bo'ao Forum in Hainan, which is sometimes touted as Asia's answer to the World Economic Forum meetings in Davos, resulting in a busy week of commercial diplomacy for foreign CEOs.

The chief executives of petrochemicals giant Aramco, pharmaceutical firms Pfizer and AstraZeneca, biotechnology company Novonesis, and elevator and escalator manufacturer Otis, voiced support for the China market at the same event.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said that "by the end of 2025, (Pfizer) plans to submit 17 new drug or indication applications in China," while AstraZeneca's CEO Pascal Soriot said his firm "expects about 100 medications and indications in China in the next five years."

(Reporting by Joe Cash and Sarah Wu; Writing by Liz Lee; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
Announcing the Truth & Liberty Call-In Show New Host Lineup

Truth & Liberty Coalition, Inc. is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit based in Woodland Park, Colorado



"Both hosts have amazing experience and are going to be valuable contributors to the content of the Truth & Liberty Daily Live Call-In Show." -- Richard Harris, Executive Director







NEWS PROVIDED BY

Truth & Liberty Coalition

March 26, 2024



WOODLAND PARK, Colo., March 26, 2024 /Standard Newswire/ -- In 2023, Truth & Liberty Coalition, Inc. began airing live daily Monday-Friday from 3:30-5:00 pm (MT) offering listeners a chance to hear from expert hosts on the topics that affect us every day.



Welcome to new show hosts E.W. Jackson and Janet Porter. They both have amazing experience and are going to be valuable contributors to the content of the Truth & Liberty Daily Live Call-In Show.



E.W. Jackson joined the United States Marine Corps in 1970. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Massachusetts at Boston in 1975, and from Harvard Law School in 1978. While in law school, he studied at Harvard Divinity School and was licensed as a Baptist minister.



Ordained as Pastor in 1979 and consecrated a Bishop in 1998, Jackson practiced law for 15 years in Boston, and was an adjunct professor at Northeastern University and Strayer University.



Janet Porter is the Founder and President of Faith2Action - formed to win the cultural war for life, liberty, and the family.



Porter is also the architect of the pro-life Heartbeat Bill which ensures that "if a heartbeat is detected the baby is protected." Heartbeat Bills have been introduced in 30 states and passed in fourteen (and counting).



Jackson and Porter join regular hosts Andrew Wommack, Richard Harris and Alex McFarland.



Andrew Wommack is the founder of Andrew Wommack Ministries & Charis Bible College. He is also the president of the Truth & Liberty Coalition, an organization that seeks to educate, unify, and mobilize believers to impact culture and effect godly change on important social issues.



Richard Harris serves as the Executive Director of the Truth & Liberty Coalition. Before coming to Charis, he practiced law at all levels of state and federal courts for 20 years, including a case before the United States Supreme Court.



As a Christian apologist, author, evangelist, religion and culture analyst, and advocate for biblical truth, Alex McFarland speaks worldwide. He has preached in over 2,200 churches throughout North America and numerous more internationally.



The program offers the opportunity for viewers to call in and ask the hosts questions on biblical worldview topics and current events. Listeners have a chance to engage with the teachers and get the answers needed to live in truth and freedom. Hosts deliver biblically sound commentary and teaching on the topics that affect us every day.



New host schedule features:

Richard Harris, Monday

Alex McFarland, Tuesday

Andrew Wommack, Wednesday

E.W. Jackson, Thursday

Janet Porter, Friday



The call-in number is 719-619-2341.



ABOUT TRUTH & LIBERTY COALITION:

Truth & Liberty Coalition, Inc. is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit based in Woodland Park, Colorado. Established by Andrew Wommack and other Christian leaders, the goal is to educate, unify and mobilize Christians and conservatives to become involved in their community and government affairs.



Physical Address:

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SOURCE: Truth & Liberty Coalition



CONTACT: News Media Relations, 719-651-5943


The use of testing strips for an animal sedative that has been linked to increased overdose deaths is now legal in Wisconsin under a law signed Tuesday by Gov. Tony Evers.

The Democratic governor also signed into law a measure that allows professionals trained to provide emergency and medical care in crisis situations to carry firearms in otherwise prohibited areas.

Xylazine, a tranquilizer used in veterinary medicine, has been increasingly found in fentanyl and heroin or mixed with cocaine or methamphetamine. It has no taste or smell and increases the risk of overdose.

There is currently no xylazine reversal agent safe for human use, which means prevention is key  by making these strips available, in addition to providing certain civil and criminal liability exemptions for people distributing or administering these products, we can help save more lives and help get folks on a successful path to recovery, Evers said in a statement.

Naloxone, or Narcan, which is used to reverse opioid overdoses, has no effect on xylazine, though the CDC still recommends naloxone administration to combat any other illicit drugs mixed with the sedative.

While they dont contain drugs themselves, testing strips and other devices that analyze controlled substances fall under the definition of drug paraphernalia in state law.

Proponents of the bipartisan measure say the lack of a known reversal agent underscores the importance of providing testing strips to drug users as a potential lifesaving tool. A similar measure signed by Evers in 2022 decriminalized the use of fentanyl testing strips.

I want to address a misconception I hear a lot about these testing strips; to some, it might seem like we are encouraging bad behaviors or minimizing consequences for illegal actions, bill co-author Sen. Jesse James, R-Altoona, said in testimony on the measure in January. This is a matter of life or death here. Our focus should be on keeping people alive first and helping them find proper treatment after that.

The law signed Tuesday does not provide any funding for xylazine testing strips, nor does it detail how the tests would be distributed. Plans to distribute the testing strips will likely be included in future state budgets or through local appropriations similar to those for fentanyl testing strips.

State and local officials last year started spending about $31 million in opioid-settlement funds on overdose reversal drugs, fentanyl testing strips, vending machines stocked with lifesaving supplies, expanded addiction treatment and more.

Wisconsin is expected to receive more than $750 million in settlement funds, providing additional resources for the distribution of xylazine testing strips.

The presence of xylazine in drugs tested increased in every region of the U.S. from 2020 to 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Wisconsin had 1,464 opioid overdose deaths in 2022, topping the previous record of 1,427 in 2021. Dane County had 126 opioid overdose deaths in 2022, down from its record of 139 the year before.

While opioids and fentanyl remain the largest contributors to overdose deaths in the state, DHS spokesperson Jennifer Miller said 111 fatal overdoses in Wisconsin in 2022 were known to involve xylazine, though she noted the sedative is usually, but not always, tested for. Just over half of the xylazine-involved overdoses recorded in 2022 were in Milwaukee County.

Miller said some form of fentanyl was present in every xylazine-involved overdose fatality that year, while cocaine or methamphetamine was involved in about two-thirds of xylazine-involved overdose deaths.

Updated overdose data for 2023 is not expected to be finalized until October.

TEMS bill

Evers also signed into law a bill allowing tactical emergency medical services, or TEMS, professionals to carry firearms when acting in the line of duty.

The law defines a TEMS professional as a licensed emergency medical services professional who has been endorsed by the Department of Health Services as a person who provides medical services when operating as part of a tactical team. TEMS professionals also must have prior written approval from the sheriff or chief of police for the jurisdiction in which they serve.

Under the new law, TEMS professionals are able to carry a firearm when working in the line of duty in areas that otherwise prohibit firearms such as public buildings, state fish hatcheries, wildlife refuges and school zones.

Our first responders and EMS professionals run towards danger without second thought, often putting their own health and safety at risk, Evers said. This legislation will help ensure highly experienced folks who are trained as medical professionals can do their important, life-saving work in high-risk situations.

The measure requires the Law Enforcement Standards Board, which regulates training and recertification of law enforcement officers in Wisconsin, to create minimum training standards for TEMS certification, including the same annual handgun training required for police officers.
FILE PHOTO: A man walks past Alibaba Group's logo at its office building in Beijing, China August 9, 2021. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Alibaba said on Tuesday it would shelve plans to list its logistics arm, the latest twist in the Chinese e-commerce giant's restructuring efforts since embarking on the biggest shake-up in its history a year ago.

Here's a timeline of what has happened since Alibaba said it would break up into six business groups:

MARCH 28, 2023: Alibaba announces the biggest restructuring in its 24-year history, saying it will split into six units and explore fundraising or listings for most of them.

MAY 18, 2023: Alibaba says it will spin off and list its cloud unit within the next 12 months. It will seek external financing for Alibaba International Digital Commerce Business Group and list its grocery arm Freshippo.

In addition, its logistics unit Cainiao will explore an IPO in the next 12-18 months.

JUNE 20, 2023: Alibaba said then-CEO and chairman Daniel Zhang would step down to focus on the cloud division.

Eddie Yongming Wu, chairman of Alibaba's Taobao and Tmall Group took over as CEO, while executive vice chairman Joseph Tsai took over as chairman.

SEPT 10, 2023: Zhang quits the cloud business in a surprise move and Wu takes over the unit.

SEPT 26, 2023: Alibaba submits application to list Cainiao Smart Logistics Network on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

NOV 16, 2023: Alibaba scraps plans to spin off its cloud business, citing uncertainties created by U.S. export curbs on chips used in artificial intelligence applications.

DEC 20, 2023: CEO Wu moves to directly oversee its domestic e-commerce arm, a core area for attention and investment as it fends off competition from low-priced rivals like PDD Holdings Pinduoduo.

FEB 8: Chairman Tsai tells analysts it "makes sense" to exit some of the traditional physical retail businesses on its balance sheet, "but it will take time due to challenging market conditions".

MARCH 26: Alibaba shelves plans to list Cainiao, says it will buy the rest of the stock it does not own in the logistics unit for up to $3.75 billion.

(Reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
VALLETTA (Reuters) - A Dutch diver died and 17 other tourists were rescued when they got into difficulty while swimming in rough seas off Malta on Tuesday, police said.

The Armed Forces of Malta said the divers were in two groups swimming off Cirkewwa, a popular dive spot at the northern tip of Malta when strong winds suddenly whipped up a rough sea.

Several patrol boats and a helicopter were deployed to look for the divers, who were swimming near a popular wreck site.

Four managed to reach the shore, less than a mile away, on their own. All the others were plucked from the sea, but one was declared dead on arrival at hospital.

Eyewitnesses said the divers were of various nationalities.

Several thousand divers visit Malta annually, making it an important part of the island's tourism industry. This is believed to be the biggest rescue operation undertaken for divers.

(Reporting by Christopher Scicluna, editing by Ed Osmond)
FILE PHOTO: A suspect in the shooting attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue is escorted inside the Basmanny district court in Moscow, Russia March 24, 2024. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov/ File photo

MOSCOW/DUSHANBE (Reuters) - Russia remanded in custody on Tuesday a Kyrgyzstan-born man suspected of involvement in Friday's mass shooting at a Moscow concert hall, and sent investigators to Tajikistan to question the families of four men charged with carrying out the attack.

Eight suspects have now been remanded in pre-trial detention since gunmen sprayed concertgoers with bullets in the deadliest attack in Russia in two decades, days after President Vladimir Putin celebrated an election that handed him a fifth term.

Islamic State has claimed responsibility and released footage from the attack. The United States and France say intelligence suggests the group was indeed behind the attack, in which 139 people were killed and 182 wounded.

Putin said on Monday the attack had been carried out by Islamic militants but also suggested that Ukraine, which is at war with Russia, may have played a role. Ukraine has denied any role.

The militants have not identified any of the attackers.

Russia has said the four suspected gunmen have confessed, but some showed signs of injuries when they appeared in court, raising concern they had been tortured.

Russia's commissioner for human rights said detention of suspects should be carried out in accordance with the law, TASS news agency reported, after videos were published showing the interrogation of the suspects. One had part of his ear cut off during questioning.

"It is absolutely unacceptable to use torture on detainees and defendants," the commissioner, Tatyana Moskalkova, was quoted as saying by TASS.

Russian authorities have said they are investigating.

SPOTLIGHT ON CENTRAL ASIA

The arrests have cast a spotlight on two mainly Muslim former Soviet republics in central Asia that have close ties with Moscow and depend on remittances from migrant labourers working in Russia.

Three Tajik sources told Reuters on Tuesday that Russian investigators were in Tajikistan questioning the families of the four suspected gunmen, saying their relatives had been brought to the capital Dushanbe from their home towns.

On Tuesday, Putin said he hoped prosecutors would do everything to ensure the attackers would be justly punished.

Kyrgyzstan-born Alisher Kasimov, remanded in custody on Tuesday, was led into the court room bent double - like the other suspects - before his handcuffs were removed. He showed no visible signs of injury.

He is accused of providing accommodation to the four Tajik men accused of carrying out the attack.

The Tajik sources said Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon was personally overseeing the Tajik part of the investigation into the Moscow attack, which he said was a "terrible and shameful event".

Russian investigators say that after firing from Kalashnikov AK-47 weapons, the attackers set fire to the building with gasoline before leaving, hitting a family with two young children as they sped out of the car park.

Earlier this month, Rakhmon said his government was alarmed by the activity of radical Islamist preachers who were "brainwashing" Tajik youths, making them susceptible to manipulation by foreign groups and intelligence agencies.

MOTIVE IS NOT CLEAR

The motive for the attack is not clear. Russia, along with the United States and Syrian forces, played a major role in defeating Islamic State in Syria.

Driven out of Syria, its fighters scattered and different branches emerged, including an Afghan branch, ISIS-Khorasan, which seeks a caliphate across Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Iran.

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.

Alexander Bortnikov, the director of Russia's FSB security service, said the number of accomplices in the attack would be larger than the 11 reported to have already been detained, and that Western intelligence services and Ukraine needed the attack to "sow panic" in Russia.

RIA news agency quoted Bortnikov as saying Ukrainian intelligence services had contributed to the attack, and that it was "known" that Ukraine had trained militants in the Middle East.

Bortnikov was also quoted as saying Russian intelligence services had reacted to the U.S. warning, but that it had been of a general nature. He suggested Western intelligence services and Ukraine had "needed" the attack, hoping it would create panic in Russian society.

Russia's prosecutor general called it a new challenge to the entire law enforcement system.

Close Putin ally Nikolai Patrushev, the secretary of Russia's Security Council, said Ukraine was "of course" behind the attack, after days of indirect suggestions from Moscow that Kyiv was to blame.

The Kremlin refused to be drawn on whether it believed there was a link between the Ukrainian leadership and Friday's attack, saying only that its investigation was ongoing.

(Reporting by Reuters bureaux; writing by Philippa Fletcher; editing by Timothy Heritage)
The German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange following the IPO of perfume retailer Douglas in Frankfurt, Germany, March 21, 2024. REUTERS/Staff/File Photo

By Shristi Achar A and Johann M Cherian

(Reuters) -Europe's STOXX 600 ended a choppy session at a record closing high on Tuesday, driven primarily by banks, while French liquid products distributor Rubis marked its best day in over three decades.

The continent-wide index closed up 0.2% at 511.09, with the euro zone focused STOXXE index up 0.4%.

The benchmark index was on course to end a second straight quarter with gains in the holiday-shortened week, up 6.7% so far, underscored by central bankers signalling rate cuts this year and a surge in tech stocks due to excitement over artificial intelligence.

"Despite more cautious messages by other ECB members in the past few days, there are clear indications that the Bank is prepared to cut rates this summer and that June remains the most likely meeting," analysts at ING said in a note.

Trader bets for a 25 basis point interest rate cut by the European Central Bank in June stand at 60%. [0#ECBWATCH]

On the day, lenders were the biggest boost to the STOXX 600, up 1.0%, driven by a 1.0% gain in BNP Paribas after brokerage Goldman Sachs upgraded the French lender to "buy" from "neutral".

Meanwhile, a survey showed German consumer sentiment is expected to stay on its path of slow recovery in April as fewer households felt the need to save even as uncertainty about Germany's economic development looms.

The German DAX 40 index ended 0.7% higher, while the French benchmark index added 0.4%.

France's Rubis soared 12.5% after Vincent Bollore increased stake in the liquid products distributor to over 5%, through the businessman's firm Plantations des Terres Rouges. The broader retail sector rose 1.6%.

Travel and leisure stocks climbed 0.7%, helped by a 1.1% rise in Flutter as the online betting firm said it expects to increase its core profit by around 30% this year.

Ocado added 3.2% after the British online supermarket's joint venture Ocado Retail kept its forecasts for the year as it reported a 10.6% increase in first-quarter revenue, reflecting growth in customer numbers.

ASOS jumped 9.4% after the British online fashion retailer said its cash flow in the first half of the year improved due to better profitability and clearance of aged stock.

European markets will be closed on Friday and Monday for Easter holidays.

(Reporting by Shristi Achar A and Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips, Eileen Soreng and Deepa Babington)
FILE PHOTO: Signs of support and remembrance are seen outside the Soldiers Home, where 88 veteran residents have died during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Holyoke, Massachusetts, U.S., May 13, 2020. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo

By Nate Raymond

BOSTON (Reuters) - Two former leaders of a Massachusetts veterans' home that was the site of one of the deadliest COVID-19 outbreaks at a U.S. long-term care facility on Tuesday resolved criminal neglect charges against them without having to go to prison.

Former Holyoke Soldiers' Home Superintendent Bennett Walsh and former Medical Director David Clinton withdrew their previous not guilty pleas during hearings in Hampshire Superior Court and admitted there were facts sufficient to find them guilty of the charges against them, prosecutors said.

The case had been set to go to trial next week. State prosecutors had asked for both men to be sentenced to one year of home confinement, with three years of probation.

At the urging of defense lawyers, Justice Edward McDonough instead continued the cases against them without a finding of guilt for a three-month period, at which point the charges could be dismissed if they comply with certain conditions.

Those requirements include barring them from working in a nursing home or initiating contact with victims' families. The judge had previously dismissed the case, but Massachusetts' highest court revived it last year.

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell said she was "disappointed and disheartened" by the judge's decision. "Today the justice system failed the families who lost their loved ones at the Holyoke Soldiers' Home," Campbell said.

The coronavirus caused severe illness and death in many nursing homes nationally, and the outbreak in the 247-bed, state-run facility in Holyoke was one of the deadliest.

In bringing the charges in September 2020, then-Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, now the state's Democratic governor, touted the criminal case as the first in the country tied to a COVID-19 outbreak at a nursing facility.

The case focused on a March 2020 decision to consolidate two dementia units, which prosecutors said put residents who tested positive for COVID-19 close to ones without symptoms and increased the risk that residents would contract the virus.

Prosecutors accused Walsh and Clinton of criminal neglect in the case of five veterans, saying the merger increased the danger they faced by putting them in essentially an incubator for COVID.

Walsh's lawyer, Michael Jennings, in court on Tuesday stressed how "poorly understood" the virus was at the beginning of the pandemic, before vaccines were available, and how, like his predecessors, the Marine Corps veteran lacked training to lead a nursing facility.

The state of Massachusetts in 2022 agreed to pay nearly $58 million to resolve a lawsuit by families of veterans who contracted COVID-19 during the outbreak.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Bill Berkrot)
FILE PHOTO: The logo of German automaker BMW is seen in Brussels, Belgium February 28, 2023. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo

(Reuters) - A major bridge collapsed on Tuesday in the U.S. port of Baltimore after being struck by a container ship, plunging cars into the river below.

Here is what carmakers and other companies that use the port, have said about the impact on their operations:

ASR GROUP

The largest sugar company in the U.S. said it has six to eight weeks of raw sugar stocks at its Baltimore refinery, which is supplied by vessels coming to the port. It said it does not expect short-term impacts.

AXA

The French insurer said in a statement it "does not expect losses" from the Baltimore bridge collapse to be "material at a group level".

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY ENERGY

The operator of Cove Point liquefied natural gas terminal said its operations were not impacted.

BMW

The German automaker said it does not expect any immediate impact other than short-term traffic delays.

The port's automotive terminal is located at the harbor entrance, in front of the bridge, and can still be accessed.

BRITANNIA

The Britannia Steam Ship Insurance Association, which insures the Dali container ship, said it is working with the vessel's owner and U.S. authorities on the investigation into the collapse of the bridge.

CARNIVAL CORP

The British-American cruise operator said its 2024 revenue guidance does not include an estimated impact of up to $10 million linked to the collapse.

COLONIAL PIPELINE COMPANY

The largest pipeline system for refined oil products in the U.S. paused nominations to ship fuel on cycles 15 and 16 on Line 32, which delivers products to its Curtis Bay facility in the port, according to a notice seen by Reuters.

CONSOL ENERGY

The coal producer said vessel access in and out of the Consol marine terminal, which is located in the port of Baltimore, has been delayed.

CSX

The rail company said its existing coal customers should expect "potential shipment delays".

CSX owns the Curtis Bay coal pier in Baltimore, near the bridge, which it plans to keep operational for now as it continues to "assess the circumstances," the company said.

FITCH RATINGS

Fitch said it expects minimal impact on operations or production of North American auto manufacturers or suppliers.

FORD

CFO John Lawler said the automaker will have to divert parts to other ports, affecting its supply chain.

"Where workarounds are necessary in the short term, our team has already secured shipping alternatives," the firm said.

GENERAL MOTORS

The U.S. carmaker said it will reroute vehicle shipments to other ports. It expected impact to be minimal.

HOME DEPOT

Home Depot said its distribution centers in the Baltimore area were "open and operating".

JAGUAR LAND ROVER

The private car company said it does not comment on confidential retailer communications and is monitoring the situation.

LONDON METAL EXCHANGE

LME said warehouses registered with the exchange in Baltimore had not been affected.

LLOYD'S OF LONDON

Bruce Carnegie-Brown, chairperson of Lloyd's, said the collapse was likely to lead to a multi-billion dollar insurance loss and could become the largest single marine insurance loss.

MERCEDES BENZ

The German carmaker, which uses Baltimore's port for imports and owns a plant in Tuscaloosa, said it sees no impact on its vehicle exports, and had reviewed and adjusted supply routes.

MOODY'S

Moody's said if the port remains closed, re-routing shipments to other east coast spots will erode its competitive advantage.

MORNINGSTAR DBRS

Morningstar DBRS said insured losses could total $2-4 billion, surpassing the record loss of the Costa Concordia.

NORFOLK SOUTHERN

CEO Alan Shaw said the company is working with customers to provide logistics workarounds.

RAMACO

The company said it is unaffected by the collapse.

STELLANTIS

The French-Italian carmaker said it was discussing "contingency plans to ensure an uninterrupted flow of vehicles", according to a New York Times article.

VOLKSWAGEN

The German carmaker said its vessel operations in Baltimore were unaffected, but there could be trucking delays.

VOLVO GROUP

The Swedish company, which makes trucks, construction equipment and engines, said it currently expected no major impact, but was looking over its U.S. inventory to see if there could be a disturbance in worst-case scenarios.

(Compiled by Anna Pruchnicka, Stephanie Hamel and Nathan Vifflin in Gdansk; Editing by Keith Weir and Josie Kao, Kirsten Donovan)
View of the Dali cargo vessel which crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge causing it to collapse in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S., March 26, 2024. REUTERS/Nathan Howard

(Reuters) - A loaded cargo ship rammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, on Tuesday, sending people and vehicles into the waters below. Here are some other notable episodes of U.S. bridges collapsing after being struck by vessels:

2012: EGGNER'S FERRY BRIDGE, KENTUCKY

A span of the Eggner's Ferry Bridge collapsed after it was struck by the cargo vessel Delta Mariner on Jan. 26, 2012. There were several vehicles on the bridge at the time that were all able to stop before the broken section, and no injures were recorded.

2009: POPP'S FERRY BRIDGE, MISSISSIPPI

Eight towed barges collided with the Popp's Ferry Bridge near Biloxi, Mississippi, on March 20, 2009. A large span of the bridge collapsed into the bay, but no injuries were reported.

2002: INTERSTATE 40, OKLAHOMA

On May 26, 2002, 14 people were killed after freight barges being moved by a towboat crashed into a pier of an Interstate 40 bridge over a reservoir near Webbers Fall, Oklahoma, collapsing about a third of the bridge.

2001: QUEEN ISABELLA CAUSEWAY, TEXAS

On Sept. 15, 2001, four loaded barges struck a support of the Queen Isabella Causeway near Texas's South Padre Island, causing a partial collapse and killing eight people.

1993: BIG BAYOU CANOT BRIDGE, ALABAMA

Loaded barges struck the Big Bayou Canot Bridge near Mobile, Alabama, on Sept. 22, 1993, displacing and deforming the rail's on the bridge. Minutes later, an Amtrak passenger train derailed and plunged into the water, killing 47 people and injuring 103 more.

1980: SUNSHINE SKYWAY BRIDGE, FLORIDA

The freighter MV Summit Venture hit a support pier of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge near St. Petersburg, Florida, during bad weather on May 9, 1980, plunging vehicles including a Greyhound bus into the Tampa Bay and killing 35 people.

1972: SIDNEY LANIER BRIDGE, GEORGIA

A freighter hit the Sidney Lanier drawbridge near Brunswick, Georgia, on Nov. 7, 1972, collapsing it into the river below, killing 10 people.

SOURCE: U.S. media reports

(Compiled by Jonathan Allen; Editing by Josie Kao)
LONDON (Reuters) -Governments around the world are scrutinising Worldcoin, a crypto project co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman that was launched in July 2023.

More than 4.5 million people globally have signed up to have their irises scanned by Worldcoin's "orb" devices in exchange for a digital ID and free cryptocurrency.

Altman says its ID will allow users to, among other things, prove online that they are human, notably in a future world he says will be dominated by artificial intelligence.

Worldcoin has drawn criticism from privacy campaigners over its data collection. It has said the biometric data is either deleted or stored in encrypted form, and that it is "committed" to working with regulators.

Here's the latest on action taken by governments:

SPAIN

On March 6, Spain's data privacy watchdog, the AEPD, banned Worldcoin for up to three months, ordering it to cease the collection of personal data and stop using data it had already gathered.

The AEPD said its action came after several complaints regarding insufficient information, the collection of data from minors or not allowing for the withdrawal of consent.

Spain's High Court upheld the temporary ban, dismissing an appeal by Worldcoin which asked for the ban to be lifted while it deliberates.

PORTUGAL

On March 26, Portugal's data regulator, the CNPD, said it ordered Worldcoin to stop collecting biometric data for 90 days.

The regulator said it had received dozens of complaints in the last month about unauthorised collection of data from minors, "deficiencies in the information provided to the data subjects" and "the impossibility of erasing the data or withdrawing consent."

More than 300,000 people in Portugal have provided Worldcoin with their biometric data, the CNPD said.

ARGENTINA

In Argentina, where Worldcoin says interest in the project is strong, the Agencia de Acceso a Informacion Publica (AAIP) data regulator said in August last year it was investigating Worldcoin over its collection, storage and use of personal data.

In a letter dated Aug. 7, 2023, the AAIP asked Worldcoin for information about the project, including mitigation of risks and the "legal basis for the processing of personal data."

BRITAIN

Britain's data regulator said in July 2023 that it would examine Worldcoin.

"We note the launch of Worldcoin in the UK and will be making further enquiries," the Information Commissioner's Office said.

The regulator said in March 2024 that its enquiries with Worldcoin are ongoing.

FRANCE

France's data watchdog CNIL carried out "checks" at Worldcoin's Paris office, a spokesperson said in August 2023.

CNIL had previously said it was aware of the Worldcoin project and that the legality of its biometric data collection "seems questionable". GERMANY

The Bavarian state regulator has said it is the lead authority investigating Worldcoin under the European Union's data protection rules because Tools For Humanity, the company behind Worldcoin, has a German subsidiary there.

Michael Will, the state regulator's president, told Reuters in March 2023 that the regulator has analysed extensive documents and carried out on-site checks. The regulator expects to present its final findings to European colleagues "very soon", Will said.

Financial regulator Bafin is also investigating the digital currency, according to German business daily Handelsblatt.

KENYA

In August last year, Kenya suspended Worldcoin's local activities while the government assesses potential risks to public safety.

A preliminary review had raised concerns, including that obtaining consumer consent in return for a monetary award bordered on inducement, the Communications Authority of Kenya and the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner said.

(Compiled by Elizabeth Howcroft and Tom Wilson; editing by John Stonestreet and Louise Heavens)
FILE PHOTO: Palestinians walk past destroyed houses, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip February 22, 2024. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa/File Photo

By Andrew Mills, Ahmed Elimam and Clauda Tanios

DOHA (Reuters) -The United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza has not had an immediate impact on ceasefire talks in Doha, mediator Qatar said on Tuesday.

The resolution demanded an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas, as well as the release of hostages. The United States abstained from the vote, angering ally Israel which had wanted Washington to veto it. The remaining 14 council members voted in favour.

"We haven't seen any immediate effect on the talks, they are ongoing as they were before, as the (UN) decision was taking place," said Qatar foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari during a press conference in Doha on Tuesday.

A source briefed on the talks earlier told Reuters that a delegation from Israel's Mossad spy agency, which had arrived in Qatar more than a week ago, was still engaging in discussions. A small Mossad team was returning to Israel from Doha for consultations on developments, the source added.

For weeks the sides have been discussing a potential truce of around 42 days during which around 40 Israeli hostages would be released in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Israel says it is willing to consider only a temporary pause in fighting; Hamas wants any deal to lead to an end to the war.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Tuesday Hamas had made "delusional" demands, which it said showed the Palestinians were not interested in a deal. Hamas has accused Israel of stalling at the talks while it carries out its military offensive.

The discussions, mediated by Egypt and Qatar, are continuing as a humanitarian crisis devastates Palestinians in Gaza with severe shortages of food, medicine and hospital care. Concerns are growing that famine will take hold.

The war was triggered when Hamas burst into southern Israel from Gaza on Oct. 7, killed 1,200 people and took 253 hostages into the enclave, according to Israeli tallies. Israeli retaliated by pounding Gaza in a military offensive which has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza Health authorities.

(Reporting by Andrew Mills in Doha and Ahmed Elimam and Clauda Tanios in Dubai; Writing by Ahmed Elimam and Clauda TaniosEditing by Michael Georgy, Alex Richardson, Peter Graff)
(Reuters) - Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh will travel to Tehran on Tuesday to meet Iranian officials, a day after the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian group, Iran's official Press TV reported.

Iran has backed Hamas in the nearly six-month war with Israel that has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians in Gaza.

It will be Haniyeh's second visit to Iran since the outbreak of the war on Oct. 7.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani called Monday's resolution a "positive step".

"A more important step is effective action for its implementation," said Kanaani.

Hamas welcomed the U.N. resolution but said the ceasefire needs to be permanent.

The United States abstained from the U.N. vote, sparking a spat with its ally Israel.

(Editing by Christopher Cushing and Michael Perry)
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.

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.

Omaha Sen. John Cavanaugh 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
FILE PHOTO: A tanker is seen docked at Ingleside near Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S., May 14, 2023. REUTERS/Arathy Somasekhar/File Photo

By Arathy Somasekhar

HOUSTON (Reuters) - More than 250,000 barrels per day of U.S. crude is set to arrive in India next month, the highest in more than a year, ship tracking data showed, amid tighter enforcement of sanctions on Russian crude.

India, the world's third-biggest oil importer and consumer, is looking to diversify its oil supplies as fresh U.S. sanctions on Moscow threaten to dent Russian oil sales to India, the biggest buyer of Russian seaborne crude.

About 7.6 million barrels of oil, or 256,000 barrels per day (bpd), were headed to India on three very large crude carriers and three Suezmax vessels, according to ship tracking firm Kpler.

The ships, which were largely headed to India's west coast, were chartered by Reliance Industries, Vitol, Equinor and Sinokor, among others, according to data from financial firm LSEG.

India was the top buyer of Russian oil last year after other groups retreated from purchases following Western sanctions on Moscow for its invasion on Ukraine in February 2022.

Last month, the U.S. tightened efforts to reduce Russia's oil trade adding sanctions on state-owned shipping firm Sovcomflot and 14 crude oil tankers involved in Russian oil transportation.

India's Reliance, operator of the world's biggest refining complex, will not buy Russian oil loaded on tankers operated by Sovcomflot after recent U.S. sanctions, sources told Reuters last week.

More Indian refiners plan to shun Sovcomflot vessels, which may weigh on imports of Russian oil and leave Russia with fewer outlets for its flagship product, sources said.

(Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
FILE PHOTO: Brazils President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva reacts during a meeting with members of the automotive sector at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, March 14, 2024. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino/File Photo

By Anthony Boadle

BRASILIA (Reuters) - The diplomatic crisis that erupted one month ago when Brazil's president likened the Israeli war against Hamas in Gaza to the Nazi genocide during World War Two has begun to calm down, Israel's envoy in Brasilia said on Monday.

"We are trying to lower the flames, and we are hopeful," Ambassador Daniel Zonshine said in an interview with Reuters. "It will take time to get back to full relations," he added.

Relations between the two countries were shaken when President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, visiting Addis Ababa for an African Union summit, incensed Israel saying the only historical precedent for the deaths in Gaza was the Nazi genocide of Jews.

The comparison was totally unacceptable, Zonshine said.

Brazil's ambassador to Israel, Fred Meyer, was summoned to a meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz the next day for a reprimand in the Holocaust History Museum in Jerusalem. Katz declared that Lula was not welcome in Israel until he apologized, which he has not done.

Meyer was recalled to Brasilia and there is no date for the ambassador's return to Israel.

At least, there have been no new harsh statements by either side, Zonshine said, opening the way to improved relations and the continuation of Israeli cooperation with Brazil in many areas, from agriculture and irrigation to aviation and security technology.

The Brazilian government has not said whether it went ahead with a contribution Lula announced in February to UNRWA, the U.N. agency that provides healthcare, food and education to Palestinian refugees.

Israel accuses UNRWA employees of being members of Hamas, including its military wing. A U.N. investigation is currently studying that evidence and has yet to report on its findings.

(Reporting by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Sandra Maler)
FILE PHOTO: Giancarlo Giorgetti attends the first voting session at the lower house of parliament to elect the new speaker in Rome, Italy, October 13, 2022. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane/File Photo

ROME (Reuters) - Italy is preparing a decree to ease a long-awaited tie-up between state-backed Rai Way and rival EI Towers, government officials said on Tuesday, which would create a TV towers group worth more than 2 billion euros ($2.17 billion).

The merger "is a concrete hypothesis but still requires some reflection," Cabinet Undersecretary Alberto Barachini told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Parliament.

A second official, asking not to be named, said the decree could allow state-owned broadcaster RAI to cut its stake in Rai Way below 30%.

News of the decree was first reported by Italian daily La Repubblica. Milan-listed shares in Rai Way rose as much as 6.4% after the report.

RAI holds 65% of Rai Way, while EI Towers is 60% owned by fund F2i and 40% by MediaForEurope (MFE), which is controlled by the family of late media tycoon and political leader Silvio Berlusconi.

The official added Rome intended to keep the tower infrastructure under state control, without providing further details on how the proposed merger should be implemented.

A previous blueprint for the deal would have seen Rai Way investors receive an extraordinary dividend worth up to 400 million euros.

RAI said in January it planned to sell a 15% stake in Rai Way to collect resources to fund its new industrial plan.

Following the announcement, Treasury sources told Reuters that the stake sale would not prevent RAI from exploring the tie-up between Rai Way and EI Towers at a later stage.

An option being discussed within the ruling coalition would see RAI sell shares of Rai Way to one or more state-sponsored investors, separate sources had previously told Reuters, in line with what Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti advised last July.

($1 = 0.9226 euros)

(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte and Elvira Pollina; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
Relatives offload the exhumed remains of Esther Biriya Masha who was a follower of the Christian cult named Good News International Church, who believed they would go to heaven if they starved themselves to death in Shakahola, from a private hearse as the

By Edwin Waita

MALINDI, Kenya (Reuters) - Bereaved relatives emerged weeping from a hospital mortuary in Kenya on Tuesday after recovering the remains of loved ones whose doomsday cult leader induced them to starve themselves, according to the authorities.

The bodies of more than 400 followers of the Good News International Church have been exhumed from the Shakahola forest in southeastern Kenya since April 2023 in one of the world's worst cult-related tragedies of recent decades.

Cult leader Paul Mackenzie handed himself over to police last April and is facing murder charges along with 29 others. All have pleaded not guilty. Mackenzie stands accused of telling his followers the end of the world was coming and they should kill themselves to be first in line to ascend to heaven.

Only 35 bodies have been conclusively identified so far, adding to the anguish of hundreds of families waiting to lay their loved ones to rest.

A small number of bodies were the first to be handed over to families on Tuesday at a hospital mortuary in the town of Malindi. Relatives waited in single file before being let inside. Several of them emerged in floods of tears.

"I feel exhausted by the whole process," said Sylvanus Opodo, who had travelled from western Kenya to recover the body of his brother.

Opodo said the family could not afford appropriate transport for the remains, making an already difficult situation worse.

"They asked us to bring a hearse but we have no means to transport the remains of our brother," he said as he waited in the shade of a tree outside the mortuary.

Some of the remains were wheeled out in body bags and loaded into the backs of vehicles. Reporters and TV camera operators were kept a distance away.

Government officials have said the process of handing over the bodies was taking a long time because of exhumation, post-mortem and identification procedures. DNA testing has been used to identify some badly damaged remains.

But Roseline Odede, chairperson of the state-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, said the process should be accelerated.

"Going at this rate, we are going to be here for 10 years, trying to identify the 390 plus bodies," she told reporters.

"I think the government must intentionally commit resources towards this process so that we are able to give closure to families."

(Additional reporting by Dicksy Obiero; Writing by George Obulutsa; Editing by Anait Miridzhanian and Estelle Shirbon)
By Kate Abnett

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Some 20 members of the European Union asked Brussels to scale back and possibly suspend the bloc's anti-deforestation law on Tuesday, saying the policy would harm farmers, in the latest blowback against Europe's environmental agenda.

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.

Agriculture ministers from 20 of the EU's 27 member countries supported a call by Austria to revise the law, at a meeting in Brussels on Tuesday, Austria's agriculture minister Norbert Totschnig said.

"We now urge the Commission for a temporary suspension of the regulation allowing for a feasible implementation accompanied by a revision of the regulation," Totschnig said in a statement.

Three EU officials confirmed to Reuters around 20 countries had backed the call in the closed-door meeting, with France, Italy, Poland and Sweden among the supporters.

EU leaders have watered down numerous environmental measures in an attempt to quell months of protests by angry farmers over issues including EU green policies and cheap imports.

A European Commission spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions on whether Brussels will now revise the law.

Austria's demands include that the burden for certifying products as deforestation-free should be "drastically reduced" within the EU and that the Dec. 30 deadline for countries to start complying with the law should be delayed.

EU environment commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius had on Monday questioned why countries had raised concerns about the policy a few months before EU Parliament elections in June, when they had spent years negotiating the deforestation law and approved it last year.

"Of course, we will listen to the arguments, but I honestly don't see any issues," Sinkevicius told a news conference.

Farmers staged more protests in Brussels on Tuesday to coincide with the agriculture minister's meeting, jamming the EU district with about 250 tractors and dropping sugar beets and hay on to the streets.

(Reporting by Kate Abnett; additional reporting by Jake Spring, editing by Ed Osmond)
SEOUL (Reuters) - A senior North Korean official leading a delegation met with his Vietnamese counterpart on Monday and discussed ways to elevate bilateral relations, North Korean state media KCNA said on Wednesday.

The delegation, which met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi last week and is expected to visit Laos next, comes as Pyongyang seeks to expand its diplomatic engagement after COVID-19 lockdowns.

Kim Song Nam, director of the international department at North Korea's ruling Workers' Party of Korea, met Le Hoai Trung, chairman of the Communist Party of Vietnam's Commission for External Relations in Hanoi on Monday, KCNA said.

Kim mentioned North Korea's "confrontational struggles" with the United States, while Trung expressed the Vietnamese ruling party's position to develop traditional friendly relations between the two nations, KCNA said.

They agreed to expand and strengthen political ties, revitalize cooperation in various fields, and support each other on the international stage, it added.

Meanwhile, a separate economic delegation to Russia led by North Korea's external economic relations minister Yun Jong Ho left Pyongyang on Tuesday, KCNA said.

(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
FILE PHOTO: Zbigniew Ziobro, who at the time was Poland's justice minister, attends a press conference in Warsaw, Poland September 21, 2020. Adam Stepien/Agencja Gazeta via REUTERS/File Photo

WARSAW (Reuters) -Seven people were charged as a result of an investigation into alleged misuse of funds managed by the Polish justice ministry under the previous government, a prosecution spokesman said on Wednesday.

The prosecution is now also analysing evidence to decide whether to request that some lawmakers be stripped of their parliamentary immunity in relation to the investigation, the spokesman said.

The probe focuses on the alleged misuse of money from Justice Fund, set up to help victims of crime, when it was run by the government of the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party.

PiS lost power in October 2023 to a coalition of pro-European parties and the new government headed by the coalition's leader Donald Tusk has vowed to hold to account those accused of breaking the law during PiS's eight-year rule.

Earlier on Wednesday and on Tuesday special services searched residences of several former government officials, including the home of former justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro, and a parliamentary hotel room of his former deputy Michal Wos.

Wos, who oversaw the Justice Fund, said his home outside Warsaw was also searched.

"I have nothing to reproach myself for, everything was legal when I supervised the Justice Fund," Wos told reporters and said he would file a complaint against the prosecution.

Ziobro, who has also denied any wrongdoing, said he had to interrupt chemotherapy he was undergoing because of Tuesday's search of his house, calling it a "spectacle of banditry and lawlessness".

Ziobro was the architect of a judicial overhaul that critics said undermined the independence of the courts.

A former Supreme Audit Office president told a parliamentary commission on Wednesday that he had evidence that 25 million zlotys ($6.3 million) from the fund were spent on Pegasus spyware which Tusk's government says PiS used against some of its politicians.

Local media reported the funds were also used to curry favour among the party's rural voters, such as by buying fire engines or equipment for country housewives' associations.

Ruling Civic Platform lawmakers told reporters they would ask the electoral commission to investigate whether the funds were also used by PiS in its last electoral campaign.

"If so, it would mean that PiS could lose its subsidy - almost 100 million zlotys over four years", Dariusz Jonski said.

The prosecution said on Wednesday it gathered enough evidence to charge five people this week - four Justice Ministry employees and a representative of one of the Fund's beneficiaries - in addition to two others that had been charged earlier.

"A former director and two specialists were charged for allowing for the payment of over 66 million zlotys to an entity that did not meet formal requirements," the prosecution spokesman said. "Everything indicates that the motivation was political."

($1 = 3.9822 zlotys)

(Reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk and Pawel Florkiewicz, Editing by Angus MacSwan and Tomasz Janowski)
Russian ambassador to the United Nations Gennady Gatilov attends an ACANU briefing in Geneva, Switzerland, March 26, 2024. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

By Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber

GENEVA (Reuters) - Russia sees no chance of Switzerland leading efforts to secure peace in Ukraine, a senior Russian diplomat said on Tuesday, after Bern said it planned to host a high-level Ukraine peace conference in the coming months.

Swiss authorities have said that Russia is unlikely to take part, at least not at the outset of the talks.

"As of now, we don't see any possibility that Switzerland would take the lead and organise something," said Gennady Gatilov, Russia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva.

Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago, has said the Swiss initiative is doomed to fail without Moscow's participation.

Gatilov said that while Moscow was not against negotiations to end the war, it would not take part in talks in Switzerland, a country he said had relinquished its neutrality with its stance on the conflict.

Switzerland has adopted the European Union's sanctions against Russia over the invasion and frozen some 7.7 billion Swiss francs ($8.53 billion) in financial assets belonging to Russians, which Gatilov described as "stolen money".

"That's why we believe that Bern unfortunately devaluated its status as a neutral state," he said.

President Viola Amherd said last month that Switzerland was looking to invite BRICS emerging economy nations, Arab states and countries from the Global South to the peace conference. China has said it would consider taking part.

Gatilov said the initiative was designed to get these countries to support Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's peace formula, which he said was unacceptable to Russia.

After two years of war, Russia holds just under a fifth of Ukraine's territory, portraying the conflict as an existential struggle and accusing Kyiv's Western supporters of using Ukraine as a theatre to fight Russia.

Moscow has repeatedly said it is open to talks, but that these must recognise the "new realities on the ground".

Ukraine demands the restoration of its territorial integrity and a full withdrawal of Russian forces as conditions for peace.

($1 = 0.9028 Swiss francs)

(Reporting by Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
Director of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), Alexander Bortnikov, attends a meeting of the collegium of the Prosecutor General's office in Moscow, Russia, March 26, 2024. Sputnik/Valery Sharifulin/Pool via REUTERS

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The director of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), Alexander Bortnikov, said on Tuesday that the United States, Britain and Ukraine were behind the Moscow concert hall attack that killed at least 139 people on Friday, state news agency TASS reported.

Ukraine has denied Russian accusations of involvement in the attack, for which the Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility. Western countries have said their intelligence indicates that ISIS-K, Islamic State's Afghan offshoot, was responsible.

(Writing by Felix Light; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
FILE PHOTO: The seal of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is seen at their headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 12, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo

(Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is asking technology and telecom companies how they handled the SolarWinds cyber attack in 2020, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The hack of information technology company SolarWinds, one of the broadest and most sophisticated cyber attacks in the United States, was identified in December 2020 and gave away access to thousands of companies and government offices that used its products.

Hackers were able to use the company's flagship network management software called Orion as a springboard into U.S. government networks and international targets.

The regulator has asked for internal communications of affected companies about the cyber attack's impact, probing for gaps in corporate security and for other cyber incidents, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter who did not identify the companies.

The SEC did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the report.

Last year, the SEC sued the software company and its top information security executive, saying they defrauded investors by hiding cybersecurity weaknesses during the massive hack.

(Reporting by Mehnaz Yasmin in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
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.

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FILE PHOTO: Astronomer Royal Martin Rees speaks at a memorial service for British scientist Stephen Hawking during which his ashes will be buried in the nave of the Abbey church, at Westminster Abbey, in London, Britain, June 15, 2018. Ben Stansall/Pool v

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Astronomer Royal Martin Rees said sending people into space when robots could do the job just as effectively was a waste of public money, and space exploration should be left to billionaires and those willing to pay for trips themselves.

"I'm sceptical about the idea of a human space flight being worthwhile," Rees told the Lord Speaker's Corner podcast, which features members of Britain's upper house of parliament.

"Now that robots can do the things that humans were needed for 50 years ago, the case for sending people is getting weaker all the time."

Astronomer Royal is now a largely honorary title. It was established by King Charles II in 1675 to advise the monarch and has previously been held by some of Britain's most pre-eminent scientists.

Rees said space travel should only be for those prepared to accept a "very high level of risk", and it should be paid for privately rather than by the taxpayer.

Britain's space programmes have traditionally focused on space research rather than crewed missions.

Helen Sharman was the first Briton to go into space when she joined the Soviet Union's 1991 Soyus TM-12 mission.

She was followed 24 years later by Tim Peake, who flew to the International Space Station as a member of the European Space Agency astronaut corps.

Four U.S. citizens who flew NASA missions were also born in Britain.

Rees, who was appointed Astronomer Royal in 1995, said he didn't agree with Elon Musk's ambition to colonise Mars, but he hailed his achievements in both rockets and electric cars.

"He has done a much better job than the big conglomerates that used to work for NASA in producing efficient rockets, which can be reused, and that will make it cheaper to actually send stuff into space," he said.

(Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by William James)
MONROVIA (Reuters) - Several people have been killed in Liberia in an accident at an abandoned gold mine, the West African country's mines minister said on Tuesday.

Minister Wilmot Paye said on Tuesday seven people died in Monday night's incident, but acknowledged the authorities could not yet provide an exact death toll until a team reached the site in River Cess County in south-central Liberia.

"I was told that seven persons died, but I can't say much until the team gets there. The mines had been abandoned several months ago," Paye told Reuters, adding that he did not know which company had operated the site.

"If we get the details of the company, the law will take its course," he said.

Liberia, one of the world's poorest countries, is rich in minerals including gold, diamonds and iron ore. Paye gave no details about the nature of the accident.

(Reporting by James Harding Giahyue and Alphonso Toweh; Writing by Portia Crowe; Editing by Alison Williams)
By Kirsty Needham

SYDNEY (Reuters) - David Lambourne, an Australian-born High Court judge whose aborted deportation two years ago from Kiribati sparked a judicial crisis in the Pacific Islands nation, appeared in court on Tuesday, in a case closely watched by the United Nations and international legal groups.

Lambourne, who has lived in Kiribati for 30 years and is married to Opposition leader Tessie Lambourne, faces deportation if he loses a High Court challenge to Kiribati president Taneti Maamau's attempt to sack him. Kiribati will hold national elections later this year.

Lambourne has been living in Kiribati without a visa or salary since 2022 when Maamau suspended him, and then suspended all three Court of Appeal judges and the chief justice after they ruled Lambourne should not be deported.

One attempt at forced deportation amid legal proceedings in August 2022 failed when a Fiji Airlines pilot refused to accept Lambourne on the plane against his will.

"Today's case involves the government's continuing assault on the rule of law," Lambourne's barrister Perry Herzfeld told the court by video link from Sydney, pointing to what he said were issues of judicial independence.

Maamau had appointed a new tribunal to investigate Lambourne on an "extremely expedited timetable" with plans to hand a report to parliament next month, Herzfeld said. Lambourne's legal team only learnt days ago of the existence of the tribunal, he added.

None of the allegations made against Lambourne - including a disputed claim he took too long to make judgements - justified the president forming a tribunal to investigate his removal from office, he said.

It was also "fatal" under the constitution that the tribunal does not include a judicial officer, he added.

Kiribati's deputy solicitor-general Monoo Mweretaka argued in court the allegations against Lambourne were serious, and there was no requirement in the constitution for the tribunal to offer him procedural fairness.

There was also no definition of judicial office in the constitution, so it should not be restricted to legally trained officers, he added.

In a letter to Kiribati in September 2023, Margaret Satterthwaite, U.N. Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, said she was "seriously alarmed" at the series of suspensions of judges, which left Kiribati without a functioning High Court or Court of Appeal to act as a check on the power of parliament.

The letter also raised concerns that Lambourne's treatment and the lack of a judicial officer on the tribunal could breach human rights standards.

An interim visa issued to Lambourne in January expires when a judgement is delivered by the court.

High Court commissioner Aomoro Amten on Tuesday reserved his judgement.

Kiribati's parliament sits for a final session next month, before dissolving in May ahead of national elections.

(Reporting by Kirsty Needham; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
Members of Taiwan's Navy and media onboard a special operation boat with a Taiwanese flag fluttering over it during a drill part of a demonstration for the media, to show combat readiness ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays, on the waters near a military

By Ben Blanchard and Ann Wang

TAIPEI/SUAO, Taiwan (Reuters) -Taiwan tested its air defences on Tuesday in early morning drills using surface-to-air missiles, and air, land and naval forces, saying it would continue to intensify training in the face of China's frequent military activities nearby.

Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has complained over the past four years of repeated instances of Chinese air force aircraft and navy ships operating close to and around the island.

Taiwan's air force command said in a brief statement that between 5 a.m. (2100 GMT) and 7 a.m. it had carried out "overall air defence combat plan exercises" using domestically made Sky Bow and U.S.-made Patriot surface-to-air missiles in conjunction with aircraft and navy ships.

The drills were "to inspect and verify the joint air defence combat command and control of the three branches", it said, adding that the outcome was "good".

"In the face of Chinese aircraft and ships frequently encroaching into Taiwan's surrounding sea and air space, the air force will continue to increase its training intensity to deal with potential threats," the air force said.

Speaking in Suao on Taiwan's east coast, home to a major navy base, defence ministry spokesperson Sun Li-fang said that although there was no direct link between what he called routine annual drills such as these and current tensions, the threat from China was continuing to rise.

"How to increase our overall military capabilities is very important," he told reporters.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has overseen a military modernisation programme, including the development of new Taiwanese-made equipment. Much of the focus has been on the navy, which is massively outgunned and outnumbered by China's fleet.

Tsai on Tuesday attended a handover ceremony in Suao for two new warships, both Tuo Chiang-class corvettes, which have been dubbed by Taiwan's navy "carrier killers" because of their high manoeuvrability, stealthiness and anti-ship missiles.

They can also carry Sky Sword anti-aircraft missiles.

Tsai, noting that the two new warships had been handed over a year ahead of schedule, told officers that the domestically made ships show Taiwan's determination to protect its freedom and democracy.

"Over the past few years we have firmly implemented national defence autonomy. Ships made by Taiwan have been named, launched and delivered one after another, faster and faster," she added.

Taiwan's government rejects China's territorial claims, saying only the island's people can decide their future.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard in Taipei and Ann Wang in Suao, Taiwan; Editing by Gerry Doyle)
FILE PHOTO: The logo of German retail company Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof hangs at their shopping Mall at Alexanderplatz in Berlin, Germany November 1, 2022. REUTERS/Michele Tantussi/File Photo

DUESSELDORF (Reuters) - The insolvency manager of German department store giant Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof said on Tuesday it will hold talks with two bidders who want to buy the nation's most prominent retailer that filed for insolvency after the collapse of its parent Signa.

Galeria, currently under supervision of the insolvency manager, had been seeking a new owner after being hit by problems at Signa, the Austrian-based property empire that has become the biggest casualty so far in Europe's real-estate crisis.

The deadline for binding final bids for Galeria was over the weekend.

Four investors had placed offers for the chain, the insolvency manager, Stefan Denkhaus, told journalists.

He didn't name the bidders but said they had international financing and were interested in taking over more than 60 stores.

More than 90 stores are currently listed on its website.

(Reporting Matthias Inverardi; writing by Tom Sims; editing by Rachel More, Kirsten Donovan)
FILE PHOTO: Representations of cryptocurrency is seen in front of a Kucoin logo in this illustration taken on February 9, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

(Reuters) -Federal prosecutors in Manhattan on Tuesday charged KuCoin, one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, with violating U.S. anti-money laundering laws by failing to vet customers, allowing billions of dollars in illicit funds to be transferred since its founding in 2017.

Prosecutors said the Seychelles-based exchange sought business from U.S. customers without registering with the Treasury Department and putting in place procedures to verify clients' identities as required by U.S. law.

KuCoin posted on social media site X that customer assets are safe and its lawyers are looking into the allegations.

"KuCoin respect the laws and regulations of various countries and strictly adheres to compliance standards," it said.

Prosecutors also charged the exchange's founders, Chinese nationals Chun Gan, 34, and Ke Tang, 39, with conspiracy. They remain at large, according to prosecutors.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission separately filed a civil lawsuit against KuCoin alleging it failed to register its futures and swaps activities with the regulator.

KuCoin in December agreed to block New York users from its platform and pay $22 million to settle the state's lawsuit accusing it of failing to register there.

KuCoin trails Binance, Coinbase and Kraken among cryptocurrency spot exchanges on factors including traffic, liquidity and trading volumes, according to the data company CoinMarketCap.

(Reporting by Jody Godoy in New York; Editing by Andrea Ricci and Costas Pitas)
FILE PHOTO: Supporters of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) protest against the arrest of the party's main leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in New Delhi, India March 23, 2024. REUTERS/Sharafat Ali/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. is closely following reports of the arrest of Indian opposition figure Arvind Kejriwal and encourages a fair legal process, a State Department spokesperson said on Monday after Germany's reaction to the case sparked a protest from India.

Kejriwal, a national opposition figure and chief minister of Delhi's capital territory, was arrested by India's financial crime-fighting agency on Thursday on corruption charges that his political party rejects, a month before national elections.

"We encourage a fair, transparent, and timely legal process for Chief Minister Kejriwal," the U.S. spokesperson said in response to an emailed query about the case, in which India summoned a German envoy on Saturday to protest against his government's remarks about the arrest.

Asked about the arrest at a government press conference on Friday, Sebastian Fischer, spokesperson for Germany's foreign office said that like anyone else facing accusations, Kejriwal was entitled to a fair and impartial trial.

"We assume and expect that the standards relating to independence of judiciary and basic democratic principles will also be applied in this case," he said.

New Delhi summoned the German embassy's deputy chief of mission, Georg Enzweiler, "and conveyed Indias strong protest," at the remarks, India's foreign ministry said on Saturday.

"We see such remarks as interfering in our judicial process and undermining the independence of our judiciary," it said in a statement. "Biased assumptions made on this account are most unwarranted."

Asked about India's protest to Germany, the State Department spokesperson said: "We would refer you to the German Foreign Ministry for comment on their discussions with the Indian government."

Washington has increasingly come to see India as an important strategic and economic partner in its effort to push back against China's growing power worldwide.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has frequently shown itself sensitive to human rights criticism, and rights advocates have accused U.S. President Joe Biden's administration of putting strategic considerations above such issues in its dealings with New Delhi.

New Delhi and Berlin also share good ties, and the two countries have been coming closer on strategic issues, including defense technology.

India's government and Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party deny any political interference in the case involving Kejriwal and other leaders of his Aam Aadmi Party.

India's Washington embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the State Department's reaction.

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom; additional reporting by Kanishka Singh; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
FILE PHOTO: A man walks while smoke rises above buildings after aerial bombardment, during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum North, Sudan, May 1, 2023. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah//File Photo

By Daphne Psaledakis, Simon Lewis and Nafisa Eltahir

WASHINGTON/CAIRO (Reuters) - The United States is eyeing April 18 for a possible resumption of peace talks on Sudan in Saudi Arabia, U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello said on Tuesday, as Washington seeks a resolution to the conflict that has displaced millions and caused the world's largest humanitarian crisis.

Washington has clearly communicated that peace talks with the warring parties in Saudi Arabia would need to be inclusive, Perriello told reporters, including the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, regional East African bloc IGAD and the African Union.

While the negotiations may or may not start around April 18, and it was unclear whether the warring parties would agree, Perriello said it would be a natural time for talks to resume after the holy month of Ramadan, as well as a donor conference in Paris planned for April 15.

"I'd like the talks to start tomorrow, but I think that realistically we're looking at after Ramadan. But I think in the meantime, we want to use that period between now and the start of talks to be exploring every angle we can that it's teed up for success," Perriello said.

"That would be a good timeline to do it. But it's not firm."

On Sunday, General Yasir al-Atta, one of the army's top leaders, said there would be no negotiations or truce with the RSF.

The army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) began battling each other in mid-April last year as long-simmering tensions erupted into heavy fighting.

Saudi Arabia and the United States led unsuccessful talks in Jeddah last year to try to reach a truce.

The conflict has created the world's biggest displacement crisis, pushed parts of the 49-million population close to famine, and triggered waves of ethnically driven killings and sexual violence in the western region of Darfur.

Perriello said that the United Arab Emirates - which has been accused of supplying the RSF with military support, a charge the UAE denies - and others in the region are aware the situation is "quickly hurtling out of control and that the RSF is not in a position right now where it's marching to either military or diplomatic victory."

(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis and Simon Lewis in Washington and Nafisa Eltahir in Cairo, Editing by William Maclean)
By Kanishka Singh and Simon Lewis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. said on Tuesday it does not support a Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline project from going forward and cautioned about the risk of sanctions in doing business with Tehran.

WHY IT IS IMPORTANT

The Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline, known as the Peace Pipeline, is a long-term project between Tehran and Islamabad, and has faced delays and funding challenges for several years. The pipeline would transport natural gas from Iran to neighboring Pakistan.

Iran and Pakistan had signed a five-year trade plan in August 2023 and set a bilateral trade target at $5 billion.

Pakistan's Petroleum Minister Musadik Malik said this week that his country was seeking a U.S. sanctions waiver for the gas pipeline from Iran.

KEY QUOTES

"We always advise everyone that doing business with Iran runs the risk of touching upon and coming in contact with our sanctions, and would advise everyone to consider that very carefully," a U.S. State Department spokesperson told reporters in a press briefing.

"We do not support this pipeline going forward," the spokesperson added, saying that Donald Lu, the State Department's top official for South and Central Asia, had said as much to a congressional panel last week.

CONTEXT

A few weeks ago, Pakistan and Iran engaged in tit-for-tat strikes when they exchanged drone and missile strikes on militant bases on each other's territory.

Washington's relations with Iran have been thorny for a long time and the U.S. has issued multiple rounds of sanctions on Iranian entities.

Officially allies in fighting extremism, Pakistan and the U.S. have had a complicated relationship over the years, bound by Washington's dependence on Pakistan to supply its troops during its long war in Afghanistan but plagued by accusations Islamabad played a double game.

Some Pakistani politicians have also accused Washington of meddling in Pakistan's domestic politics, charges that Washington denies.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Simon Lewis in Washington; Editing by Paul Simao)
By Vivian Sequera and Mayela Armas

CARACAS (Reuters) -A major Venezuelan opposition group has registered a candidate for July's presidential election to ensure a spot on the ballot, even though the primary winner and her alternate were unable to sign up, electoral authorities and sources said on Tuesday.

The broad opposition coalition was left without an elected candidate after Maria Corina Machado, who won the opposition nominating contest by a landslide last year to run against incumbent President Nicolas Maduro, had a public office ban upheld, prompting the reimposition of some U.S. sanctions.

The Democratic Unity group, part of a larger coalition of opposition parties, registered a candidate before a Monday deadline, the national electoral council said.

Three opposition sources told Reuters the registration of Edmundo Gonzalez, a former ambassador, is meant to hold a spot on the ballot for a possible substitute, who can be named until April 20.

Machado had named Corina Yoris as an alternate, but Yoris was unable to access the electoral authority's online system to register before the deadline.

"Everyone knew Machado would not get through (the registration system)," one of the sources said. "The registration of Edmundo is a cover."

"The spot on the ballot for Democratic Unity was saved with a name, to later substitute that name," another said.

The oil-rich South American country, whose socialist government is under U.S. sanctions for repressing political opposition and alleged criminal activity that it denies, has faced a long-running economic crisis marked by a weak currency and hyperinflation.

The opposition will likely now hold internal negotiations about who to back against Maduro and who could possibly be substituted for the registered candidates, according to analysts.

Machado insisted earlier on Tuesday that the Unitary Platform coalition's candidate was still Yoris.

The A New Time party, which until Monday had backed Machado as part of the coalition, also registered its own candidate, Manuel Rosales, the current governor of Zulia province.

Rosales, who some in the opposition say has become too close to the ruling party during his governorship, said earlier on Tuesday he had registered to prevent opposition absenteeism.

"I had to take a decision, it was either open a space for Venezuelans to vote or go to abstention and Maduro stays six more years there without doing anything," Rosales told journalists about his eleventh-hour registration.

Asked if she would consider an alliance with Rosales, Machado said she is taking decisions "day by day."

"The country is processing a huge disappointment," Machado said. "We will not be moved from an electoral process where Venezuelans can freely choose to elect who they want, not who is imposed by the regime."

OPPOSITION DIVISION?

Various opinion polls had forecast Machado, 56, would pick up at least 50% of votes, while Maduro, a 61-year-old former bus driver who has been president since predecessor Hugo Chavez died in 2013, was projected to receive around 20%.

It was unclear if any of the registered opposition figures could rally as much support as Machado, especially if she does not wholeheartedly back them.

The arrests of close Machado allies last week, as well as the issue of warrants for the capture of seven others, prompted international outcry.

The United States started re-imposing sanctions and warned about the April expiry of oil sanctions relaxations after Machado's ban, imposed over her support of U.S. sanctions and accusations of corruption that she denies, was upheld in January.

A White House National Security Council spokesperson said earlier on Tuesday the U.S. was deeply concerned that Yoris was unable to register and was working with other members of the international community to ensure Venezuelans could participate in inclusive and competitive elections.

"As we stated in January, we are committed to maintaining sanctions relief if Maduro upholds the commitments outlined in the agreed-to Barbados electoral roadmap," the spokesperson said, referring to the October electoral deal that originally led the U.S. to relax some sanctions.

Venezuela's neighbors Colombia and Brazil, which both have leftist presidents, each expressed concern in their own statements, urging compliance with the electoral deal.

(Reporting by Vivian Sequera and Mayela ArmasWriting by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Costas Pitas)
Russian Crypto Industry Sends Government Draft Mining Bill

Russian crypto industry chiefs have teamed up with business leaders to create a draft bill that could legalize the nations booming mining sector.

According to ComNews, Alexander Brazhnikov, the Executive Director of the Russian Association of Cryptocurrency and Blockchain (RACIB), spoke about the bill at a crypto-related event on March 22.

Russian Crypto Industry: Time to Legalize Mining



Brazhnikov said he expected 2024 to bring many changes for the industry. He explained:

I have spoken with regulators. They said that we should not wait for their proposals on the formation of a bill on mining in Russia. Instead, they suggested proposing ideas ourselves.

Brazhnikov said that RACIB had done just that. He said the industry body had sent letters to ministries proposing developing the crypto-economy and crypto mining in Russia.

The industry chief said the body had sent draft regulation proposals to the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Economic Development.

And Brazhnikov added that he would also send the draft bill to Rosfinmonitoring, the nations anti-money laundering agency.

The RACIB chief said the Ministry of Finance would also be invited to consider the proposals.

Industry leaders will be hopeful of a breakthrough after years of fruitless discussions and pleading with Moscow to legalize their business operations.

However, they will be hopeful this latest bid could succeed where others have failed. The RACIB bill has already won the support of State Duma lawmakers Anton Tkachev, Vladimir Plyakin, Grigory Shilkin, and Sardana Avksentyeva.

The bill claims that, per expert estimates, Russian citizens have opened more than 12 million cryptocurrency wallets as the nation becomes increasingly crypto-keen.

Russians Turn to Crypto?



RACIB says Russians are currently holding a combined total of $108 billion worth of coins in crypto wallets.

It explained that the nation is among the worlds leaders in terms of mining capacity.

By contrast, the bills authors noted, all transactions with crypto are carried out in a gray (unregulated) zone.

This means that people who want to conduct legitimate business operations with crypto risk criminal prosecution.

Miners have already tried  and failed  to win Moscow over to their cause. A bill reached the floor of the Duma in 2022. However, this bill was abandoned after its first reading.

Undeterred, RACIB has resolved to try again. On November 20, 2023, the body created a working group to work on crypto mining policy.

The groups members included representatives from government agencies, as well as energy industry insiders.

Senior members of the Russian mining community also joined the working group.

The same group drafted a bill that first materialized on March 4, 2024. The body first sent this to the Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, Maxim Reshetnikov.

As previously reported, miners appear keen to sweeten the deal with Moscow by promising ministers access to their new data centers.

These centers, miners say, could help ministers save $32.4 million on new tech development plans.

Industry chiefs have also claimed they are prepared to invest $4 billion in new multi-purpose data centers.

About 6,000 older Bitcoin mining machines in the US will soon be idled and sent to a warehouse in Colorado Springs where theyll be refreshed and resold to buyers overseas looking to profit from mining in lower-cost environs https://t.co/FxqFHMlV9m  Bloomberg Crypto (@crypto) March 23, 2024

Companies Ready to Invest?



Mining firms like BitRiver are already building expensive new facilities in the Russian South.

The miners primary goal is securing an official classification for mining as a form of economic activity.

This would mean that the Russian state could begin taxing crypto miners. But it would also ensure a safe future for companies who are trying to expand their operations in the country.

The Russian crypto industry also wants Moscow to create an experimental legal sandbox for the centralized conversion of digital assets obtained as a result of mining.

Russia holds a day of mourning following a terrorist attack that killed at least 137 in Moscow https://t.co/zOfiKacgUO  Bloomberg (@business) March 25, 2024

This would suggest that some lawmakers are still keen on creating a state-run crypto exchange for miners.

Some want the exchange to serve Russian firms that use crypto as a payment tool in cross-border trade.

CBDC a Stumbling Block?



The media outlet quoted the independent financial advisor Elena Savina as stating that there was still a chance the bill could fall on deaf ears.

Moscow, Savina said, is currently fast-tracking its CBDC project, and could frown on efforts to legitimize the crypto sector. She explained:
0001848416 FALSE 0001848416 2024-03-26 2024-03-26









UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported):

VERANO HOLDINGS CORP.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

British Columbia 000-56342 98-1583243 (State or Other Jurisdiction

of Incorporation) (Commission

File Number) (IRS Employer

Identification No.)

224 W Hill Street, Suite 400 ,

Chicago , Illinois 60610

(Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code)

( 312 ) 265-0730

(Registrants Telephone Number, Including Area Code)

N/A

(Former Name or Former Address, if Changed Since Last Report)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

o Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425) o Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12) o Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b)) o Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of each class Trading Symbol Name of each exchange on which registered N/A N/A N/A

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (240.12b-2 of this chapter).

Emerging growth company o

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. o









Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers





(e)





On March 21, 2024, the Compensation Committee (the  Committee ) of the Board of Directors of Verano Holdings Corp. (the  Company ) approved a long-term cash incentive plan (the  Cash Incentive Plan ). The purpose of the Cash Incentive Plan is to motivate and reward eligible employees by providing a portion of their compensation subject to long-term vesting and encourage retention.





Any award under the Cash Incentive Plan to a participant is expressed as a percentage of such participants base salary. The percentage is determined by bands of salary levels. Employees who are considered for participation in the Cash Incentive Plan are the salaried employees of the Company and its subsidiaries. It is expected that awards under the Cash Incentive Plan will be awarded in lieu of or as a reduction to equity awards granted under the Companys long-term equity incentive plan. The Company and the Committee believe this will continue to align the participants with the long-term goals of the Company while reducing administrative burden, alleviating stock price pressure from equity incentives and reducing the dilutive effect of any equity award issuances.





It is expected that awards under the Cash Incentive Plan will be time vested requiring the participants continued employment with the Company. If a participants employment is terminated prior to the vesting of any portion of his or her respective cash award, it is expected that the unvested portion will be forfeited.





The Cash Incentive Plan will be administered by the Committee, and to the extent permitted by law and the rules and regulations of any applicable securities regulators or securities exchange, the Committee may delegate all or part of its authority and powers under the Cash Incentive Plan to one or more directors or officers of the Company. The Board retains the right to modify, amend or terminate the Cash Incentive Plan at any time.





The description of the Cash Incentive Plan is not complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Cash Incentive Plan, a copy of which is attached to this Current Report on Form 8-K as Exhibit 10.1 and is incorporated herein by reference. In addition, a copy of the form cash award agreement under the Cash Incentive Plan is attached to this Current Report on Form 8-K as Exhibit 10.2 and is incorporated herein by reference.





Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits





(d) Exhibits:





104 Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the inline XRBL document)









SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

Dated: March 26, 2024





By: /s/ Brett Summerer Name: Brett Summerer Title: Chief Financial Officer





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NOTICE OF EXEMPT SOLICITATION SUBMITTED BY NON-MANAGEMENT

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

Washington, DC 20549

Notice of Exempt Solicitation under Rule 14a-103

Name of Registrant: Truist Financial Corporation

Name of person relying on exemption: Bowyer Research

Address of person relying on exemption: P.O. Box 120, McKeesport, PA 15135

Vote Yes: Proposal 5  Report on Risks of Politicized De-banking

Bowyer Research submits the following on behalf of Alliance Defending Freedom1:

In the United States of America, the marketplace is the arena where commerce is tested. It is open to all, but the success of any good, service, or idea will depend on its merits.

At least, this is how its supposed to work. But in recent years, financial institutions are using their own value judgments to deny market access to people whose views they dislike. This discriminatory behavior is known as politicized de-banking. It is a part of a broader trend of corporate political activism, where corporations supplant their fiduciary duties to shareholders with a social and political agenda that runs counter to their customers, employees, and shareholders interests. De-banking is an especially harmful and risky form of corporate activism because many corporate stakeholders perceive it, not as a form of responsible corporate citizenship, but a way to punish certain political views in ways that seriously alienate large swaths of a companys base. De-banking creates serious legal, regulatory, political, and financial risk that cannot be ignored. Financial institutions should

1 Alliance Defending Freedom is a non-profit law firm that protects free speech, religious liberty, and other fundamental rights. It has 15 Supreme Court wins, an 80% win rate, and a network of over 4,500 allied attorneys. Alliance Defending Freedom also works with shareholders and companies to protect these rights and has created the Viewpoint Diversity Score Business Index along with a suite of model policies and best practices for companies.

instead be respecting the wide variety of diverse ideological and religious viewpoints that comprise their stakeholders.

Proposal 5 (the Proposal) seeks an evaluation of risks related to discrimination against potential clients on a range of grounds that would impact their participation in the market (and, consequently, their exercise of constitutionally protected rights in the United States). The Proposal would assist both the company and shareholders by identifying sources of these risksrisks that have already materialized to the substantial detriment of other companies that have engaged in various forms of corporate activism in recent years.

I. Companies engage in de-banking in the United States and abroad.

De-banking is not an isolated phenomenon. Rather, shareholders of financial institutions should be concerned about de-banking because of the many recent cases in which prominent banks and financial service companies have cancelled services and accounts for highly questionable reasons that bear the appearance of political or religious discrimination. Below are a few of the many examples:

 In April 2023, Bank of America closed the account of Indigenous Advance Ministries, a Christian organization that provides food, clothing, and other needs to orphans and widows in Uganda.2 The bank also closed the accounts of a Memphis, TN church that donates to Indigenous Advance and a separate business that provides jobs to impoverished Ugandans.3 The bank provided only vague reasons for the closures, claiming that the organization exceeded its risk profile. It declined to provide further specificity around its decision after repeated requests by Indigenous Advance Ministries.4 Months laterafter being asked by an international media organizationthe bank claimed that it closed the accounts because the ministry operated overseas and engaged in debt collection.5 Neither Indigenous Advance Ministries nor the church

2 Indigenous Advance Ministries, https://indigenousadvance.org/about-us/ (last visited March 15, 2024).

3 Helena Kelly, EXCLUSIVE: 'Debanking' row breaks out after Bank of America shuts down account for ultra-conservative Christian charity that serves impoverished Ugandans, Daily Mail (Aug. 25, 2023), https://www.dailymail.co.uk/yourmoney/banking/article-12417653/Debanking-row-breaks-Bank-America-shuts-account-ultra-conservative-Christian-charity-serves-impoverished-Ugandans.html.

4 Jeremy Tedesco & Michael Ross, 16 states call on Wells Fargo to curb discriminatory de-banking practices, Alliance Defending Freedom (March 6, 2024), https://adfmedia.org/case/viewpoint-diversity-score.

5 When and Where to File a Complaint Credit, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, https://www.usccr.gov/files/pubs/uncsam/complain/credit.htm (last visited March 15, 2024).

collect debts, nor was the bank able to point to a specific policy prohibiting account holders from engaging in such activities.6

 JPMorgan Chase, Americas largest bank, has proven to be one of the worst offenders. In 2022, JPMorgan Chase closed the bank account of the nonprofit, National Committee for Religious Freedom, founded by former U.S. Ambassador Sam Brownback.7 Chase refused to provide a clear explanation for why the account had been closed in the first place, and insisted that it would only consider re-opening the account if the nonprofit agreed to disclose confidential donor information and detailed information about its pollical activities.8 Over the course of the next year, Chase offered no fewer than five increasingly untenable and contradictory explanations for why it canceled the accountincluding a false claim from Chases CEO, Jamie Dimon, at the annual shareholders meeting that NCRFs representatives had simply failed to fill out all the forms.9

 Chases payment processing subsidiary, WePay, has also denied service to religious and center-right nonprofits on multiple occasions. In 2021, WePay denied payment processing services to an organization called Defense of Liberty for an event featuring Donald Trump Jr. for promoting hate, violence, racial intolerance, terrorism, [or] the financial exploitation of a crime.10 That same year, WePay denied service to the Arkansas Family Council for being high risk, presumably for their advocacy that focuses on family values.11

 Recent revelations from both Republican and Democrat legislators have revealed that banks may also be engaging in religious and political discrimination based on money laundering and anti-terrorism laws. Head of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, Jim Jordan, recently unearthed documents showing that virtually every major bank was cooperating with the

6 Supra note 4.

7 Jon Brown, Chase Bank allegedly shutters bank account of religious freedom nonprofit, demands donor list, Fox Business (Oct. 13, 2022), https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/chase-bank-allegedly-shutters-bank-account-religious-freedom-nonprofit-demands-donor-list.

8 Sam Brownback, Are big banks chasing away religious organizations?, Washington Examiner (Oct. 6, 2022), https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/faith-freedom-self-reliance/are-big-banks-chasing-away-religious-organizations.

9 Sam Brownback & Jeremy Tedesco, Stop the Troubling Trend of Politically Motivated Debanking, Newsweek (March 17, 2023), https://www.newsweek.com/stop-troubling-trend-politically-motivated-debanking-opinion-1787639.

10 Ronn Blitzer, JPMorgan Chase bank reverses decision after Missouri calls out refusal to serve conservative group, Fox Business (Nov. 18, 2021), https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/chase-bank-missouri-conservative-group.

11 Jerry Cox, Chase Bank Cancels National Committee for Religious Freedoms Account Just Like it Canceled Family Councils, Family Council (Oct. 19, 2022), https://familycouncil.org/?p=25159.

FBI and Treasury to profile Americans as domestic terrorist threats based on whether they buy religious texts, support conservative views on things like immigration and vaccine mandates, or are associated with mainstream conservative and religious charities.12 Similarly, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren and four other legislators sent a letter just last month to Chase and other major banks asking them for transparency on de-banking Muslim customers.13

The New York Times recently investigated the rise in bank account closures.14 It examined 500 cases of account cancellations and interviewed over a dozen bank industry leaders. In a follow-up article titled The Way Big Banks Shut Down Customer Accounts is Callous. Lets Fix It, The Times observed how account closings often come without warning with no recourse, appeal or explanation from the bank and [s]ometimes you find out you have lost banking privileges when youre buying food at the grocery store and your credit and debit cards no longer work.15 They went on to say:

But losing your bank account isnt just inconvenient. Its scary. If youre a small business, it disrupts your payroll and can damage your reputation in the community. Given no explanation, you wonder if youve been blacklisted or put on some kind of government watch list.16

De-banking is facilitated by vague and subjective terms of service that permit institutions to make subjective and viewpoint-based decisions. And de-banking often occurs despite the presence of policies that prohibit discrimination against or require fair treatment of customers.

12 Financial Surveillance In The United States: How Federal Law Enforcement Commandeered Financial Institutions To Spy On Americans, Interim Staff Report of the Committee on the Judiciary and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, U.S. House of Representatives (March 6, 2024), https://judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/How-Federal-Law-Enforcement-Commandeered-Financial-Institutions-to-Spy.pdf.

13 Letter from Elizabeth Warren, U.S. Senator, et al. to Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase CEO, et al. (Feb. 22, 2024) (on file with author), available at https://www.warren.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Letter%20from%20Senator%20Warren%20and% 20Representative%20Omar%20to%20Banks%20on%20De-Risking%20Policies.pdf.

14 Ron Lieber & Tara Siegel Bernard, Why Banks Are Suddenly Closing Down Customer Accounts, The New York Times (Nov. 5, 2023), https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/05/business/banks-accounts-close-suddenly.html.

15 Ron Lieber, The Way Big Banks Shut Down Customer Accounts Is Callous. Lets Fix It, The New York Times (Dec. 30, 2023), https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/30/your-money/banks-closed-accounts-fixes.html.

16 Id.

The terms-of-service policies are framed to permit the company to decline services in cases that generate risk, but ironically this behavior creates reputational risk because it enables politicized de-banking. Financial institutions should not condition access to their services based on political or religious views. Instead, they should deny service based only on viewpoint-neutral and objective factors like engaging in illegal behavior or failing to demonstrate creditworthiness.

Unfortunately, these kinds of reputational risk and hate policies are pervasive throughout the industry. The 2023 Viewpoint Diversity Score Business Index found that nearly half of major financial institutions have these kinds of problematic policies, including 7 of the top 10 largest U.S. banks and each of the top 3.

II. De-banking poses financial risks to companies and shareholders.

De-banking creates financial risk in several ways, all of which can have a dramatic financial impact on the company and its shareholders.

A. Policies associated with de-banking are costly and unworkable.

Using reputational risk, social risk, or hate policies to engage in conduct that isor even appears to bediscriminatory presents its own significant risksnot only to the civil liberties of customers, but to a companys reputation, operational integrity, and bottom-line. That is why supporting corporate audits, studies, and reports on this issue is necessary to evaluate the severity of the risk on an institution-by-institution basis.

Replacing objective measures of risk with vague and subjective social criteria creates at least two practical problems for financial service providers. First, it makes it impossible to determine whose perspective should be used to measure reputational risk. BlackRock recently acknowledged this in public filings, citing to concerns about appeasing both pro-ESG shareholders in light of the increasing scrutiny and opposition from those opposed to ESG.17

Second, the resources necessary to fairly and consistently evaluate a sweeping reputational risk framework across an entire client portfolio is overwhelming, making due diligence under such a framework nearly impossible. Such policies are unworkable because [b]anks and regulators must expend insurmountable resources to monitor every third-party customer or partner for possible reputational risk to the bank.18

17 Jack Pitcher, BlackRock Warns Shareholders That ESG Scrutiny Could Harm Its Reputation and Business, The Wall Street Journal (Feb. 23, 2024), https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/stock-market-today-dow-jones-02-23-2024/card/blackrock-warns-shareholders-that-esg-scrutiny-could-harm-its-reputation-and-business-SWnOrWmOc6HMvw5auCaH.

18 Supra note 22 at 587.

Adopting reputational risk policies that encompass the political or religious viewpoints and activities of a client sets the company up for failure and commits it to expend significant resources on policing inherently vague and arbitrary risk factors. Instead of respecting the diverse views of their stakeholders, these policies alienate them in large portions. According to a recent poll, 67% of likely American voters distrust banks that would refuse service to a customer based on his or her political or religious views. Majorities across the political divide exhibit this distrust (76% of Republicans, 68% of Independents, and 57% of Democrats).19

B. De-bankings financial risks are substantial.

Recent examples of corporate activism show how destructive politicized de-banking can be. Major corporations like Disney, AB InBev, and Target have waded into controversial political debates that have nothing to do with the services they offer and have incurred significant financial costs as a result of doing so. After high-profile controversies associated with these companies, each was either worst or second worst in its class or performed at least one standard deviation beneath the mean return for its class.20 Disneys performance was dwarfed by competitors Comcast, Netflix, Sony, and Amazon. AB InBev fell far behind Coors and Heineken. And Target lagged behind Walmart and Costco. 21

Polling further substantiates the risks of corporate activism. Between 2022 and 2023, Disney dropped 12 spots in the Axios Harris Poll 100, which measures the reputation of top brands in the nation. Axios attributed the reputational loss to Disneys political activism in Florida.22 After Bud Light partnered with transgender-identifying social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney, 54% of Americans supported a boycott of the brand.23

Simply, corporate political activism (including politicized de-banking) unnecessarily shrinks the market by prioritizing non-market values to engage in non-market activities that motivate a backlash that has nothing to do with the goods or services at issue. It can even generate entirely new competitors that would not exist

19 Travis Taylor, 2023 Debanking Poll, Center for Excellence in Polling (May 24, 2023), https://excellenceinpolling.com/poll/debanking-poll/.

20 Bowyer Research, Corporate Political Activism and Shareholder Value: The Examples of Bud Light, Disney, and Target, https://www.bowyerresearch.com/docs/Corporate%20Political%20Activism%20and%20Shareholder%20Value.pdf (last visited March 15, 2024).

21 Id.

22 Margaret Talev & Sara Fischer, Disney's reputation hit by polarizing political drama, Axios (May 23, 2023), https://www.axios.com/2023/05/23/disneys-reputation-political-drama-polarization.

23 Alec Schemmel, More than half of Americans support Bud Light boycott, poll shows, ABC 15 News (April 20, 2023), https://wpde.com/news/nation-world/more-than-half-of-americans-support-bud-light-boycott-poll-shows-rasmussen-reports-dylan-mulvaney-anheuser-busch.

but for the politicized activity. For example, after Harrys Razors pulled their advertising from the Daily Wirea media company with no preexisting share in the razor marketthe Daily Wire created a company called Jeremys Razors. The marketing for Jeremys Razors focused entirely on the political nature of the decision by Harrys Razors, and the strategy worked. Jeremys Razors sold 45,000 recurring subscriptions in the products first week.24 This is one of the many examples of a new anti-woke economy that has siphoned business from existing big businesses.25

III. De-banking poses legal risks to companies and shareholders.

In addition to the financial risks associated with corporate activism, de-banking generates a range of legal risks.

A. De-banking creates risk of direct liability.

Declining access to financial services based on political views or religious affiliation can generate direct liabilities in some cases.

Numerous laws prohibit financial institutions from discriminating based on religion or political status.

 The Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Fair Housing Act bar religious discrimination in lending, broadly construed. Violations of these statutes can generate enormous liabilities. One recent award under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act amounted to $1.4 million in damages, with an additional $24.5 million civil penalty.26

 Many states and cities prohibit religious discrimination in a wide variety of contexts. For example, both Washington D.C. and New York prohibit religious discrimination in housing, employment, public accommodations, and educational institutions.27 New Yorks Human Rights Law also specifically prohibits religious discrimination in providing credit services.28

24 Tim Meads, Jeremys Razors Sells 45,000 Subscriptions In First Week, Lands More Than 15 Million Commercial Views, Daily Wire (March 30, 2022), https://www.dailywire.com/news/jeremys-razors-sells-45000-subscriptions-in-first-week-lands-more-than-15-million-commercial-views.

25 Aaron Kliegman, Don't want to shop woke? This might be the place for you., Fox Business (March 27, 2023), https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/dont-want-shop-woke-might-be-place-you.

26 CFPB Orders Citi to Pay $25.9 Million for Intentional, Illegal Discrimination Against Armenian Americans, CFPB (Nov. 8, 2023), https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-orders-citi-to-pay-25-9-million-for-intentional-illegal-discrimination-against-armenian-americans/.

27 D.C. Code  2-1401 et seq.; N.Y. Exec.  296.

28 N.Y. Exec.  296(2).

 Barring discrimination against Americans based on their political views also has a pedigree in civil rights law. Though political views remain an emerging field in federal nondiscrimination law, the civil rights laws of numerous states like New York, Washington, and Washington D.C. already treat political affiliation or political activities as protected characteristics.29

 In 2023, Florida enacted legislation directly prohibiting banks and lenders from penalizing a person for their political opinions, speech, or affiliations[,] or their religious beliefs, religious exercise, or religious affiliations[.]30 Texas also passed a law this year stopping insurers from setting rates based on any ESG criteria, including social factors.31

Many financial institutions also hold themselves out as inclusive places and make promises not to discriminate. To the extent they make these representations, they may be liable under state and federal consumer protection laws for deceptive acts and practices. Sixteen and nineteen state attorneys general, respectively, recently sent letters to Wells Fargo and Chase and raised these precise concerns on de-banking.32 Violations of consumer protection statutes prohibiting deceptive practices can lead to liability in the millions of dollars, since they permit recovery for actual (and in some states treble) damages, punitive damages, and attorneys fees, in addition to civil penalties.33

29 See, e.g., D.C. Code  2-1402.11; N.Y. Lab. Law  201-d; Wash. Rev. Code. Ann.  42.17A.495(2).

30 Fla. Stat.  516.037, 560.1115, 655.0323.

31 Tex. Ins. Code  565.005.

32 Attorney General Knudsen Demands Answers From Wells Fargo For Debanking Practices, Montana Department of Justice news release (March 7, 2024), https://dojmt.gov/attorney-general-knudsen-demands-answers-from-wells-fargo-for-debanking-practices/ (Wells Fargo claims a commitment to helping ensure that all people in  our communities  feel valued and respected and have equal access to resources, services, products, and opportunities to succeed.); Brianna Herlihy, Chase Bank warned on religious discrimination by 19 GOP attorneys general, Fox Business (May 2, 2023), https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/chase-bank-warned-religious-discrimination-gop-attorneys-general (Chase cannot call itself inclusive and say that it opposes discrimination in any form, while simultaneously disenfranchising its clients over religious and political differences).

33 See, e.g., Cal. Civil Code  1780; Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann.  44-1528; 1534; 73 Pa. Stat. Ann.  201-9.2; Mont. Code Ann.  30-14-131; 133.

Another concern is that financial institutions are violating their fiduciary duty to shareholders by prioritizing political and social factors over financial ones. Twenty-three state attorneys general34 and 18 state financial officers35 recently took this position on de-banking when writing to proxy advisors this last fall.

Companies can also incur direct liability for de-banking activities even outside of the United States. For example, in 2020, British bank Barclays closed the accounts of Core Issues Trust and International Federation for Therapeutic and Counselling Choice, a Christian organization. This closure followed a social media campaign from a progressive group that lobbied the bank. Core Issues Trust filed a religious belief and political belief discrimination suit against Barclays, resulting in a settlement in Core Issues Trusts favor.36

B. De-banking increases risk of adverse investigative, regulatory, and legislative action.

1. Federal efforts

As explained above, this year both U.S. House Representatives and Senators from both sides of the aisle have sought to hold big banks accountable for politicized de-banking. A number of other federal legislative, regulatory, and oversight efforts have also focused on reining in de-banking.

Last year in response to growing concerns over politicized de-banking, 36 Republican U.S. Senators and 82 Representatives introduced the Fair Access to Banking Act during the 118th Congress intended to address financial institutions [categorical discrimination] against legal industries.37

34 Letter from Brenna Bird, AG of Iowa, et al. to Gary Retelny, President and CEO Institutional Shareholder Services, Inc., et al., available at https://cdn01.dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Final-Debanking-Proxy-Advisor-Letter-1.pdf.

35 Zachary Halaschak, GOP state officials pressure proxy advisory companies in fight against ESG, Washington Examiner (Oct. 24, 2023), https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/2431813/gop-state-officials-pressure-proxy-advisory-companies-in-fight-against-esg.

36 Bridget Ryder, Barclays To Pay Christian Group for Discrimination, The European Conservative (July 1, 2023), https://europeanconservative.com/articles/news/barclays-to-pay-christian-group-for-discrimination/.

37 S. 293, 118th Cong. (2023-2024); H.R. 2743, 118th Cong. (2023-2024); Capito, Cramer, Colleagues Reintroduce Fair Access to Banking Act, Shelley Moore Capito Press Release (Feb. 7, 2023), https://www.capito.senate.gov/news/press-releases/capito-cramer-colleagues-reintroduce_fair-access-to-banking-act.

This followed similar legislation in 2022, the Fair Access to Financial Services Act, which was introduced by Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking Sherrod Brown along with 17 other Democratic Senators. The NAACP and National Urban League were notable sponsors.38

Before this, the U.S. House passed the Financial Institution Customer Protection Act with an overwhelming 395-2 vote. The bill stated that a federal banking agency may not formally or informally request or order a bank to terminate a relationship with a customer unless the agency has a valid reason for such request or order, and such reason is not based solely on reputation risk.39

Prompted by similar concerns, the U.S. Treasury Departments Office of the Comptroller of the Currency finalized a rule in 2021 that limited the ability of banks to deny access to financial services based on broad-based reputational risk policies.40 Bidens administration blocked the rule,41 but it resurfaced as a legislative option as explained above and will be a strong option for any future Republican administration that takes office.

2. State efforts

Many states are also investigating de-banking and even passing legislation to directly prohibit it. In 2023, Florida enacted legislation that requires certain banks operating within the state to certify, among other things, that they do not deny or cancel services based on a persons political opinions, speech, or affiliations[,] or their religious beliefs, religious exercise, or religious affiliations[.]42 Many banks, to their credit, recognized the risk and certified that they do not engage in this behavior.43

38 S. 4619, 117th Cong. (2021-2022).

39 H.R. 2706, 115th Cong. (2017).

40 Bryan Hubbard, OCC Finalizes Rule Requiring Large Banks to Provide Fair Access to Bank Services, Capital, and Credit, Office of Comptroller of the Currency (Jan. 14, 2021), https://www.occ.gov/news-issuances/news-releases/2021/nr-occ-2021-8.html.

41 Banking Essentials Newsletter: 7th February Edition, S&P Global Market Intelligence (Feb. 7, 2024), https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/blog/banking-essentials-newsletter-7th-february-edition.

42 Carl Fornaris, et al., Florida House Financial Services Bill Becomes Law: Takes Aim at ESG Principles, Creating a New Unsafe and Unsound Practice Standard for Financial Institutions Doing Business in Florida, Winston & Strawn, LLP (May 3, 2023), https://www.winston.com/en/insights-news/florida-house-financial-services-bill-becomes-law-takes-aim-at-esg-principles-creating-a-new-unsafe-and-unsound-practice-standard-for-financial-institutions-doing-business-in-florida.

43 Eric Daugherty, Over 100 Florida banks sign anti-ESG agreement to not politically discriminate, Floridas Voice (Jan. 19, 2024), https://flvoicenews.com/over-100-florida-banks-sign-anti-esg-agreement-to-not-politically-discriminate.

This builds on increasing action by states to penalize financial institutions that are denying service to legal industries such as fossil fuels and firearms. Seven states are also currently considering legislation similar to Floridas to directly prohibit de-banking.44

De-banking has also triggered investigative and regulatory scrutiny. In addition to the letters to Chase and Wells Fargo, Bank of Americas decision to close the account of nonprofit Indigenous Advance, as well as two other accounts associated with a church and business, prompted a legal complaint against the company, filed with the Tennessee Attorney Generals office.45 In 2022, 6 state attorneys general launched an ongoing investigation into whether major banks were violating antitrust and consumer protection laws related to their ESG practices and NetZero commitments.46 Chase was also the target of a letter addressed to the U.S. Comptroller of the Currency in 2021, authored by U.S. Senators Rubio and Cramer, expressing concern about the banks targeted de-banking of public figures.47

Financial institutions refusal to take steps to address concerns around political and religious discrimination in their services is already being met with government action. To stem the tide of further regulation that might increase compliance costs or result in other burdens, financial service providers need to show good faith in addressing politicized de-banking.

IV. Implementing the Proposal benefits the company and shareholders.

The legal and financial risks associated with de-banking may not be the intended result of the Companys policies, especially those directed to addressing potential risk. But to the extent that those policies permit corporate officers to assess risks beyond viewpoint-neutral and objective factors, the company should cabin that discretion to avoid the risks created by de-banking. The Proposal would benefit the company by ensuring these risks are assessed and reported.

44 Tenn. H.B. 2100; Idaho H. 669; Ariz. S.B. 1167; Ga. H.B. 1205; Iowa H.F. 2409; Ky. H.B. 452; Ind. S.B. 0028.

45 Letter from Bob Phillips and Steve Happ, available at https://adfmedialegalfiles.blob.core.windows.net/files/IndigenousAdvanceConsumerComplaint.pdf

46 Krista Buckel, Attorney General Cameron Announces Multi-State Investigation into Six Major Banks for ESG Investment Practices, Kentucky.gov (Oct. 19, 2022), https://www.kentucky.gov/Pages/Activity-stream.aspx?n=AttorneyGeneral&prId=1269.

47 Letter from Marco Rubio, U.S. Senator, and Kevin Cramer, U.S. Senator to Michael J. Hsu, Acting Comptroller of the Currency (on file with author), available at https://senatorkevincramer.app.box.com/s/m7rxjkfjzfh5bv1fevtwyrp30su375yj.

In 2023, Chase, PayPal, Capital One, and Charles Schwab all opposed requests by shareholders to issue such reports arguing that no additional action is needed on their part to guard against politicized de-banking.48 However, evidence suggests that questionable de-banking by large financial institutions is on the rise and poses risks to companies. Shareholders should call for reports on politicized de-banking for at least four reasons:

 While many banks have public policies that show they are susceptible to de-banking, there are likely many more problematic policies and practices not publicly available. Without focused scrutiny, there is no way for management or shareholders to assess where safeguards are needed to protect against misapplication or abuse of vague and subjective standards.

 Examining the potential risks associated with politicized de-banking would allow shareholders to assess the degree to which portfolio companies are prioritizing social or political factors immaterial to the financial merit of client relationships. That is important both in terms of their ability to hold management accountable for fulfilling their fiduciary duty, and for ensuring that companies avoid positions that serve narrow interests at the expense of shareholders overall.

 To date, almost no major financial institution has accepted responsibility for its role in religious or political discrimination despite growing evidence to the contrary and immense public pressure. This unfortunately just confirms the need for greater transparency and accountability.

 Shareholder resolutions signal to management that risks associated with politicized de-banking should be taken seriously. The proposed resolution offers an ideal opportunity to support a measured proposal that effectively communicates the need for greater accountability and transparency on an issue of material consequence to the company and its shareholders.

Some financial service providers might claim that producing a report of this kind would be difficult due to the various factors involved. However, the language of the resolution provides companies with ample flexibility in tailoring a report, audit, or study that accounts for the particulars of their business. They could produce such a report utilizing internal teams and expertise or hire third-party organizations with expertise in financial services and civil liberties. Indeed, several major corporations including Chase, Citi Group, and Amazon have previously conducted civil rights audits, which purportedly examined whether their services, labor practices, and other

48 Annual Meeting of Shareholders Proxy Statement 2023, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (2023), https://www.jpmorganchase.com/content/dam/jpmc/jpmorgan-chase-and-co/investor-relations/documents/proxy-statement2023.pdf, at 100101.

behavior resulted in racial discrimination against customers or employees.49 The notion that companies are unable to study the potential for discrimination based on a variety of factors is belied by their own actions.

And if companies deem it an appropriate use of resources to report on efforts to prevent racial discrimination, they should be equally committed to preventing other forms of discrimination, including on the basis of religious or political viewpoints. The production of a report analyzing these factors is both feasible and precedented. In 2019, for instance, Meta (then Facebook) released an independent audit conducted by Covington and Burling lead by former Republican U.S. Senator Jon Kyl, which examined potential anti-conservative bias on the companys platform.50 The report included consultations with numerous affected stakeholdersincluding right-of-center nonprofitsand raised several important concerns for the company to address.51 Financial institutions should adopt a similar approach in preparing reports examining and responding to potential political or religious bias in their service offerings and governance.

Conclusion

For these reasons, we urge you to vote FOR Shareholder Proposal No. 5 on Truist Financial Corporations 2024 Proxy.

Sincerely,

Michael Ross

Legal Counsel for Corporate Engagement

A LLIANCE D EFENDING F REEDOM

44180 Riverside Parkway

Lansdowne, VA 20176

(571) 707-4655

This is not a solicitation of authority to vote your proxy. Please do not send us your proxy card as it will not be accepted.

49 What Are Civil Rights Audits, and Why Are Companies Doing Them?, Bloomberg (May 3, 2022), https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-03/what-civil-rights-audits-are-and-why-firms-do-them-quicktake.

50 Jon Kyl, Covington Interim Report, https://about.fb.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/covington-interim-report-1.pdf.

51 Supra note 36.
UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

SCHEDULE 13G

(Rule 13d-102)

INFORMATION TO BE INCLUDED IN STATEMENTS FILED PURSUANT

TO RULES 13d-1(b), (c), AND (d) AND AMENDMENTS THERETO FILED

PURSUANT TO RULE 13d-2(b)

(Amendment No. )1

Daqo New Energy Corp. (Name of Issuer)

Ordinary Shares, par value $0.0001 per share (Title of Class of Securities)

23703Q2032 (CUSIP Number)

March 14, 2024 (Date of Event Which Requires Filing of this Statement)

Check the appropriate box to designate the rule pursuant to which this Schedule is filed:

 Rule 13d-1(b)

 Rule 13d-1(c)

 Rule 13d-1(d)

1 The remainder of this cover page shall be filled out for a reporting persons initial filing on this form with respect to the subject class of securities, and for any subsequent amendment containing information which would alter disclosures provided in a prior cover page.

2 There is no CUSIP number assigned to the Ordinary Shares. CUSIP number 23703Q203 has been assigned to the American Depositary Shares of the Company, which are quoted on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DQ. Each American Depositary Share represents five Ordinary Shares.

The information required on the remainder of this cover page shall not be deemed to be filed for the purpose of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Act) or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section of the Act but shall be subject to all other provisions of the Act (however, see the Notes).

CUSIP No. 23703Q203

1 NAME OF REPORTING PERSON Continental General Insurance Company 2 CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP (a)  (b)  3 SEC USE ONLY 4 CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION Texas NUMBER OF 5 SOLE VOTING POWER SHARES BENEFICIALLY 0 OWNED BY 6 SHARED VOTING POWER EACH REPORTING 21,328,905 (1) PERSON WITH 7 SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER 0 8 SHARED DISPOSITIVE POWER 21,328,905 (1) 9 AGGREGATE AMOUNT BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON 21,328,905 (1) 10 CHECK BOX IF THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT IN ROW (9) EXCLUDES CERTAIN SHARES  11 PERCENT OF CLASS REPRESENTED BY AMOUNT IN ROW (9) 6.5% (1) 12 TYPE OF REPORTING PERSON CO

(1) Represents Shares (as defined below) underlying 4,265,781 ADSs (as defined below). Each ADS represents five Shares.

2

CUSIP No. 23703Q203

1 NAME OF REPORTING PERSON Continental Insurance Group, Ltd. 2 CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP (a)  (b)  3 SEC USE ONLY 4 CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION Delaware NUMBER OF 5 SOLE VOTING POWER SHARES BENEFICIALLY 0 OWNED BY 6 SHARED VOTING POWER EACH REPORTING 21,328,905 (1) PERSON WITH 7 SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER 0 8 SHARED DISPOSITIVE POWER 21,328,905 (1) 9 AGGREGATE AMOUNT BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON 21,328,905 (1) 10 CHECK BOX IF THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT IN ROW (9) EXCLUDES CERTAIN SHARES  11 PERCENT OF CLASS REPRESENTED BY AMOUNT IN ROW (9) 6.5% (1) 12 TYPE OF REPORTING PERSON CO

(1) Represents Shares underlying 4,265,781 ADSs. Each ADS represents five Shares.

3

CUSIP No. 23703Q203

1 NAME OF REPORTING PERSON Continental General Holdings LLC 2 CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP (a)  (b)  3 SEC USE ONLY 4 CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION Michigan NUMBER OF 5 SOLE VOTING POWER SHARES BENEFICIALLY 0 OWNED BY 6 SHARED VOTING POWER EACH REPORTING 21,328,905 (1) PERSON WITH 7 SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER 0 8 SHARED DISPOSITIVE POWER 21,328,905 (1) 9 AGGREGATE AMOUNT BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON 21,328,905 (1) 10 CHECK BOX IF THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT IN ROW (9) EXCLUDES CERTAIN SHARES  11 PERCENT OF CLASS REPRESENTED BY AMOUNT IN ROW (9) 6.5% (1) 12 TYPE OF REPORTING PERSON OO

(1) Represents Shares underlying 4,265,781 ADSs. Each ADS represents five Shares.

4

CUSIP No. 23703Q203

1 NAME OF REPORTING PERSON Michael Gorzynski 2 CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP (a)  (b)  3 SEC USE ONLY 4 CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION United States NUMBER OF 5 SOLE VOTING POWER SHARES BENEFICIALLY 0 OWNED BY 6 SHARED VOTING POWER EACH REPORTING 21,328,905 (1) PERSON WITH 7 SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER 0 8 SHARED DISPOSITIVE POWER 21,328,905 (1) 9 AGGREGATE AMOUNT BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON 21,328,905 (1) 10 CHECK BOX IF THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT IN ROW (9) EXCLUDES CERTAIN SHARES  11 PERCENT OF CLASS REPRESENTED BY AMOUNT IN ROW (9) 6.5% (1) 12 TYPE OF REPORTING PERSON IN

(1) Represents Shares underlying 4,265,781 ADSs. Each ADS represents five Shares.

5

CUSIP No. 23703Q203

Item 1(a). Name of Issuer:

Daqo New Energy Corp., a Cayman Islands corporation (the Issuer).

Item 1(b). Address of Issuers Principal Executive Offices:

Unit 29, Huadu Mansion

838 Zhangyang Road

Shanghai, The Peoples Republic of China 200122

Item 2(a). Name of Person Filing

The names of the persons filing this statement on Schedule 13G (collectively, the Reporting Persons) are:

 Continental General Insurance Company (CGIC),

 Continental Insurance Group, Ltd. (CIG),

 Continental General Holdings LLC (CGH), and

 Michael Gorzynski (Mr. Gorzynski).

Item 2(b). Address of Principal Business Office or, if None, Residence

The address of the principal office for Mr. Gorzynski is 595 Madison Avenue, 30th Floor, New York, NY 10022. The principal business address for each of CGIC, CIG and CGH is 11001 Lakeline Blvd., Ste. 120, Austin, TX 78717.

Item 2(c). Citizenship

CGH is a Michigan limited liability company. CIG is a Delaware corporation. CGIC is a Texas domiciled life and health insurance company. Mr. Gorzynski is a citizen of the United States of America and Poland.

Item 2(d). Title of Class of Securities:

Ordinary Shares, par value $0.0001 per share (the Shares). The Reporting Persons own American Depositary Shares of the Issuer (ADSs), as set forth herein. Each ADS represents five Shares.

Item 2(e). CUSIP Number:

699374302 (See Footnote 2 on Cover Page)

6

CUSIP No. 23703Q203

Item 3. If This Statement is Filed Pursuant to Rule 13d-1(b), or 13d-2(b) or (c), Check Whether the Person Filing is a:

/x/ Not applicable. (a) / / Broker or dealer registered under Section 15 of the Exchange Act. (b) / / Bank as defined in Section 3(a)(6) of the Exchange Act. (c) / / Insurance company as defined in Section 3(a)(19) of the Exchange Act. (d) / / Investment company registered under Section 8 of the Investment Company Act. (e) / / An investment adviser in accordance with Rule 13d-1(b)(1)(ii)(E). (f) / / An employee benefit plan or endowment fund in accordance with Rule 13d-1(b)(1)(ii)(F). (g) / / A parent holding company or control person in accordance with Rule 13d-1(b)(1)(ii)(G). (h) / / A savings association as defined in Section 3(b) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act. (i) / / A church plan that is excluded from the definition of an investment company under Section 3(c)(14) of the Investment Company Act. (j) / / A non-U.S. institution, in accordance with Rule 13d-1(b)(1)(ii)(J). (k) / / Group, in accordance with Rule 13d-1(b)(1)(ii)(K). If filing as a non-U.S. institution in accordance with Rule 13d-1(b)(1)(ii)(J), please specify the type of institution: ____

Item 4. Ownership

(a) Amount beneficially owned:

As of March 25, 2024:

(i) CGIC directly beneficially owned 21,328,905 Shares underlying ADSs it directly owned.

(ii) As the sole owner of CGIC, CIG may be deemed the beneficial owner of the 21,328,905 Shares underlying ADSs beneficially owned by CGIC.

(iii) As the sole owner of CIG, CGH may be deemed the beneficial owner of the 21,328,905 Shares underlying ADSs beneficially owned by CGIC.

7

CUSIP No. 23703Q203

(iv) As a manager and Executive Chairman of CGH, Mr. Gorzynski may be deemed to beneficially own the 21,328,905 Shares underlying ADSs directly beneficially owned by CGIC.

(b) Percent of class:

The following percentages are based on 328,500,000 Shares outstanding, which is the approximate total number of Shares outstanding as of December 31, 2023, as disclosed in Exhibit 99.1 to the Issuers Report of Foreign Issuer on Form 6-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 28, 2024.

As of March 25, 2024:

(i) CGIC may be deemed to beneficially own approximately 6.5% of the outstanding Shares;

(ii) CIG may be deemed to beneficially own approximately 6.5% of the outstanding Shares;

(iii) CGH may be deemed to beneficially own approximately 6.5% of the outstanding Shares; and

(iv) Mr. Gorzynski may be deemed to beneficially own approximately 6.5% of the outstanding Shares.

(c) Number of shares as to which such person has:

(i) Sole power to vote or to direct the vote

See Cover Pages Items 5-9.

(ii) Shared power to vote or to direct the vote

See Cover Pages Items 5-9.

(iii) Sole power to dispose or to direct the disposition of

See Cover Pages Items 5-9.

(iv) Shared power to dispose or to direct the disposition of

See Cover Pages Items 5-9.

Item 5. Ownership of Five Percent or Less of a Class.

If this statement is being filed to report the fact that as of the date hereof the Report Persons have ceased to be the beneficial owners of more than 5 percent of the class of securities, check the following box [ ].

Item 6. Ownership of More than Five Percent on Behalf of Another Person.

Not Applicable.

8

CUSIP No. 23703Q203

Item 7. Identification and Classification of the Subsidiary That Acquired the Security Being Reported on by the Parent Holding Company or Control Person.

Not Applicable.

Item 8. Identification and Classification of Members of the Group.

See Exhibit 99.1.

Item 9. Notice of Dissolution of Group.

Not Applicable.

Item 10. Certifications.

By signing below each of the undersigned certifies that, to the best of its knowledge and belief, the securities referred to above were not acquired and are not held for the purpose of or with the effect of changing or influencing the control of the issuer of the securities and were not acquired and are not held in connection with or as a participant in any transaction having that purpose or effect.

9

CUSIP No. 23703Q203

SIGNATURE

After reasonable inquiry and to the best of his knowledge and belief, the undersigned certifies that the information set forth in this statement is true, complete and correct.

Date: March 25, 2024

Continental General Insurance Company By: /s/ Michael Gorzynski Name: Michael Gorzynski Title: Executive Chairman

Continental Insurance Group, Ltd. By: /s/ Michael Gorzynski Name: Michael Gorzynski Title: Chairman & President

Continental General Holdings LLC By: /s/ Michael Gorzynski Name: Michael Gorzynski Title: Manager

/s/ Michael Gorzynski Michael Gorzynski

10

ATTACHMENTS / EXHIBITS

JOINT FILING AGREEMENT
Section 2  Resource Extraction Issuer Disclosure

Item 2.01 Resource Extraction Issuer Disclosure and Report

BHP has a long-standing commitment to transparency. We recognise taxes are important sources of government revenue and are central to the fiscal policy and macroeconomic stability of countries. Paying the right amount of taxes and royalties enables governments to finance and deliver on national development plans for the benefit of the broader community to promote sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and reduce poverty and inequality within and among countries. We have disclosed details of our tax and royalty payments for more than 20 years and we have continually updated and expanded our disclosures. The Economic Contribution Report aims to provide a greater understanding of BHPs global tax profile, tax contributions and the manner in which we govern and manage our tax obligations.

BHP is relying on the alternative reporting provision of Item 2.01.

BHP is subject to DTR 4.3A of the UK Financial Conduct Authoritys Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules (DTR 4.3A) that implements the payments to governments requirements provided for in the EU Transparency Directive in the United Kingdom and publishes its payments to governments as part of the annual Economic Contribution Report.

Our Economic Contribution Report 2023 was submitted to the FCA National Storage Mechanism and is available for inspection at https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism . It is also available on the BHP website at:

https://www.bhp.com/-/media/Documents/Investors/Annual-Reports/2023/230822_bhpeconomiccontributionreport2023.pdf

The payment disclosure required by Form SD is included as Exhibit 2.01 to this Form SD.

Section 3  Exhibits

Item 3.01. Exhibits

The following exhibit is filed as part of this report.
A B-52 Stratofortress assigned to the 2nd Bomb Wing at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., arrives at Navy Support Facility Diego Garcia on March 22, 2024. (Staci Kasischke/U.S. Air Force)

Two Louisiana-based B-52 bombers deployed Friday to Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean as part of a mission to enhance readiness and sustain deterrence, according to the Air Force.

The Stratofortress bombers, assigned to the 2nd Bomb Wing from Barksdale Air Force Base, were deployed to Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia as part of the ongoing bomber task force missions by Pacific Air Forces.

Bomber task force missions showcase our capability for rapid deployment in support of the combatant commanders objectives, Maj. Joshua Dawkins, director of operations for the 96th Bomb Squadron, said in an Air Force news release Friday.

The deployment allows the bombers to respond to any potential crisis or challenge across the globe at a time when the security environment is more diverse and uncertain than at any other time in recent history.

Diego Garcia was a key logistical hub during Americas 20-year military intervention in Afghanistan. Located centrally in the Indian Ocean, the island served as launch point for bombing missions during the conflict.

The island could play a larger role for the U.S. as tensions rise in the Middle East with Israels incursion into the Gaza Strip and an upsurge in missile strikes by Yemens Houthi rebels on ships passing through the Gulf of Aden.

An undisclosed number of B-1B bombers and about 200 airmen deployed to Diego Garcia for a bomber task force mission in October 2021, the first time Lancers had operated there in more than 15 years.

Bombers are more routinely deployed to Andersen Air Force Base in Guam for bomber task force missions.

Diego Garcia is part of the British Indian Ocean Territory. Under a lease with the U.K. that will expire in 2036, the U.S. operates Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia on the island.

The installation hosts units from the U.S. Navy, Air Force and Space Force, as well from the Royal Navy.

The island has been mired in controversy since the late 1960s when the British expelled the roughly 2,000 inhabitants of Diego Garcia to clear the way for construction of the joint U.K.-U.S. military base.

Most of those ousted inhabitants ended up in Mauritius and the Seychelles, where many have for decades petitioned to return to the island.

Mauritius maintains it has sovereignty over the entire British Indian Ocean Territory, which is made up of roughly 1,000 mostly tiny islands.

In late 2022, U.K. and Mauritius officials announced they were beginning negotiations to resolve all outstanding issues on the territory.

The London-based Telegraph newspaper reported in December that a plan to turn over territory to Mauritius had been scrapped after objections to the turnover by Grant Shapps, Britains defense secretary.
A gate at Misawa Air Base, Japan, shown in June 2017. (U.S. Air Force)

The discovery this week of an inert piece of training ordnance left behind from a recent exercise caused Misawa Air Base, Japan, to shut its gates momentarily.

The fighter base in northeastern Japan closed its gates at 2:25 p.m. Monday while an explosive ordnance disposal team responded to the discovery near the Kamakita gate on the bases northwest side, according to a post on Misawas official Facebook page that day.

The gates reopened 17 minutes later, according to a subsequent Facebook post.

In the meantime, EOD personnel identified the object as a training munition left over from a recent readiness training exercise, according to an unsigned email from a base spokesperson to Stars and Stripes on Monday.

Misawa Air Base uses props and inert munitions to practice procedures and enhance operational readiness in as realistic a manner as possible, the spokesperson said.

The 35th Civil Engineer Squadron, which includes the EOD technicians, most recently took part in the three-day Habu exercise in January, which brought technicians from air bases in Japan, Guam and South Korea to Misawa for training, according to a base news release Jan. 26.

This year Misawa for the first time hosted the large-scale Habu exercise, according to the release. EOD technicians worked in cold weather through several scenarios, testing their procedures for handling explosive devices, unexploded ordnance, grenades and booby traps, according to the release.
Col. Danzel Albertsen, commander of the 49th Maintenance Group, was relieved of duty March 25, 2024, at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., due to a loss of confidence in his ability to lead, the service said. (U.S. Air Force)

WASHINGTON  An Air Force commander in charge of the maintenance group at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., has been fired, the service said.

Col. Danzel Albertsen, commander of the 49th Maintenance Group, was relieved of duty Monday due to loss of confidence in his ability to lead, a statement from the service reads.

This was a difficult decision to make, but one that is ultimately in the best interests of the unit, said Col. Justin Spears, the 49th Wing commander.

Lt. Col. Kristen Torma, the deputy commander of the 49th Maintenance Group, will assume command of the unit effective immediately.

No other information regarding why Albertsen was relieved of duty was provided.

Under federal privacy law, military officials are not required to disclose the reasons for removing or reassigning personnel. Military officials often cite a loss of confidence when commanders are removed from their posts without providing any specifics that led to the decision.

Albertsen, a native of Saint Joseph, Mo., had been commander of the 49th Maintenance Group since June 2022. He oversaw the 49th Maintenance Groups four squadrons and 2,100 maintenance personnel, according to his Air Force biography. The group was responsible for 82 F-16 fighter jets, 24 MQ-9 Reaper drones and 12 Ground Control Stations, totaling $2.5 billion in assets.

Albertsen enlisted in the Air Force in 1991 and spent 10 years as a maintenance crew chief. He was commissioned in 2001 through the services Officer Training School and has commanded squadrons. His awards and decorations include a Bronze Star and the Defense Meritorious Service Medal.
The USS Shackle was a Navy rescue and salvage ship during World War II serving in such places as Iwo Jima, Midway and Okinawa. Between April and September of 1945, it completed 55 salvage and rescue missions in the western Pacific Ocean for ships damaged in Japanese kamikaze air attacks. The Shackle became the Coast Guard cutter Acushnet in 1946. (Kirk Fistick/U.S. Navy)

NAPA, Calif. (Tribune News Service)  A World War II-era ship born along the Napa River and tested in harrowing Navy and Coast Guard missions by the dozens looks to have a better future than the scrap heap.

Mark Doc Avraham is spearheading efforts to care for the decommissioned boat  named the USS Shackle while in the Navy and Acushnet during its Coast Guard service  at a marina in Tacoma, Washington. He envisions it being a place for homeless veterans to live and train for jobs, and a museum with a cafe.

And who knows  perhaps the Shackle/ Acushnet could return to the county of its birth. Eight decades ago, Basalt built ships for the Navy at the site of todays Napa Pipe, recently renamed RiverSound and the planned site for hundreds of homes and a Costco.

I wonder if Napa has a place for a group like ours? Avraham asked recently.

The Coast Guard Cutter Acushnet arrives in Juneau, Alaska, for a port visit in February 2010. Acushnet was originally commissioned as a Diver Class Fleet Rescue and Salvage Vessel, USS Shackle, for the Navy on Feb. 5, 1944. In August 1946, Acushnet was commissioned as an Auxiliary Tug (WAT) in the Coast Guard. (Walter Shinn/U.S. Coast Guard)

A long list of honors

Acushnet is 213-feet long and powered by four diesel engines and twin propellers. It has a maximum speed of 14.6 knots, or 17 mph, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

As the USS Shackle, it served the Navy as a rescue and salvage ship during World War II in such places as Iwo Jima, Midway and Okinawa. Between April and September of 1945, it completed 55 salvage and rescue missions in the western Pacific Ocean for ships damaged in Japanese kamikaze air attacks.

The Shackle became the Coast Guard cutter Acushnet in 1946. In 1952, it helped rescue crews when two tankers both split in half off Cape Cod, Massachusetts. In 1978, it covered 18,000 miles in 82 days gathering data for the Global Weather Experiment.

Its honors are many  Presidential Unit Citation, World War II Victory Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, four National Defense Service Medals, six Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendations, Transportation 9-11 Ribbon and Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, to name a few.

The Coast Guard retired Acushnet in 2011, and the federal government declared it surplus property. A man bought it for $600,825 in March of that year, according to a Coast Guard historian.

Various reports, including one in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, said the buyer duped a widow out of money for the purchase. Initial attempts to find a new use for the ship failed.

Acushnets glory days had ended, at least for a time.

Avraham and his son were looking for a ship about two years ago. They had a boat that they used to take veterans, at-risk youth and others fishing and crabbing, but wanted something bigger.

One day my son and I were driving and saw a homeless vet, Avraham said. We stopped to help, made a call to get him emergency shelter and while driving it hit us  we could do more. So we started looking for a ship that would allow us more latitude on what we could do.

They found Acushnet for sale. The asking price was too high at $230,000, but the owner sold it for $90,000.

The ship is structurally sound and seaworthy, Avraham said. The inside is about 93% in good condition, with such flaws as a hood for a range that doesnt work.

Avraham has already run a veterans program on the ship. He talked of serving people who are looking for direction after leaving the military. The ship is a place to learn skills ranging from electronics to cooking in the galley.

We have four massive engines they can work on to get a maritime ticket for working on a boat, he said.

The 67-year-old Cutter Acushnet, the Coast Guards Queen of the Fleet, is moored to the pier prior to the cutters decommissioning ceremony at Base Support Unit Ketchikan on March 11, 2011. (Walter Shinn/U.S. Coast Guard)

A time capsule

Volunteers help maintain Acushnet. Dan DeVaul is among them, taking on such jobs as working on electrical panels.

In 1978 and 1979, DeVaul served in the Coast Guard on the cutter Yocona, a sister ship of Acushnet that Basalt launched into the Napa River in 1944 as the USS Seize. The Navy sank Yocona in October 2005 as part of a training exercise.

When DeVaul helps with electrical work and other chores on Acushnet, he is reminded of his youth serving on Yocona. The two ships were nearly identical, he said.

Its kind of like going back in a time capsule when youre aboard, said DeVaul.

Hes taken another look at the past. In 2015, he was living in Sacramento and went to what remained of the Basalt shipyard in Napa. He saw such remnants as the four concrete drydocks and took photographs.

That was the most incredible feeling...You couldnt believe it was still there, he said.

Avraham is a San Diego native and went to high school in Sacramento.

Im very familiar with Napa. A great place, he said.

But Avraham hasnt been to whats left of the old Basalt shipyard. He said hed like to see the place where Acushnet was born.

Before Acushnet could be born, however, Basalt Rock Co. had to be born.

Where it all started

The attraction was the hills where todays Syar quarry is located. Basalt and rhyolite formed there from volcanic eruptions millions of years ago that sent flows down the Napa Valley.

Leo J. Alexander, the son of a pioneer, formed a company to mine the hills in 1914. By 1926, the company was called Basalt Rock Co., had 50 workers and provided crushed rock for paving and reinforced concrete.

Rock had to get from the hills to construction sites. The Napa River provided the transportation. Basalt built a cable tram system that carried buckets of rock for nearly two miles to the riverbank.

The cable crosses the state highway and frequently excites the interest and curiosity of travelers on the highway, said the 1926 book History of Solano and Napa Counties.

Albert Streblow soon joined Alexander in the quarrying operation and eventually became the companys first president. Today, his name graces Streblow Drive leading to Napa Valley College and Kennedy Park.

Basalt needed barges to move stones to projects in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 1938, it opened its own shipyard along the Napa River to build steel barges.

Then came World War II. During that era, 15 emergency shipyards were created in the state, 11 of them in the Bay Area. The Basalt yard became part of the war effort.

In August 1940, Streblow announced that Basalt had been awarded a Navy contract to build eight steel barges. That was only the start, with the company in 1941 constructing four dry docks to help with the undertaking. It went on to build minelayers and salvage ships for the Navy.

Here Acushnet was built as the USS Shackle. Its launching along with two other ships on April 1, 1943, made local headlines. According to the Navy, this marked the first one-day triple ship christening in the Bay Area since World War I a quarter century earlier.

The Basalt site has been home to other industries over the years, such as Kaiser Steel and Napa Pipe. Today, RiverSound is being built as a community of homes, businesses and a Costco. The industrial past is being traded for a slice of suburbia.

Still, that past isnt being wiped clean. The four drydocks remain at RiverSound as reminders of another age, when ships such as the Shackle/ Acushnet were built there.

Meanwhile, Acushnet is at The Marina at Brown Point in Tacoma. Avraham said there are such problems as providing the ship with enough electricity.

My ultimate goal is to find a city or a place where we could park the boat, work on it, possibly go to drydock, start the program, do the museum work, do the homeless program, he said.

Hes not limiting the search to Washington.

Were open to going back home to Napa. That would be great, Avraham said.

beberling@napanews.com

(c)2024 Napa Valley Register, Calif.

Visit www.napavalleyregister.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro prepares to speak to the press in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, June 30, 2023, the day that judges ruled him ineligible to run for any political office again until 2030 after concluding that he abused his power and cast unfounded doubts on the country's electronic voting system. According to a Federal Police indictment unveiled Tuesday, March 19, 2024, Bolsonaro turned to an aide-de-camp and asked him to insert false data into the public health system to make it appear as though he and his daughter had received the COVID-19 vaccine, in order to have the necessary vaccination certificate required by U.S. authorities for their 2023 trip to Florida. (Thomas Santos/AP)

SAO PAULO  Brazils Federal Police on Monday launched an investigation into former President Jair Bolsonaros two-night stay last month at the Hungarian embassy in Brasilia, amid widespread speculation from his opponents that he may have been attempting to evade arrest.

A Federal Police source with knowledge of the investigation confirmed to The Associated Press that it was undertaken in response to a report from The New York Times, which featured security camera video of the Hungarian ambassador welcoming Bolsonaro on Feb. 12 and footage of Bolsonaro from the rest of his stay. Hungarys Prime Minister Viktor Orban, one of the leaders of a global far-right movement, is a key international ally of his.

The visit took place just days after Federal Police seized Bolsonaros Brazilian and Italian passports and raided the homes of his top aides as part of a probe into whether they plotted to ignore 2022 election results and stage an uprising to keep the defeated leader in power.

Bolsonaro has denied wrongdoing regarding this investigation, and multiple others targeting him.

Were the Federal Police to obtain an arrest warrant for the former president, officers would not have jurisdiction to enter the Hungarian embassy due to diplomatic conventions restricting access.

Bolsonaros lawyers said in a statement on Monday that there was nothing amiss about his embassy stay.

In the days he was at the Hungarian embassy, by invitation, the former Brazilian president spoke to countless authorities from the friendly country for updates on the political scenarios of both nations, his lawyers said in the statement. Any other interpretations ... constitute an evidently fictional work, with no connection to the reality of the facts.

Speaking at his partys headquarters in Sao Paulo, Bolsonaro told supporters he gets many calls from Orban to discuss politics.

To this day I have a relationship with some heads of state around the world, Bolsonaro said. If I had my passport, I would have traveled to Israel.

Brazils foreign ministry said in a short statement that it had summoned Hungarys ambassador Miklos Halmai to explain why Bolsonaro was his guest at the embassy.

Bolsonaro flew to the U.S. in the final days of his term, in December 2022, just days before his supporters stormed the capital in a failed bid to oust President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from power. He remained in South Florida for three months.

Some of Bolsonaros political rivals seized on the news Monday to call for his arrest, alleging that he once again is signaling plans to escape.

These images just reinforce that Bolsonaro is a confessed fugitive, Alexandre Padilha, Lulas minister of institutional relations, told reporters in Brasilia, citing Bolsonaros stint in the U.S. last year. But what the courts and the Federal Police will do with these images (published by The New York Times) isnt for me to say.

Augusto de Arruda Botelho, a criminal lawyer who has been an outspoken critic of the former president, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that Bolsonaros act of hiding in the embassy is a classic motive for decreeing preventive detention.

It is one of those situations used as an example in books and classrooms, he added.
The Chinese flag flies at the Chinese Consulate in Auckland, New Zealand, Tuesday, March 26, 2024. Hackers linked to the Chinese government launched a state-sponsored operation that targeted New Zealands Parliament in 2021, the countrys security minister said. (Jason Oxenham/New Zealand Herald via AP)

WELLINGTON, New Zealand  Hackers linked to the Chinese government launched a state-sponsored operation that targeted New Zealands Parliament in 2021, the countrys security minister said Tuesday.

New Zealands allegation comes a day after American and British authorities announced a set of criminal charges and sanctions against seven hackers, all believed to be living in China, who targeted U.S. officials, journalists, corporations and pro-democracy activists, as well as the U.K.s election watchdog.

The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable, Judith Collins, the defense minister responsible for the Government Communications Security Bureau, said in a statement.

Collins said the agency had also established links between a state-sponsored entity linked to China and malicious cyber activity targeting parliamentary entities in New Zealand.

The bureaus National Cyber Security Centre completed a robust technical assessment following a compromise of the Parliamentary Counsel Office and the Parliamentary Service in 2021, and has attributed this activity to a PRC (China) state-sponsored group known as APT40, Collins said.

Fortunately, in this instance, the NCSC worked with the impacted organizations to contain the activity and remove the actor shortly after they were able to access the network, she added.

Collins said New Zealand will not follow the U.S. and U.K. in sanctioning China because New Zealand does not have a law allowing such penalties, nor were there plans to introduce legislation.

Foreign Minister Winston Peters confirmed New Zealands concerns had been conveyed to Chinese Ambassador Wang Xiaolong.

Foreign interference of this nature is unacceptable, and we have urged China to refrain from such activity in future, Peters said in a statement Tuesday. New Zealand will continue to speak out  consistently and predictably  where we see concerning behaviors like this.

Peters met with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, on March 18, and said the countries share a significant and complex relationship.

We cooperate with China in some areas for mutual benefit, he said. At the same time, we have also been consistent and clear that we will speak out on issues of concern.

In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian dismissed the allegations as typical political manipulation concocted by the U.S. and U.K., with whom it is in conflict over issues including Taiwan, the South China Sea, Xinjiang, Hong Kong and a wide range of trade disputes.

For some time, the U.S., for geopolitical purposes, has encouraged the Five Eyes Alliance, the worlds largest intelligence organization dominated by the U.S., to fabricate and disseminate all kinds of disinformation about threats posed by Chinese hackers, Lin said at a daily briefing Tuesday, citing the alliance between Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the U.K. and U.S. to collect and share sensitive information.
South Korean Crypto Fraudsters Duped Financier Out of $4.1m

Suspected South Korean crypto fraudsters allegedly fooled a wealthy financier into parting with over $4.1 million, the nations police force said on March 25.

Per Chosun Ilbo, officers in Busans Haeundae District arrested a group of people in their 20s and 30s.

Police think the group defrauded a financier in his 60s by convincing him that he would receive 70% profits on his investment.

South Korean Crypto Fraudsters Said Profits Would Materialize in a Month



The group of suspects were arrested on charges of aiding and abetting fraud.

Officers said that the group approached the financier in September 2022. Between the same month and December 2022, police said, the group convinced the alleged victim to make six separate payments.

They also told the financier that he could expect to receive his profits in just four weeks, police said.

Group Used Fake Documents, Police Claim



The group allegedly told the man that he should capitalize on a boom time for crypto. Police said the suspects forged balance certificate files to make it look like they were holding around $15 million worth of tokens.

The reality, police said, was that the group barely had any virtual currency in their trading accounts.

The group, police claimed, also sought to win the mans confidence by using an accomplice to pose as a rich real estate agent working in Seouls affluent Gangnam District.

The accomplice pretended to sign a $3 million contract with the group, supposedly entrusting them with his money.

This contract also proved to be forged, police spokespeople explained.

Do Kwon went from crypto king to fugitive to the subject of an extradition contest between the US and South Korea. Here's what you need to know. https://t.co/2ghUBxJLL0  Bloomberg Crypto (@crypto) March 25, 2024

Fraud Cases Rise as Crypto Booms



South Korean crypto fraudsters are becoming increasingly active in the crypto-keen nation. Earlier this month, a law firm manager was jailed for stealing customer money to make private crypto investments.

Also this month, police launched a probe into a crypto consultancy that reputedly preyed on elderly investors.

Officers think the firm fooled people in their late 50s and 60s into paying the firm for bogus insider crypto tips.

OTC-related crypto thefts are also on the rise, with officers last month arresting a multinational gang of suspected thieves.
South Koreas first military spy satellite takes off from Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., Dec. 1, 2023. (SpaceX)

CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea  Seoul is close to launching its second military reconnaissance satellite from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, according to South Koreas military Tuesday.

The upcoming launch may come as soon as early April, pending favorable weather conditions, Ministry of National Defense spokesman Jeon Ha Gyu said at a news briefing.

The launch will be South Koreas second after it successfully placed a satellite into orbit Dec. 1 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif.

That satellite is operating normally, and Seoul intends to place four more satellites into orbit by 2025 to better monitor North Korea, according to the Souths military.

North Korea intends to launch three satellites this year, the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported in December. Of the three attempts by the communist regime last year to place a satellite into orbit, only the last, on Nov. 21, succeeded.

South Korea questions the capability of the Norths lone surveillance satellite. South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik during a news conference Feb. 26 said there are no signs the Norths orbiting Malligyong-1 satellite is capable of transmitting images back to Pyongyang.

The Norths satellite launches are one catalyst for deteriorated relations between Seoul and Pyongyang. South Korea has repeatedly warned the North that technology used in its satellite launches violated U.N. Security Council resolutions prohibiting Pyongyang from testing ballistic missiles since 2006.

After the Malligyong-1 launch in November the South announced it would resume aerial reconnaissance operations previously banned under the Comprehensive Military Agreement, an inter-Korean accord designed to deescalate military tensions along the Korean Peninsulas border.

North Korea responded by announcing it would scrap that agreement entirely and reinforce its troops stationed at the border with new weaponry.

On North Koreas western coast, sections of the Sohae Satellite Launching Stations tarmac were covered by a long material, possibly a tarp, in different configurations throughout this month, according to satellite images analyzed by 38 North, a Washington, D.C.-based North Korea monitoring group.

The group said on its website Monday that it was unclear what the changes signified but that the pad likely remains ready to use when needed.
Then-Brig. Gen. Stephen F. Jost takes command of Joint Enabling Capabilities Command at Naval Station Norfolk, Va., on May 23, 2022. (Samantha Jenkins/U.S. Air Force)

President Joe Biden has nominated Air Force Maj. Gen. Stephen F. Jost to take command of U.S. Forces Japan, according to a Pentagon news release Monday.

Jost, currently the commander of Joint Enabling Capabilities Command of U.S. Transportation Command, Norfolk, Va., would succeed Lt. Gen. Ricky Rupp, who steered USFJ through the COVID-19 pandemic and heightened activity across the region by Chinas military.

The USFJ commander represents the U.S. military to the Japanese government and also leads 5th Air Force.

USFJ administers the status of forces agreement that spells out the rights and responsibilities of 66,000 Defense Department military personnel and civilian employees and 45,000 dependents in Japan. It also oversees military exercises between U.S. service branches and Japans Self-Defense Forces.

Air Force Maj. Gen. Stephen F. Jost (U.S. Air Force)

Josts nomination was announced the day after the Financial Times, citing unnamed sources, reported a DOD plan to restructure USFJ to strengthen its military planning capabilities and its ability to carry out military drills. The revamp is seen as the allies response to Chinas growing military and its claims over Taiwan and in the South China Sea.

Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida are reportedly planning to announce the plan during their meeting in Washington, D.C., on April 10.

Josts nomination, which must be approved by the Senate, includes a promotion to lieutenant general. He is a 1994 graduate of the Air Force Academy with more than 2,700 flight hours, including in the F-16 Fighting Falcon and F-35A Lightning II multirole fighters.

According to his official Air Force biography posted online, Josts current responsibilities also include the Joint Planning Support Element at Norfolk and the Joint Communications Support Element at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla. The Joint Enabling Capabilities Command helps stand up Joint Task Force headquarters in response to crises around the globe, his biography states.

In addition to service in Iraq and South Korea, Jost was stationed in Japan at Misawa Air Base from July 2011 to June 2012 as deputy commander of the 35th Operations Group and again from July 2012 to December 2012 as director of staff for the 35th Fighter Wing.

He has filled a succession of Pentagon staff roles since 2017, including operations division chief in the F-35 Integration Office, and director of that office from April 2018 to May 2019.

Rupp took command on Aug. 27, 2019, from Lt. Gen. Kevin Schneider, who called out North Korea, Russia and China as threats to regional security at the change of commander ceremony at Yokota Air Base, the airlift hub in western Tokyo where USFJ and 5th Air Force are headquartered.
U.S. Army soldiers of the 11th Engineer Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, and South Korean troops of the 5th Engineer Brigade prepare to assemble a bridge during wet gap training at the Imjin River, South Korea, March 20, 2024. (Luis Garcia/Stars and Stripes)

IMJIN RIVER, South Korea  U.S. and South Korean troops practiced bridge-building recently a short distance from the Demilitarized Zone, the border separating North and South Korea.

South Korean K1 88 tanks deploy smoke during training for a wet gap crossing along the Imjin River, South Korea, March 20, 2024. (Luis Garcia/Stars and Stripes)

U.S. Army soldiers of the 11th Engineer Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, and South Korean troops of the 5th Engineer Brigade prepare to assemble a bridge during wet gap training at the Imjin River, South Korea, March 20, 2024. (Luis Garcia/Stars and Stripes)

Soldiers of the 11th Engineer Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division and South Korean troops of the 5th Engineer Brigade assembled a ribbon bridge over the Imjin River near Paju-si, a city in Gyeonggi province, on March 20. Paju-si is within 5 miles of the heavily guarded border, although the exercise took place further away.

A CH-47 Chinook helicopter of the 3rd General Support Aviation Battalion, 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade, delivers a bridge component to U.S. Army engineers for assembly during practice for a wet gap crossing at the Imjin River, South Korea, March 20, 2024. (Luis Garcia/Stars and Stripes)

U.S. Army soldiers of the 11th Engineer Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, and South Korean troops of the 5th Engineer Brigade move bridge parts during wet gap training at the Imjin River, South Korea, March 20, 2024. (Luis Garcia/Stars and Stripes)

A ribbon bridge takes shape on the Imjin River during training for a wet gap crossing by U.S. and South Korean army engineers on the Imjin River, South Korea, March 20, 2024. (Luis Garcia/Stars and Stripes)

Cargo trucks and CH-47 Chinook helicopters delivered the bridge sections, which the engineers moved into place and assembled using small boats.

South Korean K1 88 tanks cross a ribbon bridge during training at the Imjin River, South Korea, March 20, 2024. (Luis Garcia/Stars and Stripes)

Once in place, the bridge provided a pathway across the river for armored transport vehicles, air defense systems and tanks, as part of the exercise.
Stella Assange speaks besides a poster of husband Julian Assange at the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Feb. 21, 2024. (Kin Cheung/AP)

LONDON  A British court ruled Tuesday that Julian Assange cant be extradited to the United States on espionage charges unless U.S. authorities guarantee he wont get the death penalty, giving the WikiLeaks founder a partial victory in his long legal battle over the sites publication of classified American documents.

Two High Court judges said they would grant Assange a new appeal unless U.S. authorities give further assurances within three weeks about what will happen to him. The ruling means the legal saga, which has dragged on for more than a decade, will continue  and Assange will remain inside Londons high-security Belmarsh Prison, where he has spent the last five years.

Judges Victoria Sharp and Jeremy Johnson said the U.S. must guarantee that Assange, who is Australian, is afforded the same First Amendment protections as a United States citizen, and that the death penalty is not imposed.

The judges said that if the U.S. files new assurances, we will give the parties an opportunity to make further submissions before we make a final decision on the application for leave to appeal. The judges said a hearing will be held May 20 if the U.S. makes those submissions.

The U.S. Justice Department declined to comment Tuesday.

Assanges supporters say he is a journalist protected by the First Amendment who exposed U.S. military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan that was in the public interest.

Assanges wife Stella Assange said the WikiLeaks founder is being persecuted because he exposed the true cost of war in human lives.

The Biden administration should not issue assurances. They should drop this shameful case, which should never have been brought, she said outside the High Court in London.

The ruling follows a two-day hearing in the High Court in February, where Assanges lawyer Edward Fitzgerald said American authorities were seeking to punish him for WikiLeaks exposure of criminality on the part of the U.S. government on an unprecedented scale, including torture and killings.

The U.S. government said Assanges actions went beyond journalism by soliciting, stealing and indiscriminately publishing classified government documents that endangered many people, including Iraqis and Afghans who had helped U.S. forces.

The judges rejected six of Assanges nine grounds of appeal, including the allegation that his prosecution is political. They said that while Assange acted out of political conviction  it does not follow however that the request for his extradition is made on account of his political views.

The judges also said Assange could not appeal based on allegations, made by his lawyers, that the CIA developed plans to kidnap or kill Assange during the years he spent holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, to prevent him from trying to flee.

The judges said plainly, these are allegations of the utmost seriousness, but concluded they had no bearing on the extradition request.

Extradition would result in him being lawfully in the custody of the United States authorities, and the reasons (if they can be called that) for rendition or kidnap or assassination then fall away, the ruling said.

They accepted three grounds or appeal: the threat to Assanges freedom of speech, Assanges claim that he faces disadvantage because he is not a U.S. citizen, and the risk he could receive the death penalty.

U.S. authorities have promised Assange would not receive capital punishment, but the judges said that nothing in the existing assurance explicitly prevents the imposition of the death penalty.

Jennifer Robinson, one of Assanges lawyers, said that even if we receive the assurances, were not confident we can rely on them.

Assange, 52, a computer expert, has been indicted in the U.S. on charges over Wikileaks publication in 2010 of hundreds of thousands of classified documents.

U.S. prosecutors say he conspired with U.S. army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to hack into a Pentagon computer and release secret diplomatic cables and military files on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Assange faces 17 counts under the Espionage Act and one charge of computer misuse. If convicted, his lawyers say he could receive a prison term of up to 175 years, though American authorities have said any sentence is likely to be much lower.

Assanges wife and supporters say his physical and mental health have suffered during more than a decade of legal battles and confinement.

My concerns about the precarious mental health of Julian Assange and his unfitness to be extradited, as well as the potential for him to receive a wholly disproportionate sentence in the United States, have not been assuaged by the court, said Alice Jill Edwards, the United Nations special rapporteur on torture, an independent expert for the world body.

Assanges legal troubles began in 2010, when he was arrested in London at the request of Sweden, which wanted to question him about allegations of rape and sexual assault made by two women. In 2012, Assange jumped bail and sought refuge inside the Ecuadorian Embassy.

The relationship between Assange and his hosts eventually soured, and he was evicted from the embassy in April 2019. British police immediately arrested and imprisoned him for breaching bail in 2012. Sweden dropped the sex crimes investigations in November 2019 because so much time had elapsed.

A U.K. district court judge rejected the U.S. extradition request in 2021 on the grounds that Assange was likely to kill himself if held under harsh U.S. prison conditions. Higher courts overturned that decision after getting assurances from the U.S. about his treatment. The British government signed an extradition order in June 2022.

Associated Press writers Brian Melley in London and Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.
Rain boots are placed on the ground by police officers as they inspect a boat where 15 Malians were found dead adrift in the Atlantic on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2020, in Gran Canaria island, Spain. The UN migration agency marks a decade since the launch of the Missing Migrants Project, documenting more than 63,000 deaths around the world. More than two-thirds of victims remain unidentified, highlighting the size of the crisis and the suffering of families who rarely receive definitive answers. (Emilio Morenatti/AP)

BERLIN  More than a decade ago, the death of 600 migrants and refugees in two Mediterranean shipwrecks near Italian shores shocked the world and prompted the U.N. migration agency to start recording the number of people who died or went missing as they fled conflict, persecution or poverty to other countries.

Governments around the world have repeatedly pledged to save migrants lives and fight smugglers while tightening borders. Yet 10 years on, a report by the International Organization for Migrations Missing Migrants Project published Tuesday shows the world is no safer for people on the move.

On the contrary, migrant deaths have soared.

Since tracking began in 2014, more than 63,000 have died or are missing and presumed dead, according to the Missing Migrants Project, with 2023 the deadliest year yet.

The figures are quite alarming, Jorge Galindo, a spokesperson at IOMs Global Data Institute, told The Associated Press. We see that 10 years on, people continue to lose their lives in search of a better one.

The report says the deaths are likely only a fraction of the actual number of lives lost worldwide because of the difficulty in obtaining and verifying information. For example, on the Atlantic route from Africas west coast to Spains Canary Islands, entire boats have reportedly vanished in what are known as invisible shipwrecks. Similarly, countless deaths in the Sahara desert are believed to go unreported.

Even when deaths are recorded, more than two-thirds of the victims remain unidentified. That can be due to lack of information and resources, or simply because identifying dead migrants is not considered a priority.

Experts have called the growing number of unidentified migrants around the world a crisis comparable to mass casualties seen in wartime.

Behind each nameless death is a family facing the psychological, social, economic and legal impacts of unresolved disappearances, a painful phenomenon known as ambiguous loss, the report says.

Governments need to work together with civil society to make sure that the families that are left behind, not knowing the whereabouts of their loved ones, can have better access to the remains of people who have died, Galindo said.

Of the victims whose nationalities were known to IOM, one in three died while fleeing countries in conflict.

Nearly 60% of the deaths recorded by the IOM in the last decade were related to drowning. The Mediterranean Sea is the worlds largest migrant grave with more than 28,000 deaths recorded in the last decade. Thousands of drownings have also been recorded on the U.S.-Mexico border, in the Atlantic Ocean, in the Gulf of Aden and increasingly in the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea where desperate Rohingya refugees are embarking on overcrowded boats.

Search and rescue capacities to assist migrants at sea must be strengthened, in line with international law and the principle of humanity, the report says.

Currently on the Mediterranean the large majority of search and rescue is done by nongovernmental organizations, Galindo said.

When the Missing Migrants Project began in 2014, European sentiment was more sympathetic to the plight of migrants, and the Italian government had launched Mare Nostrum, a major search-and-rescue mission that saved thousands of lives.

But the solidarity didnt last, and European search and rescue missions were progressively cut back after fears that they would encourage smugglers to launch even more people on cheaper and deadlier boats. Thats when NGOs stepped in.

Their help has not always been welcomed. In Italy and Greece, they have faced increasing bureaucratic and legal obstacles.

Following the 2015-2016 migration crisis, the European Union began outsourcing border control and sea rescues to North African countries to save lives while also keeping migrants from reaching European shores.

The controversial partnerships have been criticized by human rights advocates, particularly the one with Libya. EU-trained and funded Libyan coast guards have been linked to human traffickers exploiting migrants who are intercepted and brought back to squalid detention centers. A U.N.-backed group of experts has found that the abuses committed against migrants on the Mediterranean and in Libya may amount to crimes against humanity.

Despite the rise of border walls and heightened surveillance worldwide, smugglers always seem to find lucrative alternatives, leading migrants and refugees on longer and more perilous routes.

Theres an absence of safe migration options, Galindo said. And this needs to change.

Brito reported from Barcelona, Spain.
A massive blaze is seen over the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow on March 22, 2024. (AP)

Russias intelligence chief on Tuesday directly blamed Ukraine for orchestrating the assault on the Crocus City Hall concert venue with Western help, alleging without evidence that Kyiv trained militants in the Middle East.

The accusation by Alexander Bortnikov, the head of Russias Federal Security Service, or FSB, seemed intended to deflect attention from his agencys failure to prevent the attack, in which at least 139 people were killed, and to fan anti-Ukrainian rhetoric even as officials presented an increasingly convoluted narrative of what transpired Friday night.

We think the act was prepared by the radical Islamists, but of course, the Western special services have aided, Bortnikov told state media reporters, singling out the United States and Britain. And the special services of Ukraine have a direct relation to this.

Ukraine has strongly denied having any involvement in the attack. On March 7, the United States issued a warning of a potential terrorist attack in Russia, urging Americans there to avoid mass gatherings, based in part on intelligence reporting about the possible activity inside Russia of the Islamic State-Khorasan (ISIS-K), the Afghanistan and Pakistan arm of the militant group. Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking to the FSB board a week ago, dismissed that warning as an attempt by the West to destabilize Russia.

The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack, and Russia has charged four suspects, all citizens of Tajikistan, with carrying out the rampage. Bortnikov on Tuesday confirmed that the United States had passed on information about a potential attack but said it was of general nature.

We responded to this information and took appropriate measures to prevent such things, Bortnikov said. Unfortunately, the actions we carried out in relation to specific groups and specific individuals - this information was not confirmed at that time, he added. He did not provide any details about what groups the FSB targeted.

According to Bortnikov, the FSB received reports that preparations were underway for an attack in early March, before Russias presidential election, which was held March 15 to 17, but unfortunately, what happened later was already the next stage, he said.

The FSB previously had ISIS-K on its radar.

In October, Bortnikov warned a meeting of the heads of security services in Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) nations, a group of 10 former Soviet republics, that ISIS-K had more than 6,500 members and could initiate attacks outside Afghanistan in the near future.

On Tuesday, however, Bortnikov accused the CIA and Britains MI6 intelligence agency of interfering in Afghanistan with the goal of creating instability on the southern border of CIS countries, including Tajikistan. The CIA and MI6 are restoring their intelligence presence in a number of key Afghan provinces, Bortnikov said.

The main efforts are focused on forming a belt of instability along the CISs southern borders. To this end, fighters keep being recruited from international terrorist organizations operating in Iraq, Syria, and some other Asian and African countries and transferred to northern Afghanistan, he said.

After Russias military intervened in Syria beginning in 2015 to support Bashar al-Assad against Islamist and opposition militias, including the Islamic State, the FSB focused on the threat Islamist extremists posed to Russia.

But in recent years, especially since Russias February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the FSBs main effort has shifted to countering Ukrainian sabotage against Russian railways, pipelines and other infrastructure, as well as arresting liberal, pro-democracy and antiwar activists.

As Bortnikov pointed fingers at Kyiv, Washington and London, a timeline of Fridays attack presented to Putin by Alexander Bastrykin, the head of the Investigative Committee, Russias main law enforcement body, raised new questions about the law enforcement response as the assault unfolded.

Bastrykin, in the presentation to Putin on Monday evening, said the attack lasted 13 minutes. But Russian news outlets reported that specialized police units did not arrive until more than an hour after the shooting started, and then waited more than 30 minutes before entering the building. At that point, the attackers had long escaped.

The attackers arrived at the concert hall at 6:45 p.m., Bastrykin said. They waited for the spectators to gather. At 7:58 p.m. they opened fire on visitors on the street and entered the Crocus City Hall building.

He continued: They shot at everyone they saw, regardless of gender and age. Using gasoline they brought with them in plastic bottles, they set the room on fire. At 8:11 p.m., they left the building.

SOBR and OMON, Russias special police response units, were alerted at 8:33 p.m. and arrived at 9:06 p.m., according to the Tass state news agency. A journalist with another outlet, Ostorozhno Novosti, who was at the scene reported that officers began entering the building at 9:39 p.m.

The nearest police department is located about one and a half miles from Crocus City Hall. A spokeswoman for Russias Internal Affairs Ministry, Irina Volk, later dismissed complaints that police arrived too late, asserting that the first group of officers was at the scene five minutes after reports of shooting were received.

Volk also urged the media to only trust official statements.

The description of the suspects getaway car - a 2007 white Renault - quickly appeared on Telegram channels with links to law enforcement. The four alleged attackers were caught several hours later, some 250 miles from Moscow in the Bryansk region near the border with Ukraine and Belarus.

The suspects were able to drive roughly five hours despite Moscow being one of the most heavily surveilled cities in the world with 221,000 closed-circuit cameras installed, many of which are equipped with facial recognition technology.

Such cameras have been used widely to track down protesters opposing the invasion of Ukraine, for example, or mourners of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Russian media geolocated videos showing law enforcement arresting the suspects near the village of Khatsun. At that location, the highway forks, with one road to Ukraine and another to Belarus. Putin on Saturday said the suspects were heading to Ukraine.

On Tuesday, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a Putin ally, injected more confusion into Moscows version of events by saying that the perpetrators initially planned to cross into Belarus. Lukashenkos remarks contradicted Putins assertion that Ukraine had prepared an escape window at the border.

They understood that they couldnt enter Belarus, Lukashenko said. Therefore, they turned away and went to the Ukrainian-Russian section of the border.

At a press briefing Tuesday, Putins spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, was asked to explain the Kremlins version of events - that radical Islamists had done the bidding of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is Jewish. Peskov said the entire matter was under investigation but replied that Zelensky is a peculiar Jew who in many ways shows sympathy to the nationalist spirit that permeated the leadership of the Kyiv regime.

Russian officials have also placed blame on the private security company that was protecting Crocus City Hall, saying guards were unarmed even though the company had an arsenal of weapons.

This entire arsenal is stored in the building next door to Crocus, but the guards on duty did not carry, said Alexander Khinshtein, a member of parliament. Their emergency response group is also based there; however, they did not go to the site after the terrorist attack.

In addition to the four alleged shooters, Russia has charged three men with assisting the attackers by providing transportation. Iam Islomov, the brother of Dilovar Islomov, one of the men, told Russian outlet Verstka that his sibling knows nothing about the attack and had sold his car to a client who claimed it would be used as a taxi.

According to vehicle registration records reviewed by The Washington Post, the car was sold earlier this year and repainted white from dark gray.

On Tuesday, Russia arraigned an eighth suspect, a citizen of Kyrgyzstan who rented an apartment to one of the gunmen. The suspect, Alisher Kasymov, said that he posted an online ad and denied having any knowledge that his tenant had links to radical Islamist groups.

Two of the alleged gunmen, Shamsidin Fariduni and Saidakram Rajabalizoda, briefly traveled to Turkey in late February and returned to Russia on March 2 on the same flight, according to a senior Turkish security official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. The official said he believed that both individuals became radicalized in Russia given the short amount of time they spent in Turkey.

According to brutal interrogation videos leaked on various pro-Kremlin Telegram channels, Fariduni said he was contacted on Telegram by an assistant of an imam about a month before the attack and offered the equivalent of about $5,000 to kill people.

Baza and 112, both Telegram channels linked to Russian law enforcement, published a photograph of Fariduni allegedly inside Crocus City Hall on March 7. The 112 channel alleged that he was scouting the location.

Kareem Fahim in Istanbul contributed to this report.
A worker assembles mortar shells at a factory in Ukraine, on Wednesday, January 31, 2024. (Evgeniy Maloletka/AP)

KYIV, Ukraine  Ukraine needs any edge it can get to repel Russia from its territory. One emerging bright spot is its small but fast-growing defense industry, which the government is flooding with money in hopes that a surge of homemade weapons and ammunition can help turn the tide.

The effort ramped up sharply over the past year as the U.S. and Europe strained to deliver weapons and other aid to Ukraine, which is up against a much bigger Russian military backed by a thriving domestic defense industry.

The Ukrainian government budgeted nearly $1.4 billion in 2024 to buy and develop weapons at home  20 times more than before Russias full-scale invasion.

And in another major shift, a huge portion of weapons are now being bought from privately owned factories. They are sprouting up across the country and rapidly taking over an industry that had been dominated by state-owned companies.

A privately owned mortar factory that launched in western Ukraine last year is making roughly 20,000 shells a month. I feel that we are bringing our country closer to victory, said Anatolli Kuzmin, the factorys 64-year-old owner, who used to make farm equipment and fled his home in southern Ukraine after Russia invaded in 2022.

Yet like many aspects of Ukraines war apparatus, its defense sector has been constrained by a lack of money and manpower  and, according to executives and generals, too much government red tape. A more robust private sector could help root out inefficiencies and enable factories to churn out weapons and ammunition even faster.

The stakes couldnt be higher.

Russia controls nearly a quarter of Ukraine and has gained momentum along the 620 mile front line by showing a willingness to expend large numbers of troops to make even the smallest of advances. Ukrainian troops regularly find themselves outmanned and outgunned, and this has contributed to falling morale.

You need a mortar not in three years, you need it now, preferably yesterday, said Taras Chmut, director of the Come Back Alive Foundation, an organization that has raised more than $260 million over the past decade to equip Ukrainian troops with machine guns, armored vehicles and more.

WARTIME ENTREPRENEURS

Kuzmin, the owner of the mortar factory, fled the southern city of Melitopol in 2022 after Russia invaded and seized his factory that mostly made spare parts for farm equipment. He had begun developing a prototype for mortar shells shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, when it illegally annexed the Crimean Peninsula.

Kuzmin took over a sprawling warehouse in western Ukraine last winter. His long-term goals include boosting production to 100,000 shells per month and developing engines and explosives for drones.

He is just one of many entrepreneurs transforming Ukraines weapons industry, which was dominated by state-owned enterprises after the break-up of the Soviet Union. Today, about 80 percent of the defense industry is in private hands  a mirror image of where things stood a year ago and a stark contrast with Russias state-controlled defense industry.

Each newly made projectile is wrapped in craft paper and carefully packed into wooden crates to be shipped to Romania or Bulgaria, where are loaded with explosives. Several weeks later, theyre shipped back and sent to the front.

Our dream is to establish a plant for explosives, said Kuzmin, who is seeking a partner to make that happen.

OBSTACLES TO GROWTH

Ukraines surge in military spending has occurred against a backdrop of $60 billion in U.S. aid being held up by Congress and with European countries struggling to deliver enough ammunition.

As impressive as Ukraines defense sector transformation has been, the country stands no chance of defeating Russia without massive support from the West, said Trevor Taylor, a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based think tank.

Ukraine is not capable of producing all the munitions that it needs for this fight, Taylor said. The hold up of $60 billion of American help is really proving to be a significant hindrance.

Russia is also pumping more money into its defense industry, whose growth has helped buffer its economy from the full brunt of Western sanctions. The countrys defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, recently boasted of huge increases in the manufacture of tanks, drones and ammunition.

The entire country has risen and is working for our victory, he said.

Compared with last year, Ukraines output of mortar shells is about 40 times higher and its production of ammunition for artillery has nearly tripled, said Oleksandr Kamyshin, Ukraines minister of strategic industries. There has also been a boom in drone startups, with the government committing roughly $1 billion on the technology  on top of its defense budget.

We now produce in a month what we used to produce in a year, said Vladislav Belbas, the director general of Ukrainian Armor, which makes a wide array of military vehicles.

For the Ukrainian armys 28th brigade, which is fighting near Bakhmut, delays in foreign weapon supplies havent yet posed any problems for troops because we are able to cover our need from our own domestic production, said Major Artem Kholodkevych.

Still, domestic weapons factories face a range of challenges  from keeping up with changing needs of battlefield commanders, to their own vulnerability to long-range Russian missile strikes.

But perhaps the greatest immediate hindrance is a lack of manpower.

Yaroslav Dzera, who manages one of Ukrainian Armors factories, said he struggles to recruit and keep qualified workers, not least because many of them have been mobilized to fight.

CUTTING THROUGH RED TAPE

Weapons companies say another roadblock to growth is bureaucracy.

The government has tried to become more efficient since the war began, including by making its process for awarding contracts more transparent. But officials say the country has a long way to go.

Shortly before he was replaced by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraines former top general, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, highlighted the problem in an essay he wrote for CNN, saying Ukraines defense sector remained hamstrung by too many regulations and a lack of competition.

In spite of the challenges, one success story has been Ukraines drone industry. Ukrainian-made sea drones have proven to be an effective weapon against the Russian fleet in the Black Sea.

There are around 200 companies in Ukraine now focused on drones and output has soared  with 50 times more deliveries in December compared with a year earlier, according to Mykhailo Fedorov, the countrys minister of digital transformation.

Russias war in Ukraine is not a standoff over whose got better drones or missiles, said Serhii Pashynskyi, head of the National Association of Ukrainian Defense Industries trade group.

We have a war of only two resources with Russia  manpower and money, he said. And if we learn to use these two basic resources, we will win. If not, we will have big problems.

Associated Press reporter Volodymyr Yurchuk contributed to this report.
A sea drone cruises on the water during a presentation by Ukraines Security Service in Kyiv region, Ukraine, on Tuesday, March 5, 2024. (Evgeniy Maloletka/AP)

KYIV, Ukraine  Ukraine has sunk or disabled a third of all Russian warships in the Black Sea in just over two years of war, the navy spokesman said Tuesday, a heavy blow to Moscows military capability.

Ukraines navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk told The Associated Press that the latest strike on Saturday night hit the Russian amphibious landing ship Kostiantyn Olshansky that was resting in dock in Sevastopol in Russia-occupied Crimea. The ship was part of the Ukrainian navy before Russia captured it while annexing the Black Sea peninsula in 2014.

Pletenchuk has previously announced that two other landing ships of the same type, Azov and Yamal, also were damaged in Saturdays strike along with the Ivan Khurs intelligence ship.

He told the AP that the weekend attack, which was launched with Ukraine-built Neptune missiles, also hit Sevastopol port facilities and an oil depot.

Russian authorities reported a massive Ukrainian attack on Sevastopol over the weekend but didnt acknowledge any damage to the fleet.

Pletenchuk said that with the latest attack, a third of all warships that Russia had in the Black Sea before the war have been destroyed or disabled. At the same time, he acknowledged that just two of about a dozen of Russian missile carrying warships have been sunk and pledged that Ukraine will continue the strikes.

Our ultimate goal is complete absence of military ships of the so-called Russian Federation in the Azov and Black Sea regions, Pletenchuk told the AP.

Successful Ukrainian drone and missile strikes have provided a major morale boost for Kyiv at a time when its undermanned and under-gunned forces are facing Russian attacks along the more than 600-mile front line.

Challenging Russias naval superiority also has helped create more favorable conditions for Ukrainian grain exports and other shipments from the countrys Black Sea ports.

Moscow officials have kept mum on most of Ukrainian claims, but previous navy losses have been confirmed by Russian military bloggers and media who have harshly criticized the military brass for its slow and sloppy response to the threat.

Earlier this month, Russian media reported that the navy chief, Adm. Nikolai Yevmenov, had been fired and replaced with Adm. Alexander Moiseyev, the commander of Russias Northern Fleet. The Kremlin hasnt yet announced the reshuffle, but last week Moiseyev was presented as the new acting navy chief during a ceremony at a Russian naval base.
Ambulances park near the burning Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow on March 22, 2024. (Dmitry Serebryakov/AP)

MOSCOW  Russian officials persisted Tuesday in saying Ukraine and the West had a role in last weeks deadly Moscow concert hall attack despite vehement denials of involvement by Kyiv and a claim of responsibility by an affiliate of the Islamic State group.

Without offering any evidence, Alexander Bortnikov, head of the Federal Security Service, or FSB, followed similar allegations by President Vladimir Putin, who linked the attack to Ukraine even as he acknowledged that the suspects who were arrested were radical Islamists.

The IS affiliate claimed it carried out the attack, and U.S. intelligence said it had information confirming the group was responsible. French President Emmanuel Macron said France also has intelligence pointing to an IS entity as responsible for the attack.

But despite the signs pointing to IS, Putin insisted on alleged Ukrainian involvement  something that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected, accusing the Kremlin leader of trying to drum up fervor as his forces fight in Ukraine.

Bortnikov alleged that Western spy agencies also could have been involved in the deadliest terror attack on Russian soil in two decades, even as he acknowledged receiving a U.S. tip about the attack.

We believe that radical Islamists prepared the action, while Western special services have assisted it and Ukrainian special services had a direct part in it, Bortnikov said without giving details.

He repeated Putins claim that the four gunmen were trying to escape to Ukraine when they were arrested, casting it as a proof of alleged involvement by Kyiv.

But that assertion was undercut slightly by Belarus authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, who said Tuesday the suspects were headed for Ukraine because they feared tight controls on the Belarus border.

Russia is still reeling from the attack Friday in which gunmen killed 139 people in the Crocus City Hall, a concert venue on the outskirts of Moscow. Health officials said about 90 people remain hospitalized, with 22 of them, including two children, in grave condition.

The four men accused of carrying out the attack appeared in a Moscow court on Sunday on terrorism charges and showed signs of severe beatings. One appeared to be barely conscious during the hearing.

The men are citizens of Tajikistan, authorities said, and were identified as Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, 32; Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, 30; Shamsidin Fariduni, 25; and Mukhammadsobir Faizov, 19. They were charged with committing a terrorist attack resulting in death, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

A senior Turkish security official confirmed Tuesday that two of them spent a short amount of time in Turkey before traveling together to Russia on March 2.

One of the suspects, Fariduni, entered Turkey on Feb. 20, checked into a hotel in Istanbuls Fatih district the next day, and checked out Feb. 27, the official said. The other, Rachabalizoda, checked into a hotel in the same district on Jan. 5, checking out on Jan. 21.

The official said Turkish authorities believe the two became radicalized in Russia because they were not in Turkey for long. There was no warrant for their arrest so they were allowed to travel freely between Russia and Turkey, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make public statements.

The Islamic State group, which lost much of its ground after Russias military action in Syria, has long targeted Russia. In October 2015, a bomb planted by IS downed a Russian jetliner over the Sinai desert, 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, 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.

On Monday, Putin warned that more attacks could follow, alleging possible Western involvement. He didnt mention the warning about a possible imminent terrorist attack that the U.S. shared confidentially with Moscow two weeks before the raid.

Three days before the attack, Putin denounced the U.S. Embassys March 7 notice urging Americans to avoid crowds in Moscow, including concerts, calling it an attempt to frighten Russians and blackmail the Kremlin ahead of the presidential election.

Bortnikov said Russia was thankful for the warning but described it as very general.

The information about preparations for terror attacks in large gatherings of people was of a general nature, he said. Of course, we reacted to that information and took corresponding measures to prevent such incidents.

He added that the FSB acted on the tip, targeting a group of suspects he didnt identify but which eventually proved false.

We are thankful, of course, but we would like to see more specifics, Bortnikov said.

Associated Press writer Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, contributed.
Donald Trump speaks during a press conference after a pre-trial hearing at Manhattan criminal court on March 25, 2024, in New York. (Frank Franklin II/AP)

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 Israels offensive even as he has repeatedly attacked President Joe Bidens 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 Israels 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.
UAE Introduces CBDC Implementation Strategy  Heres Whats Inside

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is now readying a central bank digital currency (CBDC) for retail and wholesale use, according to a Central Bank of UAE (CBUAE) announcement on Saturday.

The national bank kicked off its digital dirham implementation strategy during a signing event on March 23 with R3 and G42 Cloud, companies that will serve as the digital currencys infrastructure and technology providers.

Implementing A UAE CBDC



R3 is a major CBDC tech developer thats been involved with numerous Bank of International Settlements (BIS) projects. Meanwhile, G42 Cloud is part of the AI holding company G42, which agreed to cooperate with OpenAI on financial services technology in October.

As part of the UAEs digital transformation, CBDC will help address the pain points of domestic and cross-border payments, enhance financial inclusion, and the move towards a cashless society, read the CBUAEs weekend statement.

The latest update to our CBDC Tracker shows that all of the founding members of BRICS are in the pilot phase of CBDC exploration. New membersSaudi Arabia, Iran and the UAEare also developing wholesale CBDCs. Check out more of our takeaways: https://t.co/WORkdfYL09 pic.twitter.com/CBJHSVp5sg  Atlantic Council GeoEconomics Center (@ACGeoEcon) March 25, 2024

The first phase of UAE CBDC implementation marks one of nine initiatives in the CBUAEs Financial Infrastructure Transformation (FIT) Programme. It also features three pillars intended for construction over the next 12 to 15 months.

The first is the soft launch of mBridge, which will help the bank facilitate real-time cross-border transactions to settle international trades. Last month, the central bank completed its very first cross-border transaction using the digital dirham and Chinese digital yuan, valued at $13.6 million, through mBridge.

After that, the bank will begin proof of concept work on CBDC bridges with India, whose Reserve Bank is making technological advances surrounding the privacy of its own developing CBDC. Finally, the bank will begin proof of concept work around domestic CBDC use cases, including retail and wholesale payments.

Why CBUAE Wants A Digital Dirham



Aside from strengthening the nations payment infrastructure, CBUAE claims it will prepare the country for a potential tokenized world in the future, where normal people interact with blockchain-based tokens for financial and non-financial purposes.

CBDC will accelerate our digitalization journey and promote financial inclusion, said CBUAE Governor H.E. Khaled Mohamed Balama. We look forward to exploring the opportunities that CBDC will bring to the wider economy and society.

Last month, Bridge Tower Capital and Deus X launched a $250 million joint venture to build digital asset infrastructure in the UAE. The venture, BridgeTower Middle East, promotes institutional crypto adoption across the region.
BEIRUT  A series of airstrikes in eastern Syria on Tuesday killed more than a dozen people, including an Iranian military adviser and a team member working for the World Health Organization, officials and reports said.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the airstrikes in Syrias eastern province of Deir el-Zour that borders Iraq.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said the strikes killed 15 people including an Iranian adviser with Irans paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, two of his bodyguards as well as nine Iraqi fighters from an Iran-backed group and two Syrians working with the Iranians. It added that a Syrian engineer was also killed.

Irans state news agency confirmed that a Revolutionary Guard member was killed in Syria.

Dama Post, a pro-government media outlet in Syria, said the strikes targeted the provincial capital of Deir el-Zour that carries the same name, and the towns of Mayadeen and Boukamal. It said 20 people, including women and children, were among the dead.

The World Health Organization said one of its team members, engineer Emad Shehab, was killed in one of the strikes that hit his building. It said Shehab, 42, served as a WHO focal point for water, sanitation, and hygiene in the province since 2022.

There was no claim of responsibility for the strikes. Israel frequently launches strikes on Iran-linked targets in Syria but rarely acknowledges them.

In neighboring Lebanon, state-run National News Agency reported an Israeli airstrike on the northeastern village of Zboud in the region of Hermel. It said the strike hit a mountainous area, without giving details or whether there were casualties.

The Israeli armys Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee posted on X, formerly Twitter, that Israels air force struck a military complex used by Hezbollahs aerial unit in Zboud. He said the strike hit several buildings and an airstrip.

Adraee said that strike was in retaliation for Hezbollah firing rockets at Mount Meron air traffic control base in northern Israel.

Earlier Tuesday, Hezbollah said its fighters fired missiles toward the base in Mount Meron in retaliation for an airstrike on east Lebanon on Sunday that killed a Syrian citizen. Later in the day, Hezbollah said it fired more than 50 rockets on an Israeli command center in Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in retaliation for the strike on Zboud.
Sign of the area office of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in Tyre/Sour, Southern Lebanon. (Wikimedia Commons)

The Japanese government is preparing to resume its funding to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) as soon as early April, it has been learned.

Japan has suspended additional funding to the U.N. agency since January, after some UNRWA employees were accused of involvement in the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.

The government reportedly will make a final decision after it asks UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini about measures to prevent a recurrence. Lazzarini is scheduled to visit Japan soon.

According to multiple sources close to the government, Lazzarini will meet with Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and other officials as early as Thursday and explain how the agency will strengthen its governance structure and other measures. UNRWA is trying to improve its management structure, which allays our concerns regarding a recurrence of the issue, a government source said.

On March 14, Kamikawa spoke by phone with Catherine Colonna, a former French foreign minister who leads an independent review group that is assessing the neutrality of UNRWA. Kamikawa also met on March 18 with U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres during her trip to New York, as part of efforts to gather information and exchange opinions on the issue.

With hunger worsening in the Gaza Strip, the European Union, Canada and Sweden - all of which have suspended funding to UNRWA - announced earlier this month they would resume their support. On March 20, the review group presented to Guterres an interim report that says the group has identified critical areas that need to be addressed.

Some Japanese government officials have said these developments are paving the way for Japan to also resume its funding to the U.N. agency.

Kamikawa commented on her scheduled meeting with Lazzarini at a press conference Friday, saying, I will ask for a detailed explanation and swiftly deal with the issue.
The Secretary-General of the Islamic Group Sheikh Mohammed Takkoush, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 26, 2024. Takkoush, allied with Hamas and Hezbollah, said Tuesday they are closely coordinating with both groups along the southern border with Israel where they have claimed responsibility for several attacks over the past months. (Bilal Hussein/AP)

BEIRUT  The head of a Lebanese Sunni political and militant group that has joined the Shiite militant group Hezbollah in its fight against Israel on Lebanons border said Tuesday that the conflict has helped strengthen cooperation between the two groups.

The Secretary-General of al-Jamaa al-Islamiya, or the Islamic Group, Sheikh Mohammed Takkoush said his faction decided to join the fighting along the Lebanon-Israel border because of Israels crushing offensive on the Gaza Strip and its strikes against Lebanese towns and villages killing civilians, including journalists, since the Israel-Hamas war started on Oct. 7.

We decided to join (the battle) as a national, religious and moral duty. We did that to defend our land and villages, Takkoush told The Associated Press at his groups headquarters in Beirut. We also did so in support of our brothers in Gaza, where he said Israel was committing an open massacre.

Hamas led a surprise attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7 that killed around 1,200 people and took another 250 hostage. The ensuing Israeli bombardment and ground invasion of the Gaza Strip has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians there, according to local health officials. Since then, violence along the Lebanon-Israel border intensified, displacing tens of thousands of people on both sides

Takkoush said he believed Israel has ambitions to seize more territory not only in Palestine but in Lebanon too.

The Islamic Group is one of Lebanons main Sunni factions but has kept a low profile politically over the years. It has one member in Lebanons 128-seat legislature. Elections within the group in 2022 brought its leadership closer to Hamas.

Like Hamas, it is inspired by the ideology of the Pan-Arab Islamist political movement The Muslim Brotherhood, founded in Egypt in 1928 by a school teacher-turned-Islamic ideologue Hassan al-Banna.

It carries out attacks against Israel mainly from the southern city of Sidon where the group once enjoyed wide influence.

Takkoush said his group makes its own decisions in the field but coordinates closely with Hezbollah, and with the Lebanese branch of the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Part of (the attacks against Israeli forces) were in coordination with Hamas, which coordinates with Hezbollah, he said adding that direct cooperation with Hezbollah is on the rise and this is being reflected in the field. He did not elaborate further.

While the Lebanese border area is seen as a Hezbollah stronghold and its population is primarily Shiite, it also has Sunni villages, where the Islamic Group primarily operates.

The tensions between Islams two main sects  Sunni and Shiite  originated following the death of Prophet Muhammad in 632. It has reverberated across the wider Middle East till the present day thus making cooperation between Hezbollah and al-Jamaa al-Islamiya all the more rare.

The Islamic Groups armed wing, known as the Fajr Forces, has claimed responsibility for a series of attacks along the Lebanon-Israel border since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.

They have lost five fighters so far, Takkoush said, with three killed in an Israeli airstrike in a border area earlier this month.

The other two were killed in a Jan. 2 Israeli strike on an apartment in Beirut that targeted top Hamas official Saleh Arouri.

The groups use of weapons against Israel is not new. It founded its Fajr Forces in 1982 at the height of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon.

Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000 ending an 18-year occupation. But the Lebanese government says Israel still occupies the disputed Chebaa Farms and Kfar Chouba hills that Israel captured from Syria during the 1967 Mideast war.

In the current conflict, coordinating and cooperating with a movement like Hamas, the most honorable liberation movement, is an honor, Takkoush said.

Regarding his groups relations with Hezbollah, Takkoush said it had gone through ups and downs. They had differences regarding the conflicts in Syria and Yemen but put them aside to resist the Israeli occupation of parts of our Lebanese territories, he said.

Our relations with Hezbollah are good and growing and it is being strengthened as we go through war, Takkoush said.

Takkoush added that all the weapons they use, from bullets to rockets, are from their own arsenal. We did not get even a bullet from any side, he said.

As Hezbollah has solidified its position as the most powerful political and military entity in Lebanon, the countrys Sunni community has floundered in the absence of a strong leader.

Asked whether the Islamic Group is trying to fill the gap in Lebanons Sunni political leadership left behind by former Prime Minister Saad Hariri who quit politics two years ago, Takkoush said that Prime Minister Saad Hariri still has a base of support and popularity, but his group was not in the habit of filling anyones absence.

We introduce ourselves as partners in building generations and (state) institutions but we do not replace anyone, he said.
In this photo released by Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service on March 23, 2024, firefighters work in the burned concert hall after an attack on the building of the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia. (Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service/AP)

WASHINGTON  The U.S. warning to Russia couldnt have been plainer: Two weeks before the deadliest attack in Russia in years, Americans had publicly and privately advised President Vladimir Putins government that extremists had imminent plans for just such slaughter.

The United States shared those advance intelligence indications under a tenet of the U.S. intelligence community called the duty to warn, which obliges U.S. intelligence officials to lean toward sharing knowledge of a dire threat if conditions allow. That holds whether the targets are allies, adversaries or somewhere in between.

Theres little sign Russia acted to try to head off Fridays attack at a concert hall on Moscows edge, which killed more than 130 people. The Islamic States affiliate in Afghanistan claimed responsibility, and the U.S. said it has information backing up the extremist groups claim.

John Kirby, the Biden administrations national security spokesman, made clear that the warning shouldnt be seen as a breakthrough in U.S.-Russian relations or intelligence-sharing. Yeah, look, theres not going to be security assistance with Russia and the United States, Kirby told reporters Monday.

We had a duty to warn them of information that we had, clearly that they didnt have. We did that, Kirby said.

Such warnings arent always heeded  the United States has dropped the ball in the past on at least one Russian warning of extremist threats in the United States.

Heres a look at the duty to warn, how it came about, and how it can play out when American intelligence officers learn militants are poised to strike.

AHEAD OF THE ATTACK, A CLEAR WARNING

On March 7, the U.S. government went public with a remarkably precise warning: The U.S. Embassy in Moscow was monitoring unspecified reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, to include concerts. It warned U.S. citizens in Moscow to avoid big events over the next 48 hours.

U.S. officials said after the attack that they had shared the warning with Russian officials as well, under the duty to warn, but gave no details how.

Putins public reaction was dismissive. Three days before the attack, he condemned what he called provocative statements from the West about possible attacks within Russia. Such warnings were aimed at intimidating Russians and destabilizing the country, he said.

DUTY TO WARN

The U.S. emphasis on sharing threat warnings increased after al-Qaedas Aug. 7, 1998, attacks on the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. While dozens of U.S. citizens and government employees of different nationalities were killed, Kenyans made up the majority of the victims.

In 2015, then national intelligence director James Clapper formalized duty to warn in an official directive: The U.S. intelligence community bore a responsibility to warn U.S. and non-U.S. persons of impending threats of intentional killing, serious bodily injury or kidnapping.

The order also spelled out occasions when intelligence officials could waive the duty to warn and stay silent despite looming danger. That includes when the target is an assassin or other extreme bad guy, or when disclosing the warning could unduly endanger U.S. personnel or their sources, those of intelligence partners among foreign governments, or their intelligence or defense operations.

SHARED WARNINGS AND THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION

The intelligence community under former President Donald Trump faced accusations it had failed to warn U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi of a complex plot by Saudi officials that ended with his 2018 killing inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Media foundations say U.S. intelligence agencies did not respond to requests for any records showing whether they knew of the plot in advance.

Under the Biden administration, the sharing of threats to other governments has flourished, although theres no way to know of any threats that the U.S. intelligence community may have decided to let play out, without warning the targets.

Strategic U.S. dissemination of intelligence hit a high point in the months before Russias February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Thats when the U.S. opted to declassify key intelligence on Russias invasion plans to rally allies and Ukraine, and  unsuccessfully  to pressure Russia to call off its troops.

In a Foreign Affairs article this spring, CIA Director William Burns spoke of a growing awareness of the value of intelligence diplomacy  the strategic use of intelligence findings to bolster allies and confound adversaries.

SHARING ISNT ALWAYS CARING

The duty to warn doesnt mean the other side has a duty to listen. Thats especially so when the other side is an adversary.

In January, a U.S. official said, Americans had given a similar warning to Iranian officials ahead of bombings in the Iranian city of Kerman. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for that attack, twin suicide bombings that killed 95 people.

Its not clear if the warning led to any additional security precautions at the event, a commemoration of the 2020 killing of an Iranian general by a U.S. drone strike.

In 2004, another adversary, the government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, an anti-U.S. populist, was suspicious and incredulous when U.S. officials relayed a warning of an extremist plot to kill him, Stephen McFarland, a former U.S. diplomat in Central and South America, said Monday on X.

That kind of deep distrust has often kept threat warnings from landing as intended when it comes to Russia and the United States. Thats true even with common dangers that both face, including the Islamic State and al-Qaida.

Historically, Russians can regard any U.S. attempt at counterintelligence cooperation against that kind of shared threat as naive, and look for any openings to use it for political gain or to undermine U.S. intelligence-gathering, Steven Hall, a longtime U.S. intelligence official in the former Soviet Union, wrote after his retirement in 2015.

In 2013, it was U.S. officials who, tragically, failed adequately to follow up on a Russian warning, a U.S. government review concluded later.

Concerned the man posed a threat to Russia as well, Russias Federal Security Service in 2011 warned U.S. officials that a U.S. resident, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was an adherent of extremist groups. After U.S. officials concluded Tsarnaev was not a threat in the U.S., he and his younger brother planted bombs along the route of the Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring hundreds.

AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee contributed to this report.
Starlink satellite internet equipment is mounted to a home in Eek, a village in Southwest Alaska, on Aug. 2, 2023. (Marc Lester, Anchorage Daily News/TNS)

(Tribune News Service)  SpaceXs Starlink touts its high-speed internet as available almost anywhere on Earth.

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.

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 U.S. 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.

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 U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. 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.

2024 Bloomberg L.P.

Visit bloomberg.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton appears at a pretrial hearing in his securities fraud case before state District Judge Andrea Beall, Tuesday, March 26, 2024, at Harris County Criminal Courts at Law in Houston. Prosecutors announced an agreement with Paxton that would ultimately dismiss securities fraud charges he has been facing for nearly a decade. (Yi-Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle via AP)

HOUSTON  Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday agreed to pay nearly $300,000 in restitution under a deal to end criminal securities fraud charges that have shadowed the Republican for nearly a decade.

The announcement by special prosecutors in a Houston courtroom came less than three weeks before Paxton was set to stand trial on felony charges that could have led to a prison sentence. It was the closest Paxton  who was indicted in 2015  has ever come to trial over accusations that he duped investors in a tech startup near Dallas.

Under the 18-month agreement, the special prosecutors would drop three felony counts against Paxton as long as he pays full restitution to his victims, and completes 100 hours of community service and 15 hours of legal ethics education. A former special prosecutor said the chance of a conviction was going to be 50-50.

Paxton said little during the hearing, and he avoided reporters by leaving the court through a back door.

But in a statement released later Tuesday, Paxton  one of the nations most prominent state attorney generals, who just six months earlier was acquitted of corruption charges in an impeachment trial in the Texas Senate  remained defiant.

There will never be a conviction in this case nor am I guilty, said Paxton, while thanking his family and supporters for sticking by my side. The agreement lets Paxton remain in his elected position and doesnt affect his law license.

Dan Cogdell, a Paxtons attorney, said prosecutors would never have been able to prove their case at trial, but he conceded that it was cheaper for Paxton to accept the agreement.

Number one, the economics are actually in his favor for not going to trial. And number two, its a guaranteed dismissal at the end of the day, Cogdell told reporters.

Houston attorney Brian Wice, who was one of the special prosecutors, described the deal as a victory that requires Paxton to repay investors, including Byron Cook, a former GOP lawmaker who served with Paxton in the Texas Legislature, and the estate of Joel Hochberg, a South Florida businessman who died last year.

Wice, who previously indicated that he would consider a pre-trial deal a slap on the wrist, said he and fellow prosecutor Jed Silverman reevaluated their chance of success based on evidence and witnesses.

Our primary duty is to do justice, not to convict. So, the question isnt whether or not who won, but was justice served? And I think the answer to that is unmistakably yes, Wice said.

Kent Schaffer, who worked as a special prosecutor on the case until February and had tried to broker a similar settlement, said insufficient resources and antagonistic witnesses could have hindered the prosecutors case.

I didnt think we had a bad case, but its 50-50. It could go either way, said Schaffer, a Houston-based criminal defense attorney.

The Cook and Hochberg families said in a statement they are grateful that they will receive restitution in full.

Wice acknowledged the long arc of the case that shuffled between four different judges over the years, ping-ponged between courtrooms in Dallas and Houston, and was slowed by the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in 2017.

The resolution of the securities fraud case furthers a dramatic reversal of political fortune for Paxton, who just a year ago appeared imperiled by the criminal case and the threat of being removed from office after his top aides reported him to the FBI.

But Paxton has emerged emboldened. He waged war against dozens of GOP lawmakers who were part of the 2023 effort to impeach him, with his biggest target being state House Speaker Dade Phelan, who was forced into a May 28 runoff. He has also not ruled out a primary challenge to Republican Sen. John Cornyn in 2026.

Paxton still faces legal troubles, however. A federal investigation has been probing some of the same charges presented in his impeachment and former aides who reported Paxton to the FBI are trying to make him testify in a whistleblower civil lawsuit.

The securities fraud case has hung over Paxton nearly his entire time in statewide office. Yet the 61-year-old has shown political resilience time and again, winning over conservative activists, and importantly within the GOP, former President Donald Trump.

Paxton had been accused of defrauding investors in a Dallas-area tech company called Servergy by not disclosing that he was being paid by the company to recruit them. He was charged with two counts of securities fraud and one count of not being registered as an investment adviser.

James Spindler, a professor of business and law at the University of Texas at Austin, said it was surprising that Paxton even faced a felony prosecution. He described one of the charges  failing to register as an investment adviser  as a technical violation and said most similar cases are settled as civil lawsuits.

Legal experts have said over the years that the longer the case drags on, the harder it would be for both sides.

Paxton was also charged in a federal civil complaint filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over his work with Servergy. But a federal judge in March 2017 dismissed the complaint against Paxton. The person who recruited Paxton to work with Servergy, ex-company CEO William Mapp, was found liable by a jury for misleading investors and ordered to pay a civil penalty of $22,500. Mapp lost his job with Servergy and later had to work as an Uber driver to make ends meet, according to court documents.

The fraud allegations were among the original 20 articles of impeachment but were set aside during the impeachment trial in the Texas Senate last year.

Paxtons political opponents, most notably Republicans, had used the fraud charges against him in elections. But Paxton has twice been reelected as attorney general since his indictment, most recently in 2022.

Associated Press writers Jim Vertuno and Acacia Coronado in Austin, Texas contributed to this report.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, at far left, speaks while meeting with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, across table at far right, at the Pentagon, Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Washington. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

WASHINGTON  U.S. defense leaders pressed their Israeli counterparts Tuesday to ensure that any military operation in the southern city of Rafah unfold in phases to protect civilians and secure the delivery of aid, a senior Pentagon official said. Israels defense minister was receptive, the official said, but its not clear what impact the meeting will have on Israeli plans for Gaza or on growing tensions between the two nations.

U.S. leaders have consistently warned against a ground invasion of Rafah and pressed for an alternative, more precise operation. The senior defense official described the 90-minute meeting at the Pentagon as very productive and really quite meaty, but demurred when asked if Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sought to condition future U.S. military aid to Israel on an improvement of the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Austin said the U.S. will continue to stand up for Israels right to defend itself in accordance with the law of armed conflict and international humanitarian law, said the official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity to describe a private meeting.

The meeting, which also included Gen. Charles CQ Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, comes as tensions have spiked between the U.S. and Israel, stemming from the widespread global frustration over the escalating humanitarian crisis in Gaza and political discord surrounding efforts to achieve a cease-fire.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a statement that they discussed the important cooperation between the Israeli and U.S. defense establishments to ensure Israels qualitative military edge in the region.

The U.S. defense official said the Israeli forces should use precision targeting, which has been effective against Hamas leaders elsewhere in Gaza. The official declined to provide details about Gallants response.

It was a very good conversation today between the secretary and the minister. They know each other well. They trust each other. They are friends. And so the sharing of the secretarys ideas, I would say, yes, was met by very receptive ears, the official said.

At the start of the meeting, Austin said they would discuss alternative ways to target Hamas in Rafah, and he described civilian casualties in Gaza as far too high and aid deliveries as far too low. But he also repeated the belief that Israel has the right to defend itself and the U.S. would always be there to help.

Gallant, meanwhile, emphasized the ongoing threats to Israel, and said the meeting would address ways to destroy Hamas and get the Israeli hostages released, as well as plans to return displaced residents to their homes.

On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly canceled a high-level visit to Washington this week in protest over the U.N. Security Council decision to call for an immediate cease-fire. The U.S. abstained, deciding not to use its veto power, and the resolution passed 14-0.

Israel says it cannot defeat Hamas without going into Rafah, where it says the group has four battalions composed of thousands of fighters. But U.S. officials are pressing Israel to forego a ground invasion and consider other ways to defeat Hamas.

There are ways to go about addressing the threat of Hamas, while also taking into account civilian safety. A lot of those are from lessons, our own lessons, conducting operations in urban environments, Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, said on Monday. I would expect the conversations to cover those kinds of things.

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 on Israel, which killed some 1,200 people.

Hamas-led militants also took around 250 people hostage. They are 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.

The Security Council resolution calls for a cease-fire during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. 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.

The dispute signals an erosion in the U.S.-Israel relationship that has been under a microscope for months as the military assault on Hamas continues, escalating the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. was disappointed in the decision to cancel the delegations visit this week. He said the talks with Gallant would likely include some of what the U.S. had planned to discuss with the Israeli delegation on the possible Rafah invasion.

Gallant met Monday with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan. Kirby said those meetings, however, had not been intended as a replacement for the delegation meetings.

Associated Press broadcast reporter Sagar Meghani contributed to this report.
Marines with 1st Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company adjust their ear protection in September 2014 before firing at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif. (John Baker/I Marine Expeditionary Force )

A $6 billion settlement involving roughly 250,000 veterans will move forward in a lawsuit that argued faulty earplugs were sold to the military for use during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

For the settlement, 98% of service members and veterans with claims had to agree to it. 3M, the Minnesota-based company that made the earplugs, announced Tuesday that 99% of claimants are on board.

3M denies liability but has agreed to the settlement, which will resolve all earplug-related claims in the federal multidistrict litigation and in Minnesota state court, according to the company. The case was one of the largest mass tort cases in U.S. history.

From 1999 to 2015, 3M and its subsidiary companies produced and sold the combat-arms earplug, which lawsuits have said slipped from the wearers ear, resulting in hearing loss and tinnitus, or a ringing of the ears.

Out of roughly 293,000 claims, more than 249,000 claimants have registered to participate in the settlement and more than 41,000 claims were dismissed, according to 3M. Final participation is expected to be about 99.9%.

We are pleased that this settlement has received widespread acceptance from service members who experienced hearing damage from 3Ms defective earplugs, said Bryan Aylstock, court-appointed lead counsel for the plaintiffs. This result also rebukes the false premise that only contrived bankruptcies can provide defendants the finality they seek when their products injure people on a mass scale. As shown by the overwhelming positive response to this settlement program, a fair resolution through the civil justice system can provide both swift relief to victims and also give corporate defendants global peace.

Prior to the settlement, some cases went to trial in federal court with mixed results. In most trials the jury sided with veterans with payouts between $880,000 to more than $50 million.

Under the agreement, 3M will pay the nearly 250,000 veterans up to $6 billion between 2023 and 2029, the company said. 3M and Aearo, its subsidiary responsible for the earplugs, have said each are working with insurance companies to offset a portion of the payments. However, that process is involved in a lawsuit filed in Delaware and arbitration proceedings.

Payouts will vary because each case is evaluated on a persons medical records, according to a website dedicated to the settlement, which is being managed by the litigation management company BrownGreer. That website is www.combatarmssettlement.com.

If it were divided equally, payouts would be $24,000 per veteran.
Congressional lawmakers are calling for answers after a Veteran Affairs patient was found strangled this month in the psychiatric ward of a medical center in Florida.

Federal agents believe that the unidentified patient at the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center was killed by his roommate, Christopher Schweikart, who confessed to strangling the victim but gave conflicting reasons for why, according to court records.

The man was found dead March 16, according to a federal criminal complaint. Schweikart, 33, faces a first-degree murder charge and if found guilty could face up to life in prison or the death penalty.

It is profoundly troubling that such a tragic event could occur within the walls of a facility meant to provide care and support to our nations veterans, Sens. Rick Scott and Marco Rubio and Rep. Brian Mast said in a Thursday letter to Denis McDonough, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

The letter calls for a thorough investigation and leadership changes at the West Palm Beach VA hospital.

The victim was found next to a Bible with a handwritten inscription in black ink saying, God, I have lived a good life, take me home, according to an affidavit filed by an agent for the VA Inspector General.

But agents said the handwriting in the Bible matches Schweikarts. A second Bible on his nightstand had similar handwriting and his name written inside, the affidavit said. Agents also found a black ink pen on Schweikarts bed.

Surveillance videos do not show any other patient entering their shared room that night, the affidavit said.

Schweikart told two agents with the Department of Veterans Affairs that his roommate was talking about Vietnam and then entered their shared bathroom. Schweikart said this startled him, so he strangled his roommate, according to the affidavit.

He later told a nurse a similar but conflicting account of how he walked in on his roommate and surprised him before strangling him, the affidavit said.

Schweikart had his first appearance in federal court last week and was denied bail, court records show.

The VA medical center in West Palm Beach faced criticism in 2019 after a Veterans Affairs investigation found shortcomings in patient safety at the facility, including years of use of security cameras that didnt work.

The 2019 report came after the suicide of an Army veteran, Brieux Dash, at the facility. In June 2023, Dashs family reached a $5.75 million settlement with the U.S. government, The Washington Post reported.
Lawmakers are considering legislation to expedite the hiring of psychiatrists completing their residency programs at Department of Veterans Affairs health facilities. Chronic staffing shortages at many VA facilities are causing long delays in services, including for psychiatric care. (Stars and Stripes)

WASHINGTON  Army veteran Annette Johnson struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder from her days in the service and has sought psychiatric care at a Department of Veterans Affairs clinic in Baltimore for flashbacks and anxiety that keep her on edge.

But Johnson, who was once homeless and has a history of mental health problems that require hospital care, said she was told last month that there is a backlog of veterans seeking appointments and she would have to take her place in line. The next available appointment was in June, she said.

I am a 100% disabled veteran with two service ribbons. I had been living in my car for almost a year on the streets of Baltimore, Johnson said.

Chronic staffing shortages at many VA facilities are causing long delays in services, including for psychiatric care. The VA Office of Inspector General in 2023 reported severe shortages for psychiatry staff at many VA health facilities.

Legislation introduced by Rep. Mark Cartwright, D-Penn., seeks to expedite the process for recruiting and hiring psychiatrists who have just completed their residency programs at a Veterans Health Administration facility.

The legislation aims to speed up the VAs hiring process to fill critical shortages of psychiatrists at hospitals and clinics where positions have remained open for at least 35 days.

Cartwright said there is a bureaucratic maze for initiating the employment process for new psychiatrists. He said it is creating delays for new hires.

We have a responsibility to do all we can to make sure the brave men and women who served get the care they need and deserve when they return, he said. This legislation simply speeds up the process for recruiting trained, talented mental health professionals into a career caring for the invisible wounds of our nations veterans.

Annette Johnson, an Army veteran, said when she called for an appointment recently for psychiatric care at her local VA clinic in Baltimore, she was told there were no openings available until June. Johnson is shown here in 1980 after she joined the Army. (Annette Johnson)

In Johnsons case, she will have to wait four months to see a VA psychiatric nurse, she said.

The nurse works in consultation with a VA psychiatrist in diagnosing and managing treatment for patients such as Johnson. Psychiatric nurses help ease bottlenecks in providing mental health care. But the VA acknowledges that the staffing model is not enough to meet demand.

Johnson, 62, is a retired sergeant who said she experienced injuries to her back, hips, legs and a kidney during 12 years of service with deployments to Korea, Germany and Fort Hood, Texas. She retired in 1992. She also said she suffers from PTSD related to military service.

I have a lot of problems with depression, she said.

Almost one third of veterans within the VA health care system suffer from PTSD, which contributes to an individuals risk of suicide, according to the VA. A veteran is 50% more likely to take his or her own life than a person who has never served in the military, the department said.

PTSD is a chronic mental health disorder that causes individuals to experience flashbacks, mood swings and extreme emotions when triggered by memories of traumatic events.

VA policy requires patients requesting or referred for mental health services receive an initial assessment within 24 hours and a full evaluation within 14 days.

Johnson said when she inquired about an appointment last month, there was no evaluation of her current mental health. She said she lived in her car until she had saved enough money from her monthly disability and pension checks for a down payment for an apartment.

Jon Retzer, assistant national legislative director for the Disabled American Veterans, said his organization supports Cartwrights legislation for addressing hiring delays.

Retzer pointed to the 2023 inspector generals report that showed nearly 75 of 139 VA health care facilities had a shortage of psychiatrists.

Jon Retzer, assistant national legislative director for the Disabled American Veterans, told House lawmakers last week that his organization supports legislation for expediting the hiring process for psychiatrists who have just completed residency programs at a Veterans Health Administration facility. (Disabled American Veterans)

This bill would allow the VA to directly hire psychiatrists who have completed residency at a VA facility, bypassing civil service or classification laws that can cause delays, he said.

Psychiatrists still must meet educational requirements and credentials for employment, Retzer said.

This bill could create a more efficient hiring process for psychiatrists trained by the VA, who are already culturally competent, to provide immediate clinical lifesaving services, including VA suicide prevention and lethal means safety counseling to veterans in need, he said at a hearing last week of the House Veterans Affairs Committees subpanel on health that examined several bills for improving medical services for veterans.

Residency programs represent a major source for hiring psychiatrists, said David Perry, chief officer of workforce management and consulting for the Veterans Health Administration.

But Perry could not provide numbers on how many psychiatrists are hired yearly through VA residency programs. He told House lawmakers that the VA believes Cartwrights legislation is not needed.

We have that authority now and have up to a year to identify psychiatrists in training and residency programs, Perry said.

Yet the legislation has broad support from veterans organizations.

This bill has been endorsed by the American Veterans for Equal Rights, the Military Order of the Purple Heart, the Retired Enlisted Association, the Blinded Veterans Association and the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

Being able to release my feelings to someone who understands my military background is important, Johnson said about her psychiatric appointments. When I am going through rough periods, my PTSD hits me a lot. Its triggering. Not being able to make an appointment feels devastating. I do need to talk to someone sooner than June.
UK Government-Backed Technology Group Encourages Tokenization Collaboration Among Firms

A new report released on Tuesday outlines the recommendations of a technology working group supported by the UK government, which encourages companies to adopt tokenization strategies in collaboration with their industry peers.

The United Kingdoms financial regulator has endorsed a blueprint model designed to facilitate the tokenization of funds for asset management firms.

Working Group Advocates for Fund Tokenization to Enhance Market Efficiency



On Tuesday, the group released a new report that expands the groups previous recommendations from November, which called for regulatory clarity regarding tokenization as companies increasingly show interest in this technology. The report FURTHER FUND TOKENIZATION: ACHIEVING INVESTMENT FUND 3.0 THROUGH COLLABORATION, outlines a 30-page comprehensive baseline model to enhance delivery efficiencies and enable effective interaction with digital capital markets and future investors.

The new report highlights the potential benefits of tokenizing units of money market funds used as collateral, which could expedite settlement processes and create new opportunities for this application.

According to feedback from industry stakeholders, the working group emphasizes the importance of on-chain fund settlement using digital currency. They advocate for funds to hold tokenized assets and utilize public permissioned networks, allowing verified users access to the blockchain.

The report highlights two critical use cases for fund tokenization aimed at fostering momentum in the UK market. Firstly, it identifies fully on-chain investment markets, where tokenized funds invest in tokenized securities across various asset classes. Secondly, it suggests using tokenized money market fund units as collateral, subject to eligibility under UK regulations for non-centrally cleared derivative contracts.

Similarly, the report outlines three important steps for further development of fund tokenization, including allowing on-chain fund settlement via digital money, enabling funds to hold tokenized assets, and expanding solutions to include public permissioned networks. It also suggests that tokenizing money market fund units used as collateral could expedite relevant settlement processes, creating more opportunities for this use case.

Additionally, the government plans to explore the benefits of incorporating distributed ledger technology into sovereign bonds.

UK Investment Managers Embrace Blockchain for Fund Tokenization With Regulatory Support



In November 2023, investment managers in the United Kingdom received regulatory support to explore using blockchain technology for tokenizing funds, departing from conventional record-keeping systems.

In the report, the Investment Association advocated for fund tokenization, which involves issuing tokenized units or shares on distributed ledger technology (DLT) to enhance efficiency and transparency in the financial industry.

As stated by the firm, the adoption that allows real-time record-keeping systems shared across all fund service providers is expected to reduce administration costs, simplify reconciliation processes, and enable faster settlement times.

However, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) expressed openness to innovative solutions while emphasizing the importance of addressing potential risks.

The report proposed principles for implementing tokenized funds, ensuring their relevance to domestic and international investors, and promoting inclusivity across the sector. It further highlighted the importance of a roadmap for delivery and focused on enhancing competitiveness and efficiency within the industry.

It clarified that legal and regulatory rules would remain unchanged despite the adoption of blockchain technology.

In response to the November report, Sarah Pritchard, executive director of markets and international at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), highlighted the importance of exploring innovative solutions while addressing potential risks. She said that they want to support firms in implementing technological solutions that enhance and strengthen the UKs asset management industry while addressing risks and potential harms.

According to the groups report, the third phase will focus on artificial intelligence, emphasizing tokenization implementation and collaboration with firms to capitalize on its potential benefits for consumers and the UK economy.
Four terrorists armed with heavy weapons and explosives attacked Pakistan Navy's Airbase PNS Siddique late on Monday night. However, timely action by navy personnel thwarted the assault, preventing any harm to the base or its personnel.

According to a spokesperson for the Pakistan Navy, the terrorists attempted to enter the other side from the Turbat Civil Airport premises. The terrorists lobbed hand grenades and opened fire at the entrance to the base.

However, the swift and coordinated response from Pakistan Navy personnel repelled the attack, as a result of which the terrorists could not enter the naval base and were all eliminated.

The spokesman claimed that in response to the attempted breach, a joint clearance operation of the Pakistan Navy, Frontier Corps, and the police was launched to sweep the surrounding areas for any potential threats and remaining terrorists.

He further said that all the naval personnel present at the base, as well as the assets, remained safe. However, ISPR said that in the exchange of fire, Sepoy Nauman Fareed of the Balochistan FC was martyred. The 24-year-old official belonged to Muzaffargarh.

No casualties were reported among the civilians. The PNS Siddique is among the biggest naval air stations in the country.

Makran division Commissioner Saeed Ahmed Umrani provided additional details, stating that the attackers attempted to infiltrate the airport from three to four surrounding locations. However, the security personnel deputed at the location held them back.

He further said that during the attack, an exchange of heavy gunfire between the security forces and the terrorists, as well as explosions, could be heard. Additionally, he explained that the navy air base was established inside the airport, but at quite a distance, and the attackers were far from it.

Navy, Frontier Corps and police forces were present at the spot to engage the terrorists, he added.

He also said that the Majeed Brigade of the banned organization, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), claimed responsibility for the attack.

Previously, the BLA had carried out at an attack on the Gwadar Port Authoritys residential complex on March 20. Two security personnel were martyred in the attack. Later, eight terrorists were killed in retaliatory action by security forces.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has welcomed the United Nations (UN) Security Council resolution for a ceasefire in Gaza.

In a statement, he urged the international community to ensure the implementation of the Security Councils resolution for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

PM Shehbaz Sharif said the ongoing Zionist oppression against innocent Palestinians in Gaza must be stopped permanently.

The prime minister said thousands of women and children have been martyred in Israels barbaric attacks. Hospitals and refugee camps were deliberately bombed by Israel in Gaza, which is highly deplorable.

He said Pakistan will continue to support Palestinian brothers and sisters for creation of a Palestinian state on the basis of pre-1967 borders.

The United Nations Security Council on Monday demanded an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian fighters Hamas and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages after the United States abstained from the vote.

The remaining 14 council members voted for the resolution, which was proposed by the 10 elected members of the body.

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 U.S. ally Israel as it retaliated against Hamas for an Oct. 7 attack that Israel says killed 1,200 people.
Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday visited the Chinese embassy to covey condolence over the killing of five Chinese nationals in a terrorist attack in Khyber Pakhtunkhwas (KP) Shangla district, and assured a swift and high-level probe into the incident.

The prime minister, in an interaction with the Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zaidong sympathised with the bereaved families of the slain Chinese nationals, a PM Office press release said.

Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Information and Broadcasting Minister Attaullah Tarar and Special Assistant to PM Tariq Fatemi accompanied the prime minister.

He assured the Chinese side that the government would hold a high-level and swift probe into the attack and take the culprits and facilitators to the task. The prime minister also conveyed his condolatory message to the Chinese president and premier.

We will not let such nefarious attempts to undermine the Pak-China friendship succeed. The enemies of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor have again tried to interrupt it through such cowardly attempt but the enemy will never succeed in its evil designs, the prime minister remarked.

PM Shehbaz also reiterated the countrys resolve to continue fighting against terrorism till its complete eradication.

The Chinese ambassador thanked the prime minister for visiting the embassy and showing personal interest in the investigation of the incident. He also appreciated the prime ministers determination to maintain Pak-China friendly ties.
The man appeared in Dublin District Court charged with breaching a protection order.

A great-grandfather whose drunken behaviour allegedly caused a living nightmare for his partner has been refused bail.

The accused (60) continued to harass the frightened woman in her home in breach of a domestic violence order, after she begged him on her hands and knees to stop drinking, a court was told.

Judge Monika Leech remanded him in custody, saying he had shown contempt for court orders.

The man appeared in Dublin District Court charged with breaching a protection order.

Objecting to bail, the prosecuting garda alleged the accuseds harassment has been incessant for the last year.

The couple had been together for 42 years and had adult children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, the court heard. The accused had had a cancer diagnosis but underwent successful surgery last year and despite the good news he received, there had been a seismic change in him, and his drinking had increased and his behaviour deteriorated.

What should have been a matter of celebration seems to have put him into a state of depression, his solicitor said.

The alleged victim said she had gone out for a meal for a friends birthday and when she returned, the accused was drunk and screaming in the bedroom.

The drink has taken over, morning, noon and night, she said, and she was finding bottles of vodka hidden all around the house.

The accused would sit in the bedroom with the lights out, roaring as if there was someone there, she said.

On another occasion when he was arrested, the accused was released from a garda station and arrived back at the door that night twisted. I couldnt believe it, she said.

The accused was now willing to go into treatment to get off alcohol, his solicitor said.

The alleged victim said she did not know if she could trust his promises because she had been begging on her hands and knees before.

The obvious solution is for the defendant to move out of the family home but there isnt anywhere else he can go, his solicitor said.

Judge Leech said the alleged victims evidence had been stark and compelling and she was at her wits end. This has been some form of living nightmare for her.

She ordered medical attention for the accused in custody, saying the court was aware of the potential side effects of detoxing from alcohol.
It was alleged they had a verbal argument over him seeing another woman when he headbutted her in the face, causing her nose to bleed.

Derek Dalton is accused of assaulting and injuring his girlfriend

A man headbutted his girlfriend in the face after they had an argument about him seeing another woman, it is alleged.

Derek Dalton (37) is accused of assaulting and injuring his girlfriend in the incident at a flat in north Dublin.

Mr Dalton, of Rioch Court, Kilkenny, appeared in Dublin District Court charged with assault causing harm.

Judge Monika Leech adjourned the case for the accused to decide how he intends to plead to the charge.

A garda sergeant said that the DPP was consenting to the case being dealt with in the district court, subject to the issue of jurisdiction being considered.

Outlining the prosecutions case, he said gardai attended a flat at Drumcondra Road Lower on December 3 last where it was reported that a woman said that she had been assaulted by her boyfriend.

It was alleged they had a verbal argument over him seeing another woman when he headbutted her in the face, causing her nose to bleed. Gardai saw visible injuries to the womans nose, the court heard.

She refused any medical attention.

Judge Leech accepted jurisdiction, allowing the case to remain in the district court.

She made an order for full disclosure of prosecution evidence to the defence, at the request of Mr Daltons solicitor, Peter Connolly.

The judge adjourned the case to a date in September, for the accused to consider a plea.

The charge is under Section 3 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act.
The Defence Forces Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team was called in by gardai and they then safely removed the explosive devices.

A man (40s) has been arrested after gardai seized four explosive devices following the search of a van in West Dublin.

The explosives were discovered after officers searched the vehicle in the Ronanstown area at around 3.40pm on Sunday.

A garda spokesman described the four improvised explosive devices as viable  meaning they posed a serious threat to public safety.

Following the discovery, the Defence Forces Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team was called in by gardai and safely removed the explosives.

During follow up searches in the Ballyfermot and Ronanstown areas, a small quantity of suspected cannabis and a scrambler bike were also seized.

A garda spokesman said the arrested man remains in custody and that investigations are ongoing.

A male (40s) was arrested in connection with the incident, and he is currently detained under Section 30 of the Offences against the State Act, 1939, at a Garda station in the Dublin area.

All drugs seized are now subject to examination by Forensic Science Ireland (FSI).
Peter McCormack, 42, was killed and three others were injured in the shooting at the Thierafurth Inn in Kilcoo

A man and a woman have been arrested over a loyalist gun attack in Co Down 30 years ago.

Former school teacher Peter McCormack, 42, was killed and three others were injured in the shooting at the Thierafurth Inn in Kilcoo on November 19 1992.

On Tuesday, the Police Service of Northern Ireland said that detectives from the Legacy Investigation Branch investigating the attack made two arrests.

The Thierafurth Inn in Kilcoo. Photo: Pacemaker

A 63-year-old man and a 58-year-old woman were arrested in the South Down area on Tuesday morning under the Terrorism Act.

A police spokesperson said they were taken to the Serious Crime Suite at Musgrave Police Station in Belfast for questioning.

The arrests come after police issued a fresh appeal for information last November about the attack which was attributed to the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force.
Man forced his way into Shankill house and put gun to innocent womans head

Footage shows the man and his accomplice outside the house in the Shankill area of Belfast with a gun

A UDA thug put a gun to the head of a woman demanding payment for her sons alleged drug debt.

Video has emerged of a masked man carrying a pistol as he flees a house believed to be in the Shankill area.

A second man waits in the street before making off as the gun toting goon runs from the house.

The Sunday World understands the pair are members of South Belfast UDA.

This newspaper is aware of the identity of the man carrying the weapon.

We can reveal he forced his way into the house demanding to speak a man.

When the man wasnt there, he put a gun to the head of a woman, demanding the debt be paid.

Footage shows the man outside the house with a gun

Sources have told us there were two young children in the house at the time of the incident.

South Belfast UDA has long been mired in the drugs trade, but the image of a masked man emerging from a family home having threatened a mother at gunpoint still has the power to shock.

Drug gangs are increasingly demanding families settle drug debts if the person directly involved is unable to pay.

South Belfast UDA straying on to the Shankill, where Mo Courtneys UFF controls the drug market, is sure to ruffle feathers.

The footage also shows the UDA has access to weaponry.

One of the men

On Friday, a man who claimed he was a go-between for his local community and the UDA, appeared in court on gun charges.

William McCune (45) told a Belfast court that a friend in the government asked him to dispose of weapons found in his car after he was detained in the early hours of Thursday in the south of the city.

A sawn-off shotgun, three pistols, balaclavas and an assault-style rifle were among items seized.

McCune, of Bentham Drive, appeared at Belfast Magistrates Court on Friday to face charges of possessing firearms in suspicious circumstances and with intent to cause fear of violence.

He is further accused of having ammunition, a stun-gun, firearms without a licence, and possessing cocaine and cannabis.

The UDA thug flees the scene after the terrifying incident

An investigating detective said police stopped McCunes Seat Arona on the Upper Lisburn Road for a failure to indicate.

He told officers a suitcase in the back of the SUV may contain revolver guns.

Police located more guns, ammunition, two balaclavas, a Taser, two small bags of suspected cocaine and a cannabis joint inside the vehicle, the court heard.

Follow-up searches at Mr McCunes home led to the discovery of parts for another shotgun, air rifle and UDA items.

The detective said: During interviews he stated that he acts as a go-between for the community in south Belfast and the UDA.

He said that he had been approached by a school friend to dispose of items that were to be left in an alleyway.

Mr McCune claimed he had intended to hand over the haul to the authorities later the same day.

The defendant denied any links to the UDA, the court was told, but admitted a gun found at his home belonged to that organisation and was there to be cleaned before getting rid of it.

The detective told the court Mr McCune stated he had met a named friend who worked for the government and who asked him to dispose of these items.

Opposing bail, she claimed Mr McCune may have been involved with either paramilitaries or other criminals.

McCune was refused bail based on the risks of reoffending and harm to the public.

District Judge Steven Keown remanded him in custody until April 19.
Mr Chawke said that he was delighted that the council has granted planning permission

One of the countrys best known publicans, Charlie Chawke has secured the green light for a funeral home beside his Goat Bar and Grill in Goatstown in south Dublin.

This follows Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Co Council giving the funeral home the go-ahead despite opposition from Fanagans Funeral Directors.

In an interview on Tuesday, Mr Chawke said that he was delighted that the council has granted planning permission.

He said: It is always great to get planning permission. It has come through now thank God.

Mr Chawke said that a funeral home operating from the ground floor of the former Paddy Power unit at the The Goat retail complex would be good for business at The Goat.

He said: I had this idea going back a while that a funeral home would be good for the business where people coming to a funeral can dine in The Goat after.

Mr Chawke said that there is plenty of room for a funeral home at The Goat to serve the area.

Mr Chawke said that he was disappointed that Fanagans did lodge an objection against the planned funeral home at the junction of Lower Kilmacud Road and Taney Road, Goatstown, Dublin 14.

He said: Why anyone should object against it I dont know.

Mr Chawke said that the Chawke Group would not directly operate the funeral home.

He said that he intends to lease the space out to a funeral operator.

Mr Chawke confirmed that he has had positive discussions with a funeral operator who has expressed an interest to run the funeral home.

Asked about a possible appeal by Fanagans to An Bord Pleanala, Mr Chawke said: Hopefully they wont and leave it is as it is and we can get cracking on it.

The Council granted planning permission after concluding that the funeral home would not detract from the amenities of the area and is consistent with the provisions of the current Development Plan.

A planning report lodged with the application stated that Mr Chawke believes that a good quality, well run funeral home will complement The Goat/Paddy Power Retail Complex and he believes that there is a need locally for such a use.

However, in a strongly worded objection on behalf of Fanagans Funeral Directors, Manahan Planners contended that this application is ill-conceived.

The objection stated there is no local need for an additional funeral home to cater to this suburb of the city.

It added: Moreover, a location such as proposed would add surges of traffic to the adjoining road network as this busy traffic light controlled junction."

Expanding as to why Fanagans do not accept that there is a local need for the planned funeral home, the objection stated that Fanagans operate a funeral home in Dundrum a little more than 1km away from this site.

Mr Tony Manahan stated that this application proposes to cater to the same suburbs claiming there is a local need for a funeral home in this area.

He said that the applicants have provided no evidence to support such a convention. He states: Our client at Dundrum has no difficulty in meeting the needs for this area.

Mr Manahan said that the central contention in the application that there is a need locally is flawed and is not supported by empirical evidence.

The grant of permission coincides with new accounts show that Chawke group owned pubs continue to perform strongly with new accounts for the firm which operates The Bank pub on Dublins College Green, College Inns Ltd recording post tax profits of 572,649 in the 12 months to the end of April last.

Fanagans have been contacted for comment.
US Treasury Targets Russian Blockchain Companies for Sanctions Evasion

The US Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Monday sanctioned 13 entities and two individuals. They are accused of developing crypto-related services that could facilitate sanctions evasion on behalf of Russian nationals.

OFACs designations aim to curb Russias use of the global financial system in its conflict with Ukraine. Brian Nelson, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said in a statement that:

Russia is increasingly turning to alternative payment mechanisms to circumvent US sanctions and continue to fund its war against Ukraine. The Treasury will continue to expose and disrupt the companies that seek to help sanctioned Russian financial institutions reconnect to the global financial system, he added.

OFACs rules essentially forbid US individuals from transacting with designated entities within the US. Financial institutions and others are required to adhere to these sanctions to avoid serious repercussions. Engaging with the sanctioned parties via transactions can lead to severe consequences.

US Treasurys Allegations Against Netex24 and Bitpapa



B-Crypto, Netex24, Tokentrust Holdings, Bitpapa, and Crypto Explorer are among the newly-designated entities.

According to OFAC, the listed entities developed or operated blockchain services in Russia. It alleges that Netex24 and Bitpapa used crypto to transact with sanctioned banks, crypto exchanges, and darknet markets.

Separately, Chainalysis released a blog elaborating on the sanctioned entities activities. Per the report, Netex24 and Bitpapa allegedly facilitated transactions for several pro-Russian militia and propaganda groups. These include an OFAC-designated militia group called MOO Veche.

Per Chainalysis, the entities operate in regions like Donetsk, Luhansk, or Crimea in Ukraine.

US Government Escalates Scrutiny on Crypto Activities



The OFACs latest move follows the US governments intense focus on the crypto space in the past two years. It has sanctioned crypto traders who assisted North Koreas Lazarus Group in converting millions of dollars worth of crypto into fiat currency.

Additionally, in January, OFAC imposed a fifth round of sanctions on networks associated with Palestinian militant group Hamas. This action was a response to Hamas attacks on Israel that occurred in October last year.
Gardai are directing traffic off the M50 southbound at J12 Firhouse as emergency services deal with the fire.

Commuters on Dublins M50 face very heavy delays after a car caught fire on the motorway this morning.

The incident was reported just before 9am on the M50 between J12 - Firhouse and J13 - Dundrum.

Gardai are directing traffic off the M50 southbound at J12 Firhouse as emergency services deal with the fire. Multiple lanes are blocked, including the auxilary lane and hard shoulder and Lane 1 and Lane 2.

Drivers should expect very heavy delays on approach and are being asked to avoid the area.

Dublin Fire Brigade said: We're currently attending a vehicle fire on @M50Dublin J12 Firhouse Southbound. Traffic restrictions in place.

More to follow
The Dublin man can be seen talking to a reporter who is recording footage of Ukrainian forces in a bunker near the city of Avdiivka.

Dublin teen (left) operates drone on the frontline in Ukraine

A 19-year-old Dubliner has set a new record by destroying six Russian artillery guns while operating a drone near the frontline in Ukraine, reports have claimed.

Footage of the teenager conducting the drone strikes was posted on the well-known Ukrainian YouTube channel, Butusov Plus.

The Dublin man can be seen talking to a reporter who is recording footage of Ukrainian forces in a basement near the city of Avdiivka.

Avdiivka, a city in the Donetsk Oblast in Ukraine, and the surrounding area has been the focus of intense fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces in recent months.

The teenager is praised after setting a record by destroying six Russian D-20 and D-30 guns in a single day with an FPV (First Person View) drone in one day.

In the interview, the teen tells how he is an Irish citizen who was raised in Dublin and has Ukrainian parents.

He describes how he volunteered to fight with Ukrainian defence forces after turning 18-years-old.

He first joined the International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine, and later signed a contract with the 3rd Assault Brigade.

Despite being raised in Dublin, the interviewer describes how he speaks good Ukrainian due to his parents.

The units commander describes how the Irishman demonstrates excellent results in destroying Russian troops.

At the end of the interview, the Dublin volunteer is handed a service weapon - a new Glock-17 pistol  by his commander as a reward for his efforts.

The interview is carried on the popular Butusov Plus YouTube channel which has more than one million followers and reports extensively from the Ukrainian frontlines.

The 19-year-old Dubliner in Ukraine

The channel is operated by Ukrainian reporter Yuri Butusov who is one of the countrys best-known journalists.

He describes how he he did not expect to be able to record the record drone strike.

I left to shoot an ordinary everyday job, and it so happened that this day became a record.

"...hard risky work in a shaky and cold basement near the very front line.

"Unfortunately, I will not be able to show any details of where exactly we were, I can say that more than two dozen anti-aircraft missiles and shells flew over our location all day.

"But the FPV (First Person View) calculation acted cautiously, attentively, and the enemy failed to notice us.
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.
The department described the collapse as a mass-casualty incident and said workers were searching for seven people.

Watch: 3km bridge collapses after it was hit by ship in US

Up to 20 people are reportedly in the water after a bridge collapsed in Baltimore in the USA and vehicles plunged into the river early on Tuesday morning.

Baltimore's 1.6-mile (2.57 km) Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed after a ship collided into a support pylon, officials said, and rescuers were searching the water for survivors. A live video posted on YouTube showed the ship ploughing into the bridge in darkness.

The headlights of vehicles could be seen on the bridge as huge spans collapsed into the Patapsco River and the ship caught fire. Reuters could not immediately verify the videos.

Up to 20 people were in the water, AFP said, citing the fire department. The Baltimore City Fire Department could not be reached immediately to confirm the number.

The department described the collapse as a mass-casualty incident and said workers were searching for seven people.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, US, collapses in this still from a video

"We received several 911 calls at around 1:30 am, that a vessel struck the Key Bridge in Baltimore, causing the collapse. This is currently a mass casualty incident and we are searching for seven people who are in the river," Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore Fire Department told Reuters.

Baltimore police said they had been notified of the incident at 1:35 am ET (535 GMT) on Tuesday.

The Associated Press reported that multiple vehicles had fallen into the water.

Ship tracking data from LSEG shows a Singapore-flagged container ship, the Dali, at the location along the Key Bridge where the accident occurred. The registered owner of the ship is Grace Ocean Pte Ltd and the manager is Synergy Marine Group, LSEG data show. Synergy Marine Corp said that the Dali collided with one of the pillars of the bridge and that all its crew members, including the two pilots, had been accounted for and there were no reports of any injuries.

Reuters could not immediately reach Grace Ocean for comment.

"All lanes closed both directions for incident on I-695 Key Bridge. Traffic is being detoured," Maryland Transportation Authority said in a post on X.

It was not immediately clear if the Baltimore port operations were impacted due to the bridge collapse.

The port's private and public terminals handled 847,158 autos and light trucks in 2023, the most of any US port. The port also handles farm and construction machinery, sugar, gypsum and coal, according to a Maryland government website.

The Baltimore port did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.

"I'm aware of and en route to the incident at the Key Bridge... Emergency personnel are on scene, and efforts are underway," Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott on X. The bridge, named after Francis Scott Key, opened in 1977.
Around 1.30am, a large vessel crashed into the bridge, catching on fire before sinking and causing multiple vehicles to fall into the water below, according to a video posted on social media.

3km bridge collapses after it was hit by ship in US

A portion of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the city of Baltimore, US, collapsed after a large boat collided with it early on Tuesday morning, and multiple vehicles fell into the water.

Around 1.30am, a large vessel crashed into the bridge, catching on fire before sinking and causing multiple vehicles to fall into the water below, according to a video posted on social media.

All lanes closed both directions for incident on I-695 Key Bridge. Traffic is being detoured, the Maryland Transportation Authority posted on X.

Emergency personnel are on scene, and efforts are underway, Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott posted on X.

Emergency responders were searching for at least seven people believed to be in the water, Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore Fire Department, told The Associated Press around 3am.

He said agencies received 911 calls around 1:30 a.m. reporting a vessel traveling outbound from Baltimore that had struck a column on the bridge, causing it to collapse. Multiple vehicles were on the bridge at the time, including one the size of a tractor-trailer.

Our focus right now is trying to rescue and recover these people, Cartwright said. He said its too early to know how many people were affected but called the collapse a developing mass casualty event.

Cartwright said it appears there are some cargo or retainers hanging from the bridge, creating unsafe and unstable conditions, and that emergency responders are operating cautiously as a result.

This is a dire emergency, he said.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge opened in 1977.

More to follow...
The Royal New Zealand Air Force will embrace its history and future at this years Warbirds Over Wanaka, with the air show being the final southern public outing for the retiring C-130H (NZ) Hercules transport aircraft.

The RNZAF has been wowing aircraft enthusiasts across Central Otago skies for 36 years at Wanaka warbirds airshows, and this Easter theyre back to delight.

Every current RNZAF aircraft type will be seen at Warbirds Over Wanaka, subject to availability. Some will carry out flying displays, while others will be on static display for the public to get up close. Some will be working to provide transport support to the biennial event.

The Air Force Heritage Flight will also be at Wanaka, including a recently restored P-51 Mustang in its first public flying display.

A new RNZAF P-8A Poseidon will also be seen in action for the first time, demonstrating a simulated raft drop with a low pass down the airfield.

Every RNZAF type, subject to availability, should be on display at this years Wanaka air show.

It will be the final air show for the retiring fleet of No. 40 Squadron C-130H (NZ) Hercules, and they will be celebrating the iconic aircraft with a Formation Thunder flypast, a handling display, Kiwi Blue parachute display and a lakefront flare drop that promises to be spectacular.

Events such as Warbirds Over Wanaka provide an opportunity for the RNZAF to display its aircraft capability, showing how it can support the people of New Zealand, says Chief of Air Force, Air Vice-Marshal Darryn Webb.

Domestic air shows and display activities enable the RNZAF to inspire, educate and engage with the communities it serves. Not only do they allow for the demonstration of skills and capabilities of the RNZAF, they also support the preservation of the RNZAFs history.

No. 14 Squadron aerobatic display team, the Black Falcons, remains a cornerstone of the weekend with the Beechcraft T-6C Texan II aircraft, and helicopter enthusiasts can enjoy a No. 3 Squadron A109 two-ship handling display, before they team up with a No. 6 Squadron SH-2G (1) Seasprite helicopter and No. 3 Squadron NH90 for a combined winch display.

Aerobatic display team, the Black Falcons, will be the RNZAFs cornerstone of the weekend.

Squadron Leader Jim Rankin is the RNZAF Air Display Director and has been to every Warbirds event bar one, as both the military Display Director and Civil Display Director.

The air show was about more than celebrating aircraft in the air, he says.

The role demonstrations and handling displays are a chance to practise and sharpen the flying skills required to operate our aircraft across the range of outputs we deliver for the New Zealand Government.

Whenever an aircraft gets airborne though, it requires more than just our aircrew to operate them  it requires technical staff to maintain the airframes, working alongside logisticians, refuellers, security forces and firefighters. Everyone has a part to play in delivering our military air operations.

The Warbirds Over Wanaka air show is held from Friday 29 March to Sunday 31 March at Wanaka Airport.
A portrait of a Maori man by renowned New Zealand artist Vera Cummings has sold at auction in Lichfield for 1800 - $3800NZD.

The oil painting had been tucked away in a drawer for the past six decades and was recently put up for auction in Richard Winterton Auctioneers Antiques & Home Sale on March 11.

Vera's esteemed paintings were among the first to focus on Maori people.

The portrait sold by Richard Winterton Auctioneers is set to return to New Zealand after being won by an online bidder there, who fought off competition from Australia to secure the lot.

The 20cm by 15cm signed oil on canvas depicts a man with traditional Maori Ta Moko face tattoos wearing a hei-tiki pendant and, although undated, was probably painted in the 1930s or 1940s.

The canvas, which spent six decades tucked away in a drawer, was consigned for sale at The Lichfield Auction Centre, Staffordshire, UK, following a valuation in person after an initial enquiry via email.

David Fergus from Richard Winterton Auctioneers with the portrait by Vera Cummings.

Vera (Veronica) Cummings was a New Zealand painter and student of renowned portrait artist CF Goldie.

Born in Thames  a small town on New Zealands North Island  in 1891 to parents of Scottish and Irish descent, the family later moved to Hamilton, Tauranga and Auckland.

Something of a prodigy, at the age of 11 Cummings was one of the youngest students to receive a scholarship to attend Elam School of Fine Arts and studied under Goldie.

After graduation, she continued to paint alongside Goldie and frequently depicted the same people, often elderly Maori from a hostel near the Aukland suburb of Parnell.

Vera herself lived in Parnell near Judges Bay and died in Auckland in 1949, aged 58.

Her paintings continue to sell well at auction; her work Portrait of a Maori Woman is part of the collection of the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki.
Consumer NZ is warning New Zealanders to be wary of supermarket loyalty schemes, with recent research showing yet again they dont always offer the most competitive price.

Consumer compared products marked with loyalty discounts at Woolworths and New World stores with prices for the same products at PaknSave (which does not require customers to be members to get cheaper prices).

They found some products marked as loyalty specials could be purchased for a cheaper price elsewhere.

We question the value of supermarket loyalty cards, says Consumer head of research and advocacy Gemma Rasmussen.

If youre providing your local supermarket with your personal data, purchase history and shopping habits, you should be able to trust that youre getting a great discount in return, says Gemma.

The supermarkets are working very hard to make reward programmes appealing.

The introduction of 'boosted products' at Woolworths really gamifies the shopping experience and encourages people to chase points.

Ultimately what we want to see is fair prices for everyone.

Lacklustre loyalty discounts

This March, Woolworths Everyday Rewards members in Kapiti paid $14 for a 4kg box of Fab Laundry Detergent.

The same product could have been purchased at PaknSave Kapiti for $10.99.

That same week in Porirua, Consumer found a 180g block of Cadbury Dream Chocolate was $4 for Woolworths Everyday Rewards members and $3.99 for New World customers.

But if you went to the local PaknSave it was a bargain $2.50. Woolworths shoppers without a membership paid a premium price of $5.

Back in Kapiti, a 750ml bottle of Powerade was $3 for Everyday Rewards members and $3.49 for New World Clubcard holders. Yet Kapiti PaknSave customers could get the same product for $2.69.

A 2kg container of Finish Dishwasher Powder was priced at $12 for Everyday Reward members, and $13.99 for Clubcard members. But again, PaknSave beat those member prices, with the product selling for $9.99.

Holding you loyal

Supermarkets aim to keep shoppers loyal, and with financial stress around food at a national high,

Consumer's research indicates people are more susceptible to a deal.

It's very hard to tell instore or online whether deals are genuine.

"We think two-tier pricing in supermarkets ramps up the pressure on shoppers to sign up to loyalty schemes.

As an example, a block of butter on display at Woolworths recently had a 40% price difference, offered at $4.60 for members or $7.69 for non-members.

Paying that much more for a product can be hard to stomach, so the temptation to hand over your data is understandable.

Gemma says data collection is big business and one of the main drivers for supermarkets in offering loyalty schemes.

The variance in pricing offered to loyalty card holders is a good reminder of how valuable information about your shopping habits, purchase history and demographic data must be to the supermarkets that collect it.

Beware of the loyalty lure

If you can, we encourage you to shop around and don't trust that a loyalty price equals the best price, says Gemma.

Using an app like Grocer is the best way to ensure youre paying the cheapest price in your suburb or region.

We understand not everyone has access to multiple supermarkets, but if finding the best price is your priority, remember - loyalty cards dont always reward your loyalty.
A new public transport system trial is underway in Tauranga.

The new Baybus OnDemand service, launched by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, is set to run up to 18 months in the city.

Baybus OnDemand in Tauranga South is a corner-to-corner rideshare service featuring a fleet of electric minivans.

The council says these smaller vehicles will provide flexible connections between local destinations and link passengers to the wider Baybus network, adapting in real-time to customer needs.

The new service will be operating within Tauranga South including Gate Pa, Greerton, Parkvale, Pyes Pa, Tauriko and The Lakes.

It will be available daily from 6am to 7pm, excluding Good Friday and Christmas Day.

People can book via a dedicated app, Baybus OnDemand, calling 0800 4 BAYBUS (0800 4 229 287) or in person at a participating Book on Behalf organisation or business.

The standard fare is $3.40 per trip, reduced to $2.72 with a Bee Card which adheres to the current Baybus fare structure.

Baybus concessions and transfers are available, and payment can be made via app with a credit/debit card or by a Bee Card.

Our OnDemand vans don't follow set routes," says BOPRC Public Transport Director Mike Seabourne.

"Instead, they take the most efficient path to your destination, considering the needs of all passengers onboard."

Mike says this approach ensures less waiting time and a more direct journey, enhancing the overall passenger experience.

Baybus OnDemand is perfect for our senior residents and families. It means hassle-free trips to essential services like Grace Hospital or places of worship.

"Families will appreciate the ease of errands to Tauranga Crossing, shopping in Fraser Cove or getting to after school activities. OnDemand is about freedom and convenience - taking you where you need to go, when you need to be there.

This service represents a new era of public transport - adaptable, efficient, and eco-friendly.

Mercury is sponsoring the trial, which includes providing electric chargers for the fleet, which comprises four eight-seater electric minivans and one five-seater equipped with ramps and a wheelchair hoist.

Council says this support, as well as funding from NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi, technology from Via and experienced operator Ritchies, played a crucial role in bringing the vision to life.

Renewable electricity is New Zealands competitive advantage," says Mercury spokesperson Lucie Drummond.

"Were excited to play a role in supporting New Zealands energy transition, including by making e.transport more accessible for communities through initiatives like this.

The council says as they introduce Baybus OnDemand, the Route 51 bus service from Pyes Pa to Tauranga Crossing will be removed from Taurangas urban Baybus network.

"We plan to monitor use closely, but at this stage, we are not proposing to make changes to other urban routes or school bus services. Our goal is to complement fixed public transport routes, aiming to increase overall patronage and efficiency."

For more details or to start using Baybus OnDemand

Visit baybus.co.nz/ondemand

Baybus OnDemand app is available for download from your preferred app store.

The service started from Monday March 25.

About the Baybus OnDemand trial

The trial, which is set to run for up to 18 months in Tauranga South, will explore the effectiveness of on-demand services in complementing or replacing traditional bus routes, with a focus on improving public transport's reach, efficiency, and user satisfaction.
Alberto Flores Granada Tuesday, 26 March 2024, 15:03 Compartir Copiar enlace

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The city of Granada is full of bars offering a multitude of different tapas options. However, what is unusual about La Taberna de Nico y Alexandra in Calle Gonzalo Gallas is that instead of ordering a traditional edible tapa with a drink, customers can choose another beer. The bar is now proving to be a hit with young people looking for a free drink.

The bar first opened in 2015 in a small premises of about 40 m and after a while it moved to a much larger one, with around 200m, where it remains today. "At the beginning we didn't serve tapas because we wanted to be different, but when we came to Calle Gonzalo Gallas where everyone else serves them we decided that we were going to do it too", Cristobal Cordoba, co-owner of the business together with Alejandra Artiles, explained to SUR's sister newspaper Ideal.

At their current location they added a tapas menu to offer this snack in the mornings. However, aware that not everyone went to their bar to eat, they thought it might be a good idea to include an extra drink as a tapa instead. "We decided to put a beer as a tapa for those who didn't feel like eating more," said the owner of the establishment.

"You order a drink and you can have another drink. You can even order one for yourself and one for your companion"

"You order a drink and you can have another drink. You can even order one for yourself and one for your companion". The price in this case will be the same as a drink with a food tapa: three euros. As for how people react when they see this beer tapa option Cristobal says that many customers ask him because "they don't quite believe it". But he added that they like the idea and revealed, "The truth is that it's very popular."

Cristobal explained that they are always busy and never stop: "To speed up the service we don't serve at the table, people have to come to the bar because we are always practically full". And although there are no queues, because of the size of the bar, finding a free table can be difficult.
South Middleton School Board last week voted to remove the web address of a social justice website from a strategic planning document that outlines how district counseling services intend to address student needs.

Board members voted 7-2 to remove teachingtolerance.org as a resource from curriculum action plans for the first and second grades under a broader document known as the K-12 School Guidance 339 Plan.

Brad Group and Shannon Snyder voted against the motion to amend the plan to remove the address. A follow-up motion to approve the amended plan passed unanimously.

Board approval was necessary last week so that district administrators could submit the 339 Plan to the Pennsylvania Department of Education by the end of the month. The removal of the web address was the only change.

The address was included as a resource for counseling services curriculum tied to the topic of Differences. Other topics covered in first grade include expected behaviors/problem solving, self-talk/mindfulness and friendship/kindness. Topics in second grade include perseverance/growth, teamwork/sportsmanship and tattling versus reporting.

A red flag

Board member Eric Berry made the motion to remove the address, saying the website redirects the web browser to the website learningforjustice.org.

I believe this organization is ideologically activist in nature, Berry said before reading the following quote from someone who endorses use of the website: Learning for Justice provides me with the means to promote social justice, challenge bias and engage students in discussions about diversity that would perhaps not happen otherwise.

Considering [that] they do have an activist bent, that raises a red flag on anything they would be recommending, Berry said. I dont think that we should be going to an organization like that. I dont think we should be going to them to look for resources and curriculum.

You can look at lesson plans there, he said. You can even order posters. Im sure no one would object to a poster of Martin Luther King [Jr.]. They also have posters for Black Lives Matter and Jazz Jennings as well.

Jennings is a major voice for members of the LGBTQ community, particularly those identifying as transgender, according to Rutgers Universitys Center for Youth Political Participation.

Berry also referenced the book All Families Are Different, which is listed as a resource for Differences under the first-grade action plan. I wouldnt say offhand that the book is objectionable, he said. I dont know.

He asked district administrators to clarify how the book is used to address the topic. Director of Student Services Alex Smith said both the book and the web address were carried over as resources from a 339 Plan approved in 2019.

There are times when school counselors need to work with students if they dont feel like they belong, Smith said. The goal is not to separate.

Instead, counselors try to have each student recognize their differences in the context that the common bond students share is the school district, the teachers and staff and the support system thats in place to help all district students, Smith said. The listed resources form the underpinnings for individual and small group counseling sessions involving students who feel they dont belong, he said.

Berry said his problem is not with the book, but the website.

Plan amendment

It would be nice if there was a way to say dont look to this place for curriculum items, Berry said. Im sure they have some stuff thats perfectly fine, but we dont want stuff coming in from them that we dont want. Id like to know how exactly we could proceed, because Im not going to vote no on everything here [in the 339 Plan] because of this one thing. Is there a way that something could be removed or reviewed?

Board member Rodney Wagner suggested the board amend the 339 Plan to remove the website. Berry followed through with the motion.

Prior to the vote, Snyder commented on the website. A nationally certified counselor, Snyder has 20 years of experience as a mental health therapist, victim advocate and group facilitator.

I personally use this website in my work, Snyder said. There are parts of it I wouldnt use, but there are other resources that are very applicable to certain situations. I trust our guidance counselors judgment in making those appropriate choices.

The administration has worked hard to put into place protocols on how resources are used to meet student needs, she said. There comes a point where we have to give a little bit of leeway to let our teachers, our staff, our administration, our guidance counselors do their job to support students. Were monitoring it. Thats the best that we can do.

Though he voted against the motion to amend the plan, Group did not comment during the meeting on the rationale for his vote. Currently the board president, Group retired from the district after 35 years as a second-grade teacher.

Further review?

Prior to the vote, Wagner asked whether the 339 Plan could be modified if administrators could identify an alternative website.

Absolutely, Superintendent Kevin J. ODonnell Jr. said. This isnt set in stone. We could come back and make modifications and adjustments. We can continue to work with the curriculum committee to have conversations around what were using.

ODonnell said he accepts, understands and owns the fact that his administration could have undertaken a detailed vetting of the website prior to including it on the 339 Plan. Its tough to say how every resource is going to be used while providing services to individual students with individual needs, he said.

The website

Resident Carol Yanity thanked Snyder and Group for their opposition to the motion to remove the website.

By voting no, you were showing the counselors and the administrators who created the plan the belief in them, in their jobs, Yanity said. They are educators. They have gone to school. They know what the requirements are.

Yanity said the Learning for Justice website includes curriculum materials and resources sorted by topic with links from the homepage. Educators can choose from eight categories: Race & Ethnicity, Religion, Ability, Class, Immigration, Gender & Sexual Identity, Bullying & Bias and Rights & Activism, Yanity said.

From the homepage, browsers can access background on the organization: Learning for Justice seeks to uphold the mission of the Southern Poverty Law Center: to be a catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond, working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements and advance the human rights of all people, according to the website.

To accomplish its mission, Learning for Justice works with educators, students, caregivers and communities in such focus areas as Culture and Climate, Curriculum and Instruction, Leadership and Family and Community Engagement.

Since our founding as Teaching Tolerance in 1991, we have had a strong foundation of providing educational resources, the description reads. Free resources offered on the website include articles, lesson plans, films and webinars along with information on conferences, workshops and school and community partnerships.
Javier Almellones Casabermeja Tuesday, 26 March 2024 | Updated 28/03/2024 09:07h. Compartir Copiar enlace

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First thing in the morning, La Huerta is especially busy. Located near the centre of Casabermeja in the province of Malaga and close to the main road, hundreds of workers stop at the restaurant every day for breakfast. They are spoilt for choice, like in many bars in the area, but only here will you find a sandwich that was once created by a regular customer who worked in the industrial estate just opposite the restaurant.

That was more than ten years ago, according to Pepi Flores, the cook at La Huerta. The customer in question, Juan, "ordered it like that and that's how it remained, because many others started to order the same", said the co-owner of this restaurant, which has been recognised on several occasions for its commitment to traditional cuisine and especially for its promotion of 'chivo lechal malagueno' (Malaga suckling kid), the first goat meat with a quality seal that is recognised throughout Spain.

Over time the sandwich was given the name Juanito; its main ingredients are 'lomo en manteca' - marinated pork loin that has been cooked and preserved in lard - and a two-egg omelette. To this, you spread blended tomato on the bottom half and a light layer of mayonnaise on the top. Of all these ingredients, the first is the most highly valued: 'lomo de manteca' is made twice a week, in the traditional way, but with the cook's personal touch.

The Juanito's main ingredients include homemade 'lomo en manteca' and tortilla.

The quality of the bread is also important. Like other sandwiches, the Juanito can be ordered in different sizes, such as 'pitufos' (the smallest), 'vienas' or 'molletes'. All of these are made in Casabermeja's top bakery, Nuestra Senora del Socorro, located just a few metres from the village church.

The quality ingredients and amount of choice when it comes to this sandwich makes it one of the most popular breakfasts ordered by the regulars at La Huerta. "Those who order it, don't stop," said Pepi Flores.

The price of the sandwich with a cup of coffee is 4.50 euros.

Ordering a Juanito at La Huerta, with coffee included, can cost between 3.50 euros for the smallest sized sandwich, the 'pitufo', and 4.50 euros for the 'mollete' or the 'viena' - excellent value for money, considering its ingredients and customer satisfaction.

La Huerta is, however, known for more than the variety and quality of its breakfasts: the restaurant is especially known for its lunch menu, and has a long history of serving the traditional recipes of Casabermeja and the rest of the province.

The establishment is also a member of the Carta Malacitana, a non-profit association which promotes Malaga food culture, and has recently received an award from the Gastronomic Academy of Malaga. La Huerta has, moreover, won other accolades such as the Tapa de la Cabra Malaguena, a goat meat dish contest held every September.
SUR Rincon de la Victoria Tuesday, 26 March 2024, 11:06 Compartir Copiar enlace

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Rincon de la Victoria town hall on the eastern stretch of the Costa del Sol has handed out special authorisation to six people responsible for looking after the towns 37 registered cat colonies.

The councillor for the area Lola Ramos said that the initiative has so far provided six people with the cards who are officially authorised to feed the cats. Mayor of Rincon de la Victoria Francisco Salado highlighted "the important work being don to comply with animal welfare regulations".

The town hall has held a number of courses through which fifty people have been trained to manage the cat colonies and feed the cats. Those who successfully complete a questionnaire at the end of the course are issued the card.

Rincon de la Victoria councillor Lola Ramos hands one of the authorisation cards to a volunteer. SUR

We are already organising courses to expand the network of collaborating volunteers," said Ramos, adding that the town hall and the volunteers aim to neuter 90 per cent of the cats in each colony.

Finally Ramos pointed out that only those volunteers who have town hall authorisation are allowed to feed colony cats. Anyone caught feeding them without the correct authorisation could face fines of between 75 and 500 euros.
Eugenio Cabezas Torrox Tuesday, 26 March 2024, 14:28 Compartir Copiar enlace

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The towns of Torrox and Nerja on the eastern stretch of the Costa del Sol are neighbouring towns with many historical, family and economic ties. Together with Frigiliana, they form a tourist and agricultural triangle unparalleled in Malaga province. However, in terms of population, the municipality that is experiencing the greatest growth out of the three is Torrox.

One of the main factors is the increased supply of property available. In fact, several thousand people originally from Nerja have moved to Torrox because property prices are much lower, in a similar phenomenon to what is happening in Malaga city and towns on its periphery including Torremolinos, Rincon de la Victoria and Alhaurin de la Torre.

Torrox is now close to 22,000 registered inhabitants according to the provisional updated data of Spain's INE national statistics institute and the municipal census. Nerja surpassed the 22,000 inhabitants registered on 1 January 2024 with a total of 22,176 people on the town hall 'padron', although this is a provisional figure which has to be ratified by the INE.

Provisional data

The figure represents an increase in relation to that of 2022, which was 21,913 inhabitants. The final figure for Nerja's population census will be official once it has been approved by Spains central government and published in the Official State Bulletin (BOE). A statement from Nerja town hall read, Since 2014 the number of inhabitants in the town has been increasing almost every year".

The demographic data provided for Torrox is also provisional, but also shows a growth and means that the town is now eligible for more funding. Mayor of Torrox Oscar Medina said on Monday 25 March that the figure shows for the third consecutive year the growth of the major tourist destinations on the Costa del Sol.

According to data provided by Medina, in January 2015 Torrox had just over 15,000 inhabitants, while in January of this year it had reached almost 22,000 inhabitants. He said that the figures showed extraordinary growth achieved" during the time he has been mayor and that if the growth continues, within one or two years we will be the most important municipality in our judicial district, which includes Torrox, Nerja, Frigiliana, Competa, Sayalonga, Algarrobo, Archez and Canillas de Albaida.

In January this newspaper reported that Torrox town hall had received 31,573,384 euros extra in this years budget having exceeded the 20,000 inhabitants quota, meaning that it is now considered a large town. It is an increase of 18 per cent compared to 2023.
Police free 29 women held against their will in three Guadalhorce valley 'hostess clubs' During raids on seven business premises and private addresses, National Police officers arrested 37 people for their alleged involvement in the sexual exploitation and trafficking ring

Irene Quirante Malaga Tuesday, 26 March 2024, 09:35 Compartir Copiar enlace

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National Police officers have freed 29 women who fell into an alleged sex trafficking scheme and were forced to work against their will in three 'hostess clubs' in the Guadalhorce valley area of Malaga province.

The victims were subjected to strict control and totally abusive conditions, according to sources close to the investigation. Police arrested 37 people during the raids, with four of them remanded in custody.

The police operation started in March 2022, when officers became aware of a criminal network that was allegedly recruiting women with the aim of exploiting them for sex work. Most of them were young women of Latin American origin, although some were older ranging up to 50 years. The alleged gang offered them prostitution as a temporary way to earn money.

But the victims were barely able to leave the premises. Any departure could be penalised if it was not communicated beforehand, or if it was longer than an agreed time. The women were subject to rigorous fines and were unable to refuse to have sex with a man, as long as he wanted to pay them, according to police investigators.

The members of the alleged criminal organisation sought to isolate the victims. If they perceived the women were becoming friends with each other, they would quickly relocate them to another of the three brothels. The same happened if they found the women were starting to build a rapport with a regular client. In addition to sex work, they were also forced to sell MDMA and cocaine, according to investigators.

CNP

Among the 37 people arrested are alleged managers, accounting and management staff of the three clubs, as well as a wide network of collaborators and consorts. In mid-January, police carried out seven searches in brothels and in the homes of the main investigated persons. These were carried out in Alhaurin de la Torre, Alhaurin el Grande, Coin, Pizarra and Malaga city. Police seized 261,670 euros in cash, 30 grams of MDMA, 15 grams of cocaine and 114 doses of sexual enhancers were seized.

Officers also seized five luxury vehicles and a wallet of cryptocurrencies worth 100,000 euros. Police also blocked bank accounts and properties of the suspects worth around two and half million euros. Part of this money came from the alleged criminal network which, according to investigators, was used to then commit fraud against public coffers, in some cases without paying the social security contributions of the workers in the brothels. It is suspected the debt owed to Social Security amounts to around one million euros.
Almudena Nogues Malaga Tuesday, 26 March 2024, 13:02 Compartir Copiar enlace

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Carrefour's mystery trolleys have rolled into Malaga city. Their main attraction? Its price: 9.99 euros. The content inside the trolley is one fifth, according to the supermarket chain, of its actual value (which is 50 euros). In exchange, however, the customer buys blind, without knowing what is inside.

After launching the initiative in Madrid and Seville, Carrefour has decided to extend it to other parts of Spain, including Malaga. Today, this Holy Tuesday, Carrefour Rosaleda will become the first supermarket of the chain to launch the promotional campaign in the province.

As Carrefour pointed out on its Instagram account, from 9am onwards, ten surprise food trolleys would be offered at a fixed price of 9.99 euros. The company launched a poll on its social media accounts so customers could choose the store where the next mystery trolley campaigns would take place. The winner was Carrefour Rosaleda.

As the French retail group pointed out, it is a shopping concept that is "as surprising as it is original". It will be limited to one day with a maximum of one trolley per customer up for grabs. "The company has taken the utmost care with the items that make up these surprise trolleys in order to guarantee the satisfaction of its customers and meet their expectations," it added.

Carrefour is aiming to help customers make savings, who can also currently benefit from permanent price cuts on some 500 products.
Pilar Martinez Malaga Tuesday, 26 March 2024, 17:13 Compartir Copiar enlace

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Malaga is stepping up its presence in Asia, the Middle East and US in a bid to attract top-end tourists. Over the next three months tourism officials will take part in six promotional campaigns which will highlight the best of Malaga city and the Costa del Sol. Malaga council's tourism department said they will be attending a series of events to help market Spanish tourism in different parts of the world, organised by Turespana.

Monterey and California in the USA will mark the start of the campaign from 15 to 18 April. That will be followed by Abu Dhabi, in the Persian Gulf, from 2 to 5 May. The campaign officially started in March when tourism officials from Malaga city promoted the destination in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan earlier in the month.

In May, officials will visit the Arabian Travel Market, from 6 to 9 May in Dubai and then from 9 to 12 May, the Malaga delegation will land at the Seoul International Tourism Fair (Sitf) in South Korea. From 13 to 16 May, officials will then take part in the Middle-East Road Show, an itinerary to promote the city that will take place in Doha, Riyadh, Manama (Bahrain) and Abu Dhabi.
Jesus Hinojosa Malaga Tuesday, 26 March 2024, 16:56 Compartir Copiar enlace

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The Bishopric of Malaga is demanding explanations after popular cooking show MasterChef filmed segments with the Estudiantes and La Paloma brotherhoods in the city

According to sources, the diocese called a meeting on Monday with the elder brother of Estudiantes, Jorge Alcantara, to discuss the controversy after camera crews filmed against the backdrop of sacred images of the two brotherhoods already on their processional floats.

In the case of Estudiantes, the recording took place outside the brotherhood premises, in Calle Alcazabilla, although the doors of the building were open. However, in the case of La Paloma, the cooking show contestants were filmed inside the brotherhood building in Plaza de San Francisco.

However, sources from the Cofradia de la Paloma told SUR they have not yet been summoned by the diocese, which has declined to make any statement on the matter. SUR has also tried unsuccessfully to contact the eldest brother of Estudiantes after the meeting with the Bishopric on 25 March - a meeting in which, according to sources, the diocesan delegate for brotherhoods Salvador Guerrero attended.

Related news Television MasterChef films in Malaga for Semana Santa special Francisco Grinan

After SUR reported on the recording of the MasterChef programme dedicated to Holy Week in Malaga last Wednesday 20 March, comments were made on social media against the filming which was done with the sacred images of the brotherhoods as a backdrop. However, according to sources, the programme's production company assured the images of Christ and the Virgin would not be taken close-up and that the brotherhoods would be shown what was to be broadcast on TVE's La 1, possibly in June, so they could give their approval.

Cathedral

SUR can also confirm another of the recordings of the MasterChef episode took place in Plaza del Obispo, with the facade of the Cathedral as a backdrop. The filming took place outside the atrium of the church, in the square, although the Cathedral Chapter facilitated the work of the production company, opening the grille of the atrium so a shot of the square could be taken from a higher level.

SUR has learned that initially the production company of MasterChef, which has declined to comment on the controversy, contacted the Arch confraternity of Esperanza and the Congregation of Mena to carry out the filming. However, they ruled out Mena because the images were not yet in place on the thrones for the day of filming, and Esperanza refused to host the programme. So they looked for alternative locations.
Eugenio Cabezas Malaga Tuesday, 26 March 2024, 17:07 Compartir Copiar enlace

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An ambitious project to create a new network of coastal and river cruises locations deemed sustainable nautical destinations in Spain (RED CCF) aims to further bolster cruise tourism along the Andalusian coastline.

The Andalusian Maritime-Marine Cluster (CMMA) presented a sustainable nautical destination study of the western Alboran sea. The meeting, held at the group's headquarters in Malaga city is part of the project to form the new network, which is funded by the European Union. The study identifies the western Alboran sea as an ideal destination for sustainable coastal cruise routes, which highlight culture and respect for the environment.

The presentation of the document attracted more than 30 nautical and tourism operators, including ship owners, hotel managers, leisure and tourism service companies, and marina managers, all linked to the so-called 'blue economy'.

Coastal cruises, defined within the framework of the CCF Network, are experiences that combine sailing with stopovers at cultural hotspots. The aim is to connect cruise ship tourists with the destination, but beyond the port. The study catalogued the resources of 19 coastal municipalities in the provinces of Granada, Malaga and Cadiz, including marinas and cultural heritage sites.

The project not only promotes sustainable tourism, but also boosts the economic and social development of the region, integrating technology and innovation for a more enriching representation of the cultural heritage, according to the network.

19 selected municipalities

The study proposes a detailed strategy to develop a route both at sea and through land. The implementation phase of the CCF Network, which includes workshops and the participation of different nautical and tourism operators, starts now, promising to "revolutionise the way nautical tourism is experienced in the area".

The idea is that the area between Almunecar (Granada), San Roque (Cadiz) and Ceuta, passing through the Costa del Sol, will play host to sustainable coastal and river cruises. The CCF Network pointed out that the nautical-cultural experience includes at least one stopover where visitors can explore on land.

In total, there are 19 municipalities included in the study: Almunecar, Salobrena and Motril, on the Costa Tropical of Granada; Nerja, Torrox, Velez-Malaga, Algarrobo, Rincon de la Victoria, Malaga, Torremolinos, Benalmadena, Fuengirola, Mijas, Marbella, Estepona, Casares and Manilva on the Costa del Sol, San Roque (Cadiz) and Ceuta. Of the 16 ports, eight have provided the requested data and all of them are above 8.5 points out of 10 as being contenders for possible stopover points.

In these eight ports of call, around 200 easily accessible routes have been counted, 85% of them land-based. In the 19 coastal municipalities studied, 309 heritage sites have been detected, including churches and archaeological sites. In addition, an underwater augmented reality catalogue is proposed for four shipwrecks: the Arroz in Torrox, the Isabella (Benalmadena), the Botones (Marbella) and the Franceses (Ceuta). Visits to these sites could involve diving experiences.
Eugenio Cabezas Tuesday, 26 March 2024, 20:44 Compartir Copiar enlace

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Diego Rodriguez completed his vocational training in electrical and automatic installations at Martin Rivero secondary school in Ronda. Originally from the mountain village of Benarraba, with no more than 450 residents, he was clear at the age of 26 about wanting to live and work in the place where he was born. And he has done just that. From the start of 2022 he has had his own plumbing, electricity and telecommunications company which he has named after the municipality, Instalaciones Benarraba.

In just two years he has completed around 60 projects involving electrical installations, plumbing and telecommunications, primarily in and around the towns and villages of Serrania de Ronda, such as Gaucin, Algatocin, Ronda and Benarraba, among others.

There's a lot of tourist housing, new construction and also renovations. The truth is that I dont stop; I have work planned out for the next two or three months, he said.

Son of a town hall employee, Rodriguez is convinced that people can live and work in small towns. We need the support of the institutions and improved road communications, he pointed out.

When I was studying I had the opportunity to go further away for work, to Malaga or Algeciras, but I decided to stay here, said the young technician. Now he has got involved in the provincial authority's project Metapueblos by hiring a trainee at his company for almost six months. This initiative aims to tackle depopulation in the rural towns and villages of Malaga province.

From Venezuela to Malaga

In this case, the trainee is 45-year-old Rodri Rangel, from Venezuela, who has lived in Spain for the past two years, ever since leaving his country of origin, "fleeing from poverty and misery", he said. Rangel is "very happy" with the work he does under the young business owner from Benarraba, a municipality where the Venezuelan has settled after a brief stay in Alicante. "I'm very grateful to be here in Spain. I have applied for international protection and am waiting to see if they grant me asylum," Rangel said.

Although back in Venezuela he had only worked in telecommunications, particularly in customer service, he is very happy to learn the trades of plumbing and electricity. This a very beautiful area, which has lots of natural resources; it reminds me a little of the place I come from, Tachira, on the border with Colombia, he stated.

A brother in the hotel industry in Marbella

Diego Rodriguez explained that the majority of the work he has done has been in private homes, although he has done a few projects for companies. He has even already installed a photovoltaic solar energy system for self-supply. They are very interesting projects, and there are more and more people going for this type of installation in order to save on the electricity bill, he pointed out.

Fireplace installations, heat pumps, aerothermal systems, air conditioningthe list of projects done or waiting to be completed in the next few months is extensive. Im happy and proud to be able to devote myself to what Ive studied and continue living in my village, Diego Rodriguez said.

His parents, Vicente and Olivia, are very proud of him and also of his 20-year-old brother, Manuel, who has decided to move to San Pedro Alcantara in Marbella, to work in the hotel industry. He is also very happy, although he lives a calmer life back at home, the older of the two brothers pointed out.

If he had to think of a downside to his job, it would be the roads in the area, which are narrow, full of twists and turns, and in many cases, inadequately maintained. Although now were used to it, its true that they are very dangerous, but you must always drive very carefully, Rodriguez added.
Juan Soto Malaga Tuesday, 26 March 2024, 16:40 | Updated 16:54h. Compartir Copiar enlace

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The possible implementation of a tourist tax in Andalucia, has caused uproar among traders in the region. The idea of taxing people to visit the destination - a possibility currently being studied by the Junta regional government - has provoked division and dispute between the different employers' associations representing the sector at a regional level.

It started after a press release was sent out by the employers' association Comercio Andalucia where it said it was in favour of implementing the tax throughout Andalucia. The group, in the media statement, claimed to speak on behalf of all business owners. However, many of them don't share the same view. "We have not even been consulted," some said.

Comercio Andalucia said it believed "there are many myths about the tourist tax that need to be debunked, including the myth that it would make us less competitive with other destinations that do not have it in place". The organisation's position is that visitors do not choose a destination based on a tax, and "you only have to apply common sense to realise that it is not a determining factor".

"They haven't even consulted us", said the president of the Malaga Comercio federation

The employers' association - the press statement continued - said it understands there are other much more important factors that determine the attractiveness of a tourist destination and that are related to the supply of infrastructures and services, the assessment made by other tourists or the cultural, natural, heritage or gastronomic attractions of a destination.

Comercio Andalucia said it is committed to the tourist tax "as a formula to generate income to improve the maintenance of shopping streets in tourist areas, lighting, infrastructure, services or heritage that are caused by the increased influx of visitors at certain times of the year," it added.

But many people throughout Malaga province have an opposing view. Malaga Comercio Federation president Salvador Perez said the press statement failed to capture all of the voices of the business community as they were not aware of it. "There will be things that we agree with more or less, but the real problem is that they have not contacted us to see what we think," he said.

Perez said only the opinions of two or three provinces have been taken into account in the drafting of the press release, and neglected to include the majority. "We are studying all the details and we will send out another statement with our real opinion," he added.

Rodrigo Bocanegra, president of the traders' association Centro Historico CCA, was also taken by surprise. "I thought we were against it," he told SUR. "We can't put more obstacles in the way of tourism."

The introduction of a tax is generating widespread debate. Last week, the tourism sector expressed its opposition as it would "penalise the Andalusian people". Both the president of the Confederation of Businessmen of Malaga, Javier Gonzalez de Lara, and the president of Aehcos and the Malaga Chamber of Commerce, Jose Carlos Escribano, consider the tax inopportune and ineffective.

The idea of the tax was put on the table by the Junta president who called on tourism minister Arturo Bernal to join a meeting between the Andalusian Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FAMP) and the Confederation of Andalusian Businessmen (CEA) in which the Junta will act as a "mediator" to "encourage" both parties to reach an agreement.
 1  2024  :  1918      (),   998 . 1924      5               ,     9 . 1955                   . 1976     Apple.
Eugenio Cabezas / Vanessa Melgar / Alba Tenza Tuesday, 26 March 2024, 13:38 | Updated 14:30h. Compartir Copiar enlace

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After an unusually mild and relatively dry winter, snow has made an appearance this Holy Tuesday morning on the highest peaks of Malaga province. Snowfall was also reported on the A-397 road, which links San Pedro de Alcantara, in Marbella, with the mountain town of Ronda.

The rainfall recorded last night, together with a drop in temperatures due to a polar front that crossed the mainland, resulted in a white blanket of snow, surprising residents in the affected areas. Pico Martin Gil, the highest peak in the Sierra de Libar near Ronda, at an altitude of almost 1,400 metres, received a dusting as seen from Jimera de Libar.

In the eastern part of Malaga province, despite cloud cover snow that rests on the highest peaks, above 1,500 metres in altitude, could be seen early on Tuesday morning. From points such as Nerja town centre, snow is very visible on the peaks of La Navachica, at 1,813 metres above sea level. In the Velez-Malaga area, despite clouds, significant snowfall was visible on La Maroma.

Above, snow on Pico Martin Gil, the highest in the Sierra de Libar, at almost 1,400 meters of altitude, seen fom Jimera de Libar; Below, on the left, the white mantle in La Navachica, seen from Nerja, and in Piedra Sillada. KARL SMALLMAN / EUGENIO CABEZAS

Snowfall has been scarce this winter with barely any recorded in Serrania de Ronda. The last was on 9 March. As weather expert Jose Luis Escudero pointed out on his SUR blog 'Tormentas y Rayos' (Storms and Lightning), this Tuesday will feature a mass of cold air. "As soon as the front passes, we will have strong gusts of wind throughout the province, which will make the temperature feel colder," he said.

The Sierra de las Nieves National Park also received a dusting on its peaks, which can be seen from the Costa del Sol. The white can be seen from the municipalities in the area, as in the Sierra Prieta de Alozaina, as described by the mayor Antonio Perez. Yunquera was also surrounded by snow, with the white stuff recorded on its highest peaks such as Sierra Blanquilla (1,428 metres above sea level) and Sierra Prieta (1,505 metres above sea level).

First snowfall in El Torcal

The Torcal de Antequera natural park registered its first snowfall of the year after more than 12 months. It has not been a particularly abundant snowfall, but it has left the landscape white, according to images shared by the site's visitor centre early this morning. The Antequera region has been influenced by different squalls that have reached Malaga province over the past few days. According to data provided by the Andalusian regional government's Hidrosur network, the accumulated rainfall over the past 24 hours, as of 11am, was 16.4mm in El Torcal de Antequera. There was 6mm recorded in the Laguna de Fuente de Piedra, around 10mm in Archidona and 6.2mm in Bobadilla.

Spain's state weather agency (Aemet) has activated warnings this Tuesday for coastal phenomena, strong winds or snowfall in all Andalusian provinces, except for Seville and Cordoba. In Malaga, the Costa del Sol and Guadalhorce valley area will be under a yellow warning for coastal phenomena from 2pm, with a strong west wind (50 to 60 km/h) and waves of up to two to three metres.
Isabel Mendez Malaga Tuesday, 26 March 2024, 15:42 Compartir Copiar enlace

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Easter is coming and with it the long awaited holidays for many. However, those who will not be able to enjoy so many days of rest will be the workers in the retail sector in Malaga and on the Costa del Sol, as the big stores and shopping centres will be open even on public holidays.

In fact, as was the case last year and the year before, in 2024 the large stores in Malaga will not close on any day, so it will be possible to go shopping during Holy Week from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, both included. In other words, shops will not close on Maundy Thursday or Good Friday.

Therefore, in Malaga city, both the shopping and restaurant areas of the Larios Centro, Malaga Plaza, Rosaleda, Vialia Malaga-Estacion Maria Zambrano, Los Patios, Plaza Mayor and McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Malaga, and Malaga Nostrum shopping centres will be open. It will also be possible to visit large stores such as Carrefour, El Corte Ingles, Ikea, Leroy Merlin, Worten, Conforama, and Verdecora as well as the Muelle Uno stores, which, like all those with a surface area of less than 300 metres, can open on extra days if they consider it appropriate.

In the province, the shopping centres Miramar (Fuengirola), Rincon de la Victoria, Puerto Marina Shopping in Benalmadena, the El Corte Ingles centres in Mijas and Marbella, La Trocha (Coin), La Veronica (Antequera), La Canada (Marbella), El Ingenio (Velez-Malaga) and Centro Comercial CostasolCentro (Torremolinos) are also authorised to open throughout Holy Week.

2024 calendar of approved extra shopping days

In the Andalucia region, the approved calendar in which shops and shopping centres will be allowed open in 2024 is as follows: 28 March, Maundy Thursday; Sunday 30 June; Sunday 7 July; Sunday 28 July; Sunday 4 August; Thursday 15 August (in Malaga city they will also open on Monday 19 despite it being a local holiday); Sunday 1 September; Saturday 12 October (Pilar and Columbus Day); Friday 1 November (All Saints' Day); Sunday 1 December; Friday 6 December (Constitution Day); Monday 9 December, Monday (as Immaculate Conception Day, which falls on a Sunday, has been moved to that day); Sunday 15 December; Sunday 22 December; and Sunday 29 December.

To this list must be added the licences for the municipalities that are declared a Zone of Great Tourist Influence (ZGAT) and which will be authorised to open every Sunday during the summer, until 29 September, as was the case last year. In the case of Malaga, the shopping centres of Marbella, Fuengirola, Estepona, Benalmadena, Torremolinos, Nerja, Rincon de la Victoria, Mijas, Manilva and the Malaga city are in this situation. All of them will also be authorised to raise their shutters for the whole of Holy Week, as was also the case in 2023.
Europa Press Madrid Tuesday, 26 March 2024, 17:54 Compartir Copiar enlace

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Fares for high-speed train travel in Spain are up to 40% cheaper today than when state-owned company Renfe was the sole rail operator in the country, new data shows.

Italian private operator Iryo entered the Spanish market in 2021 and French company Ouigo followed shortly after.

The latest figures from the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) comes amid tensions between new, cheaper operators Ouigo and Iryo, and transport minister Oscar Puente who accused the new competitor's low prices as the reason behind Renfe's "bad results".

The routes where the drop in prices has been the most noticeable are the Madrid-Barcelona and Madrid-Valencia routes with prices 40% cheaper compared to 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic broke out and the first operator to compete with Renfe entered the Spanish market in 2021. Now you can travel between Madrid and Barcelona for 37 euros on average and from the capital to Valencia for 22 euros, according to the CNMC.

Ouigo is the operator offering the cheapest prices to Barcelona (37 euros on average), followed by Iryo (43 euros) and Avlo (Renfe's 'low-cost' service with 44 euros). In the case of Valencia, Ouigo and Avlo are the cheapest (22.5 euros), followed by Iryo (25 euros).

The increased competition has forced the down prices on Renfe's AVE trains, which were the ones that had to adjust their prices the most in the past year, by 20% on average, costing 62 euros to travel to Barcelona, and 23% less to Valencia, costing 38 euros. In parallel to this drop in prices, the number of passengers increased by 29% on average among all routes in the last quarter of 2023, with the total number of passengers close to 8.5 million people.

"Criticised for having low prices"

Ouigo's managers in Spain said in response to Puente's accusations: "We have made the market grow" . General manager of the French operator in Spain, Helene Valenzuela, said the three operators have grown in all the hubs where they operate. "This is the first time we have been criticised for having low prices," she said. Ouigo, which is confident of achieving financial stability this year and leaving losses behind, assured the occupancy rate of its trains is 90% and they find it "strange" the minister talks about the sector suffering when the frequency of trains on the main routes has increased by 60%, according to CNMC data.

In terms of market share, Renfe Viajeros continues to be the main operator on all routes, accounting for between 50% and 76% of passengers, CNMC data also shows. Iryo accounts for between 25% and 30% except on the Madrid-Alicante route, where since 15 September it has only been operating from Thursday to Sunday, while Ouigo maintained a share of around 21% on the Madrid-Barcelona, Madrid-Valencia and Madrid-Alicante routes. It plans to have trains operating to Valladolid next April, Murcia in June and Andalucia in the second half of the year.

As for Avant, Media Distancia and Renfe's Cercanias services, the discounts for regular passengers approved by the government led to an increase in the number of passengers. Specifically, the number of passengers on high-speed Media Distancia trains (Avant) increased by 12.3% and those on Cercanias by 6%, although those on conventional Media Distancia fell by 6.2%, according to the CNMC.
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Pastor Phil Hotsenpiller Strikes Through the Heart of Fear, Encourages Readers to Embrace Revival in the End Times

NEWS PROVIDED BYCharisma MediaMarch 26, 2024LAKE MARY, Fla., March 26, 2024 / Standard Newswire / -- Pastor Phil Hotsenpiller is issuing a clarion call for Christians to wake up and confront the spirit of fear as we near the end times in his book, "It's Midnight in America" (ISBN-13: 978-1-63641-360-0)."The spirit of fear has paralyzed us into believing the ancient lie that appeasement is better than courage and conformity is preferable to freedom," Hotsenpiller writes. "The church is so hungry to be accepted by the world that is has relinquished its power, forfeited its birthright, and accepted its place as nonessential."While there are many issues simmering in the church during our present time, Hotsenpiller doesn't just provide a dark tale of the problems presented in the modern church. Instead, he also gives practical, hopeful ways that Christians can stand firm in their faith despite incoming persecution or turmoil. Even as we are approaching the final strike of midnight, Hotsenpiller shares how we can embrace courage and cling to the promise of Christ's return."In times of uncertainty, fear can grip our hearts, leaving us paralyzed and doubtful. However, faith is an anchor that steadies us in the face of life's storms."As the world continues to encroach upon the rights and the ways that we live our lives, Christians can stand tall in the midst of adversity. Readers don't have to be afraid or back down from the plans and purposes that God has laid on their hearts. Instead, this is the moment God is asking each of His followers to run toward Him as He prepares for His ultimate rule and reign with those who truly know Him as Lord."It's Midnight in America," published by FrontLine, an imprint of Charisma House, releases on April 2 and is available online and wherever books are sold.Phil Hotsenpiller is cofounder and senior pastor with his wife, Tammy, of Influence Church in Anaheim Hills, California. Throughout his career, he has worked extensively on issues at the nexus of leadership, artistry, and contemporary culture, and has been interviewed on such media outlets as the Washington Post, USA Today, Fox News, CNN, the Christian Post, the History Channel and The Telegraph. He is a sought-after international speaker and advisor to diplomatic personnel. He has spoken before members of the United Nations and Congress, and leadership conferences attendees in India, Europe, and Central America. Hotsenpiller is the author of twelve books and a graphic novel series. He and his wife live in Orange County, California, and have three adult children and seven grandchildren.Website: https://influencechurch.org/ Facebook: AuthorPhilHotsenpillerX: @PhilHotsenpill1Instagram: @philhotsenpillerYouTube: @InfluenceChurchAnaheimTitle: It's Midnight In America: Confront Fear and Embrace Courage as the Final Hour Approaches | Release Date: April 2, 2024 | Retail: $19.99 | ISBN-13: 978-1-63641-360-0 | EBook ISBN: 978-1-63641-361-7 | Binding: Trade Paper | Size: 6" x 9" x 0.6" | Page Count: 240 | Hometown: Anaheim Hills, CA | BISAC: RELIGION / Christian Living / Social Issues, RELIGION / Christian Living / Spiritual Growth, RELIGION / Pentecostal & CharismaticTo interview Phil Hotsenpiller or for a review copy, contact media@charismamedia.com SOURCE Charisma Media
Albemarle County police say their investigation into a missing woman has become an investigation into a possible murder-suicide.

Authorities say 50-year-old Kristie Powell Shifflett, who was reported missing last Friday, was likely killed by her 51-year-old husband Robert Gerald Shifflett, who was found dead Sunday from what is believed to have been a suicide.

Last Friday, Robert Shifflett called the police to report his wife missing. He told officers that he had last seen her at their shared residence the day before.

A day after Shifflett contacted the police, Kristie Shiffletts vehicle was found abandoned in a remote field in western Albemarle County.

After locating her vehicle, ACPD detectives met with Mr. Shifflett to obtain additional information, police said in a statement. Based on information gathered during that conversation, ACPDs investigation into the whereabouts of Mrs. Shifflett shifted from a missing persons case to a potential homicide.

But before authorities could press the husband for more details, officers were dispatched on Sunday to Rockgate Cemetery in Crozet where an unresponsive man had been reported.

Upon arrival, officers located the body of Robert Gerald Shifflett and are investigating his death as a suspected suicide, police said.

Within 24 hours, officers with the Albemarle County Police Department and Virginia State Police reported they had found another body, this one matching Kristie Shiffletts description, buried in a makeshift grave in a remote area off Yellow Mountain Road less than 5 miles from Rockgate Cemetery.

The womans remains have been transported to the Medical Examiners Office in Richmond for further examination and positive identification, police said.

The Albemarle County Police Department said it is treating the matter as an isolated incident and asking anyone with information regarding the case to call the investigating detective at (434) 296-5808. Those wishing to remain anonymous can contact the Crime Stoppers tip line at (434) 977-4000 or crimestoppers@albemarle.org.

The Shifflett case is Albemarle Countys first homicide investigation of 2024.
Syracuse, N.Y. -- Nefertiti Harris -- a 5-year-old Syracuse girl who police say was killed by her mother -- had been missing school for three months.

Why didnt the Syracuse City School School alert authorities she was missing?
Solvay, N.Y. -- A woman is dead Tuesday morning after she led police on a car chase from Baldwinsville to Solvay where she shot herself after the vehicle came to a stop, troopers said.

Around 4 a.m., a 911 caller told Onondaga County 911 dispatchers that their friend was having suicidal ideations, said Trooper Jack Keller, a spokesperson for the State Police. The caller said her friend, a 27-year-old woman, was driving and gave dispatchers a description of the vehicle, he said.

Officers located the vehicle on Route 48 after the caller provided their friends location using their cellphone, Keller said. Officers attempted to pull the vehicle over, but the woman kept driving, he said.

Police from five different departments were involved in the pursuit. She was headed to her home in Solvay and was near the residence but stopped the car in front of a home at 624 Montrose Ave, he said.

Keller said the woman stayed inside the car where she shot herself.

A trooper broke a window to get into the vehicle to try to get to the woman, Keller said. The woman was taken to Upstate University Hospital where she later died, he said. The back driver-side window and front passenger window were busted out.

The trooper who broke the window was treated and given stitches at Upstate hospital for severe cuts to his hands and wrist, Keller said.

Troopers and Solvay police have the area taped off with crime scene tape.

A woman fatally shot herself on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 she led police on a car chase from Baldwinsville to Solvay. (Timia Cobb | tcobb@syracuse.com)Timia Cobb | Syracuse.com

***

Suicide prevention help

If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal, substance use, or other mental health crises there is help available.

Dial 911 if you or someone is in immediate danger.

Call, text or chat 988 to reach a trained crisis counselor for free, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can also go to 988lifeline.org.

Dial 988 and press 1, to reach the Veterans and Military Crisis Line

Call (315) 251-0600 to reach Contact, a Central New York non profit that operates a 24-hour telephone counseling line.

(315) 448-6555. Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation Program (CPEP), 301 Prospect Ave., Syracuse. This licensed psychiatric emergency room at St. Josephs Hospital Health Center provides evaluation and treatment for individuals of all ages who are experiencing an acute mental health crisis.

***

Staff writer Timia Cobb covers breaking news. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? You can reach her at tcobb@syracuse.com.

Staff writer Darian Stevenson covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? You can reach her at dstevenson@syracuse.com
In its professional company debut, Central New York Ballet will present Swan Lake Act II and Bolero April 6 and 7 at the Oncenters Carrier Theater. The program will also include two contemporary pieces, one of which is a world premiere.

Artistic Director Aldo Katton explained that the second act of Swan Lake is often presented as a stand-alone piece because it encompasses the most iconic elements of Tchaikovskys 1876 four-act ballet.
Washington  North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper had a message for journalists Monday night at a Syracuse University event here to honor excellence in political reporting.

Cooper, a Democrat elected twice at the same time Donald Trump won his state in presidential elections, implored journalists to dig deeper beyond the circus of extreme politics that grab headlines.

The calls for violence, the hatred, the us vs. them mentality, is shocking even by todays standards, Cooper said of political extremism. It demands your attention and your coverage. But it cant stop there.

The governor said the nations outrage scale has been recalibrated, nearly 10 years after Trump took over the Republican Party, allowing some extremist candidates to succeed.

As they scheme to top each other and themselves with louder noise, we need the Fourth Estate to cover that circus, but to also explore the impacts that their policies would have on everyday people, Cooper said.

Cooper spoke to a crowd of about 250 people who gathered at the Hamilton Hotel in Washington for a ceremony honoring the winners of the 2024 Toner Prize for Excellence in Political Reporting.

Washington Post reporters Greg Jaffe and Patrick Marley won the national prize for political reporting for a series of stories that examined how deep ideological divides affect people in Ottawa County, Michigan.

A team of reporters from The Philadelphia Inquirer won the prize for local political reporting. The newspaper was lauded for its coverage of last years race to elect the 100th mayor in the citys history.

The judges awarded an honorable mention for local reporting to The City, an independent, nonprofit newsroom that covers New York City.

The Toner Prize honors Robin Toner, a 1976 SU graduate who became the first woman to serve as national political correspondent for The New York Times.

After Toner died of cancer in 2008, friends and classmates established the Robin Toner Program in Political Reporting at SUs S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

Those friends also established the annual Toner journalism prize for the nations best political reporting.

Previous speakers at the annual awards ceremony in Washington include President Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and U.S. Sens. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, and Mark Warner, D-Va.

Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Mark Weiner anytime by: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751
The leader of a White nationalist group that aggressively sows racial discord around the country has been named as the 12th man indicted for sowing such discord in Albemarle County seven years ago.

Thomas Ryan Rousseau, a 25-year-old resident of Grapevine, Texas, and the founder of the group known as Patriot Front, was indicted on Aug. 7 for participating in the 2017 torch-lit march across University of Virginia Grounds that preceded the deadly Unite the Right rally-turned-riot in Charlottesville. Ryan has been charged with using fire to racially intimidate, a felony in Virginia dating back to the Jim Crow era. Thats according to records that were unsealed March 5.

This is the burden that American patriots must bear, Rousseaus group wrote on Telegram after Texas authorities arrested him on Feb. 23. The arrest comes after a nearly 7-year witch hunt by politically motivated prosecutors.

This isnt the first criticism of the prosecution. One of the 12 other accused men recently convinced a judge to recuse the Albemarle County Commonwealths Attorneys Office after allegations that the lead attorney prosecuting the 2017 cases had been too close to anti-racist counterprotesters in advance of the planned White nationalist rally.

Unite the Right was called off minutes before its official noon start time on Aug. 12, 2017, amid rioting between White nationalists and their detractors on the streets of downtown Charlottesville. That afternoon, James Alex Fields Jr., an avowed neo-Nazi from Ohio, drove his Dodge Challenger into a celebratory group of counterprotesters, killing one woman, Heather Heyer, and injuring at least two dozen others. He was convicted of murder and hate crimes and sentenced to life in prison.

Unlike some of the earlier men charged in Albemarle under Virginias so-called cross-burning statute, Rousseau has a high profile. Both he and Patriot Front have separate pages amid the extremist files of the Southern Poverty Law Center. That group calls Patriot Front a rebranding of Vanguard America, an organization that appears to have lent one of its shields to Fields the day he killed Heyer.

Patriot Front yearns for an America of yore using theatrical rhetoric, racist propaganda, fascist motifs and bouts of vandalism. The group has defaced murals depicting minority figures, including 35 memorials specifically to George Floyd, the Black man whose death at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer in 2020 set off protests around the world, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The American identity was something uniquely forged in the struggle that our ancestors waged to survive in this new continent, according to the Patriot Front manifesto. America is truly unique in this pan-European identity which forms the roots of our nationhood.

The mob Rousseau is accused of joining marched across UVa Grounds on the evening of Aug. 11, 2017, chanting Blood and soil and Jews will not replace us. There were near-immediate calls to prosecute the individuals who surrounded counterprotesters at the base of a statue of Founding Father Thomas Jefferson and grew increasingly violent. But Albemarle Countys then-lead prosecutor Robert Tracci asserted that there was no law in Virginia outlawing the torch-bearers behavior.

Today, a different prosecutor, Jim Hingeley, holds office and has authorized the prosecutions of those who encircled counterprotesters, charging them under a cross-burning statute established in Virginia to rid the commonwealth of the Ku Klux Klan.

Court records indicate that Rousseau received bail when he appeared before Judge Cheryl Higgins in Albemarle County Circuit Court on March 5. The judge gave him bail but ordered him to go back to Texas, surrender his passport and refrain from illegal drugs and alcohol.

Rousseau has hired Peter Frazier, the same lawyer who successfully pushed the Albemarle County Commonwealths Attorneys Office off the case of a fellow defendant. On Jan. 8, after a contentious hearing, Judge H. Thomas Padrick Jr. effectively forced the recusal of Hingeleys office in the case of Jacob Joseph Dix of Clarksville, Ohio.

Frazier and another lawyer have also gotten two local judges pushed off their cases. On Nov. 8, Higgins recused herself in the Dix case. On Sept. 27, Judge Claude Worrell recused himself from the case of Augustus Invictus. Both judges eventually agreed to step away from both of those cases.

Invictus is a Florida-based lawyer whose ultimately unsuccessful third-party run for a U.S. Senate seat made headlines in 2015 when he revealed that he once drank goat blood in a sacrifice ritual. Via a motion from his lawyer, he recently attempted to do what Frazier did in the Dix case, attempting to recuse the commonwealths attorneys office. However, a recent ruling rejected that attempt.

Although defense counsel strongly raises several issues, I have found nothing that definitively shows a lack of impartiality or prejudice toward the defendant, Judge Richard Moore wrote in a 15-page ruling released March 18.

Invictus lawyer decided to incorporate Fraziers arguments into his own motion, and many assertions in the combined document were, Moore wrote, overstatements, exaggeration, innuendo, inaccuracies and hyperbole.

At issue was whether prosecutor Lawton Tufts had been too close to anti-racist activists prior to Unite the Right.

But I do not find that Tufts involvement rises to the level of a constitutional violation and that he is not and can not be impartial, Moore wrote.

So Hingeleys office can continue prosecuting Invictus. But then in a footnote, Moore seems to open a door for recusal, pointing out that a lack of firm legal basis for recusal doesnt prevent recusal.

There are many situations where a prosecutor is not constitutionally required to take certain action, Moore wrote, but they do so anyway.
Judicious use of chemistries now critical to control late blight

The need to both mix and alternate fungicide chemistries was highlighted at the Teagasc Potato Late Blight Workshop held at Teagasc Ashtown on Tuesday 26 March.

We have the benefit of the lessons learned in other countries across Europe to help us be better equipped to control these newer strains in Ireland.

This was the key message given to over 60 potato stakeholders in attendance at the workshop, which was organised to address concerns over the recent emergence and spread of fungicide resistance through the European late blight population.

Potato late blight, caused by Phytphthora infestans and synonymous with Irish potato production, continues to be the most destructive disease of potato. Fortunately, the development of disease control strategies, including the application of fungicides, has curtailed the impact the disease now has on crops, both in Ireland and throughout Europe. Unfortunately, the vulnerability of these strategies to the disease has recently been exposed following the emergence of strains of P. infestans with resistance to two key groups of fungicides used for its control.

At the start of the workshop Dr. David Cooke from the James Hutton Institute in Scotland provided an overview of how the European late blight population has been changing in recent seasons, including the emergence of fungicide resistant strains, to the CAA and OSBPI fungicides. The detection of a strain of late blight known as EU_43_A1 in a research plot at Teagasc Crops Research Centre in Oak Park in late autumn of 2023 was confirmed by Dr. Steven Kildea. The sample found was resistant to one of the fungicide groups in question. Commenting on its detection, Dr. Kildea said; this detection signified the presence of EU_43_A1 in the Irish late blight population and the onus is now on the entire industry to ensure all precautions to minimise its potential impact on late blight control are adhered to.

To provide an overview of what the potential impact to the sector if precautions are not taken, Dr. Geert Kessel of Wageningen University and Research (WUR) in the Netherlands described the impact these strains had on the control of late blight in the Netherlands in 2023. He also provided clear recommendations on how to tackle the disease, emphasising the need to ensure fungicides are mixed, and alternated across fungicide programmes. These recommendations were further stressed by Dr. Faye Ritchie, from ADAS in England, who presented findings from research trials that demonstrated how such programmes disrupted the selection for fungicide resistance strains of late blight.

Reflecting on how the wider European late blight population has changed and the detection of fungicide resistance in the Irish population Shay Phelan, Teagasc Potato Crops Specialist said; We have the benefit of the lessons learned in other countries across Europe to help us be better equipped to control these newer strains in Ireland.
Were used to Philips Hue products with lofty price tags, but $130 for an app that syncs your Hue lights with a Samsung TV? Thats a big ask, even for Hue aficionados.

Perhaps thats why Signify-owned Philips Hue and Samsung SmartThings, the two brands behind the Philips Hue Sync TV app, are teeing up a new way to pay for the service: a monthly fee.

Starting this spring, youll be able to pay $2.99 a month to access the Philips Hue Sync TV app, which will work its light-syncing magic on up to three Samsung TVs in your home.

For those whod rather avoid yet another subscription fee, the Philips Hue Sync TV app will remain available as a $129.99 one-time purchase, albeit for just a single Samsung TV.

Available since January 2023 on the Samsung TV app store, the Philips Hue Sync TV app works with 2022 or newer Samsung TVs in the QR60 or better range, and it syncs your Hue lights with any content on your Samsung TV screen, including videos on Disney+, Netflix, and other streaming services.

The Philips Hue Sync TV app is an alternative to the $230 Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box, a piece of hardware that will sync your Hue lights with any HDMI-equipped TV, not just Samsung sets.

Besides the subscription plan, Philips Hue and Samsung are announcing a new integration between the Philips Hue Sync TV app and the mobile Samsung SmartThings app.

Slated to arrive this spring, the integration will allow Philips Hue Sync TV users to change syncing modes and turn syncing on or off using the SmartThings app on their phones, rather than having to summon the smart TV app and potentially interrupting a binge-watching session.

Another new feature for the Philips Hue Sync TV app is a Music mode that will sync your Hue lights with the audio on a Samsung TV rather than the video.

Initially, Music mode will only work on select 2024 Samsung TVs, with support for 2022 and 2023 Samsung TV sets coming later this year, Samsung says.

Finally, the Philips Hue Sync TV app is coming to more countries, including Brazil, Hong Kong, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia.
In what could be a peek at the future of AI integration in enterprises, MicroStrategy on Tuesday announced a new addition to its platform that simplifies access to business analytical data within organizations.

MicroStrategy Auto is a customizable AI bot that the company said offers a faster, simpler way to deliver business intelligence to anyone in an organization. Auto is the latest enhancement to MicroStrategy AI, released in October 2023, a solution for rapidly building AI applications on trusted data.

Auto can be deployed as a standalone app or embedded into third-party applications, the company noted, and offers complete customization. Its appearance, language style, and level of detail can all be tailored to a users specifications.

Because generative AI powers Auto, users can interact with the bot using natural language.

We use GPT4 for the backend  for figuring out what the user is asking for and how to answer the question, explained MicroStrategy Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer Saurabh Abhyankar.

The difference between MicroStrategy and a general purpose large language model is that in addition to the cognitive skill the LLM has, we add an analytic data structure, he told TechNewsWorld. So if you ask how many hats do I have at store X, the LLM figures out what the user is asking, and the MicroStrategy layer executes the query, brings the data back, and applies security and rules for calculating inventory.

You need both things in an enterprise analytics scenario because a chatbot like ChatGPT doesnt have the context, business knowledge, security, and governance required to answer a question like that, he added.

Unlocking User Value

Empowered by AI, Auto can remove barriers to fast, effective decision-making by making applications smarter and putting enterprise analytics in the hands of users no matter what skill level or application theyre using, the company maintained.

Theres no need to use a complex dashboard to get insights, and users can ask for information in ordinary language, making it effortless to incorporate business intelligence into business decision-making, it added.

We think using MicroStrategy AI will unlock huge value by providing a variety of users with deeper insights that previously required more clicks and more granularity to understand. Its powerful for user self-service, Nena Pidskalny, director of supply chain strategy and planning for Federated Co-operatives Limited, said in a statement.

Giving more employees access to business intelligence data can benefit a company by fostering informed decision-making across departments, enabling agility in responding to market changes, and promoting a culture of data-driven decision-making, added Mark N. Vena, president and principal analyst at SmartTech Research in San Jose, Calif.

However, easier access to business intelligence data may lead to potential harms such as data breaches, misuse of sensitive information, and compromising competitive advantage if not properly managed and secured, he told TechNewsWorld.

Customized generative AI bots have some advantages over general-purpose bots like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude, noted Rob Enderle, president and principal analyst at the Enderle Group, an advisory services firm in Bend, Ore. Generally, they are more focused and able to do one or a few things well and potentially better, he told TechNewsWorld. Theyre also able to run locally because they use smaller libraries.

Enderle added that customized enterprise bots can also be safer than general-purpose bots. They generally are derivatives of large LLMs, he explained, but because they are reduced and more focused, in theory, they are less likely to do things you dont want done.

Tackling Concerns About AI

Custom generative AI bots can also address businesses concerns about data sharing with large chatbots. Theres always anxiety if youre offering up your or your customers proprietary information to a tool thats going to iterate on that data and may re-present it in some way down the road, said Will Duffield, a policy analyst at the Cato Institute, a Washington, D.C. think tank.

Consumer-centric bots are allowing the firms behind them to use your conversations to make the bots better, he told TechNewsWorld. That wouldnt be the case with a lot of these business tools because how the information can be used will be contractually specified.

Enterprises dont want to send all their data to a general-purpose LLM, Abhyankar added. They dont want to train the LLM with their data because of the risk of that data leaking.

With MicroStrategy, he explained, data is stored in the customers environment. Only bits of metadata get sent to our LLM and the LLM isnt trained with that data. We can do that because MicroStrategy runs the calculations, and because the LLM doesnt need to do that, it doesnt need all the data, he explained.

For that same reason, the LLM can be prevented from hallucinating. LLMs, by their nature, are probabilistic, Abhyankar said. You can ask it questions, but you can get different answers for the same question. Thats not ideal for a business scenario.

By running calculations in the MicroStrategy layer and doing them based on the business logic that the customer has encoded in our platform we can avoid probabilistic problems, he maintained.

So challenges of data sharing and hallucinations are largely removed because of the way we use the LLM only for cognitive skills, and we use the customers data in the MicroStrategy layer in a trusted fashion, he added.

Pumping Up Productivity

Making business intelligence more accessible to enterprise personnel can have productivity benefits. It should allow decision makers to make better and more timely decisions, resulting in greater operational success, Enderle said.

Data analysts, in particular, should see productivity gains from the self-service aspect of MicroStrategy Auto. It makes data analysts more productive because they can do more in the same amount of time, Abhyankar said. Its a productivity boost for them.

When the end-user can serve themselves, it affords the analyst key benefits, he continued, They get freed up to focus on higher value things because they are dealing from fewer questions and requests from end-users.

Sharad Varshney, CEO of OvalEdge, a data governance consultancy and end-to-end data catalog solutions provider in Alpharetta, Ga., noted that generative AI technologies are profoundly impacting data analytics across the board. They remove the complexity of data discovery, enabling teams like marketing or HR that arent traditionally analytics-focused to use company data assets easily, he told TechNewsWorld.

However, he said, the data received must be accurately governed. While a generative AI tool can quickly find and contextualize data, it doesnt account for data quality, lineage, or access.

Once data is discovered, policies must be in place that ensure the user requesting the data has the relevant access permissions to extract it, he continued. Then, it needs to undergo various quality measurements for duplication, inconsistency, and other factors before being classified and cataloged. Only then will it be suitable for analysis.

Thankfully, he added, tools are available that can automate these governance processes and others that make data analysis and visualization very straightforward.
Facepalm: Another day, another example of Google's generative artificial intelligence technology doing something it shouldn't. This time, it's the company's AI-powered search results that were misbehaving, recommending malicious websites including those pushing scams, malware, and fake giveaways.

Google started rolling out its Search Generative Experience (SGE) earlier this month. The company boasts that the feature allows users to ask complex and more descriptive questions, with the generative AI providing text summaries of sites and recommendations related to a user's search.

That might sound helpful, but SEO consultant Lily Ray noticed something was amiss with Google SGE. As per her post on X, SGE was recommending potentially malicious sites as part of its answers. Ray's question about Pitbull puppies for sale on Craigslist returned recommendations for several dangerous and scammy sites that could be packed with malware.

OH GOOD.



SGE WILL EVEN RECOMMEND THE SPAM SITES AS PART OF THE ANSWER. pic.twitter.com/wqgFFXqbMB  Lily Ray AAA (@lilyraynyc) March 22, 2024

BleepingComputer notes that all the suspect results listed by SGE tend to use the same .online domain, HTML templates, and sites to perform redirects, indicating that they are part of the same SEO poisoning campaign that allowed them to be part of Google index.

The publication found that clicking on these links led visitors through a series of redirects until they reached the scam site. Most of the time, people are led to fake captchas or YouTube sites that try to get visitors to subscribe to browser notifications, which will send out a slew of scammy ads such as tech support and fake giveaways to the desktop. There was also a McAfee antivirus ad urging users to perform a scan or renew their license, thereby earning affiliate commission for the sender.

Another X user tried a similar search for Craigslist puppies for sale. SGE surfaced a site with the German .de domain. The first click led him to Amazon gift card spam, while the second led to porn.

Had to see it for myself



This site being surfaced is a German .de domain. First time I clicked it I got an Amazon gift card spam. Second time I got straight up porn. Nice AA pic.twitter.com/c1QC4tDBHQ  Simon Panting (@PantingYO) March 22, 2024

Google says it constantly updates its systems and ranking algorithms to protect against spam. It appears that the company has removed these SGE results since they were highlighted.

Last month, Google's Gemini AI image generation feature was paused after the tool produced images showing people of color and women in historically inaccurate contexts, such as Nazi-era German soldiers and the Founding Fathers.
The big picture: Microsoft launched a dedicated Copilot app for Android last December that offers chatbot-like capabilities, similar to what you would get from ChatGPT. While the company has yet to launch an official Copilot app for Windows, latest developments suggest that Redmond is working on bringing its AI software to the desktop sooner rather than later.

As spotted by German tech site DeskModder, Microsoft has begun automatically installing a Copilot app on Windows 11. The new application doesn't seem to have any functionality, and further investigation revealed that it has 0 bytes of data, suggesting that it's actually a placeholder shell for the most part. Thankfully, users can uninstall the app by simply using the built-in 'Uninstall' option in Windows.

In case you're wondering whether your Windows 11 PC has the new Copilot app surreptitiously installed, you can check by going over to Settings, clicking on Apps, and then selecting Installed Apps. If it's already on your device, it will be listed as "Microsoft Copilot." You can click on the three-dots menu button to the right and select 'Advanced options' to check out more details about it.

It's unclear how the Copilot app is getting installed on systems that have automatic updates turned off, but according to Ghacks, it showed up on their test PC after the Edge browser was updated to the latest version. Interestingly, the application's AppxManifest.xml lists Windows 10 as the minimum compatible version, while the maximum version is listed as Windows 12.0.0.0.

It remains to be seen if this suggests that Microsoft is working on Windows 12 after all, or if it's a legacy entry from a time when the company was actually considering launching a successor to Windows 11 this year. For those unaware, Microsoft recently confirmed that it doesn't plan to launch Windows 12 in 2024, and will instead release Windows 11 version 24H2 (codenamed Hudson Valley) later this year.

Microsoft recently started rolling out Copilot to more Windows 10/11 devices, enabling users to experience the AI features on their desktop. According to the company, users can access up to ten Copilot requests before needing to sign-in with a Microsoft ID. The feature is still in preview as of now, but is enabled by default in Windows 11 version 23H2. It is, however, disabled by default in Windows 11 version 22H2.
What just happened? In a move supporters claim is aimed at protecting kids from the dangers of unregulated internet use, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Monday signed a bill that bans all children under the age of 14 from social media platforms. The new law also prohibits kids aged 14 and 15 from having a social media presence without the consent of their parents.

The law, which will go into effect on January 1, 2025, is expected to have far-reaching consequences for not only teens and their parents, but also social media companies that will have to delete the accounts of children under the age of 14. They will also have to seek parental consent for kids who are 14 or 15 years old. According to the provisions of the bill, the social media companies will need to use a third-party verification system to determine which users are underage before terminating their accounts for good.

In a statement, DeSantis said that the new law will help protect kids from the ills of social media and give parents "a greater ability to protect their children." He also expressed confidence that it will withstand legal scrutiny in case social media companies decide to sue the state for what some believe is an unconstitutional and unjustified ban. According to DeSantis, the ban will be upheld by the courts because it is "a fair application of the law and Constitution."

The action comes about a month after Florida's Republican-led legislature passed a bill that would have banned children under the age of 16 from social media entirely. DeSantis, however, vetoed that bill, saying that parents need to be given a say on whether their teenage children could use social media. Following the veto, the bill was amended to allow parents of 14- and 15-year-olds to give consent to having their kids on social media platforms.

Supporters of the new bill claim that it will prevent social media from harming young and impressionable youngsters who often develop anxiety, depression and other mental illnesses due to bullying and harassment they face online. Critics, however, believe that the bill violates the First Amendment protections for free speech and is a clear infringement by the government on parental rights.

Despite stiff opposition, several states are enacting similar laws, ostensibly to protect children from online dangers. In March 2023, Utah enacted legislation to regulate children's access to social media. Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders also signed into law a similar bill last April, requiring parental consent for minors to create new social media accounts. However, a federal judge temporarily blocked the state from enforcing the law which was set to take effect in September. Other states that are also reportedly considering similar laws include Louisiana, Ohio and Texas.
What just happened? If there's one type of computer memorabilia that's sure to fetch a high price at auction, it's anything signed by Steve Jobs. Proving this point was the recent sale of an Apple Computer business card with the company co-founder's signature that went for $181,183.

The 1983 Apple Computer business card was signed by Jobs at a time when he was the chairman of the board of directors at the Cupertino firm - John Sculley had just been recruited from Pepsi-Cola to serve as CEO at the time. Boston-based RR Auctions writes that the card is extremely rare and has been perfectly graded.

The card features the old six-color Apple logo, which should bring back a few nostalgic memories amongst tech fans of a certain age, as well as the company's former address: 10495 Bandley Drive, in Cupertino, California.

While it is described as being in fine condition for a 40-year-old business card, the description does confirm that there's a faint stain on the front from an old tape stain on the back.

RR Auction believes the $181,183 sales price is a new record-high for a signed business card. Another listing for a Jobs business card, this one without his signature, shows it went for $12,905, around $168,000 less than the signed version.

Anything signed by Jobs tends to bring a high price. His single-page job application form from 1973 has been sold on several occasions, fetching $18,750 in 2017, $174,757 in 2018, and $222,400 in 2021. It was auctioned again in 2021, fetching $343,000  there was also an NFT of the form that sold for the equivalent of $23,076 at the time.

Checks signed by Jobs also fetch high prices. A $9.18 Apple Computer check he signed 1976 sold for $55,000 in 2022. Another from the same year, for $13.86 to Elmar Electronics, sold in March 2023 for $37,564. Last December, a $4 check that Jobs wrote to Radio Shack in 1976 was auctioned by RR Auction for $36,850.

One of the most expensive items sold that carries Jobs' signature was the original Apple founding contract signed by Jobs and fellow co-founders Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. It was sold by Sotheby's in December 2011 for $1,594,500.
Two Stafford County sheriff's deputies were injured and five employees of a Charlottesville tow truck company are facing charges after an altercation at a Stafford fast food restaurant that reportedly started over an order of French fries.

Stafford County deputies were dispatched to a McDonalds on Stanstead Road about 6:24 p.m. Thursday in response to a reported altercation in the lobby involving 10 people. Maj. Shawn Kimmitz with the sheriff's office said the argument erupted after one of the suspects, 48-year-old Jamie Morris of Dyke, expressed dissatisfaction with his French fry order.

McDonald's management requested that the angry customer and his associates, all employees of Charlottesville-based Ace's Towing and Recovery, leave the establishment, but they refused, Kimmitz said. The group began arguing with restaurant staff, and another customer came to the staffs defense, according to Kimmitz's account.

William Morris Jr., a 36-year-old Dyke resident, was eventually told that he was under arrest for trespassing. Kimmitz said that Morris took off running, but was tackled by a deputy after about 20 yards and handcuffed. After he was brought to a patrol car, Kimmitz said, the irate mob of tow truck employees surrounded the deputy.

As the group became angrier and started shouting obscenities, pepper spray was sent into the crowd. As one suspect was being detained, deputies said 27-year-old Jamie Ragland of Gordonsville grabbed a deputy around the neck and threw him to the ground.

Ragland was tased and handcuffed, according to authorities. Meanwhile, officers from the Fredericksburg Police Department and Virginia State Police arrived to assist, and three more suspects were taken into custody. Kimmitz said a second deputy was also injured during the incident, and both deputies required treatment at a local hospital.

Ragland received the only felony charge: assault on a law enforcement officer. Both William and Jamie Morris as well as 56-year-old William Morris Sr. of Dyke and 45-year-old Monica Morris of Gordonsville were charged with misdemeanor offenses that include obstruction of justice and trespassing. All five were released by a magistrate on personal recognizance bonds.
Need for speed: Amazon Pharmacy customers in New York City and the greater Los Angeles area can now receive same-day delivery of medication to manage common conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure. The e-commerce giant is leveraging knowledge from its retail operations to enable same-day delivery. Just like with retail, a key cog to speedy delivery is to store products closer to where customers live.

A new facility in Brooklyn, for example, stocks the most commonly prescribed medications.

Pharmacists and techs at the small-format facility are said to be able to process a prescription within minutes instead of hours or days thanks in part to help from generative artificial intelligence and machine learning.

When a script is received, AI models can conduct a series of fact-checking tasks that help ensure pharmacists are getting the most accurate information. It can also help to reduce administrative errors.

Kevin Downes, director of fulfillment at Amazon Pharmacy, said AI doesn't replace the role of the pharmacist but rather, allows them to use the skills they went to school for instead of spending time doing repetitive tasks.

Even with all the AI safeguards in place, no prescription leaves the facility without a pharmacist verifying it has been filled properly.

Amazon Pharmacy already offers same-day medicine delivery in Austin, Miami, Indianapolis, Seattle, and Phoenix, and those in College Station, Texas, can get their meds within an hour thanks to aerial drones.

Customers will experience same-day prescription delivery differently based on their unique environment. In Los Angeles and other suburban areas, Rivian electric vehicles are the vehicle of choice. In Manhattan where traffic is far denser, couriers on e-bikes will get the nod.

Amazon sees lots of untapped potential in the space. Medication delivery has been around since the 1940 but according to consulting firm McKinsey & Company, the service accounts for only 10 percent of all US pharmacy orders. Having another major player in the space will also force traditional pharmacies to step their game up, which can only be viewed as a win for consumers.
Elon Musk's social media platform, "X," formerly Twitter, lost a lawsuit against the Center for Countering Digital Hate after a California federal court dismissed the case.



In July last year, X filed a complaint in the US District Court for the Northern District of California against the group for publishing stories alleging an increase in hate speech on the social media platform following Elon Musk's takeover. X stated that the Center for Countering Digital Hate's report hurt its business, prompting sponsors to leave and causing significant financial losses.



Judge Charles R. Breyer, however, determined that X's action was an effort to punish the nonprofit organization for using its First Amendment rights and to quiet its critics. He asserted the legal protection of the defendant's work and the clear intention of the case, which "is about punishing the Defendants for their speech," as The New York Times reported.

Anti-Hate Group Commend Court Decision

The US court's ruling is a setback for Elon Musk, who has often used legal threats to counter criticism of his social media platform. In November last year, after Media Matters for America revealed that X placed advertisements next to pro-Nazi material, the tech mogul filed a lawsuit against the advocacy organization, per The Verge.



Imran Ahmed, CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, praised the court's decision and emphasized the crucial role of protecting people's freedoms of speech, investigation, and accountability toward social media firms.



In response, X said it would appeal the US court's ruling and would keep suing the anti-hate research organization, alleging that it had illegally obtained platform data to conduct deceptive study.



Over the last year, X has had difficulties keeping its advertising, as evidenced by the departure of numerous significant sponsors. Musk's divisive comments, including telling advertisers that left the social platform to "go f-k yourselves," have made matters worse, according to Gizmodo.

Read Also: Apple Chooses Baidu's AI for iPhone 16 in China: Report



Elon Musk said in the past that he acquired X to preserve free expression, but the court found him intimidating opponents. The court called it a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) to intimidate opponents.

Another Legal Blow For X

This development comes after the plaintiffs in the ongoing music copyright litigation against X were granted permission to pursue their claims against the firm for purported infringement, per a TechTimes report. The complaint asserts X's liability for the widespread copyright infringement claims resulting from users uploading copyright-protected music on the social media platform.

X had previously sought to dismiss the action, but the court denied this request, noting the substantial liabilities the business would incur as the case developed.

Recently, US District Judge Aleta A. Trauger announced that X's move to dismiss the case was refused, meaning that the National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA) may continue with its lawsuit. The main reason for using X and its members is that they distributed music-related material on the site, which constitutes copyright infringement.

Claims of copyright infringement date back to December 2021, when Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter, served as its CEO and operated under the name Twitter. Twitter received weekly notifications of infringement throughout this period.

Related Article: Elon Musk's AI Ambitions: Nvidia's Vital Role in Building Tesla's Dojo Supercomputer

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The Google Search Generative Experience (SGE) is now appearing for some users who were not part of or did not sign up for its testing, offering AI-powered tech to their usage.

Google introduced it last year. It expands the Search experience and powers the core of Mountain View's tech, which centers on AI-enhanced search results.

While the SGE was made available via Google Search Labs and is widely accessible for those who sign up, this is the first time that it has been distributed without any additional steps.

Google Search: SGE Now Appearing for Users

SearchEngineLand reported that several users who did not sign up for the testing of the SGE are now seeing the AI-generated Search experience bring results to their experiences.

Moreover, the report claimed that Google confirmed the SGE's availability to a "small percentage of search traffic" across the United States but is only rolling out to users nationwide.

It also includes users who are not logged in to their Google accounts when accessing the platform's search.

Last week, 9to5Mac claimed that Google already teased the expansion of SGE to more users in the future, with additional ventures toward Search's AI coming soon.

Read Also: Google Gemini AI Cannot Answer About US, Global Elections But Why?

AI-Generated Search Results from Google

Google's Search already brings significant information about what users are looking for, but SGE takes it up a notch to bring informative and intuitive results that may be more helpful for users.

Through this additional rollout to more users, Google is looking to get feedback and sentiments from the public regarding how the technology brings in help.

Google's AI in Its Famed Experiences

Since 2023, Google's AI has been at the forefront of the company's tech developments, bringing significant experiences for its users across its infrastructure.

One of the top focuses of Google's AI is integrating it into Search, with the company envisioning the power of AI improving much of the experience here, starting with the AI ads available on the experience.

Last year, Search made massive improvements to its supercharged AI approach, with the first centering on Bard's integration and offering the chatbot right off the bat.

Moreover, the company also brought direct image generation for Google Search, with its AI offering a chance to create new images based on what users are looking for.

The many technologies of Google are powered by AI now, or at least feature an AI experience in a way, with Search one of the company's top priorities to improve more with this newfound tech.

The SGE's introduction last year is coming to fruition now. It offers improvements to Google's Search experience that are available to users outside the testing program.

Related Article: Google Expands Its AI Footprint in Healthcare with Fitbit Chatbot-Coming Soon

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The United Kingdom, along with Britain, is reportedly accusing China-linked hackers of being the main perpetrators for two detected cyberattacks, one identified in October 2022 and one in the summer of 2021.

British Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden reportedly made the assertions in a speech to Parliament on Monday, claiming that two malevolent cyber efforts targeting lawmakers and democratic institutions were carried out by Chinese state-affiliated entities.

(Photo: Photo by GREG BAKER/AFP via Getty Images) TOPSHOT - This photo taken on June 4, 2019, shows the Chinese flag behind razor wire at a housing compound in Yangisar, south of Kashgar, in China's western Xinjiang region

Dowden linked the attack to the Electoral Commission, an independent organization in charge of establishing guidelines for how U.K. elections should be run, to a state actor connected to China. It was stated that the campaigns happened in 2021 and 2022. Reuters states that although the hack was made public last year, Britain has not yet identified the perpetrator.

The Electoral Commission detected the Attack in October 2022, but it wasn't made public until last year. In 2023, the Commission announced that hackers had access to the names and addresses of every British voter who registered to vote between 2014 and 2022.

Britain sanctioned two people and one business linked to the state-sponsored Chinese hacking team APT31 in response to the attempt in 2021 to compromise the emails of British Members of Parliament who were critical of China.

Read Also: Microsoft Discovers State-backed Hackers From China, Russia, and Iran Are Using OpenAI Tools for Honing Skills

China's Response

A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy has responded to the claims, stating that the allegations of China's purported cyberattacks against the UK are baseless and entirely untrue. The spokespersons claim to strongly deny these accusations.

They further state that China does not sponsor, encourage, or condone cyberattacks and that China has always vigorously battled all types of cyberattacks by law. The spokesperson concludes by stating that they are against the politicization of cyber-security concerns and the unfounded disparagement of other nations in the absence of concrete proof.

Biden Administration Claims Against China

United Kingdom's claim comes just days after state governors received warnings from the Biden administration about a possible cyberattack by hackers with ties to China and Iran on US water management systems.

A letter from the White House and the Environmental Protection Agency urged governors to bolster their cybersecurity defenses against potential attacks and prepare in advance.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan wrote the letter to governors, instructing them to ensure that all of their states' water systems thoroughly assess their current cybersecurity protocols.

Moreover, the US Justice Department on Monday released an indictment accusing state-affiliated Chinese hackers of planning assaults against American politicians, corporations, and government officials.

The DOJ accused seven Chinese nationals of conspiring to commit computer intrusion and wire fraud after they joined a hacking ring based in China that targeted political personalities, businesses, and rivals both locally and abroad for 14 years.

Related Article: North Korea Hackers Target South Korean Chipmakers Ahead of Elections

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A new report claims the next-gen Apple Silicon chips for Macs and iPads, the M4, may be released by 2025.

This follows last year's October M3 chip, which the company launched during the Halloween season. There were massive expectations that its annual release would include a new SoC for this year, but analysts are wary.

This new information may mean that this year may not be massive for Apple's offerings on the Mac platform, with its next-gen chip not yet coming.

Apple's M4 Chip is Coming by 2025, Not This Year

A new study from Canalys revealed that Apple's M4 chips will arrive by 2025, not this year as expected by the industry, as part of Cupertino's annual update cycle for new computers and processors.

More particularly, new Apple computers will arrive by early 2025, in the first quarter following the delay.

The firm speculated that Apple's M4 chip would finally focus on AI features, with the company pouring massive efforts into its development.

Since then, Apple's M-series releases have been found inconsistent. 2020's M1 was followed by the M2 in 2022, but the M3 arrived a year later, in October 2023.

Read Also: WWDC 2023: Apple Unveils New 15-inch MacBook Air: 'World's Best 15-inch Laptop'

Why is there a delay in Apple's M4?

The report suggested that Apple would release the M4 around the same time as Intel's Arrow and Lunar Lake, alongside AMD's Kraken Point and the Snapdragon X Elite.

Cupertino's competitors also offer NPUs (neural processing units) that help boost the handling of AI processes for devices. These are expected to be available in the next M-series release.

Apple and TSMC's M-series

Last year's M3 chip release was touted as the most powerful processor to arrive from Apple and TSMC. It offered the world's first 3-nanometer architecture, with Cupertino delivering a three-variant release.

In the Scary Fast event, Apple revealed the M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max, which offer a significant upgrade compared to the M2, centered on faster and more efficient performance.

However, before the year ended, there were reports about the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) already demonstrating the 2nm chip architecture.

It centers on a smaller form factor but is more powerful than the 3nm, and it is speculated to be a chip for Apple's further development of the M-series, with the M4 being the recipient of this new tech.

Despite earlier reports of a promising 2nm chip from TSMC for Apple, the report centered on a 2025 release date for the new chip, as mass production would only start by then.

It also means a significant delay of as much as six months to a year for the M4's arrival, with 2024 not seeing many Mac developments coming from Cupertino.

Related Article: Apple OLED iPad Pro to Release This March, But 11-inch Variant May Be Limited

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A Scotland distillery is reportedly leveraging an artificial intelligence model dubbed 'SmokeDNAi' to better understand the aging process of whisky in a barrel. This will help the company gauge a whisky's 'profile' over time.

The alcoholic beverage firm Diageo invested almost $44 million in investigating the aging of whisky using SmokeDNAi technology.

Teams utilized SmokeDNAi to examine and evaluate the flavor characteristics and texture of two distinct whiskies, one remnant and the other original, that were distilled in separate casks.

Port Ellen Gemini is the name of the pair of rare whiskies, and each bottle is $50,000.

(Photo: JOSEP LAGO/AFP via Getty Images) A visitor watches an AI (Artificial Intelligence) sign on an animated screen at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the telecom industry's biggest annual gathering, in Barcelona.

The analysis aims to provide more insight into the process of barrel-aging whisky. SmokeDNAi was announced following the reopening of Port Ellen in Scotland.

After 40 years, the "ghost" distillery greeted visitors back with state-of-the-art improvements in both building and alcohol production.

Whisky samples are subjected to a chemical analysis procedure, such as gas chromatography or liquid chromatography, after which an algorithm separates the results into sets of unique components.

Using SmokeDNAi technology, this algorithmically generated piece of art gradually conjures up images of whisky smoke.

Whisky aficionados can see taste combinations, scents, and clear profiles here that are invisible to the unaided eye. Combinations of coconut, smokey, earthy, medicinal, floral, and sweet flavors may be present in visual profiles.

Read Also: Healthcare Professionals Convene on Who to Blame for AI-Assisted Doctor Malpractices

Whisky and AI

Diageo reportedly uses other AI strategies, such as Smartbidder, a paid social media buying technology it co-developed to ensure every dollar spent on media is as effective as possible.

Additionally, Diageo is experimenting with packaging ideas for its Don Julio tequila and Smirnoff vodka brands using a generative AI tool.

Diageo's SmokeDNAi is the only distillery that uses AI to improve its operations. The world's first whisky made using artificial intelligence was Intelligens, reportedly introduced in 2021 by the award-winning Swedish distillery Mackmyra.

To do this, Mackmyra collaborated with the Finnish tech business Fourkind to build an artificial intelligence (AI) system that supplements and streamlines the work of the distillery's master blender, who is in charge of developing the flavor and portfolio of whiskies.

Master Blender-Assisted AI

Fourkind developed its AI system using Microsoft Azure and Machine Learning Studio.

They input whisky-related datasets into the system, which produced a framework for creating deliciously inventive new recipes after examining 70 million potential combinations.

Following the initial set of recipes, Macmyra's master blender, Angela D'Orazio, offered input to help the AI system better understand whisky pairings that appeal to different palates and are commercially successful.

The distillery improved the quality of the recipes and reduced the possibilities available in each round. After the procedure, D'Orazio ultimately decided to use recipe #36 for their creative new product.

Related Article: Uber Ends Drizly Alcohol Delivery Service, Shutting Down by March 2024

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Iterate.AI, a Silicon Valley artificial intelligence tech company, is reportedly offering schools AI-powered gun detection technology as a new way to help protect its students and detect firearms within campuses.

A few years ago, the company built it for a customer who was having theft issues in their stores. However, they recognized that it might be useful for detecting guns in schools using security cameras already installed.

Executives at Iterate.ai claim they merely wish to safeguard kids. Pushing for its installation, Matt Frary of Iterate.ai claims that people need to figure out how to protect their kids, and by using this technology, they can implement it "quickly and cheaper."

According to Frary, several institutions in the Bay Area are interested in implementing the technology nationwide.

(Photo: Ivan Aleksic from Unsplash) Ransomware has slightly declined in numbers in 2023, but a Q4 report suggests it's gaining momentum to get back to the top. All eyes on the education sector as the biggest target of the hackers.

Chief Technology Officer Brian Sathianathan claims that Iterate.ai is compatible with the majority of surveillance cameras now in use, according to a previous story from USA Today.

He continues by saying that most system administrators can easily add the Python code to their computer server using their software, which will set up all of the cameras to start detecting firearms in a matter of hours.

When it detects a weapon, the system automatically sends a notification text message, email, Apple alert, or other signal.

The technology recognizes semi-automatic firearms and handguns. According to Sathianathan, it can also identify visible Kevlar jackets and blades at least six inches long. The report adds that even if a gun is only partially visible, Iterate.ai's systems can detect it.

Read Also: Parents of Parkland Shooting Victims Use AI to Lobby for Gun Control

AI Gun Detection Industry

The company is not alone in the market for AI-powered gun detection technology; Wave Welcome, a Maryland startup, is also reportedly addressing the epidemic of gun violence in America with a system that it claims can notify law enforcement of an armed intruder and provide a livestream before any bystander dials 9-1-1.

According to the software business creating real-time firearm identification technology, the AI system can visually identify firearms and move to notify law enforcement when it is granted access to private or public surveillance cameras.

The corporation then uses drones to pursue an active shooter. According to its creator and CEO, Vennard Wright, the goal is to lessen the quantity and severity of active shootings in the United States.

AI Detection with Human Assistance

PerVista, Wave Welcome's AI gun detection initiative, operates by continuously comparing images of firearms from IP-enabled security cameras.

If the system detects the presence of a weapon, Wave Welcome and the client's predesignated security guards and teachers at a school, for example, automatically receive SMS texts, email notifications, and video footage.

To prevent emergency services from being called in for false positives, Wave Welcome staff visually verify the existence of a handgun through the camera stream before notifying the police.

Related Article: School Swatting: False Reports About Shooting Incidents Are Disrupting US Schools, Communities

(Photo: Tech Times)

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Samsung has officially announced its artificial intelligence chip, dubbed 'Mach-1,' set to be released in early 2025. An AI chip that could act as Samsung's bid to compete against NVIDIA's newly-announced 'B200' chip, to be released later this year.

As per Tech Radar, the new chip will go into production by the end of this year and launch in early 2025. It is expected to target edge applications with low power consumption needs.

The announcement was made at the 55th regular shareholders' meeting of the corporation. The CEO of Samsung Semiconductor, Kye Hyun Kyung, stated that the SoC was nearing completion and that the chip design had successfully undergone technological validation on FPGAs.

(Photo : Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - AUGUST 25: The Samsung logo is displayed at the Samsung office on August 25, 2017 in Seoul, South Korea.

According to reports, the Mach-1 accelerator will be able to solve the bottleneck problems that current AI accelerators have while transporting data between the GPU and RAM. It is intended to handle AI inference workloads. Reduced power efficiency and slower data transfer rates are frequently the outcomes of this.

With the reported establishment of a research center devoted to creating a completely new kind of semiconductor required for artificial general intelligence long-standing goal in AI development unveiled their new AI chip.

Initially, the lab will concentrate on creating chips for large language models, hosting and supporting AI models with an emphasis on inference. According to Kyung Kye-Hyun, the head of the company's semiconductor business, it plans to deliver new chip designs. This iterative process will offer higher performance and support for growing larger models at a fraction of the power and cost.

Read Also: Apple's M4 Chips are Coming in 2025, Why Is There a Delay?

South Korea's AI Chip Bid

Other South Korean Startups are also looking to catch up to NVIDIA, also with backing from Samsung. Rebellions, a 2020 startup, is collaborating with Samsung's foundry division to create a state-of-the-art artificial intelligence chip.

This chip, which might launch on the market as early as the second half of this year, is anticipated to transform AI computing. It will integrate Samsung's top-tier HBM3E memory.

Another notable startup is Sapeon, which was spun off from SK Telecom, the largest telecom provider in South Korea. With plans to supply Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. with its AI chip, Sapeon hopes to provide its cutting-edge solution to clients by June.

NVIDIA's Flagship AI Chip

Coinciding with the release of all of the new AI chips, the major player in the market, NVIDIA, recently revealed its potent Blackwell architecture, GB200 GPU, and CUDA software upgrades.

According to Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, the Blackwell chip is a breakthrough device that offers more productivity, efficiency, and processing capacity. It is also anticipated to fuel the next wave of technical advancements that will drive this emerging industry forward.

Huang claims that accelerated computing is a game-changer that surpasses general-purpose computing and is necessary to sustain affordability, sustainability, growth and scalability.

Related Article: Intel, Biden Announce $8.5 Billion in Direct Funding to Advance US Chip Manufacturing

(Photo : Tech Times)

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FTX, the financially troubled company formerly led by Sam Bankman-Fried, has finalized a deal to sell a majority of its shares in Anthropic, an artificial intelligence (AI) startup, for a staggering $880 million, according to a report by AFP.

FTX Sells Shares to Anthropic for $880 Million

Anthropic emerged as one of the valuable assets amidst the collapse of the FTX empire in late 2022, following revelations of widespread fraudulent activities involving Bankman-Fried and his inner circle.



Bankman-Fried was convicted in November 2023 on multiple charges related to financial misconduct and is awaiting sentencing, with prosecutors seeking a lengthy prison term of 40 to 50 years.



The bulk of the shares in Anthropic will be acquired by ATIC Third International Investment Company, an affiliate of the Mubadala sovereign wealth fund based in the United Arab Emirates, as disclosed in the court filing.



ATIC will pay $500 million for its stake in Anthropic, while the remaining shares will be purchased by around 20 other investors, including Bankman-Fried's former employer, Jane Street Global Trading.



This transaction represents a significant windfall for FTX, which initially invested $500 million in Anthropic in 2021 during its heyday as a major player in the cryptocurrency sector.



Anthropic, founded in the same year, was established by former employees of OpenAI, the organization responsible for creating ChatGPT. The company gained recognition for its development of AI models, notably the chatbot Claude, and its commitment to implementing rigorous ethical standards in AI research.



The bankruptcy proceedings of FTX have been convoluted and contentious, with court-appointed CEO John J. Ray III entrusted with the task of recovering assets for creditors. Despite the company's financial woes, FTX has expressed its intention to fully reimburse its customers and reported holding $6.4 billion in cash reserves as of late February, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Read Also: CryptoWatch: Bitcoin Mining's US Energy Consumption, FTX Wants to Repay Customers, Top Coin Prices





FTX's Current CEO Has Something to Say

In a separate development recently reported by Tech Times, a letter addressed to Judge Lewis Kaplan from FTX's current CEO, John Ray III, aimed to provide clarity regarding the circumstances surrounding the company's downfall and Sam Bankman-Fried's culpability, amidst his plea for a reduced prison sentence.



Ray asserted that Bankman-Fried had misled the court about his departure from FTX and downplayed the extent of the damage he caused to customers and investors.



Describing Bankman-Fried's appeal for leniency as "callous" and "demonstrably false," Ray criticized his supposed lack of remorse and highlighted the adverse impact of his actions on FTX's operations and stakeholders.



Upon assuming leadership of FTX, Ray disclosed that the company had only 105 Bitcoins remaining on the exchange, despite customers being entitled to 100,000 Bitcoins.



He also alleged that Bankman-Fried had misappropriated substantial sums of money, which remained unaccounted for despite recovery efforts.



"Mr. Bankman-Fried continues to live a life of delusion. The "business" he left on November 11, 2022, was neither solvent nor safe," said Ray III. "Vast sums of money were stolen by Mr. Bankman-Fried, and he was rightly convicted by a jury of his peers."

Related Article: Sam Bankman-Fried is Guilty: Criminal Trial Conclusion Finds Ex-CEO Accountable for All 7 Charges

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A recent study from Cornell Engineering suggests that pairing crypto mining with green hydrogen technology could facilitate the broader adoption of renewable energy sources like solar and wind power.

"Dynamic Duo"

Fengqi You, the Roxanne E. and Michael J. Zak Professor in Energy Systems Engineering at Cornell Engineering underscores the urgent need to explore avenues for aligning cryptocurrency operations with sustainability goals amid concerns over their significant carbon footprint.



"Since current cryptocurrency operations now contribute heavily to worldwide carbon emissions, it becomes vital to explore opportunities for harnessing the widespread enthusiasm for cryptocurrency as we move toward a sustainable and a climate-friendly future," the researchers said in an official statement.

According to You and doctoral student Apoorv Lal, integrating energy-intensive cryptocurrency mining with green hydrogen technology presents an opportunity to accelerate the transition to renewable energy sources.



The researchers have dubbed this approach the "dynamic duo." It has the potential to propel renewable energy sectors forward.



Lal emphasizes the role of a green hydrogen infrastructure in supporting cryptocurrency production, highlighting its potential to catalyze renewable energy growth and create a more sustainable energy landscape.



The study outlines how harnessing clean energy sources for blockchain mining operations and green hydrogen production can expand renewable energy capacity, particularly in regions rich in wind and solar resources.



According to a 2022 report from the White House Office of Science and Technology, crypto mining in the U.S. consumes a significant amount of carbon-based energy, equivalent to Argentina's entire energy consumption.



The vast majority of this energy consumption is driven by consensus mechanisms like "proof of work," used to verify crypto-assets.

Read Also: CryptoWatch: AI Tokens Surge, FTX vs. SBF, Top Coin Prices Now

Virtual Energy Carriers

The researchers propose a solution to address the energy demands of cryptocurrency mining by leveraging cryptocurrencies as virtual energy carriers alongside green hydrogen.



This approach aims to transform cryptocurrency mining from an environmental challenge into a driver of climate mitigation and sustainability.



Examining individual U.S. states, You and Lal assess the energy potential of each region. For instance, supporting cryptocurrency mining in New Mexico could potentially generate 78.4 megawatt hours of solar power for each Bitcoin mined, while in Wyoming, this could result in 265.8 megawatt hours of wind power per Bitcoin.



You draws an analogy between cryptocurrency and energy, likening them to virtual entities with tangible value. He emphasizes the potential of cryptocurrencies to hold an energy value akin to a gift card concept, thus serving as an additional function beyond their financial value.



To realize a sustainable future for blockchain-based cryptocurrency, the researchers advocate for stronger federal policies to advance climate goals and promote renewable energy.



They believe that coupling cryptocurrency with green hydrogen mitigates its environmental impact and paves the way for a renewable energy transition.



"Coupled with green hydrogen, this approach to cryptocurrency not only mitigates its own environmental impact, but pioneers a sustainable path for renewable energy transition," You said. "It's a novel strategy."

The findings of the research team were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Related Article: FTX CEO: SBF Did 'Vast' Harm to Customers, Lied About Funds, Solvency





 2024 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Earl Scruggs amazed audiences by taking a three-fingered banjo style that blended speed with accuracy and adding his own rhythmic bounce of syncopation. A century after Scruggs birth, a new series of concerts is giving fans a closer look at an innovative career that has influenced some of the most well known banjo players, including Bela Fleck and Steve Martin.

Banjo star Tony Trischka has been studying Scruggs solos from some rare recordings of jam sessions with John Hartford and transcribing them note for note to reveal new layers of Scruggs approach.

People were playing it as long ago as the 1870s, but no one had done it the way he did it, Trischka said of the three-fingered playing style. Its that sound, that syncopation he came up with, and the licks he came up with. He considered that to be his main contribution. He called it Scruggs Style.

Trischka spoke with The Daily Progress about Scruggs combination of tradition and innovation and the new concerts it inspired before his sold-out concert Thursday at the Front Porch in Charlottesville.

In the bluegrass style, you have metal picks on your index and middle fingers and a plastic pick on your thumb, Trischka said. As a youngster, the Syracuse, New York native was so captivated by Scruggs Style that he couldnt resist tapping out banjo finger rolls everywhere.

Id be playing Foggy Mountain Breakdown on the school desk, Trischka said with a chuckle. Even today, more than five decades into his own acclaimed banjo career, he said, Sometimes, Ill be driving to a gig and playing Earl Scruggs on the radio and realize that Im driving 85 miles an hour.

The first part of Trischkas EarlJam show dives into an overview of the early days of Scruggs career and his time with guitarist and mandolinist Lester Flatt in the crowd-pleasing duo Flatt and Scruggs. The men teamed up after leaving Bill Monroes Blue Grass Boys in 1946.

The 1949 Flatt and Scruggs version of Foggy Mountain Breakdown lured a new generation of fans to bluegrass after it was used in the hit 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde and picked up a pair of Grammy Awards. Television viewers couldnt get enough of The Ballad of Jed Clampett, the theme song Flatt and Scruggs performed for The Beverly Hillbillies.

After 20 years together, Flatt and Scruggs parted ways in 1969. Trischka said that while Flatt wanted to maintain a more traditional bluegrass sound and avoid alienating longtime fans, Scruggs wanted to extend the boundaries of the banjo and incorporate emerging rock and pop trends to keep pace with current tastes.

The second part of EarlJam is based on the prized jam sessions with Hartford, which showed an inspired Scruggs in his element, taking risks and swinging for the fences, Trischka said.

If You Go Tony Trischkas EarlJam: A Tribute to Earl Scruggs 7:30 p.m. Thursday The Front Porch Sold Out frontporchcville.org

I transcribed about 40 of the tunes, Trischka said. Fifteen of them have been selected for his upcoming EarlJam album, which is set for a June 7 release, and Trischka said there is enough material for a possible future collection.

When asked what advice hed share with beginning banjo players, Trischka offered three recommendations from his own extensive experience as a banjo player, teacher and instruction book author.

For starters, dont get discouraged and keep moving forward, he said. Just keep a positive attitude, and dont beat yourself up.

A tool more often associated with piano studies can be a game-changer for banjo players in that regard. A metronome can make all the difference when youre trying to nail that innovative Scruggs syncopation and strengthen your rhythm.

Work with a metronome, because when you feel it coming together, its exciting, Trischka said. I work with a metronome every day.

Another suggestion is to try something new. Trischka recommends trying clawhammer banjo style, which reveals the nuances of the banjos African heritage, or the classic American parlor style of banjo playing from the late 1800s to the early 1900s.

A new genre of music can freshen things up, too. Just listen to any music that inspires you; listen to the Beatles or Taylor Swift, Trischka said.

Trischkas third piece of advice for people who want to build banjo chops is to try writing music.

You can write a tune, Trischka said. Everybody can write a tune, even if youre a beginner. Dont say you cant do it.

Free improvisation also can help a banjo player of any experience level, or a performer on any instrument, find inspiration, he said.

People can free improvise on the banjo, which Bela [Fleck] does, Trischka said. [Pianist] Keith Jarrett would do entire concerts of improvisation. You just start moving your fingers on the strings, and sounds will come out.
Vodafone Germany has announced a major restructuring plan aimed at saving approximately 400 million over the next two years. This transformation program will involve the loss of around 2,000 jobs as part of a broader effort to streamline operations and reduce costs.

Vodafone Germany Announces 2,000 Job Cuts

According to Reuters, the telecommunications giant stated that the restructuring initiative is a continuation of a cost-cutting strategy announced nearly a year ago, which is expected to lead to a total of 11,000 job cuts worldwide.

The company plans to achieve cost reductions primarily through savings and job relocations, leveraging increased automation to replace manual tasks. Notably, a significant portion of the savings will stem from updating outdated IT structures.

Despite the job losses and cost-cutting measures, Vodafone Germany remains committed to investing in high-growth areas such as cloud services and corporate client business. This strategic focus underscores the company's efforts to adapt to evolving market demands while maintaining competitiveness.

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"Costs should be reduced primarily by dismantling complex structures and modernizing network elements and IT systems. Investments in strong networks, simple products, improved customer accessibility, advertising, and the growth areas of IoT and cloud are being increased," the company's media relations head, Tobias Krzossa said in a statement (translated from German).

(Photo : Ralph Orlowski/Getty Images)

DUESSELDORF, GERMANY - MAY 24: The German headquarters of British mobile telephone giant Vodafone is seen May 24, 2005 in Duesseldorf, Germany. Vodaphone announced a three percent increase in pre-tax profits at today's annual news conference.

Vodafone Germany's Latest Leadership Change

In a leadership change earlier this month, Philippe Rogge was replaced by Ahmed Essam as Executive Chairman Germany and Chief Executive European Markets, reflecting Vodafone's commitment to navigating these changes effectively.

The restructuring plan aligns with Vodafone's broader vision to simplify operations, enhance customer experience, and drive growth in key sectors. The company aims to strengthen its networks, offer simpler products, improve customer accessibility, and capitalize on emerging opportunities in areas like IoT (Internet of Things) and cloud services.

This move underscores Vodafone's determination to remain agile in a rapidly evolving industry landscape while ensuring long-term sustainability and profitability.

The restructuring program is expected to have a financial impact of approximately 400 million over the next two years. Vodafone affirms its commitment to executing these changes responsibly, with a focus on supporting affected employees and reinforcing expertise in growth areas like cloud computing and IoT solutions.

In Other News

Dave Calhoun, Boeing's CEO, announced his resignation amid growing concerns about safety mishaps and manufacturing issues.

"Board Chair Larry Kellner informed the board that he does not stand for re-election at the upcoming Annual Shareholder Meeting.

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," Boeing said in an official statement.

Stay posted here at Tech Times.

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 2024 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
On Monday, March 25, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law one of the nation's most extreme social media bills. This law imposes restrictions on minors' access to social media platforms.

Under the law, children under 14 years old are prohibited from creating accounts, while those aged 14 to 16 must obtain parental consent.

The enactment of the said law (also known as HB 3) not only places restrictions on teenage social media usage but also mandates age verification for individuals seeking to visit pornographic websites.

According to CNET, it is slated to take effect on January 1, 2025. This law is expected to encounter legal challenges, particularly concerning First Amendment rights.

"Social media harms children in a variety of ways. HB 3 gives parents a greater ability to protect their children," DeSantis said.

Related Article: Florida Is One Step Closer to Prohibiting Children's Use of Social Media

Tech Industry Groups Concerned Over Social Media Ban Law

Tech industry advocates, including NetChoice, have expressed concerns about the law's implications.

NetChoice, associated with major tech firms like Meta, Google, and TikTok, emphasized the potential privacy risks posed by the extensive data collection required for compliance with the legislation.

According to Carl Szabo, NetChoice's VP and general counsel, alternative approaches to enhancing online safety without infringing on individual freedoms should be explored.

Nationwide Debate on Social Media Regulation

Florida joins a growing list of states grappling with issues surrounding youth access to social media.

Motivated by revelations from internal Facebook research highlighting the negative effects of platforms like Instagram on teenagers' mental health, several states, including Arkansas, Louisiana, Ohio, and Utah, have initiated discussions or passed similar legislation.

Broader Regulatory Efforts

These state-level actions are part of a broader global trend of increased regulation targeting the tech industry. The European Union has implemented hefty fines and introduced new regulations aimed at reshaping the competitive landscape among tech giants like Apple, Alphabet, and Meta.

Similarly, US lawmakers are addressing concerns regarding social media's implications for national security, with President Joe Biden indicating support for legislation that could restrict platforms like TikTok due to potential foreign interference risks.

DeSantis' Stance and Legislative Evolution

Governor DeSantis, who has previously voiced support for potential TikTok bans, vetoed an earlier version of Florida's social media law. This earlier iteration sought to prohibit children under 16 from accessing certain social media platforms altogether.

De Santis was also the one who signed the law against censoring the social media accounts of politicians.

In 2021, the "anti-deflatforming" took into effect. The campaign was focused on stopping the "Big Tech Censorship" so more people could freely reach out on social media.

For more news and updates about social media and other related topics, just click here.

Read Also: Techies Unite: Best Tech Subreddits to Explore in 2024

 2024 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Portugal's data protection authority has temporarily banned Worldcoin's operations within the country, a setback for the controversial crypto biometrics venture. The Worldcoin ban, which Spain imposed earlier this month, has reduced the company's European presence to Germany, which allows biometric data gathering.

Portugal implemented the Worldcoin ban due to concerns surrounding Worldcoin's controversial practice of scanning the eyeballs of children, according to a TechCrunch report. Concerns included insufficient notification of sensitive biometric data processing to users and the lack of options to remove or cancel consent.

Worldcoin's use of blockchain technology to store biometric tokens' long-term preservation of personal data could go against EU data protection rules. These regulations allow people to edit, alter, or remove their personal data.

Sam Altman, a prominent figure in the tech industry, has expressed support for Worldcoin's ambitious project. Worldcoin seeks to create and manage an identity layer that focuses on the concept of "humanness." However, the venture's quasi-financial incentives for biometric submission have drawn criticism.

Worldcoin Receives Ultimatum

After receiving multiple complaints about Worldcoin, the Portuguese data protection authority, CNPD, decided to take action. According to reports, more than 300,000 people in Portugal underwent iris scans in return for Worldcoin cryptocurrency.

Portugal was removed from Worldcoin's list of countries where eyeball scans may be booked due to the CNPD's warnings about children's data and 24-hour ultimatum to comply with the local stop-processing order.

The orb's software is now open sourcehttps://t.co/nk11m4vnQk  Worldcoin (@worldcoin) March 22, 2024

Worldcoin was banned in Spain for three months this month because of privacy concerns about its iris-scanning technology. According to Reuters, the Spanish data protection regulator, AEPD, has issued a demand to Worldcoin, urging them to immediately stop collecting personal data and halt the use of acquired data.

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Data from November, more than 360,000 people in Spain have registered for Worldcoin, as previously reported by TechTimes.

Spain's Worldcoin ban comes in response to numerous complaints regarding insufficient information disclosure, the collection of data from minors, and the lack of an option for individuals to withdraw their consent.

Worldcoin fired back, accusing the AEPD of circumventing around EU regulations and disseminating false details about its technology.

Mounting Concerns Over Worldcoin's Possible Data Privacy Violations

According to information provided on its website, Worldcoin's "orb" devices have attracted the interest of over 4 million individuals from 120 nations who have registered to undergo iris scanning. Privacy groups from Argentina to Germany have criticized the initiative for collecting, storing, and using personal data, while experts have highlighted concerns about Worldcoin's use of data for targeted marketing, prompting inquiries in France.

In a recent development, the Kenyan government has put a temporary halt on new sign-ups for Worldcoin, citing an ongoing data protection inquiry.

A UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) representative said that firms must conduct a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) before processing data. The spokesperson highlighted the significance of organizations ensuring they have a valid legal foundation for handling personal data. Consent must be voluntary and revocable, without harm.

Related Article: Apple Chooses Baidu's AI for iPhone 16 in China: Report

 2024 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Apple Inc. is facing a significant setback in its key market, China, as official data reveals a sharp decline in iPhone shipments. According to reports, iPhone shipments in China fell by a staggering 33% in February compared to the same period last year.

Bloomberg reports that this marks the second consecutive month of decline for the tech giant in its most crucial overseas market.

Apple Is Facing Another Drop in iPhone Shipments

The decline in iPhone shipments comes amidst a broader contraction in the Chinese smartphone market, which saw a nearly one-third decrease in February. Analysts attribute this decline to various factors, including the later timing of the Lunar New Year and increased competition from local Chinese smartphone makers.

In January, Apple experienced a similar drop, with shipments plummeting by about 5.5 million or 39% compared to the previous year. These consecutive declines have raised concerns about the company's performance in one of its largest markets.

Despite efforts to bolster sales, including rare discounts offered by Apple in January, the company continues to struggle to maintain its market share in China. Analysts predict further challenges for Apple in the coming months, with expectations of iPhone sales continuing to deteriorate.

Read Also: Apple's M4 Chips are Coming in 2025, Why Is There a Delay?

(Photo : Ming Yeung/Getty Images)

Apple faces a 33% drop in iPhone shipments in China for February, marking a second consecutive month of decline, amid challenges from local competitors.

Tim Cook Visits China, Huawei Gains Ground

Apple's CEO, Tim Cook, recently visited China, where he met with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and reaffirmed the company's commitment to the Chinese market. Cook emphasized the importance of China as a crucial supply chain partner for Apple and expressed plans to increase investment in the country in the long term.

At the China Development Forum in Beijing, Tim Cook announced that Apple's VR headset, the Apple Vision Pro, will be available in mainland China later this year. The Apple executive also pledged to increase funding for China's R&D industry. Cook's statements were extensively covered by Chinese state-owned media, but no investment amounts were revealed.

However, challenges persist for Apple in China, with stiff competition from local smartphone makers such as Huawei, whose consumer business has experienced a resurgence in the country. Despite regulatory challenges both domestically and internationally, Apple remains a significant player in the Chinese smartphone market.

Analysts suggest that Apple's future performance in China will be closely watched, particularly with the impending release of the iPhone 16. Despite the current setbacks, the company remains optimistic about its long-term prospects in one of the world's largest smartphone markets.

Apple's Antitrust Lawsuit in the US

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against Apple, claiming that the tech giant used the iPhone's market dominance to stifle competition.

This action marks the start of a lengthy legal battle that can completely change Apple's business model and have an impact on the tech industry.

Stay posted here at Tech Times.

Related Article: Apple Vision Pro Mainland China Debut Confirmed as Tim Cook Reveals Launch Plans, Potential Date

 2024 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Virginia officials scrambled on Tuesday to help neighboring Maryland with maritime commerce disrupted by the early morning collapse of a bridge in Baltimore in the main shipping channel to the city's busy port.

Aubrey Layne, chairman of the board of directors at the Port of Virginia, said the port in Hampton Roads would not be directly affected by the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge over the Patapsco River after it was struck by a freight ship early on Tuesday.

But Layne, a former state transportation and finance secretary, said the Virginia port would assist the Port of Baltimore and shipping companies to divert cargo.

"The bottom line is we'll work with them to help them through this," he said. "We have the capacity."

Gov. Glenn Youngkin posted on X Tuesday morning that he has spoken with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and offered Virginia's assistance following the bridge collapse in Baltimore.

I have spoken with @GovWesMoore this morning, and Virginia stands ready to assist and support our neighbor Maryland. Our prayers are with the families affected and the courageous rescue efforts underway following the tragic incident at Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge.  Governor Glenn Youngkin (@GovernorVA) March 26, 2024

Layne said the Virginia port would work with two major railroad companies, Norfolk Southern and CSX Corp., to divert shipped goods that cannot reach the Port of Baltimore, such as imported automobiles.

"To an extent, that gives us options to get cargo up to the Northeast," he said.

The incident highlights an advantage that the Port of Virginia holds in Hampton Roads, where no overhead bridges obstruct shipping in the deep water harbor that is home to the U.S. Navy and major shipyards. Vehicle traffic crosses the harbor through the Hampton Roads Tunnel and the Monitor-Merrimac tunnel.

"When you have a port where you have an overhead obstruction, you run those risks," Layne said. "In Virginia, you can hit a tunnel, but you don't close a shipping lane."

In February 1977, a 612-foot tanker, the Marine Floridian, lost control of its rudder and rammed the Benjamin Harrison Bridge, which crosses over the James River between Charles City County and Prince George County near Hopewell.

Four vehicles were on the bridge before the collision, but drivers got two of them off before impact. The other two - a pickup truck and a panel truck - went into the James River but the occupants escaped before the trucks fell from the bridge.

The bridge, completed in 1966, was closed for repairs for 20 months.

Maryland's Key Bridge is part of Interstate 695, a high-speed beltway around Batlmore. The bridge lies between Dundalk and Glen Burnie.

The Baltimore Sun reported that an estimated seven vehicles fell into the river as the bridge collapsed. The collapse does not directly affect traffic to and from Virginia on Interstate 95.

At Virginia's state Capitol on Tuesday morning, Democratic leaders held a news conference about the state budget. Del. Luke Torian, D-Prince William, chair of the House Appropriations Committee and a minister, started the gathering by calling for a moment of silence for those affected in Maryland.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., was among the Virginia office holders who expressed concerns on social media.

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-11th, who represents parts of Fairfax and Prince William counties, also expressed solidarity with Virginia's neighbors to the north.

The Baltimore Sun reported that the cargo ship Dali, carrying a Singapore flag, had arrived from Norfolk.

Citing Vessel Finder, a ship tracking website, it reported that the ship left from the Port of Baltimore around 1 a.m.

The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore is devastating.



My heart is with our neighbors in Maryland today. Thankful for the first responders on the scene.  Tim Kaine (@timkaine) March 26, 2024

Devastating news out of Baltimore this morning with the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Our hearts are with our neighbors in Maryland today.  Rep. Gerry Connolly (@GerryConnolly) March 26, 2024
Disappearance of little Emile: the child's bones have been discovered, announces the prosecution

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 Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
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

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Britain probably couldn't fight Russia alone for more than two months

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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.
Calling it the best job I ever could have hoped for, long-serving Benton County District Attorney John Haroldson says the timing is right for him to step down from the role.

In announcing he will not seek reelection, Haroldson is endorsing Chief Deputy District Attorney Ryan Joslin to become the countys top prosecutor, the only one who has filed papers to run.

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With his term up at the end of the year, 61-year-old Haroldson caps off a career that has allowed him to "find so much meaning in the pursuit of justice through the truth.

Haroldson has worked to develop a District Attorneys Office with a keen sense of institutional knowledge and awareness, expecting in his absence, it will continue to uphold the professional standards and community values Benton County residents rely upon in the justice system.

Its important when we think about jobs and elections, that we recognize the critical value of experience and knowledge that is gained over time, Haroldson said.

If you were to add up all the experience of the attorneys that are in the District Attorneys Office today, and take me out of the equation, we have over 100 years of collective experience working in the criminal justice system among our attorneys, he said.

Longtime prosecutor

Haroldson was born in Bellevue, Washington, and majored in philosophy and foreign language at Central Washington University. He earned his law degree at the University of Oregon and interned with an Albany firm, where he prosecuted municipal offenses for the city of Albany, starting in 1988.

Joining the Linn County District Attorneys Office in 1990, Haroldson was named prosecutor of the year by the Oregon Crime Victims Assistance Network in 1999.

In 2002, Haroldson took the chief deputy district attorney position in Benton County. His goal was clear: "I want to seek a district attorney position at the earliest opportunity," he told the Albany Democrat-Herald at the time.

When Benton County District Attorney Scott Heiser resigned in late 2006 over an ongoing conflict with a judge, he recommended Haroldson succeed him.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski appointed Haroldson to the position in early 2007, making Haroldson  whose full name is John Haroldson Suarez Rodriguez Gutierrez Ballesteros DeLara  the first and only Latino elected as district attorney in Oregon history in the following election cycle, he believes.

Benton courthouse

Benton County's historic 1888 courthouse in Corvallis is the oldest in Oregon still serving its original purpose, but there is an ongoing question as to how long that can continue given the buildings age and condition. Haroldson loves the building, but he knows it has issues.

I think weve done a really good job of doing the most we can possibly do with the current courthouse, Haroldson said. The fact that we have come to a point where we are able to transition to a courthouse that can meet modern demands is an accomplishment in and of itself.

Its sort of like if youre driving a Model T, and youre able to get from Point A to Point B, thats probably going to be a different experience from driving a Tesla.

The 134-year-old courthouse is slated for replacement in 2026 under an $86.6 million project, of which $48.5 million is funded by the county for the prosecutor offices and half of the courthouse, with the state picking up the rest.

Justice improvements

Benton County asked voters  unsuccessfully  in four elections since 2000 to pass a jail bond measure. Three prior attempts were mostly about a new jail, but the most recent effort included a new emergency operations center along with smaller amounts for homeless people and those experiencing mental health issues.

County leaders didn't include the new courthouse, opting to finance it separately to ensure it gets built.

One of the things we have to take a really hard look at is the importance of making one decision at a time, Haroldson said. With the (Justice System Improvement Plan) bond, there were really a lot of decisions that had to be made.

Thinking about the decision-making process that comes with making an expensive and important purchase, the financial commitment brings with it both a good feeling and a little worry about the obligation, Haroldson said.

Haroldson compared the JSIP bond to buying a house, car, boat, RV, and rental property all bundled together. While you might need them all, paying for them all at once could make you pause  not that you are opposed to the idea, but big, complicated decisions can create a sense of apprehension.

In todays world, where were just being inundated with so much information, theres competition for our attention, he said. How much attention can we give complex, layered decisions versus up or down, we want a new jail. Up or down, we want a new courthouse.

Acknowledging that his expertise is not in political strategizing for bond measures, Haroldson said from the perspective of a community member, his impression is it is always easier to take decisions one at a time.

To the extent that were able to have a greater focus on the decision, a greater community understanding, youre always going to get a more informed public making a more informed decision, he said.

Benton jail capacity

The most recent failure at the ballot box means Benton County is left with an undersized jail.

As I understand it, Benton County has the smallest jail per capita in the state, Haroldson said. And it has had the smallest jail per capita in the state for a long time.

The limited capacity requires the county to pay rent for jail beds in other areas, also costing both money and human resources as deputies transport inmates back and forth.

The irony is were paying three times for that space, and were buying their jails for them, Haroldson said. To what end? We create the illusion that we dont require much jail space because people see the small jail.

Beyond capacity, there is the issue of quality with the Benton County Jail, Haroldson noted, saying the quality and capacity is not just for the community. He said there is a question of whether the jail reflects the standards expected by Benton County residents.

There is also the consideration for people of limited means who find themselves incarcerated. If they are held outside of the community, Haroldson said they may not get as much contact with their lawyers or social support from loved ones.

County crisis center

In hope of helping those experiencing a crisis as well as disrupting the homeless-to-jail pipeline, Benton County is building a $7.7 million clinical center to give people a place to stabilize and connect with services.

Haroldson believes the project demonstrates that the county is stepping up to meet a community need that is not being met by statewide resources.

I think the crisis center can be a real asset, particularly when you take into account how many gaps exist with regards to the statewide response to the mental health crisis, he said.

With the Oregon State Hospital backlogged on admissions and discharging more patients to their communities of origin, treatment groups have reported struggling with capacity and funding.

These discharged patients are charged with crimes but were found mentally unfit for court proceedings and cannot continue in the criminal justice system until they have been treated and restored to a level of mental fitness for court.

If you look at the history with regards to responding to mental health  cutting back statewide beds, pushing people into the communities  if youve got communities that dont have adequate resources, where does that leave us? Haroldson said.

Should it surprise us that were seeing such significant increases in our houseless population, he said. We have to ask ourselves, to what degree have we been complicit statewide or even locally with respect to this unintended consequence.

Measure 110 impact

Oregon voters decision to decriminalize possession of lesser amounts of drugs in 2020 has kept the state in the national spotlight as unintended consequences of Measure 110 have come to light.

Complex problems and solutions require a lot of attention, to not only become knowledgeable, but to share that knowledge with practitioners, Haroldson said. We need to take into account what weve learned from best practices.

Haroldson questioned the extent to which Measure 110 supporters envisioned the law benefiting low-risk offenders  who may be helped with a bit of education and information  and how much that approach may have missed the mark in terms of helping higher risk offenders change their lives for the better.

We need to ask ourselves, Since the inception of Measure 110, have things gotten better or have they gotten worse, Haroldson said.

Whatever the answer to that question is, then we have to ask the question, Why? Then research more, he said. All of societys challenges deserve our best thought, our best ongoing effort to learn, and our best wisdom and choices along the way.

Mandatory sentencing

In 1994, Oregon voters passed a law dictating mandatory minimum prison sentences for serious crimes against persons.

Measure 11 is probably one of the most misunderstood aspects of the criminal justice system, Haroldson said.

Its part of an evolution that is not unusual in all of our legal systems: We begin with a system, we perceive a problem, and then we create a solution, he said. If the solution works well, we hold onto it until we recognize it doesnt have all the answers, and we evolve.

Haroldson said a big selling point of the Measure 11 minimum sentencing guidelines was truth in sentencing, establishing solid minimum prison terms for violent crimes. In his view, the criminal justice system is always evolving, noting a doubling in the size of the criminal code over his tenure.

Its not because it's redundant; its part of the evolution, he said. Here are the rules, we learn from them, and we make more rules.

Work-life balance

Haroldson says balance is important in any line of work, and people need to find activities and support to keep centered. As a district attorney, you must be prepared to work 24/7, 365 days a year. That requires a certain level of resilience.

Sometimes you get that call at 3 a.m., the homicide investigation team all rolls out, and were back to work, Haroldson said. So that balance is a critical piece. For me personally, I credit my family; that is an incredible source of strength for me.

It is also important to have interests outside of the workplace that are healthy and offer some personal growth, Haroldson added. To him, it is important to diversify his interests and let that enrich what he does. Among his pursuits, which include music, he enjoys ballroom dancing with his wife.

On his first day of retirement, Haroldson plans to take a deep breath, reflect, and really spend some quality time with his family.

The work goes on

There remains much work ahead of us, Haroldson said. Being able to depend on stakeholders to support our needs will be essential to having the best justice system in the state.

Haroldson is incredibly proud of his 31-person team in the District Attorneys Office, and the way they truly work as a team, top to bottom, left to right, he said. They are in sync in pursuing justice and the truth, and they will need to keep that going after he is departed.

I plan to continue working on projects that provide me with a deep sense of purpose, whether it is in alignment with the criminal justice system, or in other areas that serve our public and community, Haroldson said. Im excited about the opportunity for that transition.

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Planting trees in wrong places heats the planet: study



Paris, March 26 (AFP) Mar 26, 2024



Planting trees in the wrong places can actually contribute to global warming, scientists said on Tuesday, but a new map identifies the best locations to regrow forests and cool the planet.

Trees soak up carbon dioxide and restoring areas of degraded woodlands or planting saplings to boost forest cover is one tool in the fight against climate change.

But in some cases, more trees means less sunlight is reflected back from the earth's surface and more heat is absorbed by the planet, according to a study in the journal Nature Communications.

"There are some places where putting trees back leads to net climate negative outcomes," Susan Cook-Patton, one of the study's co-authors, told AFP.

Scientists had already understood that restoring tree cover led to changes in albedo -- the amount of solar radiation bounced back off the planet's surface -- but didn't have the tools to account for it, she said.

Using new maps, researchers were able to consider, for the first time, the cooling effect from trees and the warming caused by decreased albedo.

They found that projects that didn't factor albedo into the equation overestimated the climate benefit of additional trees by between 20 to 80 percent.

But the maps also provide the tools to help policymakers identify where best to funnel scarce resources for maximum climate impact, said Cook-Patton, senior forest restoration scientist at The Nature Conservancy.

"There's also lots of places still where restoring tree cover is a great idea for climate change. We're just trying to help people find those spots," she said.



- Return on investment -



Albedo is highest in the frozen areas of the world, and mirror-like clean snow and ice with high levels of albedo reflect up to 90 percent of the sun's energy.

It is one of Earth's major cooling agents, along with lands and oceans that absorb excess heat and planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.

Many countries have promised to plant billions of trees as a bulwark against global warming but not all efforts deliver for the planet equally, this study showed.

Moist, tropical environments like the Amazon and Congo Basin boasted high carbon storage and low changes in albedo, making them ideal locations for restoring forest cover.

The opposite was true in temperate grasslands and savanna, Cook-Patton said.

Even projects in the best locations were probably delivering 20 percent less cooling than estimated when changes to albedo were taken into account, she said.

But she stressed that restoring forests delivered undeniable benefits for people and the planet, such as supporting ecosystems and providing clean air and water, among many.

"We really don't want our work to be a critique of the movement writ large," she said.

"(But) we can't put trees everywhere. We don't have enough money or time or resources or people or seedlings.

"And so it's really about making the most of limited investments and getting the greatest climate return per hectare of investment," she added.
France's Macron heads to Amazon on three-day Brazil trip



Belem, Brazil, March 26 (AFP) Mar 26, 2024



French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday kicks off a visit to Brazil in the Amazon city of Belem, the host of 2025 UN climate talks, where he and Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will seek to reset frayed ties.

Macron is the first French president to visit Brazil in 11 years and he is seeking a fresh start after spats with former president Jair Bolsonaro over environmental destruction and insults directed at his wife, Brigitte.

France, the seventh largest economy in the world, and Brazil, the ninth largest, are considered key players in a geopolitical scene marked by rivalry between China and the United States.

Paris sees Brasilia as a bridge to large emerging economies whose voices Brazil is trying to amplify through its presidency of the G20, and membership of the BRICS+ group.

"We are living in a Franco-Brazilian moment," said the Elysee presidential palace, highlighting "many points of convergence" with Lula, particularly on "major global issues."

"France is an essential, unavoidable actor for Brazilian foreign policy," said the head of Brazilian diplomacy for Europe, Maria Luisa Escorel de Moraes.

- Amazon chief to be honored -



Lula and Macron will meet in Belem in northern Brazil, which in 2025 will host the COP30 climate talks.

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon halved in 2023 after soaring under Bolsonaro, as Lula's government stepped up environmental policing.

The world's largest tropical forest plays a key role in the fight against climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide emissions.

In Belem, Macron will award tribal chief Raoni Metuktire with the Legion of Honor, the highest French distinction, for his role as an "international figure in the fight for the preservation of the Amazon rainforest and the culture of indigenous peoples," according to the French presidency.

Metuktire left his home in the Amazon over 30 years ago to travel the world with his warning of the threats posed by the destruction of the rainforest.

A striking figure with his large wooden lip plate and yellow feather headdress, he has taken his message to popes, royals and presidents, with his stature as an environmental campaigner rising with growing awareness of the climate emergency.



- Mercosur and Ukraine -



France and Brazil are working together to manufacture four conventionally powered submarines, the third of which will be launched on Wednesday by both leaders at the Itaguai naval base, near Rio de Janeiro.

Brasilia could also call on Paris to help it develop nuclear propulsion on a fifth submarine.

Then there are the more sticky topics, such as the long-stalled free trade agreement between the European Union and South America's Mercosur bloc, which has recently run into fierce resistance from European farmers.

Macron said in January that France opposes the deal because it "doesn't make Mercosur farmers and companies abide by the same rules as ours."

While Lula is expected to reiterate his call for the rapid signing of the deal, both Paris and Brasilia have indicated the two-decade old negotiations would not be a major focus of Macron's trip.

The war in Ukraine, which Macron wants to be a key focus of the G20, is another point of contention.

Lula, who has positioned himself as a champion of the "global South", has insisted that Kyiv and Moscow share responsibility over the conflict and has refused to take a stand against Russia.
Uganda losing the lions' share with sharp 20-year decline



Kampala, March 26 (AFP) Mar 26, 2024



Uganda is suffering a steep decline in its number of lions following a 45 percent slump in the past 20 years, the tourism and wildlife ministry said on Tuesday.

That tailoff has seen numbers shrink from 493 to 275, largely owing to growing conflict between humans and animals in the wild, the ministry said.

"Lions have declined sharply due to retaliatory killings, resulting from human-wildlife conflicts," the minister, Tom Butime, stated as he released a national tourism report.

"Lion numbers have fallen from a peak of 493 in 2014 to 275 lions in 2023."

However, Butime said he was pleased to announce that some other species have seen their numbers rise, including gorillas -- up from 302 in the early 2000s to 459 by 2022.

Uganda, in east Africa, is reputed for enjoying some of the world's richest biodiversity.

Most of its lions (224) inhabit the park at Murchison Falls, although numbers are down to 39 in Queen Elizabeth National Park, where the lions are famed for their tree-climbing ability.

That dropoff follows several apparent cases of poisoning -- nine in 2022, six in 2021 and 11 in 2018.

But investigations into who was responsible -- cattle breeders seeking to limit attacks on their stock are suspected, as well as poachers -- have run into the sand.

Four poachers were arrested in 2021 when four lions' heads and body parts were discovered along with bottles containing poisonous substances, spears, a machete and a hunting net.

In a report last year, the government warned of threats to lions and chimpanzees. In contrast, Uganda's elephant population has nearly quadrupled to 7,975 over the past four decades.

In that time, the number of giraffes has increased sixfold to 2,072 and the number of buffaloes almost doubled to more than 44,000.

National parks are a key driver of tourism in Uganda, accounting for 7.6 percent of GDP, according to the ministry of finance.
A former supervisor at a seed company operating in Linn County has been sentenced to prison for multiple fraud schemes against a major agricultural products supplier.

Richard Dunham, 66, was ordered to serve a year and a day in federal prison along with three years of supervised release for partaking in efforts to defraud the J.R. Simplot Company and former subsidiary Jacklin Seed Company, according to a new release from the U.S. Attorney's Office  District of Oregon.

Dunham also will have to pay $348,065 in restitution to Simplot.

A Place to Sleep, episode 2: Albany, part II Last week we introduced Dusty Bryant, who police evicted from Albany's designated resting site for homeless individuals. This week, we check in to see what's happening with Dusty.

An Idaho resident, Dunham supervised order fulfillment and warehousing operations for Washington-based Jacklin, a producer and marketer of grass seed and turfgrass, according to the release. Idaho-based Simplot owned and operated Jacklin from 1997 until its sale in 2020.

During this time, much of Jacklins business operations, including a seed-blending and warehousing facility, were in and around Albany, the release states. Dunham supervised the companys Albany operations and had the authority to purchase grass seed from certain Oregon growers over others.

Scheme 1: False labels

At some point between 2013 and 2015, Dunham, along with Jacklin general manager Christopher Claypool of Spokane, Washington, and others reportedly realized that growers preference for higher-yield grasses was creating substantial shortages of lower-yield varieties Jacklin had contracted to deliver to its customers.

Dunham and Claypool recognized that these shortages would either cause Jacklin to fail to deliver on its existing contracts or require Jacklin to pay a premium to growers to acquire necessary inventory, substantially eroding company profits, according to the release. The pair anticipated that either result would negatively affect their careers.

From 2015 to at least 2019, Dunham and Claypool directed Jacklin employees at the Albany facility and elsewhere to fulfill customer orders with different varieties of grass seed than the customers had ordered, to conceal such substitutions from the customers, and to invoice the customers as though no substitutions had taken place, the release states.

Together, they reportedly referred to this scheme as getting creative.

To conceal the substitutions, Dunham and Claypool directed employees to package the substitute seed varieties with false labels, according to the release, which states they also directed staff to invoice customers under the original terms of their contracts, despite the substitutions.

As a result of this scheme, Simplot reportedly refunded or credited more than $1.5 million to defrauded buyers.

In the same period, Dunham and Claypool agreed to import mislabeled seeds from Moore Seeds, a Jacklin supplier based in Canada, to offset the shortage of one of Jacklins best-selling grass seed blends, the release states.

In doing so, Dunham conspired with the owner of Cankiwi Ventures Ltd., Moores managing entity, to purchase a less expensive seed blend at above-market rates in exchange for Moores falsely labeling the seed as Jacklins premier blend and shipping it, under that false pretense, to Jacklin in Oregon, according to the release.

Scheme 2: Kickbacks

Dunham also reportedly engaged in another scheme while employed with Jacklin: conspiring to get kickbacks from grass seed growers and brokers who regularly did business with Jacklin, including Yamhill-based Ground Zero Seeds International and Jefferson-based ProSeeds Marketing Inc.

Between April 2015 and September 2019, Dunham successfully solicited more than $191,789 in kickbacks from Ground Zero and $156,275 from ProSeeds, the release states.

In July 2021, Claypool was sentenced to three years in federal prison and three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.

In April 2022, Dunham was charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He pleaded guilty to both counts in July of that year.

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In two separate cases, Ground Zero Seeds International and ProSeeds Marketing pleaded guilty to knowingly concealing schemes to defraud Jacklin. According to the release, both companies were sentenced to one year of probation and ordered to pay criminal fines of $40,000 and $5,000, respectively.

In addition, Ground Zero was ordered to pay Simplot $516,000 in restitution, and ProSeeds was ordered to pay Simplot more than $78,000, the release states.

In a third, separate case, CanKiwi Ventures Ltd. reportedly pleaded guilty in March 2024 to smuggling mislabeled seed into the U.S. using false documents and was sentenced to pay a criminal fine of $100,000.

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A pickup slid from a highway and collided with Lebanons visitors center and chamber of commerce last week, the second time a vehicle has crashed into the 75-year-old building in 13 months.

Lebanon Chamber of Commerce CEO Rebecca Grizzle said she was asleep a little after 8 p.m. Friday when a police department official called.

A Place to Sleep, episode 5: Lebanon How did the last couple of elections change the way East Linn County interacts with its unho

They said, Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the Chamber of Commerce has been hit  again, Grizzle said.

Police believe an 18-year-old Lebanon man was driving a 2012 Dodge Ram 1500 too quickly on wet asphalt when it left Highway 20 around 8 p.m. March 22, near where the roadway splits into northbound Park Street and southbound Main Street.

The pickup crashed nose-first into the about-1,000-square-foot cinder block structure, smashing a recently rebuilt wall.

If there was a place that he was going to drive through, this was the place, Grizzle said.

Responders from the Lebanon Fire District helped put sheets of plywood over the hole, Grizzle said, and someone eventually removed the pickup from the scene.

The gentleman was hauled off, of course, Grizzle said.

DUII

Lebanon police officers arrested Jesus Hilario Cabuto on the suspicion of driving under the influence of intoxicants after testing his blood alcohol concentration at 0.15%, according to a report.

(Cabuto) was under the influence of alcohol and negotiated the corner too fast and lost control and crashed into the building, an officer stated in the report.

The report estimates $2,500 or more in damage to the building.

A contractor was already rebuilding the chamber headquarters after a crash soon after midnight on March 1, 2023.

Thats when Johnathan Michael Davis lost control of an SUV as he raced another vehicle. The SUV hopped backward over a curb and slammed into the visitors center, then spun and hit the building again.

A security camera captured footage as Davis put the car in gear and drove away. Linn County Circuit Court Judge Michael Wynhausen sentenced Davis in January to 18 months of probation and 10 days in jail on charges of criminal mischief and failing to report the crash.

Just like before, the camera spotted the pickup traveling over a grass strip, through a parking lot, and into the side of the chamber headquarters.

Unlike the previous collision, someone immediately called police, who showed up just minutes later.

Grizzle said she doesnt believe any vehicle hit the building in the years between its construction in 1950 as an Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles office and 2023.

Never, since its been built, she said. And then twice in one year. It blows my mind.

Rebuild

The first collision set off a nearly yearlong and $404,000 process to redesign the chamber headquarters with glass partitions, cedar siding and an enclosed patio area. Lebanons nonprofit business booster is trying to re-open by the start of the Lebanon Strawberry Festival on May 30.

The contractor, JR Ellis Construction, had to replace wiring and moldy ceiling insulation, pushing the project close to its budgeted contingency.

Were going to be cutting it very, very close, Grizzle said.

To fund the rebuild, Linn County elected leaders approved a $70,000 grant and the Lebanon City Council approved another $100,000 in hotel tax revenue.

Now Grizzles looking for a contractor who will install post-like bollards in front of the center. An employee will work behind a desk close to where both vehicles smashed through the wall.

Were going to fix that  its clearly so vulnerable, Grizzle said.

Vehicles made an average 8,275 trips past the chamber every day in 2022, according to Oregon Department of Transportation data.

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Grizzle said she considered placing relatively low-cost boulders near the edge of the chamber property to stop vehicles from crossing the parking lot but changed her mind because big rocks could actually serve as ramps for vehicles with bigger tires.

So you would be airborne when you hit the chamber, she said.

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Designed to facilitate student collaboration using authentic syndicate groups and easy-to-use digital learning tools, the MBS Online MBA has been crafted to be flexible while maintaining the same cohort experience for which the institution is famous.

We now have a generation of native digital users who are of the age to do an MBA, says Professor Jim Frederickson, the assistant dean of the MBS online program. They live online and prefer to do things online.

Online MBA course matches face-to-face offering

The MBS Online MBA strives to be no different to the traditional offerings, in terms of student experience and the quality of tuition. Classes are delivered by the same faculty as the face-to-face course, the curriculum is identical, and so are the fees.

The course is about so much more than knowledge alone, Frederickson says. Its about listening to a classmate bring their workplace into a class discussion and working with people from different industries on a real company project. Its about late-night discussions with students or networking with alumni members.

MBS has strived to replicate the best features of the traditional course while imbuing maximum flexibility, but how does it achieve this balance?

One example is a planned on-campus MBA Summit, to enable students to connect with classmates from both the online and face-to-face courses. The inaugural event will be run in June, and its hoped that subsequent get-togethers can be conducted around the country.

We now have a generation of native digital users who are of the age to do an MBA. They live online and prefer to do things online. Professor Jim Frederickson, assistant dean of the MBS online program

We will also have workshops and competitions where students can work together in person, Frederickson says. Over the course of the program, students will be expected to come to two or three of these.

In addition, the online subjects incorporate discussion groups, in which students are not working on a deliverable project but are interacting between themselves  and faculty members  in real time.

Collaborating with other emerging business leaders exposes students to different perspectives on their lessons. Prospective students are required to have a university degree and a minimum of two years of relevant work experience.

This ensures the learnings are not just abstract and they can apply them, Frederickson says. We want students to bring into discussions their real experience and how their learnings play out in different work environments.

Subject matter forms foundations

The MBS Online MBA consists of 17.5 subjects, delivered in seven-week blocks over 36 months.

The subjects are grouped as business foundations, marketing and operations, management and strategy, advanced business and finance, accounting and economics.

The MBS Online MBA welcomed its first intake in July last year, with the number of enrolments exceeding the schools expectations.

We can do so much more through collaboration and connection than we could ever do in isolation. Gold Coast-based MBA student Kaleb Roberts

Frederickson says the students are a diverse mix including engineers, nurses, financial professionals, school principals, business entrepreneurs and employees of not-for-profit organisations.

One thing they have in common is they are all interested in improving their own lives and making a meaningful difference to the world.

He says that enrolments for new online programs are typically from students who are geographically close to the school and broaden thereafter.

Were seeing the same thing. Our first intake predominantly was Victorian, but the last intake was 50 per cent interstate and from as far away as South Africa.

Early feedback from students showed many were waiting for an online option from MBS, whose face-to-face MBA program is rated the best in Australia on the QS World University Rankings.

Reaching for possibilities

For Gold Coast-based current student Kaleb Roberts, enrolling in the MBS Online course was motivated by a desire to push himself and find out what is possible in life.

A sales enablement lead at a digital marketing group, Kaleb Roberts liked what the MBS Online MBA was offering straightforward platforms and tools, real-world knowledge and impressive levels of support.

The MBA is the next logical step for me and my family as we push for possible, he says. We did some research, and the MBS Online MBA seemed the most challenging with the most positive possibilities we could find.

A sales enablement lead at digital marketer Localsearch, Roberts was impressed by the straightforward platforms and tools, real-world knowledge and level of support.

I travel a lot for my work, he says. Once, I was stuck in the parking lot of a cane field in Mackay during floods on the phone to my student adviser, who gave me support there and then.

Roberts adds the course has helped him avoid a small-town mentality and has turned avenues into highways for him both career-wise and personally.

We can do so much more through collaboration and connection than we could ever do in isolation, he says.

Learn more at studymbs.online.
Sydneysiders could save $730 a year by switching from gas to electricity in the home, even without installing solar panels.

The total annual savings for NSW residents is $1.1 billion if the 1.5 million households with gas connections switch fully to electric, according to anti-fossil fuels group Lock the Gate Alliance who commissioned the research. This could save greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to nearly 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.

The research lets users search by electorate and is based on publicly available data. Grattan Institute energy program director Tony Wood said the approach was sound, and broadly reflected his own research.

Springmount Advisory chief executive Tom Quinn said the average saving is based on the comparative price of gas and electricity, and the energy consumption of appliances, and does not assume the household has solar panels or a battery.
These are thoughts that have been running through my head ever since a recent show at the Fortitude Music Hall to see an act that would immediately show my age. Those young rapscallions who usually populate Brunswick Street Mall? On this night, they were firmly in the minority as a greying army descended on Fortitude Valley to reclaim their birthright, to once again rule the Valley roost like they did all those years  nay, decades  ago. Generation X was back, baby! As tradition dictated, we met at RGs  that bastion of refined elegance that adds an element of class to an otherwise uncouth precinct  just as we did in the good ol days. Given the Music Hall gig was primed for people of a certain age (i.e. middle-aged, as statistical convention insists on calling us), the clientele that evening was certainly unencumbered by youthful exuberance.

Still, early enough in the evening that a hint of daylight persisted in the western sky, we were required by the venue to hand over our IDs to be scanned before entering the venue to purchase our beers, hardened plastic glasses and all. It should be noted there was no legal reason for them to do so  the Queensland government-mandated scanning is not required until 10pm  but the fact that we were subjected to it seemed somewhat  accusatory. He might rule over Denmark, but King Frederik struggled to get a beer in Brisbane. Credit: Getty And Im not even royalty. It will never not be funny to me that the now-king of Denmark was turned away from a Brisbane bar in 2017 because he didnt happen to be carrying his ID.

Surely, no security guard would look at Frederik and think now theres a ruffian poised for trouble. But even non-violent, law-abiding aficionados of an occasional late-night tipple must be held to the same standard, it seems, as an occasional lout partaking in  probably  something a little more insidious than alcohol. That quasi-diplomatic incident highlighted the ludicrousness of Queenslands licensing laws. Must we all be treated as the lowest among us? Sadly, when it comes to the law, it seems we must. And there are as many good reasons for it as there are compelling arguments against. Like many debates, its one that requires more than a little nuance. It would be hard to argue to the parents and families of those young lives cut so tragically short by alcohol-fuelled violence, for example, that the laws intended to prevent a repeat of such suffering should be repealed.

And the Labor state government is certainly proud of what they have achieved. Attorney-General Yvette DAth has cited independent studies into the governments Tackling Alcohol-Fuelled Violence policy that showed a reduction in violence, without an adverse effect on business. Under the TAFV policy, the effectiveness of Queenslands Safe Night Precincts  and, by extension, the restrictions within their boundaries  are reviewed every three years. An evaluation framework has been established and the first round of the triennial SNP reviews will begin this year, DAth said. Whatever your view on the governments position, its clear many in our society have a problem holding their liquor.

And while thats hardly unique to Australia, it certainly seems to manifest itself in displays of masculine, drunken bravado with, occasionally, devastating consequences. Loading But, as we prepare to invite the world to our city in 2032 (or at least as many as can fit into our tiny, temporary flagship stadium), perhaps we should learn to be a little more relaxed in our hardline approach to drinking and treat adults like adults. After all, how many heads of state will be denied entry at RGs because they didnt bring their passport on their big night out? How many will duck down to the local 7-Eleven in the hope of buying a wee nightcap to take back to their hotels? Other nations seem to manage their relationship with alcohol without such tight regulation.
The former boss of the Victorian Liberals will pay $40,000 in fines after he fell foul of electoral advertising laws, undermining voters rights, a court has found.

The Australian Electoral Commission sued former state Liberal Party director Sam McQuestin over four advertisements placed in the Geelong Advertiser before the 2022 federal election.

Sam McQuestin.

The commission alleged McQuestin, whose full name is Charles David McQuestin, breached electoral laws by not properly declaring the ads came from him and the Liberal Party.

One of the newspaper ads was about sitting Labor MP Libby Coker, while another was a full-page portrait of Liberal candidate for Corangamite Stephanie Asher along with a how-to-vote card.
It has gleaming curves, rooms with panoramic views, a wellness hub and a rooftop cafe.

But the latest project to transform the western suburbs is not a high-rise apartment block  it is Victorias biggest ever hospital, which will open in 2025.

Footscray Hospital will open in 2025. Credit: Wayne Taylor

One of the states largest investments in health infrastructure, the $1.5 billion Footscray Hospital will include an emergency department as part of the 10-storey inpatient unit on Geelong Road, equipped with 500 beds and a garden at the end of each wing.

On Ballarat Road sits the sub-acute building, which includes an ambulatory care department, space for clinical trials, allied health clinic, a wellness hub and a rooftop cafe.
Lebanon is headed toward a financial cliff and elected leaders may have to act soon to bring more revenue to city coffers or risk the city violating state law.

Mayor Kenneth Jackola told Lebanons city council last week hes looking for funding solutions as staff anticipate that wages and upcoming obligations to Oregons public employee retirement could translated into a $2 million annual budget shortfall.

A Place to Sleep, episode 5: Lebanon How did the last couple of elections change the way East Linn County interacts with its unho

I dont look at these projections as its the end. I look at them as opportunities to succeed, Jackola said.

Structural shortfall

With a structural shortfall that could put Lebanon in the red by July 2027, elected leaders are considering levying fees on utility bills or additional taxes to bring in revenue.

City councilors were warned nearly nine months ago theyd have to reduce Lebanons services, find new income or both. The citys then-ranking employee, Nancy Brewer, brought options to the council at the start of the citys fiscal year in July, when spending outpaced income by about $1.2 million.

Brewer resigned that month after city councilors called a closed meeting to review the city managers performance.

Ron Whitlatch, city engineer, has filled the job on a temporary basis since August.

I suspect todays discussion is going to cause some anxiousness within our organization  probably within our community as well, Whitlatch said at the Wednesday, March 20 meeting.

Lebanon Finance Director Brandon Neish said the city is spending more and more quickly on what it pays employees and for materials. He projected the city will see about 8% increase in expenditures between 2025 and 2030.

Most of the citys income comes from property taxes, which arent increasing fast enough to keep pace with outgoing money  a gap of about $2 million a year.

So when you couple that with a 4.5% increase on the revenue side, the math doesnt work, Neish said

Salaries will tip past the $5 million mark for the first time in 2025. Other material costs see a big bump, too, he said.

Combined, all those expenses increased about 15% in three years, from $10.2 million to $11.78 million by 2024.

That figure jumps to $14.21 million in 2025, partially as the city consolidates more departmental spending under its general fund, leaving just $890,000 in Lebanons version of a checking account, Neish said.

But what I will say is that 2023 is the first year in which you started truly on a regular basis in this forecast spending more than you are bringing in, Neish said.

Projected income from property taxes gets a small bump each year. The city anticipates $6.75 million in 2025, then $7.03 million and $7.24 million.

Despite that, projections show the citys general fund running a $1.2 million deficit, firmly in the red by 2027.

Just two unfortunately very short fiscal years away, Neish said.

If nothing changes, the city would be $7.64 million in the hole by 2029.

A deficit is not allowed under state law. At that point, Oregon would force the city to make changes to its budget, Neish said.

Trouble ahead

Lebanon is anticipating a $1 million influx in 2028, taking in a projected $8.29 million when the city will pay off an urban renewal district that had lowered the city's tax flow during its lifetime.

Urban renewal districts pay for redevelopment upgrades with anticipated property tax increases. With the district coming to an end, the city can then collect its full due.

But that increase likely will be somewhat offset by another looming deadline.

Ranking city officials blame the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System for much of its increased costs. Thats the state-mandated pension for workers like those in Lebanons municipal government.

Lebanon had stashed the proceeds from a tax bond in PERS nearly 20 years ago, paying down the amount the city must set aside in its employees paychecks to help cover retirement.

That bond expires in 2027, adding another 4.6% contributed to every employee paycheck across the board. That amounts to $350,000 every year.

Lebanon already pays at least 19% of its employees' wages to the state as retirement, even more  23.69%  for police. And paying for law enforcement is the largest chunk of the city's expenditures, about 70% of the citys some $9.7 million operating costs.

The city pays the following rates of employees' retirement:

18.9% for nonpolice and -fire employees hired since late August 2003,

23.69% for police and fire personnel

25.16% for PERS tiers one (employees hired before Jan. 1, 1996) and two (for those hired between Jan. 1, 1996, and Aug. 29, 2003)

In addition, Lebanon covers the state-required 6% employee contribution into their own retirement.

Between anticipated increases to PERS compensation rates and the expiring bond, Lebanon will see the amount it pays for retirement increase from $1.38 million to $2.44 million annually by 2028.

Options

Neish said the city cut what it could in 2024.

He said by phone Friday the city reduced the equivalent of about 8 full-time jobs, mostly by not including jobs recently vacated in the next budget.

"Those FTEs will not be filled," Neish said. "We just decided that we will not move forward with those in the following year."

Those jobs include Lebanon's economic developer, who left in February for a job in Albany; plus two each in the Human Resources and Parks and Recreation departments and one position at the Lebanon Public Library. Another equivalent position comes half from each the City Recorder and Finance offices.

The remainder comes from shifting jobs from the general fund to other departmental budgets.

Staff reduced about $300,000 in material costs for the fiscal year that ends in June.

The city is accelerating its debt payments to save another about $50,000.

Its not very much, but it is something, which is better than nothing, Neish said to councilors.

City staff said $2 million in cuts is possible, but whatever fix leaders prefer, it needs to happen soon.

We can certainly make $2 million of reductions a year and hope the outlying years are going to make it. But I think what this projection shows is youre dragging on that fund balance at an accelerated rate, Neish said.

Im just amazed that we got to this point, Councilor Wayne Dykstra said.

Councilor Dave Workman called for the jail to re-open, closed in 2022 to free up an understaffed police force to patrol and respond to calls.

We need to increase our services, if anything, Workman said.

Councilor Michelle Steinhebel agreed. She said she doesnt want to know what Lebanons ability to provide services would look like under severe budget slashes.

We cant cut our way out of $2 million. Its impossible, she said.

City staff will examine the feasibility of a tax bond or utility fees to cover the gap.

Jackola said he doesnt want to see Lebanon adopt a fee schedule like those in nearby cities of Albany and Corvallis. Those cities charge fees to account holders, nested in with billing for services like water.

They got a fee on everything  sidewalk fee. Walk down the sidewalk and you got to pay something, Jackola said.

Whitlatch said voters arent likely to support both.

Youre probably looking at one or the other, Whitlatch said. Thats a big number.

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Workman disagreed. He said he believes the city could sway voters with an effort to reach out and educate voters about where their money goes.

If you told me, 'Hey its going to cost you $400 a year to have a better life, to have a viable town with a funded police department and better utilities,' Im all in. Ill pay right now, Workman said.

Related stories:
The City of Perth council has agreed to increase the cost of parking in boom-gated car parks, but will extend its free nighttime parking incentive for another year despite officers concluding it was becoming too costly.

Fees at the citys off-street car parks will increase by 11.5 per cent from May 1, sending the cost of a city-run car bay for the day up to between $15 and $25.

The free nighttime parking perk was introduced in February 2022 in a bid to draw people back to the CBD and support businesses impacted by the pandemic. Credit: Jesinta Burton.

Officers had recommended the council also abandon its pandemic-era free nightly parking perk, which allows free parking in city-owned facilities between 6pm and 5.59am.

They argued it had served its desired purpose and was set to cost the city $5.1 million this financial year alone.
The populations of Sydney and Melbourne swelled by a record 310,000 in a single year as migrants surged back into inner city areas and student accommodation while many financially pressed Australians moved to outer suburbs.

In the largest annual change to the nations two biggest cities, Melbournes population surged by 166,000 in 2022-23, or almost 455 people a day. Its previous one-year record increase in population was in 2016, when it added 126,000 residents.

Geelong resident Johanne Martens and her son Leon are part of the surge in populations in some regional centres. Credit: Justin McManus

Sydney, which grew by 90,109 in 2016, added 142,600 residents, or 391 a day.

It is the first time the two cities have added more than 140,000 residents each in one year. Combined, the nations capitals and largest regional centres accounted for 92 per cent of the 634,000 increase in population through the year.
Home-schooling families have launched a fierce campaign against moves by the Queensland government to force them to teach the Australian curriculum.

This month, Education Minister Di Farmer introduced a bill requiring home-schooling parents to teach an educational program consistent with the Australian curriculum, or Queensland syllabus for senior subjects.

Amanda Bartle and her children, Tiana, Natalya and Jaykob, doing home-school sport. They chose wakeboarding that term.

Parents would provide an annual report on their childs educational progress in each subject.

A new guiding principle would be created to stipulate home education should be in the best interests of the child, taking into account their safety, wellbeing and access to a high-quality education.
A remarkable 40.7 per cent of property sales in the Melbourne City Council area were made at a loss in the last three months of 2023, well ahead of any other local government area across the city.

The Melbourne council area, which includes the CBD, Carlton, East Melbourne and Kensington, was followed by Stonnington (27 per cent of sales at a loss), Port Phillip (21.3 per cent) and Yarra (19.3 per cent) council areas, the CoreLogic Pain and Gain report, released on Wednesday, found.

Sellers overall are more likely to make a profit than to lose money, and their prospects have been improving. Across Australia, 94 per cent of sales made a gain during the December quarter  up from 93.6 per cent three months earlier. In Melbourne, 91.1 per cent of sales made a profit, the same as the prior quarter.

CoreLogic research director Tim Lawless said the property market had only a short, sharp downturn and there was not a prolonged period in which profit-making sales were reduced.
Singapore: Australian mining billionaire Andrew Forrest says China is not a threat and his companies will continue investing in the worlds second-largest economy despite growing concerns about national security crackdowns, cyberattacks and Beijings stuttering economic recovery.

Forrest, one of several global executives in China this week for the China Development Forum and the Boao Forum for Asia, said competition with the Asian giant had increased global living standards by forcing businesses to innovate, but that dynamic was now being threatened by childish bickering between Western governments and Beijing.

Fortescue chairman Andrew Forrest in Beijing this week. Credit: Bloomberg

Worrying about China as more than a strong, determined and capable competitor is completely different to calling them a military threat, the Fortescue chairman said in an interview on Tuesday. The latter is just complete rubbish.

British Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden is expected to formally declare China a threat to national security on Tuesday after the US and Britain accused the Chinese government of a decade-long cyber hacking campaign that targeted officials, journalists, corporations and pro-democracy activists.
Tuesday, March 26, 2024 at 6:00PM

by Claudio Alves

Exploring Hayao Miyazaki's filmography is to dive into a cinema that's often as moving as it is mysterious. Connections to the land abound, calling for ecological harmony in a place ravaged by modernity. Tradition dances with progress, teetering on the edge of oblivion, while dreams soar high above the clouds, for flight is the highest form of freedom. Even his most straightforward exercises tend to have an oneiric touch, some connection to the unknown within us and the world we inhabit. Because he taps into such (un)realities, Miyazaki's narrative work can move between genres and expectations, often complicating conflicts beyond the usual archetypes or doing away with them altogether. And through it all, animation allows the impossible to become possible, the screen a window to imagination unbound



03. PRINCESS MONONOKE (1997)

The beginnings of Princess Mononoke can be traced to the 1970s when a young Hayao Miyazaki first envisioned the story of a young woman living with the wild beast-gods of ancient legend. The project, steeped in concepts from Japanese history since its genesis, was first envisioned for TV, but that version never came to fruition. During the 80s, Miyazaki published a book where remnants of unfinished projects had their time in the sun, including the rough draft of what would one day become Princess Mononoke. Later, in the 90s, after Studio Ghibli's foundation, a reprint of those illustrations led to the project's revival.

From the lead in a fairytale, the titular princess became a supporting character, while the figure of Ashitaka, a cursed prince from the Emishi People, would take the lead. As it developed, Princess Mononoke grew into an epic like nothing else Studio Ghibli had produced, a monument-sized tapestry where Miyazaki could explore some of the themes and ideas that had haunted him since time immemorial. Taking place before Japanese unification, the narrative considers the country before it was a nation, imagining the death rattle of a way of life inevitably perished at the hands of industry. Humanity needs Nature to survive in this vision, but they're also the land's greatest enemy, exploring its natural resources with unsustainable violence.

Porco Rosso might have considered military clashes, but it wasn't a war movie. Princess Mononoke, on the other hand, escalates into carnage, depicting the conflict between two furious factions, neither of which is entirely right or wrong. But rather than what happens in many such stories, the hatred germinating in their fight isn't a source of power. Instead, it festers into a sickness. It changes those affected and makes monsters of us all. Never before had Ghibli touched upon such apocalyptic portent - somehow, even Nausicaa seems more optimistic - but the most lasting impact lies in the lack of a solution. Though total disaster is averted by the tale's end, there remains a sense that the conflict is far from over.

We know that the harmony some characters hope for will never come to pass. Their present is our past, and our present is the aftermath of their fateful tragedy. The scant sense of triumph at the end of Princess Mononoke, the exhausted sigh of relief shared between screen and viewer, is naught but a pyrrhic victory. It's hollow. But that doesn't mean, Miyazaki has succumbed to despair, or that his film is a black hole where the will to live goes to die. Humanism perseveres in the darkness, and even the putative villains have more dimensions than we might expect. When declaring this movie as animation aimed at adult audiences, folks sometimes get too caught up in the blood and rotting flesh. More than the gore, its ideas are the source of maturity.

Above violence, tonal solemnity rules Princess Mononoke, with everything, from epic imagery to the soundtrack's constant lament, contributing to that feeling. Moreover, we finish the adventure without the sense that we've uncovered all its secrets. Some things remain hidden in the animated woods, mysticism beyond our reach even as the credits roll and bid us farewell. An unnerving sense persists that what's depicted on screen is only a fraction of something bigger than the human mind can conceive. Something older and more immense than the relative smallness of Man. Such is Nature, especially when seen through Miyazaki's gaze.

The film is also visceral in material terms nearly unique within the Ghibli canon, the fantasy always based on physical bodies rather than some airy dream. Miyazaki made sure of that, supervising every single frame personally. It was also the first significant use of 3-D rendering in the director's oeuvre, manifest in the leech-like pulsations of Ashitaka's malady. The scale of the endeavor was enough to exhaust the artist, then in his mid-50s, prompting the first of many retirement announcements. Even when he returned to work on more films, none would be made like this mythic feature, so intensely supervised by one sole individual. Princess Mononoke thus marks the last production of its kind, the end of an era.



02. SPIRITED AWAY (2001)

Ghibli legend says Hayao Miyazaki was enjoying his retirement post-Princess Mononoke when an idea struck. He had been staying with friends  producer Seiji Okuda and his wife - inevitably spending time in the company of their pre-teen daughter. The experience made him realize that, in all his films, he'd never made one concerning that specific phase of a young person's life, the limbo between childhood and adolescence. Miyazaki also concluded that the current media landscape had little to offer to such people - the age group was done wrong and deserved better. And so, he quietly started working on what would become Spirited Away, constructing the concept around a character around the girl that inspired his latest venture.

That's not to say that the film is a commonplace coming-of-age story. Young Chihiro experiences much across her misadventure, discovering new responsibilities, learning to adapt to many obstacles, and becoming more mature, even more spiritual, as she traverses the barriers between worlds. That last part is essential, for Spirited Away is something of a Japanese Alice in Wonderland, starting with the little girl traversing into another realm and going from there, sinking deeper into the mysterious nowhere before she can find her way back home. In some ways, the heroine's voyage is also her director's since he was also walking forward with little notion of where he'd end up.

If you've read some of Miyazaki's many interviews or watched the documentaries about him, you might have come face to face with his methodological paradox. On one hand, the man's process is exacting to the extreme. On the other hand, it's wildly intuitive. These contradictory impulses make sense in the narratively loose yet precisely animated worlds the artist conjures, but they do sow chaos over the filmmaking part of the business. Consider that Miyazaki writes by storyboarding, with the pictures starting production long before he's reached the end of whatever he's creating. Animators may be drawing concepts they don't quite comprehend, and even the man in charge remains unaware of his movie's final shape until everything is said and done.

In the case of Spirited Away, Miyazaki has stated he had little idea of what he was doing, letting himself be carried away by the story. Some other studios and directors would be fated to make garbage under such circumstances. But Ghibli and its flight-obsessed founder manage to avoid the pitfalls, ending up with a miracle of cinema, animation taken to the highest degree of perfection, so beautiful it makes your heart contract in terrified awe. A pageantry of spirits here and illogical architecture there, a celebration of Japanese folklore intermingle with new creations like a No-Face whose meaning shifts. Some more bird shenanigans will manifest at times, and an ecological parable runs through every nightmare.

Rivers are dragons, desperate yet kind, but also people seeking freedom from a witch's hold and Humanity's pollution. When you think you can't tolerate any more grotesquerie, something ravishing will emerge, a flurry of flowers, or the salvation of a remembered name. While pummeled by the story's many turns, the audience is never abandoned, for Miyazaki is bubbling with grace and generosity at each turn. The world might be cruel, and there is much cruelty in the story, but the film shall never seek to hurt beyond repair. Everything, everywhere, all at once  such is the wonders brought to life in Spirited Away, a film that defies description, every rambled praise insufficient to honor its majesty.



01. MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO (1988)

After trying  perchance failing  to describe the enormity of Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away, there's something quaint about returning to the basics. And indeed, there's no simpler or shorter feature in Miyazaki's career than My Neighbor Totoro, released in 1988 in an ill-advised double bill with Isao Takahata's Grave of the Fireflies. The plot is barebones, to say the least, more of a summery observation than a story proper. Characters are modest, drawn from life - including the director's nieces - and the design obeys natural rules of light and color, nothing too extreme or outre. There's none of Castle Cagliostro's slapstick, the fantastic architecture of Castle in the Sky, or the megafauna of Nausicaa.

Well, there is Totoro himself and the Kittenbus, but they aren't in the same league as the giant bugs inhabiting the wasteland bordering the Valley of the Wind. If anything, they sacrifice design complexity for expressive grace, just a few lines articulating shapes that appeal to our soft hearts and love for cutesiness. Please don't interpret such words as my dismissal. These creatures are glorious bits of animation, each gesture considered for maximum humor, calibrated to awaken our compassion and comfort. They're lovely in ways I can scarcely put into words. Just think of Totoro's rainy interlude, discovering the wonders of ASMR as drops sing a drumming tune when they fall on the monster's borrowed umbrella. It's pure bliss.

That relative simplicity is part of why Studio Ghibli managed to divide itself into two, splitting the team between the co-founders' simultaneous, tonally opposite projects. But again, one shouldn't think that what's simple is easy or meritless. Each frame in My Neighbor Totoro is pondered, as elegant as anything in Miyazaki's sprawling canon, with something as minor as the color of the soil chosen explicitly by the filmmakers to evoke certain parts of Japan's geography. Indeed, this is an intrinsically Japanese tale, bringing folk superstition to a time and place that seems to exist out of history. It's modern and isn't, a spell of nostalgia like the kiss of sunlight on a warm summer afternoon.

Going beyond the creatures that enchant the viewers, one should also appreciate the animation of the people in My Neighbor Totoro. The little sisters at the story's center are brilliant characterizations, their varying motions giving us an insight into how they approach their surroundings and respond to the wonderland critters nearby. There's a moment when the youngest sibling, Mei Mei, brings flowers to her father's desk, which has stayed with me ever since I first saw the film. Kindness exudes from the screen, glowing a phosphene embrace that can make anyone fall back into childhood memories. Joy is given filmic form in My Neighbor Totoro, synthetized like never before or since.

However, one shouldn't approach the film thinking there's just merriment in store. Part of its genius comes from the frankness with which it approaches grief from a kid's perspective, drawing from the director's youth with a sickly mother whose potential loss was an ever-present concern. It's absurd to say so, but My Neighbor Totoro taps into emotional realism like few family movies in the medium's history, reaching for the truth in our hearts through an appeal to the impossible. Grounded storytelling holds hands with the eternal mystery, and so cinema strides into our souls. It makes a home there and fills the place with magic. Drunk in wonder, it almost feels like we can fly.

These three cinematic miracles are all streaming on Max. You can also rent or purchase them on most major platforms.
AARP Wyoming recommends Wyomingites check their voter registration status for 2024 as Wyoming Secretary of State data reveals there are more than 86,000 fewer registered voters in 2024 than in 2022.

The data from 2022 can be seen here, with more current numbers seen here. After the 2022 election, Wyoming had over 302,000 registered voters, compared to just 218,000 at-present.

If you voted in the last general election in 2022, you should remain on the voter rolls and wont need to re-register with the county clerk, says AARP State President Sam Shumway. However, if you or a loved one didnt vote in Wyoming during the 2022 General Election (November of 2022), we recommend you register right away as rules that will make the process more difficult could be coming.

What likely happened

Wyoming law requires the states County Clerks purge their voter rolls every two years, meaning clerks are required to remove the names of voters who did not vote in the most recent general election.

In other words, if you voted in the presidential election of 2020 but not the general election in 2022 (even if you voted in the primary), you have likely been purged from the states voter rolls. This means you will need to re-register with your county clerk before you are allowed to vote in 2024.

Wyoming does generally have an ebb and flow in voter registration numbers when voter registrations are purged in February after an election year. However, higher than normal voter turnout for the 2020 Presidential Election, combined with near record low voter turnout for the 2022 General Election has resulted in more than 86,000 voters being purged from the rolls.

Routinely, Wyomings County Clerks send postcards to the last known address of those being purged, encouraging those voters to contact their clerk if they wish to remain a registered voter in Wyoming. Those contacts were made in 2023.

Other Reasons To Contact Your Clerk

There are other changes to Wyomings 2024 election cycle to be aware of as well due to recent changes in legislation. However, if you did vote in the 2022 general election, those changes could be minimal.

If you voted in the 2022 General Election and are registered in the party whose primary election you want to vote in, nothing more is required of you, says Shumway. If you want to change your party affiliation for the primary, make sure you contact your clerk by May 15.

Voters in the states primary election need to register their affiliation with a party 96 days before the election. In 2024, that means registering party affiliation by May 15. In the past Wyomingites were able to change party affiliation at any time, including on election day. Now, voters will be locked into voting in a party primary. That change came because of HB103 - Political Party Affiliation Declaration and changes passed by the Wyoming Legislature in 2023.

The number of days when voters can participate in early voting has been reduced from 45 days to just 28. This change was thanks to SF153 - Election Security, which was also passed by the Wyoming Legislature in 2023.

Shumway adds that Secretary of State Chuck Grays proposed changes to the states voting rules, released this fall, could also make it difficult to register to vote for those who do not have valid, current driver's licenses, such as nursing home residents or older Wyomingites who have stopped driving. He recommends those who need to re-register to vote do so quickly.

Find Contact information for Wyomings County Clerks by clicking here.

How to Re-Register To Vote In Wyoming

Prospective voters in Wyoming can register by visiting their local county clerks. They will be required to fill out this form and present valid ID, which may be any one or more of the following:

Wyoming Drivers License;

United States Passport;

Driver's License or Identification Card issued by any State or Outlying Possession of the United States;

Identification Card issued by the Federal Government, any State or Local Government, or an Agency thereof;

A tribal ID of any Federally Recognized Tribe;

Photo Identification Card issued by the University of Wyoming, a Wyoming Community College, or a Wyoming Public School;

United States Military Card; or

Identification Card issued to a Dependent of a member of the United States Armed Forces.

OR

Any two or more of the following documents together shall constitute proof of the individual's identity:

Certification of United States Citizenship;

Certificate of Naturalization;

United States Military Draft Record;

Voter's Registration Card from another State or County;

United States Social Security Card;

Certification of Birth Abroad issued by the Department of State;

Original or certified copy of a birth certificate bearing an official seal; or

Any other form of identification issued by an official agency of the United States or a State.

According to the Secretary of States website, if you cannot register in person at any of your county's locations, you may register by mail by sending a copy of the application form and ID listed above.
Every woman deserves dignity: Kangana Ranaut on row over Congress leaders derogatory comments





Chandigarh, Mar 26 (PTI)

Every woman, irrespective of her background and profession, deserves dignity, actor Kangana Ranaut said on Tuesday, adding that she was particularly pained by Congress leaders' comments on Mandi from where she is contesting the Lok Sabha elections on a BJP ticket.

Mandi is often referred to as "chota Kashi" the world over, Ranaut told reporters outside the Chandigarh airport.

Congress leaders Supriya Shrinate and H S Ahir have kicked up a huge political row with derogatory comments on Ranaut and Mandi posted on their social media handles.

"Whatever be the profession of a woman, be it a teacher, actress, journalist, politician or a sex worker, all of them deserve dignity. I'm pained especially because of the deplorable comments made about Mandi... All of us who come from Mandi have been hurt by the comments," Ranaut said.

Asked whether she plans to take any action against the two Congress leaders, she said she had been called to Delhi by BJP president J P Nadda and would respond only after meeting him.

"I have to maintain the dignity of the party. I can't walk before it. I have to walk with them and follow their instructions."

The National Commission for Women (NCW) has written to the Election Commission demanding strict action against Shrinate and Ahir for their comments against Ranaut.

"National Commission for Women is appalled by the disgraceful conduct of Ms. Supriya Shrinate and Mr H S Ahir, who made lewd and derogatory remarks about @KanganaTeam on social media. Such behavior is intolerable and goes against the dignity of women. @sharmarekha 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.#RespectWomen," the NCW said in a post on Monday.

Ranaut, 37, had earlier hit out at Shrinate, saying that she has played various roles and 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'," Ranaut tweeted.

Shrinate clarified that many people have access to her Facebook and Instagram accounts, and someone from them made the inappropriate post.

"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.

Ahir, state joint co-ordinator of Kisan Congress, also made derogatory remarks against Ranaut.
A mysterious disease affecting bats has recently been discovered in Colorado, and it could have a significant impact on the states agriculture economy, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

On Feb. 29, a little brown bat was found crawling on a public bike path in Longmont, according to a release from Colorado Parks and Wildlife. A wildlife rehabilitator found a bat in a state of severe dehydration with brittle wings that hindered its ability to fly. Following this discovery, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) recommended that the rehabber send the bat to the CPW Wildlife Health Lab for additional examination and assessment.

Less than a week later, on March 5, CPW received the bat and gathered biological samples, which were then sent to Colorado State University for analysis. The test results from CSU confirmed the presence of white-nose syndrome (WNS).

Subsequently, another 'little brown bat' was diagnosed with WNS in Boulder two weeks later, suggesting that further bats may have been exposed to the disease.

The recently discovered case mark the second and third instances of WNS found in Colorado. A year ago, the first instance of white-nose syndrome in Colorado was recorded when a Yuma bat was found with the fungus by National Park Service staff at Bents Old Fort near La Junta.

While it is unfortunate to discover this deadly disease in a second Colorado bat species, CPW did anticipate that this would happen based on what has been documented in other states, Dan Neubaum, CPW Species Conservation Program Manager, said in a statement. We will continue to monitor the spread of this disease with our partners and ask the public to report sick or dead bats to CPW, particularly when found during winter and spring months.

According to the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife, WNS is a devastating disease affecting hibernating bats, caused by a fungus known as Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd). Pd grows in cold, dark, and damp environments, attacking bats' bare skin while they hibernate, causing them to become more active than usual and deplete their fat reserves needed for winter survival. The disease also causes unusual behavior in bats, such as flying outdoors in the winter during the daytime.

First identified in 2007 near Albany, New York, WNS has rapidly spread across North America, with millions of bats dying  some species experiencing mortality rates as high as 90 to 100 percent. The fungus that causes WNS has been found on bats in Europe and Asia, where the impact is less severe, but the origins of Pd remain unknown.

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Colorado Parks and Wildlife said the potential effects of this disease on the states bat populations could be devastating. According to CPW, of the 19 bat species native to Colorado, at least 13 may be susceptible to this disease. CPW estimates that bats predation on insects contribute $3 billion annually to the U.S. agricultural economy through pest control.

While the transmission from bat to bat is has been deemed impossible to mitigate, CPW and other agencies are encouraging those who enjoy the outdoors to take steps to prevent the further impact of WNS.

CPW says the fungus does not infect humans or pets. However, the fungus can be transported on gear and clothing that has been in contact with contaminated environments, such as caves where bats hibernate.

Adventurers are encouraged to decontaminate gear before and after visiting or touring caves. They are also encouraged to inspect gear and equipment before leaving sites to avoid the accidental transport of bats.

The U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife has published a full guide on decontamination for viewing.

We continue to ask those visiting caves to decontaminate their gear to prevent human spread of the fungus and remind the public not to handle bats when encountered but instead report them to CPW, wildlife rehabbers, or the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Neubaum said in a news release.

CPW warns outdoor enthusiasts not to touch bats. Report dead or sick ones to CPW by sending notification to e-mail: wildlife.batline@state.co.us.
Snow returns Tuesday into Wednesday with a short pause on Thursday before a 5-6 day snow event ramps up heading into Easter weekend and early next week.

Tuesday's moment of ZEN:

Recap:

On Monday, 2-6 inches of additional snow fell from lingering showers as the low pressure system from the weekend moved farther east.

Forecast:

On Tuesday, light powder awaits skiers and riders for first chairs mostly in the northern mountains. Snow should start developing again in the afternoon and is forecast to focus on the central, western and southern mountains, with between 2-4 inches, potentially up to 8 inches in the northern San Juan mountains, falling by Wednesday's first chairs. High temperatures will be in the 20s with wind chills below zero.

On Wednesday morning, more snow continues to accumulate for Thursday's first chairs, with another 1-3 inches possible.

Thursday is a transition day as Colorado will be between storms but temperatures remain more winter like with high temperatures staying in the high 20s and low 30s even with some sun peeking through the clouds.

Long Range:

Starting Friday, a broken-off wave of energy from a low pressure system off the Oregon coast is forecast to make its way into the interior west, bringing snow to the north and central mountains.

Early model runs from the ECMWF high resolution model have 6-10 inches falling in the central mountains, 4-8 inches in the northern mountains and 8-14 inches in the northwestern mountains for Saturday's first chairs. Steamboat and Aspen/Snowmass areas should see the most from this west to east flowing storm energy.

As the low moves further south along the west coast, additional storm waves will push inland toward the Four Corners region, with snow ramping up in the southern mountains as well for Monday's first chairs.

Additional snow accumulations between 3-6 inches in the northern and central mountains and 2-4 inches in the southern mountains is forecast.

On Monday, the low pressure system works its way into the Arizona desert and will push moisture into Colorado on southwest flows, creating a possible heavy snow event throughout the day into Tuesday.

Snow is forecast to fall for all mountain regions during this quick moving and stronger storm, with the potential for 10-18 inches accumulated by Tuesday's first chairs into mid-morning.

Wednesday and Thursday should be dry and sunny with warming temperatures ahead of a potential storm system arriving from the northwest on Friday.

Today's 24 hour snow totals from Colorado resorts:

Arapahoe Basin - 3"

Aspen Mountain - 2"

Aspen Highlands - 1"

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Beaver Creek - 2"

Breckenridge - 5"

Buttermilk - 0"

Cooper - 0"

Copper Mountain - 2"

Crested Butte - 0"

Echo Mountain - 0"

Eldora Mountain - 0"

Granby Ranch - 0"

Hesperus - Closed for season

Howelsen Hill - Closed for season

Kendall Mountain - Closed for season

Keystone - 2"

Loveland - 1"

Monarch - 1"

Powderhorn - 0"

Purgatory - 0"

Silverton - 0"

Snowmass - 2"

Steamboat - 3"

Sunlight - 0"

Telluride - 3"

Vail - 5"

Winter Park - 4"

Wolf Creek - 2"
Baillie Gifford Shin Nippon PLC (LON:BGS  Get Free Report) declared a dividend on Monday, March 25th, Upcoming.Co.Uk reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 18th will be given a dividend of GBX 0.80 ($0.01) per share on Thursday, May 30th. This represents a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. The official announcement can be viewed at this link.

Baillie Gifford Shin Nippon Stock Down 1.7 %

Baillie Gifford Shin Nippon stock traded down GBX 2.10 ($0.03) during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching GBX 122.30 ($1.55). The stock had a trading volume of 994,545 shares, compared to its average volume of 928,693. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.93, a quick ratio of 3.66 and a current ratio of 0.12. Baillie Gifford Shin Nippon has a fifty-two week low of GBX 115.26 ($1.46) and a fifty-two week high of GBX 156.02 ($1.97). The stocks 50-day simple moving average is GBX 124.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is GBX 125.27. The firm has a market capitalization of 374.70 million, a PE ratio of -1,111.82 and a beta of 0.62.

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Insider Activity at Baillie Gifford Shin Nippon

In related news, insider Kevin Troup bought 10,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of GBX 123 ($1.55) per share, for a total transaction of 12,300 ($15,544.04). 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Baillie Gifford Shin Nippon Company Profile

Baillie Gifford Shin Nippon PLC is a closed-ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by Baillie Gifford & Co Ltd. It is co-managed by Baillie Gifford & Co The fund invests in the public equity markets of Japan. It seeks to invest in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors.

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Capital Power Co. (TSE:CPX  Get Free Report) Senior Officer Jacquelyn Marie Pylypiuk sold 5,209 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$39.22, for a total transaction of C$204,296.98.

Capital Power Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of CPX stock traded down C$0.51 during trading hours on Monday, reaching C$38.64. The company had a trading volume of 665,868 shares, compared to its average volume of 423,820. The company has a 50 day moving average of C$37.45 and a 200 day moving average of C$37.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 153.08, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market cap of C$4.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.57. Capital Power Co. has a 1-year low of C$35.11 and a 1-year high of C$46.73.

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Capital Power (TSE:CPX  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported C$0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of C$0.72 by C$0.02. The company had revenue of C$984.00 million for the quarter. Capital Power had a return on equity of 26.11% and a net margin of 18.29%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Capital Power Co. will post 3.1547139 EPS for the current year.

Capital Power Dividend Announcement

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a $0.615 dividend. This represents a $2.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Capital Powers dividend payout ratio is currently 40.73%.

CPX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. National Bankshares reduced their target price on Capital Power from C$48.00 to C$45.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Desjardins reduced their target price on Capital Power from C$53.00 to C$51.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Capital Power from C$42.00 to C$40.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 29th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Capital Power from C$47.00 to C$45.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, CIBC reduced their price objective on Capital Power from C$44.00 to C$43.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Capital Power presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of C$46.27.

Get Our Latest Analysis on CPX

About Capital Power

(Get Free Report)

Capital Power Corporation develops, acquires, owns, and operates renewable and thermal power generation facilities in Canada and the United States. It generates electricity from various energy sources, including wind, solar, waste heat, natural gas, and coal. The company owns an approximately 7,500 megawatts (MW) of power generation capacity at 29 facilities.

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Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR  Free Report) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,337 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock after selling 1,156 shares during the quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc.s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $938,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in EQR. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Equity Residential by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,395,793 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $3,369,707,000 after acquiring an additional 372,181 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,822,309,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 5.4% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,983,779 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $1,515,182,000 after buying an additional 1,269,082 shares in the last quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 7.7% during the first quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 7,912,891 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $474,727,000 after buying an additional 566,203 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 2.3% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,839,640 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $469,403,000 after buying an additional 176,762 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the companys stock.

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Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total transaction of $41,384.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,384,252.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.43, for a total transaction of $97,405.77. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 31,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,845,479.79. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total transaction of $41,384.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,384,252.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,280 shares of company stock valued at $192,335 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.69% of the companys stock.

Equity Residential Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE EQR traded down $0.64 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $61.53. The company had a trading volume of 1,966,922 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,161,434. The company has a market capitalization of $23.35 billion, a PE ratio of 27.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. Equity Residential has a 1-year low of $52.57 and a 1-year high of $69.45. The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $60.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.53.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $727.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $725.07 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 29.07% and a return on equity of 7.43%. Equity Residentials revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. This is a boost from Equity Residentials previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.39%. Equity Residentials payout ratio is currently 122.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho dropped their price target on Equity Residential from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Barclays lowered their price target on Equity Residential from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Equity Residential in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a hold rating and a $64.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Equity Residential from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Equity Residential from an underperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, Equity Residential presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $65.68.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on EQR

Equity Residential Profile

(Free Report)

Equity Residential is committed to creating communities where people thrive. The Company, a member of the S&P 500, is focused on the acquisition, development and management of residential properties located in and around dynamic cities that attract affluent long-term renters. Equity Residential owns or has investments in 305 properties consisting of 80,683 apartment units, with an established presence in Boston, New York, Washington, DC, Seattle, San Francisco and Southern California, and an expanding presence in Denver, Atlanta, Dallas/Ft.

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Algoma Steel Group (TSE:ASTL  Get Free Report) had its price target dropped by stock analysts at Cormark from C$17.50 to C$17.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, BayStreet.CA reports. Cormarks price objective suggests a potential upside of 48.08% from the stocks previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on ASTL. Beacon Securities cut shares of Algoma Steel Group from a buy rating to a hold rating and lifted their price objective for the company from C$11.00 to C$14.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Algoma Steel Group from C$16.00 to C$15.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Algoma Steel Group from C$15.25 to C$16.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 13th.

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Algoma Steel Group Stock Up 3.8 %

Algoma Steel Group Company Profile

Shares of TSE ASTL traded up C$0.42 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting C$11.48. The companys stock had a trading volume of 49,864 shares, compared to its average volume of 59,095. The firm has a market capitalization of C$1.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.95 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.83, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 1.51. Algoma Steel Group has a 1 year low of C$8.64 and a 1 year high of C$13.54. The businesss fifty day simple moving average is C$11.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$10.80.

(Get Free Report)

Algoma Steel Group Inc produces and sells steel products primarily in North America. The company provides flat/sheet steel products, including temper rolling, cold rolled, hot-rolled pickled and oiled products, floor plate, and cut-to-length products for the automotive industry, hollow structural product manufacturers, and the light manufacturing and transportation industries; and plate steel products that consist of rolled, hot-rolled, and heat-treated for use in the construction or manufacture of railcars, buildings, bridges, off-highway equipment, storage tanks, ships, and military applications.

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Shares of AAR Corp. (NYSE:AIR  Get Free Report) have received an average rating of Buy from the five research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $76.75.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. William Blair assumed coverage on AAR in a research note on Monday, January 29th. They set an outperform rating for the company. Truist Financial increased their price target on AAR from $68.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. Benchmark reiterated a buy rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of AAR in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on AAR from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of AAR in a research note on Friday.

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AAR Stock Down 1.0 %

Institutional Trading of AAR

AIR stock opened at $59.52 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 2.90. The company has a market capitalization of $2.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.01 and a beta of 1.68. AAR has a fifty-two week low of $50.06 and a fifty-two week high of $73.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $62.98 and a 200-day moving average of $62.98.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AAR in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of AAR in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in shares of AAR in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of AAR in the 2nd quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of AAR during the 1st quarter valued at about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.87% of the companys stock.

About AAR

(Get Free Report

AAR Corp. provides products and services to commercial aviation, government, and defense markets worldwide. It operates through Aviation Services and Expeditionary Services segments. The Aviation Services segment engages in lease and sale of new, overhauled and repaired engine, and airframe parts and components, as well as aircrafts; and offers customized flight hour component inventory and repair, warranty claim management, and outsourcing programs for engine and airframe parts and components.

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Shares of Iron Mountain Incorporated (NYSE:IRM  Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of Moderate Buy from the five brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $73.80.

IRM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TheStreet cut shares of Iron Mountain from a b rating to a c rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Iron Mountain from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Iron Mountain from $79.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Iron Mountain from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th.

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Insider Transactions at Iron Mountain

Institutional Trading of Iron Mountain

In other news, CAO Daniel Borges sold 996 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $79,680.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,095 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $247,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website . In related news, Director Robin Matlock sold 941 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.28, for a total transaction of $65,192.48. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,957 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,521,180.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link . Also, CAO Daniel Borges sold 996 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $79,680.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,095 shares in the company, valued at $247,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . In the last quarter, insiders have sold 171,983 shares of company stock valued at $13,030,171. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Waverly Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Iron Mountain in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,993,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Iron Mountain by 99.7% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 84,958 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $5,051,000 after purchasing an additional 42,407 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Iron Mountain by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 59,274 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $3,524,000 after purchasing an additional 3,405 shares in the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its stake in Iron Mountain by 163.9% during the 2nd quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 7,725,767 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $438,926,000 after purchasing an additional 4,798,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its stake in Iron Mountain by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 892,448 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $53,056,000 after purchasing an additional 30,140 shares in the last quarter. 80.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Iron Mountain Stock Performance

Iron Mountain stock opened at $78.17 on Tuesday. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $72.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.60. The company has a market cap of $22.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 124.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 55.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Iron Mountain has a fifty-two week low of $49.61 and a fifty-two week high of $82.19.

Iron Mountain (NYSE:IRM  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.48). Iron Mountain had a net margin of 5.44% and a return on equity of 178.02%. The company had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Iron Mountain will post 4.16 EPS for the current year.

Iron Mountain Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. Iron Mountains dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 412.70%.

About Iron Mountain

(Get Free Report

Iron Mountain Incorporated (NYSE: IRM) is a global leader in information management, innovative storage, data center infrastructure, and asset lifecycle management. Founded in 1951 and trusted by more than 225,000 customers worldwide, Iron Mountain serves to protect and elevate the power of our customers' work.

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Shares of Parker-Hannifin Co. (NYSE:PH  Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of Moderate Buy by the fourteen analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $504.56.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PH. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Parker-Hannifin from $450.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Parker-Hannifin from an underperform rating to a market perform rating and increased their price target for the company from $300.00 to $500.00 in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Parker-Hannifin from $505.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a buy rating and issued a $551.00 price objective on shares of Parker-Hannifin in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Parker-Hannifin in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They issued a buy rating and a $602.00 price objective on the stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling

Institutional Trading of Parker-Hannifin

In other news, VP Thomas C. Gentile sold 2,978 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.72, for a total value of $1,494,122.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,741,899.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink . In related news, COO Andrew D. Ross sold 3,904 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.16, for a total transaction of $1,991,664.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 13,120 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $6,693,299.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website . Also, VP Thomas C. Gentile sold 2,978 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.72, for a total value of $1,494,122.16. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,465 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,741,899.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . Insiders sold a total of 12,079 shares of company stock worth $6,099,566 in the last three months. 1.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PH. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Parker-Hannifin during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Sachetta LLC acquired a new stake in Parker-Hannifin during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Parker-Hannifin during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Baystate Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Parker-Hannifin by 233.3% during the 3rd quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 70 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. acquired a new stake in Parker-Hannifin during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. 82.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Parker-Hannifin Stock Down 0.8 %

PH stock opened at $550.72 on Tuesday. Parker-Hannifin has a 52-week low of $308.26 and a 52-week high of $561.13. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $512.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $450.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.52.

Parker-Hannifin (NYSE:PH  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $6.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $5.26 by $0.89. The business had revenue of $4.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.82 billion. Parker-Hannifin had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 29.91%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.76 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Parker-Hannifin will post 24.2 EPS for the current year.

Parker-Hannifin Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. Parker-Hannifins dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.31%.

About Parker-Hannifin

(Get Free Report

Parker-Hannifin Corporation manufactures and sells motion and control technologies and systems for various mobile, industrial, and aerospace markets worldwide. The company operates through two segments: Diversified Industrial and Aerospace Systems. The Diversified Industrial segment offers sealing, shielding, thermal products and systems, adhesives, coatings, and noise vibration and harshness solutions; filters, systems, and diagnostics solutions to ensure purity and remove contaminants from fuel, air, oil, water, and other liquids and gases; connectors used in fluid and gas handling; and hydraulic, pneumatic, and electromechanical components and systems for builders and users of mobile and industrial machinery and equipment.

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Actis, a global investor in sustainable infrastructure, has signed an agreement to sell leading South African fibre network operator Octotel to a consortium of investors.

The consortium is led by African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM) and also comprises STOA a leading impact investor in infrastructure and energy, and Thebe Investment Corporation, a South African black-owned and black-managed investment management company.

The consortium is also acquiring a minority stake in internet service provider RSAWeb.

Actis says it invested in Octotel, a leading fibre network operator in the Western Cape of South Africa, in 2020 to capitalise on the growing demand for high-speed connectivity and the rapid rise in data consumption in the country. The firms investment strategy focused on expanding the number of homes passed with a fibre line and driving the take-up rate on the network.

This, says Actis, resulted in significant growth for the platform, with the number of homes passed with fibre rising from 195,000 at investment to 350,000 today, and the number of customers connected increasing from 56,000 to 110,000 over the same time period.

Under the ownership of Actis, Octotel also achieved significant sustainability milestones to drive positive environmental as well as social impact. These include providing free 1GB internet connections to more than 150 schools in the Western Cape, converting its fleet of vehicles to LPG hybrid vehicles to decarbonise transportation, and securing one of the first social loans in South Africa in recognition of the companys work to promote digital inclusion.

This sale follows the recent announcement by Actis, reported here, that it is acquiring operator Telkoms masts and towers business, Swiftnet.

AIIM, a division of Old Mutual Alternative Investments, is the largest shareholder in Metrofibre, another major fibre network operator in South Africa. STOA also holds a stake in Metrofibre.

Thebe chief investment officer Rapulane Mabelane is quoted as saying that with this transaction his company aims to play a part in expanding high-speed fibre networks into greater parts of the Western Cape.
Aprio Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:MUFG  Free Report) by 23.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,804 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 2,954 shares during the quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLCs holdings in Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group were worth $136,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group by 254.7% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 3,597 shares of the companys stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 2,583 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group by 114.6% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,564 shares of the companys stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 2,437 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. purchased a new position in Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group in the second quarter valued at $47,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group in the second quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group by 51.6% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 7,793 shares of the companys stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 2,654 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.59% of the companys stock.

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Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of MUFG traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $10.44. The companys stock had a trading volume of 1,431,820 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,237,513. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $128.81 billion, a PE ratio of 8.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.61. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $5.99 and a 12-month high of $11.22. The companys 50 day moving average is $9.77 and its 200 day moving average is $8.96.

About Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group ( NYSE:MUFG Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.04. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.78% and a net margin of 19.14%. The firm had revenue of $19.25 billion for the quarter. Equities analysts anticipate that Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. will post 0.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

(Free Report)

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc operates as the bank holding company for MUFG Bank, Ltd. that provides various financial services in Japan, the United States, Europe, Asia/Oceania, and internationally. It operates through Digital Service Business Group; Retail & Commercial Banking Business Group; Japanese Corporate & Investment Banking Business Group; Asset Management & Investor Services Business Group; Global Corporate & Investment Banking Business Group; Global Commercial Banking Business Group; and Global Markets Business Group segments.

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Aprio Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEARCA:VWO  Free Report) by 28.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 97,920 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after purchasing an additional 21,836 shares during the period. Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF comprises approximately 0.9% of Aprio Wealth Management LLCs holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Aprio Wealth Management LLCs holdings in Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF were worth $4,024,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Castleview Partners LLC lifted its position in Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF by 127.4% during the 2nd quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 623 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp lifted its position in Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF by 345.9% during the 3rd quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 660 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Group LLC acquired a new position in Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Oakworth Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF during the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Pacific Center for Financial Services acquired a new position in Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF during the 1st quarter worth about $33,000.

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Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF Price Performance

Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF stock remained flat at $41.61 during trading hours on Monday. 8,294,186 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,206,981. Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF has a 52 week low of $37.46 and a 52 week high of $43.10. The company has a market cap of $74.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.00 and a beta of 0.69. The businesss fifty day moving average price is $40.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.16.

Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF Profile

The Fund seeks to track the performance of the FTSE Emerging Markets All Cap China A Inclusion Index, that measures the return of stocks issued by companies located in emerging market countries.

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Aprio Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC  Free Report) by 26.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 24,303 shares of the financial services providers stock after purchasing an additional 5,128 shares during the quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLCs holdings in Bank of America were worth $818,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First PREMIER Bank lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 32,535 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,097,000 after acquiring an additional 2,178 shares during the period. Connective Portfolio Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth $2,970,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 192.3% during the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,140 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America by 228.3% in the 4th quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 67,511 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $2,273,000 after purchasing an additional 46,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Bank of America by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 454,977 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $15,319,000 after purchasing an additional 14,702 shares in the last quarter. 68.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BAC. Citigroup upped their target price on Bank of America from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Barclays upped their target price on Bank of America from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Bank of America from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Bank of America from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Bank of America from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and increased their price target for the company from $32.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $35.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Of America Corp /De/ Bank bought 5,398 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $10.56 per share, with a total value of $57,002.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,398 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $57,002.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE:BAC traded down $0.19 on Monday, hitting $36.86. The stock had a trading volume of 29,522,159 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,327,098. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $24.96 and a 52 week high of $37.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The businesss fifty day moving average is $34.17 and its 200 day moving average is $31.14. The company has a market cap of $290.85 billion, a PE ratio of 12.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.38.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC  Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.01. Bank of America had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 15.42%. The company had revenue of $22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. Bank of Americas dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.27%.

Bank of America Profile

(Free Report)

Bank of America Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides banking and financial products and services for individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses, institutional investors, large corporations, and governments worldwide. It operates in four segments: Consumer Banking, Global Wealth & Investment Management (GWIM), Global Banking, and Global Markets.

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Aprio Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM  Free Report) by 42.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,665 shares of the CRM providers stock after buying an additional 498 shares during the period. Aprio Wealth Management LLCs holdings in Salesforce were worth $438,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CRM. Union Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 333.3% in the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM providers stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth about $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the companys stock.

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Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 2,890 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total transaction of $893,934.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares in the company, valued at $18,687,877.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total transaction of $60,201.36. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,869 shares of the companys stock, valued at $799,618.99. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 2,890 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total value of $893,934.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares in the company, valued at $18,687,877.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,169,296 shares of company stock worth $326,477,726 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.70% of the companys stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $293.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a market outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a buy rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $304.32.

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Salesforce Stock Down 0.6 %

CRM stock traded down $1.79 on Monday, reaching $305.98. 4,140,308 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,845,122. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $187.31 and a one year high of $318.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company has a market cap of $296.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $292.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $250.60.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM  Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The companys quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Salesforces dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.52%.

Salesforce Company Profile

(Free Report)

Salesforce, Inc provides Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. The company's service includes sales to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, gain insights through analytics and artificial intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer support at scale.

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Aprio Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (NYSE:HMC  Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 7,937 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $245,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Honda Motor by 131.6% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 29,333 shares of the companys stock valued at $829,000 after buying an additional 16,669 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Honda Motor by 2.4% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 54,857 shares of the companys stock worth $1,550,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Honda Motor by 17.3% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 12,650 shares of the companys stock worth $357,000 after acquiring an additional 1,867 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in shares of Honda Motor by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,141,480 shares of the companys stock worth $32,258,000 after purchasing an additional 73,308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. grew its stake in Honda Motor by 15.2% in the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 138,058 shares of the companys stock worth $3,902,000 after acquiring an additional 18,210 shares during the period. 5.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Honda Motor Stock Down 0.0 %

Honda Motor stock traded down $0.01 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $37.27. 499,073 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,067,808. Honda Motor Co., Ltd. has a 52-week low of $25.75 and a 52-week high of $37.90. The companys 50-day moving average is $34.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.45. The firm has a market cap of $63.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.79, a PEG ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 0.71.

Honda Motor Company Profile

Honda Motor ( NYSE:HMC Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.21. Honda Motor had a net margin of 5.05% and a return on equity of 8.04%. The company had revenue of $36.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $37.68 billion. On average, analysts predict that Honda Motor Co., Ltd. will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current year.

(Free Report)

Honda Motor Co, Ltd. develops, manufactures, and distributes motorcycles, automobiles, power, and other products in Japan, North America, Europe, Asia, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Motorcycle Business, Automobile Business, Financial Services Business, and Power Product and Other Businesses.

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Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY  Free Report) by 78.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,262,345 shares of the financial services providers stock after acquiring an additional 1,432,189 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.35% of KeyCorp worth $46,978,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in KeyCorp by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 111,201,600 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $2,488,691,000 after buying an additional 1,278,193 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in shares of KeyCorp by 4.7% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 93,937,195 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $867,980,000 after buying an additional 4,177,314 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of KeyCorp by 2.6% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 47,193,025 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $436,064,000 after purchasing an additional 1,194,413 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of KeyCorp by 3.2% in the third quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 32,342,547 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $348,006,000 after purchasing an additional 993,215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in KeyCorp by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 31,781,539 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $341,969,000 after buying an additional 3,992,226 shares during the period. 79.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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KeyCorp Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KEY traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $15.08. The company had a trading volume of 4,513,297 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,104,979. KeyCorp has a 12 month low of $8.53 and a 12 month high of $15.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $14.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.85. The stock has a market cap of $14.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.96 and a beta of 1.27.

KeyCorp Announces Dividend

KeyCorp ( NYSE:KEY Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.02. KeyCorp had a net margin of 8.61% and a return on equity of 10.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that KeyCorp will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.205 per share. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 26th. KeyCorps payout ratio is currently 92.13%.

Insider Transactions at KeyCorp

In related news, insider Kenneth C. Gavrity sold 2,376 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.03, for a total value of $33,335.28. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 98,120 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,376,623.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Kenneth C. Gavrity sold 2,376 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.03, for a total value of $33,335.28. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 98,120 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,376,623.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Angela G. Mago sold 3,405 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.24, for a total transaction of $48,487.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 214,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,056,331.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 21,442 shares of company stock valued at $303,914. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KEY has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on KeyCorp from $12.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, December 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of KeyCorp from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of KeyCorp from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Barclays decreased their price objective on KeyCorp from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Raymond James assumed coverage on shares of KeyCorp in a research note on Monday, January 8th. They issued a market perform rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $14.69.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on KEY

About KeyCorp

(Free Report)

KeyCorp operates as the holding company for KeyBank National Association that provides various retail and commercial banking products and services in the United States. It operates in two segments, Consumer Bank and Commercial Bank. The company offers various deposits, investment products and services; commercial leasing, investment management, consumer finance; and personal finance and financial wellness, student loan refinancing, mortgage and home equity, lending, credit card, treasury, business advisory, wealth management, asset management, cash management, portfolio management, and trust and related services to individuals and small and medium-sized businesses.

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B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management lessened its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG  Free Report) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,591 shares of the companys stock after selling 85 shares during the quarter. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Managements holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the second quarter worth about $50,000. CGC Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter worth about $55,000. VitalStone Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter valued at about $60,000. Finally, RVW Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the third quarter worth approximately $77,000. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on PG shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a neutral rating and a $168.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $168.41.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of PG traded up $0.60 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $160.79. 647,939 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,819,182. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12-month low of $141.45 and a 12-month high of $162.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.64. The stocks 50-day moving average price is $157.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $151.99. The company has a market cap of $378.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.44.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $21.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $21.48 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.60% and a return on equity of 34.04%. Procter & Gambles revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.59 EPS. Research analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Friday, January 19th were given a dividend of $0.9407 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 18th. Procter & Gambles payout ratio is currently 62.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 22,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.32, for a total transaction of $3,549,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 36,845 shares of the companys stock, valued at $5,943,835.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 22,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.32, for a total value of $3,549,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 36,845 shares of the companys stock, valued at $5,943,835.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 74,443 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.30, for a total value of $11,412,111.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,160.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 279,063 shares of company stock worth $43,187,745 in the last ninety days. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

(Free Report)

The Procter & Gamble Company provides branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. It operates through five segments: Beauty; Grooming; Health Care; Fabric & Home Care; and Baby, Feminine & Family Care. The Beauty segment offers conditioners, shampoos, styling aids, and treatments under the Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Pantene, and Rejoice brands; and antiperspirants and deodorants, personal cleansing, and skin care products under the Olay, Old Spice, Safeguard, Secret, and SK-II brands.

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Botswana Diamonds plc (LON:BOD  Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as GBX 0.31 ($0.00) and last traded at GBX 0.34 ($0.00), with a volume of 2851607 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 0.38 ($0.00).

Botswana Diamonds Trading Down 10.4 %

The stock has a market capitalization of 3.76 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.00 and a beta of 0.94. The firms fifty day moving average price is GBX 0.41 and its 200 day moving average price is GBX 0.52.

About Botswana Diamonds

(Get Free Report)

Botswana Diamonds plc explores for and develops diamond properties in Botswana, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. The company's flagship property is the Thorny River/Marsfontein property located in South Africa. It also explores primarily in the Kalahari region of Botswana. Botswana Diamonds plc was formerly known as Botswana Exploration plc and changed its name to Botswana Diamonds plc in October 2010.

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Shares of BorgWarner Inc. (NYSE:BWA  Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of Moderate Buy from the sixteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $44.05.

BWA has been the subject of several research reports. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of BorgWarner from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $43.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of BorgWarner from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of BorgWarner from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of BorgWarner from $59.00 to $52.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, TheStreet cut shares of BorgWarner from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th.

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BorgWarner Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BWA opened at $33.17 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $32.27 and a 200-day moving average of $34.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.62 billion, a PE ratio of 12.42, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. BorgWarner has a 12 month low of $29.51 and a 12 month high of $50.04.

BorgWarner (NYSE:BWA  Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The auto parts company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.93 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.62 billion. BorgWarner had a net margin of 3.94% and a return on equity of 14.69%. BorgWarners quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that BorgWarner will post 3.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BorgWarner Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. BorgWarners dividend payout ratio is 16.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Stefan Demmerle sold 3,000 shares of BorgWarner stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.29, for a total value of $93,870.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 252,013 shares in the company, valued at $7,885,486.77. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Frederic Lissalde sold 225,900 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.08, for a total transaction of $7,020,972.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 455,227 shares of the companys stock, valued at $14,148,455.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Stefan Demmerle sold 3,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.29, for a total transaction of $93,870.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 252,013 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $7,885,486.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 287,503 shares of company stock valued at $9,015,478. Company insiders own 0.45% of the companys stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BorgWarner

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BorgWarner in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,294,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BorgWarner by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,147,545 shares of the auto parts companys stock worth $973,239,000 after acquiring an additional 331,401 shares during the last quarter. Wahed Invest LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BorgWarner by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 3,980 shares of the auto parts companys stock worth $143,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BorgWarner in the 4th quarter worth approximately $66,000. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of BorgWarner by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 91,872 shares of the auto parts companys stock worth $3,294,000 after acquiring an additional 5,502 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.67% of the companys stock.

About BorgWarner

(Get Free Report

BorgWarner Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides solutions for combustion, hybrid, and electric vehicles worldwide. It offers turbochargers, eBoosters, eTurbos, timing systems, emissions systems, thermal systems, gasoline ignition technology, smart remote actuators, powertrain sensors, cabin heaters, battery modules and systems, battery heaters, and battery charging.

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CCL Industries Inc. (TSE:CCL.B  Get Free Report) Director Derek Cumming sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$70.80, for a total transaction of C$226,560.00.

Derek Cumming also recently made the following trade(s):

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On Wednesday, February 28th, Derek Cumming sold 700 shares of CCL Industries stock. The stock was sold at an average price of C$69.51, for a total transaction of C$48,653.50.

CCL Industries Stock Performance

CCL.B stock traded down C$0.04 on Tuesday, hitting C$70.00. The company had a trading volume of 30,738 shares, compared to its average volume of 270,846. CCL Industries Inc. has a 12-month low of C$52.82 and a 12-month high of C$74.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 49.37. The stocks 50-day simple moving average is C$63.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$59.47. The stock has a market cap of C$11.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 0.55.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on CCL.B shares. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of CCL Industries from a hold rating to a buy rating and raised their price objective for the stock from C$65.00 to C$79.00 in a report on Monday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of CCL Industries from C$76.00 to C$81.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. National Bankshares raised their target price on shares of CCL Industries from C$79.00 to C$81.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of CCL Industries from C$72.00 to C$79.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, CIBC raised their target price on shares of CCL Industries from C$72.00 to C$82.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of C$78.80.

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About CCL Industries

(Get Free Report)

CCL Industries Inc manufactures and sells labels, containers, consumer printable media products, technology driven label solutions, polymer bank note substrates, and specialty films. The company operates through four segments: CCL, Avery, Checkpoint, and Innovia. The CCL segment offers pressure sensitive and specialty extruded film materials for decorative, instructional, functional, and security applications in the consumer packaging, healthcare, chemicals, consumer electronic device, and automotive markets.

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Telecom Egypt and Indian telecoms vendor Tejas Networks announced on Monday they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to boost telecoms R&D and manufacturing facilities in Egypt, as well as train up local skillsets.

Under the MoU, which was also signed by Egypts Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) and the National Telecom Institute (NTI), Telecom Egypt and Tejas will cooperate to establish local manufacturing and R&D facilities for fibre-to-the- home (FTTH) products.

The MoU also covers setting up technical support services in Egypt for customers within the country as well as for the larger Africa and Middle East region.

Meanwhile, Telecom Egypt, Tejas, ITIDA and NTI will work to build up the capacity of Egyptian engineers and technicians to work on state-of-the-art telecom and networking technologies.

Egypts Minister of Communications and Information Technology Dr. Amr Talaat said the MoU is the result of discussions that began in January 2023 between Egypt and India to enhance cooperation in ICT technologies.

It is a comprehensive agreement that seeks to promote localization of world-class communications products, inject new Indian investments into Egypt, create job opportunities, and develop research cadres in various fields of communications, he said in a statement.

Eng. Mohamed Nasr El-Din, CEO and MD of Telecom Egypt, said the MoU is aimed at providing Telecom Egypt with the latest communications technology in the world while ensuring that it provides the highest quality of infrastructure services.

Yogesh Verma, VP of Middle East and Africa (MEA) at Tejas, said the MoU would enable the company to bring its experience with Indias Bharatnet (Rural Broadband Project) and NKN (National Knowledge Network) projects to Egypt.

Tejas has been operating in MEA for over a decade now and has extensive knowledge and insights about the local requirements and operating conditions to roll out cost-effective and scalable networks, he said. This MoU provides a great platform for us to expand our business in MEA while deepening our collaboration with Telecom Egypt and other customers in the country.
Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP  Get Free Report)s share price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday after BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on the stock from $25.00 to $20.00. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the stock. Compass Minerals International traded as low as $13.62 and last traded at $13.98, with a volume of 146859 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.55.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on CMP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Compass Minerals International from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Compass Minerals International from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered shares of Compass Minerals International from a buy rating to a hold rating and cut their target price for the company from $29.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Monday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Compass Minerals International currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $34.40.

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Insider Activity

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Compass Minerals International

In other Compass Minerals International news, Director Joseph E. Reece acquired 5,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $21.24 per share, for a total transaction of $106,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 16,000 shares in the company, valued at $339,840. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link . Company insiders own 1.52% of the companys stock.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CMP. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in Compass Minerals International by 43.0% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,518,500 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $346,506,000 after acquiring an additional 1,660,353 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Compass Minerals International by 38.9% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,603,210 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $163,456,000 after purchasing an additional 728,597 shares during the last quarter. Ararat Capital Management LP bought a new position in Compass Minerals International in the 2nd quarter worth about $21,890,000. Morningstar Investment Services LLC grew its position in Compass Minerals International by 89.2% in the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 1,352,718 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $35,333,000 after purchasing an additional 637,883 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Magnolia Group LLC grew its position in Compass Minerals International by 105.8% in the 4th quarter. Magnolia Group LLC now owns 849,490 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $21,509,000 after purchasing an additional 436,660 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.78% of the companys stock.

Compass Minerals International Trading Down 2.4 %

The company has a current ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The stock has a market cap of $586.60 million, a P/E ratio of -9.97, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.17. The firms 50-day simple moving average is $21.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.03.

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP  Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The basic materials company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.19). Compass Minerals International had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 4.97%. The firm had revenue of $341.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $352.84 million. The businesss revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Compass Minerals International, Inc. will post 0.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Compass Minerals International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.23%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. Compass Minerals Internationals dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -41.10%.

About Compass Minerals International

(Get Free Report)

Compass Minerals International, Inc, provides essential minerals in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Salt and Plant Nutrition. The Salt segment produces, markets, and sells sodium chloride and magnesium chloride, including rock salt, mechanically and solar evaporated salt, and brine and flake magnesium chloride products; and purchases potassium chloride and calcium chloride to sell as finished products or to blend with sodium chloride to produce specialty products.

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Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach (OTCMKTS:FMBL  Get Free Report) and Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC  Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, dividends, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Dividends

Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach pays an annual dividend of $112.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Banco Santander-Chile pays an annual dividend of $0.95 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach pays out 20.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Banco Santander-Chile pays out 74.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Banco Santander-Chile has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years. Banco Santander-Chile is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

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Volatility and Risk

Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach has a beta of 0.41, indicating that its stock price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Banco Santander-Chile has a beta of 0.82, indicating that its stock price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach 0 0 0 0 N/A Banco Santander-Chile 0 3 1 0 2.25

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach and Banco Santander-Chile, as provided by MarketBeat.

Banco Santander-Chile has a consensus target price of $19.97, suggesting a potential upside of 2.13%. Given Banco Santander-Chiles higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Banco Santander-Chile is more favorable than Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach.

Profitability

This table compares Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach and Banco Santander-Chiles net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach 16.21% 5.29% 0.57% Banco Santander-Chile 9.99% 10.73% 0.68%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

7.6% of Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 6.4% of Banco Santander-Chile shares are held by institutional investors. 12.8% of Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach and Banco Santander-Chiles gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach $431.97 million 1.37 $70.01 million $553.73 8.94 Banco Santander-Chile $6.07 billion 1.52 $695.31 million $1.27 15.39

Banco Santander-Chile has higher revenue and earnings than Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach. Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Banco Santander-Chile, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Banco Santander-Chile beats Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach

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Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach provides various banking products and services to individuals, professionals, and small to medium-sized businesses in Los Angeles, Orange, and Santa Barbara Counties. It offers checking, savings, Christmas club savings, health savings, market rate savings, and money market accounts; demand and time deposits; certificates of deposit; and individual retirement account. The company also provides personal, home, commercial real estate, real estate and construction, and commercial business loans, as well as lines of credit; financing for residential loans comprising single-family and multifamily loans; and credit and debit cards. In addition, it offers account management, receivables and payables, and risk management services; commercial lending services; and faith-based and healthcare banking services, as well as online and mobile banking services. Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach was founded in 1907 and is headquartered in Long Beach, California.

About Banco Santander-Chile

(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. It also provides mutual fund management, insurance and securities brokerage, foreign exchange services, financial leasing, financial consulting and advisory, investment management, foreign trade, leasing, factoring, treasury, and transactional services, as well as specialized services to finance residential projects. In addition, the company offers short-term financing and fundraising, and brokerage services, as well as derivatives, securitization, and other products; and manages capital allocations. It serves individuals, small to middle-sized entities, companies, and large corporations, as well as universities, government entities, and local and regional governments. The company was incorporated in 1977 and is headquartered in Santiago, Chile. Banco Santander-Chile operates as a subsidiary of Banco Santander, S.A.

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Moncler (OTCMKTS:MONRF  Get Free Report) and PVH (NYSE:PVH  Get Free Report) are both consumer cyclical companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends and risk.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Moncler and PVHs top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

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Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Moncler N/A N/A N/A $0.42 176.84 PVH $9.02 billion 0.89 $200.40 million $8.48 15.89

PVH has higher revenue and earnings than Moncler. PVH is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Moncler, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Profitability

Moncler pays an annual dividend of $0.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.1%. PVH pays an annual dividend of $0.15 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.1%. Moncler pays out 23.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. PVH pays out 1.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

This table compares Moncler and PVHs net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Moncler N/A N/A N/A PVH 5.76% 11.63% 5.12%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for Moncler and PVH, as reported by MarketBeat.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Moncler 0 0 0 0 N/A PVH 0 4 11 0 2.73

PVH has a consensus price target of $114.07, indicating a potential downside of 15.37%. Given PVHs higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe PVH is more favorable than Moncler.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

12.2% of Moncler shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.3% of PVH shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of PVH shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

PVH beats Moncler on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Moncler

(Get Free Report)

Moncler S.p.A., together with its subsidiaries, designs, produces, and distributes clothing and related accessories for men, women, and children under the Moncler and Stone Island brand names. Its product portfolio includes footwear products; leather goods, such as bags, backpacks, and accessories; and sunglasses and eyeglasses under the Moncler Lunettes brand. The company also offers perfume for men and women. It operates directly operated stores and wholesale shop-in-shops. The company also sells its products through moncler.com, an online store. It serves in Italy, other European countries, Japan, the rest of Asia, and the Americas. Moncler S.p.A. was founded in 1952 and is headquartered in Milan, Italy.

About PVH

(Get Free Report)

PVH Corp. operates as an apparel company in the United States and internationally. The company operates through six segments: Tommy Hilfiger North America, Tommy Hilfiger International, Calvin Klein North America, Calvin Klein International, Heritage Brands Wholesale, and Heritage Brands Retail. It designs, markets, and retails men's, women's, and children's apparel and accessories, include branded dress shirts, neckwear, sportswear, jeans wear, performance apparel, intimate apparel, underwear, swimwear, swim-related products, handbags, accessories, footwear, outerwear, home furnishings, luggage products, sleepwear, loungewear, hats, scarves, gloves, socks, watches and jewelry, eyeglasses and non-ophthalmic sunglasses, fragrance, home bed and bath furnishings, small leather goods, and other products. The company offers its products under its own brands, such as Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Van Heusen, IZOD, ARROW, Warner's, Olga, Geoffrey Beene, and True&Co., as well as various other owned, licensed, and private label brands. The company distributes its products at wholesale in department, chain, and specialty stores, as well as through warehouse clubs, mass market, and off-price and independent retailers; and through company-operated full-price, outlet stores, and concession locations, as well as through digital commerce sites. PVH Corp. was founded in 1881 and is based in New York, New York.

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Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH purchased a new stake in CACI International Inc (NYSE:CACI  Free Report) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 56,690 shares of the information technology services providers stock, valued at approximately $18,360,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CACI. Cim Investment Management Inc. raised its position in CACI International by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,251 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $371,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Studio Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of CACI International by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 1,534 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $461,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in CACI International by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 540 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $170,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in CACI International by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 4,292 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $1,463,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its stake in shares of CACI International by 47.7% in the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 288 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.43% of the companys stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CACI shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of CACI International from a hold rating to a buy rating and raised their price target for the stock from $365.00 to $380.00 in a report on Friday, January 5th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of CACI International from a buy rating to a hold rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $375.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of CACI International from $375.00 to $383.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of CACI International from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CACI International has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $377.33.

CACI International Stock Performance

NYSE:CACI traded up $2.17 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $375.91. The company had a trading volume of 8,189 shares, compared to its average volume of 125,743. The firm has a market cap of $8.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.64, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firms 50 day moving average price is $359.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $336.00. CACI International Inc has a 52 week low of $285.74 and a 52 week high of $382.43.

CACI International (NYSE:CACI  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The information technology services provider reported $4.36 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $4.50 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.84 billion. CACI International had a net margin of 5.31% and a return on equity of 13.65%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.28 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that CACI International Inc will post 20.32 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at CACI International

In other news, EVP J William Koegel, Jr. sold 500 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.48, for a total value of $188,740.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,385 shares of the companys stock, valued at $8,827,369.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other CACI International news, Director Gregory G. Johnson sold 150 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.69, for a total transaction of $54,253.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,446 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,331,453.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP J William Koegel, Jr. sold 500 shares of CACI International stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.48, for a total value of $188,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,827,369.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CACI International Profile

(Free Report)

CACI International Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides expertise and technology to enterprise and mission customers in support of national security missions and government modernization/transformation in the intelligence, defense, and federal civilian sectors. It operates through two segments: Domestic Operations and International Operations.

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F&V Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Mueller Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MLI  Free Report) by 100.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 164,890 shares of the industrial products companys stock after buying an additional 82,445 shares during the quarter. Mueller Industries makes up about 2.5% of F&V Capital Management LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. F&V Capital Management LLCs holdings in Mueller Industries were worth $7,775,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MLI. Raymond James & Associates bought a new position in Mueller Industries in the first quarter valued at approximately $379,000. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Mueller Industries by 18.7% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 4,400 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $239,000 after purchasing an additional 693 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in Mueller Industries by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 49,850 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $2,700,000 after acquiring an additional 4,289 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Mueller Industries by 18.1% in the first quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 11,931 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $646,000 after buying an additional 1,826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mueller Industries by 607.0% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 11,949 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $644,000 after purchasing an additional 10,259 shares during the last quarter. 94.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Mueller Industries Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of MLI stock traded down $0.79 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $53.19. 357,966 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 693,360. Mueller Industries, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.94 and a 12 month high of $54.39. The company has a market cap of $6.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.16 and a beta of 1.08. The companys 50-day moving average price is $49.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.18.

Mueller Industries Increases Dividend

Mueller Industries ( NYSE:MLI Get Free Report ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $732.38 million during the quarter. Mueller Industries had a net margin of 17.63% and a return on equity of 27.59%.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is an increase from Mueller Industriess previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. Mueller Industriess dividend payout ratio is currently 15.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MLI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Northcoast Research reiterated a neutral rating on shares of Mueller Industries in a research report on Friday, January 19th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Mueller Industries from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on MLI

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mueller Industries news, CFO Jeffrey Andrew Martin sold 47,280 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.25, for a total value of $2,328,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 370,840 shares in the company, valued at $18,263,870. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director John B. Hansen sold 5,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.33, for a total value of $246,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,000 shares of the companys stock, valued at $887,940. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Andrew Martin sold 47,280 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.25, for a total value of $2,328,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 370,840 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $18,263,870. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 106,072 shares of company stock worth $5,135,151 over the last three months. 2.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Mueller Industries

(Free Report)

Mueller Industries, Inc manufactures and sells copper, brass, aluminum, and plastic products in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, South Korea, the Middle East, China, and Mexico. It operates through three segments: Piping Systems, Industrial Metals, and Climate. The Piping Systems segment offers copper tubes, fittings, line sets, and pipe nipples.

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Shares of GreenPower Motor Company Inc. (CVE:GPV  Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as C$2.60 and last traded at C$2.68, with a volume of 1355 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$2.70.

GreenPower Motor Stock Up 1.9 %

The company has a market cap of C$68.72 million, a P/E ratio of -3.18 and a beta of 4.27. The stocks 50-day moving average price is C$3.22 and its 200-day moving average price is C$3.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 88.30.

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GreenPower Motor (CVE:GPV  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The company reported C($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of C($0.19) by C($0.07). The firm had revenue of C$11.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$16.44 million. GreenPower Motor had a negative return on equity of 68.61% and a negative net margin of 31.47%. As a group, research analysts forecast that GreenPower Motor Company Inc. will post 0.0647549 EPS for the current year.

About GreenPower Motor

GreenPower Motor Company Inc designs, manufactures, and distributes electric vehicles for commercial markets in the United States and Canada. The company offers commercial vehicles for delivery, public transit, schools, vanpools, micro-transit, shuttles, and other; and passenger, student, low floor transit, and cargo transportation.

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Imperial Oil (TSE:IMO  Free Report) (NYSEMKT:IMO) had its price objective raised by Desjardins from C$86.00 to C$88.00 in a research note released on Friday, BayStreet.CA reports. Desjardins currently has a hold rating on the stock.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Imperial Oil from C$82.00 to C$85.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Imperial Oil from C$78.00 to C$80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 29th. TD Securities lowered Imperial Oil from a buy rating to a hold rating and boosted their price objective for the company from C$87.00 to C$88.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. ATB Capital boosted their price objective on Imperial Oil from C$85.00 to C$90.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Imperial Oil from C$97.00 to C$94.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Imperial Oil has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of C$88.38.

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Check Out Our Latest Research Report on IMO

Imperial Oil Stock Performance

Shares of IMO opened at C$93.70 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of C$50.21 billion, a PE ratio of 11.04, a PEG ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.84. The stocks fifty day moving average price is C$82.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$79.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 19.49, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Imperial Oil has a 1 year low of C$60.19 and a 1 year high of C$94.25.

Imperial Oil (TSE:IMO  Get Free Report) (NYSEMKT:IMO) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported C$2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$2.08 by C$0.39. The firm had revenue of C$13.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$16.57 billion. Imperial Oil had a return on equity of 21.91% and a net margin of 9.64%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Imperial Oil will post 8.2192982 EPS for the current year.

Imperial Oil Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 1st will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This is a boost from Imperial Oils previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 1st. Imperial Oils dividend payout ratio is presently 28.27%.

Imperial Oil Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Imperial Oil Limited engages in exploration, production, and sale of crude oil and natural gas in Canada. The company operates through three segments: Upstream, Downstream and Chemical segments. The Upstream segment explores for, and produces crude oil, natural gas, synthetic crude oil, and bitumen. The Downstream segment is involved in the transportation and refining of crude oil, blending of refined products, and the distribution and marketing of refined products.

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StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Invitae (NYSE:NVTA  Free Report) in a report released on Friday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the medical research companys stock.

Invitae Price Performance

Shares of NVTA opened at $0.01 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $0.13 and a 200-day moving average of $0.45. Invitae has a one year low of $0.02 and a one year high of $0.02. The company has a market cap of $3.74 million, a PE ratio of 0.00 and a beta of 1.59.

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Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. ARK Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Invitae by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 32,942,606 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $19,937,000 after buying an additional 679,672 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Invitae by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,624,354 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $53,196,000 after purchasing an additional 544,941 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in Invitae by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 21,323,634 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $24,096,000 after purchasing an additional 604,081 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Invitae by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,811,895 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $5,437,000 after purchasing an additional 348,802 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Invitae by 34.0% in the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,551,464 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $6,226,000 after purchasing an additional 647,362 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.28% of the companys stock.

About Invitae

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.

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Citigroup reaffirmed their neutral rating on shares of Invitation Homes (NYSE:INVH  Free Report) in a research report sent to investors on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $39.00 price target on the stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Invitation Homes in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a hold rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Invitation Homes from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Invitation Homes from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their target price for the company from $33.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $36.00 target price on shares of Invitation Homes in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Invitation Homes from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $37.79.

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Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Invitation Homes

Invitation Homes Stock Down 0.6 %

INVH stock opened at $34.38 on Friday. The firms fifty day simple moving average is $33.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.19. The company has a market capitalization of $21.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.93, 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 has a 12 month low of $28.49 and a 12 month high of $36.53.

Invitation Homes (NYSE:INVH  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.23). The business had revenue of $624.32 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $623.51 million. Invitation Homes had a net margin of 21.34% and a return on equity of 5.06%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Invitation Homes will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Invitation Homes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. Invitation Homess dividend payout ratio is currently 133.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Invitation Homes

In other news, CFO Jonathan S. Olsen sold 10,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.75, for a total transaction of $347,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 37,037 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,287,035.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Invitation Homes

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Invitation Homes by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 42,341 shares of the companys stock worth $1,444,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the period. Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Invitation Homes in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Invitation Homes by 66.6% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,424,752 shares of the companys stock valued at $185,038,000 after acquiring an additional 2,169,522 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd grew its stake in Invitation Homes by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 393,157 shares of the companys stock valued at $13,411,000 after acquiring an additional 10,793 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Invitation Homes by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 767,892 shares of the companys stock valued at $26,194,000 after acquiring an additional 10,847 shares during the last quarter. 96.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Invitation Homes

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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.

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JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)s stock price was up 0.6% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $196.02 and last traded at $195.98. Approximately 1,060,901 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 8,987,736 shares. The stock had previously closed at $194.82.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on JPM. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $177.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $238.00 to $219.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a buy rating on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and issued a $185.00 price target on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $181.63.

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JPMorgan Chase & Co. Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The company has a market capitalization of $565.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.08, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $180.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $162.64.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 12th. The financial services provider reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.73 by ($0.69). The company had revenue of $38.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.73 billion. JPMorgan Chase & Co. had a net margin of 20.70% and a return on equity of 17.80%. The companys quarterly revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.57 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. This is an increase from JPMorgan Chase & Co.s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. JPMorgan Chase & Co.s payout ratio is currently 25.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

In other news, CEO Jennifer Piepszak sold 1,649 shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.59, for a total transaction of $274,706.91. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 34,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,741,857.53. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Jennifer Piepszak sold 1,649 shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.59, for a total transaction of $274,706.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 34,467 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $5,741,857.53. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Dimon sold 821,778 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.73, for a total transaction of $150,163,493.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 595,316 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $108,782,092.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 845,383 shares of company stock valued at $154,341,636. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the companys stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On JPMorgan Chase & Co.

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of JPM. Valicenti Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 2.9% in the third quarter. Valicenti Advisory Services Inc. now owns 79,891 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $11,586,000 after acquiring an additional 2,220 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. increased its stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 34,079 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $4,956,000 after buying an additional 1,439 shares during the period. TKG Advisors LLC increased its stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 97.6% in the 3rd quarter. TKG Advisors LLC now owns 13,205 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,915,000 after buying an additional 6,521 shares during the period. Alley Investment Management Company LLC boosted its position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 126,913 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $18,405,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allen Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC now owns 174,738 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $25,341,000 after purchasing an additional 23,894 shares in the last quarter. 71.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Company Profile

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JPMorgan Chase & Co operates as a financial services company worldwide. It operates through four segments: Consumer & Community Banking (CCB), Corporate & Investment Bank (CIB), Commercial Banking (CB), and Asset & Wealth Management (AWM). The CCB segment offers deposit, investment and lending products, cash management, and payments and services; mortgage origination and servicing activities; residential mortgages and home equity loans; and credit cards, auto loans, leases, and travel services to consumers and small businesses through bank branches, ATMs, and digital and telephone banking.

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High altitude pseudo satellites (HAPS), aka high-altitude platform systems, are back in the news, this time thanks to a deal affecting India.

Mira Aerospace, a joint venture between geospatial intelligence company Bayanat and UAVOS, a developer and manufacturer of security and commercial solutions based on advanced unmanned systems, along with VEDA Aeronautics, an Indian aerospace and defence company also involved in unmanned systems, have announced a collaboration to deliver what they describe as the worlds most advanced HAPS solutions designed for the Indian market.

Through this collaboration Mira Aerospace says it will pair its cutting-edge ApusNeo HAPS technology with VEDA Aeronautics' local development capabilities. The offering will be available to both Indian defence and civilian clients.

Under this agreement, the companies have committed to deliver a HAPS platform specific to the Indian market within the first half of 2024. Mira Aerospace and VEDA Aeronautics previously performed test flights in the Indian airspace, where the technology demonstrator HAPS unit flew in the Indian stratosphere. This test continues to be the only such flight in India to date.

VEDA Aeronautics has recently participated in the Make-1 project, an initiative launched and funded by the Indian Air Force, where the company looks to design and develop a HAPS solution capable of carrying a minimum 35 kilogram payload and sustaining operations at an 18,000 metre altitude for a minimum of 30-45 days.

Under the Make-1 project, the HAPS developed through the partnership with Mira Aerospace could potentially be used for strategic persistent monitoring of the Indian borders.
Kingdom Financial Group LLC. grew its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY  Free Report) by 21.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 571 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. Kingdom Financial Group LLC.s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $333,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LLY. Red Door Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,239,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,178 shares of the companys stock valued at $687,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company during the 4th quarter valued at $209,000. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt lifted its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 46.3% during the 4th quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt now owns 395,000 shares of the companys stock valued at $230,364,000 after acquiring an additional 125,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bill Few Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc. now owns 2,112 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,231,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. 82.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LLY has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $815.00 price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $800.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Truist Financial restated a buy rating and issued a $850.00 target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Friday. DZ Bank lowered shares of Eli Lilly and Company from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $820.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $805.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $689.52.

Eli Lilly and Company Price Performance

LLY stock traded up $2.06 on Monday, hitting $772.67. 1,805,625 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,272,557. Eli Lilly and Company has a 1-year low of $323.26 and a 1-year high of $800.78. The stock has a market cap of $734.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 133.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $722.56 and a 200-day moving average of $633.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $2.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.19. Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 51.22%. The business had revenue of $9.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 28.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Eli Lilly and Company will post 12.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Eli Lilly and Company

In related news, major shareholder Lilly Endowment Inc sold 78,573 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $648.07, for a total value of $50,920,804.11. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 99,333,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,375,262,246.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 195,055 shares of company stock valued at $125,254,657 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.13% of the companys stock.

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.

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Scotiabank upgraded shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) (NYSE:LAAC  Free Report) from a sector perform rating to a sector outperform rating in a report published on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $8.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank also issued estimates for Lithium Americas (Argentina)s FY2024 earnings at $1.04 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $1.27 EPS.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on LAAC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) from a buy rating to a hold rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $9.00 to $6.50 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $18.50 price objective on shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) in a research report on Tuesday, November 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lithium Americas (Argentina) currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $10.70.

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Lithium Americas (Argentina) Stock Down 0.3 %

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lithium Americas (Argentina)

NYSE LAAC opened at $4.99 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 9.16, a current ratio of 9.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Lithium Americas has a 52 week low of $3.84 and a 52 week high of $8.79. The firm has a market cap of $801.44 million, a PE ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.31. The businesss 50 day moving average price is $4.63.

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FIFTHDELTA Ltd acquired a new position in Lithium Americas (Argentina) in the 4th quarter valued at $32,598,000. Vanguard Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) during the 4th quarter worth $22,367,000. Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new position in shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) during the 4th quarter worth $15,763,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) during the 4th quarter worth $15,303,000. Finally, CenterBook Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) during the 4th quarter worth $6,877,000. 49.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Lithium Americas (Argentina)

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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.

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Community Healthcare Trust (NYSE:CHCT  Free Report) had its price objective trimmed by Piper Sandler from $40.00 to $36.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the real estate investment trusts stock.

Separately, Truist Financial lowered their target price on Community Healthcare Trust from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Community Healthcare Trust currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $34.33.

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Community Healthcare Trust Stock Down 1.8 %

Community Healthcare Trust Increases Dividend

CHCT opened at $25.63 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $709.69 million, a P/E ratio of 122.05, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $26.49 and a 200-day moving average of $27.43. Community Healthcare Trust has a 12-month low of $24.50 and a 12-month high of $37.42.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a $0.458 dividend. This is a boost from Community Healthcare Trusts previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $1.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.15%. Community Healthcare Trusts payout ratio is presently 871.43%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Community Healthcare Trust

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CHCT. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Community Healthcare Trust in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in Community Healthcare Trust by 1,335.3% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,665 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,549 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in Community Healthcare Trust by 264.1% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,824 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 1,323 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in Community Healthcare Trust by 196.5% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,794 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 1,189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Community Healthcare Trust by 28.4% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,253 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.84% of the companys stock.

Community Healthcare Trust Company Profile

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Community Healthcare Trust Incorporated is a real estate investment trust that focuses on owning income-producing real estate properties associated primarily with the delivery of outpatient healthcare services in our target sub-markets throughout the United States. As of December 31, 2023, the Company had investments of approximately $1.1 billion in 193 real estate properties (including a portion of one property accounted for as a sales-type lease and two properties classified as held for sale).

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Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS  Get Free Report)s stock price was down 4.4% on Tuesday after Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on the stock from $21.00 to $19.00. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Provident Financial Services traded as low as $14.19 and last traded at $14.26. Approximately 231,190 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 62% from the average daily volume of 615,673 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.92.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on PFS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. TheStreet lowered shares of Provident Financial Services from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $18.67.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Provident Financial Services

In other news, Director Robert Mcnerney sold 5,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.86, for a total value of $89,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,475 shares in the company, valued at $169,223.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink . Company insiders own 4.29% of the companys stock.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 35.7% in the 1st quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 1,785 shares of the savings and loans companys stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 470 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in Provident Financial Services by 132.8% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,867 shares of the savings and loans companys stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,065 shares during the period. Point72 Middle East FZE bought a new position in Provident Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 17,508.3% in the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,113 shares of the savings and loans companys stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 2,101 shares during the period. Finally, First Manhattan Co. lifted its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 106.8% in the 4th quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 2,130 shares of the savings and loans companys stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the period. 71.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Provident Financial Services Stock Down 4.4 %

The companys 50 day moving average price is $15.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.83. The stock has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.73 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS  Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The savings and loans company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $114.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $114.30 million. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 18.46% and a return on equity of 7.88%. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services, Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.73%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. Provident Financial Servicess payout ratio is 56.14%.

About Provident Financial Services

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Provident Financial Services, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Provident Bank that provides various banking products and services to individuals, families, and businesses in the United States. Its deposit products include savings, checking, interest-bearing checking, money market deposit, and certificate of deposit accounts, as well as IRA products.

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Red Door Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Everest Group, Ltd. (NYSE:EG  Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 669 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $237,000.

Separately, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Everest Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,866,000. Institutional investors own 92.64% of the companys stock.

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Everest Group Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE EG traded down $3.59 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $388.31. 279,639 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 392,112. Everest Group, Ltd. has a 1 year low of $331.08 and a 1 year high of $417.92. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $374.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $380.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Everest Group Announces Dividend

Everest Group ( NYSE:EG Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $25.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $14.63 by $10.55. Everest Group had a net margin of 17.26% and a return on equity of 25.05%. The company had revenue of $3.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $3.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $12.21 EPS. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Everest Group, Ltd. will post 62.04 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 18th. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. Everest Groups dividend payout ratio is presently 11.72%.

Insider Activity

In other Everest Group news, CEO Mike Karmilowicz purchased 285 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $352.39 per share, with a total value of $100,431.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 10,586 shares in the company, valued at $3,730,400.54. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Everest Group news, COO James Allan Williamson purchased 700 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $352.50 per share, with a total value of $246,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,749 shares in the company, valued at $4,141,522.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mike Karmilowicz purchased 285 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $352.39 per share, with a total value of $100,431.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 10,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,730,400.54. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased 2,485 shares of company stock valued at $874,786 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the companys stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on EG shares. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Everest Group from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $484.00 to $402.00 in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Everest Group from $465.00 to $445.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Citigroup downgraded Everest Group from a buy rating to a neutral rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $452.00 to $375.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Everest Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a market perform rating and a $421.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Everest Group in a report on Thursday, December 14th. They issued an inline rating and a $431.00 price target for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Everest Group has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $434.67.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on EG

Everest Group Company Profile

(Free Report)

Everest Group, Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides reinsurance and insurance products in the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company operates through two segment, Insurance and Reinsurance. The Reinsurance segment writes property and casualty reinsurance; and specialty lines of business through reinsurance brokers, as well as directly with ceding companies in the United States, Bermuda, Ireland, Canada, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

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Red Door Wealth Management LLC cut its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Free Report) by 34.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,239 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after selling 4,325 shares during the quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLCs holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $423,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Live Oak Investment Partners acquired a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. 76.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $58.00 to $51.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Redburn Atlantic cut Bristol-Myers Squibb from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $77.00 to $54.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Bank of America cut Bristol-Myers Squibb from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $60.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Societe Generale cut Bristol-Myers Squibb from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $61.12.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb stock traded up $0.32 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $52.25. The company had a trading volume of 12,347,126 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,074,725. The firm has a market cap of $105.90 billion, a PE ratio of 13.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.38. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a one year low of $47.58 and a one year high of $71.07. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.31.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $11.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.19 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a return on equity of 50.95% and a net margin of 17.83%. The firms quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.82 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. Bristol-Myers Squibbs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.18%.

Bristol-Myers Squibb announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 7th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the biopharmaceutical company to reacquire up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the companys leadership 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.

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Shinhan Financial Group Co., Ltd. (NYSE:SHG  Get Free Report) shares gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $37.94, but opened at $36.18. Shinhan Financial Group shares last traded at $36.10, with a volume of 36,892 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Shinhan Financial Group from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Bank of America raised Shinhan Financial Group from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th.

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View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Shinhan Financial Group

Shinhan Financial Group Stock Performance

Shinhan Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm has a market capitalization of $18.60 billion, a PE ratio of 6.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The businesss 50 day simple moving average is $32.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.41.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 1st were issued a dividend of $0.3953 per share. This represents a $1.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.36%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. Shinhan Financial Groups dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.06%.

Institutional Trading of Shinhan Financial Group

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in Shinhan Financial Group by 147.7% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 95,773 shares of the banks stock worth $2,537,000 after purchasing an additional 57,110 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp bought a new position in shares of Shinhan Financial Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Shinhan Financial Group by 6.7% during the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 90,661 shares of the banks stock valued at $2,401,000 after purchasing an additional 5,676 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Shinhan Financial Group by 9.2% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 514,638 shares of the banks stock valued at $13,633,000 after acquiring an additional 43,516 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Shinhan Financial Group by 51.6% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,628 shares of the banks stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 554 shares in the last quarter. 7.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shinhan Financial Group Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Shinhan Financial Group Co, Ltd. provides financial products and services in South Korea and internationally. The company operates through six segments: Banking, Credit Card, Securities, Life Insurance, Credit, and Others. It offers retail banking services, including demand, savings, and fixed deposit-taking; checking accounts; mortgage and home equity, and retail lending; electronic banking and automatic teller machines (ATM); and bill paying, payroll and check-cashing, currency exchange, and wire fund transfer services.

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Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM  Free Report) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,209 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 631 shares during the quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLCs holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $960,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of PM. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 95,439,062 shares of the companys stock valued at $9,316,761,000 after acquiring an additional 1,056,110 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 58,592,611 shares of the companys stock valued at $5,793,812,000 after acquiring an additional 1,745,868 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 43,512,330 shares of the companys stock valued at $4,403,883,000 after acquiring an additional 411,358 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 12.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,821,802 shares of the companys stock worth $2,575,742,000 after buying an additional 3,121,732 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 12,807.4% during the second quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 26,485,964 shares of the companys stock worth $16,449,000 after buying an additional 26,280,764 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.63% of the companys stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, November 29th. Societe Generale raised shares of Philip Morris International from a sell rating to a hold rating and set a $87.50 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. UBS Group cut shares of Philip Morris International from a buy rating to a sell rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $86.50 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Argus restated a hold rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $105.40.

Insider Activity

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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Philip Morris International news, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 2,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.69, for a total transaction of $181,380.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 9,726 shares of the companys stock, valued at $882,050.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 5,000 shares of the firms 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 directly owns 102,918 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,412,880.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 15,250 shares of company stock valued at $1,411,128. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Philip Morris International Trading Up 0.3 %

Philip Morris International stock opened at $91.17 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $141.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.16, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.61. The company 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 12-month low of $87.23 and a 12-month high of $101.92.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM  Get Free Report) last announced its 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). The company had revenue of $9.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $8.99 billion. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 116.29% and a net margin of 8.53%. The companys quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.39 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.39 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.70%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 20th. Philip Morris Internationals payout ratio is 103.59%.

Philip Morris International Company 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.

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Simon Quick Advisors LLC lessened its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI  Free Report) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 513 shares of the technology companys stock after selling 23 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLCs holdings in MSCI were worth $290,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the third quarter valued at approximately $434,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in MSCI by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 218,623 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $124,786,000 after purchasing an additional 35,277 shares during the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 3.0% in the third quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 430,676 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $220,971,000 after buying an additional 12,495 shares during the last quarter. SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 9.5% in the third quarter. SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd. now owns 66,896 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $34,323,000 after buying an additional 5,796 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the third quarter worth about $6,662,000. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the companys stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on MSCI. Redburn Atlantic downgraded MSCI from a neutral rating to a sell rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $620.00 to $470.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Tuesday. They set a peer perform rating for the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded MSCI from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and raised their price target for the company from $526.00 to $600.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on MSCI from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Edward Jones assumed coverage on MSCI in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. They issued a buy rating for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $578.21.

MSCI Stock Performance

NYSE:MSCI opened at $551.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $43.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $565.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $537.45. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $451.55 and a fifty-two week high of $617.39.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The technology company reported $3.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.29 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $690.11 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $662.64 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 111.17% and a net margin of 45.42%. The firms revenue was up 19.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.84 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.8 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were given a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This is a boost from MSCIs previous quarterly dividend of $1.38. MSCIs dividend payout ratio is presently 44.44%.

MSCI Company Profile

(Free Report)

MSCI Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides critical decision support tools and solutions for the investment community to manage investment processes worldwide. The Index segment provides indexes for use in various areas of the investment process, including indexed financial product, such as ETFs, mutual funds, annuities, futures, options, structured products, and over-the-counter derivatives; performance benchmarking; portfolio construction and rebalancing; and asset allocation, as well as licenses GICS and GICS Direct.

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Simon Quick Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI  Free Report) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,744 shares of the companys stock after selling 238 shares during the quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLCs holdings in Service Co. International were worth $256,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCI. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Service Co. International by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 11,544 shares of the companys stock valued at $760,000 after purchasing an additional 1,068 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Service Co. International by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 6,840 shares of the companys stock valued at $448,000 after purchasing an additional 922 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Service Co. International by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,269 shares of the companys stock worth $544,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of Service Co. International by 38.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 32,245 shares of the companys stock worth $2,135,000 after acquiring an additional 8,901 shares during the period. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. lifted its position in shares of Service Co. International by 30.1% in the 1st quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 17,700 shares of the companys stock worth $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 4,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the companys stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on SCI shares. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Service Co. International from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Service Co. International from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $75.00.

Insider Activity at Service Co. International

In other news, Director W Blair Waltrip sold 6,150 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.38, for a total value of $457,437.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 597,948 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $44,475,372.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, VP Steven A. Tidwell sold 45,995 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.43, for a total value of $3,469,402.85. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 54,354 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,099,922.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director W Blair Waltrip sold 6,150 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.38, for a total value of $457,437.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 597,948 shares of the companys stock, valued at $44,475,372.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 202,675 shares of company stock valued at $15,066,906 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 5.20% of the companys stock.

Service Co. International Price Performance

Service Co. International stock opened at $72.76 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.56. Service Co. International has a one year low of $52.89 and a one year high of $75.97. The company has a market capitalization of $10.63 billion, a PE ratio of 20.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.02, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. Service Co. International had a return on equity of 32.88% and a net margin of 13.11%. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. The businesss revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Service Co. International will post 3.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. This is a boost from Service Co. Internationals previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. Service Co. Internationals dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.95%.

Service Co. International Profile

(Free Report)

Service Corporation International provides deathcare products and services in the United States and Canada. Its funeral service and cemetery operations comprise funeral service locations, cemeteries, funeral service/cemetery combination locations, crematoria, and other businesses. The company also provides professional services related to funerals and cremations, including the use of funeral home facilities and motor vehicles; arranging and directing services; and removal, preparation, embalming, cremation, memorialization, and travel protection, as well as catering services.

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The ICAIC does not exist 'The ICAIC is 65 years old, and gives its filmmakers no space, does not answer their emails or letters, and then talks about a celebration of Cuban cinema,' says Rosa Maria Rodriguez Pupo.

There is an empty building on Avenida 23, very close to the intersection of the Calle 12, a giant white elephant eaten away by bad decisions. It is a place where ideology has been embraced as the foundation of art, and mediocrity has replaced talent - immense talent, which once circulated through the now-dark corridors of the Cuban Cinematographic Art and Industry Institute (ICAIC), which this Sunday celebrates 65 years since its founding.

In 1996, in an interview with the English critic Michael Chanan, Tomas Gutierrez Alea said that "journalism, for example, does not perform its function of criticizing society. People, however, talk in the hallways, in the cafes, on the streets, on sidewalks, in lines; but those problems are not aired publicly, and that is very frustrating, so one feels a need to talk."

That should be the essence of Cuban cinema, in being a problematizing (and problematic, according to the power structure) forum capturing the Cuban reality. But it is just this role that the new leaders of the institute, with cultural commissioner Alexis Triana at its head, intends to revoke, like one who conquers enemy territory and begins to reconstruct history by covering up the discomfiting moments.

"It's not that there were no contradictions or problems, but debate used to be above all that, debating ideas was above all that," assistant director Gloria Maria Cossio, who has worked for more than 50 years at the ICAIC, told DIARIO DE CUBA.

Thus, imbued with a commitment to take risks, and seeking heresy beyond the screen, Cuban cinema has accommodated manifestly controversial names and works, which contributed, through critical and cogent perspectives, to the shaping of a society that was critical and open to controversy, with that having been portrayed on the screen, even if the officials now on duty try to cover this up.

Standard-bearers in the process of depicting problems affecting Cuba through cinema include the likes of Tomas Gutierrez Alea, with Memories of Underdevelopment, Death of a Bureaucrat and Strawberry and Chocolate being his most controversial films; as well as the work of Daniel Diaz Torres, whose most scathing work was Alice in Wonderland, a caustic critique of the Revolutions bureaucracy and stagnancy. There were also the comedies of Juan Carlos Tabio, the astute films of Humberto Solas, numerous episodes of the ICAIC Latin American News, and the cinema of Fernando Perez, which reflected, with mastery and without any sugarcoating, the contradictions of Cuban society, especially in films such as Life Is To White, Suite Habana and Madagascar.

But there are more figures worthy of mention in Cuban cinema, names like Rolando Diaz, Rebeca Chavez, Eliseo Altunaga, Luis Alberto Garcia, Isabel Santos, Julio Garcia Espinosa, Ernesto Daranas, Alfredo Guevara, Belkis Vega, Arturo Sotto, Enrique Colina, Alan Gonzalez, Alejandro Alonso, Armando Capo, Arturo Infante, Carlos Lechuga, Carlos Quintela, Daniela Munoz Barroso, Eduardo del Llano, Enrique Alvarez, Rosa Maria Rodriguez, Fernando Fraguela, Ian Padron, Carla Valdes, Jorge Molina, Jose Luis Aparicio, Heidi Hassan, Juan Carlos Cremata, Juan Pin Vilar, Luis Alejandro Yero, Ricardo Figueredo, Miguel Coyula, Pavel Giroud, Yimit Ramirez and many more.

"I believe that enthusiasm, the desire to document what is happening, is inevitable among all of us who continue to try to create Cuban cinema, wherever people are. The filmmakers who are still in Cuba, and those who are scattered all over the world, still trying to make Cuban cinema, to express the Cuban reality in some way, trying to make cinema with what is happening in Cuba...I think we consider making our films without thinking about whether they will be officially shown or recognized in Cuba," filmmaker Rolando Diaz recently told DIARIO DE CUBA.

What it is, what it could be, and what it does not want to be

On Thursday, March 21, at the Cine Yara, Triana said that she intends to restore the ICAIC to what it once was. No, Mr. Triana, if the ICAIC does not accept different points of view about an issue, if it does not admit and promote controversy, if it does not dare to touch the nation's wounds, if it does not understand that just talking about the past, without questioning the present, is to be afraid of today's Cuba and contemporary Cuban filmmakers, the ICAIC will not return to what it once was.

And, although it is difficult to understand for its anachronistic romanticism, the ICAIC does not need to return to what it was. Rather, it needs to be a better institute than it was, a place where filmmakers like Nicolas Guillen Landrian are not abandoned, an institute that is not afraid to show the films of Cuban directors living outside Cuba, that does not censor those who have a different opinion, that does not ignore the Assembly of Cuban Filmmakers, that does not spurn the industry's calls for a Film Law, that does not seek to centralize all the film production in the country, one that does require every film to depend exclusively on the approval of one or two men, that does not judge and revile those who make films against that nebulous entity they insist on calling the Revolution.

Obviously, the previous paragraph is a series of castles in the sky, as each of the actions of the ICAIC's new management are aimed at burying the Assembly of Cuban Filmmakers, eliminating "conflictive" elements, and filling the building with "reliable" figures, to the point that a floor of the institute has been destined for the new production company Patria. Led by Roly Pena, this "will wage new battles for the history of the island," Triana said on his Facebook profile, which should be viewed as a propagandistic shift in Cuban state cinema, perhaps more intense than the existing one, but without the artistic quality of what was done during the golden age of the institution.

"It's a good thing that art pervades the building," documentary filmmaker Lourdes de los Santos stated in Triana's post, as if everything were a clean slate, as if the community of filmmakers were not up in arms. "It's very sad that the Cuban Film Institute does not respond to the appeals of filmmakers to be part of the Assembly of Cuban Filmmakers' processes. After 65 years, the ICAIC and does not give its filmmakers a space, does not answer emails or letters, and then talks about a celebration of Cuban cinema. But here there's a bigger and more active assembly than ever," director and producer Rosa Maria Rodriguez Pupo wrote in another Facebook post, after the ICAIC, in its purported renewal, refused to talk to independent filmmakers.

"We're not the ones rejecting or denying debate. The contempt of the ICAIC leadership is evidence of a pattern that does little to bolster our institutions' credibility and raison d'etre," the assembly members complained.

"We now have a new president to whom, undoubtedly, they're giving all the resources they didn't give to the previous one, and whose purpose is to attract, with great fireworks, all those involved in these strata of culture.

The aim is cinema that is not free, but rather aimed at whitewashing all the situations that the country is going through, approaching them from the government's point of view, which is exactly what the country does not need at this time," Cossio told this newspaper.

Along the same lines, another filmmaker linked for many years to the institution, who preferred to remain anonymous, stated: "At the ICAIC, Triana is trying to whip up a fervor for a reality that has lost its appeal. It's not the 60s anymore. 65 years have passed, and they've had time to forge a country. Everything he says sounds very nice, all his plans seem great, and I even wish they were true, but filmmakers are inquisitors, seekers of truth, and that's where his rhetoric goes astray, as it is out of touch with Cubans' lives."

"That ICAIC that was born with a spirit of debate and rebellion, to some extent, has now reached a very difficult juncture, and what happens with the rest of the country will define or guide what can happen at this film association."

In a recent interview with DIARIO DE CUBA Fernando Perez said: "That vision of a free cinema without censorship, without exclusions, without fractures or banishments, with a Film Law that protects freedom of expression, that Madagascar that is now a dream, because official policy does not want to recognize it, will become a reality over time, because thought is free, and nothing can silence it."
Research analysts at StockNews.com began coverage on shares of WidePoint (NYSEAMERICAN:WYY  Get Free Report) in a note issued to investors on Sunday. The firm set a sell rating on the technology companys stock.

WidePoint Stock Performance

Shares of NYSEAMERICAN WYY opened at $2.64 on Friday. WidePoint has a 1-year low of $1.60 and a 1-year high of $3.49. The company has a market capitalization of $23.34 million, a P/E ratio of -1.98 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a 50-day moving average of $1.86.

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Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Susquehanna International Group LLP acquired a new stake in WidePoint in the first quarter valued at $25,000. UBS Group AG acquired a new stake in shares of WidePoint during the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Citadel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of WidePoint by 121.1% during the 3rd quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 13,577 shares of the technology companys stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 7,437 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WidePoint during the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of WidePoint by 27.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 43,483 shares of the technology companys stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 9,377 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 22.60% of the companys stock.

WidePoint Company Profile

WidePoint Corporation provides technology management as a service (TMaaS) to the government and business enterprises in North America and Europe. The company offers TMaaS solutions through a secure federal government certified proprietary portal and secure enterprise portal that provides ability to manage, analyze, and protect communications assets, as well as deploy identity management solutions that provide secured virtual and physical access to restricted environments.

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Shares of Suzano S.A. (NYSE:SUZ  Get Free Report) saw strong trading volume on Tuesday . 604,560 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 56% from the previous sessions volume of 1,385,229 shares.The stock last traded at $12.52 and had previously closed at $12.41.

Suzano Trading Up 1.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.61. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.93. The firm has a market cap of $16.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.83 and a beta of 1.04.

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Suzano (NYSE:SUZ  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts consensus estimates of $0.70. Suzano had a return on equity of 33.35% and a net margin of 35.19%. The firm had revenue of $2.09 billion for the quarter. On average, equities research analysts predict that Suzano S.A. will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

About Suzano

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Suzano by 152.4% in the 2nd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,778 shares of the companys stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 2,281 shares during the period. Eqis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Suzano during the second quarter worth about $92,000. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Suzano in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $95,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in shares of Suzano during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $96,000. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Suzano in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $96,000. 2.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Suzano SA produces and sells eucalyptus pulp and paper products in Brazil and internationally. It operates through Pulp and Paper segments. The company offers coated and uncoated printing and writing papers, paperboards, tissue papers, and market and fluff pulps; and lignin. It also engages in the research, development, and production of biofuel; operation of port terminals; power generation and distribution business; commercialization of equipment and parts; industrialization, commercialization, and exporting of pulp and standing wood; road freight transport; biotechnology research and development; and commercialization of paper and computer materials.

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TELUS Co. (TSE:T  Get Free Report) (NYSE:TU) has been given an average rating of Moderate Buy by the ten analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$27.36.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on T. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of TELUS from C$29.00 to C$30.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. National Bankshares reduced their target price on shares of TELUS from C$27.00 to C$26.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of TELUS from C$26.00 to C$27.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Desjardins increased their target price on TELUS from C$27.00 to C$28.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, CIBC increased their price objective on shares of TELUS from C$26.00 to C$28.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, December 18th.

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Check Out Our Latest Research Report on T

TELUS Price Performance

TELUS stock opened at C$21.46 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of C$23.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$23.54. TELUS has a 12 month low of C$21.16 and a 12 month high of C$28.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 159.88, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market capitalization of C$31.76 billion, a PE ratio of 37.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.70.

TELUS (TSE:T  Get Free Report) (NYSE:TU) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The company reported C$0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of C$0.23 by C$0.01. TELUS had a return on equity of 4.96% and a net margin of 4.20%. The business had revenue of C$5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$5.24 billion. Equities analysts predict that TELUS will post 1 earnings per share for the current year.

TELUS Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.376 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 8th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.01%. TELUSs dividend payout ratio is presently 263.16%.

TELUS Company Profile

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TELUS Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides a range of telecommunications and information technology products and services in Canada. It operates through Technology Solutions and Digitally-Led Customer Experiences segments. The Technology Solutions segment offers a range of telecommunications products and services; network services; healthcare services; mobile technologies equipment; data services, such as internet protocol; television; hosting, managed information technology, and cloud-based services; software, data management, and data analytics-driven smart food-chain and consumer goods technologies; home and business security; healthcare software and technology solutions; and voice and other telecommunications services, as well as mobile and fixed voice and data telecommunications services and products.

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StockNews.com lowered shares of VAALCO Energy (NYSE:EGY  Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

VAALCO Energy Trading Up 12.6 %

Shares of EGY opened at $6.95 on Friday. VAALCO Energy has a twelve month low of $3.51 and a twelve month high of $7.00. The company has a market cap of $717.75 million, a P/E ratio of 12.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $4.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.47.

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VAALCO Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.063 per share. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. This is a boost from VAALCO Energys previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 7th. VAALCO Energys dividend payout ratio is presently 44.64%.

Institutional Trading of VAALCO Energy

About VAALCO Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY raised its position in VAALCO Energy by 80.4% during the 4th quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY now owns 6,446 shares of the energy companys stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 2,872 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in shares of VAALCO Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in VAALCO Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. Prelude Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in VAALCO Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Zacks Investment Management acquired a new stake in VAALCO Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $45,000. 48.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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VAALCO Energy, Inc, an independent energy company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in Gabon, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, and Canada. The company holds 58.8% interest in the Etame production sharing contract related to the Etame Marin block covering an area of approximately 46,200 gross acres located offshore in the Republic of Gabon in West Africa.

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WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC  Get Free Report) issued an update on its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 4.800-4.900 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 4.870. The company issued revenue guidance of -. WEC Energy Group also updated its FY24 guidance to $4.80-4.90 EPS.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

NYSE:WEC traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $79.99. 392,615 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,286,659. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $79.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.23 billion, a PE ratio of 18.93, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.40. WEC Energy Group has a 1-year low of $75.13 and a 1-year high of $99.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

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WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.02. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 14.98%. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.80 earnings per share. WEC Energy Groups revenue was down 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WEC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered WEC Energy Group from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Saturday, January 13th. Bank of America reiterated an underperform rating and issued a $78.00 price objective (down previously from $84.00) on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 18th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $94.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of WEC Energy Group from a neutral rating to an underweight rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $86.17.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on WEC

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.89, for a total value of $223,258.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 43,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,402,131.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other WEC Energy Group news, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total value of $2,925,694.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 274,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,622,595.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.89, for a total transaction of $223,258.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 43,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,402,131.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the companys stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quilter Plc bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $234,348,000. Achmea Investment Management B.V. bought a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. First Manhattan Co. boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 102.0% during the 4th quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 303 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 373.3% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 549 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the companys stock.

WEC Energy Group Company Profile

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WEC Energy Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides regulated natural gas and electricity, and renewable and nonregulated renewable energy services in the United States. It operates through Wisconsin, Illinois, Other States, Electric Transmission, and Non-Utility Energy Infrastructure segments.

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Emirates Islamic, one of the leading Islamic financial institutions in the UAE, remains committed to advancing Dubais status as the global capital of the Islamic economy.

Celebrating its 20th anniversary, the Islamic banking arm of the Emirates NBD Group has emerged as a leading Islamic bank in the UAE, serving over 650,000 customers across various banking segments.

Emirates Islamic has played an integral role in the UAEs development, pioneering various innovations in the Islamic banking sector and developing innovative Shariah-compliant products and services based on the highest standards of ethical banking. The bank has made significant strides over the past two decades, across areas such as Emiratisation, diversity and inclusion, and sustainability, among others.

Special logo

To commemorate the milestone, the bank has unveiled a special logo, to be used in all bank communications through the anniversary year.

Hesham Abdulla Al Qassim, Chairman at Emirates Islamic, said: Emirates Islamic has strongly affirmed its position as one of the leading Shariah-compliant banks in the UAE. As the Islamic bank of choice in the UAE, we continue to play a pivotal role in the advancement of the Islamic banking sector in the UAE and remain deeply committed to supporting the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to make Dubai the global capital of the Islamic economy.

He added: I am full of optimism for the promising future ahead as we continue to work together to serve our customers, people and communities.

Farid Al Mulla, CEO of Emirates Islamic, said: "Over the past two decades, we have remained resolute in our commitment to deliver exceptional banking services, contributing to the prosperity and development of the nation. Our achievements would not have been possible without the wise leadership of Dubai and the UAE, and we extend our heartfelt gratitude to them as well as our customers, partners, and employees for their trust and support.

As we celebrate this significant achievement, we look forward to continuing our legacy of success in the years ahead and reaffirm our commitment to empowering individuals, businesses, and communities.

Trusted partner to the UAE economy and businesses

As a home-grown Islamic financial institution, Emirates Islamic has continued to finance the economy of the UAE and contribute to the long-term economic growth and development of the region. With a focus of accelerating SME development and diversification, Emirates Islamic supports the UAE Vision to increase its Global Entrepreneurship Indicator ranking and enhance SME contribution to non-oil GDP.

Digital innovation

As a digital forerunner within the Islamic banking sector, Emirates Islamic continues its long-term commitment to bringing banking innovation to UAE customers. Following on from being the first Islamic bank in the UAE to offer all three major wallets  Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay  Emirates Islamic became the first Islamic bank in the world to introduce WhatsApp Banking for its customers.

Emirates Islamic brings additional convenience to its customers with several innovative features in digital banking including cardless withdrawal at ATMs, smart pass authentication for additional security and remote branch queue. Further, in line with the banks ongoing digital transformation journey, it continues to consistently make strategic investments in technological solutions that enhance front-end and back-end banking operations.

Supporting the UAEs people and communities

As a leading local bank, Emirates Islamic has always remained deeply committed to developing Emirati talent across the bank. Currently, the bank has one of the highest Emiratisation levels in the UAE banking sector, with 36 per cent of the total number of employees and continues to undertake several initiatives to increase Emirati participation in critical roles within the organisation, supporting the Central Bank of the UAEs Emiratisation policy.

Further, as a Shariah-compliant bank, Emirates Islamic endeavours to contribute towards the wellbeing of society by promoting fair and equal creation of wealth and a prosperous economy.

Contributing to UAEs sustainability vision

Emirates Islamic remains committed to embedding Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) values in its core culture and operations and this has been perceived in the progress made towards reducing emissions and efforts towards achieving gender parity.

As a stalwart of environmental protection, Emirates Islamic has committed not only to national and regional development ambitions but also international targets, such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and reducing the banks environmental impact in line with the UAE Net Zero 2050 strategy.

Emirates Islamic is also a part of the Emirates NBD Groups Sustainable Finance Framework which allows for the issuance of green and sustainable financing instruments to finance projects that enable the transition to a low-carbon and climate-resilient economy.--TradeArabia News Service
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After being fielded from the central Chennai constituency, BJP leader Vinoj P Selvam said that we believe in the way Prime Minister Naredra Modi works and that we will serve the people according to their wishes.

The first promise I make is that the people will see me after the elections alsoIm going to be the MP whos going to work for the people. We are from PM Narendra Modis organization, from his party. We believe in his way of working and were here to serve the people and we are sure to be the change that the people want to see. said BJP leader Vinoj P Selvam.

BJP alliance candidate and former AIADMK leader and ex Chief Minister O Panneerselvam (OPS), filed his nomination from Ramanathapuram Lok Sabha seat on Monday. Panneerselvam handed over his nomination to Ramanathapuram District Collector P Vishnuchandran.

Speaking to the media, he said, I am contesting in Ramanathapuram constituency on behalf of AIADMK Volunteer Rights Rescue Committee, I will strive to bring back all the projects that were lost in this constituency and not only that, I will take forward the problem of rescue of fishermen who are suffering daily in the coastal area. I told this to PM Modi, who will take office as Prime Minister for the third time.

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He further said that he will bring welfare schemes for the people of this constituency

OPS is in alliance with the BJP and is contesting the seat as an independent after losing a case in Madras High Court for retaining the flag and letterhead of the AIADMK.

Meanwhile, former Telangana and Puducherry Governor and BJP candidate from South Chennai Tamilisai Soundararajan filed her candidature for the Lok Sabha elections and said that she resigned from the governors post because she wanted to work directly for the people of the state.

The people want PM Modi to be Prime Minister again. South Chennai is a constituency with very responsible people and theyre longing for a good parliamentarian. The present MP is not very approachable. I will be very approachable. When I was in a constitutional post, I also used to interact with people. I resigned from the governors post because I want to work directly for the people, Soundararajan told ANI on Monday.

Karti Chidambaram, son of veteran Congress Leader P Chidambaram, also filed his nomination from the Sivaganga Lok Sabha seat here on Monday.

Voting for all 39 seats in Tamil Nadu will be held in the first phase of the general elections on April 19.

In the 2019 general elections, the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance, comprising the Congress, VCK, MDMK, CPI, CPI(M), IUML, MMK, KMDK, TVK, and AIFB, registered a landslide victory, winning 38 of the 39 seats in the state. In 2019, DMK won 23 Lok Sabha seats with a 33.2 percent vote share, Congress bagged 8 seats with a 12.9 percent vote and CPI won two seats in Tamil Nadu.

The election for 543 Lok Sabha seats in the country will be held in seven phases starting April 19. The counting of the votes will take place on June 4.
The Delhi government on Tuesday cautioned city residents to stay away from rumour-mongers taking advantage of the situation arising from the arrest of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the liquor scam.

It has been brought to the notice that speculations and rumours are being spread by notorious elements with vested interests in Delhi that with the arrest/remand of CM of GNCTD by ED on 21st March, welfare schemes and subsidies given by the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi will be stopped, read the communique issued by Secretary of Planning Department Niharika Rai on Tuesday.

Rai categorically said, Even as the law takes its own course in the process of criminal investigation, it merits clarification that administration of schemes and governance are never specific to individuals and shall continue in normal course, as in the past.

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The Secretary said such rumours create an atmosphere of fear within the general public.

All public services, social welfare schemes and subsidies currently given by GNCT Delhi shall continue uninterrupted. People should not be misled by any fear-mongering and malicious disinformation in this regard, Rai said.

The Secretary added that public services, social welfare schemes and subsidies are not at all affected by the arrest of CM.
In a clean sweep, the Left-supported groups won all the four posts in the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) polls.

The university on Sunday elected its first Dalit president from the Left-backed groups after nearly three decades, decimating its nearest rival the RSS-affiliated ABVP.

Dhananjay Kumar from the All India Students Association (AISA) won the JNUSU presidents post by securing 2,598 votes against the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishads (ABVP) Umesh C Ajmeera who secured 1,676 votes.

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Dhananjay hails from Gaya, Bihar, and is the first Dalit president from the Left after Batti Lal Bairwa, who was elected in 1996-97.

This victory is a referendum by 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 told a news agency.

Amid cries of Lal Salaam and Jai Bhim, the winning students were hailed by their supporters.

Avijit Ghosh from the Students Federation of India (SFI) trounced ABVPs Deepika Sharma by 927 votes to win the vice-presidents post. Ghosh received 2,409 votes as opposed to 1,482 votes by Sharma.

Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students Association (BAPSA) candidate Priyanshi Arya, who was supported by the Left, won the general secretary posts by defeating ABVPs Arjun Anand by 926 votes. Arya polled in 2,887 votes while Anand received 1961 votes.

The Lefts Mohammad Sajid won the joint secretarys post by defeating ABVPs Govind Dangi by 508 votes. His was the lowest victory among all the four winners.

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.

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 flag bearers, as the counting progressed.

According to JNUs Chairperson of the Election Committee (CEC), a total of 5,656 ballots were counted to the final tally.

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.
Filmmaker-actress Divya Khossla is ready to make her Telugu debut with Hero Heeroine.

The actress said it was the story of the upcoming film, directed by Suresh Krissna, which motivated her to take up the role.

My work always excites me and I think thats the place where I find so much happiness being on the sets and performing. My craft is something I connect so much with I feel like only focussing on my craft. I am very excited about my Telugu debut, Divya told IANS.

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Talking about the film, she said: I think it is connected with the story. It was my motivational factor and of course the director Suresh Krissna, he is very senior. He has worked with Rajinikanth and delivered iconic films.

Her reaction on getting to work with the filmmaker, who has previously directed superstar Rajinikanth in four films such as Annamalai, Veera, Baashha and Baba.

Divya said: I was like wow I am getting to work with such a big director in the south.

The actress then heaped praise on producer Prerna Arora and added: It is such a good feeling to be working with a female producer and I think women are the way forward.

The filmmaker-actress shared that she has another film lined up for release. However, she did not divulge much about it.

Another film of mine will be releasing soon which is complete. Its not announced yet that it will be released soon. I am very excited about it, she said.
Rebel Wilson is making waves with her upcoming memoir, Rebel Rising, but its not all smooth sailing. The actress took to social media, specifically Instagram, to air her grievances against Sacha Baron Cohen, alleging that hes trying to thwart the publication of her book. In a post dated March 25th, Wilson didnt mince words, stating outright that the a**hole she refers to in her book is none other than Cohen himself.

According to Wilson, trouble started brewing after she announced that Cohen would be featured in a chapter of her memoir. She claims that he swiftly mobilized a crisis PR team and began making threats, presumably to block any unfavorable portrayal of himself. Wilson, however, remains undeterred, asserting that her book will see the light of day, regardless of Cohens attempts to impede its release.

Wilsons accusations shed light on a reported discord between the two actors, stemming from their collaboration on the 2016 film Grimsby (known as The Brothers Grimsby in the US). Wilson has previously spoken out about her experiences during the filming, including an incident where Cohen allegedly pressured her to undress completely, only to resort to using a body double when she refused.

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In response to Wilsons claims, a representative for Cohen issued a statement on Monday, vehemently denying the allegations. The statement emphasized the existence of extensive evidence, including documents, film footage, and eyewitness accounts, which supposedly contradict Wilsons assertions.

Despite the rebuttal, Wilson remains steadfast in her resolve to share her truth with the world. Just ten days prior, she took to Instagram to reflect on her journey in Hollywood, emphasizing her newfound commitment to working only with respectful individuals. Its clear that Wilson is ready to uphold her principles, even in the face of adversity.

With Wilsons memoir slated for release on April 2nd, the public eagerly awaits further developments in this unfolding saga. Meanwhile, Cohen has broken his silence on the matter, standing firm against Wilsons accusations and maintaining his innocence. As the controversy continues to unfold, it remains to be out how it will impact the publication and reception of Rebel Rising and the ongoing relationship between Wilson and Cohen.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati has demanded action against those responsible for bullying Dalit families in Mukhtiyapur village of Najibabad in Bijnor district.

Mayawati, on Tuesday, posted on X about the attack on Dalits, and has demanded strict action from the government.

Mayawati wrote that in the incident, several people were injured in the attack on Dalit families by feudal elements of the Mukhtyarpur village of Najibabad in Bijnor district.

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The government should take strict action against the culprits under the SC/ST Act so that the election environment does not deteriorate. The Election Commission should also take cognisance of this, she wrote.

According to reports, the incident took place on Monday during Holi celebrations when two parties clashed over a minor dispute in the village. Both sides reportedly opened fire and several people were injured. One Pradeep suffered a deep wound on his neck.

Meanwhile, after receiving the information, the police team led by police station in-charge Rajendra Singh Pundir reached the village.

Pundir said that reports have been filed from both parties and additional forces have been deployed in the village.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday held massive protests at ITO in Delhi demanding the resignation of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal who is in ED custody in the excise policy money laundering case.

State BJP President Virendra Sachdeva and Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari led hundreds of party workers during their protest.

Sachdeva informed that they will go to the Secretariat to demand the resignation of jailed Delhi chief minister.

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The CM of Delhi is corrupt and dishonest and he has looted the people of Delhi. We are going to the Secretariat to demand his resignation The government is not running from the jail. Just like AAPs character, the orders are also fake Arvind Kejriwal has to resign, he said.

Referring to Kejriwals orders from jail, BJP MP Manoj Tiwari said that the AAP has accepted that they could not provide water and medical facilities to the people of Delhi in the last 10 years.

After being arrested, Kejriwal has remembered that they could not provide water and sewer facilities to the people of Delhi They are doing press conferences that they could not provide medicines in the hospitals. They have accepted today that they have put Delhi into a plight in last 9-10 years, he said.

Kejriwals Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has announced that Kejriwal will not resign and continue to work from inside the prison. He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) last week in the liquor policy case and was subsequently remanded to the probe agencys custody till March 28.

Meanwhile, the AAP called for a gherao of Prime Minister Narendra Modis residence in protest against Kejriwals arrest. However, the AAP workers were stopped by the police from reaching the area since they didnt have permission hold any protest or agitation near PM Modis residence.
Dealing a blow to the Congress, its Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu on Tuesday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in the presence of party general secretary Vinod Tawde in the national capital.

Bittu is the grandson of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, who fought terror and was assassinated by pro-Khalistan terrorists. Bittu was twice elected to the the Lok Sabha from Ludhiana in 2014 and 2019. He was also vocal about his criticism of the Congress going into an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Speaking at the BJP headquarters here, Bittu hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, saying the duo has a lot of love for Punjab and wants to work for the development of the state.

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The Prime Minister and the Home Minister always took it positively whenever I raised the issues of PunjabWe want to take Punjab forwardWhen the country is benefitting, why should Punjab be left behind? he said.

Notably, Bittu had served as the leader of Congress in Lok Sabha from March to July 2022. He is the sitting MP from the Ludhiana Lok Sabha constituency and has represented the seat since 2014.

In 2009, he was elected as a Member of Parliament from Anandpur Sahib.

Recently, the Congress turncoat had defied the party line and slammed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, calling him the biggest thug.

Kejriwal & the party rose to power promising Swaraj & Jan Lokpal, but ironically theyve turned out to be the biggest thugs. This corruption case in Delhi is just the tip of the iceberg, he had said.

The Congress party, which is fighting the elections in Delhi, Haryana, Gujarat and Goa in alliance with the AAP, has defended Kejriwal and called his arrest a political vendetta ahead of Lok Sabha polls.

Bittu said the people have made up their mind to elect the BJP to power at the Centre in the Lok Sabha polls, adding there is a need to plug the gap as Punjab has been left behind by other states.

Welcoming the Ludhiana MP into the party fold, Vinod Tawde said BIttu joining the party will strengthen it. The BJP is gearing up to fight the polls in Punjab on its own for the first time in recent decades after a split in ties with the Akali Dal, one of its oldest allies. While talks were on between the two parties to revive their ties, it did not work out.
The Kerala government has come under attack for the delay in the CBI probe into the death of J S Sidharth, a second-year student of the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (KVASU), Pookode in Wayanad.

Though the notification recommending a CBI probe into the death of Sidharth was issued on March 9, it was handed over only on 16 March. But the Performa report has not been handed to CBI as yet.

The CBI needs a comprehensive report detailing the case before considering investigation.

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It has been alleged that the state government has been slow pedaling the procedures required for the takeover of the case by the CBI. Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan accused the state government of delaying the probe so that the evidence could be destroyed before the CBI took over the probe.

Meanwhile, family of Sidharth, second who was found hanging in the hostel after being tortured by SFI activists, expressed their resentment over the delay in CBI taking over the probe. His father, T Jayaprakash, said the delay was meant to save the accused and added that the state government issued the notification consenting to CBI probe just to silence the family.

Hours after facing criticism from various quarters, including Sidharths family, the chief minister sought an explanation from the home secretary over the delay in issuing the proforma report in the case to the CBI and initiate action against those who are responsible for it.

The government has placed under suspension three employees in the Home Department, including a deputy secretary, for delaying the process of handing over the case to the CBI.

Intervening in the matter, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Monday questioned the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (KVASU) vice-chancellor on the revocation of the suspension of 33 students in connection with the alleged torture, public trial and subsequent death of second-year veterinary student Sidharth.

Vice-Chancellor Dr. PC Saseendran resigned after the withdrawal of the suspension issued to the students after drawing flak from various quarters.

J S Sidharth was found dead inside the college hostel after a brutal ragging and assault allegedly by the SFI leaders on February 18. He was reportedly beaten up by SFI leaders at four places in the college premises. However, the SFI denied the allegations.
Amid Chinas continued aggressive posturing on maritime issues, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday asserted that all countries must adhere to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) both in letter and spirit.

As a nation deeply invested in this region because of its Act East policy and Indo-Pacific vision, India follows all developments with great interest. We are strongly supportive of ASEANs centrality, cohesion and unity. We are also convinced that the progress and prosperity of this region is best served by staunch adherence to a rules-based order. UNCLOS 1982 is particularly important in that regard as the constitution of the seas, he said at a joint press conference with the Philippines foreign minister in Manila.

Jaishankar also firmly reiterated Indias support to the Philippines for upholding its national sovereignty in the backdrop of Manilas running feud with China over the South China Sea.

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The Indian minister said that as two seafaring nations of the Indo-Pacific, the maritime cooperation between India and the Philippines holds great potential. He said he has discussed with his counterpart the shared interests of the two countries in ensuring maritime safety, given that the two nations contribute so much to the global shipping industry.

I also briefed him about the Indian Navys deployments in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea to counter ongoing threats. And he himself has spoken about the rescue of MV True Confidence by one of our ships, INS Kolkata. And there have been some other instances, I think since then, MV, Lila Norfolk, as well which involved some crew from the Philippines, he added.

Mr Jaishankar noted that the two countries are cooperating in a range of domains starting from trade and investment and extending to health and food security, to education and science and technology, defence and maritime cooperation. The bilateral trade has crossed the USD 3 billion level last year and continues to grow.

He said Indias partnership with the Philippines also has a larger context in terms of the engagement with ASEAN. The Philippines will take over as Indias country coordinator later this year.

We look forward to its steering India-ASEAN cooperation, especially with regard to reviewing the trade agreement, to building connectivity and to deepening people-to-people contacts, he added.

As the world changes, it is essential that countries like India and the Philippines cooperate more closely to shape the emerging order, the minister said. He said India and the Philippines could contribute significantly to the global workplace. We would like to see more resilient supply chains and trusted digital partnerships. Our activities serve to strengthen the cause of the Global South in different domains. Our commitment to democratic values is deep and abiding. We are both nations who value the autonomy of decision-making and favour a multi-polar world, with a multi-polar Asia at its core, he added.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday said the Centre should come out with the strongest rebuttal to the Chinese on their pathetic claims on Arunachal Pradesh.

Arunachal Pradesh is an inalienable, indistinguishable and inseparable part of India. The Indian National Congress strongly condemns and opposes any idea of an iota of Chinese claims on Arunachal Pradesh, he said in a post on X.

Kharge, who is also the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, along with the post shared a media report which quoted Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian as saying Arunchal Pradesh has always been part of China.

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The Indian National Congress strongly condemns and opposes any idea of an iota of Chinese claims on Arunachal Pradesh. This is the fourth time in a month that the Chinese, from its highest offices, have made completely ludicrous and farcical claims. Chinas record in making absurd claims by renaming places and redrawing maps of territories, belonging to other countries, is well known, he said.

Attacking the government, the Congress chief said, Moving beyond partisan politics, we are together in protecting Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity. However, it may also be underlined that Chinese belligerence is the result of PM Modi not acting on its Laal Aankh and giving clean chit to China on Galwan on June 19th, 2020, where 20 Indian bravehearts sacrificed their lives for the nation.

Be it building villages at the border close to Arunachal Pradesh or be it kidnapping our people living near the borders, Modi govts Please China Policy has endangered our national security in Arunachal, he alleged.

Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kharge said, Apart from Ladakh, Modi Ki Chinese Guarantee is being played up in Arunachal Pradesh.

We still hope that the Modi govt should come out with the strongest rebuttal to the Chinese on their pathetic claims. We want peace and tranquility at our borders, he added.

Arunachal Pradesh shares a 1,080 km border with China.
Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly V D Satheesan accused Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of misusing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) for political gains.

Speaking to media persons here on Tuesday, Satheesan said Chief Minister Vijayan is lying about the CAA to attract votes from the minorities, especially Muslims. Questioning the sincerity of Vijayan in raising the CAA issue, he said his government has yet to withdraw most of the cases registered during the anti-CAA protests.

Countering the CMs charge that Congress and UDF MPs have not spoken against the CAA in Parliament when it was introduced, Satheesan said Rahul Gandhi and various other UDF MPs have spoken against the CAA, details of which have been forwarded to CM Vijayan.

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There is no need to convince Pinarayi Vijayan about Congresss struggle and programmes against CAA, he said.

He alleged that 12 firms have invested in the company of CMs daughter with the aim of tax evasion. The chief minister should respond to this, Satheesan said.

Congress Working Committee member Shashi Tharoor said the LDF is spreading lies and distorting facts about the Congresss role in opposing the CAA right from its introduction as a bill in Parliament.

Meanwhile, BJPs state president K Surendran alleged that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan are trying to polarise Muslim votes in their favour by creating fear of the CAA.

He said the chief minister is spreading the false notion that the BJP government is treating Muslims as second-class citizens.
Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University Vice Chancellor P C Saseendran has submitted his resignation amid the withdrawal of suspension of 33 students in connection with the alleged torture and death of a second-year student of the varsity.

The student, Siddharthan J S, was found dead at the varsity hostel on February 18. It is suspected that he was ragged and beaten up by leaders of the left-wing Students Federation of India (SFI). The students body, however, has denied the allegations.

Vice Chancellor Saseendran handed over his resignation to Kerala Governor Arif Muhammad Khan on Monday where he stated that he was resigning due to personal reasons. Sources, however, claimed that he was shown the door by the Governor in his capacity as the chancellor of the varsity.

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Notably, Saseendran was appointed as the vice chancellor of the varsity after his predecessor M R Sassendranath failed to appropriately handle the case.

The Governor had asked for an explanation from Saseendranath on why he failed to get legal advice before lifting the suspension of the 33 students in question. The suspension will be re-implemented if the VCs explanation is unsatisfactory, the Governor had said.

The vice chancellor of Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University revoked the suspension of 33 students alleged to have involved in the torture and the subsequent death of Sidharthan without seeking legal advice.

The students family alleged that an attempt was being made to destroy the evidence in the case, and the revoking of the suspension of students was a part of this.

Sidharthans father Jayaprakash said though a CBI inquiry has been announced, nothing happened after that.

I feel the inquiry was announced to cover up the protests. The CBI investigation was announced on March 9. However, nothing concrete has happened after that, he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a telephonic conversation with Prime Minister of Belgium Alexander De Croo on Tuesday and congratulated him on the successful hosting of the First Nuclear Energy Summit in Brussels recently.

The two leaders reviewed the excellent relations between India and Belgium. They discussed ways to further strengthen bilateral partnership in diverse sectors including trade, investment, clean technologies, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, green hydrogen, IT, defence, ports, among others.

The two leaders affirmed commitment to further bolster the IndiaEU Strategic Partnership under the ongoing Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

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They exchanged views on regional and global developments and agreed upon the need to enhance cooperation and support for early restoration of peace and security in the West Asia region and Russia-Ukraine conflict.

They agreed to remain in touch.
The National Human Rights Commission on Tuesday issued notices to Bihar chief secretary and Director General of Police over the death of a minor girl who was allegedly sexually assaulted by a man in Darbhanga district.

The rights body issued the notices while taking note of a media report that the police failed to probe the death of a 13-year-old rape victim as her parents and the village Panchayat tried to settle the case by asking her tormentor to pay Rs 1.25 lakh to the family.

Reportedly, after receiving the amount, the victims family sent her to the house of the accused saying nobody would marry her. She stayed with the accused for five days before being thrown out. Subsequently, she was sent by her parents to her elder sisters house where she died 16 days after her sexual assault on 1st March, the NHRC said.

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The Commission has observed that the contents of the media report, if true, amount to the violation of human rights of the victim girl.

The rights body has sought a detailed report from the state government and the police chief within six weeks.

The Commission said the report should include the status of the investigation conducted in the matter.

According to the media report, on 19th March, the victim was sexually assaulted by a man of the same village when she had gone to graze the cattle in the area coming under the jurisdiction of Vazidpur Police Station in Darbhanga district. Reportedly, the victim was not provided with any medical treatment. The police exhumed the body of the victim and sent it for a post-mortem examination, it added.
Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha on Tuesday termed Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case as a political laundering case.

K Kavitha, who was brought to Rouse Avenue court at the end of her ED custody in Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case, told mediapersons: This is not a money laundering case but a political laundering case. It is a fabricated and false case. We will come out clean.

The Rouse Avenue Court on Tuesday sent Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC K Kavitha to judicial custody till April 9. She was arrested recently in connection with the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case.

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Special Judge Kaveri Baweja, while sending her to Tihar Jail for 14 days, also fixed hearing on her interim bail plea for April 1, 2024.

Kavitha appeared in the court through Senior Advocate Vikram Chaudhari along with Advocates Nitesh Rana, Mohit Rao and Deepak Nagar.

She had moved an interim bail application, citing that examinations of her 16-year-old son are about to begin.

Enforcement Directorate, while requesting that the court send her to Judicial custody, stated that the arrestee (Kavitha) is highly influential and there is every likelihood that the arrestee will influence the witnesses and tamper with the evidence if released, which may hamper the ongoing investigation.

Directorate of Enforcement (ED) arrested K Kavitha MLC, Telangana Legislative Council on March 15 in the case of Delhi Liquor Policy Scam.
The Congress has courted controversy after its leader Supriya Shrinate posted an objectionable comment on actor and BJP candidate from the Mandi Lok Sabha seat Kangana Ranaut which she later deleted. The BJP on Tuesday blasted the Congress over the now-deleted post and accused the grand old party of insulting the Nari Shakti on purpose.

A BJP delegation, including general secretaries Vinod Tawde and Om Pathak, met the Election Commission on Tuesday and lodged a complaint against the Congress over the sexist remarks made by its leaders.

Union Minister Smriti Irani, who herself started her career as a TV actor, said that the Congress lacks the ability to comprehend how to deal with women of steel. This initiation into politics by fire @KanganaTeam is not a reflection on who you are but on what they have done and are capable of continuing to do for they cant fathom how to deal with women of steel. March onto victory. Vijayi Bhav! the minister exhorted the actor as she forays into the political arena.

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The National Commission for Women (NCW) has also taken cognisance of the matter and filed a complaint with the Election Commission.

The row erupted a day after the BJP announced Ranaut as its candidate from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh.

Terming the post as highly objectionable, Shrinate clarified on Monday that her social media account was accessible to several people and that she is trying to find out the culprit responsible for it.

Raising his pitch during the election season, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said Congress national spokesperson and IT cell head Supriya Shrinate insulted Nari Shakti through the indecent post.

This is not just Kangana Ranauts or womens insult but this is an insult to the whole of Himachal Pradesh This partys slogan is Ladki Hoon, Lad Sakti hoon It has become Congresss character to insult women, he wrote on X.

Journalist, former head of Prasar Bharati and current editor of National Herald, Mrinal Pande also made a derogatory comment in a similar vein. Responding to the post, which has been deleted now, she wrote on X: 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.

National in-charge of the BJPs Information & Technology department Amit Malviya slammed the Congress, saying, This is a concerted attempt by the Congress to malign Kangana Ranaut. Not just Supriya Shrinate but Mrinal Pande has also made a similar comment.

The now-taken down derogatory post on Instagram, which was made a day after the BJP fielded Kangana Ranaut from Himachal Pradeshs Mandi, showed a photo of scantily-clad Kangana Ranaut, with a derogatory caption. Himachal Pradesh happens to be Kanganas home state.

Malviya has urged Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge to sack Shrinate. Congresss Supriya Shrinate makes an obnoxious comment on Kangana Ranaut in an Insta post. It is so disgusting that one cant 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, he said.

BJP spokesperson Poonawalla refused to buy Srinates explanation, and said, No matter how many excuses she makes, the fact is that the post was not removed until we raised an objection to it There should be strict action against it We also request the Election Commission to take action against this.

He further asked, How come a Gujarat Congress leader (H S Ahir), Supriya, Mrinal Pande (Cong ecosystem) & hundreds of others posted the same line of attack on Kangana at the same time? Coincidence? Secondly, how come Supriya did not realise for a long time that such a post was made? Did she not get notifications of her own account? Thirdly, how many people handle her account? How is it taking so long to identify this culprit? Why has she not filed an FIR against this person yet? Fourthly, is this how they handle Congress accounts? Post without final check? Of Course not. Lastly, this means she sanctioned the said post, which abuses not only Kangana but the entire Mandi, Himachal & Bharat ki Naari Shakti.

Look at the track record of her own language and also of her party on womens issues  Sandeshkhali to Shanti Dhariwal to Lal Singh getting tickets. It all adds up to one conclusion: Congress insulted Nari Shakti on purpose, the BJP spokesperson added in his post on X.

The National Commission for Women has also taken cognisance and filed a complaint with the Election Commission. The women rights body said, The National Commission for Women is appalled by the disgraceful conduct of Ms Supriya Shrinate and Mr H S Ahir, who made lewd and derogatory remarks about @KanganaTeam on social media. Such behaviour is intolerable and goes against the dignity of women. @sharmarekha has sent a letter to the Election Commission of India demanding an immediate and strict action against them. Lets uphold respect and dignity for all women.

Mr Tawde said  Our delegation met the Election Commission today We mentioned the varied responses of the electoral officers in different states The Election Commission will look into it.

H S Ahir, State Joint Coordinator, Kisan Congress Gujarat, had also posted an objectionable comment on Ranauts candidature, which he deleted later. Ahir, who had posted an abusive remark against actor Ranaut, said, Someone who had access to his X accounts had posted an absolutely disgusting and objectionable post, which has been taken down.

Curiously, the language of his tweet was similar to what Congress national spokesperson Shrinate had posted as outrage swept over her Instagram post.

NCW Chief Rekha Sharma said that it was very unfortunate that a woman was using such derogatory language against another woman. NCW has taken it very seriously. We have written to the Election Commission to take stringent action against the party and the leader. Not only one leader but two leaders are saying the same thing on Twitter and later denying that they have made such a post. They owe an apology to Kangana

She further said: They are big leaders in their party and better conduct is expected from both of them I hope that Sonia Ji will take action against both of them Kanganas reply was very dignified and she took a stance with dignity. A complaint has already been sent to the Election Commission

The actor, in her tweet, has given a very dignified reply to Shrinates Insta comment, saying that people should refrain from using sex workers challenging lives as some kind of abuse, adding that every woman deserves her 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. 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 also said people of Mandi have been insulted by Shrinates comment.

LoP Himachal Pradesh Assembly, Jairam Thakur said that the BJP was working towards taking legal action in this matter. It has become the Congresss habit to insult women- Matru Shakti. The whole of Mandi and Himachal Pradesh is angry. The Congress will have to pay for this, he said.

Congress-run state CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said she is the daughter of Himachal and her parents live here. Her father was made the General Secretary of Congress in Mandi We started Mahila Samman Nidhi by distributing Rs 1500 among the women

Former president Pranab Mukherjees daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee said nothing was left of Congress ideology with the Rahul-Congress gang.

On Shrinates claim that several people had access to her social media account and someone had shared the objectionable post on her account, Mukherjee said one allowed his or her social media access to people whom they could trust.

Shes saying access, not hacked! One gives access to SM accounts only to known & trusted people. Nothing left of Congress ideology with the Rahul-Congress gang. Nari Nyay is nothing but an empty slogan by a bunch of hypocrites! she wrote on the microblogging site X.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a telephonic talk with Sandeshkhali survivor Rekha Patra on Tuesday after the BJP named her as a candidate from the Basirhat Lok Sabha constituency in West Bengal.

Mr Modi called her Shakti Swaroopa, a reflection of divine feminine power. Rekha Patra, one of the victims of the assault in Sandeshkhali, had given voice to the ordeal of women in the attack.

The alleged perpetrator of the attack, former Trinamul Congress leader Sheikh Sahajahan, is currently in jail.

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The Prime Minister enquired about Rekha Patras campaign in Basirhat and support coming forth for the BJP.

Mr Modi said You fought a big battle in Sandeshkhali, you are a Shakti Swaroopa. You sent such powerful people to jail. You have pulled off a very courageous act.

Rekha replied,I could do it because of the support from women. I will follow the path shown by them and will take everyone along. The Prime Minister assured full support to the BJP candidate.

She thanked PM Modi for allowing her to contest and also detailed the ordeals faced by the women in Sandeshkhali.

The situation in Sandeshkhali has been a matter of concern since 2011. If we were allowed to vote freely, then this situation would not have prevailed. I want to protect the honour of the people here. I had the support of the women in Sandeshkhali. That gave me the energy. I will continue my fight, Rekha said.

She said: Some TMC women were against my candidature. We have no enmity with them. We will fight for all. We will try and make sure that the honour is returned, she said.

PM Modi called Patra Shakti Swaroopa and asserted that the BJP has taken the right decision by fielding her in the general election.

There are very few people, who care for everyone, even those who have done them wrong, the Prime Minister said. You have a very big heart. The country will take pride in you, he said, adding that she has set a remarkable example for the women in the country.

Mr Modi conveyed his best wishes to Patra for the elections.

A resident of Sandeshkhali, Patra was named a candidate by the BJP on Sunday. It was she who first raised the voice for the women of Sandeshkhali and three suspects in the case, TMC MLA Sheikh Shahjahan, Shibu Hazra and Uttam Sardar, were arrested.

Earlier in January this year, the women of Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district came out on the streets to protest. Multiple women accused Shajahan and his aides of land-grab and sexual assault under coercion.

Elections in the 42 Lok Sabha Constituencies of West Bengal are scheduled to take place in seven phases, which will start on April 19 and conclude on June 1. The counting of votes will be held on June 4.

Rekha Patra is yet to join the BJP formally. PM Modi himself called her to speak to her, throwing all his weight behind her. He had recently spoken on the significance of divine feminine power Shakti in the Indian ethos.

The BJP believes Rekha Patra brings hope to women in Bengal. Earlier, the BJP had put up a domestic servant as a candidate.
At least four insurgents were reportedly killed by security forces after they attacked a station of the Pakistan Navy on Monday night in the Turbat city of Balochistan.

Four 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, Xinhua news agency reported, citing security sources.

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.

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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 outfit Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) released a statement to claim the attack.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the deadly terrorist attack in the Crocus City Hall in suburban Moscow was carried out by radical Islamists, but many questions still remain.

We know that the crime was committed by the hands of radical Islamists, whose ideology the Islamic world itself has been fighting for centuries, Putin said on Monday at a meeting on measures taken after the terrorist attack.

The Russian President said it is already known who carried out the terrorist attack, but now we are interested in who ordered the crime, Xinhua news agency reported.

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He said that the US, through various channels, is trying to convince everyone that there is supposedly no Kiev trace in the bloody terrorist attack.

However, Putin believes questions still remain. It is necessary to obtain answers to a number of questions, for example, are radical, even terrorist, Islamic organizations really interested in striking Russia, which today stands for a fair solution to the escalating Middle East conflict, he said.

Putin also noted that it is necessary to answer the question of why the terrorists tried to go to Ukraine after committing a crime in Crocus, and who was waiting for them there.

Calling the attack an act of intimidation, Putin said, The question arises who benefits from this.

The investigation into the terrorist attack should be carried out to the highest degree professionally, objectively and without political bias, despite the general desire to punish the perpetrators, Putin added.
The White House has said that it was perplexed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus decision to cancel a planned visit to Washington by a delegation comprising senior Israeli officials.

Netanyahu made the decision after the US on Monday abstained from a United Nations Security Council vote on a draft resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza until the end of Ramadan. US abstention, instead of veto, effectively gave the green light to the measure, Xinhua news agency reported.

We are kind of perplexed by this, John Kirby, spokesperson for the US 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.

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Kirby said in a further explanation that the resolution, even as it got passed, would have no impact at all on Israel and Israels ability to go after Hamas.

Kirby added that abstaining the draft resolution does not represent a change at all in US policy coping with the situation in Gaza.

The US, 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 US continues to stand with Israel as they fight Hamas, Kirby said.

In what seemed to be the thinly veiled criticism of Netanyahus government, Kirby stressed that it is the US, not Israel, that gets to decide its own policy.

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, Kirby said.

Separate to the delegation visit that is now aborted, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant arrived in Washington over the weekend, scheduling to hold respective talks with US 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 theres an opportunity during Gallants visit for the two sides to discuss an alternative plan for Rafah, his visit probably wont be a full replacement for what were 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.
The Queensland government has given over $5.5 million to 56 local small businesses. These funds are meant to help them create new and better products and services.

There are two programs: the Ignite Ideas Fund and the Ignite Spark Program. The Ideas Fund gives up to $200,000 to businesses to help them get their products ready for the market. The Spark Program gives up to $75,000 to businesses to improve their prototypes.

Spearheaded by the Miles Government, the Ignite Ideas Fund and the Ignite Spark Program are pivotal in nurturing Queenslands entrepreneurial spirit.

Minister for the Environment, the Great Barrier Reef, and Science and Innovation, the Honourable Leanne Linard, underscores the governments commitment to fostering innovation among Queenslands small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

This funding demonstrates our unwavering support for Queenslands innovators, empowering them to realize their visions and drive economic growth, Minister Linard affirms.

In its latest round, the Ignite Ideas Fund sees 26 businesses sharing $3.3 million in grants. Projects range from You After X, a pioneering mobile app offering support to women navigating separation or divorce, to Clean&Recover, aiding mining companies in transforming waste streams into valuable assets.

The inaugural round of the Ignite Spark Program allocates $2.2 million across 30 enterprises, facilitating the advancement of innovative products and services toward market integration. Projects like Attunga, a tethered drone enhancing rural communication networks, and innovative UltravioletC water sterilization devices for health and aged care facilities, demonstrate the programs diverse impact.

Selina Millers, Founder of The Split, the company behind the You After X project, expresses gratitude for the Ignite Ideas funding, emphasizing its transformative potential.

With this support, were poised to extend our services to women across Queensland, Australia, and beyond, offering a lifeline to those navigating the challenging and lonely terrain of separation or divorce. This funding will make a tangible difference in the lives of countless women, granting them access to the support and guidance they need to navigate this tumultuous chapter with resilience and self-care.

By harnessing the POWERHOUSE Method, our app equips users with practical tools and emotional support, empowering them to not just survive, but thrive, post-separation. With the Queensland Governments backing, were on track to revolutionize how women approach this transition, fostering a community of strength, courage, and empowerment.

More information on the Ignite Spark Program, including on how to apply for funding in its second funding round, is available at Ignite Spark Program | Advance Queensland.

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The writer is a retired emergency medicine physician and is chair of the Norton Conservation Commission. He is a frequent contributor to The Sun Chronicle.
Job Title: Consular Assistant (Special Consular Services Assistant)

Organisation: United States US Embassy, US Mission in Uganda

Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda

Position Number: Kampala-2024-012

Salary: UGX 70,307,688 /=

About US Embassy:

The United States Embassy in Kampala, Uganda has enjoyed diplomatic relations with Uganda for over 30 years. Ambassador Natalie E. Brown currently heads the U.S Mission to Uganda. The Mission is composed of several offices and organizations all working under the auspices of the Embassy and at the direction of the Ambassador.

Among the offices operating under the U.S Mission to Uganda are:

United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

Centers for Disease Control (CDC)

Peace Corps

Job Summary: The Special Consular Services Assistant is responsible for efficient and timely processing of immigrant visas and reports directly to the Supervisory Consular Specialist. The incumbent performs a broad range of services including managing adoptions petitions, processing V92 Asylee Follow-to-Join cases and Special immigrant visas for U.S. government employees.









Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

NOTE: All applicants must address each selection criterion detailed below with specific and comprehensive information supporting each item.

The applicants for the United States US Embassy Consular Assistant (Special Consular Services Assistant) job opportunity should hold a Bachelors Degree

At least four years of work experience in an office and public service environment is required.

Incumbent must have good understanding of host country laws and authorities on migratory trends, demographics, and border controls.

Proficiency with Microsoft Office is required.

Strong interpersonal skills to work collaboratively with a team is required.

Fast and accurate data entry; ability to read, interpret, and act accordingly to complex regulations and instructions; work independently; exercise tact in dealing with the public; work under continuous pressure; exercise good judgement in referring cases to officers; and write clear and concise correspondence is required.

Ability to use local resources to research legislation and policy, and to produce written information handouts for visa applicants is required. This may be tested

Language: English-Good working knowledge; speaking, reading & writing; Luganda Good working knowledge; speaking, reading & writing and Lusoga Good working knowledge; speaking, reading & writing. This may be tested

How to Apply:

All those interested in working with the United States Embassy, US Mission in Kampala should send their applications online at the link below.

Click Here

Deadline: 8th April 2024

For more of the latest jobs, please visit https://www.theugandanjobline.com or find us on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UgandanJobline

Date Posted 2024-03-26 Valid Through 2024-04-08 Employment Type FULL_TIME Hiring Organization United States US Embassy Job Location Kampala, Kampala, Kampala , 0256, Uganda

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SpiceJet on Tuesday said it has signed a pact with Export Development Canada (EDC) to settle liabilities worth USD 90.8 million (Rs 755 crore).



The liabilities stem from a loan acquired by the airline in 2011 for the procurement of 15 aircraft.



The terms of the settlement pact will allow the airline to clear major liabilities, leading to a comprehensive revitalisation of the airline's balance sheet, SpiceJet said in a statement.



Under the agreement, SpiceJet will acquire full ownership of 13 EDC-financed Q400 aircraft, bolstering the airline's operational capabilities and fleet management, it said.



SpiceJet will pay a comprehensive settlement amount to resolve outstanding liabilities amounting to close to USD 91 million, the airline said.



This settlement will lead to savings worth USD 68.3 million (RS 567 crore) for SpiceJet, it said.



"We have reached this settlement agreement with EDC. This significant milestone will allow us to strengthen our balance sheet," said Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director of SpiceJet.



With twelve of these Q400s currently grounded, their refurbishment and subsequent return to service will enable SpiceJet to promptly launch flights on numerous regional and UDAN routes, the airline said.



It also said that the agreement will result in long-term savings for SpiceJet, liberating the airline from the obligation of regular monthly rentals for these aircraft, it added.
In recent years, there has been a concerning decline in foreign direct investment (FDI) by small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

A recent report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), published on February 6, highlights this trend, revealing a substantial 75% decrease in overseas greenfield investment projects by SMEs between 2015 and 2022.

Amelia Santos-Paulino, head of investment issues and analysis at UNCTAD, emphasises the significance of SME investment for development, noting that these enterprises possess unique advantages. SMEs are known for their agility, relying more on local suppliers and partners and less likely to overshadow local firms.

SMEs represent a crucial component of the global economic landscape, particularly as competition intensifies for large-scale projects and regional economic integration gains momentum. However, SME investors often face challenges such as financial constraints, limited access to information, and navigating complex regulatory environments.

Compounding these obstacles is an international policy environment that primarily caters to attracting large multinational enterprises (MNEs), leaving SMEs at a disadvantage. Rectifying this imbalance is essential to facilitate SMEs international investment efforts and unlock the employment and productivity benefits they can bring to the broader economy.

Distinguishing Between Large and Small Company International Investment

The UNCTAD report underscores the need for greater policy attention to small businesses, as their approach to cross-border investment significantly differs from that of larger corporations. A notable finding is that SMEs in Latin America tend to engage in less export activity compared to MNEs.

For instance, in Brazil, only 19% of SMEs export goods, whereas approximately two-thirds of MNEs engage in exporting. Similar disparities exist in other countries such as Peru. These differences can be attributed, in part, to the sectoral distribution of SMEs.

Globally, over half of SMEs foreign investment projects are concentrated in knowledge-intensive industries, such as business services and information technology, which typically involve lower setup costs. Conversely, SMEs invest less in sectors like textiles and automobiles, where economies of scale are crucial for profitability.

SMEs Driving Regional Economic Integration

SMEs play a pivotal role in both propelling and benefiting from regional economic integration. Geographical, cultural, and ideological proximity often guide SMEs overseas investment decisions. For example, a significant portion of South Korean SMEs invests in neighboring East Asian economies due to lower production costs.

Similarly, South African companies predominantly invest in African countries, while Turkish SMEs focus on Europe. In Brazil, Colombia, and Peru, SME foreign affiliates tend to prioritize factors such as market size, proximity, language commonality, and reduced tariffs, aligning with typical trade driving forces.

Policy Recommendations

In light of these findings, the report proposes a new framework outlining actions to maximize the impact of SME foreign investments:

Tailoring investment promotion and facilitation services to address SMEs specific needs and challenges, ensuring equitable access to financial incentives and facilitation mechanisms regardless of company size.

Enhancing SMEs access to capital through improved digital infrastructure and services.

Streamlining regulatory frameworks and administrative processes while leveraging digitalization to enhance information accessibility.

Establishing comprehensive support networks and matchmaking programs to facilitate sustained partnerships for SMEs.

Promoting SMEs participation in trade to enhance their international exposure and understanding of foreign markets.

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Despite challenges, the startup ecosystem in India remains robust and poised for recovery, bolstered by government initiatives and favorable market conditions. India experienced a slowdown in Q1 2024 (until March 15), with $1.6 billion raised in funding after continuous growth in the previous three quarters of 2023. While these figures are lower compared to the same period in 2021 and 2022, India secured the fourth-highest position globally in terms of funding raised during this period, reflecting the resilience of its entrepreneurial landscape. These observations were made in the 'Geo Quarterly India Tech Report' which was released by Tracxn, a market intelligence platform.

As per the report, the quarter witnessed funding dynamics within the tech ecosystem, exhibiting varying trends across different stages. The report states that while late-stage funding experienced a significant drop of over 46 per cent, early-stage funding witnessed a notable increase of 28 per cent. The report further states that out of the $1.6 billion in funding, Shadowfax and Credit Saison received the highest funding of over $100 million. Capillary, Rentomojo, and Captain Fresh were also among the top-funded companies. The quarter also saw the emergence of two new unicorns, Perfios and Ola Krutrim, underscoring the resilience and potential of India's tech landscape. Additionally, IPO numbers surged, with eight tech companies going public, including MediaAssist, WTI, Exicom, and LawSikho, reflecting investor confidence in the sector.

The report also highlights that retail, fintech, and enterprise applications were the top-performing sectors in Q1. The retail sector received funding of $494 million, which was a decline of 34 per cent compared to the previous quarter; enterprise applications garnered $ 448 million, showing a growth of 48 per cent as compared to $302 million received in the previous quarter; and fintech received $429 million in funding, marking a 48 per cent growth from the last quarter's $289 million. The investment growth in the fintech sector is propelled by the rapid growth seen in smartphone penetration driving the cashless economy. Other favorable regulatory policies have also helped the sector receive consistent investor interest.

The report observes that overall there were 20 acquisitions during the quarter, a 33 per cent decrease from last quarter and a 55 per cent drop compared to 45 acquisitions in Q1 2023. Notable acquisitions included Pingsafe, a cloud security platform, which was acquired by SentinelOne, and Difenz, a fraud risk management platform, being acquired by Signzy. Eight companies went public in Q1 (Until March 15) 2024, compared to two in Q1 2023, showcasing the growing maturity of the Indian tech ecosystem.

As per the report, Bengaluru emerged as the leader in total funds raised during Q1 (Until March 15) 2024, followed closely by Mumbai and Noida, reaffirming the significance of these tech hubs in India's startup landscape. Venture Catalysts, We Founder Circle, and Titan Capital led the seed investments in Q1 2024, while Peak XV Partners, Saama Capital, and RTP Global were prominent in early-stage investments. Elev8, Epiq Capital Advisors, and UC-RNT Fund took the lead in the late-stage category this quarter.

"Despite the funding slowdown and economic fluctuations, India's tech startup ecosystem is still one of the top-performing tech ecosystems globally. Even with the slowdown seen in this quarter, we anticipate the bounce back quickly, propelled by government initiatives and a large consumer base comprising the worlds largest young population. India's strong tech ecosystem and demographic advantages promise a bright future and solidify its position as a global tech leader, remarked Neha Singh, co-founder of Tracxn.
In a bid to help the country fight the tuberculosis menace, Hyderabad-based vaccine manufacturer Bharat Biotech will spearhead clinical trials of the Spanish tuberculosis vaccine MTBVAC in India. The trials are carried out in close collaboration with Spanish biopharmaceutical firm Biofabri with whom Bharat Biotech signed a partnership in 2022 to development and manufacture the vaccine.

According to World Health Organisation, India has the highest number of tuberculosis infections, accounting to almost a quarter of the worlds TB cases.

Trials to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of MTBVAC have started with a pivotal safety, immunogenicity and efficacy trial planned to start in 2025, Bharat Biotech said.

It may be recalled that the only vaccine in use today, BCG (Bacillus Calmette and Guerin), is an attenuated variant of the bovine TB pathogen. MTBVAC is the only vaccine against tuberculosis in clinical trials based on a genetically modified form of the pathogen isolated from humans, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which, unlike BCG, contains all the antigens present in strains that infect humans.

BCG is more than a hundred years old and has limited effect on pulmonary tuberculosis, which is responsible for the transmission of the disease, the Hyderabad company said.

It is a giant step to test in adults and adolescents in the country where 28 per cent of the worlds TB cases accumulate and concludes that more effort and funding is needed to combat TB, which remains one of the worlds leading infectious causes of death, especially in India, said Biofabris Chief Executive Officer Esteban Rodriguez.

After the recent completion of a Phase 2 dose finding trial, a double-blind, controlled Phase 3 clinical trial in newborns has started in 2023, comparing the vaccine with the current BCG vaccine. Around 7,000 newborns from South Africa, 60 from Madagascar and 60 from Senegal will be vaccinated.

As part of the different Phases of the trial, so far about 1,900 babies were administered with the vaccine candidate, according to the company.

MTBVACs safety and immunogenicity is also being evaluated in HIV-negative and HIV-positive adults and adolescents.

The Phase 2 HIV safety study is carried out by HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN), the company said.

Our goal to develop TB vaccines to prevent disease in adults and adolescents has taken a big step today, Bharat Biotechs Executive Chairman Dr Krishna Ella said.
Speculations within the JD(S) that its state President H D Kumaraswamy is likely to contest from the Mandya Lok Sabha segment, has led to opposition from a section of its workers in Channapatna Assembly constituency that he currently represents.

The party's core committee leaders are likely to meet in Bengaluru on Tuesday to decide on the candidates for Kolar, Hassan and Mandya, the three seats from where the regional party will be contesting, as part of the seat-sharing deal with the BJP.

With speculation rife that Kumaraswamy is most likely to contest from Mandya, party workers and leaders from Channapatna met him on Monday and demanded that he should not "abandon them" and should continue to represent them in the Assembly.

However, JD(S) leaders and workers, and also a section of the BJP in Mandya want him to contest from the Lok Sabha segment, according to sources.

"...naturally there is a strong opinion among the party workers that Kumaranna (Kumaraswamy) should not leave Channapatna. Party supremo H D Deve Gowda is in Hassan, they (party leaders from Channapatna) will go and speak to him as well, give us some time (to decide)," Kumaraswamy's son and Yuva JD(S) leader Nikhil Kumaraswamy said.

Speaking to reporters here, he however did not wish to comment on a question about some party workers asking him to contest from the Mandya Lok Sabha seat instead and let Kumaraswamy continue as Channapatna MLA.

"Tomorrow, the core committee members have been called, after discussion there, the party leadership will decide on a future course of action....In old Mysuru region naturally there is a feeling that if Kumaranna contests in this Lok Sabha polls it will enthuse our cadre, similar is the feeling among BJP cadre. We will make a decision after discussions tomorrow," he added. Names of Nikhil Kumaraswamy and senior party leader and former MP C S Puttaraju were also doing the rounds as JD(S) candidate from Mandya.

Multilingual actress turned-politician Sumalatha Ambareesh, an independent candidate backed by the BJP, had won the seat in 2019 Lok Sabha polls, by defeating JD(S)' Nikhil Kumaraswamy. She had also sought a BJP ticket for re-election from the seat.

However, BJP General Secretary in-charge of elections in Karnataka, Dr Radha Mohan Das Agarwal on Saturday said the JD(S) would contest from Mandya, Hassan and Kolar Lok Sabha constituencies.
As AAP intensifies its protest over Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's arrest, the BJP has written to the Delhi Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Vinai Kumar Saxena over the legitimacy of the orders issued by Kejriwal while in ED's custody.

The first order was issued by Kejriwal on Sunday, under ED custody, ordering the Water Department. He issued another directive from custody to the Health Department on Tuesday. The AAP has maintained that the chief minister will not quit even if he is behind bars.



However, BJP national secretary Manjinder Singh Sirsa said, in his letter to the L-G, that the directives from Kejriwal were "forged" since they did not carry the chief minister's signature. Sirsa alleged that the purported office orders did not carry the officer order number or the date of issue.



"Hence it is clear that Atishi has unauthorisedly and illegally misused and abused her official capacity as a Minister for unauthorisedly accessing and using the "Official Letter-head" of the "Office of the Chief Minister, Government of NCT Delhi" for fabricating an "Officer Order"," Sirsa alleged in the letter.



He said Kejriwal cannot issue orders without prior permission from the Court by seeking a change in the terms and conditions of the "remand order." The court has not granted him any such permission.



Sirsa urged the Delhi L-G to pass necessary directions for the registration of FIR against the "fabrication and forgery of the official records by the unconstitutional use of the office of the Chief Minister of Delhi."



"This order is illegal and unconstitutional; we demand an enquiry as to who is misusing CMO and for what personal gains!" Sirsa later wrote on X.



Meanwhile, several AAP leaders, including Punjab Minister Harjot Singh Bains and Somnath Bharti, were detained by the police on Tuesday as they gathered at the Patel Chowk here to protest against Kejriwal's arrest.



The AAP workers had reached the area's metro station in groups, with the party calling for a march to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence on Lok Kalyan Marg for a "gherao". Prohibitory orders under section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure are imposed in the area.



Senior AAP leader Bharti in a post on X said he has been detained by police along with Delhi Assembly Deputy Speaker and AAP's Mangolpuri MLA Rakhi Birla. "Delhi Police for no rhyme or reason along with Deputy Speaker Rakhi Birla and many volunteers of AAP and supporters of Arvind Kejriwal Ji. It's shocking to see that while the Delhi Police are arresting peacefully protesting AAP supporters, they are doing nothing to stop @BJP4India," Bharti posted.



Bains, who is a minister in the AAP government in Punjab, and senior party member Reena Gupta were also among those detained.



The BJP also held protests seeking the resignation of Chief Minister Kejriwal.


Aam Aadmi Party leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday issued second direction from Enforcement Directorate custody, this time asking the health minister to ensure availability of free medicines in Mohalla clinics. Earlier, the chief minister issued directions related to water department.



Delhis Minister for Health Saurabh Bharadwaj told presspersons, Even from the ED custody, Delhi CM is worried about the healthcare of the state. He is worried since he is jailed, the people of Delhi should not suffer due to it. The CM has received information that people are facing difficulties in the tests carried out at the Mohalla clinics. He has directed me to take steps to resolve this. I want to ensure the people of Delhi that even if your CM is in jail, he is only thinking about you. Bharadwaj said the chief minister has come to know that free tests are not being conducted at some places and has issued directions to resolve those issues.

The AAP leader, remanded to ED custody till March 28 in the liquor policy scam case, issued the first direction from ED custody on March 23 and directed Water Minister Atishi to resolve water and sewage-related issues in the national capital. Arrested by ED on March 21, the AAP has maintained that Arvind Kejriwal will not resign and will continue to govern from prison.

The agency has taken cognisance of chief ministers directions from custody and is probing whether directions from the arrested chief minister were in line with the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court's order.

Kejriwals second direction comes as the party is planning massive protest in the national capital on Tuesday. AAP is planning to gherao prime ministers residence condemning Kejriwals arrest.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers will 'gherao' Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence at Lok Kalyan Marg on Tuesday to protest against the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the liquor policy case.

The Delhi police said it has not yet granted permission for the same. However, security has been beefed up at the PM's residence given the protest.



Aam Aadmi Party leader Gopal Rai had announced a four-day protest plan across the country to protest Kejriwal's arrest.



In view of the protest, traffic movement is likely to be affected in parts of New Delhi and Central Delhi due to the protest. "Robust security arrangements have been made. We have installed layers of security to maintain law and order in the area," the Delhi Police officer said. "Section 144 (of the CrPC) is already imposed around the prime minister's residence and no one will be allowed to protest," he added.



The Delhi Traffic Police has arranged seven diversion points for the smooth movement of vehicles. "Commuters must avoid Kemal Ataturk Marg, Safdarjung Road, Akbar Road and Teen Murti Marg on Tuesday," an officer said.



#WATCH | Security heightened with the deployment of police outside Patel Chowk metro station, in view of AAP's PM residence 'gherao' protest against the arrest of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in liquor policy case. pic.twitter.com/PFkdhqeaUc  ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2024

Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money-laundering case linked to the now-scrapped excise policy on March 21. He is in the agency's custody till Thursday.



Meanwhile, the AAP workers will hold meetings at assembly constituencies on Tuesday to prepare for the mega rally planned on March 31. Zonal-level meetings with MLAs and councillors will be held on Wednesday and Thursday to target 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," AAP national general secretary (organisation) and Rajya Sabha member Sandeep Pathak told reporters last week.

The party leaders and workers on Monday changed the display pictures of their social media profiles with one that shows Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal behind bars to express solidarity with the party's national convener arrested in the excise policy scam case.

The display pictures showing Kejriwal behind bars have the caption "'Modi Ka Sabse Bada Dar Kejriwal' (Modi's biggest fear Kejriwal)". This is part of the social media campaign, asking people to support it for saving the constitution and democracy in the country.
The Lok Sabha elections in Punjab are set for a four-cornered fight, after the BJP announced that it will contest the polls on all the 13 seats. The Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress have already declared that they will contest alone in the state despite agreeing on seat-sharing in neighbouring Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and Gujarat.

Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jhakhar's announcement came after the talks with Shiromani Akali Dal failed to bear fruit. The breakdown of talks apparently happened as the Akali Dal insisted on commitment from the BJP on several issues, including MSP and freeing of the jailed Sikhs.

The Akali Dal is undergoing an existential crisis following its performance in the last assembly elections in 2022, when the BJP and the Akalis had fought separately in the four-cornered fight. The Akali Dal could win only three seats, while the BJP won one. The Akali Dal had earlier walked out of the NDA alliance over the three farm laws. The AAP had swept the polls.

The loss of Akali Dal was attributed to angst against the mainstream parties following the year-long farmers' agitation. Akali Dal had to bear the brunt as it was a BJP ally in the past. The erosion of Akali Dals base among the farmers and Sikh voters was telling. This sent alarm bells ringing in the party that had celebrated 100 years of its existence.

Since then, Akali Dal supremo Sukhbir Badal had been on a mission to reunite all the factions of the Akalis, apologising to all who were miffed with him. In order to revive its party, the Akali Dal had to fall back on its Sikh Panthic agenda.

The BJP appears to be following the Haryana model where it broke alliance with the Dushyant Chautalas JJP. It made strategic sense as contesting independently would divide the Jat votes in the state which the party felt it may not have got much. Now, the INLD, JJP and the Congress will vie for the Jat votes, while the BJP can focus on the Punjabi and the OBC votes which had previously powered it in the state.

Similarly, in Punjab, with the Akali Dal contesting independently, they will be wooing the Sikh voters, especially the Jat Sikhs and farmers, also wooed by the AAP and the Congress.

For BJP to contest alone, it makes electoral sense in the long run as it wants to emerge from the shadows of the Akali Dal which always got the bigger chunks of seats. During the last Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll, in 2023, where all main parties contested alone, the BJP got 15 per cent vote share, closely following Akali Dals 17 per cent, though the AAP won the elections. The BJP leaders were elated as they saw a big change where party flags were visible in the rural areas for the first time and it got an opportunity to engage directly with the voters without Akalis help.

The BJP is also relying on the massive outreach undertaken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi towards Sikhs. After Centres decision, Veer Bal Diwas, commemorating the martyrdom of sons of 10th Sikh Guru Gobind Singh, was also observed at the state levels in the all party-ruled states. In January 2022, Modi had announced observing December 26 as Veer Baal Diwas. Modi has been leading the efforts to engage with the Sikh community as his government had taken several steps, including opening up of the Kartarpur Corridor, celebrating the birth anniversaries of Sikh Gurus.

The BJP has been building bridges with the community, inducting Sikh faces into the party, even including a former police officer-turned-politician, Iqbal Singh Lalpura, in the BJPs highest decision-making body - the parliamentary board. Former Congress CM Amarinder Singh and his entire family, including his wife and Patiala MP, Preneet Kaur, had joined the party. Their family member may be given a ticket in the upcoming polls.

Ahead of the campaign for 2024 polls, the BJP has got many of its old allies back into the fold, including TDP. Akali Dal was its oldest ally and first one to support Modis candidature as a prime ministerial candidate.

The alliance between the Akali Dal and the BJP was hailed as an alliance in national interest as it kept the two communities  Sikhs and Hindus  close to each other after decades of militancy. As the alliance broke, there are apprehensions of polarisation. The BJP is now trying to increase its base among the Sikhs without the help of Akali Dal.

The AAP, too, is fighting for its survival after arrest of party chief Arvind Kejriwal.

Polling in the state is scheduled for June 1  the last phase.
The BJP has announced that it would contest the Lok Sabha elections in Punjab on its own, denying all reports of an alliance with Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). Polling for 13 seats in Punjab will be held on June 1.

According to party's state unit chief Sunil Jakha, the decision was taken by the BJP following feedback from people and party workers. "The BJP is going to contest the Lok Sabha elections alone in Punjab," Jakhar said on X. "The works done by the BJP under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi are not hidden from anyone," Jakhar said. The BJP leader also added that in the last 10 years, the produce of farmers was procured at minimum support price.



There were reports that the BJP might ally with Shiromani Akali Dal again for the upcoming elections like it did in 2019. During the last Lok Sabha elections, the two parties contested together but did not fare well. While the Congress won eight seats despite the Modi wave, the remaining five were won by the BJP, SAD and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). However, the alliance fell through during the protest against now-repealed farm laws in 2020.



With the farmers' protest continuing, the SAD was reluctant to tie up with the BJP. The high-level meeting of the SAD held last week had discussed the issue. "The political situation of the state where everything happening at the national level will also be thoroughly discussed in the core committee," SAD's Daljit Singh Cheema told reporters before the meeting.



After the core committee meeting, the SAD issued a resolution listing issues, policies, and principles on which it will go to the people of Punjab to seek a mandate in the Lok Sabha polls. "The party will continue to put principles above politics and it will never deviate from its historic role as a champion of the interests of 'Khalsa Panth', all minorities and Punjabis," the resolution said.



"At the same time, we will continue to devote all our energies towards preserving the atmosphere of peace and communal harmony based on the vision of 'Sarbat da Bhala' (blessings for all)," it added.



This hinted that SAD was swaying from its late Parkash Singh Badals 24-year policy of "unconditional support" to the BJP which the party followed from 1996 to 2020. The SAD's stance was met with support from its support base, who were reportedly wary of the BJP's Hindutva stance.



The erosion of its support base during the last elections also forced the SAD to rethink its alliance plans with the BJP, considering that the party leaders have been strongly raising the issue of Sikh prisoners. The Friday resolution too demanded the release of 'Bandi Singhs' (Sikh prisoners), which they claim are lodged in different prisons despite having completed their jail sentences.


Scientists have unveiled the astonishing mechanism by which honeybees decode dances performed by their hive mates, which serve as vital directions to food sources. The study sheds light on how, in the absolute darkness of the hive, each bee utilizes its antennae to interpret the information conveyed through these dances.

For decades, the enigmatic "waggle dances" of honeybees have intrigued researchers. These intricate movements and orientations on the honeycomb effectively convey the direction and distance to food sources outside the hive. However, until now, the process by which bees surrounding a waggle dancer make sense of this information remained shrouded in mystery.

The research, led by a team from the University of Edinburgh, involved a meticulous examination of a honeybee colony at the university's apiary. Leveraging computational models to mimic the bees' brain processes, the researchers filmed the insects in slow motion and high resolution under infrared light. This groundbreaking approach allowed the team to track the precise movements of the bees' antennae during each waggle dancea feat that was otherwise imperceptible to the naked human eye.

The team's observations revealed that bees adjust the position of their antennae, which are repeatedly touched by the dancer as it performs the waggle, based on the angle of their body relative to the dancer. Remarkably, the bees were found to be capable of decoding dances from any angle or even from constantly changing positions by combining the signals picked up by their antennae with their own sense of gravity. This intricate process, however, necessitates the bee's accurate integration of the two angles detected from its two sensory systems.

Through the use of a computer model replicating known brain circuits in the bee, the researchers demonstrated that fewer than one hundred neurons are needed to integrate this information and recover the angle and distance to the food source being signaled in a waggle dance.

The findings, published in the journal Current Biology, stand to significantly advance our understanding of bee communication and its implications for issues such as habitat loss and pesticide use, which can profoundly impact the insects' ability to locate food sources.

PhD student Anna Hadjitofi of the University of Edinburgh's School of Informatics expressed excitement about the discovery, noting that it unveils a remarkably elegant neural mechanism employed by bees to decipher complex information with minimal resources. Professor Barbara Webb, also of the University's School of Informatics, emphasized the potential of understanding how the small brains of insects carry out such sophisticated calculations to inform the design of more compact and energy-efficient computers.
After the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, search and rescue efforts are ongoing in Baltimore. At least seven vehicles were feared to have fallen into the water after a large container ship struck the bridge.

According to officials, two people have been rescued, with one of them severely injured. The tide is adding a challenge for rescue efforts, they added.

Chief of Baltimores fire department, James Wallace, said at least seven vehicles fell into the water. Different agencies are present on the ground to bring equipment to cover a large search area, he added.

Wallace also said that the sonar has identified the presence of vehicles in the water. It is difficult to emphasise on a number yet, he said.

The White House issued a statement saying it is "closely monitoring" the Baltimore situation. The US Coast Guard is conducting search and rescue for those who remain unaccounted for as a result of the bridge collapse," read the statement.

"Our hearts go out to the families of those who remain missing as a result of this horrific incident," it said.

Senior White House officials are in touch with the governor and mayor to offer any federal assistance they need. There is no indication of any nefarious intent," it added.

Reportedly, the ship, that struck the bridge, operated by Synergy Group was chartered by Maersk and was carrying Maersk customers cargo.

Meanwhile, the Maryland governor declared a state of emergency. "We are working with an inter-agency team to quickly deploy federal resources from the Biden Administration," said governor Wes Moore.

"We are thankful for the brave men and women who are carrying out efforts to rescue those involved and pray for everyones safety. We will remain in close contact with federal, state, and local entities that are carrying out rescue efforts as we continue to assess and respond to this tragedy," he added.

Mayor of Baltimore Brandon Scott described the incident as an "unthinkable tragedy" and that his office was working with every part of government to "get through this tragedy".

Officials are also investigating whether there was a possible oil spill in the river. We hope as the sun comes up, we will get a much better picture if we do have a fuel spill and what the impact has been so far," said Scott.

He also added that the primary aim is to save the lives of those, who fell in the water.

However, the officials are also looking at the possible cause of such a tragedy. The incident took place around 1:30 am on Tuesday.
Whether youre running a small startup or managing a large corporation, having a business credit card can be essential for managing expenses and separating personal and business finances. Heres a step-by-step guide on how to get one:

Understanding Business Credit Cards

Before diving into the application process, its crucial to understand the benefits and requirements of a business credit card. These cards function similarly to personal credit cards but are tailored for business use, offering features like expense tracking and rewards programs.

Eligibility Criteria

To qualify for a business credit card in Australia, you typically need to meet certain criteria:

Your business must be registered for GST and have a minimum turnover of $75,000 per annum.

The business should have been operating for at least 12 months and have a valid Australian Business Number (ABN).

You must have both a business and residential address in Australia.

The card should be primarily used for business purposes.

Ensure all tax and loan repayments are up to date.

You must be at least 18 years old and hold Australian citizenship or permanent residency.

Eligible business structures include sole traders, partnerships with up to two partners, companies with five or fewer directors, and certain types of trusts.

Applicant Eligibility Details

Additionally, if the applicant, directors/partners, or shareholders (holding 25% or more of the business) have lived overseas in the past three years, the application may be impacted.

Documentation Required

When applying for a business credit card, youll likely need to provide various documents, including:

Business registration documents

Bank statements

Business credit history records

Proof of identification

Proof of business ownership

Application Process

Choose Provider: Start by selecting a business credit card provider that suits your needs. Consider factors such as rewards, fees, and benefits. Gather Documents: Collect all necessary documentation, including registration papers, identification, and financial records. Submit Documents: Fill out the application form provided by your chosen provider and submit the required documents. Await Approval: Once youve submitted your application, the provider will review it and notify you of their decision. Receive Card: If approved, youll receive your business credit card shortly afterward.

Top Business Credit Card Providers in Australia

Several reputable providers offer business credit cards in Australia, including:

American Express: Offers a variety of cards with rewards and expense management tools. ANZ: Provides cards with features like expense tracking and rewards programs. CommBank (Commonwealth Bank): Offers cards with expense reporting and integration with accounting software. NAB (National Australia Bank): Provides cards with rewards programs and insurance benefits. Westpac: Offers cards with rewards programs and customizable spending limits.

Disclaimer

The information in this article is of a general nature and is not intended to address the circumstances of any particular individual or entity. Although we endeavour to provide accurate and timely information, we do not guarantee that the information in this article is accurate at the date it is received or that it will continue to be accurate in the future.

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The entire 22-member crew of the cargo ship that collided with Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on early Tuesday, were Indians. Synergy Marine Group in a statement said that all the crew members were safe.

All crew members, including the two pilots, have been accounted for and there are no reports of any injuries. There has also been no pollution, ship management company Synergy Marine Group said in a statement.

The container ship 'Dali' navigating down the Patapsco River struck the bridge causing many vehicles to tumble into the water. At least seven vehicles were feared to have fallen into the water after the large container ship hit the bridge.

According to officials, two people have been rescued, with one of them severely injured. The tide is adding a challenge for rescue efforts, they added. Reportedly, eight people fell into the water. All eight were construction workers, who were assisting with a project. Search and rescue efforts are underway to trace the rest of them.

Maryland governor Wes Moore said that the ship had lost power around the time when it hit the bridge.

The ships crew issued a mayday request. Moore said that officials were able to slow the flow of traffic, preventing more vehicles from falling into the water. These people are heroes. They saved lives last night, Moore said.

The ship was chartered by Maersk and was carrying Maersk customers cargo.

US President Joe Biden called the incident a "terrible accident". He ruled out any form of intentional act. "Everything so far indicates that this was a terrible accident. At this time, we have no other indication. No other reason to believe theres any intentional act here," he said.

He also added, "We're going to build that port together".

The federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge, Biden said.

Meanwhile, Mayor of Baltimore Brandon Scott described the incident as an "unthinkable tragedy" and that his office was working with every part of government to "get through this tragedy".

Officials are also investigating whether there was a possible oil spill in the river. We hope as the sun comes up, we will get a much better picture if we do have a fuel spill and what the impact has been so far," said Scott.

A local state of emergency was declared in Baltimore following the bridge collapse. Scott wrote on X, "Baltimore, I am officially declaring a local state of emergency in response to the collapse of our Key Bridge. Our teams are mobilizing resources and working swiftly to address this crisis and ensure the safety and well-being of our community."

The White House issued a statement saying it is "closely monitoring" the Baltimore situation. The US Coast Guard is conducting search and rescue for those who remain unaccounted for as a result of the bridge collapse," read the statement.

"Our hearts go out to the families of those who remain missing as a result of this horrific incident," it said.

Senior White House officials are in touch with the governor and mayor to offer any federal assistance they need. There is no indication of any nefarious intent," it added.

The incident took place around 1:30 am on Tuesday.
Five Chinese and a Pakistani national were killed on Tuesday in a suicide bomb attack in Pakistan's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. According to officials, an explosive vehicle rammed into their bus injuring many others as well.

The Chinese were working on the Dasu hydropower project, said officials.

No group has claimed responsibility so far for the attack.

Police said that the incident occurred in the Bisham area of Shangla district of the province when a bus en route from Islamabad to Kohistan was hit by a vehicle coming from the opposite direction.

The investigation is ongoing and the authorities concerned were collecting the evidence, said Bisham Station House Officer (SHO) Bakht Zahir, reported The Dawn.

"We will investigate from where and how the vehicle of a suicide bomber came and how it happened," the SHO said.

Shangla is close to Kohistan, where 13 people including nine Chinese were killed in a terrorist attack in 2021.

China's embassy in Pakistan condemned the 'terrorist act' and expressed deep condolences to the victims. China demanded investigations into the attack that killed the Chinese nationals working on a dam project.

"The Chinese embassy and consulates in Pakistan have immediately launched emergency work, demanding that the Pakistani side conduct a thorough investigation into the attack, severely punish the perpetrators, and take practical and effective measures to protect the safety of Chinese citizens," the embassy said in a statement.

Under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project, many Chinese personnel are working in Pakistan on various projects.
As Russia reels from the shock of the Moscow concert hall terrorist attack, President Vladimir Putin said "radical Islamists" were behind the concert attack, but also hinted that Kyiv may have played a role. Putin reiterated his remarks about Ukraine's role in the attack even Kyiv and other Western nations denied Kyiv's involvement. The Russian President had previously said that the "assailants were caught as they were trying to flee to Ukraine, where a window for crossing the border was prepared for them".

'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. "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 at 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 attempt was to sow panic. He said as the Russian forces were advancing through the Ukraine war theatre, it could also be intended to "show their own population that not all is lost for the Kyiv regime".



However, Putin didnt mention Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), the Afghan branch of the Islamic State group that claimed responsibility for the attack, in his speech.



Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denied Putin's claims, accusing him of seeking to "shift the blame" onto Kyiv. "What happened yesterday in Moscow is obvious: Putin and the other scum are just trying to blame it on someone else," Zelensky said on Putin's allegations that the suspects had been seen fleeing towards Ukraine.



Even the US and France too rubbished Putin's claims about Ukraine's involvement. While the US claimed it had been monitoring ISIS and was able to give the Russians a warning about a "potential terrorist attack," French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters that the 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. He added that France could help Russia find the culprits. "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."

Meanwhile, Alexander Bastrykin who heads Russia's Investigative Committee, told the Kremlin meeting the death toll had risen to 139, with 182 people wounded. The authorities have arrested four men of Tajik origin, who were produced on Monday before Moscow's Basmanny district court on suspicion of carrying out the attack.



Eleven more people had been detained, including the four suspected gunmen. Putin told a meeting that the men had been on their way to the Bryansk region, about 340 km (210 miles) southwest of Moscow, to try to slip into Ukraine.
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.
Some migrants coming across the southern border may pose a serious national security threat,' warned Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens in an interview with CBSs Face the Nation.

Owens explained that smugglers control the flow of illegal migrants and that it is difficult to prevent them from entering the country along the 1,900-mile border with Mexico. We try and get out in front of it and deny them the ability to use these areas, he said. But at the end of the day, theres over 1,900 miles of border with Mexico.

Under the Biden administration, the U.S. has seen an onslaught of illegal migrants, with many Democrats calling them asylum seekers. However, Owens expressed concerns that some individuals may exploit this label to carry out terrorist acts. That number is a large number, he said, referring to the nearly million and a half migrant encounters in fiscal year 2024. But whats keeping me up at night is the 140,000 known got aways; its not part of the official count. And thats just what we know.

Owens emphasized that this situation poses a significant national security threat, as the U.S. does not know who is entering the country or their intentions. That is a national security threat. Border security is a big piece of national security. And if we dont know who is coming into our country and we dont know what their intent is, that is a threat. Theyre exploiting a vulnerability thats on our border right now.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
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.

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 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 Finlands 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 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.

(AP)
Nerves are frazzled in Baltimores Jewish community, as a recent crime wave impacting local neighborhoods crested with the armed carjacking of a Jewish man on his way to shul Tuesday morning.

The incident occurred in the predominantly Jewish neighborhood of Ranchleigh shortly after 7 a.m., when a dark-colored Kia Optima sedan pulled up.

Two black teens sporting ski masks proceeded to steal a vehicle on Clarington Road, then brought it to Pebble Brook Road, where they abandoned the vehicle near Kehillas Meor Hatorah.

The teens then spotted a Jewish man, Eli Neuberger, heading to shul, and began chasing him. Neuberger fled, but then watched in horror as the gang targeted another Jewish man, Dovi Ziskind, who had just parked his SUV as he headed to Shacharis. The thugs forced Ziskind out of his vehicle and shoved him to the ground, stealing his wallet.

The thieves then fled the scene in the vehicle in which they arrived.

Several other similar incidents were reported Tuesday morning in other nearby neighborhoods, with law enforcement suspecting the incidents are related.

Police and Baltimore Shomrim are now searching for a black Kia Optima with tag 4BA3705.

As the circumstances surrounding this incident remain under investigation, detectives with the Pikesville Precinct are asking anyone with information about the case to please contact 410-307-2020. Callers may remain anonymous.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
Israel announced on Monday that its forces had thwarted a major Iranian operation aimed at smuggling advanced weaponry to Palestinians in the West Bank. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and Israel Security Agency (ISA) said an investigation into known Hezbollah and Iranian operative Munir Makdah had uncovered the smuggling scheme.

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 IDF and ISA said in a joint statement.

The operation was exposed and thwarted by the ISA and IDF while investigating detained Palestinian operatives who had attempted terrorist attacks against Israeli targets. The confiscated cache included a significant amount of advanced weapons, including anti-tank mines, grenade launchers, rifles, and pistols.

The 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.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the operation comes as Israel is looking to close out its campaign against Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza. However, the U.S. has warned against an invasion of Rafah, Hamas southern stronghold, citing the massive civilian population in the area. Netanyahu has vowed that an offensive is imminent but has also agreed to send a delegation of officials to Washington to determine whether a compromise can be made.

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.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
The IDF on Monday struck a Hamas rocket launching position used in a barrage earlier in the day on the southern coastal city of Ashdod. The launchers, according to the IDF, were located adjacent to a civilian shelter in central Gazas Deir al-Balah.

The launches were carried out from a humanitarian zone in the Deir al-Balah area where a civilian population was residing, the IDF said.

Eight rockets were fired in the attack on Ashdod, with two being intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system and the others striking open areas. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack, the first on Ashdod in more than two months.

The IDF said that fighter jets struck the rocket launchers a short while after the attack, adding that secondary blasts seen after the strike indicated additional weaponry in the area.

The attack was carried out precisely while avoiding harm to civilians who had evacuated the area before the attack was carried out, the IDF said.

The IDF described the rocket barrage as further evidence of Hamass cynical exploitation of civilian infrastructure, placing its assets in civilian areas, using them as human shields.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
Two Jewish brothers, survivors of the October 7 Supernova festival massacre, were detained and interrogated by UK Border Force at Manchester Airport on Sunday, according to the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester and Region.

The brothers, Neria and Daniel Sharabi, were traveling to the UK to speak to the Manchester Jewish community about their experiences as terrorism survivors and raise awareness for their non-profit, when they were allegedly subjected to an aggressive and demeaning tone by Border Force officers.

Its worth noting that the brothers are heroes  they saved dozens of lives during the massacre by providing medical assistance and using weapons from a disabled tank to fight off Hamas terrorists.

The officers allegedly told the brothers, We have to make sure that you are not going to do what you are doing in Gaza over there, which the JRC claims is evidence of antisemitic intent. The brothers were detained for two hours and were not allowed to speak, with the officers telling them, We are the bosses, not you.

The JRC has demanded that the airport investigate the matter and ensure that Israeli passport holders are not subjected to similar discrimination. The Manchester Airport Group has acknowledged the incident and is in touch with the Border Force agency and the Home Office to ensure that the allegations are being investigated.

The North West Friends of Israel has also called on the Greater Manchester Police to investigate the issue as a hate crime, stating that Jews are increasingly scared to identify themselves in public places and that the UK governments promises to act on extremism and Jew hate have been empty words.

This is another shocking incident where UK government employees target Jews and discriminate against them because they oppose Israels actions in defending itself in Gaza, said NWFOI co-chair Raphi Bloom. In this case it was a border control officer and last week it was nurses at one of Manchesters largest hospital. Jews are increasingly scared to identify themselves in public places. The UK government has promised to act on extremism and Jew hate but so far these are empty words. These civil servants needs to be sacked and the police investigate them for antisemitism immediately.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
You are invited to join a timely and sober discussion on the situation in Hungary and Orban's regime attempts to weaken institutions and undermine democracy. The rule of law in Hungary is under serious threat and oftentimes that is being masked by populist rhetoric and invoking victimhood.

Prof. Dr. Peter Rona, respected academic teaching at Oxford University, will provide an assessment and analysis of the current economic situation in Hungary in particular and how the EU's withholding of recovery funds as leverage against Orban is hurting citizens and it is being used as a propaganda tool. He will speak about possible solutions and ways the European and global community can support and foster democracy in Hungary.

MEP Marton Gyongyosi will speak about his party's- Jobbik Conservatives- position on this, the challenges they face at national level and about their proposals for citizens in the upcoming European elections.

The event will take place on 9 April 2024, from 18:00 at Thon Hotel (Rue de la Loi 75), Brussels and will be followed by a buffet dinner.

Entrance is free, but please confirm your participation before 2 April at: arus@ecpm.info.
Hamas has announced that it will not budge from its original demands for a comprehensive ceasefire, including the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, the return of displaced Palestinians, and a real exchange of prisoners, apparently rejecting the latest terms for a deal. The terror group claims that Israel has not responded to any of its demands, and therefore bears full responsibility for thwarting negotiation efforts.

In a statement, Hamas said, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his extremist government bear full responsibility for thwarting all negotiation efforts and obstructing reaching an agreement so far.

Israel has consistently rejected Hamas demands for a full military withdrawal and permanent ceasefire, while Hamas has conditioned any further hostage releases on an Israeli commitment to end the war. Israel has dismissed this demand as delusional, and insisted that its military campaign to destroy Hamas military and governance capabilities will resume once any hostage-truce deal is implemented.

However, reports in Hebrew media yesterday indicated that Jerusalem may be willing to release hundreds more Palestinian prisoners than initially agreed to in an initial phase of an accord. According to the reports, Israel had agreed to released up to 800 Palestinian prisoners  including 100 who have been convicted of murder.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
The Israeli government recalled its delegation from Qatar after Hamas spurned the latest deal offered in the negotiations in Doha on Monday.

Theres no one to talk to on the other side, an Israeli official said on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahus office issued a statement stating: Hamas once again rejected any US compromise proposal and repeated its extreme demands: an immediate end to the war, a complete withdrawal of the IDF from the Gaza Strip and its continued governance so it can repeat the October 7th massacre again and again, as it had promised to do.

Hamas refused every US compromise proposal and also praised the UN Security Councils resolution. Its position clearly proves that it is not interested in continuing negotiations for a deal and is an unfortunate testimony to the damage of the UN Security Councils resolution.

Israel will not submit to Hamas delusional demands and will continue to act to achieve all the goals of the war: to release all the hostages, destroy Hamas military and governmental capabilities, and ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel.

However, despite the prime ministers statement, Reuters reported on Tuesday that the entire delegation did not return to Israel and some Mossad officials stayed in Doha to continue negotiations.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)
A coalition crisis is brewing as a Knesset discussion on a Chareidi draft law scheduled for Tuesday was pushed off indefinitely amid opposition from Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara, Finance Ministry officials, coalition members, and Agudas Yisrael representatives.

The heads of the Chareidi parties met with Netanyahu on Monday to discuss the newly drafted recruitment law after Baharav-Miara informed the prime minister that she would be unable to defend the bill due to various issues. The newly drafted bill dropped the clause raising the exemption age for lomdei Torah to 35. However, it regulates the status of lomdei Torah along with establishing recruitment targets for Chareidim who arent learning full-time and outlines the implementation of financial sanctions on yeshivos that fail to meet their recruitment targets. The law also stipulates that a new Chareidi battalion be established in the IDF and a new civilian service security track be established.

Agudas Yisrael ministers Yitzchak Goldknopf and Meir Porush were considering not participating in the vote for the law and even voting against it because they believe that the law encourages the recruitment of bnei yeshivos and also imposes sanctions on lomdei Torah.

Also, Kan News reported on Tuesday that senior Finance Ministry officials oppose the imposition of financial sanctions on yeshivos, saying that only sanctions on individuals will be effective.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu held a meeting with Baharav-Miara on Tuesday to try to reach an understanding on the issues but the meeting ended without results. Baharav-Miara is demanding that the law include specific figures for recruitment targets but the Chareidi MKs will not allow that.

Other members of the coalition are also opposed to the law and Netanyahu is currently holding a series of discussions with coalition members to try to reach a consensus. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who is currently in Washington, even reportedly instructed senior members of his ministry not to cooperate with officials from the Prime Ministers Office on the issue, fearing that a decision will be made while he is in the States. Gallant denied the reports.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)
Ocado Retail sales soared in the first quarter of 2024 as the Marks & Spencer joint venture enjoyed a jump in active customer numbers and weekly orders.

Revenues grew 10.6 per cent to more than 645million in the 13 weeks to 3 March, reflecting an 8.4 per cent annual jump in average weekly orders and active customer growth of 6.4 per cent to more than 1million.

Boss Hannah Gibson said Ocado has lowered the price of 1,700 products over the period, while 'enriching' product range and 'enhancing slow and product availability'.

Ocado shares were up 1.3 per cent to 458.5p in early trading on Tuesday. They remain roughly lower than their 2021 record high and per cent lower than in July last year.

Ocado Retail performance improves in the first quarter of 2024

The results also helped lift Marks & Spencer shares amid an ongoing spat between the pair over the performance of the joint venture.

Ocado chief executive Tim Steiner last month said M&S owed the firm 'a substantial amount of money' and he hopes to secure a settlement over a performance-related dispute with the retail giant.

M&S is due to pay Ocado a final instalment of 190.7million as part of the payment for the 750million partnership between the businesses, Ocado Retail, which was launched in 2019.

Gibson told reporters on Tuesday that conversations with M&S regarding the final payment are ongoing.

Ocado Retail's online market share rose to 13.5 per cent at the end of February, up 0.7 per cent over the year.

Its average basket value was up 2.1 per cent while basket size, or number of items purchased per order, was stable year-on-year.

Ocado Retail maintained its full-year guidance for mid-to-high single digits percentage revenue growth with an underlying earnings before nasties margin of around 2.5 per cent.

Gibson said: 'We have made a strong start to the year, building on the momentum we established in 2023 through the progress of our Perfect Execution programme.

'We are delivering improvements in our proposition for customers, across unbeatable choice, unrivalled service and reassuringly good value.

'Our strategy is resonating with customers and volume growth is building well. There's still so much more we can do and I'm looking forward to raising the bar even further in 2024.'

Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investors, said the results highlight 'how important value and price are amid the current macroeconomic backdrop and amid stiff price competition from the likes of Aldi and Lidl'.

However, she noted that Ocado shares 'have had an extremely tough time so far in 2024', having 'faced a series of price target cuts from the analyst community' amid expectations that it will not post a pre-tax profit for another five-to-six years.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, added that recent progress is 'unlikely to stop a potential shareholder revolt over executive pay which pulled down the share price on Monday'.

She said: 'Proxy advisor Institutional Shareholder Services has recommended they vote down the groups new remuneration policy and performance plan at the AGM in April.

'The new proposals could see the group's CEO Tim Steiner paid almost 15million. ISS said it was materially above market norms and not in line with UK market standards and investor expectations.'
Asos sales dropped by nearly a fifth in its first half, as the struggling retailer ramped-up discounts in efforts to reduce stock levels.

The struggling online fashion retailer, which is clearing stock as it transitions to a new operating model from next year, saw revenues fall by around 18 per cent to in the six months to 3 March, worse than market forecasts of a 13.5 per cent drop.

London-listed company blamed the fall on overhaul efforts, having cut its stock in-take by about 30 per cent year-on-year to 'right size' stock levels.

In a trading update, the struggler online retailer said sales fell by around 18 per cent in the six months to 3 March

Nevertheless, Asos shares rose by 5.6 per cent to 365.4p by midday on Tuesday as the retailer maintained guidance for the year. .

The group has been trying to eliminate about 1.1billion of excess stock under a turnaround plan spearheaded by chief executive Jose Antonio Ramos Calamonte.

In a statement, the business said that the drop in sales was in line with its expectations, keeping guidance unchanged for full-year sales which it expects to be between 5 per cent and 15 per cent.

It is also making changes to be more agile and quick to jump on fashion trends, with moves to bring 'high-fashion product from design to site in two to three weeks, increasing our agility in responding to rapidly evolving customer demand'.

Jose Antonio Ramos Calamonte, chief executive of Asos, said: 'Asos is becoming a faster and more agile business, aided by the incredible work of our teams to speed up all of our processes to deliver the fashion, quality and prices that our customers want, when they want it.

'I'm excited by the performance of our new collections, while we have also made great progress in monetising inventory that built up over the pandemic and in improving the core profitability of our operations.'

In November, the fashion firm reported a 10 per cent drop in turnover to 3.55billion as cost-of-living pressures led to its young consumer base cutting back on clothing purchases.

Revenues in the UK were further affected by poor summer weather and substantial discounting by rivals, which are also attempting to clear excess stock.
F&V Capital Management LLC boosted its position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL  Free Report) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 80,864 shares of the insurance providers stock after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Allstate comprises 3.6% of F&V Capital Management LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. F&V Capital Management LLCs holdings in Allstate were worth $11,319,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of Allstate by 40.2% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 187,869 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $26,022,000 after buying an additional 53,824 shares during the period. Prudential PLC bought a new position in shares of Allstate in the first quarter valued at $1,325,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Allstate by 13.9% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 23,536 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $3,260,000 after buying an additional 2,874 shares in the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Allstate in the first quarter valued at $270,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Allstate by 36.2% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,237 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $448,000 after purchasing an additional 860 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.23% of the companys stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of Allstate in a report on Thursday, December 28th. They issued a hold rating and a $145.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Allstate from $171.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Allstate from a hold rating to a buy rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $130.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Allstate from $164.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Allstate from $155.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $162.75.

Allstate Stock Performance

ALL traded up $3.70 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $168.95. 2,459,709 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,779,451. The companys 50-day moving average is $158.39 and its 200 day moving average is $139.29. The Allstate Co. has a 52 week low of $100.57 and a 52 week high of $169.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.45 billion, a PE ratio of -136.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.51.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The insurance provider reported $5.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.87 by $1.95. The company had revenue of $14.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.69 billion. Allstate had a negative net margin of 0.33% and a positive return on equity of 2.67%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.36) EPS. On average, research analysts expect that The Allstate Co. will post 13.11 EPS for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.92 per share. This is a positive change from Allstates previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 1st. Allstates dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -296.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Allstate

In related news, CAO John C. Pintozzi sold 4,000 shares of the firms 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 10,736 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,712,069.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.70% of the companys stock.

Allstate Profile

(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.

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F&V Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in iShares MSCI Germany ETF (NYSEARCA:EWG  Free Report) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,930 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after selling 400 shares during the quarter. F&V Capital Management LLCs holdings in iShares MSCI Germany ETF were worth $710,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of iShares MSCI Germany ETF by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 20,178 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $573,000 after purchasing an additional 733 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in shares of iShares MSCI Germany ETF by 280.8% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 94,731 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $2,689,000 after acquiring an additional 69,851 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of iShares MSCI Germany ETF by 88.4% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,574,393 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $243,426,000 after acquiring an additional 4,023,346 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. acquired a new stake in shares of iShares MSCI Germany ETF in the first quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Equitable Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of iShares MSCI Germany ETF by 7.8% in the first quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 309,275 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $8,780,000 after buying an additional 22,400 shares during the period.

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iShares MSCI Germany ETF Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSEARCA EWG traded up $0.15 during trading on Monday, hitting $31.44. 1,423,022 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,488,952. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.32. The company has a market capitalization of $1.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.82 and a beta of 1.07. iShares MSCI Germany ETF has a 12 month low of $24.70 and a 12 month high of $31.50.

iShares MSCI Germany ETF Profile

iShares MSCI Germany ETF, formerly iShares MSCI Germany Index Fund (the Fund), is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of publicly traded securities in the German market, as measured by the MSCI Germany Index (the Index).

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RTD Financial Advisors Inc. reduced its position in shares of iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF (NYSEARCA:IWP  Free Report) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 284,431 shares of the companys stock after selling 2,458 shares during the period. iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF comprises approximately 4.2% of RTD Financial Advisors Inc.s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. RTD Financial Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.21% of iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF worth $29,712,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of IWP. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. acquired a new position in iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF in the third quarter valued at $30,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO acquired a new position in shares of iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF during the third quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Ambassador Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF by 198.0% during the first quarter. Ambassador Advisors LLC now owns 441 shares of the companys stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares during the period.

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iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF stock traded down $0.26 on Monday, reaching $112.88. 340,395 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 761,624. iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF has a 1-year low of $85.24 and a 1-year high of $114.48. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $108.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $100.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.32 billion, a PE ratio of 25.03 and a beta of 1.10.

iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF Company Profile

iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF, formerly iShares Russell Midcap Growth Index Fund (the Growth Fund), is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Russell Midcap Growth Index (the Growth Index).

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AMREP Co. (NYSE:AXR  Get Free Report) major shareholder James H. Dahl purchased 3,500 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $20.57 per share, with a total value of $71,995.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 343,565 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $7,067,132.05. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Major shareholders that own at least 10% of a companys stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

AMREP Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of AXR traded up $0.41 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $21.03. 15,950 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,906. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.44. AMREP Co. has a 12-month low of $13.39 and a 12-month high of $24.36. The company has a market cap of $110.85 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.94 and a beta of 0.98.

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Hedge Funds Weigh In On AMREP

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of AMREP by 11.1% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 9,000 shares of the business services providers stock worth $102,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. AJOVista LLC acquired a new stake in AMREP during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in AMREP by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 162,368 shares of the business services providers stock worth $2,912,000 after acquiring an additional 1,394 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AMREP by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 150,872 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $3,315,000 after purchasing an additional 3,072 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AMREP by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 119,800 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $1,676,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 33.84% of the companys stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded AMREP from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 12th.

View Our Latest Research Report on AXR

About AMREP

(Get Free Report)

AMREP Corporation, through its subsidiaries, primarily engages in the real estate business. The company operates through two segments, Land Development and Homebuilding. It sells developed and undeveloped lots to homebuilders, commercial and industrial property developers, and others. In addition, the company owns mineral interests covering an area of approximately 55,000 surface acres of land in Sandoval County, New Mexico; and owns oil, gas, and minerals and mineral interests covering an area of approximately 147 surface acres of land in Brighton, Colorado.

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In mid-March, representatives of the international community met in Vienna, Austria to discuss how to stem the flood of illicit synthetic opioids that is reaching into every corner of the world.

The types of synthetic drug affecting your nations may vary. In some, it may be methamphetamines or ketamine; in others, tramadol, Captagon, fentanyl. The scale of the problem may be different, said Secretary of State Antony Blinken. But in every region, use, dependence, overdose deaths by synthetic drugs are rising rapidly.

For every nation, that has to start at home, including in the United States. Over the past three years, weve invested an unprecedented $169 billion to combat harmful drugs, he said. This reflects the fundamental fact that untreated substance use, and rising trafficking are two sides of the same coin.

The more that we can help people break the cycle of use and dependence, the smaller the illicit market for drugs. The more we can reduce the illicit supply of harmful drugs, the fewer people will be exposed to them, said Secretary Blinken. But while our efforts to address the synthetic drug crisis start at home, they cant end at home. This is, simply put, a problem that no one country can solve alone.

The criminal groups that produce these drugs are agile. When one country cracks down on the production of a synthetic drug or the chemical precursors that go into making them, criminals quickly find another place to produce them, he said. And theyre always looking for new markets and new users to boost their profits.

So, if we want to successfully protect people in all of our countries, we simply cant go it alone, said Secretary Blinken. He then suggested four ways the global community can fight back:

First, we can accelerate efforts to regulate the precursor chemicals that are used to illicitly make synthetic drugs.  Second, we can redouble our efforts to reduce overdose deaths.  Third, we can deepen collaboration with key actors outside of government, because just as no one country can solve this alone, governments alone cant solve the problem.

Finally, Secretary Blinken invited his international colleagues to join the now 151 countries and 14 international organizations in the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats.

For the health, security, and prosperity of people in your countries, I hope that youll join us and that we can continue, and indeed deepen, our work together.
CTT  Correios De Portugal, S.A. (OTCMKTS:CTTPY  Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $8.02 and last traded at $8.02, with a volume of 0 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.02.

CTT  Correios De Portugal Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $7.49.

About CTT  Correios De Portugal

(Get Free Report)

CTT  Correios De Portugal, SA, together with its subsidiaries, provides postal and financial services worldwide. It operates through Mail, Express & Parcels, Financial Services & Retail, and Bank segments. The company offers courier and urgent mail transport services; postal financial services; and banking services.

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Tran Capital Management L.P. cut its holdings in Clarivate Plc (NYSE:CLVT  Free Report) by 24.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,601,964 shares of the companys stock after selling 828,458 shares during the period. Clarivate accounts for about 2.8% of Tran Capital Management L.P.s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Tran Capital Management L.P. owned 0.39% of Clarivate worth $24,094,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Clarivate by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 23,032 shares of the companys stock worth $213,000 after buying an additional 2,743 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital purchased a new stake in Clarivate during the 4th quarter worth $99,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Clarivate by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,986,939 shares of the companys stock worth $53,592,000 after purchasing an additional 171,326 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Clarivate by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 106,712 shares of the companys stock valued at $716,000 after buying an additional 6,140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board purchased a new position in Clarivate in the 3rd quarter valued at about $6,710,000. 85.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Clarivate Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CLVT traded down $0.01 on Monday, hitting $7.21. 2,003,295 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,093,918. The companys 50 day moving average price is $8.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $7.82. Clarivate Plc has a one year low of $6.07 and a one year high of $10.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.88, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.25.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Clarivate ( NYSE:CLVT Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.21. The company had revenue of $683.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $687.80 million. Clarivate had a negative net margin of 34.66% and a positive return on equity of 9.95%. The businesss revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.20 EPS. Research analysts expect that Clarivate Plc will post 0.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on CLVT shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Clarivate from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an underweight rating and set a $8.00 target price on shares of Clarivate in a report on Friday, December 15th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Clarivate from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Clarivate from $7.00 to $6.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Clarivate from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Clarivate has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $8.00.

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Clarivate Profile

(Free Report)

Clarivate Plc operates as an information services provider in the Americas, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. It operates through three segments: Academia & Government, Life Sciences & Healthcare, and Intellectual Property. The company offers Web of Science and InCites, that analyzes and explores the academic research landscape and manages research information; ProQuest One and Ebook Central that provides comprehensive content collections to institutions in a cost-effective manner; and Alma and Polaris, that manages academic resources and services, connect users, and support research publications.

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Dash Acquisitions Inc. grew its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR  Free Report) by 13.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,818 shares of the conglomerates stock after purchasing an additional 7,314 shares during the period. Danaher makes up 5.1% of Dash Acquisitions Inc.s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Dash Acquisitions Inc.s holdings in Danaher were worth $14,196,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DHR. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. First Capital Advisors Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the companys stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DHR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup raised their target price on Danaher from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Danaher from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. StockNews.com downgraded Danaher from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. TheStreet raised Danaher from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research report on Friday, December 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $254.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $266.00.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of DHR traded down $6.86 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $247.94. The stock had a trading volume of 3,372,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,785,272. The companys 50-day moving average is $245.80 and its 200 day moving average is $230.45. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $182.09 and a 12-month high of $259.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market capitalization of $183.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.84.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.18. Danaher had a return on equity of 12.25% and a net margin of 17.26%. The firm had revenue of $6.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $6.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.87 EPS. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a positive change from Danahers previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Danahers dividend payout ratio is currently 15.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Daniel Raskas sold 23,757 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.00, for a total transaction of $5,986,764.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 38,102 shares in the company, valued at $9,601,704. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Danaher news, SVP Daniel Raskas sold 23,757 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.00, for a total transaction of $5,986,764.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 38,102 shares of the companys stock, valued at $9,601,704. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Walter G. Lohr sold 3,289 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total transaction of $826,032.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,129 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,548,498.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,957 shares of company stock valued at $8,265,802 in the last quarter. Insiders own 11.10% of the companys stock.

Danaher Company Profile

(Free Report)

Danaher Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets professional, medical, industrial, and commercial products and services worldwide. The Biotechnology segments offers bioprocess technologies, consumables, and services that advance, accelerate, and integrate the development and manufacture of therapeutics; cell line and cell culture media development services; cell culture media, process liquids and buffers for manufacturing, chromatography resins, filtration technologies, aseptic fill finish; single-use hardware and consumables and services, such as the design and installation of full manufacturing suites; lab filtration, separation, and purification; lab-scale protein purification and analytical tools; reagents, membranes, and services; and healthcare filtration solutions.

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Aprio Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY  Free Report) (TSE:RY) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 17,904 shares of the financial services providers stock after buying an additional 1,166 shares during the quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLCs holdings in Royal Bank of Canada were worth $1,811,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new stake in Royal Bank of Canada during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd purchased a new stake in Royal Bank of Canada during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp purchased a new stake in Royal Bank of Canada during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new stake in Royal Bank of Canada during the 3rd quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC purchased a new stake in Royal Bank of Canada during the 3rd quarter worth $66,000. 45.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report on Monday, December 18th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Royal Bank of Canada in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued an equal weight rating on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Royal Bank of Canada in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a hold rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Royal Bank of Canada has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $131.50.

Royal Bank of Canada Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Royal Bank of Canada stock traded up $0.06 during trading on Monday, reaching $99.44. The company had a trading volume of 7,055,976 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,244,058. The company has a market cap of $140.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.86. The firms fifty day moving average is $98.28 and its 200-day moving average is $92.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. Royal Bank of Canada has a fifty-two week low of $77.90 and a fifty-two week high of $102.07.

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY  Get Free Report) (TSE:RY) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The financial services provider reported $2.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $9.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.10 billion. Royal Bank of Canada had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 14.74%. On average, analysts anticipate that Royal Bank of Canada will post 8.5 EPS for the current year.

Royal Bank of Canada Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 25th will be paid a $1.0207 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 24th. This is a positive change from Royal Bank of Canadas previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Royal Bank of Canadas dividend payout ratio is 50.13%.

Royal Bank of Canada Company Profile

(Free Report)

Royal Bank of Canada operates as a diversified financial service company worldwide. The company's Personal & Commercial Banking segment offers checking and savings accounts, home equity financing, personal lending, private banking, indirect lending, including auto financing, mutual funds and self-directed brokerage accounts, guaranteed investment certificates, credit cards, and payment products and solutions; and lending, leasing, deposit, investment, foreign exchange, cash management, auto dealer financing, trade products, and services to small and medium-sized commercial businesses.

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Kingdom Financial Group LLC. bought a new stake in BondBloxx Bloomberg One Year Target Duration US Treasury ETF (NYSEARCA:XONE  Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 15,075 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $750,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. owned approximately 0.14% of BondBloxx Bloomberg One Year Target Duration US Treasury ETF at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of XONE. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in BondBloxx Bloomberg One Year Target Duration US Treasury ETF in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in BondBloxx Bloomberg One Year Target Duration US Treasury ETF in the 3rd quarter valued at $204,000. Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc purchased a new stake in BondBloxx Bloomberg One Year Target Duration US Treasury ETF in the 4th quarter valued at $246,000. EisnerAmper Wealth Management Corporate Benefits LLC purchased a new stake in BondBloxx Bloomberg One Year Target Duration US Treasury ETF in the 4th quarter valued at $259,000. Finally, Wallace Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in BondBloxx Bloomberg One Year Target Duration US Treasury ETF in the 3rd quarter valued at $289,000.

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BondBloxx Bloomberg One Year Target Duration US Treasury ETF Stock Up 0.0 %

XONE stock traded up $0.01 on Monday, hitting $49.60. The companys stock had a trading volume of 39,436 shares, compared to its average volume of 154,271. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $49.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.71. BondBloxx Bloomberg One Year Target Duration US Treasury ETF has a 1 year low of $49.24 and a 1 year high of $52.43.

BondBloxx Bloomberg One Year Target Duration US Treasury ETF Profile

The Bondbloxx Bloomberg One Year Target Duration US Treasury ETF (XONE) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in investment grade fixed income. The fund is passively managed to invest in a portfolio of US Treasury securities with a target duration of one year. XONE was launched on Sep 13, 2022 and is managed by BondBloxx.

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StockNews.com began coverage on shares of NovaBay Pharmaceuticals (NYSE:NBY  Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Friday. The firm issued a sell rating on the stock.

NovaBay Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 5.4 %

Shares of NYSE NBY opened at $0.13 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $0.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $841,717.00, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.02 and a beta of 2.00. NovaBay Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $0.12 and a one year high of $1.95.

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Institutional Inflows and Outflows

An institutional investor recently bought a new position in NovaBay Pharmaceuticals stock. Armistice Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of NovaBay Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE:NBY  Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 718,768 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $147,000. Armistice Capital LLC owned about 11.01% of NovaBay Pharmaceuticals as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. Institutional investors own 23.25% of the companys stock.

NovaBay Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

NovaBay Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, develops and sells eyecare, skincare, and wound care products in the United States and internationally. It offers Avenova Spray, a solution for removing foreign materials, including microorganisms and debris from skin around the eye, such as the eyelid; and wound care products, which are used for cleansing and irrigation as part of surgical procedures, as well as treating certain wounds, burns, ulcers, and other injuries under the NeutroPhase and PhaseOne brands.

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Royal Bank of Canada restated their outperform rating on shares of Dowlais Group (LON:DWL  Free Report) in a research report sent to investors on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a GBX 150 ($1.90) target price on the stock.

Dowlais Group Stock Performance

DWL stock opened at GBX 78.48 ($0.99) on Friday. The firm has a market cap of 1.09 billion and a PE ratio of -1,569.60. The firms fifty day moving average is GBX 88.56 and its 200 day moving average is GBX 98.72. Dowlais Group has a one year low of GBX 78.42 ($0.99) and a one year high of GBX 148 ($1.87).

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Dowlais Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 18th will be given a GBX 2.80 ($0.04) dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 3.11%. This is an increase from Dowlais Groups previous dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. Dowlais Groups dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -6,000.00%.

Insider Transactions at Dowlais Group

Dowlais Group Company Profile

In other Dowlais Group news, insider Roberto Fioroni bought 167,179 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of GBX 81 ($1.02) per share, for a total transaction of 135,414.99 ($171,129.77). Company insiders own 1.66% of the companys stock.

(Get Free Report)

Dowlais Group Plc manufactures and sells automotive parts in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. The company engages in developing, manufacturing, and supplying automotive drive systems for conventional and electric vehicles. It manufactures sideshafts, propshafts, and constant velocity joints for passenger vehicles; and AWD systems and eDrive systems, as well as provides component solutions to systems, including control software.

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StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of China Green Agriculture (NYSE:CGA  Free Report) in a research report released on Saturday morning. The firm issued a sell rating on the basic materials companys stock.

China Green Agriculture Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of China Green Agriculture stock opened at $2.88 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $39.80 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.38 and a beta of 0.49. The companys fifty day moving average is $2.69 and its 200 day moving average is $2.35. China Green Agriculture has a twelve month low of $1.61 and a twelve month high of $4.24.

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China Green Agriculture (NYSE:CGA  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The basic materials company reported ($0.40) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $17.80 million for the quarter. China Green Agriculture had a negative return on equity of 12.68% and a negative net margin of 14.54%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On China Green Agriculture

China Green Agriculture Company Profile

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CGA. Susquehanna International Group LLP bought a new position in shares of China Green Agriculture during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $175,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in China Green Agriculture by 67.8% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 19,051 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $192,000 after purchasing an additional 7,700 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP purchased a new position in China Green Agriculture in the 1st quarter worth $115,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 0.12% of the companys stock.

(Get Free Report)

China Green Agriculture, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the research, development, production, and sale of various fertilizers, agricultural products, and bitcoin in the People's Republic of China and the United States. The company operates through four segments: Jinong (Fertilizer Production); Gufeng (Fertilizer Production); Yuxing (Agricultural Products Production); and Antaeus (Bitcoin).

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IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA  Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of Hold from the five brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $93.80.

A number of analysts have issued reports on IDA shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on IDACORP from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Guggenheim downgraded shares of IDACORP from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $93.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. TheStreet downgraded IDACORP from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Mizuho cut their price target on IDACORP from $99.00 to $88.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of IDACORP from $100.00 to $94.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th.

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Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on IDACORP

Institutional Trading of IDACORP

IDACORP Stock Performance

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in IDACORP in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its stake in IDACORP by 33.8% in the first quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 400 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming increased its stake in IDACORP by 34.4% during the 2nd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 426 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of IDACORP in the third quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of IDACORP in the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,000. 89.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shares of IDACORP stock opened at $90.73 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.58. IDACORP has a one year low of $86.43 and a one year high of $112.96. The company has a market cap of $4.59 billion, a PE ratio of 17.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.55.

IDACORP (NYSE:IDA  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The energy company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $411.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $429.84 million. IDACORP had a net margin of 14.79% and a return on equity of 9.06%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that IDACORP will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

IDACORP Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 5th were given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 2nd. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.66%. IDACORPs dividend payout ratio is currently 64.59%.

IDACORP Company Profile

(Get Free Report

IDACORP, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, distribution, purchase, and sale of electric energy in the United States. The company operates 17 hydropower generating plants located in southern Idaho and eastern Oregon; three natural gas-fired plants in southern Idaho; and interests in two coal-fired steam electric generating plants located in Wyoming and Nevada.

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Citigroup upgraded shares of Macerich (NYSE:MAC  Free Report) from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a report published on Friday, MarketBeat reports. Citigroup currently has $17.00 price objective on the real estate investment trusts stock, up from their prior price objective of $8.00.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on MAC. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Macerich from $9.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a sell rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. StockNews.com raised Macerich from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Macerich from $12.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $14.40.

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Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on MAC

Macerich Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MAC opened at $16.70 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 2.33. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $16.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Macerich has a fifty-two week low of $9.05 and a fifty-two week high of $17.69.

Macerich (NYSE:MAC  Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $224.49 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. Macerichs revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Macerich will post 1.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Macerich Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 4th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.07%. Macerichs dividend payout ratio is currently -53.54%.

Insider Transactions at Macerich

In other news, President Edward C. Coppola sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.20, for a total value of $860,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 655,667 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $11,277,472.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Macerich news, President Edward C. Coppola sold 50,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.20, for a total transaction of $860,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 655,667 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $11,277,472.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Hern Thomas E. O sold 7,964 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.39, for a total value of $130,529.96. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 197,900 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,243,581. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 152,964 shares of company stock valued at $2,599,830 in the last ninety days. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Macerich by 152.4% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,166 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,308 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Macerich in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Macerich during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Macerich during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Macerich during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. 87.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Macerich Company Profile

(Get 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.

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Roshn Group, a leading real estate developer powered by Saudi wealth fund PIF, showcased the kingdoms urban transformation at the world leading International Real Estate Professional Marketplace (Mipim) in Cannes, France.

Joining the Invest Saudi pavilion, Roshn attended as part of the largest ever Saudi delegation to the event. During the four-day show, it underlined the group's role as a key enabler of Vision 2030 through sustainable, future-facing urban transformation that supports economic diversification, job creation, and boosts quality of life.

A premier real estate conference, Mipim opened its doors at the Palais des Festival in Cannes, on March 12 welcoming more than 25,000 delegates, 6,500 investors, and over 300 exhibitors from 90 countries.

This years event was designed to anticipate future trends through prospective information and the insights of top decision-makers, facilitating discussions among the most influential stakeholders across the industry on key themes such as urban development, sustainability, and innovation in the real estate sector, it stated.

Throughout the four-day event, Roshns booth in the Invest Saudi pavilion highlighted its unique value proposition and growth potential as the kingdoms future-focused, multi-asset developer of transformative mixed-use real estate.

Roshns representatives also participated in panel discussions, sharing their insight and expertise with industry peers.

In taking an active role at the event, Roshn further enhanced its position as a trusted global partner of choice for international investors looking to collaborate with a leading Saudi giga-project with the one of the most diversified portfolios in the region.

Building on a landbank of 200 million sqm, Roshn is transforming Saudi Arabias urban environments with a new way of living. Its groundbreaking approach encompasses five projects: Sedra and Warefa in Riyadh; Marafy and Alarous in Jeddah; and Alfulwa in the Eastern Province, with an exciting pipeline of projects to be announced.

Roshns destinations are all centered on integrated, people-first, and sustainable pillars that boost quality of life for residents and visitors alike, it added.-TradeArabia News Service
Politburo member, permanent member of the Party Central Committees Secretariat and head of the Party Central Committees Organisation Commission Truong Thi Mai (R) and Speaker of the Parliament of Finland Jussi Halla-aho at their meeting in Hanoi on March 25. (Photo: VNA)

The Party official welcomed her guest's selection of Vietnam for his first official visit outside Europe since taking office and expressed her gratitude for the support and sharing that Finland has given to Vietnam 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-Vietnam 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 Vietnam. He said he is pleased with positive progress in the Vietnam-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 Vietnam has demands, and that Vietnam 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 Vietnam 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./.
Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Boston Beer (NYSE:SAM  Free Report) in a report released on Friday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued an overweight rating and a $350.00 target price on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on SAM. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on Boston Beer from $406.00 to $422.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Citigroup decreased their price target on Boston Beer from $370.00 to $350.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Boston Beer from $390.00 to $355.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a sector perform rating and issued a $337.00 price target on shares of Boston Beer in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Boston Beer from $285.00 to $275.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $344.08.

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Boston Beer Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SAM opened at $310.15 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a PE ratio of 50.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $334.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $347.15. Boston Beer has a fifty-two week low of $287.33 and a fifty-two week high of $395.52.

Boston Beer (NYSE:SAM  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported ($1.49) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by ($1.27). The company had revenue of $393.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $413.57 million. Boston Beer had a net margin of 3.61% and a return on equity of 8.13%. Boston Beers revenue was down 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.93) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Boston Beer will post 9.9 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Carolyn L. Oboyle sold 102 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.83, for a total value of $35,172.66. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,732 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $942,075.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 23.50% 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 SAM. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Boston Beer by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 918,502 shares of the companys stock worth $317,425,000 after buying an additional 21,060 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Boston Beer by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 261,664 shares of the companys stock worth $80,708,000 after buying an additional 1,612 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Boston Beer by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 169,185 shares of the companys stock worth $58,469,000 after buying an additional 3,320 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Boston Beer by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 142,014 shares of the companys stock worth $49,080,000 after buying an additional 7,615 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Boston Beer by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 137,739 shares of the companys stock worth $42,484,000 after buying an additional 6,897 shares during the period. 81.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Boston Beer

(Get Free Report)

The Boston Beer Company, Inc produces and sells alcohol beverages primarily in the United States. The company's flagship beer is Samuel Adams Boston Lager. It offers various beers, hard ciders, flavored malt beverages, and hard seltzers under the Samuel Adams, Twisted Tea, Truly, Angry Orchard, Dogfish Head, Angel City, and Coney Island brand names.

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Jonestrading assumed coverage on shares of Two Harbors Investment (NYSE:TWO  Free Report) in a report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm issued a hold rating on the real estate investment trusts stock.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. TheStreet downgraded Two Harbors Investment from a c- rating to a d rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Two Harbors Investment from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group began coverage on Two Harbors Investment in a report on Wednesday, December 6th. They set a neutral rating and a $14.50 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Two Harbors Investment from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 13th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price target on Two Harbors Investment from $12.50 to $15.00 and gave the company a market outperform rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has issued 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 $14.63.

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Two Harbors Investment Stock Up 0.5 %

Two Harbors Investment Announces Dividend

NYSE TWO opened at $13.02 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a PE ratio of -6.51 and a beta of 1.87. Two Harbors Investment has a one year low of $9.83 and a one year high of $14.72. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $12.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 3rd. Two Harbors Investments dividend payout ratio is currently -90.00%.

Insider Activity at Two Harbors Investment

In other Two Harbors Investment news, CEO William Ross Greenberg sold 9,878 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.05, for a total transaction of $138,785.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 280,912 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,946,813.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Two Harbors Investment news, CFO Mary Kathryn Riskey sold 2,150 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.30, for a total transaction of $26,445.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 83,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,028,341.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO William Ross Greenberg sold 9,878 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.05, for a total value of $138,785.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 280,912 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,946,813.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 57,417 shares of company stock worth $763,755 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.45% of the companys stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Two Harbors Investment

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TWO. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in Two Harbors Investment by 248.5% in the 2nd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,039 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,454 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Two Harbors Investment in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in Two Harbors Investment in the 4th quarter valued at about $58,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Two Harbors Investment in the 1st quarter valued at about $58,000. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in Two Harbors Investment by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 18,274 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 1,492 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.19% of the companys stock.

About Two Harbors Investment

(Get Free Report)

Two Harbors Investment Corp. invests in, finances, and manages mortgage servicing rights (MSRs), agency residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), and other financial assets through RoundPoint in the United States. The company target assets include agency RMBS collateralized by fixed rate mortgage loans, adjustable rate mortgage loans, hybrid mortgage loans, or derivatives; and other assets, such as financial and mortgage-related assets, including non-agency securities and non-hedging transactions.

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Barclays reiterated their equal weight rating on shares of FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS  Free Report) in a research note published on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Barclays currently has a $460.00 price objective on the business services providers stock, down from their previous price objective of $480.00.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated a sector perform rating and set a $464.00 price target on shares of FactSet Research Systems in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on FactSet Research Systems from $436.00 to $447.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a hold rating and issued a $480.00 target price (up previously from $471.00) on shares of FactSet Research Systems in a research note on Friday, December 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on FactSet Research Systems from $436.00 to $469.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $444.11.

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FactSet Research Systems Trading Down 0.6 %

FactSet Research Systems stock opened at $444.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 1.79. The firm has a market cap of $16.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.73. FactSet Research Systems has a 1 year low of $380.96 and a 1 year high of $488.64. The firms 50 day moving average price is $468.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $455.42.

FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The business services provider reported $4.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.83 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $545.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $547.93 million. FactSet Research Systems had a net margin of 22.72% and a return on equity of 34.36%. On average, research analysts predict that FactSet Research Systems will post 15.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FactSet Research Systems Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. FactSet Research Systemss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at FactSet Research Systems

In other news, CEO Frederick Philip Snow sold 3,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $476.02, for a total value of $1,428,060.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,147,798.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Laurie Siegel sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.84, for a total transaction of $713,760.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $283,124.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Frederick Philip Snow sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $476.02, for a total value of $1,428,060.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,915 shares in the company, valued at $6,147,798.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the companys stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FactSet Research Systems

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in FactSet Research Systems by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,559,576 shares of the business services providers stock worth $2,175,146,000 after acquiring an additional 16,801 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its position in FactSet Research Systems by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 964 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $460,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. bought a new position in FactSet Research Systems in the 4th quarter valued at $3,165,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its position in FactSet Research Systems by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 17,338 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $8,271,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in FactSet Research Systems by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 2,655 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $1,267,000 after buying an additional 463 shares during the last quarter. 91.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

FactSet Research Systems Company Profile

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FactSet Research Systems Inc, a financial data company, provides integrated financial information and analytical applications to the investment community in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company delivers insight and information through the workflow solutions of research, analytics and trading, content and technology solutions, and wealth.

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Marel hf. (OTC:MRRLF  Get Free Report) and Crane (NYSE:CR  Get Free Report) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, profitability and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Marel hf. and Cranes net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

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Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Marel hf. N/A N/A N/A Crane 13.10% 24.45% 10.14%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

85.9% of Crane shares are held by institutional investors. 2.4% of Crane shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Marel hf. 0 0 0 0 N/A Crane 0 3 5 0 2.63

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Marel hf. and Crane, as reported by MarketBeat.

Crane has a consensus price target of $113.67, indicating a potential downside of 15.35%. Given Cranes higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Crane is more favorable than Marel hf..

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Marel hf. and Cranes gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Marel hf. N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Crane $2.09 billion 3.67 $401.10 million $3.69 36.39

Crane has higher revenue and earnings than Marel hf..

Summary

Crane beats Marel hf. on 8 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Marel hf.

(Get Free Report)

Marel hf. develops, manufactures, distributes, and sells solutions, software, and services to food processing industries in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Oceania. The company operates through four segments: Poultry Processing; Meat Processing; Fish Processing; and Plant, Pet, and Feed. The company's Poultry Processing segment offers automated in-line solutions, software, and services for all stages of processing broilers, turkeys, and ducks. Its Meat Processing segment supplies primary, secondary, and further processing equipment, systems, software, and services of pork, beef, veal, and sheep. The company's Fish Processing segment offers equipment, systems, software, and services for processing salmon and whitefish, both farmed and wild, on-board, and ashore. Its Plant, Pet, and Feed segment provides solutions and services to the pet food, plant-based protein, and aqua feed markets. The company also provides software assurance agreement, customer support, training, process consultancy, preventive maintenance, consumable packages, calibration, inspection, critical parts, and repair and exchange services, as well as upgrade kits. Marel hf. was founded in 1977 and is based in Garabr, Iceland.

About Crane

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Crane Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells engineered industrial products in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, and internationally. The company operates in three segments: Aerospace & Electronics, Process Flow Technologies, and Engineered Materials. The Aerospace & Electronics segment supplies critical components and systems, including original equipment and aftermarket parts for commercial aerospace, as well as the military aerospace, defense, and space markets. This segment also offers pressure sensors for aircraft engine control, aircraft braking systems for commercial aircraft and fighter jets, power conversion solutions for spacecraft, and lubrication systems. The Process Flow Technologies segment provides engineered fluid handling equipment for mission-critical applications. It offers process valves and related products, such as lined pipe, fittings and hoses, air-operated diaphragm and peristaltic pumps, instrumentation and sampling systems, valve positioning and control systems, and valve diagnostic and calibration systems; commercial valves; and pumps and systems. The Engineered Materials segment manufactures fiberglass-reinforced plastic panels and coils for use in the manufacturing of recreational vehicles, as well as in commercial and industrial building applications. This segment sells directly to RV, trailer, and truck manufacturers, as well as through distributors and retailers. The company provides its products and solutions to end markets, including commercial and military aerospace, defense, and space; chemical and pharmaceutical production; water and wastewater; non-residential and municipal construction; energy; and other general industrial and consumer-related applications. The company was formerly known as Crane Holdings, Co. Crane Company was founded in 1855 and is based in Stamford, Connecticut.

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Diebold Nixdorf (NYSE:DBD  Get Free Report) and NCR Voyix (NYSE:VYX  Get Free Report) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Diebold Nixdorf and NCR Voyix, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

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Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Diebold Nixdorf 0 1 1 0 2.50 NCR Voyix 0 1 5 0 2.83

Diebold Nixdorf currently has a consensus target price of $27.00, indicating a potential downside of 21.81%. NCR Voyix has a consensus target price of $18.83, indicating a potential upside of 50.19%. Given NCR Voyixs stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe NCR Voyix is more favorable than Diebold Nixdorf.

Earnings & Valuation

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Diebold Nixdorf $3.76 billion 0.34 $1.38 billion N/A N/A NCR Voyix $3.83 billion 0.47 -$423.00 million ($3.01) -4.17

This table compares Diebold Nixdorf and NCR Voyixs revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Diebold Nixdorf has higher earnings, but lower revenue than NCR Voyix.

Profitability

This table compares Diebold Nixdorf and NCR Voyixs net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Diebold Nixdorf N/A N/A N/A NCR Voyix -5.98% 21.46% 2.33%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

97.0% of Diebold Nixdorf shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.0% of NCR Voyix shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.0% of Diebold Nixdorf shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.6% of NCR Voyix shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

NCR Voyix beats Diebold Nixdorf on 8 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Diebold Nixdorf

(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. It also provides banking product-related services comprising proactive monitoring and rapid resolution of incidents through remote service capabilities or an on-site visit; first- and second-line maintenance, preventive maintenance, and on-demand services; managed and outsourcing services, such as business processes, solution management, upgrades, and transaction processing; and cash management services. In addition, the company offers DN Vynamic software suite to simplify and enhance the consumer experience; modular and integrated point of sale and self-checkout terminals; printers, scales, and mobile scanners; and banknote and coin processing systems, as well as ordering kiosks. Additionally, it provides retail customer's product-related services, such as on-demand and professional services; maintenance and availability services; implementation services; managed mobility services; monitoring and advanced analytics; and store life-cycle management services. The company was formerly known as Diebold, Incorporated and changed its name to Diebold Nixdorf, Incorporated in December 2016. Diebold Nixdorf, Incorporated was founded in 1859 and is headquartered in North Canton, Ohio.

About NCR Voyix

(Get Free Report)

NCR Voyix Corporation provides various software and services in the United States, Americas, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The company operates through Retail, Hospitality, Digital Banking, Payments & Network, and Self-Service Banking segments. It offers managed services, including ATM-as-a-Service solutions that allow banks to run their end-to-end ATM channels; software, services, and hardware; and digital banking solutions for financial institution's consumer and business customers. The company also provides solutions for banking channel services, transaction processing, imaging, and branch services. In addition, it offers solutions for retail industry comprising comprehensive API-point of sale (POS) retail software platforms and applications, hardware terminals and peripherals, payment processing solutions, and consumer engagement solutions, as well as self-service kiosks, which consists of self-checkout (SCO). Further, the company provides technology solutions to customers in the hospitality industry comprising table-service, quick-service, and fast casual restaurants. It also offers cloud-based and cloud-enabled software applications for point-of-sale, back office, payment processing, kitchen production, restaurant management, eCommerce, and consumer marketing and loyalty; and hospitality-oriented hardware products, such as POS terminals, kitchen display systems, handheld devices, printers, and peripherals. Additionally, the company provides managed network and infrastructure services to enterprise clients, as well as professional, field, and remote services for network technologies. It also offers solutions for customer account opening and onboarding across digital, branch, and call center channels. The company was formerly known as NCR Corporation and changed its name to NCR Voyix Corporation in October 2023. NCR Voyix Corporation was founded in 1881 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

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Issuer Direct (NYSE:ISDR  Get Free Report) and Cyber Apps World (OTCMKTS:CYAP  Get Free Report) are both small-cap industrial products companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, profitability, valuation, earnings and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Issuer Direct and Cyber Apps World, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

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Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Issuer Direct 0 0 0 0 N/A Cyber Apps World 0 0 0 0 N/A

Issuer Direct currently has a consensus target price of $27.00, indicating a potential upside of 102.78%. Given Issuer Directs higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Issuer Direct is more favorable than Cyber Apps World.

Risk and Volatility

Institutional & Insider Ownership

Issuer Direct has a beta of 0.88, indicating that its stock price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cyber Apps World has a beta of -0.65, indicating that its stock price is 165% less volatile than the S&P 500.

50.0% of Issuer Direct shares are held by institutional investors. 26.1% of Issuer Direct shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.9% of Cyber Apps World shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Issuer Direct and Cyber Apps Worlds net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Issuer Direct 2.29% 10.90% 5.82% Cyber Apps World N/A 78.55% 43.44%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Issuer Direct and Cyber Apps Worlds gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Issuer Direct $33.38 million 1.52 $770,000.00 $0.20 66.58 Cyber Apps World N/A N/A N/A ($0.22) -0.76

Issuer Direct has higher revenue and earnings than Cyber Apps World. Cyber Apps World is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Issuer Direct, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Issuer Direct beats Cyber Apps World on 8 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Issuer Direct

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Issuer Direct Corporation operates as a communications and compliance company, provides solutions for both public relations and investor relations professionals in the United States and internationally. The company provides press release distribution, media databases, media monitoring, and newsrooms through media advantage platform; ACCESSWIRE, a news dissemination and media outreach service; and VisualWebcaster Platform, a cloud-based webcast, webinar, and virtual meeting platform that delivers live and on-demand streaming of events to audiences of various sizes, as well as allows customers to create, produce, and deliver events. It also offers professional conference and events software, a mobile app that offers organizers, issuers, and investors to register, request, and approve one-on-one meetings, as well as manage schedules, perform event promotion and sponsorship, print attendee badges, and manage lodging; and investor relations content network, a series of data feeds, which include news feeds, stock feeds, fundamentals, regulatory filings, corporate governance, and other components. In addition, the company provides whistleblower hotline, a system that delivers secure notifications and basic incident workflow management processes that align with a company's corporate governance whistleblower policy; stock transfer module, which offers access to real-time information about their shareholders, stock ledgers, and reports, as well as issues new shares; and proxy module, a real-time voting platform for customers and their shareholders of record. It serves public and private companies, mutual funds, law firms, brokerage firms, investment banks, individuals, and other institutions. Issuer Direct Corporation was incorporated in 1988 and is headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina.

About Cyber Apps World

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Cyber Apps World Inc. develops mobile applications that enable users to save money on products and services from member merchants and suppliers with mobile coupons. The company was formerly known as Clean Enviro Tech Corp. and changed its name to Cyber Apps World Inc. in April 2015. Cyber Apps World Inc. was incorporated in 2002 and is based in Lugano, Switzerland.

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Shares of Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN  Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of Hold from the ten brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $26.55.

HUN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Huntsman from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and upped their target price for the stock from $25.00 to $32.00 in a report on Friday, February 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Huntsman from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a sell rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Huntsman from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an equal weight rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Huntsman in a report on Monday, December 11th.

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Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on HUN

Huntsman Price Performance

NYSE:HUN opened at $25.45 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.02 and a beta of 1.11. Huntsman has a one year low of $22.14 and a one year high of $29.90. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $24.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported ($0.21) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of ($0.14) by ($0.07). Huntsman had a net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 1.92%. The business had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.04 EPS. The companys quarterly revenue was down 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Huntsman will post 0.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntsman Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. This is an increase from Huntsmans previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. Huntsmans dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 188.68%.

Institutional Trading of Huntsman

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Huntsman in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in Huntsman by 93.0% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,081 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 521 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Huntsman during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. GeoWealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Huntsman during the 1st quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Huntsman during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. 84.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Huntsman Company Profile

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Huntsman Corporation manufactures and sells diversified organic chemical products worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Polyurethanes, Performance Products, and Advanced Materials. The Polyurethanes segment offers polyurethane chemicals, including methyl diphenyl diisocyanate, polyether and polyester polyols, and thermoplastic polyurethane; and aniline, benzene, nitrobenzene and other co-products.

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Ingersoll Rand Inc. (NYSE:IR  Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of Moderate Buy from the twelve research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $82.50.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ingersoll Rand from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday. Cfra raised their target price on shares of Ingersoll Rand from $68.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Ingersoll Rand from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, December 11th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Ingersoll Rand in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. They issued a neutral rating and a $92.00 target price on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Ingersoll Rand from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st.

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Read Our Latest Analysis on Ingersoll Rand

Ingersoll Rand Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:IR opened at $94.48 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.12 billion, a PE ratio of 49.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 1.44. Ingersoll Rand has a twelve month low of $53.24 and a twelve month high of $96.17. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $86.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.04.

Ingersoll Rand (NYSE:IR  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.09. Ingersoll Rand had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 12.24%. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Ingersoll Rand will post 3.1 EPS for the current year.

Ingersoll Rand Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th will be issued a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.08%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 6th. Ingersoll Rands dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.21%.

Insider Activity at Ingersoll Rand

In related news, insider Vicente Reynal sold 240,000 shares of Ingersoll Rand stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.16, for a total value of $21,638,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 91,957 shares in the company, valued at $8,290,843.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Ingersoll Rand news, CAO Michael J. Scheske sold 7,590 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.00, for a total transaction of $667,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,715 shares of the companys stock, valued at $854,920. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Vicente Reynal sold 240,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.16, for a total value of $21,638,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 91,957 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $8,290,843.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 293,011 shares of company stock worth $26,374,789 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.83% of the companys stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ingersoll Rand

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ingersoll Rand in the 4th quarter worth about $301,890,000. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Ingersoll Rand by 35.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,246,481 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $947,143,000 after purchasing an additional 3,202,973 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Ingersoll Rand by 46.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 9,811,827 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $758,847,000 after purchasing an additional 3,119,793 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Ingersoll Rand by 65.4% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,701,832 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $245,671,000 after purchasing an additional 1,858,698 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. raised its position in shares of Ingersoll Rand by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 31,966,777 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $2,089,349,000 after purchasing an additional 1,323,821 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.54% of the companys stock.

About Ingersoll Rand

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Ingersoll Rand Inc provides various mission-critical air, gas, liquid, and solid flow creation technologies services and solutions worldwide. It operates through two segments, Industrial Technologies and Services, and Precision and Science Technologies. The Industrial Technologies and Services segment designs, manufactures, markets, and services air and gas compression, vacuum, and blower products; fluid transfer equipment and loading systems; and power tools and lifting equipment, including associated aftermarket parts, consumables, air treatment equipment, controls, other accessories, and services under the under the Ingersoll Rand, Gardner Denver, Nash, CompAir, Elmo Rietschle brands, etc.

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Shares of GXO Logistics, Inc. (NYSE:GXO  Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of Buy from the ten research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $71.09.

Several brokerages have issued reports on GXO. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of GXO Logistics from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of GXO Logistics from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of GXO Logistics from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a positive rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of GXO Logistics from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of GXO Logistics from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th.

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GXO Logistics Price Performance

GXO stock opened at $51.16 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.68. The stock has a market cap of $6.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.63. GXO Logistics has a 1 year low of $46.13 and a 1 year high of $67.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

GXO Logistics (NYSE:GXO  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.01. GXO Logistics had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 10.94%. The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.83 EPS. The companys revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that GXO Logistics will post 2.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other GXO Logistics news, Director Gena L. Ashe sold 4,737 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $236,850.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 20,851 shares in the company, valued at $1,042,550. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other GXO Logistics news, Director Gena L. Ashe sold 4,737 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $236,850.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 20,851 shares in the company, valued at $1,042,550. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Gena L. Ashe sold 10,526 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.15, for a total transaction of $612,086.90. Following the transaction, the director now owns 15,062 shares in the company, valued at approximately $875,855.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of GXO Logistics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GXO. Payden & Rygel Investment Group purchased a new stake in GXO Logistics during the third quarter worth about $18,272,000. Amalgamated Bank increased its holdings in GXO Logistics by 13.9% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 87,426 shares of the companys stock worth $5,128,000 after buying an additional 10,660 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. increased its holdings in GXO Logistics by 79.0% during the third quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 22,978 shares of the companys stock worth $1,348,000 after buying an additional 10,141 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its position in GXO Logistics by 30.4% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 118,469 shares of the companys stock worth $6,948,000 after purchasing an additional 27,616 shares during the period. Finally, MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in GXO Logistics during the third quarter worth about $4,876,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.67% of the companys stock.

GXO Logistics Company Profile

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GXO Logistics, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides logistics services worldwide. The company provides warehousing and distribution, order fulfilment, e-commerce, reverse logistics, and other supply chain services. As of December 31, 2023, it operated in approximately 974 facilities. The company serves various customers in the e-commerce, omnichannel retail, technology and consumer electronics, food and beverage, industrial and manufacturing, consumer packaged goods, and others.

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Xerox Holdings Co. (NYSE:XRX  Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 22nd, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th will be given a dividend of 0.25 per share by the information technology services provider on Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th.

Xerox has a payout ratio of 41.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Xerox to earn $2.47 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 40.5%.

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Xerox Trading Up 2.8 %

XRX opened at $17.50 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.17 billion, a P/E ratio of -87.50 and a beta of 1.57. Xerox has a 12 month low of $12.06 and a 12 month high of $19.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $17.79 and a 200 day moving average of $16.15.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Xerox ( NYSE:XRX Get Free Report ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The information technology services provider reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.09). Xerox had a net margin of 0.01% and a return on equity of 9.41%. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. The firms quarterly revenue was down 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Xerox will post 2.27 EPS for the current year.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on XRX. StockNews.com lowered Xerox from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Xerox from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a report on Friday, January 26th.

View Our Latest Analysis on XRX

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Xerox

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Xerox during the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Clear Street Markets LLC boosted its position in shares of Xerox by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Xerox by 1,733.2% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,583 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 4,333 shares during the period. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Xerox by 3,009.5% in the 2nd quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,219 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 6,019 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Middle East FZE purchased a new position in Xerox in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $100,000. 85.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Xerox Company Profile

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Xerox Holdings Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a workplace technology company that integrates hardware, services, and software for enterprises in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, India, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Print and Other; and FITTLE.

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National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue (R) and Speaker of the Parliament of Finland Jussi Halla-aho at their meeting in Hanoi on March 25. (Photo: VNA)

At the talks, which took place following a welcome ceremony for the top Finnish legislator earlier the same day, Hue expressed his hope that Halla-ahos official visit from March 24-26 will be a milestone in the relationship between the two countries.

For his part, Halla-aho recalled visits to Finland by all-level Vietnamese delegations in 2023 when the two countries celebrated the 50th founding anniversary of their diplomatic ties.

Mentioning the visit by Hue in 2021, the guest said it contributed to opening up many new cooperation opportunities between the two legislative bodies, and boosting trade and collaboration between Vietnam and Finland.

Halla-aho noted with pleasure as the two countries have shifted from development aid to development cooperation, and enhanced mutually beneficial trade ties, and called them good development steps in the bilateral relations.

Vietnam is one of Finlands important trading partners in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), with two-way trade expanding significantly over the past 50 years, the Finnish leader said.

He emphasised that the Finnish legislature has ratified the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA), adding that the two countries boast substantial potential for cooperation in energy, information-technology and education, among other fields.

Hue also expressed his delight at the positive development of the bilateral cooperation, especially in politics-diplomacy, economy-trade, development collaboration, and education-training.

The Vietnamese leader spoke highly the fruitful cooperation and mutual support between the two countries at multilateral forums, particularly the United Nations (UN), and called on Finland to continue supporting Vietnam in stepping up its comprehensive cooperation with the European Union (EU). In return, Vietnam stands ready to work as a bridge between Finland and ASEAN, he pledged.

The NA Chairman held that the two-way trade, valued at nearly 380 million USD in 2023, remains modest as compared with the two countries' potential, saying Vietnam is willing to facilitate the enhancement of the trade ties.

He also used this occasion to call on the Finnish side to further open doors for Vietnamese major exports, such as iron and steel products, machinery, equipment, means of transport and spare parts, and garments-textiles and accessories.

Hue thanked the Finnish Parliament for its ratification of the EVIPA, and suggested it urge other parliaments in the EU to complete the process, explaining that the deal is expected to open up new cooperation opportunities for the two countries businesses, especially in green economy, digital transformation, high-tech, telecoms, renewable energy, environment, water treatment, forest technology, ICT, and smart urban development.

The host leader proposed Finland to raise its voice to support the European Commission (EC)'s removal of its yellow card warning against Vietnamese seafood, thus helping European consumers access good quality seafood with competitive prices and fostering Vietnam's socio-economic development.

At the talks (Photo: VNA)

The Vietnamese NA highly values the signing of the framework agreement between the two governments on projects funded under the Finnish public investment programme, creating a framework for the implementation of official development assistance (ODA) projects and concessional loans provided by the Finnish Government, contributing to promoting socio-economic development in Vietnam, he said.

Hue suggested Finland help Vietnam in personnel training in innovation and startup, pay more attention to labour cooperation in the fields of IT, health care, education and agriculture, and assist the country in forest protection, development and management.

The top Vietnamese legislator touched upon other cooperation spheres like crime combat, peacekeeping operations and humanitarian activities.

Multilaterally, the two sides have coordinated and supported each other at regional and international parliamentary forums such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), and the Asia-Europe Parliamentary Partnership (ASEP).

Hue said the two legislatures should step up supervisions over the implementation of international treaties and cooperation agreements inked by the governments, ministries, agencies and localities of the two countries, while perfecting mechanisms and legal corridors to facilitate cooperation between competent agencies and enterprises.

Halla-aho shared Hues views on the need to foster educational cooperation, saying Vietnam is one of the prioritised countries in Finlands Talent Boost programme that aims attract international talents and promote their immigration to and integration in Finland.

He expected that relevant agencies of the two nations will discuss measures to deal with obstacles to Finlands public investment support fund in Vietnam.

Earlier the same day, the Finnish leader and his encourage laid a wreath in tribute to President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum in Hanoi.

Hue is scheduled to host a banquet for the Finnish guests in the evening of the same day./.
Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO  Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 22nd, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a dividend of 0.07 per share by the real estate investment trust on Monday, April 15th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th.

Sunstone Hotel Investors has raised its dividend payment by an average of 81.7% annually over the last three years. Sunstone Hotel Investors has a dividend payout ratio of 96.6% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the companys earnings decline. Equities research analysts expect Sunstone Hotel Investors to earn $0.94 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.28 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.8%.

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Sunstone Hotel Investors Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SHO opened at $10.82 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $10.93 and a 200-day moving average of $10.24. The company has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a PE ratio of 11.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 1.21. Sunstone Hotel Investors has a one year low of $8.61 and a one year high of $11.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 7.03 and a current ratio of 7.03.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Sunstone Hotel Investors ( NYSE:SHO Get Free Report ) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.44. The firm had revenue of $219.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $192.56 million. Sunstone Hotel Investors had a net margin of 20.95% and a return on equity of 11.32%. The businesss quarterly revenue was down 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Sunstone Hotel Investors will post 0.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in Sunstone Hotel Investors in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 168.4% during the 4th quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,065 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,923 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 56.5% during the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,257 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 1,537 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors during the 1st quarter worth approximately $91,000. Finally, Point72 Middle East FZE bought a new stake in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors during the 4th quarter worth approximately $94,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.37% of the companys stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on SHO shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $9.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from an underweight rating to a neutral rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $9.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $10.00.

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Sunstone Hotel Investors Company Profile

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Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc is a lodging real estate investment trust ("REIT") that as of the date of this release owns 14 hotels comprised of 6,675 rooms, the majority of which are operated under nationally recognized brands. Sunstone's strategy is to create long-term stakeholder value through the acquisition, active ownership, and disposition of well-located hotel and resort real estate.

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Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM  Free Report) by 10.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,623 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 1,083 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLCs holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $839,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADM. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 4th quarter valued at about $525,111,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,641,438 shares of the companys stock worth $651,737,000 after purchasing an additional 2,547,232 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 1st quarter worth approximately $105,741,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,364,445 shares of the companys stock worth $2,369,897,000 after purchasing an additional 1,314,810 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 73.7% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,935,163 shares of the companys stock worth $233,815,000 after purchasing an additional 1,245,194 shares in the last quarter. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Archer-Daniels-Midland Trading Up 0.8 %

ADM opened at $62.51 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.87 billion, a PE ratio of 9.77 and a beta of 0.75. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a one year low of $50.72 and a one year high of $87.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.60. The businesss 50 day moving average price is $56.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.70.

Archer-Daniels-Midland ( NYSE:ADM Get Free Report ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 12th. The company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.43 by ($0.07). The firm 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%. The businesss revenue was down 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior 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 declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, March 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the companys leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 8th were given a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Archer-Daniels-Midlands previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 7th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. Archer-Daniels-Midlands dividend payout ratio is 31.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on ADM. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target 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. Barclays lowered shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from an overweight rating to an underweight rating and set a $60.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from a buy rating to a hold rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $116.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Archer-Daniels-Midland has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $67.00.

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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.

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Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST  Free Report) by 47.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,363 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock after selling 2,133 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLCs holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $832,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 384 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock worth $133,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Portside Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,675 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock valued at $942,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 1,478 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock worth $555,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Covenant Partners LLC raised its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Covenant Partners LLC now owns 918 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.8% in the second quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,200 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock valued at $841,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on WST. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $400.00 to $375.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com cut shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their target price for the company from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $435.20.

Insider Activity

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total transaction of $2,559,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,660 shares in the company, valued at $1,700,900. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total transaction of $2,559,380.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,660 shares in the company, valued at $1,700,900. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.82, for a total transaction of $292,438.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,309 shares in the company, valued at $469,695.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 73,978 shares of company stock worth $26,653,772. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the companys stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $388.39 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $28.43 billion, a PE ratio of 49.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.05 and a beta of 1.03. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $310.42 and a 12 month high of $415.73. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $372.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $363.52.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.05. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 21.60% and a net margin of 20.12%. The business had revenue of $732.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $740.43 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.77 EPS. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. West Pharmaceutical Servicess dividend payout ratio is 10.15%.

West Pharmaceutical Services Profile

(Free Report)

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells containment and delivery systems for injectable drugs and healthcare products in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It operates in two segments, Proprietary Products and Contract-Manufactured Products.

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Simon Quick Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI  Free Report) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 513 shares of the technology companys stock after selling 23 shares during the quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLCs holdings in MSCI were worth $290,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Optiver Holding B.V. acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. ORG Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 5,600.0% in the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 57 shares of the technology companys stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Headinvest LLC bought a new stake in MSCI during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI during the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSCI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Tuesday. They set a peer perform rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on MSCI from $588.00 to $638.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays increased their price target on MSCI from $600.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of MSCI from $544.00 to $617.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $578.21.

MSCI Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $551.00 on Tuesday. The firms 50-day moving average is $565.12 and its 200 day moving average is $537.45. The company has a market capitalization of $43.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.26, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.07. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $451.55 and a 12 month high of $617.39.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI  Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The technology company reported $3.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.29 by $0.39. MSCI had a net margin of 45.42% and a negative return on equity of 111.17%. The company had revenue of $690.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $662.64 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.84 EPS. The firms quarterly revenue was up 19.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Investors of record on Friday, February 16th were given a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This is an increase from MSCIs previous quarterly dividend of $1.38. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. MSCIs payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

MSCI Profile

(Free Report)

MSCI Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides critical decision support tools and solutions for the investment community to manage investment processes worldwide. The Index segment provides indexes for use in various areas of the investment process, including indexed financial product, such as ETFs, mutual funds, annuities, futures, options, structured products, and over-the-counter derivatives; performance benchmarking; portfolio construction and rebalancing; and asset allocation, as well as licenses GICS and GICS Direct.

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Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its holdings in PowerSchool Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PWSC  Free Report) by 15.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 792,530 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 108,140 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH owned 0.39% of PowerSchool worth $18,672,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PWSC. Brookstone Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of PowerSchool during the 4th quarter worth about $221,000. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning purchased a new position in PowerSchool in the 4th quarter valued at about $203,000. Renaissance Capital LLC lifted its stake in PowerSchool by 26.5% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Capital LLC now owns 35,500 shares of the companys stock valued at $836,000 after buying an additional 7,426 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in PowerSchool by 58.6% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 33,036 shares of the companys stock valued at $753,000 after buying an additional 12,210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in PowerSchool by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,101,238 shares of the companys stock valued at $160,914,000 after buying an additional 580,969 shares in the last quarter. 65.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Fred Studer sold 6,065 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.30, for a total value of $123,119.50. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 163,685 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,322,805.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Hardeep Gulati sold 39,141 shares of PowerSchool stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.19, for a total value of $829,397.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,087,121 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $44,226,093.99. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Fred Studer sold 6,065 shares of PowerSchool stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.30, for a total transaction of $123,119.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 163,685 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,322,805.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 71,372 shares of company stock valued at $1,494,256. Company insiders own 1.10% of the companys stock.

PowerSchool Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE PWSC traded down $0.27 on Tuesday, hitting $20.66. The companys stock had a trading volume of 60,236 shares, compared to its average volume of 576,720. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $22.70 and a 200-day moving average of $22.39. PowerSchool Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.41 and a 12-month high of $25.16.

PowerSchool (NYSE:PWSC  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 26th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $182.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $183.35 million. PowerSchool had a negative net margin of 4.46% and a positive return on equity of 6.08%. Equities research analysts anticipate that PowerSchool Holdings, Inc. will post 0.61 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of PowerSchool from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Piper Sandler restated an overweight rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of PowerSchool in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of PowerSchool from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Finally, TheStreet lowered shares of PowerSchool from a b- rating to a c rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, PowerSchool currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $27.67.

Read Our Latest Report on PWSC

PowerSchool Company Profile

(Free Report)

PowerSchool Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, offers cloud-based software to the K-12 education market in the United States, Canada, and internationally. Its solution embedded in school workflows and is used on daily basis by educators, students, administrators, and parents in schools and districts.

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CAVA Group, Inc. (NYSE:CAVA  Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $69.66 and last traded at $68.95, with a volume of 99144 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $68.25.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CAVA. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of CAVA Group from $49.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of CAVA Group in a report on Wednesday, December 13th. They set an outperform rating and a $46.00 price objective for the company. Wedbush reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $65.00 target price (up from $59.00) on shares of CAVA Group in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. William Blair reissued an outperform rating on shares of CAVA Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of CAVA Group from $49.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $56.50.

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Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on CAVA Group

CAVA Group Trading Up 0.9 %

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.35.

CAVA Group (NYSE:CAVA  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 26th. The company reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $175.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $240.03 million. CAVA Group had a return on equity of 4.28% and a net margin of 1.82%. The firms revenue was up 52.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CAVA Group, Inc. will post 0.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at CAVA Group

In other news, Director International S.C.A. Artal sold 2,000,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.25, for a total transaction of $132,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,507,990 shares in the company, valued at $1,756,154,337.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director International S.C.A. Artal sold 2,000,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.25, for a total transaction of $132,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Ronald M. Shaich sold 1,500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.20, for a total transaction of $85,800,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,457,634 shares in the company, valued at $254,976,664.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of CAVA Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in CAVA Group during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in CAVA Group by 190.0% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 870 shares of the companys stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the period. Clearstead Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CAVA Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. bought a new position in CAVA Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $74,000. 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.

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iShares MSCI Spain ETF (NYSEARCA:EWP  Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $32.06 and last traded at $32.02, with a volume of 3858 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $31.85.

iShares MSCI Spain ETF Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $824.65 million, a P/E ratio of 7.77 and a beta of 0.89. The companys 50 day moving average price is $29.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.19.

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Institutional Trading of iShares MSCI Spain ETF

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EWP. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its position in iShares MSCI Spain ETF by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 31,885 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $877,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of iShares MSCI Spain ETF by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 13,366 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $386,000 after acquiring an additional 493 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI Spain ETF by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 57,784 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $1,585,000 after buying an additional 615 shares during the period. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in iShares MSCI Spain ETF by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 31,687 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $628,000 after purchasing an additional 1,320 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in iShares MSCI Spain ETF by 64.5% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,408 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $121,000 after buying an additional 1,729 shares in the last quarter.

iShares MSCI Spain ETF Company Profile

iShares MSCI Spain Capped ETF, formerly iShares MSCI Spain Index Fund, is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of publicly traded securities in the Spanish market, as measured by the MSCI Spain Index (the Index).

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Shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN  Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $168.05 and last traded at $167.03, with a volume of 80674 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $166.04.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LEN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Lennar in a report on Monday, November 27th. They issued a hold rating and a $117.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Lennar from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Oppenheimer reissued a market perform rating on shares of Lennar in a report on Friday, March 15th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Lennar from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Lennar from $175.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lennar has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $162.69.

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Lennar Trading Up 1.1 %

The stock has a market cap of $47.14 billion, a PE ratio of 11.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a current ratio of 5.47, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The business has a 50 day moving average of $155.17 and a 200-day moving average of $136.09.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The construction company reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.36. Lennar had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 11.59%. The firm had revenue of $7.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $7.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.12 earnings per share. The firms quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Lennar Co. will post 14.24 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 24th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Lennars previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 23rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. Lennars payout ratio is currently 14.02%.

Institutional Trading of Lennar

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lennar during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lennar in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lennar during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Dagco Inc. acquired a new stake in Lennar in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lennar during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 81.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lennar Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Lennar Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a homebuilder primarily under the Lennar brand in the United States. It operates through Homebuilding East, Homebuilding Central, Homebuilding Texas, Homebuilding West, Financial Services, Multifamily, and Lennar Other segments. The company's homebuilding operations include the construction and sale of single-family attached and detached homes, as well as the purchase, development, and sale of residential land; and development, construction, and management of multifamily rental properties.

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Shares of EMCOR Group, Inc. (NYSE:EME  Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $350.43 and last traded at $349.80, with a volume of 11451 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $347.12.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on EME shares. DA Davidson reiterated a buy rating and set a $375.00 price objective on shares of EMCOR Group in a research note on Friday. KeyCorp initiated coverage on EMCOR Group in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a sector weight rating for the company.

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EMCOR Group Stock Up 1.6 %

The companys 50-day simple moving average is $272.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $233.06. The stock has a market cap of $16.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.08 and a beta of 1.09.

EMCOR Group (NYSE:EME  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The construction company reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $3.51 by $0.96. EMCOR Group had a return on equity of 28.41% and a net margin of 5.03%. The firm had revenue of $3.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $3.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.63 EPS. EMCOR Groups revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that EMCOR Group, Inc. will post 14.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EMCOR Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 16th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 12th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.20%. EMCOR Groups dividend payout ratio is presently 5.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at EMCOR Group

In related news, CEO Anthony Guzzi sold 6,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.65, for a total transaction of $1,917,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 219,023 shares of the companys stock, valued at $70,010,701.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the companys stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in EMCOR Group by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,152,648 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $1,000,359,000 after purchasing an additional 47,507 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of EMCOR Group by 2.4% in the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,565,326 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $579,687,000 after buying an additional 82,360 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of EMCOR Group by 7.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,551,683 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $747,239,000 after buying an additional 241,920 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in EMCOR Group by 3.6% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,744,930 shares of the construction companys stock worth $196,531,000 after buying an additional 61,165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of EMCOR Group by 41.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,068,555 shares of the construction companys stock worth $224,813,000 after acquiring an additional 310,718 shares during the period. 92.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

EMCOR Group Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

EMCOR Group, Inc provides construction and facilities, building, and industrial services in the United States and the United Kingdom. It offers design, integration, installation, start-up, operation, and maintenance services related to power transmission, distribution, and generation systems; energy solutions; premises electrical and lighting systems; process instrumentation; low-voltage systems; voice and data communications systems; roadway and transit lighting, signaling, and fiber optic lines; computerized traffic control systems, and signal and communication equipment; heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration, and geothermal solutions; clean-room process ventilation systems; fire protection and suppression systems; plumbing, process, and high-purity piping systems; controls and filtration systems; water and wastewater treatment systems; central plant heating and cooling systems; crane and rigging services; millwright services; and steel fabrication, erection, and welding services.

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Shares of CONSOL Energy Inc. (NYSE:CEIX  Get Free Report) gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $86.35, but opened at $79.81. CONSOL Energy shares last traded at $79.16, with a volume of 503,537 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, B. Riley dropped their target price on CONSOL Energy from $111.00 to $100.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th.

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CONSOL Energy Trading Down 7.3 %

The stock has a market cap of $2.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 1.77. The firms fifty day moving average price is $87.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $96.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

CONSOL Energy (NYSE:CEIX  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $5.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.77. CONSOL Energy had a net margin of 25.53% and a return on equity of 49.80%. The business had revenue of $649.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $608.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.89 EPS. The companys quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that CONSOL Energy Inc. will post 12.66 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO John Rothka sold 2,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.56, for a total transaction of $189,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 13,108 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,239,492.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.49% of the companys stock.

Institutional Trading of CONSOL Energy

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CEIX. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund acquired a new position in CONSOL Energy during the third quarter worth about $1,835,000. Fruth Investment Management purchased a new stake in shares of CONSOL Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in CONSOL Energy by 58.3% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,208,213 shares of the companys stock worth $121,462,000 after buying an additional 445,155 shares during the period. Dalal Street LLC increased its stake in CONSOL Energy by 94.9% during the 3rd quarter. Dalal Street LLC now owns 396,570 shares of the companys stock worth $41,604,000 after buying an additional 193,096 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its stake in CONSOL Energy by 2,301.5% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 116,955 shares of the companys stock worth $12,270,000 after buying an additional 112,085 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.63% of the companys stock.

About CONSOL Energy

(Get Free Report)

CONSOL Energy Inc, together with its subsidiaries, produces and sells bituminous coal in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Pennsylvania Mining Complex (PAMC) and CONSOL Marine Terminal. The company's PAMC segment engages in the mining, preparing, and marketing of bituminous coal to power generators, industrial end-users, and metallurgical end-users.

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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)

Editor: ZAD
iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF (NYSEARCA:IEUR  Get Free Report) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Tuesday . 454,314 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 47% from the previous sessions volume of 850,240 shares.The stock last traded at $57.82 and had previously closed at $57.55.

iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF Trading Up 0.4 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $4.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.11 and a beta of 0.95. The firms fifty day moving average price is $55.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.91.

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Institutional Trading of iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF by 21.8% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 414,120 shares of the companys stock valued at $22,114,000 after purchasing an additional 74,207 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF by 9.7% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 61,042 shares of the companys stock worth $3,260,000 after buying an additional 5,420 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF by 79.7% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 52,336 shares of the companys stock worth $2,795,000 after purchasing an additional 23,206 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF by 506.0% during the first quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 210,028 shares of the companys stock worth $11,215,000 after purchasing an additional 175,370 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF by 1.9% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,448 shares of the companys stock worth $878,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the period.

iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF Company Profile

The iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF (IEUR) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MSCI Europe IMI index, a market-cap-weighted index of developed European securities. IEUR was launched on Jun 10, 2014 and is managed by BlackRock.

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Floor & Decor (NYSE:FND  Free Report) had its target price boosted by Evercore ISI from $120.00 to $130.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Evercore ISI currently has an in-line rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on FND. Bank of America boosted their target price on Floor & Decor from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Floor & Decor from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Floor & Decor from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 26th. UBS Group cut Floor & Decor from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $135.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price target on Floor & Decor from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $109.45.

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Floor & Decor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FND traded up $0.99 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $128.38. 360,965 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,468,400. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $113.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $101.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.71 billion, a PE ratio of 56.56, a P/E/G ratio of 6.27 and a beta of 1.85. Floor & Decor has a 52-week low of $76.30 and a 52-week high of $135.67.

Floor & Decor (NYSE:FND  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.07. Floor & Decor had a net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 13.38%. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. Floor & Decors quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Floor & Decor will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Thomas V. Taylor sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.11, for a total transaction of $2,462,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 174,315 shares of the companys stock, valued at $21,459,919.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Norman Axelrod sold 40,000 shares of Floor & Decor stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.97, for a total value of $4,798,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 226,080 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $27,122,817.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Thomas V. Taylor sold 20,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.11, for a total value of $2,462,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 174,315 shares in the company, valued at $21,459,919.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 90,867 shares of company stock worth $11,016,089. Company insiders own 2.10% of the companys stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Floor & Decor

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new stake in Floor & Decor in the third quarter worth $30,000. Mendota Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Floor & Decor in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Floor & Decor during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in Floor & Decor during the 3rd quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Floor & Decor during the 4th quarter worth about $53,000.

Floor & Decor Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Floor & Decor Holdings, Inc together with its subsidiaries, operates as a multi-channel specialty retailer of hard surface flooring and related accessories, and commercial surfaces seller in Georgia. The company offers tile, wood, laminate, vinyl, and natural stone flooring products, as well as decorative accessories, wall tiles, and installation materials and tools; and vanities, shower doors, bath accessories, faucets, sinks, custom countertops, bathroom mirrors, and bathroom lighting.

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Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW  Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at OTR Global from a mixed rating to a positive rating in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports.

EW has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised Edwards Lifesciences from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and set a $94.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Mizuho boosted their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Evercore ISI cut Edwards Lifesciences from an outperform rating to an in-line rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Bank of America raised Edwards Lifesciences from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Edwards Lifesciences currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $88.50.

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Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance

NYSE:EW traded up $0.66 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $93.82. 687,239 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,049,830. Edwards Lifesciences has a twelve month low of $60.57 and a twelve month high of $95.27. The firm has a market cap of $56.41 billion, a PE ratio of 40.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 1.05. The stocks 50-day moving average is $84.70 and its 200-day moving average is $75.60. The company has a current ratio of 3.38, a quick ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts consensus estimates of $0.64. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 23.35% and a return on equity of 23.56%. Edwards Lifesciencess quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Edwards Lifesciences

In related news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.67, for a total value of $756,700.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 39,503 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,989,192.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Michael A. Mussallem sold 29,350 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.98, for a total transaction of $2,141,963.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,486 shares in the company, valued at $327,388.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 10,000 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.67, for a total transaction of $756,700.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 39,503 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,989,192.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 196,859 shares of company stock worth $16,445,296. Insiders own 1.29% of the companys stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Edwards Lifesciences

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Castleview Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, O Dell Group LLC purchased a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors own 79.46% of the companys stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Edwards Lifesciences Corporation provides products and technologies for structural heart disease and critical care monitoring in the United States, Europe, Japan, and internationally. It offers transcatheter heart valve replacement products for the minimally invasive replacement of aortic heart valves under the Edwards SAPIEN family of valves system; and transcatheter heart valve repair and replacement products to treat mitral and tricuspid valve diseases under the PASCAL PRECISION and Cardioband names.

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Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lifted its position in The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA  Free Report) by 1,550.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 64,351 shares of the aircraft producers stock after acquiring an additional 60,453 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLCs holdings in Boeing were worth $16,774,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Bollard Group LLC raised its position in shares of Boeing by 10.6% in the second quarter. Bollard Group LLC now owns 469 shares of the aircraft producers stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its holdings in Boeing by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 4,389 shares of the aircraft producers stock valued at $841,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Boeing by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 8,015 shares of the aircraft producers stock valued at $1,527,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Boeing by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 4,716 shares of the aircraft producers stock worth $1,229,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Graves Light Lenhart Wealth Inc. increased its holdings in Boeing by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Graves Light Lenhart Wealth Inc. now owns 1,540 shares of the aircraft producers stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 64.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Boeing Stock Performance

BA traded down $2.78 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $188.63. The company had a trading volume of 4,031,124 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,484,151. The Boeing Company has a twelve month low of $176.25 and a twelve month high of $267.54. The firms 50-day simple moving average is $201.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $210.30. The company has a market capitalization of $115.09 billion, a PE ratio of -51.60, a P/E/G ratio of 24.80 and a beta of 1.52.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Boeing Company will post 1.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on BA shares. Edward Jones cut Boeing from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Boeing from $275.00 to $230.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Barclays lifted their target price on Boeing from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Boeing from $268.00 to $257.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Boeing from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Boeing has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $242.19.

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About Boeing

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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.

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Ford Motor (NYSE:F  Get Free Report)s stock price fell 0.2% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $12.76 and last traded at $12.87. 10,885,965 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 53,611,168 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.90.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of Ford Motor in a report on Monday, December 4th. They set a hold rating and a $11.30 price objective on the stock. BNP Paribas lowered Ford Motor from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and set a $12.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Ford Motor in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. They issued a sell rating and a $10.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group cut Ford Motor from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $12.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a sector perform rating and issued a $12.00 price objective on shares of Ford Motor in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $13.75.

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Ford Motor Trading Down 1.6 %

The stock has a market cap of $50.43 billion, a PE ratio of 11.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.63. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $12.11 and a 200 day moving average of $11.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.33.

Ford Motor (NYSE:F  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The auto manufacturer reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.17. Ford Motor had a return on equity of 18.95% and a net margin of 2.47%. The firm had revenue of $43.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.51 earnings per share. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ford Motor will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Ford Motor Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a Variable dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 16th were paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. Ford Motors payout ratio is 55.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ford Motor

In other Ford Motor news, CAO Mark Kosman sold 26,898 shares of Ford Motor stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.53, for a total value of $337,031.94. Following the completion of 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the companys stock.

Institutional Trading of Ford Motor

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in F. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Ford Motor during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new stake in shares of Ford Motor during the second quarter worth about $29,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Ford Motor by 349.4% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,000 shares of the auto manufacturers stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,555 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ford Motor by 835.9% during the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 2,059 shares of the auto manufacturers stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,839 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ford Motor during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.74% of the companys stock.

Ford Motor Company Profile

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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.

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Michelmersh Brick Holdings plc (LON:MBH  Get Free Report) declared a dividend on Tuesday, March 26th, Upcoming.Co.Uk reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of GBX 3 ($0.04) per share on Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 6th. This is a boost from Michelmersh Bricks previous dividend of $1.50. The official announcement can be seen at this link.

Michelmersh Brick Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of Michelmersh Brick stock traded up GBX 3.04 ($0.04) on Tuesday, hitting GBX 104.54 ($1.32). 237,008 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 110,752. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.56. Michelmersh Brick has a one year low of GBX 75 ($0.95) and a one year high of GBX 108 ($1.36). The firms 50-day moving average price is GBX 98.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is GBX 90.49. The stock has a market capitalization of 97.93 million, a PE ratio of 1,015.00 and a beta of 0.94.

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Michelmersh Brick Company Profile

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Further Reading

Michelmersh Brick Holdings plc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of bricks and brick prefabricated products in the United Kingdom and rest of Europe. It offers extruded wire cut facing bricks, clay pavers, paving accessories, and special shaped products under the Blockleys brand; monotone color blends in rustic, drag wire, smooth, and sand faced textures under the Carlton brand; various bricks under the Floren.be brand; and clamp-fired stock facing bricks in various textural finishes under the Freshfield Lane brand.

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Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS  Get Free Report)s stock had its outperform rating restated by analysts at Raymond James in a research report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $60.00 price objective on the financial services providers stock. Raymond James target price indicates a potential upside of 20.51% from the stocks previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and issued a $59.00 price objective on shares of Webster Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Webster Financial from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, December 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of Webster Financial from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Webster Financial in a report on Friday, March 8th. They set an overweight rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Webster Financial from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and increased their price target for the company from $60.00 to $65.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $57.31.

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Webster Financial Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE WBS traded down $0.21 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $49.79. The company had a trading volume of 366,187 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,143,307. The companys fifty day moving average is $48.47 and its 200-day moving average is $45.42. Webster Financial has a one year low of $31.03 and a one year high of $53.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a market cap of $8.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.32.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.02). Webster Financial had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 22.01%. The company had revenue of $996.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $674.82 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.60 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Webster Financial will post 5.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Webster Financial news, COO Luis Massiani sold 13,500 shares of Webster Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.63, for a total value of $697,005.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 89,621 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,627,132.23. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, COO Luis Massiani sold 13,500 shares of Webster Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.63, for a total transaction of $697,005.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 89,621 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,627,132.23. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel Bley sold 2,000 shares of Webster Financial stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.60, for a total transaction of $95,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,955 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,330,658. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,941 shares of company stock valued at $1,796,482 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the companys stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Webster Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Webster Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,080,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Webster Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,624,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Webster Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $84,000. Covenant Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Webster Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $210,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Webster Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $395,000. Institutional investors own 86.37% of the companys stock.

Webster Financial Company Profile

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Webster Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Webster Bank, National Association that provides a range of financial products and services to individuals, families, and businesses in the United States. It operates through three segments: Commercial Banking, HSA Bank, and Consumer Banking.

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Athabasca Oil (TSE:ATH  Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, BayStreet.CA reports. They presently have a C$6.00 price target on the oil and gas exploration companys stock. Royal Bank of Canadas price objective suggests a potential upside of 14.72% from the stocks previous close.

ATH has been the subject of several other research reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Athabasca Oil from C$4.75 to C$4.50 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 7th. Desjardins lifted their target price on Athabasca Oil from C$5.50 to C$5.75 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday. TD Securities lowered Athabasca Oil from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a C$6.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Athabasca Oil from C$5.00 to C$5.75 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, ATB Capital raised their price target on Athabasca Oil from C$5.50 to C$6.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of C$5.67.

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Athabasca Oil Stock Down 4.2 %

TSE:ATH traded down C$0.23 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching C$5.23. The stock had a trading volume of 3,392,873 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,131,998. The stock has a market cap of C$2.97 billion, a P/E ratio of -58.67, a PEG ratio of -0.51 and a beta of 2.19. The businesss 50 day moving average is C$4.71 and its 200 day moving average is C$4.28. Athabasca Oil has a fifty-two week low of C$2.54 and a fifty-two week high of C$5.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.72, a current ratio of 2.70 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

Athabasca Oil (TSE:ATH  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The oil and gas exploration company reported C$0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$315.93 million for the quarter. Athabasca Oil had a negative net margin of 4.29% and a negative return on equity of 3.11%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Athabasca Oil will post 0.4798903 earnings per share for the current year.

About Athabasca Oil

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Athabasca Oil Corporation engages in the exploration, development, and production of light and thermal oil resource plays in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin in Alberta, Canada. The company operates through Thermal Oil and Light Oil segments. Its principal properties are in the Greater Placid and Greater Kaybob areas near the Town of Fox Creek in northwestern Alberta; and the Leismer and Hangingstone projects located in the Athabasca region of northeastern Alberta.

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Shares of NuScale Power Co. (NYSE:SMR  Get Free Report) dropped 3.4% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $3.90 and last traded at $3.93. Approximately 1,838,655 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 51% from the average daily volume of 3,777,372 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.07.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SMR has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of NuScale Power from $2.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of NuScale Power from $4.25 to $8.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Canaccord Genuity Group started coverage on shares of NuScale Power in a report on Monday, January 29th. They issued a buy rating and a $4.25 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an underweight rating and issued a $4.50 price objective (down from $7.50) on shares of NuScale Power in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $7.75.

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NuScale Power Stock Up 2.2 %

Insiders Place Their Bets

The firms 50 day simple moving average is $3.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.74. The company has a market capitalization of $974.65 million, a PE ratio of -5.44 and a beta of 0.90.

In other news, CEO John Lawrence Hopkins sold 59,768 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.20, for a total transaction of $251,025.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 3.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NuScale Power

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NuScale Power by 11.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,983,460 shares of the companys stock worth $14,619,000 after buying an additional 301,548 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates bought a new position in shares of NuScale Power in the third quarter valued at approximately $439,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in NuScale Power by 54.2% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,219,262 shares of the companys stock worth $15,774,000 after acquiring an additional 1,132,131 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its position in NuScale Power by 17.2% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 62,600 shares of the companys stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 9,200 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in NuScale Power by 66.9% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 158,470 shares of the companys stock worth $777,000 after acquiring an additional 63,519 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 15.28% of the companys stock.

NuScale Power Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

NuScale Power Corporation engages in the development and sale of modular light water reactor nuclear power plants to supply energy for electrical generation, district heating, desalination, hydrogen production, and other process heat applications. It offers NuScale Power Module (NPM), a water reactor that can generate 77 megawatts of electricity (MWe); and VOYGR power plant designs for three facility sizes that are capable of housing from one to four and six or twelve NPMs.

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Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW  Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 419 shares of the information technology services providers stock, valued at approximately $296,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Management Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of ServiceNow by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Management Partners LLC now owns 531 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $375,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its holdings in ServiceNow by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 190 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC increased its holdings in ServiceNow by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 121 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in ServiceNow by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,271 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $710,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SWS Partners increased its holdings in ServiceNow by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. SWS Partners now owns 3,521 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $1,968,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. 87.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Paul John Smith sold 1,180 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $767.12, for a total value of $905,201.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,392 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,067,831.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO William R. Mcdermott sold 5,030 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $753.08, for a total value of $3,787,992.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 17,177 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $12,935,655.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul John Smith sold 1,180 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $767.12, for a total value of $905,201.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,392 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,067,831.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,164 shares of company stock valued at $9,940,303. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the companys stock.

ServiceNow Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE NOW traded up $3.93 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $778.57. 909,156 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,235,111. ServiceNow, Inc. has a 1 year low of $427.01 and a 1 year high of $815.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $159.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 93.28, a PEG ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The business has a 50 day moving average of $767.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $677.11.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The information technology services provider reported $3.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.34. ServiceNow had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 19.30%. The business had revenue of $2.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. ServiceNows revenue was up 25.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 6.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on NOW shares. KeyCorp started coverage on ServiceNow in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an overweight rating and a $1,000.00 price target for the company. JMP Securities boosted their price target on ServiceNow from $665.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a market outperform rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on ServiceNow from $630.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. UBS Group boosted their price target on ServiceNow from $865.00 to $885.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on ServiceNow from $660.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, ServiceNow has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $762.96.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on NOW

ServiceNow Company Profile

(Free Report)

ServiceNow, Inc provides end to-end intelligent workflow automation platform solutions for digital businesses in the North America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company operates the Now platform for end-to-end digital transformation, artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotic process automation, process mining, performance analytics, and collaboration and development tools.

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Want to see what other hedge funds are holding NOW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW  Free Report).

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This photo taken from a helicopter on March 24, 2024 shows a view of the Fox Glacier on the west coast of the South Island, New Zealand. (Photo by Yang Liu/Xinhua)

WELLINGTON, March 25 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's latest snowline survey revealed "continued shrinkage" of glaciers in the country.

New Zealand's glaciers appear "smashed and shattered" due to enduring ice loss, the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) said on Monday.

NIWA has been flying over New Zealand's mountain ranges to conduct their end-of-summer snowline survey, observing the state of glaciers and the elevation of the snowline since the 1970s.

The research paints a picture of how New Zealand's stunning landscape is transforming, said Andrew Lorrey, the program lead and NIWA's principal scientist.

Overall, the snowline has been rising and in the most recent years the rise has accelerated, so New Zealand is experiencing a continued trend of glacial ice loss, Lorrey said.

Lorrey attributed it to the global rising temperature, with the past decade seeing eight of the 10 warmest years that New Zealand has experienced since records began.

2023 was the second warmest year on record -- a trend that followed the rest of the world, with 86 percent of the planet having above-average temperatures that year, Lorrey said.

"Even if we got a few cooler seasons, they wouldn't be enough to undo the damage that's already been done," he said.

Glaciers form a significant part of New Zealand's environment, economy, and culture. They are important sources of meltwater, which sustains stream habitats and delivers nutrients into lakes, rivers, and oceans. They also feed hydroelectric lakes, impacting the availability of renewable energy, and contribute millions of dollars to New Zealand's economy through tourism, the scientist said.

New Zealand is one of the few mid-latitude places where people live near glaciers, where people can see and visit them easily. But this is getting tougher. Tourism operators have to penetrate further and further into the mountains to reach them, he said.

This photo taken on March 24, 2024 shows an ice crevasse on the Fox Glacier on the west coast of the South Island, New Zealand. (Photo by Yang Liu/Xinhua)

This photo taken on March 24, 2024 shows an ice crevasse on the Fox Glacier on the west coast of the South Island, New Zealand. (Photo by Yang Liu/Xinhua)

This photo taken on March 24, 2024 shows a view of the Fox Glacier on the west coast of the South Island, New Zealand. (Photo by Yang Liu/Xinhua)

This photo taken on March 24, 2024 shows a view of the Fox Glacier on the west coast of the South Island, New Zealand. (Photo by Yang Liu/Xinhua)

Editor: WXL
Tectonic Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC  Free Report) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,801 shares of the companys stock after selling 235 shares during the period. Tectonic Advisors LLCs holdings in Brunswick were worth $1,238,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Brunswick by 224.7% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 49,446 shares of the companys stock valued at $3,906,000 after buying an additional 34,220 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Brunswick by 127.6% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 866,226 shares of the companys stock valued at $68,432,000 after buying an additional 485,588 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Brunswick by 29.5% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 144,584 shares of the companys stock valued at $11,422,000 after buying an additional 32,901 shares during the period. UBS Group AG boosted its position in Brunswick by 52.2% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 95,593 shares of the companys stock valued at $7,552,000 after buying an additional 32,771 shares during the period. Finally, Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Brunswick by 12.1% during the third quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. now owns 167,736 shares of the companys stock valued at $13,251,000 after buying an additional 18,150 shares during the period. 99.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Brunswick

In related news, VP Christopher F. Dekker sold 6,234 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.53, for a total transaction of $526,960.02. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 35,176 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,973,427.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Christopher F. Dekker sold 6,234 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.53, for a total transaction of $526,960.02. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 35,176 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,973,427.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David M. Foulkes sold 35,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.11, for a total transaction of $3,048,850.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 272,626 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $23,748,450.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 52,696 shares of company stock valued at $4,574,199. Corporate insiders own 0.81% of the companys stock.

Brunswick Trading Up 0.3 %

BC stock traded up $0.27 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $93.26. The company had a trading volume of 460,128 shares, compared to its average volume of 745,921. Brunswick Co. has a 52 week low of $66.47 and a 52 week high of $99.68. The business has a 50 day moving average of $87.00 and a 200 day moving average of $82.86. The company has a market cap of $6.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.64 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Brunswick (NYSE:BC  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.66 by ($0.21). Brunswick had a net margin of 6.57% and a return on equity of 29.78%. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.99 EPS. Brunswicks revenue for the quarter was down 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Brunswick Co. will post 7.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brunswick Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is an increase from Brunswicks previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. Brunswicks dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Brunswick from $88.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Brunswick from $115.00 to $105.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 2nd. B. Riley upgraded shares of Brunswick from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $108.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. DA Davidson reiterated a neutral rating and set a $77.00 target price on shares of Brunswick in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their target price on shares of Brunswick from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $93.58.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Brunswick

Brunswick Company Profile

(Free Report)

Brunswick Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets recreation products in the United States, Europe, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Propulsion, Engine P&A, Navico Group, and Boat. The Propulsion segment provides outboard, sterndrive, inboard engines, propulsion-related controls, rigging, and propellers for boat builders through marine retail dealers under the Mercury, Mercury MerCruiser, Mariner, Mercury Racing, Mercury Diesel, Avator, and Fliteboard brands.

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Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica Roosevelt Skerrit at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)

BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica Roosevelt Skerrit in Beijing on Monday.

Noting that Dominica is an important country in the Caribbean, as well as a trustworthy good friend and partner to China in the region, Xi said the two countries have respected each other and treated each other as equals since the establishment of diplomatic ties 20 years ago.

With increasing political mutual trust, vigorous exchanges and cooperation in various fields, and with the deepening friendship between the two peoples, China-Dominica relations have become a good example of South-South cooperation, he added.

China highly appreciates Dominica's steadfast friendship, Xi said. China is willing to work with Dominica to synergize development strategies and turn the friendly relations into a driving force for win-win cooperation to achieve more results and deliver more benefits for the two peoples, he said.

Xi stressed that the key to the sound development of China-Dominica relations lies in a high level of political mutual trust, as well as in mutual understanding and support on issues involving each other's core interests and major concerns. China firmly supports the people of Dominica in following a development path suited to their national conditions, and stands ready to bolster friendly exchanges and strengthen the sharing of experience on governance, he added.

China welcomes the Dominican side to board the "express train" of Chinese modernization to expand bilateral cooperation in fields such as trade and the economy, infrastructure construction, agriculture and health care, Xi said, noting that China will continue to provide assistance within its capacity for Dominica's economic and social development.

China is willing to promote cultural and people-to-people exchanges with the Dominican side, welcomes more Dominican students to study in China, and will continue to provide scholarships and training programs, Xi said.

He noted that the two sides should work together to develop the Confucius Classroom at the Dominica State College, and explore more cooperation on vocational and technical training in Dominica.

China advocates an equal, orderly, multipolar world and inclusive economic globalization that benefits all, and it holds that all countries, big or small, are equal in the international community, Xi said.

Stressing that China attaches importance to the issues of Small Island Developing States related to climate change, Xi said that China supports Dominica in playing an active role in international and regional affairs, and stands ready to strengthen coordination and cooperation with the Dominican side, deepen South-South cooperation, safeguard the common interests of developing countries, and advance the construction of a community with a shared future for humanity.

China attaches great importance to its relations with Caribbean countries, Xi noted, saying that China appreciates Dominica's important role in promoting China-Caribbean cooperation during the latter's rotating chairmanship of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and that China will continue to support countries in the Caribbean to improve their prosperity, development and people's well-being.

For his part, Skerrit said that he made the right decision to establish diplomatic relations with China 20 years ago, and that he was glad to visit China again on the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

Noting that China has not only made great achievements in poverty alleviation and development, but also contributes significantly to the peace and development of Dominica, other Latin American countries and the world at large, Skerrit said that China's support and cooperation has helped Dominica to safeguard its independence and development.

Skerrit commended the concept of building a community with a shared future for humanity and a series of global initiatives proposed by China, saying that they are crucial to improving solidarity and cooperation, and to the joint promotion of development and prosperity in today's world.

Dominica abides firmly by the one-China principle and opposes any interference in China's internal affairs, he said.

He expressed Dominica's willingness to be China's all-weather strategic partner, and to continue playing a positive role in promoting relations between Caribbean countries and China.

Skerrit added that the country also expects closer communication and coordination on international affairs with China in order to safeguard international fairness and justice, and to make positive contributions to the promotion of world peace and development.

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica Roosevelt Skerrit at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan)

Editor: WXL
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)

Editor: WXL
A man who died following a fall on Croagh Patrick was commended for his 'selfless act' to offer his body for the advancement of medical science.

Pat O'Mahony (78, pictured) of Harbour Hill, Westport and formerly of Dalkey in Dublin died in Mayo University Hospital on November 19, 2023 after he suffered a traumatic head injury following a fall on Croagh Patrick two days earlier.

The inquest into his death which took place in Swinford Courthouse yesterday was expedited to allow Mr O'Mahony's body to be released to the University of Galway for medical science.

Dr Tamas Nemeth, Consultant Pathologist who performed the post mortem into his death, stated in his report that his legacy will continue through the knowledge gained from his contribution to medical science.

It is deeply commendable that he offered his body for research, Dr Nemth stated in his report. This selfless act contributes to the advancement of medical science. His contribution will aid in the education of medical professionals and researchers, potentially saving or improving countless lives in the future.

His generosity in making such a decision reflects a profound commitment to the welfare of others, and his legacy will continue through the knowledge gained from his contribution, he concluded.

Following the fall on Croagh Patrick, Mr O' Mahony was airlifted to Mayo University Hospital where a CT scan showed he suffered a sustained brain injury that was not compatible with life.

It was decided that his condition did not permit his transfer to Beaumont Hospital in Dublin for further specialised treatment as his chances of survival would have been limited.

The post mortem found that the cause of death was due to a traumatic brain haemorrhage as a result of a base of skull fracture due to a fall.

'Great form'

Mary Kilroy told the inquest she was working in the Helm Bar in Westport on November 17 last when she met Mr O'Mahony at 7.30am. She said he was in great form and informed her he was going to climb Croagh Patrick.

She said she advised against it as the weather was not good but he stated he was an experienced climber.

The inquest heard that Nelius Fitzpatrick from Kinsale in Co Cork was hiking on Croagh Patrick when he came across a person lying on the ground. He said he along with others provided assistance and comforted Mr O'Mahony. He said Mr O'Mahony attempted to speak but apart from a discernible 'Jesus Christ' no other words were interpretable.

Coroner for the District of Mayo, Patrick O'Connor recorded a verdict of accidental death and that Mr O'Mahony's showed the dangers which can occur while climbing Croagh Patrick.

People do fall unfortunately on Croagh Patrick and do suffer injury and people do pass away. It is important that when people are climbing that they are aware of the conditions and weather but also of their own medical condition, he said.

He echoed Dr Nemeth's comments about his decision to research his body for medical science and commended him for his selfless act.

Family members who attended the inquest thanked the staff in Mayo University Hospital for their compassion they showed to them and to Mr O'Mahony and for allowing him to die with dignity.
Popular doughnut shop Krispy Kreme is expected to launch their special edition collection of First Holy Communion doughnuts in-store soon.

The American franchise opened its doors in Ireland for the first time back in 2018. The first 24-hour drive-through store, located in Blanchardstown, Dublin, saw hundreds of people queue to get their hands on a sticky sweet treat.

Now, the famous confectionary brand is integrating into Irish and indeed, Catholic culture, as it is set to release a range of doughnuts designed specifically for those celebrating their First Holy Communion.

Declan Foley, country manager for Ireland at Krispy Kreme, said: We can confirm that Krispy Kreme will be adding a range of communion doughnuts to help family and friends celebrate these very special occasions together.

Joy, sharing and generosity are fundamental aspects of the Krispy Kreme brand, and we want to provide sharing moments for these two really special, Irish moments. We will be releasing more details on the range very soon.

The expansion of the brand nationwide means that since January 2024, there are multiple Krispy Kreme stores in cities such as Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick.
Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI), the maker of Falken Tyres, has expanded its Sensing Core intelligent tire technology with a new feature designed to prevent wheel detachment incidents, set to debut in production vehicles this year. The sensor-less system is designed to address various safety concerns like tire pressure, wear, load distribution and road hazards.

Loose wheel accidents, which are particularly prevalent during winter tire changes and can be severe, prompted SRIs development of the wheel detachment function. When car and truck drivers switch over to winter tires, the wheel nuts may not be tightened sufficiently. While many commercial vehicle operators use mechanical clips on the nuts as a visual check, they are not 100% reliable and rely on the diligence of the driver to check each of them before each journey.

With such accidents receiving prominent media attention in recent years, including in Japan where SRI is based, the Japanese government expressed a desire to reduce loose wheel accidents. SRI says that in 2024, an OEM customer will integrate this feature into their vehicles as standard equipment, with discussions ongoing with other manufacturers.

Functioning independently of tire make, model or size, the wheel detachment function analyzes wheel-speed signals and data from the vehicles controller area network (CAN) to detect loose wheel nuts, even by as little as 1mm.

Sensing Core evolved out of SRIs deflation warning system (DWS) and is designed, the company says, to function as the centrepiece of the peripheral services SRI is developing to meet the future challenges of CASE vehicles and Mobility as a Service (MaaS) under the Smart Tire Concept initiative  an effort from SRI to develop various technologies needed for the tires of the future.

We envisage that Sensing Core will make a significant contribution to the evolution and further development of mobility in the coming autonomous driving society, said Dr Bernd Lowenhaupt, managing director, Sumitomo Rubber Europe.

We will not only utilize the data obtained by Sensing Core, including road condition data, for vehicle control, but also pursue technological development with our eyes on the future integration of the data with societal information via cloud services.

Future applications of the system include cloud-based tire wear monitoring, where usage data is enables the prediction of tire wear and issuance of alerts to drivers or fleet managers for timely replacements.
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)

Editor: JYZ
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)

Editor: JYZ
Court judge recuses himself from case of Finance and Credit Bank loans under PGOK guarantees for UAH 4.727 bln, new panel appointed  Ferrexpo

The presiding judge of the Supreme Court recused himself from the case of loans from the Finance and Credit Bank, whose owner is Kostiantyn Zhevaho, issued under the guarantees of Poltava Mining and Processing Plant (PGOK, or FPM), part of Ferrexpo Group, in the amount of UAH 4.727 billion (about $125 million).

"Two court hearings that had been scheduled for March 20, 2024 did not take place," according to the stock exchange announcement of Ferrexpo mining company with assets in Ukraine.

It is recalled that on January 29 of this year, the Economic Court of Appeal confirmed the obligations of the Ferrexpo-controlled PGOK under guarantees in the amount of UAH 4.727 billion from Finance and Credit Bank. On January 30, 2024, PGOK filed a cassation appeal with the Supreme Court of Ukraine and an application to suspend the execution of the decision of the Eastern (Skhidny) Economic Court of Appeal in Kharkiv. The meeting of the Supreme Council was scheduled to take place on March 20, 2024.

"A hearing regarding a claim against FPM was postponed due to the presiding judge's recusal, with a new court date pending," the report says.

In addition, a meeting of the Court of Appeal was scheduled for March 20 of this year to release on bail the general director of PGOK in the case of royalties (on the fact of illegal mining and use of minerals, which caused about UAH 157 billion of damage to the state).

"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 April 2," according to the document.

"Regarding the anticipated preparatory hearing at the Commercial Court in Poltava region, scheduled for March 12 to address an application from Kysen, Ferrexpo said the hearing was postponed. The rescheduled hearing was now set for April 9, with Kysen claiming a debt increase to UAH 4.5 million ($120,000) 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," the report reads.

"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," according to the report.
The country is tonight mourning the loss of one of its legal luminaries... who also served i
NATO cannot hope to defend against Russian attack with one military arm tied behind its backs, argues Dan Rice, former special adviser to the Ukrainian commander-in-chief, now President American University Kyiv.

The relevant op-ed was published by CEPA, Ukrinform saw.

A potential Russian invasion of the Baltic countries is a growing concern, Rice says. The fear that Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia would fall in a matter of days is a serious threat to regional stability and to alliance integrity.

He stressed the need to exhaust every military, diplomatic, and economic effort to deter the potential invasion of a NATO ally as the previous deterrence tactic did not prevent Russia from attacking Ukraine.

This will be an effort on many fronts, but it could usefully begin with withdrawal from the Cluster Munitions Convention, an international agreement that includes 23 European members of NATO  including the UK, France, and Germany  and that amounts to a serious act of military self-harm. (Russia has not signed,) Rice wrote.

Admitting the controversial nature of cluster munitions as they can leave unexploded submunitions behind, Rice says there are numerous reasons why they are a good thing on the battlefield (as Ukraine has been demonstrating.)

Artillery cluster munitions are much, much more deadly, especially against troops advancing in the open  as they would in any attack on the Baltics, Dan Rice argued.

US army research from the Vietnam War showed that it took 13.6 shells to kill an enemy combatant with standard 155mm shells, and only 1.7 using cluster rounds. As noted by the UKs RUSI think tank, that has enormous implications for wear on artillery barrels. In the open terrain of the Donbas and Crimea, the ratio is likely much more extreme. This is an artillery-based war of attrition, and cluster artillery shells are NATOs most lethal artillery, the op-ed reads.

Rice says this is well understood by NATOs military, especially in the frontline states, as Finland, Poland, Romania, Estonia, and Latvia have not signed the convention. The issue is now being debated again in Lithuania; the countrys defense ministry wants it to abrogate the treaty, according to Rice.

The need for cluster munitions is particularly pressing in the Polish-Lithuanian borderland known as the Suwaki Gap, where Russia poses a credible threat of a high-intensity conflict. This strategic corridor, if seized by Russian forces, could cut off the Baltic states from the rest of NATO, wrote the former CinC adviser.

He recalled that cluster munitions were some of the most lethal conventional weapons that successfully deterred the Soviet Union. These munitions can destroy large-scale Russian units quickly, especially if they are on the offensive.

The 2008 Convention, signed by 112 countries in Oslo in 2008, was a misguided attempt at achieving peace, Rice argues, noting that it weakened the Wests deterrence capabilities and gave an advantage to aggressors like Russia and China, who refused to sign.

Norway and Lithuania are the only NATO states bordering Russia that have signed the convention. It is crucial that both now acknowledge changing circumstances by withdrawing from this agreement. They should make it clear to Russia that they possess cluster munitions and are prepared to use them in defense should they be invaded, the op-ed reads.

Also, the UK, being a party to the Convention, has unintentionally weakened the defenses of Central and Eastern Europe. Last year, the British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace suggested arms manufacturers should look to replicate the effects of cluster munitions and implicitly acknowledged that without them, the UK armed forces lacked an important capability, Rice recalled.

As NATO celebrates its 75th anniversary at the Washington summit in July, all those members that have signed should unite in withdrawing from the CMC. It would be useful if the move were led by Norway and the UK, both founding NATO members, who can reasonably assert that the use of cluster munitions is designed to restore deterrence, and thus improve the prospects for peace, Dan Rice wrote.
Now it is extremely important to take care of those who need support and not to leave people alone facing their difficulties.

Thats according to President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, who addressed the nation Monday night, Ukrinform reports.

Dear Ukrainians!

A few summaries for this day.

First. I thank everyone who is working to eliminate the consequences of Russian strikes. Kyiv  ballistic missiles damaged houses and the building of the Academy of Arts today. All the injured have been provided with the necessary assistance. Thank God, there were no children at the academy. The debris clearance lasts all day. Odesa and Mykolaiv  after the attacks on power facilities, the situation is complicated, all the necessary services and repair crews were involved. In the afternoon, there was another strike on Odesa  people were injured. Kharkiv is still in a particularly challenging situation, but every day energy supply to the city is being gradually restored. I am grateful to everyone who works for the city, to everyone who cares about people and helps others. Now it is extremely important to take care of those who need support. And even if people feel uncomfortable asking others for support, please pay attention and support them yourself, do not leave people alone with their difficulties.

Second. Throughout the day, there were reports from the military, intelligence, and the Security Service of Ukraine. Commander-in-Chief Syrskyi, Chief of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine Budanov, Minister of Defense of Ukraine Umerov. We had thorough discussions on how to further reduce Russia's terrorist potential. And we are carefully planning our actions. There was a report by Head of the Foreign Intelligence Service Lytvynenko on the current threats. There was also the usual weekly report by Head of the Security Service Maliuk on the results of the SSU over the past week and the planning of tasks for this week. Of course, today I congratulated General Maliuk and the entire staff of the Security Service of Ukraine on their professional day. All of us in our country should be grateful to the combat-ready Security Service of Ukraine, which is truly inflicting significant damage on the enemy and achieving the goals that Ukraine really needs, along with all other elements of the Defense and Security Forces. I am grateful to every SSU warrior, to everyone in the Security Service who works really effectively for the sake of Ukraine.

Third. Today, I took part in an iftar  a special dinner that takes place during the month of Ramadan. Together with representatives of the Ukrainian Muslim community, Muslim warriors, representatives of the diplomatic corps from the countries of the global Muslim community, and, of course, representatives of the Crimean Tatar people, we thanked everyone who cares about Ukraine and helps us. We honored our warriors. And with everyone who had the honor to share the iftar today, we wished a fair and just peace for Ukraine and for all nations who, just like us, cherish life.

And one more thing. Today, Putin was talking to himself again, and it was again broadcast on television. Again, he accuses Ukraine. A sick and cynical creature. Everyone is a terrorist to him, except for himself, although he has been fueled by terror for two decades already. He is the biggest opening for terror. He and his special services. And when he is gone, the demand for terror and violence will disappear with him, because it is his demand. No one else's.

I thank everyone who protects people and values life! I thank everyone who stands with Ukraine!

Glory to Ukraine!
Franco-Polish steps to expand restrictions on the import of Ukrainian food products into the EU could provoke the worsening and prolongation of Russias war in Ukraine, Minister of Agricultural Policy and Food Mykola Solsky said in an interview with the Financial Times.

In his opinion, additional restrictions, which are the subject of fierce debate within the European Union, although intended to calm angry European farmers, will at the same time deal a blow to Ukraines income and increase the chances that the war will drag on.

Solsky pointed out that it was not Ukraines fault that high harvests in the United States and Latin America led to a fall in grain prices. He also added that increasing protectionism and subsidies is not the solution for European farmers, as they need to become more efficient to compete in global markets.

Some 80% of the problems that are usually associated with Ukrainian exports do not exist. They are invented, says the Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine.

The publication notes that Warsaw and Paris are making efforts to strengthen a preliminary agreement reached last week that imposes restrictions on many Ukrainian imports in exchange for an extension of the duty-free regime adopted after Moscow's full-scale invasion in 2022.

Farmers in Poland blocked the border with Ukraine, while in France anti-Ukrainian sentiment is also growing, and pressure on French President Emmanuel Macron is increasing. He, in turn, demands an increase in restrictions ahead of the meeting of EU ambassadors on March 27 to conclude an agreement on the import of Ukrainian agricultural products.

The agreement on the extension of autonomous trade measures, signed last week, already envisaged a reduction in imports of Ukrainian agricultural products to the EU by EUR400 million. The Franco-Polish proposal will reduce this amount by another EUR800 million.

Diplomats say the deciding vote will be in the hands of the Italian government, since a positive decision will require the support of a majority of EU member states, calculated according to their population. If Rome supports Warsaw and Paris, other EU member states will be forced to agree to big cuts to prevent the loss of duty-free access to the EU in June, the publication notes.
A total of 871 health facilities affected by Russian attacks have been fully or partially renovated across Ukraine.

The relevant statement was made by the Ukrainian Health Ministry, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

Over more than 25 months, a total of 871 heath facilities have been fully or partially renovated in different regions of Ukraine. In particular, 513 objects were renovated fully and 358 partially. Most of them are situated in the Mykolaiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv, Kharkiv and Chernihiv regions, the report states.

In general, Russian troops caused damage to 1,554 health facilities. Another 205 objects were completely destroyed and can no longer be renovated.

Most losses were suffered by health facilities situated in such regions as Kharkiv, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv and Chernihiv.

Additionally, 260 ambulances were destroyed by Russian mercenaries, 150 damaged and another 125 seized.

A reminder that Mykolaiv Regional Ophthalmology Hospital, which was damaged in Russian shelling back in spring 2022, has recently been renovated.

Photo: Kharkiv Regional Military Administration
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Published March 26, 2024

CAPTION:(L-R, standing) Dr. Blake Farman, Pradeep Poudel, Sumiksha Koirala, Courtney Stephenson, Niriara KC, Dinesh Chhantyal, Dr. Jemin Shim (L-R, kneeling) Pushkar Kandel, Subik Sapkota, Subash Sapkota

MONROE, LA  Eight ULM students enjoyed the opportunity to attend the annual meeting of the Louisiana-Mississippi section of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) in New Orleans, LA from February 29 through March 2, 2024. Students attended a Career Panel highlighting the many opportunities for mathematics majors post-graduation, participated in workshops on mathematical modeling and data science, attended talks focused on applications of mathematics to problems in hydrology, data science, fluid dynamics, and logic, and networked with faculty, professional mathematicians, and other students from the region.

When asked to summarize the experience, Subik Sapkota said, Attending the workshops and participating in the competition at the MAA sectional meeting was a truly enriching experience for me. I gained valuable insights into the prospects of a math major and discovered new career paths within mathematics that I found intriguing. The opportunity to learn from experts in the field and engage with fellow enthusiasts was both inspiring and educational. Overall, it was a rewarding journey that has fueled my passion for mathematics even further.

In addition to networking and professional development, students demonstrated their problem-solving skills by participating in the 21st annual Integration Bee. The competition included 55 students from 11 schools across the region. ULM was represented by Dinesh Chhantyal, Pushkar Kandel, Nirjara K C, Sumiksha Koirala, Pradeep Poudel, and Subik Sapkota. ULM students exhibited exceptional performance by taking five of the top seven spots, with Dinesh Chhantyal placing third overall.

The next MAA sectional meeting will take place in Spring 2025 in Jackson, MS. According to Subash Sapkota, I would definitely recommend my fellow mathematics majors attend MAA meetings as they are a great resource for networking, insightful workshop experiences, inspiring people, and someone who can guide you because they were somehow in the same shoes in some point of their life. Students who are interested in participating in the future should keep an eye out for the Integration Bee qualifier in the Fall.

About the Mathematics Program

Building from a solid foundation of dedicated faculty, the program provides a top-quality mathematics curriculum incorporating contemporary educational technology as well as innovative teaching strategies. Along with the essential quantitative skills, all levels of the curriculum will develop logical reasoning and problem-solving skills. The mathematics program offers three concentrations in Mathematics, Actuarial Sciences, and Mathematics Education. For more information, visit https://www.ulm.edu/math.
Oman Cables Industry (OCI), a leading cable solutions provider, has appointed a new Board of Directors led by Cinzia Farise as the Chairperson. She is the first woman chairperson of leading a manufacturing listed company in Oman.

The appointment came at the companys Annual General Meeting held this week. The board members cover a broad spectrum of international skills, educational background, professional qualifications, experience and expertise strengthening the robust corporate governance framework, the company said.

The new board will include Mohamed Al Lawati (Vice Chairperson), Sayyid Shabib Al Busaidi, Laura Figini, Fabrizio Rutschmann, Yasser Al Rashdi and Ian Prescott.

Cinzia Farise has a long track record of board membership and chairmanship in various multinational companies, in addition to being a member of the Advisory Board of Sultan Qaboos University of Oman, College of Engineering. She served as the Chief Executive Officer at Oman Cables and as Regional Chief Executive Officer at Prysmian MEART (Middle East, Africa, Turkey, Russia and India), before moving to her global role as the Executive Vice President Power Grids at Prysmian Group.

The AGM also approved the financial results for 2023 with a turnover of OMR248.17 million ($644.75 million) and a net profit of OMR18.93 million, marking a 69.4% increase compared to last year.

Farise commented: "During the recent years Oman Cables has shown continued growth and a robust financial performance. The strong focus on differentiation was paying, and the significant increase in profitability is the result of a clear strategy aiming to support the ongoing energy transition, within the frame of Oman vision 2040. Our unwavering commitment is to elevate the shareholder and stakeholder value further.  TradeArabia News Service
All generation facilities damaged as result of Russian attack to be returned to operation  head of Ukrenergo

All power plants damaged as a result of the Russian attack on the Ukrainian power system on March 22, including Kharkiv CHPP-5, must be returned to operation, Volodymyr Kudrytsky, Board Chairman of NPC Ukrenergo, has said.

"All power plants attacked on March 22 will definitely be returned. I don't want to name the timing of their return, in particular, CHPP-5 in Kharkiv, so as not to give the enemy information," he said at a briefing at the Kharkiv media center on Tuesday.

At the same time, Kudrytsky noted that own generation is extremely important and ensures the energy security of cities such as Kharkiv, Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipro, and Odesa, since they are large consumers of electricity.

"I think it will take months, not years, to restore these facilities. And we will restore them in an intensified mode. Such restoration will involve improving and strengthening engineering protection solutions," the head of Ukrenergo said.

He pointed out that Kharkiv region has not yet experienced such attacks as on March 22, but comprehensive measures to protect facilities and preparation for various possible scenarios in war conditions helped significantly reduce the time required to restore power supply.

As reported, as a result of the attack by Russian troops on the power system of Ukraine, which has already been called the largest since the beginning of the war, Kharkiv CHPP-5 lost its main heat and electricity production capacity and stopped work.
The Ukrainian industrial company Interpipe has prepared 210 new types of pipe products for the European Union market.

According to the Interpipe press release, Ukraine's accession to the European Union is a conscious civilizational choice of the country.

"But while the country is taking steps in this direction, Ukrainian business has already been quite deeply integrated into the European economy and markets thanks to trade liberalization. The Ukrainian industrial company Interpipe, thanks to the temporary abolition of all duties and quotas, has intensified its R&D and within two years has mastered more than 210 new types of pipe products among consumers in the EU, although previously its development portfolio consisted of only 30 new products," the company said in the press release.

At the same time, Denys Morozov, Deputy CEO of Interpipe, said at the Forbes "Made in Ukraine" Exporters Summit that a very capacious European market with many niches and unique customer requests has opened up for the company.

"But Interpipe has not produced these unique products before. However, the hard work and intelligence of our engineers brought results. Now, the company has a new image as a player in the European Union market, which can supply a wide range of products. For example, such a niche product as pipes for truck axles we supply to leading companies producing trucks and semi-trailers. And I have a dream that all European trucks will have axles made from Ukrainian pipes," he said.

In turn, Vladyslav Varnavsky, Director on Environment and Industrial Safety at Interpipe, said that a significant factor that is already increasing the company's competitiveness in Europe is a green electrometallurgical plant built from scratch that meets the Green Deal philosophy. Thanks to this, Interpipe has a better offer for European consumers than local producers, he added.

"If a few years ago the main requirements were technical audit and financial reliability, now the company is increasingly receiving requests for environmental audits," said the top manager.

According to him, green steel and green pipes are now a mainstream in Europe.

"And we can offer clients such products," the top manager concluded.
Governor Mark Gordon of Wyoming has taken a mixed approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) funding at the University of Wyoming. While he signed legislation to cut $1.7 million from the university's budget, eliminating funds for its DEI office, he also vetoed a provision that would have terminated diversity programming altogether.

In his veto message, Governor Gordon emphasized the potential risk to federal grants that require recipients to demonstrate efforts in creating opportunities for underrepresented groups. By allowing the university to use its own funds for diversity-related programs while eliminating the separate DEI office, the governor aims to maintain compliance with grant requirements.

Implications of the Veto

The governor's decision has drawn criticism from both sides of the aisle. Some legislators who oppose DEI initiatives are disappointed that diversity programming will continue, albeit without dedicated funding. Conversely, DEI advocates find the justification for the veto disheartening, as it prioritizes financial considerations over the importance of fostering inclusivity on campus.

Chris Rothfuss, a Democratic legislator, expressed disappointment in the governor's rationale, stating that it underscores financial concerns rather than addressing the merits of the policy itself. Rothfuss emphasized the broader scope of inclusion efforts beyond specific demographic groups targeted by the legislation.

Furthermore, the veto highlights the ongoing tension between state legislators and university administrators over the appropriate role of DEI initiatives in higher education. While some lawmakers argue that these programs are unnecessary or even divisive, university leaders often stress their importance in creating a welcoming and supportive campus environment for all students.

READ ALSO: Wyoming's Initiative To Bridge CTE Instructor Gap Gains Traction

Reaction and Future Outlook

The governor's partial protection of DEI funding reflects a broader debate within Wyoming and across the nation regarding the role of diversity initiatives in higher education. While some view these programs as essential for promoting equity and belonging, others question their necessity or efficacy.

Moving forward, the University of Wyoming will need to navigate the challenges of maintaining diversity efforts without dedicated funding. This situation underscores the complexities of balancing budgetary constraints, legislative mandates, and the university's commitment to fostering an inclusive campus environment.

As Wyoming continues to grapple with these issues, stakeholders from various sectors will play a crucial role in shaping the future of DEI initiatives in the state's higher education landscape. Ultimately, the ongoing dialogue and decision-making surrounding DEI funding will have far-reaching implications for students, faculty, and staff at the University of Wyoming and beyond.

In conclusion, Governor Gordon's veto represents a temporary reprieve for DEI programming at the University of Wyoming. However, it also underscores the challenges and uncertainties facing diversity initiatives in today's political and social climate.

Considerations for Higher Education

The governor's decision in Wyoming reflects broader trends in higher education across the United States. Many states are grappling with questions about the appropriate role of DEI initiatives on college campuses, with debates often centering on issues of free speech, academic freedom, and equity.

In recent years, several states have passed legislation restricting or prohibiting certain types of diversity training or curriculum. These actions have sparked heated debates among policymakers, educators, and advocacy groups about the balance between promoting diversity and protecting individuals' rights.

RELATED ARTICLE: Civil Rights Groups Resist Anti-DEI Legislation in Several States
The Office for Students (OfS) in England has initiated a consultation process regarding new guidance on freedom of speech within higher education institutions. This move comes amid growing concerns over the impact of international partnerships on academic freedom and free speech rights.

Background

In recent years, there has been mounting scrutiny surrounding the influence of foreign governments and institutions on universities in England. Critics have raised concerns that some international partnerships may compromise the principles of academic freedom and freedom of speech. These concerns have been particularly heightened in light of the increasing presence of foreign-funded institutes on university campuses and the admission of overseas students on scholarships.

The recent passing of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act into law has further underscored the importance of protecting free speech on university campuses. The new legislation, which came into effect last month, mandates that universities, colleges, and student unions in England take proactive measures to uphold lawful freedom of speech within their institutions. While the law does not protect unlawful speech, such as harassment or incitement to violence, it sends a clear message about the government's commitment to safeguarding free expression in higher education settings. The consultation on free speech guidance is a crucial step in ensuring that institutions understand and fulfill their obligations under the new law, providing clarity and direction on how to navigate the complex landscape of free speech rights and responsibilities.

READ ALSO: List of Universities and Colleges That Fail To Uphold Free Speech To Be Released by UK Watchdog

Scope of the Consultation

The consultation launched by the OfS aims to address these concerns by providing new guidance to universities, colleges, and student unions regarding their responsibilities in upholding freedom of speech. The guidance is intended to assist higher education institutions in navigating their obligations under the law while maintaining academic integrity and independence.

Under the proposed guidance, universities will be required to ensure that their international partnerships do not infringe upon the principles of freedom of speech and academic freedom. This includes scrutinizing arrangements with foreign governments and institutions to assess the potential impact on these fundamental rights.

Key Considerations

One of the primary considerations outlined in the consultation is the risk of undue influence from foreign entities on campus activities and discourse. The OfS emphasizes the importance of safeguarding freedom of speech from external pressures, particularly those that may seek to suppress dissenting opinions or restrict the discussion of sensitive topics.

Moreover, the guidance underscores the need for transparency and accountability in international partnerships, urging universities to be vigilant in assessing the motives and intentions of their overseas collaborators. Institutions will be expected to conduct thorough due diligence processes before entering into agreements with foreign entities to ensure that they align with the principles of academic freedom and freedom of speech.

Additionally, the consultation highlights the role of student unions in promoting and protecting free speech on campus. Universities will be required to work closely with student representatives to develop policies and procedures that uphold these principles while respecting the diverse perspectives within the student body.

Next Steps

The consultation period will provide stakeholders with an opportunity to review and provide feedback on the proposed guidance. Following the consultation, the OfS will consider the input received and finalize the guidance for implementation. Universities and colleges will then be expected to incorporate the guidance into their policies and practices to ensure compliance with their free speech obligations.

The launch of the consultation marks a significant step towards strengthening freedom of speech protections within the higher education sector in England. By addressing concerns surrounding international partnerships and external influences, the OfS aims to uphold the principles of academic freedom and ensure that universities remain vibrant hubs of intellectual discourse and debate.

RELATED ARTICLE: House Committee Advances Bills Targeting 'Political Litmus Tests' in Higher Education
A wave of policy adjustments is sweeping across public universities in the United States, driven by a contentious interpretation of the Supreme Court's ban on affirmative action. This trend has prompted a reassessment of scholarship programs targeting racial minorities, sparking debate and concern among higher education stakeholders.

Ohio's Review Initiatives

Ohio has emerged as a focal point in this controversy, with several universities in the state initiating reviews of their scholarship policies in response to directives from Republican Attorney General Dave Yost. Yost's warnings, citing the Supreme Court's ruling, have led institutions to reconsider scholarships aimed at supporting racial minorities. Similar actions have been observed in other states like Texas, Illinois, Missouri, and Alabama, as well as at private institutions such as Boston University.

READ ALSO: Ohio Universities Pause Race-Based Scholarships After Supreme Court Affirmative Action Ruling

Interpreting the Court's Ruling

The Supreme Court's decision in June 2023, which overturned long-standing precedent allowing racial preferences in admissions, has ignited debates over its broader implications for higher education. Conservative activists, led by figures like Edward Blum, argue that the ruling calls into question the legality of scholarships based on racial criteria. However, critics contend that this interpretation mischaracterizes the Court's decision, which specifically addressed admissions practices rather than financial aid policies.

Despite pushback from the Biden administration and advocates for higher education, some institutions have opted to discontinue race-based scholarships out of legal caution. However, critics argue that these decisions are driven more by fear of legal challenges than a genuine understanding of the Court's ruling. As the debate continues, the potential impact of these policy changes on diversity and inclusion in higher education remains uncertain.

Implications for Diversity and Inclusion

The elimination of race-based scholarships raises concerns about the potential impact on diversity and inclusion efforts on college campuses. Many advocates argue that these scholarships play a vital role in expanding access to higher education for underrepresented minority groups, who often face systemic barriers to entry. Without targeted financial aid programs, students from marginalized backgrounds may struggle to afford college tuition, perpetuating inequalities in higher education.

Moreover, the removal of race-based scholarships may have broader implications for campus diversity initiatives. Colleges and universities rely on a diverse student body to create inclusive learning environments and prepare students for a multicultural society and workforce. By discontinuing scholarships that support racial minorities, institutions risk undermining their diversity goals and exacerbating existing disparities in educational attainment.

Overall, the evolving landscape of scholarship policies underscores the ongoing tensions surrounding affirmative action and diversity initiatives in American higher education. As colleges grapple with the ramifications of the Supreme Court's ruling, stakeholders must continue to advocate for policies that promote equitable access to education and support diverse student populations.

RELATED ARTICLE: Supreme Court Decision on Virginia Magnet School Admissions Sets Precedent for Diverse Admissions in Elite Schools
New EU-UN PROTECT project supports women migrant workers and children in Southeast Asia

Representatives of the European Union, Ministry of Labour and United Nations with participants at the PROTECT project launch. ILO

Bangkok (Thailand), 25 March 2024 - The European Union (EU) announces a financial support of  13 million to the United Nations (UN) for a new initiative called PROTECT, which aims to strengthen the rights of women migrant workers, children, and at-risk groups in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand.



The three-year PROTECT project will promote decent work and reduce vulnerabilities of those at risk of abuse and exploitation by ensuring safe migration and upholding labour rights, as well as preventing and responding to violence against women and children, human trafficking and migrant smuggling.



David Daly, Ambassador of the European Union to Thailand, said: People worldwide are forced to leave their homes in search of opportunities and better lives. Along their journey in transit and at their destination, women migrant workers and children are at a higher risk. We are proud to continue supporting our UN partners in this new project aimed at addressing a global phenomenon at the regional level. Together with Thailand and other partner countries in the region, we will provide protection for women and children, strengthen migration governance, tackle human trafficking and migrant smuggling, as well as develop legal pathways for sustainable migration policy.



There are 10.6 million migrants in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region, of whom nearly half are women and 1.3 million are children. Migrants, especially those in low wage occupations, and persons who are forced to migrate, face many challenges including labour exploitation, human trafficking, abuse during smuggling journeys, harassment and violence against women. Women migrant workers are also more likely to end up in informal sectors where they are offered temporary jobs and little to no social protection. Children accompanying migrant workers face a high risk of abuse, exploitation and trafficking as well as inadequate access to child protection services.



The PROTECT project will be implemented by four UN agencies namely the International Labour Organization (ILO), United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).



The agencies will work with relevant stakeholders in four Southeast Asian countries to strengthen laws and policies, and improve capacities and mechanisms to better protect target groups rights and increase access to information and services.



Noting the significance of the new project to the region, Chihoko Asada-Miyakawa, ILO Assistant Director General and Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific said, Labour migration is a driver of economic and social development in countries of origin and destination, benefiting migrant workers, communities, and employers alike. Migration governance policies and approaches need to be gender responsive, more inclusive and in line with international labour standards if we are to provide the protection and access to decent work that migrants deserve, which is critical for social justice.



"Addressing the pervasive issue of violence and harassment against women migrant workers in Southeast Asia is imperative. Through this joint project, we will continue to champion their rights, safety, and dignity, working towards a future where all women migrants can work and live a life free from violence, fear and exploitation, said Alia El-Yassir, UN Women Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific.



Children on the move are incredibly vulnerable, especially in the context of labour migration, said Debora Comini, UNICEF Regional Director for East Asia and the Pacific. They risk exploitation, abuse and violence; they are deprived of access to education, health, and social protection. Migration policies and practices must be child-sensitive and uphold the rights and best interest of every child, regardless of their migration status.



To break the cycle of exploitation and abuse, the protection of victims of trafficking and smuggled migrants before and during the criminal justice process is critical, said Masood Karimipour, UNODCs Regional Representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Under this new project, UNODC will build on its work with law enforcement and justice counterparts in the region, ensuring that victims rights continue to be upheld and criminals held to account.



The PROTECT project, which runs until December 2026, builds on the results and lessons learnt from two earlier EU-funded projects: Safe and Fair: Realizing women migrant workers rights and opportunities in the ASEAN region, which was implemented by ILO and UN Women, in collaboration with UNODC from 2018 to 2023, and Protecting Children Affected by Migration in Southeast, South and Central Asia implemented by UNICEF from 2018 to 2022.
March 26 2024

A mixed-use inner city development close to Glasgow's historic core is set for completion, 20 years after work first began.

Dawn Developments and Drum Property Group are returning to Collegelands with plans for Collegelands Park, a combination of student and build to rent accommodation spread across two separate blocks.

Set amidst 2.5 acres of parkland the dual build will be joined by a community lounge and arts centre, to be owned and operated by Dream Machine, a Calton-based charity dedicated to building community cohesion through art.

The joint venture partners have agreed to transfer a triangle of land suitable for three key spaces, a community lounge, an events space and a staff area facing a shared dining hall to make this happen.

In a consultation statement, the developers wrote: "This development proposal is the last element of the Collegelands Masterplan, which will complete the vision established almost two decades ago. "Collegelands is the last gap site in the regeneration of this eastwards development of the city centre. It is strategically placed to continue the placemaking vision within the Meatmarket and Caltons masterplans."

Concept sketches emphasise connectivity between the High Street and Dennistoun via a landscaped active travel route lined by a sequence of stepped blocks rising from west to east. A full planning application is expected in the summer.
March 26 2024

An application by Springfield Properties to erect 45 affordable flats overlooking a busy roundabout in the Ferguslie district of Paisley has been refused by councillors amidst concern around over development.

Earmarked for grassland adjacent to the A761 the flared V-plan apartment block was to have risen to five storeys in height and finished in a mix of light and grey brick with elements of metal and timber cladding.

The refusal follows concessions including pulling the building line back from the road to the west and north to offer more defensible space. Separate concerns around the height of the development were dismissed by the applicant, however, as any reduction would render the project unviable.

Explaining their recommendation to refuse consent Renfrewshire Council's planning department wrote: "The proposed development, by virtue of its height, scale and design, would have an intrusive and over-dominant impact on the character of the existing built environment and its residential amenity and would not make a positive contribution to place."

Springfield Properties will appeal the decision with Scottish ministers.
Minister for Interior and Narcotic Control, Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi on Tuesday reached the Chinese embassy in Islamabad immediately after the suicide attack on the car of Chinese citizens in Shangla and briefed the Chinese Ambassador about the details of blast and ongoing rescue operations

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Mar, 2024) Minister for Interior and Narcotic Control, Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi on Tuesday reached the Chinese embassy in Islamabad immediately after the suicide attack on the car of Chinese citizens in Shangla and briefed the Chinese Ambassador about the details of blast and ongoing rescue operations.

In a condemnation statement issued by his office, the minister expressed heartfelt grief and sorrow, condolence to the families of the deceased Chinese citizens, the attack on the fraternal relations between Pakistan and China is intolerable.

Naqvi said the whole Pakistani nation was an equal participant in the grief of its Chinese brothers, adding that the government would deal with the elements involved in the attack with iron hands by ensuring a comprehensive investigation of the incident.

He said the great bilateral relations would not be affected due to such attacks, expressed the complete solidarity with the families of the deceased Chinese citizens.

Mohsin Naqvi said the enemy had targeted the citizens of Pakistan's most trusted friend country (China). He reiterated resolve that the enemy would be given a strapping response to the attack.
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ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Mar, 2024) Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday met with President Asif Ali Zardari wherein they expressed their resolve to steer the country out of prevailing challenges.

In the meeting, they discussed the country's overall political and economic situation, a President House press release said.

The meeting also featured the deliberations on the measures to extend relief to the masses during the Holy Ramazan.
Zelenskyy: If Putin is gone, request for violence and terror will disappear with him since this is his request

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed conviction that with the departure of Vladimir Putin in Russia, the request for violence and terror will disappear at the same time, since this is Putin's request.

Today, Putin was talking to himself again, and it was again broadcast on television. Again, he accuses Ukraine. A sick and cynical creature. Everyone is a terrorist to him, except for himself, although he has been fueled by terror for two decades already, Zelenskyy said in a video address.

As he stressed, he is the biggest opening for terror. He and his special services.

And when he is gone, the demand for terror and violence will disappear with him, because it is his demand, Zelenskyy said.

On the afternoon of March 25, Vladimir Putin addressed the Russians about the terrorist attack in a concert hall near Moscow, which claimed the lives of 144 people. In particular, he said that a window was allegedly "prepared" for the suspects of the terrorist attack to cross the border with Ukraine.

Earlier, the terrorist movement ISIS has already claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack in Russia.
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The ISPR says the security forces in the vicinity were immediately mobilized to support the naval troops. Synergetic and effective response by the armed forces enabled killing of all four terrorists in ensuing joint clearance operation.

RAWALPINDI: (UrduPoint/UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News-March 26th, 2024) The security forces on Tuesday thwarted a terrorist attack on Pakistan Naval Base Siddique in Turbat.

According to the ISPR, the security forces in the vicinity were immediately mobilized to support the naval troops. Synergetic and effective response by the armed forces enabled killing of all four terrorists in ensuing joint clearance operation.

The swift and effective response by the troops ensured the safety and security of personnel and assets.

However, during intense fire exchange, Sepoy Noman Fareed of Frontier Corps Balochistan, having fought gallantly, embraced shahadat.

Sanitization operation is being conducted to eliminate any other terrorist in the area.

In its statement, the ISPR reaffirmed armed forces' commitment to eliminate the menace of terrorism from the country at all costs.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday kicks off a visit to Brazil in the Amazon city of Belem, the host of 2025 UN climate talks, where he and Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will seek to reset frayed ties

Belem, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Mar, 2024) French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday kicks off a visit to Brazil in the Amazon city of Belem, the host of 2025 UN climate talks, where he and Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will seek to reset frayed ties.

Macron is the first French president to visit Brazil in 11 years and he is seeking a fresh start after spats with former president Jair Bolsonaro over environmental destruction and insults directed at his wife, Brigitte.

France, the seventh largest economy in the world, and Brazil, the ninth largest, are considered key players in a geopolitical scene marked by rivalry between China and the United States.

Paris sees Brasilia as a bridge to large emerging economies whose voices Brazil is trying to amplify through its presidency of the G20, and membership of the BRICS+ group.

"We are living in a Franco-Brazilian moment," said the Elysee presidential palace, highlighting "many points of convergence" with Lula, particularly on "major global issues."

"France is an essential, unavoidable actor for Brazilian foreign policy," said the head of Brazilian diplomacy for Europe, Maria Luisa Escorel de Moraes.

Lula and Macron will meet in Belem in northern Brazil, which in 2025 will host the COP30 climate talks.

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon halved in 2023 after soaring under Bolsonaro, as Lula's government stepped up environmental policing.

The world's largest tropical forest plays a key role in the fight against climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide emissions.

In Belem, Macron will award tribal chief Raoni Metuktire with the Legion of Honor, the highest French distinction, for his role as an "international figure in the fight for the preservation of the Amazon rainforest and the culture of indigenous peoples," according to the French presidency.

Metuktire left his home in the Amazon over 30 years ago to travel the world with his warning of the threats posed by the destruction of the rainforest.

A striking figure with his large wooden lip plate and yellow feather headdress, he has taken his message to popes, royals and presidents, with his stature as an environmental campaigner rising with growing awareness of the climate emergency.

France and Brazil are working together to manufacture four conventionally powered submarines, the third of which will be launched on Wednesday by both leaders at the Itaguai naval base, near Rio de Janeiro.

Brasilia could also call on Paris to help it develop nuclear propulsion on a fifth submarine.

Then there are the more sticky topics, such as the long-stalled free trade agreement between the European Union and South America's Mercosur bloc, which has recently run into fierce resistance from European farmers.

Macron said in January that France opposes the deal because it "doesn't make Mercosur farmers and companies abide by the same rules as ours."

While Lula is expected to reiterate his call for the rapid signing of the deal, both Paris and Brasilia have indicated the two-decade old negotiations would not be a major focus of Macron's trip.

The war in Ukraine, which Macron wants to be a key focus of the G20, is another point of contention.

Lula, who has positioned himself as a champion of the "global South", has insisted that Kyiv and Moscow share responsibility over the conflict and has refused to take a stand against Russia.
Hamas on Tuesday urged foreign nations to stop parachuting aid into war-torn Gaza after officials and humanitarians said 18 people died trying to reach food packages in the starving north

Gaza Strip, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Mar, 2024) Hamas on Tuesday urged foreign nations to stop parachuting aid into war-torn Gaza after officials and humanitarians said 18 people died trying to reach food packages in the starving north.

Instead, the Palestinian militant group that rules the Gaza Strip demanded that its enemy Israel allow more aid trucks to enter the besieged territory, which the United Nations has warned is on the brink of a "man-made famine".

Fighting raged on unabated a day after the UN Security Council passed its first resolution calling for an "immediate ceasefire" in the bloodiest ever Gaza war, sparked by Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel.

The resolution also demands that militants free the roughly 130 hostages Israel says remain in Gaza, including 33 captives who are presumed dead.

Jordanian, US and other planes have airdropped food into Gaza, even as UN officials and aid agencies have warned this falls far short of the dire needs of its 2.4 million people and is far less effective than ensuring overland access.

On Tuesday, as Jordanian, Egyptian, Emirati and German planes again airdropped relief goods, with the sight of food packages floating down on parachutes sending Palestinian crowds rushing toward them.

Six people were killed in stampedes and 12 others drowned off the territory's Mediterranean coast, the Hamas government and the Swiss-based Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said.

Hamas in a statement called for "an immediate end to airdrop operations" and "the immediate and rapid opening of land crossings to allow humanitarian aid to reach our Palestinian people".

The UN children's fund, UNICEF, said vastly more aid must be rushed into Gaza by road, rather than air or sea, to avert "this imminent famine".

Food aid is usually only airdropped in crises where "people are cut off for hundreds of kilometres", said UNICEF spokesman James Elder, speaking via video link from Gaza.

But "the lifesaving aid they need is a matter of kilometres away", he said, as trucks loaded with aid have been waiting across Gaza's southern border with Egypt.

"We need to use the road networks."

- UN ceasefire vote -

Israeli troops meanwhile battled Hamas with no sign of a let-up in the war raging for almost six months.

The Israeli military said its jets had struck more than 60 targets, including tunnels and buildings "in which armed terrorists were identified".

The health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said 70 people were killed early Tuesday, 13 of them in air strikes around the southern city of Rafah.

The Security Council resolution passed Monday demanded a ceasefire for the ongoing Muslim holy month of Ramadan that should lead to a "lasting" truce.

Israel's top ally the United States, which had blocked previous resolutions, abstained amid growing concern for the worsening humanitarian situation, sparking an angry reaction from Israel.

Washington has baulked at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's determination to launch an assault on Rafah.

The far southern city is Gaza's last major population centre still untouched by Israeli ground troops, and where most of Gaza's population has sought refuge.

Israel charged that the UN resolution "hurts" both its war effort and attempts to free hostages, though the White House insisted there had been no shift in its policy.

Palestinians in Rafah welcomed the UN vote and called on Washington to ensure the resolution is implemented.

Bilal Awad, 63, said the United States must "stand against an attack on Rafah, and support the return of the displaced to their cities" further north in Gaza.

- 'Political isolation' -

The October 7 attack resulted in about 1,160 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory campaign against Hamas has killed at least 32,414 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to the health ministry.

Hamas welcomed the UN resolution and reaffirmed its readiness to negotiate the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, during a visit to Iran on Tuesday, said Israel is experiencing "unprecedented political isolation" and losing US "protection" at the Security Council.

In an earlier statement, Hamas had blamed Israel for the failure to make progress in the latest round of talks hosted by mediator Qatar.

Hamas argued Netanyahu and his cabinet were "entirely responsible for the failure of negotiation efforts and for preventing an agreement from being reached up until now".

Netanyahu's office hit back on social media platform X, charging that Hamas was "not interested in continuing negotiations".

Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said on Tuesday the talks were "ongoing", adding there had been no "development that would lead to thinking that one of the teams has pulled out of the negotiations".

- Battles near hospitals -

On the ground in Gaza, dozens of Israeli tanks and armoured vehicles surrounded the Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Yunis, where thousands of displaced people have sought refuge, witnesses said.

The health ministry said shots were being fired around the sprawling complex, but no raid had yet taken place.

At Gaza City's Al-Shifa Hospital, the territory's largest, Israeli troops have been engaged in heavy fighting for nine days. Israel claims to have killed 170 Palestinian militants and arrested hundreds.

On Monday, the Israeli military reported killing about 20 fighters around Al-Amal Hospital, also in Khan Yunis, over the previous day in close-quarters combat and air strikes.

Israel has labelled its operations "precise operational activities" and said it has taken care to avoid harm to civilians, but aid agencies have voiced concern for non-combatants caught up in the fighting.

Palestinians living near Al-Shifa have reported corpses in the streets, constant bombardment and the rounding up of men who are stripped to their underwear and questioned.
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Kenya's troubled flag carrier Kenya Airways said Tuesday it had recorded an operating profit in 2023, its first in seven year

Nairobi, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Mar, 2024) Kenya's troubled flag carrier Kenya Airways said Tuesday it had recorded an operating profit in 2023, its first in seven years.

The figure of 10.5 billion Kenyan shillings (about $80 million) for the year ended December 31 represents a sharp turnaround from an operating loss of 5.6 billion shillings in 2022, with chairman Michael Joseph hailing it as a "significant milestone".

The airline, whose biggest shareholder is the Kenyan government, also said in a statement that its loss after tax had reduced to almost 23 billion shillings from more than 38 billion shillings the year before.

Total revenue for the year surged by 53 percent to 178 billion shillings, which the airline attributed mainly to a 35 percent growth in passenger numbers to 5.04 million, according to its audited results statement.

Kenya Airways has been labouring under a mountain of debt and running losses for years despite numerous government bailouts, and like the aviation industry as a whole it was hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.

"These figures highlight the airline's remarkable performance over the year and provide encouraging signs of continued recovery within the air transportation sector," Joseph said in a statement.

"They also confirm the operational viability of the airline business and demonstrate that the management's ongoing efforts to restore profitability are yielding positive results."

CEO Allan Kilavuka said the company's focus in the near term was on completing a "capital restructuring plan whose main objectives are to reduce the company's financial leverage and increase liquidity".

The government owns a 48.9 percent stake in Kenya Airways, while Air France-KLM has 7.8 percent.

The airline was founded in 1977 following the demise of East African Airways and now flies to 45 destinations across the globe, 37 of them in Africa.
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Veteran politician Manuel Rosales was not the Venezuelan opposition's first or even second choice candidate to field against President Nicolas Maduro in July's election, but he's the only one who appears to have broken through a tightly controlled nomination system

Caracas, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Mar, 2024) Veteran politician Manuel Rosales was not the Venezuelan opposition's first or even second choice candidate to field against President Nicolas Maduro in July's election, but he's the only one who appears to have broken through a tightly controlled nomination system.

Indeed, Rosales is seen as a more palatable opposition figure for Maduro's socialist government as it seeks to maintain its grip on power, backing away from a high profile pledge last year to allow free elections in 2024.

The main opposition candidate has been barred by courts loyal to Maduro.

The candidacy of Rosales, the governor of the oil-rich state of Zulia, was announced early Tuesday, moments after the main opposition coalition said it had not managed to access the registration website before the midnight deadline.

His party, Un Nuevo Tiempo, nominated him, according to the National Electoral Council.

His candidacy was separate from the coalition Democratic Unitary Platform's (PUD) nomination bid, although his party is a member.

The PUD was planning to put forward university professor Corina Yoris as a stand-in for disqualified opposition figurehead Maria Corina Machado.

While Machado had overwhelming won the opposition Primary last year, courts loyal to Maduro have banned her from holding public office for 15 years.

Neither the PUD nor Machado have yet commented on Rosales' eleventh-hour candidacy.

But securing Machado's backing will be vital if he intends to unite a fragmented opposition, including her broad, anti-Chavez camp.

Analysts suggest Rosales, 71, appears to have been accepted by the ruling party as a more tolerable opponent to Maduro's bid for a third six-year term.

In the opposition camp however, he has proved a somewhat divisive figure for having maintained ties with Maduro since resuming the Zulia governorship in 2021.

"He has proven to be a very pragmatic man, who knows how to adapt to the circumstances and is never reluctant to negotiate," political analyst Maria Alexandra Semprun told AFP.

Rosales ran in the 2006 presidential election, when he was soundly defeated by socialist Hugo Chavez, who was at the height of his popularity at the time.

Previously, Rosales had served as mayor of the Zulia state capital, Maracaibo, the country's second-biggest city, between 1996 and 2000 and then again from 2008 to 2009. In between those two posts he served as Zulia state governor.

In 2009, Rosales went into exile, accused of corruption. At that time Chavez was threatening to jail him and end his political career, alleging that Rosales was conspiring against him.

After six years in exile in Peru, he was arrested upon his return to Venezuela in October 2015.

Two years later, his ineligibility over the corruption charge was lifted and he was able to run for office again.
Moscow, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Mar, 2024) A senior Russian security official on Tuesday laid the blame on Ukraine for orchestrating the attack on a Moscow concert hall that left at least 139 people dead last week.

The accusation from the secretary of Russia's powerful Security Council Nikolai Patrushev comes after the Islamic State group said it was behind the attack -- the most deadly on Russian territory in over two decades.

"Of course, Ukraine," said Patrushev, answering a question on whether Kyiv or the Islamic State group, which claimed responsibility, was behind Friday's attack.

Despite the claims from the jihadist group and assertions from US intelligence, Moscow has sought to divert blame for the tragedy onto Kyiv, which has vehemently denied any link to the attackers.

President Vladimir Putin on Monday acknowledged for the first time that "radical Islamists" were behind last week's attack, but also suggested they were linked to Ukraine.

"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.

Without providing any evidence, Putin connected the attack at Crocus City Hall to a series of incursions into Russian territory by pro-Ukrainian sabaotage groups, and said they were all part of efforts to "sow panic in our society".

The concert hall massacre was a major blow for Putin just over a week after he claimed a new term after one-sided elections the Kremlin billed as an endorsement of his military operation against Ukraine.
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Venezuela's main opposition leader said Tuesday that President Nicolas Maduro had "chosen" his poll rivals after key contenders were blocked from running in the July presidential election

Caracas, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Mar, 2024) Venezuela's main opposition leader said Tuesday that President Nicolas Maduro had "chosen" his poll rivals after key contenders were blocked from running in the July presidential election.

"What we warned about for many months ended up happening: the regime chose its candidates," said Maria Corina Machado, who was banned from holding public office and whose proxy candidate was unable to register by the deadline at midnight on Monday.

She avoided endorsing opposition figure Manuel Rosales, who did manage to file his candidacy and is seen as a more palatable figure for Maduro's socialist government.

Machado insisted that her chosen candidate was the 80-year-old university professor Corina Yoris, who was put forward as her stand-in.

While Machado overwhelming won an opposition Primary last year, courts loyal to Maduro banned her from holding public office for 15 years.
USM Students Named in Prestigious Graphic Design Magazine's Students to Watch List

Tue, 03/26/2024 - 10:30am | By: Ivonne Kawas

Autumn Graves

Two students in The University of Southern Mississippi (USM)s Art and Design program have been named to the highly anticipated 2024 Graphic Design USA (GDUSA) Students to Watch list.

USM Graphic Design seniors, Autumn Graves, of Hattiesburg, Miss., and Grace May of Puckett, Miss., were selected to be among this years cohort of aspiring designers due to their talent and potential to make significant contributions to the field.

Showcasing top emerging talents in the field of graphic design, the prestigious magazine GDUSA recognized 115 outstanding art and design students from all over the country, including undergrads, graduate students, and recent graduates.

Grace May

Both emerging designers have an exceptional work ethic and a talent that truly sets them apart, making it fitting for them to be acknowledged as among the best in the country, said Jacob Cotton, associate professor of design. Our graphic design program at Southern Miss boasts a storied history of outstanding alumni, including luminaries like AIGA Medalist Ann Willoughby, Rodney Richardson, and Michael Borosky. The consecutive recognition of seniors in our program even before graduation not only underscores the continuation of this illustrious legacy, but also serves as a powerful affirmation that our program is unequivocally on the path of sustained excellence.

As seen in GDUSA magazine, Graves shared that she was homeschooled until college, which gave her the opportunity to tailor her education around her love for the arts from an early age. In high school, she focused on classes like painting, classical piano, and classic literature, influencing her creative direction and inspiration as an artist today.

Graves has shown a dedication to her craft by actively pursuing creative roleson campus and locally. Currently, she works as the associate creative director for the programs design and marketing team.

Beyond USM, shes found opportunities to enhance her skills through her work with real-world clients, including her graphic designs for Temple Baptist Church. Upon graduation, she remains open to all opportunities, but hopes to pursue a career focused on her passion for illustration, branding, and publication design.

May also shared that she spent most of her high school years finding avenues to nurture and express her creativity. She always knew that she was meant to be an artist in some capacity, but she never imagined that graphic design was her calling.

May added that she finds a great deal of inspiration for her designs by going shopping at antique stores and finding little knick-knacks with cool designs. Anything vintage or unique in some way inspires her to go beyond her comfort zone and pursue creative ideas. Upon graduation, May remains open to the idea of designing for causes that are important to her and believes she could assist non-profits with finding success through forward-thinking campaigns and designs.

Graphic Design USA has served as an information source for graphic design professionals since 1963. In addition to the Students to Watch list, GDUSA also recognizes Designers to Watch and provides other information regarding design education.

Check out the 2024 GDUSA Students to Watch list. Learn more about USMs Art and Design program.
Physician Assistant Program Launching Soon at USM

Tue, 03/26/2024 - 03:28pm | By: Van Arnold

The University of Southern Mississippis (USM) new Physician Assistant Program, announced last summer, is progressing expeditiously with plans to matriculate the initial cohort in fall 2025. The program is being offered at USMs Gulf Park campus in Long Beach, Miss.

Officials in the College of Nursing and Health Professions have worked tirelessly and strategically to gain accreditation for the program which will positively impact workforce development throughout the region while delivering graduates who are ready for success in the healthcare industry.

Physician Assistant Studies Program Coordinator Chris Tuey explains that the Central Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA) will open its 2024-25 cycle at the end of April. USMs new program can start receiving applications as soon as CASPA opens the cycle.

We will be doing a rolling admissions process which allows us to review, interview, and accept candidates anytime during the admission cycle, said Tuey.

Though not yet eligible to receive applications, Tuey notes, We have been fielding numerous contacts and questions from interested students, many of whom are current USM students or recent graduates.

Physician assistants use their medical expertise to examine, diagnose and treat patients, working closely with other health care professionals as a team to provide care. And the need for physician assistants in the U.S. has never been greater. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 26.5 percent employment growth for physician assistants between 2022 and 2032. In that period, an estimated 39,300 jobs are expected to open.

The physician assistant profession has grown rapidly and continues to do so, said Tuey. The State of Mississippi was the last to allow PA practice, so there is a lot of need for physician assistants here. The fact that salaries have grown along with the profession is a reward for those who are dedicated enough to choose a profession of service and assistance. Our program will help fill the need for more PAs in the state and nationwide, as well as better healthcare access overall.

USMs PA program will require accreditation by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA). Classes may begin once the program receives provisional accreditation, which is anticipated by June 2025.

The program has already welcomed its first faculty member with the hiring of Jessica Matthews. Another addition is expected by April 1, and the program has received a verbal commitment from a potential third member to join this summer.

USM hopes to enroll 30 students in the initial cohort. The program will require 27 months to complete, which includes seven continuous terms and a total of 108 semester hours (with 15 months of classroom training and 12 months of clinical training).

Dr. Lachel Story, Dean of USMs College of Nursing and Health Professions, says the rapidly expanding workforce markets along the Gulf Coast provided the impetus for launching the program at Gulf Park.

Additionally, with our strong military presence in the region, this program can help meet a current need for all of our service branches, said Story. No in-state school is better positioned to meet these workforce needs on the coast than Southern Miss. We have a long legacy of delivering excellent health professions programs, and most of our students are from Mississippi and stay in the state once they graduate.

To learn more about the Physician Assistant program at USM, contact Emma Mitchell at 228.214.3471.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday evening took part in an iftar with Muslim servicemen who are fighting as part of the Ukrainian Defense Forces, and also wished peace and justice to Muslim peoples who are suffering from war in Ramadan.

Since March 11, when Ramadan began this year, there has not been a single quiet and safe day without Russian terror for all Ukrainians and the Ukrainian Muslim community. Dozens of Ukrainian cities and villages have been hit by the Russian Federation  from Sumy region to Lviv region, from Odesa to Donetsk region," Zelenskyy said.

He stressed that nothing is sacred or valuable to Putin; he does not care who suffers or what faith he destroys because he only believes in violence.

And he must losenecessarilyas ensured by all of our people working together, everyone who contributes to the common good, the President added.

During the iftar, the Head of state noted Muslim soldiers in the Ukrainian Defense Forces who defend the state and bring the liberation of Ukrainian territories closer.

Zelenskyy also noted: Unity is always important, especially when life is overshadowed by war and the strikes of evil.

"I would like to remember other peoples deprived of a normal life because of the fighting and the chaos caused by it. Everyone in the world deserves peace. People in Syria, Gaza, Libya, Sudan and all other countries where there is no peace now. In Ukraine, we wish everyone who values life protection and honest peace to all peoples whose home is being destroyed by war. May this time of Ramadan support people. And may our unity remain unchanged. Happy Ramadan!" the President wished.

In turn, Minister of Defense of Ukraine Rustem Umerov also thanked the servicemen for protecting justice and peace.

"May God grant us victory over the enemy as soon as possible, the liberation of our territories and people, so that we ensure the rule of law for all our citizens. May the Almighty accept your fasting and prayers, and your military service on the path of defending justice, freedom and peace. Our prayers are with those who died for their Ukraine," he said.

Representatives of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, representatives of the Muslim community and the clergy of Ukraine also took part in the iftar.

Iftar is an evening meal for Muslims, which is held during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
16 black bear cubs rescued from captivity in Vientiane In a decisive action against wildlife crime, the Environmental Police Department of the Ministry of Public Security rescued 16 Asian black bear cubs after they were found at a property in Nongsanokham village, Sikhottaborng district, Vientiane. Environment Department police with the rescued bear cubs before they were taken to the Free the Bears sanctuary. The operation, which took place on March 17, led to the rescue of 16 bear cubs that were being held in captivity under cruel conditions.

The Department was tipped off about the illegal activity on March 10 and, after a week of surveillance and intelligence gathering, moved in to apprehend the suspects. Two Lao nationals, a man and a woman, were detained during the raid.

Investigatione revealed that the cubs were purchased from the northern provinces, with the owner intending to set up a zoo. However, no legal documentation for the possession of the bear cubs was found. The rescued animals have since been entrusted to the care of the Free the Bears rescue centre in Luang Prabang province.

The polices efforts were supported by the Lao Landscape and Livelihood Project, funded by the World Bank, and they expressed gratitude for the assistance provided by the Institute for Legal Support and Technical Assistance (ILSTA) and LuxDev in enhancing the capabilities of the environmental police.

The case stands as a testament to Laos dedication to upholding international wildlife protection standards and the ongoing battle against the illegal trade of endangered species.

Asian black bears are listed as a national category 1 of prohibited species and are also included in CITES list 1, which bans their illegal trade and possession. The Environmental Police Department is committed to a thorough investigation to bring all involved parties to justice.

The prevalent poaching of black bears is largely attributed to the unfounded notion that certain bear parts possess medicinal properties that promote longevity, according to Department officials.

The hunting of bears is often motivated by the erroneous belief that their gallbladders can be utilised in medicinal remedies for inflammation, their paws are sought after for purported life-extending properties, and their teeth are valued as amulets, an official told the Vientiane Times.

The intensification of black bear hunting is propelled by burgeoning demand from international markets, particularly China and Vietnam.

These markets are known for their willingness to pay premium prices for bear-derived products, thereby incentivising increased hunting activities, officials said.

By Times Reporters

(Latest Update March 27, 2024)
The Ukrainian air defense eliminated 12 enemy shaheds out of 12, which the occupiers attacked on Tuesday night, the Air Force said.

It is reported that on the night of March 26, 2024, the enemy attacked by 12 Shahed-type attack UAVs from Cape Chauda - Crimea and Kursk region - Russia, as well as by two S-300 anti-aircraft guided missiles in the direction of Donetsk region.

"All 12 Shaheds were shot down," the message says.

The air attack was repelled by mobile fire groups of the Ukrainian Defense Forces in Mykolaiv and Kharkiv regions.
Lawyers for former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro are denying speculation that their client may have been attempting to evade arrest when he stayed at the Hungarian embassy for two nights last month.

The New York Times reported Monday on its website that Bolsonaro stayed at the embassy between Feb. 12-14, highlighted by security camera video depicting Ambassador Miklos Halmai greeting the former president when he arrived at the embassy, Bolsonaro walking in the parking lot at various times, and ending with footage of him leaving the embassy.

His lawyers issued a statement late Monday saying Bolsonaro was invited to stay at the Hungarian embassy to maintain contacts with officials of the friendly country and to share updates on the political situation of both nations. They said any other interpretation about the visit is fictional in nature.

Bolsonaro is a close ally of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a fellow leader of a global far-right movement.

Bolsonaros stay at the embassy came days after investigators seized his passports and arrested two of his aides on suspicion they plotted to ignore his loss to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the 2022 presidential election and keep Bolsonaro in office.

Brazils foreign ministry summoned Halmai Monday night to explain why he hosted Balsonaro at the embassy.

The Associated Press is reporting that Brazils national police are investigating the event, while AFP says Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who also serves as head of the electoral tribunal, has given Bolsonaro 48 hours to explain his stay at the Hungarian embassy.

Bolsonaro is the subject of several other investigations. Police have recommended he face criminal charges for allegedly falsifying his COVID-19 vaccination records, and he is accused of misappropriating gifts received from other nations, including jewelry offered by Saudi Arabia.

He has been barred from seeking public office for eight years for spreading false electoral information during the 2022 election.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France-Presse.
Even before streaming platform Netflix aired "3 Body Problem" last week, Chinese nationalists were upset about the adaptation of the Chinese science fiction novel series and its international popularity.

On social media sites in China, where Netflix is blocked, some criticized the platforms cast and changes to the story while others accused it of deliberately using a tragic moment in the countrys past to belittle the worlds second-largest economy.

The novel The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin was first serialized in the Chinese magazine Science Fiction World in 2016. It tells the story of a group of scientists, policemen and soldiers from China who discovered and tried to defeat an invasion of aliens from the distant universe.

In 2015, The Three-Body Problem became the first Asian novel to win the Hugo Award for Best Novel, given at the 73rd World Science Fiction Convention.

Former U.S. President Barack Obama once said, "The scope of it was immense." Mark Zuckerberg, president of the technology company Meta, publicly recommended the book.

Josh Stenberg, associate professor of Chinese studies at the University of Sydney, attributed the popularity of The Three-Body Problem in the Western world to the universality of the novel's themes.

"Liu is deeply skeptical about humanity's worth and pessimistic about its future. That can work for environmental, post-colonial, nationalistic, nihilist or posthuman perspectives," he told VOA via email.

The Netflix version has made major changes from the novel, moving the location of the story from China to London and erasing the Chinese backgrounds of many of the characters.

Author Liu is one of the show's consultants. In a recent interview, he said, "Netflix's 3 Body Problem' series is for audiences around the world. Most of its characters may no longer be Chinese, which may not be easy for Chinese audiences to accept. But I still have full confidence in them and look forward to the show."

But some Chinese netizens disagree. Before the series aired, some posted videos and comments online criticizing the series and accusing it of being stereotypical. Others mocked the series by editing clips from the show and posting them in video commentaries.

Some netizens accused Netflix of intentionally putting China in a bad light by removing some Chinese characters' backstories and making them purely evil or simplifying some remaining Chinese characters' storylines to make them insignificant while making the characters portrayed by actors of other ethnic groups heroes in the show.

Jovan Adepo, a Black actor in the series, plays one of the characters critics have been smearing.

The actor who plays the Chinese character Ye Wenjie was also the focus of attacks. A popular article on WeChat criticized Chinese American actor Zine Tseng as "beaming with her fierce eyes and an evil look on her face, giving people the impression that she is the kind of Asian female killer that often appears in Hollywood."

Other criticisms of the show focused on the re-creation of scenes from Chinas Cultural Revolution.

Much like in the novel, the series starts off with a denunciation meeting in Beijing during the Cultural Revolution, where young Ye watched helplessly as her father, a physics professor, was beaten to death by Red Guards  communist zealots who played a key part in the chaos of that tumultuous period. During Chinas Cultural Revolution, tens of millions were persecuted, and historians estimate that 1 million to 2 million people were killed.

Many nationalist netizens accused Netflix of filming the entire series just to show this scene.

"When I read [the novel] for the first time a few years ago, after reading the beginning, I immediately knew why this book was praised abroad," one netizen wrote. Another said Netflix made this whole tray of dumplings just for little bit of vinegar sauce  a reference to that bitter part of Chinas past.

A film review on the Chinese website Douban, a community-centered rating site for books and movies, said that the West was unwilling to accept today's developed China.

"In the eyes of foreigners, China is still that repressive, backward and crazy stereotype. All disasters stem from this. The Chinese are not worthy of saving the world and can only wait for the West to save it," the article reads.

China aired its own version of the show in 2023, with most of the main characters being Chinese. The show was well received by the Chinese audience and was one of the highest-rated Chinese TV series on Douban in 2023. That version, however, did not include the Cultural Revolution denunciation meeting.

VOA reached out to Netflix for comment and did not receive any response by the time of publication.

Henry Gao, a law professor at Singapore Management University, said it's no surprise that The Three-Body Problem has found a cult following among nationalists. He said the theory of the jungle in the novel coincides with the narrative model of Chinese cybernationalism and China's relationship with the world.

"This narrative consists of two parts. The first part is that 'imperialism is determined to destroy us,' and the second part is that in the world, we must rely on strength to speak, and if we fall behind, we will be beaten," Gao told VOA. "And the dark forest hypothesis in The Three-Body Problem clearly reflects this view, so it's not surprising that nationalists have embraced it."

The dark forest hypothesis states that the universe is a dark forest, and each civilization is a hunter with a gun, posing a threat to all others. Once they meet, it will inevitably be a life-or-death relationship.

Although The Three-Body Problem is not a depiction of the current state of international politics, such interpretations of the novel are not uncommon.

Will Peyton, a visiting fellow at Australian National University, told VOA, "When Liu's trilogy became popular in the English-speaking world a decade ago, its popularity was quickly tethered to talk of China's geopolitical ascendancy."

Peyton says the theme of the novel is what kind of help or disaster the rapid development of science and technology will bring to humankind.

"It is far deeper than a surface-level sociopolitical critique of contemporary China or of China's role on the world stage," he said.

Liu has stated many times that he is not trying to express any political views through his novels. In a 2019 interview with The New Yorker, he said, "I'm a writer. ... I don't begin with some conceit in mind. I'm just trying to tell a good story."

Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, on a visit to Iran on Tuesday, said Israel is experiencing "unprecedented political isolation," a day after the U.N. Security Council called for a cease-fire in the Gaza war.

"Although this resolution came late and there may be some gaps that need to be filled, the resolution itself indicates that the Israeli occupation is experiencing unprecedented political isolation," Haniyeh told a news conference in Tehran after a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

He added that Israel is "losing political cover and protection even in the Security Council" and "the U.S. is unable to impose its will on the international community."

"The Zionist entity" has "not succeeded in achieving any of its military or strategic objectives" after more than five months of war, Haniyeh said.

Haniyeh and the Palestinian delegation also met with Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to a statement on Khamenei's website.

The Iranian leader praised the "unique resistance of the Palestinian forces" against the "crimes and brutalities of the Zionist regime [Israel], carried out with the full support of the West," according to the statement.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran will not hesitate to support the cause of Palestine and the oppressed people of Gaza," Khamenei said during the meeting.

It is the second visit the Hamas leader has made to Tehran since the Iran-backed group launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of some 1,200 people, mostly civilians.

Haniyeh's last visit was in early November, when he met Khamenei and other officials.

Iran hailed the October 7 attack as a "success" but denied any direct involvement.

Iran-backed groups in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen have since carried out a flurry of attacks on Israeli and Western targets.

Israel's retaliatory campaign against Hamas has killed more than 32,000 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory's Health Ministry.

Haniyeh's visit comes after a resolution adopted by the U.N. Security Council on Monday called for an "immediate cease-fire" for the ongoing Muslim holy month of Ramadan, leading to a "lasting" truce.

It also demanded that Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups release hostages they took during the October 7 attack.

Militants seized about 250 hostages, of whom Israel believes some 130 are still held in Gaza, including 33 presumed dead.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanani described Monday's resolution as a "positive but insufficient step."

He called for "effective measures to implement the resolution and the complete and permanent cessation of attacks.
White House officials said Monday that they were "perplexed" and "disappointed" that Israel's leader called off a delegation meant to discuss U.S. concerns about his imminent plans to invade the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

But they said Monday they would use a trio of high-level U.S. meetings with Israel's defense minister, including talks with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday, to press their case.

"We're kind of perplexed by this," said White House national security communications adviser John Kirby, who acknowledged that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's reason for abruptly pulling back his delegation was his objection to the U.S. decision to abstain from a Monday U.N. vote calling for a Gaza cease-fire.

"In light of the change in the American position, Prime Minister Netanyahu decided the delegation would not leave," his office said in a statement.

The U.S., citing its support for Israel's right to defend itself, has previously wielded its veto power in the U.N. Security Council to block similar cease-fire calls since the start of the conflict more than five months ago.

"Our vote does not  I repeat  does not represent a shift in our policy," Kirby said. "We've been very clear. We've been very consistent in our support for a cease-fire as part of a hostage deal. That's how the hostage deal was structured, and the resolution acknowledges the ongoing talks."

But he also noted  repeating the term no fewer than six times  that the U.N. vote is "a nonbinding resolution." That, he said, means "there's no impact at all on Israel and Israel's ability to continue to go after Hamas."

Meanwhile, as Kirby spoke on Monday afternoon, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant met with President Joe Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, at the White House.

We had a constructive discussion on how best to ensure Hamas' lasting defeat in Gaza, Sullivan said on X. I conveyed President Bidens iron-clad support for Israels security and defense against all threats, including Iran. I welcomed Yoavs commitment to take additional steps to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Gallant also met Monday afternoon with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who expressed U.S. support for ensuring the defeat of Hamas but reiterated opposition to a ground operation in Rafah that could endanger the Palestinian civilians sheltering there.

The Secretary underscored that alternatives exist to a major ground invasion that would both better ensure Israels security and protect Palestinian civilians, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement. Secretary Blinken also discussed the need to immediately surge and sustain additional humanitarian assistance to meet the needs of civilians in Gaza.

Ahead of Gallants planned Tuesday meeting with Austin, Pentagon spokesperson Major General Pat Ryder also said a Rafah invasion would be a "mistake."

"It would be a mistake not just because of the civilian harm that it would cause, which would be immense," he said. "We also think that this type of invasion would weaken Israel's security. It would make Israel less safe, not more safe. It would undermine its standing in the world."

Austin, he said, "still believes fundamentally in Israel's inherent right to defend themselves and that we will continue to support them in that regard and that that support is ironclad."

He added: "There are ways to go about addressing the threat of Hamas while also taking into account civilian safety."

VOA asked Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, how this flurry of high-level diplomacy could affect Israel's plans to mount a large-scale operation in the crowded city of Rafah.

"Israel wasn't ready to move on Rafah, and it's still not," he told VOA. "I'm sure that the Israelis have concluded that they need to demonstrate they're ready to go into Rafah, even if they eventually don't."

And, he said, "I can imagine any number of ways that Israel could feel it both met its needs and addressed U.S. concerns. Whether Israel will want to do that, and whether the United States would consider its concerns to be addressed, depends how things unfold."

And, analysts say, what happens in Rafah has much wider consequences, for both countries and their leaders.

"Israel will be even further isolated if it goes forward with the attack on Rafah," Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, told VOA. "But it will also add tremendous pressure on Biden at home to stop Israel."

And, he said, Gallant's decision to proceed with his Washington meetings also has political implications.

"Biden is seeking to split the Israeli government and isolate Netanyahu," he said. "Ironically, Netanyahu calculates that a fight with Biden benefits him, as he will be able to rally right-wing voters in Israel to his side."

Merissa Khurma, director of the Middle East Program at the Wilson Center, noted that this complex political and diplomatic dance still means one thing: Washington and Jerusalem are talking.

"Gallant taking the meeting with Blinken showcases that both governments are aware dialogue has to continue," she said, "and that canceling the delegation is more about Bibi [Netanyahu] and his political standing with the right-wing factions and the Israeli public who support this war."

VOA's Jeff Seldin and Nike Ching contributed to this report.
The U.S. Secretary of Defense met with his Israeli counterpart even after Netanyahu cancels a delegation to Washington. The US and UK admonish China over cybercrime accusations, attacks on energy infrastructure continue in Ukraine and a major bridge collapses in the U.S..
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Tuesday to push forward with his campaign to eliminate the Hamas militant group, while also criticizing a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in Gaza.

"Israel will not submit to the delusional demands of Hamas and will continue to act to achieve all the goals of the war: to release all the abductees, to destroy the military and governmental capabilities of Hamas and to ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel," Netanyahu said in a statement.

Hamas officials said Monday they told negotiators working on a temporary cease-fire deal that Hamas would not alter its proposal that includes a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and an exchange of hostages held in Gaza for prisoners held by Israel.

Also Tuesday, a senior Israeli official told Reuters that Israel had recalled its negotiators from Qatar after reaching "a dead end" in talks to release the more than 100 hostages still being held by Hamas. Israel believes more than 30 other Israelis taken on October 7 have died.

In Tel Aviv, about 300 family members of hostages and their supporters gathered outside the Israeli defense headquarters demanding a deal be reached on releasing the hostages. Some at the protest locked themselves inside cages and held placards with photos of their loved ones.

The two warring sides have shown little movement in their demands despite weeks of efforts by U.S., Egyptian and Qatari negotiators to find a way to bring a temporary halt in fighting, the release of hostages and an increase in badly needed humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza.

Netanyahu said Tuesday that the Hamas position proves the terror group "is not interested in continuing negotiations for a deal and is an unfortunate testimony to the damage of the Security Council's decision."

The Security Council resolution adopted Monday "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.

"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 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.

Military talks in Washington

Meanwhile, there was no halt in the fighting. Israel's military reported Tuesday conducting more operations around the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, as well as ground fighting and airstrikes in central Gaza.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin held talks Tuesday with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

The Pentagon said the meeting was expected to include discussion of efforts to secure the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza as well as the need for more humanitarian aid to reach civilians in Gaza.

"In Gaza today, the number of civilian casualties is far too high and the amount of humanitarian aid is far too low," Austin said at the start of the meeting.

Other senior Israeli officials had been expected to take part in separate meetings at the White House, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled their trip Monday 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 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 war started with the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people according to Israeli tallies and led to the capture of about 250 hostages. More than 100 were released in November during a temporary cease-fire.

The health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip says more than 32,200 people have been killed during Israel's counteroffensive. The total includes Hamas fighters and civilians, with the ministry saying two-thirds of the dead are women and children.

Also on Tuesday, the U.N.'s top Middle East envoy, Tor Wennesland, briefed the council at its regular meeting on its 2016 resolution on the illegality of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem.



From Dec. 8 to March 18, Wennesland said, Israel has advanced or approved more than 5,000 housing units in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. Additionally, 300 Palestinian-owned buildings were demolished.

"I remain deeply troubled by the relentless expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem," he told the council in a briefing from Jerusalem. "The ever-expanding settlement footprint, including outposts, further entrenches the occupation, while severely impeding the exercise by the Palestinian people of its right to self-determination."

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.
New Zealand said Tuesday a Chinese state-sponsored hacking operation targeted New Zealands parliament in 2021, an allegation that came a day after the United States and Britain took actions in response to their own attacks by China-backed hacking groups.

New Zealands Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) said it linked malicious cyber activity against the countrys parliament to the group Advanced Persistent Threat 40, which the GCSB said is linked to Chinas Ministry of State Security.

The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable, Minister Responsible for the GCSB Judith Collins said in a statement.

Chinas Embassy in Wellington rejected New Zealands accusations, calling them groundless and irresponsible.

We have never, nor will we in the future, interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, including New Zealand, the embassy said in a statement.

American and British authorities announced criminal charges and sanctions on Monday against seven hackers believed to be living in China and linked to the Chinese government.

The operation was carried out by a hacking group called Advanced Persistent Threat 31, or APT31, an extensive Chinese state-backed operation targeting U.S. officials, journalists, corporations, pro-democracy activists and the United Kingdom's election watchdog.

The campaign, which started in 2010, sought to spy on and intimidate high-level political figures and critics of the Chinese government. It also intended to gather trade secrets from American corporations.

"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, undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement.

"Through our whole-of-government approach and in close coordination with our British partners, Treasury will continue to leverage our tools to expose these networks and protect against these threats."

In a statement, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said that "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."

He added 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."

The British government released a related announcement, imposing sanctions on two of the hackers for a breach that might have given them access to information about tens of millions of U.K. voters, although some 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 engaged in "reconnaissance activity" targeting British parliamentarians who criticized Beijing in 2021. One such parliamentarian is Iain Duncan Smith.

"Personally, I've had a wolf warrior that was impersonating me for some time using a fake email address, emailing all sorts of politicians around the world, saying that I'd recanted my views, also saying basically that I was a liar  all these sorts of things to various people," Smith told VOA.

"I only came to know about it because I know some of them, and they were sending this back to me to say, 'Why are you sending me emails recanting and basically calling yourself a liar?'" Smith said.

While no parliamentary accounts were successfully breached, prosecutors noted that hackers sent over 10,000 emails impersonating journalists and other figures. These emails contained malicious code that would give hackers access to the victims' location, IP addresses and devices.

APT31 had previously been accused of targeting presidential campaigns before the 2020 general election, as well as Finland parliament's information systems.

U.S. officials have consistently pursued legal action against Chinese state-linked hackers and expressed concerns about potential interference in American presidential politics. Despite a 2021 intelligence assessment finding no evidence of Chinese interference in the 2020 election, tensions persist over cybersecurity threats.

The recent indictment against the hackers does not change the assessment's conclusions and presents no allegations that the Chinese government was trying to influence the U.S. through the hacking.

It does highlight, however, the need for continued vigilance, particularly with the approaching 2024 election, according to Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen, the Justice Department's top national security official.

"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," Olsen said.

The Chinese Embassy in London called the charges "completely fabricated and malicious slanders," and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told countries that they should base their claims on evidence and not smear other countries without factual evidence.

Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press and Reuters.


Nigerian authorities on Monday slapped four counts of tax evasion on cryptocurrency exchange company Binance and said it was seeking collaboration with Interpol to arrest an official of the company who fled custody last week.

The charges stemmed from an investigation of the companys Nigerian office for alleged attempts to manipulate Nigerias currency.

Nigerias Federal Inland Revenue Services said Monday that Binance had flouted four tax laws by failing to pay company income tax, failing to pay value added tax, not complying with tax return filing obligations and facilitating tax evasion for Binance users.

The government also said Binance had failed to register for tax purposes with authorities.

Binance in the past has denied any wrongdoing in Nigeria. The company did not respond to VOA's request for comment.

Nigerian authorities on February 26 detained two of the companys executives  Tigran Gambaryan, a U.S. citizen, and Nadeem Anjawalla, a British Kenyan.

Eze Onyekpere, founder of the Center for Social Justice, said the arrests and charges were largely expected.

"It shouldn't be surprising that they may have violated Nigerian laws," Onyekpere said. "Nigeria is not the only country that has been charging the executives with violating their laws. The only reasonable thing to do is to bring them before the court and be given the opportunity to defend themselves. Due process and fair hearing must be followed."

Meanwhile, on Monday, the office of the national security adviser said Anjawalla had escaped detention. The security adviser said authorities were working with international police to obtain a warrant for his arrest.

Binance said it was aware one of its officials was no longer in custody.

Nigerian authorities introduced bold reforms last year, including currency controls, in a bid to boost the economy.

But months after their implementation, the naira lost about 70 percent of its value. Authorities say companies like Binance played a role by trying to manipulate the currency.

But public finance expert Isaac Botti said it couldnt have happened if the government hadnt been so negligent toward firms like Binance that exploited the system to their advantage.

"Our system has been designed to be porous, and this is the advantage these guys take," Botti said. "They understand the system. In a sane clime, you do not create room for this kind of porosity in your system."

Earlier this month, Binance ended all transactions and trading in Nigeria's local currency and said any remaining balances would be automatically converted into tether  a cryptocurrency stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar.
Writing by hand is something humans have done for millennia. Since prehistoric times, people have used every tool imaginable to etch onto stone, carve into clay, and ink parchment and paper to convey information, conduct business, and create personal correspondence.

But as computers took over the job and the type-written word became the norm, something was lost in the process; namely, the charm and personal nature of a hand-crafted note or letter.

Hand-writing robots

Now, like many things once considered too old fashioned, letter writing is making a comeback in the form of AI-operated robots that can hand write notes for humans in their own handwriting.

Receiving a handwritten note appeals not only to your eyes, but the feel as well, said

David Wachs, CEO and founder of Handwrytten. I think what's old is new again.

The Phoenix-based companys main clients are businesses that use handwritten letters and thank you notes created by the companys fleet of robots to create stronger, more personal connections with their customers. And those customers appreciate it, Wachs says.

A large part of their business is nonprofits, he says, which they help to keep donations flowing.

Many non-profits have trouble turning one-time contributors into annual givers, Wachs explains, because the contributors feel unappreciated.

So they help those nonprofits reach out in a more meaningful way through handwritten letters.

A presidents hobby

Automated letter writing isn't a new phenomenon. Thomas Jefferson, the third U.S. President, was a huge fan and prolific user of the Polygraph -- a machine created by British inventor John Isaac Hawkins. Jefferson considered the device the greatest invention of his time as it allowed him to make duplicates of his letters to keep for his own records.

When Benjamin Henry Latrobe  the second architect who helped design the U.S. Capitol  introduced the polygraph to Jefferson, the president was immediately smitten, says Charles Morrill, a polygraph enthusiast, historian and professional woodworker who worked as a guide for several years at Monticello, Jeffersons Virginia home from 1770 until his death in 1826.

Jefferson falls in love with this and it becomes in many ways the hobby of his presidency, says Morrill. He keeps buying machines and exchanges ones that are not quite perfect for the next one thats a little bit better.

For Jefferson, it's almost like a print shop with a copy potential of one, he says, with the president ending up with more than ten of them at one point. This was pushing the technology of the day to its limit.

Using what he considered a marvel of technology, historians say Jefferson went on to write almost 20,000 letters in his lifetime.

In a January 15, 1809 letter to Charles Willson Peale, who worked with Hawkins to develop and perfect the machine, Jefferson writes:

The use of the polygraph has spoiled me for the old copying press the copies of which are hardly ever legible, adding, I could not, now therefore, live without the Polygraph.

We had this president who was absolutely convinced that the new, new thing wasn't something that you would want. It was something you absolutely had to have, Morrill says.

During a tour he was giving at Monticello one day, Morrill says he had a visitor ask, What is it about you Americans and this new, new thing? Other cultures aren't like this. You Americans are just so absolutely convinced that the next new thing is going to do it; the latest software, the latest computer, the latest phone.

And I think this kind of begins with Jefferson, Morrill says.

From early Polygraphs to AI-generated letters

Handwriting technology has greatly evolved since Jeffersons time.

Wachs says it now includes 3D printing and laser cutting, and electrical circuit board design for the robots they use to do the work of humans.

And if users need help thinking of exactly what to write in their note, they can choose the AI assist button to help them generate a more effective message through its ChatGPT function.

Whether via the printing press or the polygraph, a computer or a robot, one thing is clear humans will use whatever tool at their disposal to express themselves through the printed word, for convenience, sentiment, and posterity.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine defeated the ship Konstantin Olshansky, previously owned by the Ukrainian Navy and captured by the Russians in 2014, the damage to the vessel is being clarified, said Dmytro Pletenchuk, spokesperson of the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

"A truly detective story unfolded with the large landing ship Konstantin Olshansky. Let me remind you, this is a ship that belonged to Ukraine and was captured by the Russian occupiers in 2014," Pletenchuk said on the Freeform TV channel on Tuesday.

"For nine years it stood in Sevastopol Bay, it was disassembled for spare parts  And in the 10th year, they realized that they were running out of large landing ships ... and it was decided to restore it. During the year, it was restored, but the purpose of these works was to commit forgery and report to the management that they had restored one of their previously damaged large landing ships  Minsk or Olenegorsk Miner, because their nature of damage is such that their restoration is in great doubt, and this ship was planned to be used against the Ukrainian forces. Therefore, it was decided to hit this ship with the Neptune. The defeat was inflicted. The damage is being clarified," Pletenchuk said.
A new electoral regulation in South Sudan has received harsh criticism from opposition parties that see the move as a way to lock them out of the forthcoming general election that will be a first for the worlds youngest nation.

Key opposition parties in South Sudan have termed a contentious electoral law as a scheme by the government to keep them out of upcoming elections in December.



The Coalition of Opposition Parties presented a petition to the countrys Political Party Council Monday demanding revocation of the $50,000 registration fee imposed on parties seeking to field candidates in the upcoming polls.

The worlds youngest nation is set to have its first democratically elected government in December this year.



But parties like the People's Progressive Party, SSOA, Coalition of Opposition Parties and United Peoples Party now see the newly registration fee as an attempt by the government to stifle democracy and restrict the participation of opposition parties in the polls.

Opposition politician Lam Akol is the leader of the National Democratic Movement (NDM) and had challenged President Salva Kiir in the first election held in 2010 when South Sudan was seceding from Sudan.



How many parties will afford $50,000? he said



In 2010 parties had been required to pay about $150 as a registration fee.



Riek Machar, chairperson of the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO), the main opposition party in the transitional government, blames President Kiirs side of the government for failing the people of South Sudan. Machar insists that they will not take part in the election unless all the pending chapters in the peace agreement are fully implemented.



Opposition leaders also say they dont have faith in the local judicial process should they feel the need to challenge the outcome of the election. Gabriel Akok, chairperson of the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP), claims that, as currently constituted the judiciary is controlled by government sympathizers.

Considering the current situation in South Sudan, we are not sure, everyone is not quite sure that we can petition the election results when they are not free and fair, simply because the judiciary is headed by an active member of the SPLM, the current ruling political party in South Sudan, said Akok.

South Sudan is currently under a transitional government whose term is set to end with the election in December.
Police in northern Pakistan said Tuesday that at least five Chinese nationals and their local driver were killed when a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into their convoy.

The attack occurred on the main highway linking Pakistan to China.

Beijing swiftly denounced what it called a terrorist attack and demanded Pakistani authorities bring the perpetrators to justice.

Local police officer Bakht Zahir told VOA an investigation into the "suicide blast" was underway.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for one of the deadliest attacks on Chinese nationals in recent years.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari condemned the attack and conveyed his condolences to the victims families and the government in neighboring China.

"Forces hostile to Pakistan will never succeed in damaging the Pakistan-China friendship," Zardari said.

The victims were traveling to the Chinese-funded Dasu hydropower project under construction in the district of Kohistan when the bomber coming from the opposite side hit them.

In a statement, the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad demanded that the Pakistani government immediately conduct a thorough investigation into the deadly bombing.

The diplomatic mission urged Pakistani authorities to take practical and effective measures to protect the safety of Chinese citizens, institutions, and projects to prevent such incidents from happening again.



Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited the Chinese Embassy to offer condolences over the death of Chinese nationals in the suicide attack, his office said.

This is not the first time Chinese nationals have come under attack in the mountainous region.

In mid-2021, a suicide car bombing targeted a bus convoy of Chinese engineers working on the biggest hydropower project in Pakistan, killing nine Chinese nationals and three of their local co-workers.

Thousands of Chinese engineers and laborers are working in Pakistan. Most of them are associated with the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, or CPEC, which is an extension of Beijings global Belt and Road Initiative infrastructure program.

Todays attack was orchestrated by the enemies of Pakistan-China friendship. We will resolutely act against all such forces and defeat them, the Pakistani foreign ministry said in a statement. Pakistan will continue to work with our Chinese brothers in ensuring the safety and security of Chinese nationals, projects, and institutions in Pakistan.

Mushahid Hussain, the head of the Islamabad-based independent Pakistan-China Institute, described Tuesdays attack as a monumental security breach. The former Pakistani senator criticized his government in comments posted on X, saying Islamabads commitments to provide foolproof security to Chinese workers ring hollow in the wake of repeated high-profile attacks on them.

Tuesdays attack came a day after separatist insurgents stormed Pakistans second-largest naval aviation base in southwestern Baluchistan province. The military said that security forces killed all four assailants, and a Pakistani soldier died in the ensuing clashes.

The so-called Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), designated as a global terrorist organization by the United States, took responsibility for the attack.

Last week, eight heavily armed insurgents stormed a government compound in Baluchistans Gwadar district, home to a China-operated port. The ensuing gunfight killed all the assailants and left several Pakistani security personnel dead. The BLA claimed its fighters carried out the raid.

The deep-water Gwadar port is located near the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial oil shipping route in the Arabian Sea. It is run by a Chinese state company and is a centerpiece of the multibillion-dollar bilateral CPEC collaboration.
Supporters are urging the world's oldest leader, 91-year-old Cameroonian President Paul Biya, to run for office in the 2025 presidential election, potentially extending his more than four-decade rule.

They say Biya is the only one who can bring peace and development to the country, but the opposition says Biya must leave office after running Cameroon for decades.

Several hundred people sang in Cameroon's capital, Yaounde, on Sunday, calling for Biya to accept the nomination of the Cameroon Peoples Democratic Movement, or CPDM party, in the 2025 presidential election.

Biya created the CPDM on March 24, 1985, three years after his predecessor, Cameroon's first president, Ahmadou Ahidjo, stepped down due to ill health and handed power to Biya.

Biya has been president of Cameroon since 1982 and leader of his party since 1985.

During the party's 39th anniversary on Sunday, party officials organized rallies in all Cameroon towns and villages to ask people to support Biya as their candidate in the 2025 elections.

Senior CPDM official Fru Jonathan described Biya as the party's natural candidate, saying there is peace, unity and economic growth in the country. Jonathan said Biya is strong and healthy.

"We think that you don't change a winning team," Jonathan said. "If there is any challenger, let him come up, but we have not seen any challenger who can beat our candidate, so we all rely on him and call on him to continue to rule and bring our country to emergence as that is his vision."

Biya has not said if he will be a candidate.

Cameroon senior state functionaries appointed by Biya, along with Biya's party officials, credit the long-serving leader for constructing at least 6,000 kilometers of roads, providing electricity and water to towns and villages, and building several hundred classrooms and hospitals.

But Cameron's opposition and civil society disagree with that positive assessment, saying under Biya the Cameroon Bank and the Fund for Agricultural Development created to fund farmers' projects crumbled.

The opposition also says corruption has become widespread during Biyas rule, with Transparency International ranking Cameroon as the most corrupt country in 1998 and 1999.

Cabral Libii, 44, an opposition parliamentarian with Cameroon's Party for National Reconciliation, or PCRN, placed third in Cameroon's 2018 presidential elections.

Libii said Cameroonian youth will not continue to watch Biya cripple the economy, deprive civilians of their liberties and freedoms, and rule Cameroon with an iron fist while now showing signs of being ruler for life.

He said Biya is the cause of sorrows brought about by extremely high unemployment, underemployment and crises in the English-speaking western regions that have claimed more than 6,000 lives.

Libii said Cameroon opposition and civil society are organizing themselves to present a candidate to oust Biya, whom they describe as elderly and frail to the point he is hardly seen in public.

Libii said Cameroon needs young dynamic leaders to salvage the country from underdevelopment.

Opponents said many youths were hired to take part in rallies to give the false impression that Biya is popular.

Both the government and Biyas CPDM party officials deny that civilians, especially poor youth, were hired.

At 91, Biya is the oldest leader in the world and the second-longest-serving president after his neighbor, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea.

Biyas party says he has won all presidential elections since the return of multiparty politics in Cameroon in 1990, but the opposition says previous elections have been marred by fraud.
A British court ruled Tuesday that Julian Assange can't be extradited to the United States on espionage charges unless U.S. authorities guarantee he won't get the death penalty, giving the WikiLeaks founder a partial victory in his long legal battle over the site's publication of classified American documents.

Two High Court judges said they would grant Assange a new appeal unless U.S. authorities give further assurances within three weeks about what will happen to him. The ruling means the legal saga, which has dragged on for more than a decade, will continue  and Assange will remain inside London's high-security Belmarsh Prison, where he has spent the last five years.

Judges Victoria Sharp and Jeremy Johnson said the U.S. must guarantee that Assange, who is Australian, "is afforded the same First Amendment protections as a United States citizen, and that the death penalty is not imposed."

The judges said that if the U.S. files new assurances, "we will give the parties an opportunity to make further submissions before we make a final decision on the application for leave to appeal." The judges said a hearing will be held May 20 if the U.S. makes those submissions.

Assange's supporters say he is a journalist protected by the First Amendment who exposed U.S. military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan that was in the public interest. They have argued that his prosecution is politically motivated and that he can't get a fair trial in the U.S.

Assange's wife, Stella Assange, said the WikiLeaks founder "is being persecuted because he exposed the true cost of war in human lives."

"The Biden administration should not issue assurances. They should drop this shameful case, which should never have been brought," she said outside the High Court in London.

The ruling follows a two-day hearing in the High Court in February, where Assange's lawyer Edward Fitzgerald said American authorities were seeking to punish him for WikiLeaks' "exposure of criminality on the part of the U.S. government on an unprecedented scale," including torture and killings.

The U.S. government said Assange's actions went beyond journalism by soliciting, stealing and indiscriminately publishing classified government documents that endangered innocent lives.

The judges rejected six of Assange's nine grounds of appeal, including the allegation that his prosecution is political. They said that while Assange "acted out of political conviction  it does not follow however that the request for his extradition is made on account of his political views."

They accepted three grounds of appeal: the threat to Assange's freedom of speech, Assange's claim that he faces disadvantage because he is not a U.S. citizen, and the risk he could receive the death penalty.

U.S. authorities have promised Assange would not receive capital punishment, but the judges said that "nothing in the existing assurance explicitly prevents the imposition of the death penalty."

Assange, 52, an Australian computer expert, has been indicted in the U.S. on charges over Wikileaks' publication in 2010 of hundreds of thousands of classified documents.

U.S. prosecutors say he conspired with U.S. army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to hack into a Pentagon computer and release secret diplomatic cables and military files on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Assange faces 17 espionage counts and one charge of computer misuse. If convicted, his lawyers say, he could receive a prison term of up to 175 years, although American authorities have said any sentence is likely to be much lower.

Assange's wife and supporters say his physical and mental health have suffered during more than a decade of legal battles, including seven years in self-exile in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and the last five years in prison.

Assange's legal troubles began in 2010, when he was arrested in London at the request of Sweden, which wanted to question him about allegations of rape and sexual assault made by two women. In 2012, Assange jumped bail and sought refuge inside the Ecuadorian Embassy.

The relationship between Assange and his hosts eventually soured, and he was evicted from the embassy in April 2019. British police immediately arrested and imprisoned him for breaching bail in 2012. Sweden dropped the sex crimes investigations in November 2019 because so much time had elapsed.

A U.K. district court judge rejected the U.S. extradition request in 2021 on the grounds that Assange was likely to kill himself if held under harsh U.S. prison conditions. Higher courts overturned that decision after getting assurances from the U.S. about his treatment. The British government signed an extradition order in June 2022.
Ukraine said Tuesday it destroyed 12 Russian drones that targeted several Ukrainian regions, while Russia said it thwarted Ukrainian air attacks against the Belgorod region along the border between the two countries.

Ukraines air force said the countrys air defenses downed the drones over the Mykolaiv and Kharkiv regions.

Oleh Syniehubov, the regional governor in Kharkiv, reported on Telegram there was damage to a building, but no casualties.

Vitaliy Kim, the governor in Mykolaiv, said on Telegram three of the drones were destroyed above his region. He did not report any damage or casualties.

Russias defense ministry said Tuesday its air defenses shot down 15 Ukrainian missiles in several waves of attacks overnight.

The missiles targeted the Belgorod region, where Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram that 20 homes were damaged and several people were hurt.
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 labor.

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, and 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 10 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."
The United Nations childrens fund says there is a dire situation in several eastern and southern African countries, where at least 45 million children are dealing with severe food insecurity made worse by climate change.

In a statement, Eva Kadilli, the UNICEF director for eastern and southern Africa, said millions of people are living through multiple and often overlapping crises intensified by the 2023-24 El Nino weather phenomenon, one of the strongest on record.

Christiane Rudert, a nutrition adviser for UNICEF in eastern and southern Africa, told VOA that many countries in her region have very high rates of child stunting or acute malnutrition. She said the rates are getting worse because of extreme weather patterns, such as a prolonged heat wave and drought, associated with climate change.

For example, in Malawi, affected by the current El Nino phenomenon, data from the routine nutrition program showed a worsening of the nutrition status of children and increased admissions for acute malnutrition, Rudert said. Almost half of the 21 countries are at the very highest risk of climate change impacts for children in this region. Even small gains in nutrition are now being reversed before our eyes.

Wongani Grace Taulo, UNICEF regional education adviser for eastern and southern Africa, said UNICEF is attempting to help children and their families learn ways of coping with climate change through the schools.

UNICEF is working with partners, but specifically governments, [other] U.N. agencies, civil society, and communities to integrate climate education into the education system, particularly on infrastructure, the use of renewable energy and waste management, Taulo said.

Let me mention Zimbabwe, where we are working with the government on the clean green schools initiative, Taulo added, where all aspects of climate change strategies are actually integrated into how we are delivering education from the school to the community and creating an ecosystem that is going to be able to address the effects of climate change.

While that may help southern Africa in the long term, many Zimbabweans are concerned with their situation here and now.

Elita Ncube said her family is living in poverty, and her three children struggle to go to school because of irregular meals.

She said there is nothing to eat from the fields. In the past, she said, she has survived by selling mopane worms, but this year there is nothing to sell. Her animals have no water to drink, and her goats and cattle will die, she said.

Ncube once had donors that helped with food, she added, and she wishes they would return, or at least give her work to do in exchange for food.

July Moyo, the minister of social welfare, said Tuesday that Zimbabwes government will not rush to join Malawi and Zambia in declaring the current drought a national disaster.

Moyo said there is no scientific reason to warrant a disaster declaration.
Countless children are at risk of death in Haiti as gangs tighten their grip on power and the humanitarian crisis worsens, UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said Tuesday.

The violence and instability in Haiti have consequences far beyond the risk of the violence itself, she said in a press release.

Russell said that more than 125,000 children are imminently threatened by severe acute malnutrition, all while life-saving supplies are ready to be delivered if violence stops and roads and hospitals are opened.

According to a report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification initiative, nearly 5 million people  accounting for about half of Haitis population  have been pushed to high levels of acute food insecurity since gang violence surged.

Food insecurity and the health crisis are worsened by limited access to those in need. UNICEF says a lack of security wrought by the gang violence has restricted aid deliveries and weakened the countrys health care system.

The United Nations childrens agency called for the return of law and order to Haitis streets so hospitals, schools and other humanitarian spaces can be protected.

Despite barriers to providing aid, some assistance has reached people in need. The World Food Program said on Monday that 18,500 hot meals were delivered to displaced people, the organizations largest distribution this month.

Additionally, UNICEF and its partners distributed approximately 1.7 million liters of water to more than 15,000 in Haitis capital, Port-au-Prince.

Health is also being monitored in the capital, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA. The agency said disease outbreak monitoring is continuing in sites for displaced people.

Despite recent successes in providing aid, OCHA added that more aid needs to be given. It said the WFP was still not able to reach thousands of people, and that medical supply distribution was a critical need, but stock replenishment was hindered.

Gangs launched a coordinated attack on the capital late last month, plunging the nation into chaos by destroying infrastructure and causing civilian fatalities.

Prime Minister Ariel Henry has said he would resign once a transitional presidential council is created. But that has been delayed following disagreements over council members.

According to Caribbean officials, no meetings with nominated members of the council have been planned for this week, as they have asked for more time to work on internal issues.

Some information from this report came from The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Energy announced a record conditional loan of $2.26 billion to tap the largest known lithium reserves in North America. The loan is an important step in an effort by the U.S. government to reduce reliance on China for the metal used to make batteries.

Analysts, however, say that it may be too late to move away from reliance on China completely when it comes to metal processing and the production of batteries.

The DOEs Loan Programs Office (LPO) says the funds, if approved after review, will help the Lithium Americas Corp. construct a lithium carbonate processing plant at the Thacker Pass mine project in Humboldt County, Nevada.

The LPO says the project would help secure reliable, sustainable domestic supply chains for critical materials, which are key to reaching our ambitious clean energy and climate goals and reducing our reliance on economic competitors like China.

Lithium Americas Corp. on its official website says battery materials could be completely sourced and manufactured in the U.S., bringing down the overall carbon footprint, transport costs and supply chain risks.

The LPO says lithium carbonate from Thacker Pass could eventually support the production of batteries for up to 800,000 electric vehicles (EVs) per year, saving 317 million gallons of gasoline per year.

Although the U.S. has made pioneering and groundbreaking contributions to the development of the lithium ion battery, industry experts say lithium processing and EV battery production is dominated today by China.

Parts of our key supply chains, including for clean energy, are currently over concentrated in China, said U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in prepared remarks March 2 when she visited a U.S. lithium processing facility in Chile, which holds the worlds largest reserves of the metal.

This makes America more vulnerable to shocks in China, or whatever country dominates production, from natural disasters to macroeconomic forces, to deliberate actions such as economic coercion.

A report last year by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development said China increased restrictions on its exports of critical minerals ninefold between 2009 and 2020.

Data from the U.S. Geological Survey shows the output and scale of lithium mines in Australia and Argentina far exceed Chinas. In 2022, Australia's lithium mine output was more than three times China's.

Refining, processing still issues

But industry experts say while Western countries have poured a lot of investment into developing raw minerals, they have paid little attention to refining and processing, areas in which China dominates.

Ellen R. Wald, a nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center, tells VOA, "Lithium is not useful just as it is. You have to refine it to make what's used in the batteries. And that's really where China controls the supply chain because almost all of the refining for lithium that creates it into the substance that can be used to make batteries is done in China."

According to the Chatham House, Chinese companies accounted for about 72% of global lithium refining capacity in 2022.

China also dominates much of the global market for battery-related equipment, leaving limited options for U.S. companies that want to showcase their domestic production credentials.

American Battery Factory Inc., or ABF, is an emerging battery manufacturer that says it is the first network of entirely U.S.-owned vertical manufacturing, supply chain and R&D for Lithium Iron Phosphate battery cells in the United States.

But to secure custom automation equipment and machinery for use in its first large-scale rechargeable battery factory in Tucson, Arizona, it has formed a partnership with Lead Intelligent Equipment, a Chinese company.

Dependent on China

In an article in January, Wald said China is in a good position to restrict access to lithium-ion batteries to certain countries or companies as it wishes, and if the U.S. military suddenly finds itself in need of more specialized batteries, the Pentagon may not be able to obtain them.

In February 2022, China announced sanctions against Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of the F-35 fighter jet, and Raytheon Technologies, the world's largest missile manufacturer. Although China did not specify the details of the sanctions, it is generally considered to be a possible threat to cut off the Western countries' supply of critical minerals.

Wald told VOA, "The U.S. defense industry is basically dependent on China for these specialized batteries that they need in all of their drones and their surveillance systems and all sorts of things."

David Whittle, adjunct professor in resource engineering at the Department of Civil Engineering at Monash University in Australia, told VOA even if "the world develops a robust, independent supply chain for lithium, up to the point of battery chemical production, at present, China would still be the largest customer for those chemicals, since it is the largest cell manufacturer, the largest battery pack manufacturer, the largest E.V. manufacturer and the largest market for E.V.s."

The Thacker Pass lithium mine is located at the southern end of the McDermitt Caldera, and is considered to be one of the largest in the world.

The record loan to Lithium Americas Corp. is the largest such loan the U.S. has offered for the development of a lithium mine project since the country stepped up its efforts to build a domestic supply chain for critical minerals in recent years.

The Thacker Pass lithium project is not expected to start production until 2028, and even then, Wald said, that goal may be too ambitious. The mine plans to extract lithium from clay, but Wald says it has never been mined in this way on a commercial scale. In addition, the mine is in a remote and sparsely populated location, requiring the company to build housing for workers and their families and to reassess its environmental impact.

Despite the challenges, Wald said creating a secure supply chain is not impossible for the U.S.

"I don't think it's too late," Wald said. "Will they be able to compete with China globally? Probably not. But can we create non-Chinese sustainable and secure supply chains? Yeah, we can do it."

Whittle said Western countries being "resilient to challenges from China" can't mean "isolated from China" anymore, but resilience is still possible.

The DOEs LPO said while their announcement shows intent to give the loan, the company must first satisfy certain technical, legal, environmental and financial conditions before the funds will be released.

Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.
The United States and China, both permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, disagree on the status of Monday's resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza during the final two weeks of Ramadan.

The U.S. abstained from voting, while all other UNSC members supported Resolution 2728, which also calls for the immediate release of hostages and the removal of obstacles hindering humanitarian access.

Its nonbinding, Mathew Miller, spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, told reporters on Tuesday.

Miller said the resolution does not impose any new obligations on the parties.

This position sharply contrasts with that of China.

Security Council resolutions are binding, Lin Jian, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said on Tuesday.

Without explicitly mentioning the U.S. and Israel, Lin stated, "We anticipate that the state wielding significant influence will positively impact the concerned party."

In recent months, both the U.S. and China have vetoed multiple resolutions designed to tackle the conflict in Gaza.

There is no question that the U.N. Security Council resolution is binding, said Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch.

The language of the resolution is obligatory, Roth, now a professor at Princeton University, wrote to VOA.

Lea Brilmayer, a professor at Yale Law School, said the UNSC has the power to issue both binding and nonbinding resolutions.

The question whether a particular resolution is binding is not possible to answer with complete certainty, Brilmayer told VOA.

It is particularly difficult to decide the question when the different countries sitting on the Security Council have different positions on the matter. In such cases, there is no shared intent about what the resolution is designed to do.

Israel says no to resolution

Amid the U.S.-China disagreement, Israel says it will not abide by the resolution.

The state of Israel will not cease fire, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz wrote on his verified X account.

Gilad Erdan, Israels representative to the U.N., strongly criticized UNSC members for adopting the resolution.

For you, the blood of Israelis is cheap. It's ridiculous and I'm disgusted by what's happening here!

At least 32,000 Palestinians, many of them children, have been killed by Israels military response to the October 7 Hamas attack that killed about 1,200 people in Israel, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned against noncompliance with the resolution.

"This resolution must be implemented. Failure would be unforgivable," he wrote on X.

Despite saying the resolution is nonbinding, the State Departments Miller said it should be respected.

It carries weight, he said.

Experts say the U.S. position implies that by not abiding by the resolution, Israel would face no consequences.

The Security Council has the responsibility of enforcing it, Brilmayer said.

The UNSC has imposed sanctions on some countries that have defied its resolutions.

If Biden pretends that the Security Council resolution is nonbinding, he is telling not only Israel that it doesnt have to stop bombing and starving Palestinian civilians but also Hamas that it doesnt have to release the hostages, said Roth.


During the day, the Ukrainian military eliminated about 770 enemy personnel, six tanks, 24 armored combat vehicles, 27 artillery systems, one MLRS, one air defense system, 14 UAVs, four cruise missiles, 48 units of auto and special equipment, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports.

"The total combat losses of the enemy from February 24, 2022 to March 26, 2024 approximately amount to: about 438,160 people of military personnel (plus 770) people, 6,893 tanks (plus six) units, 13,207 armored combat vehicles (plus 24) units, 10,904 artillery systems (plus 27), 1,019 MLRS units (plus one) unit, 727 units of air defense equipment (plus one), 347 aircraft, 325 helicopters, 8,553 operational and tactical level UAVs (plus 14), 2,014 cruise missiles (plus four), 26 ships/boats, one submarine, 14,498 automotive equipment and tankers (plus 44) units, and 1,789 special equipment units (plus four)," a message posted on Facebook on Tuesday morning reads.
The United States is eyeing April 18 for the potential resumption of Sudan peace talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, as part of Washington's efforts to mitigate a dire humanitarian disaster and prevent the conflict from escalating into a regional war.

Nearly a year into Sudan's civil war, the country is grappling with the world's largest internal displacement crisis.

Tom Perriello, U.S. special envoy for Sudan, told reporters on Tuesday that these talks need to be inclusive, involving the African Union, the East African bloc IGAD, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.

We need the partners in the room who are necessary to get this war to end, he said.

Perriello warned that the conflict in Sudan is not just a disaster for civilians but could easily become a more factionalized and regional war.

There's an important donor conference in Paris on the 15th," Perriello said, referring to a planned ministerial meeting in April to relieve Sudans humanitarian crisis. "And we would certainly see natural momentum from that to return to Jeddah if the Saudis are indeed going to host inclusive talks.

The United States and Saudi Arabia have brokered multiple cease-fires between Sudans warring parties and facilitated talks in Jeddah last year, but the negotiations stumbled amid competing international peace efforts.

The United Nations, the African Union and regional group IGAD have all appointed special representatives on Sudan. Gulf states have also convened a series of meetings in Jeddah and in Bahrains capital, Manama.

Fighting erupted in April last year between the Sudanese Armed Forces, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. Once allies in Sudan's transitional government after a 2021 coup, the two generals have turned into rivals for power.

U.S. officials have said their priority in Sudan is to secure a peace deal that immediately ends the violence, ensures full humanitarian access to all citizens and facilitates the country's return to civilian governance.

In January, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions targeting entities funding the conflict in Sudan. However, analysts have pointed out the challenges faced by Washington and the constraints of time.

A political appointee arriving in the job in potentially the last year of the [Biden] administration he serves is dealing from a weak deck already, said Cameron Hudson, a senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The possibility that his interlocutors could simply choose to wait him out is quite real.

He added that attempts to merge various peace initiatives are likely not a productive use of time given the calamitous state of Sudans fighting and humanitarian situations.

The war has led to thousands of deaths, a massive displacement crisis and large-scale atrocities, particularly against non-Arab communities in the countrys Darfur region.

On March 8, the U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution calling for a cease-fire for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, but the warring parties have ignored it.

Sudan is now home to the worlds largest internal displacement crisis, with 6.3 million people forced from their homes in search of safety. Another 1.7 million have fled to neighboring countries. More than 70% of health facilities in conflict areas have stopped functioning.

U.S. officials have also warned that Sudans civil war could trigger the world's largest hunger crisis.

I am headed to the refugee camps in Chad with a CODEL [congressional delegation] that's going in a couple of days. Even in those camps, there are children who are living on less than one meal a day, said Perriello, referring to refugee camps in Chad that take in Sudanese civilians.

Last week, the United States announced over $47 million in humanitarian assistance for the emergency response in Sudan and neighboring countries, including Chad and South Sudan.

VOAs Margaret Besheer contributed this report from the United Nations.
Beijings charge daffaires at its London embassy was summoned by Britain Tuesday to hear complaints about a series of cyber attacks, blamed on alleged China-backed hackers.

The summons comes after Britain, the United States and New Zealand lodged claims in rapid succession that China-backed hacking groups have targeted politicians, journalists, activists and even Britains election watchdog. Beijing denies the claims.

On Tuesday, Britains Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office in London issued a statement describing the summons and setting out an unequivocal condemnation of those involved in the attacks.

The statement also read that The UK Government would not tolerate such threatening activity, and would continue to take strong action with partners across the globe to respond.

Britain and the U.S. have sanctioned Chinese individuals and entities over the attacks. The Chinese foreign ministry responded, saying it opposes and cracks down on all forms of cyber attacks.

Earlier on Tuesday, New Zealand said a Chinese state-sponsored hacking operation targeted New Zealands parliament in 2021.

New Zealands Government Communications Security Bureau or GCSB said it linked malicious cyber activity against the countrys parliament to the group Advanced Persistent Threat 40, which the GCSB said is linked to Chinas Ministry of State Security.

The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable, the minister responsible for the GCSB, Judith Collins, said in a statement.

Chinas embassy in Wellington rejected New Zealands accusations, calling them groundless and irresponsible.

We have never, nor will we in the future, interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, including New Zealand, the embassy said in a statement.

American and British authorities announced criminal charges and sanctions on Monday against seven hackers believed to be living in China and linked to the Chinese government.

The hacking operation was attributed to Advanced Persistent Threat 31, or APT31, an extensive Chinese state-backed operation targeting U.S. officials, journalists, corporations, pro-democracy activists and the United Kingdom's election watchdog.

The campaign, which started in 2010, sought to spy on and intimidate high-level political figures and critics of the Chinese government. It also intended to gather trade secrets from American corporations.

"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, undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement.

"Through our whole-of-government approach and in close coordination with our British partners, Treasury will continue to leverage our tools to expose these networks and protect against these threats."

In a statement, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said that "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."

He added 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."

The British government released a related announcement, imposing sanctions on two of the hackers for a breach that might have given them access to information about tens of millions of U.K. voters, although some 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 engaged in "reconnaissance activity" targeting British members of parliament who criticized Beijing in 2021. One such parliamentarian is Iain Duncan Smith.

"Personally, I've had a wolf warrior that was impersonating me for some time using a fake email address, emailing all sorts of politicians around the world, saying that I'd recanted my views, also saying basically that I was a liar  all these sorts of things to various people," Smith told VOA.

"I only came to know about it because I know some of them, and they were sending this back to me to say, 'Why are you sending me emails recanting and basically calling yourself a liar?'" Smith said.

While no parliamentary accounts were successfully breached, prosecutors noted that hackers sent over 10,000 emails impersonating journalists and other figures. These emails contained malicious code that would give hackers access to the victims' location, IP addresses and devices.

APT31 had previously been accused of targeting presidential campaigns before the 2020 general election, as well as the Finland parliament's information systems.

U.S. officials have consistently pursued legal action against Chinese state-linked hackers and expressed concerns about potential interference in American presidential politics. Despite a 2021 intelligence assessment finding no evidence of Chinese interference in the 2020 election, tensions persist over cybersecurity threats.

The recent indictment of the hackers does not change the assessment's conclusions and presents no allegations that the Chinese government was trying to influence the U.S. through the hackings.

It does highlight, however, the need for continued vigilance, particularly with the approaching 2024 election, according to Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen, the Justice Department's top national security official.

"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," Olsen said.

The Chinese Embassy in London called the charges "completely fabricated and malicious slanders," and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told countries that they should base their claims on evidence and not smear other countries without factual evidence.

VOAs Mandarin Service contributed to this report. Some information was provided by The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
The main Venezuelan opposition coalition said early Tuesday that electoral authorities didn't let it register its presidential candidate as the deadline ended, in what it called the latest violation to the citizens' right to vote for change in the South American country.

The candidate, Corina Yoris, could not be registered by midnight Monday, which was the time limit for registering for the election, set for July 28, said Omar Barboza, representative of the U.S.-backed Unitary Platform coalition.

On a video posted on the Unitary Platform X account, Barboza said this was "a violation of the right of the majority of Venezuelans who want to vote for change." He demanded the registry be reopened.

Yoris, an 80-year-old unknown newcomer, was named Friday the substitute to opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who faces a government ban on running for office.

Hours before the opposition coalition couldn't register Yoris, President Nicolas Maduro made official his candidacy for a third term, which would last until 2031.

Polls show Maduro would be trounced by a landslide if Venezuelan voters were given the chance.

The self-proclaimed socialist leader has so far managed to block his chief opponents from running while alternately negotiating and then reneging on minimal electoral guarantees promised to the U.S. government in exchange for relief from oil sanctions.

"We've exhausted all of the possibilities," Yoris said Monday at a news conference in which she detailed her failed attempts to register, both electronically and in person, her candidacy. "It's not just the name of Corina Yoris that is being denied but the name of any citizen that wants to run."

In registering his own candidacy, Maduro, without mentioning Yoris by name, blasted his would-be rival as a "puppet" of traditional elites.

To date, 10 candidates have registered to compete in the July elections, none of them connected to the main opposition coalition and several seen as representing little threat to Maduro's power base. Once parties register their candidate, they have until April 16 to name a substitute.
A new report and research from a British defense research group has found that many Western nations are still reliant on Russian nuclear fuel to power their reactors, despite efforts to sever economic ties with the Kremlin following its February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Russia may be able to take advantage of incongruencies in sanctions or other restrictions, as well as persistent contractual dependencies and supply challenges, to maintain access to Western nuclear fuel supply chains and continue generating revenue through its enriched uranium exports, the Royal United Services Institute, or RUSI, says in its report.

Rosatom

Of those supplying nuclear fuel, Rosatom, Russias State Atomic Energy Corporation, is the biggest supplier of uranium enrichment to the global market and has continued to export significant volumes of enriched uranium product since February 2022. The report estimates that Russia sold enriched uranium worth $2.7 billion in 2023.

Rosatom supplied some 30 percent of the enriched uranium purchased by European Union states in 2022, and 23 percent of that purchased by U.S. utility companies, according to the RUSI analysis of publicly available statistics. Not all countries publish their import or export figures for nuclear materials.

Western companies may be finding it difficult to change long-term contracts with Rosatom, said Darya Dolzikova, author of the RUSI report. In the enriched uranium space in particular, there are historical dependencies, so there are contractual obligations that might be difficult for certain utilities to get out of, she told VOA.

French dependency

France, which has 56 nuclear reactors generating around two-thirds of the countrys electricity, is one of Russias biggest customers for enriched uranium, despite growing political tensions between Paris and Moscow over the invasion of Ukraine.

Imports into France of Russian enriched uranium have increased significantly since the start of 2022. So there was an increase of about 184 percent in volume, Dolzikova said.

French utility EDF is even planning a joint venture with Russias state-run Rosatom to process uranium at a site in Lingen, Germany.

The RUSI report also details Russian uranium exports to the United States, Germany and the Netherlands. Russia is still the biggest exporter of enriched uranium and enrichment services globally. They account for about 44% total capacity of enrichment services, Dolzikova added.

Decarbonization

Global enthusiasm for nuclear power fell after the 2011 Fukushima reactor meltdown in Japan.

However, as countries try to slash carbon emissions to combat climate change, many governments are rethinking their approach to atomic power. At a March 21 meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Brussels, several world leaders called for a reinvestment in nuclear power.

Adapting supply chains take time. And doing it in a secure and reliable way takes time. But it is clearly one of the assignments to the industry and to governments working on this, is to adapt supply chains as fast as possible and also  to disconnect from Russian supply, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo told delegates at the IAEA meeting.

But we need to balance things, I mean, in a sense, if you want to decarbonize, if you want to reduce CO2 production, we need to make sure that our nuclear power plants can continue, De Croo added.

China displacement

The report says Russian exports to China have also increased, raising suspicions that Beijing could be importing Russian enriched uranium to facilitate greater exports of Chinas own enriched uranium supply  so-called displacement.

We know that China is also keen to increase its own role, expanded zone role on global nuclear fuel markets. So that raises questions as to whether the additional imports into China of Russian uranium could potentially be backing increased exports of Chinese material. That is very difficult to prove definitively, said report author Dolzikova.

Self-sufficiency

Western nations are trying to boost their nuclear self-sufficiency. France is boosting uranium enrichment capacity by more than 30 percent at a site in the southern region of Valence, according to nuclear industry reports. The American firm Westinghouse and Ukrainian firm Energoatom have begun producing nuclear fuel that can supply former Soviet reactors in eastern Europe, from a site in Sweden.

Dolzikova of RUSI said it will take at least two years for the West to end its reliance on Russian nuclear fuel. While boosting Western enrichment capacity is vital, the RUSI report also recommends that trade measures are tightened to cut Russia out of global markets.

Sanctions  or any kind of restrictions  need to be multilateral. Otherwise, because of the complexity of enriched uranium supply chains and fuel supply chains, Russia will find the weakest link in that wall of restrictions to try to continue accessing Western markets, Dolzikova added.
An analysis by Britains Royal United Services Institute has found that many Western nations still rely on Russian nuclear fuel to power their reactors, despite efforts to sever economic ties with the Kremlin following its 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.
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.

SEE ALSO:

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.
DAKAR, Senegal (AP)  A former Senegalese prime minister on Monday conceded the presidential election to the opposition candidate based on preliminary results a day after the vote, according to a statement by his campaign.

Amadou Ba said he congratulated Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye and wished him success.

Fayes expected victory reflected 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 corruption and interference from foreign powers like former colonial master France.

There was no immediate comment from Fayes team. Sonko was barred from the presidential race in January for a prior conviction, and Faye ran in his place.

The election on Sunday followed months of uncertainty and unrest that shook Senegals reputation as a stable democracy in a region that has seen a wave of coups in recent years. Rights groups said dozens were killed while hundreds more were jailed

It took place weeks later than planned after President Macky Salls unsuccessful attempt to postpone it until the end of the year, triggering violent protests.

The vote was largely peaceful with a high turnout, observers said. Official announcements are expected later this week, but early counts showed voters turned out overwhelmingly in favor of the opposition. Sonko promised a resounding victory on his YouTube channel.

In Senegals coastal capital, Dakar, opposition supporters danced, played music and set off fireworks until late Sunday night in anticipation of victory.

Our democracy will emerge stronger from these results, said Ndeye Sow, 27. Were delighted, there was no violence here, serenity is the order of the day.

More than 7 million people were registered to vote in a country of roughly 17 million. This is Senegals fourth democratic transfer of power since gaining independence from France more than six decades ago. The outgoing president was constitutionally barred from seeking a third term. The civil society observer group known as COSCE said voter turnout was around 61%

Until weeks prior, opposition leaders Sonko and Faye were both in prison serving sentences related to their political activities. They were freed a little over a week before the vote following the presidents announcement of a political amnesty, which helped defuse tensions among supporters.

The expected winner of the election, 44-year old Faye, was a former tax collector and little known until Sonko named him as his heir. I would even say that he is more honest than me. I place the project in his hands, Sonko told supporters at a joint press conference last year in March. Weeks later, Faye was arrested and jailed on charges of defamation, among other things.

Alioune Tine, founder of Afrikajom Center, a Senegalese think tank, said the outcome of the vote proved Senegal would survive after a difficult year that had undermined the populations faith in democracy.

From prison to the presidential palace, said Tine. The only country in Africa capable of withstanding a democratic disease that has shaken all its institutions, profoundly shaken its society, and recovered from it.

Senegals president congratulated Faye in a statement on his Facebook page, and said it was a victory for Senegalese democracy.

International analysts said a change in leadership in Senegal would come as a relief after months of violence, but raised new questions about the foreign policy of the new government at a time when the coastal nation is becoming an oil and gas producer.

A win by the opposition also means major changes ahead in domestic and foreign policies, said Rida Lyammouri of the Policy Center for the New South, a Morocco-based think tank, adding that a promise to move away from former colonial power France could define the foreign policy of the countrys new government.

Across neighboring countries in the Sahel, including Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, that recently experienced military coups, sentiment has turned against France. The ruling juntas have ended military cooperation with France, while turning instead to Russia for support.

___

Associated Press writers Babacar Dione and Jack Thompson in Dakar contributed.
French President Emmanuel Macron kicked off a visit to Brazil on Tuesday with the launch of a billion-euro Amazonian green investment plan alongside his counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

The pair's trip to Belem, the northern host city of a major UN climate summit next year, makes Macron the first president of France to visit Brazil in over a decade and comes after a stop in nearby French Guiana.

His public event with Lula on the jungle island of Combu, full of smiles and affectionate gestures, highlighted the stark reversal of relations since the term of Jair Bolsonaro, Lula's far-right predecessor.

The former president had clashed with Macron's government over environmental destruction -- and even lobbed insults directed at French first lady Brigitte Macron.

The investment plan aims to raise "1 billion euros ($1.08 billion) of public and private investment over the next four years," according to a roadmap published by the French presidency ahead of next year's COP30 summit.

The leaders are seeking to promote "a great public and private global investment plan into the bioeconomy" in the Brazilian and Guyanese Amazon, the announcement said, especially as Brazil presides over the G20 for 2024.

France, the seventh largest economy in the world, and Brazil, the ninth largest, are considered key players in a geopolitical scene marked by rivalry between China and the United States.

Paris sees Brasilia as a bridge to large emerging economies whose voices Brazil is trying to amplify through its presidency of the G20, and membership of the BRICS+ group.

"We are living in a Franco-Brazilian moment," the Elysee presidential palace said earlier, highlighting "many points of convergence" with Lula, particularly on "major global issues."

"France is an essential, unavoidable actor for Brazilian foreign policy," said the head of Brazilian diplomacy for Europe, Maria Luisa Escorel de Moraes.

- Amazon chief honored -

Tuesday's announcement proposes the creation of a "carbon market," intended to reward countries which invest in natural carbon sinks, such as the Amazon rainforest.

The world's largest tropical forest plays a key role in the fight against climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide emissions.

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon halved in 2023 after soaring under Bolsonaro, as Lula's government stepped up environmental policing.

The agreement also includes support for "indigenous people and local Amazon communities, which have an essential role in protecting biodiversity through their traditional knowledge and forest management practices," according to the announcement.

In Belem, Macron awarded tribal chief Raoni Metuktire with the Legion of Honor, the highest French distinction.

"The fight" for the forest and its peoples, "I wanted to say that we will continue to wage it alongside you," Macron told the chief.

Metuktire left his home in the Amazon more than 30 years ago to travel the world with his warning of the threats posed by the destruction of the rainforest.

A striking figure with his large wooden lip plate and yellow feather headdress, he has taken his message to popes, royals and presidents, with his stature as an environmental campaigner rising with growing awareness of the climate emergency.

- Mercosur and Ukraine -

France and Brazil are working together to manufacture four conventionally powered submarines, the third of which will be launched on Wednesday by both leaders at the Itaguai naval base, near Rio de Janeiro.

Brasilia could also call on Paris to help it develop nuclear propulsion on a fifth submarine.

Then there are the more sticky topics, such as the long-stalled free trade agreement between the European Union and South America's Mercosur bloc, which has recently run into fierce resistance from European farmers.

Macron said in January that France opposes the deal because it "doesn't make Mercosur farmers and companies abide by the same rules as ours."

While Lula is expected to reiterate his call for the rapid signing of the deal, both Paris and Brasilia have indicated the two-decade old negotiations would not be a major focus of Macron's trip, which includes meetings on Thursday in the Brazilian capital.

The war in Ukraine, which Macron wants to be a key focus of the G20, is another point of contention.

Lula, who has positioned himself as a champion of the "global South," has insisted that Kyiv and Moscow share responsibility over the conflict and has refused to take a stand against Russia.

vl/tmo/app/fb/des/md/caw
On March 22, 2024, a commando of four fighters attacked the audience of a rock concert at the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk (a north-eastern suburb of Moscow), killing 133 people and wounding 140 others. It then set fire to the building.

The Russians stopped the terrorist commando as they tried to cross the Ukrainian border, while on the other side they were expected. They were identified as Tajiks. They confessed to having been recruited via the Internet to kill for money. They said they had had no contact with their employer. However, a business card in the name of Dmytro Yarosh was found on them. As Yarosh was founder of the Pravy Sektor militia, number 2 on the Ukrainian Security Council, and then advisor to the head of the armed forces, the Russian authorities immediately accused Ukraine. Yarosh denied his countrys involvement [1]. Seven accomplices were also arrested.

The Russian anti-terrorist police tortured these terrorists and filmed their actions. Public television showed them and commented on them. Russian culture is both European and Asian. The Russian people feel no empathy for criminals.

Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack, cutting short accusations of a Russian false-flag operation. These terrorists were not fanatics, but professionals. They didnt immolate themselves in public, but fled, like those who attacked Paris and Saint-Denis, killing 130 people in 2015. So they didnt act out of hatred of Russia, but as part of a military operation whose strategic implications had been thought out in advance.

According to US National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson, Islamic State terrorists are solely responsible for this attack. Numerous commentators have denounced any amalgam between the Islamic organization and supporters of the Kiev government. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of reflexively attacking Ukraine. Yet Russian President Vladimir Putin has maintained his accusations exclusively against Kiev, ignoring Daesh.

Since 2014 and the overthrow of the elected Ukrainian president, we have regularly highlighted the links between integral nationalists and Islamists, and particularly the role of Dmytro Yarosh. The facts speak for themselves. We dont know whether or not the Ukrainians organized this attack, but its clear that they knew the attackers very well: Ukrainian integral nationalists and jihadists have been fighting together for three quarters of a century.

 Before the Second World War, the Muslim Brotherhood forged ties with the Nazis against the British. Not surprisingly, all the anti-colonialist movements of the time (including Indias M.K. Gandhi) naturally turned to the Axis in search of an ally. In general, they distanced themselves as soon as they had verified their racism on the spot. However, the Brotherhood benefited from subsidies from the Third Reich during the years [2] and maintained these links throughout the war. When, at the Liberation, the British and American secret services took over many Nazi leaders and recycled them in their "Cold War" against the Soviets, they also took over the governance of the Muslim Brotherhood. It was therefore quite natural for the CIA to bring together Gerhard von Mende, the Nazi specialist in Islam in the Soviet Union, with Said Ramadan, the son-in-law of the Brotherhoods founder. Ramadan had been in charge of a program on Pakistani public radio [3], so the CIA placed him in Munich at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. There, he hosted a program for Soviet Muslims and met Stepan Bandera, leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), and his right-hand man, Yaroslav Stetsko, the former Ukrainian Nazi Prime Minister. It was precisely the "Banderists" (referred to as "Ukrainonazis" by the Kremlin, but calling themselves "integral nationalists") who carried out the 2014 coup ("EuroMaidan") against the elected Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych [4].

 In the 1970s, Saudi billionaire Osama bin Laden attended meetings of the World Anti-Communist League organized by Chiang Kai-Shek and ... Yaroslav Stetsko [5]. Osama bin Laden was a member of the Brotherhood and had been trained by the brother of Sayyid Qutb, the Brotherhoods strategist and theorist of jihad. It was in this context that he was chosen by the USA to become the leader of the mujahideen in Afghanistan against the Soviets.

 Nazis and Islamists fought together again against the Russians, in the creation of the Islamic Emirate of Itchkeria (Second Chechen War, 1999-2000). However, I have found no precise documentation of their involvement.

Dmytro Yarosh presiding over the alliance of Ukrainian "integral nationalists" and Muslim Brotherhood militias, May 8, 2007 in Ternopol.

 On May 8, 2007, in Ternopol (western Ukraine), on the initiative of the CIA, the "integral nationalists" of the Ukrainian Peoples Self-Defense and the Islamists of the Muslim Brotherhood created an anti-Russian "Anti-Imperialist Front" under the joint chairmanship of the Emir of Itchkeria, Dokka Umarov, and Dmytro Yarosh (who has since reconstituted Stepan Banderas Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN)). The meeting was attended by organizations from Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine and Russia, including Islamist separatists from Crimea, Adygea, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachaevo-Cherkessia, Ossetia and Chechnya. Unable to attend due to international sanctions, Dokka Umarov, had his contribution read [6].

 From November 2013 to February 2014, Ukrainian integral nationalists carried out the "Revolution of Dignity", under the supervision of Straussian Victoria Nuland, then Assistant Secretary of State for Eurasian Affairs. The Western press claimed that the presidents police had fired on the crowd. On the contrary, a Kiev court later established that unidentified gunmen on rooftops had assassinated demonstrators and police at the same time, a method already used by the CIA in many other countries to trigger pseudo-revolutions.

 The leader of the Islamic youth movement Azatlik, the Russian Nail Nabiullin, left to wage jihad against Syrian Muslims in the tradition of the Brotherhood. He then returned to Ukraine and took part in the coup with his fighters [7].

 According to the New York Times, the Sheikh Mansour and Djokhar Doudaiev battalions, mainly made up of Chechens from Georgia and Uzbekistan, and the Crimea battalion, made up of Tatars, all of whom had fought against Muslims in Syria, were engaged in the Donbass by Kievs integral nationalists against Russian-speaking populations [8].

 In August 2015, Tatar leader Mustafa Djemilev founded the International Muslim Brigade in Ankara (Turkiye) to retake Crimea from Russia. He is received by the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who pledges to finance these jihadists [9]. This militia depends on Hizb ut-Tahrir, a split-off of the Brotherhood. It brings together fighters from Tatarstan and Chechnya (Russia), Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Meskhetia (Georgia). It was based in Kherson, but its role was limited to sabotage, depriving Crimea of drinking water and electricity, as the Tatar population rallied to Moscow.

 For the past month, a hundred Ukrainian Special Forces commandos have been stationed in Sudan in support of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan [10]. The latter went to Libya to meet former mufti El-Sadeq el-Gheryani, a recognized leader of the Muslim Brotherhood. He also sent commandos to fight for him, alongside the Ukrainians. It was this support that enabled general al-Burham to retake Karthoum on March 12, 2024, from the forces of his rival, "general" Mohamed Hamdan Dogolo (known as "Hemeti").

For two decades, we have been documenting the instrumentation of the Islamists by the Anglo-Saxon secret services. There is no convincing explanation for 9/11 [11] the war against Iraq or the "Arab Spring" [12]. This truth will only be hard to admit for those who believe that the war in Ukraine is nothing more than Russian aggression, and that Ukrainian "integral nationalists" are fighting only for their country, and in their country.
The issuance by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of arrest warrants for two high-ranking Russian military officers for crimes against humanity in connection with the shelling of the energy structure of Ukraine is an important stage in the development of international justice in relation to all crimes committed by the Russian Federation against Ukrainians, Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin emphasizes.

The second package of arrest warrants against commander of the longrange aviation of the Russian Air Force [Commander of the long-range aviation of the Aerospace Forces Sergei Kobylash] and Admiral Commander of the Black Sea Fleet [Viktor Sokolov] was issued by the ICC precisely for the destruction of critical civilian infrastructure and, for the first time, for crimes against humanity," Prosecutor General said in an exclusive interview with the Interfax-Ukraine agency.

Kostin explained that the category of crimes against humanity has a scale, orientation and assumes a certain command vertical up to the highest level.

"Of course, these warrants are an important stage in the development of international justice in relation to all crimes committed against Ukrainians. That is, crimes against humanity are the next stage, the highest level of international crimes provided for by the Rome Statute committed against Ukrainians," the Prosecutor General said.

According to Kostin, Ukrainian legislation does not contain the wording "crime against humanity," so in this case the ICC is a complementary mechanism.

"But these two defendants, to whom the ICC has issued arrest warrants, are also suspected in our case, because they are involved in dozens of attacks that led to the destruction or the damage of civilian infrastructure and the death of Ukrainians," the Prosecutor General said.

Kostin clarified that the ICC Prosecutor's Office is currently focusing on a certain part of the crimes that relate to the shelling of civilian infrastructure. "Therefore, we will certainly continue our own investigation. Among the suspects, we consider not only the supreme military command of Russia, but also the entire command link," the Prosecutor General stressed.

He added that the crime of genocide is the highest level of international crime, and Ukrainian prosecutors and law enforcement agencies are collecting all evidence of the Russian Federation committing a crime of genocide against Ukrainians.
Some truths are even more deadly than all the plots against the truth, especially in these terrible times of lies, terror and injustice. From now on, each and every one of you can dare, if you wish, to tell the truth without any fear of suffering the dreaded "guillotine" correction, which is none other than the accusation of anti-Semitism and its painful consequences, whether on your professional life or on your family and social life; an accusation that is used and abused.

This time, the truth came out from where it was least expected, and from a person who was never supposed to admit it: Israeli General Yitztshak Barik. True to the practices inherent in his position as head of the Internal Security Service, General Barik represented, in the eyes of the Palestinians, cruelty personified. He was the iron fist of the Zionist state entity in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. And yet, he is the man through whom the surprise is coming.

Barik dares to justify the Palestinian attack of October 7, 2023, dares to recognize, implicitly and by ricochet, the resistant vocation of the Hamas movement, while attacking the leading duo of Zionist government extremism in the person of the Minister of Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, and his colleague in Finance, Bezalel Smotrich, whose influence on official decisions is preponderant and decisive.

It is these two ministers who have made the eradication of the Palestinian presence on the land of Palestine their top priority - starting with the areas occupied in 1967, followed by those occupied in 1948, i.e. the ethnic cleansing of the entire territory of historic Palestine, between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean coast; "From the river to the sea", according to the famous song that became world-famous thanks to the gigantic demonstrations against the genocide perpetrated in full view of all the inhabitants of planet Earth.

On the strength of his war record in 1973, as evidenced by the wounds to his face and body sustained in the Sinai battles, this outspoken general considers himself fully entitled to teach lessons to the younger generations of his people, who are being led straight into the abyss by their current leaders, whom they describe as... "liars".

In a recent interview given a few days ago to the English-language AI-Jazeera channel, General Barik summed up the state of affairs for the Palestinian population in general and the Gazans in particular in no uncertain terms:

 Barik: "They dream of freedom, but they cant grasp it. Like it or not, we control the lives of millions [of them]".

 Al-Jazeera: "If you were Palestinian and lived in the West Bank or Gaza, how would you judge Israel?"

 Barik: "I would fight Israel to obtain my freedom".

 Al-Jazeera: "How far would you go in your fight?

 Barik: "I would do anything to obtain my freedom".

And thats it.

As a result, General Barik considers that no other Talmudic Zionist has the right, or is in a position, to lecture him on the past, present or future of the "Jewish State". He is better placed than anyone else in this discipline. His words prove it.

The surprise doesnt end there, however, as we witness Bariks unprecedented meeting with the most powerful and famous of Zionist fighters, David Ben-Gurion. The latter, one of Israels three founding fathers, along with Haim Weizmann and Nahum Goldmann, arrived seventy years ago at a deduction close to the one that now haunts General Bariks mind and heart, causing him atrocious tears. Seven decades separate the two cases. Bariks public confession may well have stemmed from Ben Gourions private confession to the only man he liked among the notables of the Zionist board, the only one whose criticisms he accepted: Nahum Goldmann .

In his remarkable book The Jewish Paradox [1], the latter recounts the discussions he had with Ben-Gurion in 1956 during a sleepless night at the then Prime Ministers private residence. Among other things, he recounts the following passage:

That night, a beautiful summers night, we had a heart-to-heart conversation about the Arab problem. I dont understand your optimism," Ben Gurion told me. If I were an Arab leader, I would never sign a peace treaty with Israel. Its normal; weve taken their country. Sure, God promised it to us, but why should they care? Our God is not their God. Its true that we came from Israel, but that was two thousand years ago: whats that got to do with them? There was anti-Semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was it their fault? They only see one thing: we came and stole their country. Why should they accept it?

These statements, by the head of the notorious Haganah and the current general, are almost carbon copies of each other, complementing each other and virtually exonerating the Palestinians, whether Arab Zionist governments or European Zionist governments like it or not. In both cases, we are witnessing an almost blind following of Washingtons diktat, which has led them to actively participate in the genocide of Gaza that has been underway for nearly six months. Shameful. The two "sets", represented by both the Arab League and the European Union Commission, are vying for the role of the most subservient to the most bloodthirsty of Israels successive governments. The two "ensembles" constantly refuse to accept the voices of reason that are heard, whether within the State of Israel or in the Jewish diaspora.

Indeed, it has become a political constant for the two "ensembles" to boycott all Jewish movements critical of Zionism. This attitude is not new, but dates back to the early eighties of the last century with the birth of the "Peace Now" movement, within the framework of what was called the "Israeli Peace Camp", with two respectable and credible personalities as spokesmen: the famous journalist and politician Uri Avneri and General Mattityahu Peled, famous for his participation in all the wars since 1948, then Suez in 1956, the 1967 war followed by the war of attrition which lasted 6 years and was crowned by the 1973 war. Men convinced of the need to choose peace as the only salvation for Jews and Arabs alike.

Alas, a Euro-Arab roadblock has stood in their way, formed by governments whose original vocation was to isolate anti-Zionist Jewish currents. This pro-Zionist, Euro-Arab front is the real roadblock in the path of people like Barik who are trying to profit from the lessons of history, even though their current is destined to gain ground firstly because of the determination of the Palestinian people whose suffering awakens the conscience of the peoples of the world and whose heroism commands their admiration, and secondly because the truth on the ground in the occupied territories of 1967 and 1948 demonstrates that it would be impossible for Israel to "win" without resorting to genocidal procedure.

But in the specific case of Palestine, can we really win through this kind of strategic choice?

Our daily lives testify to the contrary, as do the many contradictions that destabilize the Jewish state and aggravate its existential problems. Not to mention the excessive cracks that are multiplying in the edifices of the Euro-Arab democracies reduced to the status of slaves willing to sacrifice their own interests to U.S. interests...

Each of the two "democracies" accepts to sacrifice itself in the battle to preserve the monopolies of unipolarity, to the detriment of the vital interests of the European and Arab peoples.

As a result, Europe is becoming Arabized, or Lebanized, and the Arab world is moving backwards towards greater nihilism. "Israel has the right to defend itself", a slogan brandished and repeated mechanically by the Euro-Arab democracies, is concretized, in practice, in terms of genocide, the main victims of which are children and women. This slogan serves as an incentive to crime and, in the case of Palestine, as an incentive to genocide. Strange European civilization.

Barik has certainly succeeded in making himself heard by sounding the alarm, for it is well known that this old adventurer is one of a handful of people who are well aware of the true state of affairs in the IDF.

Taking advantage of his credibility, he didnt hesitate to hammer home the point by calling on Benjamin Netanyahus government, and behind it the entire political-military establishment, to stop lying to the people. His tactics didnt stop there, however, as he described the two ministers, Ben Gvir and Smotrich, as "terrorists". And if this serious accusation was almost obscured by the European democracies, it was virtually neglected by the Arab Zionists, unaware of the fact that this genocide, in progress for nearly six months, perpetrated by all the tools of extermination of an entire people (thirst, famine, microbes and viruses, poisoning, etc., in addition to weapons of mass destruction? ) is just a dress rehearsal for what will happen to them in the not-too-distant future.

Not since the Nakba have existential questions about Israels future been asked as seriously as they are today. Barik knows that Ben Gourion was the first to ask them. Indeed, in The Jewish Paradox, we read another of Ben Gurions admissions: "Ill soon be seventy. Well, Nahum, if you ask me if Ill die and be buried in a Jewish state, Id say yes: in ten years time, in fifteen years time, I think therell still be a Jewish state. But if you ask me if my son, Amos, who will be fifty at the end of the year, has a chance of dying and being buried in a Jewish state, Id give you a fifty percent answer.

But," I interrupted, "how can you sleep with the idea of such a prospect and still be Prime Minister of Israel?

Ben Gourion immediately replied: "Who says I sleep?

.. Back to existential questions, especially when hearing the tens and hundreds of thousands of young demonstrators, in the streets of European capitals and in the United States, singing of Palestines total freedom "From the river to the sea". With General Bariks determined words, endorsed by Ben Gourions judgments, fears and forecasts, there was no need to risk the dreaded guillotine punishment. All we had to do was call for the abolition of apartheid, and therefore of racial discrimination. The abolition of this scourge is followed by the solution of a unified democratic state with no distinction whatsoever as to race, ethnicity or religion.

As for the so-called "two-state solution", it has never been more than a "solution of two lies". To bring it up again is to play hide-and-seek with the devil. The genocide we are witnessing, in which Arab Zionists and European Zionists are participating, under orders from Washington and London, has knocked off all the masks that hid the true face of the democracies.

All partners in this genocidal expedition deserve to be called to account. Their shameful silence bears witness to their active participation in the crime of failing to assist a people in danger of extermination.
The presence of Russian citizenship of Ukrainian children forcibly deported to the Russian Federation is not a legal obstacle to their return home, since the decrees of the leadership of the Russian Federation, contrary to international law, are not recognized by either Ukraine or the international community, Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin notes.

"This is the third decree from him (Putin) since May last year, simplifying the procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship. Of course, Ukraine does not recognize any decisions of the aggressor country to change the citizenship of Ukrainian children. We consider these decrees as components of the criminal intent of the Russian government," the Prosecutor General said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

He noted that the decrees of any country cannot go against the norms of international law.

"International law always takes precedence. Therefore, it does not matter at all for us and for the international community which decrees and legislation the Russian Federation adopts if they contradict the norms of international law," Kostin stressed.

Speaking about how to return Ukrainian children home, the Prosecutor General explained that one component of this issue is to bring to justice all those involved in the commission of these crimes.

"The second is the work of the international coalition for the return of Ukrainian children. This coalition will be powerful  you can already see that from time to time it is possible to return children," the Prosecutor General drew attention.

According to Kostin, international legislation clearly articulates the obligations of the Russian Federation: civilians, including children, must be returned. "There are many institutions, but they cannot yet force Russia to return Ukrainian children. In fact, the actions of the aggressor in this matter are the same as the actions of the Nazis during World War II," he added.

In this regard, the Prosecutor General focused on cooperation with international partners to create such a mechanism that would make it possible to return illegally deported children and, in general, all civilians of Ukraine.
Travellers can choose from 9,000 products online and pick up at the airport.

Passengers travelling through Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport, better known as Fiumicino, can reserve online duty free products which they can collect and pay for in person.

The new Shop&Fly service, announced on Tuesday, is the latest digital initiative to be offered by Rome's airport management company Aeroporti di Roma (AdR).

The service will allow travellers to browse online through the 9,000 products available on the shopping section of the AdR website, before reserving their purchases which they can then collect and pay for directly at designated counters in the airport's duty free stores.

The available items include a large range of perfumes and cosmetics, food and wine, and toys, from more than 600 top brands on sale in the Lagardere Travel Retails Aelia Duty Free stores.

The new offer includes a 10 per cent discount for online orders compared to purchases made directly in store.

Atterrato a Fiumicino Shop&Fly: il nuovo servizio per prenotare online i prodotti del duty free e ritirarli in aeroporto. Il servizio si aggiunge all'offerta commerciale digitale: Personal Shopper, Book a Table e Take Away & Fly.@ITAAirways @LagardereTR#TogetherBeyondFlying pic.twitter.com/gq0S6JeZ1O  Aeroporti di Roma (@AeroportidiRoma) March 26, 2024

The Shop&Fly service, realised in partnership with ADR and its partner brands, will be available to passengers departing from Fiumicino for all destinations or arriving from an Italian or Schengen destination.

In addition, all ITA Airways passengers, even those coming from a non-Schengen destination, can avail of the online shopping service.

Other services offered by the airport's e-shopping platform includes Personal Shopper (to reserve luxury products in advance before paying at the boutique), Book a Table (to reserve a table in the airport's restaurants) and Take away and Fly (to purchase a meal online and collect it at the airport).

Italy's only airport with a Skytrax rating of 5 stars for its excellent quality of services, Fiumicino was recently rated the best airport in Europe for the quality of services it offers to passengers, for the seventh year in a row.

Photo credit: bellena / Shutterstock.com.
TOKYO  Japan's Cabinet OK'd a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets to other countries on Tuesday, its latest step away from the pacifist principles the country adopted at the end of World War II. The controversial decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japans role in a year-old project to develop a new fighter jet together with Italy and the U.K., but its also part of a move to build up Japans arms industry and bolster its role in global affairs.

For now, Tokyo says that it doesnt plan to export co-developed lethal weapons other than the new fighters, which arent expected to enter service until 2035.

Here is a look at what the latest change is about and why Japan is rapidly easing weapons export rules.

WHAT'S CHANGING?

On Tuesday, the Cabinet approved a revision to its guidelines for selling defense equipment overseas, and authorized sales of the future jet. The government says that it has no plans to export other co-developed lethal weapons under the guidelines, and it would require Cabinet approval to do so.

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Japan has long prohibited most arms exports under the countrys pacifist constitution, although its begun to take steps toward a change amid rising regional and global tensions. In 2014, it began to export some non-lethal military supplies, and last December, it approved a change that would allow sales of 80 lethal weapons and components that it manufactures under licenses from other countries back to the licensors. The change, which was made in December, cleared the way for Japan to sell U.S.-designed Patriot missiles to the United States, helping replace munitions that Washington is sending to Ukraine.

The decision on jets will allow Japan to export lethal weapons it co-produces to other countries for the first time.

WHAT IS THE NEW FIGHTER JET?

Japan is working with Italy and the U.K. to develop an advanced fighter jet to replace its aging fleet of American-designed F-2 fighters, and the Eurofighter Typhoons used by the U.K. and Italian militaries.

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Japan, which was previously working on a homegrown design to be called the F-X, agreed in December 2022 to merge its effort with a British-Italian program called the Tempest. The joint project, known as the Global Combat Air Program, is based in the U.K., and hasnt yet announced a new name for its design.

Japan hopes the new plane will offer better sensing and stealth capabilities amid growing tensions in the region, giving it a technological edge against regional rivals China and Russia.

WHY IS JAPAN CHANGING ITS STANCE ON ARMS EXPORTS?

In its decision, the Cabinet said that the ban on exporting finished products would hinder efforts to develop the new jet, and limit Japan to a supporting role in the project. Italy and the U.K. are eager to make sells of the jet in order to defray development and manufacturing costs.

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U.K. Defense Minister Grant Shapps has repeatedly said Japan needs updating to not cause the project to stall.

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Kishida sought Cabinet approval before signing the GCAP agreement in February, but it was delayed by resistance from his junior coalition partner, the Buddhist-backed Komeito party.

Exports would also help boost Japans defense industry, which historically has catered only to the countrys Self Defense Force, as Kishida seeks to build up the military. Japan began opening the door to some exports in 2014, but the industry has still struggled to win customers.

The change also comes as Kishida is planning an April state visit to Washington, where he is expected to stress Japans readiness to take a greater role in military and defense industry partnerships.

Japan sees Chinas rapid military buildup and its increasing assertiveness as threats, especially growing tensions in the disputed East and South China Seas. Japan also sees increasing joint military exercises between China and Russia around Japan as a threat.

WHY ARE ARMS EXPORTS DIVISIVE?

Because of its wartime past as an aggressor and the devastation that followed its defeat in World War II, Japan adopted a constitution that limits its military to self-defense and long maintained a strict policy to limit transfers of military equipment and technology and ban all exports of lethal weapons.

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Opposition lawmakers and pacifist activists have criticized Kishidas government for committing to the fighter jet project without explaining to the public or seeking approval for the major policy change.

Recent polls show public opinion is divided on the plan.

To address such concerns, the government is limiting exports of co-developed lethal weapons to the jet for now, and has promised that no sales will be made for use in active wars. If a purchaser begins using the jets for war, Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said, Japan will stop providing spare parts and other components.

WHAT'S NEXT?

Potential markets for the jet include the 15 countries with which Japan has defense partnership agreements, such as the United States, Germany, India and Vietnam. A defense official said Taiwan  a self-governed island that China claims as its own territory  is not being considered. He spoke on condition of anonymity due to briefing rules.

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More weapons and components could be added to the approved list under the new export guidelines.

When Kishida goes to Washington in April, hes likely to talk to U.S. leaders about potential new defense and weapons industry cooperation. The new policy could also help Japan push for a bigger role in alliances and regional defense partnerships like Australia, the U.S. and the U.K.s AUKUS.

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More than 10,000 peaceful Ukrainians are being held by the enemy in the occupied territories and in the Russian Federation, 5,600 Ukrainians who suffered from torture by the occupiers have been identified in criminal proceedings, the real figure is much higher, Prosecutor General of Ukraine Andriy Kostin notes.

"There are different numbers. We estimate tens of thousands, more than 10,000 for sure. We are talking only about those who were forcibly resettled, and not about those who made such a decision at their own discretion," Kostin said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine, answering a question about the number of civilian hostages held by the enemy.

As for the creation of a register of civilian prisoners, according to Kostin, such work is being carried out at the government level.

"It is important that we have reached the international level in this matter  the first meeting of an international platform similar to the one dealing with the return of our children was held," the Prosecutor General stressed.

According to Kostin, a resolution of the UN General Assembly on this issue would be very important, "so that we can apply other elements of communication and pressure on the aggressor country to release our civilians and return to Ukraine."

The Prosecutor General added that, for their part, prosecutors, together with law enforcement agencies, bring to justice those responsible for the deportation of civilians and their illegal detention in the temporarily occupied territory and the territory of the aggressor country.

Answering the question of whether it is possible to establish at least approximately the ratio of those who voluntarily moved to the land of the occupier, and who are now in prisons under duress, the Prosecutor General said: "When we talk about the occupied territories, it is inappropriate to use the word "voluntarily." Some are forced to leave because of the shelling, others are promised financial assistance and illusory security. But any actions committed under duress are not voluntary. For some, the only way to return to Ukraine is to get out through Russia - there are many such cases."

Speaking about the number of victims of torture and inhuman treatment, Kostin said that 5,600 Ukrainians who suffered from this type of war crime of the Russian Federation were found in criminal proceedings alone.

"However, the full figures may be much higher, since we do not have reliable information from the occupied territories," he added.

According to the Prosecutor General, to date, the functioning of 164 torture and other places of forced detention in the territories that were under occupation has been documented.
NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley has launched a fierce defence of her offices involvement in the controversial hiring of veteran news figure Steve Jackson to a high-paying public service job, saying she did not see any issue with her chief of staff putting forward his friends name for the position.

Catley has found herself at the centre of a storm of controversy over the hiring of Jackson, a former Channel Seven producer hired as NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webbs chief media adviser after a suggestion from Catleys chief of staff, Ross Neilson.

Police Minister Yasmin Catley with Assistant Commissioner Brett McFadden. Credit: Louise Kennerley

Neilson is a personal acquaintance of Jackson and put the latters name forward as a potential candidate for the $300,000 public service job after a request from Webb for help in filling the role.

But the recommendation has come under intense scrutiny after photos began circulating of Jackson sitting next to a naked Sydney socialite taken in her apartment after an interview in December 2019.

Jackson was also involved in Sevens Spotlight controversial interview with Bruce Lehrmann.

But Catley today denied there was an issue with Neilsons involvement in Jacksons hiring and refused to say whether Jackson should still fill the role, saying it was a matter for the police.

Well, I dont see a problem here. My chief of staff was asked for names, he provided them, she said.

Neilsons friendship with Jackson was unremarkable, she said, because he has been in and around the media for over 30 years.

Look, quite frankly, it would be difficult for my chief of staff to  not know a name he put forward, she said.

Hes been in the media for more than 30 years. I mean, he knows a lot of people in the media.

It is in accordance with the government employment conditions to have those conversations. There was no direction.
A teenager is in hospital and a second student has been arrested following an alleged stabbing at a high school in Melbournes west on Tuesday afternoon.

A 16-year-old Staughton College student was taken to hospital after allegedly being stabbed by a 17-year-old student from the same school in a campus courtyard at the end of the school day.

Emergency services were called to Staughton College in Melton South on Tuesday afternoon. Credit: Nine News

The 16-year-old boy is reported to have made his way to the co-ordinators office, where first aid was provided. Emergency services were called to the Melton South school shortly after 3pm.

The student was taken to Sunshine Hospital with non-life threatening injuries and was receiving treatment on Tuesday evening.
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.
Make-to-Order has emerged as the perfect paradigm for customised climate conscious manufacturing at a time when the GCC custom-manufacturing market is growing exponentially and is poised to reach almost $1.3 trillion by 2030.

In the wake of COP28, it seems appropriate that we focus on the concept of customisation, where the customer gets precisely what they want, with no compromises, and the manufacturer is able to reduce waste by not expending materials, energy, and labour on that which is not required, writes Vibhu Kapoor, Regional Vice President - Middle East, Africa & India, Epicor.

By one estimate, the GCC custom-manufacturing market had reached a value of $898 billion by 2022 and is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 4.6% between 2023 and 2030. This is very good news for Gulf nations that have sought to diversify their economies. Programmes such as Saudi Arabias National Industrial Strategy (NIS) and the UAEs Operation 300bn will benefit greatly from custom manufacturing.

MTO's attraction

Build-to-order (BTO) or make-to-order (MTO) manufacturing is a sizeable part of the customisation space. MTOs attraction to a business is obvious. Design, assembly, and distribution are driven by customer fiat. MTO holds much in common with lean manufacturing, which is designed to minimise waste and maximise productivity.

But it differs from make-to-stock, in that MTS does not wait for an order to start production. It manufactures in bulk, which runs the risk of units sitting on shelves unpurchased. Even though bulk production is cheaper, each unit still carries a cost and if it does not sell, cash flow issues can arise, especially if the lack of interest in the product also occurs in bulk.

Fit for all

In MTO, businesses deal in much smaller batches, but they can offer more choice. Consumers will be drawn to such a brand, of course, but so will B2B customers. A business that uses a traditional MTS supplier will have to adjust to what is available, whereas those that use MTO partners will never have to compromise on their business model.

While some industries such as the consumer automobiles and personal computers sectors are obvious MTO targets, the practice can be applied to almost all manufacturing businesses that are intent on cutting costs, reducing waste, and becoming more sustainable. But lets take apparel as a case study.

The UAE is home to a booming $17.5-billion textile industry and is poised to become a textile hub. If these businesses were to consider an MTO future, they might seize an abundance of market opportunities as the competition heats up.

Made-to-order garments may finally put a dent in the global fashion industrys notorious materials waste. This waste has been exacerbated by the rise of fast fashion. According to one report, between 2000 and 2015, global production volumes doubled while the average number of times clothing was worn dropped by more than a third (36%). The UAE has an opening to become a leader in sustainable development. By moving to the MTO model in the fashion industry it can help meet the Responsible Consumption and Production goals of its sustainability strategy.

Benefits for all

For the MTO manufacturer, cashflow issues are greatly diminished and other benefits include reduced storage costs, less waste, and higher quality. It is true that companies that take this route will have to manage customer expectations more deftly (due to longer lead times) and also deal with the production complexities that come from catering to more customer preferences and managing more SKUs. But if the business procures the right technology platform, the benefits of MTO come shining through, far outweighing any downsides.

The digital solution will allow production managers to break down the MTO process, gauge customer demand, and design a workflow that allows efficient operations  an order comes in; the chosen product is built to specification from on-hand or quickly sourced components; the produced item goes through a quality check; the order is shipped. While this may seem complex when done outside traditional bulk-production models, the new workflow is still subject to automation to speed up production, slash costs, and enhance quality even further.

The right platform will be easy to deploy. And like the products it will help to build, the right platform will be easy to use and to maintain. It will be tailored to your industry and further customisable to your enterprises specific needs. The right platform will be able to serve as a partner in the MTO venture, allowing the manufacturer to enhance quality and streamline other functions of the business beyond just production operations. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions offer all this and more. They can manage every aspect of the business, bringing together strategy, planning, warehousing, sales, marketing, finance, and human resources.

Sustainability, at last

As well as uniting the data and workflows of disparate business units, ERP facilitates interdepartmental information-sharing and collaboration. It helps with MTO automation by supporting a variety of SKUs, by performing frequent inventory updates, and by facilitating the continual update of listings to keep customers informed about all their options. When the ERP system does all this, the downsides of MTO dissipate. Lead times, for example, can be adequately managed and lags reduced.

We have seen the future in numbers. GCC custom-manufacturing is inching towards becoming a trillion-dollar segment. MTO will cement its place in regional commercial history. Once it has become the de facto norm, those who have not allowed for its integration will be left behind. As MTO matures, so will the technology that drives it, with ERP systems becoming more tightly integrated.

But the greatest benefit of MTO is its ability to give customers what they want (almost) when they want it while still being able to stand on a record of minimal waste and maximum sustainability. Modern customers  consumer and business  increasingly look at such a record before making purchasing decisions. When reduced waste, better products, happy customers, and enhanced production flexibility are the benefits, it becomes clear that MTO is the future.--TradeArabia News Service
More than 40 Core Group countries are working on a legal model of the tribunal for the crime of aggression, it is important to avoid speculation that it will be a "tribunal of Ukraine against the Russian Federation," Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said.

In an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine, answering the question of whether the tribunal's option would be a compromise, since a decision on its legal model is expected this year, the Prosecutor General said: "Try to nderstand that decisions and answers are not always made quickly. Currently, more than 40 Core Group countries are working on the legal model of the tribunal. And it's too early to say exactly what this model will be."

At the same time, he recalled that in the spring of 2022 there was a question of the possibility of creating a tribunal for aggression as such. "It is very important to appreciate progress and achievements. It took us six months in 2022 just to convince our partners of the need for this tribunal," he said.

Kostin also expressed confidence that the tribunal is needed only when it can achieve its goal  to bring to justice the highest military and political leadership of the aggressor country.

"The second important element is that the tribunal should be international in nature in order to avoid speculation that it is a tribunal of Ukraine against the Russian Federation," he wrote.

According to the Prosecutor General, the crime of aggression has never been investigated since the Nuremberg Tribunal. "The Tribunals have since focused on war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes of genocide. But no one even tried to investigate the crime of aggression," Kostin explained.

He added that the model of the aggression tribunal can then be used in any country in the world if the same situation arises. "International partners are helping us because they understand this well," he concluded.
Prosecutor General to intl partners: Ukraine's support on path to justice should be constant since this is job for years and decades

All components of the international legal mechanisms for bringing the Russian Federation to justice for crimes committed in Ukraine are already working, only constant attention and general decisive action are needed, Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin emphasizes.

"To our partners: it is very important that Ukraine's support on the path to justice be constant, because this is work for years and, perhaps, for decades. It is about supporting our efforts both domestically and through the application of international legal mechanisms. All the components of these mechanisms are already working, only permanent attention and general decisive actions are needed," the Prosecutor General said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine, speaking about the message he would like to convey to international partners.

According to the Prosecutor General, there will be no stops on the "legal front." "I think this is impossible, because what we are doing for Ukraine and Ukrainians, we are doing for the entire civilized world, built on the principles of freedom, democracy, respect for the law, justice. Without this, the civilized world simply cannot exist," the Prosecutor General noted.

He also drew attention to the fact that many of the instruments of war used as weapons in the aggression against Ukraine are used by international terrorist organizations. "Therefore, the practice of cooperation helps not only in the investigation of war crimes, but also in countering crimes that can be committed by terrorist organizations," Kostin explained.

Answering a question about what he would like to say to Ukrainians who are waiting for the occupiers to be brought to justice, the Prosecutor General said: "We are on the path to justice, we are trying to restore it right now. You also need to understand that this is a job for years and decades."
Kuleba calls on West to provide Ukraine with more air defense systems, incl. for soldiers on frontline

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba calls on partners to provide Ukraine with more air defense systems that Ukraine needs to repel Russian ones, in particular additional Patriots capable of shooting down ballistic missiles.

Give us the damn Patriots, he told in an interview with Politico.

The minister stressed that if we had enough air defense systems, namely Patriots, we would be able to protect not only the lives of our people, but also our economy from destruction.

When Ukrainian troops are losing positions, let's look at the reason why. It is because Russia has began to massively use upgraded aerial guided bombs, the minister said.

He explained that these bombs are weapons you cannot escape from if youre the intended target.

It just falls on your head and destroys everything. This is how we're losing positions and the only way to prevent this is to shoot down the planes carrying the bombs, he added.

We need air-defense systems on the frontlines, the minister said.
Brazilian-born student leader finds growth mindset at Weber State

March 26, 2024

OGDEN, Utah  Raissa Rohbock came to Utah from Brazil with a clear goal: learn English, then move back to her hometown as soon as possible.

Now, 12 years later, Rohbock is fluent in English  along with four other languages  and shes still living in the U.S.

I never went back, Rohbock said. She vividly recalls seeing the mountains on a flight to Utah and asking herself, Why would I ever leave this place?

Rohbock is from a small town called Porto Velho, close to the Amazon River and surrounded by the rainforest.

Im literally a jungle girl, she said. I grew up with no internet, no cell phone, not a lot of pictures and in a very remote location.

She misses the weather, the fruits and the dancing at Boi Bumba, an annual Brazilian folkloric celebration. But Rohbock said Weber State has given her a growth mindset and she loves the connections shes made on campus and in the community.

Rohbock is chief justice for WSUs Student Association, a Presidential Leadership Fellow, a First Year Experience mentor and an Honors Program student advisory board member. Shes also part of multiple clubs and groups on campus, including Model United Nations and the Emerging Leaders Program.

Outside of the university, Rohbock works full time as a paralegal at an Ogden law firm that specializes in immigration law.

At first, I was doing things just because they look good on my resume, which was really sad, Rohbock said. And then, Weber State made me realize that we do things to help others, to help the community.

Of all her accomplishments, Rohbock said shes most proud of supporting others as they achieve their goals. For example, she encouraged her husband to work toward earning a GED diploma, and he now plans to attend Weber State. She also played a role in connecting her neighbors to WSU campus resources.

I think Im slowly making everybody purple, she said. There are so many programs and things here to help achieve what you want in life.

After graduating with a degree in criminal justice, Rohbock plans to attend law school. She also wants to return to the university to teach: I would like to be 74 and still a professor at Weber State, she said.

Until then, Rohbock said she hopes to be an example of whats possible when students commit themselves and take advantage of opportunities.

It motivates me to know that I can be a role model, Rohbock said. Were going to be able to accomplish so much more than just getting a degree, but also making an impact in Ogden and the state.
Zelenskyy dismisses Danilov from post of NSDC Secretary, appoints head of Foreign Intelligence Service Lytvynenko to this position  decrees

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Oleksiy Danilov as Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) and appointed Oleksandr Lytvynenko to this position.

This decision is enshrined in decrees No. 186/2024 and No. 188/2024 dated March 26, 2024, respectively.

On the same day, the head of state signed decree No. 187/2024 to dismiss Lytvynenko as Head of the Foreign Intelligence Service and decree No. 189/2024 to appoint Oleh Ivaschenko to this position.

Lytvynenko was appointed as Head of the Foreign Intelligence Service on July 23, 2021. Before that, he worked as Director of the National Institute for Strategic Studies (2019-2021) and Deputy Secretary of the NSDC (2014-2019). He is a PhD in Political Science (2002), a professor (2011), and a Major General of the reserve (2015).

Danilov held the position of NSDC Secretary since October 3, 2019. Before that, he was Luhansk Mayor (1994-1997), Head of Luhansk Regional State Administration (2005), and Member of Parliament of the 5th convocation (2006-2007).
Burglaries in Mayo are on the rise with Gardai continuing to investigate an aggravated burglary in the Swinford area.

Supt Alan Brady told a meeting of the Mayo Joint Policing Committee that Gardai are investigating an aggravated burglary that occurred recently near Killasser. Two men entered a home and stole a vehicle and cash.

In early January, a vehicle was stolen in Crossmolina. A man entered a property and took the keys from the hallway. A short time later, the vehicle was discovered crashed in a ravine in Co Sligo. A suspect was discovered in the area with stolen property found on his person.

Det Insp Denis Harrington told the meeting that the number of burglaries in Mayo has returned to pre-pandemic levels. Burglaries in 2023 jumped by 25% but have reduced by 17% in the year-to-date.

A key concern is that burglaries are back to pre-Covid levels, said Chief Supt Ray McMahon.

The Chief Supt said Gardai in Mayo are working closely with officers in other counties and have established special burglary patrols to try and target offenders.

We are asking members of the public to be vigilant. A lot of burglaries occur between 3pm and 8pm in the evening, not at nighttime like a lot of people might think. Its important that people keep their houses and properties secured, he added.

Earlier this year, it was revealed that the west coast of Ireland has seen an explosion in burglaries, according to statistics from Phonewatch. Connacht has been pummelled by home raiders over the past year compared to the previous 12 months.

Seven garda divisions have seen an increase in burglaries, with four of these divisions in the west of Ireland.

Clare reported the highest increase of 23% (197 burglaries), followed closely by Mayo with a 22% increase (169 burglaries).

Det Insp Harrington said thefts from shops continue to be an area of concern. Thefts from shops were up by 33% last year with 404 shoplifting incidents in Mayo.

Thefts from vehicles are continuing to decrease  down by 33%.

In 2023, there were 22 detections for the sale and supply of drugs in Mayo. Just shy of 1 million worth of narcotics were seized and approximately 20,000 in cash linked to the drugs trade.

So far this year, almost 21,000 worth of drugs has been seized.

Reports of rape and sexual assault have fallen slightly.

Gardai also said while incidents of fraud are on the decline people are still being victimised in Mayo.
Farmers were urged to "get militant" after they addressed a meeting of Mayo County Council.

Mayo IFA members attended a meeting of the local authority last week to highlight several serious issues for the farming community.

Over the past number of weeks, farmers across mainland Europe have been voicing their anger and frustration at the ever-increasing administrative burden being placed on them," John Lynskey, chairman of Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) in Mayo, told the meeting. These frustrations have broadened into anger with European and National lawmakers over the massive increase in regulations relating to agriculture. The EU, the Irish Government and local government are devising policies far from the farm gate with little or no consideration of the direct impact on farmers."

Mr Lynskey highlighted CAP and trade deal issues and overly complicated schemes that are causing widespread delays in payments to farmers.

The Nature Restoration Law was blasted for the restrictions it places on farmers and local farmers feel agricultural emissions are not being measured fairly. Mayo IFA also criticised the "shambolic management of Irelands forestry policy".

At a more local level, planning and water charge issues were among the problems being encountered. Mayo farmers are also concerned about the use of compulsory purchase orders to facilitate the construction of greenways.

Councillors agreed to back the IFA's "enough is enough" campaign and passed a resolution that recognises the significant contribution farming and the agri-sector make to the Irish and local economy. The council acknowledged the income challenge on Irish farmers arising from the significant increases in the cost of doing business, regulatory costs and cuts in basic income supports.

Councillors also called on the Government to introduce no further regulations on farmers or any measures that may increase costs on farms without full negotiation and agreement with the IFA. The council called on the European Union and the Irish Government to provide additional stand-alone funding, separate from the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), to support farmers to undertake climate and biodiversity measures.

Westport-based Fianna Fail Cllr Brendan Mulroy urged IFA members to escalate their action.

The peaceful protests are over. Its time for the farmers to become militant, said Cllr Mulroy.

He warned that the situation with the proposed Belclare to Murrisk Greenway could become a "test case" for the use of CPO to facilitate projects of this type.
Well now. Leo took the whole country by surprise. He even surprised me, as I was looking at his performance on the big stage and was impressed by his humanitarian approach to the tragedy that is unfolding in Gaza. He has displayed courage and determination in trying to persuade a reluctant world and especially US President Joe Biden and his EU colleagues to call a halt to the carnage that is being perpetrated by the people of Israel against the Palestinian people.

I say the people of Israel because they are as much responsible as their Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, for this genocide. The people could call a halt to Netanyahu but they wont because the vast majority of Israelis support the war against Hamas and they could not care less about the innocent children, mothers and civilians who are dismissed as collateral damage. As our Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar has done the country proud in drawing attention to and seeking support to end what is now a genocidal crusade by Israel.

It would seem that while Leo was impressive on the big stage and came across well when considering and laying down the position of the Irish Government on issues of high importance to the Irish people - advancing the case of a modern secular nation, social issues, gay rights, abortion, Brexit, The North, the EU, Ukraine, the Stormont Assembly, migration, international protection issues and a United Ireland, he was not great at the glad-handling and plamas that is part and parcel of being a Taoiseach. Nor, it would seem, was he great at soothing the injured feelings of sensitive Fine Gael deputies who felt they should be promoted to positions that, perhaps, did not match their skillset.

I should say that, in the beginning, I was not entirely enamoured of Leo, whose portrayal of Brutus delivering the final stab in the back to Enda Kenny (our Real Taoiseach) did not indicate great loyalty to the person who had enabled his progress through the party. After the deed was done, I offered Leo a shot at redemption and invited him to walk the Bangor Trail and prove that he was as good a man as the Real Taoiseach. He did not accept the invitation and perhaps that was as well because there was the possibility that some of those in the group of walkers might have taken the law into their own hands and led (misled?) him into one of the many bogholes along the way.

But, perhaps that is being a bit melodramatic. As I say, he went on to rise in my estimation (he will be pleased about that!) especially in his most recent incarnation as Taoiseach. In particular, he has worn his humanity on his sleeve and has been forceful in relation to the situation in Gaza.

It is a mystery to me how the world can stand idly by while this crime is being committed by Israel. Joe Biden has done much hand-wringing but little else, something he may regret come next November when the US elects their president and many young Democrats, incensed by the Gaza goings-on, boycott the election. What a tragedy that might prove to be and what a gift to Trump.

It will be interesting to see what happens now following Leos abdication. The ball is in the Fine Gael court. They seem intent on carrying on as if nothing has happened. Leo has been consigned to history where his contribution to the nation will be a matter for discussion and interminably futile debate by historians. No more than the many Taoishigh who went before him, his epitaph will read something like he has done the state some service and history will be kind to him.

As I write, Simon Harris is set to become the leader of Fine Gael and our next Taoiseach. At 37 years of age he will be our youngest ever Taoiseach. From what Ive seen of him on TV, he is a fast and verbose talker who connects his sentences and generally makes sense. Ive nothing against young people, but Im an auld traditionalist who believes you cant beat experience and it seems to me that if Harris had a bit more experience he would have decided his time has not yet come.

No doubt the advice to Harris was to strike while the iron was hot, but if the Fine Gael party had taken more time to consider the options available to them they could well have considered a different formula. I was reading there recently about the myriad of advisers the Fine Gael ministers have available to them. I wondered where they were when the Fine Gael party, rather than individual ministers, needed advice.

In the current set of circumstances, a general election would be in the best interests of the people. It is due shortly, in any event, so lets get it over and done with. But, under pressure, people very often go with the softer option. There has been a considerable clamour from the Opposition for a general election. It is what one would expect, but if the Government, not just Fine Gael, had taken the time to think they might well have told the Opposition the option of a general was under consideration. That would very quickly dampen the enthusiasm of those calling for the election.

No sitting TD faces the electorate fully confident that she/he enjoys their confidence. And that is particularly true today. In the recent referendums, the electorate delivered a plague on all your houses verdict. Even Sinn Fein - and particularly Sinn Fein - needs to analyse the message the electorate delivered. The Shinners planning for the general election is months ahead of Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and the Greens. They are, rightly, very confident that they will form the next government but now they should take time to reflect on the mood of the people.

In ruling out the general election, it seems to me that Fine Gael (with Fianna Fail and Greens) would have been better served if they had placed a halter on Harris and he was told to bide his time. It will take a miracle worker, not a brand new shiny Taoiseach, and it will take time, to get Fine Gael out of the mess confronting them. The Local and European elections are a lost cause. The public seem to take a perverse delight in sending a message to Government via elections that dont really have a national impact. You can expect Sinn Fein and the Labour, Social Democrats, People Before Profit cohort to continue the clamour for a general election even before counting has concluded after the weekend of June 7. There is the potential for permanent damage to Harris as he seeks to rebuild the party in the impossibly short space of time before the general election.

Options remain available to the party if they are open to some outside the box thinking - something I fear is anathema to them. Seeing as how their well-paid advisers failed to come up with anything, Ill throw in my tuppence worth and promise not to send a bill. Put Harris on hold for the time being and bring forward another name for Fine Gael leader. It is a stop-gap solution and after the general election there can be a considered and deliberate consideration of who might best lead Fine Gael into 2025 and beyond.

And now Ill give ye the name. It is none other than Heather Humphreys. Regular readers will recall that I espoused Heathers credentials a couple of columns ago. Shes a tough cookie and is no ways slow when it comes to silencing critical Shinners who overstep the mark.

And this ploy would have the added bonus of depriving Mary Lou of her much vaunted ambition of becoming the countrys first female Taoiseach. Im sure there are people in Fine Gael who would just love that.

So, there you have it. Put that in your vapes and poison the country.
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.
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.
Milk from dairy cows in Texas and Kansas has tested positive for bird flu, U.S. officials said Monday.

Officials with the Texas Animal Health Commission confirmed the flu virus is the Type A H5N1 strain, known for decades to cause outbreaks in birds and to occasionally infect people. The virus is affecting older dairy cows in those states and in New Mexico, causing decreased lactation and low appetite.

It comes a week after officials in Minnesota announced that goats on a farm where there had been an outbreak of bird flu among poultry were diagnosed with the virus. It's believed to be the first time bird flu  also known as highly pathogenic avian influenza  was found in U.S. livestock.

The commercial milk supply is safe and risk to people is low, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Dairies are required to only allow milk from healthy animals to enter the food supply, and milk from the sick animals is being diverted or destroyed. Pasteurization also kills viruses and other bacteria, and the process is required for milk sold through interstate commerce, the agency said.

At this stage, there is no concern about the safety of the commercial milk supply or that this circumstance poses a risk to consumer health, the USDA said in a statement.

The federal government said its tests in the cattle did not detect any changes to the virus that would make it spread more easily to people.

Dairy farmers in Texas first became concerned three weeks ago when cattle started falling ill with what officials called mystery dairy cow disease," Texas Department of Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said. Milk production fell sharply and the cows were lethargic and weren't eating much.

We hadn't seen anything like it before, he said. It was kind of like they had a cold.

The state's animal health commission began an investigation that included tests for bird flu, spokeswoman Erin Robinson said. Based on findings from Texas, USDA officials think the cows got the virus from infected wild birds.

Experts say livestock appear to recover on their own within seven to 10 days. That's different than bird flu outbreaks in poultry, which necessitate killing flocks to get rid of the virus. Since 2022, outbreaks have affected about 82 million wild and commercial birds in the U.S.

So far, the virus appears to be infecting about 10% of lactating dairy cows in the affected herds, said Michael Payne, a food animal veterinarian and and biosecurity expert with the University of California-Davis Western Institute for Food Safety and Security.

This doesnt look anything like the high-path influenza in bird flocks, he said.

Bird flu was detected in unpasteurized, clinical samples of milk from sick cattle collected from two dairy farms in Kansas and one in Texas. The virus was also found in a nose and throat swab from another dairy in Texas.

Officials called it a rapidly evolving situation. The Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are involved, along with officials in the three states. Another dairy-heavy state, Iowa, said it is monitoring the situation.

Dairy industry officials said that producers have started enhanced biosecurity efforts on U.S. farms, including limiting the amount of traffic into and out of properties and restricting visits to employees and essential personnel.

Bird flu previously has been reported in 48 different mammal species, Payne noted, adding: It was probably only a matter of time before avian influenza made its way to ruminants.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
WYOMISSING, Pa. - A Berks County restaurant owner has been ordered to serve 30 months in federal prison for tax crimes.

Yong Chun Steven Guo, 57, of Wyomissing was sentenced the above prison time and also ordered to pay restitution of $1,172,368 and a $95,000 fine.

Guo pleaded guilty in 2023 to conspiracy to defraud the United States, a charge that arose from his use of a cash payroll at his family owned-and-operated restaurant to avoid paying the full amount of employment taxes due, a media report from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania says.

Records seized from the restaurant showed that employees were paid wages by a combination of paycheck and cash.

Records provided by Guos accountant showed that only the portion of the payroll that was paid by check was disclosed to Guos accountant. The IRS calculated that Guos restaurant failed to report more than $3.9 million of cash wages that he paid employees from the first quarter of 2013 through the first quarter of 2020, resulting in a payroll tax loss of approximately $444,899.

Guo also pleaded guilty to attempted tax evasion, a charge that arose from his failure to report cash skimmed from the restaurant for tax years 2016, 2017, and 2018.

The IRS calculated that Guo failed to report more than $2 million of income for 2013 through 2018, resulting in a tax loss of approximately $727,469.

Guos crimes cost the government more than a million dollars in tax revenue, said U.S. Attorney Romero. Theyre also a slap in the face to every honest taxpayer who does the right thing each year."
MAXATAWNY TWP., Pa. - Officials say a former Kutztown University student was sentenced to at least 15 years behind bars relating to a fatal shooting at a student housing complex near the university's campus.

Xzavier Wayman of Philadelphia was sentenced Tuesday to 15-30 years, after pleading guilty to 3rd degree murder.

Authorities say Wayman shot and killed Diego Velazquez, 18, of Reading, on Nov. 12, 2022 at the Advantage Point Student Apartments in Maxatawny Twp. after an argument.

Surveillance video recorded by cameras in a 5th-floor hallway show Wayman firing numerous shots toward Velazquez and at least four bystanders, according to court documents.

Officials say Wayman and Velazquez both brandished guns during the argument. Velazquez was shot once in the abdomen and returned fire while fleeing toward a stairwell, police said.

Velazquez was not a student at Kutztown University; Wayman is a former student who was last enrolled in the 2021 fall semester, according to university officials.
Interfax-Ukraine to host press conference 'Public Consciousness in Third Year of Russia's Full-Scale Invasion: Public Opinion Monitoring Results'

On Monday, April 1, at 10.30, the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency will host a press conference on the subject: "Public Consciousness in Third Year of Russia's Full-Scale Invasion: Public Opinion Monitoring Results."

Participants: Doctor of Psychology, Senior Researcher, President of the Association of Political Psychologists of Ukraine, Acting Deputy Director for Research at the Institute of Social and Political Psychology of the National Academy of Pedagogic Science of Ukraine Iryna Hubeladze, PhD in Psychology, Senior Researchere, Deputy President of the Association of Political Psychologists of Ukraine, Deputy Director for Scientific and Methodical Work at the Institute of Social and Political Psychology of the National Academy of Pedagogic Science of Ukraine Svitlana Chunikhina (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: (067) 902 7606.
BOYERTOWN, Pa. - State Police Fire Marshal Trooper Corey Heimbach said the investigation into an apartment building fire in Boyertown is in the beginning stages.

"The fire appears to have started outside of the third floor up on the roof between the second and third floor," said Trooper Heimbach.

It happened in the 200 block of East Philadelphia Avenue a little before 2:30 a.m. on Saturday.

Firefighters from Berks and Montgomery counties responded.

"It took a couple hours to fully extinguish this fire," said Trooper Heimbach.

The State Police Fire Marshal said 20 people were inside the building at the time of the fire.

He said working smoke detectors alerted them.

"It did not appear to start inside the apartment building," said Trooper Heimbach.

Heimbach said most of the damage is on the third floor and he said there is water damage below.

"They quickly knocked down the fire, however the fire did get up into the roof, which resulted in a second alarm being dispatched just for manpower, and extensive overhaul process and opened up the roof and things like that," said Trooper Heimbach.

He said he is looking at burn patterns.

"So, we're looking at certain patterns that are either left on walls, windows we're looking at evidence such as wood products that are still there, like furniture and tables, things like that," said Trooper Heimbach.

Officials said there were no injuries.
A Luzerne County doctor, who practiced in Berks County, is charged with taking drugs from a hospital.

Authorities say 60-year-old Richard Hubbell altered forms to show opioids were given to patients, but authorities say he was taking them home.

At the time, Hubbell was working at Pennsylvania Eye and Ear Surgical Center in Wyomissing and a hospital in Columbia County.

Authorities say hundreds of vials and syringes containing opioids were found at his home.
READING, Pa.  Reading City Council voted down a proposed ordinance Monday night that would have amended the city code to require an elected city councilmember to also sit as a voting member of the Reading Parking Authority.

Councilmembers Melissa Ventura and Jaime Baez Jr. supported the proposal.

Earlier in the evening, during the Committee of the Whole meeting, council solicitor Michael Gombar said the proposed ordinance would still give the mayor the ability to select one of the seven councilmembers.

The city charter gives the mayor the authority to appoint all parking authority members.

"It would not take away that appointment power," Gombar said. "There is a precedent for this in the city of Allentown. They have a similar provision in their ordinance, but as I've said before, this is a gray area as well."

Gombar said he couldn't guarantee that the amendment would not have a legal challenge.

City solicitor Fred Lachat previously advised the board that it was his position that the proposal was not legal.

Baez noted that he has constituents who have voiced support for the requirement.

"I agree with this ordinance because of the information that has been brought to light to me (regarding the authority)," Baez said.

Mayor Eddie Moran previously warned he would veto the proposed requirement.

Ventura introduced the ordinance and worked with Gombar in drafting the proposal.

"I felt like having direct representation from City Council is important," she said. "It's to ensure that there's oversight and to enhance the accountability, transparency and collaboration between the parking authority and City Council."

"And its ensures that the interests of the community are effectively represented and considered in parking-related decisions," she added.

Ventura said there have been concerns regarding the qualifications of the individuals who have been appointed by the mayor to serve on the parking authority.

Managing Director William Heim clarified that Moran strongly opposed the amendment.

"It undermines his sole authority to appoint members of the Reading Parking Authority board, and as opined by our solicitor, it violates state law," Heim said.

Council President Donna Reed said she has previously served on the authority before becoming a councilmember.

"I understand why this is brought forward," Reed said.

"I don't think there's one person here that's happy with what's going on," she said, referring to alleged corruption within the authority. "But you're going to find yourself in a position where you're involved in executive session discussions on the parking authority and City Council.

"Hopefully everybody's honorable, but those discussions will be in your head," Reed said. "They will start influencing your decisions on either side. I think it's a murky area."

During public comment Rev. Evelyn Morrison, who frequently speaks about alleged corruption in the authority, urged council to reject the ordinance.

"I asked City Council not more than six months ago to do an investigation of the Reading Parking Authority, but it fell on deaf ears, and now you're going to see that the parking authority is in serious trouble," Morrison said. "Some of us go to the meetings. We do our research. We do our homework."

Morrison reminded council it has the power to call for an investigative public hearing.

"You have powers; you don't have to sit on the board, which is a conflict of interest  a very clear conflict of interest," Morrison said. "Why? Because you make decisions on the board to give the City of Reading money on an annual basis."

"City Council creates ordinances that govern the protocols of the parking authority, so it's a conflict of interest if you're sitting on the same board that decides financial decisions," she said.
UPDATE (Tuesday morning) -- Pennsylvania State Police say Nancy Heydt was found safe.

-----

LONGSWAMP TWP., Pa. - Pennsylvania State Police are asking for the public's help as they search for a missing 86-year-old woman from Berks County.

Nancy Heydt is driving a tan 2008 Volvo XC70, bearing the license plate HMP-4039, according to a post by state police on the social media site X.

She was last seen in the area of Valley Road in Longswamp Township on Monday around 8:50 a.m., state police said.

Police believe she may be at special risk of harm or injury or may be confused.

Police say she is 5-foot-6, weighs 130 pounds, and has gray hair and green eyes.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police immediately by calling 911 or the Pennsylvania State Police Reading Station at 610-378-4011.
S. WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. - Twin sisters from the Lehigh Valley, both deployed overseas in the Air Force, are known as the Trauma Twins.

Capt. Yanna Horsch and Capt. Sasha Savkova are twin sisters who became EMTs at age 16 at the Cetronia Ambulance Corp. They also volunteered at the Woodlawn Fire Department in South Whitehall. That's where the "Trauma Twins" were born.

"It was pretty great to be known as the Trauma Twins," recalled Capt. Savkova. "Every year there was a good ambulance photo shoot with anyone who wanted to be in photos with the Trauma Twins."

Both went on to pursue the medical field in college. But a mentor from the firehouse who was a medic in the military encouraged them to take their passions to the Air Force.

"And in 2020 we were like, 'Yeah. This is definitely something that we want to do,'" said Capt. Horsch.

Capt. Horsch is now a flight nurse with the U.S. Air Force. Captain Savkova is an Air Force physician assistant and is based in South Whitehall.

Both are currently deployed. The twins' message for girls and teens in our area is, "don't be intimidated, and pursue your passions."

"Social media will give you that highlight reel, so to speak, of all the other women in the world who seem to have it together. It took time and training for that discipline to set in," said Capt. Savkova.

"Getting up every single day and discipline isn't about your level of motivation. It's about 'I"m going to get up and do this whether I want to or not because I know in the end it's going to make me better and I"m going to be better for it,'" said Capt. Horsch.
Lehigh Valley International Airport's summer travel season is now extending into the early spring, and with more passengers seeking time in the sun comes more demand for room for cars.



Allegiant Air has added low-cost routes to the Sunbelt, Denver and other tourist destinations. That means more flights, more people flying and a need for more parking spaces.



The Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority, which operates the airport, has retained AECOM, a global engineering firm, as design consultant for a parking garage.



Beyond that, most details remain to be worked out, LNAA Executive Director Thomas Stoudt said Tuesday. The authority operates Lehigh Valley International Airport and two smaller airfields.



The site of the garage, its size and amenities will be discussed with Dallas-based AECOM.



"We're going to work through a process with AECOM to fine-tune all those elements," Stoudt said Tuesday after the LNAA Board of Governors approved the consulting contract. He gave a rough estimate Tuesday of a 1,000-space garage. By comparison, the North Street Garage in Bethlehem has about 800 spaces.



The design process may take about 18 months, Stoudt said. If planning and construction can be completed in three years, the airport will come in ahead of a 2019 master plan projection that indicated LVIA would be short of parking in 2028. The airport has about 1,900 spaces now, with 1,700 of them in main lot in front of the terminal. The rest are in an overflow lot.



The garage may also accommodate car rentals, Stoudt said, but details are still to be settled. The LNAA board has many votes left before the plan is set.



The Board of Governors, led by John Hayes, also asked for monthly reports on cash on hand. Hayes, a banker, said at a committee meeting Monday that cash is the best protection against risk. The airport has a solid cash base, Stoudt said.



Board member Jeffrey Matzkin retired as a member of the board of governors, which welcomed a new member, Ricky Gower Jr. of Truist Bank.



The Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority operates Queen City Airport in Allentown and Braden Airpark in Forks Township in addition to the main property, Lehigh Valley International Airport.
ALLENTOWN, Pa. - Charges have been filed against a man in Allentown for sexual abuse of children.

John Garrison Shipley, 63, of Allentown, is charged with 25 counts each of sexual abuse of children - possession of child pornography 1st offense, felonies of the second degree; and one count of criminal use of a communications facility; a felony of the third degree.

The charges are related to a tip police received on Feb. 20.

Allentown Police say they were informed that someone, later identified as Shipley, uploaded 14 child pornography images to their Google account.

On March 12, Allentown Police Department served a search warrant at Shipleys home and seized several electronic devices. The investigation revealed 94 child pornography videos on Shipleys devices.

Shipley was arraigned Tuesday and is free after posting $50,000 bail.
L. MACUNGIE TWP., Pa. - The Allentown Bomb Squad has left the scene after a business in Lehigh County was evacuated following the report of a suspicious package Monday.

It was reported at 1:30 p.m. that a suspicious package was seen at the 8600 block of Congdonhill Drive in Lower Macungie Township, according to Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Nathan Branosky.

That's at the Ryder Logistics warehouse, which was evacuated, Branosky said.

State police troopers remain on scene conducting their investigation.

A stretch of Route 100 had been closed near the area, but that has since reopened. Congdon Hill Drive remains closed at Spring Creek Road, Branosky said.

Capt. John Christopher with the Allentown Fire Department said the Allentown Bomb Squad was called to Congdon Hill Drive as mutual aid to the state police investigation just before 2 p.m. Monday.

Authorities used K9s and the state police explosives team, in addition to the bomb squad, Branosky said.

There are about a dozen different businesses where Ryder Logistics is located. Multiple shift workers were evacuated from those businesses as well.

"What did you see?" 69 News Reporter Bo Koltnow asked shift worker Pat Riggs.

"Nothing, just informed about the threat and that we're not allowed access to work," Riggs said.

Riggs was one of dozens of shift workers from multiple companies shut out of work, due to the bomb scare. Dozens of cars lined Route 100 as workers waited. Some employees had already finished work but couldn't get in to get their cars from the parking lot.

"The company didn't say nothing yet, but unfortunately, like I say, the police stop people from going in," said Jose Santiago, who works at Westport.

Workers like Rapheal Polanco were wondering if he will get paid Monday.

"I have to wait if the company give any information about work, maybe no work, I don't know," he said.

Law enforcement did not give any details of the type of package found, but they were on scene all afternoon.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The former First Church of the Nazarene on Linden Street in Bethlehem has been sold for $665,000, according to Northampton County property records, but the building may still be used for worship services.

"We want to rent space to smaller churches," developer Abe Atiyeh said Tuesday during a telephone interview. "We are already getting calls about it."

Atiyeh said many modern church groups do not need an entire facility, just the use of worship space. Multiple churches could use the 1500 Linden St. property.

"It's in a beautiful area on Linden Street," Atiyeh said. The church property is near two popular dessert stores: Vegan Treats and The Cup.

Some of the former church and school could also be used for a daycare center, Atiyeh said, and a four-bedroom home attached to the property will be rented.

Northampton County recorded the sale of the 0.85-acre property on March 20. Posted prices do not reflect all the costs of purchase.

The building covers 18,069 square feet, according to county records.

Atiyeh owns many properties in the Lehigh Valley, including the Manors of the Valley residences for senior citizens.

Atiyeh has workers at the site. He said it may be available for use within two or three months.
L. NAZARETH TWP., Pa.  After 12 meetings and nearly a year of testimony, the conditional use hearing for one of three warehouses proposed in Lower Nazareth Township came to an end on Monday night.

Offered by applicant Fantastic 1948 LLC, the proposal calls for the construction of a 251,100-square-foot warehouse at 270 and 312 Country Club Road  a 24-acre site adjacent to the Route 33 South/Hecktown Road interchange.

Monday's hearing began with attorney Kevin Kelleher calling Country Club Road resident Hugh Woodward as an objector to the development.

During his testimony, Woodward said the proposed warehouse would be an "eyesore." He expressed concerns about the traffic, lighting and septic waste impacts on his property from the warehouse site.

"To me, it'll be an eyesore," Woodward said. "It'll certainly block the morning sun."

The hearing continued with a public comment session in which three more township residents expressed opposition to the development and urged the board to reject it: Roberto Reyes, David McGuinness and former board member Bob Hoyer  who lost his re-election bid last November. The three men questioned the applicant's traffic study and the need for further warehouse development in Lower Nazareth.

Representing the applicant, attorney Erich Schock attempted to discredit Woodward's testimony by framing it as a "not in my backyard" argument against the warehouse.

Schock also objected to the other residents' standing to speak against the development, as they all live at least a mile from the proposed site. Township solicitor Gary Asteak noted the objections for the record but allowed all objections to proceed.

Next, township engineer Justin Coyle explained his March 24 review letter in which he recommended that the board deny the applicant's conditional use request. The lack of an identified tenant for the facility, inadequate traffic patterns to accommodate tractor-trailers and other "high degrees of unknown" were among the reasons listed by Coyle.

"The board may wish to deny the application, as the applicant does not provide a specific end use or tenant that can be accurately determined at this time, and the proposal is speculative," Coyle said.

In his cross-examination of Coyle, Schock argued that warehouses are permitted with a conditional use in a "planned business development" (PBD) within Lower Nazareth. Coyle responded that the proposal should be subjected to further requirements because it would be a single-lot development when a PBD typically has multiple lots.

Finally, it was time for closing arguments by the three attorneys: Schock, Kelleher and Matthew Deschler, who represented AAA Northampton County  which sits adjacent to the proposed site  as an objector at the March 12 hearing.

Schock argued that the proposed warehouse would not have any "extraordinary" impacts on the surrounding area when compared to the impacts of similar developments.

"While people may not like warehouses, we showed throughout [that] this is a pretty typical warehouse development for a property of this size in this location," Schock said. "We do not believe there is anything extraordinary or unusual about this use."

Kelleher characterized the testimonies of multiple witnesses called by the applicant as "vague promises" offered without a surefire way for the township to hold them accountable.

"What you heard from this applicant in the course of the last year has been vague generalities, platitudes and promises of future compliance," Kelleher said. "We believe that your ordinance requires more, Pennsylvania case law demands more, and quite frankly, the people of this township deserve more."

Deschler's closing argument focused on traffic issues and the intended multiple-use structure of a PBD in the township.

"When you consider all of the evidence presented, I do think we can demonstrate a variety of points where the applicant has failed to meet the specific, objective criteria of the zoning ordinance," Deschler said.

Adjourning the hearing just before 9 p.m., Asteak said the board will deliberate and issue a final decision on the conditional use application within 45 days.

The Lower Nazareth Township Board of Supervisors will hold its next regular meeting on Wednesday, March 27.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 26. We would like to establish a manufacturing base in Azerbaijan in partnership with Chinese companies, said Hikmet Hajiyev, Head of the Foreign Policy Department of the Presidential Administration, in an interview with Global Times, Trend reports.

"Currently, we are purchasing electric buses and other equipment from China. We would like to establish a manufacturing base in Azerbaijan in partnership with Chinese companies," he said.

Hajiyev noted that digital transformation is the number one priority for Azerbaijan in its national priorities, based on sustainable development goals.

"In our green transition agenda, we see China as a partner for us. We are also asking our Chinese friends to establish production lines for renewable energies in Azerbaijan. The electric automobile industry in China is one of the leading industries in the world," he said.

He pointed out that Azerbaijan would also like to see more Chinese companies present in the country.

"Chinese companies are already present in diversifying Azerbaijan's economy, but we are expecting more as Azerbaijan moves toward green growth," the official added.
L. SAUCON TWP., Pa. - The NTSB released its preliminary report Tuesday about the Norfolk Southern derailment in Lower Saucon Township which took place earlier this month.

That wreck saw three trains crash, and two locomotives "partially submerge" in the Lehigh River.

The two locomotives have been sitting next to the rebuilt tracks along the Lehigh River since March 3, the day after the crash.

Norfolk Southern says they will be scrapped on site, but it hasn't happened yet. Norfolk Southern says the damage to the equipment and the track was only about $2.5 million.

"This is probably the worst. Worst Accident we've had in Lower Saucon Township," said Lower Saucon Township Council President Priscilla deLeon.

The NTSB report answers three big questions: where the trains were going, the number of cars, and the speeds of the trains.

The eastbound trains were headed for Jersey City, and nearby Elizabeth, New Jersey.

The westbound train was traveling to Enola, Pennsylvania, near Harrisburg.

The leading eastbound train was stopped at a signal, according to the report, due to train traffic, when it was rear-ended by a second freight train, derailing three cars.

Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure says he'd like more detail and he's disappointed in the report.

"It's a little perplexing to me that NTSB doesn't understand right now why that train was stopped. Answer the question. Why was it stopped?" asked McClure.

Less than a minute later, the westbound train collided with the derailed cars.

There were a total of 265 railcars and seven crew members on board. They were transported to a local hospital, treated for minor injuries, and released.

Fire Chief Ty Johnson was one of the first on scene, assisting one of the conductors.

With one train stopped, the report says the second westbound train was traveling about 13 miles per hour at the time of the first collision.

At the time of the second crash, the eastbound train was train was running at 22 miles per hour, below the maximum authorized speed.

DeLeon says she hasn't spoken to the NTSB or Norfolk Southern since four days after the accident but is satisfied with the information in the report.

"It gives the details and I think people want to know the details. They want to know why was the first train stopped. We still don't know that."

McClure says Northampton County is going to be ready in case there is a derailment disaster. Northampton County partnered with Norfolk Southern for three training exercises last year.

"This year, we're going to have three more trainings. And two of these are going to be in conjunction with Norfolk Southern," McClure said.

"So God forbid if this happens again, we'll be ready again because our first responders, they were excellent."

The lead investigator for the NTSB, Ruben Payan, is the same one who headed up the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.

The final report won't come out for another 18 to 24 months.
L. MACUNGIE TWP., Pa. - Pennsylvania State Police say they have identified a suspect from Oklahoma in the case of a suspicious package that prompted the evacuation of a business at an industrial park Monday.

The investigation is ongoing and there is no danger to the public, according to a news release from state police.

State police said somebody sent a suspicious package to Ryder Logistics, which is part of a large industrial park. The threat disrupted the work schedules of hundreds of workers and several businesses.

State Police responded to a call to Ryder Logistics around 1:10 p.m. Monday. Police say a package delivered to the mailroom appeared suspicious. When a worker opened the package, there was another box inside bearing writing and threats, state police said. It was taken outside the business and parts of Spring Creek Road were shut down.

The delay lasted several hours Monday afternoon.

Road closures around the industrial complex caused traffic jams and confusion around the area.

State Police searched the complex and evacuated all employees from Ryder Logistics. They determined the package did not pose a threat and re-opened Spring Creek Road about 4 p.m. Then shortly after 6:30 p.m. the warehouse complex reopened.

Congdon Hill Road, which had been closed for much of Monday afternoon, reopened on Monday at approximately 7:20 p.m., state police said.
LEHIGHTON, Pa. - Carbon County dispatchers say there is no longer a threat to the community after a police incident in Lehighton Monday.

County dispatchers had said a person connected with the incident was at large. They did not specify what the person may have done. Dispatchers now say the incident is under control.

Police vehicles had been seen at Fifth and Iron streets in the borough, as well as at North Third and Carbon streets. Police tape had been put up at North Third and Carbon streets.

Police have not released details on the nature of the incident.
LEHIGHTON, Pa. -- Pennsylvania State Police have released the name of the man they say killed another man with a "piercing object" in Lehighton.

Zak Moyer, 30, of Lehighton, was charged with criminal homicide, police say. He is behind bars in Carbon County.

Authorities rushed to an address on Carbon Street in Lehighton on Monday afternoon, around 3:30 p.m., for the report of an assault in progress.

A 59-year-old man was found with life-threatening injuries from "being struck by a piercing object," state police said.

He was transported to St. Lukes-Carbon Campus and was pronounced dead, according to state police. His name has not been released.

Residents in the neighborhood were told to stay inside as police surrounded the area, saying a person connected with the incident was at large.

He was taken into custody a short time later and the incident was considered under control by about 5 p.m.

Police say there is no threat to the community.
LEHIGHTON, Pa. - A suspect is in custody after a 59-year-old man was assaulted and killed in Carbon County on Monday.

On Monday, around 3:30 p.m., members of the Lehighton Borough Police Department responded to an address on Carbon Street for a report of an assault in progress, according to a news release from state police.

A 59-year-old man was found with life-threatening injuries from being struck by a piercing object, state police said.

He was transported to St. Lukes-Carbon Campus and was pronounced dead, according to state police.

Per the request of the Carbon County District Attorneys Office, the Pennsylvania State Police Troop N Major Case Team assumed the investigation.

A suspect is in custody, state police said.

State police say there is no threat to the surrounding public or community members.

This investigation is still active, state police said.
UPPER SALFORD TWP., Pa. - A man from Montgomery Co. is charged with assault, accused of terrorizing his girlfriend, her mother and their three children.

Pennsylvania State Police report the incident happened on the morning of Feb. 24 at a home on Salford Station Rd. in Upper Salford Twp.

Nathan Hamburg, 25, is accused of assaulting and threatening his girlfriend, 28, from 6 a.m. until just before 9 a.m., when the victim's mother, 61, arrived at the residence.

A police report says Hamburg placed the lives of the girlfriend, mother and the couple's three children, ages six, one, and infant, in danger when he began chasing them in his truck.

Authorities say Hamburg struck the vehicle the family was inside in an attempt to run them off the roadway.

Once he was able to stop the vehicle, police say Hamburg damaged the car's windshield and more by climbing onto the hood before fleeing the scene.

Hamburg is charged with assault/fear by physical menace.
HACKETTSTOWN, N.J. - Two men from Warren County, New Jersey both face possession of a weapon charges after police say one of them attacked the other with a broom handle after being threatened with a knife.

The Hackettstown Police Department responded to the 100 block of Main Street on March 18 after reports of a stabbing, according to a news release from the Warren County Prosecutor's Office.

On scene, the police found two men who were involved in a domestic dispute, both with minor injuries, the prosecutor's office said. After an investigation, police found that Santiago Saqui and Luis Marroquin were involved in a verbal dispute, according to the news release.

During the dispute, Marraquin was in possession of a knife that he used in a threatening manner towards Saqui, according to the prosecutor's office.

After the two men separated, Saqui came back and assaulted Marraquin with a broom handle, according to the news release.

Marroquin is charged with possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and harassment. Saqui faces charges of possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and aggravated assault.
BALTIMORE (AP)  A cargo ship lost power and rammed into a major bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday, destroying the span in a matter of seconds and plunging it into the river in a terrifying collapse that could disrupt a vital shipping port for months. Six people were missing and presumed dead, and the search for them was suspended until Wednesday morning.

The ships crew issued a mayday call moments before the crash took down the Francis Scott Key Bridge, enabling authorities to limit vehicle traffic on the span, Marylands governor said.

As the vessel neared the bridge, puffs of black smoke could be seen as the lights flickered on and off. It struck one of the bridges supports, causing the structure to collapse like a toy, and a section of the span came to rest on the bow.

With the ship barreling toward the bridge at a very, very rapid speed, authorities had just enough time to stop cars from coming over the bridge, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said.

These people are heroes, Moore said. They saved lives last night.

In the evening, Col. Roland L. Butler Jr., superintendent for Maryland State Police, announced that the search and rescue mission was transitioning to one of search and recovery. He also said the search was being put on pause and divers would return to the site at 6 a.m. Wednesday, when challenging overnight conditions were expected to improve. No bodies have been recovered, Butler said.

The crash happened in the middle of the night, long before the busy morning commute on the bridge that stretches 1.6 miles (2.6 kilometers) and was used by 12 million vehicles last year.

The six missing people were part of a construction crew filling potholes on the bridge, said Paul Wiedefeld, the state's transportation secretary.

Guatemalas consulate in Maryland said in a statement that two of the missing were citizens of the Central American nation. It did not provide their names but said consular officials were in contact with authorities and assisting the families.

Honduras' Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Antonio Garcia told The Associated Press that a Honduran citizen, Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval, was missing. He said he had been in contact with Suazos family.

And the Washington Consulate of Mexico said via the social media platform X that citizens of that nation were also among the missing. It did not say how many.

A senior executive at the company that employed the workers also said, in the afternoon, that the workers were presumed dead given the waters depth and how much time had passed.

Jeffrey Pritzker, executive vice president of Brawner Builders, said the crew was working in the middle of the bridge when it came down.

This was so completely unforeseen, Pritzker said. We dont know what else to say. We take such great pride in safety, and we have cones and signs and lights and barriers and flaggers."

Jesus Campos, who has worked on the bridge for Brawner Builders and knows members of the crew, said he was told they were on a break and some were sitting in their trucks.

I know that a month ago, I was there, and I know what it feels like when the trailers pass, Campos said. Imagine knowing that is falling. It is so hard. One would not know what to do.

Father Ako Walker, a Roman Catholic priest at Sacred Heart of Jesus, said he spent time with the families of the missing workers as they waited for news of their loved ones.

You can see the pain etched on their faces, Walker said.

Rescuers pulled two people out of the water, one of whom was treated at a hospital and discharged hours later. Multiple vehicles also went into the river, although authorities did not believe anyone was inside.

It looked like something out of an action movie, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said, calling it an unthinkable tragedy."

A police dispatcher put out a call just before the collapse saying a ship had lost its steering and asked officers to stop all traffic on the bridge, according to Maryland Transportation Authority first responder radio traffic obtained from the Broadcastify.com archive.

One officer who stopped traffic radioed that he was going to drive onto the bridge to alert the construction crew. But seconds later, a frantic officer said: The whole bridge just fell down. Start, start whoever, everybody ... the whole bridge just collapsed.

On a separate radio channel for maintenance and construction workers, someone said officers were stopping traffic because a ship had lost steering. There was no follow-up order to evacuate, and 30 seconds later the bridge fell and the channel went silent.

From 1960 to 2015, there were 35 major bridge collapses worldwide due to ship or barge collisions, according to the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure.

Tuesday's collapse is sure to create a logistical nightmare along the East Coast for months, if not years, shutting down ship traffic at the Port of Baltimore, a major hub. The loss of the bridge will also snarl cargo and commuter traffic.

Losing this bridge will devastate the entire area, as well as the entire East Coast, state Sen. Johnny Ray Salling said.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said at a news conference that it was too soon to estimate how long it will take to clear the channel, which is about 50 feet (15 meters) deep.

I do not know of a bridge that has been constructed to withstand a direct impact from a vessel of this size, he said.

The Dali, which was headed from Baltimore to Colombo, Sri Lanka and flying under a Singapore flag, is about 985 feet (300 meters) long and about 157 feet (48 meters) wide, according to according to data from Marine Traffic.

Synergy Marine Group, which manages the ship, confirmed that it hit a pillar of the bridge at about 1:30 a.m. while in control of one or more pilots, who are local specialists who help guide vessels safely into and out of ports. The ship is owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd.

Synergy said all crew members and the two pilots on board were accounted for, and there were no reports of any injuries.

The ship was moving at 8 knots, roughly 9 mph (14.8 kph), the governor said.

Inspectors found a problem with the Dalis machinery in June, but a more recent examination did not identify any deficiencies, according to the shipping information system Equasis.

Danish shipping giant Maersk said it had chartered the vessel.

Jagged remnants of the bridge could be seen jutting up from the water in the aftermath of the collapse. The on-ramp ended abruptly where the span once began.

Donald Heinbuch, a retired chief with Baltimores fire department, said he was startled awake by a deep rumbling that shook his house for several seconds and felt like an earthquake. He drove to the river's edge and couldnt believe what he saw.

The ship was there, and the bridge was in the water, like it was blown up, he said.

The bridge spans the Patapsco River at the entrance to the busy harbor, which leads to the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean. Opened in 1977, the bridge is named for the writer of The Star-Spangled Banner.

Wiedefeld said all vessel traffic into and out of the port would be suspended until further notice, though the facility was still open to trucks.

President Joe Biden said he planned to travel to Baltimore and intends for the federal government to pick up the entire cost of rebuilding.

This is going to take some time, Biden said.

Last year the Port of Baltimore handled a record 52.3 million tons of foreign cargo worth $80 billion, according to the state.

The head of a supply chain management company said Americans should expect shortages of goods from the collapse's effect on ocean container shipping and East Coast trucking.

Its not just the port of Baltimore thats going to be impacted, said Ryan Petersen, CEO of Flexport.

The collapse, though, is not likely to hurt worldwide trade because Baltimore is not a major port for container vessels. its its facilities are more important when it comes to goods such as farm equipment and autos, said Judah Levine, head of research for global freight booking platform Freightos.

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Associated Press journalists around the world contributed to this report, including Sarah Brumfield, Rebecca Santana, Jake Offenhartz, Joshua Goodman, Ben Finley, Claudia Lauer, Brian Witte, Juliet Linderman, David McHugh, John Seewer, Michael Kunzelman and Mike Catalini.
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP)  Its a tale of two dramatically different political campaigns.

On Monday, throngs of supporters of President Nicolas Maduro rallied at a giant stage draped in the red, yellow and blue colors of Venezuela's flag outside the electoral council headquarters where he made official his candidacy for a third term that would last until 2031. Meanwhile, his would-be rivals tried to register their candidate, an 80-year-old unknown newcomer, before a looming deadline but found they were unable to do so  in what the opposition denounced as the latest attack on Venezuelas democracy.

Polls show the unpopular Maduro would be trounced by a landslide if Venezuelan voters were given half a chance.

But the self-proclaimed socialist leader has so far managed to block his chief opponents from running while alternately negotiating and then reneging on minimal electoral guarantees promised to the U.S. government in exchange for relief from oil sanctions

In a creative attempt to force Maduros authoritarian hand, two smaller opposition parties previously authorized to participate in July's tightly managed election nominated former academic Corina Yoris last week.

The protest candidacy took friends and foes alike by surprise. An academic, who has taught logic and philosophy at several Venezuelan universities, shes barely known even in opposition circles. Her only public political role until now was as a member of the committee that organized last years opposition primary in which 2.4 million voters in Venezuela and abroad defied government threats of criminal prosecution to select a candidate to run against Maduro.

But her relative anonymity, squeaky clean record and affectionate grandmotherly air have fast become part of her appeal. Even her name  Corina  is viewed as an asset, a not so subtle reminder of her namesake ally, Maria Corina Machado, whose candidacy was outlawed by the Maduro-stacked Supreme Court after she won last Octobers primary by an overwhelming majority.

We've exhausted all of the possibilities," Yoris said at a news conference in which she detailed her failed attempts to register, both electronically and in person, her candidacy. It's not just the name of Corina Yoris that is being denied but the name of any citizen that wants to run.

In registering his own candidacy, Maduro, without mentioning Yoris by name, blasted his would-be rival as a puppet of traditional elites.

He cast his own reelection bid in historic terms, saying it was the continuation of the Bolivarian revolution launched a quarter century ago by the late Hugo Chavez and the only way to protect Venezuela's sovereignty amid attempts by the U.S. empire to dig its claws into the OPEC nation's oil wealth.

I can only say, with humility, that I am made of the same muddy earth as you, he said in the televised address at the National Electoral Council.

To date, 10 candidates have registered to compete in the July elections, none of them connected to the main opposition coalition and several seen as representing little threat to Maduro's power base. Once parties register their candidate, they have until April 16 to name a substitute.

Maduros supporters have wasted little time in targeting Yoris ever since she was tapped to lead the opposition's electoral fight.

Over the weekend, several members of the ruling Socialist Party took to social media to claim Yoris was a citizen of Uruguay, making her ineligible to run due to a requirement in Venezuela's constitution that the president be a natural-born citizen without dual nationality.

On Monday, Yoris dismissed such talk as a desperate ploy to disqualify her candidacy.

I was born in Caracas, my parents were born in Venezuela, and I've never opted for any other nationality, she said.

Venezuela's election is taking place against the backdrop of a swelling crackdown on dissent aimed at ensuring Maduro remains in power. In addition to blocking Machado's candidacy, it last week issued arrest orders against several of her aides. Earlier this year it also jailed a prominent human rights attorney and then shuttered the United Nations human rights office for criticizing the arrest, giving its international staff 72 hours to leave the country.

But rather than boycott the vote, as it did when Maduro was reelected to a second six-year term in 2018, the opposition is seeking to call Maduro's bluff and force him to outright steal the vote.

The strategy appears to have the full support of the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden, which has so far been in no rush to reimpose oil sanctions eased last year in response to an agreement on electoral guarantees struck in Barbados by Maduro and the opposition.

While some of the pledges have been partially fulfilled, others, such as the right of each political movement to freely select their candidates, have been all but ignored, calling into question the wisdom of a hands-off approach that so far has only emboldened Maduro.

Maduro and his criminal enablers could learn something about patriotism, sacrifice, and love of country from the Venezuelan opposition, Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat of Illinois and the majority whip, said in a message posted on X over the weekend. Their candidates must be allowed to register by Monday or sanctions relief must be halted.

Geoff Ramsey, a senior analyst on Venezuela at the Atlantic Council in Washington, said the Biden administration is in a difficult position of trying to retain some leverage with Maduro while quieting skeptics who think it is being too lenient with Caracas.

The U.S. will almost certainly have to snap back some sanctions, but there are ways to do so while still keeping the regime at the table," he said. But if Machado and the wider opposition arent even able to register a candidate, the presidents hands will be tied.

Goodman reported from Miami.

Follow AP's Latin America coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
A New York City police officer was shot and killed Monday during a traffic stop, the citys mayor said. It marked the first slaying of an NYPD officer in two years.

We lost one of our sons today and it is extremely painful. It is extremely painful, Mayor Eric Adams said, addressing reporters at the hospital where the officer died.

The shooting happened just before 5:50 p.m. in the Far Rockaway section of Queens, police said, after Officer Jonathan Diller and his partner encountered a vehicle illegally parked at a bus stop.

As they approached the vehicle, a man inside shot Diller below his bullet-proof vest, said Police Commissioner Edward Caban. Dillers partner returned fire and wounded the suspected shooter, who was brought to an area hospital.

Diller was taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center but could not be saved, officials said. He had been with the police department for three years, was married and had a young child, Caban said on the social media platform X.

We struggle to find the words to express the tragedy of losing one of our own, Caban wrote.

The police departments chief of detectives, Joseph Kenny, said Diller and his partner had initially tried to order the vehicle's driver and passenger out of the car, which was stopped on a busy but narrow street in a bustling commercial district.

He was asked to leave the car," Kenny said of the person who pulled the gun. "He was given a lawful order numerous times to step out of the car. He refused. And when the officers took him out of the car, rather than stepping out of the car, he shot our officer.

Kenny said Diller stayed in the fight after being wounded and tried to disarm the shooter, whose name was not immediately released by police.

The gun hit the ground. And as the perpetrator was still reaching for it, this cop was able to grab it, although he was still shot, Kenny said.

Witnesses described a chaotic scene.

It happened so fast, one bystander, Melissa Morgan, 39, told the Daily News. The police officer fell on the floor and the other officers dragged the two guys out of the car. I was running for cover.

Another witness, Deon Peters, told the New York Post he saw Diller on the ground.

He was moving, he was saying Im hit, Im hit, Peters said.

The slaying was the first of an NYPD officer since 2022, when two officers, Wilbert Mora, 27, and Jason Rivera, 22, were ambushed in a Harlem apartment building after responding to a domestic disturbance call.

Adams, a former police captain, said he met with Dillers grieving widow. He called the shooting a senseless act of violence.

Can I say it any clearer? It is the good guys against the bad guys, he said. And these bad guys are violent. They carry guns. And the symbol of our public safety, which is that police uniform, they have a total disregard for.

One of the people in the vehicle had been arrested on a gun charge in April 2023, Kenny said.

Patrick Hendry, president of the Police Benevolent Association of New York, expressed anger over the shooting.

These attacks on New York City police officers have to end right now, he said. We have a family upstairs thats devastated. We have police officers in this hallway who lost a brother. It has to end now.

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Associated Press Writers Michael R. Sisak and Jake Offenhartz contributed to this report.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 26. The 3rd conference of the Parliamentary Network of the Non-Aligned Movement was held in Geneva, Switzerland, Trend reports.

The event was hosted by Sahiba Gafarova, Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament and Parliamentary Network, and attended by 53 delegates from member parliaments and international organizations.

Sahiba Gafarova opened the conference with an introductory statement, welcoming the attendees and expressing optimism that the conference would make a significant contribution to the ongoing development of cooperation among member countries.

Referring to the fact that the number of participants in the Parliamentary Network conferences has been steadily growing since their inaugural meeting in Madrid in November 2021, Sahiba Gafarova noted that the network continues to grow. According to her, today the Parliamentary Network represents more than half of the parliaments of the NAM member states.

Sahiba Gafarova mentioned in her speech that since its establishment, the Parliamentary Network has been coordinating its activities with the decisions of the executive authorities, reflecting them in its final documents.

The Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament emphasized that Azerbaijan's role as chair of COP29 creates an important opportunity to engage international partners in the development of climate action for the benefit of the planet.

She believes that, in this sense, inclusive dialog, constructive cooperation, and joint activities are key factors for achieving progress in this direction.

She also added that the participation of all members of the international community in this process is important to achieve common goals.

On the initiative of Martin Chungong, Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the Azerbaijani Parliament and the Inter-Parliamentary Union plan to organize a parliamentary meeting within the framework of COP29. This event will allow parliamentarians to widely exchange views and determine what steps they can take to combat climate change. The meeting will thus contribute to multilateral climate action.

The conference resulted in the adoption of the Geneva Declaration.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
HOUSTON (AP)  Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday agreed to pay nearly $300,000 in restitution under a deal to end criminal securities fraud charges that have shadowed the Republican for nearly a decade.

The announcement by special prosecutors in a Houston courtroom came less than three weeks before Paxton was set to stand trial on felony charges that could have led to a prison sentence. It was the closest Paxton  who was indicted in 2015  has ever come to trial over accusations that he duped investors in a tech startup near Dallas.

Under the 18-month agreement, the special prosecutors would drop three felony counts against Paxton as long as he pays full restitution to his victims, and completes 100 hours of community service and 15 hours of legal ethics education. A former special prosecutor said the chance of a conviction was going to be 50-50.

Paxton said little during the hearing, and he avoided reporters by leaving the court through a back door.

But in a statement released later Tuesday, Paxton  one of the nations most prominent state attorney generals, who just six months earlier was acquitted of corruption charges in an impeachment trial in the Texas Senate  remained defiant.

There will never be a conviction in this case nor am I guilty, said Paxton, while thanking his family and supporters for sticking by my side. The agreement lets Paxton remain in his elected position and doesnt affect his law license.

Dan Cogdell, a Paxtons attorney, said prosecutors would never have been able to prove their case at trial, but he conceded that it was cheaper for Paxton to accept the agreement.

Number one, the economics are actually in his favor for not going to trial. And number two, its a guaranteed dismissal at the end of the day, Cogdell told reporters.

Houston attorney Brian Wice, who was one of the special prosecutors, described the deal as a victory that requires Paxton to repay investors, including Byron Cook, a former GOP lawmaker who served with Paxton in the Texas Legislature, and the estate of Joel Hochberg, a South Florida businessman who died last year.

Wice, who previously indicated that he would consider a pre-trial deal a slap on the wrist, said he and fellow prosecutor Jed Silverman reevaluated their chance of success based on evidence and witnesses.

Our primary duty is to do justice, not to convict. So, the question isnt whether or not who won, but was justice served? And I think the answer to that is unmistakably yes, Wice said.

Kent Schaffer, who worked as a special prosecutor on the case until February and had tried to broker a similar settlement, said insufficient resources and antagonistic witnesses could have hindered the prosecutors' case.

"I didnt think we had a bad case, but its 50-50. It could go either way," said Schaffer, a Houston-based criminal defense attorney.

The Cook and Hochberg families said in a statement they are grateful that they will receive restitution in full.

Wice acknowledged the long arc of the case that shuffled between four different judges over the years, ping-ponged between courtrooms in Dallas and Houston, and was slowed by the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in 2017.

The resolution of the securities fraud case furthers a dramatic reversal of political fortune for Paxton, who just a year ago appeared imperiled by the criminal case and the threat of being removed from office after his top aides reported him to the FBI.

But Paxton has emerged emboldened. He waged war against dozens of GOP lawmakers who were part of the 2023 effort to impeach him, with his biggest target being state House Speaker Dade Phelan, who was forced into a May 28 runoff. He has also not ruled out a primary challenge to Republican Sen. John Cornyn in 2026.

Paxton still faces legal troubles, however. A federal investigation has been probing some of the same charges presented in his impeachment and former aides who reported Paxton to the FBI are trying to make him testify in a whistleblower civil lawsuit.

The securities fraud case has hung over Paxton nearly his entire time in statewide office. Yet the 61-year-old has shown political resilience time and again, winning over conservative activists, and importantly within the GOP, former President Donald Trump.

Paxton had been accused of defrauding investors in a Dallas-area tech company called Servergy by not disclosing that he was being paid by the company to recruit them. He was charged with two counts of securities fraud and one count of not being registered as an investment adviser.

James Spindler, a professor of business and law at the University of Texas at Austin, said it was surprising that Paxton even faced a felony prosecution. He described one of the charges  failing to register as an investment adviser  as a technical violation and said most similar cases are settled as civil lawsuits.

Legal experts have said over the years that the longer the case drags on, the harder it would be for both sides.

Paxton was also charged in a federal civil complaint filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over his work with Servergy. But a federal judge in March 2017 dismissed the complaint against Paxton. The person who recruited Paxton to work with Servergy, ex-company CEO William Mapp, was found liable by a jury for misleading investors and ordered to pay a civil penalty of $22,500. Mapp lost his job with Servergy and later had to work as an Uber driver to make ends meet, according to court documents.

The fraud allegations were among the original 20 articles of impeachment but were set aside during the impeachment trial in the Texas Senate last year.

Paxtons political opponents, most notably Republicans, had used the fraud charges against him in elections. But Paxton has twice been reelected as attorney general since his indictment, most recently in 2022.

This story corrects the spelling of the name of one of Paxton's attorneys. He is Dan Cogdell, not Don.

Associated Press writers Jim Vertuno and Acacia Coronado in Austin, Texas contributed to this report.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 26. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's latest, more critical statements come amid claims from Western intelligence agencies that he will soon be removed from power by the Kremlin as a result of a coup, Advisor to the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Chairman of the Baku Political Scientists Club, Zaur Mammadov told Trend.

He noted that Pashinyan alluded to this some time ago.

"Knowing that Azerbaijan will meet its demands on multiple problems, they want all responsibility to land squarely on Pashinyan's shoulders. At the moment, the opposition has no alternative but to tolerate Nikol, since if they come to power in the current situation, they will appear weak in front of Azerbaijan. Their overseas customers are also aware of this.

Armenia expects that following the Brussels summit on April 5 and the declarations made there, there would be no violence in Yerevan and other towns. Everyone recalls the difficulties that the Ukrainian and Georgian governments faced while seeking membership in the European Union. The citizens of those countries are still feeling the effects of that choice. The April 5 summit and its effects will be felt in Armenia, but not in the same way as they were in Kyiv and Tbilisi squares," he noted.

Mammadov stated that further complications in the region's geopolitical situation, combined with Georgia and Armenia's European perspectives, and Azerbaijan's preservation of its status as a non-aligned state pursuing a fully independent and sovereign balanced policy, must be considered by its neighbors.

"Azerbaijan could have taken completely different emotional actions against regional actors who have become Armenia's patrons over time. However, Azerbaijan's foreign policy diplomacy has always been marked by patience and cold-bloodedness, and this trend will continue.

Let me return to April 5the meeting between Blinken, Von der Leyen, and Pashinyan. Let's compare Azerbaijan and Armenia as Western partners. The comparison presents us with an interesting picture. Armenia is a member of the CSTO and the Eurasian Union, whose total trade turnover with the European Union was just over $7 billion in 2023. Azerbaijan plays a special role in the traditional and green energy policies of the old continent, with a trade turnover with the EU of 24 billion dollars in 2023, a military and political ally of Turkiye, considered one of the most influential members of NATO, and a strategic partnership with nine EU countries.

Of course, the main reason the West wants to act as a buffer for Armenia is geopolitical - the conflict with Russia. Thus, the West exhibits evident favoritism, placing Armenia on one side of the scale and Azerbaijan and Turkiye on the other," the political analyst stated.



He highlighted that Armenia and the West must understand that Yerevan's integration with the West will be mostly dependent on Azerbaijan and Turkiye.

"Armenia will join whatever wing Azerbaijan and Turkiye select. Because Anadolu-Caucasus is a single political entity, following the 44-day II Karabakh war, the territory has returned to its former lords, the Azerbaijanis, who have controlled here throughout history.



I believe we will soon hear another happy news story. Azerbaijan understands how to coerce the enemy into meeting its demands. The 44-day war, the Azerbaijani army's victories over the last four years, and the Azerbaijani flag waving in Khankendi all attest to this," Mammadov added.

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Savers Value Village, Inc. (NYSE:SVV  Get Free Report) CEO Mark T. Walsh sold 2,793 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.01, for a total transaction of $50,301.93. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Mark T. Walsh also recently made the following trade(s):

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On Monday, March 18th, Mark T. Walsh sold 4,512 shares of Savers Value Village stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.05, for a total transaction of $81,441.60.

Savers Value Village Price Performance

NYSE:SVV traded up $0.01 on Monday, reaching $17.51. 298,975 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 668,265. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $18.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.21. Savers Value Village, Inc. has a 12 month low of $10.16 and a 12 month high of $26.88.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Savers Value Village Company Profile

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Savers Value Village by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,263,543 shares of the companys stock valued at $39,340,000 after purchasing an additional 12,560 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Savers Value Village by 103.8% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 972,863 shares of the companys stock worth $16,908,000 after acquiring an additional 495,482 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Savers Value Village by 646.1% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 35,968 shares of the companys stock worth $626,000 after acquiring an additional 31,147 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Savers Value Village in the 4th quarter valued at about $174,000. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Savers Value Village by 183.3% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 459,173 shares of the companys stock worth $7,980,000 after buying an additional 297,090 shares in the last quarter. 98.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

(Get Free Report)

Savers Value Village, Inc sells second-hand merchandise in retail stores in the United States, Canada, and Australia. It operates stores under the Savers, Value Village, Value Village Boutique, Village des Valeurs, Unique, and 2nd Avenue brands. The company purchases secondhand textiles, including clothing, bedding, and bath items; shoes; accessories; housewares; books; and other goods from non-profit partners and then processes, selects, prices, merchandises, and sells them in its stores.

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Akzo Nobel (OTCMKTS:AKZOD  Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $23.99 and last traded at $24.36, with a volume of 99783 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.96.

Akzo Nobel Stock Up 1.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.63 billion, a PE ratio of 15.16, a P/E/G ratio of 8.70 and a beta of 0.76. The stocks 50-day moving average price is $24.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.84.

About Akzo Nobel

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Akzo Nobel N.V. operates as a paints and coatings company in the Netherlands and internationally. The company operates through Decorative Paints and Performance Coatings segments. It provides decorative paints, including paints, lacquers, and varnishes; mixing machines, color concepts, and training courses for the building and renovation industry; and specialty coatings for metal, wood, and other building materials.

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StockNews.com lowered shares of American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO  Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $15.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Monday, December 4th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Citigroup raised their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Eagle Outfitters has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $19.82.

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American Eagle Outfitters Trading Down 3.7 %

NYSE:AEO opened at $24.48 on Friday. American Eagle Outfitters has a 12-month low of $9.95 and a 12-month high of $26.44. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $22.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.59.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The apparel retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a net margin of 3.23% and a return on equity of 17.76%. The businesss revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.37 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that American Eagle Outfitters will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th will be given a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. American Eagle Outfitterss dividend payout ratio is presently 58.14%.

American Eagle Outfitters announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase 30,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the apparel retailer to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the companys leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Eagle Outfitters

In other news, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 60,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.73, for a total transaction of $1,243,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 232,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,818,875.07. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,363 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.91, for a total transaction of $47,047.33. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 60,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.73, for a total transaction of $1,243,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 232,459 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,818,875.07. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 133,074 shares of company stock worth $2,850,948. Insiders own 7.50% of the companys stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Eagle Outfitters

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AEO. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 32.1% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 596,391 shares of the apparel retailers stock worth $9,906,000 after acquiring an additional 145,038 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund acquired a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,729,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 28.5% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,259,598 shares of the apparel retailers stock valued at $37,532,000 after purchasing an additional 500,555 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 518.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 113,274 shares of the apparel retailers stock worth $1,881,000 after buying an additional 94,973 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 95,415 shares of the apparel retailers stock valued at $1,585,000 after purchasing an additional 12,630 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.33% of the companys stock.

American Eagle Outfitters Company Profile

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American Eagle Outfitters, Inc operates as a multi-brand specialty retailer in the United States and internationally. The company provides jeans, apparel and accessories, and personal care products for women and men under the American Eagle brand; and intimates, apparel, activewear, and swim collections under the Aerie and OFFLINE by Aerie brands.

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Shares of Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB  Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of Reduce from the four ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $19.88.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CLB shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Core Laboratories from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Core Laboratories from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Saturday, January 20th.

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Core Laboratories Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of CLB opened at $17.15 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $803.65 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.94, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 2.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 2.53. Core Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $13.82 and a fifty-two week high of $27.94. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $15.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.69.

Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The oil and gas company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $128.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $127.80 million. Core Laboratories had a return on equity of 15.19% and a net margin of 8.03%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Core Laboratories will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Core Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.23%. Core Laboratoriess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.65%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Core Laboratories by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 754,407 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $13,323,000 after purchasing an additional 134,227 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA grew its position in shares of Core Laboratories by 21.4% in the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 1,365,756 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $24,119,000 after buying an additional 240,893 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Core Laboratories by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 25,380 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $449,000 after buying an additional 3,467 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Core Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $248,000. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Core Laboratories by 25.9% in the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 43,400 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $766,000 after buying an additional 8,940 shares during the period. 97.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Core Laboratories Company Profile

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Core Laboratories Inc provides reservoir description and production enhancement services and products to the oil and gas industry in the United States, and internationally. It operates through Reservoir Description and Production Enhancement segments. The Reservoir Description segment includes the characterization of petroleum reservoir rock and reservoir fluid samples to enhance production and improve recovery of crude oil and gas from its clients' reservoirs.

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NCR Voyix (NYSE:VYX  Get Free Report) and Diebold Nixdorf (NYSE:DBD  Get Free Report) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, dividends and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares NCR Voyix and Diebold Nixdorfs net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

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Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets NCR Voyix -5.98% 21.46% 2.33% Diebold Nixdorf N/A N/A N/A

Insider and Institutional Ownership

97.0% of NCR Voyix shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.0% of Diebold Nixdorf shares are held by institutional investors. 8.6% of NCR Voyix shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.0% of Diebold Nixdorf shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score NCR Voyix 0 1 5 0 2.83 Diebold Nixdorf 0 1 1 0 2.50

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for NCR Voyix and Diebold Nixdorf, as provided by MarketBeat.

NCR Voyix currently has a consensus target price of $18.83, suggesting a potential upside of 50.19%. Diebold Nixdorf has a consensus target price of $27.00, suggesting a potential downside of 21.81%. Given NCR Voyixs stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe NCR Voyix is more favorable than Diebold Nixdorf.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares NCR Voyix and Diebold Nixdorfs top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio NCR Voyix $3.83 billion 0.47 -$423.00 million ($3.01) -4.17 Diebold Nixdorf $3.76 billion 0.34 $1.38 billion N/A N/A

Diebold Nixdorf has lower revenue, but higher earnings than NCR Voyix.

Summary

NCR Voyix beats Diebold Nixdorf on 8 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About NCR Voyix

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NCR Voyix Corporation provides various software and services in the United States, Americas, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The company operates through Retail, Hospitality, Digital Banking, Payments & Network, and Self-Service Banking segments. It offers managed services, including ATM-as-a-Service solutions that allow banks to run their end-to-end ATM channels; software, services, and hardware; and digital banking solutions for financial institution's consumer and business customers. The company also provides solutions for banking channel services, transaction processing, imaging, and branch services. In addition, it offers solutions for retail industry comprising comprehensive API-point of sale (POS) retail software platforms and applications, hardware terminals and peripherals, payment processing solutions, and consumer engagement solutions, as well as self-service kiosks, which consists of self-checkout (SCO). Further, the company provides technology solutions to customers in the hospitality industry comprising table-service, quick-service, and fast casual restaurants. It also offers cloud-based and cloud-enabled software applications for point-of-sale, back office, payment processing, kitchen production, restaurant management, eCommerce, and consumer marketing and loyalty; and hospitality-oriented hardware products, such as POS terminals, kitchen display systems, handheld devices, printers, and peripherals. Additionally, the company provides managed network and infrastructure services to enterprise clients, as well as professional, field, and remote services for network technologies. It also offers solutions for customer account opening and onboarding across digital, branch, and call center channels. The company was formerly known as NCR Corporation and changed its name to NCR Voyix Corporation in October 2023. NCR Voyix Corporation was founded in 1881 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

About Diebold Nixdorf

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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. It also provides banking product-related services comprising proactive monitoring and rapid resolution of incidents through remote service capabilities or an on-site visit; first- and second-line maintenance, preventive maintenance, and on-demand services; managed and outsourcing services, such as business processes, solution management, upgrades, and transaction processing; and cash management services. In addition, the company offers DN Vynamic software suite to simplify and enhance the consumer experience; modular and integrated point of sale and self-checkout terminals; printers, scales, and mobile scanners; and banknote and coin processing systems, as well as ordering kiosks. Additionally, it provides retail customer's product-related services, such as on-demand and professional services; maintenance and availability services; implementation services; managed mobility services; monitoring and advanced analytics; and store life-cycle management services. The company was formerly known as Diebold, Incorporated and changed its name to Diebold Nixdorf, Incorporated in December 2016. Diebold Nixdorf, Incorporated was founded in 1859 and is headquartered in North Canton, Ohio.

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Aprio Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft (NYSE:DB  Free Report) by 29.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,032 shares of the banks stock after acquiring an additional 2,973 shares during the quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLCs holdings in Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft were worth $177,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in shares of Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft by 64.0% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 53,995,538 shares of the banks stock valued at $593,411,000 after buying an additional 21,080,301 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank acquired a new position in Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $10,511,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 676,884 shares of the banks stock worth $7,439,000 after buying an additional 36,012 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft by 23.0% during the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 3,530,094 shares of the banks stock worth $39,057,000 after buying an additional 661,034 shares during the period. Finally, Credit Suisse AG increased its holdings in Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Credit Suisse AG now owns 6,922,150 shares of the banks stock worth $72,890,000 after purchasing an additional 545,484 shares in the last quarter. 27.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DB traded up $0.11 on Tuesday, hitting $15.38. 2,190,554 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,254,763. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft has a 1-year low of $9.52 and a 1-year high of $15.49. The stocks 50 day moving average price is $13.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.30.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft ( NYSE:DB Get Free Report ) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The bank reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $5.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $7.46 billion. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 5.37%. Sell-side analysts predict that Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

Several research firms have issued reports on DB. Erste Group Bank upgraded Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. StockNews.com raised Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Citigroup cut Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold.

View Our Latest Report on DB

About Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft

(Free Report)

Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft, operates as a stock corporation, engages in the provision of corporate and investment banking, and asset management products and services to private clients, corporate entities, and institutional clients worldwide. Its Corporate Bank segment provides cash management, trade finance and lending, trust and agency, foreign exchange, and securities services, as well as risk management solutions.

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Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX  Free Report) by 159.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,106 shares of the business services providers stock after acquiring an additional 1,908 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc.s holdings in Deluxe were worth $67,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DLX. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Deluxe during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,739,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Deluxe by 81.3% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 462,075 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $10,013,000 after acquiring an additional 207,221 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Deluxe by 17.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,262,186 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $20,194,000 after acquiring an additional 188,788 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Deluxe by 222.1% during the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 248,468 shares of the business services providers stock worth $4,135,000 after purchasing an additional 171,327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Deluxe by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,228,883 shares of the business services providers stock worth $126,361,000 after purchasing an additional 143,372 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Insider Activity at Deluxe

In related news, CEO Barry C. Mccarthy bought 2,666 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $19.25 per share, with a total value of $51,320.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 173,410 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,338,142.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 4.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Deluxe Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DLX traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $20.30. 16,055 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 216,756. Deluxe Co. has a one year low of $13.61 and a one year high of $21.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.49. The businesss fifty day moving average is $19.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.28. The stock has a market cap of $890.16 million, a PE ratio of 34.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.47.

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The business services provider reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.05. Deluxe had a net margin of 1.20% and a return on equity of 21.53%. The company had revenue of $537.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $537.80 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. Deluxes revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Deluxe Co. will post 2.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Deluxe Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.91%. Deluxes dividend payout ratio is presently 203.39%.

About Deluxe

(Free Report)

Deluxe Corporation provides technology-enabled solutions to enterprises, small businesses, and financial institutions in the United States, Canada, and Australia. It operates through Merchant Services, B2B Payments, Data Solutions, and Print segments. The Merchant Services offers credit and debit card authorization and payment systems, as well as processing services primarily to small and medium-sized retail and service businesses.

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Teladoc Health, Inc. (NYSE:TDOC  Get Free Report) insider Arnnon Geshuri sold 7,500 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.06, for a total transaction of $112,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 38,470 shares in the company, valued at $579,358.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Teladoc Health Stock Performance

Shares of TDOC stock traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $15.05. The stock had a trading volume of 3,059,775 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,724,231. Teladoc Health, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $14.29 and a fifty-two week high of $30.41. The firm has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a PE ratio of -11.23 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 3.54 and a quick ratio of 3.47. The companys 50-day simple moving average is $17.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.68.

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Teladoc Health (NYSE:TDOC  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The health services provider reported ($0.17) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $660.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $670.79 million. Teladoc Health had a negative net margin of 8.47% and a negative return on equity of 9.22%. The businesss revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.23) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Teladoc Health, Inc. will post -1.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TDOC has been the topic of several recent research reports. SVB Leerink initiated coverage on shares of Teladoc Health in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They set a market perform rating and a $17.00 target price on the stock. Leerink Partnrs restated a market perform rating on shares of Teladoc Health in a report on Monday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Teladoc Health from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Teladoc Health from $23.00 to $17.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Teladoc Health from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $22.43.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on TDOC

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Teladoc Health

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in TDOC. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Teladoc Health during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,675,000. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in Teladoc Health by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 301,147 shares of the health services providers stock valued at $5,598,000 after acquiring an additional 33,287 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Teladoc Health during the third quarter worth about $392,000. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Teladoc Health during the third quarter worth about $680,000. Finally, Ergoteles LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Teladoc Health during the second quarter worth about $6,772,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.07% of the companys stock.

About Teladoc Health

(Get Free Report)

Teladoc Health, Inc provides virtual healthcare services worldwide. The company operates through Teladoc Health Integrated Care and BetterHelp segments. The Integrated Care segment offers virtual medical services, including general medical, expert medical, specialty medical, chronic condition management, and mental health, as well as enabling technologies and enterprise telehealth solutions for hospitals and health systems.

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Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new position in shares of Elastic (NYSE:ESTC  Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 56,687 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $6,388,000. Artemis Investment Management LLP owned 0.06% of Elastic at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Elastic by 6.6% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,284 shares of the companys stock worth $186,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Elastic by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 928 shares of the companys stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its holdings in Elastic by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 34,154 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,775,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Utah Retirement Systems boosted its holdings in Elastic by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 14,000 shares of the companys stock valued at $721,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Elastic by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 7,355 shares of the companys stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.66% of the companys stock.

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Insider Transactions at Elastic

In related news, CEO Ashutosh Kulkarni sold 15,778 shares of Elastic stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.28, for a total value of $1,629,551.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 364,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,618,190.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CTO Shay Banon sold 1,322 shares of Elastic stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.23, for a total transaction of $140,436.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 4,518,714 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $480,022,988.22. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ashutosh Kulkarni sold 15,778 shares of Elastic stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.28, for a total transaction of $1,629,551.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 364,235 shares of the companys stock, valued at $37,618,190.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 147,248 shares of company stock worth $15,021,473 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 18.10% of the companys stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ESTC shares. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Elastic from $84.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, December 1st. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on Elastic from $105.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised Elastic from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and upped their target price for the company from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Friday, December 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Elastic from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, December 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Elastic from $93.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Seven 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 a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $111.26.

View Our Latest Stock Report on ESTC

Elastic Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESTC traded down $0.29 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $100.76. 211,934 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,473,187. The firm has a market cap of $10.16 billion, a PE ratio of 219.65 and a beta of 0.97. Elastic has a fifty-two week low of $52.30 and a fifty-two week high of $136.06. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $117.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $99.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Elastic (NYSE:ESTC  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported ($0.27) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of ($0.28) by $0.01. The business had revenue of $327.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $320.48 million. Elastic had a net margin of 4.63% and a negative return on equity of 23.94%. As a group, analysts predict that Elastic will post -1.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Elastic Company Profile

(Free Report)

Elastic N.V., a data analytics company, delivers solutions designed to run in public or private clouds in multi-cloud environments. It primarily offers Elastic Stack, a set of software products that ingest and store data from various sources and formats, as well as performs search, analysis, and visualization on that data.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 26. The Western Azerbaijan Community strongly condemns the anti-Azerbaijani stance and media freedom-violating approach once again demonstrated by the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus, Toivo Klaar, the statement of the Western Azerbaijan Community said, Trend reports.

Furthermore, rather than demanding Armenia withdraw from the occupied Azerbaijani villages, the European Union representative encouraged Armenia to maintain its occupation policy, referring to these lands as "disputed."

"Moreover, Toivo Klaar tried to censor Azerbaijani media to conceal Armenia's occupation policy. What is the basis for Toivo Klaar's concern over Azerbaijani media coverage of Armenia's slaughter of Azerbaijani people in Baganis Ayrim village in the Gazakh area, as well as Armenia's control of many Azerbaijani regions, including this village? It appears that the problem for Klaar is not the occupation of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia, committing war crimes and crimes against humanity against Azerbaijanis, but the fact that these facts are highlighted in the media," the statement mentions.

The report emphasizes that the Western Azerbaijan Community urges that the European Union abandon its erroneous and hazardous approach, not impede regional peace efforts, and take a fair stance on the return of Azerbaijanis exiled in Armenia to their homeland.

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Athabasca Oil (TSE:ATH  Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Royal Bank of Canada from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, BayStreet.CA reports. They presently have a C$6.00 price objective on the oil and gas exploration companys stock. Royal Bank of Canadas price target suggests a potential upside of 14.72% from the stocks current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Athabasca Oil from C$4.75 to C$4.50 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 7th. Desjardins increased their price objective on shares of Athabasca Oil from C$5.50 to C$5.75 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Athabasca Oil from C$5.00 to C$5.75 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. ATB Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Athabasca Oil from C$5.50 to C$6.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, TD Securities downgraded shares of Athabasca Oil from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a C$6.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. Three 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, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of C$5.67.

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Athabasca Oil Stock Performance

Athabasca Oil stock traded down C$0.23 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching C$5.23. The company had a trading volume of 3,392,873 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,131,998. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 2.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.72. The firm has a market cap of C$2.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -58.67, a PEG ratio of -0.51 and a beta of 2.19. Athabasca Oil has a 52 week low of C$2.54 and a 52 week high of C$5.48. The company has a 50 day moving average of C$4.71 and a 200-day moving average of C$4.28.

Athabasca Oil (TSE:ATH  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The oil and gas exploration company reported C$0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$315.93 million for the quarter. Athabasca Oil had a negative return on equity of 3.11% and a negative net margin of 4.29%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Athabasca Oil will post 0.4798903 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Athabasca Oil Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Athabasca Oil Corporation engages in the exploration, development, and production of light and thermal oil resource plays in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin in Alberta, Canada. The company operates through Thermal Oil and Light Oil segments. Its principal properties are in the Greater Placid and Greater Kaybob areas near the Town of Fox Creek in northwestern Alberta; and the Leismer and Hangingstone projects located in the Athabasca region of northeastern Alberta.

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BlackRock Sustainable American Income (LON:BRSA  Get Free Report) announced a dividend on Thursday, March 14th, Upcoming.Co.Uk reports. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a dividend of GBX 2 ($0.03) per share on Friday, April 26th. This represents a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 28th. The official announcement can be accessed at this link.

BlackRock Sustainable American Income Trading Down 0.4 %

LON:BRSA opened at GBX 197.68 ($2.50) on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of GBX 187.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of GBX 184.76. BlackRock Sustainable American Income has a one year low of GBX 172.50 ($2.18) and a one year high of GBX 198.50 ($2.51). The firm has a market cap of 156.74 million, a P/E ratio of -3,308.33 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a current ratio of 2.62.

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About BlackRock Sustainable American Income

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BlackRock North American Income Trust plc is a closed-ended equity mutual fund launched by BlackRock Fund Managers Limited. The fund is managed by BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited. It invests in the public equity markets of the United States. The fund seeks to invest in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors.

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Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Boston Beer (NYSE:SAM  Free Report) in a report released on Friday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm issued an overweight rating and a $350.00 price objective on the stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on SAM. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Boston Beer from $285.00 to $275.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Boston Beer from $370.00 to $350.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Boston Beer from $390.00 to $355.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Boston Beer from an underperform rating to a market perform rating and boosted their target price for the company from $280.00 to $335.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a sector perform rating and issued a $337.00 target price on shares of Boston Beer in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $344.08.

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Read Our Latest Report on Boston Beer

Boston Beer Stock Up 1.0 %

Boston Beer stock opened at $310.15 on Friday. Boston Beer has a 52 week low of $287.33 and a 52 week high of $395.52. The firms 50-day simple moving average is $334.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $347.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a PE ratio of 50.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.02.

Boston Beer (NYSE:SAM  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported ($1.49) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by ($1.27). Boston Beer had a return on equity of 8.13% and a net margin of 3.61%. The business had revenue of $393.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $413.57 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.93) earnings per share. Boston Beers quarterly revenue was down 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Boston Beer will post 9.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Carolyn L. Oboyle sold 102 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.72, for a total transaction of $35,773.44. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,630 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $922,393.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 23.50% of the companys stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Boston Beer

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Boston Beer by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 918,502 shares of the companys stock worth $317,425,000 after acquiring an additional 21,060 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Boston Beer in the 4th quarter worth approximately $628,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its holdings in Boston Beer by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 6,894 shares of the companys stock worth $2,382,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the period. American Trust purchased a new position in Boston Beer in the 4th quarter worth approximately $255,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Boston Beer during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.13% of the companys stock.

About Boston Beer

(Get Free Report)

The Boston Beer Company, Inc produces and sells alcohol beverages primarily in the United States. The company's flagship beer is Samuel Adams Boston Lager. It offers various beers, hard ciders, flavored malt beverages, and hard seltzers under the Samuel Adams, Twisted Tea, Truly, Angry Orchard, Dogfish Head, Angel City, and Coney Island brand names.

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Box, Inc. (NYSE:BOX  Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of Moderate Buy from the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $30.89.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of BOX from $33.00 to $30.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 6th. JMP Securities reiterated a market outperform rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of BOX in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of BOX from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of BOX from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of BOX from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 6th.

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BOX Price Performance

Insider Buying and Selling

Shares of BOX stock opened at $28.24 on Tuesday. BOX has a 1 year low of $23.29 and a 1 year high of $31.94. The firms 50-day moving average is $27.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.86. The stock has a market cap of $4.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.15, a PEG ratio of 8.73 and a beta of 0.83.

In related news, CEO Aaron Levie sold 10,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.47, for a total value of $294,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,048,653 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $89,843,803.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Aaron Levie sold 10,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.47, for a total value of $294,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,048,653 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $89,843,803.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Dylan C. Smith sold 13,000 shares of BOX stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.91, for a total transaction of $323,830.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,421,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,414,596.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 130,410 shares of company stock valued at $3,641,249. 4.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BOX

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BOX. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new stake in BOX during the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in BOX during the 1st quarter worth $206,000. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its stake in BOX by 54.5% during the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 22,540 shares of the software makers stock worth $655,000 after purchasing an additional 7,953 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of BOX by 55.3% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 74,326 shares of the software makers stock valued at $2,160,000 after acquiring an additional 26,459 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of BOX by 18.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,091,273 shares of the software makers stock valued at $31,713,000 after acquiring an additional 170,949 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.74% of the companys stock.

About BOX

(Get Free Report

Box, Inc provides a cloud content management platform that enables organizations of various sizes to manage and share their content from anywhere on any device. The company's Software-as-a-Service platform enables users to work with their content as they need from secure external collaboration and sharing, workspaces and portals, e-signature processes, and content workflows improving employee productivity and accelerating business processes.

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Royal Bank of Canada reissued their outperform rating on shares of Centerspace (NYSE:CSR  Free Report) in a research report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $63.00 price objective on the stock.

Centerspace Stock Performance

Shares of CSR opened at $55.91 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $841.45 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.93. Centerspace has a 52-week low of $46.74 and a 52-week high of $66.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 0.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $55.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.84.

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Centerspace Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a positive change from Centerspaces previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.37%. Centerspaces dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 125.32%.

Insider Activity

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

In other news, Director John A. Schissel acquired 500 shares of Centerspace stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $56.40 per share, for a total transaction of $28,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 9,522 shares in the company, valued at $537,040.80. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link . Company insiders own 0.96% of the companys stock.

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Centerspace by 3.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 247,845 shares of the companys stock worth $14,935,000 after buying an additional 9,179 shares during the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Centerspace in the third quarter valued at about $549,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Centerspace during the third quarter worth about $886,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Centerspace by 6.6% during the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 18,510 shares of the companys stock worth $1,115,000 after buying an additional 1,146 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in Centerspace by 1.2% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 32,900 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,983,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. 79.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Centerspace Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Centerspace is an owner and operator of apartment communities committed to providing great homes by focusing on integrity and serving others. Founded in 1970, as of September 30, 2023, Centerspace owned interests in 71 apartment communities consisting of 12,785 apartment homes located in Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

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Cyber Apps World (OTCMKTS:CYAP  Get Free Report) and Issuer Direct (NYSE:ISDR  Get Free Report) are both small-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, earnings and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Cyber Apps World and Issuer Directs net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

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Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Cyber Apps World N/A 78.55% 43.44% Issuer Direct 2.29% 10.90% 5.82%

Volatility and Risk

Cyber Apps World has a beta of -0.65, meaning that its stock price is 165% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Issuer Direct has a beta of 0.88, meaning that its stock price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Cyber Apps World 0 0 0 0 N/A Issuer Direct 0 0 0 0 N/A

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Cyber Apps World and Issuer Direct, as provided by MarketBeat.

Issuer Direct has a consensus price target of $27.00, suggesting a potential upside of 102.78%. Given Issuer Directs higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Issuer Direct is more favorable than Cyber Apps World.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

50.0% of Issuer Direct shares are held by institutional investors. 7.9% of Cyber Apps World shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 26.1% of Issuer Direct shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Cyber Apps World and Issuer Directs gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Cyber Apps World N/A N/A N/A ($0.22) -0.76 Issuer Direct $33.38 million 1.52 $770,000.00 $0.20 66.58

Issuer Direct has higher revenue and earnings than Cyber Apps World. Cyber Apps World is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Issuer Direct, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Issuer Direct beats Cyber Apps World on 8 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Cyber Apps World

(Get Free Report)

Cyber Apps World Inc. develops mobile applications that enable users to save money on products and services from member merchants and suppliers with mobile coupons. The company was formerly known as Clean Enviro Tech Corp. and changed its name to Cyber Apps World Inc. in April 2015. Cyber Apps World Inc. was incorporated in 2002 and is based in Lugano, Switzerland.

About Issuer Direct

(Get Free Report)

Issuer Direct Corporation operates as a communications and compliance company, provides solutions for both public relations and investor relations professionals in the United States and internationally. The company provides press release distribution, media databases, media monitoring, and newsrooms through media advantage platform; ACCESSWIRE, a news dissemination and media outreach service; and VisualWebcaster Platform, a cloud-based webcast, webinar, and virtual meeting platform that delivers live and on-demand streaming of events to audiences of various sizes, as well as allows customers to create, produce, and deliver events. It also offers professional conference and events software, a mobile app that offers organizers, issuers, and investors to register, request, and approve one-on-one meetings, as well as manage schedules, perform event promotion and sponsorship, print attendee badges, and manage lodging; and investor relations content network, a series of data feeds, which include news feeds, stock feeds, fundamentals, regulatory filings, corporate governance, and other components. In addition, the company provides whistleblower hotline, a system that delivers secure notifications and basic incident workflow management processes that align with a company's corporate governance whistleblower policy; stock transfer module, which offers access to real-time information about their shareholders, stock ledgers, and reports, as well as issues new shares; and proxy module, a real-time voting platform for customers and their shareholders of record. It serves public and private companies, mutual funds, law firms, brokerage firms, investment banks, individuals, and other institutions. Issuer Direct Corporation was incorporated in 1988 and is headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina.

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Tourmaline Oil (TSE:TOU  Free Report) had its price objective cut by Desjardins from C$76.00 to C$75.00 in a research note published on Friday, BayStreet.CA reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group set a C$70.00 price objective on Tourmaline Oil and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. TD Securities cut their price target on Tourmaline Oil from C$75.00 to C$72.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. ATB Capital cut their price target on Tourmaline Oil from C$85.00 to C$80.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. National Bankshares dropped their price objective on Tourmaline Oil from C$80.00 to C$70.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Tourmaline Oil from C$100.00 to C$90.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Tourmaline Oil presently has a consensus rating of Buy and an average target price of C$77.65.

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Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on TOU

Tourmaline Oil Stock Performance

Tourmaline Oil Increases Dividend

Shares of TSE:TOU opened at C$60.79 on Friday. The businesss fifty day moving average price is C$58.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$63.64. Tourmaline Oil has a fifty-two week low of C$53.45 and a fifty-two week high of C$74.21. The stock has a market capitalization of C$21.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Tourmaline Oils previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. Tourmaline Oils dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Senior Officer Mike Rose purchased 5,000 shares of Tourmaline Oil stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of C$58.20 per share, with a total value of C$291,021.00. In other news, Director Jill Terilee Angevine purchased 1,500 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of C$56.48 per share, with a total value of C$84,720.00. Also, Senior Officer Mike Rose purchased 5,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of C$58.20 per share, with a total value of C$291,021.00. Over the last three months, insiders bought 20,180 shares of company stock worth $1,171,702. 5.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Tourmaline Oil Company Profile

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Tourmaline Oil Corp. explores for and develops oil and natural gas properties in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. The company holds interests in properties located in the Alberta Deep Basin, Northeast British Columbia Montney, and the Peace River High Triassic oil complex. Tourmaline Oil Corp.

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DA Davidson restated their buy rating on shares of EMCOR Group (NYSE:EME  Free Report) in a research note published on Friday, Benzinga reports. DA Davidson currently has a $375.00 price objective on the construction companys stock.

Separately, KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of EMCOR Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a sector weight rating for the company.

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View Our Latest Report on EME

EMCOR Group Price Performance

Shares of EME opened at $347.13 on Friday. EMCOR Group has a one year low of $151.52 and a one year high of $349.74. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $272.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $233.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.34 billion, a PE ratio of 26.08 and a beta of 1.09.

EMCOR Group (NYSE:EME  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The construction company reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.51 by $0.96. EMCOR Group had a net margin of 5.03% and a return on equity of 28.41%. The business had revenue of $3.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.36 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.63 earnings per share. EMCOR Groups quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that EMCOR Group will post 14.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EMCOR Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 16th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 12th. EMCOR Groups dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.41%.

Insider Activity at EMCOR Group

In related news, CEO Anthony Guzzi sold 6,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.65, for a total transaction of $1,917,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 219,023 shares of the companys stock, valued at $70,010,701.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EMCOR Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of EMCOR Group by 83.8% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 136 shares of the construction companys stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of EMCOR Group during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of EMCOR Group during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of EMCOR Group during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of EMCOR Group during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.59% of the companys stock.

EMCOR Group Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

EMCOR Group, Inc provides construction and facilities, building, and industrial services in the United States and the United Kingdom. It offers design, integration, installation, start-up, operation, and maintenance services related to power transmission, distribution, and generation systems; energy solutions; premises electrical and lighting systems; process instrumentation; low-voltage systems; voice and data communications systems; roadway and transit lighting, signaling, and fiber optic lines; computerized traffic control systems, and signal and communication equipment; heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration, and geothermal solutions; clean-room process ventilation systems; fire protection and suppression systems; plumbing, process, and high-purity piping systems; controls and filtration systems; water and wastewater treatment systems; central plant heating and cooling systems; crane and rigging services; millwright services; and steel fabrication, erection, and welding services.

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EMCOR Group, Inc. (NYSE:EME  Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $350.43 and last traded at $349.80, with a volume of 11451 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $347.12.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on EME shares. DA Davidson reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $375.00 price objective on shares of EMCOR Group in a report on Friday. KeyCorp started coverage on EMCOR Group in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a sector weight rating on the stock.

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EMCOR Group Trading Up 1.6 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $16.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.08 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $272.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $233.06.

EMCOR Group (NYSE:EME  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The construction company reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.51 by $0.96. The business had revenue of $3.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.36 billion. EMCOR Group had a return on equity of 28.41% and a net margin of 5.03%. EMCOR Groups revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.63 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that EMCOR Group, Inc. will post 14.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EMCOR Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 16th were given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 12th. EMCOR Groups dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Anthony Guzzi sold 6,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.65, for a total value of $1,917,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 219,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $70,010,701.95. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of EMCOR Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EME. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of EMCOR Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. bought a new stake in shares of EMCOR Group in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of EMCOR Group by 66.2% in the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 251 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of EMCOR Group by 83.8% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 136 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of EMCOR Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors own 92.59% of the companys stock.

About EMCOR Group

(Get Free Report)

EMCOR Group, Inc provides construction and facilities, building, and industrial services in the United States and the United Kingdom. It offers design, integration, installation, start-up, operation, and maintenance services related to power transmission, distribution, and generation systems; energy solutions; premises electrical and lighting systems; process instrumentation; low-voltage systems; voice and data communications systems; roadway and transit lighting, signaling, and fiber optic lines; computerized traffic control systems, and signal and communication equipment; heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration, and geothermal solutions; clean-room process ventilation systems; fire protection and suppression systems; plumbing, process, and high-purity piping systems; controls and filtration systems; water and wastewater treatment systems; central plant heating and cooling systems; crane and rigging services; millwright services; and steel fabrication, erection, and welding services.

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First PREMIER Bank cut its holdings in Vanguard Small-Cap ETF (NYSEARCA:VB  Free Report) by 6.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,698 shares of the companys stock after selling 1,776 shares during the period. Vanguard Small-Cap ETF comprises about 1.6% of First PREMIER Banks holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. First PREMIER Banks holdings in Vanguard Small-Cap ETF were worth $5,696,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH increased its stake in shares of Vanguard Small-Cap ETF by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 2,883 shares of the companys stock valued at $615,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Vanguard Small-Cap ETF by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 2,436 shares of the companys stock worth $520,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vanguard Small-Cap ETF by 1,143.4% in the 4th quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 22,381 shares of the companys stock valued at $4,774,000 after buying an additional 20,581 shares during the period. HBW Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vanguard Small-Cap ETF by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,249 shares of the companys stock valued at $693,000 after buying an additional 231 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Vanguard Small-Cap ETF by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 1,195,336 shares of the companys stock valued at $255,001,000 after purchasing an additional 151,721 shares during the period.

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Vanguard Small-Cap ETF Stock Performance

Shares of NYSEARCA:VB traded up $0.12 during trading on Monday, reaching $224.11. The company had a trading volume of 499,969 shares, compared to its average volume of 893,389. Vanguard Small-Cap ETF has a twelve month low of $174.84 and a twelve month high of $227.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.84 billion, a PE ratio of 12.80 and a beta of 1.14. The firms fifty day moving average is $215.31 and its 200 day moving average is $201.92.

Vanguard Small-Cap ETF Company Profile

The Vanguard Small-Cap ETF (VB) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the CRSP US Small Cap index. The fund tracks the CRSP US Small Cap Index. The market-cap-weighted index includes the bottom 2-15% of the investable universe. VB was launched on Jan 26, 2004 and is managed by Vanguard.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 26. The Western Azerbaijan Community has urged the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in the US not to organize provocative events related to Karabakh, the statement of the Western Azerbaijani Community said, Trend reports.

The mentioned school is planning to hold an event on March 29 on the topic of "Nagorno-Karabakh," although the name of the region is already a bygone era.

Yeghishe Kirakosyan, Armenia's official representative on cases filed against Azerbaijan in international courts, is expected to speak at this occasion.

"The Armenian leadership makes political comments about acknowledging Azerbaijan's geographical integrity, but in legal terms, it does the exact opposite. Thus, Armenia's claims against Azerbaijan in international tribunals are based on the premise that the Karabakh territory is not part of Azerbaijan. Yeghishe Kirakosyan's attendance and speech at the Fletcher School event, representing Armenia on these claims, served to propagate internationally this state's legal claims, which infringed on the Republic of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity.

The fact that the Armenian government is filing claims in international tribunals that violate Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and propagating these allegations around the world is exacerbating the regional situation. The Western Azerbaijan community urges that the Armenian government halt these actions. Instead of such aggressive acts, Armenia should focus on returning evicted Azerbaijanis to its territory, investigating offenses against Azerbaijanis, and resolving their consequences," the statement stresses.

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Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH cut its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM  Free Report) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,261,473 shares of the oil and gas companys stock after selling 5,645 shares during the quarter. Exxon Mobil accounts for about 1.6% of Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OHs portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH owned about 0.06% of Exxon Mobil worth $226,102,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. KB Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Exxon Mobil during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. IMA Wealth Inc. boosted its position 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 period. FWL Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Exxon Mobil during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Turim 21 Investimentos Ltda. boosted its position in Exxon Mobil by 222.5% during the 1st quarter. Turim 21 Investimentos Ltda. now owns 574 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 396 shares during the period. Finally, DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. acquired a new stake in Exxon Mobil during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,000. 61.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on XOM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $133.00 to $132.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler dropped 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 report 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, Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Exxon Mobil from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $116.00 to $119.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $128.18.

Exxon Mobil Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE XOM traded down $0.63 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $114.02. The stock had a trading volume of 1,933,062 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,397,801. Exxon Mobil Co. has a 12 month low of $95.77 and a 12 month high of $120.70. 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 company has a market capitalization of $452.41 billion, a PE ratio of 12.90, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $104.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $105.90.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM  Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $2.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.28. Exxon Mobil had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 18.51%. The firm had revenue of $84.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.40 EPS. The businesss revenue was down 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 14th were paid a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 13th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Exxon Mobils payout ratio is 42.74%.

Insider Activity at Exxon Mobil

In related news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $3,169,845. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.04% 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.

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GAP (NYSE:GPS  Free Report) had its price target upped by BMO Capital Markets from $14.00 to $18.00 in a report issued on Friday. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the apparel retailers stock.

GPS has been the subject of several other research reports. StockNews.com upgraded GAP from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. KGI Securities increased their price objective on GAP from $9.10 to $25.20 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of GAP from an underweight rating to a neutral rating and raised their price objective for the company from $16.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price objective on shares of GAP from $17.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of GAP to $23.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $18.89.

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GAP Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of GPS opened at $27.91 on Friday. GAP has a fifty-two week low of $7.22 and a fifty-two week high of $28.59. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $20.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.53. The company has a market capitalization of $10.42 billion, a PE ratio of 20.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 2.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.42.

GAP (NYSE:GPS  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The apparel retailer reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $4.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.22 billion. GAP had a return on equity of 22.56% and a net margin of 3.37%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.75) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that GAP will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

GAP Announces Dividend

The business 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 $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. GAPs dividend payout ratio is currently 44.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at GAP

In other GAP news, CEO Mark Breitbard sold 27,222 shares of GAP stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.18, for a total transaction of $767,115.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 123,985 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,493,897.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other GAP news, CEO Mark Breitbard sold 27,222 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.18, for a total value of $767,115.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 123,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,493,897.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Katrina Oconnell sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.00, for a total transaction of $520,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 153,682 shares of company stock worth $3,709,638. Insiders own 30.81% of the companys stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of GAP by 2.9% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,906,701 shares of the apparel retailers stock valued at $30,898,000 after purchasing an additional 80,792 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its holdings in shares of GAP by 90.6% during the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 74,080 shares of the apparel retailers stock worth $787,000 after purchasing an additional 35,223 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in GAP by 19.9% during the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 345,958 shares of the apparel retailers stock worth $3,089,000 after buying an additional 57,395 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in shares of GAP by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 622,998 shares of the apparel retailers stock valued at $5,563,000 after buying an additional 5,096 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank boosted its holdings in shares of GAP by 17.3% in the 3rd quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 102,664 shares of the apparel retailers stock valued at $1,091,000 after purchasing an additional 15,158 shares in the last quarter. 58.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

GAP Company Profile

(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.

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Fresh Del Monte Produce (NYSE:FDP  Get Free Report) and Grown Rogue International (OTCMKTS:GRUSF  Get Free Report) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Fresh Del Monte Produce and Grown Rogue International, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

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Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Fresh Del Monte Produce 0 0 0 0 N/A Grown Rogue International 0 0 0 0 N/A

Valuation and Earnings

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Fresh Del Monte Produce $4.32 billion 0.28 -$11.40 million ($0.25) -101.48 Grown Rogue International $23.35 million 3.48 -$130,000.00 $0.01 44.73

This table compares Fresh Del Monte Produce and Grown Rogue Internationals top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

Grown Rogue International has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Fresh Del Monte Produce. Fresh Del Monte Produce is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Grown Rogue International, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Fresh Del Monte Produce and Grown Rogue Internationals net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Fresh Del Monte Produce -0.26% 5.11% 3.05% Grown Rogue International -1.70% -3.71% -1.67%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

64.8% of Fresh Del Monte Produce shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 9.3% of Grown Rogue International shares are held by institutional investors. 37.0% of Fresh Del Monte Produce shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 23.2% of Grown Rogue International shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Fresh Del Monte Produce has a beta of 0.55, meaning that its share price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Grown Rogue International has a beta of 0.82, meaning that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Fresh Del Monte Produce beats Grown Rogue International on 6 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Fresh Del Monte Produce

(Get Free Report)

Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc., through its subsidiaries, produces, markets, and distributes fresh and fresh-cut fruits and vegetables in North America, Central America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Fresh and Value-Added Products, Banana, and Other Products and Services. The company offers pineapples, fresh-cut fruit, fresh-cut vegetables, melons, and vegetables; non-tropical fruits, such as grapes, apples, citrus, blueberries, strawberries, pears, peaches, plums, nectarines, cherries, and kiwis; other fruit and vegetables, and avocados; and prepared fruit and vegetables, juices, other beverages, and meals and snacks. It also engages in the sale of poultry and meat products; and third-party freight services business. The company offers its products under the Del Monte brand, as well as under other brands, such as UTC, Rosy, Just Juice, Fruitini, Pinkglow, Del Monte Zero, Honeyglow, Rubyglow, Honey Miniglow, Bananinis, Mann, Mann's Logo, Arcadian Harvest, Nourish Bowls, Broccolini, Caulilini, Better Burger Leaf, Romaleaf, and other regional brands. It markets and distributes its products to retail stores, club stores, convenience stores, wholesalers, distributors, and foodservice operators. Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. was founded in 1886 and is based in George Town, Cayman Islands.

About Grown Rogue International

(Get Free Report)

Grown Rogue International Inc., a craft cannabis company, focuses on premium flower and flower-derived products. It produces a range of cultivars for consumers, which are classified as indicas, sativas, and hybrids. The company sells its products through dispensaries. Grown Rogue International Inc. was incorporated in 1978 and is headquartered in Medford, Oregon.

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Hudson Pacific Properties (NYSE:HPP  Free Report) had its price objective lowered by Piper Sandler from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the real estate investment trusts stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on HPP. Wedbush downgraded Hudson Pacific Properties from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and cut their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $7.50 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Hudson Pacific Properties from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Hudson Pacific Properties from a hold rating to a buy rating and raised their price target for the stock from $6.00 to $12.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Wolfe Research raised shares of Hudson Pacific Properties from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $8.40 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Hudson Pacific Properties from $7.10 to $10.60 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $9.15.

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Hudson Pacific Properties Price Performance

Shares of HPP opened at $6.31 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $7.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.94. Hudson Pacific Properties has a 12-month low of $4.05 and a 12-month high of $9.85. The stock has a market cap of $890.40 million, a PE ratio of -4.61, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31.

Hudson Pacific Properties (NYSE:HPP  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts consensus estimates of $0.15. Hudson Pacific Properties had a negative net margin of 19.20% and a negative return on equity of 5.74%. The business had revenue of $223.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $223.93 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.49 EPS. The firms quarterly revenue was down 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Hudson Pacific Properties will post 1.04 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 15th. Hudson Pacific Propertiess payout ratio is -14.60%.

Insider Activity at Hudson Pacific Properties

In related news, CIO Drew Gordon sold 10,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.11, for a total value of $71,100.00. Following the sale, the executive now owns 116,694 shares in the company, valued at approximately $829,694.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Barry A. Sholem purchased 40,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were bought 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 directly owns 70,176 shares of the companys stock, valued at $469,477.44. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CIO Drew Gordon sold 10,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated 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 $829,694.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.95% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Hudson Pacific Properties in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Hudson Pacific Properties in the second quarter worth $35,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hudson Pacific Properties by 103,925.0% in the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,161 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 4,157 shares during the period. Point72 Middle East FZE purchased a new position in shares of Hudson Pacific Properties during the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Group One Trading L.P. bought a new position in shares of Hudson Pacific Properties during the 1st quarter worth $149,000. Institutional investors own 97.58% of the companys stock.

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

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F&V Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI Germany ETF (NYSEARCA:EWG  Free Report) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 23,930 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after selling 400 shares during the period. F&V Capital Management LLCs holdings in iShares MSCI Germany ETF were worth $710,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EWG. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its stake in iShares MSCI Germany ETF by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 20,178 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $573,000 after buying an additional 733 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in shares of iShares MSCI Germany ETF by 280.8% in the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 94,731 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $2,689,000 after purchasing an additional 69,851 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in shares of iShares MSCI Germany ETF by 88.4% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,574,393 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $243,426,000 after purchasing an additional 4,023,346 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. purchased a new position in shares of iShares MSCI Germany ETF in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Equitable Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of iShares MSCI Germany ETF by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 309,275 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $8,780,000 after purchasing an additional 22,400 shares during the last quarter.

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iShares MSCI Germany ETF Price Performance

Shares of EWG stock traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $31.44. The company had a trading volume of 1,423,022 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,488,952. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $29.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.32. iShares MSCI Germany ETF has a 52-week low of $24.70 and a 52-week high of $31.50. The stock has a market cap of $1.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.82 and a beta of 1.07.

iShares MSCI Germany ETF Profile

iShares MSCI Germany ETF, formerly iShares MSCI Germany Index Fund (the Fund), is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of publicly traded securities in the German market, as measured by the MSCI Germany Index (the Index).

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Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY  Free Report) by 14.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,822 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 598 shares during the quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc.s holdings in Hershey were worth $899,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 30,767 shares of the companys stock worth $6,665,000 after purchasing an additional 916 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Hershey during the 1st quarter worth approximately $238,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 28.8% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,566 shares of the companys stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hershey by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,057,990 shares of the companys stock worth $3,045,383,000 after purchasing an additional 216,715 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. lifted its position in shares of Hershey by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 32,183 shares of the companys stock worth $6,972,000 after purchasing an additional 3,129 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the companys stock.

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Hershey Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HSY traded down $5.73 during trading on Monday, reaching $192.26. The company had a trading volume of 1,755,549 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,087,438. The Hershey Company has a 52 week low of $178.82 and a 52 week high of $276.88. The businesss 50 day moving average price is $193.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $193.04. The stock has a market cap of $39.21 billion, a PE ratio of 21.24, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Hershey Increases Dividend

Hershey ( NYSE:HSY Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. Hershey had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 51.79%. The business had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.02 earnings per share. Hersheys revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that The Hershey Company will post 9.59 earnings per share for the current year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $1.37 per share. This is a boost from Hersheys previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. Hersheys dividend payout ratio is 60.55%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.07, for a total value of $273,105.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,316 shares in the company, valued at $5,701,704.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Hershey news, insider Charles R. Raup sold 2,065 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.85, for a total value of $396,170.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 14,770 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,833,624.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.07, for a total transaction of $273,105.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,316 shares in the company, valued at $5,701,704.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,518 shares of company stock valued at $1,042,669 over the last three months. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on HSY. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Hershey from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating and cut their price target for the stock from $191.00 to $183.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, December 8th. They issued a neutral rating and a $205.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Hershey from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Hershey in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a neutral rating and a $213.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Hershey from a buy rating to a neutral rating and cut their price objective for the company from $250.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Friday, December 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $228.33.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on HSY

About Hershey

(Free Report)

The Hershey Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of confectionery products and pantry items in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: North America Confectionery, North America Salty Snacks, and International. It offers chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery products; gum and mint refreshment products, including mints, chewing gums, and bubble gums; protein bars; pantry items, such as baking ingredients, toppings, beverages, and sundae syrups; and snack items comprising spreads, bars, snack bites, mixes, popcorn, and pretzels.

Further Reading

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Keystone Wealth Services LLC trimmed its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Free Report) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,913 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after selling 205 shares during the period. Keystone Wealth Services LLCs holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $355,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 4th quarter valued at $219,000. Atticus Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 41.6% during the 4th quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,539 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $233,000 after acquiring an additional 1,334 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 98,394 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $5,049,000 after acquiring an additional 3,313 shares during the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lifted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 27.1% during the 4th quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 2,542,827 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $130,472,000 after acquiring an additional 542,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bill Few Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc. now owns 9,154 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $470,000 after acquiring an additional 725 shares during the last quarter. 76.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE:BMY traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $52.55. 9,529,880 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,974,195. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a one year low of $47.58 and a one year high of $71.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $50.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.54. The company has a market cap of $106.51 billion, a PE ratio of 13.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.38.

Bristol-Myers Squibb ( NYSE:BMY Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.82 earnings per share. Bristol-Myers Squibbs quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.61 EPS for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, December 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the biopharmaceutical company to buy up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the companys board believes its stock is undervalued.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.57%. Bristol-Myers Squibbs payout ratio is 62.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BMY has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America downgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a buy rating to a neutral rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $60.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $77.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $58.00 to $51.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised 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 downgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $61.12.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Bristol-Myers Squibb

Bristol-Myers Squibb Profile

(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.

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Manulife Financial Co. (TSE:MFC  Get Free Report) (NYSE:MFC) has been given an average recommendation of Moderate Buy by the ten brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is C$35.80.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. CIBC increased their price objective on Manulife Financial from C$30.00 to C$34.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Evercore lifted their price target on shares of Manulife Financial from C$30.00 to C$36.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. National Bankshares upped their price objective on shares of Manulife Financial from C$29.00 to C$33.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Cormark upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a market perform rating to a buy rating and lifted their target price for the stock from C$33.00 to C$36.00 in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Veritas Investment Research restated a reduce rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Friday, February 16th.

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Manulife Financial Stock Up 1.0 %

MFC stock opened at C$32.98 on Thursday. Manulife Financial has a twelve month low of C$23.69 and a twelve month high of C$33.59. The company has a quick ratio of 2.58, a current ratio of 3.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 45.69. The firm has a market capitalization of C$59.69 billion, a PE ratio of 12.64, a PEG ratio of 12.56 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of C$31.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$28.06.

Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC  Get Free Report) (NYSE:MFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported C$0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$0.84 by C$0.08. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 20.05% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The company had revenue of C$14.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of C$10.24 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Manulife Financial will post 3.6849162 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 28th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This is a positive change from Manulife Financials previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 27th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.85%. Manulife Financials dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Manulife Financial

In other news, Director Brooks Tingle sold 3,317 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$32.76, for a total value of C$108,664.92. In other news, Director Brooks Tingle sold 3,317 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$32.76, for a total value of C$108,664.92. Also, Senior Officer Steve Finch sold 10,294 shares of Manulife Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$32.76, for a total value of C$337,231.44. Insiders own 0.03% of the companys stock.

Manulife Financial Company Profile

(Get Free Report

Manulife Financial Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides financial products and services in the United States, Canada, Asia, and internationally. The company operates through Wealth and Asset Management Businesses; Insurance and Annuity Products; and Corporate and Other segments. The Wealth and Asset Management Businesses segment offers investment advice and solutions to retirement, retail, and institutional clients through multiple distribution channels, including agents and brokers affiliated with the company, independent securities brokerage firms and financial advisors pension plan consultants, and banks.

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Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in shares of iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF (NYSEARCA:IWF  Free Report) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,543 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after selling 303 shares during the period. iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF comprises approximately 1.3% of Maryland Capital Advisors Inc.s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc.s holdings in iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF were worth $1,984,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,322 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $401,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Vision Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF during the 4th quarter valued at $287,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF during the 4th quarter valued at $368,000. Sendero Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Sendero Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,837 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $2,982,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oak Ridge Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF during the 4th quarter valued at $680,000.

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iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of IWF traded down $1.16 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $336.54. 1,107,168 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,393,006. iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF has a 1 year low of $233.56 and a 1 year high of $340.83. The firms fifty day moving average is $324.79 and its 200-day moving average is $297.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.14 and a beta of 1.08.

iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF Company Profile

iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF (the Fund), formerly iShares Russell 1000 Growth Index Fund, is an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The Fund seeks investment returns that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Russell 1000 Growth Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of equity securities of Russell 1000 index issuers with relatively higher price-to-book ratios and higher forecasted growth.

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Oak Ridge Investments LLC trimmed its position in shares of BJs Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ  Free Report) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 52,608 shares of the companys stock after selling 3,179 shares during the quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLCs holdings in BJs Wholesale Club were worth $3,507,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BJ. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in BJs Wholesale Club by 45.3% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 491 shares of the companys stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in BJs Wholesale Club by 23.9% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 824 shares of the companys stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in BJs Wholesale Club by 5.9% during the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,225 shares of the companys stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of BJs Wholesale Club by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,783 shares of the companys stock worth $288,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in BJs Wholesale Club by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 6,939 shares of the companys stock worth $505,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.60% of the companys stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling at BJs Wholesale Club

In other BJs Wholesale Club news, Director Christopher J. Baldwin sold 73,062 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now owns 173,294 shares of the companys stock, valued at $12,815,091.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 2.20% of the companys stock.

BJs Wholesale Club Stock Performance

BJs Wholesale Club stock opened at $74.88 on Tuesday. BJs Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $60.33 and a 52-week high of $78.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.14. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $70.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.26.

BJs Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.05. BJs Wholesale Club had a return on equity of 40.84% and a net margin of 2.64%. The company had revenue of $5.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. The businesss revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that BJs Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. will post 3.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BJ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on BJs Wholesale Club from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of BJs Wholesale Club from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an equal weight rating and issued a $70.00 price objective (down from $73.00) on shares of BJs Wholesale Club in a report on Thursday, January 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $72.53.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on BJs Wholesale Club

About BJs Wholesale Club

(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.

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The 2.7-km Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, US, collapsed early on Tuesday after it was struck by a container ship at around 1.35am ET.

The ship rammed into the bridge, causing it to snap and plunge into the river below. Several vehicles fell into the chilly waters, and rescuers are searching for survivors.

It was also not clear what caused the cargo ship to crash into the bridge long before the busy morning commute in what one official called a developing mass casualty event in a major American city just outside of Washington. Two people were rescued, and it was not clear how many more might be in the water, an AP report said.

Fire Chief James Wallace said authorities may be looking for upwards of seven people but said that number could change and other officials wouldnt give figures, an AP report said.

The container ship involved is the Singapore-flagged Dali which can carry just under 10,000 TEU (20ft shipping containers) and was operating on a 2M alliance service between Baltimore and the Far East.

The ship "lost propulsion" as it was leaving port, and crew on board notified Maryland officials they had lost control of the vessel, ABC News reported, citing an unclassified US intelligence report.

Emily Stausbll, Market Analyst at Xeneta  the ocean freight shipping rate benchmarking and intelligence platform, said: This is a tragic and extremely serious mass casualty event and our thoughts are with all those people involved.

The immediate focus is the rescue operation, but there will clearly be a highly-complex recovery phase and investigation to follow and we don't know what impact this will have on operations at the Port of Baltimore.

While Baltimore is not one of the largest US East Coast ports, it still imports and exports more than one million containers each year so there is the potential for this to cause significant disruption to supply chains.

"Far East to US East Coast ocean freight services have already been impacted by drought in the Panama Canal and recent conflict in the Red Sea, which saw rates increase by 150%, so this latest incident will add to those concerns.

"It is likely other larger US East Coast ports such as neighbouring New York/New Jersey and Virginia can handle additional container imports if Baltimore is inaccessible, which may limit any impact on ocean freight shipping rates. However, there is only so much port capacity available and this will leave supply chains vulnerable to any further pressure.

"The question is how quickly ocean freight carriers can put diversions in place, particularly for vessels already en route to Baltimore or containers at the port waiting to be exported," Stausbll said.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 26. The XI Global Baku Forum has attracted the attention of major figures in world politics, a published article in Euronews said, Trend reports.

The article mentions that current and former leaders met on the platform of the Global Baku Forum based on the principles of solidarity, equality, and inclusiveness to exchange views and find solutions to global problems.

The President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev welcomed more than four current and 40 former presidents and prime ministers at the opening of the event.

Euronews notes that the theme of the forum, "Fixing a Fractured World," highlights the need to modernize outdated institutions and global governance. Artificial intelligence, innovation, and global health were also discussed.

Forum participants discussed global conflicts and called for cooperation and dialog, especially in light of the situation in Ukraine. Former President of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, mentioned the need to adapt to the changes that have occurred over the past 70 years.

To note, the XI Global Baku Forum, held under the patronage of the President of the Azerbaijan Republic with the organizational support of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center, brought together representatives of more than 70 countries and influential international organizations, including more than 350 guests.

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Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV  Get Free Report) had its price target boosted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $47.00 to $56.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Groups price target would suggest a potential upside of 8.97% from the companys previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on OVV. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Ovintiv from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Ovintiv from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Ovintiv from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ovintiv from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and lowered their target price for the company from $61.00 to $58.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 6th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Ovintiv from $63.00 to $57.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ovintiv has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $53.94.

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Ovintiv Price Performance

Ovintiv stock traded down $0.33 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $51.39. 1,356,638 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,214,413. Ovintiv has a 12-month low of $32.07 and a 12-month high of $52.09. The company has a market capitalization of $13.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.51 and a beta of 2.66. The businesss 50 day simple moving average is $45.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $3.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.75 billion. Ovintiv had a return on equity of 19.50% and a net margin of 19.16%. Analysts forecast that Ovintiv will post 5.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Ovintiv news, Director Howard John Mayson sold 6,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.56, for a total value of $303,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 36,840 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,862,630.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Ovintiv news, EVP Rachel Maureen Moore sold 9,300 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.65, for a total transaction of $471,045.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 52,557 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,662,012.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Howard John Mayson sold 6,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.56, for a total transaction of $303,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 36,840 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,862,630.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 91,564 shares of company stock worth $4,660,818. 0.91% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ovintiv

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in Ovintiv by 35.3% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 57,458 shares of the companys stock valued at $3,107,000 after acquiring an additional 14,978 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ovintiv in the 1st quarter valued at $525,000. HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ovintiv in the first quarter worth $715,000. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC acquired a new position in Ovintiv during the first quarter worth $224,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ovintiv by 45.7% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 15,605 shares of the companys stock valued at $843,000 after buying an additional 4,895 shares in the last quarter. 83.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ovintiv Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Ovintiv Inc, together with its subsidiaries, explores, develops, produces, and markets natural gas, oil, and natural gas liquids in the United States and Canada. The company operates through USA Operations, Canadian Operations, and Market Optimization segments. Its principal assets include Permian in west Texas and Anadarko in west-central Oklahoma; and Montney in northeast British Columbia and northwest Alberta.

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Pine Cliff Energy (TSE:PNE  Free Report) had its price objective lowered by Desjardins from C$1.50 to C$1.25 in a research note published on Friday, BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on PNE. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on Pine Cliff Energy from C$1.55 to C$1.40 in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Pine Cliff Energy from C$1.50 to C$1.40 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th.

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Pine Cliff Energy Price Performance

Pine Cliff Energy Cuts Dividend

Shares of TSE PNE opened at C$1.01 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of C$359.86 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.67 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of C$1.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$1.35. Pine Cliff Energy has a 1-year low of C$0.94 and a 1-year high of C$1.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 62.18.

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.005 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.94%. Pine Cliff Energys payout ratio is 200.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Philip Blake Hodge acquired 25,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of C$1.02 per share, for a total transaction of C$25,402.50. Over the last ninety days, insiders acquired 33,900 shares of company stock worth $37,525. Insiders own 20.38% of the companys stock.

About Pine Cliff Energy

(Get Free Report)

Pine Cliff Energy Ltd. engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of natural gas, and crude oil in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. The company primarily holds interest in oil and gas properties in the Viking and Ghost Pine area of Central Alberta, as well as in the Southern Alberta, Southern Saskatchewan, and Edson areas.

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Portmeirion Group PLC (LON:PMP  Get Free Report) announced a dividend on Tuesday, March 26th, Upcoming.Co.Uk reports. Investors of record on Thursday, April 25th will be given a dividend of GBX 2 ($0.03) per share on Friday, May 31st. This represents a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. The official announcement can be accessed at this link.

Portmeirion Group Stock Performance

Shares of PMP stock traded down GBX 21.31 ($0.27) during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching GBX 243.69 ($3.08). The stock had a trading volume of 75,573 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,932. The firms 50 day simple moving average is GBX 228.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is GBX 252.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.64. The firm has a market cap of 34.09 million, a PE ratio of 724.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.32. Portmeirion Group has a one year low of GBX 200.17 ($2.53) and a one year high of GBX 522.65 ($6.60).

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About Portmeirion Group

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Portmeirion Group PLC, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and distributes ceramics, home fragrances, and associated homeware products in the United Kingdom, the United States, South Korea, and internationally. It offers tableware, cookware, giftware, glassware, and accessories under the Portmeirion, Spode, Wax Lyrical, Royal Worcester, Nambe, and Pimpernel brand names.

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Raymond James (NYSE:RJF  Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 23rd, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Monday, April 1st will be given a dividend of 0.45 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, April 15th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 28th.

Raymond James has raised its dividend payment by an average of 20.1% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 1 consecutive years. Raymond James has a payout ratio of 18.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Raymond James to earn $9.82 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.3%.

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Raymond James Trading Down 0.3 %

RJF traded down $0.42 on Tuesday, reaching $126.04. 317,827 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,035,825. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.99. Raymond James has a twelve month low of $82.00 and a twelve month high of $127.25. The companys 50 day moving average is $116.95 and its 200-day moving average is $108.72. The company has a market cap of $26.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.80, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.04.

Insider Activity

Raymond James ( NYSE:RJF Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.25 by $0.15. Raymond James had a net margin of 12.81% and a return on equity of 17.95%. The company had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.29 earnings per share. Raymond Jamess revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Raymond James will post 9.2 earnings per share for the current year.

In other news, EVP Jonathan N. Santelli sold 1,891 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.91, for a total transaction of $211,621.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 21,491 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,405,057.81. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Jonathan N. Santelli sold 1,891 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.91, for a total value of $211,621.81. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 21,491 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,405,057.81. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Art A. Garcia acquired 879 shares of Raymond James stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $112.30 per share, with a total value of $98,711.70. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 879 shares of the companys stock, valued at $98,711.70. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 9.74% of the companys stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Raymond James

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Raymond James by 1.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,689,564 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $2,383,900,000 after acquiring an additional 410,025 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Raymond James by 26.7% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,876,054 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $641,330,000 after acquiring an additional 1,448,047 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Raymond James by 80.5% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,629,875 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $618,780,000 after buying an additional 2,510,966 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Raymond James by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,018,058 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $373,915,000 after buying an additional 76,385 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Raymond James by 35.1% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,278,272 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $243,433,000 after buying an additional 591,327 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.83% of the companys stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on RJF shares. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Raymond James from $116.00 to $115.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Raymond James from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Raymond James from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and raised their price target for the stock from $110.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a hold rating and set a $117.00 price target (up previously from $112.00) on shares of Raymond James in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a neutral rating and set a $116.00 price target (down previously from $125.00) on shares of Raymond James in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Seven 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, Raymond James has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $120.50.

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Raymond James Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Raymond James Financial, Inc, a financial holding company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the underwriting, distribution, trading, and brokerage of equity and debt securities, and the sale of mutual funds and other investment products in the United States, Canada, Europe, and internationally. The company operates through Private Client Group, Capital Markets, Asset Management, RJ Bank, and Other segments.

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Spot Coffee Ltd. (CVE:SPP  Get Free Report)s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as C$0.03 and last traded at C$0.03, with a volume of 16000 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$0.03.

Spot Coffee Trading Down 16.7 %

The stocks 50-day moving average is C$0.03 and its 200-day moving average is C$0.04. The stock has a market cap of C$4.06 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.00 and a beta of 0.55.

About Spot Coffee

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Spot Coffee (Canada) Ltd. designs, builds, operates, and franchises community-oriented cafes in Canada and the United States. The company's cafes provide food and beverages; and wholesales roasted coffee beans. It operates its own cafes located in Buffalo, Rochester, Saratoga Springs, Elmwood, Glens Falls, and North Tonawanda, as well as its franchise cafes in Orchard Park, Kenmore, Hertel, West Hartford, Hamburg, Roswell Park, Clarence, Williamsville, Waterfront Village, Amherst, West Seneca, and Niagara Falls.

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Talon Metals (TSE:TLO  Get Free Report) received a C$0.50 price objective from investment analysts at Stifel Nicolaus in a research note issued on Tuesday, BayStreet.CA reports. The firm presently has a buy rating on the mining companys stock. Stifel Nicolaus price target would suggest a potential upside of 270.37% from the stocks previous close.

Talon Metals Stock Performance

TLO remained flat at C$0.14 on Tuesday. The company had a trading volume of 127,316 shares, compared to its average volume of 372,990. The company has a current ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 5.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 502.49. The company has a 50 day moving average price of C$0.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$0.19. The company has a market cap of C$125.86 million, a P/E ratio of -55.00 and a beta of 1.18. Talon Metals has a fifty-two week low of C$0.13 and a fifty-two week high of C$0.39.

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Talon Metals Company Profile

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Talon Metals Corp., a mineral exploration company, explores for and develops mineral properties in the United States. It owns an 18.45% interest is the Tamarack nickel-copper-PGE project located in Minnesota, the United States; and a 100% interest in the Trairao iron project located in Brazil. The company is headquartered in Road Town, the British Virgin Islands.

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StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Natuzzi (NYSE:NTZ  Free Report) in a research note released on Saturday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the stock.

Natuzzi Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NTZ opened at $6.28 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $6.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.50. Natuzzi has a 52-week low of $4.76 and a 52-week high of $7.60.

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Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natuzzi

An institutional investor recently bought a new position in Natuzzi stock. Titleist Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Natuzzi S.p.A. (NYSE:NTZ  Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 14,107 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $75,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.42% of the companys stock.

Natuzzi Company Profile

Natuzzi S.p.A. engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of leather and fabric upholstered furniture through its own and franchised stores in the United States, Canada, other Americas, West and South Europe, Italy, the Middle East, Africa, India, the Asia-Pacific, the United Kingdom, and internationally.

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StockNews.com cut shares of Antero Midstream (NYSE:AM  Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Friday morning.

Separately, Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. downgraded Antero Midstream from a buy rating to a hold rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $12.00 to $13.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $12.70.

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Antero Midstream Stock Down 0.6 %

Antero Midstream stock opened at $13.85 on Friday. Antero Midstream has a fifty-two week low of $9.69 and a fifty-two week high of $14.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $6.64 billion, a PE ratio of 17.99 and a beta of 2.26. The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $12.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.57.

Antero Midstream (NYSE:AM  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The pipeline company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $260.17 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $261.04 million. Antero Midstream had a return on equity of 19.96% and a net margin of 35.69%. Antero Midstreams revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.20 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Antero Midstream will post 0.96 EPS for the current year.

Antero Midstream Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 24th were issued a $0.225 dividend. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.50%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 23rd. Antero Midstreams payout ratio is currently 116.88%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Sheri Pearce sold 16,394 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.67, for a total value of $224,105.98. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 170,266 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,327,536.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.52% of the companys stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Antero Midstream

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Antero Midstream by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 37,360 shares of the pipeline companys stock worth $448,000 after acquiring an additional 1,741 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Antero Midstream during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,183,000. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in Antero Midstream by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 790,700 shares of the pipeline companys stock valued at $9,473,000 after buying an additional 61,300 shares during the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC grew its holdings in Antero Midstream by 110.6% during the 3rd quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 99,417 shares of the pipeline companys stock valued at $1,191,000 after buying an additional 52,221 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in Antero Midstream by 45.9% during the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 55,556 shares of the pipeline companys stock valued at $650,000 after buying an additional 17,470 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.97% of the companys stock.

Antero Midstream Company Profile

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Antero Midstream Corporation owns, operates, and develops midstream energy assets in the Appalachian Basin. It operates in two segments, Gathering and Processing, and Water Handling. The Gathering and Processing segment includes a network of gathering pipelines and compressor stations that collects and processes production from Antero Resources' wells in West Virginia and Ohio.

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The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI  Get Free Report) CEO David Cordani sold 31,209 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.17, for a total transaction of $11,084,500.53. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 348,054 shares of the companys stock, valued at $123,618,339.18. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

David Cordani also recently made the following trade(s):

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On Friday, March 22nd, David Cordani sold 6,338 shares of The Cigna Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.11, for a total transaction of $2,250,687.18.

On Wednesday, March 13th, David Cordani sold 13,761 shares of The Cigna Group stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $347.33, for a total value of $4,779,608.13.

On Thursday, March 7th, David Cordani sold 2,412 shares of The Cigna Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.73, for a total value of $833,900.76.

On Tuesday, February 27th, David Cordani sold 2,000 shares of The Cigna Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.04, for a total transaction of $690,080.00.

On Friday, February 23rd, David Cordani sold 6,319 shares of The Cigna Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.24, for a total transaction of $2,181,571.56.

On Monday, February 12th, David Cordani sold 2,073 shares of The Cigna Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $336.81, for a total value of $698,207.13.

On Friday, February 9th, David Cordani sold 38,065 shares of The Cigna Group stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.22, for a total value of $12,760,149.30.

The Cigna Group Price Performance

The Cigna Group stock traded up $3.71 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $355.49. 1,033,971 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,678,538. The Cigna Group has a 1-year low of $240.50 and a 1-year high of $355.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The business has a fifty day moving average of $330.13 and a 200 day moving average of $306.02. The company has a market capitalization of $103.93 billion, a PE ratio of 20.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.55.

The Cigna Group Increases Dividend

The Cigna Group ( NYSE:CI Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The health services provider reported $6.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $6.54 by $0.25. The Cigna Group had a net margin of 2.64% and a return on equity of 13.59%. The firm had revenue of $51.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.96 earnings per share. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Cigna Group will post 28.36 earnings per share for the current year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 6th were issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. This is a boost from The Cigna Groups previous quarterly dividend of $1.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. The Cigna Groups payout ratio is currently 32.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an overweight rating and issued a $372.00 target price on shares of The Cigna Group in a report on Monday, March 4th. Oppenheimer reissued an outperform rating and set a $360.00 target price on shares of The Cigna Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of The Cigna Group from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their price target for the company from $355.00 to $370.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of The Cigna Group from a hold rating to a buy rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $335.00 to $341.00 in a research note on Monday, December 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of The Cigna Group from $334.00 to $348.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $361.29.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on The Cigna Group

Institutional Trading of The Cigna Group

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CI. Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of The Cigna Group by 24.3% in the 2nd quarter. Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC now owns 112,541 shares of the health services providers stock valued at $31,579,000 after acquiring an additional 22,014 shares during the last quarter. Dfpg Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Cigna Group by 92.0% during the 4th quarter. Dfpg Investments LLC now owns 7,160 shares of the health services providers stock worth $2,174,000 after buying an additional 3,430 shares during the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC grew its stake in The Cigna Group by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 444,817 shares of the health services providers stock valued at $127,249,000 after buying an additional 6,365 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd lifted its position in The Cigna Group by 15.7% during the third quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 132,461 shares of the health services providers stock worth $37,893,000 after acquiring an additional 17,925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group by 8.0% during the third quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 30,887 shares of the health services providers stock worth $8,836,000 after acquiring an additional 2,275 shares during the period. 85.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About The Cigna Group

(Get Free Report)

The Cigna Group, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and related products and services in the United States. Its Evernorth Health Services segment provides a range of coordinated and point solution health services, including pharmacy benefits, home delivery pharmacy, specialty pharmacy, distribution, and care delivery and management solutions to health plans, employers, government organizations, and health care providers.

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Red Door Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS  Free Report) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,464 shares of the investment management companys stock after selling 91 shares during the quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLCs holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $565,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the first quarter worth $66,000. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1,505.1% during the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 41,300 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $13,633,000 after buying an additional 38,727 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 18.5% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 118,609 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $39,153,000 after buying an additional 18,540 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 79.4% during the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 827 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $273,000 after buying an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 118.3% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 310 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the companys stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,000 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.39, for a total value of $1,129,170.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,121 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,809,443.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,000 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.39, for a total transaction of $1,129,170.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,121 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,809,443.19. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathryn H. Ruemmler sold 7,277 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.81, for a total transaction of $2,763,877.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,501 shares in the company, valued at $2,469,144.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,907 shares of company stock worth $15,080,021 in the last quarter. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GS traded down $1.88 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $404.94. The stock had a trading volume of 1,670,582 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,356,652. The stocks fifty day simple moving average is $386.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $355.97. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $289.36 and a 1-year high of $416.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $131.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.74, 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 Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS  Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 16th. The investment management company reported $5.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $3.62 by $1.86. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 8.03%. The firm had revenue of $11.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $10.80 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.32 earnings per share. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 32.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 29th will be issued a dividend of $2.75 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 is currently 48.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GS. Barclays boosted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $437.00 to $493.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised The Goldman Sachs Group from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $333.00 to $449.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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. Edward Jones began coverage on The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. They set a buy rating on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $506.00 to $446.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Six research 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $406.87.

View Our Latest Analysis on GS

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.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 26. The Armenian parliament recently ratified an agreement on the status of the EU mission stationed on the border with Azerbaijan, and I believe that this mission does not bode well for the region, MP of the Azerbaijani Parliament Sevinj Huseynova told Trend.

''The purpose of this mission is not to support the restoration of peace and stability in the region,'' Huseynova added.

According to her, the mission was created in January 2023.

"The mission's term of office was originally set at two months, but it was eventually extended to two years. The number of mission participants has also increased. It started out with 100 people, then 138, and finally 209 in December of last year.

The mission's goal is not to bring peace to the region, but to strengthen its presence there. With this mission, the EU is trying to do this through Armenia. Armenia has never had an independent policy. If the European Union is so interested in establishing peace and stability in the region, why did it send no missions to the region for 30 years, when Azerbaijani lands were under Armenian occupation, and did not exert any pressure on Armenia? Now the European Union is sending a mission to Armenia. The root of such zeal is the desire to secure its interests in the region," the MP noted.

Huseynova emphasized that, in the current situation, there is no need for such a mission in Armenia.

"What will this mission control in Armenia's regions bordering Azerbaijan? The chronicle of the ongoing processes shows that everything is carried out purposefully and managed from one center. Against the background of the meeting in Yerevan between NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg and Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan, on April 5, 2024, US Secretary of State Blinken and European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen will have an extended meeting with Pashinyan. The ratification of the mission shortly before the meeting is related to this.

At the same time, it is assumed that the US and the European Union are preparing to sign a pact to guarantee Armenia's security. The question arises: from what danger are they protecting Armenia? Creating security guarantees for Armenia at a time when a fragile peace process is underway between Azerbaijan and Armenia has no logic. On the contrary, it is the exact opposite of the peace process and an attempt to solve the issue in the region unilaterally. This is a step taken against Azerbaijan, which is in favor of establishing peace and stability in the region and has taken the initiative to sign a peace treaty by putting forward proposals in this direction," she said.

She said that, in essence, the goal here is to achieve its nefarious interests in the South Caucasus by supporting, arming, and using Armenia as a subversive tool in the name of security guarantees.

"This step could be subversive for the region and a serious blow to emerging regional security. It will be made not only against Azerbaijan but also against Russia and Iran. The West is trying to push Russia out of the South Caucasus in this way. Among other things, this situation poses a serious threat to Iran's security. This gives grounds to say that the US and EU, aggravating the situation in the region, are planning to create new hotbeds of conflict for their adversaries. But I think that it is Armenia that will suffer the most in such a scenario. Because Armenia is just a tool in this situation, and in the event of developments, it will inevitably turn into Ukraine or Lebanon," the MP added.

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Towneley Capital Management Inc DE acquired a new stake in SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEARCA:GLD  Free Report) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 13,687 shares of the exchange traded funds stock, valued at approximately $2,617,000. SPDR Gold Shares makes up 0.7% of Towneley Capital Management Inc DEs investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GLD. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in SPDR Gold Shares by 67,584.6% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,037,008 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $515,198,000 after purchasing an additional 3,032,521 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in SPDR Gold Shares by 256.0% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,142,717 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $206,432,000 after acquiring an additional 821,773 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in SPDR Gold Shares by 111.3% in the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 68,532 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $12,217,000 after acquiring an additional 672,400 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in shares of SPDR Gold Shares by 14.5% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 4,660,292 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $799,007,000 after purchasing an additional 591,368 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of SPDR Gold Shares during the first quarter valued at approximately $100,880,000. Institutional investors own 42.19% of the companys stock.

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SPDR Gold Shares Price Performance

Shares of NYSEARCA GLD traded up $0.64 on Monday, reaching $200.99. 4,030,561 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,635,814. SPDR Gold Shares has a 12 month low of $168.30 and a 12 month high of $203.92. The businesss 50 day simple moving average is $191.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $185.89.

SPDR Gold Shares Profile

SPDR Gold Trust (the Trust) is an investment trust. The investment objective of the Trust is for the Shares to reflect the performance of the price of gold bullion, less the Trusts expenses. The Trusts business activity is the investment of gold. The Trust creates and redeems Shares from time to time, but in one or more Baskets (a Basket equals a block of 100,000 Shares).

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UWM Holdings Co. (NYSE:UWMC  Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors bought 8,979 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 343% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,028 put options.

UWM Stock Performance

NYSE:UWMC traded down $0.18 on Tuesday, hitting $7.25. The stock had a trading volume of 811,118 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,352,891. The company has a current ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $6.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $6.06. UWM has a 52-week low of $4.49 and a 52-week high of $7.75.

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UWM (NYSE:UWMC  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.03 by ($0.26). UWM had a net margin of 0.79% and a return on equity of 2.45%. The company had revenue of ($114.58) million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $402.14 million. Sell-side analysts predict that UWM will post 0.29 earnings per share for the current year.

UWM Dividend Announcement

Institutional Trading of UWM

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.52%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 19th. UWMs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -210.53%.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of UWM during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in UWM during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in UWM by 220.9% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 9,589 shares of the companys stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 6,601 shares in the last quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in UWM during the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP acquired a new position in UWM during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors own 53.59% of the companys stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UWMC has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered UWM from a market perform rating to an underperform rating and set a $6.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on UWM in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a hold rating and a $6.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a sell rating and issued a $4.00 price target on shares of UWM in a research note on Wednesday, December 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UWM presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $5.59.

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UWM Company Profile

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UWM Holdings Corporation engages in the residential mortgage lending business in the United States. The company offers mortgage loans through wholesale channel. It originates primarily conforming and government loans. UWM Holdings Corporation was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Pontiac, Michigan.

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Watsco Inc (NYSE:WSO.B  Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $412.60, but opened at $391.55. Watsco shares last traded at $390.85, with a volume of 500 shares changing hands.

Watsco Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $15.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.61 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 3.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stocks fifty day moving average is $394.13 and its 200-day moving average is $387.02.

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Watsco (NYSE:WSO.B  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The construction company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.42 by ($0.36). The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter. Watsco had a return on equity of 21.36% and a net margin of 7.36%.

Watsco Announces Dividend

Watsco Company Profile

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 17th were paid a dividend of $2.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 16th. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.51%. Watscos payout ratio is 71.74%.

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Watsco, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, distributes air conditioning, heating, and refrigeration equipment; and related parts and supplies in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. It offers residential ducted and ductless air conditioners; gas, electric, and oil furnaces; commercial air conditioning and heating equipment systems; and other specialized equipment.

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An embroidery work depicting the collision of gold nuclei is a big draw for visitors at the Suzhou Art Museum. [Photo by Gao Erqiang/China Daily]

Walking into the Suzhou Art Museum in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, the eyes of visitors are immediately drawn to an artwork hanging high on the wall that depicts the collision of gold nuclei, giving the surface impression of a contemporary art piece.

However, upon closer examination, viewers will see that the luster of its shimmering lines belies the ancient craft of Su embroidery, which originated in the city more than 2,000 years ago.

"Viewers mistake it for an oil painting at first sight. We hope to imbue the traditional craft with contemporary expressions," says Zhang Fan, 48, one of the creators of the piece.

Next to the artwork are two Su embroidery works replicating abstract photos taken by US photographer Michael Yamashita. All of these works are produced by Zhang and his mother, Zhang Meifang, 78, a master embroiderer who created the collision piece in collaboration with established physicist Tsung-dao Lee.

In 2005, the Zhangs established an embroidery innovative center, applying the ancient stitching techniques of silk thread to modern art forms, including oil paintings, murals, sculpted reliefs and photos.

Known for its intricate techniques, elegant style and vibrant colors, Su embroidery usually focuses on birds and flowers, cats, landscapes and figures. Most embroiderers in the area have concentrated on these subjects for centuries, making it popular among both the nobility and the general populace for its exquisite needlework.

A traditional pattern made by Zhang Fan's team. [Photo by Gao Erqiang/China Daily]

To give the traditional craft a modern look, Zhang Fan and his mother spent decades on innovating the threads they used, as well as the themes. They worked with prominent artists, such as Wu Guanzhong, a Chinese modern art pioneer, and Chang Shana, an artist and renowned scholar on the studies of frescoes in Dunhuang, Gansu Province, as well as foreign photographers.

The charm of Su embroidery for Zhang Fan lies in its rich and vibrantly colored silk threads, which give a luster to the patterns stitched on the fabric.

"It's an art of light. The flowers can change color when you see them from different angles. They look as if they are dancing on the breeze," says Zhang Fan.

To achieve such a magic effect, they use threads of various thickness and of different shades of a single color. For certain applications, they even create their own special silk threads.

In a meters-long mural depicting a group of Buddhist deities, Zhang Fan and his mother used more than 20 stitching techniques, as well as countless colors of various shades. It took them six years to finish.

Zhang Fan says that his mother is always on a path seeking innovation and creativity. She was a deputy director of the Suzhou Silk Embroidery Research Institute, where lots of modern Su embroidery masters were trained and worked.

Last century, embroiderers from the institute learned the realism style from the West and blended it into their works, enabling them to produce photo-realistic work.

Zhang Meifang led the team charged with developing new techniques for Su embroidery. After she retired, with the help of her son, she focused her efforts on developing the traditional craft. The final mission is to integrate it with people's prevailing artistic tastes. They have worked with artists across the globe and their pieces are collected by museums and art institutions both at home and abroad.

Zou collaborates with her son, Guo Zizhou, in the creation of an embroidery work. [Photo by Gao Erqiang/China Daily]

While the Zhang family tries to explore a modern artistic expression of the centuries-old craft, the younger generation, like Guo Zizhou, 27, is using a popular method to introduce young people to Su embroidery.

Born into a family where all the women are good at Su embroidery, in 2019, Guo opened a themed coffee shop in Suzhou. The latte art comes from patterns frequently used in Su embroidery, such as birds, flowers and trees.

Guo displays many of his mother's embroidery works at the coffee shop and, sometimes, they will hold classes in Su embroidery and invite customers to try the stitching techniques.

Details of a Buddha embroidery work at Zou Yingzi's studio can only be seen clearly with a magnifying glass. [Photo by Gao Erqiang/China Daily]

Guo is now learning Su embroidery from his mother, Zou Yingzi, whose works are collected by renowned institutions, including the British Museum. Traditionally, Su embroidery is learned by women and passed down among the women members of a family. Guo is one of the few male exceptions.

"My friends all think what I do is chic and cool," says Guo in front of an embroidery stand, moving his needle fluidly through a piece of landscape embroidery.

Guo learned interior design in Britain and earned his master's degree in art in the United States. Only after he returned to China did he decide to inherit the Su embroidery craft from his mother.

Since childhood, the needle has been a common item in his life. Every day he saw his grandmother, his mom and her friends engrossed in Su embroidery.

"When I was a little boy, the needle was an item that could hurt my fingers. Now it has become a tool for me to continue the artistic mission of my family. I find that incredible," says Guo.

In the past few years, Guo has participated in his mother's team to produce large-scale Su embroidery works, two of which were collected by the China National Archives of Publications and Culture.

Each piece stands more than 3 meters high and is 1 meter long, featuring feitian (flying deities) and a traditional building that houses Buddhist sutras, derived from murals at the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang.

Guo helped his mother to finish the two art pieces, which took more than 100 embroiderers several months to produce.

"Without his help, I couldn't have finished the two large pieces. I'm proud of my son. He often gives me fresh and interesting ideas to create innovative Su embroidery works," says Zou.

The son adds that his ideas often collide with his mother's.

In Zou's 24 Solar Terms series, Guo often provides ideas on how to present the theme in a contemporary way. For instance, in the work Guyu (Grain Rain), Guo designed a giant grain while his mother planned to stitch the grains to scale.

Finally, Zou took her son's design, and believes that the piece turned out "amazing".

"I hope the craft can become more integrated into people's daily lives, rather than just being displayed as a decoration or art piece," Guo says.

(Source: China Daily)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 26. Another abandoned stronghold belonging to the Armenian armed forces was found during the review of the area in the Karabakh economic region after the anti-terror operation conducted by the Azerbaijan Army, Trend reports, referring to the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.

From a stronghold located in a wooded area of Aghdara region, in compliance with security measures, 1 T-72B tank, 4 D-20 artillery installations, 3 Ural military vehicles full of artillery shells, 1 KamAZ military vehicle and special equipment were seized.

The deployment of firing means found in the stronghold and aimed at the direction of Sugovushan and other settlements located deep from the contact line that was formed after November 10, 2020, clearly proves their usage in military provocations against Azerbaijan.

The number of weapons and heavy military equipment still found in the territory of Karabakh after the anti-terror operation shows that those areas have become one of the most militarized zones not only in the region, but also in the world.

Instead of complete withdrawal of its troops from the territory of Azerbaijan after the Trilateral Statement of November 10, 2020, the Armenian side illegally transported ammunition to the Karabakh economic region, including mines produced after 2020, established new mined territories stretching up to 480 kilometers along contact lines, more than 500 combat positions and fortified firing points, more than 350 firing positions for artillery installations of various types, reconnaissance and surveillance equipment, and also concentrated military forces capable of carrying out offensive operations.

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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]

(Source: Xinhua)


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The screening committee met in the board room following the conclusion of the board meeting. The screening committee will meet two more times before giving the board their recommendations on April 22.
Ships crew warned of power issues before it collided with a Baltimore bridge, governor says; 6 remain missing
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 26. A new meeting of the 3+3 consultative platform is expected to be held this year, said Iranian Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali, Trend reports.

He expressed hope for Georgia's presence at this meeting.

The ambassador noted that this format is the most effective for solving problems in the South Caucasus.

He also expressed fears about the intervention of other states, which, in his opinion, only increases tension in the region.

On October 23, 2023, a meeting of foreign ministers in the 3+3 format was held in Tehran with the participation of the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Russia, Turkey, Iran, and Armenia.

At the meeting at the level of foreign ministers, the development of regional cooperation (political, economic, security, transit, energy, etc.) was discussed.

One of the main goals of the meeting, held in the 3+3 format, was to resolve regional problems with the participation of the countries of the region, as well as the issue of peace negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

It should be noted that the first meeting in the 3+3 format was held in 2022 in Moscow at the level of deputy foreign ministers, without the participation of Georgia.
Wrexham.com has invited Wrexham & Clwyd South Members of Parliament and Members of the Senedd to write a monthly article with updates on their work in their respective Parliaments and closer to home  you can find them all here.  

In this months column Wrexhams Member of the Senedd, Lesley Griffiths, writes:

Congratulations to Vaughan Gething on becoming Welsh Labours Leader and First Minister of Wales.

Although constituents will be aware I was backing Jeremy Miles MS, Vaughans election is historic and I wish him every success.

It was a hard fought campaign and a close result but it is vital Welsh Labour members come together and unite behind the new First Minister.

There are many challenges ahead, including a General Election on the horizon.

The UK economy is struggling and the cost-of-living crisis is hitting people hard but Welsh Labour representatives will continue to fight and stand up for the people of Wales.

An honour to be elected Leader of our incredible Welsh Labour Party today. I spoke with @Keir_Starmer this morning about the fight ahead and our chance to create a brighter future for Wales, together. Thank you to Jeremy for the ideas, energy and commitment he has brought to https://t.co/l6Aj0VmEef  Vaughan Gething (@vaughangething) March 16, 2024

Wrexham was well represented at a recent award ceremony that recognises the very best mental health services in Wales.

Based on Belmont Road in the city centre, Advance Brighter Futures won Best Mental Health Support Service and local resident Keir Harding triumphed in the Inspirational Leader category.

Both entries were nominated as part of the Mental Health & Wellbeing Awards, which highlights and celebrates the work, interventions and success of individuals and organisations throughout Wales.

The ceremony took place in Cardiff at the end of last year and I recently caught up with the local winners to offer my congratulations.

Advance Brighter Futures (ABF) is a mental health charity that has helped countless people over the years.

As well as celebrating its 30th anniversary, in recent years the charity has secured significant Welsh Government funding which helped refurbish and expand their premises, enabling ABF to continue to provide a fantastic service to local people.

Wrexhams second winner on the night was Keir Harding, a mental health professional with more than 20 years of experience.

Keir founded Beam Consultancy and is passionate about improving services for people suffering from severe and complex mental health issues.

People like Keir and those who work at Advance Brighter Futures do not seek praise but it is right their outstanding efforts are celebrated.

Congratulations to @ABFWXM & @Keirwales on winning their respective categories at the Mental Health & Wellbeing Awards. Their pioneering work provides crucial support to people in & around #Wrexham and Im pleased they have received national recognition.https://t.co/WUXRS9JHKK  Lesley Griffiths (@lesley4wrexham) March 18, 2024

For 30 years, Care Forum Wales has championed the social care sector, offering a voice to its members whose primary role is to look after some of the most vulnerable people in society.

The organisation represents more than 450 independent care homes, nursing homes and other social care providers throughout Wales. The united members share best practice and resources and work to influence policy makers.

Last week, I sponsored a special event at the Senedd celebrating Care Forum Wales achievements over the past three decades.

Mario Kreft MBE, the Chair of Care Forum Wales, presented outgoing First Minister, Mark Drakeford with a Special Recognition award, praising his contribution and long-term support for the sector. The recognition was fully deserved and the First Minister is leaving some big shoes to fill.

For 30 years, @careforumwales has championed the social care sector, offering a voice to its members whose primary role is to look after some of the most vulnerable people in society. I was proud to sponsor this very special celebratory event at the @SeneddWales. pic.twitter.com/BUB7Jv48W4  Lesley Griffiths (@lesley4wrexham) March 12, 2024

I am pleased Wrexham has received a share of Welsh Labour Government funding to help tackle the empty properties in the city centre.

Wrexham Council secured 500,000 via the Transforming Towns Loan Fund. Since the Funds inception in 2014, more than 73m has been provided to local authorities across Wales helping revitalise town and city centres and bringing over 600 vacant units back to life.

Under the scheme, people can obtain an interest free loan which may be used to acquire, refurbish, convert or redevelop a Wrexham city centre property.

500,000 awarded to tackle empty properties in the city centre https://t.co/pC3wVElKjY pic.twitter.com/tnyWVWNu1M  Wrexham Council (@wrexhamcbc) February 22, 2024

Business Wales provides free independent advice and support to people starting, running and growing a business in Wales.

Following the loss of EU funding, the Welsh Government announced in 2022 it would commit almost 21m every year until 2025 to sustain the service.

According to the latest figures, a new business supported by Business Wales is twice as likely to still be operating after five years when compared to an unsupported business.

In Wrexham, 228 individuals have been assisted since May 2021. Over 90 new enterprises have been created and almost 200 jobs have been safeguarded.

Business Wales is here to support anyone in Wales looking to start a business. Whether youre just starting out or youre ready to move to the next stage, we can help. https://t.co/ZiKHjGWic9 pic.twitter.com/t22qDSKatc  Business Wales North (@BusinessWalesN) March 15, 2024

Finally, I want to congratulate all those who organised and took part in Wrexhams St Davids Day parade. The turnout was amazing and it was lovely to see over 750 local school children participating.

Fantastic turnout at the #StDavidsDay parade in #Wrexham Well done to the organisers and to the 750+ children taking part from local schools. pic.twitter.com/GQPdGeCj8A  Lesley Griffiths (@lesley4wrexham) March 1, 2024

If youre a constituent in Wrexham and there is anything I could help you with, please email me: [email protected] or call 01978 355743. You can sign up to my regular e-newsletter by clicking here.
New initiative to redistribute seized property from criminals to North Wales communities

A new initiative will see property seized from criminals redistributed to communities across the region.

The project, by North Wales Police, will see items which would otherwise be destroyed used to generate funds for charitable projects.

Clothing seized during shoplifting investigations, and which is not reclaimed by the vendor, will be collected along with items donated by officers and police staff.

Designated clothing collection bins will be installed at stations across the force area.

All proceeds from the sale of these goods will be donated to the Police and Community Trust (PACT) which will then support local community projects.

NWPs Seized Property Manager, Rebecca Bywaters has launched the scheme, which will soon be active across the force area.

Up until recently, most of our seized property was disposed of in skips, she said.

Certain items, like data devices, drugs, and firearms would be disposed of via the appropriate channels, but everything else would be thrown away.

As a force, were pleased to be taking these positive steps towards reducing waste on a large scale, whilst simultaneously raising essential funds for PACT.

Other seized items have already been donated to local enterprises. These goods have included baby products, cosmetics, food items, toiletries, and cleaning products.

Clwyd Alyn, the St Asaph-based Housing Association, was one recent beneficiary.

Items donated by North Wales Police were distributed to services including:

Young Persons supported living projects for those aged 16 upwards.

Complex Needs Accommodation for over 18s.

Emergency accommodation for rough sleepers

A Mother and Baby Unit

A Womens Refuge

Family Centre

Older people services, including care homes and sheltered accommodation.

Tenants in their own homes receiving support.

Rebecca added: Aligned with the Chief Constables Force Vision, North Wales Police remains committed to tackling retail crime and property theft.

However, where this crime does occur and the property is not reclaimed, were proud that we can support good causes in our area.

If you are involved with a North Wales-based charity or community project and would like to register your interest in this scheme  please contact [email protected]

[email protected]
North Wales construction site raid leads to arrests and six-figure fines

Two construction firms have been handed fines worth up to 400,000 for hiring illegal workers after a dawn raid on a North Wales building site.

Northern Irish concrete supplier FP McCann was fined up to 225,000 for five contractors found to be working illegally.

Meanwhile Stockport-based Adana Construction Ltd will have to pay up to 180,000 for employing another four immigration offenders.

Twelve men and a woman were arrested and will be removed from the UK following a 5am raid on the Shotton Mill site in Deeside on Tuesday March 19.

They were all working as subcontracted labourers and steel-fixers.

Immigration Enforcement officers descended on the former paper mill  now being turned into a containerboard factory  in response to allegations from the public.

Seven contractors, from India and Albania, were later taken into custody, while the others were bailed and are required to report to immigration officials.

Officers entered with permission from the site managers, who have since launched an internal investigation.

This operation follows tough action from the Home Office to triple the fines for companies employing illegal workers. From February, the civil penalty rose to 45,000 per worker for a first breach, up from 15,000, and to 60,000 for repeat breaches, up from 20,000.

HM Inspector Ryan Moore, Home Office Immigration Enforcement said:

Illegal working causes untold harm to communities, puts vulnerable people at risk, defrauds the public purse and undercuts honest employers and jobseekers.

Our teams will do everything in our power to clamp down on this damaging practice and hit those who cheat our laws in the pocket. This operation was a huge success and I thank our officers who executed it expertly.

Both companies were issued civil penalty referral notices pending a review of evidence from the site visit and company records.

[email protected]
North Wales MS marks 40th anniversary of No Smoking Day in Wales

A Member of the Senedd recently joined campaigners and school pupils to celebrate the 40th anniversary of No Smoking Day in Wales.

Llyr Gruffydd, who represents North Wales in the Senedd, met with representatives from ASH Wales and young people from across Wales at the Welsh Parliament.

No Smoking Day is a national awareness campaign that is intended to help smokers who want to quit, show support to those who are already on their quitting journey and celebrate those who have successfully stopped smoking.

The first No Smoking Day was held in Wales in 1984. Since then smoking rates in the adult population in Wales have dropped from 33% to 13%.

This means hundreds of thousands of people living healthier lives with far less risk of cancer and other life changing and life threatening illnesses.

At the event in the Senedd, Mr Gruffydd, of Plaid Cymru, heard about the work that has been done to fight tobacco addiction in Welsh communities.

The pupils in attendance learned about the well-known health harms of smoking, and learned about the environmental impact of cigarettes and how they harm our oceans and wildlife.

Llyr Gruffydd MS said: It was a pleasure to meet the team from ASH Wales at the Senedd and hear about the important work theyve been doing to combat tobacco addiction in our communities.

It is important that young people especially learn about how smoking can damage their health as well as the environment so that they are encouraged to not pick up the habit.

Its hugely encouraging that since the first No Smoking Day in 1984 the number of adults smoking in Wales has dropped from 33% to 13%.

This has meant that far fewer people have lost their lives in an untimely way than otherwise would have been the case.

But there is still more to be done as is clear from that data that for the 13% of adults still smoking in Wales, smoking is the leading cause of ill-health and early death, as well as a major cause of health inequality.

This is why it is important to keep working towards the goal of a smoke free Wales because reaching it would mean that even more lives are saved in the future.

No Smoking Day is a time to reflect on the harms that smoking still poses to those who continue to smoke and those around them, as well as a time to be hopeful that within the next 40 years, well see smoking as a thing of the past.

[email protected]
Over a third of medical students plan to leave Wales after graduating

More than a third of medical students plan to leave Wales after they graduate.

That is according to a new survey carried out by BMA Cymru Wales.

It revealed that 39 per cent of medical plan to leave Wales after graduation to start their careers elsewhere with better pay and working conditions cited as the main reasons not to stay.

The survey of students at Cardiff, Swansea, and Bangors medical schools found that 80 per cent of those who intend to leave Wales plan to begin foundation training in England and 15 per cent in Scotland where junior doctors receive higher pay.

Out of the students who intend to stay in Wales after graduation, just 25 per cent are currently planning to stay beyond their foundation training.

For those who are looking to leave, most plan on working in Australia and New Zealand.

The survey found that 66 per cent of respondents said current pay and working conditions had influenced their decision.

87 per cent said higher and more competitive pay elsewhere was the main driver in their decision to leave  with 46 per cent saying the pay for doctors starting their careers in Wales didnt even meet the current cost of living.

Other survey findings include:

90 per cent of respondents indicated that improved pay would influence them to stay in Wales.

Other factors stated by medical students to help them to decide to stay were improved working conditions (71 per cent) and better financial support during education and training (59 per cent)

48 per cent of respondents who said they will leave Wales after graduating also said that the poor state of the NHS in Wales was also a major factor in their decision.

98 per cent of students support the current strikes by junior doctors seeking to restore their pay which has been cut by 29.6 per centin real terms since 2008/9.

Erin Flaherty, Chair of the BMAs Medical Students Committee in Wales said: With rising living costs, student debt and competitive pay elsewhere its little wonder that over a third of medical students in Wales plan to leave after graduating.

After investing a significant amount of time and money studying medicine in Wales 39% of students still feel they are unable to start their careers in the country, its a terrible situation for medical students but also for patients and the future of the NHS.

A doctor starting their career in Wales will earn as little as 13.65 an hour and for that they will be providing lifesaving care and taking on huge levels of responsibility, it doesnt seem like a good investment for anyone.

With rising numbers of patients waiting for treatment, we need to see those in power turn the tide on this issue and this should start by offering fairer pay for hard-working doctors before even more are lost to neighbouring UK nations and further afield.

The survey was completed by 125 medical students studying in Wales.

Junior doctors in Wales are currently in a pay dispute with the Welsh Government and are currently engaged in their third strike over pay, a 96-hour full walkout  the longest yet.

Commenting on the survey co-chairs of the Welsh Junior Doctors Committee Dr Oba Babs-Osibou and Dr Peter Fahey said: The fact that students are now actively looking to leave Wales to develop their career elsewhere is a testament to the prolonged undervaluing of doctors in Wales.

Students -the future of the profession have already realised that they can seek out better pay and conditions even before they graduate.

We will continue our fight for fair pay for all doctors working in the NHS. It is no surprise that we are losing doctors as they search for better pay and conditions elsewhere.

Losing our doctors at a time when waiting lists are at record highs will mean patients suffering more than they are already.

[email protected]
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 26. On March 21, the Moldovan delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe sent a letter to PACE, Trend reports.

The letter from the Moldovan delegation calls on the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan to work together to bridge the gap that arose between the organization and Azerbaijan after the decision adopted at the January session of PACE.

The letter notes that, like other member states, the Republic of Azerbaijan supports the promotion of the values and principles of the organization through its delegation to PACE. The importance of resolving all problems through inter-parliamentary dialogue within the framework of PACE was also emphasized at a time when there are important calls for security and peace in Europe.

The letter also emphasizes that the inability of the Azerbaijani delegation to participate in the work of PACE did not bring long-term benefits to either the organization or the member states of the organization.
At 10.30 am on Tuesday March 26, the UKs High Court will hand down its judgement on whether Julian Assange can appeal his extradition to the United States.

The World Socialist Web Site is publishing the text of the speech delivered by Socialist Equality Party National Secretary Chris Marsden and Assistant National Secretary Tom Scripps at public meetings held in Manchester, London, Inverness and Sheffield in the last week under the title The Fight to Free Julian Assange is the Fight Against War.

Chris Marsden speaking at the Manchester meeting

Lets begin with who were speaking about today. Julian Assange is one of, if not the most significant journalist of the 21st century.

Many of you will know. But others, thanks to his relentless persecution over more than a decade, will not fully understand why this is so.

Assanges extraordinary record of investigative journalism

Assange founded the organisation WikiLeaks in 2006, inspired by Daniel Ellsbergs release of the Pentagon Papers in 1971, exposing the reality of the Vietnam War. Through WikiLeaks, Assange conducted the release of some of the most explosive revelations of imperialist war crimes and human rights abuses in history.

Julian Assange [Photo by David G. Silvers, Cancilleria del Ecuador / CC BY-SA 2.0

In one year, between April 2010 and April 2011, the organisation published:

The infamous Collateral Murder video providing prima facie evidence of a US war crime in Iraq, in which an Apache helicopter crew massacred 18 civilians, including journalists and first responders.

The Afghanistan and Iraq War Logs, detailing the systematic war crimes carried out in the course of the imperialist invasions and occupations of each country, including the murder of tens of thousands of civilians, the denial and cover-up of those murders, and the widespread use of torture.

US State Department Diplomatic Cables, showing Washingtons involvement in military coups and support for the human rights abuses of dictatorships all around the globe; shedding more light on its programmes of drone assassinations, surveillance, and the sabotage of climate negotiations.

The Guantanamo Files, providing evidence of the United States illegal practices of rendition and torture, carried out with impunity against innocent people from all over the world.

This was material leaked by the heroic whistleblower Chelsea Manning, who paid seven years of her life for it in prison between 2010 and 2017, including in solitary confinement and which drove her to two suicide attempts. Manning then spent another year in prison in 2019, again largely in solitary confinement and leading to another suicide attempt, and was fined a quarter of a million dollars, for refusing to testify against Assange.

It should also be noted that Assange and WikiLeaks helped whistleblower Edward Snowden flee the United States in 2013, by laying down a false escape route. Snowden exposed, among other things, massive state surveillance programmes that record all phone calls made in the US and, in alliance with the UK, directly access the communications, emails, Facebook messages and Internet history of tens of millions of people in Britain and America.

Edward Snowden speaks about the NSA leaks in an interview with reporter Glenn Greenwald at the hotel The Mira Hong Kong. [Photo by Laura Poitras/Praxis Films / CC BY 3.0

The impact of the WikiLeaks exposures cannot be overstated. They contributed to an upsurge of anti-war, anti-imperialist sentiment around the world, a discrediting of the United States government and its allies responsible for these crimes, and of the corporate media who helped to cover them up.

For many young people at the time, they were formative events in their political development. And their influence played a significant role in the dramatic shift to the left among younger generations in the last decade and a half that we now see in a heightened form in the global protest movement over Gaza.

In North Africa, whose governments dictatorial conspiracies with Washington against their populations were exposed by WikiLeaks, the revelations helped trigger a swell of popular protest which has now passed into history as the Arab Spring. Events in Tunisia in January 2011, which toppled the Ben Ali regime, were referred to nervously in the corporate media at the time as the first WikiLeaks revolution.

The popular support for Assange was enormous. He was Time magazines readers choice Person of the Year and Le Mondes readers choice Person of the Year in 2010.

Assange was also awarded a Sydney Peace Foundation Gold Medal, a Walkley Award (the highest honour in Australian journalism) and the UKs Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism in 2011.

The persecution of Assange

Fast forward to today. Assange is a month away from completing his fifth year incarcerated in Britains highest security institution, His Majestys Prison Belmarsh, in London. He has been locked in his cell for 23 hours a day, routinely denied medical care, and arbitrarily prevented from seeing visitors, including his wife and two children. He has suffered suicidal thoughts, a mini-stroke and aged well beyond his 52 years.

He is facing, and fighting in court, extradition to the United States to face charges under the Espionage Act which carry a de facto life sentence and could be reformulated to incur the death penalty. In September 2021, evidence emerged of CIA plots to kidnap or assassinate him.

A life sentence would be little mercy. He would be kept in the deepest hole the US prison system can dig, in facilities designed for convicted terrorists where American imperialism has refined the practice of psychologically destroying human beings. The conditions are so horrific that medical experts have testified in court that Assange would likely commit suicide rather than endure them.

In February, the former CIA engineer Joshua Schulte, who leaked documents to WikiLeaks on how the CIA cracked smartphones, was handed a 40-year sentence. A similar sentence for Assange would mean life behind bars.

Joshua Adam Schulte [Photo: Joshua Schulte/LinkedIn]

Any trial will be held under impossible conditions, with every conceivable restriction placed on his ability to prepare his defence and a jury selected from among a population in Langley, Virginia mostly made up of workers in the US security services, in a district which has never failed to find a defendant charged with national security breaches guilty.

The UKs High Court is now deciding whether to grant him his final opportunity to appeal to the British courts against extradition. If they refuse, he could be on a plane to the United States within hours.

From hero to pariah: the character assassination of Assange

The story of how this transformation took placefrom one of the most widely known and supported individuals on the planet to a man persecuted to death behind closed doorsis a vital one for the anti-war, socialist left.

What was done to Assange will be attempted, in various forms, against every major figure who takes a stand against world imperialism. Drawing the lessons from this grotesque attack is essential, not only in securing freedom for Julian Assange, but in beating back against the imperialist criminals supporting genocide in Gaza and driving the entire world into war, and finally defeating them.

Assange faced a campaign of disinformation, smears and political isolation and betrayal, waged on a global scale.

This naturally took its most direct and naked form in the bowels of Washington and the Pentagon, where calls for him to be treated as an enemy of the state and to be silenced made clear the intentions of American imperialism and of all its imperialist allies.

But from the outset, a key role in Assanges persecution was played by those who he would have considered to be in the camp of his defenders, but who turned on him like a pack of dogs.

Firstly, the liberal newspapers which had worked with Assange to publish the leaked informationthe Guardian, the New York Times, Le Monde, El Paiswho made clear that their intention had always been to control the flow damaging information and then set him up for attack.

Every one of them publicly disowned Assange and cast him out of the noble fraternity of client journalism. The pretext for doing so was the unredacted release of hundreds of thousands of US diplomatic cables. But this was only made possible by the Guardian journalist David Leigh publishing the password needed to access them in his hatchet-job book on WikiLeaks.

Nevertheless, from that point on in the pages of these newspapers, Assange was not a journalist but a reckless, irresponsible hacker, described in terms so venal that they have been cited repeatedly by the US prosecution to prove Assange is not worthy of journalistic protections.

The Swedish sexual assault frame-up

A vicious blow was dealt by a state-manufactured sexual assault scandal, in which the Swedish government concocted an investigation into Assange which could serve as a pretext for his arrest.

When this investigation was announced in 2010, while Assange was in the UK, he and those around him explained their fear that extradition to Sweden was an attempt to blacken his name and a smokescreen for eventual extradition to the United States.

In 2012, he entered and received political asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. It was immediately placed under round-the-clock surveillance by the Metropolitan Policeand very soon, we now know, by the CIAwhich kept Assange under de facto house arrest for the best part of seven years.

On the nature of the Swedish prosecutors allegations and conduct of the case, a detailed and devastating analysis is available from the United Nations former special rapporteur on torture Nils Melzer, who would later testify to Assanges psychological torture by his imprisonment and the slander campaign against him.

It is publicly available; among the irregularities he cites are disregard for confidentiality, disregard for exculpatory evidence, proactive manipulation of evidence, disregard for conflict of interest, and disregard for the requirements of necessity and proportionality.

This was all a fairly transparent frame-up, utilising two entirely consensual sexual encounters, that anyone in journalistic circles would naturally assume was an attempt to seek an alternative route to extradite Assange.

No charges were ever brought and the Swedish authorities refused to question Assange in the UK, despite having done so in other cases, because they wanted him in their clutches. The Swedish government refused to provide a guarantee he would not be extradited onward to the United States. And the entire investigation was dropped once Assange was in UK hands and the US extradition request was in place.

In 2017, it was revealed by the excellent journalism of Stefania Maurizi that, in 2011, the UK Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), then under the direction of one Sir Keir Starmer, had destroyed correspondence with Swedish prosecutors relating to Assange. One line which did survive was from a British CPS lawyer advising Swedish investigators not to question Assange in the UK.

Stefania Maurizi at the International Journalism Festival in 2017 [Photo by International Journalism Festival / CC BY-SA 2.0

In 2018, Maurizi revealed that Sweden had, in 2013, considered dropping the case but was told by the UK, Dont you dare get cold feet and that cost was no issue in this case, clearly pointing to the conspiracy underway at the highest levels of government.

None of this stopped the Guardian and the New York times publishing a torrent of filthy anti-Assange attack articles which amount not so much to a character assassination as a firebombing. Constant references were made to Assanges being charged, which was never the case and to his being a rapist, weirdo, freak, or any other insult which came to mind. And to anyone questioning this narrative, or even insisting on the presumption of innocence, the threat of failing to believe women was employed to demand silence.

The role of the pseudo-left

Politically the most significant aspect of all of this was the backing it received from tendencies in the UK like the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) and the Socialist Party (SP).

In 2012, the SWP wrote that Julian Assange must face rape charges (there were no charges) and alleged that his supporters had refused to take the rape allegations seriously. The Socialist Party made the same accusation: It is important for socialists to reject any idea that some rape does not need to be taken seriously.

What this amounted to was an insistence that Assange relinquish any legal and political protections he had against the US government, which made no secret of its pursuit of him and WikiLeaks, and put himself totally at the service of the Swedish state acting as a front for US imperialism.

Socialist Worker article dated August 21, 2012 with headline reading, "Julian Assange must face rape charges, not US revenge" [Photo: Socialist Worker]

The SWP and the SP, and pseudo-left tendencies all over the world, were in fact jettisoning any socialist or anti-imperialist pretensions in order to maintain their links with sections of the affluent middle class, angry with Assange for upsetting the cozy status quo of world politics and very happy to exercise their hostility under the slogan of believing women.

Even as late as April 2019, when these allegations were thoroughly discredited, the SWP still insisted, it cant be ignored that he has faced allegations of sexual assault and rape in Sweden Assange first entered the Ecuadorian embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden on these charges [not true: it was to avoid onward extradition to the United States] Assange should face trial [remember, even at this stage there are still no charges] in Sweden.

The Democratic Party and Russian agent allegation

It should also be noted that, in 2016, the Guardian and the New York Times vociferously alleged that Assange was a Trump-supporting Russian stooge. The trigger for this was WikiLeaks release of Democratic Party internal emails revealing the sordid financial dealings of one of the twin parties of American capitalism, especially of its presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Assanges real attitude to Clinton and Trump is made clear in his describing an election contest between the two as a choice between cholera or gonorrhoea, a description with which I think everyone in this room would heartily agree.

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders debate in the 2016 election in Flint, Michigan [AP Photo/Carlos Osorio]

Clinton is such a vicious thug that her nickname is Killary. She is famous for her filmed CBS news statement on the assassination of Colonel Gaddafi, We came, We saw, He died, made as she laughed like a hyena. Asked about Assange when the WikiLeaks releases first came out she reportedly replied, Cant we just drone this guy?

But for the liberal and pseudo-left tendencies that circle the Democratic Party like flies and portray the party of the Pentagon and Wall Street as the party of progress, criticising Clinton was an unpardonable crime for which many have never forgiven Assange.

To prove Assanges supposed connection with the Russian state, the Guardians Luke Harding went as far as publishing outright lies, which were proved to be lies, and never retracted by him or the paper.

All of this was designed to isolate Assange from the popular support he had won, by rallying the nominally liberal and left middle class, already nervous about the implications of his exposure of the imperialist governments, to the witch-hunt. And while Assange was systematically denigrated, he was kept locked away, out of the sight and mind of the working class and young people, many of whom will now not remember a time when he was free and able to speak publicly.

A political conspiracy of silence

No one wants to talk about this most uncomfortable fact today. But Assanges isolation was consolidated by those who now claim to be his defenders.

This naturally includes pseudo-left groups such as Counterfire. John Rees of that tendency was chosen to head the official campaign opposing Assanges extradition. But from 2012 until April 2019, Reess Counterfire wrote nothing on Assange, after a large section of its membership demanded he be sent to Sweden.

John Rees speaking outside the High Court in London, February 20, 2024

However, the most consequential silence for Assange was that exercised by Jeremy Corbyn.

If there was one person in the UK and internationally in a position to change Assanges situation, it was the former Labour Party leader. Here was someone who had expressed support for Assange in the past, who had a truly mass following, and who was given the platform of two general elections on which to make a case for his freedom.

Instead, Corbyn responded to his election as Labour leader by drawing a veil of silence over Assange. Between July 2015, two months before his election as leader, and April 2019, Corbyn made no public comment on the WikiLeaks founders situation.

In that month, when Assanges seizure from the Ecuadorian Embassy by British police on April 11 became a world news story, Corbyn was finally forced to comment. But it was the political equivalent of pulling teeth.

Julian Assange speaks to the media outside the Ecuadorian embassy in London, Friday May 19, 2017. [AP Photo/Frank Augstein]

When Prime Minister Theresa May announced Assanges arrest to cheers from Tory and Labour MPs, Corbyn was silent. Later, when Sajid Javid made a formal statement on the arrest and charges, he exited the chamber, leaving Diane Abbott to speak on his partys behalf. She stated, It is whistleblowing into illegal wars, mass murder, murder of civilians and corruption on a grand scale that has put Julian Assange in the crosshairs of the US administration.

All true. But then the caveats and reversals began. She made clear in the same statement Labours hand-washing view that the matter of extradition to the US was now in the hands of the British law courts, in which she had the utmost confidence. She then tweeted, Assange skipping bail in UK, or any rape charge that may be brought by Swedish authorities shouldnt be ignored.

Corbyn, finally pressed on Assange by ITV News, repeated Abbotts matter for the courts line before giving a free pass to the campaign among the Blairites over the totally discredited Sweden case, saying, obviously he must answer those questions and those demands about the accusations made against him by people in Sweden. There can be no hiding place from those kind of accusations.

He then ignored Assanges situation for another 10 months, including the whole of the 2019 general election, despite being put on the spot over the issue at least three times that were aware of.

In June 2019, a team from the Julian Assange Defence Committee lobbied his Constituency Labour Party meeting in Islington North, to no effect.

In September 2019, former Labour MP Chris Williamson moved an early day motion opposing Assanges extradition, which Corbyn declined to sign.

In January 2020, challenged directly about Assange at a Stop the War Coalition rally called to oppose the war drive against Iran, Corbyn scowled and walked away.

The dead end of the official Dont Extradite Assange/Free Assange campaign

It must be stressed here that this silence was never criticised by those who became the leading figures in the Dont Extradite Assange campaign. On the contrary, at the end of 2019, at a public meeting in London, Tariq Ali claimed that a Corbyn victory was Assanges only hope of freedom and that nothing should be done to publicly challenge Corbyns silence that might open him to attack from the right, and risk defeat in the December 12 General Election.

Only once Corbyn was on his way out of the Labour Party leadership was the Dont Extradite Assange campaign set up, with a remit of channelling all ongoing protests under the wing of the Corbynites and their pseudo-left apologists.

Corbyn made his first statement on Assange in February 2020, just weeks after he was challenged at the Stop the War rally. This began his elevation as the figurehead of the official campaign, where he has championed polite appeals to everyone from Boris Johnson to Joe Biden to see the light and let Assange go.

Jeremy Corbyn speaking outside the High Court in London, February 20, 2024

A real campaign for Assanges freedom would not beg for but demand that he was freed by the British Prime Minister and the American Presidentto not only expose them before the workers and young people but to mobilise a mass movement against them.

The same goes for all the appeals to and hopes expressed in the supposed integrity and sense of justice of the British courts: some judges who are prepared just to be decent, in the words of Tariq Ali.

As far as the official campaign has sought to win broader support, it has been among sections of the political establishment, or celebrity figures as a route to the establishment. What they have to show for this work is a small collection of parliamentary representatives, in Britain, Germany, Australia and elsewhere who make pro-forma statements committing them to nothing and which they know will have about as much effect on Biden and Sunak as a UN resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Then there are the media organisations and NGOs, who are mostly concerned with covering up their filthy record on Assange with insincere statements of opposition to his extradition. This includes PEN International and PEN UK, but not PEN USA which has said nothing. And the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), who did not mention Assange between 2014 and the issuing of a mealy-mouthed, two paragraph statement following his brutal seizure from the Ecuadorian Embassy.

The trade union bureaucracy, it should be said, has done nothing.

A model resolution was drawn up in 2020 by the NUJ calling for a campaign to free him, consisting of writing letters to the Home Secretary, Shadow Home Secretary and Shadow Justice Secretary: respectively Priti Patel, Starmers close friend Nick Thomas-Symonds, and the now warmongering facilitator of the Gaza genocide, Starmers current Foreign Secretary David Lammy.

This campaign naturally died on the vine.

Assange and imperialist war

I want to be clear on this point. We do not make this criticism to engage in political point scoring. We have no need. We have fought continually for Assanges freedom, year after year, when others abandoned him. And we were the only political party to do so.

We concern ourselves with these rotten and unprincipled individuals and organisations only in so far as the politics they advocate and the role they play has dangerous consequences for the campaign for Assanges freedom and for the fate of the entire working class.

Tom Scripps speaking at the London meeting

We have said that the fight to free Assange is the fight against war. What do we mean by this?

Assanges persecution has not been motivated simply by the bad intentions of a few powerful individuals. It is dictated by the fundamental interests of imperialist powers driven to engage in war after unpopular war, coup after coup to secure their positions in the world pecking order, run by governments widely despised and which view their populations with fear and loathing.

We are living in a world where, for the last two years, the NATO powers have been arming the Ukrainian government against a Russian invasion they both provoked and wanted. The aim was to send Ukrainian workers to die in battle in an attempt to weaken, pressure and depose a Putin administration viewed as an obstacle to their own God-given right to exploit Russias immense natural resources, and to further their war plans against Iran and China.

In furtherance of this new imperialist carve-up, Europe is being remade into an armed camp, with plans for conscription, national service and the doubling and tripling of defence spending.

This is a war which threatens direct conflict between nuclear-armed powers, in which leading spokesman for Washington, London and Paris declare their readiness to play nuclear Russian roulette with Putin even in face of the threat of annihilation.

Ukrainian soldiers pass by a bus burning after a Russian drone hit it near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023. [AP Photo/Shandyba Mykyta]

The willingness of the ruling class to sacrifice human life in pursuit of its interests has already been confirmed most glaringly and brutally in Gaza, where the imperialist powers are materially supporting the genocide of the Palestinians, taking notes from the Israel Defense Forces on urban warfare, and seeking an opportunity to mobilise a carefully cultivated anti-Iran axis against Tehran and its allies in Lebanon and Syria.

Under these conditions, journalism which determinedly exposes their criminal activities cannot be tolerated. Because it threatens to fuel and spark oppositional movements from below, in the working class and among young people.

As we wrote in 2020 after Assanges main extradition hearing in the UK, The imperialist powers intend to make truth the first casualty of new and even bloodier wars and regimes to come.

That has been bloodily confirmed in the last two years. In a recent Perspective article on Assange, the World Socialist Web Site explained:

The attempt to brutally silence journalists that began with Assange has now led to a policy of mass murder. Over 100 media workers and many of their family members have been killed by the Israel Defense Forces in the space of just four months, in a clear campaign of targeted assassinations to stop the truth of the genocide being reported.

In Israel, Britain, the United States, Europe and throughout the world, draconian legislation is being used to criminalise anti-genocide protests, with thousands arrested.

The Perspective noted Assanges declaration in 2011 that If wars can be started by lies peace can be started by truth. And it listed some of the wars since then and the lies used to justify them.

These include Ukraine, where the NATO powers claim to be defending sovereignty and democracy by working with fascist forces to dragoon the population into a fight to the last Ukrainian in an attempt to kill as many Russians as possible.

And Gaza, where the sickening invocation of Israels supposed right to self-defence sanctions collusion in the mass murder and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians.

The whole spectrum of imperialist politics is implicated in this unfolding catastrophe. There is no faction of the capitalist political elite putting forward a policy to end war and defend democratic rights like freedom of the press and freedom of speech.

Just as with the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, the road to Assanges freedom lies elsewhere.

War, democratic rights and the working class

As we wrote in a subsequent Perspective: The forces arrayed against Assange by the UK and US states are powerful. But there is another, even more formidable force which has yet to have its saythe British, American and international working class.

The task we face is this: we, and I include everyone here tonight, must devote our energies to convincing the working class of the burning relevance of the Assange case for its own interests, and of the need for them to take up the fight on his behalf.

The audience at the Sheffield meeting

This means cutting through the mountain of lies and slanders and breaking out of the narrow confines in which the official campaign for Assanges freedom has been confined. It means going to the workers, to the younger generation of workers and students in particular, fighting to clarify the essential political issues raised and outlining a strategy on which to fight back.

The fact that the United States is pursuing Assange under the Espionage Act is historically revealing. As we wrote four years ago:

The precedents for Assanges trial under the Espionage Act are the mass roundups of socialists and anarchist groups carried out in the years after the law was first established in 1917. Fearful of the revolutionary movements swelling across the world, the US government outlawed political opposition to the First World War and agitation for workers strikes and protests.

Assanges case is preparation for a similar assault on the working class.

That is now being played out. Sunaks government is seeking to make standing up for the truth of what is happening in Gaza a crime to try and crush the growing anti-war movement. His extremism definition is part of a pattern of governments preparing for war not only with their opponents abroad, but with what they see as the main enemythe working class at home. It joins laws attacking the right to strike, protest and blow the whistle on state crimes.

The ruling class are preparing for a clash they know is coming because their policies, above all their war policies, cannot be pursued except through a further assault on already gutted living standards and state provision. Assanges case has been the canary in the coalmine for these preparations.

Opposing war and defending democratic rights are the vital questions confronting the international working class today and that struggle must have Assanges freedom inscribed on its banner. It must learn from his case to prepare for the battles ahead.

In conclusion, I will be blunt: we have lost a lot of time. This really is the 11th hour for Julian Assange and for everything his case represents. We cannot start from a position of pessimism in our ability to build a mass movement. What I hope this speech has demonstrated is the potential for such a movement, and how it has been thwarted not primarily by the attacks of Assanges enemies but by the rotten perspective of those who were supposed to defend him.

Committee for Public Education members protest in Melbourne in 2019 to demand freedom for Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning.

A break with that perspective will prepare the way for a broad campaign, embracing the most energetic and principled fighters in their workplaces, neighbourhoods, and universities.

In the last years the Socialist Equality Party has collaborated with workers including bus drivers, postal workers, teachers, and tea plantation workers, and with students, in the UK, Australia, the United States, Germany and Sri Lanka to form rank-and-file committees which have all passed resolutions in Assanges defence. We have held rallies in all those countries.

To those here today we say: join us in this campaign and in the fight for socialism against dictatorship and war. And join the Socialist Equality Party.
An outbreak of dengue fever has hit Brazil and several other Latin American countries and is expected to make 2024 the year with the highest number of cases and deaths in the regions history. Extreme climatic phenomena, precarious socio-economic conditions and the abandonment of both preventive measures and the fight against the transmitting mosquito, Aedes aegypti, have contributed to its spreading to areas previously free of the virus, making dengue an increasingly urgent public health issue in the region and worldwide.

Patients in the Pediatrics ward at the Ceilandia Field Hospital, in the Federal District, on February 8, 2024 [Photo: Fabio Rodrigues-Pozzebom/Agencia Brasil]

The latest report from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) on the epidemiological situation in the Americas cites dengue cases in 18 countries in the region, the most affected being Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Peru and Colombia. According to the report, the incidence of dengue increased by 249 percent compared to last year, and by 354 percent compared to the average of the last five years. This data, however, only covers the first eight epidemiological weeks, and the situation has only worsened since.

By mid-March of this year, the number of dengue cases in Paraguay was 23 times higher than in the same period last year, rising from 6,900 cases to 160,900. In the same comparison, Argentina saw a jump from 8,300 to 102,800 cases, and Peru from 16,900 to 46,500. In these countries, 43, 69, and 53 deaths have already been recorded this year, respectively.

Brazil, the primary source of infection, has registered more than 2 million probable cases on its own, and the Ministry of Health estimates that it will exceed 4.2 million by the end of the year, almost triple last years figure. As of March 23, 715 deaths had already been confirmed, and another 1,078 are under investigation.

Total number of suspected dengue cases as of the eighth Epidemiological Week in 2024 and 2023 and average of the last five years. Region of the Americas. [Photo: Graphic: WHO]

On March 13, the health minister of the government of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (Workers Party  PT), Nisia Trindade, downplayed the seriousness of the dengue epidemic in the country, writing in a social media post, The lethality rate, at 0.3 percent of cases, is still less than half of last year (0.7 percent). She added: We are taking better care of the cases.

In an interview with the daily Folha de Sao Paulo, epidemiologist Wanderson de Oliveira explained that several factors influence this apparently lower lethality rate: Mild cases that may go unreported, difficulty in accessing treatment, and the quality of the health system can lead to a false impression that the disease is less serious than it really is.

He continued: At the moment, the priority should be to set up a task force to investigate the deaths and understand whether the causes of these deaths were due to the characteristics of the people or the quality of the services provided. This post [Trindades] was very unfortunate because it is cold and gives the impression that it is about numbers. For those who have lost a loved one, the lethality rate is 100 percent.

The ministers data for the comparison is still being analyzed. If the lethality rate for 2024 were calculated, including the deaths under investigation, the rate would be higher than in 2023.

The ministers attempt to downplay an unprecedented outbreak of dengue fever exposes not only the governments coldness about the fatalities, but also its relation to the consequences of such a high incidence in the population and the suffering caused by the disease, which has been popularly called bone-breaking fever, due to the most well-known symptoms: severe headaches, backaches, along with muscle pain in the legs and joints.

When it progresses to a severe condition, dengue risks liver damage and bleeding. Another consequence that is still little known and, of course, never mentioned by government officials, are the neurological effects, which can manifest even in asymptomatic patients and appear long after infection.

In an interview with the podcast O Assunto, neurologist and scientist Marzia Puccioni said that between one percent and 20 percent of dengue patients can develop encephalitis, myelitis, meningitis, and even Guillain-Barre syndrome, an autoimmune disorder that attacks part of the nervous system.

Given the estimate of 4.2 million cases by the end of the year, 840,000 Brazilians could develop some neurological problem caused by the dengue virus. And there is no planning on the part of the health system to care for these future patients, quite the opposite.

The abandonment of the eradication policy

The uncontrolled situation that is leading thousands of people to their deaths was not inevitable. It has been known for decades that dengue prevention and control depend on effective vector control measures.

The primary vector in the Americas is Aedes aegypti, a mosquito that lives in and near homes and breeds in any artificial or natural container holding standing water. The combination of high temperatures and rainfall favors an increase in the Aedes aegypti population. On this basis, representatives of the ruling class  including the WHO itself  have attributed the unprecedented rise in the disease to the El Nino phenomenon and global warming.

But none of this happened overnight. The climatic phenomena and the precarious conditions in which most of the regions population lives favor the proliferation of the mosquito. They are as well known and predictable as they are ignored by the capitalist class. The truth is that the ruling classsimilar to what we saw with the COVID-19 virusabandoned any attempt to eradicate the dengue virus years ago.

Brazil itself once provided a historic example of eradication, a fundamental and long-standing principle used by medical science to combat countless infectious diseases.

Zoonosis team doing fieldwork to combat dengue outbreaks in neighborhoods of Osasco, in the metropolitan region of Sao Paulo, on 15/03/2024. [Photo: Paulo Pinto/Agencia Brasil]

A campaign at the beginning of the 20th century against yellow fever, which is also transmitted by Aedes aegypti, allowed successive Brazilian governments to control the proliferation of the mosquito through massive action by sanitary agents. In 1954, when the vector eradication program was resumed, the Report of the National Yellow Fever Service referred to this work as the most useful and revolutionary of the techniques ever introduced in anti-Aedes aegypti campaigns (...).

By 1955, the mosquito had been eradicated in the country. This policy was accompanied by an effort by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) to eliminate it from other American countries, but the campaign did not come to an end.

The reintroduction of Aedes egypti in Brazil and other countries in the regionthis time bringing dengue and other arbovirusescoincided with the rise of US-backed military dictatorships in South America, which unleashed a massive attack on working class living standards and the regions public health services.

Today, according to the WHO, the Region of the Americas accounts for 80 percent of dengue cases and has seen an increase in cases over the last four decades, rising from 1.5 million in the 1980s to 16.2 million in the 2010-2019 decade. The year 2023 broke the record with 4,565,911 cases, including 7,653 (0.17 percent) severe cases and 2,340 deaths (case fatality rate of 0.051 percent). In 2024, the scenario is already looking much more deadly.

Brazil, which a few decades ago could eradicate the vector, today registers cases of the disease in all of its 27 federal units, making its territory of eight million square kilometers the most extensive breeding ground for Aedes aegypti on the planet.

The capitalist system as an obstacle to universal healthcare

Some significant advances have been made in the last decade to combat dengue, such as the Wolbachia method, which consists of introducing mosquitoes carrying the Wolbachia bacteria into the environment, and the recently created QDenga vaccine. However, both are still in their initial application phase and have little production capacity. In addition, they are only effective in the long term, working in conjunction with the vector control actions that have been carried out for more than 70 years in Brazil.

However, after all this time, instead of increasing such action, what we have seen is a reduction over the last few years. Last year, President Lula sanctioned a spending ceiling that allowed for a reduction of almost 20 billion reais ($4 billion) in health funding.

According to the daily Metropoles, the Federal District, the federal unit with the highest incidence today, has failed to invest R$241 million in the prevention of arboviruses over the last 10 years, losing 36.7 percent of the workforce responsible for combating mosquito outbreaks. A Federal Court of Auditors survey, published by TV Globos Profissao Reporter show, revealed that the proportion of health agents is only one for every 2,000 inhabitants. The Ministry of Health recommends six agents for every 2,000 inhabitants.

In the city of Sao Paulo, workers who combat dengue fever have just gone on strike, joining the unified movement of municipal workers that began on March 12. According to Sindsep (Sao Paulo Municipal Employees Union), 70 percent of the 28 Health Surveillance Units in the capital have joined the strike. On March 19, around 20,000 Sao Paulo public sector workers took part in an assembly that approved the continuation of the strike, whose main demand is a pay rise. The health workers also demand that at least twice as many staff be hired.

The strike by municipal workers in Sao Paulo must be defended as part of an international movement opposing the policy of mass death pursued by the capitalist class. The working class is the only force capable of defending the principle of universal healthcare, which has been abandoned by the ruling class for years.

In its New Years Statement, the World Socialist Web Site International Editorial Board stated:

The only way that the pandemic can be stopped is through a globally-coordinated elimination strategy, in which the entire worlds population acts in solidarity and with a collective determination to enforce a broad-based public health program.

The same can be said for dengue fever and countless other diseases neglected by capitalist governments around the world. The subordination of public health spending to the insatiable profit interests of a money-mad financial oligarchy, as the declaration stated, must be countered by a world socialist revolution [to] end the pandemic ensure public health and prevent the descent into capitalist barbarism and World War III.
The International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) at the University of Michigan condemns the latest moves by the administration to intimidate and silence opposition to the US/Israeli genocide in Gaza.

We unconditionally defend all students, faculty and staff who are targeted by the universitys thought police and victimized for the crime of protesting against an ongoing war crime that recalls the Nazi Holocaust.

University of Michigan students rallied on December 1, 2023 to denounce the administrations cancellation of a student government referendum on a resolution opposing Israel's genocide in Gaza.

On Sunday night, U-M Vice President for Student Life Martino Harmon sent out a campus-wide email threatening expulsion and criminal prosecution of university members who allegedly engage in threatening behavior. The email stated:

Violations of law or University policy will result in appropriate consequences, up to and including expulsion. Conduct that may violate criminal law will be referred to federal, state, or local prosecutors.

Vice President Harmon also wrote that the university had increased security patrols on and around campus, and encouraged pro-Zionist university members to report threatening behavior. The email included a url link for opponents of campus protests against the mass murder in Gaza to contact us if they see or experience something that raises concern.

The tissue-thin pretext for this open-ended attack on free speech and political expression was the claim that the previous Friday, a Michigan student had posted an Instagram message that spoke of death or worse for supporters of Israel. No further details were given.

Some social media postings indicate that the student Harmon singled out is a Palestinian student organization leader who apparently made an Instagram post after 14 of her family members had been murdered in Gaza in an Israeli bombing. The Palestinian campus group SAFE issued a statement from this student late Monday night.

With Harmons email, the university is asserting its right and its intention to retaliate against any student, faculty member or employee who violates its policy on the limits of free speecha formula for unlimited censorship and repression.

The email was sent only hours after students and others protesting the Gaza genocide held up signs and chanted slogans during a speech by U-M President Santa Ono at an official university event. It coincides with student government elections being held this week and a referendum organized by the pro-Palestinian Tahrir Coalition calling on the university to divest from corporations doing business with Israel and drop charges against dozens of students who were arrested last fall when the university mobilized campus and local police to break up a peaceful occupation of administration offices.

Last November, the university disallowed a referendum vote authorized by the student government on a resolution calling on the administration to acknowledge the genocidal character of the US/Israeli war on Gaza. After some 10,000 votes had been cast and with the anti-Gaza genocide resolution clearly headed for approval, the university announced it would not recognize the vote or release the referendum results.

It used as the pretext a provocative and false claim made by campus Zionists that leading supporters of the resolution, who were named and maligned, had misused the campus email system. President Ono later admitted these charges were false, but took no action against the Zionists doxxing of pro-Palestinian students. Instead, Ono declared that the university would not sanction any further votes on Gaza-related resolutions.

The mass opposition on campus to the US/Israeli genocide against the Palestinians is underscored by the fact that thousands have registered to vote in the referendum this week and an Instagram post of Sundays protest has been liked by over 17,000 people in less than 24 hours.

The U-M administrations hostility to the anti-genocide protests is bound up with its deep-rooted connections to American imperialism. A number of its multi-millionaire Board of Regents members are prominent operatives in the Democratic Party.

Even the subject header of Harmons emailCivility and speech amid the Israel-Hamas warreveals the pro-Zionist attitude of the university. What is taking place in Gaza is not a war in any real sense. It is a genocide, which has already taken the lives of over 30,000 Palestinians, overwhelmingly defenseless civilians and mainly women and children. Even the International Court of Justice has called Israels action probable genocide.

The U-M escalation of threats against protests is part of a global phenomenon. As with similar attacks on anti-genocide protests at Harvard, Columbia, Brandeis and other US colleges, the university is under pressure from both big business parties and the Biden administration to crush opposition. All of the imperialist and NATO governments are backing Israel and carrying out reprisals against the mass opposition to the genocide on college campuses.

The IYSSE at U-M supports the demands of the referendum for divestment from Israel and the dropping of all charges against anti-Gaza genocide protesters and calls for a yes vote. At the same time, we warn against any illusions that passage of the referendum and protests aimed at pressuring the capitalist powers-that-be can shift their policies and end genocide, war, dictatorship and all of the horrors of capitalist barbarism.

The Gaza genocide is one front in an expanding world war spearheaded by US imperialism. The US and NATO are escalating their war against Russia over Ukraine, preparing to deploy Western troops against Russia and making clear they are willing to incite nuclear war.

What is required is the building of a mass, international anti-war movement based on the working class and fighting to bring down the governments and political parties that are carrying out these crimes and establish workers governments that will put an end to capitalism, the root cause of the crisis, and replace it with socialism. This means a break with the Democrats and the two-party dictatorship of the US financial oligarchy.

The attacks on democratic rights at U-M must be opposed! The IYSSE unconditionally defends all opponents of Zionism and the Gaza genocide against reprisals or threats by the university administration. We call on all students, faculty and university workers to oppose this witch-hunt and uphold democratic rights.
US Marines with 1st Marine Aircraft Wing during a change of command ceremony in Futenma, Okinawa, Japan, Aug. 12, 2022. [Photo: US Marine Corps/Pfc. Justin J. Marty]

A prominent article in yesterdays Financial Times (FT) reported that the US and Japan are planning the biggest upgrade to their security alliance since they signed a mutual defence treaty in 1960. The strengthening of the pact in preparation for a US-led war against China is to be announced, according to the FT, when US President Joe Biden hosts Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House on April 10.

The article, which is based on multiple sources, explained that the changes will pave the way to restructure the US military command in Japan to strengthen operational planning and exercises between the nations. Currently, the Japanese military is compelled to communicate with the US Indo-Pacific Command based in Hawaii, 6,200 km away and in a time zone 19 hours behind Tokyo.

Japan is host to the largest US contingent of any country in the world outside the United States itself. Around 55,000 American personnel across all branches of the militaryArmy, Marines, Navy and Air Forceare housed on permanent bases throughout the country. The largest concentration of bases is in Okinawa where the US military occupation continued until it was only returned to Japan formally in 1972.

Japan is central to the Pentagons war planning, as the US has intensified its aggressive confrontation with China over the past decade. At the same time, Japans right-wing governments have seized on the opportunity to undermine the restrictions imposed by its post-World War II constitution on the militaryknown as the Self Defence Forcesand to rapidly expand its armed forces.

In December, the Kishida government announced the doubling of military spending and, for the first time, is openly acquiring offensive weapons, including the purchase of cruise missiles like Lockheed Martins Tomahawk and Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM). It also plans to produce its own advanced fighter jets in conjunction with the UK and Italy, in addition to the F-35 fighters being bought from the US.

The Japanese government has lined up against China not only over its own territorial disputes with Beijing in the East China Sea, but in particular with the US in provoking Beijing over the status of Taiwan. Like Washington, Tokyo has sought to undermine the One China policy, which recognises Taiwan as part of China, by boosting political ties with Taipei.

Major US military bases in Japan [Photo by Wikipedia / CC BY 3.0

In December, retired Lieutenant General Koichiro Bansho declared that should a military conflict break out with China over Taiwan, Japan would play the central role in funnelling arms to the island in a manner similar to that of Poland in the US-NATO war against Russia in Ukraine. He also advocated allowing the US military to station nuclear weapons in Japanopenly dispensing with the non-nuclear policy adopted following the US dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

Washington and Tokyo have already taken significant steps towards the preparations for war against China, overcoming longstanding hostility between Japan and South Korea to forge a real-time intelligence sharing agreement. In January 2023, Japan and the US announced a significant strengthening of their military alliance with the refashioning of a Marine Regiment into a littoral unitthat is, one described as more lethal, more agile, more capable and focussed on island warfare in the East China and South China seas.

The plans revealed by the FT for greater operational command and control by the commander of US Forces in Japan (USFJ) underscore the fact that the Pentagon is preparing for war with China in the next immediate period, not many years down the track. Conflict between major powers involving advanced weapons, including nuclear weapons, obviously requires the very closest real-time co-ordination. Complementing closer cooperation with the US, the Japanese military is also setting up a Joint Operations Command next year to improve co-ordination between the branches of its own Self-Defence Forces.

The FT cites the comments of former head of the Indo-Pacific command, Admiral Philip Davidson, making clear that the changes have been prepared well in advance. After praising Japans remilitarisation as the most positive security development in east Asia in this century, he declared: The recognition that our two nations defence strategies have converged makes improvement in our day-to-day command and control the logical next step.

Ryoichi Oriki, former chief of Japans SDF joint staff, told the FT that it was inconvenient having to co-ordinate with Indo-Pacific command in Hawaii rather than the USFJ commander, his daily counterpart. Tokyo says there is an urgent need to put a more senior US officer in Japan as it takes on a bigger regional defence role.

It sends a strong strategic signal to China and North Korea and its meaningful from the point of view of deterrence to say that the US will strengthen the command structure in Japan, Oriki explained to the FT.

The changes to the joint military pact to be formally announced next month will almost certainly provoke popular opposition. The 1960 US-Japan Security Treaty which allowed the US to establish permanent military bases in Japan provoked massive demonstrations, known as the Anpo protests or struggle.

In June 1960 as the government of Prime Minster Nobusuke Kishi prepared to ram ratification of the treaty through the Japanese parliament, hundreds of thousands of protesters surrounded the building virtually on a daily basis. Mass protests also took place around the US Embassy and the prime ministers official residence. Three one-day, nation-wide general strikes involving millions of workers also took place supported by the closure of tens of thousands of businesses in sympathy. A planned trip by US President Eisenhower to Japan was cancelled and, following the treatys ratification, Kishi resigned.

The protests reflected the widespread anti-war sentiment, particularly among workers and youth, following the end of the wartime militarist regime, of which Kishi had been a part, that brutally repressed any opposition. In 2015, large protests also took place in opposition to legislation by the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Kishis grandson and admirer, to reinterpret the constitution to allow collective self-defencethat is Japans participation in US wars of aggression.

Already embroiled in a war against Russia in Ukraine and backing Israels genocidal onslaught in Gaza, US imperialism is accelerating its war drive against China, which Washington regards as the chief threat to its global hegemony. The revamping of the US-Japan security treaty is a key component of its militarist plans in the Indo-Pacific.
As more and more information emerges implicating the US and Ukraine in Fridays terrorist attack on a Moscow concert hall, the pro-NATO media is doubling down on its propaganda narrative about the attack. According to the latest figures released by Russian authorities as of this writing, 139 people were killed in the attack; 93 are still hospitalized, and nine of them are in critical condition.

In this photo taken from video released by the Investigative Committee of Russia on Saturday, March 23, 2024, firefighter work in the burned concert hall after an attack on the building of the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia. [AP Photo/Investigative Committee of Russia]

The four suspected terrorists apprehended by Russian authorities are all immigrants from Tajikistan. They were captured on their way to the Ukrainian border in the Bryansk region. Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian secret service FSB claim that they had connections on the Ukrainian side and that their border crossing had been prepared.

On Monday, Vladimir Putin declared that Russian authorities had also concluded that Islamist radicals were involved in the attack. He said, We know by whose hands this atrocity against Russia and its people was committed. We are interested in who ordered it. He then added, 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?

The Russian state outlet Izvestiia reported on Monday that two of the terrorists had received instructions while in Turkey and that all four of them had perpetrated the attack during Ramadan, a holy month for Muslims, not out of religious fundamentalism but for money. According to Russian authorities, the four men were to receive 500,000 rubles for their attack, roughly $5,400. By Monday evening, Russian investigators also indicated that the four men had confessed for whom they were working but have not yet released the information.

Despite the strong evidence suggesting that the terrorists acted as mercenaries for an as yet unidentified third party, this has been completely ignored by the pro-NATO media. Instead, the fact that the Afghan-based Islamist terrorist organization ISIS-K has claimed responsibility for the attack on social media in a vague statement, released a few hours after news of the attack broke, has become central to the propaganda narrative.

Thus, the New York Times presented the conclusion by the French government that an Islamic State entity masterminded the attack and carried it out as evidence that seemed to contradict Mr. Putins version. Without providing any evidence that disproved the connection to Ukraine other than statements by US and Ukrainian officials and the statement by ISIS-K, the Times denounced the Russian media for stepping up efforts to pin the blame on Ukraine.

In a particularly aggressive piece, entitled Putins Ukraine obsession has blinded him to dangers at home, the Financial Times denounced Putins statements about a connection to Ukraine as evidence that the Russian President was trapped in lies and paranoia. Without even a pretense of objectivity, the FT stated, Russias assertions that Kyiv and, by extension, the US are the puppeteers behind the shooting spree are pure fantasy.

The author, Hanna Notte, is the head of the Eurasia program by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at Middlebury College, which is infamous for its cozy relationship with the CIA and military. The James Martin Center is headed by William Potter, who is a professor at the Colleges Institute of International Studies which regularly hosts CIA recruitment sessions, as well as a member of the US Council of Foreign Relations and former consultant for the RAND Corporation, a think tank with close ties to the US military.

As with all imperialist war propaganda over the war in Ukraine, the narrative spouted by the New York Times and the Financial Times relies on a complete obfuscation and distortion of facts and context. The most basic questionssuch as about the timing of the attackare not asked; essential factslike the possible connection of the terrorists in Turkeyare simply not reported and anyone who questions the official line is presented as nothing short of a lunatic. Meanwhile, any discussion of political and historical context is all but banned from the discussion.

In fact, in Germany, bourgeois journalists and representatives of think tanks that are fervently in line with the NATO war drive against Russia have pointed to evidence that completely undermines the narrative by the New York Times and the Financial Times. Tomas Avenarius, a senior foreign policy correspondent for the German Sueddeutsche Zeitung, questioned the assertation that Kievs involvement in the attack was absurd, by noting that Islamist fundamentalists from the Caucasus had been fighting on the side of Kiev against Russia in Ukraine for years.

A former German government adviser Guido Steinberg, who now works for the think tank Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP), stated in an interview with Deutschlandfunk on Saturday: In recent years, Ukraine has become a small retreat for Islamist terrorists. When ISIS was on the verge of defeat in Iraq and Syria, IS functionaries were at least discussing whether or not to send personnel to Ukraine, simply because the situation was so chaotic and the authorities were so corrupt. And there are several indications that Ukraine was used as a transit country [by ISIS] in recent months and years.

But none of them would spell out the arguably most damning and glaring fact of all: that the involvement of ISIS-K is perhaps the strongest evidence indicating direct involvement of the US in the attack.

ISIS-K, like many Islamist terrorist organizations in the Middle East, is largely the product of US imperialism. Even Hamid Karzai, the longtime head of the former US-backed puppet government in Afghanistan, stated in an interview with Voice of America in 2018,I consider Daesh [the Arabic acronym of ISIS] a tool [of the US]. I do not differentiate at all between Daesh and America. In 2021, shortly after the fall of the US puppet regime in Afghanistan amidst the US troop withdrawal, the Wall Street Journal reported that US-trained counterinsurgency units and intelligence personnel were joining ISIS-K to fight against the Taliban.

Since at least the 1980s, the US has systematically trained and armed militant Islamists, above all, in Afghanistan after its invasion by the Soviet Union. The goal of this so-called Afghan strategy, formulated by the late Zbigniew Brzezinski, was to bleed the Soviet Union white on the battlefield. At the same time, the build-up of Islamist fundamentalist forces with billions of dollars was aimed at destabilizing the Soviet Union, which was home to a large Muslim population, from within, to accelerate its break-up. This strategy had immense repercussions in Tajikistan, in particular.

Here, the Stalinist destruction of the Soviet Union and restoration of capitalism resulted in a brutal civil war in which the Islamist opposition to the Kremlin-backed government was tied to the Afghan muhajeedin. The civil war, which lasted from 1992 to 1995, left tens of thousands dead and the country devastated. Tajikistan is the poorest of all former Soviet republics. Almost half of the population lack access to clean drinking water and roughly half of the countrys GDP is being derived entirely from remittances by immigrant workers, about 1 million of them in Russia. About 7 million Tajiks live in Afghanistan, compared to almost 10 million in Tajikistan itself, and it is well established that people from across the former Soviet Central Asian republics have joined ISIS and other Islamist terrorist organizations over the past decades.

As the WSWS explained, the basic facts of the attack, as well as its broader political and historical context, all indicate that it was a provocation by US imperialism and its proxies in Ukraine. Amidst a military debacle on the battlefield in Ukraine, the attack was aimed at destabilizing the Putin regime by emboldening its opposition within the oligarchy and state apparatus and fomenting nationalist and religious strife. While the New York Times would like to have its readers forget about the experiences of the past 40 years of US wars and the imperialist fomenting of religious and ethnic tensions in the Middle East, the terror attack in Moscow in fact demonstrates that the same strategy that has devastated the Middle East and Central Asia is now being deployed to destabilize the country with the second largest nuclear arsenal in the world.

The Putin regime, itself a product of the Stalinist reaction against the October Revolution, is highly vulnerable to these operations of imperialism and has responded to the terrorist attack by fanning anti-immigrant sentiment and Russian nationalism. This underscores that the only viable path to oppose the ever-more dangerous development of the imperialist war for a new redivision of the world is the struggle for the international unification and independent mobilization of the working class.
On Monday, March 18, IG Metall union officials and works council members at the Ford Saarlouis industrial park organised another decisive step towards the closure of the manufacturing site in western Germany. They blackmailed the workforce of the supplier companies into agreeing to so-called social collective agreements.

Ford site in Saarlouis [Photo by Ford Media Center]

Markus Thal, Chairman of the Works Council at Ford, and IG Metall Volklingen set the course for this in February. With the acceptance of the social collective agreement for the Ford plant in Saarlouis, it was clear that the approximately 1,800 employees of the 11 plants in the Ford Industrial Supplier Park, or I-Park for short, no longer had a future. In the end, workers at Benteler, Tenneco, Magna, Lear and Rhenus were compelled to agree to the sell-off by a large majority. At AIS, the social collective agreement had already been agreed two weeks earlier.

To justify its decision, IG Metall writes: Those affected have recognised that the companies were not willing to relocate jobs and replacement products to Saarlouis. That is nonsense. Those affected have known for at least two years that the Ford corporation and its suppliers were determined to shut down the entire plant in Saarlouis. But the IG Metall and its works council reps have repeatedly stalled them with false promises in order to prevent industrial action against the cuts.

Ford has been in the process of closing or reorganising entire plants in Europe, the US, Brazil, Russia and India for four years in order to increase profits at the expense of the workforce. However, works council representatives and the IG Metall have done everything in their power for years to ensure that resistance to this has come to nothing.

Almost two years ago, in October 2022, the rank-and-file Ford Action Committee warned: The declared aim of the works council and IG Metall is for a social collective agreement to force the regulated closure of the plant on us. This has been fully confirmed. The union has been using attrition tactics for years, culminating in the last six-day industrial action at the supplier park.

The strike has shown that workers do not lack willingness to fight. In the first week of March, IG Metall members voted overwhelmingly in favour of an indefinite strike in a ballot at all plants. When this began on March 8, it was supported practically 100 percent of the time. For several days, rallies, demonstrations, a motorcade and several meetings were held in the largest I-Park hall.

The strike had an immediate impact on production of the Focus model, which is scheduled to continue at the Ford plant until November 2025. The suppliers produce gearboxes, axles, body parts, interior fittings and dashboards for this model. As a result of the strike at I-Park, production at the main Ford plant came to a standstill for six days.

But IG Metall did not take industrial action in defence of jobs; it was solely concerned with pushing through severance payments and determining the specifics of the decided closure. That is why it did not call on workers at the Ford plant to join in and extend the struggle, it had already urged them to accept a social collective agreement.

As they already dont want to give us any jobs or a future, wrote IG Metall chief negotiator Ralf Cavelius and Uwe Zabel from the unions central district, the only option left here is the second-best solution of a social collective agreement. They once again emphasised the unions compliant stance: If the companies dont want it, theres nothing we can do. They reduce the workforce to supplicants dependent on the mercy of the corporations.

The IG Metall works council members at Ford Saarlouis, led by Markus Thal, personify this submissive attitude. They are not willing to fight for jobs but support the company in its attacks on the workforce. First, they supported the internecine bidding competition between the Ford plants in Saarlouis and Almussafes in Spain. Then they suppressed resistance out of supposed consideration for an alleged investor that would emerge. To this day, the workforce does not know what secret agreements they made with the plant management.

The union brought in Uwe Zabel from the Frankfurt IG Metall headquarters specifically to suppress resistance in the supplier park. Zabel has a long, militant history in the union. After holding several positions in northern Germany, he is now IG Metall secretary in the Joint Development Project Network Future, with which the union aims to gain new members in companies without collective bargaining agreements.

Zabel is a master at looking left and turning right. In Saarlouis, he organised non-stop protests and strike meetings during the six days of industrial action and delivered incendiary speeches against Fordonly to ultimately work alongside plant management and the works council to ensure that workers agreed to the social collective agreements.

These agreements provide for severance payments of 1.5 gross monthly salaries per year of employment for permanent employees, as well as 12 months of continued employment in a so-called transfer company (really just an onward transmission mechanism to the unemployment lines), two years for those over 58. This means that workers with years of seniority can expect severance payments of around 100,000. At the Ford plant itself, the figure is 150,000 to 200,000. But what will happen to the temporary and agency workers? What about the many people indirectly affected in the region?

In addition, even the best severance payments cannot compensate for the loss of a permanent job. With the acceptance of the social collective agreements, only one thing is certain: the lights will go out at Ford production in Saarlouis at the end of November 2025, and what will happen to the 1,000 employees who are supposed to continue working until 2032 at the latest is written in the stars. In the crisis-ridden Saarland, almost 7,000 jobs will be destroyed within 10 years (from 2022 to 2032 at the latest) in the state capital Saarlouis alone.

The Ford Action Committee is therefore calling on workers in Saarlouis to join forces with their brothers and sisters in other threatened plants to take up the fight themselves, independently of the IG Metall. As early as 2022, it wrote: Ford will not be able to close a single plant if we unite internationally and lead the fight together.

During the vote at the Ford plant four weeks ago, on February 22, the action committee called on workers to vote against the social collective agreement and the plant closure, to express no confidence in the works council and IG Metall and to take the fight for jobs into their own hands:

A joint fight in defence of all jobs is necessary and must no longer be postponed. The claim that severance pay is a substitute for a job is false. Severance pay has never prevented a jobs massacre (...) It has always been the path to social devastation and the destruction of the future of the next generation.

This is truer than ever. An unparalleled jobs massacre is unfolding throughout the automotive and supplier industry. The causes are not just the switch to EVs, the introduction of artificial intelligence or international competition. The ruthless attack on all the gains of the working class has a deeper reason: it is part of a class war that goes hand in hand with the return to war and militarism in foreign policy.

In this situation, the struggle for jobs can no longer be left to IG Metall and the works council reps, which act as Fords executive organs and company police. The Ford Action Committee insists that every job must be defended unconditionally. It fights for the international unity of the working class to defend jobs, wages and social gains. The social interests of workers must take precedence over the profit interests of the capitalists!

We say: Draw the lessons from the Ford-Saarlouis experience and join the Ford Action Committee! All contacts will be treated confidentially. Send a Whatsapp message to +491633378340 and fill in the following form.
The budget legislation signed into law by President Joe Biden on Saturday provides the largest amount in history for US military spending. Of the $1.2 trillion appropriated to six federal departments, the Pentagon claimed more than two thirds, about $825 billion. The separate budget bill signed by Biden on March 8 for the other six federal departments includes $23.8 billion for the US nuclear weapons programs run by the Department of Energy.

The aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and the fast combat support ship USNS Supply transit the Strait of Hormuz, Dec. 14, 2023. [Photo: Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Keith Nowak]

All told, when all other monies appropriated for military-intelligence operations through other departments and agencies are tallied, the cumulative total is likely to surpass $1 trillion, although the actual figure remains secret, since much of the military-related spending on surveillance, military satellite launches, and other operations is classified.

Total US military spending, even based on the publicly available figures, dwarfs that of any possible combination of countries. The US alone accounts for 39 percent of total world military spending, equivalent to that of the next 11 countries combined. Compared to the US total of $877 billion for 2022, the last year for which comprehensive global figures are available, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimated that China spent $292 billion and Russia $86.4 billion.

Russian military spending is a fraction of the combined spending by US NATO allies, more than $300 billion, by the US Asian allies in the so-called Quad (India, Japan and Australia, $160 billion combined), and by US client states in the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, Israel, Qatar and the UAE, $130 billion combined). The combined military spending of the US and its major allies comes to well over $1.5 trillion, two-thirds of the world total, and four times that of Russia and China.

Given these figures, there is no way to assess the American military posture as anything short of a program for world war.

American imperialism has suffered a protracted historical decline in its economic position. From nearly 50 percent of world GDP at the end of the Second World War, the US fell to 40 percent by 1960 and 27 percent by 1971, when President Richard Nixon ended dollar convertibility into gold because of the rising balance of payments deficit. The US share fell to barely 15 percent of world GDP last year, with the expectation of a further decline in coming years.

But in the production of war materiel, of the weapons that can destroy human life both with pinpoint accuracy and by the millions, the United States has no peer.

This contradiction, between declining economic base and massive military buildup, explains the ferocity of American foreign policy. It is expressed in the unanimity of the two main capitalist parties, the Democrats and the Republicans, on the need to smash the growing threat of Chinawhose economy is on course to outstrip that of the United Statesand subjugate Chinas potential allies in Russia, Iran and North Korea. As far as Wall Street and Washington are concerned, they must provoke confrontation with China as soon as possible, because the fundamental trends are against them. They have no time to lose.

The incessant claims by the Biden administration and its apologists in the corporate media that the US government is averse to the use of military force, or seeks to prevent the expansion of the conflict in Ukraine or restrain Israeli genocide in Gaza, do not bear up to the slightest scrutiny.

The true savagery of US imperialism is demonstrated in one key provision of the just-passed Pentagon budget. Democrats and Republicans in Congress agreed to bar a single penny of US aid for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which feeds millions of Palestinian refugees daily, including the bulk of the 2.3 million people in Gaza. Whatever the election-year mudslinging between Biden and Donald Trump, both the Democrats and Republicans are united in supporting mass starvation as a weapon of war.

Socialist Equality Party presidential candidate Joseph Kishore declared in a posting on Twitter/X Monday:

The vote in Congress exposes the reality: The genocide in Gaza is made in Washington. It is being armed and financed by the United States and its NATO allies. It is backed by both the Democrats and Republicans. The Biden administration and the Democratic Party can never wash the blood from their hands nor cover up their culpability in mass slaughter.

Kishore concluded:

The fight against the genocide must be waged as a fight against the Democratic and Republicans parties, as a fight against the expanding imperialist war, including the US-NATO war against Russia, and as a fight against the ruling class and the capitalist system.

As the WSWS reported yesterday, the budget bill provides tens of billions for giant arms manufacturers, including Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Boeing, Raytheon and other war profiteers that manufacture warplanes, nuclear submarines, and missiles of all description.

The bill also includes $300 million for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which keeps alive the stream of Pentagon contracts for weapons shipments to Kiev, pending the expected passage of a supplemental appropriation that would add $60 billion in military and financial support for Ukraine, and $14 billion more for Israel. The bill has been blocked by congressional Republicans at the urging of Trump, but House Speaker Mike Johnson has promised to bring the legislation to a vote after Easter, with the expectation of swift bipartisan approval.

The bipartisan passage of the record military budget is an unarguable answer to all those who claim that it is possible to prevent World War III through pressure on the Democratic Party or appeals to such international agencies of imperialism as the United Nations. The only social force that has both the strength and the social imperative to oppose imperialist war is the world working class.

The WSWS and the Socialist Equality parties, the sections of the International Committee of the Fourth International, are fighting for the development of a global mass movement of the working class against imperialist war and against the capitalist system which is its cause, on the basis of an international socialist program.
On Saturday, David North presented the German edition of his book Leon Trotsky and the Struggle for Socialism in the Twenty-First Century at the Leipzig Book Fair.

With more than 150 participants, the non-fiction forum in Hall 5 had standing room only. Many took the opportunity to ask questions of the chairman of the International Editorial Board of the World Socialist Web Site and the national chairman of the Socialist Equality Party (United States).

Johannes Stern, editor of the German-language edition of the WSWS and representative of Mehring Verlag, moderated the event, which was held in German. (The video includes English subtitles.) Afterwards, Stern interviewed North in English and discussed with him the growing opposition to war in Germany.
On Monday, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution calling for a two-week ceasefire in Gaza, after the United States abstained from a vote on the resolution.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, United States Ambassador and Representative to the United Nations, votes to abstain as the United Nations Security Council passed a cease-fire resolution in Gaza during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, its first demand to halt fighting at U.N. headquarters, Monday, March 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

Biden administration officials made it clear that they allowed the resolution to pass because it is non-binding and will have no impact at all as the US continues to arm and support Israels genocide in Gaza.

The resolution declares that the Security Council demands an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan, respected by all parties, leading to a lasting sustainable ceasefire, and also demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield explained that, in the view of the US, the non-binding resolution put pressure on Hamas for the release of the first hostage. She added, what this resolution means is that a ceasefire of any duration must come with the release of hostages.

White House National Security spokesman John Kirby was even more explicit, saying, It is a non-binding resolution. So theres no impact at all on Israel and Israels ability to continue to go after Hamas.

It does not represent a change at all in our policy, Kirby added.

Asked by a reporter whether the US has no longer got Israels back, Kirby replied, Nothing could be further from the truth. Of course, we still have Israels back. I mean, as you and I are speaking, we are still providing tools and capabilities, weapons systems, so that Israel can defend itself.

He added that there is no change by this non-binding resolution in what Israel can or cannot do in terms of defending itself.

In other words, the United States will continue to provide weapons and funding for Israels ongoing genocide, which has to date left over 40,000 people dead or missing and has destroyed or damaged most buildings in the Gaza Strip.

American imperialism has been the leading global enabler of Israels genocide in Gaza, providing the Netanyahu government with weapons, funding, and diplomatic air cover.

Earlier this month, press reports revealed that the Biden administration has provided over 100 separate arms transfer packages to Israel, each falling below a minimum threshold for reporting to Congress.

The secret weapons shipments include, in the words of the Wall Street Journal, at least 23,000 precision-guided weapons, including Hellfire air-to-ground missiles, drones, and Joint Direct Attack Munition kits, which turn unguided bombs into smart bombs, as well as bunker-buster bombs.

In response to the USs failure to veto the resolution, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who was in Washington to coordinate Israels planned assault on Rafah, made it clear that Israel intends to move against the city where more than 1.5 million displaced Palestinians have been crammed together. We will operate against Hamas everywhereincluding in places where we have not yet been. He added, We have no moral right to stop the war while there are still hostages held in Gaza.

In response to the UN vote, the Netanyahu government canceled a subsequent planned meeting between Israeli cabinet members and White House representatives in Washington.

The State of Israel will not cease firing. We will destroy Hamas and continue fighting until every last hostage has come home, Israel Katz, Israels foreign minister, said in a statement on Twitter.

The same day as the vote at the UN Security Council, Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur on Palestine, issued a statement saying there is evidence to support the claim that Israels actions in Gaza fit the criteria for genocide.

Her report presents a devastating picture of the horrendous impact of the US-Israeli genocide:

After five months of military operations, Israel has destroyed Gaza. Over 30,000 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 13,000 children. Over 12,000 are presumed dead, and 71,000 injured, many with life-changing mutilations. Seventy percent of residential areas have been destroyed. Eighty percent of the whole population has been forcibly displaced. Thousands of families have lost loved ones or have been wiped out. Many could not bury and mourn their relatives, forced instead to leave their bodies decomposing in homes, in the street, or under the rubble. Thousands have been detained and systematically subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment. The incalculable collective trauma will be experienced for generations to come.

In the strongest language yet used by the UN in condemning the genocide, Albaneses report concludes that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the threshold indicating Israels commission of genocide is met. She added that Israels civilian and military leadership have attempted to legitimize genocidal violence against the Palestinian people.

Critically, Albanese pointed to the repeated statements of genocidal intent by Israeli officials. She wrote, In the latest Gaza assault, direct evidence of genocidal intent is uniquely present. Vitriolic genocidal rhetoric has painted the whole population as the enemy to be eliminated and forcibly displaced. 150 high-ranking Israeli officials with command authority have issued harrowing public statements evincing genocidal intent.

These include the declarations by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant that the population of Gaza consists of human animals and the declaration by Israeli President Isaac Herzog that an entire nation out there  is responsible for the October 7 attack, adding that Israel would break their backbone.

In the midst of these developments, Israel is preparing its planned ground offensive against Rafah with a systematic bombing campaign. On Monday, Israel bombed a house in Rafah, killing at least 15 people, including at least four children.
Julian Assange has been moved a step closer to extradition to the United States. On Tuesday, the UK High Court handed down a judgement rejecting six of the nine grounds for appeal advanced by Assanges lawyers and giving the United States government the opportunity to issue assurances invalidating the last three.

Julian Assange [Photo by David G. Silvers, Cancilleria del Ecuador / CC BY-SA 2.0

The court has given the US government three weeks to indicate that Assange is not prejudiced at trial (including sentence) by reason of his nationality, that he is afforded the same First Amendment protections as a United States citizen and that the death penalty is not imposed.

If those assurances are not given, then leave to appeal will be given and there will then be an appeal hearing. If assurances are given then the parties will have a further opportunity to make representations, and there will be a further hearing on 20 May 2024 to decide if the assurances are satisfactory, and to make a final decision on leave to appeal.

As Julians wife Stella explained outside the court, even this rotten ruling amounts to an admission that Julian has been exposed to a flagrant denial of his freedom of expression rights  and that he remains exposed to the death penalty.

Stella Assange speaking outside the UKs High Court after its ruling on Julian Assanges extradition appeal, March 26, 2024

The lower court, High Court judge Mr Justice Swift and the British Home Secretary all signed off on these abuses. And yet, Stella continued, what the courts have done has been to invite a political intervention from the United States to send a letter saying, Its all okay.

The courts proposals are a fig leaf. US prosecutors will furnish assurances as worthless as those already provided in connection with his conditions of imprisonment.

Even if they are not totally ignored once Assange is in the United States, the US government does not need to kill Assange itself; medical evidence has already established the significant risk of his suicide, and his health is in severe decline.

A formal right to First Amendment protections is meaningless in the face of national security charges and procedures, as the UK High Court makes clear in its own legal ruling.

Grounds advanced by Assanges lawyers that the UK-US Extradition Treaty bars extradition for a political offence are dismissed with reference to the Tony Blair Labour governments anti-democratic exclusion of this bar from the Extradition Act (2003).

Arguments that extradition would be contrary to Articles 6 and 7 of the European Convention on Human rights (to fair trial and to no punishment without law) are rejected based on various expressions of faith in the US legal system.

Most telling is the response to arguments asserting Assanges right to life and freedom from inhuman and degrading treatment, made in connection with the CIA plot to kidnap or assassinate him in the Ecuadorian Embassy, where he had claimed political asylum.

The judges do not refute the evidence but say there is nothing to show that the conduct in relation to the Embassy was connected to the extradition proceedings!

In an extraordinary passage, they write that the contemplation of extreme measures against the applicant (whether poisoning for example or rendition) were a response to the fear that the applicant might flee to Russia. The short answer to this, is that the rationale for such conduct is removed if the applicant is extradited.

Any suggestion that the US has not pursued Assange in good faith, says the High Court, is not arguable.

Answering the case that Assange has been prosecuted as punishment for his political opinions, the judges write, We are content  to assume that the applicant acted out of political conviction, and that his activities exposed state involvement in serious crimes. It does not follow however that the request for his extradition is made on account of his political views.

They cite in justification sworn evidence given by [US prosecutor] Mr Kromberg  He has given a detailed account of the steps that resulted in the decision to prosecute the applicant and to seek his extradition. [Assanges lawyer] Mr Summers made it clear, in terms, that the applicant does not accuse Mr Kromberg of dishonesty. That, in itself, is fatal to this aspect of the applicants case.

The largest section of the judgement deals with Assanges appeal under Article 10, the right to freedom of expression. The sole point on which the judges required additional assurances from the US government was whether Assange would be granted equivalent protections under the First Amendment. Both Kromberg and former CIA director Mike Pompeo have said openly these may be denied.

Every other argument was rejected, including protections for whistleblowers and journalists who reveal information of criminal wrongdoing, especially state crimes.

The judges write that Article 10 is a qualified not an absolute right. It is necessary to balance the public interest in publication against the legitimate aims pursued by legislation that is intended to protect national security. They cite significant harm caused to some of the human sources named in released documents, relying on unsubstantiated assertions by US officials, and harms such as loss of confidence in the State intelligence services.

The public interest served by Assanges work is met with the response that his activities did not accord with the tenets of responsible journalism, and the ludicrous assertion that the respondent [the US government] does not seek to prosecute the applicant in respect of those matters.

This absurd claim is justified on the basis that The starting point, as Mr Kromberg has explained, is that each of the publication charges (counts 15 to 17) is explicitly limited to documents that contain the names of human intelligence sources.

The fact that it was not Assange who was responsible for the initial public release of unredacted documents containing the names of US agents and informants but Guardian journalist David Leigh and other websites is brushed aside with the statement, Those who published the identities of human sources could only do so because he had provided them with the names. This did not provide the applicant with a public interest justification for publishing them too.

As to the venal role of the corporate media, to impugn Assanges lack of responsible journalism, the judges refer, as did the [District] judge, to the views expressed by the press itself, including by the Guardian, the New York Times, El Pais, Der Spiegel and Le Monde.

Tuesdays judgment makes abundantly clear that the British courts and government are intent on rendering Assange to the United States, where his life is in danger. Assanges persecutors are driven by the need to silence not only him, but all opponents of imperialist war.

The effort to extradite Assange is now being led by the Biden administration, as it escalates the US-NATO war against Russia and supports the genocide in Gaza.

In a statement posted on X/Twitter after the court ruling, Socialist Equality Party (US) presidential candidate Joseph Kishore stated that both the Democrats and Republicans support the campaign against Assange. The president changes, but Assanges fate remains.

Kishore added, It is in the working class that the fight to defend Assange must be based. The defense of democratic rights is the fight against imperialism. And the fight against imperialism is the fight against capitalism.

No purely legal block can be put on his persecution. The essential task posed before Assanges supporters is to link his defence to the mass movement emerging in opposition to these crimes. The same eruption of militarism and aggression fuelling the pursuit of Assange is simultaneously producing a mass radicalisation among workers and young people revolted by the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians and increasingly aware of the danger of a regional war in the Middle East and even a nuclear war in Europe.

It is in alliance with this social force that the campaign for Assanges freedom can be fought and won.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 27. A delegation from the Azerbaijani Parliament, led by Chairperson Sahiba Gafarova, visited Geneva for the 148th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union on March 23-25, Trend reports.

During the assembly, Sahiba Gafarova addressed the attendees and held several meetings with the heads of delegations from various foreign countries also participating in the event.

At the assembly, Azerbaijan was showcased as the host country of COP29, the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The presentation was delivered by Sevil Mikayilova, Vice-President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and a member of the Azerbaijani Parliament.

This November, Azerbaijan will host COP29. This decision was made at the COP28 plenary meeting held in Dubai on December 11 last year. Baku will become the center of the world and will receive about 70-80,000 foreign guests.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is an agreement signed at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992 to prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system. COP- the Conference of the Parties - is the highest legislative body overseeing the implementation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change. There are 198 countries that are parties to the Convention. Unless the parties agree otherwise, the COP is held annually. The first COP event took place in March 1995 in Berlin, and its secretariat is located in Bonn.
On March 17, New Zealands Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters, leader of the right-wing nationalist NZ First Party, delivered a tirade against the previous Labour Party-led government, which he ludicrously referred to as far left. He accused Labour of embracing woke cultural Marxism and race-based theory, where some peoples DNA made them somehow better than others.

Winston Peters (centre) with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro, 27 November 2023 [Photo by Doug Mountain / CC BY-ND 1.0

While the highly-publicised state of the nation speech was directed against Labour, which led the government from 2017 to 2023, Peters statements were centrally aimed at stoking animosity towards indigenous Maori, as well as immigrants. He described the current level of immigration as uncontrollable and the most awful thing to happen to New Zealand.

In his most inflammatory outburst, Peters compared the last governments co-governance arrangements, aimed at elevating the role of indigenous Maori tribes, to the racist policies of the Nazis. Peters linked the Labour Partys race-based identity politics to the racist statements by Labours ally Te Pati Maori that Maori have superior DNA. Ive seen that sort of philosophy before. I saw it in Nazi Germany, we all did, Peters declared.

The speech served to divert media attention from increasingly brutal austerity measures of the ruling coalitionthe National Party, NZ First and ACT Party. With the economy in recession and living costs soaring, the government is slashing funding for public services, including school lunches and disability services, while giving billions of dollars in tax cuts to landlords and the rich. The government intends to sack thousands of public sector workers, while private companies are also making or preparing mass layoffs.

New Zealands ruling class is deeply concerned that the social crisisfor which the Labour government and the current National-led government are equally responsibleis pushing workers to the left and fuelling hostility towards all the established political parties. The governments support for US imperialism against Russia and China, and the US-backed genocide in Gaza, is also radicalising workers and young people; outside his speaking venue in Palmerston North, Peters was confronted by a group of protesters demanding an immediate end to Israels war on Gaza.

In this context, the government is promoting xenophobia and racism in an effort to divide the working class and to steer social anger and frustration in the most reactionary directions.

NZ First was founded in 1993 with a platform based on opposition to Asian immigration. It is deeply unpopular and barely got into parliament last year with 6 percent of the votes. Despite this, NZ First and ACT (which got just 8.6 percent) are determining the far-right agenda for the coalition government, with their leaders Winston Peters and David Seymour in many ways playing a more prominent role than the National Partys Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.

Peters speech sought to exploit widespread opposition to the Labour-Greens governments identity politics. Contrary to Peters semi-coherent statements, Labours policies were not far left let alone Marxist, but were intended to benefit a small number of the elite Maori tribal capitalists while dividing the population based on race.

A particular target for NZ First is Labours policy of Maori tribal co-governance of water infrastructurethe so-called Three Waters schemewhich would have given unelected tribal representatives a say in the running of valuable water resources. As the World Socialist Web Site explained, this plan was anti-democratic, had nothing to do with strengthening infrastructure, and would have expanded the opportunities for private corporations, including those linked to the tribal elite, to profit from water.

In addition, the Labour-led government supported the creation of reserved Maori seats in local councils; created a new Maori Health Authority (now being disestablished by the National-led government); and defended the use of racial criteria to ration treatment in the public health system.

NZ First, ACT and National misrepresented these policies to imply that they gave all Maori a privileged status based on their ethnicity. In fact, the vast majority of Maori, who are about 15 percent of the population, are among the poorest sections of the working class and face lower life expectancy, worse health outcomes and discrimination in the judicial system.

Peters attempt to posture as a champion for equality is staggeringly hypocritical. He told Radio NZ on March 18: The moment you argue that someones got superior DNA to someone else, youre leading to awful racial consequences, and Im opposed to it and have been all my career I want everybody in this country, no matter whether [theyve been] here for a thousand years or here yesterday legally, to be treated the same, equally, as one people.

In fact, NZ Firsts coalition agreement with National contains blatantly chauvinist policies, including the removal of Maori names from government departments and a ban on the use of Maori language by public servants.

NZ First also has a long record of demonising immigrants, particularly those from Asia and the Middle East. In an infamous speech in July 2005 entitled The End of Tolerance, Peters said Muslim immigrants were like the mythical Hydra, a serpent underbelly with multiple heads, capable of striking at any time and in any direction.

After the March 2019 Christchurch terrorist attack, in which the fascist Brenton Tarrant killed 51 Muslims at two mosques, Peters explicitly defended his 2005 speech. In 2019 and 2020, senior NZ First member Shane Jones delivered a series of tirades against Indian immigration, claimingin a version of the racist Great Replacement theorythat they posed a threat to our identity and status because they diminished our percentage [of the population] as Maori.

Following Peters latest speech, Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins compared him to a drunk uncle at a wedding Using racism and anti-media rhetoric to divide our country.

However, NZ Firsts blatantly racist politics have not prevented the party from being included in four coalition governments over the past three decades, including Helen Clarks 20052008 Labour-led government and Jacinda Arderns 20172020 Labour-led coalition government, which also included the Greens.

In 2017, Ardern appointed Peters as both deputy prime minister and foreign minister, and NZ First member Ron Mark as defence minister. NZ First played a leading role in integrating New Zealand more closely into the US-led military build-up in the Indo-Pacific region, in preparation for war against Chinaa role that the party continues to play in the current National-led government. Labour also adopted NZ Firsts demands for greater restrictions on immigration.

Since 2020, when NZ First failed to get enough votes to return to parliament, the party has attacked Labour for overseeing a crisis in public services, including crumbling healthcare infrastructure and soaring living costs. In his latest speech, Peters pointed out that during the past six years of Labour-led governments, the number of children experiencing material hardship increased, despite Arderns false promises to reduce child poverty. Working people turned decisively against Labour, which suffered a landslide defeat in last years election.

NZ First, however, is entirely complicit in the Ardern governments anti-working class policies, including the transfer of billions of dollars to big businesses in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. NZ First is a fixture of capitalist politics in New Zealand, whose special role is to foster nationalism and militarism, and to deflect anger over deteriorating living standards onto immigrants, Maori and other minority groups including transgender people.

The divisive racial and gender politics promoted by Labour and its allies, including the Maori nationalists of Te Pati Maori and various middle class pseudo-left organisations, plays directly into the hands of NZ First and ACT. In both cases, the aim is to cover up the widening class gulf between rich and poorincluding within the Maori population itselfand to derail any unified struggle against austerity and war.

There can be no real fight against racism without a decisive political break from all the parliamentary parties, all of which uphold the capitalist system that is the root cause of social inequality, exploitation and ethnic and nationalist divisions. Working people of every background and nationality must unite, based on their shared class interests, in an international movement aimed at abolishing the profit system and establishing a socialist society.
The Wickremesinghe government, Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs) and Sri Lankan trade unions have begun discussions on the daily wage of estate workers.

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremasinghe (right) addressing a meeting of plantation heads on 8 December 2024 [Photo: Sri Lankan President Media Division]

The government has proposed a 1,700-rupee ($US5.5) daily wage, in other words a 700-rupee increase in the current below-poverty 1,000-rupee rate.

The RPCs are proposing two systems. The first is a total 1,200-rupee daily wage but tied to workers attendance. If workers fail to maintain the company-dictated attendances they will only be paid 1,000 rupees.



The second proposal is a 1,300-rupee daily wage but with higher productivity ratesi.e., if a worker plucks 20 kilos of tea leaves they will be paid an additional 65 rupees per kilo. If workers fail to meet that target, they will receive a lower salary. It is almost impossible, however, for workers to pluck 20 kilos of green tea per a daymost harvest 15 to 18 kilos. Anyone capable of reaching the 20-kilo daily target could only do so regularly during a good season.

While most of the estate trade unions are clinging to the governments wage proposal, they will impose whatever is decided.

Irrespective of the outcome of these tripartite meetings, the pay rates will not provide a living wage or address the endemic poverty afflicting these highly exploited workers.

According to official statistics, the real wages of private sector employees, including estate workers who are among the lowest daily wage earners in Sri Lanka, had declined to 82 points by mid-2023. The figure is calculated by taking 2013 as its base year and equal to 100 points.

Estate employers have also insisted they are not prepared to give any wage increase to rubber plantation workers because of reduced crops and falling revenues in the rubber industry.

In April 2021, then Sri Lanka President Gotabhaya Rajapakse announced a 1,000 rupee ($US4) daily wage via a gazette notification, in order to dissipate nationwide demands and strikes by estate workers for a higher wage.

The Planters Association (PA) initially rejected this paltry increase but later accepted it, after devising various methods, including increasing daily production targets, to avoid paying the meagre 1,000-rupee rate. If a worker failed to reach management targets, they would only be paid between 500 to 750 rupees.

Rejecting the governments current proposal for a 1,700-rupee wage, the PA claims that estate employees are receiving higher wages compared to other wage board workers and more than others working in Sri Lankas agriculture sector.

The planters also claim that the recent appreciation in the rupee against the US dollar (300 rupees to the $US1) has reduced their export earnings, that the international tea market is declining, and that wages make up 70 percent of its production costs.

The plantation unions, from their inception, have always collaborated with the government and the RPC to maintain poverty-level wages. These include the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC), National Union of Workers, Upcountry Peoples Front (UPF), Democratic Workers Congress and the Lanka Jathika Estate Workers Union, which is controlled by Wickremesinghes United National Party, as well as the All Ceylon Estate Workers Union affiliated to the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna.

A decade ago, the RPCs proposed a revenue sharing model (RSM) to increase production and boost profits. Under this model, a worker is assigned a plot of around 1,000 tea bushes and expected to use their family to maintain the plot, with the harvested tea sold to the plantation company. The company then deducts its cost of supplying manure, agricultural tools, office expenses and its own profit, with the remaining income from the tea harvest paid to the worker.

The trade unions have supported this share-cropping system which has been imposed in some estates, despite workers opposition to the highly exploitative scheme.

The estate trade unions function as an industrial police for the companies and the state, systematically colluding with them to impose poverty wages and higher workloads and helping police suppress workers opposition.

In 2020, workers at the Alton Estate, which is owned by Horana Plantations, went on strike as part of a nationwide campaign involving hundreds of thousands of plantation workers to demand a 1,000-rupee daily wage.

After a series of provocations, the Alton Estate manager falsely claimed that workers physically assaulted him. The police arrested 22 workers and two youth. The company summarily sacked 38 workers, while the court case against the 22 victimised Alton Estate workers and the two youth is still dragging on. The CWC was directly involved in the witch hunt, providing the names of workers, with the UPF and DWC conniving behind the scenes.

Sri Lankan plantation workers and their families, who suffer rampant poverty and unemployment, do not have proper health, education or housing facilities and receive no paid leave. Thousands of children and their mothers in the estates suffer from anaemia and malnutrition.

While the trade union leaders are in discussions with the government and the companies, they have not called any mass meetings or provided any avenue for workers to raise their own demands.

World Socialist Web Site reporters recently spoke with estate workers about their wages and social conditions.

A worker stands outside line rooms at Brunswick Estate tea plantation in Sri Lanka

Krishnan (43), a plantation worker from Brunswick Estate in Maskeliya, said that management have eliminated workers retirement benefit scheme and transformed them into casual workers. Thirteen workers, including myself, were removed from the register, she said.

Because our wage is not even enough to provide for adequate food, many workers take a month or two leave in order to go and work in Colombo in the expectation of earning some income, Kolisamma added.

She explained that if they were delayed from returning from Colombo by a few days management removed them from the register and then asked them to join as new and temporary workers. When we appeal to the trade unions to help us in this regard, they blame us and justify managements actions, Kolisamma said.

Referring to the new wage proposals, she said it was nowhere near enough to compensate for the rising cost of living. There are five people in my family and in order to get enough nutritious food we need at least 2,000 rupees per day. And if we want to be able to pay for medical treatment and our childrens education, we want 3,000 rupees per day, she said.

Madasamy Muththumalai (50), from the same estate, explained the brutal working conditions.

We work for 10 hours per day without any rest break and 30 days a month, including Sundays, to try and meet our daily needs. Because of this female estate workers are getting very thin and look like sick people, he said.

Referring to the revenue-sharing model, which has already been partially introduced at his estate, he said: The people working there [under this scheme] are considered as temporary workers. They dont have holidays or other benefits.

We have stopped buying milk powder because it is too expensive. Its difficult to buy it and other essentials on the 10,000-rupees per month I receive after all the deductions from my wage. My wife is working in Colombo and gets 30,000 rupees a month. She sends us 20,000 rupees and without that, we cannot even manage our minimum expenses.

Muththumalai condemned the Ceylon Electricity Board management for its witch-hunt and suspension of 62 workers for protesting against the governments privatisation of the state-owned enterprise. This is an attack on the democratic rights of the workers. The same things are also happening in the plantations, he said.

Estate workers must reject any wage proposal negotiated in the tripartite talks between the government, the plantation bosses and the trade unions and advance their own independent demand for higher wages and improved conditions.

Estate workers are not responsible for the crisis of the government or boosting the profits of the companies. The Plantation Workers Action Committee proposes the following demands:

*A guaranteed monthly wage indexed to the cost of living and a decent pension.

*Line rooms must be abolished and all workers provided with decent homes with full facilities.

*Paid leave similar to other industry sectors.

*Guaranteed high-quality health and education facilities.

To organise a united struggle for these demands requires the establishment of democratically-elected workers action committees in every estate independent of all capitalist parties and the trade unions, and in unity with their class brothers and sisters in Sri Lanka and internationally.

This fight must be part of a common struggle with other workers fighting the Wickremesinghe governments IMF-dictated austerity measures and in the struggle for a workers and peasants government to implement socialist policies, including nationalisation of the plantations, the banks and other major capitalist corporations.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 26. Azerbaijan is eager to engage in talks with China regarding COP29 issues, said Hikmet Hajiyev, Head of the Foreign Policy Department of the Presidential Administration, in an interview with Global Times, Trend reports.

"Azerbaijan is open to dialogue and engagement with all parties on the fundamental issues of the COP29. The People's Republic of China is one of the leading countries in the world. Therefore, having initial consultations and discussions to understand China's position in the negotiation process is crucially important for us," he said.

Hajiyev pointed out that China is a leader in green technology and Azerbaijan, as a good friend, appreciates the progress China has made in a short period of time in achieving important goals related to green transition and technologies.

"Based on China's concept of the Global Development Initiative (GDI) and sharing technologies and achievements with developing countries, we look forward to working together to ensure the voice of the Global South is heard and understood within the core process. These are the initial areas in which we want to collaborate with our Chinese partners and other partners as well," the official said.

He also noted that hosting COP29 in Azerbaijan and receiving support from the international community once again demonstrates the respect and confidence that the international community has for Azerbaijan.

"Assuming the chairmanship and effectively hosting COP29 is a significant achievement and a particular deliverable for Azerbaijan. It presents both a challenge and an opportunity for the country," Hajiyev added.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 26. Currently, certain projects are being agreed upon within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation for the development of innovation and the startup ecosystem, Chairwoman of the Board of the Innovation and Digital Development Agency (IRIA), operating under the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport (MDDT), Inara Valiyeva told Trend.

"Numerous meetings have taken place as part of the memorandum discussions. Presently, we're in the process of finalizing specific projects for collaborative efforts. Some of these projects, currently under negotiation, will be unveiled shortly. The progress made is noteworthy, signaling the establishment of an open dialogue platform. Clear priorities have been established among all participating organizations. Once the projects are approved, we'll announce them and commence their implementation," she said.

"PASHA Holding," SOCAR, SABAH.lab, the Center for Analysis and Coordination of the IV Industrial Revolution (4SIM), and the Education Development Fund under the Ministry of Science and Education signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation for the development of innovation and startup ecosystems in Azerbaijan.
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, March 26. Shell has paid tax totaling $208.4 million to the government of Kazakhstan in 2023, Trend reports.

According to Shell's report, the tax was paid for oil and gas production at Kazakhstan's Karachaganak field.

Shell, through its subsidiary business BG Karachaganak Limited, and Italian corporation Eni jointly operate the Karachaganak oil and gas condensate field. Karachaganak Petroleum Operating b.v. (KPO) is developing the field through a joint venture (participation shares: Shell - 29.25 percent, Eni - 29.25 percent, Chevron - 18 percent, LukOil - 13.5 percent, KazMunayGas - 10 percent).

The Karachaganak field was discovered in 1979 and is one of the world's largest oil and gas condensate fields. It is located in northwestern Kazakhstan and covers an area of more than 280 square kilometers. Its initial on-balance hydrocarbon reserves are expected to be 9 billion barrels of condensate and 48 trillion cubic feet of gas, with cumulative reserves exceeding 2.4 billion barrels of condensate and 16 trillion cubic feet of gas. Industrial production started in 1984.

Meanwhile, Shell strengthened its position as one of the biggest foreign investors in Kazakhstan by contributing more than $18 billion to the country's economy.

On March 18, the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Oljas Bektenov has held a meeting with the Executive Vice President of Shell, Peter Costello, to discuss the status of their collaborative projects in the oil and gas industry.

It was noted that maintaining oil and condensate output at a level of at least 11 million tons annually is the top objective, according to the Karachaganak expansion project. In order to do this, the involved parties will guarantee the prompt commissioning of extra compressors for raw gas reinjection.

Concurrently, the question of building a 4 billion cubic meter per year gas processing plant in Karachaganak at the expense of the shareholders is being discussed in order to guarantee the project's complete operation.
For the fifth consecutive year, Australias recorded music industry posted growth in 2023  all thanks to streaming and Aussies love of wax.

According to wholesale data published by ARIA, the nations record market lifted by 10.9% to A$676 million ($442 million), powered by subscriptions to music streaming brands.

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That rate of growth for Australia, a top 10 market, the IFPI confirms in its newly-published Global Music Report, is in line with international trends.

Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Tidal, and the full slate of subscription platforms now generate 69% of the industrys total value, or $467.6 million ($305 million), up by 13.9% year-on-year, reports ARIA, the labels trade association.

Also reporting gains for 2023 is the space for ad-supported streaming models, up 15.3% jump to $68.3 million ($44 million).

All digital products combined, including downloads and video streams, account for a sum upwards of A$616.1 million ($403 million), a 12% year-on-year lift. In other words, more than 90 cents in the record industrys dollar is generated by digital.

Vinyl albums are an ongoing sweet spot, posting gains of 14.1% to A$42.1 million ($27 million), a sum more than twice that of the dwindling market for CD albums (A$17 million or $11 million, down 16%), for decades the record industrys diesel engine. The rate of growth for vinyl, however, appears to be slowing.

An overall strong market report is masking a problem that Australias music community is trying desperately to crack  how to break more homegrown in Australia and abroad?

Where the IFPIs GMR is flush with case studies on the success of Afrobeats, Latin music, K-pop, and blockbuster acts from North America and the U.K., acts from the land Down Under arent stealing the limelight.

While Australia remains the 10th largest music market in the world  and Aussies clearly love music, comments ARIA CEO Annabelle Herd, it remains harder than ever for our local artists to reach these audiences.

ARIAs end-of-year charts paint a clear picture of this, notes Herd, with only four Australian albums impacting the top 100 for 2023, led by INXS hits collection The Very Best (at No. 58), and three singles, none of which were released during the reporting period. The best-placed Australian artist on the year-end singles tally was The Kid Laroi with his 2021 Justin Bieber collaboration, Stay.

Achieving cut-through becomes increasingly difficult for artists as the growth rate of subscription and ad supported streaming models continues to increase year on year, notes Herd, while nearly all other growth rates have eased compared to 2022.

The Albanese federal government listened to the industrys dilemmas, and, in 2023, activated Creative Australia, the centerpiece of the federal National Cultural Policy, Revive, which its architects hope will turn Australia into a music powerhouse.

Among the governments promises is the launch of Music Australia, a reimagined national music development agency that would support and invest in the development of Australian contemporary music, and now led by founding director Millie Millgate. The Music Australia Council, effectively the Music Australia board, includes legendary concert promoter Michael Chugg and Future Classics founder and CEO Nathan McLay.

The governments National Cultural Policy is an ambitious year-long action plan, structured around five interconnected pillars and underpinned by a commitment for new, additional investment totaling A$286 million (US$202 million)  record levels of arts funding. Music Australia alone is funded to the tune of A$69 million ($44 million) over four years.

We are fortunate that compared to other major global markets, our growth rates paint a favorable picture for the future of music in Australia, adds Herd. Music is valuable, it is popular and it is growing. We look forward to working with the industry and government to ensure that message is heard and that value is increasingly used to support our incredible local talent.

Read more here.





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Bavaria Fictions documentary unit, founded in March 2022, has been spun off as a separate brand called Icon Docs. The unit produces both films and series for cinema, TV and streamers.

In addition to in-house and commissioned productions, national and international co-productions are set to be increasingly produced in the future. Icon Docs is headed by Emanuel Rotstein, who will continue to report to Marcus Ammon, managing director content at Bavaria Fiction.



Ammon said: In recent years, the demand for factual programming has increased worldwide. We have therefore established Ion Docs as an independent label in the German and international market with our documentary team centered around the renowned leadership of Emanuel Rotstein.



Rotstein said: Icon Docs stands for state-of-the-art projects with a distinctive high production and news value. We want to move people, shake them up and build bridges between cultures. With a clear focus on current, political and investigative topics, biographies and contemporary history, we create sophisticated content that deserves the attention of a broad, global audience.



Icon Docs current productions include the true-crime documentary Car Park Murder  Who Killed Charlotte Bohringer? for Sky and the biopic Ultra-Orthodox: Rabbi Akivas Journey to Freedom for ZDF and 3sat.

More from Variety

Projects in development include Hitler in Hollywood (working title), which examines the complex relationship between Hollywood and Nazi Germany in the 1930s, and The Park  New Yorks Revolutionary Heart (working title), a documentary about Washington Square Park reflecting its history as a place of change, resistance and the search for identity  as well as an arena in the fight for freedom and equality, which takes on a particular poignancy in the light of the forthcoming U.S. presidential election, Bavaria Fiction said.



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Oscar winner Cuba Gooding Jr. has been named as a co-defendant in a lawsuit brought against embattled hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs.

The lawsuit, which was brought in February by Diddy's "Love Album" producer Rodney "Lil Rod" Jones, was amended Monday to list Gooding as a defendant, as well as to include a declaration from former Motown Records chief executive Ethiopia Habtemariam about technical license agreements and to insert additional evidence to the RICO and sex-trafficking section of the lawsuit, Jones' lawyer Tyrone Blackburn confirmed Tuesday in an e-mail to The Times.

Read more: Diddy's 'Love' producer Lil Rod accuses him and associates of sexual assault, illicit behavior

The second amended complaint was filed Monday, the same day that Homeland Security Investigations conducted bicoastal raids on mansions owned by Combs in Holmby Hills and Miami. Federal agents conducted the searches as part of an inquiry into sex trafficking allegations involving the hip-hop mogul and entrepreneur, law enforcement sources said. Aaron Dyer, an attorney for Combs, on Tuesday called the raid an "unprecedented ambush" that "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." Dyer added that Combs cooperated with authorities, "is innocent and will continue to fight every single day to clear his name."

Blackburn, Jones' attorney, said he has not been contacted by federal authorities regarding the Homeland Security investigation.

"Defendant Cuba Gooding, Jr. was a relevant actor who has fallen from grace due to several sexual assault lawsuits and a recent guilty plea for sexual assault," said the complaint, which was obtained Tuesday by The Times. In it, Blackburn noted that his client  a Chicago-born producer, who produced nine songs on Diddys 2023 album  believed Combs "was grooming him to pass him off to his friends" and that "fear became reality" when Combs introduced him to Gooding on his yacht in January 2023.

Jones accused Gooding of fondling his "legs, upper inner thighs near his groin, the small of his back near his buttocks, and his shoulders," which made the producer "extremely uncomfortable." Although he allegedly rejected the actor's advances, Gooding "did not stop until Mr. Jones forcibly pushed him away."

"As the owner of the property, Mr. Combs had a duty to protect Mr. Jones from the harm he suffered at the hands of Cuba Gooding Jr. Mr. Combs breached his duty when he failed to stop Cuba Gooding Jr from sexually assaulting Mr. Jones," the complaint said. "In furtherance of this breach, Mr. Combs encouraged Cuba Gooding Jr to continue his assault on Mr. Jones when he said that Cuba Gooding Jr should privately get to know Mr. Jones better. Mr. Jones has suffered immensely because of Mr. Combs's intentional breach of his duty to him."

Representatives for Gooding did not immediately respond Tuesday to The Times' request for comment.

Read more: Sean 'Diddy' Combs faces sweeping sex-trafficking inquiry: What the feds have, need to prove

Gooding, 56, who has separately pleaded guilty to forcible touching and settled a rape lawsuit last year., was mentioned in Jones' initial lawsuit  filed in U.S District Court for the Southern District of New York  with Jones alleging that he was sexually harassed and assaulted by the "Jerry Maguire" star.

The "American Horror Story" actor joins a list of co-defendants in the $30-million lawsuit that includes Combs, his son Justin Dior Combs, Universal Music Group chief executive Lucian Charles Grainge, UMG, former Motown Records executive Habtemariam and Motown Records, Love Records, Combs Global Enterprises, ABC Corporations, Diddys chief of staff Kristina KK Khorram and several John and Jane Does. That network of alleged involvement, Jones said, amounts to a violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).

In the 105-page complaint, Blackburn said that Jones life has been detrimentally impacted ever since he agreed to produce the album in August 2022. Jones alleged that he was under an implied work-for-hire agreement with Combs and lived with the recording giant for months at a time in Combs homes in Los Angeles, New York City and Miami, as well as several weeks on a yacht rented by Combs in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Jones, describing himself as a heterosexual Christian man, alleged in the lawsuit that he was the victim of constant unsolicited and unauthorized groping and touching of his anus by Mr. Combs and was uncomfortable with Mr. Combs advances." He expressed his complaints to Khorram, who allegedly told him you know, Sean will be Sean in response, the document said. Blackburn described Khorram as the Ghislaine Maxwell to Sean Combs Jeffrey Epstein.

Multi-instrumentalist Jones said that he had secured irrefutable evidence of illicit activity, including Combs providing laced alcoholic beverages to minors and sex workers at his homes and the rappers acquisition, use and distribution of ecstasy, cocaine, GHB, ketamine, marijuana and mushrooms, as well as displaying and distribution of unregistered illegal firearms. He also alleged that Combs gave him "strict instructions to inform the police that [Combs] had nothing to do with" a shooting at Chalice Recording Studio in Los Angeles on Sept. 12, 2022, even though Jones believed otherwise.

Jones also alleged that he was sexually assaulted by a cousin or assistant of rapper Yung Miami, who has dated Diddy and claimed that he obtained footage of a rapper and an R&B singer (whose names have been redacted from the complaint) consorting with underage girls and sex workers.

Read more: Sean 'Diddy' Combs sexual harassment suit includes notable music industry names

Britain's Prince Harry was also mentioned in the complaint, as he had been when it was originally filed last month. Although no allegation of wrongdoing on his part was made, the prince was referred to in a section about why Grainge "ignored the numerous red flags about Mr. Combs ... to receive financial benefits from Mr. Combs and his sex trafficking venture." (Sex abuse and sex trafficking claims have dogged Combs over the past year, beginning with a November lawsuit brought by ex-girlfriend Casandra "Cassie" Ventura that was filed and settled within days.)

"Before Cassie Ventura's lawsuit was filed, Mr. Combs was a popular and highly influential figure in the music industry to whom everyone wanted to connect. Mr. Combs was known for throwing the 'best' parties. Affiliation with and/or general business partnerships with Mr. Combs garnered legitimacy, immense success, and access to top and emerging artists, celebrities, famous athletes, political figures, musicians, and international dignitaries like British Royal and Prince Harry."

Grainge, the complaint said, "knew first-hand the power, influence, and effect attaching themselves to Mr. Combs would have on their bottom-line and, as evidenced by their repeated general business partnership agreements ... profited from their affiliation with Mr. Combs and their general business partnership, which came with unmonitored financing that may have supported his sex-trafficking enterprise."

In a Tuesday statement to The Times, an attorney for Universal Music Group and Grainge characterized Jones' complaint as "offensively reckless" and said Grainge has been "improperly dragged into this matter despite having no knowledge of, nor any involvement in, any of Mr. Combs alleged conduct."

"Further, after we advised Plaintiffs counsel of the offensive falsity of the absurd claims, instead of dismissing the claims, as they should have done, the plaintiff has now attempted to amend his claims against Sir Lucian, removing the original set of outrageous falsehoods related to Sir Lucian, replacing them with wholly contradictory new falsehoods that are equally absurd," said Donald S. Zakarin of Los Angeles-based firm Pryor Cashman LLP. "Not only will we demonstrate the offensive falsity of these claims, but we will seek recovery of every penny of cost and damage caused by their assertion."

Times staff writer Richard Winton contributed to this report.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, March 26. Kazakhstan and Cyprus have signed a memorandum of understanding to establish direct flights, Trend reports.

The document was signed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, Murat Nurtleou, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cyprus, Constantinos Kombos.

The memorandum of understanding authorizes each party's designated carriers to conduct up to seven flights each week. Multiple carrier assignments on either side are also available.

In accordance with the memorandum, Kazakhstan's airlines have the right to operate flights to cities in the territory of the Republic of Cyprus - Larnaca and Paphos while Cypriot airlines to cities in the territory of Kazakhstan - Astana and Almaty.

As the Ministry of Transport of Kazakhstan noted, the memorandum of understanding will strengthen economic, business, and tourism cooperation between the two countries.

As Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said late last year, Cyprus intends to open an embassy in Astana, Kazakhstan, in 2024 to enhance bilateral cooperation.
The restaurant scene in Nashville, Tennessee, is gaining another metro Detroit brand.

A second location of downtown Detroit's upscale Experience Zuzu from Birmingham-based Elia Group will open in Nashville later this year, according to a Tuesday news release.

The rumors are true, said Zaid Elia, founder and CEO of the Elia Group in a news release. Experience Zuzu is going to be the newest concept in the Nashville market this year, and we know were bringing something to this dynamic city that is new and compelling. "

Experience Zuzu is known as an Asian-fusion eatery providing an overall swanky dining experience. It's also known for its Upstairs Bar with a luxury cocktail lounge and club atmosphere. Downtown at 511 Woodward Ave., Experience Zuzu made its debut last August.

More: A look inside sexy new downtown restaurant Experience Zuzu

More: Detroit restaurants toy with an old idea: Does sex sell when it comes to dining out?

Opening in Nashville, the Elia Group said the eatery "aims to become a must-visit addition to Nashville's vibrant culinary and nightlife scene" while providing a club and lounge vibe equal to concepts found in Miami or Las Vegas.

The Elia Group operates several dining establishments in metro Detroit, including Parc at Campus Martius, Anchor Bar in downtown Detroit, and 220 Merrill in Birmingham. Beach party-themed BrisaBar, also at Campus Martius, is a seasonal offering operated by the group in partnership with the Downtown Detroit Partnership.

Last summer, the Joe Vicari Restaurant Group, well known for its Andiamo and Joe Muer Seafood locations, opened a location in downtown Nashville. In announcing the new Joe Muer outpost at that time, Joe Vicari said they had considered expanding the brand outside of Michigan and he had taken notice of Nashville's growth. Joe Muer Seafood in downtown Nashville is a 12,000-square-foot space with a menu of seafood, aged meats, sushi, and an extensive wine list.

Contact Detroit Free Press food and restaurant writer Susan Selasky and send food and restaurant news and tips to: sselasky@freepress.com. Follow @SusanMariecooks on Twitter. Subscribe to the Free Press.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit's Experience Zuzu restaurant to open Nashville location
Patrycja Siarek faces several charges including criminal negligence causing bodily harm and failing to prevent a dog from biting or attacking

Toronto Police Service Patrycja Siarek

A child was hospitalized in critical condition after they were attacked by an unleashed dog at a playground, authorities said.

On Saturday morning, police responded to Little Norway Park in Toronto, Ontario, on a report of an animal complaint, the Toronto Police Service said in a press release.

Police said a woman, later identified as 38-year-old Patrycja Siarek, was near the playground with an unleashed dog when a father and child also approached the area.

Soon after, the dog charged toward the child through an open gate, according to police. The animal then bit and dragged the child to the ground.

Police claimed Siarek and the child's father attempted to remove the dog from the child, but when the animal let go, she allegedly fled the scene with it.

The next day, police executed a search warrant at a location in the area, where Siarek was arrested. She faces several charges including criminal negligence causing bodily harm and failing to prevent a dog from biting or attacking, according to police.

Police said in a previous press release asking for the publics help in identifying Siarek that the child was taken to hospital with serious, life-altering, but non-life threatening injuries.

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According to police, the dog has been seized by Toronto Animal Services.

While Siarek was expected in court on Monday, its unclear if she has entered a plea or retained an attorney to speak on her behalf.



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Curious about where to watch Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler online? Youve come to the right place. Our favorite spiky-haired warriors are back in action for another epic throwdown in the 1992 movie Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler. This sci-fi martial arts film picks up right where the previous movie left off, with a presumed-dead villain returning to settle a fiery score.

Heres how you can watch and stream Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler via streaming services such as Crunchyroll.

Is Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler available to watch via streaming?

Yes, Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler is available to watch via streaming on Crunchyroll.

Remember Cooler, Friezas arrogant older brother who got blasted to oblivion by Goku on Namek? Well, turns out that advanced tech can do wonders for a vengeful alien overlord. Cooler rebuilds himself, sporting a sleek metallic makeover, and sets his sights on Earth for a rematch with Goku. But wait, theres a twist! Cooler discovers Namek has been brought back to life with the Dragon Balls, which throws a major wrench in his plans. Namek, after all, was the source of his power-boosting Big Gete Star.

Fueled by fury, Cooler leads a robot army to conquer the reborn Namek. Meanwhile, our heroes  Goku, Piccolo, Vegeta, and the gang, get a distress call from Dende, the new Namekian guardian. Its time to hop on spaceships and save the day (again). As the narrative unfolds, an epic clash ensues on Namek, with the Z-Fighters facing off against Coolers metallic minions. Just when things look grim, Goku arrives, fresh from his Other World training. Super Saiyan hair blazing, Goku engages Cooler in a fierce battle that pushes both warriors to their limits.

This film is directed by Daisuke Nishio. The film features Masako Nozawa as Son Goku / Son Gohan (voice), Toshio Furukawa as Piccolo (voice), Ryou Horikawa as Vegeta (voice), and Ryusei Nakao as Metal Cooler (voice).

Watch Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler streaming via Crunchyroll

Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler is available to watch on Crunchyroll. Crunchyroll, under Sonys wing, isnt just about the biggest anime blockbusters from Japan. They dive deep into the treasures of East Asian animation, offering up lesser-known gems and films from all corners of the region. So, if youre a die-hard anime fan or just starting your exploration, Crunchyroll has a library to keep you entertained for ages.

You can watch via Crunchyroll by following these steps:

Go to CrunchyRoll.com Choose your payment plan: $7.99 per month (Fan)

$9.99 per month (Mega Fan)

$14.99 per month (Ultimate Fan) Enter your personal information and select Create Account

The Crunchyroll Fan plan lets users stream the services entire library ad-free, watch new episodes shortly after they air in Japan, and read digital manga.

The Mega Fan plan offers the same service but also lets users stream on up to four devices at a time, allows offline viewing, and provides a $15 discount off $100+ purchases in the Crunchyroll Store every three months.

The Ultimate Fan plan offers all of the above on up to six devices at once, $25 off Crunchyroll Store purchases over $100 every three months, free shipping on all purchases, and an exclusive swag bag after 12 months of subscribing.

Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Coolers synopsis is as follows:

Cooler has resurrected himself as a robot and is enslaving the people of New Namek. Goku and the gang must help.

NOTE: The streaming services listed above are subject to change. The information provided was correct at the time of writing.

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The First Ladys childrens book, Willow the White House Cat, will hit shelves this June

Courtesy of Jill Biden; Courtesy of Simon & Schuster Jill Biden and the cover of 'Willow the White House Cat'

Dr. Jill Biden is writing a new book about a close feline friend.



The First Lady, 72, announced that she will be publishing the childrens book, Willow the White House Cat, this summer. The book is cowritten with award-winning childrens author Alyssa Satin Capucilli and illustrated by Kate Berube, and will be published by Paula Wiseman Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Childrens Publishing.



The book follows Willow, the Biden familys tabby cat, and her adjustment to living in the White House after she was adopted from a farm in Pennsylvania. Willow soon discovers that there is much to explore in her new home in D.C., and new people to meet at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. as well.

Courtesy of Simon & Schuster The cover of 'Willow the White House Cat'

As Willow bounds from room to room, exploring history in her new home, she learns quickly about all of the incredible people who make the Peoples House run, Biden said in a statement shared with PEOPLE.



They welcomed Willow with love and care, just as they did Joe and me, the First Families who came before us, and all of the people who step foot into this home, she continued. Making many new friends along the way, Willows journey gives the world a cats-eye view of all the ins and outs of Americas most famous address.

Related: Willow, the Biden Family's Pet Cat, Celebrates Her First White House Christmas

Willow first joined the Biden family in January 2022, and is named after Jill Bidens hometown of Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. The pair first meet during a campaign stop in the state in 2020, when Willow jumped onto the stage where the First Lady was speaking.

Erin Scott/The White House via AP Willow the cat

Biden is the bestselling author of books for young readers, including Dont Forget, God Bless Our Troops and Joey: The Story of Joe Biden.



Now, Willow the White House Cat sees the family's furriest member in the spotlight.

Related: Willow the Cat Tours White House Decorations With Jill Biden: 'It's Amazing'

First Lady Jill Biden has created a heartwarming picture book with Willow the White House Cat, Jon Anderson, President and Publisher of Simon & Schuster Childrens Publishing, said in a statement. Readers young and old will enjoy this fun glimpse into Willows life in the White House, and the message that being open to new friendships can sometimes surprise you, is one that is sure to resonate with families everywhere.

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.



Willow the White House Cat will be published in June 2024.



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Sherri Papini was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison in September 2022 for lying about being the victim of a violent abduction in November 2016

AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli Sherri Papini

Sherri Papini, the California mom who claimed to have been abducted at gunpoint but later admitted it was a hoax, still owes more than $300,000 in restitution.

On March 24, the United States Attorneys Office filed an application for a writ of garnishment in federal court against Papini, stating that "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.

According to the federal filing, prosecutors are seeking to recover $309,292.23 plus a 10 percent litigation surcharge of $30, 929, which amounts to a total of $340, 221.23.

"Sherri Papini appreciates the significance of her financial obligations to the Court and to the Government and will continue to meet said obligations as she has promised, her criminal attorney William Portanova tells PEOPLE in an email. Nothing has changed."

The writ of garnishment was also filed against the law firm that is representing Papini in her divorce from her husband Keith Papini.

Upon information and belief, Debtor [Papini] has a substantial nonexempt interest in property, that is in the possession, custody, or control of Garnishee [law firm], states the filing.

Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani says hes not surprised that prosecutors are aggressively seeking compensation.

There was a significant waste of government resources as a result, and she got money from the California State Victims' Compensation Fund, he tells PEOPLE. It's pretty egregious behavior. And I'm not surprised the U.S. Attorney's Office is aggressively going after her to make sure that this restitution order is paid.

Courtesy Keith Papini Sherri and Keith Papini

Related: What's Next for Sherri Papini?

Papinis case made headlines in 2016 when she claimed to have been the victim of an abduction while she was out on a morning jog from her Redding, Calif., home on Nov. 2. Authorities and family looked for her for weeks before she was spotted by a passing motorist in northern Yolo County, about 150 miles south of Redding.

Papini told authorities she was abducted at gunpoint by two Hispanic women whom she alleged had tortured her, branded her and kept her chained in a bedroom for more than three weeks.

Related: Sherri Papini Leaves Halfway House, Finishes Incarceration 8 Months Early After Faking Kidnapping

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.

But after investigating her alleged kidnapping, detectives discovered that Papini made up the incident and had been hiding out with an ex-boyfriend in Southern California.

In 2022, she pleaded guilty to mail fraud and making false statements and was sentenced to 18 months in prison, followed by 36 months of supervised release, on Sept. 19, 2022. She was also ordered to pay $309,902 in restitution to the California Victim Compensation Board, the Social Security Administration, the Shasta County Sheriffs Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for losses incurred because of her lies.

During her sentencing, Papini said she was "deeply ashamed" of her behavior and "sorry for the pain I've caused my family, my friends, all the good people who needlessly suffered I will work the rest of my life to make amends for what I have done."

She was released last October  eight months early in her 18-month prison sentence.

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Several years ago, Springfield High School English teacher Lydia Negele dusted off Edgar Lee Masters' "Spoon River Anthology." Literally.

"I was back in the bookroom and there was a very dusty, old, yellow stack of (the books which) had been taught in the 1940s, 50s, 60s," Negele said. "I wasn't familiar with it, but I'm a huge fan of teaching the classics.

"Currently, in our department, in our district, there's more of a push for kids to read modern stuff that is more relevant to them, that (kids) can see themselves in. I think the classics can do that, especially if the teacher works hard to make those connections."

Did she ever.

Board of Directors for the Edgar Lee Masters Memorial Museum, left to right, Treasurer Terri Treacy, President Kathy Olesen, and Secretary Jane Stephenson, sit at Edgar Lee Masters' desk Monday, March 18, 2024.

Negele soon found her sophomores and junior jostling over some very contemporary issues within the pages of Masters' 1915 masterpiece, a compilation of some 200 or so short, free-verse epitaphs spoken from the cemetery of the fictional town of Spoon River, some based on real people he knew growing up in Petersburg and Lewistown.

"It was by far better than I had anticipated," said Negele of the students' reception to the poems. "They were so into it. I had only planned on teaching like 20 of them, but they asked to keep going."

In his poetry, Masters called Petersburg his "heart's home."

Fundraiser will contribute to boyhood home of Edgar Lee Masters

The board of directors that operates the Masters museum that was once his boyhood home is having a dinner and auction fundraiser at Indian Creek Farmstead on April 6.

Edgar Lee Masters' granddaughter, Catherine Masters, a visual artist who lives in Maine, will be the guest speaker.

President Kathy Olesen said the board doesn't receive any funding except through donations. It has to pay the monthly bills and upkeep on the home, which is owned by the city. Money raised through "Party with a Poet" will most likely go towards replacing the home's wood shingle roof.

More: US senators urge Biden to create national monument to honor Springfield philanthropist

This summer, the board is starting a Chautauqua series with speakers and music at First and Third Wine Bar and Boutique in Petersburg on the third Sunday from May through September.

The July 21 speaker is Western Illinois University professor John Hallwas, who edited and wrote an introduction to annotated edition of "Spoon River Anthology."

Edgar Lee Masters

In 2016, the home and museum donated about 300 manuscripts and letters, unpublished poetry, photographs and other works to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. One of the largest collections of Masters' work for scholars is at the University of Texas at Austin.

Catherine Masters is making her first trip back to central Illinois since the coronavirus pandemic.

Although her grandfather died before she was born, Masters said she is gratified there are those who is still celebrate the poet's work, though readers grapple with some weighty issues, like murder, alcoholism, rejection and isolation, in "Spoon River Anthology."

"There's something in me that gets great joy," Masters said, "that this poetry, that is about people's lives and what lies beneath the surface, is still so interesting to people and it's because that is all of us. It's not just those people he wrote about. It's everybody.

"(There are serious issues but) there are a few who talk about enjoying life and grabbing onto it. It's still relevant today."

Phil Funkenbusch has directed "Spoon River Anthology" several times. With the Masters' family's permission, Funkenbusch adapted a musical based on poems Masters wrote later in life, works that were more pastoral and nostalgic about his one-time home.

"I always wanted to do 'Spoon River' because it's our roots. It's local. It's here," he said. "These people were real people."

Edgar Lee Masters, who grew up in Petersburg and Lewistown, wrote more than 40 books of poetry and prose, those he is best remembered for his 1915 sensation 'Spoon River Anthology.' Prairie Archives, on the Old State Capitol Plaza, has several Masters titles for sale.

Finding meaning in 'Spoon River Anthology'

With her students, Negele said she didn't shy away "from the darker, controversial stories that hit you in the gut." Pointedly frank conversations came up in the class, she said, around adoption and bullying, for instance.

Also appealing to students, she said, was that Masters wasn't preachy and they had to play a bit of detective to understand what the characters were saying.

"It's magic what happens with this book, and I think it's because the kids have to find it," Negele said. "There's no answer key to it."

The Edgar Lee Masters Home and Museum is located at Eighth and Jackson streets in Petersburg. Its hours of operation are 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday and Saturday or by appointment.

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; sspearie@sj-r.com; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Supporters of Edgar Lee Masters holding Petersburg fundraiser
NewJeans will double-up this summer with a pair of single album releases as the follow-up to their Jan. 2023 single album OMG. The single albums (which are akin to EPs), will drop on May 24 and June 21, with the first, How Sweet, slated to feature the title track, as well as Bubble Gum and instrumental versions of both songs.

The second, the Japanese single album Supernatural, will mark the bands official debut in Japan and feature the title track along with Right Now and two instrumental tracks. Bubble Gum will debut in Japan ahead of the mini-albums release when it is featured in a commercial and in a TV program next month. Similarly, Right Now will be pre-released as a commercial song in Japan and South Korea in May according to a press release announcing the projects.

More from Billboard

To celebrate their Japanese debut, the group comprised of members MINJI, HANNI, DANIELLE, HAERIN and HYEIN will host a two-day fanmeet concert, <Bunnies Camp 2024 Tokyo Dome> on June 26-27.

Earlier this month NewJeans received the Group of the Year Award at the 2024 Billboard Women in Music event celebrating their impressive chart feats in 2023. Last year the group scored entries on 10 Billboard charts, including the Billboard Hot 100, Billboard 200 and Billboard Global 200. Most impressively, they scored five entries on the Billboard Hot 100, led by Super Shy (No. 48), along with other entries including OMG (No. 74), ETA (No. 81), Ditto (No. 82) and Cool With You (No. 93).

Check out the Bunnies Camp promo posters below.

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A member of the Qatari royal family invested roughly $50 million in conservative news site Newsmax while Donald Trump was in office, The Washington Post reported Tuesday, citing documents and representatives for the media company and the royal family.

At the time, Qatar  a key US ally in the Middle East  was targeted with a diplomatic and economic blockade led by Saudi Arabia and the Unied Arab Emirates, which accused the tiny country of supporting terrorist groups across the Middle East, the Post said.

Qatar had counted on its relationship with the United States for protection, but President Donald Trump initially sided with its regional rivals, the Post reported. Citing two Newsmax employees, the report said that before and after the investment, the outlet urged staff to soften its on-air coverage of Qatar.

We were not allowed to criticize Qatar, one of the staffers told The Post. We were told very clearly from the top down, no touching this.

Newsmax did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

The reporting relied on documents from a trove of roughly 100,000 leaked files from Genesis Trust, a Cayman Islands-based financial services provider, which were obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and reviewed by The Post.

The investment in Christopher Ruddys Newsmax, which was founded in 2014, came in 2019 and 2020. from Sheikh Sultan bin Jassim Al Thani, a former Qatari government official and the owner of a London-based investment fund, Heritage Advisors, the Post reported. A representative for Heritage said the money was put down because Al Thani saw potential for profit, and was not acting on behalf his government.

A spokesman for Ruddy denied to The Post that he ever told any staffers not to criticize Qatar, and claimed the outlet has published numerous critical items about the country.

But among the Genesis Trust documents are forms that proposed the corporate structure would be set up with the intention of benefiting the State of Qatar,' The Post reported. Papers also designated Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al Thani, the younger brother of the ruler of Qatar and vice chairman of the countrys sovereign wealth fund, as the option beneficiary, a term for a person who would take control of the structure under certain circumstances.

Sultan and Mohammed are both members of Qatars vast royal family.

The Heritage representative told the Post the structure never had that option beneficiary and was not set up with the goal of benefiting Qatar, claiming never to have seen the documents. Representatives of the entities involved also said that the forms contained an error made without Sultans knowledge and resulted from estate planning discussions about who would make decisions regarding investments in the event of Sultans death.

We operate independently of any government and make investment decisions based exclusively on our goal of creating value, a Heritage representative told The Post. Where we invest in media, we have no editorial or management control. Any suggestion that our investments are driven by ulterior motives is simply false.

Newsmax, which was vocal in support of Trump during his administration, is facing a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems over its amplification of the former presidents lies over the results of the 2020 election. The suit is set to go to trial in late September.

The post Newsmax $50 Million Investment From Qatari Royals Came With Instructions: Soften Its On-Air Coverage of U.S. Ally | Report appeared first on TheWrap.
Sanctified is a western, thriller, action movie set in the 1890s North Dakota. It follows a hardened outlaw who is closer to death than redemption. A God-fearing nun is on a mission of her own. She finds him and offers a bargain. An unlikely bond grows between them, forcing them to face their pasts and question their paths.

Heres how you can watch and stream Sanctified via streaming services such as Amazon Prime Video.

Is Sanctified available to watch via streaming?

Yes, Sanctified is available to watch via streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

A known outlaw who is desperate to get away finds himself abandoned for dead in 1890 while traveling over the vacant plains of North Dakota. A nun with her secret mission accidentally crosses paths with him. A woman of faith and a hardened criminal must now become companions as they travel the dangerous Badlands; their journey will force them to face their inner demons and change the course of their own lives.

Sanctified cast consists of Daniel Bielinski playing the role of Weston, the outlaw and

Tiffany Cornwell as Hildegard, a nun with a hidden agenda. Other cast members include Andrew E. Wheeler, Carl Swanson, Chelsey Grant, and Allan Demaray.

Watch Sanctified streaming via Amazon Prime Video

Sanctified is available to watch on Amazon Prime Video.

Amazon Prime Video offering an extensive range of content to watch, is a streaming platform owned by Amazon. Some notable series available are Judy Justice, Red Queen, and Tracker. Another noteworthy feature of Amazon Prime Video is the option for offline watching.

You can watch via Amazon Prime Video by following these steps:

Go to Amazon Prime Video Select Sign in and Create your Amazon account Sign up for a Prime Video membership: $8.99 per month for a standalone Prime Video membership

Amazon Prime is the online retailers paid service that provides fast shipping and exclusive sales on products, so the membership that includes both this service and Prime Video is the companys most popular offering. However, you can also opt to subscribe to Prime Video separately.

Sanctified synopsis is as follows:

An outlaw is rescued from death by a nun who is traveling through the Badlands. She nurses him back to health in exchange for him guiding her to a Church in Williston. A deep friendship develops between these two unlikely people as they learn to work together to survive their dangerous journey.

NOTE: The streaming services listed above are subject to change. The information provided was correct at the time of writing.

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The post Sanctified Streaming: Watch & Stream Online via Amazon Prime Video appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More.
A day after federal agents and local police in Los Angeles and Miami raided the homes of Sean Diddy Combs, the much-accused hip hip mogul is attacking those claiming he sexually assaulted them and law enforcement.

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, said Combs defense lawyer Aaron Dyer on Tuesday as whispers swirled about what happened on March 25 and why. 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.

More from Deadline

Read the full statement from Combs lawyer Aaron Dyer below.

Already facing a series of lawsuits alleging sexual assault, (including with a minor) and sex trafficking, Combs was further accused of wide spread abuse and misconduct in February in a $30 million federal suit by Rodney Jones Jr., AKA Lil Rod, one of the producers of his latest album The Love Album: Off The Grid. On March 25, the same day the feds were in Combs homes, Jones complaint was amended to add Cuba Gooding Jr as a defendant along with Combs and various music execs. Previously the Jerry Maguire Oscar winner, who has been accused of sexual assault independently before, had merely been mentioned in the suit in relation to alleged misconduct of his own against Jones

The floodgates opened late last year when ex-girlfriend Cassandra Ventura filed an explicit action against Combs detailing years of alleged sexual, emotional, and physical abuse. Combs settled that case confidentially in less than 24 hours with what was estimated to be multimillion-dollar check to Ventura.

RELATED: Sex Trafficking & Gang Rape Claims Leveled Against Sean Combs By Teen; All About Quick Payday Says Producer/Rapper

Then the feds swarmed Combs homes, taking everything to a whole new level.

Earlier today, Homeland Security Investigations 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, a spokesperson for Homeland Security said on March 26 as federal agents were still in Combs residences on the coordinated raids on both coasts. We will provide further information as it becomes available.

RELATED: Sean Combs Steps Back From Revolt Media Amid Sexual Assault Lawsuits

While there has been no official confirmation so far that Combs is the direct target of a criminal probe, the fact that Brendan Paul, an associate of the producers named in one lawsuit, was arrested today in Florida probably isnt a good sign. Additionally, a law enforcement source with knowledge of the matter told Deadline yesterday that Combs is at the center of their actions on Tuesday. The US Attorneys office in the Southern District of New York working on the matter as well, with a possible criminal case being put together.

RELATED: Sean Diddy Combs & Cassie Resolve Rape Case One Day After It Was Filed

After the raids on Monday, there was speculation that Combs had fled the country because his private jet was tracked on its way to the Caribbean. However, according to sources on both sides of this issues, the Ill Be Missing You performer is still in America.

Here is the full statement from Combs lawyer, Aaron Dyer:

Yesterday, there was a gross overuse of military-level force as search warrants were executed at Mr. Combs residences. There is no excuse for the excessive show of force and hostility exhibited by authorities or the way his children and employees were treated. Mr. Combs was never detained but spoke to and cooperated with authorities. Despite media speculation, neither Mr. Combs nor any of his family members have been arrested nor has their ability to travel been restricted in any way. 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. 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.

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EU opens investigations into three American tech giants

Xinhua) 08:43, March 26, 2024

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.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
Batelco, part of the Beyon Group, and Nokia, the market leader in 5G private wireless networks, have partnered to deliver 5G private solutions across Bahrain. The agreement was signed by Maitham Abdulla, CEO Batelco and Mahmoud El-Banna, Head of Enterprise Campus Edge Business, MEA at Nokia.

Batelco is expanding its services beyond the current 5G public network by introducing 5G private wireless network solutions to cater specifically to mission-critical industries such as oil and gas, power and electricity, manufacturing and ports.

Batelco ensures that these sectors can benefit from excellent connectivity performance coupled with a highly secured network.

Mission-critical industries

Batelco will leverage Nokias cutting-edge technologies such as Digital Automation Cloud (DAC) and Modular Private Wireless (MPW), along with advanced devices, to fuel the digital transformation journey of mission-critical industries. This deployment marks a significant milestone in the realm of wireless technology, empowering key industries with high-performing networks that will allow them to unlock new levels of productivity and efficiency.

Abdulla said: "'Through this partnership, we have harnessed the full potential of our market expertise while leveraging Nokia's unparalleled global experience. The result is the introduction of powerful private wireless networks to Bahrain's mission-critical industries. 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.

El-Banna said: As the market leader in 5G private wireless networks, we are proud to partner with Batelco and bring the best-in-class solutions to support current and future network usage in Bahrain. This partnership will pave the way for mission-critical sectors to utilise industrial grade private networks as an enabler for digital transformation and progress towards performance goals.--TradeArabia News Service
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, March 26. The Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan has denied information about the sale of the country's oil refineries to Russian companies, said Energy Minister Almassadam Satkaliyev during a briefing, Trend reports.

"Nobody applied to the Ministry of Energy for approval of such transactions. Therefore, I agree with KazMunayGas (Kazakhstan's national oil and gas company) opinion that it is premature to talk about any commercial transactions. In general, in Kazakhstan, there are already refineries that are 50/50 owned by KMG and CNPC; in particular, this is the Shymkent Oil Refinery in the south of the country, where there are private mini-refineries. From the point of view of the Ministry of Energy, what is important here is not so much the form of ownership as management efficiency, implementation of investment programs, and stable operation," the minister said.

Meanwhile, information about the sale of the Atyrau Oil Refinery to Lukoil and the Pavlodar Oil Refinery to Gazprom was spread on social networks.

Furthermore, the Shymkent Oil Refinery has temporarily ceased operations. The plant's operations were suspended due to the start of repair work.
Netflix announced Brent would joins the cast after Berk's exit following what he described as a "situation" with France

Amy Sussman/Getty; Gilbert Flores/Variety/Getty

Tan France can't wait to see how Jeremiah Brent fits in with the Queer Eye cast!

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, the British-American fashion designer, 40, was happy to discuss how season 9 of the hit Netflix makeover series will be really interesting with the casting change.

Brent was announced as the show's new interior design pro in February, replacing Bobby Berk, who announced he would leave the show after season eight in November  the only member from the reboot to do so. France insisted that its nothing the Fab Five cant handle.

Its going to be really interesting to see how this dynamic is with a new cast member," he told PEOPLE at the launch of Citi's Citi Shop. "However we all know [Jeremiah], we all love him, so were feeling really confident about this season. I think its going to be fab,

Jamie McCarthy/WireImage Tan France

As the host of HGTV's Nate & Jeremiah by Design and Nate and Jeremiah Design, Project in which he stars alongside husband Nate Berkus, Brent, 39, is no stranger to makeover shows.



Hes the best, France tells PEOPLE of Queer Eyes new costar. Love him so much. Were so excited about him. We havent all had a chance to get together, but we will next week, and Im really excited.



According to the Naturally Tan author, when filming begins in like a week, it will be the cast's  which also includes Karamo Brown, Antoni Porowski and Jonathan Van Ness  first time getting a chance to be all together since Berks exit.

In a wide-ranging interview with Vanity Fair published in January, Berk, 42, addressed rumors that there were ongoing issues between him and France.



Dia Dipasupil/Getty; Amanda Edwards/Getty Jeremiah Brent (left) and Bobby Berk

Tan and I had a moment. There was a situation, and thats between Tan and I, and it has nothing to do with the show. It was something personal that had been brewing  and nothing romantic, just to clarify that, Berk said at the time.

We became like siblings  and siblings are always going to fight.



After Rolling Stone published a story that included accusations that France and Porowski campaigned to have Brent replace Berk, according to three unnamed sources, the fashion expert spoke out about the situation on Instagram.

Yes Ive heard whats going on and I just want to address one point, real quick, France said in an Instagram Ree. My former colleague getting fired had nothing to do with me trying to get my friend hired. Netflix, the production companies, did a full on casting. I didnt pop my friend up for the job.

Brent was, according to France, chosen because hes the best person for the job."

Gavin Bond/Netflix The original cast of "Queer Eye," including Bobby Berk

The Queer Eye cast are looking forward to heading to Las Vegas after spending the past two seasons in New Orleans, France told PEOPLE, and not just for the sake of the new "heroes" they'll be helping.

We were there for a long time," he shared. "But were always somewhere hot and humid, so at least this is somewhere hot and not humid this time, itll be so nice."



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Read the original article on People.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Tuesday -- a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled the delegation to the United States that was going to discuss plans for an operation in Rafah.

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."

MORE: White House 'disappointed' Israel canceled delegation to discuss Rafah after UN cease-fire vote

In brief remarks ahead of their meeting at the Pentagon on Tuesday, Austin said in his strongest terms yet that humanitarian considerations, such as the 1.5 million Palestinian civilians currently sheltering in Rafah and the acute threat of famine, must be confronted amid the war in Gaza.

"In Gaza today, the number of civilian casualties is far too high and the amount of humanitarian aid is far too low. Gaza is suffering a humanitarian catastrophe and the situation is getting even worse," Austin said ahead of a meeting with Gallant, who was at the Pentagon after meetings at the White House and State Department on Monday.

PHOTO: Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant speaks during a meeting with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon, on March 26, 2024, in Arlington, Virginia. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Austin raised humanitarian priorities as Israel plans an offensive in Rafah, a city in the south of Gaza bordering Egypt, a campaign Netanyahu has said is needed to root out Hamas. The White House has said Biden has "deep concerns" Israel will not do enough to prevent civilian casualties as it goes after Hamas fighters in the city.

The Israeli military said that it plans to direct many of the displaced Palestinians living in Rafah toward "humanitarian islands" in the center of the territory ahead of any invasion.

Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist group, waged an attack on Israel on Oct. 7, which has led to months of conflict.

In the Gaza Strip, more than 31,000 people have been killed by Israeli forces since Oct. 7, according to Gaza's Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health. In Israel, at least 1,200 people have been killed by Hamas and other Palestinian militants since Oct. 7, according to Israeli officials.

MORE: Famine is 'imminent' in northern Gaza, with many facing 'catastrophic' levels of hunger: Report

"We continue to share the goal of seeing Hamas defeated, so we'll discuss alternative approaches to target Hamas elements," Austin said, adding that there would be a discussion about "how we can dramatically and urgently ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza."

Gallant did not mention humanitarian conditions or "alternative" military approaches in Gaza or Rafah, but previewed a discussion on continued U.S.-Israeli security cooperation.

"Today, we will discuss the developments in Gaza and the means to achieve our goals: the destruction of Hamas organization and bringing back the Israeli hostages back home," Gallant said.

PHOTO: U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin speaks during a meeting with Israeli Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant at the Pentagon, on March 26, 2024, in Arlington, Virginia. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Austin reiterated that the United States is an ally to Israel, saying that "we continue to share the goal of seeing Hamas defeated."

"Our security bond is unshakeable. The United States is Israel's closest friend, and that won't change," Austin said.

MORE: UN Security Council adopts Gaza cease-fire resolution

Yet Austin's characterization of the situation on the ground as a "catastrophe" is a more direct assessment than the Pentagon has previously offered -- as the Biden administration continues to warn of dire humanitarian consequences in the Gaza Strip.

After the U.S. changed course by foregoing a veto at the Security Council, the State Department said during Secretary Antony Blinken's meeting with Gallant on Monday, Blinken "reiterated opposition to a major ground operation in Rafah."

While Austin did not express public opposition to a military campaign in Rafah, in addition to his call for security "alternatives," he appealed for stepped-up humanitarian measures -- beyond aid corridors by the sea that the Pentagon is spearheading.

"We need immediate increases and assistance to avert famine, and our work to open a temporary humanitarian corridor by sea will help, but the key is still expanding aid deliveries by land," he said.

A report out earlier this month found that famine is "imminent" in northern Gaza amid ongoing high levels of food insecurity on the Gaza Strip as the Israel-Hamas war rages on.

President Joe Biden recently announced an "emergency" military mission to construct a port in the Mediterranean Sea on Gaza's coast to get humanitarian aid in.

A senior defense official said the port's main feature will be a temporary pier that will "provide the capacity for hundreds of additional truckloads of assistance each day."

Austin to Israeli defense minister: 'Civilian casualties [are] far too high' in Gaza originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Editors Note: Design for Impact is a series spotlighting architectural solutions for communities displaced by the climate crisis, natural disasters and other humanitarian emergencies.

With its soft gray lines and sleek, curving exterior, Project Hive looks less like a school and more like a wellness retreat or modern art museum.

The structures distinctive appearance, with a texture resembling a cocoon or the structures namesake beehive, is down to the construction method used to build it: 3D printing.

Standing less than 200 feet from School No.23 in Lviv, Ukraine, the walls of the 3,983-square-foot educational facility were printed in just 40 hours with a COBOD gantry printer, which follows digital blueprints to lay concrete like piping icing onto a cake.

Its the first 3D-printed education center in Europe and the first building to be 3D-printed in a war zone, according to Jean-Christophe Bonis, founder of Team4UA, the non-profit responsible for the pilot project.

Im not a builder; I dont want to be an architect or a developer But through robotics and AI, through technology, we can accelerate the (building) process, Bonis told CNN in a video interview.

Soon after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, places like Lviv faced a huge problem: how to cope with tens of thousands of people fleeing to  and through  the city. In the Lviv region alone, there were 173,000 internally displaced people as of December last year, according to the latest figures from the United Nations International Organization for Migration.

Project Hive will provide the school with four extra classrooms to help it accommodate additional students displaced by the war, said Bonis. He hopes that, if successful, the project will enable 3D printing to be one of the tools of local construction in Ukraine.

Project Hive employed a gantry-style COBOD printer to layer a concrete mixture with a nozzle. - Team4UA

Blackouts and bombings

3D-printed construction can be significantly faster and, some experts believe, more sustainable than traditional building methods.

Team4UA collaborated with Ukrainian studio Balbek Bureau on the schools design, and architecture firm Ars Longa on the engineering. The single-story project broke ground in September 2022, and the entire project, from foundations to finishings, was originally expected to take just three months.

But Russian air strikes and bombing across the country through October and November 2022 hit major civilian infrastructure, including the power grid, causing widespread blackouts in Lviv. With local communities turning to power generators, Project Hive was paused while electricity supply became unstable and conditions made it unsafe for the printer to be delivered.

It wasnt until last summer that the situation stabilized in Lviv and the power supply was fully restored, finally allowing the printer to be delivered. Although it took less than two days, cumulatively, to print the buildings concrete frame, Team4UA spread this across six weeks so it could deliver training and development sessions on site.

After revising its opening date to January 2024, the project hit another roadblock: funding. Construction costs in Ukraine have risen sharply in the past year, and to complete the final finishing work, such as roofing, windows, doors and interior design, project organizers say they need to raise another $400,000.

Im facing challenges on a daily basis, said Bonis. But he continues undeterred: (This) is also a way of taking technology to give back hope.

A model of the 3D-printed school showing the four new classrooms. - Team4UA

A costly option

As a relatively new technology, and with limited data on the resulting buildings safety and stability, 3D-printed construction has predominately been used for one-off projects or research collaborations.

Dutch architecture firm DUS has been experimenting with 3D-printed houses since 2015, and Texas-based construction firm ICON has 3D-printed entire communities in Austin, Texas and Nacajuca, Mexico. In 2020, the Dubai Future Foundation became the worlds first 3D-printed commercial building, and in 2021, the worlds first 3D-printed school was completed in Malawi, with the walls laid in just 18 hours.

However, when it comes to large-scale construction, the technology is still in its infancy, said Christian Lange, an associate architecture professor at Hong Kong University, where he oversees the Robotic Fabrication Lab.

Lange is skeptical about the benefits of using 3D printing to build in regions with ongoing conflict or disruption.

While technology has the potential to be cheaper than conventional building methods, the up-front costs of the printers can be extremely high, and their size can make them difficult and costly to move.

According to Lange, there are cheaper, faster alternatives to 3D printing, such as prefabricated and modular buildings. Made using parts that are constructed in factories and quickly assembled on site, prefabs were popular in the early 20th century, when they were used to rebuild after World War II and provide cheap housing for displaced people.

Temporary shelter doesnt need to be permanent shelter, said Lange in a phone interview. Where 3D printing is really great is when you have special geometries and shapes, because youre totally free  the robot or the machine doesnt care if you build a straight wall or a curved wall.

But in Ukraine, where many technicians, construction workers and industry experts are fighting on the front lines, automation may help counter labor shortages, said Olga Gavura, managing partner at 7CI Group, a contractor on Project Hive.

The fact this technology helps to build with a smaller number of specialists is a significant advantage, said Gavura, adding that just four experts were required for the construction phase of Project Hive.

As Russian airstrikes continue to devastate the nations infrastructure  2024 has already seen multiple attacks targeting cities, including Lviv, killing civilians and destroying homes  Gavura believes that, for the number of structures needing to be rebuilt, 3D printing will become essential.

She believes pilots like Project Hive can not only test construction processes but will help train a generation of Ukrainian specialists who can apply the technology, on their own, in future, she added.

The concrete walls were built, layer by layer, in just 40 hours. Construction was spread out over the course of six weeks to allow for training sessions on how to use the equipment. - Team4UA

Reconstructing communities

Team4UA is not the only organization to see the potential of 3D-printed construction in disaster and conflict zones.

Arizona-based construction company Diamond Age is currently in discussion with Ukrainian officials about printing bomb shelters and military infrastructure, said the firms CEO Jack Oslan.

Diamond Age uses a patented 3D printing system that, it claims, insulates the buildings walls. Oslan said his companys structures are 30% more energy efficient than those made from lumber frames and are strong enough to withstand a Category 5 hurricane or moderate earthquake.

Its this climate resiliency that gives us the perfect platform to transition into military and humanitarian applications, he said, adding that automation could help reduce casualities when building in war zones: There (will) be fewer people in harms way, which we think is important.

Damage to Ukrainian infrastructure between Russias full-scale invasion and September 2023  including homes, schools, energy grids and transport networks  will cost an estimated $151.2 billion to replace, according to a study by the Kyiv School of Economics. Researchers found that over 3,500 educational facilities were among the buildings damaged or destroyed, along with over 160,000 homes.

Oslan sees huge opportunity for 3D printing to help begin rebuilding the nation. We would expect that anything we deliver to Ukraine today to build military or humanitarian structures would ultimately transition into the building of homes, for the reconstruction of (the countrys) communities, he added.

Once completed, the educational facility will leave some concrete walls exposed with others clad in wood, shown in this digital rendering. - balbek bureau

A vision for this country

Back in Lviv, theres more excitement around Project Hive than one might expect for a primary school building, according to Bonis.

When Im on the site, I have children coming to me with their parents and telling me in Ukrainian, I will be in this school, Im so excited, my school is unique in the country, he said.

In an email to CNN, the head of Lviv City Councils education department, Andriy Zakaliuk, said the project offered a unique opportunity to custom-build an environment for young students.

It is symbolic that they will begin their new stage of life in a new, modern environment, said Zakaliuk. Now these children have the opportunity to see that, with the help of a 3D printer, you can build real buildings.

While he awaits yet another revised opening date for the new school building, Bonis is already planning two more ambitious 3D printing projects  a bridge in Kherson, and an eight-story building in the center of Kyiv.

Team4UA hopes these pilot schemes can help it increase its speed and efficiency while cutting costs for future projects. Bonis is meanwhile establishing a private company that will purchase two 3D printers to offer printing as a service in Ukraine, with profits helping to support Team4UAs humanitarian aid work.

Its not only a concept of printing a school  its a vision for this country, said Bonis. This war will be over sooner or later. At that moment, we need to get back to life, to build back and turn the page.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Continuing a flush year of releases for the models 35th anniversary, the Air Jordan 4 is set to drop in early April with a brand new colorway.

Although it doesnt follow the same naming scheme, the Air Jordan 4 Vivid Sulfur can be seen as a successor to the popular Thunder and Lightning colorways. Bright yellow serves as the common link between all three sneakers, but its used far more sparingly than on the sneakers that released in 2023 and 2021, respectively.

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All of the uppers leather is rendered in white, while black is used for the base of the netted window, wing, heel counter and mudguard. The shoes namesake color then forms a portion of the midsole and outsole, as well as the shoes interior, Jumpman logos and signature multi-holed lace eyelets.

The Air Jordan 4 Bred Reimagined released in February as one of the biggest sneaker drops of the year so far, swapping nubuck for premium leather in one of the models original colorways. A Metalic Gold iteration exclusive to women also launched earlier in March, while the forthcoming return of Industrial Blue, formerly known as Military Blue, will be another highly anticipated release.

The Air Jordan 4 Vivid Sulfur will release April 6 through the Snkrs app and select third-party retailers. Pricing is set at $210, and sizing is exclusive to women.

Air Jordan 4 Vivd Sulfur

Air Jordan 4 Vivd Sulfur

Air Jordan 4 Vivd Sulfur

Air Jordan 4 Vivd Sulfur

About the Author:

Ian Servantes is a Senior Trending News Editor for Footwear News specializing in sneaker coverage. Hes previously reported on streetwear and sneakers at Input and Highsnobiety after beginning his career on the pop culture beat. He subscribes to the idea that ball is life and doesnt fuss over his kicks getting dirty.

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PARIS  Allies of Skin, the Singapore-based skin care brand, has raised $20 million from Meaningful Partners.

The funds will be used to accelerate Allies of Skins U.S. push, online and offline, including more marketing, research and development, and team-building there.

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Nicolas Travis launched the science-led brand in 2016 with three products. The 1A All-Day Mask was the hero of the trio, which stemmed from Travis belief in double masking and combination treatments.

The line has grown since and today includes a full skin care range, with formulas containing clinically proven actives  such as retinoids, vitamin C and antioxidants  in high concentrations and biocompatible formulas to repair regenerate and train skin to perform at its best in minimum steps, according to Allies of Skin.

Inclusivity and mental health are important elements of the brands ethos. It donates profits yearly to related nonprofits and aims to support clients on their path to well-being.

Nicolas Travis

The company in a statement named the constellation of celebrities who use the brand: Kaia Gerber, Behati Prinsloo, Rose Byrne, January Jones, Phoebe Dynever and Henry Golding, the latter of whom was an early investor in Allies of Skin.

The brand is now sold in 36 countries through 40 retailers, including Space NK, Mecca, Sephora, Dermstore and Cult Beauty. Altogether it is present in more than 800 doors. Allies of Skin is also sold online through allies.shop.

Building on Allies of Skins success abroad, Meaningful Partners is committed to supporting the brands exponential growth across their existing markets and within the U.S., Allies of Skin said in the statement.

After earning a fanatical customer base through their supercharged formulations and cutting-edge new product development, we look forward to supporting the company alongside our talented bench of beauty operating expertmembers as they continue to focus on the expansive U.S. market, said Jake Capps, managing partner at Meaningful Partners. With a lineup of clinically backed new product launches, operational excellence and a strong team, Allies of Skin is positioned for success in the U.S. during this exciting next phase of growth.

Meaningful Partners is based in Los Angeles. It invests $10 million to $50 million-plus in consumer products and services businesses that focus on purpose as well as profit, according to Allies of Skin. These are lower-middle market and high-growth companies in which it takes a minority or majority stake.

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The British Columbia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BC SPCA) in Canada is working on raising funds to temporarily house and care for nearly 300 cats rescued from an overwhelmed owner.

Reports say the owner of the 298 cats  among them 15 pregnant felines  called the BC SPCA to report that he could no longer bear the burden of caring for all the cats.

Animal welfare helps rehome abandoned cats adopted by Canadian man

According to The Guardian, Bruce Robinson took in dozens of abandoned cats during the pandemic. As years went by, the feline population grew with every litter born. After losing his job, it became quite challenging for him to care for and provide for the cats, saying they required about 28 kg of cat food daily.

Robinson shared that he adopted the cats because he wanted to give them a safe home. Unfortunately, it reached a point where he sometimes had to forgo his own meals to afford food for his many felines.

I made a bad decision Robinson stated. I thought I could handle the cats.

Luckily, the BC SPCA came to his aid and helped remove the cats from his home. Eileen Drever, a BC SPCA official, acknowledged Robinsons predicament, stating: You know, he had a huge heart, and he was caring for them. Continuing, Drever added: They just kept multiplying. One cat can have three litters in a year.

Drever expressed amazement at how social the cats were and the fact that they all seemed to be in good condition, despite the challenges that Robinson faced.

Now, the animal welfare charity is trying to raise funds to purchase the necessary supplies, pay for vet bills, and find a space where they can keep the cats in the meantime. The goal is to eventually put the felines up for adoption. But before this happens, each cat has to undergo evaluation by a veterinarian. They also have to be vaccinated and spayed or neutered.

The post Almost 300 Cats Rehomed From Overwhelmed Man in Canada appeared first on CatTime.
Birkenstock is traveling back in time to when New York was the epicenter of experimentation for its 1774 collection. Inspired by the city in the 1970s and '80s, the Spring/Summer 2024 line would've undoubtedly lined the floors of artists as the functional designs arrive in a rich color palette, effortlessly marrying practicality with creativity.

The collection is comprised of the classic Birkenstock Boston clog and the new 222 West, which combines the Arizona two-strap sandal and aforementioned Boston. The expertly crafted shoes are painted in a decadent "Carafe," verdant "Moss Green," a glowing "Kurkuma," alongside a timeless black shade. A matching buckle results in a seamless and sophisticated aesthetic. Joining the Boston and 222 West designs are the Arizona, Florida, Milano and Tokio, which are outfitted in supple Berlin leather and dipped in suede iterations of the core colorways.

Take a look at Birkenstock's 1774 collection in the gallery above. The range is available to shop on the brand's online store.
Imagine jumping on a train in southwestern China, traveling some 2,000 miles and arriving in Singapore  less than 30 hours later.

Thats the scenario China is envisioning for Southeast Asia as part of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a vast overseas infrastructure development program that launched more than a decade ago.

In 2021, the semi-high-speed Laos-China Railway opened to passengers, connecting the southwestern Chinese commercial hub of Kunming to the Laotian capital of Vientiane  a roughly 10-hour journey spanning some 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) that officials claim has boosted numbers of overland Chinese travelers while greatly benefiting local vendors and businesses in the tiny land-locked country.

Also with Chinas help, Southeast Asias first bullet train began operating in Indonesia in October 2023 following years of setbacks and delays, connecting the capital Jakarta with Bandung in West Java, one of the countrys biggest cities and a significant arts and cultural hub.

Meanwhile, a second high-speed rail project is underway in Thailand, which aims to connect the Laos-China Railway with Bangkok  but is now facing further delays and mounting construction costs. Launching in phases, the Thai government currently expects the full line to be operational by 2028. The Chinese government has not detailed a timeline.

The project, seen by some analysts as a fiscal trap, has been a source of heated debate and scrutiny in Thailand, with the government agreeing to shoulder the full construction cost of $5 billion (179 billion baht) for the first building phase, reported Reuters. The Chinese side will be responsible for installing systems, design, and procurement of trains.

And when that line is finally complete, the plan is to expand into northern Malaysia, where it will connect to the capital Kuala Lumpur before finally ending 350 kilometers (218 miles) down south in Singapore.

In January, bids by local and international consortiums were submitted for the lucrative project. But Japanese firms, including the East Japan Railway Co, reportedly pulled out after deciding that it would be too risky without official financial support from the Malaysian government.

China already boasts the worlds largest high-speed railway network and Chinese firms have long been looking to sell and export their infrastructure technology to other countries, says travel and consumer trends analyst Gary Bowerman, founder of Check-in Asia, a tourism-focused research and marketing company.

Southeast Asia is the obvious choice because of its proximity to China, Bowerman adds.

Connecting mainland cities by train directly into Laos and other Southeast Asian countries (down the line) will make it easy, and advantageous, for Chinese travelers  many who arent looking to travel long distances, for long periods of time.

Southeast Asias appeal

Offering everything from ancient temples in Laos and pristine beaches in Thailand to lush rainforests and eco-tours in Malaysia, Southeast Asia has long been a big draw for Chinese travelers, experts note.

Many countries share borders and long histories with China, says political economist Pon Souvannaseng, assistant professor of global studies at Bentley University in the US.

China of course, sees Southeast Asia as a key market for export as well as a key area for security and I think, ultimately wants to see Southeast Asian countries within its sphere of geopolitical influence.

Chinese tourists visit the Temple of the Emerald Buddha in Bangkok. - Peerapon Boonyakiat/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images

Interestingly, the regions large Chinese diaspora is another big draw, experts add.

Cities like Penang and Malacca in Malaysia and Phuket Old Town, with temples and architecture, were built by Chinese immigrants and are very popular with Chinese tourists because of their historical and cultural links, says Bowerman.

Adding to this is the rise in popularity of rail travel  especially among younger Chinese tourists, many whom are committed to sustainable travel and looking for a new sense of adventure, Bowerman adds.

Pan Wenbo, a 30-year-old security practitioner from Beijing, tells CNN that taking an epic train journey across Southeast Asia from his country, as opposed to flying, would have to be cheap and offer plenty of scenic views along the way. Pan has visited Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines in the past five years and says he is keen to explore other countries in the region.

Others like university student Mei Wei have taken travel tips and inspiration from popular influencers on Chinese social media apps like Douyin  Chinas version of TikTok  and Youku, the Chinese YouTube.

Thanks to several travel videos she has seen in recent months, Wei says she is now planning a summer trip to Laos, Cambodia and possibly Thailand, to visit unique attractions like the Angkor Wat temple complex in Siem Reap.

She told CNN that she is particularly excited about traveling by train.

Im not a big fan of flying. In China, I love taking trains because you get to see more on the ground (as compared to being on a plane from above) and travel more directly into the heart of cities.

It also helps that prices are usually consistent and cheaper than booking flights when you are at the mercy of airlines, she adds.

Challenges and controversies

Chinas Belt and Road Initiative was launched at the beginning of Xi Jinpings presidency.

In addition to high-speed railways, multi-billion dollar sea bridges and highways, ports, airports, power plants and telecommunication networks are all playing a fundamental part in creating the new Silk Road that the ruling Chinese Communist Party desires.

A lot of these projects, like the China-Laos Railway, were designed with economic interests in mind, experts say. According to Chinese state media, the China-Laos Railway cumulatively transported 4.22 million tons of freight in 2023, an increase of 94.91% year-on-year.

Political economist Souvannaseng, who rode the train months after passenger services launched in April 2023, said it was very clearly, even near the full construction and inauguration a project for cargo transfer, with China and Thailand being the main nodes for trade and Laos being left footing the bill for the massive project.

It reminds me a lot of the Orient Express and the way it benefitted the Hapsburg and Ottoman empires while the hinterland Balkan territories were saddled with that debt and it hampered their economies well over a century later.

Chinese-funded and supported infrastructure projects are also widely viewed with suspicion and have been lambasted as attempts by Beijing to boost influence and gain control over smaller neighboring countries while having massive financial consequences for struggling countries.

Beijing, I think, ultimately wants to see Southeast Asian countries within its sphere of geopolitical influence. These projects have always been in Beijings strategic and geopolitical interests, says Souvannaseng, who highlights the financial burden placed on Laos following its multi-billion dollar Chinese-funded railway project.

Money that was loaned to the Lao government through Chinese sovereign lending, has to be re-paid and soon. The immediate impact of that external debt for Laos is evident in the recurrent stress and fiscal crisis, and consequences for Lao society at large is pretty evident.

In Malaysia, where planning for a high-speed railway with neighboring Singapore is taking place, many experts have continually voiced strong opposition and exercised caution about sovereignty. Some have drawn parallels with the West Kowloon rail station in Hong Kong that opened to much fanfare as well as controversy in 2018.

The $10.75 billion infrastructure investment connects Hong Kong to 44 mainland Chinese destinations, including major cities like Beijing and Shanghai. But it also allows mainland Chinese law to be applied on a section of the Hong Kong terminal station, a contentious arrangement that drew heated public criticism for undermining the citys autonomy.

Officials, on both sides, defended the station and high-speed railway as a tool to boost economic opportunities and a convenient means of cross-boundary transport. But critics  many in Hong Kong  said it was a development neither wanted nor asked for.

It has to do with fear, resentment and anxiety over China and perceptions of Hong Kongs diminished standing vis-a-vis China, experts told CNN at the time of its opening.

A staff member waits for passengers to board the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train during a week-long public trial phase at the Halim station in Jakarta on September 17, 2023. - Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images

Any cross-country infrastructure will certainly involve multiple countries and governments and will concern the issue of sovereignty and laws, says Wong Muh Rong, managing director and founder of corporate advisory firm Astramina Advisory in Kuala Lumpur. In addition to costs, that in itself is a ginormous thing and not something that can be addressed easily.

Wong reiterated that while there were definite advantages to high-speed trains, the decision to build and launch one has to be balanced with costs and benefits.

In the example of a high-speed railway line between Malaysia and Singapore, Singapore would likely have just one stop  Malaysia would have more, Wong told CNN. But who will have the ultimate say? And if additional external funding comes from China, it will make things even more complicated.

For now at least, there is no need for a high-speed rail line between Malaysia and Singapore, especially when there are already efficient rail trains and flights less than three hours. The costs are just way too high and it would be too difficult to do.

With reporting from Hassan Tayir in Hong Kong.

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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.

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On this day in history, March 26, 1874, American poet Robert Frost is born in San Francisco

Poetry great Robert Lee Frost was born in San Francisco, California, on this day in history, March 26, 1874.

Frost spent the first 11 years of his life in San Francisco until his father, journalist William Prescott Frost, Jr., died of tuberculosis, according to Biography.com.

After his death, Frost, his mother and his sister moved in with his grandparents in Lawrence, Massachusetts.

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The move was actually a homecoming for the Frosts, since their ancestors originally hailed from New England, according to Poetry Foundation.

In 1892, Frost graduated from Lawrence High School. He was named "class poet" and served as co-valedictorian with his future wife, Elinor White.

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Portrait of Pulitzer Prize-winning American Poet Laureate Robert Frost in the 1960s. When he was 86 years old, Frost was asked to write and recite a poem for John F. Kennedys inauguration on Jan. 20, 1961.

Two years after his high school graduation, Frosts poem "My Butterfly" was accepted by the New York Independent.

He was paid $15.

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, MARCH 14, 1879, ALBERT EINSTEIN BORN IN GERMANY

In celebration, Frost printed two copies of a book of six poems called "Twilight"  one copy for himself and one for his wife.

Throughout the next eight years, Frost only had 13 additional poems published, according to Biography.com.

Portrait of Robert L. Frost, American poet who wrote "North of Boston" and "A Boy's Will," circa 1910s.

The poet attended Dartmouth College for several months before returning home to work at a number of "unfulfilling jobs," the website reports.

In 1897, Frost attended Harvard University. He dropped out after two years due to health concerns, returning to his wife in Lawrence.

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, MARCH 14, 1869, CINCINNATI RED STOCKINGS BECOME FIRST PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL TEAM

Frost, along with his wife and two children, moved to Derry, New Hampshire, in 1900, onto a property purchased by Frosts grandfather.

Frosts firstborn, Elliot, died of cholera in 1900. White went on to give birth to four more children.

The youngest Frost child, Elinor, born in 1907, tragically died just weeks after birth.

The Frosts attempted to build a life on the New England farm for the next 12 years, pursuing a variety of unsuccessful endeavors including poultry farming, Biography.com reports.

Frost had two poems  "The Tuft of Flowers" and "The Trial by Existence"  published in 1906.

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, MARCH 1, 1872, MAJESTIC YELLOWSTONE BECOMES AMERICA'S FIRST NATIONAL PARK

In 1912, Frost moved his family to the U.K. after American magazines consistently rejected his work, Poetry Foundation reports.

While Frost continued to write about New England even when living across the pond, he published two poetry books, "A Boys Will" (1913) and "North of Boston" (1914).

The poem "Mending Wall" (1914) by Robert Frost, as shown in "A Treasury of Classic Poetry" from Barnes & Noble.

"North of Boston" featured two of Frosts most notable poems, "Mending Wall" (1914) and "After Apple-Picking" (1914).

These publications allowed Frost to move back, in 1915, to the U.S.  where he was celebrated as a literary figure.

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, FEBRUARY 18, 1931, AMERICAN AUTHOR TONI MORRISON IS BORN IN OHIO

Frost met with fellow poets Ezra Pound and Edward Thomas during this time.

They reportedly influenced Frost to write "The Road Not Taken" (1916).

This poem, as well as "Birches" (1915), was published in his book "Mountain Interval" in 1916.

Robert Frost, poet, taught at Amherst College until 1938, when his wife died of cancer.

Frost's reputation grew for writing poems about nature while receiving praise for his traditional lyric and meter, Poetry Foundation reports.

His next book, "New Hampshire" (1923), featured classic poems such as "Stopping by Woods on a Snowing Evening," which earned him his first Pulitzer Prize.

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In addition to writing, the poet pursued a teaching career at several colleges, including Dartmouth College, the University of Michigan and Amherst College in Massachusetts, according to Biography.com.

He taught at Amherst until 1938, when his wife died of cancer. The colleges main library is named in Frosts honor.

Poet Robert Frost (center) reads one of his poems during John F. Kennedy's inauguration ceremony at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 1961.

Frost went on the win four Pulitzer Prizes for his poetry, as well as 40 honorary degrees.

In 1960, he was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by Congress.

At 86 years old, Frost was asked to write and recite a poem for John F. Kennedys inauguration on Jan. 20, 1961.

On Jan. 29, 1963, Frost died due to complications from previous prostate surgery.

He was survived by two daughters, Lesley and Irma.

For more Lifestyle articles, visit www.foxnews.com/lifestyle .





Original article source: On this day in history, March 26, 1874, American poet Robert Frost is born in San Francisco
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Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Sean Dooley

Storing groceries in the refrigerator is supposed to keep them fresher longer, right? Not always. Think about fresh basil, which food director Chris Morocco recommends you treat like a bouquet, storing the stems in a cup of water on the counter; or butter, which you can leave out at room temperature.

But what about soy sauce? It doesnt spoil like milk or wilt like vegetables, and it doesnt usually grow mold or show any other signs of deterioration. Plus, its not refrigerated in grocery stores, so should you follow suit? To understand the answers, its important to first know the basics of soy sauce.

How is soy sauce made?

Soy sauce is one of the original condiments. Its origins can be traced to China, approximately 2,500 years agolong before refrigeratorsbut over the years it spread across Asia. Countries like Japan and Korea put their own spin on the staple, which is why there are now a huge number of varieties of soy sauce available: koikuchi shoyu, a Japanese dark soy sauce thats great for marinades and braises; sheng chou, a light Chinese soy sauce relied on for seasoning Cantonese stir-fries and sauces; guk-ganjang, a Korean soy sauce often used in soups (perfect for Miyeokguk); and lots more.

For many of them, including most of the soy sauce in American supermarkets, it all starts with two ingredients: soybeans and wheat. Soybeans are cooked and combined with wheat, mixed with a specific type of mold called Aspergillus oryzae, and left to sit for a few days. Then, goes in salt water and bacteria, like Lactobacillus. The whole thing ferments for a whilethe longer the ferment, usually the more expensive the resulting soy sauceuntil its strained, pasteurized (in most cases), and glugged into the bottles you see at your grocery store.

If youre avoiding gluten, there are gluten-free optionals available, including tamari, which is made from the liquid collected during miso production. Just check the ingredient list on the label accordingly.

Does soy sauce need to be refrigerated?

So, should you stick your soy sauce next to your mayonnaise and oat milk? The answer depends on a few factors. First and foremost: Consider how quickly youre burning through your bottles of soy sauce. If youre reaching for your soy sauce every night for everything from a Shrimp and Asparagus Stir-Fry to Soy-Braised Chicken Legs to Cocoa Brownies (yeah!), youre more than likely finishing your soy sauce supply faster than it can go bad, even if youre storing it on the counter. Thats the case for senior test kitchen editor Shilpa Uskokovic, who says that in every restaurant shes worked in, as well as in the Bon Appetit test kitchen, the soy sauce has always stayed on the counter or in the pantry.

At home, Shilpa opts for an artisanal soy sauce, which she does keep in the refrigerator. Thats because more expensive soy sauces typically lack the preservative, sodium benzoate, that more common grocery-store soy sauces use to extend shelf life. That preservative, as well as soy sauces high salt content, mean its very difficult, though not impossible, for mold or bacteria to grow in your opened bottle of soy saucenever say never!

All to say, you probably dont have to refrigerate your run-of-the-mill grocery-store soy sauce for safety reasons. You still might want to stick it in the fridge to maintain the flavor; soy sauce oxidizes after you open it, but it stays at peak freshness for three to six months once its opened. After that, it starts to lose some of its more delicate, nuanced flavor.

Even if you go over the six-month mark, soy sauce is still a flavor powerhouse. While you might not get all those subtleties that are most noticeable upon opening a new bottle (like how it wakes up the dipping sauce for your Pork and Scallion Dumplings With a Crispy Skirt), its still a great addition to dishes like Saucy Soy-Butter Beef and Peppers and Sake-and-Soy-Braised Pork Belly, where it can share the spotlight with other ingredients.

Soy-Braised Chicken Legs

Lucas Sin

Originally Appeared on Bon Appetit

More Cooking Stories From Bon Appetit
After a particularly brutal edition of the 2024 Volta a Catalunya, Egan Bernal of Ineos Grenadiers took third place behind Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) and Soudal-QuickSteps Mikel Landa. The third-place finish marked the Ineos Grenadiers racers most significant result since the horrifying crash in 2022.

Above all, Im happy with the progression Ive made, Bernal said after the seven-stage Volta, where he enjoyed a pair of top-ten stage finishes.

Bernal added that, even though he finished just two spots behind the world-beating Pogacar, it was never in the cards to compete with him. Rather, the 27-year-old Colombians sights remained steadfastly on getting stronger as we inch toward Grand Tour season.

David Ramos - Getty Images

My idea was to get on the podium and at this moment in time, I know Im not at my best level, Bernal said. So, my idea was not even to try to follow (Pogacar).

Im happy with the podium, and my time may come when the forces are maybe a bit more equal, he added. Theres going to be a big battle (at the Tour de France), lots of people will be at a very high level, and there, things will be a bit clearer.

Bernals third-place finish was also his best GC result since winning the 2021 Giro dItalia. It was also his first podium in a week-long stage race since he won the 2019 Tour de Suisse, just a few weeks before he won that years Tour de France.

In early 2022, Bernal was on a training ride in Gachancipa, Colombia, when he struck the back of a parked bus, riding at more than 31 miles per hour. As Bernal was on his time-trial bike, he didnt notice the unexpectedly stopped bus.

The crash caused twenty separate fractures throughout Bernals body, including his femur, right patella, vertebrae, and several ribs. He also punctured a lung and suffered major chest trauma. Bernals doctors feared that if he did survive, Bernal would likely be paralyzed.

Within a few weeks, however, the two-time Grand Tour winner was walking. By March, he was riding his trainer. Barely a year later, Bernal returned to the peloton, racing in the 2023 Vuelta a San Juan in Argentina.

He competed in the Tour and the Vuelta later that year, finishing thirty-sixth and ninety-second, respectively.

This year, hes been building strength in early-season stage races like O Gran Camino, Tour Colombia, and Paris-Nice, where he finished ninth.

While his outlook for this year remained somewhat uncertain for a time, it was announced in January that hed be riding in the Tour, supporting Ineos team leaders Carlos Rodriguez and Tom Pidcock.

Bernal is also expected to race in the Vuelta, where he will ride as team leader, to try to complete his Grand Tour triple.

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Daisy Jones & the Six star Riley Keough has been married to her husband, Ben Smith-Petersen, for about nine yearsand their love story is very sweet and quite adventurous. Keough says she knew that she and Smith-Petersen were destined to be together very early on, after they met on set together. Ahead is everything that you need to know about Smith-Petersen, as well as all of the details about his relationship with Keough.

Smith-Petersen is an award-winning stuntman.



Per his IMDb page, Smith-Petersen has done stunt work on blockbuster films, like Barbie, Suicide Squad, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, and The Great Gatsby.

He was nominated for a SAG Award for Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture for Barbie and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, and won the award for his role in Mad Max: Fury Road.

Keough and Smith-Petersen met on the set of Mad Max: Fury Road

Keough talked about her love story with Vogue Australia in May 2022. So the story goes, she flew to Australia in December 2013 to film reshoots for Mad Max. They had originally filmed in Namibia, where she first met Smith-Petersen.

I knew who he was, but I was in a relationship, so I wasnt looking at anyone in that way, she said. By the time she was in Australia, she was single and ready to enjoy herself on a nice trip.

I was just out of a relationship that I needed to recover from, so definitely wasnt looking for anything. Ben was on set, and I saw him. It had been a year, and he just felt more grown up, and there was something about him. I was like, Oh wow, she recalled. He felt so much more mature. We were in Fox Studios in Sydney. He came up to me and said, Can I send you my music to listen to? and I said, Sure. I told him, Im here for a month, I dont have much to do...maybe you could teach me to surf? Which is hilarious, because Im so terrified of sharks and I would never surf now.

A few days later, Keough invited Smith-Petersen over to her friends house for a get-together.

We ended up kissing that night, and the next day we went to Camp Cove and got in the water, and I hugged him, and it felt like I didnt want to be away from him. I just felt so comfortable. This was our first day hanging out after we kissed! We were in the water and looking around at all the beautiful houses, and we started making a joke about when we get married, which house should we buy? It was a silly joke because we had only hung out for a day. But in hindsight, its funny because we did get married.

Keough seemed to know that he was the one for her very early on.

We were so young. He was 22, and I was 24, just getting coffee and smoking cigarettes without a care in the world. I remember as he walked out of the gas station, I so strongly had this feeling, and it was, Thats the father of your children. It was so crazy because we had only really hung out for a week, she explained.

Eventually, the time came for Keough to return home.

And then my time was up. The last night together we were on the trampoline in his familys backyard, looking at the stars. It was still so early that we werent being forward, but I knew I was in love with him, she remembered. He drove me to the airport and I just said, Why dont you come to England with me? And he was like, I could. I flew to England, and then 24 hours later he got on a flight and met me there, and he never went home.

Keough and Smith-Petersen got matching tattoos right after they met.

In the same Vogue article, Keough shared that, falling in love in Australia was amazing. She and Smith-Petersen went on many adventures together, and one of their biggest ones occurred only a few days after they met.

We got matching tattoos the third day we hung out, just for fun, never thinking the relationship would go anywhere, she said, although she didnt share what the couple got or where. Shortly after that, Keough realized that she was falling in love.

Thats not the only tattoo that Smith-Petersen has dedicated to Keough. In September 2021, he posted a picture of Keough tugging down the waistband of his pants to reveal her name, Riley, permanently inked on his lower torso.

Smith-Petersen and Keough got married in 2015.

Keough and Smith-Petersen had quite the whirlwind romance.

We moved in together after two months, and six months in he asked me to marry him, and then we were married a year later, Keough told Vogue, mapping out the timeline. Technically, our first wedding was in Nepal, because we were there building a school a couple of weeks before we got married. The families knew we were getting married and they said, Let us throw you a Hindu wedding. It was so beautiful and, in some ways, that wedding was a little more intimate and really special. That wedding, I cried. At my bigger wedding I was a little nervous, I wasnt as present. But it was still equally as amazing.

Smith-Petersen and Keough share a daughter together.

In August 2022, Keough and Smith-Petersen welcomed their daughter via surrogate. The news first broke at the funeral of Keoughs mother, Lisa Marie Presley. Smith-Petersen read a eulogy on his wifes behalf, who was too upset to do so herself. He read: I hope I can love my daughter the way you loved me, the way you loved my brother and my sisters. Thank you for giving me strength, my heart, my empathy, my courage, my sense of humor, my manners, my temper, my wildness, my tenacity. Im a product of your heart.

Keough revealed to Vanity Fair that their daughter is named Tupelo Storm Smith-Petersen, named after Elvis Presleys Mississippi birthplace. Her middle name comes from Keoughs late brother, Benjamin Storm Keough, who passed when she was 27.

As for her decision to have a baby through surrogacy, Keough said, I think its a very cool, selfless, and incredible act that these women do to help other people. I can carry children, but it felt like the best choice for what I had going on physically with the autoimmune stuff.

Keough had to film a sex scene with Smith-Petersen for Daisy Jones and the Six.

While Smith-Petersen typically does stunt work, he had an acting cameo on Daisy Jones & the Six, which Keough spoke about on Late Night With Seth Meyers.

The cameo came about, because I have to have intercourse with a random person in the show, she explained. And the producers were, like, It would be so funny if it was your husband.

Meyers asked her what the experience was like.

It was more awkward! she laughed. Because, I mean, like, for one, Ive never had pretend sex with my husband.

She explained how, typically, sex scenes are very professional, but with him it was just, like, really we were giggling the whole time.

I feel like I really kept feeling inclined to be like, In real life, its not like this, she joked as the audience laughed. And then I was like, Ill just, you know, keep that to myself.

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A heartfelt reunion took place in Washington, D.C., as a French Bulldog named Recardito was finally returned to his owner after being lost in a stolen car incident. The Metropolitan Police Department announced the good news, marking the end of a distressing period for both the dog and his owner, identified by Fox 5 as Elkin.

Stolen French Bulldog reunites with owner after going missing for a day

Recarditos ordeal began when he vanished along with the car he was left in. Elkin had momentarily left Recardito in his parked vehicle while he went to pick up a food order for DoorDash from a nearby McDonalds. The incident occurred in the early hours of Sunday in the 1900 block of 14th Street, Northwest. When Elkin returned, he realized that his car and his beloved pet were nowhere to be found.

Despite the initial setback when the stolen vehicle was recovered without Recardito, the polices diligent efforts paid off. Images of the suspect, captured on surveillance cameras nearby, were shared alongside Recarditos photo in a plea for public assistance. The Metropolitan Police Departments determination led to an update on Monday evening. They declared that Recardito had been found and reunited with Elkin. Good news to share! MPD detectives located Recardito tonight and reunited him with his owner, the police department wrote.

The reunion was a moment of pure joy, with photographs capturing Elkins emotional embrace with Recardito, and a heartwarming picture featuring them with a detective from the case.

Recardito was stolen with the car over the weekend

Before the reunion, Fox 5 had spoken with Elkin, who had recently moved to D.C. from Colombia with Recardito. Facing the terrifying possibility of losing his four-legged companion, Elkin expressed his desperation and plea for Recarditos safe return. The truth is, I dont know what to do, Elkin said in Spanish, per Fox 5. I need my dog back.

Despite the happy ending for Recardito and Elkin, the perpetrator behind the theft remains at large. The Metropolitan Police Department has appealed to the public for assistance in identifying and capturing the suspect. They have offered a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest. Anyone who has knowledge of this incident should take no action but call police at (202) 727-9099 or text your tip to the Departments TEXT TIP LINE at 50411, the police stated.

The post French Bulldog Recardito Reunited With Owner After Stolen Car Ordeal appeared first on DogTime.
One of my favorite things about living in California is how easy it is to roadtrip around and explore tons of diverse and interesting places. Recently, I asked members of the BuzzFeed Community to share some of their favorite hidden gem destinations in my home state, and they had so many great suggestions. Here's what they had to say, plus a few of my own personal favorites:

1."CRIMINALLY Underrated: Half Moon Bay/Pacifica area. The entire drive is absolutely STUNNING, especially if you take the Skyline route. The woods and the fresh air, and the absolute vibe of a pit stop at Alice's Restaurant is a MUST."

youwishyouwereme007 Half Moon Bay is south of San Francisco on the California coast. It has an annual pumpkin festival, beautiful beaches, hiking, and big-wave surfing at Mavericks. AA Reny Preussker / Getty Images

2."Crestline is very cool. Its near Lake Arrowhead, just before Big Bear. Similar vibe, but it's nowhere near as crowded."

nathanvh Crestline is a mountain resort town in Southern California in the San Bernardino Mountains where visitors can hike, boat, fish, and swim at Lake Gregory. Mark Ramsperger / Getty Images

3."Monterey! Such an amazingly beautiful place, and the aquarium there is top-notch and right on the water."

kayteeru Monterey is on the central California coast, and it's home to Cannery Row, as in the classic John Steinbeck novel. I visited once with my family as a little kid and I still remember how magical the aquarium was. Adam Hester / Getty Images

4."Solvang. It's a gorgeous drive and a great town."

Sara, Santa Barbara Solvang is a little Danish town nestled in Santa Barbara County in southern California. From windmills to wineries, this place has tons of charm. George Rose / Getty Images

5."Pacific Coast Highway. I know it is fairly popular, but it is hard to describe just how beautiful the drive is. A lot of neat small towns tucked away along the way, too."

robert_dunder The Pacific Coast Highway runs along, you guessed it, the Pacific coast from San Diego to San Francisco, and it's truly delightful the whole way up and back. I learned to drive on the stretch along San Diego, so it'll always have a special place in my heart. Daniel Halbe / Getty Images

6."Death Valley! It's so surreal and beautiful in its own way  Badwater basin, Artists Palette, sand dunes, super clear skies for stargazing! It really feels like you're on a different planet. Most people make the mistake of visiting when it's too hot, but NovemberFebruary is *perfect*, and there are a bunch of ghost towns if you're road-tripping!"

fizzingwhizbee713 Death Valley is a national park in central California near the Nevada border. It's known for record-breaking high temps in the summer, but you should also know that it's an incredible place for stargazing at night. Gunter Marx / Getty Images

7."Point Lobos. It's very popular among locals and California natives, but not many people from out of state have heard of it. Its amazing."

yourfavoritebibliophile Point Lobos State Nature Reserve in Monterey County is often called "the crown jewel of the California State Park System." Raclro / Getty Images

8."The most underrated places to visit in California are the California Missions. There are over 20 from San Diego to Sonoma. By visiting you get to see beautiful architecture and learn about their rich history."

shinymatcha18 In fact, there are exactly 21 missions in California. They were a big part of Spain's colonial project in California, so the history behind them does have a darker side. Still, they are interesting places to visit and definitely worth checking out if you happen to be near one. Ron And Patty Thomas / Getty Images

9.The Salton Sea, found in the Southern California desert, is technically an ecological disaster. But if you want to feel like you're visiting another planet, I can't recommend it enough. It can be very stinky and you'll be walking on sun-bleached fish bones, so wear shoes you don't care about and get ready to have a surreal experience.

Peter Unger / Getty Images

10.If you're visiting the Salton Sea, it's a short drive to one of my other favorite quirky destinations in California. Salvation Mountain is a one-of-a-kind piece of art created by Leonard Knight. Knight died in 2014, but a team of dedicated volunteers continues to maintain his work so future generations can enjoy it.

Rj Sangosti / Denver Post via Getty Images

11."The Redwoods, specifically the Grove of Titans which is right outside Crescent City. Some of the tallest trees in the world are there, and it is absolutely breathtaking to stand among them."

invasivemage "Redwoods. There are trees, and then there are Redwoods." robert_dunder Just thinking about the Redwoods makes my heart feel a little fluttery. There are several parks and places where you can see these incredible tall trees. If you've never been, start planning your trip now. Cavan Images / Getty Images/Cavan Images RF

12."Balboa Island, Crystal Cove, and Newport Beach each allow you to see the beautiful California coast."

shinymatcha18 "Being from Canada, I am not sure if everyone knows about Crystal Cove State Park. What an amazing place. I wasnt lucky enough to rent a cottage, but I did visit for breakfast and a walk on the beach. I tell everyone I can about this unique spot because it made such an impression on me." Anonymous Balboa Island, Crystal Cove, and Newport Beach are in Orange County (aka the OC), located in Southern California between San Diego and Los Angeles. Ronniechua / Getty Images

13."Pinnacles National Park is so underrated. Although people are starting to catch on and its getting busy."

Becky, San Jose Pinnacles National Park is southeast of San Jose in central California. It's unique rocky landscape formed after an ancient volcano eruption. If you go here to hike, you just might spot a California condor. Thomas H. Mitchell / Getty Images/500px

14."The Mission Inn in Downtown Riverside. Its a gorgeous Spanish-style hotel built in the early 1900s. There are so many great photo ops amongst the Gothic architecture. They have an amazing Festival of Lights during the holiday season and even the prettiest gold-gilded chapel for weddings. I recommend Sunday brunch there as well!"

alisonm43cd2fbbc Riverside is in southern California, located east of Los Angeles. The city grew up around its citrus farms and it's especially lovely when all the orange trees are blooming. Medianews Group / MediaNews Group via Getty Images

15."Hubby surprised me with a quick trip with a few days in Sausalito. We stayed at Inn Over Tides and our balcony hung over the water. Muir Woods walk early in the a.m. Vodka tasting at the Hanson Gallery. Great dining. Safe. Not too crowded in the spring. Great views right on the Bay. Then a few days in Carmel by the Sea. Had never even heard of it before but it was incredible. Lunch at Pebble Beach  impressive. Then the cute little town of Carmel. Cool shops, great dining. Beach is stellar. Carmel has a sense of calm. And no addresses. Check it out; it's only by street names!!!"

grumpyaardvark60 "Carmel by the Sea is by far my favorite place in California. The water is a perfect shade of blue. There are charming shops and a lot of art galleries." Anonymous Sausalito is in Marin County, just across the Golden Gate strait from San Francisco. Carmel by the Sea is on the central coast, on the Monterey peninsula. Vichie81 / Getty Images/iStockphoto

16."Ive lived up and down the California coast and inland as well. But Thousand Steps Beach in Laguna Beach and the country towns like Jamul are things no one seems to talk about."

sumifoley To get to Thousand Steps Beach in Orange County, you have to hike down the face of a beach cliff, but visitors say it's well worth the trip. Jamul is a rural community in east San Diego County. Stefan Tomic / Getty Images

17."I think downtown Fullerton is super underrated since its so cute there and theres [sic] so many options for bar hopping, comedy clubs, and more. I would also really recommend coming to see the super bloom in the spring if you are around town  its absolutely gorgeous. Tips from a born and raised SoCal girly."

Vivi, Southern California Fullerton is located in Orange County and it's mostly known as a college town. It's home to Cal State Fullerton, Fullerton University, and more. Youngkkwon / Getty Images/iStockphoto

18.Julian is a mountain town in San Diego County known for its apple orchards. It's an easy day trip out of San Diego proper, and I always feel like I'm living my Star's Hollow fantasy whenever I sit down in one of their cute little restaurants to order a cup of coffee and a slice of apple pie.

Peeterv / Getty Images

19."Sonoma County. I lived in Santa Rosa during high school and college. Its so beautiful and theres lots to do. Its a great food and wine spot, and there are lots of hiking and biking opportunities and cool arts and culture events. Its a good location because its also close to Bodega Bay, Napa, and San Francisco if you want to hit a couple of spots."

nathanvh Sonoma County is a short drive from the Bay Area and it really is a gorgeous place to visit. I went to a friend's wedding in a vineyard there and it was so dreamy! Gary Saxe / Getty Images

Is there anything we missed? Tell me about your favorite California gems in the comments!
Gordan Ramsay may already be the most successful man in the world of food, and he is showing no signs of slowing down as Fox Network's "Hell's Kitchen" has just been renewed for its 23rd and 24th seasons. If there is one thing that is true about Ramsay, it's that he is a wildly accomplished Michelin-starred chef. And if there is a second thing that's true, it's that he is on television all the time.

Ramsay has hosted, starred in, or put his name on almost two dozen shows in Britain and the United States over the last few decades, from big hits like "MasterChef" and "Kitchen Nightmares" to completely forgotten game shows like "Gordon Ramsay's Bank Balance." But through 20-plus years of Ramsay fame, "Hell's Kitchen" has been his flagship series. The show has mostly remained in the same format for its long run, with Ramsay splitting up the chefs into a red and blue team and most seasons having the teams divided by gender.

That formula has been shaken up more in recent years, with Season 18's "Rookies vs. Veterans" pitting chefs who had been on the show before against new cooks, and Season 21 adopting a young versus old split with teams of 20-somethings and 40-somethings. No change to the format has yet been announced for the new seasons. However, there is one new wrinkle, as the show will be filmed in Connecticut's Foxwoods Casino where Ramsay's new "Hell's Kitchen" restaurant recently opened.

Read more: Ina Garten's 12 Best Cleaning Tips For A Mess-Free Kitchen

'Hell's Kitchen's' New Season Is Headed To The Northeast

The exterior of Foxwoods Casino - Denistangneyjr/Getty Images

The first 18 seasons of "Hell's Kitchen" were mostly shot in Los Angeles, but moved to Las Vegas for the 19th and 20th seasons. Gordon Ramsay's first "Hell's Kitchen" restaurant opened in 2018 in Vegas, and claims to have sold over 1 million servings of Ramsay's specialty, the famous U.K. dish Beef Wellington, over the last six years. The mini-chain has since gone on to open a total of seven locations in spots like Miami and Washington, D.C., including the Foxwoods location that opened last year -- a testament to the enduring appeal of Ramsay and the "Hell's Kitchen" brand. The show moved back to L.A. for two seasons following the pandemic, before its new move to Connecticut.

The most recent "Hell's Kitchen" season, 22, featured the theme "American Dream," and hosted contestants who had faced serious hardship in their lives. The winner ended up being Ryan O'Sullivan, an immigrant from Cork, Ireland, who quite literally achieved the American Dream by coming to this country completely broke and ascending to becoming chef de cuisine at a high-end restaurant in Palm Beach, Florida.

While no theme has been announced yet for these next two seasons, the recent creative blending of formats and competitors has added new twists to a cooking show that was already known for explosive moments and mixing up teams at Ramsay's whim. For longtime fans of the show, we're sure the chef will cook up something special for the competition's first season in its new location.

Read the original article on Tasting Table.
A national law has created a huge hurdle for offloading some historic, and very cheap, houses.

In central Italys medieval town of Patrica, a strategy to breathe new life into empty properties has hit a possibly insurmountable snafu.

Patrica recently adopted a plan that has seen success in other depopulated Italian areas: Selling off its deserted abodes for a single euro each  about $1.08 in todays American currency  to those interested for a fixer-upper opportunity.

It may seem unique and unusual, but these opportunities have popped up in other parts of Italy in the past several years, all in an effort to repopulate the regions where these residences stand.

A panoramic view of Patrica. Giamby/Wirestock Creators  stock.adobe.com

The village is located in the mountains of the Lazio region of Italy, south of Rome. tiziana  stock.adobe.com

While the campaign has worked in towns such as Sicilys Mussomeli and the Campania regions Zungoli, Patrica has barely moved any properties. Thats because doing so requires permission from the current owners, many of whom left their homes in the early 1900s, according to CNN.

We first need the availability of owners, or their heirs, in disposing of their old houses, Lucio Fiordaliso, the mayor of the remote, approximately 3,000-person village, told the outlet of the Italian law that has significantly impeded the homes resale. Only then can we place these properties up for sale with their consent, which makes the process very complicated. Almost impossible.

(Towns that have been depopulated as a result of natural disasters, such as earthquakes, are not required to get owner permission to put abandoned buildings up for sale.)

Of Patricas nearly 40 abandoned residences currently selling for 1 euro, only two have traded hands, both fully owned by locals.

The disposal of potential 1 euro homes faced a deadlock as most relatives sharing the same property were at odds with one another for personal reasons or couldnt agree on the sale, some hardly spoke or knew each other, others lived in distant cities and even abroad, Fiordaliso said, comparing the process for finding heirs and getting them to consent to their near-worthless homes sale to looking for a needle in a haystack.

Its a newly emerging challenge for these property sales, which have made plenty of news headlines over the last several years. However, despite the lure of a dirt-cheap purchase price, tens of thousands of dollars tend to be required for renovation costs, leaving certain new owners of such homes in Italy over their heads in work.

Meanwhile, Patricas turnkey listings have been moving, CNN reported. But still, Fiordaliso isnt throwing in the towel on the old ones  even if it means continuing to wade into family feuds to acquire owner permission.
Just before falling through the gallows to his death in 1916, Roger Casement delivered his final words: I die for my country. In the history of rebellion and martyrdom, it wasnt an untypical last line; but, for Casement, it was a confident assertion of something that had evaded him throughout his life. The country with which he identified was Ireland  then reeling in the aftermath of the Easter Rising  and the country that compelled him to his death was Britain. And yet, Casements story was not the conventional revolutionary one.

Britain had been Roger Casements home and employer for decades. He had been knighted for his work in exposing atrocities in Africa and South America. Commendation did not clarify his deepest thoughts, however. He drifted through Ireland, Britain, Congo, Brazil, America and Germany, plagued with insecurity.

Casement is the Odysseus of Roland Philippss epic, Broken Archangel, and Philipps is a worthy chronicler. It is a book of meticulous sensitivity and research, never delving into histrionics or cheap thrills.

Casement was born in Ireland in 1864 and immersed in the Celtic spirit of the 19th-century quest for home rule. From an early age, Casement was torn by questions of identity; he believed that he had been baptised both Catholic and Protestant and, most consequentially, he was gay. As a young man, he worked for Henry Morton Stanleys expeditions in Africa and then joined the British Foreign Office. An observer described him as, a tall, handsome man of fine bearing; thin, mere muscle and bone, a sun-tanned face, blue eyes and black curly hair... with a captivating voice and singular charm.

Congo in the late-19th century was the personal domain of Leopold, king of Belgium. As a private empire, it was exploited for rubber and religious proselytisation: as Casement wrote, rubber and murder, slavery in its worst form. Philippss account of Casements dutiful reporting might not have the same unruly ambition as Maya Jasanoffs The Dawn Watch, about Joseph Conrads roam across the same imperial expanse, but its methodical approach suits Casements personality.

Roland Philipps, author of Broken Archangel

Casements reports into the horrors in Belgiums empire  and later on those in Latin America  mobilised the pre-First World War human rights movements against imperial excesses. But they also set a deep unease in him about Britains own empire.

When Germany invaded Belgium in 1914, Casement began to wonder why he should work to protect what he saw as a savage nation. He then worked with Germany to foment insurrection among Irish nationalists. An attempt to land in Ireland in 1916 failed spectacularly, and Casement was tried for high treason. Even his defence counsel could only defend him on the grounds that there was grammatical inconsistency in the Norman French statute. Casement was executed in August 1916.

Any book on Casement must be judged on its approach to the infamous Black Diaries. Casements journals were seized upon his arrest and details of his sexual encounters were used to undermine him. Some scholars claim that they were faked. While working on this piece, I spoke to someone who recalled a dinner with a former member of the IRA. The Republican refused to believe that Casement had been gay: it had all been part of the English plot.

The diaries are not as salacious as the name and opprobrium against Casement suggest. Alongside notes of expenditure, Casement recorded in brief words the men he slept with, with the occasional physical attribute. Philipps is correct not to dwell too much on the diaries  and their mundanity is evidence for their likely veracity.

Broken Archangel is written at a time in which every book must be a searching tale of trauma and identity, yet it grapples with those themes in the detached manner that such a complex subject deserves. It is a model, in other words, for how to write a biography of a gay person who lived before widespread acceptance, and without the anachronisms of contemporary interpretation.

Broken Archangel is published by Bodley Head at 25. To order your copy for 19.99, call 0808 196 6794 or visit Telegraph Books

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Kyle Rittenhouse stormed offstage after facing protesters jeers during an event at the University of Memphis on Wednesday night.

Rittenhouse was invited to speak on the Second Amendment and the lies of Black Lives Matter by the campus chapter of conservative student group Turning Point USA, but students who spoke to local Tennessee outlet Action News 5 say Rittenhouse went directly into Q&A mode at the event, where things then descended into chaos.

Video from Rittenhouses appearance shared on X showed the gun rights advocate shut down when asked about TPUSAs CEO Charlie Kirks history of race-baiting comments.

The questioner listed some of Kirks comments, reminding people how the vanguard of the young MAGA movement denounced Juneteenth and Martin Luther King Jr. Day, called Supreme Court Justice Kentanji Brown Jackson an affirmative action hire, and, most recently, said he doubts the qualifications of Black airplane pilots.

Jason Davis / Getty Images

When pressed if those statements were racist, Rittenhouse smugly responded, I dont know anything about that.

The audience erupted in boos while the voice behind the video shouted, Its a yes or no question, Kyle!

Pressing him for an answer, the original questioner asked Rittenhouse, After all the things I just told you, would you consider that hate speech?

Im not going to comment on that, he replied, prompting the audience to shout him down.

Deflection! the person behind the camera yelled repeatedly.

Unwilling to endure the backlash, Rittenhouse threw a hand up and walked offstage, turning protesters heckling into cheers.

While the event was said to be sold out, students told Action News 5 the auditorium was less than half-full, made up of about 50 to 60 people.

Rittenhouse  who was acquitted of killing two men and injuring another during a 2020 protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, earning him the status of right-wing darling  is next scheduled to speak at Western Kentucky University.This post originally appeared on HuffPost.
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, March 26. President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev held a meeting with US Senator Steve Daines, where an exchange of views took place on issues of trade and economic cooperation, Trend reports.

Tokayev noted that Kazakhstan pays great attention to attracting investment, liberalizing the economy, and developing industry.

According to him, major areas of bilateral cooperation include energy, mineral exploration and processing, infrastructure development, and so on.

The interlocutors paid special attention to the topic of international and regional security.

In this regard, Tokayev pointed out that Kazakhstan was one of the first in the world to strongly condemn the brutal terrorist attack in Russia and express solidarity with Russia. In Tokayev's view, in the fight against terrorism, all countries, despite the contradictions in their relationships with each other, must join forces within the framework of a large-scale international coalition.

"Kazakhstan is ready to make its contribution to this necessary cause," he said.

Meanwhile, the US is one of Kazakhstan's major trading partners. So, the volume of trade turnover between Kazakhstan and the US amounted to $4.051 billion in 2023. The volume of trade turnover increased by 32.7 percent compared to the same period in 2022 ($3.053 billion).

At the same time, in the structure of trade turnover, exports to the US for the above period amounted to $1.509 billion, which is 30.1 percent more than from January through December 2022 ($1.152 billion).

In addition, imports from the US from January through December 2023 increased by 33.7 percent and amounted to $2.541 billion. In 2022, imports amounted to $1.9 billion.
The trouble is, you were born 100 years too late! is a refrain familiar to those of us who, back in the day, might count themselves the last of the classic explorers. Were talking about those in the mould of Mary Kingsley and Dr Livingstone, who brought word of whole landscapes new to us.

And yes, it is true that such old-school immersive travellers as these do indeed appear to be petering out. Freya Stark and Wilfred Thesiger are no longer with us, Ranulph Fiennes has for years pretty much stuck to polar trekking (and whatever you say about polar trekkers, these days they are athletes, rather than explorers). Yes, John Blashford-Snell is still out there, now well into his 80s, questing in some thicket or other, but apart from me well, in terms of going off-grid for months, thats about it. There are people off having adventures  inspiring, perhaps, but not discovering much, apart from what lies within themselves  and a few seasoned folk such as Rosie Stancer and Pen Hadow usefully assisting hydrologists, psychologists, arachnologists and other boffins.

But take heart, those of Gen Z who do still have it in themselves to embrace danger and hardship, because  in our hurry to assume, in the age of Google Maps, that the surface of our planet is already charted  were overlooking whole chunks.

I headed into one of these recently. Long before, as a rash 24-year-old, Id gone off alone to West Papua and in the unmapped forests came upon an isolated band called the Obini. The Obini decided not to kill me and instead introduced me to a world entirely undocumented by my kind. And now, on my return after four decades, I wanted to know what had befallen these people whod shown such kindness.

The trouble is, like all such places, theyve remained remote for a reason  and its not just the leeches and death adders. Last February, a New Zealand bush pilot, Phillip Mehrtens, had been kidnapped not far away by a rebel movement  hes still being held as I write  and the word was that the rebels were looking for a second foreigner to snatch. Out there searching for the Obini, Id be the perfect target.

There was one chance, I decided. I might hire a small plane and approach from the far side of the freedom fighters, a distant airstrip called Yaniruma. To mitigate the risk of alerting them, Id have to travel at high speed. Also, Id need assistance from the Korowai, a traditional community that wouldnt be expecting my arrival because they had no radio contact. Nor did it seem likely the Korowai would be wildly enthusiastic about jogging for two weeks into territory totally unfamiliar to them.

Benedict wanted to revisit a tribe he'd met in West Papua having first met decades ago - Benedict Allen

The pilot hastily dropped me off at the airstrip and was suddenly gone, leaving me standing there in the heat and humidity along with my heaped supplies and my chain-smoking translator, Sadrak. The Korowai gathered around.

Thankfully, they turned out to be a welcoming bunch. At least, they were until Sadrak stopped handing out his cigarettes and instead produced photos of the Obini, invariably seen clutching bows and arrows. These people are fighters? someone asked, backing away. Like we once were?

I could see his point. You only had to look at the Korowais older houses, erected high in the trees as a defence strategy. Apparently, you ascended via a notched pole which could be chopped away at the first sign of an attack.

Benedict observes the Korowai's older houses, which are erected high in the trees as a defence strategy - Benedict Allen

However, a young man called Oich-e now spoke up. You are too old, weak and tall, he said with commendable honesty. Sadly, without our help you will soon die.

Together with four mates, Oich-e led us off into the trees, and as we trotted along I reflected on the generosity of such indigenous people; how it was only by trusting to them, travelling in a spirit of vulnerability (unlike certain of my Victorian forebears) that Id remained alive over the years.

Time and again, we came to Korowai settlements and were offered fruit, fish and sago to sustain us. And then Id bring out my photos of the Obini  and there would be looks of utter horror but not a flicker of recognition. It wasnt until our 10th day of travel, reliant on the Korowais forest knowledge and my own experience of navigating through endless shrubbery with a compass, that we came upon a fellow called Jakob. He noticed that the clay used to decorate the intimidating Obini war shields was of a redder hue. This clay was to be found five more days to the west. We were getting nearer.

Benedict gains the trust of remote people by travelling in a spirit of vulnerability - Benedict Allen

But we were tiring, now  stung by bees, ripped by thorns. And Id long since been reduced to eating raw sago grubs, which are large and wriggly and not a personal favourite. Furthermore, the bridges that Oich-e helpfully fashioned over various creeks not once proved sufficient for someone of my height  Im 6ft 4in  weight, and indeed competence.

Nevertheless, we headed onward. Until one day, quite suddenly, we all sat down on the forest floor. Somehow, without saying a word, we knew it was over.

My search had failed. But in seeking the elusive Obini I had traipsed all over an immense forest and come away with something perhaps better: an appreciation of just how much was still out here to be explored. I was 64 years of age, but there was still plenty to discover.

The planets great unexplored places

There are so many destinations untrammeled by our notions of civilisation. What follows are not holiday destinations. Telegraph readers should always adhere to FCO advice, which for these is, basically, dont go.

The giant sinkholes of the Guyana Shield

Guyana/Venezuela/Brazil

Some of them have not even been reached, let alone explored, because of the dense forest and confusing rocky outcrops that obscure them. Even once youve negotiated your way, youll need to be handy with a rope, so as to descend your objectives vertiginous sides. I once climbed Mount Roraima, one of many such isolated, misty Lost World plateaus that also typify the region  and even back then, in 1983, I thought this magnificent landscape would remain a long while lost. And so its proved.

The Hindenburg Wall was only visited for the first time by outsiders 100 years ago - Alamy

Hindenburg Wall

Papua New Guinea

Not so much a wall, as an extensive karst range of cliffs, ravines and caves. Only visited for the first time by outsiders 100 years ago (a patrol officer named Leo Austen at last made it to the southern edge in 1922), the region lies in the very heart of New Guineas central mountains. Forbidding enough as the wall is, earthquakes and heavy rainfall result in frequent landslides, further thwarting ambitions of indigenous inhabitants and foreigners alike. To this day, this hideaway is a treasure house of barely examined habitats.

Kabobo Massif

Eastern Congo

Like much of the region, the massif has remained inaccessible to outsiders for many years due to conflict. The 60-mile Kabobo mountain range lies in easternmost Democratic Republic of Congo, an additional safeguard from visitors being the proximity of an international border (with Tanzania) but also the almost 420-mile long Lake Tanganyika, which protects the Kabobos eastern flank. The result is a long swathe of montane forest that is one of the biological hotspots of Africa.

Gangkhar Puensum mountain boasts the highest unclimbed summit on the planet - Alamy

Gangkhar Puensum mountain, and surrounds

Bhutan-China border region

The mountain itself boasts the highest unclimbed summit on the planet and, like most major peaks in Bhutan, it is regarded as sacred  and off limits. But its not just spiritual considerations that have kept the upper reaches unexplored. The almost 300-mile-long northern border of Bhutan is shared with, and in parts contested by, China, so a very long broad ribbon of not just no-go mountain tops but pristine glacial valleys remain to be explored.

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The Supreme Court heard arguments today challenging the Food and Drug Administrations decisions to increase womens access to mifepristone, a drug used in medication abortions. The drug was approved by the FDA back in 2000more than 5 million patients have taken mifepristone since, according to the agency. Studies cited in court filings have shown it is safe and effective.

According to CBS News, in 2016 and 2021, the FDA took steps to make mifepristone more accessible to womenincluding allowing it to be taken later in pregnancy than initially recommended (up to 10 weeks instead of seven) and delivered through the mail without sans in-person doctors visit.

About two-thirds of abortions in the United States were carried out by use of the pill in 2023, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights. While fourteen states completely ban abortion, including medication abortion, several others prohibit delivering the abortion pill by mail and require patients to see a doctor in person before they can get a prescription for it.

Last year, a Texas-based U.S. district judge and a group of anti-abortion rights doctors and medical associations challenged and invalidated the FDAs approval of the pill, calling it unlawful, but an appeals court decided to include only actions the FDA has taken since 2016this is at the heart of Tuesdays Supreme Court hearings. (Because the Supreme Court is not reviewing the FDAs initial approval of the drug, the medication will still be available in some form.)

The current case, FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, threatens to limit access to mifepristone nationwideeven in states with laws protecting abortion access. The anti-abortion group presenting the argument claim in some cases, women who use have a medication abortion still need surgery afterward to remove remaining tissue. The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology states that whether a person passes miscarriage tissue on their own or with medication, both experiences are extremely similar. The only certain removal of miscarriage tissue is obtained via a dilation and curettage procedure.

Its very clear that young people want more access to abortion care, not less, because abortion gives us control over our futureswhere we can live with justice, love freely, express gender and sexuality, and define and create families of our choosing. Mifepristone is safe and effective and backed by over 20 years of scientific and medical evidence, Kimberly Inez McGuire, Executive Director of URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity, says.

Last month, I had a miscarriage, and in order to safeguard my health, and my ability to have a child in the future if I choose to, I needed to take Misoprostol, McGuire continues. These pills, Mife and Miso, are essential, life-saving medications used by people all over the globe. Yet right now inside that building, anti-abortion extremists are arguing a case based on junk science, busybody doctors, and plain old misogyny.

During todays hearings, the Supreme Court justices focused most of their questions on whether the doctors who filed the lawsuit against the FDA could prove their case: that the FDAs rules for mifepristone would cause injury or harm to those who take it.

The current argument over abortion medication comes less than two years after the Supreme Court ruled to overturn Roe v. Wade, granting the constitutional right to an abortion. A study published Monday in the medical journal JAMA found that the number of self-managed abortions obtained using pills grew exponentially during the first six months after the June 2022 ruling.

Last week, The Guttmacher Institute, published data that shows medication abortions accounted for 63% of all abortions that took place within the U.S. healthcare system in 2023, up from 53% in 2020.

The anti-abortion groups, led by the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, challenged the FDAs initial 2000 approval and its more recent changes in 2016 and 2021. They claim the FDA did not have the authority to approve mifepristone for sale and failed to adequately consider the drugs safety and effectiveness.

The very existence of this case puts every other FDA-approved medication at risk of being taken off the market or restricted for political reasons, Alexis McGill Johnson, CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement to NBC News.

Amy Hagstrom Miller, CEO of Whole Womans Health, an abortion provider with in-person and virtual clinics, says her clinics will continue to offer abortion pills by mail while the court considers the case.

This cruel and baseless lawsuit is designed to intimidate and confuse Americans, Miller said. This case is not about health and safety; its about power and control. Here is the truth: medication abortions are safe and effective.

Leading medical groups such as the American Medical Association have told the Supreme Court that mifepristone is extremely safe.

If the Supreme Court decides that there is no legal standing to sue, the case could be dismissed without deciding whether the FDA acted lawfully when it relaxed the requirements for obtaining mifepristone.
Police in Tokyo have arrested two men suspected of stealing a Yu-Gi-Oh! playing card worth 4.98 million (about $32,888), The Japan Times reported.

The two suspects, Sora Takashino and Kanta Sanmi, both 22, allegedly stole a coveted Blue Eyes White Dragon card from a store in the citys Chiyoda Ward. The incident reportedly occurred around 4:50 p.m. on March 13, after Takashino entered a collectibles shop and convinced an employee to retrieve the card from a display case. After the clerk became distracted, its alleged that Takashino took the item and made a quick escape to a vehicle waiting about 400 feet down the road, allegedly driven by Sanmi.

The employee immediately realized the ruse and alerted the police. About three hours later, as authorities continued their search, Takashino and Sanmi allegedly pawned the valuable playing card about six miles away in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district. They reportedly received 1 million (about $6,606) for the item, but a customer in the store who deemed the duo suspicious alerted law enforcement.

Officers tracked Takashino and Sanmi down using the latters license plate number and arrested them on March 22.

Investigators claim that Sanmi confessed to driving Takashino, but he said he had no idea that his friend would commit the crime. The two men are apparently casual friends and have worked together with the same construction company since last year. Law enforcement officials reported that Takashino confessed to the theft, as he allegedly sought money for rent and food expenses.

In North America, the Blue Eyes White Dragon card retails on eBay and similar sites for between $4 and $700. Its unclear what penalties Takashino and Sanmi will face for their alleged roles in the theft.
Southern Living recently named the Mucky Duck on Captiva one of the 18 best beach bars in the South.

And we can see why.

Its been serving up cold drinks, good food and spectacular sunset views from its beachside location for nearly 50 years.

Being in the top 18 is a jaw-dropping achievement considering the magazine listed beach bars in Alabama, Georgia, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, South Carolina, Texas and, of course, the Sunshine State.

To figure out how many beachy wonders there are in that area would be like counting grains of sand.

Just trying to pick out our favorite beach bars in Lee County is difficult enough.

And even though we love so many more than these, here are our top five (in alphabetical order):

Bonita Bills

Visitors, like this family from Iowa, have been taking photos with the boat perched on the dock next to Bonita Bill's. It "will be removed in the near future" according to the restaurant's Facebook page.

When traffic is backed up across Matanzas Pass bridge, we gladly take a right on Main Street and wrap our way around to this bar and converted 1926 fish house on San Carlos Island. With a No shirt? No shoes? Can we get you a beer? motto, it doesnt get much more laid back than this. Beers start at $4 and are even cheaper from 2-5 p.m. for happy hour, which also features BOGO frozen drinks and $1 off wine. Order breakfast, lunch, dinner and drinks at the counter and grab a table. Snap a photo next to the boat still perched on the dock from Hurricane Ian (hurry, itll be gone soon) and watch the water and traffic slowly ebb and flow by as you relax. (702 Fishermans Wharf, Fort Myers Beach; open 8 a.m. to 9(ish) p.m.; 239-463-6119, bonitabills.com and on Facebook)

Docs Beach House

Chicago-style Italian beef with roasted sweet peppers and hot giardiniera on a Turano roll is a popular order at Doc's Beach House in Bonita Springs.

While Hurricane Ian raged through the first floor of this Bonita Beach landmark, the upstairs was completely untouched. As soon as it reopened 14 months later, we were seated at a corner table in that bustling second-floor sports-themed bar area, enjoying cold drinks, Chicago-style Italian beef sandwiches and a clear view of the beach. The downstairs, meanwhile, is all new, but with the same style. For a complete feet-in-the-sand experience, customers can order their tacos, wings, burgers, Chicago tavern-style pizza and more to-go and eat at one of the first-come, first-served beachside tables. Wherever you choose, Docs is one beach bar you dont want to miss. (27908 Hickory Blvd., Bonita Springs; open 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily with breakfast served until 11 a.m.; cash only; limited valet parking is free; 239-992-6444; docsbeachhouse.com)

La Ola Fort Myers Beach

La Ola is back at Times Square with live music, a food truck and a creative use of shipping containers.

As soon as you cross the bridge onto Fort Myers Beach, youre in fun beach-bar land with Yucatan Beach Stand, Nervous Nellies and Wahoo Willies to name a few. Its hard to pick a favorite but we will go with La Ola. This on-the-beach and in-the-sand venue may look vastly different than it did before Hurricane Ian, but the vibe is fully intact. After the original Times Square restaurant was washed away, owner Tom Houghton wasted no time in getting La Ola running again a month later with a food truck, shipping containers and decks. If youre looking for classic beach bar eats (like wraps, tacos, burritos, burgers) and drinks (think margaritas, beer, shots), plus live music, look no further than this cool stop on the beach, just over the bridge. (1035 Estero Blvd., Fort Myers Beach; open 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily; 239-765-2222; laolasurfside.com)

Lah De Dah at Margaritaville

Dine at tables or the bar inside or opt for umbrella-covered tables in the sand at Lah De Dah at Margaritaville Resort Fort Myers Beach.

The new resort has (at least) six dining and drinking venues, including this beachiest beachside and beach-access one. Its the perfect mix of beachy-meets-resorty. Grab a spot at the impressive first-come-first-served bar or have someone guide you to a table inside or to an umbrella-covered one right on the sand. Drink prices begin at $7 for drafts (16 ounces) and domestic cans. Order one of the dozen-plus margaritas (starting at $13), sit back, chillax and watch all the action from one of the busiest spots on the beach. (251 Crescent St., Fort Myers Beach; open noon to 11 p.m. Monday to Thursday and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday to Sunday; 239-899-4001; margaritavilleresorts.com)

Best burger in Fort Myers, Cape Coral? Vote now in our bracket's Final Four

Parrot Key

The new bar at Parrot Key Caribbean Grill on Fort Myers Beach is a cool spot to have a tropical cocktail.

Home to the Sunday breakfast Monster Mary (32-ounce Bloody Marys adorned with whole fried snapper, cheeseburger sliders, bacon grilled cheese or traditional), this Caribbean grill is a fun and waterfront getaway any day of the week. Nestled in Salty Sams Marina just before the Matanzas Pass bridge, settle along the new (thanks to Hurricane Ian) open-air bar decked out with bamboo and parrots everywhere. Island drinks (averaging $10 each) add to the tropical ambiance. Dockside tables and booths are other perfectly breezy options. (2500 Main St., Fort Myers Beach; open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 239-463-7333; myparrotkey.com; follow on Facebook and Instagram)

Robyn George is a food and dining reporter for The News-Press. Connect at rhgeorge@fortmyers.gannett

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: From Bonita Bill's to Doc's Beach House: Our top 5 beach bars
Russ Holeman of Ford Construction of Waukesha attaches the "C" to the side of Pewaukee's City Hall on April 8, 1999. Voters in the former the Town of Pewaukee OK'd changing the municipality's status to thwart continued annexation efforts by the Village of Pewaukee.

Blame it on the founding fathers. And possibly a little neighborly competitiveness.

The maps of the Milwaukee area and the rest of Wisconsin are covered in towns, villages and cities  some of them with the same names, right next to each other.

Readers have asked What the Wisconsin?  the place where the Journal Sentinel takes on questions about our state, our communities and the people in them  why that is, and whether Wisconsin is the only place where that happens.

Why does Wisconsin have towns, villages and cities?

First, there's the business of towns, villages and cities.

The makeup of municipalities in Wisconsin and the rest of the Midwest has its roots in the Northwest Ordinance, according to Jerry Deschane, executive director of the League of Wisconsin Municipalities.

Adopted in 1787, the Northwest Ordinance  drawn up from principles laid down earlier by Thomas Jefferson  set up governing structures for what was then the Northwest Territory, including the later states of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and part of Minnesota.

Under the ordinance, the basic form of municipal government was a township. In some of the states carved out of the old Northwest Territory, like Michigan, they're still called townships. In Wisconsin, they're towns. (Here, "township" refers to a surveying unit, according to the Wisconsin Towns Association.)

Towns are unincorporated municipalities that, under Wisconsin law, may carry out only specific functions, such as road maintenance and fire protection; other services have to be approved by the local electorate.

Villages and cities, on the other hand, have broader powers, defined under state statute. Incorporated by the state, villages and cities are carved out of a town's land by petition and annexation.

Most of Wisconsin's 72 counties have all three forms of local government  cities, villages and towns. One county that doesn't: Milwaukee, which has been town-less for more than 60 years.

Why does Wisconsin have towns and cities with the same name?

Since a city or village has its roots in the predecessor town, it's not surprising that some might keep the name, Deschane said. There's no state law that says two neighboring municipalities can't share a moniker.

"Why? I think because nobody thought it might be confusing," he wrote.

Many states beyond Wisconsin have towns that have the same names as neighboring cities or villages. Michigan, for example, has the city-township combos of Manistee, St. Ignace, Niles and Watervliet, among many others.

You can find such municipal "pairings," as Deschane referred to them, all over Wisconsin, from Douglas County  which actually has a Superior trifecta, with the Town of Superior surrounding the village of the same name, while the City of Superior is just north of both of them  to Kenosha County, where the remnants of the Town of Somers sit next to the much larger village of the same name.

Waukesha County might be the potentate of pairings, with identically named four town-city combos (Brookfield, Delafield, Oconomowoc, Waukesha), three sets of same-name towns and villages (Eagle, Merton, Mukwonago), and the city and village of Pewaukee.

The Village of Pewaukee vs. the City of Pewaukee

The latter pairing sparked some consternation back in 1999, when residents in the then-Town of Pewaukee voted overwhelmingly  1,963 to 143  to change from an incorporated town to the City of Pewaukee.

The town decided to incorporate after losing a third of its land to the Village of Pewaukee and the City of Waukesha. At the time, Town Chairman Brent Redford told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he had preferred the name Pewaukee City but other officials liked City of Pewaukee better.

Officials with the village did not agree.

"To us, we are two different communities. There ought to be a reasonable distinction," Jennifer Sheiffer, Pewaukee village administrator, told the Journal Sentinel.

Sheiffer sent a letter to Secretary of State Douglas La Follette opposing the use of "Pewaukee" in any version of the new city's name. "We feel the use of the name Pewaukee rightfully belongs to the village," she wrote.

La Follette responded that his office's only responsibility was issuing a certificate of incorporation to the new city: "I am unaware of anything this office can do to prohibit the Town of Pewaukee from incorporating under whatever name they choose," he wrote.

Officials at the former town weren't budging. Harlan Clinkenbeard, then town administrator, pointed out to the Journal Sentinel that the Town of Pewaukee dated back to 1843, while the village had been incorporated in 1876.

"We've been here longer," Clinkenbeard said.

Sources: Journal Sentinel archives, League of Wisconsin Municipalities, Wisconsin Towns Association, National Archives

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story mistakenly said the Northwest Ordinance was adopted in 1878.

RELATED: How Wisconsin lost land to Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota before it became a state

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Why do some Wisconsin towns, villages, cities have the same name?
FLORENCE COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW)  A Japanese battery technology company has increased its expansion into a Florence County EV battery plant with a $1.5 billion investment expected to create more than a 1,000 new jobs, according to a news release.

AESC, a world-leading battery technology company, announced Tuesday the expansion of its lithium-ion electric vehicle battery manufacturing operations in the county. The expansion follows its $810 million commitment in December.

With the investment, AESC now has $3.12 billion in the county and is expected to bring a total of 2,700 new jobs, the release said. The state-of-the-art facility will be adjacent to its first building, which broke ground last June.

It will be located in the Florence Global Technology Park, according to the release. Operations are expected to be online in 2027.

AESCs second expansion in less than four months in Florence County signals yet another vote of confidence in our state and our people, Gov. Henry McMaster said in the release. This investment is another monumental win for Florence County, and we look forward to the substantial impact this will have throughout South Carolina.

* * *

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.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 25. The Chairperson of the Executive Committee of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS), in which Kazakhstan holds the chairmanship for 2024-2026, has published an article about the activities of IFAS.

"I would like to share with the audience information about the activities of IFAS aimed at improving the situation in the Aral Sea basin and serving the interests of the peoples and states of Central Asia for 30 years.

In modern realities, with ubiquitous population growth, rapid economic development of states, and an increase in water consumption per capita, the burden on the environment is steadily increasing.Such an intensification of anthropogenic impact provokes and accelerates the processes of global climate change.In Central Asia, all these processes are proceeding at a faster pace than the global average. The ecological crisis in the Aral Sea basin is accompanied by progressive scarcity and pollution of water resources, land degradation and desertification of vast territories, loss of forests, eco-landscapes and biodiversity. On a huge area of the driedup bottom of the Aral Sea, a new desert has formed - Aralkum, with a size of more than 54 thousand square kilometers (for comparison:it is comparable to the territory of Croatia and much larger than Estonia, Denmark, the Netherlands and Switzerland).

In these tense conditions, it is highly relevant for the Central Asian States to elaborate new mechanisms for developing cooperation in the region.The main goal of the chairmanshipof the Republic of Kazakhstan in the IFAS is to further increase the level of cooperation on the integrated use and protection of water resources, solving environmental problems, socio-economic aspects and introducing elements of a "green" economy in Central Asian countries.

During the period of Kazakhstan's chairmanship, we will continue to implement two main programs approved by the IFAS Board: Aral Sea Basin Program-4 (ASBP-4)and its systematic monitoring, as well as the Regional Environmental Protection Program for the Sustainable Development of Central Asia (REPPSD CA). The period of implementation of the both Programs - until 2030.

The environmental problem of the Aral Sea began to appear in the 1960s and 1970s, which has led to the fact that there is practically nothing leftfromthe 4th largest lake on our planet. At first, the Aral Sea was divided into two reservoirs, then into three and 

During the years of Independence, Kazakhstan, with the support of the World Bank, carried out comprehensive work and was able to restore a little part  the Small Aral or the Northern Aral Sea, but this is only about 8% of its original value. The port city of Aralsk is still far from the water, which at first went 100 km away, but after the measures taken it came much closer.

Particles and dust of salts and toxic chemicals left on the drained bottom of the Aral Sea are found not only in the Tien Shan and Pamir mountains, but also far beyond the borders of our region. In order to reduce the removal of harmful substances, the countries of the Aral Sea region are actively engaged in phytomeliorative measures, planting of saxaul(Haloxylon) and other vegetation.

But are plantings on the former bottom of the reservoir so effective? What is the current state of ecosystems? As it is known, due to several low-water years in a row, the flow along the Syr Darya has decreased and the volume of water in the Northern Aral Sea has lessenedfrom a maximum of 27 to 20 cubic kilometers. The catch of fish has declinedand this has a negative impact on the employment of the local population. The morbidity rate of the population is growing again due to desertification and deterioration of water quality Will the tragedy happen again? What are the moods and plans of the locals? There are a lot of questions and they are all interconnected.

I believe that we need to study the full range of problems and ongoing work, to update them and to try to solve them as soon as possibleand more effectively.

In the Aral Sea Basin Program-4 (ASBP-4), which I mentioned earlier, the environmental direction is highlighted as a separate main area, consisting of 12 project proposals.

I would like to note that joint actions are envisaged to adapt to climate change, including measures to adapt the most vulnerable sectors: water and agriculture, drinking water, energy, biodiversity, forest, pastures and mountain ecosystems.It was envisaged to develop a regional action plan for adaptation to climate change and, thanks to the support of the Program of the German Society for International Cooperation GIZ "Green Central Asia", five of our countries have developed and adopted a Regional Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change in Central Asia.

It also provides for the dissemination of the best climate-adapted agricultural practices. We will have to develop a regional program for the protection of biological resources in Central Asia, implement measures to preserve and restore ecosystems in the basins of our main rivers  the Amudarya and the Syrdarya, and continue systematic forest plantations in the Aral Sea region (Priaralye)zone and on the drained bottom of the Aral Sea.

The following environmental projects provide for the development of a system for monitoring the state of the environment and water resources in the Aral Sea region (Priaralye)and on the drained seabed; the development of environmental innovations and technologies in the Aral Sea region (Priaralye)zone.

I consider such a project as "Improvement of water quality in rivers and reservoirs, taking into account international standards, elimination and prevention of pollution, including industrial waste" to be very important. Kazakhstan and other countries are working on joining the Protocol on Water and Health to the Convention on the Protection and Use of transboundary watercourses and international lakes, and Uzbekistan has recently joined it.

Reducing the risks of natural disasters associated with floods, mudflows and droughts in the Aral Sea basin, studying the state of glaciers in the upper reaches of transboundary rivers, developing transboundary eco-corridors, regional networks of specially protected natural areas for the conservation of biodiversity is far from an incomplete list of those projects that we must promote during our IFAS chairmanship.

If we talk about new initiatives that will be carried out within the framework of Kazakhstan's chairmanship in the IFAS, then this is the creation of a long-term and sustainable regional cooperation mechanism for the effective use of water and energy resources in Central Asia, taking into account the interests of all countries in the region in the fields of irrigation, hydropower and ecology.

Systematic work is also needed to implement a unified automated system for accounting, monitoring, management and distribution of water resources in the Aral Sea basin.President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-JomartTokayevat a meeting of the Council of Heads of States-Founders of theIFAS held on September 15, 2023 in Dushanbe, called on the parties to begin implementing these initiatives.

Strengthening regional cooperation with international development partners, UN structural entities, financial institutions and the donor community plays an important role.It is worthwhile to intensify activities within the framework of generally accepted international environmental conventions, action plans, declarations and joint statements.

In the period of 2024-2026 Kazakhstan will take measures to implement the instructions and agreements reached by the Heads of Statesat the IFAS Summit on September 15, 2023 in Dushanbe, as well as previously concluded agreements and commitments, which will ensure the consistency of Central Asia's actions to achieve the global SDGs and its positioning as a single region," he wrote.
The Oakwood Police Department is still searching for a woman connected to a cellphone crime operation that occurred across Georgia.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Around 1:30 p.m., on March 15, Oakwood officers were called to the AT&T store on Mundy Mill Road regarding a man and a woman trying to steal cellphones.

When officers arrived, they learned the duo had already got away in a silver minivan.

AT&T employees reportedly told police they recognized the suspects from an international memo identifying them as committing other cellphone thefts at stores across Georgia.

The suspects were identified as Marius Vasile and Maria Antonescu, a Romanian immigrant.

Authorities said the suspects used special keys to unlock the cellphones from the display tables.

TRENDING STORIES:

Oakwood police sent an alert to surrounding agencies and learned that Vasile was wanted in connection to a theft of cell phones at an AT&T store in Duluth.

The AT&T corporation linked the duo to cellphone thefts in Sandy Springs, Jefferson, Bonaire, Locust Grove, Perry, Atlanta, and Athens. Police said theyre also tied to a case in Crossville, Tenn.

Officials said Vasile and Antonescu are part of a larger Romanian organized crime group that moves around the country committing various types of thefts and fraud.

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On Monday morning, Oakwood police along with other law agencies conducted a search warrant at the suspects home.

Vasile was arrested and booked into the Hall County Jail. Hes charged with criminal attempt to commit a felony theft by shoplifting, conspiracy to commit a felony, and possession of tools for the commission of a crime.

Antonescu was not found and is still at large.

Oakwood officials stated they have identified several other people in the home who may be connected to related AT&T thefts as part of the organized group. Officers also found various keys inside the home that are specifically used to unlock cellphones from display tables at cellphone stores.

This investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact Det. Sergeant Stewart Webb at 770-534-2364 or via email.

IN OTHER NEWS:
CHICAGO  One man was killed and another man was injured in a shooting Monday night in the Garfield Park neighborhood on the citys West Side.

According to Chicago police, officers responded to a call in the 3600 block of West Flournoy Street at about 8 p.m. Monday and found two men with gunshot wounds.

Family of Chicago teen killed in crash involving alleged drugged driver pushing for felony charges

A 20-year-old victim had a gunshot wound to the head, police say, and was transported to an area hospital in critical condition. He was pronounced dead a short time later. An 18-year-old victim had a gunshot wound to the abdomen and was taken to an area hospital in critical condition, police say.

According to police, a third male was placed into custody at the scene for unlawful use of a weapon, and three handguns were recovered.

Teen charged in shooting, crash that injured 4 adults, 1 newborn

Area Four detectives are investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV.
MEMPHIS, Tenn.  The man accused of shooting at officers in Olive Branch earlier this month has now been charged with two counts of attempted murder of a police officer and conspiracy.

Colby Towles, 34, also has a $1 million bond, according to the Desoto County District Attorneys Office.

Before Towless charges were upgraded, he was charged with two counts of aggravated assault of an officer as well as conspiracy to commit a crime.

On March 11, a search was underway after Towles fired shots at an Olive Branch police officer during a traffic stop.

No officers were injured.

Towles fled the scene but was later captured by U.S. Marshals near the Bass Pro Anglers Lodge Hotel in Springfield, Missouri.

Man accused of shooting at police now in Mississippi after fleeing to Missouri

Sarah Skriver, the suspects girlfriend, was also arrested and charged with being an accessory after the fact.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
UPDATE @ 12:50 p.m.:

One person was injured in a shooting in Dayton Tuesday morning.

Dayton police were dispatched to the first block of Knecht Drive on reports of a shooting just before 8 a.m.

>> Baltimores Francis Scott Key Bridge collapses after being struck by ship; video

Upon investigation, it was determined that the suspect came over to a home uninvited, forced their way in, and assaulted the victim, Dayton Police Lt. Steven Bauer said. A person inside the residence shot the suspect.

The suspect, who is in custody, was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The incident remains under investigation.
Here are the 15 gayest cities in the world for 2024





Get ready to escape with this list of family favorites

Here are the 15 gayest cities in the world for U.S. travelers

SHUTTERSTOCK/HANNES VAN DER MERWE

Data scientists and researchers at Misterb&b, the worlds largest LGBTQ+ travel community, have used the habits of its 1 million registered users to create an index ranking the gayest cities in the world for 2024.

Founder Matthieu Jost created Misterb&b after he and his partner were victims of homophobia and harassment while trying to rent a room during a vacation in Spain.

The company connects LGBTQ+ travelers with rentals and services provided by family and allies in their destinations.

His latest feature, Weere, now allows travelers to connect socially before they travel. Users can chat with locals or make plans with fellow visitors.

You can learn more at misterbandb.com, but keep scrolling to find the 15 gayest cities in the world for U.S. travelers according to Misterb&b.

15. Atlanta  USA

Here are the 15 gayest cities in the world for U.S. travelers. 15. Atlanta \u2013 USA

Image by Shutterstock

Atlantas glimmering nighttime skyline

Atlanta is the city of hot summer nights and even hotter Southern men.

RELATED: Elska serves up the men of Atlanta

14. Miami  USA

Here are the 15 gayest cities in the world for U.S. travelers. 14. Miami \u2013 USA

Image by Shutterstock

Miamis famed South Beach at night

Miami knows how to party all year long.

RELATED: Winter Party Festival 2024 returns to Miami Beach

13. Las Vegas  USA

Here are the 15 gayest cities in the world for U.S. travelers. 13. Las Vegas \u2013 USA

Image by Shutterstock

The fountains of the Bellagio in Las Vegas

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas  sometimes.

RELATED: The best DJs from around the world are coming together for EDC Las Vegas 2024

12. San Francisco  USA

Here are the 15 gayest cities in the world for U.S. travelers. 12. San Francisco \u2013 USA

Image by Shutterstock

Sunrise over the skyline of San Francisco

You can find just about any experience in the City by the Bay.

RELATED: Commandos Guide to gay San Francisco

11. Paris  France

Here are the 15 gayest cities in the world for U.S. travelers. 11. Paris \u2013 France

Image by Shutterstock

The Eiffel Tower in Paris

The City of Lights is also the unofficial gay city of love.

RELATED: 30 of the sexiest men from romantic Paris

10. Puerto Vallarta  Mexico

Here are the 15 gayest cities in the world for U.S. travelers

Image by Shutterstock

The gay-friendly Zona Romantica district from above

Puerto Vallarta is Mexicos gay Pacific paradise.

RELATED: Escape to Puerto Vallarta with gay travel experts Michael and Matt

9. San Diego  USA

Here are the 15 gayest cities in the world for U.S. travelers. 9. San Diego \u2013 USA

Image by Shutterstock

Fourth of July fireworks over San Diego

Enjoy fun, food, and sun year-round in San Diego.

RELATED: Kimpton Alma wants to show you why San Diego is a foodies dream

8. London  United Kingdom

Here are the 15 gayest cities in the world for U.S. travelers. 8. London \u2013 United Kingdom

Image by Shutterstock

Big Ben and Parliament in London

Oscar Wilde would have reveled in todays gay London.

RELATED: London calling  your ultimate gay guide to the city

7. Wilton-Manors  USA

Here are the 15 gayest cities in the world for U.S. travelers. 7. Wilton-Manors \u2013 USA

Image by Shutterstock

The community celebrates Pride in Wilton Manors

Despite the efforts of some, South Florida has a vibrant drag and nightlife scene.

RELATED: Drag brunch targeted for closure by Florida governor

6. Washington, D.C.  USA

Here are the 15 gayest cities in the world for U.S. travelers. 6. Washington D.C. \u2013 USA

Image by Shutterstock

The Washington Monument set against the backdrop of the city's annual cherry blossom blooms

Our nations capital will host WorldPride 2025.

RELATED: Capital Pride 2023  a celebration of love, diversity, and star-studded performances

5. Los Angeles  USA

Here are the 15 gayest cities in the world for U.S. travelers

Image by Shutterstock

Grand Central Market in downtown Los Angeles

The greater Los Angeles area has everything from a thriving foodie scene to some of the countrys hidden natural treasures.

RELATED: California's Channel Islands NP is a grueling but rewarding wind-swept paradise

4. Chicago USA

Here are the 15 gayest cities in the world for U.S. travelers. 4. Chicago USA

Image by Shutterstock

Boys Town celebrates Pride

In addition to celebrations during Pride Month, Windy City Santas celebrate the holiday season by going half-naked in public.

RELATED: Stuff your stocking with these 55+ pics from Sidetrack Chicago Santa Speedo Run

3. Palm Springs  USA

Here are the 15 gayest cities in the world for U.S. travelers. 3. Palm Springs \u2013 USA

Image by Hannes Van Der Merwe

The gay men's clothing-optional Descanso Resort in Palm Springs

Palm Springs has many clothing-optional resorts for gay men who want to shed their clothes and their inhibitions.

RELATED: Descanso Resort is Palm Spring's sophisticated escape for gay men

2. Fort Lauderdale  USA

Here are the 15 gayest cities in the world for U.S. travelers. 2. Fort Lauderdale \u2013 USA

Image by Shutterstock

Fort Lauderdale beach at night

Fort Lauderdale is known as the Venice of America for its 300+ miles of navigable canals and waterways.

RELATED: Rejuvenate your body and soul at the queer-inclusive W Fort Lauderdale

1. New York City  USA

Here are the 15 gayest cities in the world for U.S. travelers. 1. New York City \u2013 USA

Image by Shutterstock

The skyline of the city that never sleeps

Enjoy a spa treatment at LGBTQ-friendly NYC spas.

RELATED: A guide to NYCs premier LGBTQ-friendly spas
(FOX40.COM)  The Stockton Police Department said a 16-year-old died on Sunday night after he was shot in the citys Valley Oak area.

According to police, the boy was found at the 8100 block of Palisades Drive just before 9 p.m. There is no suspect information at this time, police added.

16-year-old boy arrested for Stockton shooting that killed 17-year-old

On Sunday, Stockton police officers responded to reports of a person being shot. When they arrived at the scene, they found the 16-year-old boy suffering from a gunshot wound.

He was taken to a local hospital, but police said he was unable to overcome his injuries.

The incident remains under investigation.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40.
A 16-year-old Foresthill boy died and four other teens suffered major injuries early Tuesday after their SUV struck a tree along a rural road in Placer County, the California Highway Patrol reported.

The teenage boy who died was driving a 2020 Toyota RAV4 around 1:10 a.m. with four teen passengers and heading east on Foresthill Road, the CHPs Auburn office announced in a news release.

The CHP said the Toyota was just east of Mayflower Road near the town of Foresthill, where the driver failed to negotiate a curve in the road. The vehicle then struck the tree.

The driver died from his injuries. Sgt. David Smith, a spokesman for the Placer County Sheriffs Office, said they will not be releasing the drivers name because he was a minor.

The CHP said two 16-year-old boys, one from Foresthill and another from Newcastle, suffered major injuries in the single-vehicle crash. Two girls from Foresthill, one 16 years old and the other 17 years old, also suffered major injuries in the crash.

The injured passengers were taken by ambulance to Sutter Roseville Medical Center, according to the CHP.

The CHP said the deadly crash is still under investigation, and investigators believe alcohol may have been a contributing factor.

The teen who died in the crash was a student at Foresthill High School, along with three of the four passengers injured, according to a written statement from the Placer Union High School District.

Such tragedies, especially when they involve young people, are very difficult to process, school district officials said in the statement. Community resources have been provided to our students and staff, and following Spring Break additional counselors, mental health specialists, and chaplains will be (on campus) to offer support for as long as needed.
AUSTIN (KXAN)  Two Army veterans were posthumously awarded the Texas Legislative Medal of Honor on Monday.

Gov. Greg Abbott presented the prestigious award to the families of U.S. Army Major Jerry L. Bell and Army Master Sergeant Mike C. Pena at the Texas Capitol Monday morning. KXAN spoke to the daughter of Bell, Wendy Baldwin, who spoke on what the award means to them.

Bell was recognized for his service in the Vietnam War, and Pena was recognized for his service in World War II. Additionally, Pena gave his life during the Korean War, Abbotts office said in a news release Monday.

On Monday, Gov. Greg Abbott posthumously awarded the Texas Legislative Medal of Honor at the Texas Capitol | Ed Zavala/KXAN News

Army Master Sergeant Mike C. Pena was posthumously awarded the Texas Legislative Medal of Honor at the Texas Capitol | Ed Zavala/KXAN News

Army Master Sergeant Mike C. Pena was posthumously awarded the Texas Legislative Medal of Honor at the Texas Capitol | Ed Zavala/KXAN News

On Monday, Gov. Greg Abbott posthumously awarded the Texas Legislative Medal of Honor at the Texas Capitol | Ed Zavala/KXAN News

U.S. Army Sergeant Major Bell was recognized for his valiant service during the Vietnam War, and U.S. Master Sergeant Pena was recognized for his service in World War II and for giving his life to save his fellow soldiers during the Korean War. The awards were accepted by members of Sergeant Major Bell and Master Sergeant Penas respective families.

Oh gosh, its unbelievable. We always knew [Bell] was a hero, but now everybody else gets to know, Baldwin said.

The Texas Legislative Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration you can get as a member of the Texas military forces.

Its the pride of our country. Its someone who gave what they could give, and its part of history now, said Mary Alice Bell, Bells wife, during the ceremony.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON)  Two people who were found shot and killed at a home in San Franciscos Portola neighborhood on Sunday night have been identified. Oscar Picazo, 49, and Florinda Picazo, 48, were found shot dead when officers were called to a home in the area of Dwight Street and San Bruno Avenue Sunday at 8:44 p.m.

Oakland smoke shop busted by DEA officers for illegally possessing weed, related products

Responding to a report of a shooting, officers found the two decedents suffering from gunshot wounds. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.

Both of the deceased parties were San Francisco residents, according to the San Francisco Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

Bay City News contributed to this story.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
DENVER (KDVR)  Two roadside workers suffered serious injuries in a crash on Interstate 70 near Ward Road in Wheat Ridge on Tuesday, according to police.

The crash happened around 11:20 a.m.

A truck with a mobile crash cushion attached to it was on eastbound I-70 when it was struck.

The workers were taken to a hospital, but their injuries were not believed to be life-threatening, according to Wheat Ridge police.

Both workers were part of a company contracted by the Colorado Department of Transportation as part of a project to replace the I-70 bridges over Ward Road.

Download the FOX31 App: Breaking news alerts & Pinpoint Weather

The workers were outside of the vehicle when it was hit.

According to the Colorado Department of Transportation, the crash cushion was there to protect the workers. It also said that there was proper signage in the area and that all safety protocols were being strictly followed.

According to police, the at-fault driver was cited for careless driving.

Several lanes of eastbound I-70 were closed for a time as a result of the crash. This caused traffic to back up for several miles near the crash until the lanes were reopened.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
A Queen Anne style farmhouse near Oxnard and a mid-20th century equestrian center in Bell Canyon may soon get national recognition as historic places.

The spots, both in unincorporated areas of Ventura County, have been nominated for the National Register of Historic Places. This week, the countys Cultural Heritage board unanimously agreed to recommend that they met requirements for the list. The next step comes in May when a state commission will consider the nominations.

If the commission agrees they are eligible, the nominations are expected to go onto a review at the national level.

When was the farmhouse built?

The Scarlett-McGrath Ranch, also called the Scarlett Ranch, property covers roughly 5 acres mostly surrounded by farmland. A tree-lined road leads to the farmhouse that sits 600 feet or so off West Gonzales Road.

While continuous use has led to some changes, the property and buildings have retained their significance, county officials said.

John Scarlett bought nearly 700 acres near the Santa Clara River for $14,000 in gold coin in 1874, according to the propertys nomination documents. He reportedly farmed the land and raised horses, cattle and hogs.

Part of the farmhouse was built earlier, but in 1889, owners added the front and two-story portion of the home. It was described in publications at the time as a showpiece, the documents say. The farmhouse has an asymmetrical facade, window bays and decorative woodwork characteristic of a Queen Anne style, officials said.

Scarlett-McGrath Ranch includes century-old barn

A barn east of the home went up between 1929 and 1934. Nearby, a brick building once used as a tank house and a tractor shed were described as built around the turn of the century.

In the 1930s, the property appears to have transferred to the McGrath family, which had owned a nearby ranch. During this week's hearing, Beverlee McGrath, who currently lives there, thanked the local board for considering the nomination.

It means an awful lot to me and the rest of the family, she said.

'Bel Air of the San Fernando Valley'

The Bell Canyon Equestrian Center covers nearly 10 acres, including a main building, four stable barns, an arena and landscaped courtyard, in the gated community of nearly 2,000 residents, officials said.

The neighborhood sits on the southeastern edge of Ventura County, an enclave only accessible through the West Hills area of neighboring Los Angeles County.

Back in 1968, the Spruce Land Corp., a housing developer, bought a ranch for $3 million to develop what was initially called the Woodland Hills Country Estates, according to the nomination documents. The name later changed to Bell Canyon. An equestrian community, the spot was marketed as the "Bel Air of the San Fernando Valley."

Cliff May designs Bell Canyon Equestrian Center

Cliff May designed the equestrian center as its focal point with thickly applied stucco walls, an arched breezeway, cylindrical tower and other features, the applicant said.

The nomination called the center "a prominent example" of the California ranch architectural style by May, who designed thousands of custom homes.

A longtime resident advocating for the historic status called the center unique and said it attracted many people to the spot.

Cheri Carlson covers the environment and county government for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at cheri.carlson@vcstar.com or 805-437-0260.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Ventura County nominates 2 spots for national historic status
LAURINBURG, N.C. (WBTW)  Two men wanted in the killing of a 37-year-old Fayetteville, North Carolina, woman are in custody, according to Laurinburg police.

Antonio Tyrone Ingram, 26, and Tyrell Devon Leggett, 22, are facing murder charges in the shooting death of Denver Jamesia Quick, who died Sunday at an undisclosed medical center after being shot on Thursday evening. Quick formerly lived in Laurinburg.

Officers responded at about 10:15 p.m. to the area of Samao and Wagram Street to investigate a report of shots being fired. Thats where they found Quick, who was unresponsive in the drivers seat of a silver Chevrolet Malibu that had crashed.

Police arrested and charged Nicholas Leonardo Nicholson on Thursday and charged him with first-degree murder in Quicks killing. He is also charged with discharging a weapon into occupied property, felony conspiracy and discharging a firearm in the city.

Leggett is also charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, larceny of a firearm and altering and/or removing a guns serial number.

The investigation is ongoing. Count on News13 for updates.

* * *

Dennis Bright is a Digital Producer at News13. He joined the team in May 2021. Dennis is a West Virginia native and a graduate of Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Follow Dennis on, Facebook, X, formerly Twitter, and read more of his work here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBTW.
A concerted Justice Department effort to prosecute those who threatened election workers since 2020 has resulted in 20 prosecutions, the department announced Monday.

The news comes as Arizona prosecutors announced the sentencing of a man who threatened to kill Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) in 2022, when she was serving as the Arizona Secretary of State.

More than half a dozen of the 20 prosecutions resulted in prison sentences of more than a year, U.S. Attorney Gary Restaino, the top prosecutor in Arizona, said in a press conference.

Let these cases be a lesson not to take or attempt to take the rule of law into ones own hands, he said.

The Justice Departments Election Threats Task Force was formed in 2021 to respond to threats related to 2020 election denialism. Made popular by right-wing fringes of the GOP and quickly picked up by former President Trump and other notable mainstream politicians, the notion that the 2020 and 2022 elections were rigged still holds strong among some Americans.

The idea is especially strong in Arizona, the pivotal swing state that went to President Biden in 2020 after a lengthy vote count. GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, now running for Senate in the state, claimed Hobbs fraudulently won her election in 2022.

Task force head John Dixon Keller said a majority of the thousands of tips received dont result in criminal cases but remain important to keep the legitimacy of elections.

Death threats are not debate. Death threats do not contribute to the marketplace of ideas, he said. Death threats are not a protected constitutional right.

In Mondays case, Joshua Russell was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for multiple death threats made in a phone call to Hobbs.

Russell left three voicemails with the Arizona Secretary of States office threatening Hobbss life, beginning on the date of the Arizona primary elections in 2022 and continuing through the general election.

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, Russell said in the first message, according to the Department of Justice. Americas coming for you, and you will pay with your life, you communist [expletive] traitor [expletive].

Attorney General Merrick Garland reiterated in a statement that the department will continue to target those who threaten election workers.

If you threaten violence against the public servants who administer our elections, there will be consequences, Garland said in a statement. The right to vote, which is the cornerstone of our democracy, relies on the ability of election workers and election officials to perform their duties without fearing for their lives. The Justice Department will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute those who threaten these public servants.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
PECOS, N.M. (KRQE)  Earth Day is around the corner, and a New Mexico community is looking for cleanup participants.

To make the ecosystem cleaner, officials are spreading the word about their Earth Day River and Road Cleanup on April 20. Itll take place from 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. at 16 Guadalupe Ln in Pecos, New Mexico.

Several groups are coming together to hold the event. See those involved below:

Upper Pecos Watershed Association

Pecos Business Association

Pecos Canyon State Park

Santa Fe National Forest

Truchas Chapter Trout Unlimited

San Miguel County

New Mexico Wilderness Alliance

Did you know you can get seeds for free at Albuquerque libraries?

This partnership underscores a shared commitment to the preservation and careful management of our natural resources, highlighting the importance of community involvement in environmental conservation of the Pecos Watershed, reads a press release from authorities with the Pecos Watershed. Its an opportunity for individuals to make a tangible impact on the environment and foster a healthier, cleaner future for our community. We warmly invite everyone to join us in this meaningful endeavor. Whether youre a long-time advocate for environmental causes or looking to get involved for the first time, your participation will contribute significantly to the conservation efforts for the Pecos River.

If youre interested in participating, contact Magda Matecka at 505-757-3600 or email upwa@pecoswatershed.org.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos.
DALLAS - Experts recommend having a full tank of gas if you plan to be on the roads on April 8th, the day of the Great North American Eclipse.

Travis Houston, the new director of the City of Dallas' Office of Emergency Management, says he started planning for the total solar eclipse over Dallas a year ago.

READ MORE: Where to watch the solar eclipse in Dallas

"The one thing we know 100% sure is the moon will pass over the sun, and it will get dark. But there are a lot of other variables, we are always looking at what is the worst case scenario. If you plan for that, an you hope for the best, That is our whole philosophy in emergency management," Houston said.

The biggest concern is to keep traffic moving.

"Making sure we understand how to keep ingress an egress active for first responders. How do we take care of stranded motorists, if that is an issue, and then how do we communicate to the public don't stop on the road to look at the eclipse," Houston said.

In the total solar eclipse of 2017, that stretched from Oregon to South Carolina, the largest city in the path of totality was Nashville.

Some areas then experienced gas shortages.

"It is like a self-fulfilling prophecy. Anytime you start talking about gas shortages it makes people say, I've got to go get gas, and it comes true. I don't know that we will have as big of a challenge with that in Dallas itself in a big urban core like this," he said. "Everyone in Dallas has experienced gridlock rush hour traffic. We know sometimes you can sit in traffic for some time around 5 o'clock. I think it is just when that gets extended and vehicles break down or run out of gas, or people that are stuck on the side of the road. It's the planning to make sure you have a way to address that that is really important. So that has been a big focus of our planning."

Houston encourages employers to treat April 8 like a snow day, with only essential workers heading into the office.

"If it is easy for an employer to do, I think it makes sense, not just from traffic standpoint, but a getting business done standpoint. You will probably have a lot more work starting at 8:00 and ending at 5:00 p.m. if your employees are working from home that day," he said.

READ MORE: Why some states have issued warnings ahead of celestial event

The Dallas Fire and Police Departments say they are staffing for the day like they do for other large scale events, but, in this case, there might be several crowded areas instead of one central location.

"Extensive planning and that's not only between our divisions: patrol, our speciality units, but it is also working with state, other local departments, city departments to make sure everything is smooth," said Dallas Police Department spokeswoman Kristin Lowman.

Houston says officials in Nashville said that the worst traffic tie-ups happened after the eclipse, since many people arrived days in advance of the eclipse, but then all started to head out at once.

He urged families to have something to do after the eclipse is over to wait out traffic and avoid gridlock.
It seems important to note some things.

First, the Republican Party now again nominates for the presidency the most dangerous and iniquitous human being ever put forward by a major American political party. There should be no doubt about this. Its flatly and undeniably true.

Directing a multifaceted conspiracy to overthrow the democratically elected government of the United States is only the worst of his endless cascade of transgressions.

Gene Nichol

Second, he is now joined, as partner, with the most dangerous and iniquitous person to be nominated by a major political party for governor of North Carolina in the modern history of the state. (Not to mention the NC Republican nominee for Superintendent of Public Instruction.) This partnership of hate and constitutional rejectionism is what we face.

Every person who votes for them, who aids and abets them, who supports them in any fashion, who joins in their antidemocratic and brutal crusade, demeans himself and demeans the country. They also endanger the world. They literally endanger the world.

It is vital to be clear-eyed about this. Free of pretense. To be fearless, not faithless. To be unwilling to ignore the existential and defining threat we immediately face. We can wish it were not so. But that doesnt change a thing. It is, flatly, what it is.

As historian Heather Cox Richardson has written that a second Trump term would mean an end of American democracy. I have absolutely no doubt about that, and hes made it very clear. Hell put in power those who want to burn it all down. As long as somebody gets hurt, thats enough for them.

Third, against this horrifying regime there is now just one actual, remaining, viable opponent  the engaged citizenry of the United States. And there is only one entity, one institution, through which to wage the nation-defining struggle  the American Democratic Party. I could wish that wasnt the case. Like many, Ive had my disagreements with the Democrats. But theres no one else. No law, no regulation, no constitutional provision, no court, no guardrail will save us. No political class, no consultants, no group of experts or commentators will come to our rescue.

The Democratic Party is now, at least, well and truly named. It will itself, in 2024, either save the American democracy or it wont, and the American democracy will fall. We can deceive ourselves about this, I suppose. Millions do. But if you are in a great battle to save your form of government, your essence as a people, it does not help, it does not assist the cause, to pretend it otherwise.

To claim that the unfolding darkness is not actually upon us. To behave like a child. We are now, like it or not, essential sisters and brothers in the cause of America. Or we aid the other side.

Anyone who thinks that if Trump again becomes president he and his crew will ever surrender power is a fool. A fool who hears no evil, sees none, speaks of none. A fool who buries his head in poisoned sand..

I regret greatly that this is the point to which we have come. But such regret serves no purpose. It eases no burden, lifts no banner. The vast Republican Party, in North Carolina and across the nation, has enrolled in the sedition caucus  whether through ambition, hatred or cowardice. The choice is made. For the rest of us, it is all hands on deck. All citizens obliged. We are both the heirs and the guarantors of freedom.

Contributing columnist Gene Nichol is a professor of law at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
BERTIE COUNTY, N.C. (WAVY)  A 21-year-old Windsor, North Carolina man accused of murder has been arrested.

Previous Coverage: Bertie County Deputies investigate fatal shooting on Hexlena Rd.

On March 13, Bertie County Sheriffs deputies were called to Hexlena Road in Aulander because someone had been shot. Upon arrival, they found 28-year-old Dashawn Malik Boone dead from a gunshot wound.

Law enforcement officials were able to gather sufficient probable cause to obtain murder warrants for 21-year-old Javyn AMarion Marqyez Askew of Windsor, North Carolina.

Askew was taken into custody without incident early Tuesday morning.

My prayers and condolences go out to the family of the victim and the suspect because two young mens lives were lost due to senseless gun violence. said Sheriff Tyrone Ruffin. Again Im very proud of the collaborative efforts with each of the partnering agencys affiliated through the Down East Drug Task Force. I personally want to thank everyone for the time spent working this case.

Currently, Askew is in the Bertie-Martin Regional Jail with no bond.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com.
A 25-year-old woman described as a great person all around was discovered shot and killed along a Michigan roadway, according to state police and news reports.

The woman, identified by family as Ruby Garcia, was found with gunshot wounds on a Grand Rapids road late Friday, March 22, according to Michigan State Police. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

State police did not say the circumstances that led to Garcia being shot.

She was a great daughter, sister, aunt and friend, Mavi Garcia told WXMI of her sister. She will be remembered as being full of life and laughter. Those who were around her (knew) she was silly and made everyone laugh. Her loss has impacted the lives of many people. Her life was taken too soon. She deserved to live life, travel the world, have kids and follow her dreams.

State police said Sunday, March 24, the investigation remained very active. Authorities announced later in the day a person of interest had been taken into custody.

Officials said charges would be announced in the afternoon of March 26.

Mavi Garcia described her sister as a great person all around who would brighten up the room with her beautiful smile, WZZM reported.

17-year-olds body found on side of road in 2022, VT cops say. Now, two are arrested

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Three felons have been arrested in connection with an armed robbery in Riverside County, authorities announced Monday.

Deputies with the Riverside County Sheriffs Perris Station responded to the 2000 block of North Perris Boulevard on reports of the Mar. 24 robbery at around 10:30 a.m., a department news release stated.

Details are limited and its unclear exactly how the incident unfolded, but authorities located the victim at the scene who had allegedly been robbed at gunpoint by the three suspects who fled the area before deputies arrived.

Members of the RCSDs Robbery Burglary Suppression Team assumed the investigation and apprehended the three men, later identified as 44-year-old Ontario resident Deandre Owens, 22-year-old Riverside resident Damar Thedford and 39-year-old Riverside resident Treyvon Williams.

3 felons busted for armed robbery in Southern California

Officials did not provide any information on whether the victim knew the suspects or if anyone was injured during the alleged robbery.

Owens was booked at the Cois Byrd Detention Center on charges of robbery, a felon in possession of a firearm, possession of a loaded firearm in a public place. Thedford was booked at the same detention center on charges of a felon in possession of a firearm, possession of a loaded firearm in a public place. Williams, also booked at Cois, was wanted on a felony warrant, authorities said.

Authorities say the investigation into the incident is ongoing and anyone with information is urged to contact Investigator Rooker at 951-776-1099 or the Perris Station at 951-210-1000.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
Moscow's Basmanny District Court ordered three more suspects into pre-trial detention for their alleged involvement in the March 22 terrorist attack that killed over 130 people, according to Russia's Investigative Committee.

Several gunmen opened fire at the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, northwest of Moscow, on the evening of March 22, killing at least 139 people and injuring over 120. A branch of the Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attack shortly thereafter.

The suspects remanded on March 25 include the brothers Aminchon and Dilovar Islomov, and their father, Isroil Islomov. The three men live and work in Russia's northwest Tver Oblast.

The Investigative Committee previously on March 23 confirmed the arrest of four people suspected of committing the shooting. The suspects showed signs of physical abuse, with one man being brought to court in a wheelchair. Photos and videos circulated online showing Russian authorities' alleged torture of the supects.

Dilovar Islomov is the previous owner of a white Renault car with a black roof that authorities claim was the getaway vehicle for the Crocus City Hall shooters. The Investigative Committee claimed that Islomovs participated in the "activities of an organized group" with one of the other alleged attackers, Shamsidin Fariduni.

Aminchon Islomov said that he and his brother went to the police themselves after hearing about the attack. They said they had sold the vehicle a week earlier.

"We went ourselves when we found out that we saw my car," Dilovar Islomov said.

The Islomovs were ordered to a pre-trial detention center until May 22. Aminchon Islomov denied his guilt in court.

"I am innocent," he told the judge.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has continued in public comments to attempt to link the attack to Ukraine, despite no evidence of Ukrainian involvement and ISIS' admission that it was behind the shooting.

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.
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, March 26. The French Alstom company would consider the opportunities to participate in an on-ground metro project that will be built in Uzbekistans Tashkent when the population of this region exceeds one million, a source from the company told Trend.

"The Uzbekistan government shared the plans for the construction of New Tashkent, which will be connected to the existing parts of the capital. The plan includes the development of public transport, including metro and tram lines. In this regard, Alstom is collaborating with the Ministry of Transport of Uzbekistan to offer the best solutions," the source said.

According to the source, currently, Alstom collaborates with Uzbekistans Ministry of Transport and the Directorate of the New Tashkent Project on the development of the tram project. Uzbekistan and France have signed the intergovernmental Road Map document for the development of a light-rail transit system for Tashkent city. The grant in the FASEP program has already been allocated to finance the development of a feasibility study for this project. A French EGIS engineering company has been selected to conduct this feasibility study and has already started the work on the root selection and collection of other primary data.

"As a leading global provider of railway transport solutions, we stand ready to bring our expertise and experience to Uzbekistan and contribute towards the development of transport infrastructure, create employment opportunities, and foster sustainable growth in the region. We are keen to collaborate with key stakeholders in Uzbekistan's transport sector, and we believe that our contributions can help realize the country's ambitious transport goals," the source noted.

Earlier in 2022, the Ministry of Transport of Uzbekistan and Frances Ministry of Foreign Trade, Economic Attractiveness, and French Nationals Abroad signed an agreement on the Tashkent tram system project. According to the document, in the first stage, Alstom will build 9.1 km of tram lines in the city. These lines are expected to transport 78.000 people per day.

The cost of the project is estimated at 167.4 million euros. It is scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2024.
A white cone-shaped capsule can be seen head-on with earth behind it.

Three spaceflyers have arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) after a roughly two-day orbital chase.

Russia's Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft docked with the ISS today (March 21) at 11:03 a.m. EDT (1503 GMT), about 50 hours after launching from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Flying on the Soyuz are NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson, Oleg Novitskiy of the Russian space agency Roscosmos and Marina Vasilevskaya, a spaceflight participant from Belarus.

The hatches between the Soyuz and the ISS are expected to open around 1:40 p.m. EDT (1740 GMT) today. You can watch that event, along with a welcome ceremony hosted by the orbiting lab's current residents, live here at Space.com, courtesy of NASA TV. Coverage will begin at 1:15 p.m. EDT (1715 GMT).

Related: International Space Station  Everything you need to know

three smiling astronauts (two women and one man) in white spacesuits sit in front of their national flags against a dark background

This is the fourth spaceflight for Novitskiy, the third for Dyson and the first for Vasilevskaya.

Dyson will stay in orbit for about six months, serving as a flight engineer for ISS' Expeditions 70 and 71. Novitskiy and Vasilevskaya, however, will live on the station for just 12 days or so; they'll come home in early April aboard a different Soyuz, along with NASA's Loral O'Hara.

O'Hara arrived at the station last September, aboard a Soyuz that also carried cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub. Kononenko and Chub are about halfway through their planned yearlong orbital stay; they'll come back to Earth in September with Dyson.

RELATED STORIES:

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Kononenko, Chub and O'Hara aren't the only astronauts who will welcome the Soyuz MS-25 trio aboard the ISS today.

There are four other astronauts on the orbiting lab as well, who arrived earlier this month on SpaceX's Crew-8 mission for NASA. Those four, who will stay up for about six months, are NASA's Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps, and Alexander Grebenkin of Roscosmos.

Soyuz MS-25 was originally supposed to launch on Thursday morning (March 21) and arrive at the ISS that same day. But an electrical issue with its rocket ride forced an abort that day, and a launch delay to Saturday.
MARQUETTE COUNTY, Mich. (WJMN)  This summer, youths from ages 12 to 19 have the opportunity to check out options at a university in Michigan all while creating friendships, gaining leadership experience, and working on independence. 4-H Exploration Days is an event held at Michigan State University where youths gather to learn about some opportunities they have for future careers while also gaining important life skills.

Over 100 hands-on learning sessions about a variety of interesting topics will be available to the youths attending.

Theres lots of stuff with computers and robots and things like that, said Liana Pepin, the Marquette County 4-H Program Coordinator and Extension Coordinator. Theres always a lot of interest in photography. Theres also sailing and kayaking. Lets see, theres American Sign language. Lots of different choices. I mean, theres something for everyone. Theres acting, theres cooking, theres different cultural experiences. So the skys the limit.

The Marquette County delegation along with other Western U.P. counties will depart on Monday, June 17th by bus and will go through Chicago and stay the night there. They will spend Tuesday in Chicago visiting the Shedd Aquarium and Field Museum before heading to East Lansing.

4-H Exploration Days will take place from June 19th through the 21st where the attendees will get to experience campus life by staying in MSUs residence halls, eating at the on campus facilities, and taking part in learning sessions in university lecture halls and classrooms. Youths will learn important life skills such as time management, responsibility, and problem solving while they independently navigate life on campus.

Young people get an opportunity to experience different parts of our area, meaning the state of Michigan and beyond this year, because theyre going through Chicago, said Pepin. They get to meet and mingle with young people from all over the state, and theyre there with a bunch of caring adults who are guiding them through the experience. And they come back with new skills, with new friends, with maybe a renewed sense of their future. Right? So, they just really, theyre excited and its a highlight for most of our kids. They talk about it all year long. They cant wait to go again.

If you want to know more about registering your youth for 4-H Exploration Days, you can contact Liana Pepin at deisenro@msu.edu. To learn more about this event, you can find the brochure posted on the Marquette County Michigan 4-H Facebook page here. To learn more about Marquette County 4-H and other opportunities they offer, you can find their website here and their Facebook page here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJMN - UPMatters.com.
CHICAGO  A group of men and one teenager are all facing a slew of felony charges in connection with an armed robbery that allegedly unfolded on the citys West Side on Sunday morning.

According to Chicago police, the 20-year-old Jaquan Martin, 19-year-old Omari Gunn, 18-year-old Renard McGee, 18-year-old Lawrence Norwood and an unidentified 17-year-old are each facing the following felony charges:

One count of armed robbery.

Two counts of unlawful use of a machine gun or automatic weapon.

One count of possession of a stolen vehicle.

One count of possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number.

One count of unlawful use of a weapon possess/carry/conceal weapon.

Lawrence Norwood (top left), Renard McGee (top center), Omari Gunn (top right), Jaquan Martin (bottom left) and an unidentified 17-year-old are each facing a slew of felony charges in connection with an armed robbery that unfolded on the West Side on Sunday.

Officers say the charges stem from a robbery that allegedly unfolded in Humboldt Park less than an hour before their arrest on Sunday.

Read more: Latest Chicago news headline

According to the police, just before 7:30 a.m., the group held a 27-year-old man at gunpoint in the 500 block of North Harding Avenue before stealing his belongings.

Officers quickly caught up with the suspects in the 5000 block of West Quincy Street and all five were taken into custody only 30 minutes after the alleged robbery.

All five appeared in court on Monday for a detention hearing.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV.
Two people were found shot, including one fatally, in an apparent attempted murder-suicide inside a Texas home, according to police and news reports.

Officers were dispatched to the south Houston home just before 9 p.m. Monday, March 25, following reports of a shooting, police told KPRC.

The home is across the street from Texas Southern University, KTRK reported, but the incident is not believed to be connected to the college.

A 4-year-old girl was the first to greet officers, telling them her mom fell down and needed help, police told KHOU.

The mother, discovered with a gunshot wound, was taken to a hospital in critical condition, KRIV reported, citing police.

Police said a man was found dead in the home with a gunshot wound. His death was believed to be self-inflicted after shooting the woman, police told news outlets at the scene, including KTRK.

A motive for the shooting is unclear. Police said the incident was domestic related, according to KRIV.

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The Joint Committee on Appropriations signed some letters of intent Tuesday, Veto Day, directing the Board of Regents and Board of Technical Education about how to spend some money given to them during the legislative session.

What the committee wants for USD

First, the committee directed the BOR to use $8 million of the more than $16 million it received for Higher Education Facility Fund bond payments and maintenance and repair this year to be set aside for maintenance and repair of the Churchill-Haines lab at the University of South Dakota.

A $10 million bill to renovate the lab was killed in 2022. USD President Sheila Gestring included a $20.5 million request to preserve and modernize the lab, and the South Dakota Union building, Dakota Hall and East Hall in her State of the University Address in 2022.

This letter of intent is the first step in support for the lab. A report detailing the use of the funding shall be presented during the 2025 budget hearing, according to the letter.

From left, Rep. Mike Derby, R-Rapid City; Sen. Jean Hunhoff, R-Yankton; and Rep. Tony Venhuizen, R-Sioux Falls, participate in a Joint Appropriations Committee hearing in January 2024 at the Capitol in Pierre.

A Center for Civic Engagement

Second, the committee asked that a portion of the $926,406 in base general funding increase for Black Hills State University be used to create a Center for Civic Engagement at BHSU.

Such a center has been the focus of Rep. Scott Odenbach (R-Spearfish) for the last several years, with each of his bills failing at some point in the legislative process.

While Odenbachs bill for the center didnt pass this year, the Legislatures intent is that the center provides undergraduate students with the foundation to succeed as lifelong citizens and future leaders in political, economic and civic life.

According to the letter, the center must provide this foundation by incorporating, in the education of the students, a broad range of subjects, including communications, economics, history, philosophy, political science, and sociology, and enhancing the students' understanding of civic affairs and discourse.

BHSU must collaborate with the BOR to develop and provide curricula and programs, sponsor and host civic-focused events, provide experiential learning opportunities, provide civic programming, and provide other resources in support of the center. BHSU must also present on the center during the 2025 session.

Split funding for quantum science and technology

Third, the committee wrote that the $3,034,444 contained in Senate Bill 45 to start the Center for Quantum Information Science and Technology should be divided up, with $1,222,222 going to Dakota State University, another $1,222,222 going to South Dakota Mines, and $590,000 to the BOR office for simulator access.

Both DSU and Mines are to provide quarterly reports to the BOR until funds are expended and report to the committee during the 2025 budget hearing.

Tuition freezes and salary increases

Fourth, the committee wrote letters to both the BOR and BOTE detailing that the BOR should use the additional $5,735,607 in general funds it received, and the BOTE should use the additional $1,384,687 in general funds it received, for the 4% increase in salary policy for employees; and, that tuition and fees will not increase for the 2024-2025 school year for both the BOR and BOTE.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: How SD lawmakers want Regents to spend money from the legislative session
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  The Texas Department of Public Safety arrested six suspects in connection to a Lone Star Card fraud investigation in El Paso earlier this week, according to a press release from Texas DPS.

Alejandra Tagle, 31. Theft amount: $3,595.44 Photo: EPCSO

Arely E. Marin, 30. Theft amount: $4,821.45 Photo: EPCSO.

Lorenza Franco, 52. Theft amount: $5,084.65 Photo: EPCSO

Mayra C. Menchaca, 32. Theft amount: $5,643.54 Photo: EPCSO.

Omar Alberto, 42. Theft amount: $44,475.93 Photo: EPCSO

Adriana Franco, 31. Theft amount: $5,807.00 Photo: EPCSO

A seventh person is also facing charges but hasnt been booked yet.

The following individuals were booked into the El Paso County Jail for theft of services:

Adriana Franco, 31, of El Paso: Theft Amount  $5,807.00

Alejandra Tagle, 31, of El Paso: Theft Amount  $3,595.44

Arely E. Marin 30, of El Paso: Theft Amount  $4,821.45

Lorenza Franco, 52, of El Paso: Theft Amount  $5,084.65

Mayra C. Menchaca, 32, of El Paso: Theft Amount  $5,643.54

Omar Alberto Gallegos, 42, of El Paso: Theft Amount  $44,475.93

Jessica Cardenas, 37, of El Paso: Theft Amount  $2,180.21  Administrative processing completed; (not booked)

DPS says from 2016 to 2024, 30 individuals have been arrested for food stamp fraud.

DPS says Lone Star Cards are electronic benefit transfer cards used to access Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food benefits and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) cash help payments.

The multi-agency investigation was comprised of the DPS Criminal Investigations Division, Texas Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS OIG) Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) Trafficking Unit, Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) El Paso.

DPS says all the cases have been turned in to the El Paso County District Attorneys Office for prosecution.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
Three people have been charged in connection to an incident involving a 6-month-old baby who was locked inside a day care building by herself, Pennsylvania officials say.

The Philadelphia District Attorneys Office announced on Tuesday, March 26, that three staff members of New Arisens Childcare Solutions have been charged with endangering the welfare of a child and conspiracy, according to media reports.

On Feb.1, Camron Banks arrived at his daughters day care facility half an hour before it was scheduled to close only to find the building locked up and darkened, McClatchy News reported.

Nobody even knew where she was at, Banks told KYW-TV

Police contacted the New Arisens owner and manager, but they were unable to fully roll up the steel gate that covered the front door, WTXF reported.

Firefighters were called to cut through it, Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said in a media briefing.

The baby was found sitting in her car seat in a dark corner covered with a blanket, police said, according to WTXF.

Jessy Flores, the babys mother, told WCAU the owner of the day care apologized but didnt provide an explanation.

Nobody knew when she last ate, Flores told the station. Nobody knew when she was changed, nobody knew who she was with, she said.

Flores said her daughter was dehydrated but OK, according to WCAU.

McClatchy News reached out to New Arisens March 26 for comment but did not receive an immediate response.

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This 6-Year-Old Who Started Reading At Age 2 Recognized As One The Countrys Smartest Kids; Parents Eye Harvard At 13 | Photo: Getty Images

Taurian Collins, a first-grader attending J.S. Clark Magnet School in Louisiana, has secured a coveted spot in Mensa, the renowned high IQ society for exceptionally brilliant individuals.

According to KNOE, the young boys path toward early academic excellence started when he was around 2 years old, when he developed an interest in reading.

Taurians parents were amazed at his reading skills and would often give him material to read and explain what it meant.

I called him into the room and said, Hey, can you read this to me and tell me what it says? Jessica Collins, his mother, told the outlet.

Taurian had outstanding test scores, marking him eligible to apply for Mensa. The institution acknowledges individuals who score in the 98th percentile in standardized testing.

The website states that there are about 150,000 Mensa members worldwide, spanning over 90 countries and diverse age groups. Additionally, the society offers dynamic opportunities for social, cultural, and intellectual interaction among its members.

Taurians pediatrician, Dr. Brian Bush, confirmed that the 6-year-old was an ideal applicant for the elite program.

He is the perfect candidate for a program like that, Bush told KNOE. I mean, these are the most intelligent people in the world, and he fits right on in that group.

While Taurian is renowned for his academic prowess and quick-witted humor, his mother reflected on the uncertainty about her sons future path in life.

He wasnt really talking  It was momma and dadda and that was a little iffy  I dont think he was saying 10 words, Jessica said.

After an appointment with his pediatrician, it was confirmed that Taurian had an issue with his immune system. He had to get his adenoids removed and tubes placed in his ears, according to KNOE.

Despite initially struggling with speech, his parents remarked that he became incredibly talkative in the months following his surgery.

Like many children his age, Taurian envisions pursuing multiple careers after completing his college education.

Of course, he said hes going to Harvard at 13. So were going to do whatever we have to do to get him to Harvard at 13, his mother said.
The Hub is the largest ever research funding win for Cranfield University

The largest hydrogen research hub at any UK airport will be built at a Bedfordshire university.

Science and Technology specialists at an airport run by Cranfield University have successfully bid for 69m to continue examining how the fuel can help meet zero emissions targets.

It is the largest research funding win in the university's history and cash will also be used for equipment and staffing to support the project.

Prof Karen Holford said: "Its a very exciting prospect for our researchers, partners and for the aviation industry."

As the only university in Europe with its own airport, Cranfield has a controlled airside environment which can demonstrate, test and advance new technologies

With the Government setting domestic aviation a target of achieving net zero emissions by 2040, the Cranfield Hydrogen Integration Incubator (CH2i) will support the industry in moving towards the use of the fuel at scale.

It will provide an environment to develop the production of technologies as well as storage tanks, aircraft designs and engines that are urgently required to accelerate the adoption of hydrogen in a net zero world.

The project includes building new labs to create an on-site Hydrogen Integration Research Centre.

There will also be an upgrade of test areas to support hydrogen and liquid hydrogen activity, plus development of Cranfield Airports infrastructure, increasing its capability for safe operation and testing.

Cranfield is the only university in Europe with its own airport, which can demonstrate, test and advance new technologies.

Prof Holford said: "Working with research and industry partners nationally and internationally, we will unlock some of the most significant technical challenges around the future development and deployment of hydrogen in aviation.

She added: "Its a very exciting prospect for our researchers, partners and for the aviation industry.

"It will help to build the pathway to net zero emissions aviation.

Follow East of England news on Facebook, Instagram and X. Got a story? Email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp us on 0800 169 1830

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A 91-year-old civilian was injured, nine private houses, a gas pipeline, and a power line were damaged in two Russian shelling attacks on Nikopol in Ukraines Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, regional governor Serhiy Lysak reported on Telegram on March 26.

Read also: Russia shells Epicentr store in Nikopol  photo

Nikopol and its suburbs are being systematically targeted by Russian drone and artillery attacks. On March 24, the wreckage of a downed drone damaged a power a power facility in the Nikopol district.

Five people were injured in an earlier March 17 enemy attack.

On March 6, an Epicentr hardware store in Nikopol was virtually destroyed by Russian artillery shelling in Nikopol.

 /Telegram

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
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  An American Airlines Boeing 738 plane traveling from Austin to Charlotte Friday was diverted to Alabama over a maintenance issue, officials said.

American Airlines stated that on Friday, March 22, AA Flight 1285 traveling from AUS to CLT had to divert to Birmingham (BHM) due to a maintenance issue.

AA would not clarify with Queen City News what exactly the maintenance issue was.

Boeing CEO to step down as part of broader leadership shakeup

FlightAware shows the aircraft take off at 2:48 p.m. Friday, March 22, from Austin, Texas, before landing in Birmingham, Alabama just after 5 p.m. About one hour into the flight, the plane drops in speed and altitude before landing at BHM.

The flight landed safely Friday and the aircraft was taken out of service to be inspected by a maintenance team, American Airlines stated.

We never want to disrupt our customers travel plans and apologize for the inconvenience, American Airlines said in a released statement on Tuesday.

The B738 is a member of the Boeing B737 family of aircraft.

This is a developing story; check back for updates

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
Collage of Michael Bautista and one of his alleged kidnappers.

State prosecutors in Connecticut have moved to drop the case against two Bronx men who were accused of kidnapping a doctor outside a Brooklyn nightclub because the alleged victim no longer wanted to work with the authorities.

The defendants  Anthony Benjamin, 42; and Steve Daley, 50  had been charged in Stamford Superior Court with grabbing 32-year-old Michael Bautista outside the Brooklyn Mirage venue last summer and forcing him to go on a wild spending spree across the Big Apple.

But Bautista  an ophthalmologist and cataract surgeon from Norwalk, Connecticut  decided that he does not want to cooperate with prosecutors, Assistant States Attorney Joseph Valdes said during a February hearing, according to The Hour.

State prosecutors in Connecticut have dropped the charges against Anthony Benjamin, who was accused of kidnapping a doctor outside the Brooklyn Mirage last summer. Norwalk Police Dept

Authorities also dropped the charges against Steve Daley, Benjamins accomplice who allegedly drove them up to the Connecticut hospital where the doctor worked.

Being as Bautistas testimony was expected to make up the bulk of the evidence, prosecutors could not continue without him, the local newspaper reported.

The charges against Daley were dropped Feb. 26, the report said. The charges against Benjamin will be dropped at his next court appearance, scheduled for April 15.

Prosecutors decision not to pursue a criminal case against the two men could be a fittingly bizarre ending to the wild case.

Previously, Bautista claimed the pair ensnared him after a July 21 show at the Brooklyn Mirage, an often-troubled dance club in East Williamsburg known as a target for criminals looking to take advantage of drunk or otherwise inebriated people wandering around the neighborhood.

Bautista allegedly stopped cooperating with authorities, which has killed the case, prosecutors said. Norwalk Hospital

Anthony Benjamin, 42, was last seen in court on November 7. He is in Rikers Island awaiting a court date for the larceny charges. Douglas Healey

Daley was allegedly driving the taxi Bautista leapt into, and Benjamin was already lounging in the backseat, according to a Norwalk Police report.

The two allegedly refused to bring the hapless doctor back to his car.

Dr. Michael Bautista claimed he played along with his alleged kidnappers until he could get away. rfaraino

Instead, they ferried him on a wild weekend spending spree through the Bronx in which Benjamin forced Bautista to buy him clothes and shoes, pay for his haircut at a barber shop and a night out at a strip club, according to a police report obtained by The Hour.

Bautista also shelled out cash for pizza and smoothies, law enforcement sources previously told The Post.

Benjamin  who claimed he had a handgun on him the whole time  also allegedly made Bautista take out money from ATMs that Benjamin later pocketed and handed out to his friends, the report said.

The alleged kidnapping happened outside the Brooklyn Mirage, where two 27-year-olds vanished then turned up dead over the summer. NY Post

Daley then allegedly drove the two to the Connecticut hospital in which Bautista worked  and thats where cops collared the two accused kidnappers on July 23.

The pair were originally held on massive bonds  $1 million for Benjamin and $250,000 for Daley.

But a judge cut that to promises-to-appear after a prosecutor and a public defender raised concerns about the evidence in the case, The Hour said.

Standing here today, without any other independent corroboration of the complaining witness statement of what occurred over the weekend, the state does not feel right asking for a high bond, Supervisory Assistant States Attorney Michelle Manning said at Benjamins arraignment.

Its not clear why Bautista decided to stop cooperating. Douglas Healey

Prosecutors decision might be a weight off Daleys back.

But its unlikely to make much difference to Benjamin  hes still locked up on Rikers Island for allegedly stealing a wallet, drivers license and iPhone from a victim in Midtown West last fall, according to jail records.
Guernsey Ports has worked alongside the Guernsey Blind Association to reccomend potential adaptments in the aiport

Guernsey Airport has made changes to its terminal to improve accessibility for people with visual impairments.

Guernsey Ports said it had worked with the Guernsey Blind Association to recommend potential adaptations.

Areas where adjustments were suggested included colour edging added around white surfaces to create contrast, and changing the colour of seating.

The Guernsey Blind Association said it hoped that the small changes would make a big difference to airport users.

'Removes stress'

Chantelle Tucker, from the association, said: "There wasn't mush contrast between the walls, entrances and doors, which can be so disorientating.

"We say to people it's only reasonable adjustments, they're very small changes, that make a really big difference.

"Feedback we have received so far is fantastic. It removes the stress and anxiety people have sometimes with air travel."

Mel Mechem, from Guernsey Ports, said it was important to make doorways and benches easier to see.

He said: "It's about trying to get some contrast as it's difficult for people with visual impairments to see where doorways are, so it is about getting awareness of where they are by, for example, adding stair strips.

"The airport can be a stressful place to be, so we try to move forward with what we can do to help and assist people."

Follow BBC Guernsey on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook. Send your story ideas to channel.islands@bbc.co.uk.
Developmental disability advocates are calling out the state of Illinois for what they say is a lack of funding.

Governor JB Pritzkers budget proposal would set aside about $3 billion in services for the developmentally-disabled community. The proposal doesnt include a pay increase for the people who care for them. As Our Quad Cities Illinois Capitol Bureau correspondent Theodora Koulouvaris reports, the absence of a pay increase raises concerns about a labor shortage.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHBF - OurQuadCities.com.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark.  The Arkansas LEARNS Act is being challenged in federal court by students and a teacher in the Little Rock School District and the state officials are not backing down.

Across the street from the historic Central High School Monday, the plaintiffs called section 16 of the law prohibiting indoctrination in Arkansas Schools unconstitutional and asked the court to immediately stop the state from enforcing it.

Arkansas public school students no longer receiving AMI days; how this is impacted by LEARNS Act

The law caused uncertainty for students taking AP African American Studies days before the 2023-2024 school year started because it was pulled from the course code before the course framework was altered to exclude critical race theory and address concerns in themes like intersections of identity and resistance and resilience.

This course is just a way for me to learn another perspective, Sadie Belle Reynolds argued.

Reynolds, a plaintiff and Central High School freshman taking AP African American Studies, is one of five plaintiffs including her mother, a classmate and her mother and the teacher of AP African American Studies Ruthie Walls.

If we dont be very careful, well end up in the same awkward position we were years ago, and we have people to stand up and say no, Walls said.

She and other plaintiffs in a 56-page lawsuit claim the LEARNS Act section on Indoctrination which calls out Critical Race Theory violates the First Amendment protections of free speech and the Fourteenth Amendment protections of equal protection under the law.

In a statement Monday Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders responded to the lawsuit.

In the State of Arkansas, we will not indoctrinate our kids and teach them to hate America or each other, she said. Its sad the radical left continues to lie and play political games with our kids futures.

Arkansas Education Secretary sends letter to 5 school districts concerning AP African American Studies

Jennifer Reynolds, plaintiff, mother of a student taking African American Studies, said the class her daughter attends fosters understanding not division.

I dont really understand what is the boogeyman in all of this and what is the fear of the indoctrination, Reynolds said.

Part of the lawsuit is for damages. Mike Laux, one of the attorneys representing the teacher, students, and parents said the state is not covering the almost $100 final exam fee that it does for other AP classes.

Arkansas Department of Education Secretary Jacob Oliva called some accusations of the lawsuit a total lie.

The lawsuit falsely accuses ADE of not allowing students to participate in the AP African American Studies pilot program and stripped them from the benefits that the course provides  a total lie. The department advised schools they could offer local course credit to students who complete the pilot, and six schools participated. After discussions, College Board updated course framework and assured it does not violate Arkansas law. The department approved the course for the 24-25 school year and will continue to work with districts to ensure courses offered to students do not violate Arkansas state law. ADE Secretary Jacob Oliva

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin also chimed in through a statement.

The LEARNS Act has brought much-needed reforms to Arkansas, Griffin said. I have successfully defended it from challenges before, and I am prepared to vigorously defend it again.

Sadie Belle Reynolds attended school growing up in Africa and South America, where she was a minority white student. She said learning what people did in the past upholding slavery and preventing civil rights hasnt shamed her or lessened her love of America. This law has struck a nerve though.

It makes me like aggravated and confused on why someone would want to cover up someones perspective in a story and history, true history and it makes you think and not repeat the same problems in the future, she said.

Confusion over AP African American Studies class in Arkansas on first day of school

The case will be heard in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas Central Division. No court dates have been set. A motion for preliminary injunction will be filed within the week to accelerate the process according to Laux.

READ THE FULL COMPLAINT

He claims some of the students speeches in class could broach the critical race theory topic so he is asking for a clear answer before then.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KARK.
AUSTIN (KXAN)  The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) released the first age progression image of a San Antonio girl who went missing at the age of three in December 2021. The photo shows what she may look like today at the age of six.

San Antonio 3-year-olds disappearance being treated as missing persons case

Lina Sardar Khil disappeared from San Antonio on Dec. 20, 2021. She was last seen at a playground in the 9400 block of Fredericksburg Road. An Amber Alert was issued for her later that day, but police later said they were treating her disappearance as a missing persons case and not an abduction. Officers said if it were an abduction, they would have been looking for a particular suspect or have evidence that a suspect was involved.

Linas father, Riaz Sardar Khil, said at the time the family initially thought Lina may have left the playground with another Afghan family but later believed she may have been abducted. Extensive searches were done, but Lina was never found.

With family reference photos, NCMEC forensic artists revealed what Lina may look like today at six-years-old.

Lina Sardar Khil (San Antonio Police Department Photo via Twitter)

Age-progressed photo shows what Lina Sardar Khil may look like present-day. Shes been missing since Dec. 2021. (Courtesy: National Center for Missing & Exploited Children)

Its heartbreaking to look at Lina, now at six years old. For her family, seeing Linas sweet face at this age is especially tough, but it also gives them new hope, said Angeline Hartmann, director of communications at NCMEC. Weve seen countless times how our age progression images can be a driving force in the search for a missing child Were now asking everyone to take a moment out of their day to take a close look at Linas image and share it with others. You never know who might have information that can help bring her home.

If you have any information about Lina Sardar Khil call NCMEC at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678).

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 26. Armenia has actually frozen its participation in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said during an interview with Greek newspaper Kathimerini, Trend reports.

"According to our assessment, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) has not met its security obligations to the Republic of Armenia, particularly from 2021 to 2022. The practical outcome of this CSTO policy is that we have frozen our participation in the organization," he said.

Pashinyan noted that, as of September 2023, Armenia has no permanent representative in the CSTO.

"We do not engage in the CSTO's high-level or top-level negotiations. However, we do not oppose CSTO decisions, nor do we participate in them" he added.

Meanwhile, Pashinyan earlier announced his intention to withdraw from the CSTO in the lack of responses to Yerevan's questions. According to him, the organization "must fulfill its obligations and recognize its zone of responsibility."

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Latvian airline Air Baltic plans to resume flights to Kyiv, Lviv, and Odesa as soon as Ukraine's airspace reopens, the airline announced on March 26 after a visit to Kyiv's Boryspil airport.

The skies over Ukraine have been closed to civilian aviation since Russia launched its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, meaning that passenger transport in or out of the country is only possible via road or rail.

Air Baltic CEO Martin Gauss said that he met with Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov at Boryspil on March 25, along with the Boryspil management team and the team of Lviv airport.

The Air Baltic delegation inspected the airport's infrastructure, equipment, and ability to resume flights.

"Impressive preparations have been made, and Boryspil International Airport is renewed and ready to welcome millions of passengers again," Gauss said on X.

"We presented our plans to reconnect Ukraine with the world by air and as soon as the airspace is open and safe."

The Air Baltic delegation at Kyiv's Boryspil airport on March 25, 2024. (Boryspil Airport)

"Air Baltic will contribute to the rebuilding of Ukraine's aviation," Gauss said.

Boryspil airport said that Air Baltic "is planning to launch flights to Kyiv, Lviv, followed by flights to Odesa, connecting these cities with the Baltic capitals and major European cities via Riga."

According to the airport, Air Baltic operated 3,644 flights from Boryspil between 2019 and 2021, carrying 285,600 passengers.

Low-cost airline Ryanair announced in July 2023 its plans to return to the Ukrainian market within eight weeks of Ukrainian air space reopening.

Ryanair CEO Michael OLeary announced that his company plans to open 75 routes from Europe to Ukraine once the airspace is declared safe.

Ryanair was the second-largest airline operating in Ukraine prior to the beginning of the full-scale invasion, after Ukraine International Airlines, according to O'Leary.

Read also: Ukraine wants to reopen airports during war. Will its ambitions take off?

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Ukraine shot down all 12 kamikaze drones launched by Russia overnight, the Air Force said in its morning update on March 26.

In a post on Telegram, the Air Force said the drones had been launched from Cape Chauda in Russian-occupied Crimea along with two S-300 anti-aircraft guided missiles in the direction of Donetsk Oblast.

The Air Force did mention whether it had intercepted the missiles.

The air attack was repelled by mobile fire groups of the Defense Forces of Ukraine in the Mykolaiv and Kharkiv regions, the post reads.

All 12 (drones) were shot down. Thanks for the successful combat work!

The attack came a few hours after Kyiv was once again targeted by Russian missiles, with air defenses intercepting two over the city on the morning of March 25.

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 Kyiv City Military Administration said that out of the 10 victims, two people were wounded and hospitalized, and the remaining eight people suffered from shock.

Read also: Missiles hit Kyiv seconds after air raid alert, leaving people no time to shelter

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Forbes Ukraine has reported that the Oscar-winning documentary film 20 Days in Mariupol set a record for views on Ukrainian streaming platforms during the first weekend of its release.

The press services of Megogo, Kyivstar TV, Takflix and Volia TV report that the documentary achieved a record number of views.

It was the most watched film on Megogo, with 21,000 users obtaining access.

"This result speaks to Ukrainians' deep respect for the films team and the desire to celebrate and support homegrown cinema," said Valeriia Tolochyna, marketing manager at Megogo.

20 Days in Mariupol set an all-time streaming record on Takflix. The exact number of views is unknown, but Takflix noted that the film outperformed Antonio Lukichs comedy drama My Thoughts Are Silent and Heat Singers, a documentary directed by Nadiia Parfan, both of which came out before the full-scale invasion.

It was the same story on the Kyivstar TV platform, where the documentary outperformed popular Ukrainian and foreign films. From 21 March to 24 March, 20 Days in Mariupol garnered the most views on Kyivstar TV and Volia TV during its initial streaming release. On Volia TV, the film received five times more views than all other online movies combined.

20 Days in Mariupol was Ukraine's highest-grossing documentary in 2023, earning UAH 500,000 (approx. US$13,000) in its opening weekend.

Best Documentary Film at the 2024 Oscars

The presentation of the award for 20 Days in Mariupol was omitted from the shortened international telecast of the Oscars ceremony. The telecast lasted 90 minutes, and certain categories and parts of the show had to be cut due to time constraints. Disney Entertainment explained that the selection of nominations for the shortened version was determined several weeks in advance during the planning of the broadcast.

20 Days in Mariupol is the first Ukrainian film in history to win an Oscar.

Accepting the award, director Mstyslav Chernov addressed the audience from the stage: "I wish I had never made this film. I wish to be able to exchange this for Russia never attacking Ukraine, never occupying our cities.

Russians are killing tens of thousands of my fellow Ukrainians"

Source: Patrick T. Fallon via Getty Images

After appeals from Ukrainian television and radio operators, Disney changed its mind and pledged to add the film to the international 90-minute version.

The documentary film was assembled from footage captured by Chernov and a team of Associated Press photo journalists in the besieged city of Mariupol, under Russian occupation. This material was sent to international media outlets, depicting the horrific events in the city: the deaths of children and adults, the digging of mass graves, the destruction of a maternity hospital by a Russian airstrike, and other Russian war crimes.

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Breeze Airways will be offering new destinations from the Orlando International Airport.

The airline company announced they will be flying from Orlando to Bangor, Maine; Lancaster, Pennsylvania and Lansing, Michigan.

The new routes start in October, with twice-weekly service and fares starting from $79 one way.

Read: $1M Powerball ticket sold in Central Florida

Breeze Airways will offer 26 destinations from Orlando.

The airlines said nine new routes will start in the next seven months.

The airlines will have nine new routes starting from Orlando, FL:

Mobile, AL (Wednesdays and Saturdays, starting April 10);

Greenville-Spartanburg, SC (Seasonal, Mondays and Fridays, starting May 24);

New Burn, NC (Seasonal service, starting May 24, Friday and Monday of Memorial Day weekend, then Thursdays and Sundays);

Hartford, CT (Seasonal, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, starting May 29);

Orange County-Santa Ana, CA (Seasonal resumption, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, starting May 29);

Manchester, NH (Mon and Fri, starting June 14);

Lansing, MI (Wed and Sat, starting Oct 2, One way from $79*);

Bangor, ME (Thurs and Sun, starting Oct 3, One way from $99*); and

Lancaster, PA (Thurs and Sun, starting Oct 8, One way from $79*).

Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
MADISON, Ala. (WHNT)  When Nekiyah Weaver walked into the Jersey Mikes off of Highway 72 in Madison on Monday morning, she expected to sit down for a lengthy interview as a finalist for a college scholarship.

Instead, she was surprised to find out shed won a $10,000 college scholarship!

After 45 years, Jerry Hayes ready to spend more time with family

I was not expecting this, Weaver told News 19 of the surprise.

The scholarship was presented to Weaver by Cancer for College, a charity thats been awarding scholarships to cancer survivors since 1993, in partnership with Jersey Mikes Subs.

Representatives with Cancer for College and Jersey Mikes told Weaver they wanted to take a few pictures before the interview started. Then, the Jersey Mikes franchise owner went back into the kitchen, grabbed the big check, and surprised Weaver and her family.

On behalf of Jersey Mikes and Cancer for College, were just so proud of everything youve accomplished and hopefully this will help you accomplish your dreams, said Kimberly Crowell, franchise owner for Jersey Mikes.

World War II Veteran celebrates 106 years of life

Weaver said, It really does mean a lot, it will help me a lot on the way, when talking about the $10,000 scholarship.

Weaver is currently a junior at the University of Alabama in Birmingham (UAB) studying Digital Marketing, and working towards her real estate certificate. However, her college experience hasnt always been easy.

I was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia in 2021, I was a freshman in college at that time, Weaver told News 19. I wasnt expecting such a diagnosis.

According to the American Cancer Society, Chronic Myeloid Leukemia is a type of cancer that starts in the blood-forming cells of the bone marrow and invades the blood.

Watch parties bring excitement for fans cheering on Alabama teams in March Madness

Despite the diagnosis, Weaver has continued to excel in their studies and is on track to graduate next year. Her dedication, community service work, and positive outlook were enough to impress the team at Cancer for College.

Shes very dedicated to her studies, and she is just shes just such a light and shes going to go out and do big things, said Tabithia Engle, Director of Donor Impact for Cancer for College.

Funding for the scholarship comes in part from partnerships with restaurants like Jersey Mikes. Each time a customer donates $1, $3, or $5  they can help make a student like Weavers dream come true.

All month, Jersey Mikes locations across the country have participated in the Month of Giving, where customers are encouraged to donate to charities. Coming up on Wednesday, March 27th, Jersey Mikes is doing its annual Day of Giving. 100% of sales on that day will be donated to local charities.

 Get breaking news, traffic and weather alerts directly to your smartphone. Download the News 19 App

News 19 congratulates Nekiyah Weaver and her family!

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHNT.com.
A special election in an unusual purple Alabama state House district is testing the political potency of reproductive rights in a red state after a major ruling there last month led to a temporary pause on in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment.

Republican Teddy Powell is running against Democrat Marilyn Lands in a special election for Huntsville-area state House District 10. Powell has leaned into issues including the economy and infrastructure, while Lands has placed an emphasis on IVF and abortion, including sharing a personal story of the abortion she received.

The race could offer one of the first clues about how salient the issues of IVF and abortion coming on heels of the state Supreme Courts decision.

I think in this race, in this district, at this time, its the right issue for the right day, and IVF is absolutely going to be an issue, said Republican strategist Jon Gray, while arguing abortion and IVF were separate issues.

Lands and Powell are running for an open seat in state House District 10, which was vacated after former Rep. David Cole (R) pleaded guilty last year to voter fraud.

Lands is a licensed professional counselor whos also worked in Republican politics as a former campaign manager for former Republican state House Rep. Mike Ball. Powell is a Madison City Council member and previously served as a budget analyst for the Defense Department.

The district, which encompasses portions of Huntsville and Madison in northern Alabama, according to AL.com, is an unusual one in the Yellowhammer State, because its one of the few swing seats.

The greater area is home to the NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center and the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, and the district is situated in southwestern Madison County, one of the fastest growing counties in the state.

Powell said he wants to focus on modeling the work done in northern Alabama and applying it to the rest of the state.

What weve done here is, there are particular roads that needed to be done, and  as we did those roads and brought that infrastructure, then it brought businesses. As those businesses come in, you know, what would happen from there is we increase our tax base, Powell told The Hill.

Meanwhile, Lands has made abortion and IVF key issues in the race. She released an ad earlier this year sharing the story of her abortion two decades ago and the story of another woman, Alyssa, who had to cross state lines to receive access to the medical procedure in 2022 after her learning her child had been diagnosed with Trisomy 18, underscoring how the overturning of Roe v. Wade has changed access to abortion across generations.

Alabamas current abortion law, which essentially bans the procedure with very limited exceptions, went into effect after the U.S. Supreme Courts Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization decision in 2022.

Even more recently, the state witnessed a seismic shift around access to IVF treatment, when the Alabama Supreme Court ruled last month that frozen embryos were considered children. The ruling stemmed from a legal challenge filed by several couples after a patient dropped and destroyed several frozen embryos in a fertility clinic.

Lawmakers quickly passed legislation that addressed civil or criminal liability concerns for IVF providers, with several health care providers beginning to resume access to the treatment.

But the ruling has opened the door to questions around defining when life begins  and how the ruling could shape reproductive access in the state and influence it elsewhere. It also raises questions about how those kinds of definitions might square with existing abortion laws in the books.

When the Dobbs decision came down, many people couldnt have imagined a world where IVF wouldve gotten wrapped up in it, said Heather Williams, president for the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC), which has endorsed Lands.

I think the story here is not just about IVF as an issue and the importance of giving people as many options as we can to choose how and if they can grow their family, Williams said, but also that Republicans are not governing around policy issues that they actually believe in. Theyre governing around power and control and being able to make decisions on our behalf.

Lands has heard concerns around IVF access and how it could have unintended economic consequences for the area.

Ive also heard from people in business and industry who are concerned because  Huntsvilles become a big hub for job growth, Lands told The Hill. And there are families that were planning to move here who now are reconsidering that. So from an economic development standpoint, its having an effect there, too.

The race has attracted national attention as the special election offers one of the first data points of how the state Supreme Courts IVF ruling and the state Legislatures recently passed legislation is being received among some voters in Alabama.

Former Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.), who campaigned for Lands over the weekend, told The Hill in an interview that he believes IVF and abortion will play an important role in the race, but that it is one of many.

This state is never going to progress as a whole until Democrats can become competitive across the board. To do that, we got to break the supermajority thats in the Legislature. [Lands has] got a chance of winning and helping us work toward that goal, he said.

Some Republicans have acknowledged that IVF will play a role in the race, but bristle against the way Democrats have been coupling abortion and IVF together.

I believe not just as a political consultant, that as a woman, that the issues of IVF and abortion are completely unrelated, said Republican strategist Angi Horn, who said shes faced fertility struggles herself.

IVF is about individuals who are unable to  through other avenues  have children, and IVF is a way for them to conceive. Abortion is quite the opposite, she said.

Republicans also argue that the state Supreme Courts case has been misunderstood and politicized.

Thats something that the mainstream media for the large part has forgotten  Democrats have absolutely forgotten  and trying to turn it and twist it into something thats anti-in vitro fertilization. Its quite the opposite, Alabama GOP Chair John Wahl told The Hill.

For all of the national attention that this single state House election has received, Gray, the Republican strategist, emphasized that this seat was unlike that of many others in the state.

The state House race will do little immediately to change Republican dominance in the state Legislature, much less Alabamas red trifecta. State legislative races, particularly when scheduled during off-cycle dates, also tend to see lower voter turnout.

But that hasnt stopped Jones  or other Democrats for that matter  from spotlighting the race. The former Alabama senator pushed back against the idea that the issues of IVF and abortion were being unfairly conflated together and argued that Republicans wouldnt stop at those issues in the battle over reproductive rights.

Yes  IVF is connected to abortion, which is also connected to contraception, Jones said. And if you look at whats going on in the far-right Right to Life movement, thats exactly what theyre coming after.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Sir Iain Duncan-Smith has been a big critic of the Government's policy toward China - Avalon /Justin Ng

Chinese products should be labelled on Amazon and other online shops so customers concerned about human rights issues can avoid buying them, Sir Iain Duncan Smith has suggested.

Sir Iain, a former Tory leader, said many people wanted to buy less from China but struggled to do so when shopping online because they did not know where an item comes from until it was too late.

He called on the Government to do more to tackle the issue as pressure mounts on Rishi Sunak to toughen his stance on Beijing after MPs described sanctions over cyber attacks as feeble and pathetic.

On Monday, Oliver Dowden, the Deputy Prime Minister, announced in the Commons that Chinese state-affiliated actors were behind two cyber attacks on the UK, targeting the Electoral Commission and hawkish parliamentarians.

In response, Britain has sanctioned two individuals and a company linked to the APT31 hacking group.

Mr Dowden said the Chinese cyber threat was more than equalled by our determination and resolve to resist it, but his announcement sparked a backlash among some MPs who felt the measures did not go far enough.

Sir Iain, one of the MPs spied on, said the statement was like an elephant giving birth to a mouse and called for China to be officially labelled as a threat to Britain.

Sir Iain labelled Oliver Dowden's statement to the House as like 'an elephant giving birth to a mouse' - Reuters/Andy Bailey

Speaking to LBC on Tuesday, he described China as a dangerous country and suggested more could be done to help online shoppers boycott goods from Beijing.

If you go onto an online website like Amazon and try to buy something, you dont know where it comes from until it arrives in the package  and of course its too late to deal with it then, he said.

Lots of people in my constituency and elsewhere have said wed like to say well try and buy less from China because of the use of slave labour, but we dont know until that thing arrives.

I want [the Government] to do more, but the UK is no different from others around Europe in this regard.

Defending the Governments response to the cyber attacks, Gillian Keegan, the Education Secretary, said the UK would be firm in its dealings with Beijing.

But she stressed that Britain wanted to avoid trade issues with China and said there needed to be an appreciation of the complexity of the relationship between the two nations.

She told GB News: It is a complex issue, clearly. What theyve said is there are sanctions obviously for what the National Cyber Security Centre have said have been breaches and there are two individuals that have been sanctioned and there are some other travel restrictions as well.

And what Oliver [Dowden] has said is that is the first step along the way. I will be going to Cabinet after this morning round so we will be, I guess, talking about it there.

But I do recognise the complexity because clearly starting some sort of trade issues is what we want to avoid as well.

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US retail and tech giant Amazon logo pictured on the company's logistics center in Suelzetal. Amazon identified and properly disposed of more than 7 million counterfeit products worldwide last year, according to a report it published on 26 March. Klaus-Dietmar Gabbert/dpa

US retail and tech giant Amazon identified and properly disposed of more than 7 million counterfeit products worldwide last year, according to a report it published on Tuesday.

Since its inception in 2020, the company's Counterfeit Crimes Unit "has pursued more than 21,000 bad actors through litigation and criminal referrals to law enforcement," Amazon vice president Dharmesh Mehta said.

Measures against product piracy relate to articles that were to be brought into the logistics cycle of the world's largest online retailer as well as cases in which Amazon was able to provide companies and authorities with information about counterfeiters' warehouses, for example.

Amazon sells goods itself as well as acting as a platform for other retailers - and counterfeiters often try to use this channel as a gateway.

The company said its seller vetting has deterred bad actors from attempting to create new Amazon selling accounts.

Last year, the tech giant "stopped more than 700,000 bad actor attempts to create new selling accounts, stopping them before they were able to list a single product for sale in our store," Mehta said, down from 6 million in 2020.

In Europe, Amazon, together with German carmaker BMW, recently successfully brought a civil case to block the sale of counterfeit BMW parts and accessories at the European Union's Trademark Court in the Spanish city of Alicante.

The court ruled that four Spanish residents had attempted to sell counterfeit BMW parts and accessories on the online platform throughout Europe, and ordered the fraudsters to destroy the counterfeit products and pay compensation to the plaintiffs.
The average American has way more "free" time than you might think.

But most of us spend the majority of our leisure time staring at screens.

Picking up a new hobby can be a good way to reset  but that's easier said than done.

It's another Tuesday night, and work is winding down. I send my last Slack messages for the evening, fire off a few emails, and shut my laptop with a false sense of finality as if I don't have to return to my desk in sixteen short hours.

I make the short trek from my at-home office to the couch, where I grab the remote and settle in for yet another night of "Real Housewives" viewing. Before I know it, four hours have passed. My eyes are heavy, and it's time for bed. So long, Tuesday.

That's how it goes on Wednesday and Thursday, too. Maybe I'll grab drinks with friends on Friday or switch out reality TV for the newest Netflix movie come Monday, but generally speaking, I spend most of my adult life eating, sleeping, working, and scrolling to the ambient sounds of the telly. It's a far cry from the schedule I kept as a teenager, sprinting from play rehearsal to swim practice and still finding time for homework and socializing in between.

It's true that Americans are overworked, overstressed, and generally awful at unplugging from work, two time-use researchers told Business Insider.

But that only tells half the story.

Americans, on average, have between four to six hours of leisure time every day, according to the American Time Use Survey, which measures the amount of time people spend doing various activities. In 2022, men spent an average of 5.6 hours engaging in leisure activities each day, while women clocked in 4.8 hours of free time, according to the study.

Five hours of free time a day? That can't be right! If I had 25 extra hours each workweek, I certainly would have mastered the piano or written a novel by now, right? Wrong. Instead, all I have to show for my free time is an ungodly knowledge of Bravo lore.

Researchers say I'm not alone in languishing away my leisure time. Several facets of American life, including our reverence for work, our failing social safety net, and the Puritanical ideals on which our country was founded, all play a role in Americans' seeming inability to unwind in meaningful ways, researchers said.

I've wasted countless hours watching rich women fight on TV. Bravo

TV time

Two elements define leisure: choice and control, according to Brigid Schulte, author of "Overwhelmed: Work, Love, and Play when No One has the Time" and director of the Better Life Lab. People have to choose an activity freely and have control over the time they spend doing it.

That's why, for much of human history, leisure time was out of reach for the masses, restricted to those with the social standing and status to engage in it  namely, rich men.

"It used to be that having discretionary time and being able to engage in leisure activity was a mark you were of a high social class," said Liana Sayer, director of the University of Maryland's Time Use Lab. "If you could do what you wanted with your time, it meant other people were providing the necessities of life for you."

That changed with industrialization, Sayer said. But the idea that those who have more money also have more time is one that still holds true today. People who work steady, 9-to-5 jobs with predictable schedules are much more likely to find extra time in their day, Sayer said. Gig workers and hourly employees, on the other hand, are increasingly reliant on multiple jobs and unpredictable schedules.

Despite class differences, 95% of Americans over the age of 15 engaged in some kind of leisure activity on a typical day, according to the 2022 time-use survey. The leisure category encompasses pastimes like socializing, exercising, and reading for pleasure.

But the vast majority of Americans' leisure time is spent  you guessed it  in front of the television. Watching TV is the most popular leisure activity, accounting for an average of 2.8 hours a day  more than half of all Americans' leisure time.

Much has been made about America's co-dependant relationship with the tube. (Some influential time researchers have argued Americans' social skills started to decline when air conditioning and television became commonplace, allowing people to remain both comfortable and entertained without leaving their homes, Sayer said.) But whether the small screen rots our brains or helps us relax, the act of watching TV is often an inherently anti-social one, researchers said.

It's easy to flip on the TV after a busy day at work because it requires almost no planning and very little brain engagement. Partaking in an out-of-the-house activity or making plans with other people, meanwhile, takes organization and coordination.

Our reliance on TV is part of a larger trend that has seen Americans engage less and less with other people and pro-social institutions like church or volunteer groups, Sayers said, adding that this is a pre-pandemic pattern. While COVID-19 certainly shifted our approach to work and leisure, it can't be solely blamed for Americans' increasing loneliness.

Americans' spend more time watching TV than any other leisure activity. Alavinphoto

Sexism and the safety net

There is also a gendered element at play when it comes to Americans' leisure time. Married mothers do about three times the amount of housework, and twice as much childcare as married fathers do, Sayer said. There's some evidence that men are starting to step up their contributions post-pandemic, according to Sayer. However, much of women's "free" time is still dedicated to household duties and parenting.

"Most women don't feel like they deserve leisure time," Schulte said. "They feel like they have to earn it."

That mindset is not unique to American women and dates as far back as biblical times, researchers said. Women have long been transforming their leisure time into productive activities, from starting sewing circles to socializing at the watering hole, Schulte said.

But Americans' toxic relationship with leisure isn't gender-specific. A valorization of "hard work" was built into the very founding of our country, Schulte said. As a result, Americans have an intrinsic desire to be busy; we take it as a point of pride to overwork ourselves and cultivate little societal respect for hobbies and recreation. And Americans have been getting busier and busier over the course of the last few decades, increasingly to the detriment of their civic and social life, Schulte said.

"A lot of that panic and anxiety can be tied back to the '70s and '80s and the dismantling of the social safety net," she added.

When it comes to prioritizing leisure time, America could take some cues from its European friends. Norwegians average more than six hours of leisure time each day. At the same time, the Belgians and Greeks pursue relaxation and hobbies for more than five-and-a-half hours each day on average, according to time use data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. The US ranked 21 in global leisure time.

But America today lacks much of the infrastructure that would allow people to fully embrace and prioritize their leisure time, researchers said. People can't take the time to learn a new skill or truly unwind without robust maternity leave, affordable childcare, a better work-life balance, and dependable healthcare in place, Schulte said.

European countries far outrank the US when it comes to social spending. In 2019, France spent nearly a third of its gross domestic product on services related to health, family, unemployment, housing, and other benefits, according to OECD data compiled by the World Economic Forum. Finland, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Spain, Japan, and the UK all dedicated 20% or more of their spending to social services, while the US ranked ninth with 18.7%.

"A lot needs to change big-picture with policymakers and business leaders," Schulte said of the US. "But people can't wait until then to pick up a new hobby."

Most adults struggle to remember what they even liked to do as a kid, which is one of the reasons TV has become the national default leisure activity. Schulte recommends starting small: Set a timer for 30 minutes each day and practice developing the muscle of first remembering what you like to do and then giving it a try.

Beginning ballet

The best way to recover and "refresh your soul," as the Greeks described it, is to completely detach from work and take a proper break, according to Ciara Kelly, a lecturer in work psychology at The University of Sheffield.

Hobbies are particularly good for that, Kelly said, citing a 2019 study she led that found people who engaged in hobbies enjoyed improved confidence and saw benefits at their jobs.

Hobbies can help boost people's careers, a 2019 UK study found. Hill Street Studios

The study's findings resonated with me. I had been an activity-driven adolescent, someone who found purpose and community in my hobbies and passions. I missed having an identity outside my work and media consumption.

So, I did what any rational 26-year-old journalist would: I signed up for a beginner's ballet class.

It was terrifying. I hadn't worn ballet slippers since I was four years old. I had no idea what the French words flying out of my teacher's mouth meant. My balance was terrible, and my flexibility left much to be desired.

In those first few weeks, I came dangerously close to quitting, nearly falling prey to the achievement-oriented culture that runs rampant in America.

"We're focused on doing and being the best  even in yoga classes  people have written about trying to outdo others as if we're in constant competition," Schulte told me. "But leisure requires none of that."

So, I kept going back. Even though I wasn't the best one in my class. Even though I sometimes (often) looked silly. And for 50 minutes every Monday night, I feel like a kid again.

Read the original article on Business Insider
American lawmakers, backed by the drone industry, are looking to ban Chinese-made consumer drones. Like the proposed ban on TikTok, Chinese drone bans have been justified by fears of Chinese surveillance, but the real motivation seems to be protectionism: American companies are trying to edge out their foreign competition.

Earlier this year, Congress passed the American Security Drone Act as part of the military budget. The law bans federal agencies from buying drones from any company based in China and gives the Department of Homeland Security the power to declare other drone manufacturers "national security risks."

Several states also issued state-level drone bans last year. Mississippi required state agencies to buy American-made drones, while Arkansas and Florida outright banned state agencies from using Chinese-made drones. After Florida's ban took effect in April 2023, police and rescue services scrambled to replace their drone fleets which had cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The federal Countering CCP Drones Act would go even further, putting the Chinese company DJI on the Federal Communications Commission's list of untrustworthy suppliers. That move would immediately ban new DJI products from being approved for import, and might pave the way to ground existing drones, according to DJI.*

About 90 percent of hobby drones in America are made by DJIas well as 70 percent of the industrial drones and over 80 percent of first responder dronesso a ban would force hundreds of thousands of Americans to give up their expensive flying cameras.

"Communist China is using their monopolistic control over the drone market and telecommunications infrastructure to target Americans' data and closely surveil our critical infrastructure," the bill's sponsor Rep. Elise Stefanik (RN.Y.) said in a statement earlier this month. There is no evidence that DJI drones transmit data to the Chinese government.

The Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), a prominent nonprofit representing drone manufacturers and users, opposes Stefanik's ban on consumer drone usage. But the association wants to ban government agencies from buying new Chinese-made drones and push them to transition to American-made alternatives.

"Really, what we are focused on is the domestic supply chain for [unmanned aerial systems]," or UAS, says AUVSI spokeswoman Chelsie Jeppson. "If we are reliant on drones for critical and sensitive operations that come from another placeand if something were to happen where we could not get them securely or use them at a time when we need them the most, then that would be a supply chain issue for the United States."

The news site DroneXL criticized AUVSI for claiming to oppose "immediate" Chinese drone bans while supporting a Utah bill that would immediately ban public agencies from buying Chinese- or Russian-made drones.

AUVSI Government Affairs Manager Elizabeth Sila says that her only engagement with the Utah bill was a single email, of which she provided Reason with a copy. The email both supported the ban on drone procurement and opposed the idea of creating state-regulated "drone highways."

Jeppson emphasizes that there is a difference between procurement and usage. "We do support a movement away from their immediate procurement, but we don't want to ban agencies from using drones that they've already purchased," she tells Reason.

AUVSI issued a white paper in 2023 calling on Congress to use tax incentives, grants, and tariffs to stop China from "flooding the U.S. market" with cheap drones "to the detriment of U.S. manufacturing and global competition."

The Shenzhen-based company DJI was and still is the undisputed leader of the consumer drone revolution. Its Phantom quadcopters kicked off the camera drone trend in 2013, and DJI continues to control over 70 percent of the global market share for consumer drones. Its biggest competitor, Autel Robotics, is also based in China.

American companies simply haven't been able to keep up with DJI's cheap, reliable, and user-friendly products. Camera manufacturer GoPro tried to break into the drone business in the early 2010s but discontinued its Karma flying camera after disappointing sales numbers and performance issues, including drones literally falling from the sky.

Other American drone makers have focused on government contracts rather than consumer products. Skydio has "effectively tapped-out of the consumer and prosumer space," according to drone blogger Chris Fravel, while BRINC markets entirely to first responders.

And they've spent increasingly large amounts of money on lobbying. Skydio went from a lobbying budget of $10,000 and six registered lobbyists in 2019 to a $560,000 budget and 24 lobbyists in 2023, according to OpenSecrets.org, a campaign finance data platform. BRINC spent $240,000 on lobbying in 2023.

DJI has also jumped from spending $390,000 on lobbying in 2016 to $1.6 million in 2023. The company recently hired three new lobbying firms after DJI's former lobbyists dropped the company over some lawmakers' threat to boycott lobbyists for Chinese interests.

The U.S. government has gotten increasingly aggressive against Chinese companies. In 2018, the U.S. military banned troops from buying off-the-shelf drones over cybersecurity concerns. The next year, Congress specifically banned Chinese-made drones for military use. In 2020, the U.S. Department of Commerce banned American companies from selling parts to DJI over concerns that the Chinese government was using DJI drones for domestic surveillance and human rights abuses.

In January 2024, a few days before the American Security Drone Act passed, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the FBI issued a joint statement pointing out the risk of Chinese drone manufacturers handing over data to China's government.

DJI insists that its products do not collect or transmit data without the user's consent. The Shenzhen-based drone manufacturer points to several outside security audits of DJI products by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Department of Interior, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Kivu Consulting, and Booz Allen Hamilton.

Another concern is that Chinese companies could remotely disable drones to give China a wartime advantage. That concern is more grounded in reality. DJI's FlySafe feature has long prevented its drones from being flown in restricted airspace, and DJI quietly added large parts of Syria and Iraq to the restricted zone in response to Islamic State attacks.

Autel Robotics recently implemented its own flight restrictions, including not only active war zones such as Ukraine and Israel but also Taiwan, an island whose independence China does not recognize. DJI, meanwhile, has been hit with criticism for not preventing its drones from being used by the Russian and Ukrainian militaries.

These restrictions are easy to get around. Several websites offer cheap software for jailbreaking the DJI app. And there's a simple way to avoid getting hit with new flight restrictions: Don't connect the drone to the internet. Autel Robotics actually advised users in conflict zones not to download any new updates, which is not the behavior of a company that wants to enforce Chinese government dictates.

DJI even rolled out a line of "Government Edition" drones in 2019 that would not connect to the internet, in order to assuage data security concerns. The Defense Department internally cleared those drones for use after reverse-engineering their source code, then walked back its approval after it leaked.

"The nature of the attempts to ban Chinese drones are that if you look at a lot of the efforts, it's 'no Chinese parts, no Chinese software.' So, we would have to really produce a much more expensive drone," Adam Welsh, head of global policy at DJI, said in an interview earlier this month. "Frankly, if you use an iPhone, it's using Chinese parts, and it's manufactured in China. There's a lot of sensitive traffic that goes over people's iPhones. So, I think that's a real problem with this effort."

*CORRECTION: This article initially stated that the Countering CCP Drones Act would ban DJI drones from using American radio waves entirely.

The post America's Drone Industry Is Trying To Ban the Competition appeared first on Reason.com.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 26. The return of four villages to Azerbaijan should take place within a short period, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said during a closed-door meeting in the parliament, the Armenian newspaper Hraparak said, Trend reports.

"Last Friday evening, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held another closed-door meeting in the National Assembly with deputies of the Civil Pact faction. The event was attended by almost all members of the the government, including Edvard Asryan, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces. The meeting lasted almost two hours and was held in a hostile atmosphere," the article says.

According to the article, Nikol Pashinyan openly stated that the return of the four villages to Azerbaijan should happen within a short period of time.

"He hinted that the third army corps could be withdrawn from these territories in the coming days, and the four settlements, which Pashinyan said were Azerbaijani, could be returned to their owners," the article emphasizes.

To note, the topic of returning villages to Azerbaijan has recently become very actual in Yerevan in the highest circles, which indicates that Armenia accepts the new realities created by Azerbaijan in the South Caucasus and realizes that constructive steps are necessary to accelerate the peace process.

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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.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
A bill's sponsor says that standing on a streambed could be trespassing under his proposal if the landowner has a land grant predating 1863. Photo contributed by Flint Riverkeeper

Conservationists and environmental groups are sounding the alarm over a measure that they say will unravel the protections for fishing and hunting in Georgia that were fast-tracked last session.

The bill, sponsored by Waycross Republican Rep. James Burchett, has been presented as a follow-up fix after the agriculture industry and private property owners objected to changes made in the final hours of last years legislative session.

The Senates gatekeeping Rules Committee ushered the measure forward Monday for a potential vote this week as the legislative session winds down. Thursday is the final day of the 2024 session.

Opponents of the proposal are urging lawmakers to reject the bill after Burchett told a Senate panel last week that standing on a streambed would be trespassing under his proposal if the landowner has a land grant dating back to before 1863. Many anglers wade into the water when fishing and boaters use anchors to stay put while casting a line.

A similar proposal, sponsored by Moultrie Republican Sen. Sam Watson, unanimously passed out of the Senate last month but has stalled in the House. That bill, which is supported by advocates for river access, says that a member of the public can access these streambeds only when incidental to passage and when actively hunting and fishing.

The concern I have is takings, Burchett told the group of senators last week. And if we are giving an explicit right to walk on somebodys streambed that they own with a valid grant pre-1863, I think thats the first time in statute we would put a statutory right to trespass on somebodys property.

A message seeking additional comment sent to Burchett Monday afternoon was not immediately returned. He has pitched his bill as a better balance between private property rights and the right to recreate on Georgias rivers. Lobbyists for the agriculture industry have told lawmakers they are concerned last years law made them vulnerable to potential lawsuits.

Rep. James Burchett. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder (file photo)

But Burchetts comments about standing on a streambed amounting to trespassing have alarmed the same groups that cheered on the surprise passage of last years measure.

Gordon Rogers, executive director of Flint Riverkeeper, argued this interpretation could apply to anglers who anchor along rivers, like many people do when fishing for catfish on Georgias river bottoms or when trolling for redbreast sunfish and bream.

And Rogers and others worry more private property owners can and will follow suit and close off more public access to the states rivers.

It wouldnt be a train wreck on day one, most likely, but as the dawn breaks and everybody starts realizing, Oh, my goodness, Ive got this great fishing ground out in front of my house here. I think Im just gonna keep people from anchoring here. Sorry, keep moving. Thats what were looking at, Rogers said Monday.

Mike Worley, president and CEO of the Georgia Wildlife Federation, said the proposal is a big step toward privatizing the wild places that people have paddled and fished for centuries.

More and more of the streams that have always been available to us, as Georgians, will be off limits to do a lot of the things that were accustomed to doing. Thats a troubling precedent, Worley said.

We may get to the point where all we can do is go to places where theres a state park bordering a stream or public land bordering a stream, or have to get permission from private landowners to go on to their stream, and we might even see people charging for it, which is what we saw on the Yellow Jacket Shoals, he said, referring to the Flint River case that spurred last years bill.

Critics of the proposal are pushing lawmakers to cut bait on Burchetts bill and let the courts finish weighing in on last years law. April Lipscomb, a senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, told senators last week that the new state law is the direct subject of a pending lawsuit.

Lets let the courts decide what (last years bill) means and then we can figure out if there are changes that need to be made later, lets make them later. Theres nothing on fire here, Lipscomb said.

That 2023 law was hurriedly passed after a landowner along a popular fishing spot for shoal bass on the Flint River successfully argued in court that he has control over who can drop a line in the passing waters.

The change spelled out in law that while a private party may own a streambed, the public rights to the flowing water remain.

Burchett, who is the House majority whip, has said he is trying to clarify when property owners along navigable waterways can restrict public access in hopes of heading off more of the violent encounters that have sprung up over misunderstandings on the river.

Paddling groups had already raised concerns that the bill would cut off their access to smaller streams.

Burchett had also attempted to push a separate measure that identified which waterways are navigable  and therefore open to the public  and which ones are non-navigable and require permission from property owners. That bill stalled.

That was a lot like water over the dam. It was too hard to track it, too hard to keep up with it. It was moving too fast. So that got delayed, said Rep. Lynn Smith, a Newnan Republican who chairs the House Natural Resources and Environment Committee.

Instead, Smith has introduced a late proposal calling for another study committee that would this time take a closer look at which streams are navigable.

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The post Anglers and paddlers closely watch bill intended to make some streambeds off limits in Georgia appeared first on Georgia Recorder.
For decades, the people of northern New Mexico have marked the Christian observance of Good Friday with a walking pilgrimage to the Santuario de Chimayo in the village of Chimayo, New Mexico.

Referring to themselves as Hispanos, or Nuevomexicanos, they have lived in the region for generations, tracing their descent from Spanish colonists who arrived to New Mexico in the 17th and 18th centuries. Nuevomexicanos Catholicism developed at the far northern frontier of the Spanish Empire; a scarcity of priests led to the flourishing of many popular devotions in New Mexico, including the pilgrimage to Chimayo.

Built in the early 1800s, the santuario is a small church, built of adobe bricks, with a unique feature: In a little room adjacent to the churchs central worship space, there is a hole in the floor, the pocito, filled with the sandy earth of the area.

For at least 200 years, Nuevomexicano Catholics have used dirt from the pocito for its purported miraculous healing qualities. They rub it on their aches and pains, they hold it to focus their prayers, and, historically, ingested it.

In 2015, I participated in the annual pilgrimage as part of the research for my book, The Healing Power of the Santuario de Chimayo: Americas Miraculous Church. The santuarios story is not merely a curiosity but also a significant part of the shifting identity of the U.S. Catholic Church, which is on the verge of becoming majority-Latino.

Legendary origins of santuarios holy dirt

The source of the pocito dirts power for Hispano pilgrims is linked to two images of Christ.

The first is a large crucifix called the Senor de Esquipulas, or Lord of Esquipulas. Named for a famous and much older Guatemalan Christ figure also known as the Senor de Esquipulas, the crucifix lies at the heart of the most common origin story for the santuarios holy dirt.

The legend goes that in 1810, a Chimayo community leader and landowner named Bernardo Abeyta witnessed light coming out of the ground in one of his fields. Upon examination, he is said to have discovered the crucifix partially buried in the soil. He dug it up and brought it to the nearest church at the time, some 8 miles away.

The crucifix, however, is believed to have returned on its own to the hole in Abeytas field. Given this sign, Abeyta sought and received permission to build a chapel around the hole, a chapel today known as the Santuario de Chimayo.

Interior view of Santuario de Chimayo. Carol M Highsmith/Library of Congress

The Senor de Esquipulas crucifix hangs on the main altar screen in the santuario, and the Archdiocese of Santa Fe has promoted the story of its miraculous provenance.

A second Christ image, however, is by far the more popular among Hispano pilgrims. The Santo Nino de Atocha is a depiction of the Christ child dressed as a medieval pilgrim and is popular throughout northern Mexico and the U.S.-Mexico border region. A statue of the Holy Child is ensconced in the santuario in a room adjacent to the pocito.

For pilgrims, a visit to the santuario typically includes time in prayer in front of the Holy Child, where they ask for healing and protection for themselves, their children and other loved ones. They take home dirt from the pocito as a reminder and vehicle of Christs power to answer their prayers.

The annual pilgrimage

Hispano residents in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado made pilgrimages to the santuario for healing throughout the 19th century, but the massive walking pilgrimage during Holy Week, culminating on Good Friday, did not begin until after World War II.

Hundreds of members of New Mexicos 200th Coast Artillery had endured the 1942 Bataan Death March, in which thousands of U.S. and Filipino prisoners of war were forced by the Japanese Imperial Army to walk for miles through the Philippines. Many died from either torture or exhaustion.

Upon returning home, Nuevomexicano survivors organized a walking pilgrimage to the santuario in 1946 to commemorate their suffering and to mourn their lost comrades. This pilgrimage soon evolved into an annual observance not only for veterans but also for Hispano Catholics in general.

Today, hundreds of thousands of visitors come to the santuario throughout the year, but the pilgrimage during Holy Week  the week before the celebration of Easter  is the high point. Good Friday, the day on which Christians believe that Jesus was crucified and died, attracts approximately 30,000 walking pilgrims, some coming from as far away as Albuquerque, 90 miles away. Others choose shorter routes, including a popular 9-mile walk from the nearby town of Espanola.

Latino Catholics

The santuarios popularity continues to rise along with the numbers of Latino Catholics in the U.S.

The demographic shift in the U.S. Catholic Church toward a Latino majority is well underway. Timothy Matovina, a professor at the University of Notre Dame, writes in his book, Latino Catholicism: Tranformation in Americas Largest Church, that Latinos represent one-third of all U.S. Catholics and make up more than half of the U.S. Catholic population under the age of 25.

He also notes that, because of Latino population growth, the proportion of Catholics in California and Texas has increased since 1990, while the proportion in Massachusetts and New York has dropped. This demographic shift means devotional sites, like the santuario, that have Latino Catholic origins and immense popularity can expect to grow in importance.

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: Brett Hendrickson, Lafayette College

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Brett Hendrickson 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.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE)  Fear of retaliation is one of the main reasons people hesitate to report knowledge they have of a crime. But in Albuquerque and across the country, tipsters can remain completely anonymous to Crime Stoppers, and receive reward money in return for helping law enforcement solve a crime.

The origin story of Crime Stoppers starts in Albuquerque in 1976 with the murder of a gas station attendant and a detective putting up his own cash to try and generate leads from the public. It worked.

Today, the program has evolved with technology and grown nationwide. How often do investigators rely on anonymous tips these days? How much reward money is getting paid out?

This week on the New Mexico News Podcast, Chris & Gabby sit down with Crime Stoppers spokeswoman, Alicia Hernandez to discuss how the program works and how crucial it has become.

Story continues below

Download new episodes of the New Mexico News Podcast every Tuesday, starting around 5:30 a.m., Mountain time. Episodes are available on most podcast platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Podbean among others.

Having trouble finding the show? Try searching your favorite podcast player with the term KRQE or New Mexico News Podcast (without the quotes). You can also use the links above to find the podcast on each respective service or listen to the audio player at the top of this post.

If you have a question, comment, or suggestion as to who should be interviewed on the podcast, let us know! Email the hosts at chris.mckee@krqe.com or gabrielle.burkhart@krqe.com.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos.
The FBI in 2022 investigated an Air Force intelligence analyst for allegedly leaking classified information in an anti-government group on the messaging platform Discord, according to an affidavit that was recently unsealed in federal court.

Former Staff Sgt. Jason Gray, who served as a cyber analyst with the 381st Intelligence Squadron at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, was accused of sharing a classified image that he likely obtained via his access to National Security Agency intelligence in a private channel under the username LazyAirmen#7460, according to the November 2022 affidavit obtained by Air Force Times.

The document did not elaborate on what the image showed. Grays former squadron provides intelligence to troops and leadership in defense of Alaska and other U.S. assets around the region.

He is currently serving five years in federal prison after a probe of his electronic devices, seeking evidence of potential leaks, revealed hundreds of images of child pornography, court records show.

Marine who embraced Boogaloo beliefs pleads guilty in Jan. 6 case

In September 2022, Gray told investigators he created an anti-government Boogaloo Facebook page, called CNN Journalist Support Group, because he was disgruntled about his assignment to JBER, where he landed in February 2021. He also admitted to using Discord under the LazyAirman handle, where he participated in several channels in support of the Boogaloo movement, dark humor, funny memes and dissatisfaction with the United States government, according to the affidavit.

The Boogaloo movement is known for its far-right, anti-government and pro-white extremist views, as well as agitating for a second civil war. The movement has attracted some some troops and veterans, even as the military has sought to root out extremism within its ranks.

An Air Force spokesperson told Air Force Times that a probe by the services Office of Special Investigations concluded there was no unauthorized disclosure of classified information, adding that the FBI affidavit came before the Air Force had finished its own investigation.

Its unclear whether the FBIs investigation into Gray is still ongoing.

While court records dont specify how Gray first came to the FBIs attention, an Air Force spokesperson told Air Force Times that he was being investigated over extremism allegations. It appears investigators started questioning him around the same time as another high-profile leaker  a young airman who was also reportedly unhappy with the federal government  came to light.

Airman 1st Class Jack Teixeira, a computer technician in the Massachusetts Air National Guard, pleaded guilty earlier this month to leaking sensitive documents about the war in Ukraine and other national security matters on Discord. The breach was among the most substantial leaks of classified military data in recent years.

Teixeira was part of the 102nd Intelligence Wing at Otis Air National Guard Base, Massachusetts, where he was responsible for maintaining military communications networks. He faces up to 17 years in prison; a sentencing hearing is scheduled for September.

The Air Force reprimanded 15 personnel over the leak after an inspector general report determined security gaps had enabled the breach, and that supervisors failed to intervene.

Air Force employee allegedly leaked classified info on dating site

While the Air Force concluded Gray did not share classified material, investigators who combed through a computer and Google Pixel phone in November 2022 found a different problem: the first of what would become hundreds of images of child pornography, leading to another search that revealed more pictures, including images shared using the messaging app Kik.

Gray was arrested in January 2023 and pleaded guilty to distributing child pornography. He was sentenced in November to 60 months in federal prison and 25 years of supervised release, and must register as a sex offender.

Gray entered active duty in July 2015 and separated from the military in December 2023, according to Air Force personnel records.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)  Another development company is eyeing a popular bar near Ohio State University for demolition.

Illinois-based company Harbor Bay Ventures is proposing a high-rise apartment building at North High Street and West Ninth Avenue, a few blocks from Ohio States campus and the current site of multiple small businesses, including the Bier Stube. The storied dive bar, a favorite watering hole for Buckeyes students and alumni, is one of the last 20th-century holdouts in an area under rapid development.

New charges against ex-Ohio House Speaker already imprisoned in $60 million bribery scandal

Under Harbor Bays proposal, the modest buildings occupied by Bier Stube, 14-0 Express carryout, Portofinos Pizza and Yaus Chinese Bistro would be replaced with a 15-story, 219-unit tower made of mass timber. Mass timber is a heartier alternative to light-frame wood but weighs less than steel or concrete and is typically quicker to build with.

Conceptual massing of 15-story apartment building proposed for the corner of North High Street and West Ninth Avenue. (Courtesy Photo/Harbor Bay Ventures and DLR Group)

A proposed massing for a 15-story apartment building at North High Street and West Ninth Avenue. (Courtesy Photo/Harbor Bay Ventures and DLR Group)

A proposed massing, without zoning variances, of a pair pair of apartment buildings at North High Street and West Ninth Avenue. (Courtesy Photo/Harbor Bay Ventures and DLR Group)

Portofinos Pizza at 1497 N. High St. The restaurant would be demolished under a proposal for a 15-story apartment complex. (NBC4 Photo/Sarah Szilagy)

14-0 Express, a longtime corner market on North High Street. The store would be demolished under a proposal for a 15-story apartment complex. (NBC4 Photo/Sarah Szilagy)

The high-rise proposal would require city approval for a height variance; the zoning code currently allows for buildings up to 72 feet along the High Street corridor, while Harbor Bays pitch would be about 100 feet taller than that.

Harbor Bay Ventures has also acquired, through a partnership, the 13 rental properties just west of the site on West Ninth Avenue. In its conceptual application to the University Impact District Review Board, the developer proposed that the 15-story building would ensure the preservation of those units, which are currently managed by Hometeam Properties and rent for less than $1,000 per person.

If the developer is not granted the height variance, however, another proposed massing showed the demolition of those properties in exchange for a shorter, six-story building on High Street and a three-story building on West Ninth Avenue.

According to Harbor Bays application materials, the group also seeks permission to build fewer parking spaces than required by city code  39 compared to the required 329. The group pointed to their plan to have ample bicycle parking and the potential use of a 1,200-space parking garage on East Ninth that is highly underutilized.

Ohio proposes bill to eliminate sub-minimum wage

The conceptual renderings show mostly studios up to four-bedroom units in the high-rise, accommodating upward of 500 tenants. The apartments would be geared toward Ohio State students.

The proposal is the second such pitch for the Bier Stube site in recent years. Last March, local property manager Buckeye Real Estate won approval from the University Area Commission to build a six-story, 95-unit building there, but it never achieved city approval. After multiple Ohio State students and alumni voiced concerns about the preservation of Bier Stube, Buckeye Real Estate said its final plan would have reserved commercial space on the first floor for the bar.

Harbor Bays Ohio debut opened to renters in 2022, a mid-rise V-shaped complex across from the West Side Market in Cleveland. The developer touts the building as Americas largest mass timber project: Studio apartments currently start at $1,510.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV.
A man who made threats against then-Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs in 2022 was sentenced to two and a half years in prison on Monday, Justice Department officials announced during a news conference on threats to state election workers.

Joshua Russell, from Ohio, made multiple death threats, according to the Justice Department, leaving a series of voicemails for Hobbs, calling her a traitor and warning that her days are extremely numbered. He pleaded guilty last summer to one count of making a threatening interstate communication.

The announcement comes less than two weeks after a separate individual was sentenced to three and a half years for making a bomb threat against Hobbs in 2021. Hobbs, a Democrat, is now governor of Arizona.

During the news conference, the head of the Justice Departments Election Threats Task Force, John Keller, noted that the task force  formed in 2021  has charged roughly 20 defendants for engaging in threats to the elections community to date.

Officials also said there are currently seven federal cases in which out-of-state individuals have made threats in Arizona, a state that was a hotbed for election conspiracy theories in the wake of the 2020 election.

Theres a common denominator in many of these cases, US Attorney for Arizona Gary Restaino said Monday, election denialists announcing an intent to violently punish people who they believe have wronged them, often with a threat of arrests leading to executions for treason.

If you threaten violence against the public servants who administer our elections, there will be consequences, US Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement Monday. The right to vote, which is the cornerstone of our democracy, relies on the ability of election workers and election officials to perform their duties without fearing for their lives. The Justice Department will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute those who threaten these public servants.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Pro-abortion rights protesters demonstrate outside the Planned Parenthood clinic and office in downtown Manhattan on August 6, 2022 in New York City

US anti-abortion activists, including allies of Donald Trump, have a strategy to ban abortion nationwide - one that bypasses Congress and the American people. It's a plan that hinges on Mr Trump's re-election in November and the use of a little-known 19th Century law.

At this year's annual "Pro-Life Summit" on 20 January, guests listened to a keynote speech from Marjorie Dannenfelser, head of Susan B Anthony Pro-Life America, one of the country's most influential anti-abortion groups.

Ms Dannenfelser is widely credited with convincing Donald Trump to appoint three anti-abortion justices to the Supreme Court during his presidential term. In June 2022, those appointees helped overturn Roe v Wade, rescinding the nationwide right to abortion.

It was a generational victory for the anti-abortion movement. The runway had opened, activists said at the time, to an abortion-free future.

But in the nearly two years since, their campaign has stalled in crucial ways. The American public has shown consistent support for abortion access, even in conservative states.

And the movement's ultimate goal - a federal abortion ban - has remained out of reach, a near-impossibility in a divided Congress that can unite behind few legislative priorities.

The political reality has not escaped anti-abortion campaigners.

Addressing her audience in the grand ballroom of a Washington DC hotel a rapt crowd of the movement's most devoted followers - Ms Dannenfelser spent nearly half of her speech urging the audience not to lose hope.

"It hasn't been missed on any of us, right? That it has been hard," she said. "We all know."

But anti-abortion activists may have a trump card. Conservative leaders, including allies of Mr Trump, have mapped out a new path to outlaw abortion. The plan could work, experts say, if the former president returns to the White House.

"There could be a de facto nationwide ban that Trump could try to enforce on day one if he wins," said Mary Ziegler, a law professor at the University of California, Davis, and a leading expert on the US abortion debate. "It's the Comstock Act."

Anti-abortion activists have struggled to advance their cause in the nearly two years since Roe was overturned

A 150-year-old law

The Comstock Act, championed by anti-vice crusader Anthony Comstock and passed in 1873, made it a federal crime to send or receive any material deemed "obscene, lewd or lascivious". The statute makes specific mention of birth control and abortion, barring any materials designed or intended for "the prevention of conception or procuring of abortion".

Over the next century, various court rulings clarified the law's meaning, gradually narrowing its scope. In 1971, Congress removed most of Comstock's restrictions on contraceptives and two years later, through Roe, the Supreme Court established a constitutional right to abortion. By then, the act was seen as a largely unenforceable relic, and remained dormant for 50 years.

But now, within right-wing circles, the Comstock Act is being revived.

Without Roe in place to guarantee access to abortion, the logic is straightforward. According to a broad reading of the law, the mailing of any materials related to abortion - through the United States Postal Service and through private carriers like UPS and FedEx - would be illegal.

By preventing any of the medications or tools necessary for the procedure from reaching hospitals and clinics, Comstock would act as an effective block on abortions, getting around the need for Congress to pass any new legislation.

"It is sweepingly broad language," said Rachel Rebouche, dean and law professor at Temple University Law school, and a leading scholar in reproductive health law. "If it was applied literally, it [Comstock] could be a ban on an abortion in an indirect way, because everything gets mailed to outfit abortion clinics."

The conservative strategy

Anti-abortion activists and leading conservative groups have started preparing for this approach, crafting legal arguments and political strategies that reinterpret Comstock as an enforceable abortion ban.

Josh Craddock, a lawyer and scholar with the conservative James Wilson Institute, has written extensively against the legality of abortion. He said fellow anti-abortion activists had coalesced around Comstock, describing it as "one of the most promising ways to help advance the cause of life in America right now".

"It doesn't depend on Congress to act, or the Supreme Court to rule, there's already federal law that protects unborn life," he said. "That's very black and white."

Abortion has continued to divide the American electorate, though the majority supports access to the procedure

Comstock will be raised before the Supreme Court this week as part of arguments from a group of anti-abortion activists and doctors who want federal approval of the abortion drug mifepristone to be withdrawn.

And it has been invoked specifically in the conservative Heritage Foundation's playbook for the next Republican administration, dubbed Project 2025.

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe, there is no longer any block on enforcing this statute, the Foundation said of Comstock. "The Department of Justice in the next conservative Administration should therefore announce its intent to enforce federal law against providers and distributors of such pills," it concluded, referring to abortion pills.

Project 2025's abortion section was crafted by former Trump administration official Roger Severino, who declined the BBC's request for comment through a representative. And the project as a whole includes most major anti-abortion groups on its advisory board, including Ms Dannenfelser's SBA Pro-Life America and Students for Life, run by Kristan Hawkins.

Can it work?

Anti-abortion activists are excited by the legal theory behind the Comstock strategy. Implementing it in practice will depend on a federal government being willing to enforce the law after decades on the shelf.

But experts insist this is feasible, even likely, with Mr Trump in the White House.

"All it takes is an administrative decision from the Department of Justice that they are going to go after people for violating Comstock," said David Cohen, a law professor at Drexel University and an expert on abortion law. "The friction involved is very low, other than winning an election."

Anti-abortion activists say they expect Mr Trump to deliver once again on their agenda

If Comstock was enforced in this way, it would almost certainly lead to a rush of legal challenges and possibly end up in front of the Supreme Court. The effect of a federal ban would be both expansive and deeply unpopular. About 69% of voters think that abortion should be legal throughout the first three months of pregnancy - the period when most abortions occur - according to a recent Gallup poll.

A political liability

That's why, some critics say, anti-abortion activists have tried to keep their Comstock strategy quiet.

"They [Republicans] know this is unpopular," said Ryan Stitzlein, vice-president of government relations at the pro-choice group Reproductive Freedom for All, formerly called NARAL. "So they have to find ways to obfuscate or hide the ball."

In New Mexico, where Comstock has been invoked in efforts to create abortion-free "sanctuary cities", activists have referred mostly to its statute number - 18 USC 1461 and 1462.

It's the same with Project 2025. Though the law is quoted directly, the word "Comstock" doesn't appear a single time in the 920-page document. Only the statute numbers are cited.

A graphic on how US support for abortion has changed since since 2000

Jonathan Mitchell, an anti-abortion lawyer who has championed the Comstock strategy, told the New York Times last month he thought anti-abortion groups "should keep their mouths shut as much as possible until the election".

And Mr Mitchell, who has represented Mr Trump in the past, reportedly said he hoped the former president didn't know about Comstock either "because I just don't want him to shoot off his mouth". Mr Mitchell did not respond to the BBC's request for comment.

All eyes on the White House

If Mr Trump does return to the White House next year, his support for Comstock will be necessary for any major enforcement of the law.

He has made no public mention so far of the statute, and his views on abortion more broadly remain fuzzy.

Mr Trump once declared himself "the most pro-life president ever". More recently, apparently frustrated by Republican election losses linked to abortion bans, he has become publicly critical of tight restrictions, calling on "both sides" to compromise on legislation.

"It could be state, or it could be federal," Mr Trump said in an interview on NBC's Meet the Press in September. "I don't, frankly, care."

Then, last week, Mr Trump suggested he would support a federal ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother.

"The number of weeks, now, people are agreeing on 15, and I'm thinking in terms of that," he said on the "Sid & Friends in the Morning" radio show on WABC.

Experts told the BBC that if re-elected, Mr Trump would likely approach abortion policy the same way he did in his first term: by deferring to activists in his orbit.

"The business model in the past has been that Trump doesn't particularly care, but that he assigns responsibility to people who do, who are very conservative," said the University of California's Mary Ziegler.

And those who are promoting Comstock now are not fringe characters, she said, but former Trump administration officials and other allies of the former president.

In the Heritage Foundation's own telling, the first Trump administration "relied heavily" on its policy agenda in 2017, "embracing nearly two-thirds of Heritage's proposals within just one year in office".

"It doesn't mean that Trump is going to go for it. But it does mean that the people who are saying he will have credibility," Ms Ziegler said. "These are very much Trump-world insiders who have his ear."
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  Authorities say a Canadian man was arrested after he allegedly posed as a student and made a hoax 911 call about an active shooter at a Florida middle school.

Deputies said the man, William Tuckett, 20, believed he was in an online relationship with a 13-year-old who attends the school. When they stopped talking, he resorted to making hoax calls until the teen started talking to him again.

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On Feb. 16, he allegedly called 911 to report an active shooter at Dunnellon Middle School. The sheriffs office released 911 calls on Facebook Monday. During the calls, Tuckett told dispatchers his name was Nick, and he didnt want to give out his last name.

I just wanted to let you guys know that I have an AR-15 and that I was about to go into my school right now, and Im in a red SUV, and Im about to go into my school and shoot everyone, he told the dispatcher.

Tuckett told dispatchers he was in the schools parking lot, but they later determined he lived in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada.

Deputies and Sault Ste. Marie Police Services uncovered a pattern of false emergency calls linked to Tuckett.

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Tuckett was arrested by the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service on March 20 on three counts of public mischief and three counts of conveying false information.

Through this collaborative effort by both the Office of the Sheriff and Sault Ste. Marie Police Services, we were able to apprehend the individual responsible for these dangerous hoaxes, Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods said in a statement. Public safety is paramount, and we will not tolerate actions that jeopardize the well-being of our communities.

Swatting poses a danger to law enforcement officers and civilians alike. Those found guilty of perpetrating swatting incidents will face arrest and prosecution to the fullest extent of the law, the sheriffs office wrote on Facebook.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
DENVER (KDVR)  On Saturday, March 23, an Arapahoe County Sheriffs Office deputy was struck by a driver while heading to work at about 4:15 a.m., according to the agency.

The deputy was on his way to the Arapahoe County Detention Facility when the crash happened at the East Smoky Hill Road and South Liverpool Street intersection in Centennial.

According to the sheriffs office, a tan Honda Odyssey was headed east on East Smoky Hill Road and struck the deputys Dodge Ram 1500 that was traveling south on South Liverpool Street. The deputys vehicle rolled onto its roof, but he was able to crawl out of the vehicle despite being injured.

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The driver of the Honda, a 27-year-old man, was arrested on charges of:

Driving under the influence of alcohol

Careless driving causing injury

Driving without a valid drivers license

No proof of insurance

The deputy was medically evaluated and had no serious injuries. The suspect was booked into jail on a $1,000 bond, according to the sheriffs office.

A deputy driving this truck to work at the Arapahoe County Detention Facility was hit by an alleged drunk driver on March 23, 2024.

A deputy driving this truck to work at the Arapahoe County Detention Facility was hit by an alleged drunk driver on March 23, 2024.

A tan Honda Odyssey with heavy front end damage after the allegedly drink driver crashed into another vehicle on March 23, 2024.

A deputy driving this truck to work at the Arapahoe County Detention Facility was hit by an alleged drunk driver on March 23, 2024.

The agency issued a simple warning at the end of its release regarding the deputys crash: Please dont drink and drive.

It needs to stop NOW. Lets all do our part to keep our citizens safe, the agency wrote.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 26. The eighth defendant in the case of the attack on Crocus City Hall in Moscow has been arrested, the Russian media says, Trend reports.

According to the decision of Moscow's Basmanny Court, Kyrgyz-born Alisher Kasimov, who rented an apartment to the perpetrators of the terrorist attack, has been detained.

"Satisfy the petition of the investigation to elect Kasimov's measure of restraint in the form of detention," the judge announced in the ruling.

To note, the shooting occurred on March 22 at Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, near Moscow. The incident occurred before the start of the concert by the band Picnic. As a result of the terrorist attack, 139 people were killed.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
From the Archives: Elvis Presley wows fans in OKC

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR)  As Channel 4 celebrates its 75th anniversary, we are opening the film vault.

In 1956, Elvis Presley rocked Oklahoma City at a packed show.

It was Presleys breakout year in music and the Oklahoma fans were thrilled!

After signing a few autographs, Elvis posed for pictures, stole a few kisses, and then the King of Rock and Roll had to push through the crowds to hit the road in his getaway car.

This left Oklahoma fans wanting more.

Chasing the King, forever preserved in the WKY/KTVY/KFOR Channel 4 archives.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
Corrections & Clarifications: A previous version of this article incorrectly identified the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs.

NOGALES  The bus pulled into the narrow parking lot on a sunny but cold morning.

The U.S. Border Patrol bus stopped behind a similar white coach bus and opened its doors behind the Pimeria Alta Historical Society Museum in Nogales. A line of migrants stepped off one bus, grabbed their bags and boarded the other bus.

The line of people was composed of families and single adults who came from Senegal, Guatemala, Venezuela, India, Russia and Mexico. The number of people who arrive can range from 50 to 700 per day.

The buses will take people to shelters in Tucson or Phoenix where they can then catch flights to their final destinations around the country.

Sobeira Castro, Santa Cruz County emergency management director, watched the transfer from a couple of feet away. Castro has been spearheading the response in Santa Cruz County since Border Patrol shifted their releasing pattern in September 2023.

The process is smooth, but delicate.

Migrants board a bus behind the Pimeria Alta Historical Society Museum in Nogales after being dropped off by Border Patrol on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023.

Unsheltered street releases have so far been avoided in Arizona but the ability to manage and transport people from small border communities to their final destinations is a day-to-day feat. Its a daily calculation of arrivals, transportation resources and shelter capacity.

Any increase in the number of migrants arriving along the Arizona-Mexico border could exhaust the comprehensive humanitarian system in place to help migrants and avoid unsheltered releases.

About 45,308 single adults and family members were released in Nogales from September to December, according to a Pima County situational report. Another 4,598 were released in Douglas and Naco during the same time.

Funding transition poses obstacles to communities

In 2023, the process was mostly funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agencys Emergency Food and Shelter Program. Toward the end of the year, Pima County began the transition to the new federal Shelter and Services Program funding model, which saddles nonprofits and local agencies with tighter restrictions on what the money can be used for.

Under the program, the number of people allowed to be housed per night is reduced from more than 1,000 to a maximum of 750. The number of hotel/motel rooms covered by the program is reduced from 380 rooms to 64 a night.

It also puts caps on transportation. Under the new funding model, small communities such as Nogales and Douglas will have fewer resources to move people out of their communities. Santa Cruz County asked the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs to supplement their transportation resources because of the new restrictions.

The Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs is providing an average of 14 buses a day to help transport migrants in southern Arizona, according to Judy Kioski, public information officer with the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs. But during the peak of community releases, that number was as high as 24 buses daily.

Over reliance on single source government funding to address the needs of newly arriving migrants creates a vulnerability in the long term sustainability of humanitarian operations, Kioski said in a written statement.

Under the new restrictions, Castro is more worried about sheltering capacity rather than transportation resources. If every shelter is at capacity then it wont matter how many buses there are because no one can receive any more migrants. But in March, the program's funding also will run out, reducing even further the capacity of nonprofits to take in migrants at larger cities like Tucson or Phoenix.

Our worry is not transportation," Castro said. Our worry is that we make sure that the shelters have capacity to receive these individuals.

If shelters reach capacity or don't have the space to take them in, there will be unsheltered street releases in Nogales, Castro said.

Pima County officials warned that federal funds will lapse on March 31. The depletion of money could cause the program to buckle, leading to unsheltered street releases in other border communities throughout southern Arizona.

In January, the Biden administration allowed Pima County to fully use its remaining 2022 Emergency Food and Shelter Program funds. But that was only a temporary solution.

For many local officials, its not a matter of if but when unsheltered street releases will begin in Arizona. In Nogales, a community with insufficient sheltering space, migrants will have to remain on the streets.

It will happen, Castro said. We will get the unsheltered releases and it will be in every single city within every single state.

Restrictions, funding strain border communities

Castro and her department for years have been transporting migrants from the Nogales Border Patrol station, one of the largest in Arizona, to Tucson and Phoenix.

In September, the transfer process was moved out into public view.

On Sept. 13, 2023, the Border Patrol reached a point of overcapacity in their facilities and they stopped waiting for state- and county-funded buses before releasing migrants into border communities.

Street releases first began in Bisbee, Douglas, Naco, Nogales and Casa Grande  all four smaller communities near Border Patrol stations that process migrants  from sunrise to sunset with many local officials being given short to no notice about the releases. The shift led to the erratic release of handfuls of migrants every few hours with little information about next steps.

About 95% of the people who Castro encounters in Nogales do not want to stay in Arizona, she estimated. The state is often only a stop on peoples journey as they attempt to reach their final destinations elsewhere.

In December, Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., asked National Guard leadership about the possibility of using a National Guard armory in Douglas as an emergency migrant shelter. The location would temporarily house migrants during sharp increases in migrant arrivals.

It makes natural sense, a National Guard building that's not being utilized right now to be able to house some of the situation that they have created through this, I'll be frank, lack of plan, Douglas Mayor Donald Huish said.

Migrants were staying overnight in Douglas in December as the city struggled to receive enough buses to transport people out of the community. Churches have stepped up to shelter migrants overnight but there is only so much space available.

Other cities, even bigger ones such as Tucson, are considering their options. City leaders have proposed, for example, housing released migrants at the Davis Monthan Air Force Base, which is near the Border Patrol headquarters.

It is the concern because, at this point in time, there's no end in sight, Huish said.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona border communities worry about large scale migrant releases
Photo Illustration by Christopher Furlong | Getty Images

Republicans are considering asking voters to amend the Arizona Constitution to slow down efforts towards a zero-emission future by prohibiting towns and cities from restricting the sale and use of things like stoves and lawn care equipment because they use fossil fuels.

People should have their choice, Rep. Gail Griffin, R-Hereford, said. If they want solar, gas, electricits a consumer choice bill. It goes to the voters, and lets the voters speak.

Griffin is the lead sponsor of House Concurrent Resolution 2050, which would amend the state constitution to prohibit any restrictions on the manufacture, use or sale of a device based on the type of energy it uses. The House of Representatives has already passed the legislation; if it wins approval in the state Senate, it will appear on Novembers ballot.

Griffin said her overarching goal is to protect consumer freedom.

Sen. Priya Sundareshan, D-Tucson, related the measure to an ongoing matter in her community, where residents are being encouraged to swap in their noisy, noxious gas-powered leaf blowers for quieter, greener electric powered ones.

In response, Griffin doubled down on the intent behind her legislation.

I dont want you to take my blower away. Its my choice which kind I use, and its your choice which kind you use, she said.

The legislation springs out of conservative uproar in 2023 about efforts in some places to ban the use of gas stoves in homes. New York became the first state to pass a law banning natural gas and other fossil fuels in most new buildings, and cities like San Francisco and Seattle have previously banned natural gas hookups in new construction.

California has also banned the sale of gas-powered lawn mowers and leaf blowers, as have municipalities across the nation.

Griffins legislation comes as the federal government issued its strongest ever vehicle emissions standards just last week as means to reduce the environmental impacts caused by passenger vehicles.

Sandy Bahr, head of the Grand Canyon chapter of the Sierra Club, spoke against HCR2050 during the Senate Natural Resources, Energy and Water Committees March 21 hearing. She noted the impacts of fossil fuels on the environment, a driving force behind the wave of zero-emissions legislation that HCR2050 aims at blocking.

None of us live in a bubble, and if we did, then the unmitigated and unregulated use of devices would be just fine, but what my neighbor does affects me, and what I do affects my neighbor and thats why this is a bad idea, she said.

Caryn Potter, a lobbyist for the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project, said that the measure was too vague to be added to the Arizona Constitution.

The referenced device is undefined, so the types of devices that would be affected remain unknown to all of us, Potter said.

Bahr echoed these concerns over the lack of clarity in the legislations text.

Is it solar panels? Is it a windmill? A stove, a leaf blower, a toaster? Its so broad and undefined that it could have significant and unintended consequences, and youre actually proposing to put it in the Arizona constitution, Bahr said.

Barry Aarons of the Arizona Propane Gas Association said while they couldnt agree more with the idea of protecting consumer choice, they oppose sending HCR2050 to the ballot, as they feel that the matter has been addressed.

We already have a law on the books that says consumer choice with the type of fuel you use is guaranteed under the law, Aarons said. We are at peace with where we are, we are comfortable that our consumers have their choice of whether they want to use any type of fuel.

In 2020, the legislature amended state law to prohibit cities and towns from stopping residents from being able to use any type of energy they choose.

Meanwhile, speakers in support of HCR2050 echoed Griffins intent to preserve consumer choice, and referenced similar legislation that passed through the Wisconsin Assembly, albeit on party lines, last session.

One bill sought to prevent the Badger States lawmakers from passing zero-emission mandates that would encourage a wide-spread shift from gas powered cars and appliances to those that run on electricity. The other, much like HCR2050, would have prevented communities from restricting activities based on energy sources.

Both bills, however, were vetoed by Democratic Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, who said the measures would prevent the state from ever being able to fight climate change by encouraging a switch to greener fuel sources.

But HCR2050 is safe from Gov. Katie Hobbs veto, as it is one of numerous measures that Republicans are trying to send to the ballot for voter approval instead. Doing so bypasses the governor entirely.

So far, lawmakers have sent six measures to this years ballot.

Sen. Sundareshan voiced her frustration with how much Republicans have looked this session to go to the ballot as a way to avoid Hobbs, as lengthening the ballot to include the various measures could create issues for Arizona come Election Day.

This is, unfortunately, another example of burdening our ballot with vague changes, in this case, to the Arizona Constitution. This is counter to the direction we should be moving in  its going to prevent forward progress and innovation, Sundareshan said.

HCR 2050 passed through committee on a 3-2 party-line vote, and now heads to the Senate floor for further consideration.

Bahr told lawmakers that, if passed, the measure would only serve Arizonans by motivating the states already-passionate environmentalist crowd to make their voices heard.

I think if you put (HCR 2050) on the ballot, you will help drive voter turnout for environmental folks, because we are used to opposing things, she said.

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WHEATLEY, Ark.  State investigators said they arrested a former east Arkansas police chief marshal Monday afternoon facing two charges.

Arkansas State Police officials said 25-year-old Jacob Gammel was arrested at his home in Wheatley by agents with the ASP Criminal Investigation Division.

North Little Rock police make arrest in connection with Sunday shooting of officer

Gammel was previously chief marshal with the Wheatley Police Department. According to the Arkansas Municipal League, Wheatley is a small town in St. Francis County with a population of 297.

According to WREG-TV, St. Francis County Sheriff Bobby May said Gammel is accused of accepting money from a convenience store owner on a monthly basis in exchange for protection involving gaming machines at the store.

State investigators said Gammel is facing counts of felony perjury and theft of property.

Released search warrant affidavit shows details of ATF case against Little Rock airport executive Bryan Malinowski

He was booked into the St. Francis County Detention and Dispatch Center shortly after noon on Monday.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KARK.
Countries participating in the armored vehicles coalition for Ukraine, an initiative of Poland and Germany, met in Warsaw for the first time on March 26, Ukraine's Defense Ministry announced.

Some of the countries involved in the coalition include the U.K., Italy, and Sweden.

During the meeting in Warsaw, participants "developed a consolidated position regarding the strengthening of the technical fleet of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with certain samples of armored vehicles," Ukraine's Defense Ministry reported.

The participants also discussed organizing the system to repair the armored vehicles provided to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The repair of the vehicles is one of four focus areas of the coalition, along with the supply of weapons and ammunition for the vehicles, the training of crews and technical personnel, and developing effective tactics for using the vehicles on the battlefield.

"This is a very important initiative of our allies in view of the existing problems in the Armed Forces with the repair of foreign-type armored vehicles," Deputy Defense Minister Ivan Havryliuk said.

"I hope that with the help of our allies we will be able to create an effective repair base for Western armored vehicles in Ukraine as quickly as possible," Havryliuk said.

Other similar initiatives include an artillery coalition, a fighter jet coalition, or a demining coalition, organized within the framework of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG), also known as the Ramstein format.

Read also: Bloomberg: Pragues ammunition initiative may supply 1.5 million shells to Ukraine, Czech FM says

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
The U.S. Army is launching an investigation after a National Guard unit posted a photo to its official Instagram account this week that showed a service member with a patch that appears to depict a Nazi SS Totenkopf, a specific skull-and-crossbones image that was adopted by Adolf Hitlers elite corps.

The 20th Special Forces Group, headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, posted the photo Sunday along with the caption, That weekend feeling. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Dont stop training. Dont get complacent.

The post was then deleted after it garnered comments criticizing the patch, which was visible on the back of one service members helmet.

The use of symbols and patches depicting historic images of hate is not tolerated and a clear violation of our values, said Maj. Russell Gordon, spokesperson for 1st Special Forces Command. We are aware of the situation and are currently investigating the matter.

The 3rd Group roots of this unofficial Nazi-inspired Green Beret logo

The Alabama National Guard is assisting 1st Special Forces Command with the investigation, said Mack Muzio, a National Guard spokesperson.

Gordon confirmed the unit deleted the post. However, a screenshot of the image was shared by individuals to other social media sites in subsequent days, where hundreds of people have criticized the unit and commented on the historical significance of the image.

The Totenkopf is listed in the Anti-Defamation Leagues hate symbols database, where its described as the symbol adopted by the SS-Totenkopfverbande, a branch of the SS that guarded concentration camps. Since World War II, neo-Nazis and other white supremacists have adopted it as a symbol of hate, the database states.

The investigation comes just one month after the Montana National Guard issued an apology for its use of photos in recruiting materials that showed Nazi soldiers marching during World War II. Those images, too, sparked outrage online.

This story was produced in partnership with Military Veterans in Journalism. Please send tips to MVJ-Tips@militarytimes.com.
Seattle Police have arrested a man in connection with a deadly shooting in North Seattle that happened in mid-March.

According to Seattle Police officials, a suspect is in custody for a Mar. 13 homicide that happened outside a convenience store at Aurora Avenue North and North 105th Street.

Police responded to reports of gunfire there in the early hours and discovered a 39-year-old man with gunshot wounds. He died from his injuries and his death was investigated as a homicide.

Nine days later, on March 22, Seattle Police detectives located and arrested a 31-year-old man as suspect in the death. He was booked into the King County Jail on murder charges.

Seattle Police encourages anyone with information regarding the investigation into the crime to please call the SPD Violent Crimes Tip Line at (206) 233-5000.

















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LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  A Clark County School District computer technician arrested on charges of installing electronic surveillance told detectives it was for his AI device business, according to court documents.

Haroon Zakai, 44, reportedly told CCSD police officials he was trying to record student conversations for his artificial intelligence business, aiming to stop bullying.

CCSD police arrested Zakai on Wednesday, March 20. He was an employee at Gwendolyn Woolley Elementary School.

According to court documents, an officer responded to the school on Wednesday after a teacher found a digital recording device inside a sensor that had fallen from the ceiling and landed on her classroom floor.

The same teacher told police Zakai reportedly entered her room and attempted to take the device away.

CCSD police officials said Zakai begged on one knee, asking the teacher not to call law enforcement, saying it would ruin him, documents said.

Haroon Zakai, 44, charges related to electronic surveillance at school without knowledge, attempting to destroy/conceal evidence, damage to community property, and monitoring private conversations. (CCSDPD)

He allegedly took the device away from the teacher, saying he would just delete it and will never happen again, the report indicates

He kept stating, just let me delete, and an altercation took place with the teacher placing Zakai in a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu hold, according to court documents. Zakai then began to cry and the teacher released him, the report said.

Zakai ran out of the room with the device, the report said. Later, he called the principal at the school, saying that he had left with his son and would return to speak with law enforcement officials, the documents indicate.

CCSD police obtained the device and turned it over for processing.

Zakai faces charges related to electronic surveillance at school without knowledge, attempting to destroy/conceal evidence, damage to community property, and monitoring private conversations.

He was placed on unpaid leave and is not allowed on campus.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
For the last couple decades, the Utah Attorney Generals Office has been mired in controversy. As the states current Attorney General Sean Reyes is not running for reelection, Utahns face a choice: Who will the people choose next?

Nine candidates have filed. There are four Republicans, two Democrats, one libertarian, one United Utah and one unaffiliated. The field will narrow as political parties select their official nominees at convention  only one candidate affiliated with a party indicated on the filing form that he would be collecting signatures and thats Derek Brown.

Ahead of the upcoming conventions, the Deseret News asked each candidate what their actionable plan was to return public trust to the office if they are elected. Here are their answers (candidates are listed alphabetically by last name).

Rudy Bautista (Democratic)

Bautista said he believes public oversight would restore trust to the attorney generals office. He said similar to how the Salt Lake City Police Department has a citizen review board, the office could also has have a review board.

In addition to public oversight, Bautista said he would make his calendar public, refrain from involvement in national politics, disclose income tax, have his bank accounts and investment accounts monitored by the internal affairs department and handle some of the cases in the courtroom.

I pride myself in being politically independent, Bautista said. Im not tied to any ideology one way or the other.

Derek Brown (Republican)

Brown said if he was elected attorney general, he would make his calendar public, establish a constituents service office, study and look at implementing recommendations from the legislative audit of the office, and have an open line of communication with county sheriffs and county attorneys.

Additionally, he wants to collaborate with the legislature on policies that will help not only with transparency, but with issues that impact the office.

Brown believes that the office needs someone like him to come in from the outside to make changes. I did the same thing when I was the state party chair. ... I was able to come in with a fresh set of eyes and make a lot of the changes that were needed to redirect where the party went, he said. I think I can do the same as attorney general.

David Carlson (Democratic)

Carlson said people in the attorney generals office have dedicated their lives to doing good, to serving others and he thinks the role of the attorney general is to put them in a position where they are able to do their work.

The day-to-day work of the attorney generals office should be public knowledge including who the attorney general meets with.

The last great Utah Attorney General who Carlson said he worked for was the late Jan Graham, who served in the position from 1993-2001. He said Graham was an example of leadership in this respect. It starts with picking the right leaders for the office, involving them in managing the office and being hands-on knowing exactly whos leading the office and what theyre doing.

Trent Christensen (Republican)

Christensen said he would do an investigation into what happens on election day  an electoral integrity audit. He said, I want to see the ballots, I want to see the mail-in ballots, I want to see the machines, I want to talk to the county clerks, I want to talk to their staff, and he added that he believes people need to know if their vote counts.

On day one, Christensen said he would make his calendar public. He also plans on making sure that the AGs office is doing the will of the people, not just the will of the bureaucracy through prosecutorial reform and other measures.

Christensen said he wants to make sure the office is working for the people and that the office enforces the law. Were going to be tough on crime. Were going to work with local law enforcement, Christensen said.

Austin Hepworth (Unaffiliated)

The attorney general is supposed to enforce the law against all who break it, whether they be government officials, corporations or individuals, Hepworth said. But, there is a natural conflict or tension in a Republican enforcing the law against other Republicans, especially when politics can come into play.

Hepworth said hes running independent from and unaffiliated with any political party to solve that issue.

If elected, Hepworth said he would share his calendar and use the office to help everyday Utahns understand what the law is and how it impacts them. The attorney general should actively communicate with Utahns and provide information related to the law that allows them to understand what is going on, why it is taking place and how it may impact them.

Andrew McCullough (Libertarian)

McCullough said he wants to see the attorney generals office transform. Drawing from what George Bush Sr. said years ago, McCullough said I would like the attorney generals office to be kinder in general. I would like them to remember that they are here to represent the people.

If McCullough is elected, he said he would tell everyone that hes not seeking higher office, but hes there to do the work the office requires. He wants to avoid self-aggrandizement and stop the noise and stop the press releases.

In addition to implementing kindness in the office and avoiding political manipulation, McCullough said in general he would support the work of the office being known to public as long as there were reasonable exceptions.

Frank Mylar (Republican)

Mylar said honesty is part of his actionable plan if hes elected. That starts during the campaign. He said as a candidate and an attorney general, he wouldnt take money from corporations and lobbying groups. I like what St. Thomas Moore said years ago. ... He said he would never accept a gift from anyone if he thought he was going to hear their case.

In addition to not accepting gifts, Mylar said he would draw on his experience as an attorney to manage the office. He has litigated civil rights cases in the state and federal courts in addition to working throughout the attorney generals office and starting his own law firm.

Mylar said that he would make his work calendar public, adding that he would make an exception for investigative work that could compromise a case.

Michelle Quist (United Utah)

The work of the office, not politics, is what Quist said shell focus on if shes elected. Instead of changing the constitution to appoint an AG, thereby consolidating power in the (super-majority Republican) executive and taking the democratic power of choice away from the people of Utah, my solution is to elect a third-party candidate untainted by party politics and untethered from national bosses or purse strings.

Quist said she would get the best lawyers in the state and pay them competitive salaries, bring the offices e-discovery system up to modern standards and open the AGs public calendars, finances, hiring, and other public activities appropriate for public officers, and communicate regularly about these efforts.

Trust requires transparency and communication, Quist said, adding that shell get the office focused on lawyering, transparency and communication.

Rachel Terry (Republican)

At the heart of trust is transparency, accessibility and accountability, Terry said. She said she would have a public calendar and have a constituents service office. This office would give the public an avenue for feedback and questions.

I will make sure that there are people in my office who will work with the public to answer their questions, and importantly, to connect them with them with resources, Terry said. Additionally, Terry said she would hold town halls where members of the public can ask questions and give feedback.

Terry said she also believes being clear about her credentials and the cases she has litigated is important for restoring trust.
Semafor Signals

Insights from The Conversation, NBC News, and the Washington Post

The News

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was handed a temporary legal reprieve Tuesday after British judges ruled that the United States must provide assurances about his treatment before he can be extradited on espionage charges, including that he will not face the death penalty.

The U.K. High Court gave Washington until April 16 to give satisfactory assurances that Assange, an Australian citizen, would receive the same First Amendment freedom of speech protections as a U.S. citizen during his trial, and that he cannot be handed the death penalty if found guilty. Assange will be able to appeal his extradition if these assurances are not met.

Assange, 52, is accused of violating the U.S. Espionage Act after releasing tens of thousands of classified documents in 2010 and 2011, including damning videos about U.S. military conduct in the Middle East.

Fearing extradition, in 2012 he sought refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London and stayed there until he was expelled in 2019. He has remained in a high-security prison in the U.K. ever since.

Speaking outside the High Court in London, his wife Stella Assange said he was a political prisoner and called on the U.S. to drop the case against him. If you expose the interests that are driving war, they will come after you, they will put you in prison, and they will try to kill you, she said.

SIGNALS

Semafor Signals: Global insights on today's biggest stories.

Plea bargain could be one way to end Assanges legal mess

Source: The Conversation

Assange still has several legal options that could delay his transfer to the U.S. further, including a plea bargain. A plea bargain may begin to look like a reasonable outcome for everyone concerned given that these legal proceedings would likely take months  if not years  to process, Holly Cullen, a professor of law at the University of Western Australia wrote for The Conversation. This is because even if the U.Ks Supreme Court upholds the extradition, meaning Assange has exhausted all his legal options in the country, he can still appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, which the U.K. still follows.

His lawyers would likely apply for interim measures to prevent Assanges extradition until the European court has made a decision, Cullen said. While interim measures are usually only granted in extreme cases, such as to avoid inhumane treatment, Assanges lawyers have a strong case to further delay proceedings given that UN officials have already said that the U.S. prison conditions Assange would face could amount to torture.

US case against Assange challenges principles over freedom of the press

Sources: NBC News, The Washington Post

The charges against Assange over revealing classified information have undermined the countrys principles of democracy and free speech, Jameel Jaffer, the executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, wrote for NBC News in 2021. The U.S. Justice Department alleges that its case against Assange does not violate press freedom because Assange is not a journalist and WikiLeaks is not a media organization, but this argument misses the point because Assange engaged in normal journalistic duties in obtaining and publishing the classified documents, Jaffer argued. No journalist or news outlet can report responsibly on issues such as war, foreign relations or national security without sometimes disclosing classified information, he wrote, and this is necessary if journalists are to serve as a meaningful check on government power.

However, the Washington Post editorial board has argued that Assange is no free-press hero: citing allegations that he obtained the documents unethically, such as by helping former U.S. soldier Chelsea Manning to hack into a classified computer system,, and that WikiLeaks just dumped material on its site rather than vetting it for accuracy.

Australia has grown more opposed to the US case

Source: Al Jazeera

The Australian government has become more vocally opposed to the prolonged detainment and trial of its famous citizen, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in February denouncing the legal pursuit by U.S. and U.K authorities, saying the whole country shared the view that enough is enough. Assanges lawyers and family have said that the activists years-long refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy and detainment in British prison has taken a serious toll on his health, with supporters saying that his prolonged detention amounts to inhumane treatment. Australias parliament in February passed a resolution calling for the U.S. and U.K. authorities to end Assanges prosecution. This thing cannot just go on and on and on indefinitely, Albanese said.
Marking a decade of artistic excellence, World Art Dubai (WAD), the regions largest contemporary art fair, is poised to present its most ambitious edition, in partnership with Dubai Culture, at Dubai World Trade Centre from May 2-5 2024.

WAD is poised to amplify its numbers, showcasing a diverse array of over 4,000 artworks from more than 65 countries and expecting over 15,000 visitors, for this edition. About 40% of exhibitors are returning to exhibit at WAD 2024.

Dubais ambitious goal to double the contribution of the creative industries to its GDP by 2026 under the Dubai Creative Economy Strategy, involves not only doubling the number of creative companies and creators in the emirate but also highlights the immense significance of World Art Dubais contribution to this thriving creative economy, a statement said.

This prominent art exhibition serves as a cornerstone in the realisation of these goals by drawing in thousands of visitors, showcasing the works of over 300 artists and galleries from Dubai and across the globe, presenting a diverse array of artworks, from sculpture and watercolours to digital art and fashion art pieces.

The fair will be set across 12 pavilions dedicated to countries and regions, including Japan, India, China, Turkey, Iran, America, Asia, Russia, UAE, Europe, the UK and Arabia.

WAD will feature experiential art activations, live performances, and curated art talks and workshops. These interactive elements are designed to create a holistic cultural experience, celebrating the vibrancy and diversity of the global art scene.

WAD will also unveil an innovative addition to its repertoire: The WAD Tourism Art Tour, designed for all exhibitors. Through curated guided tours and interactive local art interactions around the emirates, WAD is poised to redefine boundaries and captivate audiences from around the world, celebrating the diversity and brilliance of artistic expression.

Asma Al Sharif, Assistant Vice President at Exhibitions, Dubai World Trade Centre said: As we celebrate a decade of artistic brilliance with the 10th edition of World Art Dubai, were honoured to have Dubai Culture as our strategic partner and excited to introduce a ground-breaking initiative that goes beyond the confines of the art fair.

With the launch of WAD Tourism Art Tour, we aim to provide our exhibitors and participants with an immersive journey through the rich tapestry of the UAEs art and cultural offerings while spotlighting Dubais vibrant art scene on the global stage.

This initiative underscores our commitment to enhancing the participant journey, fostering cultural exchange and strengthening Dubais position as a global cultural destination.

Dr Saeed Mubarak Kharbash, CEO of the Arts and Literature Sector at Dubai Culture & Arts Authority, said: This collaboration underscores our shared commitment to advancing Dubais cultural and creative industries.

By joining forces with World Art Dubai, we aim to make art more accessible to a wider audience and contribute to the realisation of the emirates ambitious goals outlined in the Dubai Creative Economy Strategy.

Through this partnership, we look forward to showcasing the vibrancy and diversity of the global art scene while highlighting Dubais position as a thriving cultural destination.

WAD 2024 will showcase a myriad of distinguished artists, including legacy exhibitors such as Lotus Educational Institute, Art Plus Photographers Production, and Japan Promotion Gallery, which have spent between eight and nine years each exhibiting at the annual show.

Speaking on behalf of the 54-strong artist collective representing Japan Promotion Gallery, Momoko Ishikawa said: We are honoured to represent the Japan booth showcasing groups of Japanese artists. A notable aspect of our exhibition is the availability of contemporary art and artworks that utilise traditional techniques, offering unique pieces not found elsewhere in Dubai.

At the Taimei Gallery booth, a significant focus will be on artworks using the maki-e technique. Maki-e, a painting technique born approximately 1200 years ago, has been cherished by the nobility throughout history.

It is characterised by the serene beauty that emerges from combining the natural hues of the material, the deep lustre of lacquer, and the brilliance of gold and silver.

The creation process is incredibly delicate and time-consuming, achievable only by craftsmen with high levels of skill and extensive experience. Prosperity Japans booth will present framed works and tapestries utilising the nishijin-ori weaving technique, which has a history of over 1,000 years.

This technique involves intricately weaving dyed silk threads to create patterns, producing a fabric with a three-dimensional feel that shows a diversity of colours changing exquisitely with the light. While traditionally used for kimono fabrics, its beauty and high fidelity in pattern reproduction have been reimagined in art pieces.  TradeArabia News Service
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 26. Recent attacks by supporters of the PKK terrorist group on ethnic Turks in Belgium highlight the danger the organization poses to social order and public security in Western Europe, Turkiye's Foreign Ministry said in a statement, Trend reports.

According to the ministry, on March 24, supporters of the terrorist organization gathered in the city of Leuven and then attacked residents of Turkish origin in the cities of Heusden-Zolder and Hautalen. Although there were no casualties as a result of the provocations, some members of the Turkish community were injured.

"In response to the events, the Belgian authorities in Brussels and Ankara were immediately contacted," said the statement.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan held a phone call with his Belgian counterpart Hadja Lahbib the same night to discuss the matter, while Turkiye's diplomatic representatives in the European nation also met with their country's citizens in the cities where the incidents took place.

"Thanks to the common sense of our citizens living in Belgium, and the effective intervention of the Belgian security authorities, the incidents were prevented from escalating," the statement added.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is battling to stop his extradition to the United States (Daniel LEAL)

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange faces a weeks-long wait to learn if he can make a last-ditch appeal against extradition to the United States, after a UK court on Tuesday delayed a decision.

The High Court in London gave the US government three weeks to provide further "assurances" on his treatment if he is sent there to face charges over Wikileaks' 2010 release of secret military and diplomatic files.

Washington has spent several years trying to extradite the 52-year-old Australian citizen to stand trial for the publication, which related to the US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Attempting to halt the process, Assange had suffered a string of court losses in the long-running legal saga, which his supporters see as a battle for media freedom.

A two-day hearing was held last month and two judges in London ruled Tuesday he had "a real prospect of success" on three of his nine grounds of appeal.

However, Victoria Sharp and Jeremy Johnson said Washington had until April 16 to allay concerns that his trial would be prejudiced because he is not a US citizen and that he could face the death penalty if convicted.

"Before making a final decision on the application for leave to appeal, we will give the respondent an opportunity to give assurances," the pair wrote in their 66-page ruling.

"If assurances are not given then we will grant leave to appeal without a further hearing."

They also noted that if the United States does respond, further submissions could be made and a hearing will be held on May 20 when Assange could learn of his fate.

- 'Astounding' -

The ruling, which was released online, means Assange will remain at the high-security prison in southeast London where has been held since 2019.

He did not attend February's proceedings either in person or remotely due to illness.

If he is eventually granted another appeal, the case will be heard in a London court.

But if the judges are swayed by the US reassurances, Assange will have exhausted all UK appeals.

His team has previously indicated, however, that they will ask the European courts to intervene and that they would be given 14 days to do so.

Assange's wife Stella, who has led the campaign to block his extradition, called the latest decision "astounding".

"What the courts have done is to invite political intervention from the United States, to send a letter saying 'it is all OK'," she told reporters outside the court.

Campaign groups including Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders also called for Assange's release.

The UN special rapporteur on torture, Alice Jill Edwards, said it was "regrettable" the High Court had not fully ruled on the "disproportionate penalty" Assange faced in the United States.

She said a decades-long jail sentence or ongoing solitary confinement "could amount to inhuman treatment".

- Legal saga -

The US indicted Assange multiple times between 2018 and 2020 but US President Joe Biden has faced persistent domestic and international pressure to drop the case filed under his predecessor Donald Trump.

Major media organisations, press freedom advocates and the Australian parliament have all denounced the prosecution under the 1917 Espionage Act, which has never been used over the publishing of classified information.

Washington alleges that Assange and others at WikiLeaks recruited and agreed with hackers to conduct "one of the largest compromises of classified information" in US history.

Lawyers for Assange have argued the charges were "political" and that he was being prosecuted "for engaging in ordinary journalistic practice of obtaining and publishing classified information".

They have also raised a host of other concerns.

Before going to prison, Assange spent seven years holed up in Ecuador's London embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faced accusations of sexual assault which were later dropped.

The High Court had blocked his extradition, but then reversed the decision on appeal in 2021 after the United States vowed not to imprison him in its most extreme prison, "ADX Florence".

It also pledged not to subject him to the harsh regime known as "Special Administrative Measures", and to allow him to eventually serve out his sentence in Australia.

In March 2022, the UK Supreme Court refused permission to appeal, arguing Assange failed to "raise an arguable point of law".

Months later, ex-interior minister Priti Patel formally signed off on his extradition.

Assange is seeking permission to review that decision and the 2021 appeal ruling.

har-jj/phz/rlp
A Wisconsin family is suing a school board along with a school official because they say their son was targeted for having gay parents.

The boy was a first grader at Milwaukee French Immersion School when homophobic comments by assistant principal Kasongo Kalumbula began, according to a federal lawsuit filed March 22.

McClatchy News reached out to the Milwaukee Board of School Directors, which is listed in the lawsuit, but did not immediately hear back. An attorney for Kalumbula was not listed, and Kalumbula did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.

Over a period of years, beginning when (the student) was only in first grade, Kalumbula called (the students parents) queers (and) told (the student) his parents would burn in hell, the lawsuit said.

According to the lawsuit, the student was bullied by other kids for having gay parents and Kalumbula did not intervene.

Kalumbula treated complaints of bullying and harassment regarding students who are children of straight parents differently from complaints of such behavior against children of LGBTQ+ parents, the lawsuit said.

On one occasion, another child shoved the student and the students parents were called. School officials explained to the parents what happened and that it was not the students fault, the lawsuit said.

However, Kalumbula later made the student call his parent and tell the parent that it was his fault he was shoved, according to the lawsuit. The parent was concerned with why the story was changed and met with Kalumbula, who became enraged that the parent was challenging what Kalumbula said, the lawsuit said.

No queer is going to speak to me like this! Kalumbula screamed at the parent in front of the principal, according to the lawsuit.

After the meeting, Kalumbula harassed and threatened the student for years, the lawsuit said.

Kalumbula watched (the student) more closely than other students and frequently singled him out for shaming and correction, without correcting other students who were engaged in the same behavior, the lawsuit said.

In the spring of 2019, Kalumbula locked the student in a dark room for over an hour, then told the student he would kill him if he told anyone, according to the lawsuit.

When other kids told the student that being gay was bad and stupid, the student became angry and was removed from class by Kalumbula, who told him that he was raised to believe that gay people are evil and will burn in hell, the lawsuit said.

Most people in America do not agree with your parents lifestyle, Kalumbula told the student, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit says as a result of the continued harassment and threats, the student has suffered from anxiety and trauma and is afraid to be in the dark.

Despite parents and other school staff reporting Kalumbulas conduct, Kalumbula was promoted to principal at a different school at the end of the 2021-22 school year, the lawsuit said.

The parents eventually disenrolled the student from the school and sent him to another school, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit is asking for an undetermined amount in damages.

After School Satan Club for elementary kids is met with hostility, lawsuit says

Assistant principal disregarded reports of gym teacher abusing girls, Florida cops say

Mom complains about school drop-off line on Facebook and school retaliates, lawsuit says
Going Dark

For over two decades, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory  humanity's most powerful telescope of its kind  has provided astronomers with an unparalleled view, allowing them to better understand the structure and evolution of the universe.

But a potential budget crunch could pose an existential threat to the observatory, Space.com reports.

On March 11, NASA released its proposed budget for fiscal year 2025, introducing stringent spending caps that could force Chandra to go dark. The space agency suggested cutting spending on the observatory from $68.3 million in 2023 to just $41.1 million in 2025, and then just $26.6 million in 2026. The budget could drop to just $5 million by 2029.

"The reduction to Chandra will start orderly mission drawdown to minimal operations," NASA wrote in its budget proposal.

Unsurprisingly, the news came as a wakeup call for scientists working with the observatory.

"For scientists who rely on Chandra for their research, the mood is one of shock," Patrick Slane, director of the Chandra X-ray Center, told the publication, "but the energy to push back on this decision is high."

X-Nay

The Chandra Observatory has played an important role in scanning the skies for X-rays, something NASA's other "Great Observatories"  including the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescope  can't do.

By studying these signals, scientists have learned a great deal about black holes and neutron stars. They've even spotted planets outside our galaxy.

It was also ahead of its time, and future observatories likely won't be able to match Chandra's sensitivity.

"The Athena X-ray observatory being developed by ESA  though currently undergoing budgeting pressures of its own  would provide many similar capabilities, with much larger collecting area," Slane told Space.com, "but with angular resolution that will fall short of Chandra's exquisite imaging capabilities."

Worse yet, NASA's own follow-up to Chandra called Lynx didn't make the cut for "high-priority development funding," he added, meaning that it likely won't be launched until at least the mid-2030s.

Even the agency's era-defining Hubble has seen notable reductions in NASA's budget proposal.

Slane told Space.com that there's still a chance scientists could convince NASA to reconsider its budget.

If the Chandra observatory were to go dark, it'd leave a gaping hole in scientists' efforts to understand the universe.

"If you turn Chandra off, the hit to x-ray astronomy in the US is huge," Ohio State University astrophysicist David Weinberg told Scientific American. "Maybe there will be enough outcry from the astronomy community that NASA will decide we should do something else."

More on the observatory: Gaze Upon the Brutal Beauty of Four Massive Black Holes About to Crash
AUSTIN (KXAN)  According to a presentation by Austin-Travis County EMS, Travis County is outpacing other Texas counties in opioid overdose deaths.

During a City Council Public Safety Committee meeting, ATCEMS highlighted disturbing data that shows the opioid crisis touched every part of the community.

The 2023 data is not available yet, but ATCEMS Division Chief Stephen White said overdose deaths jumped in the county between 2020 and 2022.

Travis County now has twice as many opioid overdose deaths than any other county in Texas. Stephen White, ATCEMS Division Chief

Prior to 2019, most overdoses involved people knowingly taking opioids. However, White said thats changed since fentanyl made its way into many drugs.

They thought they were buying or taking cocaine, White said. They end up overdosing on it because theyre uneducated about whats in the drug supply.

He said victims dont realize whats in the substance they are taking.

The people who are dying in our community are dying because they bought cocaine and had no idea that it had opioids in it. They are dying by surprise. Stephen White, ATCEMS Division Chief

White said Travis County is averaging 100 overdoses a month.

Programs addressing crisis

In his presentation, White noted different ways ATCEMS is trying to address this. One of those initiatives is the Buprenorphine Bridge Program.

Buprenorphine is a drug that can curb withdrawal symptoms and cravings.

The program launched in November 2020 and has been working to provide critical support and care to people experiencing Opiate Use Disorder or OUD.

RELATED COVERAGE: ATCEMS program aimed at combating opioid crisis reaches 500 people served

The program, run by ATCEMS Community Health Paramedic (CHP) Program, is a short-term bridge program that brings immediate relief to patients seeking treatment for their OUD.

According to White, more than 500 people have entered the program and 93% have completed it.

BreathNow Program

ATCEMS is also rolling out another program this Spring to help with Narcan education.

Austin EMS has partnered with Austin Public Health in trying to address that problem with education and making Narcan available to public partners and partners within the City of Austin, White said.

White said the Breathe Now Narcan Training has been in development for six months.

Were doubling down on our education piece. Stephen White, ATCEMS Division Chief

He said the goal is to distribute more than 6,000 Narcan rescue kits to the community.

Weve developed an education piece that goes along with that, White said. It will help educate the public on how to use Narcan in emergency situations.

They expect to announce more details on this program in the coming months.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
Augusta, GA (March 13, 2024)  It is time to lace up those sneakers, don your boldest colors, and channel your inner superhero because the Georgia Cancer Center at Augusta University is calling all champions to join the fight against cancer at the annual Unite in the Fight Against Cancer fundraiser. It is an event designed to bring the community together in a shared goal of bringing awareness to all forms of cancer.

Unite in the Fight Against Cancer is not just a walk; it is a powerful symbol of our communitys unwavering commitment to stand together against cancer, said Dr. Jorge Cortes, director of the Georgia Cancer Center. By joining us in this event, you are not just taking steps  you are taking a stand. Every dollar raised and every participant who joins us amplifies our collective voice in the battle against this disease. Together, we can make a meaningful difference in the lives of cancer patients, supporting vital projects that enhance their journey and bring hope to countless families.

Unite in the Fight Against Cancer is not just about breaking a sweat; it is about breaking barriers and making a real difference in the lives of those fighting this formidable foe. With each stride, participants will be raising vital funds to support groundbreaking projects aimed at enhancing the journey of cancer patients visiting the Georgia Cancer Center. From innovative therapies to compassionate care, every dollar raised fuels projects designed to uplift and empower patients during their cancer journey. Examples of past funded projects include a mental health initiative for cancer patients struggling with impact of their illness, art supplies for pediatric patients receiving radiation therapy, funding for wigs or prostheses for self-pay breast cancer patients, tablets for movies or music for ease of treatment time in the hospital setting, and equipment which allows staff to better access a patients veins for IV fluids.

I am truly excited about the Unite in the Fight Against Cancer event, said Dr. Anand P. Jillella, J. Harold Harrison, MD, Distinguished University Chair in Medical Oncology at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. This annual gathering not only highlights the strength of our community but also underscores the collective power we possess to make a lasting impact on cancer care. Participating in this one-mile walk is not just about the physical steps; it is a stride towards hope, unity, and progress.

So, whether you are a seasoned warrior in the battle against cancer or a first-time fighter, gather your squad, rally your troops, and join us for a day of fun, fitness, and philanthropy. Together, let us walk, let us support, and let us demonstrate that our community stands resolute in the fight against cancer.

Unite in the Fight Against Cancer is a rally cry for our community to come together and make a tangible difference in the lives of those affected by cancer, Cortes said. It is an opportunity to express our support to patients and their loved ones in their valiant fight against cancer and convey show them we stand with them. Every step taken, and every dollar raised is an opportunity to support patients in their fight against cancer and brings us closer to a future where cancer is no longer a threat. Together, let us show cancer that in Augusta, we do not back down from a challenge  we stand united, ready to fight until every patient is a survivor.

Unite in the Fight Against Cancer 2024 will take place from 8-11am on Saturday, May 4, 2023 at the Georgia Cancer Center, starting at the M. Bert Storey Research Building at 1410 Laney Walker Blvd. Participants can register for the one-mile walk which also serves something like a tour, passing each of the locations included in the Georgia Cancer Center campus footprint: research, hospital care, pediatric care, sickle cell care, infusion centers, radiation therapy, and outpatient services. This walk is designed to be inclusive for everyone who wants to join; individuals and teams determine their own fundraising goal, with no fundraising minimum. Registration is online at uniteaugusta.com.

The Georgia Cancer Center at Augusta University is dedicated to reducing the burden of cancer in Georgia and across the globe through superior care, innovation, and education. Through unprecedented expansion, the Georgia Cancer Center is providing access to more first-in-the-nation clinical trials, world-renowned experts, and life-saving options.

Visit our website.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJBF.
An Australian man has been freed after spending more than 30 hours in an underground drain network.

The 38-year-old originally told authorities he had entered the drain in Brisbane to "retrieve his phone".

But Queensland police said he had "fled" there, after his car crashed into one of their vehicles on Sunday.

The man was rescued after a passerby phoned authorities to report that someone was "stuck" underground. He was treated for abrasions and hypothermia.

Local media reported the man had been in knee-deep water before firefighters lifted a drain lid, allowing him to climb out.

The rescue effort took about five minutes, a Queensland Fire and Emergency Services spokesperson told the BBC.

Local resident James Lingwood - who made the call to authorities - told the Courier Mail newspaper that he first encountered the man on Sunday after hearing a voice "sort of yelling".

"He seemed to be okay, and he said he could get out where he got in so I just left him alone," he told the newspaper.

By Monday though, when he returned to the same spot, he decided to act after hearing "heavy breathing" indicating "someone was in distress".

On Tuesday, police said the man had been driving in a "suspicious" car that reversed and struck a police vehicle around 4:20 (18:20 GMT) on Sunday, causing damage to both cars. No police officers were injured.

His car then sped off before being involved in a second crash, which caused "minor injuries" to the other driver, they said.

Moments later, the suspect allegedly abruptly exited the car and ran from the scene on foot.

"It's amazing what people will do sometimes and what happens, so yes, there's always surprises," acting police commissioner Steve Gollschewski told media on Tuesday, when asked about the case.

Police say the man - who is in a stable condition - is now assisting them with their enquiries.
FILE - Outside view of the Russian embassy in Vienna, Austria, on Friday, March 19, 2010. Austrian police officers who provided security around the Russian Embassy on the day of that country's presidential election were given small presents as they left, Vienna police said Tuesday, March 26, 2024. Police were told to reject such gifts in the future. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak, File)

BERLIN (AP)  Austrian police officers who provided security around the Russian Embassy on the day of that country's presidential election were given small presents as they left, Vienna police said Tuesday. Police were told to reject such gifts in the future.

Receiving the gifts from the Russians  paper bags containing low-value items such as calendars and boxes of chocolates  didn't constitute misconduct under the service law for Austrian civil servants, the Vienna police department said in an email responding to questions about local media's reporting on the issue.

But it leaves an unwanted impression that does not do justice to the professional approach of the officers at the scene, the department added. This, it said, was pointed out to officers and they were instructed to reject in a friendly but firm way such courtesies, even if only of a low value, in the future.

Russians living abroad stood in line to vote at Russian embassies and consulates in several European cities on March 17, the last day of the highly orchestrated presidential election that gave Vladimir Putin another six-year term.

A few days earlier, the Austrian government had announced that it was ordering two diplomats from the Russian Embassy in Vienna to leave the country, and an official said the expulsions were related to spying activities.

Vienna police were posted to protect the embassy on March 17. The police department said that officers were in contact with embassy employees and occasionally entered the building.

The Austria Press Agency reported that, after the last voters left the embassy that evening, at least six officers from the police and another department followed, at least three of them carrying gift bags with a Russian emblem. According to the report, one officer said police went in and out of the building to use the toilets.
Writer and musician Serhiy Zhadan announced his plan to join the "Charter" brigade of Ukraine's National Guard in a live broadcast on March 25.

Zhadan is a renowned poet and novelist as well as the frontman of Kharkiv-based ska band Zhadan and The Dogs. He is also a political activist and humanitarian volunteer.

Zhadan shared his plans to enlist during a livestream discussion with journalists in the Serebrianka forest.

"It seems to me that today there are no writers or non-writers, musicians or non-musicians  there are citizens of Ukraine who feel responsible for their country," he said.

"The army, in principle, equalizes everyone."

Zhadan previously worked as a volunteer, helping to transfer aid to the Ukrainian military. He also actively participated in and supported Ukraine's Orange and EuroMaidan revolutions.

Winner of the 2022 Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, since 2014 Zhadan has written many novels, poems, and essays reflecting on themes surrounding the war.

Zhadan's announcement comes as the government hopes to ramp up mobilization in 2024, aiming to recruit 450,000-500,000 new conscripts.

Read also: Serhiy Zhadan: If Russia wins, there will be no literature, no culture, nothing

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
The Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) have launched an investigation into corruption allegations against the head of Ukraines Anti-Monopoly Committee, Pavlo Kyrylenko, SAPO told RFE/RL on March 25.

On March 21, Ukrainian media outlet Skhemy published an investigation which revealed that during 2020-2023, Kyrylenko's family acquired real estate and cars worth over UAH 70 million ($1.8 million).

Read also: Zelenskyy dismisses Donetsk governor Kyrylenko

Law enforcement began the investigation the day after the report was released.

Read also: Russia continues to export oil products to Europe, evading EU ban  Skhemy

If charged and convicted, Kyrylenko could face up to 10 years in prison and a ban from public 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
Laura Spence said the wait for her daughter's autism diagnosis affected her mental health

Parents of children on the waiting list for an autism diagnosis in Guernsey have described the process as "incredibly hard".

Most children waiting for an assessment for autism are seen after about 18 months.

However, parents said there was very little advice and support they could access during this time.

The Committee for Health & Social Care acknowledged the wait to be assessed could be "frustrating" for families.

Earlier in March the committee launched an initiative to help tackle increased demand.

It said it would commission a UK-based company to carry out assessments over six months as part of the initiative.

Families who spoke to the BBC said they had felt unsupported while waiting for their children to be assessed.

Rachel Wyatt said it took about two years from start to finish for her son to be assessed.

"It was the loneliest and the most terrifying thing I've ever been through," she said.

"The thing that is so difficult about it is that you're having contact with these professionals and they're doing tests and they're giving you information, but then you have to go home and be the carer for your child.

"All day, all night, for two years, I'm at home with my son and I know he needs something but I don't know what it is."

'Struggled to manage'

Laura Spence said she was under the impression her daughter had been on a waiting list in 2017.

However, she said she was never on the list, and subsequently was not diagnosed until December 2023.

"That's quite a big chunk of her childhood that we struggled to manage," she said.

"It was really difficult because you're fighting fires at home while working full-time and not getting any time off.

"I think it does massively affect your mental health as a parent."

'Long and arduous'

Katie Clark said her son was labelled as unruly before receiving an autism diagnosis after two years of seeking a referral on top of two years on the waiting list.

"It was a long and arduous process, and, along the way, we weren't given any advice as to how long away the appointment might be or when we could expect it," she said.

"In the interim, there isn't really any help you can access in terms of talking therapy or counselling to help you as a parent or help your child."

She said the lack of support during that time has affected his ability to learn and to socialise at school.

"We feel like we've let him down," she said.

'Cannot control demand'

The States said there were currently 250 children waiting for an assessment for autism in Guernsey, which was an increase on previous years and more than the diagnostic service had capacity to see.

Deputy Al Brouard, the president of the Committee for Health & Social Care, said the States recognised there were difficulties.

He said: "We cannot control the demand for the diagnostic pathways, where people are referred into from their GPs, and we recognise how important they are for those they support  and how frustrating the wait can be for them and their families."

The committee said it was also looking at potential options to increase the capacity of the ADHD Diagnostic Clinic, which is facing similar demand-based challenges.

More on this story

Related internet links
In response to demand from enthusiasts and collectors, Czapek & Cie presents its best-selling Antarctique timepiece in a gold case for the first time

To complement the precious metal case, Czapek has also revived the legendary lame dial of the original Antarctique Terre Adelie limited edition, launched in 2020.

Czapek & Cie's vision of haute horlogerie  as well as that of Francois Czapek, whose eponymous 19th-century watchmaking house inspired the modern company  rests on two pillars: the pursuit of Beauty, and the spirit of sharing. With this foundation, the Geneva-based Maison is constantly open and listening not only to its fans and watch enthusiasts, but also to evolving directions in the wider world of art, fashion and society.

The demand for an Antarctique model in a precious metal, and more specifically in gold, was so strong among a certain type of collectors that we could not ignore it, says Xavier de Roquemaurel, CEO of Czapek & Cie. To create this new model, we went to explore not only the origins of this successful collection but also the geography of Antarctica.

Antarctique Mount Erebus Deep Blue  Czapek & Cie

Located on Ross Island in the frozen continent, the Mountain from which the new Antarctique Mount Erebus takes its name is the southernmost active volcano on Earth and one of the very few constantly active volcanoes in the world. It was named after one of expedition ships that discovered Ross Island in 1841, captained by Sir James Clark Ross, HMS Erebus  which, in turn was named after a deity in Greek mythology born of Chaos and personifying darkness. A remarkable feature of this volcano is the presence in its lava of gold, which is projected into the atmosphere at an estimated rate of 80 grams per day, dissolved in the escaping volcanic gases and therefore impossible to harvest.

The origins of Czapeks Antarctique line are present in Mount Erebus thanks to the lame dial, a finish originally created for the first iteration of Antarctique, launched in May 2020  the limited-edition Terre Adelie. Created in collaboration with Metalem, Czapek's long-time manufacturing partner, it is crafted using a special kind of comb that creates an effect like a highly textured satin finish. Complementing the rose gold Mount Erebus case, the dial offered in Deep Blue is made with a CVD (chemical vapour deposit) technique.

Antarctique Mount Erebus Deep Blue  Czapek & Cie

With a 40.5 mm in diameter and 10.6 mm height, the gold case shares all of the design codes that make the Antarctique steel case so distinctive: the flowing curves, finely honed angles and carefully judged balance of brushed and polished surfaces that bring the composition to life. The 5N rose gold case and the 2N yellow gold one are respectively complemented by a rose gold or a yellow gold bracelet. Alternatively, both models are proposed with a rubber strap in various colors.

The Antarctique Mount Erebus Deep Blue in 5N rose gold will be produced in a limited run of 100 pieces and available for pre-order at Czapeks authorised dealers worldwide, its flagship store in Geneva and at Czapek.com. The 2N yellow gold version, limited to 50 pieces only, will be offered online at Czapek.com. Deliveries will start in the second quarter of 2024.
NEW MEXICO (KRQE)  The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as well as state veterinary and public health officials, are investigating an illness among primarily older dairy cows in New Mexico, Texas, and Kansas.

The illness, highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), is causing decreased lactation, low appetite, and other symptoms in cows, according to the USDA.

New Mexico State Veterinarian Samantha Uhrig said there have been no positive cases of HPAI in New Mexico at this time. Officials are focusing their investigation on dairy cows in the eastern part of the state.

Biologists warn hunters of dangerous PFAS levels in Holloman Lake birds

As of Monday, March 25, unpasteurized, clinical samples of milk from sick cattle collected from two dairy farms in Kansas and one in Texas, as well as a swab from another dairy in Texas, have tested positive for HPAI. Based on findings from Texas, the detections appear to have been introduced by wild birds.

According to the USDA, the current risk to the public remains low and there is no concern about the safety of the commercial milk supply. Federal and state agencies are working to conduct additional testing for HPAI, as well as viral genome sequencing. Farmers and veterinarians are asked to report cattle illnesses quickly so officials can monitor potential additional cases and minimize the impact to farmers, consumers and other animals.

The New Mexico Livestock Board said it is aware of the situation and is working with other local, state and federal agencies. The NMLB encourages dairy producers limit the amount of traffic into and out of their properties and restrict visits to employees and essential personnel only.

Veterinarians in New Mexico are being urged by the NMLB to check with other states on receiving requirements of all cattle prior to shipment. New Mexico producers and veterinarians who observe symptoms of (HPAI) are strongly encouraged to contact the New Mexico Livestock Board.

Click here to see the full news release from the USDA.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos.
A Baltimore bridge partially collapsed early Tuesday after being hit by a cargo ship.

The Associated Press reported several vehicles had plunged into the river below and said the ship had caught fire.

 Photos, video show collapse of Francis Scott Key Bridge

 Live coverage: Francis Scott Key Bridge collapses, rescue operations underway

The incident brings back memories of a similar incident that happened in Oklahoma in May 2002, when freight barges being transported on the Arkansas River hit a pier supporting the Interstate 40 road bridge crossing the river near Webbers Falls.

The supports failed, causing a section of the bridge to collapse and the deaths of 14 people, while another 11 were injured.

Here's what was happening in Maryland on Tuesday morning, along with happened in Oklahoma years ago.

What happened in the bridge collapse in Baltimore?

The Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed early Tuesday after it was struck by a large cargo ship. The bridge is a major span critical to East Coast shipping.

The Baltimore City Fire Department received several 911 calls about 1:30 a.m. Several vehicles were reported in the river, and the ship had caught fire.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge, a major span over the Patapsco River in Baltimore, collapsed Tuesday after it was struck by a large cargo ship, prompting a massive emergency response for multiple people in the water. The Baltimore City Fire Department described the collapse as a mass-casualty incident.

Live updates: Baltimore's Key Bridge collapses after ship collision; rescue effort underway

"This is currently a mass casualty incident and we are searching for seven people who are in the river," Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore Fire Department, told Reuters.

Our focus right now is trying to rescue and recover these people.

Synergy Marine Corp said the Dali, Singapore-flagged container ship, collided with one of the pillars of the bridge. All its crew members, including two pilots, have been accounted for and there were no reports of any injuries.

Where is Baltimore?

This embedded content is not available in your region.

Baltimore is located about 35 miles northeast of Washington, D.C. or about 90 miles southwest of Philadelphia.

Where is Francis Scott Key Bridge and when did it open?

The Francis Scott Key Bridge opened in March 1977 as the final link in Interstate 695, the Baltimore Beltway.

The 1.6 mile bridge crosses over the Patapsco River where Francis Scott Key reportedly was inspired to write the words of the Star Spangled Banner, according to the Maryland Transportation Authority.

The bridge consists of four lanes and is 185 feet high. The cost to build it was $60.3 million. The bridge can handle 11.3 million vehicles per year, or nearly 31,000 cars per day, according to the transportation authority.

More about Key Bridge: Where is the Francis Scott Key Bridge? What to know about collapsed Baltimore bridge

What happened in Webbers Falls, Oklahoma I-40 bridge disaster in 2002

The Baltimore disaster brings to mind a similar incident in Oklahoma. In this 2002 photo, a piece of the Interstate 40 bridge over the Arkansas River near Webbers Falls rests on a barge that collided with the bridge.

On May 26, 2002, Joe Dedmon, the captain of the towboat Robert Y. Love, was reported to have lost consciousness while traveling the Robert S. Kerr Reservoir and losing control of the tow.

When the barges he was towing collided with the pier supporting the bridge, eight passenger vehicles and three tractor-trailers fell into the river before traffic stopped.

Some people were able to swim to shore, and some were aided by fishermen participating in a bass fishing tournament near the bridge. The incident killed 14 people and injured 11.

The bridge was estimated to carry 20,000 vehicles per day, which were rerouted for about two months while the bridge was rebuilt. The bridge reopened on July 29, 2002, 10 days earlier than expected.

Exactly one year after the disaster, a memorial to the victims was dedicated in the Webbers Falls City Park.

Chronology of I-40 bridge disaster: In May 2002, freight barges being transported on the Arkansas River hit a pier supporting the Interstate 40 road bridge crossing the river. The bridge collapsed and resulted in 14 dead, 11 injured.

Contributors: Charles Ventura, Thao Nguyen, Susan Miller, USA Today Network

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma I-40 bridge disaster compared to bridge collapse in Maryland
Congressional leaders are weighing the best way to aid in recovery efforts in Maryland following Tuesday's nautical disaster.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge along I-695 in Maryland collapsed into the Baltimore harbor following a "ship strike" early Tuesday morning.

Top lawmakers are keeping abreast of the mass casualty event and remain open to providing any aid needed by local officials, Fox has learned.

"We are quickly working to address this situation," said Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md).

BALTIMORE BRIDGE COLLAPSES INTO HARBOR AFTER SHIP STRIKE, CAUSING MASS CASUALTY EVENT

Aerial daytime photos of the steel from of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on top of the cargo ship in Baltimore, Maryland.

"The federal delegation stands ready to support," indicated Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD).

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

There is a precedent for Congress to step in and aid the recovery efforts in Baltimore, having previously done so for similar disasters.

Congress approved a quarter of a billion dollars on an emergency basis to cover the I-35W bridge collapse over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2007.

BALTIMORE BRIDGE COLLAPSE: RAVENS 'GRATEFUL' FOR FIRST RESPONDERS ON SCENE AMID 'SHOCKING' INCIDENT

Only a few days later, the White House declared a state of emergency in the state. That allowed Minnesota to recover costs from the federal government and begin to remove debris from the scene.

The late Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.) was chairman of the House Transportation at the Committee at the time. Although the bridge was not in Oberstars district, he was able to muscle through an emergency appropriation of $250 million to the state department of transportation to begin rebuilding the bridge.

Considering the amount of trade which funnels through the Port of Baltimore  to say nothing of traffic and commerce which moves across the Francis Scott Key Bridge as a major east coast artery  it is possible Congress could be called upon to provide funding to rebuild the bridge in record time.

"Of course it will affect trade. Im worried about the families and all of the inconvenience that will occur because the bridge is gone. It was such a good link," said Rep. Carol Miller (R-W.V.).





Original article source: Baltimore bridge collapse: Congressional leaders considering federal assistance
A cargo ship crashed into Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge early Tuesday morning, causing a near-total collapse of the span and halting vessel traffic into and out of the Port of Baltimore.

A search-and-rescue effort for six people believed to have fallen from the collapsing bridge into the frigid waters of the Patapsco River below has been suspended and will shift to a recovery mission, officials said.





Latest Developments





Mar 27, 7:25 AM

Ship's force 'almost unimaginable,' Secretary Buttigieg

The force with which a cargo ship hit Baltimore's Key Bridge on Tuesday was "just unimaginable," Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Wednesday.



"What I do know is that the force of this ship is almost unimaginable," Buttigieg said on "Good Morning America." "This is a vessel that was about 100,000 tons carrying its load. So 200 million lbs. went into this bridge all at once, which is why you had that almost-instant catastrophic result."

As the U.S. works to update bridges around the country, each new generation of bridges is "more resilient than the last," Buttigieg said.

"We are at work to make sure our infrastructure for the future is better prepared for any kind of threat," he said. "Really what we saw yesterday was just unimaginable in terms of the proportion of that ship."

PHOTO: United States Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg appears on 'Good Morning America,' March 27, 2024. (ABC News)

Buttigieg had arrived at the scene in Baltimore on Tuesday, saying at the time that the DOT's Maritime Administration would assist with disrupted port, harbor and supply chain operations.



The DOT's Federal Highway Administration will assist with the bridge, he said Tuesday.



He said his "first thoughts" were with the missing construction workers and their families.



"Now they are dealing with news that's just unthinkable," he said.





Mar 27, 5:47 AM

Workers from Guatemala, El Salvador among missing

Construction workers originally from Guatemala and El Salvador are among the six missing after the Key Bridge collapsed in Baltimore, foreign officials and local aid group said.



The two from Guatemala who are missing are a 26-year-old from San Luis, Peten, and a 35-year-old from Camotan, Chiquimula, the country's foreign ministry said in a statement. Their names were not released.

PHOTO: A satellite image shows a closer view of the Dali container ship and a collpased Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Md., March 26, 2024. (Maxar Technologies/via Reuters)

Another missing worker was identified as Miguel Luna, who is originally from El Salvador, according to Court Appointed Special Advocates, a group that works with immigrants.

"Miguel Luna, from El Salvador, left at 6:30 p.m. Monday evening for work and since, has not come home," the organization said in a press release. "He is a husband, a father of three, and has called Maryland his home for over 19 years."

MORE: 2 Guatemalans, 1 Salvadoran among missing from Baltimore bridge collapse

-ABC News Victoria Arancio and Kevin Shalvey





Mar 26, 8:41 PM

Search and rescue efforts to be suspended, move to recovery operation: USCG

The Coast Guard said it is suspending the search and rescue efforts as of 7:30 p.m. Tuesday for the six missing individuals after the bridge collapse.



"Based on the length of time that we've gone in the search, the extensive search efforts that we put into it, the water temperature -- at this point, we do not believe that we're going to find any of these individuals still alive," Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath told reporters.







The conditions in the water, including low water temperatures and unpredictable currents, have made it dangerous for first responders, authorities said.

PHOTO: In an aerial view, the cargo ship Dali sits in the water after running into and collapsing the Francis Scott Key Bridge, Mar. 26, 2024, in Baltimore. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

Authorities said they plan to conduct recovery efforts starting at 6 a.m. on Wednesday.



"We're hoping to put divers in the water and begin a more detailed search to do our very best to recover those six missing people," Col. Roland Butler with the Maryland State Police said.





Mar 26, 7:08 PM

Carnival temporarily moving Baltimore operations to Norfolk

Carnival is temporarily moving its Baltimore operations to Norfolk, Virginia, amid the rescue and remediation efforts following the bridge collapse, the cruise line said Tuesday.



"Our thoughts remain with the impacted families and first responders in Baltimore," Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line, said in a statement. "We appreciate the pledge made by President Biden today to dedicate all available resources to reopen Baltimore Harbor to marine traffic as soon as possible. As those plans are finalized, we will update our future cruise guests on when we will return home to Baltimore, but in the meantime, we appreciate the quick response and support from officials in Norfolk."



The move impacts the Carnival Legend ship, which is scheduled to return from its current voyage on Sunday, the company said. The cruise will return to Norfolk with free bus service back to Baltimore, Carnival said.





Mar 26, 5:25 PM

EPA on standby, not aware of any concerns

The regional office of the Environmental Protection Agency is on standby to respond to the aftermath of the bridge collapse if needed but is not aware of any environmental concerns at this time, according to EPA Mid-Atlantic Public Affairs spokesman Shaun Egan.

PHOTO: In an aerial view, cargo ship Dali is seen after running into and collapsing the Francis Scott Key Bridge, Mar. 26, 2024 in Baltimore. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

Synergy Marine Group said Tuesday morning that there was no pollution from the ship.

The Coast Guard is the primary federal agency responding and they have not asked for EPA assistance. Coast Guard pollution responders were sent to the scene, and if any releases of fuel or other pollutants are detected, the EPA official said the agency is ready to support that response.

PHOTO: In an aerial view, cargo ship Dali is seen after running into and collapsing the Francis Scott Key Bridge, Mar. 26, 2024 in Baltimore. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

The Maryland Department of the Environment said it is "conducting water sampling upriver and downriver of the site."



-ABC News Stephanie Ebbs and Beatrice Peterson





Mar 26, 4:09 PM

Harris: 'We are all praying'

Vice President Kamala Harris said she is "praying for the families of those who are missing and all those who have been touched by this tragedy."

PHOTO: FBI divers assisting in the search and rescue at the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on March 26,2024. (Obtained by ABC News)

"I spoke with the governor of Maryland this morning, and we have directed the federal government to use all the resources that are available to assist with the search and rescue, to reopen the port and to rebuild the bridge as quickly as possible," Harris said while making a joint appearance with President Joe Biden at an event in North Carolina.



-ABC News Libby Cathey and Justin Ryan Gomez





Mar 26, 4:50 PM

'Very much still a search and rescue mission,' governor says

Fourteen hours after the bridge collapse, crews are still desperately looking for the six people who remain unaccounted for, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.



"This is very much still a search and rescue mission," Moore said.

PHOTO: Maryland Governor Wes Moore (L) and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott embrace following a press conference at the scene of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore, Md, Mar. 26, 2024. (Shawn Thew/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

"We had the opportunity to spend time with the families. Had the opportunity to pray with them and pray for them," Moore said. "And the strength of these families is absolutely remarkable."

"We are hopeful and we are with the families," Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., said.

PHOTO: In an aerial view, cargo ship Dali is seen after running into and collapsing the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, 2024 in Baltimore. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

"This is no ordinary bridge -- this is one of the cathedrals of American infrastructure. It has been part of the skyline of this region for longer than many of us have been alive," Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said. So the path to normalcy will not be easy, will not be quick, will not be inexpensive. But we will rebuild together."

PHOTO: The steel frame of the Francis Scott Key Bridge sits on top of a container ship after it struck the bridge in Baltimore on March 26, 2024. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)

Buttigieg did not give an estimate of how long it may take to resume vessel traffic into and out of the Port of Baltimore.





Mar 26, 2:29 PM

Buttigieg meets with responders

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg traveled to the scene of the Baltimore bridge collapse, at the invitation of Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, according to the Department of Transportation.



Buttigieg posted a photo of him meeting with responders.

Grateful to the first responders whove been on scene at the Francis Scott Key Bridge. pic.twitter.com/mxrhoYWuD2  Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) March 26, 2024

An estimated 30,000 vehicles crossed the bridge per day, according to the Maryland Transportation Authority.

PHOTO: Francis Scott Key Bridge Facts (ABC News, Maryland Transportation Authority, Mark Wilson/Getty)





Mar 26, 1:58 PM

Personnel on ship alerted officials before collision 'which undoubtedly saved lives': Biden

Personnel on the ship alerted the Maryland Department of Transportation that they lost control of the vessel, and officials were able to close the bridge before it was struck, "which undoubtedly saved lives," President Joe Biden told reporters.



It appears the crash was a "terrible accident," Biden said.

He said the search and rescue operation is the top priority.

This morning, I convened senior members of my team for a briefing on the collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge.



I've directed my Administration to ensure every federal resource is available to assist search and rescue efforts and response to this terrible incident. pic.twitter.com/quqe7jogwm  President Biden (@POTUS) March 26, 2024





"Ship traffic and the Port of Baltimore has been suspended until further notice. And we'll need to clear that channel before the ship traffic can resume," he said.



"It's my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstruction. ... I expect the Congress to support my effort," Biden said.





PHOTO: In this aerial image, the steel frame of the Francis Scott Key Bridge sits on top of a container ship after the bridge collapsed, Baltimore, March 26, 2024. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

"This is going to take some time," the president said, adding, "We're not leaving until this job gets done."



Biden, who noted hes been over the bridge many times, said he plans to visit Baltimore as soon as possible.

PHOTO: Rescue personnel gather on the shore of the Patapsco River after a container ship ran into the Francis Scott Key Bridge (back) causing its collapse in Baltimore, March 26, 2024. (Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA via Shutterstock)

"Our prayers are with everyone involved in this terrible accident and all the families, especially those waiting for news of their loved one right now," the president said. "To the people of Baltimore, I want to say: We're with you. We're going to stay with you, as long as it takes."





Mar 26, 12:34 PM

No cars transiting bridge at time of collapse: Internal DHS briefing

Maryland transportation officials reviewed traffic cameras and confirmed there were "no vehicles transiting the bridge at the time of the incident," according to the latest internal Department of Homeland Security briefing obtained by ABC News.

PHOTO: The steel frame of the Francis Scott Key Bridge lies in the water after it collapsed in Baltimore, March 26, 2024. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

The local pilot who was at the controls is undergoing post-accident Drug and Alcohol Testing, the briefing said.

The cargo ship "remains impaled in the bridge," the document said. "Several shipping containers with unknown cargo fell into water. There is hull damage above the water line to the vessel and the ship is maintaining watertight integrity."

PHOTO: The steel frame of the Francis Scott Key Bridge sits on top of the container ship Dali after the bridge collapsed, Baltimore, March 26, 2024. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

A slight sheen of pollution was observed in the water, suggesting there could be some oil or other pollutant in the vicinity of the ship and pollution booms have been requested, the memo said.



-ABC News' Josh Margolin and Aaron Katersky

Click here to read the rest of the blog.
Baltimore bridge collapse would have been much worse if the ship hadn't called in 'mayday'

The cargo ship that crashed into a Baltimore bridge sent a mayday call moments beforehand.

Thanks to the distress call, officers stopped traffic to the bridge, Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland said.

Moore said the call saved lives.

Lives were saved in the Baltimore bridge collapse when the crew of the swerving cargo ship sent a mayday call before hitting the bridge's support, Maryland's governor said.

Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland told reporters at a news conference Tuesday morning that before the Singapore-tagged Dali cargo ship crashed into Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, crew members called in a distress signal.

The crew members told authorities that they had lost power on the ship and were in trouble, Moore told reporters.

That call, Moore said, let officers quickly close off the bridge to car traffic on both sides, likely preventing even more casualties.

"Literally by being able to stop cars from coming over the bridge, these people are heroes," Moore said. "They saved lives last night."

Moore would not confirm whether any cars were on the bridge at the time of its collapse at 1:28 a.m. on Tuesday. Crew members were working on the bridge repairing potholes when it crumbled into the Patapsco River, Sen. Chris Van Hollen told reporters.

At least six people who were on the bridge are missing, Paul Wiedefeld, Maryland's transportation secretary, said.

Two have been found alive, with one in "very serious condition," authorities said.

A video on X, formerly Twitter, shows the cargo ship  with its lights turning off and on  crashing into one of the bridge's support beams, which caused the entire bridge to fall into the water within seconds.

Moore declared a state of emergency for Maryland as rescue teams continued searching for survivors.

Baltimore's port that the bridge spanned is one of the largest by cargo tonnage in the US.

The loss of the critical bridge, as well as a now blocked harbor, could be a major hit to both the local economy and nearby distribution centers, including Amazon and FedEx.

Meanwhile, shares of transportation and coal-mining companies are down as news of the collapse ripples through the stock market.

Read the original article on Business Insider
A Baltimore bridge collapsed after a container ship hit it early Tuesday, and several vehicles fell into the river below.

Rescuers were looking for at least seven people in the water, according to the Associated Press. The ship appears to have hit a support on the Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing the road to break apart and fall into the water.

The container ship caught fire.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed after it was struck by a ship on Tuesday morning.

The bridge is close to several major distribution centers, including Amazon and FedEx.

A local business owner said he expected to see traffic disrupted for weeks.

The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore could have major effects on distribution and deliveries for businesses in the area.

Baltimore's biggest bridge collapsed early on Tuesday morning after a cargo ship crashed into one of its support beams, prompting Maryland Gov. Wes Moore to declare a state of emergency.

Several vehicles were on the bridge at the time, Kevin Cartwright, the communications director for the Baltimore Fire Department, told the Associated Press.

The collapse prompted the immediate close of the Port of Baltimore, which is one of the US' biggest ports by volume and value of cargo and the biggest US port for cars and light trucks, according to Bloomberg.

It may also delay companies' deliveries by road because they have to find an alternative route to cross the harbor.

Around 11.3 million vehicles drive over the bridge each year, according to the Maryland Transportation Authority, and Amazon, Home Depot, FedEx, BMW, and Volkswagen all have distribution centers and warehouses just east of the bridge at Sparrows Point.

"This is a huge issue that is going to motivate an all-hands-on-deck response to offset the financial hit," Dave Marcotte, a longtime retail and supply chain expert from Kantar, told Business Insider.

"It's going to snarl container seaboard, train routing, and East Coast trucking for a while," he added.

Amazon and FedEx are among those businesses with distribution centers at Sparrow Point, close to Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge. Google Maps

Neil Saunders, managing director of the retail division at data analytics and consulting company GlobalData, told BI via email that the collapse could "have a negative impact on journey times and costs for both incoming and outgoing goods from those centers."

He said the "main impact" would be local but added, "There might be a slight regional impact as other centers have to increase volume to compensate, but this should not be too onerous as most retailers can divert delivery traffic via other routes."

The bridge was one of three routes for vehicles to cross the harbor alongside two tunnels. The MDTA is advising drivers on alternative routes to take.

The bridge is near major distribution sites

Tradepoint Atlantic, the logistics hub at Sparrows Point, is home to distribution sites for various retailers and delivery companies, including Amazon, Home Depot, FedEx, Under Armour, McCormick, and Floor and Decor. BMW and Volkswagen also have sites there.

Tradepoint Atlantic said it had been "in constant contact" with emergency response officials and leaders from the city and state.

When asked about the impact of the bridge's collapse on its operations, a BMW spokesperson told BI it expected only "short-term traffic delays."

Volkswagen said its operations were unaffected as its Baltimore facility was "located on the sea board of the bridge collapse." But said there "may be trucking delays as traffic will be rerouted in the area."

Both Home Depot and McCormick, which manufactures spices and seasonings, said their distribution centers in the area were open and operating.

And, a spokesperson for FedEx said they have contingency plans in place to "lessen any potential impacts on service," without specifying what these are.

Business Insider contacted the other companies for comment but had not heard back when this article went live.

When the Volkswagen Group vehicle terminal opened in 2020, the automaker said it would import and process about 120,000 Volkswagen, Audi, Lamborghini, and Bentley vehicles from Europe and Mexico each year, serving about 300 dealers in the mid-Atlantic region.

The BMW vehicle distribution center, which opened in 2022, was designed to support more than 125 BMW and Mini dealers in central and eastern US, the company said in a press release when it opened. BMW said the 35-acre site would act as a distribution hub for vehicles from manufacturing facilities and be used for vehicle inspections, repairs, and maintenance.

McCormick said in 2020 that it expected its site at Tradepoint Atlantic to become its biggest distribution site.

"This is going to be catastrophic for many reasons," one resident told local CBS affiliate WJZ. "Number one, the harbor's blocked. Number two, we're not going to get any more new car deliveries at this time. Amazon is just on the other side of the river and you can forget your same-day, next-day delivery packages."

"The beltway is going to be a parking lot. The tunnels are going to be over-jammed," he added.

Local businesses prepare for ongoing disruption

The Hard Yacht Cafe, located about a mile from the bridge, told BI that it wasn't yet clear how the collapse would affect its business.

"The area of destruction is a major artery for traffic. We can't be sure what kind of impact this is going to have on our business but this will for sure disrupt all travel both auto and boating for weeks to come," Alexander DelSordo, majority owner of the cafe and Anchor Bay Marina, told BI via email.

"It's going to take weeks to get back to some kind of normalcy with regards to travel," he added.

A worker at Royal Farms, a convenience store at Hawkins Point on the southwestern end of the bridge, told BI at about 7:30 a.m. local time that it was open as usual and all its staff had been able to get in so far.

Has your business been affected by the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge? Email these reporters at gdean@insider.com or mhanbury@insider.com.

Read the original article on Business Insider
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  A major bridge collapsing in Baltimore reminds many Floridians of a similar disaster that happened decades ago in the Tampa Bay area.

Early Tuesday morning, Baltimores Francis Scott Key Bridge snapped and plunged into the river after a container ship rammed into the major bridge.

Read the latest about the Baltimore bridge collapse

The Associated Press reported that the cargo ship appeared to have crashed into one of the bridges supports during the middle of the night.

Never would you think that you would see, physically see, the Key Bridge tumble down like that. It looked like something out of an action movie, said Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, calling it an unthinkable tragedy.

The disaster brings back memories of a similar incident that happened in Tampa Bay almost 44 years ago.

On May 9, 1980, 35 people were killed when a 19,734-ton Summit Venture freighter ship slammed into the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

Most of the people killed were aboard a Greyhound bus that fell 150 feet into Tampa Bay. Only one person survived  a man named Wesley MacIntire. His truck fell onto the freighters deck before hitting the water below.

The bridge was demolished and the new Sunshine Skyway Bridge was finished in 1987.

A car is halted at the edge of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge across Tampa Bay, Fla., after the freighter Summit Venture struck the bridge during a thunderstorm and tore away a large part of the span, May 1980. At least 31 persons were killed, 23 of them aboard a bus that toppled into the water. (AP Photo/Jackie Green)





There is a Sunshine Skyway Collapse Memorial with the names of the 35 victims sitting along the edge of Tampa Bay near the southern end of the rest area.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
Crews started lifting the first section of Baltimores collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge from the water on Saturday, a move aimed at allowing access for barges and tugboats to reach the disaster site.

The workers are currently focusing on lifting a section of the bridge while leaving the crumpled part resting on the bow of the Dali, the container ship responsible for the bridge collapse, officials said. Meanwhile, US president Joe Biden said on Friday he will go to Baltimore next week.

Tom Perez, senior adviser and assistant to Biden, said Sunday that plans for the visit were still being worked out. He called the salvage operation a Herculean undertaking.

The Port of Baltimore will be back, Mr Perez told MSNBC. The president has said this. Were going to move heaven and earth to make sure we rebuild the bridge, we clear out the debris as soon as possible, so that we can minimize these disruptions.

It comes after enormous cranes arrived in Baltimore to help clear the wreckage, which officials say is an essential step before recovery efforts to find the missing construction workers and reopen the port.

Key points

Crews begin work to lift a piece of collapsed bridge

Massive crane arrives at crash site for clean up

Two bodies found in search for missing workers after Baltimore Key Bridge collapse

Investigators reveal precise timeline of bridge disaster

Watch: Moment Francis Scott Key Bridge collapses after ship collision

New NTSB video shows investigators surveying damage to Dali ship after Baltimore bridge collapse

Recap: Four bodies remain unaccounted for

19:30 , Mike Bedigan

Four bodies are still missing after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed on Tuesday morning.

Divers found the two victims trapped in a red pickup truck a little before 10 am on Wednesday in about 25 feet of water around the bridges middle span.

They were identified as construction workers Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, of Baltimore and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, of Dundalk, Maryland.

Meanwhile, four other missing construction workers remain unaccounted for.

On Tuesday, officials said two people had been rescued alive from the water. One was uninjured while the other was in a serious condition.

Though search efforts were previously paused, Maryland authorities say that rescue divers are currently on standby and will return to the waters when conditions improve.

(Viral Press)

Watch: Maryland governor says recovery efforts are 'round the clock' after Baltimore bridge collapse

18:45 , Mike Bedigan

How long will it take to rebuild the Baltimore bridge?

18:00 , Mike Bedigan

Rebuilding Baltimore's collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge could be a lengthy process and will depend on whether any of the remaining structures can be salvaged.

Experts say it could take anywhere from 18 months to several years.

It took five years to construct the original bridge from 1972-1977.

Read more here:

Oklahoma highway temporarily shut after barge hits bridge

17:30 , Mike Bedigan

A highway in Oklahoma was temporarily shut on Saturday after a barge struck a bridge over the Arkansas River.

State patrol troopers closed US Highway 59 about 1:25 pm after receiving word of the incident and diverted traffic from the area,l spokesperson Sarah Stewart said.

The bridge, which crosses the Arkansas River where it enters the Robert S Kerr Reservoir, was later inspected and the highway reopened to traffic around 4 pm.

Engineers inspected the structure and found it safe to reopen, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation said in an email.

There were no reports of injuries on the highway or the barge, and the cause of the collision remains unknown.

(AP)

In photos: the scene of the collapse

17:05 , Mike Bedigan

(Getty Images)

(Getty Images)

(Getty Images)

(Getty Images)

Rescue divers to resume searches as soon as conditions improve

13:00 , Mike Bedigan

Authorities say that rescue divers will return to the waters surrounding the collapsed Francis Scott Key bridge as soon as conditions improve. Recovery and salvage missions were previously called off due to water temperatures and other hazards.

At a press conference on Saturday, Maryland Governor Wes Moore told reporters: Right now, the conditions make it unsafe for rescue divers. But as soon as those conditions change, Colonel [Roland] Butler has assured me that those rescue divers will be going right back in the water.

Colonel Butler, Maryland State Police Chief, later added: The Maryland State Police continue to be an active part of the Unified Command. As governor Moore mentioned, the brave members of our underwater rescue teams remain on standby.

They will resume their recovery efforts once a unified command has informed them it is safe to resume diving operations.

Watch: Maryland governor says recovery efforts are 'round the clock' after Baltimore bridge collapse

11:00 , Mike Bedigan

Crews begin work to lift a piece of collapsed bridge

06:00 , Stuti Mishra

Crews started lifting the first section of Baltimore's collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge from the water on Saturday, a move aimed at allowing access for barges and tugboats to reach the disaster site.

Coast Guard Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath said that a collaborative effort involving teams from the Coast Guard, the US Navy's salvage arm, and the US Army Corps of Engineers is underway.

The workers are currently focusing on lifting a section of the bridge while leaving the crumpled part resting on the bow of the Dali, the container ship responsible for the bridge collapse, officials said.

The operation on Saturday involved cutting a piece just north of the channel and lifting it with a 160-ton marine crane onto a barge. A larger, 1,000-ton crane is also deployed at the bridge site.

Once lifted, the piece will be transported to Tradepoint Atlantic, the former Bethlehem Steel Mill site, which is being transformed into a distribution centre.

Governor Wes Moore declined to provide a timeline for this portion of the clearance work.

"It's not going to take hours," he said. "It's not going to take days, but once we complete this phase of the work, we can move more tugs and more barges and more boats into the area to accelerate our recovery."

Pete Buttigieg bashes misinformation surrounding cause of collapse

04:00 , Mike Bedigan

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called it upsetting that in the face of tragedy  the collapse of Baltimores Francis Scott Key bridge  conspiracy theories have circulated to explain what caused the disaster that left six people to be presumed dead.

CNNs Kaitlan Collins pointed out there have been wild conspiracy theories about what caused the disaster, ranging from a cyberattack, the captain having side effects from a Covid-19 vaccine, and blaming the Obamas.

She asked Mr Buttigieg whether he thought he would have to combat these conspiracy theories in the midst of a crisis?

Were in the business of dealing with roads and bridges and sometimes ships and trains, he said. So we are not in the habit as a Department of Transportation, of being in the business of dealing with conspiracies, or conspiracy theories or that kind of wild thinking. But unfortunately, it is a fact of life in America today.

Whats really upsetting is when misinformation or disinformation circulates, that is not without victims.

This is a human tragedy, Mr Buttigieg said, adding that six men lost their lives.

Read the full story...

Pete Buttigieg slams conspiracy theories about Baltimore bridge collapse

Watch: Baltimore to receive $60 million in federal funds to rebuild

00:00 , Mike Bedigan

Coast Guard chief details debris removal process

Saturday 30 March 2024 23:30 , Mike Bedigan

On Saturday Coast Guard Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath said that crane-lift operations to remove parts of the Francis Scott Key bridge were underway.

Mr Gilreath said the first piece of the bridge to be removed was a top section but he was unable to specify demensions. Engineers must first cut up the bridge before it can be moved.

They're gonna get it into a size that they can manage with the crane that they have to lift it. The crane I believe is 160 tonne lift crane and... it's gonna take the day to do it, he said.

I mean, they had to do the engineering process to plan how we could make those cuts. They're making those cuts, then they're going to have to put straps to rig it and then they will rig it and they will set it on a barge so it can be brought back here.

Fundraisers garner $200k for families of victims

Saturday 30 March 2024 22:30 , Mike Bedigan

One GoFundMe page raised over $98,000 in just nine hours.

The fundraiser, organised by the volunteer group Latino Racial Justice Circle, explained that the cash would be distributed directly to the families of the victims of the bridge collapse.

Eight construction workers, employed by Brawners Builders, were filling potholes in the early hours of 26 March, when the Dali container ship lost power and rammed into the bridge, causing them to fall into the Patapsco River.

While early search efforts led to the safe rescue of two men, six others were killed in the accident.

All of the missing men from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, Col Roland Butler Jr of Maryland State Police said at a press conference.

The organisers of the fundraiser wrote, We know that the 6 victims were all Latino immigrants, some of whom were supporting partners and children in the Southeast Baltimore and Dundalk communities.

As they move forward with their shock and grief, the families will need support with basic needs, such as rent, groceries, and utilities, they wrote.

Read the full story...

GoFundMe tops $98k for families of Baltimore bridge collapse victims

Watch: Massive crane arrives to haul wreckage

Saturday 30 March 2024 22:00 , Mike Bedigan

The largest crane on the US eastern seaboard has been called in to help clear the wreckage of Baltimores collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge.

Shipments in and out of one of Americas busiest ports are suspended while the wreckage hangs over the cargo ship that crashed into it.

Crews were still surveying the damage as of midday on Friday 29 March and a search for the bodies of four workers remains on hold because of the dangers of diving amongst the wreckage.

The crane, which can lift up to 1,000 tons, arrived late Thursday night and is expected to start hauling debris out of the water on Saturday morning.

A cargo ship crashed into the Key Bridge early on Tuesday, sending the structure tumbling into the Patapsco River.

Watch here:

Largest crane on eastern seaboard in place to clear wreckage of Baltimore bridge

Watch: Recovery efforts are round the clock after Baltimore bridge collapse, Maryland governor says

Saturday 30 March 2024 21:30 , Mike Bedigan

Recovery efforts are round the clock after Baltimore bridge collapse, governor says

Construction worker miraculously survives Baltimore bridge collapse without knowing how to swim

Saturday 30 March 2024 20:30 , Mike Bedigan

A construction worker who was part of the team on the Francis Scott Key Bridge when it collapsed early on Tuesday morning in Baltimore, miraculously survived the incident despite not knowing how to swim.

Julio Cervantes and seven other workers from Mexico and Central America were taking a break inside their cars just moments before the bridge collapsed around 1:30am.

Mr Cervantes and another man were rescued the same day. The remains of Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, were recovered by searchers.

He was taken to the hospital with a chest wound and was released the same day

My husband doesnt know how to swim. It is a miracle he survived, the wife of Cervantes, who did not wish to reveal her name, told NBC.

Discussion with Baltimore port workers ongoing

Saturday 30 March 2024 20:00 , Mike Bedigan

Our staff has been in close contact since early Tuesday morning with the industries and workers affected by the suspension of vessel traffic at the Port of Baltimore. Were identifying ways to address the economic impact and ensure supply chains can continue to operate smoothly.  Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) March 29, 2024

Watch: Maryland governor says recovery efforts are 'round the clock' after Baltimore bridge collapse

Saturday 30 March 2024 18:15 , Mike Bedigan

Baltimore mayor: Right pace is needed to reach our goals

Saturday 30 March 2024 17:50 , Mike Bedigan

Baltimore mayor Brandon Scott also used a running metaphor to describe recovery efforts at the Francis Scott Key bridge, saying that the right pace was needed.

Im a runner, and I will say it like this. The winner of the marathon or the 5k is never the person who starts out the fastest, he said.

In fact, in my experience, those people end up last or not finishing the race at all. The winner always has the right pace and finishes with a strong kick. That will be all of us when we celebrate the reopening of the channel and the reopening of the brace in the future.

We will all be exhausted, but it will be worth it because we will have achieved our goals the right way and together. Doing it that way, is going to make the process smoother and faster in the long run, and thats our ultimate goal.

First crane lift of debris to take place on Saturday

Saturday 30 March 2024 17:44 , Mike Bedigan

Authorities say they intend to conduct their first cran-lifts of debris from the Francis Scott Key bridge collapse on Saturday.

One of the cranes brought to the crash site, the Chesapeake 1000, is capable of lifting 1,000 tonnes  but the bridge is estimated to weigh around three or four times that, so it will need to be cut into sections, Maryland governor Wes Moore said.

At a press conference on Saturday, Coast Guard Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath said: Im really proud to announce that the governor said were going to conduct our first lift today on a piece of a portion of the bridge just north of that deep draft shipping channel.

And were we will continue planning efforts for once we get that clear to open that up for tug and barge traffic to come into the Port of Baltimore, but thats going to take some more time.

And this is a step in that process, much like when you run a marathon, youve got to take the first few steps. Were taking those few first few steps, and will continue to get the resources in that will propel us to the finish line, but were working to get there as fast as we can.

Were going to open it as soon as possible and were gonna continue to do it safely.

Did dirty fuel contribute to the Baltimore bridge collapse?

Saturday 30 March 2024 17:30 , Mike Bedigan

Investigators are examining the possible role of dirty fuel in the cargo ship collision which destroyed Baltimores Francis Scott Key Bridge.

The Dali collided with the four-lane road bridge at 1.28am on Tuesday as it sailed out of the Maryland harbour.

Minutes before the collision, the propulsion system on board the vessel went down, alarms sounded, and the vessel began veering towards a support for the bridge.

At 1.26am, the captain called for crew to try to restart the engine and steer hard to the left. A minute later, he ordered them to drop anchor, and issued an emergency radio call to transport authorities on the bridge.

However the Dali, 1,000 ft long and 95,000 tons when empty, would have been virtually impossible to stop. It hit the 1.6mile bridge at 1.28am, causing its immediate collapse into the Patapsco River.

Louise Boyle has the full story...

Did dirty fuel play a role in Baltimore bridge collapse?

Watch live: Maryland governor holds press conference following Baltimore bridge collapse

Saturday 30 March 2024 17:21 , Mike Bedigan

Maryland governor holds press conference following Baltimore bridge collapse

Trump criticised for staying silent on Baltimore bridge collapse

Saturday 30 March 2024 16:30 , Mike Bedigan

Former president Donald Trump, who has continued to post attacks against Joe Biden on social media, including a problematic picture of him hogtied at the back of a Maga truck, has remained largely silent on the Baltimore bridge collapse.

Since Tuesday night when a cargo ship slammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, killing six people, all immigrants, Mr Trump has only posted one clip of Sean Hannity criticising President Joe Biden for making only a brief remark and "making it all about himself by mentioning his personal connection".

Mr Trump, who is usually known for his consistent and repeated posts on social media on any topic in the national news, is being criticised for remaining largely silent.

Republican strategist Scott Reed said this silence from Mr Trump is "a little weird," journalist Mike Sington shared on Twitter.

"It was a national tragedy, its going to cost $2 billion, its going to screw up a lot of peoples lives and impact goods travelling around the world," Mr Reed said, according to Mr Sington's post on X.

"At a minimum, express sympathy toward the poor six men that died that were doing their jobs on the midnight shift, keeping commerce flowing.

Trump mentions everything, and posts constantly on Truth Social, but he has yet to say anything about the Baltimore bridge collapse tragedy. Republican Strategist Scott Reed: Its a little weird. It was a national tragedy, its going to cost $2 billion, its going to screw up a  Mike Sington (@MikeSington) March 29, 2024

Watch: Maryland Governor sets out four directives following Baltimore bridge crash

Saturday 30 March 2024 16:01 , Mike Bedigan

Maryland state Governor Wes Moore has set out four directives since the crash of the Francis Scott Key bridge on Tuesday.- Continue to prioritize recovery for the families- Clear channel and open vessel traffic to the port - Take care of everyone affected by this crisis - Rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge

We have four directives:



- Continue to prioritize recovery for the families

- Clear channel and open vessel traffic to the port

- Take care of everyone affected by this crisis

- Rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge pic.twitter.com/46Zf8RDDJw  Governor Wes Moore (@GovWesMoore) March 29, 2024

Dundalk baker one of the last to drive over Francis Scott Key bridge

Saturday 30 March 2024 14:35 , Mike Bedigan

Larry Desantis, a baker from Dundalk, may have been one of the last people to ever drive across the Francis Scott Key bridge before its collapse.

Mr Desantis, who was on his normal commute across the bridge early on Tuesday morning, said he had not even realised the bridge had collapsed until after having driven over it. He told the Baltimore Banner that he didnt hear the boom of the bridge crashing down because he had the radio playing.

I didnt even know anything was going on, but it was just really eerie when I got off of the bridge and there was nothing [behind me], Mr Desantis told the Banner. Because with Amazon there, Ill see 20 Amazon trucks every morning. I dont care what day of the week it is. Nothing. There was absolutely nothing.

He added: I think about it, I might not be here now if I had been just a little bit later...Just a minute wouldve changed everything. Its scary, you know.

Mr Desantis said that later he had gotten a call from a detective to make sure he was safe, though he was not sure how his car registration was obtained.

They just wanted to know how many people they had to look for. Thats what he told me, he said.

Despite his brush with death, Mr Desantis has gone into work each day since the bridge collapse, at Hermans Bakery in Dundalk. Now, his commute on an alternative route takes close to an hour, whereas before it was 20 minutes, he told the Banner.

WATCH: NTSB releases new video on board Dali ship after Baltimore bridge collapse

Saturday 30 March 2024 14:00 , Kelly Rissman

Republican slams President Bidens pledge to use federal funds to rebuild bridge

Saturday 30 March 2024 13:30 , Kelly Rissman

Earlier this week, Mr Biden said that he would move heaven and earth to reopen the bridge as soon as humanly possible, adding that he intended to use federal resources to fund the entire cost of the project.

It was kind of outrageous immediately for Biden to express in this tragedy the idea that hes going to use federal funds to pay for the entirety [of the bridge], GOP Rep Dan Meuser told Fox News. First reaction, frankly the only reaction, tends to be to spend.

The Pennsylvania Republican proposed using funds from the government of Singapore, since the Dali was managed by Synergy Marine Group, a company based in the country. We just cant take the easy route all the time and just try to spend the taxpayers money, he said. Theres no thought. Just spend.

Baltimore Key Bridge worker reveals last-minute shift change saved his life

Saturday 30 March 2024 12:30 , Kelly Rissman

A construction worker from Baltimore has revealed how he narrowly escaped the deadly Baltimore bridge collapse thanks to a last-minute change in his work shift.

Moises Diaz, a 45-year-old worker at Brawny Builders, told the New York Post that he should have been working on the Francis Scott Key Bridge on Tuesday morning but asked to switch his shift.

If I didnt ask to switch, I would have been in the water right now, Mr Diaz said through a translator.

Its tragic, Mr Diaz continued. Im really appreciative that I wasnt on the bridge. I give thanks to God.

Mr Diazs colleagues werent so lucky.

Amelia Neath has the full story...

Baltimore Key Bridge worker reveals last-minute shift change saved his life

Clearing the debris could take a while, expert says

Saturday 30 March 2024 12:00 , Kelly Rissman

Officials announced that the search efforts have concluded and they have now moved into the clean-up process.

This is daunting. This is complicated, Maryland Gov Wes Moore said about the start of the process. He did not provide a timeline for how long it would take, but warned: Our timeline will be long...People should rest assured we are going to get this done.

The process could take a few weeks, James Bell, president of Chicago-based company ADCO Environmental Services, told the Washington Post.

The hazmat crew always goes in after the emergency responders, Mr Bell said.

You have to remove the hazards, so that when you bring your new workers in to start removing the bridge, theyre not in harms way.

Transport secretary responds to 'wild conspiracy theories' over Baltimore bridge collapse

Saturday 30 March 2024 09:05 , Stuti Mishra

Transport secretary Pete Buttigieg said the "misinformation or disinformation" spreading on social media following the deadly Baltimore bridge collapse has been "upsetting" for his department.

Speaking with Kaitlan Collins on CNN, the transport secretary said his department was not in the habit of dealing with rampant conspiracies or "that kind of wild thinking".

"But unfortunately, it is a fact of life in America today," he said.

"What's really upsetting of course is that when misinformation or disinformation circulates that is not without victims."

Speculations about how the bridge collapsed and what happened in the final hours have ranged from cyber attacks to the captain of the ship having side-effects from Covid vaccine, Ms Collins said.

Mr Buttigieg said what his department needs right now is "good and factual information".

"We as a department need good factual information about how this happened so that we can include that in future decisions on everything from maritime and shipping policy to bridge design for the 2030 2040," he told CNN.

"All of that requires being grounded in fact and that's what we're doing," he said, adding that he respects independent work.

Secretary Buttigieg on the rampant conspiracies after the Baltimore bridge collapse: Unfortunately, its a fact of life in America today...Whats really upsetting is when misinformation or disinformation circulates, that is not without victims. This is a human tragedy. pic.twitter.com/FDUrKEheJR  Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) March 29, 2024

Why did the Baltimore bridge collapse so quickly?

Saturday 30 March 2024 08:30 , Stuti Mishra

A huge shipping vessel that collided with a major bridge in Baltimore has left numerous people missing and could cause significant economic and social disruption, experts say.

Many questions remain about the collision, including why the ship hit with the bridge in the first place. But many of them are structural: how was the ship able to reach the bridge, why was it not protected against such collisions, and why the bridge collapsed so quickly once the collision had happened.

Experts say it may be too early to say exactly what happened during the collision and the collapse that resulted. But they caution that bridges of this kind are specifically built with protections against such crashes  and that it may have required a huge impact to make the bridge fall in this way.

Read the full story...

Why the Baltimore bridge collapsed so quickly

The whole bridge just collapsed!

Saturday 30 March 2024 08:00 , Kelly Rissman

Harrowing audio reveals authorities scrambled to stop vehicles crossing the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore moments before it collapsed.

Six construction workers who were on the bridge as it tumbled into the water are presumed dead, and a search for them has been suspended.

The incident happened after a cargo ship crashed into the structure in the early hours of Tuesday morning (26 March).

It had made a mayday call moments before the collision.

Weve got to stop all traffic, an official is heard saying in dramatic audio released by the Maryland Transportation Authority, as the incident unfolds.

Listen to it here...

Chilling audio reveals scramble to clear Baltimore bridge before ship crash

Photos: Cranes begin clearing up wreckage

Saturday 30 March 2024 07:30 , Stuti Mishra

A crane begins clean-up at the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge (AFP via Getty Images)

The Chesapeake 1000 crane, which will be used to help remove wreckage from the collapse of the Key Bridge, is docked at Tradepoint Atlantic in Sparrows Point (AP)

'Racist' cartoon targeting Indian crew on ship sparks outrage

Saturday 30 March 2024 06:30 , Stuti Mishra

A US-based webcomic has sparked outrage online after it shared a cartoon depicting Indian crew members onboard the cargo ship that smashed into Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge.

The animated video shows unkempt men dressed in short Dhotis, a loincloth worn in India traditionally, with an audio of people shouting at each other in a strong, stereotypical Indian accent.

"Last known recording from inside the Dali moments before impact," Foxford Comics wrote on X, formerly Twitter, in the caption.

The post has gone viral with 4.3 million views and 2.2k comments.

It has received sharp criticism for its "racist" depiction of the crew, which consisted mostly of Indians, and who have been praised for their quick response by president Joe Biden.

"This post is not just in poor taste; it's blatantly racist," wrote a user, Dr Gaitonde, in response.

"This isn't just about being politically incorrect; it's about promoting harmful stereotypes and disrespecting those who played a crucial role in averting a tragedy."

It's deeply disappointing and utterly unacceptable to witness Foxford Comics engaging in such distasteful and insensitive behavior. This post is not just in poor taste; it's blatantly racist. The crew, despite being under the guidance of a local US pilot, showed exemplary  Dr. Gaitonde (@PalashGoIndia) March 28, 2024

Indian economist Sanjeev Sanyal pointed out that the ship must have had a local pilot according to rules.

"At the time that the ship hit the bridge, it would have had a local pilot," he wrote.

"In any case, the crew had warned the authorities which is why the casualties were relatively few (for such a disaster)."

At the time that the ship hit the bridge, it would have had a local pilot. In any case, the crew had warned the authorities which is why the casualties were relatively few (for such a disaster). But, hey, why give up a chance to do racist cartoons 1/2 https://t.co/NTY7dCPvW6  Sanjeev Sanyal (@sanjeevsanyal) March 27, 2024

Another X user, Pooja Sangwan, wrote: "It's shameful that people are mocking Indian crew for the tragic incident. Meanwhile the governor himself praised the crew."

It's shameful that people are mocking Indian Crew for the tragic incident...



Meanwhile the governor himself praised the crew https://t.co/bgkdACmwyL  Pooja Sangwan ( Modi Ka Parivar ) (@ThePerilousGirl) March 27, 2024

Remembering the victims: Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera

Saturday 30 March 2024 06:10 , Kelly Rissman

Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, of Dundalk, Maryland, also a construction worker, was found trapped inside the submerged pickup truck alongside Fuentes, officials confirmed.

Pima Castillo, Cabreras sister-in-law told CNN that he had been working at Brawner Builders for at least three years and loved his job.

Cabrera, from Guatemala, was not married and did not have any children, his sister-in-law said.

The construction workers cousin, Marlon Castillo, also told CNN that Cabrera came to the US to follow his dream and help his mother.

Unfortunately, he was in a place where no one imagined what was going to happen, Marlon Castillo told the outlet.

Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera (via Facebook)

No sign of any hazardous release after bridge collapse, official says

Saturday 30 March 2024 05:50 , Stuti Mishra

There was no indication in the water of active releases from the ship of materials hazardous to human health, according to Adam Ortiz, the Environmental Protection Agencys mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator.

However, investigators are examining the possible role of dirty fuel in the cargo ship collision which destroyed Baltimores Francis Scott Key Bridge.

Read more about it here:

Did dirty fuel play a role in Baltimore bridge collapse?

Reopening Baltimore port crucial for nation's economy, says Maryland governor

Saturday 30 March 2024 05:30 , Stuti Mishra

Maryland governor Wes Moore surveyed the scene of the bridge collapse on Friday and said teams are working to reopen the port and recover bodies as soon as possible.

He said he saw shipping containers ripped apart like papier-mache.

The broken pieces of the bridge, including its steel trusses, weigh as much as 4,000 tons.

The wreckage has blocked ships from entering or leaving the vital port and also stymied the search for the missing workers.We have to bring a sense of closure to these families, Mr Moore said.

Speaking of the disasters severe economic impact, he said: What were talking about today is not just about Marylands economy; this is about the nations economy.

The port handles more cars and more farm equipment than any other port in this country.

Massive crane arrives at crash site for clean up

Saturday 30 March 2024 04:50 , Stuti Mishra

A massive crane has arrived to aid in hauling the shattered remains of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed on Tuesday after it was struck by a cargo ship.

Around seven floating cranes, one of which is described by officials as the largest on the Eastern Seaboard, 10 tugboats, nine barges, eight salvage vessels and five Coast Guard boats are at the site.

The massive crane is capable of lifting 1,000 tons.

Officials said the mammoth task of cleaning up the site to be able to reopen the Port of Baltimore is their top priority.

"To go out there and see it up close, you realise just how daunting a task this is," governor Wes Moore said on Friday afternoon as the crane loomed behind him.

WATCH: Baltimore to receive $60 million in federal funds to rebuild

Saturday 30 March 2024 04:00 , Kelly Rissman

The latest updates on the bridge collapse response

Saturday 30 March 2024 03:00 , Kelly Rissman

Maryland Gov Wes Moore laid out four directives:

1) Continue recovery efforts when it is safe.

The governor noted that because of current conditions, it is unsafe for divers to continue searching for the missing people, who have been presumed dead.

A team of divers is on standby, waiting for the first word that it is safe and it is clear to go in and examine whats beneath the wreckage and recover any of these individuals that perished in this unfortunate incident, Col Roland Butler of the Maryland State Police said.

2) Clear the channel and open the vessel traffic to the port.

Four massive cranes are coming in to help lift the wreckage. Two have arrived, one arrives tonight and the fourth is arriving on Monday, Mr Moore said.

One of the cranes is called the Chesapeake 1000 and it can lift about 1000 tonnes, but the challenge is that the Key Bridge, which sits on top of the vessel right now, weighs somewhere between 3000 and 4000 tonnes, so the bridge needs to be cut into sections, he explained.

We need to clear the channel and open the vessel traffic to the port. Because the health of the Maryland economy and the national economy depend on it, the governor added.

3) Taking care of those who have been affected by this crisis.

The governor urged legislators to pass a measure to support the families and the victims of the bridge collapse, and everyone else who has been affected by this emergency. Mr Moore also said he will push for legislation that seeks to protect workers like the six victims of the Key Bridge collapse.

He added that he will be proposing that a permanent state scholarship be created for the children of surviving spouses of workers who lost their lives in the disaster.

4) Rebuilding the bridge.

We cannot rebuild the bridge until we have cleared the wreckage, the governor clarified.

Echoing his previous warning, he said at the press conference that the operation will not take days, weeks, or months, and that there is a long road ahead.

WATCH: Maryland governor says freight that hit Baltimore bridge was nearly size of Eiffel Tower

Saturday 30 March 2024 02:00 , Kelly Rissman

Remembering the victims: Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes

Saturday 30 March 2024 01:00 , Kelly Rissman

Two bodies have been recovered from the Patapsco River after the deadly collapse of the bridge, officials announced on Wednesday.

Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, of Baltimore was one of the men discovered by divers who spotted a submerged red pickup truck in around 25 feet of water.

Fuentes, originally from Mexico, was a construction worker, found trapped inside the vehicle alongside Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera.

The tragic announcement was made at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, held by personnel from the US Coast Guard, the Maryland Department of Transportation and state Governor Wes Moore.

One of the victims was identified by a drivers license in his pocket, another by a fingerprint, Colonel Roland L Butler, superintendent of the Maryland Department of State Police said.

Pete Buttigieg calls conspiracy theories around the bridge collapse upsetting

Saturday 30 March 2024 00:00 , Kelly Rissman

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called it upsetting that in the face of tragedy  the collapse of Baltimores Francis Scott Key bridge  conspiracy theories have circulated to explain what caused the disaster that left six people to be presumed dead.

CNNs Kaitlan Collins pointed out there have been wild conspiracy theories about what caused the disaster, ranging from a cyberattack, the captain having side effects from a Covid-19 vaccine, and blaming the Obamas.

She asked Mr Buttigieg whether he thought he would have to combat these conspiracy theories in the midst of a crisis?

Were in the business of dealing with roads and bridges and sometimes ships and trains, he said. So we are not in the habit as a Department of Transportation, of being in the business of dealing with conspiracies, or conspiracy theories or that kind of wild thinking. But unfortunately, it is a fact of life in America today.

Whats really upsetting is when misinformation or disinformation circulates, that is not without victims.

Read the full story...

Pete Buttigieg slams conspiracy theories about Baltimore bridge collapse

What we know about the container vessel Dali

Friday 29 March 2024 23:00 , Kelly Rissman

All members of the crew were accounted for after the crash.

The Dalis 22-member crew and its two pilots were all safe, Synergy Marine Group said in a statement. One crew member sustained minor injuries and has since been treated and discharged from the hospital. The injured crew member returned to the vessel on 27 March, the company said.

Interviews conducted by the NTSB with the two pilots of the Dali container ship are scheduled for Thursday, 28 March.

Jennifer Homendy, NTSB chair, said that an interview with the ships captain had taken place on 27 March, along with the mate, chief engineer and one of the other engineers. She added that the container ship currently has power, but is stationary.

They are not sitting in the dark, but it cannot move, she said.

The boats length overall (LOA) is 299.92 metres and its width is 48.2 metres.

The Dali had just set sail and had only travelled just over four miles from the Seagirt Marine Terminal in the Port of Baltimore before it collided with the west side of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, according to VesselFinder.

It was about to embark on a 27-day journey to Colombo, Sri Lanka, which is roughly 10,220 miles, although it only managed to complete a fraction of its journey  about 30 minutes  before it crashed.

A view of the Dali cargo vessel, following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge (REUTERS)

While the vessel had a fairly good safety record, Mr Buttigieg noted, the Dali had reportedly been involved in another incident back in 2016, port authorities told CNN.

The same ship that struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge was also involved in an incident at the Port of Antwerp in Belgium, the outlet reported.

According to Vessel Finder, the Dali reportedly collided with the side of the stone wall quay as it was leaving the port, and consequently damaged the stern and transom of the vessel.

The incident was reportedly blamed on a mistake by the ships master and pilot onboard and there were no injuries.

Separately, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore said that the Dali had passed previous foreign port state inspections, according to a 27 March statement.

While the vessel passed two separate foreign port inspections in June and September 2023, the agency noted that during June, the ship suffered from a faulty monitor gauge for fuel pressure, which was rectified before the vessel departed the port.

In June 2023, a port in Chile reported an issue with the fuel heaters pressure gauges before it was fixed before departing, the Associated Press reported.

The Independent has asked the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore to clarify at which foreign ports the inspections took place.

WATCH: NTSB releases new video on board Dali ship after Baltimore bridge collapse

Friday 29 March 2024 22:00 , Kelly Rissman

The latest updates on the bridge collapse response

Friday 29 March 2024 21:40 , Kelly Rissman

Maryland Gov Wes Moore laid out four directives:

1) Continue recovery efforts when it is safe.

The governor noted that because of current conditions, it is unsafe for divers to continue searching for the missing people, who have been presumed dead.

A team of divers is on standby, waiting for the first word that it is safe and it is clear to go in and examine whats beneath the wreckage and recover any of these individuals that perished in this unfortunate incident, Col Roland Butler of the Maryland State Police said.

2) Clear the channel and open the vessel traffic to the port.

Four massive cranes are coming in to help lift the wreckage. Two have arrived, one arrives tonight and the fourth is arriving on Monday, Mr Moore said.

One of the cranes is called the Chesapeake 1000 and it can lift about 1000 tonnes, but the challenge is that the Key Bridge, which sits on top of the vessel right now, weighs somewhere between 3000 and 4000 tonnes, so the bridge needs to be cut into sections, he explained.

We need to clear the channel and open the vessel traffic to the port. Because the health of the Maryland economy and the national economy depend on it, the governor added.

3) Taking care of those who have been affected by this crisis.

The governor urged legislators to pass a measure to support the families and the victims of the bridge collapse, and everyone else who has been affected by this emergency. Mr Moore also said he will push for legislation that seeks to protect workers like the six victims of the Key Bridge collapse.

He added that he will be proposing that a permanent state scholarship be created for the children of surviving spouses of workers who lost their lives in the disaster.

4) Rebuilding the bridge.

We cannot rebuild the bridge until we have cleared the wreckage, the governor clarified.

Echoing his previous warning, he said at the press conference that the operation will not take days, weeks, or months, and that there is a long road ahead.

Remembering the victims: Miguel Luna

Friday 29 March 2024 21:20 , Kelly Rissman

Miguel Luna was the first of six victims who went missing when the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed on Tuesday to be named.

Luna is one of the men who is now presumed dead, his wife Maria del Carmen Castellon told NBC sister station Telemundo 44 in Spanish.

After the bridge collapsed Ms Castellon said family members like her were able to get into the restricted zone while they desperately waited to hear news of their loved ones.

They only tell us that we have to wait, that for now, they cant give us information, she said earlier in the day.

[We feel] devastated, devastated because our heart is broken because we dont know if theyve rescued them yet. Were just waiting to hear any news.

One relative of Lunas also told Sky News they were distraught as they waited to hear news, and that some family members were taken to a location in Baltimore by police, where they could be with families of the other missing people.

His loved ones reportedly said he is from El Salvador and has children.

Miguel Luna (Supplied)

Luna was also identified by the non-profit organisation Casa, which provides services around Baltimore and other areas to immigrant communities.

Miguel Luna, from El Salvador, left at 6:30 p.m. Monday evening for work and since, has not come home. He is a husband, a father of three, and has called Maryland his home for over 19 years, Casa wrote in a statement.

One of Lunas children, Marvin Luna, told The Washington Post that he knew his father was working on the Key Bridge overnight but did not know it collapsed until one of his friends called him up and said, The bridge is  gone.

Marvin then called his fathers phone, but there was no reply.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge

Friday 29 March 2024 21:00 , Kelly Rissman

Before the Francis Scott Key Bridge catastrophically plummeted into the Patapsco River, the structure had stood for 47 years in its completion as the final link in the I-695 (the Baltimore Beltway).

The bridge got its name from Francis Scott Key, the man who penned the US national anthem The Star-Spangled Banner, who also happens to be a distant cousin and the namesake of the writer F Scott Fitzgerald.

The Maryland native was thought to be close to where the bridge was eventually erected when he witnessed the bombardment of Fort McHenry in 1814, inspiring him to write the words to the anthem, the Maryland Transportation Authority wrote on its website.

It took five years to complete the bridge, between 1972 and 1977 and carried some 11.3 million vehicles a year before it fell into the river on Tuesday.

The four-lane steel bridge spanned 1.6 miles across the river and had 185 feet of vertical clearance.

The bridge leads up to the Port of Baltimore, which is the USs busiest port for car shipments, according to data from the Maryland Port Administration, Reuters reports, as well as being the largest US port by volume for handling heavy farm and construction machinery.

NTSB Chair Homendy said that the bridge was fracture critical but had been in satisfactory condition prior to the crash.

The last inspection of the bridge occurred in May 2023. The structure receives over 30,700 vehicles crossing it each day, Ms Homendy said.

The bridge is fracture critical. What that means is if a member fails, that would likely cause a portion of or the entire bridge to collapse, Ms Homendy told a press conference on 27 March.

The preferred method for building bridges today is that there is redundancy built in whether thats transmitting loads to another member or some sort of structural redundancy. This bridge did not have redundancy.

There are 17,468 fracture critical bridges in the United States out of around 615,000 bridges total, according to the Federal Highway Administration (FHA).

This bridge was in satisfactory condition, Ms Homendy added. The last fractional fracture critical inspection was in May 2023. We have not been able to go through that inspection and all the documents that but that will occur after we leave the on-scene portion [of the investigation].

Earlier on Wednesday US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said that while the bridge took five years to build, that does not necessarily mean it will take five years to replace.

Biden approves $60m emergency aid

Friday 29 March 2024 20:40 , Kelly Rissman

An emergency relief fund approved by the federal government will cover the lions share of costs to rebuild the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore, officials have said, after an initial $60m was released to state authorities.

The quick release funds were applied for and approved on Thursday, and will also go towards current recovery efforts, though state Governor Wes Moore warned of a very long road to recovery.

On Wednesday, it was announced that two bodies had been recovered from the Patapsco River after the collapse of the bridge on Monday.

State officials announced they have suspended recovery operations, citing safety concerns for divers and an inability to reach vehicles still trapped within the submerged remains of the structure. The mission is now a salvage one, officials said.

Mike Bedigan has the full story...

Biden approves $60m emergency aid for Baltimore bridge collapse

The force of the Dali striking the bridge is comparable to a rocket launch: Report

Friday 29 March 2024 20:20 , Kelly Rissman

The force at which the Dali collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge on Tuesday was comparable to a rocket launch, a New York Times analysis found.

Taking a low estimate of the amount of force it would take to slow the fully-loaded vessel, the publication put it at around 12 million newtons. That is roughly one-third of the force it took to launch the rocket used for the Apollo moon missions, the outlet wrote.

Higher estimates put the force of impact at around 100 million newtons.

Its at a scale of more energy than you can really get your mind around, said Ben Schafer, a Johns Hopkins professor of civil and systems engineering.

WATCH: Maryland governor says freight that hit Baltimore bridge was nearly size of Eiffel Tower

Friday 29 March 2024 20:00 , Kelly Rissman

The latest updates on the bridge collapse response

Friday 29 March 2024 19:36 , Kelly Rissman

Maryland Gov Wes Moore laid out four directives:

1) Continue recovery efforts when it is safe.

The governor noted that because of current conditions, it is unsafe for divers to continue searching for the missing people, who have been presumed dead.

A team of divers is on standby, waiting for the first word that it is safe and it is clear to go in and examine what's beneath the wreckage and recover any of these individuals that perished in this unfortunate incident, Col Roland Butler of the Maryland State Police said.

2) Clear the channel and open the vessel traffic to the port.

Four massive cranes are coming in to help lift the wreckage. Two have arrived, one arrives tonight and the fourth is arriving on Monday, Mr Moore said.

One of the cranes is called the Chesapeake 1000 and it can lift about 1000 tonnes, but the challenge is that the Key Bridge, which sits on top of the vessel right now, weighs somewhere between 3000 and 4000 tonnes, so the bridge needs to be cut into sections, he explained.

We need to clear the channel and open the vessel traffic to the port. Because the health of the Maryland economy and the national economy depend on it, the governor added.

3) Taking care of those who have been affected by this crisis.

The governor urged legislators to pass a measure to support the families and the victims of the bridge collapse, and everyone else who has been affected by this emergency. Mr Moore also said he will push for legislation that seeks to protect workers like the six victims of the Key Bridge collapse.

He added that he will be proposing that a permanent state scholarship be created for the children of surviving spouses of workers who lost their lives in the disaster.

4) Rebuilding the bridge.

We cannot rebuild the bridge until we have cleared the wreckage, the governor clarified.

Echoing his previous warning, he said at the press conference that the operation will not take days, weeks, or months, and that there is a long road ahead.

Black box reveals final moments before the collision

Friday 29 March 2024 19:20 , Kelly Rissman

Questions are now being asked about what exactly caused the fatal crash.

Now, some of those questions are being answered as the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has retrieved the vessels voyage data recorder, or black box.

Data from the device has shed some light on the dark moments just before the ship slammed into the bridge.

At 12.39am, the Dali container ship departed from Baltimoress Seagirt Marine Terminal.

Thirty minutes later, at 1.07am, the vessel entered Fort McHenry Channel.

Numerous alarms were recorded on the ships bridge audio at 1.24am. Around the same time, the voyage data recorder (VDR) stopped recording the vessels system data, but was able to continue taping audio from an alternative power source.

Two minutes later at 1.26am, the VDR resumed recording the Dalis system data and captured steering commands and orders about its rudder.

That same minute, the pilot issued a very high frequency radio call to nearby tugboats requesting assistance for the stricken vessel. Data from the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) showed that the pilot association dispatcher called the MDTA duty officer about a blackout.

At 1.27am, the pilot ordered the Dali to drop the port anchor, along with other steering commands. The pilot also issued another high frequency radio call, reporting that the ship had lost all power and was approaching the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

Read the full story...

Baltimore Bridge collapse timeline: Ships black box reveals tragic last moments

WATCH: Baltimore to receive $60 million in federal funds to rebuild

Friday 29 March 2024 19:00 , Kelly Rissman

Remembering the victims: Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval

Friday 29 March 2024 18:40 , Kelly Rissman

Another of the workers missing and presumed dead since the bridge collapse in Baltimore has been named as Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval, according to Martin Suazo, his brother.

Martin, who lives in Honduras, told CNN that his family over in Baltimore called him to tell him that his brother was missing after the container ship crashed into the bridge.

He is originally from Azacualpa in Honduras and had been living in the United States for more than 18 years. He was married and had an 18-year-old son and a five-year-old daughter.

His brother told the outlet that Sandoval was an entrepreneur who had started his own maintenance company, venturing to the US in search of a better life, Martin told the outlet.

Martin said his family were holding onto hope that his brother could be found alive but now hope at least his body will be recovered so they can give him a proper funeral.

The Honduras Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Antonio Garcia also confirmed to The Associated Press that Sandoval was missing and that they had been in contact with Suazos family.

Maynor Suazo Sandoval (Supplied)

In an interview with Honduran newspaper La Prensa, Sandovals brother Martin Suazo said in Spanish, What were living is inexplicable. We wish it wasnt real. Were dismayed, especially the agony of not knowing when theyre going to find the body.

One of eight siblings, the construction worker was described by another one of his brothers, Carlos Suazo Sandoval, as a joyful person who had a vision.

We still have faith until this moment, God grant the miracle, it would be beautiful, Carlos told CNN en Espanol on Wednesday. We still have hope, I know that time is our worst enemy.

The Suazo family are now focusing on having Sandovals body found, and if they do, they plan to repatriate the body to Honduras, Carlos said.

The Honduran Embassy told Martin Suazo that it would work with him to bring his brothers body back to the country for funeral arrangements.

WATCH: NTSB releases new video on board Dali ship after Baltimore bridge collapse

Friday 29 March 2024 18:20 , Kelly Rissman

Debris recovery efforts are underway

Friday 29 March 2024 18:00 , Kelly Rissman

The recovery mission have concluded, officials said, shifting their focus now onto cleaning up the debris.

At Thursdays conference, Gov Moore promised that the best minds in the world were working on plans to clear the debris, move the cargo ship that rammed into the bridge from the channel, recover the bodies of the four remaining workers presumed dead and investigate what went wrong.

He told reporters: I want to end by assuring the people of Maryland that this work is moving together at a full clip, and this work is moving forward together.

The governor did not estimate how long the process will take, but warned, it will be a very long road to recovery.

Construction worker miraculously survives Baltimore bridge collapse without knowing how to swim

Friday 29 March 2024 17:40 , Kelly Rissman

A construction worker who was part of the team on the Francis Scott Key Bridge when it collapsed early on Tuesday morning in Baltimore, miraculously survived the incident despite not knowing how to swim.

Julio Cervantes and seven other workers from Mexico and Central America were taking a break inside their cars just moments before the bridge collapsed around 1:30am.

Mr Cervantes and another man were rescued the same day. The remains of Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, were recovered by searchers.

He was taken to the hospital with a chest wound and was released the same day

My husband doesnt know how to swim. It is a miracle he survived, the wife of Cervantes, who did not wish to reveal her name, told NBC.

Implications for global trade

Friday 29 March 2024 17:20 , Kelly Rissman

In a speech on Tuesday afternoon, President Joe Biden vowed to use federal funds to rebuild the bridge and promised to move heaven and earth to reopen the bridge as soon as humanly possible, emphasising the critical role that the bridge and the port play for daily travel, trade and the economy.

Mr Buttigieg reiterated this sentiment at a press conference on Wednesday, saying Mr Biden has urged the federal government to tear down any barriers, bureaucratic as well as financial that could affect the timeline of this project.

Mr Biden said that more than 30,000 vehicles cross every day. He called it one of the most important elements of the economy and quality of life in the Northeast corridor. Not to mention that 850,000 vehicles go through the port every year.

The port is shut down indefinitely after the bridges catastrophic collapse.

Experts have warned that there could be long-term impacts on global trade and insurance premiums as a result of the bridges collapse.

Andrew Tettenborn, Professor of Commercial Law at Swansea University, said there could be a short-term impact on global trade in the coal industry, but added that the US are good at diverting coal exports. A lot of the trade will be picked up elsewhere, he said.

When asked about the indefinite blocking of the port, he said: Even if it is blocked for a time, I wouldnt think it would have an enormous effect.

But the port and its affiliated workers are already feeling the effects.

Roughly a dozen cargo ships were believed to be stuck inside the port and another 30 small cargo ships, tug boats and pleasure craft were also in the port, while about 40 heading for Baltimore were forced to divert

The president added that 15,000 jobs depend on that port, on top of the 140,000 jobs linked to port activities, Marylands governor noted last month.

A day after the incident, Mr Buttigieg said a main area of concern was the livelihoods of port workers, estimating that thousands of jobs could be affected by the incident.

Gov Moore also noted that last year the port handled a record 52.3 million tons of foreign cargo  worth more than $80bn in value. It ranked ninth in the nations ports in foreign cargo handled, and first for volume of autos and light trucks, the statement said.

The Port of Baltimore ranked as the 17th top US port in 2023, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

Will this change how bridges are built and maintained?

Friday 29 March 2024 17:00 , Kelly Rissman

A multitude of agencies were investigating on Tuesday, with Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttiegieg, Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt and the NTSB on site offering federal support and assistance, the FHWA told The Independent in a statement.

Azizinamini, for his part, theorizes that the NTSB report may prompt the issue of some policy changes that maybe re-evaluate the protection structure that you have around the piers, make sure thats up to date, and if you dont have it, go ahead and build it.

Many of these bridges have been built many years ago, before the current standards were in place  so they may expedite that process, he says.

WATCH: Buttigieg calls all of the conspiracy theories around the bridge's collapse 'upsetting'

Friday 29 March 2024 16:40 , Kelly Rissman

Why did the bridge collapse?

Friday 29 March 2024 16:20 , Kelly Rissman

It was a time and place: Everything that could have went wrong did go wrong, and the place, unfortunately, was right by the bridge, Kevin Calnan, a marine transportation professor at Cal Maritime, tells The Independent. As far as engine failures and situations like this, it is rare. And then its exceptionally more rare for this to be in a port area.

Despite the rarity of such an event, however, contributing factors may have been at play from both the bridge engineering and shipping sides, according to experts. Construction began on Key Bridge in 1972 and continued after its 1977 opening, but the size of particularly container ships has changed drastically in the intervening decades.

Calling the incident a true tragedy, Jerome Hajjar  professor of civil and environmental engineering at Northeastern University  said the collapse could have resulted from a mismatch between the size of the load on the Dali and the expected loads at the time of the bridge design.

The bridge supports would most likely have been designed to be able to withstand some amount of sideways or lateral load like this, he told Northeastern Global News.

And therefore I would also assume that this load was significantly higher than typical design loads.

Older bridges like this one, then, may not have sufficient pier protection cells to act as buffers, essentially stopping any colliding forces from directly making impact with support structures, which are not built to withstand such tonnage, experts say.

Regardless of what type of bridge you have, if a cargo ship hits one of the supports, and if the bridge is a multi-span, if one of the supports are gone, that bridge is going to collapse, Atorod Azizinamini, professor of civil engineering at Florida International University, tells The Independent.

Sheila Flynn has the full story...

Baltimore Key bridge collapse: Experts break down possible cause of deadly crash

ICYMI: The timeline of the events before the crash

Friday 29 March 2024 16:00 , Kelly Rissman

Federal investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have unveiled a more precise timeline of exactly what happened in the runup to the cargo ships brutal collision with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Heres the NTSBs revised timeline of the disaster, given in hours, minutes and seconds after experts first full day examining the scene on Wednesday:

12.39am: Dali container ship departs from Seagirt Marine Terminal.

1.07am: It enters Fort McHenry Channel.

1.24.59am: Numerous audible alarms recorded on ships bridge audio. Voyage data recorder (VDR) stops recording the vessels system data, although it is able to continue taping audio from alternative power source.

1.26.02am: VDR resumes recording ships system data after glitch. Steering commands and orders regarding its rudder captured on audio.

1.26.39am: Pilot issues very high frequency (VHF) radio call to nearby tugboats requesting assistance for the stricken vessel. Pilot association dispatcher also notifies Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) duty officer regarding blackout, according to data from latter organisation.

1.27.04am: Pilot orders ships port anchor to be dropped and issues additional steering commands.

1.27.25am: Pilot issues radio call over VHF radio, reports that vessel has lost all power and is approaching bridge. Transit authority duty officer radios two of its units  one on each side of bridge  that are already on scene and orders them to close traffic. All lanes shut down.

1.29am: Ships speed recorded at just under 8 miles per hour. VDR records 33 seconds of sound consistent with vessels smash with bridge. MDTA dash cameras meanwhile capture bridge lights going out.

01.29.39am: Pilot radios US Coast Guard to report bridge is down.

In photos: the scene of the incident

Friday 29 March 2024 15:40 , Kelly Rissman

(Getty Images)

(Getty Images)

Republican slams President Bidens pledge to use federal funds to rebuild bridge

Friday 29 March 2024 15:20 , Kelly Rissman

Earlier this week, Mr Biden said that he would move heaven and earth to reopen the bridge as soon as humanly possible, adding that he intended to use federal resources to fund the entire cost of the project.

It was kind of outrageous immediately for Biden to express in this tragedy the idea that hes going to use federal funds to pay for the entirety [of the bridge], GOP Rep Dan Meuser told Fox News. First reaction, frankly the only reaction, tends to be to spend.

The Pennsylvania Republican proposed using funds from the government of Singapore, since the Dali was managed by Synergy Marine Group, a company based in the country. We just cant take the easy route all the time and just try to spend the taxpayers money, he said. Theres no thought. Just spend.

Pete Buttigieg calls it upsetting that conspiracy theories have cropped up around the bridge collapse

Friday 29 March 2024 15:00 , Kelly Rissman

CNNs Kaitlan Collins pointed out there have been wild conspiracy theories about what caused the disaster, ranging from a cyberattack, the captain having side effects from a Covid-19 vaccine, and blaming the Obamas.

She asked Mr Buttigieg whether he thought he would have to combat these conspiracy theories in the midst of a crisis?

Were in the business of dealing with roads and bridges and sometimes ships and trains, he said. So we are not in the habit as a Department of Transportation, of being in the business of dealing with conspiracies, or conspiracy theories or that kind of wild thinking. But unfortunately, it is a fact of life in America today.

Whats really upsetting is when misinformation or disinformation circulates, that is not without victims.

This is a human tragedy, Mr Buttigieg said, adding that six men lost their lives.

Read the full story...

Pete Buttigieg slams conspiracy theories about Baltimore bridge collapse

Hard-working, humble men: Who are the victims of the bridge collapse?

Friday 29 March 2024 14:40 , Kelly Rissman

Members of a construction crew, employed by contractor Brawner Builders, were refilling potholes when the incident occurred, officials said.

Brawner Builders employee Jesus Campos told The Baltimore Banner that all of the victims were all hard-working, humble men.

Those presumed deceased are from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, authorities said.

Four have been identified so far: Miguel Luna, Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval, Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, and Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes.

Read the full story...

What we know about the victims In Baltimores Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse

WATCH: NTSB releases new video on board Dali ship after Baltimore bridge collapse

Friday 29 March 2024 14:20 , Kelly Rissman

Clearing the debris could take a while, expert says

Friday 29 March 2024 14:00 , Kelly Rissman

Officials announced that the search efforts have concluded and they have now moved into the clean-up process.

This is daunting. This is complicated, Maryland Gov Wes Moore said about the start of the process. He did not provide a timeline for how long it would take, but warned: Our timeline will be long...People should rest assured we are going to get this done.

The process could take a few weeks, James Bell, president of Chicago-based company ADCO Environmental Services, told the Washington Post.

The hazmat crew always goes in after the emergency responders, Mr Bell said.

You have to remove the hazards, so that when you bring your new workers in to start removing the bridge, theyre not in harms way.

Central American and Mexican families mourn missing workers

Friday 29 March 2024 13:40 , Kelly Rissman

The construction workers who went missing in the Baltimore bridge collapse all hailed from Mexico or Central America before they settled in the Maryland area.

Police managed to close bridge traffic seconds before a cargo ship slammed into one of the Francis Scott Key Bridges supports early Tuesday, causing the span to fall into the frigid Patapsco River. There wasnt time for a maintenance crew filling potholes on the span to get to safety.

The governments of Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras confirmed that their citizens were among the missing.

Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval, 39, was the youngest of eight siblings from Azacualpa, a rural mountainous area in northwestern Honduras along the border with Guatemala.

Central American and Mexican families mourn the Baltimore bridge collapse missing workers

Fundraisers garner $200k for families of victims

Friday 29 March 2024 13:20 , Kelly Rissman

One GoFundMe page raised over $98,000 in just nine hours.

The fundraiser, organised by the volunteer group Latino Racial Justice Circle, explained that the cash would be distributed directly to the families of the victims of the bridge collapse.

Eight construction workers, employed by Brawners Builders, were filling potholes in the early hours of 26 March, when the Dali container ship lost power and rammed into the bridge, causing them to fall into the Patapsco River.

While early search efforts led to the safe rescue of two men, six others were killed in the accident.

All of the missing men from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, Col Roland Butler Jr of Maryland State Police said at a press conference.

The organisers of the fundraiser wrote, We know that the 6 victims were all Latino immigrants, some of whom were supporting partners and children in the Southeast Baltimore and Dundalk communities.

As they move forward with their shock and grief, the families will need support with basic needs, such as rent, groceries, and utilities, they wrote.

Read the full story...

GoFundMe tops $98k for families of Baltimore bridge collapse victims

Largest crane on the US Eastern Seaboard being transported to Baltimore for clearup mission

Friday 29 March 2024 13:00 , Martha Mchardy

The largest crane on the US Eastern Seaboard is being transported to Baltimore so crews can begin removing the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore said the large crane, which was to arrive by barge and can lift up to 1,000 tons, will be one of at least two used to clear the channel of the twisted metal and concrete remains of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, and the cargo ship that hit it this week.

The best minds in the world are working on the plans for removal, Mr Moore said. The US Army Corps of Engineers for the Baltimore District told the governor that it and the Navy were mobilising major resources from around the country at record speed to clear the channel.

This is not just about Maryland, Mr Moore said. This is about the nations economy. The port handles more cars and more farm equipment than any other port in America.

Watch: Baltimore Key Bridge not made to withstand direct impact, says US transport secretary

Friday 29 March 2024 12:38 , Martha Mchardy

Watch: View inside ship that crashed into Baltimores Key Bridge

Friday 29 March 2024 12:20 , Martha Mchardy

Video shows inside the ship that crashed into a Baltimore bridge, prompting its collapse on Tuesday, 26 March.

New footage released by the National Transportation Safety Board shows investigators surveying damage to the Dali vessel after the incident.

Remains of the Francis Scott Key Bridge can be seen in the water below.

All of the crew survived the crash with one person reporting minor injuries.

Eight construction workers were filling potholes on the bridge when the crash happened.

Two were rescued soon after the collapse.

Bodies of two others have been recovered by divers.

Watch: View inside ship that crashed into Baltimores Key Bridge

In photos: Remains of Baltimore's mangled Key Bridge still hang over cargo ship

Friday 29 March 2024 12:00 , Michelle Del Rey

The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, a major highway artery for Baltimore and the wider region, has forced the indefinite closure of the citys port, one of the busiest on the US Eastern Seaboard.

It is now almost exactly two days since the Dali container ship brought down the bridge, and the US Coast Guard says its priorities at this stage are to restore the waterway for shipping, stabilise the vessel and extricate it from the wreckage.

Speaking at a White House news briefing, Vice Admiral Peter Gautier said the remnants of the bridge needed to be cleared from the vessel before it can be moved.

The Dali, a Singaporean-flagged cargo vessel that spans the size of almost three football fields, remains stuck under debris from the Francis Scott Key Bridge (AFP via Getty Images)

Workers continue to investigate and search for victims after the cargo ship Dali collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge (Getty Images)

Mangled remains of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge lie on top of the container ship Dali in Baltimore (AFP via Getty Images)

Close view of the Francis Scott Key Bridge over Patapsco river shows dismantled bridge and highway that fell into the waters after a cargo ship collision (Getty Images)

A sign signals motorist of the closure of I-695 following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after the cargo ship Dali crashed into it (Getty Images)

Cleaning up hazardous materials onboard the Dali could take weeks

Friday 29 March 2024 11:36 , Martha Mchardy

Cleaning up hazardous materials onboard the Dali container ship could take weeks, the president of ADCO Environmental Services has warned.

A cleanup operation is now underway to clear the debris from the Francis Scott Key bridge crash, officials announced on Thursday.

The first step will be dealing with the hazardous materials onboard the Dali ship.

Fifty-six containers of hazardous materials, including corrosive and flammable liquids and lithium-ion batteries, were discovered on board the Dali following Tuesdays crash, according to NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy.

Ms Homendy said some of the containers were breached, causing contents to spill into the harbor. One of the hazardous materials was sheen, which is used in paint, that has leaked into the Patapsco River, she added.

Authorities have now begun the process of clearing up the debris, but James Bell, president of ADCO Environmental Services  a Chicago-based company that does hazardous material cleanups  told the Washington Post that the process could take a few weeks.

A cargo ship is stuck under the part of the structure of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after the ship hit the bridge (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Wife of Baltimore bridge collapse survivor says workers were on break in their cars when bridge came down

Friday 29 March 2024 11:20 , Martha Mchardy

The wife of one of the survivors of the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore has revealed the construction workers were on break in their cars when the bridge came down.

All of the men were on a break in their cars when the boat hit. We dont know if they were warned before the impact, the wife of Julio Cervantes told NBC News on Thursday.

Mr Cervantes was one of eight construction workers on the bridge when the Dali cargo ship crashed into a pillar of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the early hours of Tuesday morning, causing the whole thing to collapse.

He and another man were rescued alive that day, while two other bodies of construction crew members were recovered from the water on Wednesday. The remaining four have not been found but are presumed dead.

Mr Cervantes wife said it is a miracle her husband survived the crash because he does not know how to swim.

Cervantes was taken to the hospital with a chest wound and was released the same day, his wife said. The other worker rescued on Tuesday was in good condition and refused treatment, authorities previously said.

The remains of Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, were recovered by searchers in the Port of Baltimore on Wednesday morning. They were found in a red pickup truck trapped under 25 feet of water near what was once the middle of the bridge.

Mr Cervantes wife said her brother in law was one of the two men recovered on Wednesday, though she did not share his name. She added that her nephew is still missing.

We havent been able to sleep, waiting for word if theyre going to find a relative, she said.

Police block off the approach of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridg (Getty Images)

Last minute efforts before ship crashed into Baltimore bridge revealed

Friday 29 March 2024 11:00 , Michelle Del Rey

As the cargo ship Dali drifted out of control and towards Key Bridge in Baltimore on Tuesday morning, emergency radio chatter captured from open-source recordings show details of last-minute efforts to save lives.

Hold all traffic on the Key Bridge. Theres a ship approaching that just lost their steering, someone is heard saying over a police radio.

While voices were heard discussing next steps, including alerting any work crews to leave the bridge, one broke through to say: The whole bridge just fell down! The audio was carried by the public streaming service Broadcastify.

Of the ships 4,700 cargo containers, two containers went overboard during the crash but they did not contain hazardous materials, US Vice Admiral Peter Gautier said at a White House briefing.

The ship was carrying more than 1.5 million gallons of fuel oil, he added.

Chilling audio reveals scramble to clear Baltimore bridge before ship crash

Massive cleanup operation underway to clear bridge debris from channel

Friday 29 March 2024 10:58 , Martha Mchardy

A massive cleanup operation is underway to clear the debris of the Francis Scott Key bridge from the channel below after it collapsed on Tuesday, governor Wes Moore has said.

Huge crane ships and thousands of relief workers are headed for Baltimore, the governor said, as officials race to get one of the nations largest shipping hubs back on track.

Mr Moore said that the wreckage needs to be cleared to help advance recovery efforts, after diving operations were suspended on Wednesday night due to security concerns, as well as to reopen the channel and ultimately rebuild the bridge.

Federal officials have not described in detail how they plan to carry out the clean up mission, but Peter Ford, founder of SkyRock Advisors which provides consulting on infrastructure projects, told the Washington Post that officials would begin by using sonar and other tools to map out where debris lies on the floor of the Patapsco River, which is about 50 feet deep.

It comes as President Biden announced he had approved $60m in initial aid to rebuild the bridge, which is now on ots way to Baltimore.

Secretary Buttigieg calls out Baltimore bridge conspiracies

Friday 29 March 2024 10:40 , Martha Mchardy

Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg has called out wild conspiracy theories over the collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore.

Since the bridge collapsed on Tuesday, wild conspiracy theories have circulated online about the cause of the crash, which has not yet been established.

Mr Buttigieg called out those who have pushed misinformation in an interview with CNN on Thursday.

Unfortunately, its a fact of life in America today, he said.

Whats really upsetting is when misinformation or disinformation circulates, that is not without victims. This is a human tragedy.

Secretary Buttigieg on the rampant conspiracies after the Baltimore bridge collapse: Unfortunately, its a fact of life in America today...Whats really upsetting is when misinformation or disinformation circulates, that is not without victims. This is a human tragedy. pic.twitter.com/FDUrKEheJR  Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) March 29, 2024

Baltimore: Two bodies recovered following Key Bridge collapse

Friday 29 March 2024 10:20 , Martha Mchardy

Biden approves $60m in initial aid as governor warns Baltimore has very long road ahead'

Friday 29 March 2024 10:00 , Martha Mchardy

President Biden has approved $60m in initial aid to rebuild the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore after it collapsed on Tuesday.

The president said the federal government will over the lions share of the cost of rebuilding the bridge, though state Governor Wes Moore warned of a very long road to recovery.

State officials have warned that they do not know when the bridge or port will be reopened, sparking fears about the disruption to trade likely to result from the tragedy.

In a press conference on Thursday, Maryland Governor Wes Moore announced the approval of the funds, telling reporters: This morning, we submitted an initial $60 million request to the Biden Harris administration for initial mobilisation, operations and debris recovery efforts.

I can report that as of this afternoon, the Biden Harris Administration has approved that request.

A statement from the US Department of Transportation said the $60m quick release funds would serve as a down payment toward initial costs, and additional Emergency Relief program funding will be made available as work continues.

Insurance service company AM Best has estimated that the exact total cost of the bridge collapse and the associated claims would run into the billions.

Watch: NTSB new video shows investigators surveying damage to Dali ship after Baltimore bridge collapse

Friday 29 March 2024 09:40 , Martha Mchardy

The NTSB has released a new video showing investigators surveying the damage to the Dali container ship after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.

The remains of the bridge are seen floating in the river below in the video, while officials survey the damage to the interior of the ship.

All 22 crew members survived the crash, with only one person reporting minor injuries.

Four bodies remain unaccounted for

Friday 29 March 2024 09:19 , Martha Mchardy

Four bodies are still missing after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed on Tuesday morning.

Divers found the two victims trapped in a red pickup truck a little before 10 am on Wednesday in about 25 feet of water around the bridges middle span.

They were identified as construction workers Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, of Baltimore and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, of Dundalk, Maryland.

Meanwhile, four other missing construction workers remain unaccounted for.

On Tuesday, officials said two people had been rescued alive from the water. One was uninjured while the other was in a serious condition.

Construction worker 'miraculously' survives Baltimore bridge collapse without knowing how to swim

Friday 29 March 2024 09:00 , Stuti Mishra

A construction worker who was part of the team on the Francis Scott Key Bridge when it collapsed early on Tuesday morning in Baltimore, miraculously survived the incident despite not knowing how to swim.

Julio Cervantes' and seven other workers from Mexico and Central America were taking a break inside their cars just moments before the bridge collapsed around 1:30am.

Mr Cervantes and another man were rescued the same day. The remains of Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, were recovered by searchers.

He was taken to the hospital with a chest wound and was released the same day

My husband doesnt know how to swim. It is a miracle he survived, the wife of Cervantes, who did not wish to reveal her name, told NBC.

Coast Guard and Army Corps of Engineers will cleanup channel and reopen port

Friday 29 March 2024 09:00 , Michelle Del Rey

Two two agencies will work of making the port fully operational again, officials said during a White House press briefing that Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Vice Admiral Peter Gautier attended.

(AP)

Watch: Baltimore to receive $60 million in federal funds to rebuild

Friday 29 March 2024 08:30 , Stuti Mishra

Engineering experts explain tragic structural failure in Baltimore bridge collapse

Friday 29 March 2024 08:00 , Michelle Del Rey

A huge shipping vessel that collided with a major bridge in Baltimore has left numerous people missing and could cause significant economic and social disruption, experts say.

Many questions remain about the collision, including why the ship hit with the bridge in the first place. But many of them are structural: how was the ship able to reach the bridge, why was it not protected against such collisions, and why the bridge collapsed so quickly once the collision had happened.

Experts say it may be too early to say exactly what happened during the collision and the collapse that resulted. But they caution that bridges of this kind are specifically built with protections against such crashes  and that it may have required a huge impact to make the bridge fall in this way.

Andrew Griffin reports:

Why the Baltimore bridge collapsed so quickly

Watch: Structural engineer on how long it will take to rebuild Baltimore Key Bridge after collapse

Friday 29 March 2024 07:00 , Michelle Del Rey

Construction worker miraculously escaped Baltimore bridge collapse after last-minute shift change: I give thanks to God

Friday 29 March 2024 06:00 , Michelle Del Rey

The New York Post offers the incredible story of Moises Diaz, 45, a colleague of some of the deceased from Brawner Builders who only escaped Tuesdays tragedy as a result of a last-minute shift change.

Diaz told the Post he is grieving for the men he viewed as family and counting his blessings.

If I didnt ask to switch, I would have been in the water right now, he said.

Its tragic. Im really appreciative that I wasnt on the bridge. I give thanks to God.

He described his fallen colleagues as good workers, hard-working... They were good family members, husbands and dads and said: When I found out about it, I got a notification. I remembered, Oh my co-workers are on that bridge working. What happened to them?

Construction worker escaped Baltimore Key Bridge collapse after shift change: I give thanks to God https://t.co/cInYGxivBh pic.twitter.com/CDoMifAd0w  New York Post (@nypost) March 28, 2024

Hard-working, humble men with spouses and children: What we know about Baltimore bridge collapse victims

Friday 29 March 2024 05:00 , Michelle Del Rey

Heres more on the victims of this weeks tragedy from Kelly Rissman and Amelia Neath.

What we know about the victims In Baltimores Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse

I would have been in the water

Friday 29 March 2024 04:00 , Michelle Del Rey

Amelia Neath has more on the astonishing story of Moises Diaz, who, but for a simple twist of fate, might have been killed in the Francis Scott Key Bridge disaster.

Baltimore Key Bridge worker reveals last-minute shift change saved his life

Construction workers identified as victims of Baltimore bridge disaster

Friday 29 March 2024 03:00 , Michelle Del Rey

Three of the six victims of Tuesdays tragedy, all construction workers repairing the bridge at the time it fell, have been identified as Miguel Luna, Dorlian Castillo Cabrera and Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval.

Luna was a husband and father of three originally from El Salvador, Cabrera a Guatemalan immigrant working to support his family and Sandoval a married father of two from Honduras who worked multiple jobs and had founded his own maintenance business, according to CNN.

Miguel Luna, Dorlian Castillo Cabrera and Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval (via Facebook)

Baltimore sets up donation page for familys of the victims

Friday 29 March 2024 02:00 , Michelle Del Rey

The City of Baltimore has set up a way for people to donate to the families of the six men that died in the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse.

Anyone wishing to donate can do so here. Previously, a GoFundMe had been set up to raise funds for those impacted. The page raised nearly $100,000 before it was closed to new donations.

Many of you have reached out seeking ways to support the families whose lives are forever changed by the Baltimore bridge collapse tragedy. We are grateful for you  Please donate to support Miguel, Maynor, all of the victims, and those they leave behind. https://t.co/ripm3MkEXV pic.twitter.com/uFs2q6kBIm  CASA (@CASAforall) March 28, 2024

Biden approves $60m emergency aid for Baltimore bridge collapse on very long road to recovery

Friday 29 March 2024 01:30 , Mike Bedigan

An emergency relief fund approved by the federal government will cover the lions share of costs to rebuild the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore, officials have said, after an initial $60m was released to state authorities.

The quick release funds were applied for and approved on Thursday, according to Maryland state Governor Wes Moore.

Read the full story here:

Biden approves $60m emergency aid for Baltimore bridge collapse

In pictures: NTSB inspectors on board stricken Dali cargo ship

Friday 29 March 2024 01:00 , Michelle Del Rey

Here are some freshly released images of the National Transportation Safety Board investigators aboard the Dali as they examine the circumstances that led to the crash.

(AP)

(AP)

Maryland Governor: Best minds in the world working on bridge collapse aftermath

Friday 29 March 2024 00:30 , Mike Bedigan

Maryland Governor Wes Moore has promised that the best minds in the world were working on plans to clear the debris, move the cargo ship that rammed into the bridge from the channel, recover the bodies of the four remaining workers presumed dead and investigate what went wrong.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Mr Moore told reporters: I want to end by assuring the people of Maryland that this work is moving together at a full clip, and this work is moving forward together.

The best minds in the world are here right now in Baltimore. They are working on this project in a methodical and a rigorous way and we are continuing to work with leaders in the community to provide a support to the families and all of those affected.

I say we are going to get through this because we are Maryland tough and we are Baltimore strong.

Baltimore Key Bridge not made to withstand direct impact from vessel

Friday 29 March 2024 00:00 , Michelle Del Rey

Heres a look at what US transport secretary Pete Buttigieg had to say about the disaster at Tuesdays press conference.

Baltimore Bridge not made to withstand direct impact, says US transport secretary

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott says hes hopeful to recover the bodies of the four missing men

Thursday 28 March 2024 23:30 , Michelle Del Rey

Mr Scott says he still wants to bring the bodies of four victims back to their families. Officials suspended recovery efforts yesterday, citing safety concerns for divers. Authorities added that the debris in the water would need to be cleared to retrieve the remains.

Watch: Ship that crashed into Baltimore bridge collided with Antwerp dock in 2016

Thursday 28 March 2024 23:30 , Michelle Del Rey

The ship which crashed into Baltimores Key Bridge on Tuesday 26 March also collided with an Antwerp dock in 2016, video from the time shows.

Ship that crashed into Baltimore bridge collided with Antwerp dock in 2016

Federal government approves $60m for bridge emergency work related to collapse

Thursday 28 March 2024 23:00 , Michelle Del Rey

Governor Wes Moore submitted a request for the funding on Thursday afternoon. In a news release, US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said that President Joe Bidens administration approved the request within hours.

These funds serve as a down payment toward initial costs, and additional Emergency Relief program funding will be made available as work continues, a news release

Mr Buttigieg continued to say that No one will ever forget the shocking images of a container vessel striking the Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing its collapse and the tragic loss of six people.

The federal emergency funds were releasing today will help Maryland begin urgent work, to be followed by further resources as recovery and rebuilding efforts progress.

Click here to read the full blog on The Independent's website
What happened in Baltimore on Tuesday morning?

A major bridge in Baltimore in the US state of Maryland collapsed after a container ship collided with it early on Tuesday, sending a number of vehicles into the chilly waters.

Related: Have you been affected by the Baltimore bridge collapse?

Rescuers pulled out two survivors, and were searching for more in the Patapsco River after reports that a 948ft Singapore-flagged container ship leaving port on its way to Sri Lanka had crashed into the 1.6-mile (2.57-km) Francis Scott Key Bridge, named after the author of the American national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner.

The states governor has declared a state of emergency to get federal resources quickly deployed. Joe Biden said search and rescue efforts were a top priority and that all indications were that the episode was a terrible accident.

What do we know about casualties?

Six people remain unaccounted for after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, authorities said  all believed to be construction workers who had been repairing potholes on the bridge. Two people have been rescued so far, with one of them in serious condition.

The temperature in the river was about 47F (8C) in the early hours of Tuesday, according to a buoy that collects data for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Several vehicles were on the bridge at the time of the crash, including one the size of a tractor-trailer.

What do we know about the ship and the cause of the collision?

Ship-tracking data showed the Dali  a 290-metre (948ft) cargo ship with a capacity of 10,000 containers  was at the location of the bridge where the accident occurred at about 1.30am ET (0530 GMT) on Tuesday. The vessel had left Baltimore at 1am and was headed for the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, according to the maritime data platform MarineTraffic.

Marylands governor, Wes Moore, said a preliminary investigation into the Key Bridge collapse points to an accident, and the FBI in Baltimore said the collapse of the bridge was not a result of terrorism.

The ships crew reported losing power and issued a mayday call moments before the crash took down the bridge, enabling authorities to limit vehicle traffic on the span, Moore said.

Video posted on social media showed the vessel ploughing into one of the bridges central supports in darkness, causing much of the bridge to give way as a number of vehicles fell into the Patapsco River below and the ship caught fire. Synergy Marine Group, the manager of the Dali, confirmed it had collided with one of the pillars of the bridge.

The same vessel was also involved in a collision while leaving the port of Antwerp, Belgium, in 2016.

How important is Baltimore port and what will the impact be on trade there?

The bridge leads to the Baltimore port, one of the busiest in the country and an important hub for shipping on the US east coast, especially in transporting road vehicles.

It is also the largest US port by volume for handling farm and construction machinery, as well as agricultural products, and a cruise terminal, according to Reuters.

Port traffic was suspended until further notice following the bridge collapse, and there will probably be grave consequences on commerce in the region.

The bridges collapse has revived scrutiny not just of this specific structure but also the overall health of bridges across the US, many of which are considered to be in poor condition. Marylands governor has said the bridge was fully up to code, while some experts have pointed out that the span, completed in 1977, was conceived before an age of supersized container ships.

What are the implications for road transport in Maryland?

With four lanes, the bridge is part of Interstate 695 and serves as a major route along the ring road that encircles the city. The bridge carries 11.3m vehicles a year, according to the Maryland transportation authority.

Authorities have called the incident a major traffic alert and closed all lanes in both directions of the I-695 Francis Scott Key Bridge. Highway signs as far south as Virginia have warned drivers of delays.
MA Yansongs architecture and Hublots watchmaking share a common vision of transforming their art into an interactive, 3D experience, fusing the natural and the human-made, creating advanced designs with an affinity for Nature

MA YANSONG AT ONE WITH NATURE

MA Yansong, the visionary Founder and Principal Partner of MAD Architects (2004), redefines architecture with a focus on emotional and spiritual needs, blending humanity and Nature. Born in Beijing in 1975, MA set up his own practice two years after achieving his Masters from Yale. He has spent 20 years gaining international acclaim for his imaginative and human centric designs. His renowned projects  including the Harbin Opera House and Absolute Towers  showcase a unique symbiosis of the natural and human-made. MA, the first Chinese architect to win an overseas landmark project, sees architecture as a medium to reconnect people with Nature, fostering respect and harmony. MA has garnered admiration through his masterfully crafted, spatiotemporal, sculptural forms disappearing into the city and landscape; forms that are driven by intuition, expression and emotion.

"As Hublot welcomes MA Yansong as a Friend of the Brand, his fusion of storytelling, cultural exploration and architectural innovation aligns seamlessly with our commitment to a future which celebrates designs that are bold and imaginative, continuous and fluid, complex and three-dimensional. His mission to explore and contribute to the ideal future of living, along with his advanced designs conceived with an affinity for Nature, echo the contribution we would like to bring through watchmaking. He is a source of inspiration in his unique and different way of building bridges between Nature & Humanity, creating buildings as constructed Nature."

- Ricardo Guadalupe - Hublot CEO

"Hublot & I share the conviction that architecture and watchmaking are not just about buildings or watches, but instead both involve massive relearning to become non-conformists. My first, unique and different approach to architecture is a methodical exploration of humanity, Nature and creativity. In the way Hublot explores the wealth of natural materials, we share this belief in a symbiosis between the natural and human-made. We believe in design more responsive to human emotion, placing equal emphasis on technology and Nature."

- MA Yansong - Architect

MA Yansong, new friend of the brand  Hublot

FIRST. UNIQUE. DIFFERENT IN HIS OWN WAY

In terms of what makes MAs vision and work first, unique and different in his own way, there is also a strong connection to how MA and Hublot envision their contribution to the future of both architecture and watchmaking.

Innovative fusion of tradition and modern design: MA Yansong distinguishes himself through a unique sense of aesthetic appeal inspired by traditional Chinese elements and modern design principles.

Breaking barriers through innovation and distinctiveness: As an architect, MA Yansong is celebrated for pushing boundaries, embracing innovation and shaping a distinctive narrative in the world of contemporary architecture.

Organic forms challenging conventional norms: His architecture is characterized by organic, flowing forms featuring neutral skins, in perpetual continuation of the site and natural landscape, challenging conventional norms.

Rethinking design to be at one with Nature: MA's creations often evoke a sense of harmony with nature, integrating buildings into their surroundings and environment, fostering a sense of unity. MA Yansong creates buildings of freedom that rethink our fellowship with Nature.

MA Yansong, new friend of the brand  Hublot

MA YANSONG - Architect, Artist

Ma Yansong is recognized as an important voice in the new generation of architects. He is the first Chinese architect to win an overseas landmark- building project and to design an oversea cultural landmark.

As the founding partner of MAD Architects, Ma leads design of every projects in all scale and form, including the art and cultural development of MAD, with the vision to create a new balance among society, the city, and the environment through architecture. Since designing the Floating Island in 2002, Ma has been exploring the ideal future of living through international practices, with representative works as Absolute Towers, Harbin Opera House, Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, FENIX Museum of Migration, etc. Parallel to his design practice, he also explores the cultural values of cities and architecture through domestic and international solo exhibitions, publications, and art works.

In 2008, Ma Yansong was selected as one of the 20 Most Influential Young Architects by ICON magazine. Fast Company named him one of the 10 Most Creative People in Architecture in 2009 and one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business in 2014. In 2010 he received the RIBA International Fellowship. In 2014 he was awarded Young Global Leaders (YGL) by the World Economic Forum.

Ma holds a Masters Degree in Architecture from Yale University, and a Bachelors degree from the Beijing Institute of Civil Engineering and Architecture. He has been an adjunct professor at Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Tsinghua University, and the University of Southern California.
Brian Bolland drew sketches of Batman villains Penguin and The Joker for his former school

An internationally renowned comic book artist has donated original artwork to his former school to help inspire pupils.

Brian Bolland worked on Batman, Judge Dredd and dozens of other DC Comic titles.

Mr Bolland was brought up in Butterwick, near Boston, and studied at Boston Grammar School in the 1960s.

He was described as "inspirational" by students who watched him create sketches of Batman villains.

Mr Bolland took 10 minutes to draw The Joker with felt tips in front of students

Brian Bolland illustrated Batman: The Killing Joke written by Alan Moore, which has not been out of publication since the 1980s.

It revealed the origins of Batman's nemesis The Joker, which influenced film versions played by Jack Nicholson and Health Ledger.

In his visit to Boston Grammar School he spoke to students about some of his work, admired their art and drew original pictures for the school to display.

Despite moving away from the market town he said he still "considers it home" and is "very fond the place."

He was taken on a tour of the school after being a guest of honour at the school's annual alumni dinner organised by the Old Bostonian Association.

Art teacher Luke Morris said the meeting was "inspirational for the students", and "fascinating to watch a professional working".

"To be able to look at an array of first class, internationally recognised comic art and have the creator sat with my students talking to them is just amazing," he added.

The teenage students also enjoyed the visit, one described his artistry as "wild", another said a "rare occasion" to have such a renowned artist in their midst and another said it was "impressive" to see Mr Bolland at work.

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Editors Note: This story shares details of domestic violence that may be disturbing for some readers.

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  A local battalion fire chief accused of strangling his wife to death made an appearance in a Clark County courtroom on Monday.

Kevin West was accused of murder after a medical examiner determined his wifes sudden death on Jan. 8 was a homicide due to blunt neck trauma. He is currently employed by the Camas-Washougal Fire Department and has been in the fire service for 22 years.

NE Portland strip mall goes up in flames Tuesday morning

Deputies say his wife, Marcelle, died shortly after West called 911 to report she was having a seizure. During the call, he reportedly told dispatchers she had stopped breathing and he was going to give her CPR before medics arrived.

Marcelle was declared dead at 5:11 a.m. Court documents show West had told detectives he and his wife had a normal night and that he picked up dinner for them at the Chinese Cafe & Restaurant in Washougal. They ate at home and watched movies. West said he woke up to find Marcelle having a seizure after the couple went to bed.

Clark County Fire Battalion Chief Kevin West, seen in an undated photo, is charged with the murder of his wife, March 2024 (Clark County)

Clark County Fire Battalion Chief Kevin West is charged with the murder of his wife, March 2024 (KOIN)

However, investigators found Kevin seemed to have given contradictory statements when they accessed the couples text messages, which revealed marital and financial problems, according to court records.

Salem woman free after reporting Vancouver man to human trafficking hotline

Police also reported calls from those close to the Wests claiming he had been having an affair with another woman in the months leading up to Marcelles death. A probable cause document shows West had sent text messages to his mom that seem to indicate his intentions to divorce Marcelle to be with the other woman.

An autopsy revealed Marcelle had bruising under her jaw, brain swelling, and hemorrhaging on the back and sides of her neck. Detectives said these injuries are consistent with strangulation, and added that there did not appear to be evidence of a natural cause or disease attributable to her death.

According to the probable cause document, detectives determined that no third party had been in the home at the time of Marcelles death. Detectives also said West would have had to choose to strangle his wife in order for her death to occur.

Thunderstorm threat grows, rain remains around Portland area Tuesday

Intentional asphyxiation is frequently highly violent and takes more than a moment in point of time for the event to lead to death, suggesting the offender repeatedly chooses to continue the assault over a period of time, failing to stop until the victim loses consciousness and dies, the probable cause document read.

West faces first-degree murder constitutive domestic violence, and his bail had been set at $1.5 million. His next court appearance is April 9.

Stay with KOIN 6 News as this story develops.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
Among the many issues addressed in BBC Director General Tim Davies speech to the Royal Television Society today, one that was studiously avoided was the Corporations intention to run advertisements. While Davie categorically stated in the subsequent Q&A session that BBC television would not be awash with the Kelloggs logo any time soon, he has not ruled out advertising across other media.

The idea of such ventures around BBC programmes on third-party platforms such as Spotify has unsurprisingly caused anger among its commercial rivals who reasonably state that the BBC has a competitive advantage because of the Licence Fee. And while revenue from such advertising would prove negligible, the message is clear: here is another tanks-on-the-lawn moment as the Corporation forges ahead to win the battle for audio.

To be clear, audio is an at-times overlooked section of the BBCs output as its louder, brasher cousin television dominates the conversation. But the growth of the audio sector over the past few years has been astonishing: podcasting in particular has been increasing its audience year on year, with global consumption up from 275 million in 2017 to nearly 505 million in 2023. It is often cheap to produce, and its confessional, often meandering style resonates with people who want their listening experience to be unfiltered and truthful.

Of course, the BBC has had a slice of this particular pie for a while and has had considerable success with shows such as Newscast, and true crime series such as The Lazarus Heist. While the Corporation has to move with the times, there is no doubt that spending money on series such as these comes at the expense of rich Reithian fare such as radio drama, which is often hard to market and more costly to produce. Such terrific but unloved corners of BBC Radio should not be forfeited for the BBCs commercial ambitions, but alas it is already too late.

The other main area in which the BBC is becoming cut-throat is music. The announcement last month that BBC Radio is to launch four spin-off stations has sent commercial rivals such as Bauer and Global Media into a spin. For example, Radio 2s new station which takes in music from the 60s, 70s and 80s is a definitive intervention to try to replicate the success of Bauers Greatest Hits Radio (home now, of course, to the Corporations formerly most popular DJ, Ken Bruce), and other genre or decade-specific channels such as Absolute, Heart and Smooth.

The BBCs stations should be distinctive in their output, not merely duplicating what is available elsewhere. Davie, in his speech, criticised the narrowness of algorithmic data, and said, in fact, that it threatens social cohesion  yet it is hard to imagine that these additional stations are really offering anything that couldnt be assembled by a bot.

The fact is that human creativity costs money  and that the BBC has to make 500 million in savings. But its battle to reign supreme in audio must be won by ingenuity, not by aping the success (or indeed the commercial ventures) of others.

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World War Two tank traps, which were mostly buried in the dunes on Alnmouth Beach in Northumberland, are now completely exposed

High tides and winter storms have caused a stretch of coastline to retreat by several metres in places.

It has left a number of paths on to Northumberland beaches hanging in the air, and revealed World War Two defences not seen for generations.

The erosion has prompted the coastguard to urge people to stay away from cliff edges.

Howick station officer Ian Woods said: "We've seen dunes collapse, as well as landslides all along the coast."

It's really important people keep their dogs on leads too, because you may think there's rock underneath, but some of the cliffs are really unstable," he added.

Coastal erosion has exposed not only World War Two tank traps at Alnmouth, but also rubble that was previously buried in the sand

Alnmouth is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Northumberland.

Gerry McBride, chair of the Burgage Holders of Alnmouth Common, said: "It's a beautiful beach but parts of it are now a bit of an eyesore."

The tank traps in Alnmouth in previous years were almost completely covered in sand, and the second row was not visible

By 2023, the second row of World War 2 tank traps could be seen

A double row of World War Two tank traps, previously partially or completely buried in the dunes, has become completely exposed, along with piles of rubble.

"We installed a walkway onto the beach at a cost of several thousand pounds and it's been damaged twice by these huge tides and we are unlikely to try and repair it again," Mr McBride said.

The area near the boathouse had also been damaged, making it very difficult for the local rowing club to launch their boats, he added.

"Older people in the village have seen many changes over the years and the tank traps have been exposed before, but it does feel like this is a different trend," he said.

A new walkway was extended at Alnmouth this year in response to the coastal erosion, but within days it was damaged by a very high tide

A new walkway at Alnmouth costing several thousands of pounds has twice been damaged by storms, with no immediate plans to repair it again

World War Two tank traps have also become visible at Seahouses.

Jane Dixon runs Seashore Safari activities, and visits North Beach daily.

She said the beach had been washed out by easterly storms, taking approximately 10ft (three metres) off the front of the sand dunes, which revealed a huge line of traps.

"I hope the sand might be blown back, but I don't think it'll be a quick process," she added.

The same spot at North Beach in Seahouses a year apart, with a row of tank traps now exposed

Sally Cook runs Surf Northumberland and gives surf lessons along the coast, from Druridge Bay to Bamburgh.

"All along the coast there have been these huge changes to the beaches," she explained.

"Paths that used to lead to the beach now have a one- or even two-metre drop."

Ms Cook said she had to risk assess every surfing group so she could get them safely onto the beach.

"The changes are quite staggering," she added.

This path at Embleton Bay, Northumberland, once led onto the beach but now there is a sharp drop below

These steps would once have led straight onto the beach

For those with coastal properties, the erosion brings the sea ever closer.

Jim Watt, has a caravan at Seaton Point, south of Boulmer.

"When I first got this place, the cliff was much further out," he said.

"There were no steps down to the beach, because they weren't needed."

Jim Watt says the cliff was much further out when he first got his holiday home at Seaton Point, near Boulmer

A report published in 2022 suggested up to a thousand coastal homes could be lost to climate change along the Northumberland coast by 2050.

Prof Andy Shepherd, from Northumbria University, is the Director of the Centre for Polar Observation and Monitoring, which provides the UK with information about how ice, oceans, and climate are changing.

He believes climate change might be part of the explanation for the alterations to the Northumberland coast this winter.

Prof Andy Shepherd from Northumbria University believes rising sea levels are contributing to increased coastal erosion in Northumberland

"There are definitely studies that relate increased sea level rise to coastal erosion," Prof Shepherd said.

"The effects of climate change have been increasing during the 20th Century and they're now affecting us in real time."

A number of properties like this one on Embleton Bay are now very close to the cliff edge

The UK has just experienced the warmest February on record, which was also one of the wettest.

"Increased rainfall causes more cliff instability, and they're more likely to collapse if they're hit by waves and we know that climate warming causes more storms," Prof Shepherd explained.

"The progressive move of our coastline inland is definitely related to sea level rise and it is inevitable that we will lose some of our beaches, because it is happening too quickly for our landscapes to evolve."

This rusty pipe at Newton-by-the-Sea used to be buried in the sand

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The findings of the analysis were combined with the opinions of 180,000 public reviews to create superior beers - Nastasic/E+

Beer made by artificial intelligence (AI) is tastier than a normal pint, a study suggests.

A trained computer system can take average existing beers and elevate them to an elite drink, data show, by knowing exactly what chemicals to add.

A five-year project to analyse, taste and document the flavour profiles and chemical composition of 250 beers created a vast and detailed catalogue of what makes each Belgian beer unique.

The tastes were provided by a panel of 15 experts and the chemical composition came from lab analysis.

AI algorithm developed

An AI algorithm was developed that combined this information, as well as the opinions of 180,000 public reviews on the RateBeer app.

Computer models were then able to predict accurately what a beer would taste like based on a range of chemicals of different concentrations.

Flavours included the usual descriptors of a beer, such as hoppy and malty, as well as the more obscure, such as barnyard/horse, anise, bread and banana.

Prof Kevin Verstrepen, the director of the VIB-KU Leuven Centre for Microbiology and the Leuven Institute for Beer Research, led the project and tested out the AI beer connoisseur by asking it to improve a standard beer.

The score jumped quite nicely

The anonymous beer was a well-known and popular commercial blond ale beer, which was around 6.5 per cent ABV and scored average for enjoyment in taste tests.

After the modifications suggested by the model, the score jumped quite nicely and was among the best beers in the set, Prof Verstrepen told The Telegraph.

Moreover, it was a statistically significant change, which is not so trivial in aroma science because even with trained professional tasters, the ratings that humans give are always a bit noisy  tasting is not an exact science.

So, to get statistical significance, one really needs a big jump that is noticed by almost all tasters.

The AI was able to suggest modifications to beers that improved their satisfaction scores among readers - iStockphoto

Also effective on alcohol-free beer

The Belgian scientists also tested the system on an alcohol-free beer to see whether the system was able to make low ABV options more enjoyable, and found it was effective.

We believe that most progress can be made with the zero alcohol beers, Prof Verstrepen said.

We are now working on tailoring the models to try and generate superior low- and zero-alcohol beers.

The scientists initially wanted to take human biases out of beer perception and create a way to tell the true flavour of a beer, without human subjectivity.

A Herculean effort

Each beer was also evaluated on a set of 50 criteria by the 15 experts, with Dr Miguel Roncoroni, who led the chemical analyses and tasting panel, calling the project a Herculean effort.

We began the project with less than 100 beers, and quickly realised this would not be enough to capture Belgiums incredible beer diversity, so we ended up analysing 250 beers, he added.

The augmentation of a commercial beer with AI recommendations opens up possibilities for a future of AI-curated lagers hitting the shelves of supermarkets and being brewed for pubs.

We already received input from brewers during the study, and some are definitely eager to use this new knowledge as a tool, Prof Verstrepen said.

I bet that AI will gradually get integrated in food science in general, including brewing, just like in most other parts of technology.

Some brewers are more sceptical, fearing that this takes away from their craft or would result in only a few standard, bland beers.

I want to stress that this is absolutely not the case  people are all different and each of us has their preference, so there simply is no one beer fits all.

But we can use new insights and tools to make existing beers even better, tweaking them.

Healthier snacks

The researchers hope to apply their comprehensive method and AI approach to make other types of foods taste nicer, specifically healthier snacks such as vegan foods and low alcohol drinks.

The biggest gains are to be made with new products, like the zero alcohol beers, but also other foods, for example tasty and sustainable vegetarian alternatives for animal-based products, Prof Verstrepen said.

Here, too, similar methods can be used to tweak the taste of these to convert even the most diehard meat lovers.

The study was published in the journal Nature Communications.

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MOSCOW (Reuters) -Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko inspected a tank battalion near the Lithuanian border and gave orders that any "provocation" there must be met with force, a Telegram channel close to his administration said on Tuesday.

"I will say publicly: any provocation must be stopped by military means," Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was quoted as saying.

"Any violation of the state border is a shoot-to-kill."

Lithuania, a European Union and NATO member that has offered support to Belarus' opposition, has seen its relations with Minsk deteriorate sharply in recent years.

(Writing by Felix Light and Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
Alexander Lukashenko, the self-proclaimed President of Belarus, stated that the terrorists who managed to flee after the attack on the Russian Crocus City Hall intended to enter Belarus but "turned around" due to implemented security measures and went to the Ukrainian-Russian border instead.

Source: Belta, a Belarusian state-owned news agency, quoting Lukashenko

Details: Lukashenko was asked about the claim that the terrorists attempted to hide in Belarus via Russias Bryansk Oblast. Lukashenko responded that they could not travel to Belarus because, "in the first minutes, the same way as in Russia, part of the region switched to a strengthened security regime."

Quote: "They could not enter Belarus in any way. They understood that. And so they turned around and went to the section of the Ukrainian-Russian border."

"As soon as the heads of state [Lukashenko and Putin - ed.] received information from special services that the car transporting the terrorists was moving towards Bryansk, an agreement was reached that Belarus would block its section of the alleged criminal movement, while Russia would block its own."

Background:

The head of Russia, Vladimir Putin, claimed that a "back door" had been prepared for the suspects in the attack so that they could cross the border with Ukraine.

The Russian FSB previously stated that the terrorists were detained in Bryansk Oblast near the Ukrainian border and were travelling to Ukraine because they "have connections there".

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As the Willand Warming Center approaches the end of its very successful fourth season, public discourse has again turned to the plight of the center itself.

The Willand Warming Center, located in Somersworth, was purchased by the City of Dover in 2020 using CARES Act funding. And while Dover had originally signaled their intention to sell the Somersworth property after that first season, public pressure has kept the warming center open at 30 Willand Drive for four consecutive seasons now. The warming center was operated this season by Karlees Home Team and like previous years, was paid for by a mix of funds from the cities of Dover, Rochester, and Somersworth, as well as Strafford County.

Palana Belken

There have been particularly strong showings of support for the warming center at the most recent Dover, Somersworth, and Rochester City Council meetings. Ive also noticed a trend in the various internet comments sections: compassion is winning. Tri-City leadership should listen to the majority of their constituents and continue the successful warming center partnership into next season.

The need has never been greater. The Willand Warming Center saw approximately 240 unique individuals this season, with as many as 75-90 people per activation. And according to a recent report by the NH Coalition to End Homelessness, the rate of homelessness in NH increased from 331 per 100,000 residents in 2020 to 432 in 2022, reflecting a rate increase of almost 31%.

Of course, a warming center will not solve New Hampshires housing crisis. A place to sleep 60 nights per year is not a home. Not even close. A warming center is a Band Aid on a broken bone, but its the bare minimum we can do to make sure that everybody stays safe on cold nights.

In the days before a dedicated warming center, Strafford County mostly just hoped churches would operate warming centers here and there, with cities occasionally operating a makeshift warming center themselves. They were often in dilapidated city buildings outfitted with a heater. Not a place for actual rest or advanced care coordination, as has been the case every season at the Willand Warming Center. Karlees Home Team has recently had success using the facility for resource fairs where people can access services like treatment and health care, and at a scale service providers often only dream about being able to offer their services on.

Now, does the collaborative warming center need to be the same property at 30 Willand Drive? Not necessarily, but the current Willand Warming Center should not be sold until a new facility is procured. With the sheer number of people accessing the warming center this year, it is not fair to leave a need of this scale to chance and for anything less than 60 activations a season. Ideally, there would be even more activations allotted to account for all nights below 32 degrees.

Quite a bit of public comment at the various city council meetings this past week has revolved around what happens right after this center closes. Not only where are these hundreds of people going to go, but where can those people even go? Encampment after encampment is swept and cleared, displacing people further and further, making it even harder to get ahead.

One solution would be to fund the warming center, or a warming center, for more nights, and nights that extend beyond the winter season. This could include later into the spring when overnight temperatures are still low or on hot summer days. There is community support for it, its the right thing to do, and a dedicated weather sheltering center is our best bet against large encampments popping up.

Regardless of what happens, this season should be remembered as the Willand Warming Centers most successful so far. With all this momentum, all this positive change, its an awful shame to feel as if things are about to go back to business as usual.

Palana Belken is a Rochester resident.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Belken: I support Willand Warming Center as homelessness increases
Its been 13 years since the city of Belleville hired a local engineering firm to design a roundabout at the intersection of South Belt East and Freeburg Avenue, near Walnut Hill Cemetery.

The project got delayed for a variety of reasons, including funding shortages, other priorities and changes in Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) requirements. Most recently, the city had a contract dispute with Kaskaskia Engineering Group last winter.

The roundabout seemed to be back on track in August, when officials predicted they would request bids in the fall and start construction this spring. But that never materialized.

What the city had budgeted and the grant funds that we had lined up dont cover this new (cost estimate), City Engineer Scott Saeger said Monday. Were looking into some value engineering and options for different ways to design or construct the project to save funds.

Were also working with the finance department and the grants department to try and figure out if theres a way to get some additional funding. So were not ready to put it out for bids until we can get the plan finalized.

Saeger said the city had allocated $1.8 million for the roundabout in the 2023-24 budget, but it would need $3.7 million based on the new estimate. That would be combined with about $1 million in state funds and $800,000 in federal funds for a total cost of $5.5 million.

Kaskaskia updated roundabout plans this fall, taking into account new IDOT requirements and current prices for labor and materials, according to Geri Boyer, the firms president.

Inflation in the construction industry has been substantial, she said.

The city of Belleville hired a local engineering firm in 2011 to design a roundabout at South Belt East and Freeburg Avenue, marked by an X on this map, but the project has been delayed over the years.

Roundabouts limit idling

More and more cities, including some in the metro-east, are replacing traditional four-way stops with roundabouts.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety considers them a safer alternative because tight circles force drivers to slow down, and they lessen the number of right-angle, left-turn and head-on collisions.

Efficiency and the environmental also are factors.

Research shows that traffic flow improves after traditional intersections are converted to roundabouts, the institutes website states. Less idling reduces vehicle emissions and fuel consumption.

The four-way stop at South Belt East and Freeburg Avenue is east of Belle-Clair Fairgrounds and west of Walnut Hill Cemetery. Freeburg Avenue also is Illinois 13, making IDOT responsible for oversight.

More than a decade ago, the city received a federal grant through the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program to construct a roundabout at that intersection, where traffic tended to back up during rush hour.

The CMAQ grant is $798,000, Saeger said.

The city paid Kaskaskia $108,000 to design the roundabout in 2011 and $98,500 to redesign it in 2015 based on IDOT requirements and changes requested by adjacent property owners.

During last years contract dispute, City Attorney Garrett Hoerner stated in a letter to Boyers attorney that the city had paid Kaskaskia $235,218 of a maximum allowable payment of $236,400. Hoerner was reacting, in part, to an additional invoice from the firm for $55,689.

This diagram shows what a roundabout would look like if built at the intersection of South Belt East, which runs east and west, and Freeburg Avenue in Belleville, near Belle-Clair Fairgrounds.

Kaskaskia still on job

One notable development concerning the roundabout is that Kaskaskia is still working on the design, despite legal and political battles between Boyer and the administration of Mayor Patty Gregory.

During the 2021 election campaign, Gregory criticized incumbent Mayor Mark Eckert for what she characterized as too many no-bid contracts being awarded for city projects. Eckert and other officials noted that bidding is illegal for professional services.

The Gregory administration, which originally included City Engineer Sal Elkott, created an evaluation process for engineering firms seeking city contracts and determined it would do business with the Top 5. Kaskaskia was ranked sixth. Boyer blamed the blacklisting on politics due to her support for Eckert. Gregory rejected that claim.

In January 2023, the City Council followed an administration recommendation to terminate a contract with Kaskaskia on a Forest Avenue road project that hadnt yet started.

In February 2023, the city filed a lawsuit in St. Clair County Court, asking a judge to force Kaskaskia to turn over electronic plans for the South Belt East roundabout. Boyer had refused, speculating that officials wanted to take the unethical step of allowing another firm to complete a project already in progress.

Boyer ultimately provided unalterable PDFs of the roundabout design to the city. She said officials failed to find a replacement firm and asked her to help them out by finishing the job.

Lots of people stop me, and they say, There is no way I would have gone back and helped them on this roundabout after everything that happened, Boyer said. But it was the right thing to do. These projects are not about public officials. Theyre about the people who live in Belleville.

BND reporter Mike Koziatek contributed to this report.
Kobayashi Pharma is a major drug maker and has recalled the red yeast rice pills

A major Japanese drugmaker has said it is investigating a death and dozens of hospitalisations that could be linked to its red yeast rice pills.

At least 76 people were admitted to hospital after taking the beni koji fermented rice products, the firm says.

Kobayashi Pharmaceutical reported the illnesses after issuing a voluntary recall of five products last week.

The firm urged customers to stop using the pills, which were advertised as cholesterol-lowering supplements.

Kobayashi said it suspected that the problem may have come from previously undetected toxic substances in moulds used in production.

Beni koji is rice fermented with monascus purpureus, a species of reddish-purple mould. While advertised as a health supplement for high cholesterol and blood pressure, it's also widely used as a traditional colour dye for food products.

On Tuesday, the company issued a statement announcing the "causal relationship" of its Red Yeast Cholesterol Help product and the customer's death.

It said it had received a message from the bereaved family saying the person had died from kidney disease and had been using the Red Yeast Cholesterol Help product the past three years. The firm said there had been a regular mail order.

"Although we are diligently confirming the facts and causal relationships, we would like to report this from the perspective of prompt information disclosure," Kobayashi said. "Our company has always prioritised the health of our customers above all else and we sincerely apologise for this situation."

Affected customers had reported symptoms such as changes in the colour of urine, swelling in their limbs and fatigue.

The company began an investigation after a doctor alerted them to reported health problems in January. It has since established a hotline for customers.

Its Red Yeast Cholesterol Help product debuted on shelves in February 2021. The company has so far sold more than a million packets, Japanese media reported.

The firm has also supplied beni koji as a food ingredient to food and beverage makers around the world. It warned companies of the risk last week.

None have reported any illnesses among customer so far. But one major beverage maker, Takara Shuzo Co, announced it would recall a sparkling sake product that had been coloured with the supplied beni koji.
Brazilian woman Daniela Vera carried a fossilized embryo under her heart for at least 56 years and did not realize it. She had been experiencing abdominal pain for a long time, but avoided going to the doctor. Instead, she preferred folk methods, which caused the discomfort not to subside, but even to become more pronounced.

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According to Diario AS, when the pain became unbearable, Vera did seek medical help, but then she was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection, and the true cause of her unhealthy condition was discovered only a few days before the 81-year-old woman's death.

The calcified embryo in the abdominal cavity was the result of a long-standing ectopic pregnancy. This phenomenon is called "lithopedion" and is extremely rare.

After the embryo was discovered, Daniela Veri was scheduled for surgery to remove the foreign body, but the next day she died in the intensive care unit, according to doctors, from an infection. The fossilized fetus will now be examined to learn more about the lithopedion.

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In total, the woman gave birth to seven children and had 40 grandchildren. The youngest of her daughters, Roseli Almeida, admitted that her mother had been complaining of pain since her first pregnancy. She "felt like the baby was moving in her stomach". This indicates that the fossilized embryo did not prevent her from carrying all her children.

Her son, Wanderlei Avalo Almeida, noted the reason why Daniela Vera did not seek medical attention for several decades: "She didn't want to go to the doctors because she was worried that she had a tumor. She just took medicine to make the pain go away."

"We are shocked. She was our mother and the only one who protected people, and now she is gone, and we feel lost," said Roseli Almeida.

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The City of Berkeley, California, agreed to stop enforcing  and work to repeal  a landmark climate rule banning natural gas hookups in new construction, ending a nearly four-year court battle to beat the ban by industry groups.

The city said it would immediately stop enforcement of the Natural Gas Infrastructure Ordinance while repealing the policy through the regular legislative process, according to a legal settlement filed in federal court with the California Restaurant Association (CRA). The document estimates it will take several months to repeal the rule due to the city councils procedures and calendar.

"We are encouraged that the City of Berkeley has agreed to take steps to repeal the ordinance, including immediate nonenforcement of the ban, to remain compliant with federal energy law," CRA President and CEO Jot Condie said in a statement. "Every city and county in California that has passed a similar ordinance should follow their lead.

"Climate change must be addressed, but piecemeal policies at the local level like bans on natural gas piping in new buildings or all-electric ordinances, which are preempted by federal energy laws, are not the answer. Cities must comply with the law. Rather, the ban was passed with a disregard for available cooking technologies and ultimately for small businesses in the community that rely on gas-burning equipment for their cuisines."

BIDEN ADMIN AIMS TO PUSH TOWNS, CITIES TO ADOPT GREEN ENERGY BUILDING CODES: 'VERY SUSPICIOUS'

The campus of U.C. Berkeley in Berkeley, California, is seen on June 22, 2023.

The settlement comes two months after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit denied Berkeley's petition for rehearing en banc in the case. In April 2023, that same panel struck down the city's gas ban ordinance, ruling that it violated the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975, which prevents local regulations from impacting the energy use of natural gas appliances.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Berkeley's city council passed the law in July 2019, and it was set to go into effect in January 2020  which would have made the city the first in the nation to approve such a measure . Berkeley Councilmember Kate Harrison, who authored the legislation, said at the time that the policy was part of the city's effort to take "more drastic action" on climate change and to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

BIDEN ADMIN LAUNCHED AN AGGRESSIVE CAMPAIGN TARGETING HOME APPLIANCES WITH ECO REGULATIONS IN 2023

But months after the ordinance was approved, the CRA filed a federal lawsuit challenging the city's ability to pass a law banning new natural gas hookups . After a lower court ruled in favor of Berkeley in July 2021, the CRA appealed and received the favorable Ninth Circuit ruling in April.

"While the Ninth Circuits ruling renders this particular ordinance unenforceable, Berkeley will continue to be a leader in climate action," Berkeley City Attorney Farimah Brown told Fox News Digital.

The settlement was hailed by the American Gas Association (AGA), which said the result would set a precedent for other cities pursuing similar gas bans. The AGA  in addition to the Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute; Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association; National Association of Home Builders; and National Association of Manufacturers  was among the industry groups supporting the CRA lawsuit.

Democrat-led cities nationwide have passed laws prohibiting new buildings from having natural gas hookups as part of a broad climate agenda.

"This settlement has implications far beyond the City of Berkeley and is a significant step towards safeguarding energy choice for California consumers and helping our nation continue on a path to achieving our energy and environmental goals," AGA President and CEO Karen Harbert said in a statement. "Natural gas has been one of the primary drivers for achieving environmental progress, and any ban on this foundation fuel will saddle consumers with significant costs for little environmental gain."

The U.S. Department of Justice; National League of Cities; California; Maryland; New York; Oregon; Washington, D.C.; and New York City all filed briefs supporting Berkeley.

The City of Berkeley didn't respond to a request for comment.





Original article source: Berkeley abandons landmark natural gas ban after court battle
(BCN)  A Berkeley woman suspected of killing her mother last week is expected to enter a plea during a hearing on Thursday, according to court records. Gabriella Rebecca Riemer, 23, was arrested March 17 after her mother, 60-year-old Heather Riemer, was found stabbed to death at the apartment they shared in the 1300 block of University Avenue.

Heather Riemer worked for Peers Envisioning and Engaging in Recovery Services, a mental health organization based in Oakland with a mission to promote innovative peer-based wellness strategies. She was remembered by friends and coworkers as a mental health advocate who also sat on the board of the Bay Area Hearing Voices Network.

Religious beliefs at center of San Jose church exorcism death case

Our community is grieving, but we will continue to support each other and all those who live with mental health struggles as Heather did throughout her lifetime, PEERS said in a statement. Our condolences to Heathers family and friends. We know that these spaces were very important to Heather, and we strive to maintain a supportive community in her honor.

In a recorded interview, coworker and longtime friend Kenneth Kozi Arrington shared that he was horrified and still in shock.

There is no replacing Heather. We can only now try to fill the void that she is leaving in so many peoples lives, Arrington continued.

Gabriella Riemer is currently being held without bail at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. Her plea hearing is set for 9 a.m. Thursday at the Wiley W. Manuel Courthouse in Oakland, department 112. Berkeley police spokesperson Officer Jessica Perry recommended residents with concerns about mental health connect with the citys mental health resources.

Berkeleys mental health crisis team can be reached at (510) 948-0075. Additional information about accessing mental health services can be found here: https://berkeleyca.gov/safety-health/mental-health/accessing-mental-health-services.

If you wish to honor Heathers memory, the best way to do so is by addressing your mental health, whether thats in groups or counseling, PEERS stated. Heather was a bright light that illuminated those around her.

Copyright  2024 Bay City News, Inc.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
Ukraines Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba receives irritated feedback from Berlin every time Kyiv asks for the transfer of German long-range Taurus missiles, he said in an interview with Politico published on March 25.

Listen, Im tired of answering this. Sorry. You can quote me, I dont mind, he said when asked about Germanys position on supplying Ukraine with Taurus missiles.

Every time I answer the question, I get irritated feedback from Berlin. Leave it to them. They put themselves in this situation. Let them find a way out.

Read also: German Taurus missiles would significantly boost Ukraine's capabilities  UAF

Berlin is tying itself in knots over whether to supply Taurus missiles.

Ukraine has requested long-range weaponry from its partners to target objectives deep within Russia-occupied territory. While some countries, such as the UK with Storm Shadow cruise missiles and France with SCALP missiles, have already supplied such arms, Germany, possessing around 600 Taurus cruise missiles, has delayed action.

Berlin has not outright denied Ukraine the Taurus missiles but has not been ready to provide them, possibly due to Scholzs hesitations, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in September 2023.

NV

Ukraine has repeatedly stated that it will not use Western long-range missiles to strike Russian territory.

The Bundestag has twice failed support a draft resolution calling for the supply of long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine on Jan. 17, with only 178 out of 666 MPs voting in favor.

On Feb. 22, the Bundestag voted to supply Ukraine with long-range weapons, but did not mention the Taurus.

Read also: Opposition leader: Scholz to eventually approve Taurus missile transfer to Ukraine

On Feb. 5, Christian Freuding, head of the Special Staff for Ukraine at the German Ministry of Defense, said that long-range Taurus missiles cannot turn the tide of war in favor of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said on March 9 in an interview with the Suddeutsche Zeitung that the country was ready to consider all options, including an exchange in which Germany would provide Britain with Taurus missiles and the United Kingdom, for its part, would supply Ukraine with more Storm Shadow missiles.

Read also: Scholz opposes circular missile exchange with UK, which would allow transfer of Taurus to Ukraine

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that she was open to Camerons proposal for a circular exchange.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius was, however, skeptical of the idea of a circular exchange of British Storm Shadow missiles for German Taurus missiles, and Scholz also rejected the idea.

Russians leaked a conversation in March among German top generals discussing a potential Ukrainian strike with Taurus missiles on the Crimean Bridge, illegally built by Russia. This became one of the most discussed topics in Germany for some time.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Lauren Sawyer was on a train heading into London for work when she had a sudden and overwhelming sense of fear and anxiety. Arriving at Liverpool Street Station she sought medical help from staff at the platform, who advised her to go back home and see her GP.

The 29-year-old PR manager had suffered her first panic attack. It wasnt due to anything extraordinary that was happening in her life, but stemmed from putting pressure on myself to always be on it. The effort to always be one step ahead and in control, had taken its toll.

The minute I didnt feel like I was on top of things, I got easily overwhelmed, she admits.

To deal with the overwhelming anxiety she was feeling, her GP gave her a prescription for propranolol, a beta blocker. Four months later and she takes a pill every day.

Its very fast acting, as soon as I take it, within 30 minutes I begin to feel the full effect. Ive even noticed on my Fitbit that since taking it my resting heart rate has decreased noticeably, which does make me feel calmer and more level-headed.

Popping a beta blocker has become the norm for office workers under pressure, stressed students and Oscar winners alike. In a new book, 50 Oscar Nights by Dave Karger, the actress Olivia Colman revealed she was so nervous the night she won an Oscar in 2019 for her role as Queen Anne in The Favourite, she took a beta blocker to calm down. So much for the old trick of imagining the audience naked.

What are beta blockers?

Beta blockers, or beta-adrenergic blocking agents, are a class of medications primarily designed to manage abnormal heart rhythms, protect the heart from a second heart attack, and treat hypertension. They work by blocking the effects of adrenaline on your bodys beta receptors, which helps reduce heart rate, lower blood pressure, and diminish the force of heart muscle contractions.

Licensed to be prescribed as a blood pressure medication or to support irregular heartbeats, beta blockers act on the beta adrenergic system, thus blocking the release of adrenalin and noradrenalin so are very effective at reducing the symptoms of anxiety, explains Dr Sabine Donnai, the co-founder of Viavi, a clinic that specialises in health and longevity assessments. The effect of the beta blocker results in slowing the heart rate and reduces the fight and flight response.

Anxiety UK

Although beta blockers are not indicated as a prescription for anxiety the off-label use for this purpose is increasing as levels of anxiety, especially amongst young adults, has increased over the past decade. Better detection of the symptoms, better acceptance of the diagnosis and acceptability of medication as a support, together with an increase of social pressures and society and social media expectations have led to an increase of prescriptions issued, says Dr Donnai.

In 2022, researchers from the University of Bristol found that there have been increases in incident prescribing of most anti-anxiety medications (called anxiolytics) in recent years, which have been substantial in young adults (aged under 25).

With the social media pressure on young people, she adds: They are often put in a situation where they feel the need to perform outside their comfort zone and then experience anxiety.

A quick fix

Stage fright, like Colmans, and performance anxiety are the reasons that Dr Donnai prescribes beta blockers. To suppress the unpleasant symptoms in situational anxiety such as in public speaking events, she explains. In those circumstances, you would take a beta blocker about 30 minutes prior to the event. However, beta blockers are not her drug of choice for people with chronic anxiety disorders: As they do not tackle the emotional or chemical drivers for the anxiety.

In the short time that Sawyer has been taking them every day, she admits to feeling a lot calmer: My heart doesnt feel like its beating out of my chest and since being on it I havent had another panic attack.

Beta blockers can also help with migraines, which Sawyer has suffered from frequently since the age of 13. That has been a really helpful side effect, she adds.

Lauren Sawyer is hoping to rely on beta blockers less in the long-term

Still, despite the benefits, Sawyer is concerned about becoming reliant on medication to control her anxiety. Im not afraid to admit that sometimes I need a little extra help to get back on track, so this is why Im happy to take beta blockers for the short term, to get me over any hurdles in life and then hopefully rely on it less as time goes on.

A temporary solution

Masking the symptoms of anxiety is not the same as dealing with anxiety. And while they are helpful when someone has first been diagnosed and would like to calm their palpitations, Jaspreet Randhawa, a clinical prescribing pharmacist says: I would not view beta blockers as a standalone anxiety treatment, as they essentially mask symptoms of anxiety, in which there are signs of palpitations.



Any other symptoms such as agitation, hyperventilation, excessive sweating and flashbacks are often not effectively treated by beta blockers: And the emotional cause is not attended to at all when simply prescribing beta blockers for anxiety.



A few examples of beta blockers include: Atenolol (Tenormin), propranolol (Inderal), bisoprolol (Emcor), Metoprolol (Lopresor).



The kind most commonly prescribed for anxiety is propranolol and while they are non-addictive and can be stopped relatively easily without any withdrawal symptoms Randhawa explains that: Many of my patients who start on beta blockers prescribed by their GP eventually have to increase their dose, or add in other medicines such as antidepressants or hypnotics which are often more addictive. I believe this is because the actual root cause is not dealt with when we simply prescribe medicine, with no form of therapy, guidance or mentorship.

Are they the new Prozac?

Beta blockers are different from antidepressants. The latter, such as Prozac, which is an SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor), have a direct effect on the hormone release in the brain, whereas a beta blocker is a medication to reduce blood pressure and treat irregular heartbeats.



Beta blockers do not alter a persons mood as antidepressant aims to do. They are a short-term fix whilst antidepressants deal with the underlying imbalance, explains Dr Donnai.

However, where they do share a similarity is in how commonly they are now prescribed for anxiety. Although Dr Donnai says beta blockers are not yet quite as popular as Prozac for treating depression. But they could become popular quite easily as they are very effective, not addictive, are inexpensive and well-tolerated.

The side-effects

The primary action of beta blockers on the cardiovascular system  reducing heart rate and blood pressure  can be a double-edged sword.



For patients with certain heart conditions, these effects are lifesaving. However, in the context of anxiety treatment, the implications for heart and lung function necessitate careful consideration, says Randhawa.



Side effects may include tiredness, dizziness and lightheadedness, which can be signs of a slow heart rate. It may affect the blood supply to the hands and feet causing cold fingers or toes. People may also feel nauseous, have difficulties sleeping, experience nightmares or struggle to have an erection and other sexual dysfunction issues, explains Abbas Kanani MRPharmS, a superintendent pharmacist at Chemist Click.

Serious side effects are rare but they can cause shortness of breath and a cough that gets worse when you exercise, which includes movements like walking up stairs. Another serious side effect, which can be a sign of heart problems, is swollen ankles or legs or an irregular heartbeat. Some may also notice wheezing or that they have a shortness of breath or tightening of the chest which could be signs of lung problems, says Kanani.

Get to know your stress

Dampening your bodys stress response is another drawback of long-term beta blocker. Obscuring the vital signals that our bodies send us in moments of distress, says Randhawa.

The very essence of healing from anxiety involves re-establishing a harmonious connection between mind and body, understanding the roots of our fears, and addressing the underlying issues that perpetuate them, she adds.

By muting the bodys alarm signals, beta blockers may inadvertently encourage individuals to further disconnect from their internal experiences, potentially stalling the journey toward genuine healing.

If you are looking for a non-medical solution for addressing anxiety, she recommends somatic therapy. With its emphasis on body awareness and the physical sensations tied to emotional states, it invites a reconnection to the bodily signals encouraging compassionate inquiry into the origins of your anxiety. This therapeutic journey aims to transform the experience of anxiety from one of fear and avoidance to one of understanding and growth.

It poses the essential questions: Why does fear take hold? What narratives and experiences have shaped our response to perceived threats?

By exploring these questions, individuals can begin to reconstruct a sense of safety within themselves, ultimately paving the way for lasting healing beyond the temporary respite offered by medications.

Non-medical strategies

After taking beta blockers for two months, Victoria Gibson, a marketing director from Hertfordshire, decided they werent for her.

After a few days, I started to feel quite spaced out, not quite with it. They slowed my palpitations but I just felt numb and still had anxiety, says the 42-year-old mum of two.

She now thinks being prescribed beta blockers was a rushed solution to her problem. It was a very typical See how you get on with no real explanation as to how they may make you feel, she says. Yes they regulate your heartbeat but it never stopped the anxiety, and they made you feel a bit dopey.

Today, she uses breathing exercises learnt from yoga to help control and regulate her anxiety. Controlling and regulating my breathing definitely relieved my anxiety and helped to calm and thats what Ive done ever since.

Any strategy that helps to stimulate the parasympathetic arm of our autonomic nervous system is part of building a drug-free approach to anxiety. Deep diaphragmatic breathing, meditation, mindfulness or yoga are all good tools to start addressing underlying anxiety.

Controlling the pace of his breathing is a strategy employed to great effect by Dr Rahul Jandial, one of the worlds leading neurosurgeons. Pacing your breathing during stressful times and several times a day is your built-in anxiolytic, explains Dr Jandial who uses paced breathing as his go-to strategy to keep his poise during stressful moments in the complex cancer surgeries he specialises in.

During paced breathing, the vagus nerves that connect the brain to your lungs, heart and abdomen work in reverse and help dampen the frenetic energy in the mind associated with anxiety. We know this to be true based on real-time measurements of the brain while people participated in breathing exercises while having their brain electricity monitored for epilepsy.

Learning how to breathe through periods of stress and anxiety can make us feel calmer, more relaxed, slowing our heart rate and reducing the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline without having to pop a pill.

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By Andrew Chung and John Kruzel

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday signaled that it is unlikely to limit access to the abortion pill as the justices appeared skeptical that the anti-abortion groups and doctors that are challenging the drug have the needed legal standing to pursue the case.

The justices heard arguments in an appeal by President Joe Biden's administration of a lower court's ruling in favor of the plaintiffs that would limit how the medication, called mifepristone, is prescribed and distributed. The case places reproductive rights back on the Supreme Court's agenda in a presidential election year.

The Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) regulatory actions at risk in the case include 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 justices spent much of the arguments focusing on whether the plaintiffs had the legal standing to bring their claims of imminent injury by the FDA's actions. The plaintiffs have said they will be forced to violate their consciences by handling emergency complications that may arise in women who take the medication, which the FDA approved in 2000.

Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar told the justices that the plaintiffs do not come "within 100 miles of the kinds of circumstances" needed to show legal injury.

Conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh highlighted the existing federal laws that already shield medical personnel from having to perform or assist in abortions.

"Just to confirm on the standing issue, under federal law, no doctors can be forced against their consciences to perform or assist in an abortion, correct?" Kavanaugh asked Prelogar.

"Yes," Prelogar replied, "we think that federal conscience protections provide broad coverage here."

The administration has said the "conscience" harms voiced by the challengers are especially remote from the FDA's actions because they specifically relate to being to forced to perform or complete an abortion.

Conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett agreed that for these plaintiffs, "the conscience objection is strictly to actually participating in the abortion to end the life of the embryo or fetus." But Barrett told Erin Hawley, a lawyer with the Alliance Defending Freedom conservative religious rights group representing the plaintiffs, that the medical association member doctors did not provide evidence they ever participated in such an event.

IN THE AFTERMATH OF ROE

This is the most important abortion-related case to come before the Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, since it overturned its 1973 Roe v. Wade precedent that had recognized a constitutional right to abortion in 2022.

Conservative Justice Samuel Alito, who authored that decision, pressed Prelogar to identify who could sue the FDA.

"Is there anybody who can sue and get a judicial ruling on what FDA did was lawful?" Alito asked. "Shouldn't somebody be able to challenge that in court?"

The agency 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, Prelogar told the justices, "just disagree with the agency's analysis of the data before it. But that doesn't provide a license to authorize judicial second-guessing of the agency's expert judgments."

After the 2022 ruling, numerous states enacted Republican-backed measures banning or sharply restricting abortions. Since then, medication abortion has become the most common method of ending pregnancies in the United States, now accounting for more than 60% of abortions. Mifepristone is taken with another drug called misoprostol to perform medication abortions.

Liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson asked about what she called a mismatch between the plaintiffs' claimed legal injury and the results they seek in the lawsuit.

"They're saying, 'Because we object to having to be forced to participate in this procedure, we're seeking an order preventing anyone from having access to these drugs at all,'" Jackson said. "And I guess I'm just trying to understand how they could possibly be entitled to that."

Jessica Ellsworth, the lawyer representing mifepristone maker Danco Laboratories, told the justices that the position taken by the plaintiffs would upend not just this medication but "virtually every drug approval" and risk evaluation changes for medications made by the FDA for decades.

The 2022 lawsuit challenged the FDA's approval of the pill and its actions since then to broaden access. A federal judge's ruling that would have effectively pulled the drug off the market was narrowed by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last year to cover 2016 and 2021 FDA actions that made it more widely available.

The 5th Circuit's ruling remains on hold pending the Supreme Court's review. A ruling is expected by the end of June.

Biden, seeking a second term in office in the Nov. 5 U.S. election, is an outspoken advocate for abortion rights. He and his fellow Democrats have sought to this a central theme against Republicans ahead of the election.

(Reporting by Andrew Chung; Editing by Will Dunham)
Mike Johnson, Speaker of the US House of Representatives. Photo: Getty Images

US President Joe Bidens administration has again called on Congress to approve a bill on assistance to Ukraine, as this issue is closely related to America's national security.

Source: Karine Jean-Pierre, White House spokesperson

Details: Karine Jean-Pierre says it is about US national security: "Just as were talking about aid to Ukraine, but it is also our own national security. Its all connected here."

She stressed that the best option would be for the House of Representatives to pass the bill that the Senate has already passed.

And if House Speaker Mike Johnson had brought it to the floor, it would have received overwhelming support, just as it did in the Senate, where 70 to 29 lawmakers voted for it.

Quote: "We encourage, we would encourage and continue to encourage Speaker Johnson to put that bill on the floor."

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Top officials in President Joe Biden's administration visited a United Auto Workers union hall in Michigan on Tuesday to tout their efforts to support clean energy jobs, announcing new training guidelines for apprenticeships to expand the country's battery workforce amid growth in the market for electric vehicles.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm and U.S. Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su characterized the latest initiative as a way to create a skilled workforce for the battery manufacturing sector and create an entry point to middle-class jobs. The government's guidelines were developed in partnership between manufacturers, community colleges and labor, according to a news release from the Energy Department.

"President Biden is leading a renaissance in American manufacturing, and nowhere is that more evident than with the rapid growth of investment in electric vehicle production," said Granholm in a statement.

"Workers benefit when unions are strong," U.S. Secretary of Energy and former Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm said on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, as she talked about the future of the EV battery industry at the UAW Local 652 headquarters in Lansing.

"Good jobs have the power to change lives, and today we are expanding the pathways into those good jobs through Registered Apprenticeships in the fast-growing battery manufacturing industry," Su said in a statement.

The new U.S. Department of Labor-certified national standards for registered apprenticeships for battery machine operators will accelerate the timeline for initiating new trainings and open the door for public funding of workforce development programs in battery manufacturing, the Energy Department's news release states.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer  who has made growing battery manufacturing jobs a key pillar of Michigan's economic development strategy  joined the Biden administration officials in Lansing for the announcement. UAW President Shawn Fain also attended the event held at the UAW Local 652 union hall near an Ultium battery manufacturing facility under construction. Fain cast the UAW strike against the Detroit Three automakers last year as a fight to ensure the transition to electric vehicles would not leave workers behind.

UAW President Shawn Fain speaks on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, at the UAW Local 652 headquarters in Lansing.

U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Lansing, celebrated the announcement to support battery manufacturing apprenticeships as a way to maintain Michigan's economic edge in the auto industry as it evolves. "It's either Team America or Team China that will build the next generation of cars  and I want us on the job. I can't think of a better place than Michigan to roll out the standards that will shape our skilled workforce," Slotkin wrote in a tweet following the event.

Contact Clara Hendrickson: chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743. Follow her on X, previously called Twitter, @clarajanehen.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Biden officials tout battery manufacturing apprenticeships
The Federal Trade Commission has been investigating TikTok over allegedly faulty privacy and data security practices, and could decide in the coming weeks to bring a lawsuit or settlement, according to three people with direct knowledge of the matter.

The commission is weighing allegations that TikTok, and its Beijing-based parent company ByteDance, deceived its users by denying that individuals in China had access to their data, and also violated a childrens privacy law, according to the people, who were granted anonymity to discuss a confidential matter.

The agency, in partnership with the Justice Department, could either file a lawsuit or settle with the company, though a settlement has yet to be reached, the people said.

TikTok has been under fire for years from national-security hawks in Washington, who worry that the popular app is giving Chinese authorities access to Americans personal data. A settlement would allow the embattled social media company to resolve a long pending legal matter, but it would only add fuel to critics who argue that TikToks ties to ByteDance are a critical threat to national security.

That perceived danger is the backbone of multiple  so far unsuccessful  attempts to either force a sale of TikToks U.S. operations or ban the app entirely. A recent bill to force ByteDance to sell the app within six months or face a ban on U.S. app stores sailed through the House earlier this month before stalling in the Senate.

The FTC case is unrelated to the forced-sale bill.

FTC spokesperson Douglas Farrar declined to comment, as did a DOJ spokesperson. A spokesperson for TikTok declined to comment.



What happens next depends on discussions between the two federal agencies. Prior to bringing a case, the FTC must first refer the matter to the DOJs civil division in order to obtain civil penalties, whether via lawsuit or settlement. The FTC and DOJ are in ongoing discussions over exactly what should be included, the people said.

While the FTC is nearing the end of its investigation into TikTok, after referring the case to the DOJ, the department has 45 days to decide whether to pursue the settlement or lawsuit on the FTCs behalf or send it back for the agency to litigate. That process complicates the time frame for a publicly filed case.

No final decision has been made on whether to bring a case, or what claims to include, the people said. It is not clear whether any action against TikTok would also include parent company ByteDance.

TikTok has been under scrutiny at the FTC for its privacy and data security practices for at least the past two years, the people said. In 2019, a previous version of the app settled a case with the FTC alleging violations of a childrens privacy law.

The FTC is weighing whether to bring some combination of a new case against TikTok under the Childrens Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, as well as claims that the company violated the earlier settlement. The FTC is also focusing heavily on allegations that the company misled its users by stating falsely that individuals in China do not have access to U.S. user data, according to the people with knowledge of the matter.

TikTok maintains that American user data is siloed in the U.S. Under a settlement reached during the Trump Administration with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, TikTok stores Americans' user data in Oracle cloud servers in the U.S.

With COPPA fines topping $50,000 per violation, financial penalties in a case under the law could reach tens of billions of dollars or more, though a settlement would almost certainly yield a far smaller number.



In addition to the previous FTC settlement against TikTok, the European Commission opened a probe in February into whether the company breached new online content rules, including its privacy settings. Also in February, several Canadian privacy regulators launched their own investigation, and a group of state attorneys general are probing TikTok as well. Last year the company settled a privacy-related class action lawsuit in Illinois for $92 million.

Further complicating the FTCs timeline, two Republican FTC commissioners were recently confirmed by the Senate, with Utah Solicitor General Melissa Holyoak sworn in on Monday, and Virginia Solicitor General Andrew Ferguson expected to be sworn in in the coming days. The arrival of the new commissioners could delay things slightly while they get up to speed, the people said.

In July 2022 Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the chair and vice chair of the Senate Select Intelligence Committee, urged FTC Chair Lina Khan in a letter to open up a deceptive practices probe of the company over claims that it has deceived its users into believing that individuals in China do not have access to their data.

Warner and Rubio cited reports, including a Buzzfeed News story about U.S. user data being accessed in China. We write in response to public reports that individuals in the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) have been accessing data on U.S. users, in contravention of several public representations, including sworn testimony in October 2021, the pair wrote, referencing Senate testimony from TikToks public policy chief Michael Beckerman.

Last year, Warners RESTRICT Act took a broader swing at technologies from foreign adversaries, but faced backlash from Republicans who said it gave the administration too much power.

A previous effort to ban the app by former President Donald Trumps TikTok failed when a federal judge said it exceeded his legal authority.

The outcry against TikTok has been overwhelmingly bipartisan, with President Joe Biden pledging to sign the current bill if it reaches his desk.
Nestled deep within northeastern California, there is a place where tribal people still maintain deep ties to the sacred lands and waters that flow beneath the Earths surface.

Since time immemorial, Sattitla, known as the Medicine Lake Highlands, has been the ancestral homelands and a spiritual sanctuary for the Pit River Nation and other tribes  home to ancient traditions, ceremonies and Indigenous wisdom. Yet, beyond its cultural significance, Sattitla holds a crucial role in sustaining life itself with its remarkable water resources.

Thats why the current battle for preservation through both a national monument designation and outstanding national resource waters designation transcends mere heritage; they embody the quest for a sustainable water legacy that will quench the thirst of Californians for generations to come.

Opinion

Beneath the surface of the Medicine Lake Highlands lies an intricate network of aquifers that supply pure water to millions, including communities from the far reaches of Northern California to the Sacramento River, to San Francisco and beyond.

Despite the widespread acknowledgment of Sattitlas unique, sacred and life-sustaining resources, this area still lacks protection. The Pit River Nation and our allies have been fighting to conserve this special place for decades. We want to ensure that our children and all future generations do not have to continue this fight. Thats why the Pit River Nation is calling for decisive action to protect Sattitla as a national monument.

To protect our cultural heritage and our water, we have asked for monument protections for approximately 200,000 acres in the Shasta-Trinity, Klamath and Modoc National Forests on lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service. Designating a national monument would enable federal agencies to collaborate with our tribal nation to steward and preserve cultural resources and lands, thereby providing a greater opportunity for public input on how those lands are managed.

Studies from hydrologists and environmental scientists confirm the significance of the aquifers in supplying water to a vast region of California. Rain and snow melt feed these underground aquifers beneath Medicine Lake Highlands. These waters sustain world-class trout fisheries, irrigate agricultural fields and quench the thirst of cities to the south.

Preserving Sattitla as a national monument is more than protecting a localized water source: A national monument status will also ensure the well-being of the Fall and Sacramento rivers, as well as communities downstream. It will also provide resilience to drought and climate change.

To ensure the preservation of this space, immediate action is needed from President Joe Biden to protect this invaluable cultural and natural heritage area. We ask the president to use his power to take concrete steps that address the imminent danger these lands face. We stand on the precipice of losing a vital piece of our heritage while also recognizing that these lands are a living tapestry where the past interweaves with the present.

The urgency of this moment cannot be overstated: Large-scale geothermal energy development poses a significant risk to the spiritual sanctuary of our people and the survival of communities both near and far. It is heartening to witness growing support from state leaders, including Secretary Wade Crowfoot of the California Natural Resources Agency, noting that the preservation of the Medicine Lake Highlands transcends political affiliations and geographical boundaries; it embodies a shared understanding that failing to take action jeopardizes the delicate balance of nature which sustains us all.

We urge our leaders to not only stand with their promise of cultural preservation, but also their commitment to protect U.S. lands and waters in light of climate change and rapid population growth.

Come bear witness: We are not merely preserving lands; we are preserving our culture, history and resources to ensure our survival.

Radley Davis is a Pit River Nation citizen and Sattitla National Monument Campaign Tribal representative.
Charity, love of neighbor, and selfless service are the core values that keep faith in humanity alive. In a world where the desire for enrichment, success, and fame are valued above all else, the stories of people who gave their lives to service are unfortunately not "motivational." However, they inspire us to do good, to be a light to others, and to stay true to our values.

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Today, few people know about Mohamed Mashali, a simple doctor from Egypt who gave up his wealth and treated the poor for a symbolic price or even for free until the end of his life. OBOZ.UA tells the story of a prominent Egyptian who was not tempted by wealth, gave millions of his collected funds to donations, and agreed to accept only a stethoscope as a gift, saying: "This is the only thing I need."

Who is the "doctor of the poor"?

Mohamed Mashali was born in the village of Dahr Al-Temsah, in the governorate of Beheira, to a teacher's family. Later, the family moved to the governorate of Gharbia.

In 1967, Mashali graduated from medical school, and in 1975 he began working in the city of Tanta in northern Egypt, where he was called the "doctor of the poor." Mashali spent more than 50 years serving the community and charged a nominal fee for a visit, but often treated for free. He also gave money to his poorest patients to buy medicines and charged 5-10 Egyptian pounds ($0.30-0.60) from his better-off patients.

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Mashali worked 12 hours a day, and even at a respectable age, when he was already over 70, he saw 30-50 patients a day. The doctor provided vaccines for free to people who could not afford to buy them.

A story about a sick child

Mashali told the Egyptian edition of Hadret El Mowaten about the moment that forever changed his approach to the profession and encouraged him to serve the community. In his practice, there was a case when a child with diabetes died because his mother could not afford to buy insulin. The unfortunate woman told the child that if they bought an injection today, they would not have money for food. The doctor tried to save the baby, but it was too late. After that, he vowed never to charge for his services again.

Mashali called himself a specialist in endemic diseases and fevers because these are the things that affect poor people the most.

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"That's enough, thank you"

Mashali has never owned a car or a cell phone. He used to walk from home to the clinic, even in his old age.

One day, the doctor got a chance to open a new clinic and change his life dramatically. A TV program in the United Arab Emirates aired a story about the good doctor and organized a fundraiser to support him. A tycoon living in the Gulf region, having learned Mashali's story, gave him $20,000 and a car. But a year later, upon his return to Egypt, the tycoon discovered that the doctor had given all the money to the needy, sold the car, and used the proceeds to buy equipment for free tests.

"After graduation, I learned that my father had sacrificed everything to make me a doctor. Then I promised God that I would live my life in service to my neighbor, no matter what culture or religion he was," Mashali said.

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Becoming a doctor in Egypt is a great achievement. The profession immediately takes you to a new level and promises a well-fed and secure life. But Mashali was not interested in money. His wife and three children lived in comfort, but the doctor himself did not need luxury.

Mashali refused to accept the millions raised through the TV program, commenting on his decision as follows: "I recommend giving this money to those who really need it, and I don't need it. Donate it to homeless children, orphans, or give it back to charity."

Mashali agreed to accept only a new stethoscope, politely thanking us: "This is the only thing I need. That's enough, thank you."

Mohammed Mashali died in July 2020. The good doctor became a symbol of conscientious and noble work aimed at serving people.

Subscribe to OBOZ.UA channels in Telegram and Viber to keep up with the latest events.
By Nandita Bose and Jarrett Renshaw

RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to North Carolina on Tuesday to contrast their healthcare agenda with Republican policy aims as their reelection campaign seeks to flip the state for the first time since 2008.

The North Carolina trip marked the finale of Biden's tour of campaign battleground states following his State of the Union speech earlier this month.

Biden, a Democrat, used the tour to draw contrasts with Republicans and to raise millions of dollars as top Republican rival Donald Trump remains bogged down in costly criminal and civil legal challenges.

Biden's reelection campaign is eyeing North Carolina after Trump barely eked out a win there the last time the two went head-to-head in 2020. Barack Obama was the last Democrat to win the Southern state in 2008, but Democrats note that the margin of victory for Republicans has narrowed in recent elections.

Biden and Harris, who has led the White House charge to support abortion rights after the Supreme Court stuck down Roe v Wade in 2022, touted their healthcare achievements to a crowd of supporters in Raleigh and pledged to do more if reelected.

"While President Biden and I are fighting to expand access to affordable healthcare, there are extremists in our country trying to take away healthcare coverage, or make it more expensive," Harris said.

Biden said Trump had sought to end the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, which has significantly cut the number of uninsured Americans since it became law.

"Even during the deadly pandemic, Trump and his MAGA friends in Congress wanted to get rid of the ACA, kick millions of Americans off their health insurance. It's sick," he said.

Biden's remarks were interrupted briefly by protesters over Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza. They have a point, we need to get a lot more care into Gaza," Biden said to applause.

The White House has touted record enrollment in Obamacare as well as a price cap on insulin and a plan to empower the federal government to negotiate Medicare drug prices with pharmaceutical companies for the first time.

It contrasts those accomplishments with a budget presented by the Republican Study Committee that White House senior adviser Anita Dunn said will slash the Obamacare and Medicaid health insurance for the poor while stripping protections for pre-existing conditions.

Trump currently leads Biden by 3% in North Carolina, according to the latest opinion poll by the Marist Institute for Public Opinion. Like other polls, the Marist survey shows Biden losing ground among critical Black voters.

The former president said on his social media platform on Tuesday that he did not want to end the ACA but make it stronger and less expensive. During his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump vowed repeatedly to repeal and replace the law, but he failed to do so during his White House tenure.

Democrats are hoping some down-ballot races could help Biden pull out a win come November. They believe Mark Robinson, the Republican candidate for governor, could swing voters to the Democratic ticket in 2024.

Robinson has built a reputation as a political firebrand, and forged a path in politics partly through incendiary comments on social issues, which have mobilized his Trump-aligned base and repulsed Democrats.

Robinson has a history of antisemitic comments and opposes abortion and gay rights.

(Reporting by Nandita Bose and Jarrett Renshaw; additional reporting by Jeff Mason and Eric Beech; Editing by Mary Milliken, Jonathan Oatis and Bill Berkrot)
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR)  President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris hit the campaign trail Tuesday visiting Raleigh, North Carolina to roll out their plan to make healthcare more affordable and accessible.



Access to health care should be a right, not just a privilege, said Harris.



The president says he intends to do more to lower health insurance premiums and decrease prescription drug costs. He wants to expand Medicaid and Medicare and strengthen the Affordable Care Act.



I see a future where healthcare is a right and we restore the freedom to choose and protect the freedoms not to take it away, said Biden.



The presidents opponent, former president Donald Trump, has said if he is elected, he will try again to repeal the Affordable Care Act.



Texas Republican Congressman Chip Roy says the 14-year-old law is hurting Americans.



Weve had a quadrupling of the price of health insurance since Obamacare was passed. Nobody can afford it, and nobody can get coverage, Roy said.



However, other Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell say repealing the Affordable Care Act isnt on the radar.



We had a big fight over that a few years ago. If you can develop a base to revisit that issue, obviously we would take a look at it, but it seems to me that is largely over, he said.



The president says if Republicans try once again to get rid of it, Were going to stop them again.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN)  President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will appear 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 coincides 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.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is expected to announce his VP pick for his independent White House bid

Trump has called the ACA a disaster and said last year hes seriously looking at alternatives.

Biden and Harris are expected to speak 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.

China to challenge Bidens electric vehicle plans at the WTO

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 Queen City News.
President Biden said the pro-Palestinian protesters who interrupted his speech have a point, adding that more care has to get into Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas war.

Biden, while talking about the Affordable Care Act on Tuesday in North Carolina, was interrupted by a protester yelling, What about the health care in Gaza?

Biden stopped his address and responded, Everybody deserves health care.

A lengthy interruption continued, with protesters yelling, Hospitals in Gaza are being bombed.

Several seconds later, the president said to be patient with them, referring to the protesters. The protesters were escorted out of the venue as they continued to shout cease-fire now.

They have a point, we need to get a lot more care into Gaza, the president said.

Bidens comment was met with applause and cheers from the crowd. He then continued his remarks without another interruption.

The White House has been under pressure from the left to take a tougher stance with Israel over its bombardment of Gaza.

Relations between the Biden administration and Israels government have become more tense with this weeks decision by the U.S. to abstain from a vote of the U.N. Security Council calling for a cease-fire in Gaza. The measure passed, leading Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel a high-level delegation meant to travel to Washington this week.

Biden and White House officials have warned that Israels plans for a ground invasion into Rafah, the southern city where more than 1 million Palestinians are sheltering, would create a humanitarian disaster.

The president has been met with protesters across the country since the war in Gaza began, with some interrupting him in similar speeches.

He was heckled during a speech on reproductive right in Manassas, Va., in January, when a protester carrying a Palestinian flag shouted, How many kids have been killed?

He was also met with protesters calling for a cease-fire in Gaza in South Carolina earlier that month.

The president has encountered protests in venues or on the streets during nearly every trip he has made since the war in the Middle East over his pro-Israel stance in its response to Hamass Oct. 7 terrorist attacks that killed more than 1,100 Israelis.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A Biden campaign aide said marijuana policy is one of a number of issues the campaign believes will motivate young people. (Jose Luis Magana / Associated Press)

Vice President Kamala Harris looked up from prepared remarks in the White Houses ornate Roosevelt Room this month to make sure the reporters there could hear her clearly: Nobody should have to go to jail for smoking weed.

Harris marijuana reform roundtable was a striking reminder of how the politics have shifted for a onetime prosecutor raised in the Just Say No era of zero-tolerance drug enforcement. As President Biden seeks badly needed support from young people, his administration is banking on cannabis policy as a potential draw.

Biden made similar comments to Harris in this months State of the Union address  though the 81-year-old president used the term marijuana instead of weed. The administration is highlighting its decision to grant clemency for pot possession as it races to have cannabis reclassified under the Controlled Substances Act before Biden faces voters in November.

Whats good about this issue is its clean and its clear and it cuts through, said Celinda Lake, one of Bidens 2020 pollsters who works for the Coalition for Cannabis Scheduling Reform, an industry group, along with Democratic organizations supporting Bidens reelection. And its hard to get voters attention in this cynical environment.

The challenge is significant. Biden is viewed favorably by only 31% of people ages 18 through 29, much worse than he fares with other age groups, according to a recent Economist/YouGov poll. Though he leads former President Trump by 21 percentage points in that age group, he needs a high turnout to repeat his 2020 formula. Bidens age probably has played a role in alienating a group that is both essential for Democrats and historically harder to galvanize than older voters, who more consistently show up at the polls.

Read more: U.S. regulators might change how they classify marijuana. Here's what that would mean

Whats more, the biggest step Biden is taking is incremental and not in his full control. The president wants regulators to move marijuana from a Schedule I classification under the Controlled Substances Act  the most restrictive category of drugs that also includes heroin  to Schedule III, a still highly regulated group of drugs that includes anabolic steroids.

That decision is now under review by the Drug Enforcement Administration, which has historically resisted looser drug laws and usually taken many years to review such rule changes within the law, which was signed in 1970.

Even if the DEA agrees, it will not mean marijuana is legal at the national level, something that frustrates some cannabis advocates.

Read more: MedMens fall shows the difficulties of the legal weed business

In the year 2024, its fair to expect more from a Democratic president, said Matthew Schweich, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, a nonprofit trying to loosen laws at the local, state and federal levels.

Schweich said he worries about Trump returning to office but believes Biden has done the absolute bare minimum, missing a political opportunity to push for legalization in Congress and to advocate for the complete removal of marijuana from the controlled substances list, which Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and 11 other Democratic senators urged in a January letter to the DEA.

Trump, whose administration threatened federal enforcement against localities and states that had legalized marijuana, is unlikely to attract support from legalization advocates.

Polling that Lake has done for the industry shows even the incremental step Biden is seeking could boost his approval by as much as 9 percentage points with younger voters in battleground states. But its hardly certain how that would play out.

A campaign aide, who would speak only on condition of anonymity, said marijuana policy is one of a number of issues the campaign believes will motivate young people  important but not as prominent as top-tier concerns including college affordability, reproductive rights, the economy, climate and healthcare.

The campaign cautions against treating young people as a monolith, noting that they care about a variety of issues and tend to see connections among them. Democrats, through a variety of methods including social media influencers and a newly launched campus outreach program, are trying to make the broader case to young people that Biden is fighting for equity and change while Trump is looking backward.

They note that young voters proved critical not only in Biden's 2020 election but also in the 2022 midterm elections, when concerns over democracy and abortion rights helped Democrats perform better than expected.

Overall support for legalization is now at 70%, the highest recorded by Gallup, which began polling the question in 1969, when just 12% of Americans favored legalizing marijuana. The substance is legal in 24 states and Washington, D.C., for adults, and a total of 38 have made it legal for medical use, according to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, a legalization advocacy group.

The administration has pitched its marijuana agenda as part of its broader efforts to change other criminal sentencing laws and to improve job and business opportunities for people who have spent time in jail or prison.

Lake argues the two efforts combined could help Biden with Black men, another group with which he has lost support since winning election in 2020.

Padilla said he still gets asked about marijuana regulations regularly, even though California was the first state to pass a medical-use law in 1996. "It resonates with a lot of people," he said.

In practical terms, reclassifying marijuana changes little. Federal penalties would remain the same, though the Justice Department has for decades treated most marijuana crimes as low-priority prosecutions. It would remain illegal to transport pot across state lines, meaning access to banks and financial markets will remain a hurdle, even for companies operating in states that have legalized pot.

The biggest difference is that scientists and doctors could more easily study the drug for medical uses, something that is now practically banned. Such a change could open the door for greater acceptance. It also would lower tax burdens for the industry in states where it is legal, by allowing deductions for ordinary business expenses that are currently prohibited by the Internal Revenue Service.

Other potential changes are less certain. Banks and credit card issuers, for instance, would not immediately lift restrictions on marijuana transactions, though that could come if regulators in the Treasury Department decide to take up the issue, according to Shane Pennington, an attorney specializing in the Controlled Substances Act who has industry clients.

Read more: Senators hail federal recommendation to ease restrictions on marijuana

Biden proposed reviewing marijuanas status in October 2022, a process that usually takes an average of more than nine years, Pennington said. The Department of Health and Human Services recommended Schedule III in August, the first step toward a change. A DEA spokesperson, in an email, said the agency would not discuss the issue while it is under review.

It often takes a very long time, but were in unprecedented territory here because the order came directly from the president, Pennington said.

Harris, in her roundtable discussion on marijuana reform, showed her impatience.

I cannot emphasize enough that they need to get to it as quickly as possible, and we need to have a resolution based on their findings and their assessment, she said.

The rushed nature of the process could expose the administrations actions  which are almost certain to draw lawsuits  to further scrutiny.

Kevin A. Sabet, a former marijuana policy advisor in the Obama administration who heads an anti-legalization group, noted that Bidens Health and Human Services Department released its preliminary recommendation at 4:20 p.m., slang for weed smoking time, underscoring the political nature of a normally button-down regulatory process. He argued that the decision was poorly crafted and could run afoul of U.S. treaty obligations.

But Sabet also agrees with advocates that Biden could have gone further.

I think what the president wants to do is reap some of the benefits of the guy whos embracing all this stuff without actually becoming in favor of legalization, said Sabet, who heads the group Smart Approaches to Marijuana.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
(Bloomberg) -- President Joe Biden said the US government ought to pay to rebuild a major bridge in Baltimore that collapsed Tuesday, and called on Congress to approve the funds.

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Biden said he directed authorities to move heaven and earth to reopen Baltimores port as soon as possible, and said federal agencies are assisting with search and rescue efforts around the Francis Scott Key Bridge. All information indicates this was a terrible accident and not an intentional act, Biden added.

Its my intention that federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge, and I expect the Congress to support my effort, Biden told reporters Tuesday at the White House.

The bridge catastrophe poses a fresh challenge for Biden, halting shipping traffic at one of the most important ports on the US East Coast. That has the potential to snarl supply chains and drive up the cost of consumer goods ahead of the November election.

Biden said he planned to visit Baltimore as quickly as I can.

Clearing and constructing a new bridge is expected to cost billions of dollars. The need for more federal funds comes at a time when Biden is already struggling to persuade lawmakers to approve emergency aid for Ukraine, Israel and the southwest border.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore said there is no estimate for when shipping operations will be restored, telling reporters the focus is on search and rescue efforts.

Read More: Biden Wants US Government to Pay to Rebuild Bridge: TOPLive

Its going to take some time, Biden said. The people of Baltimore can count on us to stick with them at every step of the way until the port is reopened and the bridge is rebuilt.

A lengthy shutdown will also cause chaos for commuters  more than 30,000 of whom use the bridge every day  as well as Easter holiday travelers who must contend with worse than usual traffic on the already clogged highways between Washington and New York.

The Port of Baltimore is one of the top US ports in terms of volume and value of cargoes, and the largest for handling cars and light trucks. It also handles large amounts of sugar, gypsum, coffee and coal for export.

The bridge stood at the mouth of the port, allowing commercial ships to enter. Another supply-chain complication is that the bridge was the main route for hazardous materials that are banned from being transported through the citys tunnels.

The Singapore-flagged Dali container ship struck a bridge pillar in the early hours of Tuesday, causing it to snap and the rest of the bridge to tumble into the river below. Several vehicles and people fell into the frigid waters and rescue teams searched for survivors.

Asked if the company behind the ship should be held responsible, Biden said were not going to wait for that to happen to get the bridge rebuilt and reopened.

Rebuilding the Key Bridge is likely to cost several billion dollars, according to Yonah Freemark, an Urban Institute researcher. Freemark drew parallels to the reconstruction of the Brent Spence Bridge connecting Ohio and Kentucky, which is expected to cost around $3.6 billion and is shorter than the Baltimore span.

Moore said there were eight construction workers repairing potholes on the bridge at the time of the collapse. One has been hospitalized, another was in touch with authorities but not in the hospital and six remain missing, according to the governor. Moore was unable to say if any vehicles were on the bridge when the collision occurred or were presumed missing.

The US Coast Guard is helping to lead search-and-rescue efforts, Biden said. Federal authorities are conducting an investigation and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was expected to visit the scene Tuesday.

The incident occurred before morning rush hour. The ships crew issued a mayday and said they were experiencing power problems, allowing transportation officials to stop bridge traffic, which prevented more casualties, Moore added.

(Adds Bidens intent to visit Baltimore in fifth paragraph)

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President Biden is set to travel to North Carolina on Tuesday to argue that he has delivered for the South on issues from jobs, lowering costs, and reproductive rights.

The presidents campaign has focused on North Carolina as a battleground state former President Trump won in 2020 that the incumbent is eyeing to flip in 2024. Biden plans to communicate how Trump failed the South during his presidency, according to a memo from campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez.

Our campaign will engage voters across these states, from urban centers to the suburbs and rural areas, where there are more Democratic voters than any other region in the country, Chavez Rodriguez said. President Biden and Vice President Harris have delivered for the South after four years of failure under Trump, and our campaign will continue to highlight the stark contrast between their agenda and the MAGA extremism taking hold of the GOP in these states under Trump.

He will be in Raleigh to deliver remarks and participate in a campaign reception alongside Vice President Harris.

Chavez Rodriguez said North Carolina and Georgia are Southern battleground states critical for the pathways to 270 in November. The trip Tuesday is the last of Bidens March visits to every battleground state following his State of the Union address; a visit to Georgia kicked off that tour.

In 2020, Georgia was the closest state in the country won by President Biden, and North Carolina was the closest state in the country won by Donald Trump, making them both extremely competitive states where early investment makes a difference, she said.

Trump barely beat Biden in North Carolina, taking the Tar Heel State by less than 1 point. An aggregation of polls shows that Trump has a 6.2-point lead over Biden in the state. North Carolina hasnt gone to a Democrat since 2008.

Chavez Rodriguez, in the memo, also argued that Republicans in states such as North Carolina and Georgia are too extreme. She said MAGA Republicans want to limit voting rights in both North Carolina and Georgia, but that Democrats are fighting back.

The Biden campaign said it is investing in Black and Spanish-language media and working with surrogates on the ground, including North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D). Meanwhile, Chavez Rodriguez noted, Trump allies on the ground include gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (R) in North Carolina and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R) in Georgia.

North Carolina was targeted in the Biden campaigns six-week $30 million spring ad buy that kicked off in March. One of the ads from the buy included a local voice, Patrick Brown, a North Carolina farmer who touted Bidens support for rural communities in the South.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
President Joe Biden on Tuesday vowed to use federal government resources to quickly rebuild Baltimores Francis Scott Key Bridge and reopen the Port of Baltimore after a container ship struck a bridge pier and collapsed the structure, blocking off a vital shipping channel and clogging traffic on a major interstate highway.

Speaking from the Roosevelt Room just before departing the White House for a campaign swing through North Carolina, Mr Biden praised emergency responders and said he has been in close contact with Maryland Governor Wes Moore, the states two senators, Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, as well as Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski, Mayor Brandon Scott and Representative Kewsi Fume, the House member whose district encompasses the collapsed bridge.

The president said he and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg are sending the Maryland officials all the federal resources they need as we respond to this emergency and promised that they would rebuild that port together.

We're incredibly grateful for the brave rescuers who immediately rushed to the sea and to the people of Baltimore, he said. Were with you, we're going to stay with you as long as it takes.

The presidents comments came just under 12 hours after the Singaporean-flagged cargo carrier Dali lost power and issued a distress call stating that the massive vessel had lost the ability to manoeuvre after departing the Port of Baltimore at approximately 1am ET.

The container ship slammed into one of the bridges support piers, causing a progressive collapse as the 50-year-old structure tumbled into the Patapsco River.

Mr Biden said the evidence available to federal authorities has given them no reason to consider the collision and resulting collapse anything except a terrible accident and praised the ships crew for promptly alerting Maryland Department of Transportation personnel when they lost control of the massive container carrier.

Citing officials at the scene, the president said approximately eight people remain unaccounted for at this time, though he conceded that the number of missing may change.

But Mr Biden also pointed out that the Port of Baltimore will have to remain closed during search and rescue efforts, and said the shipping channel would need to be cleared of wreckage before any traffic could pass through what he called one of the nations largest shipping hubs  a port that handles approximately 850,000 vehicle imports each year and supports 15,000 jobs.

It handled a record of cargo last year. It's also the top port in America both imports and exports of automobiles and light trucks ... we're gonna do everything we can to protect those jobs and help those workers, he said, adding that the now-collapsed bridge was critical for travel for the entire Northeast Corridor region, carrying approximately 30,000 vehicles per day.

I'm directing my team to move heaven and earth to reopen the port and rebuild the bridge as soon as humanly possible, he said.

Mr Biden also said he and Maryland authorities would work with our partners in Congress to ensure that the Old Line State gets the support it needs but he vowed that the federal government would pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge.

Though the president conceded that reconstruction would take some time, he said he expects Congress to support rebuilding efforts and promised that the people of Baltimore could count on us so to stick with them at every step of the way, till the port is reopened and the bridge is rebuilt.

We're not leaving until this job gets done, he said.
President Biden vowed Tuesday to rebuild Baltimores Francis Scott Key Bridge after it collapsed into the water when a cargo ship rammed into it, echoing what some Maryland officials said earlier but adding that he expects the federal government to foot the bill.

Its my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge, and I expect the Congress to support my effort, Biden said in remarks at the White House. This is going to take some time, but the people of Baltimore can count on us though to stick with them at every step of the way until the port is reopen and the bridge is rebuilt.

He said he spoke with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) on Tuesday morning, as well as Maryland officials including its congressional delegation and two U.S. senators. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg traveled to the Baltimore site.

Biden called the bridge one of the most important elements for the economy in the northeast and the quality of life.

As I told Governor Moore, Ive directed my team to move heaven and earth to reopen the port and rebuild the bridge as soon as humanly possible, Biden said.

The president said he plans to go to the site of the collapse in Baltimore as quickly as he can. When asked if the company behind the cargo ship that rammed into the bridge should be held responsible financially, Biden responded, that could be but were not going to wait for that to happen.

Were going to pay for it to get the bridge rebuilt and open, Biden said.

The bridge, on Interstate 695, was hit around 1:30 a.m. by cargo ship Dali, which was headed to Sri Lanka, causing nearly the entire steel structure to fall into the water.

The president highlighted that the Port of Baltimore is one of the nations largest shipping hubs and that it handled a record amount of cargo last year. He added that 850,000 vehicles go through the port every single year, 15,000 jobs depend on the port, and 30,000 vehicles cross the bridge on a daily basis.

He also said that authorities estimated eight people were unaccounted for but two people have been rescued  one person without injury and one person in critical condition.

Biden added that local authorities closed the bridge to traffic before it was struck and that information so far indicates the crash was an accident without intentional act.

Ive been over many, many times, commuting from the state of Delaware either by train or by car, he said.

A state of emergency is in place for Maryland and Baltimore. Moore, earlier Tuesday, said at a news conference that the ships distress call saved lives, because bridge traffic was brought to a halt.

Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer (D) responded to Bidens remarks, thanking the president for his leadership.

I share President Biden and @GovWesMoores commitment to rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge and reopening the Port of Baltimore as soon as possible he said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A unique boy with a heart-shaped thumb was born in Ohio, USA. The young mother was very excited when she saw the baby's peculiarity, and the doctors in the hospital assured her that they had never seen anything like it.

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Sarah Wilson, the mother of a unique child, told Newsweek about this. She said that her son was born by cesarean section at 36 weeks and six days. When doctors examined the newborn, they immediately noticed that he had "two nails on his right thumb," and together they resembled a heart.

"It came as a complete surprise to us, and I could never have imagined that this could happen when I was pregnant with him," Sarah commented on a photo of her son's hand that she posted on social media, garnering tens of thousands of reactions from Internet users.

The doctors explained that in medicine there is a term called "polydactyly". It is used to refer to the fact that a child is born with one or more extra fingers. This congenital anomaly is relatively common.

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According to studies, polydactyly occurs on average in 1.6 to 10.7 for every 1000 births and is twice as common in boys as in girls. It is also believed to run in families. However, this was the first case in the Wilson family. Moreover, the baby was born not just with an extra finger, but with a finger with two nails that form a beautiful heart shape.

"The doctors told us that they had never seen an extra appendage in this location. Usually, they can be cut off and die like an umbilical cord, but they told us that they could not do anything at the hospital and we would need to see a specialist... Another pediatrician told me that they were very interested in seeing the X-rays, as this variant of polydactyly is extremely rare," the young mother told reporters.

At the moment, the newborn boy's mother and father are weighing the pros and cons of their son's hand surgery. So far, they see no good reason to intervene but assume that it may become a problem when the child is more conscious.

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"We will discuss this with his doctors. Now he can use his arm like everyone else. He is less than a week old and still has so much to grow. If my husband and I see that the thumb is negatively affecting his life, we will consider surgery. There is also a concern that children his age might make fun of him when he grows up, and I wouldn't want that for my child. I just hope that he will accept his difference because he is such a good kid and we love him very much," Sarah summarized.

Earlier, OBOZ.UA wrote about how Siamese twins from the United States, Callie and Carter, whom their mother hid from people, look like today. The girls are now 6 years old and go to kindergarten.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Local schools may be one of the biggest financial winners of one of the nation's largest solar farms that is set to come to Madison County.

As one of the nation's largest solar farms is set to come to Madison County, the biggest local winners could be the local school districts.

Some local school districts are expecting a total of $3.5 million annually after state regulators approved one of the country's biggest solar farms last Thursday. The Madison County project, named the Oak Run Solar Farm, covers 6,050 acres, is partially owned by Bill Gates, and was approved despite vociferous opposition from local officials, The Dispatch previously reported.

More: Mega Madison County solar farm with Bill Gates connection wins Ohio approval

While a construction start date is uncertain, Savion, the company behind the project, has said it could begin as soon as 2025.

Madison County districts expecting an influx of cash

Jonathan Alder Local Schools, which is located in Madison and Franklin Counties, is expected to receive more than $3 million per year from the project from payment in lieu of taxes, according to Madison County Auditor Jennifer Hunter.

A Jonathan Alder statement said the district planned to "effectively manage potential annual revenue from the project to support future renovations, facility projects and operations." The district had a nearly $31-million operating budget in 2023, according to the Ohio Department of Education.

"This funding source is significant and would benefit all students and staff within the district," the Jonathan Alder district statement said.

London City Schools Superintendent Lou Kramer said the district expects $500,000 annually in revenue from the project, which it planned to reinvest in facilities.

"It's significant to us," Kramer said of the cash inflow for a district with an operating budget of $24 million.

London superintendent sees academic potential in large solar farm

Beyond the extra cash< Kramer said, are the more important potential academic applications of the project that excites him.

"(The project) could have a positive influence on our school district, not just the revenues, but the potential to look at the other things like higher ed involvement, internships, research projects, field trips, those types of things," Kramer said.

Savion has promised to turn Oak Run into the largest "agrivoltaic" program in the country, meaning the company will plant crops and graze livestock in the rows of the solar panels and around the perimeter of the project, The Dispatch previously reported. In the first year of operation, Oak Run must graze at least 1,000 sheep and grow crops on 2,000 acres. Within eight years of operation, at least 70% of the farmable project area, or at least 4,000 acres, must include agrivoltaics.

Kramer said the agrivoltaic program can also help to preserve the agricultural heritage of Madison County, which opponents of the proposal said was being weakened by the loss of useful agricultural land. He pointed to a lack of local higher education opportunities and said the project could drive higher education institutions like Ohio State University to establish a larger presence in the county than it has already.

"I also see it as an opportunity to continue to develop along the same lines, that agricultural heritage just in a different way," Kramer said. "You have the opportunity here to place Madison County on this really on the cutting edge, and being able to retain its agriculture identity."

@Colebehr_report

Cbehrens@dispatch.com

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Schools among biggest winners of approved Madison County solar farm
Under legislation headed to Democratic Gov. Laura Kellys desk, women seeking abortions in Kansas will be asked to explain why.

The Kansas Senate voted 27 to 13 Tuesday to approve a bill that requires abortion providers to ask patients to pick from a pre-prepared multiple choice list the most important reason they sought their abortion.

The information would then be included in reports prepared by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment on abortions in Kansas.

The proposal is the first anti-abortion bill to reach Kellys desk this year, nearly two years after Kansans overwhelmingly voted to retain the right to an abortion in the state constitution.

In the wake of that vote anti-abortion lawmakers and advocates have pursued legislation around the edges of the abortion issue, imposing new rules for providers rather than attempting to directly restrict the procedures availability.

A bill lawmakers passed over Kellys veto last year requiring doctors to tell women medication abortion may be reversible is blocked in court alongside several other requirements for providers imposed in recent decades.

Lawmakers are also poised to vote this week on legislation requiring child support for unborn children.

Advocates of the reporting bill have argued the measure is essential to helping lawmakers better understand why women seek abortions so they can address root causes.

Any of this data would be helpful to know why women in general would make these decisions, Sen. Beverly Gossage, a Eudora Republican, said.

Currently, KDHE releases a report annually that includes information on the number of abortions in the state, the age of patients, the method of abortion and the state patients came from. Under the bill, KDHE would be required to release the report twice a year and include the reasons.

Democrats and abortion rights advocates argue the bill asks women invasive questions that are difficult to answer because reasons for abortion are complex.

Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, a Lenexa Democrat, said the proposal was intended to harass patients and providers. Lawmakers, she said, already have information about domestic violence, availability of healthcare and unplanned pregnancies.

It is a farce that we are saying this is what we are passing so we can address good policy because we have the data, we have the information and we choose not to use it, she said, accusing opponents of an ultimate goal of banning abortion.

Tuesdays vote comes days after Sen. Mark Steffen, a Hutchinson Republican, attempted to force a vote on a total abortion ban.

Senators overwhelmingly rejected the procedural move from Steffen after Kansans for Life, the states leading anti-abortion group, advocated against it.

In a social media post Kansans for Life referenced the 2019 Kansas Supreme Court ruling protecting access to abortion and said passage of the total ban would embolden the court to remove all Kansas limits on abortion including the states 22-week ban and parental consent requirements.

But some lawmakers acknowledged a long-term goal to ban abortion and overturn the 2019 ruling.

Sometimes allies in the war disagree on battle tactics, said Sen. Mike Thompson, a Shawnee Republican. On multiple occasions over the past year or so Ive explained to my allies, who are the proponents of Senate Bill 286, why hearing this bill would be detrimental to our mutual goal of overturning the Hodes decision and protecting life in Kansas.
A black tarp flaps during the afternoon on the playground of Broadwater Elementary School in Billings, Montana on Aug. 29, 2023 (Photo by Darrell Ehrlick of the Daily Montanan)

A Billings man who carried a gun in his yard and on the sidewalk across the street from Broadwater Elementary School last year who frightened children, their parents, and school staffers agreed Monday to plead guilty to unlawfully carrying a firearm in a school zone.

In addition to the plea deal, the case also includes an original opinion about how Montanas gun laws interact with federal gun laws, as the court held that Montanas individual licensure law is not an exception to federal law identifying who can possess a weapon on school grounds or in a 1,000-foot zone surrounding a school. That means, the judge wrote, that the federal law in Montana can be violated when a person steps off their private property with a gun within a school zone.

Gabriel Metcalf, 49, agreed to plead guilty to one federal count of unlawful possession of a firearm in a school zone.

Metcalf was charged and arrested late last August after he earlier in the month, on multiple occasions, was seen pacing his front yard and walking down the street with a .20-gauge shotgun, sometimes staring into traffic or at Broadwater Elementary School, which is across the street from the home he shares with his mother, according to court documents.

When Billings police talked to him after numerous complaints were made, he told them that his next-door neighbor and others were stalking him and that he believed the neighbor was working to place bombs in his yard.

Metcalf previously was given an officer caution notice for Billings police officers to exercise caution around him, dating back to a 2013 incident in which he got agitated with officers while carrying a loaded .22-caliber rifle.

Metcalf said he was conducting patrols to protect his mother, whom he said had a restraining order against the neighbor. Court documents show the neighbor has a pending case for violating a protection order.

When Billings police on Aug. 17 told Metcalf that he was in possession of a gun inside the 1,000-foot school zone that surrounds Broadwater Elementary, he called the FBI to say police were harassing him. He said that he had no mental health issues but declared the Gun-Free School Zones Act to be unconstitutional before the conversation became unmanageable, federal prosecutors wrote in an indictment and criminal complaint.

Prosecutors charged Metcalf on Aug. 21, and he was arrested a day later. Federal agents seized Metcalfs shotgun and six rounds of ammunition.

Attorney argues Second Amendment protects Metcalfs actions

In October, Metcalfs attorney filed a motion to dismiss the case, arguing that his actions were both protected by the Second Amendment and fall within the exceptions to the federal school zone law, which include possessing a firearm on his own property.

His attorney cited the 2022 New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen Supreme Court decision to say that Metcalfs right to own a firearm extended to areas outside the home, arguing the government could not regulate guns within a school zone because the government did not historically apply that regulation to firearms dating back hundreds of years.

The attorney also argued that since Montana law grants every person in Montana who is not a convicted felon or otherwise prohibited from possessing a gun under the constitution a license under individual licensure exempting them from the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act, that Metcalf was allowed to carry a gun in the school zone while not on his property.

If Mr. Metcalf stepped from his property onto the public sidewalks while carrying a firearm as the government alleges, he was licensed to do so by the State of Montana at the time, Metcalfs attorney wrote. And the indictment must be dismissed.

Judge says Montanas law does not meet exception requirements

But at the end of January, U.S. District Court Judge Susan P. Watters denied the motion to dismiss, saying that the federal law Metcalf was charged under does not violate the Second Amendment and that Montanas individual licensure law cannot be an exception because a law enforcement officer did not verify that he was qualified to carry a firearm before issuing the license.

Watters said the case involved an issue of first impression  a case that presents an issue never decided in that jurisdiction.

She interpreted the Gun-Free School Zones Act as saying that a state require(s) some kind of process for law enforcement to determine whether a person is qualified to own a firearm before issuing a license.

She said Montana does not meet the requirement for the exception because it automatically considers everyone in Montana to be licensed, but claws back licensure for those who are felons or otherwise prohibited under the constitution. She wrote that the Legislature had effectively declared that individual licensure would comply with the exemption requirements on its own.

MCA 45-8-360 states: In consideration that the right to keep and bear arms is protected and reserved to the people in Article II, section 12, of the Montana constitution, a person who has not been convicted of a violent, felony crime and who is lawfully able to own or to possess a firearm under the Montana constitution is considered to be individually licensed and verified by the state of Montana within the meaning of the provisions regarding individual licensure and verification in the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act.

But a state legislature cannot work around federal law by simply proclaiming that a state statute meets the federal requirement. Proclamation of compliance does not override non-compliance on the face of the text, Watters wrote in the order denying the motion to dismiss.

Watters said this is the first time a party has argued that Montana law does not qualify for such an exemption and said the Department of Justice is responding to novel challenges to the Act and evolving conceptions of gun control in light of intervening law, namely Bruen.

The court finds that, while Metcalf was licensed under Montana law to carry a gun, his license does not exempt him from the requirements of the Gun-Free School Zones Act because Montanas individual licensure does not comply with federal law, Watters wrote.

Responding to Metcalfs attorneys contention that the Gun-Free School Zones Act is unconstitutional because it extends gun-free zones beyond the physical campus of a school, Watters said the prevalence of school shootings over the past 50 years constitutes an unprecedented societal concern that means there is likely not a direct historical analogue because there were only two documented school shootings during the colonial period up through the mid-1850s.

It is thus highly unlikely that the Founders could have anticipated the prevalence of gun violence today, and a more nuanced analysis of the historical regulations is warranted, Watters wrote in the order denying the motion to dismiss.

Since the government had only presented examples of gun restrictions on school campuses, Watters said she needed to do her own analysis to find examples where guns were not allowed in a sensitive place, which is one of the standards for gun regulations, dating back to a 2008 case, District of Columbia v. Heller.

Watters used polling places as the historical sensitive place that schools could be compared to since they historically have had buffer zones where guns are prohibited, dating back to the 1776 Delaware Constitution and continuing on to the years that followed the Civil War.

The Colonial and post-Reconstruction laws that formed a buffer zone around the location of elections further persuades the court that this nation has a history and tradition of banning firearms within a certain proximity of sensitive places in order to hold safe and fair elections. Like voting, the Founders considered education essential for a responsible citizenry, Watters wrote. The courts conclusion under the Bruen analysis ensures that the law protects children from deadly gun violence that threatens to subvert their first duty as citizensto become educated.

She said the Founding fathers did not  and could not foresee the gun violence happening in schools today and thus couldnt have anticipated the Second Amendment covering guns near schools, but said keeping guns out of sensitive places was not a violation of the amendment historically.

She concluded by saying she felt it was important to reiterate that Metcalf did not violate the Gun-Free School Zones Act when he had the gun in his home or yard, but only when he stepped onto the public sidewalk within 1,000 feet of the school.

The two sides had been preparing for a trial in the case through mid-March, when on Monday, Metcalf agreed to change his plea and to plead guilty. As part of the plea agreement, the government will recommend Metcalf get points for accepting responsibility when the judge considers his sentence.

The two sides also agreed to seek probation in the case, according to the agreement. Metcalf would also agree to forfeit his .20-gauge shotgun and the six rounds of ammunition previously confiscated by federal agents.

Metcalf is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 2 and faces up to five years in prison and up to a $100,000 fine under the standard sentencing guidelines.

The post Billings man pleads guilty to illegal gun possession inside school zone appeared first on Daily Montanan.
By Alexandra Ulmer

(Reuters) -Some major Republican donors were working together to help U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump fund the original bond amount needed to cover his $454 million civil fraud judgment ahead of Monday's deadline, three sources briefed on the matter told Reuters.

Former Republican President Trump needs to pay a bond in a New York civil case in which he was found liable for fraudulently inflating his net worth by billions of dollars to secure better loan and insurance terms.

On Monday he won a bid to delay the enforcement of the judgment if he posts a smaller $175 million bond within 10 days, but until that last-minute reprieve he appeared to be struggling to raise the original amount and risked having his properties seized.

Billionaire hedge fund founder John Paulson was involved in the behind-the-scenes effort by donors concerned about Trump's legal woes and looking to help provide money toward the bond, two of the sources told Reuters. Oil and gas magnate Harold Hamm was also involved, one of those sources said.

The sources asked not to be identified in order to speak freely about the matter, which has not been previously reported.

Paulson, the founder of Paulson & Co, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Reached by phone and asked about his involvement, Hamm, the founder of oil company Continental Resources, appeared to hang up. A spokesperson for Hamm did not respond to requests for comment.

In response to a request for comment, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said "there was no coordinated effort." He added that Trump had "more than enough cash" to pay the judgment in full.

A fourth source, a Trump ally, said he had direct knowledge of one donor who offered more than $10 million toward the bond over the weekend, before being told it was not necessary.

After Monday's court decision allowing a smaller bond, Trump said he would now be able to pay.

"I'll post either the $175 million in cash or bonds or securities or whatever is necessary, very quickly," Trump told reporters in New York.

Surety companies would have likely required Trump to post about $558 million in collateral for the original bond, or 120% of the judgment, according to Trump's lawyers.

Full details of the billionaires' efforts to raise funds, such as how much each donor had potentially pledged, were not immediately available. One source said the group had pooled the full amount originally due Monday. It was not clear whether the mega-donors would offer to help fund the new bond.

It was also unclear whether Trump would have to provide collateral or other guarantees to the benefactors.

The potential help from Trump's billionaire allies shows that he retains some deep pocketed-support in his quest to win back the White House in the Nov. 5 presidential election against Democrat Joe Biden.

It also highlights how big donor money is playing a potentially different role in this presidential election as Trump faces a major financial squeeze amid multiple legal judgments and expenses.

Paulson and Hamm are both involved in an upcoming campaign fundraiser for Trump that is unrelated to the efforts around the bond. An invitation shows Paulson listed as a host and Hamm serving as a co-chair.

Funds raised at the April 6 event in Palm Beach, Florida, will go to Trump's campaign, the Republican National Committee, state Republican parties and a group that has been paying some of Trump's legal fees, according to the invitation.

Trump has talked about selecting Paulson as his Treasury secretary should he win the presidency, according to a separate source briefed on the matter.

LITTLE TRANSPARENCY ON BOND

There is no obligation to disclose the origins of funds obtained for a bond.

The terms of Trump's $91.6 million bond for a defamation verdict in favor of writer E. Jean Carroll, for instance, were not disclosed. That bond was posted on March 8 by Federal Insurance Co, part of the insurer Chubb, which said it requires that bonds be fully collateralized.

In Trump's civil fraud judgment, the bond would stave off the state's seizure of his assets while he appeals Justice Arthur Engoron's Feb. 16 judgment against him. A bonding company would be on the hook for any payout if Trump loses an appeal and proves unable to pay.

Donors helping to pay for Trump's bonds could draw scrutiny from election regulators or federal prosecutors if the benefactors were to give Trump amounts exceeding campaign contribution limits.

While the payment would not be a direct donation to Trump's campaign, federal laws broadly define political contributions as "anything of value" provided to a campaign.

Some 30 surety companies approached through four separate brokers turned down Trump's attempts to secure the original bond needed to cover the $454 million judgment, his lawyers said earlier in March.

Had the pause not been granted and had Trump not able to post the original bond on Monday, New York Attorney General Letitia James could have asked a court to start seizing assets, including prized real estate holdings like 40 Wall Street in Manhattan.

(Reporting by Alexandra Ulmer. Additional reporting by Liz Hampton, Lananh Nguyen, Nathan Layne, Greg Roumeliotis, Gram Slattery, Luc Cohen, Jack Queen and Carolina Mandl.Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Nia Williams and Michael Perry)
Texas - A mysterious ailment infiltrated the Texas Panhandle, leaving the agriculture sector in a state of bewilderment until officials discovered what it was.

On Monday, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller disclosed that the United States Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, along with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), confirmed the mysterious disease plaguing the region as a strain of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), commonly referred to as Bird Flu.

According to officials, three dairies in Texas and one in Kansas have tested positive for Bird Flu causing the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) to remain on high alert.

ENVIRONMENT: Global warming on the rise, prompting UN weather agency to issue 'red alert'

"This presents yet another hurdle for our agriculture sector in the Texas Panhandle," Commissioner Miller emphasized. "Protecting Texas producers and the safety of our food supply chain is my top priority. The Texas Department of Agriculture will use every resource available to maintain the high standards of quality and safety that define Texas agriculture."

Texas's state economy gets $50 billion of its earnings from the state's dairy sector and Texas ranks fourth in national milk production.

Cows at a dairy Farm in Cambridge, Wisconsin, US, on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023. Joe Biden wanted a show of strength and found it in a union hall in Wisconsin -- a state Democrats learned the hard way that they can't ignore, and one where the president sent his strongest signal yet of a reelection bid. Photographer: Alex Wroblewski/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The commissioner reassures consumers that dairy products remain unaffected by HPAI due to the pasteurization protocols and other safety measures.

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"There is no threat to the public and there will be no supply shortages," said Commissioner Miller. "No contaminated milk is known to have entered the food chain; it has all been dumped. In the rare event that some affected milk enters the food chain, the pasteurization process will kill the virus."

According to the Texas Department of Agriculture, cattle affected by 'Bird Flu' will exhibit flu-like symptoms such as fever and abnormal milk consistency, such as thick and discolored, leading to a significant reduction in milk production averaging between 10-30 pounds per cow throughout the herd.

Farmers are urged to promptly notify their herd veterinarian if any cattle display symptoms of the condition.

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Texas dairy farms are strongly advised to implement standard biosecurity practices, including limited access to essential personnel, thorough disinfection of incoming and outgoing vehicles, segregation of affected cattle, and disposal of contaminated milk. Furthermore, sanitizing all livestock watering equipment and isolating water sources from potential contamination by waterfowl.

Economic repercussions persist as severely impacted herds may see a staggering 40% decline in milk production for seven to 10 days until symptoms subside. Enhanced biosecurity measures are recommended across dairy facilities nationwide to prevent the disease from spreading any further.

"Unlike affected poultry, I foresee there will be no need to depopulate dairy herds," Miller said. "Cattle are expected to fully recover. The Texas Department of Agriculture is committed to providing unwavering support to our dairy industry."
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT)  After years of financial troubles, Birmingham-Southern College will be closing its doors in May, ending its 100-year legacy in the city.

The private school, which first started as the merger of Southern University and Birmingham College in 1918, will close May 31. The decision was made during a meeting by the BSC Board of Trustees Tuesday.

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There are approximately 700 students enrolled at BSC this semester.

This is a tragic day for the College, our students, our employees, and our alumni, and an outcome so many have worked tirelessly to prevent, BSC Board Chairman Rev. Keith Thompson said in a statement to alumni. We understand the devastating impact this has on each of you, and we will now direct our efforts toward ensuring the smoothest possible transition for everyone involved.

The announcement comes over a year after BSC officials admitted the institution was $38 million in debt. Looking to the Alabama Legislature for help, BSC did not receive any assistance.

The state has no plans to use the taxpayers public funds to bail out a private college, Gov. Kay Iveys spokeswoman Gina Maiola said in a statement last spring.

Nonetheless, Thompson told both alumni and students that the school would remain open as they sought other financial means to keep it afloat. In November, the Birmingham City Council approved a $5 million loan to BSC, contingent that it received support through Alabamas Distressed Institutions of Higher Education Revolving Loan program. However, State Treasurer Young Boozer denied a loan to the school, citing the colleges terrible credit risk.

BSC then sued Boozer over the decision, but lost in court.

This past legislative session, Sen. Jabo Waggoner sponsored a bill to extend a loan to BSC. However, the bill subsequently died on the floor.

MCPSS looking to fill more than 200 positions in Wednesdays career fair

Notable BSC alumni include former New York Times editor-in-chief Howell Raines, former U.S. Sen. Howell Heflin and former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Perry O. Hooper Jr.

This is a developing story.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRG News 5.
A photo of Birmingham-Southern College's campus. (Birmingham-Southern College Communications Department)

Birmingham-Southern College will close on May 31 after a nearly 18-month fight to keep the liberal arts school open.

BSCs Board of Trustees voted to shut the school down after legislative leaders told them that a bill to extend the private school a $30 million loan was unlikely to pass the Alabama House of Representatives.

This is a tragic day for the College, our students, our employees, and our alumni, said Board Chair Rev. Keith D. Thompson in a statement. But it is also a terrible day for Birmingham, for the neighborhoods who have surrounded our campus for more than 100 years, and for Alabama.

BSC faced declining enrollment and poor finances stemming from overbuilding, the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic. It had sought a bridge loan from the Legislature to continue operations.

The school said in a statement that it is making arrangements to maximize credit transfers for students.



We are putting students first, and we will do everything we can to help them find the best place to continue their path to graduation, said Provost Dr. Laura K. Stultz in a statement.

The school said arrangements will be made for a small group of seniors planning to graduate Summer 2024 to finish their degrees. Meetings are scheduled with employees over the next few days.



Natalie Davis, a professor emerita of the college who had been there for 45 years, said Tuesday that she had received a slew of texts from former students.

Its a sad day for the college, she said.

Doug Turner, an alumnus of the school who had been involved in organizing alumni during the 2023 legislative session, said that he doesnt understand how the Legislature could have passed something last year but couldnt support it this year.

I guess that means that you dont really care what your constituents think or you dont think theyre watching, he said.

Ellen Potts, an alumna and executive director of the Tuscaloosa Habitat for Humanity, said that its a sad day for the state of Alabama.

It makes me sad for future generations who will not have access to that kind of quality education, she said.

Birmingham-area leaders expressed sadness and criticized the Legislature for failing to act. Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said in a statement Tuesday that the closing was disappointing and heartbreaking.

Ive stood alongside members of our city council to protect this institution and its proud legacy of shaping leaders, the statement said. Its frustrating that those values were not shared by lawmakers in Montgomery.

U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, released a statement on social media Tuesday that the school meant a lot to many people.

While no one had hoped for this outcome, the failure of state leaders to do their part and provide assistance to BSC is particularly disappointing, she wrote.

Lost in the Legislature

A man speaking at a lectern

Alabama State Treasurer Young Boozer speaks in support of a bill to bring gambling to the state at a meeting of the House Economic Development and Tourism Committee on Feb. 13, 2024 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)

The Legislature last year passed a law to extend a loan to the school. The loan was considered all-but-guaranteed until last fall, when State Treasurer Young Boozer, who oversaw the program, declined to issue it. Boozer cited concerns with the schools long-term stability.

The school filed an unsuccessful lawsuit against the Treasurers Office after the denial.

Boozer wrote in an email Tuesday that I have already made the comments that were needed to be made.

A bill that would have changed administration of the program to the head of the Alabama Commission on Higher Education passed the Senate last month and got out of a House committee last week, but some lawmakers seemed doubtful of its chances.

A message was left Tuesday with Sen. Jabo Waggoner, R-Vestavia Hills, who sponsored the legislation.

Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, who co-sponsored the legislation said he didnt want to give up hope, but said the news was a tragedy that would cost jobs and hurt businesses from the loss of students.

Rep. Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, who chairs the House Ways and Means Education Committee, overseeing the state budget, said Tuesday that the key to the legislation last year was the role of the State Treasurer as the gatekeeper to the program.

Apparently it was the case that removing the treasurer there just wasnt enough support in the House, he said.

Rep. Juandalynn Givan, D-Birmingham, whose district includes the school, said that everything was problematic with the bill and that the exclusion of the treasurer hurt its chances. She said she would never have believed that school was going to close on May 31, saying that the institution was too storied. She said she was very hurt.

Its a sad day for the state of Alabama but certainly for the city of Birmingham, she said. The school is called Birmingham-Southern.

Inside Higher Ed reported that 14 nonprofit four-year colleges closed in 2023, with a 15th essentially shutting down. The schools were mostly small, private, tuition-dependent and had small endowments. Ten of the 15 schools were also religiously affiliated.

The Hechinger Report reported in 2022 that 861 colleges had closed since 2004.

Birmingham-Southern College was founded in 1918 after the merger of Southern University, chartered in 1856, and Birmingham College, founded in 1910.

A message was left with the chair of the Senate education committee, Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur.

Givan, who had predicted last week that the bill would not pass, said that the work for the bill had been focused in the Senate with the sponsor, and there wasnt enough support in the House. She said the right stakeholders had not been involved.

Davis said that she had attended a liberal arts college, and it changed her life. She said that she wanted to do similar things. She said that the school has historically had students from rural communities who use their education to live successful lives, including law and medical school.

I think we were very successful over the years, she said.

Potts said that her family of four were all graduates of the school. She said she thought that a school that produced so many highly educated graduates would be something the state would want to preserve.

At a time when the brain drain of other colleges and universities in this state, of the graduates leaving the state at a time when that is well documented, theres no effort to keep this quality of graduate in state, she said.

Turner said that thousands of graduates who fought for last years bill thought the issue was settled, and that he thought this years bill was moving along until a decision was made, in his words, behind closed doors.

Frankly, we dont have a lot of people covering the Alabama Legislature day to day and maybe we should because theyre really surprised that this is what happened, he said. And I think that it is for those of us who wish to continue investing in our communities, with our presence and our participation, we need to look to our state legislators and say, What happened?

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The post Birmingham-Southern College plans to close after 168 years appeared first on Alabama Reflector.
MEMPHIS, Tenn.  Pamela Moses, an activist who made national headlines when she was sentenced to six years in prison for illegally registering to vote, says she is running for U.S. Senate.

She formally announced her run for a Tennessee U.S. Senate seat while outside the federal courthouse in Nashville Monday afternoon.

She turned in a petition to run as an independent but is asking Republicans and Democrats to support her.

Pamela Moses announces plans to run for Senate

This is the campaign for change, she said. In Tennessee every day we witness tragedies and tragic consequences due to poverty, inequality, and failing education systems. Its time to hear our people.

Some of her platforms include healthcare reform, supporting veteran affairs, mental health support, and criminal justice reform.

This comes after she pleaded guilty in 2015 to felony counts of tampering with evidence and forgery.

Moses admitted to registering to vote despite the felony conviction but said probation officials told her she was eligible to be reinstated. The cases against Moses were later dropped.

Pamela Moses illegal voting trial dropped by DA

Beyond making international headlines following her voting case, she is an activist in the Memphis community and founded the Memphis Chapter of Black Lives Matter.

But there were questions about what political party Moses would pull a petition for.

I did pull a republican petition for this candidacy, she said. I was a Democrat for 30 years but in the interest in the culture shift for which you see here, real people. I have conservative values but I am progressive enough to submit my independent petition because I believe that independence is what this country needs. We need people more focused on the issues and the causes and not the parties.

To appear on the ballot you need 25 valid signatures on your petition.

According to the state, having a felony conviction does not hinder a Tennessee resident from running for U.S. Senate.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
Czechia's initiative to supply artillery shells for Ukraine may deliver as many as 1.5 million rounds, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said in an interview with Bloomberg published on March 26.

Czech President Petr Pavel said in February that Prague had identified 500,000 155 mm shells and 300,000 122 mm shells outside of Europe that could be bought and sent to Ukraine after the necessary funds were allocated to the initiative.

"We can do much more than the initially announced number," Lipavsky told Bloomberg on March 25, saying that the number may be as high as 1.5 million.

A number of countries have thrown their support behind the initiative, pledging hundreds of millions of dollars. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on March 12 that the initiative has already secured the purchase of 300,000 shells and received nonbinding commitments for 200,000 more.

"As we see, it already helps Ukraine to fight better, because they know that they will have a supply of fresh ammunition, which changed their perspective on usage of the current stockpiles," Lipavsky commented.

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Ukraine has been facing increasingly severe ammunition shortages in recent months, contributing to the loss of a key front-line city of Avdiivka in February. The EU has delivered 500,000 shells by March, half of the original pledged number, promising to supply the rest by the end of 2024.

The U.S. provided some artillery rounds in its recent $300 million defense package but additional aid from Washington remains effectively blocked as a $60 billion aid bill remains stuck in Congress.

Lipavsky stressed that Prague's initiative by itself is not enough to cover Kyiv's needs.

While the Czech foreign minister declined to give a timeline for the delivery of the shells, Tomas Pojar, a Czech national security adviser, said earlier that the first batches could be sent to Ukraine as early as June.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba noted that the fulfillment of the initiative is designed for a year, but the earliest shell deliveries to the front line "will not take many months."

Read also: Russian equipment losses in Ukraine surpass 15,000, says Oryx OSINT group

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Some members of Russian President Vladimir Putin's inner circle think that there is no evidence of Ukraine's involvement in the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack outside Moscow, Bloomberg reported on March 26, citing unnamed sources with ties to the Kremlin.

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.

Putin allegedly attended discussions at which Russian officials agreed that there was no link between the terrorists and Kyiv. However, the Kremlin's chief is still "determined to use the tragedy to try to rally Russians behind the war in Ukraine," according to one of Bloomberg's sources.

Hours after the attack, Putin attempted to connect the attack to Kyiv, claiming that the detained suspects planned to flee to Ukraine. Later, he recognized that the terrorist attack "was committed by radical Islamists" but still alleged that Ukraine was to blame without providing evidence.

The White House said there was no indication that Ukraine was behind the Moscow attack.

The news agency's sources claimed that Kremlin officials were "shocked" by the failure of Russian security services to prevent the shooting.

"Almost nobody they know within Russia's political and business elite believes Ukraine was behind the assault," Bloomberg reported, referring to unnamed sources.

Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) called the shooting a "deliberate provocation by Putin's special services." The agency claimed the attack was intended to justify "even tougher" strikes on Ukraine and total mobilization in Russia.

A court in Moscow charged four men, all of whom are citizens of Tajikistan, with committing an act of terrorism on March 24. The next day, the court ordered three more suspects into pre-trial detention for their alleged involvement in the terrorist attack.

Read also: Russias response to terrorist attack, alleged torture of suspects, follows pattern of abuse in Ukraine

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The world-famous American bodybuilder, actor, and politician Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that last Monday he was fitted with a pacemaker after three open-heart surgeries. According to the 76-year-old filmmaker, he has now become even more like his iconic Terminator character, as he has a "machine part."

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As you know, the former governor of California first underwent open-heart surgery to replace a pulmonary valve in 1997. He was forced to repeat similar interventions in 2018, and in 2020, the actor underwent a similar operation to replace his aortic valve. Now he has been fitted with a pacemaker, reports the Daily Mail.

"Last Monday, I had surgery to become a little more of a machine: I got a pacemaker. I have to tell you that me telling you this goes against my upbringing in Austria, where no one ever talked about medical problems. Everything related to healthcare was kept to yourself. But I received so many messages and letters from people who were born with a bicuspid aortic valve, just like me. They told me that talking about my valve replacement surgery gave them the courage and hope to cope with their problems," Schwarzenegger said.

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The "Terminator", who has had a heart defect since birth, was quick to reassure his fans that he was feeling very well. Last Monday, the movie star was fitted with a pacemaker, and on Friday he attended a major environmental event with his friend and fitness colleague Jane Fonda.

However, Schwarzenegger is still upset about something: he will have to take a break from his workouts, which he hasn't stopped despite his advanced age.

The actor also shared his thoughts on the installation of a pacemaker: "My doctors advised me that it was time to go through with it because some scar tissue from a previous surgery made my heartbeat irregular. This had been the case for several years, so I kept in touch with my medical team and visited the doctors at least once a year to get a full checkup and find out how my heart was doing."

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After his next surgery in 2020, Schwarzenegger admitted that he was preparing to get a pacemaker. Doctors then told him that he should "keep his finger on the pulse" and monitor his condition.

As the actor himself explained, when the aortic valve doesn't work properly, "it can obstruct blood flow and make the heart work harder to send blood to the rest of the body."

"That's life with a genetic heart defect. But you won't hear me complaining," the "Terminator" bravely commented.

As OBOZ.UA wrote, Arnold Schwarzenegger condemned Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine back in March 2022. And not so long ago, he again mentioned our country by reposting a Ukrainian post.

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Boeings top executive leader announced he will step down at the end of 2024 as the company faces scrutiny over its safety procedures.

Dave Calhoun, president and chief executive officer of Boeing, has been leading the company since January of 2020.

He was hired when the company had been facing the fallout from two fatal plane crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed more than 340 people.

And most recently, a door plug that blew out on an Alaska Airlines 737 Max, which left a hole on the side of the plane midflight.

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 companys website said.

Boeings website shared a statement from Calhoun.

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.

KIRO 7 News reached out to Boeing to request an interview with Calhoun. A spokesperson declined our request.

We also asked for more details, including if the company will search internally and/or externally for their next candidate, the companys timeline, and the specific qualifications Boeing is searching for in their next top executive.

We did not get any answers.

The next candidate will mark Boeings 13th chief executive officer since 1916.

OTHER LEADERSHIP CHANGES:

Board Chair Larry Kellner also announced that he will not stand for re-election at the upcoming Annual Shareholder meeting, the company said.

He has served on Boeings board for 13 years and as the boards chair since late 2019.

Boeing plays an essential role in our world, and serving this company, and our people, has been a true honor, Kellner said in a statement on the companys website. After over a decade on the board and several years as its chair, I have been considering the right time for a transition of leadership on our board, and have been discussing that subject with Dave and the board in conjunction with Daves own planning about his succession timeframe. I want to thank Dave for his tremendous leadership of our company, and I know he will finish the job this year that he started in 2020 to position Boeing, and our employees, for a stronger future. With Daves decision to step down as CEO at the end of this year, now is the right time for a transition to my successor. 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. With a strong board, an excellent management team and 170,000 dedicated Boeing employees, I am fully confident in our companys future.

The board has elected Steve Mollenkopf to replace Kellner as independent board Chair. He will lead the boards process of selecting the companys next CEO, the company added.

I am honored and humbled to step into this new role, Mollenkopf said in a statement on the companys website. 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.

Stan Deal, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, will also retire from Boeing, the company said. Stephanie Pope, the companys chief operating officer, who was hired for the role in January of 2024, has been appointed to lead BCA, effective Monday.

WORKERS:

KIRO 7 News spoke with several workers near the Renton Boeing Plant Monday.

A number of workers said they did not want to be identified due to fear of retaliation from the company.

One man said he is planning to retire soon in large part because of the companys current culture and lack of leadership.

He was not surprised by Calhouns announcement, he shared.

Just no leadership anymore, he said. Just kind of expected it sooner, but I think everyone is looking and saying, well because leadership isnt here anymore.

KIRO 7 News asked him about the companys culture over the recent years.

Its kind of a change, but not for the good, he responded. The whole culture changed.

The company is not like it used to be. It doesnt care about the workers anymore, he added. Years ago, it used to be all about safety. Now I think its been forgotten about.

He said people are Just doing whatever it takes to get by.

However, a couple of other workers told KIRO 7 News off camera that they do not feel the pressure or heat from management as their team chemistry is healthy.

INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS (IAM) DISTRICT 751:

KIRO 7 News reached out to the International Association of Machinists (IAM) District 751 to request an interview with President Jon Holden, who has been fighting for an increase in workers pay.

Full contract negotiations are currently underway for the machinists union for the first time in 16 years.

A spokesperson declined our interview request, but shared the following statement:

We are looking to see a leader who will prioritize the importance of the quality and safety of the production system and a leader with a strong vision for the future that includes the IAM, our communities, and the foundation of the manufacturing process. Our livelihoods are at stake, and thats precisely why we are seeking a seat on the board. We firmly believe our voice and the voice of the engineers must be heard at the highest level of the companys decision-making process. The safety of aircraft manufacturing isnt negotiable and must be safeguarded above all else. We are committed to instilling a culture where the safety of aircraft production is an absolute imperative over anything else, Jon Holden, IAM District 751 President and Directing Business Representative, wrote.

AVIATION EXPERT:

KIRO 7 News also spoke with Scott Hamilton, who has been working within the aviation field for decades, about the shakeup at Boeing.

It was expected. It was a matter of when, not if. And the same goes for departure of Stan Deal, the CEO of Commercial Airplanes, which is of course, the big assembly plant in Renton, he said. David Calhoun takes over in January of 2020. He makes a lot of announcements how Boeing is going to improve its safety culture, and here we are four years later, and the problems have not improved.

While the companys top executive role is expected see changes, Hamilton said the board must also do its part if the company truly wants to address concerns around safety.

I do think that theres more change needed, he shared. If Boeing really believes safety is the number one priority, lets take some of that $62 billion in stockholder buybacks that has been spent since the McDonnell Douglas merger since 1997, and dedicate that to safety being the number one priority, and Boeing has not done that.

Unfortunately for Boeing, and airlines and others, we have heard the phrase, safety is our number one priority so much that it has lost its meaning. Its time to put meaning back into that cliche, he added.

We shared Holdens statement with Hamilton to get his thoughts on his remarks.

I fully concur with the statement of the IAM. I fully support they get representation on the board, he said. Still to this day, they dont have someone from the Puget Sound area, which represents Boeings largest commercial business unit on the board of directors.

I just find that very bizarre, he said.
Semafor Signals

Insights from O Globo, The Harvard Gazette, the Associated Press

The News

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro hid for two nights at the Hungarian embassy in Brasilia after prosecutors seized his passport during a criminal investigation into his attempts to overturn the 2022 presidential election, according to a New York Times investigation.

Days after two of the former presidents aides were arrested and as investigators appeared to be closing in, Bolsonaro entered the embassy on February 12 in an apparent bid for asylum, the paper said citing security camera footage, adding that it is unclear why he left.

Bolsonaro confirmed his stay at the embassy, telling Brazils Metropoles news site: 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.

Brazilian investigators would not have the power to arrest the former president inside an embassy, as they are legally off-limits to the authorities.

Bolsonaro has long considered Hungarys fellow far-right leader, Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a key European ally.

His lawyers later said he was at the embassy to speak with numerous authorities of the friendly country" and denied the visit was related to the investigation, Bloomberg reported.

Brazils former president, who faces a string of criminal investigations  said prior to his election defeat in 2022 that he saw only three possible futures for himself: prison, death or victory.

SIGNALS

Semafor Signals: Global insights on today's biggest stories.

Will embassy stay lead to Bolsonaros arrest?

Source: O Globo

Bolsonaros apparent decision to hide out at the Hungarian embassy following his passport seizure could, in theory, precipitate a preventive arrest of the former president if courts agree that he is actively attempting to evade legal proceedings, journalist Vera Magalhaes wrote for O Globo. However, Magalhaes said it is unlikely for the Supreme Federal Court Justice overseeing Bolsonaros election subversion case to adopt more severe measures at this time. The judge, Alexandre de Moraes, has worked hard to brand himself as an impartial judge immune from Bolsonaro and his supporters conspiracy attacks over him being unfairly prosecuted, she wrote.

Brazils powerful judiciary must seek to protect democracy without subverting it

Source: The Harvard Gazette

Brazil rewrote its constitution in 1988 after years of a brutal military dictatorship, and the countrys judiciary was purposely made powerful enough to counterbalance both the Congress and the executive and build institutions that can react to threats to democracy, according to former Brazilian judge and Harvard legal scholar Jean Vilbert. In June, Brazils electoral court barred Bolsonaro from seeking office until 2030 after he claimed the election was stolen and that electronic voting machines were rigged, leading supporters to storm the countrys Congress in January 2023. The court found Bolsonaro violated a law which states that candidates must protect the valuers of probity and morality, Vilbert told The Harvard Gazette, adding that the judges are stretching their interpretation of the laws, and they might be doing it in an attempt to protect our young democracy. The controversial decision is now the subject of debate by the Brazilian public: whether it is democratic for non-elected justices to determine who is eligible to be on the ballot.

Revelations come as embassy refuge-seeker Julian Assange faces US extradition decision

Source: Associated Press

Details of Bolsonaros stint in the Hungarian embassy emerged as Wikileaks founder Julian Assange this week faces a judgment from the British High Court on whether can appeal his extradition to the United States on espionage charges. Perhaps the worlds most famous embassy refuge-seeker, Assange fled to the Ecuadorian embassy in London in 2012 and lived there for nearly seven years to avoid arrest for sexual assault charges in Sweden that he claimed were false and leaking classified U.S. military documents that revealed controversial military operations in the Middle East. Assanges time in the embassy led him to be hailed as a hero by some and a coward by others. Ecuador initially welcomed Assange, with former president Rafael Correa saying he could stay as long as he liked. However, the South American countrys relationship with its famous houseguest later turned strained, with later President Lenin Moreno accusing Wikileaks of being behind threats and leaks against him, and the embassy eventually expelled Assange in 2019.
Iowas food landscape can become like Italys  if the barons who captured the American farmstand can be defeated, a new book argues.

Barons, published Tuesday by Austin Frerick, a native Iowan and Yale University food policy fellow, argues that a runaway process of monopoly has gutted rural America while bleeding the taste from American food.

In the book, Frerick tells the story of the consolidation of American agriculture since the 1970s through the rise of seven baronial families that rose to dominate entire sectors of a once-diversified American food system.

The subjects of these agricultural sagas range from the Waltons conquest of the grocery market, in which Walmart now has the same market share as the second- through eighth-largest grocery chains combined; to the Cargill-MacMillan familys consolidation of a quarter of the grain market; to the McCloskey familys commanding position in dairy.

Frerick told The Hill this consolidation of the market has led to a collapse in American consumer choice. To take one example of many, the Reimann family of Germany  which employs 180,000 workers globally  now owns virtually every American coffee chain aside from Starbucks and Dunkin: Peets Coffee, Caribou Coffee, Einstein Bros. Bagels, Pret A Manger, Panera Bread, Stumptown Coffee Roasters, Intelligentsia Coffee, Green Mountain Coffee, Trade Coffee and Keurig.

The Hill has reached out to the above companies for comment.

In addition to its impacts in strip malls around the country, this market change has led to a staggering change in American landscapes, Frerick argues in Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of Americas Food Industry.

Rather than todays Walmarts and factory farms, a driver crisscrossing the country in the mid-1980s would have passed through a landscape of small farms.

In what is now the corn, soy and hog country of Iowa, for example, they would have passed cows grazing on the landscape, and in late summer could have smelled the states once-extensive apple orchards.

Now that landscape is marked by the sight and penetrating smell of vast hog barns, where tens of thousands of pigs are kept in close confinement  amid hectares of corn and soy intended for biofuels.

Frerick told The Hill that consolidation has left Americans with food that is more expensive and less nourishing than in any other developed country.

Thats a change that he argued has led to an underappreciated collapse in taste, as American food has become ever more curated for features that make it transportable across long distances  rather than taste or nutrition.

This is dark  and I think most people know it, Frerick said, Anytime you talk to Americans who go abroad, theyll tell you: Food is better and cheaper abroad. Italians have cheaper, better food than we do.

To Frerick, Italy is a model for what Iowa could have been  and might still become. The Midwestern state boasts some of the countrys richest farmland: thick, nourishing black earth plowed and fertilized by the slow, implacable ice sheets that once covered the northern U.S.

In 1982, that land nourished a great deal of corn  but it also held more than 12,000 acres of vegetables, a number that had plunged to 7,500 by 2022, according to the Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Over the past 30 years, the number of farms in Iowa fell by 25 percent, and surviving farms increased in size by 30 percent  part of a broader hollowing out of rural America that The Hill has previously reported on.

Between just 2017 and 2022, the number of U.S. farms dropped by 142,000. The one category of farm that didnt decline was those that encompassed more than 5,000 acres.

Three-quarters of American farm income now comes from operations that make than $1 million in annual sales, according to the USDA.

It all fell apart in my lifetime in Iowa, Frerick said. As he got into food policy, he was haunted by a question: How did the animals disappear from the landscape in Iowa?

That question, he gradually concluded, was related to another one: How did a hog baron become the largest political donor in our state?

The farmer in question is Jeff Hansen, who with his wife Deb expanded a tiny three-sow hog business to become one of the nations key players in the consolidation of the hog market  bringing to pig farming the techniques that helped consolidate the chicken business in the 1990s.

That change has corresponded to a dramatic shift in the agricultural geography of Iowa; since 1992, the states factory farm-based pig population has increased more than 50 percent while the number of hog farms has declined by over 80 percent, Frerick writes.

Hogs now outnumber Iowans 7 to 1 and produce more manure than the human populations of California, Texas and Illinois combined, he writes.

Representatives of Iowa Select, the Hansens company, argue thats a good thing: Much of that manure is spread on Iowa farmland as fertilizer, which replaces the synthetic fertilizers that have to be generated with fossil fuels. A company-commissioned study found that farms treated with hog manure had less erosion, better soil health and higher profits than those that werent.

The companies involvement in Iowa has kept thousands of Iowans involved in agriculture and farming, Iowa Select communications director Jen Sorenson told The Hill.

I would also point out that as our rural communities continue to decline in population, those with livestock farms decline at a slower rate.

But the question of best practices in manure management is part of a broader problem of who gets to regulate the farm stand, University of Iowa professor Chris Jones has written.

Iowas approach to agricultural water pollution has always been to let farmers decide whether and how to reduce the contaminants sourced to their own fields, Jones wrote.

Some of these voluntary methods do work, Jones wrote. But they contrast to an approach based on regulations  which would force farmers to adopt best practices shown to improve water quality, and which large agribusinesses have campaigned to weaken.

To Frerick, this lopsided relationship between big producers and the public isnt restricted to Iowa: It helps explain the transformation of the food system in California, the Great Lakes, the Southeast and beyond from being marked by small farmers to being increasingly dominated by what, in other countries, might be called oligarchs  single families presiding over vast holdings that are often worked by undocumented immigrant labor.

This consolidation has drawn together unlikely bedfellows on the progressive left and populist right  uniting groups such as The Heritage Foundation and ThinkProgress behind the idea that the farm bill needs to be drastically reimagined, if not torn up.

Its this weird issue where you have Elizabeth Warren and Josh Hawley on the same issue, Frerick said, referring to the Democratic senator from Massachusetts and the Republican senator from Missouri, respectively.

Thats a political pinata saying, Hit me! Hit me!

But opposing this drive for reform is a decades-old political consensus that is equally bipartisan and far more entrenched  a coalition of Republicans and Democrats who over the past half century reshaped the massive farm bill omnibus and paved the way for the rise of the barons.

That process began under Presidents Nixon and Reagan, as conservative legal theorists including Robert Bork pushed through a novel idea: that regional monopolies were not harmful as long as they didnt raise prices for consumers. A generation of conservative judges took it as read that companies would not do so.

At the time, if a big company puts a small company out of business as a result of anti-competitive action, but as a net result the consumer has a lower prices available, [courts ruled] thats not anti-competitive, Alex Harman of Public Citizen told The Hill in 2021.

But the other dramatic change came under a Democratic administration. In 1996, President Clinton presided over the passage of what Frerick calls the Wall Street Farm Bill.

Top Stories from The Hill

In that legislation, Congress drastically altered the thrust of the farm safety net, which had been designed after the Dust Bowl and Great Depression to guard the nations farmers from the result of the overproduction of commodities. The bill replaced old farm bill protocols that had sought to control production with measures designed to support production while juicing demand to absorb it.

The same year, Congress also elected to underwrite crop insurance for commodity crops such as corn, but not for specialty crops  a category largely comprised of the fruits and vegetables most people eat.

Between 2017 and 2022, Congress gave commodity crops $142 billion in insurance payments and supplemental disaster assistance, according to a new report from the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.

Report author Billy Hackett told The Hill that this money has disproportionately gone to shield Americas biggest landowners from rising climate risk.

Hackett told The Hill that this dynamic means that taxpayers are in effect being forced to subsidize these farmers decision not to transition to more diversified and sustainable forms of agriculture.

These measures have also led to an America awash in the kinds of cheap processed foods that can make use of derivative products such as high fructose corn syrup, Frerick said, noting this has had serious implications for the nations public health.

Thats a consequence of the overproduction of grain  processed food gets less expensive to produce, he said.

The result, he said, is that we have a bifurcated food system; it takes money to be healthy in America now, Frerick said. It says a lot that Iowa has some of the worlds best soil  and some of the highest obesity and cancer rates. The state ranks No. 2 for incidence of cancer and has the fastest growing rate of new cancer, according to an investigation by The Gazette.

Frerick argues that to address those issues, the federal government should strip the USDA for parts, and give the antitrust authority to the Federal Trade Commission, whose Biden-appointed Commissioner Lina Khan has been aggressive in fighting monopolies, including by detonating a proposed merger Albertsons and Kroger in February.

Second, Frerick thinks Congress should end the Farm Bill and the entitlement programs as we know it  starting with crop insurance. Thats already blowing up within the Republican Party, and a coalition could be formed to sunset that program.

Finally, he said, lets get animals back on the land.

Asked what individuals can do, Frederick offered some suggestions: lobby local school districts and other public-sector interests to procure their food from local farms; spend to support places that you think do it right.

But he argued forcefully against the idea that individual decisions could pull America back from what he sees as a systemic problem. Im very conscious of the fact that my husband and I have the income to buy our values,' he said.

At the end of the day, my goal is to improve the food quality at Dollar General.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The Fort Point Neighborhood Association has been pushing city leaders for years to make their streets and sidewalks safer for both drivers and pedestrians in Boston.

Some sidewalks are uneven and too narrow for pedestrians, especially for those using mobility devices.

The call for change is even more urgent now that a four-year-old girl was just killed Sunday after she was hit by a car.

People have started leaving flowers at the spot where she died by Congress and Sleeper Streets.

I saw them give CPR to a little 4-year-old girl. It was bad. It was really bad, said John Pellecchia, who witnessed the accident.

Police say the driver of the pickup truck who hit the girl stayed on scene and so far, no charges have been filed.

Pellecchia says he cant stop thinking about this little girl and her mother.

She was holding the baby, she was holding the baby like this. She was screeching. It was just, just ungodly, said Pellecchia. I looked at the baby and I couldnt recognize anything, It was horrible.

The Fort Point Neighborhood Association will be getting an update from city leaders about the improvement project for this area at their meeting Tuesday night.

According to the city of Bostons website, the project will include:

Significantly wider, saw-cut concrete sidewalks on both sides of the street

New crosswalks on Congress Street and raised crosswalks over Sleeper, Farnsworth, and Stillings Streets

street-light upgrades

Plus there are a few other improvements planned for the area.

The meeting will take place on Zoom Tuesday at 6 p.m.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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BOTETOURT COUNTY, Va. (WFXR) The Botetourt County Sheriffs Office is warning the community of solicitor scams involving home improvement.

Deputies say groups normally travel to the area from South Carolina and Georgia. They go door-to-door soliciting businesses or residents in groups of two or more. The scammers will offer home improvement services including driveway paving, sealing, and roof barn painting.

What may sound like a great deal is often times not. They tend to target the elderly and at some point, they will distract the homeowner so another member of their crew can steal items of value within the home, posted the Botetourt County Sheriffs Office on Facebook.

City, police warns residents of scams circling Roanoke

As a result, deputies are encouraging residents to:

Only do business with people you know or people that you have contacted after researching their reputations. Reputable contractors will rarely sell door-to-door.

Do not trust claims of having leftover asphalt from another job. Reputable asphalt contractors will know with certain accuracy how much asphalt is needed for a job with little to no asphalt leftover.

Be cautious with deals that seem to good to be true with quoted prices unreasonably low for the job. Chances are the quality of work will also be low.

Never let anyone in your home unsupervised  it is common for a scammer to ask to use restroom, a drink or come in to take measurements.

According to the Sheriffs Office, in the county, a person soliciting business must have a Sheriffs Office-issued Solicitors Permit that includes their photograph. If a solicitor knocks at your door ask for the permit.

If they do not have a valid permit ask them to leave and call the Botetourt County Emergency Communications Center non-emergency at 540-473-8631 to report the violation.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFXRtv.
The Scoop

Rep. Jamaal Bowman thinks its time to break up Israel and Ukraine aid.

In a new video set to be released this week, the progressive Democrat from New York says hes opposed to the Senates $95 billion foreign aid bill, which combines support for the two countries, due to Israels conduct in Gaza.

We cannot stand by and allow children to be bombed, to die of starvation, or to see their entire families wiped out, he says, according to a partial transcript shared with Semafor. We must withdraw our material support, not increase it. That is why I cannot support the Senates aid bill, and why we need a standalone vote on Ukraine funding.

Bowman isnt alone. In recent weeks, a number of top progressives have suggested they would not join a discharge petition to force a vote on the Senate bill, which is currently stalled in the House, over their concerns about Israel. Im a no if its got Israel aid, Congressional Progressive Caucus Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal told CNN. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-N.Y. similarly told Axios earlier this month she was a no right now.

I keep saying to the administration, give us a standalone on Ukraine, Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill. told Semafor last week. When youre tying it to Netanyahu because thats who youre giving it to, to continue to kill families and children and Israel, it makes it impossible for me to be able to sign that discharge petition.

Know More

House Speaker Mike Johnson has repeatedly floated the idea of bifurcating Israel and Ukraine aid, ostensibly to satisfy conservatives skeptical of giving aid to Kyiv. As recently as this month, he told Politico it was still possible he would try to pass support using two separate bills.

Democrats have largely resisted the idea, and voted down a recent standalone Israel bill in the House. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has called the Senate-passed bill the only way forward on Israel and Ukraine.

Kadias view

The comments by Bowman, who is facing a primary challenge over his criticisms of Israel, and other progressives show that theres now a left-right coalition that would favor separating the aid packages. Whether that group is large enough to determine the final shape of what makes it to the floor is unclear.

Whats certain is that many Democrats are feeling increasingly ill at ease over giving no-strings-attached money to Israel.

Im for defense of Israeli civilians, Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas told Semafor. Im for humanitarian assistance in Gaza. Im for funding for Ukraine. Its just the offensive Israeli weapons being used in Gaza that I have real concerns with.
Suella Braverman is set to appear alongside controversial Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban at a major conservative conference next month.

The former home secretary has been announced as a keynote speaker at next months National Conservatism (NatCon) gathering in Belgium alongside the hard-Right Hungarian leader.

Mr Orban, Vladimir Putins closest ally in Europe, has blocked European Union funding for Ukraine during the war and has spoken out against Russian sanctions.

He has been a fierce critic of the EU and the bloc has in the past frozen funding to Hungary in an attempt to force reform, accusing Mr Orban of cracking down on gay rights and press freedom.

The Hungarian PM spoke to Foreign Secretary David Cameron over the phone in January while French President Emmanuel Macron hosted him at a dinner before a crucial EU summit on Ukraine in December.

Mrs Braverman, who left the Home Office last November, risks causing a similar political storm for the Tory party by appearing alongside the controversial European figure.

Layla Moran, the foreign affairs spokesman for the Liberal Democrats, accused Mrs Braverman of sharing a platform with a far-Right authoritarian.

She added: No politician should be sharing the stage with an ally of Vladimir Putin as he carries out his barbaric invasion of Ukraine.

Ms Moran said that it was staggering that a former home secretary would think that this is the right thing to do.

An ally of Mrs Braverman told The Telegraph: MP speaks at same event as another EU leader.

Mr Orban has blocked EU funding for Ukraine and has spoken out against Russian sanctions - Emin Sansar/Anadolu via Getty Images

NatCon organisers said that its aim is strengthening the principles of national conservatism in Western and other democratic countries, particularly ahead of EU parliamentary elections this year.

Last years conference took place in London and featured prominent Conservative MPs, including Jacob Rees-Mogg, the former business secretary, and Miriam Cates, MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge.

Mrs Braverman, who was then still in the Cabinet, had her speech interrupted by two members of the activist group Extinction Rebellion.

This year, she is the only British MP listed to be speaking at the event.

Mr Orban appeared at the 2020 NatCon event in Rome, which was also headlined by Giorgia Meloni, two years before she became leader of Italy.

Daniel Kawczynski, a Tory MP, was formally reprimanded by the Conservative Party for appearing at the 2020 conference with Mr Orban, and was forced to apologise.

At the time, the Conservative Party said that Mr Kawczynski had been formally warned that his attendance at this event was not acceptable, particularly in light of the views of some of those in attendance.

The event organiser said that NatCon brings together those who understand that the past and future of conservatism are inextricably tied to the idea of the nation, to the principle of national independence, and to the revival of the unique national traditions that alone have the power to bind a people together and bring about their flourishing.

It added: The challenges to national sovereignty posed by the EUs drive towards ever-closer union create a unique opportunity for political conservatism to present an alternative vision for Europe.

Last month Liz Truss, the former prime minister, spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference in the US, with the event also featuring former president Donald Trump and his ex-advisor Steve Bannon.

Ms Truss came under fire for comments she made at the conference, including claiming that her efforts to cut taxes were sabotaged by the deep state.

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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  Get ready to pack your bags. Breeze Airways announced it is adding two more nonstop routes from Tampa International Airport.

The new flights will allow passengers to visit Pensacola, Florida and Bangor, Maine with nonstop service. The Pensacola flight will start in June and the Bangor flight will start in October.

According to Breeze, flights to Pensacola start at $49 for one-way tickets. One-way tickets to Bangor start at $99.

Florida 7-Eleven sells Powerball ticket worth $1 million

Were elated to add this first-ever nonstop service to Bangor, another great Maine destination Breeze Airways is offering after launching its successful route to Portland in 2023, said Joe Lopano, CEO of Tampa International Airport. Combined with a new route to Pensacola, Breeze continues to grow its network and bring exciting, new connections for our TPA travelers.

Breeze Airways previously announced three other nonstop routes from Tampa. They include Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina and Orange County, California.

The airline will now offer 23 nonstop destinations from Tampa and two BreezeThru stops.

Here is when each of Breezes new routes starts:

Destination Start date Frequency Myrtle Beach, South Carolina May 10 Fridays and Sundays Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina May 10 Mondays and Fridays (seasonal) Orange County, California May 31 Mondays and Fridays (summer seasonal) Pensacola, Florida June 28 Mondays and Fridays Bangor, Maine Oct. 4 Mondays and Fridays

Were thrilled to announce two more routes to our expanding network from Tampa, now at 23 destinations, said Breeze Airways President Tom Doxey. With Breezes added convenience and affordability, our business model continues to see success in cities across the country like Tampa.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
In Portsmouth, the traffic wardens will soon be sent out in cars so that they can harvest more fines in a shorter space of time. Dozens more local authorities now have the power to punish you for straying into a bus lane or a box junction. Meanwhile, HMRC fined a record number of people for missing their self-assessment deadline this year, while the punishments dished out by the tax office are rising by up to 25pc annually.

The UK is developing a fine culture, with an increasingly bankrupt state using levies in a desperate attempt to sustain its profligacy. The trouble is, we cant fine ourselves back to solvency. All we will do is erode respect for the law, as ordinary people feel they are being punished simply for going about their business, and allow politicians and officials to duck serious questions around what the state can afford.

Our roads are littered with potholes, trains dont run on time, its nigh on impossible to get a GP appointment and tax helplines may be unmanned for half the year. Still, there is one arm of the state that is working harder and more efficiently than ever: the penalty charge unit.

Only last week, we learned that one local authority will soon be sending traffic wardens out in their own cars  although presumably they wont ever actually try to park them  so that they can detect more offences per hour worked. Dozens more councils have applied for permission to fine drivers for infractions including driving in a bus lane, with more than half of motorists now in areas where councils can enforce the fines instead of the police.

HMRC hit a record 1.1 million people with a late charge, raising over 100m for the Treasury, a 10pc rise over the year. Many of them didnt even owe any tax, but frozen thresholds mean they still have to get their heads around a new form, on penalty of a fine if they dont.

Meanwhile, the accountants UHY Hacker Young reported in January that the value of HMRC tax penalties rose by around a quarter last year, hitting a total of 850m. It included, for example, one small business that was fined 140,000 because it lost its HMRC account password.

It doesnt stop there. Data rules are yielding a rising amount of penalty income, with the Information Commissioners Office fining British Airways 20m in 2020 and TikTok 12m last year. Complex employment legislation is playing its part, with 200 companies fined a total of more than 7m last year for failing to comply with minimum wage legislation.

Of course, people need to play by the rules but we have shifted from a society and economy where there is some leeway, where the rules seem fair, to one where individuals and businesses are increasingly viewed by officials as cash cows to be milked.

Consider the boiler tax, now scrapped by the Tories: it would have seen plumbers fined for not installing enough heat pumps regardless of market demand. And the Conservative governments ZEV mandate, where car manufacturers may be penalised for failing to sell enough zero emissions vehicles, even though it is hardly their fault if people dont want them.

The list goes on and on. The growing number of cash-strapped local councils have little choice but to impose more and more penalty changes to plug the vast holes which mismanagement have blown in their budgets. Along with hiking taxes  bills for the typical band D home will exceed 2,500 in four local authorities from April 2024  fines can be a rich revenue stream.

Likewise, bodies such as HMRC see fines as an easy win, and many quangos assume that handing out a few million in penalties every year means they are getting tough and cracking down on whoever they are meant to be regulating. Never does it seem to occur to officials that they might be able to reduce their own spending.

There is a very real risk we are starting to follow the EU, which imposes mega-fines of Apple and Amazon partly to fill its budget. Over the last few years, fines have played an increasingly important role in its finances with, to take one example, a 50pc year-on-year rise in penalties for breaching the ludicrously complex GDPR rules, and with data rules alone now raising 1.6bn (1.4bn) a year for the Brussels bureaucrats, far more than some EU members contribute on net.

The trouble is, that is a terrible way to raise revenue. First, the fines are often capricious and unfair. They are imposed by poorly trained staff, often because they have to reach a target, and it is usually impossible to appeal against them, or even if you can, it is an immensely time-consuming  or even expensive  endeavour.

Next, the revenues are unpredictable. Even the brainiacs at the Office For Budget Responsibility find it virtually impossible to forecast tax revenues from one quarter to the next. Fine revenues are even harder.

Third, it undermines respect for the rule of law. As we write out the cheque, most of us suspect that the fine was imposed unfairly, mainly to squeeze some cash out of innocent people who may have done nothing more than misread a traffic sign or type in a number plate incorrectly.

Finally, and perhaps worst of all, it creates the incentive not for the state and its various bodies to reduce spending, but to find ever more ways of squeezing money out of the beleaguered taxpayer. That doesnt feel like justice so much as a shake-down.

This country urgently needs to have a serious conversation about how it controls the size of the state, and how the revenue will be raised to pay for it. In truth, we cant just fine our way back to solvency  and we will only make the whole mess even worse by trying to do so.

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The British High Court on Tuesday ruled that the U.S. cannot extradite Wikileaks founder Julian Assange on espionage charges unless American officials assure that he will not face the death penalty for his alleged crimes and will receive First Amendment protections.

"If assurances are not given then we will grant leave to appeal without a further hearing," Judge Victoria Sharp said. "If assurances are given then we will give the parties an opportunity to make further submissions before we make a final decision on the application for leave to appeal."

Judges Sharp and Jeremy Johnson said the U.S. must afford Assange, a 52-year-old Australian national, "the same First Amendment protections as a United States citizen and that the death penalty is not imposed."

The ruling gives the U.S. three weeks to provide assurances that would address these grounds. If the U.S. declines to give the assurances, the court will grant Assange the right to appeal his extradition on these grounds. But if assurances are given, there will be a hearing on May 20 to determine if the assurances are sufficient and to give a final ruling on whether Assange will be allowed to appeal.

If the British court ultimately rules in favor of extradition to the U.S., Assange's only remaining option would be at the European Court of Human Rights .

REP. MASSIE BRINGING JULIAN ASSANGE'S BROTHER AS GUEST TO STATE OF THE UNION

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Julian Assange on his arrival at Westminster Magistrates court in the U.K. on April 11, 2019. A group of lawmakers has called for U.S. charges against him to be dropped.

The judges rejected most of Assanges appeals  six of nine he lodged, including allegations that his prosecution is political. The judges dismissed his claim, saying that while he "acted out of political conviction it does not follow, however, that the request for his extradition is made on account of his political views."

"Extradition would result in him being lawfully in the custody of the United States authorities, and the reasons (if they can be called that) for rendition or kidnap or assassination then fall away," the ruling said, also avoiding concerns about an alleged CIA plot to kidnap or kill Assange while he remained hunkered down in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Assange's lawyers for comment on Tuesday's ruling.

Assange has been held at London's high-security Belmarsh Prison since he was removed from the Ecuadorian Embassy on April 11, 2019, for breaching bail conditions. He had sought asylum at the embassy since 2012 to avoid being sent to Sweden over allegations he raped two women because Sweden would not provide assurances it would protect him from extradition to the U.S. The investigations into the sexual assault allegations were eventually dropped.

"Julian still remains imprisoned in very harsh conditions with rapidly deteriorating physical and mental health," Gabriel Shipton, Assange's brother, told Fox News Digital. "Today's announcement represents the extension of this long and arduous thirteen-year process to have Julian released and returned home to Australia, and we are very concerned at the prospect of him being extradited to the U.S."

"This has gone on long enough. There are no benefits served in Julian's continual incarceration, and we hope for a diplomatic solution to be reached swiftly," he continued.

The Australian publisher faces 17 counts under the Espionage Act for allegedly receiving, possessing and communicating classified information to the public, as well as one charge alleging conspiracy to commit computer intrusion. If extradited, Assange would stand trial in Alexandria, Virginia, and could face up to 175 years in a maximum security prison if convicted.

The charges were brought by the Trump administration's Justice Department over WikiLeaks' 2010 publication of cables leaked by U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning.

The information detailed alleged war crimes committed by the U.S. government in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detention camp, as well as instances of the CIA engaging in torture and rendition.

UK HIGH COURT HEARS ARGUMENTS IN ASSANGE'S US EXTRADITION CASE WITHOUT HIM PRESENT DUE TO HEALTH REASONS

The Obama administration in 2013 decided not to indict Assange over WikiLeaks' 2010 publication of classified cables because it would have had to also indict journalists from major news outlets who published the same materials.

President Obama also commuted Mannings 35-year sentence for violations of the Espionage Act and other offenses to seven years in January 2017, and Manning, who had been imprisoned since 2010, was released later that year.

But the Justice Department under President Trump later moved to indict Assange under the Espionage Act, and the Biden administration has continued to pursue his prosecution.

BIPARTISAN CONGRESSIONAL RESOLUTION CALLS ON US OFFICIALS TO DROP CHARGES AGAINST ASSANGE

A U.K. district court judge rejected the U.S. extradition request in 2021 on the grounds that Assange was likely to kill himself if held under harsh U.S. prison conditions. Higher courts overturned that decision after getting assurances from the U.S. about his treatment.

"My concerns about the precarious mental health of Julian Assange and his unfitness to be extradited, as well as the potential for him to receive a wholly disproportionate sentence in the United States, have not been assuaged by the court," Alice Edwards, U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture, said in a statement Tuesday. "It is regrettable that the Court did not comprehensively address the possibility of a disproportionate penalty for Mr. Assange in the US, of up to 175 years and likely no less than 30 years; or the potential that he would likely be held in ongoing solitary confinement  either of these could amount to inhuman treatment."

"It is regrettable that the Court did not comprehensively address the possibility of a disproportionate penalty for Mr. Assange in the U.S., of up to 175 years and likely no less than 30 years; or the potential that he would likely be held in ongoing solitary confinement  either of these could amount to inhuman treatment," she continued.

The Justice Department and the State Department declined to comment to Fox News Digital. State Department spokesperson Mathew Miller also declined to comment at a press briefing Tuesday when a reporter asked him about the ruling by the British High Court.

No publisher had been charged under the Espionage Act until Assange, and many press freedom groups have said his prosecution sets a dangerous precedent intended to criminalize journalism.

"We are glad Julian Assange is not getting extradited today. But this legal battle is far from over, and the threat to journalists and the news media from the Espionage Act charges against Assange remains," Trevor Timm, executive director of Freedom of the Press Foundation, said in a statement Tuesday. "Assange's conviction in American courts would create a dangerous precedent that the U.S. government can and will use against reporters of all stripes who expose its wrongdoing or embarrass it. The Biden administration should take the opportunity to drop this dangerous case once and for all."

Stella Assange, wife of Julian, called her husband a "political prisoner" and demanded the Biden administration to outright drop the "shameful" case against him.

"This case will determine if he lives or dies, essentially," she told the BBC.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.





Original article source: British court rules Julian Assange extradition on pause until US guarantees no death penalty
While vacationing in Houston, USA, 8-year-old Aliya Jaiko drowned in a swimming pool at a hotel of the popular Hilton chain. The girl was sucked into a 6-meter-long pipe, and it took 13 hours to find her. According to the Harris County Medical Examiner's Office, she died of "drowning and mechanical asphyxiation" as a result of the accident.

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Many irregularities were found in the pool, and the pipe was malfunctioning. To find the child, almost all the water had to be drained, and only then was it possible to look into the hole. According to the Mirror, the examination revealed that the pool pumps were malfunctioning: one was supposed to push water out and the other to suck it in. Instead, the pipe from which the water was supposed to come out pulled the frail girl with it.

"The document for the main drainage was provided and is still valid. However, the small pool has 32-inch [81 cm] drainage channels on the walls, without a valid document stating their purpose and date of installation. A full inspection was conducted and numerous violations were found. There is video footage, but the manager said that the footage is being reviewed by lawyers and we will have to wait to receive a copy," the Houston Health Department said.

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As we have already mentioned, the search lasted 13 hours, during which time the staff refused to check the relevant pipes. Later, it became clear from watching the surveillance footage that the child never left the pool while swimming.

Aliyah's mother, Daniela Jaiko, posted a photo of her daughter on Facebook, captioning it "Our last photo" and a heartbreaking farewell message.

"They say that we all have a destiny... but I can't understand why yours was so different... Thank you, my dear, for the 8 years you gave me with you. Thank you, my girl, for teaching me what love and a noble heart are... I still don't accept that you will be gone, I don't have to pretend. I hope that someday I will see you again, and you will continue to look at me, and you will smile broadly with contagious joy. You always gave yourself to love with such a noble heart. I will love you for all eternity. You are the most beautiful thing that God has given me, and after every battle we have fought together, we have not won this one," the heartbroken mother wrote.

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The only surprise about the farmers protest in London on Monday was that it hadnt happened sooner. Indeed, pundits who blame conspiracy theories for misleading farmers into revolt are wide of the mark. Theres a deep-seated frustration right across the British countryside thats coming out now, with UK farmers having far more to complain about than those in other European countries. No French government would dare take its farmers for granted or marginalise their rural minorities in the way that successive British governments have.

The headline complaints of the protesters  first, that it is becoming unprofitable to produce food in Britain and, second, that some foreign products are unfairly able to use British flags in packaging  are entirely reasonable.

The Governments plan is effectively to remove subsidies and replace them with environmental payments, which inevitably means growing less food. It might sound inoffensive but it doesnt add up on farmers projected profit and loss accounts, as everyone in the industry has been saying. As for labelling, we farmers have been complaining about this for years to no avail.

Yes, this is partly about broken Brexit promises. We were told that farmers would be no worse off but we patently are. I am no protectionist; as a dairy farmer, I relish the opportunities to sell British cheese around the world. But the version of free trade deals weve been given is not one that Adam Smith would have endorsed.

He believed in a level playing field. Free trade should also be fair trade. We dont have that now for all sorts of reasons, partly British environmental standards, partly animal health ones. For example, beef from other continents does not seem to have the traceability demanded by our own expensive system of individually-tagged animals and record-keeping. And we have to pay to have fallen stock removed rather than simply burying it on the farm, as some other countries do.

It was always going to be a challenge shifting from protectionism to free trade. We simply dont have the economies of scale they have in some countries. For example, New Zealand made a success of subsidy removal, partly by their farmers amalgamating farms to create share farming enterprises of optimal size, around three times bigger than British ones. But with our rigid system of tenancies we dont have the flexibility needed to get there.

Ironically, politicians of all parties have been making it harder by legally entrenching tenancies and perpetuating small, inefficient farms. If they are not prepared to go on subsidising them, they will have to put up with a politically painful transition, accompanied by bankruptcies.

When you combine all this with incessant bureaucracy, the creeping spread of restrictive national parks, the ban on hunting, and an irrational policy of protecting badgers, there has been an all-out war on farmers for some time.

The response this week was to slowly and peacefully drive through the streets of London, politely reminding Westminster that rural people still exist. But in this election year, their anxiety isnt going to go away. They will believe pro-farming politicians only when they see laws changed.

Jamie Blackett is a farmer and the author of Red Rag to a Bull and Land of Milk and Honey (Quiller)

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British Gas has been ringing customers in the middle of the night asking them for feedback about its performance, The Telegraph can reveal.

A technical issue meant numerous customers were woken earlier this month to the sound of an automated message asking them: This is British Gas, we want to conduct a survey asking how did we do?

The blunder, which took place in the early hours of March 12, left customers furious with one fearing it was a call from her mothers care home to say she had died.

Rebecca Ringshall, 63, who was woken at 3.15am alongside her husband, said: My elderly mother is 92, she cant look after herself and is in a care home. We have had the discussion with the home, if she is starting to fade, my mum has said she wants my brother and I with her.

So when the phone rang, I did fear the worst for a couple of seconds. I thought they might say something like your mother has passed away in her sleep.

When I realised it was British Gas, I just couldnt believe it. I just put the phone down, I was thoroughly hacked off about it.

After her stepdaughter raised the issue on social media the following day, a member of the British Gas customer relations team reached out over X, formerly Twitter, to investigate the incident.

However, Mrs Ringshall felt the way the complaint was handled on social media smacked of insincerity.

She said: They went completely over the top which really wound me up. They said as someone who has been in a similar situation to you in the past, I can completely understand the panic youve mentioned and my heart goes out to you with this.

You dont have to go out with my heart goes out to you, Im sorry its just insincere.

Mrs Ringshall had been on the phone all day with British Gas the previous Tuesday after the company had collected a 30 overpayment when she had closed her mothers account in October last year.

Although British Gas accepts Mrs Ringshall is owed a refund, she is still yet to receive the money three weeks later.

British Gas has apologised, saying: We completely understand that a phone call in the middle of the night creates worry.

The company added that only a small number of customers received an automated call and the issue was resolved as soon as they became aware.

British Gas refused to disclose any more details about how many customers were disturbed.

However, other social media users reported being woken at 2.30am, and another said they were called at 4am and the error led to the energy firm closing its feedback line until it was fixed.

Last week, British Gas was urged to improve its customer service by Which? after a study by the consumer group found it was one of worst performing energy firms for quick responses and effective solutions.

Which? applied a net satisfaction score, subtracting the percentage of dissatisfied respondents from the percentage of satisfied respondents on a scale between -100 and +100.

It found British Gas had a satisfaction score of +16 for how long it took to get in touch with a member of customer service who could provide help, and scored +23 for how long it took to get an answer to an issue or query. Only Ovo Energy and Scottish Power had a lower approval rating.

British Gas has recently said that they have invested in improving customer service and extended opening hours, but the study showed one customer had spent 43 hours on the phone and sent 24 emails trying to fix a billing issue for longer than a year.

She said staff lacked empathy, causing her distress as she was made to repeatedly explain that her husband had passed away. Another found himself stuck at 830th in the queue for an online chat after struggling to find any phone numbers for British Gas customer service.

A British Gas spokesman said: Were investing over 50 million in customer service - this includes hiring 700 more UK based contact centre staff at the end of last year and introducing longer call centre opening times. Were also helping our most vulnerable customers through our sector-leading 140m customer support package.

Were very sorry Mrs Ringshall was woken by the call and we completely understand that a phone call in the middle of the night creates worry. Last Tuesday a small number of customers received an automated call from us in error due to a technical issue, which we fixed as soon as we were made aware. Were also processing the 30 refund that Mrs Ringshall contacted us about and it will be with her soon.

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Your 10-point guide to getting better customer service

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Russia is making massive efforts to deploy more troops in the northwest of the country, as most of its armed forces are fighting against Ukraine, British intelligence said in a report published on X on March 26.

As an evidence, in the Russian city of Luga, which is located in the newly created Leningrad Military District, an announcement was made about recruitment to the new 44th Army Corps.

Read also: Russia has lost five times as many soldiers as Ukraine  Zelenskyy

Russia will most likely have to decide whether to leave the new units in the location of their creation or to deploy them in Ukraine in order to maintain combat capability on the frontlines.

According to the report, previously newly created units were immediately deployed to Ukraine, indicating that the need to support the war is holding back Russian ambitions to expand its armed forces.

Losses of the Russian army in Ukraine

According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has lost about 438.160 of its military personal, 770 in the past 24 hours.

Read also: Russia suffering extremely high losses while storming in hot zones, says Ukrainian army commander

The total losses of the occupiers report, being updated regularly by the General Staff, is made up of two types of losses that the enemy incurs during combat operations. Namely, irrecoverable losses and combat medical losses of the enemy.

Prior to that, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russian losses amounted to 180.000 killed and up to half a million wounded.

Read also: Russias losses in war against Ukraine exceed 400,000 killed and wounded  UA report

At the same time, Russian media verified more than 46.000 soldiers who died in the war against Ukraine since February 2022. More than 8.000 of the dead were prisoners recruited for the war against Ukraine.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on March 14 said that according to Western intelligence services, the losses of Russia since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine have exceeded 350.000 people.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
The museum's legal team told the court that Peter Higgs may have sold to at least 45 separate buyers over a 10-year period - SAMUEL DE ROMAN/GETTY

The British Museum is suing a former curator, who is accused of selling items on eBay, in an attempt to force him to hand over treasures.

Peter Higgs was accused of taking items dating back to 1,500BC and was sacked for gross misconduct in 2023 after antiques experts raised concerns about items from the museums collection emerging for sale online.

The British Museum has now launched a legal action against him and requested that the High Court order him to surrender any items still in his possession.

The museums legal team has also requested that the court orders that records from Mr Higgs eBay and PayPal accounts be released.

Lawyers believe they will contain compelling evidence that he used the online platform to sell some of the 1,800 items that went missing from the collection.

The High Court was told Mr Higgs intended to dispute the claims, and he has not been charged with any criminal offence.

The scandal over claims of stolen artefacts broke in 2023 when it emerged a member of staff had been sacked by the museum concerning thefts from its 8 million-strong collection.

Antiquities expert Ittai Gradel had raised concerns about thefts but these were not acted on - MATTHEW JAMES HARRISON/THE TELEGRAPH

It was revealed that the sacked staff member was Mr Higgs, the head of the Greek and Roman department, who had worked at the museum since 1993.

It emerged that Ittai Gradel, an antiquities expert, had raised concerns about thefts but these had not been acted on by the museum director Hartwig Fischer, who resigned in light of the accusation, or his second-in-command Jonathan Williams, who stepped back from his duties.

The High Court was told Mr Gradels suspicions were first raised in 2016 when Mr Higgs tried to sell him a cameo through eBay. Mr Gradel noticed that the item had been registered as belonging to the British Museum.

It was claimed that Mr Higgs had already been selling items by this stage.

The museums legal team told the court that Mr Higgs may have sold to at least 45 separate buyers over a 10-year period.

Covering his tracks

The court heard he altered digital records to cover his tracks after he became aware of a member of staffs suspicions.

A fellow member of staff noticed during a 2022 audit of a strong room for Greek and Roman artefacts that many items were missing, or had been damaged.

In 2023, the Metropolitan Police searched Mr Higgs home and found items matching the description of those registered with the museums collection, it was heard.

Mr Higgs has denied this, and stated that the coins and medals in question came from a dead relative.

In 2023, Sir Mark Jones, the museums interim director, who replaced Mr Fischer following the scandal, said that staff would no longer be able to access strong rooms without supervision.

Speaking to MPs, he said that the move would ensure that a theft of this kind can never happen again.

George Osborne, the museums chairman of trustees, announced last year a five-year project to properly record and digitise the entirety of the collection of 8 million artefacts, to prevent objects being removed without detection in future.

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MARQUETTE, Mich. (WJMN)  A broken utility pole near Target in Marquette is responsible for a power outage Tuesday afternoon, according to the Marquette Board of Light and Power.

The outage happened around 1 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. Crews were on the scene near the US-41 and County Road HQ roundabout as early as 1:30 p.m.

This embedded content is not available in your region.

It is unknown how many businesses are affected, but a representative for the Board of Light and Power told Local 3 that technicians believe only customers near the utility pole to be affected.

As of 1:30 p.m., crews expect to have the repair completed within 5 hours. Power was restored to the WJMN studios at 5:37 p.m.

Due to Local 3s studio being affected by the outage, we have cancelled our regularly scheduled 6 p.m. news hour. We will be back on air with your days top headlines later tonight at 10 p.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJMN - UPMatters.com.
Shelley Levchak of Kirkwood knows the pain of losing a child and the comfort she received from a support group of people who've suffered similar losses.

When I walked in, they were there with open arms for me, she said of fellow group members. They become family.

Thats why she volunteers as the co-leader of Compassionate Friends of Broome County, a support group for parents and other relatives who have lost children of any age. Donna Cunningham serves as the group's other co-leader.

"It saved my life," she said of her involvement in the group. "I got so much comfort from this group."

The Angel of Hope statue in Hillcrest Park in Port Dickinson provides support to parents who lost a child.

The Broome County group is the local chapter of Compassionate Friends, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to helping bereaved families after the death of a child. More than 500 chapters are located in all 50 states plus Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and Guam.

While the group is primarily for parents whove lost children, the group welcomes other family members including siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles and other relatives. Mothers who have lost babies during pregnancy or after birth are also welcome to attend, Levchak said.

Levchak joined the group in 2016 following the death of her only child, Charles Joseph "CJ" Levchak, who died of an overdose of fentanyl.

More: This U-E grad's Gold Award project is helping teens cope at her alma mater

"CJ was a very, very sweet kind young man," she said. "He lost his way."

Losing a child is more painful than any losses, she said.

Its not like losing a parent, she said. You expect to lose a parent. You dont expect to lose a child.

Losing a child is a life-changing and devastating experience, she said.

"When you lose a child, you go into shock," she said. "When you lose a child, your life has completely changed. You are a totally different person."

The Angel of Hope statue in Hillcrest Park in Port Dickinson provides support to parents who lost a child.

Only those who have been through the same experience can understand what the grieving parent is going through, Levchak said.

Your family, your friends  they dont want to hear about it, she said. This is a group you can go to and you can talk about your child as much as you want.

She still remembers the relief she felt the first time she attended a meeting of Compassionate Friends of Broome County. Soon after she arrived, another mother present talked about losing her child to a drug overdose.

"I felt all this weight went off my shoulders," she said. "I've got somebody here that knows the pain and the agony and the guilt that you feel. You connect with those people because they know what you're going through."

Members tell their stories and support each other, Levchak said.

Shelley Levchak lights candles during a service to remember lost loved ones put on by Compassionate Friends of Broome County. She is a co-leader of the group.

"There is definitely a lot of empathy and a lot of love for each other," she said of group members. "Other people will cry right along with you because they know your pain."

As the co-leader, Levchak is responsible for behind the scenes work for the group including planning events such as an annual candle lighting ceremony in memory of lost loved ones. She and other group members also plant flowers and take care of the Angel of Hope statue in Hillcrest Park.

Members support each other outside the meeting room, too. Levchak has called to check on group members between meetings.

Levchak said she will keep co-leading the group for as long as possible.

"That's why I keep going," she said. "It gives me a lot of comfort knowing that I am helping other people who have lost their children."

More about Shelley Levchak

Home and Hometown: Kirkwood

Career: Employee of Broome Pediatrics

Family: Husband, Charles. Their only child, Charles Joseph CJ Levchak, died in 2016.

Compassionate Friends: The group meets on the first Monday of each month from 6 to 8 p.m. and the third Saturday of each month from 10 a.m. until noon at the Nimmonsburg United Methodist Church, 918 Upper Front St., Binghamton. Anyone who has lost a child at any age or for any reason is welcome. Other family members are welcome to attend.

For more information: stny.info/tcfbroome/

This article originally appeared on Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin: This Broome County support group unites parents who've lost children
Bruce Springsteen, right, plays his guitar as Jake Clemons plays saxophone on stage during a concert of Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band World Tour 2024 performance Tuesday, March 19, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

LONDON (AP)  Bruce Springsteen is the first international songwriter to be named a fellow of The Ivors Academy, the U.Ks professional association of music creators.

The American icon was announced as the next recipient of the 80-year old Academys highest honor Tuesday, in recognition of the impact his career has had on the cultural landscape of the U.K.

Over the last half century, the Born to Run musician has sold more than 140 million records worldwide  from his 1973 debut Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ to his most recent studio album Only the Strong Survive in 2022  with a liberal dusting of top honors along the way, including 20 Grammys, an Oscar and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Springsteen, 74, said he was proud of the honor in a statement released by the academy. In addition to recognising my songwriting, the award stands as a tribute to the fans and friends who have supported me and my work for the last fifty years. This entire country has made me feel welcome every step of the way, and for this, I will always remain deeply appreciative.

The news comes a week after Springsteens triumphant return to the stage with the E Street Band in Phoenix for a nearly three-hour set.

Springsteen announced in September he was pausing his tour, citing doctors advice as he recovered from peptic ulcer disease.

Springsteen will receive his newest award at The Ivors ceremony at Grovesnor House in London on May 23, where the winner of the 2024 Ivor Novello will also be announced. Nominees for the prestigious songwriting prize will be announced by the not-for-profit organization on Apr. 23.

Springsteen becomes the 27th Fellow of the Academy, joining previously inducted songwriting icons like Paul McCartney, Kate Bush, Joan Armatrading and Sting. While he will be the sole songwriter to hail from outside Britain, the fellowship also includes American composer John Adams and French composer and conductor Pierre Boulez.
GHENT, WV (WVNS)  Fires in the Region 4 area of the state have been reported in the Wyoming and Raleigh county areas.

According to Mat Bailey, the Regional Area Forester for the West Virginia Division of Forestry, a fire near the town of Woosley in Wyoming County, five miles north of Welch currently has a crew of five from the West Virginia Division of Forestry working on containing it. They have been working on this since 9:00 A.M. this morning, building containment lines around the fire.

As of now, it is still not contained. Bailey also mentioned that even with the rain putting it out, they will still put containment lines all the way around it.

As of 11 AM on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, Raleigh County has two fires both in the Spruce Mountain area. Volunteer fire crews worked on containment of the fires for six hours. Four West Virginia Division of Forestry members are on scene working on containing the fires, in which they are about 50 percent contained.

Bailey expressed that at the end of the day, they should be contained.

The Bradley Fire Department came to the scene, along with other departments who provided mutual aid to the Bradley Fire Department.

Two other fires in the Long Branch area of Wyoming County were completely contained last night.

Stick with 59News for more updates

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WVNS.
The judge overseeing the murder case against University of Idaho stabbing suspect Bryan Kohberger has barred prosecutors and the defense from contacting potential jurors without express permission from the court.

It comes as the 29-year-old criminologist's defense is hoping for a change of venue from Idaho's Latah County, a community of about 40,000, where Kohberger allegedly barged into an off-campus rental house and massacred four students at 4 a.m. on a Saturday in November 2022.

The attack killed 21-year-olds Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves and 20-year-olds Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin in a six-bedroom house on King Road, steps off of the campus. Two other housemates survived, including the only publicly known eyewitness.

BRYAN KOHBERGER'S APPEAL OF GRAND JURY INDICTMENT DENIED BY IDAHO SUPREME COURT

Split image showing Judge John Judge and Bryan Kohberger in the courtroom for a hearing Friday, Aug. 18, 2023, at the Latah County Courthouse in Moscow, Idaho.

Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson requested the judge's order in a motion filed under seal. Kohberger's defense team, led by Kootenai County public defender Anne Taylor, objected in another filing under seal.

"Both parties are prohibited from contacting potential jurors about this case, including via third parties, until further order of this Court," Judge John Judge wrote in a short order on March 22, but made public Monday evening. "A hearing on this issue will be held as soon as practicable."

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Madison Mogen, top left, smiles on the shoulders of her best friend, Kaylee Goncalves, as they pose with Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, and two other housemates in Goncalves' final Instagram post, shared the day before the four students were stabbed to death.

David Gelman, a New Jersey-based defense attorney and former prosecutor who has been following the case, told Fox News Digital the judge's order is "unusual."

"Jury contact has long been forbidden, and attorneys should not have to be ordered to abide by this rule," he said. "By way of example, there are a litany of cases where criminal cases had to be moved to different venues because of pre-trial publicity sometimes caused by the litigants."

Judges often try to avoid potential damage to the jury pool by keeping information about the case under wraps, and a gag order has been in place since almost the moment prosecutors announced Kohberger as their suspect. Most of the case's filings have also been made under seal.

Bryan Kohberger's defense attorneys, from left, Anne Taylor, Elissa Massoth and Jay Logsdon arrive at the Latah County Courthouse in Moscow, Idaho, on June 27, 2023.

"Judges want to avoid jurors being given information about the case that could impact their ability to hear the case fairly and impartially," Gelman said.

Even the reasoning behind the prosecution's request for the order was filed under seal. Gelman said it may contain clues as to what is going on behind the scenes.

FOLLOW THE FOX TRUE CRIME TEAM ON X

"I can't help but think that something happened which prompted the judge's order and he is probably defining contact to include some type of behavior that he is concerned about," he said. "For instance, some type of juror research that might result in some type of social media contact."

Earlier this year, Kohberger's defense filed a motion for a change of venue to take the case outside of Latah County, where they argued the tight-knit, small community would be biased against him.

BRYAN KOHBERGER ASKS COURT FOR CHANGE OF VENUE AFTER DELAYS IN IDAHO STUDENT MURDERS TRIAL

"A fair and impartial jury cannot be found in Latah County owing to the extensive, inflammatory pretrial publicity, allegations made about Mr. Kohberger to the public by media that will be inadmissible at his trial, the small size of the community, the salacious nature of the alleged crimes, and the severity of the charges Mr. Kohberger faces," Taylor wrote in late January.

Kohberger, of Pennsylvania, was attending Washington State University in pursuit of a criminology Ph.D. at the time of the murders.

The campus is in Pullman, Washington, a 10-minute drive from Moscow, Idaho, where the students were killed.

GO HERE FOR MORE TRUE CRIME FROM FOX NEWS DIGITAL

Moscow is the seat of Latah County and home to about half of its population, not including students at the university.

Changes of venue can be rare but can happen in high-profile cases, such as the double murder trials of Idaho's "cult mom" Lori Vallow and California's Scott Peterson.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

Thompson, the lead prosecutor, has countered that the case is already receiving global attention and media coverage and that a change of venue would not be necessary.





Original article source: Bryan Kohberger case: Idaho judge bans both sides from contacting prospective jurors
(Bloomberg) -- Bulgaria lurched toward a potential snap election  the sixth in just over three years  after the countrys two main political parties failed to renew a unity government forged to overcome political turmoil.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The turbulence threatens to further delay Bulgarias long-postponed goal to adopt the euro next year and may hinder much-needed military aid to Ukraine, with pro-Russia and nationalist forces on the rise. With no party controlling a majority in parliament, a national vote could be held as early as June.

Mariya Gabriel, a former European Union commissioner and a premier-designate of the countrys biggest party, Gerb, scrapped an attempt to form a cabinet. Her decision was backed in a parliamentary vote Tuesday by Gerbs coalition partner over the past nine months, We Continue the Change.

The two rival factions, led by former premiers Boyko Borissov and Kiril Petkov, respectively, formed a joint government last June to end years of political squabbling that hindered euro ambitions, delayed EU funding and left power in the hands of a president reluctant to provide aid to Ukraine.

Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov, who ran the coalition cabinet until March 5, stepped down to make way for Gabriel as part of the power-sharing agreement. But infighting over administrative positions and delayed reforms threw the parties into a new round of coalition talks that eventually failed.

Borissov was ousted from power in 2021 amid anti-corruption protests. His departure gave way to a string of fragile coalitions and interim cabinets as Bulgarians repeatedly returned to the ballot box.

Petkov will now get the chance to form a new cabinet, but without Borissovs support he doesnt have sufficient backing. Another unsuccessful attempt will allow President Rumen Radev to pick a third faction for a last attempt before scheduling an early election.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

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In Thailand, a Russian tourist named Elena Kupriyanova attacked the pregnant owner of a family-run cafe on the island of Pangan. The woman, eight months pregnant, was kicked in the groin by a citizen of the aggressor country, all because of a simple request to take off her shoes before entering the establishment.

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Kupriyanova, 41, is now in the dock, facing deportation. This was reported by the Bangkok Post.

The victim filed a lawsuit against the inadequate tourist to prevent a similar incident from happening again.

Kupriyanova pleaded guilty, and found a ridiculous excuse for her shameful actions - she was allegedly menstruating, which caused her to have sudden mood swings. This, in the Russian woman's opinion, was supposed to justify her beating a pregnant woman for asking her to take off her shoes before entering a family cafe.

Of course, these arguments did not work on the judge. The tourist from Russia was fined 500 baht (530 hryvnias) and sentenced to a suspended 15-day prison sentence. However, now Kupriyanova also faces deportation from Thailand. The Russian woman emphasized that her Thai visa is valid until May 22, but after serving her sentence, the aggressive tourist's entry document is likely to be revoked.

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The source emphasizes that this incident was the latest in a series of reports of bad behavior by tourists. Thailand's Interior Minister Anutin Charnwirakul responded to public concerns about the increasing number of such incidents by promising that foreigners who violate Thai laws will be held accountable.

According to the minister, the decision to cancel a visa is made on a case-by-case basis, and this does not mean that every foreigner who violates the law will be deported. According to statistics compiled by the Royal Thai Police from October last year to this month, 614 tourists were prosecuted for committing a crime in Thailand, and 98 of them were eventually deported.

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As OBOZ.UA wrote earlier, Russians got into a racist scandal abroad. Residents of the city of Unawatuna in Sri Lanka, in the area unofficially called "Little Moscow", managed to offend all the indigenous people of the country with just one word.

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
A Kansas man is suing Rep. Tim Burchett for defamation after the Tennessee Republican falsely claimed on social media he was involved in the mass shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade last month.

The suit, filed Monday in federal court in Kansas, argues Denton Loudermill Jr. received death threats and suffered mental distress after Burchett posted a false representation of him on his account on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Loudermill was among an estimated 500,000 people who attended the Feb. 14 Chiefs parade to celebrate the teams recent Super Bowl win. Toward the end of the parade, a shooting broke out that left one person dead and nearly two dozen others injured.

A day after the shooting occurred, Burchett posted a photo of Loudermill seated on the curb in handcuffs, with the text attached, One of the Kansas City Chiefs victory parade shooters has been identified as an illegal Alien, per the suit.

Within three days, Burchetts post amassed 7.2 million views and was reposted 21,600 times, Loudermills attorneys wrote. On Feb. 18, Burchett reposted his initial post, and wrote, 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 since removed the post.

While he deleted the initial post, Loudermills attorneys noted Burchetts repost still misidentified their client as one of the shooters.

Loudermills attorneys said their client had never met or interacted with any of those involved in the argument that led to the shooting. When gunshots rang out, Loudermill froze while trying to determine his next steps, per the suit. While waiting for his ride, he tried to go under police tape, causing officers to briefly place him in handcuffs while he sat on the curb, where the photo was taken.

Authorities later walked him away from the area, removed his handcuffs and told him he was free to go, per the suit. He was not charged, nor cited, with any crime of offense, the suit stated.

Loudermills attorneys argued 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. They said the lawmaker caused the false representation to appear on thousands of cellular phones, computers, and other electronic devises in Kansas where those acts would cause damage to Loudermill.

Loudermill was never an alien, an illegal alien or a shooter, and Burchetts claims were not made in good faith, his attorneys argued.

The suit alleges Loudermill sustained damages in excess of $75,000. Loudermills attorneys declined to say if they are seeking a specific amount at this point.

Two men  Lyndell Mays of Raytown, Mo., and Dominic Miller of Kansas City, Mo.  were charged last month with second-degree felony murder in connection to the shooting. Prosecutors said the two did not know each other prior to the parade and an argument among several paradegoers prompted the incident.

Burchetts office declined to comment on the lawsuit. He is one of several Republicans in recent months to push for stricter border security measures, alleging migrants are bringing violence and crime to the country.

Earlier this month, Republicans revived this argument after the death of a 22-year-old Georgia student  Laken Riley  who was allegedly killed by a 26-year-old Venezuelan citizen. U.S. Customs and Border Enforcement said the suspect, Jose Ibarra, entered the country illegally in September 2022 near El Paso, Texas, from Mexico and was released from detention for further processing.

Updated: 2:10 p.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
BURKE COUNTY, Ga. (WJBF)  A Burke County man has been arrested and charged with Felony Murder by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation in connection to the deaths of two people in Millen, Georgia.

Investigators say Raheem Whitfield, 28, of Waynesboro, has been charged with Felony Murder, Aggravated Assault, and Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Crime in connection to the deaths of Tyrell Brown, 28, of Garfield, and Maxine Jones, 48, of Millen.

ALSO ON WJBF: Wanted suspect taken into custody in reference to December 2023 homicide

According to GBI, the Millen Police Department responded to the Annie P. Chance Veterans Center located on Acorn Avenue in Millen in reference to a shooting on March 24th, 2024, at about 1:45 a.m., and authorities state that when they arrived on the scene and found Brown with a gunshot wound and Jones with no immediate signs of trauma.

However, according to investigators, Jones and Brown were both pronounced dead on the scene.

Authorities add that around 7:10 A.M., another shooting incident occurred on Wasdin Street, which investigators state that it appeared to be connected to the first incident, but no victims were injured during that particular shooting.

According to GBI, preliminary information from the autopsy determined that Brown and Jones each had a gunshot wound.

According to authorities, Whitfield turned himself in on Tuesday, March 26th and is currently booked at the Jenkins County Jail.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJBF.
The Cabarrus County Board of Elections on Monday dismissed challenges by two primary candidates who alleged members of the local Republican Party unfairly influenced the outcome.

The board voted 5-0 to dismiss the protest because there was no probable cause or enough evidence presented to determine state election law was violated, election board director Carol Soles told The Charlotte Observer.

House Rep. Kevin Crutchfield and Holly Edwards, who lost close Republican primaries March 5, suggested in separate complaints that members of Cabarrus County GOP encouraged voters to support particular candidates leading up to and on Election Day.

I filed the protest to defend the voters right to a free and fair election, Crutchfield said in a statement.

He said the election was directly influenced and altered by the deceitful and improper conduct of his opponent Brian Echevarria and certain members of the Cabarrus County GOP Executive Committee.

Echevarria defeated Crutchfield, the incumbent in the House District 82 Republican primary, by 171 votes.

It is a party thing. I told them to take it to the state party, Soles said.

Crutchfield and Edwards said they will appeal to the North Carolina State Board of Elections.

What Crutchfield and Edwards alleged

Crutchfield claimed in a protest form filed March 19 that Echevarria and others associated with the Cabarrus County Republican Party engaged in misconduct by distributing flyers leading up to the election that featured a sample ballot encouraging voters to consider specific candidates.

Crutchfield suggested We The People Cabarrus, a conservative group not officially affiliated with the Republican Party, helped orchestrate the effort against him along with fellow GOP member Jonathan Almond, who ran against Edwards, and Cabarrus County Republican Party chairman Lanny Lancaster.

The sample ballot gives every impression to a typical voter that it came from the Cabarrus County GOP, or, at a minimum, from an actual organization with the ability to endorse candidates, he said.

We The People representatives did not respond to a Facebook message requesting comment.

The complaint also alleged Almond, who defeated Edwards by 586 votes for the District 73 Republican primary, benefited from the We The People sample ballots.

The individuals who passed them out routinely told voters that the individuals on this sample ballot were officially endorsed by the Cabarrus County GOP, Crutchfield claimed.

The protest form included statements from voters and Crutchfield campaign workers. One voter alleged being told by election workers that the candidates found on the yellow flyers provided by We The People had been endorsed by the Cabarrus County GOP when they were not. Jack Lambert, who ran for Cabarrus County commissioner, claimed he heard dozens of others share similar stories during early voting and on Election Day.

I believe with absolute certainty that it was the intention of those involved to deceive the voting public into thinking the Republican Party of Cabarrus County and the Republican Party of North Carolina had endorsed certain Republicans over others in closely contested primaries, he said.

When contacted by a Charlotte Observer reporter on Monday, Almond indicated he was aware of the allegations levied against him. However, he did not directly answer questions about the claims. He said he was focused on November and looking forward to representing the people of District 73.

Almond will face N.C. Rep. Diamond Staton-Williams, a Democrat, in the general election on Nov. 5.
Christian Concern says it is surprised by the move as it might stop people buying traditional Easter eggs - Connor James Ibbetson

A Cadbury store has been accused of erasing Easter by advertising chocolate eggs as gesture eggs.

The brands discount store in Springfields Outlet in Spalding, Lincolnshire, is displaying signs offering customers a two-for-10 deal on gesture eggs.

The omission of the word Easter, particularly when advertising its popular Easter eggs synonymous with the religious holiday, has provoked anger among the Christian community.

If it wasnt for Easter, we wouldnt have a reason for Easter eggs, said Tim Dieppe, the head of public policy at Christian Concern. So Im wondering why Cadbury wants to erase the connection between Easter and eggs, because if people stop celebrating Easter then they might stop buying Easter eggs.

He added: Im surprised that they are avoiding saying the word Easter, as thats the time of year  its the Easter holidays, the Easter festival  and Im surprised theyd want to avoid reference to Easter with things like this.

Cadbury said the Springfields Outlet store was run completely independently by Freshstore and denied having any involvement in the gesture eggs promotion or poster accompanying it.

One dismayed shopper also posted a picture of the sign advertising gesture eggs to X, formerly Twitter, writing: The worlds gone.

It is understood that the eggs on display have been named as Special Gesture eggs, and Easter is still used in other areas of Cadburys advertising.

Easter has gone missing before

It is not the first time the chocolate company has come under fire for omitting the word Easter in its marketing.

A row erupted after a National Trust Easter egg trail, sponsored by Cadbury, was renamed the Great British Egg Hunt in 2017.

Cadbury said at the time it wanted to appeal to non-Christians, saying: We invite people from all faiths and none to enjoy our seasonal treats.

Meanwhile, staff at some universities have been told in recent years to avoid using the terms Christmas and Easter.

Staff at the University of Brighton were last year told that in future they should refer to the Christmas holidays as the winter closure period.

The London School of Economics followed suit, announcing that the Christmas holidays are to be known as the winter break, while Easter holidays were renamed the spring break.

A spokesman for Mondelez International, which owns Cadbury, said: All Cadbury Easter shell eggs sold in the UK reference Easter very clearly on the packaging  sometimes multiple times.

Cadbury has used the word Easter in our marketing and communications for over 100 years and continue to do so with our new Easter product range. To claim anything otherwise is factually incorrect.

We are proud of the role we play within families Easter celebrations and have a wide range of products that can be enjoyed throughout the Easter season.

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SACRAMENTO, California  California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday signed legislation extending the deadline for students to apply for state scholarships as problems continue to beset the Biden administrations rollout of a simplified federal aid form.

The April 2 deadline to apply for the need-based Cal Grant and Middle Class Scholarship that California funds will be pushed by a month, giving students more time to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

The Democratic governors move is the latest in a series of attempts across the country to blunt the impact of widespread issues with the new form  from processing delays to technical problems  which have drawn Republican fury on Capitol Hill and frustrated parents and students.

The extension will help ensure more California students are able to complete the FAFSA, avail themselves of state Cal Grant or Middle Class Scholarship financial aid, and enable them to access the financial resources to begin fulfilling their dreams of achieving higher education, said Democratic Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes, who authored the bill.



The bill was fast-tracked through the state Legislature last week and backed by the states public university systems. Its meant to help applicants who have so far been unable to fill out the FAFSA  especially students whose parents are undocumented who for months couldnt complete the form due to technical glitches.

The U.S. Department of Education resolved the issue for families of mixed immigration status this month, but took another step backward last week when it announced it had made errors in calculating around 200,000 student aid offers.

The near-constant technical problems with the online form have caused such a significant dropoff in applications in California that the state student aid commission estimates as much as $100 million could be awarded to students who apply over the next month. The two state aid programs award more than $2 billion each year, supplementing federal scholarships like the Pell Grant.

California public universities had already given students at least two extra weeks, until May 15, to commit to attending as they await backlogged financial aid offers. Processing delays in Washington, D.C., have caused colleges to receive students financial information later than usual, prompting several other universities across the country to delay decision day to June 1.
A California Assembly member must pay state election officials thousands of dollars for years-old fundraising errors related to the Legislative Black Caucus scholarship nonprofit foundation.

The California Fair Political Practices Commission recently announced it is fining Assemblyman Chris Holden, D-Pasadena, $24,000 for failing to timely file reports for 94 donations to the Legislative Black Caucus Policy Institute, through which the caucus raises money for college scholarships.

The donations, or totaled more than $1.5 million, and they came from a wide variety of sources, including labor unions, Native American tribes, oil and energy companies and other business interests.

The donors contributed the money in 2017 and 2018, when Holden was chair of the Legislative Black Caucus and the Black Caucus Policy Institute, the organizations scholarship nonprofit foundation.

While serving as chair of the Institute, Holden maintains that he directed an internal audit to be performed, which revealed that: because of staff changes and the transitions of leadership, the responsibility to track and report behested charitable contributions was not properly transferred to the incoming staff, the FPPC reported.

The FPPC is a five-member non-partisan board that regulates campaign finance, lobbying, conflicts of interest and governmental ethics. It defines behested payments as money solicited from one individual or organization to be given to another individual or organization.

The organizations decision document said Holden arranged for the disclosures to be filed when he learned about the situation, although they were 20 to 276 days late.

Holden campaign spokesman Doug Herman said the assemblyman takes responsibility as chair for filing those reports, and resolved this case with the full support of caucus members.

We remain committed to ensure the next generation of Black Californians have the resources they need to access a college education and reach their goals, Herman said in a statement.

The FPPC said on-time disclosure is important because behested payments can be a means by which donors may seek to gain favor with elected officials. If the public cannot access them, they are deprived of a timely opportunity to scrutinize the payments.

A number of donors to the Institute have business before the Legislature in virtually every legislative session, the FPPC reported. However, there is no indication that these behested payments were related to their legislative activities.

During the FPPCs March 21 meeting, chair Richard Miadich asked chief of enforcement James Lindsay why it took the organization so long to complete its investigation and whether Holdens case was an outlier.

Lindsay confirmed this case was unusual and attributed the delay to the division having a significant amount of cases to get through and recent changes related to behested payments.

When Chair Holden came in, he had a mess to clean up, Miadich said prior to the FPPCs vote on the fine. He did that, but yet there was a violation of law, and hes taking responsibility for it.

Assemblywoman Lori Wilson, D-Suisun City, the current Legislative Black Caucus chair, said caucus members are splitting the $24,000 fine, with each member paying $2,000. The members prefer to help pay for the fine, rather than take money away from scholarships, she said.

We in the caucus oversee the foundation, Wilson said. So we as a caucus carry the burden of the foundation.

The Bees Maya Miller contributed to this story.
Three suspects believed to be involved in an organized retail theft ring were arrested Monday after officers caught them with nearly $12,000 in stolen cosmetics, the LAPD announced.

The suspects took $11,750 worth of makeup from Walgreens and Target stores in the Mid-City and Silverlake areas Monday morning, the Los Angeles Police Department posted on Instagram.

Rampart Officers and Detectives responded and apprehended 3 suspects as they attempted to steal from another Walgreens in Echo Park, the LAPD stated in the post.

Stolen cosmetics were found in the trunk of the suspects vehicle. (Los Angeles Police Department.

Stolen cosmetics were found in the trunk of the suspects vehicle. (Los Angeles Police Department.

Stolen cosmetics were found in the trunk of the suspects vehicle. (Los Angeles Police Department.

Stolen cosmetics are displayed after an arrest. (Los Angeles Police Department)

Stolen cosmetics are displayed after an arrest. (Los Angeles Police Department)

Cosmetics missing from a display case. (Los Angeles Police Department)

Police arrest three in connection with retail theft in the Los Angeles area. (Los Angeles Police Department)

Images provided by police showed bags of cosmetics found in the trunk area of the suspects vehicle.

What appeared to be hundreds of stolen makeup products were also displayed on tables.

No further details about the arrest were provided but investigators said the suspects were wanted in connection to a string of prior organized retail thefts.

Big rigs tires burst into flames, temporarily closing lanes on Los Angeles freeway: video

No information regarding the identity of the suspects was released.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a consumer alert Monday with tips on how Californians can prepare and file taxes safely to avoid becoming victims of tax-related scams as the filing deadline approaches.

For working families, tax season serves as a long-awaited opportunity to get ahead on bills, make needed home repairs, or finally start planning a vacation, Attorney General Bonta said in a statement.

This tax season, we want to make sure Californians dont fall victim to tax-related fraud or scams.

Some taxpayers can file their returns for free: Heres how

Heres what officials recommend taxpayers do to safely prep and file their taxes.

Dont answer calls, emails, text messages, or social media messages from people claiming to be from the IRS or Californias Franchise Tax Board.

Legitimate IRS and FTB agents will not threaten jail time or seek payment over the phone or through a wire transfer. Consumers should not make any payments and should contact the agency directly by looking up government contact information online, a news release said.

Make sure an Identity Protection PIN, or IP Pin, is active for your IRS e-filing account. The IRS provides a new pin each year.

Utilize two-authentication to protect tax filing accounts.

Find a reputable tax preparer. In the Golden State, an attorney, certified public accountant (CPA), IRS-enrolled agent, or registered tax preparer can prepare tax returns for a fee. Taxpayers can also confirm whether a tax preparer is registered with the IRS by visiting this website.

Taxpayers in need of more time to file their returns can request an extension on the IRS website.

Tax season: Tips for filing taxes in 2024

Anyone who believes they are the victim of a tax-related scam or other misconduct can file a complaint on Californias Department of Justice website or through the IRS.

The deadline to file tax returns is on April 15.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
Signatories say the parody plays into offensive tropes that women who are concerned about the erosion of their sex-based rights are linked to the far-Right

Police officers who invented a trans-hating parody of JK Rowling must be stripped of any role in enforcing new hate crime laws, more than 200 women have said.

In an open letter, female signatories expressed disgust that a fictional character called Jo  alleged to be modelled on the Harry Potter writer  who called for trans people to be sent to gas chambers, had been created by serving Police Scotland officers.

They said the revelation had left their confidence in police to fairly enforce hate crime legislation at rock bottom and claimed the narrative created reinforced offensive tropes that gender-critical women were comparable to Nazis.

At a police youth engagement hate crime event last month, attendees were presented with a scenario in which Jo, an online influencer with a large social media following, is passionate about her beliefs, such as there being only two genders.

The story escalates with Jo stating that trans people all belong in the gas chambers. Attendees were then asked to consider whether Jo had committed a hate crime.

The letter, signed by high-profile political figures, academics and gender-critical campaigners, said the story reinforced offensive claims about women who believe biological sex should take precedence over self-declared gender identity.

Such women are often compared by trans rights activists to racists, while they also regularly face unfounded accusations of having links to the far-Right.

In a letter, the women said the Jo character had clearly been a thinly veiled parody of the author JK Rowling, who in recent years has championed the sex-based rights of women and girls.

We write to you to express our disgust that public servants, not least those charged with enforcing the new offences created by the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021, were responsible for this material, the womens letter, to Jo Farrell, the chief constable, stated.

It plays into long-standing, offensive tropes that women who are concerned about the erosion of their sex-based rights are akin to Nazis.

Call for investigation in creation of Jo

The row comes just days before Scotlands new hate crimes laws are enforced.

Trans, non-binary and cross-dressing people, though not biological women, will receive new protections under the legislation which critics claim will be weaponised against gender-critical women such as Rowling and erode freedom of speech.

The 235 signatories, who include Johann Lamont, the ex-Scottish Labour leader, former Labour MSP Elaine Smith and Sarah Pedersen, a professor at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, called on Ms Farrell to launch an investigation into the creation of Jo.

They also asked whether the officers who wrote the story were among the 500 police staff who Ms Farrell last week revealed had been designated hate crime champions ahead of the new laws coming into force.

The letter adds: We call on you to take immediate action to identify which Police Scotland staff wrote this, remove them from any duties relating to policing the new Act and order an investigation into how this happened.

Our confidence in Police Scotlands ability to enforce this contentious piece of legislation fairly  due to come into force in just a few days time  was already low. It is now at rock bottom.

The Time for Inclusive Education campaign group, which jointly ran the hate crime event, last week revealed that Police Scotland officers invented the Jo scenario based on their expertise.

Police Scotland has declined multiple opportunities to deny that the Jo character was based on Rowling, whose first name is Joanne and is called Jo by her friends.

Meanwhile, the organisation has so far refused to release training materials for officers charged with enforcing its hate crime law.

MurrayBlackburnMackenzie, the Edinburgh-based policy group whose members also signed the letter, said an invitation to view the materials had been delayed until April 9.

Separately, the force is also in breach of legal limits to respond to a request to provide the training materials under Freedom of Information legislation.

A Police Scotland spokesman said: We have received correspondence which will be responded to in due course.

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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD)  Lions team officials confirm that Cam Sutton was at the teams practice in Allen Park when the news broke that an arrest warrant was issued for him in Florida.

Team president Rod Wood, speaking with reporters Monday at the NFLs annual meetings in Florida, said Wood and other team officials were unaware of the incident until the news broke last week.

Lions St. Brown to be featured in new Netflix documentary

We were learning it the same moment you guys were learning about the warrant, Wood said. Actually, I was on a Zoom call with the league on another matter when it popped up on my phone.

In an interview with Fox 2 Detroit, Wood explained what happened from there.

He was actually in our building (when the news broke), Wood told Fox 2. We found him. He was down with our strength staff. He just kind of showed up, unexpectedly, to work out. We were able to talk to him in person  not me, but other members of the staff  and he left the building.

Dan Campbell, Brad Holmes sign contract extensions with Lions

He further elaborated: We suggested that he get counsel and do the right thing to turn himself in. And then after that, we met the rest of the day and then the following morning to decide to release him.

Wood also noted that no one from the organization has communicated with Sutton since he left the team facility that day.

According to the Detroit Free Press, Suttons release includes a June 1 designation, allowing the team to spread the salary cap hit from his contract over two years instead of one.

Lions DE announces he will step away from the NFL

The Hillsborough County Sheriffs office issued a warrant on March 20 for one count of domestic battery. The alleged incident happened on March 7 in a Tampa suburb. As of Tuesday morning, Sutton has still not turned himself in to police.

The Detroit Lions have held a zero-tolerance policy on domestic violence for several years now. Wood told reporters that was why he was cut before the legal process played out.

I want to make sure everybody knows, we didnt release him because of anything related to the cap or money that we may owe him. It was the right thing to do for the organization, Wood said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
The government of the aggressor country Russia has ordered companies to cut oil production in the second quarter of 2024. It is noted that in this way, Russia wants to ensure that the target production rate of 9 million barrels per day is achieved by the end of June in accordance with its obligations to OPEC+ (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries).

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Reuters writes about this, citing informed sources. According to them, the Russian government has set specific targets for each Russian company, explaining that it intends to fulfill its OPEC+ promise to reduce oil production to support international oil prices.

Oil production in Russia in April, May, and June will fall by about 3.6%, 4.1%, and 4.9%, respectively, compared to March.

"The production cuts will contribute to a seasonal peak in maintenance at refineries, many of which have already cut fuel production due to outages and attacks by Ukrainian drones," the article says.

If the cuts are implemented as planned, Russia will produce about 9 million barrels of oil per day by June of this year. Russia plans to gradually ease the export cuts and focus only on production cuts, Reuters notes.

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As reported by OBOZ.UA, the recent strikes on Russian oil refineries have probably disrupted the operation of at least 10% of Russia's oil refining capacity. Due to the sanctions, it will take a long time to repair the equipment, and although Moscow has promised to "cover" the refineries with "shells," it is unlikely that it will be able to protect all vulnerable facilities.

We also wrote that after drone attacks on Russian oil refineries forced Russia to impose a ban on gasoline exports, the aggressor country is trying to increase sales of crude oil abroad. However, soon oil exports from Russia may also fall along with its production volumes, as there will be nowhere to store the raw materials.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
The statue has been described as 'detritus masquerading as public art' - Keith Heppell/Cambridge Independent/ Bav Media

A statue apparently depicting Prince Philip must be torn down, a council has ruled.

The 13ft sculpture, called The Don, was erected outside an office block in Cambridge four years ago with a plaque commemorating the late Duke of Edinburghs time as chancellor at the university.

But the 150,000 statue, dubbed the poorest-quality work ever submitted by Cambridge city council, must be removed because it was installed without planning permission.

The work had been derided by locals since plans were first submitted a decade ago, with it being described as kitsch-like and detritus masquerading as public art, Cllr Katie Thornburrow said.

Nobody, apart from the wealthy property developer who commissioned it, seems to have a good word to say about it, she added.

The sculpture was erected four years ago to commemorate the Duke's time as chancellor of the University of Cambridge

The sculpture was commissioned by Unex Group, a property development firm, in 2014 for the grounds of Unex House, an office block on Hills Road in Cambridge.

After the application, it was rejected by the city council for being possibly the poorest-quality work that has ever been submitted.

Pablo Atchugarry, a Uruguayan sculptor named in the application as its creator, later denied that he was behind it and said he had never seen it before.

I am not the author of this sculpture, and it is an abuse that they had used my name on it, he said.

However, Bill Gredley, the companys chairman, said at the time: Its a spectacular piece of art.

The piece was initially described as taking 'the form of a Cambridge Don or student'

In the initial application, it was described as taking the form of a Cambridge Don or student, not Prince Philip, but after its installation a plaque commemorating the late Duke was placed at its feet which read: HRH Prince Philip. Duke of Edinburgh. Chancellor. University of Cambridge. 1977-2011.

It was erected without permission in its originally intended position at some point between April 2019 and September 2020, when it first appears in archive Google Street View images.

The sculpture was later moved to another building owned by Unex Group, Charter House at 62-68 Hills Road.

Enforcement notice

In response, the council has issued an enforcement notice ordering the company to pull down the statue within four months of April 11.

Unex Group has also been told to remove the statues foundations and plinth and restore the land to its former condition prior to the installation.

Cllr Thornburrow said: I will be glad to see it gone, but remain angry that developers could just dump it in place and then force the council to spend officers time and money getting them to take it away. We deserve better.

Mr Gredley and Mr Atchugarry were approached for comment.

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Residents complained of a "diesel-like smell in the water" within 24 hours of the new water mains being activated

A water company has said its water supply was contaminated by fuel.

Independent Water Networks (IWN) investigated after homes were left without water on the Marleigh Development in Fen Ditton, Cambridge.

Charlie Thackeray, from IWN, wrote in a letter to residents that a "diesel-like smell in the water" was reported 24 hours after connecting the new mains.

He noted the contamination was inside healthy limits but was eliminated with a flushing programme.

Mr Thackeray added: "To ensure the ongoing safety of our customers, we have arranged to replace all the mains laid in the area under construction with barrier pipe, which is designed to be used in such circumstances and will ensure the water supplied will meet all water quality requirements."

A local community centre was used to store the bottled water being handed out to residents

According to the water network director new legs had been added to the Marleigh water main supply on 17 January.

After receiving reports of a "diesel-like smell in the water", the company disconnected the newly added water mains, issued a "do not use" order to residents and begun taking water samples for laboratory analysis.

IWN previously said about 320 homes were affected and bottled water was handed out for everything other than flushing toilets.

With the new section disconnected the company flushed and retested the water daily until results indicated the water was completely safe.

IWN delivered bottled water to affected residents after issuing a "do not use" order

In his letter Mr Thackeray said the developer joined them in testing soils where the water main was laid within the Marleigh estate construction area.

He explained that about 150 separate tests were conducted and "some small areas of fuel contamination were found in six locations".

He said: "It is not possible for us to be certain where the contamination came from.

"Possibilities include from plant or vehicle refuelling spills or possibly from contaminated imported backfill materials."

The director said that despite the company following normal procedures, with disinfecting and flushing, it seemed "some contamination entered the system".

He said: "Our tests prior to the flushing programme indicated contamination was present at levels inside healthy limits, however the flushing eliminated the contamination completely."

Mr Thackeray apologised to residents for any inconvenience caused by the incident.

Follow East of England news on Facebook, Instagram and X. Got a story? Email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp 0800 169 1830
VICTORIA, British Columbia  The association representing Canadian defense firms says it is in the dark about the status of equipment exports to Israel after the House of Commons voted to end military sales to that nation.

The legislative body passed a motion March 18 to halt arms exports to Israel because of ongoing human rights concerns over the nations military operations in Gaza.

But government ministers have stated the motion will only temporarily pause exports and that some existing equipment sales are proceeding.

The result is confusion among defense firms that are seeking clarification.

Christyn Cianfarani, president of the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries, pointed out that the Canadian government strictly regulates what, where, when and how companies can export controlled goods.

For companies to be able to comply with changes to those rules, they need to know what the changes are, Cianfarani wrote in a March 25 email to Defense News. The government has a responsibility to quickly publish the exact details of any changes to its policy surrounding exports, and that hasnt happened yet.

After the motion passed, Defence Minister Bill Blair told reporters that the issuing of export permits for military shipments to Israel has been temporarily put on hold. He did not indicate when that might be lifted.

Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly told journalists that the Canadian government stopped approving permits Jan. 8 because of human rights concerns resulting from Israels invasion of Gaza.

But later, on March 20, Reuters reported Jolys office sent a statement acknowledging that companies with existing military export permits to Israel can continue with their deliveries.

A senior official with the governments Global Affairs Canada told the Senates foreign affairs panel March 20 that it remains unclear how the motion will affect defense exports to Israel. Global Affairs Canada is responsible for overseeing defense export permits.

These are things that are being refined, Alexandre Leveque, assistant deputy minister for Europe, the Arctic, the Middle East and the Maghreb, told lawmakers, noting that the government wants to limit any exports that go into arms [and] weapons that could be used directly in the conflict in Gaza.

He did not specifically detail how the government intends to determine whether a specific part or piece of equipment is used in the Israel-Hamas war.

Israel leads a Canadian government ranking of the top 12 non-U.S. destinations that require export permits for military goods and technology. The number of permits issued in 2022 for movement of such goods to Israel was 315, according to the Canadian government. And that year, Canada exported about CA$21 million (U.S. $15 million) worth of defense-related products to Israel.

Israel condemned the motion passed in the House of Commons. Its regrettable that the Canadian government is taking a step that undermines Israels right to self-defense against Hamas terrorists, Foreign Minister Israel Katz tweeted.

Project Ploughshares, a Canadian think tank focused on disarmament and international security, issued a statement March 21 that expressed disappointment that the new policy does not apply to export permits already issued and which Global Affairs Canada has the full authority to revoke.

It also noted the House of Commons motion failed to address Canadas transfer of military end-use parts and components to Israel via the United States.

News website The Maple reported Feb. 10 that Canadian government figures show domestic firms sent to Israel CA$28.5 million in military goods during the first two months of the war in Gaza, which began in October. Those exports included engines for drones; electronic systems and aircraft components; and fire control equipment, according to The Maple, which obtained the data using the federal governments Access to Information Act.
Vicki Matteson, vice president of the Indian River County Chamber of Commerce, John Cotugno, mayor of Vero Beach and Brian McCormick, director of airport properties, facilities and contract services for Breeze Airways, spray the second Breeze Airways flight to Vero Beach with champagne during a inaugural celebration on Friday, Feb. 3, 2023. The airline is expected to add Florida flights from the Capital Region International Airport this fall.

DEWITT TWP.  Breeze Airways is expected to be the newest airline to offer flights from the Capital Region International Airport with service set to take off in October.

The relatively new airline, started about two and a half years ago and based largely on the East coast, is planning to offer Lansing-based flights to both Orlando and Fort Myers, Florida.

Lukas Johnson, the airline's chief commercial officer, said Monday that flights are expected to start the first week of October, with introductory flight pricing starting at $79.

He said the Lansing airport is often overlooked, with carriers tending to go to Detroit or Grand Rapids instead.

"It's a good opportunity for us," Johnson said.

And for customers? They get another route, he said, to the most popular destination for East Coast flyers: Orlando.

The other route, to Fort Myers, is one of the most popular routes for the Midwest, Johnson said.

"Lansing itself has a good local population size, it has the Capitol and schools and colleges in a defined area," he said. "I think our plane size and product is perfect for that."

Johnson said the airline considers itself a "nice low cost carrier," and plans to offer three tiers of seating for its Lansing routes, which are expected to be on Airbus A220 planes. There would be 137 seats, 12 of those first class and 25 with extra leg room.

The flights will start with a couple of routes each week and the airline has had a pattern of expanding and even adding new destinations if the flights are successful, Johnson said.

The airline also is introducing its own credit card with perks, in partnership with Barclays and Visa, he said.

The Lansing flights will be the first in Michigan for Breeze Airlines.

The airline is headquartered near Salt Lake City and has large operations in airports near Charleston, South Carolina; Tampa, Florida; Providence, Rhode Island; and Hartford, Connecticut.

Breeze Airlines will be the fifth airline operating from the DeWitt Township-based airport. The airport currently has four regularly scheduled airlines with destination that include Orlando.

Delta Airlines offers nonstop service to Detroit Metro Airport (DTW); American Airlines offers nonstop service to Washington, D.C. (DCA) and Orlando (MCO) as well as service to Chicago (ORD); low-fare airline Avelo offers nonstop service to Orlando (MCO); and Apple Vacations offers nonstop service to Cancun, Mexico (CUN); Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (PUJ) and Montego Bay, Jamaica (MBJ).

Contact Mike Ellis at mellis@lsj.com or 517-267-0415

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: New airline coming to Lansing, offering Orlando, Ft. Myers flights
LITTLE ROCK, Ark.- Car break-ins are an issue continuing to plague Little Rock residents and one that recently impacted a woman visiting from out of state.

Beth Smarzik woke up to a ring on her phone and then flashing lights as she walked out of her hotel to see her window and others busted out and blood inside her vehicle.

They left behind, not only their blood drops, but they also left the tool that they used to break in the vehicles. Beth Smarzik said.

Little Rock locals react to arrests made in car break-in spree

Smarzik and three other vehicles had their windows busted out around 4:30 in the morning.

Police officers took the DNA from where one of the suspects must have cut themselves when breaking the window.

According to Smarzik, they used an emergency escape tool, which is often used to break windows when submerged in water.

They had blood drops along next to my car, in my car console itself, and when I was getting my window repaired, the repair man also noticed blood drops along the windows and there were blood drops on another vehicle, Smarzik said.

Smarzik also said that she believes the person or people may have been young because they left a deposit bag full of cash in one of the other SUVs that were busted into.

So, the assumption is that somebody who doesnt know that the plastic bag is a deposit bag and they just left it there so that would be assumed it would have been kids, Smarzik said.

North Little Rock neighborhood hit by string of car break-ins

Smarzik was visiting Little Rock from San Antonio and will see the new home she just bought on Thursday. While this is concerning, she said it wont keep her from moving here.

She also said that because she was visiting, she was at a loss on where to go or what to do to get her window fixed. That is when she came across a Facebook group called Little Rock PowerWomen.

I asked the ladies, I think its 25,000 people strong, and said, Ladies give me some suggestions please, Smarzik said.

Multiple cars broken into during funeral in Hot Spring County

A woman responded with her husbands number, who was able to help her.

He was able to respond to it and get me back in the business so that with all this rain coming, I can go ahead and feel safe, Smarzik said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLRT - FOX16.com.
URBANA, Ill. (WCIA)  A local hospital has been awarded a designation recognizing its care for its young patients.

The Illinois Pediatric Facility Recognition with the Illinois Department of Public Health named Carle Foundation Hospital a Pediatric Critical Care Center, the hospital announced in a news release Monday. The agencies choose hospitals based on their readiness in providing emergency, critical and specialty care.

Carle nurses bring hair care to health care in Central IL

Id like to congratulate the staff and administration at Carle Foundation Hospital for achieving this important designation, IDPH Director Dr. Sameer Vohra said. The designation as a Pediatric Critical Care Center is a testament to their commitment to provide the highest level of care for their youngest patients. We are pleased to recognize their efforts and applaud their dedication to improving the level of pediatric care available in Illinois.

In June 2020, Carle opened a pediatric intensive care unit with nursing respiratory staff and physicians during the COVID-19 pandemic. Carle also said its pediatric patients have access to cardiology, endocrinology, neurology and surgery services.

There are only three Pediatric Critical Care Center in downstate Illinois and 11 across Illinois.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com.
Nimco Ali claims she has located the alleged thief herself with an AirTag - Guy Bell/Shutterstock

A high-profile feminist campaigner who is godmother to one of Boris and Carrie Johnsons children has lambasted Sadiq Khans London after the Met Police dropped an investigation into a stolen item that had a tracker attached.

Nimco Ali, one of Carrie Johnsons closest friends, called the force an absolute joke after being told that her report of theft had been closed.

Ms Ali, who would not confirm the details of the supposed theft, claimed she had located the alleged thief herself with an AirTag, an Apple-made tracking device, which was one of the items stolen, and that she had CCTV of the man who stole from her.

Despite claiming to have offered the address to officers, Ms Ali received a text from the police on Tuesday morning that said: Unfortunately, no suspects have been identified and all lines of enquiry have been exhausted.

Following the decision to drop her case, Ms Ali said that she was not a fan of how the force was run by the Mayor of London.

She said: Its something that is happening all the time with the Met. They didnt even have a suspect. Im going to speak to them.

Im not a fan of Sadiq Khans London.

Posting a screenshot of the message she received from the force to Twitter, Ms Ali said:

The @metpoliceuk is an absolute joke. You have the man who took my stuff on cctv. I offered to give the officer the address that my AirTag was showing up at. You never called me back even after i called countless times with the information. And now you send me this. pic.twitter.com/q1eIZn4juT  Nimco Ali (OBE)  (@NimkoAli) March 26, 2024

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: We are aware of a post on social media about the closure of an investigation following an allegation of theft which was reported to police.

This follows an incident where a set of Airpods were reported stolen from a shop in Regents Park Road, NW1 on the morning of 15 January.

After reviewing the crime report, this case has been reopened and we will make contact with the victim to establish if there are further lines of enquiry that can be pursued.

Anyone with information is asked to call 101 or X @MetCC and quote CAD2120/15Jan.

Ms Ali served advised Boris Johnsons government on tackling violence against women and girls from 2020 to 2022.

She stayed with the Johnsons at Downing Street during the peak of the coronavirus lockdown in December 2020 to help look after their eldest son, Wilfred, who is her godson.

In 2021, she was pictured carrying Wilfred out of the gates of No 10 to meet his newborn sister, Romy, at the hospital.

In December 2022, three months after Mr Johnsons resignation as prime minister, Ms Ali stepped down from her role, saying she did not want to serve under Suella Braverman, then the home secretary.

Ms Ali is also an author, podcast host and the chief executive of The Five Foundation, a London-based partnership that campaigns towards the elimination of female genital mutilation (FGM).

She was awarded an OBE in 2019 for her services to tackling FGM and gender inequality.

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.
This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call the network, previously known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.

"Sister Wives" stars Janelle and Kody Brown announced the death of their son Garrison Brown, who also appeared on the TLC show, on March 5. Police in Flagstaff, Arizona told NBC News the 25-year-old appeared to have died by suicide.

In the days that followed, the Brown family began to share more details about their loss and paid homage to Garrison's memory on social media.

On March 26, Hunter Brown spoke out after the death of his brother. The Sister Wives alum posted a carousel on Instagram that included photos of the two celebrating, having fun, and when they were little. The first one appears to be at Garrisons funeral.

Hunter began his post with a quote: When tomorrow starts without me

He then shared kind words about how much his late brother meant to him.

I have no eulogy to give or long caption for you to read. All I can say is that I love Garrison and he has always been and will always be a huge part of my life, the 27-year-old wrote. I will forever work at being better at enjoying every moment, big or small, with my loved ones. I would encourage you to do the same!"

He concluded with another quote: Now we are free I will see you again, but not yet. Not yet.

As the family continues to honor his life, here are some of the tributes they have shared so far.

Kody Brown

Kody and Janelle were the first to announce the loss of their son. The former couple has six children together and Kody has a total of 18 children with his four wives.

"Janelle and I are deeply saddened to announce the loss of our beautiful boy Robert Garrison Brown. He was a bright spot in the lives of all who knew him. Our loss will leave such a big hole in our lives, that it takes our breath away. We ask that you please respect our privacy and join us in honoring his memory," Kody wrote on Instagram.

Janelle Brown

Janelle has shared several tribute posts to her son since announcing the initial news. On March 8, she shared a family photo of her posing with her six children, their significant others and her grandchildren.

"I had all my children together last Christmas. It was amazing as its hard with everyones busy lives to coordinate time like this. I am extremely grateful now that we had pictures taken," she wrote.

A few days later, Janelle expressed her gratitude for the outpouring of support her family received in the days following Garrison's death.

She revealed fans of the Brown family had donated to cat rescue centers in Garrison's name.

"I have been brought to tears again ... thank you all for your generosity. It means so much. The cats he adopted from both agencies were so important to him. He loved being a cat dad," she wrote.

Christine Brown

In the days after Garrison's death, Christine Brown took to Instagram to share several reflections on the impact he made on his family. Christine is Janelle's former sister wife, and considers herself a co-parent to her six children, she told TODAY.com.

Christine first posted a video of Garrison building her youngest daughter, Truely, a flower bed.

Garrison was a wonderful, caring brother who understood Truelys need for a hobby and built her a flowerbed. Well miss him forever, she wrote.

Three days later, Christine shared a photo from her daughter Gwendlyn Browns wedding along with the following caption: "Every photo with Garrison in it is now infinitely more important than ever before. I am scrambling for just another glimpse of such an incredible man, brother, son

Christine, who got married to David Woolley last year, also shared a montage of photos from Garrisons childhood and revealed that she recently made his favorite breakfast to honor his memory.

"Were always going to remember and honor Garrison, no matter what life throws at us daily. Its such a difficult balance embracing life and daily routines like celebrating holidays and working while grieving. So, hey, I made his favorite for St. Patricks Day!" she wrote.

The reality star also posted a video of herself reflecting on how weird it feels to have to move on following the loss of a loved one.

I have to keep working, because its what I understand, its what I know. Its what I know I need to do, she said.

Its been two weeks since Garrisons death. Its never easier to say, she also said. Its a terrible thing to lose your son. Were going to miss him all the time. Every single day for the rest of our lives.

Maddie Brown Brush

Janelle and Kody's eldest daughter, Maddie Brown Brush, initially addressed her brother's death by sharing a photo of him with two of her three children and a quote about grief.

"My words seem to fall short. Our hearts our broken and we are now swallowed with the love now left behind for this beautiful brother.  God be with you till we meet again. Ill see you at the gates of Valhalla, feasting with our ancestors who battled before you. Until then, we must live in a more gray world without the light you brought," she captioned the post.

Later in March, Maddie posted a video of herself reflecting on the loss of her brother and detailing his mental health struggles.

"It wasnt bullying. It wasnt a lack of love that Garrison had. It was mental health, she said.

The mother of three went on to say she believes social media negatively impacted Garrison.

Social media is not real ... its a highlight reel and that was something that Garrison and I talked a lot about. Garrison used to feel like he wasnt doing enough because he was comparing himself to things on social media. I dont think that its real and I think we need to remember that, she said.

Savanah Brown

Janelle and Kody's youngest daughter, Savanah Brown, acknowledged her older brother's death in a poignant Instagram post.

"Two weeks ago, on Tuesday March 5, my older brother Garrison took his own life. He was 25. Im having a hard time understanding it. But I know now, more than anything, that my brother Garrison is no longer in any more pain," she wrote.

In her post, Savanah also included a message for others dealing with mental health challenges, as her brother did.

"I deeply hope that anyone who may be reading this never underestimates how big of a hole their loss would leave. Persevere, for the sake of your family, for the sake of your friends, for the sake of the ones who love you," she wrote.

Meri Brown

The day Garrison passed away, Meri Brown, another former sister wife, shared the following tribute on Instagram.

"Our family is deeply saddened to announce the loss of our beautiful boy, Robert Garrison Brown. He was a bright spot in the lives of all who knew him. This loss will leave such a big hole in our lives, and it takes our breath away. We ask that you please respect our privacy during this time and join us in honoring his memory. Garrison, you are loved and will be missed!" she wrote.

Mykelti Padron

Christine and Kody's daughter Mykelti Padron posted a photo of her daughter Avalon with Garrison and shared two quotes about grief on Instagram to honor his memory.

"My heart breaks for my brother whos no longer with us but it rejoices knowing hes with his fellow warriors in Valhalla drinking and fighting with Odin. I hope he is loving his place amongst the stars," she wrote.

Mykelti went on to describe her brother as "the funniest person in the room."

"He was one cool dude and I cry so much because my kids will never be able to experience his fun presence. But he will live on in all my families memories. Have fun up with the stars little bro, youre missed," she wrote.

Leon Brown

Meri and Kody Brown share one child, Leon Brown. Leon posted a selfie taken with Garrison along with a quote from the 1996 movie "Dragonheart" to mark his passing: To the stars, Bowen, to the stars.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
At least 13 "air targets" attacked Russias Belgorod and Belgorod Oblast overnight on March 26, Belgorod Governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, claimed.

Our anti-aircraft system operated over Belgorod and its Oblast  13 air targets were shot down while approaching the city," a Russian official claimed on Telegram at 3:38 a.m. MSK.

Preliminary reports show that two people were injured in the village of Dubovo. One received a head injury, with a wound to his left temple and a shrapnel wound to his abdomen, while the other had a head injury, Gladkov alleged.

Read also: Belgorod Oblast authorities report suicide drones attack

20 residential houses and one farm building in Dubovo suffered damage - windows were shatterred, while facades, roofs, and fences were damaged, he claimed.

Raid of Russian volunteers in the Russian Federation  What is Known?

Russian volunteers from the Freedom of Russia Legion (LSR), the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK), and the Siberian Battalion announced a new operation in Russias Belgorod Oblast on March 12.

The RDK claimed to have advanced several dozens of kilometers and taken prisoners. Moscow reported casualties among the Russian army.

Russian rebels attacked the FSB building in Belgorod on March 13.

Read also: Life in hell: Belgorod residents face harsh reality of Putin's war

Russian volunteers also claimed control over the settlement of Tiotkino, Kursk Oblast. The village was in a gray zone, they said later.

Two ammunition depots in Tiotkino were destroyed, the LSR claimed on March 14.

The LSR called its main mission was to reach Moscow.

Russian rebels recorded a joint appeal to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin on March 16, urging him to contact them.

The Siberian Battalion and the RDK raised their flags in the village of Kozinka, Belgorod Oblast on March 17.

The Siberian Battalion fighters announced to have entered the settlement of Gorkovskyi, Belgorod Oblast and to have seized the local administration building together with volunteers from the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.

The Russian army lost more than 1,500 soldiers killed and wounded because of the special operation in Belgorod and Kursk oblasts, LSR claimed, its representative, Aleksey Baranovsky, claimed at a press conference on March 21.

Russian volunteers also destroyed 121 units of enemy equipment, while another 50 were left inoperative, he claimed.

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
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  The week before Easter is one of the busiest periods for cross-border travel in the El Paso area and CBP is offering tips before the holiday.

CBP says a common item officers encounter during the Easter season are cascarones (confetti-filled eggshells), which are restricted to 12 per passenger and the shells may be decorated, etched, or painted but they must be clean, dry, and free of any egg residue.

CBP agriculture specialists will also encounter travelers attempting to import chicks and ducklings which is prohibited.

CBP says the importation of all breeds of live birds is prohibited and the animals will be seized and turned over to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Veterinary Services or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for disposition.

Travelers are encouraged to declare all agricultural items to a CBP officer upon arribal and consult the Know Before You Go guide before making their journey, according to CBP.

If an item is declared but found to be prohibited it can be abandoned without consequence, CBP said.

CBP is also reminding travelers that they can utilize the CBPOne Mobile Application to expedite the I-94 travel permit process if their journey takes them beyond the border zone.

Travelers can also monitor border wait times online or by using the BWT app.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
Texas-based HID, a pioneer in trusted identity solutions, recently achieved global recognition for its Bahrain ePassport project, clinching several top honours.

These include the distinguished London Design Awards, the High Security Printing Award, and the iF Design Award. This suite of recognitions reinforces HID's leadership in security design, showcasing its innovative approach to integrating cutting-edge security features with aesthetic and cultural elements, a statement said.

The Bahrain ePassport, celebrated for its innovative design, marks a milestone in document security by introducing the world's first document-embedded hashtag, #teambahrain. This feature reinforces digital savviness.

It's a strong symbol of national unity and a testament to HID's ability to integrate modern digital elements with traditional security measures, the statement said.

Craig Sandness, Senior VP and Managing Director for Citizen Identity at HID, said: "Our design philosophy is centred around seamlessly weaving security into the fabric of the document's design.

The Bahrain ePassport is a prime example of this approach, where innovation meets artistry. This is not just our success; it's a shared victory with our Bahraini partners, local artists, and calligraphers. Together, we've crafted a document that is as secure as it is symbolic of Bahrain's rich heritage."

The collaboration between HID, Bahraini authorities, and local artisans, HID said, highlights its commitment to incorporating local culture into its security designs.

HID's work on the Bahrain ePassport has been recognised across several categories in the London Design Awards, including Gold awards in Service Design for Government, Cultural, and Best User Experience categories, underscoring the project's excellence in functionality, cultural sensitivity, and user engagement.

The High Security Printing Award for Best New ePassport for EMEA and the iF Design Award in the Publications and Communications category further validate HID's skill in creating secure, user-centred design.

This partnership approach, HID said, not only enriches the document's aesthetic appeal but also enhances its acceptance and significance among citizens.

HID said it demonstrates its leadership in creating identity solutions that respect and celebrate cultural heritage.

"As we celebrate the one-year anniversary of the Bahrain ePassport, we look forward to continuing our journey of innovation," adds Sandness.

"We invite governments and organisations worldwide to join us in this journey of creating secure, innovative solutions that pave the way for the future of identity documentation." - TradeArabia News Service
The new season will see the return of vintage trends that were popular in the 90s but later lost love and recognition. Some of them are known as timeless classics, while others seemed too colorful for many years.

ADVERTISIMENT

The manicure trends that will be seen everywhere were listed by the editors of the fashion portal Who What Wear. Some designs are quite minimalistic, while others can be used to create bright accents.

Glitter

Designs with glitter contain shiny particles that add radiance to any look. Glitter can be of different shapes, sizes, and colors, which gives you an unlimited scope for imagination. It can be applied to the entire nail or used to create stripes, patterns, French, etc.

Drawings

Manicure with drawings will help you demonstrate creativity, which was popular in the 90s. It can be simple lines, geometric shapes, flowers, animals, characters, or any other image you like.

ADVERTISIMENT

French

French manicure never goes out of style. It is characterized by a white nail tip and a beige or pink base. Recently, the simple design has been modified by adding new shades, decorations, and accents, but more than 30 years ago, the classic version was in fashion.

Square

The square shape of nails is an elegant choice that makes any design look neat. Square nails can be both short and long, and they are often recommended for those with a wide nail plate.

ADVERTISIMENT

Metallic

A manicure with a metallic effect was once considered the most glamorous. A shiny and mirror-like finish can be created with the help of special varnishes, foils, rubbing, or stickers.

Taidai

The taidai trend is a bright design that resembles the fabric dyeing technique known in the past. To create it, different colors of varnishes are used, which are chaotically applied to the nail to create a smooth transition.

ADVERTISIMENT

Crescent moon

The crescent manicure is characterized by a hole at the base of the nail, which can be filled with different colors or left empty. This technique has been ignored for many years, but in 2024 it will become fashionable again.

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Don't fall for fakes!
Money to throw

Re: the March 24 story, Centners downplay ties to arrested Miami commissioner, say they sprinkle money around. The Centners spun a tale in their interviews with the Broward State Attorneys Office about sprinkling money around to various organizations, about which they claim ignorance as to the who, what, when, where and why.

Sprinkling is what you do with breadcrumbs, not $245,000. In addition to the stench of corruption that surrounds this tale, there are two other troubling matters.

Did the public get a fair exchange when the State Attorneys Office granted immunity to the Centners for the mendacious sludge they gave in return, as the Herald reported?

As self-described educators of young children, with an obligation to at least appear ethically and morally upright to their students, the Centners have failed.

Shouldnt they pack up and leave town before the sprinkling becomes a deluge?

Betsy Warwick,

Miami

Haiti heartache

Recent events in Haiti are heartbreaking; a country at the bottom of the ladder now seemingly falling off it entirely. One cannot imagine what it must be like to live in such depraved chaos.

Instead of reaching out, trying to offer a helping hand to those refugees who somehow make it to our shores, our leaders seek only to repel them and deny any comfort.

What will our governor do next, authorize his state militia to shoot incoming migrants on sight?

How awful that we, the worlds richest country, cannot think of a way to help. What a sad commentary on our society.

Raphael Cole,

Davie

Costly slipway

The city of Miami is moving forward with ill-conceived access to the Marine Stadium basin and Biscayne Bay from an additional Rickenbacker Causeway site. Directly across the site is a critical wildlife area; its shoals will likely be trampled despite protective signage.

Jet skiers already abuse the basin and deaths have occurred. Increased access will have safety consequences. Members from the Miami Rowing Club dread motorizing this safe harbor. Proposed plans require 72 truck/trailer parking spaces, which will insure another barren tarmac.

How will the city attract an operator for the stadium with a competing boat ramp?

Miami is jeopardizing a $62 million bond (for stadium renovation) for an unnecessary $15 million ramp. Traffic and congestion is already a problem on the Rickenbacker from Crandon Marina. The city claims it is restoring an existing ramp. The ramp will interfere with fully renovating the Rickenbacker Marina and will obstruct the walking path envisioned in the Virginia Key Master Plan.

This seemingly innocent project, approved by a previous administration, must be reconsidered. Miami City Commissioner Damian Pardo must place this issue on an upcoming agenda meeting and allow a public hearing.

Steven Leidner,

Bay Harbor Islands

Hypocrisy all over

Listening to Vice President Kamala Harris talk about the crisis in Haiti and the gun violence epidemic is laughable. If the administration really wanted to do anything about these problems, it would have done so. Instead, all we get is talking points and no action.

Whats even funnier is listening to Sen. Marco Rubio talk about Haiti. Right away, he pivots and says that Marxism has ruined Haiti, and of course, then changes the subject to Cuba.

If Haiti wasnt a nation whose citizens are mostly of African descent, our government wouldve done something long ago.

Seth Wexler,

Plantation

Ultra maxed out

How outrageous that an entire city must be annoyed by loud music All that thumping, from Brickell to the Venetian, only to line the pockets of a few producers while breaking the eardrums of our kids.

Move this venue to an indoor establishment, preferably in another city.

Who ever is promoting this horrible noisy intrusion should be voted out of office  pronto. This is surely not sitting well with tax-paying residents.

Sandra Gilbert,

Miami Beach

Whos paying?

Determining which of the applicants will be chosen to live in the building mentioned in the March 24 Herald story, Nearly 20,000 people register to live at 113-unit Hollywood affordable-housing complex, will be extremely difficult.

The article describes a $93 million complex. That means the average unit has a construction cost or is valued at more than $800,000. In todays market, a property of this value would rent for upwards of $5,000 per month, multiples of the units would rent for between $1,100 and $1,400 per month.

Clearly, the developer is not in business to lose money.

How is the shortfall accounted for and who is paying for it and is this the blueprint for future development?

Richard F. Katz,

Cooper City

Usual politics

The author of the March 24 letter Schumers comments has misinterpreted events. Sen. Chuck Schumer, President Joe Biden and Democrats support Israels right to defend itself against Hamas.

How do I know this?

Because they have continued to give arms and money to Israel. And because we give so much, we have the right to give our opinions too, which Schumer, Biden, and some Democrats have recently done.

Playing politics?

Of course. Welcome to the world.

I remember when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu supported ex-President Donald Trumps re-election and openly criticized Biden in 2020, yet Biden didnt react childishly as Trump did when he called Netanyahu a traitor for congratulating Biden on his election win in 2020.

Israelis criticize the United States when it suits them and we criticize Israel when it suits us. Nevertheless, the money and the arms continue to flow.

Corey Mass,

Miami Beach

Biden-bashing

The March 24 op-ed, RFK Jr. strikes fear in heart of Biden campaign, is more about trashing President Joe Biden than independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The author, Boston Herald-based Biden-basher Joe Battenfeld, can only refer to Bidens campaign as especially worried and that Kennedys vice presidential choice could be a bigger threat to Biden.

Battenfeld also stated that Biden continues to unravel, that he got no boost from his State of the Union speech and finally, he reminded us again of Bidens age.

No truth in the news today. A.I. could have done better than this.

Bill Silver,

Coral Gables

Better leaders

Sen. Marco Rubio sold out our teachers as part of a deal to become speaker of Floridas State House in 2006.

Now, hes at it again, trying to prove hes feckless enough to be Donald Trumps 2024 running mate, by voting against the bill to keep the federal government open. Sen. Rick Scott simply didnt vote.

We should replace them with senators who put Florida and country ahead of their political ambitions.

Philip K. Stoddard,

South Miami

Seeking peace

As a Vietnam veteran, I remember each day of service and the oath given to serve our country. My service from 1967-1968 brings constant memories, not only what occurred in Vietnam, but also the days after and what I have learned.

Countries must strive for peace without physical aggression. Our country is democratic, with the principles of equality and liberty. We help other countries with the same belief, that freedom and human rights are paramount.

March 29 is National Vietnam War Veterans Day. We remember the service of all those who participated, their outcomes and their health issues upon their return. The Pentagon Papers exposed that the American public was misled and the war was extended, costing thousands of military and civilian deaths.

My respect is for all veterans, our military, our Veterans Administration and especially the generation of World War II and the unity in service by our military, civilians and allies.

The goal must be to reach peace at home and worldwide.

Louis Cohen,

second vice president,

Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 23,

Tamarac
From left front: Gisele Davis, Chandra Williams-Davis, Ruthie Walls, Sadie Belle Reynolds and Jennifer Reynolds are five of the seven plaintiffs challenging Section 16 of the Arkansas LEARNS Act in federal court. Mike Laux (at podium) is one of their attorneys and filed the lawsuit Monday, March 25, 2024 before hosting a news conference at Bullock Temple CME Church, across the street from Little Rock Central High, where Gisele and Sadie Belle are students in Walls' AP African American Studies course. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate)

A federal lawsuit filed Monday challenges the constitutionality of a section of the LEARNS Act that prohibits indoctrination in Arkansas schools and asks the court to block its enforcement.

Civil rights attorneys Mike Laux and Austin Porter Jr. filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas on behalf of three Little Rock Central High students, their parents and AP African American Studies teacher Ruthie Walls.

An AP African American Studies course thats being piloted in six Arkansas schools, including Central High, received scrutiny after Gov. Sarah Huckabee signed an executive order banning indoctrination on her first day in office.

Similar language was later incorporated into the LEARNS Act, a new law that makes sweeping changes to the states education system. The state education department abruptly removed the advanced placement course from its list of approved courses days before the start of the 2023-2024 school year last August.

According to a statement from the Laux Law Group, Section 16 of the LEARNS Act is a brazen, political attempt to silence speech and expression that the governor and education secretary disagree with.

The LEARNS Act violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, the statement reads. It is unworkably vague and oppressive, and it discriminates on the basis of race. Section 16 is just another front in the culture war being waged by right-wing ideologues.

In response to the lawsuit against her and Education Secretary Jacob Oliva, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday: In the State of Arkansas, we will not indoctrinate our kids and teach them to hate America or each other. Its sad the radical left continues to lie and play political games with our kids futures.

Oliva said in a statement that College Board, the organization that manages the AP program, updated the course framework after discussions and assured the Arkansas Department of Education that it doesnt violate state law.

The department approved the course for the 2024-2025 school year and will continue working with districts to ensure courses are in compliance, Oliva said.

The lawsuit falsely accuses ADE of not allowing students to participate in the AP African American Studies pilot program and stripped them from the benefits that the course provides  a total lie, he said. The department advised schools they could offer local course credit to students who complete the pilot, and six schools participated.

At a Monday press conference, Laux called Little Rocks Central High School a crucible for positive social change and criticized the state for trying to erode the rights that the Little Rock Nine and others have fought so desperately for.

[Section 16] is a total affront to what this state has accomplished, to what these children have accomplished, to childrens capacity to understand, Laux said. They know whats going on. Theyre not being fooled.

Central High is home to the Little Rock Nine, a group of African American students who desegregated the school in 1957 with the assistance of federal troops after the governor ordered the Arkansas National Guard to block their entry.

In addition to Walls, the lawsuit plaintiffs are Central High freshman Sadie Belle Reynolds and her mother, Jennifer Reynolds; senior Gisele Davis and her mother, Chandra Williams-Davis; and another unnamed student and parent.

Sadie Belle and Gisele are both enrolled in AP African American Studies and were present at the news conference, where Laux praised them for walking in the footsteps of the Little Rock Nine.

The plaintiffs ask the court to find Section 16 unconstitutional, both on its face and based on evidence. They also seek an injunction preventing that portion of the law from being further enacted and rolling back the ways it has been enforced so far, Laux said.

The LEARNS Act violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. It is unworkably vague and oppressive, and it discriminates on the basis of race. Section 16 is just another front in the culture war being waged by right-wing ideologues.

 Laux Law Group

The suit argues Section 16 violates the First Amendment because it impermissibly regulates classroom free speech on the basis of the speech content. The imposed regulations are also viewpoint-based discrimination because they authorize the defendants to remove fact-based state education resources they find disagreeable, according to the complaint.

Laux added at the news conference that nothing in Section 16 prevents the removal of books from classrooms.

Additionally, the law fails to define operative terms and contains redundant and confusing terms, according to the complaint.

Section 16 is unworkably vague and overly broad to the point where it fails to give reasonable notice of the conduct and speech it prohibits, the lawsuit reads.

Laux said the vagueness of the section sets people up for the arbitrary prosecution of this statute and creates a chilling effect on students and teachers.

Plaintiffs argue Section 16 violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment because by restricting the AP African American Studies curriculum due to certain subject matter but not restricting the curriculum of similar AP courses covering the same subject matter, it creates different classes along racial lines.

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The suit argues plaintiffs have suffered physical injury as well as economic and emotional damages, including but not limited to, stress, anxiety, fear, confusion, stigmatizations and consternation.

The plaintiffs have requested a jury trial, and U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker will hear the case, according to court documents.

Background

Arkansas education officials removed the AP pilot class, now in its second year, from the states approved course list right before the start of school in August. As a result, the course does not count toward graduation credit.

Oliva defended the decision last August, saying the course was listed in error the previous year. State education officials can decide whether it should be considered for approval once the pilot is finalized and becomes an official course, he said.

An Arkansas Department of Education spokesperson said then that state officials needed clarity on the course to ensure it wasnt violating state law regarding prohibited topics.

Oliva sent a letter to schools participating in the pilot requesting course materials for review and to pledge the curriculum would not violate state law against indoctrination and Critical Race Theory in public schools.

Critical race theory is typically not taught in K-12 schools in Arkansas, and is reserved mostly for graduate-level college coursework. The NAACP Legal Defense Fund defines critical race theory as an academic and legal framework that denotes that systemic racism is part of American society  from education and housing to employment and healthcare.

Sanders also defended the education departments decision in a nationally televised interview on Fox News in August, calling critical race theory a leftist agenda, teaching our kids to hate America and hate one another, similar to her Monday statement.

Both Sadie Belle and Jennifer Reynolds, who are white, said at the news conference that they disagreed with Sanders comments based on Sadie Belles positive experiences in AP African American Studies.

I dont feel shamed or wronged [in this class], Sadie Belle said. Im just excited to learn, and thats all I wanted to take this course for: to be a more learned and active citizen.

After being piloted at hundreds of schools across the country over two years, AP African American Studies will be available to all schools in the 2024-2025 academic year. Walls participated in both years of the pilot, and said at the news conference that roughly 100 Central High students are taking the interdisciplinary course this academic year.

Walls said she doesnt want Little Rocks youth to go away for college and sit in a history classroom and say, I never knew that, why didnt I ever know that? Well, because my teacher didnt teach us that.

That would be a shame and a mockery, she said.

Williams-Davis said making the class ineligible for graduation credit the Friday before school started was a source of anxiety for Gisele, but she chose to take the class anyway.

She has loved this class, but its always seemed to me since that Friday that this is an attempt to erase not just African-American history but [also] American history, said Williams-Davis, who is Black.

Legal pushback

The LEARNS Act has been unpopular with many Central High students since its inception, with students staging a campus walkout and rally at the Capitol last March protesting the legislation.

Reforms that attack school coursework deemed too inappropriate for students will dramatically decrease their preparation to face real-world social issues, four students wrote in an open letter to Sanders, co-signed by more than 1,500 students and alumni.

This is also not the first time the LEARNS Act has been challenged in the courts. A group of Arkansans filed a lawsuit challenging the LEARNS Acts emergency clause last May.

Plaintiffs were concerned about the quick implementation of a transformation contract between the Marvell-Elaine School District and the Friendship Education Foundation, a charter management organization.

A provision of the LEARNS Act, the contract allows public school districts with a D or F-rating or in need of Level 5  Intensive Support to partner with an open-enrollment public charter school or another state board-approved entity in good standing to create public school district transformation campus.

Those plaintiffs argued, and a Pulaski County judge agreed, that the emergency clause was invalid because it was not passed with a separate roll-call vote garnering a two-thirds majority, as required by the Arkansas Constitution. An emergency clause allows legislation to take effect immediately instead of 91 days after the end of the legislative session. The Legislatures long-standing practice has been to cast one vote on a measure but record the same vote separately for any emergency clause.

The months-long court battle ended in October when the Arkansas Supreme Court reversed the lower courts ruling invalidating the LEARNS Acts emergency clause and dismissed the case.

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Also last summer, Citizens for Arkansas Public Education and Students (CAPES) pursued a referendum to overturn the LEARNS Act, but the group failed to gather enough signatures to place the measure on the 2024 ballot.

CAPES is one of several groups collecting signatures for a proposed ballot measure seeking to amend the Arkansas Constitution in response to the LEARNS Act, with its main goal to hold private schools that receive state funding to the same standards as public schools.

The Arkansas Conference of the NAACP, another group backing the ballot measure, also supports the Section 16 lawsuit, said Reginald Ford, first vice president of the NAACPs Jacksonville branch.

Laux said the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a national organization based in Washington D.C., has expressed support for the suit as well.

Terrence Roberts, one of the eight living members of the Little Rock Nine, wrote a statement that some of Walls students read during the press conference. He claimed Sanders and the Legislatures enactment of the LEARNS Act was a self-interested political move erecting barriers to learning in Arkansas public schools.

Let us not rob another generation of the opportunity to solve the problems generated by the continued embrace of ideologies based on the false notions of race and hierarchies of racial superiority, Roberts said.

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The post Central High families, teacher file federal lawsuit over Arkansas LEARNS Act indoctrination ban appeared first on Arkansas Advocate.
A Centre County couple was killed Monday in an all-terrain vehicle crash, the county coroner wrote in a statement Tuesday.

Timothy and Sharon Belcher, both 67, of Potter Township, died after overturning their ATV, county Coroner Scott Sayers wrote. They died at the scene.

State police at Rockview troopers were dispatched to Mountain Back Road in Potter Township at about 11:10 p.m. Monday, spokesman Jacob Rhymestine wrote in a text message to the Centre Daily Times. No other details were released; an investigation is ongoing.

No cause and manner of death has been established. Autopsies were scheduled, Sayers wrote.

There were three fatal ATV crashes between 2013 and 2022 in Centre County, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation data showed. Two were reported in Rush Township, while the other was reported in Walker Township.
A Centre County man was arrested Tuesday after investigators said they found dozens of images and videos depicting the sexual exploitation of children on his cellphone.

Eric S. Mann, 39, of Boggs Township, had 63 sexually explicit photos and videos on his phone, Pennsylvania prosecutors wrote in an affidavit of probable cause.

The investigation began after a sexually explicit image of a child was uploaded to the instant messaging platform Discord, prosecutors wrote. They alleged the email, username and phone number linked to the account were associated with him, as well as the IP address, a numeric designation that identifies its location on the internet.

Mann told investigators he understood, but said he believed someone else was using his information. His mother is the only other person who lives in the home, prosecutors wrote. A defense lawyer was not listed.

Mann pleaded guilty in June 2017 to attempting to arrange for a sexual encounter with a child at a truck stop in Milesburg. He exchanged multiple online messages with an undercover police officer who posed as a 14-year-old.

He was sentenced in March 2018 to 6 1/2 years in federal prison, as well a lifetime of supervised release. He was released from prison in March 2022.

Mann volunteered with the Milesburg fire department from 2002 until his 2016 arrest, his former defense lawyer wrote in a 2018 sentencing memo. He served as a vice president for the fire company and as a captain for the fire police.

He was also once employed as a driver for Centre Countys office of aging.

An independent forensic psychological evaluation found Mann had a well above average risk of recidivism. The evaluator recommended a combination of group therapy, cognitive behavior techniques, continued evaluations and a relapse prevention plan.

Those recommendations, she wrote, were appropriate to help Mr. Mann achieve a durable control over his sexual behavior. A message left Tuesday with his former defense lawyer was not immediately returned.

Mann was charged with 63 felony counts of possession of child pornography, as well as one felony count of criminal use of a communication facility.

He was arraigned Tuesday by District Judge Kelley Gillette-Walker, who denied bail. He is incarcerated at the Centre County Correctional Facility.

His preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 3.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA)  A meeting of the Champaign School Board was cancelled Monday evening after two members walked out.

The seven-person board currently has two vacancies. With less than four members, the board cannot meet in order to be compliant with Illinois Open Meetings Act.

Attorney General investigating alleged Open Meetings Act violation by Champaign school district

The two members, Amy Armstrong and Betsy Holder, walked out of the meeting after Armstrong objected to the agenda since it contained an item for electing a new Vice President. Jamar Brown, who served as vice president, resigned from the board earlier this month.

Only three members were in attendance after Holder and Armstrong left. With no way to continue, the meeting was cancelled.

We dont have a power in the majority, but we do have a power in the quorum, Holder said before walking out. And so right now, its best for the district for us not to be present because then things cannot be pushed through.

Armstrong posted the following statement on her Facebook page:

I will not approve this agenda and will not participate in this meeting or any other until the pressing legal matters this board is facing are addressed. Mistrust, missteps, and miscommunication must be addressed. This is a self-inflicted wound. I am committed to advocating for our districts most harmed and marginalized students, their caregivers, and taxpayers. I apologize to our community members in the audience who have made time to come this evening. I will not resign from this board and ask that we focus on its work, which is governing a multimillion-dollar business and protecting taxpayer assets and students. Amy Armstrong on her Unit 4 Board of Education Facebook page

In an interview with WCIA, Board President Gianina Baker was frustrated with the board as she believes a VP is vital to the functions of the Board.

I work full time. I have kids in the district. Baker said. There are a lot of things that makes this this volunteer job almost, you know, another full-time job on top of that. And I would hope theyd understand how important a VP role is in the bigger scheme of things.

Parents were rallying outside of the meeting place before the meeting was cancelled and planning on topics to speak on at the public comment section of the meeting. Holder apologized for community members who were planning on making remarks.

Champaign school parents tired of feeling unheard

I will continue to push for transparency as I hope the community does as well and I apologize for everyone who came out tonight hoping to speak, Holder said.

Holder also vented about the boards attorneys, and revealed her and Armstrong are trying to get the board to discuss a Request for Proposal for bids on the legal services for the district. She said its her fiduciary duty as an elected official.

The board attorneys have taken fees on class action referral agreements that they did not properly disclose, charged full billing hours for their travel time to Champaign (over $1000 per trip), billed out paralegals at $210 per hour to stamp and upload exhibits in cases, Holder wrote on Facebook.

Holders full Facebook post can be found here.

The next meeting for the Board is April 8, according to the districts website.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com.
A former Ohio House Speaker, who is already facing 20 years in prison, has had additional charges filed against him.

Attorney General Dave Yost announced that Larry Householder was indicted on multiple state felony charges, including one count that would permanently ban him from holding public office again in Ohio.

>>PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder sentenced to 20 years in prison

Householder was indicted on the following charges:

Theft in office

Aggravated theft

Telecommunications fraud

Money laundering

Tampering with records

A conviction for theft in office would forever disqualify him from public office, public employment or a position of trust in the state.

Householder was convicted on federal charges last year, but those convictions do not legally prevent him from running again for public office.

He was sentenced by a federal judge to 20 years in prison last year for his role in taking around $60 million from Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. in exchange for orchestrating a scheme to elect Householder as speaker and his allies to House seats, allowing them to then pass a $1.3 billion bailout bill for two Ohio nuclear power plants.

State crimes have state penalties, and a conviction will ensure that there will be no more comebacks from the Comeback Kid, Yost said.

We will continue to follow this story.








Artificial intelligence is energy-hungry and as companies race to make it bigger, smarter and more complex, its thirst for electricity will increase even further. This sets up a thorny problem for an industry pitching itself as a powerful tool to save the planet: a huge carbon footprint.

Yet according to Sam Altman, head of ChatGPT creator OpenAI, there is a clear solution to this tricky dilemma: nuclear fusion.

Altman himself has invested hundreds of millions in fusion and in recent interviews has suggested the futuristic technology, widely seen as the holy grail of clean energy, will eventually provide the enormous amounts of power demanded by next-gen AI.

Theres no way to get there without a breakthrough, we need fusion, alongside scaling up other renewable energy sources, Altman said in a January interview. Then in March, when podcaster and computer scientist Lex Fridman asked how to solve AIs energy puzzle, Altman again pointed to fusion.

Nuclear fusion  the process that powers the sun and other stars  is likely still decades away from being mastered and commercialized on Earth. For some experts, Altmans emphasis on a future energy breakthrough is illustrative of a wider failure of the AI industry to answer the question of how they are going to satiate AIs soaring energy needs in the near-term.

It chimes with a general tendency toward wishful thinking when it comes to climate action, said Alex de Vries, a data scientist and researcher at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. It would be a lot more sensible to focus on what we have at the moment, and what we can do at the moment, rather than hoping for something that might happen, he told CNN.

A spokesperson for OpenAI did not respond to specific questions sent by CNN, only referring to Altmans comments in January and on Fridmans podcast.

The appeal of nuclear fusion for the AI industry is clear. Fusion involves smashing two or more atoms together to form a denser one, in a process that releases huge amounts of energy.

It doesnt pump carbon pollution into the atmosphere and leaves no legacy of long-lived nuclear waste, offering a tantalizing vision of a clean, safe, abundant energy source.

But recreating the conditions in the center of the sun on Earth is a huge challenge and the technology is not likely to be ready until the latter half of the century, said Aneeqa Khan, a research fellow in nuclear fusion at the University of Manchester in the UK.

Fusion is already too late to deal with the climate crisis, Khan told CNN, adding, in the short term we need to use existing low-carbon technologies such as fission and renewables.

Fission is the process widely used to generate nuclear energy today.

A section of JT-60SA, a huge experimental nuclear fusion reactor at Naka Fusion Institute in Naka city of Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, on January 22, 2024. - Philip Fong/AFP/Getty Images

The problem is finding enough renewable energy to meet AIs rising needs in the near term, instead of turning to planet-heating fossil fuels. Its a a particular challenge as the global push to electrify everything from cars to heating systems increases demand for clean energy.

A recent analysis by the International Energy Agency calculated electricity consumption from data centers, cryptocurrencies and AI could double over the next two years. The sector was responsible for around 2% of global electricity demand in 2022, according to the IEA.

The analysis predicted demand from AI will grow exponentially, increasing at least 10 times between 2023 and 2026.

As well as the energy required to make chips and other hardware, AI requires large amounts of computing power to train models  feeding them enormous datasets and then again to use its training to generate a response to a user query.

As the technology develops, companies are rushing to integrate it into apps and online searches, ramping up computing power requirements. An online search using AI could require at least 10 times more energy than a standard search, de Vries calculated in a recent report on AIs energy footprint.

The dynamic is one of bigger is better when it comes to AI, de Vries said, pushing companies toward huge, energy-hungry models. That is the key problem with AI, because bigger is better is just fundamentally incompatible with sustainability, he added.

The situation is particularly stark in the US, where energy demand is shooting upward for the first time in around 15 years, said Michael Khoo, climate disinformation program director at Friends of the Earth and co-author of a report on AI and climate. We as a country are running out of energy, he told CNN.

In part, demand is being driven by a surge in data centers. Data center electricity consumption is expected to triple by 2030, equivalent to the amount needed to power around 40 million US homes, according to a Boston Consulting Group analysis.

Were going to have to make hard decisions about who gets the energy, said Khoo, whether thats thousands of homes, or a data center powering next-gen AI. It cant simply be the richest people who get the energy first, he added.

High school students work on "Alnstein", a robot powered by ChatGPT, in Pascal school in Nicosia, Cyprus on March 30, 2023. - Yiannis Kourtoglou/Reuters

For many AI companies, concerns about their energy use overlook two important points: The first is that AI itself can help tackle the climate crisis.

AI will be a powerful tool for advancing sustainability solutions, said a spokesperson for Microsoft, which has a partnership with OpenAI.

The technology is already being used to predict weather, track pollution, map deforestation and monitor melting ice. A recent report published by Boston Consulting Group, commissioned by Google, claimed AI could help mitigate up to 10% of planet-heating pollution.

AI could also have a role to play in advancing nuclear fusion. In February, scientists at Princeton announced they found a way to use the technology to forecast potential instabilities in nuclear fusion reactions  a step forward in the long road to commercialization.

AI companies also say they are working hard to increase efficiency. Google says its data centers are 1.5 times more efficient than a typical enterprise data center.

A spokesperson for Microsoft said the company is investing in research to measure the energy use and carbon impact of AI while working on ways to make large systems more efficient, in both training and application.

There has been a tremendous increase in AIs efficiency, de Vries said. But, he cautioned, this doesnt necessarily mean AIs electricity demand will fall.

In fact, the history of technology and automation suggests it could well be the opposite, de Vries added. He pointed to cryptocurrency. Efficiency gains have never reduced the energy consumption of cryptocurrency mining, he said. When we make certain goods and services more efficient, we see increases in demand.

In the US, there is some political push to scrutinize the climate consequences of AI more closely. In February, Sen. Ed Markey introduced legislation aimed at requiring AI companies to be more transparent about their environmental impacts, including soaring data center electricity demand.

The development of the next generation of AI tools cannot come at the expense of the health of our planet, Markey said in a statement at the time. But few expect the bill would get the bipartisan support needed to become law.

In the meantime, the development of increasingly complex and energy-hungry AI is being treated as an inevitability, Khoo said, with companies in an arms race to produce the next thing. That means bigger and bigger models and higher and higher electricity use, he added.

So I would say anytime someone says theyre solving the problem of climate change, we have to ask exactly how are you doing that today? Khoo said. Are you making every next day less energy intensive? Or are you using that as a smokescreen?

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Say what you like about Russia, but we could learn a thing or two from their policing methods.

All the suspects in the Moscow shooting seem to have fallen down the stairs, one so badly he ate his own ear.

Torture in Britain is subtler but crueller.

Once a term, three times a year, we have the PM interrogated by the liaison committee, bringing together the heads of 14 lesser committees that cover everything from levelling up to immigration to wine and port (the latter is headed by Sir Molyneux Crisp, who has worked tirelessly to put Wensleydale on the map).

Its an exercise in absurdity, underscored by the PMs growing reliance on spectacles: thick-rimmed and attached to a beaky nose beneath thick black eyebrows, he looks disconcertingly like Groucho Marx.

The session begins, as always, with an economics committee complaining about rising debt.

Then the other 13 take it in turns to ask for more money; for courts, for Wales, for research into the marketability of Somerset Brie.

The PM, who loves his sums, grows weary. He snaps: if you ask for more cash, it is incumbent upon colleagues to explain which department they think that increase should come at the expense of and which taxes should be raised to pay for it.

Oh, theres a committee for discussing that, Prime Minister. They spend their time passing cakes and eating bucks.

A joke now from William Wragg, a sardonic fellow whose mastery of procedure and insider gags evokes the kind of sixth-former who memorises Tom Lehrer lyrics.

Was your predecessor  Liz Truss  undermined by the deep state? he drawls. Is there a deep state? Are you part of it?!

If I were, replies the PM, I wouldnt tell you, causing the room to chortle.

Perhaps Ms Trusss conspiracy thinking is the result of a few chaps getting over-excited after a good lunch at, say, the Garrick, whimsies Wragg, forgetting that the reason why that reference is topical is the club doesnt allow ladies like Liz to join.

Well, the state might not be deep but, watching the liaison committee, I conclude it is thick and spreading.

Britain once ran an empire with 14 civil servants and a parrot called Cecil. Now the committee of a hundred committees discusses capping Civil Service numbers at 488,000, all in the context of historic taxes and spending. Its a situation that is not only unconservative but positively Soviet.

Bernard Jenkin, the chairman, spoke impenetrable mandarin about embedding a strategic culture in Whitehall, proposing the creation of a national school for government. If building a school to teach faceless bureaucrats how to manage our lives isnt deepy statey, Ive no idea what is.

Tragically, said Sir Bernard, younger generations feel very disengaged from politics. Several of the young people in the audience were, indeed, fast asleep.

The PM endured his inquisition with a brave face, then dashed off to do something useful, and the committee drifted away to sample some of Sir Molyneuxs delicious Red Leicester.

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 continued stalemate led by congressional Republicans over U.S. aid to Ukraine in fighting its war with Russia fails to take into account that freedom around the world is at stake, the French ambassador to the U.S. said Monday.

Ambassador Laurent Bili, making his first visit to Chicago since being appointed to the post more than a year ago, also said Russia President Vladimir Putins efforts to blame Ukraine for a deadly Islamic State attack at a concert venue outside Moscow coincides with a stepped-up Russian disinformation campaign being waged in France.

French President Emanuel Macron on Sunday elevated that nations security alert status to its highest level in the wake of the attack that killed at least 137 people on Friday and said his country had foiled two attempted attacks. The Islamic State, or ISIS, claimed credit for the attack and U.S. officials have tied the attack to the Islamic State in Khorasan, an ISIS affiliate operating in central Asia, and had provided warnings to Russia.

When all the evidence is pointing out (ISIS) in a very obvious direction, that idea to try to put the blame on Ukraine doesnt make much sense, Bili said of Putins insistence with no proof that Ukraine is to blame. But we know how all the propaganda machines work. And we have also been seeing this last month that Russia has really been beefing up its disinformation attacks in France.

France, with a tradition of freedom and willingness to live together has been targeted by terrorist attacks for many years. Bili said.

We know that we are a target and have been beefing up for years with preparation, especially with the situation with the Olympics, the situation with Gaza, he said of the Summer Olympics in Paris in July as well as unrest over Israels war with Hamas.

ISIS in Khorasan is also one of the movements that is rising up. We are stepping up cooperation and we enjoy a great degree of cooperation with the intelligence community in the U.S, he said.

Macron has been hawkish in wanting to see Russia prosecuted for its invasion and war with Ukraine. And Bili said that lost in the discussion over Republican efforts to block U.S. aid to Ukraine is that Europeans are spending much more than the U.S. in assistance and have significantly increased contributions to NATO.

I think its important to realize what is at stake. For me, I grew up with that memory about the legacy of the Greatest Generation, that we have been living in peace for 75 years, he said of the World War II generation of Americans who liberated an occupied France from Nazi Germany.

Russia is breaking the rule based on international order, he said, and if we dont face that challenge, we will pay in Europe or elsewhere.

_____
CHICAGO  A Chicago man accused of sexually assaulting a woman after kidnapping her at gunpoint on the citys West Side is now facing a handful of felony charges.

Chicago police say 30-year-old Davaris Sims, an Austin resident, has been charged with three felonies, including armed kidnapping, aggravated criminal sexual assault with a firearm, and aggravated vehicular hijacking with a firearm.

Alongside the felony charges, Sims was also handed a citation for having a replica firearm.

4 men, 1 teen accused in West Side armed robbery

According to CPD, the charges were handed down after Sims was identified as the person who allegedly kidnapped a woman at gunpoint as she was leaving a West Side business on Thursday, March 14.

30-year-old Davaris Sims has been charged with three felonies, including armed kidnapping, aggravated criminal sexual assault with a firearm, and aggravated vehicular hijacking with a firearm in connection with a sexual assault and kidnapping on the city's West Side.

Officers say the victim was in the 200 block of South Cicero Avenue, in Austin, around 5 p.m. when Sims allegedly approached her as she was about to enter her vehicle. Police say he then allegedly forced her to get into the passenger seat of her car at gunpoint.

Court-docs: Chicago-area vet accused of distributing child porn, planned to sexually assault unborn child

Sims allegedly used the victims car to drive to an unknown location where police say he sexually assaulted her.

Sims was eventually taken into custody after Chicago police released photos of the suspect that were captured by security cameras.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV.
As of today, the European Union has already transferred 500,000 artillery shells to Ukraine. And by the end of the year, the amount of ammunition handed over to the Ukrainian armed forces will reach more than one million.

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This was announced by the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell. He wrote about the number of shells that the EU has already delivered to Kyiv and is yet to deliver in his blog.

Borrell also noted that the European defense industry is providing Ukraine with another 400,000 shells under commercial contracts.

"The Czech initiative to purchase ammunition outside the EU is a complement to these efforts. However, this is not enough, and we must increase both our production capacity and financial resources to support Ukraine," the European official emphasized.

He reminded that the EU is also conducting military exercises for Ukrainian soldiers and will train 60,000 soldiers by this summer.

Josep Borrell called the military support of Ukraine by the European Peace Fund (EPF) "unprecedented". He noted that this intergovernmental fund was created in 2021 with a budget of 5 billion. And now the financial ceiling of the fund is 17 billion euros. To help Ukraine, 6.1 billion euros have already been raised from it.

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In total, since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, the European Union has supplied Ukraine with 31 billion euros worth of military equipment. According to Borrell, this figure is "growing every day."

As reported by OBOZ.UA:

On March 15, the European Commission allocated 500 million euros for the production of ammunition. It is expected that the European defense industry will double the number of manufactured shells by the end of 2025 - up to 2 million units per year.

On Wednesday, March 20, the Lithuanian government announced the allocation of 35 million euros for the purchase of ammunition for Ukraine. This will be done within the framework of the Czech initiative.

Finland will allocate 30 million euros to Ukraine for the purchase of ammunition for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. These funds will also be used to finance the Czech Republic's initiative to supply Ukraine with shells from third countries.

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Earlier, the European Union announced the delivery to Ukraine of about half of the promised one million pieces of artillery ammunition. Ukrainian soldiers should receive them by the end of March. In total, Ukraine may receive more than a million rounds of ammunition this year in 2024 as part of the EU initiative.

Meanwhile, CNN reported that the Russian Federation produces 250,000 shells per month. This figure is almost three times more than the US and Europe produce to supply Ukraine combined.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber.Do not fall for fakes!
The City of Chicago will return five parks to the public this week after using them to temporarily house illegal immigrants  a move that had irked many residents.

The office of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said, beginning this Saturday, the city will "decompress" temporary shelters from five park district facilities. Once all immigrants are transitioned to another shelter, the citys Park District will begin the process of restoring the parks for the public to use.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson gives an update on migrant issues at City Hall on Jan. 29, 2024, in Chicago.

The mayors office said immigrants from Gage Park, the Broadway Armory Park, Brands Park, Leone Park, and Piotrowski Park, will be moved to nearby shelters over the coming weeks, "minimizing disruptions with schooling and work."

Mayor Johnson said he was "proud" of his administrations efforts and those of other Chicagoans who "stepped up to welcome new arrivals by providing shelter in our Park District field houses at a time when this was clearly needed."

MEXICO TELLS COURT TEXAS IMMIGRATION LAW IS THREAT TO ITS SOVEREIGN RIGHTS

"We are grateful to the alderpersons and communities who have embraced new neighbors with open arms, and we are pleased that these park facilities will be transitioned back to their intended purpose in time for summer programming," Johnson said in a statement.

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The news comes days after the mayor touted the city has being "open" and "accommodating" to illegal immigrants. But he qualified that the current situation was "unsustainable" absent federal intervention.

Migrants and their belongings are seen outside Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Oak Park on Nov. 1, 2023, where they were being given shelter.

He blamed Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for busing migrants to the sanctuary city. Earlier this year, he argued that Abbott had been "attacking" cities run by Black leaders with waves of migrants.

The Republican governor has been bussing illegal immigrants to progressive-run cities for nearly two years to draw attention to the crisis at the southern border.





Original article source: Chicago mayor says city returning park to the public after using them to house illegal immigrants
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  Draya Ransey, 6, is paralyzed after a bullet flew through the wall of her familys Las Vegas apartment last November. A judge sentenced Arreion Willoughby, 31, the neighbor who fired the gun from the neighboring apartment to four to 11 years in prison on Monday.

Hes not a victim, Lenora Wilson, the childs grandmother said. My baby is a victim.

Wilson, and the childs parents, Porschia Ransey and Gregory Harris gave victim impact statements virtually before Willoughby learned his fate in court.

Draya Ransey is now in a wheelchair and recovering at a facility. Her family said they were informed by doctors that she may never walk again. The bullet traveled through her back, hitting her spine, severing her spinal cord and then lodging in the left side of her neck, according to a Las Vegas Metro police arrest report.

Draya Ransey, 6, is paralyzed after a bullet flew through the wall of her familys Las Vegas apartment in November 2023. (Courtesy of the Ransey/Harris Family)

To hear the doctor say that your baby may never walk again when she used to run and dance, Porschia Ransey said as she wept. The fact that shes on a ventilator.

I beat myself up because my baby should not be laying in that bed, the fact that she cant dance with me like she used to, the fact that she cant run to me and give me hugs when I come home from work, Harris said.

Willoughby apologized in court and claimed the gun went off when he was doing laundry.

Arreion Willoughby (LVMPD)

I would like to ask the family first to please forgive me, Willoughby said.

Willoughbys attorney, Kendall Stone, asked for probation.

He had no idea there was someone on that other side of the wall, Stone said. It really was a tragic mistake.

Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney Dena Rinetti said the video showed otherwise.

An apartment full of children and hes aiming that firearm into an apartment where he knows another family lives, Rinetti said.

Rinetti also pointed out that while the childs family did not initially know she was struck by a bullet, Willoughby did not reveal what happened.

Police never recovered the firearm, but video showed Willoughby leaving the home with a bag, according to Rinetti.

Willoughby was prohibited from possessing firearms as an already convicted felon. He previously spent time in prison for an armed robbery case in which he and three co-defendants targeted victims walking to work and waiting at a bus stop. Additional convictions include child abuse and a gun crime while he was prohibited from possessing a gun as a convicted felon. He received probation for both, according to Rinetti.

You cant keep hurting people, Wilson said.

Clark County District Court Judge Jennifer L.G. Schwartz sentenced Willoughby to four to 11 years in prison with credit for 127 days already served in jail. The sentence was the maximum in Willoughbys guilty plea for two felony charges of performance of act or neglect of duty in willful or wanton disregard of the safety of persons or property resulting in substantial bodily harm or death and ownership or possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.

Drayas parents and grandmother also spoke of the trauma the entire family is still experiencing which includes the four children being scared to use the bathroom.

On the day of the shooting, Nov. 20, 2023, Draya Ransey was found on the bathroom floor in a pool of blood and it was initially believed that she fell off the toilet and hit her head. When officers arrived at the home on Torrey Pines near Charleston, they found Porschia Ransey yelling for help for her daughter, an arrest report described.



At the apartment, police found a bullet hole in the bathroom where Draya was found. The wall where the bullet hole was found was attached to a neighboring apartment, police said.



When officers initially went to the neighboring apartment, no one was home. Officers obtained a search warrant for the neighboring apartment and later took Willoughby into custody.



Through the warrant, officers obtained surveillance footage that showed four children in the apartment and Willoughby walking around. In the video, Willoughby was seen standing in front of a bed, appearing to be holding and pointing something. He was seen facing and walking toward the area of the bedroom where the bullet hole was found, according to police.



A loud bang was then heard and his body visibly flinched, stepped back and away from the area. Children were then seen peeking out of their bedroom to investigate the loud noise, the report said.



One of the children who was in the apartment reported hearing a loud pop while sleeping but thought it was a frozen burrito in the microwave. She then heard someone banging on the front door, according to police.



Willoughby answered the door and a teenager started yelling that the neighbor needed help.



Officers interviewed the woman that the apartment was listed under and she said that Willoughby had lived with her for the past several months. She said that there were no firearms in the apartment and that Willoughby was a convicted felon so he did not own one, police said.



She mentioned that her brother previously lived with her and had a firearm, but took it with him when he moved out.



In an interview with the brother, he said that he bought a gun for his sister as a surprise Christmas gift. He said he hid it in a box in the bedroom closet and that Willoughby knew about the gun because he went with him to buy it, the report said.



His sister had no knowledge that the gun was in the apartment, police said.



Willoughby was arrested and taken to the Clark County Detention Center. He originally faced seven counts of child neglect and child abuse resulting in substantial bodily harm.

Willoughby may be ordered to pay restitution to the family which will be revisited in May.



For expenses including medical bills, there is a GoFundMe for the family.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
United Nations officials and aid workers on the ground in Gaza have warned of paper thin children and a cruel death by famine within the besieged territory  as international pressure mounts to hammer out a ceasefire during fraught talks taking place in Qatar.

After months of infighting, the UN Security Council passed a resolution on Monday calling for an immediate truce.

Hamas has rejected the latest proposal for a ceasefire deal as it wants any truce to lead to an end to the war. Israel says it is willing to consider only a temporary pause in the fighting.

After six months of war, aid workers say time is running out for 1.1 million Palestinians who are either on the cusp of famine or already experiencing such conditions.

In Gaza, Unicef spokesperson James Elder described seeing paper thin children in a hospital in the north and incubators full of underweight babies from malnourished mothers.

Lifesaving aid is being obstructed. Lives are being lost, he said. I saw children whose malnutrition state was so severe, skeletal.

Speaking to The Independent from the European Gaza Hospital near Khan Younis  a city that has been the focus of one of Israels most ferocious ground assaults  veteran humanitarians said the situation was beyond comprehension.

The only words to use are paper thin. There are children and women with literally no flesh on them, which only complicates the recovery process when they are injured, said Arvind Das, head of the Gaza team for the International Rescue Committee (IRC).

He told The Independent that he and his colleagues would normally administer supplements and intravenous fluids to the malnourished, but we had none to give.

A Palestinian man retrieves belongings from the site of an Israeli strike on a house, in Rafah, southern Gaza (Reuters)

Dr Konstantina Ilia Karydi, an anaesthetist working with the EMT at the hospital, called the situation unimaginable. This hospital had an original capacity of just 200 beds, and at the moment it has expanded to 1,000 beds, she said. 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.

Dr Husam Basheer, an orthopaedic surgeon there, said supplies were so low they sometimes lacked gauze for surgery.

Mr Das, who has spent decades manning emergency responses in Afghanistan and Syria as well as in South Sudan, Sudan, Central African Republic and Iraq, said the catastrophe in Gaza right now is beyond anything he has ever seen.

He warned that, even if a ceasefire was in place, there would need to be an immediate opening up of all access points to Gaza to handle the unprecedented crisis.

I thought I had seen everything, that I had seen the worst, but not until now, he told The Independent, adding that his heart was breaking.

The situation is rapidly collapsing. I have not seen such a crisis like this anywhere else in the world. The war must stop immediately and in a sustained way. We do not have time to lose. This is a complete failure of humanity.

UN agencies have blamed Israel for restricting aid to Gaza, labelling it a possible war crime  an accusation vehemently denied by Israel.

There appears to be no end in sight for the war, which erupted in October when Hamas militants launched a bloody attack on southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages, 134 of whom remain inside the besieged enclave.

Since then, Palestinian medics in the Hamas-run territory say Israels unprecedented bombardment of the 42km-long strip has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians, the vast majority of them women and children.

The fighting has left much of the Gaza Strip in ruins, displaced most of its residents, and created widespread hunger.

Palestinians evacuate from Gaza City in northern Gaza (AFP/Getty)

On Tuesday, an expert told the UNs Human Rights Council that she believed Israels actions amounted to genocide, and called on countries to immediately impose sanctions and an arms embargo.

I find that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the threshold indicating the commission of the crime of genocide against Palestinians as a group in Gaza has been met, Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Occupied Territories, said in Geneva.

Israels diplomatic mission in Geneva, which did not attend the session, rejected her findings. Instead of seeking the truth, this special rapporteur tries to fit weak arguments to her distorted and obscene inversion of reality, it said.

Israel also categorically denies strangling aid to Gaza, despite claims from several UN aid agencies that Israel is using hunger as a weapon.

But pressure is mounting for more aid access routes into Gaza to be opened. At the moment there are two land crossings open in the south of Gaza, and none in the north  where civilians rely on dangerous airdrops and the rare delivery of aid that has been driven up from the south.

Mr Das described the IRCs medical teams working in hospitals overflowing with patients, and said that there are 30,000 displaced people under heavy shelling from Israeli tanks.

The group said that, since 7 October, the Israeli military has conducted more than 400 attacks on healthcare facilities and personnel in Gaza, which means every single hospital has been affected.

Citing the Palestinian health ministry, they said that at least 340 healthcare workers have been killed and more than 160 others have been detained.

There have also been reports of allegations that healthcare workers have been subjected to torture. Israel denies targeting civilians and medical staff  and also denies allegations of torture.

Mr Das said that in the centre of Gaza, in Deir al-Balah, he visited a shelter for the internally displaced, which before the war was a centre for vocational training and was meant to hold just 500 people.

He found it packed with 80,000 people inside and 30,000 people outside.

There was one toilet for every 700 people. Each person had just a 1.5-metre square space  women were compelled to deliver their babies in that.

He said there were outbreaks of hepatitis and other viral diseases and that deadly dehydration and malnourishment were now common.

Humanitarian aid falls through the sky towards the Gaza Strip after being dropped from an aircraft (Reuters)

On Tuesday, the UNs humanitarian office, OCHA, called for Israel to revoke an apparent ban on food deliveries to northern Gaza by UNRWA, which is also the largest UN agency operating and delivering aid.

Israel said on Monday that it would stop working with UNRWA in Gaza, blaming the aid agency for perpetuating the conflict. It has accused 12 of UNRWAs 13,000 members of staff of taking part in Hamass attack.

The agency said Israel had told it that it would no longer approve its food convoys to northern Gaza, and that such requests had been denied since 21 March. UNRWA also said that it only had sufficient funds to run its operations until the end of May, after many donors paused their funding.

The decision must be revoked, OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke told a UN briefing in Geneva. You cannot claim to adhere to these international provisions of law when you block UNRWA food convoys.

Meanwhile, talks for a truce are limping on in Doha, despite initial reports that they might break down over Hamass demand for an end to the war and Israels fury at the UN resolution calling for a ceasefire.

The resolution, which calls for the release of all hostages held in Gaza but does not predicate the ceasefire on it, only passed after Israels closest ally, the US, abstained from voting.

Since then, Hamas has rejected the latest proposal, saying it will hold on to the hostages until Israel agrees to a more permanent ceasefire, withdraws its forces from Gaza, and releases hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including top militants.

Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz told Army Radio on Tuesday that the resolution was to blame for emboldening Hamas by signalling that international pressure would end the war without the militant group having to make any concessions.

Benjamin Netanyahu  who in a rage even cancelled an Israeli delegation to Washington  said it proved that Hamas is not interested in continuing negotiations towards a deal.

For weeks, the sides have been discussing a potential truce of around 42 days, during which around 40 Israeli hostages would be released in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

Israel says it is willing to consider only a temporary pause in the fighting, while Hamas wants any deal to lead to an end to the war.

Mr Netanyahu's office said that Hamas had made delusional demands, which it said showed that the Palestinians were not interested in a deal. Hamas has accused Israel of stalling at the talks while it carries out its military offensive.

UK foreign office minister Andrew Mitchell joined world leaders in welcoming the UN resolution calling for a ceasefire as a significant step, which the UK government was focused on making sure was implemented as quickly as possible.

Labours shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, described it as a turning point in efforts to stop the fighting in Gaza.

Mr Das said the fighting had to stop immediately and that there must be an immediate opening of access points into Gaza to avert the worst disaster.

This is a stain on humanity. No matter what your politics, it is too painful to see women and children and incidents of people dying and suffering like this. I have not seen this before.
(Bloomberg) -- Chinas exports of electric vehicles to European Union countries dropped by nearly a fifth during the first two months of the year, according to official Chinese data, amid a probe by Brussels into unfair subsidies of the industry.

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Just over 75,600 EVs shipped to the EUs 27 member countries in January and February, Chinese customs data showed, down 19.6% from last year.

Recent rapid gains in imports from companies such as BYD Co. and SAIC Motor Corp.-owned MG Motors have triggered warnings from Western carmakers including Stellantis NV of a wave of new competitors at a tough time for the industry. In October, the European Commission launched a probe into whether Chinese government subsidies had given its manufacturers an unfair advantage.

Earlier this month, the EU said its moving closer to imposing additional tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles entering the bloc, citing what it called new proof that the government in Beijing is providing illegal financial support for the industry.

If the EU does impose duties, that would curtail a major market for Chinese EV exports, raising the prospect of similar moves in places like the UK to protect their markets being flooded by vehicles redirected from the EU.

Read More: EU Moves Toward Hitting China With Tariffs on Electric Vehicles

Analysts often combine January and February economic data related to China to allow for more accurate comparisons, because of the moving date of the lunar new year which impacts economic activity.

The decline in exports in the first two months this year transcends a mere statistical anomaly, shedding light on the complex challenges China faces internationally, said the China Chamber of Commerce to the EU, a business lobby group said in a report.

Speculation revolves around whether the EUs anti-subsidy investigation into Chinas EVs has exerted a dissuasive effect or is subtly influencing the dynamics of import-export trade, it added.

The rapid growth in Chinese EV exports to EU countries since 2021 is reflected in the Chinese customs data with most months showing strong year-on-year growth. But there have been year-on-year declines in some other recent months, such as August and November last year.

The European Commission said earlier this month it had found a substantial increase in imports of EVs from China after it announced the probe, citing European data showing a 14% on-year increase between October 2023 and January 2024.

Chinas data show a fall in EV exports to EU countries of about 4% on-year over the same period. Different countries trade data often differ due multiple factors such as differences in times between shipping and arrival of goods.

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Tim Loughton and Iain Duncan Smith, from the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China. Mr Loughton said members of the group were furious the Government had not alerted them to the attempted hack - DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty Images

Around 40 China hawks only found out they had been targeted by Beijing hackers after reading about it in a US press release, it has emerged.

Ministers have been accused of not being fully honest with MPs about the scale of the Chinese state-backed operation, after further information was disclosed by Washington.

On Monday, Oliver Dowden, the deputy prime minister, announced that as well as a major hack on the Electoral Commission, a group of MPs had been spied on by China.

Four MPs and one peer were called in for a briefing with Parliaments head of security, where they were given additional information about Beijings attempts to target them.

But on Monday evening, the US Attorneys Office issued a press release that detailed how the Chinese group called APT31  which is subject to new sanctions by the US and UK  sent malicious tracking-link emails to government officials across the world who have been critical of Beijing.

Among the identified targets were email accounts of members of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (Ipac), a global group of parliamentarians with hawkish views on China, which is co-chaired by Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader.

The targets included every European Union member of Ipac, and 43 United Kingdom parliamentary accounts, most of whom were members of Ipac or had been outspoken on topics relating to the [Chinese] government, according to the US Attorneys Office.

Tim Loughton MP, a former minister and China hawk, said his fellow Ipac members were furious that they had only found out about this via a US press release rather than from the British Government.

They werent fully honest with us. We only found out from America that 43 people were hacked, Mr Loughton said.

The head of security in Parliament owes them an explanation  did they even know? Why did the US seem to know and not them?

Ipac is a network of legislators around the world but its secretariat is in London. Luke De Pulford, founder and executive director of Ipac, said that what the Government announced on Monday only scratched the surface.

He added: We have a lot of MPs wondering why they werent told about it. We got a little heads up at the time about it from another European government but we didnt know anything of this scale had taken place until yesterday when it came out in the US press release.

No one warned us. The US thinks the whole thing was focused on us and our memberships. We are scratching our heads as to why the security services havent told us. They are meant to be protecting us.

A bunch of MPs felt they were out of the woods yesterday but it turns out they were in fact targets of an attack. They want to know if they are at risk and they want to be reassured. We need more support, we need enhanced digital support for people at greater risk and much better cyber security.

A government source stressed that the 43 parliamentary accounts mentioned by the US Attorneys Office were not necessarily all MPs and included a number of parliamentary staff.

Ipac is a global network of legislators but its secretariat is headquartered in London - DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty Images

They added that the responsibility for notifying MPs about possible cyber breaches lay with the parliamentary security team, who are independent of the Government.

A second source, with knowledge of MP security arrangements, said these were intentions rather than successful attempts to hack peoples accounts.

It came after the US and UK exposed a global Chinese hacking plot that targeted White House staff and the state department as well as British MPs and the Electoral Commission.

The attack on the UKs 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.

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China has hit back at accusations from the US and UK that it is behind a state hacking operation targeting millions of people in Western countries.

A foreign ministry spokesperson said Washington and others should stop their own cyber attacks, accusing them of "political manipulation".

He added that Britain's evidence for alleging its electoral commission and MPs had been hacked was "inadequate".

The US and UK have blamed a Chinese state-run cyber unit for the attacks.

Two Chinese nationals and a company will face sanctions, the UK announced on Monday. The British government alleges Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology Company Ltd 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.

Later on Monday, the US said seven Chinese nationals - who allegedly worked for APT31 - had been charged with enacting a widespread cyber-attack campaign. They are accused of ties to a hacking operation that ran for 14 years.

China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian strenuously rejected all the allegations.

"We urge the US and UK to stop politicising cyber security issues. Stop smearing China and stop imposing unilateral sanctions on China. Stop their cyber attack against China," he told a regular press briefing in Beijing on Tuesday.

"The Chinese side has already made technical clarifications and response to the APT 31-related Information submitted by the UK side, which made clear that the evidence provided by the UK was inadequate," he said, adding: "Unfortunately, we haven't heard from the UK side."

Lin Jian also told reporters that China would adopt measures to firmly safeguard its lawful rights and interests.

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.

But Deputy PM Oliver Dowden told parliament the security of elections had not been compromised and "typically does not create a risk to those affected".

Hours later on the other side of the Atlantic, 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 more than 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.

New Zealand's government also said its parliament had been targeted by China-backed hackers, and blamed the Chinese "state-sponsored group" APT40 for the attack.

But New Zealand said it would not introduce sanctions, as it was not part of the government's legislative agenda.
A Chinese company has dropped a bid, subject to a European Commission investigation, for a public contract for electric trains in Bulgaria, the EU executive arm announced on Tusday.

The European Union's market "is open for firms that are truly competitive and play fair," EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton said in a statement in praise of the outcome.

The commission announced an investigation in February into a bid from CRRC Qingdao Sifang Locomotive Co. Ltd, a Chinese company, for a public contract in Bulgaria for electric trains.

The investigation was launched to find out if public subsidies allowed the Chinese state-owned company to submit a more advantageous bid.

The investigation, the first of its kind, took place under new powers to protect the EU's economy from market distortions linked to subsidies for companies from non-EU countries like China.

Chinese state support for business is a particular sore point for the EU, which for decades has applied strict competition rules to domestic companies.

When bidding for public contracts, subsidies must be disclosed for orders worth 250 million or more. Companies supported with state money can be excluded from public contracts in the EU.

The contract in Bulgaria was for 20 electric trains worth 610 million ($656 million) and their maintenance over 15 years.

As a result of the Chinese company's withdrawal, the commission will close the investigation.
NEW YORK  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.
A discarded cigarette butt proved to be the pivotal piece of evidence investigators needed to tie a suspect to a 2012 homicide outside a popular Pennsylvania diner, police said.

Vallis L. Slaughter, 39, was arrested last week at his mother's home in New Jersey, about a month after investigators obtained DNA from the smoldering cigarette and compared it to a Styrofoam cup collected at the scene of the fatal shooting 12 years ago, authorities announced Monday. Slaughter, who was set to be extradited to Pennsylvania for his first court appearance, has been charged with murder, aggravated assault and conspiracy, said Berks County District Attorney John T. Adams at a news conference.

The charges stem from the 2012 fatal shooting of 34-year-old Julio Torres in the parking lot of a diner in West Reading, a borough of Berks County located about 60 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

Though authorities were quick to identify and arrest an accomplice in the shooting, the cold case had lingered unsolved for more than a decade when authorities failed to determine the suspect who pulled the trigger.

Berks County District Attorney John T. Adams announces the arrest of Vallis L. Slaughter at a Monday news conference in a cold case homicide from 2012 in Pennsylvania. Investigators were able to identify Slaughter as a suspect through DNA obtained from a discarded cigarette butt and a bitten-off piece of a styrofoam cup.

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Styrofoam cups linked to assailants collected in diner parking lot

Torres was shot and killed March 24, 2012 while seated inside his vehicle in the parking lot of the diner, the district attorney's office said in a news release.

When the identity of the suspects eluded authorities for months, the West Reading Police Department formed a joint task force in May that year with the district attorney's office.

Investigators examined surveillance footage that showed Torres arguing in the parking lot with two men before one of them pulled out a gun and shot him to death, Adams told reporters. Nothing in the investigation indicated that Torres knew either of his assailants.

"To date we have never determined what the motive was for this shooting other than some senseless dispute," Adams told reporters Monday.

The surveillance footage also revealed that both suspects were holding foam cups prior to the shooting, Adams said. Investigators were able to collect the cups, along with a bitten off piece, from the parking lot and send them to the Pennsylvania State Police's forensic crime lab for DNA analysis.

A DNA profile developed from one of the cups led to the arrest of 22-year-old Jomaine Case, who was eventually convicted for his role in the fatal confrontation, Adams said. But a profile developed from the other cup and bitten-off piece did not match any existing DNA in databases across the United States, including the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS,) a database of convicted offenders used by law enforcement.

Investigators collected two Styrofoam cups at the scene of the 2012 homicide, one of which linked Jomaine Case to the shooting. It wouldn't be until this year that investigators could identify the suspected shooter as Slaughter after they collected a cigarette butt he discarded to test its DNA.

Authorities determined that the gunman was likely a man visiting West Reading from New York, but with no leads to go on, the investigation sputtered out.

"The person responsible for pulling the trigger and shooting Julio Torres was never, never identified," Adams said Monday.

DNA from cigarette butt links Slaughter to 2012 shooting

The cold case languished for years until detectives decided to review it again in 2023.

A break came when investigators uncovered a cell phone photo from 2012 that they believed showed the suspected shooter at a party hours before the homicide took place. Facial recognition software helped them identify the suspect in November as Slaughter, who is originally from Brooklyn, Adams said.

A discarded cigarette led investigators to match the DNA of Vallis L. Slaughter to a bitten-off piece of a styrofoam cup collected in 2012 at a homicide scene at a popular Pennsylvania diner. Slaughter was arrested last week in Jersey City and will be extradited to Pennsylvania to face murder charges.

Slaughter was tracked in December to Jersey City, where investigators determined he was living with his mother. Detectives surveilled the home for weeks until on Feb. 9, they witnessed Slaughter discarding a cigarette butt onto the sidewalk before entering the residence, Adams said.

Detectives collected the cigarette and sent it back to the Pennsylvania forensics lab for analysis. Earlier this month, their suspicions were confirmed when the crime lab notified the investigators that DNA from the filter of the cigarette matched what was obtained from the second foam cup in 2012, according to the district attorney's office.

Investigators say this surveillance photo shows a suspect in 2012 since identified as Vallis L. Slaughter holding a Styrofoam cup that would serve as a crucial piece of DNA evidence linking him to a fatal shooting that occurred in the parking lot of a Pennsylvania diner.

Slaughter, who Adams said is also a suspect in a homicide in Brooklyn, was arrested March 20 by Jersey City police at his mother's home.

"Just having that DNA sample isn't enough, but we were able to utilize technology to identify this individual and now we have confirmed that identification with DNA," Adams told reporters. "We are not going to give up, and if we can continue to pursue justice for the victim, we will do so."

Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: DNA from cigarette, foam cup leads to arrest in Pennsylvania cold case
Circleville mayor has now put city's deputy police chief on paid suspension along with its chief, after earlier firing safety director.

Circleville's mayor on Monday suspended the police department's deputy chief, who had assumed control of the 25-member department earlier this month after the police chief was suspended.

Both Chief Shawn Baer and Deputy Chief Doug Davis now face investigations by the city  Baer on suspicion of harassment, intimidation and financial misconduct and Davis for alleged employee misconduct, according to a prepared statement from Mayor Michelle Blanton.

Both men are suspended with pay. It was not immediately clear from the mayor's release who within the police department was in charge, and Blanton has not returned repeated interview requests from The Dispatch.

In addition, the city's recently fired safety director told The Dispatch that outside agencies are now investigating Circleville, including the Ohio Auditor's office and the Ohio Attorney General's Ohio Police Officer Training Academy.

Related Circleville article: Still reeling from suspended police chief, Circleville mayor fires new safety director

Circleville police K-9 mauling and allegations of assault and retaliation

Baer's issues surfaced last year following the attack by a Circleville police dog of an unarmed Black trucker on July 4. The incident stemmed from a police pursuit of Jadarrius Rose by the Ohio State Highway Patrol. Rose eventually stopped, got out of his cab and was kneeling in the grass median of a highway with his hands up when the K-9 was turned loose and attacked Rose.

Baer suspended K-9 officer Ryan Speakman because he "did not meet the standards and expectations we hold for our police officers" by speaking to others about the incident and complaining  not because of Speakman's command to his dog Serge to attack Rose.

Davis' alleged misconduct stems from a March 14 meeting with Mayor Blanton. The meeting occurred the same day that Blanton fired Steve Wilkinson, the city's safety director, after just one week in the post.

Wilkinson told The Dispatch that officers fear retaliation from both Baer and Davis. He called Blanton a coward "who had caved to the illegal demands of the police department" by not allowing him to continue to investigate problems with police training including firearms training.

Wilkinson said that he saw Blanton leave a March 14 meeting and run into the street crying. Both police and a paramedic were dispatched to that incident, Wilkinson said.

Wilkinson, who was not permitted in the March 14 meeting, said multiple council members told him that Blanton's reaction followed an assault by Davis during the meeting. They declined to give details of the assault, he said.

Wilkinson, a veteran Columbus cop, just wanted to help

Wilkinson, a retired, 30-year veteran of the Columbus Division of Police, said he started working as a reserve Circleville police officer last year, in part because he lives close by and enjoyed the comeraderie.

But Wilkinson said he found out that supervisors were permitting officers to pass firearms training when they were unable to perform to standards. That's when he said city leaders, including Blanton, asked him to take the full-time safety director position.

According to Wilkinson, former Columbus police Chief Tom Quinlan, who now oversees the Ohio Police Officer Training Academy for the Ohio Attorney General's office, has launched an investigation into the firearms training issues in the Circleville Police Department. He said he's also been told the Ohio Auditor is looking into alleged financial irregularities in Circleville, including Baer's personal time keeping and fiscal oversight of police operations. Neither state agency would confirm whether investigations are in progress as a matter of policy.

More on Circleville police chief: Circleville police chief on paid leave amid allegations of harassment, intimidation, more

Wilkinson said all he wanted was the ability to do his job as safety director and help improve Circleville's police force, which he praised as mostly young and committed officers with poor leaders.

In a March 7 email to Blanton, Wilkinson affirmed "wanting to help, guide and mentor the officers of the Circleville Police Department. My ideology in the vision to help transform the police officers is also firm and unchanged."

In the weeks leading up to his hiring as safety director, Wilkinson said that Baer launched multiple investigations against him and filed a formal complaint against him. Wilkinson said the complaint involved his complimentary comments praising Davis' weight loss and tan following his vacation, and it has since been dismissed by the city's human resources director.

In a March 4 email about another investigation, Baer told Wilkinson: "You are correct in your understanding. You have been given a written order and have acknowledged that you are only to discuss this with me."

In a March 1 email, Baer advised Wilkinson of a separate investigation, stating: "This is an order and if violated disciplinary action will be taken."

Wilkinson said he was never told what he was being investigated for, with Baer violating protocol commonly used in Columbus and other police agencies.

Wilkinson said he told the mayor and law director to be prepared for "complications" from some police officers once leaders are singled out. He said officers were hostile toward him, with some refusing to work.

"I told (city leaders), 'If you're not prepared to support me, I will fail from the start,' " Wilkinson said. 'They said that they would. But obviously that didn't happen.' "

Wilkinson said he's urged Blanton and council members to share the problems publicly.

"I told them it's got to come out. The people of Circleville will want to know why," he said.

dnarciso@dispatch.com

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Circleville suspends deputy police chief Doug Davis days after suspending chief
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that Germany is annoyed by questions about the possibility of supplying Taurus cruise missiles to the Ukrainian army. The head of the diplomatic department emphasized that the German authorities have put themselves in this situation.

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The Foreign Minister added that Berlin must now find a way out of the Taurus missile issue. He said this in an interview with Politico.

According to the foreign minister, when he raises the issue of supplying Taurus missiles, he always receives an irritated response from Berlin.

"Look, I'm tired of answering this. I'm sorry. You can quote me, I don't mind. But every time I answer a question, I get an irritated response from Berlin. Leave it to them. They put themselves in this situation. Let them find a way out," Kuleba said.

As for the $60 billion aid package to Ukraine from the United States, Kuleba said that Kyiv would welcome the decision of the Congress. At the same time, he added that every time he hears about another postponement, he says: "God bless America and the US Congress."

To recap, Kuleba said that Ukraine is grateful to all its Western partners for the military assistance provided. At the same time, he emphasized that the actions of the allies do not always correspond to their rhetoric.

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Earlier, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that the discussion around the transfer of German long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine in recent months has been "pushed to the extreme." This, according to the official, harms not only the resolution of this issue but also the support of Ukraine by its Western partners.

As OBOZ.UA reported, the lower house of the German parliament, the Bundestag, voted against sending Taurus missiles to Ukraine. Most MPs voted against the initiative of the CDU and CSU on March 14.
The City of Boston will pay a $4.7 million settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the mother of Terrance Coleman who was shot and killed by Boston Police in 2016.

Terrance, a young Black man living with a mental health condition, was outside his South End home on October 30, 2016, when his mother called for an ambulance to transport him to the hospital for medical attention. When first responders arrived, the Suffolk District Attorneys Office said Terrance tried to stab EMTs and police with a knife. Thats when an officer shot him twice.

For nearly eight years, Terrences mother, Hope Coleman, fought for justice for her son.

No mother should have to witness her child killed at the hands of police and fight, the way that I have had to fight now for so many years, to gain accountability, said Hope Coleman. Nothing can bring Terrence back, but today at least some measure of justice has been done.

The City will pay approximately $3.4 million to Mr. Colemans mother and estate and an additional $1.2 million to cover Plaintiffs legal expenses, according to a spokesperson for the City.

This settlement brings resolution to this after many years and the City continues to support the officers, who were called into an incredibly difficult situation, and responded to protect the lives of medical personnel on the scene.

Terrence Colemans death was a tragic event, and we continue to hold Ms. Coleman and all of Terrences family and loved ones in our hearts, said a City spokesperson. The City, the Boston Police Department, and Boston EMS are committed to providing the best possible care, services, and protection for people and families experiencing mental health crises.

Terrences death has spurred some long-needed efforts to reform the Citys way of handling emergency calls, according to Sophia Hall, Deputy Litigation Director at Lawyers for Civil Rights.

In 2020, several Boston City councilors, including then-City Councilor Michelle Wu, filed an ordinance to develop a crisis response system that would divert nonviolent 911 calls away from police. No city resource exists as of today.

Dozens rally to reopen cases of men killed by Boston Police

Terrences case also shined a light on the police violence against Black residents in Boston, and the deep need for more training and policies to ensure better treatment of those living with mental health conditions.

Massachusettss rate of fatal police encounters involving people living with mental health conditions has only risen since Terrences death, including the January 2023 fatal officer-involved shooting of Sayed Faisal, a 20-year-old who was experiencing an apparent mental health crisis.

Police departments throughout the country must reform the way they handle 911 calls and divert medical calls away from police. Otherwise, we will continue to see more tragedies like the death of Terrence Coleman. Hopefully, todays settlement will lead to more much-needed reforms, in Boston and beyond, said Attorney Hall.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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(FOX40.COM)  The Sacramento City Council will consider a resolution on Tuesday that would declare the city a sanctuary for transgender people.

Councilmember Katie Valenzuela is proposing the resolution, which would prohibit city resources and staff from being used to detain individuals who provide or seek gender-affirming care or assist someone in getting that care.

City documents related to the resolution state that it is being proposed in preparation of future legislation in other states that may criminalize this type of care and that may attempt to seek Sacramentos help in enforcing rules from jurisdictions in those states.

Valenzuela wrote in the documents, in part, that, given the Councils stated values of equity and inclusion, it is important for the City of Sacramento to be proactive in reiterating our commitment to transgender rights and equal protections for transgender people by declaring ourselves a sanctuary city and a place of safety for transgender people.

Sacramento City Council approves Gaza ceasefire resolution

The documents also state that the city is already a sanctuary for immigrants and that this resolution would establish the same protections for transgender people.

The gender-affirming care cited in the resolution would include hormone therapy, surgery and mental health care.

Documents related to the resolution cite the passage of SB 107 in California, which prohibits law enforcement agencies from assisting in the arrest or extradition of people who come to California to receive gender-affirming care and are sought by out-of-state jurisdictions for doing so.

The documents also cite that at least 23 other states have laws that restrict or ban gender-affirming care for minors, and at least 7 states restrict or ban it for adults.

The city council meeting will be on Tuesday, March 26 at 5 p.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40.
(COLORADO SPRINGS)  The City of Colorado Springs has launched its 2024 Council District redistricting process, which happens every four years.

The City Clerk is required by City Charter to set the six Council District boundaries to ensure districts remain comparable in population as the City changes in population.

Redistricting is the critical process of adjusting Council Districts to help ensuring that each Colorado Springs resident has an equal voice in their city government, said City Clerk Sarah Johnson. Were excited to launch this important process and will soon share details on public meetings where residents can share thoughts on the district maps.

Click here to view the previous redistricting boundaries finalized in Nov. 2020Download

The districts were last re-aligned in 2020 and the City Clerk is now reviewing the districts ahead of the 2025 General Municipal Election. Districts must be substantially equal in population, contiguous, and comply with Voting Rights Act and other pertinent laws. The plan is not approved by the Mayor or City Council.

City Council is in the process of appointing a volunteers District Process Advisory Committee. The committee will serve as an advisory body to educate the public, assist the City Clerk, and advise City Council on the districting process. The committee will hold at least one public meeting in each council district to solicit public input.

The City Clerk will release a preliminary district report and map in October after the committee gathers citizen comments. After further opportunity for public input, the City Clerk will prepare the final district report on setting the district boundaries no earlier than November 4 and no later than December 2.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX21 News Colorado.
Charlotte City Council is planning to sell property that belonged to a motel for a dollar in order to make way for affordable housing.

The city knocked down an Economy Inn off Reagan Drive in northeast Charlotte. In its place, they want a developer to build 39 affordable townhomes.

PREVIOUS: Charlotte leaders vote to buy motel in crime-ridden Sugar Creek corridor

Charlottes assistant director for affordable housing says this is part of a goal to replace aging and crime-ridden motels with affordable housing.

Theres just an overabundance of hotels on that corridor, so one of the strategies is to take down some of those hotels that have been underoccupied and put in new housing assets, said Warren Wooten.

In January of last year, city council voted to buy the motel property for $4.2 million.

(WATCH BELOW: City council to vote to move $1 million to Ballantyne affordable housing project)
Churches risk undermining the integrity of the asylum system, Home Office sources have said, as it emerged the Clapham chemical attacker was allowed to remain in Britain despite lying and failing a Christianity test.

Immigration files published on Tuesday showed that convicted sex offender Abdul Ezedi was granted asylum after he claimed he had converted to Christianity and his application was backed by a Baptist church minister.

The ministers evidence was critical in persuading an immigration judge to allow his application, despite a Home Office warning that he was using religion for his own ends after he gave incorrect answers to questions about Christianity. Evidence presented in court also showed that he had lied persistently about his background.

A source close to James Cleverly, the Home Secretary, said he had called a meeting with the vast majority of Christian churches following Ezedis death.

The source said: We wanted to relay the potential damage to those churches of being seen, rightly or wrongly, as acting against the integrity of our asylum system, where Christian conversion has been brought up at appeal. In this case, the consequences were appalling.

That reputational risk is only amplified by the fact someone who denied knowledge of Ezedi at the time had in fact known of him within their church, and had supported and vouched for him.

Ezedi, a 35-year-old Afghan national, had twice been refused asylum by the Home Office, and was considered so dangerous by the Baptist Church that it drew up a safeguarding contract for the safety of parishioners over his sex assault and exposure convictions.

Abdul Ezedi died in the Thames while on the run - Metropolitan Police/PA

He came to the UK illegally in 2016 and died in the River Thames while on the run after attacking a 31-year-old mother and her two daughters with a corrosive substance in Clapham on Jan 31.

Ezedi was granted asylum by the immigration tribunal judge on his third appeal in November 2020 after he claimed he had converted to Christianity and would be persecuted if he returned to Afghanistan.

Tim Loughton, a member of the home affairs select committee, called for a full investigation. The details of this shocking case go to underline the suspicions we have had all along that migrants are playing the Christianity card to game the system in too many cases, he said.

But there is a worrying disconnect here between the Home Office who look at these cases rigorously and decide there is not a credible claim, then on the same evidence tribunals seem to think they know better and overrule the detailed work that the Home Office has already done.

Clearly the system is not working properly. We need to have a full investigation into why it is that in too many cases, tribunals think they know better and are overruling the experts in the immigration service.

Church accused over conveyor belt of baptisms

The comments come after the Church of England faced accusations from a priest that it had become complicit in a conveyor belt of asylum seeker baptisms used by migrants to remain in the UK.

Rev Matthew Firth, who was priest in charge at a parish in the North of England, told The Telegraph earlier this year that he had discovered around 20 cases where failed asylum seekers sought baptisms at his church to support their appeals for leave to remain.

The Church of England had previously said that it is the role of the Home Office, and not the Church, to vet asylum seekers.

The files show that Ezedi persistently lied about his background, including about whether he had worked in the UK before. A judge who rejected his asylum appeal in February 2017 ruled that he had fabricated accounts of his background that created a wholly unreliable and inconsistent picture that was lacking credibility.

He gave differing accounts of how his brother died, changed his story about whether he was a Sunni or Shia Muslim and claimed he had never worked in the UK when he had had a job as a car mechanic, according to the documents. He also claimed that he had depression and suicidal thoughts, and that he had been shot by the Taliban.

The Home Office also told the tribunal that Ezedi had been unable to explain the reasons for his conversion, or demonstrate a clear understanding of Christian principles and beliefs during an interview.

Despite concerns about his honesty, Judge William OHanlon believed his conversion was genuine and allowed Ezedis appeal on asylum and human rights grounds, overturning the Home Offices rejection of his claim.

Judge OHanlon conceded that while Ezedi had been discredited on multiple occasions, he decided to allow the appeal on the strength of the most compelling evidence from Rev Roy Merrin, a Baptist minister.

Rev Roy Merrin supported Abdul Ezedi's asylum application - NNP

Rev Merrin admitted he was aware of people who fraudulently claimed conversion with ulterior motives but told the tribunal he did not consider Ezedi as such a person. Rev Merrin had attended tribunals on four previous occasions to support Christian convert asylum seekers and wrote in support of Ezedis conversion.

Judge OHanlon granted asylum after concluding Ezedis conversion was genuine.

He said: Having considered all of the evidence before in the round, notwithstanding my concerns as to the honesty of [Ezedi] in relation to certain aspects of his account, I find that [Ezedi] has been consistent in his evidence with regard to his conversion to Christianity.

Ezedi only revealed that he had converted to Christianity after his first asylum appeal had been rejected in 2017, claiming he had forgotten to tell officials about his alleged attendance at Grange Road Baptist Church in Jarrow, Tyne and Wear.

Ezedis claim was supported by letters from a Catholic church Justice and Peace Refugee Project, the British Red Cross, and Grange Road Baptist Church representatives. It included pictures of him distributing Christian leaflets in Newcastle city centre and of him being baptised.

Pictures of Abdul Ezedi handing out leaflets on Christianity in Newcastle city centre were included in his asylum claim

Abdul Ezedi only mentioned his conversion to Christianity in his third appeal for asylum

Multiple mistakes on Christianity questions

In its evidence to the immigration tribunal, the Home Office said Ezedi had been unable to explain the reasons for his conversion, or demonstrate a clear understanding of Christian principles and beliefs.

Home Office officials told the tribunal that they did not accept his conversion was genuine and long-lasting, that he previously lied and continued to be dishonest and was prepared to use religion for his own ends.

In his Home Office interview, he insisted he had read the bible every day for three years, but asked what the Old Testament was about, he replied: Jesus Christ.

Asked to name Jesuss main followers, he replied: Simon, Peter, Jacob, Andrew12 people, Disciples. Grilled about what God created on the third day, he answered: Good Friday and Easter Sunday and Resurrection Day.

A few days after the Home Office interview, Ezedis immigration lawyers sent a statement on his behalf blaming the interpreter for his mistakes and correcting some of the factual errors. In the statement, he wrote: The interpreter was Kurdish Iranian and I could not understand the dialect. I couldnt understand his pronunciation.

Ezedis claim for asylum had been initially rejected in May 2016, with an appeal dismissed in February 2017. However, Ezedi lodged a further appeal in March 2019, a year after he was convicted of sexual assault and indecent exposure in 2018 and handed a two-year suspended jail sentence.

Because he was not jailed, he was still eligible to claim asylum. However, it was only on his third appeal that he revealed he had converted to Christianity.

Asked by the judge to explain why he did not mention it in his 2017 appeal, Judge OHanlon said his response was somewhat vague, namely he had forgotten to do so.

However, the judge said he did not find anything adverse to Ezedis asylum claim as he had only started attending the church in February of 2016. He was baptised in June 2018 after attending the evangelical Alpha course.

Judge OHanlon admitted Ezedi had not been honest in several aspects of his account but said: I remind myself of the fact that [Ezedi] may not have been honest about certain aspects of his claim does not necessarily mean that he is lying about other matters, in this case his claimed Christian conversion.

He cited a previous Supreme Court judgment involving a Somalian asylum seeker, saying: We must be very careful not to dismiss an appeal just because an appellant has told lies. An appellants own evidence has to be considered in the round with other evidence.

Yvette Cooper, shadow home secretary, said: The latest disturbing revelations about the Abdul Ezedi case raise some serious and urgent questions for the Home Office. The Home Secretary must explain why his department failed to remove Ezedi from the UK in the two years after his first asylum claim was rejected - particularly after he was convicted of sexual offences.

Ezedi should have been an urgent priority for removal in 2018 - he was a known sex offender as well as a failed asylum seeker, yet he was still not removed by the Home Office. The Home Secretary also needs to explain what efforts were made to persuade the Immigration and Asylum Tribunal in 2020 that Ezedis conviction should be taken into account.

We need to know how many other similar cases there might be, whether the Home Office is failing to recognise the urgency of dealing with sex offence cases, and what went so badly wrong in this appalling case.

Abdul Ezedi pictured on CCTV after the chemical attack in Clapham - Metropolitan Police

Church agreed to let sex offender attend services under contract

Ezedi was allowed to continue attending church under a special contract drawn up by the Baptist church, newly released documents show.

A 2019 Baptists Together contract set out agreed boundaries for the welfare and safety of Ezedi and other worshippers at a church in Newcastle Upon Tyne.

The two-page document outlines how he was not allowed to be alone at Grange Road Baptist Church and had to be chaperoned at all times.

The contract, renewed every six months, says: This agreement is being put in place because of a conviction of sexual assault and exposure.

It required Ezedi to be accountable to carefully chosen individuals, all of whom were men, who would support him.

It adds: They are aware of the conviction and will endeavour to pastorally listen to you, care for you, advise you and pray for you.

Ezedi was given a suspended sentence in 2018 for grabbing a womans buttocks and exposing himself at a Newcastle bus stop.

The full indictment said he intentionally touched a woman in circumstances being that the touching was sexual and non-consensual between Feb and June 2017.

The second charge stated that he intentionally exposed his genitals intending that someone would see them and be caused alarm or distress on June 5 2017. The indictment clarified the offence as involving masturbating.

At the time of the offences, he was living at a hostel in the Fenham area of Newcastle, working in a pizza take away in Jarrow and attending church there.

He was required to sign a document pledging only to go to the church on Sundays if he stayed in the vicinity of at least one of the male supporters.

He vowed: I will only come to church for the Sunday service. I will not enter the church without one of my male supporters being present. I will stay beside my supporter all the time. I will leave the church when my supporter leaves or before them.

His pledges included agreeing to not sit alone in the church at any time and any concerns about his behaviour would be shared securely during pastoral care meetings.

The suspended sentence Ezedi received at Newcastle Crown Court was not severe enough to reach the threshold for deportation.

The victim of his assault later revealed how he began pestering her for sex soon after they became friends.

If hed been jailed for attacking me then surely he would have been deported, the woman told The Sun. But the failings didnt end there because someone from a church gave him a reference so he could gain asylum.

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.
Iowa guard Caitlin Clark (22) drives to the basket as she is double-teamed by Holy Cross guards Kaitlyn Flanagan (5) and Bronagh Power-Cassidy (13) in the second half of a first-round college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament, Saturday, March 23, 2024, in Iowa City, Iowa. Iowa won 91-65. (AP Photo/Matthew Putney)

BRISTOL, Conn. (AP)  Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes can claim another record  the most-viewed first-round game in women's NCAA Tournament history.

The Hawkeyes' 91-65 win over Holy Cross on Saturday averaged 3.23 million viewers on ABC, according to Nielsen. The viewership surpassed the 2.50 million who watched last years Elite Eight game between Iowa and Louisville, making this the most-viewed women's tournament game ever  excluding Final Four contests and title games.

It was the third Iowa game this season where the viewer average was over 3 million. The seven Iowa games on network television  ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox  have averaged 2.27 million. Iowa's regional semifinal game against Colorado on Saturday will be on ABC.

According to ESPN, 1.5 billion total minutes were viewed on television and streaming platforms during the first round. That is the most on record in women's tournament history and a 70% increase over last year.

Connecticuts game against Jackson State, which preceded the Iowa contest, averaged 1.1 million on ABC, the third-most viewed first-round game on record.

Defending champion LSU's win over Rice on Friday averaged 762,400 on ESPN, making it the most-watched weekday first-round game on record.

___

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket/ and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN)  The Clarksville Police Department is asking for the publics help locating a man wanted on several felony warrants.

CPD says Quentin Bell, 22, is 5-foot-8-inches tall, weighs approximately 152 pounds, has black hair and brown eyes.

Bell has seven felony warrants on file, CPD said, including theft of a motor vehicle and vehicle burglary. He has additional warrants on file for evading and additional charges pending for shoplifting, according to police.

CRIME TRACKER | Read the latest crime news from Middle Tennessee

Quentin Bell (Courtesy: Clarksville Police Department)

His total bond for the warrants has been set at $100,00, according to CPD.

He may be in a gray 2014 GMC Acadia with the Tennessee tag 194-BDHS.

 Read todays top stories on wkrn.com

Anyone who has seen Bell is asked to call 911 immediately or contact CPD Detective Headley at 931-648-0656, ext. 5683. To remain anonymous and be eligible for a cash reward, call the Clarksville-Montgomery County Crime Stoppers Tipsline at 931-645-8477 or do so online at P3tips.com/591.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.
EU member states Tuesday agreed to unpick more eco-friendly requirements under the bloc's common agricultural policy (CAP) in a new bid to pacify months-long protests by farmers -- who faced off with riot police in Brussels for the third time in two months.

Police said they used tear gas and water cannon against farmers who targeted them with eggs and Molotov cocktails, with two officers injured in the standoff and one arrest.

The CAP review was approved by a special committee as agriculture ministers met under tight security in the city's European quarter, which farmers thronged with 250 tractors, setting fire to tyres and bales of hay.

"We have listened to our farmers and we have taken swift action to address their concerns at a time when they are confronted with numerous challenges," said David Clarinval, deputy prime minister of Belgium, which holds the rotating EU presidency.

He said the revision sought to slash red tape and give farmers more flexibility in complying with green regulations while "maintaining a high level of environmental ambition" -- a claim rejected by environmental groups who see it as a big step backwards.

Farmers have been mounting rolling protests in countries across the EU, from Belgium to France, Spain, Italy and Poland, over a long list of burdens they say are depressing revenue.

The latest in a string of concessions on agriculture come less than three months before bloc-wide elections for the European Parliament. Surveys predict the vote will result in a surge of support for far-right parties that are using farmers' discontent as part of their campaigning.

The proposal now goes before EU lawmakers for approval.

- 'Old recipes' -

The CAP review, first proposed by the European Commission in mid-March, changes a set of environmental and climate standards that determine whether farmers can receive subsidies under the policy.

A key change involves granting leeway to farmers who fail to meet CAP requirements because of extreme weather.

The revision does away entirely with the obligation to leave a share of arable land fallow -- a measure aimed at protecting soils and promoting biodiversity but a major gripe for farmers. But they would still be incentivised to do so.

Member states would have more flexibility to decide which soils to protect and in which season, and would be allowed to diversify crops as well as rotate them.

And the revision exempts small farms under 10 hectares (25 acres) from inspections and penalties related to CAP compliance.

France's Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau welcomed it as a step "in the right direction."

And the powerful European farmers association Copa-Cogeca said its adoption by member states sent a "positive signal", calling on EU lawmakers to follow suit.

But a coalition of 16 environmental groups including WWF and Greenpeace declared themselves "extremely concerned", saying the proposal was made without proper impact assessment and urging the Commission to reverse course.

The review was approved with backing from a qualified majority of EU states -- overriding opposition from Germany in particular.

Though a frequent critic of red tape under existing CAP rules, Germany's Agriculture Minister Cem Ozdemir said the changes signalled a step backwards -- to the time before the EU made defending the environment a priority.

"We won't obtain better results by using old recipes," Ozdemir warned. "This was a policy that considerably harmed the little guys, and that just made the big guys bigger."

jug-ec/rlp
CLEVELAND (WJW)  As the city of Cleveland deals with a shortage of police officers, a new recruiting class began Monday. City leaders say this class is seven times larger than the last Cleveland police academy in December.

Fifty-two new recruits make up the155th Cleveland Division of Police Academy.

Wayne Drummond, Clevelands interim public safety director says he credits mayor Justin Bibbs RISE initiative for increasing the number of applicants who want to join the force. It includes a $5,000 signing bonus and other perks that prospective applicants might find attractive.

To have the academy salary go up from $15 an hour to $24, its significant, its huge, he said. Coupled with having the maximum age go up over 40 years of age to 55  again we have 10 recruits that are 40 years of age.

First suspect arrested in Cleveland police shooting incident: I-Team

The city of Cleveland is still nearly 200 officers below what the city council has budgeted for.

Drummond says adding 52, considering they all successfully make it through the roughly 8-month academy, would have a big impact on the safety of Cleveland streets.

Its huge, were talking about 52, 52 more that we didnt have, he said. We have the 52 that will get dispersed in the five neighborhood district. I can tell you unequivocally from being a district commander, being a deputy chief, being a chief.

My overall view is Im glad, Im happy to have a class this size, said Andy Gasiewski, president of the Cleveland Police Patrolmens Association. I applaud the city for making its efforts to increase the pay and incentives to become a Cleveland police officer, and I would just like the final outcome to be a little quicker, but were just gonna have to wait,

Gasiewski agrees that mayor Bibbs RISE initiative attracted more recruits for this academy, but he adds that about 35 officers have already left the force for one reason or another  and the current 52 in training wont hit the streets until near the end of this year.

Meanwhile, Drummond says when this current class graduates, it should bring Cleveland closer to its goal of the maximum number of officers in the budget.

Public Squares concrete barriers are now gone

Were budgeted for 1,350 officers, were currently at 1,153, so we add the 52, it takes us over 1,200, actually 1,205 and that puts us not too far off from our numbers, said Drummond.

In any process of going through some training, sometimes people dont make it, so you could start off with 52, you might end up with 49 or 48, said the CPPA president.

Drummond says he hopes to have several academies this year, with a total of 180 new officers trained or in training by the end of December.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW.
A 56-year-old Clovis man was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for attempting to meet a 15-year-old for sex, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Monday.

Paul Joseph Espinosa in May 2021 began messaging what he believed was a 15-year-old girl on Instagram, and asked her for photos before attempting to meet her, prosecutors said in a news release.

He pleaded guilty for attempted online coercion of a child on Sept. 25, and on Monday was sentenced to 11 years and three months. Hell be required to be supervised for 10 years upon his release.

Espinosa did not know he was messaging an undercover agent, prosecutors said. He also called her using Instagram audio.

He went on to ask the girl to meet with him so they could cuddle and enjoy each others company at least for a night, among other things, the DOJ said.

Espinosa asked the purported 15-year-old to send him a picture for his eyes only and sent her three sexually explicit photos of females as part of that conversation, the news release said.

He went from Clovis to Fresno on June 26, 2021, to meet the teen for sex, prosecutors said. When Espinosa arrived, he was placed under arrest.
In an interview with the French TV channel LCI, Petro Poroshenko emphasized that any attempts by Putin to accuse Ukraine of the Moscow terrorist attack are another cynical lie of the terrorist state that has been killing Ukrainians for 10 years in a row.

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This was reported by the press service of the European Solidarity.

"There is no evidence that Ukrainians were involved in this terrorist attack in any way. There have been many cases since Putin's first days in power. I want to remind everyone of the case called "Rostov sugar", when the Russian FSB under Putin's leadership planted explosives in the basements of civilian buildings in Russia in order to blow them up and cause the greatest number of victims that would allow Putin to move to dictatorship and authoritarianism," Poroshenko said.

"I would like to emphasize that President Macron absolutely rightly stated that blaming Ukraine is cynical, and I quote verbatim and counterproductive. The White House has clearly emphasized that there is no intelligence, direct or covert reason to believe that Ukraine has anything to do with this," Poroshenko said.

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"I emphasize that today the methods of struggle used by terrorists are owned, carried out and implemented by a criminal whose name is Putin. If you recall the Mariupol drama theater, the maternity hospital in Mariupol, the crimes in Bucha, in Hostomel, in Trostianets, around Chernihiv, the attack on the shopping center in Kremenchuk, on the Kramatorsk railway station, the strikes in Vinnytsia, the crimes in Odesa  everywhere Putin kills dozens and dozens of Ukrainian civilians with missiles," Poroshenko reminded.

"Putin is a terrorist and a murderer, Putin should be in the Hague. And I think that the first step, when a warrant for his arrest was issued, is a step in the right direction," Petro Poroshenko said.

"Putin's attacks on Ukraine began 10 years ago. Over the past 2 years, more than 1000 missiles have been launched at civilian targets in Ukraine. And the only position that can be understood by the whole world is the fact that Putin thinks like a terrorist, Putin acts like a terrorist, and this means that Putin is a terrorist," Poroshenko emphasized.

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"My appeal to the French, to the Europeans, to the citizens of NATO member states: we need to maintain strategic unity. Because only our unity, only support for Ukraine, only the determination of our actions, only speaking the language of strength will allow us to stop Putin and save the continent. Putin is weakening, Putin does not know what to do. Putin will never be intimidated by us, and as long as we believe in our victory, Putin is doomed. Believe me, I know what I'm talking about as the president of a country that has been holding back Russian troops for five years, not allowing them to advance further," Petro Poroshenko said.
The frantic phone calls jolted Earl Schneider awake.

A friend who works at a hospital wanted to make sure Schneider, a structural foreman for Brawner Builders, was not on the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore when it was struck by a cargo ship and collapsed early Tuesday.

He was not, and he had not worked on the bridge, a major part of the busy Port of Baltimore, for about two weeks. But he knew every person who had been assigned that morning to fix potholes on the bridges roadway, directly above where the ship hit.

One by one, he called his colleagues, including some who had recently had babies. Each call went to voicemail.

I know everybody on that crew personally. Theyre all great people, Schneider said, declining to name them. Its tough. Its been a rough morning.

At least six people are now presumed dead after the cargo ship notified authorities of a power issue and issued a mayday moments before slamming into the bridge a little after 1 a.m., authorities said.

Miguel Luna, 49, is one of the workers thought to have been working on the bridge when the structure collapsed.

His wife, Maria Del Carmen Castellon, told Telemundo she was frustrated by the lack of information provided by authorities following the bridge collapse: "They only tell us that we have to wait and that they cant give us information."

"Our heart is broken because we dont know how they have been rescued yet, we are just waiting for the news," she said.

Jesus Campos, Lunas coworker, told the news outlet, the tragedy has been difficult to process.

It hurts my heart to see what is happening, we are human beings and they are my folks," Campos said.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said an unknown number of workers were doing repairs on the bridge when the ship hit a support pillar.

About three or four of them had welcomed newborns within the last year, according to Schneider, 33.

Image: Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapses After Being Struck By Cargo Ship (Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images)

Folks had their lives changed in a blink of an eye, he said. You dont know how much time youve got.

The crash is under investigation. The governor said it was likely the result of an accident and not an act of terrorism. The bridge, which is about a mile-and-a-half long, was fully up to code," he said.

Two people were rescued from the water, Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace said. One was in good condition, and the other was seriously injured. It's unclear if they are construction workers.

Maynor Suazo, a father of two, who is originally from Honduras, was believed to be missing, his brother said. Suazos family was informed of his disappearance between 3 and 4 a.m. but had not heard any updates Tuesday evening.

The hope we have is to be able to see the body, Suazos brother said. We want to see him, find him, know whether he is dead, because we dont know anything.

Schneider last worked on the bridge about two weeks ago, leaving him grappling with some guilt over feeling grateful.

Its tragic in a sense of like, its a blessing I wasnt on there, but it comes at the cost of somebody else, he said.

James Krutzfeldt, 34, another foreman for Brawner Builders, was also recently moved off bridge repairs  a project that he said has been ongoing for about four years. He also last worked on the bridge two weeks ago.

We all bounce around, he said. Its sad. I havent really realized it yet. Im still kind of in shock.

One of the workers who is unaccounted for is another foreman whom Krutzfeldt considers his mentor and work dad.

That worker brought me up through Brawners ranks to become a foreman, Krutzfeldt said, declining to name his colleagues.

Were all just waiting for a phone call, he said. Its all up in the air."

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Coast Guard units in Maryland and across the mid-Atlantic region have responded to the collapse of a major bridge in Baltimore after it was struck by a cargo ship early Tuesday morning.

Coast Guard Sector Maryland-National Capital Region received a report at 1:27 a.m. that the fully loaded, 948-foot Singapore-flagged container ship Dali struck the 1.6-mile-long Francis Scott Key Bridge, which carries Interstate 695, also known as the Baltimore Beltway, over the Patapsco River.

Within seconds of the impact, the steel truss bridge collapsed, causing several people and automobiles to fall into the river.

At least eight people went into the water. Two were rescued but the other six, part of a construction crew that had been filling potholes on the bridge, were missing and presumed dead. A search for their bodies was underway Wednesday morning, according to Maryland State Police spokesperson Elena Russo.

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The Coast Guard is working with local, state and federal agencies in the search-and-rescue effort, as well as accident investigation and pollution response, according to the service.

Lt. Cmdr. Erin Palmer, acting chief of response for Coast Guard Sector Baltimore, said the service has three small boats involved in operations, as well as the 87-foot patrol boat Mako and an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Air Station Atlantic City.

"USCG's primary mission is search and rescue, looking for any survivors in the water," Palmer said during a press conference Tuesday.

Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld said there were at least seven construction workers on the bridge at the time of its collapse.

In a video captured by StreamTime Live of the Port of Baltimore, the Dali appeared to lose power at least twice before striking the bridge. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore confirmed during a press conference Tuesday that the ship had notified authorities that it lost power.

He added that the ship had issued a mayday that allowed authorities to stop the flow of traffic onto the bridge. In the video, several work trucks remained on the bridge deck before the collapse.

The ship would have been under the control of its captain and a pilot as it left the ninth-largest port in the U.S. for total cargo value.

According to the app MarineTraffic, the Dali was bound for Colombo, Sri Lanka.

An urgent Marine Information Broadcast was issued over the incident, and a 2,000-yard safety zone was set in place. The Coast Guard is urging mariners to avoid the area.

According to the Coast Guard, accident investigators and pollution response coordinators were on their way to the scene as of early Tuesday. Shipping in and out of the Port of Baltimore has been suspended.

In 1980, the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, which crosses Tampa Bay in Florida, was struck by a bulk carrier during a storm, causing a 1,200-foot portion to fall into the water. Thirty-five people died, including drivers and passengers of a truck, seven cars and a Greyhound bus.

That accident happened just three months after the Coast Guard seagoing buoy tender Blackthorn struck a tanker in the same area near the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, killing 23 crew members.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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The U.S. Coast Guard is coordinating with multiple partner agencies to respond to the Tuesday morning collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, which occurred after a containership collided into the structure.

The cargo ship struck a support beam, causing the bridge to break and fall into the water, according to the Baltimore City Fire Department. The Coast Guard said there were reports of individuals in the water.

Fire Chief James Wallace said authorities may be looking for upwards of seven people, but said that number could change, according to The Associated Press. Rescuers pulled two people from the water by mid-morning and searched for more, the outlet said, but it was not immediately clear if the two people who were reported as rescued were included in the group cited by the fire chief.

Coast Guard watchstanders received a report that the 948-foot Singapore-flagged vessel had struck the bridge via the Coast Guard Sector Maryland-National Capital Region command center at 1:27 a.m., the agency said in a release.

Response boat crews from Coast Guard stations Curtis Bay and Annapolis deployed to the scene for active search and rescue. A Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew as well as Coast Guard investigators and pollution responders were also directed to the site of the incident.

We are thankful for the brave men and women who are carrying out efforts to rescue those involved and pray for everyones safety, Maryland Governor Wes Moore said in a statement, adding that a state of emergency was declared in Maryland.

Opened in March 1977, the 1.6-mile bridge crossed over the Patapsco River where Francis Scott Key was inspired to write the words of the Star-Spangled Banner.
Cold therapy techniques come under hot scrutiny by researchers: 'Overall benefits remain uncertain'

Cold therapy has been a popular health trend in recent years, but a new review suggests it might not live up to the hype  although others disagree.

Medical researchers from the University of Warwick in the U.K. conducted a review of nine different studies of the Wim Hof Method (WHM), a health and wellness discipline that combines cold therapy, breathing and meditation.

Although the method was found to reduce inflammation, the researchers concluded that the "quality of the studies [done on the method] is very low" and that "all the results must be interpreted with caution."

LIFE-CHANGING COLD THERAPY HELPS PENNSYLVANIA MOM WITH AWFUL BACK PAIN: 'COULD PICK UP MY DAUGHTER' AGAIN

They also noted that the studies had small sample sizes, so they cant be applied to the general population.

The results were published in the journal PLOS ONE on March 13.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Cold therapy has been a popular health trend in recent years, but a new review suggests it might not live up to the hype. Still, others disagree with that.

The Wim Hof Method is based on the philosophy and practices of Dutch athlete Wim Hof.

The method has three pillars: cold plunging, breathing and mindset.

Previous research has shown that the method can have multiple mental and physical health benefits.

BENEFITS OF COLD WATER: HEALTH GURU AND EXTREME ATHLETE WIM HOF SAYS WE HAVE POWER WITHIN TO HEAL DISEASE

Nicknamed "the Iceman," Hof himself previously told Fox News Digital in an interview that a chief benefit of his method is reducing inflammation  which is a leading cause of most ailments and autoimmune diseases.

"Im bringing my knowledge from nature through science to global health care , showing that through science  no speculation  we are able to do so much more within our physiology," he said.

The Wim Hof Method is based on the philosophy and practices of Dutch athlete Wim Hof. Fox News Digital spoke to Hof in an on-camera interview on March 27, 2023.

In addition to reducing inflammation, Hof also credited cold therapy with improving his mental health during a difficult time in his life.

With cold water plunging, "you open up to peace inside  and that inaugurates the healing," he said.

"I began to have control over my emotions," he also said.

"The key takeaways from the review indicate [the] promising use of WHM in the inflammatory response category," Omar Almahayni, the studys lead researcher at Warwick Medical School, told Fox News Digital.

"However, it's crucial to note that all studies included exhibit a high concern for risk bias, indicating the early stages of investigation into the Wim Hof Method."

ICE BATHS ARE A NEW SOCIAL MEDIA TREND, BUT WHAT DO MEDICAL EXPERTS SAY ABOUT THEIR EFFECTIVENESS?

"While some positive effects are observed, such as attenuation of inflammation, the overall benefits remain uncertain."

The researchers uncovered many limitations of the studies they reviewed, Almahayni said.

"All the trials had a very high risk of bias due to the lack of a prior published protocol, small sample size and complexity of blinding the participants and outcome assessors to the intervention," he said.

The Wim Hof Method of cold water plunging was shown to reduce inflammation in the reviewed studies.

Psychological outcomes were also difficult to measure, the researcher noted, as they relied on subjective input in response to a questionnaire.

"Since the participants were not blinded, it was very difficult to ensure that the answers were honest and valid to the experience," said Almahayni.

Fox News Digital reached out to Wim Hof's team for comment on the review.

Mark Palchak, CEO of Silient, a South Carolina-based chilled water company, was not involved in the systematic review, but noted that the findings show the clear anti-inflammatory properties of cold therapy.

"The simple fact that inflammation-related diseases kill 3/5 of people worldwide, combined with the anti-inflammatory results from this study, suggests that the cold therapy discipline works," Palchak told Fox News Digital.

NEW YORK POLAR PLUNGE GROUP DIVES INTO 'LIFE-CHANGING' COLD WATER THERAPY: 'NEVER FELT BETTER'

Cold therapy can also be beneficial for athletes, he said, helping to reduce inflammation in the joints and cartilage and aiding in post-workout recovery.

"One of the main benefits from cold therapy our customers experience that wasn't mentioned in the study is related to the ability to get hard things done throughout the day," Palchak added.

Cold therapy can be beneficial for athletes  helping to reduce inflammation in the joints and cartilage and aiding in post-workout recovery.

"When you force yourself into ice-cold water first thing in the morning, everything else you do throughout the day becomes materially easier. Doing hard things leads to great things."

Dr. Peter Michael, director of regenerative orthopedics and spine at Miami Wellness, a pain relief center in Miami, Florida , previously spoke with Fox News Digital about the benefits of ice baths.

Ice baths are effective at reducing inflammation in the body by constricting blood vessels and reducing blood flow to the affected area, noted Michael, who was not involved in the new U.K. study.

"Ice baths can help speed up muscle recovery by reducing soreness and fatigue after exercise ," he said.

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Cold plunges can also help increase the production of white blood cells, which are responsible for fighting off infections and diseases, the doctor added.

Some experts also believe that ice baths can have a calming effect on the body, reducing stress and anxiety levels and triggering the release of endorphins in the brain.

Based on the review findings, lead researcher Almahayni called for more evidence to be gathered about the Wim Hof Method  including a larger number of participants  before its recommended to the public.

Ice baths and other forms of cold therapy arent for everyone  and are not considered a cure-all for medical conditions, experts agree.

"It's crucial for individuals to remain cautious and informed about the current state of research on WHM," he said.

"While there are promising indications of its benefits, more evidence is needed before making conclusive recommendations."

Ice baths and other forms of cold therapy arent for everyone and are not considered a cure-all for medical conditions, experts agree.

People considering this method should check with a health care provider before taking the plunge.

Angelica Stabile of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.

For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com/health .





Original article source: Cold therapy techniques come under hot scrutiny by researchers: 'Overall benefits remain uncertain'
Engineering experts sought to explain how the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed.

They centered on one factor: the sheer size of the cargo ship that hit it.

Faced with such momentum, a total collapse was inevitable, they said.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore stood no chance against the huge impact from a cargo ship Tuesday morning, engineering experts told Business Insider.

The bridge was destroyed in the early hours of Tuesday, collapsing in a violent fashion after a large cargo ship, the Dali, hit one of its support pillars.

This video shows the impact:

BREAKING: Ship collides with Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, causing it to collapse pic.twitter.com/OcOrSjOCRn  BNO News (@BNONews) March 26, 2024

Understanding why and how the bridge collapsed could have big implications for safety, both in the cargo shipping industry and in civil engineering.

The physics of the impact are "pretty clear," said Leroy Gardner, a professor of structural engineering at Imperial College London.

"There's a heavy impact from a cargo ship into one of the piers," he said in a call with BI. "Once that collapsed, then the rest of the bridge followed soon after."

Experts told BI it was unlikely that any defects in the bridge's structure were relevant to the collapse, given the scale of the impact.

The Dali is a substantial vessel, 300 meters long and with a gross tonnage of roughly 95,000, according to the website vesselfinder.com.

It's of comparable size and weight to a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier in the US Navy. The Dali was almost as tall as the bridge it was trying to pass under.

"All bridge piers will be designed to resist impact from a vessel. And I think this will be unquestionably no exception to that," Gardner said.

"I think it's the magnitude of the force in this case, which is extremely unusual, which has caused the problem for this bridge," he said.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge opened in 1977. Its design is a steel truss bridge. The bridge was resting on concrete piers before the impact, experts said based on footage shared online.

"The support is a very, relatively, flimsy structure when you look at it  it's a kind of trestle structure with individual legs," Ian Firth, a structural engineer and bridge consultant in the UK, told the BBC. "So, the bridge has collapsed simply as a result of this very large impact force."

The impact from the Dali seemed to knock out one of the concrete piers, a "critical, significant part of the bridge," Gardner told BI.

"Structures generally are typically designed to have a certain amount of robustness. So if there's damage to a small part of it, the rest of the structure can remain intact," Gardner said.

"I think losing such an important element, I would expect the entire bridge to collapse, which is what happens," he said.

It wasn't immediately clear what caused the crash. It also wasn't clear from the footage how quickly the Dali was moving, experts said. It had only recently left the port.

Barbara Rossi, an associate professor of engineering science at the University of Oxford, told BI in an email that the impacting force "must have been immense to lead to these massive (concrete) structures to collapse, leaving the superstructure without one of its supports."

Long investigations are likely to follow, said Mark Richards, director of NESTA Consulting Engineers.

"It's inevitable that the engineering community will look at this and investigate what happened very carefully, to learn lessons from it  if there are lessons to be learned from it," he told BI in a call.

"The bridges are designed for events that are considered by the wider community unit of engineering to be appropriate or probable. Maybe this event just steps outside of that," he said.

"It may be that those events could not be foreseen, and so we can't forget that," he said.

In an emailed statement to BI, a Danish engineering and architecture consultancy called COWI said that bridges are not usually designed to withstand a direct impact from a ship.

Instead, engineers would create structures near the bridge supports that a ship would hit first, absorbing the impact.

Then "the failure would be linked to that and not to the bridge itself," said Lorna Wharton, Head of Press and Public Affairs for COWI.

It was not immediately clear what defenses the Francis Scott Key bridge had, the experts said. COWI and Richards said that something may have been there.

Engineers will likely be considering not only the protections for the bridge itself, but how the broader dynamics of what routes ships took under and around the bridge, the experts said.

Correction: March 27, 2024  An earlier version of this story mischaracterized the cargo ship that hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge. It has a gross tonnage of around 95,000, not a mass of around 95,000 tons.

Read the original article on Business Insider
A man walks by an apartment building in Denver's Capitol Hill neighborhood on December 11, 2020. (Moe Clark/Colorado Newsline)

A bill designed to give tenants more protections against evictions and lease non-renewals cleared the Colorado Senate on Tuesday, one of the last major hurdles before landing on the governors desk.

House Bill 24-1098 passed on a 19-15 vote, with four Democrats joining with Republicans in opposition. This comes a year after a similar proposal languished on the Senate calendar in the face of Democratic opposition and died in the final days of the legislative session.

The bill, in general, would mandate that landlords have a clear reason for evicting a tenant or choosing not to renew their lease, adding a layer of housing security for tenants in the midst of surging evictions in the state and a shortage of rental supply.

The final vote came a day after a six-hour debate in the chamber.

At the end of the day, this bill is about stability. This bill says that if you do everything that is asked of you, you still might get evicted, but at least youll know why. Youll know whether it was your fault, or if its just because the landlord wants to use it for themselves  if theyre going to put it on the market, if theyre going to demolish it, bill sponsor Sen. Julie Gonzales, a Denver Democrat, said on the Senate floor in closing comments ahead of the vote.

Dubbed for cause legislation, the bill outlines reasons a landlord can lawfully evict a tenant, including lease violations, property destruction, failure to pay rent or interfering with the landlord and other tenants right to quiet enjoyment. It also spells out reasons that a landlord can deny a lease renewal, which supporters argue is akin to an eviction and results in the same financial burden and emotional stress for the tenant. A landlord wouldnt need to renew the lease if they choose to sell the property, take it off the rental market for personal use or undergo lengthy renovations.

If they dont have one of those reasons, the landlord would need to offer a new lease to the tenant with reasonable terms.

Passing this legislation will ensure landlords can no longer use eviction to retaliate and discriminate against tenants, Melissa Mejia with the Community Economic Defense Project said in a statement immediately following the bills passage. HB24-1098 outlines clear reasons for evictions, protecting families from unnecessary displacement and ensuring family and community stability. This policy will better protect Colorado tenants.

Opponents worried that such protections could erode landlords property rights and create an endless lease agreement, forcing landlords to continue renting to troublesome tenants. Supporters contend, however, that the current eviction laws often create a chilling effect on renters raising issues with the condition of their unit, for fear of retaliatory non-renewal.

I believe that this bill will continue to offer protections, when necessary, when there is a problematic tenant that a landlord needs to remove from their properties. But today, there are lacking protections for tenants, sponsor Sen. Nick Hinrichsen, a Pueblo Democrat, said. Do you be the squeaky wheel, in hopes of getting the oil? Or do you remain silent knowing that at the end of your lease, if you assert yourself too loudly, that youll lose your home?

I believe that this bill will continue to offer protections, when necessary, when there is a problematic tenant that a landlord needs to remove from their properties. But today, there are lacking protections for tenants.

 State Sen. Nick Hinrichsen

The bill, as introduced in the House, was already more narrow than last years version in hopes of a smooth passage out of the less progressive Senate and final support from Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat who has said he is wary of any policy that could decrease housing stock or raise rental prices.

It was amended in the House by eliminating all financial relocation assistance requirements and shortening the notice period in some situations, among other changes. Then, it was further amended in its Senate committee so that the law would only apply to tenants who have lived in their unit for at least one year, garnering a neutral position from the powerful Colorado Apartment Association.

On Monday, opponents offered another batch of proposed amendments, including one brought by Sen. Kyle Mullica, an Thornton Democrat, that would have rewritten the bill so that fair housing laws would apply to lease renewals and landlords would be required to give a four-month notice of lease non-renewal.

I dont disagree with a lot of what the overarching goal is, and I think thats represented here in (the amendment). What I do have concerns with is that we are creating a situation where one party of a contract is going to be forced to stay in that contract in perpetuity, he said on Monday, calling the amendment an attempt at a middle ground.

The amendment narrowly failed. Mullica voted against the bill alongside fellow Democrats Sen. Dylan Roberts of Frisco, Sen. Joann Ginal of Fort Collins and Sen. Rachel Zenzinger of Arvada.

Sen. Jim Smallwood, a Parker Republican, spoke about his experience as a landlord with a tenant who treated him poorly to add context to his opposition.

Before HB24-1098, a landlord could have had the comfort in knowing that if (they) are being treated that way, (they could) work to evict that tenant, he said.

If the bill becomes law, he said, it might add the possibility that landlords would be forced to put up with unbearable situations.

When you apply additional risks to folks, people like me are going to take those properties off the market, if theyre sane, he said.

The House will need to accept the changes made in the Senate or the chambers will need to work through the differences with a conference committee before the bill heads to the governors desk.

New Jersey, California, New Hampshire, Oregon and Washington all have some version of statewide for cause legislation, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition. In addition to Colorado, lawmakers in Maryland, New York and Connecticut are also considering the policy this year.

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The post Colorado for cause eviction bill nears governors desk following Senate vote appeared first on Colorado Newsline.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)  March is National Social Work Month, and Columbus is using the opportunity to recognize and celebrate the contributions of the profession.

The theme for Social Work Month in 2024 is Empowering Social Workers, which Columbus City Council recognized at a recent meeting. Councilmember Melissa Green, a licensed social worker, said the work often goes unnoticed.

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Were really trying to elevate and shine a light on the important role that social workers play across our community, Green said. People historically, in my experience also being a social worker, have sort of had a very one-dimensional view of what it means to be a social worker.

Green said social work is a diverse field that includes people from different positions and sectors, all with the mission of advocating for social justice and the welfare of a communitys most at-risk and vulnerable populations.

Youll find social workers in our schools or in behavioral health care, certainly in our child welfare system, and even in elected positions, like being on city council, Green said.

Danielle Smith, executive director of the National Association of Social Workers state chapter, echoed that point.

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Every person, whether they know it or not, has benefited from a social worker, Smith said. We often have other job titles like a therapist or counselor or director. So, you might not realize that youve worked with a social worker, but social workers are in every practice setting, doing work to help folks live happy and healthy lives.

Green announced a new partnership Monday related to social work. A program from NASW Ohio, Kaleidoscope Youth Center, Tepper Counseling, and SAIGE Ohio will train mental health professionals in gender-affirming care. The partnership was launched ahead of International Transgender Day of Visibility on Sunday.

Smith said the passage of House Bill 68, which will prohibit childrens hospitals from providing gender-affirming treatment to minors once it takes effect in April, highlighted the need for social workers. The funding will help local social workers update their practices to reflect changes in the state.

For social workers that keep providing mental health services to gender-diverse youth, theres a lot of considerations of how their practices are going to need to change, Smith said.

New charges against ex-Ohio House Speaker already imprisoned in $60 million bribery scandal

There are other ways that social workers can help with those seeking gender-affirming care, according to Smith.

Social workers also help with case management and can help families who need to go out of state to access medical gender affirming care, who need other resources, like housing or support in other ways, Smith said. Social workers can help across the board in both medical and mental health spaces.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer appears to be pouring cold water on the prospects of impeaching President Biden in a new fundraising email sent to voters on Monday evening.

Comer said "criminal referrals" would be the "culmination" of his ongoing impeachment inquiry.

In the message sent to supporters, the Kentucky Republican blamed Democrats and cited the lefts uniform opposition to impeaching Bidens Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

"Ive presented mountains of evidence confirming Joe Bidens involvement in his familys influence peddling scheme, and I just had a group of the Biden familys business confidants publicly testify about the first familys criminal activity," Comers email read. "At any other time in history, that would have been the final nail in the coffin of the Biden Crime Familys reign of corruption."

AOC TAKES HEAT OVER 'RICO IS NOT A CRIME' COMMENT IN BIDEN IMPEACHMENT PROBE HEARING

Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer's campaign sent a fundraising email to supporters stating that impeaching President Biden will likely not be the "culmination" of his probe. (Getty Images)

"But we are not in a normal time in history As it stands right now, the deranged Democrats are refusing to take up the Impeachment Trial of Alejandro Mayorkas and threatening to dismiss it within minutes when it finally is brought up. Even centrist Democrats called the Mayorkas Impeachment Trial ridiculous just days after a criminal illegal brutally murdered Laken Riley in cold blood."

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

House Republicans voted to impeach Mayorkas over the border crisis last month, but the impeachment articles have not yet been sent over to the Senate. Once they are, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., must act on them swiftly  though the Democratic majority is likely to scuttle them as soon as possible.

Comers email then asked, "What do you think they would do if we Impeached Biden?"

HOUSE HOLDS PUBLIC HEARING ON BIDEN FAMILY 'INFLUENCE PEDDLING' WITH EX-HUNTER BIDEN ASSOCIATES

"Its clear that Democrats will choose their party over their country and the truth at every turn. They should be ashamed of themselves. Thats why I am preparing criminal referrals as the culmination of my investigation," he wrote.

"When President Trump returns to the White House, its critical the new leadership at the DOJ have everything they need to prosecute the Biden Crime Family and deliver swift justice."

Comer's email said, "When President Trump returns to the White House, its critical the new leadership at the DOJ have everything they need to prosecute the Biden Crime Family and deliver swift justice."

Comer said criminal referrals are "the best way" to hold the Bidens accountable, "as its now clear the Democrats will do anything to hold onto power."

He made similar comments during a Newsmax interview last week after the House held its second impeachment inquiry hearing. Hunter Biden, whose foreign business dealings are a central focus of investigators looking into whether then-Vice President Biden used his position to enrich his family, turned down an invitation to appear at that event.

FBI INFORMANT CHARGED WITH GIVING FALSE INFORMATION ABOUT HUNTER BIDEN IN 2020

Earlier this month, Fox News Digital heard from several GOP lawmakers who, while maintaining they believe the president is guilty of at least acting improperly, admitted current conditions in the House make it unlikely the chamber will actually impeach him.

Those prospects will get trickier after April 19 when Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., leaves early, leaving House Republicans with just a one-vote majority.

Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, is a main focus of House impeachment investigators.

Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., a member of the Oversight Committee, told Fox News Digital last week that its "very possible" there will be a full House vote, but said impeaching Biden "has never been the purpose" of the inquiry.

"The purpose is doing these investigations. We have a formalized impeachment inquiry because some of the initial information we've uncovered has led us to the current information now," Donalds said.

When asked whether he meant the impeachment inquirys goal was not an impeachment vote, Donalds challenged, "Thats not what Im saying."

"It was about doing our investigation into the allegations of public corruption by the Biden family. We have now proven that yes, there was public corruption going on The question now becomes, does all the evidence we have take us to high crimes and misdemeanors? But you have to have an impeachment inquiry in order to assess and gain all that information," he said. "Unlike the Democrats, we didn't walk in just promising impeachment on day one."





Original article source: Comer fundraising email dampens prospects of Biden impeachment, says 'criminal referrals' are goal
A commuter was struck and killed by a Manhattan subway train Monday after being shoved onto the tracks by an emotionally disturbed person in an unprovoked attack, according to police and sources.

The victim was pushed onto the tracks as a northbound 4 train was entering the East 125th Street and Lexington Avenue station in East Harlem just before 7 p.m., police sources said.

The train was unable to stop in time and fatally struck the individual, an adult male whose identity has not been released.

The train was unable to stop in time and fatally struck the individual, whose identity has not been released. William Miller

The victim was struck and killed by a Manhattan subway train Monday after being shoved onto the tracks in an unprovoked attack. William Miller

The man was pronounced dead shortly after and a suspect, described as an emotionally disturbed person, was taken into custody, according to the sources. Charges are pending.

The deadly shove comes amid a surge of violent crime within the citys subway system including a high-profile deadly shooting on a crowded train car in Brooklyn earlier this month.

The number of felony assaults in the sprawling underground transit system jumped 53% last year from pre-pandemic times, with 570 such attacks in 2023 compared to 373 in 2019, data shows.

The victim was pushed onto the tracks as a northbound 4 train was entering the East 125th Street and Lexington Avenue station in East Harlem. William Miller

Its unclear what is causing the alarming trend, but some incidents  perhaps including Mondays deadly assault  point to mental illness as a potential contributing factor.

Half of the attacks on MTA workers in the subway system last year involved a suspect suffering from a mental illness.

Of the 38 people charged with 41 separate assaults on transit system employees, 20 of them had documented psychological problems, according to a Post investigation.

The person was pronounced dead shortly after and a suspect, described as an emotionally disturbed person, was taken into custody. William Miller

Many of the individuals who assaulted the workers also had a criminal history.

Mondays alleged shover was identified by sources as 24-year-old Carlton McPherson.

McPherson has a prior assault arrest from October 2023, sources told The Post. He was freed on bond and is due back in court in July.

Carlton McPherson, 24, was apprehended after the fatal shoving.

Charges are pending. William Miller

Service on the 4/5/6 trains was severely disrupted and rerouted to other tracks as a result, the MTA said.

The East Harlem station was flooded with cops Monday night as the victims body was removed in a white body bag on a stretcher.

Several top transit officials, including NYPD Transit Chief Mike Kemper, MTA Chairman Janno Leiber and NYC Transit President Richard Davey, were also spotted inside the station following the tragedy.

Earlier in the day, Kemper and other NYPD brass announced the department would deploy 800 more cops into subway stations over the next five days to hunt down fare-beaters, claiming the move curbs more violent crimes.
Just call him Beard Meets Food.

The European top ranked competitive eater, Adam Moran sauntered into, of all places, Skins Hot Dogs in Easley on a recent rainy day to take on the hot-dog eating challenge.

It was fairly early in the day and not too many customers were in the Upstate staple, originally started in a pool hall in 1948 by Skin Thrasher. The hot dogs  a combination of pork and beef  topped with mildly seasoned chili soon became a favorite and Thrasher got rid of the pool tables and stopped selling everything else.

To this day, customers walk in and are greeted with how many? (There are chips, pound cake and cookies as well). They have 11 locations.

Moran, who lives in Leeds, England, could not be reached for comment, and Skins is closed on Mondays, so how he ended up in Easley couldnt be determined.

Mashed, a food website, said in a profile that Moran began competitive eating in 2010 and has won a number of major events  10th in the Nathans Hot Dog Eating Contest in 2019.

Known for his black and immaculately kept beard, he posts his eating challenges on his YouTube channel, which has 3.7 million followers.

Moran told ShortList he started competitive eating after he did strength training in his mid-20s.

I got down to something like 8 percent body fat, he said.

He felt he needed a reward. He signed up for an eating challenge in Leeds, his hometown about 200 miles north of London.

He liked it and did more. Then he started videotaping himself and his YouTube channel blew up.

Before I knew it, I was making more money from my eating exploits than from my actual job, he told Mashed.

That was the end of his career in banking.

Major League Eating ranks him No. 17 in the world (Joey Chestnut of Nathans hot dog fame is first).

Mashed said he ate 10 Burger King spicy Angriest Whoppers in less than 25 minutes, 7 pounds of pancakes in 18 minutes, and 17 Big Macs in one hour.

On the day he showed up at Skins, an employee who is not named described the challenge. More than 16 hot dogs, less than 1 hour 18 minutes.

Moran looks unfazed.

He replies: He wants 20. With chili. No onions. No condiments.

The employee suggests ordering them in small amounts so he wont have to pay for the ones he cant finish. The reward for setting a new record is free hot dogs, a tee-shirt and his photo on the wall.

Moran is nonplussed. Hell take them all.

He says his signature line: Lets get it!

And he then proceeds to eat them one by one as if hes having a leisurely meal.

He easily gets to 16. The other four go down as smoothly as the first.

His time: 15 minutes, 53 seconds.

While in South Carolina, Moran also took on the challenge at Macs Speed Shop in Greenville: a sandwich of pulled pork, brisket, burger patties, onions, pickles, slaw and a half pound side of mac n cheese. If you cant eat all that, youve got to pay for the $77 meal and your photo goes on the wall of shame.

This one was a bit more difficult because the meat was spicy.

No worries, he downed the meal in 22 minutes, 38 seconds.

Then he ordered dessert: apple cobbler.
Russia continues to accuse Ukraine of "crimes against Russia". The aggressor state has labeled the heads of Ukrainian intelligence services as "criminals" and called them "legitimate targets": the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, was singled out for special mention.

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Threats to eliminate Budanov and other Ukrainian security officials were made by the head of the Russian Federal Security Service, Alexander Bortnikov, who generously gave comments to Russian propagandists on March 26. The DIU commented on these threats to OBOZ.UA.

Answering a question from one of the propagandists, Bortnikov called the heads of Ukrainian special services "legitimate targets."

"Those who commit crimes against Russia and Russian citizens are legitimate targets," the FSB chief said.

He also mentioned Budanov, who, he said, is also going to be eliminated by the Russian special services.

The propagandist didn't think this answer was enough, so he asked why the Ukrainian security forces hadn't been killed yet.

"Everything is ahead," Bortnikov responded to the question.

The DIU has already responded to the FSB chief's threats. In a commentary to OBOZ.UA, military intelligence representative Andriy Yusov noted that modern Russia is completely repeating the actions of the Nazis during World War II.

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"There is nothing new in these statements of the Kremlin elders. Just as the war criminals of the Third Reich threatened the entire world and the leaders of democratic countries before their final defeat. The Russian Federation, a state aggressor, a state terrorist, is waging a genocidal war against Ukrainians and, among other things, is trying to destroy and is doing everything possible to destroy the military and political leadership of Ukraine," he said.

Russian terrorists interpret the regular references to the DIU and Budanov in military intelligence as a kind of recognition of the effectiveness of their work.

"On the one hand, this is another recognition of the activities of both General Budanov and the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, and on the other hand, it is a certain agony, because, again, this is a repetition, it has already happened many times. The legitimate targets for international justice are war criminals, the top of the Putin regime, and justice will not escape them," Yusov emphasized.

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Earlier, it became known that the head of the SBU Vasyl Maliuk was "arrested" in absentia in Russia. The Basmanny Court of Moscow "sent" the head of the Ukrainian special service "into custody" for two months.

Maliuk himself said that this decision "does not deserve any attention" and that he is interested in only one trial  that of Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin.
Flooding in St. Cloud has been a problem for years, it caused more funding to be needed when it comes to cleanup and economic losses.

Congressman Darren Soto worked to secure nearly 2 million in funding to control the flooding in downtown St. Cloud.

Anything that helps with us being so close to the lake is awesome, said Sheila Fath, St. Cloud homeowner.

The stormwater infrastructure project, which Soto projects will cost $1,616,279 is planned to improve flood management in the Historic Downtown area.

Read: Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse: Ship issued mayday before hitting bridge, governor says

Approximately 18% of the residences within the project area are located within the FEMA Zone AE or Zone A floodplain. Residences and businesses within FEMA Zones are at risk of extreme flooding damage.

Soto said the stormwater infrastructure, roads, and private residences in the surrounding areas are not capable under todays standards, and due to the circumstances, there has been significant flooding in the district after heavy storm events.

The St. Cloud stormwater mitigation project is one of 15 under the Congressmans Community Funding Project Request.

Read: $1M Powerball ticket sold in Central Florida

I am incredibly honored to vote for these projects today. These 15 initiatives will help build affordable housing, alleviate traffic, prioritize pedestrian safety for students, strengthen the districts clean water infrastructure and flood prevention efforts, improve our world-class airport, and more, said Congressman Soto.

Soto said the considerable capital improvements investments to raise the Level of Service high enough to accommodate a one percent storm (100-year storm).

Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
More than 230 tonnes of illegally-dumped rubbish and waste has been removed from a fly-tipping blackspot in Perth.

Heavy machinery took three days to clear the fly-tipped waste from the land at Lower Friarton which had been dumped over 15 years.

The council said it had cleared the area, which is on private land, as the problem was getting "out of control."

The rubbish was taken to local sites for metal and plastic to be recycled.

The site on the banks of the River Tay will be further tidied up by the council's unpaid work team.

Fences and walls have been erected on either side of the road to discourage future fly-tipping, with CCTV also installed.

The operation was carried out by the council, Scottish Water, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa), and Tay Salmon Fisheries.

Council leader Grant Laing said the site had been "an eyesore for some time."

He said: "Rubbish and waste was being dumped right at the edge of the river and so it was posing an environmental risk.

"We estimate that some of the illegally-dumped waste had been there for around 15 years, and the fact we took away over 200 tonnes showed the scale of the problem."

Sepa unit manager Alex Macaskill said illegal operators often collected waste for a fee, promising to dispose of it safely.

He said: "Services that sound too good to be true often are, and could lead to your waste being illegally fly-tipped.

"If they dispose of it illegally and we can trace the waste back to you and you can be held to account and prosecuted or fined. "
Read the full story on The Auto Wire

Cop Shoots At And Stabs Repo Man Who Came For His Car

Getting behind on car payments is certainly a stressful situation, especially when youve suffered a crisis which put you in the financial pinch. But the last thing you want to do is attack the repo man if he shows up to take your ride, something a cop has been accused of doing.

Guy pulls a gun on the repo man and immediately regrets it.

Video of the police officer stabbing and shooting at the repo man who showed up at a shopping center went viral. According to Jakarta Globe, the attack happened in Palembang, Indonesia on March 23 with the video shocking many.

Allegedly, the police officer hasnt made payments on his Toyota Avanza since sometime in 2022. The report also cites a police source claiming the officer put a fake license plate on the car to hide it from the repo agency.

According to the report, the officer at first brandishes a handgun, then fires a shot, barely missing the repo man. He then reportedly used a knife to attack the repo agent, although that allegedly wasnt filmed.

However, the victim is apparently recovering in a hospital for stab wounds to his shoulders and arms. Considering the situation, hes lucky to be alive.

As for the police officer, hes on the run from his own colleagues. Considering he knows how they operate, he might be able to stay one step ahead of the manhunt, at least for a while.

With many falling behind on their car payments not only in North America but elsewhere, car repossessions seem to be on the rise. If you find yourself in that situation, the worst thing you can do is turn to violence. Adding criminal charges to your financial problems will only make life that much more difficult.

Image via Jakarta Globe

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Police on Monday released photos of the men they say fatally shot a hardworking father supporting both family in the city and his wife and three kids back in Guinea.

The gunfire rang out outside Lamine Bahs apartment building on McKeever Place near Sullivan Place in Crown Heights on the evening of Feb. 28, cops said.

The 33-year-old victim had heard e-bikes parked outside were getting towed and Bah, who uses his set of wheels to deliver food, ran out to make sure his bike was not removed, his family told the Daily News after the slaying.

Outside, two men approached and one fired off multiple shots, striking Bah in the head, cops said.

The man took off on foot, leaving Bah mortally wounded on the pavement.

Medics rushed him to Kings County Hospital, but he could not be saved.

Bah worked as a cook at a nearby West African restaurant during the day and moonlighted as a DoorDash delivery person using his e-bike, his siblings said.

Hed lived in the Brooklyn apartment with his parents, four brothers and two sisters since he immigrated from Guinea in 2019, according to relatives.

He helped support the family while also sending money home to his wife and their three sons ages 5, 3 and 7 months.

Police released photos of the suspected gunman in the hopes someone may recognize them. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS.
Both Maria Corina Machado (left) and Corina Yoris were blocked from registering as candidates [Reuters]

Venezuela's main opposition coalition has managed to register a candidate for July's presidential election after its first two nominees were blocked.

The Unitary Platform (PUD) said it was able to inscribe ex-diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez after the deadline for registrations was extended.

The PUD said Mr Gonzalez was its "provisional" candidate, hinting that he may be replaced before the election.

Whoever is chosen will take on current President Nicolas Maduro.

The PUD had originally backed Maria Corina Machado as its candidate to unseat Mr Maduro, who has been in power since 2013.

Ms Machado won an opposition primary held in October with more than 90% of the votes and had succeeded in uniting the notoriously divided opposition groups.

But since then, she has had a ban which prevents her from running for public office confirmed by the Supreme Court, which is stacked with government loyalists.

President Maduro, who has been in power since 2013, has withstood international pressure to lift the ban on Ms Machado.

Nicolas Maduro held a rally after registering his candidacy for a third term [EPA]

He told his supporters last month that "we're going to win by hook or by crook, we're going to win, always".

With the deadline for the registration of candidates fast approaching and Ms Machado's ban still in place, the PUD on Friday picked Corina Yoris to replace her.

Ms Yoris, an 80-year-old academic, is relatively unknown even in opposition circles. The fact that she is a newcomer to politics was seen as an asset by the coalition, which argued that this made it harder for her opponents to discredit her.

But when it came to registering her candidacy by the deadline set for Monday evening, however, the opposition coalition hit a wall.

In videos uploaded to social media, the PUD showed how they repeatedly tried and failed to log into the electoral council website to register Ms Yoris's candidacy.

One of the parties which forms part of the coalition, however, was granted an extension and was able to log into the system to register Mr Gonzalez.

A variety of other parties were also able to file candidates bringing the total number of presidential candidates to 13, but some of them are aligned to the government and are not thought to be serious challengers to President Maduro.

The PUD said in a statement that the candidacy of Mr Gonzalez was "provisional... given the clear impossibility of registering the chosen candidate so far", suggesting the former diplomat was chosen as a placeholder.

Parties can make changes to their presidential ticket until 20 April and the opposition coalition is expected to replace him with a unity candidate.

Another politician who was successful in registering, Manuel Rosales, has already announced that he would be willing to give up his place on the ballot in favour of a unity candidate.
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET)  The Kern County Coroners Office identified a man who was killed in a shooting in Bakersfield in January.

The coroner identified the victim as Roger Alan Maestas, 39, of Bakersfield. Maestas was pronounced dead following a shooting in the 1000 block of Clyde Street on Jan. 16.

Video appears to show man with severed body part in Wasco, man arrested

A report from the coroners office said Maestas was shot in the chest and died at the scene. Maestas death was ruled a homicide.

The Bakersfield Police Department is investigating the case and no arrests have been made. Anyone with information is asked to call Bakersfield police at 661-327-7111.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KGET 17.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) on Tuesday decried the United Statess decision to abstain from a vote on a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza.

The Biden administration abstaining from the UN ceasefire vote is deeply offensive and strategically stupid, Cotton said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. Its just another example of failed leadership from Joe Biden.

Cottons post also included a clip of him from The Hugh Hewitt Show on Tuesday in which he said the abstention should come as no surprise to anyone.

So, it was outrageous, deeply offensive, strategically stupid, but again, not surprising coming from [President Biden], Cotton said in the clip.

The Security Council passed the legally binding cease-fire resolution Monday, with 14 votes in favor, none against and the U.S. abstention. It calls for an immediate cease-fire during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and immediate release of hostages.

Following the U.S. abstention, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a delegations visit to Washington. In a statement, the prime ministers office said the abstention was 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 issued Monday reads. In light of the change in the US position, Prime Minister Netanyahu decided that the delegation will remain in Israel.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said he was disappointed in the cancellation in a press call.

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, Kirby said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Mayor Donna Deegan said Tuesday after the collapse of a Baltimore bridge struck by a cargo container ship that the Dames Point bridge in Jacksonville has built-in safeguards for shielding the heavily traveled span from an impact.

Ships pass daily under the Dames Point bridge on their way to and from the Dames Point terminal just west of the bridge and the Talleyrand terminal near downtown.

Baltimore also is a busy port city. The overnight accident caused the Francis Scott Key Bridge to collapse in a matter of seconds when a ship leaving the Port of Baltimore rammed into one of the piers holding up the span at about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday. Several vehicles and construction workers were on the bridge when the impact happened.

Did you know? What are Jacksonville's longest, tallest bridges? Facts about the city's 7 bridges

An overhead view of the Dames Point bridge shows the concrete structures called "dolphins" that are next to the bridge's pier in the St. Johns River. The dolphins would absorb the impact of a ship sailing off course before the ship hits the pier.

"We are saddened by the situation in Baltimore and are praying for their community," Deegan said in a statement.

She called JaxPort CEO Eric Green after the collapse.

"The city of Jacksonville and our partner agencies always stand read to help our sister communities during their time of need," Deegan said. "Our city and port community stands with the people of Baltimore."

She said the Dames Point bridge, which is part of the Interstate 295 highway through Jacksonville, has large concrete structures called "dolphins" for protecting the bridge's piers if a ship were to sail off course. The bridge also has sensors on the bottom of the bridge that gives real-time information on the distance from the river surface to the bottom of the bridge so pilots know how much clearance exists.

The Dames Point bridge is the only bridge that the big cargo ships sail under in Jacksonville when calling on port terminals, but barges and smaller ships that travel farther on the St. Johns River pass under the Matthews Bridge, Hart Bridge, Main Street bridge, Fuller Warren Bridge and Buckman Bridge.

Safe passage: How harbor pilots guide big ships in Jacksonville's port

Cruise business: The Norwegian Gem is coming to Jacksonville in 2025. What you should know about the ship.

On Sept. 26, 2013, a large cargo ship being towed on the river hit a center span of the Matthew Bridge, forcing closure of the heavily-traveled bridge for a month until the state Department of Transportation could repair damage A transportation department spokesman said at the time the impact was "near catastrophic."

The St. Johns Bar Pilot Association's pilots, who have years of experience with the St. Johns River, board the big ships when they come and go from Jacksonville's port to guide them down the waterway.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: After Baltimore bridge collapse, Deegan reassures about Jacksonville port
North Carolinas ports could receive some of the shipping traffic that is unable to reach the Port of Baltimore due to Tuesdays collapse of a vital bridge over a key shipping lane, experts said.

Traffic in and out of the Port of Baltimore was brought to a halt Tuesday morning when a cargo ship struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge, collapsing the 1.6-mile span that crossed the Patapsco River. Debris from the collapse is blocking the shipping channel, with some authorities saying the Port of Baltimore, the nations 17th largest, is likely to be closed indefinitely.

Customers are now evaluating their supply chain options and NC Ports stands ready to assist and support the larger supply chain network as needed, Brian Clark, the N.C. State Ports Authoritys executive director, wrote in a statement.

North Carolinas ports, particularly the Port of Wilmington, are able to take some of the shipments originally bound for Baltimore, experts said.

Wilmington could be particularly well-positioned to take wood and steel that would typically head to Baltimore, Rob Handfield, N.C. State Universitys Bank of America Distinguished Professor of Supply Chain Management, told The News & Observer.

Handfield, who recently conducted an analysis of the ports in-bound products, said the four largest bulk commodities Wilmington handles are pulp wood, sawed wood like lumber, stainless steel rolls and iron bars.

There definitely is a likelihood that they might see more traffic at Wilmington, Handfield said.

North Carolina and New Jerseys ports are likely destinations for some traffic that would otherwise head to Baltimore, Georgios Hatzimanolis, head of global communications for Kpler, a trade analysis company, told The New York Times on Tuesday.

The container ship Hyundai Speed was berthed in December 2021 at the Port of Wilmington. Travis Long/tlong@newsobserver.com

The Port of Baltimore handles 39% of Northeast ports wood imports and 20% of their steel and aluminum, Chris Rogers, S&P Global Market intelligences head of supply chain research, said in an email to The N&O.

Some of the traffic originally bound for Baltimore is likely headed to ports in Delaware and Philadelphia, Rogers wrote. And the Port of Virginia in Norfolk reported Tuesday that it was accepting ships diverted from Baltimore.

The Port of Baltimore is one of the nations largest handlers of cars and trucks, Rogers told The News & Observer. That traffic is unlikely to come to North Carolina, which doesnt handle vehicles at either of its ports.

North Carolinas biggest ports

North Carolina has two deep-water ports, in Morehead City and Wilmington. Neither requires ships to pass under a bridge to reach them.

The Port of Wilmingtons website touts it status as one of few Southern shipping ports with readily available berths and storage areas for containers and general cargo.

Ships approaching Wilmington come up the Cape Fear River, reaching the port about a mile south of the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge.

We, along with our federal and state agency partners, are committed to continually evaluating the safe movement of goods and vessels in and out of our facilities, Clark said in a statement.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge was a 1.6-mile bridge that formed a key part of Baltimores beltway. The 984-foot-long cargo ship, the Dali, struck one of its support pillars Tuesday morning.

Emergency radio traffic shows that the ship reported losing steering and power shortly before the collision, and video of the incident appears to show lights on the ship flickering and dark smoke coming from it shortly before it struck the pillar.

Law enforcement rushed to close Maryland Route 695 on either side of the span, but a construction crew was working to fill potholes on top of the bridge.

Six workers remained unaccounted for, Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld said Tuesday.
Donald Trumps vice presidential list is ever growing. But at least one prominent candidate has a special challenge: Marco Rubio, a senator from Trumps own home state of Florida.

The U.S. Constitution and the rules of the Electoral College discourage running mates from the same state. That's actually why Dick Cheney changed his residency from Texas back to Wyoming in 2000 as George W. Bush made him the vice-presidential nominee.

Trump aides said he does not have a VP shortlist  he has a long list that is getting longer by the week.

They also said hes not close to making a final announcement and may not do so before the opening of the Republican National Convention on July 15. Rubio appears to be a serious contender for the VP nomination, though, and again fanned speculation over the weekend when he said he'd be "honored" to do the job despite once calling Trump a "con artist."

"I think anyone whose offered the opportunity to serve this country as vice president should be honored by the opportunity to do it if you're in public service," Rubio said Sunday on ABC's "This Week."

Two Trump advisers, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Rubio is among many people being considered for running mate.

At the present time, two officials said, Trump is more focused on the hush money criminal trial that he faces starting on April 15 than picking a running mate. Another priority is raising money both for the campaign, and for the massive civil judgments that have been entered against him.

That said, Trump is getting lots of advice about his running mate from supporters of the various prospective candidates, including Rubio.

As with other politicians, Trump has blown hot and cold on Rubio.

He criticized the Florida senator for holding off on an endorsement  but has been effusive in his praise since Rubio actually did the deed right before the Iowa Caucus.

Trump aides are aware of potential Electoral College problems with picking Rubio but said they can be dealt with. Cheney is the most prominent example, they said.

Rubio's constitutional problem

The Constitution doesn't prohibit a presidential ticket from having two people from the same state, but it makes it complicated.

The 12th Amendment states that electors for each state vote by ballot for President and Vice President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves.

That means if Trump carries Florida, as expected, the state's 30 electors could vote for Trump or his running mate, but not both if they reside in Florida.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, picture here at an event in Miami on Nov. 8, 2022, is among the GOP leaders being discussed as a possible running mate for former President Donald Trump.

"Because of that provision, parties generally dont nominate candidate for president and vice president who are from the same state," University of Virginia constitutional law professor John Harrison said in an email.

The are a few different ways that a campaign could try to work around the limits of the Constitution.

Rubio could change his residency, as Cheney did in 2000.

"Simply switching your residency would probably be enough but you can never know," said Florida Atlantic University political science professor Kevin Wagner, who noted that could face a court challenge.

Harrison also speculated about a scenario where Florida electors vote for Trump as president and not Rubio as vice president, but noted that has "serious drawbacks" because Rubio might not get a majority of the Electoral College votes.

In that case, the Senate would decide. And "if the Senate is controlled by the party other than the party of the president-elect, it might choose as vice president the party whose candidate for president lost the election," Harrison noted.

Another potential solution would be to have Florida's electors be residents of another state, Harrison said, adding that he's not sure if that would be possible under state law and the 12th Amendment.

So while the Constitution doesn't require running mates to live in different states, it "gives parties strong incentives" not to go down that path.

Angling for VP job?

The constitutional questions aren't quieting VP chatter about Rubio, though, and he isn't doing anything to discourage it either. His behavior points toward him wanting the job, Wagner said.

Hes had plenty of opportunities to say he is not interested in the job and he has chosen not to, so more than anything else hes done that suggests at the very least hes considering the possibility," Wagner said.

A Cuban American, Rubio could help Trump appeal to Hispanic voters. He also may appeal to other GOP voters and leaders who are nervous about Trump. Rubio has been deeply engaged on foreign policy issues in the Senate.

Rubios also well-considered in the establishment, especially among the foreign policy establishment, and that might be calming for the foreign policy establishment in the party," Wagner said.

Trump is not likely to shutdown speculation about most potential VP candidates, aides said.

During a recent trip to the U.S.-Mexico border, Trump said he would consider Texas Gov. Greg Abbott as a running mate. He is considered a long shot.

On the other hand, Trump and his aides have dismissed the chances of former presidential candidates Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy and Ron DeSantis (another Floridian).

Rubio was strongly critical of Trump when he ran against him in 2016.

"What we are dealing with my friends is a con artist, he is a con artist," Rubio said of Trump back then in a clip ABC played Sunday. "First of all, he runs on this idea that he is fighting for the little guy, but he has spent his entire career sticking it to the little guy."

"Friends do not let friends vote for con artists," Rubio added in the 2016 clip.

Asked about those comments on ABC, Rubio said: "It was a campaign."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: All Florida presidential ticket? Trump/Rubio ticket faces hurdles
Council approves Rock Island project, city hall set for renovations

A massive project to reshape downtown Rock Island got the final green light Monday night from the Rock Island City Council.

Construction should start on some of this work next month now that the council approved a bid of almost $9 million.

Rock Islands Valley Construction submitted the low bid of the three delivered to the city for the project that started about a year ago and has moved quickly since then. The project approved Monday night centers primarily on 18th Street as well as 2nd and 3rd Avenues.

Its great to be at the point where we have consensus that these are the improvements we are all excited about making into the downtown, said Jack Cullen, of the Rock Island Downtown Alliance. And its really not the end of the story  this is the start, where the improvements need to start in the core of downtown and where we hope to continue block by block.

No date has been set for a groundbreaking.

Renovations also are on the way for Rock Island City Hall. City leaders marked the occasion Monday with a wall-breaking ceremony. Mayor Mike Thoms and city council members celebrated the $2.2 million project to re-do city hall council chambers, the mayors office and administrative area, among other things.

(OurQuadCities.com)

This is the first major renovation to city hall since it was built in 1940. The mayor says its long overdue: Its time to have a better appearance, be professional, but also more user-friendly for the citizens, he said. What weve heard is so far a majority say its well-deserved, needed.

We dont have an ADA-compliant bathroom, so this will change that, he said.

Work should be completed by mid-August. Council meetings will be held in the Rock Island County Office Building in the meantime. The citys permits and inspections service counter moved to the third floor of city hall for the time being. The city clerks, mayors and city managers offices moved to the east side of the building and can be accessed from 16th Street.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHBF - OurQuadCities.com.
You wouldnt think that John Cooper Clarke  the spiky-haired bard of Salford  and a cabinet minister would have much in common.

But me and the man who toured with Joy Division and the Sex Pistols share a specific concern: potholes.

Its issues like this  issues that affect communities across the country  that I have been focused on during my time in the Cabinet Office, and Im looking forward to visiting councils over the next few weeks to make sure they are tackling this pothole problem head on as part of my pothole tour.

In a recent interview, the Northern poet  whom I went to see perform at the Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool as a teenager  mentioned how he also cares deeply about potholes too, because he cycles around his neighbourhood. He said he doesnt follow world politics but keeps a close eye on his local council because thats where the sharks swim.

And when it comes to potholes, there have been choppy waters for some time.

Many people have despaired as their councils continue to overlook significant government investment, prioritising other matters and letting our roads reach a state of disrepair.

Addressing everyday priorities like this was central to the Prime Ministers decision to cancel the Northern leg of HS2  so that money can be redirected to where it is needed most.

Common sense in action

For me, this is common sense in action. It is vital that all parts of our national infrastructure  including our 187,000 miles of road in England  are resilient. Everyone  from businesses and emergency services to families  rely on our road network so its right that we invest in them.

Rishi Sunaks decision to cancel HS2 has resulted in an additional 8.3 billion investment into roads and fixing potholes.

It is  quite simply  the biggest ever funding increase for local road improvements, and will help resurface more than 5,000 miles of damaged road.

This week, in their yearly survey, the Asphalt Industry Alliance  which represent suppliers, producers and contractors who work with Tarmac  found that local authorities were expected to fix 2 million potholes across England and Wales in this financial year  up 43 per cent on the previous year.

This is hardly surprising given the recent weather here in the UK  the flooding, the ice, the torrential rain  which has had a huge impact on our roads as well as the lack of maintenance for two years due to lockdown.

But there is no better time to fix the roof than when the sun is shining, so as we steadily creep towards spring, now is the time to fill those potholes.

We have been giving local authorities more funding than ever before to sort out this problem. Right now, an extra 150 million made possible by reallocated HS2 funding is available for each area, with a further 150 million top-up to follow in April at the start of a new financial year.

Already, some councils have been dealing with this straight away  and I commend them for their work.

Others havent seen it as a priority, and have given up common sense  not just for Lent, but all year round. So Im here to say it is a big problem and it needs sorting now.

You dont have to be a government minister or a world-famous poet to know that our roads need fixing. The fact that someone like John Cooper Clarke is speaking up about this shows how important tackling our pothole problem is to our communities throughout the country.

Councils have the money to make a difference and, as we approach spring, those councils have the opportunity to breathe new life into our roads  so they should blooming well get on with it.

Rt Hon Esther McVey is Minister without Portfolio in the Cabinet Office

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UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese delivered her 'Anatomy of a Genocide' report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva (Fabrice COFFRINI)

The UN expert who concluded Israel was committing acts of genocide in the Gaza Strip received broad support at the United Nations on Tuesday, with countries speaking up to back her and her report.

Francesca Albanese, the special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, told the UN Human Rights Council that countries should impose an arms embargo and sanctions on Israel.

Expanding in person on her report released on Monday, Albanese said Israel was characterising the entire Gazan population as "targetable, killable and destroyable", and had ostentatiously laid bare its "genocidal intent" to "rid Palestine of Palestinians".

Dozens of diplomats, mostly representing Arab and Muslim countries but also Latin America, took the floor to defend her mandate and her work.

Pakistan, speaking for the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, backed her call for sanctions and an arms embargo.

"We commend your courage in documenting... acts amounting to genocide in Gaza," Islamabad's representative said.

"The occupation force's dangerous and ruthless push for a final solution to the Palestinian question is plain for all to see, as its forces encircle Rafah like vultures and its ravenous land grab continues unabated in the West Bank."

Egypt, speaking for Arab group countries, affirmed their support for Albanese's mandate and said they were gravely concerned about Israel's "structured and systematic attack to make the Gaza Strip uninhabitable".

And Qatar, on behalf of the Gulf Cooperation Council, thanked Albanese for her report and demanded the international community "put an end to genocide being perpetrated by the Israeli war machinery".

- 'Erasure' -

In her speech, Albanese told the top UN rights body that Israel had "destroyed Gaza".

"When genocidal intent is so conspicuous, so ostentatious, as it is in Gaza, we cannot avert our eyes: we must confront genocide, we must prevent it and we must punish it," she said.

"The genocide in Gaza is the most extreme stage of a long-standing settler-colonial process of erasure of the native Palestinians."

Special rapporteurs are independent experts appointed by the Human Rights Council, although they do not speak on behalf of the UN.

In response, Russia said it was "horrified" by Israel's military operation that had seen "civilian infrastructure targeted" while China said it was was ready to facilitate peace talks.

The European Union called for "proper and independent investigations on all allegations" and while appalled by the civilian death toll it recognised Israel's right to self-defence.

- 'One-sided narrative' -

Albanese's speech concluded to applause in the chamber. Israel was not present, nor was its chief ally the United States.

Israel has long been harshly critical of Albanese, and on Monday immediately rejected her report as an "obscene inversion of reality".

The United States called her mandate "biased against Israel".

In the rights council on Tuesday, the only firm support for such positions came from non-governmental organisations.

The World Jewish Congress said Albanese's mandate "seeks to entrench divisions and a one-sided narrative instead of pursuing a balanced and inclusive approach".

The European Union of Jewish Students said Albanese's "resignation is imperative" for the council to retain any credibility on issues concerning Israel and the Palestinian territories.

The bloodiest ever Gaza war was sparked by Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in about 1,160 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory campaign against Hamas has killed at least 32,400 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to the health ministry in the territory.

rjm/nl/bc
DUMFRIES, Va. (DC News Now)  Prince William County police are asking for your help finding someone they believe shot and killed 38-year-old Carvell Williams, known as CJ.

Williams died at the hospital after he was shot just after 2 a.m. on Saturday outside of Club Tempo in Dumfries. Police have said that its possible there was an altercation in the parking lot of the club. They said on Monday they believed the suspect and victim knew each other.

The suspect, 37-year-old Jonathan Middleton of Stafford, Va., has not been located or arrested. The Prince William County Police Department (PWCPD) said hes wanted for murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

Man shot, killed in Prince William County identified

Williams family is pleading for an arrest. His father, stepmother, 18-year-old daughter and her mother all spoke with DC News Now on Monday.

Its been a nightmare, said Lachetta Juggins, Williams stepmother. This is just so senseless. It was cowardly. And I want the person caught.

Juggins described Williams as funny and charismatic and also said You knew where you stood with him because he was genuine.

When you lose a child, especially the way it happened, it really angers me, said Bruce Juggins, Williams father.

Williams family said he had his struggles but is remembering him with stories.

Police are urging anyone with information to call PWCPD at 703-792-6500 or visit pwcva.gov/policetip.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
Editors Note: The following arrest and incident reports were supplied by the Abilene Police Department. All information below comes from reports made by responding officers, and all suspects are considered not guilty unless determined otherwise in a court of law.

Incidents

3200 block of Buffalo Gap Road  Theft of Property

Cash was reported stolen.

1300 block of S Danville Drive  Theft of Property

A south Abilene car dealership reported tires and wheels worth $4,500 were stolen from one of their new vehicles.

3800 block of Antilley Road  Hinder Secured Creditors

An Abilene credit union reported a camper trailer worth $7,000 was not being paid for.

1800 block of Chestnut Street  Theft of Property

A victim is reporting a suspect assaulted him by hitting him with an open hand and grabbing his finger during an argument.

900 block of Vine Street  Fraudulent Use/Possession of Identifying information

A victim reported someone used his identity to file taxes.

1300 block of Newcastle Drive  Identity Theft by Electronic Device

A victim reported her identity was used during a traffic stop in Houston.

2800 block of S 25th Street  Assault Family Violence

A victim reported she was assaulted by her ex.

1600 block of Ambler Avenue  Theft of Property

A suspect was caught shoplifting at a north Abilene store.

1900 block of Yorktown Drive  Assault Family Violence

A suspect is accused of assaulting a victim.

2900 block of S 14th Street  Assault Family Violence

A victim was assaulted by her wife in south Abilene.

2000 block of S Clack Street  Criminal Mischief

A criminal mischief report was taken in south Abilene.

Arrests

Gary Ely  Evading Arrest Detention with Vehicle

Riley Eddington  Evading Arrest Detention

Hunter Bedell  Assault Family Violence

Dominique Ortiz  Theft of Property

Samantha Woodhams  Assault Family Violence

Cathy Johnson  Prohibited Camping

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTAB - BigCountryHomepage.com.
Social media users are claiming a video shows a fiery explosion on the bridge that collapsed in Baltimore, Maryland after a heavily laden cargo ship lost power and smashed into a support column. But the clip is misrepresented; the surveillance footage captured a massive blast at the Kerch bridge connecting Russia with the annexed Crimea peninsula in October 2022.

"Alternate angle on Francis Scott Key bridge shows a large explosion," say several March 26, 2024 posts on X, formerly Twitter.

The posts -- and numerous others like them -- show footage of a fireball erupting on a two-way bridge as vehicles drive across, causing flares and clouds of smoke to fog out the screen.

Screenshot from X taken March 26, 2024

The clip pinballed across X, where the spread of disinformation has accelerated since Elon Musk's takeover in 2022, in the hours after a container ship rammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, blocking one of the busiest US commercial harbors.

Authorities said the vessel lost power and plowed into the structure after issuing a Mayday call and dropping anchors in a last-ditch effort to avoid disaster.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore said in a press conference that there was no indication terrorism was to blame, echoing similar statements from the FBI and Baltimore police.

But those assurances did not stop a deluge of false claims from sprouting up online, as conspiracy theorists baselessly blamed the collision on everything from a cyberattack to Israel to corporate diversity initiatives.

Similarly, the video circulating alongside claims of "a large explosion" is unrelated to the Baltimore incident.

A reverse image search revealed CNN, The Guardian and other media published the footage in reports about an October 8, 2022 explosion on the Kerch bridge, Russia's sole land link with Crimea (archived here, here and here).

Russia said a truck bomb explosion ignited the fire and blamed Ukraine, which it had invaded months earlier. Ukraine's domestic intelligence agency later claimed responsibility for the operation.

Footage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsing appears to show the Singapore-flagged Dali container ship, controlled by two Baltimore port pilots at the time, going dark twice in the moments before the collision (archived here).

It does not show any explosion on the bridge, which officials scrambled to stop vehicles from crossing after the crew's Mayday call.

AFP has reported on other misinformation about the bridge collapse here.
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  The Camino Real Regional Utility Authority (CRRUA) says its working to address deficiencies identified by the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) late last year.

CRRUA, which supplies water to Santa Teresa and Sunland Park, issued a news release on Tuesday, March 26 saying it has made progress in addressing deficiencies identified in a survey of the utility done back in December.

The utility also said it has learned that the New Mexico Environment Cabinet Secretary James C. Kenney has called on the state Department of Justice and the state Auditor Office to investigate CRRUA.

NMED reported that it had found 58 deficiencies during a survey of CRRUAs operations, according to the utility.

The utility said at that time its executive director Brent Westmoreland left.

The utility went on to address what it has done to address those state-identified deficiencies.

In January, the CRRUA board of directors named Juan Carlos Crosby interim executive director.

According to the utility, NMED identified four main priorities for the utility: proper operation of the utilitys four arsenic treatment facilities; arsenic levels in drinking water needing to be within EPA maximum limits of 10 parts per billion (PPB); the training of plant operators; and to routinely check and document the calibration of all chemic addition pumps.

CRRUA worked hard and quickly to address the deficiencies. All arsenic treatment facilities are operational and initial corrections have been made with some associated tasks still pending. Currently, arsenic samples taken at all four of CRRUAs treatment facilities are below 10 ppb. Throughout the process of addressing deficiencies, CRRUA is fully cooperating with NMED, the utility said in a news release.

The utility also says its board has approved additional improvements. These include: replacing filter media in two of the four arsenic treatment facilities to improve performance; physical upgrades to three water wells to reduce the possibility of failure during peak usage; and monitoring all water wells on SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) by computer/phone and receive instant alarm notifications. CRRUA also says it is developing plans to rehabilitate and/or replace the remainder of its aging infrastructure.

To track its progress in correcting the NMED identified deficiencies, CRRUA created a progress checklist in English and Spanish of NMED mandated corrections. The utility says within weeks, it has reached 56% compliance. The progress checklist is updated as corrections are made and can be viewed online at https://www.crrua.org/ and at https://www.facebook.com/crruainfo,

In addition, CRRUA says it has improved communication with the public by increasing its online and social media content. It has also created a YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/@crrua_info. The first video is an inside look at the arsenic removal process at one of CRRUAs treatment facilities.

Were proud of our achievements and ongoing improvements at CRRUA since the new administration began in January, said board chair Susana Chaparro.

This is a perfect opportunity for our state and federal elected officials to help our constituents by supporting CRRUAs efforts in spirit and with funding, Chaparro added.

We at CRRUA face ongoing criticism and negativity and understand that customers are sometimes unhappy and frustrated. But I want to assure them that we have made many improvements and continue to move forward in providing reliable service and quality water, Crosby said. What we were handed did not occur overnight and cannot be fixed overnight. But we continue to achieve positive results and we thank our customers for their patience and understanding.

Chaparro and Crosby said CRRUA will fully cooperate with any investigation to the greatest extent possible.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
Affordable early childcare can be hard to come by in eastern Connecticut, but replicable solutions exist.

The Addressing the Childcare Crisis: Strengthening Our Workforce talk was hosted by the United Way of Southeastern Connecticut Monday. For-profit and nonprofit childcare providers, businesses, and other organizations came to talk about the issue.

It will take individuals from all sectors to make this happen, United Way of Southeastern Connecticut CEO Dina Sears-Graves said.

In short, the childcare crisis is related to both the affordability and availability of care for children aged 5 and under. New London County currently has 4,571 child care slots, but needs 7,803 slots to meet demand. A greater demand is needed for infants and toddlers, as 49% of that demographics early childcare needs are unmet.

YWCA of New Britain Child Care Program Coordinator Nicole Villeneuve, right, explains how the child care business incubator would work. Next to her is Thames Valley Council for Community Action (TVCCA) CEO Josh Kelly, who is seeking state funding to expand TVCCA's child care capabilities in Groton.

Incubator program designed to launch new childcare centers

The YWCA of New Britain started the Child Care Business Incubator to help fill a void in its area, as there are 11 children for every open seat in an early childcare program, YWCA Child Care Program Coordinator Nicole Villeneuve said.

In 2022, the YWCA found 10 women who wanted to start their own early childcare businesses as family home daycare providers. The women received four to five months of paid training, and support for launching their businesses. Four made it through the process to set up an incubator site, Villeneuve said.

The incubator building gives participants a classroom-sized space to run their childcare business. They can stay up to five years, and then find another space, or run their business from home, Villeneuve said.

Once the first cohort has moved on, the YWCA will find more participants, as the program has a waiting list, Villeneuve said.

More: A new Killingly child care center has a waitlist of 36 kids. How can CT solve this crisis?

If the program gets to New London County, the first person to enroll could be Heydi Mercedes, Adult and Family Division Manager of Norwich Human Services. Mercedes sees her clients difficulties in securing affordable childcare. Assistance often requires parents to be employed for approval, but an unemployed parent might not be able to work until they have childcare, she said.

Mercedes also sometimes misses work to be with her toddler son on days the childcare facility she uses, Thames Valley Council for Community Action's (TVCCA) Little Learners, isnt open. Yet, she still pays as much for childcare as she does on her mortgage, she said.

I want to be at home with my child while helping other parents, Mercedes said.

Proposed state legislation that can help create childcare business incubators include HB5051, SB249 and SB286. HB5051 limits incubators to one per town in New London County and other specific towns. That program would end June 30, 2026. SB249 would allow up to 20 childcare incubator facilities in the state, and has no sunset date. SB286 allows any number of childcare incubators anywhere in the state, but licenses under this provision last only four years, the presentation states.

Addressing affordability of childcare

The tri-share child care model, already used in Michigan, tackles affordability problems. Employers, employees and the state evenly split costs, while a statewide or regional organization administers the program, the presentation states.

Employers benefit through improved recruitment and retention. Child care providers benefit through reliable payments and growth of services. Working parents benefit from financial relief, a barrier removed, and improved work-life balance.

Businesses regularly cite childcare as one cause for workforce issues in recent years. With 90,000 open jobs in Connecticut, women leaving the workforce to take care of their children is unsustainable, CBIA Advocacy Outreach Manager Paul Amarone said.

Two proposed bills in the Connecticut General Assembly would help the tri-share model. One is HB 5002, which would establish a pilot tri-share model in New London County, which would extend eligibility to the Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed, or ALICE, population. It would also incorporate a fund open to private investment. It would start with a $50 million transfer from the general fund. The state bond commission can issue up to $50 million in additional funding, the presentation stated.

The other bill is HB 5051, which establishes tri-share for families qualified for the Care4Kids program. American Rescue Plan Act funds form the initial investment, the presentation states.

Non-profit employers may find it difficult to afford, or cant afford, the tri-share model, UCFS President and CEO Jennifer Granger said.

The start of the tri-share model would only be a pilot program, and can be adjusted as time goes on. Solving the childcare problem will also need multiple solutions, including the incubators, job training, and more, Aramone said.

Other pieces of the puzzle

Another state legislative item seeking approval is HB5023, which would provide $13 million for TVCCA to build a new child care center in Groton. The new facility would increase TVCCAs childcare slots in Groton from 86 to 150, and create 20 jobs, TVCCA CEO Josh Kelly said.

United Way of Southeastern Connecticut will also convene a work group to help solve childcare hiring issues, Sears- Graves said.

At the end of the talk, Childcare for Connecticuts Future Director Eva Bermudez Zimmerman encouraged businesses and parents, to support the pro-childcare legislation, and participate in the third Morning Without Child Care Rally, to be held April 3 across the state.

This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: Ways to address the childcare crisis in New London County
After hundreds of Cubans recently took to the streets earlier this month calling for food, electricity and freedom, Cuban leader Miguel Diaz-Canel denied they were protesting against his government, again blaming the United States during a new YouTube show he says he will be hosting regularly because people need better communication.

The online show, From the Presidency, is the latest in a genre adopted by populist and authoritarian leaders worldwide who claim to be best suited to communicate directly with the public. But Diaz-Canel lacks the charisma of the late Fidel Castro, and his effort to spin a positive narrative on the recent protests exposes the limits of an old-fashioned propaganda system in the era of social media.

The show is similar to one late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez hosted named Alo Presidente  dreaded by many Venezuelans because it dragged on for hours  though the Cuban version is shorter and the title less catchy. The Cuban versions first episode, released Friday, followed a similar script of government propaganda and attacks on opponents, centered around the governments determination to pin the protests in Santiago de Cuba and a few other cities on U.S. sanctions.

As long as there is a blockade and as long as Cuba is included in a list of countries that supposedly support terrorism, we have all the sovereign right to blame the United States government, Diaz-Canel said.

In another sign of the escalation of tensions in the relationship with the U.S., Cubas Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carlos Fernandez de Cossio, who frequently meets with his American counterparts as the top diplomat working on U.S. affairs, called the U.S. embassy in Havana a sewer in a post on X.

The renewed tensions revolve around the protests that erupted in Santiago de Cuba and Bayamo, two cities in eastern Cuba, and Santa Marta, near the sea resort of Varadero, on March 17, amid widespread shortages of food, medicines and oil.

The islands economy never fully recovered from the end of subsidies after the collapse of the Soviet Union. After the country plunged into a severe economic crisis known as the Special Period, some market reforms and new subsidies from Chavezs Venezuela kept the economy afloat. However, mismanagement and botched policies have ruined the islands agriculture, and hardliners in government have blocked further market reforms to expand an emergent private sector. The COVID pandemic and U.S. financial sanctions have further limited the governments access to foreign currency through remittances and tourism.

But economists agree Cubas problem is simple: the centrally planned Marxist economy does not work.

Diaz-Canel, the appointed president and head of the Communist Party who ordered a crackdown on islandwide protests in July 2021, struggled to control the narrative of the March demonstrations during the one-hour 11-minute show, at times acknowledging they were expressions of popular discontent, at others calling the protests an exercise in socialist democracy  and then denying there were protests at all.

He said that the people who took to the streets were upset due to lengthy blackouts, food shortages and problems in the distribution of food rations. But that didnt amount to anti-government protests, he contended. Instead, he said they were merely seeking a government answer to their complaints. And authorities promptly responded by showing up and explaining the circumstance that we all know and that has to do above all with the worsening of the blockade in the last four years.

The big news was the massive protests against Diaz-Canels government, and people were not protesting against the government; the people, our people, were raising difficult situations that they are experiencing, he continued. But to whom were they bringing them up? The government that protects our people, that works with our people to find solutions amid the most difficult circumstances.

Verified videos of the protests show the demonstrators had direct political demands too, at times shouting Freedom, Patria y Vida (Homeland and Life) and expletives at Diaz-Canel. Residents of Bayamo walked through the city streets in darkness amid a blackout, singing the national anthem, a gesture carrying a strong symbolism as the town is believed to have been the place where independence fighter Perucho Figueredo wrote its lyrics and music in the late 1860s.

Diaz-Canel said the events were magnified by the international media, activists and influencers based in the United States and U.S. members of Congress who carry hate for the Revolution. In a vague accusation, he said some videos were manipulated with artificial intelligence to make the demonstrations appear of greater magnitude.

But in official meetings, Diaz-Canel acknowledged his government must urgently deliver if it wants to avoid similar protests. In a short clip shown on state television of a meeting with Economy Ministry officials, he said: We must look for ways to get foreign currency because we do have to put food on the peoples table; we have to put goods on families homes and offer better quality services.

A report in the official news outlet Cubadebate of the same meeting drew over a hundred comments, most complaining that government policies have produced little results and that authorities seem to lack a clear, urgent plan to meet public needs.

We are already approaching April, and there is no economic improvement, said a reader who identified himself as Jose. The worst months of the year for farming are approaching. High food prices will prevail, deterioration in living standards and serious health problems will continue. Summer will be hell for ordinary Cubans, and transportation will remain at its worst. It is not that I am pessimistic; it is a harsh reality.

The tone of most of the 2,000 comments in the YouTube section of From the Presidency also suggests the show did little to change opinions about the protests.

It surprises me how you try to minimize the scope of the popular protests, wrote Rosa Maria Sanchez Obregon. The people there were not dissidents or counterrevolutionaries; they were suffering people who could no longer stand the hunger and what they were going through without electricity for 15 hours, without water, food, medicine, transportation and bread.

Do you think all these things are the fault of the blockade? she asked, using the common Cuban expression for the U.S. economic embargo. Why dont we talk about corruption, bad planning, and the bad work of the elites who live better than the people? More than the blockade and defamation, corruption is today the greatest enemy of the revolution.

Unwittingly, the show succeeded in one thing: producing a viral moment when Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy, a guest on the show, implied that despite the extended blackouts Cubans suffered daily, things could be worse because there are countries where the government does not provide electricity the whole year and do not provide electricity to the whole country.

Very few countries in the world, he claimed,have the electrification rate Cuba has.
A rainbow is seen over Cheesebox Butte in Utah. (Photo by Stephen Trimble)

A rainbow is seen over Cheesebox Butte in Utah. (Photo by Stephen Trimble)

Utahs Bears Ears National Monument rarely leaves the news. The political tussle over this stunning expanse of red rock canyons exemplifies all the cultural dissonance in the rural West.

Three presidents have signed Bears Ears proclamations. Barack Obama established Bears Ears National Monument in 2016, but supporters were devastated when Donald Trump eviscerated the monument the following year, reducing its area by 85%. In 2021, President Joe Biden restored the original boundaries and then some.

Whats clear is that Bears Ears remains reviled by Republican officials and cherished by Indigenous tribes and conservationists.

The monument, 1.36 million acres in southeast Utah, lies within San Juan County. The Navajo Nation covers 25% of the county, and Native people account for more than half of the 14,200-person population. Just 8% of the county is private land while another 5% is state trust land.

The rest  62% of the county  is federal land owned by the people of the United States and administered by the Departments of Agriculture and Interior. This immense commons testifies to the sublime difficulty of the place  beautiful enough to warrant preservation as national parks, monuments and forests. But its also arid enough to attract only a few 19th-century settlers to what had been Indigenous homeland for millennia.

I think its fair to say that San Juan Countys white residents never envisioned challenges to their political power. But in 2009, the feds came down hard on generations of casual pothunting by local white families. Then, after a century of oppressing their Indigenous neighbors, lawsuits strengthened Native voting rights. The county commission became majority Navajo from 2018 to 2022.

Native influence keeps expanding. The five tribes of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition first envisioned a national monument and became co-stewards for these 1.36 million acres. They have a champion in Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, an enrolled member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe, but such historic changes make the dominant culture uneasy.

In February, Utah Governor Spencer Cox dramatically withdrew from a Bears Ears land exchange poised for completion. This swap of state trust lands for Bureau of Land Management lands would hugely benefit the state. Details were already negotiated; each side compromised; the stakeholders were largely content.

But in 2024, Utah politics are stark, compounded by distrust and disinformation.

At statehood in 1896, Utah received four sections per township to support public schools and universities. The Utah Trust Lands Administration manages these scattered lands  blue squares on ownership maps  but blocking up these blue squares into manageable parcels means trading land with federal agencies.

Such trades arent rare and can be grand in scale. A 1998 negotiation between Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and Utah Governor Mike Leavitt traded Grand StaircaseEscalante National Monuments 176,000 acres of school sections for BLM land elsewhere  along with a hefty $50 million payment to Utah from the U.S. Treasury. Utah Trust Lands still brags about the deal on its website.

But the old guard is up in arms about the draft Bears Ears Resource Management Plan released for public comment on March 8. The BLMs preferred alternative emphasizes traditional Indigenous knowledge and land health.

Any such gestures toward conservation elicit local outrage about the feds destroying the pioneer way of life. The subtext: the people long in charge dont want to lose power.

Denouncing federal overreach is always a sure win for Utah politicians. In this years Republican primary, San Juan County-based legislator Phil Lyman is challenging the incumbent governor with fierce anti-public lands rhetoric. Governor Cox will need to protect his right flank.

Meanwhile, school trust lands within Bears Ears remain at risk. The tallest structure in Utah, a 460-foot telecom tower with blinking red lights, could rise on state land in the heart of the monument. Its been approved by county planners, and the Trust Lands Administration could add poison pills on other lands proposed for exchange.

The elected leaders of Utah have decided that the monuments integrity and the needs of the states children matter less than political gamesmanship.

The five tribes of Bears Ears know better: It is our obligation to our ancestorsand to the American people, to protect Bears Ears. Their big hearts will win in the end.

This article was originally published by Writers on the Range, an independent nonprofit dedicated to spurring lively conversation about the West.

The post Culture wars and an embattled Utah monument appeared first on Alaska Beacon.
Customers complain of 'living hell' dealing with issues with their meters - SolStock/E+

Have you had problems with smart meter overbilling? Email us at money@telegraph.co.uk

Households are being hit with shock energy bills as four million smart meters are not working properly.

The number of dumb smart meters is up from a previous estimate of 2.7 million, following revisions to official statistics released by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) published last week.

Bill payers have complained of feeling terrified by the devices after receiving shock meter readings putting them thousands of pounds in debt.

Lord Callanan, the minister for energy efficiency and green finance, said he was deeply concerned about the figures in a letter to the energy watchdog on Thursday.

He called on Ofgem to enforce legal requirements for suppliers to ensure that smart meters are working properly.

He said: The scale of some suppliers underperformance in optimising their operation metering estate over a period of time shows these steps may not have been taken universally, adding I am deeply concerned about this.

Broken smart meters do not provide consumers with an accurate reflection of how much energy they have used and can lead to incorrect charges appearing on plug-in displays.

Problems with smart meters have affected high-profile consumers. In December, artist Grayson Perry complained of a 39,000 bill he received on a smart meter. In the same month, broadcaster Jon Sopel revealed his device handed him a 19,274 bill.

Artist Grayson Perry received a 39,000 bill after a smart meter reading - Dave Benett/Getty Images

Estimates by the National Audit Office (NAO) put the number of faulty smart meters in Britain at just under three million last June. DESNZ has now said that the actual figure in June was 4.31 million  far higher than reported at the time.

It estimates the current number of faulty smart meters is also higher than the old estimate, though down slightly on its revised figure, at 3.98 million. The revisions to the statistics come after corrections were made to data from a minority of suppliers, a final quarter report published by the department showed.

It comes as the Governments controversial net zero rollout of smart meters balloons over budget and continues to be plagued by problems.

The installation scheme, which was supposed to have seen a smart meter installed in every home by 2020, is now forecast to cost more than 13.5bn.

This week the energy watchdog said it was mulling abolishing the energy price cap, currently 1,690 per year for a typical household, and using smart meters to implement dynamic pricing for energy  a move that would go against ministers prior assurances.

In 2018 Government guidance said it was a myth 2018 that suppliers would charge higher prices through smart meters.

It said: Energy suppliers can only charge prices customers have agreed to  and that wont change. Customers with smart meters can access tariffs that allow them to get cheaper prices at times when demand is low  but it will always be the customers choice.

Recommended

How to beat energy surge pricing  even if you already have a smart meter

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It is thought that many broken smart meters are dumb first-generation models that ceased functioning after consumers switched to different suppliers, the NAO said last year.

Suppliers are legally required to fix or replace broken smart meters for free under a scheme put in place by Ofgem last month. The devices previously only had a one-year warranty.

Energy companies will now have to play catch-up with millions of faulty smart meters that have ceased working in smart mode and potentially left consumers with incorrect bills.

Peta Butler, 97, who lives near Tunbridge Wells, said she had been through two years of hell dealing with issues with her meter. Its affected my health. And its completely taken away any confidence Ive got. If I have to do anything, I just panic, said told the BBC.

Her problems began when she switched to a smart meter with a single tariff in 2022.

The device was not installed properly and she received a shock bill of 3,500 between January and June last year, she said.

I dont sleep at night really because my body, it cant let go, she told the broadcaster, adding she was terrified to use electricity as a result.

A Government spokesman said: Smart meters are helping consumers manage their energy use and save money, while driving the transition to a smarter and more flexible energy system.

The vast majority of smart meters are working correctly. However, we are concerned that reporting errors by a minority of suppliers have uncovered more meters not operating in smart mode than previously thought.

Lord Callanan has today written to Ofgem, urging action to ensure suppliers are held to account if they are not supporting customers with issues as they should be.

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The National Park Service has joined the growing chorus of government entities encouraging northern Ohio residents to stay home on the day of the eclipse.

Summit County was among the first to encourage residents to not stray far from home on the day of the eclipse.

Officials fear a crush of out-of-town visitors could clog roads and strain services as northern Ohio experiences its first total eclipse since 1806.

One of the top destinations will likely be the Cuyahoga Valley National Park that stretches from Akron to Cleveland.

Although the park encompasses roughly 30,000 acres, officials say there is fairly limited parking within the park.

And for this reason, park officials are restricting parking and asking local residents to stay home.

If you live in the area, your home or neighborhood is where youll have the best seat in the house for eclipse viewing," said CVNP Superintendent Lisa Petit in a statement. We are doing our best to be prepared and we are looking forward to welcoming unusually high numbers of visitors."

Cuyahoga Valley National Park restricts parking on eclipse day

The park on Thursday announced that some parking lots within the park will be closed for the entirety of the eclipse.

These parking lots within the park will be closed from 8 p.m. April 7 to 8 p.m. April 8:

Boston Trailhead

Boston Store limited mobility lot

Brandywine Falls (parking lot only, Brandywine Falls accessible via Stanford Trail or Bike & Hike Trail)

The following parking lots will close at 8 p.m. on April 7 and reopen at 7 a.m. on April 8 to discourage visitors from camping overnight in their vehicles:

Boston Mill Visitor Center

Canal Exploration Center

Crow Foot Gully

Happy Days Lodge (south of state Route 303)

Hines Hill Center

Ledges Shelter

Little Meadow

Octagon Shelter

Pine Hollow

Station Road Bridge Trailhead

Kendall Lake

Pamela Barnes, public information officer and community engagement supervisor for the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, said they are already receiving calls and emails from folks interested in viewing the eclipse from inside of the park.

"Closing the lots overnight will give us a chance to get staff and volunteers in place in the morning to monitor parking, close full lots, and help visitors," she said. "The lots that are completely closed are so staff can focus on the major eclipse hubs of activity."

A map showing the total solar eclipse's path through Ohio.

What visitors to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park should know

Barnes suggests potential visitors review the park's website ahead of time to become familiar with the available parking sites.

"Areas that are normally open to the public will be open until they are full," she said. "Most staff will be helping in some capacity, and yes, we are likely bringing in staff from other parks not in the path of totality and many volunteers will be helping out as well."

The park service says they expect heavy traffic and potentially long waits on roads in and around the park so they suggest visitors carpool as they expect parking lots will fill up early.

Other suggestions include:

Try to have plenty of gas or charge for your vehicle if you plan to drive.

Bring plenty of food, water, and any required medications. Consider these same needs if traveling with pets.

Cell service may be limited. Charge your phone and write down key phone numbers just in case.

In the park, in case of emergency dial 911 or 440-546-5945. Responses could be delayed due to traffic.

Get to know the area before you visit and bring a paper map.

Let others know where you will be.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cuyahoga Valley National Park expects big crowds for solar eclipse
A top Chinese diplomat was hauled in to the Foreign Office on Tuesday after the UK Government called out a cyber attack on the Electoral Commission and parliamentarians.

Chinas charge d'affaires in London was summoned for a formal dressing-down a day after Britain announced limited sanctions against two Chinese individuals and a company over the past hacking. It is understood that Ambassador Zheng Zeguang is out of the UK.

The Foreign Office set out the Governments unequivocal condemnation of Chinese state-affiliated organisations and individuals undertaking malicious cyber activity against UK democratic institutions and parliamentarians, a spokesperson said.

The UK Government would not tolerate such threatening activity, and would continue to take strong action with partners across the globe to respond, it added.

The Prime Ministers official spokesman dismissed criticism from several MPs that the Government was kowtowing to Beijing for not going further in its sanctions.

We always take action in the national interest wherever necessary to defend our critical national infrastructure, address foreign interference and bolster our capabilities, he said.

Asked about reports that the Government could force Chinese state-owned companies to register for closer scrutiny in the UK on a scheme for foreign agents, the spokesman said: The scheme is in the process of being finalized and no countries have been specified yet.

As the Deputy Prime Minister (Oliver Dowden) said yesterday, there is a case for adding China but there is a process to go through and it wouldn't be appropriate to speculate about which countries might be specified in the future.

The spokesman also played down suggestions the Government could imminently label China a threat to national security rather than an epoch-defining challenge.

There isnt a mechanism under UK law or indeed in our G7 or Five Eyes countries that has a designation process like that, he said.

But speaking on Times Radio, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan described China as obviously a security threat.

The action announced on Monday was a first step, she added on GB News.

Its a complex issue clearly. Clearly starting some sort of trade issues is what we want to avoid as well.

Its complex but we do need to be firm as well and we have been working with our allies both to understand the threats that we face.

You have got national security but you have also got a large trading partner..... we do get a lot of our imports from China.

We do take measured responses. We will always be vigilant...national security is the most important thing.

The UK and the United States accused China of a global campaign of malicious cyber attacks in an unprecedented joint operation to reveal Beijings espionage.

Britain publicly blamed China for targeting the Electoral Commission watchdog and for being behind a campaign of online reconnaissance aimed at the email accounts of MPs and peers.

Chinese spies are likely to use the stolen details to target dissidents and critics of Xi Jinpings government in the UK, British intelligence services believe.

US officials said the APT31 hacking group spent more than a decade targeting the sensitive data of politicians, journalists, academics, dissidents and American companies.

The prolific global hacking operation, backed by the Chinese government, sought to repress critics of the Chinese regime, compromise government institutions, and steal trade secrets, US deputy attorney general Lisa Monaco said.

The hackers sent more than 10,000 malicious emails to the targets to gain access to personal information, US prosecutors said, adding the criminals threatened to undermine democracies and threaten our national security.

The US charged seven of the alleged Chinese hackers on Monday.

Seven Hackers Associated with Chinese Government Charged with Computer Intrusions Targeting Perceived Critics of China and U.S. Businesses and Politicians https://t.co/nL5Wuh7mev  US Attorney EDNY (@EDNYnews) March 25, 2024

The UK said Beijing-linked hackers were behind the attack on the Electoral Commission which exposed the personal data of 40 million voters, as well as 43 individuals including 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 were sanctioned in response to the hacks.

However, some of the MPs targeted by Beijing said the response did not go far enough.

They urged the Government to toughen its stance on China by labelling it a threat to national security rather than an epoch-defining challenge, and to put China in the enhanced tier under the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme.

Conservative former minister Tim Loughton told Sky News: Were going to sanction two people, two pretty lowly officials, and one private company, which employs 50 people. That is just not good enough.

Mr Dowden, who announced the measures in a Commons statement, appeared to suggest China could soon be declared a threat.

He told MPs that we are currently in the process of collective Government agreement over the matter, and that clearly the conduct I have described today will have a very strong bearing on the decision that we make.

Cabinet tensions have reportedly surfaced over the issue, with some ministers pushing for tougher action on Beijing while others are resistant over concerns it could harm economic and trade relations.

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.

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 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.

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.

Mr Dowden insisted the local elections in May and the general election later this year would be safe from Chinese cyber attacks.

He told the PA news agency: Yes, I can guarantee that our electoral processes will be safe and secure.

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.

On Tuesday, New Zealand alleged hackers linked to the Chinese government launched a state-sponsored operation that targeted the countrys parliament in 2021.

Minister responsible for the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB), Judith Collins, said in a statement: The GCSBs National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) completed a robust technical assessment following a compromise of the Parliamentary Counsel Office and the Parliamentary Service in 2021, and has attributed this activity to a PRC (China) state-sponsored group known as APT40.

Fortunately, in this instance, the NCSC worked with the impacted organisations to contain the activity and remove the actor shortly after they were able to access the network.

She added New Zealand will not follow the UK and US in sanctioning China as the country does not have a law allowing such penalties.

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.
A soon-to-be dad boasted about his plans to sexually assault his unborn son, federal officials said.

Adam Stafford King and his husband were expecting a child through a surrogate mother in California around Friday, March 29. A criminal complaint filed March 21 accused King of sending child pornography through social media to a suspect in New York.

King, a well-known dog show judge and Chicago-area veterinarian, was charged with knowingly distributing child pornography, according to court documents.

Kings attorney did not immediately respond to McClatchy News request for comment.

FBI officials searched the mans phone and found videos depicting child pornography sent through social media platforms Scruff and Telegram to a man in New York, according to court documents.

Scruff is a platform commonly used by gay and bisexual men seeking to meet up with other men, officials said.

Within the messages, officials said they also found photos of Kings unborn childs ultrasound and photos of a baby outfit meant for the child. In November, King told the New York suspect that he wanted to sexually assault his son when he was no longer a newborn, according to court documents.

King also boasted about his extensive collection of child pornography, according to court documents. Some of the discovered videos showed boys as between 9 and 11 years old, officials said.

Officials also reported finding messages where King revealed he had drugged and abused his nieces and nephews. He said he would use Benadryl to sedate the children before abusing them, according to court documents, and would give them double an adult dose.

When FBI officials arrived at Kings home in Elburn, they found him in the shower with his phone. Officials said they found the baby outfit included in the photo sent to the New York suspect.

Kings husband also confirmed that the ultrasound photograph was of their unborn child, according to court documents.

A detention hearing is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.

Elburn is about a 50-mile drive west of downtown Chicago.

Man coerces girls on Instagram to send sexually explicit videos and meet up, feds say

TikToker says she was manhandled at Chicago bar. Now bar sues her as threats pour ins

Secretary stole thousands from dying principals cancer fundraiser, Ohio cops say
A harbour bridge in Baltimore has collapsed after being struck by a cargo ship, sending up to 20 people into the water.

Emergency services, including specialist divers, are trying to rescue victims from the freezing Patapsco River following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

James Wallace, the Baltimore fire chief, said rescue workers were looking for at least seven people.

At a media briefing in Baltimore at 6.30am local time on Tuesday, police said workers and pedestrians had been on the bridge at the time of the crash.

He said two people had been rescued from the river. One refused medical help, and the other was taken to hospital in a very serious condition.

Mr Wallace added that sonar had detected the presence of vehicles submerged in the water after the bridge collapsed.

Spanning 1.6 miles, the Francis Scott Key Bridge is the third longest continuous truss bridge in the world. Opened in 1977, it is named after Francis Scott Key, who wrote the words to The Star-Spangled Banner.

Unthinkable tragedy

Brandon Scott, the citys mayor, described what happened as an unthinkable tragedy and said: We have to be thinking about the families and people impacted, folks who we have to try to find.

This is what our focus should be on right now. Were going to continue to work in partnership with every part of government to do everything we can to get us through the other side of this tragedy.

Kevin Cartwright, the director of communications for the Baltimore Fire Department, described the situation as a dire emergency. He said it was a developing mass casualty event, but the exact numbers of dead or injured are not known.

Social media videos showed that a number of cars had been on the bridge at the time of the collapse.

Mr Cartwright told the Baltimore Sun: We have reason to believe that there were vehicles and possibly a tractor-trailer that went into the water.

Low temperatures and poor visibility have caused problems for firefighters and members of the US Coast Guard involved in the rescue.

Mr Cartwright told CNN: We are working aggressively, considering the environmental temperatures as well as the water temperatures, to try and rescue and perhaps recover individuals.

It feels like at least about 30 degrees [-1C] where I am. It could be slightly lower than that, and Im sure that the water temperature is even colder. That can pose a concern and risk for our divers.

A strong tide also threatens to disrupt the operation by moving the debris from the site of the bridge collapse. A coastal flood warning was issued on Tuesday morning for Anne Arundel County, which covers the land on the south side of the bridge.

Wes Moore, the Maryland governor, declared a state of emergency after the bridge collapse. Pete Buttigieg, the US transportation secretary, has offered federal support to Baltimores mayor and Marylands governor.

Part of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge rests on the container ship that struck one of its supports

How did the ship crash into the bridge?

A livestream from a YouTube channel showed a ship turning before appearing to hit one of the bridges two central pylons at 1.28am.

The structure crashed into the water within about 20 seconds. Parts of it appeared to land on the bow of the vessel, identified as the Singapore-flagged Dali container ship.

Richard Worley, the Baltimore police chief, said there was no indication that the crash had happened on purpose, with the ship moving at The ship was moving at eight knots (9mph).

The vessel experienced a loss of power before ramming the bridge. A mayday call was issued shortly before the crash.

The call, alerting authorities to the ships power outage, allowed officials to rush to limit the number of cars travelling over the bridge, Governor Moore told reporters. These people are heroes. They saved lives last night, he said.

Who owns and operates the ship?

The Dali was chartered by the shipping company Maersk at the time of the accident, the Danish firm said.

We are horrified by what has happened in Baltimore, and our thoughts are with all of those affected, it said.

The vessel is owned by Singapores Grace Ocean Pte and managed by Synergy Marine Group, according to LSEG data.

Synergy Marine Group released a statement saying all crew members, including two pilots, were accounted for and there were no injuries on the ship. Police said the crew were still on board.

The Dali left Baltimore at 1am and was setting out on a 27-day journey to Colombo, Sri Lanka.

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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  A man accused of shooting three people in an Ybor parking garage over the weekend will remain jailed until his trial, a judge ruled on Tuesday.

Sunny Wallace, 21, allegedly shot three people in a parking garage in the 1500 block of East 5th Avenue, according to officials.

Man accused of carjacking medical SUV in Hillsborough County arrested

Prosecutors argued that there were no conditions that could be placed upon his release that would protect the community from his dangerous behavior.

Wallace said the victims were talking smack and he shot them in self-defense, according to the State Attorneys Office for the 13th Judicial Circuit.

The three victims were taken to a hospital and all are expected to be OK, according to officials. One of the victims must use a wheelchair while he recovers.

Jett Tjader testified in court Tuesday that he was walking with his brother and friend to their car after a night out in Ybor City when they walked past a car. Wallace allegedly opened the passenger door and asked what he was doing.

I think he was looking to hurt somebody, Tjader said.

The victim said he stepped back from the car, and Wallace opened fire, prosecutors said. The victim said he didnt know Wallace and had no other contact with him.

I got shot at my elbow first and then I turned to run away and then I got shot in my back, he said. I just yelled run when I heard gunshots.

Mom posthumously transfers 5-year-old to new school to cover up death, police say

Wallace tried to escape officers who arrived at the parking garage but he crashed into another car, prosecutors said.

Three young lives could have been lost in this senseless act of gun violence, State Attorney Suzy Lopez said in a statement. We are fortunate the victims are here to tell their stories, and we will help them on their road to recovery while seeking justice together.

Wallace previously faced other gun charges in Levy County as a juvenile, prosecutors said. Hes also currently on probation out of Marion County for disorderly conduct and resisting a police office.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
Davenport fights Iowa State Auditors investigation

The City of Davenport squared off against Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand in court.

Davenport is fighting Sands investigation into the $1.9 million Davenport paid to former city employees in separation agreements. The judge did not issue a ruling after the hearing in district court in Des Moines. Davenport is suing the Auditors Office to block Sand from listening to recordings from specific closed meetings.

The Auditors Office is looking into whether the Davenport City Council violated Iowas open meetings laws.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHBF - OurQuadCities.com.
WASHINGTON (DC News Now)  The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) said its looking for a man who broke into a building and stole money in Northwest D.C.

Police said that on Monday at about 10:45 a.m., they responded to the 1700 block of Connecticut Ave. for a burglary report.

Baltimore Key Bridge collapses after being struck by container ship

MPD said the victim reported that the burglary happened on Friday while viewing CCTV footage.

The victim said they saw a man break into the office building and steal money.

(Photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Police Department)

Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to call police at (202) 727-9099.

MPD offers a reward of up to $1,000 to anyone who provides information that leads to the arrest and indictment of the person or persons responsible for a violent crime committed in the District of Columbia.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
WASHINGTON (DC News Now)  The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) said a D.C. police officer shot and killed a dog after it attacked three people in Northeast D.C. on Monday night.

The attack happened in the 800 block of 49th St. NE. There, MPD says the officer saw the attack and shot the dog, killing it.

Police identify bicyclist killed in Northeast DC collision

A woman and two children were injured by the dog. They were all taken to a hospital while conscious and breathing, MPD confirmed in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
A deadly Boeing 737 crash in China is still shrouded in mystery as the government says it found nothing abnormal before the plane nose-dived

A new report by Chinese authorities found nothing amiss before Flight MU5735's deadly crash in 2022.

The Boeing 737 was carrying 132 people before it nose-dived from high altitude into a hillside.

Questions remain as to whether the crash may have been intentionally caused by someone on the plane.

Chinese authorities say they've yet to identify the cause of a Boeing 737 crash that killed 132 people two years ago, reporting that investigators found nothing abnormal occurring before the fatal incident.

The report, published Wednesday by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, covers the government probe into the crash of flight MU5735, which was operated by China Eastern Airlines.

Everything was working normally before the crash, including the aircraft, the facilities and equipment used, air traffic communication, and weather reports, the report said. Staff also kept to their rest hours, the report added.

"Before takeoff, no faults or abnormalities were found in the aircraft systems, airframe structure, engines, etc.," the report said.

Its findings come as questions remain over whether the crash may have been caused by a pilot or someone else on the plane, whether intentionally or in error.

The civil aviation report said authorities would continue to investigate the case.

The plane is believed to have nose-dived right before the crash on March 21, 2022, in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, plunging from high altitude in a "near-vertical descent," The Wall Street Journal reported in May, citing a US assessment of flight-recorder data.

"The plane did what it was told to do by someone in the cockpit," an anonymous source familiar with the US assessment told the outlet.

Bloomberg reported shortly after the crash, citing flight tracker data, that the plane hit the ground while traveling near the speed of sound.

FlightRadar24, a website that provides tracking data to the public, wrote in a blog post that MU5735 had descended rapidly from 29,000 feet before reaching roughly 7,400 feet.

It then started climbing to about 8,600 feet before diving again, this time into the mountains of Teng County, the blog said.

A rescuer ties a safety rope to a tree at the plane crash site in Tengxian County, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, March 26, 2022. Lu Boan/Xinhua via Getty Images

Nine crew and 123 passengers were on board the afternoon flight from Kunming to Guangzhou, all of whom perished.

Local media coverage of the crash that year focused mainly on rescue efforts, calls by the authorities to probe the incident, and the victims, veering away from questions about the cause of the crash.

One young family was traveling on the flight so their infant daughter could receive medical treatment, and it was their first time flying, local media reported.

Chinese authorities denied that the crash was intentionally caused.

The CAAC has said that such rumors had "gravely misled the public" and "interfered with the investigation of the accident," per Reuters.

But the investigation update from Wednesday, which mostly repeated points previously made by Chinese authorities, has fueled further speculation on social media that foul play was involved.

"Everything is normal, which means that it is either caused by someone on board or caused by a sudden uncontrollable external force!" wrote one commenter on state media coverage of the report on Weibo, China's version of X.

"Isn't the case closed if you just release the data in the black box? Is it so difficult to announce the truth?" wrote one blogger.

When asked to comment on the report, a Boeing spokesperson referred BI to the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

China Eastern Airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Northamptonshire Police said they ensured there was no "suspicious circumstances which could indicate foul play"

The death of a 50-year-old woman was no longer being treated as suspicious, police have said.

Ewa Kotulska died suddenly at a property in Occupation Road, Corby, on January 10.

A 63-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder, but has now been released with no further action.

Det Ch Insp Adam Pendlebury, of Northamptonshire Police, said the "evidence we have examined did not support her death as a homicide".

A file about the incident would be passed on to the coroner, the force confirmed.

No 'foul play'

Ms Kotulska was originally from Poland but had made Corby her home after moving to the UK.

Det Ch Insp Pendlebury said: "As with any sudden death, our job is to carry out a thorough assessment to ensure there are no suspicious circumstances which could indicate foul play.

"We will always act with an abundance of caution to ensure any potential evidence of criminality is captured, to secure charges where this is found, and to get the answers those left behind need and want.

"In Ewa's case I can confirm the evidence we have examined did not support her death as a homicide, which has now been further confirmed by the results of the forensic post-mortem and toxicology reports."

He added that the findings were "explained to Ewa's family and our thoughts remain firmly with her loved ones and all who knew her as they mourn her loss".

Follow East of England news on Facebook, Instagram and X. Got a story? Email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp 0800 169 1830
DECATUR, Ill. (WCIA)  The body-camera footage of an officer-involved shooting in Decatur last week was released.

In a news conference Tuesday afternoon, Decatur Police Chief Shane Brandel provided more information and presented dash-camera and body-camera footage of the shooting incident that killed 38-year-old Rocky Dupin.

Coroner releases Decatur shooting suspects name, cause of death

Rocky Dupin was seen on surveillance camera footage robbing the Decatur Discount store for a glass pipe worth approximately $5 on March 18. Police were able to identify Dupin later that afternoon because he was wearing the same clothing.

Photos from both the dash camera (left) and Decatur Discounts surveillance camera (right) Courtesy: Decatur Police Department

In the released footage, officers stopped Dupin and commanded him to get on the ground. Dupin did get on the ground initially, but then got back up pulled out a BB replica gun from his jacket. Two officers, Officer Dawson Roberts and Officer Tanner Brummitt, can be heard yelling repeated warnings to Dupin before firing multiple shots at Dupin.

Dupin was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

Both Officer Roberts and Brummitt have been with DPD for two years. Officer Roberts was involved in a previous shooting incident last March.

Brandel did confirm last week the weapon was a BB gun, but Brandel defended the officers for reasonably believing at the time the gun was real.

They were in an exposed position, Brandel said. In their mind, they fired their weapons to save their lives. Its completely irrelevant in the terms of the use of force of that the gun wasnt real.

Brandel also showed the Amazon page for the BB gun Dupin pulled on the officers. The gun is described as a replica of a 357 SnubNose.

This is designed to look like a real gun, Brandel said of the BB gun.

Rocky Dupins BB gun. Courtesy: Decatur Police Department

Brandel also noted Dupin had a long history of mental health issues and drug abuse problems. He said the department has a history with him since 2018.

Illinois State Police is still investigating the officer-involved shooting. After ISP concludes their investigation, the report will head to the Macon County States Attorneys Office, who will decide whether or not to press charges.

The two officers who fired their weapons are still on administrative leave with pay, which is standard procedure. The officers will be put back on administrative duties starting Monday, Brandel said.

The full body-camera and dash-camera footage can be viewed on the Decatur Police Departments website. The videos may be disturbing to some and viewer discretion is advised.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com.
DECATUR, Ala (WHNT)  The Decatur Police Department (DPD) is warning residents to expect noise as Army units train near the city this week.

In a post on social media, the department said the elements of the U.S. Army Special Operations Aviation Command is conducting training in the Decatur area from March 25 to March 29.

Sparkman High Schools Indoor Percussion Ensemble to hold Spring Showcase Thursday

DPD warned residents that aviation assets will be used in the training and that they may hear a high level of noise associated with military aircraft.

According to authorities, the training has been fully coordinated with local government and law enforcement and is not in response to any real-world event. DPD said precautions are in place to protect service members and residents and limit any disruption to the community.

The department said due to the risks involved in the training it will not be open for public viewing.

DPD said anyone with any questions should contact the United States Army Special Operations Aviation Command Public Affairs Office at (910) 907-0960.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHNT.com.
DECATUR, Ill. (WCIA)  The Decatur Police Department is conducting an internal investigation after receiving a tip that a school resource officer and Decatur Public Schools employee were caught having sexual intercourse during school hours at Eisenhower High School.

Decatur Police release body-camera video of officer-involved shooting

Police Chief Shane Brandel confirmed to WCIA that his department had received a tip about the inappropriate relationship between an SRO at Eisenhower High School and an adult Decatur Public Schools staff member.

As a result, the SRO has been removed from their post and the DPD has launched an investigation into the allegations.

Champaign school board members comment on cancelled meeting after members walk out

Brandel said a determination on disciplinary actions will be made once the investigation is complete. Until then, he cannot comment any further.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com.
MIAMI, Fla. (WFLA)  A decomposing body was pulled out of a Florida canal on Monday.

Miami-Dade Police confirmed to NBC affiliate WTVJ that the male body was found floating near Porth Poinciana Boulevard in Miami Springs.

Video shows officials pulling the body from the water and loading it into a medical examiner van.

Authorities have not released any information regarding the identity of the body, the cause of death, or how long the body was in the canal.

This is a developing story. Stay up to date on the latest from News Channel 8 on-air and on the go with the free WFLA News Channel 8 mobile app.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant at the Pentagon on Tuesday as tensions soared this week between the U.S. and Israel over the war in Gaza, where more than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed.

During the meeting, Austin discussed efforts to minimize casualties in Gaza and get more humanitarian aid into the coastal enclave, according to a senior U.S. defense official, who described it as very productive.

The two also discussed the looming Israeli military operation in Rafah, a southern Gaza city on the border with Egypt that is acting as a refugee camp for more than a million Palestinians sheltering from the war.

In remarks welcoming Gallant to the Pentagon, Austin reiterated that the United Statess goal is to make Israel and the region safer and more security but also to protect Palestinian civilians from harm.

In Gaza today, the number of civilian casualties is far too high, and the amount of humanitarian aid is far too low, Austin said. Gaza is suffering a humanitarian catastrophe, and the situation is getting even worse.

Gallant said in opening remarks that he remained committed to the destruction of Hamas organization and bringing back the Israeli hostages back home.

In the discussion, Austin proposed Israel find an alternative to a major military operation in Rafah, according to a senior U.S. defense official, which is in line with a new push from the Biden administration in recent weeks to avoid widespread destruction in the southern city.

The official said those alternatives could be precision targeting of senior Hamas officials.

That, in fact, has even been effective in targeting some Hamas leaders elsewhere in Gaza, the official said. The secretary, of course, is very experienced, and many in our department are very experienced with some of these very challenging operations working in urban environments to uproot terrorist organizations that are deeply embedded in civilian populations.

So, we do have experience to draw on, and that doesnt mean theres an exact parallel between the situation and any previous situation. But it does mean that when we develop ideas, it has some basis in experience, the official continued.

The official said those ideas have the potential to achieve the dual objectives of protecting the civilians who are currently in Rafah and defeating the Hamas battalions that are in Rafah.

We do believe that is possible, and we believe we have ideas that can be relevant to achieving those dual objectives, the official added.

On humanitarian aid, Austin also pushed Gallant to diversify and scale up aid entry points into Gaza and to work with all the necessary international partners to address the problem of international aid distribution inside Gaza.

The U.S. is airdropping humanitarian aid into Gaza, and it is planning to construct a port, but the Biden administration says those are not substitutes for aid trucks coming in through land crossings, which Israel controls but has been criticized for limiting the amount of aid coming in.

These are efforts that the secretary, the minister, have been speaking about and working together on really for many weeks, the official said. So, this was a continuation of that dialogue.

The meeting comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled an upcoming delegation he had planned to send to Washington this week to discuss Rafah and other concerns.

Netanyahu expressed concern that the U.S. on Monday abstained from a vote at the United Nations Security Council on a resolution that calls for a ceasefire in Gaza for the rest of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month that ends in about two weeks.

The resolution also calls for the release of hostages, but Netanyahu slammed the U.S. for abstaining and therefore allowing the measure to pass, which he said gives Hamas free rein to continue holding hostages while getting a ceasefire.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Austin and Gallant discussed the humanitarian situation inside the Gaza strip, where more than 32,000 Palestinians have died.

In Gaza today, the number of civilian casualties is far too high, and the amount of humanitarian aid is far too low, Austin said in opening remarks welcoming Gallant to the Pentagon.

The two defense chiefs also talked about Rafah, the southern Gaza city where more than a million Palestinians are sheltering.

Israel has threatened to move into Rafah, spurring concerns of an even greater humanitarian crisis, with the United Nations already warning of a potential famine in northern Gaza.

A senior U.S. defense official said Austin reiterated his proposal for Israel to find alternatives to a major ground operation in Rafah, which could involve precision targeting of senior Hamas leaders.

We believe we have ideas that can be relevant to achieving those dual objectives, the official said of defeating Hamas and supporting humanitarian efforts.

Austin and Gallant met even after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled an upcoming delegation to Washington.

The delegation was expected to meet with U.S. officials on Rafah, but Netanyahu slammed the U.S. for abstaining Monday from voting on a United Nations Security Council resolution, allowing it to pass.

The resolution calls for an immediate ceasefire for the next two weeks during the remainder of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, and for a hostage deal.

Netanyahu said the resolution awards Hamas and allows them to get a ceasefire and continue to hold hostages.





Israel is fighting to destroy Hamas in retaliation for a deadly Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel that killed some 1,200 people. Another 250 hostages were taken, with what is believed to be 100 hostages still alive in Gaza.

Read the full report at TheHill.com.
A 25-year-old Georgia man has died after authorities said he was shot and killed on a Greyhound bus.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

It happened Sunday night around 11 p.m., near mile markers 57- 61 on Interstate 10 in Jackson County, Mississippi.

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation said a Greyhound bus was traveling eastbound on I-10, when Rashad Price, 26, of Slidell, Louisiana, fatally shot Jay Jackson, 25, of Decatur, Georgia.

Price reportedly told the driver to stop the bus so he could get off. Officials said the driver drove to the nearest exit and called 911.

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On Monday, around 3 a.m., Jackson County deputies spotted Price running across the interstate. He was arrested and charged with homicide.

The MBI did not say what led up to the shooting nor whether the suspect and victim knew each other. No other passengers were injured during the shooting.

The investigation is active and ongoing.

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IN OTHER NEWS:
MEMPHIS, Tenn.  When the pandemic hit, criminal court shut down and thousands of cases were put on hold. Four years later, Shelby county is still digging itself out of a giant backlog.

One of those cases is the fatal shooting of 8-year-old Jordyn Washington, which happened in November 2020.

Police say Cedric Conley fired an assault-style rifle at a group he was arguing with in a Raleigh apartment complex. One of the bullets reportedly pierced through a kitchen and struck Jordyn.

Jordyn was Jasen Washingtons youngest child.

She was my baby. That was my everything right there, he said.

Police captured Conley in New Orleans two weeks later.

Three months after that, he got out on a half-million-dollar bond. Since then, there have been been dozens of report dates and a new judge.

Washington didnt think it would take this long to get some kind of justice.

For sure, no. If you talk to the DA and certain people, I have voice how irritated I am with that process, he said.

On March 7, Conley reported to court again.

As time passes, I lose trial dates, Criminal Court Judge Carlyn Addison said to both parties.

She said she is ready to resolve the case thats now more than three years old.

Weve had everything ready. We did not get ballistics back from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which is an ongoing problem through COVID, since COVID and now, Conleys attorney Michael Scholl explained.

He said they just got the ballistic evidence back.

Until we had the evidence, we really couldnt talk, he said.

He said that talk is expected to happen before Conley is back in court in April. If it doesnt, Judge Addison proposed a trial date for this summer, but November was the only time that worked for both parties.

This case is just another case waiting to be resolved. COVID shut down the courts, which created a massive backlog as crime also increased.

It worsened delays that were already a concern in the justice system.

Judge: Lack of trials keeping criminal courts backlogged

Everybody has questioned why it took five years to get here, and we have too, Brittney Rowe said.

She had hoped to see a trial in December, but instead, one of the men accused of killing her father, Phil Trenary, five years ago, accepted a plea deal for a lesser charge.

COVID delayed the case, then his attorney took a job for the district attorneys office, and the defense filed motions, which stalled the case even more.

Right before the trial, prosecutors were trying to track down a main witness who was suddenly released from jail on another case.

It really was a series of unfortunate events, Rowe said.

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Many working within the system say the longer the case takes, the more likely something happens that makes it harder for the prosecutor like a witness no longer wanting to participate.

It delays justice for victims and jeopardizes the defendants constitutional right to a speedy trial. It also poses a public safety threat with so many defendants walking free until their case is resolved.

As crime increased, the backlog has entered the spotlight. Fingers are being pointed. Threats are being made.

Scholl said one issue thats made it worse, the turnaround times for crucial evidence like drug testing and ballistics on homicide cases.

All evidence in Shelby County is sent to a state lab, 90 miles away, in Jackson, Tenn.

Since 2019, WREG Investigators told you that evidence was taking months to process and slowing down the judicial system.

In 2022, the delays made headlines yet again when Eliza Fletcher, a Memphis mother and teacher, was kidnapped and killed.

The suspect was accused of a sexual assault from the year before, but due to the backlog, the TBI said it didnt test the rape kit or connect the dots until it was too late.

Around that time, it was taking up to 15 months to process certain evidence.

After that, The TBI finally got some of the funding its requested for years and took steps to speed things up like outsourcing and hiring more people. Three new hires expected to start at the Jackson lab soon. However, it takes time to train the new hires.

As of January, the TBI reports on average, a six-month turnaround time to process forensic biology in violent crimes, four to six months for rape kits and almost 16 months for firearms analysis.

A spokesperson stating, they expect gradual progress as more of the new hires work toward completing their required training.

Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy has repeatedly called on the state to fund another crime lab in Memphis that would include rapid DNA and ballistic testing. He said it will help move cases a lot faster.

Local leaders call for crime lab in Memphis

The Memphis City Council talked about a study to see if its feasible and local state lawmakers filed a bill to also try to get a study done. Meaning if it happens, itll be years from now.

That doesnt help the families like Washingtons who are still waiting for some kind of closure.

You try to heal. You dont, he said.

They say Jordyn made you want to be a better person, and in her 8 short years, she left a mark.

She came down here and did what she was supposed to do. In the worst times of her life, she was happy. She will literally teach you how to live, Washington said.

 This is Part 1 of a three-part investigation into the backlog of criminal cases in Shelby County, and whats being done about it.

Part 2 will focus on the data and local leaders reaction

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
A Texas man allegedly snuck onto a Delta Airlines flight in Salt Lake City using a snapshot of a passenger's boarding pass  he was only caught because the flight was entirely booked and he had nowhere to sit, according to federal prosecutors.

Wicliff Yves Fleurizard of George, Texas, now faces a felony charge for being a stowaway on an aircraft, according to a police affidavit filed in federal district court.

Security footage from Salt Lake City's Department of Airports shows Fleurizard chatting with a male passenger beside him as groups were called to board the Austin-bound plane on March 17.

As the man stands up and unfurls his folded pass, Fleurizard can be seen pulling out his smartphone and snapping a photo. He then shakes the man's hand and lines up to board the plane.

FLORIDA MAN CALLS AMERICAN AIRLINES PASSENGERS BLUE-EYED WHITE DEVILS, THREATENS TO 'TAKE THIS PLANE DOWN'

Wicliff Yves Fleurizard, pictured wearing a green sweater, is accused of sneaking on board a flight by taking a photo of another passenger's boarding pass. Authorities say he was caught because the flight was full and he didn't have a place to sit.

The Texas man was seen on the footage allegedly photographing several other passengers' phones and passes at gate A2 of Salt Lake City International Airport when they weren't looking, according to the affidavit.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

After boarding the craft, Fleurizard opened a door to a storage space for emergency equipment. A flight attendant, thinking he was confused, helped him to the lavatory at the front of the plane, according to the affidavit.

WITH ALL THE RECENT HEADLINES ABOUT PANELS AND TIRES FALLING OFF PLANES, IS FLYING SAFE?

Fleurizard can be seen shaking a passenger's hand after allegedly secreting a photo of his boarding pass. According to a police affidavit, he was seen taking photos of several passengers' passes.

Fleurizard spent a "significant amount of time" in the bathroom and did not lock the door. He then moved to the lavatory at the back of the plane as other passengers continued to mill inside, documents said.

He told a flight attendant that he was assigned to seat 21F as the plane began to taxi down the runway  but there was already someone else, a girl traveling alone, in that seat.

US TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT LAUNCHES PROBE INTO HANDLING OF PASSENGER PERSONAL DATA BY AIRLINES

Fleurizard is seen chatting with a male passenger before allegedly sneaking a photo of his boarding pass when he isn't looking. The Texas man said he had a buddy pass to get back to Texas via Southwest Airlines and grew impatient after two flights he attempted to take were full.

The flight attendant determined that the girl was a ticketed passenger, and that Fleurizard's name didn't pop up in records for the flight "or any other Delta flight for that matter," according to the document.

The plane was forced to return to the gate where Salt Lake City Police officers waited to arrest Fleurizard.

BOEING EXPERIENCING 'SELF-INFLICTED WOUNDS," SOME BLAME FOR RECENT MISHAPE LIES WITH AIRLINES: FORMER PILOT

According to the affidavit, a friend gave Fleurizard a buddy pass for Southwest Airlines, but a flight the day before and a second flight earlier on March 17 were full. He had been rebooked on a flight later that day.

Fleurizard said he had been in Utah for a snowboarding trip and was in a hurry to meet family members visiting him at his Texas home from Florida.



"Fleurizard admitted he had made a mistake and was only trying to get home," a Salt Lake City Police officer wrote in their affidavit.





Original article source: Delta Airlines stowaway caught on Texas-bound plane after snapping photo of passenger's boarding pass: feds
WORCESTER  House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries visited Worcester Tuesday to talk with Black leaders and visit a city food pantry.

Hakeem Jeffries, House minority leader and leader of the House Democratic Caucus, says a few words while touring El Buen Samaritano with the food pantry's executive director, Mari Gonzalez, and Congressman James McGovern.

Jeffries, of Brooklyn, New York, visited locations in the city with U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, D-Worcester. The Democratic leader stopped in Massachusetts Tuesday and was scheduled to head to the eastern portion of the state after leaving Worcester.

Jeffries and McGovern held a fundraiser at the Glass Tower at 446 Main St. before holding a roundtable meeting with Black leaders at the Village Worcester in Main South.

The roundtable included City Manager Eric D. Batista; Sha-Asia Medina, director, the Village; Parlee Jones of OurStory Edutainment; Celia Johnston Blue of the Massachusetts Women of Color Coalition; Councilor-at-Large Khrystian King; Deborah Hall of YWCA of Central Mass.; Brenda Jenkins of YMCA of Central Mass.; Fred Taylor of NAACP Worcester; Moses Dixon of the Central Massachusetts Agency on Aging; the Rev. Clyde Talley of Belmont A.M.E. Zion Church and Lou Brady of Family Health Center of Worcester.

After the roundtable, Jeffries, who is the first Black party leader in either Chamber of Congress, said they discussed community needs.

Hakeem Jeffries and James McGovern sign a visitor wall at El Buen Samaritano.

"It was wonderful to be here with so many distinguished community leaders at the Village ... to talk about some of the challenges the community continues to face, the need for surging resources to help people to be able to achieve the decency and the middle-class dream that everybody in America deserves," Jeffries said.

McGovern, who is the lead Democrat on the House Rules Committee, said he and Jeffries met with leaders in Worcester in order to learn from people on the ground so those conversations can inform policies back in Congress, especially if Democrats take the House majority in November.

"Hakeem Jeffries, I hope, will be the next Speaker of the House of Representatives, and he will be in a position to influence national policy, he'll have a direct impact on places like Worcester," McGovern said. "We came here to learn from people who are on the ground doing incredible work in our community."

To respond to feedback from the roundtable meeting, Jeffries said it is important for Congress to bring resources back to states and local governments in a way that allows them to travel back to organizations that are based in the communities they serve.

Archives House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visits Worcester, speaks with St. V nurses, tours Rainbow Child Development Center

Jeffries and McGovern later toured El Buen Samaritano, a food pantry on Piedmont Street. At the pantry, McGovern and Jeffries talked about the importance of providing nutritious meals to Americans in need and criticized House Republicans, saying they were working to cut Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funding and other programs from Congress' farm bill.

Jeffries said lack of access to healthy food is an epidemic leading to poor health outcomes.

"We've got to deal with the gun violence epidemic and we're working to confront that, but in communities like those you serve (at El Buen Samaritano) and communities like I represent back at home, they're more Americans, more people, who die from drive throughs than drive-bys," Jeffries said.

Mari Gonzalez, executive director of El Buen Samaritano, said she hopes the congressmen saw the love for the community that organizations like hers bring.

"I just hope that the conversation continues about hunger awareness, the farm bill, making sure that they don't cut SNAP benefits, they don't cut Social Security, they don't cut benefits that help our community be uplifted," Gonzalez said.

Prior to the roundtable meeting, protestors gathered around the Glass Tower to call for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war. A news release from protest organizers called for an end to all U.S. funding to the Israeli military and for Democrats to reject donations from the American Israeli Political Action Committee, which has contributed significantly to Jeffries. Some protestors were also out to protest President Joe Biden and Democrats' handling of the U.S.-Mexico border.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries makes visit to Worcester
Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and 17 Senate Democrats sent a letter to President Biden on Tuesday asking his administration to take all available action to speed up the process for granting lawful status to migrants who have come to the country illegally.

The senators urged Biden to swiftly provide administrative relief to hundreds of thousands of immigrants to protect them from the threat of deportation if President Trump returns to office.

Over 1.1 million U.S. citizens are married to an undocumented immigrant, and roughly 4.9 million U.S. citizen children have at least one undocumented parent. Deporting all such individuals  as former President Donald Trump has threatened to do if reelected  would devastate the American economy and destroy American families, the senators wrote in the letter.

The senators pointed out that undocumented immigrants contributed an estimated $9.7 billion federal and state taxes and more than $11 billion in Social Security contributions in 2019 alone.

These families live in fear that they may be separated from their loved one due to deportation, and often forgo much needed health care and decline to report crimes due to their immigration status, they wrote.

The signatories included Sens. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Sanders, among others.

The senators specifically asked Biden to take administrative action to speed the processing of green card applications of undocumented immigrants who are married to U.S. citizens, noting that they face significant processing delays.

They argued such applications now take a median of 42 months to complete.

The senators are also asking the administration to speed up the process for immigrants who applied for legal status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to later have the opportunity to be sponsored by a prospective employer for a green card.

Many applicants face processing hurdles when they seek to change status. For example, they often must travel to a consulate to change status and struggle to obtain an appointment, they wrote.

We urge you to take steps to streamline the process by which DACA holders may obtain another status, they said.

They also want the departments of Homeland Security and Justice to issue a regulation to allow undocumented immigrants who are family caregivers to get out of deportation proceedings by applying for the cancellation of removal orders.

The senators argued that streamlining the deportation cancellation process and increasing access to permanent resident status for caregivers would help their American families, given that they often help children with acute needs.

We appreciate your careful consideration of these recommendations and all available options to provide much needed relief for undocumented immigrants and the American businesses, families, and communities that rely upon them, they wrote.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Democrats are stepping up their criticism of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after he announced his pick of Nicole Shanahan for vice president Tuesday, arguing the duo will benefit former President Trump.

Kennedys allies say the selection of Shanahan, a philanthropist and patent attorney, will generate buzz for the campaign heading into the general election, while also allowing him to check a necessary box in several states that require an Independent to have a running mate to qualify for their ballots.

But many pro-President Biden figures in the party are criticizing Kennedy as a spoiler propelled by GOP funds and conspiracy theories, slamming his presidential campaign shortly after he unveiled his running mate in Oakland, Calif.

I am personally offended and just disgusted by his campaign, Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) said during a call hosted by the Democratic National Committee (DNC). He should be ashamed of himself. He should stop running for president.

Democrats have disregarded Kennedy during most of the 2024 presidential cycle, speculating that he had no shot of winning the battle for the White House. While Bidens polling is perilous for an incumbent, many in his orbit have avoided going after Kennedy in order to focus fully on Trump.

That apathy toward Kennedy, however, has morphed in recent weeks into anguish and anger. As both parties primaries pointed to a Biden-Trump rematch, Democrats started examining more closely the third-party candidate who could create an unpredictable and possibly unfavorable outcome for their side in November.

Tasked with enabling a second Biden victory, the DNC has become preoccupied with Kennedy in recent weeks, allotting resources to weaken his campaign and paint him as a helpful reelection tool for Trump. Just after Kennedy made his pick of Shanahan public, the DNC convened a call with elected Democrats from swing states to warn about what Kennedys bid could mean for Bidens chances to beat Trump twice.

Hes a spoiler, Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Austin Davis said on the call. He was drafted into this race by Donald Trumps top supporters.

He has no realistic path to victory in Pennsylvania, he added.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. holds a campaign event with voters in Brooklyn on Aug. 30, 2023, in New York City. Spencer Platt,Getty Images

Democrats have often sought to tie Kennedys campaign to the Trump-aligned GOP. Kennedy himself shares some ideological turf with the MAGA movement, especially on vaccines and his critique of conventional medical and the scientific community.

Just before he announced Shanahan, a super PAC aimed at propping up Biden launched a website called rfkjrfacts. The site features composite images of Kennedy and Trump merged together along with figures in the former presidents circle, such as right-wing ally Steve Bannon.

RFK Jr. is a MAGA-backed candidate who is bankrolled by billionaires to help reelect Donald Trump, text on the landing page reads. RFK Jr.s platform is extremely dangerous: he pushes conspiracy theories that divide our country, has made millions of dollars opposing vaccines, and has a history of anti-Black, anti-LGBTQ, and anti-Semitic remarks.

The super PAC, called Clear Choice, also released a new ad that aims to show his ties to Trumpism, including video footage of Kennedy saying hes proud that Trump likes him.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Nicole Shanahan have only one chance of seeing the inside of the Oval Office: if Trump wins and invites them in to say thank you, Matt Bennett, executive vice president for public affairs of the Democratic group Third Way, said in a statement.

As news circulated that Kennedy was slated to share his running mate on March 26, pro-Biden voices began publicly warning about how he could weaken the president on Election Day. Just a few thousand votes in critical states can sway an election thats projected to be close, and Democrats have seen their party hampered by third-party candidates such as Green Party nominee Jill Stein in 2016.

Chris Devine, who co-wrote the book Do Running Mates Matter?: The Influence of Vice Presidential Candidates in Presidential Elections and studies third-party campaigns, said that the relatively unknown Shanahan is not a pick that bodes well for his campaign.

This was an opportunity for him to demonstrate that he could pull together an experienced team with broad appeal, and he hasnt done that, Devine said.

Pro-Trump Republicans have also criticized Kennedy amid concerns the Independent candidate could sap support from the former president.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a far-left radical that supports reparations, backs the Green New Deal, and wants to ban fracking. Its no surprise he would pick a Biden donor leftist as his running mate, Alex Pfeiffer, a spokesperson for the pro-Trump super PAC Make America Great Again Inc., wrote in a statement shortly after Kennedys Tuesday announcement.

The criticism from Biden and Trump allies alike comes as Kennedy has demonstrated a relatively large degree of support for an Independent. In polling, he has hovered around low to mid-double digits during his campaign, getting a second look from some of the voting electorate with whom Biden is struggling, including not just Independents but also pockets of young voters and voters of color.

Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. right, waves on stage with Nicole Shanahan.

Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., right, waves on stage with Nicole Shanahan after announcing her as his running mate, during a campaign event, March 26, 2024, in Oakland, Calif.

Kennedy has captured attention in some battlegrounds and has gotten enough signatures to compete in places including New Hampshire, Utah and Hawaii. A pro-Kennedy super PAC, American Values, has said its also counted enough supporters in Michigan, Georgia, South Carolina and Arizona for Kennedy to compete. A recent NBC News poll revealed that 34 percent of registered voters said they might support Kennedy this cycle.

Adding Shanahan, 38, who Kennedy called a brilliant scientist and a fierce warrior mom during his launch event, enables him to embark on what will be a drawn-out signature-collecting push during the next several months as different states require a full ticket to count.

One of Kennedys biggest challenges comes from his current lack of cash. Funding any large-scale presidential campaign is expensive, and even more so for the Independent, who has to go through the additional step of petitioning for names. While some close to Kennedy acknowledge that challenge, theres optimism among his supporters that Shanahan could help give a cash infusion to get him on more ballots.

Kennedy said he chose Shanahan, in part, for her ability to identify abuses in our government. He also said that she has been battle-tested and overcame every daunting obstacle to achieve the American dream.

Top Stories from The Hill

Now the ex-wife of Sergey Brin, a billionaire and co-founder of Google, Shanahan could potentially go a long way toward helping Kennedy financially compete against the Democratic and Republican Party nominees, a reality that Democrats are anticipating in their attack strategies.

According to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Kennedys campaign brought in $3.2 million in February, a figure considerably lower than that of his two rivals. His total cash on hand is just more than $5 million, the FEC reports, which is unlikely to stretch throughout a multistate ballot access initiative.

Still, Democrats are fearful that with the surge of Shanahans money, Kennedy could come closer to getting enough votes in critical battlegrounds to swing the election.

Him being in the race means there is a greater likelihood that Donald Trump will be president again, said Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, who described Kennedys campaign as horrifying.

We cant afford to go backwards, she said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Bomb technicians from the Kyiv police have detected the warhead of the missile which fell down in the private sector of the Solomianskyi district of Kyiv on 25 March.

Source: the Main Directorate of the National Police in Kyiv

Quote: "During the inspection of the territory in the Solomianskyi district, bomb squads from Kyiv City Police detected a fragment of the warhead with detonators which weighed over 20 kg."

Bomb technicians seized the warhead of the missile which had fallen on Kyiv the day before

Photo: Kyiv City Police

Bomb technicians seized the warhead of the missile which had fallen on Kyiv the day before

Photo: Kyiv City Police

Details: The bomb technicians disconnected the detonators from the remains of the warhead and removed them for further destruction on the training grounds.

Background:

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.

On 12 February, the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise reported that Russia used a 3M22 Zircon hypersonic cruise missile on the territory of Ukraine on 7 February.

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DENVER (KDVR)  The cold and snow from the recent storm are slowly moving out of Colorado and Denver weather. There will be some light snow showers still falling across the Colorado mountains tonight.

According to Pinpoint Weather, Colorados Most Accurate Forecast, a few rain or snow showers could skip off the higher terrain on Tuesday and push along the Front Range late in the day. Any additional accumulation in the next day stays in the mountains.

Weather tonight: Another cold night

The wind flow will continue out of the north keeping cold temperatures in place across Colorado during the overnight hours. Most places will have lows in the teens, especially across the eastern plains and metro Denver. There are a few spots that could dip into the single digits too.

FOX31 Weather: View the latest Denver forecasts, maps and radar

Weather tomorrow: Cool with a few showers

There will be some sunshine on Tuesday followed by passing clouds along the Front Range and in metro Denver. A stray rain or snow showers is also possible late in the day. Temperatures will stay cool with afternoon readings below average for this time of year.

Looking ahead: Turning much warm by the weekend

The forecast is looking dry with a warming trend just in time for the weekend. Colorado will be in the cool 50s and a little before the average of 59 degrees on Wednesday. Then the state quickly warm into the 60s to end the work week with mainly sunny skies.

Temperatures will continue to climb and the Pinpoint Weather Team is forecasting 70s possible by the weekend.

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Denvers next chance for rain showers will arrive on Monday with an incoming cold front. There is a possibility that some of those April 1 showers could mix with snow Monday night. The Pinpoint Weather Team will be watching for that possibility in the coming days.

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Pechersk Court of Kyiv closed case against the Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Rostyslav Shurma on conflict of interest, reported Vitaliy Shabunin, Head of the Anti-Corruption Action Center, on Telegram on March 26.

Read also: Shurma and Tatarov may soon leave Presidents Office  Ukrainian MP

According to Shabunin, the NACP (National Agency on Corruption Prevention) had previously drawn up an administrative report against Shurma, who, while chairing a meeting of one of the Presidential Office's committees, lobbied a decision in favor of his brother, an entrepreneur, who later recieved multimillion contracts.

The case was closed by Judge Svitlana Shaputko, who, according to investigators, is related to the Deputy Head of the Presidential Office, Oleh Tatarov.

He also noted that it was closed hearing.

Read also: Deputy Head of Presidents Office Shurma on systemic corruption  interview

"Pechersk Court, as well as the prosecutor's office (which was supposed to defend the NACP protocol), kept silent about such a socially important hearing," wrote Shabunin.



"We are waiting for the court decision to be published in order to analyze in detail how the Prosecutor General's Office broke the law by saving another deputy of Yermak."

According to Shabunin, if the case had been heard in public, Shurma would "most likely" have been found guilty.

Read also: UZ awards no-bid $17.5 million contract to Zelenskyys aide partner company

NACP compiled a report on administrative violations against Shurma on Feb. 23, the protocol was drawn up in connection with Shurma's violation of the requirements for preventing and resolving conflicts of interest. Shurma himself called the NACP's administrative protocol a "legally insignificant document" and "nonsense."

Earlier, Nashi Hroshi journalists reported that Ukrzaliznytsia had chosen Shurma's partner companies as a supplier of rails worth UAH 666 million ($17 million).

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
The search for six workers missing after a container ship crashed into a bridge in Maryland has been suspended, with authorities saying that there was no hope of finding them alive in what is a terrible, unanticipated tragedy.

The six men, all members of a construction crew employed by Brawner Builders, remain missing after a huge cargo ship slammed into Baltimores Key Bridge, causing it to dramatically collapse into the water.

The men were working on refilling potholes when the incident occurred.

Jeffrey Pritzker, executive vice president of Brawner Builders, told The Baltimore Banner that he does not believe the workers could have survived the shocking incident.

Were presuming that they are not alive, because they were thrown into the bay in an area thats 50 feet deep, with 46-degree temperature, probably buried under tons of steel, Mr Pritzker said.

The company is in mourning and its a terrible, unanticipated tragedy.

Miguel Luna (Supplied)

As the Coast Guard announced that the rescue will now turn into a recovery effort for bodies, loved ones of the missing workers have started to identify them; some are fathers, husbands, and all have been described as hard-working men.

Miguel Luna from El Salvador was the first of the six men to be named. He was working on the bridge at the time of the catastrophic collapse.

His wife told Telemundo 44 earlier on Tuesday that she was devastated.

[We feel] devastated, devastated because our heart is broken, because we dont know if theyve rescued them yet. Were just waiting to hear any news, she told the outlet.

Another man, a father of two from Honduras, was also named by family members as Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval, according to CNN.

Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval (Supplied)

He had been living in the United States for over 18 years, was married, and had an 18-year-old son and a five-year-old daughter, his brother Martin Suazo told the outlet.

Other workers are believed to be from Guatemala and Mexico, officials said.

Two other people were fished out of the water alive, say officials, one who had suffered severe injuries and one who was uninjured.

The Coast Guard told reporters at a Tuesday evening press conference that the search was paused at 7.30pm ET, and would resume on Wednesday morning as a recovery effort with divers being used to search for bodies.

Id like to announce tonight that based on the length of time that weve gone in this search, the extensive search efforts weve put into it, the water temperature, that at this point we do not believe that were going to find any of these individuals still alive, said Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath.

Brawner Builders employee Jesus Campos told The Baltimore Banner that the still missing individuals are all men in their 30s and 40s  who have children and spouses. They are from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico, he added.

They are all hard-working, humble men, Mr Campos told the outlet.

Multiple workers and vehicles were on the Francis Scott Key Bridge over the Patapsco River when the Dali vessel ploughed into a support pillar at around 1.30am ET on Tuesday.

The ships crew made a mayday call just moments before the collision. Maryland Gov Wes Moore added that the call saved lives, providing time to prevent cars from continuing on the bridge.

The crew warned the Maryland Department of Transportation that a collision with the bridge was possible, the report said. The vessel struck the bridge causing a complete collapse.

Its still unclear what caused the accident, which happened just 30 minutes after the ship set sail on its 27-day journey to Sri Lanka.

Harrowing footage captured the bridge crumpling into the freezing waters.

As of Tuesday early afternoon, two people had so far been pulled from the waters, Baltimore police said.

One of those victims is now fighting for their life in hospital after being rushed to a trauma unit in serious condition.

The second person was not injured and refused medical help, police said.

The number of those unaccounted for could climb higher as sonar has detected multiple vehicles submerged in the frigid river while officials have learned that workers were also on the bridge at the time of the crash.

A helicopter flies over the scene of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore, Maryland (REUTERS)

At the press conference, James Wallace, the fire chief from the Baltimore City Fire Department, said the search involves a very large incident and large footprint.

As well as the cold temperatures, search teams were also grappling with darkness and a large debris field to try and search for people who would have now been in the water for an extended period of time.

Chief Wallace told CNN that agencies found three passenger vehicles, a cement truck and another vehicle submerged in the water using infrared and side-scan sonar technology.

Gov Moore declared a state of emergency, adding that he is working with an interagency team to deploy federal resources.

Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the fire department, said the city was dealing with a developing mass casualty incident.

A State of Emergency has been declared by Marylands governor after the tragic collapse (EPA)

A large portion of the Francis Scott Key Bridge is now underwater, as flight tracking website FlightRadar24 showed the Maryland State Police circling the site of the crash in a helicopter.

Mr Cartwright added that a multi-agency rescue is currently underway, with dive team members actively going into the river to try and locate individuals that are feared to be in the water.

The US Coast Guard said it has deployed small boats and helicopters to assist in the search for the people feared within the water.

Yet freezing conditions are posing a concern as the rescue personnel continue to carry out their search.

Upwards of seven people are still missing as rescue efforts continue (Harford County, MD Volunteer Fire & EMS/PA Wire)

It feels like at least about 30 degrees (-1C) where I am, Mr Cartwright told CNN. It could be slightly lower than that. And Im sure that the water temperature is even colder... And that can pose a concern and risk for our divers.

The container ship involved is a Singapore-flagged vessel named Dali, live maritime data showed on Tuesday. It had just departed the port in Baltimore and was headed for the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, where it was due to arrive in late April.

All crew members, including two pilots, on the container ship are accounted for and uninjured, the owners have confirmed in a statement.

Officials said that there is no indication that terrorism could have been involved in the incident.

There is absolutely no indication that theres any terrorism, that this was done on purpose, Chief Richard Worley said.

President Joe Biden reassured Americans that all signs point toward the collapse being a terrible accident, and that no terrorism was involved. Mr Biden vowed to use federal funds to rebuild the bridge. The president promised to move heaven and earth to reopen the bridge, which more than 30,000 vehicles cross every day. He called it one of the most important elements of the economy and quality of life in the Northeast corridor.

He added that 15,000 jobs depend on that port, which 850,000 vehicles go through every year.

United States Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said on X that he had spoken with mayor Scott and governor Moore to offer the Department of Transportations support following the collapse of the bridge.
Tracking the spread of diseases potentially fatal to sheep and cattle forms part of the work being done at a new centre in Inverness.

The 12.5m Rural and Veterinary Innovation Centre (Ravic) has brought together scientists and businesses on one site in an effort to improve monitoring and research.

Ravic's bosses said how data was used to track Covid strains during the pandemic had helped to guide some of the work.

Diseases of interest to the hub include bovine viral diarrhoea in cattle and bluetongue - a viral disease that can be spread to livestock by certain species of biting midges.

Ravic has been up and running at the Inverness Campus since last year, but was officially opened in a ceremony attended by the Princess Royal on Tuesday.

The centre has been developed by Scotland's Rural College (SRUC) with funding from the European Regional Development Fund and the Scottish Funding Council.

The approach of bringing together academics, research groups and small businesses was modelled on similar centres in Scandinavia and North America.

Ravic has a suite of laboratories, meeting rooms and a lecture theatre.

Princess Anne officially opened the new centre

Current areas of research include diseases affecting humans and animals, viruses' resistance to drugs, food security and the effects of climate change on diseases.

Director Prof George Gunn said: "Data became hugely important to tracking Covid and what strain you were looking at and what exactly was going on.

"The same is true for our animal diseases, things like bovine viral diarrhoea.

"In the future we will have things like bluetongue, which is going to be a big threat going into the summer."

Bluetongue can affect sheep and cattle and there were recent cases in the south of England. It can be fatal to animals.

Ravic director Prof George Gunn said the Covid pandemic had shown how important data was to tracking viruses

Another of Ravic's scientists, Dr Scott Lawton, said: "This building is really quite unique because it brings together local veterinary surveillance, business and hard basic science.

"We have an inter-disciplinary approach to addressing real world problems surrounding the spread of disease."

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NEW ORLEANS (WGNO)  While New Orleans is known for its rich culture and history, its also known for its iconic cuisine.

While many dishes come and go, some have made a name for themselves locally and nationwide.

When thinking about New Orleans or Louisiana foods, gumbo and red beans and rice often come to mind. But what about dessert?

The sweet treat known as bananas foster also has New Orleans roots.

Brennans General Manager Christian Pendleton said the dish was born at the original Brennans Vieux Carre Restaurant on Bourbon Street in the 1950s.

Why do Louisianians eat red beans on Monday? New Orleans chef dishes the details

The New Orleans delicacy came about when Owen Brennan tasked his sister, Ella Brennan, with creating a special dessert for Richard Foster, who Pendleton said was chairman of the New Orleans Crime Commission.

He said Ella Brennan worked with a team to come up with something that could be executed quickly and taste good.

Pendleton said the idea to brulee bananas came from Ella Brennans childhood, as her mother used to brulee bananas for her for breakfast.

Is there a right way to make gumbo? New Orleans chefs weigh in

One of Ellas and the familys favorite treats was when their mother would brulee bananas and serve it with soft scrambled eggs as a treat, said Pendleton.

The butter, the brown sugar and the cinnamon became part of the recipe because of that memory.

He also said, at the time, New Orleans was one of the largest ports in the country for bananas, making them almost always readily available around the city.

Pendleton said the idea for flambeing the dish stemmed from baked Alaska served at Antoines.

The idea was lets flambe it. Guests, especially in 1951 but were even seeing a resurgence now, guests love being entertained while they go out and eat. So, well make that special, well flambe it.

Brennans and Napoleon House on Tuesday, April 23, 2019. (Courtesy: Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group)

Brennans and Napoleon House on Tuesday, April 23, 2019. (Courtesy: Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group)

Brennans and Napoleon House on Tuesday, April 23, 2019. (Courtesy: Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group)

(WGNO/Bella Dardano)

(WGNO/Bella Dardano)

(WGNO/Bella Dardano)

According to Pendleton, the two spirits came into the recipe when Ella Brennan was asked if the bananas should be flambeed in banana liquor or rum.

One of my favorite quotes from the story was, well, we could flambe with banana liquor, or we could flambe with rum, and Ella famously says, Its New Orleans lets use both,' Pendleton said.

He said the addition of ice cream almost served as a poke at Owen Brennan, who reportedly believed ice cream had no place in fine dining as it wasnt as renowned as it is today.

Top five dining options at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, according to Yelp

Owen famously said, Really? A la Walgreens? because Walgreens was an ice cream shop and a drug store like many were at the time, and Ella said Be quiet. People like ice cream, said Pendleton.

At Brennans, bananas foster is prepared tableside. Something Pendleton says creates a memorable moment for guests and elevates the dining experience.

It makes dining out special when you take the care to do things tableside, said Pendleton.

While working at Brennans and continuing the legacy of the dish, one of the things Pendleton says he enjoys the most is seeing the guests experience the tableside preparation.

To see that flame, to feel that warmth, to smell those smells, that is something that will stick with that person for the rest of their life, said Pendleton.

Pendleton says hes made more than 100 bananas fosters for guests in a day.

He also says the restaurant went through 14 tons of ice cream last year to prepare the dessert.

Pendleton said the classic recipe has not changed over the years but has been elevated as the quality of ingredients has evolved.

You dont change the recipe of bananas foster, but one of the things thats really important to us at Brennans is to show how food evolves. There is honoring the history and traditions of New Orleans, but theres also the evolution of New Orleans, Pendleton said.

He said an example of enhancing the quality of the ingredients is in the vanilla bean ice cream.

We went from using a readily available ice cream to now we make our own vanilla bean ice cream because we wanted to capture the right amount of vanilla and a specific type of a vanilla so that it will cut through the sauce and you will get that note and it wont get lost in the sauce, said Pendleton.

He also said they are working with a distillery in Lafayette, Louisiana to produce the rum used in the dish.

TikTok food critic Keith Lee ranks New Orleans #1 on food tour

When making the dish at home Pendleton says the number one mistake people make is using 151 rum, as it will cause a larger flame than expected and could cause issues.

You just need a quality rum and a hot pan. Chemistry or physics will do the work for you, Pendelton said.

Another mistake Pendleton says people make at home is cooking the banana for too long.

The bananas should be like when you cook any vegetable or fruit, you should still have the structure. If you cook the banana too long, it breaks down and it just kind of falls all over itself and so you lose that texture of the banana, Pendelton said.

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Federal officials are funding University of Pittsburgh research into community health outcomes around the site of last year's Norfolk Southern train derailment, where a controlled burn-off sent a tower of toxic smoke into the Ohio and Pennsylvania skies.

The scientists will work with community members to gather air and water samples from about 100 homes, along with biospecimens and health data from about 300 volunteer participants who live around the site of the February 2023 crash, according to a Pitt news release.

Pitt received a pair of two-year grants totaling roughly $1 million from the National Institutes of Health to complete the study.

The researchers will collect health information within an 8-mile radius of the derailment  and will include residents from Ohio and across the state border in Pennsylvania, a Pitt spokesperson said.

Year of uncertainty: Pa. farmers, rescue owners reflect one year after East Palestine train disaster

Workers near the East Palestine train derailment on Feb. 13, 2023.

In particular, theyll be looking for signs of liver dysfunction, one of the potential side effects of exposure to vinyl chloride, a chemical released during the crash.

Given the volatile nature of these contaminants and the stress the community is facing, it is crucial that we collect these data and act on them to protect the most vulnerable populations affected by this disaster, Juliane Beier, professor of medicine and environmental and occupational health, said in a news release.

In addition to analyzing homes, Pitt researchers will take soil, water and sediment samples to test for chemical contamination near the crash site.

We will be working alongside residents and community partners of East Palestine, using scientifically rigorous, community-engaged strategies to collect environmental samples, and will meet regularly with community leaders to discuss our findings and any concerns that may arise, said Peng Gao, a Pitt professor of environmental and occupational health.

The East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment involved several cars that were carrying vinyl chloride, a flammable gas, and other hazardous chemicals. Amid concerns about the possibility of an explosion, officials opted to evacuate the area as the railway company vented chemicals from the cars and burned them off.

Toxic release: Toxic chemicals released from Ohio train derailment to reduce explosion risk

The controlled fire sent a column of black smoke into the atmosphere around the crash site, and nearby residents in Ohio and Pennsylvania reported rashes, headaches and nausea in the aftermath of the burn.

Government officials assured residents it was safe to return within days of the crash and have tested the soil, crops, air and water in the area. But as of yet, there arent any studies showing long-term impacts from chemical exposure around the derailment.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Pitt researchers to study health impacts of East Palestine derailment
A tax breaks-for-jobs deal between Richland and French nuclear fuel manufacturer Framatome Inc. is headed into extra innings after the 2024 Legislature adjourned without passing two key bills.

Rep. Stephanie Barnard, R-Pasco, said she will need to reintroduce the bills awarding two types of tax breaks to nuclear fuel manufacturers in 2025.

Framatome and its partner, Ultra Safe Nuclear Fuels Corp., are considering a $360 million expansion of Framatomes Richland nuclear fuel plant to produce fuel for the next generation of modular reactors.

The company has said it needs a reduced Business & Occupation tax rate and property taxes waivers as it considers siting the expansion in Richland.

If built, Framatome will add up to 200 jobs to the 550 already working in the existing facility.

One bill would have discounted Framatomes B&O tax rate by about 40%. The company confirmed Tuesday that a lowered rate would help it compete in the competitive nuclear fuels market.

The other would have made it easier for the company to qualify for property tax breaks under Washingtons Targeted Urban Area (TUA) economic incentive program.

Joe Schiessl, Richlands deputy city manager, said Richland is working with Framatome and will support the bills in next years Legislature.

Barnard told the Tri-City Herald shes confident the momentum built in 2024 will carry through when the Legislature convenes for a longer session next January.

The community support, advocacy and collaboration on this bill did not go unnoticed in Olympia, said Barnard, who faces reelection this fall. We made great progress. I plan to work with Framatome and other stakeholders during the interim, reintroduce the bill next session, and look forward to a successful outcome, she said.

Framatome confirmed to the Herald that Richland remains part of its growth plan as the nuclear energy market expands. It plans to support the bills in 2025.

The Richland City Council is set to review the 2024 Legislature at its regular workshop session, 6 p.m., Tuesday, March 26, at city hall, 625 Swift Blvd.

Framatome and its partner, Ultra Safe Nuclear Fuels Corp., are considering a $360 million expansion of Framatomes Richland nuclear fuel plant to produce fuel for the next generation of modular reactors.

Five years not enough

Framatome is one of three businesses with a TUA property tax deal in Richland. But theres a hitch.

Washington state law gives participants up to five years to complete construction. That isnt enough for a company licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

HB 2021 would have extended the time frame by four years, for a total of nine. Without it, Richland could lose the project, according to the citys list of legislative priorities for the past session.

The Framatome and Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation facility will be constructed out of state if this five-year limitation is unchanged, it asserted.

The legislative delay does not mean the deal or promised jobs are in jeopardy.

Clean energy future

The B&O and TUA bills both got a hearing before the House Finance committee on Jan. 25, with supporters touting the economics and opponents deriding the safety of nuclear energy.

Barnard, together with Richland Mayor Theresa Richardson, Benton County Commissioner Jerome Delvin and, critically, Lance Stephens, Framatomes Richland site manager, testified in favor of both bills, as did Karl Dye, president and CEO of the Tri-City Development Council.

All encouraged lawmakers to embrace the Framatome and its partner as avatars of a clean energy future. The state of Virginia, where Framatome has offices, is considered an aggressive rival.

We see this as a critical bill to stay competitive, Stephens testified in Olympia.

Framatome opened a $20 million uranium recovery facility in Richland in 2020 that produces fuel for nuclear power reactors.

In December, the Lynchburg (Virginia) News and Advance reported Framatome had announced a $50 million expansion that would yield 515 jobs there after Virginia successfully competed against North Carolina and Pennsylvania for that project.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Younkin was pictured at the announcement, which included word that hed approved a $5 million grant from the Commonwealths Opportunity Fund to support the project, which is eligible for other types of support.

First TUA in Washington

Richland is the first entity in the state to take advantage of the TUA program. It was authorized by the 2022 Legislature and lets cities and counties waive certain property taxes for up to 10 years if job creation requirements are met.

Richland has awarded nearly $30 million in breaks to three businesses, including Framatome.

Framatomes Richland nuclear fuel manufacturing facility manufactures millions of uranium oxide (UO2) pellets, which are then inserted in zirconium rods to make nuclear fuel assemblies.

Last summer, it waived $2.6 million for ATI Specialty Allows and Component, which has initiated a $111 million expansion of its titanium melting plant in North Richland.

It also committed to waiving $20 million for Atlas Agro if the European giant builds its proposed $1.1 billion carbon free fertilizer plant at 1500 Horn Rapids Drive. That project hinges on securing 350 megawatts of non-federal power.

No taxes are waived unless the projects are built and employ at least 25 new people at family-wage jobs, $23 an hour.

The bills introduced by Barnard were HB 2120 (TUA extension) and HB 1981 (preferential B&O rates for nuclear energy manufacturing).

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SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI)  An employee at Diegueno Middle School in Encinitas was arrested overnight Monday on suspicion of child sexual abuse and furnishing marijuana to a minor.

Campus supervisor Omar Hernandez Galeana, 21, was taken into custody by San Diego County Sheriffs Child Abuse Unit deputies just after midnight stemming from an incident that happened on Friday, March 22, according to the department.

In a Tuesday release, the sheriffs department said Galeana met with a 12-year-old victim outside of school hours at an undisclosed off-campus location where he is suspected of sexually assaulting them.

The incident was then reported to deputies at the North Coastal Sheriffs Station, prompting the Child Abuse Unit to open an investigation. No additional details were released by the sheriff due to the victims status as a minor.

Jail logs indicate he could face two counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under the age of 14, as well as one count of employing a juvenile over 14 years old to sell marijuana. Galenanas arraignment is scheduled for Friday.

In a letter to Diegueno Middle School families on Monday, San Dieguito Union High School District Superintendent Anne Staffieri said Galeana was an employee at the school for only three months and was fired shortly after his arrest.

Please know that our primary concern is the safety of all students. We are taking this information seriously and cooperating with law enforcement in every way possible, Staffieri said.

She also told parents they would be doing everything possible to maintain our daily routine while supporting each other moving forward and ensuring students are aware of the importance of their voice as a part of our overall commitment to campus safety.

Galenana marks the third educator to be accused of some form of child sexual abuse between three of the regions largest school districts over the last week.

On Wednesday, a teacher at Mt. Carmel High School in the Poway Unified School District was arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting a female student. She pleaded not guilty to 17 felony counts in court on Friday.

Also last Wednesday, the associate principal at Hoover High School in the San Diego Unified School District was taken into custody following a San Diego police investigation that found he allegedly sent and requested illicit messages from a minor on social media.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News.
BERKS COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM)  A discarded cigarette in New Jersey has led to the arrest in a Berks County cold case.

The Berks County District Attorneys office says Vallis Slaughter is facing charges including murder and criminal conspiracy to commit homicide in connection to the fatal 2012 diner shooting death of Julio Torres.

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The District Attorneys office says on March 24, 2012 Torres was fatally shot outside the West Reading Diner after a dispute between two men. One of the men was identified as Jomaine Case, however, he was not identified as the shooter. Case was later convicted in connection to the shooting.

At the diner, investigators collected a Styrofoam cup with a bitten-off piece from the scene for DNA evidence. A picture of the alleged shooter taken during a party before the shooting was also obtained as part of the investigation.

Court documents show new details on deadly Pennsylvania truck stop shooting

After years of going unsolved, investigators reopened the investigation in 2023 and used facial-recognition software to identify the person in the picture as Vallis Slaughter of Brooklyn.

Slaughter was found to be residing in Jersey City and surveillance was conducted at a residence in New Jersey. There, investigators obtained a cigarette butt discarded by Slaughter and say the DNA matched that to the bitten-off piece of Styrofoam cup.

Cold-Case-West-Reading-DinerDownload

Slaughter was taken into custody on March 20, 2024 in New Jersey and remains in the Hudson County New Jersey Correction Facility awaiting extradition.

This is a developing story. Stay with abc27 News as more information becomes available

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27.
Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizoda, a suspect in the Crocus City Hall shooting on Friday, is escorted by police and FSB officers in the Basmanny District Court in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, March 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

The four men accused of carrying out Russias deadliest terror attack in decades appeared in a Moscow court Sunday night bandaged and battered. One entered with his partially severed ear covered. Another was in an orange wheelchair, his left eye bulging, his hospital gown open and a catheter on his lap.

Many people around the world, including Russians, already knew what had happened to them. Since Saturday, videos of the men being tortured during interrogation circulated widely on social media, in what analysts called an apparent retaliation for the concert hall attack they are accused of committing Friday, which killed at least 139 people and injured 180 more.

One of the most disturbing videos showed one defendant, identified as Saidakrami M. Rajabalizoda, having part of his ear sliced off and shoved in his mouth. A photograph circulating online showed a battery hooked up to genitals of another, Shamsidin Fariduni, while he was being detained.

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How the videos began circulating was not immediately clear, but they were spread by nationalistic, pro-war Telegram channels that are regarded as close to Russias security services.

Though the goriest clips were not shown on state television, the brutal treatment of the defendants was made clear. And the decision by Russian authorities to showcase it so publicly in court, in a way they had almost never done before, was intended as a sign of revenge and a warning to potential terrorists, analysts said.

In Russias recent history, videos of torture were not shown on state television, said Olga Sadovskaya of the Committee Against Torture, a Russian human rights organization.

There were two intentions to circulating the videos, Sadovskaya said. First, to show people who could plan another terrorist attack what could happen to them, and second, to show society that there is revenge for all that people suffered in this terrorist attack.

She and other analysts said the flagrant display of the tortured demonstrated something else: the extent to which Russian society has become militarized, and tolerant of violence, since the war in Ukraine began.

This is a sign of how far we have gone with accepting the new methods of conducting a war, said Andrei Soldatov, an expert on Russias security services.

International surveys have shown that societies tolerate violence against people they perceive as the worst offenders, including terrorists, serial killers and perpetrators of violent crimes against children.

Nevertheless, Sadovskaya said the videos being aired on TV represented a new low for the Russian state.

This shows that the state and authorities demonstrate that violence is acceptable, that they normalize the torture of a certain subject, she said.

The Kremlins spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, declined Monday to comment on the torture allegations during a briefing with journalists. But former President Dmitry Medvedev, who currently serves as the deputy chair of Russias Security Council, said, Well done to those who caught them.

Should we kill them? We should. And we will, he wrote on Telegram on Monday. But its more important to kill everyone involved in the attack. All of them: those who paid, those who sympathized, those who helped.

Ivan Pavlov, a lawyer who used to defend difficult national security cases before being forced to flee Russia, said torture had long been used in terrorism and murder cases, mostly out of sight. Once the news about torture filters through prisons, he said, it lets other people know that if you are accused of terrorism, the special forces will torture you. So it works like prevention.

The court hearings Sunday were unusual because the torture was so brazenly put on display, Pavlov said.

Before, they hid it from the general public, but now they are not because the general public is ready for violence, he said. It is no longer something extremely unpleasant for the general public because of the war.

Russia is no longer party to the European Convention on Human Rights, but the Russian Constitution outlaws torture. It is also part of the United Nations Convention Against Torture.

Since torture is a crime both under international law and in many countries, defense lawyers would normally seek to have any testimony extracted under torture thrown out because it is notoriously unreliable, said Scott Roehm, the director for global policy and advocacy a the Minnesota-based Center for Victims of Torture, which works around the world.

The black-and-white legal finding that torture is a crime, a fundamental aspect of international human rights law, came under pressure in the United States after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Roehm noted. So the military commissions that dealt with cases at Guantanamo Bay had to take into account that some of the evidence was tainted by torture.

Torturers dont spend a lot of time thinking through the various consequences of their actions, said Roehm, especially in the aftermath of an attack like the one in Moscow. I think a torturers mindset is often a mix of a good degree of revenge and an entirely misguided, ignorant assumption that you could get somebody to confess under torture, and that confession can be used to convict them.

Trials of extremists in Russia are generally closed, as were most of the hearings Sunday, so it is impossible to know to what extent defense lawyers have objected to the practice. Most Russian judges would likely ignore it in any case, Pavlov said, because they know ahead of time what is expected of them in terms of sentencing the accused.

Indeed, the judge in the case of Muhammadsobir Z. Fayzov, 19, who seemed barely conscious at times, almost entirely ignored the fact that the defendant was in a wheelchair in an open hospital gown, a plastic container holding urine from his catheter in his lap. The only time the judge acknowledged it was to order two doctors, accompanying Fayzov, removed from the courtroom with the rest of the public when he closed the hearing, according to the report by Mediazona, an independent Russian news outlet.

The blatant flaunting of the battered suspects Sunday was particularly egregious, Pavlov noted. These are sad circumstances, of course, he said, but they made a circus out of the trial.

Soldatov, the security services expert, said the torture and the official response to it was a signal to the military that gruesome violence was now acceptable and encouraged.

By releasing videos of the torture, he said, authorities are sending this message of intimidation to everyone who is not on the Kremlins side  and sending a very encouraging message to the military and security services that you are on the same page.

Ruslan Shaveddinov, an activist and investigative journalist affiliated with the Anti-Corruption Fund of Alexei Navalny, the opposition figure who died in a Russian jail last month, called on Russians to condemn both the terrorists and the torture used on them.

It is important to say: Torture is not normal, he tweeted Sunday. Torture as a phenomenon should not exist. The cops and the state today torture a terrorist, they see approval of this method, and tomorrow they will torture an activist, journalist, anyone else. They dont know any other way.

c.2024 The New York Times Company
Banning disposable vapes will not be "effective", the boss of the UK's largest tobacco firm has told the BBC.

Tadeu Marroco, chief executive of British American Tobacco (BAT), also said raising the smoking age would have "non-intended consequences".

The government plans to outlaw disposable vapes next April as part of the "biggest public health measure in decades".

BAT is the UK's third-largest vape seller.

Sales of disposable vapes - which give a few hundred puffs of nicotine-containing liquid before being thrown away - have skyrocketed in recent years in Britain. It is estimated hundreds of millions are now sold every year, many of them illegal.

Last week the government published the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which will ban the sale of tobacco to anyone born from 2009 onwards, and bring in on-the-spot fines for retailers caught selling to under-18s.

But Mr Marroco said such a ban had not worked overseas. "In other countries this hasn't been effective," he said. "In Australia they have banned the whole category, and the amount teenagers use in the illegal market is very high. The same is happening in Brazil," he added.

However, campaigners believe otherwise. Deborah Arnott, chief executive of the anti-smoking charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) said, "The ban on disposables can be made to work but it requires tough enforcement not just in shops but at the border to prevent illegal imports."

As one of the biggest publicly-listed companies in the UK, BAT is third in the disposable vape sector behind market leaders Chinese firms SKE and iMiracle, which make Elfbar and Lost Mary.

Mr Marroco agreed that tougher penalties are needed. He said proposed on-the-spot fines of 100 were "not enough", calling the French proposal of 100,000 (86,000)"a proper fine".

But he warned of "non-intended consequences" for retail and law enforcement from the government's plan to keep raising the smoking age every year, so that people born in or after 2009 will never legally be able to buy tobacco.

"We need to tackle first of all the underage vapour use, we need to have a retail licence as we do for alcohol," he said, and repeated the company's calls for a ban on flavours which might appeal to children such as sweets and soft drinks.

"There is no doubt that the UK is being looked at by a number of countries around the world. That's why it's so important to get it right here," he said.

Asked whether BAT was only advocating policies which aligned with its commercial interests, the CEO stated: "This is an industry which has been under a lot of scrutiny on how we reduce the health impact of our products... this is the first time that we have the technology to do that."

Mr Marroco defended the company's use of sponsorship as "predominantly for adults" - it hands out free samples to promote its oral nicotine pouch products. "We are very cautious about that," he said.

BAT's Velo nicotine pouch brand sponsors the McLaren Formula One team - driving at Silverstone in July 2023

BAT also sponsors Formula One but Mr Marroco said the company's controls were "robust enough" to stop teenagers being encouraged to buy nicotine pouches.

However, he admitted that the law did not prevent them purchasing them. "At the moment if you're 14 you can buy nicotine pouches [legally in the UK]. This needs to stop," he said.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will give government powers to control sales of nicotine pouches.

BAT has had to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in fines for violating international sanctions in North Korea and breaking competition rules in Nigeria.

Mr Marroco would not comment if that made the company a trusted voice on vape regulation, but said: "We have exhaustively spoken about those problems in the past, and these stay there in the past...BAT today has the opportunity now that we didn't have in the past to reduce the risk of our products."

Ms Arnott from ASH said: "We've heard it all before that BAT has turned a new leaf and is now on the side of the angels.

"But BAT is still promoting tobacco cigarettes...and that's still where they're making most of their profits. That's why they don't like the government's age of sale legislation, not because it won't work but because it will."

In a statement the Department for Health and Social Care said smoking was responsible for around 80,000 deaths a year in the UK, costing 17bn a year.

"The Tobacco and Vapes Bill is the biggest public health measure in decades, protecting future generations from the harms of smoking.

"It will save thousands of lives and billions of pounds for our NHS, freeing up new resource which can be spent to improve outcomes across the UK."
Like Republican Kansas state Rep. Rebecca Schmoe, my first obstetrician tried to push me into aborting when I was pregnant with our twins. So yes, I do see the need for the legislation she has proposed, which would criminalize such coercion.

Maybe you think Schmoes experience sounds unbelievable, but I dont, though the pressure she describes was a lot more dramatic than in my case.

Her Johnson County doctor told her she would die if she went through with the pregnancy. In her telling, he advised her to pick out her casket, admonished her for failing to realize how horrible it would be for her parents to have to bury her, and did not want to let her leave his office until she scheduled an abortion.

If all of those details are accurate, he should have been charged with false imprisonment, which in Kansas is a misdemeanor called criminal restraint, punishable by a year in jail. At a minimum, she should own his house.

And if you take nothing else from this column, please take this: Always, always, always get a second opinion, as Schmoe did. Doctors, like the rest of us, get things wrong sometimes. Obviously, she did not die, and her child is a healthy 21-year-old now.

The D.C. specialist who said I had no choice but to abort was not mistaken in his diagnosis. But even worse than that, he was thinking about his liability rather than about his patient.

I had developed pregnancy-related tachycardia, which is apparently not that uncommon in moms of multiples, who are pumping a lot more blood than in a normal pregnancy. What that meant for me was that if I stood up for longer than a couple of minutes, my rapid heart beat so fast that it made me lose consciousness.

The OB, a specialist in multiple births, told me outright that he did not want to assume the responsibility of overseeing a higher risk pregnancy than he was comfortable with.

He said no other doctor would take me on either, which was not true, and strongly urged me to abort and start over, though there was never anything wrong with our twins, who are 28 and healthy.

I fired him that day, but know that not everyone is as stubborn as I am. And I did have trouble finding a cardiologist who would supervise my stubbornness. A couple of the heart doctors I saw said they, too, would only take me on as a patient if I ended the pregnancy.

As Ive written before, the only cowboy who would treat me wound up decades later being one of Donald Trumps favorite recommenders of hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19.

He took my case when no one else would, though, and came and checked on me at our house, too, which nobody does. So Ill always be grateful, because that seven months I spent weak and on bed rest added up to the best investment of my life.

No matter what you think about abortion rights, that was my choice to make, right? And while I also agree with Democratic attempts to broaden the proposed bill to ban all reproductive coercion, I hope that they wont let that keep them from supporting this measure.

There are lots of unanswered and maybe even unanswerable questions here, like who would enforce such a law. I mean, exactly which authorities would take the word of a female patient over an eminent practitioner?

Since even the kind of coercion otherwise known as rape is rarely prosecuted, how would this be different?

I would have reported my obstetrician to have kept the same thing from happening to anyone else. Yet can I imagine him in cuffs, or even in court, for pressuring me to silence the heartbeats I had already heard solely for his own convenience?

Not really. But sensitive as doctors are to the fear of legal penalties, this bill is worth passing anyway.
Ferguson Township is reviewing its signs and billboards ordinance after Centre County Republicans called restrictions on the number and size of political signs patently unconstitutional.

The township received a letter in October from attorney Thomas W. King on behalf of the Republican Committee of Centre County, stating that the townships signs and billboard ordinance is in violation of the First Amendment.

The townships ordinance states that no more than three portable signs can be placed on residential properties and also puts restrictions on the size of the signs.

I wish to notify or remind you that the posting of a political sign is pure political speech, which has been consistently adjudicated by the United States Federal Courts, including the Supreme Court of the United States, as protected under the First Amendment, King wrote.

While a city or municipality may view the general regulation of signs as necessary because of safety concerns, the letter states, other ordinances limiting the placement of political signs have been struck down in court.

If you persist this attack on free speech will immediately be brought to the attention of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania in the form of a lawsuit against the township, King wrote.

While the ordinance doesnt specifically mention the usage and limitation of political signage, commercial portable signs are limited to two per property and residential signs are limited to three. If a property owner is in violation of this, the sign could potentially be removed from the premises.

The ordinance also states that temporary signs cannot interfere with pedestrian traffic, curb ramps or access to buildings, etc.

Samuel Chen, a political strategist and founder of The Liddell Group in Lehigh Valley, said the answer to whether Ferguson Townships ordinance is unconstitutional is not so simple.

While political speech is is considered a given right of the First Amendment, and political campaign signs are most certainly included in that right, it seems as if Ferguson is attempting to put a limit on that  which would definitely be a First Amendment violation, Chen said. However, the gray area lies within the exemptions also listed in the ordinance, and whether or not any signs could possibly be considered a distraction to drivers, or a potential safety hazard for any other reason.

The Ferguson Township board of supervisors met last week and decided to turn the ordinance over to the planning commission, which met on Monday to discuss it.

A motion was passed to turn the matter over to the township solicitor, but there were talks about potentially adding a section to the ordinance that specifically addresses political signs.

For now, I think we should turn this over to the solicitor to see if our ordinance really is unconstitutional, but just in case it is, maybe we should look at adding a section to the ordinance that specifically addresses political signs, commission member Lewis Steinberg said.

While that idea was thoroughly discussed among the other commission members, no other action was taken.
Emergency contraception is not the same thing as the abortion pill, but these medications are often confused. While both involve reproductive health, emergency contraception  often called Plan B  is meant to stop a pregnancy from happening, and the abortion pill mifepristone ends an existing pregnancy, medical experts say.

Delineating the two medications is more important than ever as the Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday on a case that could sharply limit access to mifepristone and diminish the independence of the Food and Drug Administration.

An anti-abortion organization is challenging mifepristone's FDA approval, claiming the agency bypassed standard protocols to bring the medication to market.

Abortion advocates say the pill should not lose its FDA approval, citing decades of safety and efficacy in patients across the nation.

Mifepristone remains FDA-approved at the moment and available to many Americans from reproductive health clinics or telemedicine services, although full access to the pill is restricted in 15 states. The "Plan B" pill is legal in all 50 states without age restrictions.

The Supreme Court is hearing arguments over safety of the abortion pill, mifepristone.

The court's decision in the mifepristone case, expected this summer, could have a long-term impact on the FDAs ability to make decisions about the safety of all drugs. This means that while neither pill's approval changes today, there could be ramifications for all medications and the future of reproductive health systems nationally.

"Regardless of the result, it will not have an immediate impact on emergency contraception," Dana Singiser, co-founder of the Contraceptive Access Initiative, said of Tuesday's case.

How we got here

Last April, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Texas effectively invalidated the FDA's 23-year-old approval for mifepristone.

The Biden administration appealed, but the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Kacsmaryk's ruling that the FDA was wrong for approving changes in 2016 and 2021 that let women take the drug three weeks longer into a pregnancy and allowed the drugs to be dispensed through the mail without in-person visits with a doctor.

Elise Ketch of northern Virginia participated in a protest outside the Supreme Court Tuesday over access to mifepristone, a drug used in medication abortions.

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," the court wrote. It failed to gather evidence that affirmatively showed that mifepristone could be used safely without being prescribed and dispensed in person."

The case marks the first time a court has restricted access to an FDA-approved drug by second-guessing the agencys expert judgement, according to the Biden administration.

A decision against the FDA could open the "barn doors" for future similar claims against a slew of medications if the court sides with the plaintiff, particularly emergency contraception, Singiser and others argued.

Ongoing coverage: Supreme Court hears abortion pill Mifepristone case, nation watches anxiously: Live updates

"If the Supreme Court undermines FDA's authority that could threaten any drug that's ever been approved by the FDA," Singiser said. "That threat is is particularly posed to reproductive health products because there is such an organized advocacy movement against abortion, contraception and IVF."

What is mifepristone?

Mifepristone is one of two pills commonly used in medication abortion, accounting for more than half of all U.S. abortions. according to the Guttmacher Institute, which researches reproductive health policy. Patients take mifepristone with another medication called misoprostol to end a pregnancy that is less than 70 days developed. The pills are taken about two days apart.

The abortion drug has been used in the United States since 2000. The drug accounted for 63% of all U.S. abortions in 2023, an increase from 53% in 2020.

Some insurers and Medicaid plans cover abortion pills, according to Plan C, which hosts a guide to accesses abortion pills per state with financial information. Cost of the pill can range from $150 from online clinics that mail pills, to $500 or more at in-person clinics. Several online providers, such as Hey Jane, offer financial assistance, if needed.

Many medical organizations have rushed to defend mifepristone as "the most studied medication" and "overwhelmingly" safe, with a better track record than commonly used drugs such as Tylenol and Viagra, according to legal briefs filed in support of the FDA by the American Medical Association, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Academy of Family Physicians and several other organizations.

What about Plan B?

Emergency contraception is a type of birth control that should be taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex or birth control failure. The single pill is sold for about $50 at drug stores such as CVS and Walgreens.

It works by delaying ovulation with a hormone called levonorgestrel, according to Planned Parenthood. It's recommended to take Plan B as soon as possible after unprotected sex, but it can be taken up to five days later.

Emergency contraception is not abortion. The morning-after pill can be up to 95% effective in preventing pregnancy, but does not terminate an existing pregnancy. Plan B is designed to prevent ovulation, holding back an egg so that it won't be fertilized by sperm and an embryo formed.

A package of Plan B contraceptive is displayed at Jack's Pharmacy on April 5, 2013 in San Anselmo, California.

Many Americans confuse Plan B with the abortion pill. Some Americans began hoarding Plan B after Roe v. Wade fell in 2022, causing confusion and panic that emergency contraception was the next best thing, or would be next to be restricted. Even Olivia Rodrigo's current "Guts" Tour had to clarify that it was handing out emergency contraception, not abortion pills, at the pop star's concerts.

This conflation between the two medications is by "design," said Singiser, who said the anti-abortion movement has intentionally framed contraception as an "abortifacient" and worked to codify laws that state life begins at immediate conception, paving the way for legal battles on contraception and IVF, such as the recent attack on IVF in Alabama after the state's high court determined frozen embryos could be considered children.

This has all lead to fears that mifepristone's federal approval changing would cause a ripple effect for Plan B. And this confusion is even worse for people in states where abortion care is already restricted, the independent Kaiser Family Foundation found in a 2023 study. But Americans' access to emergency contraception remains unchanged for now.

Contributed: Maureen Groppe

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mifepristone v. Plan B. The language of reproductive health explained.
(COLORADO SPRINGS)  The Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region (HSPPR) said a dog rescued by Animal Law Enforcement (ALE) was reunited with her owner after running from a house fire miles away on Sunday, March 24.

According to HSPPR, while heading to a call ALE Officer Ridley saw a seemingly lost dog lying down on the side of the road. Two people were trying to catch the dog, so Officer Ridley pulled over to see if he could help.

Officer Ridley reported the dog seemed exhausted, heavily panting, and did not want to move.

With the help of the two good Samaritans, Officer Ridley was able to leash the dog and load her into the ALE truck. Once she was safe, the dog, later identified as Nola, was scanned for a microchip. HSPPR learned her name and found she was adopted from HSPPR in 2020.

Nola a dog rescued after escaping a house fire

Officer Ridley gave the owner a call, learning that she had escaped from a house fire off of Vista Del Tierra Drive near Dublin Boulevard in northeast Colorado Springs.

Officer Ridley assured the family she was safe and unharmed and that he would bring her to them.

On Monday, March 25, FOX21 went back to the neighborhood where the fire happened and spoke with a woman named Madison Rose, who said Nola was her moms dog and that ALE had told them she was found at Research Parkway and Scarborough Drive, several miles from home.

She ran quite a bit in a very short period of time, said Rose who expressed relief that Nola was back home and doing well. It is a devastating situation, but we are happy we could reunite Nola and her family so they could all be together during this difficult time, wrote HSPPR.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX21 News Colorado.
A Dolton church has sued the village and Mayor Tiffany Henyard, saying it has been blocked from efforts to remodel a building to use as a new home for worship services.

Redeemed Christian Church says it was denied necessary permits needed to continue rehabbing property it bought at 703 E. Sibley Blvd., and was required to apply for a business permit although the church is nonprofit, according to a lawsuit filed this month in federal court.

The church more recently asked a judge to issue an injunction to allow it to move ahead with fixing up the building.

During a hearing Tuesday in Chicago, U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey Cummings told the village to respond to the motion for an injunction, but also asked both sides to try to settle the matter, according to attorneys for the church and village.

John Mauck, an attorney representing the church, said Redeemed Christian is willing to sit down to work out a settlement, but said the churchs position is there is no chance to settle unless the village allows the church to worship in its building. That is non-negotiable.

Fundamental freedoms are being denied, Mauck said.

Michael Del Galdo, an attorney for the village, said he was not authorized to comment on the villages behalf and referred questions to an outside public relations firm. The firm said it received the Daily Southtowns request for comment and would review it, but did not immediately respond to the lawsuits allegations.

Del Galdo said the judge entered a briefing schedule to allow the village time to respond and required the village to respond to the churchs settlement demand by Friday.

The village also offered to take part in a settlement conference in an effort to find common ground with the church, according to Del Galdo.

The Chicago-based law firm of Mauck & Baker is representing the church in the religious discrimination lawsuit, which was filed March 5 and alleges, among other things, violation of due process and willful and wanton conduct on the part of village officials.

The lawsuit accuses Dolton officials operating under Henyards command in the deliberate illegal treatment of the church, which is in violation of the municipalitys own zoning ordinances that allow a house of worship at the location, Mauck said.

Redeemed Christian Church said it has been operating from rented space at 233 E. 138th St. in the village for 10 years, paying $1,000 a month.

The church was formed in November 2008 and initially met at the South Holland Community Center.

As of May 2023, the church had more than 80 members, but that has dwindled due to uncertainties about the churchs future home, according to the lawsuit.

Mauck said questions about whether the church will be able to relocate have hurt attendance and membership.

Its confusing and its damaging to the church, he said.

In February 2023, a decision was made to move to a larger home and the Sibley Boulevard property was purchased that June, according to the lawsuit.

The building is the former home of Compleat Cyclist, a business damaged in 2021 when a car dragging a police officer crashed into it after a dispute at a nearby drive-thru.

The church paid money into escrow to make repairs, but at one point during renovations was told it needed to get a business license from the village, according to the lawsuit. Although an application for a business license was completed by Stephen Osunkeye, the church pastor, in July 2023, no license has been issued, according to the complaint.

The lawsuit says without the business license, the church also cant get licenses from Dolton for electrical and plumbing work needed to complete repairs.

When Osunkeye went to Village Hall to file for the business license application, he was told by William Moore, the villages Housing Department director, that he doubted it would be approved, according to the lawsuit.

Moore allegedly told the pastor the application wouldnt be approved because Doltons mayor wanted to keep Sibley Boulevard  a busy retail corridor  preserved for commercial uses, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also cites an exchange between the pastor and Keith Freeman, village administrator, from an Aug. 30, 2023, Village Board meeting. Freeman allegedly told the pastor the village would not approve a business license and that they could have anything in there except a church, according to the complaint.

Osunkeye sent a letter dated Jan. 5 of this year asking about the status of the churchs license applications, but did not receive a response, according to the lawsuit.

Mauck said that Dolton has 21 days to respond to the motion for the injunction and that the judge set a May 8 status hearing.

The attorney said the church is willing to negotiate with the village on items such as monetary damages and attorney and other legal fees, but that the absolute right to worship the Lord by this church at this location, we are absolutely firm on that.
Aramco President & CEO Amin Nasser has outlined the potential for stronger collaboration with Chinese partners in his speech at the China Development Forum in Beijing, reported SPA.

Nasser underscored the possibility of fostering broader economic globalisation by strengthening ties with Chinese partners, and identified specific areas for increased cooperation, including emissions reduction technologies, materials development, and the chemicals sector.

He acknowledged China's accomplishments and economic growth in recent decades, and expressed admiration for Chinas ability to overcome challenges.

He also emphasised the importance of trusted partnerships, stating that Aramco is one of China's most reliable energy suppliers.

He added: "Aramcos commitment to Chinas long-term energy security, which will drive this great nations further growth and development, is set in stone. It is equally clear to us that with Chinas emphasis on high-quality development, even greater investment and cooperation opportunities are emerging."

Nasser also underlined that China has an important place in the Kingdoms global investment strategy, which led to investments in China last year, saying that we want to be a partner of first resort in Chinas economic development journey, as new opportunities come into focus".

China's market strength accounts for 40 per cent of global sales in chemicals, he said, adding that Aramco is also well-positioned, holding a majority stake in Sabic, a world-leading chemicals player, which is crucial to Aramco's ambitious goal of increasing liquids-to-chemicals throughput to four million barrels per day by 2030.

Nasser also said that Aramco and China are strongly aligned in their strategic goals for the chemicals sector.

This alignment presents significant opportunities for collaboration, he said, adding that evidence of this includes two multi-billion-dollar liquids-to-chemicals investment agreements signed in China last year.

These agreements entail the acquisition of a stake in Rongsheng Petrochemicals Company in Zhejiang Province, valued at $3.4 billion, and a partnership established in Liaoning Province with a total investment of approximately $12 billion.

Nasser said lower carbon energy is a global priority that aligns with the climate ambitions of both China and Saudi Arabia, and pointed out China's strengths in renewables and critical materials, and Saudi Arabia's interest in solar, wind, hydrogen, and electro fuels.

Combining their strengths could effectively match their ambitions, said Nasser, pointing to shared ambitions in digital and Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies, as another area of collaboration.

He also said that Aramco's venture capital arm, with its recent funding increase to $7.5 billion focused on innovation and sustainability, is an example of "attractive opportunities" for China and Aramco to partner.
In less than ten years, it will be three centuries since a significant event changed the course of Spains history. On Christmas Eve in 1734, a fire began in Royal Alcazar of Madrid (now the site of the Royal Palace) and raged for four days, destroying around 500 works of art. The thought of lost paintings by renowned artists like Ribera, Titian, El Greco, Giordano, Raphael, Rubens, Leonardo (probably a copy), Tintoretto and Velazquez was truly heartbreaking for art lovers then and now. Fortunately, Diego Velazquezs Las Meninas was rescued by throwing it out of a window, while some other large canvases were cut from their frames and saved. Historian and former Prado Museum director Alfonso Perez Sanchez estimated that 1,308 paintings survived the catastrophic fire. But Velazquezs Expulsion of the Moriscos (1627) did not.

Nearly 300 years later, artist Fernando Sanchez Castillo used artificial intelligence (AI) software to recreate the lost Velazquez. The outcome is a four-minute video that begins with what looks like a murky, charred canvas. Sanchez didnt start from scratch  AI technology needs to be fed data. The video slowly transforms into a clear painting of King Felipe III ordering the expulsion of the Moors from Spain, when around 250,000 people were forced out between 1609 and 1614. Its a stark example of the new religious fanaticism in Spain  the Black Legend. King Felipe III violated all principles of good governance by expelling a hardworking people, wrote historian John Elliott. Sanchez says Velazquez was the first to create a painting that evoked the two faces of Spain and the Islamophobia of the time.

Generative AI needs input to get started. Luckily, shortly before its destruction, a historian and artist named Antonio Palomino (1655-1726) penned a description of the Velazquez painting. King Felipe III is depicted holding a scepter, pointing to a group of sorrowful men, women and children being led away by soldiers. In the distance are wagons and a Navy ship, with smaller boats waiting to transport all the people. Spain is depicted in the Roman style as a majestic matron with a shield, holding darts in her right hand and wheat sheaves in her left. An inscription [in Latin] is at her feet on a plinth.

These were important and fortuitous words for Sanchezs task, but he would need more good luck to be successful. He needed something similar to the real image to feed the AI program. In 1988, Spanish art expert William B. Jordan discovered a black and white illustration in a catalog from the Philips auction house in London. The untitled painting, labeled as Bust of a knight with a high collar, was attributed to an artist from Flemish painter Justus Sustermanss circle. The small canvas, which had been altered by gluing another piece to it, depicted King Felipe III. Upon restoration, both the Kimbell Art Museum in Texas and Madrids Prado Museum confirmed that it was a preliminary sketch by Velazquez for his Expulsion of the Moriscos painting. William B. Jordan acquired that small canvas and donated it to the Prado in 2016 through the American Friends of the Prado Museum organization.

As AI input, Sanchez also used the paintings from a competition sponsored by King Felipe IV in 1627. The king ordered Velazquez and his jealous rivals from the royal court to each create a large painting depicting the expulsion of the Moors. The contenders were Vicente Carducho (1563-1638), Eugenio Cajes (1577-1634) and Angelo Nardi (1584-1660), an artist trained in Italy. The king appointed Dominican Friar Juan Bautista Maino (1581-1649) and the architect and painter Giovanni Battista Crescenzi (1577-1635) as independent judges. All the competing artists presented draft sketches, most likely in oil. Velazquez won, and proved that he knew how to paint more than heads, as his detractors claimed. After his victory, Velazquez was appointed King Felipe IVs official court painter.

Back to the present. Armed with Palominos text and the preliminary sketch that Velazquez would use as a starting point for his larger painting, Sanchez turned next to Paula Garcia, a student at the Complutense University of Madrid who wrote her thesis on AI applied to contemporary sculpture. Using a blend of history and technology, the two spent over 100 hours reconstructing Velazquezs Expulsion of the Moriscos. They say 80% of the result is derived from artistic creations and 20% is due to AI. People always have this natural suspicion about artificial intelligence, said Sanchez.

AI contributes a great deal but also makes mistakes. Sanchez and Garcia started working with MidJourney, a generative AI program that transforms words into images. These words or prompts provide text and image instructions to an AI model that uses them to generate coherent responses. The more precise the prompt, the better it works. If youre vague, like saying allegory of Spain for our painting, youll see Spanish flags pop up on the screen. Its a time-consuming job that requires patience. You move forward, go back, check internet images, then move forward again, said Garcia, who now in specializes in video game design. The most difficult parts were the steps and curtains in the background, and the hands. But above all, the architecture was the hardest part. Once the individual elements of the painting had been created, they all had to fit together. For this, they used the latest version of Adobe Photoshop that incorporates an artificial intelligence feature called generative filling. It enables various images to be joined together seamlessly. Garcia likens it to having an army of apprentices.

Spains Ministry of Culture has placed limits on technological art and pledges not to recognize or commission AI-generated works. Maybe its all a matter of percentages. The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF)  the worlds foremost art, antiques and design fair held annually in Maastricht (the Netherlands)  prohibits exhibiting pieces with more than 30% restoration. That policy excludes pieces like Salvator Mundi, a painting attributed in whole or in part to Leonardo da Vinci. It was rediscovered and restored in 20112012, and then sold for $450 million. A matter of intelligence, not artificial.

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WASHINGTON  Former president and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump says Israel should stop military operations against Hamas in Gaza because the violence its hurting its reputation throughout the world.

"You have to finish up your war ... to finish it up," Trump told the newspaper Israel Hayom in an interview posted Monday. "You gotta get it done. And, I am sure you will do that."

Trump said he supported Israel's initial response to the Hamas attack last year  "what I saw October 7 was one of the saddest things I've ever seen"  but he felt it has gone on too long.

More: Netanyahu blasts Sen. Schumer: 'We're not a banana republic'

"Israel has to be very careful, because you're losing a lot of the world, you're losing a lot of support, you have to finish up," Trump said. "And you have to get on to peace, to get on to a normal life for Israel, and for everybody else."

More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli bombings since Hamas launched a devastating raid into southern Israel almost six months ago, killing 1,200 people.

Trump has clashed with Netanyahu in the past

President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in 2020.

Trump has long touted his support for Israel, but he has also engaged in stereotypes about Jewish voters and clashed with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Shortly after the Oct. 7 attack, Trump all but blamed Netanyahu by saying Israeli intelligence services had failed and the government underestimated that its enemies are "very smart."

Trump had also criticized Netanyahu for calling to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden after the 2020 election, dismissing Trump's protests of the vote.

"I'll never forget that Bibi Netanyahu let us down," Trump told a group of supporters during an October event in West Palm Beach, Fla. "That was a very terrible thing."

Related: Air Force member Aaron Bushnell dies after setting himself on fire near Israeli Embassy

In his interview with Israel Hayom, a conservative outlet owned by the family of the late billionaire Sheldon Adelson, Trump also criticized Biden's foreign policy.

Netanyahu has pushed back on U.S. criticism of the war. On Monday, he canceled a visit by an Israel diplomatic delegation after the U.S. allowed a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza.

The Biden administration, meanwhile, has criticized Israel's plans for an offensive in Rafah, in southern Gaza that's packed with more than 1 million refugees.

Our goal is to make Israel and the region safer and more secure, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Tuesday as he greeted Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant at the Pentagon. And as I have consistently said, protecting Palestinian civilians from harm is both a moral necessity and a strategic imperative."

A man carries children injured in Israeli bombardment, at the al-Najjar hospital in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on March 24, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the militant group Hamas.

"In Gaza today, the number of civilian casualties is far too high, and the amount of humanitarian aid is far too low. Gaza is suffering a humanitarian catastrophe, and the situation is getting even worse, Lloyd added.

In his interview, Trump did not offer a prescription of his own for the Israel-Hamas conflict, a point made by opponents who accused the former president of again second-guessing allies.

"Literally everyone who has been saying Trump is better than Biden when it comes to pro-Israel policy in the current context can take a seat now, I think," said Republican political strategist Liz Mair.

Contributing: Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump urges Israel to end Gaza war against Hamas
Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks growing brighter. The greenish coma of this periodic Halley-type comet has become relatively easy to observe in small telescopes. But the bluish ion tail now streaming from the active comet's coma and buffeted by the solar wind, is faint and difficult to follow. Still, in this image stacked exposures made on the night of February 11 reveal the fainter tail's detailed structures.

Skygazers have the chance to view more than just a bright planet Mercury or Aprils total solar eclipse over the next few days. An unusual devil comet or Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks will be visible across the night sky over the next several days and may make an appearance during the big eclipse on April 8th . Since it only makes one orbit around the sun every 71 years, seeing Pons-Brooks is generally a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

What is the devil comet?

Pons-Brooks is a 10.5 mile-wide ball of ice and rock. It has a stretched out or highly elliptical orbit and is currently heading in the direction of our sun. It has a core made up of solid ice, gas, and dust that is surrounded by a frozen shell or nucleus. This nucleus is also covered by a cloud of icy dust called a coma that slowly leaks out of the center of the comet.

Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks' swirling coma. This image is a composite of three very specific colors, showing the comet's ever-changing ion tail in light blue, its outer coma in green, and highlights some red-glowing gas around the coma in a spiral. The spiral is thought to be caused by gas being expelled by the slowly rotating nucleus of the giant iceberg comet. CREDIT: Copyright Jan Erik Vallestad

Unlike most other comets, Pons-Brooks is cryovolcanic . It frequently erupts when solar radiation opens up fissures in the nucleus. This causes highly pressurized icy cryomagma to spew into space . When this occurs, the cloud of icy dust that surrounds it expands and appears brighter than usual.

Pons-Brooks had a major eruption for the first time in 69 years in July 2023 , which left it with two distinct trails of gas and ice that resemble a pair of devil horns. It has continued to erupt fairly frequently.

[Related: Oumuamua isnt an alien probe, but it might be the freakiest comet weve ever seen .]

When will it be visible?

Throughout the next few weeks, Pons-Brooks may be visible to the naked eye as it travels through the inner solar system . It will remain so until April 2, as it travels closer to the sun and wont be visible in the dark night sky. It will be closest to Earth on June 2, when it is headed away from the sun. It does not pose any known threats to Earth and will be about 139.4 million miles away.

SETI institute postdoctoral fellow Ariel Graykowski told Gizmodo that it is set to become even more active in the coming weeks and will be visible to the naked eye with a maximum brightness magnitude around 4.0. The lower the magnitude, the brighter the appearance.

The limit for naked eye objects in dark, moonless skies is around 6 magnitudes, Graykowski said , so it wont be super obvious in the sky.

Where should I look?

In the Northern Hemisphere, it is most visible in the early evening towards the west-northwest horizon. Pons-Brooks is near the Pisces constellation and sits low in the northwestern sky. It should appear like a glowing ball of ice, with its forked horns following behind it.

[Related: Halleys comet is on its way back towards Earth .]

The comet will brighten a bit as it gets closer to the sun, and it should be visible to the naked eye low in the west about an hour after sunset, Paul Chodas and Davide Farnocchia from NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory told CNN . You should go to a location away from city lights and with an unobstructed view of the western horizon. It would be advisable to use a pair of binoculars, since the comet may be hard to locate without them.

Will it appear during the April 8 solar eclipse?

Maybe. The forecast remains uncertain, but Pons-brooks could be visible if it flares significantly . It would only be seen by viewers in the path of totality the area stretching from Texas northeast towards Maine where the moon will fully block the suns light.

According to EarthSky , when the sky darkens, youll see the brightest planet Venus pop into view on one side of the sun. On the other side of the sun, youll find the second-brightest planet, Jupiter. And if Comet Pons-Brooks is bright enough, youll see it between Jupiter and the sun, but closer to Jupiter.

It will not make an appearance again until 2097 , so now is your chance to get a look.
The Inspiration Mock Orbiter could move from its current place in Florida to downtown St. Cloud.

ST. CLOUD  Downtown St. Cloud could be the home of the Inspiration Mock Orbiter, a NASA-built model of the space shuttle.

Currently owned by local inventor and founder of LVX System, Felicity-John Pederson, the model weighs about 200,000 pounds and is incredibly realistic, according to Pederson.

Pederson said he doesnt know why it was built but he took ownership of it in 2015 and refurbished it to be used for research and educational purposes.

The model has been housed at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida but now NASA is hoping to put that space to use. Pederson has about one week to figure out where its going to go and hes hoping it will have a place in his hometown.

I think it would be an amazing thing for St. Cloud, Pederson said. I am very much into education and seeing, especially kids, have fun learning. I love that. So that would be one of the really cool things and I think this thing has something to offer  from young kids to older people.

Pedersons grandson Jack had the opportunity to see the model while visiting Pederson and his wife Irene in Florida.

He had great fun and wanted to throw every switch and control, Pederson said in an email. He's now a 5th grader, loves space exploration, and wants to be an engineer with robotics.

Felicity-John Pederson's grandson Jack Scanlan poses for a photo inside the Inspiration Mock Orbiter while wearing a space suit.

Pederson said he hopes the model will be open for tours so visitors can see the inside of the shuttle, like Jack did.

If the model is brought to St. Cloud, it would likely go next to the soon-to-be-built childrens museum as an additional downtown attraction. Conversations are ongoing about whether a structure would be built to house the shuttle or if it would remain outdoors as a roadside attraction.

I think something such as this, especially something so unique and  especially now with what's happening in the private space program, it's very popular and I think even more so, as a destination. I think it'd be pretty strong, Mayor Dave Kleis said.

In a letter to Pederson, Senate Majority Leader Kari Dziedzic and Senator Aric Putnam expressed support for bringing the model to Minnesota.

We are eager to take part in the creation of a place that showcases the history and scientific contributions of the nations storied space shuttle program, the letter said. The creation of interactive and immersive experiences, both inside and outside the renovated shuttle, would unleash the curiosities and broaden offerings in the most central part of the state.

The Inspiration Mock Orbiter is currently kept at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, but will soon need to be moved. St. Cloud is being considered as a potential new home for the shuttle.

Great River Children's Museum Executive Director Cassie Miles sees the orbiter as an opportunity to create a Midwest attraction with potentially nationwide draw.

While Miles effort to bring the shuttle to downtown is independent of her work with the childrens museum, her personal vision is to eventually create a science museum around the orbiter near the site of the childrens museum.

Since this opportunity came up so quickly, there has not been time to study the economic potential of the orbiter, however, similar attractions have drawn huge volumes of traffic, according to Miles.

Getting the orbiter to St. Cloud would cost approximately $750,000, Miles said. That funding would not come from the childrens museum but likely from individuals willing to help make this opportunity a reality for the city.

The closest (shuttle) to us here in St. Cloud, Minnesota, would be at the Smithsonian. So we're talking a Midwest draw of people who can drive and plan trips around stopping here in St. Cloud to visit this orbiter and whatever facilities exist around it, Miles said. I happen to believe in an economy that can be built around arts and culture. That's why I believe so firmly in downtown and I'm really happy to be building the children's museum there.

Miles said the tentative start date for construction on the childrens museum is April 1, with a goal of finishing by the end of the year and opening the museum to visitors in 2025.

 Tess Ware is the local editor of The St. Cloud Times. Contact her at tware@stcloudtimes.com.

This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: St. Cloud could be the new home of a NASA-built space shuttle model
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip

Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Mohammed Salem

CAIRO/RAFAH, Gaza Strip (Reuters) - Israeli air strikes killed dozens of Palestinians at both ends of the Gaza Strip overnight, hitting the area around Al Shifa hospital in the north and Rafah on the southern edge where more than a million people have sought shelter.

In the north, where intense fighting has raged for more than a week around Al Shifa, members of the Haseera family told Reuters dozens had been killed in a strike that wiped out a family compound near Gaza's biggest hospital.

"A new massacre against the families of Abu Suhail Abu Haseera, his children and grandchildren, totalling around 30 people," family member Abu Ali Abu Haseera said in a text message to Reuters.

Reuters journalists were not able to reach the area around Al Shifa, which Israeli forces stormed on March 18. Israel says it has killed and arrested hundreds of Hamas fighters who were using the hospital as a base. Hamas and medical staff deny fighters were present and say civilians have been rounded up.

In the south, where more than half of Gaza's 2.3 million people are sheltering in Rafah against the border fence with Egypt, health authorities said 18 people including eight children were killed in a strike on the Abu Nqaira family home.

Blankets and children's clothes were strewn amid the rubble on Tuesday morning, where relatives picked through the debris to retrieve belongings. Outside, a pillar of reinforced concrete had crushed a burnt-out car. Family members wept over corpses laid out at a nearby hospital morgue.

Israel says it plans a ground offensive into Rafah, where it believes most Hamas fighters are now sheltering. Its closest ally the United States opposes such an assault, arguing it would cause too much harm to civilians who have sought refuge there.

Also in the south, a siege by tanks around two other hospitals in Khan Younis continued for the third day.

Israel launched its assault on the Gaza Strip after Hamas fighters crossed the border on a rampage on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and capturing 253 hostages according to Israeli tallies.

Health authorities in the Hamas-run enclave say at least 32,333 Palestinians have been confirmed killed and 74,694 injured in Israel's offensive, including 107 Palestinians killed in the past 24 hours. Thousands more people are feared dead and unrecovered among the ruins.

The United Nations says Gaza is on the verge of famine, with the entire population experiencing severe food shortages, half at the highest level of catastrophe, and mass death imminent unless more aid arrives immediately. Israel denies blame for hunger in Gaza and insists it is letting in enough food.

The media office of the Hamas-run Gaza authorities said 18 Palestinians had died in the past day trying to retrieve boxes of aid dropped by air. Twelve had drowned chasing aid that landed in the sea, and six others were trampled to death.

It blamed the United States for resorting to dangerous and inefficient air drops, rather than pressing its ally Israel to allow more aid in by land.

On Monday, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, after the United States abstained from the vote.

Israel criticised Washington's decision not to deploy its veto over the measure, which Israel said would not change anything on the ground.

Hamas welcomed the Security Council resolution, saying in a statement that it "affirms readiness to engage in immediate prisoner swaps on both sides".

(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo and Mohammed Salem in Gaza; Writing by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Editing by Peter Graff)
New Hampshire State Police say 16 cars were damaged Monday afternoon after a concrete truck veered off Interstate 93 and crashed in the area of the Park & Ride in Concord.

According to police, the truck, which was not carrying any concrete at the time, had been traveling south on I-93 when it swerved off the right side of the road, striking a guardrail near the Exit 14 off-ramp.

The truck continued for approximately 100 feet then went through a chain-link fence and continued down an embankment into a parking lot area near the Concord Coach Lines bus terminal on Stickney Avenue, police said. The truck struck and damaged 10 vehicles as it traveled through the parking lot before continuing into another lot, where six more vehicles were struck and damaged.

Police said an employee from Concord Coach Lines was able to turn off the truck, which was still in gear with the wheels continuing to spin.

In total, 16 vehicles were struck and damaged by the concrete truck.

The operator of the concrete truck has been identified as Scott Long, 57, of Alton Bay, N.H. Troopers say Long, the only person injured, appears to have suffered a medical emergency.

The crash and all contributing factors remain under investigation.

Anyone who witnessed the crash or has video footage contact Trooper Jacob Plourde at (603)-451-9329 or jacob.j.plourde@dos.nh.gov.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW)  It has been almost eight years since Starkely clients Dusty Atterbery, 25, and Dirk MacMillan, 46, died in a crash in west Wichita. Last week, the man convicted of killing them found out he would not have to spend as much time in prison.

The crash happened on May 6, 2016. An SUV slammed into a van operated by Starkey. Atterbery and MacMillan died. Five other people were injured.

Police arrested the driver of the SUV, Bret Blevins. An affidavit said he was legally drunk and had been using meth when the crash happened.

Oklahoma crash kills roadside construction worker, critically injures 2 others

In May 2017, a jury found Blevins guilty of 14 counts, including second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and multiple charges of aggravated battery.

In June 2017, a judge sentenced him to more than 700 months, or 58 years, for the crimes.

Blevins appealed, and the Kansas Supreme Court overturned his original sentence because of a structural trial error by his previous attorney.

On Friday, Judge Eric Williams resentenced Blevins to 205 months in prison or just over 17 years. Because he has already spent about seven years in prison, he has approximately 10 years left.

Blevins is 64 years old.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV.
The Kansas City Police Department has identified a man who died Monday in a police chase with the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Around 2 a.m. Monday, the highway patrol tried to pull over a driver in a white Jeep Grand Cherokee for an alleged traffic violation, according to KCPD.

The driver, identified as 46-year-old Quintrell D. Monroe, did not stop and traveled at a high speed on East 33rd Street. At 33rd and Indiana Avenue, Monroe ran off the road and hit two telephone poles and a tree.

He was transported to a hospital where he was pronounced deceased. He was not wearing a seat belt.

Monroe is at least the fourth person to die this year after police chases in Kansas City. A suspect and an innocent bystander died in a January crash on Interstate 435 near Missouri 210 highway.

Another driver died in a crash last month at Linwood and Van Brunt boulevards.

An investigation published earlier this year by The Star found that on average, more than three chases take place in the metro every day. Pursuits routinely exceed 100 mph, with some chases reaching 130 mph, a review of police reports showed. Officers often pursued drivers for trivial violations and in dangerous conditions, including poor visibility.

Many experts, including officials with the Police Executive Research Forum, a nonprofit think tank based in Washington, D.C., say police chases should only be allowed when a violent crime has been committed and there is an imminent threat to safety.

In 2022, there were over 150 crashes and 51 injuries as a result of chases in the Kansas City area.
Hours after he struck a troopers patrol car, a driver was accused of running over a pedestrian, killing him, Minnesota authorities say.

The driver, 21-year-old Brent James Keranen, told officers he was playing air guitar in his vehicle while listening to the radio during the March 21 incident in Moose Lake, according to a criminal complaint.

He said he was looking down and jamming out a bit and next thing you know I hit somebody, police said.

The victim, identified by Northern News Now as 61-year-old Justin McNeil, was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said in the complaint.

The incident led to a vehicular homicide charge against Keranen, who police said was involved in a separate incident earlier in the day.

Keranen had fallen asleep while driving, striking a Minnesota State Police troopers vehicle, police said. He told officers he had been working a lot of hours and was up late the previous night drinking alcohol with his friends.

He was issued a citation from the initial crash when a preliminary breath test revealed his blood alcohol content was below the legal limit, according to police.

The defendant admitted he was tired, but he later stopped and consumed a 5-hour energy drink before he resumed driving, authorities said in the complaint.

Keranen said he had his cruise control set to 52 mph in the 40-mph speed zone before striking the pedestrian, police said.

McNeil had just left a Dollar General and was carrying his purchased items while walking on the shoulder of a highway, court records show. He was struck when Keranen veered off the road and onto the shoulder, the complaint said.

While Keranen showed signs of being impaired, a second preliminary breath test registered a blood alcohol concentration of 0.06  once again below the legal limit of 0.08, police said.

Northern News Now reports Keranen faces up to 10 years in prison if he is convicted of vehicular homicide.

Moose Lake is about a 115-mile drive north of Minneapolis.

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A bomb dropped from a Russian drone has injured a 50-year-old man in Beryslav, the Kherson Oblast Military Administration reported on March 26.

In a post on Telegram, authorities said the man was hospitalized with leg injuries.

While bomb-dropping drones targeting soldiers of both sides are a regular occurrence on the front lines, such attacks against civilians are far rarer though there has been a recent uptick in Russian forces using the tactic.

Two other men were injured in a similar attack on March 23. One of the victims suffered a blast injury and shrapnel wounds to his legs. The other suffered a contusion and multiple injuries to the head, face, and legs, officials said.

Such attacks targeting civilians breach international law.

Beryslav, a town with a pre-war population of 12,000, lies at the western bank of the Dnipro River, almost 70 kilometers (43.5 miles) east of the regional center, Kherson.

Ukraine's Armed Forces liberated Kherson and other regional settlements on the west bank of the Dnipro River, such as Beryslav, 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.

Earlier on March 23, Russian forces struck a relief center in the Novooleksandrivka community of the Beryslav district, wounding three people.

Read also: Russia aims to knock out Ukraines power grid in new wave of attacks

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
For most people, getting too little sleep one night is associated with mental fatigue the next day. The hours pass slowly and densely, marked by a sense of unreality. The brain reacts rather sluggishly. We think worse, we forget things, we find it hard to stay focused. If the lack of sleeping time is significant, we are overcome by a certain confusion, as if the parts of the day do not quite fit together.

When this occasional lack of sleep becomes systematic, prolonged over time, a sort of cumulative effect develops. Neuroscience has sufficiently demonstrated, based on overwhelming evidence, that getting too little sleep as a norm  over years or decades  increases the risk of cognitive impairment in later life.

There are several studies that back up the mental harm caused by insufficient sleep. One study published in 2021 by Nature concluded that sleeping six hours or less  the sleep duration of nearly 8,000 participants at ages 50, 60 and 70 was measured  increases the likelihood of Alzheimers and other types of dementia by 30%. Another analysis published that same year, by researchers at Harvard Medical School, yielded even more compelling results: those who sleep less than five hours are twice as likely to develop dementia as those who get an average of seven hours sleep.

However, two recent research studies suggest that it is not only duration that counts. Both coincide in indicating  albeit from different approaches  that regularity in sleep patterns could also significantly influence our cognition. It does not seem advisable to alternate between highly variable sleep times. It is also not entirely harmless to frequently change the time period in which we sleep.

Jeffrey Iliff, a researcher in sleep and health, spearheaded one of these two new contributions to a burgeoning field of analysis. By cross-referencing data from the Seattle Longitudinal Study, which has been collecting psychosocial information on thousands of individuals since 1956, Iliff and his team sought to learn more about the link between stability in sleep quantity (measured over 20 years) and the subsequent onset of dementia.

Via a video conference call, Iliff summarizes their main finding: Those who progressively decrease their hours of sleep are not at the greatest risk of cognitive impairment, but rather those who vary the most in the number of hours slept. People who get insufficient sleep during one season and who, in other seasons, toss and turn all night. And then they return to sleep very little. And, after months or years, they sleep too much again. And so on.

Iliff admits that, for the time being, we can only speculate about the causes of this close correlation between poor sleep and cognitive impairment. It is possible that variability is, on its own, a factor to be taken into account. But it is also plausible that other factors associated with an increased risk of dementia (chronic disease, apnea, depression, etc.) cause this variability, he explains.

The second study on sleep patterns and dementia, carried out by Australian and Canadian researchers, focuses on the regularity of schedules. Going to bed with no set order (one day at 10 p.m.; another, say, at 3 a.m.), and repeating this disorder as a rule, leads to a significant increase in the risk of suffering from Alzheimers or other neurodegenerative diseases in the future, the study suggests. One of the authors, Matthew Pase, a researcher at Monash University, ventures into the domain of conjecture. Cardiovascular diseases are more frequent among people that have an irregular sleep pattern. These pathologies cause the blood supply to the brain to function more poorly, which may help to explain some of the long-term cognitive impairment, he says.

In the relationship between sleep and cognition, where multiple elements converge in a complex equation, some evidence confirms what has already been foreseen by common sense. On the contrary, others seem counter-intuitive. A number of studies have concluded, for example, that sleeping too much (over 9-10 hours) also increases the likelihood of experiencing a gradual loss of cognitive abilities. In 2017, a meta-analysis identified this finding in 10 publications. Another multi-study study published in 2019 showed a 77% increase in the risk of dementia among sleepers compared to those who remain in the optimal range, estimated at about seven to eight hours.

In the opinion of Merce Mayos, member of the Spanish Federation of Sleep Medicine Societies, a central concept would resolve this apparent paradox: comorbidity. In other words, the presence of two or more pathologies whose symptoms and mechanisms are sometimes difficult to observe individually. Of course, it seems nonsensical that too much sleep is bad at the cognitive level. The main hypothesis is that there must be confounding factors: depression or other comorbidities that lead these people to sleep more.

The study on sleep schedules in which Pase participated also involves a dose of oddity. If sleeping and waking without a more or less fixed pattern could be compromising our future cognitive capacity, the risk of dementia also increases when rest is subject to scrupulously strict schedules. For instance, someone who sleeps from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. with dogged perseverance, with hardly any exceptions, at the stroke of a clock. Pase suggests, as a feasible motive and suggestive line of research, another possible angle, in this case a relational one: Perhaps people who are very strict with their sleep schedules have a very limited social life, which is not exactly conducive to sound cognitive health.

On fertile ground for exploration, a phenomenon discovered only a decade ago helps to understand why poor sleep (in quantity and quality) compromises our cognition. We now know that one of the main functions of sleep is to cleanse the neurotoxicity that we generate during the day. If we sleep badly, substances accumulate that contribute to neurodegeneration, stresses Javier Albares, director of the sleep unit at Centro Medico Teknon (Barcelona).

Knowledge of the existence of a glymphatic system  a term coined by the Danish neuroscientist Maiken Nedergaard, who in 2012 conceptualized this mechanism  has become a beacon that guides the growing literature on sleep and cognitive impairment. It acts as a network of spleens that eliminates residues from the central nervous system, especially fibrous protein closely related to Alzheimers disease, frontotemporal dementia or Parkinsons disease, summarizes Mayos. Albares adds that these brain-cleansing processes are activated especially during non-REM stage 3, when deep slow-wave sleep occurs.

Mayos recommends making sleep a pillar of health on a par with nutrition and physical activity. And she regrets that this field is still like the Cinderella of medicine. Scarce consideration that is reflected in our habits and collective imaginary: Socially, it is trivialized to sleep little, and even rewarded by giving it a positive connotation for the sake of supposedly greater productivity. Matthew Pase, who spent years working in the U.S., testifies to how well regarded it is to get up very early over there.

Things are gradually starting to change. Mayos provides as proof an influential article that appeared last October in The Lancet appealing to put sleep on public health agendas around the world. Pase concludes: We know more and more about its importance for good health over the course of our lives. It is time to pass the message on to the population.
A bartender pours a cocktail at Loreto in Frogtown. A new state law will require bars to sell or offer free drug-testing kits to patrons. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

California bars and nightclubs will be required starting July 1 to offer or sell drug-testing kits to patrons who suspect someone has tampered with their drink.

Assembly Bill 1013 will require bars and nightclubs that have a Type 48 license to sell or provide at no cost drug-testing kits and have visible signage advertising the kits, the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control announced this week.

The department's required signage for bars and nightclubs is available on the state agency's website. The sign will say, "Don't get roofied! Drink spiking drug test kits available here. Ask a staff member for details."

The test device can be a test strip, a straw or stickers that are used to detect the presence of drugs used to incapacitate victims.

The kits test for Rohypnol (flunitrazepam, also known as "roofies"), ketamine and gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid (liquid ecstasy), but they are not required to test for all three at once.

About 2,400 business with Type 48 licenses across the state will have to comply with the new requirements or face administrative actions affecting their licenses. The California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control did not specify what the actions would be.

Cities including West Hollywood and Long Beach passed initiatives in the last two years to offer their local bars and restaurants similar date-rape drug-test kits.

Read more: Long Beachs anti-roofie initiative: Test kits for your bar drink. Here's how they work

Both cities launched their own testing programs after consistent annual reports of people who believed they had been drugged by a spiked drink.

The city of Long Beach's Health and Human Services Department publishes a list of businesses and organizations that participate in its SipSafe Long Beach program, through which patrons can get a free test.

Under the new state law, if cities do not have an existing drug-testing kit distribution program, business owners will have to find and purchase the kits on their own.

How does the test kit work?

Testandgo and Drink Smart Drink Safe are among several companies that sell tests that detect gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid and ketamine. A majority of the test strips use the same process for detecting a spiked drink.

Drink Smart Drink Safe sells a test coaster that contains two test strips. One is to the left and one is to the right side of the coaster. Each test has two spots, labeled A and B.

When testing your drink, you need to place drops of your beverage onto both the A and B spots of a single test. Use your finger to place the drops, then smear them gently and wait for the liquid to dry.

If the test spot turns blue, your drink has been tainted. A pinkish tint means the drink contains ketamine; a greenish tint means it contains gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
DULUTH  The Duluth City Council last night voted against a resolution calling for an Israel-Hamas war cease-fire, following weeks of intense pleading from dozens of residents to approve the symbolic measure.

Councilors heard about three hours of public comments from a packed chambers that spilled into the hallway, in a night that included a Hebrew prayer, a Quaker hymn sing-along, raised fists and impassioned speeches from citizens and councilors alike.

The vote was a 5-4 split, with councilors Lynn Nephew, Tara Swenson, Arik Forsman, Terese Tomanek and Janet Kennedy opposing it. It was supported by Council President Roz Randorf and resolution co-authors Azrin Awal, Mike Mayou and Wendy Durrwachter.

It comes three weeks after nearly 46,000 Minnesota voters checked "uncommitted" in the state's Democratic presidential primary, a push from progressive Minnesotans and members of the Muslim community to send a message to President Joe Biden that large factions of his own party want him to support a permanent cease-fire in Gaza.

On Monday night, Tomanek said she believes council support of such a resolution would further alienate and harm some in the community who are already afraid.

"People are on edge," she said, of some of the Jewish community she has spoken to. "If I could vote and know it wouldn't cause emotional or psychological trauma to people of our city  and it will, and it already has done so  I could possibly vote for it."

Awal said she met with the Jewish community to revise the resolution to ease some of those concerns. Awal, who is Muslim, said many feel unsafe, with rising Islamophobia in Duluth, which she has experienced herself.

"The voices in our community have been calling for us to take a stand and protect human life," she said. "This is how a global issue becomes local."

The majority of councilors said they had heard from many it wasn't city business; they were elected to prioritize local issues and the city's own crises, including housing, homelessness and public safety.

Speakers were largely in support of the resolution and numbered close to 50, ranging from University of Minnesota Duluth students and children to those with Jewish and Palestinian heritage. Many said they didn't support tax dollars going to support the war and didn't want America associated with the killing of civilians on either side. Some said they were just calling for peace, or recalled past council decisions that took a stand on non-city issues, such as the war in Iraq.

Lila Abukhodair, a second-generation immigrant who is opening a Palestinian restaurant in Duluth, said Islamophobia prevents her family overseas from obtaining visas to visit Duluth, thereby missing weddings, graduations and holidays. Her family in Duluth has endured racists comments because of its last name, she said.

"I stand before you as a lifelong Duluth resident, a Palestinian lifelong Duluth resident. There are many more of us who share this heritage with me in Duluth. Many people who may relate to our struggle for freedom with their own beautiful, unique story in which so many want to erase," she said. "Is that local enough?"

Minneapolis, St. Paul, Moorhead and Hastings have passed such resolutions, intended to carry a message to state and federal leaders.
(FOX40.COM)  The City of Rancho Cordova is adding to its coffee selection with a new Dutch Bros. location.

The city announced that building permits were issued for the popular coffee chain to begin construction at 10866 Bear Hollow Drive in the Stone Creek Village shopping center.

New sushi restaurant opens next to Arden Fair Mall

This will be Rancho Cordovas second Dutch Bros. location in two years since the first location opened in 2022 at 4005 Sunrise Boulevard.

Dutch Bros. is also looking to open four other locations in the greater Sacramento area, according to the companys location map.

 3140 Arden Way, Sacramento

 4610 Sierra College Blvd, Rocklin

 1277 Whitney Ranch Parkway, Rocklin

 4085 Cameron Park Dr., Cameron Park

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40.
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW)  University of Alabama Swimming & Diving team member Drayden Bell, who won several state titles in swimming while at East High School, is hosting Wichita Kan Swim Clinic.

I wanted to start this clinic because Its always been the place I called home, and it didnt feel right for me to move to this next step in my life and not come back to show and teach the community new things like it once did for me, said Bell.

Georgia Tech Swimming & Diving team member Ariana Dirkzwager, who also won state titles during her time at East High School and St. Louis Univeristy Simming & Diving team member Daniel Jekov, who attended The Independent School setting new records, will cohost the clinic.

NJCAA tournament is back in Hutchinson for 76th year

Swimmers can expect to learn new drills and work on technique, starts and turns.

The clinic will have four sessions from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 30 to June 1 at East High School, 2301 E. Douglas Ave.

Swimmers must be at least 10 years old and be able to swim 50 yards unassisted.

You can sign up online at linktr.ee/wichitakanswim.

For questions, email KanSwim316@gmail.com or call 316-644-2674.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV.
An argument over Easter eggs ended with a knife attack at an elementary school in Michigan, according to investigators.

Deputies responded to a call about a stabbing at Valley View Elementary School, in Springfield, at about 9:15 a.m. March 24, the Calhoun County Sheriffs Office said in a news release.

They arrived to find a 36-year-old man wielding a knife at the scene, the release said.

Investigators say the man was one of several people who were helping set up an Easter egg hunt scheduled later that day.

He got into a disagreement about the placement of eggs with a woman police described as his partner, the sheriffs office said. A family member tried to step in, but instead of deescalating the situation, it quickly turned violent.

The man pulled out a knife and attacked the family member, cutting them multiple times, officials said.

Deputies showed up to the scene and talked the man into dropping the knife, according to the sheriffs office.

Officials didnt publicly identify the man but said hes a resident of neighboring Battle Creek. He was taken into custody and booked into the Calhoun County Jail on a charge of aggravated assault.

The family member was treated for cuts at the scene and is expected to recover, according to officials.

No one else was injured during the incident and children had not yet arrived for the event, the sheriffs office said.

Springfield is a roughly 60-mile drive southeast from Grand Rapids.

Babysitter kills 3-year-old full of life for vomiting on herself, Michigan police say

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Missing mom, child found dead in ditch on eve of custody hearing, Texas officials say
Ecuadors youngest mayor and her press officer were found Sunday shot to death in a vehicle amid an ongoing state of emergency, police said.

Brigitte Garcia, the 27-year-old mayor of San Vicente and member of the left-wing Citizen Revolution Party, was found alongside her advisor, Jairo Loor, in the vehicle, Ecuadorian police said in a social media post on X.

Ecuadorian police found the two that morning without vitals and with gunshot wounds, according to the social post.

Handout picture released by the Mayor's Office of San Vicente taken on February 20, 2024, of the then mayoress of San Vicente Brigitte Garcia, speaking during the delivery of agricultural implements in San Vicente, Manabi, Ecuador. The 27-year-old mayoress of coastal San Vicente was found shot to death on March 24, 2024, police said, as the South American country approaches its third month of a state of emergency decreed by the government to crack down on soaring gang violence.

Police said theyre working to figure out a motive for the shooting.

After collecting ballistics evidence and conducting a preliminary investigation, police determined the shots were fired from inside the vehicle.

Investigators continue to analyze the car's route, which appears to be rented, Ecuadorian police said in an X post shared later that afternoon.

ACTUALIZACION||



Tras las primeras diligencias investigativas se ha establecido, de manera preliminar, que los disparos que terminaron con la vida de Jairo L. y Brigitte G. (alcaldesa del Canton San Vicente) no se habrian realizado desde el exterior del vehiculo sino del pic.twitter.com/qYnEJltCAD  Policia Ecuador (@PoliciaEcuador) March 24, 2024

More world news: WikiLeaks' Julian Assange may get a shot at freedom as UK court asks for US 'assurances'

'No one is safe in Ecuador,' Luisa Gonzalez, fellow Citizen Revolution Party member, says

Luisa Gonzalez, a member of the Citizen Revolution Party who ran to become president of Ecuador in 2023, called Garcias death an assassination.

I've just found out they've assassinated our fellow mayor of San Vicente Brigitte Garcia," Gonzalez said in a post on X. I have no words no one is safe in Ecuador.

Me acabo de enterar que han asesinado a nuestra companera alcaldesa de San Vicente Brigitte Garcia.

No tengo palabras, en shock, nadie esta a salvo en Ecuador NADIE mientras los gobiernos miserables de Derecha solo viven de farra y show.  Luisa Gonzalez (@LuisaGonzalezEc) March 24, 2024

Garcias death comes after President Daniel Noboa issued a nationwide state of emergency in January and declared Ecuador was in a state of war against gangs after violence ensued following "internal armed conflict and the prison escape of alleged "Los Choneros" gang leader Adolfo "Fito" Macias.

Macias' gang is accused of numerous car bombings, kidnappings and murders, NBC News reported.

President Daniel Noboa extends nationwide state of emergency

Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa wears a bulletproof vest and a helmet to verify the results of a police and military operation at the Socio Vivienda neighborhood in Guayaquil, Ecuador on March 26, 2024.

Noboa extended the emergency order by an additional 30 days on March 7.

The 36-year-old president who designated 22 gangs as terrorist groups said the extension would help "keep military patrols going in prisons and violent areas of the country, maintain order and reduce homicides," Reuters reported.

During the emergency order, intentional homicides have been halved  dropping from an average of 24 a day to 12 a day, according to the outlet.

So far, the Ecuadorian government confirmed that 1,534 people have been arrested and five terrorists were killed during more than 15,000 operations around the state, the Guardian reported.

US citizens advised to 'exercise increased caution' in Ecuador, US Embassy and Consulate says

The U.S. Embassy and Consulate in Ecuador advised Americans abroad to follow "all local laws, including curfew guidance and the requirement for a criminal record check for foreigners entering the country via land border crossings from Colombia or Peru."

U.S. citizen residents and travelers should continue to exercise increased caution throughout the country, should reconsider travel to areas marked as Level 3, and should not travel to areas marked as Level 4 in the advisory, according to a U.S. Embassy and Consulate in Ecuador news release.

Three U.S. citizens were murdered in Ecuador in 2022, according to the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Consular Affairs. The data for 2024 and 2023 was unavailable as of Tuesday.

"U.S. citizens should be aware that individuals not connected with criminal organizations may use the current conflict to commit crimes of opportunity," according to the release.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Brigitte Garcia, Ecuador's youngest mayor, found shot to death
A Scottish secondary school is saying "enough is enough" to the escalating problem of teenage vaping.

The Royal High School in Edinburgh is one of the first in the country to install vape detectors in its toilets.

Like most schools it has been fighting a losing battle against vaping on the premises.

But head teacher Pauline Walker said it had taken a stand by introducing detectors that let out a screaming alarm if vaping happens nearby.

She told BBC Scotland News: "We want to send a message loud and clear. Vaping is not acceptable. We will not permit it. We will not promote it."

The Royal High has invested about 1,000 in the detectors, which were wired into the three main toilets in the school at the start of March.

The Royal High School has had vape detectors installed in its main toilet areas

They work like smoke detectors, but they pick up chemicals that are present in vape mist.

If pupils vape, the alarms go off immediately and a text message alerts staff.

They are already working as a deterrent.

Since being switched on, the school has had "almost zero activations" in the bathrooms.

Installing the alarms in the toilets has allowed pupils to reclaim a space that was becoming intimidating for younger pupils - and allowed staff to concentrate on other areas.

Ms Walker hopes it will make young people less likely to continue the habit and harm their health.

She said: "They are nicotine-based and unfortunately a lot of the vapes young people get a hold of are on the black market.

"They don't have the controlled nicotine levels in them, so they can be very high so we do see young people who are addicted.

"As a school we need to support them to give that up the same way we would with smokers."

Pupils Melissa, Klara and Aoife are glad the toilets have been reclaimed from groups of vapers

The move has made life a bit easier for pupil support teacher Iain Welsh.

On one of his regular patrols of the school building, BBC Scotland News sees him catching a group of pupils vaping when they should be in class.

After sending them on their way, he says: "It's a constant battle. We move them on and they find somewhere else, but we are committed to this to try and break a pretty negative cycle.

"The detectors are going to be a game changer."

He said vaping was a problem which affected pupils between S1 and S6, whereas cigarettes tended to be an issue for those in older years.

BBC Scotland News contacted Scotland's 32 local authorities to ask about vaping in schools. Not every council could provide the data - but the 10 that did respond gave a snapshot of an escalating problem.

Pupil support leader Iain Welsh patrols the school trying to move young people on who are vaping

In the last five years, at least 770 vapes were confiscated at schools in those areas - which include Aberdeen, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Stirling and West Dunbartonshire.

A total of 16 young people were either suspended or expelled.

Police were called to schools on eight different vaping-related incidents, and ambulances attended more than a dozen times.

There were far fewer incidents involving cigarettes over the same time period in those council areas.

There were just 27 confiscations involving cigarettes, and no pupil was expelled or suspended in relation to cigarettes.

The latest Public Health Scotland survey of health behaviour in school-aged children - covering 2022 - reported that more than a third (36%) of 15-year-olds had used an e-cigarette at least once and a quarter were current users.

Pauline Walker said social education teachers at the Royal High School had found that at least 50% had tried or were currently vaping.

Chris Davison, from Royal High's parent council, called vaping a "national crisis"

Chris Davison, chairman of the Royal High's parent council, said vaping was discussed at nearly every meeting.

"A lot of parents are concerned about the health impacts of vaping and the anti-social behaviour element," he said.

Mr Davison said there was also an environmental issue with single use vapes, and called the situation a "national crisis".

Back at the school, senior pupils are well aware of the problem.

Sixth year student Klara said vaping was now "normalised".

She said: "Whether it's social gatherings or out and about, it's peer pressure, it's the new thing and it has become a habit."

Melissa said: "The fun colours and flavours make it more fun and less dangerous."

The vape detectors work like smoke alarms but pick up the chemicals in vaping liquids

Aoife added: "I have seen on Snapchat, other people reposting things where people are giving out vapes - and some shops don't check for ID. Those places get known and everyone goes there."

She said she was glad the school had taken positive action with the detectors.

"I'm older but even I am a bit intimidated when there are big groups of people vaping in the bathrooms, so I can see how it can have an effect for younger years."

The Scottish government's public health minister Jenni Minto told Holyrood that while smoking rates are at an all-time low, there has recently been a "notable increase" in young people using vapes.

Ms Minto was speaking as she confirmed that UK-wide legislation aimed at curbing vaping would apply in Scotland.

She said the UK government would shortly bring forward a legislative consent memorandum, which allowed Westminster to pass laws in what were usually devolved areas.

The legislation will mean people born on, or after, 1 January 2009 will never legally be able to buy cigarettes.

It also includes new powers to regulate the display, contents, flavours and packaging of vapes and nicotine products.

The Scottish government also intends to ban the sale of single-use vapes from 1 April 2025, something Ms Minto said had "overwhelming support".
A man injured during an Israeli attack on Shifa Hospital is treated at Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip on Sunday. (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

For the record:

2:17 p.m. March 26, 2024: An earlier version of this editorial referred to Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer as the Senate minority leader.



In Gaza, famine is imminent.

To get urgently needed food, clean water, temporary sanitation facilities and medical supplies to more than 2 million Palestinians, President Biden ordered construction of a floating dock. Building it will take weeks.

In the interim, aid trickles into the narrow strip of land between southwestern Israel and the Mediterranean. A Spanish-supplied ship from Cyprus offloaded rice and flour at a makeshift jetty formed from some of the ample rubble left by weeks of Israeli bombing. Some trucks are permitted to enter through Gate 96, a hole in the barrier that seals off Gaza from Israel. Some food is dropped by parachute. So far it is insufficient to slow the steady advance of severe hunger.

Read more: Editorial: The U.S. cannot let Israel carry out a slaughter in Rafah

In the northern part of Gaza, largely destroyed by the Israeli air and ground assault that followed the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that killed 1,200 Israelis, people are desperate. Some have reportedly raided the few aid trucks that get in. Others were killed and seriously injured by air-dropped cargo when parachutes failed to open. Emergency aid is hardly a substitute for peace.

In the southernmost part of Gaza, in and around Rafah, hundreds of thousands who fled the Israeli strikes in the north now wait in terror and hunger  for a threatened final assault.

Read more: Editorial: Cease-fire now. The killing in Gaza must stop

The dock, welcome though it may be, is an almost perverse footnote to Biden administration policy that supplies and supports the Israeli destruction at the heart of the crisis.

By demanding an immediate and lasting cease-fire, thus permitting the return of regular supply convoys, the U.S. would save many more lives and stave off far more hunger than any number of docks and airdrops.

Read more: Editorial: U.S. should join the world's nations in demanding a Gaza cease-fire

But the best the administration could muster Monday was an abstention in a United Nations Security Council cease-fire resolution. It represented a modest shift in policy (although Biden administration officials denied it) after three U.S. vetoes of previous resolutions.

Nearly six months into the Israel-Hamas war, more U.S. officials, including dozens of members of Congress, are belatedly demanding an end to the Gaza horror. Or, as in the case of Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), a change in the Israeli government.

Read more: Opinion: I'm an American doctor who went to Gaza. What I saw wasn't war  it was annihilation

Such calls should not be mistaken as support for the religio-fascist Hamas regime, whose brutal attack began this latest tragedy, and which continues to hold more than 100 hostages.

It is high time for Biden to acknowledge that there are at least three parties in the Gaza disaster. Israel of course is one. Hamas is another.

Palestinians just trying to avoid starvation are a third.

Read more: My family in Gaza faces starvation. How do I find solace this Ramadan?

It may be convenient for the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pretend that Hamas combatants and innocent Palestinian civilians are a single adversary, and that bombing and starving Palestinians is putting pressure on Hamas to release the hostages.

But Hamas likely has little regard for the innocents and is only too willing to permit their slaughter to further its own power.

The deaths of more than 32,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, and the grief and misery of the survivors is not merely tragic, but gratuitous. Whatever clout the U.S. retains in the region should be used to end this madness. It is a fourth party to the conflict. As is the rest of the world.

And then build the dock.

If its in the news right now, the L.A. Times Opinion section covers it. Sign up for our weekly opinion newsletter.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Photo illustration by Getty Images.

Montanas education board voted unanimously to send a letter to the Office of Public Instruction directing the department to take the necessary steps to get charter schools off the ground in Montana.

During a special meeting Monday, Board of Public Education chairperson Tim Tharp said the department has been delaying the process for charter schools to open, and stood alone in its rationale for how the process should be conducted.

I find this to be a highly distasteful situation where one constitutional body is forced to request that another constitutional body carry out duties as prescribed, Tharp said.

The boards decision echoes what Republican legislators said in their own letter to Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen earlier this month, in which they rebuked her for not fulfilling her constitutional duties on charter schools, Indian Education for All, early literacy and data modernization.

However, Arntzen pushed back, saying she was following the law, and asked the board to put in place a policy to give consistency between how charter and public schools are opened, saying she felt both should be treated the same.

Earlier this year, the board unanimously approved 19 charter schools, of which 18 are slated to be operational on July 1. Tharp said the legislature passed the bill giving the board the authority to implement it letting the board approve or reject charter applications based on criteria in the bill. The states board, though, worries that the department, led by Arntzen, has done little work to help the schools open smoothly as the school year winds down. They expressed concerns that further delay will hamper the success of the newly minted schools.

Arntzen however, maintains that Montana law is clear about the process to open new public schools, and that process is outlined in statute, which, depending on the grade level, requires approval from the local school board, the county superintendent and the county commissioners, a position which lawmakers and the board have rejected.

The boards letter said the approved contracts have requirements for the charter schools to open smoothly, and none of them require additional approval from county commissioners or OPI. Meanwhile, Arntzen has said because charter and public schools should be treated the same, so both must go through identical processes to open.

Nothing in the law that your staff have cited from a different and inapplicable part of the code, or the terms of those contracts requires school districts to obtain supplemental approval of their charter schools from the county commissioners or your office, the letter read.

In the board meeting, Tharp said OPI is expecting a separate and additional process for opening charter schools, which he says creates a scenario where county commissioners could vote against the opening of public charter schools, scuttling the entire process.

If the legislature had wanted a process to give the counties veto power over the local school board and the board of public education in opening these charter schools, they would have done so, Tharp said.

Gov. Greg Gianfortes Education Policy Advisor Dylan Klapmeier said the lieutenant governor, who is an attorney, reviewed the boards position and agrees with the boards legal interpretation. He said the boards position is also supported by legal opinions from the legislature, school associations, as well as the expressed legislative intent of those that worked on the bill.

The board has authorized these public charter schools as the law requires and its time for school codes to be assigned to these public charters and to begin incorporating funding for them for fiscal year 2025, Klapmeier said.

Bill sponsor Rep. Fred Anderson, R-Great Falls, said he worked closely legislative lawyers during the lawmaking process to make sure the bill was constitutional.

We had no intention of having a third party involved in the opening of the charter schools, Anderson said.

Anderson said hes spoken to schools that had their contracts approved, and are frustrated by this additional process.

I know Superintendent Arntzen has advocated school choice since having been elected and so seeing this now as a detour, or a roadblock, is disappointing, Anderson said.

Arntzen said, as she did in a letter to the board last week, she believes charter and public schools should be treated the same in code.

I believe public charters are public schools, she said.

In her letter, she said the bill did not change existing legal requirements for opening a school in the state. She said the board can make a policy to establish a charter school opening process, which she said during the meeting would make policies consistent and easier to understand for schools and OPI staff.

In a statement following the meeting, Arntzen said a path forward was offered to the board by way of them making a new policy, and said she will follow the law as written.

Public Charter Schools are indeed public schools and therefore subject to all laws within Title 20, she said. Nothing in HB 549 changes or waives the existing, statutory school opening process.

Arntzen, who is termed out as superintendent, is running in the eastern congressional Republican primary.

The post Education directs OPI to get process moving on charter schools appeared first on Daily Montanan.
FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE)  The Office of the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools held its first Lao mini conference focused on educational opportunities. Many Lao young people will tell you their lives are a balancing act, and they strive to maintain their cultural traditions and work to meet the high expectations of their elders.

Expectations are there, but were trying to educate the parents that its okay. Listen to your children and let them be happy, said Diane Phakonekham, the CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central California.

Phakonekham was one of the speakers at the first Lao community mini-conference.

Its our opportunity to just match or provide them an introduction to services, resources, and opportunities so that their children can fulfill their bright futures, said Dr. Michele Cantwell-Copher, the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools.

Parents and elders joined students as they were presented with information on when and how to apply for college, and learned more about financial aid and how to seek out resources.

Elders in the community said they attended to learn how they could help their children.

We dont have no knowledge about the American system or how it works, at least get information to them on how to apply for school and apply for financial aid. Its really important, said Dr. Bounlath Souksavong Han the President of the Lao Community Center.

Students say they are happy to have support from the Lao community and understand why their parents push them to get an education.

My grandparents say I dont want you working out in the fields. I dont want you doing this. I want you to be able to have a job where you can be in the air conditioning or have your own time or work on your schedule, said Nevaeh Gonzales, a student at Sunnyside High School.

The county office migrant education department reached out to the Lao community to help put on the conference and organizers say its about building relationships.

Coming with the migrant background I knew that we had to get to the parents first. Weve got to get them to trust and understand what our goals are. Im so happy and so proud. The fact that theyre here talking about how to help their children, said Ruben Castillo, the Executive Director of the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com | KSEE24 and CBS47.
A man looks at the charred remains of vehicles near the presidential palace, after they were set on fire by gangs, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti March 25, 2024.

Fresh turmoil involving a transitional presidential council that will be responsible for choosing Haitis new leader triggered a flurry of meetings with Caribbean leaders and officials from the U.S., Canada and France, officials said Monday.

The council has yet to be sworn in given concerns over the security of its members, among other things, a regional official who was not authorized to talk to the media told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The official is based in Guyana, which serves as headquarters for the regional trade bloc known as Caricom that is helping create the transitional council.

The delay in establishing the council comes as gangs continue to launch attacks across Haitis capital. Since Feb. 29, gunmen have burned police stations, opened fire on the main international airport that remains closed and stormed the countrys two biggest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates.

Scores of people have been killed, and more than 33,000 people have fled the capital of Port-au-Prince as a result of the attacks.

More than 340 U.S. citizens have been evacuated out of Haiti since March 17, the majority from Port-au-Prince, according to the U.S. Department of State.

On Sunday, the newest person chosen to represent the EDE/RED  one of several Haitian political parties and groups with a seat on the nine-member council  stepped down, forcing the council to scramble to replace her. Dominique Dupuy, a UNESCO ambassador, said in a video statement that she resigned in part because she became the target of political attacks and death threats.

In a statement posted Monday on X, formerly Twitter, the Montana Accord, a group of civil society leaders that also has a seat on the council, said it supported Dupuy and her family at a time when she is being persecuted and threatened.

Society must remain vigilant about all political maneuvers based on fear and terror, it said. Its time for us to stop the violence.

Dupuy was quickly replaced, bringing the council back up to its full nine members, seven of which have voting powers, but they have yet to be sworn in.

It wasnt immediately clear when the council would be formally announced, with another meeting scheduled Monday between its members and officials with Caricom.

Officials are hoping rampant gang violence will subside once the council selects a new leader for Haiti and appoints a council of ministers. Prime Minister Ariel Henry has said he would resign when the council is created.

While gang violence has somewhat subsided in recent days, gunmen set fire to a large, open-air garage in downtown Port-au-Prince on Sunday.

A lot of people have lost everything, attorney Joseph James said. We couldnt save anything.

On Monday morning, mechanic Elidor Samuel rummaged through the scorched earth in hopes of finding some belongings that might be salvageable.

All my tools have been burnt, he said. What am I going to do now?

Romain Le Cour, with Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, said in an analysis posted Monday that rather than all-out war, the gangs seem to be pursuing a strategy of maximum pressure, consisting of attacks interspersed with lulls.

He said that research by the Swiss-based civil society organization suggests the strategy may not be a decision taken solely by gang leaders, but possibly the result of relationships that still bind them to their political bosses, who could be setting fluid red lines without renouncing the use of violence for political ends.

Le Cour joined others concerned about the delay in finding new leadership for Haiti.

The inability to make the presidential transitional council operational bears witness to the conflicts running through the Haitian political arena, while each passing day consolidates the power of guns and of politico-criminal brokers, he said.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition
FILE PHOTO: The logo of the EIB is pictured in the city of Luxembourg

By Marc Jones

LONDON (Reuters) - The European Investment Bank's top-notch ESG score would need to be re-evaluated if it bows to pressure and starts explicitly funding weapons and ammunition, one of the world's leading ESG rating firms, Morningstar Sustainalytics, said.

The European Commission and more than a dozen EU governments have been increasing pressure on the bloc's lending arm in recent weeks to end its near-total ban on weapons funding to help strengthen Europe's defence industry.

New EIB President Nadia Calvino used one of her first public statements last month to say it was engaging with key stakeholders on what could been done under a "dual-use" policy with which it already invests in drones and targeting systems.

Commission hawks though are now urging it to "adapt defence-related exclusions" to support production of military equipment, a move some officials, including the EIB's own former head, worry could tarnish its ESG ratings and impact its borrowing costs.

If the changes are too far reaching that could happen, Sustainalytics' Lead ESG Banks Analyst, Amelia Peden, told Reuters.

"We would have to re-evaluate (the EIBs rating) if they bring in a new policy," Peden said. "Investing in weapons definitely exhibits reputational risk, but of course it depends what kind (of weapons)".

Those seen as the worst such as landmines won't be on the EIB's list but other forms of ammunition might be after a number of EU states were found to have limited supplies when asked to send some to Ukraine.

Sustainalytics currently grades the EIB as having a "negligible" ESG risk score  with a best-in-class 4.5 that is one of top scores of any of near 16,000 banks, companies and other entities it rates.

The bank has a balance sheet that runs to over a half trillion euros which is bigger that the World Bank's and it issues up to 65 billion euros ($70 billion) of debt a year.

Peden added that it would be the "exposure" perception part of the EIB's score that could be most impacted although other areas could be too.

"There's quite a range of things that (weapons funding) could have an impact on and therefore their whole kind of mission. So I think that's something that we will be looking at."

($1 = 0.9229 euro)

(Reporting by Marc Jones; editing by Costas Pitas)
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  Retirees, welcome to your new home!

Thats the message the County of El Paso wants to share by highlighting a recent national article about the merits of retiring in El Paso.

El Paso has been recognized by TheTravel.com as the cheapest place to retire in Texas. The County sent out a news release highlighting the article.

According to the website, the cost of living in the Sun City is 15.88% less than the national average.

TheTravel.com site also highlights El Pasos low crime rates, mild weather and lack of income tax.

The sales tax in El Paso is even slightly lower than what other areas in Texas pay. It currently sits at 7.25%, while in El Paso County, some other cities and towns are paying as high as 8.25%. Just another reason why El Paso is the least expensive town in Texas, read the article on El Paso on TheTravel.com.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
LGBTQ+ rights are under attack in the United States, and during an election year, the onslaught shows no sign of slowing down.

As lawmakers target the community, the need for mental health services skyrockets, and yet so few exist. To help rectify this, national telehealth platform FOLX Health has partnered with the Crisis Text Line to help support queer people through a tumultuous time.



"Given the world that we live in today, where every day as members of this community, we wake up to a new onslaught of laws or rhetoric that is aimed at taking us down, that has a profound impact on our mental health and well-being," FOLX Health CEO Liana Douillet Guzman told The Advocate. "[The text line] really just allows folks who are having a moment of crisis in the face of the world that we live in to connect with another person to help them navigate that experience."

The free and confidential line is available by text, web, and WhatsApp in both English and Spanish, connecting those who reach out with a live, trained crisis counselor within five minutes. The option to text instead of call is specifically helpful, as it provides a way to seek care while protecting privacy and comfort.

Guzman noted that "being able to have a text conversation lowers the barrier to entry," particularly among younger groups, who report the highest percentage of LGBTQ+ people.

"It feels easier for a lot of folks to be able to just text, to connect to somebody. It's how people, particularly for Gen Z, feel most comfortable communicating," she explained. "It's meeting people where they are and connecting them in the way that works best for them."

Resources like the Crisis Text Line are going to be particularly helpful as the November elections approach, as mental health services often report higher rates of calls during major events. Following the death of Indigenous transgender high school student Nex Benedict, centers in his state of Oklahoma saw a dramatic increase in calls.

LGBTQ+ health care and human rights will soon be debated on a national stage, and Guzman emphasized that such rhetoric will have real consequences. Queer people already experience disparities in health care, and "it is no surprise that we have worse outcomes in a world where people are being isolated by virtue of our identities."



"We're right at the center of an election cycle that is really leveraging our community as a wedge issue and attacking LGBTQIA rights broadly, but then really focusing in on trans rights," Guzman continued. "There are many studies that have shown that LGBTQIA individuals are more likely to experience health care disparities, and that includes higher rates of mental health issues, substance abuse, and chronic health conditions. And I don't think that's a surprise."

These disparate outcomes have influenced a large section of the community to "actively avoid seeking health care prior to coming to FOLX because of fear of discrimination," though Guzman noted "that fear is well placed."



In contrast, FOLX's mental health services have seen incredible success since their launch, with a new clinical outcomes data collection finding that 59 percent of members who had suicide ideation before coming to FOLX did not have suicide ideation at follow-up. In addition, 39 percent of all FOLX members had an improvement in their quality of life score within three months.

To Guzman, "that is such a clear example of why access to affirming and expert health care and mental health care are connected to better outcomes."

"It's simple, which makes it all the more a travesty that it's been so difficult for members of our community to access this kind of care," she said.

You can seek support from the Crisis Text Line by texting HELLO or HOLA to 741741, or through WhatsApp by messaging 443-SUPPORT or 442-AYUDAME for Spanish.
If Joe Biden loses to Donald Trump this November, he can apportion blame towards his administrations many unforced errors, from the botched Afghanistan bug-out to the mess at the southern border. But the biggest blunder of all has yet to fully reveal itself: the ill-conceived drive to push electric vehicles into making up over three-fifths of all car purchases by the 2030s.

Just last week the administration issued a draconian mileage requirement, one of many nudge policies attempting to usher in an all-electric future. Replacing a massive $3 trillion industry with a singular technology represents a severe economic threat under any circumstances, but ramming through changes just as EV sales are slowing is nothing less than madness.

Rarely has a policy brought such negative economic and ultimately political implications. EVs today are simply not practical for most people, unable to afford the higher costs and wary of a charger infrastructure that is far from ready for prime time.

The average price for a brand-new EV is over $60,000, about $12,000 more than the average four-door sedan. Even with tax credits, it is hard to see how consumers come out ahead, at least for now. The electric version of the base version of the Ford F-150 pickup truck, the best-selling vehicle in America, costs an additional $26,000 over the gasoline-powered variety. EVs are not affordable for most Americans: its little wonder that only 16 per cent of them are seriously considering a purchase.

Its not that consumers are opposed to all electric-aided cars. Customers are willing to line up for gas-saving hybrids, which are cheaper to produce and infinitely more practical for most people at this time. But the EVs promoted by the Biden administration are simply unaffordable. As even the Washington Post admitted, electric vehicles are turning the automobile back into a luxury  out of reach for many.

Yet Biden and his green backers seem impervious to any reality that doesnt fit their ideology. In addition, theres big money to be made by cashing in on government mandates, much as state monopolies have done over the centuries. These mandates have helped make Elon Musk among the worlds richest people, and left Tesla valued far above a more profitable competitor like Toyota.

The current EV market cannot sustain the unionised, Detroit-centered auto industry that depends overwhelmingly on trucks, SUVs and traditional gas cars. A move to produce electric cars would be a job-shredder: the production of electric cars requires 30 per cent less domestic labour in the US.

The political consequences of a shift towards EVs will be decisive come November, particularly when considering key swing states like Michigan (by far the largest center for the industry, accounting for some 165,000 of the countrys auto industry jobs) and Wisconsin. Losses in either of these states would likely doom Bidens re-election.

Unsurprisingly, Trump has jumped onto this issue, issuing quasi-hysterical claims of a coming bloodbath in the industry. Regardless of your thoughts on the man, Trump is the ultimate political opportunist and clearly senses a large blue collar pushback.

The bloodbath that Trump warns of is more likely to be a slow, ebbing wound, particularly in the upper Midwest. Even if enforced, new EV facilities being built for batteries and EVs are located primarily in the southeast. Its difficult to understand why any sensible manufacturer would stick around in union-dominated locales when they could be greeted with subsidies, deregulation, and low costs elsewhere.

While Trump might gain an electoral boost from Bidens mandates, the winner in a forced EV transition scenario would clearly be China. Even as China exploits reliable fossil fuels  the country is on a coal plant building spree and emits more GHG than all developed countries put together  it is cynically using them to boost production of green cars, while Western nations struggle with the high costs associated with wind and solar.

If the EV mandates remain, China will supplant the Wests auto industry. China already produces twice as many EVs than the US and the EU combined. Its leading EV maker BYD is now the worlds largest, and the country controls the requisite rare earth minerals required to manufacture them at scale.

If this scenario plays out the pain will be felt well beyond Michigan. The overall American automobile sector, including sales, maintenance and after-market services, employs over four million people. Thats 1.7 per cent of the labour force potentially at risk of job loss, a fatal final blow to Americas already damaged industrial sector.

Biden and his handlers should be deeply concerned. Its time to consider listening to consumers  who also happen to be voters  who want low emissions cars but are avoiding EVs. Forcing them to buy a product they dont want is not only bad business, but bad politics. If Biden ends up losing the Midwestern swing states, he will have no one to blame but himself and his progressive handlers.

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The music producer suing Sean Diddy Combs over allegations of sexual harassment and assault has now listed actor Cuba Gooding Jr. as a defendant in the case, according to an amended civil complaint filed late Monday.

The document, which was first reported by NBC News, alleges that producer Rodney Lil Rod Jones was groped by Gooding Jr. aboard Combs rented yacht in the U.S. Virgin Islands in 2023. The original lawsuit filed against Combs and others in late February included the claim against Gooding Jr. but did not list him as a defendant in the case, instead referencing the allegation in accusing Combs of having failed to protect Jones at the time.

Diddys Homes Raided in Connection With Federal Sex Trafficking Probe: Reports

According to the new complaint, Combs introduced Jones to Gooding Jr. on the vessel and left the pair alone in a makeshift studio on board. Gooding Jr. then allegedly began touching, groping, and fondling Mr. Jones legs, his upper inner thighs near his groin, the small of his back near his buttocks, and his shoulders.

Jones became extremely uncomfortable and proceeded to lean away from Gooding Jr., the court filing claims, adding that Jones rejected his advances and Mr. Gooding Jr. did not stop until Mr. Jones forcibly pushed him away.

Gooding Jr. has not been charged with any crime in connection with the alleged incident.

The Oscar-winning actor pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge in 2022 after forcibly kissing a waitress in 2018. He completed a course of alcohol and behavior modification counseling and was able to withdraw the original plea and accept a lesser harassment violation, according to NBC News, resolving the case without jail time.

Jones suit accuses Combs of wrongdoing while they worked together on his 2023 Grammy-nominated record, The Love Album: Off the Grid. Jones alleges that he was made to endure constant sexual harassment and groping, violent threats, and was ordered to procure sex workers for Combs.

Lil Rod is nothing more than a liar shamelessly looking for an undeserved payday, Shawn Holley, a lawyer for Combs, told The Daily Beast last month. His reckless name-dropping about events that are pure fiction and simply did not happen is nothing more than a transparent attempt to garner headlines.

On Monday, federal agents raided Combs homes in Los Angeles and Miami, reportedly in connection with a sex trafficking investigation.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Rodney "Lil Rod" Jones Jr., the music producer who filed a lawsuit against Sean "Diddy" Combs last month, has officially accused Cuba Gooding Jr. of sexual assault, naming him as a defendant in his complaint amended Monday.

The civil lawsuit, filed in a New York federal district court, came hours after Homeland Security Investigations agents raided two of Combs' homes.

Jones previously named Gooding, 56, in his February lawsuit, accusing the actor of sexually harassing and assaulting him on a yacht rented by Combs, 54, in the U.S. Virgin Islands in January 2023. Gooding wasn't listed as a defendant until now.

Cuba Gooding Jr. has been accused of sexual assault and sexual harrassment in a lawsuit orginally filed by music producer Lil Rod last month. The producer accused Sean "Diddy" Combs of sexual assault while working on "The Love Album."

USA TODAY has reached out to Gooding's rep for comment.

According to the lawsuit, Combs attempted to "pass off" Jones to Gooding, introducing him to the Oscar-winning actor and leaving the two alone in a studio on Combs' yacht.

"Cuba Gooding Jr. began touching, groping, and fondling Mr. Jones' legs, his upper inner thighs near his groin, the small of his back near his buttocks and his shoulders," Jones' lawsuit alleges.

The complaint includes a photo that purportedly shows Gooding with his arm around Jones, along with a picture that allegedly shows Combs and Gooding talking on the yacht.

Combs "failed to step in and stop" Gooding from "sexually assaulting" Jones, the lawsuit states.

Original story: Sean 'Diddy' Combs accused of sexually assaulting 'The Love Album' producer in new lawsuit

Gooding has faced several lawsuits in recent years over alleged sexual abuse, rape and forcible touching.

Jones' lawsuit has implicated other celebrities, including rapper Yung Miami, whose unnamed cousin was accused of sexual assault after she allegedly "burst into the bathroom and began groping" Jones during a gathering on Thanksgiving Day 2022. Jones also claims producer Stevie J helped recruit sex workers for Combs and participated in sex parties referred to as "freak-offs" (a term Combs allegedly used to refer to sexual encounters with sex workers) according to the lawsuit.

Jones worked with Combs on his most recent record, "The Love Album: Off the Grid." According to Jones, he and Combs worked together between September 2022 and November 2023, a partnership that resulted in nine songs on "The Love Album" for which Jones is credited as a producer. Jones also alleges he was not paid for "13 months (and) thousands of hours of work."

Diddy has denied Jones' allegations against him.

Sean "Diddy" Combs' accuser Lil Rod has added Cuba Gooding Jr. to his sexual assault lawsuit, originally filed in February.

Diddy sex trafficking suit: Mogul's parties with celebs like Prince Harry provided 'legitimacy'

Though he is not accused of wrongdoing, the lawsuit names Prince Harry as an example of how Diddy's parties as a "popular and highly influential" figure provided great benefit to the lawsuit's other defendants, Universal Music Group and Motown Records.

"Affiliation with ... Combs garnered legitimacy, immense success, and access to top and emerging artists, celebrities, famous athletes, political figures, musicians, and international dignitaries" including "Prince Harry."

Diddy's homes in Los Angeles, Miami raided by Homeland Security Investigations

The amended lawsuit follows the reported raid of two of Combs' homes. The homes were reportedly searched by HSI on Monday as part of a federal investigation.

Federal officials raided Combs' Los Angeles home Monday, according to Rolling Stone and local Los Angeles news station Fox 11, amid lawsuits filed against him from accusers alleging the rapper and music mogul has raped or sexually assaulted them. Agents also searched Combs' Miami residence Monday, Rolling Stone and The Associated Press reported.

If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, RAINNs National Sexual Assault Hotline offers free, confidential, 24/7 support to survivors and their loved ones in English and Spanish at: 800.656.HOPE (4673) and Hotline.RAINN.org and en Espanol RAINN.org/es.

Contributing: KiMi Robinson

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Diddy: Cuba Gooding Jr. named in Lil Rod sexual assault lawsuit
Erin Morrow Hawley asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to reimpose restrictions to the abortion inducing medication mifepristone, overruling the Food and Drug Administration.

Her husband, Sen. Josh Hawley, sat several rows behind her with two of the couples three children at his side.

Restricting abortion rights is a family affair for the Hawleys, who met while clerking for Chief Justice John Roberts at the Supreme Court.

Josh Hawley has been a leading opponent of abortion rights as Missouris senior senator. While he has said he believes the issue should be determined by voters in each state, he supports a national 15-week ban on the procedure.

But, as Congress has largely left the heavily partisan issue to the states after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Erin Hawley is at the heart of a case once again asking the court to intervene on abortion rights  this time to limit the drug used in the majority of abortion cases.

Ahead of the hearing, Hawley laid out the national consequence of the case, arguing that the Food and Drug Administrations decision to allow abortion drugs to be prescribed without an in-person doctors visit and allowing the medication to be sent by mail limits states ability to restrict the procedure.

What the Biden administration has done here is theyve deliberately tried to make it impossible for voters and states who want to limit abortions, Hawley said.

But in the courtroom, some of the justices seemed reluctant to issue a sweeping ruling to override the FDA and require that the drug only be dispensed up to seven weeks into a pregnancy, that patients would have to have three in-person visits with a doctor and that only physicians would be allowed to prescribe the drug.

Throughout her argument, Erin Hawley was asked to defend why the court should impose restrictions on the drug, rather than focusing on how to address the potential harm to her clients  a group of seven individual doctors and doctor organizations.

Justice Neil Gorsuch appeared to take issue with the lower courts broad injunction on the whole country, saying that similar rulings were never issued during the 12 years when Franklin Delano Roosevelt was president, but have happened around 60 times over the past four years.

This case seems like a prime example of turning what could be a small lawsuit into a nationwide legislative assembly on an FDA rule or any other federal action, Gorsuch said.

The justices questioned whether it might be enough to affirm that doctors have the right to make a conscientious objection to participating in any medical care related to abortions. Erin Hawley said she would welcome that ruling, but that she felt it wouldnt be broad enough.

She said people working in an emergency room might not know if their patient was having complications after attempting an abortion and might feel obligated to participate in an emergency situation, even if it was abortion related.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett, another of the courts conservatives, also had questions about whether the doctors had the standing to challenge the FDA, given their ability to raise conscience objections to participating in an abortion.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor questioned whether it would be common for some of the doctors to see patients who are having complications from abortion, given the fact that abortion is banned in some of the states where they practice.

But Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas appeared to support Erin Hawleys arguments.

Thomas keyed in on whether the FDA had violated the Comstock Act, an 1873 law that bans medicine or means for producing or facilitating miscarriage or abortion from being sent by mail, a focus of anti-abortion activists who are concerned clinics are sending abortion medication by mail to people in states where the procedure is banned.

Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar said decisions about sending medication through the mail were out of the purview of the FDA, that they are only tasked with determining the safety and efficacy of a medication.

I dont think its the FDAs responsibility to consider that, Prelogar said.

The Supreme Courts ruling could potentially have large political implications in a presidential election year. Galvanized by the Supreme Courts ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, abortion rights advocates have helped bolster Democratic electoral victories over the past two years.

In Missouri, where Hawley is seeking his second term in the Senate, voters may get a chance to decide if they want to overturn the states abortion ban, which has no exceptions for rape and incest.

President Joe Biden has made access to abortion a key talking point in his reelection effort. Earlier this month, his administration celebrated a decision by CVS and Walgreens agreeing to fill prescriptions for mifepristone in certain states.

His comments prompted a critical column from Erin Hawley in The World News Group, a Christian conservative news site.

It was not so long ago when then-Sen. Joe Biden was at least ambivalent on abortion, Erin Hawley wrote. But such ambivalence is no longer tolerated by the pro-abortion left. Absolute abortion support is now a Democratic requirement for candidates.
Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Erin Hawley, speaks during a press conference outside the Supreme Court after the Court heard oral arguments, Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Washington. The Supreme Court heard arguments in its first abortion case since conservative justices overturned the constitutional right to an abortion two years ago. At stake in Tuesday's arguments is the ease of access to a medication used last year in nearly two-thirds of U.S. abortions. (AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades)

It was 2014, and Erin Morrow Hawley was fighting against the egg-laying hens of Missouri. Specifically, a new requirement that chicken cages have enough space for the hens to stand up, turn around and stretch out.

A law professor from five generations of ranchers and the wife of Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., Hawley joined a challenge to California, which required more spacious enclosures for hens laying eggs to be sold there. The state where she taught, Missouri, sold a third of its eggs to California, and Hawley believed that a blue state had no right to impose its values and rules on Missouris farmers.

She joined in a lawsuit against Californias attorney general at the time, Kamala Harris. A judge found that the challengers could show no direct injury and dismissed the case. Hawley continued teaching, and Harris became Joe Bidens vice president.

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Ten years later, Hawley, 44, is now at the center of one of the countrys most heated cultural battles about bodily autonomy, gender roles and abortion. On Tuesday, for the first time since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court considered a case involving nationwide limits on abortion access. And Hawley was the woman standing before the justices, arguing to sharply curtail access to the abortion pill.

The case centers on the Food and Drug Administrations approval of mifepristone, a commonly available drug used in the majority of abortions in the country. Limiting medication abortion is a next frontier for the anti-abortion movement in the post-Roe era.

Hawley represents a group of anti-abortion doctors and an umbrella group of conservative medical associations that claim that the abortion pill  approved more than two decades ago  is a danger to women. The FDA has pointed to substantial scientific evidence that the medication abortion is safe.

Hawley views the cause as similar to her fights against government interference, rooted in her experience of ranch life.

You see how those regulations impact people that are really living on the ground, and sometimes for good and sometimes maybe not for good, she said in an interview with The New York Times this month. And so being pro-life, and believing that every child, no matter how small, no matter if theyre not yet born, is invested with inherent dignity and worth  government action can have a lot to say about that as well.

She argues that federal approval of the abortion pill went forward without enough consideration of possible side effects and dangers, and that subsequent changes to enable greater access have ignored health risks to women.

The government lawyers in this case, led by Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Prelogar, have argued in court filings that Hawley and her legal team offered scant evidence of real injury, and that declarations from seven identified doctors were often vague or conclusory.

Hawleys particular background makes her ideal for this moment. Her longtime interest in limiting the power of the administrative state is well suited to speak to the current courts conservative supermajority, which has welcomed cases challenging regulations on everything from herring fish to machine guns and, now, abortion.

Hawley brings her credentials not only as a former clerk to Chief Justice John Roberts but as a millennial Christian mother. An evangelical believer who forefronts her identity as a wife and mother of three, Hawley works for the Alliance Defending Freedom, a powerful conservative Christian legal group. She represents the ideals of womanhood many in the anti-abortion and conservative Christian movement seek to elevate.

Until now, Hawley has been best known as the wife of Josh Hawley, who actively sought the overturning of Roe and has supported anti-abortion legislation.

In a campaign ad for him, she starred as an everyday mom, playing with their children in the kitchen, while he took the spotlight. But she will be one of a few women to argue a prominent abortion case at the Supreme Court for the anti-abortion side.

Even anti-abortion leaders often said who? or Joshs wife? when asked about Hawley. Penny Nance, president of Concerned Women for America, has met her at events supporting Josh Hawley but did not realize that Erin Morrow Hawley was arguing the mifepristone case.

There are millions of conservative women all over our country who are educated and powerful and love their families, similar to Erin Hawley, Nance said. She is actually fairly typical of young millennial conservative Christian women coming up through the ranks.

But it may be Erin Morrow Hawley, not Josh Hawley, whose work will most power the anti-abortion cause.

I think it may be more accurate to say that hes Erin Hawleys husband, Mary Ziegler, a law professor and historian at the University of California, Davis, said of the senator. I think people are just beginning to see how influential she is.

Erin Morrow was born into a family of frontier women and grew up on a cattle ranch near Folsom, New Mexico, population roughly 50. The foundation of her great-great-great grandmothers homestead is still visible on the land, where family lore says that as a young widow, she outwitted marauding bandits.

The oldest of three daughters, Hawley was raised mainly by her mother after her parents divorced. Her father, a former national rodeo champion who struggled with alcoholism and depression, died by suicide when she was in high school, a pivotal moment she has spoken about on her podcast. Her mother, Shari Morrow, ran the familys ranch, WineCup, and started teaching Erin to ride horses before she could walk.

She was there when the bus came home, and often shed throw us on horseback, and wed help her move cattle, and we were able to sort of participate in her job in a small way, Hawley said in the interview with Times reporters. She was just a wonderful example of putting her family first but also doing something she loved and cared about.

Her mother, a registered Democrat in the 1990s, had wanted to be a veterinarian, and for a while her daughter did too. Hawley studied animal science at Texas A&M University and considered a doctorate in genetics. But an internship for the House Committee on Agriculture sparked her interest in regulatory law.

Hawley started law school at the University of Texas in Austin, then transferred to Yale Law School, where she was a senior editor on the law review.

She clerked for J. Harvie Wilkinson III, a Reagan appointee on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and for Roberts in 2007.

There, her desk faced that of another clerk from Yale, Josh Hawley, and they secretly dated. He persuaded her to get married, when she was skeptical after having grown up in a home with a marriage that wasnt ideal, she said in a podcast, and they moved back to his home state of Missouri.

When they searched for jobs, she impressed the faculty at the University of Missouris School of Law and expressed interest in filling a need to teach tax law. The school offered jobs to both of them.

Together they started the Missouri Liberty Project, dedicated to promoting constitutional liberty and limited government. But her husbands career soon took the lead in their lives. As he campaigned for the U.S. Senate, she wrote a devotional book for mothers, drawing spiritual lessons from the lives of her children while comfortably weaving in references to modern theologians such as Stanley Hauerwas. Her light textual analysis of original Greek words in the Bible echoes her approach to interpreting the Constitution in her legal work.

Why cant a high-powered lawyer also share that side of her life? Why not? That is her foundation, that is who she is, said Julie Holmquist, who edited the book.

Hawley had expected her husband to pursue a political career after their children were grown. When they felt God calling him to run for office, she packed the family onto the campaign bus. The couple voted at their home church, The Crossing Church, an evangelical Presbyterian congregation, and the Hawleys moved to Washington.

Only a few months into her role as a lawyer for the conservative Christian legal advocacy group ADF in 2021, Hawley flew to Mississippi to strategize on the Dobbs case, which overturned Roe v. Wade.

Hawley and her infant daughter arrived on time, but her babysitter did not. In the middle of the meeting, the baby let out a wail.

As Hawley tells it, this moment encapsulated her purpose, both as a Christian mom and as a lawyer aimed at dismantling the right to abortion. On the couples podcast, she described her babys crying as a tangible reminder of why the Dobbs case might matter so much.

At a speech after the Dobbs oral argument, Hawley said she had been blessed to have a front-row seat on this case. She added, As a conservative mother, I can tell you it has been the project of a lifetime.

Hawley has notched other legal victories, becoming synonymous with conservative social-issue cases. She worked on 303 Creative, the case in which the Supreme Court justices ruled in favor of a Colorado web designer who cited the First Amendment in refusing to serve same-sex couples.

Hawley is currently helping the Idaho attorney general defend the states abortion ban from a challenge by the Biden administration.

At the Supreme Court on Tuesday, her unique background was on display, even as most justices seemed skeptical of her argument. She answered a question from Justice Samuel Alito about determining standing  whether the anti-abortion doctors could show direct harm  by referencing how the court considered the issue in a case about genetically engineered crops. In that case, Hawley said, the court looked at the distance that bees might fly in order to pollinate seed farms, she said. She had the support of her husband, who was present in the courtroom.

Even with the pressure of a first-time oral argument, she said in the interview that she remained calm because the decision was ultimately up to God.

Christians are called to work with excellence but also to rest in the knowledge that God is sovereign, and that we can trust the results to him, she said. To have the faith that all of it is in his hands, I think does help.

The justices are expected to make a decision in June.

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ESO Artisanal Pasta will join the growing list of tenants at Charlottes Optimist Hall, White Point Partners, Paces Properties, and Bridger Properties announced on Monday.

ESO comes from the husband-wife team of Chefs AJ Sankofa and Kristina Gambarian, who turned their passion for Italian cooking into a nationwide delivery and local pick-up business during the pandemic.

Charlotte brewery named best beer garden in the U.S. by USA Today

When word of mouth spread about the couples handmade pastas and sauces, the artisan pasta shop skyrocketed in popularity with Sankofa appearing on Food Networks Chopped and The Great Food Truck Race.

In 2021, ESO opened its first storefront in Morristown, New Jersey. Now, the couple has set their sights on Charlotte, where Chef Sankofa grew up.

We are beyond ecstatic for this next chapter of ESO and to return to the city of Charlotte, where I spent some of my childhood, said Sankofa in a news release. Optimist Hall is an exciting opportunity for us and felt like the perfect place to bring ESO Artisanal Pasta to the next level. Were looking forward to creating some of the most authentic pasta in the city by using fresh ingredients and familiar flavors with interesting twists.

Sankofa also studied and lived in Italy where he worked at the Michelin-starred Ristorante Larossa in Torino, working his way up from line cook to pasta cook. Once he returned to the states, Sankofa worked at New York Citys Legacy Records in Hudson Yards where he met his future wife and business partner.

ESO Artisanal Pasta is expected to open in Optimist Hall later this year. It will be next to Schreibers on Rye and Zukku Sushi.

VIDEO: Craving authentic Italian? Check out this Matthews market and deli




Farmers with tractors demonstrate through the streets of Granada during a protest. Alex Camara/EUROPA PRESS/dpa

Farmers are bringing their tractors back to Brussels on Tuesday to protest EU regulations and falling profits while agricultural ministers meet to find a way to appease them.

For weeks, angry farmers have been blockading roads and protesting in front of government offices across Europe, including the EU's Brussels headquarters.

Their actions are already having an effect, with the European Commission shelving a controversial fertilizer ban and proposing to loosen conditions to access subsidies from the bloc's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

Farmers rely on CAP subsidies to stay afloat but payments are conditional on strict environmental protection rules. The commission proposed to ease rules for land use and crop rotation on March 15.

There is a lengthy process ahead before the proposed changes can be added to EU law, as the European Parliament and EU member states need to agree amendments together.

Another matter to be discussed at Tuesday's meeting is the reintroduction of EU tariffs on certain agricultural imports from Ukraine like eggs, poultry, maize and honey.

The EU lifted tariffs on Ukrainian agricultural imports in 2022 to support the Ukrainian economy after Russia's full-scale invasion of the country in February of that year.

But farmers in the EU complained about the sharp rise in imports. They say they want protection from unfair competition, as Ukrainian farmers can produce food at lower costs - not least because they don't have to comply with EU regulations.
For some time, Maritza Gonzalezs two young children have not known what it is like to sleep until dawn. In her house in Moron, in the Cuban province of Ciego de Avila, Maritza manages, shakes off the mosquitoes, fans them with a piece of cardboard, but her two young children have a hard time keeping their eyes closed. They cant sleep because the lights go out every three or four hours, she says. And if there is no electricity, you cant turn on the fan or the air conditioner either. You have to blow air on them with cardboard, and one is also a human being who gets tired of doing this all day long. For several weeks, the Cuban Electrical Union has been reporting constant power cuts on the island, which, along with the countrys food crisis, unleashed massive protests on Sunday, March 17. The demonstrations have once again put President Miguel Diaz-Canels government in jeopardy.

The street mobilization began in a neighborhood of the city of Santiago, Cuba, at around 2:00 p.m., and by Sunday night they had spread to other Cuban provinces, such as Matanzas and Artemisa. While the first demands were for electricity and food, the demonstrators then shouted freedom and booed the current president. The government cut the internet to prevent the events from being reported and spreading to other areas of the country, but several people managed to share the images of hundreds of people shouting in unison Patria y vida [Homeland and life], a phrase that has become a slogan of the protests.

While other demonstrations of discontent have been reported on the island, these are the largest since the mass protests of July 11 and 12, 2021, when thousands of Cubans took to the streets for the same reasons.

Despite the governments punishment of previous protests, for which some have received prison sentences of up to 20 years, the economic situation once again brought Cubans back into the streets. The long blackouts of up to 18 hours are reminiscent of those experienced in the 1990s during the so-called Special Period, after the loss of aid from the former Soviet Union. Now, the shipment of fuel from allied countries such as Russia and Venezuela has been affected, in addition to the recurrent breakdowns of the Antonio Guiteras Thermoelectric Power Plant, the countrys main one.

A resident of Santiago, Cuba, who requested anonymity, confirms that the blackouts continue and reports that her grocery store has not received any food for a month. Despite the fact that a popular revolt broke out very close to her house a week ago, she says that the city has returned to normal. To quell the protest, the government sent products such as rice and sugar to some very localized grocery stores. It also deployed the police and military forces to defuse the demonstration.

Lasting over ten hours a day in many provinces, blackouts are an ordeal for many Cubans and are one of the causes of the protests. Yander Zamora (EFE)

Diaz-Canel accuses the U.S. of heating up Cubas streets "

The first secretary of the Communist Party in Santiago de Cuba, Beatriz Johnson Urrutia, was the one sent to calm the popular revolt, announcing the immediate shipment of food to certain warehouses in the city. We cannot deny that it was a very tense situation, she said later in the official press. But as always, the people understood.

On X (formerly Twitter), at the same time that the protests were taking place, Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canel acknowledged the citizenrys discontent due to the situation of electric service and food distribution and asserted that the authorities were disposed to address the demands of the people.

But the president, the Cuban Foreign Ministry and the state press have all used the discourse of blaming the protests on the alleged interference of the United States. Diaz-Canel accused mediocre politicians and terrorists in South Florida of heating up Cubas streets, which Vedant Patel, chief deputy spokesman for the State Department, denied immediately. The United States is not behind these protests in Cuba, and the accusation of that is absurd, he said in an official statement. Protests across several cities in Cuba yesterday called for electricity, food, and fundamental freedoms. I think what we are seeing is a reflection of the dire situation on the island, he added.

Lack of clarity on the number of detainees

Almost three years after the protests of July 11 and 12, the first demonstrations of that magnitude in the country since the Revolution came to power, the cause remains the same: the countrys generalized situation of precariousness.

Camila Rodriguez, the coordinator of the group Justicia 11J, which monitors the situation of the thousands of political prisoners from the previous protests, notes that there were dozens of people arrested during Sundays demonstrations, but it has only been possible to confirm the identity of five people, two in the Bayamo demonstrations, two in El Cobre and one in Matanzas. Thus far, at least three of the detainees have been released; two had to pay fines for alleged public disorder crimes before they were freed.

However, Raudiel Pena, a lawyer for Cubalex, thinks that it is very possible that the government will once again resort to the same practices it used after July 11, such as charging some of those it detained with sedition. We cant rule out that this will happen because of the way the Cuban state criminalizes protests, he explains.

As in the July 2021 demonstrations, this time the government resorted to constantly cutting the internet and deploying the police and military. Although there are several videos showing the police repressing demonstrators, these protests were less violent than the previous ones. You also have to understand that these protests have not been as massive across the country as the July 11 ones, although there is evidence of protesters being beaten, police intervention, and militarization, Pena says.

Because the government has traditionally repressed those who protest on the island, for years Cubans have found it difficult to go out and claim the public space. Although a survey by the independent project CubaData shows that one out of every two Cubans intends to participate in civil protests, few end up joining the demonstrations. Discontent in the country is only growing because over the last five years (at least) Cubas situation has worsened, with no solution in sight in the short term.

For Cubans, 2023 was marked by food shortages and the lack of medicines and fuel, which affected transportation and caused many blackouts over the course of the year. The economy contracted 2%, affected by the coronavirus pandemic and the decline of the tourism sector; these were aggravated by the U.S. economic embargo against the island, inefficient government management and several errors in policy measures.

Since then, a series of government decisions have followed one after another, some of which suggest that the countrys leadership is not in good shape: not only did they implement a package of economic measures that increased the cost of living for Cuban families, but at the beginning of 2024 they had to halt those measures. In addition, without anyone suspecting it, they announced the rapid dismissal of the then Minister of Economy, Alejandro Gil Fernandez, who was later found to be under investigation for corruption.

On more than a few occasions the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, has acknowledged the lack of fuel in the country and has said that the government will provide a solution. In the midst of the sustained inconvenience caused by the lack of electricity in Cuba, the minister said that the fuel situation is going to be better in the future. But Cuban economist Omar Everleny Perez Villanueva, the former director of the Center for the Study of the Cuban Economy at the University of Havana, told EL PAIS that he believes 2024 will be an even worse year than the previous one.

January, February and March have been truly terrible. These are months in which there has been not only a lack of electricity, but a lack of water, a lack of food. There really is a very difficult situation in the country. Everleny insists that the current blackouts on the island have been compounded not only by the lack of food, but also by the non-compliance with the delivery cycles in the countrys grocery stores. There are provinces, such as the eastern provinces, where products have not been delivered for a month. It does not seem to me that there is a short-term solution. There is no fuel because there is no money to pay for the ships, and the money to have it has to be generated. I do not believe that there are enough imports to make up for this lack in the short term.

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Mobile apps are seen on an iPhone screen. Christoph Dernbach/dpa

The European Commission on Tuesday published guidelines for how it expects large online platforms like X, formerly Twitter, and Meta to tackle disinformation during elections this year.

The European Union's Digital Services Act (DSA) requires large platforms to manage the risk of their services harming the electoral process, among other risks.

The DSA allows the commission to fine platforms up to 6% of their global revenue if they fail to address such risks adequately.

Elections to the European Parliament are due to be held in June, and national elections are scheduled this year in Slovakia, Lithuania, Belgium, Croatia, Austria and Romania.

The new guidelines say platforms should pay particular attention to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to create fake content.

They call on platforms to set up in-house teams to monitor local risks and to tailor their efforts to each specific election and country.

Although the DSA requires that platforms mitigate the risk of "negative effects" on elections, it does not say they have to remove disinformation.

Neither do the new guidelines. For example, they recommend "prompts and nudges urging users to read content and evaluate its accuracy and source before sharing it."

Most large platforms have signed a voluntary code of practice on disinformation, which emphasizes ensuring their systems don't promote misleading content or reward it with advertising revenue.

X withdrew from the code in May last year. The commission opened an investigation into X in December for possible breaches of the DSA.

The DSA's risk mitigation rules apply to platforms with more than 45 million users per month and took effect in August 2023.

The official profile of Platform X on the screen of a smartphone shows the white letter X on a black background. Monika Skolimowska/dpa
Farmers with their tractors protest against EU agricultural policy and demand improvements in their industry. Gregory Ienco/Belga/dpa

Farmers returned to Brussels with their tractors on Tuesday, launching fireworks, lighting fires, spraying hay and dumping manure in protest of EU regulations and falling profits.

Police set up roadblocks and deployed a water cannon to contain the demonstrations and with horns blaring, tractors blockaded the streets of the European Union's headquarters in the Belgian capital.

"Let us live from our work," a sign spray painted onto the front of a tractor declared.

For weeks, angry farmers have been blockading roads and protesting in front of government offices across Europe.

EU agricultural ministers meanwhile met inside to try to appease their anger while officials signed off on measures to loosen conditions for access to subsidies from the bloc's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

The changes give "greater flexibility for farmers" and EU countries to ease their bureaucratic burden but maintain environmental standards, the Belgian Agricultural Minister David Clarinval, who is chairing the meeting, said in a statement.

German Agricultural Minister Cem Ozdemir warned against lowering the EU's environmental standards in response to the original proposal to revise CAP rules. "What we are losing today must be rebuilt all the more laboriously," he said earlier in March.

Farmers rely on CAP subsidies to stay afloat but payments are conditional on strict environmental protection rules. The majority of the revisions backed by EU countries ease rules for land use and crop rotation.

There is still a lengthy process ahead before the proposed changes can be added to EU law, as the European Parliament needs to approve the changes. EU member states give final approval.

The reintroduction of EU tariffs on certain agricultural imports from Ukraine like eggs, poultry, maize and honey in support of the bloc's farmers also concerns EU agricultural ministers.

Last week, negotiators from the EU member states and the European Parliament agreed that tariffs should be reintroduced on large quantities of certain foods from Ukraine to support European farmers.

However, it is unclear whether there is a majority in favour, as for some EU countries the move does not go far enough. Hungary, for example, is calling for tariffs to be imposed on wheat above a certain quantity.

But there are also voices from France and Poland calling for stricter customs rules. EU tariffs were lifted on Ukrainian agricultural imports in 2022 to support the Ukrainian economy after Russia's full-scale invasion of the country in February of that year.

But farmers in the EU complained about the sharp rise in imports. They say they want protection from unfair competition, as Ukrainian farmers can produce food at lower costs - not least because they don't have to comply with EU regulations.

Hungarian Agriculture Minister Istvan Nagy said on Tuesday that Budapest opposed EU agricultural market access for Ukraine as trade routes in the Black Sea were open again after the Russian blockade. Ukrainian exports should return to their usual markets in the Middle East and Africa, he said.

Ozdemir countered that solidarity with Ukraine extends beyond supplying arms and that imports of Ukrainian agricultural products were not responsible for falling grain prices in Germany.

"Anyone who says that should please back it up with facts and figures," he said. Ozdemir criticized full grain storage facilities in Poland, and their market impact, as a failure of government policy attempting to advise farmers on when to sell their produce.

Farmers with their tractors protest against EU agricultural policy and demand improvements in their industry. Gregory Ienco/Belga/dpa
Farmers thronged Brussels' European Quarter for the third time in two months on Tuesday, setting fire to tyres and bales of hay - KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP

The European Union on Tuesday signed off on plans to water down environmental rules for farmers to quell their mounting tractor protests.

The decision came as angry farmers clashed with police in Brussels European Quarter as the blocs agriculture ministers met to address the discontent.

One person was arrested and two officers were injured during the demonstration, which turned violent with fireworks, eggs and bottles hurled at police dressed in riot gear.

Police officers at the barricade separating them from the farmers retaliated by firing tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowds.

Although smaller than previous protests, some 300 tractors swamped the Belgian capital to show their anger over the blocs green deal legislation and a controversial trade agreement with Latin America.

Farmers lit fires outside the European Parliament - Olivier Matthys/Shutterstock

To appease the farmers, whose cause is seen as totemic ahead of Junes EU elections, the European Commission proposed easing two-thirds of the good agricultural and environmental conditions that common agricultural policy (CAP) subsidies are paid on.

The tweaks include exemptions on compulsory soil covers, crop rotation and land rules.

Smaller farmers with under 10 hectares, which account for around 65 per cent of CAP handouts, will no longer have to comply with environmental checks and penalties.

David Clarinval, Belgiums agriculture minister, said: We have listened to our farmers and we have taken swift action to address their concerns at a time when they are confronted with numerous challenges.

The targeted revision of the rules strikes the right balance between ensuring greater flexibility for farmers and member states and easing the administrative burden, while also maintaining a high level of environmental ambition in the common agricultural policy.

The watered-down plans were voted through by 26 of the blocs 27 member states, with Germany opting to abstain in the informal vote on the sidelines of an EU Agrifish meeting.

But the proposals were insufficient to address the root causes that have motivated the demonstrations of farmers throughout Europe for months, said Via Campesina, an international farmers organisation.

Farmers protest in Brussels over price pressures, taxes and green regulation - Yves Herman/Reuters

Farmers organisations have vowed to keep returning for protests in Brussels until the European elections in early June.

The protests are seen as a particular worry for mainstream politicians ahead of the bloc-wide ballot.

Recent polling has suggested that nine of the EU states could vote for parties described as hard-Right, nationalist or populist.

Parties like Frances National Rally, led by Marine Le Pen, have leapt on the farmers cause in hope of further boosting their levels of support ahead of the ballot.

However, efforts to quell their anger have led to accusations that the Commission is disregarding democratic norms.

Environmental groups said the proposals to ease farmers regulations completely disregards the blocs democratic principles, in a letter to Commission president Ursula Von der Leyen.

The European Commission has given in to the fake narrative that opposes the environment to agriculture, the letter said.

The measures proposed will only undermine the very jobs that the CAP is meant to support in the long term.

A heavy police presence was in place after the last protest to hit Brussels ended in violent clashes - Yves Herman/Reuters

Farmers started leaving Brussels in the late afternoon on Tuesday, the police said.

Officials said one person was arrested for throwing Molotov cocktails at the security forces.

Tear gas was also used and tractors were immobilised because people wanted to use tractors to force a police disposition, Brussels police said in a statement.

In addition, significant amounts of car tyres, straw ... were set on fire in various places.

Annelies Verlinden, Belgiums interior minister, said their violence, arson and destruction was unacceptable.

I call for every effort to be made to identify the perpetrators as soon as possible, she said. This also allows the judiciary to send a clear signal to the perpetrators.

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The scheduled March 25 vote by EU ambassadors on the regulations governing the import of Ukrainian agricultural products has been delayed until March 27, the Polish news outlet RMF24 reported on March 25.

France and Poland, along with few other neighbouring countries of Ukraine, are pushing for changes to further tighten restrictions on the import of agricultural products.



Read also: Poland aims to halt Ukrainian grain transit from April, negotiations with Kyiv underway

Belgians claim that the postponement of the agreement approval is due to many countries still undecided on their votes," the RMF24 said.

"The Belgium presidency [of the Council of the European Union] has decided to leave a little more time to make the final decision."

Poland and France are dissatisfied with the compromise reached earlier by negotiators from the European Parliament and the EU Council, arguing that the restrictions on Ukrainian food imports are insufficient. French diplomats have stated that "the text of the agreement was not ready for acceptance." France and Poland are advocating for an extension of the reference period.

"Apart from the countries neighboring Ukraine, Italy, Austria, Slovenia, and Croatia also express their readiness to join the French-Polish initiative," the article said.

"However, Germany and the Netherlands do not want changes to the agreement, claiming that on the one hand, they cannot allocate billions of euros to support Ukraine and, on the other hand, deprive it of the opportunity to earn money."

Read also: Five member states urge EU to ban grain imports from Russia and Belarus

The European Parliament and the EU Council reportedly reached a preliminary agreement to extend trade liberalization measures for Ukraine amid the Russian war. The agreement proposes extending the temporary suspension of import duties and quotas on Ukrainian agricultural exports to the EU until June 5, 2025.

Under the current regulations, "emergency brakes" may be applied for particularly "sensitive agricultural products," namely poultry, eggs, and sugar.

The European Parliament members have pushed for expanding this list to include oats, corn, cereals, and honey. They have secured firm commitments from the European Commission regarding measures in case of a sudden surge in wheat imports from Ukraine. Tariffs will be reintroduced if the import of these products exceeds average levels for the previous two years.



Read also: Polish farmers block movement of trucks from Ukraine at two checkpoints  State Border Guard Service

Polish protesters began restricting traffic on the Ukrainian border on Feb. 20, blocking trucks at various checkpoints.

They have outlined several demands, including the abolition of duty-free trade with Ukraine and the complete closure of the Ukrainian-Polish border for trucks.

The European Parliament Committee supported extending duty-free trade for Ukraine on March 7, 2024.

Ukraine responded by expressing readiness to restrict trade with the EU on its terms.

Polish farmers intensified their strike on March 20, completely halting truck traffic at Yahodyn and Rava-Ruska border crossings.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Nationalism thrives when certain elements are in place.

One of those necessary elements is the publics willingness to believe an assertion provided its stated with enough confidence. Another is a degree of optimism that is so unrealistic as to be almost self-destructive. And a third is a conviction that emotional resonance matters more than hard economic facts.

Thus has the campaign for Scottish independence prospered in recent years. But recent events have not conspired to create as healthy an environment for the separatist movement as in bygone years. The hegemonies of Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon have receded into the past, and along with them the arrogance and self-belief of the SNP.

Instead we have hapless Humza, beset by unfavourable polls, a politically difficult police investigation into his partys finances, and a desperate search for a realistic path to independence that has so far not been found.

And with a general election on the horizon, and the prospects of 20 or more SNP MPs having to find alternative gainful employment, now is not the time for an unhelpful economist  an independence-supporting one at that  to regale the nationalist movement with decidedly inconvenient facts.

Professor Mark Blyth is a former member of the Scottish Governments own economic advisory council. Even before his appointment was announced in 2021 he was busy telling audiences that the lack of detail in the SNPs plans for independence robbed it of any credibility:

The problem that Ive seen so far is the complete lack of specificity as to here is what the Scottish business model is now, here is where we want to be, this is how were going to get from here to here by doing this. Instead of which what weve got is Denmark is awesome, we should be like Denmark, if we were independent we would be Denmark. No, you wouldnt be Denmark. Denmark took 600 years to become Denmark.

Well, quite.

And Professor Blyth was just as scathing about nationalists who sought to use Brexit as an excuse to advance Scotlands independence from the UK. They needed to understand that Scotland separating from England was the biggest Brexit in history, because the last time Scotland was fully economically independent, the word capitalism hadnt been uttered. Its been together for over 300 years, so if pulling apart 30 years of economic integration with Europe is going to hurt, 300 is going to hurt a lot.

Scotland exiting the UK would be Brexit times ten, according to Blyth.

So the organisers of last weekends weirdly named Scotonomics Festival of Economics might have known what they were in for when they secured the Dundee-born academics participation in the event, via video from his home in the United States.

He did not disappoint. He was scathing about the long-cherished nationalist trope of creating a Nordic style economy once Scotland has broken free from the UK. Such claims were akin to saying Im a supermodel because I also have legs. Its simply not true when you really think about it.

But inviting an audience of nationalists to think about it is just as unhelpful as pointing out economic facts. The case for independence has been built, for as long as it has existed, on a series of unprovable assertions. Their persuasiveness lay in the difficulty in proving them untrue  a bit like trying to prove the Loch Ness Monster doesnt exist.

But now Professor Blyth, who once advised the Scottish Government on economics and who is himself a supporter of independence, has gone and spoiled everything by committing the movements most heinous crime: he has told the truth.

To many nationalists, none of this will matter much. Emotional resonance, as noted previously, matters more to them than facts and stuff. The skirl of the bagpipes and the stirring sight of a bedraggled St Andrews flag fluttering in the cold Scottish air counts for far more than hard figures about GDP, exports and currencies.

Professor Blyths warnings that without a robust economy to support an independent Scottish currency, Scotland risked becoming a mini Argentina, holds no water for those who hark back to the good old days of the 1300s.

For them, fainthearts like Professor Blyth matter less than Bravehearts like Mel Gibson. But there will be others in Scotland who might be persuaded that, after all the bluster of the last decade or more, economic reality, disappointing though it is, might be allowed to displace the shortbread tin version of nationalism that has dominated politics in Scotland for too long.

Humza Yousafs problems just got worse. And this time he cant blame the Unionists.

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The commanding officer of the King's Royal Hussars is cheered by his battlegroup on completion of winter exercises in Estonia. Russia cannot match the military power of Nato, even without the USA - Corporal Paul Squires/Crown Copyright

As Nato approaches its 75th anniversary and the prospect of Trump returning to the White House intensifies, discussions are focused on Nato without the United States.

Could Europe cope? Amid whispers of American withdrawal, questions have arisen about the Alliances ability to counter threats, especially from Russia.

At first glance, the answer seems straightforward. The collective military capability of Nato members, even without the US, is formidable  dwarfing Ukraines 2022 resources that successfully stalled the Russian advance and knocked it back on most fronts.

Facing Russia in 2022, Ukraines armed forces, armed with older Soviet-era military hardware, had approximately 850 to 1,000 main battle tanks such as the T-64, T-72, and T-80 models. There were some hundreds of artillery pieces and fewer than 100 operational combat jets. Nonetheless Ukraines small forces, stiffened with initially small numbers of advanced Western weapons, were able to throw Russian forces back in most areas and reduced their progress to a grinding crawl in the southeast.

Russia, boasting a mind-bogglingly huge military arsenal with up to 13,000 tanks and over a thousand fighter jets, demonstrated severe weaknesses. These included logistical challenges and massive hardware losses. If Russia couldnt push Ukraine over, its chance of success against the much bigger and more sophisticated armies of Nato  even without the US  would seem slim.

For the collective military capability of European Nato members is, indeed, vastly superior to what Ukraine had available in 2022. Equipment includes thousands of main battle tanks, including modern models like the Leopard 2, Leclerc, and Challenger 2, and an impressive array of advanced jet fighters such as Eurofighter Typhoons, Dassault Rafales, and SAAB Gripens, European Nato countries possess a significant armoured and aerial advantage over Russia. European nations also possess some advanced US weapons, including limited numbers of F-35 fifth generation fighters and advanced long range precision weapons such as the M57 ATACMS ballistic missile, already in Polands armoury, and Britains Tomahawk cruise missiles.

In terms of sheer troop numbers, Nato members excluding the United States boast over 1.5 million active military personnel, contrasting Russias approximately 1 million active-duty soldiers. While on paper, this suggests a numerical advantage for Nato, the true strength of the Alliance lies beyond headcounts. Its more complex than that.

The technological sophistication and interoperability of Nato forces significantly amplify their combat effectiveness. European Nato members have invested heavily in next-generation aircraft, precision-guided munitions, state-of-the-art electronic warfare systems, and cyber defence capabilities. These technologies enable Nato forces to conduct highly effective combined operations across vast distances, something Russia cannot do. The conflict in Ukraine has underscored the limitations of relying on numerical superiority alone. Despite their numbers, Russian forces have struggled against technologically sophisticated Ukrainian defences. This has highlighted the importance of modern armed forces doctrines prioritising mobility, flexibility, and precision over sheer force.

Even without the US, Natos strength resides in its ability to leverage cutting-edge technology and integrated command structures to conduct operations adaptable to the battlefields rapidly changing circumstances.

In contrast to Russia, the most critical area in which Nato excels is combined arms operations. Such operations involve using different military branches (infantry, armour, artillery, aviation, and naval forces) to achieve a shared objective. This approach maximises the strengths and mitigates the weaknesses of different unit types, creating a force far more effective than the sum of its parts.

This joined-up thinking contrasts with the Russian military in Ukraine, which has revealed a reliance on outdated Soviet-era tactics, in short, throwing men at a location to hold it without allowing objectives to evolve or change. Despite its size and firepower, Russia has struggled to integrate its forces effectively in Ukraine, its air forces often failing to support its ground forces in any meaningful way. Given Ukraines utilisation of Western tactics against Russia and the advanced capabilities of Nato members that taught Ukraine those tactics, its unlikely that the Russian military could realistically challenge a fully mobilised Nato force without encountering significant difficulties, even if that force didnt include the United States.

Yet, despite these strengths, a Nato without the United States would suffer significant operational handicaps. As things stand today, the Alliance heavily relies on the United States for crucial capabilities such as operational intelligence, air-to-air refuelling, missile defence and more. The absence of these American enablers would expose gaps in Natos defence architecture, challenging its ability to sustain a fight in the long term. For all the tanks and troops available to Nato in Europe, members still need to be able to move those forces around the continent effectively.

Moreover, the strategic significance of the US nuclear umbrella cannot be overstated. Without it, Europes nuclear deterrence relies on Britain and Frances strategic systems, which, while capable, do not match the comprehensive coverage provided by American forces and might be considered by Putin to be unable to inflict disabling damage on Russia.

Yes, a European Nato could likely defeat a Russian attack on day one, but what about day one hundred?

Europe must bolster its military capabilities and invest in areas currently underpinned by American support. Simultaneously, diplomatic efforts will be crucial to maintaining unity and a shared commitment among Nato members, as the Alliances strength lies not in numbers but primarily in its collective resolve. Having a vast fleet of tanks, planes and ships as a deterrent means very little if everyone knows you wont use them or that youll only use them sometimes.

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Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder (R), who was imprisoned for leading a corruption scheme last year, has now been indicted on new charges.

Householder faces 10 new felony counts after being indicted Monday by a county grand jury.

The new counts include allegations of ethics violations, misuse of campaign funds and theft in office, which could ban him from being an elected official in Ohio.

This case seeks to hold Mr. Householder accountable for his actions under state law, and I expect that the results will permanently bar him from public service in Ohio, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said in a statement. State crimes have state penalties, and a conviction will ensure that there will be no more comebacks from the Comeback Kid.

Householder, 64, faces one count of theft in office, one count of telecommunications fraud, two counts of aggravated theft, five counts of tampering with records and one count of money laundering.

Householders lawyer, Steven Bradley said Monday he has not spoken to Householder yet, but we hope to do that soon and will determine how to best proceed, according to The Associated Press.

Last June, Householder was sentenced to 20 years in prison for leading a $61 million corruption scheme. Utility company FirstEnergy had sought to get legislation passed that would be friendly to the Akron-based company, including a $1.3 billion taxpayer-funded bailout of two nuclear plants in the Buckeye State.

FirstEnergy had to pay a $230 million fine for its involvement in the bribery case. Some of the executives were fired. Former Ohio GOP Chair Matt Borges was also found guilty on racketeering charges.

Householder served two separate terms as Speaker.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
By Marisa Taylor

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. lawmaker involved in health policy has asked the Food and Drug Administration why it did not inspect Elon Musk's Neuralink before allowing the brain implant company to test its device in humans.

Reuters reported last month that FDA inspectors found problems with record keeping and quality controls for animal experiments at Neuralink last June, less than a month after the startup said it was cleared to test its brain implants in humans.

Neuralink, which first tested its device in monkeys and other animals, is now testing the device in humans. The company makes a brain-chip which enables paralyzed patients to control a computer using only their thoughts.

In a letter to the FDA on Monday, Democratic U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer said he was concerned the agency ignored "troubling evidence" of animal testing violations that had been raised dating back to at least 2019.

Blumenauer also cited reports by Reuters since late 2022 that described employees' complaints of "hack jobs" of animal experiments due to a rushed schedule, causing needless suffering and deaths. Employees also worried that data quality would be compromised, the media organization reported at the time. He asked the FDA to explain how it reconciled reports of such lapses with its decision to authorize Neuralink's human trial.

"These alleged failures to follow standard operating procedures potentially endangered animal welfare and compromised data collection for human trials," wrote Blumenauer, who serves on the House Ways and Means subcommittee on health.

In response to queries from Reuters about the letter, the FDA said it would respond to the lawmaker directly. The agency also said it routinely carries out inspections after a human trial is approved. When it inspected Neuralink, the FDA said it did not find violations that would undermine the safety of the trial.

Neuralink did not immediately respond to questions.

In recent years, a handful of device companies have begun testing such brain implants in humans, including Synchron and Blackrock Neurotech, who have both demonstrated the ability of patients to control certain actions with their thoughts.

Last week, Neuralink presented a livestream on Musk's social media platform X, showing how the first patient implanted with its brain device was able to play online chess using his mind. Noland Arbaugh, a 29-year-old who was paralyzed below the shoulders after a diving accident, also posted a comment on X by relaying his thoughts.

(Reporting by Marisa Taylor; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)
There are more than 12,000 dead, more than eight million people displaced, an estimated 18 million are starving, and 25 million are in need of humanitarian aid. The civil war that broke out in Sudan on April 15, 2023, following a confrontation between the national army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has sparked a human catastrophe that has turned this northeastern African nation into the worlds largest internally displaced population crisis and is plunging it into the largest hunger crisis, according to the World Food Program (WFP).

The consequences of war in a country that is slightly larger than the combined size of Spain, Portugal, France, Italy and Germany will also create disturbances in the entire region. The neighboring countries, which are already strained to the limit, have had to provide refuge to nearly two million people fleeing the war, explains Mohammed Qazilbash, director general of Plan International Sudan, during a visit to Madrid.

These are the drivers of a conflict that, according to the United Nations, has caused a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions:

1. The largest hunger crisis

Approximately five million Sudanese, 10.4% of a population of 48 million, are in emergency or Phase 4 of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the tool that measures food security worldwide. This is the level that precedes the declaration of famine, or Phase 5. In addition, almost 13 million are in Phase 3 or emergency, which means that close to 18 million people (about 37%) are experiencing hunger in Sudan. The WFP executive director, Cindy McCain, warned earlier this month that the war in the country could spark the worlds largest hunger crisis.

The conflict has directly disrupted food production, which had already been hampered by the drought in North Africa. However, in addition, with so many millions of displaced people, farmers have not been able to plant seeds, says Qazilbash. And even if they had attempted to, the agricultural sector in Sudan is heavily subsidized by the government, which finances supplies such as fertilizers, but with the collapse of the executive all these subsidies have disappeared.

Theres food in the market, but it is simply unaffordable for most families, due in part to a continued telecommunications blackout that is preventing families from receiving much needed mobile cash, Jill Lawler, UNICEFs Chief of Field Operations and Emergency in Sudan, who visited the country in early March, explains in a statement. There is nothing, no internet, no banks, no money, confirms the Sudanese artist Eltayeb Daw Elbait, exiled in Kenya, during a visit to Madrid, where he is participating in an exhibition, after several months of unsuccessfully trying to send money to his relatives who are still in Sudan.

2. Nearly four million children malnourished and 19 million out of school

According to UNICEFs estimates, nearly 3.7 million children are projected to be acutely malnourished this year in Sudan. At a hospital we visited, we saw malnourished children and their caregivers in total darkness because of electricity outages, explains Jill Lawler, after her visit to Sudan.

Malnutrition in children under five years of age is especially concerning because if the right level of nutrition is not maintained at that age for their mental and physical development, when they become adults they may have physical and intellectual consequences, bemoans Qazilbash. How can you build a nation that has an intellectually and physically compromised future? asks the director of Plan International Sudan.

The humanitarian worker goes on to say, schools have been closed for almost a year, which means that 19 million children are out of school. This is another catastrophe, he points out.

3. The largest number of internally displaced individuals

More than eight million people have been forced to flee their homes in Sudan since the civil war broke out on April 15, 2023, according to U.N. data. Of these, some two million Sudanese have sought refuge in bordering countries. The six million who have been displaced within the country join another three million from previous conflicts, who have been unable to return owing to the continued deteriorating security situation. One in eight of the worlds internally displaced persons is Sudanese, says the U.N., which means the country has the worlds largest displacement crisis.

The civil war has caused widespread displacement of people and, as with any displacement, women and children are the most affected, warns Qazilbash. With four million children displaced, it is also the global crisis that has caused the highest level of displacement of children in the world, he regrets.

4. Spread of a regional crisis

Of the almost two million Sudanese who have fled the country, 37% have taken refuge in Chad, 30% in South Sudan and 25% in Egypt, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). This is not a crisis in Sudan, but a regional crisis, and though Sudan is the epicenter, all the surrounding countries are dealing with the aftershocks, Qazilbash points out. He adds: Before this crisis, Chad, for instance, was not very prosperous, it was a poor country with numerous internal and external problems, and now it has more than half a million Sudanese living on its eastern border. For that reason, Qazilbash says, not only must the needs within the country be covered, but all emergency situations of externally displaced persons must also be addressed.

Mohammed Qazilbash, director general of Plan International Sudan, on March 13 in Madrid. JUAN BARBOSA

5. Murder, rape and looting

The human rights situation in Sudan remains out of control, warn U.N. sources. Thousands of civilians have been killed, millions displaced, looted property and children recruited, adds the latest report on the situation in the African country, in which the U.N. states that some of these violations would amount to war crimes.

There is particular concern in the Darfur region (to the west of the country), where humanitarian access has not been possible for months, according to the U.N. Thousands of people were killed in RSF attacks, some of them were ethnically motivated, sources within the organization say.

6. The collapse of healthcare services

Hostilities during almost a year of war have left more than 25% of all hospitals nonfunctional while the main national laboratory has been occupied by fighters, explained sources from the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Directorate in Sudan. The large number of displaced persons, together with the collapse of the healthcare services, led to outbreaks of diseases such as cholera, measles, malaria and dengue fever, according to the same organization. At Al Nao in Omdurman (near Khartoum, the capital), we saw two, sometimes three patients, sharing beds, says Lawler. The director of this hospital confirmed to UNICEF that, about 300 people had limbs amputated in the hospital in just the past month alone.

A member of the Sudanese Army in Omdurman, March 9. El Tayeb Siddig (REUTERS)

Exhaustion among staff  many of whom are practically living in the hospital, and most of whom have not been paid regular salaries in months  is palpable, as is frustration at the lack of supplies, equipment and space, says UNICEFs Chief of Field Operations in Sudan.

7. Humanitarian aid, a drop in the ocean

More than 25 million people, including 14 million children, require humanitarian assistance in the country, according to U.N. data. Humanitarian aid enters Sudan, but on a scale too small to reach the millions of Sudanese living in refugee camps or in their own homes, says Qazilbash. Thousands of tons of food would be needed to cover the food necessities alone, so if only two trucks a day arrive, humanitarian aid is a drop in the ocean, continues the humanitarian worker, who calls for a stop to hostilities to allow the arrival of aid to be effective.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Humanitarian Response Plan 2024 for Sudan has so far secured 5% of the $2.7 billion it estimates is needed to cover food, medical care, supplies and other critical life-saving assistance throughout this year.

Despite the fact that considerably less than what is needed is arriving, it is extremely difficult to get this aid into the country. The U.N. confirms that, humanitarian access is limited by the complex dynamics of the conflict, including the constant shifting of fronts as fighting spreads to new areas. Aid convoys face threats, roadblocks, restrictions and bureaucratic impediments, making it extremely difficult for WFP to expand its assistance, international agency sources believe, who also call for freedom of movement across borders and conflict lines to reach all vulnerable communities, regardless of where they are located.

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NEW YORK (PIX11)  New York Citys congestion pricing plan will soon go into effect, meaning many questions need to be answered. One of the most asked questions is whether there will be exemptions and how to qualify.

Commuters weigh in on congestion pricing on final day of public hearings

What is congestion pricing?

Congestion pricing would add a toll for vehicles driving into Manhattans Central Business District south of 60th Street in Manhattan.

The toll zone excludes the Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) Drive, the West Side Highway/West Street (Route 9A), and any surface roadway portion of the Hugh L. Carey (Brooklyn-Battery) Tunnel connecting to West Street. Vehicles that remain only on those excluded roadways and do not enter the Program area will not be tolled. However, if a vehicle moves from one of those roadways onto a street within the zone  for example, if it takes the FDR Drive offramp onto South Street, or exits the Carey Tunnel going towards Trinity Place  then it will be required to pay the toll unless it is exempt. Metropolitan Transportation Authority

Who is exempt from congestion pricing?

Many New Yorkers have been sounding off on exemptions from having to pay the toll. However, the MTA is limiting the amount of exemptions to the following:

Qualifying authorized emergency vehicles

Qualifying vehicles transporting people with disabilities.

Specialized government vehicles designed to perform public works for their agencys purpose, and not used for general transportation of people or general deliveries.

Qualifying authorized school buses contracted with the NYC Department of Education (whether they are serving public or independent schools), commuter vans licensed with the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission, and buses providing scheduled commuter services open to the public.

More Transit News

How do I qualify for disability exemption?

The MTA said that public and private organizations like Access-A-Ride will be able to apply for the Organizational Disability Exemption Plan. Individuals will also be allowed to apply for these exemptions for a vehicle they are registered to own or a vehicle they designate, such as that registered to a family member or caregiver.

The MTA said they are currently looking at what other programs would qualify for this exemption.

No official application process has been announced as of yet.

Am I exempted if I live in the CBD?

No. There will be no exemption for those who live in the toll zone. However, residents in the zone who have a state-adjusted gross income of under $60,000 will be eligible for a state tax credit for any congestion pricing tolls paid, according to the MTA.

What about New Yorkers with low incomes?

For people with low income, the Low-Income Discount Program would let those using an eligible vehicle get a 50% discount from peak toll rates on their 11th trip in a month.

The MTA said the following must apply to qualify:

The registered owners Federal adjusted gross income reported on last years income tax return was $50,000 or less

The registered owner is enrolled in a qualifying government-provided income-based program, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), or Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

Are there medical exemptions?

No. The MTA said regardless of the trip, you must pay the toll unless you are in an exempt vehicle. According to the MTA, many programs offer free or discounted travel for medical reasons.

The MTA said you could use the tolls as tax deductions:

If you think that payment of CBDTP tolls will meet or exceed 7.5 percent of your adjusted gross income, you may wish to consult with a tax expert to see if you can deduct them from your next tax return. Metropolitan Transportation Authority

You can see the proposed toll fares here:

TBAPROPOSEDDownload

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.
LONDON (Reuters) -WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will find out on Tuesday whether the High Court in London will allow him to appeal against his extradition from Britain to the United States to face criminal charges, nearly all under the Espionage Act.

WHO IS JULIAN ASSANGE?

Assange was born in Townsville, Australia, in July 1971, to parents who were involved in theatre and travelled frequently.

In his teens, Assange gained a reputation as a sophisticated computer programmer and in 1995 he was arrested and pleaded guilty to hacking. He was fined, but avoided prison on condition he did not reoffend. In his late 20s, he went to Melbourne University to study mathematics and physics.

WHAT IS WIKILEAKS?

Assange launched WikiLeaks in 2006, creating a web-based "dead letter drop" for would-be leakers.

The website rose to prominence in April 2010 when it published a classified video showing a 2007 U.S. helicopter attack that killed a dozen people in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, including two Reuters news staff.

It released more than 90,000 classified U.S. military documents on the war in Afghanistan, and about 400,000 secret U.S. files on the Iraq war. The two leaks represented the largest security breaches of their kind in U.S. military history.

It followed these up with the release of 250,000 secret diplomatic cables from U.S. embassies around the world, with some of the information published by newspapers such as The New York Times and Britain's Guardian.

The leaks angered and embarrassed U.S. politicians and military officials, who said the unauthorised dissemination put lives at risk.

Ex-Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning served seven years in a military prison for leaking hundreds of thousands of messages and cables to WikiLeaks, before being released on the order of President Barack Obama.

ARREST AND START OF LEGAL BATTLE

On Nov. 18, 2010, a Swedish court ordered Assange's detention as a result of an investigation into allegations of sex crimes made by two female Swedish WikiLeaks volunteers. On Dec. 7, 2010, Assange was arrested by British police on a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) issued by Sweden.

Assange denied the allegations and said from the outset that he believed the Swedish case was a pretext to extradite him to the United States to face charges over the WikiLeaks releases.

His extradition to Sweden for questioning was ordered in Feb. 2011 and his subsequent appeals failed. In June 2012, shortly after the UK Supreme Court rejected his final challenge, he entered the Ecuadorean Embassy in London seeking asylum.

ASSANGE'S SEVEN YEARS IN ECUADOREAN EMBASSY

Ecuador granted Assange asylum on Aug. 16, 2012, with British police mounting a round-the-clock guard to prevent his escape, saying he would be arrested should he leave.

The impasse left Assange living in cramped quarters in the embassy. Swedish prosecutors dropped their investigation in 2017 but British police said he would still be arrested if he left the embassy over his earlier failure to surrender to bail.

During his time in the embassy he had two children with his partner Stella Moris.

EMBASSY IMPASSE ENDS, U.S. CASE BEGINS

On April 11, 2019, a screaming Assange was carried out of the embassy and arrested after Ecuador revoked his political asylum.

The following month he was jailed for 50 weeks for breaching his bail conditions. In June 2019, the U.S. Justice Department formally asked Britain to extradite him to the United States to face 18 charges that he conspired to hack U.S. government computers and violated espionage laws.

Although Assange completed his prison sentence in September 2019, he remained in Belmarsh maximum security prison pending extradition hearings.

On Jan. 4, 2021, a British judge ruled Assange should not be extradited to the United States, saying his mental health problems meant he would be at risk of suicide.

However, the U.S. authorities won an appeal in December 2021 at London's High Court against that decision, after giving assurances about the conditions of Assange's detention if convicted, including a pledge he could be transferred to Australia to serve any sentence.

On March 23, 2022, Assange married his long-term partner Stella in Belmarsh.

FINAL LEGAL BATTLE?

In June 2022, Britain's then home secretary (interior minister) Priti Patel approved the extradition, and last year a judge at London's High Court turned down his request for an appeal.

At a two-day hearing in February, Assange's legal team sought permission to launch a final appeal to have the extradition decision reversed in the English courts.

His lawyers said the case was politically motivated and an assault on freedom of speech and journalism, and that Assange could potentially face the death penalty if convicted. A written ruling will be issued on Tuesday by two senior judges.

If he succeeds, his case will go to a full appeal. If he loses, the only remaining block to his extradition lies with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). It has already dismissed two applications from him in 2015 and 2022.

Should Assange be extradited, his supporters say he could be held in a U.S. high security jail and if convicted could face a 175 year prison sentence. U.S. prosecutors have said it would be no more than 63 months.

(Reporting by Michael HoldenEditing by Ros Russell and Estelle Shirbon)
Smoke rises from Gaza during an explosion following an airstrike, as seen from Israel

Smoke rises from Gaza during an explosion following an airstrike, as seen from Israel

By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A day after the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution demanding a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the release of hostages, the war in the Gaza Strip has not stopped and the Palestinian militants have not freed anyone.

Here are details about implementation of the resolution:

WHAT DID THE UNITED STATES DO?

The United States dropped its traditional U.N. protection of its ally Israel by abstaining from the vote on Monday, instead of casting a veto. But Washington also described the brief text as "non-binding."

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said on Monday that the U.S. fully supported "some of the critical objectives in this non-binding resolution," but did not agree with everything in the text - which also did not condemn Hamas.

This sparked immediate push-back from other Security Council members, U.N. states and rights groups and raised questions about how it could affect Washington's efforts to address other global crises at the United Nations.

IS THE RESOLUTION LEGALLY BINDING?

Under the founding U.N. Charter, "members of the United Nations agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council." Many member states have cited this - Article 25 - in pushing back against the U.S. remarks.

"All the resolutions of the Security Council are international law. So to that extent, they are as binding as international law is," deputy U.N. spokesperson Farhan Haq said on Monday. "Ultimately, implementation is a question of international will."

Thomas-Greenfield's spokesperson, Nate Evans, told Reuters on Tuesday that the resolution "does not create new obligations under international law, such as what the council does when it imposes obligatory sanctions."

"Nevertheless, even though the resolution lacks binding provisions, all Security Council resolutions carry great weight and should be implemented," he said.

WHAT HAPPENS IF THE RESOLUTION IS NOT IMPLEMENTED?

The U.N. Security Council has the ability to impose sanctions and authorize military force to maintain or restore international peace and security.

Such action requires the adoption of a resolution. To pass, a resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, Russia, China, France or Britain.

It is unlikely that any council action will be taken against Israel or Hamas if neither implement the resolution demanding a ceasefire for the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which finishes in two weeks, and the release of hostages.

"In reality it is sadly necessary to acknowledge that many council resolutions flop regardless of their legal status," said Richard Gowan, U.N. director for the International Crisis Group. "Warring parties all over the world have ignored or paid lip service only to past U.N. ceasefire calls."

WHAT ARE THE POSSIBLE IMPLICATIONS OF THE U.S. VIEW?

Rights groups say the U.S. claim that Monday's resolution is non-binding could create future problems.

Louis Charbonneau, U.N. director of Human Rights Watch, said the U.S. position "risks making countries less likely to comply with them, and that includes decisions the U.S. wants implemented."

Sherine Tadros, U.N. Representative for Amnesty International, said the U.N. Charter was clear on the binding nature of Security Council resolutions, adding: "I don't recall hearing the U.S. question that binding nature when it comes to other resolutions adopted, on Syria for example."

"What the U.S. has done is not only made implementation of a resolution that would have saved lives - both Israeli and Palestinian - much harder, it's also undermined the entire international system," she said.

WHAT DO THE OTHER FOUR SECURITY COUNCIL VETO POWERS THINK?

French U.N. Ambassador Nicolas de Riviere told a meeting of the Security Council on the Middle East on Tuesday: "This resolution must be applied by everyone, as provided for in Article 25 of the Charter."

During the same meeting, Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia asked if Washington's description of the resolution as non-binding meant the U.S. "no longer considers itself to be bound by the provisions of the U.N. Charter."

"If that is the case, then there is no point in our discussions in the chamber at all. One of the permanent members of the Security Council has essentially openly stated that it does not accept the charter of our organization," he said.

Russia itself has been reprimanded by the U.N. General Assembly for violating the U.N. Charter by invading Ukraine in February 2022. Russia used its veto power to prevent the Security Council from taking any action against it over Ukraine.

China's deputy U.N. Ambassador Geng Shuang said on Tuesday that council resolutions are binding and "this is beyond any doubt or challenge." He said the U.S. statement that Monday's resolution was non-binding "makes us question the political will and sincerity of the U.S."

When asked if the resolution was binding, Britain's U.N. Ambassador Barbara Woodward said on Monday: "This resolution needs to be implemented immediately ... It sends a clear council message, a united council message, and we expect all council resolutions to be implemented. This one is not any different."

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Don Durfee and Stephen Coates)
FILE PHOTO: Former U.S. President Trump holds presser after criminal case hearing on porn star hush money charges in New York

By Jack Queen

(Reuters) - Donald Trump lost his bid on Monday to delay a criminal trial stemming from hush money payments paid to a porn star but won a pause in a $454 million judgment in a separate civil fraud case.

Heres a look at whats next for the former U.S. president in the two New York cases.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT IN THE CRIMINAL CASE?

The judge in the hush money case set an April 15 trial date, rejecting objections by Trump's lawyers who sought a delay because of the late disclosure of documents about Michael Cohen, Trump's former fixer and a key prosecution witness.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to falsifying business records related to a $130,000 payment Cohen allegedly made on Trump's behalf to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election to cover up a sexual encounter she says she had with Trump a decade earlier - an encounter Trump denies.

The ruling makes it likely there will be a verdict before the Nov. 5 U.S. election in which the Republican Trump hopes to unseat Democratic President Joe Biden in a rematch of their 2020 face-off.

The judge, Juan Merchan, also denied Trump's long-shot bid to dismiss the 34-count felony indictment after the last-minute disclosure of new evidence, which included statements Daniels made to the FBI.

Trump is under indictment in two other cases over his efforts to reverse the 2020 election results and in a third over his handling of classified documents upon leaving office, but legal wrangling has delayed all three trials.

Trump has pleaded not guilty in all four criminal cases.

WHAT ABOUT THE CIVIL CASE?

Also on Monday, a mid-level state appeals court paused enforcement of Trump's $454 million civil fraud judgment on the condition that he post a $175 million bond within 10 days, throwing him a financial lifeline as he faces a cash crunch.

The ruling, which did not address the merits of the case or indicate how the appeals court will ultimately rule, was issued hours before a deadline for Trump to post a full bond or risk having his assets seized by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who brought the case.

Trump, who denies wrongdoing, is appealing a February judgment finding he fraudulently overstated his net worth by billions of dollars to dupe lenders and insurers. The process could take up to a year or longer, and James office will be unable to seize his properties in the meantime if he posts bond by the new deadline.

He had been unable to secure a bond after being rejected by 30 surety companies and facing mounting expenses from his other legal troubles. After the ruling, Trump said on social media that he would post the smaller bond before the deadline.

(Reporting by Jack Queen in New York; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Howard Goller)
On a warm summer night more than 130 years ago, a young steamship unknowingly set sail for the last time  only to be found intact hundreds of feet underwater, 40 miles from Holland.

At 135 feet long, the Milwaukee was commissioned by the Northern Transportation Co. of Ohio in 1868 to transport passengers and goods from Ogdensburg, New York, westward to Chicago. The vessel consisted of three decks, two for freight and one for passengers and was crafted to fit the Welland Canal locks between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie.

The Milwaukee's career shifted in 1880 with the expansion of the locks at the Welland Canal and the growth of the railroad system westward, rendering the vessel inefficient. The ship was sold and converted by W.W. Ellsworth into a steam barge by removing some of its upper-level sleeping cabins to create a long, wide deck in the middle that allowed for a wider variety of cargo. Thus began the Milwaukee's new career on Lake Michigan.

The only known photo of the Milwaukee. The remains of the ship was found in June 2023 by the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association.

On July 9, 1886, the Milwaukee set course for Muskegon following a lumber delivery. At the same time, another nearly identical ship set sail out of Muskegon toward Chicago, carrying a full load of lumber and a fully loaded schooner barge in tow. Conditions on the lake were calm that day, but smoke from forest fires in Wisconsin was blowing across the waters, hindering visibility.

More: Mysterious Arlington shipwreck, lost at sea in 1940, found at bottom of Lake Superior

The lookout on the Milwaukee spotted the lights of the second ship, the C. Hickox, and notified the captain. Meanwhile, on the C. Hickox, the captain onboard noticed the same thing. Protocol called for both ships to slow down, steer right to avoid a collision, and blast their steam whistle to signal the change of course  however, a sudden, thick fog further obstructed their vision. The C. Hickox quickly made a turn, but its steam whistle failed, and the Milwaukee captain could not see or hear the other ship's path.

The ships collided, the C. Hickox hitting the side of the Milwaukee, nearly capsizing the ship. Several people escaped in the lifeboat and another steamship, the City of New York, responded to the distress call and worked with the Hickox to keep the Milwaukee afloat to no avail. The Milwaukee sank almost two hours after the collision.

Side-scan image captured by the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association shows an upright steamship with three hatches on the deck and a raised bow and stern. The remains of the ship was found in June 2023 by the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association.

Today, 137 years later, the Milwaukee was identified 360 feet underwater by explorers with the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association. Using side-scan sonar, MSRA found the ship nearly intact.

News accounts of the accident, as well as the study of water currents, led us to the Milwaukee after only two days searching, says Neel Zoss, who first spotted the image on the sonar.

More: After 100 years, shipwreck hunters find steel freighter Huronton at bottom of Lake Superior

After discovering the vessel in June 2023, researchers spent the rest of the summer trying to film and accurately identify the wreck. The shipwreck was documented using a remote-operated vehicle made specifically for this project.

For more information on shipwrecks in Michigan, go to the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association's website.

Contact Miriam Marini: mmarini@freepress.com

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Explorers find 137-year-old shipwreck in Lake Michigan
A series of explosions rocked Sumy during an air raid alert, local Telegram channels reported on March 26.



The Russians carried out an airstrike on the city's civilian infrastructure, Sumy Regional Military Administration said.



All necessary services are currently working at the scene. No casualties have been reported, preliminary information suggests.



An air raid alert sounded in both Sumy and Kharkiv oblasts.



Read also:

The Commission on Technogenic and Environmental Safety and Emergencies of Sumy recommended on March 22 that secondary schools and kindergartens in the northeastern Ukrainian oblast switch to mixed online and offline instruction.



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
Abdul Shokoor Ezedi, seen on CCTV at a Tesco Express in north London about 70 minutes after the attack

A church which supported the asylum claim of the Clapham alkali attacker limited his rights to attend services after a sexual assault conviction, newly-released documents reveal.

Abdul Shokoor Ezedi's body was found in the river Thames in February, ending a police hunt after a mother and her children were attacked in January.

Ezedi won asylum in 2020 after proving his conversion to Christianity,

He was given a Muslim funeral and burial in London, the BBC understands.

The request for a Muslim burial is believed to have come from friends and family.

The documents were issued by the court which handed his application.

Ezedi, 35, arrived in the UK in 2016 from Afghanistan, and was granted asylum after two applications and an appeal.

A key factor was his June 2018 baptism at Grange Road Baptist Church in Jarrow, South Tyneside, where he had been attending since 2016, according to the court documents.

The documents were released after several newspapers and broadcasters, including BBC News, applied for his paperwork from the First Tier Tribunal, which handles immigration and asylum applications.

A letter from Reverend Roy Merrin, former ministry team leader at Grange Road Baptist Church, said Ezedi had "established a good relationship with the other church members and is always willing to help as required".

The letter, dated 28 August 2018, confirmed Ezedi's baptism and stated: "Abdul has been ready to share his faith in Christ with non-Christians.

"I hope that this information will be of assistance, and I would support his application to remain in this country."

The letter came eight months after Ezedi's sex offences conviction.

The documents also show the car mechanic had argued that his conversion to Christianity was genuine, even though the original judge in his case doubted parts of his story. The tribunal questioned why a person who had been threatened by the Taliban would travel without his parents, who were also under threat.

Ezedi argued that it was his conversion to Christianity and the Taliban's knowledge of this that made him particularly vulnerable, even though he could not prove how the Taliban would know this fact.

The original judge said: "The mass of inconsistencies in all three accounts mount up to paint a wholly unreliable and inconsistent picture and one which as a result must be considered to lack credibility."

The judge did not believe that if Ezedi had been seriously injured, as he claimed, he would have been mobile enough to escape Afghanistan in a car and lorry as well as periods of walking. His appeal was handled by Collingwood Immigration Services in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

The newly released documents detail how in February 2018, Abdul Ezedi was convicted of sexual assault and exposure. His sentence was suspended and he had to do unpaid work. In the documents he expressed shame for his actions and said he understood the importance of not lying.

The papers show that after his conviction, Ezedi had to agree to a safeguarding contract which stipulated that he should be accompanied to services at Grange Road Baptist Church by other males.

'Pleasant, friendly'

Also in the documents bundle was a separate letter in July 2017, pre-dating Ezedi's convictions, which saw him described by a project worker at the Catholic Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle Justice and Peace Refugee Project as a "pleasant, friendly and co-operative man".

It detailed how he attended the project each week and "signs for a bag of food" as well as being given 25 in cash each month.

A spokesperson for the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle said the letter from the project worker was "issued to assist with support from other agencies and not as part of an asylum claim".

They added: "The Diocesan Justice and Peace Refugee Project is a charitable venture set up to serve people in severe need, providing, for instance, food parcels donated by individuals or parishes.

"Occasionally in cases of hardship it also gives a small donation in cash and supports people with second-hand clothing or shoes.

"It is not involved in asylum casework."

It has also emerged that Ezedi was on medication for depression when he successfully applied for asylum.

'Dignified burial'

Ezedi's funeral was conducted by a mosque in west London, and he was given a Muslim burial at a cemetery in east London on 11 March, the BBC has learned.

He is not thought to have been known to the mosque which buried him.

"As a funeral directors, we don't look into people's past, we look at how we can help in a situation," said the Muslim funeral director, who did not want to be named because of sensitivities surrounding the case.

"Our job was just to provide a dignified burial for the deceased."

Those that run the mosque, at which a lot of worshippers have an Afghan background, say Ezedi had never been there.

The mosque often asks for donations to help with the funerals of those who died without known relatives, and frequently conducts funerals and burials for asylum seekers who die alone.

But when it asked for donations in this case, some from the community were upset.

One mosque-goer, who did not want to be identified, said Ezedi had "attacked innocent people" and as he had converted to Christianity, it was the "responsibility of the church to bury him according to his new belief or religion, not the mosque".
Claim:

By 2027, those seeking a license to practice law in Washington state will no longer be required to take the traditional bar exam.

Rating:

Rating: True

On March 15, 2024, the Supreme Court of Washington state filed an order (archived here) outlining that it had approved "alternative pathways" to lawyer licensure, as recommended by a task force assigned to the matter. It is now the second in the nation to officially do so, following Oregon.

The decision sparked controversy on X (formerly Twitter) and other social media platforms, with many users raising concerns about the decision, including American politician Vivek Ravaswamy, who posted a video that received over 1.4 million views saying that the Washington Supreme Court order was made "in the name of DEI" [diversity, equity and inclusion] and issued a call to "restore colorblind meritocracy."

The state of Washington just eliminated the bar exam requirement to become a lawyer in the name of DEI. Were now entering the post-woke era where anti-meritocratic policies have become so normalized they are met with eye rolls and shrugs instead of shock and outrage.

America is pic.twitter.com/kFyCHYKLvY  Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) March 22, 2024

It is true that starting in 2027, passing a bar exam will no longer be a requirement in the state of Washington. According to a statement by Washington Courts (archived here) released on March 15, "this will be the first time in state history that the lawyer admissions rules do not necessitate some form of bar exam to demonstrate competency to earn a law license."

In November 2020, the Bar Licensure Task Force was chartered and tasked with studying available data and research, as well as hearing testimony from scholars and experts on the subject. After three years, it announced two main findings:

"The traditional bar exam disproportionately and unnecessarily blocks marginalized groups from entering the practice of law."

"The traditional bar exam is at best minimally effective for ensuring competent lawyers."

As of 2023, the American Bar Association reports that 79% of attorneys were white and 61% were male. This does indicate a downward trend over the past decade (in 2012, 88% of lawyers were white and 67% were male).

(Image via the American Bar Association)

"I would like to thank my co-chair Dean Varona and all the members of the Task Force that worked so hard over the past three years to develop this new path forward for Washington," said Justice Montoya-Lewis in the March 15 statement. "These recommendations come from a diverse body of lawyers in private and public practice, academics, and researchers who contributed immense insight, counterpoints and research to get us where we are today."

As a result of these findings, the Court's orders implement several changes. First, the traditional bar exam will be replaced in Washington state starting summer 2026 with an alternative called the NextGen Bar Exam. This exam is more skills-based than reliant on memorization, and it also takes only nine hours to complete compared to the 12-hour-long traditional bar exam.

According to the NextGen website, as of this writing Connecticut, Guam, Maryland, Missouri, and Oregon will all implement the NextGen Bar Exam alongside Washington in July 2026, while Arizona, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Vermont, and Wyoming will switch to NextGen by July 2027, and Colorado, Kansas, and Utah will make the transition in July 2028.

(Image via NextGen)

Additionally, beginning in 2027, three experiential-learning alternatives to the bar exam will be implemented in Washington state: one for law-school graduates, one for law-school students, and one for APR 6 law clerks (who are enrolled in a non-law school course of study). The alternative pathways are outlined in the court's statement as follows:

The orders also included reducing the experience requirement for out-of-state attorneys to be licensed in Washington state from three to one year, reducing the bar exam minimum passing score from 270 to 266 (a change adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic), and a call for the "investigation and adoption of assessments and programs to help ensure lawyers remain competent throughout their careers, not just upon the moment of licensure.

In sum, beginning in 2026, the NextGen bar exam will be implemented in Washington state in place of the traditional bar exam, and by 2027, there will be three alternate pathways that will allow would-be lawyers to waive the bar exam altogether.

Sources:

ABA Profile of the Legal Profession - Lawyer Demographics. https://www.abalegalprofile.com/demographics.html. Accessed 26 Mar. 2024.

'Home'. NextGen Bar Exam, https://nextgenbarexam.ncbex.org/. Accessed 25 Mar. 2024.

'Https://Twitter.Com/VivekGRamaswamy/Status/1771260525457916187'. X (Formerly Twitter), https://twitter.com/VivekGRamaswamy/status/1771260525457916187. Accessed 25 Mar. 2024.

Mayfield, Blake. 'Starting next May, Oregon Law Students Don't Need to Pass Bar Exam to Practice, Can Pursue Apprenticeship Option'. KTVZ, 22 Nov. 2023, https://ktvz.com/news/crime-courts/2023/11/21/starting-in-may-oregon-law-students-dont-need-to-pass-bar-exam-to-practice-can-pursue-apprenticeship-option/.

NextGen Bar Exam | NCBE. https://www.ncbex.org/exams/nextgen. Accessed 25 Mar. 2024.

'NextGen Bar Exam: What to Know'. US News & World Report, //www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/applying/articles/nextgen-bar-exam-what-to-know. Accessed 26 Mar. 2024.

Rosciglione, Annabella. The Bar Exam Will No Longer Be Required to Become a Licensed Attorney in Washington - Washington Examiner. 19 Mar. 2024, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/justice/2927395/bar-exam-no-longer-required-to-become-licensed-attorney-washington/.

Sloan, Karen, and Karen Sloan. 'Revamped Bar Exam Gains Traction as Three More States Sign On'. Reuters, 18 Mar. 2024. www.reuters.com, https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/revamped-bar-exam-gains-traction-three-more-states-sign-2024-03-18/.

Washington State Courts - News, Reports, Court Information. https://www.courts.wa.gov/newsinfo/?fa=newsinfo.internetdetail&newsid=50389. Accessed 25 Mar. 2024.

Washington State Courts - Supreme Court - Washington State Bar Licensure Task Force. https://www.courts.wa.gov/appellate_trial_courts/SupremeCourt/?fa=supremecourt.LicensureTaskForce. Accessed 25 Mar. 2024.

'Washington Supreme Court: Bar Exam Will No Longer Be Required to Become Attorney in State'. The Columbian, 18 Mar. 2024, https://www.columbian.com/news/2024/mar/17/washington-supreme-court-bar-exam-will-no-longer-be-required-to-become-attorney-in-state/.
Republican state Sen. Anthony Kern, who is under investigation for falsely claiming he was a legitimate elector for Donald Trump in Arizona in the 2020 election, lambasted the case as a political prosecution Monday in what amounted to a brief campaign speech.

"And just to let you know I will not be taking any questions," were his first words to reporters after calling a news conference on a plaza outside Maricopa County Superior Court in downtown Phoenix. Kern's prepared remarks spanned four minutes and wavered between criticism of Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs and Attorney General Kris Mayes  who is investigating the electors  and promoting his run for Congress.

Kern declined to say what he was doing at the courthouse, or whether he had received a grand jury subpoena tied to Mayes' investigation. At least some of the Trump electors from Arizona and others with ties to Trump have recently received subpoenas, which were previously reported by Politico and The Washington Post and confirmed by The Arizona Republic.

The subpoenas signal Mayes' investigation, which The Republic previously reported would last into March, is advancing and could be near its close.

Theres a balance issue we have to strike between moving with alacrity but also making sure that you get it right and you dont make mistakes," Mayes said late last month, promising an outcome in the "relatively near future."

"We are trying to do two things at the same time," she said. "Obviously ... conduct an investigation that is serious and professional while understanding that were in an election year and that we cant take all the time in the world.

Kern's speech made plain that he will use the investigation to bolster his run to represent Arizonans in Congressional District 8. Much like Trump has done in his campaign to return to the White House this year, Kern cast himself as the target of a "weaponization of our government" that he said was motivated by an attempt to bankrupt him and keep him from Congress.

"I'm here in front of the Superior Court building this morning because I was an alternate elector in November 2020 for President Donald Trump," said Kern, of Glendale. "I was asked to step up along with other ordinary citizens, and I chose to accept."

Sen. Anthony Kern, R-Glendale, hosted a news conference on Monday, March 25, 2024, to decry "weaponization of our government" related to Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes' investigation of electors who claimed Trump won Arizona in 2020.

Kern would not say who asked him to "step up." He said he "was honored and always be honored to help preserve the constitutional election challenges filed by both the Democrat and Republican parties" for decades.

He made no apparent distinction between court challenges to an election result and what federal and state prosecutors have said was coordinated effort to create slates of so-called fake electors in 2020 to thwart the wishes of voters.

Federal prosecutors have charged Trump and his allies in the plot, alleging the goal was to create a path for Congress to certify Trump as president in 2020 instead of Democrat Joe Biden, who won. Trump electors in Michigan, Georgia and Nevada are also facing criminal charges.

Kern said both Hobbs and Mayes "want to send me to jail."

Catch up: Arizona investigators signal fake electors probe could wrap in March

Kern, who was at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, said he would "fight relentlessly in Washington, DC to serve, protect, and defend the rights of all Arizonans, regardless of party affiliations."

He said he would not let Democrats use him in an "unhinged quest to get to President Trump" and that "as an Arizona state senator and candidate for Congress, I refuse to hide in a corner as a battle for our state and nation rages."

After his remarks, Kern entered the courthouse but repeatedly declined to answer questions. He told courthouse security he did not feel safe, and requested a Maricopa County Sheriff's Office escort from the building because four reporters stood nearby. A deputy declined Kern's request.

For about 15 minutes he took phone calls in the lobby and walked through two courthouse buildings  which are connected by second-floor passageways  trying to find the parking lot. He hit a dead end in the courthouse cafeteria. He cut off one deputy who was explaining how to leave the maze of connected courthouse tower buildings.

Throughout, he would not discuss the subpoena. He would not say who asked him to "step up" as an alternate elector. He would not say who is paying his legal bills in the case. He is represented by attorney Kurt Altman, who was also at the courthouse, and said the event was "just a campaign speech."

Kern previously declined to comment on the subpoena when approached after an Arizona Senate session on March 6.

"I don't want to talk. Do you want to be removed?" he said, waving over the chamber's sergeant at arms saying, "this lady will not leave, so I'm asking you to ask her to leave."

A spokesperson for Hobbs declined to comment on Kern's statements. Mayes' office also declined to comment on Kern's claims.

Mayes has remained tight-lipped about the investigation of the 11 GOP electors, often noting other states that have charged those individuals were able to begin their investigations much sooner than she could. Mayes took office in January 2023.

In addition to Kern, the 2020 electors for Trump in Arizona were: Tyler Bowyer, an executive with Turning Point USA and a committeeman for the Republican National Committee; Nancy Cottle, who chaired the Arizona Trump electors; state Sen. Jake Hoffman; Jim Lamon, a former U.S. Senate candidate; Robert Montgomery of the Cochise County Republican Committee; Samuel Moorhead of the Gila County Republican Party; Loraine Pellegrino, the secretary of the Arizona Trump electors; Greg Safsten, former executive director of the Arizona Republican Party; Kelli Ward, the state GOP chair at the time; and Michael Ward, her husband and a GOP activist.

Reach reporter Stacey Barchenger at stacey.barchenger@arizonarepublic.com or 480-416-5669.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Fake elector Anthony Kern runs for Congress as victim of 'weaponization'
Families grieving the murders of two best friends, their bodies found a day apart on I-5

Questions about the murders of two best friends, their bodies found last week hours apart on I-5 in North Seattle. A relative is sharing their grief as the hunt continues for the killer or killers.

The teenagers bodies were found late last week a half mile apart on I-5. Investigators with the Washington State patrol say they believe the murders are related.

The families say these teens were inseparable in life. Now both their bodies have been found along I-5, indicating they shared a similar death, too.

They were best of friends in life, 16-year-old Jahaz Phillips and 16-year-old Myion Coleman. Now they share something more ominous. both were murdered, their bodies left along Interstate 5. Their deaths, upending a lot of lives.

They were so close, said a relative of Phillips. And its just like, wow.

We talked by telephone to Phillips relative. She says his family is too afraid to appear on television while the killers remain on the loose. She was asked if she knows anybody who would want to shoot Jahaz.

I dont know of anything about that, she said. I know Jahaz and his friend to be amazing kids and amazing students. And this is just like a tragedy.

Their shared grief began just after 10:30 last Thursday night.

Someone called 911 to report a pedestrian was lying on I-5. When Washington State patrol troopers arrived, they discovered the victim, later identified as Phillips, had been shot dead. Some nine and a half hours later, a half mile away along the North 85th Street on-ramp, Colemans body was found in a ditch.

He, too, had been shot.

Whats relevant to me is the proximity, said Jim Fuda.

The executive director of CrimeStoppers of Puget Sound and a longtime King County Sheriffs deputy weighed in on what he makes of the teens deaths.

If they were together in a vehicle, and one gets shot, the other ones supposed to say something, who knows? said Fuda. And the other one is shot and dumped out a half mile away.

Now two lives that had hardly gotten started, gone.

I just want the story to get out so that both families can be able to lay Myion and Jahaz to rest and celebrate their lives, the relative said.

There has been a lot of speculation, especially online, about whether gangs might be involved in these murders. A Washington State patrol spokesman says he hasnt been told that.

Now both families have GoFundMe Accounts to raise money for the boys funerals.

GoFundMe for Myion Coleman

GoFundMe for Jahaz Phillips
Israel-U.S. relations may have reached a turning point, but not a breaking point because their bond is unshakeable. That is how U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin described the relationship between the two countries after meeting with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, this Tuesday. The meeting occurred a day after Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister and the head of Gallants Likud party, lashed out at the White House for allowing the approval of a resolution for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the first in six months of war; in a clear sign of anger, he canceled the scheduled Washington visit of two of his advisors to study alternatives to the offensive on Rafah.

On his second day of meetings in the U.S., Gallant, whose agenda included issues of military collaboration and especially the reinforcement of his armys air capacity, was also scheduled to meet with CIA Director William J. Burns, a veteran diplomat with good knowledge of the region who participated in negotiations between Israel and Hamas, co-sponsored by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar, in Doha last week.

Friction between the two allies over White House pressure on the Netanyahu government has brought the bilateral relationship to its lowest point in a long time. Washingtons insistence that Israel decrease the intensity of its offensive in Gaza to minimize civilian suffering was constant in the meeting between Gallant and Austin. In Gaza today, the number of civilian casualties is far too high, and the amount of humanitarian aid is far too low, Austin told reporters before meeting with his counterpart at the Pentagon. Gaza is suffering a humanitarian catastrophe, and the situation is getting even worse, the Defense Secretary said, using a more forceful tone than the one the Biden administration used during the early months of the war.

An unshakeable bond

However, Austin also emphasized that Israel has the right to defend itself and that the United States will always stand by its side because their bilateral bond is unshakeable. He added that the United States is Israels closest friend and that wont change. Washington provides billions of dollars annually in aid and supplies weaponry to its privileged partner in the Middle East; Egypt receives the second most aid in the Middle East.

The urgent alleviation of the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, which is facing starvation due to the land blockade of aid convoys, was a new blow to the Israeli government on Tuesday, the day after Netanyahu canceled the Washington visit of two of his senior advisors to discuss alternatives to the announced ground offensive in Rafah in protest against the U.S. abstention in the Security Council that allowed the approval of the wars first ceasefire resolution. That was another item on the agenda during the meeting between the two defense ministers. President Joe Biden has warned Netanyahu that an incursion against Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, would only lead to more chaos.

For his part, Gallant emphasized the threats to Israel and said the meeting would address ways to destroy Hamas and secure the release of Israeli hostages, as well as plans to return the displaced residents to their homes in Gazas border areas and towns bordering Lebanon.

In a measured communication exercise to temper obvious Israeli anger from the day before, both ministers were cautious in assessing their meetings objectives. Austin did not mention threats to limit or condition future military aid to Israel on improving the humanitarian situation in Gaza, a growing demand among members of Congress like Senator Bernie Sanders, who has urged a halt to all military aid to Israel. Gallant said only that the meeting would address the important cooperation between the two countries to secure Israels military advantage and capabilities, including the hypothetical reinforcement of its aviation.

The Israeli defense ministers meeting with his U.S. counterpart came a day after Prime Minister Netanyahu lashed out at the United States for abstaining from the U.N. Security Council vote, calling it a clear retreat from previous U.S. positions and saying the move hurts both the war effort and the effort to release the hostages. The same day, Gallant met in Washington with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. According to White House spokesman John Kirby, Mondays meetings were not a substitute for those planned for Netanyahus two advisors trip, which was ultimately canceled.
Firefighters battled a major blaze which spread across homes on a Cornish housing estate, a councillor has said.

Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service was called on Monday evening to Woodlands View, West Looe, with six engines tackling the incident.

The service said all people "were accounted for".

Armand Toms, Cornwall councillor for Looe East and Deviock, said the blaze had impacted a number of homes.

Clothing donations

He said: "I went over and had a look and one of the properties was well alight.

"It had extended out into the roof and then started to go through to the adjoining properties."

He said the fire brigade from "nearly all of south-east Cornwall" had attended and that crews were "absolutely amazing".

He added: "The residents were all known to be safe. They were put up last night by a neighbour, which is testament of how the community can work together."

He said one family member had also been helped by clothing donations and steps were being taken to find emergency accommodation for those affected.

Follow BBC Cornwall on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to spotlight@bbc.co.uk.
A firefighter paramedic with Denton Countys Emergency Services District 1 is in the ICU after a motorcycle accident March 22, and his coworkers are asking for the communitys help in supporting his wife and children while hes in the hospital.

Coworkers put together a GoFundMe for the family of Corey Claytor, where anther firefighter paramedic with the same emergency services district wrote that family and friends are optimistic about Claytors recovery but that it will be expensive.

Corey is much more than a coworker, but is a brother to me and all of the firefighters [in] DCESD1, the coworker, Grant Jack, wrote in the GoFundMe. Corey has given a lot to the community, and this would be a good time to give back to him in a time of need.

The GoFundMe seeks to raise money to offset the financial burden of recovery for Claytor and his family. As of Tuesday afternoon, the fundraiser had garnered more than $21,000 in donations.

Clatyor started full-time the fire department in 2021 and has since been named rookie of the year and received a lifesaving award from the emergency services district, a spokesperson told the Star-Telegram. He joined the department as a volunteer in January 2020 and became part-time in April 2020.

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The motorcycle crash happened while Claytor was off duty, late on March 22, the emergency services district president Sam Johnson wrote in a news release. He sustained multiple injuries to his head, neck and right leg and will require surgery.

Our brother, his family, and friends need the thoughts and prayers of our community and beyond, Johnson wrote in the release.
The stunning collapse of Tammy Murphys campaign for the U.S. Senate will reverberate for years. Here is a look at some of the fallout from Sundays announcement:

Candidate quality matters

The New Jersey first lady's candidacy relied on the power of social media to reach voters and promote her image as a new-era, progressive Democrat while also counting on the old-school party machines to deliver the vote. And, of course, her ability to raise money.

Yet, in the end, Murphys inexperience shone through through the careful packaging. Perhaps one of the more telling moments was her response to questions about abolishing the filibuster, the tradition in the U.S. Senate that allows the minority party to stall or kill legislation.

In recent years, abolishing or reforming the practice has been a top priority of Senate Democrats, who view it as the biggest impediment to implementing their agenda, but when, in late January, New York magazine asked what her position was, Murphy replied, I dont know. I havent given it a lot of thought other than I hate it when I watch it.

Her campaign walked that back with Business Insider, declaring that she was, in fact, in favor of ending the practice. Yet, in another interview with New Jersey Monitor, Murphy called the filibuster a very useful piece of the puzzle of Senate deliberation as long as the practice isnt abused with frivolous debate.

Congressman Andy Kim congratulates First Lady Tammy Murphy after the ballot count of the Bergen County Democratic Convention, at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Hall, Local 164, Monday, March 4, 2024, in Paramus. Murphy won with more than 60% of the vote.

Her chief opponent, Rep. Andy Kim, D-Burlington, seized on her zigzagging and said it risked further inflaming suspicions that Murphy, once a Republican, remained one at heart. Her Republican pedigree  she was registered with the party as late as 2014, a mark of Cain in a Democratic primary where hard-core partisans dominate the turnout  was taken as a sign by many in the Democrats' rank and file that she was not a candidate prepared for a high-stakes battle.

End of the line?

Kim, who says he didnt get his phone calls returned from county bosses after he entered the race, cast himself as a buck-the-establishment outsider and portrayed Murphy as a byproduct of corroded machine politics. County chairmen in some of the largest Democratic counties certainly helped him make the case when they swiftly gave her their endorsements to Murphy. Those blessings, in turn, came with the county line on the June 4 ballot  a move that virtually assured her victory.

Kim challenged the constitutionality of the party line in federal court in a case that could be resolved as early as this week. The focus on the line and its inherent unfairness and anti-Democratic nature led to an unexpected wave of officials calling for the line to be abolished or reformed, including candidates for governor in 2025.

Looming over the issue is the U.S. district judge presiding over Kims lawsuit, Zahid N. Quraishi, who held a nine-hour hearing on the suit this month and could very well strike down the county line ballot format and order county clerks to scramble and replace it with a block design, in which candidates for the same office are grouped together, in time for the June 4 primary.

Now that Murphy is out of the contest, Quraishi may not feel the urgency to take such a drastic step. And in a dose of irony, Kim has also agreed to replace Murphy on the line in Democratic-rich counties that swiftly embraced her candidacy in November.

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.

Kim, who is now the undisputed front-runner for the nomination, says he agreed to take that step because he didnt want to cede that competitive advantage to the two remaining candidates, Patricia Campos-Medina and Lawrence Hamm, until the court case is resolved. But his decision at least temporarily to embrace the practice should also prompt Quraishi to hit the pause button.

Will the machine double down?

Despite the growing chorus of officials calling for reforming the ballot, do not expect the influential party leaders to let the line go quietly into the dustbin of New Jersey history.

That was the underlying message communicated by the confrontation at the Camden County Democratic Committee convention earlier this month when Campos-Medina was refused entry. Blocking her at the door were five burly goons who looked like they had just stepped off the set of On The Waterfront. They seemed unconcerned that they were denying access to a Latina woman, someone who is otherwise welcomed at a Democratic Party function.

I was denied entry to Camden County Dems Convention. As a Latina woman candidate, I demand fairness. Time to abolish the county line for equal ballot access. Proud to stand for real representation. #Patricia4Senate #AbolishTheLineNJ @andykimnj @tammymurphynj @NJDSC pic.twitter.com/LnfQYdnsJM  Patricia Campos Medina (@Patricia4NJ) March 16, 2024

And the message was this: We couldn't care less about your calls for reform. Weve swatted away you progressive pests in the past and well do it again. This is the way we do things here and will always continue to do things unless you got a court order telling us to stop it. Now get lost.

That defiance  in the house built by the power broker George E. Norcross III  is not entirely surprising, but there is a sense that a rising tide of change is seeping under the clubhouse door.

Attorney General Matthew Platkins motives

Montclair, NJ March 23, 2024 -- NJ Attorney General Matthew Platkin during the Trans Day of Visibility Celebration presented by Hackensack Meridian. The event was at the Montclair Medical Center where a vigil took place, A Celebration of Life for Ashton Clatterback, in the hospital's auditorium.

Nobody was closer or more loyal to the Murphys than New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin. Gov. Phil Murphy, rewarding that loyalty, nominated Platkin to serve as attorney general and made his confirmation a priority despite steep resistance in the state Senate. So it came as a shock to see Platkin issue a late-hour letter to Quraishi declaring that he would not exercise his obligation to defend the law sustaining the line because he deemed it to be unconstitutional.

Platkin's poking his nose into the case clearly annoyed Quraishi, who labeled it lobbying from the cheap seats.

Still, the letter contributed to a growing gloom over the Murphy candidacy and a sense among many New Jersey Democrats that the line, and the county boss system, are on the way out. And Platkin's statement was seen as shocking  a Shakespearean act of betrayal. Without the county line, Murphys chances of winning had clearly become slim, and here was a Murphy loyalist pulling the rug out from under her.

Et tu, Matthew? the governor might say.

Platkin, realizing that the Murphys' influence is on the wane, may be looking over the horizon and aligning with the progressive wing of the state Democratic Party in preparation for his own run for governor  or a higher-profile job with a second Biden administration?

Fallout on Gov. Phil Murphys lame-duck term

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.

County party leaders, who pledged their fealty to Murphy, are not happy with the outcome. Instead of a glide to a predictable victory, Murphys fumbled effort has put an unwanted spotlight on their power and methods. County leaders also came under a hail of criticism for their close ties to Murphy, including several who double as lobbyists with business interests before the governor's administration.

And to make matters worse, it was her husbands attorney general who may have done them the most harm by refusing to defend the county line in court. Instead of clearing Murphys path to victory, Platkin put the governor and first lady in a state of siege. The spotlight was turned on them.

So, as you can imagine, Phil Murphy is the leader of an unhappy, possibly mutinous crew. Clearly, his political star has been dimmed  a short-timer who couldnt muscle a Senate nomination for his wife.

But Murphy still has the power to dole out pork in the budget, sign coveted legislation and nominate judges and others sought by county leaders and legislators. He should be able to wield significant power. But machine-groomed lawmakers are not likely to champion any of Murphys final big-picture initiatives  unless there's a benefit to them, of course.

Charlie Stile: Tammy Murphy's campaign never caught fire. The line  and Trump  didn't help

Impact on 2025 NJ governors race

If the line is struck down, the 2025 race could be the first where candidates will no longer feel the pressure to kiss the ring of county bosses. Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, who has declared his candidacy, has already called for abolishing the line, and so has Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, another likely candidate.

But the fallen political stock value of the Murphys could complicate matters. While Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-Wyckoff, another likely candidate, endorsed Murphy, so did Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-Montclair, who had forged close ties with the Murphys and appeared to have counted on their clout in what is already looking like a tight 2025 primary.

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: Tammy Murphy ends NJ Senate campaign: Here's the fallout
The former head of the far-right Identitarian movement in Austria, Martin Sellner, has taken legal steps against a German entry ban issued last week, a court in the city of Potsdam, which initiated the ban, said on Tuesday.

"We have an urgent application pending," Ruben Langer, spokesman for the Potsdam administrative court, told dpa. The application by Sellner's lawyer is directed against the city's entry ban order from March 22, citing the loss of the right to freedom of movement in the European Union, he said.

Potsdam initiated entry ban proceedings against the high-profile Austrian white supremacist last month after he attended a far-right meeting in the city in November.

Participants discussed "remigration" - namely deporting large numbers of people of foreign origin, even under duress.

The meeting was attended by members of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which is riding high in opinion polls ahead of regional elections in three eastern German states in September.

People across Germany have since held demonstrations against the far right, and the AfD has been continually called out in parliament about the meeting, which appears to have partly hit its national poll ratings.

Sellner, in a video on X (formerly Twitter), confirmed the ban and his plans to appeal.

He described the move as the "nuclear weapon of the entry ban" and called it "completely excessive" and an offence against the free democratic basic order. German law is "being interpreted in a completely distorted way" he added.

However, according to the spokesman, the administrative court does not currently foresee any main proceedings which would have to be legal proceedings. "This presupposes that a notice of objection has been issued." According to the court, the city has two weeks to respond. So far, no statement has been received.

Authorities in a regional state are generally responsible for refusing entry into Germany, though the federal police would have to enforce the nationwide ban as part of border controls.
Farmers with their tractors protest against EU agricultural policy and demand improvements in their industry. Gregory Ienco/Belga/dpa

Farmers returned to Brussels with their tractors on Tuesday, launching fireworks, lighting fires, spraying hay and dumping manure in protest of EU regulations and falling profits.

One person was arrested for throwing Molotov cocktails at security forces during the protests. Two police officers were injured and transferred to hospital, the Belgian police said in a statement.

Police set up roadblocks and deployed a water cannon to contain the demonstrations and with horns blaring, tractors blockaded the streets of the European Union's headquarters in the Belgian capital.

Tear gas was also deployed against farmers to stop them from breaking through police barriers with tractors. A total of 250 tractors travelled to the Belgian capital to take part, the police said.

Farmers also set fire to large quantities of straw and tyres near EU institution buildings. "Let us live from our work," a sign spray-painted onto the front of a tractor declared.

For weeks, angry farmers have been blockading roads and protesting in front of government offices across Europe and their protests are already having an effect, with a programme to protect environments and habitats in the EU set for a final vote on Monday postponed.

EU agricultural ministers meanwhile met in Brussels to try to appease the farmers' anger with officials signing off on measures to loosen conditions for access to subsidies from the bloc's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

The changes give "greater flexibility for farmers" and EU countries to ease their bureaucratic burden but maintain environmental standards, Belgian Agricultural Minister David Clarinval, who is chairing the meeting, said in a statement.

German Agricultural Minister Cem Ozdemir warned against lowering the EU's environmental standards in response to the original proposal to revise CAP rules. "What we are losing today must be rebuilt all the more laboriously," he said earlier in March.

Farmers rely on CAP subsidies to stay afloat but payments are conditional on strict environmental protection rules. The majority of the revisions backed by EU countries ease rules for land use and crop rotation.

There is still a lengthy process ahead before the proposed changes can be added to EU law, as the European Parliament needs to approve them. EU member states then give final approval.

The reintroduction of EU tariffs on certain agricultural imports from Ukraine like eggs, poultry, maize and honey in support of the bloc's farmers were also on the agenda.

Last week, negotiators from the EU member states and the European Parliament agreed that tariffs should be reintroduced on large quantities of certain foods from Ukraine to support European farmers.

However, it is unclear whether there is a majority in favour, as for some EU countries the move does not go far enough. Hungary, for example, is calling for tariffs to be imposed on wheat above a certain quantity.

But there are also voices from France and Poland calling for stricter customs rules.

EU tariffs were lifted on Ukrainian agricultural imports in 2022 to support the Ukrainian economy after Russia's full-scale invasion of the country in February of that year.

But farmers in the EU complained about the sharp rise in imports. They say they want protection from unfair competition, as Ukrainian farmers can produce food at lower costs - not least because they don't have to comply with EU regulations.

Hungarian Agriculture Minister Istvan Nagy said on Tuesday that Budapest opposed EU agricultural market access for Ukraine as trade routes in the Black Sea were open again after the Russian blockade. Ukrainian exports should return to their usual markets in the Middle East and Africa, he said.

Germany's Ozdemir countered that solidarity with Ukraine extends beyond supplying arms and that imports of Ukrainian agricultural products were not responsible for falling grain prices in Germany.

"Anyone who says that should please back it up with facts and figures," he said. Ozdemir criticized full grain storage facilities in Poland, and their market impact, as a failure of government policy attempting to advise farmers on when to sell their produce.

Police stand in the Maalbeek underpass, where the stairs are blocked by hay and trash thrown by farmers, during a protest against EU agricultural policy and demand improvements in their industry. Timon Ramboer/Belga/dpa

Farmers with their tractors protest against EU agricultural policy and demand improvements in their industry. Timon Ramboer/Belga/dpa
When the moon's shadow races across Earth on April 8 during the total solar eclipse, it will travel faster than the speed of sound.

It will sweep across Earth at more than 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) per hour on April 8, according to NASA .

However, exactly how fast it will move where you are will depend on where you are.

Related: Total solar eclipse 2024: Everything you need to know

Understanding the moon's shadow

A solar eclipse occurs on Earth when a new moon blocks at least part of the sun, as seen from Earth. All solar eclipses project a large fuzzy shadow onto Earth called the penumbra. From within it, observers see a partial solar eclipse, watching the moon gradually block some of the sun before gradually moving away.

Only during a total solar eclipse , when the moon blocks all of the sun , does a smaller, darker conical shadow called the umbra project onto Earth. This is the path of totality, and from within it, observers see partial phases on either side of a total solar eclipse.

Distance and speed of the moon

As millions of people across the United States experienced a total eclipse as the umbra, or moons shadow passed over them, only six people witnessed the umbra from space. Viewing the eclipse from orbit were NASAs Randy Bresnik, Jack Fischer and Peggy Whitson, ESA (European Space Agencys) Paolo Nespoli, and Roscosmos Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Sergey Ryazanskiy. The space station crossed the path of the eclipse three times as it orbited above the continental United States at an altitude of 250 miles.

The width of the umbra (the path of totality) and the penumbra (the partial eclipse zone) depend on the moon's distance from Earth during the eclipse. This also affects the speed at which the shadow moves, as does the rotational speed of the moon and the Earth. The moon is orbiting Earth from west to east, the same way Earth rotates, but the moon moves more quickly.

The penumbral and umbral shadows of the moon are projected as a path because Earth rotates under the faster-moving shadow of the moon. So, although the moon's shadow moves across Earth very quickly during an eclipse, it's counteracted by the Earth's rotational speed.

Why it slows down and speeds up

Although the moon's shadow would move even more quickly across the planet if it weren't rotating, on April 8, that shadow will still move exceptionally fast. However, it won't travel at a consistent speed.

"The moon's shadow will travel slowest at the point of greatest eclipse near the town of Nazas, Mexico, where the duration is longest and also where the shadow speed is the lowest," said Michael Zeiler, eclipse cartographer at GreatAmericanEclipse.com . "As the shadow progresses across North America, the shadow speed increases because the oblique angle of the shadow on a curved Earth results in a higher ground speed."

For example, at 11:37 UT on April 8, the event will begin as an eclipsed sunrise in the Pacific Ocean, during which the moon's shadow will be traveling at a whopping 10,439,792 mph (16,801,217 kph), according to eclipse expert Xavier Jubier's Interactive Google Map of the eclipse.

As it ends as an eclipsed sunset in the Atlantic, it will be traveling at 5,535,176 mph (8,908,002 kph). However, close to Nazas, Mexico  the point of the greatest eclipse where the centers of the sun, moon, and Earth are in perfect synergy (alignment)  it will be moving at a pedestrian 1,565 mph (2,519 kph). The shadow will slow down to that point and speed up after, so as the moon's shadow enters the U.S. in Texas, it will speed up slightly to 1,597 mph (2,570 kph). It will then pick up the pace across the U.S. and, as it leaves Newfoundland in Canada for the Atlantic, it will be moving at 4,727 mph (7,607 kph).

April's total solar eclipse will travel at speeds ranging from 10 million miles an hour  half the speed of the fastest supernova explosion ever detected  to as slow as 1,565 mph, about twice the speed of a supersonic aircraft. Just ensure you're inside the path of totality to stand beneath it!
The sailfish (right) will have no trouble chasing down the Brazilian sardines (left). Stuart Westmorland / Getty Images

While there are tons of fish in the sea, only a few hold the title of the fastest fish in the ocean. You might wonder how the fastest fish swim at such high speeds.

The key to a fish's speed is a streamlined shape. It's usually fish with a pointed snout and broad, propulsive tail that are able to move through the open with minimal resistance.

So, which fish are the fastest? Let's take a look!

1. Sailfish

The sailfish stands out as the fastest fish in the world, a title it proudly holds thanks to its remarkable adaptations and evolutionary prowess. In fact, the sailfish can reach top speeds of 68 mph (110 km/h).

Inhabiting the warm waters of the Indian and Pacific oceans, the sailfish features a streamlined shape that epitomizes hydrodynamic efficiency. Its powerful muscles that contract rapidly, propelling it through the water at velocities that top out during short periods of high-speed pursuit.

Fins Fit for Speedy Evasion

What really sets the species apart from other fish are its numerous fins arrayed with precision along its sleek body. The sail-like dorsal fin, from which it derives its name, along with dorsal fins projecting from the back and pectoral fins on the sides, play a crucial role in maneuverability and stability.

Meanwhile, the tail fin and anal fins provide the forward propulsion needed to reach top speeds.

Beneath its sleek exterior, bony spines add to its structural integrity, allowing for bursts of speed that captivate and intrigue marine biologists and enthusiasts alike.

These aquatic speedsters have an alternate use for their sail-like dorsal fin. While it helps them cut through water with minimal resistance, they also sometimes raise it to intimidate predators. Nature loves a multi-tool.

2. Swordfish

Diving deeper into the ocean, the swordfish emerges as another one of the fastest fish out there. The maximum speed of a swordfish is about 60 mph (94 km/h).

Known for its iconic elongated bill, resembling a sword, this species cuts through the water with precision and agility. The swordfish's large, powerful muscles enable quick bursts that propel the fish forward, allowing it to navigate through the water at speeds that leave observers in awe.

Swordfish can withstand particularly cold water temperatures because of a specialized organ located near their brain, known as a countercurrent heat exchange mechanism.

This special organ literally heats their brain and eyes, allowing them to think clearly in colder waters. It also helps them effectively see and hunt their prey.

3. Wahoo

In tropical and subtropical waters around the world, the wahoo is a name that evokes with speed and agility. This striking fish is celebrated for its ability to reach speeds that make it a formidable predator and a sought-after prize among sport fishermen. The maximum speed for a wahoo is about 48 mph (77 km/h).

The wahoo's slender, torpedo-shaped body is perfectly adapted for high-speed pursuits, allowing it to dart through the water with incredible acceleration. Its streamlined form minimizes drag, enabling the wahoo to slice through the ocean currents as it chases down its prey with ruthless efficiency.

One fascinating feature of the wahoo is its series of sharp, serrated teeth, capable of slicing through its catch (typically smaller fish and squid) with ease.

4. Atlantic Bluefin Tuna

Among the giants of the sea, the Atlantic bluefin tuna commands attention not only for its size but also for its ability to swim faster than many of its oceanic counterparts. In fact, it's the fastest tuna in the world, reaching top speeds of 44 mph (70 km/h).

This species combines brute strength with a hydrodynamic silhouette, and its muscular body is supported by a series of finlets on the dorsal and ventral sides, reducing drag and allowing for swift, efficient movement.

An intriguing aspect of the bluefin tuna is that they must keep swimming in order to get enough oxygen from the water. Like some shark species, Atlantic bluefin tuna must keep swimming forward with their mouth opens to keep their blood oxygenated; they don't have the ability while they're stopped.

Additionally, Atlantic bluefin tunas have a countercurrent exchanger that allows them to regulate body temperature in cooler waters. This allows them to hunt efficiently in cold water, much like swordfish.

5. Mako Shark

The mako shark, found in tropical and temperate waters around the world, is the fastest known species of shark, reaching a maximum speed of 46 mph (74 km/h).

The mako's sleek, streamlined body allows it to chase down swift prey, with its powerful caudal fin, shaped like a crescent moon, acting as a propulsive force. The endothermic system of this species also allows it to maintain a body temperature higher than the surrounding water.

Like the bluefin tuna, the mako shark must keep swimming in order to live. It needs water to constantly pass through its gills to create oxygen for in order to breathe. If make sharks stop swimming, they won't survive.

Additionally, mako sharks can remarkably see in the dark. Unlike many other sharks who rely on electroreception to navigate, the mako uses their smell, hearing and vision. These sharks have light-detecting cells and a tapetum lucidum (like cats!) that helps them to see in the dark. This trait combined with their strong sense of touch, allows them to sense tiny pressure changes and movements in the water.

6. Blue Shark

Gliding through the deep waters of temperate and tropical oceans (the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic ocean), this species can reach a maximum speed of 43 mph (69 km/h). Their speed and stamina allow them to traverse vast distances in their quest for food and mating grounds.

These slender, indigo-colored predators are designed for endurance and speed, with long, lithe bodies that cut through the water with minimal resistance.

Their elongated pectoral fins enable them to maintain stability and maneuver with precision, while their powerful tails provide the propulsion necessary for sudden bursts of speed.

Blue sharks' migratory patterns, which are among the longest in the shark world, reflect their search for food and warm waters. Blue sharks have been known to travel across entire ocean basins, a testament to their stamina, adaptability and efficiency.

7. Bonefish

In the shallow, clear waters where the ocean meets the land, the bonefish emerges as a silent sprinter, known for its ability to reach speeds of 40 mph (64 km/h).

The bonefish's torpedo-shaped body and large, powerful tail fin work in unison to propel it forward with bursts of speed, enabling it to escape predators and navigate through its complex, reef-studded habitats with ease.

Bonefish are capable of surviving in shallow, brackish backwaters because they have a special, lung-like air bladder. Essentially, bonefish can suck in air and then hold onto it, allowing them to breathe comfortably in low-oxygen waters.

You'll likely find them moving with the tide, taking advantage of deep water and increased oxygen at low tide and in the shallower flats during high tide where they can hunt for their food.

8. Striped Marlin

Navigating the tropical and temperate regions of the Indo-Pacific Ocean is the striped marlin. Recognized for its striking appearance and formidable speed (with top speeds reaching 50 mph (80 km/h)), the striped marlin is a creature of beauty and power.

Its sleek, streamlined body  equipped with a distinctive bill and pronounced dorsal fin  combines with a flexible spine, allowing it to propel itself forward at high speeds, making it one of the ocean's most efficient predators.

The striped marlin uses its sharp bill to stun prey, a technique that showcases its intelligence and adaptability. While you might think it would impale its victims, it actually stuns them by slashing sideways.

The marlin's speed, combined with this hunting strategy, makes it a master of the marine environment, capable of capturing a wide variety of prey.

9. Black Marlin

Though experts believe the black marlin's swimming speed is around 30 mph (40 km/h), they are capable of reaching much higher speeds in short bursts. The BBC even recorded one reaching 80 mph (128 km/h)!

This impressive species, with its robust, cylindrical body and spear-like upper jaw, is engineered for speed. The black marlin's powerful tail fin, split into two crescents, acts as a propulsive force. Its sleek physique minimizes drag, allowing the black marlin to dash through the water with remarkable efficiency.

This fish has a reputation as one of the most sought-after game fish. Sport anglers from around the world dream of hooking a black marlin, not just for the thrill of the catch but also for the respect earned from battling such a swift and formidable opponent.

10. Fourwing Flying Fish

Soaring above the surface of subtropical waters of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, the fourwing flying fish represents hits top speeds of 37 mph (60 km/h).

This species has evolved not just to swim but to glide over the water, using its uniquely developed pectoral and pelvic fins as wings.

These "four wings" enable the fish to escape predators by making powerful leaps out of the water, propelling themselves through the air at considerable speeds. The streamlined body of the fourwing flying fish reduces drag both in water and air, reaching impressive heights of nearly 4 feet (2 meters).

It can also glide for very long distances, typically up to 650 feet (200 meters). That said, records have shown that they're able to make consecutive glides of up to 1300 feet (400m).

11. Barracuda

Lurking in the shadows of coral reefs and seagrasses, the barracuda is an intimidating presence in the marine world, known for its sharp snouts and the ability to reach speeds of 36 mph (58 km/h) in short bursts.

With a sleek, streamlined body and a robust tail fin, the barracuda is built for rapid acceleration, allowing it to ambush prey. Its elongated body is perfectly adapted for slicing through the water with minimal resistance, and its large, pointed teeth are ideal for seizing and holding onto slippery fish.

That said, barracudas are curious and often misunderstood nature. Despite their fearsome reputation, they are usually not a threat to humans unless provoked.

We created this article in conjunction with AI technology, then made sure it was fact-checked and edited by a HowStuffWorks editor.

Original article: The Fastest Fish in the Ocean Can Swim at Nearly 70 MPH

Copyright  2024 HowStuffWorks, a division of InfoSpace Holdings, LLC, a System1 Company
Venezuelas Chavista regime has ended up choosing the opposition candidate. In the final stretch of a day of tension and negotiations, the moderate Enrique Marquez, linked to the Un Nuevo Tiempo (A New Time) party  which was initially going to support Maria Corina Machado and her successor, Corina Yoris  was able to register his own candidacy with another list called Centrados. This organization was annulled two weeks ago and readmitted again by the National Electoral Council (CNE). Meanwhile, Yoris was unable to formalize her own candidacy due to an alleged computer glitch on the electoral authoritys registration webpage.

The Unitary Platform is debating a possible replacement for Yoris, who was herself meant to be a replacement for Machado. It remains to be seen if the movement that Machado built in recent months will now coalesce around Enrique Marquez, who until last year sat on the National Electoral Council but was forced to resign, along with the entire governing body, to give way to a board entirely loyal to President Nicolas Maduro. Marquez, a moderate politician and negotiator, is unknown to most citizens.

His registration, which comes just as the candidates proposed by the Unitary Platform were unable to register, could ensure a position in the presidential race for a sector that is critical of Maduro. But it could also threaten to break the unity that the opposition had achieved. The last hours of the presidential candidacy registration period were fraught with suspense. The CNE used the modern automated system that it frequently boasts about to block and readmit parties at will, citing technical failures as part of a political game that seeks to forestall any possibility that Nicolas Maduro, who is rejected by 80% of the population, might lose an election scheduled for July 28.

An extension to the application period was ruled out. In addition to the Democratic Unity Roundtable and Un Nuevo Tiempo, the Ecological Movement of Venezuela and the dissidents of the Communist Party of Venezuela were also left out of the process, as was Fuerza Vecinal. The outcome is not yet definitive, at least on paper, since the authorities still need to formally admit the candidates and a process of challenges is also opening up in which everything could still change. There are still four months of struggle to go until the elections.

Henrique Capriles, who intended to be a candidate last year, warned the opposition leaders about the need to make decisions so as not to be left out of the race. You have to have the strength to make unfair but inevitable decisions. We must ensure that the country has an option in order to be able to vote.

Maria Corina Machado waited until last Friday to see if her disqualification, issued by the Supreme Court in a ruling considered unconstitutional, would be lifted in time for her to register. That same day she announced her substitute in agreement with the parties that support her and which are integrated into the Unitary Platform. Corina Yoris, with no history in public administration and no weakness that could be legally used to veto her, assumed responsibility for the nomination. But Chavismo has still prevented it.

On the other hand, nine other candidates from a section of the opposition that coexists with Chavismo were able to complete the process. Several of these candidates come from parties that have been judicially intervened in the past to ensure its leaders are compatible with Chavismo. One example is Voluntad Popular (Popular Will), which registered Daniel Ceballos; another is Democratic Action, which registered Luis Eduardo Fernandez.

For its nomination of Maduro, the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) organized a rally in downtown Caracas with supporters from all over the country. Grassroots members of the PSUV, led by the national leadership of the party  with the first lady, Cilia Flores, Diosdado Cabello and the siblings Jorge and Delcy Rodriguez, Rafal Lacava and Hector Rodriguez at the forefront  walked over to CNE headquarters.

As the president-candidate, Maduro walked down a red carpet and into the CNE building, located in the El Silencio Towers in the center of the city. Wearing a sporty outfit, and showing off a poster with photos of Simon Bolivar and former president Hugo Chavez, he was received by the organizations board of directors, headed by his personal friend Elvis Amoroso, who informed the president of the number of registered candidates.

In front of the election authorities, Maduro was presented by Diosdado Cabello, first vice president of the party and number two man of the Chavista regime, who delivered to officials the form nominating Maduro as the PSUVs candidate. He entrusted the current president with the destiny of the country, and expressed certainty that he will never disappoint the Venezuelan people.

Taking the floor and thanking Cabello, Maduro gave a speech designed for the party faithful in which the figure of Hugo Chavez was exalted, emphasis was placed on the struggle of these last few years to preserve the independence of the nation, and harsh comments were made against his enemies from the oligarchy and the surnames, as Maduro often refers to the Venezuelan opposition.

With or without you, we are going to hold elections this July 28, Maduro told his adversaries, just as he did in 2018. The Venezuelan leader later gave another speech in Plaza Diego Ibarra, where he also denounced an assassination attempt. Today two men with weapons who intended to attack me were captured. They have already declared that they are part of the far-right fascist party Vente Venezuela. Prosecutors said these individuals were detained near the presidential stage and that they are being accused of terrorism, attempted assassination and illicit possession of a firearm, among other charges.
By Sarah Mills

LONDON (Reuters) - With both his father King Charles and his wife Kate absent from public duties as they undergo treatment for cancer, Britain's Prince William has come under the media and public spotlight like never before.

As heir to the throne and as a son of the late Princess Diana, the 41-year-old is accustomed to the scrutiny that comes with being a British royal.

But his father and wife's absence from public life since mid-January have meant even greater attention has turned to the future King William V.

From the moment his grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth, died in September 2022, he would have been all too aware of the "scary" reality of his destiny, said Anna Whitelock, history of the monarchy professor at London's City University.

"He knows he has to be ready to be king," she told Reuters.

"When (the king's) cancer diagnosis came, of course, I'm sure his first reaction was as a son, concern for his father. But there is also this big weight of responsibility that suddenly starts to kind of descend upon his shoulders. And I'm sure he's very, very aware of that."

William was at the centre of some golden years for the royal family in the last decade with public celebrations and outpourings of support at his and Kate's wedding in 2011, the births of their three children, and milestones in the reign of his grandmother Elizabeth.

But the last few years also saw a high-profile fallout with Prince Harry, his younger brother's exit from royal duties along with wife Meghan, and their criticism of the institution. There was also the scandal over his uncle Prince Andrew's friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The death of Elizabeth and of her husband Philip the year before left the monarchy looking noticeably smaller, something brought into sharp relief by the current absence of Charles, 75, and Kate.

"He must be absolutely devastated and worried about his wife, about his children and about his father, on top of all the problems he's had with his brother," royal biographer Claudia Joseph said.

"I think it's very tough. But .. he's made of stern stuff. He's very stoic."

WILLIAM WILL 'STEP UP'

That contrasts with the view tabloid newspapers presented of "work-shy" William in 2017. But since then he has taken on more and more royal duties and won praise for championing causes including the environment and mental health.

"I'm sure when the time comes, Prince William will step up to the plate," said Robert Hardman, author of recent biography "Charles III".

"I mean, we saw how in the aftermath of the death of Elizabeth II - the longest lived, longest reigning monarch we've ever had - people thought, how do you follow that? Well, the answer is monarchy gets on with it."

While the role of monarch is meant to be as a non-political head of state, Whitelock said William would find it very difficult to spend his time as king just wearing robes and cutting ribbons. Many people would actually welcome "a more interventionist monarch," she added.

"I think it's going to be really interesting over the next few years to see whether people are ready for that or whether there is a kind of line which he ends up having to be very clear that he doesn't cross."

The prince has not been shy to speak his mind and criticise world leaders over the environment. In February, he voiced concern over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, saying too many people had been killed: an unusually direct intervention from a British royal.

"I think the royal family has to modernise and develop as it goes along and it has to stay relevant," William said in 2016, when asked by the BBC about his future as king.

"That's the challenge for me is how do I make the royal family relevant in the next 20 years' time, and it could be 40 years' time, it could be 60 years' time and I have no idea when that's going to be. I hope that's something that I can do."

(Additional reporting by Arlene Eiras; Writing by Michael Holden; Editing by Elizabeth Piper, Frances Kerry and Andrew Heavens)
Peta Butler said her experience with her smart meter has had a profound impact on her mental health

The number of smart meters in Great Britain not working properly has risen by over a million, the latest figures show.

According to data from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (Desnez), 2.7 million were not operating in smart mode as of June 2023 - by the end of the year this had gone up to 3.98 million.

Customers have reported being hit by massive bills caused by faulty meters, and the Desnez says it is concerned that reporting errors by a minority of suppliers are behind the rise.

Energy UK, the trade association for the energy industry, says suppliers are obliged to replace faulty meters.

How do smart meters work?

Smart meters measure how much gas and electricity a household uses and show how much it costs in near real time. They can send readings via a remote connection to energy suppliers (smart mode).

If they lose connection customers often rely on estimated bills, which should be corrected once the supplier has manual meter readings.

But some customers have paid too much and struggled to get their money back  or too little and gone into debt.

According to Smart Energy GB, a non-profit organisation focusing on the benefits of smart meters, there are now almost 35 million smart meters in Great Britain and the 'vast majority' are operating as intended.

It said 88.6% were operating in smart mode at the end of 2023, up from 87.3% the previous year.

'Two years of hell'

Peta Butler, 79, lives near Tunbridge Wells. Between January and June 2023 her energy bill went up to over 3,500, leaving her "terrified" to use electricity.

Her son said the problems began when she was changed to a smart meter on a single tariff, in 2022. The new meter was not recorded properly and she kept getting estimated bills based on her old meter.

She said: Its been two years of hell. Its affected my health. And its completely taken away any confidence Ive got. If I have to do anything, I just panic. I dont sleep at night really because my body, it cant let go.

Mrs Butler said she recently received 2,900 back from Utility Warehouse - which did not cover what she was owed. She is now with a different supplier.

A Utility Warehouse spokesperson said they would refund Mrs Butler with all the money she had paid on the account.

"We acknowledge that the customer service Mrs Butler received fell below our usual high standards and were sorry for the inconvenience and distress this has caused," they said.

"We have spoken to the customer and after further reviewing the account, have agreed to provide a goodwill payment in acknowledgement of the service she received.

'It makes you frightened'

Dianne Green, 75, from East Sussex, has been having issues with her smart meter since she was taken on by British Gas in April 2022, when her previous company went bust.

She said her online account showed she was using roughly 60 per month, but British Gas wanted to put her direct debit up to 169 per month.

Mrs Green said her physical disabilities meant she couldnt reach the electricity meter to get manual readings. She currently pays 95 a month, but the last bill showed she was over 600 in debit.

Im in debt all the time, and Im paying, she added.

Its very upsetting, and its very worrying. Youre constantly thinking of trying to find ways of putting it right. It does make you ill. It makes you frightened."

Mrs Green has been waiting for two years for her problems to be fixed. British Gas said it sent an engineer around on Monday to ensure it is set to provide single rate smart meter readings.

"Going forward she will receive accurate bills and wont need to provide us with manual meter readings. Were very sorry that we did not fix this for her sooner and as goodwill weve removed the outstanding balance on her account, it said.

The Desnez says the "vast majority" of smart meters are working correctly, but "reporting errors by a minority of suppliers have uncovered more meters not operating in smart mode than previously thought.

Lord Callanan, Minister for Energy Efficiency and Green Finance, has written to Ofgem, urging "action to ensure suppliers are held to account if they are not supporting customers with issues as they should be.

The vast majority of smart meters work correctly, helping people save on their bills, but some suppliers are not doing enough to ensure consumers can access these benefits.

Today I have written to @ofgem and called on them to hold underperforming energy suppliers to account. pic.twitter.com/VejM1JNBGx  Martin Callanan (@MartinCallanan) March 21, 2024

Ofgem, the energy regulator for Great Britain, said it had asked suppliers to provide more detail on how they plan to tackle connectivity issues.

If customers have concerns about the way this is handled, they can complain to their supplier, and if the issue is not resolved to their satisfaction, they should raise it with the ombudsman, it said.

See also

Other internet links
UPDATE 1:00 p.m.

URBANA, Ill. (WCIA)  The FBI raid at the Town and Country Apartments in Urbana has concluded as of around 1 p.m.

A WCIA reporter on-scene said the FBI officers were yelling for someone to come out of the apartment for about an hour over a loudspeaker. At one point, a woman was handcuffed for a while but law enforcement eventually let her back into her apartment.

Around 1 p.m., the FBI left the apartments. Nothing was taken from the scene. A large gathering of people outside the apartments watched the events unfold.

Authorities are unable to share more information at this time.

CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, Ill. (WCIA)  A pair of police presences in Urbana and Rantoul have been linked to federal law enforcement activity.

Police and FBI agents were spotted at Birdie and Fairway Drives in Rantoul early Tuesday morning. Later in the morning, FBI agents were seen at Town and Country Apartments in Urbana. Rantoul and Urbana Police said they could not comment on what was happening, instead directing WCIA to the FBI and DEA.

Danville Police investigating two business break-ins

Public information officers from both federal agencies confirmed the law enforcement presences were due to a joint enforcement operation in the Champaign-Urbana area, involving multiple arrest and search warrants. The federal agencies are working with local partners.

Due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, neither agency could comment further. More information, they said, will come from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Central District of Illinois.

This is a developing story. Stay tuned for updates.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com.
CHICAGO  A bank robbery on Chicagos Far North Side on Monday has FBI agents searching for answers.

It is the sixth bank robbery that FBI officials believe may have been conducted by the same man. Agents are now offering a $1,000 reward for information that could lead directly to his arrest.

According to a spokesperson for the FBIs Chicago Field Office, the latest robbery unfolded just before noon on Monday at a Chase bank in the 5100 block of North Clark Street in Uptown.

Court-docs: Chicago-area vet accused of distributing child porn, planned to sexually assault unborn child

Agents say a man entered the bank and made verbal demands for money, but never showed a weapon or implied that he had one.

After securing the stolen funds, the man then fled the scene on foot. No injuries were reported during the incident.

Surveillance cameras captured photos of a suspect who FBI agents believe robbed a Chase bank in Uptown on March 25, 2024.

Surveillance cameras captured photos of a suspect who FBI agents believe robbed a Huntington Bank inside a Jewel-Osco in Edgewater on Dec. 26, 2023

Surveillance cameras captured photos of a suspect who FBI agents believe robbed a Byline Bank in Lincoln Park on Jan. 3, 2024

Surveillance cameras captured photos of a suspect who FBI agents believe robbed an Associated Bank inside a Jewel-Osco in Rogers Park on Jan. 6, 2024.

Surveillance cameras captured photos of a suspect who FBI agents believe robbed a Byline Bank in Rogers Park on March 20, 2024.

Surveillance cameras captured photos of a suspect who FBI agents believe robbed a Huntington Bank inside a Jewel-Osco in Uptown on Oct. 31, 2023

Surveillance cameras at the bank captured photos of the suspect on Monday. Agents also provided images captured during the five other robberies.

Authorities say the man is believed to be around 60 years of age and stands about six feet tall.

Chicago man arrested in connection with West Side kidnapping, sexual assault

Agents say during Mondays robbery, he was spotted wearing a brown knit cap, a dark two-tone windbreaker with a diagonal pattern, blue jeans, and black and grey gym shoes with white soles.

Agents provided the following list of times and locations where the previous bank robberies occurred:

Oct. 31, 2023, at around 6:06 p.m., the suspect attempted to rob a Huntington Bank inside a Jewel-Osco in the 4300 block of North Sheridan Road while wearing a dark blue hoodie, dark face mask, jeans, and brown boots.

Dec. 26, 2023, at around 5:49 p.m., the suspect robbed a Huntington Bank inside a Jewel-Osco in the 5300 block of North Broadway while wearing a dark blue hoodie and a blue face mask.

Jan. 3, 2024, at around 4:53 p.m., the suspect robbed a Byline Bank in the 2000 block of North Halsted while wearing a dark-colored knit cap, a blue mask, and a green-colored jacket.

Jan. 6, 2024, at around 12:08 p.m., the suspect robbed an Associated Bank inside a Jewel-Osco in the 1700 block of West Howard Street while wearing a navy hoodie, a dark knit cap, a black patterned mask, green-colored jacket, black gloves, and jeans.

March 20, 2024, at around 10:30 a.m. the suspect robbed a Byline Bank in the 6900 block of North Clark Street while wearing a green zip-up hoodie, a black and white mask, blue jeans, and brown shoes.

LATEST CASES: Missing people in Chicagoland

Anyone with information on the string of robberies is asked to call the FBIs Chicago Field Office at 312-421-6700.

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FILE - Alex Murdaugh, convicted of killing his wife, Maggie, and younger son, Paul, in June 2021, sits during a hearing on a motion for a retrial, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024, at the Richland County Judicial Center in Columbia, S.C. Federal prosecutors said Murdaugh didn't tell the truth about where $6 million he stole went and whether a so far unnamed attorney helped him and want to revoke a plea deal on federal financial crime charges, according to court documents. (Tracy Glantz/The State via AP, Pool, File)

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)  Convicted killer Alex Murdaugh didn't tell the truth when FBI agents repeatedly asked him where more than $6 million he stole ended up and whether another attorney not yet identified helped him steal from clients and his law firm, federal prosecutors said in court documents Tuesday.

The prosecutors want a judge to revoke their end of a plea deal with Murdaugh on theft and other charges and order him to the maximum of well over 100 years in prison when he is sentenced in Charleston, South Carolina, on Monday.

Murdaugh, 55, is already serving life without parole in state prison after a jury found him guilty of murder in the shootings of his wife and younger son. He pleaded guilty to stealing money from clients and his law firm in state court and was sentenced to 27 years, which South Carolina prosecutors said is an insurance policy to keep him behind bars in case his murder conviction was ever overturned.

The federal case was supposed to be even more insurance, with whatever sentence Murdaugh received running at the same time as his state sentences. But that deal is in doubt after the FBI said the disbarred attorney failed a polygraph.

The test came in October, after three previous FBI interviews of Murdaugh led investigators to think he wasn't telling the full truth about where at least $6 million he stole ended up and the role of an attorney who has not been publicly identified in his crimes, federal prosecutors said.

In court papers, prosecutors asked to keep the report on the polygraph test and summaries of Murdaugh's four FBI interviews from the public, saying a grand jury is continuing to investigate and the information could be used to tamper with evidence or influence witnesses.

Murdaugh's attorneys didn't respond to messages Tuesday. They have not filed a response in court, although a footnote in the prosecution's filing said they were against keeping the polygraph report secret.

Federal prosecutors said Murdaugh did appear to tell the truth about the roles banker Russell Laffitte and attorney and old college friend Cory Fleming played in helping him steal.

Laffitte was convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison, while Fleming is serving nearly four years behind bars after pleading guilty.

Each of the 22 counts Murdaugh pleaded guilty to in federal court carries a maximum of 20 years in prison. Some carry a 30-year maximum. Prosecutors said they will ask for the stiffest sentence possible since the plea agreement was breached and require Murdaugh serve his federal sentence at the end of any state sentences.

They said there is a long history of federal law that won't allow Murdaugh to revoke his guilty plea since he broke the terms of the deal.

State prosecutors estimated Murdaugh stole more than $12 million from clients by diverting settlement money into his own accounts or stealing from his family law firm. Federal investigators estimate at least $6 million of that has not been accounted for, although Murdaugh has said he spent extravagantly on illegal drugs after becoming hooked on opioids.

Investigators said that as Murdaugh's schemes were about to be exposed in June 2021, he decided to kill his wife and son. Paul Murdaugh was shot several times with a shotgun and Maggie Murdaugh was shot several times with a rifle outside the family's home in Colleton County.

Murdaugh has adamantly denied killing them, even testifying in his own defense against his lawyers' advice.

As he pleaded guilty in federal court on Sept. 21, it was the first time he admitted to a crime and promised to stick to the requirements of his deal, including being fully truthful and forthright with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies by providing full, complete and truthful information about all criminal activities about which he/she has knowledge.

I want to take responsibility. I want my son to see me take responsibility. Its my hope that by taking responsibility that the people Ive hurt can begin to heal, said Murdaugh, standing in his orange South Carolina prison jumpsuit.

-

This story has been updated to corrects the spelling of first name to Cory Fleming, not Corey, in 8th paragraph.
As Neuralink touts its first human brain-computer interface (BCI) implant patient, a member of Congress is taking the Food and Drug Administration to task for letting it happen without kicking the tires first.

As Reuters reports, Congressman Earl Blumenauer, an Oregon Democrat, has charged the FDA with failing to inspect Neuralink's facilities before granting it approval to implant its BCI chip in a human, which the company proceeded to do earlier this year and splashily unveil in recent weeks.

That approval, as Reuters previously reported, was announced in late May 2023  months before Wired revealed in an in-depth investigation that Neuralink's earliest experiments on rhesus macaque monkeys had some incredibly gruesome results, including brain swelling and self-harming behaviors.

In an email to Futurism, the FDA says that it did "conduct a thorough inspection" of the Neuralink facilities  in June 2023, which was after it granted the company human trial approval. According to the agency, it's not uncommon for it to do inspections following the approval of human trials, which fall under its investigational device exemption (IDE) protocols and require an application process.

"For all IDE submissions, the FDA reviews all data and information contained in the companys application," the agency told Futurism. "The agencys focus for determining approval of an IDE is based on assessing the safety profile for potential subjects, ensuring risks are appropriately mitigated and communicated to subjects, and ensuring that the potential benefits, including potential benefits to subjects in the study and the value of the knowledge to be gained, outweigh the risk. "

In his letter to the FDA, however, the Oregon congressman who sits on the health subcommittee of the House of Representatives' Ways and Means Committee said he's concerned the agency may nevertheless have ignored "troubling evidence" about Neuralink's safety practices. Those would include the government's own findings, especially the Department of Agriculture's report which found that in 2019, a surgeon used an unapproved sealant to close the holes the company's team drilled into a monkey's skull during implantation experiments.

Blumenauer pointed to another Reuters report, published at the end of February, about the FDA issuing Neuralink a citation over problems with its record-keeping practices  a warning issued just a month after it granted the company human trial permission.

"These alleged failures to follow standard operating procedures potentially endangered animal welfare," Blumenauer wrote, "and compromised data collection for human trials."

Just a few months before the FDA granted Neuralink's approval last spring, Reuters reported that the agency had on multiple occasions denied the company permission to start human trials under the IDE exemption since it began applying in 2022.

Along with contacting the FDA about the congressman's charges, Futurism has also reached out to Neuralink and Blumenauer's office to get to the bottom of whatever protocols may or may not have been broken.

More on Neuralink: Neuralink Told Its First Human Patient Not to Worry About Those Gruesome Monkey Deaths
Officials said Tuesday that the container ship that crashed into Baltimores Francis Scott Key Bridge issued a mayday just before the collision, allowing bridge operators to halt traffic and potentially save lives.

Six people remained missing Tuesday afternoon after the cargo ship Dali reported losing power and struck a pillar of the bridge, sending vehicles and a group of contractors plunging into the Patapsco River.

James Wallace, chief of the Baltimore City Fire Department, said two workerswhod been fixing potholes on the bridge, which is used by 31,000 vehicles per daywere rescued from the frigid water. One avoided injury, and the other was hospitalized with serious injuries, he said.

That patient was discharged by Tuesday afternoon, the University of Maryland Medical Center said in a statement.

Authorities said several vehicles, including one the size of a tractor-trailer, were on the bridge when one of the structures columns was hit by the ship just before 1:30 a.m. Tuesday. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said more vehicles didnt suffer a similar fate largely because of that mayday call.

Video clips of the collapse show the steady flow of headlights disappear from the bridge just before impact.

Were thankful that between the mayday and collapse that we had officials who were able toto begin to stop the flow of traffic so more cars were not up on the bridge, the governor said.

The bridge after its collapse. Harford County MD Fire & EMS/Handout via Reuters

A Broadcastify recording of the transmissions captured the final seconds before impact, with authorities calmly communicating that all traffic needed to be stopped on the bridge.

I need one of you guys on the south side, one of you guys on the north side, hold all traffic on the Key Bridge, an unnamed person said. Theres a ship approaching that just lost their steering, so until we get that under control, weve got to stop all traffic.

Clay Diamond, the head of the American Pilots Association, a trade organization for ship pilots, told the Associated Press the ships captain also ordered the crew to slam the rudder hard toward the ships port side and dropped its port anchor in a desperate bid to slow the vessel.

The bridge collapsed about 90 seconds later, the audio showed, with someone exclaiming, The whole bridge just fell down. Start, start whoever  everybody. The whole bridge just collapsed.

Moore emphasized that the tragedy was a horrific accident, saying there was no evidence to suggest it was an intentional act.

Jesus Campos, an employee of Brawner Builders, told the Baltimore Banner that the missing workers were men in their 30s and 40s from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. He said they each came to Maryland in search of a better life for their spouses and children.

They are all hard-working, humble men, he added.

Wallace said dive teams were leading the search for the rest of the missing and that the temperature of the waterreportedly around 50 degreesand the incoming tide would affect their efforts.

I can tell you our sonar has detected the presence of vehicles submerged in the water, he added, saying he did not yet know how many.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge following the collapse. Nathan Howard/Reuters

Baltimores police commissioner, Richard Worley, told reporters early Tuesday there was absolutely no indication the ship had hit the bridge intentionally.

Joe Biden addressed the collapse before making a trip to North Carolina with Vice President Kamala Harris. He remarked that hed traveled on the bridge many, many times while traveling between Washington and his native Delaware, adding that he plans to visit the collapse site as quickly as I can.

The president added that he wants the federal government to take on the full cost of rebuilding the bridge.

Its my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge, he said from the White House. I expect the Congress to support my effortthis is going to take some time.

Maryland State Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld, describing the catastrophic collapse, said, We know there were individuals on the bridge at the time of the collapse, working on the bridge, contractors for us.

The bridge, completed in 1977, was not equipped with large dolphinsa group of pilings arrayed together to protect bridges from collapsing after a collision. Large dolphins have been installed around bridges near major ports in the aftermath of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge disaster in 1980an incident that left 35 dead after the bridge collapsed into Tampa Bay after being struck by a cargo ship that went off course in heavy fog.

The Dali, a 948-foot, Singapore-flagged cargo ship, had been inspected 27 times since it was built in 2015, with deficiencies being found on two occasions, according to records from the Electronic Quality Shipping Information System.

One deficiency was noted last summer by Chilean authorities, who said the ship had a propulsion and auxiliary machinery deficiencysomething that was cited as being an issue with the vessel on Tuesday by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which wrote that the Dali had lost propulsion while leaving port.

The Dalis other noted deficiency came after it was involved in a separate collision in 2016. Thats when it struck a stone wall at a dock in Antwerp, Belgium, which damaged its hull. The collision forced it to be docked for repairs, but nobody was injured. According to Vessel Finder, the blame for that incident was placed on the ships master and pilot on boardnot the weather or mechanical issues.

The Dali after the bridge collapse. Jim Watson/AFP via Getty

The Dali was not being piloted by its own crew at the time of Tuesdays collision, either. It was instead being directed out of port by local pilotsa practice used worldwide to avoid collisions like the one that happened Tuesday. Local pilots steer outbound ships out to the open water before leaving the vessel to its regular crew, and board inbound vessels just before they reach local channels.

Tracking data from Tuesday shows that the Dali came to a complete stop under the bridge, according to the MarineTraffic platform. It also shows the vessel left Baltimore before 1 a.m. Tuesday on a voyage to Colombo in Sri Lanka.

The words that the Key bridge are gone, it still shakes us, Moore said Tuesday, recalling the moment he heard the bridge had collapsed.

John Zimmerman, an 83-year-old retired ironworker, was one of the workers who built the bridge in the 1970s. He told CNN that he was in shock and didnt think the bridge would ever come down.

It looks like it hit the only spot it could have hit to take the whole thing down, he said. It hit at probably the weakest part of the bridge.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was being dispatched to the bridge site Tuesday, a staff member told CNN. Both U.S. and Singaporean authorities announced that they will launch a probe into the incident.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said at the Tuesday morning press conference that the collapse was a tragedy that you can never imagine, and that though video of the incident looked like something out of an action movie, the focus should be on the victims and their families.

The Maryland Transportation Authority told drivers to avoid the area because the bridgewhich carries Interstate 695 over the riverhad collapsed due to ship strike. The bridges collapse is expected to cause significant traffic jams in and around Baltimore, and the inevitable closing of the citys port is expected to bring shipping traffic to a halta particularly large blow to automakers that use the Port of Baltimore to export American-made cars.

The Danish shipping giant Maersk confirmed that the Dali was carrying Maersk cargo, and a spokesman said the company was horrified by what has happened in Baltimore, and our thoughts are with all of those affected... No Maersk crew and personnel were onboard the vessel.

The bridge is gone: Video from an eyewitness shows part of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore completely missing early Tuesday after authorities said it was hit by a large container ship. https://t.co/9C5x7VXehR pic.twitter.com/DfKesPAgMV  CBS News (@CBSNews) March 26, 2024

Maersk added later Tuesday that it was dropping Baltimore from all its services for the foreseeable future, citing the collapse.

Due to the damage to the bridge and resulting debris, it will not be possible to reach the Helen Delich Bentley port of Baltimore for the time being, the company wrote.

Scott Cowan, the president of the International Longshoremens Association Local 333 in Baltimore, Maryland, said the collapse could cripple Baltimores economy and put hundreds out of work.

We are at a standstill, he said. We make our living off of import and export cargo, unloading and loading, discharging and loading ships.

A statement from shipping company Synergy Marine Group confirmed its container ship hit a pillar on the bridge, according to the BBC. It said all of its crew members had been accounted for and no injuries had been reported. Whilst the exact cause of the incident is yet to be determined, the Dali has now mobilized its Qualified Individual Incident response service, the statement said.

The 1.6 mile-long bridge, which was named after the author of The Star-Spangled Banner, had been open and housed the interstate since 1977.

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A voter is seen at a polling location in Parker on June 28, 2022. (Carl Payne for Colorado Newsline)

This story originally appeared at Stateline.

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.

Colorado enacted a ban against open carry within 100 feet of a ballot drop box or polling location in 2022.

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, New Jersey, New York and Washington state, in addition to Colorado, 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 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.

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The post Fearing political violence, more states ban firearms at polling places appeared first on Colorado Newsline.
A gun rights advocate displays an I Voted sticker on his holster at a rally on the steps of the Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa. National voting rights and gun violence prevention advocates have been sounding the alarm over increased threats around elections in recent years. (Matt Rourke/The Associated Press)

This story originally appeared on Stateline.

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 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 Fearing political violence, more states ban firearms at polling places appeared first on Alabama Reflector.
State corrections officials have told The Times the policy was not specifically targeting facial hair but instead focusing on the need for guards to wear masks. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Federal civil rights attorneys asked a judge on Monday to require Californias prison agency to respect its guards religious rights and stop enforcing a new policy that bans Sikhs, Muslims and others from wearing beards.

Since 2022, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has banned most guards from having facial hair, saying they need to be clean-shaven to wear the tight-fitting respirators that could protect them from diseases and chemical agents.

Though state regulations require employers to have a plan for protecting employees from those sorts of exposures, attorneys with the U.S. Department of Justice argued in a 22-page court filing that the prison agency hadnt done enough to explore alternative accommodations that would satisfy those regulations without requiring guards to violate the tenets of their faiths.

Sikhs, Muslims and employees of other minority faiths should not be forced to choose between the practice of their faith and their jobs, Assistant Atty. Gen. Kristen Clarke said in a news release. Religious freedom and religious accommodation are bedrock principles of our democracy. We are taking action to ensure that the rights of employees of minority faiths are respected and accommodated in the workplace.

In an emailed statement to The Times, the corrections department defended its policy.

"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," spokeswoman Mary Xjimenez wrote. "Tight-fitting respirator masks are legally required under workplace safety laws for certain functions in state prison operations."

Last year, corrections department officials told The Times the policy was not specifically targeting facial hair but instead focusing on the need for guards to wear masks that could reduce transmission of COVID-19.

Read more: Corrections officers should be able to grow their beards as long as they want, ACLU says

The American Civil Liberties Union and the Sikh Coalition wrote a joint letter in 2023 criticizing the policy, which they said would disproportionately impact non-white officers and force guards to choose between their religion and their jobs. The organizations also said the policy was discriminatory against Black officers, who are more likely than others to suffer from pseudofolliculitis barbae, a medical condition in which shaving can cause severe inflammation of the skin.

For years, California corrections officers were allowed to wear one-inch beards for religious or medical reasons  and many did so without any problems, according to the court filing.

Then in 2022, the agency changed its policy and banned facial hair as part of a new protection plan created to comply with California Division of Occupational Safety and Health requirements.

Agency officials announced the change in a memo that fall, telling employees that anyone the agency believed might need to wear a respirator as part of their job would be banned from having facial hair that comes between the sealing surface of the respirator and the face or facial hair that may interfere with valve function.

Afterward, several Sikh and Muslim guards asked for religious exemptions to the beard ban  but the agency denied them, according to court filings. Faced with the possibility of being disciplined, taking a demotion or losing their jobs, several of the religious guards shaved their beards.

Since then, some of the men have struggled with anxiety, shame, isolation and weight gain, according to court filings. Others said they had stopped attending religious services or family events, and one reported being so heartbroken that he cried at work, according to court filings.

After eight officers filed religious discrimination complaints with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal government asked prison officials to stop enforcing the policy while the commission investigated. In March, California prison officials declined to comply with the United States request, according to the court filings.

In response, attorneys with the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division filed Mondays request for a preliminary injunction, asking the court to order the prison agency to stop enforcing the policy and engage in good faith discussions with officers about possible reasonable accommodations such as using other types of respirators or evaluating whether some guards may not need to wear them.

Similar issues have come up in court before. In 2022, federal court found the U.S. Marine Corps was wrong to deny three Sikh men entry into basic training because they refused to shave.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, in the state of Maryland, collapsed at around 1.30 a.m. on Tuesday after a container ship lost power and crashed into one of its pillars. When the infrastructure collapsed, a group of eight construction workers who were performing maintenance work on the bridge fell into the icy waters of the river below, according to officials. Emergency crews have rescued two people and are searching for six others. Authorities initially believed that some cars had been crossing the bridge at the time of the crash and had subsequently fallen into the river. However, according to Maryland Governor Wes Moore, the operators of the ship issued a mayday call moments before the crash, enabling authorities to limit vehicle traffic on the span.

The ship responsible for the accident is the Dali, a Singapore-flagged vessel that is 300 meters long and 48.2 meters wide. According to footage recorded by a Baltimore Harbor webcam, before attempting to pass under the bridge into the bay, the Dali changed course. In the video, the container ship is seen moving forward, before turning to change direction and heading straight for the bridges pillar. From the large plume of smoke coming out of its smokestack, it appears that the Dali tried to turn and to avoid hitting the pillar at full speed. Shortly before the collision, the ships lights go out.

Its crazy. It looks like a movie, Desmond, a Baltimore citizen, said this morning. There was little else to talk about in the city. As the sun rose, the city woke up to a Dantesque scene. The ship, with its colorful containers, was smashed against the pillar, but there was hardly any trace of the bridge. Helicopters flew overhead and rescue teams were using sonar and infrared to try to locate the missing people.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge is a strategic thoroughfare linking two parts of Baltimore City over the Patapsco River. It typically receives a lot of traffic, but due to the time of the accident, there was a lower volume of vehicles. The number of possible victims is still unknown. This Tuesday morning, temperature around Baltimore Harbor was 30.2F and the water temperature was around 47F, which could rapidly cause hypothermia in any survivors who are still in the water.

Jill Driver, from Baltimore, watched the collapsed bridge Tuesday morning from Stoney Beach. Its heartbreaking, especially for the people who have fallen, but also how it divides us all. I work on the other side of the river, I have family there and now were so much further away. It used to take 5 minutes to cross and now its going to be 45 minutes, its terrible. It was a very important bridge for the community. Besides, now the port is closed and Baltimore lives off the port, she said.

Detail of one of the pillars of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after the collision with the container ship, Tuesday in Baltimore. JIM LO SCALZO (EFE) View of the ship 'Dali' after the collision with the Francis Scott Key Bridge, Tuesday in Baltimore. Julia Nikhinson (REUTERS) A helicopter flies over the container ship 'Dali' after the accident, Tuesday in Baltimore. JIM LO SCALZO (EFE) The condition of part of the partially collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge after the collision. JIM LO SCALZO (EFE) An emergency boat works alongside the container ship that crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge Tuesday in Baltimore. JIM LO SCALZO (EFE) Emergency workers gather on the bank of the Patapsco River following the container ship accident (background), Tuesday in Baltimore. JIM LO SCALZO (EFE) Emergency personnel work alongside the container ship following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge Tuesday in Baltimore. Julia Nikhinson (REUTERS) A view of one of the pillars of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after the freighter collision, Tuesday in Baltimore. Julia Nikhinson (REUTERS) The vessel, a large container ship, after colliding with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, in the eastern U.S. state of Maryland. JIM LO SCALZO (EFE) The state of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after its collapse on Tuesday. Jessica Gallagher (AP) A rescue team searches for survivors in the Patapsco River following the collapse of the Baltimore Bridge on Tuesday. JIM LO SCALZO (EFE) View of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after its collapse. The vessel responsible for the accident is the 'Dali,' a Singapore-flagged freighter with a length of 299.92 meters and width of 48.2 meters. HARFORD COUNTY MD FIRE & EMS (via REUTERS) Illuminated highway signs warn drivers of an alternate detour following the Francis Scott Key Bridge accident in Baltimore on Tuesday. Julia Nikhinson (REUTERS) Aerial view of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 24, two days before it collapsed. Tom Brenner (REUTERS)

At about 1:50 a.m. our first unit arrived on scene and reported a complete collapse of the Key Bridge, Fire Chief James Wallace said in an early morning press conference. We were also given information at that time that there were likely multiple people on the bridge at the time of the collapse. And that, as a result, multiple people were in the water. We were able to remove two people from the water. One individual refused service and refused transport, essentially that person was not injured. However, there was another individual who has been transported to a local trauma center that is in very serious condition. At this time, we have multiple air assets from the Maryland State Police, as well as the Baltimore Police Department, as well as multiple marine assets from around the region, he added.

This is an unthinkable tragedy, said Brandon Scott, the mayor of Baltimore, saying the images of the accident looked like something out of an action movie. Police Chief Richard Worley said that there is no indication that the ship collision was intentional.

The Dali ship suffered an accident on the Antwerp Bridge a few years ago. According to the ships registry available on the specialized website Marine Traffic, the Dali was heading towards the port of Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, where it was due to arrive next April 22. The Danish logistics and transport giant Maersk reported that it had contracted the ship to carry out this route.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge, also originally known as the Outer Harbor Crossing (until it was renamed in 1977) or simply as the Key Bridge or Beltway Bridge, is a steel arch-shaped continuous through truss bridge that spans the lower Patapsco River and Baltimores Outer Harbor and is part of the Maryland Route 695 in Baltimore. The main span of 1,200 feet (366 meters) was the third-longest span of any bridge in the world, and the longest in the Baltimore metropolitan area. The bridge has a total length of 8,636 feet (2,632 meters) and is used by some 11.5 million vehicles annually.

Im in shock. It was part of my everyday landscape, said Keri Johnson, 46. I [crossed] it from time to time, but its a bridge that millions of cars drive over every year, its going to have a huge impact on the community and the economy of the city. Luckily, none of my loved ones were on the bridge, she added.

An outbound cargo ship passes under the Francis Scott Key Bridge in 2018. Mark Wilson (Getty Images)

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A group in Zambia is sending women to do what has typically been a man's job  and the women and the wildlife in the area are benefiting from it.

As detailed by the Guardian, propelled by the drastic gender imbalance in wildlife conservation in the country, Conservation Lower Zambezi (CLZ) formed Kufadza in 2021. Kufadza means "inspire," and it is the country's first all-female conservation team.

"We saw that law enforcement in conservation was dominated by men. There were very few women, even though women are interacting [more] with wildlife every day just getting water from the river," Peter Longwe, a monitoring and evaluation officer for CLZ, told the outlet. "We want them to be used as ambassadors in their communities."

The CLZ  an NGO founded by safari lodge owners in 1994 to address rampant poaching in the area  helps the Department of National Parks and Wildlife stop poaching and other illegal activities in the Lower Zambezi National Park in southeastern Zambia. It also works with communities to manage human-wildlife conflict in areas surrounding the park.

When Kufadza was founded, 500 women applied, excited by the opportunity to help and eventually join the Department of National Parks and Wildlife, where they would have the security of a government salary and pension. Those who were approved to proceed were put through rigorous fitness tests, according to the Guardian.

Of the 500 who applied, Stella Siansuna made the cut and soon found herself advancing on poachers in the bush at night.

"We were very scared but by then I was team leader and had to make a decision," she said. "I decided to advance on the camp and the poachers ran away. That's when I became strong and now I'm not afraid of anything."

On a continent where many things threaten wildlife, from the construction of new roads through wildlife reserves to severe drought, taking a stand against poachers is an impressive feat.

The brave women of Kufadza have proved, at times, to have better success against poachers and miners than men. "They are more likely to listen to you," Siansuna told the Guardian.

All parks in Zambia, including the Lower Zambezi, are unfenced. This allows animals to roam freely, often into local villages where they can wreak havoc. The women of Kufadza also help here, calming angry residents and communicating the importance of protecting wildlife, however damaging they may be.

Thriving wildlife means thriving ecosystems and an overall healthier environment.

Aside from protecting the wildlife, working in this way also helps the women. It allows them to feel empowered and get out of typical roles. "A lot of women are being inspired," said Siansuna, "every time I'm out I get asked when CLZ is recruiting."

Another member, 23-year-old Molly Ngulube, told Travel + Leisure, "As a ranger, you must believe in yourself. Gather the courage and tell yourself this: 'I'm not going to die here. If a man can do this, I can do it, too.'"

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The head of the company building two delayed and over-budget CalMac ferries has been sacked.

Chief executive David Tydeman's contract was terminated by Ferguson Marine as the board attempt to ensure the company's "long-term future".

The exact reasons for his departure have not been revealed.

It comes as the Scottish government said there would "likely" be further delays to the delivery of Glen Sannox, which was due in May.

The cost of the two ferries is running at nearly four times the initial 97m cost and they will be delivered six years late.

Mr Tydeman joined the Port Glasgow shipyard in 2022, having previously run a yacht-building company.

Non-executive director John Petticrew is taking over as interim chief executive.

Mr Tydeman had recently attempted to highlight progress on the first vessel, Glen Sannox, praising its performance in sea trials earlier this year.

But it emerged in February that the cost to complete the Glen Sannox will rise to between 145.5m and 149.1m, while the Glen Rosa will be delivered "no later than" September 2025.

The total cost for both ferries is now close to 400m.

Mr Tydeman's sacking comes amid a number of changes among the state-owned company's senior management.

Board chairman Andrew Miller said: "Ferguson Marine needs strong leadership to ensure its long-term future. The board recognised that action needed to be taken to restructure the current leadership team and it has taken these steps to address this.

"Our focus is on the completion of Glen Sannox and hull 802 (Glen Rosa), and the implementation of a robust business plan to improve the commercial viability of Ferguson Marine.

"With this new senior management team in place and a full complement of board members, we have the breadth and depth of experience and capability to drive forward these plans."

The Glen Sannox underwent sea trials in February

Economy Secretary Mairi McAllan said Mr Tydeman's sacking was a matter for the Ferguson board and that she was focusing on getting the ferries finished, driving down costs and securing a "sustainable future" for the yard and workers.

She said: "While the yard had previously stated that the delivery date for Glen Sannox was planned for late May, we are aware that, in the last week, the outgoing CEO intimated further delay was likely.

"That is unacceptable. I know the board are intent on doing everything they can to ensure that delay does not happen.

"I will be stressing to the new interim CEO and the board the importance of the ferries entering service to our island communities as soon as possible."

Repeated delays, increased costs

Construction of the two vessels, the first ships ever built by a UK shipyard capable of running on liquefied natural gas (LNG), has been plagued by design challenges since the order was placed in 2015.

Steel fabrication outpaced detailed design work, leading to errors and reworking, with repeated delays and cost increases that continued after the Port Glasgow yard fell back into administration and was nationalised in 2019.

In February, Mr Miller told MSPs it would be harder to return the business to the private sector without investment in a new automated plating line - with the company seeking further finance from the Scottish government.

The company is due to submit a new business case to ministers by the end of March.

In 2022, a number of Ferguson Marine workers who took part in an informal meeting with MSPs praised Mr Tydeman's leadership and compared him favourably to the shipyard's previous management, saying he "talked sense".

The Glen Rosa is estimated to be delivered by September 2025

Scottish Conservative shadow transport minister Graham Simpson MSP described Mr Tydeman as a "scapegoat" and said ministers had to explain why he had been fired.

"The only people not held accountable are those who are most responsible: the SNP government," he said. "It beggars belief that not a single ministerial resignation has been offered when the buck stops with them for years of grotesque mismanagement of Scotland's ferry network.

"While they try to pass the buck with another round of boardroom hiring and firing, our betrayed island communities continue to wait for the lifeline vessels they were promised years ago to finally be delivered."

Scottish Labour's transport spokesperson Alex Rowley said: "This sudden overhaul raises serious questions and the public deserve transparency about what has happened.

"The skilled and dedicated workers at this yard have been badly failed by successive leaderships and by this incompetent SNP government - the new board must do right by them and secure a thriving future for the yard.

"Workers, islanders and taxpayers have all been failed throughout this fiasco - it is essential that this new leadership gets things back on track and delivers these lifeline ferries with no more delays and overruns," he added.

Analysis box by David Henderson, Business and transport correspondent, Scotland

David Tydeman took on what some would consider a near-impossible job. And he's been bundled out after just over two years.

His challenge was immense, and two-fold. Firstly, to deliver two Calmac ferries which are grossly over-budget and years late. And secondly, to knock the Ferguson shipyard into shape to allow it to win more shipbuilding contracts.

When he showed me round the MV Glen Sannox last year he was blunt about the mistakes made in its construction before he took on the job. And he was clear-eyed about the mountain of work required to get the vessel into service.

But he was upbeat. The vessel was almost ready to sail, he said. And the yard had made great strides, he claimed, in developing the systems needed to build other ships in future.

So his sacking - apparently for highlighting yet another problem with the timing and cost of these two troubled ferries -- seems odd.

Can his replacement hope to do any better?
Atlantas Fernbank Museum of Natural History said theyll be taking audiences on a tour of the human body with a viewing of new film Superhuman Body: World of Medical Marvels.

The film will play on April 20 at Fernbanks giant screen. The film is narrated by Academy Award-winning actor Matthew McConaughey.

On-screen, viewers will get to watch and learn about revolutionary breakthroughs in science and bioengineering, plus stories of real people, the researchers and scientists.

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Superhuman Body combines live-action cinematography with state-of-the-art CGI to show the innerworkings of the human body and the use of science to intervene when something goes awry, the museum said in a release.

The museum said some of the subjects of the film include adaptive surfer Ty Duckett, who surfs with an above-the-knee amputation, James Garret, who was treated for heart condition with a valve so advanced it didnt require open heart surgery, and teenager Emily Whitehead, who was cured of childhood leukemia after getting a life-changing T-cell therapy.

TRENDING STORIES:

Producer and co-director Shaun MacGillivray, president of MacGillivray Freeman Films, said he hopes the movie inspires students of all ages to be excited about science and STEM careers.

Superhuman Body is about the awe-inspiring workings of the human body but also the compelling human stories behind some of the most significant medical breakthroughs of the past decade, MacGillivray said.

The movie also shows interviews of the scientists and researchers behind the aforementioned medical innovations, as well as others.

Tickets include three floors of exhibits at the natural history museum, choice of one giant screen film and access to 75 acres of nature explorations in Fernbank Forest and Wildwoods.

Prices for admission range between $23.95 to $25.95 for any three-years-old or more, while children two and younger are free of charge for Fernbank members.

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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.

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.
HELSINKI  One of NATOs newest members plans to build and jointly operate two research centers and an accelerator facility for the alliance as part of a program dubbed DIANA.

The move comes as Finland also seeks to ramp up its defense strategy and capacity to deal with escalating cyberthreats.

The NATO research centers, which are to focus on new technologies, will be based in the Finnish town of Espoo, while the accelerator unit will be run from a new facility in Oulu, Finlands leading cyber technology hub.

The Espoo site will collaborate with VTT, Finlands largest technical research center and the axis for quantum computer development in Finland. The location will also test cyber-secure communications in addition to quantum and space technologies.

The test facility in Oulu, which will operate in cooperation with the University of Oulu, will test 6G network technologies.

Finnish Defence Minister Antti Hakkanen said the accelerator and test centers will create business opportunities for domestic technology companies as well as help lift Finlands profile among the 32 other fellow NATO member states. Finland joined NATO in April 2023.

Finlands leading position, especially in the development of new-generation communication technologies and quantum technologies, is likely to attract operators and experts to Finland. Our status as a global frontrunner of dual-use communication technologies will render Finland more attractive to international financiers and strengthen our technological input as a NATO member, Hakkanen said in a statement.

NATO launched the DIANA program  or Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic  in 2021 with the mission of identifying challenges for the defense sector. A core part of the programs mission is to find technologically innovative solutions through partnerships with tech firms inside and outside of the defense industry.

Cyberspace switch

Meanwhile, under a new joint initiative, the Defence Ministry and the Ministry of Transport and Communications are tasked with revamping Finlands national cybersecurity strategy. The initiative aims to provide the government with an operating model better suited to protect critical military and civilian assets and infrastructure.

Bolstering cyber resilience and improving defensive capabilities were among the chief national security priorities of Prime Minister Petteri Orpos coalition government that took power after parliamentary elections in June 2023.

The urgency behind updating the national cybersecurity strategy became evident during the third quarter of 2023 when Finnish security and intelligence service SUPO warned of a sharp rise in cyberattacks emanating from Russia. Those attacks reportedly targeted state agencies, the Finnish Defence Forces, and their critical IT networks and infrastructure.

In February, SUPO issued an alert that Russia was trying to recruit and train migrants seeking political and economic asylum in Finland as spies. The agency also warned that hostile forces in Russia were behind an increase in cyberespionage activities against Finland.

As a result of the heightened security threat  and with Russia allegedly bussing thousands of migrants to Finnish crossing points  Finland closed its 832-mile border with Russia on Feb. 20. The government plans to keep the border closed until April 14 at the earliest.

Baltic states to bolster border security with Russia, Belarus

Finish government websites experienced a distributed denial-of-service attack in April 2022 amid an address to Parliament by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The Finnish governments drive to strengthen national security is backed by an increase in the cyber defense budget. Finland will spend $350 million on cybersecurity in 2024, corresponding to a 35% increase over 2023. A large part of the additional funding will be used to drive projects and programs that counter artificial intelligence-based cyberthreats.

The budget will support new cybersecurity measures slated for implementation by the military and SUPO in 2024. The increase in the cyber budget is partly influenced by findings and recommendations in a report on AI-enabled cyberattacks, which was delivered to the government in 2022.

The report was created by a group that included the national communications agency Traficom, the National Emergency Supply Agency, and the Helsinki-based cybersecurity firm WithSecure.

The national cybersecurity strategy, once finalized and implemented, will conform with the European Unions updated directive on measures meant to achieve a high common level of cybersecurity across the bloc, said Rauli Paananen, director Finlands National Cyber Security Unit.

Under its plan, the government wants to revamp Finlands cybersecurity strategy in a way that makes it more able to respond to the changed operating environment and the increasing risk to national security that is posed by threats from the cyber domain, Paananen said.

The unit ran a major national cybersecurity exercise over five days in mid-February. The KYHA drill included cybersecurity experts in Finnish municipalities as well as state and private sector operators of critical infrastructure.

Organizations need to develop cyber defense capabilities and resilience, just as Finland needs to develop cyber resilience as a country. Exercises like KYHA strengthen Finlands cyber resilience, which is also what the cyber security strategy update aims for. The goal of the strategy is to be well prepared as a society, Paananen said.
EU countries should strengthen sanctions against Russia, Finnish and Swedish Foreign Ministers say

Finland and Sweden are urging the European Union to ramp up sanctions against Russia following the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said on March 26, as reported by Reuters.

"The fact we can see that the death of Alexei Navalny is clearly linked to the leadership in Russia makes it necessary to see to it that we can add sanctions specifically targeting those who are responsible for his death," Billstrom said during a joint press conference with Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen.

Read also: Why Western sanctions dont affect Russias appetite for war

Billstrom added that sanctions against Russia should be stepped up to weaken its ability to continue its war against Ukraine.

Read also: US imposes sanctions for spreading Russian propaganda in Latin America

The minister also said that both Sweden and Finland support introducing new sanctions against Belarus due to its backing of Russia in the war against Ukraine.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
The Carnival Freedom cruise ship caught fire over the weekend while passengers were aboard. As a result two cruises were canceled as the ship will require extensive repairs.

The ship, operated by Doral-based Carnival Cruise Line, set sail on Monday afternoon from Port Canaveral to its shipyard in Freeport where it is expected to be evaluated and fixed.

On Saturday afternoon, the Carnival Freedom caught fire on the port side of the exhaust funnel, a kind of chimney meant to release smoke and emissions. Black smoke and flames were visible in a video provided to NBC6, which first reported the incident.

The vessel was 20 miles off Eleuthera Island, Bahamas, and heading to Freeport following a canceled port stop at Princess Cay due to bad weather, the company said. It commenced its trip two days earlier on March 21, departing from Port Canaveral.

Passengers safe on Carnival Freedom

No guests were hurt, and the ship remained fully operational, said Matt Lupoli, a spokesman for Carnival Cruise Line. But he said two members of the carriers fire response team were treated for minor smoke inhalation.

Carnivals onboard team put out the fire on Saturday, and on Sunday, it completed what it said was a thorough assessment of the ship during a visit to Freeport. That is when the crew realized that the damage is more than we first thought and will require an immediate repair to stabilize the funnel, said Lupoli. After the funnel was stabilized, the ship returned Monday morning to Port Canaveral and let guests off. It has a capacity for nearly 3,000 guests but the company did not specify how many were on the current trip.

Carnival subsequently canceled cruises on Carnival Freedom leaving Port Canaveral on March 25 and on March 29.

Carnival said it also continues to investigate multiple eyewitness reports of a lightning strike.

Carnival said that, We sincerely regret the impact to our embarking guests, and that it would provide all guests on canceled cruises a full refund and a 100% future cruise credit.

Meanwhile, that was not the only mishap in the Caribbean.

Two crew deaths

On Friday, the Nieuw Amsterdam operated by Holland America experienced what it says was an accidental steam release in an engineering space on board while at Half Moon Cay, The Bahamas. Two crew members died as a result. They have not yet been identified. There were no passenger injuries, the company said.

The Bahamas Maritime Authority and the Dutch Safety Board are conducting an investigation, the carrier said.

Holland also said that all systems on board the ship have since been reviewed and determined to be fully operable by independent surveyors of the Dutch government and confirmed by the US Coast Guard.

All of us at Holland America Line are deeply saddened by this event, the company statement said.

There are not precise figures on number of crew deaths per year because the industry does not typically disclose them. A research paper from 2020 in the International Journal of Travel Medicine and Global Health noted that 10 crew members died in 2019, a high at the time for one year.

Nieuw Amsterdam returned to Port Everglades on March 23. Then it quickly left on its next tour that same evening, the company said. Its next scheduled port stop is at Ocho Rios, Jamaica on March 26.

The ship, which has a capacity of around 2100 guests, is based at Port Everglades in the winter and in the summer between Vancouver and Whittier, Alaska.

The incidents come as the cruise industry is breaking records for number of passengers.

PortMiami, Floridas largest port, served 7.3 million passengers during the 12-month fiscal year 2023. That was tops for cruise ports worldwide, nearly twice the four million passengers seen the prior year and more than its previous record of 6.8 million passengers set in 2019.

Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale and Port Canaveral are also booming. The latter was the worlds top cruise port one year before PortMiami took the honors.

It does not seem much is slowing it down.
BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD)  The St. George Fire Department determined the cause of a light haze that was seen at the Mall of Louisiana on Monday, March 25.

SGFD said, the light haze was caused by a burnt up belt in an air handler. They said there was no fire.

At the time, firefighters responded to a reported fire at the mall.

Firefighters responded a little before 4:30 p.m. to a store inside the mall. At the time, an evacuation order was put in place for the area where the haze was located in the mall.

SGFD said that order lasted for less than 30 minutes.

The fire department determined that the one air handler has to be fixed.

Fallen firefighters honored at memorial service in Baton Rouge

There were no reported injuries in connection with this response, SFGD said.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to BRProud.com.
Pluralism and constitutional democracy operates best when people hold human dignity sacred even when there are disagreements. That was the center of Harvard public policy and political philosophy professor Danielle Allens remarks on How to Be a Confident Pluralist delivered Tuesday to thousands of BYU students and faculty members.

Allen, director of the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation at the Harvard Kennedy Schools Ash Center, said commitment to democracy and civic engagement is part of her family heritage. Her grandfather founded one of the first NAACP chapters in northern Florida and her maternal great grandparents marched for womens suffrage.

Part of this ancestral commitment manifested itself over the dinner table when Allen was growing up. She recalled a time when her dad and her aunt were both on the ballot. Her dad, a Reagan Republican, would intellectually spar with her aunt, who was part of the Peace and Freedom Party.

These conversations didnt lead to personal jabs or contention, Allen said. For all that they were debating, they actually shared a common purpose. The purpose they shared was this idea that empowerment for a person, for their family, for the community was at the bedrock of human thriving.

As Allen put it, her dad and aunt never broke the bonds of love and held sacred the dignity of the human being in front of them.

A gift of freedom, Allen explained, is that individuals have different ideas of what qualifies as good. James Madison wrote this in the Federalist Papers, that one of the most important results of freedom is diversity, that when people are free to dig deep and think about what matters to them and why, she said. This then facilitates making decisions together.

Allen laid out five steps to becoming a confident pluralist.

Five steps to becoming a confident pluralist

Reflection. Drawing on her background as a classicist, Allen stipulated that at the heart of reflection is the question Socrates asked: how should we live?

It requires the work of philosophy, it requires theology, it requires literature to dig into the question of what matters to human beings and why and what is the good life after all, Allen said. These kinds of questions need to be part of our daily life.

Commitment to institutions and negotiation. The principle of nonviolence is critical to maintaining commitment to institutions and negotiations, Allen said. Citing violence across the country, she said, Theyre forgetting that the project of free self-government requires seeing that institutions are the instruments that we use for negotiating our conflicts and our differences.

Allen said this is when unity can flourish.

BYU President C. Shane Reese, left, speaks with Harvard professor Danielle Allen at the BYU devotional Tuesday, March 26, 2024. | Christi Norris/BYU

Commitment to compromise. Compromise doesnt mean relinquishing core principles. Allen said the deeper meaning of compromise can be found in the second sentence of the Declaration of Independence.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness, the document reads. It continues by saying people have the right to alter government in order to effectuate these rights.

Allen cited John Adams as leading the charge on what she referred to as a good example of compromise.

Adams, an abolitionist, made the case that instead of enshrining life, liberty and property into the Declaration of Independence, the Founding Fathers instead use the phrase the pursuit of happiness. This was because the word property was connected to enslavement.

Indeed, Adams built on that language to help end enslavement in Massachusetts before the end of the Revolutionary War, Allen said.

There was a second compromise around this time that Allen called a bad compromise. When drafting a passage criticizing King George for violating the sacred rights of life and liberty of distant people in Africa, they used the same language they used for themselves. But Congress edited the passage to cut out a statement that positively affirmed the rights of people in Africa.

Allen said its important to pay attention to the difference between these two compromises. In one compromise, the people affected by it had their voices heard  thats the good compromise. In the other, those impacted by it were not part of the decision.

When making those compromises, a confident pluralist wants to make sure that everybody who might be affected by the decision has a voice in the process, Allen said.

Commitment to listening and mirroring back before speaking. In the work of negotiating, Allen said we have to prioritize listening. To improve dialogue, she suggested that after hearing someone lay out their argument, instead of immediately responding to it, you repeat back what you think they said and ask them if they feel like you understood.

Youll find nine times out of 10, theyll say no, Allen said. ...The debate really shouldnt get started until both sides can tell each other what they think each other thinks and have each side agree that, yes, you understood me correctly.

When this happens, Allen said youll find that you stand on more common ground than you thought you did.

To never let anybody hold hostage human dignity. The fifth and final step to becoming a confident pluralist relates a lot to the fourth, Allen said. Its to never hold human dignity hostage.

Allen said she gets an influx of negative emails. One came from an individual who she called Mr. Smith. Arent you ashamed to be associated with an institution that supports anti-Semitism and terrorism? I dont know how you can sleep at night. You are a despicable human being, the email said.

Replying to the email, Allen said she sent along a column she wrote for The Washington Post and asked kindly if he read it. The next email she received from Mr. Smith contained an apology and the admission sometimes one should spend more time thinking and taking a deep breath before lashing out at someone.

Allen said her decision to reply with kindness to negative emails like the one she received from Mr. Smith grew out of the realization that she was allowing the negativity to impact her. So, I decided that every time I received a negative message, I would meet it with the most open, welcoming, warm spirit I possibly could.

In turn, she said, she recognized that the antidote to anyone holding human dignity hostage is meeting that always with love and generosity.

Harvard professor Danielle Allen speaks at the BYU devotional Tuesday, March 26, 2024. | Ashlee Jarvis/BYU
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The long wait on whether Floridians will get a chance to vote to legalize recreational cannabis for adults 21 and older is almost over, as the Florida Supreme Court is on a hard deadline to rule on the proposed constitutional amendments ballot language within days.

The high court must render their written opinion no later than April 1 regarding any initiative petition, according to Article IV, section 10 of the Florida Constitution.

One interested observer  Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis  predicted earlier this year that the high court will approve the ballot language.

I think the court is going to approve that, DeSantis said at a campaign event in New Hampshire in January, according to Marijuana Moment, so itll be on the ballot. (DeSantis has suspended his presidential campaign.)

The governor earlier in March criticized the proposal, saying that the measure had the broadest language Ive ever seen.

It seems to supersede any other regulatory regime that we have, DeSantis complained.

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody has been the top opponent of the measure. Her office told the Florida Supreme Court last year in a legal filing that the measure misleads voters in several key respects. The Florida Chamber of Commerce and the Drug Free America Foundation also filed legal briefs attempting to block the proposal from making it on the ballot.

But both critics and opponents of the measure think its likely that the court  stacked with DeSantis appointees  will approve the ballot language this time around, based on the tone of the oral arguments when the issue came before the court last November  after having rejected a similar proposal twice in 2021, ruling in both cases that the ballot language was misleading.

I cannot fathom why the Florida Supreme Court would side with Attorney General Ashley Moody when her team made such a poor showing during their arguments, says Chris Cano, the executive director of Suncoast NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws). So much so, that even the most conservative of justices chided the states counsel for misrepresenting the justices own words in previous cases in an attempt to strike down the adult-use initiative.

I have a tendency to agree that it probably will be on the ballot because I also listened to the arguments on the ballot, says Ellen Snelling, a volunteer board member with the Hillsborough County Anti-Drug Alliance, speaking on her own behalf. Its hard to know all the discussion that went on behind closed doors, but as far as the questions that came forward and all of that, it sounded like it was more solid than the last couple of attempts when it didnt get on the ballot, but well see.

If the Supreme Court does approve the language, Floridians would vote on the measure in November. If approved with 60% of the vote, the measure would go into effect in May 2025.

The campaign to get the measure on the ballot and over the finish line has been led by the Smart & Safe Florida political committee. Steve Vancore, a spokesman for the organization, told the Phoenix earlier this week that it would not weigh in until the court makes its decision.

Smart & Safe has spent more than $40 million on the initiative so far, with nearly all that funding coming from Trulieve, according to the Florida Division of Elections. Trulieve is one of the nations largest multi-state cannabis operators.

Snelling says she expects an organized effort to oppose the measure but acknowledges that it will be difficult to match Trulieves financial resources. But she says that there is more information to combat the measure than ever before.

People are starting to see it differently, she says. Theres been so much research coming out, especially about children getting poisoned, specifically about edibles, and also the DUI crashes and theres much more research coming out showing that this high THC product thats sold nowadays is nothing like the 60s and 70s. Its not the drug of yesteryear.

If the measure makes it on the ballot, its unclear if it can clear the 60% required to pass. Thats the highest threshold required for any ballot measure to pass in the country.

I dread waking up after the election as we did in 2014 and found out that youre a loser, says Jodi James, the president of the Florida Cannabis Action Network. Thats a reference to how the first time that medical marijuana was on the ballot in Florida, it received 57% of the vote, a clear majority, but shy of the required 60% required for passage (the measure was approved in 2016 with 71% support).

In Ohio last summer, voters faced a proposal that would have raised the threshold to pass constitutional amendments from 50% plus one to 60%. That failed, which paved the way for Ohio residents to legalize recreational cannabis for adults last November when the measure passed with 57% of the vote.

Currently, there are 24 states have legalized recreational weed. They are: Alaska, California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Colorado, Montana, Arizona, New Mexico, Minnesota, Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, Delaware, New York, Vermont, Connecticut, New Jersey, Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Recent polls in Florida are all over the place in terms of the ballot initiatives support: It will need to pass by 60%.

A University of North Florida survey conducted on November 30 of last year showed that 67% support the proposal. But that figure is lower than their previous polling by UNF.

The UNF poll said: Respondents were also asked if they would vote yes or no on another proposed state constitutional amendment to that would allow adults in Florida to purchase and possess small amounts of marijuana for personal use. Sixty-seven percent of respondents said they would vote yes, with 28% indicating a vote of no. In the spring of 2023, 70% of respondents said they would support recreational marijuana in Florida, either strongly or somewhat, and 76% said they supported it in the spring of 2022.

Unlike previous surveys when we simply asked if folks support or oppose legalization of recreational marijuana, this time we gave respondents the specifics of this proposed amendment, said (Michael) Binder, the PORL faculty director and professor of political science.

Yet again, it looks like it has a good chance of passing, if the measure makes it through the courts, and that is a very big if, he said in a statement at that time.

However, a Florida Chamber of Commerce poll released in January found that 57% of Florida voters support legalizing recreational cannabis  short of the 60% required which would result in the measure failing.

While 24 states have legalized recreational cannabis, four red states  which Florida qualifies based on voter registration between Republicans and Democrats in Florida  have rejected legalizing adult use of cannabis over the past year-and-a-half.

In November of 2022, Arkansas voters said no to the proposal, as did voters in North Dakota and South Dakota and Oklahoma rejected their proposal in 2023. However Missouri and Ohio  two other red states did approve legal weed over the past two years. Several other states have legalized adult use of cannabis in recent years through their respective legislatures, not going to the voting public.

One argument that the proponents will surely employ is how much additional funding that passage of the amendment would bring to Florida. The Florida Financial Impact Estimating Conference said last July that based on other states experience, expected retail sales of non-medical marijuana would generate at least $195.6 million annually in state and local tax revenues once the retail market is fully operational.

The analysis also shows that: Because the $195.6 million sales tax estimate represents the lowest suggested level deemed reliable among the six scenarios reviewed (which ranged upward to $431.3 million), it is probable that future changes, if any, to the tax structure would equal or increase the estimated level of new revenue collections. Such changes would require legislative action.

Advocates like James also make a more direct appeal for why approval of the potential amendment would be beneficial to the state.

If there are fewer adults arrested for possession of cannabis that would be a good thing, she says. If there are more people who have safe, legal access to a product that is tested and pure and quality assured, we think thats a good thing.

But first the public has to have the opportunity to vote up or down on the issue  which we should know in a matter of days.

The post If FL Supreme Court approves cannabis baIlot language, will voters go for recreational weed or not? appeared first on Florida Phoenix.
Access to abortion in the United States returns to the Supreme Court on Tuesday. The issue is back before the justices due to a case on mifepristone, a drug that is taken with misoprostol to terminate pregnancies  the most common method of abortion in the United States. The Supreme Court that will hear the case is the same one that heralded in a new and chaotic era in womens reproductive rights in June 2022, when the nine justices  six of them conservative, three of whom were appointed by Donald Trump  overturned the precedent set by the historic 1973 ruling Roe v. Wade.

That ruling struck down the federal right to abortion and gave back states the power to legislate on reproductive rights. Since then, 21 of the countrys 50 states have prohibited or severely restricted access to abortion. But the map of womens reproductive health rights is difficult to draw, given the ongoing legal battles and overlapping legislation. In the 14 states that have banned abortion, mifepristone is also prohibited.

Tuesdays case, FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine (AHM), pits the Food and Drug Administration against an anti-abortion association created in June 2022, which launched its crusade against the abortion drug in the Republican state of Texas. The Supreme Courts verdict  which will not be known until the end of the judicial year, at the end of June  could tighten restrictions on mifepristone (reducing the time frame in which it can be taken and the conditions under which doctors can prescribe it). This would affect the entire country, including the U.S. states where abortion is still legal. Around 63% of pregnancy terminations in the United States are carried out using these pills, according to the latest data from the Guttmacher Institute. In 2020, when Roe v. Wade was still in effect, abortion pills were used in 53% of cases.

This increase indicates that access to these medications has been more critical after the Supreme Courts ban than before, because the numbers confirm that the number of abortions has not declined [since 2022], but has risen to the highest levels in more than a decade, explains Destiny Lopez, acting CEO of the Guttmacher Institute, which is dedicated to defending reproductive freedom.

In some cases, abortion pills are preferred for reasons of privacy and convenience, as a woman does not have to go to a doctors office. In other cases, it is because abortion is banned or severely restricted in the womens home state, meaning she has to undertake long and expensive trips out of state, often to clinics that have been overwhelmed with patients since the Supreme Court ruling two years ago.

Boxes of mifepristone at a health center in Alabama, in 2022. Allen G. Breed (AP)

The plaintiffs carefully sought out a court (the Amarillo District Court) and a conservative judge (Matthew Kacsmaryk, with a long history of anti-abortion rulings) to win their case. The Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine argued that the FDA overlooked risks to public health when it made mifepristone easier to obtain during the pandemic. As a result of its updated guidelines, the drug no longer needed to be dispensed in person, meaning women could receive it in the mail after an online consult. In the legal arguments presented to the Supreme Court, the AHM claims  without evidence  that there have been tens of thousands of complications due to the use of mifepristone.

When the FDA approved mifepristone in 2000, it recognized that it could cause bleeding and imposed a series of restrictions on its distribution, which were later eased over the years. At first, the drug could only be taken in the first seven weeks of gestation, a period that was extended in 2016 to the current 10 weeks. In pas two decades, a hundred scientific studies have concluded that mifepristone is safe, and that its secondary effects are no more dangerous than those of other widely used medications. Recently, a medical journal retracted two studies that argued otherwise. According to the FDA, more than five million women have used it. These studies also defend its high effectiveness if used in the first phase of pregnancy and combined with misoprostol. The first medication stops the production of progesterone and interrupts pregnancy; the second causes contractions that help evacuate the fetus.

A legal brief submitted to the Supreme Court by a group of medical organizations  including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists  says: Major adverse events  significant infection, excessive blood loss, or hospitalization  occur in less than 0.32% of patients, according to a highly regarded study with more than 50,000 patients.

Two questions

According to Sabrina Talukder, a lawyer at the Washington-based Center for American Progress, the Supreme Court must answer two questions with the mifepristone case. The first is whether a conservative Christian organization, which includes no gynecologist or other specialist who has worked with the questioned drug, is authorized to launch this legal attack, she tells EL PAIS by phone.

Talukder argues that one of the reasons why the conservative alliance brought the case to Amarillo was because the corresponding appeals court is the Fifth Circuit, which she describes as the most extremist in the United States. She adds: In this case, it also works as a slide that leads directly to the Supreme Court. Talukder is concerned about what this indicates about how the politicization of justice is also leading to a politicization of medicine in the United States.

The second question concerns the substance of the case. If the justices confirm the appeals courts ruling, regulations on mifepristone would revert to what they were in 2011, when the drug could only be prescribed by a doctor in person, and in the first seven weeks of gestation, when many women do not yet know that they are pregnant. Restricting access to mifepristone would reduce the options for medical abortions, which could still be carried out using only misoprostol, as happens in countries like Brazil. This option is less effective and, according to doctors, causes greater side effects, such as cramps, diarrhea and fever.

Supporters of restricting access to mifepristone also argue that it would limit the power of government agencies, which are among the main enemies of the Republican Party. Democrats, however, warn that a Supreme Court ruling in favor of the anti-abortion group could set a dangerous precedent. It would open the door for any citizen to question the authority of the FDA to decide on the drugs that can be prescribed, not following medical criteria, but political ones, warns Talukder.

The case on mifepristone access is not the first on reproductive rights that will come before the Supreme Court this year. In April, the nine justices will examine the case Idaho v. United States, in which they must decide on the legality of an anti-abortion law in the Midwestern state. It is one of the most severe in the country. According to its critics, if the mothers life is at risk, the law puts medical professionals in an untenable situation. A doctor can either terminate the pregnancy and risk losing their license or ending up in jail; or not take action and violate a federal regulation, which requires hospitals that offer emergency services to intervene if the patients health is at stake.

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Nearly 4,400 acres of pasture lands in Central Florida will be forever protected from development and continue serving as critical pieces of a statewide wildlife corridor after the Florida Cabinet on Tuesday approved purchasing Yarborough Ranch in Seminole and development rights to the Heart Bar Ranch in Osceola.

This is fantastic, Richard Durr, director of Seminoles parks and recreation department, said about the states acquisition of the Yarborough land. The fact that we could see this property put into conservation and recreation to some degree  its just a wonderful outcome.

Acting as the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund, Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state Cabinet approved the $34.5 million purchase of the 1,361-acre Yarborough Ranch under the Florida Forever land acquisition program.

The property  used by the Yarboroughs for more than 150 years to raise cattle  will soon be added to the neighboring Little Big Econ State Forest, one of several large conservation parcels owned by the state near the banks of the Econlockhatchee River in east Seminole County. The sale contract still has to be finalized with the family.

At the morning meeting in Tallahassee, the Cabinet also approved spending nearly $12.7 million for the development rights to the 3,000-acre Heart Bar Ranch in Osceola County under the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program.

Under that deal, the Partins, whove raised cattle there since 1847, will keep their land from development forever. A state analysis and the Partins shared growing concerns over the ranchs proximity to the countys expanding urban growth boundary, thereby making the land increasingly vulnerable to rooftops and pavement.

But it was the Yarborough Ranch purchase that drew the most local excitement, as Seminole commissioners and staff cheered and clapped at their morning meeting after the news was announced.

Its going to be a huge asset to Seminole County for multiple generations, Commissioner Jay Zembower said. Were not going to have development on that property. It will help continue the rural flavor of the eastern side of the county.

Dotted with ponds, wetlands and old-growth forests, the Yarborough land sits just south of State Road 46 and east of Snow Hill Road.

Since prehistoric times a variety of fauna have used it as a corridor between North Florida and the Everglades to nest, hunt and breed. Deer, black bears, bobcats and eagles have shared the land with cowboys in recent decades.

The propertys diverse landscape of basin swamp, sand pine scrub, wet flatwoods  provides potential habitat for several imperiled species, including the Florida black bear and gopher tortoise, state wildlife biologists said in a staff report to the Cabinet.

About two decades ago, the Yarboroughs were given the rights to build 300 homes on the property. Then last year, the family said it was ready to move forward with selling it to developers. In effect, it wouldve created a pocket of rooftops between thousands of acres of pristine land and impede that wildlife corridor.

After cries from the public and conservation organizations  including Florida Audubon  for some entity to buy the land for conservation, Seminole agreed last year to ask the Florida Forever program to step in with the purchase.

Charles Lee, director of advocacy for Audubon Florida, had long urged either Seminole or the Florida Forever to buy it because of its ecological importance.

Audubon Florida believes that the Yarborough tract is one of the most vital missing links in the Florida Wildlife Corridor in Central Florida, Lee said after Tuesdays decision.

Conserving the Yarborough land also would protect the nearby Econlockhatchee River, a nearly 60-mile stretch of waterway that flows north from Osceola County into the larger St. Johns River in east Seminole, Lee and state officials said.

The state analysis notes the Yarborough Ranch sits entirely atop the Geneva freshwater lens, an underground source of freshwater for east Seminole residents who live on large-acre lots. Adding hundreds of homes and commercial development on the property would deplete that drinking water source.

Anything we can do to protect water quality as well as conserve the land, its a win-win, Zembower said.

Jimmy Patronis, the states chief financial officer, cast the sole vote against the Yarborough acquisition.

I think the merits of what were trying to accomplish with protecting state lands  I think its a wise thing to do, Patronis said after the meeting. But Im also very fiscally disciplined  I just think the price was high.

Two appraisals of the property commissioned by Seminole in October showed the land worth about $35 million.

The other Cabinet members  DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody and Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson  voted for the Yarborough acquisition.

The ranch is still used today with about 200 heads of cattle. After its transferred to the state in the coming months, the property will be maintained by the Florida Forest Service. Its unclear when it will be opened to the public. Even so, it will remain rural with trails for hiking and horseback riding.

The Yarboroughs could not be reached for comment.

Zembower said the family has offered to leave some historical artifacts behind including old saddles, equipment and diaries. Those eventually could be part of a county-operated museum on the property that gives visitors a glimpse into Floridas history of cattle ranching, he said.

David Axel, an Oviedo real estate agent who represented the Yarboroughs, said an old camp house on the property for generations would be a sensible place for such a museum.

Its something that has been raised and discussed, and it has considerable support [among the Yarborough family], Axel said about the museum.
OKALOOSA COUNTY, Fla. (WKRG)  A Walton County man has been found guilty of lewd and lascivious molestation of a victim under 12 years old, according to a Facebook post from the Okaloosa County Sheriffs Office.

Crestview man arrested on multiple charges after leading deputies on chase

33-year-old Phillip Vincent Lee was arrested on Oct. 10, 2020, for the crime. The post said Lee fled to Polk County, where he was eventually arrested and extradited to Okaloosa County. He remained there until his trial.

Phillip Vincent Lee (Okaloosa County Sheriffs Office)

Last week, Lee was found guilty of the crime by a jury. OCSO conducted the investigation.

Robertsdale Police in Alabama helped conduct the investigation.

This is a developing story. News 5 will update this article as more information becomes available.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRG News 5.
FIRST ON FOX: Former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy, a GOP rising star competing in the 2024 Montana Senate race, said the congressional hearing on the "very poorly" executed withdrawal from Afghanistan indicates that there remains no accountability for the 2021 event that "sent a message of weakness around the world."

Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and Gen. Kenneth McKenzie testified on Tuesday in front of the House Foreign Affairs Committee about the Biden administration's deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.

Both generals agreed that more could have been done to prevent the chaos that unfolded as a result of the withdrawal, admitting that "the fundamental mistake, the fundamental flaw, was the timing of the State Department call" for the evacuation of U.S. citizens who remained in the country.

Sheehy, who received the Bronze Star with Valor for Heroism in Combat and the Purple Heart Medal, remains "proud" of his military service in Iraq, Afghanistan, South America and the Pacific region, but he told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview that "Afghanistan was an abject failure in every respect of everything that those organizations are charged to do."

AFGHANISTAN'S SCHOOL YEAR BGEINS WITHOUT 1 MILLION GIRLS BARRED FROM EDUCATION BY TALIBAN

Senate candidate and former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy spoke with Fox News Digital about the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan.

"Our intelligence community and military are great organizations. I was a part of them for a long time. I'm proud of them. But we also have to be able to recognize our failures when they happen and call them that and then improve as an organization," Sheehy told Fox News Digital. "And Afghanistan was an abject failure in every respect of everything that those organizations are charged to do."

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

MILLEY AND MCKENZIE CRITICAL OF DELAYS IN DECISION MAKING DURING AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWL: FAR TOO LATE'

After the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban quickly took over Afghanistan's capital of Kabul and thousands of U.S. citizens and allies were left behind in a region controlled by a radical Islamist group.

"Since what's happened there, with obviously the Taliban flying our helicopters all over the country, taking our weapons, we sent a message of weakness around the world," Sheehy said of the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan.

The Senate candidate added that "no one's been held accountable" for the withdrawal, which began undergoing hearings by the House Foreign Affairs Committee in 2023.

"We don't seem to have learned from that incident, and accountability has not yet been restored. We haven't had any generals get fired. No secretaries of state or defense get relieved. No one's been held accountable for that abject failure. And this hearing just proves that."

Milley noted during the hearing that the State Department was made aware of concerns over the withdrawal over a month before it was executed.

Sheehy agreed that the withdrawal was "handled very poorly," especially given that officials overseeing the operation were aware there was a strong likelihood of deadly repercussions that could follow.

"There's a long list of things that could have been done. And I think the first thing you'll hear from a lot of these military officers is that they were overridden by the administration and the recommendations they made," Sheehy told Fox. "And we shouldn't have been telling everyone around the entire world we're going to be out by the state. Tactically, this was handled very poorly. And the people on the ground who knew how to do this properly from a tactical perspective, were not listened to."

The Taliban celebrate their first anniversary of retaking Afghanistan after the U.S. troops withdrew.

Some Democrat lawmakers have pointed to the administration under former President Trump, who endorsed Sheehy in his Senate race to unseat Democrat Sen. Jon Tester, contributing to the withdrawal. Sheehy touched on the issue, saying the administration has a history of blaming Republicans for their "abject failures."

"You know, they did the exact same thing in Iraq. When Obama pulled us out there, they blamed it on Bush. You know, they always want to blame, the mistakes leading up to this on the previous guy. Just like they're blaming Ukraine somehow now on Trump," Sheehy said, defending the former President Trump. "They're giving billions of dollars to Iran and pulling us out of Afghanistan. And then, of course, when he actually does execute his invasion of Ukraine, somehow it's the fault of Republicans. So, you know, it's just it's unconscionable that they continue to blame their total abject failures on the previous administrations."

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and State Department.





Original article source: Fmr Navy SEAL rips Bidens Afghanistan withdrawal after Mark Milley grilled on Capitol Hill: Abject failure
FOLEY, Ala. (WKRG)  Officials with the Foley Police Department have identified the two men involved in a deadly stabbing Sunday night.

ONLY ON NEWS 5: She was my baby girl Mom of Foley hit and run victim speaks out

Wesley Nance (Foley Police Department)

29-year-old James Ryan Vaughn was stabbed by his brother, 33-year-old Wesley Nathaneal Nance, according to a news release from FPD.

Officers were called to a home on Park Avenue around 10:50 Sunday night for a report of a disturbance. When they arrived, officers found James had been stabbed.

A witness on the scene reportedly told officers that Wesley stabbed James during a fight between them and then ran from the scene before police arrived.

James was taken to South Baldwin Regional Medical Center, where he later died, police said.

MCPSS looking to fill more than 200 positions in Wednesdays career fair

Officers reportedly located Wesley near the home and arrested him.

He was charged with manslaughter.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRG News 5.
This pair of boots, found near the burned body of an unidentified homicide victim in December 2021, may help identify the man. The victim's body was burned beyond recognition and investigators have not been able to identify him.

The nationwide use of genetic genealogy by police departments to identify suspects in unsolved homicides has given many families renewed hope for justice.

But Columbus police, in conjunction with investigative genetic genealogist Amanda Reno, are trying to use the technology in a different way, with a goal of identifying victims.

Reno is using the technology in two particular cases involving John Does, one of whom was the victim of a homicide in December 2021. The other was found in the Scioto River in 2007, and his death is believed to be an accidental drowning or a suicide.

The two John Does have almost nothing in common.

Another unidentified body found: Two men arrested after unidentified man found fatally stabbed on Columbus' South Side

However, the genealogy results show the two men both have genetic ties to El Salvador, a small country in Central America that encompasses roughly the same amount of miles as a triangle encompassing Cleveland, Columbus and Pittsburgh.

"Somebody is missing these people. Somebody loved them," Reno said.

"They have no idea where theyre at, they may not even know hes dead," Sgt. Terry McConnell added.

John Doe #1's body found burned beyond recognition in 2021

On Dec. 8, 2021, Columbus police got a call about a body found underneath a highway overpass on the 500 block of Edgar Waldo Way.

Officers found the body of a man near a set of railroad tracks and a homeless camp. His body was burned beyond recognition. For more than two years, he has remained an unidentified "John Doe." An autopsy revealed the man's death was a homicide.

Columbus police are attempting to use genetic genealogy to help identify the man, which could then be used to help investigate the homicide.

Investigators found a pair of black boots that appear to have had significant wear near the man's body. They also found two orthopedic screws, one of which has been determined to have come from the man's left leg, possibly in the ankle area, indicating he had surgery at some point in his life.

The evidence found at the scene and near the man's body also suggested he may have been homeless or recently become homeless.

The genealogy work done so far has led detectives to believe the man has familial roots in the communities of Suchitoto, El Salvador, and Jutiapa, Guatemala, which are about as far apart as Columbus and Cleveland.

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"We have determined he may have one parent from Guatemala and one from El Salvador, specifically these two cities," Reno said. "He may have relatives in one of those areas."

Columbus police connected with an organization in Guatemala that seeks to reunite families with remains of their loved ones, however, that work proved unsuccessful. Police have also been in touch with the El Salvador consulate in Chicago in hopes of getting additional help.

"We just need that final little nudge over the fence," McConnell said.

Anyone with information on the man's identity or the circumstances surrounding his death should call detectives at 614-645-4306 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-TIPS. All calls to Crime Stoppers are anonymous.

John Doe #2, found in Scioto River in 2007, also remains unidentified

A man's body found on May 30, 2007, is described as being between 5-feet 7-inches and 5-feet-10-inches tall and weighed between 125 and 145 pounds. He is estimated to have been between 25 and 40 years old.

He was found in an area of the Scioto River near U.S. 33 near the city of Columbus' Dublin Road Water Treatment plant. It is estimated he may have died a few weeks before police recovered his body.

The man had black hair, overlapping front teeth, a crooked nose and a one inch scar on the right side of his forehead. He was found wearing a gray "Career Club" long-sleeved, button-up shirt and tan L.L. Bean pants that were a women's size eight. He had one brown shoe that was a size 10.

This computer-generated image shows what a man found dead in May 2007 in the Scioto River near Columbus' Dublin Road Water Treatment plant probably looked like. Columbus police are using genetic genealogy to try to identify the man, whose death is believed to be a suicide or accidental drowning.

The man had no tattoos or signs of previous surgeries that would be able to help identify him.

Because of the lack of injuries found during an autopsy, his death is believed to be an accidental drowning or suicide.

Genealogical testing has led investigators to determine the man has ancestry that can be traced back to San Miguel, El Salvador.

The DNA Doe Project, a national nonprofit that uses genetic genealogy to try to help identify remains that have not yet been unidentified, has helped fund the investigation into the 2007 case.

Anyone with information on the man's identity is asked to call the Franklin County Coroner's office at 614-525-2490.

bbruner@dispatch.com

@bethany_bruner

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus police using DNA to identify homicide victims
Wildfires burn parts of a cemetery in Nogales, Mexico, Monday, March 25, 2024. Emergency crews are working to contain wildfires burning across parts of the High Mountains area in Veracruz state. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez)

NOGALES, Mexico (AP)  Forest fires were burning in nearly half of Mexicos drought-stricken states Monday fueled by strong winds.

The National Forestry Commission reported 58 active fires in 15 states, including in protected nature reserves in Morelos, Veracruz and Mexico states.

A preliminary estimate of the affected area reached more than 3,500 acres (1,421 hectares), the commission wrote on the social platform X.

Authorities had reported no injuries, but at least some homes were burned at a wildfire in Nogales, Veracruz Monday. A fire burned across mountain farms, killing livestock and charring homes. At least five families were moved to a shelter.

Firefighters battled with a water tanker while residents slapped at flames in their fields with branches.

Alondra Chavez a Nogales resident was among those fighting the flames.

The wind is beating us and we do what we can, Chavez said.

Catalina Villafuerte, a resident of Aserradero Maltrata, a nearby community battling another fire, said Everything is destroyed, the machines to work, beds, mattresses, everything.
If youve ever traveled to Tulum you would know its quite the day of travel. Now you have no excuse not to go, Tulums International airport is now offering flights from major airports in the U.S., including from Dallas/Fort Worth Airport.

Previously, travelers would have to fly three hours to Cancun, and then drive for an hour south to Tulum. Now, flights from DFW to TQO are a breeze, only two hours and 45 minutes long, and for practically the same price.

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Cancuns airport is the main hub for travelers who go to eastern Mexico. Last year, a third of Americans traveling to Mexico flew into Cancun. Quintana Roo, Cozumel, Tulum, and Cabo are all tourist hot spots. Now, direct flights from DFW to the resort town are available.

Airlines are jumping at the chance to fly to Tulum. American and Delta begin flight to TQO on March 28. United follows on March 31. Finally, Air Canada will begin in May, and JetBlue in June.

The cheapest non stop flight right now from DFW is with American for $352. Flights with connections from DFW, will most likely have layovers at George Bush International Airport in Houston.

However there are a few details to note. TQO is still undergoing construction. Ground transportation is limited which is a main concern for David Ortiz Mena, Tulum hotel association president. Discussion on resolving this issue is still ongoing. Mexican officials are considering lowering the transportation tax to help soften the blow.

As a travel destination, Tulum offers white sand beaches as well as trips to archaeological sites. The hotel zone is close to downtown. Its a tourists dream.

Just 35 minutes north from Tulum is the Riviera Maya, a wildly popular resort in Quintana Roo. According to data from the government of Mexicos tourism secretary, the Riviera Maya had the most available and occupied rooms in Mexico in 2023.

This resort is also recommended by a Fort Worth Travel Agent, Alyssa Maisano. For a standard family of five, a trip to the Riviera Maya would cost around $4,500, including flights and the all-inclusive Riviera Maya package for five to seven nights.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that returned the issue of abortion to the high court nearly two years after the justices struck down a half-century of federal protections established in Roe v. Wade. They were debating whether to restrict access to mifepristone, the pill most commonly used in combination with another called misoprostol to terminate pregnancy. After 100 minutes of debate and questions about both sides reasons, the nine justices seemed to lean toward not restricting the current level of access to the drug in the United States. The ruling will not be known until the end of the judicial year, at the end of June.

Until then, we can only interpret the judges attitudes at Tuesdays hearing. From that reading, one can conclude that a majority  perhaps all but the two furthest to the right, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas  understand that the plaintiffs, an anti-abortion association created specifically to launch this judicial crusade, have not demonstrated that theyve suffered sufficient harm to have legal standing to sue. The Supreme Court is made up of five men and four women. Three justices identify as liberals and six as conservatives, three of whom were appointed by former President Donald Trump with the express mandate to change the law on abortion in the United States.

The FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine (AHM) case stems from a November 2022 lawsuit filed against the Food and Drug Administration in the wake of the controversial Supreme Court ruling that struck down Roe vs. Wade in June of that year, which returned the power to regulate womens reproductive freedom to the states. AHM chose to start its judicial war in Amarillo, Texas, knowing that Matthew Kacsmaryk, a conservative Christian judge, would handle the case there, and that his decision would later be reviewed by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which also has a track record favorable to its interests.

The first 15 minutes of the hearing in the solemn Supreme Court building in Washington, outside the doors of which pro- and anti-abortion protesters had gathered hours before the hearing began, were spent discussing whether the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine has legal standing to sue the FDA, given that they do not prescribe abortion pills as part of their practice. Elizabeth B. Prelogar, an attorney representing the agency, also argued that even if they did, it would be highly unlikely that they would encounter patients experiencing complications from the use of mifepristone; one of the studies provided by the FDA puts the number of such cases at 0.32%. The AHM claims that tens of thousands of complications have been reported, but it has not provided any evidence of that.

The plaintiffs initial objective was to prohibit total access to the abortion pill, which, according to the latest data from the Guttmacher Institute, along with misoprostol, is involved in 63% of the terminations of pregnancy carried out in the United States, a figure that has grown since the Supreme Court overturned Roe. The first drug stops the production of progesterone and interrupts gestation; the second causes contractions in the patient and causes the expulsion of the fetus.

In Amarillo, Kacsmaryk agreed with them, but the Fifth Circuit appeals court, which has jurisdiction over Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, bought only part of their argument: the one that blames separate 2016 and 2021 decisions, which expanded access to the abortion pill by allowing its prescription via telemedicine and mail-order purchase, for an alleged increase in problems stemming from its more widespread use. Prelogar said there was no data to support such a cause-and-effect relationship. For her part, Jessica Ellsworth, the lawyer who represented Danco, the pharmaceutical company that markets mifepristone, noted in her argument at the Supreme Court that two studies cited by the plaintiffs to claim that the drug is not safe were recently repudiated and retracted by the scientific journal that had published them.

A shorter time frame

If the Supreme Court were to contradict the signals it issued this Tuesday, which are never conclusive, and find for the plaintiffs, mifepristone could continue to be prescribed, but only in person and with a limit of seven weeks, as opposed to the current 10 weeks, which is the time during which science has shown it to be effective in terminating pregnancy. In practice, the new time limit would amount to a ban, since many women do not know by then whether they are pregnant.

Anti-abortion protesters in Washington on Tuesday. Evelyn Hockstein (REUTERS)

Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, 21 states have banned or severely restricted abortion rights amid a chaotic map of intersecting legislation and court battles. Women in those states have resorted to mifepristone more often than before the ruling, because it saves them long and costly trips to other states to access surgical abortions at clinics that are often overwhelmed by the growing demand of the past two years. Studies show that following the Supreme Court ruling, the number of pregnancy terminations has increased rather than decreased in the United States.

Erin Hawley, an attorney representing AHM and wife of Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley, a leading voice of the partys most conservative faction, complained that the anti-abortion movement in the United States  which won a major victory from the Supreme Court in 2022 after four decades of fighting for it  had been harmed by having to focus its efforts on explaining the dangers of abortion drugs. Even Clarence Thomas, perhaps the most ideologically right-wing of the nine justices, challenged that argument.

Another question also emerged during the hearing: would the Supreme Court follow the path of previous rulings that have taken away power from government agencies, as it did in 2023 with the EPA, which is charged with protecting the environment? The idea that they have too much influence is a favorite argument of Republican Party hardliners. Another point of the FDAs argument is that if the high court agrees with the other side, it will open the floodgates for any drug decision to be challenged on political grounds. After this Tuesdays hearing, it appears that the justices will not use this case to further that strategy.

This will not be the only time this year that the high court weighs in on the issue of abortion, one of the issues that has done the most to deteriorate the American publics view of it, which is more unfavorable than ever. In April, they will examine the case Idaho v. United States, in which they must decide the legality of a Midwestern states anti-abortion law, one of the strictest in the country. According to its detractors, the law poses a difficult-to-resolve dilemma for doctors and nurses in cases where the mothers life is in danger if she is forced to continue with the pregnancy. If medical professionals terminate a pregnancy, under the Idaho law they risk losing their license or even ending up in jail. But if they did not do so, they would contravene a federal law that requires hospitals that offer emergency services to intervene if the patients health is at risk.
GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV)  Former President Donald Trump will be in Green Bay to host a rally for the upcoming presidential election.

According to Trumps website, he will be in Green Bay on Tuesday, April 2, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. The event will be held at the Hyatt Regency in the city. Doors will open at 2:00 p.m.

West De Pere educator looking to win Americas Favorite Teacher competition

Trump will talk about a number of topics, including the rematch of the 2020 election against current United States President Joe Biden.

Those interested in attending can register for up to two tickets per mobile number. All tickets are subject to a first come, first serve basis.

Wisconsin Supreme Court lets ruling stand that declared Amazon drivers to be employees

The 2024 Spring Election and Presidential Preference Vote coincide with Trumps appearance in Green Bay on Tuesday. He will appear on the ballot for the Republican Party.

Times are subject to change, and if they do, Local 5 News will update this article.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFRV Local 5 - Green Bay, Appleton.
Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel speaks before a Republican presidential primary debate hosted by NBC News, Nov. 8, 2023, at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County in Miami. Former NBC News Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd criticized his network Sunday, March 24, 2024, for hiring former Republican National Committee head McDaniel as a paid contributor, saying on the air that many NBC journalists are uncomfortable with the decision. | Rebecca Blackwell

Top hosts at NBC News criticized their employer for the decision to hire former Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel as a contributor at the media outlet.

NBC News chief political analyst Chuck Todd publicly criticized the company on air for putting their journalists in what he called an uncomfortable situation on Sunday, after Meet the Press moderator Kristen Welker grilled her new colleague, McDaniel, during a 20-minute interview.

On Monday morning, MSNBC Morning Joe hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough said McDaniel would not appear as a guest on their show because of her involvement in former President Donald Trumps efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

The uproar from journalists and staffers  paired with on-air objections  follows the TV networks internal announcement on Friday that it would enlist McDaniel to provide an insiders perspective on national politics and the future of the Republican Party.

McDaniel  a graduate of Brigham Young University and niece of Utah Sen. Mitt Romney  stepped down from her leadership role with the national Republican Party two weeks earlier on March 8. She had held the position longer than anyone since the Civil War.

A Republican consultant close to McDaniel told the Deseret News on Monday that McDaniels relationship with NBC News remained unchanged and that they are firmly standing behind her.

The source said claims that McDaniel was complicit in Trumps fake elector strategy and the Jan. 6 Capitol riot were misleading because she was given false reports about how the electors would be used during Trumps legal challenges to the 2020 election results.

According to the source, the criticisms coming from Todd, Brzezinski, and others say more about the pundits than they do about NBC News decision to bring on a contrasting voice to their worldview.

At the end of the day, the outrage by the people that are on the left side of the spectrum on MSNBC, I think it really does show how badly they need a voice like hers to actually get the whole scope of whats going on in the country, the source said.

McDaniel was elevated to the top of Republican party politics in 2017 after Trump endorsed her for helping flip Michigan red in the 2016 presidential election as state GOP chair. Her tenure included disappointing Republican elections in 2018, Trumps loss in 2020 and the expected 2022 red wave that never materialized.

Despite initially congratulating McDaniel on winning a historic fourth term, Trump became increasingly hostile toward McDaniel as she insisted on maintaining a neutral stance during the GOP presidential primary season. McDaniel was replaced by Trumps handpicked successors, former North Carolina state GOP Chairman Michael Whatley and Trumps daughter-in-law, Lara Trump.

The Republican consultant close to McDaniel said her support of Trump represents an important addition to the NBC News networks whose lineup is currently dominated by Democrats or anti-Trump Republicans.

She has this unique perspective of being a suburban mom in a swing state that was also the chair of the Republican Party and is going to vote for President Trump in November, they said. And NBC certainly recognized that they lack that voice  they lack a Trump-voting Republican on their platforms.

Well-known conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt came to McDaniels defense Monday, saying NBC News Meet the Press should feature McDaniel as often as possible. He called her hire a long overdue effort to try again to regain the center of the Sunday show audience.

Former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, who served as vice chair on the Jan. 6 select committee, criticized McDaniel for attempting to recast her leadership during the tumultuous years of Trumps presidency, particularly in the aftermath of the 2020 election.

During her introduction as an NBC contributor on Sunday, McDaniel defended her decision not to communicate a firmer stance on Jan. 6, and Trumps reaction to it. She said at the time as RNC chair she felt the need to take one for the whole team.

Now I get to be a little bit more myself, she said.
A former Trump 2020 campaign official has been subpoenaed by officials in Arizona as part of the criminal investigation focused on efforts to overturn Joe Bidens win, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

The official, Mike Roman, is also one of Donald Trumps co-defendants in the Georgia election subversion case. Hes being subpoenaed by prosecutors as part of a separate state-level probe overseen by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat.

Sources told CNN that Mayes is nearing a decision on whether to bring criminal charges.

CNN previously reported that prosecutors in Arizona have issued several grand jury subpoenas in recent weeks to people connected to efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 presidential election results there. The subpoenas suggest the probe is accelerating ahead of the 2024 presidential election, when Trump is expected to again face Biden as the Republican nominee.

Mayes has primarily focused her investigation on the 11 fake pro-Trump electors from Arizona and organizers of the effort, but sources familiar with the probe said shes also looking into individuals tied to the former presidents national campaign.

Its robust. Its a serious matter, Mayes told CNN last year when asked about her investigation. Were going to make sure that we do it on our timetable, applying the resources that it requires to make sure that justice is done, for not only Arizonans, but for the entire country.

A spokesperson for the Arizona attorney generals office declined to comment Tuesday. ABC News was first to report that Roman was among those subpoenaed in the investigation.

An attorney for Roman declined to comment.

Prosecutors in Michigan, Georgia and Nevada have already brought criminal charges against some of the people who signed on as fake pro-Trump electors. CNN previously reported that investigators in Wisconsin also are conducting a similar probe.

Among those who have been interviewed by Arizona prosecutors in recent months is pro-Trump attorney Kenneth Chesebro.

CNN has identified Chesebro as one of Trumps unindicted co-conspirators in special counsel Jack Smiths federal indictment of the former president, which details how Chesebro was a driving force behind the fake electors plot.

Chesebro has pleaded guilty in the sprawling racketeering case in Georgia and has met with prosecutors from several other states who are investigating the fake electors plan.

Communications previously obtained by CNN and handed over to prosecutors in multiple states investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election show Chesebro worked closely with Roman on the fake electors plot in the lead-up to the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department official who worked closely with former President Donald Trump in a bid to subvert the 2020 election, should face professional consequences  including the potential loss of his license to practice law  for his effort to throw the nation into chaos, D.C. bar disciplinary authorities argued Tuesday.

But a lawyer for Clark said it would be unreasonable to punish him for his work during the tumultuous days ahead of Jan. 6, 2021, when he spearheaded a proposal to encourage state legislatures to consider overturning the results. That plan was never adopted and Trump ultimately turned it down. Punishing Clark for being on the losing side of a policy dispute would set a dangerous precedent, Clarks team argued.

The alternate realities were on display Tuesday as bar investigators began laying out their case to penalize Clark for his role in Trumps scheme to remain in power. Investigators charged Clark with violating professional rules of conduct in late 2020 by attempting to coerce his bosses to send a letter to Georgia lawmakers encouraging them to reconsider the outcome of the election there based on significant concerns about the integrity of the vote.

For Clark, the opening arguments in the case  heard by a three-member panel of the D.C. Bars Board of Professional Responsibility  were never supposed to happen. Clark has spent two years fighting legal battles intended to scrap the case altogether, contending that the D.C. Bar has no jurisdiction over the conduct of federal government lawyers. But a federal court rejected Clarks position, and an appeals court declined to step in to block the case from moving ahead.

Hamilton Fox, the lead investigator for the D.C. Bars Office of Disciplinary Counsel, said Clarks efforts amounted to a coup attempt within the Department of Justice, aimed at taking out the sitting leadership in order to effectuate a plan that would have thrown the 2020 election into even further disarray. Clark held unauthorized talks with Trump, violating DOJ policies against White House contacts, and then sought to outflank then-Acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen and his deputy Richard Donoghue, by telling them he planned to accept an offer from Trump to take over the department unless they agreed to send his proposed letter to Georgia.

The showdown, which has been well documented by the Jan. 6 select committee and prosecutors in Georgia, led to an Oval Office confrontation on Jan. 3, 2021, in which Trump ultimately backed down from his plans to elevate Clark amid a mass resignation threat by top DOJ and White House officials. Clark has been criminally charged by Georgia prosecutors for his role in Trumps effort to reverse the outcome of the election, and he was identified as a co-conspirator in special counsel Jack Smiths Washington, D.C. case against Trump.

Donoghue was Foxs first witness on Tuesday, describing his work to review claims of election fraud in 2020 and finding many of the fraud claims lodged by Trump and his allies to be meritless. He also described his conversations with Trump, recalling that Trump urged Rosen to simply declare the election corrupt and let him and his Republican allies in Congress do the rest. Donoghue recalled trying to educate Trump about DOJs limited role in elections and its work debunking many of the false allegations of fraud that had been circulating.

Disciplinary proceedings against the lawyers who formed the backbone of Trumps effort have aired significant new details about the two months that threatened the peaceful transfer of power in 2020 and 2021.

John Eastman, one of the architects of Trumps bid to subvert the 2020 election, is expected to face a disbarment ruling by Wednesday, when a California judge issues her proposed punishment for alleged violations of professional conduct.

Rudy Giuliani has similarly had his law license suspended in New York and Washington, D.C.

And other attorneys involved in failed legal efforts to overturn election results in 2020 have also faced disciplinary charges, some of which are still pending.

Clarks case is unique, however, because he was employed by DOJ at the time as acting head of the departments Civil Division and Environment and Natural Resources Division. He first reached Trumps radar as a result of efforts by Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), who helped connect the little-known DOJ official to the president. Trump, who had publicly expressed frustration that the Justice Department hadnt done enough to back up his claims of election fraud, soon began floating the notion of elevating Clark to replace Rosen.

Clarks lawyers, though, say punishing him for taking cues from the president  the chief law enforcement officer of the United States  and advocating for a position that he genuinely believed would send a chilling effect across government. Clarks efforts were intended to remain confidential  and the letter he drafted, which was never sent to Georgia, was supposed to remain secret, protected by various forms of executive and law enforcement privilege, until a leak to the press exposed the fraught discussions.

Clarks attorneys said he intends to argue, using witnesses from Georgia and statistical experts that Trump has relied on in the past, that his concerns about the election were well-founded, that DOJ officials rebuffed them and the entire dispute amounts to an internal disagreement about what DOJs official position should have been.

There is nothing dishonest and nothing in violation of the rules of professional conduct about proposing a change in position, Clarks lawyer, Harry MacDougald, argued. Mr. Clark did nothing wrong.

Clark is unlikely to testify in the proceeding. His lawyers have indicated he is likely to assert his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination if called to the stand.

Fox intends to rely on testimony from White House and DOJ officials  including Donoghue, Rosen and former deputy White House counsel Pat Philbin. Clarks lawyer said he intends to call former Attorney General Edwin Meese, as well as a member of the Atlanta-area election board who opposed certifying the results.
Never underestimate the can-do spirit of someone willing to don a giant Crayon box costume to ensure an important figure in local history isn't forgotten.

Jeanne Johansen, president of the Fort Pierce Art Club, is such a woman. She's been known to make speaking appearances in the colorful costume when discussing the life and work of Edwin Binney, who invented Crayons before relocating to Fort Pierce nearly a century ago.

Johansen is a walking encyclopedia when it comes to knowledge about Binney, who, in addition to more global accomplishments, played an integral role in developing Fort Pierce's port, saving the St. Lucie County Bank from failure during the Great Depression, founding the local Sea Scouts chapter, and donating land that's home to the Fort Pierce Coast Guard Station and the Pelican Yacht Club.

On March 30, Johansen and others in the community will host a public event downtown in Binney's honor. From 10 a.m. until 11 a.m., there will be free activities for "children of all ages" at Riverwalk, 600 N. Indian River Drive. Guests can create artwork of their own at different stations.

Colorful tributes planned for Fort Pierce

Jeanne Johansen, a local historian and president of the Fort Pierce Art Club, shows off Crayon-themed earrings and a coffee mug ahead of a March 30 event honoring Crayon inventor Edwin Binney, who lived in the community nearly a century ago.

"We wanted to bring back Edwin Binney," Johansen said. "The best way to celebrate him is through the toys he made for children."

The art club has been working on a Binney sculpture prototype, which will go up at Riverwalk for the event.

The St. Lucie County Historical Society will have a display highlighting Binney's contributions to the Treasure Coast.

Sunglow, the official Crayon mascot, will make an appearance, too.

From 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., visiting executives from Crayola, the company that manufactures Crayons, will get a driving tour of Binney-related points of interest around Fort Pierce.

They will pass by numerous spots around downtown, decorated with artwork befitting the day's honoree, including 200 giant Crayons painted by local artists and volunteers. This is a communitywide effort featuring contributions from various individuals and groups, including the Lions Club's local chapter and Main Street Fort Pierce.

"We're happy to help Jeanne and her effort," said Doris Tillman, Main Street's manager. "She's done a tremendous job of pulling all this together."

Binney's name and deeds are worth knowing

Members of the Fort Pierce Art Club were making preparations for a March 30 event honoring Edwin Binney, a former local resident who invented Crayons.

To those unfamiliar with Binney's contributions to local history, all of this may seem like overkill. It isn't.

Recognition of Binney's contributions to the Fort Pierce area and the world at-large are long overdue. While Crayons have been popular for decades, the man who invented them remains largely unknown.

Binney wasn't a one-hit wonder when it came to inventions, either. He also developed a type of dust-free chalk that became widely used in school classrooms. Johansen said Binney thought of ways to make products better, such as developing new types of car tires and lightbulb filaments that lasted longer than their predecessors.

"The thing I loved about Binney was that he was a man who listened and solved problems," Johansen said. "Everything he did has benefitted people."

While Florida has a large transient population, it's important for communities to celebrate the men and women who have made important contributions to the area's history. Binney is one of several former Fort Pierce residents who deserve to be honored in this way.

Fort Pierce should leverage its connections to Binney

Giant Crayons like these will be displayed around downtown Fort Pierce for a March 30 event honoring Edwin Binney, a former resident who invented the popular children's drawing tools.

Hopefully, the March 30 festivities won't be the end of it, either. It would be wonderful if Crayola executives would consider some type of permanent tourist attraction in Fort Pierce.

Orlando has the Crayola Experience, a 70,000-square-foot, family-oriented destination. Given its historic ties to Binney, Fort Pierce ought to lobby for something at least that elaborate, if not more so.

Also, I know I keep harping on those ugly concrete silos at the port, but imagine how much better they would look if they were painted like giant Crayons. Do you think anyone would ever mistake Fort Pierce's skyline for another city's if that change were made?

Johansen and her band of Binney backers recently made a pitch to have the Fort Pierce philanthropist inducted into the Florida Hall of Fame. The effort fell short, but the community should continue thinking about other ways to keep Binney's legacy alive.

One of the last scheduled stops for the Crayola executives on their way out of town is Binney's former home on Indrio Road. On their itinerary, it's listed as a place they will visit only if time permits.

Let's hope there is time for that stop, because there might not be another opportunity to see Binney's home in its current pastoral surroundings.

Binney's legacy could fade into obscurity if we're not careful

BLAKE FONTENAY

Earlier this month, the St. Lucie County Commission rejected plans to build an apartment complex that would have encircled Binney's home on three sides.

It seemed like a possible watershed moment in the county's efforts to regulate growth and development. However, that action might be undone within a matter of weeks.

Under threat from a lawsuit by the would-be apartment complex's developers, commissioners agreed to rehear the land-use case at their May 7 meeting. I'll have much more to say about that in a future column, but the political fluidity of the situation shows why it's so important to raise awareness about who Binney was and why he matters.

Maybe wearing a giant Crayon box doesn't fit everyone's fashion sense. But knowing and appreciating Binney's contributions should be a goal for those of us who live in the area now.

This column reflects the opinion of Blake Fontenay. Contact him via email at bfontenay@gannett.com or at 772-232-5424.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Crayon inventor Edwin Binney gets deserved shout-out from Fort Pierce
Students and staff with the Fort Worth Independent School District are gearing up to watch the upcoming total solar eclipse on April 8, when theyll witness a rare celestial event that wont be visible from the Dallas-Fort Worth area again for almost 300 years.

The skyward-facing gazes of educators and learners will be short-lived, as the total eclipse will be visible for 2 minutes and 33 seconds starting at 1:40 p.m., but the school day will be filled with lesson plans and activities related to the event, before and after it happens, according to district officials.

Although some smaller school districts in North Texas are closing in observance of the eclipse, Fort Worth ISD is among those staying open while providing a learning opportunity to students. Each campus will have an eclipse designee to manage the district-wide event at all its locations.

Each campus has developed a specific viewing plan that includes both an outdoor supervised viewing area for students with parental permission and an indoor viewing option for those who choose not to participate or do not have permission, said Cesar Padilla, spokesperson for the school district, noting that those who are staying indoors for the event will watch the NASA livestream.

Parents can join their children in watching the eclipse while following schools typical check-in procedures, but they are encouraged to bring their own glasses, Padilla said. Additionally, there will be no excused absences for students who want to watch the eclipse from home or at a different viewing location.

The bulk of glasses provided to the district  71,250  are being donated by the Perot Museum of Nature and Science located in Dallas, according to Padilla. Other organizations and companies such as Buc-ees, the Houston Museum of Natural Science, Prevent Blindness Texas and the Delta Gamma Foundation are supplying an additional 14,500 glasses for students and district staff.

Elementary, middle and high school students will enhance their understanding of the phenomenon through individual, group and class activities, Padilla said.

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Individual activities include watching informational videos and reading texts about solar eclipses before answering questions or writing reflections of what theyve learned. Additionally, students will create maps to visualize the eclipses trajectory, according to Padilla.

In group settings, students will solve math problems related to the eclipse and its duration of totality or the moons distance from Earth. They will also compete while testing their knowledge through online quizzes on platforms like Kahoot or Quizizz and collaborate to build models of the eclipse, including creating electrical circuits to illuminate the sun.

As a class, students will find information about solar eclipses through a scavenger hunt and hone in on the suns corona, its outer atmosphere thats visible during the event, through teacher-led lessons.

During the eclipse, students will record their observations and discuss their findings as a class, followed by individual reflections on their experiences, Padilla said. In some cases, classes may conduct experiments to measure solar energy levels during the eclipse and discuss the results and implications of their findings.
The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth director Marla Price is retiring after 30 years at the museum.

The former associate curator of 20th century art at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and well-known scholar of contemporary art came to Texas in 1986 to serve as the museums chief curator, presenting shows like 1989s renowned touring show 10 + 10: Contemporary Soviet and American Painters.

Price became acting director after E.A. Carmean left for the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art in 1991. She took the job in 1992, coinciding with the states oldest art museums centennial. She oversaw an aggressive expansion of the permanent collection with acquisitions of works by Francis Bacon, the worlds largest collections of Robert Motherwell, Wangechi Mutu of Kenya and the Nigerian American Njideka Akunyili Crosby.

When its growing collection required a new home, she oversaw the construction of a new building designed by Pritzker Prize-winning Japanese architect Tadao Ando and opened in 2002. Peter Plagens wrote in Artforum that If everything goes according to design [it] will have turned itself into the most elegant museum in the entire country. (Plagens was a huge fan of the neighboring Kimbell as well.)

A larger building allowed for more ambitious exhibits like KAWS: WHERE THE END STARTS, Mark Bradford: End Papers and Lucian Freud: Portraits, and dedicated space for the collection. An expanded lobby, auditorium and large cafe created more opportunities to engage the community.

Board Chair Marsland Moncrief and Board President Rafael Garza praised her leadership.

The Modern has become an outstanding star on a national and international scale, while the mission has grown to be an inclusive community space for people to engage on different levels with the art of our time, Moncrief said.

Garza commended her artistic vision and commitment to scholarly excellence have cultivated a robust organization with devoted, longstanding supporters and staff.
The west campus of Cardinal Health's headquarters in Dublin, which Dublin City Schools and the pharmaceutical distributor have agreed to explore the sale of for educational purposes.

Dublin City Schools could purchase part of Cardinal Healths headquarters for education purposes  like a fourth high school.

The school district and the Dublin-based pharmaceuticals distributor have agreed in a letter of intent to see whether it makes sense for the district to buy Cardinal's west campus headquarters building, located at 7200 Cardinal Place in Dublin, according to a Monday news release.

Built in 2007, the three-story, 247,000-square-foot building sits on more than 31 acres and is less than a half-mile from Emerald Campus and Dublin Coffman High School, according to the release.

An aerial view of the west campus of Cardinal Health's headquarters in Dublin, which Dublin City Schools and the pharmaceutical distributor have agreed to explore the sale of for educational purposes.

The non-binding letter of intent grants Dublin City Schools over a year to evaluate the suitability of the building for educational purposes.

Dublin Superintendent John Marschhausen expressed optimism about the purchase, highlighting "the myriad of possibilities the building presents.

"The ample space and acreage of Cardinal Health West, as well as the centralized location, provide flexibility for how it could be utilized, Marschhausen said in a statement. Additionally, converting office space leverages pre-existing infrastructure and amenities, which reduces costs and provides significant savings for our taxpayers.

While the exact use of the building remains undetermined, one possibility is its conversion into a fourth high school, according to the release. As the district continues to grow and will require more space by 2030, the acquisition of Cardinal Health West could possibly address that need.

This wouldnt be the districts first foray into converting office space to an academic setting. In 2017, the district purchased the vacant Verizon building on Emerald Parkway for $9.4 million, according to the release. The total cost, including the building conversion, was $21 million  approximately half of what it would have been to build new at that time.

Dublin City Schools Emerald Campus is at 5175 Emerald Pkwy.

Cardinal Healths Dublin headquarters comprises an east and west campus. The company will retain its east campus, at 7000 Cardinal Place, where it will consolidate its corporate headquarters, the release said.

More: Chase Tower Downtown plans to switch from offices to apartments

Cardinal Health could not be immediately reached for comment Tuesday.

Marschhausen said the districts foremost priority will be to ensure that any plans for the building are driven by community input and feedback.

@Colebehr_report

Cbehrens@dispatch.com

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Dublin City Schools looking to buy part of Cardinal Health HQ
By Nette Noestlinger

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -France and Poland pressed on Tuesday for greater curbs on imports of food products from Ukraine to prevent what they called the destabilisation of EU agricultural markets and further upset for angry farmers.

EU members are debating how to grant Ukraine a further year-long extension of tariff-free access to its markets while also placating farmers who have protested for months against EU environmental rules and cheap imports.

French Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau told reporters before a meeting with EU counterparts in Brussels that destabilised markets could erode public support for Kyiv, which would neither be in the interests of the EU nor of Ukrainians.

His Polish counterpart Czeslaw Siekierski said farmers in countries neighbouring Ukraine were paying too high a price.

Nearby, farmers jammed the EU district with about 250 tractors, including a main road into Brussels and the square in front of the European Parliament. A number dropped sugar beets, piles of earth and wooden pallets beside a police barricade.

The European Commission has proposed suspending duties on Ukrainian farm produce for a further year to June 2025, with a new "emergency brake" for poultry, eggs and sugar leading to tariffs if imports exceed the average levels of 2022 and 2023.

Oats, maize, groats and honey have since been added to the list. Fesneau and Hungarian minister Istvan Nagy said wheat also had to be included.

France and Poland are meanwhile pushing for the brake threshold to be the average of 2021-2023. This would include the year before Russia's invasion, when Ukrainian exports to the EU were curbed by tariffs and quotas.

Kyiv has said most of its grain exports are now going via the traditional Black Sea route, rather than into eastern Europe. Low global wheat prices have dropped because of abundant supplies in top exporter Russia.

"The defense of Ukraine is also about not participating in Putin's propaganda, namely that the problem of falling grain prices is due to Ukrainian supplies," Germany's Cem Ozdemir told reporters.

David Clarinval, the agriculture minister of Belgium, which holds the six-month rotating EU presidency, said he expected a solution to be found in the coming days, without detailing what such a solution would entail.

EU ambassadors are scheduled to tackle the topic on Wednesday.

(Additional reporting by Kate Abnett, writing by Philip Blenkinsop; editing by David Evans, Alexandra Hudson)
French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu has announced that Paris will soon be able to supply Kyiv with 78 Caesar self-propelled howitzers and will increase supplies of shells to meet Ukraine's urgent ammunition needs.

Source: AP, reported by European Pravda

Details: At a press conference, Lecornu said that France, Ukraine and Denmark had reached an agreement to finance the delivery of Caesar 155mm self-propelled howitzers, which would allow Paris to "deliver them quickly".

He added that France also aimed to supply Ukraine with 80,000 rounds of ammunition for 155mm guns this year, compared to the 30,000 it has provided since the start of the full-scale invasion.

In addition, Lecornu noted that France was involved in the search for existing stocks of gunpowder and ammunition that could be purchased from countries outside the EU as part of Czechia's initiative.

At the same time, Lecornu said that European countries should reduce their dependence on the United States to ensure security on the continent.

"This is an absolute necessity. I think it's wrong that American taxpayers should pay so much for the security of Europeans," he said.

Background:

It was reported earlier that the Franco-German group of arms companies KNDS will set up a new subsidiary to produce weapons in Ukraine.

Over the course of the full-scale war, Ukraine has received 30 Caesars and 38 AMX10RC armoured vehicles, and earlier this year, Paris announced plans to produce 78 more Caesars for Ukraine.

Prior to that, Lecornu also spoke about plans to engage the French company Delair, focused on drones production, in cooperation with the Ukrainian defence industry.

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Hyundai Motor Group and Red Sea Global (RSG) have agreed to collaborate on deploying eco-friendly mobility solutions in RSGs luxury resorts in Saudi Arabia while exploring opportunities to implement innovative future mobility solutions.

Hyundai and RSG signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), with Dongkun Lee, Head of Future Growth Strategy Sub-Division under Global Strategy Office (GSO) at Hyundai Motor Group, and John Pagano, Group CEO of RSG, attending the ceremony at RSG Headquarters in Riyadh on March 24.

This partnership signifies our shared commitment to a sustainable and innovative mobility future for humanity, said Dongkun Lee. We will accelerate the validations and explore more long-term goals to build a greener and smarter ecosystem in the region.

World leader

Hyundai Motor Company is a world leader in sustainable and luxury mobility. By working together and integrating its cutting-edge technology and eco-friendly mobility solutions into our destinations, we have the opportunity to continue setting new benchmarks in carbon-neutral operations while exceeding our guests expectations for style, comfort, and environmental responsibility, said John Pagano, Group CEO of RSG.

Under the MoU, Hyundai and RSG will jointly explore potential opportunities in various fields. In the short term, both parties will focus on validating and deploying the Groups eco-friendly mobility solutions, such as battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. In the mid to long term, they will explore future mobility solutions, such as autonomous vehicles, Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) and maritime vessels.

Hyundais comprehensive eco-friendly business portfolio, ranging from individual mobility solutions to extensive charging infrastructure, provides a wide range of opportunities. Based on this, the partnership is expected to boost the kingdom's Vision 2030 strategy to achieve a net-zero emission society by 2060, accelerating the countrys transition to a green economy.

First guests

Last year The Red Sea welcomed its first guests, and the Red Sea International Airport has been receiving a regular schedule of domestic flights since September 2023  international flights are set to commence soon. Two of the destinations hotels are open, with three more on track to open this year.

A second destination, Thuwal Private Retreat, will also open this year. AMAALA remains on track to welcome first guests in 2025, when the first resorts complete as part of Triple Bay phase one, along with Corallium and the iconic Yacht Club.--TradeArabia News Service
KYODO NEWS - Mar 26, 2024 - 20:04 | All, Japan

Japan's top court on Tuesday said same-sex partners are eligible for crime victims' benefits as surviving family members, the first such ruling in the country that does not recognize same-sex marriage.

The Supreme Court's Third Petty Bench scrapped the Nagoya High Court ruling and sent back the case to the high court, which did not recognize the eligibility of Yasuhide Uchiyama, 49, whose same-sex partner of decades was murdered.

The victims' benefit law stipulates that those eligible for payments include those in common-law marriages. Whether a same-sex partnership could be considered a common-law marriage was a major point of contention in the trial.

The court said the law was meant to cushion the mental and financial blow for the bereaved family, and that "whether the victim's live-in partner is the opposite or same sex does not make an immediate difference in facilitating that reduction."

It said the Nagoya High Court's rejection based solely on the same-sex relationship was "clearly" not in line with the law.

The decision was backed by four of the five members of the bench.

The lone dissenting judge Yukihiko Imasaki said there was not sufficient discussion regarding the legal protection for same-sex partnerships, adding that the decision was made too quickly and that "same-sex partnerships should not be correlated with common-law marriages."

The Nagoya High Court will now consider whether Uchiyama and his late partner were in a relationship equivalent to a common-law marriage.

The Nagoya District Court in 2020 denied Uchiyama's request, saying it was still not socially accepted that cohabitation between same-sex partners was comparable to marriage.

The Nagoya High Court also ruled that the law only applied to heterosexual relationships.

According to the high court ruling, Uchiyama's partner was murdered in December 2014. The killer, a colleague of Uchiyama's, was later sentenced to 14 years in prison.

Uchiyama filed for victims' benefit in December 2016, but it was rejected on the basis that the relationship was same-sex.

The ruling by the top court comes after the Sapporo High Court earlier this month said the lack of legal recognition of same-sex marriage was unconstitutional.

Related coverage:

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French President Emmanuel Macron awards Kayapo leader Raoni Metuktire with the Legion of Honor on March 26, 2024 (Ludovic MARIN)

French President Emmanuel Macron kicked off a visit to Brazil on Tuesday with the launch of a billion-euro Amazonian green investment plan alongside his counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

The pair's trip to Belem, the northern host city of a major UN climate summit next year, makes Macron the first president of France to visit Brazil in over a decade and comes after a stop in nearby French Guiana.

His public event with Lula on the jungle island of Combu, full of smiles and affectionate gestures, highlighted the stark reversal of relations since the term of Jair Bolsonaro, Lula's far-right predecessor.

The former president had clashed with Macron's government over environmental destruction -- and even lobbed insults directed at French first lady Brigitte Macron.

The investment plan aims to raise "1 billion euros ($1.08 billion) of public and private investment over the next four years," according to a roadmap published by the French presidency ahead of next year's COP30 summit.

The leaders are seeking to promote "a great public and private global investment plan into the bioeconomy" in the Brazilian and Guyanese Amazon, the announcement said, especially as Brazil presides over the G20 for 2024.

France, the seventh largest economy in the world, and Brazil, the ninth largest, are considered key players in a geopolitical scene marked by rivalry between China and the United States.

Paris sees Brasilia as a bridge to large emerging economies whose voices Brazil is trying to amplify through its presidency of the G20, and membership of the BRICS+ group.

"We are living in a Franco-Brazilian moment," the Elysee presidential palace said earlier, highlighting "many points of convergence" with Lula, particularly on "major global issues."

"France is an essential, unavoidable actor for Brazilian foreign policy," said the head of Brazilian diplomacy for Europe, Maria Luisa Escorel de Moraes.

- Amazon chief honored -

Tuesday's announcement proposes the creation of a "carbon market," intended to reward countries which invest in natural carbon sinks, such as the Amazon rainforest.

The world's largest tropical forest plays a key role in the fight against climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide emissions.

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon halved in 2023 after soaring under Bolsonaro, as Lula's government stepped up environmental policing.

The agreement also includes support for "indigenous people and local Amazon communities, which have an essential role in protecting biodiversity through their traditional knowledge and forest management practices," according to the announcement.

In Belem, Macron awarded tribal chief Raoni Metuktire with the Legion of Honor, the highest French distinction.

"The fight" for the forest and its peoples, "I wanted to say that we will continue to wage it alongside you," Macron told the chief.

Metuktire left his home in the Amazon more than 30 years ago to travel the world with his warning of the threats posed by the destruction of the rainforest.

A striking figure with his large wooden lip plate and yellow feather headdress, he has taken his message to popes, royals and presidents, with his stature as an environmental campaigner rising with growing awareness of the climate emergency.

- Mercosur and Ukraine -

France and Brazil are working together to manufacture four conventionally powered submarines, the third of which will be launched on Wednesday by both leaders at the Itaguai naval base, near Rio de Janeiro.

Brasilia could also call on Paris to help it develop nuclear propulsion on a fifth submarine.

Then there are the more sticky topics, such as the long-stalled free trade agreement between the European Union and South America's Mercosur bloc, which has recently run into fierce resistance from European farmers.

Macron said in January that France opposes the deal because it "doesn't make Mercosur farmers and companies abide by the same rules as ours."

While Lula is expected to reiterate his call for the rapid signing of the deal, both Paris and Brasilia have indicated the two-decade old negotiations would not be a major focus of Macron's trip, which includes meetings on Thursday in the Brazilian capital.

The war in Ukraine, which Macron wants to be a key focus of the G20, is another point of contention.

Lula, who has positioned himself as a champion of the "global South," has insisted that Kyiv and Moscow share responsibility over the conflict and has refused to take a stand against Russia.

vl/tmo/app/fb/des/md/caw
A Wilson County business owner plans to bring a Hangry Joe's Hot Chicken & Wings restaurant to Lebanon as part of a continuing redevelopment of the Western Plaza along West Main Street.

Sam Patel, who lives in Mt. Juliet and owns several Middle Tennessee businesses, hopes to open the Hangry Joe's, along with a drive-thru, later this year, he said.

Hangry Joes Hot Chicken markets itself as a rapidly-growing Nashville-style chicken franchise with a signature Nashville-style chicken sandwich. Locations can be found in several states, predominantly in the east.

Several spice or heat levels that start with no heat or seasoning and max out at "angry hot" are offered. Chicken Sandwich, Chicken Fingers and Chicken Waffle are listed as the brand's top three menu items on the Hangry Joe's website.

Hangry Joe's sells Nashville-style hot chicken.

"I think Hangry Joe's is a great brand to bring to the Lebanon market because Nashville is known for hot chicken, (and) when we want good hot chicken, we have to drive to downtown Nashville," Patel said. "It is a growing brand, and you will see growth in this brand in the Middle Tennessee area very soon."

Patel also owns a Subway franchise on Eastgate Boulevard in Lebanon. The restaurant was closed because of heavy damage to its leased building during the March 2020 tornado. The new Subway is part of a new commercial center that Patel had built and owns.

He is working on opening other Hangry Joe's franchises in the Middle Tennessee region, he said.

Plans are also moving forward to open a Hangry Joe's restaurant on Medical Center Parkway in Murfreesboro, according to that city's building and codes department. Patel is not involved in that project.

Sam Patel poses in front of the new Subway site on Eastgate Boluevard in Lebanon, Tenn., Tuesday, March 1, 2022. The Subway that Patel owns will replace the franchise that was in a building destroyed by the March 2020 tornado.

Lebanon's Western Plaza was anchored for years by Kmart until the store closed.

Firehouse Subs, Tropical Smoothie Cafe, Shoe Dept. Encore, Ross Dress for Less, Marshalls, Buff City Soap, Five Below and Ulta Beauty are among new stores announced at Western Plaza.

Reach Andy Humbles at ahumbles@tennessean.com or 615-726-5939 and on X, formerly known as Twitter @ AndyHumbles.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Hangry Joe's Hot Chicken targets Middle Tennessee in expansion plan
Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed early on Tuesday morning.

A livestream captured the moment a ship collided with one of the bridge's support beams.

Authorities are calling it a "mass casualty event" and say 20 people went into the water.

Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed on Tuesday morning after it was struck by a large container ship.

A video of the incident was posted early on Tuesday morning to X, formerly Twitter. In the video, the container ship the Dali is seen colliding with one of the bridge's support beams. Smoke is seen billowing from the ship before the bridge began crumbling.

BREAKING: Ship collides with Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, causing it to collapse pic.twitter.com/OcOrSjOCRn  BNO News (@BNONews) March 26, 2024

"MAJOR BALTIMORE TRAFFIC ALERT: AVOID I-695 southeast corridor. I-695 Key Bridge collapse due to ship strike," the Maryland Transportation Authority said in an X post on Tuesday morning.

A representative for the Baltimore Police Department told ABC News that "at 1:35 a.m., Baltimore City police were notified of a partial bridge collapse, with workers possibly in the water, at the Francis Scott Key Bridge."

Emergency services teams, including divers and at least two helicopters, responded to the scene, per Baltimore County's police scanner in the hour and a half after the bridge's collapse.

Wes Moore, governor of Maryland, declared a state of emergency early on Tuesday.

He said he was working to "quickly deploy federal resources from the Biden Administration," per the BBC.

In a news conference later in the day, Moore said that the crew on the ship notified authorities they had lost power.

Moore told reporters that the ship was moving at a "very rapid speed" and that the call to the authorities stopped a greater disaster from occurring, with cars redirected away from the bridge.

He also said the bridge was "fully up to code" and had no structural issues.

Paul Wiedefeld, Maryland's transportation secretary, told reporters that there were workers on the bridge at the time repairing potholes, and that six people were unaccounted for.

The White House said it was "closely monitoring" the situation, and that there was no indication of any nefarious intent.

"Our hearts go out to the families of those who remain missing as a result of this horrific incident," a spokesperson told BI in a statement.

Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said on X that he had offered the DOT's support to Moore and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott.

A view of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on March 26, 2024, shared by local rescue services. Harford County Maryland Fire and EMS/Facebook

The Baltimore Fire Department estimates that up to 20 people people went into the water, the BBC reported.

Baltimore Fire Department Chief James Wallace said at a press conference early Tuesday that two people had been recovered from the water. One refused service, while another was transported to a local trauma center "in very serious condition," he said.

The fire department had not made contact with the ship's captain yet, he said.

A livestream view of the area at around 3:00 a.m. local time showed the bridge's structure partially submerged in the harbor and in several pieces.

A view of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on March 26, 2024, shared by local rescue services. Harford County, Maryland, Fire and EMS

An unclassified Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency report said that the ship "lost propulsion" as it was leaving port, ABC News reported.

The crew notified officials that they had lost control and warned of a possible collision, the report said, per ABC News.

Structural engineer Ian Firth told the BBC that the heavy ship would have struck the bridge support backed by many thousands of metric tons.

"The support is a very, relatively, flimsy structure when you look at it, it's a kind of trestle structure with individual legs," he told the outlet. "So, the bridge has collapsed simply as a result of this very large impact force."

Barbara Rossi, an engineering professor at the University of Oxford, told BI: "According to what I could see online, the bridge has received a huge impact force on one of its supporting structures."

"The impacting force must have been immense," she said.

The collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore after being struck by a container ship on Tuesday. Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

The Dali is owned by Grace Ocean, a Singapore-based firm. The firm confirmed in a statement on Tuesday morning that their vessel had struck one of the bridge's pillars, per TradeWinds.

"All crew members, including the two pilots, have been accounted for and there are no reports of any injuries. There has also been no pollution," read the firm's statement.

It had 22 crew aboard, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore said in a statement.

According to Grace Ocean, the vessel was bound for Colombo, Sri Lanka when the accident took place.

The Dali, a Singapore-flagged cargo ship, was seen stationary on VesselFinder.com's vessel-tracking map. Screengrab/VesselFinder.com

Maersk, the ship's charterer, confirmed that vessel company Synergy Group operates the ship. Maersk's spokesperson told BI in a statement that the company is "horrified" by the events, and added that no Maersk employees were on board.

"We are closely following the investigations conducted by authorities and Synergy," it added.

As of Tuesday morning, authorities warned mariners and drone operators to avoid the waters and nearby airspace.

Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski, Jr. said in an X post that the authorities "are closely monitoring the ongoing situation at the Key Bridge."

"Our prayers remain with all those impacted," Olszewski wrote.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge opened in March 1977 as the final link in the Baltimore Beltway, according to the MDTA.

It cost $60.3 million to build and is 10.9 miles long, per the MDTA.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Maryland State Police said Wednesday that they had discovered the bodies of two construction workers amid the wreckage of Baltimores Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed early Tuesday morning after being struck by a cargo ship.

Col. Roland Butler Jr. of the Maryland State Police identified the workers as Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, of Mexico, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, of Guatemala. They had been part of a crew doing repairs on the bridges roadway at the time of the accident, and were found dead in a red pickup truck in 25 feet of water.

"Divers recovered two victims of this tragedy trapped within the vehicle," Butler said.

Heres what we have learned about the bridge collapse so far:

No credible evidence of a terrorist attack

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said Wednesday morning that every indication so far was that the cargo ship Dali, which sailed under a Singaporean flag, crashed into the Key bridge by accident.

Moore added that there was no credible evidence of a terrorist attack.

The Dali reportedly lost power shortly before crashing into the bridge.

Missing construction workers were foreign nationals

Six workers who were on the Key bridge at the time of its collapse, and who are now presumed dead, came to the United States from Mexico and Central America, NBC News reported.

The construction workers, who were making repairs to potholes on the bridges roadway, came from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico, Business Insider reported.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said that two of the workers initially listed as missing were Mexican citizens, and that their jobs were inherently dangerous.

That is why they do not deserve to be treated as some irresponsible and insensitive politicians in the United States tend to treat them, he said at a Wednesday news conference.

Some of the eight workers on the bridge at the time of the accident were employed by the Maryland company Brawner Builders.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Latinos make up approximately one-third of U.S. construction jobs.

At a Wednesday night briefing, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy addressed the families of the victims, saying, I just want to extend our deepest, deepest condolences.

Debris impeding search for other victims

Maryland State Police said Wednesday that debris from the collapsed bridge was preventing divers from accessing an area where they believe more victims are located. As a result, officials will first have to clear the tangled remnants of the bridge before they can recover the bodies of those killed by the collapse and the cars where they may be trapped.

Because of the superstructure we believe are the vehicles and the amount of concrete and debris, divers are no longer able to safely navigate or operate around that, Butler said.

"Today, we transitioned from search and rescue to recovery," Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said Wednesday of the search efforts.

Coast Guard Vice Adm. Peter Gautier said at a White House briefing that the focus would now shift to clearing the wreckage of the downed bridge.

"The Coast Guard's highest priority now is restoring the waterway for shipping, stabilizing the motor vessel Dali and removing it from the site and coordinating a maritime casualty investigation," Gautier said.

Time required to rebuild the bridge

White House officials said Wednesday that President Biden has prioritized rebuilding the bridge as quickly as possible.

"After he was briefed on the collapse, President Biden immediately instructed his team to move heaven and earth to aid in the emergency response and help rebuild the bridge as soon as humanly possible," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a press briefing.

But speaking to reporters at the White House briefing room, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg seemed to offer more caution about how quickly a new bridge could be constructed.

Rebuilding will not be quick or easy or cheap, Buttigieg said, but we will get it done.

Money for port workers and a potentially huge bill for the owners of the Dali

Bill Ferguson, president of the Maryland Senate, announced on Wednesday that he was drafting legislation to provide for income replacement for some 15,000 workers at the Port of Baltimore whose livelihoods would be affected by the collapse of the bridge.

Over 15,000 in the Balt region rely on daily operations at Port of Baltimore to put food on the table.



Today, with Del. @LukeClippinger and colleagues representing Port, we are drafting an emergency bill to provide for income replacement for workers impacted by this travesty.  Bill Ferguson (@SenBillFerg) March 27, 2024

Grace Ocean Private, on the other hand, could face the largest bill in history for a maritime disaster. Experts believe that the tally for Tuesdays accident could top the $1.5 billion settlement paid in 2012 by the owners of the Costa Concordia cruise ship that ran aground off the coast of Italy, killing 32 people.

NTSB investigation ongoing

Wednesday evening, the National Transportation Safety Board held its own briefing, saying that theyve learned that there had been 21 crew members and two pilots aboard the Dali at the time of the accident.

Officials boarded the vessel at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said, and looked at the damage to the ship and to some of the containers it was carrying.

After examining the ships manifest, Homendy said, the NTSB identified 56 containers of hazardous materials on board the Dali, including what she said were corrosives, flammables and lithium ion batteries.

Some of the containers were breached, she said, noting that local authorities had been notified.

Once it concludes its investigation, which will include listening to data recordings and comparing them to other sources, the NTSB will release a timeline of the crash.

This bridge was in satisfactory condition, Homendy said, adding that the bridges last fracture critical inspection was in May 2023.

The NTSB still doesnt know what caused the power outage on the ship that put it on a course to crash into the bridge.
The crew of the stranded container ship DALI have reported they are OK and awaiting rescue after the collision that caused a portion of the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore to collapse, according to a seafarers' chaplain who took them shopping on Sunday.

Andrew Middleton said he took the ship's captain and a crewman shopping at a nearby Walmart to buy personal items and snacks before their departure.

Since 9/11, international crews have to be escorted by a vetted person through most port areas, and Middleton said it's fairly common for crews like the DALI's to request assistance from the Apostleship of the Sea Baltimore Stella Maris International Seafarers' Center, where he is the director. The group is part of the Catholic Church's Archdiocese of Baltimore.

The steel frame of the Francis Scott Key Bridge sits on top of a container ship after it struck the bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 26, 2024. The collapse sent multiple vehicles and up to 20 people plunging into the harbor below. "Unfortunately, we understand that there were up to 20 individuals who may be in the Patapsco River right now as well as multiple vehicles," Kevin Cartwright of the Baltimore Fire Department told CNN. Ship monitoring website MarineTraffic showed a Singapore-flagged container ship called the Dali stopped under the bridge.

Middleton woke up Tuesday morning to the shocking news the ship hit the bridge, and he immediately messaged one of the crewmen via WhatsApp.

"My question to him was, 'Is everyone ok?' And the answer was 'yes sir, everyone is safe,'" Middleton told USA TODAY.

The crew is still aboard the ship while authorities assess the situation. Middleton said he's prepared to send them any supplies they need, if they're stuck aboard for an extended period. And he said he's making plans to help them once they're freed and returned to shore.

The container vessel was chartered by the major shipping company Maersk and was carrying its cargo, according to a statement from the company. When it crashed into the bridge, no Maersk crew and personnel were onboard the vessel, which is operated by charter vessel company Synergy Group and owned by Singapore-based Grace Ocean Pte.

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The DALI was slated to arrive later this week in Sri Lanka, according to MarineTraffic, a global ship tracking service.

"We are horrified by what has happened in Baltimore, and our thoughts are with all of those affected," Maersk said in a statement. "We are closely following the investigations conducted by authorities and Synergy, and we will do our utmost to keep our customers informed."

Synergy Marine Corp said the DALI collided with one of the pillars of the bridge and that all its crew members, including two pilots, have been accounted for and there were no reports of any injuries.

"They were by all appearances in good spirits," Middleton said of the crew on Sunday, and they chatted in his van about the ship's planned 28-day voyage around the Horn of Africa to Sri Lanka. Middleton said crews usually buy personal toiletries and snacks before long trips.

He said he expects the DALI will be towed back into the harbor and docked for a damage assessment. And he said he worries both about the missing workers from the bridge but also the port workers who may be temporarily unemployed if the harbor gets shut down.

"The people who were on the bridge we pray for them and their families, pray that everyone is rescued safely and alive," he said. "Obviously, this incident has a large impact on the port community. If this extends a long period of time, we're going to have longshoreman and stevedores who are not working, tugboat crews who are not working. It has the potential, if it becomes a drawn-out event, to affect many lives."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bridge collapse: After collision, Seafarers' Center assures crew OK
The chipping events are not means-tested, meaning anyone can bring pets along

A free cat microchipping event has taken place in Exeter to get pet owners in line with a new law.

From 10 June, all cats must be microchipped with up-to-date contact information otherwise owners could be fined 500.

Pet charity Blue Cross piloted the free event at its Stratford House centre in Marsh Barton.

Blue Cross bosses said the event was held because they were very "aware of the impact of the cost of living on pet owners", and they hoped to run them across the country.

All cats in the UK must be microchipped by 10 June

Alison Thomas, vet and head of veterinary standards for Blue Cross, said: "As a charity, we are very aware of the impact of the cost of living on pet owners and that is why we are running this event.

"We aim to run these events over the country if this is successful and we have the resources to do so."

Microchipping for dogs became compulsory in April 2016, and "evidence has shown that where dogs are microchipped, they are twice as likely to be reunited with their owners", said Ms Thomas.

"You can identify a cat with a collar and a tag, but collars get lost."

Updated details

The cost of microchipping can vary, but usually costs between 10 and 30.

Most veterinary care provided to the public by Blue Cross is means-tested but the charity said it had decided to offer microchipping for everyone.

Ms Thomas said staff felt it was "is so important that we are offering the service for free".

She said: "We're hoping that particularly people who would find it difficult to afford microchipping will come along.

"But really we just want to help anybody to get their pet microchipped, so that, if a pet does go missing, there is a better chance of them having their pet back again."

The charity has also reminded people to update their details if they changed phone number or address as failing to do so could also result in a fine.

More on this story

Related topics
One in seven students does not feel free to express their views on campus. Studies have shown more than 30 per cent of academics self-censoring  about twice the rate of most European countries. And the UK has slipped to about sixtieth place in the global Academic Freedom Index. We know there is a problem with free speech in English higher education.

Changes are coming to how it is protected. Following new legislation, the Office for Students (OfS)  the independent regulator of higher education in England  will launch a new complaints scheme.

The scheme will be free to use for students, staff at universities and visiting speakers who believe that their free speech rights have been constrained. Only lawful free speech is protected. So speech which incites violence, or racial hatred, or is otherwise illegal, is not protected. But there is no protection in law from feeling offended. Indeed, an effective higher education includes exposure to views which are unpopular and difficult.

This week the OfS has published draft guidance to help universities, colleges and students unions to navigate their responsibilities under the new legislation. It includes hypothetical examples to show these organisations both where free speech might have been constrained, and what they may have to do to secure it.

The examples cover various issues  from global politics, to gender, to relationships with overseas regimes that may undermine free speech in English higher education.

We outline, in particular, an example where a university accepts international students on visiting scholarships funded by a foreign government. The scholars must accept the principles of that government and receive direction from it via consular staff. Such an arrangement may undermine free speech and academic freedom at the university. We will consider each case on its facts, but if there is suppression of free speech or academic freedom within the law, the university would likely be required to change or terminate this scholarship agreement.

This example is fundamentally important. Any international arrangement that undermines free speech or academic freedom risks higher education providers breaching their new duties. Free speech at our universities is not for sale to any foreign government or agency. Universities and colleges should make sure, now, that all their teaching and research activities uphold the relevant free speech requirements.

Of course international students contribute enormously to the academic and cultural life of our universities, and they bring wider economic benefits too. It is entirely understandable that universities want to attract students from around the world. They help to preserve and enhance the (much deserved) global reputation of higher education in England.

It is also true that the higher education sector faces a number of financial challenges. Last year, we warned that one of these was an overreliance on fees from international students. We wrote to 23 institutions seeking assurance that they had contingency plans in place in case recruitment patterns change.

But while a warm welcome to international students should persist, universities and colleges must not permit any situation where academics bite their tongues and students look over their shoulders in fear of authoritarian regimes that seek to undermine their freedoms. Universities are alive to the risk of overreliance on international students. That risk cannot, and will not, excuse any organisation from meeting its legal free speech duties.

I am confident that many universities, colleges and students unions are already upholding free speech and academic freedom within the law. They rightly see this as an essential part of their work, and something which is crucial for students from all backgrounds to flourish. A high quality university experience depends upon it, and the OfSs work will seek to ensure it.

Arif Ahmed is director for freedom of speech and academic freedom at the Office for Students

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A sculpture at Freedom Monument Sculpture Park in Montgomery, Alabama showing the faces of the enslaved. The park depicts the brutality of American slavery and the lives of those in it. (Equal Justice Initiative/Human Pictures)

The Equal Justice Initiative will soon open a third site in the Montgomery area memorializing victims of racial violence.

Freedom Monument Sculpture Park, a 17-acre site located on the banks of the Alabama River on the north side of Montgomery, focuses on American slavery. Bryan Stevenson, the executive director of EJI, said the site aims to convey the brutality and horror of American slavery, and the resilience and hope of those in it.

With any honesty about the lives of enslaved people, it is not just Alabama, it is all across this country, that we dont have a very extensive or developed record about the experience of being enslaved, about living through enslavement, and about the legacy of slavery, he said on Monday.

The park is scheduled to open to the public by the end of the month.

Montgomery was a major center of slavery and the domestic slave trade. In 1860, 23,710 people in the county  66% of the population  were enslaved. The city served as the first capital of the Confederacy. According to EJI, some 400,000 people were held in bondage along the Alabama River just prior to the Civil War. The nonprofit says that rail lines near the park were built by enslaved people in the 1850s, and were used in the buying and selling of human beings.

The Black community in the city maintained a long tradition of activism, leading to the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955 and the Selma-to-Montgomery march in 1965, both key events in the modern civil rights movement.

A list of inscribed names

A wall with surnames inscribed in it. The National Monument to Freedom at the Freedom Monument Sculpture Park in Montgomery, Alabama. The park depicts the brutality of American slavery and the lives of those in it. The park includes 144,000 surnames of 4 million formerly enslaved people. (Equal Justice Initiative/Human Pictures)

Montgomery, for a long time, has defined itself as the Cradle of the Confederacy, the heart of Dixie, which means we are centered in a space that, in many ways, connects to the challenges that we are trying to address and educate people about, Stevenson said. But I also think Montgomery has an important role to play in leading the nation.

The opening of the park is one of the most highly anticipated events of the year, so much so that The New York Times featured Montgomery as one of the best places to visit in 2024.

Freedom Monument Sculpture Park serves to complement and build on the themes that are present at the other two EJI sites located within the city. The Legacy Museum looks at the history of slavery, segregation and mass incarceration and explores their impact on Black Americans and the nation as a whole.

The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, which opened to national acclaim in 2018, honors victims of lynching in the United States. There are sculptures and features placed within the space that testify to the experiences of those who died and the impact it had for their loved ones.

I still felt there was a need to have something that you could experience the legacy of slavery around, Stevenson said. I have been around to the plantations that exist in this country, and to be honest, I dont think any really, honestly, present the story of slavery centered on the lives of enslaved people.

The park is laid out in a circular path that traces the history of the institution of slavery and begins with the transatlantic passage of people kidnapped from Africa to be sold into bondage.

Visitors are presented with information about their ultimate destination in the country, from the south to even as far north as counties in New Jersey.

Further down the path, visitors encounter displays on how people were trafficked to Montgomery to be sold. There is a rail car on the grounds that people can walk into and experience how slaves traveled centuries ago.

The Freedom Monument Sculpture Park includes two 170-year-old dwellings from a plantation in Alabama where enslaved families lived for generations. The third dwelling is a replica that reveals the most common size and design of dwellings.

The site also includes a whipping post to give people a sense of the agony that people who were enslaved had to endure when they were punished.

A metal hand around a tree growing out of the ground.

A sculpture at Freedom Monument Sculpture Park in Montgomery, Alabama showing a hand around a tree. The park depicts the brutality of American slavery and the lives of those in it. (Equal Justice Initiative/Human Pictures)

Sculptures

The park features sculptures from different artists  many African American, African or indigenous  that focus on different aspects of slavery, from the brutality of bondage to the courage of the enslaved. The park is designed to mix art and history in depicting the struggles of those seeking freedom and justice.

One sculpture places fingers around a tree growing from the ground, was done by Eva Oertli and Beat Huber is called The Caring Hand. A second statue features two arms with one holding a club is called Strike by Hank Willis Thomas.

The park also includes bricks made by enslaved people 175 years ago that visitors will be able to touch, as well as chains used to traffic the enslaved.

A sculpture at Freedom Monument Sculpture Park in Montgomery, Alabama showing a hand grabbing an arm with a club.

A sculpture at Freedom Monument Sculpture Park in Montgomery, Alabama showing a hand grabbing an arm with a club. The park depicts the brutality of American slavery and the lives of those in it. (Equal Justice Initiative/Human Pictures)

The main attraction is a 50-foot-tall monument listing 122,000 surnames of the 4.7 million slaves living in the nation according to the 1870 Census, the first taken after slavery and the first that recorded the names of former slaves.

Visitors descended from enslaved people can use a website to trace where their ancestors lived. They can also stop by the visitor center to research the different locations where slaves lived and find the surnames of those who lived in those locations.

The most extraordinary thing, I think, about people who were enslaved in this country is they are people who learned to love in the midst of sorrow, Stevenson said. I would not be here if my enslaved fore parents had not found a way to love in the midst of sorrow, to create something hopeful, like a family, like a future, despite the brutality.

Clarification: The story has been updated to provide more information about the dwellings located at the park.

A large orange wall saying "National Monument to Freedom"

The National Monument to Freedom at the Freedom Monument Sculpture Park in Montgomery, Alabama. The park depicts the brutality of American slavery and the lives of those in it. (Equal Justice Initiative/Human Pictures)

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The post Freedom Monument Sculpture Park in Montgomery to honor victims of slavery appeared first on Alabama Reflector.
French lawmakers are considering launching a probe into the impact of the country's nuclear weapons tests in French Polynesia over three decades.

From the 1960s to the 1990s, France detonated almost 200 nuclear bombs in French Polynesia  a scattered Pacific island territory thousands of kilometres east of Australia  including 41 atmospheric tests between 1966 and 1974.

The largely communist GDR group in France's National Assembly has made a written request for an investigation, stating: "We need to ask ourselves what the French government knew about the impact of the tests before they were carried out, as they occurred and up to today".

The GDR used its right to request one parliamentary investigation per session to demand the probe, which must be formally approved by the parliament's defence committee.

In the text written by Mereana Reid Arbelot, a French Polynesian member of parliament, the blasts "had numerous consequences: They relate to health, the economy, society and the environment".

She also called for a "full account" of the consequences and added that the group wanted to "shed light" on how testing sites were first chosen in the 1950s.

Reid Arbelot stressed that those decisions inflicted "trauma on the civilian and military populations" of the islanders.

Calls for compensation

The GDR maintains that Paris' claims about how much radiation people were exposed to at the time of the tests are contested among scientists and should be revised.



Read more on RFI English



Read also:

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France will soon be able to supply Ukraine with 78 Caesar howitzers and has boosted its production of artillery rounds to meet Kyiv's most urgent needs, the Associated Press (AP) reported on March 26, citing French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu.

In January, Lecornu presented a plan for Kyiv, Paris, and other allies to jointly finance 78 Caesar howitzers for Ukraine. Speaking at a news conference on March 26, the minister said that France, Ukraine, and Denmark reached an agreement that will enable Paris to "quickly deliver" the artillery systems.

Separately, France had already delivered 30 Caesar artillery systems to Ukraine as part of earlier deliveries.

According to the French minister, his country also plans to deliver 80,000 155 mm artillery shells to Ukraine in 2024, a considerable increase from 30,000 rounds last year.

"In 2024, we will be able to reach the objective of 100,000 155mm shells, including 80,000 for Ukraine and 20,000 for the needs of our own army," Lecornu said at a press conference.

Paris is also contributing to the Czech-led initiative to purchase shells for Ukraine from outside the EU, Lecornu added. Czech President Petr Pavel presented the initiative in February, saying that some 800,000 shells could be purchased and sent to Ukraine if allies provide financing.

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky later told Bloomberg that the number of shells the initiative could potentially supply could go as high as 1.5 million.

Ukraine has been facing increasingly severe ammunition shortages in recent months, contributing to the loss of a key front-line city of Avdiivka in February. The EU has delivered 500,000 shells by March, half of the original pledged number, promising to supply the rest by the end of 2024.

The U.S. provided some artillery rounds in its recent $300 million defense package but additional aid from Washington remains effectively blocked as a $60 billion aid bill remains stuck in Congress.

Read also: Macron: Russias war against Ukraine existential for France, Europe

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KYODO NEWS - Mar 26, 2024 - 22:32 | World, All, Japan

North Korea on Tuesday rejected any further contact or negotiations with Japan and said a floated summit meeting between leader Kim Jong Un and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is of no concern to it, according to state-run media.

Kim Yo Jong, sister of the North Korean leader, clarified Pyongyang's stance in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, a day after Tokyo rejected her call to drop its insistence on the return of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s.

The sister, who is a senior official in the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, criticized Japan for "clinging to the unattainable issues which can never be settled," referring to the abduction issue.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, Japan's top government spokesman, on Monday called that stance "totally unacceptable."

In a statement Monday, Kim Yo Jong revealed that Kishida had conveyed his wish to meet Kim Jong Un "as soon as possible."

Asked about Kim Yo Jong's latest statement, Kishida told reporters on Tuesday evening that Japan will "continue its efforts" to tackle various issues concerning North Korea but added he would refrain from reacting to all of her remarks.

Kim Yo Jong said in February that a visit by Kishida to Pyongyang would be possible if Japan does not make the abduction of its nationals an obstacle, according to KCNA. Tokyo officially lists a total of 17 Japanese nationals as abductees.

Japan "knocked at the door first," requesting a bilateral summit "without preconditions," she said Tuesday. Pyongyang only clarified its stance that Tokyo would be welcome "if it is ready to make a new start, not being obsessed by the past," she added.

North Korea has "clearly understood once again the attitude of Japan" and concluded that it will "pay no attention" to it, adding that a summit is likewise "not a matter of concern."

The sister also claimed Japan's policy of trying to address North Korea's nuclear and missile development programs in addition to the abduction issue is an attempt to "interfere in and take issue with the exercise of sovereignty" belonging to Pyongyang's "legitimate self-defense."

Referring to the slumping approval ratings for Kishida's Cabinet, she said the prime minister's bid to meet with Kim Jong Un should be regarded as "politically motivated," insisting bilateral relations "should not be used for the political calculation" of the Japanese leader.

Japan and North Korea have no official diplomatic ties. 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.

Related coverage:

Japan PM Kishida conveys intent to meet North Korea's Kim: KCNA
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO)  On March 17, 44-year-old Emily Christine Steinhoff James was shot and killed. Police in North Carolina say that she was shot by the father of her sisters 14-month-old child.

Emily Steinhoff had reportedly accompanied her sister to pick up the child who had spent the weekend with the father.

Now, Emily is being remembered by people in different cities, half a nation apart.

KELOLAND News has spoken with a number of people who knew Emily through a very accomplished, if too short, life. Her adopted father, Daryl Steinhoff, spoke briefly with KELOLAND by phone, outlining the progression of Emilys adult life; serving in the military, getting her law degree, working as an attorney for the V.A. and the Minnehaha County Public Defenders Office before starting her own practice.

Voting starts for city, school board election: What to know

Following this, Emily moved to North Carolina to be closer to family, went to Duke for a nursing degree, met her husband, had a child and became a fixture in the community.

Emily Steinhoff, courtesy of Sheena Steinhoff

Emilys sister-in-law, Sheena Steinhoff shared her memories. Steinhoff moved out to North Carolina in the early 2000s to live with her boyfriend (Emilys brother) Ryan. At the time, Ryan was living with his sister Emily, who had just ended a five-and-a-half-year stint in the military.

Thats kind of where our story started, Steinhoff said. When asked about Emilys personality, she said there is one word that really stands out. I could keep just saying love, but that was Emily, she said. She always let you know how loved you were  when you were with her, you were the center of the world.

Steinhoff at one point described Emily as a person who filled people up. This was a characterization that echoed through conversations with others who knew her.

Appellate court upholds Sioux Falls conviction

After getting her law degree, Emily moved home to Sioux Falls and eventually wound up working as a public defender. Traci Smith at the Public Defenders Office still remembers her, now more than a decade after they last worked together.

She worked here in the early 2000s, said Smith. She had a lot of energy. Really cared about her clients and was just very compassionate.

One thing that Smith recalled in particular was the amount of empathy that Emily had. Its not surprising that she would be somebody that people would reach out to if they needed help, she said.

Pictures of Emily doing work in her community, courtesy Traci Smith

Pictures of Emily doing work in her community, courtesy Traci Smith

The community of attorneys, and especially public defenders, is a small one in South Dakota. Once a public defender, always a public defender, said Smith. You still stay in touch on social media and you still stay in touch that way.

Despite the fact that Emily moved out of state and was no longer practicing law, Smith said she didnt really fade from memory in the South Dakota legal community. Her name was still someone that when you hear her name  everybody still remembers each other, she said.

Smith remembers Emily as a big voice in the community for those in need. Shes not the only attorney in town who remembers her.

Dick Johnson is another Sioux Falls attorney and a friend of Emilys adopted father. I knew Daryl really well and so I think that I got to know Emily kind of through Daryl, he said.

Johnson spoke to Emilys accomplishments. She got a JD  a law degree  and then she also had an RN too. I would say she had a lot of energy and determination, he said.

Emilys death is a tragedy, says Johnson, for a woman who worked so hard. She was an accomplished lawyer  she had the determination and drive  she worked herself up, she joined the armed services, she went to college, she went to law school and she became an attorney largely through her own efforts and her own drive, she said.

This drive of Emilys was evident to Sheena Steinhoff too. Emily always went above and beyond in literally everything she did, she said.

Emilys death now leaves behind a large community of those who will miss her, spanning the 1,000 miles from Sioux Falls to Raleigh, N.C., and likely beyond. That community includes those KELOLAND talked to today, and also her husband, Chris, and their young child, Miles.

A fundraiser to support Emilys family in this time has been set up, and a celebration of her life will be held on Wednesday, March 27 at The Fountain of Raleigh Fellowship. A family visitation will begin at 11 a.m., followed by a noon funeral service.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
Gladiator filmmaker Sir Ridley Scott was pictured speaking to police officers behind yellow tape after reportedly being unable to access his Los Angeles home on Monday (25 March).

The Oscar-nominated director, 86, lives in the same neighbourhood as Sean Diddy Combs, 54, whose homes were raided yesterday in connection with a federal sex trafficking investigation.

A statement from Homeland Security said law enforcement actions had been executed as part of an ongoing investigation with assistance from HSI Los Angeles, HSI Miami and our local law enforcement partners.

Combss Los Angeles mansion is in the upmarket Holmby Hills area, near Bel Air and Beverly Hills, where previous residents include Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand and Michael Jackson.

In paparazzi photos published by TMZ, the outlet said Sir Ridley appeared seriously frustrated as police taped off the street near Combss home.

The images show the Napoleon director winding down his car window to speak to someone and then standing on the street speaking to an officer.

Ridley Scott (Getty Images for Sony Pictures UK)

Sir Ridleys representatives did not immediately respond to The Independents request for comment.

Another of Combss properties in Miami Beach, Florida, was also raided on Monday. Lawyers for the rapper and music mogul responded on Tuesday saying there was no excuse for the hostility shown by authorities towards Combss children and staff members at the two properties.

His lawyer Aaron Dyer said: Yesterday, there was a gross overuse of military-level force as search warrants were executed at Mr Combs residences.

There is no excuse for the excessive show of force and hostility exhibited by authorities or the way his children and employees were treated.

Law enforcement rides a vehicle near a property belonging to Sean Diddy Combs on Monday, 25 March, 2024. (AP/Getty)

The criminal investigation is a major escalation in the scrutiny of Combs, who has been the defendant in several sexual abuse lawsuits in recent months. Speculation as to his whereabouts has circulated since the raids.

In February, Combs  who is credited with helping launch the careers of artists including Biggie Smalls, Mary J Blige and Usher  was accused of sexual assault by a male music producer who claimed the rapper forced him to sleep with sex workers.

In November of last year, Combss former partner, Casandra Cassie Ventura filed a lawsuit in which she claimed she was trafficked, raped and beaten by the rapper on numerous occasions over the course of 10 years.

Venturas lawsuit was settled a day after she filed it for an undisclosed amount of money.

Another of Diddys accusers is a woman who alleges that he raped her two decades ago, when she was 17 years old.

Combs vehemently denied the allegations. In a statement in December, he called the claims sickening and said his accusers were looking for a quick payday.

Let me be absolutely clear: I did not do any of the awful things being alleged, he said in a statement. I will fight for my name, my family and for the truth.

See all the allegations made against Combs here.
U.S. special services warned Moscow about the preparation and threat of a terrorist attack in Russia, but this information was "general," claimed Alexander Bortnikov, the head of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), on March 26.

Moscow allegedly carried out "actions" against "specific groups and specific individuals," but the information "was not confirmed at the time," according to Bortnikov.

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.

Ahead of the attack, the U.S. Embassy in Russia issued a warning on March 7 that "extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow" and urged American citizens to stay away from crowded areas and venues over the next 48 hours. The U.K., Canada, Germany, and several other countries published similar statements soon after.

"This is information (from the U.S.) of a general nature  about the preparation of a terrorist act in places of mass gathering of citizens. We reacted to this information and, of course, took appropriate measures to prevent such manifestations," Bortnikov told the journalists, Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti reported.

Hours after the attack, Putin attempted to connect the attack to Kyiv, claiming that the detained suspects planned to flee to Ukraine. Later, he recognized that the terrorist attack "was committed by radical Islamists" but still alleged that Ukraine was to blame without providing evidence.

The White House said there was no indication that Ukraine was behind the Moscow attack.

A court in Moscow charged four men, all of whom are citizens of Tajikistan, with committing an act of terrorism on March 24. The next day, the court ordered three more suspects into pre-trial detention for their alleged involvement in the terrorist attack.

Read also: Russias response to terrorist attack, alleged torture of suspects, follows pattern of abuse in Ukraine

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The Russian Federal Security Bureau (FSB) claimed it prevented a so-called "terrorist attack" by a Russian anti-Kremlin militia member in Russia's Samara Oblast on March 26.

According to the FSB, the man, a Russian citizen, was a member of the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK), one of three anti-Kremlin militias that launched raids into Russia from Ukraine in mid-March.

The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify the FSB's claim.

In a press conference last week, representatives of the groups said their goal was to "open a second front" and ease pressure on Ukrainian troops on the Kupiansk axis, with fighters "stabilizing the front" and "easing the pressure of Russian troops in certain areas."

The FSB claimed the man, who it claimed was "operating under the patronage of the Ukrainian special services," had made a bomb and was planning to detonate it at a "humanitarian aid reception point."

The man was allegedly killed by his own bomb while being arrested.

After the deadly terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall in Moscow last week, the Kremlin has made a concerted effort to tie the atrocity to Ukraine despite Islamic State (IS) taking responsibility and releasing bodycam footage.

During a speech on March 25, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the terrorist attack in the 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."

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.

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.
Russia is defying U.N. sanctions by supplying North Korea with oil, likely in exchange for weapons, the Financial Times (FT) reported on March 26.

According to satellite images seen by FT and the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), North Korean tankers have been sailing to and from the Vostochny Port in Russias Far East with their tracking responders disabled since March 7.

Pyongyang is subject to a strict cap on oil transfers, imposed by the U.N. Security Council in 2017 after a series of nuclear weapons tests.

Hugh Griffiths, a former co-ordinator of the U.N. panel that monitors sanctions on North Korea, told the FT: These oil deliveries constitute a full-frontal assault against the sanctions regime, which is now on the brink of collapse.

What we can see now is a clear arms-for-oil bartering arrangement in open contravention of sanctions that (Russian President) Vladimir Putin signed off on personally, illustrating Russias trajectory in recent years from international spoiler to outlaw state.

North Korea has been shaping up as Russia's leading weapons supplier, reportedly providing Moscow with extensive military packages, including ballistic missiles and over 3 million artillery shells.

There has been at least 10 cases of Russia using North Korean missiles to strike Ukraine, said Jung Pak, the U.S. Senior Official for North Korea, as reported by the Voice of America (VoA) on March 18.

One of the first cases of Russia using North Korean ballistic missiles was recorded on Dec. 30, 2023, during an attack on Zaporizhzhia, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) wrote.

Later on, Russia's use of North Korean missiles was officially confirmed in the attack on Kharkiv on Jan. 2.

Two other cases of the launch of North Korean missiles at Kharkiv Oblast are currently being investigated, according to the local prosecutor's office.

Read also: Russia aims to knock out Ukraines power grid in new wave of attacks

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MASSAPEQUA PARK, N.Y. (PIX11)  Funeral arrangements have been set for NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller, who was shot and killed in the line of duty in Queens on Monday.

The funeral service for Diller will be held at Saint Rose of Lima R.C. Church in Massapequa at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday. Diller will be interred at Saint Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale.

Procession escorts fallen NYPD officer to Long Island funeral home

Visitations will be held at multiple times on Thursday and Friday ahead of the funeral. The visitations will take place at Massapequa Funeral Home from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on both days.

Diller, 31, was shot and killed while conducting a traffic stop in Far Rockaway.

NYPD officer shot, killed in Queens leaves behind wife, baby

He put himself in harms way. He went towards the danger, all to keep the people we serve safe and to protect his fellow New Yorkers, NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban said.

Diller, a member of the NYPDs Community Response Team, was a three-year veteran of the department. He was a husband and a father to a young child.

Our hero police officer confronted this dangerous individual knowing that he was putting himself at risk, knowing that he had a family waiting for him at home. But he did it to protect the people of this city, and we need every single New Yorker to be with this family, said New York City Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry.

A GoFundMe page was started for Dillers family. So far, its raised more than $130,000.

Diller was shot after he and another officer stopped a vehicle that was illegally parked at a bus stop, according to police. Dillers partner then shot the suspect, who remains hospitalized.

Diller is the first NYPD officer to be killed in the line of duty since 2022, when officers Wilbert Mora and Jason Rivera were ambushed and killed in Harlem.

Finn Hoogensen is a digital journalist who has covered local news for more than five years. He has been with PIX11 News since 2022. See more of his work here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
Brian "Bubba" Thurn, a longtime Loring Park resident, has had a tradition on snowy days after work  gather up a bunch of neighbors, and trudge to through the evening snow for a hang at the 19 Bar. Even nasty weather didn't keep the smokers off the back patio, Thurn recalled.

Not this week. The 19 Bar, one of the first gay bars to open in Minneapolis and one of the oldest continuously open establishments of its kind in the United States, is closed until further notice after a fire last weekend. The manager said he's not sure when it will re-open.

"It was just a cool, laid back place," Thurn said. "That was like my second living room."

The bar caught fire Saturday when a garbage truck hit a telephone pole power line, which fell and landed on part of the building.

The pole hit a gas pipe that sent sparks and a surge through the entire bar. The sparks created black smoke that filled the bar. The daytime bartender was able to get out, said bar manager Craig Wilson. The fire department put out the fire and no injuries were reported, he said.

Wilson said the owner is committed to repairing, rebuilding and re-opening the bar. Still, he said, "we're out of a job and we don't know for what kind of timeframe. Whether it's two months or a year, I don't know. I can't answer that at this point."

A post on the bar's Facebook page said simply: "Unfortunately, with love, everyone is 86d until further notice," it said.

Its future uncertain, regulars remembered the 19 as a neighborhood-first kind of place, both unpretentious and a safe space. Fridays and Saturdays brought people from beyond Loring Park, and it's been an unofficial headquarters of sorts during Twin Cities Pride celebrations in nearby Loring Park.

But Thurn will remember those chill weekday happy hours the best  a place where all people, gay and straight, can feel welcome. Thurn, who uses they/them pronouns, said it remained a welcoming place even after they quit drinking.

The inconspicuous bar opened in 1952, and in 1957 new owners officially turned it into one of the city's first gay bars. That was still more than a decade before the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City unofficially kicked off the modern gay rights movement. Like many gay bars of its era, the 19 Bar has never had windows.

"That was started to keep identities closeted when the times weren't how they are now," Thurn said. "We had to kind of be in hiding."

Thurn created one of two fundraisers to support those hit hardest by the bar's loss: 19 Bar's eight employees.

Bartender Jodie Novak said this year's Pride weekend will mark her ninth anniversary working at 19 Bar. She said she's been heartened to see so much support from industry colleagues like upcoming benefits at fellow gay bar The Saloon on April 7, and another Palmer's Bar on April 21, as well as donations from longtime patrons.

"I am just so appreciative of all the support we've gotten from everybody. Everybody who's given us money, who's doing benefits, who has reached out with a kind word of support," Novak said. "It's nice to hear that people love us and miss us and can't wait for us to be back."
An Augusta man is behind bars after investigators said he blamed his babys severe head injuries on the familys Chihuahua.

Richmond County sheriffs deputies said Khalil Basket and Hannah Nichols brought their daughter to an Augusta area hospital on March 7, complaining the infant was having seizures.

After doing an x-ray, doctors found the child had bleeding on the brain, multiple broken ribs, and a broken collar bone.

Basket said he was home alone with the child when he left the baby in a swing to go use the bathroom. He told investigators that he threw a toy for their Chihuahua to get it, when it jumped on the swing.

TRENDING STORIES:

Soon after, Basket said the baby girl began refusing to eat and started throwing up.

Hannah said she had gone to karaoke the night of the incident. The mother said a couple of days after, she noticed that the baby having short bursts of painful crying, started twitching, and still wouldnt eat without throwing up.

Thats when Hannan said she got a hold of her grandmother and took the baby to the hospital.

According to the incident report, DFCS was called in to investigate.

Basket was arrested on March 10 and has been charged with cruelty to children and aggravated assault.

IN OTHER NEWS:
An abandoned textile mill in Gaston County was recently added to the National Register of Historic Places, according to a press release from the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Sitting on more than three acres of land at 300 Woodlawn Avenue in Mount Holly, Woodlawn Mill played an integral role in the citys textile industry in the 1900s.

Heres a run-down of the mills life including a timeline and some historical insight according to documents from the National Register of Historical Places.

Timeline

1905

In 1905, Mount Holly native Charles E. Hutchison started the Woodlawn manufacturing company, and enlisted the help of Stuart W. Cramer in designing a single-story brick textile manufacturing plant and 25 mill houses for employees.

The original electrically powered plant and mill houses were completely finished in 1907, but the mill would acquire several additions in later years.

1907

The transformer house that powered the mill was built in 1907.

1930s

Beginning in the 1930s, the original 350-foot-long mill building was enlarged and expanded primarily on its north and south elevations, the document said.

In 1937, A one-story brick addition that conformed to the height and width of the 1907 building was erected on the south elevation of the mill, replacing the original nine-bay elevation, according to the document.

The new addition was used as a warping and winding room, as well as a space to pack and ship finished cloth.

Also in 1937, a block of three adjoining restroom bays were added to the main mills facade south of the tower.

1940s

In 1941 a brick twisting room was added to the building, extending at an angle from the southwest corner of the 1937 addition. The twisting room housed machinery used to twist yarn to increase its strength and reduce breakage.

1950s

In 1953, a brick office wing was built on the east side of the 1937 addition.

The interior of the office wing includes four offices, a restroom and a conference room.

A one-story cotton warehouse also built in the '50s remains at the north end of the mill site and is connected to the rest of the facility by a concrete loading platform.

According to the document, a second warehouse stood on the south side of the poured concrete fire wall that separated the two buildings but was demolished around 2020 due to extensive water damage and deterioration.

In 1959, American & Efird sold the Woodlawn plant to Kimberly Yarn Mills, which was subsequently acquired by Fieldcrest Mills, Inc., in 1963. The name of the mill was changed to Mount Holly Spinning, and under Fieldcrests ownership, the company modernized the mill, replacing wood posts with steel, installing a new air-conditioning system, and bricking in the windows, the document said.

1960s

A concrete block packing and shipping room constructed in 1963, according to the document.

1970s

In this decade, the final addition was constructed on the north side of the waste room for a cotton waste machinery and a maintenance shop.

Beyond

According to the document, Woodlawn continued to manufacture textiles until 2002, when Kimberly Yarn Mills shut it down amidst the widespread closings of cotton mills throughout the region.

The mill was used for general storage for some time before becoming completely vacant.

In 2014 the Historic Preservation Foundation of North Carolina purchased Woodlawn Mill and sold it to its current owner Lehigh Holdings, LLC, in 2016 with protective preservation covenants of future redevelopment and reuse of the mill, the document said.

Historical insight

Woodlawn Mill originally contained 5,200 spindles to produce medium-count, carded cotton yarn, but that number quickly doubled to 10,000 and Hutchinsons business was growing.

In following years, Hutchison became one of the county's leading textile men, owning six of ten mills in Mount Holly, and in 1920, becoming the first textile magnate to consolidate all of his plants into one corporation, creating the American Yarn and Processing Company, according to the document.

Of the six original American Yarn and Processing plants (the Hutchison Group of Mills), only the Woodlawn Mill and the Alsace Manufacturing Company (Mount Holly Cotton Mill) retain much of their early-twentieth-century form and design elements.

The design of textile mills in the area at that time was largely inspired by Romanesque German and Northern Italian architecture, the document said.

The changes in mill additions over the years also exemplify changes in technology.

The mid-twentieth century modernization of textile mills included improvements to the work environment, as well as technological changes that enhanced production and product quality. Advancements in air conditioning kept machinery from overheating and regulated humidity. Improved ventilation and humidity control helped clear the air of lint, fumes, and dust and created more pliable yarn. Interior walls were painted pastel colors to brighten workspaces, and upgraded industrial lighting distributed light more evenly through the plant, the document said.

One example of the change over the years is that added rooms had less windows because air conditioning became less efficient in rooms with large windows.

This relatively well-preserved cotton mill represents the rise of the textile industry in Mount Holly and Gaston County, North Carolina, between the late nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries, the document said. . Today, the Woodlawn Mill is one of only two Mount Holly mills to remain substantially intact, retaining key historical elements of design and construction to represent the importance of the industry to the local economy.

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Gaston County mill added to the National Register of Historic Places
The already tense relationship between the U.S. and Israel further deteriorated Monday with the passage of the United Nations Security Council cease-fire resolution, prompting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel a high-level delegation meant to travel to Washington this week.

Netanyahu and his radical right-wing coalition were roiled after the U.S. abstained from a vote of the U.N. Security Council proposal calling for a cease-fire in Gaza during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, allowing the measure to pass. The Israeli prime minister in recent weeks has also publicly seethed over what he says is a bid by the White House and congressional Democrats to kneecap his political standing inside his own country.

White House spokesperson John Kirby said the White House was disappointed and perplexed by Netanyahus response but tried to play down the rift, insisting that the countries relationship has not hit a new low and that U.S. policy had not changed.

These are two leaders who have known each other for going on now four decades, and they havent in the past agreed on everything and they dont agree on everything right now, Kirby said.

But Israels reaction reflects an ever-growing divide between the two steadfast allies, a relationship that already soured ahead of a planned Israeli offensive into Gazas southernmost city Rafah, a military move American officials have warned against.

The canceled delegation was intended to discuss Israels plans for Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians are sheltering after a brutal Israeli air and ground campaign forced tens of thousands of people to flee northern parts of the enclave. White House officials have said that a ground invasion of the city without an accepted plan would create a humanitarian disaster.

We think that a ground invasion, especially without any type of credible plan, is a mistake, given the large number of people, displaced people that are there at the moment, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters Monday. There are ways to go about addressing the threat of Hamas while also taking into account civilian safety.

But after the U.S. declined to veto the U.N. Security Council resolution  which also called for the immediate release of all of the more than 130 hostages Hamas had taken  Netanyahus office released a statement calling Washingtons abstention a clear retreat from its previous position and one that would hurt efforts to fight Hamas in Gaza and free hostages.

As a consequence, the Israeli delegation meant to discuss Rafah would not go to Washington, he added.

Far-right elements of Israels government also released testy responses, with Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir calling the U.N. vote proof that President Biden is not prioritizing Israel and the free worlds victory over terrorism, but rather his own political considerations, as reported by The New York Times.

But the U.S., which had previously vetoed three other resolutions calling for a cease-fire, rejected those claims.

The prime ministers office seems to be indicating through public statements that we somehow changed here. We havent, Kirby said at the White House daily briefing Monday. 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.

And State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller called the withdrawn delegation surprising and unfortunate, seeing as the United States had ahead notified Israels government they were planning to abstain from voting on the resolution.

Multiple outlets reported that the White House told Netanyahus aides in discussions Sunday that the U.S. abstention wasnt a change in policy.

Both Kirby and Miller also repeatedly stressed to reporters that the resolution is non-binding.

Still, Washingtons choice is the most pointed action to date at the U.N. against Israel, which Biden and other top U.S. officials have said needs to do more to prevent civilian casualties and allow more aid into Gaza since the start of the war in October.

American officials believe Netanyahus public displeasure with the U.S. is manufactured for domestic purposes, Axios reported, citing unnamed U.S. officials.

All of that is self-defeating. The Prime Minister could have chosen a different course  to align with the U.S. on the meaning of this resolution. He chose not to, apparently for political purposes, a U.S. official told the outlet.

Several U.S. lawmakers on Monday also took a dig at Israels decision to forego talks, with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) tweeting that Netanyahu is not so upset that hell turn down $3.3B in taxpayer dollars to fund his immoral war, referring to the annual lethal aid the U.S. provides the country.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is already in Washington and is still expected to meet with national security adviser Jake Sullivan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, according to the White House.

Ryder also confirmed that Austin and Gallants meeting is still on the books. The two are expected to meet at the Pentagon to discuss the release of the hostages, Israeli operations in Gaza and the need to ensure the safety of civilians sheltering in Rafah, he said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
KYODO NEWS - Mar 26, 2024 - 14:05 | All, Japan

The Japanese government on Tuesday warned domestic companies about contracting North Korean IT workers posing as Japanese nationals to earn cash, as it is suspected they are using the proceeds in such cases to fund Pyongyang's ballistic missile and nuclear weapons development programs.

Individuals and companies found to be offering work to such people could be in violation of domestic laws, including the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act, as U.N. sanctions demand that member states ensure Pyongyang's access to financial resources for developing weapons of mass destruction is thwarted, the government said in a warning statement.

The statement, jointly released by the National Police Agency, Foreign Ministry, Finance Ministry and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, follows similar guidance issued by the United States and South Korea in October.

"Cases (of North Korean workers posing as Japanese nationals) have also been confirmed in Japan and the threat is increasing," said a senior official of the agency.

According to the statement, North Korean tech workers disguise their identities or use a relative already residing in Japan to register with websites that connect freelance IT workers with tech companies.

Many of the North Korean nationals who take on the contracted work carry out their tasks and earn their wages while based in China or Russia. They tend to refrain from taking part in video conferences, frequently switch bank accounts to receive compensation and speak unnatural Japanese, according to the statement.

On March 6, police in Japan arrested the president of an IT company in Hiroshima Prefecture on suspicion of illicitly receiving unemployment benefits and are looking into the possibility that the president was offering work to a North Korean national.

In 2022, a North Korean tech worker using the name of an acquaintance was found to be taking on work offered by the Hyogo prefectural government to fix a smartphone app that provides disaster-related information, police said.

The statement cited a U.N. expert panel report in March that found North Korea was dispatching IT workers overseas. The report said that workers were using false identities to win contracts so that they could generate revenue to finance North Korea's missile and nuclear weapons development programs.

Related coverage:

Japan's $290 billion defense spending plan still insufficient: experts

U.S. backs Japan's bid to engage with North Korea: senior diplomat

U.S. imposes sanctions on virtual currency mixer over North Korea links
The Gazprom-controlled Sakhalin Project company has acquired a 27.45% stake in the operator of the Sakhalin-2 project, previously owned by Shell, for about US$1 billion.

Source: Reuters

Details: It is noted that previously the relevant share of Sakhalin Energy belonged to the UK-Dutch company Shell, and Novatek planned to buy it.

However, the Russian government, without explanation, officially cancelled its order from a year ago to sell the stake to Novatek, a competitor of Gazprom.

"The Russian government said late on Monday that the 27.5% stake in Sakhalin Energy is due to be sold to a company called Sakhalin Project for 94.8 billion roubles ($1.02 billion)," Reuters said.

As early as 2022, Shell representatives argued that there was a risk that Russia would nationalise foreign assets, as Russian leader Putin had repeatedly stated that Moscow would retaliate against the US and its allies for freezing Russian assets and other sanctions.

In June 2022, the Sakhalin-2 operator company was transformed into a Russian entity by Putins decree.

Shell, as well as Mitsui and Mitsubishi, were then asked to keep their stakes if they wanted to.

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Georgia has two of the busiest seaports in the country: Savannah and Brunswick.

Brunswick is the nations second-busiest auto port, just behind Baltimore.

With the port of Baltimore shut down, some ships could be diverted to the Georgia coast.

On Monday, Gov. Brian Kemp called for a deeper shipping channel at the Port of Savannah. And thats not the only port improvement on the horizon.

The Georgia Ports Authority said the Eugene Talmadge Memorial Bridge isnt tall enough.

Built in 1991, it gives cargo ships 185 feet of clearance. Thats too low for ever-bigger ships passing beneath, so the state plans to lift the bridge by 20 feet.

Anita Bruce lives in the area.

Theyre pretty close to the top. It can be scary at times watching them go under the bridge, Bruce told Channel 2s Bryan Mims.

So lifting the bridge would be a good thing? he asked Bruce.

They need to lift the bridge, yeah, Bruce said.

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I think one of the things weve identified in Savannah is that cargo ships will come loaded a lot heavier in larger container ships, state Sen. Derek Mallow said.

The Georgia Department of Transportation said most of the work, set to begin next year, can be done without closing the bridge.

In the wake of the Baltimore bridge collapse, the Georgia Ports Authority sent Mims a written statement about the safety of the states two seaports.

The agency says the Talmadge Bridge has no support columns in the shipping channel.

Savannah Port Pilots have an excellent safety record handling 45 ships a week and 2,000 ships in fiscal year 2023.

Because this is a river port, Savannah Port Pilots take special precautions bringing ships in and out of the port, including the use of two to three tugs.

The authority said the Port of Brunswick has safely navigated more than 600 ships in fiscal year 23.

The Sydney Lanier bridge, it said, has two acres of rocks around each of its support columns for protection.

As for Savannahs Talmadge Bridge, the state has a long-term plan to replace it with a higher bridge -- or a tunnel.

Its necessary. The ships are getting bigger. There are more containers to come in, said Whit Campbell, who lives in the area.

A spokesperson for the Georgia Ports Authority said some customers have reached out about using Georgias ports while Baltimore is shut down.

Most inquiries have involved vehicle cargo at the Port of Brunswick.

RELATED NEWS:
Annalena Baerbock, German Foreign Minister, gives a press statement on the terrace of the German Embassy in Tel Aviv. Christoph Soeder/dpa

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has personally inspected the situation at the Kerem Shalom border crossing in southern Israel in view of the low levels of aid supplies reaching the civilian population in the Gaza Strip.

Baerbock was informed by the director of the facility about how lorries loaded with relief supplies, including food and medicine, are processed at a huge check-in area, which is divided by high concrete walls.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza is disastrous as Palestinians in the sealed-off coastal area lack basic necessities such as food, water and medicine. The United Nations has warned of an imminent famine, with around 1.1 million people in the densely populated Gaza Strip in a desperate situation.

The Kerem Shalom border crossing is located in the immediate vicinity of the Egyptian border. It was closed after the terrorist attack by Palestinian extremist organization Hamas on Israel on October 7 and reopened for humanitarian aid deliveries on December 17.

Due to protests by families of victims and radical Israeli settlers who wanted to prevent aid deliveries, the area around the border crossing was declared a restricted military area at the end of January.

An average of 120 lorries with relief supplies are processed every day. Before October 7, around 500 lorry loads reached the Gaza Strip daily, more than 300 of them via Kerem Shalom.

The lorries were carrying relief supplies from the World Food Programme (WFP), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the children's aid organization Save the Children.

Baerbock and her delegation were the first foreign guests at ministerial level to be allowed access to Kerem Shalom by the Israeli authorities after October 7.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (C) visits the Kerem Shalom border crossing to the Gaza Strip on the Israeli side. Christoph Soeder/dpa-Pool/dpa
Its the first day of your vacation on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus.

You arrive at Bedis Beach, overlooking the cool blue water, and lay down your towel to claim the perfect spot.

Its hot, the sun is beating down and you decide to wade into the water to cool down.

As you step closer to the waves, you see something on the sand. Its almost 5 inches long and has pinchers protruding from its hardened body.

Then it scurries toward you  and goes straight for your toes.

Researchers have put Cyprus beachgoers on high alert after swimmers discovered giant water bugs on the island for the first time, according to a study published in December in the journal Travaux du Museum National dHistoire Naturelle Grigore Antipa.

The water bugs, also known as toe biter bugs, are native to nations surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, including Greece, Turkey and Israel, but have been absent from Cyprus shores, according to a March 20 news release in Pensoft.

That was until a few years ago when swimmers, tourists and locals started to post sightings of the bugs on social media, according to the release.

Locals began posting images and videos of the bugs on social media, asking what they might be, researchers said.

Lethocerus patruelis, giant water bugs or electric light bugs, are the largest bug in the heteroptera family, the researchers said, and are known for maintaining a predatory lifestyle.

They regularly prey on a variety of organisms such as invertebrates, fish, turtles and even birds, according to the study.

They are also unique in that once a female lays eggs along the water, the male of the species cares for them, a rare behavior among animals, the researchers said.

The first sighting of the bug in Cyprus was posted to a Facebook group called Biodiversity of Cyprus in 2021, and it was quickly followed by photos from others who had visited the same beach on the eastern coast of the island and saw the bug, the researchers said.

A total of seven sightings were eventually recorded, five from social media, and two after communications between local naturalists and the authors team, according to the study. Out of the seven records, we managed to acquire two individuals for a thorough morphological examination.

The giant water bugs can grow to more than 5 inches in length and likely flew over to the island from the Mediterranean mainland, the study said.

The bugs were spotted along the east coast of Cyprus, the side halfway between Israel and Turkey, the researchers said.

They were also primarily found dead, or died soon after being captured, the researchers said, which suggests they probably flew to Cyprus from the neighboring mainland.

The specimens landed exhausted on the shoreline, according to the study, or in some cases in the sea, which could indicate that they were transferred by wind or sea currents from nearby countries.

The researchers didnt find any of the bugs when they searched nearby waterways, suggesting the bug has not yet made a home on the island. But, because so many arrived in a short period of time, the possibility of the water bugs starting a population on Cyprus is not out of the question, the researchers said.

The bugs have not yet made a permanent home on the island, but it is a possibility, the study researchers said.

The bug is referred to as a vicious hunter and has a reputation of inflicting very painful bites when handled carelessly, according to the release. Researchers warn a resident population of the bug could cause issues for beaches and coastlines heavily populated by locals and tourists alike.

Naturalists looking for alien-like critters can provide valuable information on the presence and a possible establishment of the species through citizen science, the researchers said in the release. Cypriots should keep their eyes open and their toes out of the water.

Cyprus is an island nation in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Part of the divided island is independent while part, the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, is solely recognized by Turkey. The eastern coastline and Bedis Beach, where the insects were found, fall under the Turkish-controlled region.

Family stumbles onto huge alligator chomping prey at Texas beach. That is a brute

Elusive creature is spotted in rare sighting  then is seen two more times in days

Dusky rose creature bought in Philippines market  and discovered as new species

Reddish sea creature  with over 70 feet  found by a submarine. Its a new species
Bike park bosses fear they may have to close the leisure facility due to a 460m "missing link" road project.

The National Highways project on the A417 between Gloucester and Cirencester will now be implemented ahead of an agreed schedule.

FlyUp 417 bike park has said this would leave their site uninsurable, despite assurances from the Transport Minister.

In a statement, National Highways said it is working "closely" with the business to "address any concerns".

The scheme will see a new dual carriageway built to replace an accident hotspot.

The work will start in March close to the Air Balloon roundabout.

Transport Minister and Forest of Dean MP Mark Harper said he is confident a solution can be found.

"They're definitely not going to have to close," he said.

"There is a small part of their business that will be needed but I know that National Highways has been working very closely with them.

"I hope we can reach a mutually satisfactory solution for them and I'll continue working with their member of parliament on this issue."

Lucy Booth, whose 14-year-old son uses the site, said a closure would be devastating.

"It is a place where he feels safe, he feels seen, he feels heard," she said.

"He's supported brilliantly by the staff that are there.

"We would be so sad to see it not be a facility that would be available, particularly for young people when there's not a lot out there at the moment for them."

'Important we preserve it'

Active Gloucestershire CEO Tom Beasley said it is important to have sites in the county which encourage healthy lifestyles.

"We cant afford to lose anything that contributes towards people's health and wellbeing in the county," he said.

"If we lose it it won't come back. It's really important we preserve it."

National Highways said it has agreed to delay the start of work on their land to allow for further discussions.

"We're working closely with FlyUp to address concerns," it said.

Follow BBC Gloucestershire on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.
By David Shepardson

NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. automakers General Motors and Ford will reroute affected shipments after a bridge collapse in the U.S. shuttered the Port of Baltimore, but the companies said on Tuesday the impact will be minimal.

"We expect the situation to have minimal impact to our operations. We are working to re-route any vehicle shipments to other ports," GM said in a statement.

The Port of Baltimore is the busiest U.S. port for car shipments, handling at least 750,000 vehicles in 2023, according to data from the Maryland Port Administration. Motor vehicles and parts accounted for 42% of all Baltimore port imports.

Rescuers have pulled out two survivors, one of whom remains hospitalized, and were searching for more in the Patapsco River after huge spans of the 1.6-mile (2.57 km) Francis Scott Key Bridge crumpled into the water.

Ford Chief Financial Officer John Lawler said the bridge collapse, which happened after a container ship smashed into the four-lane bridge early on Tuesday, will force the automaker to divert parts to other ports and impact its supply chain.

"It's going to have an impact," Lawler told Bloomberg News. "We'll have to divert parts to other ports... It will probably lengthen the supply chain a bit."

Ford told Reuters in a separate statement "where workarounds are necessary in the short term, our team has already secured shipping alternatives."

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg noted the large number of vehicles handled at the port and said officials were looking at significant impacts. "There is no question that this will be major and protracted impact to supply chains," Buttigieg said.

Stellantis said it is "initiating discussions with our various transportation providers on contingency plans to ensure an uninterrupted flow of vehicles to our customers."

Industry officials said it was too early to say what impact the accident will have on the auto sector.

"But there will certainly be a disruption," said John Bozzella, CEO of the auto trade group Alliance for Automotive Innovation. "Baltimore is the No. 1 automobile port in the U.S., and were in touch with federal officials to help them understand the scale of automotive operations there.

Breakwave Advisors managing partner John Kartsonas, a shipping analyst and investor, said Baltimore is a significant port for imports of consumer goods, cars and other imports.

"There are a lot of other areas that can pick up the slack like the New York Harbor and all the way down to Savannah, Georgia," he said in an email. "It will take a while for the situation to resolve and to begin operating normally again, so definitely there will be delays in deliveries of goods."

Other transportation companies reported no major impact.

"While Baltimore is not a primary port for our North American operations, there will be some impact, primarily on vehicle exports," Toyota said in a statement. "At this time, we do not anticipate a significant disruption, but we are evaluating the situation closely to determine the longer term impact and countermeasures.

Volkswagen Group of America said it was not impacted because its Baltimore facility is located on the easterly sea board of the bridge collapse, while Nissan said it did not expect significant impact at this time.

BMW said the car docks are located on the ocean side of the harbor, so there was no major impact expected as the bridge collapse will not affect ships. It added that land-side truck traffic would be rerouted.

Mercedes said the incident has had no impact on vehicle exports or the company's Tuscaloosa, Alabama, plant's parts supply, and it was monitoring the situation. It said it uses ports in Baltimore, as well as in Georgia and South Carolina, for vehicle imports.

Volvo Group, which makes trucks, construction equipment and engines, said it was looking over its inventory in its U.S. production facilities to see if and when there could be a disturbance in worst-case scenarios, adding it currently expected no huge impact.

(Reporting by David Shepardson in New York, Joseph White and Ben Klayman in Detroit, and Gilles Giullaume in Paris; Editing by Josie Kao)
NEW YORK (PIX11)  A GoFundMe has been started for Jonathan Diller, the NYPD officer who was shot and killed in Queens Monday evening.

Diller, 31, was a husband and a father to a young child. His death was described as a senseless act of violence, and Mayor Eric Adams called him a hero.

We lost Jonathan tonight. And Stephanie, his wife, I was speaking with her, was extremely impactful, Adams said during a briefing at the hospital Monday night.

Funeral set for fallen NYPD cop Jonathan Diller: Our hero police officer

The funeral service for Diller will be held at Saint Rose of Lima R.C. Church in Massapequa at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday. Diller will be interred at Saint Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale.

Visitations will be held multiple times on Thursday and Friday before the funeral. They will take place at Massapequa Funeral Home from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on both days.

Our hero police officer confronted this dangerous individual knowing that he was putting himself at risk, knowing that he had a family waiting for him at home. But he did it to protect the people of this city, and we need every single New Yorker to be with this family, said New York City Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry.

NYPD officer shot, killed in Queens leaves behind wife, baby

Diller was shot while conducting a traffic stop for a vehicle that was illegally parked at a bus stop in Far Rockaway, Queens around 5:50 p.m., police said. The passenger, Guy Rivera, was ordered to exit the vehicle, but police said he opened fire on Diller instead. He was rushed to a hospital but could not be saved.

Another officer who was with Diller shot Rivera in the back, police said. Rivera remained hospitalized Tuesday and charges were expected to be filed.

Diller is the first NYPD officer to be killed in the line of duty since 2022 when officers Wilbert Mora and Jason Rivera were ambushed and killed in Harlem.

You can donate to the GoFundMe here.

At the time this story was published, the GoFundMe had raised over $120,000. As of Wednesday morning, more than $260,000 had been donated.

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.
KYODO NEWS - Mar 26, 2024 - 20:55 | All, World

The U.S. and British governments on Monday accused China of carrying out extensive cyberattacks, imposing sanctions on two individuals and one company.

In a related development, the U.S. Justice Department said seven Chinese citizens, including the two, had been indicted for their involvement in a hacking group known as APT31 that engaged in an around 14-year operation that targeted government officials, companies, journalists, academics and others for sensitive information.

The sanctions were imposed on Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology Company Ltd., which according to the U.S. Treasury Department is a front company of the Chinese Ministry of State Security, as well as Zhao Guangzong and Ni Gaobin.

U.S. and British officials said the two are affiliated with the Wuhan-based company and the hacking group connected to the Chinese government.

The United States is offering a reward of up to $10 million for additional information on the group and the individuals.

The British government, meanwhile, said the Chinese cyberattacks targeted the Electoral Commission, which holds the names and addresses of registered voters, and parliamentarians.

But it said the attacks did not have any impact on the democratic process or elections.

British Prime Minister Rishi 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 said.

China said Tuesday it "firmly opposes" the "groundless unilateral" sanctions imposed by Washington and London, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian vowing that Beijing will "take necessary measures to safeguard our lawful rights and interests."

Lin claimed the United States has encouraged the Five Eyes intelligence alliance also involving Australia, Britain, Canada and New Zealand to "compile and spread all kinds of disinformation" about the threats posed by the so-called Chinese hackers "driven by its own geopolitical agenda."

On Tuesday, New Zealand accused a Chinese state-sponsored group known as APT40 of "malicious cyber activity" targeting its parliamentary entities in 2021.

Judith Collins, minister responsible for the Government Communications Security Bureau, said the Chinese group was linked to an attack on the Parliamentary Counsel Office, which drafts laws, and another agency in charge of support for parliament.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters confirmed senior government officials conveyed Wellington's concerns to the Chinese ambassador to New Zealand.

"Foreign interference of this nature is unacceptable, and we have urged China to refrain from such activity in future," Peters said in a statement.

The New Zealand Herald reported that some data was stolen from the system in the 2021 attack, but it was not of a strategic or sensitive nature, citing the bureau's analysis.

Related coverage:

U.S. military to strengthen functions of Japan command headquarters

Japan policy paper to focus on U.S., Philippine ties to counter China
The GOP strategist who sued Conservative Political Action Conference Chair Matt Schlapp and his wife Mercedes Schlapp over allegations of sexual assault and defamation has dropped his lawsuits against the couple, attorneys for both sides confirmed to The Hill.

I am discontinuing all of my lawsuits. The claims made in my lawsuits were the result of a complete misunderstanding, and I regret that the lawsuit caused pain to the Schlapp family, Carlton Huffman wrote in a statement provided by Schlapps spokesperson Tuesday.

Huffman, a former staff member of Republican Herschel Walkers Georgia Senate campaign, sued the Schlapps at the beginning of last year, alleging Matt Schlapp was aggressively fondling his groin while the two drove back from a restaurant to a hotel during a campaign stop in October 2022.

POLITICO was the first to report the suits dismissals.

The suit requested $9.4 million from the couple for a count of sexual battery against Matt Schlapp, a count of defamation against the couple, and a count of conspiracy against the pair for what Huffman said were attempts to defame him.

Matt Schlapp is also the chair of the American Conservative Union (ACU). Mercedes Schlapp is a former Trump administration official.

Asked to confirm Huffmans statement, his lawyer, Timothy Hyland, told The Hill, The parties have resolved their differences.

The Schlapps have advised that the statements made about me were the result of a misunderstanding, which was regrettable. Neither the Schlapps nor the ACU paid me anything to dismiss my claims against them, Huffman said.

Matt Schlapp and his attorney, Ben Chew, took a swipe at what Chew called a certain agenda-driven media that sought to harm conservatives.

In my 35 years of practicing law, I have never seen such a case of malicious piling on by non-parties such as that which Matt and Mercedes Schlapp suffered, Chew wrote in a statement to The Hill. We believe it ran the gamut from selective leaks from non-party insiders with chips on their shoulders to others who did not prove worthy of the Schlapps trust, and of course, certain agenda-driven media who appeared all too eager to destroy conservatives like the Schlapps.

Top Stories from The Hill

Matt Schlapp said his family was attacked by a left-wing media but has emerged stronger.

Increasingly, they [the left] have gained a stranglehold on the mainstream media, social media, and the legal system which they use to try to silence, shame and bankrupt Americans who have contrary, yet correct viewpoints, Schlapp wrote in a statement. Going forward, our eyes are wide open, we understand the struggle better and we learned we must stand our ground and fight or else the haters on the left will destroy every conservative and ultimately our nation.

Huffmans lawyer also confirmed his client also dropped a defamation case against Republican activist Caroline Wren, who was accused of attacking Huffman on social media after the allegations against Schlapp were publicized.

Story updated at 11:05 p.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The GOP campaign operative who accused Matt Schlapp of inappropriately groping his groin in 2022 has dropped lawsuits filed against the CPAC chairman, his associates, and his wife, Mercedes.

The dropped suits appear to end a long saga involving the Schlapps and Carlton Huffman, an ex-campaign staffer for the former Senate hopeful Herschel Walker who has since been accused of sexual assault himself.

In a statement shared with Politico by Schlapps lawyers, Huffman apologized to the Schlapp family and said he regretted ever filing the lawsuits against them, CPAC, the ACU, and Caroline Wren, an adviser to Matt Schlapp.

The claims made in my lawsuits were the result of a complete misunderstanding, and I regret that the lawsuit caused pain to the Schlapp family, Huffman said in the statement, according to Politico. The Schlapps have advised that the statements made about me were the result of a misunderstanding, which was regrettable. Neither the Schlapps nor the ACU paid me anything to dismiss my claims against them.

Schlapp, who is the chairman of the American Conservative Union and remains one of the GOPs most powerful figures, has denied any inappropriate behavior.

From the beginning, we asserted our innocence. Our family was attacked, especially by a left-wing media that is focused on the destruction of conservatives regardless of the truth and the facts, Schlapp wrote in a statement on Tuesday. But we emerge from this ordeal stronger as husband and wife, stronger as parents to our five daughters, stronger as friends to those who stood by us.

CPAC Tax Docs Reveal Big Losses After Matt Schlapp Sex Abuse Allegations

Schlapp did not respond to a text from The Daily Beast asking if Huffman was ever compensated by any entity in connection with the case. The ACUs general counsel, David Safavian, and Schlapps personal attorney, Benjamin Chew, did not respond to emailed questions.

In a text to Politico on Tuesday, Huffman confirmed that the statement shared by Schlapps lawyers was accurate. We have resolved our differences, he said.

Huffman had requested $9.4 million from the Schlapps for a count of sexual battery, a count of defamation against the couple, and a count of conspiracy against them for what Huffman claimed were attempts to defame him.

Talk of a settlement for the allegations lingered for more than a year, with reports in August that Schlapp made an offer to Huffman last March to settle the lawsuits against him, but had the offer rejected by Huffman.

At the time, sources said the offer was in the low six figuresan amount that Huffman balked at. Sources said Huffman countered with a substantially higher amount, which was rejected by Schlapp.

Once news of the alleged settlement offer leaked, lawyers for Schlapp insisted to The Daily Beast that Schlapp never made an offer and that they planned to take the issue to trial.

CPAC Board Member Wrote Brutal Letter Trashing Matt Schlapp

The allegations first surfaced in January 2023the same month Huffman filed a lawsuit claiming that Schlapp, without consent, had groped and fondled his groin as he drove him to his hotel after a campaign event for Walker in 2022.

Huffman alleged that Schlapp had also invited him up to his hotel room after a night of drinking in Atlanta, but he claimed he declined. Huffman provided contemporaneous communications to support his account at the time, which was further corroborated by campaign officials and several media outlets.

In the aftermath of the lawsuits being filed, sources inside Schlapps circle described his behavior as bizarre. He rejected calls for an internal probe, and ACU board meetings were structured in a way that precluded any discussion of the allegation.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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EXCLUSIVE: A Tennessee lawmaker is hitting back at the Biden administration, saying the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has failed to be transparent about the release of migrants into the U.S. after the emergence of notices going to cities in his states alerting them to migrants who have said they are heading there.

Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., is releasing DHS notices received by local officials in the state that show how many migrants are believed to be heading to them on a weekly basis.

Called "Intended Destination of Noncitizens Processed at the Southwest Border," the notices explain how Customs and Border Protection first vet migrants biographic and biometric information against a number of databases before they are released into the interior.

MIGRANT ENCOUNTERS AT SOUTHERN BORDER HIT NEW FEBRUARY RECORD HIGH

Senator Bill Hagerty is calling for local officials to provide notices they have received.

The notices say that arrivals could include migrants who have entered legally via ports of entry using the CBP One app, or entered illegally between ports of entry and who have either passed a "credible fear" screening or who are enrolled in removal proceedings and are released pending their removal hearings.

While DHS does not transport adult migrants directly within the interior, the notice says that migrants will provide their intended destination to officials before they are released. Once migrants are released, they may be enrolled into Alternatives to Detention but are free to travel as they see fit, and federal authorities have no say over where they go.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

In the notice given to officials in Tennessee, and provided to Fox News Digital, it told officials in Nashville, Davidson, Murfreesboro and Franklin that 573 noncitizens had provided their areas as destinations for the week ending Sept. 16, 2023.

Of those, 200 were from Guatemala, 200 from Venezuela and 100 were from Honduras and Mexico.

Hagerty accused the administration of a lack of transparency toward broader requests for information from members of Congress on how many migrants are going to which areas.

"Americans are well aware that, under President Biden, every town is a border town. Along with many other members of Congress and concerned citizens, Ive sought transparency for three years from the Biden Administration regarding its resettlement efforts through legislation and oversight inquiriesto no avail," he said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "With the revelation of letters stating exactly how many migrants are resettling in a particular area for a particular week, its now clear that the Biden Administration has this information and has simply been hiding it."

BIDEN, TEXAS FEUD OVER ANTI-ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION LAW AS MIGRANTS RUSH BORDER: WHAT TO KNOW

"This begs questions that demand answers: How many migrants has Bidens Department of Homeland Security knowingly resettled in American towns? How have these migrants been vetted? Do they pose a threat to American citizens? Americans and local governments forced to deal with the impacts of this Presidents border crisis and the resettlement in their communities deserve to know what the Biden Administration knows."

In response, Hagerty is setting up a website via which officials can submit the letter they have received.

DHS stressed that it does not coordinate the travel of migrants, but that it does coordinate and share information with local officials and NGOs and where they intend to travel. Consequently, the purpose of the notification was to let officials know that noncitizens intended to travel to the area.

"DHS does not transport noncitizens to Tennessee. DHS works in close coordination with local officials, law enforcement, and NGOs to share timely information regarding noncitizens who have been screened, vetted, and conditionally released from custody pending the outcome of their immigration court proceedings," a spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

"We will continue to partner with communities hosting recently arrived noncitizens to identify ways we can continue to maximize our support, while enforcing the law and returning or removing those without a legal basis to remain in the country," they said.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION NEWS COVERAGE

The agency said that communication can ensure that migrants can connect with humanitarian aid and receive help with transportation while they go through the removal process.

The notices highlight the ongoing issues and tensions connected to the release of migrants into the interior. The Biden administration has said it needs more funding, including for removals and detention space as well as money for cities and NGOs receiving migrants. It has called on Congress to pass immigration reform and approve additional funding -- including in a bipartisan Senate border bill and DHS most recent budget request.

However, Republicans claim the border crisis has been caused by the policies of the Biden administration, including its reversal of Trump administration policies. They have called for an end to "catch-and-release," additional wall construction and stricter interior enforcement.

Last week, Customs and Border Protection announced that the number of migrant encounters had hit a new record for February, with over 189,000 encounters for the month.





Original article source: GOP senator outraged by weekly reports of migrant arrivals released by DHS
With helicopter blades whirring overhead, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore addressed the media after a ship crashed into the Francis Scott Key Memorial Bridge near the Port of Baltimore in the early morning hours on Tuesday, causing the bridge's collapse.

The states Secretary of Transportation Paul Wiedefeld said six individuals, all related to construction work that had been taking place on the bridge, were unaccounted for as of about 10 a.m. on Tuesday morning.

Moore and the special agent in charge of the Baltimore Field Office of the FBI both indicated there were no ties to terrorism in the incident.

Wednesday's live updates: Search begins for bodies of missing workers after Baltimore bridge collapse

There is no specific or credible information to suggest that there are ties to terrorism in this incident, said William DelBagno, just named by the FBI director to lead the Baltimore field office yesterday, during the March 26 press conference in Dundalk, Maryland, near the scene of the crash.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore steps to the lectern to address the media in Dundalk, Maryland, on March 26, 2024, after the crash and collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. To his right are U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-MD, and state and local officials.

Ship issued distress signal, allowing for the stop of traffic on bridge

The governor indicated that the ship traveling at a very rapid speed issued a Mayday distress signal before the crash that occurred at about 1:20 a.m. Officials were able to stop the flow of traffic so more cars were not on the bridge, he said.

These people are heroes, Moore said.

Livestream of bridge collapse: Watch: Livestream shows scene of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key bridge after collapse

How Baltimore bridge collapsed: A giant ship. A power blackout. A scramble to stop traffic:

During the press conference at about 10 a.m., a United States Coast Guard official said crews are actively searching at this time.

Moore said: The investigation is currently going on.

Four individuals wearing jackets with NTSB on the backs, indicating affiliation with the National Transportation Safety Board, were seen on site minutes before the scheduled 9:30 start of the press conference.

The leader of the Maryland National Guard was also on site Tuesday morning at the press conference.

Dwight A. Weingarten is an investigative reporter, covering the Maryland State House and state issues. He can be reached at dweingarten@gannett.com or on Twitter at @DwightWeingart2.

This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: Baltimore bridge collapse: Gov. Moore says ship issued 'mayday'
After New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy suspended her campaign for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, the governor said Tuesday that hes incredibly proud of her.

At an unrelated event, Gov. Phil Murphy said his wife had entered the race for the right reasons and stood for the right things.

She worked her tail off. It was a really tough decision for her, Murphy said. It's very few people in this line of business who put party over herself, and that's exactly what she did. Incredibly, incredibly proud of her.

The first lady had been battling Rep. Andy Kim to represent the Democrats in a bid for the seat held by Sen. Bob Menendez.

The county line and Kim's lawsuit

Kim had filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the controversial county-line ballot design used in New Jersey.

It alleges that New Jersey's ballot design creates an unfair advantage for the candidate awarded the line, or the first position on the ballot. The clerks from all 19 counties that use the county-line ballot design are named as defendants. Kim called for the block system, which is used by every other state in the nation and two New Jersey counties, to be implemented statewide.

Charlie Stile: How far will the fallout from the end of Tammy Murphy's Senate campaign reach?

The governor said that although his wife has spoken to Kim since she made her decision, he has not done so, noting that there are three Democrats still vying for the nomination.

Though the first lady is no longer in the race, Kim has said he will continue with the suit. Attorney General Matthew Platkin went against the norm by issuing a letter that said he didnt intend to defend the line in court because he viewed it as unconstitutional.

What did Governor Murphy say about the line?

Gov. Phil Murphy signs bill overhauling New Jersey's affordable housing system Wednesday, March 20, 2024 in Perth Amboy.

Murphy would not comment on ongoing litigation, though he did note that up until recently, it had been the practice of our attorney general to defend statute and that while he is open-minded to tweaking the system if there's an opportunity to make it better, he thinks the line has worked pretty well.

If progressives were out there trying to look at whether or not they got a good government over the past 6 years. I'd like them to find a more progressive government in America than what they got the past 6 years, with yours truly elected twice on the line in both cases, Murphy said.

Katie Sobko covers the New Jersey Statehouse. Email: sobko@northjersey.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Phil Murphy says NJ ballots with county line design 'work'
Christopher M. Spencer while Gov. Ron DeSantis nominates him to be executive director of the State Board of Administration, March 26, 2024

Chris Spencer on Tuesday was named head of the State Board of Administration, the agency managing about $225 billion in state assets, including $185 billion in the Florida Retirement System to provide pensions for state, county and city workers.

Spencer, currently policy and budget director for Gov. Ron DeSantis, will move into his new job once the governor finishes reviewing the $117 billion state budget the Legislature approved earlier this month.

In their meeting as the Florida Cabinet, Attorney General Ashley Moody and CFO Jimmy Patronis  who also serve as SBA trustees  backed the appointment.

As DeSantis budget chief, Spencer, a St. Petersburg native, has prepared and explained to reporters and lawmakers DeSantis budget recommendations for the past five years and then implemented the final spending package approved by the governor.

That was his job and he did a 10 out of 10, which is fantastic in every single way, DeSantis told Moody and Patronis in making the appointment official.

Though Im sad to lose him, (I'm) going to keep him through the budget review, DeSantis added. The governor still has not received the budget and related bills from the Legislature; once he does, he has 15 days to act, including line-item vetoes. The next state budget year starts July 1.

Chris Spencer, director of policy and budget for Gov. Ron DeSantis, takes questions from the press about the governor's fiscal year 2021-2022 budget proposal Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021.

Spencer had long worked as a legislative aide for former GOP state Sen. Jeff Brandes of St. Petersburg and also was a campaign manager to former state Sen. Dana Young of Tampa. He was on the DeSantis transition team before moving into the executive office as policy director in 2019.

In his new position he will manage investments of more than $250 billion, including the pension plan for more than 2.5 million working and retired teachers, police officers, and other public sector workers.

Spencer holds three undergraduate degrees from Florida State University in economics, international affairs and political science.

Talking about the FRS after his appointment was official, Spencer characterized the pension system as being "healthy, very healthy."

FRS is funded at 83%, or $35 billion short of being able to pay full benefits if all current workers stopped working tomorrow. Pension funded above 80% are considered healthy by actuarial standards.

Ben Watkins, director of the Florida Division of Bond Finance since 1994, said Spencer is the best budget director he has known under six different governors.

He can combine policy with economics and make things happen, Watkins said. Were in better shape than weve ever been before.

The appointment comes nearly two-and-a-half years following the retirement of SBA executive director Ash Williams in September 2021.

Lamar Taylor has been serving in a combined role as the executive director and chief investment officer. Taylor will continue as CIO.

James Call is a member of the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jcall@tallahassee.com. Follow on him Twitter: @CallTallahassee.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: DeSantis budget chief Chris Spencer to lead state pension, investments
Government clarifies the list of IDPs to receive payments

The government has clarified the list of categories of IDPs who will receive accommodation allowances and extended the deadline for submitting applications for IDP payments, stated Ministry of Social Policy on March 22.

Starting from March 1, payment of accommodation allowance for IDPs was extended for another 6 months for certain categories of IDPs who have been receiving it for one to two years (at least 8 months).



Payments were extended primarily for people who are unable to work, take care for children, seriously ill or disabled persons, have no income or low income.

Additionally, the government adopted a resolution developed by the Ministry of Social Policy and clarified the list of IDPs who will be eligible to receive payments for another 6 months.

Read also: Payments for IDPs-2024: Who will be eligible for assistance?

In particular, in order to avoid misinterpretations, the resolution clearly stipulates that, among others, the following categories of people are entitled to the extension of assistance for another 6 months:

people with severe illnesses who have not been diagnosed with a disability (and the families in which such persons live)

children placed in the family of a foster caregiver; foster caregivers; children temporarily placed in the family of relatives, friends, foster families, or family-type children's homes

Read also: Ukraine's Reintegration Ministry provides payments to some owners of destroyed or damaged homes

If the average monthly total income per recipient in the family is less than UAH 9444 ($242), than they can get this allowance too if:



they take care for a child under 3 years of age or a child in need of care under 6 years of age

families with children under 18 and/or under 23 who are full-time or dual enrollment students in vocational, professional, higher education institutions

they are people who provide social services on a non-professional basis

they are students who apply independently, under the age of 23

they are people with disabilities of the third group

or they are pensioner couples

People older than 55 were also granted the right to extend the allowance for an additional 6 months.

The deadline for submitting applications for IDP benefits has been extended.



Read also: Ukrainian Social Policy Ministry to extend support for some IDPs in 2024

Period for submitting applications for reassignment of payments to IDPs has also been extended until April 30.

Allowances for internally displaced people are:

for people with disabilities and children - UAH 3000 ($77)

for other people - UAH 2000($51)

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
In Russia, a nation known for vicious anti-LGBTQ+ policies, the U.S. flew a pride flag at the Embassy in 2022. (Natalia Kolesnikova / AFP/Getty Images)

Less than two years ago I sat across from Antony J. Blinken as he spoke proudly of the work the State Department was doing to combat discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity around the globe. It was Pride 2022, and the secretary of State hosted a small group of out LGBTQ+ journalists at the department for a roundtable discussion.

When I raise human rights issues, when I raise democracy issues, I often say to the people that were dealing with: Its not exactly a secret that we have our own challenges that were working through at home, he said. Were not trying to sweep the problem or the issue under the rug.

The truth is we cant sweep the problem under the rug. It is so omnipresent that even in the $1.2-trillion spending deal President Biden signed over the weekend, Americas conflict over LGBTQ+ people pulled focus. With famine in Gaza, with a migrant crisis on our own southern border, Republicans still made time to target queer people.

Read more: Granderson: Republican hate for LGBTQ+ people fueled Mike Johnson's rise to be House speaker

When Blinken held his symposium, the rainbow flag flew over U.S. embassies around the world to mark Pride Month.

No more.

A new ban, woven into the spending bill that Biden signed on Saturday, states that none of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be obligated or expended to fly or display a flag over a facility of the United States Department of State. Exceptions include POW/MIA flags or the sovereign flags of other nations. The Pride flag can still be displayed on the grounds, and the law doesnt affect the State Department initiatives Blinken shared in 2022 . The administration has already said that it will push to repeal this ban .

Read more: Granderson: Keep saying 'gay,' despite new legislation. Kids need to hear it

Who could possibly think that banning Pride flags should be a top priority at this moment?

While Ukraine was running low on ammunition to keep Russias invasion at bay, and after Russian President Vladimir Putin had casually threatened nuclear war , Americas elected officials spent their time this past week trying to figure out how to de-gay the worlds flagpoles during the month of June.

Read more: Granderson: 'The Last of Us' told the LGBTQ+ story we needed

The camera-chasing, no-compromise Freedom Caucus wanted more: Nearly 50 anti-LGBTQ+ proposals ultimately were excluded from the budget deal . Just banning rainbow flags from flying at embassies appeased enough of the GOP members who were trying to avoid a government shutdown  you know, those patriots who just needed to be sure they were doing some damage to human rights while keeping the federal government open.

This is all too familiar. Within hours of taking office in 2017, Donald Trump had nearly every mention of the LGBTQ+ community removed from federal websites . House Speaker Mike Johnson built his law career defending anti-LGBTQ+ legislation . Elections have consequences, and I shudder to think what the consequences will be for queer people around the world if those two have their way.

The problem is global  and the U.S. will be a leader on the world stage, either toward liberty or repression. Most Americans, including most Republicans, now support LGBTQ+ rights , unlike 20 years ago, but the fight is far from over and the outcome is far from certain. Theres still an endless barrage of hateful legislation right here in the States. And since 1980, acceptance of LGBTQ+ people has fallen in 57 countries .

In more than 60 nations , same-sex relationships are a crime. Last year, the number of countries in which homosexuality is punishable by death rose to seven .

A rainbow flag waving high above a U.S. government site represents hope for a lot of people. Imagine what seeing that flag on our military bases in Afghanistan mustve meant for closeted Afghans. Or at the U.S. Embassy in Botswana, which decriminalized same-sex relationships just a few years ago.

The federal budget is supposed to reflect our financial priorities. Surely no one imagines that raising rainbow flags at embassies is a problem because its expensive. Its not. Those flags werent a problem at all; they were an opportunity. Were in an election year, and conservatives wanted a piece of red meat to toss to their base while on the campaign trail.

Although Biden signed the budget bill, a White House statement condemned Republicans pandering: It was inappropriate to abuse the process that was essential to keep the government open by including this policy targeting LGBTQI+ Americans.  We will continue to work with members of Congress to find an opportunity to repeal it.

Its encouraging to know the left is still looking for ways to raise the Pride flag, because in their war on LGBTQ+ people, conservatives clearly arent interested in raising a white flag.

@LZGranderson

If its in the news right now, the L.A. Times Opinion section covers it. Sign up for our weekly opinion newsletter.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The United States proposition to support the deployment of a Kenyan police force to Haiti, amid the current upheaval, has provoked a lot of debate. This initiative, approved by the U.N. Security Council in 2023 and aimed at addressing the severe security crisis in a gang-infested country, has met with skepticism from various sectors.

The cultural and linguistic differences between Kenya and Haiti are only a few of the challenges of such an intervention  especially when the number of police officers committed to the mission is vastly inferior to what Haiti requires, and their skills may not be suited for urban warfare.

A commitment of 1,000 Kenyan police officers may start out with only 400, scaling up after that, with a projected cost of $200 million a year. How will that plan help enough when there are over 300 gangs spread throughout the country and over 8,000 reported gang members in Port-au-Prince alone?

In 2009, when the situation was nowhere close to the chaos of recent times, Haiti had 9,500 Haitian police officers working alongside 9,123 UN mission military and police. Today, the local police force that had reached 14,000 in 2017 is down to 9,000 active police officers.

Influential nations professing to assist Haiti have supported ineffective governance structures in the name of stability. Numerous efforts by Haitian political parties and civil society to find alternatives  after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise  were overlooked.

The administrations of late President Moise and Prime Minister Ariel Henry failed to tackle the security crisis, leaving the populace exposed and vulnerable. The underlying ills of Haiti remain unaddressed. At the heart of the crisis is the rise of gangs that have taken control over 95% of the capital, blocking off the rest of the country through violence, extortion, murder and rape.

With Henrys replacement imminent, gangs have launched a renewed terror campaign to demonstrate their power, rebranding themselves as revolutionaries in order to be invited to the negotiating table and obtain amnesty.

As Haiti descends further into anarchy, the human toll of inaction is increasingly dire. What remains of the government has endeavored to shift blame to the weakened private sector using identity politics. Historical class resentment, propagated by gang leaders and radical groups, has been a tactic to further deflect responsibility.

The international community must weigh the immediate needs for security against the long-term objectives of stability for the region. Haiti may not be deemed of interest in terms of its economic contribution to world markets, but it certainly is in terms of disruptive capacity. Assistance must be committed and nuanced.

If the objective is to halt the killing, contain criminal activities, ensure humanitarian support and prepare for fair elections, an intervention is the only sensible path forward. Steps include:

 Contain the violence. Establish zero-tolerance zones in critical areas like airports, ports, food warehouses and hospitals, a starting point to push gangs back.

 Accept the new presidential council. While Haitians resent the fact that council is an international initiative under CARICOM, there is no other viable option.

 Work toward transparent and inclusive elections. Elections are key in restoring faith in the merits of democratic processes.

 Build security capacity. Recruit and train many more police.

 Reinforce the new government, when elected.

Haitians are tired of the bloodshed. No matter how we got here, we have become a failed state, with consequences beyond our borders, requiring global awareness and regional security assistance to fight gang takeover.

For reasons noted earlier, a Kenyan-led effort, assuming it is still an option, is not the answer. Haiti requires immediate support from nations within its hemisphere, countries that possess the appropriate background and resources to make a meaningful impact.

Prioritizing security, governance, democratic integrity and economic development in a country so close to Florida is not impossible. We must end Band-Aid policies that are just enough to keep Haiti on life support, but never enough to afford it a chance to get better.

Elisa Philippon Saieh is an administrator at Superior Housing Development Corp (SHODECOSA) in Port-Au-Prince.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh speaks of Israel's "unprecedented political isolation" during a visit to the movement's main backer Iran (-)

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, on a visit to Iran on Tuesday, said Israel is experiencing "unprecedented political isolation", a day after the UN Security Council called for a ceasefire in the Gaza war.

"Although this resolution came late and there may be some gaps that need to be filled, the resolution itself indicates that the Israeli occupation is experiencing unprecedented political isolation," Haniyeh told a news conference in Tehran after a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

He added that Israel is "losing political cover and protection even in the Security Council" and "the US is unable to impose its will on the international community".

"The Zionist entity" has "not succeeded in achieving any of its military or strategic objectives" after more than five months of war, Haniyeh said.

Haniyeh and the Palestinian delegation also met with Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to a statement on Khamenei's website.

The Iranian leader praised the "unique resistance of the Palestinian forces" against the "crimes and brutalities of the Zionist regime (Israel), carried out with the full support of the West", according to the statement.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran will not hesitate to support the cause of Palestine and the oppressed people of Gaza," Khamenei said during the meeting.

It is the second visit the Hamas leader has made to Tehran since the Iran-backed group launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7 which resulted in the deaths of some 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Haniyeh's last visit was in early November when he met Khamenei as well as other officials.

Iran hailed the October 7 attack as a "success" but denied any direct involvement.

Iran-backed groups in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen have since carried out a flurry of attacks on Israeli and Western targets.

Israel's retaliatory campaign against Hamas has killed more than 32,000 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.

Haniyeh's visit comes after a resolution adopted by the UN Security Council on Monday called for an "immediate ceasefire" for the ongoing Muslim holy month of Ramadan, leading to a "lasting" truce.

It also demanded that Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups release hostages they took during the October 7 attack.

Militants seized about 250 hostages, of whom Israel believes some 130 are still held in Gaza, including 33 presumed dead.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani described Monday's resolution as a "positive but insufficient step".

He called for "effective measures to implement the resolution and the complete and permanent cessation of attacks".

bur-pdm/kir/srk/jsa
Zhao Leji, chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, meets with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena in Beijing, capital of China, March 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

BEIJING, March 26 (Xinhua) -- China's top legislator Zhao Leji met with Dinesh Gunawardena, prime minister of Sri Lanka, in Beijing on Tuesday.

Zhao, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, said that since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1957, China and Sri Lanka have always enjoyed a sound and steady relationship despite changes in the international landscape.

China stands ready to work with Sri Lanka to consolidate political mutual trust, continue to firmly support each other on issues concerning each other's core interests, build the Belt and Road with high quality, and deepen cultural and people-to-people exchanges to promote bilateral relations for more development, Zhao said.

Noting the importance of communication and cooperation between legislative bodies in enhancing knowledge and trust, Zhao said the NPC of China stands ready to strengthen communication with the parliament of Sri Lanka at different levels and enhance coordination during multilateral occasions, to provide legal guarantees for bilateral cooperation in various fields.

Gunawardena expressed Sri Lanka's gratitude for China's long-term support and assistance, and said that Sri Lanka will firmly uphold the one-China principle, continuously deepen cooperation in various fields, including exchanges between legislative bodies, and inject new impetus into bilateral friendship. 

Zhao Leji, chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, meets with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena in Beijing, capital of China, March 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Tao)
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas - One man is facing charges after he threatened to kill constable deputies over the weekend.

According to Harris County Constable Precinct 4, deputies responded to the 16100 block of the North Freeway in reference to a disturbance.

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When deputies arrived, the suspect was identified as Patrick Oneill.

Patrick Oneill

Officials said during the course of the investigation, Oneill became verbally combative and refused to follow commands given to him.

While attempting to detain Oneill, authorities said he resisted by pulling away from deputies.

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Following a brief struggle, authorities were able to safely detain him.

Authorities said that's when Oneill threatened to kill constable deputies.

Oneill was arrested and booked into the Harris County Jail and was charged with retaliation.

His bond was set at $100.
Claus Weselsky, Chairman of the German Train Drivers' Union (GDL), talks to journalists at a press conference about the agreement reached with Deutsche Bahn in the wage dispute. Carsten Koall/dpa

The head of German train drivers' union GDL, Claus Weselsky, has described the wage agreement with state-owned rail operator Deutsche Bahn as a success.

"We have not had a failure, but a success, almost across the board," he said in Berlin on Tuesday.

"I would like to start by pointing out that the 35-hour week will be gradually introduced as a standard in the collective agreements at Deutsche Bahn AG and that pay will not be reduced."

The reduction in working hours had been a major sticking point in the labour dispute in recent months. Deutsche Bahn had proposed a 36-hour work week, but the union stuck to its 35-hour demand and backed that up with several strikes.

There was only one point on which the union was unable to assert itself, Weselsky said: The GDL will not conclude any collective agreements for infrastructure employees in the future. Weselsky conceded that too few employees had taken part in the strikes in this area to justify such an extension.

Martin Seiler, Chief Human Resources Officer of Deutsche Bahn (DB), talks to journalists at a press conference about the agreement with the GDL in the wage dispute. Carsten Koall/dpa
A health care worker stands at the bedside of a patient in Saint Alphonsus Medical Center's ICU in Boise. (Courtesy of Saint Alphonsus Medical Center)

Idaho continues to rank as one of the countrys fastest-growing states, and we see the effects of that daily. Classrooms are more crowded, rush hours are real and housing costs are through the roof.

Kudos to Gov. Brad Little and the Idaho Legislature for tackling some of these challenges head on. We have seen historic investments in education. Funding for roads and bridges is at record levels. But more needs to be done to meet the burgeoning needs of a growing Idaho.

Idahos health care system is under extreme duress due to critical staffing shortages of medical personnel. Idahoans are waiting weeks to see primary care doctors, months to get into a specialist and procedures are postponed as financial challenges force the closure of clinics and services.

Our state ranks dead last in the nation for the number of doctors per capita. With only 86 primary care physicians per 100,000 people, Idaho falls woefully short of recommended rates, exacerbating access issues and impeding the delivery of timely, quality care.

The effects of these shortages ripple far and wide, impacting health care providers and patients alike. Burnout, overwork and challenges in delivering quality care are widespread, jeopardizing our communities physical and mental well-being. Longer wait times, escalating costs, and diminished health standards threaten the very fabric of our health care infrastructure.

So, what do we do?

Seek collaboration: Higher education institutions, health care associations, workforce development councils and legislative bodies are joining forces to identify innovative strategies. From expanding medical education to incentivizing health care professionals to serve in rural or underserved areas, Idaho is taking the first steps to bolster health care education and graduation rates.

Increase health care graduates: The health care workforce challenges are not solved overnight. Expanding and filling the workforce pipeline is necessary years before that nurse or doctor can meet your health needs. Expanding our health education capacity must begin now to offset the additional shortages expected from an aging health care workforce and Idahos population growth.

Grow Idaho residencies and training programs: Statistics show that doctors and nurses have a higher tendency to begin their careers where they receive their training. The more medical residencies we can offer as a state, the more likely well be able to keep those doctors in Idaho. Clinical training for other healthcare workers requires additional time from preceptors who are already stretched thin. Incentivizing and expanding clinical training and preceptorships are an investment in the overall health of Idahoans.

Boost public awareness: This year, Idaho voters will have an opportunity to see where the candidates stand on issues important to them. Ask them if theyre willing to invest in the health care workforce that you and your family will one day depend on. With a focus on our health care infrastructure, these strategies can help pave the way for a healthier, more resilient Idaho.

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The post A healthy, resilient Idaho requires investments in our health care workforce appeared first on Idaho Capital Sun.
A Las Vegas man was sentenced to a maximum of 11 years in prison after firing his gun through a wall that left a 6-year-old Black girl paralyzed.



Arreion Willoughby, 31, said in his sentencing hearing Monday that he was in doing laundry when his gun went off by accident. However, Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney Dena Rinetti accused 31-year-old of intentionally aiming his firearm at his bedroom wall, which bordered the apartment where little Draya Ransey are her family lived.

After the gun went off, Ransey was found on the bathroom floor in a pool of blood after the bullet lodged in her neck, per 8NewsNow. When officers went to search for where the bullet came from, Rinetti claimed Willoughby fled the home with a bag.

Though, when he encountered the officers, he insisted that nothing happened and that he didnt own a gun, per the arrest report. Prosecutors said surveillance footage appeared to dispute that claim.

Read more about it from 8NewsNow:

Through the warrant, officers obtained surveillance footage that showed four children in the apartment and Willoughby walking around. In the video, Willoughby was seen standing in front of a bed, appearing to be holding and pointing something. He was seen facing and walking toward the area of the bedroom where the bullet hole was found, according to police. A loud bang was then heard and his body visibly flinched, stepped back and away from the area. Children were then seen peeking out of their bedroom to investigate the loud noise, the report said. One of the children who was in the apartment reported hearing a loud pop while sleeping but thought it was a frozen burrito in the microwave. She then heard someone banging on the front door, according to police. Willoughby answered the door and a teenager started yelling that the neighbor needed help.

Drayas mother, Porschia, told reporters the bullet severed her daughters spinal cord, and she had to be placed on a ventilator. Draya is still in recovery, now wheelchair bound. However, her family is told she may never walk again.

I beat myself up because my baby should not be laying in that bed, the fact that she cant dance with me like she used to, the fact that she cant run to me and give me hugs when I come home from work, said Gregory Harris, Drayas father, via 8NewsNow.

Willoughby apologized and asked for the Ranseys forgiveness before being sentenced to four to 11 years in prison on seven counts of child neglect and child abuse resulting substantial bodily harm, the report said. The additional counts are in reference to the other children who were in the area when the shot was fired.

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Federal prosecutors alleged Tuesday that a Chicago-area veterinarian retreated to the shower during an FBI raid on his home earlier this month and deleted evidence of possible child pornography from his phone.

And despite the raid, Adam Stafford King, 39, who is a well-known judge on the national dog show circuit, was about to go ahead with plans to fly with his husband to California later this week to be present for the birth of their son via a surrogate mother, prosecutors alleged. He was ordered detained Tuesday by a federal judge.

FBI agents arrested King late last week on charges alleging he chatted online about a plan to sexually assault his newborn son, posting ultrasound images and photos of baby outfits as proof of the childs pending arrival.

In asking for King to be held without bond, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Stone revealed some of those messages in court Tuesday, including one in which King allegedly told a person in New York he thought was a fellow pedophile, Maybe youll get to meet my boy, followed by a crying laughing emoji.

This is heinous, heinous conduct, Stone said, arguing that there were no conditions of bond that could ensure the safety of the community. If the FBI had not stepped in and arrested him he would be in California right now.

Kings attorney, Jonathan Bedi, had proposed a bond with strict orders to stay off the internet and avoid all contact with minors  including his son, whose due date is later this week. Bedi called Kings father, husband and father-in-law to testify that they would monitor his activities and report any infractions to the court.

But U.S. Magistrate Judge Keri Holleb Hotaling sided with prosecutors and ordered King held, noting his relatives all claimed to be completely unaware of his alleged double life.

This was a complete shock to them, the judge said. Nobody knew this was going on.

Hoatling also recited some of the more disturbing allegations in the complaint, including chats where King allegedly stated he had drugged and sexually abused relatives in the past and also sexually abused a 4-year-old.

While King has not been charged with any act of alleged sexual abuse, the chats are unfortunately completely consistent with someone who is a pedophile, Hoatling said. He is a serious danger to children, she said.

King, a veterinarian specializing in ophthalmology who had been scheduled to be a judge in the toy dog category at the Westminster Kennel Club show in May, was arrested at his home in Elburn on Friday on a 33-page criminal complaint made public this week.

According to the complaint, King, using the handle @pervchiguy, traded child pornography with an unidentified person in New York and told the person he liked kids in the single digits.

After the person in New York was arrested last year, the FBI posed as him online and exchanged messages with King, including several in January when King and his husband traveled to New York to attend a dog show and take in the city, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors also revealed in a filing before Tuesdays hearing that Aurora police had questioned King in 2018 after someone uploaded two images of possible child pornography using an email that was connected to his name.

King at the time denied the email was his, but when asked if he used the website Tumblr, he responded, To be honest, to look at porn, according to the filing.

King was not charged in that investigation.

jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
Three candidates seek retiring Polk County supervisor Robert Brownell's seat, while another two are challenging supervisor Steve Van Oort in the Polk County primary election on June 4.

Brownell, a Republican who is currently serving his sixth term on the Polk County Board of Supervisors, announced last year he would not seek reelection after his wife's diagnosis with Alzheimers disease. He represents District 2, which includes Urbandale, Johnston, Grimes, Polk City, Alleman, Sheldahl, Elkhart, Bondurant, Mitchellville and unincorporated portions of Polk County.

Van Oort, a county supervisor since 2012, represents District 3 in Altoona, Ankeny and a portion of unincorporated Polk County.

Also on the ballot are candidates for Polk County auditor and sheriff; both races are unopposed.

More: Here's who's running for county attorney, sheriff and supervisor in Dallas County in 2024

Winners of the primary election will automatically be on the general election ballot to take place on Nov. 5. All positions are four-year terms.

March 26 marks the first day prospective voters can request primary election absentee ballots from the Polk County Auditor's office. The last day to submit a request is 5 p.m. May 20.

Here's who's running:

Polk County District 2 Supervisor

Jill Altringer

Altringer, a Republican, is running to provide "strong, fearless leadership at the county level," according to her campaign website. If elected, some of Altringer's goals include balancing the county's budget, developing "business-friendly policies" for economic opportunities, holding down property taxes and working toward safe neighborhoods. Altringer, an attorney and small business owner, previously served on the Grimes City Council. She currently serves as chair of the Polk County Conservation Board.

Bob Start

Start, a Republican, is running in the primary election. The Des Moines Register was not immediately able to find a campaign website or reach Start.

John Forbes

John Forbes

Forbes, a Democrat and current Iowa House District 44 representative, told the Register if elected, he wants to address food insecurity, affordable housing and climate change, and strengthen public safety and mental health services in Polk County. Forbes, a pharmacist, owned Medicap Pharmacy in Urbandale for more than 40 years until he and his wife, Cindy, sold the business in 2022. Forbes also previously served on the Urbandale City Council.

Polk County District 3 Supervisor

Mark Holm

Holm, a Republican, told the Register he is running to "restore faith" in Polk County's government. If elected, Holm wants to lower taxes, as well as promote fiscal responsibility and "good government" that focuses on transparency and accountability. Holm has been the mayor of Ankeny since 2021 and served as an Ankeny City Council member for about a decade. Holm works for the Iowa Department of Transportation.

Steve Van Oort (incumbent)

Steve Van Oort

Van Oort, a Republican, wants to "continue providing opportunities, building a great community and expanding the quality of life" in Polk County. Top priorities for Van Oort include advocating for better education and child care, enhancing public transportation and increasing accessibility to affordable housing, according to his campaign website. Van Oort has served on the Polk County Board of Supervisors since 2012. He previously served as the mayor of Ankeny.

Kim Hagemann

Kim Hagemann

Hagemann, a Democrat, told the Register she wants people to understand the responsibilities and inner workings of the county supervisor board. If elected, Hagemann says she will increase transparency on the board's work, bring a new perspective on how the county allocates its money, and prioritize the county's preparedness and resiliency for extreme weather events. Hagemann, who retired after working in the agriculture industry, lives in the Polk City area and is on the Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement board.

Polk County Auditor

Jamie Fitzgerald (incumbent)

Fitzgerald, a Democrat, is running for reelection. In his job as auditor, Fitzgerald "advocates for easier voting processes that are safe and secure" and "works hard to ensure all citizens are updated on new voting laws and promotes voter participation through numerous speeches and social media," according to his campaign page on Facebook. Fitzgerald has served as auditor and elections commissioner since January 2007, according to the county website.

Polk County Sheriff

Kevin Schneider (incumbent)

Polk County sheriff Kevin Schneider talks to a reporter Jan. 30, 2019, at the Polk County Jail in Des Moines.

Schneider, a Democrat, said he hopes his work to earn the public's "confidence and trust" will persuade voters to reelect him for the next four years, according to a campaign post on his Facebook. Schneider told the Register he's proud the sheriff's office has kept up with technological advances, hired effective staff and added school resource officers at multiple public schools in the county. He says his No. 1 priority if reelected is keeping the community safe. Schneider has served in law enforcement since 1981. He was appointed sheriff in 2018 and elected in 2020.

Absentee voting requests for primary election available March 26

The Polk County Auditor's Office began accepting absentee ballot requests on March 26. The last day to submit a request is 5 p.m. May 20.

Forms can be printed from sos.iowa.gov/elections/electioninfo/absenteeinfo.html or call the auditor's office at 515-286-3247 to request that a form be mailed.

In-person absentee voting will be available at the election office, 120 Second Ave. in Des Moines, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday from May 15 through June 3.

The polls will be open on primary day from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Polling place locations are available at sos.iowa.gov/elections/voterreg/pollingplace/search.aspx.

Virginia Barreda is the Des Moines city government reporter for the Register. She can be reached at vbarreda@dmreg.com. Follow her on Twitter at @vbarreda2.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Polk County supervisor, auditor, sheriff seats up for election in 2024
A Hesperia man was shot and killed by San Bernardino County deputies after he allegedly assaulted deputies with a "large metal object" at the end of a pursuit through Hesperia late Monday.

Keith Vinyard, 52, died following the shooting, which took place shortly before 10 p.m. in the 15400 block of Halinor Street, just east of 11th Avenue, according to sheriff's officials.

The 15400 block of Halinor Street in Hesperia, as pictured in a Google Street View image.

The incident began when a deputy assigned the Hesperia Police Department tried to pull Vinyard over as he was driving in a vehicle. He had a felony arrest warrant stemming from a domestic violence investigation, according to authorities.

Vinyard fled deputies "driving recklessly at a high rate of speed," sheriff's officials said in a written statement.

"At the end of the pursuit, Vinyard refused to comply with commands and threatened to shoot the deputy," according to the statement. "As additional deputies arrived, Vinyard armed himself with a large metal object and a lethal force encounter occurred."

Deputies provided medical aid until paramedics arrived, sheriff's officials said. Vinyard died at the scene.

No further details were available.

The California Department of Justice has launched an investigation under Assembly Bill 1506 of 2021, which mandates the state Attorney General's Office conduct an investigation of all police shootings of unarmed civilians.

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Hesperia police chase ends in fatal shooting of suspect
Bryan Calvo, the youngest councilman ever elected in Hialeah and a constant challenge to the administration of Mayor Esteban Steve Bovo Jr., will leave his seat on the City Council, with his sights set on a more ambitious position within Miami-Dade County.

On Tuesday, Calvo is expected to announce his candidacy to become Miami-Dades first elected tax collector, a position currently appointed by the county mayor.

Calvo will compete in the Republican primary for the nomination in August. Republican Dariel Fernandez, a former candidate for Miami-Dade County Commission, is also running for the position.

Less than three years after his election in Hialeah at age 23, Calvo has often found himself politically isolated on the council, with several proposals failing to garner support from his colleagues.

Among his unsuccessful initiatives were pushes to establish a redevelopment agency for the citys impoverished eastern side, create districts that Hialeah lacks, mitigate annual water rate increases, and establish an immigration task force that was later promoted by the mayor through workshops.

He also proposed, without political support, an investigation into the 911 emergency department, leading to a lawsuit against Bovo, which was later dismissed for lack of merit.

Despite those setbacks, Calvo said that his decision to leave the Hialeah Council is not related to his political stagnation but rather his desire to contribute to the countys well-being, especially on fiscal matters.

Calvo said he hopes to shape a more conservative tax office.

This is a crucial moment for Miami-Dade Countys 2.6 million residents, all of whom are facing an unprecedented affordability crisis and skyrocketing insurance premiums, Calvo said. I am ready to advocate on behalf of county residents and robustly address inefficiencies and root out any hint of bad management within the office of Tax Collector.

In addition to processing taxes, the Tax Collectors Office issues various licenses, including hunting and fishing licenses. The agency also processes vehicle registrations and tags, as well as disability parking permits in Miami-Dade.

If Calvo beats Fernandez in the Republican primary, he will advance to the general election against former Miami Beach Commissioner David Richardson, the only Democrat who has filed to run so far.

What the resignation means for Hialeah

Calvos formal resignation is scheduled for June, but he will be allowed to continue serving in office until January 2025, according to Florida statutes. It is expected that the vacancy will be filled by appointment.

My only interest has always been to serve for the good of my hometown, Hialeah, he stated.

Former Mayor Raul Martinez said he considers Calvo a political climber who should give up his seat earlier.

If he were interested in Hialeahs well-being, he would fight and not resign, Martinez emphasized. But if hes going to resign, he should do it now so the position can be filled in November rather than being appointed [later].

Hialeahs mayor and council members also said they are cautious about Calvos candidacy and its potential impact on Hialeah.

Bovo confirmed to El Nuevo Herald that he had spoken with Calvo about his departure. Although he acknowledged that their political relationship has not been good, he said it has been dictated by him [Calvo].

At the same time, the mayor ruled out that the councilmans eventual departure or his decision to stay within Hialeah government for the time being would affect his administration.

Hialeah City Council Member Bryan Calvo announces his candidacy for tax collector among supporters at Miami-Dade Elections Department headquarter on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Doral, Florida.

The majority of the council votes with the administration  even many of the votes are 7-0, he emphasized.

It will not be the first resignation of a councilman under Bovos administration. His stepson Oscar De La Rosa left two months after the mayor took office and was replaced by Vivian Casals-Munoz.
CUMBERLAND COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM)  Pennsylvania State Police say they were involved in another high-speed chase in the Midstate, at least the third since Friday.

Troopers say on March 25 around 10 a.m. an unmarked vehicle was parked on I-76 in West Pennsboro Township when a Ford Taurus with heavy window tint and an expired registration passed eastbound.

The Trooper pulled over the vehicle and the driver was identified as Moses Jones Jr. of Philadelphia. State Police say during the traffic stop Jones Jr. fled and the Trooper began a pursuit.

During the chase, State Police say speed exceeded 130 MPH in a 70 MPH zone for several miles. The chase ended in a construction zone and State Police later found the Taurus crashed into construction equipment.

Troopers reported seeing Jones Jr. fleeing on foot and say he was apprehended after a foot chase. State Police say Jones reported being on federal probation and he was outside of his allotted area.

Jones is facing charges including fleeing or attempting to elude an officer and was released from Cumberland County Prison on $4,000 bail.

The turnpike chase came hours after another 130 MPH chase in Cumberland County involving State Police and a Mechanicsburg man.

On Friday, a State Trooper suffered a dislocated shoulder after a fleeing vehicle crashed into a patrol car on I-83 in York County.

This is a developing story. Stay with abc27 News as more information becomes available

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27.
A hiker became stranded in deep snow on a Colorado hiking trail in conditions so challenging that the rescue went on all night, officials said.

The hiker was many miles  and many hours  into hiking the Colorado Trail when he realized he wouldnt be able to make it back out on his own just before 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 23, Douglas County Search and Rescue spokesperson Dave Arnett told McClatchy News.

The hiker used his phones SOS feature to reach out to satellites that then routed the call through Douglas County Sheriffs Office dispatch, which reached out to search and rescue, Arnett told 9News.

Hed been out there since 8 a.m. that morning, Arnett told the station. Theres a good possibility he would not have made it through the night.

Search and rescue scouted the hikers whereabouts with a drone and sent several teams to his location from the north and south, officials said.

Once rescuers spotted him, it took several hours for them to reach him and several more to help him off the trail  overall amounting to a 12-hour mission that ended about 6 a.m. on Sunday, March 24, officials said. The hiker had been outdoors in the cold for almost a full day.

Rescuers warmed the hiker and helped him navigate back down the trail until he felt he couldnt walk any more, Arnett said. Then they fastened him to a litter with a wheel to carry him down the trail.

Please be aware that while it looks dry and clear in many areas close to home, snow conditions are still very challenging and risky in wilderness trails, officials said on Facebook.

Officials urged hikers to choose routes carefully and bring proper communication and navigation gear along with plenty of extra food, water, and layers to bundle up in frigid overnight temperatures. They also warned against hiking alone and urged hikers to take multiple forms of traction, including snowshoes.

The forecast includes more snow later today  Colorado does not let go of winter lightly, officials said. Stay safe out there.

Several people commented about how someone could get trapped in such a challenging situation, rescuers said.

Please note that our focus, and our privilege, is to help folks get home safely. We take that very seriously, anytime and anywhere, officials said. Weve all likely found ourselves in places and situations we didnt plan on. Were simply glad the hiker is safe and we are glad to be of service.

Another person praised the good advice and noted that lightweight snowshoes are not as much of a burden as some might assume.

Thank you for being there for this hiker, life is precious! they said.

Douglas County is about a 40-mile drive south from Denver.

What to do if you get stranded in cold weather

When the body is exposed to prolonged cold temperatures, it starts to lose heat faster than it can produce it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Prolonged exposure to cold will eventually use up your bodys stored energy, the CDC said. The result is hypothermia, or abnormally low body temperature.

Low body temperatures can impact the brain and cause people to be unable to move or think clearly. However, the National Weather Service said there are ways to help you stay safe.

If youre outside in cold weather, find shelter and stay dry. Cover every part of your body thats exposed to the cold air.

If theres nowhere to go nearby, build a windbreak or snow cave for protection. You should also continue to move your body to keep blood circulating, but dont overexert yourself, officials said.

If you get trapped in a vehicle during a storm, officials said you should stay inside it and stay visible to rescuers.

Run the motor about 10 minutes each hour for heat, the National Weather Service said. While running the motor, open the window a little for fresh air to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning. Clear snow from the exhaust pipe to avoid gas poisoning.

Family of hikers stranded in woods spends 24 hours in cold, Oregon rescuers say

Hiker slips on wet rocks, plunges 20 feet at popular Sedona trail, Arizona officials say

Overdue 64-year-old hiker found dead in canyon at Utah national park, rangers say
Photo taken in the United States, on Feb. 22, 2021 shows the damage to the wing and the body fairing of the Boeing 777-200 of the United Airlines flight 328. (NTSB/Handout via Xinhua)

Boeing has grappled with significant quality and safety issues concerning its aircraft for years. These incidents have raised significant concerns about Boeing's safety management processes and quality control.

SAN FRANCISCO, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Boeing President and CEO Dave Calhoun on Monday announced his decision to step down at the end of the year amid the planemaker's exacerbated safety crisis.





SAFETY CRISIS

Boeing has grappled with significant quality and safety issues concerning its aircraft for years, leading to the prolonged grounding of specific models and halted deliveries.

From October 2018 to March 2024, the company faced several incidents that underscored concerns about the safety and reliability of its aircraft.

Notably, a Boeing 787-9 flying from Australia to New Zealand this month suffered a "technical failure" in flight, leading to severe turbulence within the fuselage and numerous injuries.

In January, a series of safety crises shook the industry's confidence in the planemaker.

On Jan. 20, a wheel in the landing gear of a Boeing 757 passenger plane fell off and rolled off the runway when the plane was taxiing and preparing for flight. On Jan. 13, a Boeing 737 was found to have a crack in the front glass of the cockpit during flight. On Jan. 5, a door stopper of a built-in emergency door fell off the side of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 shortly after takeoff.

A total of 346 people were killed in the crashes of Indonesia's Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines in October 2018 and March 2019, respectively, both of which were Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, leading to a global grounding of the 737 MAX for nearly two years.

These incidents, spanning from engine troubles to structural failures, have raised significant concerns about Boeing's safety management processes and quality control and underscored the urgent need for stringent safety and quality checks within the aviation industry.





DEAD WHISTLEBLOWER

The startling image of a Boeing aircraft flying with a gaping hole in its fuselage has sent shockwaves around the globe. Equally compelling is the story of John Barnett, a former quality manager who worked for Boeing for three decades before becoming a whistleblower.

Barnett raised significant safety concerns about the company's aircraft. In 2019, Mr Barnett told the BBC that under intense pressure, workers had been deliberately fitting substandard parts to aircraft on the production line.

He revealed that he had uncovered serious problems with oxygen systems, suggesting that one in four breathing masks would be ineffective in an emergency.

He also said workers had failed to follow procedures to track factory components, allowing defective components to go missing.

Upon retiring, Barnett initiated an extended legal battle against the company, including allegations that Boeing attacked his character and hampered his career. The planemaker denied the allegations.

On March 9, Barnett was found dead in a vehicle from a self-inflicted wound in a hotel parking lot in the U.S. state of South Carolina.

Barnett's sudden death comes at a time when Boeing's production standards are under intense scrutiny. It has also sparked discussions about Boeing's safety practices and internal culture.

Boeing said it was saddened to hear of Barnett's passing.

In an interview with a local TV network, Jennifer, a friend of Barnett, claimed she didn't believe Barnett died by suicide.

Barnett "loved life too much" and "loved his family too much" to go through the act of taking his own life, she said, adding that someone "didn't like what he had to say" and wanted to "shut him up."

Barnett had warned her, "If anything happens to me, it's not suicide."

This photo taken on June 19, 2023 shows a demonstration of the Boeing 777X aircraft during the 54th International Paris Air Show held at Le Bourget Airport near Paris, France. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)





LEADERSHIP OVERHAUL

Dave Calhoun 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 President and CEO Stan Deal will retire from the company, and Stephanie Pope has been appointed to lead Boeing Commercial Airplanes as the 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."

The shift in leadership occurs against the backdrop of the Department of Justice's expanding criminal investigation into Boeing. The FBI informed passengers of the Alaska Airlines flight last week that they could be victims of a crime.

The New York Times has reported that several airline leaders have publicly expressed frustration with the manufacturer. The chief executives of many major carriers in the United States were set to meet with Kellner and other board members this week.

Boeing shares have lost roughly a quarter of their value since the start of the year. The aerospace giant's shares moved higher Monday after it unveiled the major leadership changes.
Hillsborough County School Board members took another stab Tuesday at revising their policy on cellphone use in schools.

Meeting in a work session, the six members disagreed on several key issues, as they did when they tackled the issue during a discussion last summer. They nevertheless agreed to keep working with the goal of adopting a policy in time for the next school year.

Leading the effort was board member Lynn Gray, who cited numerous examples of harm that results from childrens over-use of digital devices. These include an escalation of school fights, which children record and post for notoriety, and exposure to pornographic material. She repeated a contention she had raised previously that children were accessing a set of Pornhub materials called Disney Porn.

Others pushed back against that claim, saying the districts devices and Wi-Fi have blockers that would prevent such viewing at school. The district later said that school fighting has decreased slightly since last year.

Board members had other concerns about Grays proposed policy, which would require students to store their devices in bags or purses and refrain from using them unless allowed by a teacher, solely for educational purposes.

Member Jessica Vaughn and board chairperson Karen Perez said parents want to be able to reach their children in an emergency. Vaughn said there are medical reasons as well. Some devices, for example, are used to monitor health conditions such as diabetes.

Board member Patti Rendon wanted to give schools and teachers flexibility on when to allow the phones and where to store them when they are off limits. Such a policy would comply with state law, she said, insisting the district should not go further than the state.

Gray held her ground, saying, I feel like this is a call for action.

Schools in Hillsborough now vary in what they allow. In elementary schools, phone use is generally not allowed throughout the day, said Superintendent Van Ayres.

Some middle schools allow phones during lunch; others do not. Webb Middle School adopted a strict cellphone policy this year with encouraging results. Webb principal Glenda Vinueza was at the workshop Tuesday, but was not asked to speak.

In high school, students typically use their cellphones during lunch, between classes and sometimes during classroom lessons.

Tuesdays discussion became more complicated by this weeks news that Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed into law a ban on some social media platforms for children 14 and younger. The law is expected to face constitutional challenges, and judges in some other states have already halted laws that are less restrictive.

Board members wondered if the new law will clash with Floridas parental choice law. They also wondered if, in doing nothing, they run the risk that children will violate the social media ban while in school.

There was also disagreement on whether the district should allow full discretion to principals or, as member Nadia Combs suggested, be consistent across grade levels.

Assuming they can adopt revisions that will satisfy a majority, the board plans to vote on the policy June 4.
HMS Prince of Wales has returned to the UK after leading in the largest Nato exercise in 40 years.

The aircraft carrier arrived back in Portsmouth Harbour, having travelled across Scandinavia and northern Europe.

It had been at the centre of Exercise Steadfast Defender, which involved more than 20,000 UK military personnel.

The warship left Portsmouth in February, after replacing sister ship HMS Queen Elizabeth for the exercise.

A Royal Navy spokesperson said: "HMS Prince of Wales is returning to her home port of Portsmouth after successfully leading the UK's involvement in Exercise Steadfast Defender, the largest Nato military exercise since the end of the Cold War."

The warship led Nato training exercises in the North Sea

The aircraft carrier set sail on February 12 to lead a UK Carrier Strike Group, which operated as a naval force of allied warships and submarines in the North Atlantic, Norwegian Sea and the Baltic Sea.

HMS Queen Elizabeth, the fleet flagship, had been expected to lead the exercise but its deployment was called off after final checks found an issue with the starboard propeller coupling, the Navy said.

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HOLLAND, Mich. (WOOD)  Police say a man has been arrested after allegedly stabbing his stepfather Tuesday in Holland.

It happened around 2:45 a.m. at an apartment on Beacon Light Circle, located near the intersection of E 16th Street and Quarterline Road, according to the Holland Department of Public Safety.

Responding officers found the adult stepson outside the building, then found the stepfather inside. The stepfather, who had a stab wound in his abdomen, told police that his stepson had stabbed him, according to the department of public safety.

Police say the stepson was arrested and jailed. His name was not released Tuesday.

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The stepfather was taken to the hospital to be treated.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
By Jessie Pang and James Pomfret

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong is seeking to revive its arts scene to become a regional cultural hub, but some art critics have said they were concerned that a new security law may hinder creativity ahead of a series of events that include Art Basel Hong Kong.

The law came into force on Saturday despite growing international criticism that it could erode freedoms in the China-ruled city and damage its international financial hub credentials.

On Monday, Hong Kong's leader John Lee inaugurated the Hong Kong International Cultural Summit by saying the government plans to inject $550 million into various art initiatives including a film fund to build Hong Kong into an "East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange".

"The Hong Kong government attaches great importance to propelling Hong Kong's rise as a cultural hub. And we're serious about this," he said.

Some art critics, however, said the national security law had added to their concerns about freedoms, especially after the arrests of publishers and journalists in a clampdown imposed by China after the city's anti-government and pro-democracy protests in 2019.

Under the clampdown, which China said was necessary to restore order to Hong Kong, activists, publishers and journalists have been detained or jailed for sedition, books have been pulled from public libraries, and theatre and dance groups were prevented from performing.

Under the new law, which the Hong Kong government says is necessary to plug legal loopholes, jail terms for sedition have been stiffened from 2 years to 10 years.

"It is an art market which, in a sense, colludes with the government to prevent a certain range of expression from occurring," Eric Wear, a member of the International Association of Art Critics, told Reuters.

"I'm not particularly concerned about its collapse, but it becomes a much more limited, more conservative market that is not necessarily engaged with all of the exciting issues that happen in the arts," he added.

Andrew Jensen, founder of the Fox Jensen galleries in New Zealand and Australia in town for Arts Basel Hong Kong, also said he was concerned about possible fallout from the law.

"You know, clearly we're living in times which are contentious, not just here, but all around the world, and as advocates for cultural expression in art, that's not something we want to see," he added.

One of the events on Hong Kong's art calendar is the prestigious regional art fair Art Basel Hong Kong, which the government said it had spent $1.9 million to bring in as part of broader efforts to revive the city's economy.

Angelle Siyang-Le, director of Art Basel Hong Kong, said the organisers had not experienced any censorship issues.

"So far, we have never really experienced any difficulties," she told Reuters.

One of the highlights of the event is "Friendship First, Competition Second" by Singaporean contemporary artist Ming Wong which features a giant ping-pong ball with video screens displaying stories of pop culture and Cold War diplomacy.

(Additional reporting by Edward Cho, Dorothy Kam and Joyce Zhou; Editing by James Pomfret and Miral Fahmy)
In the wake of an exhausting four years battling the COVID pandemic, hospitals throughout the country are facing immense staffing challenges. Hospital employees are leaving the industry in record numbers, citing burnout from the pandemic and untenable workloads.

But one Fort Worth hospital has bucked the trend: Cook Childrens Health Network, which operates its flagship location in Fort Worth. Its workforce has grown over the course of the pandemic, now with more than 9,700 employees across the entire system. And during an era during which numerous hospitals have turned to contract labor to fill vacancies, the health network hasnt hired any travel nurses.

The health systems success, leaders said, is because of a tradition of asking employees what they need, and then giving it to them.

You cant do great work unless youre taken care of, Beth Schmidt, the networks vice president of human resources, said. I believe we do a great job of taking care of our employees.

In 2022, the health network began an employee listening tour focused on pay and benefits. Over the course of more than 70 listening sessions, leaders heard that Cook Childrens employees wanted a parental leave policy and more days off after a loved one dies. The health network created a parental leave policy giving new parents six weeks of paid leave, Schmidt said. The policy will go into effect this summer. Cook Childrens also decided to absorb the cost of increasing health care premiums for employees, so their insurance premiums wouldnt increase.

The new changes come in addition to existing programs the health network offers, like onsite child care near its Fort Worth campus and a free medical clinic for employees and their adult dependents.

These policies and others helped propel the health network to a No. 3 ranking on Forbes list of best large employers for 2024. Cook Childrens was ranked No. 1 in the health sector.

The pediatric hospitals accolades come as many hospitals and other health care facilities are still grappling with fallout from the pandemic. In 2022, the statewide vacancy rate for Texas nurses was 18%, up from 6% three years earlier, according to a survey of about half of hospitals in the state. Nurses and health care workers with major health systems, like Kaiser Permanente, have gone on historic strikes demanding changes in their workplaces.

But these labor disruptions have centered on staffing levels and workload, not pay, as the primary concern, said Michelle Collins, the dean of the College of Nursing and Health at Loyola University New Orleans.

What weve heard from the nurses strikes is not necessarily more money, Collins said.

Cook Childrens facilities were not immune to patient surges that stretched staff to their limits and left patient beds completely full. In fall of 2021 and winter of 2022, the hospital experienced weeks of being completely full, with not enough room for the number of children who needed care.

We were sending patients to Oklahoma and Illinois and Louisiana, Schmidt said. Cook Childrens leaders agreed: This cant happen again.

They decided to increase the staffing levels of all units, Schmidt said, and also decided to beef up an existing program that brings additional nurses, respiratory therapists, and other health care workers on staff during the busy winter months. Now, the health network will bring on roughly 100 additional health care workers during the winter months to address the influx of patients during that time.

In addition, the health network has expanded its nursing residency program with two additional cohorts. Leaders also conducted a burnout survey of all staff to learn how they could alleviate staff workload, and ultimately decided to find ways for doctors to spend less time working on electronic medical records, said Keith Holtz, the health networks chief of administration.
FLORENCE, S.C. (WBTW)  A house fire on Howard Street was contained Monday afternoon, according to the Florence Fire Department.

Heavy smoke could be seen coming from the front of the home when fire officials arrived.

The fire was contained in one hour and no injuries were reported. Fire officials said the cause of the fire is undetermined.

The Red Cross was called to assist those displaced by the fire. Florence police and Florence County EMS were on the scene assisting, the Florence Fire Department said.

* * *

Taylor Ford is a digital journalist for News13. She joined the News13 team in January 2023. Taylor is a Florence native and covers the Pee Dee out of News13s Florence Bureau. Read more of Taylors work here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBTW.
In an interview with the Russian state-owned news agency TASS, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto stated that sending NATO troops to Ukraine would mean risking World War III.

Source: European Pravda

Details: Szijjarto, who had visited Sochi the day before, told TASS that Hungary would urge its allies and colleagues "to refrain from any statements and actions that could bring the risk of a world war closer".

Quote: "In such a critical situation, words are just as important as actions. As a result, the possibility of sending troops into Ukraine on behalf of some NATO countries is extremely dangerous, as we do not want to face that risk. The terrible risk of the outbreak of World War III is approaching," said Szijjarto.

He stated that "more and more people" in Europe "oppose actions that increase the risk of escalation".

Szijjarto's words echo those of Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who stated that the presence of NATO troops in Ukraine would result in a direct conflict between the Alliance and the Russian Federation and an escalation of the situation.

Following his "re-election" in March, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin acknowledged the possibility of a full-scale conflict between Russia and NATO, claiming that this could lead to World War III.

Szijjarto traveled to Sochi on the eve of Atomexpo-2024, an international forum organized by Rosatom.

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DAMASCUS, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Seven Iranian-backed militia fighters were killed in suspected U.S. strikes on Iranian targets in eastern Syria before daybreak Tuesday, a war monitor reported.

A series of explosions rattled Syria's eastern province of Deir al-Zour, coinciding with the presence of unidentified drones flying overhead.

The blasts were accompanied by intensified airstrikes targeting military installations belonging to the Syrian army and Iranian-backed militias in several cities, including al-Bukamal, al-Mayadeen, and the eponymous provincial capital of Deir al-Zour, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Britain-based watchdog group said it could not confirm the party responsible for the airstrikes, saying they were possibly conducted by the U.S. military with possible involvement of Israel.

The observatory said a commander was killed in the attack without identifying him.

The Syrian government and Iranian authorities have not immediately commented on the reported airstrikes or the drone presence, but opposition activists suggested the airstrikes were carried out by U.S. forces.

The United States has repeatedly targeted Iranian sites in eastern Syria amid its escalating tension with Iran in the region. 
As a retailer operating convenience stores in Wichita, I understand the importance of balancing business interests with public health concerns. Its time for us to acknowledge the serious threat posed by the flood of illicit vaping products coming from China, especially those targeted towards our youth with enticing fruity flavors, and support the passage of the vaping directory bill now in the Legislature. House Bill 2801 would guarantee that retailers sell only Food and Drug Administration-authorized and regulated products to our customers, thereby curbing the influx of Chinese vapes showing up in our community.

Passing a vape directory bill is not only necessary, but also critical to help safeguard the well-being of Kansas younger generation. Its undeniable that flavored vaping products have played a significant role in attracting young people as new users. For years, the FDA has been aware of the youth vaping issue  yet its response has consistently fallen short, allowing the situation we see today to develop. Despite minor warning letters and fines directed at brands such as Elf Bar, Esco Bar and Breeze, these products remain among the most commonly sold disposable vape brands in the U.S., according to the National Youth Tobacco Survey.

As a responsible retailer, I am deeply troubled by the idea that products sold in our community could be contributing to e-cigarette use by our children. So I am glad to see legislators at the federal level urging retailers to stop selling illicit vapes and warning about the unabated spread of these prohibited disposable flavored vapes. I hope our state leaders can join the movement to address this alarming surge and advocate for increased enforcement measures. This bill, similar to what Kansas did with publishing and maintaining a list of legal and illegal cigarette brands, would do just that and add much-needed enforcement measures and clarity in the industry.

Navigating the complex landscape of vaping products and the flow of new products as a retailer requires constant attention and vigilance. I work with vendors all the time who claim their products are legal  but because of continual brand name changes, it is nearly impossible to keep up. H.B. 2801 would make explicit which products are and are not authorized by the FDA. That would clear this confusion and empower retailers in the community to make informed decisions about which products to stock their shelves with. It would also help us to identify and avoid products that are illicitly marketed, thereby mitigating the risk of inadvertently contributing to youth vaping.

As someone who takes pride in running a responsible business and has never failed a youth tobacco sales compliance check for more than six years, demonstrating my adherence to tobacco laws, I welcome measures that would promote transparency and accountability in the industry.

I am deeply invested in our communitys well-being, which is why I am urging Kansas lawmakers to prioritize the passage of the vape directory bill. By doing so, we can protect our children from these illicit e-cigarette products and the harmful effects of vaping, promote responsible business practices, and ensure a better vaping marketplace for adult consumers.

Alexa Siddique is the owner of Schulte Food Mart, 13th St. Market and 21st St. Market in Wichita.
Illinois State Police have set a goal to have 30% of cadet classes be women by 2030.

The department made that 30 by 30 pledge in 2022, but the number of women signing up has stayed about the same ever since. There are more than 1,000 sworn officers with Illinois State Police, but only 10% of them are women. Only two of the 35 most recent graduates were women.

Illinois State Police Deputy Director Rebecca Hooks has been with the department for more than 20 years and is the highest-ranking woman in the agencys history. Hooks says law enforcement agencies should look like the communities they serve. She says recruitment for law enforcement is down everywhere, and thats why the State Police started a social media campaign to highlight the opportunities for women on the force.

Illinois announced last week that new troopers will earn $90,000 dollars a year with benefits after graduating from the academy.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHBF - OurQuadCities.com.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark.  Immerse Arkansas is hosting its inaugural Youth Job & Resource Fair. The event will offer opportunities and resources for young job seekers who are exploring career options or seeking guidance on resumes and interviews.

The job fair is happening March 26 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the OC Youth Center located at 5300 Asher Avenue in Little Rock.

Watch the video for more information.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLRT - FOX16.com.
FILE - This photo taken on Monday, March 12, 2018 and released by svaboda.org RFE/RL shows Belarusian journalist Ihar Karnei, who was arrested in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, on July 17, 2023. Ihar Karnei, a prominent independent journalist went on trial in Belarus on Tuesday March 19, 2024 on extremism charges widely seen as politically motivated. (svaboda.org RFE/RL Photo via AP, File)

TALLINN, Estonia (AP)  A prominent journalist in Belarus was designated a political prisoner on Tuesday by the country's leading human rights group following his conviction on charges widely seen as part of an ongoing crackdown on dissent.

Ihar Karnei, who used to write for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and other news outlets, was handed a three-year prison sentence on Friday on charges of participation in an extremist group.

Karnei is a member of the Belarusian Association of Journalists, or BAJ, the country's top independent journalist group championing freedom of speech that has been branded extremist by authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko's government.

During his trial, Belarusian authorities accused Karnei of cooperation with BAJ to publish materials insulting the head of state and representatives of the government.

This is not a sentence to Karnei, but to the government that throws journalists behind bars just for professionally doing their job, BAJ head Andrei Bastunets said. We are urging all journalists of the world to show solidarity with their Belarusian colleagues who have faced the toughest crackdown on freedom of speech in Europe.

Karnei is one of 34 Belarusian journalists who are in prison serving their sentences or awaiting trial.

RFE/RL, a U.S. government-funded broadcaster for which Karnei worked, also has been designated extremist in Belarus, a common label for Lukashenkos critics.

The Viasna human rights center, Belarus' oldest and most prominent rights group, classified Karnei as a political prisoner, criticizing his conviction and sentencing as part of a deliberate policy by the authorities to limit the dissemination of uncensored information in the country and an attack on freedom of expression.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists denounced the verdict against Karnei as a typical example of the expediency and arbitrariness of the sentences handed down to independent journalists in the country and demanded the immediate release of Karnei and other jailed Belarusian journalists.

Journalists and activists in Belarus have faced large-scale repression since the August 2020 vote that handed a sixth term to Lukashenko and was rejected as fraudulent by the opposition and the West. Belarusian authorities have responded to huge protests triggered by the vote with a brutal crackdown that saw more than 35,000 people arrested and thousands beaten by police. Dozens of nongovernmental organizations and independent media outlets were shut down.

Karnei was detained several times while covering the protests. Unlike many of his colleagues who left the country, he has remained in Belarus despite the crackdown. He has been in custody since his arrest in July.

Belarus has more than 1,400 political prisoners, according to Viasna, including its founder, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski.
(Bloomberg) -- Indian buyers of Venezuelan oil  including billionaire Mukesh Ambanis Reliance Industries Ltd.  have halted purchases from the OPEC producer ahead of the expiry of a sanctions waiver in the middle of next month.

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Reliance Industries, the countrys biggest buyer of grades such as Merey, has stopped new purchases from Venezuela to avoid any complications should Washington decide not to extend its concession beyond the April 18 deadline, said people with knowledge of the companys plans, who asked not to be named because the information is private.

Other Indian refiners such as Indian Oil Corp. and HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd. have also paused their purchases for the same reason, said people familiar with their procurement.

The three companies didnt reply to emails seeking comment.

Indian  as well as US  refiners have ramped up imports of cheap Venezuelan oil since late last year due to a six-month sanctions waiver, putting them into competition with Chinese buyers who kept buying the crude despite the restrictions. Reduced flows from the South American producer will add to supply pressures for India, as imports from Russia are also declining due to more scrutiny of the trade.

Read More: India Halts Russia Oil Supplies From Sanctioned Tanker Giant

No India-bound loadings of Venezuelan crude are expected in April, said Viktor Katona, a Vienna-based analyst at data intelligence firm Kpler. It is unlikely that any shipments that load in end-March or early-April will arrive in India near or before the April 18 deadline due to a sailing time of about 45 days.

Tankers Caspar and Nissos Tinos that loaded oil at Venezuelas Jose export terminal in mid-March are signaling Jamnagar and Paradip in India, according to Kpler. The ships are expected to reach their destinations in April. Both vessels were initially slated to load in February, based on official programs. Their schedules were later delayed due to low inventories at Venezuelan ports, documents show.

India has received 10 million barrels of Venezuelan crude so far this year, with another 6 million barrels en route, the Kpler data show. Oil from the OPEC producer is among the cheapest for Indian refiners. The average landed cost was $60.60 a barrel in January, according to government data, versus $78.80 for Russian oil.

Read More: Venezuela Says Electoral Observers Are Invited to July Race

The US can choose to reimpose sanctions next month if it deems Venezuela has broken an accord to hold free and fair elections. President Nicolas Maduro is set to run for a third consecutive term this July, and he is all but assured victory after disqualifying his main rival.

The return of US sanctions may include a wind-down period for traders and shipping companies to wrap up their dealings without being penalized. In 2019, it was 90 days.

--With assistance from Andrew Janes and Sharon Cho.

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Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Melissa Boyd was given her second public reprimand in late October. She has since been referred to the Tennessee General Assembly for further action, which could include removal.

Prosecutors in the case against Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Melissa Boyd, who has been embroiled in controversy over the last year, requested she have her bond revoked after she tested positive for cocaine and alcohol, court records show.

Boyd, who is facing criminal charges for harassment and coercing a witness, was given a $5,000 bail when she was indicted in December. She has since posted that bail, which came with the condition that she would be regularly drug tested.

The motion for bond revocation came days after a joint committee of the Tennessee General Assembly voted to recommend her removal to the full House and Senate. During that committee meeting, a member of the Board of Judicial Conduct told members that Boyd had recently failed a drug test, even though she had completed a rehabilitation program in Georgia.

"On March 12, 2024, the defendant submitted to drug testing with pretrial services," the motion read. "On March 15, 2024, pretrial services notified the state and this court that defendant tested positive for cocaine and alcohol, as verified by official lab results through Averhealth. Therefore, defendant has violated the terms of her bond conditions by testing positive for an illegal substance, as well as alcohol consumption, while released on bond."

Boyd has received multiple reprimands from the board since being elected in 2022. The reprimands stem from Boyd soliciting money for a school using a picture of her in her judicial robe, allegations of harassing another woman, alcohol abuse, and having a marijuana and cocaine addiction.

More: TN legislative committee recommends embattled Shelby County judge be removed from office

One such reprimand required Boyd to receive treatment, which she did not enter into until after being criminally indicted.

Many of the accusations come from a woman who told the board she was Boyd's campaign manager. Boyd has since denied that she had a campaign manager, saying that the two women were in a relationship at one point.

Boyd has been suspended for months, still collecting a paycheck from the state, which the board has estimated to be about $17,000 a month.

Boyd's criminal case is making its way through Shelby County criminal court and is being prosecuted by Frederick Agee, district attorney for Crockett, Gibson and Haywood counties.

More: TN Supreme Court appoints judge to preside over Judge Melissa Boyd's criminal case

According to the board, Boyd would show up at the campaign manager's home and berate her. The campaign manager said Boyd tried to have her recant her statements to the oversight board, telling the manager to "shut up" and "not mess with her because she's a judge."

Boyd also would text the campaign manager information about the woman's divorce, the board said.

Though having the power to issue reprimands, the board can only recommend the removal of a sitting judge to the General Assembly, which has the power to remove a judge from office.

Lucas Finton is a criminal justice reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com, or (901)208-3922, and followed on X, formerly known as Twitter, @LucasFinton.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Indicted Shelby County Judge Melissa Boyd tests positive for drugs
Servant of the People's own Mariana Bezuhla brought a new bill to Ukraine's parliament floor, aiming to penalize "misappropriation of state functions." Confronted with criticism, she branded the ordeal a "provocation."

Bezuhla, along with fellow "Servant of the People" party member Galyna Tretyakova, registered the bill on March 20. Five days later, the document was forwarded to the relevant committee for review.

Read also: Zelenskyys Servant of the People party in complete disarray as dozens of MPs consider resigning

What exactly is meant by "misappropriation of state functions" is not specified, but the authors of the bill proposed to punish those who represent Ukraine without authority and approval at international events, in front of authorized persons or agents of foreign states, as well as representatives of international organizations.

In particular, this includes correspondence, telephone conversations, and other forms of communication.

According to the newly registered bill, penalty for such an offense is imprisonment for a term of 10 to 15 years with or without confiscation of property, but if the violation was made under martial law it can lead to liife imprisonment.

Read also: Resolution on MP Bezuhla's removal from defense committee post not submitted to Ukrainian parliament

Bezuhla and Tretyakova explained that allegedly "shameful citizens are appropriating state functions" to "obtain their own privileges," so the introduction of such a bill is a "fair response" to those who "commit high treason."

Mariana Bezuhla responded to criticism in the media and social services on her Facebook page on March 26, noting that the bill "is a derivative of the US Logan Act, which is still in force in the United States."

She also called her own proposal a "provocation."

"It's so cute how the provocation works," Bezuhla wrote. "Tomorrow I can register the(bill about) cancellation of Russia."

Scandalous statements made by MP Bezuhla

Some of Bezuhla's posts on Facebook caused a wide public outcry. In particular, the MP offered volunteers and women to go to the front.

Read also: Mariana Bezuhla removed from Zelenskyys party

Bezuhla began to publicly criticize the former commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, Valerii Zaluzhnyi at the end of2023. The press service of the Servant of the People party said that Bezuhla was responsible for her own words.

Bezuhla was expelled from the Servant of the People party on Feb. 6.



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Belarusian timber enters the EU market despite sanctions, being supplied to Poland under false documentation while passed off as Kazakh wood, according to an investigation by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Schemes project, the Polish outlet Gazeta Wyborcza, and the Belarusian Investigative Center.

The EU imposed wide-reaching sanctions against Russia and its ally Belarus in March 2022 in reaction to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The restrictions extended to Belarusian timber, which has been traditionally imported into the EU in an amount worth over $1 billion every year.

After the imposition of the sanctions, wood imports from Kazakhstan to Poland increased from $15 million to almost $74 million between 2022 and 2023, even though Kazakhstan has very little forested land and supplied meager volumes to the EU before the full-scale war.

The journalists analyzed a contract and accompanying documents for the purchase of about 1 million euros ($1.1 million) worth of timber between the Polish company PLRBL and the Kazakh company Nurr-electro.

A representative of Nurr-electro told the journalists that the Kazakh company had never concluded such a contract, and graphic design experts said that the seals and signatures on the documents had been falsified.

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An employee of Gallardo, a Belarusian company transporting the wood, told the journalists that the carriers never went to Kazakhstan and loaded the supplies in Belarus. According to the investigation, the scheme was implemented in collaboration with the Belarusian company SO RBL, whose owner, Belarusian Oleh Yanovych, is also the chairman of the board of the Polish PLRBL.

The journalists presented the results of the investigation to Polish authorities, but the country's customs officials said they do not have capacities to verify all customs declarations. Poland's Interior Ministry said it had opened an investigation based on the provided evidence but gave no further details.

In late February, Ukrainska Pravda reported that Polish truckers import increasingly high volumes of Russian grain through Belarus. While these products were not under sanctions, the purchases were on the rise even as Polish farmers protested agricultural imports from Ukraine.

Read also: Belarus Weekly: Warsaw calls for EU sanctions on Belarusian, Russian agricultural imports following Ukrainian investigation

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MT. JULIET, Tenn. (WKRN)  The Mt. Juliet Police Department is investigating after a man was reportedly found dead on a creek bank Tuesday.

Police said the mans body was discovered at the bottom of a steep embankment along the creek, near the 15200 block of Lebanon Road.

TIMELINE: The disappearance of Sumner County teen Sebastian Rogers

(WKRN photo)

As of Tuesday afternoon, detectives were still working to determine the circumstances surrounding the mans death.

The individual has been identified. However, authorities have not released his name at this time.

In a statement provided Tuesday, the police department said, Our hearts go out to his loved ones.

 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.
The Iowa City Community School Board will make a decision on the future of Hills Elementary tonight.

District administrators have recommended that the board close the long-standing building, saving an estimated $1.66 million. The vote on the fate of Hills will take place near the end of the school board meeting, which is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.

Hills Elementary School has a much higher relative cost per student figure than at other area elementary schools, according to a superintendent's office report presented to the board in February. The report also mentioned the district's estimated shrinking student population and plenty of space across the district for elementary education.

The current situation dictates that the district retire the existing Hills ES building, redistrict students to a different elementary school(s), and table any considerations for the construction of a new school in Hills until the next (Facilities Master Plan) cycle, district Superintendent Matt Degner wrote in a memo to the school board.

More: Hawkeye Elvis rocks Iowa games, pays homage to his mother's love for the King

Operating costs at Hills Elementary are high

Because Hills is the smallest elementary school in the Iowa City Community School District, with an expected enrollment of just 126 students next school year, operating costs are expected to continue significantly impacting the district's budget.

The staff-to-student ratio is just 3.8 students for every full-time employee at Hills. Degner wrote that at the most efficient elementary school in the district, that ratio is 10.4 students to full-time employees.

At a financial oversight committee meeting in mid-February, the board was told that schools with smaller student-to-full-time employee ratios cost the same to operate but incur larger per-student costs.

That means that the district's cost per student at Hills exceeds $7,000, over $1,000 more than at any other elementary school and more than $2,000 above the average elementary school cost per student. Moving those students to other elementary schools could save the Iowa City Community School District more than $250,000 annually.

Enrollment at Hills Elementary has fluctuated throughout the years. The student body was at 256 in 2001 but plummeted to 116 students a decade later. Enrollment then rose to 172 during the 2021-22 school year but is expected to decrease by 26 percent by the next academic year.

An American flag is seen reflected in the back window of a school bus before school, Friday, Sept. 24, 2021, at Hills Elementary School in Hills, Iowa.

District is reducing total budget over next two years

The Iowa City Community School District superintendent's office report references repeated budgetary constraints as a reason to close Hills Elementary.

Preliminary estimates predict that closing the school will save the district nearly $1.66 million in the next fiscal year.

Other districts across the state have announced budget reductions to compensate for financial shortfalls. In Des Moines, the district will cut $14 million in costs, including an estimated $3 million from its budget by reducing staffing.

The school board approved plans for a new Hills Elementary in 2022 despite concerns about starting fresh in a small community. Construction has yet to begin despite an initial target date of 2025.

Hills Elementary was one of just five schools in Iowa to be named a Blue Ribbon School in 2021. That accreditation celebrates academic performance and progress in closing gaps between students. Only 325 schools across the country received that award in 2021.

More: Iowa City City Council approves rezoning of ex-Kirkwood campus as air quality concerns arise

Teacher had expressed concern over rumors of closure in the past

Kara Diemer-Graham, an English teacher at Hills Elementary, told the school board on Feb. 13 about rumors of the school's closure.

Before the board makes a decision that would devastate students, families, staff and the community, I implore you to consider the many unique circumstances surrounding Hills and work together alongside us to explore other options to reduce the cost of keeping our school open, Diemer-Graham said.

She referenced the district's All in for all kids motto and said many of the families with children who attend Hills are doing whatever it takes" for a quality education. She admitted that "whatever it takes" for students at Hills "might mean more than the average school."

Diemer-Graham added that many Hills students suffer from food scarcity and don't have clean drinking water or internet at home. Other students, she said, are new to the United States and enter the Iowa City Community School District with little to no formal English language skills or school experience, and have very few resources at their disposal.

Being a small building, every teacher realistically has a chance to form a relationship with every student and thus, we are better able to serve their individual needs, Diemer-Graham said.

Ryan Hansen covers local government and crime for the Press-Citizen. He can be reached at rhansen@press-citizen.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ryanhansen01.

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Iowa City school board to determine fate of Hills Elementary on Tuesday
Top UN officials Antonio Guterres and Dennis Francis have paid tribute to victims of the transatlantic slave trade on the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Meanwhile, people in the United States have voiced their concern over the enduring impact of slavery.

Produced by Xinhua Global Service
The Iowa House approved a constitutional amendment Tuesday that would require two-thirds of lawmakers to approve any future tax increases.

House Joint Resolution 2006, which passed on a 61-35 vote and now heads to the Senate, would ask voters to approve the higher threshold on any bill that increases the state's individual or corporate income tax rates.

If put on the ballot and approved, the amendment would make it far more difficult for lawmakers to reverse Republican-led cuts passed in recent years. Currently, all legislation regardless of subject is approved through a simple majority (50% plus one).

Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, R-Wilton, the amendment's sponsor, said it would mimic measures in place in a range of other states across the political spectrum.

"If this bill is good enough for the home state of President Biden, if it's good enough for the home state of Vice President Kamala Harris, if it's good enough for (California) Gov. (Gavin) Newsom  it's damn good enough for Iowa," Kaufmann said.

House Speaker Pat Grassley, R-New Hartford, left, speaks with state Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, R-Wilton, on the House floor at the Iowa State Capitol, Monday, May 1, 2023.

Democrats warned it would severely future legislatures' ability to address future budget deficits and economic hardships.

Rep. Adam Zabner, D-Iowa City, argued that without the ability to adjust income taxes with ease, lawmakers would have to make major cuts to critical programs, look at raising the sales tax or implement another tax like one on groceries.

"What this constitutional amendment does is to say next time there's a budget crunch, we're going to shift that burden onto the poorest Iowans, either by taking away services they rely on or increasing regressive taxes," Zabner said.

If the House-approved measure is approved by both chambers this session, it would be referred to next year's Legislature. If approved again next session, it would be placed on the ballot and require majority approval to amend the Iowa Constitution.

More: Iowa revenue projections updated as lawmakers weigh budget, tax cut decisions

Separate Republican amendment would impose permanent flat tax

Gov. Kim Reynolds and Republican legislators have sought in recent years to both cut down Iowa's rates while eliminating income brackets. Under changes to the tax code passed in 2022, Iowa's individual income tax rate is set to become a 3.9% flat rate by 2026.

Another amendment being considered by lawmakers this session would make that flat rate permanent, imposing a limited scale on future changes from lawmakers.

Kaufmann told reporters Monday that the House would likely debate that measure within a couple weeks. Like the legislative threshold amendment, it would require approval in two straight sessions before landing on the ballot for voters.

Reynolds this session has proposed accelerating a series of existing, gradual tax cuts and bringing the individual income rate down to a 3.5% flat rate next year.

Republican tax-writing chairs in the House and Senate, meanwhile, have introduced their own plans this session that would eventually eliminate the individual income tax. It remains to be seen in the coming weeks how lawmakers opt to tackle the issue.

Democrats have consistently opposed Republican tax plans, arguing they favor the wealthy while not suitably addressing costs of living for middle and lower class populations in Iowa. And they've called on GOP leadership to use the state's current budget surplus to further invest in education and other areas, rather than using it for further cuts.

More: Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds' tax bill advances, but GOP lawmakers keeping options open for cuts

Sen. Dan Dawson, R-Council Bluffs, the chair of the Senate Ways and Means committee, told reporters earlier this month he also planned to advance separate constitutional amendments on a flat tax and higher legislative threshold for tax increases.

Galen Bacharier covers politics for the Register. Reach him at gbacharier@registermedia.com or (573) 219-7440, and follow him on Twitter @galenbacharier.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa House passes measure to require two-thirds vote for tax hikes
A month after Iowa's unemployment agency unveiled the IowaWORKS Mobile Workforce Center, it's in action on grounds of the Tyson pork plant in Perry, where almost 1,300 workers are slated for layoffs as the city's largest employer closes at the end of June.

The 32-foot-long converted bus provides services that were previously available only in Iowa Workforce Development's IowaWORKS offices.

The timing was perfect. This is exactly the kind of thing that we envisioned that we would be able to do, come right on the plant grounds and be here during the workday, have people come in and out during their breaks and provide resources, Beth Townsend, director of Iowa Workforce Development, said in an interview in Perry on Monday.

The IowaWORKS Mobile Workforce Center arrives at the Perry Tyson plant on Monday.

The Mobile Workforce Center will be back on the Tyson grounds from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday.

Townsend said the bus' crew of employment counselors remained steadily busy assisting workers throughout the day on Monday. A resource room also was set up inside the plant to catch workers who had limited time between shifts.

Center can help with employment searches, resumes, job training and signing up for unemployment

Workforce development estimated it assisted nearly 200 workers, providing information in some of the variety of languages spoken by the heavily immigrant workforce. The most common questions were about navigating the unemployment process, when to file for benefits, the reemployment process and what the next few weeks will look like.

Workers will be able to search for jobs, work on their resumes, sign up for training programs and get more information through the mobile center on Tuesday.

Workforce development is looking to open a transition center on Tyson grounds sometime next week to continue assisting workers until the plants closure, Townsend said.

Her agency also plans to hold group worker information meetings and host upcoming job fairs.

'Of course we were concerned about the Perry community'

Townsend said the IowaWORKS Rapid Response Team has been working with Tyson Foods and city leaders since the planned plant closure was announced March 11.

The closure is the second big blow of the year to Perry, a town of about 8,000 that already was struggling with a January school shooting that left three dead and injured six others.

Of course we were concerned about the Perry community. This has been a community that has been hard hit and this seems like another knock-out blow. But Im sure theyll come back stronger and better than ever, Townsend said. It was really, what can we do to help make sure the community survives, make sure that we can keep as many people in the local area?

More: As Tyson Foods closes Perry plant, are other Iowa facilities headed to the chopping block?

While Townsend said Tyson employees cant apply for unemployment benefits until the plant closes, she encourages them to visit the mobile or transition centers for help in getting signed up for an IowaWORKS account, searching for jobs and polishing their resumes.

Workforce development director says workers will be eligible for full 26 weeks of jobless benefits

Iowa legislators in June 2022 cut the period Iowa workers can collect unemployment benefits to 16 weeks from 26. But Townsend said that doesnt apply to workers affected by a plant closure. Perry Tyson workers will be eligible for unemployment benefits for up to 26 weeks.

Worst-case scenario, you have basically six months to find that next job. We hope that it doesnt take you anywhere near that long, just because there are so many jobs available and were going to help you (find one), Townsend said.

She added that there are almost 60,000 jobs currently open in Iowa, about 6,300 in manufacturing and around 800 in Dallas and Polk counties.

The fact that we have over 800 manufacturing jobs in the local area, thats a good sign for keeping people in the community, Townsend said.

More: Tyson plant closing announcement takes Perry by surprise, but city leaders vow to rebound

Job fairs also planned; mayor meeting with Gov. Kim Reynolds

The first job fair for Perry Tyson workers will be held from 3-6 p.m. April 3 at the Hotel Pattee in downtown Perry. Townsend said a number of groups have reached out to workforce development about how they can help and multiple employers are interested in participating in the job fair.

Theres going to be a lot of resources brought to bear to really kind of help minimize the impact, she added.

While Perrys Tyson closure will still have a large impact, Townsend remains hopeful as there are a number of jobs available in the area and across the state.

Its unfortunate that Tyson is leaving this area, but that doesnt mean that there arent still great opportunities, she said. We think there are still a lot of viable career paths for almost everyone involved. Its going to be OK and were going to help.

Perry Mayor Dirk Cavanaugh is slated to meet Tuesday with Iowa Gov, Kim Reynolds to discuss other ways the state can help.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Closing Tyson plant in Perry hosts Iowa's mobile jobs center
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW)  An Iowa woman was killed in a crash on U.S. Highway 56 in Morton County. The crash happened around 1:15 p.m. on Monday.

The Kansas Highway Patrol says a Ford F150 was traveling east when it hit a patch of ice and struck a westbound GMC Terrain head-on.

Baltimores Key Bridge collapses in seconds after being hit by cargo ship; search for survivors underway

Loretta M. Panther, 64, of Iowa City, was a passenger in the GMC Terrain. She died in the crash. Troopers say she was the only one not wearing a seat belt.

The pickup driver was an Elkhart woman. The woman driving the SUV and a male passenger are from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They are all in their 30s.

Their injuries range from minor to serious. They were taken to Morton County Hospital.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV.
An Israeli delegation departed negotiation talks in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday after Hamas yet again rejected terms for a hostage release deal.

While Israel says some of its delegates remain in Doha, the majority of its officials have left the negotiations. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office condemned Hamas in a Tuesday statement, saying the terrorist organization was making unrealistic demands.

"Hamas's position clearly proves that Hamas is not interested in continuing negotiations for a deal and is an unfortunate testimony to the damage of the Security Council's decision," Netanyahu's office said.

"Hamas once again rejected any American compromise proposal and reiterated its extreme demands: an immediate end to the war, a complete withdrawal of the IDF from the Gaza Strip, and remaining in power so that it could repeat the massacre of October 7 again and again, as it had promised to do," the statement continued.

ISRAEL LAUDS CONGRESS' BLOW TO UN AGENCY WITH ALLEGED HAMAS TIES AS INVESTIGATIONS CONTINUE

"Israel will not submit to the delusional demands of Hamas. It will continue to act to achieve all the goals of the war: to release all the abductees, to destroy the military and governmental capabilities of Hamas, and to ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel," it added.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

WHY MIDEAST NEIGHBORS WON'T OFFER REFUGE TO PALESTINIANS STUCK IN GAZA WAR ZONE

The development comes as Israel appears poised to launch an invasion of Rafah, a Gaza city bordering Egypt that serves both as a refugee camp and Hamas' final foothold in the region.

The development comes as Israel appears poised to launch an invasion of Rafah, which serves both as a refugee camp and Hamas' final foothold in the region.

The plans have been a point of major friction between Netanyahu and President Biden's administration, which has repeatedly warned that an invasion would be a "huge mistake."

SCHUMER'S ANTI-NETANYAHU SPEECH STRENGTHENS BIBI IN ISRAEL'S WAR TO DEFEAT HAMAS

The Biden administration chose not to block a U.N. resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza on Monday. That led Netanyahu to also cancel an Israeli delegation's trip to Washington. The visit was intended to determine whether a compromise could be reached regarding Rafah.

The Biden administration chose not to block a U.N. resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza on Monday, leading Netanyahu to also cancel an Israeli delegation's trip to Washington.

Netanyahu has vowed that the offensive will take place with or without U.S. support, arguing it is necessary for the goal of fully dismantling Hamas.





Original article source: Israeli delegation leaves Qatar negotiations after Hamas rejects latest hostage release proposal
FILE PHOTO: Released hostage Amit Soussana talks to the press in front of her destroyed home at the Kibbutz Kfar Aza

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A released Israeli hostage recounted sexual assault at gunpoint by one of the Palestinian militants who held her captive in Gaza, in a first such personal account published on Tuesday in an interview with the New York Times.

Amit Soussana, 40, was taken hostage on Oct. 7 from Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Security camera footage showed her fighting back against her abductors. She said that around Oct. 24 she was attacked by the man guarding her after washing in the bathroom.

Soussana said the guard, who called himself Muhammad, put a gun to her forehead, beat her and dragged her to a child's bedroom. "Then he, with the gun pointed at me, forced me to commit a sexual act on him," Soussana said in the interview.

The Times said Soussana's account was consistent with what she told two doctors and a social worker less than 24 hours after she was freed on Nov. 30. during a week-long truce.

"Their reports about her account state the nature of the sexual act; The Times agreed not to disclose the specifics," the newspaper said.

At least three released hostages have spoken publicly, including one in an interview with Reuters, about incidents of sexual abuse against fellow captives.

On March 5 a team of United Nations experts reported that there were "reasonable grounds to believe" sexual violence, including rape and gang rape, occurred at several locations during the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas militants.

The team - led by U.N. special envoy for sexual violence in conflict Pramila Patten - visited Israel between Jan. 29 and Feb. 14 on a mission intended to gather, analyse and verify information on sexual violence linked to the Oct. 7 attacks.

It also found what it described as clear and convincing information that some of the hostages taken to Gaza were subjected to sexual violence.

Hamas has repeatedly rejected accusations of sexual violence during and after the Oct. 7 attack.

(Reporting by Maayan Lubell; editing by James Mackenzie and Rosalba O'Brien)
German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, and Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, greet each other in a hotel in Jerusalem before talks. Foreign Minister Baerbock is visiting Israel for the sixth time since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 to discuss the situation in Gaza and Israel once again. Christoph Soeder/dpa

The UN Security Council's demand for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza has strengthened the Palestinian militant Hamas movement and prompted it to reject a US compromise proposal on a new hostage deal, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday.

Katz, speaking to Israeli Army Radio, said he was disappointed that the United States had not vetoed the resolution.

"We expect friends to strengthen us in these difficult times and not weaken us against Hamas and all the other enemies," Katz said. The US should veto "any decision that does not strongly condemn the terrible massacre and sexual crimes committed by Hamas against babies, women, girls and the elderly" on October 7, he added.

In a resolution binding under international law, the UN Security Council called for an "immediate ceasefire" in the Gaza Strip on Monday for the first time since the start of the war. In addition, the most powerful body of the United Nations is demanding the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas.

Prior to this, Israeli negotiators had accepted a compromise proposal from US mediators in the Qatari capital Doha and hoped Hamas would agree.

Following the UN Security CounUpdated with a photocil's decision, however, Hamas announced that it was insisting on its demand for a comprehensive ceasefire, including a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

This proves that the resolution has played into the hands of Hamas, said Katz. The Islamist terrorist organization was counting on Israel being stopped by the international community without Hamas having to make any concessions, he said. The decision led to a hardening of the Hamas position on releasing hostages, he added.
German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, and Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, greet each other in a hotel in Jerusalem before talks. Foreign Minister Baerbock is visiting Israel for the sixth time since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 to discuss the situation in Gaza and Israel once again. Christoph Soeder/dpa

The UN Security Council's demand for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza has strengthened the Palestinian militant Hamas movement and prompted it to reject a US compromise proposal on a new hostage deal, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday.

Katz, speaking to Israeli Army Radio, said he was disappointed that the United States had not vetoed the resolution.

"We expect friends to strengthen us in these difficult times and not weaken us against Hamas and all the other enemies," Katz said. The US should veto "any decision that does not strongly condemn the terrible massacre and sexual crimes committed by Hamas against babies, women, girls and the elderly" on October 7, he added.

In a resolution binding under international law, the UN Security Council called for an "immediate ceasefire" in the Gaza Strip on Monday for the first time since the start of the war. In addition, the most powerful body of the United Nations is demanding the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas.

Prior to this, Israeli negotiators had accepted a compromise proposal from US mediators in the Qatari capital Doha and hoped Hamas would agree.

Following the UN Security Council's decision, however, Hamas announced that it was insisting on its demand for a comprehensive ceasefire, including a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

This proves that the resolution has played into the hands of Hamas, said Katz. The Islamist terrorist organization was counting on Israel being stopped by the international community without Hamas having to make any concessions, he said. The decision led to a hardening of the Hamas position on releasing hostages, he added.

"The vote yesterday was a mistake, morally and practically," said Katz. Hamas had "received the message that it doesn't have to hurry, there is another way." However, Israel will continue its military operation in the Gaza Strip unperturbed, including the offensive in the city of Rafah in the south of the coastal strip.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who met Katz on Tuesday, welcomed the appeal by the international community for a ceasefire as long overdue. The call for the release of all hostages in Gaza and for more aid for the suffering civilian population was also important, she said.
Pupils from All Saints' Cathedral Primary School display health information during the launch of the National Strategic Plan for tuberculosis in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, on Jan. 22, 2024. (Photo by Allan Mutiso/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.

ADDIS ABABA, March 26 (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.

Botswanan Minister of Health Edwin Dikoloti inspects one of the four mobile clinics at their launching ceremony in Gaborone, Botswana on Sept. 28, 2023. (Photo by Tshekiso Tebalo/Xinhua)

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!" 
The UN Security Council's demand for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza has strengthened the Palestinian militant Hamas movement and prompted it to reject a US compromise proposal on a new hostage deal, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday.

Katz, speaking to Israeli Army Radio, said he was disappointed that the United States had not vetoed the resolution.

"We expect friends to strengthen us in these difficult times and not weaken us against Hamas and all the other enemies," Katz said. The US should veto "any decision that does not strongly condemn the terrible massacre and sexual crimes committed by Hamas against babies, women, girls and the elderly" on October 7, he added.

In a resolution binding under international law, the UN Security Council called for an "immediate ceasefire" in the Gaza Strip on Monday for the first time since the start of the war. In addition, the most powerful body of the United Nations is demanding the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas.

Prior to this, Israeli negotiators had accepted a compromise proposal from US mediators in the Qatari capital Doha and hoped Hamas would agree.

Following the UN Security Council's decision, however, Hamas announced that it was insisting on its demand for a comprehensive ceasefire, including a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

This proves that the resolution has played into the hands of Hamas, said Katz. The Islamist terrorist organization was counting on Israel being stopped by the international community without Hamas having to make any concessions, he said. The decision led to a hardening of the Hamas position on releasing hostages, he added.

"The vote yesterday was a mistake, morally and practically," said Katz. Hamas had "received the message that it doesn't have to hurry, there is another way." However, Israel will continue its military operation in the Gaza Strip unperturbed, including the offensive in the city of Rafah in the south of the coastal strip, he said.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who met Katz on Tuesday, welcomed the appeal by the international community for a ceasefire as long overdue. The call for the release of all hostages in Gaza and for more aid for the suffering civilian population was also important, she said.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog sees Hamas leader Yehya al-Sinwar as the lynchpin in the Gaza war and key to getting Israel's hostages held in the Gaza Strip released.

"In the end, there is no choice," Herzog said in Jerusalem on Tuesday. "We must continue the fight and we must get to Sinwar - either alive or dead - so that we can see the hostages back home."

Herzog said the reality is clear: "Everything begins and ends with Yehya Sinwar.

"He's the one who decided on the October massacre.

"He's been seeking to shed the blood of the innocent ever since.

"It is he who aims to escalate the regional situation, to desecrate Ramadan, to do everything to shatter coexistence in our country and in the whole region, to sow discord among us and around the world."

Gaza's children and young people are becoming increasingly desperate for food, according to the UN children's relief organization UNICEF.

The hospitals were full of completely emaciated children and the few functioning incubators were full of premature babies whose lives were hanging by a thread, James Elder, UNICEF's spokesman said in the Gaza Strip, said on Tuesday.

The hunger crisis in the Gaza Strip is "man-made," Elder said. Hundreds of lorries with food are waiting at the borders, but are not allowed to enter. "Life-saving aid is being obstructed, dignity is being denied," he said.

Elder appealed to the Israeli authorities to open border crossings in the north. This could end the hunger crisis within a few days, he said.

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinians (UNRWA), said Israel is currently refusing entry authorization to all its convoys.

A representative of the Israeli military authority, which is coordinating the emergency aid, said last week in Geneva that there was no restriction on aid convoys. The problem is rather in the Gaza Strip, because the actors there are apparently not in a position to bring material to the people.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Tuesday in Geneva that it was Israel's duty as a party to the conflict to ensure that food for the civilian population could be distributed without restriction.

At least two people were killed in an Israeli airstrike that hit a house in southern Lebanon overnight, state-media reported on Tuesday.

According to the Lebanese State Agency (NNA), the attack took place in the border town of Mais al-Jabal.

Israel's army announced late on Monday that it had attacked a Lebanese Hezbollah militia position in the area of Mais al-Jabal.

Hezbollah confirmed the strike and later announced one of its fighters was killed, raising the death toll among its ranks to 242 since the violence started on the Lebanese-Israeli border on October 8.

German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, and Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, greet each other in a hotel in Jerusalem before talks. Foreign Minister Baerbock is visiting Israel for the sixth time since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 to discuss the situation in Gaza and Israel once again. Christoph Soeder/dpa
The UN Security Council's demand for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza has strengthened the Palestinian militant Hamas movement and prompted it to reject a US compromise proposal on a new hostage deal, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday.

Katz, speaking to Israeli Army Radio, said he was disappointed that the United States had not vetoed the resolution.

"We expect friends to strengthen us in these difficult times and not weaken us against Hamas and all the other enemies," Katz said. The US should veto "any decision that does not strongly condemn the terrible massacre and sexual crimes committed by Hamas against babies, women, girls and the elderly" on October 7, he added.

In a resolution binding under international law, the UN Security Council called for an "immediate ceasefire" in the Gaza Strip on Monday for the first time since the start of the war. In addition, the most powerful body of the United Nations is demanding the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas.

Prior to this, Israeli negotiators had accepted a compromise proposal from US mediators in the Qatari capital Doha and hoped Hamas would agree.

Following the UN Security Council's decision, however, Hamas announced that it was insisting on its demand for a comprehensive ceasefire, including a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

This proves that the resolution has played into the hands of Hamas, said Katz. The Islamist terrorist organization was counting on Israel being stopped by the international community without Hamas having to make any concessions, he said. The decision led to a hardening of the Hamas position on releasing hostages, he added.

"The vote yesterday was a mistake, morally and practically," said Katz. Hamas had "received the message that it doesn't have to hurry, there is another way."

However, Israel will continue its military operation in the Gaza Strip unperturbed, including the offensive in the city of Rafah in the south of the coastal strip, Katz asserted.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday called for the ceasefire to be implemented despite Israel's clear opposition.

For Germany, it was important "that a longer-lasting ceasefire really begins now, which is linked to the release of all Hamas hostages and, incidentally, the release of those killed. I think this is very important," Scholz said on Tuesday after a meeting with Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob in Brdo, Slovenia. Despite the "difficult situation" following the UN resolution, he hoped that this could now be achieved soon.

With world leaders still wrangling over ways to get Israel and Hamas to agree to a ceasefire, people in Gaza continued to feel the devastating effects of a months-long siege.

Twelve Palestinians drowned in the Mediterranean Sea off Gaza after planes airdropped aid over the sealed-off coastal strip, according to Hamas.

The people had tried to reach the aid packages, which were dropped into the sea off a beach in northern Gaza, the media office of Gaza's Hamas-controlled administration said on Tuesday.

Dpa was not able to independently verify the incident which is said to have occurred on Monday afternoon.

Eyewitnesses said that some of the people didn't know how to swim, while others got caught in the ropes tying the packages together.

The humanitarian situation in northern Gaza is considered to be particularly dire more than five months into fighting between Israel and Hamas, triggered by the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7 in which some 1,200 people were killed.

Aid convoys reach the area infrequently because Israel keeps northern border crossings with Gaza shut.

More than 30,000 Palestinians are said to have been killed in the coastal area in Israeli bombings and military operations since October 7.

The US, Jordan and other countries have been airdropping aid on Gaza for about a month, but that is considered to be a costly and dangerous undertaking, with aid organizations saying airdrops cannot replace deliveries via land.

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinians (UNRWA), said Israel is currently refusing entry authorization to all its convoys.

A representative of the Israeli military authority, which is coordinating the emergency aid, said last week in Geneva that there was no restriction on aid convoys. The problem is rather in the Gaza Strip, because the actors there are apparently not in a position to bring material to the people.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Tuesday in Geneva that it was Israel's duty as a party to the conflict to ensure that food for the civilian population could be distributed without restriction.

Meanwhile, Israel's army targeted the Bekaa Valley in north-east Lebanon on Tuesday, according to the military and Lebanon's state news agency NNA. There were initially no reports of injuries.

Israel's army said the attack on targets at a Hezbollah military site was in response to the Iran-backed militia shelling an Israeli army position on Tuesday morning. Israeli troops also attacked Hezbollah posts in the border area.

It comes after at least two people were killed in an Israeli airstrike that hit a house in southern Lebanon overnight, according to state media.

Clashes between Israel and Hezbollah usually focus on the border region. However, Israeli airstrikes have targeted the Bekaa Valley before. According to Israeli media reports, Tuesday's strike was the furthest north in recent months.

Hezbollah, which is classified as a terrorist organization by Germany and many other countries, primarily controls Lebanon's south on the border with Israel, Shiite-inhabited districts of Beirut and the Bekaa Valley.

German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, and Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, greet each other in a hotel in Jerusalem before talks. Foreign Minister Baerbock is visiting Israel for the sixth time since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 to discuss the situation in Gaza and Israel once again. Christoph Soeder/dpa
By Maayan Lubell

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Standing in front of a tank on the edge of the Gaza Strip, an Israeli general interrupted his speech on the war against Hamas to deliver a televised rebuke to Israel's political leaders.

Brigadier General Dan Goldfus urged politicians "on all sides" to reject extremism and unite, avoiding a return to status quo before the outbreak of the conflict in October - when political divisions and months of protests had left Israel deeply polarized.

"You must be worthy of us. You must be worthy of those fighters who have lost their lives," Goldfus said in his March 13 briefing, broadcast on Israel's main television channels.

Goldfus was reprimanded by the Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, two days later, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said. But his words struck a chord among some Israelis back from the front.

"He gave voice to many who feel they are sacrificing their lives and time while the politicians are busy with petty politics," said Barak Reicher, 42, fresh off five months of reserve duty.

Reuters interviewed 13 reserve and conscript soldiers on army bases, at parliament, at home and at protests. All of them spoke of high morale among their comrades on the battlefield, but most also described their frustrations with Israel's political leadership.

Several, from both sides of the political spectrum, voiced anger that the government was failing to address key issues like the reform of military conscription and the economic hardships facing returning reservists.

The IDF, which does not comment on matters of government policy, did not immediately respond to Reuters' questions. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office also did not respond.

After Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, in which 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 taken hostage, Israelis came together in grief. Netanyahu formed a national emergency government by bringing in a centrist party led by former defence chief, Benny Gantz, a rival.

The move marked the end of a period of political turmoil that saw mass protests last year over the hard-right government's plans for an unpopular judicial reform.

But divisions have since reappeared, with cabinet ministers taking swipes at each other over the Oct. 7 security failure, quibbling over finances and power struggles over a seat at the war cabinet.

A focus of tensions is a March 31 deadline set at the Supreme Court for Netanyahu's coalition government to draft a new conscription law - which could pose a threat to its survival.

Netanyahu's administration relies for support on ultra-Orthodox religious parties, which have vowed to safeguard wide-ranging exemptions for their community to military service.

But Gantz in turn has threatened to leave the government if his demand for a more equitable law is not met and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has aligned himself with Gantz, saying he will not back a bill not accepted by all in the cabinet.

The ultra-Orthodox exemptions are a long-standing source of resentment for many mainstream Israelis who at the age of 18 are bound by two or three years of conscript service.

Many ultra-Orthodox, who hold full-time religious studies sacrosanct, also remain outside the tax-paying workforce, relying mostly on state benefits. Meanwhile, Israelis who served in the army can be called up to reserve units until around the age of 40, or even older, leaving behind jobs and families.

Reservists played a prominent role in the 2023 protests over judicial reform, which they said would have crippled the Supreme Court. Some threatened not to answer calls to duty.

The most prominent reservist group during those protests, Brothers in Arms, this month announced it was returning to the streets to demonstrate against the government, with a renewed focus on the conscription law.

"The only way to get things done here is through protest," Omri Ronen, a captain in the army reserves and member of the group, said at one of the nationwide rallies on Saturday. "This may be our last opportunity and we must not lose it."

SHARING THE BURDEN

The conscript military has long been a melting pot for Israelis. Its ethical code is meant to keep it above politics.

But reservists have played a role in affecting post conflict political change, with protests precipitating the downfall of Israeli leaders in the wake of the 1973 Yom Kippur war and both the Lebanon wars, in the 1980s and in 2006.

A survey of 1,200 people published on March 14 by the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI), a non-partisan think tank, found public trust in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) among Israel's Jewish majority to be almost four times higher than faith in the political leadership, which fell by 5% between June to December 2023. Trust in the military rose by 1% in that time.

"Less than a quarter of the public trusts their elected officials," said Yohanan Plesner, IDI president. He noted, however, that solidarity within broader Israeli society had rebounded after the war from the low levels seen during the mass protests of mid-2023.

Since launching its ground assault on Gaza, Israel has called up around 300,000 reservists, its largest mobilisation in decades. It began releasing them around four months later.

Some are now out on the streets, protesting. Though the crowds are far smaller than last year's mass demonstrations, there is a protest somewhere in the country nearly every day.

Reef Arbel, 25, was due to begin his studies in October but found himself fighting in Gaza for 120 days. During that time his crew was hit by an anti-tank missile, he said.

Like several reservists who spoke to Reuters, Arbel said he felt abandoned by the government on his return to civilian life.

"I come back from my reserve duty and I need to get groceries and the prices are up and my rent is about to go up and the politicians aren't showing any regard for my life. They're just busy with their own political survival," he said.

Arbel was among hundreds at a demonstration on Feb. 26 outside Israel's Supreme Court when it convened to hear challenges to exemptions granted to ultra-Orthodox Jews from military conscription.

The issue has become more explosive as the Gaza war exacts the highest military casualties in decades. Around 600 Israeli soldiers have been killed since Oct. 7, according to the military, almost five times as many as the 2006 Lebanon war casualties.

Nevertheless, Arbel said that if he is called up again, he will serve: "What keeps us going is knowing that we're protecting Israel, and getting closer to the hostages."

Health authorities in Gaza say that more than 32,000 people have been killed there by the Israeli military campaign.

COST

Adding to the resentment over conscription is the economic toll taken on reservists who for months were away from their jobs and businesses.

Since the war began, the state has put together a nine billion shekel ($2.48 billion) support package for reservists, including increased grants for parents, compensation and loans for business owners.

Since January, around 10,000 small business owners who were called up have petitioned for compensation grants, according to the Economy Committee. Around half have so far been approved with more than 62 million shekels already paid out.

Israel's main labour union Histadrut told the Labour and Welfare committee it has received thousands of appeals from reservists whose rights were violated, including some whose jobs were in danger. Authorities don't have precise figures for how many reservists have lost their jobs or livelihoods.

Roi Mahfud, whose Combats Forum has been advocating for reservists, said his group had also received thousands of requests for help. "People are hurting," he said.

Called up on Oct. 7, Shani Cohen, 35, spent her first two months of reserve duty at the Gaza border. She was fired from her job in January, she said.

"I'm not political but I do feel people are beginning to forget that we are at war," she said. "We must focus on what unites us, not what divides us."

($1 = 3.6351 shekels)

(Additional reporting by Rami Amichay and Steven Scheer; Writing by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Daniel Flynn)
The Islamic State Khorasan Province's 22 March attack on Crocus City Hall in Moscow represents a significant failure by Russian intelligence and law enforcement.

Source: Institute for the Study of War (ISW)

Details: Military analysts note that the available open-source evidence does not suggest any more complex conspiracy theory within or against Russia.

And the fact that Kremlin officials and Russian ultranationalists blame Ukraine for the Islamic State attack could be costly for Russia's internal security and civilian lives.

ISW believes that the Kremlin and its ultra-nationalist mouthpieces are apparently ignoring the clear threat posed by IS and ISIL operations on Russian territory to Russia's internal security and civilian population and instead prioritising the information impact of false accusations of Ukrainian involvement.

The Kremlin has decided that the information value of blaming Ukraine for the Crocus attack is worth any risks to internal security and civilian casualties that Russia may suffer due to its inability to adequately counter the radical Islamist threat within its borders.

To quote ISWs Key Takeaways on 25 March:

The 22 March Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K) attack on Moscows Crocus City Hall is a notable Russian intelligence and law enforcement failure, and explaining currently available open-source evidence does not require any wider and more complicated conspiracy theory either within or against the Russian state.

Kremlin officials and Russian ultranationalists continued insistence on blaming Ukraine for an attack that IS-K very likely committed may come at the expense of Russian internal security and civilian lives.

The Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed that Lieutenant General Esedulla Abachev became the Leningrad Military District (LMD) Deputy Commander as the Russian military continues the formal disbandment of the Western Military District (WMD) and recreation of the LMD and Moscow Military District (MMD).

Ukrainian officials stated that the Ukrainian strike on occupied Sevastopol, Crimea on the night of 23 March targeted more Black Sea Fleet (BSF) ships and caused more damage than initially reported.

The Kremlin continues to lean on long debunked narratives as part of its wider information operations aimed at discrediting and undermining Western support for Ukraine.

Russian forces recently made confirmed advances near Avdiivka on 25 March.

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The Kremlin appears to have prioritized the strategic value of blaming Ukraine for the March 22 Crocus City Hall attack over potential internal security risks and civilian casualties stemming from its failure to effectively address the terrorist threat within its borders, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in its recent report.

"The Russian claims insisting on Ukrainian involvement forward the Kremlins longstanding effort to justify its ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine in the long-term by falsely portraying the existence of an independent and sovereign Ukraine as an existential threat to Russia," the ISW said.

Several gunmen opened fire at the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, a Moscow suburb, on the evening of March 22, killing at least 139 people, according to the latest updates by the Russian authorities. Russian authorities detained four suspects following the Crocus City concert hall attack. They are charged with committing a terrorist act. All of them have been remanded into pre-trial detention until May 22.

The terrorist group Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the mass shooting at the venue.

The ISW believes that the Kremlin and its ultranationalist allies are overlooking the serious threat posed by IS and IS-K activities within Russia. Instead, they prioritize falsely accusing Ukraine to influence public perception. At the same time, Russian leaders maintain access to minority communities potentially vulnerable to recruitment by extremist groups, seeing them as a resource for the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

On March 24 and 25, a Russian ultranationalist military blogger reaffirmed baseless claims blaming Ukraine for the attack. He echoed other ultranationalist assertions, suggesting that IS and IS-K lack the capability to carry out a significant terrorist attack like the one at the Crocus concert venue. They argue that the IS claim serves as a cover to conceal alleged Ukrainian and Western involvement.

Russian propaganda also asserts that the IS operatives had intended to escape via a prepared 'window' into Ukraine. The conspiracy theory fails to explain why of the 16 nations with which Russia shares a land border, the operatives would chose to escape via the only stretch of border which is an active war zone and heavily fortified and patrolled by Russian military.

On March 25, Russian leader Vladimir Putin attributed the brutal attack at a Moscow concert hall to "radical Islamists." He emphasized that these individuals espouse an ideology that even the Islamic world has historically opposed. At the same time, Putin reiterated his suggestion that Ukraine was responsible for the attack.

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.
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) We have a lot of beautiful communities here the CSRA, but one in particular is filled with gorgeous architecture and great people.

Washington, Georgia is just about an hour from Augusta. The big Spring Tour of Homes is coming up Saturday, April 6th. You can discover 250 years of American heritage in house museums, battle sites and churches that tell the story of this small town with the big history.

Get an intimate look inside a selection of seven privately owned homes, explore the rich architecture and learn about the savory secrets that have kept folks talking for more than two centuries. Some of the homes featured include Chantilly Plantation, Boyd Cottage and Randolph Mansion.

The Artist Market is filled with beautiful works, including pottery, photography and jewelry, along with paintings. Some of the artists include Mark Albertson, Dave Wheeler, Angela Potts, June Clement and Johnnie Mills.

You can also enjoy lunch during the day at the Washington Womens Club for $15.

The Spring Tour of Homes and Art Show is coming up Saturday, April 6th, starting at 10AM. Tickets are $30 and theres a $10 ticket for additional attractions.

You can buy tickets day off at the tour headquarters at First Baptist Church on Robert Tombs Avenue. The home tour runs until 4PM and the artist market is open until 5PM. A complimentary shuttle service will be running throughout the day.

For more information and to go ahead and buy your tickets now, just go to www.wwspringtourofhomes.com

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJBF.
FORT SMITH, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA)  Jersey Mikes locations nationwide will donate all of its sales on Wednesday to local charities as part of its Day of Giving, according to a news release.

100% of the proceeds from Wednesday will go to a charity serving the area where the store is located. The company says they plan to raise $21 million, which would break last years record.

The initiative is Jersey Mikes 14th annual Month of Giving fundraising campaign, that culminates with the Day of Giving on Wednesday, March 27.

More than 2,700 Jersey Mikes locations are participating with the proceeds going to more than 200 local charities.

Sonic Drive-In celebrates upcoming solar eclipse with new menu item

In Arkansas, the proceeds from all 11 locations in Benton, Bentonville, Cabot, Conway, Fayetteville, Fort Smith, Little Rock, North Little Rock (two locations), Rogers and Springdale will go to Arkansas Childrens Hospital.

Proceeds from locations in other states will go to cancer funds, Make-A-Wish Foundations, Boys & Girls Clubs, Ronald McDonald Houses, Special Olympics, food banks and more.

For more information on the Day of Giving and the local non-profits being supported, visit JerseyMikes.com.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KNWA FOX24.
Two job fairs are scheduled to take place in Ravenna this week, including at Ravenna High School.

Job seekers will have a couple of opportunities this week to connect with prospective employers in Ravenna:

Portage County Job and Family Services will host a transportation job fair at 253 S. Chestnut St. from 2 to 4 p.m. Wednesday. Employers ready to hire in the transportation industry are expected to take part, with access to free training available. Call 330-296-2841 for more information.

Ravenna High School, along with Portage Development Board, Ohio Means Jobs and Portage County, will host a job fair Thursday at the high school, 6589 N. Chestnut St. The event will be split into two sessions  12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. for high school students; and 3:30 to 5 p.m. for the community. Call the high school counseling office at 330-296-3844 or email Renee Donofrio at Renee.Donofrio@ravennaschools.us for more information.

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Ravenna job fairs set for adults, students
President Joe Biden is about to spend another day reminding voters that health care is on the ballot in 2024.

And this time hes doing it in a swing state that suddenly has 350,000 more people for whom the health care debate is personal.

In a visit Tuesday to Raleigh, North Carolina, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will tout a series of recently enacted Democratic initiatives designed to make health care more affordable, White House officials said. Those new initiatives include programs designed to reduce the price of prescription drugs as well as additional financial assistance for people buying private insurance through the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

Biden and Harris wont just talk about the past, the White House officials said. They also plan to lay out a vision for how theyd like to expand on these initiatives  by, for example, giving the federal government even more leverage over prescription drug prices. These are the same ideas that Biden mentioned in his State of the Union address earlier this month.

But in what is likely to be the most politically charged part of their speeches, Biden and Harris will contrast their administrations record and vision with the Republicans stand.

That will mean highlighting the GOPs history of trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act and make severe cuts in Medicaid. It will also mean citing a new budget plan from House Republicans that seeks to undo the Affordable Care Acts core elements while rolling back big pieces of the new drug pricing laws.

Former President Donald Trump is, of course, a big part of the GOP history on the Affordable Care Act. He tried to lead repeal efforts in 2017, the first year of his presidency. Now, the partys presumptive nominee for 2024 has indicated he would try to repeal it again if he wins the election.

The Trump and GOP agendas on health care would cause dramatic changes in every state. But the greatest effect would be in states that have expanded their Medicaid programs, with money from the Affordable Care Act, so that most legal residents living below or just above the poverty line are eligible.

Thats what makes the issue especially important for North Carolina.

North Carolina Just Expanded Medicaid

The state expanded its Medicaid program last year, becoming the 40th state to do so. And it was a watershed moment, because it was Republican lawmakers who approved the legislation that Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, a longtime champion for Medicaid expansion, signed into law.

As of February, nearly 350,000 low-income residents had signed up for expanded Medicaid, according to the states Department of Health and Human Services. Thats more than half the newly eligible population.

All of them now have something to lose if that money from the Affordable Care Act goes away. And thats on top of all the other people, both in North Carolina and the nation as a whole, who could lose access to traditional Medicaid or subsidized private insurance through Obamacare if GOP plans to roll back the law succeed.

Republicans at the national level have long argued that the money going into Medicaid and subsidized private insurance through the Affordable Care Act distorts the natural market for health care while driving up government spending to unsustainable levels. Republicans have also argued that the new income taxes to pay for coverage expansion, which fall on the wealthy, harm the economy.

It's been a few years since former President Donald Trump, seen here rallying House Republicans at the White House in 2017, tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act. President Joe Biden wants to make sure Americans remember. Mark Wilson via Getty Images

North Carolinas Republicans said similar things while they were blocking Medicaid expansion, going all the way back to votes in 2013. But many of them changed their minds in the last few years after hearing stories about uninsured farmers and small-business owners who would become eligible for the program  and hearing from rural hospitals that were struggling financially because so many of their patients had no way to pay their bills.

The prospect of scaling back federal assistance for health insurance, leaving millions or even tens of millions more Americans uninsured, proved highly unpopular in 2017, when Trump was in office and trying to push repeal legislation. Even many of the people who said they werent happy with Obamacare or thought it had left them worse off thought the Republican alternatives seemed less appealing.

Today, there is still a significant chunk of the U.S. population struggling with health care costs. But the number without health insurance is at an all-time low while enrollment in the Affordable Care Acts private insurance options is at a record high. And the law itself is more popular than ever, according to polls.

The prescription drug reforms that Biden and the Democrats achieved are also quite popular, according to the polls, although the same surveys suggest large numbers of Americans arent aware of the reforms.

A primary goal of Tuesdays visit, along with other past events and those likely to come, is to make sure Americans know about these accomplishments  and the jeopardy these efforts would face if Republicans have enough control in Washington to pass laws again.

Abortion Is Also On The Ballot

The Affordable Care Act and prescription drugs arent the only health care topics that will come up in Tuesdays appearances, White House officials said. Harris plans to focus her remarks on the administrations defense of abortion rights.

Abortion will already be in the news Tuesday because the U.S. Supreme Court is holding oral arguments on a case about the availability and legality of abortion pills.

Reproductive rights have been heavily contested in North Carolina, as they have been across the country, since the Supreme Court in 2022 overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that had made access to abortion a federal right. A new state law, enacted after Republicans in the legislature overrode Coopers veto, has introduced a series of restrictions and bans the procedure under most circumstances after 12 weeks of pregnancy.

In November, abortion rights advocates in the state hope to make gains in the legislature and, no less important, to defeat GOP gubernatorial nominee Mark Robinson, an outspoken right-wing politician who has called abortion a scourge and said he wants to push the limit on abortion to six weeks.

Robinson has also compared the Affordable Care Act to enslavement, as first reported in the Daily Beast.

He has also posted on Facebook that he doesnt want repeal and replace, the usual GOP slogan that implies Republicans will come up with a better alternative to the Affordable Care Act. Instead, Robinson wrote, I just want REPEAL!

When it comes to insurance/healthcare, the federal government can just kick rocks, Robinson wrote in a post that appeared in 2017.

White House senior adviser Anita Dunn, who on Monday briefed reporters about the North Carolina visit, would not say whether Biden or Harris planned to mention Robinson in their remarks. But Dunn said that anybody listening to the speeches would get a clear sense of two very different visions for moving this country forward.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article misidentified the Republican North Carolina gubernatorial candidate as Mark Johnson. His name is Mark Robinson.

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People attend the China Development Forum 2024 in Beijing, capital of China, March 24, 2024. The China Development Forum 2024 is scheduled from March 24 to March 25. The theme of this year's forum is "The Continuous Development of China". (Xinhua/Li Xin)

BEIJING, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Themed "The Continuous Development of China," the China Development Forum (CDF) 2024 concluded on Monday, with senior Chinese officials, leaders of multinationals and representatives from international organizations, offering insights into China's development and its global impact.

Following are the key takeaways from their speeches and viewpoints shared during the two-day conference.

MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR TO GLOBAL GROWTH

"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.

Georgieva expressed optimism regarding China's future growth prospects, attributing it to a comprehensive package of pro-market reforms. "This additional growth would amount to a 20 percent expansion of the real economy over the next 15 years -- in today's terms, that is like adding 3.5 trillion U.S. dollars to the Chinese economy," she said.

Masatsugu Asakawa, president of the Asian Development Bank, echoed her views, noting 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," he said.

In its government work report, China unveiled a target of around 5 percent expansion for the economy this year, a goal described by Jack Chan, chairman of EY China and regional managing partner of EY Greater China, 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 an interview with Xinhua.

NEW GROWTH DRIVERS

Making strides in new quality productive forces, featuring high-tech, high efficiency and high quality, is high on China's agenda this year, and Chinese authorities have pledged a host of measures to bolster new growth drivers at the CDF.

China will boost industrial innovation through 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 forum.

New quality productive forces reflect China's requirements for structural transformation and high-quality development, with broad prospects, said Zhang Qingjie, head of digital enablement and head of AI at KPMG China.

The advancement of new quality productive forces in China means strategic opportunities in upgrading industrial and supply chains, fostering emerging and future industries, and driving innovative development of the digital economy, he added.

Zheng said that China 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 like biomanufacturing, commercial spaceflight, new materials and low-altitude economy.

As China promotes new industrialization and accelerates the building of a modern industrial system, strong development momentum will be unleashed, creating a broad space for deepening international industrial and supply chain cooperation, said Jin Zhuanglong, minister of Industry and Information Technology.

The country will continue to deepen international cooperation and work with enterprises across the world to promote industrial and supply chain upgrades, he added.

According to Jin, Chinese and foreign companies can deepen cooperation on science and technology innovation, on the digitalization and green development of the manufacturing sector, as well as among small and medium-sized enterprises.

EXPANDING OPENING UP

Speakers at the CDF have repeatedly highlighted China's commitment to further opening up, affirming the country's willingness to offer more opportunities for foreign investors to engage in deeper operations here.

Zheng said that 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 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 forum.

The country will also launch a campaign to boost investment, continue to optimize services, and fully ensure national treatment for foreign-funded enterprises, Guo added.

Data from the Ministry of Commerce showed that some 7,160 new foreign-invested firms were set up across China during the first two months of this year, up 34.9 percent year on year, the highest increase in nearly five years.

Speaking at the forum, Kim Fausing, president and CEO of Danfoss, a leading Danish energy efficiency solution company, said that 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. 
DELPHI, Ind.  Delphi murder suspect Richard Allen is no longer facing kidnapping charges, but two additional charges of murder will remain.

Special Judge Frances Gull signed an order Friday allowing prosecutors to add two counts of murder and drop two counts of kidnapping.

Prosecutors filed on Jan. 18 to add two murder charges and two kidnapping charges, but moved last week to dismiss the kidnapping charges. Gull's order was signed Friday and published online Monday.

Allen's charges currently are the original two counts of murder in the commission of a felony, which allege Delphi teenagers Libby German and Abby Williams were killed during a kidnapping on the afternoon of Feb. 13, 2017.

These felony murder charges allow jurors to convict Allen, 51, of murder if the state persuades them that Libby and Abby were killed during an abduction. On those charges, prosecutors don't need to prove that Allen is the specific person who killed the girls, according to Indiana law.

Additionally, Allen faces two counts of murder, which is defined as knowingly or intentionally killing another human being, meaning prosecutors must persuade jurors that Allen is the person who killed Libby and Abby.

If he is convicted on all four counts, he can only be sentenced on two counts of murder. Both murder in the commission of a felony and murder carry the same sentencing range  45 to 65 years. This means if Allen is convicted, his sentence range is between 90 and 130 years in prison.

Allen's trial is scheduled to begin May 13 and run through the end of the month.

Jurors will be selected from Allen County residents. After jury selection, the trial will shift to Delphi, where the evidence will be presented and the jurors will deliberate.

Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Delphi murder suspect's kidnapping charges dismissed
A New York judge placed Donald Trump under a gag order ahead of his criminal hush money case that begins 15 April.

He is barred from making public statements about court staff, jurors, witnesses and lawyers in the district attorney's office - or their families.

The gag order does not apply to the district attorney.

The Trump campaign said the order, which is limited in some instances, violated his free speech rights.

In several instances, the order requires that the comments would have to be "made with the intent to materially interfere" with the case.

Justice Juan Merchan granted the limited gag order after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg requested it.

Earlier today, Mr Trump attacked Justice Merchan's daughter on his Truth Social account, and called the judge a "certified Trump hater".

Mr Trump faces 34 felony counts in connection with hush money payments allegedly made to Stormy Daniels, an adult film star, ahead of the 2016 election.

He has pleaded not guilty and called the case politically motivated.

In his order, Justice Merchan wrote that he had considered Mr Trump's constitutional free speech rights, but concluded that the former president's "extrajudicial statements went far beyond defending himself against 'attacks' by 'public figures'".

Instead, Justice Merchan said he had found Mr Trump's "statements were threatening, inflammatory, denigrating" and led to fear and increased security requirements for those targeted.

Mr Bragg had asked the court to issue a gag order in February, citing the former president's "longstanding and singular history" of attacking his opponents.

Mr Trump's attorneys argued, however, that he is "the presumptive Republican nominee and leading candidate in the 2024 election". They said that it would be "unconstitutional and unlawful" to impose restrictions on his speech.

Justice Merchan is not the first judge to impose such restrictions on Mr Trump.

The former president has frequently attacked prosecutors and court staffers involved in his myriad of legal cases. At times, it has served to galvanize his supporters.

A judge in an earlier civil case involving his real estate companies placed Mr Trump under a gag order after he attacked a court clerk via social media. He also twice fined the former president for violating the order.

Mr Trump must pay a $454m bond that came as a result of that civil fraud trial. An appeals court temporarily slashed that payment to $175m on Monday.
Former President Donald Trump arrives for 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/Yuki Iwamura)

NEW YORK (AP)  A New York judge Tuesday issued a gag order barring Donald Trump from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial, citing the former president's history of threatening, inflammatory, denigrating" remarks about people involved in his legal cases.

Judge Juan M. Merchan's decision, echoing a gag order in Trumps Washington, D.C., election interference criminal case, came a day after he rejected the defense's push to delay the Manhattan trial until summer and ordered it to begin April 15. If the date holds, it will be the first criminal trial of a former president.

Given that the eve of trial is upon us, it is without question that the imminency of the risk of harm is now paramount, Merchan wrote in a four-page decision granting the prosecution's request for what it deemed a narrowly tailored gag order.

The judge said the presumptive Republican presidential nominee's statements have induced fear and necessitated added security measures to protect his targets and investigate threats.

Trump's lawyers fought a gag order, warning it would amount to unconstitutional and unlawful prior restraint on his free speech rights. Merchan, who had long resisted imposing a gag order, said his obligation to ensuring the integrity of the trial outweighed First Amendment concerns.

President Trumps political opponents have, and will continue to, attack him based on this case, Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Susan Necheles said in a recent court filing. The voters have the right to listen to President Trumps unfettered responses to those attacks  not just one side of that debate.

The gag order bars Trump from either making or directing other people to make public statements on his behalf about potential witnesses and jurors in the hush-money trial. It also prohibits any statements meant to interfere with or harass the courts staff, prosecution team or their families.

It does not bar comments about Merchan, whom Trump has referred to after his arraignment last year as a Trump-hating judge with a family full of Trump haters," or Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, an elected Democrat. But it puts Trump on notice that attacks on key figures in the case, like his former lawyer-turned-nemesis Michael Cohen or porn star Stormy Daniels, won't be tolerated.

A violation could result in Trump being held in contempt of court, fined or even jailed.

I want to thank Judge Merchan for imposing the gag order as I have been under relentless assault from Donalds MAGA supporters," said Cohen, a key prosecution witness against Trump. "Nevertheless, knowing Donald as well as I do, he will seek to defy the gag order by employing others within his circle to do his bidding, regardless of consequence.

Blanche declined to comment. Bragg's office also declined to comment. A message seeking comment was left for Trump's presidential campaign.

The gag order adds to existing restrictions that prohibit Trump from using evidence in the case to attack witnesses.

Trump's hush-money case centers on allegations that he falsely logged payments to Cohen, then his personal lawyer, as legal fees in his companys books when they were for his work during the 2016 campaign covering up negative stories about Trump. That included $130,000 he had paid Daniels on Trump's behalf so she wouldnt publicize her claim of a sexual encounter with him years earlier.

Trump pleaded not guilty last April to 34 counts of falsifying business records, a felony punishable by up to four years in prison, though there is no guarantee that a conviction would result in jail time. He denies having sex with Daniels and his lawyers have said that the payments to Cohen were legitimate legal expenses, not part of any coverup.

At his arraignment, Merchan admonished Trump not to make statements that could incite violence or jeopardize safety, but stopped short of muzzling him. At a subsequent hearing, Merchan noted Trumps special status as a former president and current candidate and said, Im bending over backwards and straining to make sure that he is given every opportunity possible to advance his candidacy and to be able to speak in furtherance of his candidacy.

As jury selection nears, Merchan has been increasingly wary of Trump's rhetoric disrupting the historic trial. Earlier this month, Merchan ruled to keep the names of jurors from the public. Trump will have access to them, but he risks forfeiting access if he discloses the names publicly or engages in harassing or disruptive conduct that threatens the safety or integrity of jurors, the judge said.

Now, with the gag order, Merchan is declaring scores of people involved in the case off-limits for Trump's social media venom, courthouse diatribes and campaign rallies. Trump's grousing to TV cameras as he entered and exited the courtroom became ritual during his New York civil fraud trial last year.

After leaving Monday's hearing where Merchan set the trial date, Trump tore into prosecutor Matthew Colangelo at a press conference, referring to the ex-Justice Department official as a radical left from DOJ sent to run the Trump case "by Biden and his thugs. The judge cited those remarks in his ruling.

Trump has repeatedly lashed out about the hush-money case. He warned on social media of potential death & destruction before his indictment last year and posting a photo on social media of himself holding a baseball bat next to a picture of Bragg. He has referred to Cohen as a convicted felon, disbarred lawyer, with zero credibility and has used a mocking nickname to describe Daniels.

Merchan is just the latest judge to put guardrails around Trump.

A federal appeals court panel in December largely upheld Trump's gag order in his Washington, D.C., election interference case but narrowed it by freeing him to criticize special counsel Jack Smith, who brought the case. The New York gag order echoed that ruling by excluding Bragg.

At the fraud trial, Trump was fined $15,000 for twice violating a gag order imposed after he made a disparaging social media post about the judges chief law clerk.

In January, a federal judge threatened Trump with expulsion from court in a civil trial on writer E. Jean Carrolls defamation claims against him after he was heard saying it is a witch hunt and it really is a con job."

___

Associated Press writers Jennifer Peltz, Jill Colvin and Eric Tucker contributed to this report.
UPDATE, Wednesday: Bond was revoked for Judge Melissa Boyd. Read the new story here.

*****

MEMPHIS, Tenn.  A Shelby County judge suspended after she was indicted on criminal charges may have her bond revoked after failing a drug test earlier this month, according to court documents filed Monday.

Criminal Court Judge Andrewnetta Melissa Boyd was indicted and taken into police custody in December, charged with coercion of a witness and harassment. She was released on bond in that case.

Shelby County judge indicted, taken into custody

As part of her bond agreement, Boyd was required to submit to drug screenings, the state of Tennessee said in the motion asking a judge to revoke her bond.

The state had filed a similar motion in January after they said Boyd failed to report for those screenings, but the court held open its ruling because Boyd agreed to inpatient treatment. She completed treatment in late February.

However, the state now says Boyd tested positive for cocaine and alcohol in a March 12 drug screening, violating the terms of her bail conditions.

State board votes to remove Memphis judge Melissa Boyd

A bipartisan state board voted unanimously to remove Boyd from the bench. That recommendation goes to the state General Assembly for a final vote in early April.

State records show the Tennessee Board of Judicial Conduct received a complaint as far back as 2022 that Boyd was allegedly threatening and intimidating an acquaintance and that she was abusing alcohol.

She admitted to the board in May that she had a substance abuse problem, records show.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
The US must assure Julian Assange has freedom of speech protections and will not receive the death penalty before he is extradited, judges have ruled.

The UK High Court said the Wikileaks founder could be allowed to launch a new appeal against being sent to the US without those commitments.

US authorities say Mr Assange endangered lives by publishing thousands of classified documents.

His lawyers have argued that the case is a form of "state retaliation".

The court has adjourned its final decision on Mr Assange's extradition by three weeks to give the US government time to comply with its order.

Speaking after the ruling was published, Mr Assange's wife called on US President Joe Biden to "drop this shameful case".

Tuesday's court order is the latest twist in a legal saga which began when Mr Assange's website Wikileaks published confidential US documents in 2010 and 2011.

His supporters say the leak exposed US criminality but Mr Assange was widely condemned for failing to redact the names of intelligence operatives, potentially putting their lives at risk.

The 52-year-old Australian national attempted to avoid extradition to the US by seeking refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy in London but was arrested in 2019 and has been held in UK prisons since.

In June 2022, then Home Secretary Priti Patel ruled Mr Assange could be extradited to the US to face trial for 18 offences, a decision which his lawyers have challenged in the courts.

In February, his lawyers submitted nine grounds to the High Court on which they believed Ms Patel's extradition order was unlawful.

Six were rejected outright - however, in a written judgment on Tuesday, Dame Victoria Sharp and Mr Justice Johnson said Mr Assange had an "arguable case" on their remaining grounds for appeal.

The first two boil down to whether or not Mr Assange would have freedom of expression protections under the US constitution as a foreign national.

The judges also accepted there are insufficient guarantees Mr Assange will not face the death penalty in the US, which his lawyers argue should have prohibited the UK government from agreeing to send him there.

Mr Assange is not charged with any offence in the US which carries the death penalty - however, his lawyers fear he could be further charged with a treason or espionage crime in the future which does.

In their evidence, they pointed to comments made by former US President Donald Trump - who is set to be the Republican nominee in the election later this year - which were supportive of Mr Assange receiving the death penalty.

The US has repeatedly pointed out Mr Assange is not charged with a death penalty offence, and has previously given the courts an assurance they would allow him to serve his prison sentence in Australia if convicted.

If the US does give further assurances in the next three weeks, a final hearing could take place on 20 May.

"If assurances are not given then we will grant leave to appeal without a further hearing," said Dame Victoria in the court's ruling.

"If assurances are given then we will give the parties an opportunity to make further submissions before we make a final decision on the application for leave to appeal."

If Mr Assange's latest appeal is not granted, he will have exhausted all of his legal avenues in the UK. His remaining option would be to take his case to the European Court of Human Rights.

[PA Media]

Speaking to the crowd gathered outside the court, his wife Stella Assange described her husband as a "political prisoner".

She added: "The case should have just been thrown out and Julian should not have spent a single day in prison.

"The United States is bringing a case based on the persecution of a journalist for his political opinions."

Mr Assange's lawyers say he faces up to 175 years in jail if he is convicted - but the US government has previously said a sentence of between four and six years is more likely.

They took his case to the European Court of Human Rights in 2022, but it was dismissed without a hearing.

Australia's parliament has passed a motion calling on the UK and US to release Mr Assange, though this has no legal bearing on either government.
By Michael Holden and Sam Tobin

LONDON (Reuters) -WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's extradition to the United States from Britain was put on hold on Tuesday after London's High Court said the United States must provide assurances he would not face the death penalty.

U.S. prosecutors are seeking to put Assange, 52, on trial on 18 counts, all bar one under the Espionage Act, over WikiLeaks' release of confidential U.S. military records and diplomatic cables.

After Britain gave the go-ahead for his extradition last year, Assange's lawyers in February launched a final attempt in the English courts to challenge that decision.

In their written ruling, which Assange's wife Stella described as "utterly bizarre", two senior judges provisionally gave him permission to launch a full appeal against extradition on three grounds, but only if the U.S. failed to provide "satisfactory assurances" to the issues raised.

These were that Australian-born Assange arguably would not be entitled to rely on the First Amendment right to free speech as a non-U.S. national and, while none of the existing charges carried the death penalty, he could later face a capital offence such as treason, meaning it would be unlawful to extradite him.

Assange's lawyers had highlighted a comment by former U.S. President Donald Trump who said in 2010, when discussing WikiLeaks, that "I think there should be like a death penalty or something", the ruling said.

The judges invited the U.S. authorities to provide assurances on these matters, saying if they were not forthcoming by April 16, then Assange would be granted permission to appeal.

However, they rejected his lawyers' argument the case was politically motivated or that he would not receive a fair trial. They also said his accusation that CIA officials had planned to kidnap or murder him could not be considered should he be allowed an appeal.

A further hearing has been scheduled for May 20, with his extradition - which his campaign team said could have been imminent depending on the ruling - put on hold.

13-YEAR LEGAL FIGHT

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.

It then released thousands of secret classified files and diplomatic cables that laid bare often highly critical U.S. appraisals of world leaders which the U.S. said imperilled the lives of their agents.

Assange's many supporters hail him as an anti-establishment hero who is being persecuted, despite being a journalist, for exposing U.S. wrongdoing and alleged war crimes.

The U.S. authorities say he is not being prosecuted for the publication of the leaked materials but for the criminal act of conspiring with former U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to unlawfully obtain them.

Assange has now spent more than 13 years battling various legal cases in Britain, spending seven of these holed up inside the Ecuadorean Embassy in London after skipping bail and the last five in a maximum security jail.

His brother, Gabriel Shipton, said he was suffering "rapidly deteriorating physical and mental health".

"I'm astounded by the decision. The case should have been thrown out," Stella Assange, who married the WikiLeaks founder in prison, told Reuters. "Julian remains at risk of extradition, at risk of the death penalty, at risk of 175 years in prison."

While Assange's lawyer Jen Robinson said, on the basis of previous cases, U.S. assurances "aren't worth the paper they're written on", Nick Vamos, the former head of extradition at Britain's Crown Prosecution Service said it should be straightforward for the U.S. to provide the guarantees.

"I think the U.S. government will have little difficulty in providing these assurances and Mr Assanges extradition will finally be ordered," he said.

If the High Court does uphold the extradition decision, Assange's final challenge will rest with an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to block it.

(Reporting by Michael Holden and Sam Tobin in London and Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Estelle Shirbon, Kate Holton, Timothy Heritage and Angus MacSwan)
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was handed a boost in his yearslong legal battle on Tuesday as a British court ruled that he will not be extradited to the U.S. immediately.

Londons High Court judgment found the Australian journalist has a real prospect of success in three of his grounds for appeal against a 2022 decision from the U.K. government allowing his extradition to face espionage charges. But before a decision is taken on whether he can launch a full appeal, the court has asked for specific assurances from the U.S. about what could happen to Assange. If the assurances arent filed, his leave to appeal will be granted automatically.

WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange Too Sick to Attend Extradition Hearing

Mr. Assange will not, therefore, be extradited immediately, the court said. The U.S. government has been given three weeks to make assurances that Assange will be allowed to rely on the First Amendment protecting free speech, that he wont be prejudiced at trial on the grounds of his nationality, that hell receive the same First Amendment rights as an American citizen, and that he will not face the death penalty.

If the assurances are received, both parties will be able to make new representations at a hearing on May 20, the court said. A final decision on leave to appeal would be made after that hearing if the assurances are satisfactory.

American prosecutors want to put the 52-year-old on trial for charges related to the publication of a tranche of classified U.S. intelligence files in 2010. They say Assange is not being prosecuted for the publication of the secret documents but rather for allegedly helping and conspiring with ex-U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in illegally obtaining them. (Manning was ultimately sentenced to 35 years in prison, but former President Barack Obama commuted her sentence, after shed served seven years, during his last days in office in 2017.)

According to prosecutors and Assanges critics, the leaks put lives at risk. Assanges supporters, conversely, say he is being unfairly persecuted for exposing American malfeasance; the leaks brought to light information about civilian deaths during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, among other revelations.

Assange has been indicted on 17 espionage charges and one count of computer misuse. If convicted, he could potentially face a sentence of up to 175 years in prison, Assanges lawyers say, though lawyers for the U.S. have previously said he would likely face a much less severe punishment.

Assanges family say his health has suffered in recent years. Last month, his lawyer said he was unable to attend a two-day hearing at the London court because he was too ill, while his brother told a British TV station that Assange is going through an immense amount of suffering behind bars.

Assange was taken to Belmarsh Prisonwhere he has spent the last five yearsfollowing his arrest in April 2019, after Ecuador ended its offer of diplomatic asylum in its London embassy. Hed lived in a cramped office in the embassy for seven years, first entering in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden on allegations of rape and sexual misconduct that were eventually dropped. Assange was dragged out of the diplomatic building after his relationship with the Ecuadorian government broke down and he was quickly taken into custody by British police for skipping bail.

Following Tuesdays ruling, Assanges wife, Stella Assange, said her husband remains exposed to the death penalty and said she was astounded that the court chose to delay making a decision on his appeal, according to the BBC. She also alleged that the judgment invited a political intervention from the U.S.

If Assanges fight against extradition ultimately fails in the English judicial system, his lawyers have vowed to apply to the European Court of Human Rights, which could intervene to prevent the U.K. from sending Assange across the Atlantic.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has fended off the threat of immediate extradition to the United States after the High Court in London asked the US for more assurances.

US authorities say Assange, 52, put lives at risk by publishing secret military documents and have for years been seeking his extradition on espionage charges.

At a two-day hearing last month, Assange sought permission to appeal the UKs 2022 approval of his extradition, arguing the case against him was politically motivated and that he would not face a fair trial.

In a ruling Tuesday, a panel of two judges said Assange, an Australian citizen, would not be extradited immediately and gave the US three weeks to give a series of assurances around Assanges First Amendment rights, and that he would not receive the death penalty.

If the US fails to give these, Assange would be allowed to appeal his extradition at a hearing in May. The ruling potentially offers Assange an extraordinary lifeline in a years-long saga that saw him shoot to global prominence for revealing what he described previously to CNN as compelling evidence of war crimes committed by US-led coalition and Iraqi government forces.

Assange has fought extradition for the last five years from Londons Belmarsh prison, and for seven years before that was holed up as a political refugee at the Ecuadorian embassy in the UK capital.

His case has sparked condemnation from free speech advocates who say if his extradition is allowed it will have a chilling effect on press freedoms.

The court said on Tuesday that Assange had a real prospect of success on three of the nine grounds of appeal: that his extradition is incompatible with freedom of expression; that, if extradited, Assange might be prejudiced at trial due to his nationality; and that, if extradited, he would not enjoy adequate death penalty protection.

But the court refused to grant him leave to appeal on the ground that the prosecution is politically motivated. The judge found, on the evidence, that Mr Assange had not shown that the request was made for the purpose of prosecuting him on account of his political opinions, it said.

It said the judge had taken account of the evidence that the CIA had planned to kidnap Assange from the Ecuadorian Embassy, but the judge concluded that this was not related to the extradition proceedings.

Nick Vamos, head of business crime at Peters & Peters law firm and a former head of extradition at the UKs Crown Prosecution Service, told CNN why some of Assanges arguments were dismissed.

Assange was not being prosecuted for journalism or for exposing grave State crimes, but for hacking and then publishing the names of sources who were put in serious danger, he said.

In short, journalists do not have immunity from prosecution for criminal conduct simply because that conduct is also a journalistic activity.

Vamos added that he thought the US would have little difficulty in providing these assurances to the court, paving the way for Asssanges extradition.

He said providing an assurance that Assange would not face the death penalty is straightforward, while the First Amendment assurance is essentially an issue of trial tactics.

Stella Assange, Assange's wife, speaks to the media after Tuesday's ruling in London. - Toby Melville/Reuters

Stella Assange, Assanges wife, told reporters outside the court after its ruling that her husband is a political prisoner.

The charges against him are to punish him for publishing the truth, for publishing evidence of the war crimes committed by the country that is trying to extradite him, she said.

She called on the Biden administration to drop this shameful case that should never have been brought.

Assange is being pursued by US authorities for publishing confidential military records supplied by former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in 2010 and 2011.

In 2019, prosecutors in Virginia charged Assange with 18 offences including one charge of conspiracy to attempt to hack a computer in connection with the 2010 release of classified military material obtained through Manning and 17 additional counts under the Espionage Act.

The prosecution alleges that Assange goaded Manning into obtaining thousands of pages of unfiltered US diplomatic cables that potentially endangered confidential sources, Iraq war-related significant activity reports and information related to Guantanamo Bay detainees.

Each of those counts carries a potential sentence of 10 years, meaning that if convicted, Assange could be sentenced to up to 175 years in prison.

Assange was not present at the crucial last-ditch hearing in February as he was too unwell to attend, according to one of his lawyers.

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Lubbock firefighters were deployed by the Texas Intrastate Fire Mutual Aid System on Feb. 25 for a two-week stint in Childress as the state geared up for severe red-flag weather conditions.

Little did they know they'd soon be on the front line battling the largest wildfire in Texas history, burning over a million acres in the Texas Panhandle.

Lubbock Fire Rescue Lt. Chad Burnett said once his team reached their deployment spot for the Smokehouse Creek Fire, "it was just a whirlwind."

Xcel Energy confirms company's infrastructure likely started Smokehouse Creek fire

"The first three days, I believe, we worked 20-, 22-hour days, and then we'll get two or three hours of sleep and go back to work," Burnett said. "Until more resources were able to come in to help with that, but it was a couple of long days."

When it comes to fighting structure fires, Burnett said firefighters can use "quick, brute force" to control the blaze. With wildfires, the ultimate goal is to "try to steer it away from valuable structures and towns" and get it to a spot where they can stop it.

However, many factors play into fighting wildfires, such as weather, temperature, and humidity. Burnett said that they had to sit in morning briefings to map out the day's attack and constantly monitor the conditions, which included strong winds and dust, dry conditions and remote locations.

With it being a fast-paced environment, Burnett said he didn't have to think about what he was doing.

"There's so many resources on incidents like that," Burnett said. "You get your assignment, you do the best you can with your piece of ground and trust in that everybody else is doing the same and that's how it ultimately works together to get the fire out."

The Smokehouse Creek Fire was officially considered to be 100 percent contained on March 16, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service. The fire consumed 1,054,153 acres over several counties, with homes, livestock and lives lost. It was one of at least five significant wildfires that burned through the Panhandle and into western Oklahoma during the time period.

After witnessing the destruction of the wildfires, Burnett said the public should heed this as a warning whenever red flag warnings are in effect.

"Pay attention to the weather, those red flag warnings," Burnett said. "Pay attention to that and be smart. Understand that if you start a fire, you're responsible for what happens from there."

Smoke is seen outside of Canadian, Texas, during the Smokehouse Creek Fire, Monday, March 4, 2024.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Lubbock firefighter recalls experience battling Smokehouse Creek Fire
Despite attempts by President Vladimir Putin and Russia's state-controlled media to pin the blame for Friday's deadly Moscow theatre attack on Ukraine, more details are emerging about the jihadist group IS-K that has claimed it was behind it.

Who or what is IS-K?

IS-K is an abbreviation of Islamic State-Khorasan. It is a regional affiliate of the globally proscribed terror Islamic State group focused on Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan.

The group has given itself the name Khorasan as that was part of an historic Islamic caliphate spanning those countries, as well as northward into Central Asia.

IS-K has been around for nine years but in recent months it has emerged as the most dangerous branch of the Islamic State group, with a long reach and a reputation for extreme brutality and cruelty.

Along with what is left of the group's wider leadership in Syria and Iraq, IS-K aspires to a pan-national Islamic caliphate ruled through an ultra-strict interpretation of Sharia, Islamic law.

In Afghanistan it is waging a sporadic but still deadly insurgency against the country's rulers, the Taliban, who it opposes on ideological grounds.

Has IS-K carried out attacks before?

It targeted the chaotic evacuation from Kabul airport in 2021 with a suicide bomb, killing 170 Afghans and 13 US servicemen.

The following year it targeted the Russian embassy in Kabul, killing at least six people and injuring others.

Dozens were killed when explosives were detonated among the crowd waiting to board evacuation planes leaving Kabul

The group has carried out indiscriminate attacks on a maternity ward, bus stations and policemen.

In January this year, IS-K carried out a double bombing of a shrine in Kerman, Iran, killing nearly 100 Iranians.

In Russia it has carried out numerous small-scale attacks, the most recent being in 2020 - and already this year the FSB, Russia's internal security service, says it has stopped several terror plots.

Who were the attackers?

According to Russian state media the four men captured and charged are all Tajiks from the Central Asian republic of Tajikistan, which used to be part of the Soviet Union.

It is obvious from their battered and bruised appearance in court that they have been especially harshly interrogated to the point of torture.

The problem with that is according to international norms, their confessions will be worthless - people will say anything to make the pain stop, including confessing to a narrative that is simply untrue.

Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, one of the suspects, appeared in court with visible injuries

Reports have emerged that one of the men was seen carrying out surveillance of the venue in early March, around the time the US warned Russia there was an imminent threat of a terrorist attack on a public space - a warning the Kremlin dismissed at the time as "propaganda".

Another report says at least two of the attackers arrived in Russia recently, implying that this was a "hit team" sent by IS-K, rather than a sleeper cell of residents.

Why did they target Russia?

There are several reasons.

IS-K consider most of the world to be their enemies. Russia is high up on their list, along with the US, Europe, Israel, Jews, Christians, Shia Muslims, the Taliban and all rulers of Muslim-majority states, who they consider to be "apostates".

Islamic State's hostility to Russia goes back to the Chechen wars in the 1990s and early 2000s, when Moscow's forces devastated the Chechen capital Grozny.

More recently, Russia entered the Syrian civil war on the side of its ally, President Bashar al-Assad, and the Russian air force has carried out countless bombings of rebel and civilian positions, killing large numbers of Islamic State group and Al-Qaeda-linked fighters.

In Afghanistan, IS-K view Russia as being an ally of the Taliban, which is why they attacked the Russian embassy in Kabul in 2022.

They also bear a grudge for the 10 years of brutal Soviet occupation of that country from 1979-89.

Then there is the situation inside Russia itself.

Russia is viewed by IS-K as very much a Christian country and their video posted after the Moscow attack talks about killing Christians.

Tajik and other Central Asian migrant workers are sometimes subject to a degree of harassment and suspicion by the FSB as it seeks to head off terrorist attacks.

Finally, Russia - a nation currently distracted by its full-scale war with its neighbour Ukraine - may simply have been a convenient target of opportunity for IS-K, a place where weapons were available and their enemy's guard was down.

What do we still not know?

There remain a number of unanswered questions about this whole episode.

For example, why were the attackers able to wander at will for nearly an hour around the Crocus Hall with absolutely no apparent sense of urgency?

In a country where the police and special services, notably the FSB, are omnipresent, these gunmen behaved as if they knew they were not going to be interrupted by a police SWAT team.

Russia's extensive security services were not able to stop the attack

Then there are the weapons - not just handguns but powerful, modern automatic assault rifles. How were they able to acquire these and smuggle them undetected into the venue?

Their swift capture is also surprising.

Unlike many jihadist gunmen on a raid like this, these men were not wearing suicide vests or belts, in the manner of those who prefer death to capture.

And yet, it did not take long for the Russian authorities - the same Russian authorities who failed to stop the worst terror plot in 20 years unfolding beneath their noses - to round up the suspects and put them on trial.

All this is prompting some analysts to speculate about some sort of so-called "inside job" by the Kremlin, or a "false flag operation" to garner popular support for the war on Ukraine.

However, there is no hard evidence to support that theory and US intelligence has confirmed that in their view, it was Islamic State behind this hideous attack.
ISLAMABAD, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Four terrorists were killed as security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation in Pakistan's northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Pakistani army said in a statement on Tuesday morning.

The incident happened on Monday in the Dera Ismail Khan district of the province on the reported presence of the terrorists, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistani army, said in the statement.

The terrorists were cornered and killed by the troops after an intense fire exchange, the statement added.

"The killed terrorists remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities against security forces and killing of innocent civilians," the ISPR said.

Weapons, ammunition, and explosives were also recovered from the killed terrorists. 
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW)  A new federal grant totaling $33.5 million to help Kansas State Universitys Salina campus fund a new aerospace and technology campus was announced on Tuesday.

The grant provides $28 million to build a facility that will serve as an education hub for several of K-State Salinas programs. A separate $5.5 million grant will provide aviation training equipment to amplify the pilot training partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA.

A part of that $5.5 million grant will allow NOAA to collaborate with K-State Salina to grow the pilot training program.

This investment marks the next phase in K-State Salinas continuous growth, said Alysia Starkey, CEO and Dean of K-State Salina, in a news release. As we develop this new, state-of-the-art space for our uncrewed aircraft systems, composites and aviation maintenance programs, we are also establishing the future of aerospace education. The alignment of these critical disciplines enables K-State Salina to educate learners, collaborate with industry and further advanced air mobility solutions for the region and nation.

The new facility is the second phase to revitalize the southernmost end of the K-State Salina campus as the General Atomics Aerospace Innovation Ramp, following General Atomics $10 million gift to kick off the revitalization plan in October 2022.

K-State Salina continues to forge new paths for aeronautic education, K-State president Robert Linton said in the news release. This federal investment opens the doors for enhanced educational programs and access, career readiness, technology-advancing research and industry partnerships to meet the demands of today and the future. This is what being a next-generation land-grant university is all about.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV.
Two of the dozens of Kansas House bills that now list the names of groups and lobbyists who asked lawmakers or committees to introduce them, are seen Monday, March 25, 2024, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. The House started adding the information to bills this year as a way to make it easier for people to find out who was behind what proposals. (AP Photo/John Hanna)

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP)  For years, pinning down the source of a bill in the Kansas Legislature could be a chore for lawmakers' constituents. Committees sponsor almost 85% of the proposals, so finding the group or lobbyist responsible could require questioning multiple lawmakers or, in recent years, reviewing YouTube videos of meetings.

But this year, the Kansas House is making it a little easier for the state's residents to find out who wants what from its members. Besides a number and official sponsor, each bill now lists who asked for it, be it a lawmaker at someone else's request or an individual lobbyist for a specific client. The change started in January.

It's an unusual move for any state legislature. While at least a handful of states require lobbyists to list specific bills of interest to them in reports open for public inspection, the Council of State Governments knows of no other state legislative chamber that's actually listing lobbyists and groups on its bills  not even the Kansas Senate.

Im thrilled to see it, said Heather Ferguson, a Kansan who is director of operations for the government transparency group Common Cause. It helps to rebuild some of the trust with the public in their elected officials and in their institutions and in the legislative process in general.

In Kansas, House Bill 2527, which would rewrite laws on how the state sets electric rates, was requested by a lobbyist for Evergy, the states largest electricity company. A Kansas Farm Bureau lobbyist proposed HB 2691, which would require utilities seeking to use eminent domain to obtain an entire tract of private land for transmission lines and other projects to pay the owners 50% more than fair market value.

In some offices and hallways under the Kansas Statehouse's copper dome, the response to the new practice has been less enthusiastic than Ferguson's reaction, though lobbyists won't publicly criticize it. Eric Stafford, who lobbies for the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, said he doesn't care, as long as its consistent.

Because the extra disclosure is spelled out in the House Rules  it's No. 7.01  the Kansas Senate isn't required to follow it.

In fact, Senate President Ty Masterson, a Wichita-area Republican, said he hadn't really thought about the idea, but it doesn't scare me." However, he also asserted that when it comes to who is behind a bill, People tend to know that anyway.

At least seven states  Colorado, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio and Utah  have disclosure rules requiring lobbyists to provide information about specific measures their clients are watching, according to Common Cause. Kansas requires lobbyists to file reports on their spending six times a year, but they don't have to list individual measures.

In 2015, a California businessman who was later was a Republican nominee for governor, John Cox, proposed a ballot initiative to require the state's elected officials to wear stickers or badges "displaying the names of their 10 highest campaign contributors during public legislative meetings. The drive to get it on the ballot failed.

Some members like the House's greater transparency and appear willing to go even further with it.

For example, Rep. Stephanie Sawyer Clayton, a Kansas City-area Democrat, responded with bring it on when she learned of the 2015 initiative in California, though, she said, lawmakers might end up looking like servers at TGI Fridays restaurants.

I will wear those pieces of flair all day because most of my top donors are awesome groups and even awesomer people, she said. "Id gladly do that.

The Kansas House actually changed its rules to require more information on its bills in 2021, but House leaders and staff said it took the Legislature's technology staff three years to work out the details. The House Rules Committee member who pushed for the change, Democratic state Rep. Boog Highberger, considers it a meaningful  but small  step toward improving government transparency.

Rep. Adam Thomas, a Kansas City-area Republican, said that increased transparency is good, and lawmakers can expect plenty of questions if their name is attached to a bill, whether or not an interest group also is listed.

Now we've got to really know what a bill does and what it means and the implications of it, Thomas said. The change was adopted without discussion, and the rules had broad, bipartisan support.

In many states, most measures are sponsored by individual lawmakers, and that was the traditional practice for the Kansas Legislature. Fifty years ago, nearly 70% of bills and resolutions in Kansas were sponsored by individual lawmakers. This year, the figure was a little more than 15%, after decades of committees sponsoring an increasing percentage of bills.

Allowing such so-called anonymous bills was among the practices that led The Kansas City Star to declare in a 2017 series on Kansas state government that the process of passing laws in its Republican-controlled Legislature was among the least transparent in the country. Critics still say the public often has trouble finding out the status of bills on major issues until it is too late to stop them from passing.

But David Adkins, a former Kansas legislator who is now executive director and CEO of the Council on State Governments, said lawmakers may have moved to having committees sponsoring bills because it seemed to give them the same kind of credibility as a large, bipartisan group of individual sponsors. It might have been a way to help them cull bills more easily during their annual 90-day session.

And, he said, listing the group or lobbyist who requested a bill might serve the same purpose, allowing lawmakers to decide how to vote without reading the text.

At the top of the funnel, time is your worst enemy, said Adkins, who served in the Legislature from 1993 through 2004.

But Adkins also worried that the House's practice, meant to restore trust, could lead the public to view legislating as transactional.

In some ways, one might argue it makes legislation resemble a NASCAR vehicle, with prominent sponsorship stickers placed on a car, he said.
Vague laws are bad laws.

This isnt just my opinion. Vagueness doctrine is taught frequently in law schools and cited in Supreme Court opinions. The idea is that its unfair to punish people for breaking rules so hazily written that nobody can really know what conduct does or doesnt cross the line.

Thats because ambiguity is not merely confusing, but actively harmful. Vague laws  because they can be arbitrarily enforced  are ripe for abuse, used by tyrants to punish their enemies while leaving their friends untouched.

Good laws, democratic laws, fair laws are written so that everybody knows precisely whats allowed and whats not.

Which brings us to the Kansas Legislature, naturally.

The Kansas House last week passed a bill barring the states public colleges and universities from requiring diversity, equity and inclusion statements from candidates when they hire new employees. Thats no surprise: Republicans nationwide have been on a tear against signs of multiculturalism in public life  the University of Florida, for example, earlier this month eliminated all of its DEI positions because of a ban passed by that states GOP-controlled Legislature.

The problem with the Kansas bill  one of the problems, anyway  is that its vague. How vague? It doesnt actually define what diversity, equity and inclusion means.

Dont take my word for it. The bills supporters are pretty open about the fuzziness of their effort.

I may not be able to give you an explanation or a definition, said state Rep. Clarke Sanders, a Salina Republican, but Id know it when I saw it.

Folks, thats not how good laws are made.

All of this matters for officials at the colleges and universities affected by the bill. Institutions found to have violated the anti-DEI law would be on the hook for a $10,000 civil penalty for every violation. So its important that they understand precisely what conduct would now be off-limits to them. Kansas Republicans are offering glib hand-waving answers instead.

Which makes you wonder if the vagueness is the point.

The GOPs anti-DEI crusade is part of a broader backlash against wokeness  an expression of right-wing contempt for the idea that white Americans should ever learn about or consider the history and perspectives of racial and sexual minorities, or be committed to their well-being.

So when conservatives say DEI or wokeness or CRT or political correctness, what they often mean is Black stuff. Or, sometimes, gay stuff.

We know it  prejudice  when we see it.

There might be good reasons for universities to clamp down on ideological pledges of any kind: State Rep. Steven Howe, another Salina Republican behind the bill, has spoken of preserving intellectual diversity on campus. And that sounds plausibly good at a surface level.

But its hard to dismiss the sense that anti-DEI bills aimed at higher education in Kansas are meant to signal, as The Wichita Eagles Dion Lefler put it last year, that if youre a promising minority student, youll probably be more valued and happier in some other states college system.

If Kansas Republicans are intent on passing such a bill, though, the least they could do is draw some bright lines instead of forcing university officials to guess at their intentions.

Its hard for me to pass a bill punishing universities for doing something we dont define, said state Rep. Tom Sawyer, a Wichita Democrat.

The omission is baffling. More than 20 GOP-led states have passed anti-DEI legislation in recent years. Did none of them come up with a definition of diversity, equity and inclusion that Sunflower State legislators could copy and paste? Maybe the Republicans in the Kansas Senate  which has the next crack at the bill  can fix that.

Vague laws are bad laws, after all. Which makes the anti-DEI legislation a bad bill.

Joel Mathis is a regular Kansas City Star and Wichita Eagle Opinion correspondent. He lives in Lawrence with his wife and son. Formerly a writer and editor at Kansas newspapers, he served nine years as a syndicated columnist.
The Kansas Senate overwhelmingly rejected an extensive bill aimed at giving conservatives more power on school boards across the state, a day after advancing the policy.

The state senate voted 13 to 24 Tuesday to reject the bill in a remarkable about face as lawmakers cited concerns the proposal would encroach upon local control.

This is a brazen overreach on local control on duly elected school boards that forced policies that are already available for each school board to adopt brought by a few disgruntled School Board members to this body, Sen Jeff Pittman, a Leavenworth Republican, said Tuesday.

The legislation would require boards of education to allow public comment at all meetings and allow any board member to question or engage in discussion with commenters. Any board member would have the power to add an agenda item to a meeting, allowing a single member to force discussion on any topic.

It would also require that board members have access to any school building or property whenever it is open to district employees. Districts would be required to publish the email addresses of board members.

And boards would be authorized to use general funds to pay for dues to any nonprofit organization that provides services to districts, making it easier for districts to partner with rival or alternative groups to KASB; currently, districts can only use general funds to pay for dues to KASB.

Leah Fliter, a lobbyist for KASB, applauded the Legislature for rejecting the policy after several board members reached out to senators.

With that vote margin I think it shows that its not a popular measure and that senators, and by extension the constituents who elected them, support local school boards and trust us to do our jobs as is directed in the state constitution, Fliter said.

The bill had come amid increased scrutiny of school boards by state lawmakers. In the years since COVID-19 more conservatives have joined school boards voicing frustrations over pandemic-era policies and woke curriculum. Those members have often seen their efforts for change stymied while conservative parents have complained boards do not listen to them.

If youre not allowed to speak to their board of education, where else shall they go? Sen. Chase Blasi, a Wichita Republican, said during debate Monday.

The school board bills failure comes as the House and Senate consider broader education policy for the year.

The House will vote Wednesday on a bill that funds K-12 schools but alters the way the state calculates special education funding.

Kansas has missed legal funding requirements for special education for a decade. In response to repeated calls for more funding, a House is considering a bill that would count funds not currently attributed to special education so it appears the state had reached its requirement. The bill also allocates an additional $77.5 million for special education.
The actress will not return as Dr. Nya Wallace on the HBO Max series.

Karen Pittman is saying goodbye to the world of Carrie Bradshaw.

The 37-year-old actress is leaving the cast of HBO Maxs And Just Like That ahead of Season Three. Pittman starred as Dr. Nya Wallace, a college professor at Columbia Law School, on the Sex and the City revival series, where her character navigated a breakup and her newfound freedom as a single woman.

HBO Max announced the news in a statement to Variety.

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, a Max spokesperson told the publication. As we have thoroughly enjoyed working with this dynamic actress, so too have others. Due to her commitments to two other streamer series, it has become apparent that filming three shows at once isnt possible.

The statement to Variety went on to say that we are disappointed to announce that scheduling conflicts will not allow us to continue with this character as part of Season 3 of And Just Like That. Karen and Nya will be missed, and her Max family and fans will all be cheering her on in her other endeavors.

Pittmans other acting commitments include her lead role on The Morning Show, where she stars in the Apple TV+ series as television producer Mia Jordan, and her upcoming role in Netflixs Forever, a Mara Brock Akil adaptation of Judy Blumes novel.

Pittman has yet to comment on her departure from And Just Like That, but fans were quick to react to the news on social media, calling out HBO Max for underutilizing the actress.

Her character deserved so much more than how she was so lazily approached, one fan wrote on X (Twitter). I hope to see Karen Pittman on a show where she can really shine.  #AndJustLikeThat has at least THREE characters they forced in the show just to try to fill Samanthas place and it still fell short.

I hope that Karen Pittmans exit from And Just Like That means that shes booked and busy, another fan wrote. What a talented actress.

This is a true loss. But, tbh, they werent fully actualizing her character anyway. #andjustlikethat, a fan commented on X.

Pittmans departure from And Just Like That follows actor Sara Ramirezs exit from the series. The Greys Anatomy alum announced in February that she would not be returning to the show, Variety reported.

Never miss a beat: Get our daily stories straight to your inbox with theGrios newsletter.

The post Karen Pittman to exit And Just Like That after two seasons appeared first on TheGrio.
Karen Reads last hope of avoiding a trial was squashed Tuesday as the Judge presiding over her second-degree murder case denied a motion to dismiss her indictment.

In her 24-page ruling, Judge Beverly Cannone highlighted discrepancies and flaws in the investigation that led to Reads arrest, but Cannone determined there was no malicious intent to harm Read or deceive the state grand jury that indicted her.

Read is accused of running down her Boston Police officer boyfriend John OKeefe with her SUV outside 34 Fairview Rd in Canton just after midnight on January 29, 2022.

Her defense team has long claimed she is innocent, and they have accused prosecution witnesses of framing Read.

Cannone writes, Given the extensive evidence supporting the indictments, to the extent that the Commonwealth improperly put before or withheld any evidence from the grand jury, it is unlikely that it affected the outcome of the proceedings.

Cannone noted that she carefully reviewed the grand jury minutes and considered all defense arguments.

For more than 2 years, the defense has raised dozens of issues with the investigation and prosecution of Read including connections between members of law enforcement and witnesses.

The defense has long argued that State Police detective Michael Proctor was friends with the brother and sister-in-law of the man who owned the home where OKeefes body was found in front of.

Cannone wrote, Even assuming that Trooper Proctor had a personal relationship with these witnesses, disclosure to the grand jury was not necessarily required, and The defendant has not pointed to any case law that suggests a police officers credibility is greatly undermined if he knows witnesses in a case.

Cannone referred to a separate investigation of OKeefes death conducted by federal authorities that found evidence that a prosecution witness named Jennifer McCabe googled hos long to die in cold at 2:27am, hours before she called 911 to report that OKeefes body had just been found in a snowstorm.

Cannone noted that federal authorities used an updated version of phone extraction software and determined there was no intended deception by state police investigators.

It appears that the more recent report used an updated version of software which included web history, data files, and activity sensor data that the previous software did not extract. Because the Commonwealth could not have withheld information it did not have and was not aware it existed at the time of the grand jury, the defendant has not established that the Commonwealth withheld exculpatory evidence from the grand jury, Cannone wrote.

Defense attorney David Yannetti declined to comment on Judge Cannones ruling.

Also on Tuesday, the Norfolk D.A.s Office requested a buffer zone be erected around the Norfolk Superior Courthouse in Dedham when the trial begins. The DAs office is asking that crowds be kept at least 500 feet away to shield jurors from Karen Read supporters and Free Karen Read signs and clothing.

The trial is scheduled to begin on April 16 and is expected to last as long as 7 weeks according to defense attorney Alan Jackson.

Karen Read: Motion to Dismiss case Denied by Boston 25 Desk on Scribd

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Read, of Mansfield, returns to Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham at 9 a.m. Her attorneys are expected to argue their third motion to dismiss the second-degree murder case.

Read is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Boston Police Officer John OKeefe, in Canton. Shes accused of running over him in reverse and leaving him to die in a January 2022 snowstorm.

Last week, lawyers for Read told the court that they want phone records from people they claim helped frame her for murder.

Karen Reads lawyers argue phone records further conspiracy claim

Defense attorney David Yannetti said a separate federal investigation of the events surrounding OKeefes death found phone calls made by state prosecution witnesses that were not previously disclosed to police.

Yannetti is seeking phone records from retired Boston Police Officer Brian Albert. OKeefe was found on Alberts front lawn hours after Albert hosted a gathering that OKeefe was invited to.

The defense has claimed OKeefe was beaten up inside the home and dragged outside. According to the prosecution, Read struck OKeefe with her Lexus SUV when she dropped him off there and he never entered the home.

Karen Read, facing a murder charge in the death of an off-duty Boston police officer, was ordered held on $100,000 bail.

Karen Read, 41, of Mansfield, Mass., is charged with manslaughter in the Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022, death of Boston police Officer John OKeefe. O'Keefe, 46, was off duty at the time of his death.

High bail for girlfriend charged with manslaughter in death of off-duty Boston police officer

High bail for girlfriend charged with manslaughter in death of off-duty Boston police officer

High bail for girlfriend charged with manslaughter in death of off-duty Boston police officer

High bail for girlfriend charged with manslaughter in death of off-duty Boston police officer

High bail for girlfriend charged with manslaughter in death of off-duty Boston police officer

Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe

Karen Read is arraigned in Stoughton District court accused of manslaughter in death of off-duty Boston Police officer John O'Keefe

Yannetti said the federal investigation found Brian Albert and Brian Higgins, an ATF agent who attended the gathering spoke by phone at 2:22 a.m., about 3 and a half hours before OKeefes body was discovered.

Albert does not object to releasing his phone records, according to his attorney, but Higgins is fighting the request for his phone records on privacy grounds.

Judge Beverly Cannone did not immediately rule on the phone records request.

Federal probe findings revealed in court as Karen Reads defense team pushes to dismiss murder case

Earlier this month, Reads lawyers said that the federal investigation found inconsistencies and conflicts that should lead to the dismissal of her second-degree murder case. They said an accident reconstructionist hired by the FBI found OKeefes injuries did not appear to be from a car strike.

The damage on the car was inconsistent with having made contact with John OKeefes body. In other words, the car didnt hit him, and he wasnt hit by the car. Period. Full stop, Attorney Alan Jackson told the court.

In late February, Judge Cannone agreed to push back Reads murder trial from March 12 to April 16.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

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Gov. Josh Shapiro is expected to sign into law reform legislation named after Kayden Mancuso, the Lower Makefield girl murdered during an unsupervised visit with her father in 2018, a crime that focused national attention on the family court system.

The bill, known as Kaydens Law, is named after the 7-year-old Kayden, who lived in Bucks County with her mother and family before she was killed by her biological father on Aug. 5, 2018.

Kayden's Law, a child protection legislation named for Kayden Mancuso, who was killed by her biological father during an unsupervised visit in 2018, was included in the reauthorization of Violence Against Women Act.

Kayden's parent sued over death Kayden Mancuso's mother sues Bucks County judge, others she says failed to prevent daughter's death

The House on Monday passed the final version of Senate Bill 55, reforming the states child custody statute, which now forward's it to Shapiro's desk. The bill was first introduced in 2019.

Today we are one step closer to protecting children in custody cases, said State Sen. Steven Santarsiero. D-10, of Lower Makefield, one of the bill's primary sponsors of the bipartisan legislation.

Gov. Josh Shapiro is expected to sign Kayden's Law, which will strengthen the state's child custody law

More on Kayden Mancuso 'I cant let Kayden to have died in vain. I have to do it': A mother's vow to protect kids

What happened to Kayden Mancuso?

Kayden died after her father, Jeffrey Mancuso, struck her in the head at least three times with a 35-pound dumbbell during a court-ordered weekend visit at his Manayunk home. Mancuso left a two-page note on her body that said, "You all get what you deserve," and then killed himself.

The murder-suicide happened three months after Bucks County Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Trauger issued a final custody order that reduced visitation rights for Mancuso, but allowed unsupervised visits.

Following Kaydens murder, it was learned Mancuso was diagnosed by a court-ordered psychiatrist as narcissistic, depressed, antisocial, and with suicidal ideation. He also had a history of assault charges, erratic behavior, threats, abused alcohol and prescription drugs, but he had no allegations involving violence against Kayden.

A court-ordered evaluation recommended Mancuso only be awarded unsupervised visits contingent on his entering mental health treatment, but Trauger did not mandate it.

After the murder, Kayden's mother, Kathy Sherlock, devoted herself to changing child custody laws and advocating for family court reform and strengthening laws to protect children in similar situations as her late daughter. She had fought in the family courts to restrict Mancuso's access to their child, arguing he was dangerous. Her family created the nonprofit Kaydens Korner to advocate for legislative changes nationally.

What will Kaydens Law do?

It requires courts to hold an evidentiary hearing and consider criminal convictions, criminal charges, child abuse and involvement with protective services for any household member, as well as certain custody factors first, when making a determination and ensure any custody order includes safety conditions and restrictions, if necessary.

If the court finds an ongoing risk of abuse or violence to a child, any custody order must include safety conditions and restrictions which can include supervised visitation only.

The bill also encourages, but does not require, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania to implement an annual educational and training program for judges and relevant court personnel on child abuse, adverse childhood experiences, family violence, domestic violence, and its impact on children.

The law adds new crimes the court must consider against a parent or household member in custody proceedings. Those new crimes are:

Simple assault

Recklessly endangering another person

Cruelty to animals

Animal fighting

Possession of animal fighting paraphernalia

Interference with custody of children

How the Bucks County Court has responded

The documents related to the Mancuso child custody case are publicly available and they can be accessed here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3wt0ctdax39o0r8/AACS629JWdZHRzJ_V2MgIIGra?dl=0

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Bucks County Kayden Mancuso by michelleganassi

On behalf of Judge Jeffrey G. Trauger the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas previously issued a statement that the courts decision in the Mancuso case was made in compliance with Pennsylvania law and based on the facts of the case and was not appealed by either party.

On Sunday Oct. 15, 2023, Kayden Mancuso would have turned 13. She was murdered six years ago by her father during an unsupervised visit. Her mother, Kathryn Sherlock, of Lower Makefield, hold a protest at the Bucks County Justice Center to bring attention to the need for reforms centers around child custody.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: How Kayden's Law will change child custody law in Pennsylvania
Staff members welcome passengers during the test operation of Chizhou-Huangshan high-speed railway at Huangshan North Station in Huangshan City, east China's Anhui Province, March 26, 2024. Connecting Chizhou Station and Yixian County East Station in Huangshan City, the Chizhou-Huangshan high-speed railway started test operation on Tuesday. With a total length of about 125 kilometers, the railway has a designed speed of 350 kilometers per hour. (Xinhua/Liu Junxi)

A staff member welcomes passengers during the test operation of Chizhou-Huangshan high-speed railway at Huangshan North Station in Huangshan City, east China's Anhui Province, March 26, 2024. Connecting Chizhou Station and Yixian East Station in Huangshan City, the Chizhou-Huangshan high-speed railway started test operation on Tuesday. With a total length of about 125 kilometers, the railway has a designed speed of 350 kilometers per hour. (Xinhua/Liu Junxi)

This photo taken on March 26, 2024 shows the scenery through a window of a bullet train running on the Chizhou-Huangshan high-speed railway during test operation in east China's Anhui Province. Connecting Chizhou Station and Yixian County East Station in Huangshan City, the Chizhou-Huangshan high-speed railway started test operation on Tuesday. With a total length of about 125 kilometers, the railway has a designed speed of 350 kilometers per hour. (Photo by Shi Yalei/Xinhua)

An aerial drone photo taken on March 26, 2024 shows a bullet train running on the Chizhou-Huangshan high-speed railway during test operation in Jiaocun Township of Huangshan City, east China's Anhui Province. Connecting Chizhou Station and Yixian County East Station in Huangshan City, the Chizhou-Huangshan high-speed railway started test operation on Tuesday. With a total length of about 125 kilometers, the railway has a designed speed of 350 kilometers per hour. (Photo by Fan Chengzhu/Xinhua)

A bullet train runs on the Taiping lake grand bridge during test operation of Chizhou-Huangshan high-speed railway in Huangshan City, east China's Anhui Province, March 26, 2024. Connecting Chizhou Station and Yixian County East Station in Huangshan City, the Chizhou-Huangshan high-speed railway started test operation on Tuesday. With a total length of about 125 kilometers, the railway has a designed speed of 350 kilometers per hour. (Photo by Chen Suqing/Xinhua)
A showdown of sorts is expected at todays San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors meeting.

The board is scheduled to vote on a controversial resolution in support of keeping Diablo Canyon  Californias last nuclear power plant  operating for 20 more years.

Keep in mind, the board has no power over how long Diablo Canyon remains open. Thats up to other agencies, including the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the state of California.

Yet the resolution, toothless as it is, is a big deal to Diablo Canyon watchers.

Although the Board has no authority over this decision, it has INFLUENCE, Mothers for Peace, an anti-Diablo organization, emailed its supporters.

A preview of the future?

The hearing, which is expected to attract both foes and friends of Diablo, could be a preview of what will be in store should the 20-year plan move forward.

For months, there have been rumors that PG&E might want to keep the plant open beyond 2030, but lately the talk has become more serious. Last month, a PG&E official told the Diablo Canyon Independent Safety Committee that PG&Es strong intent (is) to be able to proceed past 2030.

Around the same time, the Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to put a resolution of support on the agenda. The effort was led by Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg, a former PG&E employee.

A Democrat, Ortiz-Legg, ordinarily votes along with her liberal colleagues, Supervisors Bruce Gibson and Jimmy Paulding.

Not on this issue.

Gibson and Paulding said it would be premature to support keeping the aging plant open 20 more years when its yet to be approved to remain open for even five more years. But Ortiz-Legg cited the advantages, including the possibility of more tax revenue flowing into the coffers of local agencies.

County Supervisors John Peschong and Debbie Arnold joined her in moving the resolution forward.

Ties to PG&E

In addition to working for PG&E, Ortiz-Legg has received multiple campaign contributions from the utility  $4,000 in 2022 and $200 this year. While that may raise questions about a conflict of interest, its perfectly legal.

A new state law that took effect in 2023, SB 1439, does prohibit elected officials from voting on certain matters if they accepted donations from the applicant. However, that kicks in only if the donation is over $250 and only if the application is for a permit, license or entitlement. A resolution is none of those things.

SLO County Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg spoke at a clean energy rally in 2021 that called for keeping the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant open.

In supporting the long-term, continued operation of Diablo Canyon, Ortiz-Legg isnt just breaking with her Democratic colleagues. Shes also at odds with state Sen. John Laird, a Democrat whose district includes Diablo.

Laird, who played a role in negotiating the agreement to extend the life of the plant until 2030, has advised against passing the proposed resolution. He sent a strongly word letter to the board  one of the rare times a local state lawmaker has asked a local agency to back off.

Here are some of his reasons:

A safety analysis of the Unit 1 reactor wont be completed until 2025, and results wont be available until 2026.

There is a financial risk to California ratepayers and taxpayers.

The California Coastal Commission has not signed off on a permit.

Continued operation of Diablo Canyon could hinder the development of offshore wind.

Issues surrounding the plants once-though cooling system  which dumps heated water into Diablo Cove  have not been resolved.

In short, many of the issues that might be involved in additional fifteen-year extension have not even been resolved yet for the five-year extension, he wrote.

We agree.

Perhaps California may require Diablo Canyons power beyond 2030 to wean itself off fossil fuels. But absent more information, committing to support keeping the plant open 20 more years  even in the form of a resolution  is irresponsible.

The residents of San Luis Obispo County deserve leaders who will carefully weigh pros and cons as information becomes available  not cheerleaders for an investor-owned utility with a safety record thats far from spotless.

We strongly urge the Board of Supervisors to follow Sen. Lairds recommendation and set aside the resolution until it has the information needed to make an informed decision.
Edwina Coltart says she will have to work longer hours to fund her son's tuition at a private special school if Labour's VAT raid goes ahead - Eddie Mulholland

Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of snubbing special needs schools amid fears that children with learning difficulties will have no place to go after Labours VAT raid.

Leaders of independent special schools have told The Telegraph that senior Labour figures have refused to meet to discuss plans to impose VAT on school fees, despite fears that the policy would displace thousands of vulnerable children.

Shadow ministers have promised to exempt fees for children with an education, health and care plan (EHCP) from the 20 per cent levy. EHCPs are issued by local authorities for children with the most severe or complex needs.

However, more than 1,600 children in independent special schools do not have an EHCP, which can take years to obtain.

There would also be no exemption for nearly 100,000 pupils across all private schools who are receiving special educational needs support but do not have an EHCP, after a rise in demand for support since the Covid lockdowns.

No response from Sir Keir

Michelle Catterson, the headmistress of Moon Hall School in Reigate, Surrey, a special needs school for 185 dyslexic children, said she had written to Sir Keir and Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secretary, about her concerns, but had received no response.

Mrs Phillipson met with independent school representatives in Parliament last year, and at two events this year, according to a Labour source.

A Labour spokesman said: Labour will invest in a brilliant state education for every child paid for by ending private schools tax breaks.

Places that are funded by Education Health and Care Plans for children with special educational needs will not have a higher cost as a result of VAT.

Parents can ask their local authority to carry out an assessment if they think their child needs an EHCP. If they decide to carry out an assessment, parents may need to provide school reports, doctors assessments and a letter about their childs needs. The local authority is supposed to deliver an EHC plan within 20 weeks of the request for an assessment.

Michelle Catterson fears families will no longer be able to afford to pay if VAT is added to fees - Jay Sutherland / 12:42 Studios

Ms Catterson told The Telegraph: The fact that the Labour Party are sort of ploughing ahead with this, and being so resolute that this is what they are going to do, without actually talking to people like myself, who are working in schools, and to families who will be impacted, I think is actually quite shocking.

She said that about 30 per cent of pupils at her school, which charges fees of between 7,380 and 9,377 per year, did not have an EHCP. They had come to Moon Hall School because they found the state sector could not meet their needs, and many had grandparents and aunts and uncles who are taking on a second job just to pay the fees, she said.

She fears they will no longer be able to afford to pay if VAT is added to fees.

People often think of Eton and Harrow and all these really affluent schools, but they forget that there are many small schools like mine, she said. Where do these children go if 30 per cent of my families can no longer afford fees? The schools in the local area are oversubscribed. There is no place for these children to go.

Parents take on second jobs

Jonathan Hetherington, headmaster of More House School, in Farnham, Surrey, a school for 500 boys with learning and language-based difficulties, also said that Labour had refused to discuss the unintended consequences of the VAT plans with him.

Mr Hetherington invited MPs and peers to discuss the proposals in February at an event in Portcullis House, part of the parliamentary estate which houses MPs offices. However, not a single Labour MP showed up, he said.

Mr Hetherington said: Its parents who never originally planned to use independent schools who are going to be most affected.

He added: Quite often the parents have taken on second jobs, remortgaged the house, or granny, grandpa and uncle and everyone is pitching in just to try and meet the fees because they see our fees as being essential to ensure their child has a reasonable chance to realise that they are clever and to have a good life ahead of them.

Mr Hetherington said that around a third of children at the school did not have EHCPs. However, the school has seen a huge rise in parents deciding to try to obtain one amid the VAT threat from Labour. If they succeed, it would mean their place would be funded by the local authority.

However, Mr Hetherington said the system was skewed towards children from the most affluent families, who could afford legal advice to get approval from overwhelmed councils.

Councils are supposed to respond to requests for EHCPs within 20 weeks, but data published in 2023 show that the number of children waiting longer rose by 35 per cent the year after the pandemic.

Labour has said that it would not exempt special schools from its VAT raid because it believes that private schools would exploit a loophole by claiming to be special schools.

Sir Keir has claimed that the VAT policy will raise around 1.6 billion to fund more mental health staff and expert teachers in state schools.

Julie Robinson, the chief executive of the Independent Schools Council (ISC), said: Nearly 100,000 students in ISC schools are receiving SEND support but do not have an EHCP. We are deeply concerned about the potential disruption to their education and the resulting pressure it would cause within state SEND provision.

We would welcome the opportunity to talk to Labour and to work with them in mitigating any unintended consequences of their proposed policy.

Labour has been contacted for comment.

I moved my dyslexic son to a private special school because the state sector couldnt cope

Edwina Coltart, 50, says she never intended to send her son, Archie, 14, to a private school.

However, he struggled to cope at state primaries in south-west London and when she investigated what was going on, she found out he is autistic and also has dyslexia, dyspraxia and ADHD.

When she was looking at secondary schools, she was told that Lambeth, the local authority, would only offer EHCPs to a small percentage of pupils with learning difficulties.

Mrs Coltart, a reflexologist, said that she and her husband were concerned about how overstretched the state system was already, and about her sons future.

Headmaster Jonathan Hetherington says around a third of children at More House School do not have EHCPs - Eddie Mulholland

They decided to move out of London so that he could attend More House School in Farnham, Surrey, where she says he is now thriving thanks to smaller class sizes and teaching methods that cater for children with neurodiverse minds.

Day fees at the school are up to 20,055 a year.

If Labour wins the next election and adds VAT to fees, she says she will have to work longer hours and spend less time with her children. They will also consider applying for an EHCP.

However, she believes many families would be forced to pull their children out of special schools.

I believe that a lot of children whose parents are paying, who are doing their best to put their children into schools like More House will then end up in the state system. And I worry that the state system is already not managing children with special needs particularly well.

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One of the bedrock principles of the American justice system is a criminal defendants right to a fair trial. Absent that, all bets are off  it doesnt matter if the accused committed a crime or not, they are entitled to fair and just criminal proceedings.

This concept is thoroughly laid out in the United States Constitution. But whats happened to Ken Middleton, is anything but just.

After 20 years of requests, Middleton might get what hes been asking for. In July, DeKalb County Circuit Court judge Ryan Wesley Horsman will hear arguments that could free Middleton from prison or grant him a new trial.

Middleton, a former over the road truck driver from Blue Springs, is serving a life sentence for murder in the 1990 shooting death of wife Kathy Middleton. Ive written about Ken Middletons decades-long legal saga before. He once turned down a plea deal connected to his wifes death that would have freed him from prison after hed already served 14 years.

Rather than admit to something he said he did not do, Middleton took his chances appealing a guilty verdict that resulted in a life sentence for murder plus an additional 200 years behind bars for armed criminal action.

If I was guilty, I would have said, Im guilty and Im coming home, Middletons appellate attorney Kent Gipson told me during a recent phone interview.

Most of us would, I thought.

Ken Middleton has long maintained he did not kill Kathy Middleton. Evidence uncovered since Kens 1991 conviction cast doubt on his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

There was no blood splatter on Ken, according to a forensic expert hired by the family. A police report filed by Blue Springs Police detectives was altered with white correction fluid, legal documents show. Kathy accidentally shot herself fumbling with the gun inside the couples Blue Springs home, the forensic expert concluded.

Because of ineffective counsel Ken Middleton received during initial criminal proceedings, a Jackson County judge vacated his sentence and ordered a new trial.

Despite this 2005 ruling from former Jackson County Circuit Court judge Edith Messina, it is unconscionable that Middleton was not given the opportunity to prove his innocence in open court before now.

Its taken nearly two decades to get here. And there are no guarantees that Horsman will side with Middletons claims of innocence. But one element of Middletons legal arguments could work in his favor  Middletons constitutional rights were violated during his first trial, according to Gipson.

Horsman will consider evidence that Middletons untainted assets were illegally frozen prior to trial.

Based on evidence presented in Middletons request for a new hearing, there is little to dispute  then assistant prosecutor Patrick W. Peters erred in restricting Middletons access to his assets, Gipson argued in legal filings. In doing so, the state violated constitutional law.

But the family wont break out the bubbly yet.

Im cautiously optimistic, Middletons son, Cliff Middleton, told me recently.

Almost 20 years have passed since Middletons first-degree murder conviction was set aside. Why it has taken almost two decades for the 79-year-old to have his day in court is an indictment of flaws in the legal system that must be noted. Based on the merits of Middletons appeal, a procedural error or legal technicality should not have been the impetus to deny Middleton a new trial.

Back then, the Missouri Attorney Generals office successfully argued Messina  Middletons trial judge and current senior advisor to Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker  did not have jurisdiction to overturn the conviction. The Missouri Court of Appeals agreed and Middleton has sat in prison since without another chance at freedom.

Last summer, Gipson filed the latest legal motion in DeKalb County. Earlier this month, Horsman granted the hearing. Gipson wants a new trial for his client or to have Middletons life sentence vacated.

In legal filings, Gipson makes a compelling argument as to why Middlestons life sentence should be vacated. He cites Luis v. United States, a 2016 U.S. Supreme Court decision that ruled a criminal defendant has the right to counsel of choice. By freezing Middletons legitimate untainted assets prosecutors violated his 6th Amendment right, Gipson argues.

Cliff Middleton was 20 when his father was arrested. He has fought for Kens freedom since. There may be light at the end of the tunnel but Cliff remains understandably cautious about his father getting out of prison. After all, the Middleton family has been down this road before.

When dealing with post-conviction relief in Missouris criminal justice system, there is no such thing as a slam dunk.

For 33 years, Ken has been incarcerated. One appeal after another filed on his behalf has been rejected in state and federal court. Until now.

Of course, attorneys with the Missouri Attorney Generals office will vigorously oppose Middletons claims. In court documents, they question if Luis v U.S. applies retroactively to this case.

Middletons failure to raise the claim in the appropriate first instance renders the claim procedurally defaulted, the AGs office contends.

This summer, I plan to travel to DeKalb County to attend the one-day hearing scheduled for July 24. I want to see with my own eyes the American criminal justice system at work.

But there is no sure way to guarantee Ken Middleton will receive the justice he deserves. And it is un-American that it has taken almost 20 years for him to challenge his conviction in court.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton enters the 185th Criminal District court at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center for a pretrial hearing Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Houston. Credit: Danielle Villasana for The Texas Tribune

HOUSTON  Prosecutors on Tuesday agreed to drop the securities fraud charges facing Attorney General Ken Paxton if he performs 100 hours of community service and fulfills other conditions of a pretrial agreement, bringing an abrupt end to the nearly nine-year-old felony case that has loomed over the embattled Republican since his early days in office.

The deal, which landed three weeks before Paxton is set to face trial, also requires him to take 15 hours of legal ethics courses and pay restitution to those he is accused of defrauding more than a decade ago when he allegedly solicited investors in a McKinney technology company without disclosing that the firm was paying him to promote its stock. The amount of restitution totals about $271,000, prosecutor Brian Wice said.

[Legal experts say its rare to pursue jail time in securities fraud cases like Paxtons]

Paxton, who will not have to enter a plea under the terms of the agreement, faced the prospect of decades in prison if he had been convicted of fraud. His status as a felon, based in part on an opinion he issued himself, would have likely barred him from running for office in the future.

Paxton attorney Dan Cogdell said the prosecutors approached us and Paxton was happy to agree to the terms of the dismissal.

But let me be clear, at no time was he going to enter any plea bargain agreement or admit to conduct that simply did not occur, Cogdell said in a statement. There is no admission of any wrongdoing on Kens part in the agreement because there was no wrongdoing on his part.

The deal is the second major win for Paxton in roughly the last six months, after the Republican-controlled Texas Senate acquitted him last fall of 16 impeachment charges centered on allegations that he accepted bribes and abused the authority of his office to help a wealthy friend and campaign donor.

Still, Paxtons legal troubles arent over. His agency continues to face a lawsuit brought by four former top deputies who argue that Paxton improperly fired them in 2020 for reporting him to the FBI. Those whistleblowers told law enforcement they believed Paxton was using his office to benefit Austin real estate mogul Nate Paul  the charges that formed the basis for Paxtons impeachment last year and that are the subject of an ongoing federal investigation. He has denied all wrongdoing.

The securities fraud case, meanwhile, has been repeatedly delayed by disputes over where the trial should take place and how much the special prosecutors handling the case should be paid. The legal saga dates back to July 2015, when Paxton was indicted on three felony securities fraud charges just months into his first term as the states top lawyer.

Paxton said he and his family are "relieved to finally have a resolution" to a matter that has caused them "ongoing stress" for around a decade.

"There will never be a conviction in this case nor am I guilty," Paxton said in a statement Tuesday, calling the case a "political prosecution."

Two of the charges  first-degree felonies  stemmed from allegations that Paxton persuaded investors, including a then-GOP state lawmaker, to buy at least $100,000 worth of stock in a tech startup, Servergy, without disclosing that he would be compensated for it. Paxton will have 18 months, the length of the pretrial deal period, to pay restitution to the former lawmaker, Byron Cook, and the estate of Joel Hochberg, a Florida businessman who died last year.

Wice said he is not necessarily opposed" to dropping the charges before the 18 months are up if Paxton makes the payments sooner. He said Paxton cannot use campaign funds to pay restitution.

Paxton was also accused of steering clients to a friends investment advising business without registering with the state securities board, a third-degree felony.

He has maintained his innocence and framed the case as a politically motivated witch hunt.

This case has been pending longer than The Beatles were together. Literally. It's been nine years and today marks the end of what in our opinion should have happened a long time ago, Cogdell told reporters.

The terms were revealed at a brief hearing Tuesday morning before Harris County state District Judge Andrea Beall. Paxton, who attended the proceedings, betrayed little emotion and spoke only to be sworn in and confirm that he agreed to the deal.

Wice said he had been besieged by a torrent of phone calls from people who have expressed their monumental displeasure with the fact that these cases are being resolved with a pretrial intervention. Touting the restitution Paxton now owes to his alleged victims, Wice said it was more important to secure justice for them than to pursue prison time for Paxton, which he said should only be a priority if the defendant poses a threat to public safety.

I appreciate your concern, Wice said of those criticizing the outcome. With all due respect, your truth is not the truth. You know one half of 1 percent of what [fellow prosecutor] Mr. [Jed] Silverman and I know about the facts of these cases. And the fact that all of these people have registered their monumental displeasure with what happened in these cases, I submit, probably should have been directed at the ballot box.

Paxton will perform community service in Collin County, where he resides, with an "entity or organization" agreed upon by both sides, Wice said  likely a "food pantry or soup kitchen."

He will also be required to check in with prosecutors every 60 days to ensure he is fulfilling the terms of the deal. The case could still resume and head to trial if Paxton fails to comply.

The fraud case began moving toward trial in November when Beall declined to continue holding it up over a dispute about back pay owed to the special prosecutors.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals also declined to take up the pay issue, and Beall rejected Paxtons attempt to toss the case last month, seeming to set the stage for an April 15 trial.

Wice said the case included a perfect storm of everything that could have derailed and delayed the prosecution. He slammed the judges who previously oversaw the case before Beall took it over, accusing them of failing to issue timely rulings on basic motions.

The outcome marks the latest example of Paxton emerging from scandal virtually unscathed, a trend that has baffled and enraged his critics and reinforced his status as a hero of the party's most conservative flank in Texas and beyond. He has deflected scandal repeatedly, twice winning reelection while under indictment for securities fraud and, in the most recent election, after being accused of corruption by former top deputies.

The pretrial agreement also means that Paxton will again avoid facing questions under oath. He did not testify at his impeachment trial after Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick  who presided over the case in a role akin to that of a judge  ruled that Paxton could not be forced to do so. He was also spared from being deposed in the ongoing whistleblower lawsuit earlier this year when the Texas Supreme Court blocked depositions for Paxton and three top aides days before they were scheduled to begin.

Wice noted, however, that Paxton could have invoked his right under the Fifth Amendment to avoid testifying even if the securities fraud case had proceeded to trial.

Paxton, who spent a largely uneventful decade in the state House, rose to political prominence based in part on his reputation as a stalwart backer of religious liberty who would use the attorney general's office to wage major legal battles on issues like abortion and LGBTQ rights. He has frequently sued the Biden administration on an array of policies, most notably around immigration. He also tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election in four key battleground states won by President Joe Biden, an unsuccessful bid that nonetheless cemented Paxton's political alliance with former President Donald Trump. That effort prompted the Texas State Bar to sue Paxton for professional misconduct, in a case that is still ongoing.

Trump has repeatedly come to Paxton's defense and encouraged his legions of followers to target those who have opposed Paxton, including House GOP lawmakers who voted to impeach the attorney general.

The result clears a major hurdle for Paxton's political future. He is widely seen as a likely candidate for higher statewide office and has pointedly refused to rule out the possibility of challenging U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in the 2026 Republican primary.

We cant wait to welcome you to downtown Austin Sept. 5-7 for the 2024 Texas Tribune Festival! Join us at Texas breakout politics and policy event as we dig into the 2024 elections, state and national politics, the state of democracy, and so much more. When tickets go on sale this spring, Tribune members will save big. Donate to join or renew today.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton reached a deal with prosecutors on Tuesday that will bring an end to a nearly decade-long legal battle over allegations of securities fraud.

Paxton agreed to pay $271,000 in restitution to his alleged victims within 18 months, according to prosecutor Brian Wice. He must also complete 100 hours of community service and attend legal education classes.

The deal, which comes two weeks before Paxtons trial was expected to start, was instigated by state prosecutors, according to Paxtons attorney, Dan Cogdell.

Cogdell told The Daily Beast that a pre-trial diversion was first raised five years ago and dismissed for a variety of reasons. Six weeks ago when it was raised again, Wice adamantly opposed the deal, Cogdell said. About three weeks later, after prosecutors Wice and Jed Silverman had interviewed a number of witnesses they came to the conclusion that they did not have a case they could prove beyond a reasonable doubt, and began pushing for a deal, he said.

He is more than happy to comply with that agreement, Cogdell told reporters on Tuesday morning. At the end of the day it is not a plea bargain. He did not plea. There is no admission of guilt, there will never be an admission of guilt, because he is not guilty.

Cogdell said he doesnt know why state prosecutors went for a deal, but insisted that the case against Paxton was weak from the beginning. Ken Paxton would never have been prosecuted in this case, but for him being the Attorney General, Cogdell said.

Within a year of being sworn into office in 2015, Paxton was indicted on three felony security fraud charges over claims that he worked to secure investors for a server company called Servergy, without clarifying that he was on the companys payroll. The ensuing legal battle stretched nearly nine years.

Cogdell said that Paxton was relieved to have this behind him.

Cogdell told The Daily Beast that Paxton would have preferred to have been found innocent in court, but had taken the deal for one simple reason: it was cheaper.

He was going to have to pay me and the rest of his team a lot more than $300,000 to try this, he said. I may not be the worlds greatest lawyer, but Im damn sure not the cheapest one either.

Since first posting bond on the charges, Paxton has been re-elected twice. Wice said that any displeasure in the outcome of the case, probably should have been directed at the ballot box.

In February, Harris County state District Judge Andrea Beall rejected an attempt from Paxton to have the case tossed out.

Also last month, a separate state investigation into Paxton was taken over by the Justice Departments Public Integrity Section. He first came under scrutiny from the FBI after his top allies accused him of bribery and abuse of his office.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Southeastern says lines have now reopened after failure of the electricity supply at Sole Street

Rail lines between Kent and London have reopened following delays and cancellations caused by power failure.

Southeastern said services from the Medway Towns to London via Sole Street were unable to run from 07.45GMT but repairs had been made just before 13.00.

In its latest update, it said some disruption is still expected until 15:30 with services on some routes facing delay or being revised or cancelled.

It said: "Lines have reopened following failure of the electricity supply at Sole Street."

The power failure impacted rush-hour commuter services from Kent into the capital.

As well as the London-bound line, the line towards Gillingham and Faversham also had to close to enable repairs to be carried out by Network Rail.

Passengers were being advised to use Southeastern's High Speed services, at no extra cost, to reach London and use the London Underground between London Terminals to reach their final destination.

Tickets continue to be accepted on the DLR, the Elizabeth Line between Woolwich and Stratford and the 190 bus service between Chatham and Gravesend.

Replacement bus services were in operation between Rochester and Swanley, calling at Sole Street, Meopham, Longfield and Farningham Road.

Anyone who is delayed by 15 minutes or more is eligible for compensation.

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A Kentucky doctor accused of drinking alcohol while on duty faces a complaint by a state oversight board.

The Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure filed the complaint against Dr. Peter B. Hardin, 58, on March 21.

The board issued an emergency suspension of Hardins license in February after a committee at Taylor Regional Hospital in Campbellsville concluded Hardin had endangered patients by providing services while impaired and tried to intimidate a staffer who knew about the problem.

Hardins specialty is radiation oncology.

According to the complaint, Hardin was charged with drunken driving in Adair County in November and in Metcalfe County in January.

His blood-alcohol level in both cases allegedly was far above the .08 % at which drivers in Kentucky are presumed to be drunk. It was .336 % after he was arrested in Columbia, for instance, according to the board complaint.

A medical physicist at Taylor Regional Hospital told the board that on Jan. 4, Hardins speech was slurred while he was at the hospital and he had trouble walking and using computer software he regularly used.

The physicist said he knew Hardin has diabetes and thought his erratic behavior might be caused by an unsafe glucose level. However, the physicist heard someone else ask Hardin about his blood sugar and he said it had been checked and was OK, according to the complaint.

Another staffer told Hardin everyone knew he was drunk, but he denied that, according to the complaint.

Hardin saw several patients that day, including one starting radiation treatment.

The physicist said when he was about to leave work at 1:30 p.m., he stopped by Hardins office.

Hardin was slouched over in his chair with his eyes closed. When the physicist spoke to him, Hardin raised his head slightly but didnt respond or open his eyes.

The therapist later told the physicist she had found four water bottles with alcohol in them in Hardins office since his November DUI arrest.

The physicist said he smelled one bottle and it smelled like vodka, according to the complaint.

A committee at the hospital held a hearing on the issue. One piece of evidence was a video showing Hardin going to his car one day at 2 p.m. to take a drink of something.

Hardin told the committee hed had two knee surgeries in 2023, and rather than taking pain pills, he felt using alcohol in combination with over-the-counter pain pills would be less addictive, according to the complaint.

Hardin said the appearance of him being drowsy, which several hospital employees had reported, was a result of having trouble sleeping, not being impaired by alcohol, and that other symptoms may have resulted from a problem with his blood sugar.

The hospital committee recommended suspending Hardins privileges at the hospital, however.

Hardins attorney, Brian R. Good, declined comment on behalf of Hardin.
The Francis Scott Key Bridge outside Baltimore early Tuesday. Photo from StreamTimeLIve via YouTube.

BALTIMORE Rescue crews continue to search the waters around the site of the Francis Scott Key Bridge following a ship strike that caused the span over the Patapsco River to collapse.

Officials believe multiple people were on the bridge when it was struck by a large container ship just after 1:30 a.m.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott described the scene as something out of a movie.

This is a tragedy that you could never imagine, Scott said during a morning news conference. Never would you think that you would see, physically see, the Key Bridge tumble down like that. It looked like something out of an action movie.

The strike caused most of the bridge to collapse into the Patapsco River.

Baltimore City Fire Department Chief James Wallace told reporters that at least two people were rescued from the chilly waters that lead to the port.

One individual refused treatment. A second was transported to a local trauma center and is in very serious condition.

We are still very much in an active search and rescue posture at this point, Wallace said. We will continue to be for some time. We have a large area that we have to search. This includes the surface of the water, subsurface, as well as the deck of the ship itself.

Wallace said rescue crews may be looking for upwards of seven people but stressed that information could change.

Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, who traveled to Boston Monday night for an event Tuesday, has returned to the state. He is expected to speak to reporters at a news conference scheduled for 9:30 a.m., eastern.

The governor has already declared a state of emergency and in a statement said state officials are working with an interagency team to quickly deploy federal resources from the Biden Administration.

U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said he offered federal support to Baltimore authorities.

Due to the collapse, all traffic is rerouted north to the Harbor and Fort McHenry Tunnels.

The bridge, along Interstate 695 in Baltimore County, opened on March 23, 1977.

Reports came in around 1:40 a.m. Tuesday that a large vessel crashed into a column in the central part of the bridge, catching on fire before causing multiple vehicles to fall into the Patapsco River below.

At least seven vehicles, including at least one tractor-trailer-sized vehicle, fell into the water, Baltimore City Fire spokesperson Kevin Cartwright told WTOP. Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld said during a news conference shortly after 7 a.m. that road workers were also on the bridge at the time of the collision.

Rescuers were searching for at least seven people in the water.

Petty officer Matthew West from the Coast Guard in Baltimore told WTOP that a container ship flying under a Singapore flag crashed into the bridge. The vessel, called Dali, was headed through Baltimore to Colombo, Sri Lanka, as its final destination, according to Marine Traffic and Vessel Finder maps and data.

Moore declared a state of emergency overnight, and said that his office is working with the Biden administration to quickly deploy federal resources.

We are thankful for the brave men and women who are carrying out efforts to rescue those involved and pray for everyones safety, Moore said in a statement released at 5:45 a.m.

State Sen. Johnny Ray Salling, R-Baltimore, whose district includes the area around the bridge, said in a statement he was devastated by the disaster.

Having worked in that area most of my life, I understand the bridges vital role for Baltimores Port and commuters, he said. Losing this bridge will devastate the entire area, as well as the entire East Coast. We depend on the Port of Baltimore for transportation, travel, and commerce.

This breaking news story will be updated.

Maryland Matters news partner WTOP contributed to this report.

The post Key Bridge collapses after container ship slams into it, motorists missing appeared first on Daily Montanan.
The author and her daughter, Liza, celebrating being together. Courtesy of Jennifer Cramer-Miller

I slide closer to Liza, my only daughter, sitting on the cream chenille sofa as she explains she wants to donate her kidney to me. The knot in my gut tightens. My maternal instincts rise like an emotional geyser.

Its cozy in the house, but a cold January sky tops snowy evergreens beyond the window. Liza lives in Philadelphia, but she can work anywhere remotely, so she has come home to Minnesota for an extended holiday visit.

Her words melt me, and I clasp one of her hands with both of mine.

She wants to protect me and make everything OK. But isnt this my job? My innate instinct to protect her from harm was instantaneous from the moment she was born 25 years ago.

Even during my pregnancy, a fierce parental protection circulated through me, and it hasnt dissipated. Id still move a mountain for her, so my mama-bear nature doesnt know how to process this.

Let me explain.

Decades ago, when all my friends were reading What to Expect When Youre Expecting, I longed to buy that book too. But unlike all my friends, Id had two kidney transplants within six years because, out of the blue, at 22, an autoimmune kidney disease forced me to process the word incurable. I feared my body wouldnt be a friendly hotel for a developing life.

Thats why, the moment a blue cross appeared on a white stick, I believed in miracles.

My high-risk pregnancy breezed by until 28 weeks. Then, complications triggered concerns about premature delivery.

My nurse relayed the potential health effects that can result from prematurity. A colossal panic bombarded me from head to toe. To fend off my terror, I focused on one thought only: My baby must be OK.

And how could I possibly deliver a baby early? I hadnt taken classes yet! My doctor assured me women have birthed babies in fields long before classes were a thing. Shed said Id receive on-the-job training and learn by pushing through it.

With a medical team standing by, little Liza  a smidge over four pounds  made her entrance at 33 weeks.

For five weeks afterward, I rushed to the neonatal intensive care unit every morning to watch her grow under incubator lights. Her miniature fingers gripped tightly to mine, and that protective surge permeated me. I recited these words over and over: Shes strong. Shes a mighty miracle. Well be okay.

Liza dancing with the family's dog, Penny. Courtesy of Jennifer Cramer-Miller

So now, as Liza rests her adult-sized hand on mine and offers her kidney, my feelings are a tangled mess.

I really want to do this, Mom, she says. Her brown eyes lock with mine, and I see so much goodness shining towards me.

Over the years, Ive stressed the importance of kindness. Maybe shes taken that lesson too far. Now Im voicing sarcastic quips in my head to shield myself from the gravity of my emotions.

Ill be devastated if I dont try and see if Im a match, she continues. I want to get swallowed by the couch cushions and disappear, but instead, I hug her hard.

We decide not to decide. Its not up to us, anyway. Well take it one step at a time. So, Liza calls the Mayo Clinic Transplant Center to set up an initial phone interview.

A few days later, fueling herself for the phone call, Liza snags a lemon Luna bar from the pantry and blasts the Rocky theme song throughout the kitchen. Punching the air with energetic vigor, I watch her psych herself up for success.

I join in and gesture slow motion arm raising like Rockys victorious ascent up the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps. Da na na na, da na na na. Liza scoops up our pup and twirls, and I love how we can infuse silly joy into serious matters. This moment reminds me that whatever happens, well make the best of our time together.

Her phone call is minutes away. I squeeze her hand. Its the same hand that gripped mine from her incubator. Grown up. But still holding on.

I remember how those fingers had gripped her sage chenille blanket at toddler tuck-in time. Half of her sweet face had peaked out above the blankets satin edge when shed told me I was like her garbage man. After flashing a quizzical look, shed said, Because when I tell you scary thoughts, you take them away.

Arent parents hard-wired to do this  haul away our kids garbage and make everything OK?

As her mom, Id promised to protect her from hurts and hardships. How can I accept her kidney donation?

Through previous experience and as the local board chair of the National Kidney Foundation, I know the research on the safety of living donation. But everything looks different through a maternal lens. My head spins with concerns about risks and results, so I revert to self-talk. Dont get ahead of yourself. One step at a time.

The author and Liza raising funds for the National Kidney Foundation's Kidney Walk. Courtesy of Jennifer Cramer-Miller

After the initial phone call, Liza returns to Philadelphia. The next step: further testing at the transplant clinic.

Winter retreats and springs hopeful light brightens the sky. Late on a May Tuesday afternoon, Liza, my husband, Dirk, and I drive 90 minutes south to Rochesters Mayo Clinic. Elton Johns Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters plays on the car radio, and select lyrics etch into my head.

And I thank the Lord theres people out there like you. I thank the Lord theres people out there like you.

We check into adjoining rooms at the Marriott hotel that connect to the medical facility. Wednesday morning, piercing alarms jar us awake at 5:15 a.m. After speedy showers, we hightail it to the nearby lab to check in for Lizas 6 a.m. lab appointment.

The line moves efficiently while generic sounding saxophone music plays overhead. We hear the woman ahead of us check in, and oddly enough, her name is also Liza Miller. Our eyebrows raise in disbelief. How random. Then we joke about a colossal mix-up where I receive another Liza Millers kidney by accident.

My Liza Miller checks in, and we wait in burgundy vinyl chairs. A cheerful lab technician calls out in a vigorous voice, Liza Miller.

Which one?

Our turn. We follow behind a young woman with burgundy scrubs and a high swinging ponytail. She leads us into a small room.

Liza sits and extends her left arm so the technician can fasten an orange tourniquet above her elbow. My heart constricts, mirroring the tourniquets squeeze, and I see 18 empty tubes with multi-colored rubber tops.

Ive had my blood drawn umpteen times, but its distressing to watch my daughter go through this. She gently closes her eyes as the glass tubes fill. Knots of anxiety take residence in my shoulders. I focus on her bravery and inhale a deep breath. What are we doing here?

One step at a time.

Next, a blue blood pressure cuff with a reddish tube becomes her new accessory for 24 hours. We note how it coordinates with her brick red and blue checked shirt, and cheer for small victories. The cuff tightens and murmurs every 20 minutes to record her blood pressure.

The appointment locations are scattered throughout the campus, so we accumulate many steps getting from one to the next. Walking past the gift shop, I spot a T-shirt in the window that says, No One Fights Alone.

Eltons song still loops in my head: I thank the Lord for the people I have found. My throat tightens, and I try to swallow the burgeoning lump that is lodged there.

The day concludes with a social worker appointment. Dirk and I wait in an area filled with other people hanging onto hope as they navigate appointment after appointment. Liza appears and joins us. She says the social worker asked her to rate her donation interest on a scale of 1 to 100. Smiling broadly, she told us her answer: 150%.

That night, Dirk falls asleep instantly. Liza and I plop face to face in her bed in the adjoining room, head on pillows, processing the day with words. How many times have we hashed things out like this in her bedroom or mine? Now at a hotel adjacent to the Mayo Clinic.

We agree, this day feels enormous. So, we recap that were just trying to learn if she is a match. Thats all. No decisions now.

The author and Liza leaving the Mayo Clinic after Liza's donor testing was completed. Courtesy of Jennifer Cramer-Miller

Liza asks me to stay until shes asleep. Gladly. I flip the pages of a book by her side and listen to her blood pressure cuff hum every 20 minutes. How many times have I snuggled by her side when she was little, waiting for her safe passage into slumber?

By Thursday at noon, Lizas last scheduled appointment is complete. But we learn there is another test she needs to complete at home in Philadelphia. She bristles with frustration, and we leave without answers.

At home, the intensity of the past two days hits. Im weepy, overcome by love, guilt, gratitude and the enormity of our meshed lives.

On Sunday morning, Liza packs her bag upstairs. In the kitchen with misty eyes, I ask Alexa to play Adele while I make sweet potato pancakes. Flying down the stairs, laughing as tears glisten her eyes, Liza stops the music and exclaims, Mom! What are you doing? For Gods sakes, no Adele allowed!

Together, we laugh. She hands me a card and goes back upstairs to resume her packing. I open it and Adeles emotional power is no match for the handwriting I know so well. Inside, she wrote, 150%.

As we head to the airport for her flight back to Philadelphia, Liza says, I know this feels big to you, Mom. But of course, I want to do this. Because its us.

The additional testing took months to schedule. But in mid-July, Liza calls. Her voice sounds both shaky and ebullient. Mom. I just got approved to give you your next kidney. I fold over and gulp hits of air; my voice wails a sound Ive never made before.

Were a direct match, she beams.

A direct match? I eke, struggling to comprehend if this news is real. But Lizas voice spreads over me like warm honey.

I knew we would be, Mom. Weve always been so compatible.

Even though I cant reach through the phone to interlock our fingers, I feel our indelible grip tighten. My daughter is determined to safeguard me. She wants to take away my garbage. Its disorienting, this reversal of protection.

But I realize looking after each other hasnt reversed, it has become mutual. And circular.

Maybe, if I accept her benevolent gift to protect me, in a way, I am protecting her. Her future. Our future. So we can stay together longer.

I wish Lizas beautiful benevolence could wrap this story up with a shiny bow, but thats not real. Love cant wipe away the anxiety that weaves into the consideration of two surgeries. Uncertainty remains, and no garbage man can haul it all away.

Now, my doctors continually monitor my health. Eventually, my declining kidney function wont sustain my life. When that happens, well pull out my old playbook: receive on-the-job training and learn by pushing through it.

One step at a time.

And just like I did as a younger parent when Id held Lizas burrito-bundled body decades ago, Ill recite the same words again: Shes strong. Shes a mighty miracle. And well be OK.

Jennifer Cramer-Miller is an author and speaker, focusing on stories of hope. Jennifers new memoir, Incurable Optimist: Living with Illness and Chronic Hope (She Writes Press) is available now. Jennifer serves as the 2023-2026 Board Chair for the Minnesota National Kidney Foundation (NKF), an NKF PEER Mentor, and a Donate Life ambassador. Youll find her essays featured in Zibby Mag, Brevity Blog, The Sunlight Press, Grown & Flown, The Erma Bombeck Blog, Star Tribune, Minnesota Physician, Mamalode, and Medium. To learn more, visit her at jennifercramermiller.com.

Do you have a compelling personal story youd like to see published on HuffPost? Find out what were looking for here and send us a pitch at pitch@huffpost.com.

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Rochester Elks donate $3,000 to Share Fund

From left to right, Norm Gervais, Rochester Elks secretary, past exalted ruler; Jerry Rainville, chairman of the Share Fund board; Skip Smith, executive director of the Share Fund and Peter Ducharme, exalted ruler.

ROCHESTER  Rochester Elks Lodge No. 1393's Peter Ducharme, exalted ruler and Norm Gervais, lodge secretary and Lodge Elks National Foundation Chair, presented the Rochester Share Fund with a check for $3,000 on Sunday, Feb. 25. This donation was made possible by a Beacon Grant obtained from the Elks National Foundation. Accepting the donation was Share Fund Executive Director Don Skip Smith and Jerry Rainville, chairman of the Board of Directors.

The SHARE Fund reaches out to neighbors in our community who are in need of help during difficult times, provides innovative program services to guide families on a path to self-sufficiency, and refers them to other agencies and resources when eligible, thus maximizing aid.

They serve neighbors from Wakefield to Farmington, Rochester to Somersworth, all with care and support to be a hand up and not just a hand out in times of need. The SHARE Fund provides assistance with clothing, diapers, and food for those in need.

The economy has made the past year more difficult on their clients, particularly with housing expenses. Between Jan. 1 and Dec. 15, housing related assistance increased 250% over the previous year. The pantry delivered 8,359 baskets of food, serving over 700 families. Price of goods generally increased last year, particularly for dairy and eggs.

In the past many of the clients used the pantry only occasionally, but recently they have seen a marked increase of clients who now visit twice a month. The diaper bank has distributed over 29,000 diapers and the clothing store has seen a 13% increase in free clothing distribution.

For more info about the Share Fund and the Elks, visit: sharefund.org/programsandservices and elks.org.

Join Haven at the 13th annual Kids Are Our Business Breakfast

Haven is hosting two Kids Are Our Business Breakfast events in April 2024.

PORTSMOUTH  Haven invites all community members to attend one of two Kids Are Our Business Breakfasts. In honor of Haven's 45th anniversary, there will be celebrations in both Rockingham and Strafford counties. The events are April 5 at The Oaks Country Club in Somersworth and April 12 at Wentworth By The Sea Country Club in Rye. Registration will begin at 7:45 a.m., followed by breakfast, networking, and a presentation at 8:30 a.m. The events shine a light on Haven's prevention education programs, offered at schools throughout southeastern New Hampshire.

Haven is also excited to update guests on the success of the Camp HOPE and Pathways Mentoring program. In 2021, Haven partnered with Camp HOPE America, the first evidence-based camping and mentoring program to focus on youth impacted by domestic violence, sexual assault, and trauma. The program fosters resilience, optimism, and hope in youth and helps to break the generational cycle of abuse so kids can enjoy bright, healthy futures.

Information: havennh.org/kids-are-our-business-breakfast.

If you have questions or would like to learn more about sponsoring this or other Haven events, contact Katelyn Souphakhot, development and marketing manager at (603) 766-4358 or development@havennh.org.

St. Johns Episcopal Church Portsmouth announces Holy Week and Easter schedule

PORTSMOUTH  St. Johns Episcopal Church, an historic church in the heart of downtown Portsmouth, announced it offering Holy Week worship, relevant and passionate preaching and world class music leading up to Easter Sunday.

Through storytelling, music, and tradition the church will celebrate Christs resurrection at Easter. Seekers, worshipers and tourists alike are invited, the church stated.

Full schedule and details: www.stjohnsnh.org/holy-week-easter-2024

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Kids Are Our Business Breakfast, Holy Week & Easter: Community news update
TOKYO, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Land prices in Japan in 2023 rose 2.3 percent, marking the third straight annual rise, data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport showed on Tuesday.

In a survey of about 26,000 locations nationwide as of Jan. 1, 2024, the growth in average valuation was higher than the 1.6-percent increase seen in the previous year and returning to pre-pandemic levels, according to the ministry.

The ministry said that prices for residential-use land grew 2 percent, while commercial-use land prices rose by 3.1 percent.

Residential land prices in the three largest metropolitan areas of Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya grew 2.8 percent, while prices rose 7.0 percent in the four big regional cities of Sapporo, Sendai, Hiroshima and Fukuoka.

In regional areas excluding the four major regional cities, prices climbed for 41 percent of them, driven by demand for good-access housing, a recovery in demand for stores, and expanding inflow of foreign visitors, the data showed.

Meanwhile, the ministry noted that due to a shrinking and aging population, prices dropped in 40 percent of the surveyed areas. 
Immigrant children as young as 14 were found working illegally amid dangerous heavy equipment at a Tennessee firm that makes parts for lawn mowers sold by John Deere and other companies, according to Labor Department officials.

The company, Tuff Torq, was fined nearly $300,000 for hiring 10 children. As part of a consent agreement with the federal government, the company is also required to set aside $1.5 million to help the children who were illegally employed. Ryan Pott, general counsel for Tuff Torqs majority owner, the Japanese firm Yanmar, acknowledged the violations to NBC News.

The department will not tolerate companies profiting on the backs of children employed unlawfully in dangerous occupations, said Seema Nanda, the departments chief legal officer, whose office obtained the consent judgment against Tuff Torq. Tuff Torq has agreed to disgorge profits, which will go to the benefit of the children. This sends a clear message: putting children in harms way in the workplace is not only illegal, but also comes with significant financial consequences.

Tuff Torq Corporation (Google)

The Labor Department did not specify what work the children were doing. But Labor official Juan Coria said what his investigative team found in Tuff Torqs very busy Morristown manufacturing plant was astonishing.

Coria, southeast regional administrator for the Labor Departments Wage and Hour Division, described an environment that he says caused anxiety among his investigators who witnessed children as young as 14 working late at night at the 24-hour manufacturing facility amid power-driven equipment that was being moved around the plant.

Pott, the general counsel for Tuff Torqs majority owner, said the child workers were temporary and were not hired directly by Tuff Torq. He said they used fake names and false credentials to obtain jobs through a temporary staffing agency, and said Tuff Torq is transitioning away from doing business with the staffing company.

Tuff Torq is dedicated to ensuring that their products and services are produced under ethical conditions, with a strong emphasis on fair labor practices, and Tuff Torq is further strengthening our relevant training and compliance programs, said Pott. We are also actively engaging with our suppliers to reinforce our expectations regarding ethical labor practices and collaborate with them on implementing our updated policies.

According to the Labor Department, within 30 days Tuff Torq must also hang signs at every entrance to the plant that say, Stop! You must be at least 18 years of age to enter and work in this building.

Nanda said through such agreements the agency is sending a message to the company and its whole community of suppliers and contractors. They will look at their supply chain meaning their contractors, their staffing agencies, and make sure that they are doing these things as well.

John Deere did not respond to a request for comment.

Labor officials say their investigation into the company began almost a year ago, in spring 2023, and investigators visited the facility multiple times. Officials declined to say what sparked the investigation.

The Labor Department has prioritized child labor enforcement since last spring amid a 152% increase in children found to be illegally employed since 2018, according to department figures.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Gov. Kim Reynolds' nominee to lead Iowa's education department faced questions Tuesday from advocates and a Democratic senator about her qualifications.

Nine months after being appointed, McKenzie Snow will go through Senate confirmation to hold the role of director permanently. Several advocates and members of the public voiced their opposition Tuesday, while state education leaders and Senate Republicans endorsed Snow's confirmation at a subcommittee hearing.

"When I was nominated by Gov. Reynolds to this position, I knew the department was facing challenges," Snow said. "It was an agency reorienting its work after a global pandemic, navigating multiple leadership transitions across all levels of the department."

Iowa Director of Education McKenzie Snow (left) speaks to senators during a subcommittee on her confirmation process at the Iowa State Capitol on March 26, 2024.

Snow, who was hired last June, stepped into the role as Iowa's third education director within a year. She succeeded Chad Aldis, who suddenly resigned four months after replacing Ann Lebo for "family reasons."

She has taken the reins during a critical year for education policymaking in Iowa, overseeing the rollout of the state's new education savings account program and the implementation of a 2023 law taking books off shelves and restricting LGBTQ-related instruction.

And in the last few months, Republican lawmakers have outlined plans to restructure the state's Area Education Agencies that would grant her and the department increased authority over special education and other services across the state.

More: Iowa House votes on new AEA overhaul bill as Senate waits. What's in the new proposal:

Reynolds affirmed her support for Snow in a statement Tuesday after the hearing.

"McKenzie Snows experience and expertise as an education leader at the state level, U.S. Department of Education, and the White House has prepared her well to lead Iowas Department of Education," Reynolds said. "The work she is already leading with superintendents, teachers, families and stakeholders across the state to transform education will have a lifelong impact on our students.

"These are the reasons I appointed her as director of the Department of Education, and I look forward to her confirmation and her continued exemplary service to Iowas students and schools."

Critics say Snow's lack of classroom, administrative experience is disqualifying

Advocates who called for senators to oppose Snow's confirmation said her lack of experience in the classroom or in an administrative role disqualified her from holding Iowa's top education job.

Jessica Roman, who's been an Iowa educator for 20-plus years, said Snow would be unable with her qualifications to hold many jobs within Iowa districts.

"Someone with her level of education and years of experience would make around $55,000 a year at one of Iowa's larger public school districts or an AEA," Roman said.

Snow has previously worked at state education departments in Virginia and New Hampshire, as well as for a think tank founded by Republican Jeb Bush.

She worked in the U.S. Department of Education under the Trump administration, spearheading a program that would have created tax credits for those who donate to organizations providing private school scholarships.

From June 2023: Iowa Department of Education director resigns. What we know about his replacement:

She holds a bachelor's degree in political science and no advanced degrees, and said she had taught at the University of the Free State in South Africa. Snow declined to directly answer questions about her qualifications from Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, deferring to her previous experience and policy writing experience.

"I think our teachers, our parents, our students in public education need to have a greater degree of confidence in the experience of our leaders in the Department of Education," Quirmbach said.

Heather Sievers, founder of Advocates for Iowa's Children and a Democrat running for the House, expressed concern that potential changes to AEAs would mean Snow overseeing special education policy.

"She does not have experience in special education," Sievers said. "She's going to have oversight of IEPs, curriculum. She's going to try to be in charge of closing achievement gaps. She doesn't have experience or a track record of success in doing that in other roles."

Snow backed by DMPS superintendent, state education leaders

Reynolds' office reiterated their support for Snow on Tuesday, as the governor's appointee earned praise and backing from the Des Moines superintendent, president of the state board of education and several other education leaders.

Taryn Frideres, Reynolds' chief of staff, said of the three education directors she's worked with, "neither rose to the level of Director Snow." She praised Snow as "the CEO that Iowa's Department of Education needs," and said she was being judged by different criteria than past appointees to the position.

"Some members of this chamber are unfairly holding her to a different standard," Frideres said.

Gov. Kim Reynolds appointed McKenzie Snow to serve as the director of the Iowa Department of Education

Snow, during questioning about her qualifications, noted that Aldis, the previous director who was confirmed by the Senate, "had not served in the classroom and did not have experience in executive leadership and state agency leadership."

The superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools, Ian Roberts, praised Snow's visits to DMPS schools and said she "anchored her discussions and conversations in data that is credible and reliable."

"I believe that the state of Iowa is in great hands by Director Snow leading and being at the helm of our education policies," Roberts said.

The two Republicans on the subcommittee, Sens. Ken Rozenboom, R-Oskaloosa, and Jeff Taylor, R-Sioux Center, said they would support Snow's confirmation.

It remains to be seen how Senate Democrats will approach Snow's confirmation; Senate Minority Leader Pam Jochum told the Des Moines Register that as of Tuesday morning the caucus had not yet had conversations about the process.

Galen Bacharier covers politics for the Register. Reach him at gbacharier@registermedia.com or (573) 219-7440, and follow him on Twitter @galenbacharier.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: McKenzie Snow faces confirmation as education department head
King Charles III attends the Christmas Day service at St Mary Magdalene Church on 25 December 2023 in Sandringham, Norfolk

The King and Queen will attend the Easter Sunday service at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace has confirmed.

This will be one of the most significant events King Charles will have attended since his cancer diagnosis last month.

The King and Queen will be joined at the service by other senior royals.

But the Prince and Princess of Wales will not be there, as Catherine continues with her cancer treatment.

The announcement that the King, aged 75, will be at the Easter morning church service will be seen as an encouraging sign about his health.

The Princess of Wales and her family will not be at the Windsor church service on Easter Sunday

He has continued to carry out meetings and kept up his work as head of state. But hhe has not been at public events this year, after having treatment for an enlarged prostate and later revealing that he had been diagnosed with a form of cancer.

The King will be with Queen Camilla, who has been carrying a number of solo royal engagements in her husband's absence.

The Princess of Wales, who put out a video statement last week about being treated for cancer, is continuing her recovery. It had already been announced that she would not be at the Easter service at the church on the Windsor estate.

Her husband Prince William and their three children will also not be at St George's Chapel on Sunday.

There have been calls for her privacy and she will be spending more time out of public sight as she receives treatment.

The Easter church service is a regular feature of the royal calendar, usually attended by many senior royals, but this year it is expected to be a smaller gathering.

King Charles met faith representatives in Buckingham Palace

In the run-up to Easter, on Tuesday King Charles hosted a gathering of faith leaders in Buckingham Palace.

The meeting was in support of a charity that brings together representatives of religious faiths, including Christian, Muslim and Jewish leaders.

Building bridges between religions and encouraging tolerance has been a longstanding cause for King Charles.
King Charles III is supporting his daughter-in-law, Catherine, Princess of Wales, after she revealed she is undergoing treatment for cancer.

According to a statement shared by a Buckingham Palace spokesperson, the British monarch is so proud of Catherine for her courage in speaking as she did.

The palace also said the king remained in the closest contact with his beloved daughter-in-law throughout the past weeks.

On March 22, the former Kate Middleton shared in a video message that she is undergoing preventative chemotherapy for an unspecified form of cancer.

Charles was also recently diagnosed with cancer. Buckingham Palace announced the monarch had been diagnosed with a form of cancer in February, leading the king to step back from public duties while he undergoes treatment.

The king and the princess had lunch together before she recorded the video announcement about her diagnosis, a source at Kensington Palace told NBC News.

This isnt the first time Charles and Kate have shared their support for each other. Read on to learn more about their sweet connection over the years.

Kate called her future father-in-law 'very friendly'

Kate opened up about meeting the king (who then held the title of Prince of Wales) in her official engagement interview with Prince William in November 2010.

I was quite nervous about meeting Williams father, but no, he was very, very welcoming, very friendly, so it couldnt have gone easier, really, for me, she said in the ITV News interview.

Charles also shared his blessing for his eldest son and his bride-to-be.

The Prince of Wales is delighted to announce the engagement of Prince William to Miss Catherine Middleton, read a statement from Clarence House.

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (John Stillwell / Getty Images)

Charles and Kates easy rapport was on display from early on

After her wedding to William in April 2011, Kate stepped right into royal duties, and it appears she was trusted early on by Charles and other members of the royal family.

In October of that year, Charles asked Kate to host a charity dinner on his behalf at Clarence House, according to WWD. He asked his daughter-in-law to step in for him after he was called away at the last minute to offer condolences following the death of the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.

In 2012, Kate and Charles made a rare joint official appearance as they visited The Princes Foundation for Children and The Arts in London, England.

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (Chris Jackson / Getty Images)

They were all smiles as they created artwork with children at the event.

And in 2015, Kate and her father-in-law shared what looked like another warm, smiling moment at the Commonwealth Day Service in Westminster Abbey in London.

At another point during the service, Kate was spotted greeting Charles with a peck on the cheek.

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (John Stillwell / Getty Images)

Charles has warmly supported Kate and Williams family milestones

After Kate gave birth to her first child, Prince George, in 2013, her father-in-law shared his excitement about becoming a grandfather for the first time.

Grandparenthood is a unique moment in anyones life, as countless kind people have told me in recent months, he said in a statement in July 2013. I am enormously proud and happy to be a grandfather for the first time and we are eagerly looking forward to seeing the baby in the near future.

Charles also celebrated the birth of Kate and Williams second child, Princess Charlotte, in May 2015.

He told well wishers at an event that Charlotte was beautiful, according to Cosmopolitan. He also joked that he had been hoping for a grand-daughter, someone to look after me when I am very old!

Some royal watchers have speculated that Charlotte, whose name is the feminine form of Charles, was named after her grandfather.

Charles was similarly over the moon at the birth of Kate and Williams third child, Prince Louis, in 2018.

It is a great joy to have another grandchild, the only trouble is I dont know how I am going to keep up with them, he said in a statement, according to People.

One of Louis middle names is Charles, a possible tribute to his grandfather.

Britain's Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (3L) and his wife Britain's Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (2R) talk with his father Britain's Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (R) and his wife Britain's Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall (Richard Pohle / Getty Images)

Kate and Charles share more sweet moments

More than a decade after she officially joined the royal family, Kates rapport with her father-in-law appears stronger than ever.

In February 2020, she appeared to crack up at a joke made by Charles during a joint royal visit to the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre in central England.

They also greeted each other with a peck on the cheek at the premiere of No Time To Die in London in September 2021.

And King Charles was seen blowing a kiss to Kate at a thanksgiving service for Queen Elizabeths Platinum Jubilee in 2022. This greeting from afar could have been due to social distancing guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall with Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (Mark Cuthbert / Getty Images)

Charles called Kate his beloved daughter-in-law

The king referred to Kate affectionately while giving a speech in Kenya in November 2023  and also revealed some details about Williams proposal to Kate in 2010.

It was here, in sight of Mount Kenya, that my son, the Prince of Wales, proposed to his wife, now my beloved daughter-in-law, the king said, according to The Independent.

Now, as Charles and Kate navigate cancer at the same time, Hello magazine royal editor Emily Nash guesses the experience will only strengthen their connection.

This new experience for them both will really cement what has long been a very affectionate bond between the king and his beloved daughter-in-law, Nash said on March 25 on TODAY.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
Margaret Iverson of Preston, Idaho, takes a photo during a tour of the Kirtland Temple in Kirtland, Ohio, on Monday, March 25, 2024.

The Kirtland Temple reopened Monday after stewardship of the hallowed and historic building transferred from Community of Christ to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Latter-day Saints rejoiced at the opportunity to share stories of the temples history on 14 tours during the day. Many also expressed gratitude for Community of Christ as its members continue to clear out its belongings.

A bitingly cold morning yielded to light blue skies and warm sunshine as tours began Monday morning.

Since the announcement, Latter-day Saints and Community of Christ members have been sharing space as one moves in and the other moves out. In fact, Community of Christ still has 45 more days to complete the move, said President Scott Barrick, who with this wife, Sister Shauna Barrick, leads the missionaries at the Ohio Historic Sites of the Church of Jesus Christ.

This transition period has been a bittersweet experience for us because, as weve been learning what to do here, weve been watching our colleagues from the Community of Christ move, and gather all their belongings and leave a space that has been meaningful to them for over a century, he said. Every time weve come in, theyve greeted us warmly. Theyve been gracious and kind. And we look forward to continuing the same relationship.

Kirtland Ohio Stake President Nathan Johnson, who presides over 10 Latter-day Saint congregations in the region, saw in the transfer a need to fill big shoes.

Theyve been such good stewards, and we now feel the weight of that responsibility to care for it the way that they have, he said.

Joseph and Emma Smiths son, Joseph Smith III, obtained the temple in the late 1870s on behalf of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints while he was its president. The church changed its name to the Community of Christ in 2001.

It began to offer tours in the 1960s. Those tours have been focused on the architectural wonder the Kirtland Temple was in the 1830s and remains today.

Historian Karl and Joyce Anderson enter the Kirtland Temple in Kirtland, Ohio, on Monday, March 25, 2024.

Mondays new Church of Jesus Christ tours, crafted by the Historical Sites Division of the Church History Department, focused on the spiritual journey the temple represents. For Latter-day Saints, that includes sharing information about the appearances of Jesus Christ, Moses, Elijah and Elias to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery on Easter Sunday in 1836.

Christ accepted the temple as a House of the Lord and the other visitors provided spiritual keys that expanded Latter-day Saint temple ordinances to those in use today. The church, which has 31,330 congregations, now has 189 temples and plans to build 146 more.

Until Monday, Latter-day Saint missionaries in Kirtland only discussed the 1836 visitations with people who toured other nearby sites, like the Joseph and Emma Smith home and Newel K. Whitney store near the temple.

We now can tell the stories about what happened in the temple, in the temple, Sister Barrick said.

Theres a slightly different emphasis today, said Elder Kyle S. McKay, Church Historian and a General Authority Seventy of the Church of Jesus Christ. Its unrealistic to expect that Community of Christ would tell our story, would say it in a way that it emphasizes what we believe but they dont (believe). We havent expected that of them. Now we are saying it the way we believe it, so there are some things that are emphasized that havent been in the past.

By early afternoon Monday, the visitors who had joined tours had come from Ghana, Australia, 10 U.S. states and Washington, D.C.

The first tour is given of the Kirtland Temple in Kirtland, Ohio, on Monday, March 25, 2024.

Sandy Jones cries as she tells about her early viewing of the Kirtland Temple in Kirtland, Ohio, on Monday, March 25, 2024.

The first tour is given of the Kirtland Temple in Kirtland, Ohio, on Monday, March 25, 2024.

The first tour is given of the Kirtland Temple in Kirtland, Ohio, on Monday, March 25, 2024.

Sun shines thought a window as the first tour is given of the Kirtland Temple in Kirtland, Ohio, on Monday, March 25, 2024.

The first tour is given of the Kirtland Temple in Kirtland, Ohio, on Monday, March 25, 2024.

The first tour is given of the Kirtland Temple in Kirtland, Ohio, on Monday, March 25, 2024.

The Kirtland Temple in Kirtland, Ohio, on Monday, March 25, 2024.

A key is shown as the first tour is given of the Kirtland Temple in Kirtland, Ohio, on Monday, March 25, 2024.

The sun rises on the Kirtland Temple in Kirtland, Ohio, on Monday, March 25, 2024.

The centerpiece of the tours now is the inner court on the first floor of the temple when missionaries share three historical events, the temple dedication on Palm Sunday, March 27, 1836, the solemn assembly three days later and the visitations on Easter Sunday.

Sandy Jones, a Latter-day Saint convert, had visited the temple for three previous tours. She appreciated Mondays first tour.

The things that happened here are incomprehensible, she said. And you look at the size of this building, to be built in the 1800s? Nothing like that ever happened. This is part of the beginning of the Restoration. You cannot miss this. This is one of the most important places where it started.

President Barrick said the sweetest experience of the past week was seeing a member of Community of Christ and a senior Latter-day Saint sister missionary embrace and weep together.

I think thats a good model and a good example for all of us, he said. Our sister missionary has cause to rejoice, and yet she is weeping and mourning with those who mourn. And the Community of Christ member has cause to be sorrowful and yet she came today and was part of a tour.

He expects a number of joint traditions shared by the churches to continue. There is an Emma Smith hymn sing on her birthday each July, for example.

We sing a lot of the hymns that were in hymnbooks that Emma did; she did not only ours but some of the reorganized hymnbooks, Barrick said. Thats been a wonderful thing.

There also is a community Thanksgiving service, a Christmas Eve service in the temple and seats for both churches on the robust ministerial alliance in Kirtland.

The Barricks also take their missionaries to the Community of Christ pancake breakfast across the street from the temple on the first Saturday of each month. The Latter-day Saints make a contribution to the collection Community of Christ gathers to give to charity.

We expect those things to continue, and we look forward to them, Barrick said.

Additionally, he said, Weve committed to the Community of Christ contractually that theyll have access to a certain number of events at the temple.

The churches also agree that the Kirtland Temple must be preserved for future generations. On Monday while leading tours, Sister Davis emphasized to visitors that they should use the left handrail while climbing the 33 steps to the second floor and the 33 additional steps to the third floor, because the right handrails are originals.

Our biggest hope is that the temple will continue to be cared for and accessible. We see this as a sacred place, and its not our temple and its not their temple, that this is the Lords house, President Johnson said. We want it to continue to be accessible so that people can come here and have significant spiritual experiences.

Elder Kyle S. McKay, historian and recorder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, speaks about the Kirtland Temple in Kirtland, Ohio, on Monday, March 25, 2024.

Elder McKay agreed.

We want it to be old and remain old, old but safe, he said. Our preservationists have a phrase, Were going to make it good as old. We hope to do that.

Minor work was done during the three-week break to shore up the support in the basement and some walls.

For the short term, its safe, Elder McKay said, but we expect that after some time, and I dont know how long  a year, two, three, I dont know  there will need to be some other structural repairs made and maybe some restoration to make the temple more like the original.

There may be some restoration and certainly some support so that the temple can remain safe but old.

Mondays conflicting feelings also were apparent in 87-year-old Karl Ricks Anderson, a Latter-day Saint historian known as Mr. Kirtland for his research and championing of the temple.

Learning about the transfer was one of the greatest days of his life, he said. Hed prayed for it. Simultaneously, he felt for his Community of Christ friends.

They have always maintained that they didnt own the temple, that they were only caretakers, that it was the Lord that owned the temple. My greatest wish is that we dont celebrate so much the acquisition of a temple that we forget it is the Lords house.

Community of Christ, he said, has set an example for us.

Elder Bart Davis speaks during the first tour from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Kirtland Temple in Kirtland, Ohio, on Monday, March 25, 2024.
It was Friday evening in Moscow when gunmen burst into Crocus City Hall, an entertainment complex on the outskirts of Russia's capital, where a rock concert by the group Picnic was about to take place. Video showed at least four people opening fire in the building's foyer before entering the hall itself and continuing to shoot.

Russian authorities said the attackers then set fire to the hall using flammable liquid. Despite helicopters dropping water over the building, it took 10 hours to extinguish the flames.

The March 22 attack lasted about 20 minutes, and in that time, at least 137 people were killed and at least 60 others critically wounded, CBS News partner network BBC News reported. Here's what we know:

Who carried out the Moscow attack?

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, ISIS, released a statement on Friday claiming responsibility for the attack. The terrorist group issued another statement the following day that cast the raid as part of ISIS' ongoing war on countries it claims are fighting against Islam.

In a first for ISIS, the statement released by the group's media propaganda operation attributed the attack to its Russia branch, which it had never identified as such. Previous attacks had been attributed to ISIS in the Caucasus, referring to a broader region that encompasses part of southern Russia, but also some other nations such as Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

A massive blaze is seen over the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, March 22, 2024, afters gunmen burst into the concert venue and fired automatic weapons at the crowd before setting a massive blaze. / Credit: Sergei Vedyashkin/AP

A U.S. intelligence official told CBS News that American agencies had intelligence confirming ISIS was responsible, and said the U.S. had no reason to doubt the claims made by the group.

About 14 hours after reports of shooting began, Russia's Federal Security Service said 11 suspects had been arrested, four of whom it accused of being directly involved in the attack.

On March 24, four suspects between the ages of 19 and 32  identified as Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizoda, Shamsidin Fariduni and Muhammadsobir Fayzov  appeared in a Russian court showing signs of severe beatings. They were charged with acts of terrorism. Russia's state news agency said the four men were from Tajikistan.

There has been suspicion, despite the group's own claim that a domestic Russian branch of ISIS carried out the attack, that its Afghanistan division, ISIS-Khorasan or ISIS-K, was behind the carnage. That suspicion came largely due to warnings issued by the U.S. in the weeks ahead of the attack, and Russian officials claiming to have thwarted other operations planned by ISIS-K in Russia even more recently.

U.S. officials have not said which branch of ISIS they believe carried out the attack, but they have strongly refuted claims from Russian President Vladimir Putin that there may have been some involvement by Ukraine, a neighboring country that Russia invaded more than two years ago, sparking a full-scale, ongoing war.

Ukraine has also denied any involvement in the attack.

In addition to the previously unheard of Russia branch being named as the perpetrators, the Moscow attack also appeared to deviate from most ISIS assaults in that the terrorists fled the scene. Most violent attacks carried out by the group see their operatives fight arriving law enforcement personnel to the death, rather than being captured or fleeing.

What did the U.S. warn about in Russia?

The assault in Moscow came two weeks after the U.S. warned of a potential attack targeting large gatherings in the Russian capital. The U.S. Embassy in Moscow had publicly advised Americans to stay away from events, including concert venues, because of the potential for a terrorist attack.

The U.S. provided intelligence to Russia regarding the potential for an attack under the American intelligence community's "Duty to Warn" requirement.

"In early March, the U.S. government shared information with Russia about a planned terrorist attack in Moscow," National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement. "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."

Last week, Putin dismissed the warnings, saying "recent provocative statements by a number of official Western structures about the possibility of terrorist attacks in Russia... resembles outright blackmail and an intention to intimidate and destabilize our society."

"ISIS bears sole responsibility for this attack," U.S. National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said in a statement. "There was no Ukrainian involvement whatsoever."

CBS News' Khaled Wassef and Tucker Reals contributed to this report.

Ship made warning call before striking Baltimore bridge, mayor says it saved lives

Biden to campaign in North Carolina, a state he lost to Trump in 2020

Hundreds of demonstrators at Supreme Court as justices hear abortion pill case
What we know about search and rescue efforts at Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse site

BALTIMORE -- A search and rescue effort at the site of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore turned to a recovery effort Tuesday night, nearly 18 hours after the span fell into the Patapsco River.

A bridge column was hit by a large container ship around 1:30 a.m., causing the bridge to crumble.

Search and rescue turns to recovery

The U.S. Coast Guard announced Tuesday night that the all-day search and rescue effort for six missing people turned to a recovery effort, with those individuals now presumed dead.

Bodies of the victims had not been recovered as of Tuesday evening. All of the victims were construction workers who were filling potholes on the span at the time of the collapse.

Multiple agencies, including the FBI, sent dive teams into the water during the search effort. With darkness, those crews were pulled from the water as hope of finding the men alive faded.

Two more workers were rescued from the water shortly after the collapse.

Authorities said that a mayday had been issued from the ship shortly before the collision, which allowed them to stop stop traffic onto the bridge.

Sonar detected vehicles

Nighttime conditions hindered visibility in the early hours of the search, but crews using sonar detected vehicles in the river.

It was not immediately clear how many vehicles fell into the water, but it is not believed that any passenger vehicles were driving across the bridge at the time. Construction workers did have vehicles parked nearby.

The water below the bridge is 50 feet deep, Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld said, and according to NOAA's National Data Buoy Center, the river water was 48 degrees overnight.

Coast Guard leading mission at Baltimore bridge collapse site

The Coast Guard is leading the recovery mission at the Key Bridge site.

"We currently have three small boats," Lieutenant Commander Erin Palmer said early Tuesday. "We also have Coast Guard Cutter Mako, an 87-foot patrol boat. We have a helicopter from Air Station at Atlantic City. And we're working with numerous federal, state and local partners on scene on these search and rescue efforts."

Two people were recovered from the water shortly after the collapse. One was not hurt and one was taken to the hospital in "very serious" condition. The injured person was treated at the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center and later released.

New details on Baltimore Key Bridge collapse, rescue efforts and more

Baltimore bridge collapse timeline: What happened before, during and after

Video shows the moment Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapses
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  Oregon Gov. Tina Koteks wife now has an office in the governors base of operations at the state library along with a staffer on loan from the Department of Administrative Services.

Aimee Kotek Wilson does not get a salary as Oregons first lady. She has a masters degree in social work and the governors office confirmed shes been sitting in on staff meetings that focus on behavioral health.

Many spouses of governors across the United States have offices and are called upon for speaking or presentations in their role. In Washington state, Gov. Jay Inslees wife does not have her own office but does have a staff member who helps manage her official calendar of events.

Oregons stalking law enters modern age, thanks to push from St. Helens police sergeant

Trudi (Inslee) is not a state employee but has a very important and unique role as first spouse. She has a role in representing the state and establishing relationships, Inslee Press Secretary Mike Faulk told KOIN 6 News in an email. She sometimes travels, attends events or meetings with the governor, and in her own time has advocated for issues that matter to her like gun reform and reproductive rights. She is obviously a close confidant to the governor.

But Oregon does not have an official Office of the First Spouse. Thats what the paid, on-loan staffer, Meliah Masiba, will explore while she provides assistance to Kotek Wilson.

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, right, and her wife, Aimee Kotek Wilson, in an undated photo (KOIN, file)

There are questions as to what her official role is. She is on the same bio page as Gov. Kotek on the states website, which is followed by several pages of questions if a group wants to book her for an event.

Last week, several top staffers to Gov. Kotek reportedly decided to leave over this situation.

In February 2015, then-Gov. John Kitzhaber resigned after a scandal involving his fiancee Cylvia Hayes operating her political consulting business out of his office space. He was also later fined by the State Ethics Commission for influence peddling.

Gov. Koteks office responds to questions

In a detailed email to KOIN 6 News, Gov. Koteks press office provided specific answers to specific questions.

The governor is not overly concerned about the optics of the first lady getting an office in state library (while the Capitol is under construction), and it was the governor who made this decision.

The exploration of the establishment of the office of the First Spouse will provide greater definition to the role of first partners to any given Governor. The Governor believes that Oregon, like many other states, should have clarity about the role of the first spouse, Koteks office said in the email.

There are no plans for the First Lady to receive a state paycheck at any point. She will continue to be a volunteer. In addition, she has no outside employment, the office said.

Meliah Masiba will work in the governors office for 6 months to help explore the establishment of the office of the First Spouse, a program that has been established in many states. Masiba will continue to be paid  through the Governors Office budget  her Department of Administrative Services salary of 11,984 per month.

As other states do, the First Lady will have security when she is representing the governor. Aimee Kotek Wilson now has that security through the Oregon State Police using resources from the Governors Office budget.

No one reports directly to Kotek Wilson, they said. Her scheduler reports to the Director of

Operations and Meliah Masiba reports to the acting Chief of Staff.

At this time there are no cost estimates to setting up an Office of the First Spouse, the governors office said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin on Tuesday refused to be drawn on whether it believed there was a link between the Ukrainian leadership and Friday's attack in which gunmen killed at least 139 people in a Moscow concert hall, saying only that its investigation was ongoing.

Asked during a call with reporters whether there was a direct link between Ukraine and the attack, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "I have nothing to add to what has already been said on this topic."

Peskov said that Russian officials' comments on the attack were based on "preliminary data" and that the head of Russia's Investigative Committee had reported to President Vladimir Putin on Monday about the probe.

Putin has said the attack was carried out by radical Islamists, but also said that the attackers had attempted to escape to Ukraine after the assault on the Crocus City Hall venue.

U.S. officials have said they have intelligence indicating it was the Afghan branch, Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K), that was responsible, but Russian authorities have not publicly accepted the group's role.

Eight suspects, natives of the Central Asian republics of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, have so far been remanded in pre-trial detention on suspicion of involvement in the attacks.

(Writing by Felix Light; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
CHICAGO (WXIN)  McDonalds and Krispy Kreme have announced a partnership that will have many of you saying, Im lovin it.

Beginning later this year, fans will begin spotting Krispy Kreme doughnuts at some McDonalds restaurants across the country as part of a new rollout that will eventually lead to Krispy Kreme doughnuts being available nationwide at McDonalds by the end of 2026.

Yes, the viral McDonalds Dinner Box is a real thing: Heres how to find it

The companies said the plan is to offer three different varieties of Krispy Kreme doughnuts delivered fresh each day to McDonalds restaurants. The doughnuts will be available at McDonalds individually or in boxes of six.

The three varieties that will be offered will be:

Original glaze

Chocolate iced with sprinkles

Chocolate iced Kreme filled

Our fans love for Krispy Kreme runs deep, and we cant wait to make it even easier for them to satisfy their sweet tooth at McDonalds restaurants across the country, said Tariq Hassan, McDonalds USAs Chief Marketing and Customer Experience Officer.

Krispy Kreme six-pack (provided by McDonalds and Krispy Kreme)

The partnership between Krispy Kreme and McDonalds was successfully tested in McDonalds locations in Kentucky in Lexington and Louisville. These pilot locations continue to serve Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

On Tuesday, Krispy Kreme stock jumped 20.5% after it announced its deal with McDonalds restaurants.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
GAZA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) welcomed on Tuesday the adoption of the UN Security Council resolution that demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA commissioner-general, said in a press statement that he hoped the Security Council's call for an immediate and durable ceasefire "would bring to Gaza and the region the peace its people so well deserve."

As of Tuesday, which marked the 171st day since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict, a total of 171 UNRWA employees have been killed in the Gaza Strip. The most recent employee casualty occurred in northern Gaza while looking for food, according to Lazzarini.

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. 
Karen Overbey, a conservative who last year won a seat on the Leavenworth USD 453 Board of Education, says the public comment portions of board meetings are formal and intimidating, with no questions or discussion allowed.

The boards procedures, she says, discourage members of the public from engaging with board members and delays any follow-up questions until after meetings. Another board member, Vanessa Reid, says she has been told not to react during public comments, and that is absurd.

The Kansas Senate on Monday advanced an extensive measure to give conservatives more power on boards of education across the state. Swept into office in recent years amid frustrations with pandemic-era restrictions, diversity efforts and curriculum perceived as woke, these board members have often found their efforts stymied by more-moderate board majorities.

Board meetings are held in public for a reason and we should not be prevented from engaging with concerned citizens, Reid told lawmakers at a hearing earlier this month.

Reid was at the center of a controversy last year when she and Rep. Pat Proctor, a Leavenworth Republican, visited an elementary school. The lawmaker later shared a photo of a fourth graders drawing of a rainbow flag, leading to a backlash among parents and community members who called on Reid to resign.

My district also will not allow me to visit schools whenever I wish, Reid told lawmakers.

Opponents of the legislation, including the Kansas Association of School Boards  the leading organization representing the states boards of education  say the measure strikes at the local control of districts prized by education officials. The proposal would violate the constitutional rights of school boards, KASB says, interfering with the effective governance of local schools.

The Republican-backed measure, SB 427, advanced on a voice vote following a roughly 20-minute debate. A final, recorded vote to send the bill to the House is expected Tuesday.

The legislation would require boards of education to allow public comment at all meetings and allow any board member to question or engage in discussion with commenters. Any board member would have the power to add an agenda item to a meeting, allowing a single member to force discussion on any topic.

It would also mandate that board members have access to any school building or property whenever it is open to district employees. Districts would be required to publish the email addresses of board members.

And boards would be authorized to use general funds to pay for dues to any nonprofit organization that provides services to districts, making it easier for districts to partner with rival or alternative groups to KASB; currently, districts can only use general funds to pay for dues to KASB.

I think we are having a clear overreach of local control by imposing these policies on local school boards, Sen. Jeff Pittman, a Leavenworth Democrat, said.

KASB lobbyist Leah Fliter told lawmakers during a mid-March hearing that districts have policies on rules of order and public participation during meetings.

This proposed bills language needlessly invites the legislature to trample on these policies and procedures, and thus on the principle of local control, Fliter testified.

The Republican-controlled Legislature has long looked skeptically on the leadership of school districts, with some lawmakers arguing districts dont make efficient use of funding or that students should receive state aid to attend private schools. GOP lawmakers last year unsuccessfully attempted to pass a voucher-like program to use taxpayer dollars for private and homeschooling expenses.

Republicans are also working to change the way the state calculates its special education funding. Kansas has missed legal funding requirements for special education for a decade. In response to repeated calls for more funding, a House committee advanced a bill that would count funds not currently attributed to special education so it appears the state had reached its requirement. The bill also allocates $75 million for special education.

Sen. Chase Blasi, a Wichita Republican, stressed the importance of boards allowing public comments. Board members are where the buck stops, he said.

Wichita USD 259 only allows comments on topics that pertain to the business of the board, with speakers required to register in advance and limited to three minutes. Speakers must also speak only on the topic for which they registered.

If youre not allowed to speak to their board of education, where else shall they go? Blasi said.

During a meeting of Senate Republicans before the debate, Sen. Molly Baumgardner, a Louisburg Republican who chairs the Senate Education Committee, asked rhetorically why people come to the Legislature for action. The answer, she said, is because their issues arent being addressed locally.

It gets back to the issues that seem to be ongoing, Baumgardner said. People continue to come to us because theyve been shut down and their districts are publicly funded.

The Stars Katie Bernard contributed reporting.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and EUs High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell discussed Europes potential to deliver additional U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems to Kyiv, Ukraines Foreign Ministry reported on March 25.

Kuleba briefed Borrell on recent Russian missile attacks targeting Kyiv and other cities.

Read also: Kyiv witnesses casualties and structural damage following ballistic strike

I stressed the need for Ukraine to receive more Patriot air defense systems and other systems capable of intercepting ballistic missiles," the message quotes Kuleba.

He noted that Ukraine is the only country currently dealing with nearly daily ballistic missile attacks.

Read also: Russia scrambles to destroy Ukraine's Patriot missile systems as enemy aircraft losses grow  expert

"We reviewed what the EU could do to help Ukraine secure more Patriots and additional air defense systems as quickly as possible," the minister added.

Read also: Former SBU officer on Ukraine losing two Patriot launchers

Compared to other anti-air systems Ukraine uses, Patriot has proven to be the most reliable in dealing with the variety of ballistic missiles Russia uses to strike Ukrainian cities.

The first U.S.-supplied Patriot battery entered service with Ukraines armed forces in early 2023.

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 bill to allow non-law enforcement armed guardians to secure Kentucky schools, aimed at filling gaps where school resources officers are lacking, advanced in a House committee Tuesday.

Sen. Max Wise, R-Campbellsville, characterizes Senate Bill 2 as a realistic means of boosting school security in an age of mass shootings. The goal isnt to replace School Resource Officers, or SROs, he has said, but to allow districts who cant afford or fill those positions an intermediary option as a stop-gap measure.

The bill also aims to address mental health issues in schools via data collection, suicide prevention and teams of licensed providers to deploy a trauma-informed approach deployed by a team of professionals  a key portion of the bill Republicans amended in Tuesdays House Education Committee meeting.

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Kentucky schools are required to have armed SROs on each campus, and typically, they are members of the local police or sheriffs department. Wise has said previously that 600 school campuses currently do not have the resource officers because of financial constraints.

Under SB 2, districts would be able to contract individuals with certain combat or military backgrounds to carry concealed weapons on school campuses as a means of protecting students and staff.

Wises bill is an extension of his Senate Bill 1, the School Safety and Resiliency Act, passed into law in 2019 after the Marshall County High School shooting that killed two students.

Guardians under Wises bill would be required to take an annual firearm proficiency test, an active shooter response training course from the Department of Criminal Justice and as well as a resource officer training course.

Each district would choose how and whether to fund these positions. Examples of who could serve as guardians, according to the bill, including honorably discharged veterans, retired Kentucky state troopers, retired law enforcement officers and former federal agents.

Senator Stephen West, R-Paris, said on the Senate floor last month he sees support for SB 2 as binary: In a perfect world, we would have highly trained officers in every school. Would I rather have a trained, armed veteran on site ready to act? Or, would I rather have a highly trained SRO or law enforcement officer minutes away? Thats the choice we have.

Another key provision of the bill, which garnered most of Tuesdays discussion, asks schools to create a comprehensive mental health trauma-informed team, which would include licensed counselors, school administrators, social workers, community-based mental health providers and school nurses to support students using a trauma-informed approach.

That group, in addition to supporting students, would compile annual mental health data to provide to the Kentucky Department of Education.

But an amendment introduced by Rep. Josh Calloway, R-Irvington, would allow pastoral counselors to be members of districts comprehensive trauma-informed teams, should a district allow it.

How do we make society safer, rather than just hardening up? Calloway asked committee members, adding that broadening the bill language to include pastoral counselors gives parents options.

We are constantly dealing with not having enough counselors, he said. By allowing pastoral counselors, it gives us more people in the pool to choose from.

State Rep. Josh Calloway, R-Irvington Legislative Research Commission

Wise said he had no qualms with Calloways amendment. We live in a day and time where weve got young people who need assistance and help, and I think the more offerings we can provide the better.

But some committee members, mostly Democrats, bristled at the last-minute amendment. They argued the licensing requirements for pastoral counselors are unclear, as is their qualification to serve on trauma-informed teams.

Rep. Killian Timoney, R-Lexington, asked whether pastoral counselors would be able to refuse service if they conscientiously object to, say, offering support to a student with a gender identity or sexuality a pastoral counselor may disagree with.

Calloway didnt quite answer the question, and instead said his purpose with the amendment is to broaden the scope of support to meet all possible needs.

This goes back to the team, to help decide what does this child need and what particular issue are they dealing with? he said. Not just who is a person, but who is the right person to be able to help with this particular need. It just serves as an option.

Rep. Tina Bojanowski, D-Louisville, said she found the amendment very concerning and asked whether pastoral counselors are trained in trauma-informed care.

They are trained in all types of care through the requirements they have to have in order to get that certification, Calloway said.

Calloways amendment does not detail what type of training would be required for an individual to qualify as a pastoral counselor  another point some committee members took issue with.

Rep. Josie Raymond, D-Louisville, asked if Calloway had consulted with the Kentucky School Counselors Association, and if so, How do they feel about it?

Calloway said he had had lots of conversations with people in this realm, including school administrators.

But Abby Piper, a lobbyist with the Kentucky School Counselor Association, testified shortly after that her association was not consulted on the amendment and certainly dont support it.

In a statement following the vote along party lines to support Wises bill with Calloways amendment, the counselors association said in a statement, This morning, without (our organization) being consulted or informed, the House Education Committee approved SB 2  a bill the association had previously endorsed  that to the best of our knowledge would consider pastoral counselors as school counselors (who) can serve on trauma-informed teams. There is no provision for the denomination of that pastor, their training, (or expertise). There is also no governing body to regulate their practice.

KSCA then called on current school counselors in Kentucky to ask your legislators to vote no on SB 2!

After an unsuccessful attempt by Democrats and Timoney to table the amendment, the committee voted along party lines to advance it.

Before casting a vote in favor of the amended bill, Rep. Steve Riley, R-Glasgow, said he was concerned the last-minute amendment was presented to lawmakers only just before their 8 a.m. meeting, offering little time to understand its impact.

My father was a Baptist preacher, and he would be really good at this, Riley said.

But Ive met some ministers and Im not sure theyd be good at this. I am concerned this got dropped on us real fast without us having a chance to process. I think weve got more discussions to be had. Im a yes, but Im a wishy-washy yes.

SB 2 with Calloways amendment now heads to the full House for a vote.
Kyle Rittenhouses story is a Rorschach test for this generation  you see what you want to see.

His supporters will tell you the then-teen acted within his rights in 2020 when he brought a gun to a protest following a police shooting in Wisconsin and will point out he was acquitted after he shot three people who attacked him, killing two. His opposition, meanwhile, will say his presence alone caused the chaos that night and hes spent years since cashing in on infamy.

Both sides will be in the Bluegrass State this week. Rittenhouse is scheduled to speak Wednesday evening at Western Kentucky University in an event sponsored by the school's Turning Point USA chapter. It's the latest stop on a high-profile tour across the region that has drawn significant backlash.

Kyle Rittenhouse listens to the crowd cheer at a Turning Point USA event in December 2021. The group is bringing Rittenhouse to WKU this week.

WKU Police Chief Mitchell Walker knows whats coming. He has seen the footage from Rittenhouses stop last week at the University of Memphis  the speaker was drowned out by protesters during a brief speech at a campus hall, with some heated confrontations after the event ended.

"It is a concern. We're hoping that it (won't) be like that here at WKU," Walker said Friday. "We're hoping it'll be more peaceful than that, so we're just trying to make sure we have enough folks in place ... to make sure that tempers don't flare."

WKU Police will be on hand, he said, along with Kentucky State Police, Bowling Green Police and officials from the Warren County Sheriff's Office. They're hoping for a peaceful night, Walker said, but it's hard to guess how many people will attend.

The event will begin at 7 p.m. inside WKU's Downing Student Union in a room with a cap of about 120 people. Tickets are free, Turning Point USA WKU President Cade Holcombe said, but entry inside will be on a first-come basis  and with protests planned, the crowd at the building at the center of campus could spill outside.

"I wouldn't say it concerns me, I wouldn't say that. I'd say I'm prepared for something like that to happen," Holcombe said. "We've worked with WKUPD and security teams and whatnot to make sure everybody is safe and everyone in the crowd remains respectful and peaceful."

Holcombe, the lone Bowling Green Republican who responded to a request for comment for this story, isn't a Rittenhouse fanatic. "I don't condone his actions (during the shooting). I don't know why he would have been there in the first place. Personally, I wouldn't have gone, I would have stayed in my house."

But, he helped coordinate the event when Turning Point USA approached his branch about the potential speaking engagement. He said it's because he believes in free speech and "everyone deserves a platform."

"I'm honestly curious of what he has to say and I think he can he can start a good conversation between the students of Western Kentucky," Holcombe said. "Hopefully we can get somewhere and find a solid middle ground."

University officials cited free speech when asked about the event. The school is not sponsoring the event, WKU said in a statement provided by spokesperson Jace Lux, and the space was reserved by a student group through the same process other organizations use.

"While WKUs commitment to free speech includes allowing groups to invite guests to campus, that does not mean that the university supports, endorses or agrees with the views of those individuals," the statement said.

In a Monday email to staff and students, WKU President Tim Caboni said Monday, about two weeks after the event was announced, that WKU and other universities are "guardians of free speech" with an obligation to allow different perspectives to be heard, "even if the ideas presented are different from our own, offensive or even contemptible."

He cited Kentucky's Campus Free Speech Protection Act, a law passed in the 2019 General Assembly ensuring student groups are "allowed equal access to public forums" regardless of political affiliation.

"This week provides us with an opportunity to demonstrate to the broader community that WKU is a place that defends the ideals of free speech, academic freedom and inquiry, even when challenging to do so," Caboni said. "Thank you for helping us to do so in a safe and respectful manner that showcases who we are as an institution."

Western Kentucky University, in Bowling Green, is set to host an event this week with Kyle Rittenhouse.

Holcombe said he doesn't know what Rittenhouse will cover when he speaks, though a Turning Point USA page promoting the event and tickets said the speaker will cover "the importance of the Second Amendment and the lies of (Black Lives Matter)."

Ryan Dearbone, president of the Bowling Green / Warren County NAACP, has read that description. He understands the university's position in allowing the student group to host the event, but in his view, it doesn't sound like Rittenhouse is coming to campus with a message that will bring people together. His organization condemned the event last week.

"The essence of divisive rhetoric is what he's going to speak about," Dearbone told The Courier Journal. "I was just saddened and disgusted that a group would think that he would be a good person to bring to campus.

"There are a majority of students that don't want him on campus, and it's not politically driven. It's simply because they don't want a person like that on their campus spewing rhetoric that is dangerous and divisive," Dearbone said.

The local NAACP branch isn't sponsoring a protest, Dearbone said, but they'll support groups who are. One such organization is the Bowling Green Freedom Walkers, a social justice advocacy group planning a demonstration during Rittenhouse's speech.

Terry Smith wont be there in person, but his efforts to stifle the event from afar illustrate the opposition organizers are facing.

Smith lives in Lexington but attended WKU in the early 2000s. The self-described very progressive University of Kentucky Hospital employee started a change.org petition against the event in mid-March when he heard Rittenhouse was planning to speak in Bowling Green  it landed more than 1,000 signatures in less than a week.

Rittenhouse isn't an academic with a message that will cause students to think, Smith said. He's someone who gained fame from a "questionable act and acquittal" who's on a "victory tour" speaking to like-minded audiences.

Its just more of the same from the extreme right, pushing things in our face that theyve gotten away with, Smith said.  He has zero experience. Hes 21 now. He has nothing to say about any of this, and its being pushed as a political point.

Kyle Rittenhouse (right) is set to speak at WKU this week about "the importance of the Second Amendment and the lies of BLM."

Dearbone, a 40-year-old man who's been with the NAACP for 16 years, drew a straight line from Rittenhouse's scheduled event to the 2024 General Assembly.

Republican lawmakers are likely to vote soon on measures that would curb diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at public universities across the state. Students planning to protest Wednesday are paying attention to what's happening in the legislature, he said, and deserve support.

"This is a watershed moment for a lot of these young people," he said. "We talk a lot about race and DEI, especially going on right now with the bills in Frankfort. This is the chance for them to see it upfront and how stuff like this affects them  how somebody who is their age, roughly, can come onto campus and cause a commotion with the things he will say."

Holcombe will listen Wednesday night, and he won't be alone. Disagreements between attendees and protesters are inevitable, he said, but he hopes both sides remain civil.

"Obviously, sometimes people get a little out of hand and that's not what we're looking for," he said. "You know, "I'm just hoping that people can come with an open mind and listen to him and be listened to."

Reach Lucas Aulbach at laulbach@courier-journal.com.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kyle Rittenhouse event at WKU draws praise, concern in Bowling Green
L.A. County has settled claims that its PACE program saddled homeowners with unaffordable loans for items such as solar panels. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)

Los Angeles County has agreed to a $12-million settlement to resolve allegations that its home improvement lending program wrecked the finances of many borrowers and left them vulnerable to foreclosure.

The settlement, granted preliminary approval Monday by an L.A. County Superior Court judge, comes six years after some homeowners sued the county in twin suits alleging that local officials knew, or should have known, the program would harm vulnerable homeowners and then looked the other way as problems piled up.

The county did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement and continued to deny the allegations. It said it settled to avoid further litigation costs.

"Without this, I think people would stand to get absolutely nothing," said Stephanie Carroll, an attorney with Public Counsel, which along with Bet Tzedek and Hogan Lovells represented homeowners in the two lawsuits. "Now they stand to get some compensation for what happened to them."

Launched in 2015, the county's Property Assessed Clean Energy, or PACE, program had the stated goal of enabling homeowners to finance energy- and water-efficient home improvements, including solar panels and low-flow toilets.

The program, a public-private partnership, was overseen by the county but largely operated and funded by private finance companies, which in turn relied on home improvement contractors to sign up borrowers.

Other PACE programs have been set up across the country. The loans require government approval because they are repaid as a line item on a homeowners property tax bill.

Read more: These loans were created to help homeowners, but for some they did the opposite

PACE programs, including L.A. County's, have been dogged by allegations that consumers  particularly elderly and non-English-speaking homeowners  didn't understand what they were getting into and couldn't afford their loans, which, if unpaid, could lead to foreclosure.

Initially, lenders handed out loans based on the amount of equity a homeowner had in their property and didn't consider the borrower's income to determine if they could repay the loan.

Contractors who signed borrowers up for the loans have been accused of misleading consumers on how they would work.

It wasn't until 2018, following passage of state reform legislation, that lenders in California had to conduct an ability-to-repay analysis based on income.

Still, complaints from homeowners continued, including that home improvement contractors charged inflated costs and forged their signatures to get the loans processed.

In 2020, L.A. County shut down its program in part, it said, because it could not be sure there were sufficient protections for consumers.

PACE companies say the vast majority of their customers come away happy and that foreclosures are rare. Some firms have blamed new California consumer protection rules for knocking out too many qualified candidates.

The settlement, preliminarily approved Monday, resolves two lawsuits filed against the county and two of its private lender partners, Renew Financial and Renovate America. The suits allege that the parties committed financial elder abuse and that the private lenders encouraged predatory lending by not considering a consumer's ability to repay while telling contractors how much of a loan a consumer qualified for based on their home equity.

Like the county, Renew Financial continued to deny allegations as part of the settlement. Renovate America has since gone out of business, but previously said it found "no merit" in the allegations.

Under the terms of the settlement, the county will pay $9 million, while Renew Financial will pay $3 million. The amount for attorney and administrative fees will be capped at $2 million, with the rest going to homeowners.

Consumers can receive money if they took out a Renew Financial or Renovate America loan through the county program from March 1, 2015, to March 31, 2018.

The county partnered with a third lender as part of the program, PACE Funding Group, which was not a party to the suits and homeowners with those loans are not entitled to relief.

Homeowners who are eligible will receive extra compensation if their PACE loans caused very large debt burdens. In addition, those with big debt burdens who at the time of origination were 65 and older or had limited English proficiency will receive even more money.

"For those people who particularly were kind of victimized ... I think it will be very significant," said Michael Maddigan, an attorney with Hogan Lovells.

Though L.A. County no longer offers a PACE program, PACE loans remain available to many county residents because their cities including Los Angeles  allow PACE financing through statewide programs.

Homeowners who took out loans through those programs are not part of the settlement and not entitled to relief  even if their loan came from Renew Financial or Renovate America.

Eligible homeowners will receive written notification of the settlement by mail.

L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis said that the county remains committed to servicing PACE loans taken out under its program before it closed, as well as improving protections for those consumers.

"The settlement demonstrates that commitment and our support for homeowners who sought to improve the energy and water efficiency of their homes under the program," Solis said in a statement.

For Zenia Ocana, the prospect of help is welcome news.

In 2016, Ocana and her husband Juan decided to get solar panels on their North Hollywood home and ended up with a Renew Financial loan through the county's program that left them with no residual income to live on, according to a complaint in one of the settling suits.

In an interview, Ocana, 54, said the contractor who signed them up for the loan told them the solar panels would be paid for by the government and cost her family nothing.

The Ocanas received no documents in Spanish from Renew Financial even though they don't understand complex documents in English and were charged nearly three times the normal rate for solar panels, the lawsuit alleged.

To afford the nearly $4,500 in annual loan payments, Ocana said she and her husband have cut back on food, relied on help from family and delayed other bills.

The settlement, Ocana said, provides her hope that "we can be free of this nightmare."

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Police were searching for a suspected gunman after a man in his 50s was fatally shot Monday night in Reseda, authorities confirmed to KTLA.

Officers with the Los Angeles Police Department responded to a crime broadcast about the deadly shooting in the 7500 block of Jamieson Avenue just before 7: 30 p.m.

At the scene, police located the victim who was not breathing or conscious, authorities said.

It is currently unclear how the fatal incident unfolded and whether the victim knew the suspect.

A white van seen with several bullet holes and a shattered passenger window at the scene of a fatal shooting in Reseda on Mar. 25, 2024. (RMG News)

Shattered glass litters the road after a fatal shooting in Reseda on Mar. 25, 2024. (RMG News)

A white van seen with several bullet holes and a shattered passenger window at the scene of a fatal shooting in Reseda on Mar. 25, 2024. (RMG News)

L.A. police on the scene of a fatal shooting in Reseda on Mar. 25, 2024. (RMG News)

Footage of the scene obtained by KTLA showed a white van on the street with at least two bullet holes in the passenger side of the vehicle and a shattered passenger window. Broken glass littered the road where police evidence markers were also seen.

Detectives had cordoned off a portion of Jamieson Avenue as they collected evidence and canvassed the area.

Thief in California attempts to tunnel into jewelry store

The suspect, described by police as a white male adult in his 20s wearing black sunglasses and a white shirt, was last seen driving northbound on Jamieson Avenue toward Saticoy Street in an older model BMW sedan.

Jamieson Avenue near Saticoy Street remained closed while authorities investigated the shooting.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
LA burglars tunneled through businesses to reach jewelry store: 'Must have taken a lot of work'

Los Angeles burglars are using sledgehammers to tunnel their way into local businesses.

Early Monday morning, suspects burrowed through three businesses and six walls in a strip mall to make their way into Denny Lesser Jewelers in Chatsworth, according to Los Angeles police and Denny Lesser himself.

"I heard a loud noise in the back," Lesser, who went into his store that he has owned for 42 years around 1:30 a.m. to do some repair work, told Fox News Digital.

He went to see what the commotion was and came face-to-face with a suspect wearing a dark hoodie, a mask and gloves sledgehammering through a wall to force his way into Lesser's store.

LOS ANGELES SQUATTERS SENT PACKING AS HOME INSPECTORS ENTER, CHANGE LOCKS, VIDEO SHOWS

"It wasn't frightening for me. I don't know why," Lesser said. "I looked at him and yelled [an expletive]. I said, Get the hell out of here,' and I think that scared him."

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

The suspect Lesser made eye contact with went back through the wall and began talking to another person in a language that was not English, Lesser said. The jewelry store owner then went to push an emergency button that contacted the police, who arrived on the scene quickly. He described the suspect he saw as "slight," standing only 5 feet, 5 inches tall or 5 feet, 7 inches tall.

LA COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT'S ORGANIZED RETAIL THEFT CRIME TASK FORCE CONDUCTS MAJOR FENCING BUST

The damage to the three businesses the suspects tunneled through to get to Lesser's store was extensive, but he said he feels "blessed" that no one was hurt and nothing of significant value was stolen from any of the impacted stores.

"Police said it must have taken them a lot of work," Lesser said of the burglars' attempt to get to his store, adding that they left behind a sledgehammer and what appeared to be a crowbar.

'BURGLARY TOURISM' PLAGUES SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AS UNVETTED FOREIGNERS RAID LUXE HOUSES

Lesser added that the burglary attempt was a "carbon copy" of an incident that occurred at his store eight or 10 years ago, when suspects tunneled through walls in an attempt to get to his store.

A Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) spokesperson confirmed the incident to Fox News Digital and a similar burglary that occurred days earlier in Downtown Los Angeles at Gilded Jewelry, a store in Fashion Alley.

"Unfortunately one of our [s]tores got broke into this morning [at 3 a.m.]. If anyone recognizes any of these individuals please contact us," the store said in an Instagram post with pictures and videos of police responding to the break-in. "If you have any pending orders they will be shipped tomorrow."

Burglars also used sledgehammers to force their way into that store on March 20, but security cameras captured images of the suspects, FOX 11 reported, adding that investigators have not said whether the two incidents are related.

LA SQUATTERS TAKE LUXURY HOLLYWOOD HILLS MANSION, RENT ROOMS TO ONLYFANS MODELS: REPORT

Other stores in the area told FOX 11 that thieves have tried to break into their stores with similar methods.

"I feel violated, but I also feel blessed that nobody got hurt. And that's the way I feel," Rebecca Rotter of Cosmetic Creations Salon told the outlet. "And I'm wishing that some of these people would get prosecuted because the crime is out of control, and I'm not comfortable with that at all."

In March of last year, burglars stole as much as $5 million in merchandise from a Beverly Hills jewelry store after forcing entry into the store with sledgehammers during the day. At least five suspects used sledgehammers to break the store's windows on a Tuesday afternoon.





Original article source: LA burglars tunneled through businesses to reach jewelry store: 'Must have taken a lot of work'
Crown Works Studios in Sunderland will be completed by 2027

Plans to build one of the largest film studios in Europe have been approved.

Crown Works Studios in Sunderland will pave the way to create thousands of jobs across the north-east of England, those working on the project have said.

The development forms part of a major regeneration scheme taking place in Wearside.

Sunderland City Council approved plans for the 450m studio at a meeting on Monday, which it called a "once in a generation development".

Approval comes after the government confirmed a devolution package for the region in the recent Budget, which is set to unlock up to 120m towards the site.

Planning firm Lichfields said the studios would put the North East "on the map" as an international centre for broadcast and film production.

The studios will form part of a multimillion-pound development in Wearside

Crown Works Studios is a joint venture between Cain International and Fulwell73, the company behind The Kardashians, Friends: the Reunion, and Sunderland Til I Die.

Labour-led Sunderland City Council is also a strategic partner.

'Dramatic transformation'

Work is due to start later this year on the development, which will be built in three phases, and is expected to be completed by 2027.

The studio will feature 19 sound stages, offices, workshops, a vendor village and a backlot.

Lichfields estimated 8,450 jobs would be created across the North East over the next decade because of the site.

Harvey Emms, from the firm, said: "This is one of the most high-profile and exciting developments to come forward in the North East in recent years.

"It will put the region on the map as an international centre for broadcast and film production, creating thousands of jobs and economic prosperity in the process.

"It also brings the dramatic transformation of Sunderlands Riverside a lot closer."

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A general view of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge after it was collapsed after a cargo ship crashed into it. Karl Merton Ferron/TNS via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

The major Francis Scott Key Bridge in the US city of Baltimore near Washington has collapsed after a ship crashed into it, the Department of Transportation for the state of Maryland and several US media outlets reported on Tuesday.

The Baltimore City Fire Department told the US broadcaster CBS News that "at least seven people" were in the river and dive and rescue teams were at the scene to locate the individuals.

Citing the US Coastguard and the fire department, the New York Times and CBS News reported that the first emergency calls were received at around 1:30 am (0530 GMT).

CBS News cited the coastguard as saying the vessel was the 290-metre Singapore-flagged cargo ship Dali apparently en route from Baltimore to Colombo in Sri Lanka that had collided with the bridge.

It was unclear how many vehicles were on the four-lane motorway bridge at that time, but fire officials said "there was surely a large tractor-trailer" on it.

"I'm aware of and en route to the incident at the Key Bridge," Mayor Brandon M Scott posted on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter. "Emergency personnel are on scene, and efforts are under way,"

The Francis Scott Key Bridge is a major link across the harbour of the metropolis in the north-east of the US. According to the Maryland Department of Transportation, it is more than 2.5 kilometres long and has four lanes.

There were initially no reports of deaths or injuries.

A general view of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge after it was collapsed after a cargo ship crashed into it. Jerry Jackson/TNS via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
TEHRAN, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Iran on Tuesday called for effective enforcement of a United Nations resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and a permanent cessation of Israeli attacks on both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani emphasized the necessity for the complete lifting of Israel's "cruel siege" on Gaza and urged for the reopening of crossings to facilitate large-scale and indiscriminate international humanitarian aid deliveries to the coastal enclave, according to a statement released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry early Tuesday.

Kanaani also underlined the importance of mobilizing international financial resources and aid to kickstart the reconstruction of Gaza's devastated areas, prioritizing the restoration of homes and critical infrastructure, particularly hospitals and service centers.

Kanaani's comments followed the adoption of Resolution 2728 by the UN Security Council on Monday. The resolution demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza during Ramadan and called 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.

Shortly after the adoption of the resolution, the office of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced in a statement the cancellation of a planned visit by an Israeli delegation to Washington.

The statement added the U.S.'s failure to block the proposal was a "clear departure" from its previous position and would "hurt both the war effort and the effort to release the abductees." 
Rep. Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, before presenting his bill that would increase internet speeds for rural Alaska schools to the Senate Finance Committee on March 25, 2024. (Photo by Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)

Rep. Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, before presenting his bill that would increase internet speeds for rural Alaska schools to the Senate Finance Committee on March 25, 2024. (Photo by Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)

Alaskas rural schools are on track to access faster internet speeds next year despite the governors veto of a wide-ranging education bill earlier this month.

With two days until the deadline for federal funding grants, Alaska lawmakers approved legislation that gives rural schools the opportunity to access federal grants to pay for internet speeds of up to 100 megabits per second  four times the current maximum speed.

In a news conference, Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, called the House Bill 193 vital.

Weve heard from schools around the state the difficulties they had been facing with internet speeds, and the difficulty they have in teaching classes when they have to wait for long periods of time to get internet pages to load, he said, adding the bills rapid passage was proof that the Legislature can move quickly.

It now awaits Gov. Mike Dunleavys signature.

After the legislation advanced in the House last week, the Senate passed the bill 18 to 1 with Sen. Mike Shower, R-Wasilla, opposed. Sen. Elvi Gray-Jackson, D-Anchorage, was excused absent.

In discussion on the Senate floor, Shower said he was behind the intent of House Bill 193, but wanted to see more options for schools to choose from and for schools to have the ability to access faster speeds if they could do so economically.

I want to look at how we would make sure that were not limiting this to just fiber optic or just satellite or any other emerging technology, because this is a fast-moving game, he said.

He introduced an amendment to allow schools to purchase speeds even faster than 100 mbps if they could do so for equal or less than the cost, which failed.

Sen. Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel, sponsored the Senate version of the bill and said its language includes local control for districts to choose any provider they like, including satellite services, called low Earth orbit or LEO services.

The thrust of this particular piece of legislation is to strive for a consistent level  so that people in rural areas of the state can get the best broadband that they can. This does not eliminate local control. This does not, from my understanding, eliminate LEOs, he said.

That was a pivotal point for Sen. Shelley Hughes, R-Palmer, who said she sees that satellite services have the potential to save the state significant amounts of money.

Industry advocate Christine OConnor, director of the Alaska Telecom Association, agreed that alternatives to fiber internet, such as the satellite service Starlink, are acceptable under the federal E-Rate program. At least one school has selected Starlink as its underlying technology for next year, she said, and a handful of other school districts are considering it.

OConnor said she is excited about the passage of the legislation. I think this will be a night-and-day difference for our schools, she said. Twenty five mbps is better than no internet, but with 100 mbps they can do so much more.

Lisa Parady, executive director of the Alaska Council of School Administrators, an umbrella organization for associations of school leaders, has supported the legislation since its inception and said she was ecstatic about the bipartisan effort to increase internet speeds for rural schools.

This is a huge step forward for our most rural and remote schools to start to equalize that playing field for connectivity for all students, she said.

Rep. Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham and the key legislator backing HB 193 in the House, said he heard from the governors office that Dunleavy is likely to allow it to become law.

Dunleavy vetoed the Senate version of the legislation, Senate Bill 140, after it had been amended to address a wide range of education policies, such increasing the amount of funding per student under the formula in state law.

With a month and a half of the legislative session to go, Senate Majority leadership pointed to broader questions about school funding that have gone unanswered since the governors veto. Stevens said there are a lot of concerns about education and that the Senate is waiting on the House for a plan.

The post Lawmakers approve faster internet speeds for Alaskas rural school districts appeared first on Alaska Beacon.
TOPEKA (KSNT)  Activists in the Kansas Statehouse are pushing for a new law to protect people who are convicted based on false jailhouse witness testimony.

Kansas state senators Robert Olsen, Cindy Holscher and Molly Baumgardner are joining forces with the Midwest Innocence Project in an attempt to pass the new legislation. They hope the Kansas Senate will take up House Bill 2293, also known as Pete Coones Memorial Act.

Coones was exonerated in November 2020 for a Kansas City murder he did not commit. He spent 12 years in prison for a conviction based partly on false jailhouse witness testimony. He died a little more than a hundred days after he was released of an undiagnosed cancer.

Kansas soldier killed in action in D-Day landings returns home

Bay Scoggin, advocate for the Midwest Innocence Project, spoke on behalf of the children of Coones during a press conference on Monday.

Kansas could never make up for the years they stole from us, and our father, Scoggin said. But the passage of HB 2293 would be a step in the right direction to ensure that no other family goes through the same trauma that we did.

Without adequate protections in place, jailhouse informants are allowed to contribute to huge miscarriages of justice, Holscher said.

This bill would require specific evidence from jailhouse witnesses to be disclosed quickly. This includes cooperation deals and benefits received by the witness.

The final day to consider bills is coming up Friday, April 5. Senators motioned to move the bill above the line for a vote on Monday, March 25. If the senate does take it up and votes past the bill, it would go to a conference committee.

For more Capitol Bureau 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.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNT 27 News.
Managers at downtown's luxuriously renovated Hotel Fort Des Moines have been committing or condoning harassment and discrimination against their workers, two recent lawsuits claim.

The downtown Des Moines landmark, which reopened in 2021 after a multiyear, $50 million restoration project intended to return it to its original 1919 grandeur, operates under the boutique Curio Collection by Hilton brand.

Two recent lawsuits, one filed in November and the other in January, accuse the hotel's management of turning a blind eye or actively retaliating against employees who complained about sexually and racially tinged misconduct. Both cases have now been transferred to federal court, where the defendants have filed motions to dismiss.

Hotel Fort Des Moines.

"It is hard to understand how conduct of this kind can be allowed to continue in Des Moines in 2023," attorney Roxanne Conlin, who is representing both plaintiffs, told the Register. "Shame on the companies that do not stop it."

Hilton Hotels International declined to comment. It has filed motions to dismiss, arguing that it has no connection to the cases other than licensing its brand to the hotel.

Attorneys for the local management group and employees, who also have filed motions to dismiss parts of the case, did not respond to a request for comment.

Maintenance manager accused of sexual harassment

One of the private rooms at In Confidence cocktail lounge at the Hotel Fort Des Moines.

Sydney Lalor, a former maintenance worker at the hotel, claims she was subjected to pervasive sexual harassment and unwanted touching by her boss, Director of Engineering Brad Johnson.

Hired in 2022, Lalor claims Johnson began making sexual comments and physical contact about a week after she was transferred to work under him. Her manager "would consistently find any excuse to touch her back, stomach, thigh, shoulders, and butt," peppered her with innuendo and inappropriate jokes and invitations for dates, telling her she was every man's "wet dream."

Lalor filed human resources complaints in May and July 2022 that resulted in a short suspension for Johnson. She claims that on his return, though, he treated the discipline as a joke and continued harassing her, frequently telling her that he was "HR's worst nightmare." She says Operations Director Neil Upadhyay and Human Resources Director Kyle Miriani told her they lacked evidence to fire Johnson, despite having refused to listen to recordings she offered them.

Eventually, she says, she was offered a chance to get away from him by moving to two other Des Moines metro hotels owned by the same company, but found her new work duties amounted to a demotion. She is suing for sex discrimination as well as assault and battery for the unwanted touching.

Security guard fired after coworker's harassment

Troy Tyler, a Black former security guard at the hotel, claims in his complaint that managers failed to put a stop to unceasing racial harassment from a coworker.

Like Lalor, Tyler was hired in 2022. He alleges that Kerri Blanchard, a lobby attendant at the hotel, soon began making false accusations against him, including that he was watching and following her around the hotel to intimidate her.

More: Ex-anchor Sonya Heitshusen loses discrimination lawsuit against WHO TV parent company

And as with Lalor, Tyler alleges managers sought to address the issue by changing his work schedule. He also says Miriani admitted the other employee was creating a "hostile work environment" for him.

Even so, he says in the suit, managers failed to discipline the Blanchard, even after she had falsely yelled that he had "sexually assaulted three people." Instead, he claims, they told him he needed to leave before his shift ended to avoid encountering her.

Tyler also alleges he was given the duties of security manager, but not the associated pay raise promised in his interview for the job, and that officials retaliated against him for encouraging Lalor to report the abuse against her. Ultimately, he says, both he and Blanchard were fired. The lobby attendant was then hired back, with back pay, while he was not, he says.

Tyler claims Blanchard's harassment was due to his race, and alleges violations of state and federal antidiscrimination laws.

Defendants ask court to dismiss case

In their complaints, Tyler and Lalor name several corporate entities . In motions to dismiss, the companies argue they should be dismissed from the complaint because the two have failed to sue the corporate subsidiary for whom they actually worked.

Recently: DMACC wins Iowa Supreme Court appeal after worker's $1.4M sex discrimination verdict

In addition, they argue that Tyler's complaint describes a "personal conflict" with a coworker and offers no facts supporting his claim the lobby attendant's actions were motivated by race. As for Lalor, they argue that her assault and battery claims must be addressed through a workers' compensation claim rather than litigation.

William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com or 715-573-8166.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Fort Des Moines Hotel sued for alleged discrimination, harassment
BALTIMORE  A massive container ship adrift at 9 mph issued a mayday early Tuesday as it headed toward the iconic Francis Scott Key Bridge, losing power before colliding with one of the bridges support columns. As the vessel struck the bridge in the middle of the night, it caused a din that could be heard ashore and immediately toppled an essential mid-Atlantic thoroughfare into the frigid waters.

Several cars were knocked into the Patapsco River and as of Tuesday around 11 a.m., authorities were searching for six construction workers who had been repairing potholes on the bridge. Two others were rescued  one who was briefly hospitalized and another who declined to go to a hospital. Extensive rescue efforts were ongoing.

Baltimore awoke to the tragedy: States of emergency declared by both the mayor and governor, search-and-rescue efforts for those missing, a bridge disappeared.

Before the collision, the ships crew notified authorities that the vessel had lost power. That mayday allowed Maryland Transportation Authority Police on the highway above to prevent many cars from driving onto the bridge just before the catastrophe.

These people are heroes, Gov. Wes Moore said in a morning news conference. They saved lives last night.

Moore added that there was no evidence that the collision was a terrorist attack.

He vowed that the bridge will be rebuilt, though he noted it was too early to estimate when or at what cost.

In a White House address Tuesday afternoon, President Joe Biden said the federal government would pay for a new bridge.

I expect the Congress to support my effort. This is going to take some time, but the people of Baltimore can count on us, though, to stick with it every step of the way until the port is reopened and the bridge is rebuilt, he said.

A few hours after the 1:27 a.m. collision, Baltimore Fire Department Chief James Wallace said authorities had detected the presence of vehicles in the water by using sonar. Water in the area is about 50 feet deep.

Authorities have not determined the precise cause, but U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin told The Baltimore Sun in a phone interview that indications point to the vessel losing power, causing it to lose steering.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating, a spokesperson for the board said.

A Coast Guard briefing report obtained by The Sun stated that a harbor pilot and assistant were onboard and reported power issues, multiple alarms on the bridge, and loss of propulsion prior to the incident.

This is a tragedy that you could never imagine  It looked like something out of an action movie, Mayor Brandon Scott said at a news conference.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed overnight after being struck by a ship in the early morning of Tuesday, March 26.

Video from the incident shows the container ship, billowing smoke, colliding with the bridge support, and much of the structure quickly collapsing. Just before the collision, the ships lights appear to turn on and off multiple times.

The Singapore-flagged cargo ship named Dali had been traveling about 8 knots (roughly 9 mph). It was under the operation of a local pilot, as is required by Maryland law, to guide it through the port. The pilot will undergo drug and alcohol testing as part of the investigation.

All vehicle traffic has been rerouted from the 1.6-mile steel bridge, which is part of Interstate 695, a key traffic artery and one of Baltimores three toll crossings. The bridge carried more than 12.4 million commercial and passenger vehicles in 2023  about 34,000 a day  according to a November report.

The Port of Baltimore was still processing trucks inside of its terminals. But vessel traffic into and out of the port was suspended, state Transportation Secretary Paul J. Wiedefeld said, and a Coast Guard report stated that the Patapsco River channel is fully blocked.

Sal Mercogliano, a Campbell University professor and former merchant mariner who hosts a YouTube show on shipping, said it could take weeks if not months to clear the channel of bridge debris and open a lane for ships. That is likely to have grave consequences on commerce in the region.

We know that we have a long road ahead, not just in search-and-rescue, but in the fallout from this, Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. said at a news conference Tuesday morning.

Dispatchers first reported a possible vehicle in the water at the Key Bridge around 1:40 a.m., according to audio captured by Broadcastify and reviewed by The Sun. About 12 minutes later, a first responder who reached Fort Armistead Park got on the radio, reporting what he saw.

Be advised, the entire bridge  the entire Key Bridge  is in the harbor, the person said. The entire Key Bridge has fallen into the harbor.

Priscilla Thompson, who lives on the water in Dundalk facing the Key Bridge, was awakened in the middle of the night by the horrible sound of crashing steel.

I really thought it was an earthquake or something because it shook this house so bad, she said. It shook it  it really rattled it  for four or five seconds.

And then, it got real quiet, she said.

Another nearby resident, John Flansburg, woke up to what sounded like a car crash.

Its like there was a big accident right outside my door, he said. Then Ive seen all this devastation.

Jesus Campos is an employee of Brawner Builders, the company with a crew on the bridge when it collapsed. He told reporters in Spanish that police have visited the homes of his fellow crew members who are missing.

Campos used to work on the bridge team, but was recently switched to a different shift. I could have been there like my coworkers, he said through a translator.

The Coast Guard has deployed four boats, as well as a helicopter, to aid in the search and rescue mission. Several police helicopters were also circling the area.

Authorities said they are using sonar and underwater drones as part of the rescue efforts. Divers have battled against water temperature, tide and darkness, Wallace said. The National Data Buoy Center reported water temperatures in that area of the Patapsco were about 49 degrees at 4 a.m. The air temperature was 41, and winds were light.

The ship was built in 2015 and had arrived from Norfolk, Virginia, according to Vessel Finder, a ship tracking website. It left the Port of Baltimore around 1 a.m., about a half hour before the collision, according to MarineTraffic, a separate tracking website.

According to a statement from Dalis owners and managers, all of the ships 22 Indian crew members and two pilots who were on board have been accounted for and there are no reports of any injuries.

Dali previously collided with a platform, known as a quay, while leaving the Port of Antwerp in Belgium in July 2016, according to VesselFinder. That caused significant damage to its hull, and it was docked for repairs before returning to duty.

Cardin said that the immediate focus is search-and-rescue and added that there werent too many occupied vehicles on the bridge.

There has been no pollution, the ships manager, Synergy Marine Group, said. Wallace said authorities had not confirmed if any fuel spilled into the water but said there had been an odor of diesel fuel.

The R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center received one patient from the collapse, according to Michael Schwartzberg, a spokesperson for the University of Maryland Medical Center. Schwartzberg said the patient has been discharged.

The transportation authority noted on social media the interstate 95 and 895 tunnels are alternative ways to travel across the harbor. Vehicles transporting hazardous materials, however, are prohibited in tunnels and should use the western section of I-695 around tunnels, the authority posted.

Moore said the bridge was fully up to code and a Johns Hopkins professor of structural and civil engineering who reviewed video of the incident said he didnt see anything that immediately stood out as a red flag in regards to the bridges structural integrity.

The bridge had two supports holding it up. If you take one away, its not a bridge anymore, Benjamin W. Schaefer told The Sun.

We will want to know more; the community will want to know the root of the collapse  but this seems like more of an acute event, he said.

Mercogliano, the former merchant mariner, said video of the event illustrates that something mechanical went wrong. Without power, the pilot and crew would have been unable to navigate the ship, he said.

When the power goes out  the worst feeling you can have on a ship as a sailor is everything gets quiet, Mercogliano told The Sun. Thats the worst. Because thats the clear sign that everything is about to go wrong.

Before ships leave a dock, they undergo a series of tests to ensure they are seaworthy. Whether Dali had issues before it departed will be key to the investigation, he said.

[If] that ship would have lost power a minute before or a minute after, it wouldnt have hit the bridge. It just lost power at the exact wrong moment, Mercogliano said.

The Key Bridge, which opened in March 1977 after five years of construction and cost an estimated $110 million, is named for the Marylander who wrote the lyrics for The Star-Spangled Banner.

Before daybreak Tuesday, 50-year-old Lupe Lucas and her son stood along the waters edge in Dundalk, gazing at the area the Key Bridge once spanned. The center of the bridge had disappeared, save for a section collapsed on top of the huge, still ship.

When the sun rises, and theres nothing there, thats going to be heartbreaking for a lot of people, she said.

_____

Baltimore Sun Media staff Jeff Barker, Darcy Costello, Michelle Deal-Zimmerman, Hannah Gaskill, Sam Janesch, Natalie Jones, Lorraine Mirabella, Emily Opilo, Jonathan M. Pitts, Angela Roberts and Lia Russell contributed to this article.
Wanda Halbert, the current Shelby County Clerk and former Memphis City Council member, has become a polarizing figure in local politics. From long lines to expired leases on buildings, Halbert has been at the forefront of controversies surrounding the Shelby County Clerk's office.

In June, a special investigation into Halbert and if she is "willfully neglectful of office," started and details surrounding the investigation have been sparse at best. The investigation is still ongoing, but there have been developments within the clerk's office since the investigation was announced.

Office closures due to unpaid rent and incorrect or missing finance reports have impacted both customers and county operations.

Who is Wanda Halbert?

Halbert is currently serving as the Shelby County Clerk, a position that manages the second-largest revenue-generating office in the county. The county clerk is responsible for selling and registering license plates, collecting liquor taxes and issuing marriage licenses, among other things.

Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert is sworn in during the Oath of Office Ceremony Shelby County government officials on Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022, at the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts in Memphis.

Halbert was elected in 2018 and reelected in 2022. She previously served as a Memphis City Council member for District 4.

County clerks serve four-year terms. Halbert's term in office will be up in 2026.

What prompted the investigation into Halbert?

Shelby County Commissioner Mick Wright has been a long-time critic of Halbert. In order to pass wheel tax increase legislation, a deal was struck between Wright and Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris to investigate Halbert for neglect of her office for Wright to be the ninth vote needed.

Since the investigation, Wright submitted a formal complaint about Halbert to the Hamilton County District Attorney, which is investigating Halbert, after it was revealed that one had not yet been submitted.

The investigation was prompted by issues in the clerk's operations dating back to 2020, with office closures to handle backlogs, lease expirations and incorrect or unsubmitted financial reports.

Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert stands next to a line of people waiting to be helped while giving a tour of the clerks office to The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn., on Friday, January 5, 2024.

In 2020, the Germantown location of the Clerk's office was closed due to a lease expiration. In Wright's formal complaint, he claims that many of the issues within the Clerk's office came to prominence in September 2021 after an audit of her office at her request.

Halbert has repeatedly claimed that her office is due millions of dollars in revenues generated by her office.

Halbert asked for a separate internal audit of her office, and "engaged with the accounting firm CBIZ," which produced an agreed-upon procedures report "at some point in early 2021." After the audit, Wright said in the complaint, the county's own internal auditor reviewed the findings by CBIZ and both the external auditor and CBIZ cited "a lack of internal controls in the Clerks office."

A letter from the Tennessee Comptroller from September 2021 asked Halbert to "cooperate with other Shelby County offices," and submit on-time and accurate revenue reports. During a March 2022 Shelby County Commission committee meeting, an appearance from county external auditors Watkins Uiberall and Banks, Finley, White & Co also said they found "several material weaknesses in internal controls related to the audit of the Shelby County Clerks office."

More: Shelby County Commission looks to use hotel-motel tax to fund FedExForum renovations

The auditors recommended that the clerk take corrective action, and Commissioners passed a resolution to formally ask her to do so. The problems in the office only continued after Halbert said there was a backlog in license plate mailouts.

Halbert said in June 2022 that license plates have not been mailed out since May due to a shortage in postage funding. In light of customer complaints of long lines, and a backlog of over 8,600 license plates, the Shelby County Board of Commissioners almost took a vote of no confidence in July 2022.

These developments were all amid her reelection campaign for a second term as clerk. Commissioners deferred the vote until after the election and opted to ask the state to take over the office instead of a vote of no confidence.

In August 2022, the Tennessee Comptroller responded to the vote by telling Commissioners there was no legal authority or precedent that would allow for such a move and did not take over the office.

Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert hands a document to reporter Brooke Muckerman during an interview with The Commercial Appeal in her office in Memphis, Tenn., on Friday, January 5, 2024.

In August 2022, it was revealed that there was a backlog of 8,500 dealer applications from new car dealers. This backlog prompted a closure of the office to handle the situation. But it was discovered that during one of the clerk's office shutdowns, Halbert went on vacation.

In March 2023, Harris implored Halbert to find a new office location for the Poplar Plaza office or legal action would be taken.

What has happened since the investigation started?

Problems in the office only continued when lease expirations in two office locations were revealed by the property management company of the office locations.

Only eight months after Harris threatened legal action, the Poplar Plaza location shut its doors due to unpaid rent and a lease expiration. Shortly after, in November 2023, documents from the Shelby County Trustee's Office revealed that Halbert had not submitted a completed revenue report on time dating back to at least July 2021.

Shelby County Commissioners then asked for a formal update regarding the investigation that started in June. Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp wrote a letter to Commissioners, saying that there had been no formal complaint filed against Halbert.

Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp gives updates during a press conference about the investigation into Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert for incorrect revenue reports on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Shelby County Administration Building in Memphis, Tenn.

Shortly after the update, Wright penned the formal complaint letter to Wamp.

Wamp's team visited Shelby County and met with stakeholders regarding the investigation. Halbert met with one of Wamp's team members during their late December 2023 visit.

In February, Trustee Regina Newman said she would begin "un-posting" revenue reports on the trustee's website as they continued to be submitted incorrectly. Shelby County Director of Finance Audrey Tipton said that payments to schools, funded by the wheel tax the clerk's office charges, were behind.

Neman said that the Tennessee Comptroller was contacted regarding the incorrect revenue reports.

In late February, Comptroller Jason E. Mumpower wrote a letter saying his office would be sending auditors to aid the clerk in submitting revised revenue reports. Days later, Halbert submitted her office's own revised revenue reports but they were still incorrect. Revenue reports "blessed," by state auditors were submitted and correct totals are now on the trustee's website.

There was a scheduled appearance in March from Halbert at a Shelby County Commission committee meeting to discuss the revenue report issues but was delayed until April 3rd.

Mumpower then gave his report on the office after the auditors left. He outlined numerous issues within the office and said his office "lacks confidence the clerks office will be able to accurately report revenue figures in future months."

A day after the report was released, Wamp gave her first media appearance to discuss the investigation and said she learned about things within Halbert's office that caused her "great concern."

Wamp said there is no time estimate on the conclusion of the investigation.

Brooke Muckerman covers Shelby County Government for The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at (901) 484-6225, brooke.muckerman@commercialappeal.com and followed on X, formerly known as Twitter @BrookeMuckerman.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: A timeline of investigations into Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert
FIRST ON FOX: A prominent social justice and environmental activist group with high-level access in the Biden administration employs one of the so-called "top soldiers" of the Nation of Islam, a Black nationalist religious organization with a long track record of antisemitism and racism.

Terence Muhammad, the lead events and field coordinator for the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Hip Hop Caucus, has repeatedly praised the Nation of Islam and its current leader, Louis Farrakhan, according to a Fox News Digital review of social media posts. The Hip Hop Caucus, whose stated mission is to fight injustice and enact change, has been involved in key Biden administration policy decisions.

And according to the White House visitor logs, Hip Hop Caucus President and CEO Lennox Yearwood has visited at least seven times since Biden took office, with six of those visits happening in 2023. In the most recent example, Yearwood and two other Hip Hop Caucus officials, Tanya House and Cynthia Swann, were hosted in the West Wing for a private meeting with White House Domestic Policy Council adviser Sofia Carratala.

"Bless Minister [Louis Farrakhan] allowing one of his top soldiers [Terence Muhammad] 2 be w/ me for #MOW50. Much LOVE to the [Nation of Islam]," Yearwood wrote in a 2013 post during an event commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington.

DEM DA'S STAFFER WHO PRAISED LOUIS FARRAKHAN PLACED ON LEAVE AFTER ANTISEMITIC REMARKS UNCOVERED

In April 2015, during an event protesting police brutality, Muhammad posted a picture of Yearwood "with Malik Farrakhan and the brothers of the F.O.I." The acronym "F.O.I." appears to be a reference to the Fruits of Islam, the paramilitary wing of the Nation of Islam.

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Muhammad  who Yearwood described as a "dear brother and friend" in 2020  has a long history of himself praising and, on multiple occasions, raising money for Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam.

"Just for the record AGAIN. I love [Louis Farrakhan]. He is my heart," Muhammad said in a March 2018 post that included a picture of him with Farrakhan.

FETTERMAN REJECTS HARRIS SUGGESTION THAT ISRAEL COULD FACE CONSEQUENCES FOR RAFAH INVASION: 'HARD DISAGREE'

"I need the word (sic) to know that I love the Honorable Minister [Louis Farrakhan]," Muhammad said months later. "He saved and gives me life. He 1st loved me so that one day I can completely love myself. I love my people because of him."

The Hip Hop Caucus official went as far as to characterize himself as a "soldier" of the Nation of Islam in 2019.

"I'm an EXTREMELY Proud, Active, and Known citizen/soldier of the Nation of Islam," he wrote in March 2019, in a post tagging Farrakhan.

ISRAEL LAUDS CONGRESS' BLOW TO UN AGENCY WITH ALLEGED HAMAS TIES AS INVESTIGATIONS CONTINUE

The Anti-Defamation League labeled Farrakhan the "most popular antisemite in America" in 2020.

Two months later, Muhammad vociferously defended Farrakhan in a post in which he said Farrakhan is a "servant of God."

Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam have been heavily criticized by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which was founded to stop the defamation of Jewish people and by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). The ADL has called Farrakhan "one of the most prominent antisemites" and SPLC has classified Nation of Islam as a hate group.

WHITE HOUSE 'DENOUNCES' DC OFFICIAL'S PRAISE OF ANTISEMITE LOUIS FARRAKHAN

In a statement to Fox News Digital, the White House said Biden fully denounces Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam. It also pointed to Farrakhan's recent criticism of Biden over his support for Israel.

"For decades, President Biden has unequivocally condemned Louis Farrakhan and the repugnant Antisemitic hate he represents  including by co-sponsoring bipartisan legislation," White House spokesperson Andrew Bates told Fox News Digital. "He fully denounces any praise of Louis Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam, or their values, as he does in this case. And as recent comments from Louis Farrakhan demonstrate, the feeling is mutual."

The White House has hosted Hip Hop Caucus President and CEO Lennox Yearwood on multiple occasions, according to visitor logs. And EPA Administrator Michael Regan, right, has called Yearwood a "good friend."

However, the most recent example of Biden himself condemning Farrakhan appears to be a Senate floor speech from 1984, four decades ago.

Meanwhile, in addition to Yearwood's visits to the Biden White House, the Hip Hop Caucus has been prominently involved in several Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) actions. Most recently, Yearwood was quoted by the EPA praising an announcement last month cracking down on fossil fuel-fired power plant emissions.

"EPA appreciates the important on-going work of the Hip Hop Caucus and Reverend Yearwood to advocate for environmental justice across the country," EPA spokesperson Timothy Carroll told Fox News Digital. "EPA condemns statements of hate or prejudice against any group or individual based on religion, race, or background."

The Nation of Islam and Hip Hop Caucus didn't respond to requests for comment.





Original article source: Left-wing activist who hired one of Farrakhan's 'top soldiers' has visited Biden White House 7 times
Legal experts raise alarm on President Biden's 'plan B' student loan handout

Legal experts interviewed by Fox News Digital are expressing concern that President Joe Biden's ongoing efforts to cancel student loans may be pushing the limits of his executive authority.

The experts said the Biden administration's pursuit of mass student debt forgiveness may be more politically motivated than legally justified, warning that additional legal challenges may arise as a result. Biden's first attempt to cancel student debt  which would have canceled roughly $430 billion in federal student loan balances and erased the debts of 20 million borrowers  was struck down last year by the Supreme Court.

"At a fundamental level, Congress is the one who should be making these decisions," Anastasia Boden, the director of the Cato Institute's Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies, told Fox News Digital in an interview. "These are decisions that entail billions of dollars in forgiveness and really threaten the viability of the entire student loan program because we know that forgiveness programs like this just tend to drive up the prices of education."

BIDEN PLANS EVEN BIGGER STUDENT LOAN HANDOUT, DUMPING THE BILL ON YOU

President Joe Biden with Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on Aug. 24, 2022.

Shortly after Biden's original student debt forgiveness program was overturned by the Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision in June 2023, the president blasted the high court and accused it of misinterpreting the Constitution. The ruling, the president remarked, is "snatching from the hands of millions of Americans thousands of dollars in debt relief that was about to change their lives."

However, the president has pursued a plan B strategy since the decision: a piecemeal approach, leveraging and expanding various existing Department of Education loan programs. Last week, Biden committed to "continuing to pursue an alternative path to deliver student debt relief to as many borrowers as possible as quickly as possible."

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NATIONAL DEBT TRACKER: SEE WHAT AMERICAN TAXPAYERS (YOU) OWE IN REAL TIME

"They've become more careful," said Michael Poon, an attorney at the public interest law firm Pacific Legal Foundation. "Now, they're doing things through a normal administrative process, a normal rulemaking process. But many parts of their student loan cancelation efforts are still unlawful in the same way. They still are not authorized by statutes that Congress has passed."

"It's really just loan cancelation by another name," Poon continued. "So, they're expanding exemptions, they're saying that certain parts of loans will just be forgiven outright. A lot of those parts of the program are still not authorized by statute. They're just being a little more subtle about it and trying to keep it out of the court."

President Biden's administration has awarded $143.6 billion in student loan forgiveness to nearly four million Americans in a piecemeal approach to loan cancelation.

He noted that the Supreme Court's ruling last year emphasized that Congress "has to speak really clearly" authorizing a federal program that is at the scale of Biden's original student debt plan. Highly political programs, according to Poon, should be decided by the most responsive and most democratic branch of government: Congress.

"I think we should all be concerned any time a president acts beyond the authority that's granted to him by law, because the rule of law is what protects liberty and stops the country from becoming a dictatorship or a tyranny," Poon continued. "I think that the Biden administration's loan cancelation efforts are an example of what happens when a president tries to stretch his legal authority to accomplish aims that are not authorized by law."

BIDEN BRAGS SUPREME COURT 'DIDN'T STOP' HIM FROM CANCELING STUDENT LOANS: HE'S 'HAPPY TO BREAK THE LAW'

Overall, using a wide range of Department of Education programs, the Biden administration has awarded $143.6 billion in student loan forgiveness to nearly four million Americans, a large slice of the $1.7 trillion in total student loan debt owed by Americans. The latest cancelation came last week when Education Secretary Miguel Cardona announced an additional $5.8 billion in student loan debt relief for 77,700 borrowers.

The largest share of the overall total, roughly $62.5 billion, has been delivered by the Department of Education's so-called Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. Under the president's direction, the department recently "fixed" the PSLF, vastly expanding its scope and borrowers' eligibility. Prior to those changes, just 7,000 borrowers had benefited from the PSLF.

"Today, more than 100 times more borrowers are eligible for PSLF than there were at the beginning of the Administration. The Biden Administration is turning a promise broken under our predecessor into a promise kept," Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said last week.

In addition, the Department of Education recently created Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan, the newest type of income-driven repayment plan that allows borrowers to modify their monthly student debt obligation based on their income.

"Unlike what they did in August 2022, they weren't forthcoming with a lot of heavy legal justifications for this," Jack Fitzhenry, a legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation's Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, told Fox News Digital. "The consistent refrain coming from the White House and the Department of Education is, Oh, we are simply fixing past administrative mistakes so that borrowers get the credit that they deserve."

CONSEQUENCES OF BIDENS PLAN TO CANCEL STUDENT LOAN DEBT, ACCORDING TO EXPERTS: ENORMOUS CONSEQUENCES

"I think the problem is that what they seem to be doing is not necessarily fixing past mistakes," Fitzhenry said. "The bigger issue from a legal standpoint, seems to be that the Biden White House is reimagining what a qualifying repayment is." He said that determination was already made by Congress  but the Biden administration has now effectively made its own rules.

And Beth Akers, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who has researched the economics of higher education, warned of the broader implications of mass student debt relief. For example, she said the program will likely benefit wealthy Americans and may cause universities to raise prices even higher if they determine students are going to eventually have their debt canceled.

BIDEN'S $1.2B STUDENT DEBT CANCELATION IS ABOUT 'BUYING VOTES' TO WIN RE-ELECTION, SAYS GOV NOEM

She also said the administration's efforts on the issue have largely been political, noting the president's remarks during the 2020 presidential campaign that mass cancelation of student loan debt would be economically unfeasible.

Student debt relief activists participate in a rally at the U.S. Supreme Court on June 30, 2023.

"I think Biden appreciates the economic challenge of creating a student loan bailout and why it doesn't make perfect economic sense," she said. "But why did he ultimately propose the cancelation plan as part of his platform? He needs to be able to hang with the rest of the Democratic Party, which had decided that this was the status quo for them  to be pro-cancelation."

"I think at this point, voters have internalized the message that loans can or should be forgiven and are looking for that. And I do think that even the piecemeal approach may be a way for the administration to keep the message that they are canceling student loans in papers and headlines because it's kind of this drip, drip, drip."

The Department of Education didn't respond to a request for comment.





Original article source: Legal experts raise alarm on President Biden's 'plan B' student loan handout
After scoring a major win Monday in the New York civil fraud case against him, legal experts weigh whether former president Donald Trump can appeal the $454 million judgment as a violation of his constitutional rights.

The 45th president and presumptive GOP nominee in the 2024 election had until Monday to pay a $454 million bond or face seizure of his assets by Attorney General Letitia James, in accordance with an order by Judge Arthur Engoron.

But just hours before the deadline, the New York Appeals court slashed the bond by 60%, ordering Trump to pay $175 million while the case is appealed.

Legal experts told Fox News Digital that one legal avenue Trump and his lawyers could and should pursue is trying to prove that the whopping half-billion figure violates a U.S. constitutional amendment that bans "excessive fines."

TRUMP'S $454M JUDGMENT BOND SLASHED BY MORE THAN HALF IN APPEALS COURT RULING

Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump gestures to supporters during an election night watch party at the State Fairgrounds on February 24, 2024 in Columbia, South Carolina.

James sued Trump under a New York State Executive law that gives broad investigative authority and that was designed to protect against consumer fraud.

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She accused him and his company of inflating the values of properties in order to secure better rates on loans from banks. In this unusual case, the state couldnt prove obvious victims Trump had harmed that incurred major losses.

Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Engoron in February sided against Trump, and imposed what's known as a "disgorgement"  a legal remedy that requires someone who profited illegally to give back any profits made while engaging in the illegal activity.

"It is unheard of to seek repayment of over $464 million when there was no identifiable victim and when the entities on the other side of all of these transactions were sophisticated investors who conducted their own due diligence," John Malcolm, a former assistant U.S. Attorney in Atlanta, told Fox News Digital in an interview.

Notably, bank executives who worked with Trump testified in court that they were happy with their business dealings with him, and even sought additional business with Trump, whom they viewed as a "whale of a client."

Engoron calculated what the banks would have profited from the loans to the Trump company had the values not been inflated over the course of several years.

TRUMP VOWS TO FIGHT NEW YORK AG CASE 'ALL THE WAY UP TO THE US SUPREME COURT,' AS DEADLINE TO POST $454M LOOMS

Justice Arthur Engoron presides over the civil fraud trial of former President Donald Trump at New York State Supreme Court on November 13, 2023 in New York City.

A disgorgement is not legally, technically, a fine. But legal experts say that the judgment could amount to what the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution bans.

That amendment says "excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted."

"The issue of whether disgorgement is considered a fine is a complicated one," Malcolm said. "However, if it is deemed to be a fine, it would certainly be an excessive fine that would violate the Eighth Amendment."

Jim Trusty, former legal counsel for Trump and a former federal prosecutor, said that the argument for an Eighth Amendment violation "is not absurd, because the disgorgement is thinly veiled as punitive fines."

Punitive damages are what courts assess strictly as punishment for a crime, in addition to the losses assessed that are owed to the victim.

"In this case, nobody lost anything. In fact, banks testified in court that they were clamoring to be back in business with Trump. Its not the only argument or the strongest argument he has, but its a valid reach because the judgment smells punitive," he added.

"The issue boils down to whether the judgment reflects ill-gotten gains being retrieved by the court, or something more punitive, like a fine," Trusty added.

Mark Brnovich, a former prosecutor and the former Attorney General of Arizona, told Fox News Digital that James' case is "more of a political vendetta" than having met the proper standards and application of justice.

"Whether you're suing a private company, whether it's a criminal case, a civil case,  when you're the government, you can take away people's livelihoods, their life, liberty and property," Brnovich remarked.

"So with that comes an awesome responsibility. And that means you don't just throw crap against the wall and see what sticks. You don't measure success in terms of the number of years in prison someone may get or how many fines you can get against a company or an individual. You measure success at the end of the day is, has justice been done?" he said.

The Eighth Amendment has historically only applied to criminal cases, and not civil cases.

But Brnovich, who brought and settled a consumer fraud case against the infamous Elizabeth Holms and her company, Theranos, said he thinks that the Eighth Amendment "can apply in a situation where you have a fine that is essentially arbitrary and punitive."

"And I think that what Trump's lawyers are doing  they're preserving that argument on appeal," he said.

NEW YORK APPEALS COURT ALLOWS TRUMP, SONS TO CONTINUE RUNNING BUSINESS, DENIES REQUEST TO DELAY PAYMENT

New York Attorney General Letitia James

Brnovich, who has argued before the Supreme Court in three cases, noted the recent trend over the last decade in which the high court appears "definitely willing to at some point to step in and say that a civil fine essentially crosses the line" into excessive, in violation of the Eighth Amendment.

In 2019, the Supreme Court determined for the very first time that the excessive fines' clause can be used to challenge state-court judgments.

In the majority opinion, the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg wrote, "For good reason, the protection against excessive fines has been a constant shield throughout Anglo-American history: Exorbitant tolls undermine other constitutional liberties."

"Excessive fines can be used, for example, to retaliate against or chill the speech of political enemies", she said.

More recently, the Supreme Court last term decided a case in favor of a 94-year-old Minnesota grandmother who claimed that the state violated her constitutional rights when they seized her condo over an unpaid tax debt, then sold the property and kept all the sale proceeds  which were far above what she actually owed.

In a concurring opinion, Justice Neil Gorsuch, along with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, noted how lower courts should consider Eighth Amendment challenges.

"Even without emphasizing culpability, this Court has said a statutory scheme may still be punitive where it serves another goal of punishment, such as [d]eterrence," he wrote.

"Economic penalties imposed to deter willful noncompliance with the law are fines by any other name. And the Constitution has something to say about them: They cannot be excessive," he said.





Original article source: Legal experts say Trumps whopping New York fee could be excessive under Constitution: unheard of
YANGON, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar authorities have seized 1 million stimulant tablets in the major city of Yangon, the state-run media Myanmar Digital News reported late Monday.

On March 21, the police received information that fugitives Thant Zin Oo and May Yu Tun were collaborating in transporting narcotic drugs from Yangon region to Sittwe and Buthidaung towns in Rakhine State.

Based on the tip-off, the police searched a house in Tamwe Township and arrested two suspects who were transporting the drugs.

Investigation based on information from the suspects led authorities to search a cargo ship, where 1 million stimulant tablets valued at 1 billion kyats (476,000 U.S. dollars) were discovered.

Further investigation is underway. 
Five were sentenced at Leicester Crown Court on Tuesday

Five people have been sentenced for their involvement in a 500,000 fraud and money laundering scheme.

Neale Rothera, 49, described by the Insolvency Service as the scheme's "ringleader", has been jailed for six years and four months.

He was sentenced at Leicester Crown Court on 19 March with four others.

Rothera set up businesses which claimed to sell furniture and carpets and used them as vehicles to commit the offences.

Simon Wakefield, Frederick Penn, Shona Walters, and Laura Perkins were all sentenced at the same hearing as Rothera, formerly of Station Road, Quorn.

The Insolvency Service said all four companies Rothera helped establish claimed to be in the business of selling carpets and furniture in the Leicestershire area, but were "in large part a sham".

Mark Stephens, chief investigator at the Insolvency Service, described the fraud as "very sophisticated, persistent, and carefully planned".

He said: "Neale Rothera was the common theme throughout, devising the schemes and orchestrating their implementation.

"Rothera was ably assisted by the others who fronted the companies or helped him launder the fraudulently obtained funds while he acted as a shadow director.

"None of the individuals involved were exploited or coerced into taking part in this criminal behaviour and we hope these sentences serve a warning to those considering such fraudulent actions."

The offences happened in 2012 and 2013, with the fraud centred around "invoice factoring agreements" between financial services institutions and four companies: Thistle Interiors Ltd, Sorrel Trading Ltd, Wakefield Trading Ltd, and Penn Interiors Ltd.

The Insolvency Service explained invoice factoring is a "legitimate type of finance which allow businesses to access the money tied up in unpaid invoices from banks", instead of having to wait to be paid by customers.

Rothera enlisted the help of Walters, Wakefield and Penn to act upon his behalf as directors, as no bank would enter into a credit agreement with him.

All three "played a willing and active role" in securing the factoring agreements, the Insolvency Service added.

Rothera used money from this fraud towards compensation he was ordered to pay after being convicted of another fraud offence in Scotland.

Wakefield withdrew 235,340 of the fraudulently-obtained funds on Rothera's behalf between July and August 2012.

562,901 never recovered

Rothera pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud by false representation and one count of money laundering and, along with his prison sentence, was disqualified as a company director for nine years.

Walters, 54, of Church Street, Lossiemouth, Moray, and Penn, 76, of Roughlands Drive, Carronshore, Falkirk, both received a 19-month suspended prison sentence, 20 days of rehabilitation activity, and 140 hours of unpaid work, after pleading guilty to one count of fraud by false representation and one count of money laundering each.

Wakefield, 53, of St Mary's Crescent, East Leake, Nottinghamshire, received a 22-month suspended prison sentence, 10 days rehabilitation activity, and 175 hours of unpaid work, after pleading guilty to one count of fraud by false representation and one count of money laundering.

Laura Perkins, 31, of Mundy Close, Burton on the Wolds, pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering, receiving an 18-month community order and 50 hours of unpaid work.

The director of Sorrel Trading Ltd was not prosecuted due to insufficient evidence.

A total of 562,901.64 was ultimately never recovered by the banks.

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Teaching requires the kind of granular attention to detail that might be more readily associated with a botanist.

Lesson planning, grading assignments, creating slideshows, writing (and erasing) the daily agenda board, updating the data wall, analyzing test data: all aspects of the profession need constant focus. But the most important part of teaching, the one that requires all of my attention, are my students needs.

My classroom is made up of an eclectic mix of kids, all with different interests, priorities, and skill sets. Some students, like Jacob, need only a nudge to set them off on a new subject matter that will enthrall them for months.

Others, like Tracy, drag their desk next to mine every day in order to comb through each step of the activity, making sure they dont get confused. Most students fall somewhere in between Jacob and Tracy, and its this attention to fairness that makes my classroom hum with excitement, frustration, laughter and learning.

School funding should be equitable.

This same attention to fairness should be applied to Mississippis school funding formula.

Since 1997, the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP) has governed how public schools are funded in Mississippi. The formula that MAEP uses to determine how much money each school district receives relies on the notion that schools should receive equal funding based on equal measures.

However, these equal measures have adverse effects. In the 26 years since MAEP was established, we have learned a lot about the importance of adequate and equitable funding for all school districts in the state.

For example, MAEPs over-reliance on teacher units for funding prioritizes districts with a strong tax base and fails to account for the myriad needs of students throughout the state. It makes no provisions for funding English Language Learners, a rapidly growing demographic in Mississippi, especially along the coast, and assumes that students who come from low-income areas and students with disabilities do not require much extra funding to help them advance academically and graduate.

Legislators in the House have recognized the need for a funding overhaul. Theyve responded with HB 1453, better known as the INSPIRE Act. The bill emphasizes the importance of an equitable distribution of funds in Mississippi. It starts with a base student cost of $6,650 for every student. Additional money is then factored in based on a weighted formula. The bill includes funding weights for low-income students, ELL students, and students with disabilities, among others.

In short, INSPIRE updates the school funding formula to reflect the real needs of Mississippians in 2024. MAEP improved the way we funded education in 1997 and it reflected both the demographics and the focus on "adequate" funding at the time. But the outdated and overly complex nature of MAEP requires not that the program be tweaked, as the senate is hoping to do with SB 2332, but that we completely re-conceptualize how we approach the immediate needs of students in Mississippi.

I work at West Tallahatchie High School, which, due to a hold harmless law in 2002, receives significantly more funding under the current iteration of MAEP than it would with INSPIRE. In fact, West Tally would stand to lose about $1,677 per student under the new bill after a three year phase out period, the most of any district in the state.

You might think Id be opposed to INSPIRE due to the drastic cut in funding at my school, but the bills provisions for equity ensure that my students, many of whom have distinct needs, will receive adequate and equitable funding for years to come. West Tally might lose some dollars in the short run, but the bill makes up for these cuts with a focus on equity in the long run.

It should be noted that the Senates new bill also includes a provision to drop the hold harmless law after 2025. However, the Senates bill only accounts for a small adjustment in funding for at-risk students, which means that West Tally, and many other schools to which the hold harmless laws currently apply, will receive less money over time without a fair formula that accounts for the challenges that schools in low-income communities face.

The INSPIRE Acts update to our funding formula should be celebrated. Weighted distribution of funds in all districts will ensure that our attention is trained on the growing diversity of Mississippi students. It will reflect a new and fairer approach to education, one that mirrors the lived experiences of teachers across the state, who teach students from all backgrounds and skill levels and who are gathered within the same four walls and sit in the same metal desks scattered about the classroom. All with one common goal: to learn.

Every Sunday afternoon, I sit down at the kitchen table and plan my lessons for the week. The most challenging and important part of that process is making sure my lessons suit the needs of all my students. As INSPIRE makes its way to the Senate, I urge legislators to consider all students and to work towards a more fair and equitable funding future.

 John Fredericks is the ninth and 10th grade ELA and AP English Literature teacher at West Tallahatchie High School in Webb, Mississippi and is a 2023-2024 Teach Plus Senior Writing Fellow. His work has been featured in Newsweek, The Hechinger Report, The Clarion Ledger, and The Nevada Independent.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Lets work toward a school funding formula for all MS students
Attorney General Letitia James sits in the courtroom for the civil trial of former President Donald Trump at New York State Supreme Court on Oct. 18, 2023, in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Theres a certain poetic justice to a Black woman exposing a criminal degenerate former president as being a complete fraud, political strategist Reecie Colbert tells theGrio.

Though Donald Trump saw a major victory on Monday when a New York appellate court reduced his nearly half-billion-dollar appeals bond, political and legal experts made clear that Attorney General Letitia James is the real winner in the civil fraud case.

Theres a certain poetic justice to a Black woman exposing a criminal degenerate former president as being a complete fraud, political strategist Reecie Colbert said of James, who made history as New Yorks first Black female attorney general. She really fearlessly went after Donald Trump, and she did it methodically, and she did it in a way that made her case unimpeachable. Thats why she got this massive victory.



Though Trump has an additional 10 days to pay $175 million, James made clear it holds no consequence to her historic win against a former U.S. president.

Donald Trump is still facing accountability for his staggering fraud, the Howard Law School graduate said in a statement issued Monday after Trumps $454 million appeals bond was narrowed on the day he was due to pay it. The $464 million judgment  plus interest  against Donald Trump and the other defendants still stands.

For her part, Letitia James has emerged as a powerful political figure. As former New York assemblyman and CEO of the Kairos Democracy Project Michael A. Blake points out, James is the most recognizable attorney general in America.

We cant ignore the significance of a Black person, and more specifically a Black woman, accomplishing this success against a man who has for decades gone after Black people, Blake told theGrio.

The 65-year-old attorney general, who made history in her successful prosecution of a former president, did what few prosecutors could do in decades past.

Attorney General Letitia James exits the courtroom during the civil fraud trial of former President Donald Trump and his children at New York State Supreme Court on Nov. 3, 2023, in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

There was a history of knowledge within the New York City and New York State community of these practices, and no one ever had enough courage to step up and actually bring about justice, explained April Camara, president and CEO of the National Legal Aid and Defender Association.

Camara told theGrio, Its really important to note that a Black woman was the person to step up and actually be courageous enough to investigate this case and bring it to a just result. She noted that James stood courageously against a lot of assaults and a lot of attacks on her character, and she didnt waver.

The fact that Trump moved to appeal the $454 million liability and extend the deadline for him to issue a lesser $175 million payment shows that James may have also exposed the so-called billionaire isnt as wealthy as he claimed to be.

The former president, who avoided paying federal taxes for at least a decade, is currently scrambling to put together the money while his 2024 reelection campaign continues to bleed cash and his Super PAC helps pay his legal fees amid several criminal and civil cases.

If youre assessing that you believe Trump was a successful businessman, its becoming very clear to you that hes a fraud, said Blake, who worked for the Obama White House and presidential campaigns.



For many people, they think about Trump from The Apprentice, he said. Its important to remind and educate people of the history. This family built their success in large part due to fraud and in large part because they were attacking Black and brown people.



The former vice chair of the Democratic National Committee recalled Trumps history of housing discrimination against Black residents in New York in the 1970s. Blake noted that Trump issued a call for the death penalty against five Black and brown teens, known as the Central Park Five, for an assault and rape they did not commit.

If the reason you thought Trump was successful, and think, Well, this is the man who got me a COVID check, said Blake, what you now have to envision is he is the man who has to now write a half-a-billion-dollar check because of the fraud he actually committed.

Colbert said that if the Biden-Harris reelection campaign and Democrats are savvy enough, a political prosecution of Trump is theirs for the taking.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump (center) attends the trial of himself, his adult sons, the Trump Organization, and others in a civil fraud case brought by state Attorney General Letitia James, at a Manhattan courthouse on Oct. 2, 2023, in New York City. (Photo by SETH WENIG/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

The idea that Trump is a successful businessman is one of his strongest narratives, she said. Thats why [people think] hes better on the economy. Thats why people feel like they did better under Trump. Colbert said, Democrats need to really run that home.

Not only is he a fraud in business, but his record is a fraud. The claims that he made about how he made your life better are fraud, she added. This whole save democracy thing is not going to resonate as much as really undercutting the notion that he was a competent president who actually accomplished anything. Thats the hardest thing that they have to get over.

The successful prosecution of Trump could also have a political impact on Letitia James, who briefly launched a campaign to be the governor of New York before dropping out to finish the job of attorney general.

How often can someone say that they have successfully defeated a former president in court? She has done that, said Blake.

Colbert said James demonstrates why Black women make for some of the best leaders, noting that she could see her moving to higher office, whether that is governor of New York or U.S. attorney general. Regardless, she said, James prosecution of Trump will go down in history as one of the most consequential civil judgments of all time.

Camara said that as a former public defender, she also understands what the Trump prosecution means for Black and brown communities.

Oftentimes what we see in the legal system is that people who are under-resourced and furthest away from money and power are oftentimes targeted and mostly impacted by prosecutions in the legal system, she explained.

To see the system actually worked fairly, even against a person who held the highest office in the land, is not only historic, but it is very important to preserving these ideas around equal justice for all.

Never miss a beat: Get our daily stories straight to your inbox with theGrios newsletter.

Gerren Keith Gaynor

Gerren Keith Gaynor is a White House Correspondent and the Managing Editor of Politics at theGrio. He is based in Washington, D.C.

The post Letitia James fearlessly exposes longstanding myths about Trump in fraud case appeared first on TheGrio.
WICHITA. Kan. (KSNW)  The van that was stolen from a Liberal family who was in Kansas City for their childs medical treatment has been found.

Pedro Arellanos son, Pedro Arellano Jr., has been battling heart defects and respiratory issues caused by DiGeorge Syndrome since he was born.

The van was found by the police Friday morning with extensive damage, and the medical supplies Pedro Jr. needs to survive are nowhere to be found.

Pedro said his family travels six hours from Liberal to Kansas City every few weeks for his sons medical needs. He said his son was a fighter.

Im at a loss for words to really express what my son has been through, said Pedro.

League 42 player saved by coach is expected to make full recovery

He said Pedro Jr. needed the medical supplies that were stolen from their car. He said the theft was the reason his son ended up in the emergency room later that day.

When it hits him, he has a hard time breathing, and so he needs breathing treatment to open up his airways to his lungs, and that equipment was in the van when it got stolen, said Arellano.

Shocked by the damage left behind, their only form of transport.

They obviously took a joyride; there was some damage done to the vehicle, windshield, front end, and also the back window was busted out; it looks like they hit a pole or something, said Pedro.

Unsure what insurance will cover, they will be renting a car to make Pedro Jr.s next appointment in Wichita. Pedro said Ascension Via Christi donated oxygen tanks for them to make it back home, and Childrens Mercy Hospital supplied them with car seats.

Overcome with emotion, Pedro said the outpouring of support from the Kansas City community has meant a lot.

Courtesy: Pedro Arellano

When things like this happen, the community comes together and really pulls through; God bless you all, man, Pedro said.

Pedro said they will be able to make it in time for Pedro Jr.s cardiology appointment in Wichita on Tuesday, thanks to the support they have received.

A GoFundMe has been set up for the family. Pedro said hes grateful for the nearly $20,000 that has been donated since the theft.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV.
The owner of the Lizzie Borden House on Second Street is once again asking a court to stop its neighbor, Miss Lizzies Coffee, from doing business.

US Ghost Adventures on Monday filed a brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. The bed and breakfasts owner asked the appeals court to reverse a federal District Court judges decision denying them a preliminary injunction against the coffee shop while the inn pursues a lawsuit against the cafe.

The Lizzie Borden House, at 230 Second St., claims that Miss Lizzies Coffee, at 242 Second St., is violating trademarks that US Ghost Adventures owns, creating confusion for customers and harming its business. It even claims a Fall River official was confused.

Miss Lizzie's Coffee Shop recently opened at 242 Second St. in Fall River.

"Many consumers are not only actually confused, but also (understandably) angry and upset about being deceived by this false association," the 71-page brief reads, prepared by attorneys at the law firms of Woods Rogers Vandeventer Black of Richmond, Virginia, and Day Pitney of Boston.

As a double whammy, while Miss Lizzie continues to sell more coffee and wrongfully profit from its false association, Ghost Adventures continues to be blamed by deceived consumers and irreparably harmed.

'Infuriating': Ghost tours nationwide have an axe to grind with Lizzie Borden House owner over trademarks

Didnt US Ghost Adventures already lose this case?

No. US Ghost Adventures sued Miss Lizzies Coffee in September 2023 in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts. As part of that lawsuit, it asked the judge for a preliminary injunction against the coffee shop  meaning, US Ghost Adventures wanted the judge to stop the cafe from doing business until the case was resolved.

In October 2023, the judge denied that preliminary injunction, so the B&B and the coffee shop have both continued to operate pending the lawsuit.

In November 2023, US Ghost Adventures appealed that judges decision to deny the injunction  that's the matter at hand now. The lawsuit is still an open case.

Did Lizzie Borden use an alias? 5 facts you never knew about Fall River's infamous murders

What is US Ghost Adventures claiming about Miss Lizzies Coffee?

The company claims Miss Lizzies Coffee is making money off an association with the Lizzie Borden House that doesnt exist. The company alleges that customers think the two businesses are linked, and that the coffee shop is profiting from the houses trademarks.

Miss Lizzie's coffee shop recently opened near the Lizzie Borden house in Fall River.

What trademarks does US Ghost Adventures think the cafe is violating?

Lizzie Borden infamously was accused of murdering her father and stepmother with a hatchet in 1892. USGA owns a trademark of a specific hatchet logo. Miss Lizzies Coffee has also used the image of a hatchet in its business advertising.

District Court Judge Leo Sorokin noted in October that the hatchets have key differences and are not the exact same image.

USGA claims differences between the logos are minor enough that customers might not notice them  it also says that customers won't look at both logos simultaneously, but instead will see hatchet logos on two buildings and presume theyre related.

The focus of the District Court's analysis should have been on the overall commercial impression conveyed by the marks, USGAs attorneys wrote in its appeal brief.

USGA also owns the wordmark Lizzie Borden for use in hotel and restaurant services. It claims that Lizzie is the dominant word in Miss Lizzies Coffees name, which violates that wordmark.

A killer look: This local artist designed a new mural for Fall River's Miss Lizzie's Coffee shop

The Lizzie Borden House is at 230 Second St. in Fall River.

Have customers really been confused about the Lizzie Borden House and Miss Lizzies Coffee?

USGAs brief includes multiple testimonials from tour guides and customers alleging that people thought the two businesses were related  in some cases, tour guides testified, customers wanting to take a tour were upset about having to dump out coffee they'd bought next door, thinking it was from the same business.

USGAs Director of Operations Josef Kruger also testified that someone from Fall Rivers Inspectional Services department contacted him on June 27, 2023. At the time, the building at 242 Second St. had a sign in its window saying Miss Lizzies was coming soon but had no other information.

Kruger said the inspector he spoke to demanded to know what business the Lizzie Borden House was attempting to open next door. The Lizzie Borden House cant open up Miss Lizzies without informing us of these details, Kruger said the inspector told him. The inspector had to be informed that the businesses are not related.

A vinyl mural of Lizzie Borden now graces the front window of Miss Lizzie's Coffee at 242 Second St. in Fall River on Thursday, March 14, 2024.

Has the coffee shop done anything to alleviate any potential confusion?

USGA notes that Miss Lizzies has posted a disclaimer, Our GHOSTS are totally independent and not to be confused with any other Ghosts! which it claims is too cute by half and makes a mockery of a serious legal issue.

That disclaimer is posted on the website for Miss Lizzie's Coffee. As of Monday afternoon, that disclaimer was not found at the shop itself. There, a sign posted in its front window reads: Miss Lizzies Coffee is NOT associated nor affiliated in any way with the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast or Museum next door or any other business. (Neither are our Ghosts.)

Whats next in this procedure?

Attorneys for USGA filed this brief attempting to prove why the District Court judges ruling was incorrect.

Next, attorneys for Miss Lizzies Coffee will file a brief attempting to prove the judges ruling was correct.

A panel of three judges will consider the briefs and make a ruling. There's no timetable for that ruling.

Dan Medeiros can be reached at dmedeiros@heraldnews.com. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Herald News today.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Lizzie Borden trademark coffee shop fight in federal appeals court
If you live in England or Wales then the answer to this question is "yes". On 2 May, every area in the two nations will have a vote in at least one election.

There is no general election but there are council and mayoral elections in some parts of England and Police and Crime Commissioner elections in most areas of England and Wales.

There are no scheduled elections in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

To see if there is an election in your area on 2 May use our lookup, made in collaboration with the Electoral Commission.

Council elections

Around 2,600 seats are being contested across 107 council areas. Although this is one of the smaller rounds of council elections, the results will be heavily scrutinised to see what they can tell us about how people might vote in an upcoming general election.

Labour and the Conservatives are defending a similar number of seats.

Bar chart showing council seats defended by each party in England, Conservatives 985, Labour 966, Lib Dems 410, Independents and others 133, Green Party 107, Residents' Associations 36

The councils up for election are mainly in urban areas in the North of England, across parts of the Midlands, and in the commuter belt surrounding London.

Most of the seats were last contested in May 2021 - when Boris Johnson was the prime minister; the Covid vaccination programme was well under way; and partygate had yet to be reported.

It was a good election result for the Conservatives. They gained control of 13 more councils and added over 200 councillors - although not all these councils are up in 2024. Labour did not fare so well - losing 300 seats and control of eight councils.

The Green Party made almost 90 gains but the Liberal Democrats made almost no progress, adding just eight seats.

Mayoral elections

The single biggest election this year in terms of power and influence is the race for the Mayor of London.

They oversee almost 20bn of spending in a city of 8.8 million people.

Whoever wins will have responsibility for policy and spending on areas such as transport, housing, planning and the environment in Greater London. They also oversee the Metropolitan Police and have a role in appointing the Commissioner.

There are also nine regional mayors up for election.Almost all were last contested in 2021 (apart from South Yorkshire in 2022).

Labour won in Liverpool, Manchester, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire. The Conservatives held on in the West Midlands and Tees Valley.

In 2024 there are three new regional mayors in the East Midlands, the North East, and York and North Yorkshire.

Regional mayors are responsible for planning and strategy for regional transport, skills training and local economic development across several local authorities.

In Greater Manchester, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and York and North Yorkshire they also oversee the police force and hold the chief constable to account.

Mayors will be elected using the first-past-the-post system for the first time this year - meaning voters will get to vote for only one candidate. In previous years they were elected using the supplementary vote system, where voters could select their first and second preferences.

London Assembly

The 25 members of the London Assembly are being elected this year. London Assembly members scrutinise the mayor's plans and spending proposals.

They have the power to reject strategies and make changes to budgets when two-thirds of Assembly Members agree.

The assembly is elected using a form of proportional representation called the additional member system. This means Londoners get two votes, one for the member who represents their constituency who is elected on a first-past-the-post basis and one for a party or individual on a London-wide list where the number of members per party are allocated in proportion to the number of votes received.

Police and Crime Commissioners

There are 37 Police and Crime Commissioner elections across most of England and all of Wales. Last elected in 2021, more than two-thirds were won by the Conservatives, including eleven gains.

Police and Crime Commissioners oversee policing within their police force area and hold the Chief Constable to account. They aim to cut crime and deliver an effective and efficient police service.

In Essex, Staffordshire, West Mercia and Northamptonshire, PCCs also oversee their local fire and rescue service.

In North Yorkshire and South Yorkshire, responsibility for overseeing the police has transferred to the regional mayor.

Like mayors, PCCs will be elected using first-past-the-post for the first time this year.

Lookup and maps created by: Wesley Stephenson, Callum Thomson, Steven Connor, Scott Jarvis, Marcos Gurgel, Alex Nicolaides, Matthew Taylor, Jana Tauschinski, Debie Loizou, Prina Shah, Holly Frampton, Adam Allen, Preeti Vaghela

More on this story
Fredis Cerrato, Honduras' minister of economic development, receives an interview with Xinhua in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, March 20, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Mengxin)

TEGUCIGALPA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- China is a strategic partner for Honduras with investments becoming concrete and bilateral negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) going well, a Honduran minister has said.

China-Honduras diplomatic relations, which were established in March 2023, are being consolidated in "giant steps" in different areas, Fredis Cerrato, Honduras' minister of economic development, told Xinhua.

Negotiation on the FTA has been "carried out satisfactorily," said Cerrato.

The two sides started the FTA negotiations in July 2023, about four months after the establishment of diplomatic relations.

He believed the agreement would allow more Honduran agricultural products to be exported to China and generate numerous jobs through investments from Chinese businessmen under the framework of the FTA.

Cerrato's expectations are based on the growth potential of China-Honduras trade as what he confirmed at the sixth China International Import Expo (CIIE) held in Shanghai in November last year.

Honduras attended the CIIE for the first time in 2023 as the Guest Country of Honor and exhibited signature Honduran products, especially agricultural and marine products, which were "very well received" by visitors.

"We believe we are going to be able to develop an extraordinary trade relationship in the areas of tobacco, coffee, shrimp and sugar, among other products," Cerrato said, noting that Honduran coffee is already being exported to China.

Coffee is one of the distinctive items of Honduras' exports. During the CIIE last year, Honduran producers signed contracts with Chinese importers for coffee products.

China's textile supplier Texhong and consumer product manufacturer Sunda International Group have both announced investments in Honduras, which are estimated to generate more than 10,000 direct and indirect jobs.

These investments, together with Honduras' agricultural exports to China, are expected to help the Central American country fulfill its economic and commercial development goals.

Such cooperation is going to lift the added values of agro-products, generate jobs, raise foreign exchange income, and improve social welfare for the country, said Cerrato.

The minister believed that exchanges and cooperation would promote the transfer of technology and knowledge so that young people can receive training.

"With China's growth and progress, we have no doubt that it is a strategic and fundamental partner for the development of our country," Cerrato said.

"We need to continue to build an increasingly strong long-term relationship so that we bet on a win-win situation and that both countries can bring benefits to their people," he added. 
Columbus, Ga (WRBL) For National Poison Prevention Month, Piedmont Columbus Regional and Safe Kids Columbus are joining up to warn parents about the potential dangers of THC and CBD edibles.

According to Safe Kids Columbus, there has been a state-wide increase in reports of children being hospitalized after ingesting THC and CBD-infused edibles.

Product packaging is sometimes designed to look like popular snack treats like candies and baked goods. The products may be crafted to resemble familiar brands like Doritos, Nerds, and Cheetos. These packages can easily attract the attention of unsuspecting children and teenagers.

According to Safe Kids Columbus, children under the age of 10 who are exposed to cannabis edibles are at a heightened risk of requiring hospital admission and respiratory support. Here are some prevention methods suggested by Safe Kids Columbus.

PREVENTION TIPS:

 Keep all cannabis products away from children

 Do not use cannabis products that look like common branded food items

 Do not use cannabis products around children

If your child has consumed edibles containing cannabis, contact Poison Control immediately at 1-800-222-1222. Prompt medical attention is crucial to ensure the safety and well-being of the child.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WRBL.
FRUITA, Colo. (KREX)  The U.S. House of Representatives just passed a bill looking to ban TikTok  now it goes to the Senate.

Representatives believe the Chinese company ByteDance, which owns TikTok, holds a dangerous amount of power and leverage within America.

But how does the Grand Valley feel about this possible ban? Western Slope Now went down to Fruita to find out.

Local massage therapist Mical Kramer believes the problem stretches beyond just national security. He says young girls are experiencing higher rates of depression and self-harm because of Tik Tok and similar platforms.

And local Aaron Seibert thinks the problem stretches beyond social media as a wholesaying its hard to tell what is an actual person or an automated bot on the other side of the screen.

Realtor Jeffrey Hoffman says even if this ban goes through, it wont be crippling, a new social media platform will just take its place.

Grand Junction President of Chamber of Commerce Candace Carnahan agrees  it shouldnt be crippling for businesses who use it to advertise either.

But even if other platforms prevail, where do voters draw the lineonce the government has the power to ban one app?

Only time will tell.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WesternSlopeNow.com.
FILE - Stella Assange, wife of Julian Assange, speaks besides a poster of Julian Assange at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024. A London court is due to rule whether WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can challenge extradition to the United States on espionage charges. Two judges will issue a ruling Tuesday morning in the High Court on whether Assange can make one final appeal in England. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

LONDON (AP)  A London court is scheduled Tuesday 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 due to issue a judgment in the High Court that could put an end to Assange's long legal saga  or further extend it.

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.

___

Follow AP's technology coverage at https://apnews.com/technology
London needs to 'wake up' to scale of spying, IP theft and interference ops threat by China, says senior MP

London needs to wake up to the scale and severity of the threat of espionage, intellectual property theft and interference operations by China, a leading parliamentarian warned.

Former Cabinet minister Theresa Villiers, who sits on Parliaments Intelligence and Security Committee, stressed that China is targeting the capital prolifically as it seeks to gain economic, political or military advantage.

Parliament, Government departments in Whitehall and beyond, leading universities, the City and company HQs make the city a target-rich ecosystem for State cyber attacks.

Speaking to The Standard, Ms Villiers, Conservative MP for Chipping Barnet, said: London needs to wake up to the scale of the risk posed by China, to our prosperity, our science and technology and our cyber security.

We are targeted prolifically by China.

Stressing the need to create a difficult operating environment for malign activity, she added: We do need to be more resilient than we are at the moment..thats across the board in London.

I fear that most of us dont appreciate the scale of the risk.

The concern is it might take some type of very significant cyber attack to really make London realise what the risks are and how important this issue is.

Chinese cyber attacks have become far more sophisticated in recent years.

Operations are often very carefully planned as companies and individuals in targeted countries have become far more cyber security aware.

In the Square Mile, law firms, accountants, audit firms and other professional services companies may be picked out given the high-level of regulation, including on resilience, for banks whose computers may be harder to hack.

Chinese state-based actors are understood to have shown a particular interest in stealing secrets on mergers and acquisitions which could give its state-owned enterprise in China a competitive advantage.

Some law firms may be targeted given all the documents on their systems about business deals, others due to them representing Chinese dissidents.

If a hacker gets access to a legal computer network they can then use it to then attack their main target, as a fake email from the latters lawyer would be unlikely to arouse suspicions.

Londons openness as a financial centre is one of its great strength but could also leave it vulnerable to attacks or to transferring funds for influencing operations.

A sizeable number of FTSE 100 and other companies, with headquarters in London, are likely to be on Beijings radar, including AI unicorns and smaller artificial intelligence firms, as well as those specialising in microchip developments, rare minerals and other key technologies.

In the past, Chinese cyber hackers may have sent a wave of phishing emails to try to gain access to a computer system to harvest intellectual property.

Now, they are more likely to try to calibrate what would be an effective but not too obvious number, so rather than 100 as someone might sound the alarm, or just a few as these may get ignored, a dozen or so might fulfil the operations aims.

Supply chains, IT and other technology companies may also be targeted as an easier back door into a major business.

Some multi-nationals will have supply chains with hundreds of firms and one weakness may be enough for hackers to get in.

Once a system is breached, state-bassed actors may remain hidden inside it for months, or even years, showing strategic patience to play a long game.

The Electoral Commission was hacked in August 2021 but it was only alerted to the breach in October 2022.

The Covid pandemic also saw a vast number of companies rushing to cobble together IT systems so their staff could work from home.

These networks, given the speed at which they were put together, may not have been the most secure and might also not be seen as a priority by bosses to go back and recheck to ensure they do not have flaws which could be exploited.

Parliament and Whitehall are key targets for Chinese cyber missions.

Cyber security in the Palace of Westminster has been significantly tightened over the years.

But Commons select committees, particularly those with an interest in China, as well as individual MPs and peers, are believed to be targeted by Beijing.

Chinese spies will have an eye on parliamentarians who could provide information on future Government policy, with the Foreign Office, Ministry of Defence and other parts of Whitehall facing a sustained cyber attack threat.

Ms Villiers explained: The most obvious area of current concern in relation to the political field is this recruitment of prominent, in the main retired politicians, but also civil servants into positions in Chinese business.

Because of (Chinas) whole-of-state approach those businesses are legally obliged under Chinese law to co-operate with the Government of Chinas international policies and its espionage efforts.

Professor Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute in London, explained how universities are places where people exchange ideas, conduct research, think outside the box and do innovative and inventive things and are not designed and equipped to protect national security.

So, the Government has to take the lead on that.

When you get into your scientific and technological research, there is a genuine element of academic collaboration and co-operation, which can produce synergy and push boundaries, he stressed.

China does have very, very good scientists and engineers who are able to co-operate with the best British institutions in that kind of technological field.

But grey areas can emerge.

What is legitimate and acceptable is a matter of national security definition, he added.

Some Chinese academics doing collaboration projects with UK institutions, would not be doing so to gain secrets on the instructions of the Chinese state.

If they are later asked, though, to pass on details of the research by Beijing, they would have to do so under president Xi Jinpings decrees, according to experts.

Some other researchers, from institutions believed to be affiliated to the Peoples Liberation Army, are suspected to have been sent to Britain to specifically to garner information.

China is believed to seek out not only research and technological breakthroughs, particularly from centres of STEM excellence, but also the development of ideas, in higher education institutions, think tanks and other non-governmental organisations, which could feed through into Government policies.

Many state actors also plan their operations based on their own domestic practices, traditions and laws.

So Chinese hackers may assume that some academics are doing work for the UK Government, even if they are not, and so target them, possibly for their intellectual property.

Ms Villiers said there had been movement away from situations where some universities may have taken Chinese money in the past with few questions asked, with almost a blind eye turned to what the long-term national security risks might be.

But we absolutely need to see more from the business community in London and from our scientists and academics as well, she added, on cyber security.
Slain NYPD officer Jonathan Diller is being mourned by his hometown of Massapequa Park, Long Island, where a 7 p.m. candlelight vigil will take place in Brady Park on Wednesday.

Oyster Bay Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino, County Executive Bruce Blakeman and Massapequa Park Village Mayor Daniel Pearl are all expected to attend the event honoring the 31-year-old policeman fatally shot during a traffic stop in Queens late Monday afternoon.

His bravery and selflessness made him a model officer to his brothers and sisters in law enforcement, who risk their lives each and every day to protect ours, Saladino said in a statement remembering the married father of a 1-year-old son. In gathering as a community to join together in mourning, we pay tribute to Officer Dillers courage and honor his memory.

Officials ordered flags to fly at half-staff throughout the Town of Oyster Bay.

A funeral at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Massapequa is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Saturday. The church is a little more than 30 miles east of Midtown Manhattan. A sea of blue is expected.

Dillers body will then be brought to St. Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale. The Massapequa Funeral Home is holding Thursday and Friday visitations during the afternoon and at night.

Diller joined the force in 2021. He was killed in what Mayor Eric Adams called a senseless act of violence committed by a career criminal who police said had been arrested more than 20 times.

Dillers brother-in-law Jonathan McAuley, also an NYPD cop, said Diller was walked out honorably, to many tears and salutes Monday night when his body was taken from Jamaica Hospital to a morgue, before being brought to the funeral home.

Former U.S. Congressman Pete King of Long Island offered his condolences on social media.

NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller from Massapequa Park was shot and killed tonight in the line of duty, he posted Monday night. Thoughts and prayers with Officer Diller and his family.
The Los Angeles Unified School District is celebrating the grand opening of a new housing complex that aims to help individuals and families transition from homelessness into permanent housing.

Sun Kings Apartments opened Monday in an area where, the school district says, a large percentage of families with school-age children have faced homelessness in their lives.

The affordable, permanent supportive housing project was built with the cooperation and coordination of the school district and Many Mansions, a nonprofit developer of affordable housing and services.

LAUSD Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho said the school district is committed to addressing the housing crisis for its families and help students have safe, reliable places to call home.

Students experiencing homelessness face a much steeper challenge in pursuing academic achievement because of the additional barriers they must overcome, Carvalho said. We are steadfast in our resolve to mitigate those challenges, leverage our partnerships and resources to create opportunities like Sun King Apartments and provide critical services to support our students and families.

Sun King Apartments in Sun Valley are shown in this photo provided by the Los Angeles Unified School District. The apartment complex for chronically homeless families held its grand opening on March 25, 2024

The 25-apartment complex provides supportive housing for chronically homeless households, an LAUSD news release states. Each unit is fully furnished, energy efficient and strategically located with easy access to freeways and public transit. Its also located near a hospital, a pharmacy and several LAUSD schools. The complex features on-site laundry, a community room and communal picnic and barbecue space.

The complex is made up of 12 one-bedroom units, 11 two-bedroom units, and three 900-square-foot three-bedroom units. All residents are identified as homeless individuals and families that make 30% of the area median income, officials said.

Sun King Apartments provides a nurturing environment for families as they transition out of homelessness, the news release reads. Residents will have access to a range of accessible supportive services to enable them to regain personal stability and thrive long-term, including comprehensive case management, youth programs and after-school support, connections to health care services, education and employment resources, life skills training, and more.

One of the newest residents of Sun King Apartments gives a thumbs up in this photo provided by the Los Angeles Unified School District on March 25, 2024.

The interior of one of the units in the Sun King Apartments in Sun Valley. (Los Angeles Unified School District)

More than 75,000 people experience homelessness on any given night in Los Angeles County, officials said. The new housing project will provide extra focus on programs for children and teens, with an emphasis on bridging the educational gap that some unhoused students face.

Anica Rubang is among the new residents at Sun King Apartments. She says the first night she and her daughter, Faith, spent in their new home provided a sense of safety and security we havent had in years.

She said her family is now looking forward to the next chapter in their lives with a safe and stable home.

Officials from the school district, Many Mansions and elected officials attended Mondays grand opening.

Public officials cut the ceremonial tape during the grand opening of Sun King Apartments in Sun Valley on March 25, 2024. (Los Angeles Unified School District)

Rick Schroeder, president and CEO of Many Mansions, said these types of permanent housing options have a proven track record of ending homelessness for individuals and families.

With a roof over their heads and a door they can close, they can begin the process of healing, regaining personal stability, and ultimately, thriving, Schroeder said. We know from our deep experience in developing supportive housing that Sun King Apartments will play an impactful role in the lives of our residents for years to come.

Sun King Apartments was made possible, in part, by funds provided by Proposition HHH, which was passed by voters in 2016 and allows Los Angeles city officials to release state and federal funding for the purpose of building supportive housing.

Proposition HHH will create a planned 10,519 new homes with life-saving supportive services by 2026, including a planned 8,596 new homes financed directly by HHH, the school district said.

Multiple community partners also collaborated to make the complex a reality.

For more information about Sun King Apartments, click here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
JACKSON COUNTY, Miss. (WKRG)  A Louisiana man is behind bars after allegedly killing a Georgia passenger on a Greyhound bus Sunday night.

According to Gautier police, the bus was traveling through Jackson County Mississippi when 26-year-old Rashad Price from Slidell, Louisiana, and 25-year-old Jay Jackson from Decatur, Georgia, got into an argument. Price then allegedly pulled out a gun and killed Jackson.

ONLY ON NEWS 5: She was my baby girl Mom of Foley hit and run victim speaks out

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is now investigating the homicide. Detective Bailey Martin, says the shooting occurred on I-10 in between the Gautier/Ocean Springs Exit and the Gautier Exit around 11:00 p.m. Sunday.

Price then demanded the bus driver to stop the bus on I-10 just before the Gautier exit so he could get off of the bus. The bus driver then drove to the FastMart gas station off of Gautier Vancleave Rd. and Martin Bluff Rd. where she called 911.

Employees at the gas station shared photos with News 5, you can see the other bus passengers standing in the parking lot with their luggage, while the body of Jackson remained on the Greyhound bus.

Crestview man arrested on multiple charges after leading deputies on chase

The Jackson County Sheriffs Department spotted Price running across the interstate around 3:00 a.m. Monday and arrested him. He remains at the Jackson County Adult Detention Center and is charged with murder and no bond.

News 5 reached out to the Greyhound bus company to see how a gun was able to get onto the bus, but we have not received a response.

No other passengers were harmed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRG News 5.
Abdul Hadi (left), Jaycie O'Conner, Leah Buller and Canaan Hoosier are the recipients of the Howard and Eloise Mulder Endowed Scholarship for the freshmen class of 2024 at LSUA.

Four incoming freshman are the recipients of the Howard and Eloise Mulder Endowed Scholarship at Louisiana State University of Alexandria, according to a press release issued by the university.

Canaan Hoosier of Buckeye High School, Leah Buller of Pineville High School, Jaycie OConner of Vinton High School and Abdul Hadi of Carbondale Community High School in Illinois will each will receive $20,000 scholarship to be distributed over four years.

The release states that the Mulder Scholarship is funded by a donation from the estate of Howard and Eloise Mulder. It recognizes students who demonstrate academic excellence, leadership, and community service. The Mulders were founding members of the LSUA Foundation and served on its Board of Directors for eight years. They were posthumously honored with the LSUA Distinguished Service Award in 2001.

For more information, and to complete the application for the Howard and Eloise Mulder Scholarship, visit https://bit.ly/mulderscholarship.

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: LSUA announces recipients of Mulder Scholarship
Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko said that the suspects who carried out the terrorist attack in Moscow on March 22 initially tried to flee to Belarus, state-run news outlet Belta reported on March 26.

Lukashenko's claim undermines the Kremlin narrative that Ukraine was involved in the attack. Russian leader Vladimir Putin repeated his claim on March 25 that the terrorists were caught while fleeing to the border with Ukraine, and questioned "who was waiting for them there."

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 the White House said there was no indication that Ukraine was behind it.

Lukashenko claimed that Belarus heavily increased security at the border with Russia immediately after the attack and the terrorists "understood that it was impossible to enter Belarus" through Russia's Bryansk Oblast.

After seeing the security at the border, they changed their plans and "turned away and went to the section of the Ukrainian-Russian border," Lukashenko claimed.

Bryansk Oblast borders Homiel and Mahiliou oblasts in Belarus and Chernihiv and Sumy oblasts in Ukraine.

Federal Security Service (FSB) Head Alexander Bortnikov doubled down on the narrative that the attackers were headed to Ukraine on March 26, claiming that the terrorists were heading to Ukraine, where they would have been "greeted as heroes."

Bortnikov alleged, without providing evidence, that the attack had been planned by Ukraine, the U.S., and the U.K.

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

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Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko said Tuesday that the alleged perpetrators in the Moscow concert hall attack were initially fleeing toward Belarus, not Ukraine, in the aftermath of the massacre on Friday.

Lukashenkos remarks contradict assertions made by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has tried to suggest Ukraine was involved in the attack, in part, by claiming that the gunmen were fleeing in the direction of Ukraine following the attack.

The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack, which has been further confirmed by the United States. Ukrainian officials have also denied accusations of it playing any role in the atrocity, in which nearly 140 people were killed and dozens more were injured.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Lukashenko touted the security measures that Belarus took following the attack, including some measures undertaken in coordination with Russia. He said when the attackers saw the security measures, they realized they would not be able to escape into Belarus.

Thats why they couldnt enter Belarus. They saw it. So they turned away and went to the section of the Ukrainian-Russian border, Lukashenko said about the perpetrators, according to the Belarusian state media outlet BELTA.

Putin and other Kremlin officials have aggressively pushed the narrative that Ukraine was involved in the attack.

On Tuesday, the head of the Federal Security Service (FSB), Alexander Bortnikov, doubled down on Putins unsubstantiated claim that the attack could not have been carried out by the Islamic State alone and that the Ukrainians somehow assisted, according to the Russian state media outlet TASS.

The primary data we received from the detainees confirms this, he said, repeating Putins claim that the bandits themselves intended to go abroad, specifically to the territory of Ukraine.

The attack came just days after Putin secured another term in office, in an election widely repudiated as undemocratic and orchestrated by Putin and his allies.

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.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
BEIRUT, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Two people were killed and nine other civilians sustained injuries on Tuesday in Israeli airstrikes on several towns and villages in southern Lebanon, Lebanese military sources said.

The military sources, who spoke anonymously, said that four successive raids hit three houses in the southeastern village of Mays al-Jabal, resulting in the death of a Hezbollah fighter and a Palestinian while also injuring five other civilians.

Another airstrike targeted two houses in the southwestern village of Tayr Harfa, destroying them and damaging a center of the Resala Health Ambulance Association while injuring four of its members, according to the sources.

The sources noted that an Israeli raid also struck a power plant near the southeastern village of Adaysseh, which led to a power outage in many border villages and towns.

The sources reported that Israeli forces fired 60 shells at 15 border towns and villages, destroying six homes and damaging 30 others.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah announced that it had launched attacks on several Israeli sites in response.

Tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border escalated on Oct. 8, 2023, following a barrage of rockets launched by the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah toward Israel in solidarity with Hamas' attack on Israel the day before. In response, Israel retaliated by firing heavy artillery toward southeastern Lebanon.

The clashes between Hezbollah and Israel have killed 369 people on the Lebanese side, including 242 Hezbollah members and 73 civilians, according to Lebanese security sources. 
Shooters responsible for the March 22 terror attack on Crocus City Hall near Moscow initially headed toward the Belarusian border, Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko said on March 26.

The statement contradicts Kremlin propaganda claims that they were planning to travel immediately to Ukraine.

Read also: Putin finally releases address on mass shooting in Moscow, tries to blame Ukraine

Belarusian state news agency BelTA quotes Lukashenko saying, "They couldn't possibly enter Belarus; they realized this, so they turned away and headed for a section of the Ukrainian-Russian border."

Read also: Why Russia is trying to blame Ukraine for Crocus City Hall attack: expert opinion

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin previously said that the perpetrators were Islamist extremists, but insisted that Kyiv was somehow connected to the act of terror because the terrorists wereaccording to Putinattempting to escape to Ukraine.

On March 22, several people opened fire from automatic weapons on civilians at Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, near Moscow, before setting fire to the venue. According to Russian authorities, 139 people died. The Islamic State subsequently claimed responsibility for the attack.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Self-proclaimed Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko has been discussing a possible attack on the Suwaki Gap, the territory of Lithuania and Poland located between Belarus and Russias Kaliningrad Oblast.

Source: European Pravda; an excerpt from a conversation between Lukashenko and Alexander Naumenko, the commander of the North-Western Operational Command, posted by Belarusian pro-government Telegram channel Pul Pervogo

Details: In the video, Lukashenko, who is holding a white Pomeranian Spitz, asks Naumenko about the width of the Suwaki Gap, which "they [probably meaning Lithuania  ed.] are always yapping about".

"They shouldnt be behaving like this. But now you will have to confront the Baltic republics... And you will take part of Poland," Lukashenko says upon learning the width of the Gap (42 km as the crow flies).

Lukashenko then asks the military commander whether he can hold the territory with "his troops". Naumenko assures him that "all actions have been planned, issues of combat readiness are being worked out, and personnel are being trained".

The Suwaki Gap  a land corridor between Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad  is considered a very likely place of attack in the event of a potential Russian war against NATOs eastern members.

Background: In October 2023, Pavel Muraveiko, First Deputy Secretary of the Belarusian Security Council, proposed "breaking through the gap" to Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast, causing outrage in Lithuania.

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Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko said on Tuesday that the gunmen who attacked a concert hall near Moscow last week may have wanted to flee to his country, according to state news agency Belta.

Lukashenko said that security measures were put in place along Belarus' border with Russia when it became apparent, after the attack on the Crocus City Hall last Friday, that the perpetrators had driven a car into the Russian region of Bryansk, which borders Belarus and Ukraine.

The authoritarian long-term ruler of the ex-Soviet republic, which is allied with Russia, said that the attackers "were therefore unable to enter Belarus. They saw that. That's why they turned around and drove towards the Ukrainian-Russian border."

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been claiming for days that the suspects had wanted to flee to Ukraine and were expected there. The Ukrainian leadership has rejected this allegation.

Although the Islamic State terrorist militia has claimed several times that it carried out the attack, and experts consider that claim to be credible, Russian representatives continue to insist that Ukraine is involved. They have not provided any evidence to support the allegation.
Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko and Russia's President Vladimir Putin (not pictured) attend a concert at the Gazprom Arena stadium in Saint Petersburg. Vyacheslav Prokofiev/Kremlin/dpa

Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko said on Tuesday that the gunmen who attacked a concert hall near Moscow last week may have wanted to flee to his country, according to state news agency Belta.

Lukashenko said that security measures were put in place along Belarus' border with Russia when it became apparent, after the attack on the Crocus City Hall last Friday, that the perpetrators had driven a car into the Russian region of Bryansk, which borders Belarus and Ukraine.

The authoritarian long-term ruler of the ex-Soviet republic, which is allied with Russia, said that the attackers "were therefore unable to enter Belarus. They saw that. That's why they turned around and drove towards the Ukrainian-Russian border."

At least 139 people were killed and around 200 others injured when four gunmen opened fire on concert-goers at the Crocus City Hall venue in the city of Krasnogorsk near Moscow on Friday evening shortly before a rock concert was set to start. They also set fire to the building, causing its roof to collapse.

The alleged shooters were arrested in Bryansk shortly afterwards, according to the authorities. They have been presented to a Moscow court and given pre-trial detention.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been claiming for days that the suspects had wanted to flee to Ukraine and were expected there. The Ukrainian leadership has rejected this allegation.

Although the Islamic State terrorist militia has claimed several times that it carried out the attack, and Western experts consider that claim to be credible, Russian representatives continue to insist that Ukraine is involved. They have not provided any evidence to support the allegation.

Western security authorities and experts suspect the offshoot Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) to be behind the attack.

The secretary of Russia's National Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, continued to blame Ukraine for the attack on Tuesday.

When asked by journalists whether the Islamic State terrorist militia or Ukraine was behind the attack on the Crocus City Hall concert hall, Patrushev replied: "Ukraine, of course," according to state news agency TASS.

The 72-year-old, who repeatedly appears as an ardent supporter of the Russian war against Ukraine, did not explain how he arrived at this assessment.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been somewhat more circumspect. He said he was counting on the Russian General Prosecutor's Office to do everything possible "to ensure that the criminals receive a just punishment, as prescribed by Russian law."

On Monday, Putin confirmed that the attack was carried out by Islamist terrorists. At the same time, he made it clear, as he had done at the weekend, that he sees a Ukrainian link.

Russia wants to know "who ordered the attack," he said. Putin therefore assumes that Islamists carried out the order for the mass murder, but that the masterminds are located elsewhere. He sees the motive in Ukraine, not in Islamic State.

Earlier Tuesday, a Russian court ordered the detention of an eighth suspect following the deadly attack. In total, 11 suspects have been arrested.

The man is a 31-year-old Russian citizen born in the Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan, the Russian news agency Interfax reported on Tuesday, citing Moscow's Basmanny District Court.

He is accused of having provided the attackers with a flat before the offence. Interfax reported that the man had denied in court that he knew about the plans, and believed the people who rented the flat were normal tenants.
Thanks to a thoughtful and generous lunch group, five Columbus teachers will attend a national conference to help improve their schools ability to serve impoverished students.

The Muscogee Educational Excellence Foundation announced Tuesday at Dimon Magnet Academy the five 2024 Buntin Scholars, selected out of 15 applicants:

Lola Farley of Kendrick High School

Heidi Holley of South Columbus Elementary School

Carla Jones of Kendrick High School

Michelle Shafer of Lonnie Jackson Academy

Brent Sutherland of Dimon Magnet Academy.

MEEF will pay their expenses to attend the Innovative Schools Summit in Las Vegas from July 8-12. The summit features access to conferences about innovative teaching strategies, school climate and culture, at-risk students and trauma-affected schools.

Four years ago, the foundation announced a $56,000 gift from anonymous members of a lunch group that asked for the money to establish scholarships in honor of retired Muscogee County School District superintendent Jim Buntin, who co-founded MEEF.

But the COVID-19 pandemic prevented that inaugural class of Buntin Scholars from attending the Harvard University Graduate School of Education for a week of professional development. Since then, MEEF has raised thousands of more dollars to fund this class and future Buntin Scholars.

Highly-qualified, dedicated teachers  especially in high-poverty schools  are instrumental in mitigating the adversities their students face, MEEF executive director Marquette McKnight said in a news release. This is a testament to our belief in the power of dedicated educators. Their upcoming experience at the Innovative Schools Summit is tailored to equip them with skills and insights to help their students, thereby maximizing their impact on the students academic and personal growth.

Muscogee Educational Excellence Foundation executive director Marquette McKnight speaks during the March 26 news conference in Dimon Magnet Academy, announcing the 2024 Buntin Scholars.

MEEF worked with MCSD to identify qualified schools and nominate qualified teachers to apply for the scholarship.

The Buntin Scholars are teachers with extraordinary potential, MCSD superintendent David Lewis said in the news release. Our rigorous selection process ensures these educators are not only ready to absorb new knowledge but also poised to become teacher leaders in MCSD.

To be selected, Buntin Scholars must agree to remain classroom teachers in their current school for at least the next five years. They also must agree to share what they learned at the summit with teachers in their school and throughout the district.

MEEF is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering educational excellence and honoring teachers who are innovative and exceptionally effective in the public schools of Columbus. In its 28-year history, the foundation has awarded approximately $3.2 million to such educators through the Teacher of the Year, Harvard Fellows and Buntin Scholars programs, as well as grants.

Josh Reynolds, the foundations chairman, expressed his gratitude for the donations that fund the Buntin Scholarships.

This gift is transformative, allowing us to enhance our commitment to excellence in teaching, and recognizing and rewarding exceptional teachers, Reynolds said in the news release. Were immensely thankful for this support that enables us to extend our mission in such impactful ways. When the Buntin Scholars return, they will continue to work with the Harvard Fellows, maximizing their efforts by teaching their colleagues and utilizing their skills and strategies to enhance the learning experience for all students.

After the announcement, Sutherland told the Ledger-Enquirer he expects the summit to boost his ability to deliver meaningful lessons for his students.

Everything I learn there, I know I can bring it back here and make it applicable and build it into our STEM program, he said.

Sutherland, in his 15th year as a teacher, is grateful to everyone who made this opportunity possible.

For them to do what theyve done in that way, thousands of dollars, its just awesome, he said.  Its a blessing and an honor.

Buntin, who was MCSD superintendent from 1994-96, told the Ledger-Enquirer he appreciates the tribute from his friends and the positive impact it will make.

Its really rewarding from a personal level, certainly, but thats not the major part of it, he said. Its rewarding to me to know that these teachers are going to get some additional training.

Buntin considers teaching as the nations most important job.

When youre teaching children, youve got to understand where they come from, he said. This program will help them understand that, just how vulnerable our children are, how they are just on the edge.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy unexpectedly dismissed Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) Danilov, appointing Oleksandr Lytvynenko, the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service (FIS), in his place, the Presidential Office said on March 26.

Lytvynenko learned about his appointment on March 26, he said to Ukrainian news Liga.net, adding that he is not currently providing "comments or interviews."

Little is known about Major General Lytvynenko, who served as Deputy Secretary of the NSDC from 2014 to 2019 following the Revolution of Dignity.

Read also: Major shift in Ukraines Security Council: Top intelligence official replaces Danilov as new Defence Secretary

Lytvynenko: key biographical facts

Oleksandr Lytvynenko is 51 years old, born on April 27, 1972, in Kyiv.

He obtained his first higher education in Russia, graduating from the Institute of Cryptography, Communications, and Computer Science in Moscow in 1994, specializing in applied mathematics. This institute is a structural unit of the Russian FSB. After the Revolution of Dignity, Lytvynenko passed the corresponding lustration check in Ukraine in 2015.

Lytvynenko also received a degree in law from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv in 2009.

He graduated from the Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) in the United Kingdom in 2013.

Lytvynenko worked simultaneously as an assistant, associate professor, and professor at the Institute of International Relations of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv from 1998 to 2007 and from 2010 to 2014.

Lytvynenko holds the rank of Major General, has a Ph. D. in Political Science, and is a professor.

He built his professional career in Ukraine starting in the mid-90s, after returning from Moscow:

- August 1994  August 1998: officer, senior officer, chief specialist of the Main Directorate of Government Communications of the Ukrainian SBU security service

- August 1998  May 2005 (including during the Orange Revolution): senior consultant, department head, deputy director  department head, first deputy director of the National Institute for Strategic Studies

- June 2005  December 2007: worked in the apparatus of the NSDC (head of department, expert commission, department of state security)

- December 2007  August 2009: Deputy head of the information-analytical support department of the SBU

- August 2009  May 2010: advisor to the director of the Institute of National Security Matters at the NSDC

- June 2010  March 2014: deputy director of the National Institute for Strategic Studies (including during the Revolution of Dignity)

- April 2014  August 2019: Deputy Secretary of NSDS

- August 2019  July 2021: Director of the National Institute for Strategic Studies

Lytvynenko was appointed head of Ukraine's FIS on July 23, 2021.

Lytvynenko received the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 5th class, the Jubilee Medal for 25 Years of Independence of Ukraine.

He is married and has a son and daughter.

Read also: Despite sanctions, Russian missiles still being built with free world components - Zelenskyy

Lytvynenko during the full-scale Russian war against Ukraine: key statements

During Russia's large-scale war against Ukraine and before he was appointed Secretary of the NSDC, Lytvynenko headed the FIS.

This Ukrainian special service and agency is engaged in intelligence in political, economic, military, scientific, technical information and ecological spheres. Similar to the majority of countries worldwide, the activities of the FIS prioritize agent and technical intelligence. The FIS is also responsible for providing intelligence information to the highest entities of state power in Ukraine. Among its most important units is the Department of Countering External Threats to the National Security of the State.

Zelenskyy's decree, published on Jan. 8, 2024, envisioned the establishment of a "Ukrainian delegation to participate in negotiations [...] on security guarantees for Ukraine." Such guarantees could be concluded "between Ukraine and other states," and the delegation is expected to participate in negotiations on the development and preparation of relevant "two- and multi-lateral international agreements."

Lytvynenko published a column on the Interfax-Ukraine website in November 2023 entitled "Several Theses on Putin's Policy. How They Think and Wage War in the Kremlin."

As the head of Ukrainian foreign intelligence, he outlined the following main theses:

- The Russian war has entered a critical period, "a lot depends on a careful assessment of the intentions of the enemy".

- (Russian dictator Vladimir) Putin believes that the Kremlin has reached a "point of no return" in relations with the West, and therefore can only either triumphantly win or be devastatingly defeated.

- The war against Ukraine is perceived by the Kremlin "as an important, but not the only front for Russia, which is essentially waging a world war against the U.S. and the West as a whole."

- The Russian dictator is convinced that Ukraine and the rest of the "historical Russian lands" can only be returned and the empire restored within the framework of a global redistribution of the world, which "may last 10-15 years, accompanied by conflicts of various scales and intensities, possibly including the use of nuclear weapons."

Read also: Kyiv vows to address shell hunger, replenish reserves, and counter Russian missile attacks, says NSDC secretary

- Therefore, the Kremlin is currently addressing four main tasks set by Putin: 1) to ensure internal stability, mobilize the population and the economy, increase the production of arms and military equipment; 2) to form an alternative coalition of states to the West, the "Global South+" format, which should promote alternative models to the West (political, economic, financial, humanitarian, value-based, etc.); 3) to prepare for future aggression against other countries, with the current priority being Moldova and the Baltic countries (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, i.e., the entire western part of the former USSR); 4) to exacerbate conflicts in the Middle East, Africa, and the Balkans.

- Putin's goals in the war against Ukraine remain unchanged: he needs as much Ukrainian territory as he can obtain because, for Russians, it is about the "return of historically Russian lands."

"The war has entered a stage of attrition," he said.

"There is increasingly more evidence that the Kremlin is prepared to fight for as long as necessary... The Kremlin believes it has sufficient resources (military-technical, economic, and human) for combat operations against Ukraine at the current level for an extended period. In Moscow, they are convinced that Ukraine's internal resources allegedly 'are nearing complete exhaustion.'"

That is why, Lytvynenko said, Moscow's plans at that time included three main tasks against Ukraine:

- Pressure along the entire front line with the capture of individual, political, and media important points, such as Avdiivka [the city was captured by the Russians in February 2024].

- Destroy critical infrastructure (power plants, oil refineries, transportation hubs) in winter to reduce the quality of life.

- Underme social unity through fueling ambitions and provoking soldiers ("only they can restore order"), opposition political forces ("only they are worthy of governing Ukraine"), and the formation in Ukraine of a "critical mass of dissatisfaction with the policies of the current government".

Moscow is hopeful that the West will eventually not only suspend aid, "but also come to Russia with proposals for urgent negotiations and the suspension of the war," Lytvynenko said.

"This is roughly how they think and plan in the Kremlin," he said half a year before being appointed Secretary of the NSDC.

"Knowledge is power. Ukraine is fighting for its freedom and the freedom of all nations worldwide. Free people will defeat tyrants."

Another landmark article by Lytvynenko appeared in The Economist two months ago, in January 2024. He argued that Russia could be contained if as many countries as possible signed security agreements with Ukraine following the example of the United Kingdom.

Lytvynenko emphasized that if Russia fails to win on the battlefield in Ukraine, its global goals will be significantly undermined. For the West, the simplest and most cost-effective way to stop Russia and other revisionist states is to strengthen Ukraine's defense and security potential, ensuring the resilience of Ukrainian society and the state.

He also warned that Putin is counting on a domino effect and believes that if the West, especially the United States, suffers a defeat in Ukraine, it will quickly lose global influence.

Revisionist states will see this as their opportunity, and eventually, a new multipolar order will emerge in which several major powers, including Russia, will compete among themselves. Chinese President Xi Jinping is closely monitoring the Russian war against Ukraine and "drawing his own conclusions."

"Russia knows that the victory it seeks in Ukraine will have a global effect, and understands that it cannot achieve its goals without disrupting the global world order," concluded Lytvynenko.

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French President Emmanuel Macron begins a three-day trip to Brazil, during which he will try to convince the country's leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to support Ukraine in Russo-Ukrainian War, Bloomberg reported on March 26.

Earlier, Brazilian president positioned his country as a neutral one that can maintain ties with both Russia and Ukraine.

Read also: Brazil refuses to sell Ukraine weapons, NYT reports

On the other hand, Lula wants Macron to end his opposition to the EU's free trade agreement with the South American bloc Mercosur.

French officials say Macron views Brazil as a "key player" among developing countries. This is due to the fact that Brazil presides over the G20, which includes most of the world's largest economies.

Read also: Brazilian FM says Brazil will not arrest Putin at 2024 G20

According to officials, Macron is betting that his differences with Lula over Russia's invasion of Ukraine can be reduced, although Brazil believes that "both sides are to blame for this war."

Bloomberg writes that Lula has repeatedly refused to supply weapons to Ukraine, arguing that the US and EU strategy undermines the prospect of ending the war with a peacetalks.

Read also: G20 members find difficulty in framing Russias war on Ukraine, crisis in Gaza

In December 2023, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a stop in Brazil during his trip to Argentina for the inauguration of Javier Milei and requested a meeting with Brazilian President, to which Silva refused.

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(Bloomberg) -- French President Emmanuel Macron begins a three-day trip to Brazil on Tuesday as part of his troubled strategy to build bridges between developed nations and the so-called Global South.

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High on his agenda will be an attempt to convince Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to take a stand on the war. Lula has so far sought to position his country as a neutral nation that can maintain ties with both Russia and Ukraine. Macron has emerged as one of the strongest voices on the conflict, warning Western allies that Russian President Vladimir Putin poses an existential threat to the European Union.

Lula, for his part, wants Macron to end his opposition to the EUs free-trade agreement with the South American Mercosur bloc, which has been in limbo since a political deal was reached in 2019.

Ukraine

Macron sees Brazil as a key player among emerging powers, French officials said, especially as it holds the rotating presidency of the Group of 20 countries, which include most of the worlds largest economies.

The French leader is betting that his differences with Lula over Russias invasion of Ukraine can be narrowed, the officials added, even though Brazil considers that the two sides share the blame for the war.

Lula has repeatedly rejected arming Ukraine, arguing that the US and EU strategy is undermining the prospect of a negotiated solution. Brazils stance largely resonates in the Global South, which refers to emerging economies.

EU-Mercosur Trade Talks

Earlier this year, Macron lobbied European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to end the current round of negotiations on the prospective Mercosur trade deal between the EU and Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay. Talks have been going on for more than two decades, but discussions stalled five years ago amid new European environmental demands.

Macrons move is ultimately an effort to appease French farmers who are protesting over what they see as cheap imports that dont respect the same standards.

Environment

In 2019, tensions over the deforestation of the Amazon led to a halt in Franco-Brazilian ties under Lulas right-wing predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.

With Lula resuming environmental efforts, the two countries are cooperating again on preservation. While Macron is set to announce some support for Lulas green programs, the French leader is unlikely to unveil a contribution to Brazils flagship Amazon Fund.

Military Jets, Submarines

Brazil is pushing France to update its aging military trainer aircraft fleet with new Embraer SA Phenom jets. However, this clashes with Macrons goal of stronger European sovereignty, underpinned by purchasing military goods within Europe.

Embraer is also trying to sell its flagship KC-390, a new military transport aircraft, which it has already sold to the Netherlands, Portugal and Austria.

Brazil has been building French-designed submarines for more than a decade. Yet, one of them is a nuclear-propelled vessel with specific engine needs that Brazil has been struggling to build. It is unclear whether Macron will agree to Brazils requests for further cooperation in what is a sensitive field.

--With assistance from Daniel Carvalho, Andrew Rosati and Leda Alvim.

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French President Emmanuel Macron has begun a three-day visit to Brazil, where a key issue on his agenda is convincing his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to take a stand on Russias war against Ukraine.

Source: Bloomberg

Details: French officials told Bloomberg on condition of anonymity that Macron hopes that his differences with Lula over Russias invasion of Ukraine can be narrowed, even though Brazil considers that the two sides share the blame for the war.

"Lula has repeatedly rejected arming Ukraine, arguing that the US and EU strategy is undermining the prospect of a negotiated solution," Bloomberg reported.

Brazils stance resonates across emerging economies in the Global South.

French officials told Bloomberg that Macron sees Brazil as a key player among these emerging powers, especially given its current rotating presidency of the Group of 20 (G20) countries, which include most of the worlds largest economies.

For his part, Bloomberg reported, Lula wants Macron to stop opposing the EUs free-trade agreement with the South American Mercosur bloc, which has been in limbo since a political deal was reached in 2019.

Macrons visit to Brazil is also an effort to appease French farmers who are protesting over what they see as cheap agricultural imports from South America and other countries.

Background:

French President Emmanuel Macrons recent statement that "it should not be ruled out" that Western troops might be sent to Ukraine has caused a stir, but Macron refused to walk back his statement. He insisted that his statement was carefully thought through and stressed that France would not follow the "logic of escalation" in its relations with Russia.

Macron later said that in the event that Western troops are deployed in Ukraine, French forces would not launch an offensive against Russia.

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French President Emmanuel Macron is considering five scenarios for sending troops to Ukraine, the French newspaper Le Figaro reported on March 26.



In the first scenario, France could set up weapon production and maintenance factories.



However, the issue is that insurance companies may levy hefty bills for construction, rendering this scenario unlikely.



In the second scenario, France would train Ukrainian troops and participate in demining.



Ukrainian soldiers are already undergoing training in France and Poland with the French army, and the same would occur on Ukrainian territory under this scenario, making it the most realistic, the article said.

The third scenario involves protecting Odesa. Macron fears that the war could spill over into Moldova if Russia occupies the Odesa port, Le Monde said. While possible, such an option poses certain risks for France.



Read also: Macron considers two options for sending troops to Ukraine, says Ukrainian MP

In the fourth scenario, French troops would establish buffer zones in Ukraine to aid Ukrainian soldiers.



"It is not excluded that they will end up in liberated areas, for example, on the Belarusian border, in Kherson or Kharkiv," said Nicolas Tenzer, a Sciences Po Paris university lecturer.

"This way, a signal could be sent to the Russians to refrain from further advancement. They could also protect civilian areas that are regularly targeted by the Russian army."



The fifth scenario, deemed the least realistic by journalists, involves the direct participation of French troops in "trench warfare."



Participation of French troops in combat against the Russian army would be "equivalent to declaring war on Russia," the publication said.

Read also: Everyone but two: EU leaders near consensus on need to defeat Putin  Lithuanian President

Macron's statement on sending troops to Ukraine

Ukraine's Western allies could create a coalition to provide the Ukrainian Armed Forces with long-range weapons, and future Western troop deployment to Ukraine should not be ruled out, Macron said after a conference in support of Ukraine held in Paris on Feb. 26



Several NATO countries publicly rejected the idea of sending troops to Ukraine in response to Macron's statements, including Poland, the United States, Germany, Czechia, Canada, and the United Kingdom.



Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and Lithuanian Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas did not reject the possibility of sending NATO troops, adding that their troops would only be used on a training mission.

Read also: Russia won't stop if it wins war in Ukraine - US Ambassador to UK

"All options should be kept open," Dutch Army Defense Chief, General Onno Eichelsheim, said.



European NATO member states have been studying the possibility of sending NATO troops to Ukraine for weeks, the AFP news agency reported, citing a source.



French troops could help Ukraine protect certain borders, and take part in exercises or ground air defense, French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said on Feb. 29. He ruled out the participation of French soldiers in battles "directly on the front line."



Macron, speaking about sending Western troops to Ukraine, meant training missions for Ukrainian soldiers, Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said.



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ANKARA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Turkish police on Tuesday detained 147 people suspected of being members of the Islamic State (IS) group in nationwide operations, according to Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya.

Yerlikaya said on the social media platform X that the police detained the suspects in simultaneous operations across 30 provinces and seized a large amount of foreign currency, organizational documents, and digital materials.

The suspects have allegedly carried out armed activities in conflict zones and provided financial support for the IS, said the minister.

Yerlikaya further revealed that Turkiye had conducted a total of 1,329 anti-terror operations against the IS group between June 1 of last year and March 25 of this year.

He announced that within the scope of these operations, 2,919 suspects had been apprehended, with 692 of them arrested. He added that 531 suspects were placed under judicial control, while judicial procedures for 187 individuals were still ongoing.

Turkiye has stepped up operations against IS terrorists after the group attacked an Istanbul church in late January, killing a civilian during Sunday morning mass.

The Turkish government designated the IS as a terrorist organization in 2013 and blamed it for a spate of deadly attacks in the country since 2015.

In December of last year, Turkish intelligence and security forces captured a high-ranking IS terrorist responsible for overseeing the group's finances in Turkiye's southeastern province of Mersin. 
NBC Newss recent hiring of Ronna McDaniel, the former chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, has baffled Democrats, journalists, and pretty much all of MSNBCs star anchors. But to those who remain deep in the thrall of MAGAand those, like me, who escaped itit was utterly unsurprising that a mainstream (i.e., fake) news organization would shell out $300,000 a year for McDaniels point of view.

I became a MAGA activist in 2015, shortly after Donald Trump famously descended that golden escalator. For the next half-decade, I not only vociferously supported Trump and those who pledged fealty to him, like Ron DeSantis, but I also volunteered my time to write part of the Trump campaign call script to prospective voters; made and received calls for Trump and DeSantis; directed citizens to their polling places; helped get others registered; never missed a MAGA-inspired local event; and often spoke at, and financially supported, some Trump clubs. I also donated to Trump.

So I knew a lot of MAGA Americans, as well as their views of various Republican politicians. And I never met anyone who had a kind word to say about Ronna McDaniel. In fact, we all loathed her nearly as much as we did the Democratic Party. To us, she wasnt Ronna McDaniel, but Ronna Romney, the niece of U.S. Senator Willard Mitt Romneythat quisling RINO who was worse than any Democrat, save for Barack Obama.

Though Trump in 2017 had handpicked McDaniel to run the RNC, we privately mocked McDaniel because we regarded her as a Democrat lite: someone who operated with malleable principles, refused to fight as we and Trump fought, and yearned to be liked. Our desire was to be feared, not liked.

Publicly, we rarely admonished her, because to do so would be to criticize Trumpwhich would lead to exile, as a MAGA heretic.

McDaniel was finally cut loose in March. (Officially she resigned, but lets be honestTrump engineered it as part of his broader overhaul of the RNC, which included installing daughter-in-law Lara Trump as a co-chair.) At that point, the stopwatch started in the race to scoop up McDanieleven if many journalists, within NBC and elsewhere, couldnt hear it ticking. But to me and many of my former peers on the right, this outcome was as inevitable as it was predictable because when it comes to Trump, the GOP, and the American right wing broadly, the political press still doesnt really get it.





When Trump in 2015 announced his candidacy for president by saying migrants are drug-dealing criminals and rapists, the political pressonce it had lifted its collective jaw off the floordismissed his chances on account of extremism. When he called for a Muslim ban, they doubled down. Even after he routed the competition on his way to the GOP nomination, he was seen as a certain loser against Hillary Clintoneven more so after his ugly treatment of her in three debates and then the release of the infamous Access Hollywood tape a mere month before the election.

And yet, Trump defied them all.

Much of our national press never recovered from the shock of so egregiously underestimating his support in 2016, and will do anything to avoid making the same mistake again. I wont say the mainstream media want Trump to win, but if hes elected again in November, they do want to be able to say, At least we didnt blow it this time.

Meanwhile, the media has also become obsessed with the idea that the Republican Party can somehow be saved from Trumpism. So who better than Ronna McDanielwho had one foot in the old GOP establishment, one in the MAGA orbitto enlighten us on both?

That seems to have been NBCs faulty logic, anyway. The network insisted that McDaniel was brought on to provide an insiders perspective on national politics and the future of the Republican Party. Pray tell: perspective for whom? MAGA Americans? They disdain both McDaniel and NBC.

McDaniel probably knows how MAGA Americans feel about her: She reportedly dropped the use of her Romney name at Trumps request, before assuming her RNC chairwoman post in 2017. And if she didnt know before last weekend, she certainly does nowafter having said on NBCs Meet the Press on Sunday that (contra Trump) those convicted of crimes related to the January 6 riot shouldnt be pardoned and that (contra herself in 2023) Bidens 2020 election victory was legitimate.

Why the change of tune? Perhaps she was adopting a more reasonable position to please her new employer. Or, more likely, she was hiding her true feelings all those years at the RNC. Its safe to say that many, if not most, GOP politicians, pundits, and party officials dont believe the pernicious and nefarious myths that Trump peddles, but they know the consequences of deviating from Trumps positions: Theyll have hell to pay with MAGA members.

Though I volunteered for Trumps 2016 and 2020 campaigns (and for DeSantis in 2018), I never believed that the 2016 election was rife with fraud (thereby depriving Trump of the popular vote) or that 2020 was stolen. I spent more than half a decade meeting or communicating daily with Trump devotees. They were kind and decent people, and many were highly intelligent and accomplished professionalsattorneys, doctors, financial executives, small-business owners, former public-sector workers, and Ivy League graduates.

But theres no two ways about it: They support someone who holds abhorrent views about immigrants, women, Muslims, LGBTQ people, and more; who has wished violence and death upon his political opponents; who has echoed Hitlers rhetoric and is plotting a fascistic second term as we speak. And so these supporters are hardly blameless.

That goes for me too. I allowed myself to be duped for years, one of millions of MAGA Americans who was fooled into believing Trumps falsehoods. I neither defend my past nor anyones current ignorance, but saying MAGA Americans have been manipulated doesnt mean theyre unintelligent or turpid. The repetition of lies ad infinitum begins to convince many whose political proclivities arent staunchly right-wing.

My doubts about supporting Trump and the MAGA movement didnt begin until the summer of 2021. The catalyst was DeSantiss abrupt turn from staunch advocate to ardent opponent of Covid public health measures and the vaccine. Simultaneously, I diversified my news and information sources, and came to better comprehend the well-coordinated groups who incited the January 6 insurrectionas well as Trumps blessing of them.

I left MAGA a year later. (To learn more about why, read this.) And now Ive formed a new organization called Leaving MAGA, in the hopes of building a community for those who have also left or are considering itas well as fostering reconciliations between MAGA Americans and their friends and family.

Perhaps Ronna McDaniel would consider joining our community? Admittedly, it would be difficult for me to accept that shes truly reformed; she would need to show genuine penitence. She led a Republican Party that described a coup detat as legitimate political discourse and made excuses foror even encouragedan immeasurable toll of death and suffering, from the insurrection to the Covid pandemic to the targeting of trans Americans. McDaniel wasnt the steward of a misguided party who means well. No, the GOP was, and is, unequivocally on the wrong side of life-and-death issues, and though McDaniel is not completely culpable for that failure, she is nonetheless responsible.

In my time in MAGA, one of the most pervasive bogeymen I encountered was the liberal media establishment, and the outlandish myth that it colludes with the Democratic Party to suppress the voices of Republicans and conservatives. In fact, the mainstream media suffers from quite the opposite ailment, as organizations are so paranoid about being seen as liberal that they bend over backward to platform right-wing voices, no matter how detestable. The pursuit of fantastical impartiality or balance has, in some corners, become more important than a commitment to truth and reason. And when that happenswhen you hire someone like Ronna McDaniel who has demonstrably contributed to the weakening of American democracyyou are actually colluding, however indirectly, with MAGA.
Maggie Haberman described changes to Donald Trumps demeanor in court on Monday amid a series of major decisions about his criminal and civil cases.

The New York Times senior political correspondent, who attended the hearing in Manhattan about Trumps criminal hush money trial, told CNNs Kaitlan Collins the former president was initially more subdued than he had been during his recent defamation and fraud civil trials, where he was constantly scowling, shaking his head.

She recalled, He did do some of that, to be clear, and he did start fidgeting.

Haberman continued, He got most visibly irritated  and this is right before the ruling came down reducing the size of the bond  as Justice Merchan was questioning Trumps lead lawyer, Todd Blanche, who had a rough morning with the justice.

Judge Juan Merchan, an acting New York State Supreme Court justice, is overseeing the criminal trial regarding Trumps alleged falsification of business records pertaining to a 2016 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.

Merchan reportedly grew frustrated with Trumps attorneys Monday as they argued that the trial should be delayed or tossed out for what they claimed was prosecutorial misconduct regarding the handover of discovery documents.

Trump reportedly became more visibly irate as it appeared increasingly likely that he would not get the ruling he wanted.

This went on and on and on for a while, and Trump was just staring at his lead lawyer as this was going on, Haberman said, noting that it was her understanding that Trump was directing his ire toward Merchan, not his lawyer.

During a recess, news broke that Trump had won a reprieve in his fraud case after an appeals court reduced his bond from more than $450 million to $175 million and pushed back the deadline by 10 days.

But then he got this reprieve, and so after that, he was entirely changed in his demeanor when he came back into the courtroom after the recess, Haberman noted. She said his mood had changed 100%.

She added, He was smiling at somebody in the audience, and he sat down and became less irritated.

But he was soon shaking his head again as the judge set his trial date for April 15.

I dont think this is going to become real for him until we get much closer to it, Haberman said of the upcoming trial.

Watch her commentary below.

Related...
(Bloomberg) -- Mahathir Mohamads two eldest sons said Malaysias anti-graft agency ordered them to assist with an investigation into their father, revealing for the first time that a monthslong probe is targeting the 98-year-old former premier.

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My father is the primary suspect, Mokhzani Mahathir, 63, said in a March 23 interview in Kuala Lumpur. We are witnesses to whatever it is that theyre investigating.

In January, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission ordered Mokhzani and his elder brother Mirzan, 65, to declare their assets dating back to 1981, the year Mahathir became prime minister. The orders are part of investigations into offshore business records revealed by a journalism consortium, the MACC said at the time, without mentioning that the main target was Mahathir.

Azam Baki, the anti-graft agencys chief, declined to comment on Mokhzanis remarks when asked by reporters at an event on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday. Let me check the facts first, he said.

Mahathirs office hasnt responded to a request for comment.

The brothers are assisting in the investigation, but the task is onerous and taking time, they said in the interview, which Mirzan joined by video call. Both have received two extensions of the original February deadlines for compliance.

The MACC hasnt provided the brothers with any details of the investigation into Mahathir, according to Mokhzani.

We did ask, What is the investigation on my father about? and they were not able to furnish us with that information, Mokhzani said. Can you imagine youre being asked to provide information to be used to prosecute your parent?

Anwar Ibrahim, who finally became prime minister in 2022 after falling short of the top job for decades, is a former protege of Mahathir who was seen as his successor but later fell out with him. Mahathir dismissed Anwar from all government posts in 1998 and Anwar was later imprisoned on corruption and sodomy charges, which he denied. The developments shocked the nation and turned Anwar into an opposition figure who pushed for democratic reforms.

Anwars government faced criticism from opposition parties and civil-society groups last year after the Attorney General withdrew 47 criminal charges against Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, a key ally in the ruling coalition. Anwar has denied interfering in the case or in the MACCs investigations.

Anwars press office declined to comment.

Mahathir, who led Malaysia for nearly a quarter century in two different stints, said at a press briefing in January  conducted before Mokhzani was ordered to declare his assets  that the probe involving his son Mirzan was politically motivated. Just days after he spoke to reporters, Mahathir was admitted to the National Heart Institute in Kuala Lumpur, where he was hospitalized for 53 days. He was discharged last week.

Mahathirs sons said theyre working with company secretaries and accountants to file the asset declarations.

This is a near impossible task, to go back all that way, Mokhzani said, adding he was still a student in the UK in 1981. We cant remember exactly how things were back then, he said, adding that everything was in the form of physical records and not digitized.

The political wrangling has had a limited impact on markets.

Malaysias ringgit is Asias top performer this month, after the central bank urged government-linked companies and funds to repatriate their overseas income and convert it to the local currency. This helped to turn around the performance of the currency, which was the worst performer in Southeast Asia after the Thai baht in the first two months of the year, mainly weighed down by the weaker outlook of China, Malaysias main trading partner, as well as from a wide policy rate differential with the Fed.

Although Malaysias benchmark stock index has fallen in five of the past six years, the weak performance has abated to an extent in 2024. The KLCI index is up more than 5%, as authorities attempt to stabilize the ringgit.

MACC is also investigating Daim Zainuddin, a former finance minister and close aide to Mahathir. Both Daim and his wife, Naimah Abdul Khalid, were charged in January for not declaring their assets, which include the 60-story Ilham Tower building in Kuala Lumpur that the agency seized in December. They both pleaded not guilty. In response to questions for this story, Naimah said she and her husband didnt have anything further to add.

Mahathir and Anwar reunited in the 2018 election to oust former premier Najib Razak in the wake of the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal. Mahathir became prime minister for the second time, and made an agreement to hand over the premiership to Anwar at an unspecified date. But squabbling within the coalition, including over when Mahathir would step aside as prime minister, helped bring down the administration in 2020.

In May last year, Mahathir filed a 150 million ringgit ($31.8 million) defamation suit against Anwar, alleging the current premier had accused him of enriching himself and his family members during his time as prime minister. The suit came after Anwar said that a person who has been in power twice was taking everything for his family. Anwar has filed a statement of defense and is seeking to strike out Mahathirs legal suit.

Anwar has said that I have stolen government money, Mahathir said in a press conference on Jan. 22. As far as I know, I havent stolen a single cent.

--With assistance from Ram Anand, Marcus Wong and Ishika Mookerjee.

(Updates with MACC chief comment in fourth paragraph)

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President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has dismissed Oleksiy Danilov from the position of Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) and appointed Oleksandr Lytvynenko, the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service (FIS), to replace him.

Read also: Clarifying recent comments, Danilov urges de-anonymization as key strategy against risky Telegram channels

This is stated in the respective decrees on the president's website, published on March 26.

Danilov was the thirteenth Secretary of the NSDC of Ukraine and held this position since Oct. 3, 2019.



Lytvynenko has been heading the Foreign Intelligence Service since July 23, 2021. Prior to this, from April 4, 2014, to Aug. 13, 2019, he served as Deputy Secretary of the NSDC.

Read also: Kyiv vows to address shell hunger, replenish reserves, and counter Russian missile attacks, says NSDC secretary

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Islam is the official religion in Malaysia, and Malay-Muslims make up over two-thirds of the country's 34 million people (Mohd RASFAN)

A Malaysian court charged five executives from a mini-mart chain and its supplier with hurting religious feelings Tuesday after several pairs of socks emblazoned with the word "Allah" were put on sale in one of its stores.

The case had drawn a rare royal rebuke from Malaysia's king who called for an investigation and "strict action" against any party found guilty.

Photos of the socks spread on social media, sparking public outrage as some Muslims regarded them to be insulting, especially as their sale took place during the fasting month of Ramadan.

Chai Kee Kan, 57, chief executive of local chain KK Super Mart, and his wife who serves as a company director, were charged with "deliberately intending to hurt the religious feelings" in the Muslim-majority nation, according to a charge sheet seen by AFP.

Three officials from supplier Xin Jian Chang were charged with abetting the alleged crime.

All pleaded not guilty to the charges and face a maximum jail term of one year or a fine or both on conviction.

KK Super Mart has apologised for the socks, saying it viewed the matter "seriously" and had taken action to stop the sale immediately.

Supplier Xin Jian Chang had also issued an apology, saying the "problematic socks were part of a larger shipment of 18,800 pairs ordered" from a company based in China.

It said there were "only five pairs of socks" that had the sensitive word.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Masri Mohamad Daud told reporters the next hearing will be on April 29. The five executives were freed on bail.

Islam is the official religion in Malaysia, and Malay-Muslims make up over two-thirds of the country's 34 million people.

Race and religion are thorny issues in the country which witnessed deadly racial riots in 1969.

Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar in his rebuke last week reminded Malaysians to ensure social harmony by refraining from discussing sensitive issues on religion, race and royalty.

He said errors regarding religion and race could not be allowed "whether intentional or not".

jsm-mba/jfx/mtp
A customer walk out from KK Mart convenience store in Puchong area on the outskirts of of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Tuesday, March 26, 2024. The owner of a Malaysian convenience store chain was charged Tuesday with deliberately wounding the religious feelings of others after socks with the word "Allah" were found sold in some outlets. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP)  The owners of a Malaysian convenience store chain and one of its suppliers were charged Tuesday with offending the religious feelings of Muslims after socks printed with the word Allah" were found for sale on its shelves.

Chai Kee Kan, founder and chairman of the KK Mart Group, the country's second-large chain of convenience stores, and his wife Loh Siew Mui, a company director, pleaded not guilty to charges of deliberately wounding the religious feelings of Muslims. The company has blamed its supplier for sending products the company had not agreed to stock.

Religion is a sensitive issue in Malaysia, where Muslims account for two-thirds of a population of 34 million, with large ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities. Allah is an Arabic word for God, and many Malaysian Muslims found it offensive to associate the word with feet.

The word Allah is highly esteemed in the eyes of Muslims, Minister for Religious Affairs Mohamad Naim Mokhtar was quoted as saying by the national Bernama news agency earlier this month. Allah is our creator and the act of putting Allah at our feet is an insult.

Alwani Ghazali, a senior Islamic lecturer at Malaya University, told radio station BFM that it's demeaning because feet are associated with a lowly status."

Socks stink, do you agree? Are you happy to smell your socks after using them all day?" she said. As a Muslim, I think its inappropriate and (the issue) is a big deal.

The founder of the supplier that provided the socks, Xin Jian Chang, as well as his wife and daughter who are directors were also charged with abetting the offence. Xin Jian Chang has said the socks were imported from China as part of a large shipment and apologized for being careless in their inspection.

If found guilty, all five defendants face up to a year in jail, a fine or both.

KK Mart is a major 24-hour chain, with 810 stores domestically and some 5,000 employees. It also has outlets in Nepal and India. Chai has said the socks were put on its shelves by Xin Jian Chang, which rented shelf space in its outlets. Only 14 pairs of Allah socks were found on the shelves at three KK Mart outlets, he added.

KK Mart has sued Xin Jian Chang for sabotage over losses and damage to the chain's reputation, reportedly claiming that it didn't agree to stock socks from the supplier.

But a Malay political party in Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's coalition has called repeatedly for a boycott of KK Mart, while Malaysia's new king, Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, has called for stern action over the issue, warning that it could disrupt racial harmony. Two people deemed to have made insensitive comments online over the issue have also been charged, sentenced to jail and fined for insulting Islam.

Anwar has called for firm action but also urged the public not to make too much of the issue and to move on.

KK Mart has also reportedly said it had to cancel a planned listing on the Malaysian bourse due to the crisis.
LONDON, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Wikileaks founder Julian Assange faces a further wait to find out whether he can bring an appeal against his extradition to the United States, the High Court ruled on Tuesday.

According to the ruling, a decision on the appeal has been adjourned to May 20 as the court is seeking assurances from the United States that Assange could rely on the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and he would not be sentenced to death if convicted.

"If those assurances are not given, then leave to appeal will be given and there will then be an appeal hearing," a summary of the judgment said.

Speaking outside the High Court in London, Assange's wife Stella Assange said she is "astounded" by the court's decision to delay her husband's appeal.

"What the courts have done has been to invite a political intervention from the United States," she said. "I find this astounding."

Assange is "a political prisoner," she told supporters. "He is a journalist and he is being persecuted because he exposed the true cost of war in human lives."

His case is "a signal to all of you that if you expose the interests that are driving war they will come after you," Stella said as she urged the U.S. government not to submit assurances to the High Court and to drop "this shameful case."

"This is a shame on every democracy," she added.

Michelle Stanistreet, general secretary of the British National Union of Journalists, said the risks to Assange and press freedom "remain stark," despite the delay to the High Court's ruling.

"Assange's prosecution by the United States is for activities that are daily work for investigative journalists -- finding sources with evidence of criminality and helping them to get their stories out into the world," she said. "If Assange is prosecuted, free expression the world over will be damaged."

Assange, 52, is wanted by the United States on allegations of disclosing national defense information following WikiLeaks's publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked military documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars a decade ago, which included an Apache helicopter video footage documenting the U.S. military gunning down Reuters journalists and children in Baghdad's streets in 2007.

He has been held at southeast London's high-security Belmarsh Prison since 2019. Britain approved his extradition to the United States in 2022 under then Home Secretary Priti Patel after a judge initially blocked it on Assange's mental health concerns. Assange and his lawyers have appealed since then. 
A man described in a lawsuit as rap mogul Diddys mule was busted on drug charges at Miami Opa-locka Executive Airport Monday afternoon, as the artists homes on both sides of the country were being raided by federal agents  and before a plane linked to the superstar producer took off from the airport to a Caribbean island.

Miami-Dade Police charged Brendon Paul, 25, of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, with possession of cocaine and suspected marijuana-laced candy at the airport at 4:30 p.m., just before a plane linked to Diddy, whose legal name is Sean Combs, took off for Antigua.

The arrest affidavit was brief and said the alleged drugs were found in Pauls bag, but made no mention of Diddy.

A law enforcement source said Miami-Dade Police working a different detail at the airport were asked to take a look at the plane linked to Diddy by Homeland Security investigators. Once inside the aircraft, the source said, they found the drugs in Pauls possession.

Pauls arrest was not related to Mondays federal raids on Combs mansions on Star Island in Miami Beach and in Los Angeles, which were part of an ongoing sex-trafficking investigation. Homeland Security Investigations agents havent said specifically what they seized or were looking for, but the raids came a month after a lawsuit was brought by a music producer who accused Diddy, 53, of using the producer and others to hire sex workers for him.

READ MORE: Feds raid on Diddys Miami Beach mansion goes into the night in sex-trafficking probe

Though Paul or a representative hadnt been reached by early Tuesday afternoon, a man named Brendan Paul is described as Mr. Combs Mule and a distributor of his drugs and weapons in the lawsuit filed against Diddy last month by producer Rodney Lil Rod Jones. The man arrested and the lawsuit spell Pauls first name slightly differently.

According to Pauls arrest form, he was taken to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. He got out of jail on a $2,500 bond and his first court appearance is scheduled for April 24.

The lawsuit filed by Jones in the Southern District of New York, says 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. The lawsuit also claimed that Paul would pay sex workers in cash.

READ MORE: What is Diddy facing? Accusations mount as rap moguls Miami Beach mansion raided

Prosecutors from the federal Southern District of New York are heading a sex-trafficking investigation, and Jones is one of several people who are witnesses, sources familiar with the probe told the Miami Herald.

A source told the Herald that Diddy and his entourage arrived in Miami over the weekend and were here when federal agents searched his homes on Star Island and in Los Angeles.

Diddy and his entourage, including family members and friends, flew to Antigua Monday from the Opa-locka airport after being questioned by federal agents at the airport, according to the source.
HANFORD, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE)  A 39-year-old man has been arrested after allegedly causing hundreds of dollars worth of damage to a business in Hanford, the Hanford Police Department said.

Police say officers were dispatched to the 100 block of Court Street in Hanford for an overnight burglary on Sunday.

Upon arrival, officers say they investigated the burglary, which included a significant amount of damage to property inside the business.

According to police, through video surveillance and other located evidence, officers identified the suspect in this incident as 39-year-old Nestor Montes Deoca Diaz.

Investigators say Diaz was located a short time later within the city and was arrested on suspicion of burglary and vandalism with property damage over $400. He was booked at the Kings County Jail.

Officers say Diaz has been arrested six times since 2020 for burglary and other theft-related charges.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com | KSEE24 and CBS47.
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4)  The Salt Lake County District Attorneys Office announced Monday that a man is being charged with 10 felony charges  six of which are attempted murder  and two misdemeanor charges in connection to his alleged involvement in four targeted auto pedestrian crashes over a span of seven months.

Anh Duy Pham, 26, is being charged with two counts of failure to stop at injury accident, which are class A misdemeanors, four counts of failure to stop at serious injury accident, which are third-degree felonies and six counts of attempted murder, which are first degree felonies, according to court documents.

PREVIOUS STORY: Police find suspect after Salt Lake City pedestrian hit-and-run

District Attorney Sim Gill said the auto-pedestrian incidents traced back to Pham were shrouded in the shadow of accidents. Court documents say Pham does not know the victims involved and targets random women in the area.

He is currently under investigation for at least three other hit-and-runs.

August 22, 2023  One victim injured

The first incident connected to Pham was in August of 2023. A Salt Lake City officer was dispatched to a crash with injuries in Salt Lake County.

Witnesses reported seeing a car  later confirmed to be registered to Pham  pull up next to a woman before she started to run away, according to a probable cause statement. The victim said Pham asked her to get into the vehicle multiple times and she refused.

Witnesses said the vehicle sped up and hit the woman, causing her to fly over the vehicle and land on the ground hard, documents say.

The woman suffered minor injuries and refused medical attention.

February 24, 2024  Two victims seriously injured

Around Feb. 24, an officer with Sandy Police was dispatched to hit and run with serious injuries, court documents say. Witnesses said they found a woman and her daughter lying on the side of the road after the crash, as stated in the probable cause statement.

The same type of car that was involved in the August incident was seen on home security footage driving down the street three times prior to the accident, documents say.

According to the probable cause statement, license plate reader cameras confirmed the vehicle was Phams and that it was in the area nine minutes after the crash.

The mother suffered blunt force trauma, a bone fracture and an epidural hematoma. Her daughter suffered a scalp laceration in addition to back injuries and abrasions.

February 28, 2024  Two victims seriously injured

A Salt Lake City officer was dispatched to a hit and run with serious injuries on or about Feb. 28, documents say.

A witness said they heard the crash and saw two women lying on the ground. The victims said they were walking when they heard a vehicle accelerating and were struck from behind, the probable cause statement said.

According to court documents, Phams vehicle was seen in the area when officers reviewed home security footage.

One victim suffered a concussion and lacerations to her head, among other injuries. The other victim suffered a brain bleed, in addition to a fracture and lacerations, and lost consciousness at the scene.

March 11, 2024  One victim seriously injured

The March incident took place before 5 a.m. on West North Temple Street in Salt Lake City.

Two witnesses said they saw a white sedan initially approaching at a slow speed. Two other people were waiting for the walk signal before they began crossing, but the white sedan  identified as Phams  reportedly sped up and hit one person in the crosswalk.

Documents said the white vehicle intentionally drove in the direction of the people in the crosswalk, and that security footage shows the driver did not use his brakes or try to stop.

Investigators found the bumper of the white sedan at the scene and confirmed it was registered to Pham. It was also confirmed that Pham was traveling through Salt Lake starting around midnight.

Earlier in March, investigators said the vehicle did not have damage. Photos from the day after the incident allegedly showed Phams vehicle was missing a front bumper and had extensive damage to the right passenger side of the vehicle.

The victim had to be intubated and received a skull fracture and brain bleed among other injuries. The victim was still in the hospital at the time Pham was charged on March 25.

March 13, 2024  Suspect arrested

On March 13, documents say officers found the vehicle at Liberty Park with one person inside, who was identified as Pham.

Pham confirmed that he was the owner of the car and that he was the only one who drove it.

He allegedly told officers he would have waited for police if he was in a crash, but also said he may have lent the vehicle to one of his friends before telling police he didnt let anyone else drive the car.

Pham is being held without bail because he is charged with felonies and he is a flight risk, according to court documents.

Many of the people impacted by these hit-and-runs have very serious physical injuries and the emotional toll on them may last a lifetime, Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown said. We are fortunate none of the victims were killed.

Charges are allegations only. All arrested persons are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD)  A man faces multiple charges after police say he ran a stop sign and was driving while drunk.

Jersson Mairena-Montoya, 24, was arrested and charged with vehicular negligent injuring, operating a vehicle while intoxicated, stop signs and yield signs and driver must be licensed.

The Baton Rouge Police Department was called to a traffic incident a little after 10:20 p.m. Saturday, March 23. An officer arrived at 14100 Florida Blvd. and found first responders treating someone for a broken leg. The injured person reportedly told the officer that Mairena-Montoya was driving a Dodge Ram and ran a stop sign, according to the arrest affidavit.

BRPD said it caused a wreck. They confirmed the person with the broken leg was taken to a local hospital.

East Baton Rouge deputies accuse Lake Charles man of selling drugs after traffic stop

The responding officer reportedly found Mairena-Montoya in the truck. He said he did not speak English.

The officer could smell alcohol coming from the defendants facial area, according to the affidavit.

BRPD said Mairena-Montoya would not say that he understood his Miranda rights. He was detained, and contact was made with a DUI officer.

He was taken to a hospital before being booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on Sunday, March 24. He remains in jail, and his bond was set at $11,000.

Latest News

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to BRProud.com.
A man died after being pushed onto the New York subway tracks in an unprovoked attack, authorities reported less than a month after troops were deployed to reduce surging violence in the city's transportation system.

The victim, who has still not been identified, was shoved in front of an oncoming No. 4 train Monday evening in East Harlem, according to police.

Officers arrested and charged the alleged assailant, a 24-year-old man named Carlton McPherson, who local media reported has a long history of mental illness.

In recent months there have been a number of deadly shootings, as well as incidents involving knives and passengers being pushed onto the tracks.

"A preliminary investigation determined that the victim was pushed to the tracks as the train entered the station in an unprovoked attack," police said.

At the beginning of March, New York state Governor Kathy Hochul deployed 750 National Guard troops to monitor and protect the more than 400 subway stations in the city's sprawling transportation network.

A few hours before the Monday incident, the New York Police Department additionally announced that 800 officers would pursue violators who sneak in without paying.

New York, which suffers from strong socioeconomic inequality, experienced a sharp rise in crime during the Covid pandemic in 2020 and 2021, but statistics have improved since then.

That said, major crime was up almost 50 percent in the subway system in January, compared to the same period in 2023.

The Monday incident is only the latest in a long string of subway violence that has left those who use the city's transportation system in a state of high alert.

"I pay attention, only put in one EarPod," 24-year-old Jahlen Brown of New Jersey told AFP.

On February 12, one person was killed and five others injured in a shooting at a New York subway station just ahead of the busy rush hour.

Recently another woman lost both her feet after her partner pushed her onto the train tracks following an argument.

And in October a woman was hospitalized in critical condition after an apparently disturbed person pushed her against a train entering the station.

af-nr/bfm/md
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD)  A man arrested Sunday by Michigan State Police has been charged with felony murder in the shooting death of a woman whose body was found beside a Grand Rapids freeway late Friday.

Charges against 25-year-old Brandon Ortiz-Vite, who officials say was in the U.S. illegally, include felony murder and carjacking. He was arraigned on five felony charges Tuesday afternoon; bond was denied.

Ortiz-Vite admitted to killing 25-year-old Ruby Garcia with a handgun he purchased illegally, court records show. He and Garcia had been in a dating relationship, according to the documents.

Through the investigation, it is apparent that he and the victim, Ruby, were in a romantic relationship, Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker said Tuesday at a news conference. So this is another case of a domestic violence homicide that weve seen, quite frankly, far too often over the last few years.

Family: Woman found dead on highway loved to make people laugh

A citizen of Mexico, Ortiz-Vite was deported from the U.S. in 2020 but returned illegally, federal officials said Tuesday.

According to court records, Brandon confessed to shooting Ruby multiple times during an argument while inside her vehicle.

It happened on the shoulder of southbound US-131 near Leonard Street. Ortiz-Vite then fled in the womans 2023 Mazda before abandoning it, court records show.

It appeared Garcia had been run over in addition to being shot, investigators wrote in court documents.

(Ortiz-Vite) stated that once she appeared deceased, he unbuckled her seatbelt and removed her from the vehicle, a detective wrote in court documents. He then stated he drove her vehicle away from the scene.

Her car was recovered Saturday in the South Haven area. It had damage believed to be bullet holes with suspected blood stains inside, according to the documents.

On Sunday, Allegan County 911 received a call from Ortiz-Vite who said he wanted to surrender to police, court records show. He was arrested at a church, sources said.

Police recovered a 9mm handgun, which Ortiz-Vite said he had purchased illegally, court records show.

Ortiz-Vite was booked into the Kent County jail on Sunday on outstanding warrants from 2020.

MSP: Person of interest in custody for body found on US-131

Ortiz-Vite was a person of interest early on in the death of Garcia, who listed an address on the citys Southwest Side.

An examination of Garcias cellphone indicated a text conversation between Garcia and Ortiz-Vite, court records indicate.

During the conversation, it was apparent that both the deceased and Brandon had met at her residence the night of the homicide approximately an hour before it occurred, an MSP detective wrote in a probable cause affidavit.

MSP: Body with gunshot wounds found on US-131 in GR

Ortiz-Vite was deported in September 2020 following a drunk driving arrest in Grand Rapids and returned at an unknown date and location, according to a news release from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Following his arrest in Allegan County on Sunday, the ICE Detroit lodged a detainer with the Kent County Jail for Ortiz-Vite, ICE said in a release.

Ortiz-Vite has had several run-ins with local law enforcement since 2017, including drunk driving and illegal entry into a residence.

He was cited in Grand Rapids in July of 2017 for driving while unlicensed or license not valid. He was 18 at the time.

Six months later, Ortiz-Vite was arrested in the city of Wyoming and charged with illegal entry without owners permission. He pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge and was placed on probation for one year.

A bench warrant for his arrest was issued when he failed to appear for probation and failed to pay fines and court costs. His probation was terminated and Ortiz-Vite was given 30 days in jail.

In August of 2020, he was arrested by Grand Rapids police for suspicion of drunk driving and driving on a license that had been suspended/revoked/denied.

A bench warrant was issued for his arrest for failure to appear for a settlement conference.

It took nearly four years, but Ortiz-Vite was arraigned by video Monday in Grand Rapids District Court on the outstanding bench warrant.

He is scheduled to appear in court April 9 on the most recent felony charges.

 News 8s Susan Samples contributed to this report.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
(FOX40.COM)  A 26-year-old man was found dead on Monday morning in Grass Valley, according to the Grass Valley Police Department.

Police said the man was found lying on the ground behind a building on the 150 block of Mill Street, which is just south of Main Street and in between Church and Auburn Streets, around 8:15 a.m.

Suspicious death ruled a homicide in South Sacramento

An investigation is ongoing and further details will be released when appropriate, the Grass Valley Police Department said. At this time, there is no indication of foul play.

This article will be updated with more information as it is made available.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  A man will spend seven and a half years in prison after pleading guilty to a shooting at a Portland strip club in 2022, the Washington County district attorney announced Monday.

Joshua Michael Best was first arrested for the shooting on Sept. 6, 2022, after getting into an altercation with an employee at the Sunset Strip Gentlemens Club located at 10205 SW Park Way.

Husband, friend arrested after Hockinson death

Investigators found Best had entered the building with a woman named Heather Lundy and assaulted a woman inside. When Best was asked to leave, he got into an altercation with a security guard.

Mr. Best told the employee he was going to shoot up the establishment, the district attorneys office said. As he was driving away, he aimed a handgun in the direction of the employee and fired several rounds before leaving the scene.

Best is a convicted felon and was not allowed to possess weapons at the time of the shooting.

An employee suffered skin injuries from bullet shrapnel, but no one was shot in the incident. Officials said they found bullet strikes to the building and a vehicle along with several casings.

Cyclist dies following crash with SUV in downtown Portland

The altercation and shooting were caught on surveillance video, which detectives say they used to identify Best.

Best pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree murder with a firearm on Friday. After serving his sentence, he will need to serve three years of post-prison release.

Lundy previously pleaded guilty to fourth-degree assault, officials said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
(FOX40.COM)  A man who had been reported missing in mid-March in Sacramento has been found dead, according to Sacramento Police.

The agency said that Taylor Cain, 37, was found dead on Monday evening, just over a week after he had been reported missing.

Cain was found with his vehicle, a Ram pickup, in the 2000 block of River Plaza Way, according to police.

The location of where Cains body was found is about eight miles from where he was reported missing in the 1700 block of Roanoke Avenue.

Officials provide detailed account of deadly mountain lion attack that killed 21-year-old

Police did not mention any details of the circumstances in which they found Cain or a possible cause of death.

In the week before, police had released a missing person flyer, stating that Cain was last seen on March 17 in the East Del Paso Heights neighborhood of Sacramento driving a Dodge Ram pickup.

Our hearts go out to the family, police said in a statement.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40.
A homeless man living in Norwich says a charity has been helping him turn his life around.

Kieran, 29, has been without a permanent home since leaving care when he was 17, with his lowest point being six months on the streets.

He avoided sleeping in the city centre at the time as he found it "terrifying" at night.

Since getting help from St Martins Housing Trust he said he now wanted to help other homeless people.

"I want to become a support worker because I've been in other people's shoes."

Kieran was one of the first people to move into the charity's new hostel, St Martins House, on Thorpe Road in the city.

With 23 en-suite rooms, the former hotel opened to residents in December last year.

Last month, the charity welcomed the news that government figures showed a further drop in the number of rough sleepers in Norwich.

Kieran said he had been supported by the charity since 2020 and before that, had spent six months rough sleeping.

"I was never one of the ones that'd be in the mix of it all in the centre of the city; I'd always be on the outskirts of Norwich. Just out of the way from it because I didn't like being in that environment, because at night it's terrifying."

"Especially when you've got no money, no food, you don't know when the next meal is coming in."

Kieran said he had been taking training courses with the charity and hoped to eventually become a support worker for other people going through homelessness.

"I want to show that people can overcome problems," he explained.

"I'm now 29 and I don't want to be in this picture in another 29 years. I want to be in a role where I'm supporting others and I can tell them people can change if you put in the effort like I did."

Follow East of England news on Facebook, Instagram and X. Got a story? Email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp 0800 169 1830
This undated photo shows a paper knife cutting artwork of blue-and-white porcelain by Lu Faliang in Yueqing City, east China's Zhejiang Province. (Xinhua)

YUEQING, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Paper knife cutting, a folk artwork popular in Yueqing City in China's southeast coastal area, is originated from paper cutting on local dragon lanterns. Boasting of its delicacy, the artwork displays folk patterns on a paper of several square centimeters.

This photo taken on March 13, 2024 shows a paper knife cutting made by Lu Faliang in Yueqing City, east China's Zhejiang Province. (Xinhua/Jiang Han)

This photo taken on March 13, 2024 shows a paper knife cutting made by Lu Faliang in Yueqing City, east China's Zhejiang Province. (Xinhua/Jiang Han)

Going through complicated procedures which cost at least one week to complete, it reflects the local ocean culture and folk customs. Its making craft was listed as a national-level intangible cultural heritage in 2006.

This photo taken on March 12, 2024 shows tools that Lu Faliang uses for making paper knife cuttings in Yueqing City, east China's Zhejiang Province. (Xinhua/Jiang Han)

Lu Faliang makes a paper knife cutting at his studio in Yueqing City, east China's Zhejiang Province, March 12, 2024. (Xinhua/Jiang Han)

Lu Faliang, 76, an inheritor of the craft, has been engaged in the art for over 50 years. In his career, he not only makes traditional paper knife cuttings, but also creates new ones which reflect modern life and local culture. He set up a Yueqing paper cutting seminar in 1985 and a Yueqing dragon lantern paper knife cutting institute in 2003.

Lu Faliang mounts a paper knife cutting at his studio in Yueqing City, east China's Zhejiang Province, March 12, 2024. (Xinhua/Jiang Han)

Lu Faliang makes a paper knife cutting at his studio in Yueqing City, east China's Zhejiang Province, March 12, 2024. (Xinhua/Jiang Han)

Creating and collecting artworks, he also brings them to classes opened in local schools and communities, aiming to let more people to get in touch and fall in love with the traditional art. Nowadays, he has altogether accepted 16 apprentices, with whom he often holds exhibitions and designs souvenirs on paper knife cuttings.

Lu Faliang reads in search of inspirations for his new paper knife cutting works at his studio in Yueqing City, east China's Zhejiang Province, March 12, 2024. (Xinhua/Jiang Han)

This undated photo shows a paper knife cutting artwork of blue-and-white porcelain by Lu Faliang in Yueqing City, east China's Zhejiang Province. (Xinhua)


FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE)  The man who beat, robbed, and ultimately killed a former U.S. Coast Guard was sentenced on Monday, according to the Fresno County District Attorneys Office.

On the morning of Dec. 30, 2022, the Clovis Police Department reports they responded to Herndon and Clovis where 78-year-old Frank Moore was found suffering from a major head injury. Moore was transported to a local hospital where he ultimately died days later.

IDENTIFIED: 78-year-old who died after beating outside Clovis store, police say

A fundraiser created by his family said Moore had served in the U.S. Coast Guard, retired as a truck driver, and left behind his wife of 55 years, his three adult children, four grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

Upon investigating the scene that morning, detectives say they found the suspect, 37-year-old Joseph Wright nearby with the help of descriptions given by witnesses. Wright was found with Moors cell phone and was taken into custody without incident.

On Monday, Joseph Wright was sentenced to 15 years to life for the robbery and killing of Frank Moore outside of a Clovis Dollar Tree at Herndon and Clovis Avenue in 2022. Wright had previously pled No Contest to the charges in Feb. 2024.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com | KSEE24 and CBS47.
A West Sacramento man was sentenced last week to four years in prison for about 45 retail theft incidents from Target stores in the Sacramento area, according to the Yolo County District Attorneys Office.

Over about one year, Nicholas Juarez Lopez stole more than $18,000 worth of Lego sets, action figures, electronics and household items, prosecutors said in a news release.

The incidents started in January 2022, and Juarez Lopez told investigators he resold the items to support his drug habit, according to the news release.





Juarez Lopez pleaded no contest in Yolo Superior Court to two counts of grand theft and attempted grand theft, enhanced by prior felony convictions. He was sentenced Friday.

Juarez Lopezs conviction came under the Fast Pass program implemented last fall by Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig, which allows retailers to report shoplifting incidents directly to the District Attorneys Office rather than to police.

Police responses can be delayed, which allows prosecutors tasked with making a charging decision to view the incident faster, Reisig said in a news conference announcing the Fast Pass program.

Reisig in a statement Monday said Juarez Lopezs case is a testament to the programs success.
A man claims he was wrongfully convicted in a Kansas City murder nearly two decades ago and that the prosecutors office continues to withhold information that could help exonerate him.

William Condit was found guilty of first-degree murder in the 1995 stabbing of Charles Brown, 39.

Condit, 62, is serving life without parole at a Missouri prison.

So is Shannon Phillips, who was also convicted of first-degree murder in Browns death. Both were present when Brown died.

Three months after Condit was convicted in March 1996, Phillips signed an affidavit.

The testimony I gave at my trial was erroneous and defective, and at this time I would like to set the record straight to ease the burden of my conscience.

It went on to say: I found myself cutting Charlies neck with the knife ... Bill Condit had nothing to do with the stabbing.

When reached by The Star in February, Phillips, now 55, echoed his statement from decades ago.

I lost it and just started stabbing him, Brown. Bill had no idea I was going to do what I did. I just lost it ... Bill didnt do anything.

Despite Phillips recantation, the Jackson County Prosecutors Offices Conviction Integrity Unit, or CIU, declined to reopen Condits case.

Tasked with correcting wrongs in the criminal justice system, Jackson Countys CIU has been criticized for not following best practices and failing to take action on cases it has reviewed.

In 2021, Condit submitted an application to the CIU, which included Phillips affidavit and information about former Jackson County deputy medical examiner Michael Berkland.

Berkland was fired in January 1996 but still testified at Condits trial. Prosecutors did not tell Condits defense attorney about Berklands shoddy work, which led to his termination.

Now, an attorney for Condit  who was once an officer with the Kansas City Police Department  is suing Jackson County prosecutors over access to information about Berkland.

Mike Mansur, a spokesman for the prosecutors office, declined to answer questions about Condits CIU application or the pending litigation.

William Condits trial was covered in this Kansas City Star news clipping from March 1996.

Murder over $20 bike

Brown, Condit and Phillips were friends up until Aug. 9, 1995. The three were at Browns home in the 1200 block of Ewing Avenue when he got angry at them over who owned a $20 bicycle, Phillips testified at his 1996 trial.

Brown threatened to kill Phillips wife and kids if he didnt get the bike back.

I stabbed him four or five times real fast, Phillips said. Then Condit began punching and stabbing Brown, Phillips testified.

Condit and Phillips were arrested hours later.

This was a rage killing, Condit told The Star. This dude was mad because he threatened his children. I had no fight in this game. I had nothing to do with this.

According to an investigative report from the Kansas City Police Department, Condit told a detective he did not have anything to do with Charlies death.

Condit said police continued to interrogate him for hours.

According to the report, Condit changed his story two times until saying he helped Phillips stab Brown.

In a letter dated Aug. 23, 1995, Condit wrote to the public defenders office saying he was under duress during the police interview and that detectives fed him information in an effort to coerce him into their account of what happened.

I did not kill anybody and the crooked detectives know it, he wrote.

Both Condit and Phillips were found guilty.

Phillips was later convicted of killing someone with a pickaxe in prison and sentenced to life for a second time.

Medical examiner

Berkland was Jackson Countys deputy medical examiner at the time of Browns murder. Browns autopsy was his responsibility.

In December 1995, medical examiner Thomas Young wrote Berkland a memo saying the deputy ME had not completed 69 autopsy reports, which Young called unacceptable and intolerable.

The circumstances apparently did not improve and on Jan. 10, 1996, Young issued another memo telling Berkland he was being terminated. However, Berkland could still be called for court appearances.

Later that month, the prosecutors office sent a list of incomplete autopsy reports to the MEs office. It included Browns case.

Condit went to trial in March 1996.

Berkland was called to testify, but prosecutors never informed Condits trial attorney that he had been fired by the county for not completing autopsy reports. Prosecutors are required to turn over exculpatory and impeachment evidence to the defense.

Berkland told the jury no alcohol was found in Browns system. Berkland also corroborated statements Condit made about the victims wounds after changing his story to detectives.

In 1998, the State Board of Registration for the Healing Arts filed a complaint against Berkland. The board alleged he had falsified eight autopsy reports in Jackson County.

Berklands license was revoked.

A February 1995 story in The Kansas City Star featured former Jackson County deputy medical examiner Michael Berkland.

It was years later, during Phillips second murder case, that information about Berklands firing came to light.

Larry Washington, a chemist with KCPDs crime lab, said in a 2005 deposition that he retested a sample from Brown and found he had a blood alcohol content of 0.18 at the time of his death.

Chad Gardner took on Condits case about a decade ago. Gardner, who was an officer with KCPD from 1997 to 2004, said the case weighs on him.

Berklands testimony, according to Gardner, changed Condits legal strategy at the time of his trial.

It makes Gardner question whether Berklands other conclusions were not correct  in Condits case and perhaps others.

Browns autopsy report was completed months after the exam, Gardner added, based only on what Berkland could remember.

All of that stuff, it just goes to the integrity of the investigation, Gardner said.

He called the prosecutors office decision to withhold information about Berkland a systematic failure.

Berkland went on to work in Florida. He was arrested there in 2012 for allegedly keeping human remains in a storage unit, the Associated Press reported at the time. Organs were discovered in soda cups and food containers by a man who noticed a strange smell.

In a phone interview Monday, Berkland said what Jackson County prosecutors released to the defense in terms of his employment status was up to them.

I dont tell them how to do their job, and they never told me how to do mine, he said.

Berkland also said he was not aware of any Jackson County cases where his determinations on a cause or manner of death had been incorrect. And he questioned the blood alcohol content discrepancies. The county contracted testing out so whatever finding he had was from that lab, he said, adding that he was suspicious of the 2005 retesting of a 10-year-old sample.

Conviction integrity

In April 2021, Condit submitted an application to prosecutors working in the Conviction Integrity Unit to challenge his case.

The unit, formed in 2017, has faced criticism: It has no written policies, nor any staff dedicated to it full time. And it is not a completely separate unit from the prosecutors office, a recommendation made by experts to avoid bias.

Condit signed the form, which required him to waive some of his rights. It also says he understands evidence uncovered by the Conviction Review Unit that is favorable to me shall be disclosed to me regardless of the outcome of the review.

In February 2022, the CIU said it had reviewed the case and did not see a sufficient basis to take any further action, according to an email between the unit and Gardner.

Gardner replied, saying he thought re-sentencing was also being considered. A few hours later, the CIU denied that option, too.

That office is deciding what justice is, Gardner said.

When you take your oath as a lawyer, you take that oath to make those difficult decisions.

Condit said the system is broken.

When you see somethings wrong and you know its wrong, you gotta correct it, he said. I mean, truth being inseparable from justice should always matter no matter how inconvenient, uncomfortable.

In December, Gardner filed a breach of contract lawsuit against Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker. Gardner argues that the CIU reviewed the case, but has refused to provide documents related to the case.

According to the petition, Gardner is seeking Berklands discipline records, correspondence between the prosecutors office and the medical examiners office regarding Berkland, records where he testified and other documents. The information is essential to support claims Condit wants to raise in a future case seeking the overturning of his conviction.

On March 18, the prosecutors office filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. The Office of the County Counselor of Jackson County contended that Condit did not have a valid contract with the county. The CIU application was only signed by him and no other parties, the motion said.

The application was also signed by a notary. It did not contain an area for the prosecutors office to sign it.

The next court hearing in the case is scheduled for April 18.
AUSTIN, Texas - Texas DPS is investigating a deadly hit-and-run that happened last month on FM 969 in eastern Travis County.

Fifty-six-year-old Michael McCauley was killed in the crash. He was in Texas because he was trying to bail his son out of jail who was accused of threatening to kill President Biden and Elon Musk.

"My dad was my best friend," Amber McCauley said.

She said her father, Michael McCauley, was a hard worker, loving, compassionate about his family, and would do anything to help his family.

Michael McCauley and Amber McCauley

"Although our family did not want him to go, he wanted to go and try to get my brother out," Amber McCauley said.

She said he was trying to get her brother out of jail. Justin McCauley was in the Travis County Jail for threatening to kill the president and Elon Musk.

"He wanted to help his child," Amber McCauley said.

Michael McCauley traveled from Michigan to Austin.

"He brought together a bunch of money to get my brother out, so that left him with very little to live off of in Austin, so he was sleeping in his car at Walmart," Amber McCauley said.

MORE STORIES:

On the night of February 7, Michael McCauley went to Sign Bar off FM 969. When he was leaving and got back to his car, Amber McCauley said, "We believe that his battery died, and he was trying to flag on 969 for a jump, and he was unable to get that. He ended up getting hit two times by two different cars, and they were hit and runs."

Michael McCauley was found dead around 3:30 a.m.

"My dad loved food trucks, and he loved church, and he died right in the middle of the road between both of them," Amber McCauley said.

Michael McCauley was never able to get his son out of jail, so Amber McCauley had to break the news to her brother.

"Completely destroyed. I've never experienced pain like that in my life. I mean, the last words that man said to me were: 'It's my job to get you out of there, son. I love you. I'm going to see you tomorrow.' And that was the phone call. And then he died, or got killed that night," Justin McCauley said.

Michael McCauley and Justin McCauley

Amber McCauley said she immediately flew to Texas to try to figure out what happened to her father.

"The police were not helpful at all," Amber McCauley said. "We didnt know where his car was, where anything was, what kind of condition he was in, how he died, we didnt know anything."

She said she still knows very little.

"My dad got killed, and I dont know anything besides that he got killed in a hit-and-run," Amber McCauley said. "Is anyone going to be held accountable? I mean you cant just hit somebody and drive away, thats not okay."

Texas DPS said no arrests have been made, and the investigation is ongoing. If you have any information to help with this investigation, call Texas DPS.
HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW)  A McClellanville man who for years was falsely linked to the death and disappearance of Brittanee Drexel is suing the government, claiming false narratives pushed by the agency caused irreversible emotional strain.

Timothy DShaun Taylors complaint, which can be read below, was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Charleston.

Timothy-Taylor-complaintDownload

Drexel, who was from Rochester, New York, disappeared on April 25, 2009, while she was on spring break with friends in the Myrtle Beach area. Authorities said her cell phone last pinged that day near the Charleston and Georgetown County line.

Her remains were found in May 2022 after 62-year-old Raymond Moody led investigators to her body. Moody confessed to raping and killing the 17-year-old.

He was sentenced to life in prison on kidnapping and murder charges back in October 2022.

The FBI named Taylor a person of interest in the Drexel case in 2016 after a jailhouse informant said that Taylor had murdered and raped her.

Taylors team had reiterated that he was innocent from the beginning, stating that Taylor, then 16, was in class at the time of the crime. Documents released in 2018 showed that he failed a polygraph test, which are known to be unreliable and are generally not allowed to be presented as evidence in court.

 For over a decade, my son and his father were relentlessly pursued for a crime that federal law enforcement officials knew neither of them committed because they had evidence to the contrary, Taylors mother Joan said in a statement on Tuesday. Their illegitimate investigation wreaked havoc on our lives  and we demand answers from those responsible. Our family deserves a public apology, and my son deserves for the public to know his name without any association to Brittanee Drexel.

This is a developing story.

* * *

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.
Lawyers for Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer are requesting sanctions in an ongoing defamation case against former gubernatorial and current U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake, claiming her attorneys are "doing everything possible to waste time and stall discovery."

Richer's motion, filed Monday afternoon, requests monetary sanctions to "compensate for defendants' bad faith and to deter future instances of such conduct." It also requests a scheduling conference to get the case moving forward.

Kari Lake encourages citizens to cast their votes in the primary election on March 19, 2024.

Timothy La Sota, an attorney for Lake, said the motion has "zero merit."

"Mr. Richer has an army of East Coast attorneys being funded by unknown sources at his disposal," La Sota said. "We have operated in good faith throughout but we won't be unduly rushed in a way that will compromise our defense to Mr. Richer's lawsuit targeting Ms. Lake's free speech."

The filing comes on the heels of Richer's team entering an application for default against Lake and her attorneys. That document also alleges Lake's attorneys are refusing to move the case forward.

Richer's request also comes weeks after the Arizona Supreme Court lifted a temporary stay in the defamation lawsuit and rejected Lake's appeal challenging Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Jay Adleman's December decision to allow the case to go forward.

Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer attends a Board of Supervisors special meeting where Maricopa County Chief Deputy Sheriff Russ Skinner was appointed as sheriff in Phoenix on Feb. 8, 2024.

The initial lawsuit, filed in June by Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, accuses Lake and her affiliates of spreading false information about Richer after the November 2022 election. He alleges Lake knew, or should have known, the statements were false. Lake and Richer are both Republicans.

But Lake says Richer, who is running for reelection, is seeking to silence her and other election integrity critics. She has repeatedly condemned his defamation suit against her.

Where's the proof? AZ Republicans echo Kari Lake in claiming election fraud without sharing evidence

What happens next?

The lawsuit is expected to continue to discovery, the formal process of exchanging information between attorneys about witnesses and evidence that could be presented before a jury at trial.

Attorneys for Richer previously told The Republic that they expect that to be "a reasonably lengthy process" that could take "several months."

The case could go to trial during a contentious election year in which both Richer and Lake will be running for elected offices, or immediately after in 2025.

La Sota didn't immediately respond to a question from The Arizona Republic about whether Lake's attorneys had filed or expected to file a response to Richer's default. Their deadline to do so is Monday, March 25.

If Lake's attorneys don't respond, Richer could win a default judgement, meaning Lake would forfeit her right to defend herself in the case.

Sasha Hupka covers county government and election administration for The Arizona Republic. Do you have a tip to share on elections or voting? Reach her at sasha.hupka@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @SashaHupka. Follow her on Instagram or Threads: @sashahupkasnaps.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Stephen Richer seeks sanctions against Kari Lake in defamation lawsuit
A Marine was apprehended after allegedly firing a weapon during an altercation Saturday on a North Carolina base, according to a Marine spokeswoman.

The incident, which took place outside near the French Creek Barracks aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, left no reported injuries, Marine spokeswoman Capt. Emma Thompson said via email on Tuesday.

There are no public safety concerns at this time, Thompson said.

Thompson confirmed that the individual who fired a weapon Saturday was a Marine but declined to release the Marines identity to protect the integrity of the investigation into the incident.

Marine arrested in shooting death of civilian on North Carolina base

Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, is home to II Marine Expeditionary Force, one of the Corps three main forces.

In January, at the same installation, a Marine was taken into custody after a civilian was shot and killed. In October, Lance Cpl. Austin B. Schwenk died after being shot in a barracks room on the North Carolina base, and another Marine was arrested for alleged involvement in the death.

The investigations into those two incidents were ongoing, Darwin Lam, a spokesperson for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, told Marine Corps Times on Wednesday, declining to release new details about them. Lam declined to comment on Saturdays incident, citing the ongoing investigation.

Editors note: This story was updated Wednesday with a response from a Naval Criminal Investigative Service spokesperson.
U.S. Marines with cyber expertise are deploying to Japan on a mission to bolster networks and critical infrastructure the military relies on across the Indo-Pacific.

Marines assigned to Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command will join the III Marine Expeditionary Force in Okinawa, in what the service described as a novel cyber rotational force concept. An announcement shared by the Corps on March 22 did not disclose how many people would make the move.

The U.S. Department of Defense is increasingly concerned with the security of the digital tethers that connect troops across the globe. Officials have warned that cyberattacks on critical infrastructure  such as water and energy sectors, health care providers, and defense suppliers  in the Indo-Pacific could sap U.S. military capabilities.

Ensuring we have the skills and resources to maintain resilient, reliable networks to support rapid decision-making at every level is at the heart of what we do, Maj. Gen. Ryan Heritage, the leader of MARFORCYBER, said in a statement. This is just another step in realizing that goal.

Marines want air-control experts for data-sharing warrant officer job

Shielding Marine infrastructure from attacks of all kinds including cyber is one focus of the Installations and Logistics plan the Corps unveiled last year. The Defense Department has since 2015 experienced more than 12,000 so-called cyber incidents, with yearly totals falling since 2017, according to the Government Accountability Office.

Lt. Gen. William Jurney, the Marine Corps Forces Pacific commander, said resilient connectivity is crucial to future fighting. Both Russia and China wield sophisticated cyber arsenals and are expected to use them to sow chaos at the outset of a conflict, according to the Defense Departments latest cyber strategy.

Protecting critical networks located inside the weapons engagement zone of several regional adversaries is essential to our ability to physically and virtually maneuver, Jurney said in a statement. As the threat to our critical cyber infrastructure evolves, it is essential that the Marine Corps be able to defend our forward-deployed networks.

Marine Corps Times reporter Irene Loewenson contributed to this article.
A federal judge will allow Representatives Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene to sue a pair of California cities that cancelled their political rallies in 2021.

US District Judge Hernan Vera ruled that Mr Gaetz and Ms Greene had the legal footing to bring a lawsuit against Riverside and Anaheim after the events were cancelled "expressly predicated on viewpoint discrimination."

While Judge Vera gave the Republicans the go-ahead to sue the cities, he also tore into their claims that civil rights groups in California conspired with the cities to shut them down.

Here, the Complaint  even charitably construed with all reasonable inferences drawn in Plaintiffs favor  is utterly devoid of any specifics plausibly alleging such an agreement, Judge Vera wrote.

He called the allegations "conspiracy theory" relying "purely on conjecture".

Mr Gaetz and Ms Greene's lawsuit against the cities named nine civil rights organisations as codefendents.

The groups the lawmakers targeted were the League of Women Voters, the NAACP, the League of United Latin American Citizens, Unidos for La Causa, Womens March Action, the Riverside County Democratic Party, Antiracist Riverside and Occupy Democrats, according to MSNBC.

Mr Vera said the lawmakers' decision to drag the civil rights groups into federal court should "shock" citizens, regardless of their ideology.

The effect of Plaintiffs unprecedented and stunningly deficient pleading  hauling 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, he said.

Mr Gaetz and Ms Greene accused the civil rights groups of using their supporters to rally against their speaking events, and in doing so claimed their First Amendment rights were violated.

Mr Vera reminded the legislators that free speech in the US is a two-way street.

He pointed out that the civil rights groups "exercised their own First Amendment rights to lobby for the cancellation of the event," and reminded the lawmakers that doing so is protected under the US Constitution.
A general view of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge after it was collapsed after a cargo ship crashed into it. Karl Merton Ferron/TNS via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Maryland's governor, Wes Moore, has declared a state of emergency in the US state following the collapse of a major bridge in Baltimore.

In a post on the X social media platform, formerly Twitter, Moore wrote that his office is in close contact with US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of Baltimore, the county executive and the emergency services.

They are working together across teams to be able to quickly request help from the US government, he wrote.

Early Tuesday morning a cargo ship rammed into the four-lane Francis Scott Key Bridge in the harbour of the East Coast metropolis of Baltimore, causing it to collapse.

A general view of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge after it was collapsed after a cargo ship crashed into it. Jerry Jackson/TNS via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
Tuesday marks the first anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Honduras. Looking into the future, Hondurans have expressed greater expectations for closer ties with China. #GLOBALink





Produced by Xinhua Global Service




Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey on Tuesday said her administration is going to be proactive in making certain the state is taking all possible steps to ensure the safety of local ports and bridges hours after a cargo ship crash caused the collapse of Baltimores Francis Scott Key Bridge.

Maryland officials said the container ship lost power and rammed into the Key Bridge, causing the span to buckle into the river below and plunging a construction crew and several vehicles into the dangerously cold waters.

Healey was asked about the devastating Key Bridge collapse during a late-morning appearance on Boston Public Radio with hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagan.

Its absolutely devastating and heartbreaking. I was actually supposed to be meeting with [Maryland] Gov. Moore this morning, Healey said. He had to fly back in the middle of the night to attend to this and I have been in touch with him. I have offered our support as a state to Maryland and to Baltimore. My thoughts are with all of the victims and survivors  all those affected by this tragedy.

Braude asked Healey how concerned residents need to be over the possibility of a local bridge collapse, especially with hundreds of structurally deficient bridges scattered across Massachusetts.

Parts of the Francis Scott Key Bridge remain after a container ship collided with a support Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Baltimore. The major bridge in Baltimore snapped and collapsed after a container ship rammed into it early Tuesday, and several vehicles fell into the river below. Rescuers were searching for multiple people in the water. (AP Photo/Steve Ruark)

Parts of the Francis Scott Key Bridge remain after a container ship collided with a support Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Baltimore. The major bridge in Baltimore snapped and collapsed after a container ship rammed into it early Tuesday, and several vehicles fell into the river below. Rescuers were searching for multiple people in the water. (AP Photo/Steve Ruark)

The Dali container vessel after striking the Francis Scott Key Bridge that collapsed into the Patapsco River in Baltimore, Maryland, US, on Tuesday, March 26, 2024. The commuter bridge collapsed after being rammed by the Dali ship, causing vehicles to plunge into the water. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The steel frame of the Francis Scott Key Bridge sit on the water after it collapsed in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 26, 2024. The bridge collapsed after being struck by a container ship, sending multiple vehicles and up to 20 people plunging into the harbor below.

The Dali container vessel after striking the Francis Scott Key Bridge that collapsed into the Patapsco River in Baltimore, Maryland, US, on Tuesday, March 26, 2024. The commuter bridge collapsed after being rammed by the Dali ship, causing vehicles to plunge into the water. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The Dali container vessel after striking the Francis Scott Key Bridge that collapsed into the Patapsco River in Baltimore, Maryland, US, on Tuesday, March 26, 2024. The commuter bridge collapsed after being rammed by the Dali ship, causing vehicles to plunge into the water. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The Dali container vessel after striking the Francis Scott Key Bridge that collapsed into the Patapsco River in Baltimore, Maryland, US, on Tuesday, March 26, 2024. The commuter bridge collapsed after being rammed by the Dali ship, causing vehicles to plunge into the water. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The collapsed steel frame of the Francis Scott Key Bridge and a section of the roadway still upright (L) sit on the water after the bridge collapsed in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 26, 2024. The bridge collapsed after being struck by a container ship, sending multiple vehicles and up to 20 people plunging into the harbor below.

The steel frame of the Francis Scott Key Bridge sit on the water after it collapsed in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 26, 2024. The bridge collapsed after being struck by a container ship, sending multiple vehicles and up to 20 people plunging into the harbor below.

The steel frame of the Francis Scott Key Bridge sits on top of a container ship after it struck the bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 26, 2024. The collapsed sent multiple vehicles and up to 20 people plunging into the harbor below.

The steel frame of the Francis Scott Key Bridge sits on top of a container ship after it struck the bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 26, 2024. The collapsed sent multiple vehicles and up to 20 people plunging into the harbor below.

Baltimore Fire Department Chief James Wallace, with Police Commissioner Richard Worley (R) and Mayor Brandon Scott (2nd R), speaks at a press conference on the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge Baltimore, Maryland, on March 26, 2024. The bridge collapsed early March 26 after being struck by a container ship, sending multiple vehicles and up to 20 people plunging into the harbor below.

A section of the roadway still stands after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after it was struck by a container ship, in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 26, 2024. The collapsed sent multiple vehicles and up to 20 people plunging into the harbor below.

A US Coast Guard helicopter flies over the Dali container vessel after it struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge that collapsed into the Patapsco River in Baltimore, Maryland, US, on Tuesday, March 26, 2024. The commuter bridge collapsed after being rammed by the Dali ship, causing vehicles to plunge into the water. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images

TOPSHOT - The steel frame of the Francis Scott Key Bridge sits on top of a container ship after it struck the bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 26, 2024. The collapsed sent multiple vehicles and up to 20 people plunging into the harbor below.

The Dali container vessel after striking the Francis Scott Key Bridge that collapsed into the Patapsco River in Baltimore, Maryland, US, on Tuesday, March 26, 2024. The commuter bridge collapsed after being rammed by the Dali ship, causing vehicles to plunge into the water. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The steel frame of the Francis Scott Key Bridge sits on top of a container ship after it struck the bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 26, 2024. The collapsed sent multiple vehicles and up to 20 people plunging into the harbor below.

The steel frame of the Francis Scott Key Bridge sits on top of a container ship after it struck the bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 26, 2024. The collapsed sent multiple vehicles and up to 20 people plunging into the harbor below.

TOPSHOT - The steel frame of the Francis Scott Key Bridge sits on top of a container ship after it struck the bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 26, 2024. The collapsed sent multiple vehicles and up to 20 people plunging into the harbor below.

Parts of the Francis Scott Key Bridge remain after a container ship collided with a support Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Baltimore. The major bridge in Baltimore snapped and collapsed after a container ship rammed into it early Tuesday, and several vehicles fell into the river below. Rescuers were searching for multiple people in the water. (WJLA via AP)

Parts of the Francis Scott Key Bridge remain after a container ship collided with a support Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Baltimore. The major bridge in Baltimore snapped and collapsed after a container ship rammed into it early Tuesday, and several vehicles fell into the river below. Rescuers were searching for multiple people in the water. (WJLA via AP)

Parts of the Francis Scott Key Bridge remain after a container ship collided with a support Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Baltimore. The major bridge in Baltimore snapped and collapsed after a container ship rammed into it early Tuesday, and several vehicles fell into the river below. Rescuers were searching for multiple people in the water. (WJLA via AP)

Parts of the Francis Scott Key Bridge remain after a container ship collided with a support Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Baltimore. The major bridge in Baltimore snapped and collapsed after a container ship rammed into it early Tuesday, and several vehicles fell into the river below. Rescuers were searching for multiple people in the water. (WJLA via AP)

Parts of the Francis Scott Key Bridge remain after a container ship collided with a support Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Baltimore. The major bridge in Baltimore snapped and collapsed after a container ship rammed into it early Tuesday, and several vehicles fell into the river below. Rescuers were searching for multiple people in the water. (WJLA via AP)

The steel frame of the Francis Scott Key Bridge sits on top of a container ship after it struck the bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 26, 2024. The collapsed sent multiple vehicles and up to 20 people plunging into the harbor below.

Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse is shown early morning, Tuesday, March 26, 2024 from Riviera Beach, Md. A container ship rammed into a major bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday, causing it to snap in a few places and plunge into the river below. Several vehicles fell into the chilly waters, and rescuers were initially searching for at least seven people. (AP Photo/Nathan Ellgren)

Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse is shown early morning, Tuesday, March 26, 2024 from Riviera Beach, Md. A container ship rammed into a major bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday, causing it to snap in a few places and plunge into the river below. Several vehicles fell into the chilly waters, and rescuers were initially searching for at least seven people. (AP Photo/Nathan Ellgren)

Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse is shown early morning, Tuesday, March 26, 2024 from Riviera Beach, Md. A container ship rammed into a major bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday, causing it to snap in a few places and plunge into the river below. Several vehicles fell into the chilly waters, and rescuers were initially searching for at least seven people. (AP Photo/Nathan Ellgren)

There are a few things that I will note. Number one, we continue to inspect our bridges here in Massachusetts. The Tobin was inspected, for example, as recently as a couple of months ago, Healey said. Number two, Massachusetts does not have the same kind of cargo traffic that they have through the Port of Baltimore. We used to, but in recent years that has changed and much of it is happening with cargo coming into Massachusetts but not having to pass under bridges.

In the wake of the collapse, Healey told Braude and Eagan that she plans to meet with the Coast Guard, MassDOT, Massport, and the Massachusetts Maritime Academy.

Number three, its important that we be proactive here...I want to make sure that we are having conversations to make sure that all of our protocols are where they need to be and that we are doing everything we can to ensure the safety of our ports and our bridges, Healey explained.

After Healey spoke, Massachusetts Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver took some time to discuss bridge and port safety and infrastructure in Massachusetts.

BREAKING: MassDOT speaking about bridge, port safety after Baltimore bridge collapse BREAKING: MassDOT speaking about bridge, port safety in Bay State after Baltimore bridge collapse. Posted by Boston 25 News on Tuesday, March 26, 2024

From a standpoint of is there a lot of similarity between Massachusetts and Baltimore. There is not, said Gulliver.

Gulliver says Massachusetts doesnt have the same level of cargo traffic as the port of Baltimore but he points out one difference in how ships come and go from port of Boston.

Tugboats travel with those ships as they travel in and out of the harbor from start to finish, added Gulliver.

He says the size of the bridges across the Commonwealth arent the same either. Of the more than 7,000 bridges across Massachusetts, Gulliver says, only two have similar profiles to the Francis Key Scott Bridge: Tobin Bridge between Boston and Chelsea & Braga Bridge between Fall River and Somerset.

It was not clear how many people were driving on the 1.6-mile steel bridge when it fell, though Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said authorities had begun to stop traffic, likely saving lives.

A public webcam captured footage of the dramatic collapse of the bridge.

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Six remaining missing people after a large cargo ship crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on Tuesday morning were presumed dead by authorities by evening after rescue efforts found only two of the people who fell into the water.

All six unaccounted for victims were identified as construction workers who were on the bridge when it collapsed, the Baltimore Banner reported. At least two were Guatemalan nationals, the countrys foreign ministry said.

Based on the length of time that weve gone in the search, the extensive search efforts that we put into it, the water temperature, that at this point, we do not believe that were going to find any of these individuals still alive, U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath said in a press conference around 7:30 p.m. local time.

Maryland Secretary of State Police Col. Roland Butler said at the same press conference that authorities have since transitioned away from search and rescue operations to recovery operations. Surface ships have been deployed overnight with divers set to be deployed at 6:00 a.m. Wednesday to begin a more detailed search to do our very best to recover those six missing people.

James Wallace, chief of Baltimores fire department, said in a press conference that upwards of seven individuals fell into the water after the Dali shipping container vessel crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge at 1:30 a.m. local time. The director of communications for Baltimores fire department, Kevin Cartwright, called it a developing mass casualty event.

During an earlier press conference, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott described the event as an unthinkable tragedy. He added: We have to first and foremost pray for all of those who are impacted, those families, and pray for our first responders and thank them.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said Tuesday that hes authorized the deployment everything from air, land, and sea resources to ensure the search and rescue operation is carried out to its fullest intent. He also noted that theres a long road ahead as the city rebuilds.

The path to normalcy will not be easy, said United States Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg during a separate Tuesday press conference. It will not be quick. It will not be inexpensive, but we will rebuild together in order to make sure that happens.

He noted that federal agencies are working to address roadway concerns and supply chain impacts. In many ways, our work is just beginning.

Heres what to know about the incident.

What happened?

The Singapore-flagged 948 ft. Dali vessel crashed into a column supporting the Francis Scott Key Bridge at around 1:30 a.m. local time in Baltimore, causing part of the bridge to collapse and catch fire before sinking.

At around 1:40 a.m., the Baltimore City Fire Department received an emergency services call to respond to a water rescue in the Patapsco River, according to fire chief Wallace.

Moore said in a press conference at 10:00 AM EST that preliminary investigations havent found any credible evidence of a terrorist attack. Baltimore Police said there was no evidence that the collision was intentional.

The ships crew issued a mayday call shortly before the crash that allowed authorities to stop vehicles from going on the bridge.

The steel frame of the Francis Scott Key Bridge sits on top of the container ship Dali after the bridge collapsed, in Baltimore, on March 26, 2024. Jim WatsonAFP/Getty Images

Were thankful that between the mayday and collapse  that we had officials who were able to begin [to] stop the flow of traffic so more cars were not up on the bridge, Moore said.

Several vehicles were on the bridge at the time of impact. At least seven people are believed to have fallen in the water. The Synergy Marine Group, which manages the Dali, has confirmed that all crew members, including its two pilots, are accounted for and unharmed, Reuters reported.

At least 10 commercial ships en route to Baltimore port dropped anchors nearby in the wake of the collision, according to Reuters, which cited tracking and maritime analytics provider MarineTraffic. All lanes remain closed in both directions on I-695 Key Bridge following the incident.

What does the video show?

Footage of the crash was originally shared by Streamtime Live but has since been widely reshared on social media platforms.

BREAKING: Ship collides with Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, causing it to collapse pic.twitter.com/OcOrSjOCRn  BNO News (@BNONews) March 26, 2024

The clip shows fragments of the bridge falling into the Patapsco River, with some parts half submerged in the water and half emerging from it. Vehicles can also be seen falling from the structure.

Longer footage shared on social media showed what appeared to be losses of power on the freighter before it rammed into the bridge.

Recovery operations

Moore issued a statement Tuesday morning declaring a state of emergency and said he is working with an interagency team to deploy resources from the Biden Administration. We are thankful for the brave men and women who are carrying out efforts to rescue those involved and pray for everyones safety, Moore said.

The U.S. Coast Guard is conducting search and rescue for those who remain unaccounted for as a result of the bridge collapse, the White House said in a statement. Senior White House officials are in touch with the governor and mayor to offer any federal assistance they need.

Sonar and infrared technology, as well as underwater unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), have been deployed for search and rescue operations. Wallace, the Baltimore fire chief, added that the tides and darkness of the early hours had slowed rescue efforts down.

Few personal details are known about the two who were rescued so far. One individual refused service and refused transport, essentially that person was not injured, Wallace said. However, there was another individual, thats been transported to a local trauma center, that is in a very serious condition.

Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul J. Wiedefeld speaks at a press conference about the collapse of the Key Bridge and the rescue operation underway on March 26, 2024 in Baltimore. Jasper ColtUSA Today Network/Reuters

President Joe Biden addressed the collapse at the White House on Tuesday afternoon, saying that, though the search and rescue operation is the highest priority at the moment, the federal government will support the city of Baltimore for as long as it takes to recover.

Its my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge, Biden said. I expect the Congress to support my effort.

What do we know about the Francis Scott Key Bridge?

Opened in 1977, the Francis Scott Key bridge is named after the writer of The Star-Spangled Banner. In 1814, Francis Scott Key wrote the national anthem upon witnessing the British defeat in the Battle of Baltimore.

The bridgewhich cost an estimated $110 million to buildis the outermost of three toll crossings on Baltimores Harbor. The four-lane bridge is 1.6 miles long and crosses over the Patapsco River.

The bridge carries over 11 million vehicles per year and 35,000 commuters per day, and is pivotal for East Coast shipping.

This is no ordinary bridge, Buttigieg said. This is one of the cathedrals of American infrastructure. It has been part of the skyline of this region for longer than many of us have been alive.

What do we know about the vessel?

The Dali vessel, which was chartered by shipping company Maersk, was headed for Colombo, Sri Lanka, and carrying cargo from the company. The vessel sustained damage, a fire department official told CNBC. The cause of the crash has yet to be determined by the firm.

The vessel was previously involved in a 2016 collision in Antwerp, Belgium, according to VesselFinder. While there were no casualties from the 2016 incident, the vessels bow scraped the quay and damaged parts of the hull.

National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said Tuesday afternoon the agency is standing back to allow search and rescue to take place, but has a team of experts in nautical operations, human performance, and engineering ready to investigate the ships operations and safety records to better understand what caused the crash.

Dali is owned by Singapore-based Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and managed by Synergy Marine Group. Synergy Marine Group, in a statement published Wednesday, confirmed the safety of their crew and offered their sympathies to victims of the tragedy. Our thoughts are with them as we coordinate closely with the authorities to manage the incidents aftermath, including environmental impact assessments.

What have experts said?

The first thing that springs to my mind is: was there a sudden fault with the ships engines or the steering gear? The other, of course, is: was there a navigational error? David McFarlane, director of Maritime Risk and Safety Consultants Ltd, told Sky News.

He said that a one-person human error appears to be a less likely cause due to the number of staff on duty that could take over in an emergency. The most likely cause of this is a failure in machinery or steering gear, but we just wont know until the authorities have been on board, McFarlane added.

Toby Mottram, Emeritus Professor at the University of Warwick and Structural Engineer, said in an analysis shared by the University of Warwick, that the moment of impact would have been intensified by the momentum of such a massive cargo vessel which was carrying goods.

Despite meeting regulatory design and safety standards of the 1970s, the Baltimore Key Bridge may not have been equipped to handle the scale of ship movements seen today. However, modern navigation technologies should have prevented the ship from striking the pier, Mottram said.

Chad de Guzman in Singapore contributed reporting.

Correction, March 26

The original version of this story misstated the year when Francis Scott Key wrote The Star-Spangled Banner. It was 1814, not 1914.

Write to Armani Syed at armani.syed@time.com and Simmone Shah at simmone.shah@time.com.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) on Monday slammed former President Trump for encouraging a primary challenge against a Florida Republican, saying he was employing ridiculous bullying tactics.

Trump on Sunday took aim at Rep. Laurel Lee (R-Fla.), the only member of the Florida House delegation to endorse Gov. Ron DeSantis over Trump in the GOP presidential primary. She ultimately endorsed Trump after DeSantis ended his campaign.

Any great MAGA Republicans looking to run against Laurel Lee in Floridas 15th Congressional District? IF SO, PLEASE STEP FORWARD! Trump posted on Truth Social late Sunday night.

Massie, who also initially endorsed DeSantis, shot back at Trump.

This is unhelpful and unwarranted, Massie wrote on social media. @RepLaurelLee is a conservative thoughtful member of the judiciary committee. 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, he said.

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), who also initially backed DeSantis over Trump in the GOP presidential primary, signaled he agreed with Massies sentiment, writing, Co-sponsor.

A spokesperson for Lee declined to comment for the story.

Lee, who served as Floridas secretary of state during the 2020 election, resisted calls to conduct an audit in the aftermath of the election, as voters became more animated by the false claims that the election was rigged.

Lee repeatedly reminded Floridians that pre- and post-election audits had already been conducted, as required by state law in Florida, and insisted the election was accurate, and that We are confident in the security and integrity of our 2020 election results.

She went on to endorse DeSantis in April 2023, before he had even formally launched his presidential bid, and then ultimately backed Trump in January.

Massies jab at Trump is also not the first time the libertarian-leaning legislator has found himself at odds with the former president.

Trump called for Massie to be kicked out of the Republican Party over his opposition to a $2 trillion coronavirus relief package that the then-president was pushing Republicans to pass.

Looks like a third rate Grandstander named @RepThomasMassie, a Congressman from, unfortunately, a truly GREAT State, Kentucky, wants to vote against the new Save Our Workers Bill in Congress, Trump posted at the time.

WIN BACK HOUSE, but throw Massie out of Republican Party! Trump said in another social media post.

Trump, however, eventually came back around to endorsing Massies 2022 reelection campaign, in which Massie had been expected to win in a landslide.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Earlier this month, the National Association of Realtors agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit that had ramifications for the real estate market across the country.

The organization, which represents over 1 million real estate agents nationwide, said it would no longer require sellers to list commission for buyers brokers, effectively doing away with the 6% commission standard.

Since sellers had to list the commission they would pay the buyers agent, they were effectively forced to keep it around the standard of 3%, so buyers agents couldnt steer their clients away. When added to a 3% commission for the sellers broker, that tacked on roughly 6% to the price of a home. These commissions had to be paid by sellers but were typically worked into the total price, passing them on to the buyer.

For a house sold at the median price in Washington, that would mean roughly $39,000 in commission.

Now, assuming the settlement is adopted by the court, buyers will be able to negotiate with their brokers much more easily.

In the past, the way the brokers fees worked is they were built into the fee charged by the sellers broker to the seller of a house. The standard fees were 3% from the sellers broker and 3% from the buyers broker, Stephen Bourassa, the chair of the University of Washingtons real estate department, said in a phone interview. Now, theyve disconnected those two.

Commission rates will likely fall as a result. In the UK, Netherlands, Singapore, Sweden and Norway, rates are typically below 2%, according to a 2019 Brookings study. The Richmond Federal Reserve estimates that switching away from the commission model for buyers brokers would save U.S. homebuyers $30 billion a year.

Washington already had similar policies

According to Paul Balzotti, a Realtor who owns Bellinghams branch of John L. Scott Real Estate, the settlement wont have as much of an effect on Washington.

Two of the three major elements of the settlement are already in place in Washington  decoupling listing and buyer broker fees on listing agreements and requiring buyer agency agreements, Balzotti said in an email. I dont think this as big of news for our market that has already been adapting.

The issue of Realtor commission had already been addressed in Washington. Starting this year, Washington implemented a law requiring a separate contract between buyers and their brokers. This allowed buyers to negotiate a broker fee, instead of having the fee set by the seller.

It pretty much anticipated what was coming, Steven Bender, a professor and associate dean at the Seattle University School of Law who studies real estate law, said.

In addition to the agency law, the Northwest Multiple Listing Site, the regions primary property listing database, did away with the requirement to list the buyer broker commission in 2019.

Beginning in 2019, and continuing in 2022, NWMLS made changes to its rules, forms, and processes that address the issues raised by the national litigation and outlined in the proposed settlement agreement, NWMLS CEO Justin Haag said in a statement emailed to the Bellingham Herald.

Balzotti said NWMLSs changes mean the settlement will have less of an effect on Washington.

The Northwest MLS was one of the few in the country to already have this practice in place that you could have as low as a 0% commission to buyers brokers and list on the MLS, Balzotti said.

Balzotti said the only major change from the settlement not already addressed in Washington is how commissions will be published.

How it will impact house prices

Even though the settlement technically changes very little in Washington, it will still likely have some impact on prices. While buyers broker fees are already negotiable in Washington, Bender said they often default to the customary rate. The settlement will affect Washington prices just by changing the national custom.

The fact that it can already be listed in compliance with the settlement doesnt mean that thats the custom  that listings are customarily listed with something less than 3% or with no commission specified at all, Bender said. The custom is what the custom is, and thats going to change.

Bender said prices could also fall because the settlement is forcing conversations on how much value brokers provide to their clients.

What could bring down prices is just all of the newfound emphasis on broker commission  what brokers are actually doing and for whom, and what value theyre providing and what is a fair compensation for that, Bender said.

Balzotti said he expects the national conversation, driven by the press attention the settlement has received, will cause less experienced or skilled realtors to lower commission rates or even leave the field.

No doubt, more transparency is good, Balzotti said And frankly, brokers who are not comfortable in this new environment can and will leave the profession. And that will make for a better industry for both the true professionals and the consumer in the long run.
MATTHEWS, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  Matthews leaders are taking the first steps in regulating short-term rentals in the town.

The action comes after neighbors have expressed frustrations over noise and other issues from the properties listed on sites like Airbnb and VRBO. Mayor John Higdon noted that the leaders of surrounding towns have said that complaints arent over anything criminal, but mainly from parties.

Proposed change to Rock Hills short-term rentals frustrating hosts

Commissioners voted 6-1 to allow the town attorney and staff to draft language to provide relief from short-term rentals in residential neighborhoods. Other regulatory items that could be included include occupancy limits per bedroom, limiting parties or events and parking requirements.

North Carolina municipalities are not allowed to ban short-term rentals, Town Attorney Charlie Buckley explained, but they can create language that only allows them in certain parts of town.

You still have land-use regulatory rights over short-term rentals, he said. You can use zoning as means of where they are located, which districts theyre in, set parking standards.

In October, Airbnb used artificial intelligence to crack down on Halloween parties on its properties in North Carolina.

Another point driven home was that requiring homeowners to register their properties also is illegal in the state. The City of Wilmington found itself in a lawsuit two years ago, paying $500,000 for using registrations like hotels or beds and breakfasts.

Planning Director Jay Camp said there are several dozen short-tern rentals in town, based on maps on the major websites, but he cant know for sure since specific addresses arent provided without finalizing a rental agreement.

It would be a lot easier to know how many we have through registration, but Raleigh said we cant do that, Higdon said with a follow-up jab. Thanks, Raleigh.

Commissioner Renee Garner was the only dissenter, saying she didnt understand use of the word relief. The motion was made by Commissioner Mark Tofano.

I would like to find a way for people to feel safe living around them, Garner said.

Camp noted that most of the rental homes are in residential districts, and theres plenty of research his staff needs to do.

We can give you options today, he said. This is just an ask for us to begin the groundwork.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
MATTOON, Ill. (WCIA)  The Mattoon School District was awarded a $10,000 Safety Grant to go towards new security cameras at their schools.

Charleston firefighters respond to first EV fire

The district made the announcement on Saturday. The Illinois Counties Risk Management Trust (ICRMT) provided the funding. The grant aims to help schools across the state improve their safety measures.

(Left to right) MCUSD #2 Superintendent Tim Condron, Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources David Skocy, and Co-Director of Law Enforcement Practice at Insurance Program Managers Group, Joshua Blackwell, on behalf of ICRMT. Photo provided by the Facebook page of Mattoon Community Unit School District #2.

In a social media post announcing the award, Superintendent for Human Resources David Skocy extended gratitude to Joshua Blackwell, Co-Director of Law Enforcement Practice at Insurance Program Managers Group, for steering the effort.

We appreciate Mr. Blackwells guidance and support throughout the grant process, Skocy said. His efforts have enabled us to access resources that will strengthen our safety initiatives.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com.
Theres been speculation for some time that Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) filed the Kevin McCarthy motion to vacate  and got seven of his colleagues to join him in ousting the former speaker  as part of a personal vendetta.

While Gaetz was never shy about his distaste for McCarthys leadership, Gaetz reportedly was angry with McCarthy for not putting a stop to the House Ethics Committee investigation into allegations that Gaetz had sex with a minor in 2017. And, as The Daily Beast reported at the beginning of the year, he privately told colleagues he blamed McCarthy when it was revived over the summer.

Gaetz has repeatedly publicly denied any reporting around his motive for the motion to vacate, but he showed his ass a bit this fall when, upon revelations that McCarthy elbow jabbed Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN), he immediately filed an ethics panel complaint against the former speaker over the errant elbow move.

And during an interview on CBS Face the Nation Sunday, McCarthy was asked about Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greenes (R-GA) motion to vacate Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). McCarthy spilled what has been widely speculated for months.

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. 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, trying 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, he continued.

NBC News followed up on the McCarthy remarks by calling Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC), who told the news outlet that he knew about Gaetzs side of the story, which involved McCarthy seemingly asking Gaetz during the speakership race if he wanted McCarthy to help him make the whole Ethics panel thing go away.

The only thing Matt said was, Kevin said, Do you need the ethics violation to go away? Norman told NBC.

Read NBC News report here.

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MOSCOW, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft successfully docked with the International Space Station at 18:02 Moscow time (1502 GMT) on Monday, according to Russia's state space company Roscosmos.

Onboard the spacecraft was the 21st visiting expedition, including Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy, Belarusian spaceflight participant Marina Vasilevskaya and NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson from the 71st long-duration expedition.

During the expedition, Novitskiy and Vasilevskaya are scheduled to spend 14 days in orbit before returning to Earth on April 6 aboard the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft, along with NASA astronaut Loral O'Hare.

As per the cross-flight agreement, Tracy Dyson will stay in space for 184 days and land on Sept. 23 aboard the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft.

In July 2022, as part of an International Space Station program, Roscosmos and NASA signed an agreement on cross-flights involving Russian cosmonauts on American Crew Dragon spacecraft and American astronauts on Russian Soyuz MS spacecraft. 
Harbor pilots are some of the highest-paid municipal employees and represent a crucial part of a shipment's journey. Associated Press

Harbor pilots are among the highest-paid city employees but it's a risky job.

The local pilots bring a ship in from miles out at sea to within inches of the port's pier.

Christopher Mims breaks down how packages arrive at your door within a matter of days in his book, "Arriving Today."

Harbor pilots have one of the highest-paid  but simultaneously riskiest  jobs in the transportation industry.

The average harbor pilot at the Port of Los Angeles makes $434,000 a year, but also faces a one in 20 chance of dying on the job, according to a book from The Wall Street Journal's Christopher Mims that was published in 2021. The book, "Arriving Today: From Factory to Front Door  Why Everything Has Changed About How and What We Buy," breaks down the complicated dance that brings a shipment from Asia to US buyers in a matter of days.

Harbor pilots are some of the highest-paid municipal employees and represent a crucial part of a shipment's journey. The average marine pilot in the US makes between $154,000 to $285,000 in total annual compensation, according to GlassDoor.

Any cargo ship looking to come into a port must pay local pilots to safely bring the ship in to dock. The role is highly risky, as the pilots face the dangers of being run over by a massive cargo ship, pitched overboard in rough waters, or slammed between two boats.

"Despite happening a thousand times a day all across the globe, despite myriad safety precautions, if you're a harbor pilot, doing your job can kill you," Mims writes.

The job is also incredibly high stakes and requires hyper-specialized skills. The pilot is responsible for vessels that can weigh over 200,000 tonnes and be worth over $100 million. A harbor pilot brings a ship in from miles out at sea to within mere inches of its unloading spot alongside the pier.

The harbor pilot first approaches the massive skyscraper-sized cargo ship from a 55-foot long speedboat, according to Mims, who described how LA port harbor pilot Captain John Betz maneuvered the Netherlands, a Chinese-owned ship from Cosco Shipping Lines. From the speedboat, the pilot must climb a rope ladder onto the freighter  often while both boats are pitching in opposite directions. The move represents one of the most dangerous moments during the entire process.

"I've been chased up the ladder by the boat," Craig Flinn, another harbor pilot, tells Mims. "The percentage of survival is minimal if you go in the water in heavy seas, even with a life vest," he said.

Once aboard the freighter, Mims explains the pilot is given a sheet detailing every little element of the ship and the obstacles it faces on its course into port. Without touching a single control on the ship, Betz directs every movement of the Netherlands via verbal commands to the crew by using his iPad, a combination of GPS and navigational beacons, the ship's onboard automated system, as well as his own judgement. The pilot also directs the crew operating the tugboats that attach to each side of the ship as it comes into the port.

Once the vessel is close enough, the freighter is maneuvered predominantly using its residual momentum and the slow pull of the tugboats.

Mims calls the final steps of turning the hulking ship into its spot on the pier "the equivalent of a stunt driver parallel parking a car in a spot that's just long enough for it, after coming in at high speed, throwing over the wheel, and skidding sideways to within an inch of the curb, tires smoking."

A harbor pilot's job is complete once the ship is safely tucked away in its berth. Ultimately, harbor pilots represent a little-known, but crucial part of the supply chain. Around 90% of US goods arrive by ship.

Read Mims' book to learn more about the intersection between technology and manpower that fuels the global supply chain and brings everyday goods to customers' doors.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly debuted their passionate partnership in 2020, and since then, the pair have been turning heads with their red carpet looks and raising eyebrows with their unconventional habits.

But how did the duo first get together? And after rumored breakups and makeups, where does their relationship stand now?

Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly (Theo Wargo / Getty Images )

Read on to learn all about the pair.

A few years before 2020: A chance meeting

Though the details are fuzzy, even for the people involved, Fox and Kelly first crossed paths at a GQ party years before they truly got to know each other.

I just remember this tall, blond, ghostly creature, and I looked up and I was like, You smell like weed, Fox recalled in a 2021 joint interview with British GQ. He looked down at me and he was like, I am weed. Then, I swear to God, he disappeared like a ninja in a smoke bomb."

March 2020: The beginning

Fox and MGK, who uses his legal name, Colson Baker, when appearing on the big screen, met again in March 2020, when they were both working on the crime thriller Midnight in the Switchgrass. He marked the beginning of their friendship with a since-deleted Instagram photo of their chairs positioned side by side on set.

Due to the pandemic, production came to a halt just one week after it began, but the co-stars remained in touch.

May 2020: Rumored romance, confirmed separation

In mid-May, reports circulated of Fox and MGK grabbing takeout together in Calabasas, California. Romance rumors were quick to swirl even though, at the time, Fox was still married to actor Brian Austin Green, with whom she shares three children.

But just days after the reports surfaced, Green made an announcement on his podcast, ...With Brian Austin Green, explaining that he and Fox had decided to take some space and separate around Thanksgiving 2019.

He noted that the recent talk about his wife of 10 years and MGK was the reason for his announcement.

I dont want people to think that her or he are villains, or I was a victim in any way with any of this, because I wasnt, he said.

Green also revealed that Fox told him that she and MGK were just friends at this point, and from what shes expressed, hes a really nice, genuine guy, and I trust her judgment.

But the more-than-friends buzz was refueled on May 20, two days after Greens comments, when Machine Gun Kelly dropped his music video for Bloody Valentine, in which the Transformers star played his lover turned captor.

June 2020: Its official!

By the following month, the romance between MGK and Fox was no longer the stuff of rumors.

In mid-June, there were paparazzi pics of the pair. This time they were seen holding hands and locking lips.

And if anyone was wondering if it was a just-friends kind of kiss, MGK cleared up the confusion with a tweet that quoted his Bloody Valentine lyrics (Im calling you girlfriend/ What the f---) with a little extra context: life imitated art on that one.

July 2020: Fox found her 'twin flame'

Fox revisited the subject of her (second) first meeting with MGK in a July 2020 interview on the Give Them Lala... With Randall podcast, wherein she hinted that her relationship with him was meant to be.

I was like, Who is going to play this role? she remembered asking her Midnight in the Switchgrass director, Randall Emmett. And he was like, Oh, we just got Machine Gun Kelly, and immediately, I was like, Uh-oh. Because I knew  I could feel that some wild s--- was going to happen to me from that meeting, but I wasnt yet sure what. I just felt it deep in my solar plexus, that something was going to come from that.

And upon coming face to face with her co-star, she knew she was right.

I knew right away that he was what I call a twin flame, she said. Instead of a soul mate, a twin flame is actually where a soul has ascended to a high enough level that it can be split into two different bodies at the same time. So were actually two halves of the same soul, I think. And I said that to him almost immediately, because I felt it right away.

Also in July, MGK made their relationship Instagram official by sharing a since-deleted steamy black-and-white photo with the caption, Waited for eternity to find you again ...

Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly (Phillip Faraone / Getty Images)

August 2020: Her turn

Shortly after his Instagram post, Fox returned the favor by sharing a photo of the pair for her own fans and followers. The message that accompanied the since-deleted photo, posted Aug. 5, read, Achingly Beautiful Boy... My heart is yours.

That same day, Brian Austin Green appeared to mock Foxs post by sharing photos of their three children, along with a son the former Beverly Hills, 90210 star shares with past partner Vanessa Marcil, with an almost-identical caption.

November 2020: 'Merging' with MGK and divorcing BAG

In a chat with Nylon magazine, Fox raved about the once in a lifetime thing and connection of mythic proportions that she and Kelly share.

Loving him is like being in love with a tsunami or a forest fire, she noted. The intensity of merging with him is just overwhelming, and the threat it poses is so powerful but so beautiful that you have no choice to surrender with reverence and with gratitude.

But as she merged with him, Fox and her ex, Green, made their separation a permanent one when they filed for divorce on Nov. 25, 2020.

May 2021: An anniversary

Kelly marked a milestone in his relationship with Fox on May 25, 2021, by tweeting, She said i love you one year ago today.

she said i love you one year ago today  mgk (@machinegunkelly) May 26, 2021

July 2021: 'Some full-circle s---'

A GQ feature on MGK, published July 15, 2021, revealed that he had a poster of Fox on his bedroom wall as a teen.

It was from her GQ shoot, Kelly recalled of the 2008 image. So thats some full-circle s---.

January 2022: He popped the question

On Jan. 11, 2022, Machine Gun Kelly asked Fox to marry him, and she said yes.

Kelly shared a peek at the custom double ring he presented her in an Instagram post that read, Beneath the same branches we fell in love under, i brought her back to ask her to marry me. i know tradition is one ring, but i designed it with Stephen Webster to be two: the emerald (her birth stone) and the diamond (my birth stone) set on two magnetic bands of thorns that draw together as two halves of the same soul forming the obscure heart that is our love. 1-11-2022.

Fox posted a since-deleted video of the proposal on her account, writing, We asked for magic. We were oblivious to the pain we would face together in such a short, frenetic period of time. Unaware of the work and sacrifices the relationship would require from us but intoxicated off of the love. And the karma. Somehow a year and a half later, having walked through hell together, and having laughed more than I ever imagined possible, he asked me to marry him. And just as in every lifetime before this one, and as in every lifetime that will follow it, I said yes. and then we drank each others blood.

April 2022: About that blood ...

During an April interview with Glamour UK, Fox added a little explanation about that blood-drinking mention in her engagement post.

Yeah. So, I guess to drink each others blood might mislead people or people are imagining us with goblets and were like Game of Thrones, drinking each others blood, she said with a laugh. Its just a few drops, but, yes, we do consume each others blood on occasion for ritual purposes only.

Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly (Arturo Holmes / WireImage)

November 2022: On screen again

MGK and Fox joined forces on the big screen again for Taurus, released Nov. 18, 2022. It tells the story of a rock star living a dark life.

February 2023: Breakup rumors

More than a year after their engagement, breakup rumors began to spread. The rumors came to a peak on Feb. 12, 2023, when Fox shared infidelity-linked lyrics from Beyonces song Pray You Catch Me on Instagram, including the lines, You can taste dishonesty/ Its all over your breath. Shortly after that, she deleted her account.

Once her Instagram was up again days later, Fox shot down any buzz about cheating or a breakup, writing in a since-deleted post, There has been no third-party interference in this relationship of any kind. That includes, but is not limited to...actual humans, DMs, AI bots or succubus demons. While I do hate to rob you of running random baseless news stories that would have been much more accurately written by ChatGPT, you need to let this story die and leave all of these innocent people alone now.

November 2023: Fox reveals pregnancy loss

Foxs book of poetry, Pretty Boys Are Poisonous, published Nov. 7, included lines about pregnancy loss.

In one poem, she wrote about a heartbeat in my womb, before adding, "But now I have to say goodbye/ I close my eyes and imagine holding you tight against my chest/ as they rip you from my insides."

She later told Womens Wear Daily that MGK had written about the miscarriage in his songs already, so it just felt like something that I could address publicly because its been addressed in one way through him, so I have a space to express as well.

February 2024: A super double date

Despite lingering breakup rumors, Fox and MGK were seen partying with pals Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce at a Super Bowl afterparty on Feb. 11.

March 2024: Relationship status? Well ...

On the March 20 episode of Alex Coopers Call Her Daddy podcast, the host asked Fox to address her relationship with Kelly given that you got engaged and then I think it was called off, then we dont know whats going on with you.

I think what Ive learned from being in this relationship is that its not for public consumption, Fox replied. So I think, as of now, I dont have a comment on the status of the relationship per se. What I can say is that is what I refer to as being my twin soul and there will always be a tether to him, no matter what. I cant say what the capacity will be, but I will always be connected to him somehow. Beyond that, Im not willing to explain."

She then added, "But all those things you said were accurate things that have occurred, and I can see them being confusing or interesting to people.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
Jennifer Barnhill is a columnist for Military.com writing about military families.

When I first moved to my husband's current duty station, a woman on the other end of the line at Tricare West's call center said that the local military treatment facility (MTF) was full and no longer taking new patients. I was given the name and phone number of a local physician and sent on my way.

After weeks of leaving messages with no reply, I finally got ahold of someone at the doctor's office.

"I'm sorry, I know that our website says we are accepting patients, but that is old information," the receptionist said.

I called Tricare and was assigned a new doctor, only to be rejected again as the office wasn't taking new Tricare patients. It happened a total of three times.

When I finally called Tricare West back after the third doctor rejected me, so much time had passed that a spot had opened up at the MTF. When I voiced my frustration at this runaround, I was told I needed to call yet another number to help update Tricare's provider list. This was the mental load I was handed because my husband had orders from the Navy to move to a new duty station.

I was lucky. My three kids were assigned to doctors right away, and no one in my family is medically complex. For those who have to line up specialty or mental health care, the back and forth can become a full-time job. But is the mental load of using military benefits to be expected or an indicator of a broken system?

"My son was enrolled in the CDC [military base child care], but due to his behavior issues and sensory issues, he was getting kicked out almost daily," said active-duty airman Master Sergeant Rachel Kegley. When she shared her concerns with her pediatrician, she was told that her son would grow out of it. When she took him to his kindergarten physical three years later, the provider put in a referral for a neuro-psych evaluation to hopefully provide the family with answers.

"We called all over town; no one had any openings," said Kegley. When she finally obtained an autism diagnosis for her son, Kegley turned to the Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) for resources and support. But after an initial phone call, she says she never heard from the care coordinator again. So, she kept making calls. "Most of them are not taking patients or they no longer take Tricare. Same thing with pharmacies. You call around trying to find a medication for your kids, and either they don't have the medication or they don't take Tricare.  It is very challenging."

The concept of the "mental load" or invisible work has gone viral in recent years, largely focusing on the small but nagging tasks that often go unacknowledged at home and at work and are disproportionately heaped on women -- making doctor's appointments, checking the kids' backpacks to ensure there isn't a crumpled permission slip hiding under a rotten banana, etc.

It means living with a never-ending to-do list. They are the little tasks that keep a family running, but can wear on the person who carries the bulk of the "load." When the already complex process of accessing benefits is combined with military bureaucracy, the mental burden can loom large.

"There's so many loopholes to jump through, and we spend so much time applying for these things," said Amanda Larimore, an Air Force spouse and parent of a child diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.

Despite being eligible for supportive services, Larimore reports experiencing difficulty accessing services like respite care, a program that allows families to receive up to 20 hours a month of specialized care for physical and neurological disabilities. However, accessing this benefit can be difficult. Larimore reports that leadership has been working on strengthening the network, but until then, the only available providers are in a different state, hours away.

Larimore was told there is a shortage of providers, but found that there actually were providers, just none who participated in the respite care program.

Exceptional Family Member Program families, like the Larimores, may experience a more obvious mental load. They have to fill out more paperwork -- military and civilian -- and often are under the care of more than one doctor, requiring referrals and more chances to be on wait-lists. Families hope that they will be assigned to a base in an area that can provide for their needs, but this is not always the case.

"Families said that they've been to some locations that were EFMP-approved, but because there's so many EFMP families there, there's no service because the services are all taken up already," said Dr. Jennifer Kremkow, an associate professor at Elmhurst University. Kremkow has published numerous studies examining the experiences of military families whose children have autism.

"Something that a lot of the parents discussed was just the challenge of managing all of it, especially if their service member was otherwise occupied, if they were separated, or they were at a training," she said.

According to the Tricare for Kids Coalition (TFK), an organization that advocates for health care access for military kids, the Air Force has been sending many EFMP families to Colorado Springs, Colorado, as a designated EFMP location. However, in October 2023, the Defense Health Agency cut Tricare reimbursements by 40% for some outpatient services. The Children's Hospital Colorado in Colorado Springs subsequently filed a lawsuit against the Department of Defense because of this change. Although EFMP families in the area have not yet reported a disruption, according to TFK founder Kara Tollett Oakley, the coalition is concerned about disruptions in access to care when high demand and low reimbursement make it challenging for providers to serve military families.

But it is not just EFMP families who experience the mental load.

"The military subsidy has been nothing but a challenge and a headache," said Jennifer O'Donnell, owner and operator of Uptown Children's Academy who is also married to a retired Marine. Both Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood and Child Care in Your Home programs provide fee assistance to military families who cannot access military-operated child care, but are managed separately. "I've had some parents give up because after six, seven months of sending the same stuff in over and over and over again, they just get to a point where they're done."

Aria Spears, an Army spouse who was struggling to find child care so she could retain her job, knows that battle firsthand. "We were working to find infant [child care] for nine months and just couldn't find anything, but finally today  after I don't even know how many calls, how many times we called the same place over and over and over the past few months, somebody called me with this spot," Spears said. "But I quit my job two weeks ago because I thought that it was just impossible to find child care."

Finding affordable health and child care is a struggle for all Americans. However, studies show that military families report having a harder time because of how frequently they need to reestablish care. "We are now finding that, because these things exist out in the civilian sector, like shortages and specialists and wait times and frustration with how the system operates, that is being used to excuse the many barriers that are in place for military families," said Tollett Oakley.

"The issue is an erosion of the benefit that's happening behind the scenes," said Karen Ruedisueli, director of health affairs and government relations for the Military Officers Association of America. "If you're looking to manage health care costs within Tricare, you can reduce networks, you can reduce coverage policy, you can increase fees to people. Fee increases are very obvious to everybody."

If child care providers like O'Donnell or organizations like Children's Hospital Colorado feel as though the juice isn't worth the squeeze, they may choose not to sign up to be providers for military families. Because there are no cuts, there is no outcry to protect the benefit.

Families feel the mental load produced by the lack of providers and are reminded to "embrace the suck."

When the delays, waits and hold times are expected and untracked, they can easily be dismissed as anecdotes. But if this "mental load" were tracked, it could prove a useful indicator of the health and true accessibility of military benefits.

-- In addition to her reporting, Jennifer Barnhill is also the host of Military Dinner Table Conversations, a monthly reverse town hall with military families. She is a 2023 Bush Institute StandTo Veteran Leadership Program Scholar, the editor-in-chief of the National Military Spouse Network's Career Connections Magazine, and the military spouse liaison on The League of Wives Memorial Project.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE)  After what the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) called a brutal attack on an individual on the Mescalero Apache reservation, 37-year-old Dennett Jerome Chee has received a nine-year prison sentence.

The DOJ says Chee and another man attacked an unnamed individual in 2022. During the attack, the victim lost consciousness, the DOJ says.

New Mexico laws going into effect in spring

Once the victim regained consciousness, he walked home and was then taken to the Lincoln County Medical Center. He was eventually transferred to the University Medical Center in El Paso, Texas. The victim had a fracture on part of his eye socket, a vertebrae fracture, and other injuries, the DOJ says.

When police encountered Chee after the incident, he was carrying a wooden bat-like object. Facing federal charges, he pled guilty to assault resulting in serious bodily injury.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos.
Mexican cartels use US border to arm themselves with 'military-grade' weapons: docs

Federal authorities toppled a major gun trafficking operation intended to arm Mexican drug cartels with over 100 "military-grade" firearms, according to court documents.

Five men were arrested on March 20 and accused of illegally buying weapons throughout Texas to allegedly smuggle them across the border.

"These firearms included FNH SCAR rifles, Barrett .50 caliber rifles, FNH M294S rifles, and M1919 rifles, all of which are highly prized by Mexican drug trafficking cartels for their firepower and battlefield reliability," the federal criminal complaint says.

"They are symbols of cartel profit, power, and prestige due in part to their high price to purchase and operate  Mexican drug trafficking cartels use these weapons to engage in battle with their enemies and exert control over their claimed territory."

BRUTALLY VIOLENT MEXICAN CARTEL DRAINING AMERICANS' LIFE SAVINGS IN COMPLEX SCAM

Gerardo Rafael Perez Jr. is the alleged ringleader of the operation that was intended to arm cartels in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Four straw purchasers  identified as Gerardo Ibarra Jr., Gerardo Corona Jr., Francisoc Alejandro Benavides and Mark Anthony Trevino Jr.  illegally secured weapons in western, southern and northern districts of Texas, the criminal complaint alleges.

TROPICAL RESORTS POPULAR WITH AMERICANS NO LONG OFF LIMITS FOR CARTEL KILLERS: THE RULES HAVE CHANGED

Straw purchasing of firearms is the illegal act of buying a gun for another person who is prohibited from owning the weapon or does not want their name associated with the transaction.

It became a crime in 2022 after the bipartisan gun safety bill  authored by Texas Sen. John Cornyn  passed and went into effect.

Mexican marines escort five alleged drug traffickers of the Zeta drug cartel in front of an RPG-7 rocket launcher, hand grenades, firearms, cocaine and military uniforms seized from alleged members of the Zetas drug traffickers cartel and presented to the press on June 9, 2011 at the Navy Secretaryship in Mexico City. Guns flowing from the U.S. into Mexico have helped arm cartels.

The straw purchasers allegedly bought the guns from unlicensed dealers, including Jose Emigdio Mendoza, who was named as a defendant in the complaint.

Luis Matias Leal, who went by several nicknames including "Wicho," "Poncho" and "El Tio," allegedly funded the operation, and Antonio Osiel Casarez allegedly smuggled the guns into Mexico and returned to the U.S. "with bulk cash," according to court documents.

KIDNAPPING IN MEXICO USED TO BE A BUSINESS. NOW THERE'S NO CODE CURBING RUTHLESSNESS: PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR

Mendoza allegedly sold at least 22 guns for $169,900 between December 2022 and March 2023, the criminal complaint says.

The scheme began to unravel in late January 2023, when federal firearm licensees in San Antonio denied a sale because of "suspicious circumstances of the attempted purchase," according to court documents.

READ FULL FEDERAL INDICTMENT

Mendoza  who allegedly sold the guns  along with two suspected straw purchasers, Ibarra and Corona, were arrested and charged last March.

Perez Jr., the alleged ringleader, and Casarez, who is accused of smuggling the guns across the border, were arrested last September in Laredo, Texas, where law enforcement found a large cache of weapons and over hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

The suspects  all 30 or younger  face a 14-count federal indictment.

If convicted, the conspiracy to traffic firearms charges carry a penalty of up to 15 years in prison and conspiracy to straw purchase guns carries a maximum sentence of 25 years.





Original article source: Mexican cartels use US border to arm themselves with 'military-grade' weapons: docs
A former employee of Donald Trump has a small message for his old boss now that his hush-money trial has a concrete date: Be worried.

Michael Cohen, Trumps former attorney turned fixer, took to MSNBC on Monday to send the warning to the GOP presidential nominee.

He shouldnt be worried about me, Cohen told Jen Psaki. He should be worried about the Manhattan district attorney, the district attorney of New York prosecutors, he should be worried about the documentary evidence, he should be worried about all of the witnesses that are going to be coming into that trial simply because, as others have also appropriately put it, this is a simple case.

On Monday, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan ruled that jury selection will begin April 15. Its the first criminal trial officially on the docket for the former president, while the proceedings for his three other criminal trials are on hold thanks to appeals and delay tactics from Trumps legal team.

Trump is accused of using 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.

Despite Trumps efforts to keep them both far away from the courthouse, Cohen and Daniels are both expected to be star witnesses in the trial.
SPRINGFIELD, Mich. (WOOD)  A man accused of stabbing a family member during a fight before an Easter egg hunt at a Michigan elementary school was arrested Sunday, deputies say.

The man, from Battle Creek, was helping to set up the Easter egg hunt when he and a woman got into a disagreement about the placement of eggs, according to a news release from the Calhoun County Sheriffs Office. One of the mans family members became involved in the argument, during which the man pulled a knife and cut this person multiple times, the release said.

No one else was injured during the incident, deputies said, and no children had yet arrived for the event.

Each states most popular Easter candy, according to DoorDash

Responding deputies arrived to find the 36-year-old suspect still holding the knife, which he ultimately dropped at the urging of law enforcement officials, the release indicated. He was arrested and expected to face charges of aggravated assault.

Medical assistance was provided on-scene to the injured party, who suffered minor lacerations, according to the sheriffs office.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
TUESDAY, 03/26/2024, 4:13 p.m.

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV)  A man from the Upper Peninsula who went on a multi-state crime spree that included allegedly killing one man in Wisconsin and killing another in Alabama was back in the Brown County Courthouse on Tuesday.

Caleb Anderson, 25, entered a not-guilty plea for the first-degree intentional homicide charge for allegedly killing 65-year-old Patrick Ernst in early August of 2022.

UPDATE: Mother of two-year-old who died from fentanyl exposure pleads not guilty

A status conference for Anderson has been scheduled for June 4.

No additional details were provided.

Michigan man charged for multi-state murder spree extradited to Wisconsin, makes initial appearance in Brown County court

THURSDAY, 02/01/2024, 2:00 p.m.

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV)  A man from the Upper Peninsula who went on a multi-state crime spree that included allegedly killing one man in Wisconsin and killing another in Alabama made his initial appearance in the Brown County Courthouse on Thursday.

25-year-old Caleb S. Anderson from Caspian, Michigan, is facing a 1st-degree Intentional Homicide charge for allegedly killing 65-year-old Patrick Ernst in early August of 2022.

Outagamie County mother arrested after 2-year-olds reported fentanyl overdose

Prosecutors recommended a $2,000,000 cash bond for Anderson. The judge presiding over the case agreed with prosecutors and set Andersons bond at $2,000,000. Additionally, a no-contact order was arranged.

Andreson and his attorney waived the time period for a preliminary hearing, and Anderson will be back in the Brown County Courthouse on the morning of February 27 for the preliminary hearing.

Andersons crime spree started on August 1, 2022, in Gaastra, Michigan, where he allegedly attacked an 18-year-old woman who was out on a run. The woman was able to fight off Anderson and flee the area. She reported the assault to police and helped build a suspect description for Anderson.

A day later, Andersons crimes got significantly more violent and crossed state lines into Wisconsin.

Caleb Andersons booking photo. (Brown County Jail)

On August 2, 2022, officers with the Green Bay Police Department were sent to an address on Packerland Drive for a welfare check for Ernst, who didnt show up for work. Ernsts car was missing from the residence, and this behavior was unlike him, according to those who knew him.

Authorities made entry to his residence and found him dead with multiple stab wounds and covered in a pile of clothing. Police were able to tie Anderson to the crime scene after finding his vehicle in the parking lot. Anderson also left a note stating, I am so sorry, he didnt deserve this.

Following Ernsts death, Anderson traveled south to Alabama on August 3, 2022, where he admitted to burning a church down and murdering 52-year-old Dwight Dixon from Flomaton, Alabama. Anderson was eventually taken into custody in Alabama and admitted to all the crimes he committed.

During the interview with authorities, Anderson told police that he was driving down a road in Michigan and saw a woman jogging and claimed, for some reason, he wanted to kill her.

The criminal complaint obtained by Local 5 News states that Anderson wanted to tie her hands behind her back, but during the assault, he thought of his mother and decided to hit the woman a couple of times and leave.

After the attack, Anderson says he drove to Green Bay and bought a phone from a local Walmart. Anderson downloaded a dating app and used the app to meet with men and possibly get a new car.

Anderson met Ernst through the app and eventually was invited to his residence. He eventually told police that he decided to use a knife to kill Ernst and that ever since he was 14 or 15 years old, I always just wanted to kill somebody.

Man and woman found shot to death inside Wisconsin bar, incident under investigation

After the crime in Green Bay, Anderson told authorities he drove to Alabama and re-downloaded the dating app. There, he talked with Dixon and killed him as well. When trying to determine a motive, Anderson told authorities that he just snapped.

Anderson pleaded guilty to the murder of Dixon in December of 2022 and was sentenced to life in prison without parole. He now faces another life sentence for the death of Ernst.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFRV Local 5 - Green Bay, Appleton.
Nearly one year after the death of a Michigan toddler, a man has pled guilty to her kidnapping and killing. On March 21, Rashad Trice pleaded guilty to a charge of kidnapping resulting in death after admitting to abducting Wynter Cole-Smith, his ex-girlfriends daughter, from her Lansing, Michigan home.



According to the details of a federal criminal complaint, Trice left the home with two-year-old Wynter on July 2, 2023, after an argument with her mother. The woman said Trice stabbed her and drove off with Wynter in a stolen Chevy Impala. He then took her to an alley in Detroit where he strangled her to death with a cell phone charging cord.

Trice was arrested on July 3, 2023 after trying to escape police, but Wynter was not in the car at the time. Police eventually discovered her body in an alley near a home on Detroits east side on July 5, 2023. Trice will be sentenced in July and faces a mandatory life sentence.

What happened is heart-wrenching, but today marks an important step forward as we seek justice for Wynter Cole-Smiths family and the people of Michigan, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Mark Totten said in a statement. Im incredibly grateful to FBI Michigan, the Lansing Police Department, and the more than two dozen other local, state, and federal partners who came running to help.

Lansing Police chief Ellery Sosebee thanked the U.S. Attorney for his role inbringing Trice to justice.

Thank you to U.S. Attorney Mark Totten and his office for bringing this case across the finish line, Sosebee said. My hope is this will give Wynters family, friends, and all of the law enforcement partners who were and are still affected by this tragedy a sense of closure.

For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
As China's Harbin gained prominence as a top destination during the past winter, Jiang Kedong, a host of the performances at Harbin Ice-Snow World, a landmark theme park, also found himself in the spotlight. Jiang, dubbed "Brother Left and Right," shares his story.
Former White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney is dismissing criticism NBC News is facing from some of the networks biggest stars over its decision to hire former Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel as a paid contributor.

This has nothing to do with Ronna McDaniels behavior during Jan. 6 or the 2020 election, Mulvaney said Monday during an appearance on cable news channel NewsNation. NBC just cannot stand having somebody from the right on their sacred airwaves. If it wasnt so sad, it would be hysterically funny.

McDaniels hire, which was announced by NBC late last week, has sparked sharp pushback from some of NBCs leading anchors and journalists  and those on its left-leaning sister cable news network, MSNBC.

McDaniel has come under fire for her comments on the 2020 election and Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, stances she defended during an interview on Meet The Press over the weekend.

Several MSNBC hosts ridiculed McDaniel on Monday, blasting her as an apologist of former President Trump and using the networks airwaves to express outrage NBC had put her on the payroll with a reported six-figure deal.

Host Rachel Maddow called the hiring inexplicable, while pundit Nicolle Wallace accused the network of wittingly or unwittingly sending a message to election deniers that they can have a platform on the network.

Morning Joe hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough said McDaniel would not be appearing on their program, while Maddow said she would not be appearing on MSNBC at all.

Mulvaney, who worked as chief of staff to Trump, faced a similar backlash last spring when it was announced he was being hired by CBS News as a contributor.

Mulvaney has since been hired as a contributor at NewsNation, a cable news channel that like The Hill is owned by Nexstar Media Group.

Im having a good laugh, he said. Its so fun to watch these folks fall over themselves.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A Minnesota Senate committee approved a $110,000 settlement Tuesday with the former chief of staff of the Senate DFL caucus, who alleged she faced discrimination under the Minnesota Human Rights Act when she was terminated late last year.

Under the terms of the settlement, Carly Melin, a former state legislator, has to drop any potential legal action against the Senate. DFL Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy denied any wrongdoing by the Senate in Melin's termination, but said they chose to settle to avoid a protracted legal battle.

"I believe the Senate has done nothing wrong, and it doesn't necessarily sit well to make a payment like this, but in the end I think this is the right thing to do," Murphy said. "If we do not settle this matter now and proceed to litigation, the costs to the state of Minnesota, win or lose, will be significantly more than the settlement amount."

Murphy said a settlement also "protects the institution" and limits any exposure. The Senate Rules Committee approved the settlement agreement on a 6-3 party-line vote.

Judith Bevis Langevin, an attorney with Nilan Johnson Lewis representing the Senate, said Melin alleged she was unlawfully fired from the Senate based on actions and views held by her spouse, former state legislator Joe Radinovich, which constituted "marital status" discrimination under the Minnesota Human Rights Act.

Radinovich has been an adviser to Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and works as campaign manager for Don Samuels, who is challenging DFL U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar in the Fifth District.

Melin, who did not appear in the Rules Committee meeting, said "both my husband and I are lifelong DFLers committed to the party's success, so I did not make the decision to take legal action lightly."

"But, I was told more than once I could no longer continue in my role at the Senate due to my husband's political actions and beliefs," she said in a statement. "I'm happy to have reached a resolution so my family and I can close this chapter and the harm it's caused me."

Republican Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson questioned the decision to settle rather than take the case to court.

"The argument of distraction and the argument of dollars, when weighed against principle, doesn't sit quite right," he said.

Senate counsel Alexis Stangl said the chamber has already spent roughly $93,000 in legal fees negotiating the terms of the settlement. The $110,000 figure represents about six months of Melin's previous salary with benefits.

After serving three terms as a DFLer in the state House, Melin worked for the Minnesota State Building and Construction Trades Council and as the government affairs director for Attorney General Keith Ellison. Melin, who went on leave from the Senate late last year, was initially hired under former Minority Leader Melisa Lopez Franzen in 2021 and continued on in the job under former Senate Majority Leader Kari Dziedzic last year.

A Senate spokesman confirmed in December that Melin was leaving Senate employment, without commenting on the reason for her departure.

In February, Murphy announced the Senate had hired Bri Sharkey-Smith as the Senate DFL's new chief of staff.

Staff writer Ryan Faircloth contributed to this report.
On March 17, Hannah Riley got the phone call no dog owner wants to receive: Her beloved dog, Hazel, was missing  and Riley was out of the country, unable to help.

I just kept repeating, Sorry, you lost my dog? Riley, a 35-year-old media professional, tells TODAY.com.

Riley adopted Hazel, an 11-pound papillon, from the Atlanta Humane Center six years ago when she first moved to the city. She credits the dog with helping her through a divorce two years ago. I know I will love other dogs in my life and I have before her, but Hazel is a special one. she says.

Hazel went missing while in the the care of Saint Francis Veterinary Specialists and Emergency, an emergency vet care facility. Hazel initially wound up at the vet after getting into her petsitters supply of legal weed gummies, and the petsitter did the responsible thing, per Riley, by bringing her to the vet.

Riley learned, in a breach of protocol, a worker took Hazel outside without a leash in a non fenced-in area, where she then ran off. After returning home to Atlanta, Riley says she visited the vet with a police officer and demanded to see the footage of Hazels escape. The vet barred Riley from viewing said footage, however the police officer with her was able to view the tape.

Hazel is a

I will never know the full story, Riley says.

In a statement given to TODAY.com, Thrive Pet Healthcare said, We are incredibly appreciative of everyone who has volunteered their time to search for Hazel and kept her in their thoughts during this difficult time. Even more importantly, we are humbled to have been given an opportunity to partner with Hazels family in her search to return home. We are available and will provide Hazels family with any necessary support that they will allow during this reunion and in the future.

After looking at the melange of highways surrounding the veterinary office, Riley remembers thinking to herself, Im not going to see her again.

This is my absolute nightmare. A dog whos tripping, probably cant see well, not walking straight, and has a catheter in her leg. Could not have worse conditions, I think, for surviving an escape like that, Riley continues.

And while it's possible that Riley wouldnt have seen Hazel again  the internet stepped in. What followed was an outpouring of support, as internet strangers, Atlanta locals and Rileys network of friends began their search for the missing pup.

Riley credits her good fortune in her background as an organizer and a communications professional for helping rally attention around her cause.

Help, she says, took different forms. By the time Riley and her partner Alejandro were able to return to Atlanta the day after Hazel went missing, her friends had papered missing signs around the city. A friend in Boston sent over a spreadsheet with a list of every shelter in Atlanta. Robin Allgood, a professional dog hunter who has recovered lost dogs in the past, even showed up to help.

I cant tell you the number of texts or DMS that I got from people in Atlanta, who Ill probably never meet, just saying, Hey, I just wanted you to know, heres the area that I searched tonight. Just the most incredibly moving show of generosity from strangers, she says.

Online, people rallied around Rileys updates. On Twitter, the word Hazel was trending. Searches spiked on Google for Hazel missing dog. Her story was covered by a local publication.

Then, there was the work Riley did independently. She took the week off of work to try and track down Hazels whereabouts, parsing through an onslaught of leads, tips and random phone calls, up to 15 a day. Riley learned that a man had rescued Hazel from highway traffic, then handed her to a woman he thought was the owner. From there, Hazel went missing yet again.

Each time Riley's phone rang, she felt hope. But with publicity brought bad intentions. People would call and theyd be like, I found your dog. And then theyd fake bark. It got to me at the time. I was like, Why would you spend your precious energy trolling?

She took comfort not from the thought that Hazel was alive  by Wednesday, she thought she had died  but in the actions of strangers. I felt like so many people were sharing in my sadness ... the global hug that I was feeling was actually one of the only things that that did comfort me, she says.

Riley credits the internets amplification with her storys ultimately happy ending: An unlikely reunion with Hazel five days later.

Hazel at the vet's office after being rescued. (Courtesy Hannah Riley)

At 6:45 p.m. on a Friday, Riley received a text from an unknown number.

I could see in the little preview, Hi, Hannah. I think I found your dog, she remembers. She had received photos of brown and white dogs before, but they werent Hazel. This was.

After getting the text, Riley says she screamed. My boyfriend heard the scream and was like, Oh my god, they found her dead, and my mom heard the scream and was like, Oh my god, they found her alive.'

Hazel turned up on a familys doorstep in Decatur, Georgia, just under a mile and a half from the vet facility. Thinking she was the neighbors dog, the homeowner tried to shoo her away. Instead, Hazel walked into the house and made herself at home. Confused, the homeowner eventually remembered the article she had read about Hazel's disappearance and put the pieces together.

When Riley finally reunited with Hazel, the pup was three pounds lighter and armed with adventure stories Riley will never fully know.

Shes elderly. She has a heart murmur. Shes tiny. She doesnt have very good vision. Her skill set is looking really cute and being very sweet ... I cannot believe she survived for five nights out there ... I underestimated her, she says.

Once Hazel was safely home, Riley shared the good news with the internet who had been following along. Riley says people shared in her joy just as they had shared in her anxiety.

I cant tell you the number of people who were like, Oh, I sobbed when I saw it. To be able to give a story to people that makes them cry happy tears  what an honor (it is) to remind them that there are some real wins in the world, she says. I hope people feel like they are sharing in the joy, because theyre such a huge part of why Hazel is back home.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
By Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber

GENEVA (Reuters) - At least 63,285 people have perished or disappeared on migration routes around the world between 2014 and 2023, with most deaths caused by drowning, the U.N. migration agency said on Tuesday.

A report published by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on its Missing Migrants Project showed that the majority of deaths and disappearances - 28,854 - occurred in the Mediterranean, followed by Africa and Asia.

Nearly 60% of deaths documented were linked to drowning, and more than one third of those identified were from countries in conflict, including Afghanistan, Myanmar, Syria and Ethiopia.

IOM's data showed that the deadliest year for migrants in the last decade was 2023, when it recorded 8,541 deaths in part due to a sharp increase of fatalities in the Mediterranean.

"The increase in deaths is likely linked to the increase in departures and, correspondingly, shipwrecks, off the coast of Tunisia," the report said, adding that at least 729 people died off the Tunisian coast in 2023, compared to 462 in 2022.

"In all prior years, most deaths in the Central Mediterranean were documented off the coast of Libya."

With anti-immigration parties steadily gaining influence across Europe for years, governments have attempted to curb migration flows to their countries by pledging funds to countries across the Mediterranean such as Tunisia and Egypt.

Earlier this month, the EU pledged a 7.4 billion euro ($8 billion) funding package to Egypt that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni described as "the best way to address migratory flows."

The governments of several European countries, including Italy, Hungary and Britain, have made curbing immigration a top priority, while elsewhere far-right parties like France's National Rally, led by Marine Le Pen, have gained popularity.

Religious leaders are among those who have called for greater compassion towards migrants. Pope Francis has called for a pan-European response to migration to stop the Mediterranean from becoming "a sea of death".

(Reporting by Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber; Editing by Estelle Shirbon)
Ukraine could effectively protect its positions with enough air defense systems on the frontlines, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in an interview with Politico on March 25.

When Ukrainian troops are losing positions, let's look at the reason why, Kuleba said.

It is because Russia has begun to massively use upgraded aerial guided bombs.



He explained that these bombs are weapons you cannot escape from if youre the intended target.

You cannot jam it," Kuleba said.

"It just falls on your head and destroys everything. This is how we're losing positions and the only way to prevent this is to shoot down the planes carrying the bombs.



Ukraine needs air defense systems on the frontlines, Kuleba stated.

Read also: Kuleba, Borrell discuss EU's potential supplies of Patriot AA systems

Read also: Berlin irritated with Kyivs requests to transfer long-range Taurus missiles - Kuleba

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
By Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden is criss-crossing the country as his reelection campaign kicks into high gear, skipping big, loud rallies favored by his rival Donald Trump in favor of shaking hands at union halls, churches and restaurants.

It is an unusual approach that plays to Biden's strengths amid an increasingly fragmented U.S. media landscape, allies and many analysts say. Biden interacts with smaller groups, limiting highly-scrutinized teleprompter assisted events that sometimes lead to gaffes, while keeping at bay protesters angry about his handling of the Israel-Gaza war.

Biden's meetings with ordinary Americans are being turned into polished campaign videos and first-person TikTok posts viewed by millions, that often draw sharp contrasts with Trump's interactions with the public.

Biden, no stranger to big audiences, won praise for his fiery State of the Union speech on March 7 and is gearing up for another large event on Thursday, a rally with former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama that is expected to draw 6,000.

He has visited nine states since the March 7 speech, including battlegrounds Nevada and Arizona last week and Michigan and Wisconsin the week before. Most of the time, he has spoken to crowds of 100 people or fewer.

The campaign is betting its patchwork approach, of pricey targeted ads, small events that generate local media coverage, radio spots and surrogate appearances - all amplified by social media will help galvanize Democrats and independents needed to re-elect Biden.

"Biden has never been Cicero and never will be," said Larry Sabato, who heads the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, referring to the Roman statesman known for his oratory skills. He "depends more on what he has done and is doing to reach his supporters," he said.

Campaign officials see the dawn of a post-COVID era of campaigning, but David Barker, a professor at American University in Washington, isn't so sure. "If Obama were the candidate, youd see a lot of big rallies."

Barker said relying on digital media to pull in the crowds could exclude some older voters who don't use social media and rely more on TV broadcasts. But he said the pool of persuadable voters was small - not more than 5-7% of voters - fewer than half of them could be influenced by media coverage anyway.

EVERY BATTLEGROUND STATE

With a slim 1 percentage point lead in the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll of registered voters, Biden needs to highlight stark differences with Trump, strategists and donors say, and build enthusiasm among the fractious coalition of Black voters, suburban women and Latinos that got him elected in 2020.

Biden didn't hold big rallies in 2020 either because of COVID-19, while Trump hosted events with thousands of attendees.

Republicans mocked him for campaigning from his "basement," but Biden won the popular vote by seven million and every battleground state, most by a very thin margin.

Campaign staff say they learned then that Biden could hop on a Zoom call with 5,000 supporters and still have a big impact.

Small events with carefully vetted participants also allow the campaign to avoid protests that have haunted Biden for months over his support of Israel's assault on Gaza that has killed more than 32,000 and now threatens famine. Israel is reacting to the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas that killed 1,200.

In November a rabbi interrupted Biden at a fundraiser in Minnesota, urging him to call for a "ceasefire right now." In January, a Biden event in Virginia was repeatedly interrupted by shouts of "Ceasefire now" and "Genocide Joe."

In Dallas this month, protesters blew whistles and chanted free Palestine starting at 5:00 a.m., rousing hotel guests where Biden was staying. In North Caroline on Tuesday, they interrupted his remarks.

Campaign officials insist the protests are not dictating strategy, but the White House has stopped providing exact locations until just before Biden's events, making it difficult for demonstrators to assemble big crowds.

ADVICE ON A STUTTER

Online, Biden's campaign is focused on posts that highlight him displaying empathy, doling out advice and sharing fast food meals with families.

A video of his meeting with nine-year-old Harry Abramson, a boy with a stutter who had asked Biden how he overcame his own, has been viewed 1.2 million times on TikTok and generated over 280,000 likes on Instagram.

"He has that human connection with people and thats different from Trumps mega rallies and giant, roaring, menacing chants," said Wisconsin Democratic Party chief Ben Wikler.

Trump's incendiary rhetoric helps him dominate the news cycle, experts say, like a March 16 stop outside Dayton, Ohio, where he warned of a "bloodbath" if he loses in November.

The supporters who attend his rallies reflect the Republican Party's transformation in recent years: many are working-class voters who say they are in lockstep with Trump on issues ranging from immigration to trade and foreign policy.

Trump focused heavily on early nominating states until he secured his party's nomination, hosting rallies attended by hundreds or thousands of supporters. In early April, he is due to hold a rally in Wisconsin, a key battleground state.

Trump press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump was greeted by "crowds of enthusiastic Americans everywhere he goes."

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; additional reporting by Jeff Mason and Nathan Layne; Editing by Heather Timmons and Daniel Wallis)
HONG KONG, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Milken Institute, a U.S.-based think tank, held its inaugural Global Investors' Symposium in Hong Kong on Tuesday, focusing on strengthening cooperation between public institutions and private enterprises to jointly address global challenges.

With the theme of "Thriving Together, Bridging Global Market," the meeting brought together more than 550 business executives from various fields around the world to discuss topics including the private market, consumer market, technological innovation and artificial intelligence in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government Paul Chan said at the meeting that the HKSAR government has made good progress in attracting enterprises and talent to Hong Kong, with nearly 50 strategic enterprises chose to expand their business in Hong Kong since December 2022. In the coming years, these enterprises will invest more than 5 billion U.S. dollars, creating over 13,000 jobs.

Chan said that the core competitive advantages of Hong Kong are the "one country, two systems" principle and the staunch support from the country. As an international financial center, Hong Kong will continue to strengthen its "super connector" role in the global market.

Chair of Asia of Milken Institute Robin Hu told the media that the Institute is committed to promoting dialogue between global investors and Chinese entrepreneurs and consumers, and Hong Kong has unique advantages in connecting the world, making it the best choice for hosting this summit. 
More teens between 13-17 shot in Nashville this year compared to same time last year

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN)  A violent weekend is part of a disturbing trend across Nashville. More kids between the ages of 13 and 17 are getting shot compared to last year.

This weekend alone, six people were shot including shootings in Antioch, South Nashville, Hermitage, and Edgehill.

In the Hermitage case, a 17 and 18-year-old were killed at the Hermitage Flats on Saturday afternoon. Police call the shooting targeted and theyre looking for three suspects.

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On Monday, clean-up crews were repairing windows shattered by bullets at the Hermitage Flats.

I just heard the screaming, and the knocks on the door. They were pretty hard and knocked some of the stuff off the wall, Larry Walls said.

Walls said two unresponsive teenagers were lying outside his breezeway, just steps away from his front door. One of the bodies was laying outside for a while, literally right out my door.

However, this wasnt the first time crime had come knocking on his door. A few years ago, his neighbor barricaded himself inside his apartment during a SWAT standoff. You can still see the dents pounding outside the door.

| READ MORE | Latest headlines from Nashville and Davidson County

Walls said he is considering moving for safety reasons. I havent made my mind up yet on what Im doing because I literally just signed my lease last week.

However, he said what is most concerning is that young people were involved in another Nashville crime.

According to Metro police data, there has been a 100% increase in gunshot victims between the ages of 13 to 17.

This time last year there were six gunshot victims in that age group. As of Monday, there are 12 this year.

 Read todays top stories on wkrn.com

That is not a number that is surprising, Walls said.

If you have any information on the shooting, youre asked to call Crime Stoppers at 615-74-CRIME.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.
Two additional assault rifles were seized from the apartment of a man who, last week, was pulled over in Swansea with a car full of loaded weapons, according to police.

Joel M. DeJesus-Diaz, 44, has been held in the St. Clair County Jail since being charged on March 17 with five felony counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon with body armor and one felony count of unlawful use of a firearm projectile.

His arrest followed a traffic stop conducted by Swansea Officer Matt Lindley. Lindley found five loaded guns, one unloaded gun, multiple loaded high-capacity magazines, loose ammunition and a small amount of cannabis, according to a release.

Following evidence on DeJesus-Diazs social media accounts that he possessed other weapons, police executed a search warrant on his apartment at 1481 Cantwell Lane, Swansea, and recovered two additional rifles, said Swansea Police Chief Matt Blomberg.

Blomberg identified the weapons as a Palmetto rifle and a Kriss Vector rifle, both of which are described as illegal assault rifles in Illinois law.

DeJesus-Diaz does not possess a Firearms Owner Identification  or FOID  card, which is mandatory in Illinois for anyone possessing a weapon or ammunition.

According to court records, he has waived his right to a pretrial detention hearing, entered a plea of not guilty and is appealing the appointment of a public defender.

In the meantime, Blomberg said the investigation is ongoing and will include forensic study of DeJesus-Diazs cellphone and computer.

Its a very interesting case, by all means, but Im not about to speculate on what his intentions were, Blomberg said. Social media has been doing enough of that.

It could have been all very innocent. Its not even illegal (to carry guns) in some states. But we have to do due diligence and his problem is that, in Illinois, he cant possess those guns and he has another problem with transporting them.

According to the criminal charges, items seized from DeJesus-Diazs vehicle on March 16 included:

Sig Sauer P320 semi-automatic pistol

Sig Sauer P365 subcompact semi-automatic pistol

Forested Camo Palmetto State Armory PS AK47 assault rifle

Glock 17 9mm semi-automatic pistol

KelTec P50 semi-automatic short rifle/pistol

Arms ABC15 auto capable short rifle/pistol

Dragons Breath incendiary-effect round shotgun shells

In his request for pretrial detention, St. Clair County Assistant States Attorney Greg Nester said, in addition to the multiple loaded firearms, DeJesus-Diaz also was carrying tactical gear including body armor, a ballistic facemask and several rounds/magazines of ammunition.

Court records do not show any additional charges related to the rifles recovered from his department.
Last weeks terrorist attack at a Moscow concert hall that killed 139 people suggests that Russias security apparatus is much weaker than Vladimir Putin has led the world to believe, says former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, John E. Herbst.

"The attack is one more indication that Putins control of the country is not nearly as tight as we think," Herbst told Fox News Digital in an interview. "This is not what you would expect from a tightly wound dictatorship with a vast security force."

Herbst argued that Russias myopic obsession with the war in Ukraine, now in its third year, has inadvertently weakened Russias internal security at the expense of other threats.

"If you assume that, in fact, ISIS carried out this attack, this shows how the overemphasis of Russian security resources on their aggression against Ukraine is making them weaker against true threats to Russian security," Herbst said.

KYIV ENDURES A THIRD BOMBARDMENT IN 5 DAYS AS RUSSIA STEPS UP TARGETING OF UKRAINIAN CITIES

Luke Coffey, senior fellow at Hudson Institute, argued it was precisely because of Russia's war in Ukraine that allowed for Friday's attack to happen.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

"We cannot underestimate the amount of national resources that Russia is having to devote to this large scale war against Ukraine and how this has on other aspects of Russia's daily life, including its domestic security," Coffey told Fox News Digital, pointing to the economy of Russia changing over to a war-time industry.

"Its security services are probably constantly chasing down Ukrainian leads in terms of sabotage groups inside Russia  and dealing with the fighting inside Ukraine itself," Coffey said. "This is on an industrialized scale that no country in the world is used to waging. And the fact that this is taking place probably means Russia has fewer resources and less attention on some of the other threats it might be facing."

Russian firefighters search through rubble after the Moscow terror attack

Putin was quick to link Fridays terrorist attacks at the Crocus City Hall music venue back to Ukraine. He finally conceded on Monday that "radical Islamists" were behind the attack, but repeated unfounded accusations that Ukraine could have still played a role, despite Kyivs strong denials.

Putin also failed to mention that the U.S. confidentially shared with Moscow its concerns earlier this month about an imminent terror attack. Three days before the attack, Putin denounced the U.S. warnings as an attempt to frighten Russians and "blackmail" the Kremlin ahead of the presidential election.

Putin was further undermined by ISIS-K, an ISIS affiliate in Afghanistan, claiming credit for the attack. The four suspected attackers  all of them nationals of Tajikistan  were charged in Moscow court Sunday night and ordered to remain in custody pending an official probe.

Russian media reported that the four men had been tortured during investigation, and they showed signs of having been severely beaten during their court appearance.

Herbst and other observers have argued that the beatings the prisoners endured during interrogation undermine their testimony.

HERO TEEN SAVES OVER 100 PEOPLE IN DEADLY MOSCOW TERROR ATTACK: VIDEO

Ivana Stradner, research fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital, that last weeks terrorist attack shows that the Kremlin is "fragile" and "unstable," particularly in light of last summer's mutiny attempt by founder and leader of the mercenary Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin. She argued that the West should be using this to its strategic advantage.

"The West should play off Moscows paranoia and launch new information operations to communicate Putins diminished strength, security failures and greatly reduced influence on Russias allies," Stradner said. "If Putin cannot protect his own people, how is he going to protect his allies?"

ISIS has long regarded Russia as an enemy over its intervention in Syria, as well as its alliance with Iran and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

"ISIS considers Russia to be an enemy. Russia has worked very closely with the Assad regime in Syria against various Islamic groups  including ISIS," Herbst said. "Russia is best pals with the mullahs in Iran  also an enemy of ISIS. And Russia has cooperated with the Taliban, who are also an enemy of ISIS. So, it's very clear that ISIS has multiple reasons to strike Russia."

In October 2015, a bomb planted by ISIS 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 Russia's volatile Caucasus and other regions in past years. It recruited fighters from Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union.





Original article source: Moscow attack shows Putins grip on Russia not nearly as tight as we think, says ex-US ambassador to Ukraine
The death toll of a Moscow concert hall terrorist shooting rose Monday to 139, a Russian official announced.

The number of deaths has quickly increased since the attack Friday, after gunmen opened fire on crowds in a suburban Moscow concert hall and lit the building on fire.

Alexander Bastrykin, the head of the countrys Investigative Committee, said Monday on state television that the attack was carefully planned and prepared, state media TASS reported.

Bastrykin said 139 people died from the attack, 137 of them at the scene, and that 75 of the 139 people have been identified, including three children. He added that 40 were shot, two were shot and stabbed, and 45 died as a result of the venue catching on fire. He said 182 people were injured.

Four men were charged Sunday with committing the terrorist attack. Two of the suspects accepted responsibility, though concerns were raised about whether they were speaking freely, The Associated Press reported.

An additional three men were arrested Monday, according to state media, charged with assisting the attackers. Police said weapons and tools, including an assault rifle, were recovered from an apartment used by the group, TASS reported.

U.S. intelligence said ISIS-K is responsible for the attack, while Russian President Vladimir Putin has attempted to link the attack to Ukraine.

Putin said Monday that those responsible were radical Islamists whose ideology the world has been fighting for centuries, according to a translation from The Associated Press.

This crime can only be a link in a chain of attempts by those who are at war with our country since 2014, Putin added, referring to the countrys invasion of Ukraine.

American and other international leaders have rejected Putins insinuations of Ukrainian involvement.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
More than seven months remain in this years presidential campaign. Thats a long time to have to survive the continuing repugnant verbiage of this election.

The ever-advancing nastiness marks perhaps the most bellicose and bombastic election ever in American politics. Certainly songwriter John Andersons country title  Ive enjoyed as much of this as I can stand  could apply to this disgusting situation.

At the start of the campaign, even the most eupeptic countrymen were in deep despair over the ages of the remaining candidates. Now, its not just age but the utter warfare thats bugging us.

Republican Donald Trump is even talking of a bloodbath if he loses again to Democratic incumbent Joe Biden. Didnt we already have one bloodbath on Jan. 6, 2021? Trump tried to walk back the hint of more violence. Nice effort.

Mac Gordon

Lordy, is there another way to select a president? Should we appoint by blue-ribbon committee? Do we need an official third party? Should we embrace a No Labels-type approach?

For sure, many followers of Biden (age 81) and Trump (age 77) hope another viable  and younger  candidate will come out of nowhere and announce plans to a grateful nation to run. Well, maybe not so much on the age issue, it turns out.

Wrote Washington newspaper columnist Joshua Spivak, This isnt a gerontocracy being foisted upon the voters, its actually the opposite. The march to the elderly has taken place since the adoption of the modern primary and caucus system, when average voters gained the power to select candidates  They seem to be fine with older ones.

Since 1976, the parties have nominated nine presidential candidates who are 60 or older, five of whom were 70 or older. Since 1960, weve elected only three presidents who took office in their 40s  John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

Biden and Trump already share a record involving a clock. Four years ago, they were the oldest candidates to ever seek the presidency. Here they go again, shattering that record.

Aging researcher John Olshansky told the Wisconsin Examiner: I get a phone call every time one of them stumbles or says something off kilter. Theyre going, Whats wrong? Im going, Seriously, this happens to virtually all of us.

However, numerous polls conducted nationwide in recent weeks have shown voters would like to see younger candidates. One poll conducted by the Associated Press showed large numbers of citizens have doubts about the mental capacities of both Biden and Trump.

The AP reported that 63% of those polled indicated theyre not very or not at all confident in Bidens mental capability to serve effectively as president. A similar but slightly smaller share (57%) said that Trump lacks the memory and acuity for the job.

The age factor has almost been overshadowed by the anger between candidates. Will it boil over into fisticuffs while theyre on stage for a debate? (Remember, Biden once threatened to take Trump behind the gym for a whipping.) Will there even be a debate this year?

A recent survey of swing-state voters by Bloomberg.com said many consider Trump dangerous. I guess so, considering hes talking of another bloodbath. Do you wonder what his wife, Melania, said to him when he got home for supper the night of 1-6-21?

I havent seen public opinion on what Trump said about a possible second loss to Biden: I dont think youre going to have another election, or certainly not an election thats meaningful.

As the campaign roars on, covered in vitriol and rhetoric like that, remember the Chinese proverb, Even when days and months are long, life is short.

 Mac Gordon is a native of McComb. He is a retired newspaperman. He can be reached at macmarygordon@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: The most bellicose and bombastic election ever in American politics?
Story at a glance

Just over 20 percent of all U.S. adults say they attend a religious service every week, according to Gallup survey data.

Two decades ago, 42 percent of Americans said they went to a religious service every week or nearly every week.

Jewish and Muslim service attendance is actually up.

Three out of 10 religious adults in the U.S. attend a service every week or nearly every week, according to recent Gallup survey findings.

That number marks a sharp decline from 20 years ago when, on average, 42 percent of American adults went to a religious service every week or almost every week, according to Gallup.

Members of the Mormon Church are the most likely to attend a service regularly, with 54 percent saying they go to a sacrament meeting once a week, Gallup found.

Protestants are the second-most likely, with 30 percent saying they attend a service every week, followed by Muslims  28 percent say they pray at a mosque weekly.

Atheists, agnostics or people with no religion are the least likely to go to a religious service  79 percent have never attended one  although 3 percent say they attend a service weekly or almost every week.

Over 40 percent of Jewish American adults acknowledge seldom attending a service, as well as 40 percent of Orthodox Christian adults.

Most religious groups in the U.S. have experienced a decline in service attendance over the last two decades, mostly driven by the rising number of people who do not have any religious affiliation.

Between 2000 and 2003, about 9 percent of American adults reported no religious affiliation, according to Gallup. By 2021 to 2023, that number has increased to 21 percent.

Catholics have seen one of the most significant drop in mass attendance since 2000.

That year about 45 percent of Catholic adults said they attended church every week or nearly every week, Gallup data show; that number has now fallen to 33 percent.

Meanwhile, there has been a slight increase in religious service attendance among Muslim and Jewish Americans over the past two decades.

About 38 percent of Muslim adults attend mosque weekly or almost weekly, up from 34 percent in 2000 and 2003, but lower than the 46 percent between 2011 and 2013.

Two decades ago, about 15 percent of Jewish Americans went to synagogue weekly or almost weekly  now it is 22 percent.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  Authorities have launched a death investigation after a mountain biker found a human skull near a Skamania County campground on March 13.

The cyclist called officials from an area near the Sunset Falls Campground around 9:45 p.m., according to authorities.

Due to the time of the call received and lack of daylight, response to the area was delayed, officials said. [The next morning], law enforcement personnel responded to the area, locating the skull, along with additional human remains.

Husband, friend accused in Hockinson murder-for-hire plot

A positive identification has yet to be made in this case, but deputies said the scene location and other identifiers, the remains are believed to be those of John Guffey who was reported as a missing person nearly one year ago.

Officials said Guffeys van previously had been found in the same area, but his body was never discovered despite several search attempts.

The investigation is ongoing.

Stay with KOIN 6 News as this story develops.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
Lawmaker Mariana Bezuhla, formerly a member of President Volodymyr Zelensky's Servant of the People party, downplayed her own bill proposing strict prison sentences for "representing Ukraine abroad" without authorization, calling it a mere "provocation."

Bezuhla and Halyna Tretiakova, a member of Zelensky's party, registered the bill in the parliament on March 20. The draft law called for a prison sentence of up to 15 years for the "appropriation of state functions," namely at international events and in dealing with foreign representatives.

The bill was submitted to a specialized committee for review on March 25. A day later, lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak announced that the controversial draft law had been withdrawn.

"The only correct decision in this situation," Zhelezniak commented.

When proposing the bill, the authors argued there are certain "shameful citizens," without mentioning any names, who take over representative actions abroad for their own interests.

Opposition politicians, like former President Petro Poroshenko, have traveled abroad to international events during the full-scale war. These trips appeared to have put the ex-president at odds with the authorities, and he was barred from departing on several occasions.

Following its registration, the bill faced a public backlash.

Oleksandra Matviichuk, a civil society activist and a 2022 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, criticized the bill, comparing it to previously imposed restrictions on public activities of volunteers and civil society organizations.

Read also: Poroshenko says he is not allowed to attend Munich Conference over alleged threat to life

"So this is how we will win? I'm so fed up with this imitation of work and constant sticks in the wheel when, without exaggeration, our survival is at stake," Matviichuk wrote on Facebook.

On March 26, Bezuhla claimed on her Facebook profile that the bill was a mere "provocation."

"The bill will not be put to a vote. It's really 'nice' to see how the colleagues, who are often unmoved by urgent matters, woke up and are happy for a cheap opportunity to show their commitment to the ideals of democracy," the lawmaker said.

In comparison, Tretiakova appeared to have voiced continued commitment to the principles behind the bill.

"Who speaks on behalf of the state? The President of Ukraine is the head of state and speaks on its behalf," Tretiakova said on Facebook.

Member of the European Parliament Viola von Cramon slammed Bezuhla's explanation.

"I had hoped that we deal with more grown-up colleagues here in Kyiv. It's very puzzling to read these stories from someone from the ruling party while we actually push for opening the accession talks with the EU," von Cramon said.

Bezuhla is no stranger to controversy. Last November, she called for the dismissal of Valerii Zaluzhnyi, then-commander-in-chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces. Her comments led other Servant of the People lawmakers to demand her expulsion from the party.

The lawmaker announced her resignation from the party on Jan. 11.

Read also: Ukraines path to EU accession paved with reforms

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Editors note: This is issue 48 of Ukrainian lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniaks weekly Ukrainian Economy in Brief newsletter, covering events from March 18- 24, 2024. The digest highlights steps taken in the Ukrainian parliament related to business, economics, and international financial programs.

The Kyiv Independent is republishing with permission.

Benchmarks and obligations in the IMF Memorandum

Ukraine's parliament reinstated the post-clearance customs audit.

Last week the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, adopted in the second reading draft law #9456 with updates to the Customs Code of Ukraine. One of the approved amendments reinstates post-clearance customs audits. Ukraine stated the intention to adopt such a piece of legislation in the memorandum with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This step has to complement the reinstatement of tax audits and close potential loopholes in managing compliance processes.

World Bank priorities

President Zelensky signed the draft law on financial markets, after a conflict of interest of the NSSMCs head was removed.

On March 22, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed draft law #5865 on strengthening the independence and institutional capacity of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC). The draft law was waiting in the Presidential Office for almost four weeks despite the fact that the draft law #5865 was one of the conditionalities for Ukraine to receive $1.5 billion from the World Bank guaranteed by Japan.

We covered the reason for the delay in Issue 46. The Head of the NSSMC Ruslan Mahomedov signed a letter in which he asked to veto the draft law #5865 as it doesnt include the provisions of increasing salaries and creates a conflict of interest for Mahomedov himself by banning a person to work in the NSSMC if they have a relative related to the professional market players.

Read also: Shmyhal: Ukraine receives $880 million from IMF

Draft law #5865 was unblocked last week as the Verkhovna Rada adopted draft law #9667-1 which isnt related to the financial markets, but includes an amendment which removes the conflict of interest of the NSSMCs head. The relevant amendments in other draft laws as well as the amendments on raising salaries for the NSSMCs members havent passed.

Obligations to the EU

The Verkhovna Rada adopted the draft law regarding violations in lobbying.

On March 21, the Verkhovna Rada adopted in the second reading the draft law #10373 on administrative responsibility for violations under the lobbying law which was adopted earlier.

Other key economic issues

The Defense Committee is still working on amendments to the draft law on mobilization.

The Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence continues to work on the table of amendments to draft law #10449 on mobilization. Last week, the committee considered the amendments under the numbers from 1845 to 2104 out of 4269.

The Accounting Chamber will provide compliance audits.

The parliament adopted an amendment which gives the Accounting Chamber the power to conduct compliance audits in line with the International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions.

According to Roksolana Pidlasa, chair of the Budget Committee and the author of the above-mentioned amendment, this year, the Accounting Chamber should check several state bodies to identify how their activity corresponds with their powers.

In particular, the Accounting Chamber should provide compliance audits regarding the asset management in the Agency for Investigation and Management of Assets, defense purchases of drones for military purposes by the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection, the process of distribution of funds within the Fund for liquidation of the consequences of armed aggression.

Read also: Case against investment banker points to increasing pressure by state on business in Ukraine

In two months, the National Security and Defense Council's decision to protect business has still not worked.

On Jan. 23, following the scandalous arrest of Ihor Mazepa, the head of the Ukrainian investment company Concord Capital, and several other cases of pressure on business, the National Security and Defense Council approved a decision which was aimed to protect business and limit the law enforcement state bodies. Two months have passed but there are still no results.

The moratorium on investigative actions against businesses lasted 10 days instead of 3 months. Not a single case against the business was closed, even though an audit of the opened proceedings was promised. The law enforcement representatives responsible for pressure on business were never punished.

The Cabinet of Ministers approved the draft law on increasing fuel excise duty.

The Cabinet of Ministers has approved a draft law that will gradually increase fuel excise rates to the minimum level for the EU countries till the year 2028. For example, the excise on gasoline for cars will be increased from 213,5 euros per 1,000 liters to 359 euros per 1,000 liters. The draft law will be submitted to the parliament soon.

Read also: Russia aims to knock out Ukraines power grid in new wave of attacks

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Milwaukee Public Schools superintendent Keith Posley has said the district's $252 million referendum will allow the district to maintain services. If it fails, schools could face budget cuts. He is pictured here at a trades fair at the Milwaukee Tool offices in downtown Milwaukee in October 2023.

The Milwaukee education landscape is split roughly in two, with about half the citys children who are getting publicly funded education enrolled in the Milwaukee Public Schools system and about half in private schools, charter schools and public schools in districts outside the city. This has big implications for the nature and vitality of all the schools serving the citys kids.

The April 2 referendum vote in which MPS is seeking approval of increasing its spending by $252 million a year will have unknown but almost certainly large effects on the future of the two halves of the school scene.

In a column that was published several days ago, I offered thoughts on four facets of what is going on. In this column, I offer four more.

New undertakings on the non-MPS side

A surge of additional revenue that the state budget, passed in 2023, is providing to non-MPS schools has increased something that was already happening: more momentum for non-MPS schools, while MPS is largely trying to hang on to what it has. Consider examples of what non-MPS schools are doing.

The fast-growing St. Augustine Prep on the south side announced recently it is moving forward with plans to open a north side campus on the former Cardinal Stritch University grounds, although it said the cost of that expansion will be about $100 million, more than twice original estimates, and it delayed the projected date for opening the new campus by a year, until fall 2026.

Howard Fuller Collegiate Academy is on track to move its high school program this fall into a new building on Phillips Avenue (formerly North Fourth Street), just south of North Avenue. Its current building at Capitol Drive and North 29th Street will be remodeled to house middle school grades as the Fuller School and the Milwaukee Excellence Charter School merge. Milwaukee Excellence will leave the MPS system and give up its current space in a former MPS elementary school.

Hope Christian Schools, with five schools in Milwaukee, announced recently a multimillion plan (the announcement didnt give a specific amount) to upgrade its programs, including improving salaries and program innovations such as increased art, music and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) offerings. The announcement linked the improvements to the revenue increases in the state budget.

The Milwaukee Academy of Science, a charter school at 2000 W. Kilbourn Ave. with about 1,400 students, announced in January that it would expand by adding a second campus in a school building at North 24th and West Vliet Street that was previously home to Urban Day School and Penfield Montessori School.

The Seeds of Health network of three high schools and an elementary school continues to thrive, including the expansion two years ago of its Tenor High School into a building at 918 Vel R. Phillips Ave. that was formerly home to the Milwaukee Sentinel.

The United Community Center is adding a third floor to the main building of its Bruce Guadalupe school on the south side, which means more classrooms, as well as improvements in existing space. A cramped cafeteria has been replaced by a more spacious and useful cafeteria. The school has reduced average class sizes from 25-27 down to 20-22. The school still needs to raise about $1.5 million of the projects cost, but Laura Gutierrez, executive director of the UCC, said, Our kids cannot wait.

'Were trying to maintain.'

Meantime, on the MPS front, that was the phrase MPS superintendent Keith Posley used in a recent television interview about why MPS launched the referendum campaign.

MPS advocates have been careful about saying that, if the referendum wins, the additional $252 million a year will bring improvements in outcomes for children. They generally have emphasized that they will have to make cuts if the referendum is defeated, possibly cutting staff, increasing class sizes and losing ground in areas such as arts and music, where there have been positive steps in recent years (including benefits from the $87 million a year referendum that was approved in 2020).

Is it a good idea to go to voters without a plan that speaks clearly to doing better and amid a specter of major cuts? Is maintaining enough of a pitch? Interesting questions.

Speaking of maintaining ...

One of the issues raised by opponents of the referendum is that MPS has maintained its inventory of schools almost without major change for at least 15 years.

There are schools in MPS that have more students than their listed capacity, according to a report MPS made to the Legislatures joint finance committee in August 2023.

But there are also a bunch of schools that are substantially under-enrolled, and the system as a whole appears to have more capacity than it needs.

The under-enrolled schools are generally on the north side. For example, Clarke Street School, which President George W. Bush visited in 2002, has a listed capacity of 560 and, as of May 2023, had 266 students. Hi Mount School, spotlighted in the 1990s for its innovative programming, had a capacity of 506 and an enrollment of 172.

MPS has resisted closing schools and Posley, the superintendent since 2018, has suggested that closings would not save much money. He also has said MPS is working on a new facilities plan. The last time MPS made a serious effort to close schools was when William Andrekopoulos was superintendent. Now retired, Andrekopoulos has come out against the current referendum, in large part because of the number of schools with low enrollment, which he argues leads to unnecessary staffing and costs.

So how are the children doing?

The core and ultimate issue is the overall academic success of Milwaukee students. And, in the broad picture, theyre not doing well. This does not apply to every student and every school. But paint the picture with broad strokes and its not pretty.

In tests given in spring 2023, only 15.8% of MPS third- through eighth-graders were rated proficient or advanced in English language arts (including reading), and 52.9% were rated as below basic, the lowest category on Wisconsins tests. Absenteeism is high; behavior problems are serious.

The picture isnt so great for students in the non-MPS schools either. For example, among all Milwaukee students (including some in ninth grade or higher) using vouchers to go to private schools, only 20% were proficient or advanced in English language arts, with 37% below basic.

The biggest problems, to put it candidly, involve a list of schools serving low-income Black children on the north side. And there is almost no sign of results getting much better in those schools, regardless of whether they are part of MPS or not part of MPS. There is little sign of a real plan to deal with the issues in a meaty way, whether youre talking about things school can influence or the important factors that shape childrens lives outside of school and before they reach school age.

Do you know of plans to do something meaningful for children in MPS schools where zero to 5% of students are proficient in reading? I dont. The answer to that question varies in the non-MPS sector, but there are schools there where I would say the same.

Some schools are raising the roof. But a lot are hoping only to maintain the situation they are in, situations marked by low overall education success.

What happens in MPS if the referendum is passed? What happens if it fails? Both are important questions. But transcending them are two questions that arent up for a vote on April 2 and dont get the attention they need: How do we really raise the roof? And what happens if all we can do is maintain what we have?

Alan J. Borsuk is senior fellow in law and public policy at Marquette Law School. Reach him at alan.borsuk@marquette.edu.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Maintaining low educational success isn't what MPS needs
People search among the rubble after an Israeli airstrike in Maghazi refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, on March 26, 2024. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 32,414, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Tuesday. (Xinhua)

GAZA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 32,414, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Tuesday.

During the past 24 hours, the Israeli army killed 81 Palestinians and wounded 93 others, it added.

This brings the total death toll to 32,414 and injuries to 74,787 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 in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 were taken hostage. 

A boy sits among the rubble after an Israeli airstrike in Maghazi refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, on March 26, 2024. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 32,414, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Tuesday. (Xinhua)

People are seen among the rubble after an Israeli airstrike in Maghazi refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, on March 26, 2024. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 32,414, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Tuesday. (Xinhua)

People are seen among the rubble after an Israeli airstrike in Maghazi refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, on March 26, 2024. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 32,414, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Tuesday. (Xinhua)

People are seen inside a destroyed building after an Israeli airstrike in Maghazi refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, on March 26, 2024. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 32,414, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Tuesday. (Xinhua)

People are seen among the rubble after an Israeli airstrike in Maghazi refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, on March 26, 2024. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 32,414, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Tuesday. (Xinhua)

People search among the rubble after an Israeli airstrike in Maghazi refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, on March 26, 2024. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 32,414, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Tuesday. (Xinhua)

A man walks past destroyed vehicles after an Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on March 26, 2024. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 32,414, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Tuesday. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua)

A man is seen among the rubble after an Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on March 26, 2024. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 32,414, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Tuesday. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua)

People are seen near a destroyed building after an Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on March 26, 2024. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 32,414, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Tuesday. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua)

A man stands among the rubble after an Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on March 26, 2024. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 32,414, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Tuesday. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua)

A man inspects a destroyed building after an Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on March 26, 2024. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 32,414, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Tuesday. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua)

A boy collects items after an Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on March 26, 2024. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 32,414, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Tuesday. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua)
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI)  While President Biden canceled nearly $6 million in student loan debt for an additional 77,700 public service workers last week, there are thousands of Californians still playing catchup with their payments.

The Office of Federal Student Aid says California is the state with the most federal student loan debt, with nearly four thousand borrowers owing a total of $146.7 billion as of last September.

The state of Texas follows second with over $125 billion in student loan debt, according to the office.

Biden cancels nearly $6 billion in student debt for 77,700 public service workers

Data shows that most borrowers in California are between the ages of 25 and 34, but the age group with the highest debt are people ages 35 to 49.

As people figure out how to pay back their federal student loans, the cost of attending college is not getting any cheaper.

The University of San Diegos website states full-time tuition for the 2024-2025 academic year is over $58,000. Thats compared to $55,690 from 2023-2024.

Next target in Biden vs. Junk Fees: Colleges and student lending

San Diego State University will be increasing its tuition this coming fall, according to its website, saying the cost will go up by 6% each year for the next five years. Currently, SDSU costs $8,290 in tuition and fees for in-state students. Starting in the academic year 2024-2025, basic tuition and fees will cost $8,728.

Meanwhile, the University of California San Diego, which uses the UC systemwide tuition and fees, costs $18,480 as of the current academic year. That does not include additional expenses like course materials, housing and transportation. For academic year 2022-2023, UC tuition and fees were $17,361.

Since the Supreme Court blocked the Biden Administrations original student loan forgiveness plan, the president has been slowly issuing various executive actions to cancel student loan debt.

According to a statement from the White House in February, nearly $138 billion in student debt has been canceled for nearly four million borrowers under more than two dozen executive actions.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends an expanded meeting of the Prosecutor General's Office board in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, March 26, 2024. (Valeriy Sharifulin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

MOSCOW (AP)  Russian officials persisted Tuesday in saying Ukraine and the West had a role in last week's deadly Moscow concert hall attack despite vehement denials of involvement by Kyiv and a claim of responsibility by an affiliate of the Islamic State group.

Without offering any evidence, Alexander Bortnikov, head of the Federal Security Service, or FSB, followed similar allegations by President Vladimir Putin, who linked the attack to Ukraine even as he acknowledged that the suspects who were arrested were radical Islamists.

The IS affiliate claimed it carried out the attack, and U.S. intelligence said it had information confirming the group was responsible. French President Emmanuel Macron said France also has intelligence pointing to an IS entity as responsible for the attack.

But despite the signs pointing to IS, Putin insisted on alleged Ukrainian involvement  something that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected, accusing the Kremlin leader of trying to drum up fervor as his forces fight in Ukraine.

Bortnikov alleged that Western spy agencies also could have been involved in the deadliest terror attack on Russian soil in two decades, even as he acknowledged receiving a U.S. tip about the attack.

We believe that radical Islamists prepared the action, while Western special services have assisted it and Ukrainian special services had a direct part in it, Bortnikov said without giving details.

He repeated Putin's claim that the four gunmen were trying to escape to Ukraine when they were arrested. casting it as a proof of alleged involvement by Kyiv.

But that assertion was undercut slightly by Belarus' authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko. who said Tuesday the suspects were headed for Ukraine because they feared tight controls on the Belarus border.

Russia is still reeling from the attack Friday in which gunmen killed 139 people in the Crocus City Hall, a concert venue on the outskirts of Moscow. Health officials said about 90 people remain hospitalized, with 22 of them, including two children, in grave condition.

The four men accused of carrying out the attack appeared in a Moscow court on Sunday on terrorism charges and showed signs of severe beatings. One appeared to be barely conscious during the hearing.

The men are citizens of Tajikistan, authorities said, and were identified as Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, 32; Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, 30; Shamsidin Fariduni, 25; and Mukhammadsobir Faizov, 19. They were charged with committing a terrorist attack resulting in death, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

A senior Turkish security official confirmed Tuesday that two of them spent a short amount of time in Turkey before traveling together to Russia on March 2.

One of the suspects, Fariduni, entered Turkey on Feb. 20, checked into a hotel in Istanbuls Fatih district the next day, and checked out Feb. 27, the official said. The other, Rachabalizoda, checked into a hotel in the same district on Jan. 5, checking out on Jan. 21.

The official said Turkish authorities believe the two became radicalized in Russia" because they were not in Turkey for long. There was no warrant for their arrest so they were allowed to travel freely between Russia and Turkey, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make public statements.

The Islamic State group, which lost much of its ground after Russias military action in Syria, has long targeted Russia. In October 2015, a bomb planted by IS downed a Russian jetliner over the Sinai desert, 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, 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.

On Monday, Putin warned that more attacks could follow, alleging possible Western involvement. He didnt mention the warning about a possible imminent terrorist attack that the U.S. shared confidentially with Moscow two weeks before the raid.

Three days before the attack, Putin denounced the U.S. Embassys March 7 notice urging Americans to avoid crowds in Moscow, including concerts, calling it an attempt to frighten Russians and blackmail the Kremlin ahead of the presidential election.

Bortnikov said Russia was thankful for the warning but described it as very general.

The information about preparations for terror attacks in large gatherings of people was of a general nature," he said. Of course, we reacted to that information and took corresponding measures to prevent such incidents.

He added that the FSB acted on the tip, targeting a group of suspects he didn't identify but which eventually proved false.

We are thankful, of course, but we would like to see more specifics, Bortnikov said.

___

Associated Press writer Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, contributed.
Mick Mulvaney, who served as former President Trumps acting White House chief of staff, called his former boss a trampoline president following the reduction of his bond in his New York civil fraud case Monday.

If hes acquitted in New York under  the  hush money case, hes gonna say, Look, there, it proves it. It was nothing to begin with; it was politically motivated to begin with, Mulvaney said on NewsNations Dan Abrams Live in an interview with host Jesse Weber.

So, in a certain sense, and I know this sound contrived, the man wins when he wins, and wins when he loses, and thats just the nature of Donald Trump. He is the ultimate, not only Teflon, but hes sort of a  the trampoline president, Mulvaney said.

Trump won a decision Monday from a New York appeals court that reduced the bond on his civil fraud case to $175 million from nearly a half-billion dollars. The former president said on Truth Social that he and his co-defendants will pay the new bond.

We will abide by the decision of the Appellate Division, and post either a bond, equivalent securities, or cash, Trump said.

Trump lost another legal battle Monday, however, after his New York hush money case was scheduled to begin April 15. Trump had attempted to delay the case.

Trump railed against Judge Juan Merchan, who set the trial date, in a post Tuesday on Truth Social.

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. In other words, he hates me! Trumps post reads.

NewsNation is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also owns The Hill.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The revelation that China has hacked Parliamentarians and the Electoral Commission is shocking, though for anyone following China closely, not surprising.

I have been trying to sound the alarm about the threats the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime poses for at least a decade. As a result, I have been the target of threatening letters sent to my home and my neighbours. Just days before a visit to Vancouver three years ago, I received an anonymous  but ominous  email saying See you at the Sheraton (where I was booked to stay), an indication that I was under surveillance.

The British Governments response to Chinas latest hostile activity perhaps represents the beginnings of a turning-point. The Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowdens robust language was welcome. The problem is, it is still not being matched by robust action.

Sanctioning two hackers and a front company and summoning the Chinese ambassador are welcome steps, but they wont leave Beijing quaking in their boots. As Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP said, the governments measures resemble an elephant giving birth to a mouse; or as Stewart McDonald MP put it, the government had turned up at a gunfight with a wooden spoon.

It is not enough to wake up to the threats the Beijing regime poses  we must stand up to it.

Let us be clear: Xi Jinpings aim is to assert Chinas global dominance and advance authoritarianism around the world. The latest illustration of this was seen in Hong Kong last week, when the citys pro-Beijing puppet legislature unanimously passed the most repressive security law in its history, further cementing Xis iron grip over the city.

The new security law represents an all-out assault on whatever was left of Hong Kongs liberties, autonomy and the rule of law. Fast-tracked through the legislature North Korea-style, with no opposition and precious little debate, this law comes on top of the draconian National Security Law imposed on Hong Kong by Beijing four years ago. That law led to the forced closure of almost all independent media, the shut down of over 66 civil society organisations, an end to freedom of protest and the expulsion of the pro-democracy camp from the legislature.

Most pro-democracy politicians have either been jailed, exiled or threatened into silence. Hong Kongs political prisoners include 47 former legislators and activists whose only crime was holding a primary election to choose candidates for the legislature.

The most high-profile trial underway is that of 76 year-old media entrepreneur and British citizen Jimmy Lai, founder of the now defunct Apple Daily, charged with conspiring to collude with foreign forces and publishing seditious materials. He has already been in jail for over three years, and may well die there.

The total dismantling of Hong Kongs freedoms and autonomy illustrates that the one country, two systems model for peaceful unification with Taiwan is completely dead. Taiwan looks at what has happened to Hong Kong and says no thanks. That means the only way Xi will take Taiwan is by force  ultimately militarily, but likely combined with an economic blockade. That makes the world ever more dangerous.

All this threatens our freedoms at home too. Offences detailed in the new security law will apply to anyone outside Hong Kong  intensifying the extraterritoriality that already existed in the National Security law. I have already been threatened with a jail sentence, and in the work I do, I am in violation of this absurd law every day of my life  and so is anyone who criticises the CCP.

So, as I say, statements alone are not enough. Given Xis ambitions, and the threat to our freedoms which the Prime Minister and his deputy have finally acknowledged, a wholesale re-think of our China policy is now long overdue.

For a start, we need to drop the Sir Humphrey language of epoch-defining challenge and robust pragmatism that sounds strong yet is meaningless and incomprehensible. Lets call the CCP for what it is: an extremely grave threat to our security and liberty.

As Chinas economy slows, Xis expansionist ambitions are likely to grow. Now is the time to take serious steps to de-risk investments, reduce strategic dependency, decouple economically and diversify our supply chains.

As the threats to Taiwan increase, we must deter an invasion by making it clear to Xi that we stand with Taiwan  one of the regions most vibrant democracies  and that the consequences of military action would be dire for China.

Today is the third anniversary of Chinas ridiculous sanctioning of seven Parliamentarians, two other individuals and at least four entities, including a legal chambers and the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission which I co-founded and helped lead.

If the tyrants in Beijing and Hong Kong are not made to feel consequences for their actions, they will be emboldened to further intensify repression with impunity and threaten our freedoms.

Too many red lines have been crossed. We must stand up to these thugs and bullies and defend freedom itself before it is too late.

Benedict Rogers is co-founder and Chief Executive of Hong Kong Watch

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.
Central and South Georgias first and only childrens hospital has been renamed to Atrium Health Levine Childrens Beverly Knight Olson Childrens Hospital.

Last week, all pediatric care services at Atrium Health Navicent were unified under the Levine Childrens brand in efforts to continue providing high-quality pediatric care to children throughout the Carolinas and Georgia, the health care organization said.

The extension of the Atrium Health Levine Childrens name is the logical next step to optimize and continue to build the best of our pediatric services across the Southeast, Dr. Stacy Nicholson, president of Atrium Health Levine Childrens, said in a news release.

Atrium pediatric outpatient facilities, such as primary care offices, emergency departments and specialty clinics will also adopt the new Levine Childrens name, according to the press release.

Atrium said this new structure will represent reaching a new milestone in pediatric health care by enabling pediatric patients, their families and their support networks to receive care closer to home in a seamless manner.

Being part of Atrium Health Levine Childrens allow our young patients to continue to receive excellent health care from central and south Georgias only dedicated childrens hospital while also receiving easy access to more  more pediatric specialists, more groundbreaking treatments and research and more access to clinical trials  all while remaining close to home, said Dr. Sanford Duke, Atrium Health Navicents chief clinical officer.

The Beverly Knight Olson Childrens Hospital opened in 2019, offering Macons only dedicated 24/7 pediatric emergency room, as well as neonatal intensive care and pediatric critical care.

Two facilities also joined Atrium Health Levine Childrens: Brenner Childrens Hospital in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and Atrium Health Levine Childrens Hospital in Charlotte.

Together, the three hospitals provide more than 703,000 primary care and 481,000 specialty care visits annually.

They also offer more than eight neonatal intensive care units, 668 beds and more than 900 pediatric providers.

Atrium said the alignment will also allow the hospitals to continue focusing on providing the best experience for children by prioritizing support services like child life, music therapy and pet therapy.

Nicholson said the unified brand aligns its expert pediatric care under one, nationally recognized name and offers everything parents need for complete childrens health care.

We are thrilled to now align under the same name, she said. To put it simply, the care our families have come to trust has not and will not go away. Rather, its strengthening by bringing together great care we are all already providing.
The Artemis 2 astronauts are gearing up for a key test of the Orion capsule, to see if the Moon crew can manage manual maneuvers prior to a lunar flyby.

NASAs Artemis 2 mission is set to launch in September 2025, carrying a four-person crew on board the Orion capsule for the first time on a 10-day journey to the Moon and back. Although most of the spacecrafts maneuvers are automated, about three hours into the flight, the astronauts will have to take the wheel to command Orion through a series of moves, according to NASA.



To prepare for this manual mode, the crew is set to participate in a ground demothat will last for a little over an hour. There are always differences between a ground simulation and what an actual spacecraft will fly like in space, Brian Anderson, Orion rendezvous, proximity operations, and docking manager within the Orion Program, said in a statement. The demonstration is a flight test objective that helps us reduce risk for future missions that involve rendezvous and docking with other spacecraft.



Although the Artemis 2 crew will not land on the lunar surface, the astronauts will travel to the far side of the Moon at a distance of about 230,000 miles (370,150 kilometers) away from Earth. The Artemis 2 crew consists of NASA astronauts Christina Koch, Victor Glover, and Reid Wiseman, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

The Orion capsule will launch aboard the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, automatically separating from the rocket and firing several separation bolts. Once the capsule is a safe distance away from the launch vehicle, Orion will perform an automated backflip to turn around and face the upper stage, known as the interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS).

When its at a distance of 300 feet (90 meters), the crew will take over the Orion capsule to pilot within 30 feet (9 meters) using translational hand controllers (for moving the spacecraft in various directions) and rotational hand controllers (for adjusting orientation). The crew will view the target by using a docking camera mounted inside the docking hatch window on the top of the crew module to see how well aligned they are with the docking target mounted to the IPS, Anderson said.

At that point, the Artemis astronauts will then perform small maneuvers to see how the spacecrafts fine handling performs in close proximity to another spacecraft. Once thats done, the Orion spacecraft will back away to allow the rocket stage to turn so that it can protect its heat-resistance-related components, and then the crew will follow the stage to perform another set of tests before backing away.

The rocket stage will then fall back towards Earths atmosphere while Orion begins its journey towards the Moon. As with many of our tests, its possible the proximity operations demonstration wont go exactly as expected, Anderson said. Even if we dont accomplish every part of the demonstration, well continue on with the test flight as planned to accomplish our primary objectives, including evaluating Orions systems with crew aboard in the deep space environment and keeping the crew safe during the mission.

Earlier this year, NASA announced that it was delaying its Artemis timelineto address safety and technical issues related to the spacecraft. The Artemis 2 mission was originally scheduled for November 2024 (now moved to September 2025) and the follow-up Artemis 3 mission, which was originally scheduled for late 2025, was delayed to September 2026.

NASA is still working to resolve an issue with the Orion capsules heat shield, which is designed to protect the astronauts from extreme temperatures during a fiery reentry through Earths atmosphere. The space agency has made it clear that it will not launch Artemis 2 unless it figures out why the heat shield suffered more damage than it was supposed to during the Artemis 1 mission.

The Artemis team had also discovered issues with the valves in the Orion capsules life support system thats designed to keep the crew alive inside the spacecraft. The valves passed the test for Artemis 2, but failed during testing for the Artemis 3 mission due to a design flaw. NASA engineers also noted deficiencies in the performance of Orions batteries, which are designed to be used in case of emergency should the spacecraft need to separate from the rocket.

The crew of astronauts is still preparing for the upcoming trip, learning how to operate the spacecraft manually for its orbital demonstration.

Want to know more about humanitys next giant leap in space? Check out our full coverage of NASAs Artemis Moon program, the new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft, the recently concluded Artemis 1 mission around the Moon, the four-person Artemis 2 crew, NASA and Axioms Artemis Moon suit, and the upcoming lunar Gateway space station. And for more spaceflight in your life, follow us on Twitter and bookmark Gizmodos dedicated Spaceflight page.

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Soldiers of the Khartiia Brigade used a drone to fix the national flag of Ukraine on a power line pole in the Russian rear

Ukraine commemorates the Day of the National Guard of Ukraine on March 26, as soldiers from the Khartiia Brigade strategically employed a drone to hoist the Ukrainian flag atop a power line pole within enemy territory, capturing exclusive footage of the operation for NV.



Since 2015, Ukraine has celebrated this holiday annually on March 26. But the National Guard actually has two birthdays. Nov. 4, which was established back in 1993 to commemorate the second anniversary of the Law on the National Guard, and March 26, which until 2015 was the Day of the Internal Troops.

Read also: NV launches fundraiser for drones for National Guard Brigade "Khartiia"

In March 2015, President Petro Poroshenko issued a decree introducing the holiday "taking into account the importance and role of the National Guard of Ukraine in fulfilling the tasks of ensuring state security and defense of the state, protection and defense of life, rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of citizens, society and the state from criminal and other unlawful encroachments, and protection of public order."

Read also: Zelenskyy thanks those that volunteer to defend Ukraines independence on Volunteer Day

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Poland's Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Shejna has said that NATO is considering the option of shooting down Russian missiles when they fly towards North Atlantic Alliance territory.

Source: Polish radio station RMF FM, as reported by European Pravda

Quote: "NATO is analysing various concepts, including that such missiles should be shot down when they are very close to the NATO border  but this would have to be done with the consent of the Ukrainian side and with due regard for international consequences. Then NATO missiles would hit Russian missiles outside the territory of the Treaty [Alliance  ed.]."

Details: Shejna noted that the violation of Polish airspace by a Russian missile this weekend was a test of the strength of the Polish Armed Forces' defences and vigilance. He said that the Russian Federation did not want to provoke anything, because the Russians knew that if the missile moved further into Poland, it would be shot down.

He stressed that Russia should not impose any rules on the Alliance.

"The aggressor has to get used to the fact that the NATO side, the side of democratic states and the EU will start setting a certain tone when it comes to resolving the conflict in Ukraine," Sheyna said.

"We take Putin's threats very seriously. He has shown that he is capable of anything. So far, in addition to hundreds of thousands of wounded and killed on both sides, he has succeeded in getting Sweden and Finland to join NATO. The next NATO summit will take place in July. We have a consolidation of the EU countries, the restoration of the Weimar Triangle," added Shejna.

Background:

On 24 March at 04:23, Polish airspace was violated by a cruise 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.

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.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said that the North Atlantic Alliance should shoot down Russian air targets that fly into the airspace of NATO member states.

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NATO considers the possibility of shooting down Russian missiles if they fly toward the Alliance's territory, Poland's Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Szejna said in an inerview with RMF 24 on March 26.

NATO is analyzing various concepts, including shooting down Russian missiles when they are very close to the Alliance's borders, Szejna said.

"But this would have to happen with the consent of the Ukrainian side and taking into account the international consequences - then NATO missiles would hit Russian missiles outside NATO territory."

Read also: Russian missile enters territory of Poland

But he also said that Russia cannot impose any rules on NATO.

"He (Putin) has to get used to the fact that the NATO side, the side of democratic countries, the EU will start setting a certain tone when it comes to resolving the conflict in Ukraine," the diplomat added.

Poland is serious about the threats of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, who has already shown that he "can do anything", said Szejna.

"What he has achieved so far, apart from hundreds of thousands of wounded and killed on both sides, is that Sweden and Finland have joined NATO," he concluded.

Read also: Poland to demand explanations from Russia over missile violation of its airspace

"In July, we will have another NATO summit. We are seeing consolidation of the EU countries, activation of the Weimar Triangle."

What is known about the violation of Polish airspace by a Russian missile on March 24

Polish Armed Forces reported that a Russian missile entered Polish airspace at 5:23 a.m. Kyiv time on March 24 near the city of Ocerdow in the Lublin Voivodeship, and stayed in Polish airspace for 39 seconds.

Read also: Poland scrambles fighter jets as Russian missile flies within 50 km of NATO border before turning

Throughout the flight, the object was tracked by Polish military radar systems.

Polish Foreign Ministry said it would demand explanations from Russia and called Russia to "stop terrorist air attacks against the people and territory of Ukraine, as well as to end the war and deal with the country's internal problems."

Later, Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Shejna said that, according to diplomatic protocol, the Russian ambassador would be summoned to the ministry "today or tomorrow," but it is not yet known when he will report there.

Poland's further decisions will depend on the ambassador's explanations.

Read also: Russian missiles entering NATO airspace should be intercepted  Lithuania

Polish National Defense Minister Wadysaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said that Polish troops would have shot down the Russian missile that violated Polish airspace in the morning if they were sure that it was heading for some target inland.

This is not the first time that Russian missiles have entered Polish skies. For example, during the attack on Dec. 29, Russian missile stayed over Poland for about three minutes. And on Feb. 7 this year, one of the Russian missiles dangerously approached the border with Poland.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
NATOs deployment to Ukraine could heighten tensions and potentially escalate to World War III, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in an interview with the Russian propaganda agency TASS.

In such a critical situation, not only actions but also words are of great importance, he said.

Therefore, when it comes to the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine on behalf of some NATO member states, it is really dangerous, because we do not want to face the threat. The terrible risk of a third world war is approaching.

According to Szijjarto, the number of people in the EU who oppose actions that increase the risk of escalation is growing.

Read also: Macron considers two options for sending troops to Ukraine, says Ukrainian MP

I think there are more and more people in Europe - and when I say people I do not equate them with political leaders - who are beginning to approach this problem rationally, and more and more people are inclined to oppose actions that increase the risk of escalation.

On Feb. 26, French President Emmanuel Macron said that sending Western troops to Ukraine in the future should not be ruled out. Several NATO countries publicly rejected the idea of sending troops to Ukraine in response to Macrons statements, including Poland, the United States, Germany, Czechia, Canada, and the UK.

We could not guarantee that our countrys military would not be sent to Ukraine in the future, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said on March 3.

Read also: Everyone but two: EU leaders near consensus on need to defeat Putin  Lithuanian President

Western countries should discuss the idea of sending troops to Ukraine and stop drawing red lines in terms of assistance to Kyiv, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said.

NATO countries should consider all options to help Kyiv, the Netherlands Defense Chief, General Onno Eichelsheim, said.

European NATO member states have been studying the possibility of sending NATO troops to Ukraine for weeks, AFP reported, citing a source.

Read also: NATO considers shooting down Russian missiles near borders - Polish FM

French troops could be sent to Ukraine to protect certain frontiers and participate in exercises or ground air defense, French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said on Feb. 28.

He ruled out the participation of French soldiers in battles directly on the front line.

On March 19, Macron said that fears of a possible deployment of Western troops in Ukraine were a necessary wake-up call.

On the same days, in contrast to Macrons recent policy statements, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni spoke out against the deployment of Western troops in Ukraine.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
BEIJING, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The People's Republic of China and the Republic of Nauru on Tuesday issued a joint statement.

Please see the attachment for the full text of the statement. Enditem

Full text: Joint Statement Between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Nauru
Ronna McDaniel, the outgoing Republican National Committee chairwoman, gives her last speech in the position at the general session of the RNC Spring Meeting March 8, 2024, in Houston. | Michael Wyke

NBC News ended its contract with former Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel after the networks top political hosts publicly protested the decision to hire her as a paid contributor.

The dramatic reversal, first reported by Puck News, marked a quick end to McDaniels role as a pro-Trump conservative commentator at the media outlet. NBC News announced it had severed ties with McDaniel in an internal memo on Tuesday afternoon, the Wall Street Journal reported.

No organization, particularly a newsroom, can succeed unless it is cohesive and aligned, said Cesar Conde, chairman of NBCUniversals News Group. Over the last few days, it has become clear that this appointment undermines that goal.

McDaniel is now considering legal options after her TV deal was canceled less than a week after it was first made public, Axios reported. This finding was confirmed by New York Times journalist Michael Grynbaum, who reported McDaniel is no longer represented by her agent, CAA, and is looking for an attorney to negotiate with NBC on her behalf.

Before the news on Tuesday, a Republican consultant close to McDaniel told the Deseret News that McDaniels relationship with NBC News remained unchanged and that they are firmly standing behind her.

An uproar from NBC and MSNBC journalists and anchors on live television followed the TV networks internal announcement on Friday that it would enlist McDaniel to provide an insiders perspective on national politics and the future of the Republican Party.

McDaniel  a graduate of Brigham Young University and niece of Utah Sen. Mitt Romney  stepped down from her leadership role with the national Republican Party two weeks earlier on March 8. She had held the position longer than anyone since the Civil War.

Following the airing of McDaniels first Meet the Press interview after the announcement, NBC News chief political analyst Chuck Todd publicly criticized the company on air for putting journalists in what he called an uncomfortable situation by making McDaniel a co-worker.

On Monday morning, MSNBC Morning Joe hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough said McDaniel would not appear as a guest on their show because of her involvement in former President Donald Trumps efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. They asked NBC to reconsider McDaniels employment.

During her Monday night show, MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow similarly called on her bosses to reverse their decision.

Claims that McDaniel was complicit in Trumps fake elector strategy and the Jan. 6 Capitol riot are misleading, according to the source in McDaniels inner circle. McDaniel was given false reports about how the electors would be used during Trumps legal challenges to the 2020 election results, the consultant said.

According to the source, the criticisms coming from Todd, Brzezinski and Maddow say more about the pundits than they do about NBC News decision to bring on a contrasting voice to their worldview.

At the end of the day, the outrage by the people that are on the left side of the spectrum on MSNBC, I think it really does show how badly they need a voice like hers to actually get the whole scope of whats going on in the country, the source said.

McDaniel was elevated to the top of Republican Party politics in 2017 after Trump endorsed her for helping flip Michigan red in the 2016 presidential election as state GOP chair. Her tenure included disappointing Republican elections in 2018, Trumps loss in 2020 and the expected 2022 red wave that never materialized.

Despite initially congratulating McDaniel on winning a historic fourth term, Trump became increasingly hostile toward McDaniel as she insisted on maintaining a neutral stance during the GOP presidential primary season. McDaniel was replaced by Trumps handpicked successors, former North Carolina state GOP Chairman Michael Whatley and Trumps daughter-in-law, Lara Trump.

The Republican consultant close to McDaniel said her support of Trump represents an important addition to the NBC News networks whose lineup is currently dominated by Democrats or anti-Trump Republicans.

She has this unique perspective of being a suburban mom in a swing state that was also the chair of the Republican Party and is going to vote for President Trump in November, they said. And NBC certainly recognized that they lack that voice  they lack a Trump-voting Republican on their platforms.

Well-known conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt came to McDaniels defense Monday, saying NBC News Meet the Press should feature McDaniel as often as possible. In a post on X, he called her hire a long overdue effort to try again to regain the center of the Sunday show audience.

On Tuesday, Hewitt said the executives overseeing NBC News should ignore pressure to oust McDaniel and should instead fire the hosts calling for her removal.

Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton called the reaction to McDaniels new job hysterical, saying it is an example of why some distrust the mainstream press.

These leftwing activists  pretending to be journalists  cant imagine tolerating a viewpoint held by half the country, he said in a post on X.

Former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, who served as vice chair on the Jan. 6 Select Committee, criticized McDaniel for attempting to recast her leadership during the tumultuous years of Trumps presidency, particularly in the aftermath of the 2020 election.

During her introduction as an NBC contributor on Sunday, McDaniel defended her decision not to communicate a firmer stance on Jan. 6, and Trumps reaction to it. She said at the time as RNC chair she felt the need to take one for the whole team.

Now I get to be a little bit more myself, she said.
Editor's note: This story has been updated after Tuesday's announcement that Ronna McDaniel will no longer join NBC News as a contributor.

Ahead of President Joe Bidens State of the Union speech this month, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the quiet part aloud about MSNBC's cheerleading for progressive politicians on the network's Morning Joe:

I was going to say, I dont think you guys need me," she said with a laugh. "I was just listening to the commentary. I dont think you guys need me this morning, but its good to be on.

Jean-Pierre said this because before her appearance on the show, host Joe Scarborough couldnt praise Biden enough, staunchly defending the 81-year-old president against criticism of his fading mental abilities.

Hes better than he has ever been, intellectually, analytically, Scarborough said. F you if you cant handle the truth. This version of Biden  is the best Biden ever.

So why am I telling you this story?

Because its illustrative of just how in the bag Scarborough and many of the networks other leading journalists are for Biden. They might as well be on the presidents payroll. More on that later.

And it helps explain why there was so much internal backlash at MSNBC, which is part of the NBC News division, after NBC announced it had hired Ronna McDaniel, the former chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, as a contributor. On Tuesday, the network executives caved, firing her only four days after they had announced her hire.

Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel begins the presidential primary debate hosted by NBC News on Nov. 8, 2023, in Miami. She resigned this February.

Ronna McDaniel is bad, but Jen Psaki is A-OK?

The floodgates of grumbling opened Sunday on Meet the Press when NBC News analyst Chuck Todd had an on-air freakout over his employer's hiring of McDaniel.

I think our bosses owe you an apology for putting you in this situation, Todd told host Kristen Welker after she had interviewed McDaniel. 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.

Biden shows his age: Democrats try their darndest to defend the president, but Robert Hur testimony reaffirms he's too old

Todds criticism of NBC was the first public expression of the internal mayhem after Fridays announcement.

On Monday, MSNBC personalities such as Scarborough, Rachel Maddow and Nicole Wallace took time on their shows to express their displeasure.

Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store.

Perhaps the most ironic comment came from Jen Psaki, who was on the Biden payroll before joining MSNBC herself two years ago.

The former White House press secretary said direct political experience only matters and only has value to viewers if it is paired with honesty and good faith, which apparently is true for her but not McDaniel.

Give me a break.

The outrage over McDaniels hiring was noticeably absent among these same journalists when Psaki came on board. Todd and Scarborough seemed totally fine as a deal with Psaki was negotiated while she still served as a Biden mouthpiece. (Some reporters to their credit did voice concerns, but theres no comparison with the high-profile reaction to McDaniel's deal.)

'No interest in giving voice to half of the country'

McDaniels biggest flaw seemed to be that she headed the Republican Party at the behest of former President Donald Trump after he won the 2016 presidential election. McDaniel previously had been the chair of the Michigan Republican Party.

Trump has since tossed McDaniel aside, which is why she was in the market for a new gig.

NCAA lawsuit: These women say transgender rules discriminate against them. So they're suing the NCAA.

McDaniel's detractors insisted that she was a threat to democracy. Never mind that McDaniel could have offered insight into Trumps thinking  and that of his supporters, who happen to make up a large percentage of the electorate in this election year.

This just shows how detached the chattering class is, Republican strategist Dennis Lennox told me. They have no interest in giving voice to half the country. The idea that you hire the sitting Democratic White House press secretary but the immediate-past-chairman of the Republican National Committee is persona non grata simply because she has a different political viewpoint from the prevailing editorial line of MSNBC is absurd.

It is absurd, and it points to the obvious liberal bias that dominates much of mainstream media. These MSNBC anchors have shown themselves for who they are: unabashed advocates for Biden.

MSNBC President Rashida Jones had already assured staff that McDaniel wont appear on the channels programming.

I had hoped that NBC News would give McDaniel a chance and not give in to the cancel culture and intolerance on full display within its company. Sadly, the intolerant left has won again and liberal hypocrisy reigns at a once proud news network.

Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at ijacques@usatoday.com or on X, formerly Twitter: @Ingrid_Jacques

You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @usatodayopinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NBC fires Ronna McDaniel, caving to internal anti-GOP freakout
NBC News should have seen this coming. Since the network announced last week that it had hired Ronna Romney McDaniel, the recently ousted chair of the Republican National Committee, for a $300,000-a-year political analyst role, its stars have been in open revolt. After Meet the Press on Sunday aired a disastrous interview with her in an attempt to save face, Chuck Todd said that he had no idea if he could trust anything she says, given her prior gaslighting and character assassination of journalists. Morning Joe hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski said that they hoped the network will reconsider its decision to hire McDaniel and noted that they would not have her on their popular program. Rachel Maddow, meanwhile, compared the move to the TSA hiring a pickpocket or a district attorneys office hiring a mobster.

NBC is now attempting to undo the damage: Pucks Dylan Byers reported Tuesday that the network is planning to cut McDaniel loose already. But doing so would only address a short-term controversynot the deeper problem at the root of her hiring.

NBCs journalists were right to be angry: Not only is McDaniel an unrepentant liar who spent her seven years as RNC chair demonizing the press, but she also has long defended Trumps growing authoritarianism and even aided his legal teams fake elector scheme to overturn the 2020 election. What was NBCs leadership thinking? Its politics chief, Carrie Budoff Brown, said in a memo announcing the hire that McDaniel would provide an insiders perspective on national politics and the future of the Republican Party.



Its not clear how someone who was effectively purged from party leadership by Trump can provide an insiders perspective on the partys future, but its obvious that NBC News, not unlike its competitors, is still grappling with a familiar, yearslong dilemma: How do you cover a political party that openly embraces authoritarianism and whose leadership lies at every opportunity? McDaniels hiring suggests that, more than eight years into Trumps political career, these news organizations still dont have an answerand cutting the former RNC chair loose, as NBC is poised to do, solves none of its larger problems.



The basic structure of political news programs on network TVparticularly Sunday shows like Meet the Pressgoes something like this: Politicians from both parties are interviewed about recent events and relevant policy positions. The host will push back and follow up, usually gently. The answers from the guestsand the subjects on discussionare then taken to a roundtable, where others who broadly represent those parties (former politicians, columnists, etc.) debate the issues. There is a practiced form of neutrality on display throughout. (More overtly partisan networks, like MSNBC and, to a much greater extent, Fox News, have a slightly different model, though their coverage of major news events and elections typically includes voices from the opposing party.)

There are a lot of flaws in this approachnamely the deference it inherently shows to politicians, its general conception of journalism as a conduit for political parties, and its reliance on party apparatchiks for spin and dramabut it has been remarkably resilient even as American politics has grown more partisan and divided. Yet one flaw has become more and more apparent over the last decade: its reliance on both parties to supply vessels who can be counted on to provide at least a semblance of good faith. Ever since Trump came to power, it has been basically impossible to find anyone with any integrity who can defend him or act as a mouthpiece for the Republican Party that he is the de facto head of.

There was, for a short while, an attempt to find pundits and panelists who could act as his spin doctors after debates, elections, and other news events. CNN, in particular, filled its roundtables with loyalists like Kayleigh McEnany (who would go on to serve as Trumps press secretary) and Jeffrey Lord (who was fired in 2017 after tweeting Sieg Heil!). Their efforts to spin Trumps erratic behavior, xenophobic remarks and policies, and outright contempt for democracy were laughableoften literally so. Network and cable news spin rooms have never been places for nuanced debate or policy analysis, but they do require a shared sense of reality (even if that reality is one that only really exists inside the Beltway). Trumps rise broke all of that. For most of the last five years, networks have adjusted their model somewhat, still balancing liberal and conservative voices but with the latter much more likely to be Never Trump figures (or at least Trump skeptics).



The major flaw with this approach is that it undermines the entire model, which is premised on featuring people who can speak, with credibility, on behalf of the leaders of the two parties. That has become impossible in the wake of Trumps emergence as the countrys single most powerful political force, thanks to the Republican Partys growing contempt for journalists and Trumpisms reliance on lies and bigotry. After January 6, 2021, there was clearly a hope that this would all just wash away, that Trump would recede from view and the GOP would return to being a normal(ish) political party. Not only has that not happened, but Trump is now leading in the 2024 presidential polls, creating a huge problem for mainstream news organizations: How do you cover a political party that has lost its mind?



With McDaniels aborted hire, if you squint, you can see the logic. She spent seven years at the RNC as a Trump loyalist. Though there have been doubtslargely thanks to her connection to her uncle, steadfast anti-Trump conservative Mitt Romneyabout her overall loyalty to MAGA, and she was ousted in a Trumpist coup, she has a more intimate understanding of the GOP apparatus under Trump than most conservative voices on mainstream news do. If you were in the market for a pro-Trump voice, she was, for better and mostly for worst, the best you were going to do. This is the insiders perspective that Brown alluded toand which Todd bemoaned in his evisceration of Browns decision-making, saying, When we make deals like this  youre doing it for access.



But there are two related problems with this apparent logic. One is that McDaniel has lost much of that access. She is no longer the chair of the RNC, and is seemingly persona non grata with Trump. She has, in fact, lost most of her credibility with Republicans of all stripestoo pro-Trump for Never Trumpers, not enough of a loyalist for the former presidents minions. Her tenure as RNC chair, moreover, was a political, legal, and moral disaster. The partys finances are in a dismal state, and it has underperformed in a series of elections.



The second problem is that McDaniels insiders perspective is built on her recent access to a political party and a candidate who are increasingly contemptuous of both democracy and the rule of law. Her job for NBC would have been, quite literally, to defend the indefensible, whether it be Trumps rhetoric on migrants or his increasingly open fascism.

Shows like Meet the Press made more sense when the Republican Party was led by McDaniels uncle, as they rely on the presumption that the parties can both supply (relatively) good-faith operatives who can explain (or, more likely, spin) their positions on any given issue. With the GOPs descent into madness under Trump, though, its no longer possible to find such peoplethe fact that NBC turned to someone who worked to overturn the 2020 election for the Trumpist perspective is proof of that.

But its also further proof that any journalistic model that relies on juxtaposing talking heads from Team Blue with talking heads from Team Red is fundamentally broken. Theres no debate to be had over Trumps fascist goals if he returns to the White House; no way that anyone could spin them to seem remotely reasonable. And even if there were a way, lord knows Ronna McDaniel doesnt have the talent for it.
Then-Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel holds a gavel while speaking at the committee's winter meeting in Dana Point, Calif. (Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)

NBC News has scrapped its plan to make former Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel an on-air contributor to its political coverage.

"After listening to the legitimate concerns of many of you, I have decided that Ronna McDaniel will not be an NBC News contributor," NBCUniversal News Group Chairman Cesar Conde said Tuesday in a memo to staff.

The decision to reverse course comes after a stunning rebuke of the plan by the division's on-air talent. On Monday, nearly every opinion host on NBC's progressive cable news channel MSNBC blasted the hiring of McDaniel because of her defense of former President Trump's false claims of fraud in the 2020 election.

The fact that McDaniel is on the payroll at NBC News  to me that is inexplicable, Rachel Maddow said on her MSNBC program. You wouldnt hire a wise guy, you wouldnt hire a made man, like a mobster, to work in a DAs office.

Read more: How the Menendez brothers case blazed a trail for the true crime genre

The onslaught of internal criticism of McDaniel came immediately after the announcement Friday that she would appear on political coverage across NBC News platforms, including MSNBC. (In a memo to staff, Carrie Budoff Brown, the senior vice president of politics for NBC News, said at the time: It couldnt be a more important moment to have a voice like Ronnas on the team.)

The conflict is a major embarrassment for Conde, Budoff Brown and the other top NBC News Group executives who approved the $300,000 deal to sign McDaniel  mitigated somewhat by their willingness to drop out of the pact less than a week after it was announced.

In his memo, Conde was contrite and acknowledged his role in the hiring and division it caused in the organization.

"I want to personally apologize to our team members who felt we let them down," Conde wrote. "While this was a collective recommendation by some members of our leadership team, I approved it and take full responsibility for it.

"No organization, particularly a newsroom, can succeed unless it is cohesive and aligned. Over the last few days, it has become clear that this appointment undermines that goal."

McDaniel appeared on the Sunday edition of NBC's "Meet the Press," where moderator Kristen Welker pressed her on her positions regarding Trump's continued belief that the 2020 election was stolen from him due to voter fraud.

McDaniel for the first time publicly acknowledged that President Biden won the election "fair and square." She also broke with Trump's plan to pardon the Jan. 6 rioters who have been convicted and imprisoned.

But her credibility was questioned Sunday by former "Meet the Press" moderator Chuck Todd in the panel discussion after Welker's interview.

She is now a paid contributor by NBC News," Todd said to Welker. "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 for her."

Todd's comments opened the floodgates for MSNBC's personalities, who pounded McDaniel throughout the day on their programs, imploring their NBC News bosses to reconsider the hiring. Veterans of the TV news business said they had never seen such a public onslaught by talent against a management decision.

The turmoil over McDaniel's hiring and rapid departure demonstrates the challenge TV news outlets face in presenting partisan viewpoints in a politically polarized environment. Much of the belief system in the Trump wing of the Republican party consists of misinformation about the 2020 election.

For outlets outside the conservative media sphere, finding talking heads who support Trump but are not election deniers has become a major challenge. "It's very difficult," said one agent who deals with news talent.

McDaniel's hiring was particularly problematic for NBC News staffers, as she had participated in Trump's attempts to overturn the results of the election.

MSNBC host Joy Reid described McDaniel as a major peddler of the big lie, referring to Trumps election falsehoods. She cited how McDaniel was on Trumps phone calls to GOP officials in Michigan, urging them not to certify the states 2020 election results.

Conde's memo said NBC News would continue to seek a range of political voices for its election coverage.

"Our initial decision was made because of our deep commitment to presenting our audiences with a widely diverse set of viewpoints and experiences, particularly during these consequential times," Conde said. "We continue to be committed to the principle that we must have diverse viewpoints on our programs, and to that end, we will redouble our efforts to seek voices that represent different parts of the political spectrum."

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
North Carolinas highest court ruled in favor of the City of Asheville in a lawsuit challenging the citys removal of a Confederate monument in 2020.

The lawsuit, filed in 2021 by the Society for the Historical Preservation of the 26th North Carolina Troops, alleged the City of Ashville and Buncombe County breached a contract by removing the Vance Monument from downtown Asheville.

ALSO READ: Confederate monument will stay outside Gaston County Courthouse, ruling says

The Vance Monument was erected in 1897 in Pack Square Park in Asheville but faced issues with upkeep and fell into disrepair, according to the courts decision. Thats when the group suing the city got involved and raised money to provide work on the monument and upkeep it.

Plaintiff raised $138,447.38 for the purpose of restoring the monument, and on 30 March 2015, plaintiff executed an agreement with the City of Asheville  whereby plaintiff agreed to purchase and conduct the restoration of the Vance Monument . . . and donate said Restoration to [defendant City] upon completion of the work, according to court documents.

The nonprofit claims they entered a contract with the city by raising that money  and say their efforts were essentially undermined when the city tore it down.

Plaintiff asserted that it did not intend to raise money and expend significant amounts of time over the restoration period only for the monument to be torn down soon after completion, according to the lawsuit.

In 2020, Confederate monuments across the state and the country faced significant backlash and some were even torn down by citizens, leading to some cities, including Asheville to remove them citing public safety concerns.

ALSO READ: Charlotte renames 2 more streets with names tied to slavery, Confederacy

The lawsuit shares similarities with another case out of Forsyth County where the United Daughters of the Confederacy challenged the removal of another monument. The North Carolina Supreme Court eventually ruled on the case and determined the organization did not claim ownership or contractual interest in the monument, and dismissed the case.

When reached for comment, the City of Asheville provided a statement saying:

On Friday, March 22, the North Carolina Supreme Court issued its opinion in the lawsuit filed against the City of Asheville in the wake of its decision to remove the Vance Monument. The City is extremely pleased with this result and we are grateful to the Court for its consideration of the issues involved in this case.

With nearly three years of litigation at an end, the City looks forward to re-visioning Pack Square and the former monument site in a manner that fosters hope, healing, and inclusion. We are hopeful that this represents a meaningful turning point for this site, our City, and our many residents and visitors.

Channel 9 reached out to the Society for the Historical Preservation of the 26th North Carolina Troops, the group has not responded to a request for comment.

(WATCH BELOW: North Carolina court says county doesnt have to remove Confederate statue)
Elon Musk's company has faced criticism from an animal rights group for animal testing of its brain implant. Joel Saget/AFP via Getty Images; Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Noland Arbaugh, Neuralink's first patient, dismissed reports of animal mistreatment during testing.

Arbaugh said he even asked Neuralink staff about reports of monkeys suffering during testing.

Neuralink aims to create devices that facilitate symbiosis between humans and machines.

Neuralink's first patient, Noland Arbaugh, said he did his research before he decided to get the brain implant, including looking into the reports of animal testing gone awry.

"I read a lot of the negative stuff about this before the surgery  about all the terrible things that y'all are putting the monkeys through and how awful it was, monkeys like picking out their implant and rubbing it on the ground and all sorts of stuff that just after talking with the monkey people today I realized how just wrong all that is," Arbaugh said during an all-hands meeting with Neuralink staff that was later posted on X.

"I'm glad I asked because now anyone that asks me about it I can just say 'Y'all are a bunch of idiots,'" he added, joking that the monkeys were actually treated better than him.

A spokesperson for Neuralink did not immediately respond to a request for comment ahead of publication.

Before Elon Musk's company Neuralink began human testing, the company shared demos of monkeys and pig test subjects using the implant.

In 2022, a medical group advocating for animal rights said it had found records indicating animals at Neuralink's former testing facility at UC Davis had undergone "extreme suffering."

At the time, Neuralink responded to the accusations, denying several of the injuries that the animal rights group reported and saying the company is "absolutely committed to working with animals in the most humane and ethical way possible." The company said it has since transitioned to using its own in-house facilities.

In 2022, Reuters reported that the US Department of Agriculture was looking into reports of mistreatment of the animals used in testing the device. In July 2023, the agency said it only found one violation in 2019, which the agency described as an "adverse surgical event." A Neuralink surgeon had "used a sealant to close holes drilled into a monkey's skull that had not been approved by the animal research oversight panel," Reuters said. Neuralink had already reported the issue, according to the Reuters report.

That same year, Wired published new details related to the allegations, which included an alleged incident from 2019 involving a monkey  an incident that Arbaugh may have been referring to:

Musk has said that Neuralink used "terminal monkeys" in its early testing.

"No monkey has died as a result of a Neuralink implant," Musk wrote on X in September.

For his part, Arbaugh said in the company all-hands that while Neuralink's process was "crazy fast," the company put his "mind at ease" and he was not worried about any medical repercussions going into the surgery. It took the brain-computer interface (BCI) startup only about 5 months from Arbaugh's application date to set up his surgery, Arbaugh said.

Overall, Arbaugh has been extremely positive about the experience. However, the Neuralink patient said he could "feel" the implant in his head, especially if it gets bumped.

"It's hard to describe something in your brain," Arbaugh said. "There's something in your brain so you can feel it a bit, but not as much as I would have thought. I would have thought it was just like a feeling that you have constantly and it just doesn't go away."

Neuralink began recruiting for human trials last year and unveiled its first human patient earlier this month.

The company says it hopes to eventually make a device that will create a sort of symbiosis between humans and machines and will allow people to send messages or play games using only their thoughts. But first, Neuralink has said it hopes to help people with neurological disorders and quadriplegia.

To date, Neuralink has said Arbaugh has been able to do all manner of things with his brain implant, including tweeting and playing video games using only his mind as the controller.

Have you applied to Neuralink's human trials or do you have insight to share? Reach out to the reporter from a non-work email and device at gkay@businessinsider.com

Read the original article on Business Insider
Police officers work at the Spanish Square in Rome, Italy, March 24, 2024. Italy's Ministry of the Interior said on Saturday that it has ordered the security level at "sensitive" sites to be raised in Rome and other cities, including airports, train stations, as well as key cultural and religious sites. (Xinhua/Li Jing)

France, Italy, the United Kingdom and Denmark are maintaining high-security alerts as they brace for the Easter holidays.

ROME, March 26 (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 the maximum in the immediate aftermath of the Moscow terrorist attack on Friday night, the latest measures are focused on boosting safety over Easter.

This photo taken on March 25, 2024 shows the Trajan's Forum in Rome, Italy. (Xinhua/Li Jing)

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 will also visit Italy during this period. Last year, the number of tourists in Italy was estimated at 3.3 million during the Easter holidays.

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 soldiers stand guard in front of the Arch of Constantine in Rome, Italy, March 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Jing)

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. According to a post by French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal on the social platform "X," a Defense and National Security Council was convened at the Elysee following the attack in Moscow.

"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.

Policemen work near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, on March 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

France's decision came just a few months ahead of the Paris Olympic Games due 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.

Armed French soldiers patrol at the Trocadero place near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, on March 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Gao Jing) 
The first patient to get a Neuralink implant had questions about the company before allowing it to cut into his skull  but his concerns, apparently, were quelled.

"I read a lot of the negative stuff about this before the surgery  about all the terrible things that [the company was] putting the monkeys through and how awful it was, monkeys like picking out their implant and rubbing it on the ground and all sorts of stuff," Noland Arbaugh, Neuralink's first patient, said during an all-hands meeting at the company that he later posted to X-formerly-Twitter.

After speaking with "the monkey people" at the company, however, Arbaugh says his concerns were put to rest.

"I realized how just wrong all that is," said the 29-year-old, who has for eight years suffered from quadriplegia, or near-complete paralysis, stemming from a diving accident.

What Arbaugh was referring to, it seems, are all the reports about the horrific outcomes for the rhesus macaques Neuralink used to test its brain-computer interface (BCI) chips. It's unclear exactly how "wrong" he could have been, given that all those grisly reports were based on real documents from the California National Primate Center at the University of California, which Neuralink contracted with to use its monkeys as test subjects until 2020.

As you might recall, those macaques suffered all manner of horrors while the Musk company tested its earliest wares on them, including brain swelling, partial paralysis, and behavioral changes that included the kind self-harm that Arbaugh referenced.

In an illuminating investigation last year, Wired reported that one of the Neuralink chips implanted into a female macaque "deformed and ruptured" her brain, leaving the monkey with "severe neurological defects" and a torturous last few days before her death.

So severe were the cases in those reports regarding Neuralink's early days that last year, lawmakers demanded further investigation into the carnage at the company after a Department of Agriculture investigation, which concluded prior to Wired's shocking reporting, found only one relatively minor violation of safety standards and no animal welfare breaches.

Given his sunny demeanor and apparent Musk-stanning, Arbaugh doesn't seem too concerned about the company's grisly beginnings after getting assurances that all was well.

"I'm glad I asked," Arbaugh continued during his presentation at the employee meeting, "because now anyone that asks me about it I can just say 'Y'all are a bunch of idiots.'"

More on Neuralink: Neuralink's First Patient Heard About Brain Implant in Drunk-Dial From Friend
He never brought it back: Mechanic accused of stealing car, charges possible for ramming Polk Sheriffs Office cruiser

POLK COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA)  A 34-year-old man is accused of stealing a car he was hired to repair, ramming a sheriffs deputy cruiser and nearly crashing into a home.

On Feb. 16, William Touchton of Winter Haven awoke to deputies banging on his door.

Sound asleep, 3:30 in the morning, he said.

He soon found out his property was damaged, and a wanted man was on the loose in his neighborhood.

WATCH: Massive alligator lets out loud bellow at Polk County reserve

It was pretty scary because we live in a dead-end street. Its one way in and one way out, said Touchton.

Touchton lives where a street near Lake Mirror in Winter Haven curves.

He says a car sped down the street, colliding with and destroying his mailbox and high-voltage electric box.

Courtesy: William Touchton

You wouldnt have thought the plastic would have just broken up like it did, but it busted into three separate pieces, said Touchton, who had to pay $125 for a new mailbox.

The car then hit a palm tree in his next-door neighbors front yard and came within feet of crashing into their home.

It was unreal just that it happened way out here in the middle of nowhere, said Touchton.

The suspected driver fled on foot through the neighborhood and was caught this weekend, over one month later.

This is Zachary Byrd. Hes 34 years of age, said Sheriff Grady Judd. He just went to jail tired.

Sheriff Judd said Byrds criminal record includes 30 charges and one stint in state prison.

Now hes accused of grand theft.

The sheriff said Byrd stole a Dodge Charger he was hired to fix as a mechanic in north Lakeland.

I guess he repaired it because it worked fine. He never would bring it back. She kept texting him, and he would send a thumbs up, but he never brought the car back, said Sheriff Judd.

Is it legal for motorcyclists to drive between cars in Florida?

Just before barreling toward Touchtons home, the sheriff said, Byrd rammed into a deputys cruiser in the stolen car, resulting in minor injuries to a deputy.

That part of the investigation is ongoing, and more charges are possible, including aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer.

A judge set Byrds bond on the grand theft charge at $5,000 Monday.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
Newsmax, the conservative cable news channel touted by former President Trump and his allies, received funding from a member of the Qatari royal family during Trumps years in the White House, according to a new report.

The Washington Post reported Tuesday that a member of the Qatari royal family invested roughly $50 million in Newsmax in 2019 and 2020, citing documents and representatives for the media company and the royal.

At the time the investment was made, the Post noted a coalition of countries led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had put up a diplomatic and economic blockade against Qatar, over what they said were ties to terrorist organizations.

After the investment was made, leaders at the conservative cable news channel encouraged staffers to soften coverage of Qatar, the Post reported.

Newsmax disputed that characterization in a statement to The Hill on Tuesday.

In 2019 Newsmax received a minority investment from a UK-based fund with a Qatari investor that also invested in a company associated with the current Washington Post publisher, a spokesperson for the company said. Newsmaxs coverage of Qatar has always been balanced, including publishing many online and TV reports quite critical of its activities.

Newsmax gained some traction with Trump supporters around the time of the 2020 election, but has come under fire in recent years for its coverage of vaccines and the former presidents false claims of voter fraud, among other issues.

Dominion Voting Systems sued the company after the 2020 election for defamation, seeking more than a billion dollars in damages, with a judge last fall setting a trial in that case for September.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday morning warned about the consequences of denying access to the abortion drug mifepristone, which the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on as part of a challenge by anti-abortion groups.

The hearing comes nearly two years after the SCOTUS overturned Roe v. Wade, the precedent-setting decision that protected the right to get an abortion throughout the nation. Since the June 2022 Dobbs decision, some states with Republican-controlled governments have passed a number of laws restricting or outright banning the practice of abortion.

Republicans want a national abortion ban. Full stop. And theyll do whatever it takes  including trying to strip away FDA approval for a drug that has been proven to be safe and effective for decades, Newsom said in a statement released early Tuesday morning.

At issue in the case of Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. Food and Drug Administration is the FDAs decades-old approval of mifepristone, which is used in medication abortions. If the Supreme Court upholds a lower court ruling, access to the drug will be cut off nationwide.

The governor said that these hostile actions arent just unpopular, but they fly in the face of science and put pregnant people at risk.

Newsom said a great deal is at stake as the Supreme Court hears arguments, including reproductive freedom, the scientific process and the innovation economy.

This should scare the hell out of everyone. These extremists will continue working to roll back rights, and we cannot waver in our work to stop them, Newsom said.

The governor warned that the Supreme Court could invoke an 1800s era law, the Comstock Act, to impose a backdoor nationwide abortion ban.

While other states, including Washington and Massachusetts, took action early on to stockpile supplies of mifepristone, Newsom opted not to, instead choosing to stockpile another abortion drug, misoprostol. While abortions can be managed with just misoprostol, the World Health Organization recommends taking mifepristone and misprostol together.

However, California has taken action to defend access to mifepristone. That includes both Newsom, through the 23-governor Reproductive Freedom Alliance, and California Attorney General Rob Bonta, filing friend of the court briefs in support of the drug.

In a statement to The Bee, Bonta said that we stand at a critical juncture in the ongoing fight for reproductive freedom. Upholding full access to mifepristone isnt just about preserving access to a medication; its about affirming the fundamental right of every individual to autonomy over their own body and reproductive healthcare decisions.
Anguish filled Debra Zollicoffee's voice in September 2018 as she recalled how Myles M. Stanford the previous year had put a gun to her head and said he was going to kill her at a Topeka day care center where seven small children were present.

"Don't let him get away with this, because the next person may not survive," Zollicoffee told a Shawnee County District Court judge who was preparing to sentence Stanford after he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault.

That judge followed a plea agreement by sentencing Stanford to a prison term longer than what Kansas sentencing guidelines said should be imposed for aggravated assault committed by someone with his criminal history. He was released in 2020.

But Stanford, now 36, was back in jail Saturday, this time in Chicago, on a charge of first-degree murder.

Zollicoffee expressed sadness and sorrow Monday for the family of the Chicago victim.

"That could have been me," she told The Capital-Journal. "As I stated in court, he is a monster and should never have been allowed back on the streets."

The Ilinois State Patrol made public this photo of Myles M. Stanford, who faces charges related to a Chicago gunshot homicide.

What happened in Chicago?

The Cook County, Illinois, State Attorney's Office on Saturday charged Stanford with one count each of first-degree murder and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, the Illinois State Patrol said in a news release.

The crimes were linked to a fatal shooting that occurred about 2:45 p.m. March 20 on a highway ramp, it said.

Victor Turner, 24, had suffered fatal gunshot wounds in a white Toyota, for which the front and rear passenger's side windows had been shot out, authorities said.

Turner was pronounced deceased at an area hospital.

The ISP said it conducted an extensive investigation, identified a "suspect vehicle" involved, then arrested Stanford, of Lynwood, Ilinois. A weapon also was recovered, it said. Stanford was being held Monday without bond.

What happened in Topeka?

Stanford was previously charged with crimes linked to an Oct. 9, 2017, incident in which Shawnee County prosecutors said he used a gun to threaten to kill Zollicoffee, who was then 64, at Nanny's Daycare Center in southeast Topeka.

Zollicoffee said at Stanford's sentencing that the image of his gun pointed at her continued to haunt her, leaving her unable to sleep at night while triggering anxiety attacks and PTSD.

Two other adults, who were then ages 64 and 80, and seven children, ages 13 months through three years, were present at the time, a prosecutor said. One child was a son Stanford had with his then-girlfriend, a relative of Zollicoffee's.

Still, a public defender said at Stanford's sentencing hearing that he showed a lot of potential to improve his life after he was released. His employer, Reser's Fine Foods, sent the court a letter expressing support for him.

What was Stanford's Shawnee County sentence?

Shawnee County District Court Judge Nancy Parrish sentenced Stanford in September 2018 to 27 months in prison for aggravated assault, followed by 12 months of supervised release.

The sentence was imposed after Stanford pleaded guilty to aggravated assault as part of an agreement in which charges of marijuana possession and interference with a law enforcement officer were dismissed.

Parrish said Stanford had agreed to serve the 27-month term, which was an upward departure from the punishment Kansas Sentencing Guidelines dictated when aggravated assault was committed by someone with his criminal history.

Stanford was released March 2, 2020, from Hutchinson Correctional Facility, according to state prison records.

His sentence then expired Sept. 2, 2020, they said.

Contact Tim Hrenchir at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Man who threatened woman at Topeka day care charged in Chicago killing
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. announced Tuesday that attorney and tech entrepreneur Nicole Shanahan will be his vice presidential running mate heading into the November general election.

A native of Oakland, California, the 38-year-old Shanahan is a philanthropist with a long history of donating to Democrat and left-leaning causes, including supporting President Biden in his 2020 election bid before switching to Kennedy when he launched his own run for the Democrat nomination last year.

Kennedy announced Shanahan by praising her insight into "how Big Tech uses AI to manipulate the public," her athletic ability, and willingness to be a "partner" in a number of policy areas, including on securing the border.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. EXPECTED TO ANNOUNCE WEALTHY FEMALE ENTREPRENEUR AS VICE PRESIDENTIAL RUNNING MATE

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. gestures next to Nicole Shanahan as she becomes the vice presidential candidate of Kennedy, in Oakland, California., U.S., March 26, 2024. REUTERS/Laure Andrillon

Shanahan initially dropped her support for Kennedy after he decided to run as an independent, but later got behind him again by giving $4 million to the super PAC that boosted his candidacy with a John F. Kennedy-themed campaign ad that ran during the Super Bowl in February.

Shanahan also previously donated to Democrat presidential candidates Marianne Williamson and Pete Buttigieg during the 2020 presidential race, and threw more than $150,000 behind progressive Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon's 2020 election bid.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

She is the founder and president of Bia-Echo Foundation, a private firm that describes its mission as focused on "new frontiers in reproductive longevity & equality, criminal justice reform and a healthy & livable planet."

Shanahan was previously married to Google co-founder Sergey Brin, a marriage that ended following reports she had an affair with Tesla and X CEO Elon Musk, which both of them deny. She has one daughter from her marriage with Brin.

Nicole Shanahan and Sergey Brin attend the 2020 Breakthrough Prize Ceremony at NASA Ames Research Center on November 03, 2019 in Mountain View, California.

Following her divorce from Brin, Shanahan met partner Jacob Strumwasser, who works for bitcoin software company Lightening Labs. The two participated in a "love ceremony" last year to celebrate the commitment to their relationship.

Shanahans wealth and ties to major donors would likely benefit Kennedy as he aims to improve his fundraising efforts.

"I want a partner with strong ideas of how to reverse those dire threats to democracy and to our freedoms. I managed to find a technologist at the forefront of AI. She has spent the last decade relying on neural networks, artificial intelligence, and cutting edge science, to identify abuses in our government," Kennedy said of Shanahan as he introduced her at a campaign event in her hometown.

Kennedy described her as "a woman who grew up right here in Oakland. The daughter of migrants who overcame every daunting obstacle and went on to achieve the highest levels of the American dream" and as "a fellow lawyer, a brilliant scientist, technologist, a fierce warrior mom."

Shanahan, a life-long Democrat, told the crowd that she was leaving the party.

"The Democratic Party is supposed to be the party of compassion. It is supposed to be the party of free speech, and most importantly, the party of the middle class and the American dream," Shanahan said.

"While I know many Democrats still abide by those valuesI do believe they've lost their way in their leadership," she argued.

And she urged "disillusioned" Democrats and Republicans to support Kennedy's independent White House bid.

The Trump-aligned super PAC Make America Great Again Inc. took aim at both Kennedy and Shanahan.

"Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a far-left radical that supports reparations, backs the Green New Deal, and wants to ban fracking. It's no surprise he would pick a Biden donor leftist as his running mate," MAGA Inc. spokesman Alex Pfeiffer charged in a statement.

Fox News' Jamie Vera contributed to this report

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.





Original article source: Who is Nicole Shanahan? Meet the wealthy entrepreneur RFK Jr selected as his VP running mate
Night shift workers in health care, media and the service industry share their top tips for surviving an overnight schedule. Kaity McKee/TikTok; Claire Murashima/TikTok; Sarah Maria Awang/TikTok

While the rest of us are sleeping, millions of Americans are clocking in each evening to work night shifts. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, around 10% of all working adults in the U.S. do overnights.

Night shift workers are essential. Hospitals, fire departments and your favorite morning bakery would not be able to run without them. But it can be a brutal schedule to endure.

Its definitely not for the weak, said Anna Pascarella, a California-based labor and delivery nurse, who did night shifts full-time for seven years and does them intermittently now.

Working against your natural sleep cycle is tough because we have a 24-hour internal clock that governs our body and minds. That biological clock wants us to use nights to sleep, rest and recover. When we go against that natural circadian rhythm, it can make us cranky, tired and can lead to poor health outcomes.

But its a necessary shift that so many of us do each night. HuffPost reached out to night shift workers in a variety of industries to get their best tips for staying alert and taking care of yourself when youre tired. Heres what they shared:

Protect your sleep time.

Getting good sleep means sleeping at least seven hours as an adult. One rule that helps? Holding yourself accountable to your bedtime. If youre exhausted  whether its because youre a shift worker yourself or maybe you just didnt get good rest the night before  make sure to try to stick to a good sleep schedule as best as you can so you can recoup after lost sleep.

The world is not built for semi-nocturnal people, said Claire Murashima, an overnight segment producer for NPRs Morning Edition in Washington, D.C. And if Im going to get sleep, I need to be the one to say like, No, Im not going to your party, or your happy hour or your event because I need to sleep.

Night workers also recommended melatonin supplements, white noise machines, soft ear plugs and blackout curtains to make it easier to fall and stay asleep.

If I saw daylight when I was waking up even subconsciously, that would make it so hard for me to go back to sleep. So blackout curtains are my best friend for that, Murashima said.

Try not to obsess over following every sleep hack you read, though. People have a lot of pieces of advice, but really you know your body best and you know what will help you sleep, Murashima said. If youre too stressed about getting sleep, that will prevent you from actually sleeping.

Be disciplined about blocking out interruptions.

If you do not want to go to work like a zombie, you need uninterrupted sleep. Loud noises and sunlight can wake you up before you are ready  and so can roommates and well-meaning loved ones who do not understand why you need peace and quiet.

Michelle Tam is the creator of the Nom Nom Paleo food blog who also worked as a full-time night shift pharmacist for 12 years while she was raising her young children. One of Tams top tips is to be rigid about not doing child care when you are supposed to be sleeping.

People assume because theyre not working, they can also take care of the kid during the day. And Im like, No, you are sleeping during the day. Like youre working at night and youre sleeping during the day, she said. It doesnt mean just because youre off work that you take care of the kid until your husband comes home.

For Tam, using her family support system of her husband and grandparents allowed her to get the rest she needed.

Be mindful about what you eat and drink.

If youre groggy but need to stay awake, pay attention to your nutrition. What you eat can radically affect how energized you feel.

Kaity McKee, an air ambulance pilot based in Boise, Idaho, works from 9 p.m. to 9 a.m. eight days out of the month. On those evenings, she relies on whole foods with lean protein to help her body stay settled when she drinks caffeine.

Caffeine on an empty stomach is pretty tough on the nervous system so this helps a lot with regulating blood sugar, McKee said.

Coffee and caffeinated tea can help boost your memory and focus, but dont overdo it. Caffeine blocks the sleep-inducing chemicals in your brain, and can make your insomnia worse. The Food and Drug Administration recommends no more than 400 milligrams of caffeine  which is about two to four 8-ounce cups of coffee  a day.

When Sarah Maria Awang, a telemetry technician in Annapolis, Maryland, works her 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift, she will eat dinner, and then small snacks like apples and peanut butter to keep herself going. She purposely avoids drinking soda.

I think some people have a conception that sugary things help you stay awake, but I think it actually makes you crash, Awang said. And it makes you more tired after the initial sugar high. So I try to just drink water or like sparkling water and stuff like that.

Delaya Lowery prepares donut orders on her overnight shift. Delaya Lowery/YouTube

Move your body.

If you feel yourself nodding off to snooze when you shouldnt be, night shift workers advised getting up and moving.

I used to bring like little tiny weights with me to work and just do squats in the break room to get my blood flowing, Pascarella said.

Taking a short walk break with a buddy can help too. Murashima said her line producer will set an alarm, and she and her colleagues will do a two-minute lap during their shifts together. Its nice to have that level of connection, she said.

Exercising can also be a stress reliever and the mental wake-up you need to start your day off right. Delaya Lowery is an overnight baker at Dunkin. The Jacksonville, North Carolina, resident said she used to feel like a tired robot, but waking up earlier to do yoga and go to the gym has helped her become more present for my family and [feel] more fulfilled overall.

Give yourself breaks.

When you are tired, a short power nap can also give you a much-needed energy boost.

Pascarella said in her most desperate moments, she has gone to her car, set an alarm and closed her eyes. Youre already sleep deprived, so like you thrive off little naps or even just closing your eyes for 10, 15, 20 minutes.

But if youre beyond tired, recognize when its time to stop working, and stay home and avoid driving, because you can be a danger to yourself and others  especially if youre a night shift worker. The fatigue associated with working overnights makes you more likely to make mistakes on the job, get in a car crash, and injure yourself or others.

Make time to see the sun.

Fluorescent office lights should not be the only light you see in a day. If you need an instant mood-booster, try basking in some sunlight. Our bodies need sunlight because it helps us get vitamin D, which is essential for maintaining healthy muscles and bones, and warding off depression.



Murashima said when she first started doing night shifts in the winter, she would sleep from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and would only see the sun on her 15-minute bike commute home. I realized that for me to be happy, I need to have a couple of hours of sunlight per day, she said.

Now, she goes to sleep before work, so that when she is done with her night shift, she still has time to ride her bike and exercise while the sun is out.

Murashima said she looks forward to seeing the sun rise in the middle of her 3:30 a.m. to noon shift: It just feels good to have done something. And for the sun to be rising.

Murashima said that on her breaks she likes to "do something physical, rather than just check my phone and scroll because that's not really going to give my brain the reset that it needs." clairemurashima/TikTok

Think of the positive aspects of your current situation.

You can complain about getting the schedule no one else wanted, but people who work hard shifts said it helps to stay positive and remind yourself of the unexpected benefits.

Awang does both day and night shifts for her job of continuous cardiac monitoring on patients. She said she appreciates how her night shifts are much calmer and less stressful than her daytime ones: Theres a lot less influx of new admissions, because obviously the patients are asleep.

When Awang does transition to her overnight schedule, she does little mind tricks on herself to spin her new bedtime in a positive light.

Instead of being like, Oh, I have to sleep today. Im wasting the day, I get to be like, I get to stay in today. And I get to sleep and relax and be cozy today to prepare for night shift tonight, Awang said.

One other advantage of the night shift is the unique bond you may build with fellow night owls working alongside you in empty buildings and Slack channels.

Murashima said the energy on her night shifts is like nothing I ever experienced in a workplace. Shes had 4 a.m. dance parties and has participated in a wear-your-sweatpants-to-work-day with colleagues.

Notice when your schedule is affecting your health.

We all have work days where we are more tired and stressed than usual. But if you feel empty and exhausted all the time, it might be time to consider a switch to a new schedule or a different job. Thats because there is a price your body pays when you continuously stay up working late into the night. Numerous studies have linked night shift schedules to higher risks of cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Thats why Tams advice is to stop working nights if you have a choice, because there is no sleep hack that can make up for the toll of overnights. She left night shift work 10 years ago and has no regrets.

It definitely takes a certain person, and I feel like a certain chapter in your life too, Pascarella said about night shift work.

When Murashima goes to bed before sunset, The quality of sleep is just not the same, she said. Im very much of the mindset that this is a sacrifice I chose to make early in my career to build my career.

Ultimately, only you can know if a job is right for you. Its normal to feel both gratitude for what a hard job has taught you  as well as relief when you get the opportunity to move on.

Awang has been doing night shifts for a year now, and she appreciates the lessons, but she hopes to transition out of them in the near future.

Right now Im still young, so I understand that my body can kind of do this easily, Awang said. But Im also thinking about my long-term health. And I know the toll this can have if youre doing this for years.



Related...
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Tuesday pushed back against characterizations that he is now a lame duck governor after his wife, first lady Tammy Murphy, abruptly suspended her campaign for Senate.

In his first public comments since she left the race on Sunday, the term-limited governor said he's "sprinting through the tape."

When I see those headlines, I laugh, Murphy told reporters at an unrelated press conference, referring to a POLITICO report that suggested he could have diminished influence in Trenton during his last 18 months in office.

If you looked at my schedule right now, you would literally laugh at that statement with me," Murphy added. "We've got a lot more road to cover. And I'm running around the state today, yesterday, tomorrow, you name it.



Tammy Murphy entered the Senate race in November to replace indicted incumbent Sen. Bob Menendez. She instantly became the favorite over Rep. Andy Kim due to her support from Democratic Party leaders in the state, as well as her high level of name recognition and ability to raise money.

But she lagged in polling and faced a string of losses for local endorsements to Kim, a three-term House member. Her candidacy came to an abrupt end on Sunday when she said that she did not want to continue what would have become a bitter primary against a fellow Democrat.

Kim is now the heavy favorite to win the Democratic primary. And if he does, he'll also be favored to win the general election in November since New Jersey hasn't elected a Republican to the Senate in more than 50 years.

I'm incredibly proud of her  she went into this for the right reasons, Phil Murphy said. She stood for the right things. She worked her tail off, and it was a really tough decision for her. Theres very few people in this line of business who put party over self, and that's exactly what she did.

The Senate race was dominated by discussion of the "county line," the primary ballot design unique to New Jersey. Candidates endorsed by county parties are placed in a single column or row on primary ballots, making them appear more prominently to voters and giving them a nearly insurmountable advantage.

Every county party differs in how the line is awarded. In some, a single party leader decides who gets the favorable ballot placement. In others, hundreds of low-level party officials vote by secret ballot on which candidate to support. Tammy Murphy had the favorable ballot positioning in a majority of the state due to her backing of party leaders in counties which are top down in their endorsement process.

Kim is leading a lawsuit against the ballot design system, and a federal judge may rule as soon as this week on whether to keep or change it.

Phil Murphy told reporters Tuesday that he still supports the county line system but that hes open to tweaks.

I frankly think the line has worked pretty well, and if progressives are out there trying to look at whether or not they got a good government over the past 6 years, I'd like them to find a more progressive government in America ... with yours truly elected twice on the line in both cases, he said.
This photo taken on March 23, 2024 shows an electric bus on the street in Kigali, Rwanda. (Photo by Atulinda Allan/Xinhua)

Chinese manufacturers of electric buses have set BasiGo, a Kenya-based company, on course toward its business sustainability but also the start of a significant role in advancing Rwanda's transition to greener transportation.

KIGALI, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese manufacturers of electric buses have set BasiGo, a Kenya-based company, on course toward its business sustainability but also the start of a significant role in advancing Rwanda's transition to greener transportation.

It is roughly three months since BasiGo launched pilot electric buses in public transport in Kigali, Rwanda's capital, in collaboration with city authorities, following their successful introduction in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.

The company imports fully-built electric buses from China and works with three public transport company operators in Rwanda.

The pilot phase has been successful, winning over customers who had no prior knowledge of the company brand, according to Doreen Orishaba, the company's managing director.

"The pilot has really been successful. We had targeted to run it for three months and within these few months, the bus operators have already seen the advantages of going green. We already have reservations for 132 units," Orishaba told Xinhua in a recent interview. "Different bus operators have reached out to us and would like to place orders of up to 132 units. I'm sure the number is going to keep growing. We are really grateful for the enthusiasm with which the market has received these electric buses."

This success has been made possible through factors such as collaboration with innovative Chinese companies.

It is easier to scale when the buses fully built are imported, and the sustainability agenda is clear, according to Orishaba.

"We choose China because they are the leading manufacturers in battery technology, which is the heart of our business. We look at the performance of the battery, which is the heart of our buses," she said. "What China has been able to get right is the pricing, which makes business sense. That is one of the areas where we could credit the Chinese manufacturers."

A fully charged bus can travel 300 km without the need to be recharged while charging points are installed at specific spots in the capital.

The company's goal is to deliver 100 buses in the next 12 months on the streets of Kigali, and 200 buses in the next two years each with the capacity to carry 70 passengers.

"Our mission is to create the future of electric public transport. We started in Nairobi, and now we are here in Kigali. We are very excited about Rwanda," Orishaba said.

A worker charges an electric bus at a charging station in Kigali, Rwanda, March 19, 2024. (Photo by Atulinda Allan/Xinhua)

The Rwandan government has been promoting the use of electric locomotives.

Electric and hybrid vehicles are exempted from taxes, one big incentive that makes them a lot more attractive.

The government has also given a better tariff for charging electric vehicles.

The government assigned electric charging stations a larger industrial tariff which is the best tariff in the entire electricity tariff regime in the country.

Even with an enabling environment for electric vehicles, however, there had not been an electric bus in Rwanda until BasiGo came into the space.

BasiGo electric buses are much cheaper to operate, according to Orishaba.

The company's mission is to make the electric bus as affordable to the operator as possible.

At the heart of the company's sales strategy is the lease model, where it asks for a small security deposit per bus and the rest is paid under the pay-as-you-drive financing model. It is a mileage-based fee, charged based on every kilometer driven.

The cost of electricity is embedded into the bus's cost, as well as regular service and maintenance, which make the bus even cheaper. The operator can also track the bus; all the information on the bus is brought to the operator.

Innocent Umuhoza, one of the company's drivers, said besides being good for the environment, the electric buses are also great for the wallet because the operator spends less on charging compared to what would be spent at a petrol or gasoline station.

Umuhoza said the fuel he would need to fill a diesel-powered bus costing above 100 U.S. dollars, yet electricity worth about 30 dollars is enough to drive from Kigali town center to Remera Taxi Park, about 10 km from the city center. "We used to face challenges of lack of diesel. The diesel-powered engines easily break down. The consumption of electric buses is low," he said.

The buses are equipped with cameras, so passengers feel a bit safe because the footage can always be traced should anything happen on the bus. The drivers are also able to know what is behind them and what is ahead.

Passengers testify that the bus is quiet, and at the end of the day, they look forward to sitting in that quiet environment, seeking to unwind.

Frank Nkotanyi, a passenger, said unlike old gasoline-powered buses which produce dangerous fumes, electric buses conserve the environment 100 percent. He added that the buses are well-built in the interior, and installed with mobile phone charging pots as well as internet, which make passengers happy.

"We are replacing the reliance on imported diesel with the use of locally generated electricity; in that case, the government is making savings. But the main reason why we started as BasiGO is the environmental concerns. For every bus BasiGO puts on a Rwandan road, we are helping mitigate up to 30 tonnes of CO2 emissions," said Orishaba. "So, at the end of the day, we are ending up with a quieter bus, cleaner environment, cheaper operations, and more savings for the operator and government."

Orishaba cited setting up charging infrastructure for the buses among the major challenges, which requires proximity to the high-voltage power line, but should not be an overloaded line.

"Charging infrastructure is complex and capital intensive. The power to feed the chargers is what makes it a bit complex and expensive," she said. 
No sense of urgency: Duval police union laments slow-moving salary negotiations with city

Duvals local police union claims Mayor Donna Deegans administration is dragging its feet when it comes to negotiating a new contract for police and corrections officers.

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According to statistics produced by the local chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, at $52,500 a year, starting police salaries in Duval are 19% lower than in other similarly sized counties in Florida on average.

At just under $46,000 a year, starting salaries for corrections officers in the Bold City are 37% lower on average compared to similar-sized municipalities.

The local union is asking the city to raise starting salaries up to roughly $65,000 for police and corrections officers in the upcoming budget, with 4% increases in 2025 and 2026.

But FOP Lodge 5-30 President Randy Reaves argued the city doesnt seem to be prioritizing the negotiations.

Just no sense of urgency, said Reaves.

In an email sent to all JSO employees, Reaves called the Deegan Administrations request for a two-week extension to finalize a counteroffer troubling.

Reaves noted other cities like Tampa have already moved to increase law enforcement salaries since negotiations in Jacksonville began three months ago.

As we sit here and keep dragging our feet on getting a contract in, all these other comparable cities, again, are getting pay raise after pay raise making it way more lucrative to go be a police officer of correction officer somewhere else, said Reaves.

When asked about the delay, the mayors office provided a statement to Action News Jax.

The City of Jacksonville values the critical and often dangerous work performed by our first responders. In good faith, we have made substantial progress in the current collective bargaining process. Accordingly, we are diligently working on a fair wage proposal that appropriately recognizes employees and competitiveness in the market while balancing City resources, said a spokesperson for the mayors office.

But Reaves argued when it comes to salaries, no progress has been made.

Ultimately, Reaves argued the longer it takes to reach a deal, the greater risk the city runs of failing to attract recruits to replace officers leaving the field.

JSO is expected to lose 25% of its officers over the next three years - Subtracting from an agency thats already short roughly 180 corrections officers and has struggled to fill its police recruitment classes beyond 50%.

I dont know if they fully grasp how important these next three years are gonna be when it comes to public safety, when it comes to police and corrections here in Jacksonville. And its something that if we do not fix, again, we will be in crisis mode in the next few years, said Reaves.

The Deegan Administration is set to finalize its counteroffer by April 12th.

Reaves said he looks forward to continuing negotiations once that happens.

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A terrorist attack occurred at the Crocus City Hall concert venue near Moscow on March 22

There's zero evidence tying Ukraine to the attack in Crocus City Hall near Moscow, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on March 25.

Miller's comments came in response to a journalist's request to address Russia's baseless attempts to link the Crocus City Hall attack to Ukraine.

"There was no Ukrainian involvement  period," Miller said. "Youve seen the Ukrainian Government make that clear? And of course, with respect to these statements the Russians have offered zero evidence, because there is no evidence of Ukrainian involvement."

Putin acknowledged on March 25 that the shooting at the Crocus City Hall mall was carried out by radical Islamists but still tried to connect the incident to Ukraine.

In response to these accusations, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Putin "a sick and cynical individual."

Shooting at Rus sia's Crocus City Hall

Several terrorists opened fire with automatic weapons on attendees at a concert hall in Crocus City Hall in the Moscow suburb of Krasnogorsk, where the band Piknik was set to perform. 139 people died, according to Russian authorities.

Russia claimed it detained those involved in the shooting. The FSB found a "Ukrainian trace" in the incident, alleging that the suspects were heading to cross the border into Ukraine, where they supposedly had contacts. This narrative is also being pushed by Putin and Russian propaganda.

Read also:

The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Presidential Office have categorically denied Russian officials' accusations of Ukraine's involvement in the Crocus City Hall shooting.

ISIS claimed responsibility on March 23, releasing photos of the suspects detained by the Russian FSB earlier. Later, ISIS released a video shot by the terrorists in Crocus City Hall.

USA and several Western countries warned of a potential terrorist attack in Moscow that could result in many casualties in early March.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
The Bastrop Ethics Commission canceled a hearing about a complaint against the mayor because there were no witnesses presented by either side.

BASTROP  The Bastrop Ethics Commission that is looking into a complaint that Mayor Lyle Nelson had interfered in a city investigation took no action Monday because there were no witnesses to testify, the panel's chairman ruled.

"We have no witness list," said Chris Duggan, the chairman of the commission and also the 423rd district judge. "We have no sworn statements. We have nothing."

The ethics commission gave Nelson and the council member who filed the complaint, John Kirkland, seven days to present a list of witnesses.

If the commission doesn't receive any witness lists or documentary evidence in the next seven days, Duggan said, the complaint will be dismissed.

Lyle Nelson

After the hearing, Kirkland said he was aware that he needed to testify and was prepared to do it. I appreciate the clarity provided by the board regarding the additional step of submitting myself as a witness, which I will promptly fulfill, Kirkland said. He declined further comment.

Nelson's attorney, James Ringel, later said that he didn't turn in a list of witnesses or evidence because there was no evidence to submit and no witnesses to testify except for Nelson. Ringel said he would present a witness list to the board for a future hearing with the only witness listed as Nelson.

"As the chairman pointed out, the burden of proof is on the complainant and despite the City Council having drastically more available resources and an attorney who focuses on 'governmental matters' (per her bio on her firm's site), they clearly were unprepared today for the hearing."

Ringel said "we firmly believe that at the end of all this, the circus that the council has attempted to stir up will resolve with the board finding that Mayor Nelson did not violate the Code of Ethics."

Duggan said that both Nelson and Kirkland were notified on March 14 that they needed to produce witness lists, summaries of what the witnesses were going to say, sworn statements and documentary evidence four days before Monday's hearing.

The complaint, filed in January, says Nelson refused to give officials eight and half months' worth of communications between him and Susan Smith, who is being investigated for misuse of public funds while she was the chief executive officer of Visit Bastrop.

More: Bastrop City Council files ethics complaint against mayor, says he interfered in inquiry

Visit Bastrop is a marketing company that promotes tourism and is funded by more than $1.5 million of the city's hotel occupancy tax. Nelson initially denied that he had been involved with Smith until 232 pages of intimate text messages between them were discovered on her work iPad, the complaint said. He then admitted to the City Council "that there was a relationship that was sexual in nature and apologized to council for lying about the same," the complaint said.

During the investigation, a forensic audit of Visit Bastrop showed that from 2021-23, approximately $70,000 in public funds from the city were spent on Visit Bastrop credit cards and approved by Smith without itemized receipts or other required documentation, the ethics complaint said.

More: Lyle Nelson inherits challenges of dramatic growth as newly elected mayor of Bastrop

"Some amount of the misreported public funds have been identified to have been used in pursuit of a romantic relationship with Lyle Nelson while he was a city official," it said.

An attorney hired by the city said in a report that there was no evidence that Nelson knew about the misuse of funds. Nelson also has denied that he knew anything about it.

The Texas Rangers are "looking into some allegations," said Deon Cockrell, a Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman after the American-Statesman asked him if Smith was being investigated by the agency. Cockrell declined further comment. The Texas Rangers investigate cases of public corruption.

The Bastrop Ethics Commission on Monday voted unanimously against a motion made by Nelson's lawyer to close to the public the evidentiary part of the hearing if one is held. The motion said state code permits a closed meeting "when a governmental body is deliberating the evaluation, discipline or dismissal of a public officer or employee or to hear a complaint or charge against an officer or employee."

Duggan said in the meeting that he thought the public should have a chance to hear evidence.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Lack of witnesses delays ethics hearing about Bastrop Mayor Nelson
North Carolina Woman Beats Cancer And Gets Proposal From Her Boyfriend On The Same Day | Photo: Pixabay

Angelica May, a 27-year-old North Carolina woman, got the surprise of a lifetime after beating cancer. May, who had stage-two triple-negative breast cancer, found the shocking surprise as she was surrounded by her loved ones at Novant Health Zimmer Cancer Institute in Wilmington, North Carolina after completing her last chemotherapy session, ABC 11 reported. As she was walking down the hallway, getting applause from her supporters, May received 10 flowers to symbolize the 10 years she spent with her lover, Imeek Watkins.

But that wasnt the end of the surprise. Watkins got on his knees in the hallway and proposed to his high school sweetheart, who was overcome with tears as she said yes.

He had my whole medical team on board with his planning and they were crying happy tears, May told Storyful.

The joyous day started when May got a chance to ring the bell after completing therapy, Fox 10 Phoenix reported. She also received a certificate to commemorate the occasion. As Mays loved ones and hospital staff members surrounded her in the hallway, somebody in the crowd asked her if she got this. May confirmed that shes ready to move forward.

But she never expected to see a red carpet and even more of her supporters waiting for her as she turned the hallway in the hospital. At the end of the long line of people, Watkins was waiting to propose to his girlfriend.

May covered her face and started crying as she realized whats happening.

You did it! You did it, beautiful! several people said to May as she walked towards her boyfriend.

This embedded content is not available in your region.

Watkins played a special video for his sweetheart before proposing. The clip featured a message Watkins niece, who said her uncle wants to know Will you marry me?

The room erupted with applause and cheers as May confirmed that she will indeed marry her high school sweetheart.
Cody Ray Syfrett was sentenced to federal prison Monday for the possession and distribution of dozens of images and videos of child pornography.

A North Fort Myers man was sentenced to more than a decade in federal prison Monday for the distribution and possession of dozens of images and videos of child pornography, the U.S. State's Attorney's Office Middle District of Florida announced.

U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell sentenced Cody Ray Syfrett, 30, to 10 years and 10 months in federal prison Monday for distribution and possession of images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children, a release by the Middle District of Florida said.

Chappell also sentenced Syfrett to a 15-year term of supervised release and ordered him to register as a sex offender.

Syfrett entered a guilty plea on October 17, 2023.

Per the release, Syfrett chatted online with an undercover agent between Sept. 28 and Oct. 4, 2021, and sent several child porn video files to the agent. A social media app also reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that Syfrett had uploaded videos and images of child pornography between Sept. 27 and Oct. 10, 2021, the release said.

The FBI searched Syfrett's social media account, which revealed further images and videos of child porn, depicting children under the age of 12 experiencing sexual abuse. In January, the FBI searched Syfrett's home and seized his cellphone, which investigators found contained dozens of photos and videos of child sex abuse.

In interviews with federal agents, Syfrett confirmed his use of the app, his account, and that he had sent child pornography to the undercover agent. He said that the youngest child depicted in the photos and videos he distributed was nine years old.

According to the release, Syfrett was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Fort Myers Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, which includes the Lee County Sheriffs Office, assisted with this investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Yolande G. Viacava.

According to the Lee County Sheriff's Office, Syfrett was previously arrested for petty theft and possession of dangerous drugs in 2014; he was arrested again in November 2021 for driving under the influence.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: North Fort Myers man sentenced to federal prison on child porn charges
Months after Fulton County was the target of a major ransomware attack that knocked out most county services, another Georgia county is reporting a similar attack.

A notice on Gilmer Countys government website confirms the north Georgia county is the latest victim of a ransomware incident.

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They say several systems have been taken offline as a result and the public should expect delays as they investigate.

Gilmer County recently detected and responded to a ransomware incident and has taken affected systems offline while we work to secure and restore services safely, the notice reads. Thank you for your patience.

County officials say that essential services, including 911, are still up and running.

We are grateful to have some of the industrys top experts helping guide our response. Together, we will fully recover from this event and move forward as a stronger and smarter county, they wrote in a statement shared with Channel 2 Action News.

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There is no word as to who may be behind the cyber incident at this time.

In February, national hacker group LockBit claimed responsibility for the attack in Fulton County, posting what seemed to be personal information on their dark website. They threatened to release that personal information if their ransom demands were not met.

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IN OTHER NEWS:
BEIJING, March 26 (Xinhua) -- China's health authorities have issued a circular calling on hospitals to establish a rapid response mechanism for addressing patient complaints, amid efforts to foster amicable interactions between doctors and patients.

According to the circular co-issued by the general office of the National Health Commission, health institutions have been instructed to promptly address the most pressing difficulties and concerns expressed by patients.

The aim is to ensure that patient complaints are handled in a procedure-based manner, with a focus on providing feedback and driving improvements in health services.

The circular highlights the need to establish a three-tiered complaint handling mechanism at various levels within hospitals. This includes the hospital itself, its dedicated complaint management body, and individual hospital departments. 
Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un and first vice department director of the ruling Workers Partys Central Committee, looks on at the Metropole hotel during the second North Korea-U.S. summit in Hanoi

By Hyonhee Shin

SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korea said on Tuesday it had no interest in a summit with Japan and would reject any talks, state media KCNA reported, potentially worsening already-hostile relations between the two countries.

Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said Japan had asked for a summit without preconditions, which she welcomed only if Japan was ready to "make a new start" without "being obsessed by the past."

Bilateral relations have been strained over disputes including the abduction of Japanese citizens by North Korea in the early 2000s and Japan's occupation of the Korean peninsula in 1910-1945 and its use of forced labour and sexual slavery.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida declined to directly respond to Kim's comments, telling reporters late on Tuesday that Japan would continue its efforts to resolve issues with North Korea based on existing policies.

Kim said Tokyo had "no courage at all" to change history, after Japan raised the issue of the abducted Japanese nationals and Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programmes.

"This is proved by the attitude of Japan clinging to the unattainable issues which can never be settled and have nothing to be settled," Kim said in a statement released by KCNA.

She singled out remarks by Japan's top government spokesperson, Yoshimasa Hayashi, that the North's claim that the abduction issue had been resolved was "totally unacceptable."

North Korea admitted in 2002 to kidnapping 13 Japanese citizens decades earlier. Five abductees later returned to Japan, saying the others had died. But Tokyo believes 17 Japanese were abducted, and continues to investigate the fate of those who did not return.

Accusing Kishida of using bilateral ties as "political calculations," Kim said her country would reject any talks with Tokyo.

(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Additional reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama in Tokyo; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman, Miral Fahmy and Bernadette Baum)
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI)  While more U.S. counties saw population growth than losses in 2023, San Diego County saw nearly double the amount of people leave than move in compared to the year prior, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The newly released U.S. Census Bureaus Vintage 2023 estimates of population and components found that across the country, Southern counties saw the fastest growth in population last year, while Northeast and Midwest counites saw population losses turn to gains.

Heres how much income you need to buy a home in San Diego

But the West, where the average population change was the highest among all regions in 2022, fell behind the South in 2023 (see table below).

Region

Number of Counties Gain

(2021-2022) Loss Average

Percent Change Gain

(2022-2023) Loss Average

Percent Change Northeast 218 83 135 -0.24% 105 113 -0.07% Midwest 1,055 454 601 -0.09% 542 513 -0.02% South 1,422 836 586 0.31% 950 472 0.56% West 449 276 173 0.51% 279 170 0.34% All U.S. Counties 3,144 1,649 1,495 0.17% 1,876 1,268 0.29%

Nearly every state saw population growth in 2023: These 8 didnt, Census says

Year-over-year, 60% (1,876) of U.S. counties gained population, an increase from the 52% (1,649) for the previous year, the census bureau reports.

However, in San Diego County, the area did not follow nationwide trends  30,745 more people left the region than moved into it in 2023, nearly double from 2022 which saw 15,956 more people leave than move in.

Counties With the Highest Levels of Net Domestic Migration in 2023

Top 10 Counties

with Positive Net Domestic Migration in 2023 2022 2023 Top 10 Counties

with Negative Net Domestic Migration in 2023 2022 2023 Polk County, Florida 29,606 26,029 Los Angeles County, California -143,724 -119,037 Montgomery County, Texas 22,770 25,501 Cook County, Illinois -94,927 -58,105 Pasco County, Florida 24,283 23,750 Kings County, New York -78,188 -55,308 Collin County, Texas 29,755 20,749 Queens County, New York -77,029 -50,161 Denton County, Texas 23,657 19,262 Miami-Dade County, Florida -38,132 -47,597 Williamson County, Texas 20,520 17,943 Bronx County, New York -61,394 -41,473 Pinal County, Arizona 14,075 17,463 Orange County, California -27,681 -35,597 Fort Bend County, Texas 17,796 15,757 Dallas County, Texas -18,985 -34,330 Marion County, Florida 13,409 15,167 San Diego County, California -15,956 -30,745 Horry County, South Carolina 17,294 15,061 Santa Clara County, California -33,302 -29,077

US population center trending toward South this decade

But San Diego County still made the cut for the 10 most populous counites in the U.S. for 2023 coming in at No. 5 with a population of 3,269,973.

Top 10 Counties in Annual Numeric Decline: July 1, 2022 to July 1, 2023

Rank State County April 1, 2020

(Estimates Base) July 1, 2022 July 1, 2023 Numeric Decline 1 California Los Angeles County 10,013,976 9,719,765 9,663,345 -56,420 2 New York Kings County 2,736,119 2,589,531 2,561,225 -28,306 3 New York Queens County 2,405,425 2,278,558 2,252,196 -26,362 4 New York Bronx County 1,472,653 1,381,808 1,356,476 -25,332 5 Illinois Cook County 5,275,555 5,111,566 5,087,072 -24,494 6 Pennsylvania Philadelphia County

1,603,793 1,566,836 1,550,542 -16,294 7 California Orange County 3,186,997 3,150,372 3,135,755 -14,617 8 Pennsylvania Allegheny County 1,250,536 1,232,605 1,224,825 -7,780 9 Michigan Wayne County 1,793,914 1,758,942 1,751,169 -7,773 10 California San Diego County 3,298,648 3,277,176 3,269,973 -7,203

The census bureau found the three most populous U.S. metro areas in 2023 were New York-Newark-Jersey City (NY-NJ), Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim (CA), and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin (IL-IN); with 73% of the countrys metro areas experiencing population growth from 2022 to 2023.

Top 10 Most Populous Counties: July 1, 2023

Rank State County April 1, 2020

(Estimates Base)

July 1, 2022 July 1, 2023 1 California Los Angeles County 10,013,976 9,719,765 9,663,345 2 Illinois Cook County 5,275,555 5,111,566 5,087,072 3 Texas Harris County 4,731,122 4,781,337 4,835,125 4 Arizona Maricopa County 4,425,102 4,555,833 4,585,871 5 California San Diego County 3,298,648 3,277,176 3,269,973 6

California Orange County 3,186,997 3,150,372 3,135,755 7 Florida Miami-Dade County 2,701,776 2,673,056 2,686,867 8 Texas Dallas County 2,611,481 2,601,993 2,606,358 9 New York Kings County 2,736,119 2,589,531 2,561,225 10 California Riverside County 2,418,182 2,474,241 2,492,442

Notably, the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX metro area surpassed 8 million residents between 2022 and 2023, the largest population increase of any U.S. metro areas in that time period.

Do you earn enough to live comfortably in San Diego?

The number of counties with positive domestic migration  which means more people are entering than leaving an area  increased in all regions except the West, where just 253 counties experienced positive domestic migration in 2023, down from 275 counties in 2022.

Domestic migration patterns are changing, and the impact on counties is especially evident, Lauren Bowers, chief of the Census Bureaus Population Estimates Branch, stated in a release. Areas which experienced high levels of domestic out-migration during the pandemic, such as in the Midwest and Northeast, are now seeing more counties with population growth. Meanwhile, county population growth is slowing down out West, such as in Arizona and Idaho.

Is the California exodus still prevalent? Here is what new U.S. Census data says

Its tough to pinpoint an exact reason for the post-COVID mass exodus from San Diego County, but the skyrocketing housing prices could play a big part in it.

FOX 5/KUSI previously reported people looking to buy a home in San Diego now need to have an income of at least $273,613, according to a recent study by Zillow.

Will the U.S. reach a population of 1 billion? Probably not anytime soon, Census predicts

Four years ago, a household making $59,000 a year could comfortably afford the monthly mortgage on a typical U.S. home, according to Zillow. The study found U.S. homebuyers now need to make more than $106,000 a year, which is much more than the median household income of $74,580, using the most recent data available from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The three other cities at the top of Zillows list of the most expensive areas to buy a home are all in the state of California. Listed with the household income required to comfortably afford a typical home, they are: San Jose ($454,296), San Francisco ($339,864) and Los Angeles ($279,250).

Will rents drop in 2024?

Pittsburgh, Memphis and Cleveland are listed by Zillow as the most affordable markets currently.

Nearby Los Angeles County had the highest numeric population decline: 56,420 left the area in 2023, the census bureau found.

San Diego Countys older population has grown over the last decade: census

Heading over to the East Coast, Kings, Queens and Bronx counties in New York followed with population losses of 28,306, 26,362, and 25,332, respectively.

Among other large declines were Cook County, Illinois, which lost 24,494 people; Philadelphia County, Penn. (-16,294); and nearby Orange County, Calif. (-14,617).

Overall, the U.S. counties with the fastest declines in populations in 2023 were Lassen County, Calif., Randolph County, Mo. and Bronx County, New York, the census bureau found.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News.
ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR)  The United States Department of Justice Attorneys Office Western District of Virginia has announced that a man from New York pled guilty to attempting to have sex with an underage girl from Lynchburg.

On Monday, March 25, 27-year-old Derrick Loi of Lakeville, New York pled guilty to one count of coercion and enticement.

Court documents showed that in early February 2023, Loi began speaking with the 14-year-old Lynchburg girl on Twitter (formally known as X). Then, on Feb. 14, 2023, a Discord conversation was started where he told the teen girl he was interested in buying sexually explicit images and videos, and that he also wanted to meet her in person for sex.

Blue Ridge man indicted for murder of 5-year-old boy in Botetourt County

Loi then reserved a hotel room in Lynchburg and drove 8 hours to meet the 14-year-old girl with the intention of having sexual contact. When Loi arrived at the Lynchburg hotel, he was met and questioned by a Lynchburg Police Officer. Loi gave the office a false name and lied about why he was in the area.

A search of Lois car was conducted, during which alcohol, a large yellow plastic storage bag, lined with a vinyl or rubber shower liner, as well as a flattened cardboard box were found inside the truck.

Protecting minors from online predators is a cornerstone priority for the Department of Justice, United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh said today. I am grateful to the FBI and the Lynchburg Police Department for their swift actions in this case and preventing a more dire situation.

Loi faces 10 years to life in prison, as well as up to a $250,000 fine. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.

WFXR News will continue to update you with more information as it becomes available.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFXRtv.
Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) raised concerns Monday that a dwindling House GOP majority due to multiple vacancies could hurt the caucuss prospects and may even lead to Democrats taking over the chamber.

Republicans hold a 218-213 majority in the House after former Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) left office Friday. With Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) set to leave his seat next month, the GOP majority will be just four seats. The tight margins have raised alarm bells among some members of the House GOP, including Tenney.

Hes gotta stay, Tenney said of Gallagher in a Fox News interview with Larry Kudlow on Monday.

Were perilous. We could end up having a Speaker Hakeem Jeffries in the interim here while were waiting for special elections, she added, referring to the New York Democrat who serves as House minority leader.

Personally, if youre going to make a commitment to the people that elect you, that youre going to serve for two years unless you have a really good reason not to serve, then why would you do that? Tenney continued, And arent we team Republican?

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) also expressed her outrage this week at the timing of Gallaghers resignation, which takes advantage of Wisconsin law to ensure it will be vacant through next January. Greene said the House should expel Gallagher before he retires as punishment  and to be able to fill the seat quicker  though the move has not gained support.

Three of the four current vacant seats were held by Republicans. Former Speaker Kevin McCarthys (R-Calif.) seat will be filled by a special election in late May, while those held by former Reps. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio) and Buck will be filled in June.

Former Rep. Brian Higginss (D-N.Y.) seat is also vacant and will be filled by a special election April 30. With that seat likely going to a Democrat, the GOP could be left with just a two-seat margin during the month of May.

That leaves the paper-thin majority at risk of falling to Democrats due to day-to-day absences, or just a single lawmaker siding with the other party. The current margin has already put the GOP at risk as momentum grows to remove Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), an effort also led by Greene.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The New York City Council is asking the state's highest court to reverse rulings that struck down a law that would let non-citizens vote in local elections.

An appeals court in February ruled the election law, passed by the council in 2021, unconstitutional. The law would have let upwards of 800,000 green card holders vote in local elections.

"The Council passed Local Law 11 of 2022 to enfranchise 800,000 New Yorkers who live in our city, pay taxes, and contribute to our communities," council spokesperson, Rendy Desamours, said in a statement. "Todays filing to appeal the Second Departments recent decision seeks a determination from the states highest court that the law is consistent with the State Constitution, Election Law, and the Municipal Home Rule Law."

TOP DEMOCRAT IN TIGHT SENATE RACE BACKS CITIZENSHIP, VOTING RIGHTS FOR MILLIONS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

Voters casting their ballots at a polling station during early voting in Brooklyn, New York City, U.S. The New York City Council is appealing a ruling that struck down a law that would let non-citizens vote in local elections.

Empowering New Yorkers to participate in our local democratic process can only strengthen New York City by increasing civic engagement," he added. "We look forward to the Court of Appeals consideration of the Councils appeal."

The case will head to the New York Court of Appeals.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Mayor Eric Adams, who supported the law, has not commented about the appeal. Fox News Digital has reached out to his office.

Immigration activists praised the council's decision.

NYC SECURES $106M IN FEDERAL FUNDING FOR REIMBURSEMENT OF MIGRANT COSTS AFTER MONTHS OF DELAYS

"Immigrants are the backbone of New Yorks economy and communities. But despite their contributions as taxpayers and community-members, many immigrant New Yorkers do not have the right to participate in local decision-making," said Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition. "The Our City, Our Vote legislation was supposed to change that, by empowering nearly one million New Yorkers with permanent residence status or work authorizations the opportunity to vote in municipal elections. This case is just one more example of how Republicans are using the courts to disenfranchise Black and Brown voters across the country."

After its passage, the law was challenged by Republican lawmakers. U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, a Republican who represents Staten Island, was a plaintiff in the lawsuit that got it struck down.

The Big Apple spends $387 on feeding and housing each migrant daily as the city sets out to reduce spending.

"There is nothing more important than preserving the integrity of our election system and this unconstitutional law that has been struck down in two consecutive wins only diminished the voices of our citizenry," she said Friday in response to an immigrant activist group that is also challenging the earlier ruling. "I urge the City to not waste more taxpayer money to join this appeal and instead focus on the needs of hardworking New Yorkers who are facing so many quality of life and public safety issues."

The legal challenge comes as concerns increase over the influx of asylum seekers in the city, which has strained public resources and put renewed attention on crimes involving migrants,





Original article source: NYC Council asking state's highest court to let non-citizens vote in local elections after law struck down
A New York City mom spent days recovering in a hospital bed after shocking video shows she chased a suspected kidnapper down multiple flights of stairs when he grabbed her teen daughter from the family's doorstep in January.

The surveillance clip shows a masked man jumping over a railing and grabbing the 18-year-old from behind as she approached her own apartment. A moment later, her panicked mother sprinted out in pursuit.

"Get the f--- out of here!" Adriana Alvarez shouted after the suspect, slipping on the tile floor in the hallway before vanishing from view down the staircase.

NEW YORK JUDGE SETS TRIAL DATE FOR DANIEL PENNY IN SUBWAY CHOKEHOLD DEATH

The suspect leaps over a railing and rushes the teen victim from behind, pictured in a still image from Ring doorbell video.

Much of the action unfolded downstairs.

Alvarez told FOX 5 New York that her daughter, Lex, was coming back from walking their dogs on Jan. 23, when her daughter's former co-worker tried to snatch her up from behind.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

WATCH: Doorbell camera captures masked man kidnapping teen from front porch

The mom suffered a fractured orbital bone and other injuries trying to stop the suspected kidnapper.

SUBWAY BRAWL SEES MAN SHOT IN HEAD WITH OWN GUN; PASSENGERS RUN FOR COVER

The victim's family says suspect George Vassiliou met her while they worked together at a nearby grocery store in Astoria, New York.

"My first instinct was to pull her and grab her back," she told the outlet. "As soon as I did that, he used pepper spray. He was pepper spraying me, and he used that time while my eyes were closed to punch me. To hurt me. To keep grabbing her and take her."

Another neighbor, Gus Bougas, heard the altercation, came outside and tackled the suspect, identified as 25-year-old George Vassiliou. He held him until the police arrived.

A still image from Ring doorbell video shows the suspect dragging a teen away from her own front door before they vanish down the staircase.

Vassiliou worked with the victim at a nearby grocery store before management fired him for allegedly stalking the girl. According to Alvarez, she called the police on Vassiliou twice before and sought a restraining order for her daughter due to creepy behavior.

Jail records list Vassiliou as 6 feet, 2 inches tall and weighing around 230 pounds.

The Ring video shows a diminutive victim snatched up in the grip of a much larger male before he carries her out of view.

A still image from Ring doorbell video shows the suspect dragging a teen away from her own front door before they vanish down the staircase.

Vassiliou was being held on $50,000 bond for charges that include second-degree attempted kidnapping, criminal possession of a weapon, assault, burglary and more, city jail records show.

He is due back in court on April 3.

Fox News' Ashley Papa and Bonny Chu contributed to this report.





Original article source: NYC mom, neighbor fight tooth and nail to stop teens abduction at front door: video
A New York City police officer has died after he was shot while conducting a vehicle stop, authorities said Monday.

A pair of officers stopped a vehicle at 1919 Mott Avenue in Far Rockaway, Queens around 5:48 p.m. as part of the NYPD Community Response Team because it was parked illegally, the NYPD said. Then a shootout ensued.

"We lost one of our sons today," Mayor Eric Adams said at a press conference.

Council Member Linda Lee, who represents the 23rd Council District in Eastern Queens, identified the fallen officer as Officer Jonathan Diller.

"My heart is with the NYPD and the family of Officer Jonathan Diller," the council member wrote on X. "Our officers bravely charge into the unknown to protect New Yorkers - never knowing if they will return home at the end of the day. Praying for the loved ones of Officer Diller during this agonizing time."

NYPD SEEKS SQUATTERS ACCUSED OF KILLING, STUFFING WOMAN INTO DUFFEL BAG: REPORTS

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

As a pair of officers were approaching the car, the 34-year-old suspect, who has 21 prior arrests according to the New York Post, displayed a firearm and pointed it at them when he refused to exit the car, NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban told reporters.

The suspect then opened fire, striking Diller in the stomach, underneath his bullet-proof vest, authorities said.

"We're here far too many times," Caban said.

Another officer returned fire and struck the suspect, who was a passenger in the vehicle. The wounded officer was rushed to Jamaica Hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

The suspected gunman was also taken to a hospital and a gun was recovered at the scene, police said.

Officer Diller had been with the NYPD for three years and had more than 70 arrests, officials said. After being shot, the suspect dropped the weapon and the officer tried to grab the weapon despite being shot, authorities said.

The gunman was last released from a New York prison in 2021 after serving 5 years behind bars for criminal possession of a controlled substance, according to state records, the Post reported, citing law enforcement sources. His parole in that case ended last year.

He also served a prison term beginning in 2011 over a first-degree assault charge before he was released in 2014, records show.

The driver of the vehicle, a 41-year-old, was arrested in April 2023 on a gun charge, police said.

"Less than a year gun charge," Adams said. He's back on the streets. April 2023. This is what you call not a crime problem, a recidivist problem. Same bad people doing bad things to good people. Less than a year, he's back on the streets with another gun."

Witness Deon Peters told Fox News Digital that he was working when he heard the sound of gunshots.

"I came outside and I saw two guys on the floor,: he said. "One of them was an officer. he was moving. He was saying Im hit. I'm hit.'"





Original article source: NYPD officer shot, killed during car stop in Queens by suspect with multiple prior arrests: police
NYPD officer shot and killed in Queens: We lost one of our sons today

FAR ROCKAWAY, Queens (PIX11)  An NYPD officer who was shot and killed in Queens Monday night has been identified as Jonathan Diller.

The 31-year-old officer was shot while conducting a traffic stop at 19-19 Mott Ave. in Far Rockaway around 5:50 p.m., according to NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban. He was pronounced dead at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, Mayor Eric Adams announced during a news briefing Monday night.

Just feeling that intense pain, Adams said as he offered condolences to Dillers family. We lost one of our sons today.

Diller was a husband and a father to a young child. The mayor spoke with his wife just before the briefing.

He put himself in harms way. He went towards the danger, all to keep the people we serve safe and to protect his fellow New Yorkers, Caban added.

The commissioner said after Diller and another officer approached the car, which was illegally parked at a bus stop, the suspect pulled a gun and pointed it at the officers. Gunfire erupted, Caban said, and Diller was shot. The other officer also fired, striking the suspect, Caban added.

The NYPD did not provide an update on the suspects condition but released a photo of the weapon Monday night. Police identified the suspect on Tuesday as Guy Rivera, 34. Charges have not yet been released.

An NYPD officer was shot and killed in Queens on March 25, 2024, police officials said. (NYPD)

Diller was shot in the torso, underneath his bullet-proof vest, police said. He was rushed to a hospital but couldnt be saved.

NYPD officers lined up outside of the hospital Monday night and saluted him as his body was transferred.

Diller was a three-year veteran of the police department, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said. He worked for the Community Response Team in Patrol Borough Queens South, according to the NYPD. During his career, he made more than 70 arrests.

We could see it as the role that police officers play every day, as they move toward violence. But the reality is this is a loved one that we lost  a young man, Adams said. My heart goes out to Jonathans family.

Patrick Hendry, the president of the New York City Police Benevolent Association, asked for the prayers of every single New Yorker for Dillers family.

More Crime News

This family is upstairs  a young wife whos devastated. These police officers who packed the halls just lost a brother, Hendry said. Please pray for this family. They need you so much right now.

Dillers passing marks the first death of an NYPD officer on the job since 2022 when officers Wilbert Mora and Jason Rivera were ambushed and killed in Harlem during a domestic disturbance call.

Lauren Cook is a digital journalist who has covered local news in the New York City area for over a decade. She has been with PIX11 since 2020. See more of her work here and follow her on Twitter.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
NEW YORK  An NYPD officer was shot in the stomach in Queens on Monday, police and sources said.

The gunfire rang out on Mott Ave. near Smith Place in Far Rockaway around 5:50 p.m., they added.

In a police radio transmission, frantic officers could be heard calling for an ambulance moments after their colleague was shot.

We need a bus here ASAP! an officer screams into the radio. We have an officer shot!

The officer was rushed to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center. It was not immediately clear what condition the officer was in.

A suspect was also shot, police sources said.

In a post on X, cops asked people to steer clear of the area as they investigated the shooting.

Mayor Adams headed to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center on Monday evening, a spokesman tweeted.

_____
BEIJING, March 26 (Xinhua) -- At the invitation of Member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi, Kazakhstan's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Murat Nurtleu will pay an official visit to China and hold the first China-Kazakhstan foreign ministers' strategic dialogue from March 28 to 30, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian announced on Tuesday. 
(KRON)  A Sonoma County Sheriffs Office deputy saved a woman from a burning home on Saturday morning, the sheriffs office said. The deputy was allegedly off-duty when he spotted the house ablaze and sprung into action.

The affected house was on Urbani Place in Calistoga. SCSO said Deputy Avina heard cries for help at about 5:40 a.m.

Oakland smoke shop busted by DEA officers for illegally possessing weed, related products

He spoke to a resident of the house and woke up the people in the surrounding houses, telling them to evacuate. He then learned a woman was still inside the burning house, SCSO said.

He broke down a gate to try to enter the house and saw a womans head and hand sticking through a dog door. The door was locked, and Avina kicked it open and pulled the woman to safety, according to the sheriffs office.

This is the culture of the Sonoma County Sheriffs Office: saving lives because its the right thing to do, even when youre not working, said Sheriff Eddie Engram. Im proud of Deputy Avina for acting quickly and saving this womans life.

Avina was not injured, and the victim received medical treatment.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
An Ohio man who in 2022 threatened to kill Katie Hobbs, now Arizonas governor but then its secretary of state, was sentenced on Monday to two and a half years behind bars, a hefty sentence that comes amid a federal crackdown on election-related threats.

Joshua Russell, 46, of Bucyrus, Ohio, acknowledged leaving three voicemails with Hobbs office accusing her of fraud at the height of election season. Americas coming for you, and you will pay with your life, you communist [expletive] traitor [expletive], he said in the first message, according to a Department of Justice news release.

In another, sent three months later, Russell warned Hobbs, 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. 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.

He pleaded guilty last year to one count of making a threatening interstate communication, the department said. At his sentencing on Monday, Russell told the judge that he was looking for an outlet to cast my inner turmoil onto, and hugged his family before being led away by officers, according to the Associated Press.

Russell is just one of roughly 20 individuals charged in cases brought by the U.S. Justice Departments Election Threats Task Force, which is actively reviewing dozens more potential cases.

There is no Constitutional right to vigilantism, U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona Gary Restaino said. There is a common denominator in many of these cases: Election denialists announcing an intent to violently punish those they believe have wronged them, often with the threat of arrests leading to executions for treason.

Let these cases be a lesson not to take or attempt to take the rule of law into ones own hands, he added.

Seven of the election-related threat cases involve the targeting of officials in Arizona, where Restaino appeared at a news conference on Monday alongside John Keller, the task forces head, and Akil Davis, the special agent in charge at the FBIs Phoenix field office.

This group of Arizona election officials, like election officials across the country, have faced an onslaught of unfounded hostility for nothing more than dutifully and reliably doing their jobs, Keller said. Attacks on these officials are attacks on the very foundation of our democracy: our elections.

We dont really want to be a leader in this space," Restaino added. But we are. And were out there engaging.

So far, 13 defendants have been convicted, and 10 sentenced, with seven receiving prison terms longer than 18 months. Sentences handed down have ranged from 30 days to three and a half years, the Justice Department said.

The highest sentencethree and a half years in federal prisonshas been given to two defendants thus far: James Clark, 40, and Frederick Goltz, 52. Clark, a Massachusetts man, pleaded guilty to making a bomb threat against Hobbs in 2021, warning her through an online form that she had to resign by Tuesday Feb. 16 by 9 a.m. or the explosive device impacted in her personal space will be detonated. Goltz, of Texas, pleaded guilty to threatening several Maricopa County officials on far-right social media platforms, saying he was willing to take lives, and adding, This means their children are not off limits, either.

The U.S. saw a spike in threats against election officials after Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election and began claiming it had been stolen from him. One in six local election officials has reported being threatened since then, according to a 2022 survey by the Brennan Center for Justice. One in three know at least one colleague who has resigned over safety concerns, increased threats, or intimidation.

We are seeing resignations from election officials across the country, Keller said.

He cautioned Monday that prosecution alone is not the answer, however, as Americans constitutional rights protect all but a few narrow exceptions to their freedom of speech. As a result, the vast majority of tips reported to the task force did not result in charges, Keller said.

Restaino called for a return to civility in his state as the 2024 presidential election heats up. We used to be so very good in Arizona at engaging with each other in a respectful and professional manner, he said. I hope we can get back to that.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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John Dixon Keller, the head of the Justice Departments Election Threats Task Force, speaks to reporters Monday about their efforts to pursue charges against those who make death threats to election officials. Photo by Jerod MacDonald-Evoy | Arizona Mirror

The U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday that an Ohio man who sent death threats to Arizona election officials was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison.

Joshua Russell, 46, of Bucyrus, Ohio, pleaded guilty in August 2023 after he was charged for leaving a series of voicemails threatening the life of an election official who worked for the Arizona Secretary of States Office.

On primary Election Day in August 2022, Russell accused the worker of election fraud, called them a traitor and told them to have their affairs in order, adding that their days are extremely numbered.

The next month, Russell left another voicemail calling the worker a terrorist and a criminal.

You have a few short months to see yourself behind bars, or we will see you to the grave, Russell said. The Ohio man left one last voicemail in November 2022, again threatening the workers life.

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. Youre a traitor to this nation, Russell said. 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.

Arizona has seen an influx of threats to election workers and elected officials since the 2020 Presidential election as the state was at the forefront of a number of election conspiracies and prominent election denialists.

At a press conference in Phoenix, officials with the Department of Justice and the FBI condemned the harassment election workers are facing and said that they are making such threats a top priority.

Russell is not the first person from out of state who made similar threats to have been charged and convicted. U.S. Attorney for Arizona Gary Restaino said that 20 people have been charged for similar threats across the country, including seven involving threats made to Arizona officials.

They included direct messages to the Maricopa County Elections Department making violent threats, bomb threats made against the Secretary of States Office and even phone calls to the personal cell phone numbers of election officials. Restaino also highlighted a case in New Mexico where an elected official there had bullets fly through their home due to election conspiracy theories.

There is no constitutional right to vigilantes, Restaino said.

John Dixon Keller, the head of the Justice Departments Election Threats Task Force, said that threats are having a tangible impact on election workers who have been fleeing the profession, citing the threats as the reason why.

In Arizona, 98% of voters will have new election officials this year.

Arizona has seen a drain of 176 collective years of experience since November 2020. Additionally, the median amount of experience for officials in the 12 impacted counties has dropped from about 10 years to about one.

Collectively, the western states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana have seen more than 1,800 years of experience leave.

Attacks on these officials is an attack on the very foundations of our democracy, Keller said.

Keller said that his office, the Public Integrity Unit, has been sending a liaison to speak with election officials across the country to get a handle on the evolving threats that they may be seeing and facing ahead of 2024. Further, he said that, while robust debate is a part of politics, these sorts of threats will not be tolerated by the DOJ.

Death threats are not debate, he said.

Phoenix FBI Special Agent Akil Davis urged people who see something (to) say something in regards to people who may act on radical beliefs about the election.

Those who may want to report a suspected threat or violent act are urged to contact their local FBI office and ask to speak with the Elections Crimes Coordinator.

Any threat to these public servants is completely unacceptable, Davis said.

When asked if the DOJ has any interest in taking a proactive approach in addressing the platforms and people who spread misinformation about the election, Restaino said that likely wont happen.

Were not likely to be going after the platforms themselves, he said, adding that they would like to work with the platforms to minimize disinformation on their platforms.

Restaino also noted that Arizona has become the leader on tackling these sorts of threats as their office hosted a training on how to contend with these sorts of cases.

We really dont want to be a leader in this, but we are, Restaino said.

Arizona election officials are already planning to be on the offensive this year as the battleground state will continue to be a hotbed for election denialism and conspiracy theories.

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The post Ohio man sentenced for threatening to kill an Arizona election official appeared first on Arizona Mirror.
What started as a clash years ago between a village mayor and police chief erupted this month into a lawsuit in which Police Chief Tom Synan accused the mayor of disparaging him and threatening his nationally renowned work to end the opioid crisis.

The latest revelation came after Newtown Village Mayor Mark Kobasuk said hes made no such threat or has not criticized Synans time spent with the Hamilton County Addiction Response Coalition  despite a recording that shows he did.

You spend a lot of time outside the village, Kobasuk said in a Feb. 21 meeting with the police chief and two council members, in which he questioned whether Synan was shirking hours as the police chief.

I mean, Im watching the news and I see the county sheriff  then I see (Hamilton County Commissioner) Denise Driehaus thats talking about opiate deaths, and then theres Tom Synan popping up there.

I hope thats after 5, Kobasuk says. But you know I just have the perception, Tom, that you should devote 100% of your time to Newtown.

The public rift between two top officials in this quiet bedroom community of 2,702 has sparked an outcry from village residents, some of whom have called for the mayors resignation.

Heres how the years-long feud developed.

It all began in September 2016, eight months after Kobasuk was sworn in, when, Synan claims, the mayor privately told him to go along with timesheet policy changes intended to set up an employee on a theft in office charge.

Synan felt uncomfortable with the plan, which he claims involved using the threat of a felony prosecution to force the employee from full-time employment, a scheme the chief believed might even be illegal.

Synan reported his concerns to members of the village council and thus began an eight-year cycle of relentless harassment, bullying, retaliation and defamation by Kobasuk against the police chief, Synans lawyers wrote in a civil complaint.

One of the more peculiar allegations in the lawsuit involves Synan being informed by another police chief in Hamilton County that the mayor was investigating Synan for misuse of funds and of a police cruiser.

The other chief said rumors were circulating among local law enforcement that Synan left a bar drunk and allowed a woman to drive his police cruiser, at which point a village secretary caught the pair.

Synan says the story was untrue but even rumors can harm his credibility and reputation. The chief was later told that he was not under investigation.

The lawsuit also says Kobasuk singled out the chief by requiring him to give a detailed timeline of his daily activities and that the mayor accused of Synan stealing time from the village.

The feud came to a head earlier this year, when Synan came away from the Feb. 21 meeting believing his firing was imminent.

Kobasuk denies that he holds a personal vendetta against the chief, saying he simply evaluated Synans work just like any other village employee. First and foremost, I want residents to know that Chief Synan has not been terminated and no disciplinary action has been taken against him, Kobasuk wrote in a statement. I have also never expressed a desire to remove him as the village police chief.

The Enquirer reached out to each village council member for their comments on the situation. Councilmember Sarah Donohue responded in an emailed statement: "As a newly elected council member I am still in the process of learning all of the facts regarding the lawsuit. Right now I am committed to (understanding) the situation so that we can inform the people of Newtown."

She added that she had no problem with Synan's public safety work outside the village, "as long as his commitment to the village of Newtown is fulfilled." No others responded.

Newtown neighbors react

First in line at a packed village council meeting on March 12, days after Synan filed his lawsuit in Hamilton County, was longtime resident Bill DeVore who attended with his wife, Nancy DeVore.

We were shocked to realize how long this was going on, DeVore later told The Enquirer.

Newtown Village residents speak out in support of Police Chief Tom Synan during a March 12 village council meeting, days after the chief filed a lawsuit against the village mayor.

They werent alone, Kobasuk said this week, responding to an Enquirer request for comment.

I was shocked to learn Chief Synan chose to file a lawsuit without first trying to work through his issues, he said in a statement.

Documents provided by Synans lawyers show a trail of tense encounters between the two relating to their ongoing disagreements over the years.

Outside the municipal hall, residents easily recount stories of a police chief whos highly accessible  How many people can say theyve had coffee with the police chief? DeVore said  and loyal because he has never vented his issues publicly.

Barbara Cromer of the Newtown Village Quilters, talks about Newtown Police Chief Tom Synan on March 13. 'I'm on his side,' she said, referring to Synan, who filed a lawsuit March 8 against the mayor of Newtown.

Im on his side, said Barbara Cromer, referring to Synan.

She sat with the Newtown Quilters earlier this month in a firehouse front room, where the group routinely meets. Other quilters nodded as Cromer defended the police chiefs work in the village and his efforts with the Hamilton County Addiction Response Coalition.

I like what he does in Cincinnati, Cromer said. Having him, from the village of Newtown, coordinating for Cincinnati? Hes doing everyone a favor.

She said police, including the chief, are readily visible in the village.

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Ive always felt very safe here, Cromer said. You always see them around.

Despite sitting so close to Cincinnati, Newtown is the epitome of a small town, and its crime rate reflects that.

Since 2014, a year before Synan helped found the Hamilton County Heroin Coalition (renamed in 2020 the Addiction Response coalition), there have been no murders in Newtown and only eight violent crimes.

Theft has been the villages biggest issue, with an average of 21 thefts annually over the last 10 years.

Synans addiction coalition work starts at county level, explodes nationally

Synan was among a few police and public health officials who joined in 2015 to create the Hamilton County Heroin Coalition in response to a cascade of heroin overdose deaths and a growing burden on the criminal justice system, which was crowded with people who struggled with addiction.

As overdose deaths escalated across the country with the emergence of the deadly synthetic fentanyl, Synans cop-decries-punishment stance for those with addiction catapulted him into a national and sometimes international spotlight.

Synan in 2018: He's a Marine. A cop's cop. A tough guy. But he's willing to break the rules to save lives

The Newtown Police Department on Church Street, photographed on March 13.

He has been quoted in national magazines including Rolling Stone and has spoken on international programs including the BBC.

Addiction should not be treated as a crime but instead treated as the mental health, medical condition it is, Synan said.

He has been hands-on in coalition work and is an unofficial spokesman for the regions efforts.

Hes had a passion for this that goes back to the beginning, said Driehaus, executive chair for the coalition. Hes a crucial part of the work that we are doing towards saving lives, getting people into treatment and long-term recovery.

The passion started years ago in Newtown, as Synan watched a family's struggles with substance use disorder, which led in one way or another to the deaths of the mother and two sons.

Since his coalition work evolved, Synan has said he attends fewer than a half-dozen meetings a month outside the village. There are also occasional speaking engagements. The mayor seems not to buy that, and says Synan needs to report to him his comings and goings.

Cromer, the quilter, said she's been in Newtown since 1997, (three years after Synan started as a rank-and-file police officer in the village) and she feels proud of the police chief's activities, near and far.

She said shed brought a basket of food for the firefighters when the village quilters met, and it occurred to her she might want to do the same for the police chief.

I brought in some jelly and pickles, she said. I was going to do the same thing for him because of all this hes going through.

I dont know what the mayors beef is.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio town's opioid-fighting police chief at odds with mayor for years
Oil prices have remained largely unchanged on Tuesday (26 March), following an increase the day before. Investors have different assessments of the impact of the loss of Russian oil refining capacity due to recent Ukrainian strikes. Meanwhile, a slight weakening of the US dollar provided some support to prices.

Source: Reuters

The price of Brent crude fell by 6 cents to US$86.69 per barrel, while WTI crude futures dropped by 4 cents to US$81.91 per barrel.

The previous day, Brent prices rose by 1.5%, and WTI by 1.6%, after the Russian government ordered companies to cut production in the second quarter to meet a target of 9 million barrels per day in accordance with commitments to the OPEC+ consumer group.

Russia, one of the world's top three oil producers and the largest exporter of oil products, is also grappling with the consequences of recent Ukrainian attacks on its oil refineries. Goldman Sachs analysts stated that these attacks have disrupted approximately 900,000 barrels per day of capacity, possibly temporarily, and in some cases, permanently.

Quote: "The impact of refining disruptions on crude prices is mixed, with a bearish effect from the decline in refinery demand and a bullish effect from the potential reduction in Russia oil exports," the analysts said in a note.

Background:

After a Ukrainian drone attack on 23 March, the Russian oil extraction company Rosneft halted a 70,000 barrels-per-day unit at its Kuibyshev Refinery in Samara.

The consequences of these attacks and production cuts in Russia remain unclear, however, a slight weakening of the US dollar from the previous session supported oil prices.

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OKALOOSA COUNTY, Fla. (WKRG)  Two people were arrested after they allegedly assaulted an Okaloosa County Sheriffs Office deputy, according to their arrest reports.

Mugshots of Bryant Vanison and Mary Vanison (OCSO).

34-year-old Mary Greene Vanison and 36-year-old Bryant S Vanison, both of Louisiana, were arrested on a battery of an officer charge.

Pensacola woman sentenced for lighting roommate, home on fire

According to the arrest reports, deputies were called to The Palms of Destin on March 25 around 3:45 a.m. for a trespassing investigation.

The report said multiple people refused to leave the property. Deputies told them if they did not leave, they would be arrested, according to the report.

However, the Vanisons allegedly still refused to leave.

The arrest report for Mary said a deputy was trying to detain another person on the ground when Mary pushed them in the back, causing them to fall.

Bryants arrest report said as a woman on the scene was being taken into custody, Bryant grabbed onto the deputys arm with both hands. It is unclear if Mary was the woman being taken into custody then.

UPDATE: Toddler dies after being struck by SUV Sunday night

Mary was charged with battery on an officer, resisting an officer and trespassing.

Bryant was charged with battery on an officer and resisting an officer.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRG News 5.
The CEO of the Oklahoma County jail wants the detention center's health care services certified by the National Commission on Correctional Health Care.

Members of the county's jail trust recently approved Brandi Garner's recommendation to spend $48,960 to hire NCCHC Resources Inc. to provide the jail's administration with consulting and technical assistance to help it get there.

Health-related services inside the jail are provided to detainees both by medical professionals employed by Turn Key Health Clinic and by jailers.

A $7.627 million contract between the jail and Turn Key requires the contractor to work with the jail's staff to ensure detainees receive reasonable and necessary health, dental, psychiatric, pharmaceutical, and other health care and administrative services.

Oklahoma County experienced its first jail death of 2024 on Feb. 26 when detainee Derek Raymond Strother, 31, was found unresponsive in his cell.

Strother had been locked up since Dec. 18, the day after he reportedly had been involved in a fatal collision in northeast Oklahoma City. He was accused of second-degree murder, driving under the influence of alcohol and causing an accident that resulted in another driver's death.

More than 40 detainees have died inside the jail since a trust took over its operation on July 1, 2020.

More: Broken Trust: How the Oklahoma County jail leadership failed those it sought to protect

Obtaining certification is not required by state law. However, certification will provide assurances from an outside, third-party that quality health services are being provided to the jail's population.

Garner told trust members the consultant's doctors, psychiatrists, and contract and jail operations professionals will review how medical services are being delivered inside the jail by its entire staff and how those could be improved.

"It is no different than auditing ourselves, using a third-party entity," Garner said. "None of us who work there are medical experts who work there (outside of Turn Key).

"How am I to know for sure what right looks like? I have to trust that the company I am hiring is doing the job, and I think it is just smart to have that third-party oversight."

OK County jail's health services haven't been certified since 2018

Oklahoma County's jail, Garner said, previously was certified by the National Commission on Correctional Health Care between 2011 and 2018.

Once recertified, the jail will pay the commission about $13,000 annually to review its records each year (the amount is based upon an expected average daily population of 1,300 detainees).

The commission also will make on-site visits at least once every three years to review the jail's medical care operations.

"We want to look at what we are doing right, what can be improved and what gaps for services might exist" that need addressed, Garner said. "It is our biggest hot-button topic and the area where we seem to be having the most issues.

"Executing this agreement is the first step in that process," Garner said.

Providing quality health care to detainees is an important task for the jail, she added.

Beyond that, Garner said she intends to pursue more jail-related certifications in the future to make sure it delivers "top-notch services in all we do," she said.

The CEO already has instituted policies designed to boost the training of the jail's staff.

While Oklahoma only requires 40 hours of training for a jail detention officer, the jail trust now sends all new employees through a total of 440 hours of in-class and on-the-job training.

"If there is any way we can get better and improve our services, that is what we are going to do. We are trying to get ready to move into a new facility, and while that might be years away, we need to start now. This (the medical certification) is just the first of many accreditations I would like to pursue," Garner said.

Handcuffs are attached to a security bar at the Oklahoma County jail.

Jail population continues to fall, latest information shows

Garner also updated trust members recently with the jail's latest average detainee count, the most common reason detainees are being brought to the jail and its ongoing efforts to boost its number of employees.

The jail's average number of detainees during February was 1,229  the count March 11 was 1,211, down from about 1,400 the previous year  and a detainee's average length of stay inside the jail during the month was 6.14 days. An average of about 59 people were brought into the jail daily.

Garner said the jail's employee count this week stood at 256, about the same as it was the month before, despite bringing on board 14 new graduates from its most recent academy. The class members started their six-week, on-the-job training this week.

"That number has not been moving, much. We lost a few employees (after they were placed on administrative leave). That's just part of the job," Garner said.

Brandi Garner, Oklahoma County Jail CEO.

Because the jail continues to operate understaffed, Garner said it is using some of its unused staff funding to incentivize both new and existing employees.

New recruits are being offered a $2,500 bonus, with half of that paid upon completion of a first year's service and the remainder paid after he or she completes a second year on the job.

Existing employees are being given a $300 bonus on their employment anniversary for every completed year of service, up to a maximum of $1,500 for five years.

Quarterly performance incentives also have been developed that will be paid to jail employees who meet set goals.

Beyond that, Summit, the contractor that provides detainees and staff with prepared meals, has begun offering free meals (including a salad bar) to jail staff within its dining area.

"That's been a really popular incentive. Although what was offered before was affordable, free is even better," Garner said.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma County jail CEO wants detainee health care certified
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW)  A roadside construction worker from Wichita was killed, and two others from Wichita were critically injured in a crash in Kay County, Oklahoma, Monday morning.

The crash happened around 8:15 a.m. on Interstate 35 just south of the Blackwell Tonkawa Municipal Airport.

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The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says a 17-year-old boy from Windom, Minnesota, was driving a Dodge Avenger south on Interstate 35. Three other teens from Minnesota and Iowa were with him.

Troopers say it appears the driver fell asleep, and the car left the road at a bridge and hit three road construction workers. The Wildcat Concrete employees were off the roadway, working on a bridge embankment.

A car crashed into workers on the side of I-35 in Oklahoma on March 25, 2024. (Courtesy: Oklahoma Highway Patrol)

A 19-year-old worker died instantly. The OHP says the victim is Jacob Matuszczak of Wichita.

The two other victims, ages 19 and 62, were flown to a Wichita hospital. The 19-year-old is in critical condition. The 62-year-old was treated for leg injuries.

Man seriously injured when car hydroplanes in northern Kansas

The OHP says the four people in the car were not injured. The driver stayed on the scene and cooperated with the OHP.

This is yet another reminder to stay alert and watch for vehicles and/or workers on the side of the road, OHP said on social media. Our traffic homicide unit is investigating and will present the facts to the Kay Co. D.A. when complete.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV.
The execution gurney is shown in this image from a video released by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.

Death row inmate Michael DeWayne Smith on Monday lost his request for a stay of his execution.

Smith, 41, asked for the stay because of a proposed moratorium on the death penalty that is before the state Legislature.

He is set to be executed by lethal injection April 4 at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals voted 5-0 to deny his request.

"Petitioner's claim of harm is based solely upon speculation that House Bill 3138 will pass and become law," judges said. "Petitioner has failed to show a clear legal right to the relief requested."

Smith asked for the stay March 8, after the House Criminal Justice and Corrections Committee voted 4-0 to pass HB 3138. The moratorium, if it becomes law, would halt executions currently scheduled and prevent state courts from imposing new death penalty sentences.

"A stay ... until the resolution of this pending bill calling for a moratorium would protect Mr. Smith from the deprivation of his life and liberty and prevent a manifest injustice in the event that a moratorium on executions becomes effective just shortly after Mr. Smith's execution," his attorneys told the court in their emergency request.

Death penalty moratorium passes Oklahoma House committee, but it's unlikely to become law

Attorney General Gentner Drummond and an assistant told the court a request for that reason is barred by state law. They also pointed out that the bill's author, Rep, Kevin McDugle, R-Broken Arrow, "is very pessimistic about its chances."

The bill is not expected to even be heard on the House floor.

Oklahoma death row inmate Michael DeWayne Smith speaks during his clemency hearing March 6.

Smith faces execution for two 2002 murders. He claims he is innocent even though he confessed to police. His attorneys also claim he is intellectually disabled.

The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 4-1 March 6 to deny him clemency.

Smith told the parole board he was hallucinating from his drug use when he confessed to police. "I didn't commit these crimes. I didn't kill these people. I was high on drugs," he said.

What to know about the case

Smith was convicted at trial of first-degree murder for two fatal shootings in Oklahoma City on Feb. 22, 2002. Jurors agreed he should be executed for both deaths.

The first victim, Janet Moore, 40, was shot once at her apartment. The second victim, Sharath Babu Pulluru, 24, was shot nine times at a convenience store then doused with lighter fluid and set on fire.

Neither was Smith's original target, according to testimony at the 2003 trial.

At the time, he was 19 and a member of a street gang in Oklahoma City known as the Oak Grove Posse. He also was high on PCP and hiding from police, who had a warrant for his arrest on a 2001 murder case.

In the first shooting, Smith actually was looking for Moore's son, Phillip Zachary, because he mistakenly thought Zachary was a snitch, prosecutors said.

"It's her fault she died," he told police. "She panicked and she got shot. ... She like, 'Help! Help!' I'm like, I had to. I had no choice."

Smith next went to the A&Z Food Mart to shoot a worker over comments to the newspaper about a robbery at another food mart next door, prosecutors said. He instead killed Pulluru, who was filling in at the store for a friend.

A clerk at the Trans Food Mart had killed a fellow gang member during a robbery on Nov. 8, 2000. A worker at the A&Z Food Mart had told The Oklahoman in 2000 he was proud of his neighbor.

"The rest of the kids will learn a lesson by him being dead and stop doing these things," the A&Z Food Mart worker had said.

The shootings in 2002 came days before a trial for two other gang members involved in the robbery was set to begin. Smith confessed to his roommate and a neighbor before his arrest, according to their testimony at his trial.

Smith also had asked for a stay of his execution as he seeks DNA testing on evidence from the A&Z Food Mart in support of his innocence claim. The Court of Criminal Appeals denied that request Monday in a separate order.

Smith was convicted at a separate trial of second-degree murder for the fatal shooting of Otis Payne outside an Oklahoma City club on Nov. 24, 2001. He had admitted to police that he handed the gun to the shooter, David Burns. He was sentenced to life in prison for that crime.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma death row inmate Michael DeWayne Smith denied execution stay
The tragic death last month of Nex Benedict, a 2STGNC+ (Two Spirit, transgender and gender nonconforming +) 16-year-old of Choctaw ancestry, a day after a physical fight in a restroom at Owasso High School, has compelled many Indigenous and queer Oklahomans like myself to grapple with the consequences of erasure of our identities.

From the very founding of our state, all the way to Gov. Kevin Stitts State of the State last month, the message is clear that in order to belong in Oklahoma, we as members of marginalized communities must live a fractional life. I have called Oklahoma home my whole life, and as a Two Spirit member of the Cherokee Nation, I work with both tribal groups and 2SLGBTQ+ organizations across the state to help young people find a place to celebrate all of who they are. And its clear we have a long way to go.

Last month, Gov. Stitt openly admitted that bullying in public schools is a valid reason for parents to decide to send their children to charter schools. Yet Stitt, the state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters and the states legislative leadership have failed to offer solutions to fix the culture that allows bullying in the first place. In bodycam footage, Nex and their guardian, Sue Benedict, stated in their own words the day before Nexs death that Nex had faced bullying for a year prior to the assault that took place in the restroom.

Oklahomas leaders need to take actions that align with a future that all of Oklahoma youths can believe in, no matter what they look like and how they identify, a guest columnist writes.

Data from GLSEN, a national organization that advocates for LGBTQ+ youths at school, indicates in the 2021-22 academic year, 83% of LGBTQ+ youths experienced in-person harassment or assault based on being LGBTQ+, their race/ethnicity, or other personal characteristics. Educators and educational institutions need to do more to prevent the hostile environment that causes these negative experiences, which in turn affect young peoples ability to focus on their education and their future.

The risk of bullying and harassment is exacerbated for young Oklahomans with intersecting identities  such as Nex  when they are both LGBTQ+ and Indigenous. Oklahomas leadership similarly perpetuates anti-Indigenous sentiment and fails to enact policies protecting our many tribes ability to observe our longstanding traditions, celebrations and ceremonies. Just last year, the Oklahoma Legislature overrode Gov. Stitts veto of a law that allows students to wear Native regalia during graduation ceremonies and school functions. While the law is indeed an important victory, its also a clear reminder that our traditions are overly regulated rather than openly celebrated.

Editorial: Ryan Walters' response to Nex Benedict's death only causes more pain for Oklahoma's LGTBQ+ families

A similar example of the lack of cultural competency happened in 2022, when multiple Oklahoma school districts made headlines for cutting a young Indigenous students hair without permission. Our freedom to dress, wear hairstyles and otherwise express ourselves in a way that honors our Native culture holds significant history and meaning to many of our tribes, yet Oklahoma leaders seem intent on sowing division rather than building community.

In recent years, explicit anti-2SLGBTQ+ bills continue to be introduced and passed by legislators that also have anti-Indigenous implications. 2021s House Bill 1775, which bans educators and students from discussing concepts of race and gender in school, forces 2STGNC+ students to hide the foundations of who we are and compels us to feel ashamed of our background. Indigenous people are missing and murdered at exponentially higher rates than the general population. In order to build awareness and correct misconceptions about who we are, we need the opportunity to name our culture and history while at school. The erasure of our communities by the state of Oklahoma has an undeniable impact on the hatred and violence we face.

Oklahoma is home to nearly 40 tribal nations. While its members are not a monolith, we all share in common the urgent need for advocacy by our states leaders and institutions in order to combat the high levels of discrimination that we face. We continue to exist, despite the states attempts to erase us.

In Nexs memory, I urge Oklahomas leaders to shift course and take actions that align with a future that all of our youth can believe in, no matter what we look like and how we identify. We need to send a message that Oklahoma can and should be a place where we all have the safety to thrive.

Taylor Raye

Taylor Raye (they/them) is a Two Spirit community member who lives on the Cherokee Nation reservation.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: How Oklahoma can address bullying after Nex Benedict's death
DAMASCUS, March 26 (Xinhua) -- A series of explosions rattled Syria's eastern province of Deir al-Zour before daybreak Tuesday, coinciding with the presence of unidentified drones flying overhead, according to a war monitor. 
Director Access

OpenAI has given a number of directors, production companies, and creative agencies early access to its Sora text-to-video generator  and the results range from astonishing to downright terrifying.

Toronto-based multimedia production company Shy Kids used the next-generation generative AI tool to come up with a whimsical short film about "Air Head," a man who has a balloon instead of a head.

The short film is an impressive example of the tech's capabilities, showing off Sora's striking ability to generate relatively believable and photorealistic video footage in response to a text prompt.

"As great as Sora is at generating things that appear real, what excites us is its ability to make things that are totally surreal," said director of "Air Head" Walter Woodman in a statement. "A new era of abstract expressionism."

https://twitter.com/shykids/status/1772347121296883981

Weak Chimera

A different short film showcased by OpenAI highlights how Sora can also be used to generate videos with horrifying results. Digital artist Don Allen III, who started his career at DreamWorks Animation, created clips of grotesque animal hybrids for his pseud-documentary called "Beyond Our Reality."

The short 90-second clip shows footage of a "Girafflamingo," an unholy cross between a giraffe and flamingo, as well as a "Whalepus," a whale with terrifying octopus arms.

https://twitter.com/AngryTomtweets/status/1772361937931657470

While the short films are impressive, we've already seen some glaring inconsistencies in Sora footage OpenAI has shared, suggesting OpenAI may be overselling the tool's real-world capabilities by cherry-picking particularly impressive examples.

According to a recent interview in the Wall Street Journal, OpenAI is hoping to publicly release Sora "later this year." But who will have access and when is still unclear, especially considering just how resource-intensive rendering AI video is.

In short, we'll reserve our judgment until we've gotten our own hands on the tool.

More on Sora: OpenAI Says Sora Video Generator May Allow Nudity
As a matter of law, the case argued Tuesday at the Supreme Court concerning the availability of medicine to induce abortions is easy: The Food and Drug Administration has the authority to make mifepristone available and to later increase its availability. But as the oral arguments in Food and Drug Administration vs. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine indicated, the outcome is anything but clear.

In 2000, the FDA approved mifepristone as part of a two-drug protocol to induce abortions. Last year, about 63% of all U.S. abortions were medically induced using these drugs rather than being surgically performed.

Medically induced abortions have increased since Roe vs. Wade was overruled in 2022. Especially in states that have prohibited virtually all abortions, the ability of a woman to have an abortion by taking pills, which can be obtained in a number of ways, has taken on enormous importance. Even in states such as California where abortion is legal, medication abortions provide a preferable, safe alternative to surgical procedures for many seeking abortions.

Read more: Calmes: The Supreme Court tackles abortion again. How much will it hurt Republicans in 2024?

A conservative antiabortion group brought a challenge to the FDAs approval of mifepristone. An openly antiabortion federal judge in Texas issued an order stopping the distribution of mifepristone everywhere in the country. As U.S. Solicitor Gen. Elizabeth B. Prelogar pointed out during oral arguments on Tuesday, this was the first time in history that a judge had overturned the FDAs approval of a drug.

A conservative panel of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals said that the judge was wrong in stopping all use of mifepristone after it had been on the market for 23 years, but the appellate court overturned FDA actions that over the years had made the drug more easily available. In 2016, the FDA said that the drug could be used until the 10th week of pregnancy rather than just to the seventh week as initially permitted, reduced the number of required in-person clinical visits from three to one and allowed nonphysician healthcare providers, such as nurse practitioners, to prescribe and dispense mifepristone. It also reduced the dosage from 600 milligrams to 200 milligrams. In 2021, the FDA eliminated the requirement that mifepristone be administered in person; it was the only drug for which there was such a requirement.

Read more: Supreme Court justices appear skeptical of Texas doctors' challenge to abortion pills

The 5th Circuit overturned these 2016 and 2021 changes, concluding that they were arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion on the part of the FDA. That decision, if upheld, would make it much harder for those seeking abortions to have access to mifepristone, and it is that ruling that is being reviewed by the Supreme Court.

There are multiple reasons the Supreme Court should find in favor of the FDA and mifepristone. To begin with, no one has standing to bring this lawsuit. In order to sue in federal court, a plaintiff must have personally suffered an injury. But no one is hurt by the FDAs making mifepristone more easily available.

The primary argument made by Erin M. Hawley, who was representing the plaintiffs, was that doctors who dont want to perform abortions will be required to do so in an emergency when there are complications from the use of mifepristone. But as the solicitor general repeatedly pointed out, under federal law, no doctor is required to perform abortions or prescribe medication that offends their beliefs. Justice Elena Kagan stressed that there was no indication of any doctor with a conscience objection to abortions ever having been forced to perform one because of the FDA rules regarding mifepristone.

Read more: Q&A: The FDA says the abortion pill mifepristone is safe. Here's the evidence

Even if the court stretches the law and finds that the plaintiffs have standing, the case still should be easy to decide in the FDAs favor on its merits. Under the federal Administrative Procedures Act, an agency action should be overturned only if it is arbitrary, capricious, or an abuse of discretion. This is a legal standard that is very deferential to the agency. In fact, in 2021, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said, Courts owe significant deference to the politically accountable entities with the background, competence, and expertise to assess public health.  In light of overwhelming evidence as to the safety of mifepristone, it is impossible to say that the FDAs actions were arbitrary and capricious, no matter the opinion of the 5th Circuit.

One of the most frightening aspects of Tuesdays oral arguments was that both Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. invoked a statute adopted in 1873, the Comstock Act, which prohibits shipment of obscene materials and contraceptives through the mails or by common carriers. It also forbids shipment of every article, instrument, substance, drug, medicine, or thing which is advertised or described in a manner calculated to lead another to use or apply it for producing abortion. The Comstock Act has not been used for over a century, but if the court is willing to apply it now, it is a huge threat to abortions, even in states where it is legal.

Read more: Abortion pill usage surged post-Roe. These numbers show the dramatic rise

With six justices on the court who both oppose abortion and want to limit the power of federal agencies, it is hard to predict the outcome of the mifepristone case, despite the clarity of the issues. If the court overturns the FDA here, it will open the door to challenges against countless other drugs.

Ultimately, as Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson indicated near the end of the oral arguments, the question is who should decide if a drug is safe and effective, the FDA or the federal courts? Since 1906, the answer, without exception, has been the FDA and that should remain the law.

Erwin Chemerinsky is a contributing writer to Opinion and the dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law. His latest book is "Worse Than Nothing : The Dangerous Fallacy of Originalism."

If its in the news right now, the L.A. Times Opinion section covers it. Sign up for our weekly opinion newsletter.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Editors Note: Jill Filipovic is a journalist based in New York and author of the book OK Boomer, Lets Talk: How My Generation Got Left Behind. Follow her on Twitter. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely her own. View more opinion on CNN.

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski is so done with former President Donald Trump that she may leave the Republican Party. Good for her for having a backbone. Other principled Republicans should follow suit, instead of either getting in line behind him or slinking away in shame.

Jill Filipovic. - Courtesy Jill Filipovic

Murkowski told CNN that she absolutely would not vote for Trump in the 2024 election. I wish that as Republicans, we had  a nominee that I could get behind, but she cant bring herself to back Trump. She added, I just regret that our party is seemingly becoming a party of Donald Trump.

Does that mean shes leaving the party and becoming an independent? I am navigating my way through some very interesting political times, she replied. Lets just leave it at that.

Murkowski comes from a fiercely independent-minded state where politics lean right, but dont map on to the religiosity and authoritarianism that have long characterized conservativism in the GOP stronghold of the Bible Belt. She has her Senate seat because of that strong sense of independence: In her 2010 race, she lost the Republican primary to a more conservative candidate, only to be the second Senate candidate ever to win the general election in a write-in campaign.

The particulars of her state give Murkowski a bit more space to assert a political vision that even a few years ago wouldnt have been so out of step with her party, but now makes her a rarity in Republican politics: a politician who is solidly conservative, but believes in the utter necessity of American democracy, asserts politicians should behave decently and recognizes that sometimes her team isnt going to win  and that thats an essential reality of a democratic system, not a barrier to ultimate power that must be torn down.

Murkowski hasnt exactly been fearless, waiting until the very last minute to endorse Nikki Haley in the former South Carolina governors Republican primary campaign against Trump. (Haley, whose campaign limped as she lost every Republican primary except for Washington, DC, and Vermont, dropped out of the race just a few days after Murkowskis endorsement.) But Murkowski has still done more than many members of her party to reject Trumps most extreme excesses  including voting to impeach him over his role in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.

This refusal to bow to Trump has Murkowski on the outs with the GOP, a party almost entirely under the rule of a single charismatic leader. Despite losing the last election, Trump has maintained a vast and loyal base who have awarded him the partys nomination for a third time. Once content with a party apparatus that simply did his bidding, he has now fully taken over the Republican National Committee, with his daughter-in-law installed as its co-chair, those perceived as not sufficiently loyal purged and some of the money it has raised for Republican campaigns treated as a personal Trump piggybank, funneled toward mitigating his many legal troubles (and the related financial ones).

Murkowski has had enough and is saying as much  as she should. Few other Republicans are as forthright.

Trumps party has become profoundly dysfunctional, with internecine battles raging and the congressional GOP struggling to get much of anything done. Trumpism has also become so virulent that Republicans who do not do the former presidents bidding, or are targeted by him or his allies, routinely face a barrage of abuse, including death threats. Some, including Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, have had to hire private security.

Many Republicans in Congress have seemingly decided that the hate and dysfunction is just not worth it, and are quietly quitting. Several have said they are fed up with the ridiculous do-nothingness, but many have simply slunk off, saying they are declining to seek reelection because they want to spend more time with their families or offering some other exhausted-sounding excuse. A few, to their credit, have been not-so-quiet: Republican Rep. Victoria Spartz of Indiana said in a statement that she was close to resigning because, she wrote, I will not continue to sacrifice my children for this circus with a complete absence of leadership, vision and spine.

Overwhelmingly, though, Republicans who want to stay in office have pledged their loyalty to Trump, with many compromising their long-stated values in the process. The few who have publicly dissented have mostly been pushed out, including Romney and former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney.

Murkowski is one of the only Republican senators left who is willing to publicly criticize Trump and say unequivocally that she wont vote for him. She may be in an easier position than many in her party, believing she has the voters in her state behind her. Thats something few other Republicans can count on. Perhaps Murkowski can more easily stand on her principles because she doesnt believe that doing so will cost her her job.

But even if she is in a more flexible position than Republicans elected from the most pro-Trump states, Murkowski deserves kudos for standing up against the man her party has elevated to near-king status. Republican voters have made very clear that Trump is their guy, and there is no reward for those who challenge him  a lesson just handed down very publicly to Haley.

Now, Murkowski has a decision to make: Will she continue to be a loyal servant a party that is, as she put it, the party of Donald Trump? Or will she decide that enough is enough, and declaring herself an independent is both more honorable and more honest? This may be a path she walks largely alone. But other Republicans with a conscience are no doubt watching. Hopefully they take some notes on how to grow a spine.

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This is the second part of a two-part essay on the need to reengage with civics education in the United States. Read the first part right here.

American education, both K-12 and postsecondary, has long needed to reboot and reemphasize instruction in civics and citizenship. But that need has never been greater than today, as disunion, disruption and disbelief come to characterize so many elements of American life. Schools alone cannot cure societys ills, but they could do far more to rectify peoples ignorance about the principles, practices and origins of our democratic republic and the responsibilities and rights of its citizens.

A number of worthy efforts to address this challenge are underway, including the development of new academic standards and curricula for the public schools. Among the most prominent of these are Educating for American Democracy, a curricular roadmap created by a bipartisan team of scholars and educators under the aegis of iCivics, and the American Birthright K-12 social studies standards created by the Civics Alliance under the aegis of the National Association of Scholars.

While the roadmap concentrates on inquiry and understanding, posing myriad questions about civics and history that students should grapple with, American Birthright is chockablock with content  names, dates, events and concepts that students should know. Each offers a framework on which to hang a complete K-12 curriculum, and I believe an amalgamation of their divergent approaches would tap into a nascent consensus among American parents about what their children should learn.

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Related

Its Time for a Ceasefire in the Civics Wars

But instead of seeking common ground and striving for a unified approach to revitalizing this essential subject, some seem to prefer conflict. Call them culture warriors or not, they work at finding fault. From the right, for instance, the Civics Alliance slams the College Boards excellent Advanced Placement course in civics and American government  developed with the National Constitution Center and anchored to Supreme Court decisions  because it includes an action component. The lead author of American Birthright gave Educating for American Democracys roadmap an F-plus with the accusation that it harbors a very large amount of radical action civics. He similarly denounces all forms of bipartisan cooperation in this realm because the radicals conceive of civics as a means to eliminate their political opponents from the public square.

The roadmap has been also faulted by progressive academics, for leaving curriculum (and test) development to state and local sources, rather than propagating a national plan, and being too soft on social justice issues. And EAD is trying to fend off initiatives from the left that it sees as incompatible with the more-or-less centrist path it is trying to follow. For example, Biden administrations priorities for a grant program meant to foster civics education, seek more attention to racially, ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse perspectives than the consensus-minded roadmap supplies.

Related

The Conservative Scholar Who Convinced GOP Lawmakers Civics Conceals CRT

Educators, too, sometimes add to the discord and suspicion, because many teachers dont view these subjects the same way many parents and voters do. As Frederick Hess and Michael McShane note in their new book, Getting Education Right, drawing on a RAND survey of social studies teachers, Barely half deemed it essential that students understand concepts like the separation of powers or checks and balances. A broader RAND survey of K-12 instructors found that more  think civics education is about promoting environmental activism than knowledge of social, political and civic institutions. 

Is the potential juice  a consensus-based reboot of civics education  worth so many squeezes? Why keep struggling to fend off culture warriors and redirect instructors? Earlier efforts at civics revival have had meager impacts, petered out or been reversed, and the quest for concord is slower and a lot less fun than hurling brickbats.

So why persist? The country has muddled through for decades despite the fact that Americans know next to nothing about civics or history  what editorial cartoonist Pat Oliphant once called a forest fire of ignorance. Never mind that just 22% of eighth-graders scored as proficient in civics on the recent National Assessment of Educational Progress and barely 25% of college-age Americans know that the vice president breaks ties in the Senate. (More think thats the responsibility of the speaker of the House!) How much does it really matter in the real world that they understand so little about government?

Yet, having muddled through yesterday is no guarantee of successful muddling tomorrow. The nations citizenship woes grow more consequential as peoples faith in democracy itself falters. YouGov reported late last year that almost a third of young Americans agree  many of them strongly  that democracy is no longer a viable system, and America should explore alternative forms of government.

Why believe in something you barely understand or were never taught and feel you have no role in?

Related

Floridas New Civics Ed Training Igniting Questions of Religious Indoctrination

Civic ignorance is a silent killer, akin to high blood pressure, easy to ignore or take for granted even as it accompanies and hastens the onset of more serious maladies. Deteriorating norms of behavior, vulnerability to fake news and conspiracy theories, inability to compromise, isolation from civil society  all are associated with not knowing or caring much about the functions of government, the principles that underlie it or the historical saga that explains why we have the kind we do, where it has succeeded, where it has faltered, how it has changed.

Over time, like persistent hypertension, accumulated ignorance makes a difference. As Americans huddle in separate ideological (and socioeconomic and ethnographic) silos and accustom ourselves to cruder language and worse conduct, especially in the public square  defining deviancy down, as famously phrased by my mentor, the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan  civic and citizenship challenges mount. Its no surprise that people, especially the young, grow more cynical and pessimistic, more open to alternatives such as strong leaders who dont have to bother with messy elections of the free and fair variety.

Because peoples attitudes and actions in the civics-and-citizenship realm are shaped by a hundred forces, schools bear limited responsibility. But when it comes to old-fashioned ignorance, formal education has a big role  and was playing it poorly before anyone heard of culture wars. For decades, civics has loomed small in the curriculum, standards have been low, requirements few (and declining), instructors often ill-prepared. In few places are schools, teachers or students held to account for whether anything gets learned. Rare is the college that requires its students to study civics, and almost as rare are colleges that even offer such courses.

Yes, most high schoolers must take a course in civics or government  though a dozen states have no such graduation requirement, and most of those that do mandate just a single semester. Some administer a statewide end-of-course exam, but almost nowhere do students actually have to pass it. In Maryland, where I live, the test score counts for 20% of a students course grade, while teachers determine 80%. (Until recently, passing the exam itself was a prerequisite for a diploma, but that was seen as too onerous and punitive, particularly for poor and minority students.)

When the Thomas B. Fordham Institute evaluated state academic standards for civics (and U.S. history) in 2021  an effort the American Birthright author criticized for its alleged advocacy of action civics  reviewers gave A ratings to just five jurisdictions while judging 21 to deserve a D or F. Common failings, said the reviewers, included overbroad, vague or otherwise insufficient guidance for curriculum and instruction and neglect of topics that are essential to informed citizenship and historical comprehension.

Weak standards, low expectations, few requirements, practically no accountability, poorly prepared (and oft-misguided) teachers and too little time spent on the curriculum. A mess, to be sure. Yet its hard to muddle through with a population thats gradually untethering from democracy, that knows not how a Senate tie gets broken and thats more engaged with video games than understanding elections or attending to issues before the town council. Nor should we look forward to a day when schools, to the extent that they teach the subject at all, are confined either to progressive action civics or MAGA-style patriotism civics. Its one thing for the country to evolve politically toward blue and red but quite another for young Americans not to know enough to see what they have in common.

Whether the renaissance that K-12 civics urgently needs is likelier to emerge from a curriculum based on the governments citizenship test, an arranged marriage between EAD and American Birthright or something entirely different, its important to persist. Instead of getting depressed by the challenges ahead, lets recall once more that in this realm theres far greater agreement than argument across the land on fundamentals. Its a ceasefire most Americans would cheer.
Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy has lined up his next project fresh off winning the Best Actor Oscar for Christopher Nolan's epic.

The project in mind is another historical journey as Universal has completed a preemptive acquisition of the book Blood Runs Coal: The Yablonski Murders and the Battle for the United Mine Workers of America.

Written by Mark A. Bradley, the story takes place in 1960s Pennsylvania and concerns coal miner Jock Yablonski, who became an activist in the mine workers union. Yablonski then ran afoul of union president Tony Boyle.

Arturo Holmes - Getty Images

Related: Oppenheimer is the big winner at this year's Oscars

Yablonski subsequently ran against Boyle, who was eventually reelected. Boyle is said to have ordered the murder of Yablonski, who was killed after three attempts.

However, Yabonski's lawyer son Chip made it his mission to bring Boyle to justice and avenge his father in the courts. This is what the film will depict and Murphy, who will also produce, will star as Chip.

Jez and John-Henry Butterworth (Edge of Tomorrow) will write the script.

Universal

Related: Cillian Murphy shares sweet reunion pic with Peaky Blinders co-star

This isn't the only exciting project Murphy will be a part of. Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight recently revealed that Murphy will return for the upcoming movie.

"He definitely is returning for it," Knight said, before announcing that filming will commence "in September just down the road in Digbeth".

Knight also said that Murphy's Oscar win for Oppenheimer "was so deserved," stating: "I mean he's brilliant, and he's such a great human being and he leads the line when we're shooting and he's so level-headed and straightforward. He deserves everything he gets."

Oppenheimer is available to rent or buy now from Prime Video, iTunes, Microsoft Store and more in the UK.

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HEFEI, March 26 (Xinhua) -- In the bustling Shushan District of Hefei City, situated in east China's Anhui Province, a park named "green axis" provides a lush oasis for nearby city dwellers.

Strolling in the park among chirping birds and blossoming flowers, Chen Fuwen, a 63-year-old resident, recalled when this tranquil place was a wasteland several years ago.

"At that time, we would take a detour," said Chen, "Now the park is our first choice for a stroll."

The green expansion is a direct result of Hefei's multiple greening projects, benefiting not just humans but also many other species.

Located in downtown Hefei, the swan lake park is home to wild ducks, magpies, finches, and many other creatures. "More and more birds are settling down here in Hefei," said Zhu Ming, a shutterbug.

The same story is unfolding in other inland cities. Shangrao, situated in east China's Jiangxi Province, transformed a deserted mine into a national 4A scenic spot. In central China's Hunan Province, Changsha has continued to build "15-minute green life circles," giving residents convenient opportunities to enjoy the beauty of nature.

In 2023, China built and upgraded 34,000 hectares of urban green space.

The country has contributed to one-fourth of the global afforestation increase that has taken place over the past two decades.

While striving for harmony between humanity and nature, Hefei also advocates a greener way of life. It is easy to find shared bikes and shared electric bikes in the streets. Many online car-hailing companies are turning to new energy vehicles (NEVs).

"Thanks to the preferential purchase tax policy for NEVs, customer flow and orders have increased significantly this year. More and more middle-aged people now choose to buy NEVs," said Li Jia, a salesperson at a store of Chinese auto company Zeekr.

Low-carbon transportation is only part of the locals' pursuit of a green life. At Hefei's MixC shopping mall, a national-level "green shopping mall," a management platform for energy efficiency is working to monitor each floor's temperatures and the levels of carbon dioxide. The mall has employed energy-saving measures such as installing sensor lamps and putting up heat-insulating window films, which have saved up to about 5.32 million kWh of electricity.

Science and technology have played a role in green development. Hefei high-tech zone, one of China's first batch of carbon-peaking pilot zones, features a "waste-free factory."

Hefei Midea Laundry Appliance Co., Ltd., for example, is reducing pollution and carbon emissions in all aspects of design, production, and transportation. As a waste-free factory, the company has invested more than 70 million yuan (about 9.71 million U.S. dollars) annually in its smart and green transition over five years. During this process, it has upgraded traditional products to energy-saving options that are more efficient.

The pursuit of green transition is creating multiple concrete benefits. In 2023, Hefei contributed to 27 percent of the province's GDP while accounting for only 17.5 percent of the province's total energy consumption, according to Kan Wei, deputy director of the municipal development and reform commission.

Rich in minerals, land resources, and renewable energy such as wind, solar, and hydropower, inland cities have great potential to march on the path of green development.

Min Qingwen, a researcher at the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, believes that "green" could be the key to high-quality development for inland cities like Hefei. 
Ordinance passed to create a food commission for Little Rock to combat food insecurity

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.  An ordinance passed last week during the Little Rock Board of Directors meeting created a food commission for the city, hoping to combat food insecurity, food deserts and more.

Vice Mayor Kathy Webb said she has worked in this area for nearly two decades and during that time served on the mayors food desert task force, leading to her sponsoring the ordinance.

A study was released last year that said Arkansas had higher percentages of food insecurity than any other state, Webb said.

Little Rock summit addresses solutions for food deserts in Arkansas

That statistic, among many other factors, led to the city wanting to take a larger role in fighting against food insecurity.

The commission will review concerns about food insecurity and the need for urban agriculture, education about healthy food awareness and more, including food deserts.

Areas in which people are not easily able to access fresh fruits and vegetables at a reasonable cost, so we have areas on the east side of Little Rock, areas in downtown, areas in southwest Little Rock, Webb said.

The mayors food desert task force surveyed people who live in urban food deserts in Little Rock and found transportation to be a barrier for some people.

Unfortunately, a lot of residents that do live in food deserts dont have access to good public transportation, Webb said, They have to spend a fair amount of their grocery money on paying friends to take them to the grocery store.

Federal study shows Arkansas leads US in food insecurity; What some are doing about it

The commission will have seven people on it all bringing different perspectives to the table to find solutions and help the city with addressing food issues.

I hope the city is able to work with all of the different entities to start lowering those numbers of food insecurity in our city, Webb said.

There is an emergency clause attached to the ordinance, and theyre hoping to have all the positions finalized and filled soon

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KARK.
Former Stability AI CEO Emod Mostaque is ready to move on.

Mere days after the founder of the Stable Diffusion maker stepped down, Mostaque shared a selfie of himself on a video call with none other than Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

"He is above, below and around us," he wrote in a tongue-in-cheek follow-up tweet. "In Satya we trust (because at this rate well kinda have to)."

The news comes less than a week after three of the five researchers who originally created the foundational tech that powers Stable Diffusion at two German universities left the company after a string of other major departures.

It's still unclear how or if any of these events are connected or what Mostaque and Nadella discussed during their call, but judging by the former Stability AI executive's cryptic tweets, he won't be joining Microsoft's ranks any time soon.

"I'm just messing with you all, I'm doing my own thing(s)," Mostaque wrote in an equally vague follow-up. "But [Nadella] is the [goat emoji] of CEOs, amazing leader."

Despite its name, Stability AI has been through a turbulent couple of years with Mostaque at the helm. Even before he founded Stability AI in late 2020, the British-Bangladeshi business executive had a history of making exaggerated claims, from a made-up master's degree from Oxford to fibbing about a "strategic partnership" with Amazon.

In 2022, Stability AI made some key hires, including researchers from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and Heidelberg University in Germany, who laid much of the groundwork for the now popular AI image generator Stable Diffusion  but burned through millions of dollars in cash in the process.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has established itself as a key player in the ongoing AI race by investing billions of dollars in ChatGPT maker OpenAI.

In other words, it's no wonder Mostaque is looking to get Nadella's ear as he pursues "decentralized AI," as he phrased it in a Stability AI statement issued over the weekend.

While Stable Diffusion generated plenty of buzz in the then-burgeoning AI image generator field by late 2022, the picture has changed dramatically since then. Multiple companies with far more resources to play with, including Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI, have since come out with their own competing models.

In the statement, Mostaque noted that he was "proud two years after bringing on our first developer to have led Stability to hundreds of millions of downloads and the best models across modalities."

"I believe strongly in Stability AIs mission and feel the company is in capable hands," he added. "It is now time to ensure AI remains open and decentralized."

But whether Stability AI's remaining leadership, who now have to pick up the pieces, will be able to turn things around and find a sustainable business model remains to be seen.

For his part, Mostaque is now arguing that AI tech shouldn't belong to a single entity.

"Who governs the datasets and models that teach your kids, run your hospitals, governments etc?" he asked rhetorically in a follow-up tweet today.

However, if OpenAI's rocky history as an "open" non-profit is anything to go by, the AI space is arguably becoming far more centralized than decentralized. The Sam Altman-led company  and co-founder Elon Musk  quickly realized that training its AIs would take billions of dollars in funding, turning the firm from a non-profit into a closed-door, profit-driven entity starting in March 2019.

Over the last year, AI technologies have increasingly come to exist inside black boxes that belong to a dwindling number of large companies.

That reality hasn't flown over the head of Mostaque, who's seemingly now looking to lead a David versus Goliath fight against these entrenched players.

Whether he'll succeed, however, is anything but clear. The cards are certainly stacked against him, which is partially the result of his own actions.

More on Stability AI: Stable Diffusion CEO Resigns as Company Crumbles
NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY)  Norfolk Fire Department said a child and adult were rushed to the hospital after their home caught on fire. The fire started at a townhouse on Edward St. near Norview Ave.

Battalion Chief Fred Paquet said the victims have minor injuries. He said first responders received reports about the fire at 12:43 a.m.

On arrival crews found smoke and flames coming from a 2 story townhouse, Paquet said.

He said firefighters were able to get flames under control at 1:27 a.m. The Red Cross is helping the residents that are displaced.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com.
Lord Patten of Barnes, Chancellor of Oxford, has chosen to retire this year, and the race to replace him is already stoking controversy - Leon Neal/Getty

With its centuries-old customs and peculiar vocabulary, the University of Oxford can seem to outsiders like a bastion of tradition. Many of its long-standing rituals are still embraced by students and academics today: the wearing of gowns to formal hall dinners, say; or the May Morning celebrations. When it comes to other traditions, some think its time for a change.

Since 1224, the chancellor of the university has been male. Now the incumbent, Lord Patten of Barnes, is retiring and a successor must be found. But Oxfords apparent attempts to drag itself into the 21st century appear to have backfired.

In the latest edition of the Oxford University Gazette, it was announced that under new rules for the coming election of chancellor, a committee of academics and university administrators will oversee the process. For the first time, the election will take place online, whereas previously the former students who make up the electorate had to attend Oxfords Sheldonian Theatre in person, wearing full academic dress. About 8,000 participated in 2003 when Lord Patten was chosen.

Under the old rules, anyone could stand for election as long as they were nominated by 50 members of the university convocation  a body made up of all Oxford alumni and academics. Now, the committee will decide which candidates are eligible to progress to the next stage of the election process. In doing so, they will consider the principles of equality and diversity and the approved role specification.

The dreaming spires of Oxford - Max Dannenbaum/The Image Bank RF

This has been interpreted by some to mean that the committee will rig the process to ensure the next person occupying the largely ceremonial role is not another white male.

Neil OBrien, the Conservative MP for Harborough and an alumnus of Oxfords Christ Church College, warned of a stitch-up. Writing on X (formerly Twitter), he complained:

A stitch-up in Oxford: with no public discussion the University has decided to move away from democracy when choosing its next Chancellor. https://t.co/hlFgBOGxTc  Neil O'Brien MP (@NeilDotObrien) March 22, 2024

He would like to have seen more open discussion about the rule change. Does he think its time for a female chancellor?

They should choose who the right person is for the job, he says. I would have no objection to anyone doing it if they can do it well. I just think as soon as you go away from the principle of choosing the best person, you find yourself on a slippery slope.

He is not the only Tory MP to voice disquiet at the change in the process. Simon Clarke, Miriam Cates and Danny Kruger were among those who joined him in firing off a letter to The Times to express concern. The new rules stating that candidate selection must have due regard to the principles of equality and diversity are vague and undefined, they wrote. Where other universities around the world have moved away from meritocracy, the results have been disastrous.

Some students too are wary about the new method the university is adopting for going about the process. I think quite a few people feel a bit odd about it, says Eilis Mathur, the deputy editor-in-chief for news at Cherwell, an Oxford student newspaper. She cites a perceived lack of transparency around the new rules, adding: Its always been a representative and accessible process previously.

The change comes amid a concerted effort to improve equality and diversity at a university whose first female vice-chancellor wasnt appointed until 2016, and where it wasnt until 2020 that a black woman became head of any college.

In 2015, almost one in three Oxford colleges failed to admit a single black British A-level student. Earlier this year, a Cherwell survey found that almost three quarters of Oxford students did not think the university was an inclusive environment. While recent years have seen a greater focus on equality, diversity and inclusion, only 11 per cent of students felt this had been effective.

If the new process for selecting a chancellor was devised with the aim of improving this, its unclear if its goal will be achieved. If the process is ambiguous, it might do more harm than good, says Mathur.

We would deplore any tinkering

Baroness Ruth Deech, a former principal of St Annes College, Oxford, suggests, too, that those eligible to vote would take a dim view of any doctored list of candidates.

It is high time that a woman takes up the role of chancellor and there are many well qualified and respected such, she says. But I, and many other Oxford graduates, would deplore any tinkering with the process by the university authorities. Oxford graduates are quite capable of nominating and voting for excellent candidates, with equality and diversity in mind. They will undoubtedly resist any list of candidates doctored by the university in pursuit of some unwanted and unnecessary quota or political agenda.

A candidate perceived to be a plant is unlikely, she says. Others have been more welcoming of the move to consider diversity.

I certainly think that all institutions should have diversity in mind when making appointments, largely to counterbalance the old assumptions that leadership positions are to be held by men, says Baroness Helena Kennedy, former principal of Mansfield College, Oxford. We are still having to challenge those ingrained notions. The rule change is really just a prompt to encourage voters to overcome those old-fashioned stereotypes of what leadership looks like. It doesnt mean no white man can be in the running.

There are no confirmed candidates for the role as yet, but former Tory minister Rory Stewart has been tipped as a contender. Former Labour prime minister Sir Tony Blair has also been mentioned in connection with the position, but his spokesman has ruled him out. Bookmaker William Hill has also put odds on former Tory prime minister Theresa May, while other names floated include Lady Angiolini KC, the principal of St Hughs College, former Tory prime minister Boris Johnson, and Imran Khan, the former prime minister of Pakistan.

Time for a female figure at the top? Theresa May has been suggested as a contender - Dave Benett/Getty

I doubt that after more than 800 years of glaring absence of female stewardship of the university, there could be a convincing and coherent argument put forward for not considering among the best candidates a (best) female chancellor, says Prof Maria Jaschok, whos involved in womens studies programme at the university. Our very zeitgeist speaks against such anachronistic traditionalism.

A university spokesman says: The University of Oxfords next chancellor will be elected by convocation using an online platform. Eligibility for the role 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. Announcements about applications for the post and registering to vote will be made in due course.

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Peter Eotvos

Peter Eotvos, who has died aged 80, was a Hungarian conductor and composer whose opera Love and Other Demons, based on Gabriel Garcia Marquezs novel, received its premiere at Glyndebourne in 2008; it was not his first experience of the Sussex opera house, having conducted the legendary Anja Silja there in Janaceks The Makropulos Case in 2001.

Love and Other Demons by Peter Eotvos performed at Glyndebourne - Alastair Muir

Eotvos, a stocky figure with a large forehead and greying beard, was originally known for his conducting, and as principal guest conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra from 1985 to 1988 brought an instinctive understanding to works such as Bartoks Duke Bluebeards Castle. In Paris he conducted the inaugural concert of Pierre Boulezs IRCAM Studio in 1978 and directed the Ensemble InterContemporain until 1991.

Increasingly he turned to composition and his best-known opera is Angels in America (2002), a musical setting of Tony Kushners play about the Aids epidemic in the US. With The Three Sisters (1997), seen at the 2001 Edinburgh Festival, he used countertenors for Chekhovs sisters, though Love and Other Demons was more traditional in its telling of religious mania and persecution, albeit with spare orchestral textures and angular vocal lines.

Rehearsal for the premiere of Peter Eotvos's opera Sleepless Music at the Berlin Staatsoper Unter den Linden - Nina Hansch/dpa

The violin concerto Seven was heard at the 2008 Proms, the title referring to the seven astronauts killed in the 2003 Challenger disaster, symbolised by six violinists scattered around the hall echoing the soaring laments of the main soloist, Akiko Suwanai, on stage. More recently DoReMi, the title alluding to the first notes of the tonic sol-fa, provided bravura challenges for the violinist Midori at the 2013 Proms.

While Eotvos was loudly championed by contemporary music enthusiasts, he felt that popularity mattered little. Never give what the public asks, he said. You must give the public what it needs, even if they do not always know it.

Peter Eotvos was born in Transylvania, then part of Hungary, on January 2 1944. His family fled west and he was raised in Budapest by his pianist mother. Bach, Mozart and Bartok were the first composers I got to know I could play their easy piano pieces, he recalled.

Peter Eotvos conducting at the Bartok National Concert Hall, Budapest, in 2022 - Shutterstock

At 11 he won a prize for writing a cantata and showed the work to Gyorgy Ligeti, who recommended him to Zoltan Kodaly at the Franz Liszt Academy. Another early composition was Kosmos (1961) for one or two pianos, inspired by Yuri Gagarins space flight that year. And Ive been thinking about how to translate the idea of the cosmos into a gigantic ambient sound ever since, he said.

Before long he was music director of the Comedy Theatre, Budapest, writing theatre scores and accompanying films on a Hammond organ. The instrument is heard in his Multiversum (2017), which opens with the theme from Bachs Toccata in D minor.

Rejected by the Moscow Conservatoire, Eotvos instead received a scholarship to work with Bernd Alois Zimmermann in Cologne. He also became Karl-Heinz Stockhausens copyist, later conducting the premiere of Stockhausens Donnerstag aus Licht at La Scala, Milan, in 1981 and at the Royal Opera House in 1985.

While performing on electric instruments with the Stockhausen Ensemble in Osaka in 1970 he became acquainted with Japanese culture. His opera, Harakiri (1973), features the spectacular seppuku, or ritual suicide, of the Japanese poet Yukio Mishima.

Eotvos first conducted at the Proms in 1979 and went on to hold guest conducting positions in Budapest and Gothenburg. After Hungary joined the EU in 2004 he returned there permanently, establishing the Eotvos Contemporary Music Foundation to provide mentoring for young composers and conductors.

His final opera, Valuska (2023), his first in Hungarian, depicts a newspaper delivery man who is infatuated with mans place in the universe.

Eotvos is survived by his wife, the librettist Maria Mezei.

Peter Eotvos, born January 2 1944, died March 24 2024

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Panama City's new cruise ship terminal was built by a Chinese-led consortium with an investment of more than $200 million (Martin BERNETTI)

Panama on Tuesday inaugurated a new cruise ship terminal at the mouth of the drought-hit Panama Canal, hoping to attract more tourists to the Central American nation.

The facility in Panama City was built by a consortium led by China Harbor Engineering Company with an investment of more than $200 million, according to President Laurentino Cortizo.

"The cruise terminal will generate new tourist routes... attracting more visitors to our country," Cortizo said at an opening ceremony.

The terminal, which will be able to receive two cruise ships at a time, is the first on Panama's Pacific coast.

Another operates in the Caribbean city of Colon.

Panama received nearly 320,000 visitors on cruise ships in 2023, double the previous year, according to Denise Guillen of the Panama Tourism Authority.

"The growth is exponential," she said.

The opening comes as authorities confront record-low water levels that have limited the number of ships able to transit through the Panama Canal, which usually handles about six percent of global maritime trade.

Canal administrator Ricaurte Vasquez said last week he hoped that traffic would return to normal by next February.

jjr/mis/db/dr/caw
Pizza chain Papa Johns has said it will close nearly a tenth of its UK restaurants - all of which it says are "underperforming".

The closures follow a review of the business which identified sites that were "no longer financially viable".

The chain, which has 450 restaurants plus others in service stations and holiday parks, will close 43 sites but has not said how many jobs will be hit.

Separately, Revolution Bars has said it could sell "all or part of the group".

Its announcement followed reports that said Revolution could shut about 20 bars, or a roughly a quarter of its outlets.

Announcing the Papa Johns site closures, UK managing director Chris Phylactou said: "Our priority is our team members, who will be fully supported throughout this process.

"Our goal is to work with impacted team members and attempt to find redeployment opportunities where available."

The closures are all in England and extend from Harrogate, North Yorkshire to St Helens, Merseyside, Billericay, Essex and Eastbourne, East Sussex.

All of them were "underperforming locations that are no longer financially viable", the company said.

While other sectors of the hospitality industry have faced serious problems in recent years, takeaway outlets in general are booming, according to consultancy PwC.

It said last year, a net 151 chain takeaway shops opened.

"It's a good sector to be in, albeit that there's a lot more competition as others open," said PwC senior retail adviser Kien Tan.

"There's increasing consumer demand for takeaway and for takeaway outlets. If you're trading down from eating out or going out it's more affordable than going out for the evening."

Papa Johns had previously said it planned "strategic closures" in order to free up money for investment and improving profitability at its remaining UK sites.

It plans to expand further into non-traditional sites like holiday parks and the chain said it would "announce other large retail partners in the coming months".

US-owned Papa Johns said the UK was its second biggest market and it was "committed to driving growth in the UK and improving results over the long term".

Revolution Bars, which also owns Revolucion de Cuba, said that following a period of "external challenges" which had hit trading it was "actively exploring all the strategic options available to it to improve the future prospects of the group".

This could include restructuring parts of the group or a sale of "all or part of" the group, it said.

Revolution also said it was talking to "key shareholders" and other investors about raising extra funds.

When the company reported on trading in January, it said that the Revolution brand was underperforming because the cost of living crisis had hit younger people harder.

Earlier this month, figures showed there was a rise in new retail outlets opened last year, dominated by coffee drive-throughs, bubble tea shops and fast food restaurants, mostly located outside city centres.

But according to PwC, which analysed data compiled by the Local Data Company, the openings were not enough to outweigh the places where chains, such as Wilko, shut up shop, and there was a net decrease of 5,000 stores across the UK.

So far this year, the Body Shop and night club chain Pryzm have already run into difficulties, announcing the closure of sites.
LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY)  Many in the community are concerned after the Lafayette Parish School System voted to relocate the gifted and immersion programs from Paul Breaux to other local schools, and fear that the action may lead to the end of the 130-year history of the school.

Hundreds of people gathered at a community meeting organized by the 100 Black Men of Greater Lafayette in opposition of the changes proposed for the school. Despite the public outcry, the school board voted 5-4 in two separate votes, to relocate Paul Breauxs gifted program and both immersion programs. The votes were the first step in what many believe to be an attempt to permanently close the school.

The actions by the school board, and the prospect of shutting down the school altogether, have evoked passions beyond what one might expect from a normal school closure. A look at the history of the school, and previous attempts to marginalize and erase it, may shed some light on where that passion comes from.

In the beginning

The landmark Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896 established the separate but equal doctrine. In response a handful of local educators created a group, the Lafayette Parish Education Association; they received a charter from the Lafayette Parish school board that allowed them to assist in the education of Black children, according to a Louisiana Public Broadcasting documentary called The Black Side of Desegregation: The History of Paul Breaux High School. Among these early educators was Paul Breaux, who taught at an elementary school located at what is now the 400 block of West Simcoe Street and South Washington.

Paul Breaux opened in 1896 as an elementary school (not yet with his name) and was one of 11 training schools that allowed Black students to attend.

The Paul Breaux School

Upon Breauxs death in 1926, W.D. Smith took the reins, and relocated the school to a larger building. The public school would become known as The Paul Breaux School, and introduced high school classes, one grade at a time.

For 27 years Paul Breaux High School operated on the grounds of what is now the Lerosen Preparatory School off of Evangeline Thruway. In 1950, voters of Lafayette approved a school bond worth $2 million, that would fund the construction of several new schools across Lafayette Parish, including a new Paul Breaux school. Three years later, the students and faculty of Paul Breaux still occupied the old wooden school house that now sat in the shadow of the brand new, all-white Lerosen school built next to it.

Growing restless and unsatisfied with the conditions of their current facilities, in February 1953 students organized a strike. Led by Eva Reynolds Domingue, president of the Progressive Womens League and educator at Paul Breaux, students and faculty demanded to move into the new site that the school board had yet to approve. Nearly 400 students remained at home over the course of the four-day strike, according to a Daily Advertiser article in 1953.

Paul-Breaux-Timeline-1Download

On the move again

The strike would prove to be successful, as students and faculty would move into the new school. Due to students moving mid-semester, the previous bus routes Paul Breaux students relied on were no longer applicable, and the school board had not planned any new ones.

When asked by The Daily Advertiser in 1953 if any provisions were being made to get children to the new school for the rest of the semester, Lafayette Parish Superintendent J.C. Landry responded, I guess the children will have to walk. Furthermore, Landry was asked if this issue could have been avoided with prior planning to which Landry replied, No comment.

Integration begins

In 1959, the school was expanded to accommodate the high school grades, and the campus was split into Paul Breaux High School and Paul Breaux Elementary. Just a few years prior in 1954, the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education put an end to legal segregation among schools in America. Despite the ruling, Lafayette, like the rest of the South, largely ignored it.

On March 5, 1965, a lawsuit was filed by New Orleans attorney A.P. Tureaud on behalf of Alfreda Trahan and 17 other Black students, asking the court to develop a plan to integrate the parish schools. The case was officially titled Alfreda Trahan, et al, vs. Lafayette Parish School Board.

On Dec. 29, 1966, students were granted the freedom to attend any school in the parish. Although some Black students chose to attend previously all-white schools under the plan, the dual system of education in the parish remained largely unchanged.

In 1968, the Green v. County School Board case determined the freedom of choice plan, which was adopted by many school districts in the South, was not sufficient, and districts needed to take further steps to fully integrate to a unitary education system. As a result, in 1969 Lafayette Parish adopted a new integration plan which would close most of the majority-black schools by August of 1970, in an effort to meet the integration deadline set by federal courts. Among the schools set to close was Paul Breaux High School.

According to an article from the Daily Advertiser in 1970, organizations such as the NAACP tried to halt the closure of Paul Breaux by submitting alternative desegregation plans that were rejected by the school board; one of those plans requested the city be divided into three areas with students going to Northside, Lafayette and Paul Breaux High Schools.

High school closed

Despite their efforts, the first and only public Black high school in Lafayette Parish would close for good in 1970. Black students who were attending Paul Breaux High School were dispersed, with most of them then attending Northside, according to the documentary. In 1971, Trahan vs. Lafayette Parish was brought back to court, with plaintiffs attempting to reopen Paul Breaux High School, claiming the schools closure was racially motivated. The courts denied the plaintiffs motion to reopen the school, ruling there was no evidence the schools closing was racially motivated, but instead due to its inadequate facilities.

During the 1970-71 school year, the school board contracted a portion of the former Paul Breaux High School to be refurbished, totaling $336,300 in renovations. This section would open as the current Paul Breaux Middle School during the 1971-72 school year.

Present day

In an interview March 6 with Alton Trahan, President of 100 Black Men of Greater Lafayette, Trahan said LPSS Superintendent Francis Touchet said the school board was considering closing the school and turning it into a warehouse. Shortly after the news of a potential closing of Paul Breaux began to spread, people across Lafayette spoke out in opposition.

With the future of Paul Breaux Middle School uncertain, one of Lafayettes oldest pieces of Black history is at risk of being erased. Not only the school with 130 years of history, but also the man himself, Paul Breaux, are on the verge of fading out of memory.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLFY.com.
Opinion editor's note: Editorials represent the opinions of the Star Tribune Editorial Board, which operates independently from the newsroom.



A historic workforce shortage. Shrinking populations in rural areas. Rising costs to equip and fuel ambulances.

There are many reasons why emergency medical services are struggling to provide the swift, sure response that's expected in Minnesota after dialing 911. As the Star Tribune Editorial Board noted last fall, this service is alarmingly at a "fracturing point," especially in rural areas.

There's no panacea for this health care crisis. Instead, it will take multiple solutions at the state and federal levels to target root causes of service providers' financial pressures. While Minnesota's two U.S. senators are backing one such smart remedy  a bill that closes a loophole preventing payment for some calls  they are regrettably just two of three co-sponsors on this much-needed legislation.

Broader support is quickly needed so this sensible reform can rapidly pass through Congress and provide financial relief. In particular, Minnesota's U.S. House delegation should follow the lead of Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith and sign on as co-sponsors.

The legislation, S. 3236/HR 6257, has been introduced in both congressional chambers. Its chief Senate author is Peter Welch, a Vermont Democrat. The chief House author, Democratic Rep. Becca Balint, also hails from the Green Mountain State.

The bill takes direct aim at a problem that emergency and city officials in Minnesota have pointed to repeatedly: Medicare doesn't reimburse for service calls that do not transport a patient to a hospital.

Medicare is the popular federally run health insurance program mainly serving those 65 and older. When a program covering so many people doesn't pay for calls providing on-scene care without a follow-up hospital visit, there's an easy-to-understand financial crunch. An emergency response team has fixed costs: staff time and gas, among them. Those expenses don't magically disappear.

Medicare beneficiaries make up about 40% of patients treated by emergency medical services, according to Welch's office. That percentage is likely higher in rural areas where there's often an aging population dependent on Medicare.

In addition, many people do not need to be seen at a hospital, or want that level of care, after emergency crews arrive. "Many people rely on EMS to provide health care services, including after a fall or for minor medical emergencies," Welch's office reports.

Emergency responders can't ignore calls for help, and they ought to get paid for the service they provide. That's the sensible change that this bill would make. This shouldn't be controversial, and the fix shouldn't face delays in Congress.

"I have heard concerns from EMS providers and community leaders across the state about how challenging it is to cover the increased costs faced while providing this essential service," Klobuchar said on Monday. "I am working in Congress to provide relief and ensure that all areas of our state have access to adequate emergency medical services."

Klobuchar is also commendably lending her institutional clout to two other proposed federal fixes for EMS services. The first, S. 1673, would extend and increase a temporary Medicare reimbursement boost for three years. The bill laudably has bipartisan support, with three Republican co-sponsors.

The second bill is the VA Emergency Transportation Act, S. 2757, whose chief Senate author is Montana Democrat Jon Tester. The bill would prevent the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from reducing reimbursement "for special mode transportation providers, including ground and air ambulances, unless VA meets certain requirements that ensure rate changes will not reduce veterans' access to this essential service," according to Tester's office. The bill has widespread support from veterans service organizations, and a welcome bipartisan list of cosponsors.

The federal measures do not excuse the Minnesota Legislature from taking action this session to assist emergency services. The $16 million aid package outlined in Gov. Tim Walz's joint agreement with legislative leaders, announced Friday, is far from adequate.

Again, multiple solutions are urgently needed to resuscitate emergency services. State and federal lawmakers are thankfully listening. Now it's time to act.
A black Uber Eats driver has received a payout after "racially discriminatory" facial-recognition checks prevented him accessing the app to secure work.

When Pa Edrissa Manjang began working for Uber Eats, in November 2019, its app did not regularly ask him to send selfies in order to register for jobs.

But the Microsoft-powered Uber Eats app increased these verification checks.

And in 2021, it said after "careful consideration" his account would be removed, due to "continued mismatches".

'Racial harassment'

An Uber representative said: "Our real-time ID check is designed to help keep everyone who uses our app safe and includes robust human review to make sure that we're not making decisions about someone's livelihood in a vacuum, without oversight."

The Equality and Human Rights Commission and the App Drivers and Couriers Union funded Mr Manjang's case.

The EHRC was concerned the artificial intelligence in the facial-recognition checks had deprived him of his income.

The ADCU said the number of selfies Mr Manjang had been asked for amounted to racial harassment.

The union told BBC News it was "working hard" to ensure workers' rights were protected as "the pace of development of AI and machine-learning tools in the workplace accelerates".

'Opaque processes'

Mr Manjang, who was reinstated and continues to work for Uber Eats, in Oxfordshire, said the out-of-court settlement marked the end of a "long and difficult" period for him.

His case "shines a spotlight" on the potential problems with AI, particularly for "low-paid workers in the gig economy".

And he hoped the decision would help strengthen "rights and protections of workers in relation to AI, particularly ethnic minorities".

Baroness Falkner, who chairs the EHRC, said Mr Manjang should never have have had to sue Uber Eats to understand the opaque processes affecting his work.

"We are particularly concerned that Mr Manjang was not made aware that his account was in the process of deactivation, nor provided any clear and effective route to challenge the technology," she said.

Microsoft has previously admitted its facial-recognition software works less well for people belonging to ethnic minorities.

And previous cases, involving the police, Home Office and universities, have shown ethnicity can affect the technology.
VILNIUS, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda on Monday appointed Laurynas Kasciunas as the new defense minister, the presidential office said.

Kasciunas was nominated by Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte last week to replace Arvydas Anusauskas, who resigned at the prime minister's request, Baltic News Services reported.

According to Simonyte, Anusauskas stepped down because he had been too inactive on key national defense issues, such as the conscription reform, the search for additional sources of defense funding and the expansion of the active military reserve.

In Lithuania, ministers are appointed and dismissed by the president at the request of the prime minister. 
As the 2024 elections draw near, a diverse array of candidates have emerged to vie for seats in the South Carolina State House.

The candidate filing period ends April 1. All 124 seats in the House are up for grabs.

Primary elections for Democratic and Republican nominations are scheduled for June 11, with any necessary runoffs scheduled for June 25.

Heres whos running so far from the Pee Dee:

 In District 50, state Rep. Will Wheeler, D-Lee, is seeking another term.

 State Rep. Richie Yow, R-Chesterfield, is seeking reelection in District 53.

 In District 54, Jason Luck, a Democrat and Sterling McDiarmid, Republican are looking to replace state Rep. Pat Henegan, D-Marlboro, who has not filed for reelection yet.

 In District 55, Jackie Hayes, D-Dillion, is running for another term.

 State Rep. Tim McGinnis, R-Horry, is seeking reelection in District 56.

 In District 57, state Rep. Lucas Atkinson, D-Marion, has filed to run for another term.

 In District 58, state Rep. Jeff Johnson, R-Horry, who serves as chairman of the House Legislative Oversight Committee, is seeking reelection.

 State Rep. Phillip Lowe, R-Florence, of District 60 is looking to secure another term.

 Incumbent state Rep. Carla Schuessler, R-Horry, is facing a challenge by Patrick Herrmann, a Republican, in District 61.

 In District 62, state Rep. Robert Williams, D-Darlington, is seeking another term.

 In District 63, chairman of House Ethics Committee, Jay Jordan, R-Florence, has filed for reelection.

 In District 64, Arthur Moyed, a Democrat is running to replace state Rep. Fawn Pedalino, R-Clarendon, who has filed for reelection.

 State Rep. Cody Mithcell, R-Darlington, is seeking another term, representing District 65.

 In District 67, House Speaker Murrell Smith, R-Sumter, is running for another term.

 In District 68, state Rep. Heather Crawford, R-Horry, is seeking reelection.

 State Rep. Roger Kirby, D-Florence, is seeking reelection for District 101.

 In District 103, state Rep. Carl Anderson, D-Georgetown, is seeking reelection.

 In District 104, state Rep. William Bailey, R-Horry, is looking to serve another term.

 In District 105, state Rep. Kevin Hardee, R-Horry, is seeking reelection.

 In District 106, Republican Brian Sweeney is looking to challenge incumbent, state Rep. Val Guest, R-Horry.

 State Rep. Case Brittain, R-Horry, is seeking reelection in District 107.

 State Rep. Lee Hewitt, R-Georgetown, from District 108 has filed for reelection.

 Democrat Tiffany Span-Wilder is seeking a seat in District 109.
A New Jersey man has been arrested after Pennsylvania investigators allegedly linked him to a 2012 fatal shooting using recent advancements in DNA forensics, as well as a Styrofoam cup found at the scene and a cigarette butt found at his moms residence.

The Berks County, Pennsylvania District Attorneys Office announced the arrest of 39-year-old Vallis L. Slaughter, who was charged with first-degree murder in connection to the death of 34-year-old Julio Torres, outside the West Reading Diner in March 2012.

Berks County District Attorney John T. Adams said during a press conference on Monday that an initial investigation into Torres death led to the arrest and conviction of Jomain Case, who was 22 at the time.

The investigation found Torres, Case and a third individual were involved in an argument before the victim was ultimately killed.

MISSOURI DETECTIVES CRACK COLD CASE ONCE LINKED TO SERIAL KILLER BTK

Vallis Slaughter faces a murder charge after DNA found on a piece of Styrofoam cup at a murder scene in 2012 matched to DNA on a cigarette butt picked up at his residence in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Case was arrested and charged for being involved in the murder after investigators matched his DNA to a piece of Styrofoam cup that was found at the crime scene.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

An analysis later conducted on the piece of Styrofoam did not match with samples in the database.

Investigators learned that Slaughter, who was living in New York City at the time, was visiting Reading, Pennsylvania on the night of the murder.

OREGON MAN FOUND GUILTY OF MURDER AFTER DNA LINKS HIM TO 1980 COLD CASE

Slaughter was connected to the crime through a piece of a Styrofoam cup and a cigarette butt.

The case eventually went cold as leads were exhausted, and new leads did not develop.

About 12 years after the crime, investigators reopened the case and discovered a new piece of evidence in the form of a cell phone picture that showed Slaughter. The photo was snapped by a friend of the suspects on the night of the murder.

Using facial recognition software, investigators identified Slaughter as the alleged shooter responsible for Torres death.

MARYLAND POLICE ID SECOND SUSPECT IN DECADES-OLD COLD CASE KILLING OF TEEN GIRL

Julio Torres, left, was murdered in March 2012, which led to the arrest and conviction of Jomain Case, pictured right.

Last December, Slaughter was living in Jersey City, New Jersey with his mother when investigators obtained a discarded cigarette. Using the cigarette butt, investigators were able to match the DNA from the spent filter with the DNA found on the bitten piece of Styrofoam cup that was discovered at the crime scene in 2012.

He was arrested last Wednesday at his mothers house by the Jersey City Police Department and is being held at the Hudson County Correctional Facility pending extradition to Berks County.

Slaughter now faces charges of first- and third-degree murder, criminal conspiracy, aggravated assault and possessing instruments of crime.





Original article source: Pennsylvania cold case murder from 2012 solved using cigarette butt and Styrofoam cup
YORK COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM) A driver was arrested after a high-speed chase during rush hour in York County where a Pennsylvania State Police Trooper was injured.

Richard Otchere, 27, of York, is accused of leading Troopers on a more than 12 mile chase on I-83 that reached speeds over 120 mph on Friday, March 22, State Police in York County said in the charges filed.

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The pursuit began around 5:15 p.m. on I-83 after a Trooper observed a 2015 black BMW commit traffic violations. According to the criminal complaint, the vehicles registration did not match and the driver was swerving. When the Trooper turned on his emergency lights, the BMW fled.

Richard Otchere mug, via York County Prison

During the chase, Otchere allegedly passed multiple cars, almost crashed into multiple vehicles and swerved in and out of oncoming traffic, according to the complaint.

PennDOT bans nearly 3,000 vanity license plates: Here are some of them

State Police say that they had to perform a precision immobilization technique, on his vehicle. The BMW crashed into a Troopers vehicle and State Police say they had to forcefully remove Otchere from his car to arrest him. One Trooper suffered a dislocated shoulder during the incident.

State Police stated in the complaint that there was a strong odor of marijuana coming from the BMW and Otchere had bloodshot eyes and could not comprehend the chase that just happened. He said to Troopers what are you pulling me over for the complaint reads.

Why the USDA wants you to destroy these invasive, mud-like masses

When Troopers searched the vehicle they found 21 marijuana roaches and two separate bags filled with marijuana, according to the complaint.

Otchere faces more than two dozen charges including felony fleeing or attempting to elude an officer.

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Otchere is out of prison after he posted his cash bail on Sunday which was set at $100,000. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 5.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27.
The U.S. military is denying it bombed eastern Syria late Monday night or early Tuesday morning after Syrian and Iranian state media accused Washington of an attack.

We did not carry out airstrikes in Syria last night, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters.

Syrian and Iranian state media claimed Tuesday that a U.S. bombing at dawn killed at least seven soldiers, a member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and one civilian, Reuters reported.

Syrian media also reported that at least 19 other soldiers and 13 civilians were wounded in strikes targeting residential areas and military sites in Deir Ez-Zor province.

And Iranian outlets said an Iranian Revolutionary Guards adviser  in the country to aid President Bashar al-Assads government in the Syrian civil war  was killed in the bombings.

Tensions have been high in the Middle East since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October, with U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria coming under attack more than 100 times in the last five months.

The U.S. blames Iranian-backed proxies for the provocations, and in early February launched major airstrikes on such groups in Syria and Iraq in retaliation for an attack on a base in Jordan that killed three American troops.

Attacks on U.S. forces have since appeared to drop off, but Syria and Irans new accusations indicate a continued hostility in the region that may preface further provocation.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told his Israeli counterpart Tuesday that the number of civilian casualties in Gaza has been far too high and that the strip is suffering a humanitarian catastrophe.

He spoke before a meeting with Israels Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, during which Austin said Jerusalem needs to consider other options to a ground invasion of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinian civilians are sheltering.

But a senior defense official, speaking with reporters afterward on the condition of anonymity, wouldnt say what those alternatives are.

The invasion of Gaza began in the north, as Israel sought to destroy the terrorist group Hamas, which killed more than 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, last October. The Israel Defense Forces have since pushed into Gaza City but failed to kill the groups most senior leaders. Israels government has since been preparing to invade Rafah, a major city in Gazas south, where Hamas battalions have migrated.

Almost half of Gazas population has fled to Rafah since the war began. Many civilians have already escaped conflict more than once, the official said. An invasion would force them to do so again, and risk further civilian casualties. The Gaza Health Ministry estimates more than 32,000 Palestinians have died during the war, roughly two-thirds of whom are women and children.

Rafah sits near the Egyptian border and is the largest entry point for humanitarian support into Gaza. An invasion would risk Jerusalems relationship with Cairo, the official said, while also choking the flow of aid when it needs to widen, the official said. President Joe Biden said this month that the U.S. would build a pier on Gazas coast to allow in more assistance. Six ships with personnel will arrive within the next few weeks and start construction, the official said.

The amount of humanitarian aid [in Gaza] is far too low, Austin said in a short press conference.

Tuesdays meeting follows a public spat between the U.S. and Israel earlier this week. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recalled a group of senior advisors who also planned to soon visit Washington, after the U.S. abstained from a non-binding UN resolution urging a ceasefire. America had previously vetoed such resolutions, though a spokesman for the National Security Council insisted on Monday that there was no change in U.S. policy.

Netanyahu this week also recalled Israels negotiators from Doha, Qatar, who were trying to make a deal for the release of hostages still held by Hamas.

Gallant nonetheless traveled with a list of weapons his country wants from Washington. The administration still supports such aid, which the American defense official said has flowed more rapidly than ever since last October, and isnt weighing any restrictions on how Israel will use it.

Shortly before Gallants visit, Israel submitted assurances to the U.S. that it would comply with human rights laws as required under an executive memorandum Biden signed in February after growing pressure from Democrats in Congress. The memorandum references U.S. laws that cut off security assistance to military units that violate human rights or to countries that block U.S. humanitarian aid.

Former administration officials and many Democratic lawmakers say multiple administrations have not held Israel to these standards, despite credible reports of human rights abuses and the Israeli restrictions on aid trucks into Gaza.

Its hard to see how the Biden administration could with a straight face conclude that the Netanyahu government has provided credible and reliable assurances that it will facilitate and not arbitrarily restrict humanitarian assistance to Gaza when at this very moment theyre doing that, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., told Defense News last week. Obtaining written assurances is only part of the requirement of [the memorandum], the other part is that they be deemed credible and reliable assurances.

Under Bidens memorandum, the Pentagon and State Department must assess Israels compliance with its human rights assurances in May, with noncompliance possibly resulting in the suspension of military aid as stipulated by existing U.S. laws.

The U.S. is instead trying to change Israels behavior in private. Gallant and Austin have spoken over the phone around 40 times, most of which came after last October. They spoke privately in more detail about alternatives to a ground invasion of Rafah, said the official  who wouldnt explain further other than saying Israel would need to protect civilians before any fighting and also use precision strikes.

This was the first of what I think will be quite a number of conversations, the official said.

Correction: A previous version of this article misstated the number of Israeli civilians killed in the Oct. 7 attacks.
Attorneys finished the three-week trial of an accused Tri-Cities serial rapist by talking about the 10 women attacked.

Prosecutors cast them as the perfect victims. All of them engaged an illegal activity  sex work  and many were using drugs or had previous convictions

You heard that sex workers really are the perfect type of individual to victimize, to take advantage of, to shame, Deputy Prosecutors Anita Petra told the jurors this week. All of their actions are done in private. You learned they are in hotel rooms. They are in cars. They are in houses. No one else is around.

Theyre also engaged in an illegal activity, so they dont normally call the police. Many of the women were addicted to drugs, so they faced additional problems if they contacted officers.

But Brandon Jones defense attorney argued the womens criminal history and drug use made them flawed witnesses.

In all, Jones is charged with 22 counts of rape and robbery in Benton County. A jury of seven women and five men began deliberating Monday following a three-week trial.

The victims claim Jones, 28, contacted them through an European-based escort website and arranged to meet them. In each of the cases, he pulled out a pistol and raped them at gunpoint. In most of the cases, hes accused of demanding money first.

Jones, who took the stand in his own defense, admitted to starting to use escorts after his relationship with a girlfriend ran into trouble. He told jurors he bought sex from each of the women, but nothing else.

When cross-examined, he said he didnt know why the women would say he raped and robbed them.

Perfect victims

Petra argued Jones knew exactly what he was doing when he decided to target sex workers starting in August 2020.

Some of the women who took the stand were actively struggling with addiction when they testified, she admitted to the jurors.

Why are those folks going to call the police? she said. They wont. They wont. And whos going to believe them? The shame, where are your children? Where were your children that night? The shame. The mom shame.

Petra noted that many of the crimes happened more than two years ago, and details may have gotten lost, but they all told similar stories.

Some of the women pieced together that Jones was responsible before police got involved and one even called his then girlfriend.

Petra said none of the women had an ulterior motive for testifying and that the events left them deeply affected. Many of them remembered the feeling of the gun pressed against them.

How ironic that the people that they were afraid to call are the ones that gave them a voice, Petra said in her closing argument. They have their voice. We gave them their voice. You have everything you need to find him guilty as charged.

Flawed witnesses

But defense Attorney Tim Dickerson said each of the women gave flawed accounts, and suggested that prosecutors and police were quick to find a suspect and ignore evidence that didnt fit their case.

While prosecutors said Jones had access to four guns, Dickerson said Jones only had one gun. The one he bought in April 2020 for self-defense.

The women gave different descriptions of the gun that was used. Many of the weapons described didnt match the gun Jones owned, Dickerson said. In addition, none mentioned a laser sight like the one on Jones gun.

He also noted that Jones phone had been reported stolen during the time of several of the rapes.

He said many of the women were on drugs at the time and didnt report the crime for years. Several of them knew each other and had already decided Jones was guilty, he argued to the jurors.

Ladies and gentlemen, you were told since the first day of the trial ... that these were the perfect victims. Nobodys going to believe them, he said. Ladies and gentlemen, I think it is with that level of skepticism you need to consider the position Brandon Jones is in today.

How do you show that someone else lacks credibility? How do you show that someone is not being truthful, he said.

He said Jones cooperated with police from the beginning of the investigation. While there have been inconsistencies, Jones has been polite, and even offered the pass code to his phone for officers.

Dickerson noted that Jones did volunteer work in the community and held several jobs. He was one of the leaders of Unbound-Tri-Cities, one of the three Black Lives Matter organizations that were active in the Tri-Cities following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Two people have been arrested by police investigating the murder of a man in a County Down bar more than 30 years ago.

Peter McCormack, who was 42, was shot dead when two gunmen burst into the Thierafurth Inn in Kilcoo on 19 November 1992.

Three other customers, including a 69-year-old man who was registered blind, were also injured in the attack.

A 63-year-old man and a 58-year-old woman were arrested in south County Down on Tuesday morning.

They are being questioned at a police station in Belfast.

The 1992 attack is believed to have been carried out by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF).

Issuing a fresh appeal for information on the 31st anniversary of the murder last year, police said Mr McCormack was "an innocent victim of a sickening sectarian attack".

The bar was full of customers who were about to take part in a charity darts match when the gun attack happened.

Police believe the gunmen made their escape in a grey Ford Orion car, which was found abandoned a few miles away from the bar in Tollymore Forest Park.

The car had been stolen from an address in east Belfast earlier in the day.
EYEWITNESS NEWS (WBRE/WYOU)  The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) announced Monday they will be hosting a meeting of the Fisheries and Hatcheries Committee virtually.

According to the PFBC, the Fisheries and Hatcheries Committee meeting will be held online on Wednesday, April 3, beginning at 1:00 p.m.

PFBC says because the meeting is being held virtually, the process for accepting public comments will be different compared to an in-person meeting.

According to PFBC Officials, public comments regarding the agenda can be submitted by calling (717)-705-7846, from Thursday, March 28 at 12:00 p.m., until Friday, March, 29 at 4:00 p.m.

Dominos franchisee fined for 715 child labor violations

Recorded comments will be limited to five minutes and will be presented to the committee members before the meeting begins.

The meeting can be viewed remotely by joining the Webinar via the Webex link. When prompted for the password enter: Public

If the join link on the PFBC website doesnt work, visitors can join by calling (408)-418-9388, the access code is: 2630 983 0658, and the Password is: 782542 (followed by #).

For more information visit the Minutes and Agendas section of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission website.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PAhomepage.com.
BEIJING, March 26 (Xinhua) -- China and Honduras have carried out fruitful cooperation in many fields since the establishment of diplomatic ties one year ago, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said here Tuesday.

"Today, China and Honduras celebrate the first anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations," Lin said, adding that one year ago, China and Honduras established diplomatic relations on the basis of the one-China principle, and the two countries opened a new chapter in bilateral relations.

The two sides have firmly supported each other on issues concerning each other's core interests since the establishment of diplomatic ties, and conducted fruitful cooperation in economy and trade, agriculture, science and technology, education, tourism and other fields, Lin added.

The rapid development of China-Honduras relations proves that establishing and developing relations with China on the basis of the one-China principle conforms to the trend of history and the times, and serves the fundamental interests of the two countries and two peoples, he said.

Lin said China attaches great importance to its relations with Honduras and will work with Honduras to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, further consolidate political mutual trust and deepen bilateral cooperation.

It is believed that with the joint efforts of both sides, the China-Honduras friendship will grow into a towering tree and bear more fruits, said Lin. 
Wreckage of a red and white aircraft was visible to visitors at the museum - Cambs News/Bav Media

A private plane has crashed at an airfield at Britains largest aviation museum.

Pictures show the wreckage of a red and white aircraft that crashed on Tuesday at Imperial War Museum Duxford, Cambridgeshire.

It has not been confirmed whether there are any casualties. Witnesses said firefighters performed CPR on a person close to the wreckage.

Cambridgeshire Constabulary was told of the crash at 1.41pm, with a spokesman confirming that officers from all emergency services are currently on scene.

A Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue spokesman said 10 fire engines were sent to the scene but said no action by our crews has been needed so far.

A Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue spokesman said "no action by our crews has been needed so far" - Cambs News/Bav Media

IWM Duxford is Britains largest aviation museum and features runways and exhibition buildings containing hundreds of aircraft.

The museum posted on Twitter, formerly X: The emergency services are onsite at IWM Duxford responding to an incident involving a private aircraft.

We have no further information at this time. IWM Duxford is closing to visitors for the remainder of this afternoon.

A party of schoolchildren on a visit to the museum is believed to have witnessed the crash.

Kate Moore, 62, was at Duxford with her husband when the plane crashed.

She said: While we were outside, we heard a bang and turned to see plumes of smoke.

We were a long way away and many others there hadnt an idea anything had occurred. I only saw the crash post-impact.

Its all a rather tragic end to a joyful day seeing the Hurricane and other planes flying after their winter maintenance.

IWM Duxford said it would be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. The attraction plans to reopen on Good Friday.

The colour of the planes crashed fuselage and a partly visible registration on it match a privately owned Cirrus SR-22 Turbo light aircraft that is registered at Duxford airfield.

Flight data from FlightRadar24 shows the aircraft took off from Duxford at 1.21pm and circled the airfield for 19 minutes before crash-landing at 1.39pm.

A team of inspectors from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) was deployed to the crash site.

The Duxford airfield was closed on Tuesday night as emergency services remained at the scene and an investigation into the crash got underway.

Police cars were seen going into a side entrance in the evening darkness while staff and security guards at the site refused to comment.

A spokesman for IWM Duxford said: The emergency services are onsite at IWM Duxford responding to an incident involving a private aircraft. We have no further information at this time.

IWM Duxford will remain closed to visitors on Wednesday 27 and Thursday 28 March. We are expecting to reopen to the public on Friday 29 March. We ask that out of respect for all parties that any speculation be avoided at this time.

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The number of births in Japan dropped to a new low in 2023, with more than twice as many deaths as new babies (Richard A. Brooks)

Japan's plummeting birth rate has led a diaper manufacturer to stop making them for babies at home and instead ramp up production for adults, the company said Tuesday.

Oji Holdings will wrap up domestic output of infant diapers in September, after production dropped from a 2001 peak of around 700 million annually to 400 million today.

"Demand for baby diapers is decreasing because of factors including the falling birth rate," a spokesman told AFP. They will continue to be sold in Japan until stocks run out.

The number of births in Japan dropped to a new low in 2023, with more than twice as many deaths as new babies.

The spokesman said Oji Holdings will boost production of the sanitary items for adults in the country, anticipating their use mainly in facilities like nursing homes.

Japan has the world's oldest population after Monaco, and the market for adult diapers is "expected to grow domestically," the company said in a statement on Monday.

Oji Holdings, which also makes other paper products, said it would however "maintain and expand" baby diaper production and sales overseas, including in Indonesia and Malaysia, citing expectations of growth there.

In Japan, births in 2023 fell for the eighth consecutive year to 758,631, a drop of 5.1 percent, preliminary data showed in February. The number of deaths stood at 1,590,503.

The nation is facing growing labour shortages, and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has vowed policies including financial aid for families, easier childcare access and more parental leave to try and boost the birth rate.

tmo/kaf/ssy
Sanctioned Belarusian timber is being imported into the EU through Poland with forged documents that state the goods come from Kazakhstan. Polish customs officials have said they do not have the physical capacity to verify the authenticity of all customs declarations.

Source: a joint investigation by the Belarusian Investigative Center, the investigative journalism project Skhemy, and Gazeta Wyborcza

Details: The investigators found that imports of wood from Kazakhstan to the EU surged after sanctions were imposed on timber from Belarus. According to Eurostat, in 2022 wood products worth 14 million were imported from Kazakhstan, but in 2023 this figure increased almost fivefold to 68 million.

The journalists analysed a contract between two companies, Kazakhstan's Nurr-electro and Poland's PLRBL, for the supply of pine palisades worth almost 1 million. The contract is dated October 2022, with delivery due in early 2023.

"It turned out that the signatures and stamps on the document from Kazakhstan's Nurr-electro had been forged and, as two independent graphic design experts noted, had been applied to the documents using a photo editor.

In addition, Arman Tuliyevich, Nurr-electros lawyer, told the journalists that There have been no financial transactions under such an agreement, let alone goods and We dont have a seal like that. A representative of the Belarusian haulage company Gallardo admitted that the goods were from Belarus: We didnt bring it from Kazakhstan, we brought it from Belarus, [the lorries] were loaded there," the article says.

Aleh Yanovich, the sole owner of the Polish purchaser, PLRBL, refused to answer the journalists questions.

Using market sources, the investigators discovered that the timber was being shipped from the warehouse of a Belarusian company owned by the aforementioned Yanovich.

Polands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in response to a request from the journalists, stated that the issue of circumventing sanctions is not within their scope of responsibility. The Polish Customs Service stated that they do not have the physical capacity to check all customs declarations.

"Poland's Interior Ministry replied to say that it has launched a probe into the facts set out in the request, but it has so far refrained from commenting," the article says.

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Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland Radosaw Sikorski speaks at a press conference at the Visegrad Group (V4) near Praza, Czech Republic, 21 March 2024

Polish Foreign Minister Radosaw Sikorski discussed the latest incident involving a Russian missile breaching NATO airspace with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Polands Foreign Ministry announced on March 25.

"Minister Sikorski briefed the NATO Secretary General on the details of the violation of Polish airspace by a Russian cruise missile on March 24 and the procedures activated in this context," the statement said.

Read also: Russian missiles entering NATO airspace should be intercepted  Lithuania

This is yet another case where Russia's actions  a country that continues its unjustified and brutal aggression against Ukraine  threaten the security of NATO member countries, Sikorski said.

The leaders also discussed ways to strengthen the security of Polish and allied airspace and the upcoming meeting of NATO foreign ministers, which will focus on preparations for the NATO Summit in Washington in July.

The violation of Polish airspace by a Russian missile on March 24  What is Known?

A Russian missile entered Polish airspace near the village of Ocerdow in the Lublin Voivodeship at 5:23 a.m. EET on March 26, and stayed in the country's airspace for 39 seconds, the Polish Armed Forces reported.

Read also: Critical infrastructure facility in Lviv Oblast came under missile attack

The object was tracked by Polish military radar systems throughout its flight.

The Polish Foreign Affairs Ministry demanded explanations from Russia and called on the country to "stop terrorist air attacks against the residents and territory of Ukraine and to end the war and deal with the country's (Russias  ed.) internal problems."

The Russian ambassador will be summoned to the ministry "today or tomorrow," Polands Deputy Foreign Minister, Andrzej Sheyna, said at the time, though he didnt name a specific date. Poland's further decisions will depend on the ambassador's explanations.

Polish forces would have shot down the Russian missile that violated Polish airspace in the morning if there had been certainty that it was heading towards a target deep within the country, Polish Defense Minister Vladislav Kosinyak-Kamysh said.

Poland suggested that a Russian X-101 missile could have entered the country's airspace on March 25.

Read also: Victim count of Russian missile strike on Kyiv rises to ten

This is not the first time Russian missiles have entered Polish skies.

A Russian missile was in Polish airspace for about three minutes during an attack on Dec. 29, 2023, and more Russian missiles approached the border with Poland on Feb. 7, 2024.



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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Polish Defence Minister Wadysaw Kosiniak-Kamysz has said that Warsaw will respond to the Russian ambassador's disregard of a summons to the Polish Foreign Ministry over the violation of the country's airspace by a Russian missile.

Source: European Pravda with reference to Polish news channel Polsat

Quote: "This is not the first time that we have had to deal with violations of both the law and international standards (on the part of Russians  ed.)."

Details: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland summoned Russian ambassador Sergei Andreev on Monday because a missile fired as part of the attack on Ukraine in the early hours of 24 March flew over the Lublin Voivodeship in Poland. However, the Russian diplomat ignored the invitation to the ministry.

Kosiniak-Kamysz said that the Polish authorities will make further decisions in connection with Andreev's behaviour.

"We are in constant contact with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Prime Minister, the President and the National Security Bureau. These should be coordinated decisions of the community because this is the reaction of the entire Polish state," he added.

Kosiniak-Kamysz stressed that further steps could be expected in the coming days. According to him, the ambassador's decision was "absolutely wrong".

"This is a manifestation of contempt, and we cannot treat it indifferently," Kosiniak-Kamysz commented on the words of the Kremlin diplomat, who said he had not been provided with evidence of a Russian missile.

Background:

On 24 March at 04:23, Polish airspace was violated by a cruise 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.

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Police in Utah have arrested three teenagers in connection to the daylight abduction and killing of a transgender young man, whose body was later found dumped in the desert.

The three youths, aged 15, 17, and 17, were taken into custody last week for the abduction and murder of Alex Franco, 21, outside the home of his girlfriend on March 17. The accused have not been named due to their ages.

Franco willingly entered a 2000s white Jeep Liberty around 4:15 p.m. on Sunday, March 17, but was killed by a single gunshot fired by the 15-year-old suspect following a brief exchange of words, according to statements posted to social media by the Taylorsville Police Department. His body was found on Tuesday, March 19, in a remote desert region outside Lehi.

Alyssa Henry, Francos girlfriend, told local CBS affiliate KUTV that the three were friends of friends who were going to give the pair a ride to a local park. However, police say Franco was meeting with the youths to purchase a gun.

The three youths reportedly told police they intended to rob Franco, but he was shot and killed during an argument instead. The 17-year-old teen reportedly admitted to police he was the driver of the vehicle, while the 15-year-old reportedly confessed to his girlfriend that he shot Franco with a 9 mm handgun.

Friends and family remembered Franco fondly.

Hes had his tough spots and stuff, but hes a good kid, Francos aunt, Sherry Bennett told local ABC affiliate KTVX. He walks in the room and everyone brightens up immediately, so its really hard to even think that somebody could be so mad to do this to him.

An EverLoved donation page has been created to help the family with funeral expenses. The page has gathered over $10,000 with an original $5,000 goal.
Police stand in the Maalbeek underpass, where the stairs are blocked by hay and trash thrown by farmers, during a protest against EU agricultural policy and demand improvements in their industry. Timon Ramboer/Belga/dpa

Police have arrested one person for throwing Molotov cocktails at security forces in Brussels during farmers protests.

Two police officers were injured and transferred to hospital, according to a statement from the Belgian police.

The Belgian police said tear gas was deployed against farmers to stop them from breaking through police barriers with tractors.

A total of 250 tractors travelled to the Belgian capital to take part in the protests. Farmers also set fire to large quantities of straw and tyres near EU institution buildings, police said.

Farmers with their tractors protest against EU agricultural policy and demand improvements in their industry. Timon Ramboer/Belga/dpa

Farmers with their tractors protest against EU agricultural policy and demand improvements in their industry. Gregory Ienco/Belga/dpa
This photo taken on March 23, 2024 shows an electric bus on the street in Kigali, Rwanda. Chinese manufacturers of electric buses have set BasiGo, a Kenya-based company, on course toward its business sustainability but also the start of a significant role in advancing Rwanda's transition to greener transportation.

It is roughly three months since BasiGo launched pilot electric buses in public transport in Kigali, Rwanda's capital, in collaboration with city authorities, following their successful introduction in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. (Photo by Atulinda Allan/Xinhua)

KIGALI, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese manufacturers of electric buses have set BasiGo, a Kenya-based company, on course toward its business sustainability but also the start of a significant role in advancing Rwanda's transition to greener transportation.

It is roughly three months since BasiGo launched pilot electric buses in public transport in Kigali, Rwanda's capital, in collaboration with city authorities, following their successful introduction in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.

The company imports fully-built electric buses from China and works with three public transport company operators in Rwanda.

The pilot phase has been successful, winning over customers who had no prior knowledge of the company brand, according to Doreen Orishaba, the company's managing director.

"The pilot has really been successful. We had targeted to run it for three months and within these few months, the bus operators have already seen the advantages of going green. We already have reservations for 132 units," Orishaba told Xinhua in a recent interview. "Different bus operators have reached out to us and would like to place orders of up to 132 units. I'm sure the number is going to keep growing. We are really grateful for the enthusiasm with which the market has received these electric buses."

This success has been made possible through factors such as collaboration with innovative Chinese companies.

It is easier to scale when the buses fully built are imported, and the sustainability agenda is clear, according to Orishaba.

"We choose China because they are the leading manufacturers in battery technology, which is the heart of our business. We look at the performance of the battery, which is the heart of our buses," she said. "What China has been able to get right is the pricing, which makes business sense. That is one of the areas where we could credit the Chinese manufacturers."

A fully charged bus can travel 300 km without the need to be recharged while charging points are installed at specific spots in the capital.

The company's goal is to deliver 100 buses in the next 12 months on the streets of Kigali, and 200 buses in the next two years each with the capacity to carry 70 passengers.

"Our mission is to create the future of electric public transport. We started in Nairobi, and now we are here in Kigali. We are very excited about Rwanda," Orishaba said.

The Rwandan government has been promoting the use of electric locomotives.

Electric and hybrid vehicles are exempted from taxes, one big incentive that makes them a lot more attractive.

The government has also given a better tariff for charging electric vehicles.

The government assigned electric charging stations a larger industrial tariff which is the best tariff in the entire electricity tariff regime in the country.

Even with an enabling environment for electric vehicles, however, there had not been an electric bus in Rwanda until BasiGo came into the space.

BasiGo electric buses are much cheaper to operate, according to Orishaba.

The company's mission is to make the electric bus as affordable to the operator as possible.

At the heart of the company's sales strategy is the lease model, where it asks for a small security deposit per bus and the rest is paid under the pay-as-you-drive financing model. It is a mileage-based fee, charged based on every kilometer driven.

The cost of electricity is embedded into the bus's cost, as well as regular service and maintenance, which make the bus even cheaper. The operator can also track the bus; all the information on the bus is brought to the operator.

Innocent Umuhoza, one of the company's drivers, said besides being good for the environment, the electric buses are also great for the wallet because the operator spends less on charging compared to what would be spent at a petrol or gasoline station.

Umuhoza said the fuel he would need to fill a diesel-powered bus costing above 100 U.S. dollars, yet electricity worth about 30 dollars is enough to drive from Kigali town center to Remera Taxi Park, about 10 km from the city center. "We used to face challenges of lack of diesel. The diesel-powered engines easily break down. The consumption of electric buses is low," he said.

The buses are equipped with cameras, so passengers feel a bit safe because the footage can always be traced should anything happen on the bus. The drivers are also able to know what is behind them and what is ahead.

Passengers testify that the bus is quiet, and at the end of the day, they look forward to sitting in that quiet environment, seeking to unwind.

Frank Nkotanyi, a passenger, said unlike old gasoline-powered buses which produce dangerous fumes, electric buses conserve the environment 100 percent. He added that the buses are well-built in the interior, and installed with mobile phone charging pots as well as internet, which make passengers happy.

"We are replacing the reliance on imported diesel with the use of locally generated electricity; in that case, the government is making savings. But the main reason why we started as BasiGO is the environmental concerns. For every bus BasiGO puts on a Rwandan road, we are helping mitigate up to 30 tonnes of CO2 emissions," said Orishaba. "So, at the end of the day, we are ending up with a quieter bus, cleaner environment, cheaper operations, and more savings for the operator and government."

Orishaba cited setting up charging infrastructure for the buses among the major challenges, which requires proximity to the high-voltage power line, but should not be an overloaded line.

"Charging infrastructure is complex and capital intensive. The power to feed the chargers is what makes it a bit complex and expensive," she said. 

This photo taken on March 23, 2024 shows an electric bus on the street in Kigali, Rwanda. Chinese manufacturers of electric buses have set BasiGo, a Kenya-based company, on course toward its business sustainability but also the start of a significant role in advancing Rwanda's transition to greener transportation.

It is roughly three months since BasiGo launched pilot electric buses in public transport in Kigali, Rwanda's capital, in collaboration with city authorities, following their successful introduction in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. (Photo by Atulinda Allan/Xinhua)

This photo taken on March 19, 2024 shows electric buses at a charging station in Kigali, Rwanda. Chinese manufacturers of electric buses have set BasiGo, a Kenya-based company, on course toward its business sustainability but also the start of a significant role in advancing Rwanda's transition to greener transportation.

It is roughly three months since BasiGo launched pilot electric buses in public transport in Kigali, Rwanda's capital, in collaboration with city authorities, following their successful introduction in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.(Photo by Atulinda Allan/Xinhua)

A worker charges an electric bus at a charging station in Kigali, Rwanda, March 19, 2024. Chinese manufacturers of electric buses have set BasiGo, a Kenya-based company, on course toward its business sustainability but also the start of a significant role in advancing Rwanda's transition to greener transportation.

It is roughly three months since BasiGo launched pilot electric buses in public transport in Kigali, Rwanda's capital, in collaboration with city authorities, following their successful introduction in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.(Photo by Atulinda Allan/Xinhua)
A Twin Falls Police Department affidavit shed light into the arrest of two men accused of orchestrating an ambush at a Boise hospital that resulted in three injured Idaho Department of Correction officers.

Skylar Meade and Nicholas Umphenour were arrested Thursday after a 36-hour statewide manhunt ended just two hours east of the Treasure Valley. After the shooting at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise early Wednesday, authorities alleged, Meade and Umphenour drove roughly six hours north to the Lewiston area and killed two men that afternoon.

By 2 p.m. Thursday, the two suspects were arrested in Twin Falls with the assistance of several local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.

The Boise Police Department said Umphenour shot two IDOC officers while Meade, an Idaho prisoner being treated for self-inflicted injuries, was being taken back to prison around 2 a.m. Wednesday  allowing the pair to flee police custody. A third officer was also shot by Boise police.

Two of the officers have been released from the hospital, according to IDOC Director Josh Tewalt. The third officer is still hospitalized.

Umphenour has been charged with five felonies: three counts of aggravated battery or assault against law enforcement, use of a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony and aiding and abetting an escape, according to a criminal complaint filed by the Ada County Prosecutors Office. Meade faces a single count of felony escape, court records showed.

While Idaho State Police said they believe the men are connected to the North Idaho homicides of 72-year-old Don Henderson and 83-year-old James Mauney, the suspects havent been charged in their deaths.

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.

Affidavit outlines Thursdays arrest

At around 1:30 p.m. Thursday, FBI Agent Christopher Sheehan was surveilling a residential area in Filer, which is about 15 minutes west of Twin Falls, when he witnessed Umphenour leave the neighborhood, according to the affidavit written by Twin Falls Police Officer Alex Howard.

While pursuing Umphenour, 28, the affidavit said, Sheehan saw Meade in the passenger seat of another vehicle, a silver Chevy Silverado pickup truck, and switched to pursuing the 31-year-old Meade. At this point, the driver, later identified as Tonia Huber, began speeding upwards of 100 mph toward Twin Falls, the affidavit said.

The vehicle traveled more than 30 miles per hour above the posted speed limit and drove the pickup in a manner as to endanger or likely to endanger a person or property, Howard said in the affidavit.

Huber eventually drove into a Walgreens parking lot just off of U.S. 93, where Twin Falls Police Officer Tyler Kuder struck the vehicle on its side with his own vehicle to force it sideways and stop it, a maneuver typically called a pursuit intervention technique or PIT maneuver, to stop the truck, the affidavit said. Meade and Huber were arrested.

Police said Umphenour was also arrested in the Twin Falls area, though its unknown exactly where. The other vehicle Umphenour was driving was from one of the homicide victims, the affidavit said.

Howard, who was also at the scene, said when he arrested Huber he found three fentanyl pills in the vehicle where Huber was sitting, the affidavit said. The 52-year-old was charged with three felonies: harboring a fugitive, eluding a police officer in a motor vehicle, and possession of a controlled substance, online court records showed.

Huber also had a warrant out for her arrest after she missed a court date last year, Twin Falls Magistrate Judge Benjamin Harmer said in court Friday. Online court records showed Huber was charged with misdemeanor petit theft in May 2023. Huber posted her $505,000 bond Friday.







Meade and Umphenours next hearing set for April

Meade and Umphenour were extradited to the Ada County Jail over the weekend and appeared in court Monday. During the afternoon hearing, prosecutors for the Ada County Prosecutors Office asked 4th District Magistrate Judge Michael Dean to maintain Meade and Umphenours bonds at $2 million.

Ada County Deputy Prosecutor Heather Reilly said Umphenour is an extreme risk to the community, citing his long criminal history. Umphenour served three separate prison sentences as an adult related to burglary and hunting, the Statesman reported.

Both men remained at the Ada County Jail on Monday evening on their $2 million bonds, jail records showed. Theyll be expected to appear in court for their next hearings at 8:30 a.m. April 8 at the Ada County Courthouse, according to online court records.

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AUSTIN (KXAN)  Austin police have identified the driver who was killed in a single-vehicle crash on U.S. Highway 290 Friday, March 15. The vehicles passenger had non-life-threatening injuries from the crash.

1 dead, 1 hurt after crash on Hwy 290

The Austin Police Department identified the driver as Jacoby Dywayne Larue Mahome, 30.

On Friday, March 15, around 6:15 a.m., APD officers responded to a single vehicle crash in the 8700 block of East U.S. 290.

Mahome was pronounced deceased on the scene. The passenger was transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.



This incident is being investigated as Austins 16th fatal crash of 2024, resulting in 16 fatalities for the year.

Anyone with any information should contact APDs Vehicular Homicide unit at 512-974-8111. You may submit your tip anonymously through the Capital Area Crime Stoppers Program by visiting austincrimestoppers.org or calling 512-472-8477.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR)  The Oklahoma City Police Department is on the scene of a apartment shooting in Northwest Oklahoma City.

Police are still searching for the shooter. One person was taken to the hospital.

KFOR has a team on the scene at 5825 NW 34th Street.

No further information has been released at this time.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
The world we and our ancestors have lived in for the last three centuries is ending and we are entering a new one. Many things we have taken for granted will no longer be true. The reason is, that as a new report from the Lancet makes clear, three hundred years of steady and often rapid population growth has ended. By 2100 global population will have peaked and started to decline. This is a major historical turning point. Also, it is not simply a matter of a static or (actually) declining world population  the nature of that population will also change. It will be much older, with the report estimating there will be twice as many people over 80 as under five  nearly 900 million over-80s worldwide.

The reason for the anticipated fall in global population, a population crunch, is simple. People all over the world are not having enough children to keep populations stable, much less growing. In the last 60 years and particularly the last 30 there has been a precipitous decline in birthrates everywhere. This fall accelerated everywhere about 30 years ago and the biggest and steepest declines are in places like the Middle East and Africa where they were high. Very few countries now have a birthrate above the replacement level of 2.1 children per couple (the level needed to keep a population stable). The report predicts that just 26 countries will still have more births than deaths by 2100, almost all of them in Africa.

This means some countries will still see population growth by 2100 (mainly due to population inertia rather than high birthrates, because they have a younger population and therefore lower death rates) but the majority will see significant declines absent large scale migration. In some places such as China and Japan this has already started.

We should add that even this scenario may err on the upside. Africa is the place seeing the fastest rate of birth rate decline over the last decade and if that continues even countries like Nigeria will have a Total Fertility Rate below replacement before the end of the century. Their population will still be growing but will start to decline early in the next century or even sooner.

What does all this mean? It means we are on the cusp of a massive change or shift in the nature of economics, politics, international relation  in fact the whole of human life. All kinds of assumptions will have to be discarded and if we continue to act on them we will be disappointed, because they will not work anymore.

World population has been rising steadily since the 1960s, at first slowly but after roughly 1870 rapidly. The world population reached one billion in the middle of the last century and now stands at around eight billion. This sustained population growth happened despite world wars, major epidemics and the kinds of mass slaughter perpetrated by twentieth century despots. This kind of growth underlies things we take for granted. It is one of the foundational features of the modern world  for most of history in most places human numbers were stable or grew very slowly. When it did grow that was localised and it did not last. Sustained global population growth is found only in the last three hundred years. We are now reverting to the historical norm. What we can expect over the next century is population decline, at first gradual and then apparently sudden and rapid.

How will things change as a result? Simply, many of the central features of modernity will fade away. The most dramatic will be a decline in economic growth, to stable but very low levels or even stasis. There will be local variations and this will not happen everywhere at the same time but the global pattern will be clear. One aspect with global implications is that by the end of this century Africa and the Indian subcontinent will be the main places where growth is still happening.

The reason is straightforward. If population is static or declining and older then there is much less dynamism and innovation. The profile of the population combined with fewer children means a smaller part of the population available for productive work and they will have to support a larger unproductive part. Fewer people means lower demand with this multiplied by the higher proportion of older people. The value of assets, particularly real estate, will decline and the incomes they generate will fall. This feeds through into a general decline in the return on investments of all kinds. As a result, growth will decline to its normal historical low level.

This also means that politics and policies predicated on growth are just not viable. In particular the kind of welfare state we now have, with massive cash transfers, is not going to last much longer. Larger government that spends more money in absolute terms each year will also be a thing of the past. The need to care for a growing elderly population will mean a major decline in the rate of labour market participation, as far more people have to do unpaid care work. All this will have huge social consequences.

The pattern of global population stagnation and decline and its uneven rate has two other consequences. The next 30 to 40 years will see a massive and unstoppable migration from the parts of the world whose population is still growing to the areas with a declining population. This is not a matter of policy or collective choice, much less a conspiracy. It is an emergent phenomenon produced by millions of individual decisions. The ultimate force driving it is natural population dynamics, which we can observe in nature and which apply with equal force to humans. Just as rapid population growth in 19th century Europe led to a migration from there to places like the Americas and Australia, so the residual growth in places like Africa plus declining populations in other parts of the world will produce large migrations now.

The other side of this though is that after about 30 years the migration flows will fade away and they may well even go into reverse as Africas population gets older (migration is a young persons game). In the Americas it will stop much sooner, because of the older age profile of Latin America.

Is this something we can or should try to resist? The evidence suggests that checking or reversing demographic trends like this is not easy. Pro-natalist policies have been tried in several countries but to little or no effect. One reason for this is that we do not really understand what is going on and what is driving this decline in births. We have known for a long time that economic development and urbanisation lead to women having fewer children because of changed incentives but something additional seems to have happened on top of that in the last two or three decades and we do not really understood what that is. We may have to radically change our entire way of life to make it much more family friendly. Alternatively there may be a biological reason, something driving declining fertility and declining male fertility in particular, but right now that is purely speculative.

The conclusions are obvious. We need a lot more research into human fertility and the psychology and sociology of human reproduction if we want to reverse this decline in birth rates. Regardless of that, the reality of a declining population is something we need to think about urgently, We need to change our expectations. The old maps will no longer work and we need to start drawing new ones.

Dr Stephen Davies is a historian and author

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BEIJING, March 26 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson on Tuesday urged Japan to earnestly respect the security concerns of neighboring countries and deeply reflect on its history of aggression.

According to media reports, the Japanese government decided to lift the ban on the export of next-generation fighter jets set to be jointly developed with Britain and Italy at a Cabinet meeting and revised the implementation guidelines of Three Principles on Transfer of Defense Equipment and Technology at the national security conference.

"China noted relevant reports and expresses grave concern over the decision," spokesperson Lin Jian said at a daily news briefing when answering a relevant query.

Lin said given Japan's not-too-distant history of militarist aggression, Japan's military and security moves are closely watched by its Asian neighbors and the international community.

In recent years, Japan has been drastically readjusting its security policy, increasing defense spending year after year, relaxing restrictions on arms export and seeking military breakthroughs. These moves trigger serious concerns among Japan's neighboring countries and the international community, Lin said.

"We urge Japan to earnestly respect the security concerns of neighboring countries, deeply reflect on its history of aggression, commit itself to the path of peaceful development and earn the trust of its Asian neighbors and the international community through concrete actions," Lin added. 
Kansas lawmakers want to block children from accessing pornography online by passing a bill that never mentions pornography.

If Senate Bill 394 becomes law, it could also lead to adults also losing access to online porn, as has happened under a similar law in Texas.

"It is a bill about protecting children, specifically online protection, and particularly children accessing pornography online," said Rep. Susan Humphries, R-Wichita.

The bill never mentions any variation of the word "porn." Instead, it uses the term "harmful to minors."

"Harmful to minors" has a broad definition in state law that some legislators suggested could extend beyond pornography.

After giving the bill initial approval on Monday, the House was expected to take a final vote on Tuesday to send the bill to Gov. Laura Kelly's desk.

Rep. Susan Humphries, R-Wichita, was the top Republican on the House floor arguing in favor of a bill to require age verification for accessing online pornography.

Under the bill, a commercial entity that distributes such material on at least 25% of its webpages must verify the age of any person in Kansas before they can access their website. They must use either a database or age-verification technology specified by the Kansas Attorney General's Office.

Failure to do so can result in lawsuits by the attorney general, with civil penalties of up to $10,000 for each violation or lawsuits by the parent or legal guardian of a minor for statutory damages of no less than $50,000.

"The harms that pornography cause to our Kansas kids compel us to create barriers for their access," Humphries said.

"This bill is a powerful tool for us," she added. "It is putting porn websites on notice that they cannot continue to offer websites to children without any sort of accountability. It is our responsibility to protect the children of Kansas."

Rep. Dan Osman, D-Overland Park, raised concerns about cybersecurity and identity theft. He said the bill could require consumers to give their drivers license or passport to a third party verification system located in another country that could ignore the bill's provision prohibiting the retention of identifying information, such as Social Security numbers.

"All of us in this room can agree porn is bad for kids," Osman said. "All of us in this room can agree minors should not have access to porn, and that it is harmful to them."

"You don't make policy based on that," he continued. "You don't stop your analysis at that point and say, 'Well, if it's bad, we need to do something about it' and then not give consideration as to what it is that you're actually planning to do about it. This bill is rife with security risks. It's rife with big government coming down and telling you what to do. It is rife with First Amendment issues."

Pornhub blocked access in Texas due to similar law

"This bill is narrowly tailored so it does not run afoul of First Amendment rights," Humphries said. "In fact, other states have passed this. In Texas, the Fifth Circuit has found that this does not run afoul of First Amendment rights. Of course, children have no constitutional right to access pornography."

Rep. Patrick Penn, R-Wichita, said he introduced similar legislation because he wants to protect children, including his own.

"Nothing in this bill would preclude any adult from looking at all the nasty material that their heart desires," he said.

But opponents of the legislation said the bill could result in adults losing access, as has happened in Texas.

While a federal judge previously ruled in favor of Pornhub, which alleged that Texas' law violated free speech rights, a federal appeals court upheld the law.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued Pornhub's parent company and other porn websites, reported the Austin American-Statesman, of the USA TODAY NETWORK.

Pornhub then blocked access to all users in Texas, and Google search trends for "Texas VPN" surged, reported the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, also of the USA TODAY NETWORK.

Osman joked that the bill is sponsored by a VPN company. Virtual private networks encrypt the user's internet connection through a remote server, which can mask the user's location and allow them to circumvent the geographical restriction on accessing porn.

"Passing this law will not stop children from accessing pornography on the internet," said Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita. "It will only encourage them to buy a VPN, or even worse, go looking for things on the dark web. That's not a good idea."

He suggested better solutions would be for parents to use parental controls, monitor or restrict internet access, not give their children smartphones or not allow desktops to be used behind closed doors.

Is 'harmful to minors' open to interpretation?

Rep. Rui Xu, D-Westwood, said he wasn't sure if it was an intended or unintended consequence, but "the definitions are much broader than we actually think."

He noted that the "harmful to minors" definition includes "sexual conduct," which has a definition that includes "homosexuality."

Rep. Brandon Woodard, D-Lenexa, who is gay, said, "It is fun learning  that we are defined as harmful to minors or sexual conduct just for being who we are."

"Under my reading of this bill," Xu said, " if a self-hosted blog is about the top 10 most gay-friendly cities or top 10 gay-friendly colleges, that would be in violation of this bill."

Humphries was skeptical that a list of cities would meet the "harmful to minors" definition.

Carmichael suggested the bill could apply to websites that have books that Moms for Liberty wants to remove from libraries. The conservative organization has has campaigned against books that touch on gender and sexuality topics.

"One parent out of 100 may decide that those books are harmful to their child, and that one parent brings a civil lawsuit," he said.

Likewise, Michelangelo's nude sculpture of David, "Some people think that is harmful to minors," he said.

Saying he wasn't using it as a prop, which would violate a new rule imposed by Republicans earlier this session, Carmichael motioned toward a painting on the ceiling of the House chamber of a fully exposed female breast and nipple.

"I'm not using it as a prop, it's in the chamber itself, you can see a lot more of a female breast than many of us think is appropriate," he said.

Jason Alatidd is a Statehouse reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at jalatidd@gannett.com. Follow him on X @Jason_Alatidd.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: With Pornhub blocked in Texas, Kansas pursues an age verification law
The Port of Baltimore handled foreign goods worth more than $80 billion last year (ROBERTO SCHMIDT)

Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, named after the poet who penned the lyrics to the US national anthem, used to carry around 34,000 vehicles a day across one of the busiest harbors in the United States.

Its nighttime collapse, within seconds of being struck by a container ship, is likely to cause major economic damage for as long as it continues to block shipping in the Port of Baltimore.

The bridge's dramatic destruction shut the port for maritime traffic, which last year accounted for more than 52 million tons of foreign cargo, worth some $80 billion, according to a recent statement from Maryland Governor Wes Moore's office.

Baltimore is the deepest harbor in Maryland's Chesapeake Bay, and handles the highest volume of autos and light trucks in the United States, as well as the largest quantities of imported sugar and gypsum.

"There is no question that this will be a major and protracted impact to supply chains," said US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg at a press briefing.

"It's too soon to offer estimates on what it will take to clear the channel and reopen the port," he added.

The Port of Baltimore is the ninth-busiest major US port in terms of both foreign cargo handled and foreign cargo value, and is directly responsible for more than 15,000 jobs while supporting almost 140,000 more.

"We're going to do everything we can to protect those jobs and help those workers," President Joe Biden told reporters in a brief address from the White House.

"I'm directing my team to move heaven and earth to reopen the port and rebuild the bridge as soon as humanly possible," he said, adding: "This is gonna take some time."

- 'Disrupt commercial activities' -

The Port of Baltimore generates around $3.3 billion in total personal income each year, according to the Maryland State Archives, and brings in almost $400 million in annual tax revenues.

More than 50 ocean carriers use the port every year, making a total of almost 1,800 trips annually.

Alongside its use as a major port for so-called roll on/roll off container shipping, the Port of Baltimore also serves as a cruise terminal.

Last year, more than 440,000 individuals cruised out of the port -- the most since 2012, according to the Governor's office.

The extended closure of the Francis Scott Key Bridge "will inevitably disrupt commercial activities and supply chains," the Maryland Chamber of Commerce said in a statement.

- 'Inadequate' protection -

Major bridges over shipping lanes like this one are supposed to be designed in such a way to minimize damage in the event of a collision, according to bridge designer Robert Benaim.

"Clearly the protection of the piers in this instance was inadequate," he said.

"A pier or column of a bridge could never resist the impact of a large ship. They must be protected from collision," he added.

Toby Mottram, structural engineering professor at the University of Warwick, voiced a similar view.

"It's evident that the pier couldn't withstand the impact energy, leading to its failure and subsequent collapse of the steel truss and reinforced concrete deck superstructure," he said.

"The extent of the damage to the bridge superstructure appears disproportionate to the cause, a matter for future investigation," he added.

da-bys/md
Class of 1960 alum Linda Morton, of Seabeck, places her personal copies of yearbooks that belonged to her parents Jim and Harriet Morton and issues of the student newspaper the Megaphone on one of the tables in the library as she gets ready for the start of the Central Kitsap High School 100 Year Celebration on Monday, March 25, 2024.

SILVERDALE  Standing alone at a table located inside the Central Kitsap High School library, Linda Morton held laminated pages of the school's student newspaper in her hands. The pages were from 1960, the same year Morton graduated from the school.

Pretty soon, Morton's eyes found a small black-and-white photo  her senior portrait  used in the newspaper, then known as the "Megaphone." Among the accomplishments listed in student-typed was Morton being crowned as queen at the 1960 Pan American assembly.

"There I am. That's me," Morton said. "Look at that."

There was plenty of history for curious eyes to discover Monday evening as Central Kitsap hosted its 100th year celebration at the high school. Roughly 200 current and former students, young and old, gathered inside the commons, some taking tours of the building, which opened in 2019.

Others joined Morton in the library, where Cougar memorabilia awaited: lunch tickets that cost 25 or 35 cents; old newspaper clippings and commencement notes; faded yearbooks dating back all the way to 1925, one year after the first high school opened as Port Washington Bay Union High School, which remained the name until becoming Central Kitsap in 1950.

1974 alumni Ken James flips through a yearbook looking for his sisters photo on Monday, March 25, 2024.

"When my parents went here, it was Port Washington," said Morton, whose father, Jim, graduated from the school in 1934 and whose mother, Harriet, graduated in 1936. When Central Kitsap held a celebration in 2019 to say goodbye to the former high school building, Harriet Morton was in attendance.

"She passed away the next month, four months shy of her 100th birthday," Morton said. "As sharp as a tack."

Monday's gathering continued with a 45-minute program inside the school's spacious performing arts center, where current ASB president Ferrah Capas and Class of 2025 president Ambar Gaxiola welcomed guests. Capas and Gaxiola introduced performances by members of Central Kitsap's string quartet and saxophone ensemble, while remarks were provided by Central Kitsap High School Principal Craig Johnson, Central Kitsap School District Superintendent Erin Prince, and Central Kitsap High School Alumni Association member Judy Eagleson.

Prince reflected on Central Kitsap's humble beginnings, noting that original construction on the first school began in the 1920s after 96 families pledged $10 apiece to pay for the land purchase.

"I've actually seen the pledge signatures on a piece of paper myself," Prince said. "It's so meaningful to look back on the history of where Central Kitsap High School started."

Mary Lou Dahl, of Silverdale, wears her letterman jacket during the Central Kitsap High School 100 Year Celebration on Monday, March 25, 2024.

Prince pointed out how Central Kitsap students over the years grew up through numerous life-changing events: the Great Depression, World War II, the Civil Rights Movement, the moon landing, the 9/11 attacks.

"It's all part of this school's history and story," Prince said.

Johnson described Monday's centennial a "fantastic milestone," but said it wasn't just a celebration of existing for 100 years, "but rather a celebration of longevity for supporting a successful community that we can all be proud of. It's a true community accomplishment to have developed no less than thousands of graduates over the years who have fulfilled our shared purpose."

Eagleson, who graduated from Central Kitsap in 1978, was living in the Washington D.C. area when she decided to move back to the Silverdale area so her children could attend the school. The idea for the alumni association was born soon after her son became a Cougar and the group helped fund $60,000 in technology upgrades in classrooms. Other funds generated by the association have paid for numerous other school items, including the electronic reader board on Bucklin Hill and video equipment in the current commons.

"While you might have a new school, we still are all Cougars and we're all orange and black," Eagleson told the audience, "and that connects us all together."

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Central Kitsap High School alumni mark school's 100th anniversary
A Georgia Chick-fil-A manager and her unborn child were killed in an accident with a prisoner transport van, WALB reports.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Kristen Brooke Clarke, 33, of Bainbridge, was killed in the crash in Panama City on Saturday. She was seven months pregnant at the time of the crash and just 24 hours away from her baby shower. Her unborn child, Asher Blaze, was also killed.

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Police said Clarke failed to yield and crashed into a prisoner transport van. Seven other people, including three prisoners in the transport van, were taken to the hospital.

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Co-workers told WALB that they planned to throw her a baby shower on Sunday.

To us, she was a remarkable leader, a loyal and fierce friend. She was a mother figure to many and a sister to us all. She made sure that her team was taken care of, the Chick-fil-A in Bainbridge wrote on Facebook. She gave of her time, love, talent, and resources to make sure her team felt loved and supported.

Clarke was the co-general manager at the store on Tallahassee Highway in Bainbridge, which is about 15 miles from the Georgia/Florida line.
MEMPHIS, Tenn.  Two weeks from today, one of the most exciting astronomical events will take place  a total solar eclipse.

On April 8, a large portion of the United States will be treated to the eclipse even though portions of the Mid-South will not be in whats called the path of totality.

Everybody knows American Paper Optics produces safe solar glasses. Ive been doing it for 33 years, said John Jerit, American Paper Optics President and CEO.

The worlds largest 3-D optics company is in overdrive making glasses for millions of people hoping to witness the solar eclipse.

 Download the WREG App today and stay up to date with breaking news and weather.

 Sign up for WREG newsletters and have the latest top stories sent right to your inbox.

 See more breaking news, local news and weather from WREG.com for Memphis and the Mid-South.

The demand is unprecedented for this upcoming U.S. Total Solar Eclipse, Jerit said. Weve already manufactured about 70 million glasses and I suspect by the end of the next two weeks, well suppass 75 million glasses manufactured and shipped. Its crazy.

The company is producing about one and a half million specially designed glasses a day that many will wear to see the celestial phenomenon.

But American Paper Optics says beware of counterfeits. They say to look for glasses with their name, address, and a stamp on them because theyve been tested for safety.

There are a lot of counterfeit glasses that are being offered on Amazon and eBay, he said. Just buy from a domestic manufacturer or website eclipseglasses.com and youll be safe.

Why is the 2024 total solar eclipse so unique?

Next week, Memphis will experience a partial solar eclipse where the moon only covers part of the sun. The path of totality will be in Central and West Arkansas. The closest city in the eclipse path is Jonesboro.

Jim Jackson, the executive director of the West Memphis Advertising and Promotions Commission, says West Memphis will be ready, too.

Were going to be totally dark for about two minutes. Cities like West Memphis are bracing for a massive influx of tourists, Jackson said. The eclipse is anticipating to draw somewhere between 750 maybe a million people to Arkansas. That only has a population of two million people.

Hotels, restaurants, parks, and roadways are expected to be packed.

Sonic Drive-In celebrates upcoming solar eclipse with new menu item

I think traffic control is one of the biggest things that were going to have to deal with, Jackson said. Hopefully, people will take their time because with the two interstates coming together like they do here in West Memphis, its going to be a lot of traffic.

Many are bracing for the event that will only last a few minutes and then disappear almost as quickly as the sun.

Come out and watch this amazing experience, Jerit said. Its going to be amazing, just two weeks away from today.

Memphis will not be in the path of totality for this eclipse, meaning the sun will not be completely covered.

Still, about 98% of the sun will be blocked during the eclipse in Memphis and other parts of the Mid-South.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
With Kyle Rittenhouse scheduled to speak Wednesday evening at Western Kentucky University, supporters and protesters of the man  who fatally shot two men and injured another as a teen during a 2020 police violence protest in Wisconsin  are expected to be at the venue.

The event at Downing Student Union is sponsored by the school's Turning Point USA chapter. It's the latest stop on a high-profile tour across the region that has drawn strong reactions.

University of Memphis students gathered on campus to protest the appearance of Kyle Rittenhouse speaking on the lies of Black Lives Matter and the second amendment at the Memphis chapter Turning Point USAs event at the campus on Wednesday, March 20, 2024 in Memphis, Tenn.

After Rittenhouses stop last week at the University of Memphis saw the speaker drowned out by protesters during a brief appearance at a campus hall, and some heated confrontations following, police are planning to deal with a potential clash at WKU.

Kyle Rittenhouse: What happened when he spoke at the University of Memphis

How is WKU handling security for the Kyle Rittenhouse appearance?

"It is a concern. We're hoping that it (won't) be like that here at WKU," campus Police Chief Mitchell said Friday. "We're hoping it'll be more peaceful than that, so we're just trying to make sure we have enough folks in place ... to make sure that tempers don't flare."

WKU Police will be on hand, he said, along with Kentucky State Police, Bowling Green Police and officials from the Warren County Sheriff's Office. They're hoping for a peaceful night, Walker said.

Protests are likely at the Kyle Rittenhouse WKU speech

The Bowling Green/Warren County branch of the NAACP and branch President Ryan Dearbone condemned the event last week. Support groups, such the Bowling Green Freedom Walkers, are planning a demonstration during Rittenhouse's speech.

"The essence of divisive rhetoric is what he's going to speak about," Dearbone told The Courier Journal. "I was just saddened and disgusted that a group would think that he would be a good person to bring to campus.

"There are a majority of students that don't want him on campus, and it's not politically driven. It's simply because they don't want a person like that on their campus spewing rhetoric that is dangerous and divisive," Dearbone said.

Kyle Rittenhouse looks on after a break during his trial at the Kenosha County Courthouse in Kenosha, Wisconsin, November 9, 2021. Mark Hertzberg/Pool via REUTERS

What will Kyle Rittenhouse speak about at WKU?

Turning Point USA WKU President Cade Holcombe said he doesn't know what Rittenhouse will cover when he speaks. A Turning Point USA page promoting the event and tickets said the speaker will cover "the importance of the Second Amendment and the lies of (Black Lives Matter)."

WKU is not a sponsor of the Kyle Rittenhouse appearance

WKU is not sponsoring the event, the school said in a statement provided by spokesperson Jace Lux, and the space was reserved by a student group through the same process other organizations use.

Kyle Rittenhouse abruptly left an appearance in Memphis last week

Rittenhouse cut short a March 20 appearance at the University of Memphis, leaving after spending only about 30 minutes on stage when questioned about his views on what he considered racist.

A video posted on social media shows Rittenhouse being asked if he considered certain statements directed against Black people to be racist. He refused to answer the question as shouts of "deflection" came from the audience. After this particular question, Rittenhouse was quickly escorted off the stage without another word.

University of Memphis students protested Kyle Rittenhouses engagement

Hundreds of University of Memphis students protested outside the UC Theatre as Rittenhouse spoke. Messages on signs included Put Rittenhouse behind bars not a podium, and Murderers dont belong here.

Demonstrators celebrated after Rittenhouse left after only spending about 30 minutes on stage.

Contact IndyStar reporter Cheryl V. Jackson at cheryl.jackson@indystar.com or 317-444-6264. Follow her on X.com:@cherylvjackson.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: How WKU police are preparing for Kyle Rittenhouse talk
1954present

Latest News: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Names Nicole Shanahan

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is hoping running mate Nicole Shanahan will appeal to enough disillusioned millennial and Gen Z voters to push them to the White House in November. Shanahan, 38, is a Silicon Valley attorney and entrepreneur who was previously married to Google co-founder Sergey Brin.

Kennedy, 70, formally announced Shanahan as his vice presidential pick for the 2024 general election on March 26 at a rally in Oakland, California. Shes gonna fight for all those Americans who know what its like to skip meals to pay for gasoline and watch food prices climb ever higher and wonder how in the world theyre gonna make it through the grocery store checkout line, he said, adding that Shanahan would be a voice for young Americans who have lost faith in their future.

Shanahans selection is a crucial step in Kennedys campaign. CNN reports that roughly half of U.S. states require candidates to have a vice presidential selection to advance the process for making the ballot.

Kennedy, who initially joined the Democratic primary race, announced in October 2023 he had changed his candidacy to run as an independentpotentially playing spoiler for presumptive Democratic and Republican nominees Joe Biden and Donald Trump, respectively.



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Who Is Robert F. Kennedy Jr.?

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the son of former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, is an attorney, environmental and anti-vaccine activist, and syndicated talk radio host. He is a co-founder and former president of Waterkeeper Alliance, an environmental protection organization focused on the preservation and conservation of water resources. In addition to writing on environmental issues for numerous publications, he served as senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council. He is married to Curb Your Enthusiasm actor Cheryl Hines. In April 2023, he announced he was running for president in the 2024 election as a Democrat but later reclassified as an independent candidate.

Quick Facts

FULL NAME: Robert Francis Kennedy Jr.

BORN: January 17, 1954

BIRTHPLACE: Washington, D.C.

SPOUSES: Emily Ruth Black (19821994), Mary Richardson Kennedy (19942012), and Cheryl Hines (2014present)

CHILDREN: Robert, Kathleen, Conor, Kyra, William, and Aiden

PARENTS: Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy

ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Capricorn

Early Life and Education

Robert Francis Kennedy Jr., who goes by Bobby, was born on January 17, 1954, in Washington, D.C., to Ethel Skakel Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy. One of 11 children born to Ethel and Robert F. Kennedya former Democratic senator for New York and U.S. attorney general, who was assassinated in 1968Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is the nephew of former U.S. president John F. Kennedy and former U.S. senator Ted Kennedy. At a young age, Kennedy was taught to value a strong education and political activism.

After graduating from Millbrook Academy in Gloucestershire, England, Kennedy studied at the London School of Economics and Harvard University, receiving a bachelors degree in American history and literature in 1976. He went on to obtain doctorate in law from the University of Virginia and later a masters degree in environmental law from Pace University. In 1983, he served as the assistant for district attorney of New York and that summer passed the written portion of his bar examination after his second attempt. He stepped away from his budding legal career after being arrested for drug possession at a South Dakota airport. He was charged with a felony and pleaded guilty.

As part of his sentencing, he began doing community service for Riverkeeper, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the Hudson River. He became so involved at the nonprofit that after he finished his 1,500 hours of community service, he was hired as its chief attorney after having passed the final portion of the bar exam in 1985.

Environmental Activism

Getty Images

In 1998, Kennedy co-founded a bottled water company, Tear of the Clouds LLC, with Chris Bartle and John Hoving. A year later, he helped found Waterkeeper Alliance, a global umbrella group which supports local environmental organizations protect their respective bodies of water. In 2004, he became a co-hostalong with Mike Papantonio and Sam Sederof Ring of Fire, a syndicated U.S. talk radio show that focuses on American politics.

In the mid-2000s, Kennedys work centered on advocating for renewable energy development and encouraging citizens to protect their local waterways. In May 2010, he was named a Hero for the Planet by Time for his work with Riverkeeper, helping to restore the Hudson River. Kennedys environmental activism also includes writing two books and numerous articles on issues affecting the environment. He served as senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council for many years.

In 2016, he joined thousands of concerned citizens and Native Americans from numerous tribes at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, in protest of the Dakota Access Pipeline. He also denounced the use of militarized police against the peaceful protesters. Today, we stand in solidarity with the people of Standing Rock and commend the Sioux Nation for taking on this courageous fight on behalf of our country, humanity, and democracy, Kennedy said. Across the nation, communities of color face environmental and public health threats most communities dont have to think about. This historic peaceful protest declares that all communities deserve clean water.

In 2017, after 33 years with Riverkeeper, Kennedy resigned as the New Yorkbased groups chief attorney and board member, citing a long-distance commute from his home on the West Coast and other commitments. Three years later, in November 2020, he left his position as president of Waterkeeper Alliance to devote himself, full-time, to other issues. He had been president since the nonprofits founding in 1999, and during his tenure, Waterkeeper Alliance grew to include more than 350 groups across 48 countries.

Anti-Vaccine Advocacy and Controversies

More recently, Kennedy has turned his focus to anti-vaccine activism, though he has said all his children were vaccinated and he got flu shots annually. He is known for his controversial views on the link between vaccinations and autism. He has been vocal against including the preservative thimerosal in vaccines, believing there is a government cover-up on its damaging effects on children. Peer-reviewed research studies havent found evidence of harmful side effects from thimerosal-containing vaccines.

In April 2015, Kennedy helped promote a movie called Trace Amounts, which supports his views. The next year, he founded Childrens Health Defense, an anti-vaccine nonprofit previously known as the World Mercury Project. The group gained momentum during the COVID-19 pandemic, though Meta banned its accounts on Facebook and Instagram in August 2022 for violating the platforms policies on spreading misinformation. Kennedys personal Instagram account had previously been banned in February 2021.

Over the years, he has made, then later apologized for, controversial statements connecting vaccine side effects and mandates to the Holocaust and Nazi Germany. His remarks have been widely condemned, including by his own family members.

2024 Presidential Campaign

Hoping to continue his familys long lineage of public service, Kennedy filed a statement of candidacy for the 2024 presidential election on April 6, 2023. He began running as a Democrat but announced that October he would reclassify as an independent. According to the Childrens Health Defenses website, Kennedy began a leave of absence as the nonprofits chairman and chief legal counsel days prior to his filing, on April 2.

On March 26, 2024, Kennedy announced he had selected Silicon Valley lawyer and entrepreneur Nicole Shanahan as his running mate for the White House.

Kennedy has previously been open about his political ambitions. In a 2007 magazine interview with Oprah Winfrey, he said being a father was one reason he hadnt yet run for office but that he was interested. When Winfrey asked if he would ever run for president, Kennedy said, If opportunities came up for me to run for office, I would probably do it.

Legal Troubles

Kennedy has had a few brushes with the legal system. As a teenager, he was arrested in Massachusetts for smoking marijuana and placed on 13 months probation.

In September 1983 when he was 29 years old, Kennedy was arrested after experienced an apparent drug overdose during a flight to Rapid City, South Dakota. At the airport, police confiscated his luggage and found a small amountreportedly 183 milligramsof heroin. Shortly after, he entered a drug treatment program in New Jersey. Kennedy pleaded guilty to a felony possession charge and was sentenced to two years probation, drug testing and treatment, and several hours of community service. Not long after, the charge was expunged from his record. In a 2007 interview, he said he had been sober for 23 years.

Getty Images

Decades later, in 2001, he and several othersincluding Al Sharpton and Jacqueline Jackson, the wife of Jesse Jacksonwere convicted of trespassing during a protest of U.S. Navy bombing exercises on Vieques island in Puerto Rico. Kennedy served a 30-day jail sentence. In 2019, he was arrested at the U.S. Capitol during a climate change protest, organized by actor Jane Fonda.



Wives and Children

Getty Images

Kennedy married Emily Ruth Black, whom he met at the University of Virginia law school, in 1982. The couple had two children, Robert and Kathleen, and divorced in March 1994.

Less than one month later, Kennedy married Mary Richardson during a ceremony that was held aboard a ship on the Hudson River. They had four children: Conor, Kyra, William and Aiden. On May 12, 2010, Kennedy filed for divorce from Mary Richardson Kennedy, and shortly after, she was arrested for drunk driving on two separate occasions. Mary was found dead in her home on May 16, 2012, and it was later determined that she had died of asphyxiation due to hanging. Their divorce had not been finalized at the time of her death.

Kennedy began dating actor Cheryl Hines in 2010. They met through Larry David, Hines co-star on Curb Your Enthusiasm, who introduced them two years in a row. Kennedy and Hines married on August 2, 2014. She has a daughter from a previous marriage. Both Kennedy and Hines ski.

Health Challenges

When he was in his 40s, Kennedy was diagnosed with spasmodic dysphonia, a neurological condition affecting the voice box that causes strained speech. In a 2007 interview, he said his condition began as a mild tremble before progressing.



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The former Republican National Committee chair turned NBC politics analyst Ronna McDaniel tried to disassemble our democracy by supporting Donald Trumps electoral fraud lies and should not be given such a media role, a leading historian said amid uproar over the appointment.

Related: Liz Cheney: controversial NBC hire Ronna McDaniel enabled Trump depravity

What NBC has done is theyve invited into what should be a normal framework someone who doesnt believe that framework should exist at all, Timothy Snyder, a Yale professor and author of On Tyranny, told MSNBC, part of the network now employing McDaniel.

What NBC has done of its own volition is bring into a very important conversation about democracy, one which is going to take place for the next seven months or so, someone who  tried to disassemble our democracy. Who personally took part in an attempt to undo the American system.

NBC announced the hire on Friday. Carrie Budoff Brown, the senior vice-president for politics, said McDaniel would contribute analysis across all NBC News platforms.

On Sunday, McDaniel told Meet the Press Joe Biden won the 2020 election fair and square, adding that she did not think violence should be in our political discourse.

But McDaniel also claimed it was fair to say there were problems [in elections in battleground states] in 2020 and said she had supported Trumps election fraud lies, which ultimately stoked the attack on Congress of 6 January 2021, as a way of taking one for the whole team .

That prompted an on-air protest from Chuck Todd, a former Meet the Press host. On Monday, MSNBC hosts including Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski and Nicole Wallace, to whom Snyder spoke, also condemned the McDaniel hire.

The day also saw a protest from a union group representing NBC News staff. Later, primetime MSNBC stars Rachel Maddow and Jen Psaki also protested.

Maddow said: In the news business, we are covering  bad actors trying to use the rights and privileges of the democracy to end democracy. The chief threat among them now is not the rioters and the kooks, but the slick political professionals who are turning their considerable talents to laundering violently revolutionary claims that Americas elections arent real.

Snyder, who has written for the Guardian, said: What NBC is doing is saying, Well, [it] could be that in 24 our entire system will break down. Could be well have an authoritarian leader. Oh, but look, weve made this adjustment in advance because weve brought into the middle of NBC somebody who has already taken part in an attempt to take our system down.

So, yeah, I think this is pretty bad.

If you are going to be on American media, you should be somebody who believes there is something called truth, there are things called facts and you can pursue them. You shouldnt be someone who has over and over and over again pushed the idea of fake news, educated Americans away from the facts, away from belief in the facts.

McDaniel and NBC did not comment.

Related: Trump borrows from the old tricks of fascism | Timothy Snyder

McDaniel became RNC chair in January 2017. In that role, she defended Trump through his scandal-ridden presidency; his refusal to accept defeat by Biden, culminating in his incitement of the January 6 attack; and his surge to another presidential nomination despite facing 88 criminal charges and multimillion-dollar civil penalties and regularly admitting to authoritarian ambitions.

On Monday, the anti-Trump conservative ex-congresswoman Liz Cheney said that as RNC chair, McDaniel facilitated Trumps corrupt fake elector plot and his effort to pressure Michigan officials not to certify the legitimate election outcome. She spread his lies and called January 6 legitimate political discourse. Thats not taking one for the team. Its enabling criminality and depravity.

And yet, despite such support, Trump last month pushed McDaniel out of the RNC, to be replaced by his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump.

Snyder said: If were going to be putting people on the news who have participated in an attempt to overthrow the system, then we have to ask at the very beginning, Why did you do that? Why is that legitimate? And we have to ask ourselves, Why is it that we are taking this step to bring people into the middle of our discussion?

So my two red lines are, you should be somebody whos at least trying for the facts, and you shouldnt be somebody who has taken part in an attempt to undo the system, which is what were talking about here. We shouldnt mince words about it.
An illegal immigrant who was deported to his home country of Mexico in 2020 has been accused of the murder of a Michigan woman after he re-entered the country illegally.

Brandon Ortiz-Vite, who is currently being held at the Kent County, Michigan, jail is being charged with felony murder, open murder, carjacking, carrying a concealed weapon and felony use of a firearm after the body of 25-year-old Ruby Garcia was discovered on U.S. 131 in downtown Grand Rapids and identified by investigators.

The pair had been in a romantic relationship at the time of the killing, police said Tuesday at a news conference.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesperson confirmed that Ortiz-Vite was in the country illegally at the time of Garcia's death.

NEW YORK CITY BEGINS GIVING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS PREPAID DEBIT CARDS AS PART OF $53 MILLION PILOT PROGRAM

Brandon Ortiz-Vite is being charged with murder and other crimes after the body of 25-year-old Ruby Garcia was discovered on U.S. 131 in downtown Grand Rapids and identified by investigators.

Ortiz-Vite, 25, "was arrested by Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Detroit on Aug. 31, 2020, and served a notice to appear. He was ordered removed by an immigration judge with the Justice Departments Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR) Sept. 24, 2020, and was removed to Mexico Sept. 29, 2020," a spokesperson for ICE told Fox News Digital. "At an unknown date and location, Ortiz-Vite reentered the United States without inspection by an immigration official."

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

"On Mar. 24, 2024, ERO Detroit encountered Ortiz-Vite pursuant to him being arrested by the Michigan State Police and charged with murder and other crimes," the spokesperson added. "ERO Detroit lodged a detainer with the Kent County Jail for Ortiz-Vite."

Garcia's deceased body was found with gunshot wounds by Michigan State Police troopers near the roadways of southbound U.S. 131 and Leonard Street with apparent gunshot wounds around 11:38 p.m. on Friday.

Garcia's vehicle was found Saturday parked in a residential area. On Sunday, Ortiz-Vite called 911 and said he wanted to speak with authorities. He was arrested and booked into jail.

He was arraigned Tuesday and ordered held without bail, Kent County Prosecuting Attorney Chris Becker told reporters.

"So this is another case of domestic violence homicide," he said.

GOP SENATOR OUTRAGED BY WEEKLY REPORTS OF MIGRANT ARRIVALS RELEASED BY DHS

Brandon Ortiz-Vite, who is currently being held at the Kent County Jail in Grand Rapids, was previously arrested in 2020 and deported to Mexico.

Becker said the shooting occurred in Garcia's car without going into detail.

Garcia's sister, Mavi Garcia, has since established a GoFundMe page to raise funds for Ruby's funeral. As of Tuesday afternoon, the fundraiser had received 270 donations and raised more than $15,100, surpassing its original goal of $13,000.

Speaking to The Midwesterner earlier this week, Mavi Garcia, who previously identified Ortiz-Vite in a post to Facebook as the suspect in her sister's death, said her sister was "a great person all around."

"She would brighten up the room with her beautiful smile and laugh," Garcia said of her sister. "She loved to travel, was dedicated to her work and enjoyed being with her family on her free time."

"She would brighten up the room with her beautiful smile and laugh," Mavi Garcia said of her sister, Ruby. "She loved to travel, was dedicated to her work and enjoyed being with her family on her free time."

"She was a great daughter, sister, aunt and friend. She will be remembered as being full of life and laughter, those who were around her would know she was silly and made everyone laugh," Garcia added of Ruby. "Her loss has impacted the lives of many people. Her life was taken too soon. She deserved to live life, travel the world, have kids and follow her dreams."





Original article source: Previously deported illegal immigrant charged with murder of 25-year-old Michigan woman
Prince Harrys party days with Sean Diddy Combs could be coming back to haunt him after it emerged that he was named in court documents filed against the rapper, who is facing a litany of shocking sexual assault allegations in a case being brought by one of his former producers, Rodney Jones.

Federal law enforcement raided two of Diddys properties on Monday as part of an investigation into sex trafficking allegations.

While Harry is not accused of any wrongdoing, being named in the suit by Jones as a friend of Combs will be an unwelcome reminder for Harry of his former association with the rapper.

Jones, who says he was groped, harassed, and threatened by Combs, says in the suit, which was first filed in February, that Diddys co-defendants were rewarded for participating in and facilitating Combs sex trafficking venture by getting affiliation and access to Mr Combs popularity. Jones says, Mr Combs was known for throwing the best parties. Affiliation with, and or sponsorship of Mr Combs sex-trafficking parties garnered legitimacy and access to celebrities such as famous athletes, political figures, artists, musicians, and international dignitaries like British royal, Prince Harry.

Diddys Homes Raided in Connection With Federal Sex Trafficking Probe: Reports

While it can be argued it is deeply unfair for Harry to be singled out by name when he has done nothing wrong and others are not named, his naming in the suit exposes the particular need for members of the British royal family to be ultra-cautious about whom they associate with and under what conditions.

Prince Andrew was regularly cited by name in U.S. court documents as the Jeffrey Epstein/Ghislaine Maxwell scandal unspooled. Ultimately he was himself accused of sexual assault by Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre, and he paid her a multi-million dollar settlement. Most recently the disgraced prince was named in a sheaf of documents unsealed earlier this year relating to Epstein in which he was accused of participating in an orgy with underage victims.

Royals also need to be careful about who they are photographed with, as Andrew can also attest, given that it was a picture of him with his arm slung around the bare midriff of a teenage Giuffre that propelled the allegations against him to global front pages.

In 2007, William and Harry posed for photos alongside Kanye West and Diddy after they played at the Concert for Diana. The four greeted each other warmly with Harry putting his arm over Diddys shoulder.

Harry, who complained in his memoir Spare that he was often left to carry the can for both him and William, may well wonder how he, once again, is the one being dragged into controversy, not his brother.

The answer may lie in a seemingly innocuous remark made by Diddy in 2012, when he said, I really cant wait to get to the U.K. as London is one of my favorite cities. Im also hoping Ill get to catch up with Prince Harry while Im there. Hes such a cool guy and its about time we hung out. I need him to take me to some of those wild Mayfair clubs.

Harrys office has been approached for comment.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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DAMASCUS, March 26 (Xinhua) -- A series of explosions rattled Syria's eastern province of Deir al-Zour before daybreak Tuesday, coinciding with the presence of unidentified drones flying overhead, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The blasts were accompanied by intensified airstrikes targeting military installations belonging to the Syrian army and Iranian-backed militias in several cities, including al-Bukamal, al-Mayadeen, and the eponymous provincial capital of Deir al-Zour, according to sources.

Among the targets were military warehouses on the outskirts of Deir al-Zour, where airstrikes struck with precision, causing significant damage.

The Syrian government and Iranian authorities have not immediately commented on the reported airstrikes or the drone presence, but opposition activists suggested the airstrikes were carried out by the U.S. forces. 
The Illinois governor announced the resignation of a member of the states prisoner review board on Monday, 10 days after a man who was released on parole was charged with attacking a former girlfriend and killing her 11-year-old son.

LeAnn Miller recommended the release of 37-year-old Crosetti Brand and conducted the hearing that resulted in him being granted parole, according to the governors office. CNN has reached out to Miller for comment.

Brand is accused of stabbing Laterria Smith, 33, and killing her 11-year-old son, Jayden Perkins, as the child was trying to defend her in their Chicago apartment on March 13, officials said during a news conference held two days later.

Smiths 5-year-old son was also in the apartment and witnessed the stabbings, police said.

During the news conference, Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said the violent attack should not have happened, because Brand had previously violated protection orders. He has three orders of protection violations against him, Snelling said.

Snelling said Brand had been released on parole the day before the attack, noting the suspect was still serving a 16-year sentence for home invasion where he caused injury.

This was the suspects second stint on parole, Antoinette Ursitti, the chief of Chicagos Bureau of Detectives, said during the March 15 news conference.

Ursitti said Brand was put back in custody on a parole violation after he threatened the 33-year-old victim, with whom hed had a relationship over 15 years ago, via text messages and showed up at her house.

Crosetti Brand - Chicago Police Department

Brand has been charged with nine felony counts, Ursitti said, including first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder.

The Prisoner Review Board told CNN in a statement on Thursday they did not know Smith was seeking an order of protection.

At the time of (Brands) hearing, the Prisoner Review Board did not have any information to indicate that the victim was currently petitioning for an Order of Protection at the trial court level, or any pending hearings associated with her petition. This is not information generally provided to the Board. As a result, the PRB was not able to take that new, important information into consideration, the statement read.

A court order obtained by CNN shows Smith went to court on February 21 requesting an emergency order of protection. The judge denied the request, saying Smith presented insufficient evidence of an emergency. The order states Smiths case was to continue on March 13  the same day the family was attacked.

Late last week, the Prisoner Review Boards general counsel Kahalah Clay told CNN in a statement that after Brand was taken back into custody in February, A PRB hearing determined the alleged violations did not meet the standards to detain him.

The board is a bipartisan, independent group whose members are appointed by the Illinois governor, who issued a statement Monday, saying it was clear that evidence in this case was not given the careful consideration that victims of domestic violence deserve.

Gov. JB Pritzker went on to say he was committed to ensuring additional safeguards and training are in place to prevent tragedies like this from happening again.

A fundraiser for Jaydens family set up by the 11-year-olds schools describes him as an exceptional young man who excelled in school and had a passion for theater, performing the lead role in several school plays. He was known for his love of spending time with friends, playing sports, and performing. His infectious laughter and kind heart touched the lives of everyone he met, the fundraiser states.

Later on Monday, the governor announced the resignation of the review boards chair, Donald Shelton.

Donald Shelton served the state of Illinois in his role with the PRB for over a decade, providing a model of dedication to public service, Pritzker said. It is unclear if Sheltons resignation is related to the March incident.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Kirt want to be a role model for his daughter

Prisoners in Peterhead are training for jobs in pub kitchens ahead of their release.

The training at HMP Grampian is led by professional chefs with lessons on food preparation, kitchen maintenance, time management and teamwork.

Individuals who participate, after passing a suitability test, gain qualifications in hospitality and an offer of employment.

The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) believes it will reduce reoffending rates and help prisoners successfully reintegrate into their communities.

Kirt hopes that his kitchen training will lead him towards a better life.

The 30-year-old father is due to be released in just over three months.

He admits his life has been filled with ups and downs but he believes the future is bright.

'I want stability'

"A lot of people in this situation they dont actually have any sense of direction when they get out," he said.

"With this, weve got the opportunity and the job proposition there.

"I want stability in my life. I want change.

"Ive got a young girl and I just want to be a good role model for her. Someone for her to look up to."

The prisoners hope to use their new skills upon release

The course is run by the pub chain Greene King, which has committed to hiring 300 released prisoners across the UK by 2025.

Gemma Patterson, a manager at one of the firms venues in South Lanarkshire, is part of a team of professional chefs leading the training.

"Certainly when I first started, I probably had thoughts about prisons," she said.

"Meeting everybody within the environment has completely changed my perceptions.

"They just want to get a job when they get out, they want to work and they want to do well.

"If this programme is going to help them then, by all means, lets give them a chance."

'Realise their potential'

Leanne Duncan, the offender outcomes unit manager at HMP Grampian, said: "We are delighted to be working partnership with Greene King and the Aberdeen City Employability team to offer the people in our care this fantastic training course.

"Unfortunately, a lot of people in prison have never been given the chance to realise their own potential, to enhance their skills or to move on to full time employment on release.

"We hope other employers see how positive a partnership this is and are as forward thinking as Greene King; there are huge gaps in the labour market and we have lots of people in our care with the potential to fill them."

Graham Briggs, Greene Kings head of apprenticeships and employability programmes, said the firm carried out checks to identify prisoners who could benefit from the training academy.

He added: "There are a number of precautions, policies and processes to make sure that we are selecting the right individuals to go through the programme.

"We have to maintain that element of safety for our customers and team members."

Justice Secretary Angela Constance described the initiative as a "positive example of the work that goes on to support and encourage rehabilitation and successful reintegration".
MASSAPEQUA PARK, N.Y. (PIX11)  A procession escorted the body of fallen NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller to a funeral home on Long Island Tuesday evening.

Diller was transported from the New York City medical examiners office to Massapequa Funeral Home.

The funeral service for Diller will be held at Saint Rose of Lima R.C. Church in Massapequa at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday. Diller will be interred at Saint Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale.

Visitations will be held at multiple times on Thursday and Friday ahead of the funeral. The visitations will take place at Massapequa Funeral Home from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on both days.

NYPD officer shot, killed in Queens leaves behind wife, baby

Diller, 31, was shot and killed in the line of duty while conducting a traffic stop in Queens on Monday.

He put himself in harms way. He went towards the danger, all to keep the people we serve safe and to protect his fellow New Yorkers, NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban said.

Diller, a member of the NYPDs Community Response Team, was a three-year veteran of the department. He was a husband and a father to a young child.

Our hero police officer confronted this dangerous individual knowing that he was putting himself at risk, knowing that he had a family waiting for him at home. But he did it to protect the people of this city, and we need every single New Yorker to be with this family, said New York City Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry.

A GoFundMe page was started for Dillers family. So far, its raised more than $130,000.

Diller was shot after he and another officer stopped a vehicle that was illegally parked at a bus stop in Far Rockaway, according to police. Dillers partner then shot the suspect, who remains hospitalized.

Diller is the first NYPD officer to be killed in the line of duty since 2022, when officers Wilbert Mora and Jason Rivera were ambushed and killed in Harlem.

Finn Hoogensen is a digital journalist who has covered local news for more than five years. He has been with PIX11 News since 2022. See more of his work here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
Annauk Olin, holding her daugher Tulguna T'aas Olin, and Rochelle Adams pose on March 20, 2024, after giving a presentation on language at the Alaska Just Transition Summit in Juneau. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Annauk Olin, holding her daugher Tulguna T'aas Olin, and Rochelle Adams pose on March 20, 2024, after giving a presentation on language at the Alaska Just Transition Summit in Juneau. The two, who work together at the Alaska Public Interest Research Group's Language Access program, hope to compile an Indigenous environmental glossary. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

In the language of the Gwichin people of northeastern Alaska, the word for month known in English as July is uk choo zhrii, meaning the month of king salmon, said Rochelle Adams, an Indigenous advocate who grew up in Beaver and Fort Yukon.

With Yukon River king salmon runs diminished to the point where harvests of the species were not even allowed, that name now poses a dilemma, Adams said.

If we cant fish in the month of king salmon, what are we living in? Adams said at a conference last week. How we navigate the world is in our languages. Do we have to change the name of our month?

To help explain the changes caused by a warming climate that people are seeing on the land and in the water, Adams and language scholar and educator Annauk Olin are embarking on a project to compile a glossary of Indigenous environmental terms.

The work is being done through the Alaska Public Interest Research Group Language Access program, which Adams directs.

The two described their project at the Alaska Just Transition Summit organized by Native and environmental groups and held in Juneau last week.

The terms our ancestors used are sometimes no longer applicable to what were seeing, and that is  wow, said Olin, who is from Shishmaref, an Inupiat community just north of the Bering Strait on the Chukchi Sea coast.

The rising sun lights up the newly frozen Norton Sound sea ice off Nome on winter solstice, Dec. 21, 2018. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

The rising sun lights up the newly frozen Norton Sound sea ice off Nome on winter solstice, Dec. 21, 2018. Sea ice comes in numerous forms. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

How are young people going to understand the environment of yesterday and tomorrow and today? she said. One answer, she said, is a close examination of traditional language.

Adams and Olin already have plenty of experience with language and cultural instruction and documentation. They, with some AKPIRG colleagues, in 2022 produced a set of protocols to guide use of translations. Other Language Access program projects included translations of information about COVID-19 and about the 2020 U.S. Census. Olin, among other projects, has helped guide the Northwest Arctic Borough School Districts language-immersion instruction. Adams is one of the creative forces behind the PBS Kids series Molly of Denali, serving as a cultural advisor for the Indigenous-focused show, and she has been part of the Doyon Foundations language revitalization committee and is also an artist known for her salmon-skin works.

At the summit session, Adams and Olin described ways that Indigenous languages are valuable in practical life.

That is shown, Olin said, in the myriad Inupiaq words describing in precise detail the different forms that sea ice can take  including the warnings that those words sometimes hold.

She read an Inupiaq passage that is an example and translated it into English: In the spring on the landfast ice and pack ice, when they begin to thaw, melt holes form. The melt holes are dangerous, as people may get wet when they step near the holes.

The words themselves are pieces of scientific evidence.

One Inupiaq word  pikaluyik  refers to old sea ice that is so compacted over time that it is blue, like glacier ice, according to a dictionary published in 1970. Such ice is scarcer that it used to be. Sea ice that was over four years old comprised about a third of the peak winter Arctic ice pack in the 1980s but is now down to under 5% of the total.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks site chosen for the planned Trhoth Yeddha' Park and Indigenous Studies Center is seen on Sept. 18, 2022. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

The University of Alaska Fairbanks site chosen for the planned Troth Yeddha Park and Indigenous Studies Center is seen on Sept. 18, 2022. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Western scientists have already adopted at least one Indigenous word as a term to describe an effect of climate change. The Yupik word usteq, which translates to surface caves in, is now used when referring to a catastrophic form of land collapse in which frozen ground disintegrates under the compounding influences of thawing permafrost, flooding, and erosion, according to the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys.

But in the past, the value of Indigenous languages was dismissed by the non-Native world.

Some participants in the conference session were moved to tears as they talked of language losses, like Margaret Tarrant, who spoke about her Indigenous mother who was beaten at a North Dakota reservation school in the 1950s for speaking her language, as were others. They were made to feel ashamed about themselves, Tarrant said.

Others said they regretted not learning their Indigenous languages when they were young and are now trying to correct that lapse. Some said they worry about languages fading as elders die.

To help reverse the losses, Adams and Olin have abundant material with which to compile an environmental glossary.

As with the Gwichin word for July, there are numerous words in different languages that describe conditions at certain times of the year  which could be changing. In the Ahtna language, for example, the term hwdlii naaaye used for the month of April translates to crusted snow month, according to a dictionary published in 1990 by the University of Alaska Fairbanks Alaska Native Language Center. Inupiat terms for May refer to that as the time of year when river ice breaks or when river waters start to flow, according to the 1970 dictionary.

Other words describe the way sites were used in the past to gather food. The Denaina name for Ship Creek, the waterway running through downtown Anchorage and the site of the railroad construction camp that ultimately became Alaskas largest city, is Dgheyay Leht, meaning Stickleback Creek; it was a source of fish used in a soup when salmon was not available, according to scientist Frank von Hippel, who studies that species of fish. The ridge where the UAF campus is located is called Troth Yeddha, a Lower Tanana Athabascan name that means wild potato ridge; it was a place where that subsistence food was traditionally gathered.

The Denaina language is undergoing a revival of sorts in Anchorage, where there is a project focused on local place names. And for UAF, the Troth Yeddha name has become important. The university adopted the name for its campus and intends to use it for a planned Indigenous studies center.

Correction: The name of the Alaska Public Interest Research Group has been corrected.

The post Project seeks to gather Alaska environmental knowledge embedded in Indigenous languages appeared first on Alaska Beacon.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD)  The state on Tuesday awarded a $50 million grant to a proposed copper mine in the Upper Peninsula.

Canadian company Highland Copper is working to open Copperwood Resources, Inc., a mine proposed in Gogebic County. Back in January, the Michigan Strategic Fund board referred a request for a $50 million performance-based Strategic Site Readiness Program grant back to a subcommittee. Some MSF board members had concerns about the projects financing.

Dimitrius Hutcherson, the chair of the Finance and Investment Subcommittee, said his team has since heard from industry experts, regulators and project staff. The subcommittee also received a lot of public feedback.

A map included in a mining permit application filed with the state by Highland Copper Company shows the proposed Copperwood Resources site.

The subcommittee has spent considerable time evaluating concerns over this project: its financial structure, the impact to the region and the overall impact to the environment, he explained.

Proposed UP copper mine hits roadblock over $50M grant

He said the team made some suggestions on the structure of the deal and ways to protect natural resources and the states investment.

In the proposal the MSF saw Tuesday, the company must secure at least $150 million in financing before requesting the disbursement of the grants funds. That financing must be secured by the end of 2025.

The company must also provide the state with financial assurance as part of the permitting process. When the mine closes, if the company is not able to complete the required reclamation steps to protect the environment, the state would step in and use the money it received from the financial assurance to follow the closure plan.

Many residents and community leaders spoke in support of the project during the meetings public comment, citing the 380 jobs  with average wages in the $80,000 to $120,000 range  the mine is expected to create. They said the area, which has a median wage of $41,000 and saw the 1995 closure of the White Pine Mine, the 2010 closure of the Ontonagon Paper Mill and the 2018 closure of the Ojibway Correctional Facility, desperately needs more jobs.

Inside WOODTV.com: Building West Michigan

Others spoke against the project, some citing environmental concerns.

The MSF board ultimately voted to approve the $50 million grant. The funds will be used for infrastructure improvements, which the Michigan Economic Development Corporation said would continue to help the community after the mine closes.

The $425 million mine is expected to have a minimum life of 11 years, but the companys CEO during the January meeting said his team believes it could last between 15 to 20 years.

The MEDC expects the project would create $1.3 billion in personal income and $121 million in tax revenue to the state, including $62 million from the Michigan Severance Tax, a tax specific to the mining industry.

The mine is expected to produce 675 million tons of copper, which is used in the production of electric vehicle batteries.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
Child endangerment charges against a neonatal intensive care nurse were dropped by New York prosecutors Monday after they determined they couldn't prove their case at trial. File Photo by Marco Assini/Flickr

March 25 (UPI) -- Child endangerment charges filed last year against a nurse accused of mishandling a newborn infant at a Long Island, N.Y., hospital were dropped Monday, her lawyer announced.

Charges against nurse Amanda Burke, filed in connection with an incident filmed by the infant's parents at Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip, N.Y., have been withdrawn by Suffolk County, N.Y., prosecutors, defense attorney Robert Gottlieb told reporters.

"This has been a disgraceful prosecution," he said, noting that the state Office of Professional Discipline had viewed footage shot by the parents of newborn in the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit and determined there was "no basis" to take any action against Burke, who was fired shortly after the February 2023 incident.

Prosecutors slapped Burke with charges of endangering the welfare of a child, a Class A misdemeanor, in April after Fidel Sinclair filmed Burke lifting up his son, 2-day-old Nikko, by his diaper and "violently slamming him face down on the bassinet."

Burke's legal team, however, contended the boy did not suffer any injuries and remained healthy throughout.

"Unfortunately, despite the disturbing video which captured in the incident in this case, the New York State Department of Licensing found the defendant did not act with gross negligence," the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office said in a statement issued to media outlets. "As such, we could not prove the charge beyond a reasonable doubt at trial."

Burke said she has suffered since prosecutors brought the charges.

"I'm just happy it's over. It was a nightmare," she said at a press conference. "I was harassed. People at my door, e-mails. I have an 8-year-old. I felt like she was in danger. It was a nightmare."
LEHIGHTON BOROUGH, CARBON COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)  Pennsylvania State Police say a man is dead after a reported assault in Carbon County Monday afternoon.

Troopers stated on Monday around 3:30 p.m., the Lehighton Borough Police Department was called to Carbon Street in Lehighton for a reported assault.

Authorities say a 59-year-old man was found with life-threatening injuries after being struck by a sharp object. He was transported to St. Lukes Carbon Campus where he later died.

Not resting in peace: families speaking out on grave conditions

State police have arrested Zak Russel Moyer, 30, of Lehighton, and charged him with criminal homicide for his alleged involvement.

Moyer remains in the Carbon County Correctional Facility.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PAhomepage.com.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with Graham Allison, a professor at Harvard University in Beijing, capital of China, March 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Yue Yuewei)

BEIJING, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Graham Allison, a professor at Harvard University, in Beijing on Tuesday.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said the most important event in international relations for the past 50 years is the recovery and development of China-U.S. relations. In the next 50 years, what the international community aspires to most is that China and the United States find a proper way to get along with each other.

The principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation provide us with the fundamental guidance to view and handle China-U.S. relations, Wang said.

Wang noted that China and the United States are countries with completely different histories and cultures, and cannot judge each other by their own standards. Chinese philosophy suggests harmony without uniformity, which is essentially different from the binary opposition thinking of some Americans.

"We believe that China and the United States should jointly address the global challenges and establish a more stable, healthy and sustainable relationship," said Wang.

It is hoped that academia will strengthen research on the right way for China and the United States to get along with each other and the vision of building a community with a shared future for humanity, and propose constructive ideas beyond the traditional theory of international relations, Wang added.

Allison said the leader of China has given deep thought to the world today and to U.S.-China relations. In today's complex world, binary opposition cannot solve the problems. The United States and China must cooperate and find a correct way to get along with each other, which is crucial to both countries and the world.

Allison also expressed a willingness to gain a deep understanding of China's profound history and culture, and to better understand China's foreign policy, especially the concept of a community with a shared future for humanity. 
Chatham County District Attorney Shalena Cook Jones is running for re-election. Jones faces two challengers for the job.

Her first contest will come on May 21, during the party primaries. Jones is running against Jenny Parker in the Democratic primary. Parker is a former Chatham County Chief Assistant District Attorney (ADA), who most recently served as an assistant district attorney in the Ogeechee Judicial Circuit.

The winner of that race will face Andre Pretorius, a Republican and a former Deputy Chief Assistant for the Chatham County State Court. He works now on a part-time basis as an assistant Chatham County attorney.

As a third-year law student, Jones began her career in the DeKalb County District Attorneys office. She later practiced with two prominent insurance defense firms in Atlanta then as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. District Attorneys office for the Western District of Texas.

From 2010 to 2014, Jones worked as an ADA in the Chatham County DA's office under Meg Heap before leaving to open her own law firm. In November 2020 she challenged heap, and Jones won with 68,944 votes for a total vote share of 52.83%.

In an interview last week, Jones touted her track record, including the implementation of the conviction integrity and cold case units and tackling of the case backlog, which ballooned to nearly 30,000 cases after her first year in office, primarily because of COVID restrictions.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

More: Former ADA Jenny Parker to run for Chatham County District Attorney

More: Chatham County District Attorney staff shortage puts defendants, victims, prosecutors in jeopardy

Why are you running for re-election?

"To put it plainly, Im running for re-election to complete the work of change that we promised citizens in 2020. We won the 2020 election by a margin of 8,000 people, and what that suggests to me is that our voters are looking for the type of change that we were offering. So, I'm running to complete the work.

Four years is not enough time to make the criminal justice system run efficiently and make it effective and make sure that it's equitable and put all those quality controls in place. So, I'm running because I think I'm proud of the work that our office did, and we need to continue to move the office in the direction of change."

What do you feel like youve accomplished as Chatham County DA?

"Well, a lot of people dont understand that pre-COVID, the DA coming into office had to re-engineer a new system. Because when I came into office, of course, my office wasnt doing grand jury, and criminal jury trials had been suspended for almost a year and a half.

I think we have to continue that work. And I think that, even in that shrunken period, we were able to prosecute or resolve more serious violent felonies, with fewer staff, and in a shorter time period than in the three years before with more prosecutors and more staff. But that's because we had to redesign the system. Of course, we all wait for more staff to come, but you have to work with the system you have, and you have to find a way to do more with less.

We've created more programs. We've gotten more grant-funded programs. We started our conviction integrity unit. We established our cold case unit and brought several cases to resolution. We have hired a more diverse staff than any other DA that we've had before. We have established and instituted our first Community Resource Fair. We do that for the citizens because a lot of times they don't know what the DAs office does, or about the varied services that we offer. So, we took our department, instead of making it internal facing, we've made it more external facing over the three years that I've been here, and I'm really proud of that.

[The Conviction Integrity Unit] is in the screening stage. What that means is that we have one paralegal who's reviewing hundreds of thousands of previous convictions in this jurisdiction to create a screening tool. Every office, depending on its staffing and its resources, has a different bandwidth of the number of conviction integrity cases that can take, but before you do that, the best practice is that you create a screening tool that helps you move through those cases and assess them more quickly. And so that's a lot of work. And right now, it's being done by one person through a grant. And so, you know, we look at cases that are brought to our attention on a case-by-case basis. But as far as when a case is formally brought to that unit, we're still in the really infant stages of building that program."

Chatham County District Attorney Shalena Cook Jones participates in a forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters at the Coastal Georgia Center.

When you were elected in 2020, you centered your platform on effectiveness and equality, and said one of your first issues would be tackling the backlog of cases, which would involve tackling inventory of pending cases and looking at all charged cases. What kind of progress have you made in terms of tackling the backlog?

"Through the backlog efforts, and the [distribution] of [American Rescue Plan Act of 2021] funds, we've been able to reduce our overall caseload by, like, 10,000 cases, which I feel is phenomenal. And that's 10,000 cases across the office  Juvenile Court, Superior Court and State Court. That saves taxpayers a lot of resources. I think that's been a great help to us.

One of the other things that we did that did not exist before was that we created an intake division. This particular division of lawyers is specifically devoted to screening cases that come into the system and understanding which cases we can resolve by diversion, in which cases we actually need to charge, in which cases deserve prosecutorial attention. And by doing that, at the very beginning, or at the front door of the court system, we're able to whittle down that caseload and make sure that what we spend our time and attention on the ones that most deserve it."

We have talked about getting cases more ready through conversations with the police. Is that something that's improved? And, along the same lines, are you going to change anything with that process?

"We've implemented a triage system that we work with SPD early and often to make sure that the best evidence is cultivated at the outset of the case, as opposed to closer to trial. And that's something that was happening in, you know previously, in our cases don't get better with time. So, we have an internal triage unit... investigators and our ADAs actually look at our murder cases and our most serious cases to make sure, not only that they're properly charged to prevent multiple charging of indictments down the line, but also to make sure that we actually have the evidence and that the evidence is still viable enough to go to trial.

I have to really give a lot of credit to [SPD Chief Lenny Gunther] and [Chatham County Police Chief Jeff Hadley] as well as the other chiefs of the all the other municipalities. They have been absolutely instrumental in opening the dialogue early. We have cross meetings and training with each other. They come over to our office, we have an open-door policy, where they can come in and talk about their cases at any time. We go over there to answer whatever questions they have and to meet with their detectives on a regular basis. I think that making sure that building those relationships and reinforcing them is really important.

I would still like to see a lot more cross-training, where our ADA is out in the field with our officers observing how they develop their cases and how they develop their evidence. And then detectives coming into our office and getting a better understanding of how a DA and prosecutors both charge and make good cases.

Like anywhere else, time is a limited resource. Not just my office, but the police are short on staff. And that's true, not just here locally, but that's true around the nation."

Why is the DAs office still short-staffed?

"While we have lost staff, and I'm concerned about it, one of the things that I've learned in doing this job is that you have to not only learn how to do more with less, but what this means is that we have to put even greater emphasis on the cases that are most important.

That's why I emphasize not just how many people are in the office, I think that's important, but we have to make sure that we have enough people to cover the important cases at the right time. And that's what we've been committed to doing. That's what we're going to continue to do until the market improves and turns around.

I think it's also important to note that we've taken some really creative strides in bringing talent into the office. We were the first office to advertise remote ADA positions, to have to seek lawyers that do things like draft appellate motions and briefs, just so that they could alleviate the burden on our trial teams. We have hired a recruiter... We've offered reciprocity to lawyers who are licensed in other states and have experience, and can wave if their state has reciprocity with our state. So, while it's a concern that people leave, they leave for a number of reasons. I think it's just the nature of the market. But what's even more important than that, is how we fill that gap. And good leaders find ways to fill the gap."

We're still getting convictions on important cases. I think that's important. We're still doing the work of the office. In short time, I'll probably release a list of cases that we have prosecuted well during my tenure that maybe the community doesn't know about. But, here's the thing as public servants, we have a duty to be transparent to our constituents. And, you know, saying that people are leaving the office is only half the story without telling what we have done to make up for those losses. And sometimes, you have to be inventive and creative, and I'm proud that we've done that."

More: Chatham County District Attorney's office closes four officer-involved shooting cases

Part of the platform you also ran on in 2020 was transparency. How will you improve transparency, particularly around officer-involved shootings, if you're elected?

"I'm as transparent as the law requires me to be, as it relates to those issues. As you can imagine, I know that they're sensitive, and the community wants to know. However, there are a lot of things a DA has to consider when they publicize a statement.

Part of the reason why some cases might get published and others don't, is because you know, a DA has to be concerned about the threat of unrest. And when you have a community that is agitated, you have to be especially even more careful about how you publicize that. I'm not the type of DA that's going to be a glory hog to step in front of the cameras, every time I get a chance. The community sent me to the courthouse to do my job. And the best thing for the community is a quiet DAs office. When you don't hear from me, I'm working. I do not sensationalize the work of the office. I call balls and strikes and do what needs to be done.

I don't expect that the community is going to be happy with every decision that I make as it relates to an officer-involved shooting. But it's my job to make sure that I preserve the public interest. And so, if I feel like a lot of the community is misinformed around what has happened, and I think that might create an additional threat to public safety or to law enforcement, it's incumbent upon me to come out and speak about that and say, yes, let's be clear.

The other cases did not have as much civil unrest around them. My practice is really driven by community interest, and the risk to public safety."

Drew Favakeh is the public safety and courts reporter for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at AFavakeh@savannahnow.com.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Why is Chatham County DA Shalena Cook Jones running for re-election?
A patient prepares to take mifepristone for a medication abortion at a clinic in Kansas City, Kan., in 2022. (Charlie Riedel / Associated Press)

Abortion is back on the docket at the U.S. Supreme Court, with the justices hearing arguments Tuesday about whether a pill used to terminate early pregnancies was properly evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.

The medication, mifepristone, has been used in the United States more than 5 million times since it was approved for use in 2000, according to Danco Laboratories, the company that sells it under the brand name Mifeprex. Fewer than 0.5% of women who take it experience "serious adverse reactions," and deaths are exceedingly rare, the FDA says in its prescribing information for doctors.

Mifepristone debuted in France, its home country, and China in 1988. It is now approved in 96 countries, from Albania to Zimbabwe, according to Gynuity Health Projects, a nonprofit that advocates for womens reproductive rights.

Heres a closer look at the safety of mifepristone.

Read more: Supreme Court's antiabortion conservatives could restrict abortion pills sent by mail, even in blue states

What is mifepristone?

Mifepristone is the generic name of a pill that makes up half of the two-drug regimen used in medication abortions in the United States. When used in conjunction with a drug called misoprostol, it can terminate a pregnancy that is in the first 10 weeks of gestation.

The synthetic steroid was originally known as RU-486 (the RU stands for Roussel-Uclaf, the French company that developed the pill). It is also sold under the brand name Mifeprex.

How does mifepristone work?

It prevents a natural steroid hormone called progesterone from doing its job, which is to get the inner lining of the uterus ready for an embryo to implant about a week or so after an egg is fertilized.

Mifepristone gets in the way of this process by blocking the receptors that progesterone would normally bind with.

Read more: Biden administration will ask Supreme Court to preserve full access to abortion pills

How do we know it is safe?

As with other medications, the Food and Drug Administration has monitored mifepristone's safety profile in the decades since it went on the market. If problems cropped up that weren't evident during clinical trials, the agency could have revoked its approval.

Instead, it has expanded access to mifepristone. For example, it was initially approved for use during the first seven weeks of pregnancy; in 2016, that window was extended to 10 weeks. Likewise, after the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated acceptance of telemedicine, the FDA in 2021 stopped requiring patients to see a healthcare provider in person in order to get a mifepristone prescription.

Those two decisions are at issue in the cases going before the court Tuesday.

"Hundreds of medical studies and vast amounts of data have confirmed its safety and efficacy as part of this two-drug regimen," the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists, the American Medical Assn., and other medical societies wrote in a friend-of-the court brief filed on behalf of the FDA and Danco. The brief noted that "major adverse events occur in less than 0.32% of patients" and that "the risk of death is almost non-existent."

Read more: Abortion pill usage surged post-Roe. These numbers show the dramatic rise

Another sign of the drug's safety is the fact that medication abortions have overtaken surgical abortions in the United States. Last year, 63% of abortions nationwide were carried out with mifepristone, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit research group that supports reproductive rights.

Are there side effects to taking mifepristone?

There can be. According to the FDA, the most common ones include headaches, weakness, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever and chills.

The serious side effects to watch out for after using both drugs in the regimen are heavy bleeding (which the FDA describes as enough to soak through two thick full-size sanitary pads per hour for two consecutive hours), abdominal pain, a fever above 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit that lasts for at least four hours, and feeling sick more than a day after taking misoprostol.

Symptoms like these could be signs of a life-threatening infection, an ectopic pregnancy or another serious problem. Anyone experiencing them should contact a healthcare provider right away.

Read more: Column: Two key antiabortion studies have been retracted as junk science. Will the Supreme Court care?

Can mifepristone be fatal?

The FDA says it is aware of 32 women who died after taking mifepristone between September 2000 (when it was first approved in the United States) and the end of 2022.

However, its not clear that mifepristone was responsible for any of these deaths. Two of them were definitely caused by ruptured ectopic pregnancies, several died of drug intoxication or overdoses, and at least two women who took the pill were victims of homicides, the FDA said. As for the remaining cases, patients were taking other medications or undergoing treatments at the same time, making it difficult to pin the blame on mifepristone, according to the agency.

In their legal brief, the medical groups said that in the worst-case scenario, the drug could have caused no more than 13 of the 32 deaths. That makes the drug less dangerous than using "Viagra or getting one's wisdom teeth removed."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Parents are wondering if they should allow their kids to go to Bettendorf indoor theme park Malibu Jacks.

Bettendorf Police got called to Malibu Jacks about some unruly behavior. Post after post on social media came from parents and concerned citizens over the weekend once police were called to the business Saturday night.

Police say the situation began with two groups of juveniles arguing inside the theme park. Police say two off-duty officers and Malibu Jacks staff quickly diffused the situation. They were escorted outside, but police say they refused to leave the parking lot. Officers say they wound up arresting two people for disorderly conduct. Malibu Jacks went into lockdown as this happened. Once people started hearing what was going on over the weekend, they turned to social media expressing their concerns and frustrations.

Owners of Malibu Jacks would not go on camera, but they told Our Quad Cities News that safety is always their number one priority. The Bettendorf Police Department has a partnership with Malibu Jacks and because of that partnership, one marked squad car is there every single day for security purposes.

Malibu Jacks opened on February 24, at 858 Middle Road, in the former Schnucks building. Bettendorf Police say since the opening, there have been six calls for service. They say one was for a brush fire outside the building. Two others were disturbances involving juveniles.

Bettendorf Police also say despite these disturbances, they have zero concerns regarding the safety and security of Malibu Jacks. The general manager says at the end of the day, safety is a priority, and they say they will do everything they can to live up to that standard. They also believe they are running a safe park and they will continue to emphasize safety.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHBF - OurQuadCities.com.
The political action committee Vote417 has issued endorsements in the 2024 school board race. The PAC formed in 2021.

As the Springfield school board election draws near, questions have been raised  by a school board candidate, a sitting board member, and a local government watchdog  about the Vote417 political action committee, which has endorsed three candidates.

The questions centered on who is currently involved in the PAC, how the endorsement process worked, and why the bulk of payments from the PAC have been to a company connected to one of its founders.

To this point, there have been no allegations of wrongdoing, only lack of transparency.

Recently, board member Kelly Byrne sought to refute an allegation in campaign ads from the Vote417 PAC alleging that "book-banning extremists are only one seat away from taking control of our school board."

On March 4, Vote417 publicly endorsed first-time candidate Susan Provance and incumbents Danielle Kincaid and Scott Crise in the 2024 school board race. Three seats will be decided by the April 2 election and other candidates include first-time candidate Kyler Sherman-Wilkins; Landon McCarter and Chad Rollins, who also ran in 2023, and incumbent Maryam Mohammadkhani.

A day after Vote417 issued its endorsement, McCarter reached out to the News-Leader to voice concerns.

"No one I have talked to has ever heard of it (Vote417) and I was never reached out to from them for consideration of endorsement. Not one email, text or call," McCarter said, in a text.

McCarter added: "Candidates work really hard for endorsements. It delegitimizes the endorsement process if some person can create a PAC and start busting out news releases."

Jacob Brower, secretary and treasurer of Vote 417, speaks at a March 2022 press conference to denounce a political attack ad a Springfield school board incumbent.

At the time, the News-Leader asked founding member Jacob Brower, who has served as point-person, about the endorsement process. His response: "The endorsements were made based on the candidates' track records and public statements. It is our understanding that PACs aren't supposed to coordinate with candidates, and we err on the side of extreme caution."

In a follow-up interview Sunday, the News-Leader asked for more details about the process. Brower said it was the same as in prior years.

"As we've publicly stated, endorsements were made based on each candidate's track record and public statements, just as we have done in previous election cycles," he said. "It was apparent early on that Scott Crise, Danielle Kincaid and Susan Provance were the right choices."

The group provided more details about why it selected the three in its original news release.

"It's easy to go behind closed doors and tell people what they want to hear," Brower said, referring to the interview-based endorsement process used by other groups.

The United Springfield PAC interviewed candidates before endorsing the same three: Crise, Kincaid and Provance.

The Springfield National Education Association and Teamsters Local No. 245 also interviewed all candidates. SNEA picked McCarter, Sherman-Wilkins and Mohammadkhani while the Teamsters selected Provance, McCarter and Sherman-Wilkins.

The Back on Track America PAC  which endorsed McCarter, Rollins and Mohammadkhani  conducted a survey but not all candidates participated.

All candidates answered a questionnaire from Springfield's Missouri State Teachers Association. The group endorsed Kincaid, Provance and Sherman-Wilkins.

Brower added: "You can fake your way through a 30-minute interview. It's harder to fake a years-long track record."

PAC experiences leadership change

The Vote417 group formed, in late 2021, to "defend" the voting rights of Missourians and described voting as the "most precious right" of Americans.

"Every eligible citizen who wants to vote should be able to vote, and vote easily," the group stated on its website. "We support candidates and causes that advance voter rights, and vigorously oppose those that support voter suppression."

In March 2022, the group stepped into the school board race to denounce TV attack ads paid for by the opaque Truth In Politics group, which did not disclose its donors.

At the time, Brower said the group did not intend to get involved in the school board race but felt compelled to act after the campaign ad attacked incumbent Charles Taylor, who lost the election.

"School board elections, school boards were kind of a safe haven from politics. It was people in the community, concerned citizens, who just came together because they wanted their children to have the best education possible," said Brower in March 2022. "And within the last few years, what we've seen regarding the politicization of those races, it is very troubling."

The Vote417 group was initially led by Barry Rowell, former Springfield mayor Bob Stephens and Brower. Rowell and Stephens have since left.

Stephens, who is campaign treasurer for Sherman-Wilkins, said he left a year ago. He said at the time of his exit, the group had 8-10 members.

Asked how many people are involved in the group now, Brower said Sunday it was more than 200. The leadership of the group includes Dennis Pyle, president; Jody Bilyeu, vice president; and Brower as secretary and treasurer.

PAC uses company owned by founding member

Springfield resident Linda Simkins, who keeps an eye on local government and elections, regularly reviews reports to the Missouri Ethics Commission involving local candidates and PACs.

She noted Brower owns Archer's Bow Media and Marketing LLC and most of the spending reported for the Vote417 PAC  more than $6,000  went to ABM Strategies.

Asked about ABM Strategies, which has the same address of Brower's media and marketing company, Brower said it is his company and the "arm of Archer's Bow that helps with nonprofits and community groups."

The group described spending with ABM Strategies as advertising in the campaign disclosure reports.

Simkins said while she does not think the PAC's decision to use Brower's company for its advertising is illegal, it does raise questions.

"For all their talk about 'dark money' and lack of transparency by others, Vote417 certainly isn't transparent," she said.

Asked if he has benefited financially from the spending of Vote417, Brower said he hasn't and that all of the PAC funds have gone to pay for advertising for the group or the candidates that it has endorsed.

"Every dime we raise goes to promoting the candidates we've endorsed. We err on the side of transparency and disclose much more than is required by law," Brower said Sunday.

"Over the past three years, no local group has done as much with as little as we've raised, and I'm incredibly proud of that. Every day, I get messages from people saying their (social media) feeds are flooded with Vote417 ads."

Brower added: "We've only raised $2,000 this election cycle. The question that should be asked is why more local community groups haven't reached out to Archer's Bow for their marketing, not why Vote417 has."

The group provided direct support for Taylor in 2022 and board members Shurita Thomas-Tate and Judy Brunner, whom the group backed, during the 2023 election.

Brower, Rowell and Stephens all donated to get the group started. Brower has made multiple donations.

Most of the funds were spent in 2022 and 2023. In March, when the 2023 board endorsements were announced, the PAC had less than $400 in its account.

Allegations related to banning books

The Springfield school board, from left, Danielle Kincaid, Judy Brunner, Steve Makoski, Kelly Byrne, Scott Crise, Shurita Thomas-Tate and Maryam Mohammadkhani.

In a short interview Sunday, Byrne said he was frustrated that Vote417 ads for Kincaid, Crise and Provance alleged "book-banning extremists are only one seat from taking control of our school board."

Byrne tagged Kincaid in a post about the endorsement ad, which she had shared, nearly a week ago on Facebook. He wrote: "Danielle Kincaid please don't be so vague with scare tactic campaigning. Who are the 'book banning extremists' who currently sit on our board and who are the ones that are running?"

The News-Leader reached out to Kincaid about sharing the ad. She provided a short statement.

"I am thrilled with the support I have received from the Springfield community  teachers, citizens, parents, and others that care about our public schools," she said.

"Questions about statements or comments made online or elsewhere should properly be directed to the person(s) making them."

Kincaid added: "Vote417 is correct that I do not support banning or burning books because I support our educators, administrators, and librarians that work to make sure our libraries have enriching and age-appropriate materials for our students."

Asked about the allegation in the ad and Byrne's objection to it, Brower said: "We appreciate the extra attention he's trying to bring to our ad. It's obviously struck a chord and we feel it speaks for itself."

Brower described the questions that have been raised about the PAC as "Hail Mary passes from desperate campaign surrogates" and was critical of the News-Leader writing a story about the issues raised so close to the election. Most media outlets, including the News-Leader, limit campaign-related stories in the final days before the election.

Byrne said he also supports "age-appropriate" books in schools and does not want to rewrite history.

He said an allegation, like the one leveled by the PAC, has the possibility of "influencing the election."

Byrne said he does not know of any sitting board member or candidate who wants to ban books and that the issue has not come up during his time on the board. "No, not at all."

"The only talk we have had about books has been about textbooks," he said.

In 2021, before Byrne was elected to the board, two book removal requests were appealed all the way to the school board, where they were ultimately rejected.

More: Behind closed doors, Springfield school board rejected two book ban attempts in 2021

However, few were aware of the requests or the outcome because the review process  including a final decision by a four- or five-member committee of the board, enough for a quorum  occurred almost entirely out of public view.

The district said the special meetings where board members discussed and voted on the book removal requests were closed to the public to protect the confidentiality of students who may have been involved.

A Missouri expert in the Sunshine Law said the district's reason for considering book ban requests out of public view was "not justifiable."

The books targeted were "The Perks Of Being A Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky and "In Our Mothers' House" by Patricia Polacco.

A quorum of the board decided not to ban either book. But, with one book, the decision was not unanimous.

For the "The Perks Of Being A Wallflower" book, offered as a choice in a class available to high school juniors and seniors, five board members were on the review committee.

They included Alina Lehnert, Denise Fredrick and Charles Taylor  who are no longer on the board  plus Kincaid and Mohammadkhani.

A majority of the five-member committee, all but Mohammadkhani, agreed the book should remain an option in the district.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Springfield Vote417 PAC's endorsements process, ad spending questioned
Most of us had never heard of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) until sometime after September 11, 2001, even though the act has been around since, well, 1978, when President Jimmy Carter signed it into law.

After 9/11, the George W. Bush administration greatly expanded its intelligence-gathering activities, including both domestic and foreign surveillance and wiretapping, mostly without going through the FISA process. After those activities came under public scrutiny in 2008, Congress passed FISAs Section 702 in order to codify the Bush administrations activities and provide congressional and judicial oversight. It was reauthorized in 2012, and again in 2018. Now Section 702 is back in the news as Congress weighs its reauthorization. With the statute set to expire December 31, 2023, Congress was unable to pass a longer-term reauthorization, instead passing a short-term reauthorization. Its now set to sunset April 19, 2024, unless lawmakers renew it a third time.

What powers does Section 702 grant?

Section 702 can be found in 50 U.S.C.  1881, if youre inclined to read the actual statute. Section 702 gives our intelligence agencies the authority to collect communications of foreign powers and agents of foreign powers located outside the United States. The statute specifically prohibits targeted collection, whether directly or indirectly, of communications of anyone known to be located inside the United States, or of any United States citizen, even if that citizen is located outside the United States. The government is also prohibited from targeting a foreign person abroad for the purpose of learning about an American.

Section 702 allows intelligence gathering on non-U.S. citizens outside the U.S. without a specific warrant. Instead, the attorney general and the director of national intelligence must submit certifications to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) annually demonstrating proper use of Section 702 powers and specifying categories of intelligence it can be used to collect. The FISC reviews and approves these Section 702 certifications, which must generally comply with the requirements of the Fourth Amendment.

Once the dataagain, primarily communicationsis collected (usually by the National Security Agency), that information is stored in a giant database. Then the various intelligence agencies can run searches against that database to find the particular information they need. It is important to note, however, that the database may be used only for national security purposes, and that, absent exigent circumstances (i.e threat to life or serious bodily harm), no law enforcement agency, including the FBI, may run searches against the database for domestic criminal investigative purposes without a specific court order.

One of the sticking points with Section 702 is the incidental but unavoidable collection of communications involving United States citizens, whether located within or outside the United States. Consider the scenario of a U.S. citizen communicating (via phone, email, text, or other method) with a foreign national located outside the country who is a subject of surveillance under FISA. Even though the surveillance target is a foreign national, the communications with the U.S. citizen will necessarily get swept up with all the other data. The FISA statute provides for procedures intended to minimize the collection, retention, sharing, and use of those types of communications.

The Section 702 program is reviewed periodically (annually by Congress, more often by the intelligence agencies and the courts) to ensure that the FISA program is being implemented in a way that protects the individual liberties of U.S. citizens to the maximum extent possible.

The sticking point: balancing national security and civil liberties.

Section 702 has been a heavy hammer in the counterterrorism arsenal. According to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, 59 percent of the presidents daily briefs include information attributable to Section 702. Federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies, including the FBI, Department of Justice, CIA, and the NSA, contend that Section 702 has been key to identifying the strategic intentions of foreign governments, preventing significant terrorist plots, learning about espionage plots to obtain sensitive information and technology, preventing weapon components from reaching hostile foreign actors, identifying threats to U.S. troops, uncovering evasion of U.S. sanctions, disrupting kidnappings, preventing assassination attempts, and identifying and preventing cyberattacks on critical infrastructure. Case in point: Section 702 information contributed to the drone strike that killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in 2022.

Thats not to say that there are no potential problems and abuses of the FISA program, including (but not limited to) Section 702. The obvious challenge with any government surveillance program is achieving the proper balance between national security interests and the individual liberties of U.S. citizens, and Section 702 is no exception. The concern does not lie with those targeted for surveillance, because as non-U.S. persons located outside the United States, they have no constitutional (specifically Fourth Amendment) rights. The concern is for the constitutional rights of U.S. citizens who, although not targeted, have their communications incidentally swept up due to their communications with foreign persons.

Although the program has substantial safeguards built in to prevent the violation of the civil rights of U.S. citizens, we saw how the FISA program can be abused when Department of Justice Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz, in a 2019 report, found 17 inaccuracies, errors, and omissions in FISA applications submitted by the FBI related to surveillance of Carter Page, an adviser to Donald Trumps 2016 presidential campaign, including submission of a materially altered email and omission of exculpatory evidence. (The warrants pertaining to the surveillance of Page, a U.S. citizen, were issued under a different section of FISA, not Section 702, but the relevant concerns still apply). Further, a report by the FISC in April 2022 revealed that the FBI misused Section 702 nearly 280,000 times from 2020 to 2021 in order to collect information on crime victims, January 6 rioters, Black Lives Matter protesters, and donors to a congressional candidate.

Horowitz concluded that the FBIs conduct in the Page case represent[s] serious performance failures by the supervisory and non-supervisory agents with responsibility over the FISA applications. The problem is not so much statutory as the need for management personnel of investigatory agencies to follow the existing protocols and safeguards.

What institutional reforms are under consideration?

The solution to eliminating the misuse of FISA could involve both civil and criminal ramifications. Government officials who submit provably false information on FISA applications should have their employment terminated, and should be subject to 1983 lawsuits for violation of the targets civil rights. And remember, those applications are submitted under oath. Criminal penalties already exist for perjury, as evidenced by the 2020 guilty plea of Kevin Clinesmith, the FBI attorney who altered an email submitted in support of the Page warrant application. For infractions that are unintentional, the solution could be increased training and employment sanctions.

The Department of Justice and the FBI have already taken steps to improve the FBIs compliance with FISA protocols. In 2020 the FBI established an Office of Internal Auditing and implemented a three-strike accountability system for employees who violate FISA policies and protocols. Such in-house reforms have proven successful thus far, reducing U.S. citizen searches by 93 percent and increasing compliant searches to 96 percent in 2022.

Congress also took steps to address concerns in 2020 by amending the FISA statute to provide for an advocate to argue against the requested surveillance to be considered by the court, new criminal penalties for officials who make false representations to the court, and a provision requiring the attorney general to approve any proposed surveillance of federal officials or political candidates.

What reforms could Congress implement?

Despite these reforms, members of both political parties have expressed concerns regarding renewal of Section 702. Many voted against renewal in 2018, and its reauthorization next month by the current Congress isnt assured, primarily due to past abuses of the database by the FBI . A base bill currently under consideration includes some additional safeguards, including 1) requiring an FBI supervisor or attorney to approve every search for information on U.S. citizens (with an exception for exigent circumstances as noted above); 2) requiring the FBI director to notify members of Congress if the agency uses the program to search their name; and 3) requiring the DOJ inspector general to report on the FBIs Section 702 compliance. But some in Congress dont think this goes far enough and are pushing for additional reforms, such as increased judicial involvement,such as requiring submission of a second warrant application to FISC in order for the FBI to access Americans communications swept up in the 702 database even in a national security context (as opposed to law enforcement investigations, where a second warrant is already required).

In the end, the reauthorization of Section 702 could turn on how intelligence gathered under the statute is used by the FBI as much as its vital importance to national security. Balancing civil rights and national security is, essentially, a zero-sum calculation. Congress will weigh whether the DOJ and other intelligence agencies have learned from their mistakes and whether the added safeguards will ensure proper agency implementation.

Correction, March 28, 2024: This piece was updated to correct references to warrants obtained to conduct surveillance under Section 702. While warrants are needed under other parts of the FISA law, such as surveillance of U.S. citizens, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court grants intelligence agencies broad certifications allowing surveillance of foreign nationals outside the U.S. under Section 702.

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by Xinhua writer Yuan Quan

BEIJING, March 26 (Xinhua) -- For the past decade, Wu Yue, 36, has carefully maintained a delicate balance in her body's immune system, ensuring it's robust enough to combat viruses yet not overly strong to risk rejecting her new organs.

She has undergone two double lung transplants. The first transplant surgery was performed in August 2013, following her diagnosis of a severe lung disease. Five years later, she underwent a second one. Two selfless donors' lungs were successively transplanted into her body, serving as a vital "relay" to sustain her life. She said that every breath she takes is a cherished gift.

Wu leads a cautious lifestyle, requiring daily medication, frequent hospital visits, and avoiding prolonged periods of walking. Despite these challenges, over the years, she has actively assisted individuals with disabilities, registered as an organ and tissue donor, and strived to regain a sense of normalcy in her own life.

She said she hopes to raise awareness among people about how transplant patients regain confidence.

Wu was born in Nanjing, the capital of east China's Jiangsu Province. After graduating from university, she found a job at a local advertising company. In May 2013, she underwent a medical examination due to severe asthma and was diagnosed with advanced lymphangioleiomyomatosis, a rare disease with an incidence of only five cases per million females. The cause of the disease remains unknown and there is currently no cure available. Patients experience persistent breathing difficulties and many eventually succumb to respiratory failure as their condition worsens.

At that time, she required continuous oxygen support. Within just two months, her fingers began to swell, and she experienced difficulty speaking coherently. Doctors informed her that she had only two options: either return home and rely on an oxygen generator for up to five years or undergo a lung transplant.

Fortunately, three months later, a matching organ became available, and she underwent a lung transplant at Wuxi People's Hospital.

After regaining consciousness following the seven-hour-long surgery, she found herself no longer dependent on an oxygen generator and could breathe freely once again.

Wu devoted herself to rehabilitation, pursued new hobbies, such as dancing and baking, and traveled with her parents. She tried to regain the life she once had.

However, the life after the surgery was not plain sailing. Shortly afterward, she lost her job, went through a breakup with her boyfriend, and grappled with the side effects of her medication. At its worst, she had to deal with frequent vomiting every five minutes.

During moments of despair, she thought of writing to the deceased donor of her lungs. She fondly referred to him as the "cattle-grazing boy" because all she knew about him was he grazed cattle thousands of miles away and lost his life in a hillside fall.

In her first letter, Wu shared the joys and blessings, as well as the untold struggles and uncertainties she faced after the surgery. She wrote, "Besides my parents and friends, you are what keeps me going."

To her surprise, when Wu's doctor posted the letter on a microblogging site, it soon received wide media coverage. She never anticipated that her experience would serve as an inspiration for numerous individuals and draw public attention to the donation system.

In 2017, to show her gratitude, Wu registered as an organ donor herself. "Ever since I signed up for organ donation, death has taken on a new meaning for me, helping me discover the significance of my existence and regain the courage to face challenges head-on," Wu said.

The next year, she experienced lung transplant rejection, a significant challenge for transplant patients, with no effective clinical method of mitigation available. Doctors advised another lung transplant. Initially hesitant and blaming herself, Wu eventually agreed after experiencing increasingly severe symptoms.

Following the second surgery, Wu continued to write letters, addressing them to the second lung donor, whom she affectionately called "Buddy 30," in commemoration of the surgery performed on Oct. 30, 2018.

"I wonder if you exchange high-fives in this relay of life. Your love, along with that of the 'cattle-grazing boy' has given me the courage to confront death and encourage more people to join your cause," Wu wrote in her letter.

To ease the financial burden on her family, Wu took up a new job at a cultural startup. She devotes her spare time to learning sign language, providing legal assistance to individuals with hearing impairments, and helping their children with schoolwork. She also serves as an editor at the China Organ Donation Administrative Center, where she is responsible for sharing inspiring stories on social media.

Since Jan. 1, 2015, voluntary organ donation in China has become the sole source for organ transplants following the passing of a citizen. Although the number of potential donors is increasing rapidly, it still falls significantly short. Approximately 300,000 Chinese individuals are currently on waiting lists, yet only 20,000 receive transplants annually.

Wu found that many people around her, both young and old, have registered as donors. She is also delighted to witness the growing societal appreciation for organ donation.

Wu recently completed a 57-day treatment at a hospital. A stage play based on her story will be performed in Nanjing next month. She said she hopes it can foster greater understanding and support for transplant patients.

"I've been through storms, so I am willing to extend my umbrella to those in need," Wu said. 
NEW YORK (PIX11)  The NYPD officer who was shot to death in Queens and the man who was fatally pushed onto a Manhattan subway track are victims of one of New York Citys three major crises  recidivism, according to Mayor Eric Adams.

The citys other issues are severe mental health illness and random acts of violence, which all contributed to NYPD Officer Jonathan Dillers death in Far Rockaway and the man who was shoved onto the tracks at the 125th Street-Lexington Avenue subway station in East Harlem Monday night.

We have a real recidivist problem, Adams said at a press briefing Tuesday.

NYPD officer shot, killed in Queens leaves behind wife, baby

Diller was fatally shot in the stomach after approaching two men in an illegally parked car near Mott Avenue and Smith Place at around 6 p.m., according to the NYPD. Police said driver Lindy Jones, 41, and passenger Guy Rivera, 34, were in the gray SUV when Diller told Rivera to get out, police said. Rivera then allegedly pulled out a gun and shot the 31-year-old officer, cops said.

The driver has more than 20 priors, including a gun charge from April 2023, and his accomplice has just as many prior arrests, according to Adams.

Its the same people over and over again, the mayor said.

Carlton McPherson, 24, was charged with murder for allegedly shoving a 54-year-old man onto the tracks as a northbound No. 4 train approached the East Harlem station at around 7 p.m., police said. The incident happened hours after authorities announced 800 cops were going to flood subway stations to crack down on fare evaders. There were six cops in the station when the victim was killed, Adams said.

McPherson was suffering from several mental health issues, including violence, the mayor said. Police said the suspect had multiple prior arrests, including assault, robbery, and fare evasion. He was released without bail in connection to an Oct. 31, 2023 arrest in Brooklyn, according to court records.

When you combine recidivism with severe mental health issues and then you add the random acts of violence to that, all of them played out last night, Adams said.

The mayor said the citys laws and policies dont address those issues.

Mira Wassef is a digital reporter who has covered news and sports in the New York City area for more than a decade. She joined PIX11 News in 2022. See more of her work here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini began a harsh assault on women's rights.

Today, Iranian women are subject to strict dress codes, including the mandatory hijab, and face legal and political discrimination.

Violations of the rules are frequently met with intense and sometimes fatal brutality.

Speaking exclusively to Euronews, Iranian women's rights activist Masih Alinejad has called on Western leaders to unite in favour of democracy and challenge dictatorships across the world.

Persecuted by Iran's government herself, the journalist-author recently launched a campaign United Against Gender Apartheid, which aims to share the stories of women living under the shadow of oppressive regimes.

Here is what she said.

Euronews: Let's start by speaking about your latest initiative, United Against Gender Apartheid. What inspired you to start the campaign, and what is the aim?

Masih Alinejad: I launched this campaign because I believe in the power of storytelling. If every single woman takes her camera and talks about how it feels to be a second-class citizen in Afghanistan, how it feels to get kicked out of schools, how it feels to get lashes, to get beaten up in the streets in Iran for the crime of showing their hair  they can bring all women together.

FILE - ranians protests the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was detained by the morality police, in Tehran, Oct. 1, 2022. - AP/Copyright 2022 The AP. All rights reserved.

Its not just women in Iran and Afghanistan. Their stories have encouraged the women of Africa to join us. I think this campaign gives a picture of all women from all authoritarian regimes.

You see women from Nicaragua, women from Venezuela, women from Sudan, from Africa, joining women from Iran and Afghanistan and calling for an end to the gender apartheid regime. And this unity is the key.

Euronews: What assistance have you received from the international community?

Alinejad: So far, some Western countries are trying to understand how the women of Iran and Afghanistan are suffering under gender apartheid, and how they can help to have gender apartheid classified in all international laws.

There are meetings with groups of women from Iran and Afghanistan, member states, and politicians and policymakers everywhere in European countries. But I think this is not sufficient.

We need a global rally, a global movement to unite all women across the globe, to call on their leaders, to get united to end gender apartheid.

Euronews: Dictators are uniting and seeking assistance to avoid sanctions and punishment from Western countries. At the same time, we see how Western leaders are scared to fully punish these regimes. How do you see regimes being held accountable by the new initiative?

Alinejad: This initiative is just one of the tools in our hands, the hands of dissidents, to bring the democratic countries together. Our struggle is important, but its not sufficient. The international community must hear the call from the World Liberty Congress.

We had our first general assembly where we united dissidents from 60 authoritarian regimes, the leaders of the movement in every authoritarian country from Africa to Latin America, to many regions in the Middle East, to Eastern Europe, to Asia, and people from Hong Kong. There are pro-democracy movements in each region. But at the same time, all the dictators from these regions are helping each other.

Two-thirds of the global population is living under authoritarian regimes. It is shocking, but it is true. It is a fact that 70% of the global population is living under autocrats. Democracy is in recession. I believe that only sanctions are not sufficient. It is a tool, but its not sufficient. We need to see all the democratic countries as united as authoritarian regimes to isolate dictatorships and terrorists.

A woman is painted on a her face during a protest against the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died while in police custody in Iran, during a rally in central Rome, Oct. 2022 - Gregorio Borgia/Copyright 2022 The AP. All rights reserved

Euronews: Youre asking women across the world who are under authoritarian regimes to record a video of themselves, exposing the atrocities that theyre facing every day. Yet, weve also seen how many of these regimes have condemned and arrested people for speaking out. Have you seen a change in the mentality of people in their willingness to speak up against these regimes?

Alinejad: In my country, the regime created a new law saying that if anyone sent videos to Masih Alinejad would be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison. I remember I felt guilty. I felt the burden on my shoulders. I wanted to shut down my campaign. But guess what happened? I was bombarded by women sending videos.

Now mothers who lost their beloved ones in the protests, in the uprising, are sending videos to me in the same street where their children got killed, saying: Masih, you should be our voice because we don't have anything to lose. They killed our children, and now are telling us to stop being our storytellers? They want us to stop even crying for justice?

Women in my country, women in authoritarian regimes, are fearless. They have nothing to lose. They had enough. But at the same time, they have agency. I'm not putting their lives in danger. These are the authoritarian regimes putting their lives in danger. And thats why they believe they are like the women of suffrage. They have to risk their lives because they believe freedom is not free.

In my country, you see that the clerics are attacking women in the streets. Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, asked the police to put cameras everywhere to identify unveiled women. What happened? You see women showing their middle fingers to the cameras. You see women using their cameras as weapons to expose the violence of those who carry weapons, to expose the Islamic Republic, expose the Taliban, and African dictators.

Euronews: During the recent parliamentary elections in Iran, we saw the lowest voter turnout since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. We are also witnessing government top officials voicing their discomfort with some of the conservatives policies. People in the streets are rebelling against the establishment. Do you think that a possibility of change might be looming in Iran?

Alinejad: I think the main change that the Iranian people want is regime change. They want to have a secular democracy. And they deserve to have it. Theres a huge gap between the young generation and the rulers. All the criminals, theyre ruling my country. So for that, I have to say that the Islamic Republic is not reformable.

Even those moderate boys who now boycotted the election concluded that they must get rid of the Islamic Republic and have a secular democracy. And believe me, a secular democracy not only benefits the people of Iran, but also the people in the region and the people in the West. So an Iran without an Islamic Republic will benefit the rest of the world.

A woman cuts her hair in solidarity with Iranian women during a protest in Tel Aviv, Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022. - Ariel Schalit/Copyright 2022 The AP. All rights reserved.

We, the people of Iran, were not risking our lives to just save ourselves. We want to save the rest of the world from one of the most dangerous viruses, which is called the Islamic Republic. They are infecting the rest of the world.

There's a famous saying in America: What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas  but I believe what happened in the Middle East is not going to stay in the Middle East. They will expand their ideology in Europe. Extremism everywhere.

I believe that change will come in my country sooner or later, but history will judge those who could be a voice for the women of Iran, but they decided to ignore them, instead shaking the hands of the killers of my women.

This transcript has been edited for clarity and length.
SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON)  Prosecutors called their final witness on Monday before a judge decides if a 3-year-old girls mother, uncle, and grandfather will stand trial for her exorcism death.

The girl, Arely Naomi Proctor, died on the floor of a San Jose church while her family members prayed, performed a tortuous exorcism, and attempted to cast an evil demon out of her, prosecutors said.

The girls mother called 911 to report that her daughter had died. Arelys body was riddled with injuries when firefighters found her on Sept. 24, 2021, inside a small Pentecostal church, Iglesia Apostoles y Profetas, in downtown San Jose.

Pastor Rene Hernandez, Claudia Hernandez, and Rene Aaron Hernandez Santos are seen in mugshots released by the San Jose Police Department.

Prosecutors charged Arelys mother, 26-year-old Claudia Hernandez, 20-year-old uncle, Rene Aaron Hernandez Santos, and 60-year-old grandfather, Rene Trigueros Hernandez, with killing her together. The grandfather is the churchs pastor. All three previously pleaded not guilty.

San Jose Police Department Det. Mike Harrington was called to the stand Monday for the final day of a lengthy preliminary hearing. Defense attorneys attempted to show that SJPD homicide detectives held some sort of religious bias against the family.

Claudias defense attorney asked Harrington, You wanted to explore the church they grew up in and their religious beliefs? You asked, How does God speak to you? You asked, if a person was possessed and their needed medical help, would it be morally wrong to not take them for medical help?

Yes, Harrington replied.

The pastors defense attorney, Dana Fite, said, Had this been a more traditional religion, these officers would not have questioned the sanity of our clients. They have a bias against this particular religion.

Claudia Hernandez (Mugshot via San Jose Police Department)

Claudia and her brother were born in El Salvador. Their father required a court Spanish translator for the hearing.

Prosecutors Rebekah Wise told the judge that detectives waited a full six months before they even arrested the mother. Instead of jumping to conclusions based on bias, the detectives conducted a thorough investigation, Wise asserted. Police arrested Arelys mother on Jan. 31, 2022. Arelys uncle and grandfather were arrested on May 11, 2022.

SJPD arrests three family members in child exorcism death

On Monday, a coroner testified that the girl had so many injuries  including blunt force trauma on her face and internal abdominal injuries  that it was impossible to know which injury was the final blow. Prosecutors also previously said investigators were unsure which family member was responsible for Arelys lethal injury.

The coroner said she determined Arelys cause of death was a combination of mechanical asphyxia and smothering, and her injuries included brain swelling, blood in the lungs, marks on the neck, and injuries inside the mouth. The victim weighed 38 pounds.

Court documents state, Claudia, Aaron, and Rene were interviewed (by police) and stated that they believed Arely had been possessed by a demon and they were at the church to pray for her. They squeezed Arely and tried to induce vomiting in order to expel the demon. At some point, they realized that Arely had died.

Inmates attack Rene Trigueros Hernandez in San Jose jail

Claudias defense attorney told the judge, A critical issue in this case is intentional vs. unintentional. Intent is at the heart of this case. All three defendants said they had no intent to hurt Arely.

The victims family members are not charged with murder. Instead, the trio is charged with felony assault on a child younger than eight causing death. If convicted they will face 25 years to life in prison.

Prosecutor Wise told the judge, This is a child abuse case, and she does not need to provide the family intended to kill the little girl.

Before the mother was arrested, she uploaded multiple YouTube videos of herself saying God took her daughter. Claudia says in one video dated January 2022, Its many reasons why God took her. At least shes not suffering. Shes in a better place. God knows why he allowed these things. God is good.

After Detective Harringtons testimony concluded Monday, Wise and the three defense attorneys rested their case.

Judge Hanley Chew said he needs to view hours of videos, including SJPD officers body cameras and police interrogations, and hundreds of photographs, before he makes his ruling. Some of the photographs show the altar in the church where the girl died, firefighters standing in front of the altar, and the girls injuries. The majority of videos and photographs were not shown publicly in court.

Judge Chews ruling will determine whether the District Attorneys Office has enough evidence to put Arelys mother, uncle, and grandfather on trial. His ruling is slated to be announced in early April.

The three defendants are being held in a Santa Clara County jail without bail.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang holds talks with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, who is on an official visit to China, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling)

BEIJING, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang held talks with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena on Tuesday in Beijing.

Li said China and Sri Lanka are strategic partners of cooperation characterized by sincere mutual assistance and enduring friendship spanning generations. The two countries have always respected each other and enjoyed equality and reciprocal cooperation since the establishment of diplomatic relations 67 years ago, he added.

China is ready to work with Sri Lanka to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state during their talks last year, carry forward the tradition of friendship, consolidate political mutual trust, and expand bilateral cooperation in various fields to promote common development, Li noted.

China supports Sri Lanka's efforts to realize national unity and stability as well as independent economic development, Li said, adding that China is willing to push forward the implementation of major projects under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative and deepen bilateral cooperation in trade, agriculture and marine research.

He called on the two sides to explore cooperation potential in clean energy and telecommunication while strengthening exchanges and cooperation in culture, tourism and education.

China encourages more companies to invest in Sri Lanka and is willing to increase imports of Sri Lankan quality products, Li said, expressing the hope that Sri Lanka could provide a good business environment for Chinese companies.

Gunawardena thanked China for providing long-term support to Sri Lanka's efforts to safeguard national sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, and helping the country realize economic and social development and cope with the COVID-19 pandemic and financial crisis.

Hailing the Belt and Road Initiative and global initiatives proposed by China, he said that Sri Lanka has always adhered to the one-China principle and will continue to firmly pursue policies to strengthen friendly cooperation with China.

Sri Lanka will work with China to solidly advance the Belt and Road cooperation, deepen cooperation in various fields, and further cultural exchanges and engagement between the two peoples, to promote the common development of the two countries and regional peace and stability, Gunawardena said.

Li and Gunawardena witnessed the signing of a batch of deals in areas such as trade, investment, customs and development cooperation after their talks at the Great Hall of the People.

At the invitation of the Chinese premier, Gunawardena is on an official visit to China from March 25 to 30. 

Chinese Premier Li Qiang holds a welcome ceremony for Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena in the Northern Hall of the Great Hall of the People prior to their talks in Beijing, capital of China, March 26, 2024. Li held talks with Gunawardena, who is on an official visit to China, in Beijing on Tuesday. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei)
OAKLAND, Calif.  Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is slated to announce his vice-presidential pick Tuesday at a time when his campaign has gained some early traction with voters but appears to be short on cash.

His "Team Kennedy" campaign raised $29 million in February but spent $22 million of it, so ended the month with just over $5 million, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission.

A Super PAC has also been raising money on his behalf. Called American Values 2024, it raised $4.2 million in February and spent nearly $9 million, leaving it with $18.5 million.

His campaign has told USA TODAY that it needs $30 million simply to get on the ballot in all 50 states. So far, he is on the ballot in Utah and has collected enough signatures to earn a spot in Nevada and New Hampshire. But CBS News reported late Monday that he might have to start all over again in Nevada because a running mate was not named on his petition.

His "We the People" party has enough signatures to establish itself in Hawaii.

A statement released by the campaign said Kennedy stands for "restoring the middle class, ending the chronic disease epidemic, unwinding the war machine, and unraveling corporate capture of our government agencies."

Independent Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during a campaign rally at Legends Event Center on December 20, 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona.

Fundraising challenges

There's no doubt Kennedy, 70, a long-time lawyer and activist, could use additional financial support.

The PAC's biggest contribution in February came from Gavin de Becker, an author and expert in providing security to public officials. He donated $4 million in February, as well as $10 million earlier this year, which was later converted to a loan, and $4.5 million last year. Gavin de Becker and Associates LP has received about $1.4 million in expenses from Kennedys campaign in February, according to campaign filings.

The next biggest chunk of Kennedy's financial support so far has come from Mellon Bank heir Timothy Mellon, who is also a longtime supporter of former president Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, as well as the biggest donor to the border wall Trump long touted. That has led to speculation that Mellon and others who support Kennedy are doing so to harm President Joe Biden's reelection bid.

Such support from a Trump backer could affect how some voters see Kennedy, said Peter Ubertaccio, a professor of political scence and vice president for academic affairs at Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts.

As Robert F. Kennedy Jr. campaigns in Grand Rapids, billboard launched by the Democratic National Committee highlights how Robert F. Kennedy's Super PAC is allegedly receiving millions from Donald Trump's largest donor, Timothy Mellon on February 9, 2024 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Kennedy's ability to sway even a few voters in key swing states will certainly lead to a Democratic response, he said.

The Democratic National Committee already filed a federal election complaint against his campaign saying it has benefited illegally from American Value 2024 support.

How the Democratic party responds to a continuing threat from Kennedy could drive voters to him or away, Ubertaccio said.

The next biggest donor is Nicole Shanahan, who has been rumored to be his pick for a running mate, a decision he is expected to make Tuesday in Oakland, California, her hometown.

Shanahan, a lawyer, philanthropist and ex-wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin, provided $4 million to support a controversial $7 million Kennedy advertisement that ran during the Super Bowl. Last year, she donated $500,000 to the pro-Kennedy group Common Sense and the legal limit of $6,600 last year to Kennedy's campaign. She has donated to other candidates in the past, including Biden's 2020 campaign and Hillary Clinton's 2016 White House bid.

Shanahan previously told USA TODAY she provided creative direction for the recent Super Bowl ad, which drew liberally from a commercial his uncle John F. Kennedy used in his successful 1960 presidential campaign.

The rest of Kennedy family has distanced themselves from him. RFK Jr., son of the attorney general of the same name, is known for his opposition to vaccines, a stance other family members say would have "appalled" his aunt Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who devoted her life to protecting children against diseases and birth defects.

RFK Jr. apologized to his cousins after they complained about the Super Bowl but then pinned it to the top of his social media profile for a time.

Much of the Kennedy clan  but not RFK Jr.  celebrated St. Patrick's Day earlier this month with President Joe Biden at the White House.

The Kennedy name is a "nationally recognized brand" in American politics, though more in Massachusetts than elsewhere, said Ubertaccio, who has followed the family's political fortunes.

"This particular Kennedy is unorthodox in many ways."

Kennedy's voter support

Kennedy's campaign points to polling that shows he has strong support among young people, independents and Latino voters.

Political scientists said third-party candidates typically poll much better in the springtime than they do as the first Tuesday in November approaches.

Many are unhappy with both Biden and former president Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, but ultimately "people don't want to waste their vote," Ubertaccio said.

Traditionally, third-party candidates have acted as "spoilers," preventing Democratic or Republican candidates from winning. In 1992, businessman Ross Perot helped Democrat Bill Clinton deny George H.W. Bush a second term. Ralph Nader returned the favor in 2000, taking enough votes away from Democrat Al Gore that Bush's son won the electoral college and became president.

In a recent online poll of 4,000 Americans from March 7 to 13, Kennedy picked up disaffected middle and center independents as well as suburban women, turned off by the Republican hard-line against abortion, said Cliff Young, president of U.S. public affairs at Ipsos, which conducted the survey.

"He does seems to capture the fringe. Overall hes picking up a chunk of the electorate who dont like either Trump or Biden," Young said.

But the more the public knows about Kennedy's unorthodox views, the more he may have trouble holding onto his current support, said Jeffrey Berry, a political science professor emeritus at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts.

"As Kennedy attracts more attention, it's not necessarily going to be to his benefit," he said.

Kennedy's outsider status is "resonating right now. I just don't know if it will hold going into November," Ubertaccio added. "He's likely at the high point of his candidacy."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: RFK Jr. VP pick to be announced as support grows, but cash is low
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s bid to appear on the ballot in Nevada could be in jeopardy after he failed to include a potential vice president on his filing documents.

CBS first reported the potential snag on Monday, just a day before Kennedy is expected to announce his running mate on Tuesday at an event in Oakland, California. Nevadas guidelines for presidential candidates require independent petitions to include the names of both a presidential and vice presidential pick before they begin collecting signatures in order for them to be valid. The news outlet confirmed those rules with the Nevada secretary of states office.

CBS obtained documents from the office that only display Kennedys name, which would appear to be a violation of state statutes.

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during a campaign event on Nov. 14, 2023, in Columbia, South Carolina. AP Photo/Meg Kinnard, File

The Kennedy campaign immediately lambasted the reports and accused the Democratic National Committee of conspiring to keep him off the ballot. There is no evidence to back up those claims.

This is the epitome of corruption, Paul Rossi, a lawyer for the campaign, said in a statement. After successfully collecting all of the signatures we need in Nevada, the DNC Goon Squad and their lackeys in the Nevada Secretary of States office are outright inventing a new requirement for the petition with zero legal basis.

The Nevada statute does not require the VP on the petition, Rossi continued. The petition does not even have a field for a VP on it.

"The DNC is spending millions of dollars in a frantic attempt to keep Kennedy off the ballot because they cannot defeat us in a fair election. They cannot face us in a contest of ideas. These are the death throes of a party that once stood for working people but has long since https://t.co/hZgwvFKe9r  Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) March 26, 2024

The attorney included an email thread with the secretary of states office in which the campaign was incorrectly told that a petition does not need a vice presidential candidate listed. CBS reported the secretary of state confirmed it made an error, but all independent candidates must still abide by Nevada statutes even amid the threat of a lawsuit from Kennedy and his team.

Kennedy has already garnered 15,000 signatures to appear on the Nevada ballot, but he could be forced to start that collection effort from scratch as those signatures could be declared void. He has until July 5 to submit a new batch and until Aug. 9 to refile his petition to appear on the presidential ballot.

Independent candidates face an uphill battle to appear on the ballot in states across the country. Each state has varying rules for how to do so, but about half require a candidate to designate their running mate before petitioning for access, The Associate Press reports.

Kennedy has already gained access to the ballot in Utah and he has said he has gained enough signatures to appear on a few others.

Related...
OAKLAND, California  Lawyer and philanthropist Nicole Shanahan will be Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s running mate in his long-shot bid for the U.S. presidency, the pair announced Tuesday.

Kennedy made the announcement at a campaign event in Oakland, her hometown.

About 500 people filled the floor of the Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts and more than 30,000 tuned into the livestream with many suggesting their favorite vice presidential picks, ranging from former U.S. Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) to New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

He said he liked her for her commitment to health and organic foods and "deep, inside knowledge" of how the technology industry uses artificial intelligence to manipulate the public and identify government abuses. He also wanted an athlete, he said, describing Shanahan as an avid surfer and a softball player in her youth. He wanted, he said, a gifted administrator, an inquiring mind, someone open to changing her opinions, who is spiritual, idealistic and "above all (someone with) a deep love for the United States of America."

In some ways, Shanahan was an odd choice. A registered Democrat, she has no political or executive experience and most of her philanthropic support has gone to mainstream science  while Kennedy, who quit the Democratic party last fall, has made a national reputation dismissing the scientific findings of vaccine developers and public health experts.

In other ways, though, the 38-year-old, makes a lot of sense. She has already donated more than $4 million to his campaign, including the lion's share of funding for a 30-second ad during the Super Bowl.

Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr announces his Vice President representative as Nicole Shanahan during a rally at the Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts in Oakland, Calif. on Tuesday Mar 26, 2024 in Oakland, California.

The ex-wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin and a long-time Silicon Valley resident, Shanahan has connections throughout the tech world. Kennedy has tried to cultivate support within the technology sector, including making an appearance at the SXSW conference in Austin earlier this month.

Kennedy said she understands better than either mainstream candidates the "promise and peril" of technology.

Choosing a running mate

Shanahan's youth and wealth may help Kennedy, who is 70 and a member of the closest Americans come to having a political royal family. But really, several political scientists said, his choice of a running mate, isn't all that significant.

"The chances of this person becoming vice president are close to zero," said Peter Ubertaccio, a professor of political scence and vice president for academic affairs at Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts. No third-party candidate has won the U.S. presidency in well over a century.

"The nomination of Ms. Shanahan will make no difference whatsoever in Kennedy's bid," added Jeffrey Berry, a political science professor emeritus at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. "People don't vote for vice president. They vote for president."

But the choice of running mate is the first significant decision a presidential candidate has to make and therefore reflects on them, said Christopher Devine, an associate professor of political science at the University of Dayton in Ohio.

Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announces his VP pick during a rally at the Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts in Oakland, California on Tuesday.

Voters want to see a vice presidential candidate they could imagine in the White House, said Devine, co-author of of the book "Do Running Mates Matter?" "There's good evidence that when people see a VP pick who is not instantly a credible vice president they question a presidential candidate's judgement and they're less likely to vote for that person."

Devine said the selection of Shanahan was not a good look for Kennedy. "This is not the kind of move you would make if you truly anticipated becoming the next president of the United States," he said.

Someone like Kennedy who lacks any governing experience would be expected to choose a running mate with some expertise in foreign policy or negotiating with Congress, he said. Even Donald Trump, who famously had no political experience in 2016 when he ran for president the first time, chose Mike Pence as his running mate  a former Congressman and Indiana governor.

The main reason to choose Shanahan, Devine said, seems to be for her money. As a running mate, she is not limited by campaign contribution limits.

How they're selected: What we know now about choosing a running mate and its impact on voters

It may help Shanahan to be a VP candidate, Berry said, if she has political ambitions in her home state of California, but probably won't raise her national profile much, unless she's willing to fund a major national tour for herself in addition to Kennedy, complete with an advance team and communications people.

Nicole Shanahan's personal life

Shanahan, who declined several requests from USA TODAY for an interview, is the daughter of a Chinese immigrant mother and a father of German-Irish descent who suffered from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

In a video and a half-hour speech, she mentioned her difficult childhood, growing up in Oakland. Her family depended on welfare for a time, living "one misfortune away from disaster," as her father's struggles repeatedly cost him jobs.

In her junior year of high school, she traveled to El Salvador, which was then still recovering from a 12-year civil war. The experience turned her into a pacificist and peace activist  which at the time meant leading her fellow students on a march to the local radio station.

Nicole Shanahan speaks during a rally Tuesday after being announced as the running mate for presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

She attended college at the University of Puget Sound and then worked as a paralegal and patent specialist for a number of years.

Her first marriage to San Francisco investor and finance executive Jeremy Asher Kranz reportedly lasted from 2013 to 2015. She was attending the Santa Clara University School of Law at the time, graduating in 2014.

She reportedly met Brin that year at a yoga retreat and the pair married in 2018, the same year their daughter Echo was born. They separated in 2021 and divorced last year.

It's unclear how much money she received in their confidentical divorce proceedings, but in 2022, Brin donated $23 million worth of shares in Alphabet, Google's parent company, to the philanthropy she founded and presides over, the Bia-Echo Foundation.

Shanahan provided $4 million to support a controversial $7 million Kennedy advertisement that ran during the Super Bowl. Last year, she donated $500,000 to the pro-Kennedy group Common Sense and the legal limit of $6,600 last year to Kennedy's campaign. She has donated to other candidates in the past, including Biden's 2020 campaign and Hillary Clinton's 2016 White House bid.

She founded ClearAccessIP, a Palo Alto-based lawfirm that helps patent owners manage and monetize their intellectual property right, which she sold in 2020. She remains listed as a research fellow at CodeX, the Stanford Center for Legal Informatics, which she described as focusing on "humanistic coding."

She was photographed on red carpets with Brin a number of times, and was alleged by the Wall Street Journal to have had an affair with Elon Musk, which both she and Musk repeatedly denied. She told People magazine in a story addressing her reaction to the negative publicity, that the two were friends and she spoke with him about whether his company Neuralink could provide assistance to Echo, who has autism.

She blamed the end of her marriage not on an affair, but on the challenges of "living as a wife of a billionaire."

"I was not the best version of myself, she told the magazine. I felt conflicted every day, like I couldnt access the thing that made me what I am.

Last May, Shanahan reportedly held a "love ceremony" with Jacob Strumwasser, a vice president at Lightning Labs, whom she met at the Burning Man festival in 2022.

Shanahan's philanthropy

Shanahan said her childhood of deprivation and priveleged adulthood have taught her that "the purpose of wealth is to help those in need."

To that end, she has devoted most of her public activities in recent years to health philanthropy, mainly in the areas of autism, "food as medicine," and female aging. "Healthy soil is the foundation of healthy food," she said and "our answer to the climate crisis."

She was a "convening participant" and a financial supporter of President Joe Biden's 2022 Task Force on Hunger, Nutrition and Health, though she said Tuesday that she has left the Democratic party because it is not living up to its ideals.

She has also committed $100 million over the course of her lifetime to promoting female longevity and has already seeded the creation of the Buck Institute's Center for Reproductive Longevity and Equality with a $6 million donation, in addition to a $20 million contribution toward the creation of a global consortium promoting women's reproductive health and longevity.

Shanahan has said she became interested in female reproductive health after facing fertility issues before conceiving Echo.

Jennifer Garrison, the scientist who runs both the center and the global consortium, said Shanahan's contributions have been essential to bringing attention and much-needed support to an underfunded area of research that could help better explain aging for everyone.

Although half the world's population is female, little is known about how and why ovaries age faster than the body's other tissues, and the other roles ovaries play in human health.

"What we're talking about is not just young women who are having fertility issues, not just women in perimenopause or going through menopause, but we're talking about a woman's entire adult life," Garrison said. "We don't understand how female bodies work at any point in adult life  but we can. This is all knowable. None of this is rocket science. We just have to literally collect the data."

Shanahan was the first philanthropist to see the importance of digging into this science, learning more and helping women age better, she said.

Shanahan's platform

Shanahan spoke passionately about the importance of curing people from the chronic diseases that are plaguing them  diseases she believes are caused by modern life. Curing them, she said, will cure America.

"What is possible for the human being is also possible for our nation," she said.

She blamed chronic illnesses like the infertility she suffered, her daughter's autism and rampant mental health challenges on three major causes.

First, she said, endocrine disruptors in food and chemicals in our environment make it harder for the body to heal.

Electrochemical exposures from wireless technologies and devices, such as cell phones, compound the problems, she said.

And medications, often prescribed to treat problems caused by the first two actually exacerbate them, she said. She did not name vaccines, but Kennedy is known for his anti-vaccine stance.

All three claims have limited or no scientific support.

As vice president, Shanahan said she would address those concerns by using artificial intelligence to examine medical data bases. "We just have to ask the right questions, do the right research and apply the right tools," she said. "We have to rid science of the corporate bias  and throw this into reverse."

She concluded by promising voters "to make this world a little less crazy."

Karen Weintraub can be reached at kweintraub@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: RFK Jr.'s VP pick is Nicole Shanahan: philanthropist, Sergey Brin ex
Before Robert F. Kennedy announces his running mate Tuesday in Oakland, California, the independent presidential candidate revealed during a radio appearance Monday that his campaign approached rapper Killer Mike about joining him on the ticket.

Kennedy, whose presidential ambitions have drawn condemnation from many of his relatives, was asked about his choice on KCBS Radios The State of California.

There is widespread speculation that its Nicole Shanahan, the stations political reporter, Doug Sovern, began, referring to California-based attorney and ex-wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin. Shanahan contributed $4 million for a pro-Kennedy Super Bowl ad, according to The New York Times.

Shes originally from Oakland. Apart from all the money she brings to the table as a successful businesswoman, which your campaign needs to get on state ballots, what qualifies her to be president of the United States? Sovern asked.

Kennedy first listed other potential candidates he had contacted.

Well, I talked to Nicole. We talked to Mike Rowe. We talked to Aaron Rodgers, Kennedy said. We talked to Killer Mike and a number of other people about the vice presidential slot.

Killer Mike, whose real name is Michael Render, garnered headlines last month for being arrested while at the Grammys for what an LAPD spokesperson said was a physical altercation. Renders latest album, Michael, won the Grammy that night for Best Rap Album, and the 48-year-old artist also took home awards for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance.

Killer Mike: LAPD Panicked After My Grammys Arrest

We were looking for somebody who could represent young people, Kennedy explained. Millennials and Gen Ztheyre the priority of my campaign, just as young people were in 1968 the priority of my fathers campaign, and in 1960, my uncle.

So I really wanted somebody young, Kennedy went on. Nicole, I think shes 38 years old. I wanted somebody whos super smart. I wanted an athlete who could inspire Americans to get healthy again. And I wanted people who can do critical thinking, who have open minds, who will listen to people and listen with compassion. And I wanted somebody whos committed to endingunraveling the war machine and the corporate capture.

Kennedy then circled back again to Shanahan, saying she has so many qualifications.

At least 26 states require Kennedy to have a running mate when he files his nomination papers to try to get on the ballot in November, according to NBC News. Kennedy is already on the ballot in Utah, and his campaign has said he has gathered enough signatures to qualify for the ballot in Nevada, Hawaii and New Hampshire.

American Values 2024, the Super Pac that ran the pro-Kennedy Super Pac ad, said it has enough signatures to get Kennedy on the ballot in Arizona, Michigan, Georgia and South Carolina.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Robert Morris University is giving its students the chance to make up a once-in-a-lifetime night.

The university is hosting a prom for students whose senior proms were canceled in 2020 because of COVID-19.

The prom will be held on April 20 at 9 p.m. at the UPMC Event Center.

Four years ago, the members of RMUs Class of 2024 were on the brink of completing their high school journey, but they missed out on some of the most special moments of their lives, including their prom, the schools website says.

An exclusive happy hour is available beforehand for students graduating in 2024. All RMU students are invited to attend the prom.

Students will be able to bring an off-campus guest.

Before the dance begins, a grand march will be held on Nicholson Lawn from 7 to 8 p.m. A professional photographer will be onsite.

Parents and families are welcome to attend the grand march.

Click here for more information.

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Robert F Kennedy Jr selected Nicole Shanahan, a tech attorney and wealthy philanthropist, as his running mate in an independent campaign that could upset the 2024 race for the White House.

Kennedy, an environmental attorney who gained notoriety as a vaccine sceptic and conspiracy theorist, announced his pick at a campaign event on Tuesday in Oakland, California, where Shanahan was born.

In a nearly hour-long, winding speech, Kennedy cited Shanahans career in technology as an asset for the campaign, Kennedy said she had deep inside knowledge of how big tech uses AI to manipulate voters.

Shanahan was the founder and CEO of the Palo Alto legal tech firm ClearAccessIP before selling the company in 2020. She was also a fellow at Stanford Law Schools center for legal informatics.

I managed to put a technologist at the forefront, Kennedy said. I found a vice-president who shares my indignation about the participation of big tech as a partner in the censorship, surveillance, and the information warfare that our government is currently waging against the American people.

Kennedy, 70, a scion of the US political dynasty that includes former president John F Kennedy, also presented Shanahan, 38, as a fresh and youthful voice in a presidential contest between 81-year-old Joe Biden and 77-year-old Donald Trump.

Theres a growing number of millennials and gen Z Americans who have lost faith in their future and lost their pride in our country, he said.

The announcement event took place in the Henry J Kaiser Center for the Arts, a historic building in Oakland that has been in disrepair for decades but is on the path to being reopened. Speaking at the event, rightwing author Angela Stanton-King said the venue had been opened to the campaign despite being partially under construction, and was chosen due to the historical events it had hosted  including a speech by Martin Luther King Jr in 1962.

The event featured an introduction from the local Muwekma Ohlone tribe, whose battle for federal recognition has been supported by Kennedy, and musical renditions of This Land Is Your Land and America the Beautiful. Speakers included the Stanford professor and Covid-lockdown skeptic Jay Battacharya as well as Kelly Ryerson, a public health advocate who focuses on chronic illnesses she says are caused by toxins in our food supplies.

More than two hours into the lengthy announcement event, after most cable news channels had cut away from the stream, the ex-NBA player Metta Sandiford-Artest, formerly known as Metta World Peace, welcomed Shanahan to the stage. The vice-presidential hopeful explained her political mission, citing her strong anti-war beliefs as aligning with Kennedys. She soon launched into an anti-pharmaceuticals screed, attributing her passion for childrens health to her childs experience with autism.

Democrats are especially concerned that Kennedy could pull votes away from Biden, spoiling the election. Recent polling from Quinnipiac projected Kennedy could receive as much as 15% of the vote in a race involving Biden and Trump, amid limited enthusiasm for the candidates from the two major parties.

One such defector was Marilyn Chin, a volunteer for Kennedys campaign recruiting voters outside the event. Chin, who is 71, said she voted Democratic for most of her life but was now supporting Kennedy.

Get out of the duopoly, she said. Dont vote Republican, dont vote Democrat, start looking for something else.

Related: Judge imposes gag order on Trump in hush-money trial  live

Kennedy will face an expensive, and uphill battle to get on the ballot in all 50 states, which will involve gathering hundreds of thousands of signatures. He has made it on to the ballot in only one state so far, Utah. Still, the Democratic National Committee has called Kennedy a stalking horse and said third-party candidates may have tipped the 2016 election to Trump.

In a statement following Kennedys announcement, a spokesperson for Trumps campaign called him a radical leftist and an environmental whack job before stating his campaign would not get very far. The Democratic National Committee called Kennedys run a spoiler campaign and said it was dangerous for Republican donors to be propping up Kennedy during such a high-stakes election.

Earlier this year, the DNC filed a federal election complaint accusing Kennedy and a political action committee backing his third-party bid of illegally colluding to qualify for the ballot in swing states crucial to Bidens re-election. Kennedys campaign has denied breaching financial barriers between candidates and outside groups, which is prohibited by federal campaign law.

The Democrats have also said that a major donor to American Values 2024, the Super Pac backing Kennedy, is Tim Mellon, a businessman who has also backed Trump.

Shanahan told the New York Times she has contributed $4m to American Values 2024.

The Bay Area entrepreneur is known in tech circles as the founder of ClearAccessIP, a startup that uses software to help companies manage and distribute patents and patent rights. But she gained notoriety after her 2018 marriage to Google co-founder Sergey Brin, one of the wealthiest people in the world. The couples divorce in 2022 drew extra scrutiny following a Wall Street Journal report that Shanahan had conducted an affair with the Tesla and X chief, Elon Musk. She has denied the allegations.

In February, she helped finance a $5m campaign advertisement for Kennedy during the Super Bowl, which alluded to his uncle John F Kennedys successful 1960 White House run. The ad was denounced by Kennedys family, who have disavowed his campaign and his baseless theories on vaccines and the Covid pandemic, among other issues.

Shanahan told the New York Times that she was not an anti-vaxxer, but has shared Kennedys discredited claims about the safety of vaccinations. At Tuesdays event, she formally renounced any affiliation with the Democratic party, saying it had lost its way.

The Democratic party is supposed to be the party of compassion and peace, it is supposed to be the party of diplomacy and science, she said. While I know those ideals still abide within many Democrats, I want to point out that the party has lost its way. In its leadership, in its institutions, it has become interested in elitism, celebrity and winning at all costs, even if that means turning a blind eye on issues they all know to be true.

Kennedys anti-vaccination views drew protesters at Tuesdays announcement, including Wendy Bloom, a registered nurse who has worked in pediatric cancer units for 37 years, who stood outside the Oakland convention center with pro-Biden and pro-vaccine signs.

Besides being anti-vaccines, hes not pro-science, and anti-research, she said. She also dismissed the choice of Shanahan as a running mate.

His choice of VP tells us everything we need to know, Bloom said. She has no experience. Shes just a wealthy individual who can help raise money. Voters deserve someone with experience.
Robert Halfon has resigned from Rishi Sunaks government in a shock announcement, saying he will not stand as an MP at the next general election.

Quitting as skills, apprenticeships and higher education minister, Mr Halfon told the prime minister: I feel that it is time for me to step down at the forthcoming general election, and in doing so, to resign as a minister in your government.

Mr Halfon added: I believe that across the country, there is a quiet admiration for your work ethic, integrity and ability to solve complex problems faced by our country.

Mr Halfon said he would wholeheartedly support the PM from the back benches ahead of the next general election while championing his Harlow constituency.

Robert Halfon has quit as skills, apprenticeships and higher education minister (PA Media)

It came as armed forces minister James Heappey officially left his role in government, weeks after announcing he would step down.

Mr Heappey is also quitting as an MP at the next general election. The minister, who served in the army in Iraq, Afghanistan and Northern Ireland before joining parliament, said in a letter published online that he had made a painful decision to stand down as a candidate in the upcoming general election.

He continued: I have concluded that now is the time to step away from politics, prioritise my family, and pursue a different career.

James Heappey will stand down as an MP at the next election (PA Archive)

In a letter to Mr Heappey, the prime minister said: You have made an important contribution to government and your support to consecutive Conservative administrations at the Ministry of Defence has been commendable.

A personal statement from the Rt Hon Robert Halfon MP, Member of Parliament for Harlow and the villages and the Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education. https://t.co/SIj1aYNhlm pic.twitter.com/MGadHQWuLV  Robert Halfon MP Working Hard for Harlow (@halfon4harlowMP) March 26, 2024

And, responding to Mr Halfons resignation, Mr Sunak said: I was very sorry to hear of your decision to step down from government, as well as your intention to stand down at the next election.

The unexpected resignation of Mr Halfon is the latest blow to Mr Sunak, who is facing a brutal set of local elections within weeks.

Mr Heappey and Mr Halfon are the 62nd and 63rd Conservative MPs to announce plans to step down at the general election, expected to be held in October.

Leo Docherty will replace James Heappey as armed forces minister, while Luke Hall has been appointed to the Department for Education following the departure of Robert Halfon.

Other moves in the mini-reshuffle triggered by the ministers resignations include Nus Ghani becoming minister for Europe at the Foreign Office and Alan Mak becoming a junior minister jointly in the Department for Business and Trade and the Cabinet Office.

Kevin Hollinrake, who as Post Office minister held a junior ministerial role, has now been promoted to minister of state in the Department for Business and Trade.
Catholics for Choice President Jamie Manson arrived on the steps of the US Supreme Court with one goal in mind: To fight against religiously motivated restrictions on reproductive healthcare in the United States.

There has been a very concerted effort by Catholicsto pack this Court with justices who are opposed to abortion because of their faith, she told The Independent.

Ms Manson spoke to The Independent on Tuesday morning as the court heard oral arguments in a case that could overturn the federal governments approval of the abortion drug mifepristone. The plaintiffs argue that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) wrongfully approved mifepristone for use up to 10 weeks of pregnancy, and then improperly eliminated requirements that the drug should only be dispensed in person.

Thousands of people, from both the Washington, DC metro area and beyond, flocked to the steps of the nations highest court to advocate for accessible reproductive healthcare and speak out against the anti-abortion activists who brought the case forward.

Two demonstrators hold a banner that reads, Clergy for Choice." (Katie Hawkinson/The Independent)

Ms Manson was joined by Kate Hoeting, writer and managing editor of Catholics for Choice and an abortion doula who provides physical and emotional support for women who receive abortions.

Being an abortion doula moulded me into a woman of faith, Ms Hoeting told The Independent. I didnt use to be religious at all

For Ms Hoeting, her faith is inextricably intertwined with her activism  and she hopes to fight the religious extremism that she says propelled the case to the Supreme Court.

She is not alone. From doctors, women dressed as suffragettes and mifepristone-carrying robots, thousands are calling for the Supreme Court to reject what they call a misinformation-fuelled push to revoke approval of a medication abortion resource that has been available for 22 years.

Organisers, attendees alike denounce religious extremism

A 2022 poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research indicated that 63 per cent of American Catholics say abortion should be legal in all or many cases. But despite this majority opinion, Ms Manson said that her own church has pushed to codify its theology in US law, noting that every Justice who struck down Roe v Wade in 2022  which guaranteed the right to an abortion in the US  was raised Catholic.

A pro-choice demonstrator holds a sign that reads, Doctors not doctrine. (Katie Hawkinson/The Independent)

Its my church that is operating in legislatures, in the courts, to try and push forward an agenda, a theological idea about when life begins, Ms Manson said. These are religious ideas, they should not be codified into civil law, because they take away human rights when they do that.

Ms Hoeting agreed: A small group of religious extremists who are trying to put their theological views on the rest of the country.

The FDA first approved mifepristone in 2000. The drug came under fire in November 2022, when the Alliance Defending Freedom  a Christian law firm that has long claimed that abortion denies babies the right to life  filed a federal lawsuit targeting mifepristone from Amarillo, Texas on behalf of a group of anti-abortion physicians incorporated as the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, which was organised that same month with an address in Amarillo.

A US district judge appointed by former president Donald Trump later ruled to suspend the FDAs approval of the drug, triggering appeals that were kicked up to the nations highest court.

Jessica Ellsworth, an attorney representing Mifeprex manufacturer Danco Laboratories, said the judges decision relied on debunked and retracted medical studies, pointing out hundreds of pages of research and clinical studies that have proven its safety and effectiveness, The Independent previously reported.

Throughout the crowd, abortion rights advocates held signs decrying the push against medication abortions.

Doctors not doctrine, signs held by members of Catholics for Choice read. Meanwhile, volunteers with Planned Parenthood of Delaware held a banner that read, clergy for choice.

Amid the sea of signs, one woman stood out among the crowd: Dressed in the sash, hat and outfit of a twentieth-century suffragette, Darcy Nair held a sign that read, Dont tread on me. Having attended womens rallies and abortion rights events in her historic garb since 2017, Ms Nair told The Independent she attends these events to push back against the religious right.

Darcy Nair, right, participates in an abortion rights demonstration dressed as a suffragette (Katie Hawkinson/The Independent)

This is just about controlling women, Ms Nair told The Independent. Its a basic human right, and I absolutely disagree with the way that the religious right is chipping away at it.

Theyve been chipping away at the ability of reproductive health clinics to operatebeing able to have a medication abortion is more important than ever because its access for people who live in places where you have to drive 100 miles to reach a reproductive health clinic, she continued.

In the wake of the Dobbs v Jackson decision, twenty-one states currently restrict or ban abortions, leaving women no choice but to leave their states and travel to obtain reproductive healthcare.

Medical students and seasoned physicians alike are concerned about medical disinformation

As many attendees voiced their concerns about religions role in limiting abortion access, physicians told The Independent that medical misinformation about medication abortions is running rampant.

Dr Cheryl Hamlin, who previously worked at Mississippis only abortion clinic, donned her white coat for Tuesdays rally and told The Independent shes concerned about the medical misinformation that anti-abortion advocates are spreading.

Mifepristone has essentially no side effects unrelated to the process that it is treating, she told The Independent.

One of the concerns that anti-mifepristone advocates have is the supposed negative impacts of the medication. Felipe Avila, communications director for the National Association of Pro-Life Nurses, said his organization is deeply concerned by the harmful effects of chemical abortion.

Wed like to see the Supreme Court step in and bring back some of those common-sense limits on medication abortion, he told The Independent.

However, Dr Hamlin emphasized that the medication is safe and effective.

Yes, occasionally it fails or people have heavy bleeding with the medication abortion process, but its very infrequent and way less, for example, childbirth. She noted that it also can help treat miscarriages and other nonviable pregnancies.

A demonstrator holds a sign that reads, Women without Reproductive Rights are just Livestock!" (Katie Hawkinson/The Independent)

Dr Hamlin told The Independent that she attended the rally because misinformation about reproductive healthcare can result in higher-risk abortions.

Having worked in Jackson [Mississippi], I saw what restrictions in the name of safety dopeople show up at later gestational stages and it makes abortions less safe, she said, noting she now works in Massachusetts and sees many people who travel from their home states where abortion access is heavily restricted.

Dr Hamlin isnt alone in her fight. Sarah McNeilly, a student at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine working towards her MD, told The Independent she attended the rally for the sake of her future patients.

As a future doctor and future OBGYN, I want to be in a position where my patient and I are empowered to jointly make the decision thats best for them, whether thats continuing the pregnancy or terminating through abortion, whichever is best for them.

She came with aidaccess.org, an organisation that sends abortion medication to patients in all fifty US states. Ms McNeilly and her fellow organizers brought an unexpected guest  a small robot that can connect patients with telehealth providers who consult on reproductive healthcare.

What happens next?

As the oral arguments came to a close, it became clear the Supreme Court despite previously overturning Roe v Wade may not rule to rescind the approval of mifepristone. A majority of justices on the nine-member court were sceptical that a group of anti-abortion doctors had sufficient legal grounds to bring the case against the FDA.

However, conservative justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito floated the idea of using a 150-year-old law to justify rescinding the FDA approval, The Independent previously reported.

The Court now has until the end of June to issue a decision in the case, leaving advocates on both sides in limbo for the next several weeks.
LURAY  In a Tuesday press release from the National Park Service, the 987-acre fire at Rocky Branch in Shenandoah National Park is now at 76% containment. That's up 50% from an update provided Monday morning.

Due to the great work firefighters have done, the closed section of Skyline Drive will open Wednesday, March 27, at 8 a.m., the release said.

Rocky Branch fire data

Acres: 987

Cause: Unknown

Containment: 76%

Total personnel: 72

Fire start date: Wednesday, March 20

Fuels: Hardwood litter, timber

Virginia: Wildfire smoke map

Operations

With increased containment of the fire, some personnel and equipment are being released from the incident, the release said. Firefighters continue to focus their efforts on mop-up operations along the fire perimeter.

Monday, March 25

Firefighters continued mop-up along Skyline Drive and Kemp Hollow structures. Fire inside wilderness areas was monitored. Crews completed removal of hazardous trees along Skyline Drive and continued to clear fallen trees on the Appalachian Trail. Firefighters continued to map the fire perimeter on the west side of the fire. An infrared flight showed very little heat with some isolated hotspots and did not detect active fires, the release said.

Tuesday, March 26

Firefighters will resume clearing fallen trees on the Appalachian Trail. They will patrol Skyline Drive and maintain a presence along the fire perimeter. In Kemp Hollow, firefighters will continue to secure the fire edge. On the west side of the fire, they will continue to map the fire perimeter. Isolated hotspots in the remote northern section of the fire are being monitored.

There are 72 personnel on the fire including firefighters, engines and overhead.

Weather and fire behavior

Monday was sunny and warm with 20 to 35% humidity. Tuesday will be a high of 62 degrees with a minimum of 35% humidity. Light winds from the southeast present little concerns for fire behavior with occasional smoldering logs and stumps. The warmer and drier weather helps firefighters detect residual hotspots. There is a slight chance of rain tonight into Wednesday.

Temporary flight restrictions

No current flight restrictions. Unmanned aircraft (drone) use is prohibited in Shenandoah National Park. Drones risk firefighter safety and prevent firefighters from flying aircraft to control the fire.

Trail closures

Appalachian Trail from Elkwallow to Beahms Gap

Rocky Branch

Neighbor Mountain

Jeremys Run

Hull School Trail from Skyline Drive to Thornton River Upper Trail

Thornton River Upper Trail from intersection of Hull School Trail to Skyline Drive

Road closure

Skyline Drive is closed from Thornton Gap (milepost 31.5) to Mathews Arm Campground (milepost 22.1).

Structure closure

Byrds Nest 4

Safety

Please be aware firefighters may be working along Skyline Drive, Highway 211 East and Thornton Gap Entrance. Rain and wind have weakened tree branches, resulting in hanging tree limbs that are hazardous to firefighters and the public.

Fire restrictions

A complete fire ban is in place for Shenandoah National Park. No open-air fires permitted.

This embedded content is not available in your region.

Monday update: Fire containment at 25% in Shenandoah National Park

Friday update: Shenandoah National Park fire spreads to nearly 1,200 acres of 'burning timber litter'

This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Shenandoah National Park fire 76% contained: March 26, 2024
Boao, a coastal town on China's island province of Hainan, has transformed from a nondescript fishing village to a high-level dialogue platform with great global influences, thanks to the successful hosting of Boao Forum for Asia (BFA).





Produced by Xinhua Global Service








DeSantis and fellow supporters of HB3 argue that social media use can damage children's mental health - JOE RAEDLE/GETTY

Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor, has signed a new law that bans children younger than 14 from using social media in his state.

It also prohibits 14 or 15-year-olds from accessing the popular online platforms without the consent of a parent.

Under the new law, which is due to take effect in January 2025, social media companies must delete the existing accounts of any Florida children aged under 14.

If they fail to do so, the companies could be sued for up to $10,000 in damages by the parents or guardians of the child who created the account.

Other violations of the law would leave the social media platforms facing fines of up to $50,000, as well as legal costs.

Were trying to help parents navigate this very difficult terrain that we have now with raising kids, Mr DeSantis said during a signing ceremony for the HB3 bill on Monday.

Proponents of the bill claimed it is a necessary response to concerns from some parents that social media platforms are not doing enough to keep their children safe online.

It follows moves by other US states, including Ohio, Utah and Arkansas, that have enacted similar laws to limit young peoples access to social media.

Paul Renner, the Florida House Speaker, and fellow supporters of HB3 argue that social media use can damage childrens mental health as well as expose them to online sexual predators.

None of us can afford to be on the sidelines when it comes to social media, said Mr Renner. 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.

Court challenges

But the new bill is expected to be challenged in the courts by NetChoice LLC, a coalition of social media platforms whose members include Meta, Google and X.

The industry group has criticised previous attempts to limit social media use as a violation of the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

Were disappointed to see Governor DeSantis sign onto this route, said Carl Szabo, vice president and general counsel for NetChoice, who described the new law as unconstitutional.

There are better ways to keep Floridians, their families and their data safe and secure online without violating their freedoms.

Mr DeSantis believes his decision not to use his governors veto to block the bill is indicative of its strength to withstand any legal challenges.

Any time I see a bill, if I dont think its constitutional, I veto it, he said. He described the bill as a fair application of the law and constitution.

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After just a few short days, and a whole lot of internal uproar, NBC News has backtracked on its decision to hire former RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel as a paid contributor.

NBCUniversal News Group Chairman Cesar Conde made the announcement in a memo and said he had made the decision after listening to the legitimate concerns of many network employees. No organization, particularly a newsroom, can succeed unless it is cohesive and aligned, he wrote. Over the last few days, it has become clear that this appointment undermines that goal.

Conde also apologized to those who felt we let them down and said, While this was a collective recommendation by some members of our leadership team, I approved it and take full responsibility for it.

"After listening to the legitimate concerns of many of you, I have decided that Ronna McDaniel will not be an NBC News contributor," Cesar Conde tells staff pic.twitter.com/Gftjl73Yqg  Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) March 26, 2024

It was just last Friday, March 22, that McDaniel was hired to serve as a conservative political correspondent with a reported salary of $300,000. Her tenure as RNC Chair began in January 2017, coinciding with the start of Donald Trumps presidency, and concluded just a few weeks prior on March 8.

The backlash to her hiring at NBC News basically began with her first appearance on the network. Sundays episode of Meet the Press opened with an interview between McDaniel and host Kristen Welker, which had been booked weeks before her hiring was announced. Welker, for her part, acknowledged the obvious ethical tension, offering a disclaimer before the interview: This will be a news interview, and I was not involved in her hiring.

But it was former Meet the Press moderator, and current NBC News political analyst Chuck Todd, who really took the opportunity to lambast the decision to hire McDaniel. Right after the interview finished, Todd said that many journalists at NBC News were uncomfortable with McDaniels hiring, citing her credibility issues during her time as RNC Chair. Many of our professional dealings with the RNC over the last six years have been met with gaslighting, have been met with character assassination, Todd said.

Of the interview itself, Todd added: I dont know what to believe. She is now a paid contributor by NBC News, so I have no idea whether any answer she gave to you was because she didnt want to mess up her contract.

On Monday, Rachel Maddow, the highest-rated anchor on MSNBC, dedicated nearly 30 minutes to what she described as an inexplicable decision to hire McDaniel.

I want to associate myself with all my colleagues, both at MSNBC and NBC News, who have voiced loud and principled objections to our company putting on the payroll someone who hasnt just attacked us as journalists, but someone who is part of an ongoing project to get rid of our system of government, she said. Someone who still is trying to convince Americans that this election stuff, it doesnt really work.

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The Round Rock school district announced last week it will remain open for the April 8 eclipse to ensure students and staff experience the eclipse.

Officials said each campus will have a designated area where students and staff can watch the eclipse. The district will be providing students and staff with solar glasses. Students must have parental permission to participate in any activities.

Delicate streamers in the sun's corona surround the totally eclipsed sun during the Aug. 21, 2017, total solar eclipse. Observers along a narrow track from Mexico to Maine should have a similar view on April 8.

We understand this is a rare opportunity for our student, Natalie Nichols, senior chief of schools and innovation, said at the school board meeting where the decision was announced. For that reason, it was very important for us to make sure that this was going to be part of the school have and to have the students take part in this.

A total solar eclipse, in which the moon passes in front of the sun, blocking its light, will move over some areas of Texason April 8, and parts of Central Texas, including Round Rock, are in the eclipse's path of totality. Those in the 100-mile-wide path will experience total darkness, while areas outside the path will experience only partial darkness.

A thin ring of sunlight remained visible around the moon's silhouette in the October annular eclipse in Round Rock.

More: Where are the best spots to view the total solar eclipse in Texas? Here are a few options

During a board meeting last week, trustees Danielle Weston and Mary Bone objected to the district's decision to remain open. They said they were concerned about how traffic might affect students ability to make it to school and the ability to reach emergency services if needed because of an expected increase in visitors to the area.

Superintendent Hafedh Azaiez said the district is aware of the influx of visitors expected that day and is taking necessary precautions. For now, all bus routes will run as normal. He said if changes are made, parents will be updated through the district's SmartTag bus monitoring system.

Azaiez also said he expects attendance to be affected as parents might take their children out to view the eclipse elsewhere. He said he is aware of approximately 300 employees who will not be at work during the eclipse.

"We understand that our attendance may suffer that day for our students as well as for our staff, but I think a lot of our students and parents rely on us being open because they feel like we have to provide instruction and learning," Azaiez said. "In some cases, the district is providing happiness for our students and a safer environment for them. And so again, that's how we feel, but obviously, we're gonna watch and continue working with our partners and law enforcement agencies."

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Round Rock schools to remain open for April 8 eclipse
There will be a new soft-drink choice at Kauffman Stadium this season.

The Royals on Monday announced a partnership with Heartland Coca-Cola as the official stadium beverage provider. That means Coca-Cola drinks will be replacing Pepsi beverages at Kauffman Stadium, beginning with Thursdays season opener against the Minnesota Twins.

With Pepsi no longer being sold at Kauffman Stadium, it means the Pepsi Porch in right field also will be replaced.

The Royals have rebranded it as the QuikTrip Fountain Deck. A QuikTrip patch is part of the Royals jerseys this season, too.

Here is a description from the Royals website of the fountain deck: Youll have access to the Batters Eye Club providing you all you can eat food and beverages. We will also have 12 flat screen TVs, tables/chairs to sit and relax, and a front row view in right field to take in the fountains and maybe catch a home run ball or two!

It is one of the social spaces at Kauffman Stadium, along with the Blue Moon Taproom, Price Chopper Patio, Hall of Fame Pavilion and Miller Lite Fountain Bar.

New eating options

A couple of local restaurants will have foods for sale beginning this season at The K.

The Buffalo State Pizza Company will be selling their New York-style slices at a pair of locations inside Kauffman Stadium: sections 234 and 252. The latter spot will allow fans to order custom toppings. The Buffalo State Pizza Company has locations on both sides of the state line.

The Italian Sausage Company, which is based in Gladstone, will have a spot near section 234.
The ruling Georgian Dream party proposed legislation on March 25 to significantly crack down on LGBTQ+ rights in the country, in a move that analysts compared to similar laws passed in Russia.

The proposal, which was put forth by Mamuka Mdinaradze, the leader of Georgian Dream's faction in parliament, is the latest in a series of government measures that aim to restrict the rights of LGBTQ+ people in Georgia.

It follows the decision by Russia's Supreme Court in November 2023 to declare "the international LGBT social movement" to be "an extremist organization" and ban all its activities.

The Georgian government has previously attempted to pass controversial legislation mirroring laws enacted in Russia, namely the so-called "foreign agents" law that was scrapped after massive protests broke out in Tbilisi and other cities throughout the country.

The proposed anti-LGBTQ+ bill would ban gender transition and adoption by same-sex couples and forbid gatherings or the distribution of information "aimed at promoting" LGBTQ+ relationships.

Mdinaradze said the bill is necessary to "protect society from pseudo-liberal ideology and its inevitable harmful consequences."

Analysts in Georgia argued that the proposed bill, which Mdinaradze said would likely only be passed after parliamentary elections in October later this year, is an attempt to distract voters from deeper economic and social issues.

As the proposal was being discussed, political scientist Paata Zakareishvili said that Georgian Dream "want(s) to attract the right-wing, ultra-right, conservative segment of the population."

Referring to the bill as "another Russian law," Zakareishvili said that it was a similar tactic to comments from some members of Georgian Dream, including Prime Minister Irakli Khobakidze, that have warned the West is trying to drag Georgia into the war in Ukraine.

The warnings are an "illusion," Zakareishvili said, "done only to win voters."

Police in Tbilisi failed to prevent thousands of far-right counterprotesters from descending on the capital's pride festival in July 2023, resulting in fights and the cancellation of the event.

Kobakhidze, former Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, and other Georgian Dream officials have taken inconsistent positions on Russia and its full-scale war on Ukraine.

While he has condemned Russia's full-scale war and supported Ukraine's territorial integrity, the Caucasus media outlet OC-Media found that Kobakhidze publicly criticized the West and Ukraine much more often than Russia.

Read also: Russian courts convict first people under new anti-LGBT law

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Russia has shortened the gaps between massive airstrikes in order to find weaknesses in Ukrainian air defenses, newly appointed Air Force spokesman Illya Yevlash said on national television on March 26.

The ongoing strikes have recently focused on targeting Ukrainian infrastructure facilities.

"The enemy is constantly changing tactics, trying to find weaknesses in our air defense system," he said.

Read also: Ukraines state energy producer confirms Russia attacked one of its power plants, no casualties reported

The Russians will continue their efforts to destabilize the situation in Ukraine by carrying out massive attacks.

"Of course, we will continue to monitor, detect missiles and other enemy assets and engage them with fire."

Read also: Dnipro Hydroelectric Power Station suffered critical damage in direct hit from Russian missile

On March 25, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and the EUs High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell discussed Europes potential to deliver additional U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems to Kyiv.

On March 22, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, condemned the Russian massive assault on Ukraine and declared that all responsible will be held to account on X.

Read also: Victim count of Russian missile strike on Kyiv rises to ten

On the same day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russias campaign of missile strikes on Ukraines cities and power grid was only possible because Ukraine lacks modern air defense systems in sufficient numbers.



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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Editor's note: The article was updated on March 27 with comments from Roman Nitsovych, a research director at DiXi Group.

Russia launched a fresh wave of missile and drone attacks against Ukraine between March 21-25, hitting the country's critical infrastructure heavier than ever before.

Some 190 missiles, 140 Shahed-type drones, and 700 aerial bombs pounded the country over the past week, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening address on March 24.

A day later, Russia launched a new missile attack on Kyiv.

Experts agree that Moscow's goal is to knock out the country's power grid. While it has failed to achieve this aim so far, the situation grows ever more precarious with dwindling air defense ammunition.

Some believe the new attacks to be retribution for Ukraine's own campaign of drone strikes against Russian oil refineries, which have reportedly disrupted Russia's oil production capacity by roughly one-tenth.

"Russia resumed attacks against energy facilities in Ukraine in retaliation for Kyiv's recent drone attacks against Russian oil depots and refineries," said Frederico Borsari, a defense analyst and a fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA).

"The aim was to show strength and resolve to the Russian population and at the same time try to break the Ukrainian spirit to resist by depriving both the population and the military of critical energy supplies."

Others say that the attack was conducted by Russia when it had the capacity to do so, not because of Ukraine's military action.

"There could be a very simple answer: they weren't ready before. The attack was very precisely prepared and realized in a very detailed manner," said Oleksandr Kharchenko, the managing director of the Energy Industry Research Center.

"This preparation was not done in one week or two weeks... They precisely planned this attack. Its main target was a national blackout."

Largest strike on energy grid

Ukrainian and Western officials warned that Moscow is likely to launch a massive campaign against the country's power grid, echoing the strategy it used in late 2022 and early 2023.

The campaign was expected in the winter months to inflict maximum damage.

During the first autumn and winter of the full-scale war, waves of Russian missiles and drones, at that time unopposed by advanced air defenses like the Patriots, destroyed half of the country's energy infrastructure and left people across Ukraine without heat amid sub-zero temperatures.

This winter, Russia seemed to have shifted its strategy, seeking to degrade Ukraine's militaryindustrial complex rather than its energy system.

With relatively limited damage dealt to critical infrastructure, the grid remained stable, and the country even managed to go through the entire winter using only its own gas.

The largest-ever attack came, unexpectedly, in early spring, with the temperatures already on the rise.

The capital was hit already on March 21, marking the start of this new series of attacks.

A day later, Russia launched a devastating strike against the country's power grid across regions. At least five people were killed and dozens injured on March 22 in what Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko dubbed the largest attack against the country's energy infrastructure in history.

Russian missiles targeted western regions on March 24, damaging the facilities of the Naftogaz gas operator.

On March 25, a new strike against Kyiv injured two people, while attacks against southern Ukraine injured over a dozen. Anxiety grows over how long this campaign can continue  and how much harm and destruction it can bring.

Energy facilities were hit across the country, including Zaporizhzhia's Dnipro Hydroelectric Power Plant, Ukraine's largest hydroelectric station.

Ihor Syrota, the head of Ukraine's state-owned Ukrhydroenergo enterprise, said that entire units of the hydroelectric plant had been destroyed after they took several direct hits, adding that building them up from scratch could take between 18 to 24 months.

Read also: Russia launches another missile attack on Kyiv, at least 2 injured

The plant's full restoration will likely take years, representing a "significant loss for the Ukrainian energy system," Syrota said on television.

The dam itself was damaged as well but officials stressed there is currently no danger of a breach  as long as Russia does not renew its attacks. Its potential destruction could emulate the catastrophe unleashed by the breach of the Kakhovka Dam last year.

"Due to shelling, DTEK (Ukraine's largest private energy company) lost half of its generating capacity on Friday (March 22), which, unfortunately, cannot be quickly restored," DTEK's spokesperson Pavlo Bilodid told the Kyiv Independent.

Oleksii Kuleba, the deputy head of the presidential office, said that almost 1.5 million people experienced power outages on March 22. Some 700,000 lost power in Kharkiv alone, where devastating damage dealt to the city's thermal power plant resulted in a blackout.

Russia "destroyed the main energy facilities that fed our city," Mayor Ihor Terekhov concluded. As the thermal power plant will likely take more than a year to restore, Kharkiv is now supplied with energy from other regions of Ukraine.

Kharkiv ended its heating season a few weeks ahead of schedule, while Kyiv is expected to follow suit on March 28.

Outages were also experienced by residents of Zaporizhzhia, Odesa, Sumy, Poltava, and Vinnytsia oblasts and elsewhere.

"Tonight, the enemy repeatedly attacked the energy infrastructure of Odesa, which had previously been heavily damaged by shelling," Bilodid said on March 25. Odesa Oblast remains the most heavily affected region, he added.

While energy workers managed to stabilize the situation in Ukraine somewhat over the weekend, emergency shutdowns still had to be introduced in Odesa Oblast. Around 300,000 people in Odesa remain without electricity as of March 25, Governor Oleh Kiper reported.

Read also: Russian missile attack on Kyiv injures at least 13, including child

Aiming for a blackout

The warm weather likely provided at least a partial relief to citizens and the power system, raising a question: why did Russia launch the attack only now?

Experts believe Russia was not fully ready prior and had involved deep strategic planning, possibly for months.

Speaking on television, Ukrenergo CEO Volodymyr Kudrytskyi said that these preparations likely involved consultations with Russian energy experts, who are well familiar with Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

"I have no doubt that all the attacks against Ukraine's energy grid since the start of the full-scale invasion have been coordinated with Russian energy experts in one way or another," Kudrytskyi said.

While the attack no doubt dealt a heavy blow, it has failed to achieve a total blackout, and Kharchenko believes that even the large-scale outages that the country suffered during the first winter are unlikely to repeat.

"We understand how they plan these attacks, and we understand how to react immediately afterward to prevent a blackout," Kharchenko said.

"This experience, and already installed physical defense on energy sites, is enough to prevent a real nationwide blackout," he added.

Roman Nitsovych, a research director at DiXi Group, agreed that a total "blackout is hardly possible."

Ukrainian citizens may still experience some "scheduled outages, especially in big cities that were affected (by the attacks)," Nitsovych added, naming Odesa as an example.

Ukraine has been able to adapt and gain new capabilities it did not possess during the previous winter season. Despite dwindling ammunition supplies, modern air defense systems that Ukraine received last year still continue to dull the edge of the strikes.

Ukrainian defenses downed all 31 missiles launched on March 21, 92 of the 151 projectiles launched on March 22, 43 out of the 57 on March 24, and both ballistic missiles fired against Kyiv on March 25.

Should the attacks continue, however, Kyiv may soon find itself without sufficient means to protect its sky. As $60 billion in U.S. aid remains effectively blocked in Congress, the Washington Post wrote that Ukraine's air defenses may soon be able to target only one out of every five Russian missiles.

Borsari linked Russia's renewed attacks on energy systems directly with the ammunition shortages.

"The Kremlin also perceives that Ukraine is now struggling on the battlefield due to ammunition shortages and attacking critical infrastructure also fixes important, high-end air defense capabilities that could be used elsewhere and burns through Ukraine's interceptor stocks," the expert commented.

"Further attacks against energy infrastructure would put additional stress on Ukrainian civilians and challenge regular power supply also critical for smooth military operations, in particular considering Ukraine's highly digitized command and control architecture."

As for Ukraine's energy workers, they are better prepared to handle the stress on the energy grid than during the first year of the invasion: "We already have huge experience in how to minimize the result of the attacks... and to renew energy supplies to suffering regions," Kharchenko said.

Nevertheless, fully repairing the inflicting damage is a tall order, especially for a country in the middle of a full-scale war.

"Ukraine already has a huge lack of generation capacities... High voltage can be restored quite fast, but when we are talking about generation capacity, the lowest estimate (for restoring it) is two years," Kharchenko noted.

The aftermath of the recent attacks may also be felt more strongly during the coming summer months.

"In the long-term, we will have less flexible capacity in the grid, namely in the summer during the maintenance of nuclear and thermal power plants, which could lead to deficit in certain days," Nitsovych explained.

DTEK's spokesperson provided a somber prognosis on restoration efforts: "Due to the significant scale of destruction, it is difficult to estimate how long it will take to restore the damaged equipment fully."

"Unfortunately, Ukraine alone cannot restore energy facilities damaged by the enemy. We need the help of our Western partners, who could provide us with the necessary equipment," Bilodid stressed.

Read also: With arrival of spring, a look at Russias winter strikes on Kyiv

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Russian forces attacked border areas and settlements of Sumy Oblast on March 25, firing five times and causing at least 11 explosions, the Sumy Oblast Military Administration reported.

The communites of Novo Sloboda, Shalyhyne, Seredyno-Buda, and Svesa were targeted.

The Russian military struck the communities using artillery fire and mortar shelling.

No casualties or damage to civilian infrastructure were reported.

The Sumy Oblast has been experiencing daily shelling and attacks from across the Russian border.

Due to recent escalated attacks, Ukrainian authorities have evacuated more than 4,500 residents from 22 villages in Sumy oblast.

Read also: Ukraine war latest: Russia hits Kyiv, Odesa with ballistic missiles, injuring civilians

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Editor's note: This article has been updated to include other information from Belgorod Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.

A Ukrainian attack on Russia's Belgorod Oblast overnight injured at least three people, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov claimed on March 26.

The Kyiv Independent could not verify Gladkov's claims, and Ukraine does not usually comment on alleged attacks on Russian soil.

According to the governor, the town of Golovchino, located some 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) from the border with Ukraine's Sumy Oblast, was reportedly struck by Ukrainian fire. Three people were allegedly injured in the attacks and taken to the hospital.

Gladkov also wrote earlier that two people had been injured in the Belgorod District but did not specify where. Golovchino is located in the Grayvoron District, so it is possible that Gladkov was referring to separate attacks, raising the alleged total of casualties to five.

The news comes days after Russian anti-Kremlin militias reportedly broke into Russia's Kursk and Belgorod oblasts, resulting in clashes with the Russian government forces.

Gladkov and other Russian officials have repeatedly claimed over recent months that the city of Belgorod and its surroundings have come under attack by Ukrainian forces.

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.
(Bloomberg) -- Russias seaborne crude exports clawed back about half of the previous weeks losses even though theres growing evidence that sanctions are finally starting to stymie Moscows oil supply chain.

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The rebound came after maintenance work ended at Russias most important Baltic export terminal and storms that had repeatedly hit its main Pacific port in recent weeks began to abate. Those earlier disruptions left four-week average flows slightly below Russias first-quarter export target, tanker-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Indian oil refiners  Moscows second-biggest customers after China since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine  will no longer accept tankers owned by state-run Sovcomflot PJSC because of the risks posed by recently intensified sanctions. That appears to have led to several vessels hauling Russian crude getting held up off the Asian nations coast, with others diverting to China.

None of the ships designated by the US Treasury as carrying oil in breach of a Group of Seven price cap has loaded a cargo since it was added to a list of sanctioned vessels. Many have diverted to the Black Sea, where they have disappeared from tracking screens. Others are anchored near ports on Russias Baltic and Pacific coasts.

Still, for now, overall crude flows have not been reduced on any significant scale, with shipments in the week to March 24 rising by about 360,000 barrels a day. With a shadow fleet of tankers willing to haul Russian oil numbering at least 600 vessels, there are still plenty of ships to keep the oil flowing.

The rebound in shipments has helped boost Moscows oil earnings. The gross value of crude exports recouped about half of the previous weeks drop, rising to $1.68 billion in the seven days to March 24 from $1.48 billion in the period to March 17. Four-week average income was also up, rising by about $15 million to $1.62 billion a week.

Most of the backlog of Russias Sokol crude that built up after being turned away by Indian refiners has now been discharged. About 8.4 million barrels have been delivered to plants in China, with some 3.5 million barrels eventually finding their way back to India. One cargo was delivered to Pakistan.

That leaves about 5.5 million barrels yet to discharge, about half of which is also heading back toward India. All of the Sokol cargoes loaded so far this month have headed directly to China.

Flows by Destination

Russias seaborne crude flows in the week to March 24 rose to 3.32 million barrels a day. However, the less volatile four-week average slipped for a second week, dropping by about 40,000 barrels a day to 3.24 million barrels a day.

Weekly shipments were about 260,000 barrels a day below the average seen in May and June, or about 40,000 barrels a day above Russias first quarter target that is part of the OPEC+ alliances broader effort to curb supplies and support prices. The four-week average was about the same amount below the target.

All figures exclude cargoes identified as Kazakhstans KEBCO grade. Those are shipments made by KazTransoil JSC that transit Russia for export through the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk and the Baltics Ust-Luga and are not subject to European Union sanctions or a price cap.

The Kazakh barrels are blended with crude of Russian origin to create a uniform export grade. Since Russias invasion of Ukraine, Kazakhstan has rebranded its cargoes to distinguish them from those shipped by Russian companies.

Observed shipments to Russias Asian customers, including those showing no final destination, edged higher to 2.93 million barrels a day in the four weeks to March 24, up from a revised 2.86 million in the previous four-week period.

About 1.21 million barrels a day of crude was loaded onto tankers heading to China. The Asian nations seaborne imports are boosted by about 800,000 barrels a day of crude delivered from Russia by pipeline, either directly, or via Kazakhstan.

Flows on ships signaling destinations in India averaged about 1.22 million barrels a day.

Both the Chinese and Indian figures will rise as the discharge ports become clear for vessels that are not currently showing final destinations.

The equivalent of about 385,000 barrels a day was on vessels signaling Port Said or Suez in Egypt, or are expected to be transferred from one ship to another off the South Korean port of Yeosu. Those voyages typically end at ports in India or China and show up in the chart below as Unknown Asia until a final destination becomes apparent. This figure includes stranded Sokol crude cargoes that are still waiting to discharge after failing to find homes in India since mid-December.

The Other Unknown volumes, running at about 80,000 barrels a day in the four weeks to March 24, are those on tankers showing no clear destination. Most of those cargoes originate from Russias western ports and go on to transit the Suez Canal, but some could end up in Turkey. Others could be moved from one vessel to another, with most such transfers now taking place in the Mediterranean, off the coast of Greece.

Europe and Turkey

Russias seaborne crude exports to European countries have ceased.

With flows to Bulgaria halted at the end of last year, Turkey is now the only short-haul market for shipments from Russias western ports.

Exports to Turkey slipped to about 290,000 barrels a day in the four weeks to March 24. Thats the lowest in six weeks and down from a revised 390,000 barrels a day in the period to March 17.

Vessel-tracking data are cross-checked against port agent reports as well as flows and ship movements reported by other information providers including Kpler and Vortexa Ltd.

Export Value

Following the abolition of export duty on Russian crude, we have begun to track the gross value of seaborne crude exports, using Argus Media price data and our own tanker tracking.

The gross value of Russias crude exports recouped about half of the previous weeks drop, rising to $1.68 billion in the seven days to March 24 from $1.48 billion in the period to March 17. Four-week average income was also up, rising by about $15 million to $1.62 billion a week. The four-week average is still well off its peak of $2.17 billion a week, reached in the period to June 19, 2022. The highest it reached last year was $2 billion a week in the period to Oct. 22.

During the first four weeks after the Group of Seven nations price cap on Russian crude exports came into effect in early December 2022, the value of seaborne flows fell to a low of $930 million a week, but soon recovered.

The chart above shows a gross value of Russias seaborne oil exports on a weekly and four-week average basis. The value is calculated by multiplying the average weekly crude price from Argus Media Group by the weekly export flow from each port. For shipments from the Baltic and Arctic ports we use the Urals FOB Primorsk dated, London close, midpoint price. For shipments from the Black Sea we use the Urals Med Aframax FOB Novorossiysk dated, London close, midpoint price. For Pacific shipments we use the ESPO blend FOB Kozmino prompt, Singapore close, midpoint price.

Export duty was abolished at the end of 2023 as part of Russias long-running tax reform plans.

Ships Leaving Russian Ports

The following table shows the number of ships leaving each export terminal.

A total of 31 tankers loaded 23.2 million barrels of Russian crude in the week to March 24, vessel-tracking data and port agent reports show. That was up by about 2.5 million barrels from the previous week.

High winds at the start of the week may have hampered shipments from Russias Pacific terminal at Kozmino. Winds were gusting above 30 miles per hour on two of the first three days of the period, according to data from visualcrossing.com.

All figures exclude cargoes identified as Kazakhstans KEBCO grade. One cargo of KEBCO was loaded at Novorossiysk and one at Ust-Luga during the week.

NOTES

Note: This story forms part of a weekly series tracking shipments of crude from Russian export terminals and the gross value of those flows. Weeks run from Monday to Sunday. The next update will be on Tuesday, April 2.

Note: All figures exclude cargoes owned by Kazakhstans KazTransOil JSC, which transit Russia and are shipped from Novorossiysk and Ust-Luga as KEBCO grade crude.

If you are reading this story on the Bloomberg terminal, click here for a link to a PDF file of four-week average flows from Russia to key destinations.

--With assistance from Sherry Su.

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BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- An education campaign aimed at bolstering danger avoidance and self-protection awareness among primary school and secondary school students kicked off Monday, according to China's Ministry of Education.

In a circular regarding the weeklong campaign, the ministry urged local education authorities to guide schools in organizing education activities, so as to enhance the students' safety awareness and improve their ability to protect themselves.

The activities should cover various topics, including curbing school violence and bullying, fire safety, traffic safety and first-aid training, among others, wrote the circular.

The circular also requested local education authorities to jointly organize education activities with public security departments and fire brigades. 
A Moscow court ruled on March 26 to again extend the pre-trial detention of Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reporter Evan Gershkovich, a U.S. citizen who has been jailed awaiting charges in Russia for almost a year.

Gershkovich was arrested in Yekaterinburg in late March 2023 while working on a story about the Wagner mercenary group's recruiting methods, as well as Russian citizens' views on the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Russia accused him of espionage, which both the U.S. government and the WSJ strongly deny. Espionage in Russia carries a maximum prison term of up to 20 years.

Gershkovich has now been handed a three-month extension of his pre-trial detention until at least June 30.

"This verdict to further prolong Evans detention feels particularly painful, as this week marks one year since Evan was arrested and wrongfully detained in Yekaterinburg simply for doing his job as a journalist," said Lynne Tracy, the U.S. Ambassador to Russia.

Gershkovich's pre-trial detention has been repeatedly extended.

"It was also (Gershkovich's) 12th court appearance, baseless proceedings that falsely portray him as something other than what he isa journalist who was doing his job," the WSJ said in a statement.

"He should never have been detained. Journalism is not a crime, and we continue to demand his immediate release."

Russia has yet to publicly present evidence of the supposed crimes that Gershkovich is accused of committing.

Russia has also jailed Alsu Kurmasheva, an RFE/RL journalist with dual Russian and U.S. citizenship, on charges of failing to identify as a foreign agent. Kurmasheva's pre-trial detention has also been extended several times, and on Jan. 25, she spent her 100th day behind bars in Russia.

Read also: Russias descent into totalitarianism: How it happened

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A 50-year-old resident of the frontline town of Beryslav was hospitalized with blast trauma and leg injuries after being hit by an explosive device dropped by a Russian drone, Kherson Oblast Military Administration reported on Telegram on March 26.

Read also: Drone attack on Kherson invincibility point wounds three

The victim is being treated for his injuries in a local hospital.

The Russian army systematically terrorizes Beryslavs civilian population with drone strikes and artillery shelling.

On March 23, three civilians were injured in a similar incident. According to the Kherson Oblast Prosecutors Office, the enemy dropped explosives from a drone on an invincibility point  a space guaranteed to have power and internet even during blackouts.

Read also: Russian attack on civilian vehicles kills two men in Ukraine's frontline Kherson region, officials say

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
WINDHOEK, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The Namibian government on Tuesday expressed its appreciation for the adoption of Resolution 2728 by the United Nations Security Council, which aims to secure an immediate ceasefire in Gaza during Ramadan and advocates for the release of all hostages.

Penda Naanda, Namibia's executive director in the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation, emphasized the importance of this resolution in providing relief to the people of Gaza, who have suffered immensely from ongoing conflict and violence.

"The adoption is a welcome relief for the people of Gaza, who have endured constant bombardment of their homes, schools, hospitals, and places of worship, during which thousands of Palestinians have lost their lives," he said.

The UN Security Council on Monday adopted the resolution that demanded an immediate ceasefire 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 ceasefire in Gaza, abstained Monday, allowing the draft to pass.

Resolution 2728 was the first Security Council resolution that demanded or called for a ceasefire 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.

Stressing Namibia's commitment to peaceful conflict resolution, Naanda underscored the country's stance on settling international disputes through non-violent means.

While acknowledging the positive step taken with the adoption of Resolution 2728, Naanda reiterated Namibia's call for a comprehensive and lasting solution to the conflict. He emphasized the importance of achieving a permanent ceasefire and establishing two states coexisting peacefully within the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem recognized as the capital of the State of Palestine.

"Namibia calls on the members of the United Nations Security Council to fulfill their obligations and ensure that UN Security Council Resolution 2728 is implemented without further delay," he said. 
FILE PHOTO: Suspects in the Crocus City Hall shooting are brought to the Investigation Committee's headquarters in Moscow

(Reuters) - Russia's commissioner for human rights has called the use of torture against detainees unacceptable, the TASS news agency reported on Tuesday.

She was speaking after the publication of videos showing the interrogation of suspects in last week's attack at the Crocus City concert hall near Moscow that killed at least 139 people and was claimed by Islamic State.

One of the suspected gunmen had part of his ear cut off during questioning, and all four bore visible injuries when they appeared at a Moscow court on Sunday. The Kremlin declined to comment on Monday when asked if they had been tortured.

"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 TASS.

She added that any procedural and operational actions must be carried out in accordance with the law.

The Russian constitution outlaws torture, and Russia is also part of the United Nations Convention Against Torture.

(Reporting by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
Ukraine has claimed yet another successful strike on Russias Black Sea Fleet (BSF), announcing on March 26 that the landing ship Konstantin Olshansky had been hit by a Neptune missile.

Speaking on national TV, Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk said damage to the vessel was still being determined.

In recent months, Ukraine has intensified its attacks on BSF targets in occupied Crimea, successfully targeting several ships and forcing Russian forces to redeploy to safer waters.

In comments to LIGA.net, Pletenchuk said the attack on the Konstantin Olshansky had occurred earlier this week on March 23, the same day two Russian Ropucha-class landing ships, Yamal and Azov, were hit.

Built in 1985, the Konstantin Olshansky was transferred to the Ukrainian Navy in 1996 when the naval fleet of the Soviet Union was divided up.

It was one of many Ukrainian ships seized by Russian forces during the annexation of Crimea in 2014.

This ship was supposed to be used by Ukraine, therefore, a decision was made to destroy this unit with our Neptune, Pletenchuk told national television.

The attack in the late hours of March 23 also hit some Black Sea Fleet infrastructure in Crimea and a Russian military communication center, the Ukrainian military said on March 24.

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.

Read also: Opinion: Why ISIS attacked Russia and why Russia blames Ukraine

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Bomb disposal experts have removed the warhead of a Russian missile that fell near a private residence in Kyivs Solomianskyi District on March 25, Kyiv National Police said on March 26.

The day before, while inspecting the site of where one of the intercepted missiles likely landed, the police discovered the warhead fragment with detonators weighing over 20 kg.

The experts disconnected the detonators from the rest of the warhead and removed it for disposal under controlled conditions elsewhere.

The police also urged citizens to be vigilant and to refrain from handling any unknown objects they find, as they can be explosive and toxic.

Read also:

On March 25, Russia attacked Kyiv with several hypersonic ballistic missiles launched from occupied Crimea. Due to the extreme velocity of the missiles, the air raid alert was sounded almost simultaneously with them reaching the Ukrainian capital. Although the missiles were intercepted by Ukrainian air defenses, falling debris injured ten people across the city.

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Mr Lukashenko said he closed the border with Russia following a personal request from Vladimir Putin in the aftermath of the atrocity - Pavel Bednyakov

The Crocus City Hall terrorist attackers tried to flee to Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko said in a statement undermining Vladimir Putin.

The Belarusian dictators remarks contradict claims by the Kremlin and top Russian security officials that the attackers were backed by Ukraine and tried to escape there as part of a pre-arranged plan.

Speaking to Belarus media, Mr Lukashenko said he closed the border with Russia following a personal request from Mr Putin in the aftermath of the atrocity.

He asked me, will you help me close [the Russian-Belarusian border]? Lukashenko said in remarks carried by the official Belta news agency. He said, I will. Were doing everything. That was the conversation.

Thats why they turned around and went toward the Ukrainian-Russian section of the border.

On Monday evening, Putin said in televised remarks that Islamist radicals had carried out the attack but that it appeared to have been orchestrated by Ukraine.

He has insisted that the attackers intended to cross into Ukraine after their Moscow rampage.

Terrorists gunned down at least 139 people at the Crocus City Hall concert venue outside Moscow on Friday night.

The Islamic State terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack, which was the worst in Russia for 20 years.

Four suspects were detained in Bryansk region, which borders both Ukraine and Belarus, several hours later.

The Russian-Belarusian border is usually relatively loosely policed in accordance with a union-state agreement between the two countries.

The Bloomberg News agency reported on Tuesday that four sources close to the Kremlin said the government knows there is no evidence of involvement by Ukraine.

One person told the agency that Mr Putin was at a meeting where officials agreed Ukraine was not linked to the attack but that the president is determined to use his unproven claim to rally support for the war.

The Telegraph could not immediately confirm the report.

Alexander Bortnikov, the head of the FSB, Russias internal security agency, said on Tuesday that Britain, the United States, and Ukraine were all linked to the attack.

Nikolai Patrushev, the secretary of Russias security council, said of course Ukraine when asked who he believed was responsible.

Ukraine has rejected allegations that it was involved and suggested Russia orchestrated it as a false-flag attack. The United States and France have said Islamic State organised the attack and acted alone.

His comments came as Russian authorities arrested an eighth man in connection with the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack.

Alisher Kasimov, a Russian citizen born in Kyrgyzstan, is accused of renting a flat to the attackers, Russian media reported. He said in court on Tuesday morning he did not know of their plans.

Officials said he was ordered to be held in detention until at least May 22, without detailing the exact accusations against him.

The four suspected attackers were detained on Saturday after several hours on the run.

Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, 32; Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, 30; Shamsidin Fariduni, 25; and Mukhammadsobir Faizov, 19 have been remanded in custody until May 22.

All four showed signs of beatings and torture when they were arraigned in court over the weekend. Footage released on Wagner-affiliated Telegram channels showed security officers electrocuting one of the men with a field telephone wired to his genitals. Another video showed an officer cutting off Rachabalizods right ear and pushing it into his mouth.

Three other men, all from the same family, were arrested on Monday evening on suspicion of assisting the attackers by providing the getaway vehicle.

Brothers Dilovar and Aminchon Islomov have been charged with terrorism. Their father Isroil Islomov has not been charged but is considered a suspect, Meduza reported.

Alexander Bastrykin, the head of Russias Investigative Committee, said on Monday that the three, who live in the city of Tver northwest of Moscow, were believed to be part of the terrorist group and assisted the attackers by providing the vehicle, a flat, and moving money for them.

Dilovar Islomov told Novaya Gazeta Europe he and his brother turned themselves in when they recognised the white Renault used by the attackers as the car he had sold to his wifes brother a week previously. He said they were innocent of involvement in the terror attack.

The arrests came as further details emerged of the suspected attackers movements before Friday night.

At least two had recently travelled between Russia and Turkey.

A Turkish official told the AFP news agency that Saidakrami and Fariduni were able to travel freely between Russia and Turkey since there was no warrant for their arrest.

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After Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin accused "those fighting against Russia at the hands of the Kyiv regime" of being responsible for the shooting at the Crocus City Hall, Nikolai Patrushev, Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, stated that Ukraine and not ISIS was behind the terrorist attack on 22 March.

Source: Kremlin-aligned news agency RIA Novosti; Interfax; Novaya Gazeta Europe

Quote from Patrushev in response to whether Ukraine or ISIS is behind the terrorist attack: "Certainly Ukraine."

Details: At the same time, the press secretary of the Kremlin leader, Dmitry Peskov, said it is impossible to talk about it while the investigation is ongoing.

"The President [Russias leader Putin] said that, based on certain early reports, well, you should reread the president's words. What is the exact [sort of connection with Ukraine  ed.] is naturally impossible to talk about at this stage. And when the investigation deems it appropriate and possible, naturally, the information will be provided," he said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in turn, stated that Russia does not need the assistance offered by Interpol in the investigation of the terrorist act because "it will clearly be a manifestation of double standards and most likely will be aimed at promoting a convenient theory for the West that the ISIS did it, and Ukraine had nothing to do with it."

"We are unlikely to need such assistance, we will cope on our own," Lavrov believes.

Alexander Bortnikov, Director of the Federal Security Service of Russia, baselessly claimed that radical Islamists were preparing the attack at the Crocus with the help of Ukrainian security services, although he specified that the organisers of the attack have not yet been identified.

He also claimed that the terrorists were planning to flee to Ukraine, and the Russian special services "did everything to prevent this from happening". "The fact that they [the terrorists  ed.] were planning to go there [to Ukraine  ed.], and were expected there  is a fact," said Bortnikov.

Previously:

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".

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected Russian leader Vladimir Putin's accusations that Ukraine was involved in the terrorist attack in Moscow Oblast. Zelenskyy said that Putin considers everyone a terrorist except himself.

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.

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WINDHOEK, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The Namibian economy maintained its positive trajectory, recording a growth rate of 4.2 percent in 2023, compared to 5.3 percent in the previous year, statistics released by the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) showed Tuesday.

According to NSA Statistician-General Alex Shimuafeni, the nominal size of the economy reached 227.8 billion Namibian dollars (about 12 billion U.S. dollars) in 2023, reflecting a moderate increase of 22.3 billion Namibia dollars from the previous year.

"Mining and quarrying was the largest sector in the economy, contributing 14.4 percent to GDP (gross domestic product), followed by manufacturing (11.2 percent) and wholesale (11 percent)," he said, adding that primary and secondary industries registered growth of 9.7 percent and 2.0 percent, respectively, compared to growth of 13.7 percent and 3.4 percent in the parallel period.

Shimuafeni said the tertiary industry saw an overall increase of 2.7 percent, with notable improvements in most sectors except for public administration and defense, which faced pressure due to government fiscal consolidation policies.

Meanwhile, Shimuafeni said private household consumption expenditure, representing 73.3 percent of GDP, grew 4.7 percent, showing a decrease from the previous year's growth rate of 9.5 percent.

On the other hand, gross fixed capital formation (investment) surged to 69.3 percent in 2023, mainly due to increased spending on oil and gas exploration, compared to 10.0 percent in 2022, he said. 
Sacramento County has hired a new inspector general to provide independent oversight of the Sheriffs Office and track investigations of use-of-force incidents and in-custody deaths. The previous inspector general quietly resigned at the end of August.

The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to approve Kevin Gardner, who has 31 years of sworn law enforcement experience, including serving as the acting deputy chief of the Sacramento Police Department. Most recently, he served as the interim director for the city of Sacramentos Office of Public Safety Accountability. Gardner also led the Division of Law Enforcement for the California Department of Justice for two years.

The item was on the consent calendar and, thus, did not come with a presentation. Board chair Patrick Kennedy pulled the item for a short separate discussion before the supervisors formally approved the hire. Gardner told supervisors after the vote that he looked forward to the opportunity to get back into public service.

The boards written agenda for the meeting shows that Gardner was recommended by all participating panel members who interviewed candidates. One panel included Sheriff Jim Cooper and law enforcement representatives. The other panel was made up of former and current members of the Community Review Commission, a body that collaborates with the inspector general and works to increase transparency in the Sheriffs Office.

Gardner will replace Francine Tournour Kerridge, whose contract expired Aug. 31. The county did not issue a public notice when Kerridge left the post, the Sacramento Observer first reported in January. The Long Beach Press-Telegram reported that she became director of police oversight for the city in Los Angeles County in September.

Kerridges departure left a gap in police oversight in the county  one of several related to high turnover in this office. After Rick Braziel left the position in November 2018, the post was vacant for just over a year. At the end of 2019, the county announced Mark Evenson would take on the role. Evenson resigned in February of 2022. Kerridge was appointed almost seven months later in August.

Kerridge filed a first draft of the year-end report covering her work between Aug. 1, 2022, and Aug. 31, 2023. She wrote in the document that during that period, her office received 44 allegations of misconduct. She also reviewed the two cases over the year in which sheriff personnel shot and killed people. Nine people died in the Sheriffs Offices custody. When Kerridge submitted the report, all the investigations were still open.

The Office of the Inspector General also handled 28 inquiries from the public that did not involve reports of misconduct.

The two people shot and killed by Sheriffs Office personnel within the timeframe of the report were Jaime Naranjo, 55, and Vincent Martinez, also 55. Naranjo was suicidal when his wife called law enforcement for help. Martinez had a shotgun and was in a house threatening to kill his girlfriend; his daughter had called deputies. Video released by the Sheriffs Office shows that deputies opened fire within seconds of Martinez walking outside, and that he was not pointing the gun at deputies or at his girlfriend when he was shot.

On Feb. 8, The Sacramento Bee submitted a Public Records Act request for any letter of resignation from Kerridge, as well as other documents related to the Office of the Inspector General. The county has released some documents in response to the open request, but not the letter of resignation.
Sacramento resident Kevin Stockdale eagerly anticipated an affordable housing and retail complexs completion that he hoped would revitalize the Broadway corridor and address the areas public safety concerns.

But on Tuesday morning, the 60-year-old shook his head as he observed charred wooden remains at 19th and X streets after a massive conflagration gutted a portion of the On Broadway Apartments project. The $94 million development was expected to earmark 25% of units for homeless residents, according to The Sacramento Bees previous reporting, some of whom live under freeway overpasses next door.

If he had known about the fire, Stockdale said: I would have gotten up and tried to put it out myself. Its terrible.

An aerial view from a drone shows the destruction to a five-story building under construction on 19th and X streets in Sacramento following a fire on Tuesday, March, 26, 2024. The three-alarm fire destroyed one of two affordable apartment complexes being built in the Broadway corridor.

Smoke plumes marred the capital citys skyline after Sacramento firefighters battled the three-alarm fire for hours. The intense heat warped signal lights affixed to a railroad crossing just west of the 140-unit development.

Firefighters had completed a medical aid call when they noticed smoke filling the area just before 1 a.m., the Sacramento Fire Department said. It was one of two five-story buildings on 19th Street, in between X Street and Broadway, that was heavily engulfed in flames.

There were no injuries and the cause of the fire is under investigation, firefighters said.

The Sacramento Fire Department battled a massive blaze on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, on Broadway and 19th Street, causing road closures. The investigation into the fire is underway.

Video provided by Sacramento firefighters showed personnel spraying water from ladder trucks to subdue the conflagration as the bare wooden skeleton continued to fall amid heavy flames.

Capt. Justin Sylvia, a spokesman with Fire Department, said more than 100 firefighters fought licking flames ravaging exposed wooden stick frames. First responders didnt enter the building because of safety threats, leading them to jet water from above the structure, he said.

Firefighters asked PG&E and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District to shut down gas and power lines, according to archived radio dispatches.

The blazes intensity prompted Sacramento police to shutter X Street, between 18th and 20th streets, for several hours.

Councilwoman Katie Valenzuela, who represents that area, said online she was gutted to hear about the conflagration and her office stands ready to help get the project back on track after the devastating setback.

The On Broadway Apartments is a critical project for the Broadway corridor and our affordable housing goals, she wrote on social media.

The aftermath: Significant damage to building, developer says

A hive of activity buzzed around the blackened structure on Tuesday morning. Water dripped from darkened husks as hazy smoke wafted through surrounding homes and businesses about eight hours since the fires start.

Sacramento firefighters were still extinguishing hot spots by 10 a.m. The incident proves challenging because theres void spaces that must be flushed out, Sylvia said.

We will be out here for quite some time, Sylvia said, to make sure the blaze is completely tamped down.

SMUD crews worked on restoring power lines behind the blackened structure. Workers from Brown Construction, contracted to build the complex, swept debris lining roads.

San Rafael-based developer EAH Housing planned to turn a lot at the northeast corner of 19th and Broadway into two structures, each a five-story mix of retail and affordable housing units. Construction had begun by July 2023, and was expected to last for 22 months, an EAH spokesperson said previously.

The On Broadway Apartments were set to be a 165,000-square-foot complex that would include 75 single-bedroom units, 25 two-bedroom apartments and 50 three-bedroom units. It would also have both a community center, a learning center and 111 long-term bicycle parking stalls, according to The Bees previous reporting.

The On Broadway apartments will have 140 affordable housing units at the corner of 19th Street and Broadway in Sacramento.

Mayor Darrell Steinberg said online he was disappointed the fire caused delays for the apartments, which are intended to provide badly needed affordable housing and increased economic vitality to the area.

Our city will be reaching out to EAH Housing to do what we can to support efforts to clean up and resume construction on this housing for the most needy Sacramentans, he said on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

EAH Housing, in an emailed statement, vowed to restart construction as soon as possible after a significant portion of the property was affected.

We will share additional details on the updated construction timeline in the coming days and weeks, the statement said, while noting the company was deeply saddened by the loss.

Brown Construction said in a statement that its waiting to learn of the fires cause before determining the next steps forward.

A survey of damage Tuesday morning showed the southern building that corners Broadway appeared undamaged.

The site was formerly a single-structure office building that had been vacant for years before it was demolished.

Stockdale, who lives nearby, had hoped the apartment complex would bring restaurants and provide a bustling, lively corner on the corridor. Now, the revitalization appears to be postponed.

This is just devastating to me, he said.

Construction personnel look over the ruins of a five-story housing complex under construction on 19th Street between Broadway and X Street in Sacramento on Tuesday, March 26, 2024. The building was damaged by a three-alarm fire overnight.

An aerial view from a drone shows the destruction to a five-story building under construction on 19th and X streets in Sacramento following a fire on Tuesday, March, 26, 2024. The three-alarm fire destroyed one of two affordable apartment complexes being built in the Broadway corridor.

The Bees Hector Amezcua contributed to this story.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  A Vancouver man has been arrested after a Salem woman reported him to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, saying he forced her to engage in commercial sexual acts in a Bend hotel.

Deschutes County 911 Dispatch told the Bend Police Department a 31-year-old woman texted the hotline, stating she had been held in the Red Lion Inn and Suites against her consent.

Portland committee will allocate additional revenue from Clean Energy Fund

Bend authorities said they responded to the report on Thursday, March 21 at 2:16 a..m, after their multiple efforts to contact the woman had failed.

Officers knocked on the hotel room door, announced their arrival and ordered the individuals to open the door. The victim then opened it, leading to her evacuation and the arrest of Vancouver resident Orlando Smith.

In an interview with BPD, the woman told officials that 33-year-old Smith had punched her in the face on multiple occasions and forced her to engage in sexual acts with multiple men over two days. The agency said investigators later found an online ad for the woman, along with more than $1,000 in Smiths possession.

NE Portland strip mall goes up in flames Tuesday morning

The man is now being held at the Deschutes County Jail, where he is facing charges of suspicion of fourth-degree assault and promoting prostitution. He was also cited for a warrant due to a traffic offense in Salem.

Officials said people should report human trafficking incidents to the at 1-888-373-7888, or text 233733.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
Outraged community members in San Francisco rallied Friday morning outside the Hall of Justice to oppose the probation sentence of a man who pleaded guilty to assaulting a 94-year-old woman in 2021.

The case of Anh Peng Taylors stabbing got a lot of attention as it was one of many unprovoked attacks on Asian American Pacific Islander seniors during the pandemic.

The suspect, 35-year-old Daniel Cauich, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to probation. But the sentence cannot be imposed until both parties sign an agreement as to the details of the sentence.

District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, and those gathered to rally for the victim, say this isnt justice.

When we see our seniors being violently attacked and there be no actual consequences for it, said Jenkins. Yes, we are going to come together and we are going to stand together against what is happening.

Taylor survived the attack in front of her Post Street apartment in the citys Tenderloin neighborhood.

Fridays rally, which also included two mayoral candidates  Mark Farrell and Daniel Laurie  as well as supervisor Matt Dorsey, became heated when counterprotesters showed up, saying the case was being politicized. The counterprotesters called themselves an ad hoc group of lawyers.

The back and forth between the two groups got so intense, law enforcement had to step in to break it up.

And the fact that these peoples pain and suffering is being weaponized against judges who are doing such a hard job in such a hard climate is very inappropriate, and Brooke Jenkins should be ashamed of herself, protestor Brian Ford said.

The DA notes this case never went to trial, and the prosecutors were not involved in negotiating the sentence handed down by the judge.

According to the district attorneys office, this was a plea that was made in open court and that it objects to.

In a lengthy phone conversation, Lisa Dewberry, the attorney for Cauich, applauded the judge for taking his mental state at the time of the attack into consideration.

She also said she appreciated the sentence the judge imposed, especially the intensive supervision provision, which would provide treatment for mental health, substance abuse and ankle monitoring.

The courts imposed sentence protects the public and it provides my client the necessary services he needs," Dewberry said.

Cauich also pleaded guilty to a prior charge for burglary. Its a crime he was waiting to be tried for when he attacked Taylor.

The DAs office has now filed a formal opposition to the judges sentence, and Fridays hearing was postponed till April 12, followed by a meeting between lawyers on April 16.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA)  The Sangamon County Sheriffs Office has announced an arrest in connection to a murder that happened in Springfield one week ago.

Aaron Suttle, 47, was shot and killed on March 18 at the Lincoln Lodge Hotel. Investigators determined a suspect ran away from the scene of the shooting. Sheriff Jack Campbell said interviews with witnesses and evidence helped detectives identify the suspect as 31-year-old Dontreal L. Spencer.

The Sangamon County States Attorneys Office issued a warrant for Spencers arrest three days after the shooting. He was charged with three counts of first-degree murder and one count each of aggravated discharge of a firearm and possession of a weapon by a felon. Campbell added that Spencer is on parole for a 2019 robbery conviction and a 2021 mob action conviction.

UPDATE: Sangamon Co. Coroner identifies shooting victim

Campbell said Spencer was located at his home on Tuesday by the U.S. Marshals Service and his deputies. He was placed under arrest and was taken to the Sangamon County Jail, where he awaits a hearing on pre-trial detention.

The investigation into Suttles murder is ongoing. Several pieces of evidence have been submitted to the Illinois State Police for forensic testing and Sheriffs Office detectives are still looking for witnesses.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com.
The Santa Ana Police Department is asking for the publics help to help locate a missing critical juvenile girl.

Authorities say 12-year-old Mia Gonzalez was given a ride to the area of the 2100 block of South Pacific Avenue in Santa Ana to hang out with an unknown friend around 5:30 p.m. Sunday.

When a caregiver arrived to pick up Gonzalez from the same place where she was dropped off a few hours later, the young girl was nowhere to be found and hasnt been heard from since.

Gonzalez is described as a Hispanic female, 5 feet 1 inch tall, weighing approximately 120 pounds. She was last seen wearing a white t-shirt, faded gray sweatshirt, and blue/gray flannel pajamas.

12-year-old Mia Gonzalez has been missing since Sunday. The Santa Ana Police Department is asking for the publics assistance in locating the missing girl on March 25, 2024. (Santa Ana PD)

12-year-old Mia Gonzalez has been missing since Sunday. The Santa Ana Police Department is asking for the publics assistance in locating the missing girl on March 25, 2024. (Santa Ana PD)

Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to contact Detective N. Vega at 714-245-8441 or the Santa Ana Police Watch Commander at 714-245-8700.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
DHAKA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- A seminar with theme of "Development and Governance Experience in China and Bangladesh" was held here Monday to discuss sustainable development, social governance, communication and mutual learning among civilizations.

The seminar, held by the Center for China Studies (CCS) of Dhaka University, attracted over 20 experts and scholars from various field at home and aboard to participate.

Chen Dongxiao, president of Shanghai institutes for international studies, said that for developing countries, economic and social development is always the top priority. China has put forward the Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative and Global Civilization Initiative. The Belt and Road Initiative is a concrete practice and preliminary exploration of the implementation of the three initiatives.

Chen said that China and Bangladesh have fruitful achievements under the Belt and Road Initiative, which is a concrete manifestation of the exchange of experience in development and national governance between the two countries.

"In the future, it is believed that the two countries will surely make greater achievements in development," Chen added.

Stefan Liller, resident representative in Bangladesh of the United Nations Development Program, said that in this interconnected area where digital technologies bridge vast distances and environmental changes know no borders, the urgency for collaboration has never been greater.

"In this light, this initiative by China and Bangladesh to establish the Center for China Studies of Dhaka University, emphasizing development, cooperation and cultural exchanges, marks a very positive development," Liller said, adding "we must address escalating challenges by strengthening international cooperation and establishing partnership for knowledge exchange and sustainable cooperation."

Noting that Bangladesh is not only an important partner of China but one of the first countries in South Asia to join the Belt and Road Initiative, Farid Uddin Ahmed, vice chancellor of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, said that China and Bangladesh are seeing an increasing convergence of interests and have become a community of shared future.

Susan Vize, head of office and country representative to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, believed that partnerships like CCS are part of the process of finding solutions to global challenges.

"Because this is a space for exchange and intercultural dialogue, and this bringing together of different cultures, different societies, and different systems that enable us to develop risk responses that the whole world can get behind and to develop," Vize said.

"It is my deep expectation that the CCS will contribute to the cooperation between China, Bangladesh and international organizations through jointly participation in global governance and the solution of global poverty and hunger," said Shi Jiaoqun, country representative for Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Bangladesh.

In his speech, Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Yao Wen shared the prospects and expectations for exchanges and cooperation between think tanks and scholars from both countries.

"It is hoped that in the future, the center could strengthen the research on Chinese modernization, increase exchanges and dialogues between Chinese and Bangladeshi scholars, thereby offering practical suggestions for synergizing development strategies between Bangladesh and China, nurturing a conducive public discourse for the advancement of China-Bangladesh relations," said the ambassador. 
Ukraine will carry out more operations in Russia, and will change tactics in order to remain "one step ahead" of Russia, Vasyl Maliuk, the head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), said on air on March 25.

The SBU and Ukraine's military intelligence have engaged in an increasingly active campaign against targets within Russia, including an uptick in strikes against oil refineries.

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 a source from the SBU.

A 13th refinery in Russia's Samara Oblast partially stopped production on March 25 after an alleged drone attack.

Maliuk said that "Russia should expect more attacks" but that the nature of the strikes will change because "Ukraine never repeats itself." He added that since the beginning of the full-scale war, the SBU and other security agencies have been responsible for destroying over 800 Russian tanks, as well as other armored vehicles.

Maliuk also said that Russia no longer uses the Crimean Bridge to supply weapons to the front after Ukrainian strikes damaged the crossing.

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 (~12 miles) 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.

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.
GREENVILLE, S.C. (WSPA)  Just a day after residents expressed their concerns about hundreds of sensitive documents left unsecured behind the old County Square building, county council members are responding.

This is something that needs to be handled immediately, said Councilman Steve Shaw, representative of Greenville County District 20.

Shaw and other council members responded after hundreds of documents containing personal information with home addresses, social security numbers, tax records and more, were allegedly dumped behind the old County Square complex.

In an interview Thursday, Greenville County Facilities Manager Walter Atkins said contractors mistakenly moved the files as they prepared to demolish the building.

Hundreds of confidential docs, records allegedly dumped behind Greenville Co. Square

The contractor there that was prepping for the abatement, for the demo, mistakenly had taken some of the documents and took them outside, said Atkins. I think its just a misunderstanding of what was taken out of the facility at the time and weve got that straightened out.

On Friday, Greenville County Administrator Joseph Kernell gave more insight into why the documents were moved.

On March 14 and March 15, Greenville Countys contractor responsible for asbestos remediation in the old County Square facility inadvertently removed old documents from within the building that were intended to be destroyed and placed these documents outside the building in the loading dock area of the fenced demolition site, Kernell said.

Many of the documents removed were old real property records which contain public information, said Kernell. The Countys online records continue to be secure and there has been no data breach. Greenville County takes the protection of our data and records very seriously and understands that the confidentiality, integrity and availability of our data is vital to our citizens, our businesses and our data security.

Still, the physical documents containing personal information left out in the open has residents concerned.

If those documents got in the wrong hands, people could commit identity fraud, a Greenville County resident said in a previous interview.

Sister station 7NEWS was there Thursday as crews worked to clean up the loose files and took them away in dumpsters.

A day later, not a paper was in sight behind the building. But still, many people, including some Greenville County Council members, said they have unanswered questions.

Queen City News

Investigations

Where are the documents? I mean, where are they now? What were they planning to do? Theyre in big dumpsters? I mean, were they just going to take them to the dump? They were not shredded which is what the statutes tell them to do, asked Shaw.

The following is listed in the South Carolina Code of Laws pertaining to Personal Identifying Information Privacy Protection:

When a public body disposes of a record that contains personal identifying information of an individual, the body shall modify, by shredding, erasing, or other means, the personal identifying information to make it unreadable or undecipherable. Pursuant to 30-2-310(C) of Article 3 of Chapter 2 of Title 30 of the S.C. Code

Greenville County Councilman Stan Tzouvelekas, a representative of District 22, said in a statement that the blatant disregard and irresponsible disclosure of citizens personal information is inexcusable. Someone must be held accountable for not protecting the Citizens of our County! Greenville County must provide the citizens affected by this unauthorized disclosure with the resources needed to mitigate potential damage and possible identity theft.

Man wearing bulletproof vest, armed with rifle, two handguns, arrested in Monroe Walmart: Police

At least two letters were sent from Councilman Shaw to the Greenville County Council Chairman and other members of council, demanding action be taken.

I asked them to get the Attorney General to help. I asked them to get an outside consultant. What do we do in this case, when this happens?

Its a very serious breach, Shaw added. The damage that could be done is devastating to families and to individuals and we need some immediate action.

The councilman called for an investigation and is pushing the county to take responsibility for any financial losses potential victims could experience.

You can read his full letter calling for immediate action steps here:

LETTER-RE-Immediate-Action-Steps-Document-Dump-3-22-24-3Download

Im not going to give up on this, Shaw said.

Shaw requested a special council meeting be called to address the situation. At the very least, he said it will be discussed at the next council meeting scheduled for Tuesday, April 2.

Its still unclear why the documents were left in the building when the abatement process began and not properly disposed of in the first place. Several county council members said theyre prepared to get to the bottom of the issue.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
A South Carolina man who had for years been wrongfully connected to the murder of Brittanee Drexel has filed a lawsuit against the United States over the Federal Bureau of Investigations treatment of him during the investigation.

Timothy Taylor was made the prime suspect in the case as the FBI conducted an investigation into the missing New York teen. Taylors suit, filed on Tuesday, states that the investigation caused him and his family great harm and accused the FBI of lacking evidence and an inability to follow FBI policies.

Kevin Wheeler, public affairs specialist with the Columbia division of the FBI, said the FBI does not comment on pending litigation.

Timothy Taylor, from McClellanvile, South Carolina, was 16 when Drexel disappeared. The night Drexel went missing, Timothy Taylor and his father Shaun Taylor were three hours away in Edisto, South Carolina for a car show.

The FBI alleged that Timothy Taylor was the one who kidnapped Drexel off Ocean Boulevard, despite the fact that Timothy Taylor had one arm and was roughly the same size as Drexel, according to the lawsuit.

Drexel went missing from Myrtle Beach in April 2009 while visiting the Myrtle Beach area for spring break with some of her friends. Drexels family searched for 13 years for the missing teen. Her case gained national attention and became the subject of TV documentaries and numerous stories.

It was finally revealed what happened to the missing teen when Raymond Moody admitted in May 2022 to killing Drexel and led investigators to where he dumped her body, The Sun News reported. Her remains were found in Georgetown County.

Brittanee Drexel

The FBI made the Taylor family its main subjects for Drexels disappearance after an inmate at Georgetown County Jail told agents that Timothy Taylor had kidnapped Drexel and his father, Shaun Taylor, had killed her, according to the suit. The FBI was unable to verify this story and it later came out the inmate had lied, according to the court complaint.

Agents used the unconfirmed story and gossip as reasons to investigate the Taylor family. The FBI arrested Timothy Taylor for an unrelated charge in 2016 but only questioned him about Drexel, the complaint states.

The FBI publicly announced its findings, including that they believed the Taylors had dumped Drexels body in a gator pit. Before agents were able to confirm their evidence, they told the Drexel family that the Taylors were responsible for Drexels death, according to the lawsuit.

Joan Taylor, Timothy Taylors mother, lost her job because she advocated for her son and Shaun Taylors business suffered after their Timothy Taylor was arrested. This caused a financial struggle and, as friends left them, they had few people to turn to for help.

People also attacked the family online for years, causing Timothy Taylor to stop using social media.

The FBI was able to rule out Timothy Taylor as a suspect in 2018. But the FBI never went public with this information, the suit said.

We want them to at least acknowledge the wrong that they have done, Joan Taylor said. At some point, take some responsibility of the life they have created for us for the past nine, 10 years.

What are the charges?

Timothy Taylor is suing the United States for abuse of process, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence.

He alleges abuse of process because the FBI officially arrested him for a petty robbery from five years prior, but during that arrest told him he was under arrest for kidnapping, human trafficking and murder. Once in jail, the FBI only asked Timothy Taylor about Drexel.

The complaint states the FBI wanted to arrest Timothy Taylor for Drexels murder or have him give information, regardless if he committed the crime, and willingly abused the process to do so.

The FBI intentionally inflicted emotional distress by arresting him prematurely and engaging in a relentless six-year campaign of terror against him and his family based on nothing more than the uncorroborated word of a prison informant and bits and pieces of anonymous gossip, the lawsuit says.

The charges released by the FBI continue to impact Timothy Taylors life today.

Timothy Taylor is requesting damages including the FBI stating he was not involved in Drexels murder and paying the costs associated with the lawsuit.

The impact on the Taylors

Joan Taylor, Timothy Taylors mother, said Monday that the case has left a lasting impact on her family. Joan Taylor split up from her husband, Shaun, as their relationship couldnt handle the stress.

After losing their jobs and a significant amount of business, the roof of their home began to leak. The Taylors did not have the money to repair the roof, and as a result, mold began growing in their home. The mold then made Joan Taylor very sick.

People continue to treat Timothy Taylor as if he murdered Drexel, Joan Taylor said. People across the country stare at him and take pictures of him in public. Once, after flying to Detroit from Myrtle Beach, someone followed Timothy Taylor to his car while taking pictures the entire time.

The court complaint states that Timothy Taylor stopped taking his children to the beach, stopped going in public and would receive extremely hateful comments and messages online.

Joan Taylor said she wants the FBI to admit their alleged wrongdoing.

It is not financial gain that we are actually looking for. We want to try and rewrite the narrative, she said. I want the government to be affected enough that they will come forth and say, We had the wrong person.

What happened to Drexel?

Drexel was last seen alone leaving the Blue Water Resort on Ocean Boulevard the night of April 25, 2009, The Sun News reported. Investigators relied on advancements to technology to pinpoint the location of Drexels phone as it traveled around Georgetown County.

Officials said during a court hearing that agencies were able to determine when Drexel was no longer walking but traveling by vehicle because her phone was moving about 60 mph. Officials were able to identify the vehicle Drexel had been in and the vehicle was linked to Moody.

Moody told investigators that he and his girlfriend at the time, Angel Voss, had went to Myrtle Beach to party when they saw Drexel walking by herself down the street. Moody alleges Brittanee Drexel willingly got in the car with them to smoke marijuana, and thats when they headed to Moodys campground in Georgetown.

Raymond Moody, 62, pled guilty today in a Georgetown, S.C. court of the kidnapping, rape and murder of Brittanee Drexel in 2009. He was sentence to life in prison plus an additional sixty years for his crimes. Drexel went missing while on vacation to Myrtle Beach, S.C. in 2009 and her family and law enforcement have looked for answers since. Today Moody called himself a monster during the pleadings. October 19, 2022.

Moody said he had hoped under the influence of marijuana, Drexel would have consensual sex with him. But, when that didnt happen, he forced her to take off her clothes and proceeded to rape her before strangling her and wrapping up her body in a blanket. Voss wasnt around when the crimes were committed, officials said.

Moody later came back to the site, where he disposed of her body, and buried it in a wooded area.

In 2022, Moody plead guilty to murder, kidnapping and criminal sexual conduct. He was sentenced to life in prison plus 60 years, according to The Sun News.

Drexels mother has also sued Moody for wrongful death and the Myrtle Beach hotel where Drexel stayed for wrongful death and negligence, The Sun News reported. The lawsuit against the Bar Harbor Hotel alleges it did not follow protocol for when a minor showed up unaccompanied.
A scandal erupted in Hungary following the publication of an audio recording with the voice of Judit Varga, the former minister of justice, in which she allegedly confirms the conspiracy of Hungarian government officials to hide corruption.

Source: AP news agency, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The recording was published by a former Hungarian official and Varga's ex-husband, and now opposition leader and prominent anti-Orban politician Peter Magyar.

Magyar, a former political insider, claims he became an informant to learn the full extent of the corruption plot. On the morning of 26 March, he shared a recording on Facebook and YouTube in which Varga's voice describes how other government officials were able to remove evidence from court records in order to conceal their involvement in corrupt business operations.

"They suggested to the prosecutors what should be removed," Varga says on the recording, which Magyar claims was made during a conversation in the former couple's apartment.

On Tuesday morning, Magyar handed over the recording to the Budapest prosecutor's office, where it will be used as evidence.

Varga accused Magyar of domestic violence during their marriage in a Facebook post, claiming she was forced to make the allegations.

"I said what he wanted to hear so I could get away as soon as possible. In a situation like this, any person can say things they dont mean in a state of intimidation," Varga wrote. Magyar denied her allegations in a separate post on his Facebook.

Magyar, once a high-ranking but little-known member of Orbans political entourage, rose to prominence in February when he spoke on the popular YouTube channel Partizan, accusing Orbans government of widespread corruption and using smear campaigns to discredit opponents.

Background:

On 15 March 2024, Magyar addressed tens of thousands of people in Budapest, announcing plans to form a new political party to challenge Orban.

Magyar supporters hope the former insider's stance will help reshape Hungary's political system, which many regard as a deeply entrenched autocracy.

Magyar opposed official corruption in Hungary, accusing Orban of fostering an oligarchy in which the wealthy benefit from unjustly concluded state contracts. He specifically targeted Antal Rogan, the head of Prime Minister Orban's department, who also oversees the Orban media monopoly.

A recording released on Tuesday purportedly shows Rogan leading efforts to change evidence in court.

Varga served as Hungary's justice minister until February, when she resigned amid a political scandal after it was revealed that former president Katalin Novak had pardoned a convicted accomplice in a child sex abuse case.

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The 2024 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festivals schedule cubes, with performance times and stage assignments, are posted online at the festivals website.

Fans of the festival can now start planning their daily itinerary and making decisions about who theyll see and who theyll miss.

The cubes are typically unveiled exactly one month before the festivals opening day at the Fair Grounds. The 2024 Jazz Fest opens on Thursday, April 25, for the first of its two four-day weekends.

On Tuesday, the festivals producers held a press conference inside the Fair Grounds grandstand to officially roll out the cubes and reveal other details about the 2024 festival.

That festival will feature the Rolling Stones, Foo Fighters, Chris Stapleton, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, the Killers, Anderson.Paak & the Free Nationals, Queen Latifah, Hozier, Earth, Wind & Fire, Vampire Weekend, Fantasia, Greta Van Fleet, Bonnie Raitt, Heart and Widespread Panic, among many others.

Jon Batiste, the Revivalists and Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, all of whom have achieved national stardom, are among the hundreds of native New Orleans and Louisiana acts that make up the bulk of the festival lineup.

The 53rd edition of what is officially the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell will celebrate the music and culture of Colombia on both weekends. Colombian musicians, cultural displays, parades and cuisine are part of the expanded programming around the festivals Cultural Exchange Pavilion.

Jam band Widespread Panic, a veteran of many previous Jazz Fests, is scheduled for the opening day, April 25, as are the Beach Boys and Stephen Marley. That day is this years locals Thursday, for which Louisiana residents may buy as many as two tickets for $50 apiece, with no additional fees at the gate that day.

Otherwise, at-the-gate tickets are $105 plus fees. Single-day tickets for May 2, aka Rolling Stones Thursday, are sold out, as are all second-weekend multi-day and VIP packages that include May 2.

Second-weekend three-day packages, good for May 3-5, are still available for $270 plus fees at www.nojazzfest.com.

First-weekend four-day passes are also still available, at $320 plus fees.
FILE - Yvette Lewis, a Metro High School security guard, watches as a fleet of Missouri Central Bus Company school busses leaves the school following dismissal, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024, in St. Louis, Mo. Missouri Central School Bus Co. will end its contract with St. Louis Public Schools, Tuesday, March 26, a year early, bringing an end to a relationship strained after a bus driver sickout prompted by a noose left at the workstation of a Black mechanic in February.(Christian Gooden/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)

ST. LOUIS (AP)  A school bus company will terminate its contract with St. Louis Public Schools a year early, bringing an end to a relationship strained after a noose was found near the workstation of a Black mechanic and an ensuing driver walkout that snarled bus service for one of Missouri's largest school systems.

Missouri Central School Bus Co. notified Mayor Tishaura Jones and the Missouri Office of Workforce Development in a letter dated Tuesday that the end of the contract would mean the loss of 332 jobs.

Missouri Central's contract with the school district, which includes about 19,600 students, was supposed to run through the 2024-25 school year, but the company had an opt-out clause. Bus service will end effective June 30, after the end of the current school year.

Scott Allen, regional operations manager for Missouri Central, said in a statement that in December, the company asked the district for additional money to address unprecedented industry inflation and a nationwide school bus driver shortage." A statement from the district says the company sought an extra $2 million.

Unfortunately, despite good faith efforts by both sides, we were unable to negotiate mutually agreeable terms to continue the contract, Allen said.

In February, mechanic Amin Mitchell said he found a noose at his workstation. He said he believed it was meant to send a racist message to intimidate him after an argument with a manager over Mitchell's concern that some bus brakes were inadequate.

Today I had enough! I came into work this morning and found a NOOSE!, Mitchell wrote on Facebook, posting video of a noose fashioned from a thin rope and lying on the floor.

In response, at least 100 drivers stopped working, some for a few days, leaving parents to scramble to get their kids to school. The drivers are members of the Laborers' International Union of North America. Their contract does not permit strikes, so drivers called in sick with personal issues.

Local NAACP leaders called for a hate crime investigation. While none has been announced, Missouri Central said at the time that it would bring in a third-party to investigate. Company spokesman Cordell Whitlock said in an email Tuesday that the company is still waiting on a final report regarding the alleged noose incident.

The school district said in a statement that Missouri Central has failed to meet goals for staffing and delivering students to school on time for three consecutive semesters.

Missouri Central officials also told the school district that the racism allegations provided irreparable harm to their reputation and said they could no longer work with Saint Louis Public Schools, the district statement says.

District leaders will immediately begin seeking a new vendor for busing services. The statement says the district hopes many Missouri Central drivers will be hired.

We want them to continue to transport our students, the district said.
As many ready for spring break in Morris County, some schools are preparing for a change in top leadership.

One slot was filled last week when Brad Siegel was named the new superintendent of Mountain Lakes' K-12 school district. A new opening has yet to be filled in Boonton Township, where Christian Angelillo announced earlier this month that he would be leaving to take a similar position at a Jersey Shore district.

In Denville, meanwhile, the Rev. Peter Clarke will step down at the end of the school year after seven years as president of Morris Catholic High School.

Mountain Lakes hires Siegel

Siegel, currently superintendent in the K-8 Upper Saddle River district in Bergen County, will succeed Michael Fetherman, who is retiring on June 30.

Fetherman, who took over in Mountain Lakes in 2020, oversaw an expansion of the high school, coped with the COVID-19 pandemic and is currently involved in negotiations for a new 10-year send-receive contract with Boonton Township, whose students attend the district high school. Mountain Lakes serves about 1,400 students, according to state data.

Siegel, who starts on July 1, was hired after a superintendent search committee was formed late last year to recruit a replacement. Candidate interviews were completed last month.

Prior to his five years in Upper Saddle River, Siegel was the K-12 director of curriculum, instruction and assessment for Bergen County's quad-districts (Allendale, Ho-Ho-Kus, Upper Saddle River, and Northern Highlands Regional.) He holds a doctoral degree from Teachers College at Columbia University through the Arts & Humanities Department.

Boonton Township's Angelillo heads south

Walking through Rockaway Valley School ahead of a March 12 $15 million referendum vote, showing aging 1959 infrastructure, outdated facilities and storage in leaky hallways. Superintendent Dr. Christian Angelillo points to aging boilers.

In neighboring Boonton Township, another K-8 district, the school board will hold a special meeting Wednesday to discuss the search to replace Angelillo, who is leaving to take the superintendent's job in Ocean City.

I look forward to becoming a part of the fabric of the Ocean City community and forging lastingrelationships that will help remind us to celebrate our past accomplishments, while working together toachieve future successes that will make us all proud, Angelillo stated in a statement issued by the Ocean City district.

Angelillo's new job will see him lead a larger district in Ocean City, which includes a high school, intermediate school and primary school serving 1,877 students. Boonton Township, by comparison, teaches about 400 students in one facility, Rockaway Valley School on Valley Road. Angelillo was selected from a pool of more than 50 applicants, the Ocean City district said in announcing his hire.

Earlier this month, Boonton Township residents voted down a $15 million referendum to fund improvements at Rockaway Valley School, the oldest portions of which were built in 1959. The school board and administration "will evaluate community feedback before deciding how to move forward," Angelillo said after that vote.

Morris Catholic chief faced 'difficult' road

After seven years, Rev. Clarke announced last week he will step down as top official at Morris Catholic, which pulls students mostly from Morris County but in recent years has supplemented its enrollment with international students.

"I write to you today with a heavy heart," Clarke advised the school community in a letter last week. "Recently, I spoke to Bishop Sweeney and told him that I would be stepping down as president of Morris Catholic at the end of this academic year. I have always strived to be transparent, and as many of you know, the past few years have been extraordinarily difficult for me with the passing of my mother and some personal medical issues."

Founded in 1957, the school reports 425 students for this school year. Superintendent Mary Baiers is expected to advise the community on the search process for a new leader this week.

"Please join me in thanking Fr. Peter for his service and wishing him all the best in his future endeavors," Board of Trustees Chair Pat McAndrew wrote in a statement following Clarke's announcement. "I want to assure everyone that we will be working closely with the diocese [of Paterson] to ensure we find the best possible candidate to replace him."

More: First-ever digital SAT exam scores are out. How did NJ do?

A native of Mount Olive who grew up in Roxbury, Clarke served as principal of Don Bosco Prep in Wayne prior to arriving at Morris Catholic in 2017. Like Clarke and Angelillo, his term coincided with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I am very proud of all our school community has accomplished over the past seven years," Clarke wrote. "It has indeed been a privilege to continue the fantastic work that generations have achieved and build upon the amazing things that happen daily at Morris Catholic."

NJ's smallest college

The Denville campus also is home to New Jersey's smallest college: In 2014, the Assumption College for Sisters took residence in the former Sisters of Christian Charity dormitory at the high school.

William Westhoven is a local reporter for DailyRecord.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: wwesthoven@dailyrecord.com

Twitter: @wwesthoven

This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: School leaders exit Boonton NJ, Mountain Lakes, Morris Catholic
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore declared a state of emergency after a cargo ship hit a bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday morning, causing it to partially collapse.

Several vehicles fell into the water, prompting a search and rescue for multiple individuals. Two people have been rescued thus far, one being in critical condition, The Associated Press reported.

The container ship, Dali, managed by Synergy Marine Group, hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge around 1:30 a.m. local time, ramming into its support and causing it to collapse.

The ship hit one of the bridges supports and appeared to catch fire, with black smoke rising from the scene, according to a video from the scene posted by a local outlet on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

The bridge is situated over the Patapsco River leading to the Port of Baltimore, a significant port on the East Coast.

The ship was heading from Baltimore to Colombo, Sri Lanka, per the AP.

Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld told reporters that work was being performed on the bridge at the time.

We know there were individuals on the bridge at the time of the collapse, working on the bridge. Contractors for us, he said at a press conference Tuesday. But he added that officials did not know how many vehicles were involved.

Moore said earlier Tuesday that his office remains in close communication with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and the citys fire department.

I have declared a State of Emergency here in Maryland and we are working with an interagency team to quickly deploy federal resources from the Biden Administration, Moore posted Tuesday on X.

We will remain in close contact with federal, state, and local entities that are carrying out rescue efforts as we continue to assess and respond to this tragedy, he added.

Fire Chief James Wallace said officials could be looking for up to seven people, the AP reported. It is unclear if the previous two rescued earlier are part of the seven mentioned.

Ive spoken with Gov. Moore and Mayor Scott to offer USDOTs support following the vessel strike and collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge, Buttigieg said Tuesday. Rescue efforts remain underway and drivers in the Baltimore area should follow local responder guidance on detours and response.

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) said he was thankful for emergency responders being on the scene. Horrific news this morning. Praying for those who were on the FSK bridge, Cardin wrote Tuesday morning on X. Thankful for @USCG @BaltimoreFire and all the first responders who are on the scene.

The White House is also closely monitoring the situation after the Baltimore bridge collapsed, according to an official statement.

Our hearts go out to the families of those who remain missing as a result of this horrific incident, the statement reads. The US Coast Guard is conducting search and rescue for those who remain unaccounted for as a result of the bridge collapse.

The administration is in touch with the governor and mayor to offer any federal assistance they need, according to the statement, and there is no indication of any nefarious intent.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB)  A Depew man was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Monday for a 2022 home invasion in Amherst that left a man in critical condition, the Erie County District Attorneys Office announced.

Jason K. Evans, 37, was found guilty on two felony charges: burglary in the first degree and robbery in the first degree.

In Oct. 2022, Evans and 34-year-old Mark S. Shadle of Kenmore, forced entry into a home on Bucyrus Drive in the Town of Amherst. After entering the house, the two men tied, threatened, beat and robbed the homeowner, before leaving with a number of items from the home.

A member of the homeowners family returned home and called 911, before the victim was taken to ECMC with serious injuries to his head, chest, arms and legs. Severe lacerations were left to the victims arms from being tied up.

Evans faces a max of 20 years in prison with another five years of post-release supervision.

A seven-day trial was held in Dec. 2023 where a jury took just two hours of deliberation to find both Shadle and Evans guilty.

Shadle was sentenced in February on a persistent violent felony offender and will face 23 years to life in prison.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to News 4 Buffalo.
BANGKOK, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Tuesday afternoon paid his first visit to the headquarters of the ruling Pheu Thai Party headquarters in 17 years to meet with the party's MPs there.

Some 150 supporters wearing red shirts gathered in front of the headquarters building to welcome Thaksin. Upon his arrival, he was greeted with rounds of applause and red roses.

Thaksin founded the Thai Rak Thai Party, a predecessor of the Pheu Thai Party, with his youngest daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra being the current leader.

Paetongtarn later said her father was delighted after the very first visit to the party headquarters in 17 years. "He seemed happy like returning home," she said.

Local media reported that Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin had previously said that he would not come to meet Thaksin due to other duties.

Earlier this month, Thaksin made his first public appearance since leaving detention on parole in February, followed by a three-day trip to his hometown in the northern Chiang Mai province.

The 74-year-old former prime minister returned to Thailand from self-exile last year and was convicted of multiple charges. According to the Thai government, he was eligible for parole as he is over 70 years old and suffers from a serious illness.

Thaksin served as the Southeast Asian country's prime minister from 2001 to 2006 and had been in self-exile abroad since 2008. 
A man wielding a 20-gauge shotgun patrolled the sidewalk outside his home  across from an elementary school  every day for two weeks, federal prosecutors said.

The behavior scared staff, students and their parents at the nearby Broadwater Elementary School in Billings, Montana, and prompted multiple police calls from Aug. 2 to Aug. 17, according to court documents.

The man told law enforcement he did not want to hurt kids and patrols his yard to prevent crime from happening to him, while believing he was being gang stalked by another man, court documents say.

Despite the publics complaints, police said he didnt break any Montana gun laws, MTN News reported.

However, the man is accused of violating federal law, according to a Sept. 14 indictment charging him with unlawful possession of a firearm in a school zone in violation of the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990. Court records show he was arrested Aug. 22.

The 49-year-old Billings resident pleaded guilty to the charge March 25, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Montana announced in a news release.

McClatchy News contacted federal public defenders appointed to represent the man for comment March 26 and didnt receive an immediate response.

Russel A. Hart, one of his federal defenders, argued the indictment against his client should be dismissed because he was protected by the Second Amendment and felt his actions were necessary to protect himself, court records show.

A motion to dismiss the indictment was denied Jan. 31.

Concerns from elementary school parents over sightings of the man with a weapon resulted in Broadwater Elementary School staff covering a playground fence in tarp in August, when the school year began at the end of the month, the Billings Gazette reported.

Additionally, outside activities were held behind the school building, away from his property, according to the newspaper.

The first calls to police came in Aug. 2, when one person reported the man walked onto the property of a Dominos Pizza next to his home, across from school, while armed, prosecutors said.

That day, a woman who was cleaning his neighbors home saw him walking up the driveway with the shotgun over his shoulder, heading toward her, according to a trial brief.

Days later, one person reported he was standing on the sidewalk and carrying a firearm while staring into traffic and looking directly at Broadwater School, prosecutors said.

An officer noticed his behavior was escalating as he has gone from sitting on his porch to following cars while being directly across from Broadwater Elementary School, an affidavit says.

On Aug. 15, the man was asked if he could stop patrolling with his weapon when school was in session, but he would not commit to this compromise, according to the affidavit.

When he spoke to police Aug. 17, the man acknowledged he followed cars while holding his gun and also walked with his mother, carrying his weapon, down the block to her shop, prosecutors said.

(He) further told officers he patrolled daily and usually went around the block once or twice a week, but that lately he had done it several times a day, according to prosecutors.

The day of his arrest, he told MTN News he was exercising (his) constitutional right following an argument with a neighbor.

I have armed for self-defense and in defense of my loved ones and others as well, he told the outlet. Im not here to intimidate or frighten.

However, the sidewalks he patrolled were public property and within 1,000 feet from the elementary school, prosecutors said.

The man is facing up to five years in prison and a $100,000 fine, according to prosecutors.

His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Aug. 2.

Man shoots his 62-year-old grandmother in the chest during fight, Georgia cops say

Driver with flat tire kills officer who stopped to help, feds say. Cold blooded

Dad grabs pistol and joins deputys gunfight with suspect in yard, Florida cops say

Group shoots man in leg in attack on hiking trail after midnight, California cops say
JAKARTA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- At least 11 bodies believed to be refugees have been found in Indonesian waters near the country's Aceh province since Saturday, local media and rescuers said Tuesday.

The finding of the bodies came after a boat carrying over 100 people sank in Aceh waters last week. More than 75 refugees had been rescued, but dozens were reportedly missing.

Ibnu Harris Al Hussain, chief of Banda Aceh search and rescue agency of Aceh province, said that the agency had retrieved six female bodies on Monday after receiving information from local fishermen.

"We retrieved as many as 10 bodies between Saturday and Monday," said Hussain.

Another body was also found in West Aceh regency. All bodies have been buried in local cemeteries.

Meanwhile, all survivors had been sent to the country's immigration department and are currently taking shelters in West Aceh. 
Donald Trump is afraid that the American people will learn the truth about what happened on Jan. 6, 2021, according to a former White House aide.

As someone who was part of his presidential administration, Cassidy Hutchinson told MSNBCs Jen Psaki on Monday, I know when he starts to get nervous.

She added: I know that Donald Trump has to be nervous, if not extremely frightened right now, because what is happening is, he is deploying his most loyal allies on Capitol Hill to try to discredit not only my testimony but the entire Jan. 6 investigation as a whole.

The facts are out there, and he doesnt want the facts out there because he doesnt want the American people to know what actually happened.

Trump is hoping that his false narrative of what happened on Jan. 6 is what the American people will believe amid his 2024 campaign to retake the White House, she added.

Its really imperative that we keep speaking about the truth, because the facts are the facts and Donald Trump has tried to smear those with his deceit and his lies, she said.

Earlier this month, Trump called for members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack to be jailed, and also suggested that Hutchinson should be prosecuted. This came after House Republicans released a report containing testimony from a Secret Service agent that contradicted previous testimony from Hutchinson, who was a star witness for the Jan. 6 committee.

Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who had served as vice chair of the House panel, responded to Trump on X at the time.

Hi Donald: You know these are lies, she wrote. Youre trying to halt your 1/6 trial because your VP, WH counsel, WH aides, campaign & DOJ officials etc will testify against you. Youre afraid of the truth and you should be.

Nearly 1,400 people have been charged in relation to the Capitol breach, including almost 490 charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, according to the Justice Department. The investigation is still ongoing.

Trump has been criminally indicted twice in connection to his attempt to overturn the 2020 election.

He wrote earlier this month that one of his first priorities if elected again will be to Free the January 6 Hostages being wrongfully imprisoned.

See Hutchinsons interview below.

Related...
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW)  The Kansas Bureau of Investigations has canceled a Silver Alert for a missing woman after she was found safe.

In the interest of privacy, KSN has removed the womans identifying information.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV.
OETA, Oklahoma's public television system is enjoying strong support after criticism last year that its content aimed to "indoctrinate children."

Roughly a year ago the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority  the states public television system  was on life support. At that time, Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt was pushing to shut down the statewide network, saying it aired content to "indoctrinate children."

I dont think Oklahomans want to use their tax dollars to indoctrinate kids, Stitt said during the 2023 legislative session. Some of the stuff theyre showing just overly sexualizes our kids. There are parents defending child transition on PBS thats being played. They're elevating LGBTQ voices.

The governors call to defund OETA echoed sentiments expressed by the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, a right-wing think tank, and followed a push in 2017 by then-President Donald Trump to eliminate funding for the nation's public broadcasting system.

More: Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt claims PBS, OETA 'overly sexualizes our kids'

Acting on his complaints about OETA, Stitt vetoed House Bill 2820, a legislative measure to continue the agency's operations through 2026. However, a short time later, the GOP-controlled Legislature overrode the governors veto, appropriated $2.8 million for its operations, and OETA lived to broadcast another day.

Fast-forward to March 2024.

This year, debate and negative rhetoric about OETA is nowhere to be found. Since February, most of the talk has centered on tax cuts, Republican party in-fighting and who the governor can and cannot appoint to cabinet posts.

The concern about OETA, it seems, has subsided.

OETA on track to be fully funded for FY 2025

Documents released by the Oklahoma Senate show the OETA is on track to see a $6,022,954 appropriation and roughly another $3 million more in one-time funding for infrastructure upgrades. The package is part of the $5.705 billion earmarked for educational funding.

OETA looks to be, for all practical purposes, strong again. And while the anti-public broadcasting rhetoric may continue, the decision to increase OETA's funding and keep the system alive wasnt a mistake, state Sen. Adam Pugh said.

Sen. Adam Pugh makes his way to the Senate Education Committee meeting last month at the Oklahoma Capitol.

Pugh, an Edmond Republican who chairs the Senates education committee, said OETA is a big part of the states public safety system, hence the reason for the $3 million in one-time infrastructure funding. In addition, Pugh said the television network's long history of childrens programing and educational programs make it worthy of state support.

More: Public Square: Oklahomans vocal about Gov. Stitt's veto of OETA funding

I grew up with Mr. Rogers, Pugh said in an interview with The Oklahoman last week. I love Mr. Rogers and Im a huge fan of Daniel Tigers Neighborhood. It gives a 2- or 3-year-old child the chance to learn the lessons that Mr. Rogers is teaching  to be kind, to be respectful, to be inquisitive. Thats a great thing.

OETAs mission, Pugh said, was one the Senate wanted to support. He said the increase in the agencys recurring funding was to offset the OETAs increased utility bills.

OETA is among the country's most watched PBS stations

Founded in 1956, records show that OETA is among the nations top public television stations. According to a 2021 report, OETA is one of the country's most watched PBS networks with about 1.3 million monthly viewers. In 2021, the network reported that visits to its website  OETA.tv  jumped by 45%.

A funding breakdown, posted on the station's website, shows that OETA receives about 19% of its revenue from the state, 11% from the federal Corporation for Public Broadcasting, 28% from investments and 34% from individual donors and corporate sponsors. The remaining 8% is listed as "other."

"OETA's swift action has been critical in providing quality learning opportunities for children and adults and keeping Oklahomans informed with crucial information," the report said.

State Rep. Mark McBride, who chairs the House Education Appropriations subcommittee, said he expected the House to also support the agency's funding. "I'm supportive of funding OETA," McBride said last Thursday. "There is a lot in their (the Senate) proposal that we're pretty much on board with."

McBride said he was also supportive of a one-time appropriation for the station. "There is definitely a path forward there," he said.

As for the governor, this year he's remained silent.

On Tuesday, Stitt's spokesperson, Abegail Cave, said she hadn't spoken with the governor about funding for the station. However, in an email to The Oklahoman, Cave wrote that the governor "has been clear that he wants flat budgets." In her email, neither Cave nor Stitt addressed the governor's previous concerns about the station.

Stitt made no mention of the network in his State of the State address, and he hasn't spoken about it since the beginning of the legislative session.

"The Legislature never intended to get rid of OETA," Pugh said. "In rural parts of the state they are part of our public safety network. There's a public safety component, and the other part is their traditional mission."

State lawmakers have until early May to finalize the FY 2025 budget.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OETA on track for funding boost after criticism from governor in 2023
The Israeli embassy in Singapore has been told to delete a controversial Facebook post about Palestine that the local government said was insensitive and inappropriate.

Singapores minister for law and home affairs, K Shanmugam, said the now-deleted post was an astonishing attempt to rewrite history and completely unacceptable.

He said that the Israeli embassy was asked to remove the post due to concerns it could jeopardise Singapores safety, security, and harmony.

I was very upset when I was told about it, he said on Monday. And the Ministry of Home Affairs spoke with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday and said that the embassy has to take the post down immediately, and they have taken it down.

The controversial Facebook post by the embassy alleged that Israel is mentioned 43 times in the Quran. On the other hand, Palestine is not mentioned even once and claimed archaeological findings like maps, documents, and coins prove Jews are Israels indigenous population.

It comes as Israel wages a war against Hamas that has laid waste to the Gaza Strip, killing more than 30,000 Palestinians  many of them women and children  according to the local health ministry. The UN says a quarter of Gazas 2.3 million people face starvation.

Israel launched its ground offensive into Gaza, as well as extensive operations across the occupied West Bank, after the 7 October terror attack by Hamas in southern Israel that killed at least 1,200 people and saw more than 250 taken hostage.

Speaking about the embassys Facebook post, Mr Shanmugam was quoted as saying by The Strait Times: We told them [the Israeli embassy in Singapore] to take it down because of the potential consequences for the different communities within Singapore.

He added: It is wrong to selectively point to religious texts, to make a political point. Even worse, in this current situation, for the Israeli embassy to make use of the Quran for this purpose.

The minister went further and said that the writer of the post should look at UN resolutions, see if Israels actions in the past few decades have been consistent with international law before trying to rewrite history.

He warned that such posts could escalate tensions, potentially endangering Jews if online anger transitions into real-world threats.

The Facebook post was added on 24 March and had been removed from the site by the evening of the same day.

An Israeli embassy spokesperson confirmed that the post has led to disciplinary action against the individual involved. According to a statement published in The Strait Times, the Israel embassy said that it respects religion and racial harmony in Singapore  we have already taken action against the relevant person.

Due to security reasons, we are unable to divulge the name or role of the person. However, 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.

Singapores foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan also issued a statement against the Facebook post. 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.

Singapores minister-in-charge of Muslim affairs, Masagos Zulkifli, posted a statement on his Facebook on 25 March.

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. Such insensitive and inappropriate messages can cause hurt, and sow distrust amongst different communities in Singapore.
PHNOM PENH, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet returned home on Tuesday afternoon after ending a two-day official visit to Laos with fruitful outcome, said a Government Spokesperson Unit's statement.

In Vientiane, Hun Manet and his Laotian counterpart Sonexay Siphandone held a bilateral meeting before witnessing the signing of seven cooperation documents, focusing on border affairs and energy, the statement said.

As Laos is the rotating chair of the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for 2024, the Cambodian prime minister voiced his full support for Laos' chairmanship and decided to grant 1 million U.S. dollars to Laos for organizing the summit, the statement added.

The two prime ministers also discussed ways to boost people-to-people contacts and to enhance cooperation in combating transnational crimes such as human trafficking and drugs, the statement said. 
'Squad' member said claims of Hamas rapes were 'propaganda' days after lawmakers saw videos of 10/7 atrocities

New York Democrat Rep. Jamaal Bowman called reports of Hamas terrorists raping Israeli women "propaganda" just days after lawmakers viewed a nearly 45-minute video of the bloody Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.

A social media post that slipped under the radar shows the 'Squad' member making the remarks during a Nov. 17 rally with dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters in New York.

"There was propaganda used in the beginning of the siege," Bowman said in a TikTok post discovered and reported by Politico. "Theres still no evidence of beheaded babies or raped women. But they still keep using that lie [for] propaganda."

SCHUMER'S ANTI-NETANYAHU SPEECH STRENGTHENS BIBI IN ISRAEL'S WAR TO DEFEAT HAMAS

House Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman in a Nov. 17 video called reports that Hamas raped Israeli women propaganda.

Bowman made the contentious remarks just three days after he and other lawmakers were offered a November 14 viewing of the Hamas raid. The 150 House members who attended the screening were left in a state of "shock and disbelief" after seeing the attack, Jewish Insider reported at the time. The House Foreign Affairs Committee hosted the screening.

Politico further noted that evidence of Hamas raping innocent women grew substantially in the months after the attacks. He also appeared to backtrack on the "propaganda" remarks in a statement provided to the publication.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

SCHUMER'S ANTI-NETANYAHU SPEECH STRENGTHENS BIBI IN ISRAEL'S WAR TO DEFEAT HAMAS

"As I said at this rally, what Hamas did on October 7th is a war crime and they must release all the hostages," he told Politico.

"The UN confirmed that Hamas committed rape and sexual violence, a reprehensible fact that I condemn entirely. I also voted yes on Resolution 966, which officially condemns the rape and sexual violence committed by Hamas. So let me be clear, and ensure my words are not twisted: I always stand against sexual violence in all forms and stand for peace for all."

JAMAAL BOWMAN PLEADS GUILTY IN DC COURT ARRAIGNMENT ON CHARGES FOR PULLING FIRE ALARM

Lawmakers were offered a viewing of the Hamas attack in mid-November.

"Extreme House Democrats remain so blinded by their Antisemitism and their love of Hamas they will not only ignore horrific crimes committed against Israeli women, but will actively seek to discredit their trauma," NRCC National Press Secretary Will Reinert told Fox News Digital in a statement.

Bowman's office did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment on whether he attended the November screening showing Hamas' attack on Israel.





Original article source: 'Squad' member said claims of Hamas rapes were 'propaganda' days after lawmakers saw videos of 10/7 atrocities
Investing in Kids (INK!), an educational nonprofit organization that supports St. Johns County public school students, teachers and schools, including those in St. Augustine, is collaborating with community agencies to identify and address the mental health and behavioral needs of students and residents through two anonymous online surveys.

St. Augustine Youth Services (SAYS), EPIC Behavioral Health Care (EPIC), The St. Johns County Behavioral Health Consortium and the Health Planning Council of Northeast Florida are among the agencies assisting INK! with the surveys, which were created for youths ages 10-17 and adults ages 18 and older.

INK!s executive director, Cathy Newman, described the surveys as ways to collect data that will be used for a Community Needs Assessment scheduled to be released to all residents, community organizations, and health providers in August.

The more community input, the more robust the data and insights will be in the final report, she said.

Other pieces of this puzzle include community focus groups and interviews with community and business leaders, local agencies and service providers.

According to Newman, the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations and the Department of Education funded the surveys under its umbrella initiative entitled "Resiliency Through the Community."

Resiliency Through the Community includes the comprehensive Community Needs Assessment, along with community-based initiatives, school/student-focused initiatives, and teacher/administrator-focused initiatives, she said. INK! connected with SAYS, EPIC, the Health Planning Council of Northeast Florida, and other community agencies to identify and better understand how local agencies can support the mental health needs of both teens and adults.

Schuyler Siefker, SAYS executive director, described community participation as crucial.

As a provider of children's behavioral health services in St. Johns County for over three decades, we recognize that understanding the evolving needs of our youth requires their direct input, he said. Without their insights, we cannot fully address the challenges they face nor tailor our services to effectively meet their needs."

Siefker said that he remains confident that community feedback will directly affect the delivery of services, leading to positive outcomes for all.

Therefore, I urge all youth and their families to participate in this survey. By doing so, not only are you contributing to the improvement of community services, but you are also shaping the future of our St. Johns County community as engaged residents and stakeholders, he said.

It is our hope that the final assessment report will provide insights that will help us and our partners better serve the St. Johns County community, concluded Newman.

Click here to complete the adult (ages 18 and older) survey and here to complete the youth (ages 10-17) survey.

This article originally appeared on St. Augustine Record: Surveys will help identify mental health/behavioral needs in St. Johns County
Environmental advocates accused Stanislaus County leaders Tuesday of a lack of transparency on the garbage-burning plant and not providing reports in Spanish on services for farmworkers.

We need to stop burning waste, said Bianca Lopez, president of the Valley Improvement Projects environmental group.

The future of the waste-burning plant outside Crows Landing came into serious doubt when Covanta Energy informed the county in December that the incinerator was losing money every month and cant continue to operate without a significant tipping-fee increase and delivery of more special waste.

The county and Modesto have a long-term contract with Covanta until 2027 to send tons of household and commercial waste to the plant, which also burns trash from other cities in the county.

Lopez said at Tuesdays Board of Supervisors meeting that she had to file a records request to learn the county and city sent a Feb. 29 response to Covanta, asking for more time to evaluate options. The February letter said the county and city would explore strategies, consult with regulatory agencies and assess the feasibility of different scenarios before negotiating with Covanta.

County officials have not said what waste disposal options are being evaluated. The Stanislaus plant is the only waste-to-energy incinerator in California after state regulations led to the closure of the Covanta plant in Long Beach in February.

Covanta is telling you they are no longer economically viable, Lopez said. They can no longer do business in California.

Valley Improvement Projects has advocated for a zero waste approach for greatly reducing wastes taken to landfills.

County supervisors did not discuss the status of the Covanta plant because it was not on the agenda. The issue hasnt been on the agendas of county committees concerned with waste-to-energy or solid waste. The states Brown Act requires local government to discuss the publics business at public meetings.

The county also was taken to task again for not translating reports on workforce programs into Spanish. Supervisor Channce Condit had asked for a report on Farmworker Resource Center services managed by Central Valley Opportunity Center.

Condit pulled from Tuesdays consent agenda the report on $5.2 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding for navigation and case management services. He praised the efforts for fantastic numbers on job training and legal services for farmworkers.

The report said hundreds of farmworkers had received a total of 1,000 services in the last three months of 2023, including employment assistance, education, financial help, health and human services and emergency support. A single farmworker may receive multiple services, the report said.

Miguel Dinoso, a community activist, said the report was not provided in Spanish in addition to English. Every time you have a report on the (American Rescue Plan Act), I am going to come here and talk about translation requirements, Dinoso said.

Dinoso, who has challenged the county before on the issue, said three complaints have been filed with a federal civil rights agency.
Bonzo the barn owl visited Hargrave House in Stansted Mountfitchet

A therapy owl made a "wonderful" impression during a flying visit to a care home in Essex, one of the animal's owners said.

Bonzo the barn owl swooped into Hargrave House in Stansted Mountfitchet to give the residents a lift.

An animal therapy scheme is being run to mentally stimulate people with certain physical or mental health conditions.

Care home manager Angela Dickson said the benefits were "huge".

"Everyone loved having Bonzo visit and were happy to be given the chance to hold her," she added.

Animal-assisted therapy aims to stimulate the minds of people with certain physical or mental health conditions

Des Jordan, of Bonzo's home at Performing Pets, said animal-assisted therapy helped to reduce feelings of depression and anxiety.

"It's wonderful to see the pleasure she brings to residents," he said.

Follow East of England news on Facebook, Instagram and X. Got a story? Email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp 0800 169 1830
Update:

A group of Florida residents landed at Orlando International Airport within the last two hours from Port-Au-Prince.

Fourteen people were on the state-charted flight.

Officials told Channel 9 that 10 adults and four children were from Miami-Dade County.

Monday nights flight brings the total number of people rescued by the Florida Division of Emergency Management.

There are still hundreds of Floridians stranded in Haiti.

Previous story:

A state-driven mission to rescue hundreds of Floridians stranded in Haiti is entering a new stage.

So far, four planes have landed at two Central Florida-based airports, and the state has rescued a total of 48 Americans.

A fifth plane carrying eleven individuals is expected to land Monday night at the Orlando International Airport.

Executive Director of the Division of Emergency Management, Kevin Guthrie, said his team spent much of Monday trying to navigate a new bureaucratic issue that delayed the 5th plane from taking off.

Read: State-sponsored flights bring missionaries, families back home from Haiti

He believes working with officials representing the splintered government in Haiti is the biggest challenge.

Weve run now four flights. This is the fifth one. But theyre now requiring something different, so were trying to jump through those hoops, said Guthrie.

Guthrie said the Division wants the Dominican Republic to sign off on paperwork allowing his team to fly out of the Dominican instead of Haiti.

He believes it will solve several existing problems and lead to faster rescues.

Children look through a fence at a shelter for families displaced by gang violence, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, March 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A helicopter lands to evacuate personnel at the Dominican embassy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, March 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A military helicopter lands to evacuate personnel at the Dominican embassy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, March 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A vendor pushes crates of chickens past a police truck of people detained for deportation on the border bridge that connects Dajabon, Dominican Republic with Haiti, Monday, March 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Hernandez)

The relative of a person found dead in the street reacts after an overnight shooting in the Petion Ville neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, March 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

The relative, below, of a person found dead in the street reacts after an overnight shooting in the Petion Ville neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, March 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Children play in the courtyard of a shelter for families displaced by gang violence, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, March 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Children line up to receive a plate of food at a shelter for families displaced by gang violence, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, March 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

FILE - A man enters the U.S. embassy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sunday, March 10, 2024. A charter flight carrying dozens of U.S. citizens fleeing spiraling gang violence in Haiti landed Sunday, March 17, 2024, in Miami, U.S. State Department officials said. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph. File)

A father lifts his daughter to the front of a line of people waiting to receive a plate of food, at a shelter for families displaced by gang violence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, March 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A server ladles soup into a container as children line up to receive food at a shelter for families displaced by gang violence, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, March 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A man eats a meal as a child covers his face after receiving containers of free food at a shelter for families displaced by gang violence, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, March 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

People line up to receive food at a shelter for families displaced by gang violence, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, March 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A woman squeezes through a human chain of volunteers as she is given the go ahead to pass through for a plate of free food, at a shelter for families displaced by gang violence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, March 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

National Police stand guard outside the empty National Penitentiary after a small fire inside in downtown Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Haiti, Thursday, March 14, 2024. This is the same facility that armed gangs stormed late March 2 and hundreds of inmates escaped. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Firefighters arrive to put out a small fire at the empty National Penitentiary as National Police patrol in downtown Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Haiti, Thursday, March 14, 2024. This is the same facility that armed gangs stormed late March 2 and hundreds of inmates escaped. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A woman walks past the smoking, empty National Penitentiary after a small fire broke out inside the jail in downtown Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Haiti, Thursday, March 14, 2024. This is the same prison that armed gangs stormed late March 2 and hundreds of inmates escaped. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A resident walks past a National Police officer guarding the empty National Penitentiary after a small fire inside the jail in downtown Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Haiti, Thursday, March 14, 2024. This is the same prison that armed gangs stormed late March 2 and hundreds of inmates escaped. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

National Police patrol the area near the empty National Penitentiary after a small fire inside the jail in downtown Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Haiti, Thursday, March 14, 2024. This is the same prison that armed gangs stormed late March 2 and hundreds of inmates escaped. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A pedestrian crosses a street free of traffic in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, March 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

People walk along a street in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, March 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Soldiers patrol the road near the international airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, March 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

People line up outside a bank that had been closed for several days due to the violence, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, March 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Pedestrians run for cover after hearing gunshots, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, March 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Children play at a shelter for families displaced by gang violence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, March 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Relatives of police officer Luciana Pierre mourn during her memorial in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, March 12, 2024. According to the family, Pierre was killed in an attack by armed gangs the previous week and her body has not been recovered. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A priest swings incense in front of a photo of police officer Luciana Pierre during her memorial in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, March 12, 2024. According to the family, Pierre was killed in an attack by armed gangs the previous week and her body has not been recovered. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Pedestrians and commuters fill a street in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, March 12, 2024. Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced Tuesday that he would resign once a transitional presidential council is created, bowing to international pressure to make way for new leadership in the country overwhelmed by violent gangs. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Jimmy Cherizier, a former elite police officer known as Barbecue who leads the G9 and Family gang, adjusts his weapon as he speaks to journalists in the Delmas 6 neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, March 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

An armed member of the G9 and Family gang rolls a tire to burn at a roadblock in the Delmas 6 neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, March 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Jimmy Cherizier, a former elite police officer known as Barbecue who leads the G9 and Family gang, walks away after speaking to journalists in the Delmas 6 neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, March 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Members of the G9 and Family gang speak to each other while standing guard at their roadblock in the Delmas 6 neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, March 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

An armed member of the G9 and Family gang patrols a roadblock in the Delmas 6 neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, March 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Armed members of the G9 and Family gang stand guard at their roadblock in the Delmas 6 neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, March 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A police officer guards the entrance of the U.S. embassy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sunday, March 10, 2024. The U.S. military said Sunday that it had flown in forces to enhance security at the delegation and allow nonessential personnel to leave. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A street alongside the U.S. embassy compound is devoid of traffic in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sunday, March 10, 2024. The U.S. military said Sunday that it had flown in forces to bolster security at the delegation and facilitate the departure of nonessential personnel. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A man enters the U.S. embassy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sunday, March 10, 2024. The U.S. military said Sunday that it had flown in forces to bolster security at the delegation and facilitate the departure of nonessential personnel. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A police officer walks past a burnt out out police station set on fire by armed gangs, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, March 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

FILE - Youths and members of the gang led by Jimmy Cherizier, alias Barbecue, a former police officer who heads a gang coalition hang out during a march to demand justice for slain Haitian President Jovenel Moise, in the La Saline neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, July 26, 2021. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)

FILE - Jimmy Cherizier, a former elite police officer known as Barbecue who now runs a gang federation, walks hand in hand with children as he visits La Saline district of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Jan. 24, 2023. Internationally, Cherizier is known as Haiti's most powerful and feared gang leader, sanctioned by the United Nations for

A woman lies on the pavement as she mourns a family member shot dead by unknown assailants as he sat on his motorcycle in the Delmas area of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, March 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

An inmate comes to the aide of a prisoner after armed gangs freed thousands from the National Penitentiary, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Saturday, March 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

FILE - Members of MINUSTAH, a U.N. force established in 2004, patrol the Marttisant community in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, July 31, 2007. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)

FILE - Guy Philippe, who led the rebellion against former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is greeted by supporters during a march of thousands in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 7, 2004. In December 2001, then a police official, Philippe attacked the National Palace in an attempted coup which led Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to call on the gangsters to rise from the slums. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan, File)

Members of the General Security Unit of the National Palace, USGPN, set up a security perimeter around one of the three downtown stations after police fought off an attack by gangs the day before, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Saturday, March 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Residents flee their homes during clashes between police and gang member, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Saturday, March 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A child watches from an opening in a security gate as residents flee their homes due to gang violence, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Saturday, March 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Members of the General Security Unit of the National Palace, USGPN, set up a security perimeter around one of the three downtown stations after police fought off an attack by gangs the day before, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Saturday, March 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

FILE - Workers put down a fire set at an office of Haiti's power company during a protest to demand the resignation of the Prime Minister Ariel Henry in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, March 1, 2024. Unrelenting gang attacks in Haiti have paralyzed the country and left it with dwindling supplies of basic goods. Worsening the situation is this week's closure of Port-au-Prince's main seaport. The move left stranded scores of containers filled with critical items like food and medical supplies in a country where U.N. officials say half the population does not have enough to eat and 1.4 million are starving. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph, File)

FILE - Residents flee their homes during clashes between police and gang member at the Portail neighborhood in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. Unrelenting gang attacks in Haiti have paralyzed the country and left it with dwindling supplies of basic goods. Worsening the situation is this week's closure of Port-au-Prince's main seaport. The move left stranded scores of containers filled with critical items like food and medical supplies in a country where U.N. officials say half the population does not have enough to eat and 1.4 million are starving. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph, File)

FILE - Street vendors run during clashes between police and gangs in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, March 6, 2024. Unrelenting gang attacks in Haiti have paralyzed the country and left it with dwindling supplies of basic goods. Worsening the situation is this week's closure of Port-au-Prince's main seaport. The move left stranded scores of containers filled with critical items like food and medical supplies in a country where U.N. officials say half the population does not have enough to eat and 1.4 million are starving. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph, File)

A woman cooks at shelter for families displaced by gang violence, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, March 8, 2024. The violence as anti-government gangs battle police in the streets has crippled Haitis economy and made it extremely difficult for many of the country's most vulnerable to feed themselves.(AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

FILE - Pedestrians run for cover after hearing gunshots in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, March 7, 2024. Unrelenting gang attacks in Haiti have paralyzed the country and left it with dwindling supplies of basic goods. Worsening the situation is this week's closure of Port-au-Prince's main seaport. The move left stranded scores of containers filled with critical items like food and medical supplies in a country where U.N. officials say half the population does not have enough to eat and 1.4 million are starving. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph, FILE)

Residents who were displaced from their homes due to clashes between police and gang members, stand in line as they wait to be examined at a mobile medical clinic at a public school serving as a shelter in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, March 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A man transports a coffin using a wheelbarrow, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, March 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

People who were displaced from their homes due to clashes between police and gang members, take refugee at a public school that serves as a shelter in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, March 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Residents fill their containers with potable water, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, March 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Residents who were displaced from their homes due to clashes between police and gang members, rest at a public school serving as a shelter in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, March 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A woman lies on the pavement as she mourns a family member shot dead by unknown assailants as he sat on his motorcycle in the Delmas area of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, March 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A man hauls a mattress as residents flee their homes due to gang violence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, March 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A woman, carrying a mattress, walks past a charred police station that was set on fire by armed gangs, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, March 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A man pushes a wheelbarrow past burning tires during a protest demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, March 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Pedestrians run past an armored police car in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, March 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Pedestrians run for cover after hearing gunshots in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, March 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A vendor carries empty containers for fuel in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, March 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Residents flee their homes during clashes between police and gang member at the Portail neighborhood in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A bus set on fire by gang members is seen at the Portail neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Workers put down a fire set at an office of Haiti's power company during a protest to demand the resignation of the Prime Minister Ariel Henry in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, March 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A police aims during clashes with gang members in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, March 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A man climbs the fence of an office of Haiti's power company set on fire during a protest to demand the resignation of the Prime Minister Ariel Henry in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, March 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Youths raise their hands to show police they are not carrying weapons during an anti-gang operation at the Portail neighborhood in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A woman crosses a street after clashes between police and gunmen at the Portail neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Pedestrians walk past a court building that was set on fire by gangs moments before in the Delmas 28 neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, March 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Soldiers inspect commuters at the entrance of the international airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, March 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Street vendors run during clashes between police and gangs in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, March 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Pedestrians run during clashes between police and gangs in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, March 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Pedestrians walk past a court building that was set on fire by gangs moments before in the Delmas 28 neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, March 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A man pushes a wheelbarrow past a roadblock set by gangs in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, March 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Masked members of

Barbecue, the leader of the

Barbecue, the leader of the

A youth walks by charred cars outside a police station set on fire by armed gangs in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, March 5, 2024. Prime Minister Ariel Henry has been absent since the country's latest and most serious outbreak of violence started the previous week, and armed groups have seized on the power void. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A police officer walks at a police station set on fire by armed gangs in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, March 5, 2024. Prime Minister Ariel Henry has been absent since the country's latest and most serious outbreak of violence started the previous week, and armed groups have seized on the power void. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Barbecue, the leader of the

Barbecue, the leader of the

Barbecue, the leader of the

Barbecue, the leader of the

Colombian inmates accused of participating in the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise talk to journalists inside the National Penitentiary in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sunday, March 3, 2024. Hundreds of inmates fled Haiti's main prison after armed gangs stormed the facility overnight. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A soldier patrols the outskirts of the international airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, March 4, 2024. Gang members exchanged gunfire with police and soldiers around the airport in the latest of a series of attacks on government sites that includes a mass escape from the country's two biggest prisons. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A pedestrian walks past the international airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, March 4, 2024. Gang members exchanged gunfire with police and soldiers around the airport in the latest of a series of attacks on government sites, which includes a mass escape from the countrys two biggest prisons. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Pedestrians was past a soldier guarding the area of the international airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, March 4, 2024. Gang members exchanged gunfire with police and soldiers around the airport in the latest of a series of attacks on government sites, which includes a mass escape from the country's two biggest prisons. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Soldiers guard the entrance of the international airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, March 4, 2024. Authorities ordered a 72-hour state of emergency starting Sunday night following violence in which armed gang members overran the two biggest prisons and freed thousands of inmates over the weekend. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Soldiers guard the entrance of the international airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, March 4, 2024. Authorities ordered a 72-hour state of emergency starting Sunday night following violence in which armed gang members overran the two biggest prisons and freed thousands of inmates over the weekend. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Residents transport mattresses on a motorcycle in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, March 4, 2024. Authorities ordered a 72-hour state of emergency starting Sunday night following violence in which armed gang members overran the two biggest prisons and freed thousands of inmates over the weekend. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

People stand in a courtyard at the international airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, March 4, 2024. Authorities ordered a 72-hour state of emergency starting Sunday night following violence in which armed gang members overran the two biggest prisons and freed thousands of inmates over the weekend. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Police take cover during an anti-gang operation in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, March 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Pedestrians take cover during clashes between police and gang members in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, March 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Women take cover during a gun battle between police and gang members in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, March 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A demonstrator holds up an Haitian flag during protests demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, March 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A police aims during clashes with gang members in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, March 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Residents flee their homes during clashes between police and gang member at the Portail neighborhood in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. Gunmen shot at the international airport and other targets in a wave of violence that forced businesses, government agencies and schools to close early. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A police officer runs during an anti-gang operation at the Portail neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. Gunmen shot at the international airport and other targets in a wave of violence that forced businesses, government agencies and schools to close early. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Residents flee their homes during clashes between police and gang member at the Portail neighborhood in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. Gunmen shot at the international airport and other targets in a wave of violence that forced businesses, government agencies and schools to close early. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A woman crosses a street after clashes between police and gunmen at the Portail neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. Gunmen shot at the international airport and other targets in a wave of violence that forced businesses, government agencies and schools to close early. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Police take cover during an anti-gang operation at the Portail neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. Gunmen shot at the international airport and other targets in a wave of violence that forced businesses, government agencies and schools to close early. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Youths raise their hands to show police they are not carrying weapons during an anti-gang operation at the Portail neighborhood in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. Gunmen shot at the international airport and other targets in a wave of violence that forced businesses, government agencies and schools to close early. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

According to Guthrie, rescue efforts are entering a complicated next stage since most people staying near the Cap-Haitien airport have already been rescued.

Moving forward, the state will need to airlift people out of the gang-controlled capital of Port-au-Prince.

It represents a new challenge since most of those rescued so far have been able to drive themselves to the Cap-Haitien airport for flights.

Those are all the individuals on the perimeter. From here, were gonna have to get very, very into Port-au-Prince; were not going to be able to do that without helicopter capability, said Guthrie.

Given that reliance on helicopters, he said clearance to use Dominican airspace would be even more critical to the success of rescue missions.

Read: Another flight from Haiti lands at Orlando International Airport, officials say

So far, over 500 Floridians have requested rescue help from the Florida Division of Emergency Management.

Given the U.S. Department of States continued efforts to rescue Americans, Guthrie believes the number of Floridians needing rescue is closer to 300.

The State of Florida and the U.S. Department of State are now cross-checking their rescue lists to better assess who is still stranded.

Meanwhile, some Haitian Americans are desperate to get their family out of the country, too.

Ive been a citizen in America for years and years, and I need help for my family, said Orlando resident Occilia Fleuridor.

Read: Haiti crisis: Central Florida nonprofit steps up, state makes efforts to rescue stranded Floridians

Fleuridor said her brother Hector Guillaume is stuck in his Port-Au-Prince home.

For the last four years, Fleuridor has tried to help her brother get his citizenship, but his immigration application is still pending.

Fleuridor said Guillaume works as a pastor in Haiti, and he has not been able to work for weeks.

Amid mass gang violence, Guillaume is scared to leave his home and unable to buy food.

Guillaume isnt eligible for U.S. Department of State charter or State of Florida flights.

His sister Fleuridor is now pleading for help on his behalf.

Im praying for my brother; Im praying for the whole nation, but I need to do whatever it takes to help my brother come out of that, said Fleuridor.

Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (L) meets with Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zaidong at the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan, in Islamabad, Pakistan, on March 26, 2024. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday vowed to promptly bring to justice the perpetrators and accomplices of the attack on Chinese nationals in the country's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province when visiting the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan, the Prime Minister's office said. (PID/Handout via Xinhua)

ISLAMABAD, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday vowed to promptly bring to justice the perpetrators and accomplices of the attack on Chinese nationals in the country's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province when visiting the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan, the Prime Minister's office said.

Five Chinese nationals and one Pakistani were killed when a vehicle from the Dasu Hydropower Project, being constructed by a Chinese company in the province, was attacked by terrorists on Tuesday afternoon, the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan confirmed in a statement.

In a meeting with Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zaidong during his visit, Sharif offered deep and sincere condolence to the families of the Chinese victims, describing the terrorist attack as "horrific."

Pakistan will make every effort to work with China to properly deal with the aftermath of the incident, conduct the investigation promptly and thoroughly, and bring the perpetrators to justice, the prime minister said, adding that further measures will be taken to comprehensively strengthen the security of Chinese personnel, projects, and institutions in Pakistan.

"We will not let the despicable efforts to harm Pakistan-China friendship succeed," he added.

Jiang said that China strongly condemns this terrorist act, expresses deep condolences to the victims of both countries and is making full efforts to deal with the aftermath of the incident.

"We urge the Pakistani side to speed up the investigation, promptly bring the perpetrators to justice, earnestly and effectively protect the safety of Chinese citizens in Pakistan and ensure that similar incidents will not happen again," said the Chinese ambassador.

The incident happened in the Shangla area of the province, where the attacker rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a convoy escorted by five vehicles of security forces, sources from KP's police told Xinhua.

One of the vehicles of the 13-vehicle convoy caught fire and fell into a ravine, following the attack, the sources added.

The area was cordoned off for investigations and the injured were shifted to hospital.

No group has claimed the attack yet.

The incident has also been condemned by Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari, and Pakistan's foreign ministry and army. They expressed their condolences to the bereaved families, and vowed that the country will never let enemies of Pakistan-China friendship succeed in their mission. 

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (C, Front) shakes hands with Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zaidong at the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan, in Islamabad, Pakistan, on March 26, 2024. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday vowed to promptly bring to justice the perpetrators and accomplices of the attack on Chinese nationals in the country's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province when visiting the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan, the Prime Minister's office said. (PID/Handout via Xinhua)
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP)  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.

The Illinois Prisoner Review Boards handling of the case prompted Gov. J.B. Pritzker to order that procedures for dealing with situations involving domestic violence be revamped.

Pritzker announced that LeAnn Miller, 63, of Junction submitted her resignation. Miller had prepared a report recommending Crosetti Brands 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 Smiths apartment armed with a knife and assaulted her. When her son, Jayden Perkins, intervened, Brand stabbed him to death, police said.

Man charged with murder of 11-year-old; boy defended mother

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 a number associated with Millers home and with the Prisoner Review Board. Pritzker said in a news release that she made the correct decision in stepping down. The Democratic governors 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.

Following board procedure, two other board members, Ken Tupy and Krystal Tison, concurred with Millers 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.

Community raises over $114K for family of 11-year-old boy fatally stabbed on North Side

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 boards order. He answered other reported parole violations by saying he sometimes worked late hours at a Red Lobster restaurant.

The board determined there wasnt enough evidence to verify Smiths claims, although she was not called to testify.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV.
The American talk show host Stephen Colbert has expressed regret after joking about the whereabouts of the Princess of Wales, insisting: I do not make light of somebody elses tragedy.

The 59-year-old, one of Americas most prominent comedians, stopped short of a full apology after propagating scurrilous rumours about the Princess a few weeks before she announced that she was being treated for cancer.

He told viewers on Monday night: I do not make light of somebody elses tragedy. I dont know whether her prognosis is a tragic one  shes the future Queen of England, and I assume shes going to get the best possible medical care.

But regardless of what it is, I know and Im sure far too many of us know, that any cancer diagnosis of any kind is harrowing for the patient and for their family.

And though Im sure they dont need it from me, I and everyone here at The Late Show would like to extend our well wishes and heartfelt hope that her recovery is swift and thorough.

Last week, the Princess, 42, released a personal video message revealing that, following her abdominal surgery in January, post-operative tests had found that cancer had been present. She said she was now in the early stages of preventative chemotherapy treatment.

It followed months of increasing scrutiny of the Princess as internet trolls propagated conspiracy theories online during her absence from public life.

The social media storm around her whereabouts, condition and domestic life had reached a fever pitch following her release of a Mothers Day picture of herself and her three young children, and her subsequent apology for editing it.

Colbert had weighed in on the issue during this time, saying on March 13 that the kingdom has been all a flutter by the seeming disappearance of Kate Middleton and sharing one of the social media theories.

A few US celebrities made jokes amid the surge in online speculation, including Kim Kardashian, who published a series of photos to her 364 million followers on Instagram with the caption: On my way to find Kate.

The actress Blake Lively made a photoshop jibe at the Princess following the picture controversy, but has since deleted the post and apologised, saying: 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.

On Saturday, the Hollywood star Jamie Lee Curtis called for people to stop peddling conspiracy theories about the Princess, saying: Can we please just STOP with this bull---t conspiracy theory? This is a human being with young children, and clearly some sort of 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.

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 Late Show" host Stephen Colbert expressed remorse for making light of the princess of Wales' personal life before he learned that she has cancer. (Associated Press)

Stephen Colbert got serious Monday night on "The Late Show" while reflecting on his recent jokes about Catherine, Princess of Wales, in light of her recent cancer diagnosis.

The CBS host recognized that his pre-disclosure barbs didn't sit well with some viewers, and the 10-time Emmy winner explained that, in retrospect, they also did not adhere to his own comedy standards.

Read more: 'The View' hosts fell down the Kate Middleton 'rabbit hole' too. Now they feel awful

"I don't know if you have noticed but we do a lot of shows. And I tell a lot of jokes and I tell jokes about a lot of different things, mostly about what everybody's talking about. And for the last six weeks, two months, everybody has been talking about the mystery of Kate Middleton's disappearance from public life," Colbert said while seated behind his late-night desk. It was his first show since Catherine's sobering disclosure.

"Two weeks ago, we did some jokes about that mystery and all the attendant froo-frah in the reporting about that. When I made those jokes, that upset some people, even before her diagnosis was revealed, and I can understand that," he said. "I mean, a lot of my jokes have upset people in the past, and I'm sure some of my jokes will upset people in the future. But theres a standard that I try to hold myself to, and that is I do not make light of somebody elses tragedy."

Read more: Don't blame the public for failing Kate Middleton. Blame the palace

The former "Daily Show" star said that he didn't know if the princess' diagnosis "is a tragic one" but assumed that she's "getting the best possible medical care" since she is expected to be queen consort of England in the future.

"But regardless of what it is, I know that any cancer diagnosis of any kind is harrowing for the patient and for their family," he said, adding, "Though I'm sure they don't need it from me, I and everyone here at 'The Late Show' would like to extend our well wishes and heartfelt hope that her recovery is swift and thorough."

The host was among those who ran with unsubstantiated rumors that Prince William  Catherine's husband and the heir apparent to the British throne  allegedly had an affair years ago and that it somehow related to Catherine's retreat from public life. As Kensington Palace contended with the credibility blow stemming from its release of a doctored photo of the princess and her three children, Colbert also trolled Rose Hanbury, Marchioness of Cholmondeley, 40, and the prince of Wales, 41, about those 2019 rumors in a March 12 monologue, which took the dated gossip mainstream.

Hanbury's lawyers reportedly reached out to CBS and other media outlets regarding the allegations and to reiterate that they are "false," Vanity Fair reported. (Representatives for "The Late Show" did not respond to The Times' request for confirmation.)

Read more: Opinion: The Princess of Wales' public honesty is appreciated but it wasn't necessary

But after Catherine revealed Friday that she was diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer that was found after abdominal surgery and is undergoing preventive chemotherapy, droves of royals watchers walked back some of their biting and irreverent commentary about her and the royal family.

On Monday, the panelists of "The View" also shared their regrets about falling down "the rabbit hole" after the palace announced Kate's surgery in January. British journalist Owen Jones and actor Blake Lively also expressed remorse for piling on.

Sign up for Screen Gab, a free newsletter about the TV and movies everyones talking about from the L.A. Times.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Steve Bannon downplayed concerns about former President Trumps legal cases Monday, saying the lawfare being waged against him is actually helping the former presidents campaign.

Bannon, Trumps 2016 campaign executive and a senior adviser, argued that Trumps multitude of court appearances actually help him, because they give the former president significant free media attention.

One of the reasons President Trump is back and leading is because half of his campaign is these court appearances, he said on his War Room podcast Monday. All the world media has to cover him.

Bannon denounced the media, dubbing them vultures, but said the more time Trump gets on the air, the better it is for his campaign.

The lawfare is not working, he said, implying that the criminal and civil cases against Trump are political attacks. Its a major part of Trumps campaign.

Trump was in court in Manhattan on Monday regarding a civil business fraud trial against him and his company. New York prosecutors alleged Trump and his company manipulated business records to inflate the value of his assets. A judge ruled against Trump and levied a $355 million preinterest fine against him, which he has appealed.

This is a pure case of voter intimidation and election interference. And it shouldnt be allowed to happen, Trump told reporters gathered outside the courtroom.

A trial in the New York case alleging Trump illegally concealed hush money payments in 2016 was also set for April 15, a judge announced Monday.

The former president is neck and neck with President Biden in general election polls, with Biden making small gains against Trump in recent weeks. Trump leads Biden by 0.9 percent, according to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ average of polls.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Have you stocked up on plastic eggs and candy yet?

Is your fridge stuffed with a large ham and ingredients for side dishes?

Easter is nearly upon us again but there are still a few days to get what you need to celebrate the holiday. But dont wait too long. Some retailers in South Carolina have opted to stay closed for Easter, which falls on Sunday.

Whether you need that extra can of green beans or want to shop for a few good clothing deals, you may be out of luck if you pick the wrong store to visit on Sunday.

Here is a list of major retailers that will be open or closed on Easter in South Carolina this year.

Publix

Sorry Publix fans, but youll need to find your groceries elsewhere on Sunday.

All Publix stores are closed on Easter to allow our associates to spend time with loved ones, a Publix spokesperson wrote to The State.

Walmart

You can still get groceries or other items at your local Walmart. A company spokesperson told The State that all its stores will have standard operating hours during Easter weekend.

Sams Club

Buying in bulk wont be an option in South Carolina, at least not at a Sams Club. They will be closed Easter Sunday.

Target

All Targets are set to be closed on Easter Sunday as well.

Macys

Forget about ducking out of the Sunday Easter meal early to pick up a few deals at Macys. All Macys stores will be closed on Easter. However, shoppers can still shop online at macys.com or on Macys mobile app, a company spokesperson told The State.

T.J. Maxx

The T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods stores, all of which are owned by the same company, will be closed for Easter Sunday.

We consider ourselves an Associate-friendly company and we are pleased to give Associates the time to enjoy Easter with family and friends, a company spokesperson wrote to The State.
Alerts Issued for Our Region

WIND ADVISORY is in effect from 7 PM Monday to 1 PM Tuesday for Raleigh, Wyoming, Fayette, Nicholas, Tazewell, Mercer, Summers, western Greenbrier and northwestern Pocahontas counties in our region. A southeast wind of 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 50 mph will blow around unsecured objected. Power outages are a possibility with the potential for downed trees and limbs.

Tonight will feature windy conditions with a southeast breeze picking up in intensity. Sustained wind of 15 to 25 mph with strong wind gusts as high as 40 mph are expected tonight with a strong ridge east of us and a strong southern low to the west. This difference in pressure will create the potential for strong wind gusts through the first half of Tuesday. Otherwise, were looking at partly cloudy skies with low temperatures in the mid to upper 30s. With the strong wind gusts in place and low humidity values, please do not burn tonight.

Tuesday brings increasing clouds and showers increasing in coverage from west to east as a warm front, followed eventually by a cold front, pushes through the region. Strong wind gusts are a good bet, with gusts as high as 50 mph possible through the early afternoon, which could cause a few power outages. Its a mild day out ahead of the cold front with a strong southerly breeze pushing temperatures once again up into the mid to upper 50s. Showers will be steadiest during the late afternoon and into the evening hours, so expect wet roads for the evening commute. Showers will continue overnight and into the start of our Wednesday with lows in the 40s. Expect a quarter to a half inch of rain for most from Tuesdays rain  flooding is not expected.

Wednesday keeps showers around for the morning, which will linger into the afternoon for the mountains as our cold front scoots through the region. Very warm air out ahead of that front will enable temperatures to jump up into the 60s for highs  enjoy it because we will cool back down behind the front. With a low pressure system riding up the east coast, clouds will remain thick Wednesday night, especially the farther east you are, with a few sprinkles still possible in our eastern counties. With clouds around, its not an overly cold night, with lows in the mid to upper 30s.

Thursday keeps pesky clouds around, again especially the farther east you are with the aforementioned east coast low pressure system nearby. Clouds will diminish in coverage the farther west you are, so its a bit of a split forecast. Its a colder day for everyone with high temperatures in the low 50s. With mostly clear skies expected overnight, temperatures will fall back into the low 30s and upper 20s.

These are the glasses everyone is buying to prepare for Aprils total solar eclipse

Good Friday will be a beauty of a day with high pressure in control to our west and temperatures warming back up into the mid 50s. It will be a breezy day, adding a little bite to the warmer temperatures.

Saturday brings the risk for a few showers, but at this point, there should be plenty of dry time, as a warm front scoots through. Well see temperatures jump nicely as a result of the southerly breeze behind that warm front, with highs jumping into the 60s.

What should you do if you are bitten by a tick?

Easter Sunday looks to remain mild but the chances for showers will be around with a cold front passing as an area of low pressure looks to scoot through the Ohio River Valley. Although it doesnt look like a washout at this point, the chances for showers will try to put a damper on the bunnys visit. Despite the showers, its a warm day in store with highs in the 60s.

Monday will look to begin on a soggy note with another system pushing through the region. That will keep the chances for showers around with highs in the 60s.

Looking ahead, temperatures will return closer to normal for this time of year Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday as high temperatures drop into the 50s. An unsettled pattern will persist heading through midweek, which will keep the umbrellas handy as an accessory.

Help us with our growing community of weather photos with #weathertogether. Head to our website and search for the Weather together tab and upload your photos of weather going on around our region.

We are in spring forest fire season in West Virginia  this means dont burn between 7 AM and 5 PM through May 31st. Low humidity values during the daytime, along with breezier and warmer conditions will at times increase the fire threat, hence the burn ban during most of the daytime. Follow all regulations or be faced with potential consequences, such as fines! In Virginia, the spring fire season continues through April 30th  dont burn before 4 PM.

TONIGHT

Partly cloudy. Breezy. Lows in the upper 30s. Wind gusts up to 40 mph expected.

TUESDAY

Showers likely, especially during the afternoon. Strong wind gusts during the morning up to 50 mph. Highs in the mid to upper 50s.

WEDNESDAY

A few morning showers, especially east. Warm! Highs in the mid 60s.

THURSDAY

Partly sunny with an isolated sprinkle. Cooler. Highs in the low 50s.

GOOD FRIDAY

Sunny but breezy. Highs in the mid 50s.

SATURDAY

Few showers possible. Highs in the mid 60s.

EASTER SUNDAY

Few rain showers. Still mild. Highs in the low to mid 60s.

MONDAY

Shower chances persist in scattered form. Highs in the mid 60s.

TUESDAY

Showers likely. Highs in the 50s.

WEDNESDAY

More scattered shower. Highs in the 50s.

THURSDAY

Lingering sprinkles. Afternoon clearing. Highs near 50.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WVNS.
A 19-year-old man died Monday at a lineman college campus in Northern California after he fell from a utility pole that failed during a training session, police said.

The mans death occurred at the Northwest Lineman College campus in Oroville, just northeast of Oroville Municipal Airport. The man who died was training to become a lineman and was on the utility pole, which ultimately failed, causing the victim to fall along with the pole, the Oroville Police Department announced Monday afternoon in a news release.

Police said emergency first responders performed life-saving measures, but the student died from his injuries at the scene. The Butte County Coroners Office will release the students name after his family has been notified.

The students death occurred during regular teaching hours at the lineman college. Police officials called for Butte County Sheriffs Office chaplains to offer counseling services to the students, including those who witnessed the incident.

The Police Department did not release any further details about the mans death or its investigation, which it said was ongoing.

The Northwest Lineman campus is home to an electrical line program, where students learn how to safely construct, maintain and operate the power grid while working with heavy equipment, power lines and bucket trucks, according to the colleges website.

Northwest Lineman College has four total campuses in California, Idaho, Texas and Florida.
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  Students at an elementary school in Central El Paso were evacuated Tuesday afternoon, March 26 after a carbon monoxide leak was suspected on campus.

Students at Clendenin Elementary School, 2701 Harrison Ave., were evacuated to Navarrete Middle School to allow personnel from El Paso Fire and Texas Gas Service to assist El Paso ISD facilities workers in investigating, according to EPISD.

The campus has since been declared safe, El Paso ISD said in a statement. The district called the evacuation precautionary.

According to the district, Clendenin ES has about 500 students.

Here is the rest of the statement.

El Paso ISD extends gratitude to local first responders, law enforcement officers and utility officials for their swift action in ensuring the safety of our students and staff during the precautionary evacuation. The district also commends parents for their patience and understanding in picking up their children at Navarrete Middle School, where students were taken after leaving Clendenin.

Normal operations are expected to resume Wednesday, March 27.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD)  Teachers in West Michigan are preparing to help their students enjoy the eclipse while also keeping them safe.

Bauer Elementary School in Hudsonville, like many other elementary schools in the area, will be in session when the eclipse takes place.

Fourth grade teachers Jessica Kopka, Natalie Klapko and Lindsay Morris are already discussing the upcoming phenomenon with their students.

(One) morning they came in and there were articles on their desks about the upcoming solar eclipse, said Morris.

Ask Ellen: What was viewing the Great American Solar Eclipse of 2017 like?

Some students have had a difficult time grasping the rarity of the situation.

We wont see another one like this in Michigan until 2099, said Morris. So this morning, theyre all like, Im going to be 85 or 84. Theyre really excited.

Their teachers have taken the opportunity to tie it in with other topics theyve been covering.

In science, our curriculum in fourth grade focuses on learning about the eye, explained Kopka. So how we take in light and how we bring that in, and then how we also see that and how its flipped around.

Students have experimented with making pinhole cameras to capture the effect, which has been a useful lead-in to eclipse-related lessons.

Pinhole viewers made at Bauer Elementary in Hudsonville.

How to build a solar eclipse viewer

The idea of nearly complete darkness in the middle of a school day is exciting for teachers who work hard to keep their students engaged.

This is like a once in a lifetime experience as a teacher, said Morris.

Thats a sentiment other teachers have expressed as well.

Im a science major, so like, Im a little nerded out about it, said Klapko. So its really cool that we can bring this into the classroom  I cant see any better opportunity for the students to learn science than to just walk outside and get to experience it firsthand.

Preparation for safely viewing the eclipse is underway and has been made easier by a generous parent.

April total solar eclipse: What will we see in West Michigan?

Were really lucky because we had a parent who is buying glasses for all the students, said Kopka. So once we get those glasses in, theyll get to safely go out and watch.

Its a near-perfect learning opportunity that these teachers are excited to capitalize on.

Its just awesome that we can integrate it with what were already learning and just make it super excited because thats what science is all about, said Klapko.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
LONDON, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Wikileaks founder Julian Assange faces a further wait to find out whether he can bring an appeal against his extradition to the United States, the British High Court ruled on Tuesday.

According to the ruling, a decision on the appeal has been adjourned to May 20 as the court is seeking assurances from the United States, including that Assange could rely on the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and that he would not be sentenced to death if convicted.

"If those assurances are not given, then leave to appeal will be given and there will then be an appeal hearing," a summary of the judgment said.

Speaking outside the High Court in London, Assange's wife Stella Assange said she is "astounded" by the court's decision to delay her husband's appeal.

"What the courts have done has been to invite a political intervention from the United States," she said. "I find this astounding." 
The Supreme Court appeared unwilling on Tuesday to uphold a lower court ruling that would limit access to mifepristone, the nations most commonly used abortion drug. Even some of the courts conservative members seemed skeptical that the anti-abortion plaintiffs had legal standing to challenge the Food and Drug Administrations regulations of the drug.

This case seems like a prime example of turning what could be a small lawsuit into a nationwide legislative assembly on an FDA rule or any other federal government action, Justice Neil Gorsuch told attorney Erin Hawley, who argued for a group of anti-abortion medical professionals that sought to limit access to mifepristone. Chief Justice John Roberts also indicated in his questions that the lower courts rulings against the drug may have been too broad.

If the courts decision reflects the course of oral arguments, it will be a legal defeat for the anti-abortion movement, but hardly a decisive one: With Roe now overturned, anti-abortion activists have sought to limit access to abortion in a variety of ways. The question now is whether the justices, in their decision, will indicate other means, like the Comstock Act or a different theory of standing, that anti-abortion activists could use to pursue their goals.

The case at hand, FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, is an oddity. American courts typically obey a command handed down by Article 3 of the Constitution: They only hear cases and controversies. American judges do not write advisory opinions, nor do they decide legal questions brought by two parties with nothing to gain or lose from them. A plaintiff must have standinga legitimate reason to participate in a lawsuitto get through the front door.

Tuesdays case stretched the concept of standing to its limits. The plaintiffs are a coalition of anti-abortion medical professionals. In their 2022 lawsuit, they sought to overturn the FDAs approval of mifepristone in 2000 by arguing that the agency erred in how it authorized it for public use. The Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, or AHM, also argued, as a secondary matter, that the FDAs subsequent rule changes were similarly flawed.

Before any court can even reach the merits of that argument, however, they have to address AHMs ability to challenge it. Plaintiffs typically bring lawsuits when they suffer some sort of legal injurypersonal, monetary, or so onthat the court can remedy. But the AHM members do not prescribe mifepristone. Some of them even refuse to do so based on conscience objections, which are protected by federal law.

Instead, the plaintiffs in this case argued that patients who take mifepristone might suffer adverse events, those patients might end up at the AHM members emergency rooms, and that treating them will pose all sorts of burdens to the members and their medical practices. Ruling against [the doctors] on standing here would allow federal agencies to conscript non-regulated parties into violating their consciences and suffering other harm without judicial recourse, Hawley said in her opening remarks for the justices.

This argument is a bit tenuous: Courts can hear cases involving hypothetical injuries, but they are usually ones that are imminent or near-certain. The AHM members purported legal injury was so hypothetical, and so rooted in random chance, that it might as well have been purely speculative.

The average federal judge might have nixed this lawsuit from the start for those reasons. But AHM ensured the case wouldnt be heard by the average federal judge. They instead took advantage of federal court rules in Texas to all but guarantee that the case would be heard by Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, who was appointed to the bench by President Donald Trump in 2019. Before becoming a judge, Kacsmaryk worked as deputy general counsel for First Liberty Institute, a conservative Christian legal organization where he had litigated against contraception-access laws.

In his ruling in April 2023, Kacsmaryk gave the plaintiffs practically everything they wanted. He overturned the FDAs original approval of the drug in 2000 and ruled that subsequent rule changes were also unlawful. Kacsmaryks preliminary injunction, which he stayed pending appeal, would have had the practical effect of banning access to mifepristone throughout the United States.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which itself is a staunchly conservative court, pared back some of Kacsmaryks ruling on review last year. The three-judge panel held that the original 2000 approval of mifepristone could not be overturned because of the statute of limitations and allowed the 2019 approval of a generic form of the drug to stand. The panel also upheld the post-2016 rule changes that had made it easier to obtain.

Abortion rights supporters already won a partial victory in this case when the Supreme Court agreed to hear it last December. The justices agreed to review part of the ruling that dealt with the post-2016 rules. But they declined to review the Fifth Circuits decision that left the 2000 approval intact. That meant, legally speaking, that any ruling the justices deliver in this case could only turn back the clock on mifepristone to 2016 at most, when the first of the recent rule changes went into effect.

Even prevailing on those grounds would still be a significant victory for anti-abortion activists, however. Mifepristone is the most widely used abortion drug in the nation, and medically induced abortions account for between 30 and 40 percent of abortions in the country. The new rules, promulgated in 2016 and 2021, allow the drug to be administered slightly later in pregnancy and eliminate a requirement for three in-person doctor visits before it can be prescribed.

Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote the courts ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade two years ago, seemed eager to find a way to challenge the FDAs rule changes. At times he seemed to be brainstorming about what a better plaintiff, with better standing, might look like. Is there anybody who could challenge in court the lawfulness of what the FDA did here? he asked Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, who represented the federal government. In this particular case, I think the answer is no, she replied. Well, that wasnt my question, he continued. Is there anybody who can do that?

What about state governments, Alito asked? No, Prelogar replied. Theyre asserting indirect injuries that would, if it provided a basis for standing, mean that states could always sue the federal government, she explained. What if an emergency-room doctor receives a patient who is experiencing complications from taking mifepristone, that doctor is opposed to abortion and is the only doctor on staff at that moment, and the doctors only option is to abort a viable fetus, Alito asked?

Prelogar noted that doctors have federal conscience protections and that Alitos scenario was extremely unlikely. We think that that situation has never come to pass, she explained. [The plaintiffs] havent identified any incident in more than 20 years that mifepristone has been available on the market that resembles that kind of hypothetical situation. And so, yes, our view would be its unduly speculative.

What about a patient who experienced adverse consequences from taking mifepristone, Alito asked? Could they sue the FDA for damages? Prelogar said that the suit would probably be barred by sovereign immunity, a doctrine that generally means the government cant be sued without its permission.

Eventually Alito got to his real point: fishing for a viable plaintiff who could challenge mifepristone. Is there anybody who can sue and get a judicial ruling on whether what FDA did was lawful? he finally asked. And maybe what they did was perfectly lawful, but shouldnt somebody be able to challenge that in court? Who, in your view? Who would have standing to bring that suit? Prelogar noted that the court has often held that just because someone doesnt have standing to challenge something doesnt mean Article 3 should be ignored.

OK. I understand that, Alito replied, before tipping his hand. And Article 3 is important. So your argument is that it doesnt matter if FDA flagrantly violated the law, it didnt do what it should have done, endangered the health of women, its just too bad nobody can sue in court? Theres no remedy? The American people have no remedy for that?

It fell to Prelogar to note that the FDA monitors unsafe drugs all the time, rebutting Alitos implicit claim that the agency would simply allow an unsafe drug to stay on the market. (While Prelogar did not mention it, Congress could theoretically step in and ban a drug itself if the FDA somehow allowed one to stay on the market despite safety issues.) None of the other justices appeared to embrace Alitos suggestion that the justices could step in anyway.

Instead, some of the courts conservative members asked questions that suggested the plaintiffs might have other remedies if they suffered actual injuries. Justice Amy Coney Barrett extracted assurances from Prelogar that federal conscience protections could be invoked by anti-abortion doctors in hypotheticals like Alitos. The federal government has never taken the position that EMTALA would override an individual doctors conscience objections, Prelogar confirmed, referring to the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, which regulates hospital emergency rooms.

Just to confirm on the standing issue, under federal law, no doctors can be forced against their conscience to perform or assist in an abortion, correct? Justice Brett Kavanaugh asked, hammering the point home. Yes, Prelogar replied. We think that federal conscience protections provide broad coverage here.

Those questions, combined with Gorsuchs apparent dissatisfaction with the cases broad scope, appeared to doom it. But some of the justices appeared interested in finding future avenues of attack. Alito asked Prelogar at one point if the FDA should have at least considered the application of 18 U.S.C. 1461, an archaic provision in federal law that comes from the Comstock Act of 1873. That law bans the distribution of contraceptives, lewd writings, and anything that could be used to carry out an abortion through the mail.

Federal courts whittled down the laws scope throughout the twentieth century on multiple grounds, and by the 1930s, the federal government effectively stopped enforcing it. As my colleague Melissa Gira Grant has reported, however, conservative legal groups have sought to revive the Comstock Act as a potential avenue for imposing a nationwide abortion ban. Alito appeared sympathetic to those aims at oral arguments on Tuesday.

This is a prominent provision, he claimed while questioning Prelogar. Its not some obscure subsection of a complicated obscure law. [The FDA] knew about it. Everybody in this field knew about it. Justice Clarence Thomas also suggested that it might not be defunct. How do you respond to an argument that mailing your product and advertising it would violate the Comstock Act? he asked Jessica Ellsworth, a lawyer representing mifepristone distributor Danco Laboratories.

The other justices did not press the Comstock Act question, however, and instead seemed more interested in the cases viability on standing grounds. That likely indicates that the court is on track to dismiss the case when it hands down a ruling later this term. That two justices appear willing to consider the moribund 1873 law as a viable means to restrict abortion in 2024 will likely keep abortion rights activists from claiming total victory.

Even if the courts conservatives recognize this cases procedural flaws, they might use the opportunity to suggest a different way forward to restrict abortion access nationwide. For now, the ball remains firmly in the anti-abortion movements court.


ANKARA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Two members of the Islamic State (IS) group, which has claimed responsibility for carrying out a deadly attack in a Moscow concert hall on Friday, had briefly entered and exited Turkiye to extend their residence permit, local media reported on Tuesday.

Anonymous Turkish security sources informed Hurriyet Daily News that the Tajik assailants had been living in Moscow for a long time and needed to leave the country to extend their residency in Russia.

The Tajiks traveled to Turkiye due to its geographical proximity and the limited options available following the embargoes resulting from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Hurriyet Daily News reported.

Saidakrami Rachabalizoda and Shamsidin Fariduni spent a couple of weeks in Istanbul before carrying out the attack in Moscow, which killed at least 139 people, according to the sources.

Fariduni reportedly arrived in Turkiye from Russia by air on Feb. 20 and stayed at a hotel in Istanbul's Fatih district. He then departed from Istanbul Airport to Russia on March 2.

Rachabalizoda arrived in Istanbul on Jan. 5 and stayed at a hotel in the Fatih district for a while before flying back to Moscow on the same flight as Fariduni.

The two attackers checked into different hotels in the city, said the Daily, adding that Fariduni shared pictures from Istanbul on his social media account.

In his testimony to Russian authorities, Fariduni reportedly confessed that he had traveled to Turkiye because his visa had expired.

Both individuals were able to travel between Turkiye and Russia using their passports since there was no arrest warrant against them, according to the sources.

Security sources indicated that the two assailants were radicalized in Russia, as their brief time spent in Turkiye was deemed insufficient for radicalization within the country, according to the report.

On Friday night, gunmen opened fire indiscriminately at concertgoers at Crocus City Hall in suburban Moscow. A large blaze later led to the collapse of the building's roof.

The IS group claimed responsibility for the attack on Saturday, saying that the attack was "carried out by four IS fighters armed with machine guns, a pistol, knives, and firebombs."

Turkiye condemned the attack and expressed condolences to the Russian people and government.

The Turkish government designated the IS as a terrorist organization in 2013 and blamed it for a spate of deadly attacks in the country since 2015.

Turkiye has stepped up operations against IS terrorists after the group attacked an Istanbul church in late January, killing a civilian during Sunday mass. 
WASHINGTON  Supreme Court justices on Tuesday sounded skeptical that anti-abortion doctors have the ability to challenge the Food and Drug Administrations rules for a common abortion drug, raising the possibility that the court could dismiss a case that threatened to sharply limit access to mifepristone.

Justices on both sides of the court's ideological divide pressed lawyers for anti-abortion doctors for evidence that physicians had been forced to violate their conscience by treating a patient suffering from mifepristone side effects, and they questioned the nationwide sweep of lower court orders restricting use of the drug.

Justice Neil Gorsuch said the case seems like a prime example of turning what could be a small lawsuit into a nationwide legislative assembly on an FDA rule or any other federal government action.

Two years after overturning Roe v. Wade, the justices were asked to consider whether to rollback FDA decisions loosening restrictions on how mifepristone can be prescribed and dispensed. The drug was used in nearly two-thirds of U.S. abortions last year.

More: What does the mifepristone case mean for Plan B? The difference between the two explained.

Elise Ketch of northern Virginia participated in a protest outside The Supreme Court on March 26, 2024, as the court heard oral arguments over access to mifepristone, a drug used in medication abortions. Mifepristone accounts for over half of all abortions performed in the United States.

The doctors challenging the drug said the FDA didnt follow its own protocols and ignored contrary data when, in 2016 and 2020, it loosened the rules on who can prescribe mifepristone and how it can be dispensed. They said the FDA's changes created a substantial risk they would be forced treat women suffering emergency complications from the drug, which would violate their personal ethics.

Much of the nearly two hours of oral arguments focused on that issue, rather than on whether the FDA properly relaxed restrictions after the drug had been available for more than two decades.

The court's decision, expected by the end of June, will land smack in the middle of an election year.

Follow along for live updates.

'Callous disregard versus an 'extensive body of evidence'

Lawyer Erin Hawley of the Alliance Defending Freedom and wife of U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO), far left, walks towards the media outside the U.S. Supreme Court as justices hear oral arguments in a bid by President Joe Biden's administration to preserve broad access to the abortion pill, outside the court in Washington on March 26, 2024

Speaking to reporters from the steps of the Supreme Court, Erin Hawley, representing the anti-abortion doctors behind the case, addressed what she called the FDAs callous disregard by approving the postal delivery of mifepristone to patients.

Women deserve better, Hawley said, adding that regardless of ones position, we should all agree womens health matters.

Jessica Ellsworth, a lawyer for Danco Laboratories, makers of mifepristone, argued that because the doctors had not been harmed by the abortion drug, and that they had failed to prove they have standing to sue.

The fact is they dont, Ellsworth said.

Ellsworth added that the FDA had approved mifepristone decades ago with extensive body of evidence and well within its authority and in accordance with the law.

--Savannah Kuchar

More: How the Supreme Court case on the abortion drug mifepristone could affect 2024 election

Justices question sweep of lower court judgements

Jessica Ellsworth, the attorney who represents Danco Laboratories, manufacturer of mifepristone, appears outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on March 26, 2024

Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch  all appointees of former President Donald Trump  probed whether the doctors objections to medication abortions could be solved by anti-abortion doctors asserting a conscience objection to certain treatments, rather than a sweeping judgment affecting nationwide access.

We say over and over again: Provide a remedy sufficient to address the plaintiffs asserted injuries and go no further, Gorsuch said. We have before us a handful of doctors who have asserted a conscience objection.

Erin M. Hawley, the attorney for the anti-abortion doctors, said the existing conscience objection is not good enough because doctors may not have time in an emergency situation to raise one.

But justices repeatedly asked for evidence that any doctor had ever been in those circumstances.

Protestors rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on March 26, 2024 as the court hears oral arguments over access to mifepristone, a drug used in medication abortions.

Can you point me to any place in the declarations where a declarant states that they attempted to object, but were unable to? asked Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Hawley replied that she couldn't provide evidence because doctors don't always know the events that preceded an emergency before they reach the emergency room.

Chief Justice John Roberts asked why the case couldnt be limited to the people involved in one region, rather than blocking the FDA from allowing the drug everywhere.

I think it might be impracticable, Hawley said, because the FDA regulation would remain in place and permit things like mail-order abortions.

More: Welcome to Bristol, where Americas abortion debate is right on your doorstep

Naija Bob, Makya Clark, and Tiara Holland participate in a protest outside The Supreme Court on March 26, 2024, as the court hears oral arguments over access to mifepristone, a drug used in medication abortions. Mifepristone accounts for over half of all abortions performed in the United States.

'Profound mismatch': Biden administration lawyer decries sweeping abortion ruling

Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar closed her argument by denouncing what she called a profound mismatch between the remote harm the FDA opponents say they have suffered or could suffer, and the sweeping ruling from a lower court to restrict access to mifepristone.

What is so telling, Prelogar told the justices, is that FDA opponents cant point to a single specific doctor who has ever had to violate their conscience by providing care to a woman suffering a serious health issue as a result of taking mifepristone under the FDAs regulations.

Protesters rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court on March 26, 2024, as justices hear oral arguments over access to mifepristone, a drug used in medication abortions.

Its worth stepping back and thinking about the profound mismatch between the opponents theory of the injury that gives them the ability to sue  and the remedy they got from the lower court, Prelogar said.

What the lower court did to guard against the very remote risk to the FDAs opponents is issue a sweeping, nationwide ruling that restricts access to mifepristone for every single woman in this country," Prelogar said.

--Aysha Bagchi

More: VP Kamala Harris broke politics at an abortion clinic visit. She even said the 'u' word

The Supreme Court has considered mifepristone before

This isnt the first time mifepristone has become before the Supreme Court.

In April 2023, the court in an emergency ruling allowed full access to the drug while the underlying lawsuit continues. That happened over the objections of Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, who would have allowed the rollback sought by anti-abortion groups to take effect.

In January 2021, the court sided 6-3 with the outgoing Trump administration in requiring women visit in person a doctors office, hospital or clinic to receive mifepristone.

Lawyer Erin Hawley of the Alliance Defending Freedom and wife of U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO), far left, walks towards the media with a team of lawyers and doctors outside the U.S. Supreme Court as justices hear oral arguments in a bid by President Joe Biden's administration to preserve broad access to the abortion pill, outside the court in Washington, U.S., March 26, 2024

That requirement had been challenged by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and other groups. Because of the risk of going to medical facilities during the pandemic, the administration had suspended similar requirements for other drugs, but not for mifepristone.

Months after President Joe Biden took office, the FDA said it would not enforce the in-person requirement.

--Maureen Groppe

More SCOTUS: 'Cancel culture': Supreme Court rejects case on dust-up between Catholic student and Native American

Studies used to attack mifepristone have been retracted

Two of the three studies a Texas federal judge cited in ruling last year that the FDA ignored the safety risks of mifepristone have been retracted by the medical journal that published them.

The publisher said a post-publication peer review found problems with the study design, methodology and data analysis.

The studies lead author called the retraction a baseless attack.

--Maureen Groppe

More SCOTUS: Supreme Court lets stand a ban against Cowboys for Trump co-founder using 14th Amendment

Rabbi says abortion access is a Jewish value

Amelia Wolf, a 32-year-old rabbi from Arlington, Virginia, traveled to the Supreme Court on Tuesday morning to advocate for the protection of what she sees as an important Jewish value.

Our religious tradition mandates that, in many cases, abortion is very important for the life, health, and well-being of a pregnant person, she said. I am concerned that there's only one religious voice that gets the most hearing on this subject, and I want to offer another one.

Wolf, who moved to the area recently, was alerted to demonstrations planned at the nations highest court by a call from the National Council for Jewish Women.

Wolf said she fears the effects of a ruling that further restricts abortion access. I know that many people of different genders need abortions, but I think this is being used as a tool to control women's bodies, and that really frightens me, she said.

If it's overwhelmingly a women's issue, then I think they should listen to the overwhelming majority of women in this country.

--Cybele Mayes-Osterman

More SCOTUS: Supreme Court says Trump White House official Peter Navarro must begin prison sentence

Doctors opposed to mifepristone contend risks of ER visits rises with online prescriptions

Justices Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett asked how the Food and Drug Administrations change in 2021, when the agency warned that without in-person visits to get a prescription for mifepristone, medical care such as emergency room visits or surgery are likely to increase.

Erin Hawley, representing doctors opposed to mifepristone, said in-person visits are the best way to examine a woman for an ectopic pregnancy or to gauge the gestational age of the fetus. She said the FDAs current policy allows prescribing mifepristone online with a couple of screening questions.

I dont think thats nearly as good as an in-person exam, Hawley said.

But Barrett cited the governments lawyer, Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, saying the initial doctors visit doesnt require an ultrasound or a test to detect a fetal heartbeat, so it wouldnt necessarily reveal an ectopic pregnancy or fetal heartbeat.

Hawley cited FDA statistics showing the risk of ER visits nearly tripled from 2.1% with an in-person visit to 5.8% without.

These are the same surgical interventions that harm doctors who brought the lawsuit, Hawley said.

--Bart Jansen

Drug industry warns of dire consequences

Danco Laboratories, the maker of mifepristone, joined the federal government in fighting the challenge to the drug, with the pharmaceutical industry standing behind it.

PhRMA., the major trade group for drug companies, told the court the case threatens to jeopardize the settled regulatory framework that facilitates the development of life-saving medicines.

If the lower courts ruling is upheld, PhRMA told the court, every drug approval could face a substantial risk of litigation, making the process more expensive  reducing drug makers incentive to produce new medicines.

The group called the FDAs science-based evaluations the bedrock of the nations drug approval process.

If the Supreme Court agrees with the challengers that the FDAs process was flawed, it would be an exceptional break from the deference federal courts traditionally give the FDA, according to Steven Schwinn, a professor at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law, who previewed the case for the American Bar Association.

--Maureen Groppe

Thomas questions one basis for suing FDA

Justice Clarence Thomas questioned one argument brought by the mifepristone opponents for how they are injured and therefore have standing to sue. The argument is that an organization that is suing can be injured because it had to divert resources as a result of the FDAs actions.

Isnt that just the cost of pursuing litigation? Thomas asked Erin Hawley, who represents the doctors and groups challenging the FDAs decisions.

Thomas suggested that allowing a plaintiff to sue in such circumstances could widen the door to more lawsuits than the courts currently allow.

That would be anyone who is aggressive or vigilant about bringing lawsuits, just simply by using resources to advocate their position in court  you say now  causes an injury. That seems easily, easy to manufacture, Thomas said.

I don't think that's true in this case, Justice Thomas, Hawley responded.

Hawley said FDA opponents did significant work that wasnt related to litigation and wasnt a prelude to litigation, including combing through data and thinking about the true nature of adverse events as a result of the FDAs decisions.

--Aysha Bagchi

Justices question district courts making decisions for entire country

Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Neil Gorsuch raised concerns, as they have in other cases, about district courts issuing judgments that cover the entire country, as happened in the mifepristone case, rather than just their own geographic jurisdictions.

Roberts asked why the case couldnt be limited to the people involved in one region, rather than blocking the FDA from allowing the drug everywhere.

I think it might be impracticable, Hawley said, because the FDA regulation would remain in place and permit things like mail-order abortions.

Gorsuch said there zero nationwide injunctions during the 12 years of Franklin Delano Roosevelts administration compared to 60 in about the last four years.

Theyre a relatively new thing, Gorsuch said. Youre asking us to extend and pursue this relatively new remedial course, which this court has never adopted itself. Lower courts have kind of run with this.

Hawley argued that nationwide remedies are often needed to so that everyone is treated the same. She argued it wouldnt be equitable to have some people denied the medication while the FDA allowed it for others.

Thats inconsistent with equity, Hawley said.

--Bart Jansen

Are conscience protections enough?

Erin M. Hawley, the attorney for the anti-abortion doctors challenging mifepristone, was pressed on why the doctors cant avoid the drug by raising a conscience objection.

Justice Ketanjj Brown Jackson said that exemption already exists, but the doctors are now trying to prevent others from gaining access to medication abortion. Why isnt that an overly broad remedy, she asked.

Hawley said doctors cant always raise a conscience objection because they may not know until they scrub in for an emergency whether the situation is a miscarriage, an ectopic pregnancy or an elective abortion.

These are life-threatening situations, she said.

Justice Elena Kagan asserted that most hospitals have mechanisms to ensure that doctors can assert conscience protections.

--Maureen Groppe

Alito questions companys profit motive in trying to avoid restrictions on mifepristone

Because Justice Samuel Alito asked whether Danco Laboratories, the company that manufactures mifepristone, aimed to make more money if the courts restriction on the FDA were lifted. He also asked whether the FDA has ever pulled a drug because of adverse results on patients.

You will be harmed because youre going to sell more, Alito said. Do you think the FDA is infallible?

Jessica Ellsworth, a lawyer for Danco, said drugs have certainly been withdrawn after approval, which is why manufacturers keep tracking reactions to their products. She said the FDA stopped asking the company to report non-fatal consequence to the drug in 2016, based on 15 years of a well-established safety profile.

You dont want to sell a product that causes very serious harm to the people who take your product, Alito said. Wouldnt you want that data?

Ellsworth said the company tracks safety data, with an 800-number on its website and on the drugs labeling. Ellsworth said Danco is still subject to lawsuits over allegations such as failing to warn about risks of the drug or deceptive advertising.

Ellsworth argued that the arguments in this case were revolutionary because people who dont use the product or prescribe it are trying to prevent anyone else from using it in line with FDAs considered scientific judgment.

--Bart Jansen

How do I watch Supreme Court oral arguments?

Don't expect to see any Supreme Court justices on camera today. You can't watch the proceedings in the Supreme Court, but you can listen to live arguments here.

 Marina Pitofsky

Who is Jessica Ellsworth?

Jessica Ellsworth is an attorney for Danco Laboratories, the maker of mifepristone. She's joining Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar is representing the FDA as the court looks into the medication widely referred to as the abortion pill.

 Marina Pitofsky and Maureen Groppe

What is the solicitor general?

The solicitor general is the main lawyer who represents the federal government before the Supreme Court. The solicitor general is sometimes called the "10th justice" on the court, and they lead a team of attorneys who can argue before the court on behalf of the nation's government.

They may also choose whether to appeal lower court rulings if the government is involved in a lawsuit.

 Marina Pitofsky

Who is Elizabeth Prelogar?

Elizabeth Prelogar is the Solicitor General of the United States. She's answering questions and making arguments today before the Supreme Court in the pivotal case surrounding the FDA's handling of the abortion pill.

But what does the solicitor general do? It's a wide-reaching role, but in general, the Department of Justice explains that they determine "the cases in which Supreme Court review will be sought by the government and the positions the government will take before the Court."

 Marina Pitofsky

Conservative justices bring up Comstock Act

Two of the courts most conservative justices  Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas  raised the issue of whether a 19th-century obscenity law prevents mifepristone from being dispensed through the mail.

Both Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar and Jessica Ellsworth, the attorney representing the manufacturer, said the FDA wasnt required to consider that law.

Ellsworth said the court should think hard about the mischief it would invite if it allows agencies to take action based on statutory authority that Congress assigned to other agencies.

Ellsworth also noted that Comstock Act hasnt been enforced for nearly 100 years. This case, she said, isnt an opportunity for the court to opine on it.

Some abortion opponents are promoting the Comstock Act as a de facto federal abortion ban that just needs enforcing.

Erin M. Hawley, the attorney for the anti-abortion doctors challenging mifepristone, said the FDA cant ignore federal law.

--Maureen Groppe

What the people want: Abortion rights protestor, father among crowd

Ronald Quirk, 65, came to the Supreme Court Tuesday from nearby Arlington, Virginia with a sign reading Supreme Tyranny. The father of a 24-year-old daughter, Quirk said he was protesting because he feels the justices have made women second class citizens by overturning Roe v. Wade and considering todays case.No U.S. citizen should have rights taken away and thats what, they did it last year with Dobbs and now theyre trying to do it again. And wheres it going to stop? Quirk said.Quirk noted that voters in deep red states, including Ohio, have passed state constitutional amendments to enshrine abortion access.This is what the people want, he said.

 Savannah Kuchar

Getting rid of in-person dispensing requirement

Justice Amy Coney Barrett asked government lawyer Elizabeth Prelogar about the FDAs decision to get rid of a requirement for patients to have an in-person meeting in order to be given mifepristone. The FDA got rid of that requirement in 2021, in part based on experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Barrett said it seemed to her, in looking at the data, that the elimination of the in-person visit at the outset would lead to mistakes in gestational aging, which could increase the risks of the medication, including when it comes to the amount of bleeding.

Prelogar said she believed Barrett was operating on a mistaken premise that getting rid of the in-person requirement would necessarily increase the risk of such events. An ultrasound was never required, Prelogar said, and while there has been an increase in emergency room visits, that didnt correlate with an actual increase in serious adverse events.

--Aysha Bagchi

Case marks first time federal courts blocked access to FDA-approved drug: DOJ

Justice Elena Kagan called the governments argument an arresting statement that the case marked the first time federal courts have blocked the use of a drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

To the governments knowledge, this case marks the first time  and Im going to say, Is it the first time, is it the only 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, Kagan read from the governments written argument. Is it still the only time?

Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar said it was still true. She argued the courts have no business second-guessing FDA experts about which drugs are safe.

That is still to our knowledge the only time a court has done that, Prelogar said. We have seen a disturbing trend of courts sometimes also overriding FDAs judgment to grant greater access to drugs.

--Bart Jansen

Reasons for increase in ER visits probed

Questioned about an increase in emergency room visits after mifepristone was allowed to be dispensed through the mail, Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar said that increase wasnt because of a troublesome uptick in complications. Many women might go to the ER because they have questions about heavy bleeding, for example, but didnt need treatment.

In one study, she said, half of the women who went didnt get any treatment.

Justice Sonya Sotomayor tried to drive that message home. Whatever the statistical increase in ER visits, she asked, the FDA determined the data didnt show a significant increase in risk?

Prelogar said thats correct.

--Maureen Groppe

What is the Comstock Act?

The first judge to hear this case said a 19th-century obscenity law called the Comstock Act prevents the mailing of abortion drugs.

The long-dormant law prohibits mailing "lewd or lascivious" material, as well as anything that could be used to cause an abortion.

While the appeals court did not rely on that law in ruling that the FDA went too far, anti-abortion advocates have raised it in their filings to the Supreme Court.

Any decision by the court that revives the Comstock Act could pave the way toward a national abortion ban.

--Maureen Groppe

How did the abortion pill case wind up at the Supreme Court?

Last April, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Texas effectively invalidated the FDA's 23-year-old approval for the drug.

After the Biden administration and the manufacturer appealed that decision, the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel waved off part of the lawsuit that challenged the FDA's underlying approval of the drug, ruling that it was likely barred by the statute of limitations.

But the three-judge panel affirmed Kacsmaryk's ruling that the FDA was wrong for approving changes in 2016 and 2021 that let women take the drug three weeks longer into a pregnancy and allowed the drugs to be dispensed through the mail without in-person visits with a doctor.

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," the court wrote. It failed to gather evidence that affirmatively showed that mifepristone could be used safely without being prescribed and dispensed in person."

The case marks the first time a court has restricted access to an FDA-approved drug by second-guessing the agencys expert judgement, according to the Biden administration.

--Maureen Groppe

Rebecca Gomperts, medical doctor and director of aid access from the Netherlands protests outside The Supreme Court on March 26, 2024, as the court hears oral arguments over access to mifepristone, a drug used in medication abortions. Mifepristone accounts for over half of all abortions performed in the United States.

Dividing line: Welcome to Bristol, where Americas abortion debate is right on your doorstep

What is mifepristone? How does mifepristone work in the body?

Mifepristone is one of two drugs used for medication abortion in the United States. The other is misoprostol, which is also used to treat other medical conditions. The pills are taken about two days apart.

Mifepristone blocks a hormone needed for pregnancies to progress. Misoprostol causes the cervix to dilate and the uterus to contract, emptying the embryo.

Originally considered safe for use through seven weeks of a pregnancy, the FDA said in 2016 mifepristone could be used through ten weeks. Thats one of the decisions anti-abortion groups have asked the Supreme Court to rollback.

--Maureen Groppe

More: SCOTUS to hear arguments about mifepristone. The impact could go far beyond abortion, experts say

Who can sue FDA over mifepristone?

The first question out of the gate cut to the heart of the governments argument against the case: Justice Clarence Thomas asked who is eligible to sue to block the Food and Drug Administration from allowing the use of mifepristone?

Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar argued that two doctors in the case dont have standing because they dont prescribe the drug and wouldnt have to treat the rare women who have an emergency reaction to the drug. She said the doctors rely on a long chain of remote possibilities.

The court should say so and put an end to this case, Prelogar said.

But Thomas asked if the justices agreed with her, who could sue?

If we agree with you on standing, could you give us an example of who would have standing to challenge these FDA regulations? Thomas asked.

Prelogar said its possible a competing drug manufacturer could complain. But she argued the court should block doctors from second-guessing the FDA, so she couldnt imagine anyone should be allowed to sue just for their opposition to abortion.

The answer to that is no, but the reason is because those people arent regulated in any relevant way under FDAs decisions here, Prelogar said.

Chief Justice John Roberts asked how many potential adverse reactions to the drug it would take for her to change her mind or how many doctors who did work in emergency rooms treating the patients.

Its hard for me to imagine it could, Prelogar said.

--Bart Jansen

The American people have no remedy: Alito questions DOJ position

Justice Samuel Alito questioned U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar about whether anyone would have standing to sue to get a judicial ruling on whether what the FDA did was lawful. The Constitution requires that every plaintiff who brings a lawsuit has standing, meaning they have to demonstrate a certain type of injury they have experienced or could experience.

Prelogar said its hard to identify anyone" who would have the proper type of injury to sue over the FDAs actions in the case on mifepristone, but the Supreme Court has said time and again that the Constitution requires standing even if that means no one can sue.

Alito pushed back on her claim, asking Prelogar to imagine if the FDA flagrantly violated the law and endangered the health of women. The American people have no remedy for that, he said, characterizing her position.

Prelogar said the FDA takes its responsibility to ensure safety very seriously and can make adjustments to its regulations based on its ongoing surveillance.

--Aysha Bagchi

Not the only abortion case before the court

Todays challenge to mifepristone is not the only abortion case the Supreme Court is deciding this term.

In April, the Supreme Court will review whether federal law requires doctors in emergency rooms to perform abortions when needed to treat an emergency medical condition, even if doing so might violate a states abortion restrictions.

In January, the court allowed Idaho to enforce its strict abortion ban in emergency rooms for now, rebuffing a Biden administration effort to ensure additional access to the procedure in red-state hospitals.

--Maureen Groppe

Dig deeper: What is mifepristone? Judge suspends FDA approval of abortion pill

An all-female lineup of lawyers before the court

All three of the lawyers arguing the medication abortion case before the court today are female.

Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar is representing the FDA.

Shes joined in the defense by Jessica Ellsworth, an attorney for Danco Laboratories, the maker of mifepristone.

Erin Hawley, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, is representing the anti-abortion doctors and groups challenging the FDAs decisions.

Hawley is married to Sen. Josh, Hawley, R-Mo., both of whom clerked for Chief Justice John Roberts.

--Maureen Groppe

Womens March protestors arrested in front of Court

Capitol police arrested almost a dozen members of the Womens March protest, including the groups executive director Rachel OLeary Carmona, for civil disobedience Tuesday,

The protestors stood on Constitution Ave and First St NE, a block from the Supreme Court, demonstrating in support of abortion rights ahead of the justices hearing oral arguments. Savannah Kuchar

Conflict escalates between demonstrators outside Supreme Court

Conflict erupted between demonstrators chanting conflicting messages outside the court on Tuesday morning.Shame on you for what you do, one protester, holding a sign reading, Anti-racist, anti-capitalist, anti-fascist, anti-abortion pills shouted at a pro-choice demonstrator holding white plastic coat hangers stained with red paint.This girl says Im an incubator, said one woman with Fully Human written across her stomach, pointing at the woman holding the coat hangers.A group of demonstrators shouting abortion is healthcare joined the group, attempting to drown out the opposing crowd.

-- Cybele Mayes-Osterman

Protestor says John Roberts as killing the Constitution; another sign says Brett Kavanaugh is 'sexiest man alive'

The group of anti-abortion doctors who are challenging mifepristone made their case to protestors before arguments began.

When the FDA decided to roll back recklessly every single safety protocol for women before they got the abortion drug, they didnt speak to the women who would become the living victims of abortion, said Chelsey Youman, National Director of Public Policy for a group called the Human Coalitions.

Catherine Glenn Foster, former president and CEO of Americans United for Life, said she had felt alone when she visited an abortion clinic years ago, after she learned she was pregnant as a 19-year-old sophomore at a Christian university.

As I get ready to go into the courtroom, I have one clear message for you. We are not alone, she said.

A line of demonstrators wearing white doctors coats holding signs reading, Women deserve safe medical care and, FDA: Put Women First stood close to the stage, cheering for the speakers.As the speeches continued, a line of pro-choice demonstrators filed in front of the group, blocking it off from the street. They held mock magazine covers with pictures of the Supreme Court justices - one depicting Chief Justice John Roberts read, John Roberts: The Man Who Presided Over the Death of the Constitution, while another read, Brett Kavanaugh: Sexist Man Alive.

-- Cybele Mayes-Osterman

Protestors gather outside The Supreme Court on March 26, 2024, as the court hears oral arguments over access to mifepristone, a drug used in medication abortions. Mifepristone accounts for over half of all abortions performed in the United States.

Biden campaign blames Trump for abortion pill challenge before Supreme Court

Ahead of the Supreme Courts oral arguments, President Joe Bidens reelection campaign blamed former President Donald Trump for a case that could strip access to abortion pills across the country  and warned he doesnt want to stop there.

It would be the biggest step towards Donald Trump's ultimate goal of a nationwide abortion ban since Roe was overturned, Biden campaign manager Julie Rodriguez Chavez told reporters.

The campaign has worked aggressively to remind Americans that Trumps three Supreme Court appointments led to the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022. More than 20 states have taken action to restrict abortions since the decision.

Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, has signaled support for a 15-week national abortion ban.

-- Joey Garrison

Texas activist joins D.C. abortion rights protest

Lindsay London came to Washington from Amarillo, Texas, to join the Womens March in front of the Supreme Court. She said being a part of the movement of hundreds of protestors from around the country is very invigorating.

Im in awe of how many people are willing to put their bodies on the line to stand up for this, she said.

London, a nurse, is one of six Amarillo Reproductive Freedom Alliance leaders and has been leading abortion advocacy efforts for months in the town where the case originated.

She said shes unsure about the Courts eventual ruling.

A lot of the decisions that have come down, you know, have been very disappointing, London said. Its very difficult to say what will happen.

 Savannah Kuchar

Abortion rights activist rally in front of the US Supreme Court on March 26, 2024, in Washington, DC.

Crowds gather overnight outside the Supreme Court

As the sun set in Washington Monday evening, several hours before the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the mifepristone case, around 50 protestors and counter-protestors assembled out front.

While one anti-abortion group held a vigil and an attendee prayed into a microphone, abortion advocates chanted back "abortion is healthcare" into their own megaphones. Nearby, others held signs referencing the Comstock Act, the nineteenth century obscenity law at the center of many abortion opponents' arguments.

And around the corner, a line of near twenty people formed, with those camping out for a spot in the courtroom audience Tuesday.

-- Savannah Kuchar

Abortion rights activist rally in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on March 26, 2024, in Washington, DC.

'We are the pro-life generation and we will abolish abortion'

Abortion advocates and opponents faced off in front of the Supreme Court early Tuesday morning.

Mark Lee Dickson, a Texas pastor and leader of a local anti-abortion ordinance movement, stood trying to block photos of Aid Access members, an organization supporting the access of mifepristone by mail.Nearby, calls by one protestor that Abortion is healthcare, abortion is essential, went against chants by Students for Life members saying, We are the pro-life generation, and we will abolish abortion. Savannah Kuchar

Anti-abortion activists rally in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on March 26, 2024.

How common are medication abortions?

More than 6 in 10 abortions in the United States last year were completed with pills, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights.

Thats up from just over 5 in 10 abortions in 2020.

The FDAs 2021 decision that mifepristone could be mailed directly to patients  one of the actions being challenged by abortion opponents  expanded access to medication abortion.

Access was further expanded in 2023 when the FDA set up a process for more pharmacies to dispense mifepristone.

Two of the nations largest retail pharmacies, CVS and Walgreens, announced this month they will carry the drug.

--Maureen Groppe

'Abolished from coast to coast' Anti-abortion movement looks to cities as target for bans

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Supreme Court live oral arguments over mifepristone abortion pill
(Bloomberg) -- The US Supreme Court signaled its likely to preserve full access to a widely used abortion pill as the justices heard arguments in a case carrying major stakes for reproductive rights and potentially this years elections.

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Taking up the divisive issue for the first time since overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade decision in 2022, key justices on Tuesday voiced wariness about a legal attack on mifepristone, a drug now used in more than half the nations abortions.

The suit by anti-abortion doctors would roll back Food and Drug Administration steps that broadened mifepristones availability, including a 2021 decision approving dispensation by mail. The Supreme Court has never before restricted access to an approved drug by overriding the FDAs conclusions about safety.

Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch questioned whether a suit by a handful of individuals who have asserted a conscience objection was grounds for a federal court to topple the FDA changes nationwide.

This case seems like a prime example of turning what could be a small lawsuit into a nationwide legislative assembly on an FDA rule or any other federal government action, he said.

The justices are reviewing a federal appeals court ruling that would void steps taken by the FDA since 2016, including its 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.

Gorsuch joined justices from across the ideological spectrum in expressing doubt that the doctors and organizations had standing to try to overturn the FDA changes. Lawyers for the doctors say they have the legal right to sue because they inevitably will have to treat women who are harmed by mifepristone and need emergency care.

What theyre asking for here is that in order to prevent them from possibly ever having to do these kinds of procedures, everyone else should be prevented from getting access to this medication, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson told the lawyer representing the abortion opponents. Why isnt that plainly overbroad scope of the remedy the end of this case?

The case pits the Biden administration against Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian legal group that helped drive the effort to overturn Roe.

US Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, the administrations top courtroom lawyer, said the doctors cant sue because they failed to show they were injured by the FDAs actions. She said federal law lets doctors choose not to take part in procedures that would violate their consciences.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh indicated that was a key point for him. Just to confirm on the standing issue, under federal law, no doctors can be forced against their consciences to perform or assist in an abortion, correct? he asked Prelogar in what proved to be his only question of the session. Prelogar said she agreed with Kavanaugh.

Justice Samuel Alito was more skeptical. Shouldnt somebody be able to challenge that in court? he asked Prelogar. Alito also questioned whether the FDA fully considered and explained the risks of the changes it made to the rules for mifepristone.

The Alliance Defending Freedom lawyer, Erin Hawley, said the FDA acknowledged that emergency room visits would increase once the in-person dispensation requirement was lifted. She said doctors were being forced to choose between helping a woman with a life-threatening condition and violating their conscience.

The drugs manufacturer, Danco Laboratories LLC, is defending mifepristone alongside the Biden administration. Dancos lawyer, Jessica Ellsworth, told the justices the challengers were making a highly attenuated claim that an unknown doctor could be called someday to an unknown emergency room after a series of decisions by third parties.

Dobbs Fallout

The case is one of two abortion clashes the court will hear in the next month, along with an Idaho case testing whether states can enforce near-total bans even when an emergency room doctor believes ending a pregnancy would preserve the mothers health. The court is scheduled to rule in both cases by the end of June.

The courts 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson ruling 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.

The mifepristone lawsuit originally sought to have the drug pulled from the market. The opponents filed the case in Texas before US District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Donald Trump appointee who has written critically about Roe v. Wade.

Kacsmaryk then invalidated the FDAs 2000 approval of mifepristone. The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals scaled back Kacsmaryks ruling but left intact the part striking down the post-2016 changes.

The Supreme Court last year ordered mifepristone kept fully available while the justices considered the case. Alito and Justice Clarence Thomas dissented, saying they would have let the restrictions go into effect.

The cases are Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, 23-235, and Danco v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, 23-236.

--With assistance from Madlin Mekelburg and Fiona Rutherford.

(Updates with comments from Kavanaugh, Alito starting in 11th paragraph.)

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DENVER (KDVR)  A man was stabbed to death outside of a Greeley laundromat following a disturbance, according to police.

On Sunday at around 9 p.m., Greeley Police Department officers were called to a laundromat located in the 1800 block of Greeley Mall. The officers were told that a disturbance had broken out between two men and that one of them had reportedly been stabbed.

When officers arrived at the business, they found a 36-year-old man suffering from multiple severe stab wounds. Officers said they performed lifesaving measures before the man was taken to a hospital by medics.

However, Greeley police said the man was pronounced dead.

Partygoers flee shooting that left 1 dead, another injured at Aurora venue

While police were investigating the scene, officers said the suspect called 911 to report what had happened. Officers said they spoke with the suspect, 40-year-old Michael Vergara, on the phone for several minutes before locating him inside a parked car in the 2200 block of 23rd Avenue.

Vergara was taken into custody without incident and booked into the Weld County Jail on charges of first-degree murder.

The victims identity will be released at a later time by the Weld County Coroners Office.

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Anyone who may have information about this crime is asked to contact Detective Finch at 970-350-9682.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
Chilling new surveillance video shows the movements of the two suspects accused of defrauding, and killing beloved 74-year-old Mercer Island man, Curtis Engeland.

The suspects, Philip Brewer, 32, and Christina Hardy, 47, have both been charged with first degree murder, kidnapping, identity theft, and theft.

They were caught on surveillance video driving around in Engelands car  a 2003 Toyota Camry - and spending his money.

Engeland, a retired English teacher, was reported missing on February 24.

According to court documents, Engeland met Brewer on the dating website, Scruff, in January.

Detectives say Engeland invited Brewer to his Mercer Island home on January 13, where he told police Brewer stole his cell phone and his credit cards.

A month later on February 24, detectives say Brewer and 47-year-old Christina Joel Hardy came back to Engelands home in the middle of the night and violently confronted him -- injecting Engeland with what they thought was a fatal dose of fentanyl.

Investigators say Hardy and Brewer also sent fake messages and emails from Engelands phone to his family and friends that morning, saying hed be away and unreachable for weeks.

Documents say family and friends were suspicious, because the text messages didnt match Engelands usual manner of speaking, with full sentences and proper grammar.

The surveillance video also tracks the two suspects movement to Cosmopolis at about 2:20 a.m. on February 24. While at a gas station, the suspects pay close attention to the trunk, appearing to examine it. At one point, Brewer is seen pushing down on the trunk to make sure it was closed.

Detectives say Brewer and Hardy had Engeland in the trunk of his own car.

Documents say later, the suspects realized Engeland was not dead.

(They) put him in the trunk of a car and drove him somewhere to dump the body. When they got the dump site, Engeland was still alive, so Hardy held him down while Brewer stabbed him in the neck with a knife. They then dumped the body on the side of a logging road, documents said.

Investigators say the suspects then drove back to Mercer Island and the area, making extravagant purchases.

Surveillance video shows both suspects at Auto Quest dealership in Renton on Sunset Blvd at about 2:30 p.m. February 24. Documents say the suspects used Engelands credit card to purchase a 2017 Chevy Impala for nearly $26,000.

Video also shows them later that afternoon at the Mercer Island McDonalds, taking their time while ordering food at 4:30pm.

At 5:12pm, the suspects returned to Engelands home, and people close with Engeland called police again.

Mercer Island police did not arrest the suspects at the time, but eventually investigators tracked down Brewer and Hardy to California - where they were on the run.

Both are still being held on $5 million bail.
LJUBLJANA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Foreign ministers of five Central European countries met in Slovenia on Tuesday and welcomed the United Nations (UN) Security Council's resolution on Gaza adopted on Monday.

"We hope that due to this resolution the supply of help to civilians will strengthen and that it will lead to lasting peace in Gaza," Slovenian Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon told a joint news conference, after having the meeting with her Austrian, Czech, Hungarian and Slovakian counterparts.

The UN resolution demands an immediate cease-fire in Gaza for the holy month of Ramadan.

Slovenia, which is a non-permanent member of the Security Council, was among the countries that prepared the resolution, which won 14 votes in favor among the 15 members of the council.

Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said that the resolution is "a sign of life of the United Nations," but added that "concrete steps can only be achieved on the ground."

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that all civilians must be protected as much as possible. 
A Kansas man is suing Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., over social media posts that falsely identified him as an undocumented immigrant and one of the shooters in the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade that turned deadly last month.

The lawsuit, filed by attorneys for Denton Loudermill Jr. in federal court in Kansas City, Kansas, alleges that Loudermill sustained damages in excess of $75,000 as a result of a "false representation" of him appearing on the Tennessee Republican's personal X account.

At no time was Plaintiff an alien, an illegal alien, nor a shooter and the assertions to the contrary were false and were circulated widely among Defendants followers," the lawsuit states.

Burchett in February posted an image of Loudermill on X, identifying him as one of the Kansas City Chiefs victory parade shooters and an illegal Alien.

According to the lawsuit, that post was live on Feb. 15 and reposted more than 21,000 times and had 7.2 million views by the morning of Feb. 18. Burchett then removed the post, indicating in a new one that he had misidentified Loudermill as an undocumented immigrant, while still suggesting that Loudermill was one of the shooters.

Citing Loudermill's mental distress and death threats he has received following the posts, the lawsuit seeks a trial by jury and damages for spreading falsehoods under a Kansas privacy law.

A spokesperson for Burchett declined to comment.

An attorney for Loudermill declined to comment when asked whether they were seeking a specific dollar amount in damages.

Federal courts require cases seeking damages between people in different states, such as this one, to exceed $75,000. Loudermill is a resident of Olathe, Kansas, according to the lawsuit.

According to the lawsuit, Loudermill had attended the Chiefs' victory parade in Kansas City on Feb. 14 and was photographed by bystanders in handcuffs after he got caught in the fray as police began closing off the area after gunshots were fired. Although he was released and not cited or charged with a crime, the lawsuit states, his image began circulating on social media, eventually landing on Burchett's page.

Two men identified by prosecutors as Dominic M. Miller of Kansas City and Lyndell Mays of Raytown were charged last month with second-degree murder, armed criminal action, and unlawful use of a weapon in the shooting last month that killed one woman and injured more than 20 others. A third person, Terry J. Young, was charged in connection with the shooting on Friday. No pleas have been entered yet.

Three juveniles as of Thursday afternoon faced charges in family court, according to prosecutors.

Burchett is among the Republicans who have targeted immigration ahead of this year's election, with former President Donald Trump making claims of a migrant-driven crime wave in the United States that is not backed by evidence.

Burchett represents Tennessees 2nd Congressional District, which includes Knoxville. He took office in January 2019 after an eight-year stint as Knox County mayor and working as a state legislator. He is seeking re-election this year after winning in 2022 with 67.9% of the vote.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton appears at a pretrial hearing in his securities fraud case before state District Judge Andrea Beall, Tuesday, March 26, 2024 at Harris County Criminal Courts at Law in Houston. Prosecutors announced an agreement with Paxton that would ultimately dismiss securities fraud charges he has been facing for nearly a decade. (Yi-Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle via AP)

HOUSTON (AP)  Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday agreed to pay nearly $300,000 in restitution under a deal to end criminal securities fraud charges that have shadowed the Republican for nearly a decade.

The announcement by special prosecutors in a Houston courtroom came less than three weeks before Paxton was set to stand trial on felony charges that could have led to a prison sentence. It was the closest Paxton  who was indicted in 2015  has ever come to trial over accusations that he duped investors in a tech startup near Dallas.

Under the 18-month agreement, the special prosecutors would drop three felony counts against Paxton as long as he pays full restitution to his victims, and completes 100 hours of community service and 15 hours of legal ethics education. A former special prosecutor said the chance of a conviction was going to be 50-50.

Paxton said little during the hearing, and he avoided reporters by leaving the court through a back door.

But in a statement released later Tuesday, Paxton  one of the nations most prominent state attorney generals, who just six months earlier was acquitted of corruption charges in an impeachment trial in the Texas Senate  remained defiant.

There will never be a conviction in this case nor am I guilty, said Paxton, while thanking his family and supporters for sticking by my side. The agreement lets Paxton remain in his elected position and doesnt affect his law license.

Dan Cogdell, a Paxtons attorney, said prosecutors would never have been able to prove their case at trial, but he conceded that it was cheaper for Paxton to accept the agreement.

Number one, the economics are actually in his favor for not going to trial. And number two, its a guaranteed dismissal at the end of the day, Cogdell told reporters.

Houston attorney Brian Wice, who was one of the special prosecutors, described the deal as a victory that requires Paxton to repay investors, including Byron Cook, a former GOP lawmaker who served with Paxton in the Texas Legislature, and the estate of Joel Hochberg, a South Florida businessman who died last year.

Wice, who previously indicated that he would consider a pre-trial deal a slap on the wrist, said he and fellow prosecutor Jed Silverman reevaluated their chance of success based on evidence and witnesses.

Our primary duty is to do justice, not to convict. So, the question isnt whether or not who won, but was justice served? And I think the answer to that is unmistakably yes, Wice said.

Kent Schaffer, who worked as a special prosecutor on the case until February and had tried to broker a similar settlement, said insufficient resources and antagonistic witnesses could have hindered the prosecutors' case.

"I didnt think we had a bad case, but its 50-50. It could go either way," said Schaffer, a Houston-based criminal defense attorney.

The Cook and Hochberg families said in a statement they are grateful that they will receive restitution in full.

Wice acknowledged the long arc of the case that shuffled between four different judges over the years, ping-ponged between courtrooms in Dallas and Houston, and was slowed by the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in 2017.

The resolution of the securities fraud case furthers a dramatic reversal of political fortune for Paxton, who just a year ago appeared imperiled by the criminal case and the threat of being removed from office after his top aides reported him to the FBI.

But Paxton has emerged emboldened. He waged war against dozens of GOP lawmakers who were part of the 2023 effort to impeach him, with his biggest target being state House Speaker Dade Phelan, who was forced into a May 28 runoff. He has also not ruled out a primary challenge to Republican Sen. John Cornyn in 2026.

Paxton still faces legal troubles, however. A federal investigation has been probing some of the same charges presented in his impeachment and former aides who reported Paxton to the FBI are trying to make him testify in a whistleblower civil lawsuit.

The securities fraud case has hung over Paxton nearly his entire time in statewide office. Yet the 61-year-old has shown political resilience time and again, winning over conservative activists, and importantly within the GOP, former President Donald Trump.

Paxton had been accused of defrauding investors in a Dallas-area tech company called Servergy by not disclosing that he was being paid by the company to recruit them. He was charged with two counts of securities fraud and one count of not being registered as an investment adviser.

James Spindler, a professor of business and law at the University of Texas at Austin, said it was surprising that Paxton even faced a felony prosecution. He described one of the charges  failing to register as an investment adviser  as a technical violation and said most similar cases are settled as civil lawsuits.

Legal experts have said over the years that the longer the case drags on, the harder it would be for both sides.

Paxton was also charged in a federal civil complaint filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over his work with Servergy. But a federal judge in March 2017 dismissed the complaint against Paxton. The person who recruited Paxton to work with Servergy, ex-company CEO William Mapp, was found liable by a jury for misleading investors and ordered to pay a civil penalty of $22,500. Mapp lost his job with Servergy and later had to work as an Uber driver to make ends meet, according to court documents.

The fraud allegations were among the original 20 articles of impeachment but were set aside during the impeachment trial in the Texas Senate last year.

Paxtons political opponents, most notably Republicans, had used the fraud charges against him in elections. But Paxton has twice been reelected as attorney general since his indictment, most recently in 2022.

___

This story corrects the spelling of the name of one of Paxton's attorneys. He is Dan Cogdell, not Don.

___

Associated Press writers Jim Vertuno and Acacia Coronado in Austin, Texas contributed to this report.

___

Follow Juan A. Lozano: https://twitter.com/juanlozano70
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, agreed to pay nearly $300,000 in restitution on Tuesday under a deal cut with federal prosecutors to terminate fraud charges that have been leveraged against him for nine years. Paxton had pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors announced the decision in a Houston courtroom just weeks before Paxton was set to face trial, where he could have faced 99 years in prison if found guilty.

Paxton's attorney, Dan Cogdell, told Fox News Digital following the announcement that "the state finally realized that they could not prove the charges and simply made us an offer that I could not in good faith advise my client to turn down."

"Anytime a prosecutor offers clear path to have all the charges against a client of mine dismissed, I am going to recommend they take that path. Only a fool would do otherwise," he said.

EXTRAMARITAL AFFAIR DETAILS SURFACE IN HISTORIC IMPEACHMENT TRIAL OF TEXAS AG KEN PAXTON

Cogdell said in a press conference Tuesday that Paxton is "happy to comply with the agreement" and avoid a federal trial.

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"We're glad to have this behind us. Eighteen months from now, or perhaps shorter, the case will be dismissed. There will never be a conviction, and Ken Paxton, at least today, can begin to go back and do what he should have been doing all along and that is representing the state of Texas."

"This was a case we knew in fact from the beginning they couldn't prove  on year nine, we still know they couldn't prove," Cogdell said. "You don't go to trial to prove your innocence, the Constitution says the exact opposite of that."

TEXAS AG PAXTON ACQUITTED ON ALL IMPEACHMENT CHARGES: 'THE TRUTH PREVAILED'

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

In July 2015, before he became the state's top law enforcement officer, Paxton was indicted on charges of allegedly misleading and defrauding wealthy tech startup investors and failing to disclose that the startup was paying him to promote its assets.

A Texas grand jury indicted Paxton on two counts of first-degree securities fraud and a charge of not registering. Paxton was also fined in 2014 for not disclosing to Texas securities regulators that he was getting commissions for soliciting investors.

TRUMP WEIGHS IN ON TEXAS AG KEN PAXTON IMPEACHMENT TRIAL, ARGUES ESTABLISHMENT RINOS WANT TO UNDO ELECTION

The exterior of the Texas State Capitol is seen on Sept. 5, 2023 in Austin, Texas.

The deal that gets Paxton off the hook, which requires him to pay full restitution to victims and complete 100 community service hours and 15 hours of legal education classes, is the second legal victory for the AG in recent months.

In September 2023, Paxton was acquitted of all impeachment articles filed against him for corruption and unfitness for office. He had faced accusations that he misused his political power to help real estate developer Nate Paul  allegations that stemmed from a lawsuit filed by four former employees who reported him to the FBI.

Fox News' Chris Pandolfo and The Associated Press contributed to this report.





Original article source: Texas AG Ken Paxton cuts deal to pay $300K and avoid felony trial on fraud charges: 'Happy to comply'
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) will have to pay just under $300,000 in a deal that keeps him out of federal court.

The deal  which also requires the attorney general to perform 100 hours of community service and take continuing legal education classes  allows Paxton to avoid a trial for securities fraud, for which he could have faced life in prison.

The pretrial agreement  which the Paxton camp said federal prosecutors instigated  left longtime observers scratching their heads.

Top of mind: why would prosecutors cut a deal now, [two] weeks before trial, Lauren McGaughy, a political reporter for Austins local NPR station KUT, wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

The Department of Justice has provided little clarity on the resolution to the case, which has dragged on for nine years since Collin County prosecutors in 2015 indicted Paxton  who was then a state legislator  for soliciting investments in a server company, Servergy, without disclosing that he was on the company payroll.

A federal court ruled in 2017 that Servergy founder William Mapp III was guilty of lying to investors about the companys technology, which he had claimed allowed it to run server farms far more efficiently than competitors.

Mapp was fired by Servergy, was ordered to pay $22,500 and ultimately had to take work as an Uber driver to make ends meet.

Paxton has fared better. As the federal case over his actions at Servergy dragged on over nearly a decade  through fights over a trial venue, back pay and whether the case itself was taking too long  Paxton won election to the state attorneys office, where he established himself as a dogged prosecutor entrenched in the furthermost right flank of the countrys culture wars.

Just in the last few months, he has attacked online pornography, cities that decriminalized marijuana, gender-affirming care for LGBTQ youth and nonprofits that tend to migrants released from federal custody while their cases process  while also leading the conservative campaign against tech monopolies and Biden administration clean energy goals.

The decision Tuesday morning was widely reported as another unexpected victory for the state attorney. It follows his acquittal last summer in a polarizing impeachment trial  and the victory earlier this month of a slate of insurgent candidates he backed against Republican incumbents in Texas who had sought his ouster.

Paxton was happy to agree to the terms of the dismissal, his attorney Dan Cogdell told The Texas Tribune of the deal.

Cogdell emphasized that despite the fine and community service, Paxton had not been required to admit to any wrongdoing.

But however happy Paxton is to avoid trial, the financial penalty is steep: nearly double the attorney generals $153,750 salary. If he is unable to pay it or violates the other terms of his deal, jury selection for the trial will start anew.

It also is far from the end of his legal troubles. Paxton still faces a civil suit from four conservative members of his state office whom he allegedly fired for reporting him to the FBI  a case he has long fought and so far successfully avoided publicly testifying in.

He also faces an ongoing investigation by the FBI over the same charges for which he was indicted.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
HOUSTON  Prosecutors on Tuesday announced an agreement with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that would ultimately dismiss securities fraud charges he has been facing for nearly a decade.

Under the 18-month pre-trial agreement, the special prosecutors in the case would drop three felony counts against Paxton. As part of the deal, Paxton must pay full restitution to victims  roughly $300,000  and must also complete 100 hours of community service and 15 hours of legal ethics education.

The resolution lets Paxton avoid a trial, which had been set to begin in less than three weeks on April 15. Paxton was first indicted in 2015 after being accused of duping investors in a tech startup near Dallas before he was elected attorney general. If he had been convicted at trial, Paxton could have been sentenced to life in prison.

The agreement with prosecutors, which lets Paxton remain in his elected position and doesnt affect his law license, is another huge legal and political victory for one of the nations most visible Republican state attorney generals. The end of the case comes six months after Paxton was acquitted of corruption charges in an impeachment trial in the Texas Senate.

The resolution of the securities fraud case furthers a dramatic reversal of political fortune for Paxton, who just a year ago appeared imperiled by both the criminal case and the threat of being removed from office after his top aides reported him to the FBI.

But Paxton has emerged emboldened. He waged war against dozens of GOP lawmakers who were part of the 2023 effort to impeach him, with his biggest target being state House Speaker Dade Phelan, who was forced into a May 28 runoff. Paxtons revenge campaign also included helping defeat three Republican judges on the state Court of Criminal Appeals because they were part of a majority that stripped his office of the power to prosecute election fraud without permission from local district attorneys. He has not ruled out a primary challenge to Republican Sen. John Cornyn in 2026.

Paxton still faces legal troubles, however. A federal investigation has been probing some of the same charges presented in his impeachment.

He is also fighting efforts by former top aides to make him testify in a whistleblower civil lawsuit that also includes allegations central to the impeachment.

The securities fraud case has hung over Paxton nearly his entire time in statewide office. Yet Paxton, 61, has shown remarkable political resilience, maintaining and growing strong support among GOP activists on the state and national level, including from former President Donald Trump.

Paxton had been accused of defrauding investors in a Dallas-area tech company called Servergy by not disclosing that he was being paid by the company to recruit them. One of the people Paxton was accused of defrauding was former state Rep. Byron Cook.

Paxton was charged with two counts of securities fraud and one count of not being registered as an investment advisor.

Paxton had also been charged in a federal civil complaint filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over his work with Servergy. But a federal judge in March 2017 dismissed the complaint against Paxton. The person who recruited Paxton to work with Servergy, ex-company CEO William Mapp, was found liable by a jury for misleading investors and ordered to pay a civil penalty of $22,500. Mapp lost his job with Servergy and later had to work as an Uber driver to make ends meet, according to court documents.

The securities fraud case against Paxton was delayed for years during pre-trial disputes over trial location in the Dallas area or Houston, and payment for the states special prosecutors. The prosecutors argued most of those delays were caused by Paxton.

An attempt by Paxtons lawyers to throw out the charges against him because the years of delay had violated his right to a speedy trial was denied by a judge last month.

The fraud allegations were among the original 20 articles of impeachment. But that process was a political one. The criminal case posed a much more serious threat.

Paxtons political opponents, most notably Republicans, had used the fraud charges against him in elections. But Paxton has twice been re-elected as attorney general since his indictment, most recently in 2022.
WASHINGTON, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Governor Wes Moore of the U.S. state of Maryland declared a state of emergency on Tuesday after a bridge in Baltimore was struck by a container ship and partially collapsed.

"I have declared a State of Emergency here in Maryland," Moore said in a statement in response to the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which extends over the Patapsco River.

Rescue operations are underway near the wreckage of the bridge. "We believe at this point we may be looking for upwards of seven individuals," Baltimore City Fire Department Chief James Wallace told reporters on Tuesday morning.

Two people have been rescued thus far, one being in critical condition, according to reports.

"This is an unthinkable tragedy," Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said. "We have to first and foremost pray for all of those impacted."

The U.S. Coast Guard said that it received a report saying a Singapore-flagged containership collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge at 1:27 a.m. (0527 GMT) on Tuesday, and that it is coordinating with local, state, and federal agencies in response to the incident.

U.S. President Joe Biden has been briefed on the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, according to the White House.

"He will continue to receive updates from his team throughout the day," the White House said.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge, which opened to traffic in March 1977, was about 2.6 km long and carried an estimated 11.5 million vehicles annually. 
Embattled Attorney General Ken Paxton is due in a Harris County state District Court on Tuesday morning for a pretrial hearing before his scheduled April 15 trial on three felony securities fraud charges, but Paxton and state prosecutors could reach a deal to resolve the nine-year-old case, people familiar with the negotiations confirmed to the American-Statesman.

Paxton's attorneys and prosecutors are said to be considering a proposal to dismiss Paxton's felony charges if he completes the terms of a deferred prosecution agreement, three people familiar with the bargaining but not authorized to speak about the deal told the Statesman.

Those terms could include completing community service, taking advanced legal education classes and paying restitution. Previously, two sources told the Statesman the restitution could be between $300,000 and $400,000.

More: What is a deferred prosecution agreement? Here's what Texas AG Ken Paxton could receive.

Paxton, a 61-year-old Republican, could face up to 99 years in prison if he is convicted on the three charges stemming from accusations that he courted investors for a Dallas-area tech startup in exchange for shares in the company while he was not registered to do so and for not informing the new clients of the financial incentive, according to court documents.

Here's a look at the timeline of Paxton's securities fraud charges that have followed him in his rise from a member of the Texas House to becoming the state's three-term attorney general.

Texas State Securities Board reprimands Ken Paxton

As Paxton was running for his first term as attorney general, the Texas State Securities Board in May 2014 reprimanded Paxton and assessed him a $1,000 administrative fine for failing to register as an "investment adviser representative" while soliciting clients for Mowery Capital Management  a securities violation dating back to 2004, according to the board.

In three separate, successful solicitations, taking place in 2004, 2005 and 2012, Paxton secured clients on behalf of the firm based in McKinney, Paxton's hometown, during a time in which he represented Collin County in the Texas House. Paxton was in line to receive 30% of the asset management fees collected by the firm from each client that he successfully brought in, according to the official reprimand issued by the securities board in 2014.

Paxton won the attorney general's office in November 2014, and won reelection to a second and third term in 2018 and 2022, respectively.

Collin County grand jury indicts Paxton

On Aug. 3, 2015, seven months into his term as attorney general, Paxton turned himself in to the Collin County jail after a grand jury handed up indictments accusing him of committing three securities fraud felonies.

Paxton was charged and arrested for two first-degree felonies over accusations that he assisted a Dallas-area tech startup, Servergy, by recruiting investors to purchase shares in the company while failing to disclose he was being paid by the company to do so, and a third-degree felony for not registering with the state securities board to solicit clients.

Paxton, according to court records, was in line to receive payments of $100,000 in stock compensation for securing each of the two new investors.

Ken Paxton mug shot from Collin County.

After Paxton turned himself in to the Collin County jail, where he was booked, photographed and fingerprinted in about 20 minutes, he pleaded not guilty to defrauding investors and to working on behalf of an investment firm without having had the appropriate license.

Stemming from the accusations that led to the state-level charges, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in a civil complaint in 2016 said Paxton "exploited personal and business relationships with prospective investors for profit.

In 2017, U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant III dismissed the SEC complaint.

Almost a decade of delays in Paxton's case

Ever since the Collin County grand jury indicted Paxton in 2015, there has been a constant legal fight over the minutiae in Paxton's case, leading to a nine-year delay to getting to trial.

For years, the case has gone through active spurts  including motions to dismiss the case, seek different presiding judges, and push an issue over the state's special prosecutors' pay  before turning dormant as appeals courts considered the procedural issues brought by the defense team and prosecutors.

In 2017, the special prosecutors' pay was blocked by a court order due to a disagreement with Collin County commissioners who objected to the $300 hourly rate that a former judge on the case had negotiated.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (left) looks at his note next to his attorney Dan Cogdell during his pretrial hearing at Collin County Courthouse in McKinney, Texas, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017.

That yearslong issue has remained, resulting in prosecutor Kent Schaffer, who had been on the case since its began, announcing last month that he was withdrawing from the proceeding out of concern that his work would continue to go unpaid.

"This isnt a passion project," he said after the hearing in Houston in February.

The Court of Criminal Appeals has also been asked to consider and rule on issues in the case throughout the years, ranging from the fee dispute, jurisdiction concerns and Paxton's motion for a review of the case in an effort to have it tossed out.

The court rejected Paxton's request for dismissal and finally settled the trial venue, ruling in 2023 that the case be heard in Harris County after it was allowed to shift back to Collin County in 2020.

Other reasons for case delays, according to court documents, include Hurricane Harvey's destruction in the Houston area in 2017 and the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this file photo, US President Donald Trump waves upon arrival, alongside Attorney General of Texas Ken Paxton (L) in Dallas, Texas, on June 11, 2020.

Texas Senate clears Paxton of wrongdoing after impeachment trial

During an impeachment trial in the Texas Senate in September, Paxton faced 16 charges accusing him of abusing his office in a mutually beneficial relationship with since-incident Austin real estate developer Nate Paul.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (center) sits with his lawyers Tony Buzbee (left) and Dan Cogdell (right) at the beginning of the first day of Paxtons impeachment trial in the Texas Senate chambers at the Texas State Capitol in Austin on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023. The Texas House, including a majority of its GOP members, voted to impeach Paxton for alleged corruption in May. (Juan Figueroa/Pool via The Dallas Morning News)

Those concerns, brought up by former top aides in Paxton's office, formed the basis for the House to overwhelmingly vote on May 27 to impeach Paxton on 20 charges, including bribery and abuse of office, and to forward the inquiry to the Senate for a trial.

The Senate transitioned into an impeachment tribunal last summer to consider the accusations, except for four impeachment articles tied to Paxton's ongoing securities fraud charges.

At the conclusion of the two-week trial, senators cleared Paxton of wrongdoing, largely along party lines, with all charges, including the four related to the securities fraud allegations that the chamber never heard, being dismissed.

Prior to the impeachment trial's start, the state's prosecution of Paxton's securities fraud charges had progressed with a pretrial conference.

Additionally, a month before the Senate trial, federal prosecutors had seated a grand jury to hear testimony from witnesses close to Paxton. While the motivation for the federal probe into Paxton remains unclear, it followed an initial inquiry beginning in 2020 in response to the agency whistleblowers' allegations.

Hearings in Houston

Leading to Tuesday's hearing in front of District Court Judge Andrea Beall in downtown Houston, the long running dispute over the venue where Paxton's securities fraud charges would be aired has largely kept him out of a courtroom over the past decade.

Moving the proceeding from Collin County to Harris County in 2017, the venue shift helped spur a multi-year battle over the case's jurisdiction, disputes over its presiding judge and various motions to quash the state's prosecution, but after the Court of Criminal Appeals (Texas' highest criminal court) ruled last year that the case could move forward in Harris County, resulting in a hearing in October, a trial date was finally set for April 15.

More: Exclusive: Texas AG Ken Paxton could see criminal charges dropped in deal with prosecutors

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, left, and his wife Angela leave the Collin County courthouse after his pre-trial motion hearing on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015, in McKinney, Texas.

On Feb. 6, days ahead of a scheduled pretrial conference, Paxton's team filed a motion to toss out the felony case entirely, saying Paxton was denied a speedy trial. Prosecutors in their response afforded little credit to that argument saying Paxton had never before raised that concern.

Beall denied the motion and reconfirmed that a hearing would take place in April.

Ahead of the final pretrial hearing Tuesday morning, the American-Statesman reported that Paxton and prosecutors may come to a deferred prosecution agreement to dismiss the attorney general's felony charges.

More: Paxton finds success in Court of Criminal Appeals races, unseating incumbents in a sweep

Under the potential deal, which could be agreed to Tuesday morning and does not require Beall's approval, Paxton would not have to formally enter a plea but must not violate any law for an extended period.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Deal may end AG Ken Paxton's securities fraud case. Here's the history
(Reuters) - Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has struck a deal to resolve securities fraud charges brought by state prosecutors nearly a decade ago, his lawyers said on Tuesday.

Paxton, a Republican and ally of former U.S. President Donald Trump, was indicted in July 2015 on charges related to stock sales and compensation from the Texas technology firm Servergy. He also faced charges of acting as a securities agent without registering with the state.

The state will drop the charges in 18 months if Paxton pays restitution to investors and completes community service and legal education, his lawyers said. Paxton will not admit wrongdoing under the deal, they said.

"This case has been pending literally longer than the Beatles were together, it was time to move on," Paxton's lawyer Dan Cogdell said.

The settlement is another win for Paxton, a conservative firebrand who has been dogged by corruption allegations since taking office in 2014. Last fall, he overcame an impeachment attempt spurred on by accusations that he abused his power to protect a wealthy political donor.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had also sued Paxton for promoting Servergy stock without disclosing he was paid to do so. The case was dismissed in 2017, when a judge ruled Paxton was not required to disclose the payments.

Paxton boosted his standing in right-wing circles when, in December 2020, he asked the Supreme Court to throw out results from four states that had cast their votes for Joe Biden in the November election. The court tossed out the case.

(Reporting by Jody Godoy in New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
The whiplash created by rapid-fire court orders is sparking alarm over whether a Texas law clearing the way for state and local authorities to carry out immigration enforcement will be allowed to stand.

A whirlwind 24 hours in the courts for S.B. 4, the controversial Texas measure, ended last week with the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals putting the law on ice after the Supreme Court briefly lifted a stay and allowed it to go into effect.

The 5th Circuit now must decide whether to allow the law to take effect while it considers the broader legality of the case. If it upholds the law, it would drastically change the power dynamic in immigration enforcement.

S.B. 4 would allow state and local law enforcement to arrest those suspected of crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, who could then face deportation to Mexico or jail time.

The law was challenged by the federal government as well as immigrant and civil rights groups.

While the Biden administration has argued the law flies in the face of long-standing precedent giving federal authorities control over immigration, civil rights groups fear the law will encourage targeting of Latinos and others perceived as being migrants.

The federal law is absolutely clear  it has been absolutely clear since the late 1800s  that immigration policy is the obligation and the responsibility of the federal government, said Cesar Cuauhtemoc Garcia Hernandez, an immigration expert and law professor at Ohio State University.

The Supreme Court has shifted since the court last weighed a similar bill, and Texas, he says, is hoping new justices mean new outcomes.

Texas has lost recent Supreme Court battles in which it tried to usurp federal authorities, including in a case that allowed the Biden administration to cut razor wire the state has installed along the border.

Texas has been on a losing streak when it gets to the Supreme Court. But it wins rather regularly at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, which has shown itself to be the most right-wing federal appellate court in the United States right now, Garcia Hernandez said.

Like in prior court battles, Texas again suggested its moves are needed to address inaction by the federal government to protect its own border.

S.B. 4 is a modest but important statute, Texas Solicitor General Aaron Nielson told the judges during a hearing last week to review the stay.

Its modest because it mirrors federal law. Its important because it helps address what even the president has called a border crisis.

But that runs counter to guidance from a court that has often determined that the government must speak with one voice on immigration.

Its playing chicken on state and federal preemption in immigration law, said Kathleen Campbell Walker, an immigration attorney and former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Campbell Walker called immigration an area of law that is so regulated by the federal government, that that area has basically been ruled off-limits for the state, given its impact on international relations issues and that it also touches on the Commerce Clause.

But the bill raises other legal and logistical challenges, as well.

The law ignores the rights of migrants to seek asylum, even if they have crossed the border between ports of entry.

There are conventions that the U.S. is a party to that require that review. Texas is saying, We dont have to worry about that, Campbell Walker said.

And Texas also plans to simply drop migrants at the U.S. southern border, regardless of their country of origin and whether Mexico will accept them.

A blistering statement from the government of Mexico highlights the real world roadblocks Texas will face if it ever gets a chance to implement the law, while noting the Mexican governments own plans to raise the issue in court.

Mexico categorically rejects any measure that allows state or local authorities to exercise immigration control, and to arrest and return nationals or foreigners to Mexican territory, its ministry of foreign affairs said in a statement.

Mexico reiterates its legitimate right to protect the rights of its nationals in the United States and to determine its own policies regarding entry into its territory. Mexico recognizes the importance of a uniform migration policy and the bilateral efforts with the United States to ensure that migration is safe, orderly and respectful of human rights, and is not affected by state or local legislative decisions. In this regard, Mexico will not accept, under any circumstances, repatriations by the State of Texas.

Mexico went on to chastise Texas for passing legislation that could give rise to hostile environments in which the migrant community is exposed to hate speech, discrimination and racial profiling.

Mexico submitted its own amicus brief with the 5th Circuit, arguing S.B. 4 violated its rights as a sovereign nation as well as the rights of the federal government.

Its one thing to ask the Mexican government to accept Mexican citizens. Its a whole other thing to ask them to clip citizens from any random country in the world. And thats exactly what S.B. 4 does, Garcia Hernandez said.

Thats the kind of thing that is very rare, historically, for a country to accept somebody elses citizen, simply because the United States doesnt want them in the United States. And that complication is true whether its the federal government or state government thats making the request.

S.B. 4 carries stiff penalties for those presumed to have crossed the border, including six months in jail or two years or more for a second offense.

But its sparked concern that anyone who cant immediately prove they are a citizen could be arrested if theres probable cause they crossed the border.

We have a plan B, which is to prepare to educate the community, if it becomes a law, on knowing your rights, said Domingo Garcia, president of the League of United Latin American Citizens.

You have a right to remain silent and not answer any questions regarding your immigration status. You have the right to a lot; you have the right to an attorney if they want to deport you or want you to sign deportation documents.

Regardless of how Texas fares in its legal battle, Garcia Hernandez said the state has succeeded in one of its goals.

Even if ultimately, Texas loses the legal fight, theyre very clearly winning the political fight. By busing migrants to big cities controlled by Democrats all over the country, [Republican Texas Gov.] Greg Abbott has really shifted conversation about immigration policy and split Democrats from one another, he said.

That includes getting some big-city Democratic mayors to criticize Biden, and even shifting the tone of the rhetoric that is coming from President Biden and as well as the policies that his administration is implementing.

Rafael Bernal contributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
AUSTIN, Texas - The Texas Legislative Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration given to a service member from the Lone Star State. On Monday, Governor Greg Abbott took part in a ceremony that included the family of Sgt. Major Jerry L. Bell. He was presented with a medal.

"It's unbelievable. We always knew he was the hero, but now everybody else gets to know," said Bells daughter Wendy Baldwin.

The family of Master Sergeant Mike C. Pena was also given a Medal of Honor.

"It's a huge moment for the family. And I'm so glad to be here and representing," said Kathy Connell, Penas granddaughter.

Sgt. Major Jerry Lynn Bell is from the small east Texas community of Russell in Leon County. He served during the Vietnam War. Bell distinguished himself as a helicopter gunner during a rescue mission.

Sgt. Major Jerry Lynn Bell

"It says something to not only the family, but everybody in Leon County and in Texas, that if you do the things you're supposed to do. You do it for the right reasons. As uncle Jerry said over and over, when I said, you're an American hero. He said, son, all I ever did was what one American soldier does for another American soldier," said State Representative Cecil Bell, a nephew.

Army Master Sergeant Mike C. Pena also came from a small community, Newgulf, southeast of Houston. Pena was a teenager when he enlisted during World War II.

"He was out there as an 18, 19-year-old fighting the Japanese in the Battle of Manila and all throughout the South Pacific Islands," said Penas nephew, Rick Pena.

Mike Pena went on to fight in Korea where he was killed in action while saving his unit.

"There's a quote and I don't know if it's true, but, you know, give me an army of West Pointers and I'll win a battle. But give me an army of Texas and we'll win the war. But, Texans have always stepped forward," said State Rep. Stan Kitzman, who represents Wharton County, where Pena is from.

Army Master Sergeant Mike C. Pena

Bell came home. He worked for the post office and started a business. He later died in 2021. His wife, Mary Alice, said Bell gave all that he could and would be overwhelmed by the medal ceremony.

"He would be in hog heaven, I guarantee," said Bell.

Pena was also awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. His image is part of a display at the state capitol. His legacy lives on through a scholarship program. Pena and Bell, both small town Texans who sacrificed and who still continue to serve, by example.

"As a reminder of what integrity and ethics and character were like, men were willing to give up their lives at a young age in order to save the lives of others. That's the type of character that we need to be building in our young people, and by recognizing them and bringing that recognition forward. We hope that that type of integrity and character builds throughout Texans across the state," said State Sen. Kelly Hancock (R) Tarrant County.

The Texas Medal of Honor was created back in 1963, but the first award was not presented until 1997. With Mondays ceremony, 18 service members from Texas have now received the award.
This story appeared first in The Blast, The Texas Tribune's premium politics newsletter. To subscribe and get more news like this, click here.

The next time the Texas Department of Transportation is on the scene of a crash before you even realize theres a standstill ahead, or if you see that state agencies are sending their invoices a little sooner, you might thank a computer.

In the brave new world of artificial intelligence, the new Artificial Intelligence Advisory Council is already finding surprising ways Texas state agencies are already using advanced computing to increase efficiency. Created by the Legislature during last years session to explore the role of AI in government, the council has been meeting for less than a month, but their findings so far are already creating buzz.

Last month, Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dade Phelan appointed members to the council, which has wasted no time getting the ball rolling on investigating potential places for legislation. On Thursday, the council co-chairs, state Sen. Tan Parker, R-Flower Mound, and state Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, sat on a panel at the Texas Public Policy Foundations Policy Summit addressing the future of AI as it relates to state government mere hours after the advisory council held its first substantive meeting.

The Texas Public Policy Foundation, an highly influential conservative think tank based in Austin, recently announced AI as one of its top legislative priorities for 2025. However, at the time they announced the priority policy areas, they had few specifics. But panelists on Thursday indicated that a few ideas might be coming together.

Theyre probably no less than seven to eight, at least  maybe 10, or more  bill ideas that came out of the conversation this morning already, Parker said.

Capriglione pushed that benchmark to 10 or a dozen bills.

We heard from one agency who is already using it on their back end processing to do invoices, he said. Theyve gone from two to three weeks to do invoices to 13 seconds. Its more accurate. Its faster.

Thursday mornings advisory council meeting was a wide-ranging three-hour session in which members heard testimony from the Department of Information Resources, the Department of Transportation, the Workforce Commission and the Teacher Retirement System. Department of Information Resources privacy attorney Jennie Hoelscher told the council that theres a broad mix of how state agencies are approaching AI, including generative AI, like ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot.

There are some agencies that have very restrictive rules about the use of AI within their agencies, Hoelscher said. There are other agencies that are very open to employees using generative AI in particular, so there is a broad spectrum.

Agencies have mostly been using AI to increase efficiency and productivity, added John Hoffman, who doubles as the Department of Information Resourcess chief technology officer and the deputy chief information officer for Texas. Yes, agencies are using chatbots, he said, but its more than that.

The resources are limited. The requirements are high. Its how are we using AI to best provide that, Hoffman told the council.

TxDOT said it is testing and using AI in incident detection to more quickly deploy crews, user access management, automated invoicing and machine learning for video analytics on traffic cameras. Those video analytics help identify traffic disruptions, from crashes and debris to pedestrians on highways, and measure things like vehicle counts and speeds. In the future, TxDOT is exploring using AI for chatbots, fleet assessment and running analyses are where crashes are likely to occur.

The council will publish its final report sometime in November or December. Policy proposals could include legislation designating a state agency to write state AI policy; potentially creating a separate AI policy-making office and measures related to data privacy and cybersecurity.

Disclosure: Microsoft and the Texas Public Policy Foundation have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

We cant wait to welcome you to downtown Austin Sept. 5-7 for the 2024 Texas Tribune Festival! Join us at Texas breakout politics and policy event as we dig into the 2024 elections, state and national politics, the state of democracy, and so much more. When tickets go on sale this spring, Tribune members will save big. Donate to join or renew today.
Some voters may not be too jazzed about a Biden-Trump rematch.

A US Army veteran turned math teacher in Texas is one such person, and he's doing something about it.

The 35-year-old has changed his name to "Literally Anybody Else," and is running for president.

A Texas man says he believes anybody else should be president instead of the current Democratic and GOP frontrunners.

And he's taking things into his own hands and running a long shot race to prove a point  by changing his name to "Literally Anybody Else."

"America should not be stuck choosing between the 'King of Debt' (his self-declaration) and an 81-year old. Literally Anybody Else isn't a person, it's a rally cry," read Else's campaign website, referencing former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden.

Else, 35, told Texan news outlet WFAA in an interview published on March 22 that his campaign wasn't about sending him to the White House.

The seventh-grade math teacher and US Army veteran said he wanted to give voters a chance to express their unhappiness with Trump's and Biden's candidacies.

"People are voting for the lesser of two evils, not someone they actually believe in or support," Else, whose original name was Dustin Ebey, told WFAA.

"People should have the option to vote for someone who resembles and represents them, not the lesser of two evils. I reject that," he added.

WFAA reported that it checked Tarrant County court records, and verified the man's name change.

Else, whose original name is Dustin Ebey, told WFAA that he wanted to give voters a chance to express their unhappiness with President Joe Biden's and former President Donald Trump's candidacies. Literally Anybody Else

But the chances of Else's name appearing on ballots in Texas this November are slim. He needs to file a petition with 113,151 signatures from registered voters in Texas who didn't vote in the GOP and Democratic presidential primaries this month.

Else's challenge is further compounded once you factor in the other US states, which have varying signature requirements ranging from 800 in New Jersey to 219,403 in California.

That's why, Else said, he's hoping voters would write in his name instead.

"Write that name in. We don't really have a 'neither' option on the ballot, and this fills that role," he told WFAA.

To be sure, Else isn't the only person who isn't too happy about the impending rematch between Biden and Trump. In January, Reuters/Ipsos published a poll which revealed that both candidates are unpopular among voters.

According to the poll, 70% of respondents felt Biden shouldn't seek reelection, while 56% said Trump didn't deserve another term either.

"I'm not delusional. This will be very hard to do, but it's not impossible," Else told WFAA. "My hope is to have Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and then Literally Anybody Else right underneath."

"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," he continued.

Representatives for Else did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.

Read the original article on Business Insider
(The Hill)  A Texas man is hoping a legal name change and a long-shot presidential bid will get his argument across that some voters want literally anybody else but former President Trump or President Biden to serve another White House term.

A teacher and Army veteran in North Richland Hills, Texas  formerly named Dustin Ebey  told ABC News affiliate WFAA he legally changed his name to Literally Anybody Else and is running for president under that name. He told the outlet he is hoping the name will send a message.

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, he told WFAA.

Leave him alone: Chelsea Clinton defends Barron Trumps right to privacy

Else showed his apparent new drivers license to the outlet, on which his name is listed as Literally Anybody Else. Federal Election Commission records show he has filed with the commission under the name.

He emphasized he is not delusional and understands garnering enough signatures to appear on ballots will be very challenging.

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, he said. 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.

Under Texas law, an application to be listed on the ballot as an independent candidate needs to be submitted with a petition, which requires 113,151 signatures from registered voters who did not vote in the presidential primary of either party in Texas.

Understanding this is a difficult task, Else is asking Texas residents to list his name as a write-in candidate. Write-in candidates in the Lone Star State are only required to register with the state and do not have signature requirements.

Mexicos president says Trump wont build border wall: It doesnt work

Write that name in  we dont really have a neither option on the ballot, and this fills that role, Else said.

A series of recent polls have shown that few Americans are excited about a rematch between Trump and Biden, who are their respective parties presumptive nominees.

In an Associated Press-NORC Research Center poll released in December, 56 percent of U.S. adults overall, regardless of party affiliation, said they would be very or somewhat dissatisfied with Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee, and about 58 percent said the same about Trump being the potential GOP nominee.

Another poll, released in January by Decision Desk HQ/NewsNation, found about 59 percent of registered voters are not too enthusiastic or not at all enthusiastic about a rematch between the two.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
Newcomers and an El Paso police officer just outside the entrance to the Paso del Norte international bridge Tuesday. A law passed by Texas Republicans would require local police to involve themselves in immigration enforcement. Its constitutionality is being questioned in the courts. (Marty Schladen/Ohio Capital Journal)

This story originally appeared on Ohio Capital Journal.

EL PASO, Texas  Texas GOP politicians have long used state law enforcement to act tough on immigration. But developments over the past few days seem to show how their latest maneuvering is inviting chaos  raising fundamental constitutional questions, outraging local officials, and worsening international relations.

For more than a decade, the state has spent billions trying to insert state and local law enforcement from Texas  and other states such as Ohio  into the immigration debate. The results have been dubious.

The latest uproar started last year when the legislature passed  and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed  Senate Bill 4 amid surges of migrants crossing the southern border seeking asylum. The law made it a misdemeanor on first offense to cross into the United States outside of a port of entry and empowered state and local police and courts to enforce the law.

It was predicated on the claim that the record surges in migration amounted to an invasion, a term with military implications that the facts on the ground dont support. Such incendiary rhetoric helped motivate a racist massacre in El Paso in 2019 by a man who said he was trying to stop an invasion  and that helped motivate El Paso County and Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center to lead the lawsuit against S.B. 4.

The laws constitutionality is highly questionable because the federal government reserves to itself the right to set migration policy. In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that principle by striking down parts of a 2010 Arizona law that would have given police in the state power to arrest people for being undocumented immigrants.

Under federal law, its legal to cross into the United States and seek asylum.

In response to that fact, the Texas Legislature passed S.B. 4 making undocumented immigrants criminals under state law. U.S. District Court Judge David Ezra last month blocked enforcement of the law weeks before it was expected to go into effect. But then on March 4, the hard-right 5th Circuit U.S. District Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled that the law could take effect while its constitutionality was being considered.

The 5th Circuit ruling gave El Paso County, the Biden administration, and other plaintiffs the chance to file an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court. They did, arguing that migrants would suffer irreparable harm if the law were allowed to take effect without a judgment on its constitutionality.

On Tuesday afternoon, the court issued an unsigned order punting the matter back to the 5th Circuit and allowing the law to take effect. However, in a concurrence, Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh urged the 5th Circuit to do its job and rule on the constitutional question quickly.

If a decision does not issue soon the (El Paso County and other opponents) may return to this court, Barrett wrote, according to the New York Times.

Taking the hint, the 5th Circuit temporarily blocked enforcement of S.B. 4 and scheduled an emergency hearing for Wednesday morning so the sides could consider the laws constitutionality. Its unclear when it will rule, but some experts said its unlikely the court will allow enforcement until its constitutionality is considered.

What happened last week

People looking at a border agent

Asylum seekers wait as U.S. Border Patrol agents take groups of them into custody near McAllen, Texas. (John Moore/Getty Images)

On Tuesday, during the short time the law was in effect, the chaos it might create was foreshadowed.

Local governments and charities have long shouldered a disproportionate share of the burden created by spikes in migration and many are reluctant to pay for their law enforcement agencies to handle what has for more than a century been a federal job. In addition, officials along the border have long feared that delegating migration enforcement to local law officers will only push migrants further into the shadows by making them afraid to approach police.

El Paso County has been very successful in mitigating and minimizing any immigration challenges, County Judge Ricardo Samaniego said in a statement issued Tuesday while the law was in effect. S.B. 4 is rudely disrupting the incredible collaboration between local law enforcement, (non-governmental organizations) and local government. We have been the safest community because of these collaborative efforts more so than any other factor.

During the hours S.B. 4 was in effect, the Mexican government was left with the prospect of having to deal with 50 different state governments ideas about how undocumented migrants should be handled. It ended up saying it would only accept migrants from the federal government.

Mexico recognizes the importance of a uniform migration policy and the bilateral efforts with the United States to ensure that migration is safe, orderly and respectful of human rights, and is not affected by state or local legislative decisions, the Mexican government said in a statement. In this regard, Mexico will not accept, under any circumstances, repatriations by the State of Texas.

It also slammed the law broadly, saying it seeks to stop the flow of migrants by criminalizing them, and encouraging the separation of families, discrimination and racial profiling that violate the human rights of the migrant community.

El Paso and many other border cities are among the safest in Texas and the United States. And when it comes to federal immigration enforcement, green-striped Border Patrol vehicles were a near-constant presence this week on the long drive from Del Rio to El Paso.

Research has also shown that undocumented immigrants commit crime at substantially lower rates than the native-born.

In addition, migrants arent driving tanks, carrying bazookas or jumping off Higgins Boats as they cross the border. But Abbott, the Texas governor, is claiming the constitutional right to take migration enforcement into state hands by claiming that Texas is the victim of an invasion.

I have already declared an invasion under Article I,  10, Clause 3 to invoke Texass constitutional authority to defend and protect itself, Abbott said in a Jan. 24 letter. That authority is the supreme law of the land and supersedes any federal statutes to the contrary.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost on Wednesday joined the invasion chorus. He led 22 state attorneys general in filing a friend-of-the court brief supporting Texass claim that it could preempt federal law under Invasion Clause of the Constitution.

However, nowhere does the brief explain how the situation at the border meets the primary definition of invasion  that of a military force entering bent on taking over.

Rather than being an invasion, experts have said that many of the problems caused by recent surges in migrants showing up, turning themselves in and seeking asylum have to do with a lack of infrastructure  such as insufficient immigration judges and courts to process their claims quickly.

A bipartisan agreement was hashed out earlier this year that would ease those and other bottlenecks, but it appears dead after former President Donald Trump warned fellow Republicans not to allow President Joe Biden to sign anything that would ease the migration issue.

As a consequence, advanced scanners to detect fentanyl in vehicles at the ports of entry  where most illicit drugs are crossing into the country  are sitting unused in warehouses due to a lack of money to install and operate them, NBC reported earlier this month. While some politicians imply that asylum seekers are smuggling in such drugs, the vast majority are seized at ports of entry.

As Texas Republicans try to insert state and local police even further into the immigration debate, their earlier efforts have cost billions and yielded poor results.

Former Gov. Rick Perry used fuzzy crime statistics to justify a 2014 surge of state troopers to the border. The most tangible result was that traffic tickets went down and vehicle crashes went up in portions of the state that were left under-policed, according to a 2015 analysis by the El Paso Times.

More recently, Abbotts rushed effort in 2022 to surge the National Guard to the border left the troops themselves calling the mission a disaster, an investigation by Military Times and the Texas Tribune found.

Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Ohio Capital Journal maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor David Dewitt for questions: info@ohiocapitaljournal.com. Follow Ohio Capital Journal on Facebook and Twitter.

The post Texas Republican border maneuvers cause chaos, outrage local officials appeared first on Alabama Reflector.
New Delhi: The Indian Coast Guard's ship Samudra Paheredar, specially equipped for pollution control, has made its presence felt in Manila Bay, Philippines, as part of its mission to ASEAN countries, officials reported on Tuesday. The vessel is armed with advanced marine pollution control gear and even carries a Chetak Helicopter configured for pollution response, all geared to manage and clean up oil spills effectively, authorities added.

The Samudra Paheredar docked at Manila Bay on March 25 for a brief three-day stopover.

"The arrival of this specialized Pollution Control Vessel is a key step in demonstrating the Indian Coast Guard's capabilities in tackling marine pollution. It also signifies our commitment to addressing environmental concerns in the ASEAN region while fostering closer ties with the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)," stated the Defense Ministry in New Delhi.

The ship's overseas deployment to ASEAN countries, including the Philippines, Vietnam, and Brunei, spans from March 25 to April 12.

"This marks the third consecutive deployment of an Indian Coast Guard vessel to ASEAN countries. In 2023, similar vessels visited Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia as part of our ongoing efforts," the ministry noted.

During its current voyage, the ship is scheduled to make stops in Manila (Philippines), Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam), and Muara (Brunei).

The visit agenda includes showcasing pollution response techniques and demonstrating various equipment, according to officials.

Moreover, the ship is hosting 25 cadets from the National Cadet Corps (NCC) to engage in the Indian government's 'Puneet Sagar Abhiyan' initiative, aiming for international cooperation with partner nations, officials confirmed.

Under an overseas exchange program, NCC cadets, along with the ship's crew and other partners, will participate in beach clean-up drives and similar activities during port calls, the statement highlighted.

"This visit serves as a significant step in strengthening bilateral ties with key maritime agencies, including the Philippine Coast Guard, Vietnam Coast Guard, and Brunei Maritime agencies," the statement emphasized.

The Indian Coast Guard has existing Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with the Coast Guards of the Philippines and Vietnam, focused on enhancing maritime cooperation, safety, and security.

These relationships have matured over time to ensure regional safety, security, and environmental protection. The visit's agenda includes professional exchanges, joint exercises, and social engagements, besides visits to capacity-building facilities, officials outlined.

"ICGS Samudra Paheredar, based on India's east coast in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, operates under the command of Deputy Inspector General Sudhir Ravindran. Over the years, it has successfully conducted various Coast Guard operations, including pollution response, maritime surveillance, counter-transnational crimes, and search and rescue missions," the statement concluded.

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BUDA, Texas (KXAN)  On a cold spring morning in Buda, Texas, children returned to Tom Green Elementary School following the horrific bus crash Friday afternoon.

Many parents walked back from dropping off their kids with tears in their eyes as they grappled with the reality of what happened days ago.

MORE: Hays CISD speeds up bus replacement, identifies student who died in Friday crash

On Friday, a crash occurred between a Hays CISD bus and a concrete truck. It resulted in two deaths  five-year-old Ulises Rodriguez Montoya and 33-year-old Ryan Wallace, who was traveling in a vehicle behind the bus.

Ryan Wallace, 33 (Courtesy: UT Austin Moody College)

Ulises Rodriguez Montoya, 5, died in a Hays CISD bus crash on March 22, 2024. (Hays CISD Photo)

It feels sad, said Hellen Cartagena, a mother of a five-year-old who was on the bus Friday. She said her daughter hasnt been the same since the incident.

Today, I know that she is okay. And when I asked her, Do you want to go to school? Your friends [are] going to be there. She said, Yes, Cartagena added.

Cartagena said the day of the crash was terrifying and is grateful her daughter was not physically harmed. She said she could not imagine what Rodriguez Montoyas family was going through.

Its something so hard to think [about] or imagine. But I just can say, Parents, Im so sorry for your loss, she said.

To make coming back to school after the tragedy a little easier, Hays CISD recruited therapy dogs to help the kids feel calm and even have a little fun.

I actually had a kiddo yesterday tell me this is the best day ever. And [that is a] big statement, said Kaylynn Schrandt, who works on the Hays CISD Animal Assisted Counselling Team. I mean, its a big statement from a kiddo whos just been through the trauma that hes been through.

Having a dog in the room can overall provide peace and help the students think about petting a furry friend rather than the things theyve been through, she continued.

Cartagena said its going to take her daughter, Grace, a while to process the event. Still, she said, she is grateful so many students survived the crash.

More people [could have] died in that accident. More people [could have] died. But they can have a new opportunity, Cartagena said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
In a world often divided by geographical boundaries and cultural differences, there exists a beautiful tradition that transcends these barriers, binding siblings together in a celebration of love, respect, and cherished memories. Bhai Dooj, also known as Bhaiya Dooj or Bhau Beej, is a festival deeply rooted in Indian culture, dedicated to honoring the unique bond between brothers and sisters. While traditionally celebrated in India and Nepal, Bhai Dooj has now gained global recognition, serving as a poignant reminder of the enduring connection between siblings, regardless of where they may be in the world.

Originating from Hindu mythology, Bhai Dooj holds a special significance as it commemorates the reunion of Lord Krishna and his sister, Subhadra, after he defeated the demon Narakasura. The ritual involves sisters applying a tilak (vermillion mark) on their brothers' foreheads, performing aarti (a ceremonial prayer), and exchanging heartfelt promises of protection and love. In return, brothers shower their sisters with gifts and blessings, symbolizing their lifelong commitment to support and care for each other.

What makes Bhai Dooj truly remarkable is its ability to traverse cultural boundaries and resonate with siblings of diverse backgrounds. In today's globalized world, where families often find themselves scattered across continents, Bhai Dooj serves as an anchor, reuniting siblings and strengthening familial bonds irrespective of distance. From bustling metropolises to tranquil countryside settings, the spirit of Bhai Dooj echoes in homes around the world, fostering a sense of unity and belonging among families separated by miles.

In cities like New York, London, Dubai, and Sydney, where multiculturalism thrives, Bhai Dooj celebrations take on a vibrant and inclusive character. Families from India, Nepal, and other countries come together to mark this auspicious occasion, sharing in the joy of siblinghood and cultural heritage. Whether it's organizing traditional rituals, preparing mouthwatering feasts, or exchanging thoughtful gifts, the essence of Bhai Dooj transcends borders, uniting people in a shared expression of love and devotion.

Moreover, the advent of technology has further bridged the gap between siblings separated by vast distances. In an age of instant communication, virtual Bhai Dooj celebrations have become increasingly popular, allowing brothers and sisters to partake in the festivities regardless of their location. Through video calls, social media messages, and online gifting platforms, siblings can exchange heartfelt wishes and create lasting memories, reaffirming the timeless bond that binds them together.

Beyond its cultural and religious significance, Bhai Dooj serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of family, love, and solidarity in an increasingly fragmented world. It celebrates the unconditional support, understanding, and companionship that siblings provide each other, serving as pillars of strength through life's joys and challenges. Whether near or far, the love shared between brothers and sisters knows no bounds, transcending borders and enriching lives in ways that are truly profound.

As we celebrate Bhai Dooj in 2024 and beyond, let us cherish the timeless traditions that unite families worldwide. Let us embrace the diversity of our global community, finding solace and joy in the shared experiences that bind us together. For in the tapestry of human relationships, the bond between siblings shines brightly as a beacon of love, guiding us through life's journey with warmth, compassion, and unwavering devotion.

Holi Bhai Dooj 2024: Get to Know the Date, History, Importance, Traditions, and More

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China, China, China. Scarcely a day passes without some new scare story about China. The Middle Kingdom was struggling with its image overseas long before Covid, but the pandemic cemented attitudes in the West. Ever since, and with plenty of justification, its every move has been regarded with growing reds under the bed paranoia. The feeling is mutual.

The mood has darkened further in the past week. British democracy is under threat from Chinese cyber attacks, the Deputy Prime Minister, Oliver Dowden, told MPs this week in imposing sanctions on a number of Chinese officials. If thats what standing up to China means these days then the central committee doesnt have a lot to worry about.

Rather more seriously, the US and Japan are meanwhile planning the biggest upgrade to their security alliance since the mutual defence treaty of 1960.

Not to be outdone by the US ban on exports of hi-tech chips to China, Beijing responded this week by saying it will be phasing out even the low-tech variety on all government computers and servers, replacing foreign chips with its own home-grown ones.

And then of course, there is Chinas de facto alliance with Vladimir Putins Russia, forming a new axis of authoritarian powers with an overtly anti-Western agenda. The rupture with the West seems virtually complete.

Years of integration into the global economy, in the hope that it might make China more like us, have backfired and are now going powerfully into reverse.

But does the nature of the threat fully justify all the noise which is made about it? In military terms, possibly, even if China plainly poses no direct threat to Europe, and unlike Putin, has no plans to lay claim to any part of it.

It does, however, pose a clear and present danger to Taiwan, where President Xi Jinping would plainly like to crush the life out of this vibrant, free enterprise economy in the same way as he has in Hong Kong. His rhetoric is bellicose and hostile, and we must therefore assume he means what he says.

In economic terms, however, the China threat is receding fast. After decades of stellar growth, Chinas medium to long-term economic prospects are at best mediocre and at worst grimly dispiriting.

Now gone almost entirely is the idea of China as an unstoppable economic leviathan that will inevitably eclipse the US and Europe. Already it is obvious that this is not going to be the Chinese century once so widely forecast. Instead, Western commerce is looking increasingly to India as the economic superpower of the future.

Nor is this just because of the immediate causes of Chinas economic slowdown  a woefully unbalanced economy which in recent years has relied for its growth substantially on debt-fuelled property development.

For China is indeed, to use the old cliche, getting old before it gets rich. Demographic factors alone are highly likely to floor President Xis grandiose ambitions for economic hegemony before they can be realised.

The fundamentals of Chinas predicament, in other words, do not support the narrative of democracy under threat from an insurgent totalitarian rival.

Theres been a lot in the papers about demographics over the last week following a new study, published in the Lancet, on declining fertility rates. At some stage in the next 60 years, the global population will peak, and then fast start contracting.

The birth rate is projected to fall below population replacement levels in around three-quarters of countries by 2050, with only a handful of mainly Sub-Saharan nations still producing enough babies to ensure expanding populations by 2100.

In China, however, it has already started, with the population falling in 2022 for the first time since the Great Famine of 1959-61. This wasnt just a one-off blip: last year deaths continued to significantly outnumber births.

There may be a slight pause in the decline this year. Some couples may have delayed their plans for children in anticipation of the Year of the Dragon, synonymous in Chinese mythology with good fortune.

Any relief will be only temporary. According to projections by the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, which correctly forecast the onset of Chinese population decline, itll essentially be all downhill from here on in, with the population more than halving between now and the turn of the century.

This is a huge fall, with far-reaching implications for economic development and Chinas superpower ambitions. Whats more, there is almost nothing the Chinese leadership can do about it, beyond imprisoning Chinas fast-declining cohort of women of child-bearing age and forcing them to breed.

Across much of the developed world and beyond, the birth rate has long since declined below the 2.1 offspring per woman generally thought to be the level required to maintain the population. But thanks to its dictatorial one-child policy introduced in 1980 to curb Chinas then almost ruinous birth rate, China has a particularly acute version of it.

China abandoned the one-child policy  limiting urban dwellers to one child per family and most rural inhabitants to two  in favour of a three-child policy in 2016, but too late.

Even if women of child-bearing age could be persuaded to have more babies, there are simply not enough of them any longer even to maintain todays population, let alone increase it.

The one-child policy may have perversely further accentuated this deficiency because of the Chinese preference for male offspring over female, though most studies on this are inconclusive.

In any case, China finds itself classically caught in a low-fertility trap, the point of no return, where precipitous population decline becomes inevitable.

The implications are as startling as the statistics themselves. The Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences forecasts that the working-age population will fall to 210 million by 2100, having peaked in 2014, and the ratio of working-age citizens to notionally non-working from 100 to 21 today, to 100 to 137 at the turn of the century.

One thing we know about ageing populations is they like life to be as comfortable and settled as possible. They also dont like fighting wars, which have historically required a surplus of testosterone-fuelled young men desperate to prove themselves on the battlefield.

The turn of the century is of course still a long way off; there is easily enough time for several wars in between. The nature of warfare has also changed. It no longer requires the bravery of the young.

Even so, totalitarian dictatorships may well struggle with selling the multiple other hardships of war to an elderly population. Putin may seem to disprove this observation, but in doing so he is also demonstrating anew the futility of expansionist warfare. They make a desert, and call it peace.

A couple of other points seem worth making about our propensity to exaggerate the Chinese threat. Anyone would think that China is already a dominant force in the UK economy. It is not; in fact it is still only our fifth-largest trading partner after the US, Germany, the Netherlands and France. Even on imports alone its not as big as the US and Germany.

Whether because of the growing diplomatic standoff or other factors, moreover, this position is eroding. The size of trade with China fell last year. The same is true of direct investment by China in the UK economy, which was just 0.3pc of total foreign direct investment in 2021.

We worry about Chinas imagined ability to close down our critical infrastructure, but should that really be allowed to influence decisions on whether the Chinese battery company EVE should be building a new gigawatt factory at Coventry Airport, or for that matter whether super-tariffs should be charged on Chinese EVs?

Should they exist at all, these risks can surely be managed. In any case, no nation that hopes to trade with others would deliberately turn the lights off, even if it could. In over-reacting to the Chinese threat, we only shoot ourselves in the foot.

China has lied, copied, stolen and cheated its way up the economic league tables, but ultimately it is a closed economy which increasingly repudiates foreign influence and thereby severely limits its own powers of innovation.

The danger is that now at the peak of its powers, it hubristically lashes out. But in the medium to long term, the demographic die is cast, and it spells a future of waning influence and economic heft.

This article is an extract from The Telegraphs Economic Intelligence newsletter. Sign up here to get exclusive insight from two of the UKs leading economic commentators  Ambrose Evans-Pritchard and Jeremy Warner  delivered direct to your inbox every Tuesday

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Susan Hall's campaign said the video came from the central Conservative Party

An advert in support of the Conservative's London mayoral candidate that featured scenes from New York instead of the capital has been deleted.

The clip, posted on the party's X (formerly Twitter) account, attacked London's incumbent Labour mayor, Sadiq Khan, and used footage of a stampede in a New York subway station, which Mr Khan criticised as "quite staggering".

The advert, in support of Susan Hall, was quickly removed and replaced with a video where the New York scenes had been cut.

Ms Hall told the BBC the video had "nothing to do" with her mayoral campaign team and that she had not watched either version. A spokesperson for Ms Hall said the video had been created by Conservative Party headquarters.

The Conservative Party's head office declined to comment.

Ms Hall is running against Mr Khan - and other candidates - in the London mayoral election on 2 May.

In the original black-and-white video, the scenes of a stampede at New York's Penn Station in 2017 were overlaid with a US-accented narrator making alleged claims, including: "A 54% increase in knife crime since the Labour mayor seized power has the metropolis teetering on the brink of chaos.

"And in the chaos, people seek a desperate reprieve."

Responding to the video's claim that crime in the capital had risen during his time in office, Mr Khan said: "Because of government cuts over the last 14 years we've lost thousands of [police] officers."

The mayor added that crime had fallen in a number of categories, including homicides, gun crime and burglaries since he first took office in 2016.

The video also warned of "squads of Ulez [Ultra-Low Emmission Zone]-enforcers dressed in black, faces covered with masks, terrorising communities at the beck and call of their Labour mayor master, who has implemented a tax on driving, forcing people to stay inside or go underground".

The Ulez is primarily enforced with automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras on roads across the capital, which record non-compliant vehicles, but Transport for London (TfL) does also use some staff in camera vans.

'Misinformation'

Mr Khan said the Conservatives were being "unpatriotic" for "doing our city down".

"It's another example of my fear materialising, which is this election, from the Conservative Party, will be one where there's misinformation, where there's lies and, in this case, clearly videos that weren't of this city, it was New York," he said.

Ms Hall distanced herself from the video, telling BBC News she had not seen the first version, with the New York clip, or the reuploaded version.

Asked about the claims made and messaging in the video, she said: "I'm out listening to Londoners and all they are telling me is that they are concerned about the violence on our streets."

With additional reporting by PA Media.

Analysis

Tim Donovan, BBC London political editor

So was this a rookie error? A gaffe of major proportions?

Inserting footage of one global city into an 'attack video' about another?

Does it make a mockery of Susan Hall's whole campaign in relation to crime?

Probably a little caution advised.

The video is viral.

And whether or not you think the narrator's intonation hilarious, what this has done is get people talking.

And not in a good way, potentially, if you are a supporter of Sadiq Khan

Because it has made people think about crime and safety, and that may - even momentarily - get them thinking about whether it's going in the right direction and enough is being done about it.

So in the digital sphere, stuff is not always exactly what it seems.

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

More on this story

Related internet links
(KXAN)  Solar eclipses are an amazing sight that has inspired some amazing science. The upcoming April 8 eclipse will provide numerous opportunities for professional and amateur scientists, but those experiments will likely not measure up to one of the most important ones of the modern era.

On May 29, 1919, a total solar eclipse passed over the Earth and in the process proved Albert Einsteins theory of relativity.

According to Eclipse1919.org, the eclipse was observed by scientists Sir Arthur Eddington on the island of Principe, just off the coast of Africa, and a team consisting of Andrew Claude de le Cherois Crommelin and Charles Davidson in Sobral, Brazil. The teams were dispatched by astronomer Frank Watson Dyson to capture images of the sun during the eclipse in hopes of testing Einsteins theory.

Einsteins theory of relativity was published by the former patent clerk in 1915. It essentially boils down to massive objects in space, like a star, are capable of warping space and time due to their immense gravity. This warping includes things passing near that mass, like light.

Arthur Eddington led the expedition to Principe, where his pictures help prove Einsteins theory. (Credit: Public Domain)

Andrew Crommelin was one of the researchers sent to observe the eclipse. (Credit: Public Domain)

Frank Watson Dyson sponsored the expedition to test Einsteins theory. (Credit: Public Domain)

For instance, a star that would normally be behind the sun would appear visible from Earth. This is because the suns gravity would warp the light around it.

But how do you see a star in the middle of the day?

Proving relativity with an eclipse

Using an eclipse, scientists hoped to take photographs of the night sky that would become visible during totality. In the process, they hoped to photograph stars warped by the suns gravity.

Eclipse provides NASA scientists opportunity to study burning sky

Einstein at this point wasnt famous or even known outside of scientific circles. His initial research, published in 1911, led to several expeditions to test the theory. All of those expeditions failed, which turned out to be lucky for Einstein. His initial calculations on how much the suns gravity would warp light were actually off.

Highest resolution image of the 1919 solar eclipse which helped proved Einsteins theory of relativity. (Credit: ESO/Landessternwarte Heidelberg-Konigstuhl/F. W. Dyson, A. S. Eddington, & C. Davidson)

Eddington read about Einsteins theory in 1916 during World War I. A Quaker and conscientious objector, Eddington avoided being drafted after Dyson agreed to sponsor his trip to test Einsteins theory.

The two expeditions set off. Using photographic plates made of glass, they were able to capture the images of the night sky during totality, when the sun is completely blocked by the moon.

The New York Times reported the Eddington Experiment and its role in proving Einsteins theory of relativity. (Credit: Public Domain)

The photographs showed what Einstein predicted. Stars that were behind the sun were actually visible, their light warped by the suns gravity.

University of Texas plans to break the universe at upcoming event

The results of the expedition were announced in September 1919. Published around the world, they elevated Einstein to fame. In 1921, he was brought to England where he presented his theory of relativity to a crowd of around 1,000 people at the University of Manchester. He was then awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Science.

The experiment was repeated multiple times in the years since. During the eclipse in 1922, scientists replicated the project in Australia. This experiment was used to confirm the results.

Other science with an eclipse

While the Eddington Experiment is the most famous bit of eclipse science, it isnt the only experiment. During the 2024 eclipse, NASA is planning to conduct several projects to study the corona of the sun and its inner atmosphere.

Observing animals is also the focus of the 2024 eclipse. The Solar Eclipse Safari project is a citizen science project asking people to document animal behavior during the eclipse. The group is looking to collect data on not just animals in the path of totality, but also those living outside it.

Eclipse experience for the visually impaired; how this Harvard team is turning light into sound

While NASA wants people to gather sounds from nature. The Eclipse Soundscapes Project is a citizen science project funded by NASA Science Activation. Theyre asking people to record the sounds of nature during the eclipse to help us understand the impacts the event will have on our ecosystem.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
AUSTIN (KXAN)  After 39 people applied to be Austins next city manager, Austin City Council has identified its top candidates. The public had the opportunity to meet with them in a town hall Monday night.

T.C. Broadnax of Dallas and Sara Hensley of Denton, Texas are the two finalists for the position. You can read more about their backgrounds here.

The candidates were asked about what their relationship would be with the police department, work they have done on addressing homelessness and keeping the public informed on whats happening in City Hall.

The two candidates still in the running to be Austins city manager (Left: TC Broadnax Right: Sara Hensley)

Whats been really important to us is that weve had a very transparent process and weve seen that through and through with this city manager search, Council Member Vanessa Fuentes said.

How did we get here?

Interim City Manager Jesus Garza did not apply to continue in the position long-term, according to a full list of applicants KXAN received from sources close to the search. He was brought out of retirement by the council after it voted to fire former City Manager Spencer Cronk.

Cronk faced increased scrutiny last year following prolonged power outages from an ice storm in early February and negotiation with the Austin Police Association on a four-year deal in principle, which ultimately fell through.

Austin City Council voted to remove him from the position shortly after.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
Hanoi, Vietnam: Vietnam's health ministry confirmed the first human fatality from the H5N1 avian influenza virus this year. The deceased, a 21-year-old student from Nha Trang University, succumbed to the illness on March 23rd after a week of battling symptoms.

This death has cast a shadow over the country, raising concerns about the potential spread of bird flu and the need for stricter biosecurity measures. While the investigation into the student's case is ongoing, health officials haven't identified any recent contact with sick or dead poultry, suggesting a possible link with wild birds. The Lunar New Year festivities in February saw an increase in wild bird trapping, which could have played a role in transmission.

"This tragic incident underscores the importance of vigilance," said Dr. Nguyen Thi Mai, director of the Vietnam National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology. "We urge people to avoid contact with sick or dead birds, and to practice safe food handling procedures, especially when consuming poultry products."

Symptoms of H5N1 Infection

The H5N1 virus can cause a severe respiratory illness in humans. Early symptoms are similar to regular flu and can include:

High fever

Cough

Sore throat

Muscle aches

Headaches

Fatigue

However, H5N1 infections can progress rapidly, leading to:

Difficulty breathing

Pneumonia

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)

Multi-organ failure

Public Health Measures

The Vietnamese health ministry is working to contain the potential outbreak. They've implemented heightened surveillance measures to identify new cases quickly. Public awareness campaigns are underway to educate people about the risks of bird flu and preventive measures. Additionally, officials are urging poultry farmers to maintain strict biosecurity protocols to prevent the spread of the virus among birds.

Global Health Threat

The H5N1 virus has a history of causing sporadic outbreaks in humans, with a high mortality rate. While human-to-human transmission is rare, the concern lies in the possibility of the virus mutating into a more transmissible form. The World Health Organization (WHO) is monitoring the situation in Vietnam closely and is ready to offer support if needed.

This first human fatality serves as a stark reminder of the zoonotic potential of avian influenza viruses. Continued vigilance and international cooperation are crucial to prevent a wider outbreak.

Chicago Measles Outbreak Raises Alarm: What Parents Must Know
Trump's hush-money judge, Juan Merchan, on Tuesday issued a strongly-worded gag order.

The order bans any statements about witnesses, court staff, or jurors.

There is "sufficient risk to the administration of justice" to warrant a gag, Merchan wrote.

The Manhattan judge who will preside over the first criminal trial of Donald Trump issued a strongly-worded gag order on Tuesday barring the GOP frontrunner from making statements about witnesses, court staff, and jurors.

Trump brought the gag order on himself, the judge, New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, wrote. Merchan will preside over Trump's hush-money trial, set to start jury selection on April 15.

"The uncontested record reflecting the Defendant's prior extrajudicial statements establishes a sufficient risk to the administration of justice," the judge wrote Tuesday.

The gag order was made public four hours after Trump referred to Merchan's political-consultant daughter in a Truth Social post Tuesday morning.

Trump's public statements about the criminal cases against him have been "threatening, inflammatory, denigrating," the judge wrote in issuing the gag.

The statements have targeted "local and federal officials, court and court staff, prosecutors and staff assigned to the cases, and private individuals including grand jurors performing their civic duty," he said.

Read Judge Merchan's gag order here.

New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan. Reuters/Jane Rosenberg

The gag bars three kinds of "extrajudicial statements," meaning statements Trump makes outside the courtroom.

He is barred from "making or directing others to make public statements about known or reasonably foreseeable witnesses concerning their potential participation in the investigation of or in this criminal proceeding," the judge ordered.

He is also barred from "making or directing others to make public statements about any prospective juror or any juror in this criminal proceeding."

He is further barred from public statements about prosecutors, with the exception of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Nor can he make statements about court staff or their family members "if those statements are made with the intent to materially interfere with" their work on the case.

Merchan did not make specific mention on Tuesday of Trump's attacks last year on the judge's own family  but future attacks on Merchan's family would be barred.

Trump remains free to take shots at Merchan himself, as he did on Truth Social on Tuesday morning.

"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.

The post went on to attack Merchan's daughter.

"His daughter is a senior executive at a Super Liberal Democratic firm that works for Adam "Shifty" Schiff, the Democratic National Committee, (Dem)Senate Majority PAC, and even Crooked Joe Biden," Trump "truthed."

Merchan's daughter has worked as an executive at a progressive political consultant firm with a clientele that includes Joe Biden, according to CNBC.

Prosecutors sought a gag for a month

Manhattan prosecutors have been asking for a gag order since mid-February. Trump's defense team opposed it, arguing that he, as a presidential candidate, should enjoy a First Amendment right to freely address the case against him.

"Tens of millions of Americans," Trump had argued, want to hear him respond to the case, which he calls an attack by political opponents.

Indeed, the judge wrote Tuesday, a defendant's right to free speech should only be abridged "to prevent outside influences, including extrajudicial speech, from disturbing the integrity of a trial."

But Trump's extrajudicial statements "went far beyond defending himself against attacks by public figures, the judge wrote.

Last April, just six hours after his hush-money arraignment, the former president railed to an audience at Mar-a-Lago that, "I have a Trump-hating wife with a Trump-hating family, whose daughter worked for Kamala Harris and now receives money from the Biden-Harris campaign."

Trump's spoken and online screeds against Allison Greenfield, the principal law clerk in his Manhattan civil fraud case, spurred a gag order and sanctions in that case, also last year, after she was deluged with threatening hate mail.

Trump's civil fraud judge, state Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron, is another frequent target of the former president's ire and has been subjected to a bomb threat and hate mail that included an envelope containing white powder.

"The consequences of those statements included not only fear on the part of the individual targeted, but also the assignment of increased security resources to investigate threats and protect the individuals and family members thereof," Merchan wrote in Tuesday's gag order.

"Such inflammatory extrajudicial statements undoubtedly risk impeding the orderly administration of this Court."

This story was updated.

Read the original article on Business Insider
The judge overseeing Donald Trumps upcoming hush money trial in New York hit the former president with a gag order on Tuesday, just one day after Trump peddled a conspiracy theory about a prosecutorand hours after the tycoon levied attacks against the judges daughter.

New York Supreme Court Justice Juan M. Merchan forbade Trump from speaking publicly about line prosecutors and court staffor even their family members. He also subjected Trump to the same sorts of precautionary warnings the former president has faced from other judges in separate cases, ordering him to not even mention any prospective jurors.

However, a person familiar with the Trump teams internal discussions told The Daily Beast they believe the gag order does not extend to the judges daughter. Merchans order only mentions the family members of court staff.

The snap decision was made on the heels of Trumps anger-laden press conference yesterday at his 40 Wall Street building in downtown Manhattan, where the former president lashed out after suffering a minor loss in court when Merchan set his criminal trialTrumps first everto start on April 15.

Trumps Lawyers Lash Out Against Gag Order Request in Hush-Money Case

When answering reporters questions, Trump attacked lead prosecutor Matt Colangelo, an unelected assistant district attorney for New York County. Colangelo worked on investigations against Trump while at the New York Attorney Generals Office, then did a brief stint at the Department of Justice, only to return to the city to join the Manhattan District Attorneys current case against Trump. The former president seized on those details to surmisewithout any proof that Colangelo was somehow sent by President Biden, Trumps 2024 presidential rival, to bolster the local DAs case. The outlandish claim was a continuation of Trumps long-espoused view that any law enforcement action against him is part of a shadowy deep state seeking to keep him from power.

Then on Tuesday morning, Trump shifted his followers focus to the judge himselfdrawing attention to the judges own daughter.

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. In other words, he hates me! 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, Trump posted on his Truth Social media site.

This type of judicial decree is rare and seen as heavy-handed in a regular case, but Trumps incessant attacks on the judicial system and his ability to rally his MAGA supporters has proven to be a unique threat that has flooded government offices with violent threats in the past two years. In a separate matter in January, the final day of Trumps three-month bank fraud trial was nearly derailed when a bomb threat was made targeting the home of Justice Arthur F. Engoron, who had overseen that case. Earlier, Trump loyalists left menacing phone calls at his chambers threatening physical violence against the judge and his law clerk, the attorney Allison Greenfield.

In the Manhattan District Attorneys ongoing case against Trump, the former president has been launching personal attacks against DA Alvin Bragg Jr. from even before the moment a grand jury indicted him for faking business records in a scheme to cover up a hush money payment to the porn star Stormy Daniels. Trump infamously posted a doctored photo of himself wielding a bat while standing ominously behind the DA, an image that was widely interpreted as intimidation.

Judge Refuses to Step Aside in Trump Hush Money Case

Early on in the DAs case, Justice Merchan took on a measured tone in court when he cautioned Trumps lawyers against taking any actions that could be perceived as intimidating. He also strictly limited what the former presidents legal defense team could do with the information contained in the thousands of pages it received as evidence from the DAs office, blocking defense lawyers from leaking any details that could compromise the case or lead to attacks against witnesses.

Merchans warnings grew more stern in the weeks that followed, as Trump began publicly speaking about the judges daughter. However, the judge did not punish Trump at the time, opting instead to continue cautioning against heated rhetoric.

But as Trump kept launching personal attacks against judges and prosecutors in other cases playing out in Florida, Georgia, and the District of Columbiaalways feeding his loyalists hatred by chalking up every case to a shadowy, conspiratorial plot against himthe DAs office sought steps to keep him in check.

In a request filed in court on Feb. 26, eight prosecutors at the DAs office asked Merchan to keep secret the names and addresses of any jurors who are eventually selected to decide whether Trump committed felonies when covering up his Stormy Daniels affairespecially since these New Yorkers will be the first Americans to decide whether a former U.S. president is guilty of crimes.

Prosecutors wrote that Trumps conduct in this and other mattersincluding his extensive history of attacking jurors in other proceedingspresents a significant risk of juror harassment and intimidation that warrants reasonable protective measures to ensure the integrity of these proceedings, minimize obstacles to jury selection, and protect juror safe.

In a second request filed that same day, prosecutors also asked Merchan to issue a more sweeping gag order to further shut up Trump.

Defendant has a longstanding and perhaps singular history of using social media, speeches, rallies, and other public statements to attack individuals that he considers to be adversaries, including courts, judges, various law enforcement officials and other public officials, and even individual jurors in other matters, they wrote, adding that concerns grow more acute with the approaching trial.

With his order on Tuesday, Merchan granted prosecutors request.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Former President Trump will hold a rally in the battleground state of Wisconsin next week in one of his first major events since becoming the presumptive GOP nominee.

Trump will address supporters at an event in Green Bay on April 2, his campaign announced. It marks just the second rally Trump will have held in recent weeks, following a March 16 event in Ohio in support of Senate candidate Bernie Moreno.

The former presidents ability to hold rallies moving forward may be limited after a New York judge set a trial date for April 15 in Trumps case over an alleged hush money scheme during the 2016 campaign. Trump will be in court four out of five days during the week, leaving him scarce time to hold large events for his campaign.

Wisconsin is expected to be one of the most closely contested battleground states in November.

President Biden carried the Badger State in 2020 by roughly 20,000 votes, and polls have shown an extremely close race there between Biden and Trump ahead of November.

A Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll published Tuesday morning showed Biden leading Trump by 1 percentage point after previously trailing him by 4 points in a February survey.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
In early 2024, viral social media posts resurfaced claims that former U.S. President Donald Trump had boasted about walking in on beauty pageant contestants while they were naked in their changing rooms. Some of these posts claimed that he had boasted specifically about entering changing rooms of Miss Teen USA contestants, many of whom were underage.

Various posts pointed out that Trump owned a number of beauty pageants, including Miss USA, Miss Universe and Miss Teen USA, but did not specify which pageant contestant rooms he supposedly bragged about entering.



(Screenshot via X)

One post claimed to quote Trump telling radio host Howard Stern on "The Howard Stern Show" that he walked in on Miss Teen USA contestants who were around 14 to 16 years old at the time: "I'll go backstage before a Miss Teen USA show and everyone's getting dressed and ready and everything and no men are anywhere. And I'm allowed to go in because I'm the owner of the pageant [...]."

(Screenshot via X)

We looked closely at Trump's past comments, as well as real allegations made by former beauty pageant contestants from both Miss USA and Miss Teen USA competitions. Trump did indeed brag about walking in on contestants, but was referring to Miss USA or Miss Universe pageants, whose contestants are 18 or older. The above quote where he appeared to brag about walking in on Miss Teen USA contestants was misrepresenting a real comment he made to Stern.

That said, there have been numerous serious allegations about Trump from both Miss USA and Miss Teen USA contestants, reporting that decades ago, he walked into their dressing rooms while they were partially naked (which Trump's spokesperson denied in 2016). We cannot prove or disprove their exact accounts, and while Trump did not admit to walking in on underage contestants, he certainly admitted to Stern his inappropriate behavior during other pageants.

What Exactly Did Trump Say to Stern?

From 1995 to 2015, Trump co-owned the Miss Universe Organization, which included Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants. CNN in 2016 reviewed clips of his numerous conversations with Stern and said they depicted Trump as being frequently demeaning to women. CNN published sections of the audio clips as well, and the quote in question can be heard at the 1:40 mark:

In an April 2005 episode, Stern asked Trump if he ever had sex with Miss USA or Miss Universe contestants, according to CNN's report, to which Trump said, "I never comment on things like that."

They continued to chat for a few minutes, when co-host Robin Quivers asked Trump if he thought sleeping with contestants was a conflict of interest. Trump said, "It could be a conflict of interest. But, you know, it's the kind of thing you worry about later, you tend to think about the conflict a little bit later on."

Stern then put on a fake foreign accentreferring to international contestants in the Miss Universe pageant  and said, "Some of these foreign girls" say hello in their country "with vagina." Trump then said, "Well, what you could also say is that, as the owner of the pageant, it's your obligation to do that."

He then described how he got away with going backstage while the contestants were naked:

Well, I'll tell you the funniest is that before a show, I'll go backstage and everyone's getting dressed, and everything else, and you know, no men are anywhere, and I'm allowed to go in because I'm the owner of the pageant and therefore I'm inspecting it. You know, I'm inspecting because I want to make sure that everything is good. [...] You know, the dresses. 'Is everyone okay?' You know, they're standing there with no clothes. 'Is everybody okay?' And you see these incredible looking women, and so, I sort of get away with things like that. But no, I've been very good.

According to Miss USA and Miss Universe websites, contestants have to be at least 18 years old. In the above conversation with Stern, Trump was referring to those contests. He did not reference Miss Teen USA in his comments, indicating that the above X post edited his actual words.

Did Trump Walk in on Partially Dressed Contestants?

Trump, in his own words from 2005, admitted to doing so with regard to some of the pageants (referring to either Miss USA or Miss Universe). However, his representatives would deny years later that he ever behaved that way.

But some former Miss Teen USA pageant contestants have accused him of walking into their changing room. In a 2016 Buzzfeed News investigation, nearly half a dozen former contestants of Miss Teen USA claimed that Trump walked in on them changing  some of the girls in those rooms were reportedly 15 years old when it happened.

One incident reportedly occurred in the 1997 Miss Teen USA beauty pageant. Mariah Billado, the former Miss Vermont Teen USA, recalled, "I remember putting on my dress really quick because I was like, 'Oh my god, there's a man in here'." She then remembered Trump saying, "Don't worry, ladies, I've seen it all before." Four other women also alleged that Trump entered the dressing room; eleven contestants that Buzzfeed reached said they did not recall him in the dressing room.

In 2016, a former Miss USA contestant, who was 18 years old at the time, said that Trump walked into their changing room: "Our first introduction to him was when we were at the dress rehearsal and half naked changing into our bikinis. He just came strolling right in. There was no second to put a robe on or any sort of clothing or anything. Some girls were topless. Other girls were naked."

She said they were told to greet him while in an awkward position where "the owner [came] waltzing in when we were naked or half naked in a very physically vulnerable position and then to have the pressure of the people that worked for him telling us to go fawn all over him, go walk up to him, talk to him, get his attention."

In a statement to media in October 2016, in the midst of his first presidential campaign, Trump's spokesperson denied all the allegations from the former contestants: "These accusations have no merit and have already been disproven by many other individuals who were present. When you see questionable attacks like this magically put out there in the final month of a presidential campaign, you have to ask yourself what the political motivations are and why the media is pushing it."

In Summary

It is clear that Trump himself boasted about entering contestant dressing rooms, but those comments occurred during a discussion about Miss USA and Miss Universe, not Miss Teen USA. However, real allegations from former contestants of both Miss Teen USA and Miss USA bolstered claims that Trump behaved inappropriately. However, given that the events occurred decades ago, and we only have the contradicting accounts from Trump himself, as well as his accusers' statements, we are unable to definitively say ourselves whether or not he actually entered the dressing rooms.

Sources:

"Apply." Miss USA. 24 June 2022, https://themissusa.com/apply/. Accessed 25 March 2024.

Barbash, Fred. "Former Miss Arizona: Trump 'Just Came Strolling Right in' on Naked Contestants." Washington Post, 25 Oct. 2021. www.washingtonpost.com, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/10/12/former-miss-arizona-trump-just-came-strolling-right-in-on-naked-contestants/. Accessed 25 March 2024.

"Former Beauty Queen: Contestants Were Forced To Greet Trump Even When Not Fully Dressed." CBS Los Angeles. 11 Oct. 2016, https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/former-beauty-queen-she-other-contestants-were-forced-to-greet-trump-even-when-not-fully-dressed/. Accessed 25 March 2024.

McDermott, Nate and Andrew Kaczynski, Chris Massie. "Donald Trump to Howard Stern: It's Okay to Call My Daughter a 'Piece of Ass' | CNN Politics." CNN, 8 Oct. 2016, https://www.cnn.com/2016/10/08/politics/trump-on-howard-stern/index.html. Accessed 25 March 2024.

Toobin, Jeffrey. "Trump's Miss Universe Gambit." The New Yorker, 19 Feb. 2018. www.newyorker.com, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/02/26/trumps-miss-universe-gambit. Accessed 25 March 2024.

Testa, Jessica and Kendall Taggart, Jessica Garrison. "Teen Beauty Queens Say Trump Walked In On Them Changing." BuzzFeed News, 13 Oct. 2016, https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kendalltaggart/teen-beauty-queens-say-trump-walked-in-on-them-changing. Accessed 25 March 2024.

"VOTING RULES." Miss Universe, https://www.missuniverse.com/copy-of-apply. Accessed 25 March 2024.


Donald Trump, fresh off a near-miraculous court ruling slashing a nearly half-billion bond he owed down to $175m, is now slinging Bibles on Truth Social.

The former president  who has previously compared himself to Jesus Christ  has lent his image to the "God Bless the USA" Bible, a special version of the Good Book inspired by Lee Greenwood's saccharine patriotic tune of the same name.

Mr Trump held up the brown leather tome  this time right-side up  in an ad he shared on his Truth Social account on Tuesday.

"Happy Holy Week! Lets Make America Pray Again. As we lead into Good Friday and Easter, I encourage you to get a copy of the God Bless The USA Bible," Mr Trump wrote.

According to the vendor website Mr Trump linked to, the $60 Bible features "easy-to-read, large print" and a main selling point is that it can be picked up and moved around, which is a common feature for not only Bibles, but most books.

"Easy-to-read, large print, and slim design, this Bible invites you to explore Gods Word anywhere, any time," the website says. "This large print Bible will be perfect to take to church, a bible study, work, travel, etc."

Mr Trump's favoured Bible also includes the chorus to Greenwood's "God Bless the USA," as well as the text of the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, and the Pledge of Allegiance, making it a convenient collection for those who are tired of having to separate their church from their state.

Trump was accused of using the Bible as a prop during his bizarre trip to a vandalised church in Washington, DC during the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Mr Trump has previously experienced controversies connected to the Bible. In June 2020, during the Black Lives Matter protests, he and several aides walked to St Johns Church in Washington, DC  which had suffered some vandalism  following the clearing of largely peaceful demonstrators in nearby Lafayette Square by riot police using tear gas.

When Mr Trump and his team arrived, the then-president stood silently for a while holding up a Bible. Asked whether it was his Bible he would only say it was a Bible. It was later speculated he had been holding the book upside down. Several opponents  including his church-going successor as president Joe Biden  accused him of using the book as a prop.

In 2015, before he became president, he was asked what his favourite book was and claimed the Bible edged out his own Art of the Deal. But asked repeatedly to quote a verse or talk about a passage that was meaningful to him he struggled to come up with any examples, saying instead: I wouldnt want to get into it. Because to me, thats very personal.

In his post on Tuesday, Mr Trump included a more than three minute video in which he rambled about the need for Christianity and prayer to "return" to the US, despite more than 60 per cent of Americans  and 88 per cent of Congress  professing to belong to some form of Christianity.

"Religion and Christianity are the biggest things missing from this country, and I truly believe we need to bring them back for us, I believe it's one of the biggest problems we have, that's why our country is going haywire, we've lost religion in our country," Mr Trump said. "All Americans need a Bible in their home and I have many, it's my favorite book. It's a lot of people's favorite book."

He also did not let the opportunity for a little faith-based fear mongering to slip by, claiming that "Christians are under siege".

"Our Founding Fathers did a tremendous thing when they built America on Judeo-Christian values, now that foundation is under attack, perhaps as never before," Mr Trump said. "What can we do? Stand up, speak out, and pray that God will bless America again. I'm proud to endorse and encourage you to get this Bible. We must make America pray again."

Many conservative Christians may be wondering if their current Bibles are acceptable in Mr Trump's eyes, but the website states that the "God Bless the USA" Bible is the only Bible endorsed by the former president, even though he claims to have many.
The parent company of Donald Trumps Truth Social platform started trading on Wall Street on Tuesday, with its shares appearing under the ticker DJT and priced at $78.

Their value fluctuated throughout the day before stabilising at around $70 and finishing on $57.99 as the Nasdaqs closing bell sounded.

The days trading meant Mr Trump has entered the ranks of the worlds 500 richest people, with his majority stake in the company now worth $5.5bn (4.3bn), taking his estimated net worth to more than $8bn.

Shareholders in Mr Trumps social network voted on Friday to take the company public, a move that could ultimately earn the former president tens of millions of dollars as he desperately tries to find cash for the court-ordered judgements against him.

Mr Trump will need to find money from his own coffers or get help from a surety company to post an appeals bond by Monday that would block enforcement of a $454m penalty after a New York judge found that he defrauded banks and insurers.

His attorneys have succeeded in convincing a state appeals court to grant him a 10-day extension on his bond deadline and reducing the amount expected to $175m. The lawyers argued that finding the full amount had proven a practical impossibility, with rejections from roughly 30 bond companies that wouldnt take his prized real estate empire as collateral.

Political action committees supporting the Republican Partys likely nominee to face President Joe Biden in November are also haemorrhaging tens of millions of dollars to pay his legal bills and attorneys fees, months before a summer of criminal proceedings and the general election.

The public debut of Truth Socials parent company, Trump Media & Technology Group, appears to have proven a massive boost to the former presidents financial state, but he wont see any immediate return.

On Friday, after delays cause by investigations from regulators and the US Department of Justice, Truth Social shareholders approved a long-anticipated merger between Trump Media and the publicly traded shell company Digital World Acquisition Corporation.

Under the terms of the agreement, major shareholders of Trump Media cannot sell their shares for six months. That stipulation  commonly used to prevent newly public entities from signalling internal collapse or a lack of faith in the companys future  applies to the former president.

Mr Trump has a 60 per cent stake in the company, which has been his presidential campaigns de facto platform, reaping millions of dollars worth of free media coverage every time he fires off an incendiary post.

Wall Street has valued Trump Media at about $14bn, but experts say that number is deeply flawed. Digital World Acquisition Corporation, which became Trump Media on Tuesday following the merger, saw its share price spike almost 200 per cent so far this year.

The rising share price and the high valuation come even as Trump Media is losing money and despite Truth Social losing users.

This is a very unusual situation, Jay Ritter, a finance professor at the University of Florida, told CNN. The stock is pretty much divorced from fundamentals.

Mr Ritter added that the closest comparison would be so-called meme stocks such as GameStop and AMC, which rose during the pandemic amid a push from retail traders. He said Trump Media is likely worth about $2 a share  but just after 10am on Tuesday it was trading at about $68.

The underlying business doesnt seem to be worth much. There is no evidence this is going to become a large, highly profitable company, Mr Ritter told CNN.

Im reasonably confident the stock price will eventually drop to $2 a share and could even go below that if the company blows through the money it got from the merger.

In the first nine months of last year, Trump Media generated $3.4m in revenue but it lost $49m.

At its initial public offering last week, Reddit was valued at $6.4bn despite bringing in $804m last year compared to $5m for Trump Media.

Matthew Kennedy, a senior IPO strategist at Renaissance Capital, told CNN that at these levels, it appears untethered to its underlying business results.

Eventually, valuations tend to fall back on fundamentals, he added. That means this stock is definitely at risk of plummeting back down to earth.
Facing a total of 88 felony charges in four separate federal and state cases, Donald Trump is employing a simple tactic that has always served him well in the past -- running out the clock.

The 77-year-old Republican presidential candidate has deployed an army of highly paid lawyers in New York, Washington, Georgia and Florida to push back his trial dates.

The goal is clear: delaying court action beyond the November election when, if he recaptures the presidency, he could potentially have the federal charges against him dropped -- or even pardon himself.

So far the strategy appears to be working.

"There is a chance that he could evade justice by delaying justice," said Adam Schiff, a Democratic member of the House of Representatives who was on the committee that investigated the January 6 attack on the US Capitol by Trump supporters refusing to accept the results of the 2020 election.

"This is a tried and true tactic of Trump throughout his career," Schiff told CNN. "The courts should not play into that stratagem."

Andrew Weissmann, a former federal prosecutor and author of a book, "The Trump Indictments," said the stalling tactics are understandable.

"Most defendants do not want to go to trial," Weissmann told AFP. "They are trying to put that off as much as possible."

Trump had been scheduled to go on trial in Washington on March 4 on charges of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election won by Democrat Joe Biden, now his likely November opponent.

That trial has been delayed until the Supreme Court rules on Trump's claim that a former president enjoys immunity from prosecution.

The nation's highest court is to hear arguments in the immunity case on April 25 but may not issue a ruling until late June or even July.

Weissmann said it is "inexcusable" that the Supreme Court has put the case on "such a slow track."

- 'Normal dilatory tactics' -

In New York, Trump faces state charges of falsifying business records to pay pre-2016 election hush money to a porn star with whom he allegedly had a sexual encounter back in 2006.

That case was scheduled to start on Monday but Trump asked for it to be delayed by up to 90 days after prosecutors revealed that potential evidence had not been turned over to the defense.

The presiding judge swatted away those arguments on Monday and ordered the trial to begin on April 15, making it the only case for now with a fixed starting date.

In Georgia, Trump and 14 co-defendants face charges of seeking to overturn the 2020 election results in the southern state.

The Georgia case has been bogged down for weeks by a bid by Trump to have the district attorney disqualified because of a relationship she had with the man she hired to be the lead prosecutor.

The judge in the case finally ruled on March 15 that the district attorney could remain if the lead prosecutor resigned. That has now happened, but a trial date has yet to be set.

The final case involves Trump's hoarding of classified documents after leaving the White House and is being held in Florida before a judge appointed by the former president.

Trump also lodged an immunity claim in Florida, a move prosecutors described as "so wholly without merit that it is difficult to understand it except as part of a strategic effort for delay."

Daniel Richman, a law professor at Columbia University, said Trump's lawyers are employing the "normal dilatory tactics."

"When it involves a former president, inevitably, the issues are going to be unprecedented," Richman said. "Anyone who thinks that the Trump lawyers are these magical geniuses, I think is wrong."

In seeking delays, Trump's lawyers have cited the upcoming election and an unwritten rule that cases should not be brought within 60 days of a vote.

Prosecutors insist that the rule applies only to the filing of new charges and not the holding of an ongoing trial.

Schiff said the Justice Department may have unnecessarily dragged its heels in bringing charges against the former president.

"That delay has contributed to a situation where none of these trials may go forward, although it is still my hope and belief that at least one or two of them might go forward before the election," he said.

sst/cl/sms
Shares of former President Trumps social media startup rose nearly 50 percent after debuting on the stock market Tuesday, triggering a pause on trading.

Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of Trumps Truth Social platform, went public Tuesday morning after a years-long effort to merge with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). Shares of the company were up 46 percent shortly before 10:30 a.m. EDT Tuedsday, rising to roughly $72 from an opening price of $49.95 after trading was briefly halted.

Shareholders in the SPAC, Digital World Acquisition Corp., approved the merger Friday, teeing up the Truth Social parents debut on the stock market and potentially securing Trump a multibillion-dollar windfall.

Trump, who owns roughly 58 percent of Trump Media, joined Bloombergs list of the worlds 500 richest people Monday following the merger.

The former presidents wealth has faced increased scrutiny in recent days, as he struggled to secure a nearly half-billion bond in his New York civil fraud case and faced the potential seizure of his assets.

However, a New York appeals court lowered the bond Trump must pay while appealing the case by more than half, to $175 million.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
By Daren Butler and Umit Ozdal

ISTANBUL/DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - Many of Turkey's Kurds are set to put aside party loyalty and back Tayyip Erdogan's major rival in Istanbul on Sunday, knocking the president's hopes of winning back the city he once ran, according to pollsters.

Pro-Kurdish DEM party voters were pivotal to Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu's win in 2019 municipal elections, which shocked Erdogan and ended 25 years of rule by his AK Party (AKP) and its Islamist predecessors in Istanbul. It also gave the opposition a critical foothold on power over the last five years.

But the opposition's devastating defeat to Erdogan in last May's presidential vote has changed the political landscape, leaving DEM voters split on how best to advance the cause of minority Kurdish rights.

In Istanbul, polls show Imamoglu of the Republican People's Party (CHP) and his AKP challenger are neck-and-neck, with the DEM candidate trailing. This has left Kurdish party supporters with a dilemma; should they vote with their heart or their head?

"They are confused and undecided," according to Yuksel Genc at pollster SAMER, who said 40% of DEM supporters had indicated they would vote for Imamoglu. "They are considering voting for their party candidate but don't want the AK Party to win."

Erdogan's government has cracked down on Kurdish parties since the 2015 collapse of a peace process to end a decades-old insurgency by the outlawed Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK).

DEM, parliament's third largest party with around 10% of seats, is the successor of the HDP which faces potential closure in a trial over alleged militant ties that it denies.

It has been ravaged by thousands of arrests and the ousting of its mayors after previous elections, feeding voters' desire to hit the AKP nationwide while retaining DEM's dominance in the mainly Kurdish southeast and its largest city, Diyarbakir.

"I think that in an environment like Diyarbakir, it is necessary to vote for DEM, but in Istanbul I would vote Ekrem Imamoglu," said retiree Mehmet Fatih Sutcu at Diyarbakir celebrations for the Kurdish spring festival.

Roj Girasun, director of Rawest Research, said DEM and the main opposition CHP had reached a deal over some areas of Istanbul, making it easier for DEM voters to support Imamoglu and with around half of them inclined to do so.

Erdogan, Istanbul mayor between 1994-1998, has slammed this as a "dirty bargain", seeking to stoke tensions between the parties.

TACTICAL VOTING

DEM's Istanbul mayoral candidate Meral Danis Bestas has dismissed the idea of tactical voting.

"Our call is for people to vote for us," she said in an interview. "I believe every party has a fundamental duty to conduct its own politics."

Bestas' stance is backed by DEM voters who want a show of strength after the crackdown in which state-appointed "trustees" replaced elected Kurdish mayors in the southeast.

"We have been fighting against trustees for more than 10 years, and in every election, the Kurds go to the polls with their enthusiasm, will and dignity and vote for the party they support," said private sector employee Busra Yenturk.

In recent weeks, key Kurdish political figures have made calls for a fresh peace process to address their demands for greater cultural and language rights for Kurds, who make up some 15-20% of Turkey's 85 million population.

But researcher Girasun said this was just an expression of Kurds' hopes rather than signalling plans by the AKP, which is allied with a nationalist party. The government has instead announced plans to step up operations against Kurdish militants in Iraq this summer.

Ankara accuses the pro-Kurdish party of ties to the PKK, which is designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union over a conflict which has killed more than 40,000 people. The HDP denies such links.

Istanbul candidate Bestas said there was currently no sign of a return to a peace process but that democratisation required resolution of the Kurdish issue.

"A Turkey where a quarter of the population is marginalised and discriminated against, and whose demands are not met cannot be democratic," she said.

(Reporting by Umit Ozdal, Daren Butler; Additional reporting by Ali Kucukgocmen; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Jonathan Spicer and Christina Fincher)
The two brothers arrived at the island's park from the Netherlands

A wildlife park on the Isle of Man has welcomed two new lemurs to its conservation programme.

The Alaotran gentle lemurs have joined Curraghs Wildlife Park as part of a European breeding programme.

Brothers Bam and Bacca were brought to the island from a zoo in the Netherlands and will be paired with females.

Park general manager Kathleen Graham said staff were excited to welcome the new additions as part of conservation efforts.

Were really pleased to have this amazing species back at the park, as they need our help more than ever, she added.

The lemurs will be paired with females as part of a European breeding programme

Alaotran gentle lemurs are a critically endangered, with about 2,500 in their native Madagascar and fewer than 70 in conservation programmes across 21 zoos.

The park successfully bred three in the past, however the species has not been resident on the Isle of Man for more than a year.

The lemurs were previously resident at Apenheul Primate Park in the Netherlands and have joined the islands park as part of the European Association of Zoos and Aquarias programme.

The species is critically endangered in the wild

The project is currently sourcing female partners for the pair as part of ongoing efforts to maintain healthy populations.

The transportation of the lemur to the Ballaugh park marked the first import of animals to the park from the EU since Brexit.

Why not follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook, and X? You can also send story ideas to IsleofMan@bbc.co.uk

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Opposing protesters outside of the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, are kept separated by fencing as U.S. Capitol Police and Supreme Court Police observe. The demonstrators held signs and chanted as the justices heard oral arguments over access to mifepristone, one of two pharmaceuticals used in medication abortion. Photo by Ashley Murray | States Newsroom

WASHINGTON  The future of medication abortion access in the United States went in front of the U.S. Supreme Court justices on Tuesday, where several justices appeared somewhat skeptical as anti-abortion organizations argued use of the pharmaceutical should be moved back to what was in place before 2016.

Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, speaking on behalf of the federal government, told the conservative-dominated court that those restrictions would be unnecessary due to the numerous reputable studies that have shown mifepristone to be safe and effective.

Prelogar also argued that conscience protections already in place at the federal level protect doctors and other health care providers who dont want to participate in elective abortion or in treating complications that can sometimes arise from medication abortion.

Only an exceptionally small number of women suffer the kinds of serious complications that could trigger any need for emergency treatment, Prelogar said. Its speculative that any of those women would seek care from the two specific doctors who asserted conscience injuries. And even if that happened, federal conscience protections would guard against the injury the doctors face.

Prelogar said there was no way to trace those two anti-abortion doctors concerns  cited in the case argued by Alliance Defending Freedom  about treating patients with complications from medication abortion to the changes the Food and Drug Administration approved in 2016 and 2021, which were at the center of the case before the Supreme Court.

Prelogar also said the anti-abortion legal organization that filed the original lawsuit hadnt identified a situation where a doctor or health care provider opposed to abortion raised a conscience protection and then had that violated.

Medication abortion includes mifepristone as the first pharmaceutical and misoprostol as the second. The two-drug regimen accounted for about 63% of abortions within the United States in 2023, according to a report from the Guttmacher Institute.

Carrie Anderson, 38, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, joined the "Bans Off Our Mife" rally organized by the Women's March outside of the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday, March 26, 2024, as the justices heard oral arguments over access to mifepristone, one of two pharmaceuticals used in medication abortion. Photo by Ashley Murray | States Newsroom

Michael Goodman, 72, of Washington, D.C., demonstrated with the organization Reproductive Freedom For All outside of the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday March, 26, 2024, as justices heard oral arguments over access to mifepristone, one of two pharmaceuticals used in medication abortion. Goodman said he has been a volunteer for nearly 30 years with the group formerly known as NARAL. Photo by Ashley Murray | States Newsroom

Aisha Biyo of Clarksburg, Maryland, traveled with the group Catholics for Choice to protest outside of the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday, March 26, 2024, as justices heard oral arguments over access to mifepristone, one of two pharmaceuticals used in medication abortion. Photo by Ashley Murray | States Newsroom

Lauranne Oliveau, 69, of Lovettsville, Virginia, said she took the train to Washington, D.C. to protest outside of the U.S.Supreme Court on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, as justices heard oral arguments over access to mifepristone, one of two pharmaceuticals used in medication abortion. Photo by Ashley Murray | States Newsroom

Melanie Salazar, 25, of San Francisco, California, who heads the group Pro-Life San Francisco, demonstrated in front of the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday, March 26, 2024, as the justices heard oral arguments over access to mifepristone, one of two pharmaceuticals used in medication abortion. Photo by Ashley Murray | States Newsroom

Gabriel Chambers, 20, a student from Louisville, Kentucky, who now studies at George Mason University, reads from the far-right Heritage Foundation's book "Mandate for Leadership: the Conservative Promise" outside of the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday, March 26, 2024, as the justices heard oral arguments over access to mifepristone, one of two pharmaceuticals used in medication abortion. Chambers read aloud from a section of the text that presents a roadmap for a conservative administration to oust any policies allowing abortion access. Photo by Ashley Murray | States Newsroom

Questions about broad changes in access

Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch  appointed to the court by former President Donald Trump  and Ketanji Brown Jackson, appointed by President Joe Biden  were among the members of the court who specifically asked about why conscience protections would or would not be an appropriate remedy to the anti-abortion doctors concerns about medication abortion.

Im worried that there is a significant mismatch in this case between the claimed injury and the remedy thats being sought, Jackson said. The obvious, common-sense remedy would be to provide them with an exemption that they dont have to participate in this procedure.

But, Jackson noted, the anti-abortion doctors were seeking changes in access to mifepristone for everyone in the United States.

And I guess Im just trying to understand how they could possibly be entitled to that, given the injury that they have alleged, Jackson said.

Gorsuch appeared to express some criticism of the anti-abortion case as well, saying, We have before us a handful of individuals who have asserted a conscience objection.

Normally, we would allow equitable relief to address them, Gorsuch said. Recently  and I think what Justice Jackson is alluding to  weve had, what one might call, a rash of universal injunctions or vacatures.

And this case seems like a prime example of turning what could be a small lawsuit into a nationwide legislative assembly on an FDA rule, or any other federal government action, Gorsuch said.

Prelogar agreed there was a profound mismatch, though Erin Morrow Hawley argued on behalf of Alliance Defending Freedom and the anti-abortion doctors that conscience protections dont go far enough.

These are emergency situations, Hawley said. Respondent doctors dont necessarily know until they scrub into that operating room whether this may or may not be abortion drug harm  it could be a miscarriage, it could be an ectopic pregnancy, or it could be an elective abortion.

Doctors, Hawley said, cant waste precious moments in those circumstances.

Ruling coming later this year

The Supreme Courts opinion on the case, Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, will likely arrive sometime early this summer in the middle of a bitter campaign for control of the White House and Congress in which the issue of reproductive rights is being stressed by Democrats.

The ruling will come about two years after the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion that it first recognized in the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling and reasserted in the 1992 Casey v. Planned Parenthood decision.

Reverting use of mifepristone, one of two pharmaceuticals used in medication abortions, back to what was in place before the FDA began making changes in 2016 would lead to significant changes for doctors and patients:

Mifepristone would be approved for up to seven weeks gestation, down from the current 10-week ceiling for use.

Patients would go back to attending three, in-person doctors office appointments to complete the medication abortion process.

The pharmaceutical could no longer be sent to patients through the mail.

Only doctors would be able to prescribe mifepristone, removing the option for qualified healthcare providers like physicians assistants and nurse practitioners to prescribe it.

The FDA originally approved mifepristone in 2000, later updating prescribing guidelines in 2016 and again during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Several major medical organizations  including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Medical Association and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine  wrote in a brief to the Supreme Court ahead of oral arguments that (f)ocus on the use of mifepristone for induced abortion disregards how similarly essential it is to the safe and effective treatment of miscarriage or early pregnancy loss.

Miscarriage is common, the medical organizations wrote. Of the roughly 5.5 million pregnancies estimated to occur in the United States each year, between 10% and 26% end in miscarriage. For the million or more patients who experience early pregnancy loss annually, mifepristone is often a critical component of care.

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In this article, we will be looking at the 15 cheapest American universities with low tuition for international students. If you want to skip our detailed analysis, you can go directly to 5 Cheapest American Universities with Low Tuition for International Students.

International Students in the US: An Overview

Educational tourism refers to the idea of traveling with a focus on gaining skills and knowledge. Every year a large sum of students travel in search of better education and career prospects. According to the Open Doors 2023 Report on International Educational Exchange, the United States hosted more than one million international students during the academic year 2022 to 2023. The number indicated a 12% upsurge in incoming students compared to the previous academic year. The astounding growth rate is the highest recorded in the last 40 years. The number of international student enrolments in the US has surpassed the pre-pandemic levels.

During the academic year 2022 to 2023, the number of international student enrollment has increased across all academic levels. The graduate degree programs had the highest increase with 467,027 international students pursuing masters, doctorate, or professional degrees. The number of international student enrolment in undergraduate and non-degree studies also showed a steady increase.

International students from all around the globe are turning to the US. However, 53% of all international student enrollments come from either India or China. In terms of regions of origin, Sub-Saharan Africa had the highest growth rate. During the 2022 to 2023 academic year, there was an 18% growth rate in the number of enrolments from the region which made it one of the top 25 places of origin of international students coming to the US. You can also check out the 15 Best Countries To Study Abroad For International Students.

How are Companies Helping International Students Travel Abroad?

Idp Education Ltd (ASX:IEL), Graham Holdings Co (NYSE:GHC), and New Oriental Education & Tech Grp (NYSE:EDU) are notable companies providing services that facilitate international students moving abroad.

Story continues

Idp Education Ltd (ASX:IEL) is an international education organization that offers student placement services in a variety of countries including the US by providing consultation and language testing services. The company was established in 1969 and has an extensive network of more than 35 countries. On December 4, 2023, Idp Education Ltd (ASX:IEL) announced a new language test, Envoy. Envoy is an innovative English language test that assesses individuals' English proficiency in real-life contexts. The test has been developed by linguistic experts and is powered by AI. The test is aligned with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and is to be completed in two hours. It includes reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills assessment.

Graham Holdings Co (NYSE:GHC) through its subsidiary Kaplan facilitates students to study abroad. Graham Holdings Co (NYSE:GHC) offers a variety of services including preparatory programs, educational resources, and certification exam preparation for students aiming to move abroad. On March 5, Kaplan announced a partnership with Poznan University of Medical Sciences (PUMS). PUMS is a leading institution in Poland for medical training. The partnership entails giving access to medical and dental students to Kaplan resources throughout their academic journey, including USMLE preparation classes. PUMS students will also gain access to Kaplan's Educator Portal, Quiz Builder, and i-Human Patients for clinical simulations. The partnership aims to enhance students' preparation for licensure exams including the USMLE and INBDE.

New Oriental Education & Tech Grp (NYSE:EDU) is another noteworthy company facilitating students to study abroad. The company through its subsidiary Vision Overseas, provides overseas study counseling and language training services. On January 24, the company reported earnings for the fiscal second quarter of 2024. The company reported an EPS of $0.29, beating estimates by $0.01. The company's revenue for the quarter grew by 36.26% and amounted to $869.6 million, ahead of market consensus by $58.28 million. As of March 26, New Oriental Education & Tech Grp (NYSE:EDU) has surged nearly 62.06% over the past six months. Here are some comments from the company's earnings call:

"Our key remaining business have depicted a propitious trend, while the new initiatives secured positive momentum. Breaking it down, the overseas test prep business recorded the revenue increase of 47% in dollar terms or 50% in RMB terms year-over-year for this quarter. The overseas study consulting business recorded revenue increase of about 32% in dollar terms or 35% in RMB terms year-over-year for this quarter. The adults and university students business recorded a revenue increase of 43% in dollar terms or 46% increase in RMB terms year-over-year for this quarter. As mentioned in the past quarters, we have launched multipronged new initiatives, which mostly revolve around facilitating students around development. They have continued to prosper with consistent growth, delivering meaningful profits to the company."

A large number of students wish to move abroad for a better education. However, when picking a university financial considerations are very significant along with the academic ranking of the university. We have made a list of the cheapest American universities with low tuition for international students, let's take a look at it now.

15 Cheapest American Universities With Low Tuition For International Students

15 Cheapest American Universities With Low Tuition For International Students

Our Methodology

To make our list of the cheapest American universities with low tuition fees for international students, we initially consulted the QS World University Rankings 2024. The rankings include the top almost 1,500 universities in the world based on scores assigned to various metrics including academic reputation and sustainability. We limited our search to only the top 250 universities in the rankings and extracted the names of the American universities from them. We then individually looked up the tuition fees for international students for each of these universities from the official university websites. We have used the average annual tuition fees mentioned for non-resident international students to arrange our list, exclusive of any additional charges.

It is important to note that the fee for each university varies based on various factors including the program, discipline, department, and number of credit hours. The average fee is not a distinct, unchangeable number, but rather a metric to get an idea of which universities are the cheapest. These numbers are also prone to change over time. The average tuition fees is our primary metric and the QS rankings are our secondary metric. The list has been arranged in the ascending order of the primary metric.

15 Cheapest American Universities with Low Tuition for International Students

15. University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

Average Tuition Fees for International Students: $39,228

QS World University Ranking: 133

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a prestigious public university. The university was established in 1789. The university offers a diverse set of degree programs in a variety of courses including psychology and environmental science.

14. University of Minnesota Twin Cities

Average Tuition Fees for International Students: $37,640

QS World University Ranking: 195

The University of Minnesota Twin Cities is located in Minneapolis and Saint Paul. According to QS World University Rankings 2024, the university was ranked 195 among more than 1500 top universities in the world. The university offers a wide range of academic programs including undergraduate and graduate degree programs.

13. Arizona State University

Average Tuition Fees for International Students: $34,398

QS World University Ranking: 179

Arizona State University is a renowned public research university located in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The university was established in 1885. It is one of the cheapest American universities with low tuition for international students. The average tuition fee for international students is $34,398 for two semesters or one year.

12. Georgia Institute of Technology

Average Tuition Fees for International Students: $31,370

QS World University Ranking: 97

Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly known as Georgia Tech, is a public research university located in Atlanta, Georgia. Georgia Tech is actively engaged in research activities through institutes like the Georgia Tech Research Institute. The academic reputation of the university has made it a popular choice among international students.

11. Purdue University

Average Tuition Fees for International Students: $31,104

QS World University Ranking: 99

Purdue University is a public land-grant research university located in West Lafayette, Indiana. It was established in 1869. The university ranks at 99 among more than 1500 top universities in the world. The university offers diverse degree programs in a range of fields including Biological Sciences, Chemistry, and Computer Science.

10. University of Florida

Average Tuition Fees for International Students: $30,130

QS World University Ranking: 168

The University of Florida is located in Gainesville, Florida. The university is home to some of the best academic colleges and research centers. The university's commitment to academic excellence, research innovation, and student engagement has solidified its reputation. The average tuition fee for international students pursuing an undergraduate degree is $30,130.

9. The Ohio State University

Average Tuition Fees for International Students: $29,870

QS World University Ranking: 151

The Ohio State University is located in Columbus, Ohio. The university was established in 1870. The university consists of sixteen colleges and offers over 400-degree programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels. It ranked 151 among the top universities in the world in 2024.

8. Rice University

Average Tuition Fees for International Students: $28,605

QS World University Ranking: 146

Rice University is located in Houston, Texas. The university was established in 1912. The average tuition fee for international students at the university amounts to $28,605. It is one of the cheapest American universities with low tuition for international students.

7. University of Washington

Average Tuition Fees for International Students: $27,998

QS World University Ranking: 63

The University of Washington was established in 1861. The university is located in Seattle, Washington. The average tuition fee for international students at the university is $27,998. The university is renowned for its strong research and academic culture.

6. University of California Berkeley (UCB)

Average Tuition Fees for International Students: $19,695

QS World University Ranking: 10

The University of California Berkeley was founded in 1868. The university offers a wide set of undergraduate and graduate degree programs in a variety of courses including electrical engineering and computer science. The university has a rank of 10 among the top 1,500 universities in the world in 2024.

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Disclaimer: None. 15 Cheapest American Universities with Low Tuition for International Students is originally published on Insider Monkey.
Opposing protesters outside of the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, are kept separated by fencing as U.S. Capitol Police and Supreme Court Police observe. The demonstrators held signs and chanted as the justices heard oral arguments over access to mifepristone, one of two pharmaceuticals used in medication abortion. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)

This story was updated with additional reporting at 2:57 p.m. on March 26, 2024.

WASHINGTON  The future of medication abortion access in the United States went in front of the U.S. Supreme Court justices on Tuesday, where several justices appeared somewhat skeptical as anti-abortion organizations argued use of the pharmaceutical should be moved back to what was in place before 2016.

Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, speaking on behalf of the federal government, told the conservative-dominated court that those restrictions would be unnecessary due to the numerous reputable studies that have shown mifepristone to be safe and effective.

Prelogar also argued that conscience protections already in place at the federal level protect doctors and other health care providers who dont want to participate in elective abortion or in treating complications that can sometimes arise from medication abortion.

Only an exceptionally small number of women suffer the kinds of serious complications that could trigger any need for emergency treatment, Prelogar said. Its speculative that any of those women would seek care from the two specific doctors who asserted conscience injuries. And even if that happened, federal conscience protections would guard against the injury the doctors face.

Prelogar said there was no way to trace those two anti-abortion doctors concerns  cited in the case argued by Alliance Defending Freedom  about treating patients with complications from medication abortion to the changes the Food and Drug Administration approved in 2016 and 2021, which were at the center of the case before the Supreme Court.

Carrie Anderson, 38, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, joined the Bans Off Our Mife rally organized by the Womens March outside of the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday, March 26, 2024, as the justices heard oral arguments over access to mifepristone, one of two pharmaceuticals used in medication abortion. (Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)

Prelogar also said the anti-abortion legal organization that filed the original lawsuit hadnt identified a situation where a doctor or health care provider opposed to abortion raised a conscience protection and then had that violated.

Medication abortion includes mifepristone as the first pharmaceutical and misoprostol as the second. The two-drug regimen accounted for about 63% of abortions within the United States in 2023, according to a report from the Guttmacher Institute.

Questions about broad changes in access

Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch  appointed to the court by former President Donald Trump  and Ketanji Brown Jackson, appointed by President Joe Biden  were among the members of the court who specifically asked about why conscience protections would or would not be an appropriate remedy to the anti-abortion doctors concerns about medication abortion.

Im worried that there is a significant mismatch in this case between the claimed injury and the remedy thats being sought, Jackson said. The obvious, common-sense remedy would be to provide them with an exemption that they dont have to participate in this procedure.

But, Jackson noted, the anti-abortion doctors were seeking changes in access to mifepristone for everyone in the United States.

And I guess Im just trying to understand how they could possibly be entitled to that, given the injury that they have alleged, Jackson said.

Gorsuch appeared to express some criticism of the anti-abortion case as well, saying, We have before us a handful of individuals who have asserted a conscience objection.

Normally, we would allow equitable relief to address them, Gorsuch said. Recently  and I think what Justice Jackson is alluding to  weve had, what one might call, a rash of universal injunctions or vacatures.

And this case seems like a prime example of turning what could be a small lawsuit into a nationwide legislative assembly on an FDA rule, or any other federal government action, Gorsuch said.

Melanie Salazar, 25, of San Francisco, California, who heads the group Pro-Life San Francisco, demonstrated in front of the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday, March 26, 2024, as the justices heard oral arguments over access to mifepristone, one of two pharmaceuticals used in medication abortion. (Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)

Prelogar agreed there was a profound mismatch, though Erin Morrow Hawley argued on behalf of Alliance Defending Freedom and the anti-abortion doctors that conscience protections dont go far enough.

These are emergency situations, Hawley said. Respondent doctors dont necessarily know until they scrub into that operating room whether this may or may not be abortion drug harm  it could be a miscarriage, it could be an ectopic pregnancy, or it could be an elective abortion.

Doctors, Hawley said, cant waste precious moments in those circumstances.

Ruling coming later this year

The Supreme Courts opinion on the case, Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, will likely arrive sometime early this summer in the middle of a bitter campaign for control of the White House and Congress in which the issue of reproductive rights is being stressed by Democrats.

The ruling will come about two years after the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion that it first recognized in the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling and reasserted in the 1992 Casey v. Planned Parenthood decision.

Reverting use of mifepristone, one of two pharmaceuticals used in medication abortions, back to what was in place before the FDA began making changes in 2016 would lead to significant changes for doctors and patients:

Lauranne Oliveau, 69, of Lovettsville, Virginia, said she took the train to Washington, D.C. to protest outside of the U.S.Supreme Court on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, as justices heard oral arguments over access to mifepristone, one of two pharmaceuticals used in medication abortion. (Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)

Mifepristone would be approved for up to seven weeks gestation, down from the current 10-week ceiling for use.

Patients would go back to attending three, in-person doctors office appointments to complete the medication abortion process.

The pharmaceutical could no longer be sent to patients through the mail.

Only doctors would be able to prescribe mifepristone, removing the option for qualified healthcare providers like physicians assistants and nurse practitioners to prescribe it.

The FDA originally approved mifepristone in 2000, later updating prescribing guidelines in 2016 and again during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Several major medical organizations  including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Medical Association and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine  wrote in a brief to the Supreme Court ahead of oral arguments that (f)ocus on the use of mifepristone for induced abortion disregards how similarly essential it is to the safe and effective treatment of miscarriage or early pregnancy loss.

Miscarriage is common, the medical organizations wrote. Of the roughly 5.5 million pregnancies estimated to occur in the United States each year, between 10% and 26% end in miscarriage. For the million or more patients who experience early pregnancy loss annually, mifepristone is often a critical component of care.

Thomas, Alito ask about Comstock Act

Associate Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito appeared to be more skeptical than some of their colleagues that mifepristone access should remain as it is now, including mailing it to some patients.

Both asked questions about the Comstock Act, a law from 1873 that sought to regulate obscenity, but also banned mailing books on anatomy, works by British author D. H. Lawrence, information about contraception, and photographs of boxing matches, according to a post from the National Archives.

Alliance Defending Freedom has argued throughout the case that the Comstock Act bars the mailing of mifepristone.

Hawley said that remains its position, disagreeing with the stance of the federal government and the legal counsel for a manufacturer of mifepristone.

The Comstock Act says that drugs should not be mailed either through the mail or through common carriers, so we think that the plain text of that is pretty clear, Hawley said.

Nothing the Supreme Court has ruled in its history empowers FDA to ignore other federal laws, Hawley said.

Prelogar said she didnt believe that law fell within FDAs lane, since under the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, that agency can only maintain enhanced requirements for pharmaceuticals like mifepristone if necessary to ensure safe use.

I dont think it would have even been permissible for FDA to consider maintaining this restriction because of Comstock, Prelogar said. Its very clear that the only thing FDA can take into account for restrictions are safety and efficacy concerns in deciding whether to maintain a (Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies) program.

Jessica Ellsworth, legal counsel for Danco Laboratories LLC, which produces the brand-name version of mifepristone called Mifeprex, said she agreed with the assertion that FDA is only responsible to consider safety and efficacy.

The FDA, Ellsworth said, regularly approves pharmaceuticals whose manufacture and distribution is restricted by other laws, like the Controlled Substances Act, environmental laws, customs laws.

I think this court should think hard about the mischief it would invite if it allowed agencies to start taking action based on statutory responsibilities that Congress has assigned to other agencies, Ellsworth said.

Let us know what you think...

Thomas said his problem with mailing mifepristone is that Danco is a private entity and that unlike the federal government, it doesnt have the sort of safe harbor that she suggested.

Danco disagreed with that interpretation of the Comstock Act, Ellsworth said.

This statute has not been enforced for nearly 100 years, Ellsworth said. And I dont believe that this case presents an opportunity for this court to opine on the reach of the statute.

Drug complications

Nearly all the justices asked questions of the three lawyers presenting the case Tuesday about the safety and efficacy of mifepristone.

One recurring question sought to determine when complications from using a pharmaceutical like mifepristone rise to the level where the FDA should pull it from the market.

Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor noted the problem with all drugs is there are complications in virtually all of them.

The reality is, even if there is some increase in emergency room visits, the question of when that rises to a sufficient safety risk is up to the FDA, correct? Sotomayor asked.

Alito raised concerns about who would be in a position to rein in the FDA in the event it flagrantly violated the law, didnt do what it should have done, endangered the health of women.

Prelogar said the FDA takes very seriously its responsibility to ensure the safety of drugs and noted there are other legal avenues besides the Supreme Court.

We have a tort system in this country, and that can help ensure that if there are safety problems that come to pass, the sponsors will take action in reaction to that, Prelogar said. So if the premise here is that unsafe drugs could somehow remain on the market, I think that thats incorrect.

Alito appeared frustrated with some of the arguments in the case. He asked the legal counsel for Danco if the FDA was infallible, asked for information about times the FDA has had to pull approved medications from the market and asked why the FDA didnt continue to require reporting of non-fatal adverse events after making changes to its prescribing guidelines in 2016.

Ellsworth said the FDA decided not to continue that reporting requirement in 2016 based on more than 15 years of a well-established safety profile when that reporting was required.

There is no drug on the market today under any REMS that requires the kind of reporting that the plaintiffs are saying should be reimposed here, Ellsworth said.

Gabriel Chambers, 20, a student from Louisville, Kentucky, who now studies at George Mason University, reads from the far-right Heritage Foundations book Mandate for Leadership: the Conservative Promise outside of the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday, March 26, 2024, as the justices heard oral arguments over access to mifepristone, one of two pharmaceuticals used in medication abortion. Chambers read aloud from a section of the text that presents a roadmap for a conservative administration to oust any policies allowing abortion access. (Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)

Justice Jackson later inquired about the flip side of Alitos question on whether the FDA is infallible, asking if courts have specialized scientific knowledge with respect to pharmaceuticals and whether there should be concerns about judges parsing medical and scientific studies.

Ellsworth responded that pharmaceutical companies have laid out significant concerns in briefs about courts second-guessing or overturning the FDAs scientific judgment.

There are two amicus briefs from the pharmaceutical industry that expand on why exactly thats so concerning for pharmaceutical companies who do depend on FDAs gold standard review process to approve their drugs and then to be able to sell their products in line with that considered judgment, Ellsworth said.

Among those concerns, she said, is that the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruling in this case in 2023, which called for the complete removal of mifepristone from the market, used flawed reasoning.

You have a district court that, among other things, relied on one study that was an analysis of anonymous blog posts, Ellsworth said. You have another set of studies that he relied on that were not in the administrative record and would never be because they post-date the FDA decisions here. They have since been retracted for lack of scientific rigor and for misleading presentations of data.

That is one of the many reasons, she said, the FDA has hundreds of pages of analysis in the record of what the scientific data showed. And courts are just not in a position to parse through and second guess that.

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China vows to further expand high-level opening up for foreign investment

Xinhua) 08:45, March 26, 2024

This aerial photo taken on Sept. 10, 2023 shows a view of Zhangjiang area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone in east China's Shanghai. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

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.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
In this article, we will list the 20 biggest financial mistakes that young adults make. We will begin by discussing the financial advisory service market and credit card and student loan debt in the US. If you want to skip this discussion, visit 7 Biggest Financial Mistakes That Young Adults Make.

According to experts, by the time you reach 30, you should have saved an amount equal to your yearly salary. For some, this target is achievable. However, for those who make financial mistakes as young adults, it becomes increasingly difficult.

Individuals and businesses at all stages need to make sound financial decisions and avoid as many financial mistakes as possible. This is why the financial advisory service market is expected to grow at a rate of 5.3% for the forecast period of 2022 to 2032. It was valued at $94.8 billion in 2022 and will reach $157.7 billion by 2032. Businesses and individuals in this industry give financial services and advice to small and medium-sized businesses and high-networth individuals. In addition, more and more people are looking for alternative investments, which is why financial literacy is becoming quite important.

Companies in the financial services market are some of the largest in the United States. One such is Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS). It is an investment banking and financial services firm that also provides discretionary investment options to its clients. Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) earned a revenue of $54 billion in the past year leading up to September 30th. In the last quarter of the year, Morgan Stanley (Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) reported growth of $13.27 billion in revenue.

The United States is the financial hub of the world with the largest GDP. However, many people in the country still lack financial literacy, the signs of which can be seen in its credit card debt. According to a Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the average credit card debt was on the rise for Americans at least until the second quarter of 2023. The report tells us that credit card balances increased by $45 billion between quarter 1 and quarter 2 of 2023. This amounts to a 4.6% increase in a single quarter. As per the report, cardholders have a total debt of $1.03 trillion.

Story continues

The average balance of credit cards is $5,733 per cardholder. In addition, average credit card interest rates were 20.68% in quarter 2 of 2023. This means that those who pay only the minimum monthly payment on the average $5,733 balance on the credit card end up paying over $1,000 in interest payment. The situation is even worse when we consider the fact that many credit card holders pay their credit card amount in full, so actual balances on credit cards may be higher. The money they will end up paying because of the exorbitant interest rates could have been utilized elsewhere.

Another financial burden on the American economy comes in the form of student loans. Student debt in the country has been piling up over the years, but 2023 saw a decline. Nevertheless, the outstanding Federal student loan is $1.7 trillion, and accounts for almost 93% of all student loan debt. There are currently more than 43 million student loan borrowers, and the average federal student loan debt balance is more than $37,000.

However, The United States government recognizes this situation and sometimes carries out student debt forgiveness schemes. More recently, in January 2024, the Biden Administration approved debt cancellation of 74,000 borrowers. These borrowers include public service workers such as firefighters, nurses, and teachers. Amongst them, 30,000 had been paying back their student loans for at least 20 years.

Taking out student loans and accumulating credit card debt, are part of our list of the 20 biggest financial mistakes that young adults make, although you would have to go through the list to find out where they rank.

20 Biggest Financial Mistakes That Young Adults Make

A customer withdrawing money from an ATM, illustrating the company's widespread availability of accounts.

Methodology

To curate our list of the 20 financial mistakes that young adults make, we went to Reddit and sampled five related threads to read up on real-life experiences of people. We did this instead of sampling the opinions of financial gurus because we learn the best from our mistakes. We noted down each response with a financial mistake along with its upvotes. Then, we categorized these responses into twenty financial mistakes by identifying a common theme. Next, for each category, we summed up the total number of responses to come up with our Insider Monkey Score. The higher this score, the higher the financial mistake ranks in our article. As a tiebreaker, we used the total number of upvotes of the responses in each category.

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.

20 - Driving Under the Influence

Insider Monkey Score - 1

While it might not be that obvious, driving under the influence (DUI) is one of the biggest financial mistakes young adults make. A DUI offense can set you back $10,000. The costs include legal fees, court fines, and car towing expenses. In addition, DUI increases your probability of getting injured, which will lead to additional expenses in the form of medical expenditures and loss of income.

19 - Not Managing University Expenses Efficiently

Insider Monkey Score - 1

Apart from tuition fees, university expenses can take a toll on your overall finances. A University student can be expected to spend up to $50 weekly on books and study materials. A Reddit user notes that buying brand new books for university when second hands were available at a fraction of the cost was their biggest financial mistake.

18 - Reckless Driving

Insider Monkey Score - 1

Reckless driving is one of the biggest financial mistakes that young adults make. In case of an accident, a person can spend thousands on repair and treatment and potentially lose income temporarily or permanently.

17 - Making Bad Career Growth Decisions

Insider Monkey Score - 2

One of the biggest financial mistakes that young adults make is making bad career growth decisions. Some people stay at a certain job for too long with limited learning and monetary increments. On the other hand, others switch their jobs too frequently and lose the trust of potential employers, limiting their career growth in the long term.

16 - Underestimating Child Care Expenses

Insider Monkey Score - 2

Not taking into account or underestimating childcare expenses before starting a family is one of the biggest financial mistakes that young adults make. A high-quality infant childcare costs families $1,300 per month. Many individuals who are not financially ready underestimate this expense and start a family, which can be detrimental to their finances.

15- Paying Only Minimum Credit Card Payment

Insider Monkey Score - 2

Paying only the minimum amount due on credit card balances is one of the biggest financial mistakes that young adults make. By only making the minimum payment, cardholders incur interest charges that increase their balance over time, keeping them in debt for longer. It is also detrimental to the credit score report as credit scoring models consider the credit utilization ratio when calculating the score, making future borrowing more expensive.

14 - Not Setting Up an Emergency Fund

Insider Monkey Score - 2

Not having an adequate emergency fund can leave individuals vulnerable to unexpected financial crises. Major emergencies like job loss or serious medical issues can occur anytime, at which point an adequate emergency fund helps in covering expenses.

13 - Not Choosing The Right Career

Insider Monkey Score - 2

Not choosing the right career is a financial mistake that many people make. Users on Reddit note that an individual should try to find a balance between his interests and the financial potential of the job.

12 - Not Planning For Retirement

Insider Monkey Score - 2

Not planning for retirement is 12th on our list of the 20 biggest financial mistakes that young adults make. Users on Reddit note that young adults do not care about their retirement and, therefore, do not think about setting up their retirement portfolio until it's too late.

11 - Spending Too Much on Clothing

Insider Monkey Score - 2

Clothing expenses can take a toll on an individual's finances. Many Reddit users note that young adults often buy overpriced clothing, which they later regret,

10 - Not Budgeting Enough

Insider Monkey Score - 3

Failing to budget is one of the top 10 financial mistakes that young adults make. It helps in tracking expenses, so it is easier to control unwanted expenditures and invest the money for a return.

9 - Indulging in Gambling

Insider Monkey Score - 3

Indulging in gambling is one of the biggest financial mistakes that young adults make. Research indicates that young adults are vulnerable to the negative consequences of gambling, including addiction.

8 - Not Opting For Employee Share Program

Insider Monkey Score - 4

Not opting for an employee share program is one of the biggest financial mistakes that young adults make. This is particularly true for companies that allow the employee to lock in a price to purchase their shares in the future.

Click to continue reading and see the Top 7 Biggest Financial Mistakes That Young Adults Make.

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Disclosure: none. 20 Biggest Financial Mistakes That Young Adults Make is originally published on Insider Monkey
Editor's note: This is a breaking story and will continue to be updated.

President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov on March 26.

The decision was announced on the Presidential Offices official website.

Danilov has served in the position since Oct. 3, 2019, shortly after the beginning of Zelensky's term in office.

"I am grateful to fate for giving me the opportunity to serve my country and my people in times of peace and war! I thank Ukraine's president for his trust," Danilov wrote on Facebook, without revealing the reasons for his dismissal.

In the 1990s, Danilov was the mayor of now occupied Luhansk and later became the Luhansk Oblast governor. In 2006, he was elected to Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, as a member of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc.

The National Security and Defense Council is a body that coordinates and controls the activities of executive authorities in the field of Ukraine's national security and defense, and its decisions are enacted by presidential decrees.

Since 2021, the National Security and Defense Council has been actively used as a tool for imposing sanctions. For over three years, this list has included hundreds of entities and individuals, including a number of high-profile pro-Kremlin Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians.

One of the controversial initiatives of the National Security and Defense Council during Danilov's tenure was the national register of oligarchs. President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a law in 2021 that established the legal definition of an oligarch, in order to list these individuals and limit their influence.

In late September 2023, the government decided to postpone the launch of the register of oligarchs until three months after the end of martial law following the recommendations of the Venice Commission, an advisory body to the Council of Europe, with no person in Ukraine officially included in this list.

Read also: Ukraine imposes sanctions on petty pro-Russian politicians, yet ignores most high-profile ones

After Russia's full-scale invasion, Danilov assured that Ukraine had been preparing for war since 2019, but did not expect a "simultaneous attack from all sides."

There was no reason given for Danilov's dismissal at the time of this publication.

The Kyiv Independent reached out to the Presidential Office for a comment, but has not received a response.

In the evening address, Zelensky thanked Danilov for his work.

"He is being transferred to another direction," the president said, promising to reveal details later.

Danilov will be replaced by the current chief of the Foreign Intelligence Service, Oleksandr Lytvynenko.

Lytvynenko has headed the Foreign Intelligence Service since July 2021. Prior to this, he was director of the National Institute for Strategic Studies between 2019 and 2021.

Between 2014 and 2019, Lytvynenko held the position of the deputy secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.

Oleh Ivashchenko, a former deputy head of Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR), was appointed as the new head of Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service.

"I look forward to strengthening the strategic capabilities of our state to predict and influence the processes on which the country's national security depends," Zelensky said, commenting on the reshuffle.

Earlier, Zelensky said that a reset of Ukraine's leadership was necessary and could involve several personnel shakeups beyond the military.

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
FILE PHOTO: Smoke rises above a high-voltage power line after a Russian missile strike outside Kharkiv in Ukraineside Kharkiv

By Pavel Polityuk

KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine's daily electricity imports will reach their highest this year on Tuesday after a series of Russian missile strikes on critical infrastructure caused blackouts in many regions, the energy ministry said.

The attacks, the biggest of which came on Friday, have caused major damage to generating and transmission facilities, forcing Kyiv to halt power exports.

Power imports are expected to reach 18,649 megawatt hours (MWh) on Tuesday, up from 14,900 MWh on Sunday, the ministry said in a statement.

By contrast, Ukraine had exported 3,300 MWh the day before the first wave of Russian attacks on March 22.

Ukraine has been connected to the European Union's united grid since the first weeks of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. The imports come from Romania, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and Moldova, the Ukrenergo grid operator told Reuters.

Ukraine, which has an extensive civilian nuclear energy sector, was a net exporter of power before the invasion and subsequent Russian occupation of Europe's largest nuclear power plant.

'SERIOUS DAMAGE'

In the northeastern border city of Kharkiv and parts of southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, 200,000 residents have gone without electricity since last Friday's attacks.

"Very serious damage to the power system makes it impossible to connect all people and houses to the grid and there are parts of the city where blackouts last 4-6 hours," Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov told state television.

"Today underground transport is already working, however ... (other) electric transport is not working today in Kharkiv," he said.

Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, head of Ukrenergo, which operates Ukraine's transmission lines, told a televised news briefing in Kharkiv the company had a plan to restore power supply.

"It's still hard to guarantee any timeline, but we're talking about a period of 7-10 days, maybe two weeks when we can restore normal power supplies to the city. Provided there is no new destruction," he said.

Emergency power outages have also been introduced in Ukraine's Black Sea port city of Odesa.

Deputy Odesa governor Serhiy Kropyva told national television 23,000 residents were without electricity as of Tuesday noon while "the transport system was almost completely restored."

He said the maritime Black Sea transport corridor continued to function despite the attacks.

"Ships leave periodically from all ports located on the territory of the Odesa region," Kropyva said.

Moscow has said that Ukrainian power facilities are legitimate targets and such attacks are aimed at weakening Kyiv's military.

It says the latest strikes are retaliation for Ukrainian attacks that overshadowed the re-election of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

(Reporting by Pavel PolityukEditing by Tom Balmforth, David Goodman, Chizu Nomiyama, Estelle Shirbon, Alexandra Hudson)
In this article, we will be taking a look at the 20 biggest health care companies in Australia, 2024. If you do not want to learn about the global healthcare market, head straight to the 5 Biggest Health Care Companies in Australia, 2024.

In 2024, Australia's healthcare landscape will be dominated by a myriad of companies striving to innovate and provide essential services to its citizens. Among these, several stand out as the biggest players, shaping the industry's trajectory and impacting millions of lives across the continent. From pharmaceutical giants to cutting-edge medical technology firms, Australia's healthcare sector boasts a diverse array of companies vying for prominence in delivering quality care and advancing medical advancements.

Transformations in the Global Healthcare Market

The global healthcare market is undergoing significant transformations driven by various trends such as innovation, sustainability, and technology adoption. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of new technologies and care delivery models, emphasizing sustainability and resiliency in healthcare systems worldwide. This shift has permanently altered the landscape of healthcare practices, leading to a fundamental change in how healthcare is perceived and delivered globally.

According to a report, the global healthcare service market is expected to reach $21.6 trillion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 8.27% from 2023 to 2030. In terms of healthcare technology, the global digital health market is forecasted to reach $511 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 27.7% from 2019 to 2026. This growth is primarily driven by factors such as the increasing adoption of smart devices, the rise in demand for personalized healthcare, and the need for remote patient monitoring.

Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the global healthcare market, including the adoption of telehealth services, which have seen a tremendous surge in demand. A report by McKinsey & Company estimates that up to $250 billion of current U.S. healthcare spending could potentially be virtualized, leading to significant cost savings and improved access to care.

Story continues

Australia boasts a high-quality and innovative healthcare system valued at over $250 billion, home to more than 2,600 organizations. The country's healthcare sector is renowned for its world-class medical research institutions, universities, hospitals, and life science companies. Australia's life sciences sector is one of the largest in the southern hemisphere, supported by a robust medical research sector that drives innovation and excellence in healthcare services. The Australian healthcare market is characterized by a strong emphasis on universal and affordable access to high-quality medical, pharmaceutical, and hospital services. Notably, Australia's medical industry heavily relies on imports, with the United States being a significant supplier of medical equipment followed by China and Germany.

Leading Health Care Corporations Driving Innovation in Australia Global Health (ASX: GLH) stands out as a prominent player in driving innovation within Australia's healthcare sector. Since 1991, Global Health has been developing enterprise healthcare software for both private and public sector clients. Their focus on a Connected Health Record empowers clinicians with timely access to critical patient information, enhancing decision-making processes for better patient outcomes. With over 2,000 healthcare organizations utilizing their applications, Global Health prioritizes putting consumers at the center of care delivery through patient-focused SaaS solutions. The company's leadership team is dedicated to health-tech innovation, offering a range of software tools that facilitate active patient involvement in their healthcare journey.

Several leading global healthcare companies, including Johnson & Johnson, Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD), Abbott Laboratories, and Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK), are actively engaged in advancing healthcare solutions in Australia.

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD), a leading biopharmaceutical company with over 35 years of healthcare innovation, is dedicated to discovering and commercializing groundbreaking medicines for global health challenges. Notable contributions include advancements in HIV, viral hepatitis, COVID-19, and cancer treatments. Operating in Australia since 1999, Gilead focuses on ensuring access to treatments for diseases like HIV, hepatitis B and C, and COVID-19. Recently, Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) pledged $6 million USD to address health disparities in Australian and Canadian Indigenous communities, particularly in HIV and viral hepatitis. Financially, despite a 1% revenue decrease in 2023, excluding Veklury, product sales increased by 7%, with notable growth in Biktarvy and Oncology sales.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) known as Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) outside the US and Canada, boasts a rich history of over 130 years in developing crucial medicines and vaccines for human and animal health. Renowned for its commitment to science and innovation, Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) is a global leader in healthcare, with a focus on therapeutic areas such as fertility, neurology, oncology, and immuno-oncology. Operating in Australia under Merck Healthcare Pty Ltd, the company contributes significantly to advancements in medicine and patient care. Despite a sharp fall in adjusted earnings in Q4 2023, Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) reported a net loss of $1.23 billion, with worldwide sales increasing by 6% to $14.6 billion, driven by growth in oncology and vaccines. CEO Robert Davis expressed confidence in the company's forward momentum and the dedication of its global team.

Australia's healthcare spending reflects a commitment to providing quality care to its population. With a GDP of USD 1.55 trillion and a population of 26,627,935, Australia invests significantly in its healthcare system to ensure universal access to high-quality medical services. The country's mature market for medical equipment demands state-of-the-art technology to address prevalent chronic conditions like cancer, cardiovascular diseases, mental health disorders, and injuries. Notably, Australians enjoy one of the highest life expectancies globally due to the country's focus on advanced medical treatments and quality care delivery. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare highlights key disease groups that contribute significantly to the burden of disease in Australia, emphasizing the importance of ongoing advancements in healthcare technology and services to address these challenges effectively.

20 Biggest Health Care Companies in Australia, 2024

A healthcare professional in a meeting with a patient discussing care options using digital technology.

Our Methodology

For our methodology, we have ranked the biggest healthcare companies in Australia, 2024 based on their current market caps in USD.

Here is our list of the 20 biggest healthcare companies in Australia, 2024.

20. Imugene Limited

Market Cap: $576.32 million

Imugene Limited, founded in 1986, is a leading Sydney-based immuno-oncology company dedicated to developing innovative cancer treatments. Their flagship product, HER-Vaxx, targets HER2-positive cancers, promising improved outcomes for patients. Imugene's portfolio also includes PD1-Vaxx and CF33, showcasing their commitment to diverse immunotherapies. In Q1 2024, the company achieved a major milestone with the initiation of the Phase 1 onCARlytics Trial, solidifying its position as a key player in advancing cancer treatment.

19. Nanosonics Limited

Market Cap: $525.57 million

Nanosonics Limited, founded in 2001, specializes in infection prevention technologies. Their flagship product, the trophon ultrasound probe disinfector, along with related accessories, enhances infection control in healthcare settings. Noteworthy innovations like Trophon2 and Trophon EPR have revolutionized high-level disinfection practices. In Q4 2023, Nanosonics reported a 35% revenue growth to $81.6 million, driven by improved pricing and increased unit placements.

18. Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals Limited

Market Cap: $451.37 million

Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals Limited, a leading specialty pharmaceutical company, focuses on developing and commercializing treatments for genetic, metabolic, and acute disorders. Their flagship drug candidate, SCENESSE, targets erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP), a rare genetic disorder. With a pipeline including innovative treatments like PRENUMBRA and CUV9900, Clinuvel addresses critical unmet medical needs, emphasizing improved patient outcomes. In 2023, the company reported revenues of A$83.0 million, showcasing its strong performance and dedication to healthcare advancement.

17. Clarity Pharmaceuticals Ltd

Market Cap: $486.901 million

Clarity Pharmaceuticals Ltd, one of the biggest health care companies in Australia, 2024, focuses on developing innovative products to meet the growing demand in oncology. Led by seasoned professionals like Michelle and Dr. Alan Taylor, the company specializes in SAR Technology-based theranostic products, particularly copper isotopes, enhancing imaging and therapeutic capabilities. In Q4 2023, Clarity reported an 8% revenue increase to $3.4 billion, driven by strong organic growth, particularly in Asia-Pacific markets.

16. Regis Healthcare Limited

Market Cap: $788 million

Regis Healthcare Limited, one of the top healthcare companies in Australia, operates residential aged-care facilities and retirement villages nationwide, serving approximately 7,600 individuals. With a workforce of around 8,650 employees, the company offers services like aging-in-place, dementia care, and palliative care, contributing significantly to the well-being of older Australians. In Q4 FY23, Regis reported increased care minutes, a net profit after tax of 93.5%, and a final dividend of 7.48 cents.

15. Healius Limited

Market Cap: $600.48 million

Healius Limited, formerly known as Primary Health Care Ltd, is a leading healthcare company in Australia. The company's contributions include diagnostic imaging, pathology services, and healthcare technology solutions, with approximately 75% of revenue coming from pathology and 25% from diagnostic imaging. Recent events include a takeover offer from Australian Clinical Labs, the sale of Montserrat Day Hospitals, and an agreement with ExciteIT to roll out VoIP Telephony in healthcare facilities across Australia.

14. Sigma Healthcare Limited

Market Cap: $1.274 billion

Sigma Healthcare Limited, established in 1999, is one of the biggest health care companies in Australia, 2024, specializing in the wholesale distribution of pharmaceutical goods and medical consumables under brands like Amcal and Guardian. Their services include dispensary programs, e-prescription support, and team training, enhancing healthcare professionals' skills. Key initiatives like the LEAPP dispensary program and PSS sleep apnoea program reflect their commitment to quality care. In Q4 2023, sales revenue decreased by 9.2%, but net profit after tax increased by 75.5%

13. Ansell Limited

Market Cap: $1.905 billion

Ansell Limited, a top Australian healthcare company, specializes in manufacturing and selling hand and body protection products globally. Their extensive range of medical gloves and protective products caters to healthcare professionals, industrial workers, and consumers. Key highlights from their Q4 2023 financial report include mixed healthcare sales trends, impacts of destocking in Surgical and Life Sciences, foreign exchange effects on EBIT, and plans for an on-market share buyback program worth up to $50 million in FY24.

12. Neuren Pharmaceuticals Limited

Market Cap: $1.70 billion

Neuren Pharmaceuticals Limited, a leading Australian healthcare company, specializes in developing innovative therapies for neurodevelopmental disorders. Their FDA-approved drug, DAYBUE (trofinetide), is a breakthrough treatment for Rett syndrome. Additionally, their product NNZ-2591 shows promise in treating various syndromes. Key highlights from their Q4 2023 financial report include strong cash reserves of A$229 million, DAYBUE achieving net sales of US$87.1 million.

11. Ramsay Health Care Limited

Market Cap: $8.22 billion

Ramsay Health Care Limited, established in Australia in 1964, is the largest private hospital operator in the country, with over 70 hospitals and clinics nationwide. Renowned for its commitment to quality and patient care, Ramsay operates more than 570 healthcare facilities globally. In Australia, the company partners with over 550 researchers and has pioneered initiatives like the first Vaping Cessation Clinic. In the first half of FY2024, Ramsay reported robust revenue of A$8,159.3m and EBITDA of A$1,043.5m for the consolidated group, demonstrating continued growth and strong performance.

10. Sonic Healthcare Limited

Market Cap: $9.88 billion

Sonic Healthcare Limited is one of the biggest health care companies in Australia, 2024, offering medical diagnostic and administrative services across multiple countries. With approximately 38,000 employees, Sonic operates in various regions including Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Switzerland, the UK, Belgium, Ireland, and the United States. Their diagnostic services play a crucial role in disease diagnosis, treatment monitoring, and patient care globally. In Q4 2023, Sonic reported a net profit of A$685 million on revenues of A$8.2 billion for the 2023 financial year, reflecting its strong performance and commitment to quality healthcare.

9. Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corporation Limited

Market Cap: $9.12 billion

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corporation Limited, renowned for innovation in respiratory and acute care, reported Q4 2023 total operating revenue of $1.58 billion, down 6% from the previous year. Net profit after tax was $250.3 million, a 34% decline. Despite a 15% drop in Hospital product revenue, Homecare product revenue surged to a record $553.8 million, up 18%.

8. Summerset Group Holdings Limited

Market Cap: $4.24 billion

Summerset Group Holdings Limited specializes in designing, constructing, and operating retirement villages and care centers. With 38 villages serving over 7,400 residents, Summerset offers various living options and care services, including independent living and nursing care. Revenue for the full year amounted to NZD 713.76 million, a notable increase from NZD 507.47 million the previous year, with net income rising substantially to NZD 436.32 million.

7. Polynovo Limited

Market Cap: $2.16 billion

PolyNovo Limited, a top Australian healthcare company, renowned for its innovative medical devices utilizing patented bioabsorbable polymer technology Novosorb. Their flagship product, NovoSorb BTM, revolutionizes reconstructive surgery and tissue repair, with FDA clearance and significant funding for trials in full-thickness burns. With approximately 150 employees. Q4 2023 revenues totaled 47,426 (in NOK 1,000), with inventory including raw materials, finished goods, and spare parts equipment.

6. Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited

Market Cap: $2.655 billion

Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited standing sixth among the biggest health care companies in Australia, 2024, specializes in diagnostic and therapeutic products for oncology and rare diseases. Their theranostic approach combines diagnostics and therapeutics for personalized treatment. Lead programs include TLX591-CDx for prostate cancer, TLX250-CDx/TLX250 for renal cancer, and TLX101-CDx/TLX101 for glioblastoma. Q4 2023 financial highlights include total group revenue of $220.8M, a nine-fold increase from H1 2022, reduced net loss after tax by 80% to $14.3M, and Adjusted EBITDAR of $82.4M.

Click to see and continue reading the 5 Biggest Healthcare Companies in Australia, 2024.

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Disclosure. None: The 20 biggest healthcare companies in Australia, 2024 isoriginally published on Insider Monkey.
Rescuers search a destroyed building following a missile attack by the Russian army on Kiev. -/Ukrinform/dpa

Ukraine repelled a dozen Russian combat drones overnight, officials reported on Tuesday morning.

All 12 drones were shot down, Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk wrote on Telegram.

Eight of the missiles were fired at the eastern Kharkiv region, said the mayor of the city of Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov.

There were also reports of night-time rocket attacks. However, nothing was initially known about possible casualties or damage.

Meanwhile, the Russian border region of Belgorod also reported shelling. According to Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, three people were injured.

Attacks on Belgorod have become more frequent in recent weeks. Despite this, the number of casualties and damage on Russian territory are still on a much smaller scale compared to the consequences of the war on the Ukrainian side.

Rescuers search a destroyed building following a missile attack by the Russian army on Kiev. -/Ukrinform/dpa
Editors Note: This is issue 124 of Ukrainian State-Owned Enterprises Weekly, covering events from March 16-22, 2024. The Kyiv Independent is reposting it with permission.

Corporate governance of SOEs

Corporate governance, privatization, and state-owned banks non-performing loans prioritized in the governments Ukraine Facility reform plan for 2024-2027. On March 18, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal reported that the Cabinet approved a reform plan for the 50-billion-euro Ukraine Facility program. In 2024, Ukraine would receive about 16 billion euros under that program, he added.

On March 20, Shmyhal handed the plan over to President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. Ukraine expects it to be endorsed by a committee of EU member states in April 2024. After that, the new funding instrument would finally enter into force, Shmyhal said.

According to the Cabinet, the plan has 70 categories, including structural reforms in the public sector and economic reforms to develop the business climate and entrepreneurship.

In what follows, we focus on the proposed reforms in the financial markets, given the dominance of state-owned banks in the banking sector, and the management of public assets.

Financial markets

Reform 1. Assessment of the banking sector

Publication of the Resilience Assessment of the largest banks in the banking system (in terms of assets) (Q1 2026).

Reform 2. Reducing state ownership in the banking sector

Entry into force of the legislation on the principles for the sale of state-owned banks (Q1 2026).

In effect, this suggests that the government does not intend to privatize state-owned banks before mid-2026 (see also our comments below).

According to the updated IMF Memorandum (see below), in preparation for the privatization of state-owned banks, the Finance Ministry, in consultation with the National Bank of Ukraine and international financial institutions, is reviewing and updating the 2012 draft law on privatization of state-owned banks and will submit it to parliament by end-March 2024.

Adoption of a strategy for the gradual reduction of state ownership in the banking sector (Q2 2026).

Read also: EU moves toward plan to use profits from frozen Russian assets for arms for Ukraine

In effect, this suggests that the government does not intend to privatize state-owned banks before mid-2026.

According to the updated IMF Memorandum (see below), the Finance Ministry must appoint an internationally recognized financial advisor by the end of May 2024 to prepare two systemic state-owned banks  Sense Bank and Ukrgasbank  for sale.

As we reported in Issue 116, on Jan. 24, Yuriy Draganchuk, deputy finance minister, told Ekonomichna Pravda (EP) that late last year, foreign investors expressed interest in acquitting two Ukrainian state-owned banks, Ukrgasbank and Sense Bank. See Issues 116 and 119 for more detail.

As we wrote in Issue 120, according to the Cabinets Priority Action Plan for 2024, the Finance Ministry has until December to develop and submit a law on authorized capital, with the goal of reducing the governments stake in the sector.

Reform 3: Improved resolution of non-performing loans (NPLs)

Adoption of a strategy for the resolution of non-performing loans (Q2 2025).

Entry into force of the legislation to improve the resolution of non-performing loans (Q1 2026).

Management of public assets

Note that the governments proposed scope of public asset management reform is restricted to SOEs, while the definition of a public asset is broader, typically including real estate, infrastructure, land, and natural resources.

Reform 1. Adopting a state ownership policy

Adoption of a state ownership policy and triage of SOEs (Q4 2024).

The deadline coincides with the deadline for a similar commitment in the updated IMF Memorandum.

Reform 2. Improved governance and management of SOEs

Entry into force of the law on the corporate governance of SOEs (Q2 2024).

This long-awaited law aligning the SOE corporate governance framework with the OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of SOEs had been commonly known as Draft Law No. 5593-d. For detail on the improved legal framework for SOEs introduced by the law, see Issue 120.

As we wrote in Issue 122, on March 5, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed this law. The law was then published on March 8 and has, therefore, already entered into force.

Appointment of supervisory boards with a majority of independent members in at least 15 SOEs from the list of top SOEs approved by the Cabinet of Ministers protocol decision (Q2 2026).

Read also: Shmyhal: Ukraine receives $880 million from IMF

It is unclear whether the reform plan refers to the previously adopted Protocol Decision No. 62 dated July, 29 2020, regarding the enhancement of corporate governance in the top 15 SOEs, or a new decision is to be made, approving a new list. The reform plan itself does not list the top 15 SOEs.

Corporatization of at least 15 SOEs from the list of top SOEs approved by the Cabinet of Ministers protocol decision (Q3 2026).

Same as above: It is unclear whether the reform plan refers to Protocol Decision No. 62 dated 29 July 2020, or a new decision to be made.

Note that 11 SOEs out of the top 15 listed in Protocol Decision No. 62 have already been corporatized.

Entry into force of the legislation on consolidated SOE management entities (Q4 2027).

We are not aware of the legislation that is meant by this.

Reform 3. Separation of accounts with and without PSOs

Adoption of a roadmap on the separation of public service obligation (PSO) and non-PSO activities (Q1 2025).

The roadmap refers to SOEs, although public service obligations are generally not SOE-specific. See also our comments below.

Assessment, revision, and passage of a law separating PSO and non-PSO activities (Q3 2025).

Independent audit report confirming the separation of PSO and non-PSO activities (Q3 2027).

Reform 4. Improved state aid control framework

Cancellation of the suspension of state aid control and harmonization of the state aid law with the EU acquis (Q3 2025).

The application of the Law on State Aid was suspended for the duration of martial law in Ukraine.

The reform plan indicates that PSOs are equivalent to Services of General Economic Interest (SGEI) in the EU. Note that SGEI may in principle be provided by any entity, irrespective of its ownership, and they are thus not SOE-specific.

Moreover, the EU law sets the framework that generally compels a competitive bidding among service providers willing to perform SGEI. In Ukraine, services of general economic interest are defined by the Law on State Aid and are also not SOE-specific.

In that respect, a staid aid reform would be better placed under Public Financial Management or Business Environment," and PSO reforms, under respective key sectors (such as Energy or Transport) rather than under a category dealing with SOEs.

Read also: FT: Ukraine may get 3 billion euros from frozen Russian assets in summer

Note also that the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine is not listed among the implementers of Reforms 3 and 4, Separation of accounts with PSOs and Improved state aid control framework."

Updated IMF Memorandum. On March 22, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published an updated Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies after its third review under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for Ukraine.

Ukraines key SOE-related commitments include:

By the end of May 2024, the Finance Ministry must appoint an internationally recognized financial advisor to prepare two systemic state-owned banks  Sense Bank and Ukrgasbank  for sale.

In preparation for the privatization of state-owned banks, the Finance Ministry, in consultation with the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) and international financial institutions, is reviewing and updating the 2012 draft law on privatization of state-owned banks and must submit it to parliament by end-March 2024.

All systemic banks with majority state ownership will fall under the responsibility of the Finance Ministry, and any non-systemic banks that come under state ownership will not be recapitalized using fiscal resources and will be transferred to the Individuals Deposit Guarantee Fund (DGF) for resolution upon breach of prudential requirements (modified Continuous Structural Benchmark).

This structural benchmark was added in December 2023 after the IMFs second review under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for Ukraine. See Issue 117 for more detail.

Its modification includes the prohibition of recapitalizing non-systemic banks with fiscal resources and the obligation to transfer them for resolution upon violation of prudential requirements.

The authorities will produce an SOE ownership policy, dividend policy, and privatization strategy by end-October 2024 (Structural Benchmark, reset from end-August 2024).

The authorities will identify major SOEs severely affected by the war and prepare a review of potential fiscal and quasi-fiscal costs (Structural Benchmark, end-September 2024).

The DGF, Finance Ministry, and NBU will prepare a bank rehabilitation framework in consultation with IMF staff (Structural Benchmark, end-December 2024).

Energy sector

Ukraine faces the largest Russian missile and drone attack on its energy facilities; Ukrenergo, Energoatom, and Naftogaz hit. On March 22, Ukrenergo reported that Russia launched another missile attack on Ukraines energy infrastructure.

Russias attack came on the night of 21-22 March 2024. According to Ukrenergos CEO Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, this attack was the largest ever, characterised by the use of combined weapons.

According to Ekonomichna Pravda (EP), Russian forces fired more than 63 Shahed kamikaze drones and almost 88 missiles of various types. Ukraines Air Defense Forces managed to destroy 55 kamikaze drones and 37 missiles. That is, at least 50 missiles and 8 drones could have hit targets.

The attack was carried out in different regions of Ukraine, against thermal and hydroelectric power plants, as well as against main substations operated by Ukrenergo, Kudrytskyi added.

Read also: Russia aims to knock out Ukraines power grid in new wave of attacks

Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko added that the attack was aimed at causing a large-scale disruption to the countrys energy system. Although consumers in 12 oblasts felt the impact of the attack (Kharkiv, Odesa, and Khmelnytskyi oblasts were the most affected), the Russians did not achieve their main goal of black-out, the minister said. On March 23, he reported that critical infrastructure had already been powered in all regions, and restoration work was ongoing.

Energoatom reported that on March 22, the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant was once again on the verge of black-out due to a missile attack. Later, Ukrainian power engineers restored the power line to the plant.

Naftogaz Group also reported damage to its facilities due to the attack.

According to EPs source in the Cabinet, the consequences of the latest attack are very large-scale." The main thing is that the power grid has not lost its integrity, but in many regions the damage to generation and distribution facilities is very serious, he said.

A representative of a state-owned energy company told EP that the Russians had knocked out about 2,000 MW of generation during the attack, of which 1,500 MW was covered by emergency aid.

We managed to avoid a black-out, but if such attacks continue in the future, a systemic failure is likely. Its no secret that we are running out of missiles for our air defense systems due to the delay in U.S. military aid. Whether Ukraine would have another systemic failure depends directly on our Western partners, the EP's source in the Cabinet summed up.

Dnipro HPP hit by eight Russian missiles, does not generate electricity. Russian missiles attacked the largest hydroelectric power plant (HPP) in Ukraine, the Dnipro HPP in Zaporizhzhia, Ukrhydroenergo reported early in the morning of March 22. The situation at the plants dam was under control, the company said.

Later, Ukrhydroenergos CEO Ihor Syrota reported that HPP-1 and HPP-2 of Dnipro HPP did not work. Two missiles hit the Dnipro HPP-2 directly. The missiles hit the backbone. The crane beams were broken, he said. According to Yuriy Belousov of the Prosecutor Generals Office, Russian missiles hit the Dnipro HPP eight times that night.

According to the State Environmental Inspectorate of Ukraine, the attack on the Dnipro HPP caused oil products to leak into the Dnipro.

Read also: With arrival of spring, a look at Russias winter strikes on Kyiv

Later, Dnipro HPP managed to launch some of the equipment, but the plant was not yet generating electricity.

Syrota also stressed that the inadequate response of the international community to the Kakhovka HPP disaster led to the current situation with the Dnipro HPP. If there had been rational decisions and sanctions imposed by the international community, Russian occupiers would not have dared to fire missiles at our hydroelectric facilities again, he said.

As we wrote in Issue 91, on June 6, 2023, Ukrhydroenergo reported that the Kakhovka HPP was destroyed beyond restoration after the Russians set off a massive explosion in the engine room. See Issue 91 for more detail.

Later, Syrota said that all Dnipro HPPs employees were alive. According to him, Ukrhydroenergo is currently trying to analyze the situation. A full assessment and examination would take about three days.

There is no threat of a dam breach. There is some surface damage, but the dam itself is intact, he also said.

Part of the ceiling and walls in the engine room collapsed. The plant will need to restore electrical equipment and hydraulic units. Everything will be restored, its just a matter of time," Syrota added.

On the evening of March 22, passenger car traffic, which had been suspended after the attack, resumed at the Dnipro HPP dam.

Syrota also noted that Ukrhydroenergo has an important function of covering the difference in electricity tariffs for households. Because a lot of equipment must be repaired, that function is now under threat, he stressed.

On Macrh 23, Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko said that the situation at Dnipro HPP was difficult. The aftermath of the attack was being mitigated, after which the time required for restoration work would be assessed, he said.

Confiscation of Russian assets, nationalization, and asset seizure

Ukrnafta and ARMA sign acts of acceptance for the transfer of Glusco assets; the minimum monthly guaranteed payment for Ukrnafta increased to Hr 7 million. On March 15, Ukrnafta and the Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA) announced the signing of acceptance certificates for the transfer of the seized Glusco chain assets.

Ukrnafta receives the seized corporate rights of enterprises, real estate in the form of petrol stations, as well as land plots, oil depots, and other assets, the company said.

ARMA also changed the terms of the management agreement. The state would now receive 90% of the net profit instead of 85% agreed earlier; the other 10% is the management fee. At the same time, the minimum monthly guaranteed payment to be paid by Ukrnafta regardless of profit has been increased from Hr 5 million ($127,000) to Hr 7 million ($178,000).

ARMA terminated its petrol station management agreement with Naftogaz Oil Trading on Aug. 3, 2023. The Agency reported on Aug. 8, 2023 that the Energy Ministry supported its proposal to transfer the Glusco network to the management of Ukrnafta under a special procedure. See Issue 99 for detail.

In September 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers decided to place the Glusco chain under Ukrnaftas management. Under the management agreement, Ukrnafta had to pay at least Hr 5 million per month, regardless of financial results, and 85% of profits from managing Gluscos assets into the state treasury, ARMA then stated. See Issue 102 for detail.

On Jan. 9, ARMA accused Ukrnafta of failing to comply with the conditions and initiated the cancellation of the Cabinets decision. Later, as we reported in Issue 117, ARMA agreed to let Ukrnafta manage Glusco after Ukrnafta paid Hr 21 million ($535,000) to the state budget as a guaranteed payment under the management agreement.

As we wrote in Issue 123, on March 14, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine allowed Ukrnafta to take over the management of Gluscos assets.

For more detail, see our Issues 99, 100, 102, 117, and 123.

Mykolaiv Alumina Plant, previously owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, under state management. On March 20, the State Property Fund announced that the Mykolaiv Alumina Plants nationalization was now complete. According to YouControl, SPFU now is the sole owner of the company.

One of the largest non-ferrous metallurgy companies in Europe, it has not been in operation since 2022.

In SOE Weekly Issue 70, we reported that the Justice Ministry filed a lawsuit with the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC), seeking to seize assets belonging to Deripaska.

According to the ministry, Deripaskas Rusal group, one of the worlds largest aluminum producers, supplied aluminum products to Russias defense industry, which used them to produce weapons and ammunition.

Some of these aluminum products were made of raw materials of Ukrainian origin, produced by Mykolaiv Alumina Plant LLC. See Issue 70 for detail.

As we reported in Issue 73, on Jan. 30, 2023, the Prosecutor Generals Office (PGO) announced the seizure of Hr 32 million of the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant.

Read also: Austrian chancellor opposes profits from frozen Russian assets being used to buy weapons for Ukraine

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Ukraine carried out a massive attack on Russia's Black Sea Fleet over the weekend.

Days later, Kyiv revealed that it struck the Konstantin Olshansky landing ship with a missile.

Russian forces stole this vessel from Ukraine a decade ago during the annexation of Crimea.

Ukraine fired a missile at the warship that Russia stole from the country a decade ago, Kyiv revealed, offering new details about a large attack on Moscow's Black Sea Fleet that unfolded over the weekend.

The Ukrainian defense ministry said on Tuesday that its forces used a homemade Neptune anti-ship missile to strike the Konstantin Olshansky. Russia had seized this decades-old landing ship, alongside much of Kyiv's navy, during its 2014 illegal annexation of the Crimean peninsula.

"Justice has been restored," the Ukrainian defense ministry wrote on social media.

For years, the Konstantin Olshansky was moored in southwestern Crimea's Sevastopol Bay as Russia dismantled it for parts, Ukrainian Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk said on Tuesday. But Moscow eventually decided to restore the ship because it ran out of its own landing vessels.

Ukrainian sailors leave the Konstantin Olshansky navy ship in the bay of Donuzlav, Crimea, on March 24, 2014. AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin

Russia was planning to use the Konstantin Olshansky against Ukraine, Pletenchuk and Kyiv's defense ministry said.

"Therefore, it was decided to hit this vessel with our Neptune," Pletenchuk said, according to the Ukrainska Pravda newspaper. "It was definitely damaged. In any case, it is not combat-ready now."

The R-360 Neptune is a subsonic, long-range cruise missile designed by the Kyiv-based Luch Design Bureau. Ukraine has reportedly been working on an upgraded version of the munition, which has been used in the past to hit high-value Russian targets including the guided missile cruiser Moskva that was the Black Sea Fleet's flagship.

Ukraine on Sunday confirmed that it launched a huge missile attack on the port city of Sevastopol, home to the Black Sea Fleet, during the previous night, hitting two Ropucha-class landing ships, a naval communications center, and infrastructure facilities. Kyiv also revealed on Tuesday that it struck the Ivan Khurs reconnaissance ship, in addition to the Konstantin Olshansky.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's "continued illegal occupation of Ukraine is exacting a massive cost on Russia's Black Sea Fleet," UK Defense Minister Grant Shapps wrote on social media after the attack, calling the fleet "functionally inactive."

A test of a Neptune missile in April 2020. General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Indeed, Ukraine has compensated for its lack of a proper navy by using long-range cruise missiles  specifically, Western-provided Storm Shadow/SCALP-EG variants  and locally produced exploding naval drones to wreak havoc on the Black Sea Fleet.

Throughout the full-scale conflict, Ukraine has relied on this asymmetric style of warfare to take out roughly a third of the Black Sea Fleet, force some of Moscow's warships to relocate away from vulnerable Crimea and closer to mainland Russia, in the process opening up a maritime corridor for the grain exports crucial to its economy.

"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," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an address to the nation on Sunday.

"This is a difficult task, but our warriors are completing it step by step," he added. "Everyone sees it."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Ukraine is using a network of thousands of mobile phones deployed across the country to track incoming drones and missiles.

The project, which Ukrainian sources have said is too secretive to discuss in detail, was disclosed by the US Air Forces most senior officer in Europe at a recent event.

General James Hecker, head of US Air Forces in Europe, described the most simplistic acoustic sensors as a network of thousands of mobile phones attached to 6ft poles.

Kyivs national air defence command and control network, known as Virazh, relies on at least 40 separate kinds of sensor networks to detect, track and identify airborne threats.

The acoustic sensors gather uncharacteristic sounds from the environment before artificial intelligence is used to establish whether anomalies are incoming kamikaze drones or missiles.

Dr Thomas Withington, an expert in air defence at the Royal United Services Institute said: Its interesting that this technology is making a comeback because it was all the rage before the invention of the radar in the 1920s and 1930s

History, in a sense, comes full circle, but with the adaptation of the technological age that we have today.

The most basic sensor, manufactured by a non-governmental organisation called Skyfortress, is deployed in areas close to the front lines in Ukraine. It is built from an android smartphone housed in a box with other commercially available technologies.

The mobile phones are constantly switched on and recording to detect incoming aerial targets, and they use local mobile phone networks to relay the information back to a centralised system.

The Telegraph can reveal these systems are funded through the Safe Skies initiative, a scheme set up under president Volodymyr Zelenskys United24 platform.

Describing the system, Mykhailo Fedorov, the minister for digital transformation, told The Telegraph last year: Its really helpful for us in order to get a better understanding of whats going on in our skies.

Its a quite revolutionary breakthrough technology.

The scheme is raising money for as many as 12,500 sensors, built by Ukrainian firm Ajax Systems, to position in the regions of Sumy, Odesa, Mykolaiv and Kherson.

A second system used by Ukraines armed forces is known as Zvook, which uses similar acoustic technologies to provide a better picture of the skies above the country.

Mykhailo Fedorov praises the 'revolutionary' air defence system of mobile phones and microphones - Global Images Ukraine/Global Images Ukraine

The machine learning firms sensors use micro-computers, instead of mobile phones, to detect drones at a range of three miles away, cruise missiles at four miles and ballistic missiles at six miles.

Artificial intelligence helps the system distinguish between the sound of a mooing cow and incoming drones.

Maryan Sulym, chief executive officer of Zvook, told The Telegraph: We detect the air threats and then the military can turn on the radar systems to highlight a particular region.

Its an auxiliary system. Its not replacing radar but making it more efficient.

The company currently covers five per cent of Ukraines territory  5,400 miles square with its 210 sensors.

It estimates it could cover the entire country with 8,000 of its devices, which cost about 400 to manufacture.

Systems have been fitted to critical infrastructure, such as telephone masts and electricity substations, since the winter of 2022.

When Ukraine was recently attacked using as many as 84 kamikaze drones, acoustic systems like these were used to provide ground crews with information on their trajectories.

General James Hecker lifts the lid on Ukraine's drone defence system - FETHI BELAID/afp

General Hecker said mobile firing groups were able to intercept at least 80 of the unmanned aerial vehicles with the information.

He said Nato countries are now also looking into whether the equipment could be used to bolster their own air defence networks.

During the Second World War, acoustic systems were built on Britains Kent coast.

The giant concrete dome structures, known as mirrors, were used to amplify the sound of incoming enemy aircraft. Observers could compare the reflected sounds to calculate height, speed and flight path.

And in the late 1960s the US Air Force deployed an array of heat and movement sensors in the jungles of Vietnam to listen in on the Vietcong. However, the Vietnamese soon discovered the whereabouts of the listening devices.

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.
Key developments on March 26:

UN: At least 32 Ukrainian POWs executed in Russian captivity during winter

Russian landing ship Konstantin Olshansky hit with Neptune missile, says Ukraine

Ukraine dismisses Security Council secretary Danilov

Polish official says NATO considering shooting down Russian missiles that approach its borders

SBU says it caught FSB saboteurs trying to blow up railroad in Ukraine's Poltava Oblast

FT: Russia begins arms-for-oil trade with North Korea, defies sanctions.

At least 32 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs), recently captured by Russia, have been executed between Dec. 1, 2023, and Feb. 29, a report by the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said on March 26.

Reports of Ukrainian POWs being tortured or killed while in Russian captivity have been surfacing since the start of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine. As of late February, the Prosecutor General's Office said 19 criminal investigations were underway regarding the execution of 45 Ukrainian POWs.

OHCHR said it had recorded 12 cases of executions of at least 32 captured Ukrainian POWs during the winter, meaning that some of them presumably were killed in groups.

"OHCHR has verified three of these incidents in which Russian servicemen executed seven Ukrainian servicemen hors de combat," reads the report, which is based on interviews with 60 Ukrainian soldiers released from captivity.

Their accounts confirmed the previously documented facts of widespread torture, inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment of Ukrainian POWs in Russian captivity, as well as detention conditions that do not comply with international law, OHCHR said.

The agency also interviewed 44 Russian prisoners of war who did not report torture in official Ukrainian places of detention. The organization said, however, there were "credible allegations of instances of torture and ill-treatment of Russian POWs committed in transit places after their evacuation from the battlefield," according to the report.

An investigation by the Kyiv Independent from last December revealed the inhumane conditions of detention, hunger, and torture at one Russian camp in particular: Olenivka prison, located in Russian-occupied Donetsk Oblast.

Russian landing ship hit with Neptune missile, says Ukraine

Ukraine has claimed yet another successful strike on Russias Black Sea Fleet, announcing on March 26 that the landing ship Konstantin Olshansky had been hit by a Neptune missile.

Speaking on national television, Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk said damage to the vessel was still being determined.

In recent months, Ukraine has intensified its attacks on the Black Sea Fleet in occupied Crimea, successfully targeting several ships and forcing Russian forces to redeploy to safer waters.

In comments to LIGA.net, Pletenchuk said the attack on the Konstantin Olshansky had occurred earlier this week on March 23, the same day two Russian Ropucha-class landing ships, Yamal and Azov, were hit.

Built in 1985, the Konstantin Olshansky was transferred to the Ukrainian Navy in 1996 when the naval fleet of the Soviet Union was divided up.

It was one of many Ukrainian ships seized by Russian forces during the annexation of Crimea in 2014.

This ship was supposed to be used by Ukraine, therefore, a decision was made to destroy this unit with our Neptune, Pletenchuk said.

The attack in the late hours of March 23 also hit some Black Sea Fleet infrastructure in Crimea and a Russian military communication center, the Ukrainian military said on March 24.

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.

Read also: Russia aims to knock out Ukraines power grid in new wave of attacks

Ukraine dismisses Security Council secretary Danilov

President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov on March 26.

The dismissal was announced on the Presidential Offices official website, which gave no reason for Danilov's dismissal.

The National Security and Defense Council is a body that coordinates and controls the activities of executive authorities in the field of Ukraine's national security and defense, and its decisions are enacted by presidential decrees.

Danilov has served in the position since Oct. 3, 2019, shortly after the beginning of Zelensky's term in office.

"I am grateful to fate for giving me the opportunity to serve my country and my people in times of peace and war! I thank Ukraine's president for his trust," Danilov wrote on Facebook, without revealing the reasons for his dismissal.

In the evening address, Zelensky thanked Danilov for his work. "He is being transferred to another direction," the president said, promising to reveal details later.

In the 1990s, Danilov was the mayor of now-occupied Luhansk and later became the Luhansk Oblast governor. In 2006, he was elected to Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, as a member of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc.

Since 2021, the National Security and Defense Council has been actively used as a tool for imposing sanctions. For over three years, this list has included hundreds of entities and individuals, including a number of high-profile pro-Kremlin Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians.

After Russia's full-scale invasion, Danilov assured that Ukraine had been preparing for war since 2019, but did not expect a "simultaneous attack from all sides."

Danilov will be replaced by the current chief of the Foreign Intelligence Service, Oleksandr Lytvynenko.

Lytvynenko has headed the Foreign Intelligence Service since July 2021. Prior to this, he was director of the National Institute for Strategic Studies between 2019 and 2021.

Oleh Ivashchenko, a former deputy head of Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR), was appointed as the new head of Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service.

Read also: Bloomberg: Pragues ammunition initiative may supply 1.5 million shells to Ukraine, Czech FM says

Polish official says NATO considering shooting down Russian missiles that approach its borders

NATO is reportedly considering the option of shooting down Russian missiles if they stray too close to its borders, Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Szejna said to the Polish media outlet RMF24 on March 26.

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.

Russia's ambassador to Poland, Sergei Andreyev, was summoned by Poland's Foreign Ministry in response to the incident, but he rejected the request.

Szejna said that "(Russia) knew that if the missile moved further into Poland, it would be shot down. There would be a counterattack."

"Various concepts are being analyzed within NATO, including for such missiles to be shot down when they are very close to the NATO border," he added.

Such a proposal would have to be approved by the Ukrainian side, Szejna said.

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: Update: Number of injured in Russias March 25 attack on Odesa rises to 10

SBU says it caught FSB saboteurs trying to blow up railroad in Ukraine's Poltava Oblast

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said on March 26 that it had foiled an attempted act of sabotage by agents from Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) at a railroad in Ukraine's Poltava Oblast.

The Prosecutor General's Office added that the two suspects were Ukrainian citizens.

Ukrainian security services and border guards intermittently intercept Russian saboteur groups attempting to infiltrate Ukrainian territory, although it is more common in regions such as Sumy Oblast that border Russia.

Poltava Oblast is located in central Ukraine, with its easternmost part some 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the Russian border. The SBU did not specify exactly where the attempted sabotage occurred.

According to the SBU, two FSB agents were arrested "on the spot" after they had laid an improvised explosive device by a key railroad track that connects central and eastern Ukraine.

After the two individuals were searched, SBU agents found phones in which the suspects were communicating with their Russian handler, a known FSB agent.

The SBU said that the two individuals had been charged with committing sabotage and face life in prison if convicted.

Read also: UK Defense Ministry: War may hamper expansion of Russian army in other parts of the country

FT: Russia begins arms-for-oil trade with North Korea, defies sanctions

Russia is defying U.N. sanctions by supplying North Korea with oil, likely in exchange for weapons, the Financial Times (FT) reported on March 26.

According to satellite images seen by the FT and the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), North Korean tankers have been sailing to and from the Vostochny Port in Russias Far East with their tracking responders disabled since March 7.

Pyongyang is subject to a strict cap on oil transfers, imposed by the U.N. Security Council in 2017 after a series of nuclear weapons tests.

Hugh Griffiths, a former coordinator of the U.N. panel that monitors sanctions on North Korea, told the FT: These oil deliveries constitute a full-frontal assault against the sanctions regime, which is now on the brink of collapse.

What we can see now is a clear arms-for-oil bartering arrangement in open contravention of sanctions that (Russian President) Vladimir Putin signed off on personally, illustrating Russias trajectory in recent years from international spoiler to outlaw state.

North Korea has been shaping up as Russia's leading weapons supplier, reportedly providing Moscow with extensive military packages, including ballistic missiles and over 3 million artillery shells.

There have been at least 10 cases of Russia using North Korean missiles to strike Ukraine, said Jung Pak, the U.S. Senior Official for North Korea, as reported by the Voice of America (VoA) on March 18.

One of the first cases of Russia using North Korean ballistic missiles was recorded on Dec. 30, 2023, during an attack on Zaporizhzhia, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) wrote.

Later on, Russia's use of North Korean missiles was officially confirmed in the attack on Kharkiv on Jan. 2.

Two other cases of the launch of North Korean missiles at Kharkiv Oblast are currently being investigated, according to the local prosecutor's office.

Read also: Russian attack on Dnipropetrovsk Oblast injures 91-year-old woman

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Ukraines Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said in an interview with Politico that he received "irritated feedback" from Germany when Ukraine called on Berlin to provide long-range Taurus missiles.

Source: European Pravda, citing Kuleba's interview with Politico

Quote: "You can quote me, I don't mind. But every time I answer the question (about Taurus  ed.), I get irritated feedback from Berlin. Leave it to them. They put themselves in this situation. Let them find a way out."

Background:

Earlier, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz publicly gave different reasons for why Germany has refused to supply Ukraine with Taurus missiles  from avoiding a possible escalation and involvement in the war with Russia to being concerned that the missiles would be used to strike Moscow.

Media reports indicate that the key reason why Scholz is actively opposing the supply of Taurus long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine may be connected with the special features of the missiles targeting system. A number of German politicians use the same reason when arguing against providing Ukraine with missiles.

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Secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council Danilov attends an interview with Reuters in Kyiv

Secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council Danilov attends an interview with Reuters in Kyiv

KYIV (Reuters) -President Volodymyr Zelenskiy dismissed the secretary of Ukraine's national security council and replaced him with the head of his foreign spy agency on Tuesday in a new shake-up that follows the overhaul of the military high command last month.

No reason for the changes was given in a series of blandly worded decrees that were published on the president's website more than two years into Russia's full-scale invasion.

Oleksiy Danilov, the outgoing secretary of the National Security and Defence Council, had held his position since October 2019, just months after Zelenskiy took office.

Zelenskiy, speaking later in his nightly video address, said Danilov was being transferred to new duties, with details to be made public later.

He gave no reason for Danilov's removal but said he expected "a strengthening of our state's strategic capabilities to forecast and influence the processes upon which our national security depends.

"The strengthening of Ukraine and the renewal of our state system in all sectors will continue."

Zelenskiy appointed Oleksandr Lytvynenko, 51, head of the foreign intelligence service, who has no almost public profile whatsoever, to head the council.

In his address, Zelenskiy said his appointee would combine experience as an intelligence chief with the tasks Ukraine faced in terms of security and defence.

The council has a coordinating role on issues of national security and defence under the president and comprises the country's top political, security and defence chiefs.

Ukraine is battling to keep up its war effort and hold the line against attacking Russian forces in the east with its vital U.S. ally proving unable to deliver military assistance due to Republican congressional resistance.

Military analysts are also raising questions about the depth and strength of Ukrainian fortifications and regard manpower levels as another challenge. Russia has a much larger population than Ukraine and is on the offensive.

Zelenskiy's decrees named Oleh Ivashchenko, a deputy chief of the Ukrainian military spy agency who also has no public profile, as the new foreign intelligence chief.

The Ukrainian leader replaced the head of the armed forces in February. Swathes of the military's top brass were also cleared out and replaced.

(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk and Max Hunder; writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Mark Heinrich and Ron Popeski)
Ukrainian Armed Forces fired a Neptune missile at Konstantin Olshansky landing ship, which Russians stole from Ukraine during the occupation of Crimea in 2014, said Dmytro Pletenchuk, a spokesman for Ukrainian Navy, on FREEDOM TV channel on March 26.



"It had been in the bay for nine years, and Russians began to dismantle it for spare parts," he said.

"In the tenth year of the war, enemies realized that they were running out of large landing ships, so they restored it within a year."



Pletenchuk noted that the extent of damage to the ship is currently being determined. However, according to him, the ship was hit and incapacitated.

Read also: Black Sea clear of Russian warships for six days in a row  Ukrainian Navy

"This ship was supposed to be used by Ukraine," Pletenchuk said.

"So we decided to hit this unit with our Neptune anti-ship missile."

He also noted that damaged Russian ships Azov, Yamal and Ivan Khurs will not be able to perform combat missions in the near future too.

Read also: Russian Black Sea Fleets intel ship Ivan Khurs likely hit in wildly successful Sevastopol strike

"It is interesting that Russians tried to represent Konstantin Olshansky as a repaired Olenegorsk Gornyak or Minsk large landing ships," spokesman added.

"After all, damage to these two ships is so sufficient that their restoration is under big question."



Strikes on Russian Black Sea Fleet ships in Sevastopol - what is known

On March 23-24, explosions were heard in the temporarily occupied Sevastopol. OSINT analysts wrote about strikes by Storm Shadow missiles on a major communications hub of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. There were also reports of drones hitting an oil depot near the village of Hvardiyske.



On March 24, Ukrainian Armed Forces StratCom confirmed on Telegram that large landing ships Yamal and Azov, as well as the communications center and several infrastructure facilities of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in the temporarily occupied Sevastopol, had been hit.

Read also: Ukraine launches at least five Storm Shadow and Scalp missiles at Russian Black Sea Fleet facilities - Bild

Dmytro Pletenchuk, a representative of the Ukrainian Navy, confirmed the ships were damaged. He noted that in case of serious damage to the Russian Black Sea Fleet's Yamal and Azov, it would be a new significant loss for the Russian occupiers. As they have only three out of 13 large landing ships they had until start of the war.



GUR said that the Yamal was critically damaged. Russians are forced to continuously pump water out of the ship.



On March 25, Pletenchuk said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces could have hit the Russian reconnaissance ship Ivan Khurs during the attack on Sevastopol on March 24.



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
Trifork Holding AG

Company announcement no. 21 / 2024

Schindellegi, Switzerland  26 March 2024



Notice of Annual General Meeting of Trifork Holding AG

The Annual General Meeting 2024 of Trifork Holding AG (the AGM) will be held on 19 April 2024 at 12:00 p.m. CEST at Grabenstrasse 2, 6340 Baar, Switzerland.

The AGM will be streamed live on the internet. Shareholders who wish to participate in the livestream shall register on the e-voting platform of Computershare no later than 13 April 2024 at 11.59 p.m. CEST.

All relevant documentation for the AGM is available on Triforks investor website: https://investor.trifork.com/



The documents include:



Invitation to the AGM (including agenda and motions of the Board of Directors);

Annual report 2023 (including auditors reports);

ESG report 2023

Presentation of the new Board member Geeta Schmidt standing for election;



Shareholders registered in the share register on the publication date of this notice convening the AGM will receive an invitation for the AGM by mail along with individual login codes to the voting platform of the AGM.



Information and questions

Frederik Svanholm, Group Investment Director, frsv@trifork.com, +41 79 357 73 17

About Trifork

Trifork is a global NextGen IT company that develops innovative software solutions in collaboration with its customers. The company has more than 1,200 employees across 72 business units in 15 countries. Trifork works in six business areas: Digital Health, FinTech, Smart Building, Smart Enterprise, Cloud Operations, and Cyber Protection. Triforks research and development takes place in Trifork Labs, where Trifork continuously invests in and develops technology companies. Trifork owns and operates the software conference brands GOTO and YOW! and the global GOTO tech community with more than 62 million video views online. Trifork Holding AG is a publicly listed company on Nasdaq Copenhagen. Learn more at trifork.com.

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Attachment




FILE - A sea drone cruises on the water during a presentation by Ukraine's Security Service in Kyiv region, Ukraine, on Tuesday, March 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, File)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  Ukraine has sunk or disabled a third of all Russian warships in the Black Sea in just over two years of war, the navy spokesman said Tuesday, a heavy blow to Moscow's military capability.

Ukraines Navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk told The Associated Press that the latest strike on Saturday night hit the Russian amphibious landing ship Kostiantyn Olshansky that was resting in dock in Sevastopol in Russia-occupied Crimea. The ship was part of the Ukrainian navy before Russia captured it while annexing the Black Sea peninsula in 2014.

Pletenchuk has previously announced that two other landing ships of the same type, Azov and Yamal, also were damaged in Saturday's strike along with the Ivan Khurs intelligence ship.

He told the AP that the weekend attack, which was launched with Ukraine-built Neptune missiles, also hit Sevastopol port facilities and an oil depot.

Russian authorities reported a massive Ukrainian attack on Sevastopol over the weekend but didn't acknowledge any damage to the fleet.

Pletenchuk said that with the latest attack, a third of all warships that Russian had in the Black Sea before the war have been destroyed or disabled. At the same time, he acknowledged that just two of about a dozen of Russian missile carrying warships have been sunk and pledged that Ukraine will continue the strikes.

Our ultimate goal is complete absence of military ships of the so-called Russian Federation in the Azov and Black Sea regions," Pletenchuk told the AP.

Successful Ukrainian drone and missile strikes have provided a major morale boost for Kyiv at a time when its undermanned and under-gunned forces are facing Russian attacks along the more than 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line.

Challenging Russias naval superiority also has helped create more favorable conditions for Ukrainian grain exports and other shipments from the countrys Black Sea ports.

Moscow officials have kept mum on most of Ukrainian claims, but previous navy losses have been confirmed by Russian military bloggers and media who have harshly criticized the military brass for its slow and sloppy response to the threat.

Earlier this month, Russian media reported that the navy chief, Adm. Nikolai Yevmenov, had been fired and replaced with Adm. Alexander Moiseyev, the commander of Russia's Northern Fleet. The Kremlin hasn't yet announced the reshuffle, but last week Moiseyev was presented as the new acting navy chief during a ceremony at a Russian naval base.

____

Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Members of the United Nations Security Council meet on the day of a vote on a Gaza resolution that demands an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan leading to a permanent sustainable ceasefire, and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, at U.N. headquarters in New York City, U.S., March 25, 2024

Another day, another ludicrous attempt by the UN to alienate and malign Israel through duplicity, ill-will and outright anti-Semitism.

On Monday, the Security Council, which includes such paragons of moral gravitas as dictator-led China and Russia  whose security services this week are reported to have cut off a Moscow terror suspects ear and seemingly force-fed it to him  passed a resolution demanding a ceasefire for the duration of Ramadan, which lasts another two weeks, followed by a permanent ceasefire.

No mention of the Hamas atrocities that started the war was made, or demands for Hamass surrender  only a box-ticking, secondary reference to the need for the Israeli hostages to be returned. Naturally, the UNs passion in this matter is orders of magnitude greater than for any other cause  almost since its formation. This resolution must be implemented. Failure would be unforgivable, said a passionate Antonio Guterres, the UNs secretary-general.

In the weird world of the UN, voices like those of the Algerian ambassador to the UN are taken seriously even where its known his country loathes Israel for simply existing. Thus, as was dutifully reported far and wide Amar Bendjama, Algerias ambassador to the UN, said: It is our obligation to put an end to this bloodbath before it is too late. The security council is  finally responding to the calls of the international community.

The only disappointing aspect of this charade (since everything else was expected) was that the UK  a few months ago boastful of being an ally of Israel  voted for it. Worse, having blocked three previous resolutions demanding a ceasefire (the UN often appears to have little else to do but demand Israel be prevented from defending itself), the US abstained on this one.

Israel, rightly, was angry, and cancelled a delegation to Washington to discuss alternatives to full-blown invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza, where 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering (Egypt has refused to open a corridor to safety). The White House said it was perplexed by the response.

Quite why it was is even more perplexing. Yoav Gallant, Israels defence minister, put it pretty succinctly. We will operate against Hamas everywhere  including in places where we have not yet been. We have no moral right to stop the war while there are still hostages held in Gaza.

Indeed, the global pile-on against Israel, accusing it of genocide, bloodbath, and a zest for collective punishment is just the same old thing: versions of anti-Semitic blood libel, fused with very bad modish ideas about colonialism and so on that further serve as a fig leaf for the urge to legitimise the murder of Jews.

Israelis are literally sacrificing their children to protect Palestinians as much as possible, and the *only* strategy of Hamas is to take advantage of this fact. Yet people who were not attacked, and risk nothing, condemn Israel, not Hamas, wrote the American journalist David Boxenhorn on X.

The UN is nothing if not a jamboree of those who risk nothing doing their utmost to stop Israel from safely surviving. The mask didnt slip; it was always hanging off its face, making its reaction to October 7  which saw most commenting officials, from Guterres to the special rapporteur for Palestine Francesca Albanese, explain Hamass barbarism with reference to Israeli occupation.

And then there are the UN bodies meant to provide aid to the Palestinians. Chief among them is UNRWA, some of whose staff have in the past few months finally been outed as allegedly complicit in Hamass crimes.

I recently spoke to Hillel Neuer, head of UN Watch, which investigates and makes public the extent of the UNs foulplay against Israel. He told me the whole UN refugee agency for the world has less employees [21,000] than UNRWA [30,000] for the Palestinians. And it dooms them into this unproductive existence of being perpetual [victims]. It is completely absurd.

Worse than absurd are some of its employees. Neuers team just went on Facebook, and we found teachers who self-declared that they worked for UNRWA. And we saw their photos on their page, that they work in an UNRWA school in Gaza. And on Facebook, we discovered that they incite terrorism, they praise jihadi terrorist attacks. They glorify Adolf Hitler. Why are we [the taxpayers of the West] paying for this? UNRWA states it has suspended some teachers for such conduct.

This is the august UN  the UN whose dozens of Arab members have colluded with their European chums to ensure decades of animus against the Jewish state  whose resolution the world, and Israel, is meant to respect.

Luckily, Israel has no intention of doing so. Which means that the defeat of Hamas, and a prevention of a repeat of October 7, might have a chance.

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With a market cap near $3.2 billion, Green Thumb Industries (OTC: GTBIF) isn't at risk of getting overlooked among its multi-state operator (MSO) peers. And, thanks to a history of diligently adding to its footprint rather than expanding unsustainably, it has a somewhat better track record of consistent (if narrow) profitability than most of the other large public businesses in the cannabis industry.

But if you're thinking about buying the stock soon, there are three more things that are worth knowing.

1. It can succeed without federal cannabis legalization ever occurring in the U.S.

Practically everyone knows that federal cannabis legalization or rescheduling policies would be a major catalyst for cannabis cultivators like Green Thumb. But national legalization is not the only pathway by which the company could provide its shareholders with a return.

It's true that the one-time addition of fresh revenue stemming from widespread legalization would lead to a windfall that would lift the shares by quite a bit, but it's also entirely possible for this business to continue making incremental additions to the top and bottom lines. Its trailing-12-month sales have risen by 62% during the past three years to more than $1 billion. Much of that growth was a result of opening stores in states that have legalized cannabis for recreational use by adults, and state-level legalization could keep the party going for quite some time.

And there's no rule that says that markets where only medicinal use is legal aren't lucrative. The company is opening a smattering of stores in Florida, which has only approved medicinal use, and more may be on the way as long as there's demand.

2. Analysts are expecting its earnings growth to pick up after this year

Wall Street analysts are, on average, optimistic about Green Thumb increasing its earnings per share (EPS) during 2025 and 2026. In 2023, it reported normalized diluted EPS of $0.15, but by the end of 2026, the analysts' consensus forecast is that it will be reporting around $0.37. In other words, the expectation is that its earnings will more than double during the next two years, which is quite bullish.

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Of course, there isn't any guarantee that the company will be able to make that happen.

But the more time that elapses with its products being marketed and sold, the more brand loyalty it could build with consumers, provided that it has matched its offerings to their preferences. As the value of its brands increases, it might even eventually enjoy a competitive advantage due to high levels of customer commitment.

And during the coming years, the average selling price of marijuana might start to recover a bit more from its crash of 2022. That would help to buoy earnings, especially if the business is able to invest in increasing its operational efficiency at the same time. So there's a solid chance that the analysts are right about where its bottom line is going.

3. It's already returning a small amount of capital to shareholders

Although it doesn't pay a dividend, Green Thumb did return some capital to its shareholders via stock repurchases in 2023, and it plans to do so again this year. The board has authorized another $50 million share buyback. That won't send its shares flying by any means, but it could provide some support for the stock price.

In the future, when it's producing more than $4.9 million in free cash flow (FCF), as it did in 2022, it could add to the buyback program, which management seems open to doing. In the more distant future, after it has (hopefully) generated several years of strong FCF, it could even authorize a dividend like other consumer packaged goods businesses. But that will likely take years to happen, if it does at all, so don't count your cash flows before they hit your account.

Should you invest $1,000 in Green Thumb Industries right now?

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3 Things You Need to Know If You Buy Green Thumb Industries Stock Today was originally published by The Motley Fool
Caspar Benson/Getty Images

The long-term bull market in stocks is about to turn 11 years old, according to Bank of America.

The bank called the rally "middle-aged" and said it could surge another 34% through the end of 2026.

The S&P 500 would trade at about 7,000 if such a gain materialized.

The long-term bull rally in the stock market is about to turn 11 years old, and there's still plenty of gas in the tank to drive further gains, according to Bank of America.

The secular bull rally officially began in April 2013 when the stock market eclipsed its prior peaks from 2007 and 2000. The long-term rally was once again confirmed in December when the S&P 500 broke above its bullish cup-and-handle pattern near the 4,600 level.

Since then, the index has climbed 14% to record highs.

The bank said in a recent note that the gains in the S&P 500 should continue, suggesting that the index could rally another 34% by the end of 2026.

"The SPX has rallied 46% from its October 2022 low," Stephen Suttmeier, a Bank of America technical strategist, said. "The median rally from a big low of 106% lasts approximately four years, suggesting that SPX 7000 is not ruled out into late 2026."

As to when the secular bull rally will cease, Suttmeier sees no end in sight until at least the end of the 2020s.

"The secular bull markets from 1950-1966 and 1980-2000 lasted 16 and 20 years, respectively, which means that the current secular bull market is middle-aged and can extend until 2029 to 2033," Suttmeier said.

Bank of America

The December breakout above 4,600 signaled two near-term price objectives, according to the note: 5,200 and 5,600. With the 5,200 objective having been reached, the next objective is a near-term gain of 7% to about 5,600.

Additionally, Suttmeier highlighted that the S&P 500's breakout above its prior record high of about 4,800 in January signaled another price objective of 6,150. That represents 18% upside from potential levels and aligns with a catch-up trade related to the presidential cycle, which suggests the fourth year of a first-term president is bullish for stocks.

To the downside, Suttmeier said investors should keep an eye on the 4,800 and 4,600 levels for support, which represent potential downside of as much as 12% from current levels.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Assessing the Upcoming Dividend and Historical Performance

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc (NYSE:ARE) recently announced a dividend of $1.27 per share, payable on 2024-04-15, with the ex-dividend date set for 2024-03-27. 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 Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc's dividend performance and assess its sustainability.

What Does Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc Do?

Warning! GuruFocus has detected 11 Warning Signs with ARE.

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?

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc is an urban office real estate investment trust (REIT). It is engaged in the business of providing space for lease to life science, agtech, and technology tenants. The company has established a significant market presence in key locations, including Greater Boston, the San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, San Diego, Seattle, Maryland, and Research Triangle. Alexandria has a longstanding and proven track record of developing Class A properties clustered in urban life science, agtech, and technology campuses that provide tenants with highly dynamic and collaborative environments. Alexandria also provides strategic capital to transformative life science, agtech, and technology companies through its venture capital platform.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc's Dividend Analysis

A Glimpse at Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc's Dividend History

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc has maintained a consistent dividend payment record since 1997, with dividends currently distributed on a quarterly basis. The company has increased its dividend each year since 2010, earning it the status of a dividend achiever. This honor is reserved for companies that have increased their dividend each year for at least the past 14 years. Below is a chart showing annual Dividends Per Share for tracking historical trends.

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Breaking Down Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc's Dividend Yield and Growth

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc currently has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 3.95% and a 12-month forward dividend yield of 4.04%, suggesting an expectation of increased dividend payments over the next 12 months. Over the past three years, Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc's annual dividend growth rate was 5.40%. This rate increased to 5.80% per year over a five-year horizon, and over the past decade, the annual dividends per share growth rate stands at 6.60%. Based on the dividend yield and five-year growth rate, the 5-year yield on cost of Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc stock as of today is approximately 5.24%.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc'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, Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc's dividend payout ratio is 1.95, which may suggest that the company's dividend could be at risk.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc's profitability rank, offers an understanding of the company's earnings prowess relative to its peers. GuruFocus ranks Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc's profitability 7 out of 10 as of 2023-12-31, suggesting good profitability prospects. The company has reported net profit in 9 years out of the past 10 years.

Growth Metrics: The Future Outlook

A company must have robust growth metrics to ensure the sustainability of dividends. Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc's growth rank of 7 out of 10 suggests that the company's growth trajectory is good relative to its competitors. Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc's revenue has increased by approximately 4.20% per year on average, a rate that outperforms approximately 54.38% 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, Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc's earnings increased by approximately -11.60% per year on average, a rate that outperforms approximately 23.08% of global competitors. Lastly, the company's 5-year EBITDA growth rate of -1.30%, which outperforms approximately 37.18% of global competitors.

Next Steps

In conclusion, Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc's commitment to increasing dividends, evidenced by its status as a dividend achiever, is commendable. However, the high dividend payout ratio raises questions about the sustainability of these payments. The company's strong profitability rank and solid growth metrics provide some reassurance, but investors should keep an eye on these figures. With a forward-looking approach, examining the company's capacity to maintain its dividend in light of its financial health and industry trends will be crucial for investors. Will Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc continue its legacy of rewarding shareholders amidst the challenges ahead? That remains a question for value investors to ponder as they assess the company's long-term potential.

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.


The UK says China is trying to interfere in British democratic institutions, including parliament (Daniel LEAL)

China said it had issued a "strong" rebuke to the United States on Tuesday after Washington and two key allies accused Beijing of being behind a series of hacks into lawmakers and key democratic institutions.

In rare and detailed public accusations against China -- the United States, Britain and New Zealand described a series of cyber breaches over the last decade or more in what appeared to be a concerted effort to hold Beijing accountable.

In response, China on Tuesday insisted it "opposes and cracks down on all forms of cyberattacks" and accused the United States of using the FiveEyes spying alliance "to compile and disseminate false information about threats from Chinese hackers".

"China firmly opposes this, has made strong demarches with the United States and relevant parties," foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said.

Beijing, he warned, "will take necessary measures to safeguard China's legitimate rights and interests."

Washington's accusation on Monday detailed what it called a 14-year "prolific global hacking operation" designed to aid China's "economic espionage and foreign intelligence objectives".

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco on Monday said the campaign involved more than 10,000 emails being sent, targeting US and foreign-based businesses, politicians, candidates for elected office and journalists.

Washington said a unit, dubbed APT31, was behind the attacks, describing it as a "cyberespionage program" run by China's powerful Ministry of State Security out of the central city of Wuhan.

It charged seven alleged hackers for their roles in gaining access to "email accounts, cloud storage accounts, and telephone call records", the Justice Department said, monitoring some accounts for "years".

- 'Serious threat' -

Hours later, London said that from 2021-2022 the same APT31 group had targeted UK lawmakers' accounts, including many who were critical of Beijing's policies.

With Britain expected to hold a general election within months, UK Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden also made a shock announcement that "a Chinese state-affiliated entity" had likely "compromised" the country's Electoral Commission.

He said that both campaigns against lawmakers and the Electoral Office, while a "real and serious threat", were ultimately thwarted.

"It will not impact how people register, vote or otherwise participate in democratic processes," Dowden said.

Two individuals and one company linked to APT31 have been hit with UK sanctions.

Britain said later Tuesday it had summoned China's top envoy in London to condemn the series of cyber-attacks blamed on Beijing-linked hackers.

The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in London said in a statement that "the UK government would not tolerate such threatening activity".

"The FCDO set out the government's unequivocal condemnation of Chinese state-affiliated organisations and individuals undertaking malicious cyber activity against UK democratic institutions and parliamentarians," the statement read.

- Pointing fingers -

In its own announcement, New Zealand on Tuesday said its Parliamentary Counsel Office, which drafts and publishes laws, had been compromised around the same period.

New Zealand, normally one of China's strongest backers in the West, blamed the Chinese "state-sponsored group" APT40 for the attack.

Recently elected centre-right Prime Minister Christopher Luxon admitted 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.

In recent years, Western nations have been increasingly willing to expose malicious cyber operations, and to point fingers at foreign governments -- most notably China, Russia, North Korea and Iran.

Both Russia and China have been accused of using cutouts and off-site groups to carry out cyberattacks, making attribution more difficult.

Conservative MP Iain Duncan Smith, one of the targeted UK lawmakers, said Beijing should be labelled a threat to the country.

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.

Britain and the United States operate vast cyber operations of their own, although rarely acknowledge them in public.

The two nations, along with New Zealand, Australia and Canada are part of the FiveEyes intelligence sharing network.

Beijing on Tuesday accused the United States of its own campaign of cyber-espionage.

"Relevant Chinese cybersecurity agencies have released a series of reports on the US government's cyberattacks against China and other countries, but the US government has always played dumb," Lin said.

burs-arb-oho/dhw/sco
St. Matthew Catholic Church is preparing to serve thousands at Easter mass on Sunday. But while Charlottes largest Catholic parish is are getting ready for the crowds, community members are upset after they heard one of St. Matthews ushers is accused of embezzling from the church.

One church member who didnt want to be identified told Channel 9s Hannah Goetz she couldnt believe the news.

Easter 2024: When is it; what is it; why isnt it on the same date every year?

Im very sad, she said.

I dont really understand how that could happen.

According to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, Oscar Emmanuel Ehighalua is facing three felony embezzlement charges. Police reports show hes accused of embezzling $100 on Sunday, March 3 and another $100 again on Sunday, March 10. Then on Sunday March 17, the police report says he embezzled $3,500 from St. Matthew.

A worker is accused of embezzling from St. Matthew, Charlotte's largest Catholic parish.

The affidavit for Ehighaluas arrest says he was working as an usher at the Ballantyne church. Investigators said he was caught taking money from the offering collection instead of putting it in a safe.

The churchs accounting team discovered what happened when they went to count the collection and found one of their bank deposit bags was missing.

Representatives from the church said Tuesday they dont want to comment while CMPD is investigating, but will answer more questions once the investigation is complete.

ALSO READ: Man accused of stealing musical instruments, electronics from Burke County church

I hope that they can still have funds to reach out into the community and to help feed the community and clothe the community and spread Gods love to everyone, tell them they are cared for and they are loved no matter whats going on, Jennifer Whistsitt told Goetz. We are going to get through this. God is going to help us and this is not going to stop us.

Some are choosing to give grace to the suspect.

I have compassion if it was out of desperation, the church member said.

I really hope, though this person is not doing the right thing, they can still love the person even though they dont love their actions, Whistsitt added.

CMPD said there will be no additional charges filed at this time.

(WATCH BELOW: Longtime employee pleads to stealing over $500K from Hickory church)
With searches still ongoing for the six people who are missing in the wake of the collapse of Baltimores Francis Scott Key Bridge, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) joined other far-right conspiracy theorists in questioning whether the disaster was intentional on Tuesday afternoon.

There should be a serious investigation into the horrifying tragedy of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Maryland.



Is this an intentional attack or an accident?



Praying for the victims, survivors, and families 



pic.twitter.com/2m4vXn3Cpf  Marjorie Taylor Greene  (@mtgreenee) March 26, 2024

The congresswoman was elevating to the mainstream what some right-wingers were already spewing online by the time the sun rose on the tragedy Tuesday morning. Some Twitter conspiracy theorists began suggesting something nefarious overnight, with many latching onto the baseless and far-fetched notion that Israel was behind the attack, in retaliation for the passage of a United Nations ceasefire agreement in Gaza. Others argued Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies in the U.S. had something to do with the crash.

Of course there are blue-checked accounts farming engagement by blaming the Jews for the Baltimore bridge collapse. pic.twitter.com/rFB9MFt2ED  Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) March 26, 2024

The talk from no-namers on Elon Musks Twitter was quickly picked up by the usual far-right dudes who often use any tragic event to elevate talk of global war and feverishly declare the need for an uprising against the government: Andrew Tate, Alex Jones and Michael Flynn. Jones, well known for his role in spreading conspiracy theories about the parents of murdered Sandy Hook children, suggested the collapse was likely part of a broader cyber-attack and cryptically declared WW3 has already started..

Flynn latched onto Tates baseless claims that the accident was a precursor to a larger Black Swan event. Tate is, of course, the right-wing social media influencer who has been charged with rape and human trafficking in Romania.

So first of all, Black Swan events are usually from the financial world, right? Well this actually will impact the financial world for sure, Flynn, the national security adviser during Trumps first month in the White House, told Jones Tuesday.

But these are events that happen  that you know, you just cant imagine that something like this is gonna happen, he continued, before arguing without evidence that absolutely we cannot take the idea that this was a terrorist attack off the table.

Solid stuff.

By mid-day, slightly (slightly) less unhinged people like Conservative Political Action Committee leader Matt Schlapp began blaming everything from COVID-19 mitigation policies to drugs to President Bidens infrastructure bill for the accident, claiming the legislation was too focused on climate policies.

While it is still early in the the aftermath of the collapse, authorities have already declared that upon preliminary investigation there is not reason to believe there was any foul play surrounding the incident. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore announced Tuesday that the ship issued a mayday call and lost power just before it ran into the bridge.

There is no specific and credible information to suggest any ties to terrorism at this time, the FBIs Baltimore field office posted on Twitter. The investigation is ongoing.

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Details are still emerging about the disaster that happened in the early morning of March 26, 2024, when the Dali, a large cargo ship on its way out of the port of Baltimore, hit a major bridge and caused it to collapse.

The Conversations senior politics and democracy editor, Naomi Schalit, spoke with Captain Allan Post, a veteran ships officer, about the role a ship pilot plays in bringing a large ship in and out of a harbor. Post, who now directs Marine Education Support and Safety Operations at Texas A&M University at Galveston and is also deputy superintendent of the Texas A&M Maritime Academy, said the disaster was absolutely every crew members nightmare.

What was your first thought when you heard about the accident?

Post: My first thought was, thank God it happened at night, because of the low amount of traffic on the bridge. If that had happened during the daytime, casualties would be in the thousands. My heart aches for those lives lost.

There were two ship pilots aboard the ship as it left its berth in the Port of Baltimore. Can you tell us what ship pilots do?

Post: Ship pilots are brought on board in what are considered restricted maneuverability or navigation areas. They are local experts who are usually certified by the state or federal government to provide advice to the master of the vessel as to how to control the vessel, safely and adequately, through the pilotage waters, which in this case would be down the river from the Port of Baltimore.

Pilots are well practiced in close-quarters maneuvering, especially with tugboats and docking the vessel alongside the assigned berth.

But a pilot doesnt come aboard the ship and take control of it, do they?

Post: They are just advisers to the captain, who is known as the master. The master still has full responsibility for the safe navigation of the vessel. So the pilot will meet the ship out at sea or at the dock if its in port and leaving to go to sea. They proceed up to the bridge. Usually they exchange greetings, and usually a little bit of ships swag is given, either a hat or something else, or at least a cup of coffee.

They then set up their gear. With the electronics that we now have, they plug into the ships electronic chart data information system. And then they conduct the pilot exchange with the master of the vessel, where the master of the vessel describes where they are going, what the characteristics of the ship are, whos on the bridge, what their first language is and the air draft of the vessel, which refers to how high out of the water the vessel is, so that you know whether you can take the ship under a bridge safely.

Once thats completed, the pilot then starts instructing the officer of the watch or the captain  those are usually the same person  in how to get to where they need to be to dock the ship, or undock the ship and bring it to sea. This instructing is done during complex maneuvers, not all the time. The pilot can also say hes not going to do it, and can shut down their operations if conditions are unsafe or if they feel that the vessel is not in condition to be able to transit safely. That happens a lot, especially in fog.

The ship pilot also interacts with the Coast Guard Vessel Traffic Service and other ships in the area, and coordinates with the tugboats and line handlers to be able to safely maneuver the vessel close to the pier or when a ship is leaving the berth.

Can you describe the training of a ship pilot?

Post: Most of them start out at a maritime academy and have to spend many years at sea in command or as a bridge watch-stander on a vessel. From there, they start into the pilot apprentice program that each one of the pilot associations has, and those programs last years. What they do in those programs is use simulators and real, actual hands-on training, so that they can see how the different ships maneuver, how different places along the route have different currents and tides, and how the channels affect the ships.

Its not something that you can go to a sea school for three weeks to learn and then come out and be a pilot. Its many years long. Theyre really the surgeons of the sea.

So when a ships pilot shows up, theyre going to be someone with a minimum of how many years training before they even get onto your ship?

Post: Many have 10-plus years before they are allowed to work on their own.

A Liverpool, England, ship pilot climbing down a ladder from the MSC Sandra to a waiting pilot launch after guiding the container ship out of the Mersey River at the beginning of its voyage to Montreal. Photo by Colin McPherson/Corbis via Getty Images

They have to be specialists in the place where they work, dont they?

Post: Most of them are ships officers licensed by the U.S. Coast Guard, and theyre licensed for unlimited tonnage vessels. But thats not the end of training. From there, they are hired into the pilot apprentice programs for the area in which theyre going to gain their pilot endorsement or credentials. One pilot may not be credentialed in another area. They spend many years under the guidance of senior pilots who teach them basically everything that they need to know about the local waterways, about the navigation, current tides, where all the berths are. They become absolute experts in how to do this. And then, when most of them end up taking the pilotage exam, they have to draw the charts that they would be using in the pilotage waters  from memory.

Are there legal requirements for ship pilots to be present both going out of and coming in these restricted areas?

Post: Yes, there are  state law, federal law or both.

This is an almost 1,000-foot-long vessel. Is that big, small or medium?

Post: Thats about standard size these days. Ship sizes have absolutely grown monstrous over the years. But 1,000 feet is just about normal.

Has ship piloting been around for a long time?

Post: Its been around for almost as long as man has been using the sea for commerce. In the early years of sea travel, and even now, a captain is not going to know every port, so he would bring on a person with local knowledge. It started out a lot of times as local fishermen. In the U.S., the Sandy Hook Pilots Association has been piloting ships in and out of New York Harbor for about 300 years.

Was what happened in Baltimore every captain, pilot and crews nightmare?

Post: Absolutely. My initial assumption is that I think its going to come down to an electrical fault on the ship that was just terrible timing.

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: Allan Post, Texas A&M University

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Allan Post 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.
(Bloomberg) -- A key Venezuelan opposition party unexpectedly registered its own candidate for the July presidential election, splitting the group of political opponents to President Nicolas Maduro and getting him closer to reelection.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The party known as A New Era entered Zulia state Governor Manuel Rosales in the race, Stalin Gonzalez, the partys former lawmaker, said in a social media post in the early hours of Tuesday. The registration was made in the very last minute when it became clear that the opposition coalition wouldnt be able to enroll its candidate.

The opposition forces were on their way to being left out of the electoral race, A New Era said in a statement a few hours later. Something we have been clear about is that abstention is not an option.

Earlier on Monday, leading opposition figure Corina Yoris suggested that the government was seeking to thwart opposition parties from registering candidates, saying they had faced repeated technical difficulties in Venezuelas automated enrollment system.

The opposition coalition known as Unitary Platform last week chose Yoris, a professor, to replace banned candidate Maria Corina Machado on the ballot. But after the five-day registration window closed at the end of Monday, it said on social media that it could not register her because it was never allowed to access the system.

The group didnt agree with Rosales candidacy, Yoris said in a radio interview. What happened last night was a betrayal, an agreement between the person running and the government.

Neighborhood Force, a party of opposition dissidents controlling several municipalities throughout the country, is supporting Rosales candidacy, Information Minister Freddy Nanez posted on social media.

The last-minute maneuver keeps a divided opposition involved in the race, following Maduros apparent attempts to prevent the participation of stronger representatives.

Read More: Venezuela Rebuked as Opposition Fights to Register Candidate

In late January, his government ratified the decision to bar Machado, who overwhelmingly won an opposition primary last year, from running for public office. It has recently intensified its persecution of her allies and aides, issuing warrants for their arrest.

Rosales candidacy still needs to be approved by the electoral authority. Even if it is accepted, the government could still take further actions against Rosales, who was once banned from running for office.

Rosales, 71, was the oppositions candidate in the 2006 presidential election, which he lost to then-President Hugo Chavez, 63%-37%. He is currently in his second stint as the Zulia states governor, and serves as president of A New Era, a moderate opposition party.

Much about the presidential vote remains uncertain. The government said it had invited eight international observation groups to oversee the vote, including the Carter Center, the European Union, and the United Nations, but none has confirmed attendance yet.

(Updates with A New Eras statement and comments from Corina Yoris starting in third paragraph.)

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Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado speaks during a press conference at her party headquarters in Caracas, on March 26, 2024 (Ronald PENA)

Venezuela's main opposition coalition said Tuesday it had managed to register a proxy candidate to face off against President Nicolas Maduro in the country's July elections -- but not the one it wanted.

With popular leader Maria Corina Machado banned from public office, the plan had been to register another stand-in candidate, 80-year-old university professor Corina Yoris. But the coalition found itself blocked from doing so by the time the deadline struck at midnight on Monday.

The National Electoral Council (CNE) on Tuesday released the surprise name of Edmundo Gonzalez Urruti, a political scientist and former ambassador, as the candidate of the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD).

The coalition said in a statement that his candidacy was "provisional ... given the clear impossibility of registering the chosen candidate so far."

The United States and Brazil were among several nations that expressed alarm after the coalition was unable to register Yoris.

- Regime 'chose' candidates -

Maduro, 61, is seeking to extend his turbulent decade in power with a third six-year term, amid rising concerns over his slide into authoritarianism and crackdown on dissent.

"What we warned about for many months ended up happening: the regime chose its (opposition) candidates," Machado told a press conference.

While Machado overwhelmingly won an opposition primary last year, courts loyal to Maduro banned her from holding public office for 15 years on charges of corruption widely dismissed as spurious, and for supporting Western sanctions against the government.

Another opposition figure, the veteran politician Manuel Rosales, also managed to register. He is seen as a more palatable opponent by Maduro's socialist government.

Rosales, of the Un Nuevo Tiempo (UNT) party, said he had made the decision to register himself as a candidate to "open a space for Venezuelans to vote."

He said the alternative was "to abstain and have (President Nicolas) Maduro stay there for six more years without doing anything else."

- United opposition crucial -

With opinion surveys placing Maduro's approval rating at between 15 and 20 percent, analysts say dividing the opposition will be key to his victory.

"Maduro knows that he loses to any opposition candidate who achieves unity and raises the spirit of citizen participation," political analyst Yoel Lugo told AFP.

"The worst scenario for the opposition is to maintain the tone of internal tension."

Maduro has faced criticism from the international community for interference in the election, after his government and the opposition sealed a deal in Barbados last year to hold a free and fair vote with international observers present.

The White House said it was "deeply concerned" by the decision to block Yoris.

"It is critical that the Maduro regime recognize and respect the right of all candidates to run," White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.

The head of the United Nations regrets "any development that could impede electoral guarantees," said Farhan Haq, a spokesman for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Underlining the worries among Venezuela's anti-Maduro activists, several members of the opposition have been taken in at the Argentine ambassador's Caracas residence, Buenos Aires said Tuesday.

Argentina "has welcomed political leaders of the opposition in the Official Residence of the Embassy," a government statement said, following press reports that six Machado-linked activists, including a close aide, had requested asylum.

Many countries refused to accept the results of Maduro's last election in 2018, alleging fraud and a lack of transparency, and instead recognized parliamentary speaker Juan Guaido as the country's legitimate leader.

Six years later, Maduro is still firmly in charge of the oil-rich nation after Guaido's government collapsed and the war in Ukraine choked energy supplies and shifted global priorities.

Maduro 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.

Several other candidates presenting themselves as opposition figures also registered, but most are considered aligned with Maduro's government.

jt/fb/nro/smw
(Bloomberg) -- Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. called off an initial public offering for its Cainiao logistics arm in Hong Kong, shelving a $1 billion-plus deal in a surprise move that underscores its new approach toward rejuvenating a flagging e-commerce empire.

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Its the second time Alibaba has nixed a high-profile debut for one of its main businesses, casting more uncertainty over a restructuring that began last year and has switched tack since the abrupt departure of former Chief Executive Officer Daniel Zhang. From an initial plan of splitting the company into six standalone divisions that could independently raise capital, the objective now is to combine operations to drive the mainstay commerce arm, while selling off non-core assets such as stakes in social media platform Bilibili Inc. and EV maker Xpeng Inc.

Chinas e-commerce pioneer scrapped the much-anticipated debut as the countrys economic turmoil and regulatory uncertainty soured investors on Hong Kong IPOs. Chairman Joseph Tsai described the market as pretty depressed and said they wouldnt have afforded Cainiao the kind of patient capital it needed to pull off a global expansion. Alibaba, which owns 64% of Cainiao, now plans to buy out all remaining stock held by investors and employees for $3.75 billion, absorbing the fast-growing entity into its broader online retail operation.

Alibaba decided to limit the distraction of taking Cainiao public and instead reinvest in expanding a business that in recent quarters outperformed other divisions thanks to its international footprint. Given challenging IPO market conditions, it has become clear to us that taking Cainiao public now or in the foreseeable future would not be consistent with our group strategy, Tsai told analysts Tuesday. Nor would the achievable valuation be what we believe to be the strategic valuation of Cainiao at this point.

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Alibaba is still grappling with fundamental questions surrounding the internet company Jack Ma founded two decades ago and built into Chinas most valuable corporation, before the pandemic and a punishing antitrust crackdown by Beijing wiped out growth. Its since bled market share to rivals such as PDD Holdings Inc. and ByteDance Ltd. The company posted a lower-than-projected 5% rise in December quarter revenue  well off the pace of previous years.

This is a surprising pivot as a few months ago, Alibaba was singing a different tune about the strategic importance of Cainiao, said Ivy Yang, founder of consultancy Wavelet Strategy and a former manager at Alibaba. The decision to call off Cainiaos IPO will further erode investor confidence in the Alibaba restructuring efforts, its ability to continue to create shareholder value, and the bigger question on whether an IPO is still an option for Alibaba Cloud.

What Bloomberg Intelligence Says

Alibabas buyout of the remaining 36.3% stake of its Cainiao subsidiary aids China and international e-commerce growth as the company syncs strategic plans for these three highly integrated businesses. The offer price values Cainiao at a 0.71x price-to-revenue multiple, a 26% discount to the average of logistics companies such as SF Holding, ZTO, JD Logistics and J&T.

- Catherine Lim and Trini Tan, analysts

Click here for the research.

In response, the company is using the capital its raising to bankroll a $25 billion buyback program and invest in technology from the cloud to artificial intelligence. On Tuesday, Tsai said Alibaba will focus on integrating its various businesses and regaining its market dominance, rather than on working through IPOs.

When the Chinese internet firm scrapped a listing of its $11 billion cloud unit in 2023, executives also argued that they should remain focused on the business rather than what Tsai referred to as financial engineering. The most recent decision to scrap a Cainiao offering however may disappoint some investors hoping for a slice of one of Alibabas most international divisions.

Cainiao Smart Logistics Network Ltd., which handles a major chunk of the millions of parcels that Alibabas e-commerce business generates daily, was valued at about $10.3 billion in the minority shareholder buyout. Its considered a driver of both Alibabas Chinese commerce operation as well as a rapidly expanding international division comprising Singapore-based Lazada and the popular bargains site Aliexpress. Cainiao  which means rookie or amateur in Chinese  has a goal of delivering packages in China within 24 hours and anywhere else in the world in 72 hours, according to its website. It operates over 300 international routes partnering with more than 3,000 logistics partners.

Last year, Alibaba also put plans to debut its Freshippo grocery chain on the backburner. Its retreat from capital markets coincides with growing uncertainty as Beijing grapples with a property crisis, loss of foreign investor confidence and the resultant Chinese economic downturn. At the same time, domestically oriented businesses are struggling to grow their topline because of waning consumer confidence.

The Cainiao IPO is being shelved in Hong Kong even as IPOs in other markets including the US and Africa are looking poised for a rebound. Last week, two technology companies Reddit Inc. and Astera Labs Inc.  along with the Swiss skin-care company Galderma Group AG  went public with a rush of investor demand that sent their stock prices soaring. But Alibaba gave no indication on Tuesday that it was interested in reviving its listing attempts elsewhere.

Alibaba  which after years of frenetic investment now controls a vast portfolio of assets  is now actively looking to sell off some of those non-core holdings, Tsai said. Its exploring ways to offload the InTime department store chain and other retail operations, Bloomberg News has reported.

Read More: Alibaba Said to Weigh Sale of Mall Chain in Latest Overhaul Step

--With assistance from Fion Li and Manuel Baigorri.

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(Bloomberg) -- Altices debt woes threaten to wreak havoc for a crucial cog of the leveraged finance market.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Collateralized loan obligations may look to dump their Altice France holdings at fire-sale prices if its debt gets downgraded by one notch to Triple C. Thats because CLOs  the biggest buyers of leveraged loans  have strict limits on how much of the riskiest junk debt they can own.

Altice France, one of three silos of billionaire Patrick Drahis telecommunications empire, said last week that its creditors would have to participate in discounted transactions to help slash debt. The company is racing against the clock to reduce an increasingly unsustainable debt pile while facing a preliminary probe into allegations of corruption at the wider Altice conglomerate.

A downgrade could have far-reaching effects for the CLO market because of the sheer size of Altices capital structure. Altice France has a debt load of around 24 billion ($26 billion), while the overall telecom groups burden has ballooned to nearly $60 billion after years of aggressive acquisitions fueled by cheap borrowing.

With 90% of European CLOs exposed to Altice, this would impact the entire market, Citi analysts including Charles Kellett and Lijing Wang wrote in a note.

A request for comment to Altice was not immediately returned. Moodys Ratings and S&P Global Ratings declined to comment.

Its bad news for the asset class, which had just started showing signs of recovery after a dismal 2023. If the pain in the market is widespread enough, there could also be a knock-on effect on banks willingness to underwrite merger and acquisition deals.

Story continues

CLOs, which bundle loans into bonds, are typically obliged to keep no more than 7.5% of their portfolio in debt rated CCC or lower. If they breach that level, they can be forced to cut cash payments to some investors, or be pressured to dump loans cheaply. Altices troubles are also taking down prices of some of its peers, with fiber-network firm Zayos $5 billion leveraged loan dropping in secondary trading as CLO managers fret over their CCC exposure.

Read: Barclays Says Over 20 CLOs May Top CCC Thresholds on Altice Cut

CLO Resilience

To be sure, CLOs have shown resilience in similar situations. Concerns were raised about last years blowups of KKR Group Co.-backed cancer treatment specialist GenesisCare and French supermarket Casino Guichard-Perrachon SA, but the CLO market has remained active.

Citis Kellett and Wang noted that despite the widespread impact of any rating downgrade for Altice, most CLOs would still have ample cushion to absorb this.

Rating agencies will likely only pull the trigger on a downgrade if and when Altice launches a buyback of its own debt at a deep discount  deemed to be a distressed exchange.

The companys wrangling with creditors over its debt pile has already seen the value of its loans plummet over the past week. At least $2 billion of debt linked to Altice France has changed hands over the past week, while Altice and its lenders have hired financial and legal advisers as the standoff between the company and its creditors intensifies.

--With assistance from Libby Cherry and Carmen Arroyo.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

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With strategic planning, Americans can reduce their tax liability via tax deductions and credits. Common deductions include qualified mortgage interest payments, student loan interest, property taxes and other expenses. Taxpayers have the option to itemize deductions above and beyond the standard tax deduction. For the 2023 tax year, the standard deduction is $13,850 for individuals and $27,700 for joint filers.

SmartAsset used the latest IRS data to evaluate where Americans write off the most in taxes by measuring the average itemized deduction amount and the percentage of returns opting to itemize.

Key Findings

Wyoming has the highest deduction amount by a wide margin at $128,647. Wyoming also has recently seen the biggest influx of high-income households across the nation. Still, Wyoming has one of the lowest rates of tax returns using the itemized deduction election. Arkansas has the second-highest itemized deduction at $95,657.

Itemizing is most normalized in Maryland. Just over one-fifth of taxpayers in Maryland itemize their deductions, more than any other state. Despite this, Maryland averages the second-smallest itemized deduction at $33,772. Rhode Island has the smallest average itemized return at $32,580.

In California, 15% of filers itemize their returns. This is second only to Maryland and Washington, D.C. The average itemized deduction in California is $44,722. In total, the state has itemized deductions 2.5 times of that of the second-most state (New York) with $1.26 billion. Residents still end up paying the fourth-highest tax liability at 18.1% of aggregate adjusted gross income (AGI).

Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts have the highest tax liabilities. After accounting for deductions and credits, Connecticut residents face the highest final tax liability at 18.9% of adjusted gross income. New York places second with 18.7% and Massachusetts residents pay an average of 18.4%.

Top 10 States With the Highest Average Itemized Deduction

Wyoming

Wyoming residents claim average itemized deductions totaling $128,647, with 5.3% of tax returns itemizing. The total collective income tax liability for households was $5.5 billion, which accounted for 16.9% of AGI.

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Arkansas

In Arkansas, the average itemized deduction reached $95,657, with 5.7% of taxpayers opting for itemization. The total tax liability for state residents was $13.7 billion, or 13.7% of AGI.

South Dakota

Itemized deductions in South Dakota averaged $73,200, spread across 4.5% of filers. After paying taxes on 14.5% AGI, the total yield in tax liability was $5.5 billion.

North Dakota

North Dakota taxpayers averaged $67,904 in itemized deductions, with a 4.7% itemization rate. The total tax liability was $4.9 billion, which represented 14.6% of AGI.

Nevada

Nevada taxpayers reported an average itemized deduction of $57,736, with 8.2% of returns opting to itemize. The total tax liability of $24.8 billion accounts added up to 16.8% of AGI.

New York

The average itemized deduction was $52,271 in New York, with 10.2% of returns itemizing. Aggregate taxes collected included $199.8 billion, which represented 18.7% of AGI.

Florida

In Florida, the average itemized deduction is $51,903. With 7.3% of taxpayers itemizing, the effective tax rate in the state was 17.1% of AGI. Total income tax liability for residents reached $177.7 billion.

Nebraska

Nebraska's average itemized deduction is $50,543, with 6.3% of returns participating. The total tax liability of $11.0 billion accounted for 14.1% of AGI.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma reports an average itemized deduction of $48,524. With 6.4% of filers itemizing, this adds up to a total tax liability of $15.9 billion, which represents 13.3% of AGI.

Texas

Texas has an average itemized deduction of $48,419, with 7.7% of taxpayers itemizing. The aggregate tax liability totaled $190.6 billion, or 16.1% of AGI.

Data and Methodology

Using the most recently available IRS tax data from 2021, states were ranked by the size of itemized deductions averaged across taxpayers. Total tax liability paid was also compared with the total adjusted gross income for the state, as well as the percentage of returns electing to itemize their deductions.

Questions about our study? Contact us at press@smartasset.com

Photo credit: iStock.com/RidoFranz

The post Where Americans Write Off the Most in Taxes  2024 Study appeared first on SmartReads by SmartAsset.
In addition, comprehensive wealth management firm releases educational resources for taxpayers and travelers

CANONSBURG, Pa., March 26, 2024--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Amy Braun-Bostich, Founding Partner and CEO of Braun-Bostich & Associates, an SEC Registered Investment Advisor and comprehensive financial planning firm located in greater Pittsburgh, was named to the 2024 list of Americas Top Women Wealth Advisors by Forbes.

In Forbes eighth annual Top Women Wealth Advisors list, which included 1,991 women advisors from across the country, Braun-Bostich ranked #27 in the state of Pennsylvania. This is the third consecutive year that Braun-Bostich was included in this prestigious Best-In-State list.

"Im honored to be named as one of the top women wealth advisors in Pennsylvania for the third year in a row," said Amy Braun-Bostich, MSFP, CFP, CFS, APMA, CLTC. "We work hard every day to bring value to our clients lives, and this listing further validates the work weve been doing to help our clients reach their financial and life goals."

Braun-Bostich and her team of expert associates, with over $200M assets under management (AUM), deliver a range of wealth management solutions to high-net-worth individuals, families, and businesses in order to help them meet their goals and optimize their financial life. Focused on securing the wellbeing of clients and their loved ones for years to come, the team creates strategies designed for their clients unique needs, helping develop a roadmap to financial independence.

QUALITATIVE RANKINGS OF INDUSTRY ROLE MODELS

Forbes rankings, developed by SHOOK Research, are the only advisor rankings with a focus on quality, including surveying and interviewing advisors in-person and virtually. Rankings are based on an algorithm of qualitative data collected through these surveys and interviews to evaluate best practices, level of service, investing models, and compliance records, as well as quantitative data such as revenue trends and AUM.

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SHOOK Research prides itself on recognizing the most outstanding financial advisors in the business and creating rankings of role models  advisors that are leading the way in offering best practices and providing a high-quality experience for clients. Unlike other advisor rankings, SHOOK is not a "robo-ranker" and is completely independent and objective  they do not receive compensation from financial advisors, their firms, or the media in exchange for rankings. They believe that production and asset numbers dont tell the whole story and that a focus on both qualitative and quantitative factors is imperative.

To see the full list of Forbes 2024 Top Women Best-In-State Wealth Advisors, please click here. To see Braun-Bostichs Forbes profile with previous rankings and assets summary, please click here.

EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES FOR INVESTORS, TAXPAYERS, AND TRAVELERS

To provide resources and insights for their clients and the general public, Braun-Bostich & Associates regularly releases educational blog posts on the firms website and podcast episodes through the firms Intentional Wealth podcast.

The latest blog post, titled How to Get Tax Savings on Charitable Contributions, provides information on qualified charitable deductions from an IRA, as well as tips for getting tax savings on charitable contributions  a pertinent topic as taxpayers are in the midst of completing 2023 tax returns.

The latest podcast episode features guest expert and travel planner Grace Cheng Braun of Destinations with Grace. As travel season swings into full gear, Cheng Braun and host Amy Braun-Bostich discuss tips for travel planning, including budgeting, choosing a destination, types of trips, and more.

Previous podcast episodes cover a variety of financial planning topics, including investment strategies and market insights, elder care planning, college planning, estate planning, tax planning, cybersecurity, and more. To access all Intentional Wealth podcast episodes, please click here.

To access all educational blog posts, please click here. For other educational resources, including an eBook on Creating a Life from Intention, topical articles, videos, and more, please click here.

ABOUT BRAUN-BOSTICH & ASSOCIATES

Braun-Bostich & Associates is a comprehensive financial planning firm and Registered Investment Advisor based in Canonsburg, PA, delivering a range of wealth management solutions to high-net-worth individuals, families, and businesses in order to help them meet their goals and optimize their financial life. Founded by Amy Braun-Bostich, CEO and Founding Partner, Braun-Bostich & Associates is focused on securing the wellbeing of clients and their loved ones for years to come. By creating strategies designed for their clients unique needs, they help develop a roadmap to financial independence. Learn more at www.Braun-Bostich.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240326278928/en/

Contacts

Media Contact:

Jonny Swift

Impact Communications, Inc.

913-649-5009

JonnySwift@ImpactCommunications.org
Tawana Hunter of Lancaster holds a locket with a photo of her father, Jubal Hunter, who was among the 45 Los Angeles County jail inmates who died in custody last year. (Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times)

It was well after dark, but Tawana Hunter lingered in the hospital parking lot, watching the minutes tick by on her phone. As midnight drew closer, she ran through all the things she wished had been different.

She wished her father had been in better health. She wished he hadnt gotten arrested. She wished he hadnt spent the last few months of his life in jail. And she wished that, right now, he wasn't dying alone, handcuffed to a hospital bed.

After almost two hours of wishing and waiting, her phone rang.

Im sorry, the woman began. Tawana knew what came next.

Jubal Hunter, 60, was one of 45 Los Angeles County inmates who died in custody last year, one of the deadliest years in recent history. Though the number of people in the countys lockups is roughly a third less today than what it was a decade ago, the number of fatalities has risen so much that the annual death rate has more than doubled in that time frame. Suicides are slightly down after a sharp spike in 2021, but natural deaths are up, killings are up, and overdoses are way up compared to 10 years ago.

Yet no one seems to agree on why. Jail leaders, oversight officials and inmate advocates have cited various causes including fentanyl, COVID-19 and overcrowding. Sheriff Robert Luna, whose department runs the jails, has blamed the poor health of the inmates leading up to their arrest. Many, he told The Times, receive the best healthcare of their lives while incarcerated.

But a Times review of thousands of pages of autopsies, lawsuits, medical records and oversight reports found another common thread stretching across all causes of death: neglect, by both guards and medical staff.

In recent years, records show, inmates have died from jumping off railings, banging their heads against a wall and injecting drugs with makeshift needles  all in view of jail surveillance cameras that no one watched until later. At least three inmates died after stuffing paper, sanitary napkins or other items down their throats, asphyxiating before anyone intervened.

Last year, one man died after he was beaten and left bleeding for four hours before guards noticed. And last month, one mans family filed a lawsuit alleging he was neglected for so long that his body was cool to the touch by the time staff found him dead from an easily treated medical condition.

We think about people dying in interactions with the justice system when theyre saying, I cant breathe, with a knee on their neck, said Nicholas Shapiro, a UCLA researcher who studies Los Angeles jail deaths. But a lot of these deaths are happening in I cant breathe scenarios due to neglect and a lack of access to healthcare.

Repeatedly, oversight officials have questioned the quality and frequency of required safety checks and raised concerns in quarterly reports about jailers who delay taking action when confronted with medical emergencies. Meanwhile, state authorities with the Board of State and Community Corrections cited the jails for noncompliance so many times that this year they asked the sheriff to answer questions in person about why staff fail to check on inmates at least hourly.

In a statement to The Times this week, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said all deaths are "tragic" but did not offer comment on individual cases.

"The Department takes every in-custody death seriously and strives to make every effort possible to prevent similar deaths in the future," the statement said.

Similarly, the county agency that oversees jail healthcare said in a statement that it cannot comment on individual cases due to medical privacy laws.

"The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services is proud to provide high-quality, patient-centered care to all L.A. County residents, including inmates who receive care through Correctional Health Services," the statement said, adding that the Sheriff's Department is "ultimately responsible for escorting incarcerated persons in custody to the on-site medical clinic for care and treatment."

When Tawana found out her father was in jail, at first she didnt believe it, she told The Times. Though hed done some prison time in his younger years, the man she knew was a kind grandfather, not a troublemaker. He loved taking his grandchildren to the park and spoiling them with doughnuts.

Yet in September 2020, Jubal was arrested and charged with murder after prosecutors said he shot a man to death outside his South Los Angeles apartment. Jubal said he didnt do it. And according to his attorneys, he had simply shooed away a would-be thief prowling around his broken-down car, then gone back inside. There was no camera footage of the killing, and no eyewitnesses.

Tawana Hunter holds her father's obituary. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times) (Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times)

But it was a serious accusation, and Jubal had prior convictions. So the court set bail at $4 million, and he had to stay in jail amid the worsening pandemic. Court records show he had thyroid problems, diabetes, kidney failure, carpal tunnel syndrome and high cholesterol. He required dialysis three times a week, and he needed a wheelchair to get around. His daughter suspected he was in such poor health he wasnt physically able to kill anyone.

Clearly they got the wrong dude, she remembered thinking, assuming that someone would soon figure out the mistake and let her father out.

Instead, he sat in Mens Central Jail for more than two years, waiting for his chance at trial.

No one knows how many people die in jails and prisons across the country each year, so its difficult to say how the problem in Los Angeles compares to other places. But over the past few years, the deteriorating conditions and rising death tolls in lockups from New York to Texas to California have attracted increasing scrutiny.

A decade ago, there were more than 18,600 inmates in the Los Angeles County jails, but by the end of last year that figure had fallen to under 12,200, according to county data . Over the same span, state data shows the death toll rose from 28 in 2014 to at least 50 in 2021 before falling to 45 last year.

Despite the lack of consensus on the cause of that uptick, there are some clear trends. A Times analysis of records from the California Department of Justice shows that natural deaths in Los Angeles jails have gone up 40% since 2014, while the number of unnatural deaths  a category that includes homicides, suicides and overdoses  rose by at least 65%.

Last month, a government watchdog report noted a similar shift in federal prisons, where unnatural deaths went up by roughly 50% from 2014 to 2021. And, as in Los Angeles, the report found that skipped welfare checks, slow responses and other negligence were some of the factors that may have contributed to that increase.

Read more: How many people die each year in jails and prisons? No one knows

In Los Angeles County, those lapses are readily apparent in the rising number of overdoses. Last year, Sheriffs Department officials said that out of 45 jail inmate deaths, 12 were drug-related  more than twice as many as a decade earlier when the jail population was much larger.

In one case, a 35-year-old man overdosed on a jail bus in September, according to a quarterly oversight report . Staff waited 15 minutes to pull over and render aid, and the man died later at a hospital.

Three months later, another quarterly report showed that jailers at North County Correctional Facility in Castaic skipped several required safety checks before discovering an inmate who had overdosed. As in several other cases The Times reviewed, jailers only learned of the medical emergency after other inmates summoned them for help.

When a 29-year-old collapsed at North County Correctional Facility in 2022, other inmates were the first to respond, administering an overdose-reversing drug the Sheriffs Department now keeps mounted on the jail walls . It was only after the man died that officials discovered that jail surveillance footage had captured him loading a makeshift syringe at his bunk and asking another inmate to help him inject it into his neck, according to autopsy records . Deputies later reported seeing him inject drugs on camera a few weeks before his death.

Some of the same problems showed up in a Times review of jail suicides, which spiked in 2021 when 11 people killed themselves. That May, one man with a history of trying to kill himself banged his head against a wall 60 times, according to an autopsy report. No one intervened and he later died of blunt force trauma  at which point officials reviewed camera footage and realized what had happened.

A few months earlier, autopsy records show , a man with a history of suicide attempts tried to kill himself by removing his tracheostomy tube and stuffing Q-Tips into his airway. After his cellmates alerted the guards, he was taken to the hospital  but quickly sent back to Mens Central Jail where, the following day, he tried to remove the tube again. As jailers walked him to get medical help, he collapsed. The paramedics who tried to save him realized that he had again stuffed a Q-Tip into the breathing device.

Since then, autopsy records and oversight reports show that at least two other prisoners have died after stuffing materials  in one case paper and in one case a maxi pad  down their throats before staff intervened.

Of the dozens of cases The Times reviewed from the past three years, several involved inmates who were held in isolation despite warning signs, including histories of mental illness and recent suicide attempts. In at least one case, records showed jailers couldnt pinpoint exactly when the prisoner was last known to be alive.

Typically, homicides are the least common type of unnatural death in Los Angeles County jails, but in recent years theyve been on the rise. Last year, there were four inmate-on-inmate killings. In one case, an oversight report noted that the victim and his suspected killer had been housed together improperly, even though the jails cellmate matching system indicated that the two were not a compatible match.

Read more: He was beaten to death in Mens Central Jail. It took staff nearly 4 hours to notice

In another 2023 case, a 50-year-old mentally ill man was beaten in the shower at Mens Central Jail and left on the floor for two hours. Other inmates moved him to his bunk where he lay bleeding for another two hours before jail staff noticed.

This year, county Inspector General Max Huntsman pointed to the failure to monitor jail surveillance cameras as an ongoing problem.

People died recently, he told the L.A. County Board of Supervisors in January, while in full view of video cameras, in which there could have been an intervention, and there wasnt, because nobody was watching.

The Sheriff's Department did not offer comment on that characterization but said it has a "more complicated" inmate population than in the past. In 2017, officials said, 27% of the jail population had mental health problems. Now, that figure is 42%.

Without providing evidence, the department also said there are more inmates with medical problems and addiction issues than there used to be  though, in the past, attorneys and inmate advocates have questioned those assertions.

When Jubals case finally went to trial early last year, his lawyers tried to tell the jury he didnt kill anyone.

We believed he was factually innocent of this crime, public defender Brooke Longuevan told The Times.

But the efforts to prove that moved along slowly, in part because Jubal needed to go to dialysis three times a week. Sometimes, the proceedings got derailed by his lawyers concerns about his care and the conditions at the jail. He didnt seem to have enough warm clothes, and, on the first day of trial, Longuevan said, Jubal showed up in a makeshift hat that other inmates had knitted out of a sock.

After that, jail staff sent him to court without his medically approved meals so frequently that eventually his lawyers got the judge to sign an order requiring them to give him meals he could eat.

One day, two weeks into the trial, he didnt show up for court at all  and that was how his lawyers said they learned he was in the hospital.

We went to the hospital to see if we could see him, Longuevan said. And we got there and the sheriffs told us we couldnt  even though we had a court order.

For days, the deputies refused to let Jubals lawyers in, Longuevan wrote in court filings. At one point, she said, deputies claimed attorneys for the county told them not to let the lawyers see him  though the county attorneys denied that when Longuevan contacted them the next day. So Jubals lawyers returned to the hospital, where Longuevan said a lieutenant threatened to arrest them if they didnt leave.

Eventually, they found out Jubal had COVID-19 and was receiving oxygen. And as the days ticked by, the legal team grew increasingly worried, both about his health and about the possibility that the delays would lead to a mistrial, forcing them to start all over again in court.

But by early February his condition had improved enough that he was cleared for discharge  if the Sheriffs Department would agree to pick him up.

Our understanding from LASD jail staff is that they are declining to transport Mr. Hunter back to the jail because of his oxygen requirements, Longuevan wrote in a worried email to the jail medical director.

The medical director replied three days later, saying hed look into it. By the following day, Jubal was back in the jail, and able to call his daughter again.

I still feel short of breath, she remembered him saying, as she listened to him struggle for air and wondered why hed been sent back to the jail. She thought he was supposed to be released with oxygen, and he didnt seem to have it.

They released me, he continued, but Im not OK.

Though unnatural deaths have risen sharply, natural deaths  those caused by disease and illness  still account for roughly half of the yearly fatalities in L.A. County jails. And while research shows that inmates are disproportionately likely to have certain chronic health problems before ending up in custody, inadequate care behind bars can cause those problems to become deadly.

Last winter, the jails came under fire for failing to provide enough warm clothing when two inmates died after showing signs of hypothermia . One, a 61-year-old man housed at Twin Towers jail, had a body temperature of 87.6 degrees by the time he arrived at the hospital. He died three weeks later of multiple organ failure, records show.

In June, when deputies found a 55-year-old man unresponsive in his cell at Mens Central Jail, the medical examiner chalked his death up to a history of heart failure. According to oversight reports , his family had been telling jail officials for months that he needed more medical care and that he seemed to be deteriorating. By the time he died, hed lost roughly 100 pounds  and neither the Sheriffs Department nor jail healthcare providers had noticed or intervened.

A Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department bus drives past one of the county's downtown jails. (Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)

His case was one of several in which records show that inmates and their families warned officials of serious symptoms  such as vomiting , diarrhea and pain  that went untreated for days or weeks before their deaths. In a lawsuit filed last year, one female inmate's family alleged the woman died from untreated alcohol withdrawal days after she was arrested on suspicion of shoplifting. Her death was considered accidental.

When 32-year-old Travis Freeman was booked into jail last May, he had a number of medical problems, including hepatitis, fentanyl addiction, alcohol dependence and bipolar disorder. Though the jail treated some of these problems, according to a lawsuit filed last month, staff completely ignored his stomach ulcers. At one point, he went to urgent care because he was throwing up  but he was soon sent back in a cell at Mens Central Jail.

A few days later, his cellmates started calling for help when they noticed hed fallen unconscious. By the time staff arrived, the lawsuit said, Freeman was pulseless, not breathing, pale, and cool to the touch. He was declared dead at the jail, and the medical examiner later noted that his gastrointestinal tract was filled with blood caused by duodenal ulcers.

Such a condition is easily treated, produces symptoms over an extended period of time, and does not cause sudden death, the lawsuit said . Both the medical and custody staff were deliberately indifferent to Mr. Freemans medical needs in that they ignored his obvious suffering, symptoms and need for help, and failed to summon emergency medical care in a timely manner.

The suit also described other delayed responses in recent years, including one case in which a woman died after jailers didnt act immediately when they discovered her unresponsive and covered in feces. Neither the Sheriff's Department nor the Health Department offered comment on the lawsuit or the cases it mentions.

At a recent meeting of the Board of Supervisors, one of the jails top doctors said part of the problem is that there arent enough jailers to bring inmates to their medical visits.

I dont have the people to get my patients to me, Dr. Tim Belavich told supervisors in January. There arent enough workers to get the patients to the appointments so they can be seen, and seen timely.

Two weeks after Jubal got out of the hospital, his trial ended.

It was a hung jury, Longuevan said. But he wasnt there for it.

Hours earlier, on the evening of Feb. 21, 2023, hed been rushed back to the hospital with respiratory failure. Over the next few weeks, medical records show, he nearly died at least twice, tested positive for COVID-19, went into septic shock and was eventually intubated.

Then on March 10, Tawana said, the hospital called and asked her to come in and talk about taking her father off life support. His lawyers tried to get the court to grant a compassionate release so his family could visit him more freely in his final days  but Longuevan said they couldnt get the hospital to give them the paperwork they needed in time.

In the end, the jail and the hospital agreed to let Jubals family come see him for a couple of hours on the evening of March 15. His relatives gathered at the Los Angeles General Medical Center and waited more than an hour for someone to let them in. By the time medical staff extubated him, only 20 minutes remained in the scheduled visit.

When they left, Jubal was barely breathing. He looked frail and pallid  a shadow of the man Tawana knew.

Tawana Hunter holds an urn containing her father's ashes at her home in Lancaster. Jubal Hunter, 60, died in L.A. County custody. (Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times)

She assumed it wouldnt be long, so she stayed nearby to wait. When the call finally came, Tawana remembers asking the hospital representative if she could come in to see her fathers body.

At first, the woman said she wasnt sure. More than an hour later, Tawana said, the hospital called back with an answer.

No. The jail wouldnt allow it.

Troubling deaths in the Los Angeles County jails are not a new phenomenon. In a study published last year , Shapiro and his fellow researcher, UCLA professor Terence Keel, detailed a case in 2016 in which a 33-year-old died of dehydration and another in 2010 in which a teenager starved to death.

The study, which analyzed 58 autopsies, also found that medical neglect and incompetence were key drivers of natural deaths in the Los Angeles jails. But understanding factors that might contribute to jail deaths still doesnt explain why those deaths kept rising.

Im baffled, said Melissa Camacho, a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. I dont have any reason to believe that deputies or medical staff are any more neglectful in recent years than in the past, and I dont have any reason to believe that people are entering in the jails in a different state of health than in years past. To me its a sign that the county has not taken an all-hands-on-deck approach.

State and county data show that the pandemic and the fentanyl crisis account for some of the increase. But if the jail death rate stayed where it was a decade ago, a Times analysis found, there would have been fewer than 20 deaths last year. Instead, there were more than 40  a far larger jump than either overdoses or COVID-19 would explain.

I have resigned myself to not figuring that out, Shapiro said. There are so many forces that ebb and flow, and they have coalesced in a way that resulted in a lot of deaths. Maybe they will reduce over the next year  but that doesnt mean weve improved anything.

In a December interview with The Times , Luna was similarly perplexed.

Every time I see a notification that somebody dies in our custody, its like, What the heck? You dont want to see any, he said. I dont want anything to go wrong while theyre in our custody.

In recent months, the sheriff and others have offered solutions: buying newer body scanners to search inmates for drugs, building a new facility with more space for treatment and hiring more staff. And so far, data show that 2024 is on track to be less deadly than 2023.

Such progress brings little comfort to the Hunter family.

Early last spring, a judge finally dismissed the case against Jubal. It was not because he was innocent but because, by that point, he was dead.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The Francis Scott Key Bridge stood little chance: When the loaded container ship Dali destroyed one of the bridge's main support columns, the entire structure was doomed to fail.

"Any bridge would have been in serious danger from a collision like this," said Nii Attoh-Okine, professor and chair of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Maryland.

Bridges work by transferring the load they carry  cars, trucks or trains  through their support beams onto columns or piles sunk deep into the ground.

But they also depend on those support columns to hold them up.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge, a major span over the Patapsco River in Baltimore, collapsed after it was struck by a Singapore-flagged container ship 'Dali'. The cargo ship collided with a pillar of the bridge, prompting a massive emergency response for multiple people in the water. The Baltimore City Fire Department described the collapse as a mass-casualty incident.

When the 984-foot Singapore-flagged Dali took out that column, the bridge was inevitably going to fall, said Benjamin W. Schafer, a civil engineering professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

You go frame by frame in the video and you can see the support removed, and then as you watch, the entire structure comes down," he said. Literally the whole bridge comes down as a rigid body.

Opened in 1977, the bridge was 1.6 miles long and was the world's third-longest continuous-truss bridge span, carrying about 31,000 vehicles a day.

Similarly designed bridges have a long history of catastrophic failure, but those failures more typically come from a problem within the bridge itself.

Though modern bridges are typically designed so a small failure in one area doesnt "propagate" to the entire bridge, steel-truss structures are particularly at risk. One study found that more than 500 steel-truss bridges in the United States collapsed between 1989 and 2000.

Truss-style bridges are recognizable by the triangular bracing that gives them strength. They are often used to carry cars, trucks and trains across rivers or canyons.

Similar bridges have been weakened by repeated heavy truck or train traffic, according to experts. But in this case, the bridge's design and construction probably played little role in the collapse, Attoh-Okine and Schafer said.

This is an incredibly efficient structure, and theres no evidence of a crucial flaw," Schafer said. If that had been a highway bridge, you would have watched one concrete beam (fall), but in this case, it's dramatic, like a whole pile of spaghetti."

The bigger question, the two experts said, is the long-term impact the collapse will have on shipping and vehicle traffic all along the East Coast. Although there are tunnels serving the area, they are typically off-limits to gasoline tankers and other hazardous-materials carriers, which would require significant rerouting.

Additionally, Baltimore is the nation's 20th-busiest port, according to the federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Workers there imported and exported more than 840,000 cars and light trucks last year, making it the busiest auto port in the nation, according to the governor's office.

"It's going to change the whole traffic pattern around the East Coast, as a cascading effect," Attoh-Okine said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Francis Scott Key bridge didn't stand much chance once disaster struck
Protesters take part in a demonstration against Israeli government and the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on February 3, 2024 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Credit - Amir LevyGetty Images

When Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer took to the Senate floor to call for Israelis to return to the polls to elect a new government, he articulated a position that many within and beyond Israel share: that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has put his political survival ahead of the countrys interests and that, amid a military campaign in Gaza where more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed and some 134 Israelis remain hostage, perhaps his far-right coalitions time in power has run its course.

Netanyahus dwindling popularity at home (where recent polls show him trailing his top rival, the retired army general Benny Gantz) and abroad has become increasingly apparent as Israels war in Gaza grinds on. Nearly half a year into its retaliatory war to root out Hamas from the Strip in the aftermath of the groups Oct. 7 attack, the country appears no closer to meeting its desired endgameone that the government says can only be achieved by launching a contentious offensive on Gazas southernmost and densely-populated city of Rafah. Meanwhile, the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza continues to spiral as global calls for Israel to allow greater flows of aid into the Strip go unheeded.

Read More: U.S. Patience With Netanyahu Is Running Out

Its then perhaps little wonder that Netanyahu has become widely regarded as a key obstacle to peace. Indeed, since returning to office in 2022 after a brief stint in opposition, Netanyahu has largely pursued policies aimed at preserving his powermost notably his governments contentious judicial overhaul, which triggered consecutive months of mass protests. His popularity wasnt great then, and it plummeted even further after Oct. 7; a majority of Israelis have blamed him for a failure to prevent the attack. Many now favor early elections (the next one isnt due until late 2026), which would likely result in Netanyahu's ejection of power. While this would have a profound impact on Israels political landscape, which Netanyahu and his ruling Likud Party have dominated for the best part of two decades, expert observers warn that it wont necessarily be a panacea.

This is particularly evident when it comes to managing the war, the responsibility for which has fallen to the countrys wartime unity government, made up of Netanyahu and other opposition figures, including Gantz. If elections in Israel were held today, Gantzs centrist National Unity party would be in pole position to form the next government. But a Gantz administration wouldnt necessarily bring a new approach to the war. On Gaza, there isnt much difference between Netanyahu and Gantz, says Mairav Zonszein, a Senior Israel Analyst at the International Crisis Group, noting that both men have voiced their support for the Rafah incursion. Nor is there much daylight between them and Israeli public opinion, a majority of which continue to oppose a political agreement to end the war, according to a recent poll. (The same survey found that a majority also consider the prospects of Israel achieving an absolute victory to be unlikely.)

Israelis who have been polled have supported the war effort, Zonszein says. There hasnt been any pushback to the way Gaza has been treated in the war. And so certainly, I dont think Gantz would change it on that level.

Where Gantz could introduce change, however, would be in his dealings with the Americans. Unlike Netanyahu, who has openly sparred with President Biden over his governments handling of the war, Gantz would be much more cooperative and much less combative, Zonszein says.He would come at it from a much more kind of military perspective, which is that we need the U.S., we cant jeopardize their supplying of weapons and aid. He is also more likely to prioritize securing a deal to free the Israeli hostages who remain in Gaza.

Read More: What Israelis Think of the War With Hamas

When it comes to how Israels relationship with the Palestinians and the prospects of a two-state solution would fare under new leadership, fundamental change seems unlikely. Even before Oct. 7, Israeli politics appeared largely apathetic to the Palestinian question, preferring to manage the conflict rather than solve it outright. Netanyahu has proudly touted his role in preventing the creation of a Palestinian state, but his rivals also did little to address the conflict when given the chance. Indeed, during the short-lived change government of Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid in 2021-2022, Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank continued to expand. It was during this same period that Gantz, then serving as the countrys defense minister, notably outlawed six Palestinian rights groups in a move that critics dubbed a blatant attempt to prevent the documentation of abuses in the occupied Palestinian territories.

While Gantz hasnt voiced as much reluctance toward a two-state solution as Netanyahu, he hasnt offered much public support for it either. Even before Oct. 7, he refrained from calling for a two-state solution publicly, opting to speak of a two entities instead. But he has also demonstrated himself to be more open to dialogue with Palestinian leaders than Netanyahu or his allies, even going so far as to invite Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for a rare meeting in his home when he was defense minister, during which they reportedly discussed, among other things, creating a political horizon for peace.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem on September 27, 2023. Abir SultanPool/AFP/Getty Images

But even if Gantz were to support a two-state solution, its seemingly unlikely that he would press for one in the current context, according to Nimrod Novik, a fellow at the Israel Policy Forum and a former senior adviser to ex-Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres. Youre not going to have a bunch of peaceniks who, the morning after [the election], will turn to [Abbas] and say, Lets sit down and talk peace, he says. Thats not in the cardsnot in terms of the public mood in the country, not in terms of the assessments of public mood among Palestinians  Alternative leadership will change course substantially, but not to the point of altering the course of history overnight.

Still, Novik says that a full return to the pre-war status quo is similarly unlikely, noting that many Israeli leaders will have internalized several lessons from Oct. 7, chief among them that Israelis have to change course from conflict management to conflict resolution, however long and arduous the course. In doing so, he says, a new Israeli government might reconsider the same reckless drive for settlement expansion and pursue more popular policies such as normalizing relations with Saudi Arabia.

This concept of regional integration and Saudi normalization is the most popular theme among the Israeli public, Novik says. What Israelis are not aware of are the two prerequisitesthat you have to change policy on the Palestinian Authority and you have to offer a political horizon.

Would Gantz be able to make that case? While Novik believes that Gantz supports a two-state solution in principle, he adds: What we do not know is what we never know about a leader before he is in office, and that is: does he have the power of conviction to make it happen?

In any event, prematurely forcing Netanyahu out wont be an easy feat. New elections are not legally required in Israel until October 2026. While term limits certainly havent stopped the country from holding early elections before (see: its five consecutive elections between 2019 and 2022), there would need to be one of several triggers to force oneamong them the collapse of Netanyahus current ruling coalition, a successful no-confidence motion in the Knesset, or mass civil protests of the likes seen last year.

Despite growing calls for new elections, Zonszein says the Israeli public is unlikely to demand one until a hostage deal is reached. Israelis are now hostage to the hostage situation, she says. Theyre not able to really function properly on other efforts until thats solved, so its hard for them to focus on the election specifically when you have this [crisis] ongoing, which Netanyahu is clearly playing very well.

Write to Yasmeen Serhan at yasmeen.serhan@time.com.
Susan Orlean may be best known to a large swath of cinephiles less for her work and more for the adaptations of itnamely Adaptation, Charlie Kaufmans Oscar-winning 2002 film. Its one of the more unique films of the 21st century, a meta-comedy written by and about Charlie Kaufman (played by Nicolas Cage in the film). In theory, its drawn from Orleans popular 1998 nonfiction book The Orchid Thief, a loosely structured investigation into the arrest of a group of flower poachers. In practice, its an exercise in conquering writer's block, with Kaufman mocking his own failed attempt to translate this challenging text into a coherent narrative. And, for good measure, Susan Orlean herself is a major character, played by Meryl Streep, who ends up falling for one of the criminals featured in her book.

Its a doozy of a picture, and hard to believe that it has anything in common with the actual Orchid Thief. It may also give the impression that Orleans writing resists standard storytelling. But more than 20 years later, another adaptation of her writing challenges that notion. Little Wing, now streaming on Paramount+, draws from Orleans 2006 New Yorker article of the same name. From the way the film tells it, its a straightforward story about a preteen named Kat (Brooklynn Prince) whose reluctance to move out of her childhood home pushes her toward the expensive, seedy underbelly of pigeon racing. But as she hunts for a prized pigeon to make a buck off on the resale market in order to help her mom pay off their house, she ends up falling in love with both the sport and the birdand coming to terms on the many meanings of home.

Orleans original Little Wing follows many of the same beats, with slightly lower dramatic stakes. (Theres no thievery in her piece, nor is there a standoff with pigeon-loving mobsters.) But, in a recent interview with The Daily Beasts Obsessed, Orlean says she appreciates the changesjust as she appreciates the singular weirdness of Adaptation.

Below, Orleans talks about the long road that Little Wing took from page to screen, the lessons she learned while writing for the indescribable TV series How to With John Wilson, and why Adaptation is actually a perfect adaptation of her work.

Brooklynn Prince as Kaitlyn in 'Little Wing.' Allyson Riggs

What initially interested you about this story?

Im very interested in subcultures, and this was one that I had no idea existed. The more I learned about it, the more fascinating it became. Pigeons are really interesting, and theres a lot of history that's really fascinating about the way they've been used. Then there was this particular poignancy of this little girl [12-year-old Sedona in the article; Kat in the film] who had found comfort in this sport, and now her family was moving, and she was going to have to contend with this very profound, emotional fact of these birds not being able to learn a new home, which was quite obviously her big worry for herself too.

It just was almost immediatelike when you hear about a story and you go, Of course, this is a story.

How involved were you with the adaptation, including the changes made from Sedonas story to Kats story?

The story got optioned immediately. Its one of the few stories Ive written where I could immediately see it as a movie, and partly because it's very visual. The birds are beautiful, and the birds flying are so visual. This is partly why I always find it interesting that Ive had a fair number of stories optioned for filmbecause Im not trying to write a film, and the demands of what makes a good piece of narrative nonfiction are really different from a movie. There doesnt have to be this dramatic arc that a movie seems to require.

[But getting Little Wing made] was a real saga. I mean, the story was written 17 years ago, and [writer John Gatins] was done with it in a fairly short amount of time. So I saw the script then, and then it entered this period of extreme Hollywood turmoil, because the division of Paramount for which it had been optioned eventually dissolved, and there was a lot of ill will, and a lot of projects got shelved. I stayed out of it. I just felt like, Look, who knows what's going to happen?

Not only have several of your own works been adapted for the screendespite your own surprise about thatbut youve written for TV before too. What did you learn about the difference between narrative nonfiction and nonfiction TV from your experience working on How to With John Wilson, where you were part of the writers room for two seasons?

Writing for that show was so unique. I dont think you could say, I wrote for How to With John Wilson, so now I understand the conventions of screenwriting. He explodes the whole idea of the way narrative can evolve. And I think that thats why he did reach out to me, because I think he felt my resistance to the ordinary demands of a narrative were very inspiring to him. I understood how he didnt feel like he needed to hit all the beats of a typical Hollywood story.

Not at all.

As somebody who writes for the page, any time you write for television or film, you learn a lot about the economy of language vs. writing it all out on the page. You dont have to describe anything, or explain how somebody walked from one room to another room. They just do it. Its a combination of feeling like you had your legs cut off and then feeling very liberated.

How did writing for such a specific show like John Wilson, which is a mix of documentary and narrative nonfiction, actually work?

It was not easy. He had this giant resource of film that he had already captured, so we were structuring the show knowing that he had all of this [footage]. It was, in that sense, structured more the way I write my stories, which is that I do the reporting in advance, and then I figure out what Im going to use or not use, or how this will segue into that.

How Anthony Boyle Became Maniacal Racist Assassin John Wilkes Booth

But then also there would be these holes where wed say, We need somehow to get from the guy with the penis extension to the guy with the rug. What could work there? And then we would brainstorm about how maybe it would be X or maybe it would be Y. Then there would be times where [John] would say, Well, I definitely am going to go on a trip to this convention, but who knows what were going to get! So lets build a slot in the structure of the show where Im going to go to the convention. It was really challenging.

That sounds uniquely difficult. And thank you for referencing the episode featuring the man who was trying to regrow his foreskinthat was maybe the best one.

When I saw that episode, I literally screamed, because it was so insane. The absurdity [of John Wilson] was so amazing.

I have to give HBO credit for commissioning the show. This was not at all traditional in any way, and the love people had for it shows you that people do have an appetite for things that are unconventional. I don't give viewers or readers enough credit for that. They are interested in things that don't fit the conventional format. I mean, I hope they are, because that's certainly the way I write.

Speaking of unconventionalit is wild that a movie as idiosyncratic as Adaptation is technically based on one of your books, The Orchid Thief.

In a way, that film addresses this absolutely head-on. I didnt write a book that had a Hollywood arc, and when it was optioned, I thought, I have no idea how youd make it into a movie. I wrote the book I wanted to write, which was not conventional. I dont even get to see the thing that the whole book is about [the rare orchid].

When people say that Adaptation isnt really like my book, I think, Actually, it really is. It addresses the nature of the book in a more sincere way than I expectedthe fact of it being not a conventional story.

So you were happy with the films take on your book?

Oh, I love it. I mean, in the beginning, when I first read the script, I was very puzzled. I just thought, What the hell are you people doing? But I love the movie. Its just one of the great movies of the postmodern era, and I feel that it was really true to the heart of the book in a way that a conventional movie wouldnt have been. Its one of those movies that people still actively watch all the time. I hardly meet anyone who hasnt seen it.

Despite being such a strange movie, like most of Charlie Kaufmans movies, its popularity really does prove your hypothesis that people have more of a tolerance for nontraditional stories than Hollywood tends to think.

Yeah, I absolutely think thats the case. Its a hard sell, almost more so with movies and television, because its so expensive to make TV and movies. I think you have a little more freedom publishing a book, because its you and your laptop, and it doesnt involve millions of dollars banking on the audience being able to understand what youre doing.

The Story Behind the Best Episode of Girls5eva Season 3

I write the stories I want to write, and I dont anticipate or wonder, Will this be optioned? Im not a movie producer. Some of the stuff that gets optioned is the stuff thats the most challenging, where I think, Wow, thats so cool that someone is going to take this eccentric story and they really see a movie in it. Im really lucky. I have had really cool people interested in adapting my work.

Definitely. Not a lot of people can say that Charlie Kaufman adapted their book, especially like that!

Exactly. I was willing to roll along with it, which, Ive got to say, maybe not everybody would have been willing to sign off on that project. But I just thought, Its very nutty, but lets see what happens.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

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Why is WikiLeaks founder and hacker Julian Assange facing extradition to the US?

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is bracing for a decisive court ruling in the United Kingdom that will decide whether he is to be extradited to the United States on spying charges.

The High Court of London is expected to make a judgement on Tuesday (March 26) on whether to allow or block the 52-year-old's extradition to the US, where he faces 18 counts of espionage for publishing hundreds of thousands of confidential documents in 2010 related to the US militarys conduct during the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

The Australian journalist and ethical hacker has been held at Belmarsh prison in the UK since April 2019.

In light of this significant legal milestone, Euronews Next takes a look back at who Assange is, what exactly hes accused of, and what could happen next if he loses his last-ditch attempt to stay in the UK.

Who is Julian Assange?

Assange was known as a skilled Australian hacker under the name Mendax long before he started WikiLeaks. One incident when he was 16 led to the police infiltrating his mothers home and confiscating all his equipment.

Assange has been linked to several prominent hacks as a member of the group the International Subversives, including the WANK hack at NASA in 1989 and the online takeover of MILNET, an online server used by the American military.

By 1991, Assange was behind bars for the first time after Australian police discovered that he hacked the Melbourne-based master terminal of Nortel, a Canadian telecommunications firm.

Assange was charged with 31 counts of hacking crimes, but eventually struck a plea deal, admitting to 24 of the charges and ultimately walked away with a fine of A$2,100 (around A$5,000 today, or 3,000).

Soon after, Assange founded the activist organisation Parent Inquiry into Child Protection with his mother, a group fighting local corruption by using the Australian Freedom of Information Act to secretly record government meetings.

Maclean's, a Canadian magazine, later referred to it as a "low-tech" trial for the eventual WikiLeaks.

Julian Assange greets supporters outside the Ecuadorian embassy in London, May 19, 2017. - Frank Augstein/AP

What was WikiLeaks?

In 2006, Assange and a group of other dissidents established WikiLeaks and by that December, the website posted its first leak: a decision to assassinate government officials signed, notably, by a Somali political figure.

At the same time, Assange posted an essay called 'Conspiracy as Governance' that detailed his reasons for doing what he called ethical hacking.

"The more secretive or unjust an organisation is, the more leaks induce fear and paranoia in the leadership and planning coterie," Assange wrote.

"If we have learned anything, it is that regimes do not want to be changed. We must think beyond those who have gone before us and discover technological changes that embolden us with ways to act in which our forebears could not".

For the next four years, WikiLeaks published Internet censorship lists, leaks, and classified media from anonymous sources.

A few of these cases attracted attention. In 2007, documents about the operations of Guantanamo Bay published on the site showed that the US military was keeping prisoners in isolation for over two weeks to make them more compliant.

Another, in 2009, compiled more than 500,000 confidential exchanges from the Pentagon, the FBI, and the New York Police Department (NYPD) about 9/11 to show how authorities responded to the attacks.

But the big bombshell that landed Assange in prison again, and now in front of UK courts, was yet to come.

The so-called Cablegate

In 2010, the site published a video from a US military helicopter that showed civilians, including two journalists, being killed in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad in 2007.

A voice on the transmission, talking to the pilot, says "light 'em all up," inciting the pilot to shoot civilians with the gunships cannon.

WikiLeaks told media at the time that the video showed that the "US militarys rules of engagement were flawed".

Then, WikiLeaks published hundreds of thousands of documents and diplomatic cables leaked to them by Chelsea Manning, a former US military intelligence analyst, with similar reports of civilian casualties in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

The documents showed that 66,000 civilians were killed by the US miitary during the Iraq War - much more than had been previously reported by the American government.

US authorities claim, in their case against Assange, that publishing this information had "put named individuals in Afghanistan and Iraq at risk of serious harm, torture or even death".

Assange was subsequently charged with 18 offences of breaking into military bases to acquire sensitive information.

Another indictment was levied against him in 2010; a rape charge by the Swedish government against one of their citizens.

With two warrants out for his arrest, Assange went on the run in 2012. He lived in the Ecuadorian embassy in London after he lost a UK Supreme Court appeal to extradite him to Sweden to face the rape charge.

UK police finally arrested Assange outside the Ecuadorian embassy in 2019, after authorities there evicted him in response to the dropping of the Swedish case. He had initially been held for 50 weeks for skipping bail, before the Americans started working on his extradition case.

What happens now?

In 2021, a British court concluded in Assanges first extradition case that it would be "oppressive" to extradite him to the US due to his mental health and because there was a real risk that Assange would take his own life.

"I find that the mental condition of Mr Assange is such that it would be oppressive to extradite him to the United States of America," Judge Vanessa Baraitser said at the time.

Yet, the Americans continue to press for his extradition which could mean, if Assange is convicted, up to 175 years in prison.

The real danger, according to his wife Stella Assange, is that he might inadvertently face the dealth penalty in the US.

"His health is in decline, physically and mentally," she recently told reporters. "His life is at risk every single day he stays in prison, and if hes extradited, he will die".

Despite Assanges legal woes, the WikiLeaks site is still live but has not published a new report since 2021.
A collaborative project between APRU, ESCAP and Google.org brought together academics and government stakeholders to develop country-specific AI governance frameworks and empower transparent AI solutions to tackle socio-economic challenges in Asia and the Pacific

HONG KONG, March 26, 2024--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) have joined hands in a groundbreaking initiative called "AI for Social Good: Strengthening Capabilities and Governance Frameworks in Asia and the Pacific." This strategic partnership, funded by Google.org, aims to enhance AI governance frameworks and capabilities, fostering transparent ecosystems and AI solutions to prompt resolution toward critical socio-economic challenges in the Asia-Pacific region.

Working closely with academic researchers and government stakeholders in Bangladesh and Thailand, the program provided research insights and practical suggestions to accelerate the development of data-driven policies and strategies, effectively leveraging AI for societal good. Noteworthy outcomes include country-wide case studies on

How AI applications are being mobilised for maternal health in Bangladesh Key initiatives addressing digital health governance and data governance for poverty alleviation in Thailand

Bangladesh: Enhancing Maternal Health through AI Application

Maternity care in Bangladesh faces substantial challenges, including limited monitoring and access barriers. To address these issues and boost health outcomes, APRU, in collaboration with the Bangladesh Aspire to Innovate (a2i) Programme, has partnered with research teams from the National University of Singapore (NUS), Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), and the University of Hawaii to explore AI innovations in maternity care.

The project is aimed to assess the potential of AI applications in supporting maternal health objectives in Bangladesh, with a focus on user group receptivity and alignment with existing antenatal care delivery systems. It emphasized the importance of community health workers as key stakeholders in the continuum of antenatal care, highlighting their potential to benefit from digitalization and ultimately AI tools. In the project report, researchers recommended the completion of digitalizing standard antenatal care data entry in the public health system, as well as the implementation of a mobile-based system for appointment tracking and automated reminders for expecting mothers and community health workers, to ensure widespread adoption.

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Professor Olivia Jensen, Deputy Director and Lead Scientist (Environment and Climate) at NUS, research lead of the NUS team in the project stated: "The collaboration across sectors enabled us to incorporate perspectives from academic research on risk perception and communication, which were highly regarded by our government partners. Moreover, to fully harness the future potential of AI in antenatal care, strategic digitisation efforts should prioritise inter-operability, strengthen underlying infrastructure and organisational processes and target universal coverage with a focus on the most vulnerable groups. Systems and applications should be designed to meet the needs of healthcare providers and expecting mothers, based on a strong foundation of evidence."

Thailand: AI Solutions for Digital Health Governance and Poverty Alleviation

In Thailand, researchers from NUS identified barriers to sharing medical and healthcare data and have recommended tangible policy recommendations to the Thai Government. These recommendations include developing data sharing guidelines, promoting data exchange platforms, and facilitating stakeholder dialogues to address challenges in digital health governance.

Another project, led by the Australian National University (ANU), focuses on enhancing internal information exchange within Thailand's administration to optimize the utilization of advanced analytics for poverty alleviation. The research highlights that cultural barriers impede the effectiveness of data utilization in targeted anti-poverty efforts, rather than technical or legal obstacles.

Dr. Sarah Logan of The Australian National University said: "These initiatives and research findings are instrumental to Thailand's poverty alleviation goals as they highlight challenges related to data integration, standardization, resource allocation, and high-level leadership directives in the public welfare domain. By implementing recommended policy measures and navigating cultural biases, we are confident that Thailand can fully leverage advanced AI and analytics platforms and create positive impact toward enhanced outcomes in poverty alleviation."

The "AI for Social Good" project showcases the value of uniting cross-disciplinary and cross-sectoral stakeholders in a collaborative effort to conduct research and craft policy recommendations. Professor Olivia Jensen said: "This project serves as an example of how academia, government, public and private organisations can come together to imagine and create innovative solutions within an ethical and responsible AI ecosystem." The project emphasizes the maximization of AI benefits while minimizing potential risks to fairness, inclusivity, and sustainable development.

With the successful rollout of the "AI for Social Good" project, APRU aims to foster more cross-border connections and provide active support in developing country-specific AI governance frameworks.

High-resolution images can be downloaded here:

Link: https://gallery.sinclaircomms.com/gallery/APRU/detail/AI+For+Social+Good

Password: talkofthetown

The final report of "AI for Social Good" can be downloaded here:

https://apru.org/resources_report/final-report-ai-for-social-good/

About APRU:

As a network of leading universities linking the Americas, Asia, and Australasia, APRU (the Association of Pacific Rim Universities) brings together thought leaders, researchers, and policymakers to exchange ideas and collaborate on practical solutions to the challenges of the 21st century. It leverages its members collective education and research capabilities into the international public policy process. APRUs strategic priorities highlight the following three directions: 1. providing a neutral platform for high-level policy dialogue; 2. exploring innovative solutions for a sustainable future; 3. supporting diversity, inclusion, and minorities.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240325834650/en/

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(Bloomberg) -- A federal court decision has raised new legal risks for a corner of Wall Street that bundles consumer loans into asset-backed securities.

Most Read from Bloomberg

A US appeals court last week for the first time upheld the power of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to sue trusts that issue the securities if debt-collection companies or others they hire run afoul of the law. The trusts outsource the role of collecting on the loans that they package into bonds and sell off to investors.

The precedent could boost borrowing costs for firms that use securitizations by spurring investors to demand higher yields to compensate for the risk the trusts could be hit with lawsuits that would claw away funds. Credit rating firms may also be more cautious about assigning high grades to securities backed by debts from risky borrowers, like auto loans and subprime mortgages.

There are roughly $750 billion of US asset-backed securities outstanding and about two-thirds of that is backed by various forms of consumer debt, according to data from Barclays Plc. Much of that is owed by borrowers with lower credit scores, a segment of the industry thats frequently drawn attention from regulators for its aggressive debt-collection practices.

This could have big consequences for trusts that contract with servicers that dont have rigorous and incorruptible practices, said Steven Schwarcz, a professor at Duke University School of Law and an expert in securitization.

The decision by the third circuit appeals court stems from a 2017 lawsuit filed by the CFPB against trusts originally set up by First Marblehead, a Boston-based company that bought up 800,000 student loans from banks starting in the 1990s. First Marblehead then transferred the loans into a series of trusts, which issued bonds to investors and contracted with outside companies to service the loans. They filed thousands of lawsuits against debtors seeking to collect payment.

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The CFPB sued the trusts and a debt collector for them, Transworld Systems, alleging that they relied on faulty paperwork in many of the lawsuits. The trusts have argued theyre outside the CFPBs enforcement authority because they dont have any staff and instead rely on separate companies known as servicers to collect money from borrowers.

A judge rejected that argument in 2021, and the trusts appealed it. Last weeks decision by a three-judge panel denied the argument that theyre exempt from the scope of the CFPB, ruling that the trusts were subject to its authority because they hired the servicers. It then handed the case back down to the lower court to let it proceed.

The CFPB declined to comment. Transworld didnt respond to requests for comment.

Lawyers and industry groups are holding meetings to discuss implications of the case. An American Bar Association committee plans to discuss the case at its next meeting this week. And the Structured Finance Association, an industry lobbying group, on Friday held the first meeting of a task force assembled to discuss it, said Michael Bright, the groups chief executive officer.

We are disappointed by this ruling and are concerned about the very meaningful negative implications of it, said Bright.

While the ramifications of the latest ruling are still unclear, ratings agencies have been following the case closely. After the lower courts ruling, Fitch Ratings highlighted possible lawsuits as a new risk, while Moodys Ratings warned that pools of loans to riskier borrowers could be targeted by authorities.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
Assessing the Dividend Profile of a Leading Apartment REIT

AvalonBay Communities Inc (NYSE:AVB) recently announced a dividend of $1.7 per share, payable on 2024-04-15, with the ex-dividend date set for 2024-03-27. 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 AvalonBay Communities Inc's dividend performance and assess its sustainability.

What Does AvalonBay Communities Inc Do?

Warning! GuruFocus has detected 7 Warning Sign with AVB.

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?

AvalonBay Communities owns a portfolio of 281 apartment communities with over 87,000 units and is developing 18 additional properties with over 6,200 units. The company focuses on owning large, high-quality properties in major metropolitan areas of New England, New York/New Jersey, Washington D.C., California, and the Pacific Northwest.

AvalonBay Communities Inc's Dividend Analysis

A Glimpse at AvalonBay Communities Inc's Dividend History

AvalonBay Communities Inc has maintained a consistent dividend payment record since 1994. Dividends are currently distributed on a quarterly basis. AvalonBay Communities Inc has increased its dividend each year since 1994. The stock is thus listed as a dividend aristocrat, an honor that is given to companies that have increased their dividend each year for at least the past 30 years. Below is a chart showing annual Dividends Per Share for tracking historical trends.

AvalonBay Communities Inc's Dividend Analysis

Breaking Down AvalonBay Communities Inc's Dividend Yield and Growth

As of today, AvalonBay Communities Inc currently has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 3.63% and a 12-month forward dividend yield of 3.74%. This suggests an expectation of increased dividend payments over the next 12 months. Over the past three years, AvalonBay Communities Inc's annual dividend growth rate was 1.20%. Extended to a five-year horizon, this rate increased to 2.10% per year. And over the past decade, AvalonBay Communities Inc's annual dividends per share growth rate stands at 4.20%.

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Based on AvalonBay Communities Inc's dividend yield and five-year growth rate, the 5-year yield on cost of AvalonBay Communities Inc stock as of today is approximately 4.03%.

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, AvalonBay Communities Inc's dividend payout ratio is 1.29, which may suggest that the company's dividend may not be sustainable.

AvalonBay Communities Inc's profitability rank, offers an understanding of the company's earnings prowess relative to its peers. GuruFocus ranks AvalonBay Communities Inc'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. AvalonBay Communities Inc's growth rank of 8 out of 10 suggests that the company's growth trajectory is good relative to its competitors. AvalonBay Communities Inc's revenue has increased by approximately 6.00% per year on average, a rate that outperforms approximately 63.75% 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, AvalonBay Communities Inc's earnings increased by approximately 4.80% per year on average, a rate that outperforms approximately 53.1% of global competitors. Lastly, the company's 5-year EBITDA growth rate of -2.10%, which outperforms approximately 35.21% of global competitors.

Next Steps

In conclusion, AvalonBay Communities Inc's consistent dividend payments and growth, combined with a robust profitability and positive growth metrics, present an attractive profile for value investors. While the high payout ratio may raise questions about sustainability, the company's strong financial health and market position could mitigate these concerns. Investors considering AvalonBay Communities Inc for its dividend prospects should also weigh these factors alongside their investment strategy. GuruFocus Premium users can screen for high-dividend yield stocks using the High Dividend Yield Screener to find similar investment opportunities.

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.


CHICAGO  Samples of milk collected from sick cattle in Kansas and Texas tested positive for avian flu, but the nation's milk supply is safe, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Monday.

The detections in milk and a dairy cow show the wide reach of the virus, known as bird flu, which has been found in poultry flocks and mammals around the world.

The USDA, the U.S Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating dairy cows in Kansas, Texas and New Mexico with symptoms including decreased milk production and low appetite, the USDA said.

Cows in an Iowa dairy barn. Avian flu so far has not been detected in Iowa cows.

So far, "unpasteurized, clinical samples of milk" collected from two dairy farms in Kansas and one in Texas tested positive for highly pathogenic avian flu, the government said. A cattle swab test from another dairy in Texas also was positive.

Based on findings from Texas, wild birds, which spread the virus globally, appear to have introduced the virus to cattle, the USDA said. Testing indicates the risk of human infection is low, according to the agency.

Government says no concern about contamination of milk supply

The government said milk from sick cows is being diverted or destroyed so it does not enter the food supply. Pasteurization is required for milk entering interstate commerce, a process that kills bacteria and other pathogens such as flu viruses, the USDA said.

"At this stage, there is no concern about the safety of the commercial milk supply or that this circumstance poses a risk to consumer health," the agency said. It added there should be no impact on prices for milk or other dairy products.

Iowa agriculture secretary urges reporting of cattle illnesses

In Iowa, the nation's top egg producer, avian influenza spread primarily by wild geese has prompted the destruction of millions of domesticated birds to prevent its spread, and there have been no reports of it infecting other livestock. State Secretary of Agriculture urged "industry partners, farmers and veterinarians to report cattle illnesses quickly to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship at 515-281-5305."

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We are communicating with USDA, other states and industry stakeholders while we learn more and as there are new developments. Protecting Iowa's livestock farmers from foreign animal disease has been and will continue to be one of my top priorities as Secretary.

U.S. dairy industry groups urged importers not to ban or restrict shipments of U.S. dairy products because of the detections.

Importers have limited purchases of U.S. poultry since the nation's worst-ever outbreak of the disease began in chicken and turkey flocks in 2022.

Des Moines Register staff writer Donnelle Eller contributed to this article.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Bird flu shows up in Kansas, Texas dairy cows. Could humans be at risk?
Jasper Kenzo Sundeen's reporting for the Yakima Herald-Republic is possible with support from Report for America and community members through the Yakima Valley Community Fund. For information on republishing, email news@yakimaherald.com.
Princess Anne and senior royals 'feeling the pressure' of stepping up due to King Charles' cancer treatment
The state has set aside $1 million for a Department of Transportation pilot program focused on finding new ways to erase spray paint from road signs, walls and bridges. Above, WSDOT contractors cover up graffiti during the 2021-2022 project on southbound I-5 from I-90 to Spokane Street in Seattle. (WSDOT)
This combination of photos provided by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday, March 6, 2024 shows cinnamon products sold in U.S. discount stores which contain elevated levels of lead. Top row from left are distributed by La Fiesta Food Products of La Miranda, Calif.; Moran Foods, LLC of Saint Ann, Mo., and MTCI of Santa Fe Springs, Calif. Bottom row from left are from Raja Foods LLC of Skokie, Ill.; Greenbriar International, Inc. of Chesapeake, Va., and El Chilar of Apopka, Fla.
By Valerie Volcovici

(Reuters) - Coal exports from the busy U.S. port of Baltimore have been disrupted following the collapse of a bridge that was struck by a massive cargo ship early Tuesday morning, rail and coal companies said.

Rail company CSX on Tuesday said its existing coal customers should expect "potential shipment delays" after the accident, for which the U.S. Coast Guard is still conducting search and rescue operations.

CSX owns the Curtis Bay coal pier in Baltimore, located near the site of the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which CSX plans to keep operational for now as it continues to "assess the circumstances," the company told Reuters in a statement.

CSX said it currently has capacity to dispatch additional trains to CSX-served coal terminals in Baltimore before it reaches pile space limits.

Coal producer CONSOL Energy, which has a marine export terminal in the Port of Baltimore, also said that vessel access in and out of its terminal was also delayed.

During the first nine months of 2023, Baltimore was the second biggest port for U.S. coal exports, behind Norfolk, Virginia, according to the latest data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

During the first nine months of 2023, Baltimore exported about 20.3 million short tons of coal, up from 14.3 million short tons during the same period in 2022.

About 13.3 million short tons of exports from Baltimore during the first nine months of 2023 were steam coal and 7.0 million short tons were metallurgical coal.

(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici and Scott DiSavino in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler and Marguerita Choy)
New BlackBerry Cybersecurity Curriculum marks major milestone in the company's long-term deal with the Government of Malaysia, establishing the nation as a regional hub of excellence

CYBERJAYA, Malaysia, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- BlackBerry Limited (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) officially opened a world-class Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (CCoE) in Kuala Lumpur today at a ceremony officiated by Prime Minister of Malaysia, YAB Dato' Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim, Canada's Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development, The Honorable Mary Ng, and BlackBerry CEO, John Giamatteo. The new CCoE will deliver exceptional cybersecurity training and cyber threat intelligence to help Malaysia and partners in the region better prevent, deter, and respond to cyber threats facing governments and organizations in the Indo-Pacific region.

BlackBerry Logo Black

The company also announced its new BlackBerry Cybersecurity Curriculum is now available for the first time through the new facility, offering a wide range of globally recognized course offerings and certifications to help grow a skilled cybersecurity workforce and ecosystem in Malaysia and the region. These programs are designed to help the nation address a reported shortfall of some 12,000 cybersecurity professionals, and advance career opportunities for men and women in the region.

The opening of the CCoE and the BlackBerry Cybersecurity Curriculum launch marks another significant milestone in the landmark deal announced between the Malaysian Government and BlackBerry in November 2023.

Prime Minister of Malaysia, YAB Dato' Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim at the opening of the center said, "Being more than a facility to help train and upskill our national cyber workforce, the Cybersecurity Center of Excellence has the potential to be an international destination to address emerging cyber threats. We can bring together Malaysian and Canadian universities, research institutions and skilled practitioners to share knowledge, threat intelligence and jointly develop methods and strategies to strengthen national and regional cyber-resilience."

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The new center will provide Malaysians and others in the region with increased opportunities for professional networking, knowledge-sharing and common skills training, covering everything from cyber fundamentals to leadership and technical areas. The CCoE curriculum offers training courses on BlackBerry cybersecurity products and services to upskill in areas like AI and Machine Learning, as well as highly-specialized courses delivered by the SANS Institute, Canada's Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst and other internationally recognized certification partners. It also offers select opportunities for scholarships for women cybersecurity professionals, with further plans to augment existing university curricula with CCoE student education programs.

"In this digital age, the global need for innovative cyber security solutions continues to grow. I'm pleased that Canada's expertise in this area is helping to create a safer cyberspace in Malaysia. Today's announcement by BlackBerry is a clear example of how Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy is supporting efforts to reduce and address security threats in the region," said the Honorable Mary Ng, Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development.

BlackBerry CEO, John Giamatteo concluded, "Building resilience to cyber-attacks requires a whole-of-society effort. The new Cybersecurity Center of Excellence stands as a testament to how nations and technology leaders can work together to address the dual challenge of cybercrime and skills shortages. We thank the Governments of Malaysia and Canada, along with our industry partners, for joining us today, as we open this world-class facility and launch the BlackBerry Cybersecurity Curriculum to support Malaysia's goal to train a highly skilled national cybersecurity workforce to a global standard."

For more information on the Cybersecurity Center of Excellence and the courses available, please visit here. For more information about applying for scholarships for women in the Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst's CLIC training program, visit here.

About BlackBerry

BlackBerry (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) provides intelligent security software and services to enterprises and governments around the world. The company's software powers over 235M vehicles. Based in Waterloo, Ontario, the company leverages AI and machine learning to deliver innovative solutions in the areas of cybersecurity, safety and data privacy solutions, and is a leader in the areas of endpoint security, endpoint management, encryption, and embedded systems. BlackBerry's vision is clear - to secure a connected future you can trust.

BlackBerry. Intelligent Security. Everywhere.

For more information, visit BlackBerry.com and follow @BlackBerry.

Trademarks, including but not limited to BLACKBERRY and EMBLEM Design, are the trademarks or registered trademarks of BlackBerry Limited, and the exclusive rights to such trademarks are expressly reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. BlackBerry is not responsible for any third-party products or services.

Media Contacts:

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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/blackberry-officially-opens-cybersecurity-center-of-excellence-in-malaysia-302099048.html

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Teste-grila pentru examenele nationale pe site-urile scolilor buzoiene?

Inspectoratul Scolar Judetean (ISJ) Buzau propune ca scolile sa afiseze pe site-urile proprii sectiuni de teste cu bareme pentru elevii care vor urma sa participe la examenul de Bacalaureat, grile similare cu cele pe care le parcurg candidatii care sustin [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]
SINGAPORE and TOKYO, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- SB C&S Corp. (Head office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Yasuo Mizoguchi; hereinafter "SB C&S") has concluded a distribution agreement with BLACKPANDA JAPAN K.K. (Head office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: David Yu Suzuki; hereinafter "Blackpanda") in Japan and will commence the distribution of Blackpanda's "IR-1" incident response service from March 14, 2024.

SB C&S

Blackpanda's IR-1 is an incident response service designed for small and medium-sized businesses. In the event of a cyber incident such as ransomware infection or business email fraud, Blackpanda helps the client to return to normal operations as soon as possible by isolating the affected systems and investigating the root cause. Incident response services are generally expensive to implement, but IR-1 is designed to be accessible to small and medium-sized businesses, being offered in a subscription format starting from one incident response credit at 350,000 per year.

(*For companies with less than 250 endpoints, prices exclude tax, as of March 2024)

Under the agreement, SB C&S will promote Blackpanda's service offerings through its nationwide sales network of approximately 13,000 partner companies.

Product Details

https://www.it-ex.com/products/maker/blackpanda/ir1-byblackpanda.html

Inquiries about our products

SBCASGRP-security-marketing@g.softbank.co.jp

Endorsement from Mr. David Yu Suzuki, Representative Director, BLACKPANDA JAPAN K.K.

"Blackpanda Japan looks forward to further deepening its cooperation with SB C&S. We aim to provide innovative cyber security solutions in the Japanese market with localized, complete support. Customers today require more advanced cyber security measures and incident response services, but many Japanese companies face challenges posed by a lack of relevant resources and expertise. The cooperation between Blackpanda and SB C&S will enable the creation of a stronger cybersecurity ecosystem in Japan. We are committed to promoting this on a national scale."

Story continues

Endorsement from Mr. Yasuo Mizoguchi, President and CEO, SB C&S Corp.

"While digitization in all fields is progressing rapidly, the number of cyber attacks is increasing day by day. Not only large enterprises but also small and mid-sized companies need to take more security measures, including against attacks targeting their supply chains. Blackpanda's 'IR-1' solution, which aims to 'democratise cyber resilience,' is a packaged service optimized for small and medium-sized enterprises, from proactive prevention using ASM scanning to post-incident response. We will continue to work with Blackpanda to provide our customers with robust secure cyber security solutions through our nationwide sales partners."

About BLACKPANDA GROUP

Blackpanda is Asia's leading local cyber incident response firm, dedicated to delivering world-class digital emergency response services to businesses in the region. We help businesses strengthen their cyber resilience and secure their digital operations by supporting them with incident response delivered by local experts.

Our mission is to make cyber resilience achievable for all, with services and solutions designed for the Asian market.

https://www.blackpanda.com

About SB C&S Corporation

SB C&S inherited the IT distribution business of Softbank Group, the group's original business. SB C&S strives to rapidly identify changes in the market environment and create new business models. For corporate customers, SB C&S provides product solutions utilizing advanced technologies including cloud computing and AI through the largest sales network in Japan. For consumers, we are leveraging our unique planning and development capabilities to expand our product lineup from software and mobile accessories to IoT products and services. For more information, please visit our website at https://cas.softbank.jp/

SoftBank and the SOFTBANK name and logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of SOFTBANK Group Corp. in Japan and other countries.

All other company names and product/service names mentioned in this notice are registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective companies.

Blackpanda

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/blackpanda-and-sb-cs-sign-distribution-agreement-for-incident-response-services-for-smbs-302098284.html

SOURCE Blackpanda Group
The European Parliament (EP) will discuss "Chinese police activity in Europe" during its plenary session on April 10 in Brussels.

The initiative, led by the Liberal Group for a New Europe, addresses concerns about an agreement permitting Chinese police officers to patrol Hungary alongside local officers.



A 2022 report by a Spanish-based NGO revealed that China then operated more than 100 illegal police stations worldwide, including some 30 in 14 EU countries (two in Budapest).



Since then, European national authorities have sought to end the activities of these police service posts, suspected of monitoring and trying to force "dissidents" to return home.



The EP agenda also includes discussions on the rule of law in Hungary.



Jobbik Turns to Sovereignty Protection Office Over Plan on Chinese Police Officers



The opposition Jobbik-Conservatives party will submit an inquiry of public interest to the Sovereignty Protection Office in connection with the governments plan to assign Chinese police officers a patrolling task in Hungary, the leader of the party said.



The party requests the authoritys position on whether or not the participation of persons employed by an autocratic state, a dictatorship controlling their citizens, in maintaining public order and public security is a gross violation of Hungarys sovereignty, Marton Gyongyosi said.



He said that the party would like to know what is the guarantee of preventing access to the personal data of Hungarian citizens by Chinese police officers who might misuse them.



Under Hungarys fundamental law, ensuring public security and public order is the duty of domestic authorities, Gyongyosi argued, insisting that such a duty cannot be outsourced to anybody.



National sovereignty for us is not a political product, but a very important question, he said.



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Natural gas will start flowing from Turkyie to Hungary on April 1, so a historic date is approaching, the foreign minister said.

Peter Szijjarto said on Facebook that the contract specifies the transfer of 275 million cubic metres of gas in the next few months, making Hungary the first non-neighbouring that Turkyie exports gas to.



Turkyie has already played an important role in Hungarian energy security as a transit country, and from now on it will also be a source of energy supplies, he added.



We will tighten cooperation also in the area of nuclear energy, as a new nuclear power station being built in Turkyie will have identical technology as the new Paks plant he said. Experiences gained during the Turkish construction will help us too, he added.



Additionally, Turkish professionals will help their Hungarian partners in the technical aspects of control equipment, he said.



Meanwhile, Szijjarto Calls for Nuclear Energy to Remain Terrain for International Cooperation

Speaking at the Atomexpo nuclear energy trade, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto called for nuclear energy to remain a terrain for international cooperation, lamenting that the field was riddled with ideological debates.



As long as it is the infrastructure which determines energy cooperation, ideology should have nothing to do with [it], he said. He said that whereas nuclear energy had been a victim of ideology recently, Europe had overcome discrimination, thanks mostly to the fact that France is a pro-nuclear country, he said.



We were able to win our debates in Europe and make it recognised that generating electricity in a nuclear way is sustainable, safe and cheap, he said.



Szijjarto said that severing nuclear cooperation between Europe and Russia would be another dent on the continents competitiveness, putting the EUs green goals at risk.



He said criticism of Hungary on the issue was hypocritical, as Rosatom was working with sub-contractors from the US, Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria and Sweden at the Paks site.



This means  on the corporate level, decision-makers have not lost their common sense yet, Szijjarto said, adding that Hungary would not adopt EU sanctions against the Russian nuclear sector, as doing so would harm Hungarys interests.



Banning nuclear cooperation would also be strange, as Russia was also the largest Uranium supplier to the US last year, exporting ore worth some 1 billion dollars in 2023, he added.



I do hope that in the future rationality and common sense will prevail  and the nuclear industry will be exempt from ideological debates. I hope that we will only concentrate on professional and scientific issues



In Sochi, Szijjarto also met representatives of the Serbian, Turkish, Iraqi and Belorussian government.



Paks Upgrade 'Guarantees Competitiveness

The upgrade of Hungary's nuclear power plant in Paks will stand as a "long-term guarantee" of Hungary's competitiveness, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said after meeting Alexei Likhachev, the head of Russian nuclear energy company Rosatom, in Sochi.



At the meeting held with the chief executive of the general contractor of the Paks plant expansion, Szijjarto reviewed the status of the construction project, the foreign ministry said in a statement.



The upgrade would secure Hungarys electricity supply for decades to come, Szijjarto said, adding that the Paks plant would supply 70% of the countrys demand and provide a great degree of independence from the occasionally insane changes in the international energy market as well as from skyrocketing prices.



Szijjarto said works on the project were nearing another milestone as one of the melt traps, a key safety element in nuclear plants, has been completed and is expected to be shipped to Hungary in the second quarter of the year after the necessary tests.



Meanwhile, the minister welcomed that soil consolidation by German, American and other subcontractors was under way at the site.



Those milestones  forecast that we can pour the first concrete by the end of the year and that the two new reactor blocks can start operations early in the next decade, he added.



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The francophone community of more than 300 million people around the world has a heartfelt friend in Hungary, the speaker of parliament said on the occasion of International Francophonie Day on Monday, addressing the opening of an exhibition.

Hungarys parliament has enjoyed associate membership of the French-speaking Parliamentary Assembly since 1993, Laszlo Kover noted.



A part of the community of European states for more than a thousand years, Hungary and its culture enriches universal European culture in equal measure to its independence, just as Francophone culture does, he said.



The exhibition held in Parliament brings together francophone countries and presents their cultural ties with Hungary, Jean- Francois Paroz, Switzerlands ambassador, said, speaking on behalf of this years president of the Francophonie Ambassadors Circle.



MTI Photo: Noemi Bruzak



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This is part of a series of in-depth interviews with some surprising members of the community, written by Marion Merrick.

The instructions for finding Kate Pinches tanya, while being reasonably precise, do not allay my fears of careering around the countryside, quite unable to find her: After about 2-3 kilometres on a sharp right bend turn left down a sandy trackNeedless to say, such isolated farms are not to be found on Google maps.



The country road winds between ploughed muddy fields and wooded areas of bleached white birches. Splashes of yellow forsythia are just beginning to bloom, while the willows soft green leaves are unfurling, and feathery pussy willow blows in the wind. Abandoned tanyak dot the landscape, their roofs holed, their walls crumbling against the protruding straw.



We miss the turning completely and retrace our route looking for the sharp turn and the sandy track. Turning down what we hope is the right path alongside a canal, we see a dwelling with the number 107. Kates house is apparently number 216, though there are no other buildings in sight. Unable to turn around, we decide to continue driving through the sand until finally, around a bend and through the trees, we spy another building.



The sound of dogs barking as we approach raises our hopes that we have, by some fluke, found Kates tanya. A tall blonde woman emerges, shooing the dogs that excitedly prance at her feet as she opens the gates, helped by Pan, her Greek husband.

Kate's Papillons





Kate and Pans tanya

With the smaller dogs corralled, and the larger ones  a Kuvasz, a Rottweiler and a rescue Terrier already secured  we enter the house. Welcome to our tanya! says Kate. Its my 29th home altogether  my father was a naval officer which meant we had to move all the time. I went to thirteen schools in thirteen years! Moving became a way of life, Kate explains, as she starts to make our coffee.



Weve got mains electric and gas, says Kate, filling the kettle from a bottle, but we dont have running water, we have two wells outside  we have big electric pumps down in the basement for if we start to run out of water. I can get the local men to come and drill deeperI think were at 80 metres at the moment, but they can go deeper. But we dont drink it or use it for cooking, she explains, because it looks like pee, its full of iron and minerals and its disgusting. We shower with it, and we use it in the washing machines and the toilets, of course. This situation entails buying bottled water, not only for their cooking, but also for all the animals.



At this point, Kate is joined in the kitchen by her enormous ten-kilogram feline  a Norwegian mountain cat.

We move to the sitting area, and Kate clears away the various cloths that protect the furniture from the Papillons which  when they are not being kept from visitors  are allowed free rein of the house and its furniture.



Weve been here for fourteen years now, Kate begins. My last two homes were in Greece  I rent out the last one to a man who works in dog rescue. Thats what I did when I was there. And I used to breed dogs and then drive them from Athens to Budapest, to Bratislava and Vienna, taking them to shows. It was a 20-hour drive each time; Id drive all night and stop just once for a coffee.



It was great because we could come here and compete against Pumi breeders in Hungary. I made up a lot of champions  I was the top winning foreigner of Pumis ever in Hungary! Kate then shows me a certificate issued by the Hungarian Breeders Association which she was awarded.





In her years in England, Kate had been both a breeder and a judge of Rottweilers at the internationally famous Crufts Dog Show. Her kennel name, Cuidado, [Spanish for Be Careful] was synonymous with the breed, about which she also wrote a book. Kates reputation as a judge meant she was sought-after in all regions of the world: from the USA to Australia, from New Zealand to South Africa, and in Indonesia, Jamaica  and countless other countries.





Kate judging (left)





It is already more than apparent that Kate is not just a dog lover, but a lover both of all animals and of the natural world. Im an animal person, yeah, Kate muses.







It used to be horses  it was horses for thirty years, but I had a fall which ended with me having spinal surgery, so I cant ride any more. I love getting out of bed and walking round the fields with the dogs and watching the hares and seeing the bird life. Ive always been more rurally inclined. There are wild boar and even European jackals. Kate pauses.



I have Lady Gaia here tattooed on my leg, she says, rolling up her trousers. Im not religious  but this would be my religion: nature.



It is clear that both Kate and her retired Greek police-officer husband, Pan, have established a peaceful life for themselves in this area of the Hungarian countryside.

Weve got two lots of woodland  its just perfect. In the summer we just sit under the trees and breathe the fresh air  there are no factories, no neighbours and no people.







Their efforts to learn the language have met with only limited success, necessitating the use of a good amount of mime in their local shops. Ive got the food words, well, more or less Here Kate pauses. Except when I had to do the chicken wing dance in the butchers. Kate laughs as she struts about the room, flapping her arms. I wanted to buy chicken wings  they just fell about laughing! I dont think theyve ever forgotten it!



But Kate is completely indomitable. At the age of forty she embarked on a BA in Psychology and Social Anthropology which she was awarded from Keele University in the UK.



She remains quite undaunted by the numerous challenges she has encountered in life, be it in Hungary or in her former home in Greece. Some Albanians tried to break into my little mountain home one night when Pan was away on duty while we were living in Greece. I saw them shimmying up over my fence, trying to get in. I had a pump action shot gun and I just let rip over their heads  bam, bam,bam! And they were gone.







Some of Kates local Hungarians have also experienced the extent of her wrath. Im very confrontational with the Vadaszok, [hunters] she says. Every area has its hunting group - these drunken, filthy old men with their shotguns and their dogs. They go onto anyones land and take pot shots. But they only did it once here! I was down there, me against twenty men with guns, saying F-off my land! Youre not welcome here! And they were shouting and retaliating, and I went after them with a pickaxe handle  and I have an American police stun stick, too!



I told them, Youre here for sport, killing animals, and I would cheerfully kill you if I had a gun. They sent the police last time  but I gave them chapter and verse. Theyre not allowed to hunt on private land. The grumpy, older policeman said, If you do this again, Ill report you. So I said, Go on then, report me! Ill take them to court because I can afford to. But I never heard another word.



Kate and Pan are now halfway through fencing off their land in order to keep the huntsmen at bay. I was never a shrinking violet, Kate explains, somewhat unnecessarily; Im six foot tall and Ive got the temper of a grizzly bear. Nobody backs me down. Nobody. They know now not to upset The Angol [the English]. The locals here call me The Viking!



Marion Merrick is author of Now You See It, Now You Dont and House of Cards and the website Budapest Retro.



If you would like to be interviewed as a Surprising Expat, please write with a few details of what you do, to: Marion by clicking here.
YORK  On Monday the Omaha-based ethanol producer Green Plains unveiled a new demo facility within its York ethanol plant that will combine its refinery technology with technology from Shell, a London-based oil company.

Both U.S. Senators from Nebraska, Pete Ricketts and Deb Fischer, spoke at the opening of the demonstration facility on Monday, as well as Gov. Jim Pillen, in addition to executives from Shell and Green Plains.

Its a game-changing technology, Green Plains CEO Todd Becker said, and this is the first place were doing it.

Shell, welcome to Nebraska, Gov. Jim Pillen said. Shell has invested $90 million in the collaboration, making it Shells first major investment in Nebraska, according to Green Plains CFO Jim Stark.

Heres the ask  that you fall in love with Nebraska and love this place like all the people here do, Pillen said.

Pillen noted the benefit that investment in ethanol has had for Nebraska, nodding to the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, signed by President George W. Bush, which mandated a significant increase in future ethanol production.

Its astonishing whats being made out of corn, Pillen said. Its going to be awesome for Nebraska, its going to be great for our country and its going to be great for our planet.

Introducing herself as not only a senator, but also a cattle rancher, Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska thanked Green Plains and Shell. I never thought Id live to see big oil and biofuels working together to be able to provide the energy independence as a country, Fischer said.

We are the largest producing ethanol state west of the Missouri river, Fischer joked, referring to Iowas status as the countrys top ethanol producer. The crowd laughed and she and Pillen high-fived.

Fischer said biofuels was one of her priorities in the senate and noted its bipartisan appeal. It lowers fuel costs, it helps the environment, it benefits our producers and it improves American energy security. What other issue in congress can really claim so many benefits? Fischer said.

Ricketts similarly thanked Green Plains and Shell and noted the importance of this collaboration between the ethanol industry and oil industry. We are the Saudi Arabia of corn, Sen. Ricketts said. If we can find ways to continue to access the energy that is in that kernel of corn that is going to be fantastic for our entire state, he said.

Ricketts outlined some of his work as senator, such as the Flex Fuel Fairness Act, a bill he is co-sponsoring with Amy Klobuchar, Democratic Senator of Minnesota, which would provide incentives for automakers to produce flex fuel vehicles.

Sen. Ricketts noted his opposition to the Environmental Protection Agencys new emissions standards for automobiles, including the expectation that 56% of new vehicle sales will be electric and 13% will be plug-in hybrids by 2032.

We shouldnt have big government mandates. We should allow American innovation to solve the problem, American innovation like we see right here in York, Ricketts said.

Sinead Lynch, senior vice president for Shells global low carbon fuels business, said the collaboration in York was part of Shells goal of being a net zero emissions company by 2050.

Green Plains CEO Becker called the collaboration a modern day bio refinery. The process is what Green Plains and Shell executives called third generation ethanol processing, which they say has the potential to extract even more value from each corn kernel.

The facility combines Green Plains tech, which separates corn kernels into their various components, with Shells new 15-years-in-the-making technology, which converts corn kernel components into other products, such as corn oil, cellulosic sugars for low-carbon fuels, and high-protein animal feed.

As a demonstration facility, the plant will not be selling these end-products commercially, but will instead be producing data for researchers to analyze. Depending on the results from the research, Green Plains and Shell will decide whether or not to commercialize the process.

Becker said this is one of the first times that weve seen a partnership like this take place, referring to the collaboration between major ethanol producer Green Plains and oil giant Shell.

John Berge, USDA acting deputy administrator of Farm Programs, also spoke during the opening ceremony, as well as Selda Gunsel, Shells chief technology officer and executive vice president for technology.

After the ceremony groups toured the facility. In attendance were Sen. Jana Hughes of Seward, York Mayor Barry Redfern, York City Councilmember Stephen Postier, York City Administrator Sue Crawford, York County Commissioners Daniel Grotz and Randy Obermier, as well as other community members and farmers from the York area.

Green Plains purchased the York ethanol plant, which houses one of its innovation centers, in 2016. They broke ground on the new demonstration facility in 2022. The new facility will be fully operational in the late summer.
The Nebraska Legislature only has a few weeks of session left this year. Barring a call by Gov. Jim Pillen to return for a special session, we should wrap up consideration of bills by April 18. This past week was our first week of late nights in the legislature. This is the time of year when we debate bills all morning, afternoon and well into the evening.

On the first day of these late nights we took up consideration of a bill, LB441, that would allow school librarians to be criminally charged if a book, periodical or other media in the library is deemed to be obscene. The determination if the book or other material violates Nebraska obscenity law would then be determined by a court of law. The courts then would decide whether to convict and sentence school librarians to up to a year in jail. LB441 was introduced last year by Senator Albrecht and was reported out of the Judiciary Committee earlier this month.

Senator Albrecht has stated that LB441 would not remove books from schools. The vote to advance LB441 was a vote on whether to allow school librarians to be criminally charged if a book, periodical or other media in the library is deemed to be obscene. So the books in question would not be removed or challenged while librarians would possibly go to jail.

I spoke with some of our schools in District 24 about how they handle the issue of content in our school libraries. They reported that they have policies in place that if a parent has concerns about a book, any book and it does not necessarily need to be obscene, they can contact the school. The parent can tell the school that they have a concern about their child reading a certain book. The book is then flagged by the school. The student cannot check that book out.

Similarly, if there is a book on the shelf that could be obscene, not age appropriate or has some other concern, there is a process where the book can be challenged. It goes before a committee, is evaluated and they can decide whether it remains on the shelf or not. If the committee agrees, the book is removed. If it stays on the shelf, the parent who raised the concern can have the school flag that book so their child cannot check it out.

Again, LB441 does not address the content of the materials in our school libraries. Our schools have processes in place to protect children from sensitive materials. During my time as a school board member we reviewed and put policies in place to protect children and to provide a means for parents to parent their children when it comes to books, material or other things that might be outside their values, religion or for other reasons. However, the parents need to be involved for this to work.

For schools that might not have policies in place, LB441 does not solve the issue of content. It does not address the actual material on the shelves. I would recommend that concerned parents contact their childs school and inquire of their policies regarding material available to students in the school library. If your school district does not have policies in place, then talk to your school board. If they wont listen, then elect board members who will or run against them yourself. Making librarians possibly face charges because of a school districts lack of policies doesnt address this issue. As a parent, I understand concerns about what our children are exposed to in schools. Jailing librarians while not addressing school policies on library content, student access and parental involvement missed the mark. Ultimately, LB441 failed to advance.

I must comment on something that happened during the debate on LB441. One of my colleagues, Senator Halloran, decided to read the transcript of the public hearing on LB441. This colleague decided to focus on testimony read from a memoir in which the author recounted in graphic description the brutal sexual assault that she had suffered in her youth. He made the terrible decision to inject the names of multiple Senators at the end of particularly graphic sentences describing this assault. The shock of this entire situation quickly led to an early adjournment for the evening.

I was appalled by the decision to read this aloud on the floor of the Legislature while inserting my colleagues names into the description of a brutal sexual assault. This was broadcast live on NET throughout the entire state of Nebraska. Children were potentially listening to this. I was equally disappointed the following day when Senator Halloran failed to provide an earnest apology for his actions.

Since this incident occurred, Senator Aguilar, Chair of the Executive Committee of the Nebraska Legislature, announced that he had filed a formal workforce harassment complaint against Senator Halloran and had appointed a committee to investigate this unfortunate incident. This committee will hire an outside investigator to also look into this event. The findings will be used to determine the appropriate consequences for the actions taken on the floor of the Unicameral.

As always, if I can be of assistance to you in any way, please do not hesitate to contact my office. My staff members  Matt and Katie  are available to assist you with your needs and they pass along messages, so if youd like a call back, please let them know!

Email: jhughes@leg.ne.gov; Phone: 402-471-2756; Facebook: Senator Jana Hughes.
New Delhi: Dell, an American technology company has acknowledged downsizing its workforce as part of cost-cutting measures. It has reduced its workforce for the second time in the past two years.

According to a recent filing, the company has trimmed approximately 6,000 more employees from its staff. According to a Reuters report, Dell's employee count stood at nearly 120,000 as of February 2, 2024, marking a decrease from its previous total of 126,000 employees. (Also Read: Mumbai Overtakes Beijing As Asia's Billionaire Capital; Ranks In World's Top Three)

The job cuts follow a period of slow demand for personal computers over the last two years, resulting in an 11 percent revenue decrease in the final quarter of last year, as disclosed in the filing via Reuters. Dell has also implemented additional cost-saving measures such as restricting external hiring and reorganizing employees in addition to reducing its workforce. (Also Read: Bharti Hexacom IPO: Here Are 10 Key Points You Want To Know)

In 2023, the company cut 6,650 jobs in preparation for a potential economic downturn and in response to declining demand for personal computers. The latest reduction in workforce is a component of Dell's broader initiative to simplify its operations and reduce expenses amid persistent market difficulties.

Recently, The company communicated through a memo to its remote employees that while they are allowed to continue their work-from-home arrangements, they will not be eligible for promotions. The technological company has informed its employees that starting May, they would be classified as either "hybrid" or "remote" based on the new policy.
SSC Phase 12 Recruitment 2024: The Staff Selection Commission will conclude the registration process for the SSC Phase 12 recruitment today on its official website, ssc.gov.in. The SSC is conducting a process for hiring for 2,049 positions in several government departments. The computer-based test (CBT) will be administered from May 6 to 8.

The SSC will provide a rectification window for candidates for three days, from March 30 to April 1. The candidates will be allowed to re-submit applications after making requisite corrections or changes in the online application data as per their requirement, said NTA.

SSC Recruitment 2024: Exam Pattern

Students applying for SSC Phase 12 will be required to answer 100 questions in four sections: general intelligence, general awareness, quantitative aptitude, and English. Each part will contain 25 questions. Students will have 60 minutes to tackle the complete question paper. Students will receive two marks for each right answer.For each incorrect answer, 50 marks will be deducted.

SSC Recruitment 2024: Steps to apply here

Visit the official SSC website at ssc.gov.in.

Go to the homepage and select New Registration. Fill out the relevant information.

Use the login credentials received via your registered email and phone.

Fill out the application form with accurate information.

Upload the required documents.

Proceed to pay the application fee and submit the application.

Please download and print the confirmation page for future reference.

SSC Recruitment 2024: Application Fee

Students applying for the SSC Phase 12 recruitment procedure will be required to pay a fee of Rs 100. The cost can only be paid online using payment methods like as BHIM UPI, Netbanking, and credit or debit cards. Women candidates, as well as those from SC, ST PwBD, and ex-servicemen, would not be required to pay a fee. Students can make their online fee payments until 11 p.m. on March 27.
American author, Dave Barry once said, Cigarette sales would drop to zero overnight if the warning said, CIGARETTE CONTAINS FAT. While everyone knows that tobacco products in any form when smoked or used orally, have multiple negative effects on human health, most of them are ignored.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), smoking and oral tobacco use are the single greatest cause of preventable death globally. Yet, according to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) conducted in 201617 in India, 28.6 percent of all adults currently consume tobacco either in smoked or smokeless form. This includes 42.4 percent of men, 14.2 percent of women above age 15, and 7.4 percent aged 13-15. This data tells us that most of the female smokers today belong to the teenage group, and smoking tobacco form is not limited to only cigarettes, as usage of hookas, cigars, and e-cigarettes is rampant as well.

What are the health concerns for women smokers?

No matter a person's gender, tobacco use can have a negative impact on their health in many ways, including the lungs, esophagus, heart, kidneys, pancreas, bladder, and any other organs that are left behind. In this video, Dr. Sonamm Tiwari, a consultant in obstetrics and gynecology at Fortis Hiranandani Hospital, discusses the numerous ways smoking can affect the health of women. But smoking has a bigger impact on women's health, especially when it comes to mood disorders, monthly abnormalities, pelvic infections, menopause, and fertility.

Infertility: These days, women typically wait until their late 30s or early 40s to become pregnant for a variety of personal reasons, such as stable careers. Even for nonsmokers, the likelihood of becoming pregnant naturally declines after the age of thirty due to a variety of lifestyle, genetic, and age-related variables. Women who smoke have an increased chance of experiencing infertility in the future. Smoking affects the ovaries' reaction, changes the cervical mucus, and hinders the fallopian tubes' ability to peristalse. These changes can all have an impact on the rates of conception and implantation. Additionally, it has an impact on the DNA of both female eggs and male sperm.

Pregnancy: Cigarette smoke contains chemicals that can pass the placenta, seriously endangering the unborn child. Certain harmful substances including cigarette smoke can alter an egg's or sperm's genetic makeup, increasing the chance of cancer, birth abnormalities, repeated miscarriages, and other health hazards for the unborn child. The risks of preterm birth, low birth weight, abrupt intrauterine death, and infant death syndrome are increased when a pregnant woman smokes. Research indicates that the offspring of smokers are more vulnerable to respiratory ailments and require more frequent physician visits.

Birth control: Hormonal tablets are what are known as emergency contraceptives or 21-day birth control pills. They have varying amounts and types of progesterone and estrogen, which work in different ways to prevent conception. Research has shown that women who smoke and use oral contraceptives are more likely to get heart attacks, strokes, and blood clots. Women who smoke and are over 35 should not use oral contraceptives because the risk increases with age.

Early menopause: Smoking affects the ovaries, which results in hormonal imbalances in women. The ovaries of smokers mature three to four years before those of non-smokers. Estrogen shortage can result in irregular menstruation, irregular menstruation altogether, and abnormal bleeding when the ovaries age. According to research, women who smoke have a 43 percent higher chance than non-smokers of going through menopause before the age of 50.

Mental health risks: According to reports, women who smoke are more likely to experience substance misuse, depression, anxiety, PTSD, and suicidal thoughts. Research indicates that women with mental or behavioral health conditions make up 40% of the smoking population. Additionally, the hallucinogenic effects of nicotine in cigarettes can obfuscate the signs of mental health issues, making diagnosis and treatment more challenging. Furthermore, it has been shown that women who suffer from any kind of mental illness or tobacco use find it difficult to give up. Additionally, women are more likely to gain weight when smoking, particularly when they are beginning or stopping their tobacco usage. Smoking-related morbidity and death are made worse by obesity, which can have a substantial long-term impact.

In conclusion, smoking has serious and intricate health repercussions on women. This calls for comprehensive tobacco control measures, targeted interventions, and increased awareness campaigns for women.
NEW DELHI: Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has called for a ''gherao'' of Prime Minister Narendra Modis residence on Tuesday to protest against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's arrest in connection with the excise policy case. AAP earlier said that it won't celebrate Holi this year as their senior party leaders, Arvind Kejriwal, Satyendar Jain and Manish Sisodia, are currently in jail. The party said the AAP workers and leaders will ''gherao'' Prime Minister Narendra Modis residence at Lok Kalyan Marg to register its protest against Arvind Kejriwals arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Delhi Minister Gopal Rai had earlier warned that "mega protests" would be held nationwide in the days to come.

Meanwhile, Delhi Police said the security at PM Modi's residence has been strengthened as no permission has been granted to the AAP to hold any protests today.

Security Tightened In Delhi

The Delhi Police has strengthened security at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence in view of AAP's call for a "gherao" to protest against the arrest of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The police have also beefed up security in several other parts of the national capital.

#WATCH | On PM residence 'gherao' protest by AAP in Delhi today, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Devesh Kumar Mahla says, "Considering everything we have deployed security at PM residence and other important points. There is no restriction on boarding/deboarding at all Delhi metro pic.twitter.com/kvPvOmeAqj  ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2024

A Delhi Traffic Police officer said movement is likely to be affected in parts of New Delhi and Central Delhi due to the protest. "Robust security arrangements have been made. We have installed layers of security to maintain law and order in the area," the Delhi Police officer said. "Section 144 (of the CrPC) is already imposed around the prime minister's residence and no one will be allowed to protest," he added.

The Delhi Traffic Police has arranged seven diversion points for the smooth movement of vehicles in view of the protest. "Commuters must avoid Kemal Ataturk Marg, Safdarjung Road, Akbar Road and Teen Murti Marg on Tuesday in view of the protest," an officer said.

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said, "Due to security reasons, entry/exit at Lok Kalyan Marg Metro station, Gate no 3 of Patel Chowk Metro Station and Gate no 5 of Central Secretariat Metro station will remain closed till further notice."

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) says, "Due to security reasons, entry/exit at Lok Kalyan Marg Metro station, Gate no 3 of Patel Chowk Metro Station and Gate no 5 of Central Secretariat Metro station will remain closed till further notice." pic.twitter.com/ligx5r9UqH  ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2024

Kejriwal's Arrest By ED

Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money-laundering case linked to the now-scrapped excise policy on March 21. He is in the agency's custody till Thursday. The AAP national convenor is accused of soliciting kickbacks from liquor traders in exchange for favours, the central agency has claimed.

The ED has also accused Kejriwal of being the "kingpin and key conspirator" in the now-scrapped policy, in collusion with AAP leaders, ministers and other persons. Kejriwal has refuted the allegations and accused the BJP-led Centre of "manipulating investigative agencies for political motives".
Boeing announced this morning that CEO Dave Calhoun would depart the company and that an executive with three decades of tenure at the $117 billion manufacturing company, Stephanie Pope, would take the lead of the commercial airlines division. As Pope takes charge of a business in crisis, investors are waiting in the wings to see what Popes plan is for the next 12 monthsand how Boeing will hold her accountable.

Pope has a murky road ahead with regulators, investors and customers in reshaping the companys culture and then proving to the world that people can trust it. Boeing has been beset by problems since before Calhoun even stepped into the CEO role to replace Dennis Muilenburg in 2019 after 346 people died while flying in Boeing-manufactured planes. The U.S. Department of Justice later fined Boeing $2.5 billion to resolve criminal charges of conspiracy to defraud the Federal Aviation Associations aircraft evaluation group in January 2021. Three years on, Calhoun is leaving amid a strong lack of confidence among customers and the public after parts of Boeing-manufactured planes began blowing off midflight; last week members of the Boeing board, including Kellner, began holding meetings with major customers without Calhoun present.

Theyve had a couple of years to figure out whats going on with the engineering-assembly process and they havent diagnosed the situation yet, said Jason Schloetzer, an associate professor at Georgetown University who has studied CEO succession and effectiveness. Theyre looking to clean house to a certain extent and get a new team in there with a fresh pair of eyes and new incentives to get this resolvedbecause you cant affect change if you cant even assess what the situation is and figure out what needs to be fixed, let alone put together a plan to fix it.

Boeing insider likely less costly than looking outside

Going with Pope as an internal CEO pick for the airlines division is likely far less expensive than hiring someone from outside Boeing, said Maria Vu, senior director of North American compensation research at proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis. An executive from outside the company would have required Boeing to offer the exec make-whole payments, to compensate for equity they would leave behind with a prior employer. Plus, companies in distress often have to provide a lot of incentives to lure executives from other companies to take over a business in crisis. Its unclear at this point if Boeing will offer Pope more than the compensation she received as chief operating officer, which was $1.2 million in salary plus an annual cash bonus of $2 million and a long-term incentive of $10 million. Once Boeing discloses Popes goals, investors are likely to scrutinize them for signs of how the board intends to hold Pope accountable for turning around Boeings culture, she said.

Story continues

There seems to be a significant risk to the business if the companys culture is not meaningfully addressed, said Vu. It will be indicative of how serious the board is about changing the culture if you look at the sorts of things theyre incentivizing Ms. Pope for in her incentive programs.

With Pope, the company is turning to a seasoned executive to turn the company around and on the one hand, thats great, said Schloetzer. She is somebody who knows the business really well and been there for a long time and is well-versed in whats going on, he said. On the other hand, Pope is also a person who has been there while these issues have been playing out.

Its not easy to find somebody who can come in and think through an organization like Boeing, so it also makes sense to have an internal person, but its not a slam dunk, said Schloetzer. According to Schloetzer, there may also be recruiting below the C-suite and NEO level to bring in fresh perspectives to Boeing.

The management bloodletting at the top includes Stan Deal, president and CEO of Boeings commercial airlines division who Pope is replacing, and board chair Larry Kellner, who stepped into the role in 2019 when Calhoun crossed over from being a board member to CEO. The company has also seen outflows from other executive roles in the past few years, including Leanne Caret, president and CEO of Boeings defense, space and security unit, and senior vice president and treasurer David Dohnalek. The Boeing board elected Steve Mollenkopf to replace Kellner.

In January, Boeing announced that Calhoun had tapped Admiral Kirkland Donald as a special advisor to investigate Boeings quality management system for commercial plans. Kirkland, who is chairman of the board at $11.5 billion military shipbuilding company Huntington Ingalls, was to give Calhoun and Boeings aerospace safety committee a report and recommendations. His review remains ongoing, said a Boeing spokesperson in a statement to Fortune.

For Calhoun, the bulk of his more than $20 million in pay was supposed to come from his long-term incentive pay award, which had a target of $17 million. By the end of 2023, he was to have seen the 737 MAX safely return to service; realignment of engineering function; 777X twin-engine jet entry into service and delivery and production ramp-up. The award did not vest, according to the companys disclosures.

Generally, to incentivize an executive to be serious about something and to make material changes, especially if its a material risk to the business, we would expect to see some revisions to incentive programs to help address that, said Vu.

As for Calhoun, he has at least $20 million coming his way and potentially another $45.5 million, depending on how the next CEO fares in the role. However, the Boeing board could provide him additional compensation as part of his departure or the board might decline to do so in order to avoid the additional scrutiny.

How they classify his departure is a conversation they are likely having with him in terms of negotiation, Vu said.

Editor's Note: This story has been corrected to state that Stephanie Pope is the new president and CEO of Boeing commercial airplanes.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
New Delhi: BJP's Punjab unit head Sunil Jakhar announced on Tuesday that the party will independently contest the Lok Sabha elections in Punjab. This declaration was made amidst speculation about the Shiromani Akali Dal and the BJP reestablishing their alliance for the parliamentary elections. The voting for Punjabs 13 Lok Sabha seats will take place on June 1, during the final phase of the seven-phase elections. The BJP has decided to stand alone in the Punjab Lok Sabha elections, Jakhar confirmed.

This decision was made by the BJP in response to feedback from the public and party members. Jakhar stated, The accomplishments of the BJP under Prime Minister Narendra Modis leadership are well-known to everyone. Jakhar also noted that over the past decade, the BJP has ensured that farmers produce is purchased at the minimum support price. Futher details awaited.
New Delhi / Mandi: Continuing its attack on Supriya Shrinate, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday warned that it will take legal action against the Congress leader for her "objectionable post" concerning Kangana Ranaut, the saffron party's candidate from Himachal Pradesh's Mandi Lok Sabha constituency.

Former Himachal Pradesh chief minister and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Jairam Thakur condemned the alleged actions of Shrinate, asserting that the Congress party would face consequences for what he described as 'insulting women''. Thakur emphasized the BJP's commitment to taking legal measures in response to the incident. "...BJP is working towards taking legal action in this matter. It has become the Congress' habit to insult women- 'Matru Shakti'. The whole of Mandi and Himachal Pradesh is angry. Congress will have to pay for this," Thakur was quoted as saying by ANI.

#WATCH | On Congress leader Supriya Shrinate's objectionable post on BJP candidate from Mandi, Kangana Ranaut, LoP Himachal Pradesh Assembly, Jairam Thakur says, "...BJP is working towards taking legal action in this matter. It has become the Congress' habit to insult women- pic.twitter.com/UpEja0IHrY  ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2024

Shrinate's Clarification Amid BJP's Attack

Shrinate has refuted the accusations, clarifying that her social media accounts were compromised, leading to the dissemination of the contentious post. She asserted that the post in question originated from a parody account and has reported the matter to relevant authorities.

BJP's All-Out Condemnation

Earlier, senior BJP figures, including Shehzad Poonawalla and Amit Malviya, have condemned Shrinate's alleged remarks, labelling them as despicable. Poonawalla called for immediate action against Shrinate, urging the Congress leadership to address the issue promptly. "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 attacked Shakti, and now Karnataka Minister Shivaraj Tangadagi 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.

Malviya echoed similar sentiments, urging Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to take decisive action against Shrinate for her purported comments.

Shazia Ilmi Questions Congress' Silence

BJP's Shazia Ilmi and the National Commission for Women (NCW) have demanded accountability from the Congress leadership regarding Shrinate's conduct. Ilmi criticized the silence of Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, and Rahul Gandhi on the matter, highlighting the need for decisive action.

NCW Seels Action Against Shrinate

Meanwhile, the NCW has registered a complaint against Shrinate with the Election Commissioner, denouncing her actions as disrespectful towards women. 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.

"The 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.

Rashid Alvi Calls For Investigation

Shrinate has defended herself, asserting that her accounts were compromised, leading to the dissemination of objectionable content. She emphasized her commitment to respectful discourse and distanced herself from derogatory remarks. On the other hand, Congress leader Rashid Alvi has called for a thorough investigation into the matter, urging the government to identify the perpetrators behind the alleged comments.
NEW DELHI: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, who scripted a thumping win for the Congress in last year's Assembly elections, is optimistic that his party will win at least 20 out of 28 Lok Sabha seats in the State in the upcoming general elections. The Congress leader, who is referred to as DKS has also claimed that JDS-BJP alliance is "not working well" in the state.

In the 2019 general election, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won 26 of the 28 seats in the state. The Congress and JD(S), which were running a coalition government back then and fought the elections together, secured one seat each. It was a dismal performance for the Congress in the 2019 general election compared to the 9 seats it had won in the 2014 Lok Sabha election.

However, the party under the DKS leadership swept up 135 of the 224 seats in the Karnataka Assembly polls in 2023. In an exclusive conversation with ANI, the Congress leader who is the current president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) said, "See, we work collectively. In the last three years, I have had the opportunity to be president. Now it is the fourth year. So, all of them cooperated. I believe in the collective leadership that we showed. Whatever we had, we still thought the party had to come to power."

"Now, as far as Parliament (elections) are concerned, we are still hoping...," Shivakumar said. "We wanted a lot of our ministers to contest. But all of them wanted to stay in state politics. Now, I am still hoping that we will get nearly 20 seats," the veteran Congress leader said. Asked about an apparent 'Modi wave' and the reluctuance of Karnataka Congress ministers to fight parliament elections, DKS said "It is not like that. As far as Karnataka is concerned, any wave will not work. The Bharatiya Janata Party is crumbling. You know how many MPs--almost 10 MPs--could not get tickets. There was a lot of anti-incumbency."

The BJP, he said, is in "very bad shape" in Karnataka. "They (the BJP) have changed and shifted the MPs and ministers. So, I think, compared to other parts of the country, the BJP is in very bad shape in Karnataka," claimed Shivakumar. Referring to a statement by the former Chief Minister and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy, Shivakumar said, "You see the statement of Mr Kumaraswamy yesterday has not been taken well. He has come out openly. All these things are there. Their alliance is not working well. People will not accept that alliance."

Shivakumar reiterated his confidence in the people's mandate for the Congress party. "I am confident that with the way we look at local issues, we look at the local problems, When we do hard work, we have to look at the people's wishes, the problem of the people. Then they should have confidence on us. That is why they vote us. Otherwise, it will not happen."

Voting for Lok Sabha constituencies in Karnataka will take place in two phases on April 26 and May 7. In 2019, the BJP won 25 seats with a vote share of 51.7 per cent. Congress won 1 seat with a 32.1 per cent vote share, while JD(S) and Independent won one seat each in Karnataka. The general election for 543 Lok Sabha seats will be held in seven phases starting April 19, with counting to be held on June 4. Karnataka has a total of 28 Lok Sabha constituencies, including five seats reserved for SC candidates and two for ST candidates. Voting across all seats in Karnataka will be held in the second and third phases of the elections on April 26 and May 7 respectively.
NEW DELHI: The announcement of Ramesh Awasthi as the BJP candidate for the Kanpur Lok Sabha seat has stirred discussions within the party. Ramesh Awasthi will contest against Congress' Aalok Mishra and BSP's Kuldeep Bhadauria for the Kanpur seat. Despite being relatively unknown, Awasthi's nomination has surprised many, considering the presence of seasoned politicians in the fray. This move marks the first time in 33 years that Brahmin candidates will compete for the Kanpur seat, adding further intrigue to the political landscape.

Shifts In Political Landscape

The BJP's decision to nominate Awasthi reflects a strategic shift in its candidate selection process. Notable figures like Satyadev Pachauri and Avneesh Awasthi, who were initially considered for tickets, were replaced by lesser-known candidates. Similarly, Congress witnessed a shuffle, with former MLA Ajay Kapoor joining the BJP. Despite speculations surrounding other candidates, Awasthi's sudden rise has dominated political discussions.

Ramesh Awasthi's Surprising Rise

Awasthi's nomination has raised questions about his alignment with the strategies of PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. Speculations about the forces backing him have been rife, especially after his controversial announcement of his resignation on social media. His unexpected candidacy has added a layer of uncertainty to the upcoming elections in Kanpur.

Local Roots And Political Dynamics

Despite being originally from Farrukhabad, Awasthi has strong ties to Kanpur, where he has spent a significant part of his life. His deep connections within the community and involvement in local affairs have earned him recognition. His campaign focuses on issues like development and corruption, resonating with the electorate's concerns and leaving the final decision to the voters.

Kanpur's Political Landscape

Kanpur, historically influenced by the Ram Mandir movement and Sangh ideology, has seen significant political shifts over the years. Despite fluctuations in BJP's performance, the party's nomination strategy, particularly focusing on Brahmin candidates, underscores its understanding of Kanpur's political dynamics. With BJP's stronghold and public support, its candidate is expected to fare well in the upcoming elections.

The nomination of Ramesh Awasthi has injected a new dynamic into Kanpur's political arena. While the BJP candidate is seen as a strong contender, Congress' Aalok Mishra has dismissed Awasthi as an ''outsider''. However, Awasthi has emphasized his longstanding connection to Kanpur, framing the election as a choice between development and corruption, ultimately leaving the decision to the electorate.
New Delhi: A well-known Baloch rights activist and Baloch National Movement (BNM) media coordinator, Jamal Baloch on Monday voiced censure against the propaganda being run by the Pakistani media against the enforced disappearances in the country. Jamal said that this campaign was promoted to influence public opinion to make them believe that the issue of enforced disappearance faced by the Baloch community in Pakistan is fake.

In his statement posted on X, Jamal Baloch stated, "The case of Karim Jan Baloch is being manipulated to propagate against the issue of enforced disappearances. Karim Jan was abducted by Pakistani intelligence agencies on May 23, 2022, Karim Jan's family bravely protested his disappearance. After enduring two months of disappearance, he was unjustly accused of possessing explosives by the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) on July 31, 2022. However, due to the insufficient evidence, the court rightfully acquitted him of all false charges. Karim Jan was released on August 17, 2022, on the orders of Abdul Waheed Badini, the Special Judge, ATC at Gwadar".

The Baloch activists said that the issue is very serious and requested Pakistani media to stand by the truth. "The issue of enforced disappearance in Balochistan is very severe today, and it is important that the media today become the voice of the oppressed and not become a toy in the hands of the Pakistani state. Journalists need to find actual evidence and investigate to unearth the issue of enforced disappearances," Jamal said.

We strongly condemn the state-sponsored propaganda aimed at manipulating the issue of enforced disappearances in #Balochistan. The case of Karim Jan Baloch is being manipulated to propagate against the issue of enforced disappearances. Karim Jan was abducted by Pakistani pic.twitter.com/ApIlvx58hQ  Paank (@paank_bnm) March 25, 2024

He further added, "They sometimes even beg the army to either return them or bring them to court. But more often than not these protestors and family members are beaten, suppressed, forced, and even arrested to give up their protest. The media must stop the manipulation of this matter and bring the pieces of evidence to light for resolving this matter.
New Delhi: In response to the controversy surrounding an offensive social media post about her by Congress leader Supriya Shrinate, Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut stated on Tuesday that she would deliberate on the next steps with BJP President JP Nadda in Delhi. Kangana, the BJPs Lok Sabha election candidate from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh, said, We have responded to the controversy over the offensive post. BJP President JP Nadda has invited me for a meeting in Delhi. I will be able to comment further on the issue after the meeting.

She also mentioned that she would consider whether to pursue legal action against Supriya Shrinate of the Congress during her meeting with Nadda. She further noted that Shrinates post had upset the people of Mandi. Mandi, often referred to as Chota-Kashi, is hurt by this derogatory comment, she said. Shrinates post on Monday, which included a photo of Ranaut in a corset top with an inappropriate caption, has been removed following backlash from several BJP leaders and others.

#WATCH | "Every woman deserves dignity...," says Kangana Ranaut, BJP candidate from HP's Mandi Lok Sabha seat on Congress leader Supriya Shrinate's objectionable post pic.twitter.com/kLt0h7Imq9  ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2024

The National Commission For Women Chief responded on Tuesday to Shrinates alleged remarks against Ranaut, who is the BJPs Lok Sabha candidate. She said, They owe Kangana an apology They are senior leaders in their party and we expect better behavior from them I hope Sonia Ji will take action against them

In response to a question, she said, Kanganas response was very dignified. A complaint has already been filed with the Election Commission

As the controversy escalated, Shrinate clarified that she would never make such personal and indecent remarks about any woman. She explained, Many people have access to my Facebook and Instagram accounts. Today, someone posted something extremely inappropriate. As soon as I found out, I deleted the post. Anyone who knows me knows that I would never make personal and indecent comments about any woman. I wanted to find out how this happened. She also mentioned that an objectionable post was made by a parody account on X.
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Jailed gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari was admitted to the ICU at a hospital in Uttar Pradesh's Banda district early Tuesday with a complaint of abdominal pain.

His brother and Ghazipur MP Afzal Ansari, who reached the hospital, alleged that he was given poison in jail. He told reporters that Mukhtar Ansari is in the intensive care unit (ICU) and is conscious.

An official statement of the prison department released in Lucknow said, "Due to the sudden deterioration in the health of prisoner Mukhtar Ansari and falling in the toilet in the night, he was immediately given treatment by the jail doctor.



"After informing the district administration, a team of doctors was called by which the prisoner was referred to the medical college in the night itself. The prisoner was admitted to Medical College Banda under police protection where he is undergoing treatment." According to a medical bulletin issued by the Banda Medical College, "Mukhtar Ansari was admitted there at 3.55 am with a complaint of pain in the abdomen... The patient is admitted and conservative treatment has started. Patient is stable currently." Mukhtar Ansari, 60, is a five-time former MLA from Mau Sadar seat and has been behind bars in UP and Punjab since 2005. He has over 60 criminal cases pending against him. He has been sentenced in eight cases since September 2022 by different courts of UP and was lodged in the Banda jail.

His name was on the list of 66 gangsters issued by Uttar Pradesh Police last year. His family members had earlier expressed apprehension that Mukhtar Ansari could be killed in a fake encounter.

Afzal Ansari claimed on Tuesday, "Mukhtar said that he was given poisonous a substance in food in jail. This happened for the second time. Around 40 days ago also he was given poison. And recently on March 19 of March 22, he was again given this (poison) due to which his condition is bad." Afzal Ansari said that during the virtual hearing of a case in a Barabanki court on March 21, Mukhtar's lawyer had filed an application in the court alleging that his client had been given "slow poison" in jail due to which his condition was deteriorating.

Mukhtar Ansari's son Umar Ansari alleged that he was not allowed to meet his father despite his name being on the visitors' list along with that of his uncle Afzal Ansari.

Umar told reporters that he had travelled 900 km during the Ramzan fast to see his father but he was not allowed "to even have a glimpse of him".

All things aside ... Humanity is also something, he added.

Afzal Ansari claimed that the hospital authorities were under pressure. He said he had requested for a meeting with the principal of the medical college but was not allowed.

"He (principal) appeared helpless," he said "I have talked to the doctor, he is a surgeon. This is not a matter of surgery. He had constipation and was treated. But due to gas, his stomach is swollen and he could not talk properly," Afzal Ansari said.

He had earlier in the day told PTI, "We have got a message from Mohammadabad police station in Ghazipur informing us that Mukhtar is ill and is being admitted to Medical College, Banda. Family members have been asked to come for his help." He said he had called the Chief Minister's Office before leaving for Banda but could not contact Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who is in Gorakhpur.

He said the purpose of calling the Chief Minister's Office was to request that his brother be admitted to the Medanta Hospital in Lucknow or any other big hospital if adequate arrangements are not made at Banda Medical College.

"If the government does not bear the cost of treatment, the family will bear this expense," he said.

Mukhtar Ansari's relative Mansoor Ansari, who visited the Banda Medical College, claimed he was not allowed to meet him and was asked to get permission from the Banda jail superintendent.

Mukhtar Ansari's lawyer Naseem Haider after meeting him said his condition can be termed a "little bit better".

"His ultrasound and other reports are awaited," he said.
New Delhi: The National Commission For Women has lodged a complaint against Supriya Shrinate with the Election Commissioner, citing an offensive post about Kangana Ranaut, the Bharatiya Janata Partys Lok Sabha candidate from Himachal Pradesh's Mandi. The NCW, in a post on X, stated that such behavior by the Congress leader is unacceptable and undermines womens dignity. The National Commission for Women expressed its shock at the disgraceful behavior of Supriya Shrinate and HS Ahir, who made crude and derogatory comments about Kangana Ranaut on social media. Such conduct is unacceptable and undermines womens dignity.

Rekha Sharma, the Chairperson of the NCW, has written to the Election Commissioner of India, demanding immediate and strict action against them. The commission urged everyone to maintain respect and dignity for all women.

In the meantime, Supriya Shrinates alleged post drew severe criticism from the BJP. Amit Malviya, who oversees the BJPs national information and technology department, suggested that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge should take firm action against Shrinate.

Supriya Shrinate of the Congress made a repugnant comment about Kangana Ranaut in an Insta post, according to Malviya, who heads the BJP IT cell. He posted on X, expressing his disgust and questioning how the Congress manages to accumulate so much filth in one place. He urged Kharge to either dismiss her immediately or resign if he has any influence in the party.

Shehzad Poonawalla stated that Shrinates comments were abhorrent. He posted on X, The remarks by Supriya Shrinate on Kangana Team are despicable! She should be sacked immediately. 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.

Amid the stir, Supriya Shrinate, who serves as the Chairperson for Social Media and Digital Platforms of the Congress party, took to X to clarify the comments about Kangana Ranaut. She stressed that anyone who knows her would realize that she would never make such comments about a woman. Shrinate revealed that someone had accessed her accounts.

An individual who had access to my meta accounts (FB and Insta) posted a completely revolting and offensive post, which has since been removed. Anyone who is familiar with me will understand that I would never make such a statement about a woman. However, I have just discovered a parody account on Twitter that is misusing my name and initiated the entire mischief. It is being reported, she stated.
NEW DELHI: Amidst the political fervour preceding the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Bollywood actress Neha Sharma has emerged as the latest figure to potentially step into the realm of politics, following in the footsteps of Kangna Ranaut, who has been nominated as the BJP candidate from Himachal Pradesh' Mandi Lok Sabha seat. The buzz around her political aspirations intensified after her father, Ajay Sharma, a prominent Congress leader and sitting MLA from Bihar's Bhagalpur, hinted at the possibility of her contesting elections.

Father's Hint Fuels Speculations

Ajay Sharma's remarks to reporters have fueled speculations about Neha Sharma's possible entry into the political arena. He expressed his desire for the Congress party to secure the Bhagalpur seat in the forthcoming elections. If the party indeed clinches the seat in its alliance arrangements, Ajay Sharma affirmed his intention to advocate for his daughter's candidacy. "Congress should secure Bhagalpur, and if it does, I would want my daughter Neha Sharma to contest," he stated, underscoring his readiness to step aside if the party deems it necessary for him to run instead.

Neha Sharma: From Silver Screen To Politics

Neha Sharma made her Bollywood debut in 2010, starring opposite Emraan Hashmi in 'Crook'. She has since acted in several films, including Yamla Pagla Deewana 2 in 2013, and 'Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior,' and 'Mubarakan' among others. The Bihar girl boasts a substantial following on social media platforms. With over 21 million followers on Instagram, she has cultivated a significant presence, particularly through her engaging travel-related content.

Ajay Sharma's remarks also underscored the confidence within the INDIA alliance regarding their electoral prospects in Bihar. He expressed determination to challenge the BJP's stronghold in the state, emphasizing their collective resolve to effect significant political change.

Seat-Sharing Talks And Political Dynamics

The unfolding political landscape in Bihar has witnessed various shifts, notably marked by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's decision to sever ties with the Congress and align with the BJP earlier this year. Despite these developments, seat-sharing discussions within the INDIA bloc have persisted, with leaders like Tejashwi Yadav of the Rashtriya Janata Dal indicating that negotiations are nearing completion.

With the Lok Sabha elections scheduled across seven phases from April 19 to June 1, and assembly polls concurrently held in four states, anticipation mounts as political parties finalize their strategies and candidates for the electoral battle ahead.
The Chinese national flag is displayed in front of an Apple store in Shanghai on October 9, 2021. HECTOR RETAMAL

China is unlikely to push Apple out of the country, Shehzad Qazi of China Beige Book told CNBC.

Despite the iPhone ban last year, Apple is likely doubling down on China, Wedbush's Dan Ives said.



Apple is unlikely to be among US firms ousted by China, even as officials in Beijing look to reduce the country's exposure to certain American companies, Shehzad Qazi of China Beige Book told CNBC on Monday.

According to Qazi, the country's leadership is setting up restrictions on US business as a way to limit security risk.

"In sectors where they think reliance on American firms  software, hardware, anything talked about  is going to become a national security threat, they want American companies out. Extricated. Gone," he said.

For instance, Beijing banned US semiconductor firm Micron last year, while Intel and AMD chips are barred from being used in state computers as of Monday.

For Apple, such scrutiny has already sparked friction with China, as iPhones were banned for government officials in 2023. But the smartphone giant is too important for China to mandate full-blown disinvestment, Qazi said.

That's as China remains the manufacturing heart of Apple, with roughly 95% of its products made in the country.

"Where China has an advantage, whether it's in terms of jobs or access to technology, retaining a critical position in the supply chain, it certainly wants those firms there," Qazi noted, adding that the same logic applies to why US pharmaceutical companies are still welcome in the country.

Meanwhile, though geopolitical tensions have clouded Apple's relations with China, the company is standing firm on its presence as a manufacturer and a retailer in the country, Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said in a Monday note.

That's apparent as CEO Tim Cook took part in the China Development Forum this week, which Ives considers an olive branch on part of Beijing.

"In essence Apple needs China and China needs Apple despite all the noise," he said. "With 90% of the supply chain cemented in China Apple will over time move some manufacturing to India, Vietnam, and other regions. However, the vast majority of its iPhone production and suppliers will remain in China and this trip was Apple essentially doubling down on China."

Its retail footprint is also growing, and the firm opened its second-largest store in Shanghai on Thursday.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today reached out to BJP candidates of two crucial states - Kerala and Bengal. While the BJP is looking to open its account in Kerala Lok Sabha polls, the party is trying hard to boost its seat count in TMC-ruled West Bengal. The BJP is fighting tooth and nail against the popularity of the TMC led by Mamata Banerjee while in God's own country Kerala, the saffron party is yet to taste victory in the Lok Sabha polls. Thus, PM Modi's attempt to speak to the women candidates from both the states is an attempt to boost the morale of the party cadre.

PM Modi's Speaks To Kerala BJP Candidate

Prime Minister Modi talked to Prof TN Sarasu who is the BJP candidate from the Alathur Lok Sabha seat in Kerala. During the conversation, she informed PM Modi that there is a problem with cooperative banks in Kerala which are governed by the CPI(M) leaders. "They loot the money that the poor people deposited in the bank. They are not getting back their money. So, there is a great complaint from the people here...Could you do something against this?" said Sarasu.

PM Modi then told her, "I am happy that as a candidate, you are taking up the issues of the people. It's a good thing for any public servant...Yes, I have heard about it. I have some details about it and you are right that a lot of poor people have been affected. Our government will take strict action against everyone involved and we will ensure that the poor get justice...I will take the legal advice and whatever property the ED will attach, if the common man's money is involved, I will see that every penny should return to the person concerned. We will do that strictly."

#LISTEN | The conversation between PM Narendra Modi and Prof TN Sarasu, BJP candidate from Alathur in Kerala.



She tells the PM, "..."There is a problem in Kerala with cooperative banks which are governed by the CPI(M) leaders. They loot the money that the poor people deposited pic.twitter.com/AlpeQOkyNs  ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2024

PM Modi's Conversation With Bengal Candidate

Prime Minister Modi also spoke to Rekha Patra, BJP Lok Sabha candidate from Bengal's Basirhat and one of the Sandeshkhali victims. The senior BJP leader spoke to Patra about her Lok Sabha campaign preparations. While talking to her, PM Modi called her 'Shakti Swaroopa'. Shakti is a Hinduism term associated with goddesses like Durga and Kali. Patra narrated the ordeal faced by women of Sandeshkhali.

#LISTEN | The conversation between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rekha Patra, a BJP candidate from Basirhat and one of the Sandeshkhali victims.



She says, "...The situation in Sandeshkhali has been a matter of concern since 2011. If we were allowed to vote freely then this pic.twitter.com/Y4KB7k1OKE  ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2024

Boosting Cadre's Morale

The BJP has been galvanising its grassroots cadre in Kerala and West Bengal besides southern states like Tamil Nadu and Telangana. While the BJP has bettered its presence and vote share in Bengal, in Kerala, the saffron party is yet to open its account in the Lok Sabha. There are at least five seats in Kerala where the BJP has increased its vote shares and the party is now looking to translate it into the winning seats. PM Modi's conversation with the candidates will send out a message that the person sitting on the highest echelons of the BJP is looking after the party candidates. This will boost the cadre's morale ahead of the voting for the Lok Sabha polls.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today spoke to Rekha Patra, BJP Lok Sabha candidate from Bengal's Basirhat and one of the Sandeshkhali victims. The senior BJP leader spoke to Patra about her campaign preparations and support among people for the BJP. While talking to her, PM Modi called her 'Shakti Swaroopa'. Shakti is a Hinduism term associated with goddesses like Durga and Kali.

While talking to PM Modi, Rekha Patra narrated the ordeals faced by women in Sandeshkhali.

#LISTEN | The conversation between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rekha Patra, a BJP candidate from Basirhat and one of the Sandeshkhali victims.



She says, "...The situation in Sandeshkhali has been a matter of concern since 2011. If we were allowed to vote freely then this pic.twitter.com/Y4KB7k1OKE  ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2024

Rekha Patra was the first woman to highlight the plight of women in West Bengal's Sandeshkhali. Patra, who had raised their voice against the alleged atrocities by local Trinamool Congress (TMC) strongman Shajahan Sheikh and his cronies, was picked by the BJP as its candidate from Basirhat Lok Saha seat, under which the village falls.

Basirhat, one of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal, is currently represented by the TMC. Sheikh, who has been suspended by the TMC, and some of his associates have been arrested in connection with an attack on ED officials and are in CBI custody. The BJP and TMC are contesting alone in the state while the Congress and the Left are contesting the polls in an alliance. (With agency inputs)
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed their condolences on the demise of president of Ramakrishna Mission Swami Smaranananda. Swami Smaranananda was 95 years old.

Talking about Swami ji's makable life, PM Modi stated, "Srimat Swami Smaranananda ji Maharaj, the revered President of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission dedicated his life to spirituality and service. He left an indelible mark on countless hearts and minds. His compassion and wisdom will continue to inspire generations."

Recalling the memorable time with Swami Ji during his visit to Belur Math in 2020, Modi said that he experienced a close bond with him. "I had a very close relationship with him over the years. I recall my visit to Belur Math in 2020 when I interacted with him. A few weeks ago in Kolkata, I also visited the hospital and enquired about his health. My thoughts are with the countless devotees of the Belur Math. Om Shanti," Modi said in a post on X.

Srimat Swami Smaranananda ji Maharaj, the revered President of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission dedicated his life to spirituality and service. He left an indelible mark on countless hearts and minds. His compassion and wisdom will continue to inspire generations.



I had pic.twitter.com/lK1mYKbKQt  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 26, 2024

Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee also conveyed her deepest condolence to all the followers of Swami Ji. "This great monk during his lifetime has given spiritual leadership to the world order of the Ramakrishnaites and remains the source of solace for millions of devotees across the globe. I convey my deepest condolence to all his fellow monks, followers and devotees," Banerjee said.

Deeply saddened at the news of the demise tonight of Srimat Swami Smarananandaji Maharaj, the Revered President of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission. This great monk during his lifetime has given spiritual leadership to the world order of the Ramakrishnaites and remains the source  Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) March 26, 2024

President of Ramakrishna Mission Ashram Swami Smaranananda died at the age of 95 due to old age. He became the 16th president of the order in 2017, PTI reported.
New Delhi: In the midst of an ongoing dispute involving the first directive issued by Delhis Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal, from ED custody, a new order has been dispatched to the health department. This order was communicated to Delhis Health Minister, Saurabh Bharadwaj, via a memorandum from the Chief Minister. In a press conference, Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj stated, Even from jail, he (Arvind Kejriwal) is concerned about the health of Delhis residents and has given me instructions in this regard.

He pointed out in his instructions that some of the hospitals and mohalla clinics in Delhi are not providing free medicines. In addition, some of them are not conducting free tests. He has instructed me to address these issues, added Bharadwaj.

VIDEO | "Despite being in jail, he (Arvind Kejriwal) is worried about the health of the people of Delhi. He has issued me a direction in this regard. In his direction, he said that free medicines are not available in some of the Delhi hospitals and mohalla clinics. Besides, free pic.twitter.com/Xb1DCckWH7  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) March 26, 2024

Previously, while under the EDs custody, CM Kejriwal had issued an initial order on Sunday, instructing Water Minister Atishi to address water and sewage problems in the capital city.

CM Kejriwal, arrested on March 21 and subsequently placed in ED custody until March 28 by a Delhi court, is accused of being directly involved in a conspiracy related to the creation of an excise policy that benefits certain individuals. The probe agency alleges that CM Kejriwal sought bribes from liquor traders in return for favours.
NEW DELHI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma proclaimed on Monday that the Congress party would be completely eradicated from the state of Assam by the year 2026. During a press interaction in Biswanath, Sarma confidently stated that the future looked bleak for Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and his followers. "Voting for the Congress party means voting for Rahul Gandhi; voting for BJP means voting for Narendra Modi. Those who love Narendra Modi and believe that India will become Viswaguru will vote for the BJP in this election. Those who believe in the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, also know that their future is dark. Even Rahul Gandhi's future is also dark and his followers' future is darker," CM Sarma said while speaking to reporters at Biswanath on Monday.

Biswanath | Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma says, "Voting for Congress party means voting for Rahul Gandhi, voting for BJP means voting for PM Narendra Modi. Those who love PM Modi and believe that India will become Viswaguru will vote for BJP in this election. Those who believe in pic.twitter.com/Xp8kgnoRoB  ANI (@ANI) March 25, 2024

Stark Choice For Voters

Sarma emphasized the stark choice facing voters, framing it as a decision between supporting Rahul Gandhi and the Congress or backing Narendra Modi and the BJP. He suggested that those who believed in PM Modi's leadership and India's potential to become a "Viswaguru" (world leader) would cast their votes for the BJP.

Congress' Erosion In Assam

Highlighting recent developments, Sarma pointed to a significant erosion within the Congress ranks, with many leaders and workers defecting to the BJP and AGP (Asom Gana Parishad). He expressed confidence that this trend would continue, bolstering the BJP's position in the state.

Sarma further speculated on leadership transitions within the political landscape, predicting that Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president Bhupen Kumar Borah would join the BJP in early 2025. He hinted at the potential defection of other Trinamool Congress members to the BJP as well.

Reflecting on the current political dynamics, Sarma likened the Assam Congress to a "fixed deposit" under the BJP's control, suggesting that they could be mobilized as needed. He also asserted the BJP's dominance over most political dynasties in the state.

Sarma's remarks came amid ongoing political maneuvering, as he met with BJP candidate Ranjit Dutta for the Sonitpur parliamentary constituency. With the Lok Sabha elections in Assam scheduled across three stages in April and May, political strategizing is in full swing.

Past Elections In Assam

In the backdrop of Sarma's assertions lies the backdrop of past electoral performances. 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.

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.
NEW DELHI: Amid the announcement of her Lok Sabha candidature on a BJP ticket from Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut's old remark labelling Congress candidate and fellow actress Urmila Matondkar as a ''soft porn star'' in 2020 has resurfaced, igniting a fierce debate on social media platforms. This old controversy coincides with Ranaut's recent advocacy for ''women's dignity'', triggered by an alleged derogatory post targeting her by Congress leader Supriya Shrinate. This whole episode highlights Kangana Ranaut's use of derogatory language in public discourse in past. Urmila made her political debut as a Congress candidate in the 2019 Lok Sabha election from the Mumbai North constituency. She had resigned from Congress after a short association and joined Shiv Sena in 2020.

Sparks Fly Amidst Political Campaign

Controversy ensued when a derogatory post, containing sexual overtones and insults, emerged on Congress national spokesperson Supriya Shrinate's Instagram account shortly after the BJP announced Kangana's name as its candidate for the Mandi Lok Sabha seat in Himachal Pradesh. The post featured a scantily-clad image of Kangana Ranaut alongside a caption dripping with offence.

Kangana's Defiance And BJP's Response

Responding to the offensive post, Kangana Ranaut took a firm stance against the weaponization of sex workers' struggles for insult purposes. She emphasized the importance of upholding every woman's dignity, despite Shrinate's subsequent deletion of the post and claims of hacking. The BJP launched a vigorous counterattack, accusing Shrinate of perpetuating the circulation of deleted screenshots.

Unearthing Past Controversy

The controversy deepened as netizens unearthed a 2020 interview where Kangana had aimed similar disparaging remarks at Urmila Matondkar, who had ventured into politics. In that interview, Kangana questioned Urmila's acting credentials and branded her as a "soft porn star," drawing parallels between their political aspirations.

Kangana's Criticism By Bollywood Brigade

Urmila Matondkar, who contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections on a Congress ticket, retaliated strongly against Kangana's remarks. Veteran actor Jaya Bachchan also criticized Kangana for her disrespectful comments. Bollywood personalities including Swara Bhasker, Anubhav Sinha, and Farah Khan Ali rallied behind Urmila, condemning Kangana's remark.

Call For Action

In light of the Kangana-Supriya row, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has urged the Election Commission to take strong measures against Congress members. H S Ahir, the state joint co-ordinator of Kisan Congress, also made disrespectful comments directed towards Ranaut, further fueling the controversy.
New Delhi: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has lodged a complaint with the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal against BJP MP Dilip Ghosh for violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). The complaint alleged that the former BJP state president made derogatory and offensive remarks about West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Reacting to Dilip Ghosh's controversial remark on Mamata Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress termed the former BJP state chief a disgrace in the name of a political leader. In a statement posted on X, the official handle of Trinamool criticised the BJP leader, "From challenging the lineage of Maa Durga to now questioning the ancestry of Mamata Banerjee, he has wallowed in the filthiest depths of moral bankruptcy."

.@DilipGhoshBJP is a disgrace in the name of political leadership!



From challenging the lineage of Maa Durga to now questioning the ancestry of Smt. @MamataOfficial, he has wallowed in the filthiest depths of moral bankruptcy.



One thing is crystal clear: Ghosh has ZERO RESPECT pic.twitter.com/25uvaDPXsi  All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) March 26, 2024

Addressing media during his campaign trail, the BJP MP said, "Didi goes to Goa and says, 'I am Goa's daughter', then goes to Tripura and says, 'I am Tripura's daughter'. Decide who your father is? It is not good to be just anybody's daughter," he said on the camera.

The TMC said that Ghosh has zero respect for women of Bengal. "One thing is crystal clear: Ghosh has ZERO RESPECT for the women of Bengal, whether it be the revered goddess of Hinduism or the only woman Chief Minister of India," said the ruling party.

This criticism echoes a previous controversy surrounding Dilip Ghosh's remarks on Goddess Durga in 2021, where he questioned Maa Durga's lineage. "Lord Ram was an emperor. Some consider him an avatar. We know the names of his ancestors. Do we know the same about Durga?" Ghosh said.

Meanwhile, BJP released the list of 19 candidates for Bengal. BJP has fielded Rekha Patra from Basirhat, who is a resident of Sandeshkhali. It was she who first raised the voice of the women of Sandeshkhali.
New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's arrest has Delhi has caught the attention of the United States. The U.S. State Department spokesperson, as cited by Reuters, expressed on Monday that they are 'closely following' the situation and encouraging for a 'fair, transparent and timely' legal process. This statement came in the wake of Indias protest against Germanys comments on the case. Kejriwal was taken into custody by Indias agency combating financial crimes last Thursday. The charges of corruption against him, which his political party dismisses, come just a month ahead of the national elections.

In response to Reuters email inquiry about the case, the U.S. spokesperson stated their support for a fair, transparent, and prompt legal process for Kejriwal. This was after India called in a German diplomat on Saturday to express their displeasure over his governments comments on the arrest.

Sebastian Fischer, the spokesperson for Germanys foreign office, during a government press conference on Friday, stated that Kejriwal, like any other accused, deserves a fair and unbiased trial. He added that they anticipate and hope that this case will also uphold the principles of judicial independence and basic democratic norms.

Indias foreign ministry summoned Georg Enzweiler, the deputy chief of mission at the German embassy, on Saturday to voice their strong protest against the remarks. They viewed these comments as an interference in their judicial process and an undermining of their judiciarys independence. They stated that any prejudiced assumptions on this matter are entirely unjustified.

When asked about Indias protest against Germany, the State Department spokesperson suggested referring to the German Foreign Ministry for their take on their discussions with the Indian government.

The U.S. increasingly views India as a significant strategic and economic ally in its efforts to counter Chinas expanding global influence. Critics have accused the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden of prioritizing strategic interests over human rights issues in its interactions with India.

India and Germany maintain a strong relationship, and they have been aligning more closely on strategic matters, including defense technology. The BJP has denied any political meddling in the case involving Kejriwal and other leaders of his Aam Aadmi Party.

The Indian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the State Departments stance, Reuters said.
BJP candidate from Pauri Garhwal Lok Sabha seat Anil Baluni today held a massive roadshow in the district before filing his nomination papers at Pauri district headquarters. Later, CM Pushkar Singh Dhami, Union Minister Smriti Irani along with Baluni also addressed a public meeting after filing the nomination. Parliamentary elections for all five Lok Sabha seats in Uttarakhand will be held in a single phase on April 19.

While addressing a public meeting organized in support of candidate Anil Baluni from Garhwal Lok Sabha seat at Ramlila Maidan, Dhami said that this time there is a discussion of crossing 400 in the whole country. The country has always given a huge majority in the Lok Sabha elections led by the Prime Minister.

Union Minister Smriti Irani asked people whether they would vote for a party (Congress) that rejected the invitation for the 'pran pratishtha' of the Ram temple. "Will any of you vote for the ideology of the Congress party that considers Hindus as terrorists?" asked Irani.

Addressing the people, BJP leader Anil Baluni said, "I want to assure you that I will not back down on my efforts for the people of the region. I will work with full dedication for the welfare of the society."

Earlier today, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami engaged in a road show preceding the nomination of Tehri Lok Sabha candidate Mala Rajyalakshmi Shah in Dehradun on Tuesday. A multitude of individuals congregated along the streets during the roadshow to extend their welcome to the Chief Minister. Footage depicted people showering flowers and chanting supportive slogans for Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami. In return, the Chief Minister reciprocated by showering flowers upon the crowd and waving in acknowledgement.

Congress candidate from Tehri Lok Sabha seat Jot Singh Gunsola filed his nomination papers on Tuesday. In the 2019 general elections, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had won five seats with a vote of 61.7 per cent. Congress party had registered a vote share of 31.7 per cent while the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) had received 4.5 per cent of the votes.
The allegations of phone tapping during the previous BRS government in Telangana on Tuesday ignited a fierce debate, prompting calls for a thorough investigation by the Congress government and assertions from the BJP regarding phone tapping during the 2019 LS elections. Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader and former minister E. Dayakar Rao on Tuesday denied allegations that he along with a police official involved in the case illegally detained a businessman and extorted Rs 50 lakh. He also denied any involvement in the phone tapping case, in which three police officials have been arrested.

What Is Phone Tapping Case?

The controversy centers around accusations of widespread phone tapping of political leaders, notably Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, during the tenure of the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) administration under K Chandrashekar Rao. The scandal surfaced following the arrest of the suspended DSP of Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) Praneeth Rao on March 13, allegedly for his involvement in unauthorized profiling of individuals, illegal phone tapping, and destruction of computer systems and official data. Subsequently, the Telangana government suspended him from duty.

Accusations Unveiled

Praneeth Rao's arrest ensued after a complaint filed by an additional superintendent of police of the SIB, resulting in a case registered against Rao and accomplices at Panjagutta police station. The charges encompass criminal breach of trust, destruction of evidence, and criminal conspiracy. Additionally, it is alleged that the intelligence team extorted money from businessmen and eradicated all traces of their illicit activities, including digital and physical evidence.

Targets of Surveillance

Reports indicate that over 1,00,000 phone calls were unlawfully intercepted. Beyond Chief Minister Reddy, investigators suspect that members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress, and even BRS leadership may have been under surveillance. The accused allegedly collected intelligence on political fundraising activities. Furthermore, individuals implicated in the scandal reportedly monitored various Telugu actors and businessmen, utilizing obtained information for purposes of blackmail.

Who Is Saran Chowdary?

Saran Chowdary is BJP State Executive Member who filed a complaint against Ex DCP Radhakrishna and TS Umamaheswara Rao. BRS leader Dayakar Rao also claimed that he does not know who Saran Chowdary is. He claimed that Saran Chowdary was suspended from BJP following allegations of land grabbing against him and allegedly cheated NRIs. The former BRS minister said Saran Chowdary has several cases against him as he was allegedly involved in encroachments by creating fake documents.

Dayakar Rao said that he was into politics for 40 years but never faced any allegation. He also denied any links with Praneeth Rao, the suspended DSP of Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) arrested in a phone tapping case.

Political Slugfest

Reacting to the row, Union Minister and BJP Telangana President G Kishan Reddy demanded a judicial inquiry into the allegations of phone tapping. Alleging that phones of not only politicians but also officials and businessmen were tapped by some police officers who acted "like a mafia", he urged police officials to act comprehensively in the matter. KT Rama Rao, working president of the BRS party, accused Chief Minister Revanth Reddy of distracting the public from issues by selectively leaking information that phone tapping was done during the previous BRS government to certain media channels. The Telangana Congress cited some news reports asked them to see that the entire administration is clean and a strict warning be given to officers of all the departments to restrain themselves from malpractices and corruption.
As cities worldwide tighten their grip on short-term rentals, they are losing billions in taxpayer dollars. Recent data shows that in 2023, hosts in these countries contributed approximately $2.4 billion in tourism taxes, with the U.S. generating $2.2 billion and Canada contributing $319 million respectively.

Among the top states in the U.S., Florida, California and Tennessee led the pack, with tax revenue amounting to $387 million, $212 million and $135 million respectively.

Globally, Airbnb Inc. has facilitated the remittance of over $10 billion in tourism-related taxes to governments since 2014.

Don't Miss:

However, the imposition of stringent regulations on short-term rentals in numerous cities and states is hindering property owners from renting their spaces and is impacting tourism tax revenue.

New York City, for instance, implemented Local Law 18, which took effect on Sept. 5, 2023. The law mandates short-term rental hosts to register with the Mayors Office of Special Enforcement (OSE) and prohibits booking service platforms from processing transactions for unregistered short-term rentals.

Before the implementation of these regulations, New York City boasted 56.7 million visitors in 2022, generating $6.2 billion in tax revenue and supporting 344,000 jobs.

Trending: Fortnites creator company greenlights partial ownership for investors in the upcoming series.

The city now faces the potential loss of an estimated $1.1 billion in tax revenue, as indicated by survey results reflecting hesitance among potential visitors because of the tightened regulations.

Story continues

"We're seeing the predictable consequences of these regulations  short-term rental activity is moving underground, forcing visitors to either pay exorbitant hotel prices or turn to unregulated black market accommodations, and travelers have fewer accommodation options in outer boroughs, which means small businesses outside of Manhattan are cut off from the economic benefits of tourism," Airbnb Global Director of Policy Theo Yedinsk said.

Simultaneously, New York City has been grappling with substantial expenditures to support migrants. According to NYC.gov, the city spent $1.45 billion in fiscal 2023 to provide essential services, including shelter and food, for migrants.

The juxtaposition of these figures highlights a critical tension between municipal policies aimed at regulating short-term rentals and the economic consequences thereof.

While regulations may be intended to address housing concerns or maintain community character, they also risk undermining tourism revenues, which are vital for local economies.

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This article Cities Restricting Short-Term Rentals Set To Lose $2.4 Billion In Tourism Taxes While They Spend Billions To Host Migrants On Taxpayer Dollars originally appeared on Benzinga.com

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NEW DELHI: In the political landscape of West Bengal, where every move is scrutinized and every candidate is being chosen strategically, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has recently made headlines with its nomination of 'Raj Mata' (Queen Mother) Amrita Roy for the Krishnanagar Lok Sabha seat. The announcement has raised eyebrows, not only due to the significance of the seat but also because of Roy's royal background and historical lineage. Amrita Roy will take on Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, who despite her involvement in the Cash-for-Query scandal, has been re-nominated by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's party from the Krishnanagar seat.

Bengal Fight Reaches Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah

Trinamool Congress leader Kunal Ghosh alleged that Amrita Roy's family had collaborated with the British during colonial times. He claimed that Raja Krishnachandra Roy, the king of Krishnanagar, supported the British forces during the conflict with Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah. Ghosh's remarks aimed to undermine Roy's credibility, insinuating that her nomination by the BJP, a party linked to Veer Savarkar, raises questions about her family's allegiance. In response, Roy vehemently denied these allegations, asserting that her family's history was being misrepresented. She clarified that historical circumstances had compelled her ancestors to take certain actions, which were distorted by political opponents for their agenda.

Family Background & Legacy

Amrita Roy, a descendant of the esteemed Nadia Royal family, has deep roots in the cultural and historical fabric of Bengal. Her ancestry traces back to Raja Krishnachandra Roy, a legendary figure known for his defiance against Mughal rule and his contributions to the socio-cultural advancement of the region during the 18th century. Roy's family legacy is intertwined with the history of Krishnanagar, where her ancestors played pivotal roles in shaping the destiny of the kingdom.

Educational Journey

Born and brought up amidst the rich heritage of Bengal, Amrita Roy received her primary education at La Martiniere School, where she imbibed not only academic knowledge but also a sense of pride in her lineage. She later pursued higher education at Loreto College, honing her intellectual faculties while being exposed to diverse perspectives and ideas.

Professionally, Roy carved her niche as a fashion consultant, leveraging her creativity and flair for aesthetics to make a mark in the industry. Despite her illustrious career, she remained grounded in her roots, cherishing her family's heritage and actively contributing to its preservation and promotion.

Entry Into Politics

While Roy's familial lineage had always been a source of pride and inspiration, her foray into the realm of politics came as a surprise to many. Stepping away from the confines of her professional domain, she embraced the call of public service, driven by a deep-seated desire to contribute meaningfully to the welfare of her community and the state at large. Her decision to join the BJP earlier this year marked a significant turning point in her life, reflecting her commitment to upholding values of nationalism, integrity, and development. Embracing the party's ideology with conviction, she emerged as a beacon of hope for those seeking positive change and progressive leadership in Bengal.

Political Vision And Mission

As she embarks on her political journey, Amrita Roy's vision is clear and resolute. She aims to be the voice of the people, advocating for their rights, aspirations, and concerns with unwavering determination. Her agenda encompasses a wide range of issues, from economic development and infrastructure to social justice and cultural preservation.

Roy's mission transcends mere electoral politics; it is driven by a genuine desire to serve her constituents and contribute to the greater good of society. She understands the challenges that lie ahead but remains undeterred in her resolve to make a difference and leave a lasting legacy of progress and prosperity.

Despite Mahua Moitra's previous victory in Krishnanagar, the BJP aims to capitalize on allegations of corruption and misgovernance against the incumbent government. With Amrita Roy's nomination, the BJP hopes to consolidate its support base and narrow the gap in voting margins, signalling a fiercely contested battle for the Krishnanagar seat in the upcoming elections.
Mumbai: Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty declined on Tuesday due to losses in index major Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank amid sustained foreign fund outflows and mixed global trends.

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined by 361.64 points or 0.50 per cent to settle at 72,470.30. During the day, it fell by 468.91 points or 0.64 per cent to 72,363.03.

The NSE Nifty declined 92.05 points or 0.42 per cent to 22,004.70.

From the Sensex basket, PowerGrid, Bharti Airtel, Wipro, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, UltraTech Cement, Asian Paints, Infosys and Reliance Industries were the major laggards.

Bajaj Finance, NTPC, Larsen & Toubro, Axis Bank, Tata Motors, IndusInd Bank and Bajaj Finserv were among the gainers.

In Asian markets, Tokyo settled lower, while Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended in the positive territory.

European markets were trading mostly in the green. Wall Street ended lower on Monday.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,309.76 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

Equity markets were closed on Monday for Holi.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.17 per cent to USD 86.60 a barrel.

On Friday, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 190.75 points or 0.26 per cent to settle at 72,831.94. The NSE Nifty had advanced 84.80 points or 0.39 per cent to 22,096.75.
A significant incident shook the city of Baltimore on Tuesday as a Five decades old bridge collapsed after a container ship hit it. The collision occurred when a Singapore-flagged container ship named the Dali struck the Francis Scott Key bridge, causing a catastrophic collapse. CCTV footage captured the moment as the massive structure plunged into the Patapsco River, bringing vehicles and sections of the bridge down with it.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland which crosses the Patapsco River has reportedly Collapsed within the last few minutes after being Struck by a Large Container Ship; a Mass Casualty Incident has been Declared with over a Dozen Cars and many Individuals said to pic.twitter.com/SsPMU8Mjph  OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 26, 2024

Possible Casualties and Rescue Efforts

Kevin Cartwright of the Baltimore Fire Department told the Baltimore Sun that "the entire bridge" had collapsed. He said, "We have reason to believe that there were vehicles and possibly a tractor-trailer that went into the water,"

Authorities have expressed concerns about potential casualties, estimating that up to 20 individuals and multiple vehicles may be in the water. The Baltimore Fire Department and other agencies are actively engaged in a mass casualty incident, coordinating efforts to rescue those affected by the collapse.

Francis Scott Key bridge

The Francis Scott Key bridge, spanning 1.6 miles and carrying over 11 million vehicles annually, is a critical part of Baltimore's road network. Its construction started in 1972 and it was opened in 1977

Its collapse has disrupted traffic and raised safety concerns, leading the Maryland Transportation Authority to advise drivers to avoid the area.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr have acknowledged the incident and confirmed ongoing rescue operations. Olszewski urged the public to keep those impacted in their thoughts and prayers as emergency teams work tirelessly to manage the situation.
Television and Bollywood Actor Shehnaaz Gill celebrated Holi with her mother, sharing joyous moments.

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.

She 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."



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.

She 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. ( Inputs : ANI)
New Delhi: Mumbai has surpassed Beijing to claim the title of Asia's billionaire hub for the first time. The combined wealth of Indian billionaires has soared to $1 trillion, outstripping China's average billionaire wealth per person ($3.2 billion compared to China's $3.8 billion), as per the 2024 Hurun Global Rich List.

The 2024 Hurun Global Rich List which has been released on Tuesday brought attention to notable changes in the wealth landscape with Indian tycoon Gautam Adani making headlines for his remarkable gain. Gautam Adani, the creator of the Adani Group experienced an astonishing increase in his wealth, elevating him to the 15th position in the global rankings.

Gautam Adani, aged 61 and at the helm of the Adani Group energy conglomerate, experienced a significant wealth increase of USD 33 billion this year. (Also Read: Rupee Recovers From All-Time Low Level; Rises 29 Paise To 83.32 Against US Dollar)

Adani has climbed the global rankings to the 15 position with a net worth of USD 86 billion. His wealth surge is credited to a rise in his companies' stock prices after a Supreme Court ruling regarding concerns raised in the Hindenburg report. The Hurun Global Rich List for 2024 demonstrates a substantial increase in the number of billionaires worldwide, with 167 new individuals joining the ranks, totaling 3,279 billionaires globally.(Also Read: Bharti Hexacom IPO: Here Are 10 Key Points You Want To Know)

Notably, over half of all new wealth generated is attributed to advancements in artificial intelligence (AI). The United States added 109 billionaires, maintaining its lead with a total of 800 billionaires, while China, despite a decline of 155 billionaires, retained its position as the world's leader with 814 billionaires.

Elon Musk, the visionary behind Tesla, reclaimed his title as the world's richest person for the third time in four years, with a staggering net worth of USD 231 billion, driven by a surge in Tesla shares. Jeff Bezos of Amazon rose two places to second place, amassing a wealth increase of 57 percent to reach USD 185 billion.

Bernard Arnault, last year's number one, slipped to third place, with a decrease in wealth to USD 175 billion.India witnessed a significant rise in its billionaire population, ranking third globally with 271 billionaires, marking an addition of 84 individuals, the second-highest rise after the United States. (With ANI Inputs)
New Delhi: The European Union (EU) has started an investigation into big tech giants Apple, Google parent Alphabet and Meta, in its first probe under the sweeping new Digital Markets Act (DMA) tech legislation. The EU has started the investigation after the potential breaches of the newly enacted anti-trust law.

The suite of probes announced are the first under the EUs Digital Markets Act law, which took effect earlier this month.

The DMA has categorized six major tech firms  Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, and Microsoft  as gatekeepers, mandating their adherence to specific provisions to boost more competition in digital markets, including allowing third-party app stores.

The European Commission announced five investigations into Apple, Google, and Meta's compliance with the DMA, with completion expected within 12 months. (Also Read: iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus Get Price Cuts In India On Flipkart, Starting At Rs 56,999)

Apple and Alphabet (Google's parent company) will undergo EU scrutiny regarding how they enable app developers to shift consumers to third-party app stores without charges. Adding further, the European Union will also examine changes that Google made to how its search results appear in Europe.

Another investigation will focus on Apple's adherence to rules facilitating the easy removal of apps and changes to default settings on iPhones, along with how the company presents choice screens for alternative search engines and browsers.

Meta's 'pay or consent' model, requiring users to pay for data protection and ad-free experiences on Facebook and Instagram, will also be examined.

The EU's recent law, effective this month, mandates major tech companies to follow numerous new rules, aiming to enhance competition from smaller entities in digital advertising, online search, and app ecosystems.

Earlier, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that Apple, the tech giant, plans to add new fees and restrictions for third-party software downloads outside its App Store. (Also Read: Tesla CEO Elon Musk Thought That OpenAI Would Fail: OpenAI CE0 Sam Altman)

This development follows the enforcement of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) by the European Union, aimed at targeting the market clout of big technology companies and making it easier for people to move between competing services.
New Delhi: Chinese smartphone brand Poco has launched a budget smartphone, the POCO C61, in India. The newly launched smartphone has three colour options: Mystical Green, Ethereal Blue, and Diamond Dust Black. The smartphone will be available via Flipkart starting March 28th at 12 noon.

POCO C61 Price:

For the 4GB+64GB variant, the POCO C61 smartphone is priced at Rs 6,999. The 6GB+128GB variant carries a price tag of Rs 7,999. These smartphone prices include a Rs 500 coupon offer for the first day of the sale only.

POCO C61 Specifications:

The smartphone features a large 6.71-inch HD+ LCD screen with a 90Hz refresh rate and Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. The smartphone is powered by the MediaTek Helio G36 SoC, ensuring efficient performance for everyday tasks and gaming. (Also Read: iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus Get Price Cuts In India On Flipkart, Starting At Rs 56,999)

It is loaded with a robust 5,000mAh battery with 10W wired charging support. The phone runs on Android 14-based UI.

In the camera department, the smartphone includes an 8MP AI dual rear camera system and a 5MP front shooter for high-quality selfies. Meanwhile, photography enthusiasts can explore various modes like AI portrait mode, Photo mode, Timed burst, and HDR, enhancing their creative capabilities. (Also Read: Lava O2 Smartphone With 50MP Dual AI Camera Launched In India At Rs 7,999; Check Specs, Availability)

For connectivity, the phone supports dual SIM cards, 4G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.4, GPS, and USB Type-C, ensuring seamless communication and data transfer. For enhanced security, it integrates a fast side-mounted fingerprint sensor for convenient unlocking.
WASHINGTON: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called off a crucial delegation trip to Washington in response to the United States' decision not to veto a United Nations Security Council resolution urging an immediate ceasefire in Gaza during the holy month of Ramzan. White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby expressed bewilderment at Netanyahu's move, stating, "We're somewhat perplexed by this decision." Kirby, speaking at a press briefing on Monday, noted that while the Israeli Prime Minister's Office suggests a change in U.S. stance, the Biden administration's approach remains unchanged.

Kirby highlighted key points regarding the resolution: "Firstly, it's nonbinding, thus posing no direct impact on Israel's ongoing efforts against Hamas. Secondly, it does not signify a shift in our policy." He emphasized consistency in the U.S. position and the prerogative to determine policy direction.

Netanyahu's decision to scrap the delegation's visit followed the US refusal to veto the UNSC resolution, prompting his office to criticize the abstention as a departure from prior U.S. stances at the Security Council. The Israeli delegation, slated for discussions on the Gaza conflict, was scheduled to convene in the U.S. this week. Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is currently in Washington, expected to meet his U.S. counterpart Lloyd Austin.

UN Resolution On Gaza Ceasefire

Tensions between the US and Israel have escalated amid the conflict, exacerbated by disagreements over strategies concerning the Gaza Strip. The resolution, passed on Monday, calls for an immediate ceasefire during Ramzan and the release of hostages, though without linking the ceasefire to their release, unlike a prior U.S.-sponsored resolution.

Netanyahu's office expressed concern that the resolution may embolden Hamas, stating, "The U.S. departure from its principled policy at the UN signals a shift." The Prime Minister affirmed that failure to veto the resolution would prompt the cancellation of the Israeli delegation's U.S. visit.

While the U.S. abstained from voting due to the resolution's failure to condemn Hamas, it did not vote against it, citing support for hostage release and a humanitarian ceasefire.
New York: A New York judge has announced that the trial of former US President Donald Trump's hush money case will commence on April 15, marking the initiation of his first criminal trial this spring. Despite Trump's attempts to delay all four of his criminal cases beyond the election, Judge Juan Merchan rejected his requests during a recent hearing, ruling in favour of proceeding with the trial as planned.

Trump sought to have his case dismissed or delayed further, citing newly turned-over documents and accusing Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg of misconduct. However, Merchan dismissed these requests, emphasizing the prosecution's compliance with discovery obligations. The trial's jury selection is set to begin on April 15, as per the judge's ruling.

The trial was originally slated to commence on Monday but faced a last-minute delay due to a disagreement over newly disclosed documents. The US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York provided over 100,000 pages of records in recent weeks, leading to disputes between the involved parties regarding the timing of their disclosure.

During the hearing, Trump was accompanied by several lawyers, maintaining a composed demeanor while occasionally engaging in whispered discussions. Despite the delay, Trump reiterated his belief that the case was politically motivated, suggesting it was an attempt to hinder his involvement in the upcoming elections.

Charges Against Trump

Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records related to reimbursements to his former attorney, Michael Cohen, who paid adult film star Stormy Daniels $130,000 before the 2016 election to keep silent about an alleged affair with Trump. While Trump has admitted to the reimbursements, he denies the affair and has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

In court, Trump's defence team and prosecutors clashed over the significance of the newly disclosed documents. Trump's attorney claimed there were "thousands and thousands" of relevant records, while prosecutors estimated around 300. The defence argued that the prosecution should have provided these documents earlier to allow for adequate preparation, a point contested by the judge.

Judge Merchan expressed frustration with the defence's accusations of prosecutorial misconduct, demanding evidence to support their claims. He emphasized the seriousness of such allegations and criticized the defence for lacking precedent to substantiate their position, highlighting the gravity of the accusations against the Manhattan DA's office.
New Delhi: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday held radical islamists responsible for deadly terrorist attack in the Crocus City Hall in Moscows outskirts, leaving several unresolved issues. "We know that the crime was committed by the hands of radical Islamists, whose ideology the Islamic world itself has been fighting for centuries," Putin said during a Monday briefing on the post-attack measures.

Putin said it is already known who carried out the terrorist attack, but now "we are interested in who ordered the crime", as reported by Xinhua news agency. Putin criticized the U.S. for its attempts to persuade the global community of the absence of any connection to Kiev in the tragic event.

Putin pointed out that there are still unanswered questions. He emphasized the need to determine whether radical Islamic groups, including those with terrorist links, have a vested interest in targeting Russia, a nation advocating for equitable resolutions to the intensifying Middle East crisis.

He also highlighted the necessity to understand the rationale behind the terrorists attempt to flee to Ukraine post-attack in Crocus, and who might have been expecting them there. Putin described the incident as a scare tactic and posed the question of who stands to gain from such acts.

Putin insisted that the probe into the attack must be conducted with utmost professionalism, impartiality, and devoid of political slant, despite the widespread clamor for retribution against the culprits.

In a sharp retort, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy mocked Putins assertions in his evening address, labeling the Russian president as the sole non-terrorist in his view, despite Putins long history of fostering terror over the past two decades.

Zelenskiys remarks alluded to claims that Putin has orchestrated numerous violent incidents within Russia since his rise to power in 2000.

Zelenskiy predicted that the end of Putins reign would also mark the cessation of the need for terror and violence. Ukraine has refuted any involvement in the recent shooting, with Zelenskiy accusing Putin of deflecting culpability.

The U.S. has expressed its belief in the Islamic States involvement. American authorities have disclosed that they had forewarned Russia of potential imminent threats earlier this month, with intelligence suggesting that the Afghan-based Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K) was the likely perpetrator.
(Bloomberg) -- Cocoa futures surged above an unprecedented $10,000 a metric ton on Tuesday before erasing gains and taking a breather from a historic rally that has seen prices of the key chocolate ingredient double this year.

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The market is being rattled by poor crops in key West African growers that has put the world on course for a third straight annual supply deficit. The industry is grappling with the legacy of poor returns paid to cocoa farmers and fears are mounting about being able to source enough beans.

As well as concerns about scarce physical supplies, pressures are also building in the financial market, where some traders have sold futures to hedge against physical holdings. But as they wait for the contracts to mature they need cash to meet margin calls on losses on derivatives, and in a rising market can be forced to close out short positions, helping to fuel the rally.

The most-active cocoa futures jumped as much as 4.5% to $10,080 a ton in New York before settling 0.3% lower at $9,622. Cocoa futures in London and New York have more than doubled this year.

The rally has pushed a technical gauge of prices into overbought territory for much of the last couple of months, though cocoa has continued to soar.

When were at this price, its hard to tell whether these prices are justified, said Paul Joules, an analyst at Rabobank in London. Whenever we have a dip in the market, it seems to shoot straight back up, which is more to do with the commercials, theyve been net buyers.

Read More: Chocoholics Arent the Only Victims of Cocoa Surge: Javier Blas

Reaching the $10,000 level could spur some profit taking, as price action has gotten very steep, and traders could be concerned that the rally has reached exhaustion, analysts at the Hightower Report said in a Tuesday note.

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Theres a risk the supply situation may worsen. Incoming European Union rules  aimed at stopping products that destroy forests from being sold in shops  may make it even harder for the blocs chocolate makers to secure supplies.

New Harvest

Focus is now turning to West Africas upcoming mid-crop, the smaller of two annual harvests. Top grower Ivory Coasts regulator expects that to shrink this season, Bloomberg has reported.

The West African supply situation remains extremely tight going into the start of the mid-crop harvest next week, the Hightower Report said in a note.

Other growers, like Brazil and Ecuador, are seeking to ramp up production, but it takes a few years before newly-planted cocoa trees bear beans  delaying the relief to strained global supplies. A ratio of stockpiles-to-grindings will fall to the lowest in more than four decades this season, the International Cocoa Organization has forecast, reflecting the markets precarious position.

Higher cocoa costs are pressuring profits of chocolate manufacturers, and cocoas advance is also bad news for consumers if companies keep passing on costs or sell products that are smaller or have less chocolate in them. The looming Easter holiday is a peak period for candy consumption, and the lag between commodity and retail markets mean the brunt of the impact for shoppers still lies ahead.

--With assistance from Ilena Peng and Dayanne Sousa.

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Pakistan today witnessed a series of terrorist attacks and anti-terrorist operations in many parts of the country. Several terrorists attacked the Turbat naval air base in Balochistan while in another suicide bombing attack, five Chinese nationals were killed at Besham city of Shangla district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. In another anti-terror operations details of which was released earlier today, Pakistani security forces killed at least four terrorists during an intelligence-based operation in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province yesterday. The operation took place on Monday in the Dera Ismail Khan district. Following the attack, PM Shehbaz Sharif paid a visit to the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad.

Suicide Bombing

As per reports, five Chinese nationals were killed in Besham city. The Chinese nationals were travelling in a vehicle when another explosive-laden vehicle rammed into it killing all the occupants. Both the vehicles fell into the gorge. The videos that have gone viral on social media show plumes of smoke and fire rising from the valley. The Chinese engineers were on their way from Islamabad to their camp in Dasu.

Visuals by Pakistan media:pic.twitter.com/sFZ2aMA7k6  Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) March 26, 2024

Pakistan's privatisation Minister Abdul Aleem Khan termed the attack 'incredibly upsetting'. The enemy is targeting Pak-China friendship and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) under a well-thought conspiracy but the nation, along with the Pakistan Army, will thwart all evil plots, he said on X.

                                                    March 26, 2024

Attack On Turbat Naval Air Base

Baloch militants armed with weapons attempted to breach a key naval air base in Pakistan's volatile Balochistan province on the intervening night of March 25-26. However, security forces successfully thwarted the assault, resulting in the elimination of all four terrorists. The incident occurred on Monday night in Turbat, a district known for its unrest within the scarcely inhabited province. Makran Commissioner Saeed Ahmed Umrani informed the media that security forces effectively prevented an armed terrorist incursion at the PNS Siddique Naval Air Base, one of the largest naval air stations in the nation.

The banned Balochistan Liberation Army claimed that its Majeed Brigade was behind the attack. This is the third major attack on security forces and installations this year in Balochistan claimed by the BLA with the first two attacks being also being repulsed by security forces.
(Bloomberg) -- Colombia and Brazil took the unusual step of criticizing Venezuela after the countrys opposition said it was blocked from registering its candidate for the July 28 election.

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Preventing opposition candidates from taking part in the vote could undermine the international communitys trust, Colombias foreign affairs ministry warned President Nicolas Maduros government in a statement Tuesday.

Colombia expresses its concern about the recent events that occurred on the occasion of the registration of some presidential candidates, the foreign ministry said.

Brazils foreign affairs ministry also said that it is following the process with concern, especially as Venezuela has yet to provide any explanation for the obstruction. Both nations said problems facing the opposition raised concerns about free and fair elections.

The comments align Colombian President Gustavo Petro and Brazils Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva  leftists who have kept close ties with Venezuelas socialist government  with Argentina and six other Latin American nations that raised similar concerns Monday, after the opposition said it had been unable to register its candidate Corina Yoris ahead of the midnight deadline.

In separate statements, Venezuelas foreign affairs minister Yvan Gil accused Colombia and Brazil of interfering in his nations internal affairs.

A Divided Opposition

Amid the criticism, the head of the opposition announced Tuesday afternoon that the countrys electoral council had granted a 12-hour extension to allow for the registration of a candidate. Omar Barboza, the president of the 10-party opposition coalition known as the Unitary Platform, said it had chosen to enter former ambassador Edmundo Gonzalez into the presidential race.

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But that decision is unlikely to win the support of at least some key coalition members, including Maria Corina Machado, who overwhelmingly won an opposition primary last year but is banned from seeking office.

Earlier Tuesday, Machado said she would continue backing Yoris, who was chosen to replace her last week. The reaction followed a surprise move by opposition party A New Era to register Manuel Rosales, the governor of Zulia state, in the race just before the original deadline passed.

The struggle has threatened to divide the opposition, a result that would put Maduro on track for an all-but-certain reelection victory.

The entry of each candidate still needs approval from the electoral authority. Maduros government, which in late January ratified Machados ban and has cracked down on her allies in recent weeks, has invited international organizations to monitor the election, but none has confirmed attendance.

--With assistance from Nicolle Yapur.

(Updates with Venezuela Foreign Affairs Ministry statements in sixth paragraph.)

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In 2023, Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) was one of the top-performing cryptocurrencies, surging by more than 900%, easily outpacing the 150% rise of Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC). There were even suggestions that Solana was on a path to overtake Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) as the world's second-most valuable cryptocurrency.

But the narrative has shifted this year. Yes, Solana is still up 80% year to date, but there are serious questions being asked about its current valuation. With that in mind, here's a closer look at two key factors that could determine Solana's price trajectory during the next nine months.

Meme coin mania

The primary factor pushing Solana higher right now is meme coin mania. The poster dog for this craze is Bonk (CRYPTO: BONK), which soared more than 1,000% in the span of less than 30 days last year. But there are plenty of other cryptos that have had similarly impressive returns, including another meme token with the logo of a dog wearing a hat that is up 1,300% this year.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Solana has emerged as the blockchain of choice for new meme coins. As a result, new get-rich-quick meme coins seem to launch on a daily basis.

On the one hand, meme token mania has led to a surge of activity and development on the Solana blockchain, and that has pumped up all of Solana's core metrics. For example, the number of wallets holding Solana tokens has surged, daily transaction volume is off the charts, and the amount of daily trading activity on Solana's decentralized exchanges has now surpassed the amount on Ethereum's decentralized exchanges.

On the other hand, meme coin mania has led to a wave of speculative activity that may or may not be sustainable. Things have gotten so out of control that Anatoly Yakovenko, the co-founder of Solana, felt the need to get involved and tell people to "stop doing this." He was particularly concerned about people sending Solana coins to anonymous digital wallet addresses, all in the hopes of getting new meme coins at their pre-sale prices (i.e., before they started trading on exchanges). For stock investors, this would be like wiring money to an anonymous trader in New York City who claimed to be able to get you access to a hot new company before it went public.

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Solana can't entirely put an end to meme coin mania, because it has arguably been one of the key factors behind its popularity during the past 12 months. But it does need to do something about some of the more common scams in the crypto market, including the dreaded "rug pull" (in which the creators of a new meme coin suddenly disappear with investors' money).

Solana's mobile strategy

The second key factor to consider is Solana's mobile strategy. This is one area where Solana has a competitive advantage over every other major blockchain, including Ethereum. Last April, Solana formally unveiled the $1,000 Saga, a "crypto phone" optimized for the Solana blockchain. Out of the gate, sales of the device were slower than expected, and Solana eventually slashed its price by 40% just to attract buyers. It turns out that most people -- surprise, surprise -- were not willing to pay the same price for an untested crypto phone as they were for a traditional smartphone.

Image source: Getty Images.

But sales of the Saga suddenly picked up at the end of last year (thanks in part to meme coin mania), and Solana started off 2024 by announcing a second-generation Saga with a more reasonable price. Pre-sale orders for this new phone recently hit 100,000, and some analysts now think Solana can break even on its mobile strategy at an annual sales volume of 250,000. It's a huge bet, to be sure, but if it pays off, it could be crucial for sustaining Solana's price trajectory.

The next step, of course, will be to find a "killer app" for that crypto phone. This would need to be a completely new app for blockchain and crypto users, and one that isn't available on traditional smartphones. According to investment firm VanEck, such a killer app for crypto could unlock tremendous value for Solana, sending its price soaring to over $3,200 -- nearly 17 times recent prices.

What's next for Solana?

How and whether Solana resolves those two key issues will be critical for its growth and sustainability. If it finds a winning strategy, its price could skyrocket. If it doesn't, crypto investors may find out that Solana's price can crater just as easily as the price of the most speculative meme coin.

I'm still bullish on Solana's prospects. Its all-time high of $260 seems to be within striking distance, and some are even predicting that Solana could soar as high as $1,000 during this crypto rally. As long as you are aware of the risks and volatility involved, Solana could be worth a closer look for your crypto portfolio.

Should you invest $1,000 in Solana right now?

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This Crypto Soared in 2023. Will It Continue to Shine in 2024? was originally published by The Motley Fool
(Bloomberg) -- Judging by a record Bitcoin rally that fueled a $1 trillion jump in the digital-asset market this year, crypto fever is back. But look beneath the surface to trends in venture capital and a far more sober picture emerges.

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While venture funds are rushing to try and raise cash, the limited partners they tap for money are wary of hype and mindful of the lessons of 2022. Back then, valuations collapsed alongside the implosion of crypto outfits such as hedge fund Three Arrows Capital and Sam Bankman-Frieds fraudulent FTX exchange.

The shake out destroyed a big chunk of capital, and limited partners indicated in interviews that a slew of surviving venture investments have yet to pay out any gains even if valuations are improving on paper. Such a backdrop puts the onus on funds seeking fresh money to show why this time will be different.

The toilet isnt quite done flushing here in the crypto industry, said Adam Jackson, co-founder of decentralized talent network Braintrust and an investor in over a dozen crypto funds. Its a bit of a struggle still for digital-asset venture capital funds to raise money.

Funding Challenge

The challenging conditions for crypto venture capital are evident in data tracked by digital-asset financial services firm Galaxy Digital. Fundraising slid to $5.8 billion last year from $38 billion in 2022 and over $20 billion the year before.

The figures also show the significance of startup funding. Crypto venture capital firms had about $72 billion in assets under management at the end of 2023  or over half of the money in all digital-asset portfolios. The percentage may have eased this year due to the assets amassed by US Bitcoin exchange-traded funds.

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The successful debut of the ETFs and Bitcoins recent all-time high are only a sample of the developments the crypto industry is currently celebrating. The Berachain blockchain platform  whose pseudonymous founders have cartoon-bear avatars  just achieved a $69 million funding round that valued it at $1.5 billion. New York-based Hack VC is raising at least $100 million for a startup fund, having already brought in $150 million in February.

For all these isolated signs of success, the wider mood music among limited partners suggests crypto venture capital funds face a tough sell. Tim Grant, chief executive officer at Deus X Capital, a limited partner in four crypto funds, said the market appears crowded and that differentiation is harder.

High Competition

Ray Hindi, managing partner at crypto venture capital company L1 Digital AG in Zurich, echoed the sentiment. L1 Digital manages $600 million across direct venture investments, a fund-of-funds and an open-ended fund-of-funds.

Too many venture capital firms in the space are raising at the moment and the competition is really high, but the demand isnt as strong as it once was, so they are struggling, Hindi said.

Since venture funds often invest in both the equity and digital coins issued by startups, paper returns are looking much rosier courtesy of the latest digital-asset rally. Yet few have produced much in the way of actual payouts, which is increasingly a sticking point for limited partners.

A key metric for tracking payouts is distributed to paid-in capital or DPI, which tracks how much money limited partners get back from managers. This ratio for most of the funds set up in 2021 is sitting at zero, according to Saison Capitals Chief of Staff Sharvin Baindur. The venture arm of Japans Credit Saison recently benchmarked the performance of such funds. Saison Capital has backed more than 20 funds, though not all are crypto-focused.

Fallout From 2021

Your entry point here matters quite a lot, said Braintrusts Jackson, citing an investment in Polychain Capital from 2017 thats now way up. But if you allocated in 2021 and did your capital calls then, youre not way up  youre way down, he said, referring to the peak of the pandemic-era crypto bull run.

Hindis L1 Digital has invested in 11 crypto funds, of which two have distributed capital. The first was set up in 2019 and has a DPI of 2.5, while the other from 2021 is at about 1.5. Hindi also stressed the vintage of a fund is a key factor, and that portfolios overweight in equity tend to take longer to return capital.

These days the pressure to produce tangible returns is mounting, according to Nicole Zhang, a partner at Lingfeng Innovation Fund, which set up a crypto fund in October 2022. Our LPs expect us to deliver DPI by year-end, Zhang said.

The focus on payouts has put greater attention on liquid token funds, which also tap into crypto projects but via digital coins already trading on exchanges. Liquid funds are easier for investors to buy and sell, whereas venture funds have more illiquid holdings and are subject to lock-ups and vesting periods.

Galaxy Digital categorizes liquid token funds under a category called HF Fundamental, which accounted for $11.5 billion or about 8% of all the assets under management in digital-asset funds. Liquid funds overlap somewhat with crypto hedge funds, whose 76% gain over the past 12 months leads all hedge fund investment styles, based on the Bloomberg Hedge Fund Indices.

Hindi from L1 Digital is convinced that institutional investors are increasingly alive to the benefits of liquid  or open-ended  funds. While the demand for open-ended structure is still somewhat timid, it will accelerate as investors start embracing the benefits of liquidity, said Hindi. He also expects distributions by crypto venture funds to pick up to satisfy the demands of limited partners.

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2024 Bloomberg L.P.
NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / In 1997, Cuba Gooding Jr. won the Oscar in Jerry Maguire'. Flash forward 27 years later and Cuba is now starring in the faith-based movie The Firing Squad'. He plays an ex-drug dealer facing execution in a third world jail.

The movie is based on the true story of three Christian prisoners who face execution in Indonesia and win the the entire prison camp to Christ.

"Many people in early preview screenings have said Cuba's performance should win him an Oscar in a fair world," says a spokesperson for Rock Studios.

"So happy that Cuba has recommitted his life to the Lord," says Susan Chey, one of the producers of The Firing Squad'. "We've all gone through dark valleys in life and we're glad to see no one is beyond redemption."

In the film, Cuba's character plans to escape with the other two prisoners, but is caught in Thailand. After his capture, Cuba's character finds Christ and does a 180 degree turnaround.

He marches to his execution singing "Amazing Grace".

"I've had people tell me Cuba's finale is one of the greatest in American cinema," says Tim Chey, the director. "John Newton wrote that song after being a slave-trader and finding Christ in a storm. This is how many come to Christ - in a storm."

Chey is a former atheist who hated Christianity while he was at Harvard and later when he practiced law. "I found Christ through a Gideon's Bible in a hotel in Manila after partying and drinking. That was 22 years ago. No one is beyond redemption through the Cross. Praise God."

The latest screening in Greenville, North Carolina on March 24, 2024 had such a tremendous overflow that people were sitting on stairs and on the railings.

"It was historic," says a spokesperson for RiverRain. "We think Tim said it best that it was similar to Asbury College's jaw-dropping nights filled with people worshiping Jesus."

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The Firing Squad' hits theaters nationwide on August 9, 2024

For more information go to: http://FiringSquadFilm.com.

About Epoch Studios

Epoch Studios is a division of Epoch Times and is one of the largest news media organizations in the world. Epoch Studios is the co-producer of The Firing Squad' movie.

About VGC Productions, RiverRain Productions, and Rock Studios

RiverRain Productions, VGC Studios, and Rock Studios are one of the top faith-based film studios in the U.S. of over 16 feature films. "THE FIRING SQUAD opens nationwide in theaters in August 2024.

CONTACT:

Julie Stalberg

Ripple Effect

contact@rippleeffectmanagement.com

424 360 9306

SOURCE: RiverRain Productions





View the original press release on accesswire.com




Davie Shipbuilding

LEVIS, Quebec, March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Chantier Davie Canada Inc. (Davie) today announced it has been awarded its first National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS) contract by the Government of Canada for the design of the six-ship fleet of Canadas future Program Icebreakers. This major milestone marks the beginning of Davies NSS work package to replenish Canadas Arctic fleet and each initiative under the contract will help advance upcoming design, construction, delivery and support phases for these strategic ships.



The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Canadas Minister of Public Services and Procurement (PSPC) said: This first contract awarded to Chantier Davie under the National Shipbuilding Strategy brings us a step closer to providing the Canadian Coast Guard with the next generation Arctic ships. They will be among the most advanced, sustainable and durable vessels tailored to the worlds harshest environments. The new fleet will be symbolic of Canadas Arctic presence and crucial to keeping our country open for business year-round.

Davie President and CEO, James Davies, said: This is a momentous first step in our journey to deliver a fleet of the largest and most advanced icebreakers ever built in and for Canada. My heartfelt thanks go to the dedicated teams at Davie, the Canadian Coast Guard and PSPC. They have spent countless hours preparing for this historic milestone. Now, we cant wait to get working on renewing Canadas Arctic fleet.

Davie will establish a Program Icebreaker project management and design office, providing compelling opportunities for current and future generations of Canadian shipbuilders. Davie is committed to recruiting teams of highly skilled shipbuilding professionals, who will drive all aspects of constructing the worlds largest order book of heavy icebreakers.

Moreover, Davie will engage critical subcontractors to design and certify the vessel to established safety, environmental, and performance standards. Building on Davies proven track record of delivering vessels of exceptional quality and performance, this early phase is fundamental in guaranteeing sustained operational readiness and capability to best serve the CCGs missions.

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Julian Kenney, Program Director for the Program Icebreakers at Davie, said: Embarking on the design and construction of Canadas new icebreaker fleet is a great source of pride for everyone at Davie. We have a strong partnership with the Canadian Coast Guard and our top priority is to design and build the icebreakers Canada needs to keep our waterways open, protect our environment, and secure the Arctic.

About Davie

Based in Quebec, Canada since 1825, Davie is a world-class designer and builder of specialist, mission-critical ships such as icebreakers, ferries and warships for government and commercial customers. Davie became a partner in the Government of Canadas National Shipbuilding Strategy on April 4, 2023. This historic agreement is for the design and construction of the largest and most technologically advanced ships ever constructed in and for Canada. The initial $8.5 billion package of work includes seven heavy icebreakers and two large hybrid-powered ferries. Davie is a part of Group Davie, which in November 2023 acquired Finlands Helsinki Shipyard, the world leader in icebreaker design and construction. Find out more at davie.ca and helsinkishipyard.fi.

For further information, please contact:

Marcel Poulin

Director, External Affairs and Industrial Participation, Davie

marcel.poulin@davie.ca

+1 581 992-8564




A. Duie Pyle

This is the ninth time overall that the premier transportation provider in the Northeast has been honored for its outstanding service, on-time performance and growth

WEST CHESTER, Pa., March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A. Duie Pyle (Pyle), a premier, 100-year-old family-owned and operated provider of asset and non-asset-based supply chain solutions, today announces its recognition as the 2023 Regional LTL Carrier of the Year by Echo Global Logistics, a leading provider of technology-enabled transportation management services.

This award recognizes the top regional less than truckload (LTL) carrier within Echo's organization. It's given to the carrier that not only meets stringent quality standards but also excels in fostering positive relationships with Echo's personnel across the northeast, making it the preferred choice for handling freight.

This marks Pyle's third year receiving this honor, totaling three carrier of the year awards (also in 2008 and 2017) along with six platinum award wins over the years. These accolades establish Pyle as one of Echo's most decorated regional carriers. Throughout 2023, Pyle consistently demonstrated exceptional performance, earning high praise and sustained trust and respect from both Echo's customers and colleagues. Its impressive growth metrics across the board, on-time performance and positive ratings from various departments at Echo were key metrics in distinguishing Pyle as the recipient of this award.

We highly value our partnership with Echo and feel honored to receive recognition for our investments, dedication and the hard work of our 4,100 team members in providing exceptional service to Echo Global Logistics and its customers," said John Luciani, COO of LTL Solutions at Pyle. This award emphasizes our steadfast commitment to delivering top-quality service to all our customers and reaffirms our dedication to consistently exceeding expectations through ongoing investments in our people, infrastructure, technology and equipment.

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Pyles LTL offerings are bolstered by an extensive network that stretches across the Northeast region, combined with advanced shipment tracking capability, versatile logistics services, a modern fleet and dedication to safety and customer service. The companys recent strategic expansions across the Northeast in Allentown, Pa., and Bangor, Maine, affirm Pyle's forward-thinking approach and commitment to supporting its customers by strengthening the region's supply chain solutions.

For more information on A. Duie Pyle and its award-winning services, visit www.aduiepyle.com.

About A. Duie Pyle

A. Duie Pyle, a family-owned and operated business for more than 100 years, provides a range of integrated transportation and distribution services supported by 29 LTL service centers and 17 warehouses strategically located throughout the Northeast region. Pyle provides a variety of asset and non-asset-based services offering uniquely engineered logistics solutions, including LTL, Dedicated fleet operations, Warehousing & Distribution services through more than 4.2 million square feet of public and contract warehousing space, and specialized services through its Brokerage Solutions.

Media Contact

Matt Greenfield

Uproar PR for A. Duie Pyle

mgreenfield@uproarpr.com




VEENDAM, Netherlands (AP)  A 420-meter (quarter-mile) white steel tube running alongside a railway line in the windswept northern Netherlands could usher in a new era in the transportation of people and freight.

The tube is the heart of the new European Hyperloop Center that opens Tuesday and will be a proving ground in coming years for developers of the evolving technology.

Hyperloop, once trumpeted by Elon Musk, involves capsules floating on magnetic fields zipping at speeds of arund 700 kph (435 mph) through low-pressure tubes. Its advocates tout it as far more efficient than short haul flights, high-speed rail and freight trucks.

But since Musk unveiled the concept that he said could shuttle passengers the nearly 400 miles (645 kilometers) between Los Angeles and San Francisco in 30 minutes, it has progressed at a much slower pace from the drawing board toward the real world.

I expect by 2030 you will have the first hyperloop route, maybe five kilometers (three miles) in which people will actually be transporting passengers," said the center's director, Sascha Lamme. "Actually theres already preparations being done for such routes in for example Italy or India.

Not everybody is as optimistic about Hyperloop's future.

This is just another example of policy makers chasing a shiny object when basic investment in infrastructure is needed, Robert Noland, distinguished professor at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University, said in comments emailed to The Associated Press.

It costs too much to build, he added.

Lamme said skeptics should come and take a look for themselves.

We built the European Hyperloop Center and from what we have built, we know that we can be competitive with high-speed rail," he said. "And then we have not even included all the cost optimizations that we can do in the coming decade to reduce that even further.

The test center's tube is made up of 34 separate sections mostly 2 meters (more than eight feet) in diameter. A vacuum pump in a steel container next to the tube sucks out the air to reduce the internal pressure. That reduces drag and allows capsules to travel at such high speeds.

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A test capsule built by Dutch hyperloop pioneer Hardt Hyperloop will take part next month in the first tests at the center that is funded by private investment as well as contributions from the provincial government, the Dutch national government and European Commission.

A unique feature of the Veendam tube is that it has a switch  where it splits into two separate tubes, a piece of infrastructure that will be critical to real-life applications.

Lane switching is very important for hyperloop, because it allows vehicles to travel from any origin to any destination," said Marinus van der Meijs, Hardt's technology and engineering director. "So it really creates a network effect where you sort of have a highway of tubes and vehicles can take an on and offramp or they can take a lane switch to go to a different part of Europe or to a different destination.

While testing continues in Veendam, hyperloop developers hope that destinations for their technology are forthcoming.

Really the main challenge is finding government commitments to build routes and, on the other hand, finding new funding to realize the necessary test facility and technology demonstration that you need to do to make this happen, Lamme said.
Company Logo

Dublin, March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Europe Household Coffee Machine - Market Share Analysis, Industry Trends & Statistics, Growth Forecasts 2019-2029" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The European Household Coffee Machine Market is estimated at USD 5.19 billion in 2024, and is expected to reach USD 6.56 billion by 2029, growing at a CAGR of greater than 3.45% during the forecast period (2024-2029).



As per the European vending and coffee service association, there are four million vending machines in Europe, with 2.5 million dispensing hot drinks as a table or freestanding coffee machines. 80% of the total machines are in workplaces, and it was found that there were 180 European for every vending machine. The coffee industry employs more than 85000 people in around 10000 companies. The total annual turnover is 16 million euros.



With the advent of COVID and continuous lockdowns, the coffee Industry went from 133.66 bn dollars USD in 2018 to 130- and 108.27-billion-dollar USD in 2019,20. As covid restrictions are relaxed, the revenue of the coffee industry has started to increase for the European market and is expected to increase continuously in the future.



As Europe is a developed nation, it was able to contain Covid spread effectively; with efforts being made towards the opening of the economy resulting in increased human activities, coffee consumption will be observing an increase in the future, creating a positive impact for coffee machine market in Europe.



Coffee consumption dominating in European countries helping driving the Coffee Machine market



With America dominating the coffee market in terms of revenue and country wise United Nations stands first, followed by Japan, Brazil, and Canada, and the country of central Europe, standing in the fifth position (Germany) with revenue from the coffee industry at 24500 million USD. The continuous decline in revenue share at home is observed with an increase in out-of-home revenue share.



In a Nordic region, with a cool climate, higher than average coffee quality and low price makes them consume more coffee per capita than any other part of Europe. With per capita consumption equivalent to 9-12 kg of green coffee. With market consolidation, there is little room for newcomers. Nordic countries import all their soluble coffee, with Nestle holding an average of 2/3 of the market share. Northern European countries have been stagnant in their consumption despite low prices. Germany has observed a decline in consumption due to reduced consumption of standard commercial coffee. Netherlands and Baston dominating the coffee market, are losing their share at a rate of 1% annually over the last five years. Southern Europe shows a positive consumption trend with Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Greece.



Coffee variety, firms leading in European coffee machine market with their increasing market share



Coffee prepared from roasted coffee beans represents one of the key industries in several developing countries in the equatorial region, such as Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, and Indonesia. Two common varieties of coffee grown in Europe are Arabica and Robusta. Green coffee is observing increasing popularity in Europe because of its health benefit in reducing fat levels; it is mostly imported from developing nations, and Italy, the second largest importer of green coffee in the world, is opening demand for coffee machine market to process this coffee.



Western Europe is characterized by coffee brands dominating the market, with Nescafe holding the leading position, followed by Nespresso. Germany has dominated market revenue over the past years, with per capita coffee consumption of more than 6.5 kgs. The leading branded coffee shops in Europe are Costa Coffee, Starbucks, and MacCafe' with a market share of 8.4%,7.4%, and 6.8%, increasing continuously. The organic trend is popular today with Spain and Germany's largest coffee-consuming nations of Organic and conventional coffee in Europe, showing the dominating position of Europe in the coffee market.



Household Coffee Machine Industry Overview



Europe is the largest coffee market accounting for one-third of global consumption during 2020/21. In the long run, demand is expected to remain stable as the market for coffee is saturated. Europe, together with the United States, is a most important market for specialty coffee, reflected in a large number of rising, specially roasted coffee shops and local coffee brands in Europe. The European market is dominated by a few large multinational roasting and grinding company which are Nestle'(Switzerland), JDE Peets's (Netherland), Melitta (Germany), and Lavazza (Italy), Starbucks (US), and Strauss Coffee (Israel).



Major domestic players in the European coffee machine market are Nestle SA, Luigi Lavazza SPA, and JAB Holding, and with an increase in household coffee consumption, competition is arising among them for entering European households and fulfilling household demands other than a cafe, offices machines.



Key Topics Covered



1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Study Assumptions and Market Definition

1.2 Scope of the Study



2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY



3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY



4 MARKET DYNAMICS AND INSIGHTS

4.1 Market Overview

4.2 Market Drivers

4.3 Market Restraints

4.4 Insights on impact of technology and innovation in Coffee Machine Market

4.5 Insights on Product Technology

4.6 Industry Attractiveness - Porters' Five Forces Analysis

4.7 Impact of COVID-19 on the Market



5 MARKET SEGMENTATION

5.1 By Distribution Channel

5.1.1 Multibrand Store

5.1.2 Speciality Store

5.1.3 Online Store

5.1.4 Other Distribution Channel

5.2 By Product Type

5.2.1 Filter coffee machine

5.2.2 Capsule or Pod coffee machine

5.2.3 Traditional Espresso coffee machine

5.2.4 Bean to Cup coffee machine

5.3 Operational Category

5.3.1 Semi Automated

5.3.2 Automated

5.4 By Geography

5.4.1 Sweden

5.4.2 France

5.4.3 Netherlands

5.4.4 Spain

5.4.5 Italy

5.4.6 Germany



6 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

6.1 Market Concentration Overview

6.2 Company Profiles

6.2.1 illy caffe

6.2.2 Jacobs Dowde Egberts

6.2.3 Lavazzaa

6.2.4 Nestle'

6.2.5 Paulig

6.2.6 Westrock Coffee

6.2.7 De'longhi group

6.2.8 Eversys

6.2.9 Tchibo

6.2.10 Caffe' Molinari



7 MARKET OPPORTUNTIES AND FUTURE TRENDS



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/yp2b4o

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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




Combined entity serves more than 2 million customers

MONTREAL and TORONTO, March 26, 2024 /CNW/ - Fairstone Bank of Canada ("Fairstone Bank") and Home Trust Company ("Home Trust") today announced the signing of a definitive agreement to merge their respective businesses. This transaction will create the leading alternative lender in Canada and boast an extensive Canadian footprint servicing more than 2 million customers with more than 250 branches from coast to coast. The combined business will offer diversified product lines, including residential and commercial mortgages, personal loans, credit cards, retail financing, auto financing, digital lending and consumer deposits. It will also add meaningful competition within the Canadian financial services sector, improving Canadians' access to essential financial services and delivering responsible, accessible and value-driven financial solutions.

Fairstone Bank and Home Trust to Merge, Creating the Leading Alternative Lender in Canada (CNW Group/Fairstone Financial Inc.)

The new group will provide services to the millions of Canadians who have been historically underserved and whose financial needs are often overlooked by traditional banks. This segment is large, attractive and growing, underpinned by strong immigration growth and post-pandemic normalization in the number of non-prime consumers. By offering a unique omnichannel model, the combined entity is creating the only alternative lender with a national branch and broker network  complemented by innovative digital capabilities  that customers can rely on for a full suite of responsible lending products.

"Our vision is to enhance the quality and scope of financial services within the Canadian landscape, seizing market opportunities for both entities. This combination is characterized by a strong cultural fit and complementary strengths between Fairstone Bank and Home Trust," commented Stephen Smith, founder and CEO of Smith Financial Corporation and chair of the board of directors of both organizations. "Having observed and engaged with both companies for many years, I am convinced that this combination of expertise in financial products and market-leading experiences will benefit our existing and future borrowers and depositors."

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Scott Wood, President and CEO of Fairstone Bank, highlighted the strong track record of both businesses leading to this pivotal transaction: "This combination is the next natural step in our goal to be Canada's most accessible and responsible lending bank. Together with Home Trust, we aim to capitalize on significant growth opportunities and continue to serve millions of Canadians, especially those historically underserved."

Yousry Bissada, President and CEO of Home Trust, remarks that the new company will be pivotal for improving access to financial security for all Canadians. "Home Trust is a leader in the Canadian mortgage industry with a deep affinity to our customers, brokers, employees and other stakeholders. The opportunity to expand our product offerings by merging with Fairstone Bank will greatly enhance our ability to help our clients achieve financial success. We are excited about the future and the many opportunities this new company will bring. Our focus will remain the same: delivering exceptional service to our customers and business partners as we combine our businesses."

Eric Hoffman, Senior Managing Director at Centerbridge Partners, added, "This transaction brings together two great businesses with a rich legacy of offering financial services, evolving into a unified entity that offers a new comprehensive suite of products to customers with diverse financial needs, including mortgages, personal loans, auto financing, credit cards, retail point-of-sale solutions, and fully digital lending experiences through valued partners."

Jeff Markusson, Senior Managing Director, Financial Services at Ontario Teachers', commented on how the merger is filling a need in the market. "While Canada's banking system is world-renowned, there remains an unmet demand for a lender dedicated to supporting underserved segments of the population. We see incredible upside in this merger to increase competition in the market and broaden access to financial services, ensuring an even more inclusive financial landscape for all Canadians."

The agreement provides that the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. Following the closing of the transaction, Smith Financial Corporation will own a majority interest in the combined entity. Fairstone Bank's current shareholders, Centerbridge Partners, L.P., Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board and management, will continue as minority shareholders in the combined entity.

RBC Capital Markets is acting as financial advisor to Smith Financial Corporation on the transaction. Torys LLP is acting as legal counsel to Smith Financial Corporation. Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP is acting as legal counsel to Centerbridge Partners, L.P. Stikeman Elliott LLP is acting as legal counsel to Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board. Goldman Sachs acted as financial advisor to Centerbridge Partners, L.P., and BMO Capital Markets acted as financial advisor to Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board.

About Smith Financial Corporation

Smith Financial Corporation invests for the long term in market-leading financial services companies with proven brands, client relationships and management teams. Alone and in partnership with like-minded institutions, it provides capital and expertise to help its portfolio companies thrive by embracing the entrepreneurial spirit. Its holdings include Canada Guaranty Mortgage Insurance Company, Fairstone Bank of Canada, First National Financial Corporation (TSX: FN), Glass-Lewis & Co., Home Trust Company, and Peloton Capital Management and its private equity funds. Smith Financial Corporation is a family enterprise founded by Stephen Smith, one of Canada's leading financial services entrepreneurs. Please visit Smith Financial Corporation (https://www.smithfc.ca/) for more information.

About Fairstone Bank of Canada

Fairstone Bank of Canada ("Fairstone Bank") and its subsidiary, Fairstone Financial Inc. ("Fairstone"), provide a wide range of innovative financial services that enable Canadian consumers and businesses to achieve their goals. Collectively, Fairstone Bank and its subsidiaries offer credit cards and rewards programs, point-of-sale financing, automobile financing and fully digital personal loans through partners, in addition to unsecured and secured personal loans and mortgages online and at more than 250 branches coast to coast. With a long-established Canadian history, Fairstone Bank and Fairstone are committed to being Canada's most accessible and responsible consumer lending bank. More at FairstoneBank.ca.

About Home Trust Company

Home Trust Company is a federally regulated trust company offering residential and non-residential mortgage lending, securitization of residential mortgage products, consumer lending and credit card services. In addition, Home Trust Company and its wholly owned subsidiary, Home Bank, offer deposits via brokers and financial planners, and through a direct-to-consumer brand, Oaken Financial. Licensed to conduct business across Canada, Home has offices in Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, and Quebec. For more information, please visit Home Trust Company.

About Centerbridge Partners, L.P.

Centerbridge Partners, L.P. is a private investment management firm employing a flexible approach across investment disciplinesprivate equity, private credit and real estatein an effort to develop the most attractive opportunities for our investors. The firm was founded in 2005 and, as of December 31, 2023, has approximately US$38 billion in capital under management with offices in New York and London. Centerbridge is dedicated to partnering with world-class management teams across targeted industry sectors and geographies. For more information, please visit www.centerbridge.com.

About Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board

Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board (Ontario Teachers') is a global investor with net assets of $247.5 billion as at December 31, 2023. We invest in more than 50 countries in a broad array of assets including public and private equities, fixed income, credit, commodities, natural resources, infrastructure, real estate and venture growth to deliver retirement income for 340,000 working members and pensioners. Our more than 450 investment professionals operate in key financial centres around the world and bring deep expertise in a broad range of sectors and industries. We are a fully funded defined benefit pension plan and have earned an annual total-fund net return of 9.3% since the plan's founding in 1990. At Ontario Teachers', we don't just invest to make a return, we invest to shape a better future for the teachers we serve, the businesses we back, and the world we live in. For more information, visit otpp.com and follow us on LinkedIn .

SOURCE Fairstone Financial Inc.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2024/26/c1498.html
(Bloomberg) -- Frances budget deficit is slipping away from the governments control, undermining President Emmanuel Macrons credibility as an economic reformer capable of resolving the countrys fiscal challenges.

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Official figures on Tuesday showed the gap between income and outlays expanded to 5.5% of economic output in 2023 from 4.8% in the previous year, far wider than the 4.9% the government planned for.

Growth in tax revenues slowed sharply as the euro areas second-biggest economy stagnated and the pace of expansion in spending eased only slightly, according to statistics agency Insee.

The wider deficit is a blow to Macron, who had established a reputation for greater rigor since taking office in 2017, in contrast with years of French governments missing deficit targets. In his first five-year term, he bettered or matched his annual objectives on four occasions, and the one slip was caused by the pandemic.

The extent of the 2023 miss also calls into question Macrons strategy of gradually repairing finances by relying on growth-enhancing overhauls, like loosening labor laws or raising the retirement age. Until spending ballooned during the Covid and energy crises, that approach meant he could avoid painful austerity measures or hurting businesses and households with tax increases.

The strategy is still there and its relevant, but it was probably forgotten that you cant just count on nice things happening, said Charlotte de Montpellier, INGs senior France economist. You cant solve short-term problems by increasing growth potential.

Shifting to tax increases  which the government opposes  or deeper spending cuts would be a risky political move as Macrons party already trails Marine Le Pens far-right National Rally by around 10 points in polls of voting intentions ahead of European Parliament elections due in June. Moreover, Macron has promised to decrease taxes for lower-paid workers next year.

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The Finance Ministry already announced 10 billion ($10.8 billion) of savings in February to try to get back on track to meet a deficit target of 4.4% of economic output this year. It has said at least another 20 billion will be required in the 2025 budget.

The government will give an update of the multi-year public finance plan it submits to Brussels on April 17, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said during a telephone briefing with journalists. Last years version of the stability program set a course for a deficit of 2.7% of economic output in 2027.

Le Maire said the government still aims to narrow the deficit below the European Unions 3% limit in three years, when Macrons presidency ends. He added that he is writing to state agencies to ask for more savings and has invited opposition lawmakers to a meeting later this week to discuss potential cuts in the 2025 budget.

We are at a crossroads: Leaving debts and deficits to rise would be irresponsible, or we choose a path of determination, method and sangfroid, the minister said.

Some of Macrons allies have called on him to abandon a no-tax-increase mantra at the core of his pro-business presidency that has helped steer foreign investment to France. Francois Bayrou, a key centrist backer, said on Monday the topic should be debated in preparation for next years budget.

Lawmakers have been looking at options and how we could have better balance in terms of fairness without damaging the image of France that attracts investment, Bayrou told RTL radio.

Le Maire said he is open to ensuring a stricter application of levies on the windfall profits of energy companies, which generated much less revenue for the government than expected last year. But he said the government remains opposed to any tax increases and that the focus should be on cutting outlays in a country with the worlds highest rates of taxation and spending.

Adding to pressure on Macrons government, ratings firms are taking a more critical view of Frances finances. In April last year, Fitch Ratings downgraded France to AA- from AA, and S&P Global Ratings has a negative outlook on its assessment.

Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau has also warned that the countrys struggles with high debt and deficits damage its credibility in Europe.

For 40 years, its never been the right moment to get a better grip on public spending, he said in an interview with French newspaper Le Figaro this month. We are calmly passing a potential time bomb to future generations.

(Updates with finance minister comments starting in ninth paragraph.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
By Mathieu Rosemain and Augustin Turpin

(Reuters) -Atos, the crisis-hit French IT consulting firm whose shares have plummeted over the last two years, said it was aiming to restructure its debt by July, paving the way for a potential capital increase to shore up its balance sheet.

The technology giant, which manages data and cybersecurity for France's nuclear industry and the upcoming Olympic Games, will seek to find common ground with creditors over the whole of its debt, which stood at 4.65 billion euros ($5.04 billion) at the end of 2023, it said.

Atos says it still has enough liquidity to run the business for now but its debt burden has become unsustainable, with 3.65 billion euros worth of debt due by end of 2025, as recent attempts to inject cash from asset sales failed.

The company had already opened talks with its banks to refinance its financial debt. The talks, led by a court-appointed mediator, now also include bondholders.

Airbus' walk-out from talks to acquire the group's most valuable asset, the cybersecurity unit BDS, followed the collapse of negotiations with Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky over the sale of its loss-making legacy operations.

The failure of talks with Airbus last week caught the French tech giant off-guard, sources close to the talks said, dashing hopes that the deal would ease its financial uncertainty.

David Layani, Atos' top investor with a 11% stake and who sits on the company's board, said in an interview with Le Figaro on Sunday that he could anchor a possible restructuring plan for the company.

Atos said on Monday that Layani had not yet presented any restructuring plan to the company.

Sources close to the matter said the businessman, who owns the smaller IT consulting firm One point, could inject cash into the company.

Kretinsky may also assess investing new equity into Atos again, a separate source close to the matter said.

The talks with bondholders and banks will take the form of a so-called amicable conciliation procedure and will be court-supervised, Atos said, adding that it would update markets in coming weeks.

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The group said an agreement over a restructuring of its debt could lead to a cash injection in the form of new equity, resulting in a dilution of the existing shareholders.

Atos, which owns assets considered strategic by the French government and is struggling to turn around its loss-making business, reported a record net loss of 3.44 billion euros for the year ended Dec. 31.

More than two-thirds of the losses stem from an impairment charge tied to both Atos' divisions, Tech Foundations and Eviden.

A former member of France's blue-chip index CAC 40, Atos's stock price was down by 7% at 1015 GMT, valuing the company at less than 200 million euros.

Atos' equity was worth more than 8 billion euros at the end the of 2020.

($1 = 0.9219 euros)

(Reporting by Augustin Turpin and Mathieu Rosemain; Writing by Mathieu Rosemain;Editing by Jamie Freed, Tassilo Hummel, Shri Navaratnam and Louise Heavens)
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp speaks during a special visit to the Port of Savannah by Congressmen Buddy Carter, Mike Collins, and Sam Graves on Monday, March 25, 2024.

Three U.S. Congressmen accompanied Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on a visit to the Georgia Ports Authority on Monday to show unified support for funding a new study on deepening the Savannah River channel less than two years after crews finished dredging the channel to 47 feet.

U.S. Reps Buddy Carter (R-St. Simons), Mike Collins (R-Jackson), and Sam Graves (R-Missouri) all serve on the U.S. House Committee that authorizes the Water Resources Development Act, which authorizes U.S. Army Corps of Engineers activities.

"If you're not moving forward, you're moving backward. We need to continue moving forward, and that's why we need this study so much," Carter said.

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp talks about the need for further deepening the harbor during a special visit to the Port of Savannah along with Congressmen Buddy Carter, Mike Collins, and Sam Graves on Monday, March 25, 2024.

Graves, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, was asked by Carter and Collins to make the trip. Graves agreed to do so to demonstrate his his support for a deepening study.

The study is supported by every member of Congress from Georgia, including Sen. Raphael Warnock. The GPA says that the deepening is needed to accomodate larger ships, and the GPA signaled in October 2023 its ambition to study deepening the Savannah River's shipping channel another time.

The previous deepening wrapped up in March 2022, which came more than 25 years after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conducted a previous deepening study, according to reporting by the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Kemp sent a letter last year to Georgia's congressional delegation urging support of the deepening study. The continued growth of the Georgia Ports is crucial to servicing the state's growing economic development, Kemp said. He referenced in his remarks the Hyundai Metaplant in Bryan County, the state's largest economic development project in its history.

"We know that we must continue growing our ports to meet both the needs of our companies and our consumers," Kemp said. Towering some 50 yards behind him was a large container vessel donned with the words "Hyundai Drive."

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp speaks during a special visit to the Port of Savannah along with Congressmen Buddy Carter, Mike Collins, and Sam Graves on Monday, March 25, 2024.

Kemp also touted $1.5 billion in the state's 2024 amended budget for Georgia Department of Transportation projects. About $500 million of that is devoted to improving freight infrastructure.

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GDOT's Coastal Empire Study showed that shipping times around the Port of Savannah would slow significantly if no capital improvements were made to surrounding corridors.

"Our economy is growing, been very fortunate, three record years in a row," Kemp said. "So, we're trying to keep up with it. The ports are a big part of it."

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp is joined by Congressmen Sam Graves (R-MO), Mike Collins (R-GA), and Buddy Carter (R-GA) during a special visit to the Port of Savannah on Monday, March 25, 2024.

Evan Lasseter is the city and county government reporter for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at ELasseter@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Gov. Kemp, trio of U.S. Congressmen, support Savannah Harbor deepening
BRINGING CLEAN ARTISTRY MAKEUP SUPERCHARGED BY SCIENCE TO EUROPE, INCLUDING ALL 51 SHADES OF GROUND-BREAKING TRICLONE SKIN TECH FOUNDATION, PLUS TWO NEW PRODUCTS

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- HAUS LABS BY LADY GAGA, a science-driven, clean artistry brand propelled by HausTech Powered innovation, is expanding exclusively with Sephora across Europe - 12 new countries - following last year's successful UK launch. As of March 26, 2024, the brand will be in 15 countries around the world.

Experience the full interactive Multichannel News Release here: https://www.multivu.com/players/English/9257751-haus-labs-by-lady-gaga-launches-sephora-eu/

Haus Labs Founder Lady Gaga wearing Optic Intensity Eco Gel Eyeliners in Chartreuse Matte, Charcoal Matte and White Onyx Matte, and Le Monster Lip Crayon in Melon Matte. Shot By: Inez and Vinoodh

HAUS LABS' innovative, best-selling, award-winning, viral beauty products will arrive in stores and online on March 26, 2024, across France (sephora.fr), Italy (sephora.it), Spain (sephora.es), Portugal (sephora.pt), Sweden (sephora.se), Denmark (sephora.dk) and Germany (sephora.de.). And, online only in Switzerland (manor.ch), Greece (sephora.gr), Romania (sephora.ro), Poland (sephora.pl) and Czech Republic (sephora.cz). See local countries for store locations.

Pushing boundaries in beauty through innovation, the brand's DNA pillars of art, science, and kindness, HAUS LABS BY LADY GAGA brings its science-forward products to the EU featuring futuristic, patent-pending proprietary ingredients including Fermented Arnica, 860% more potent than traditional arnica that visibly reduces redness, inflammation, and environmental stress on skin.

Additional HausTech Powered innovations include skin-optimizing ingredients BioFerment 7 Formula, IntelliZen 7 Formula, and Vegan Collagen. The full assortment - 125 products with innovative cutting-edge skincare technologies across nine key categories in color and complexion  will be available, including:

Triclone Skin Tech Foundation : A best-selling, award-winning, groundbreaking, next generation foundation HausTech Powered with 20+ skincare ingredients including Fermented Arnica, available in 51 shades and 6 shade families.

Triclone Skin Tech Hydrating and Depuffing Concealer : A clean, lightweight, concealer that visibly blurs, brightens, conceals and depuffs (after 2 weeks of continuous use), available in 31 shades.

Bio-Radiant Gel-Powder Highlighter : An innovative highlighting gel-powder that melts onto skin imparting a pure, radiant glow. HausTech Powered with Fermented Arnica + Silver Vine Extract.

PhD Hybrid Nourishing Lip Oil and newly launched PhD Hybrid Plumping Lip Glaze : A skincare-infused glaze that hydrates lips with burn-free plumping after 2 weeks of continuous use. The restoring, non-sticky 4-in-1 fuses a lip oil, balm, plumper, and gloss. HausTech Powered with Polyplumper Peptide Complex + Vegan Collagen.

Color Fuse Blush Powder: Newly launched and infused with 11%+ skincare actives to ensure not only vibrant pigmentation but also skincare benefits. HausTech Powered with Fermented Arnica and Hydraberry designed to both enhance and nourish the skin.

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Brand founder Lady Gaga and global content creator NikkieTutorials will join forces with Sephora Europe for launch, for a digital-first Sephora LIVE that will stream across all 12 Sephora Europe e-commerce platforms and related Sephora country-specific socials. Together, they will talk about the HAUS LABS brand, what it means to be supercharged by science, powered by innovation, and created with kindness. TUNE IN - Tuesday March 26th, at 6:30 PM CET / 10:30 AM PDT. Additional tune-in information will be provided @sephora.fr Instagram and @hauslabs Instagram. The replay will be aired across Sephora EU channels, after the live. The LIVE follows the success of the Sephora Europe App previews - where customers across 12 countries purchased HAUS LABS early, for an unprecedented four-day early access, online shopping experience.

Ben Jones, CEO of HAUS LABS BY LADY GAGA : "Europe is a critical milestone for HAUS LABS BY LADY GAGA. We are honored to be exclusive with the global retail powerhouse, SEPHORA. With the launch of Sephora App previews across Europe, we begin the march toward taking our brand to the world on March 26th. We will enable new consumers to see, touch and feel our products at SEPHORA, showing them that HAUS LABS BY LADY GAGA is a leader at the forefront of Art, Science, Beauty and Technology."

Kelly Coller, CMO of HAUS LABS BY LADY GAGA : "It is with great pride that our two mission-based brands - HAUS LABS and SEPHORA - committed to belonging, inclusivity, kindness - are coming together once again to disrupt the beauty market with innovation, artistry (including artistry in formulations) digital firsts and world-class marketing. We are pioneering a new beauty movement beyond serving looks. Together with SEPHORA, we are serving self-love."

Sylvie Moreau, President of Sephora Europe and the Middle East shared, "After the successful launch in Sephora UK, we are very excited to launch HAUS LABS BY LADY GAGA in our European market! At SEPHORA, we are constantly looking for innovative brands to bring to our customers. We are confident they will be thrilled to discover the creative and inspiring world of HAUS LABS BY LADY GAGA and thrilled to experience the brand's game-changing formulas."

About HAUS LABS BY LADY GAGA

HAUS LABS is a pioneering clean artistry makeup brand supercharged by science  delivering high-tech, high-pigment, high-performance prestige beauty products that are proprietary, first-to-market, infused with skin-loving ingredients, in chic and sustainable packaging. HAUS LABS Triclone Skin Tech Foundation is a game changing, best-selling, award-winning viral sensation with over 10 billion views on Tik Tok. HAUS LABS celebrates all artistry skill levels, ages, shapes, sizes, ethnicities, genders, identities, and sexual orientations. All HAUS LABS products are Created with Kindness: Clean, Cruelty Free and Vegan and sold exclusively at SEPHORA in 15 countries around the world and on hauslabs.com @hauslabs #hauslabs

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SOURCE Haus Labs By Lady Gaga
TOKYO, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Crowd Credit Inc (Crowd Credit), a licensed Japanese financial services company headquartered in Chuo-ku, Tokyo and Singapore's leading Fintech firm Helicap Pte Ltd (Helicap) have jointly announced a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate on expanding investment opportunities in Southeast Asia. The agreement was signed in Chuo-ku, Tokyo in March 2024, between Go Iwata, Representative Director of Crowd Credit, and David Z Wang, Co-founder of Helicap.

Seated from left to right - Takeshi Shibuya, Representative Director, President and CEO of Bankers Holding Co, David Z Wang, Co-founder & CEO of Helicap Securities, Go Iwata, Representative Director of Crowd Credit, Quentin Vanoekel, Co-founder & CIO of Helicap Investments, Standing from left to right - Tomohiro Mochida, Director & Head of Investment Dept, Crowd Credit, Taka Yagami, Managing Director, PT Banker Crowd Credit Indonesia, Tomoyoki Sugiyama, Founder and Advisor to Bankers Crowd Credit.

Through this partnership between Crowd Credit and Helicap, both parties aim to expand opportunities for Japanese investors in Southeast Asian companies for growth and financial inclusion. Crowd Credit will introduce potential investors in Japan to Helicap, aiming to raise funds with a target transaction volume of US$50 million. In return, Helicap, through its regulated subsidiaries, will facilitate investment opportunities and prospects in Southeast Asia to Crowd Credit for Japanese investors.

Here are the key details of the MOU:

Helicap, and its regulated subsidiaries, will leverage its expertise in Southeast Asia to:

Facilitate introductions between potential borrowers in the region and Crowd Credit through its deal platform.

Assist Crowd Credit in building relationships with local financial institutions and regulatory bodies.

Provide Crowd Credit with access to its proprietary credit analytics platform.

Crowd Credit will leverage its network in Japan to:

Introduce potential Japanese investors to Helicap.

Raise funds from its investors for investment in Helicap's offerings.

Assist Helicap in building relationships with Japanese financial institutions and regulatory bodies.

This is Helicap's first collaboration in Japan and aims to provide Japanese investors with greater access to private investment opportunities in Southeast Asia, while allowing Helicap to broaden its investor base.

Key Quotes

"We are very excited to partner with Crowd Credit to bring our unique investment opportunities to Japanese investors," said David Z Wang, Co-founder of Helicap. "I am honored to partner with Crowd Credit, bridging Japan and Southeast Asia. This partnership will allow us to further expand our investor base and provide Japanese investors with access to a hugely growing market with stable returns."

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Our strategic partnership represents an exceptional opportunity for our esteemed investors to tap into the vibrant growth potential of Southeast Asia," stated Takeshi Shibuya, Representative Director, President, and CEO of Bankers Holding Co. "With unwavering confidence, we believe this collaboration will yield mutual benefits for both our stakeholders.

- END OF ANNOUNCEMENT -

About Helicap:

Since its establishment in 2018, Helicap has offered investment opportunities in Southeast Asia to accredited and institutional investors and has secured investments from prominent companies such as Credit Saison. Helicap is also backed by global asset management giants Tikehau Capital and PhillipCapital. As a leading platform operator in Southeast Asia, Helicap has strategically focused its investments primarily on financial companies, leveraging its unique credit screening system and enhanced loan structure to deliver stable returns. Helicap boasts an outstanding operational track record characterized by a zero default rate, a testament to its steadfast dedication to excellence and integrity.

With partner offices strategically located in Kuala Lumpur, Paris, and Dubai in addition to its Singapore headquarters, Helicap has successfully raised over USD 300 million cumulatively from investors, further solidifying its position as a key player in the global financial landscape. This impressive fundraising achievement underscores Helicap's ability to attract capital and signifies the widespread confidence and support it enjoys from investors worldwide, propelling its mission to revolutionize investment opportunities and drive sustainable growth across diverse markets.

About Crowd Credit:

Crowd Credit is a Japanese financial services company that provides individual investors with private lending opportunities across the globe. The company has a large customer base in Japan and offers a variety of investment products. Crowd Credit also provides debt capital on a global basis to a variety of different sectors, including non-bank financial institutions, microfinance institutions, and renewable energy businesses through its online crowdfunding platform in Japan.

(PRNewsfoto/Helicap Pte Ltd)

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SOURCE Helicap Pte Ltd
Understanding Humana Inc's Dividend Dynamics

Humana Inc (NYSE:HUM) recently announced a dividend of $0.89 per share, payable on 2024-04-26, with the ex-dividend date set for 2024-03-27. 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 Humana Inc's dividend performance and assess its sustainability.

What Does Humana Inc Do?

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Humana is one of the largest private health insurers in the U.S. with a focus on administering Medicare Advantage plans. The firm has built a niche specializing in government-sponsored programs, with nearly all its medical membership stemming from individual and group Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, and the military's Tricare program. The firm is also a leader in stand-alone prescription drug plans for seniors enrolled in traditional fee-for-service Medicare. Beyond medical insurance, the company provides other healthcare services, including primary-care services, at-home services, and pharmacy benefit management.

Humana Inc's Dividend Analysis

A Glimpse at Humana Inc's Dividend History

Humana Inc has maintained a consistent dividend payment record since 2011. Dividends are currently distributed on a quarterly basis. Below is a chart showing annual Dividends Per Share for tracking historical trends.

Breaking Down Humana Inc's Dividend Yield and Growth

As of today, Humana Inc currently has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.02% and a 12-month forward dividend yield of 1.02%. This suggests an expectation of same dividend payments over the next 12 months.

Over the past three years, Humana Inc's annual dividend growth rate was 12.30%. Extended to a five-year horizon, this rate stayed the same. And over the past decade, Humana Inc's annual dividends per share growth rate stands at an impressive 14.70%.

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Based on Humana Inc's dividend yield and five-year growth rate, the 5-year yield on cost of Humana Inc stock as of today is approximately 1.82%.

Humana Inc'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, Humana Inc's dividend payout ratio is 0.14.

Humana Inc's profitability rank, offers an understanding of the company's earnings prowess relative to its peers. GuruFocus ranks Humana Inc's profitability 8 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. Humana Inc'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 Humana Inc's revenue per share, combined with the 3-year revenue growth rate, indicates a strong revenue model. Humana Inc's revenue has increased by approximately 13.80% per year on average, a rate that underperforms than approximately 52.63% 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, Humana Inc's earnings increased by approximately 1.00% per year on average, a rate that underperforms than approximately 61.11% of global competitors.

Lastly, the company's 5-year EBITDA growth rate of 6.40%, which underperforms than approximately 78.57% of global competitors.

Next Steps

In conclusion, Humana Inc's dividend payments, supported by a strong dividend growth rate and a conservative payout ratio, reflect the company's commitment to shareholder returns. The impressive profitability rank and consistent net income over the past decade provide a foundation for dividend sustainability. However, the growth metrics present a mixed picture, with revenue growth underperforming a significant portion of global competitors and EPS growth also lagging behind. The 5-year EBITDA growth rate further signals challenges in surpassing industry peers. Investors should weigh these factors when considering Humana Inc's future dividend prospects. Could Humana Inc's strategic initiatives in the healthcare sector bolster its growth and enhance its dividend appeal? 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.


A SpiceJet passenger aircraft taxis on the tarmac at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai

BENGALURU (Reuters) -Indian budget carrier SpiceJet said on Tuesday it had agreed with Export Development Canada (EDC) to settle liabilities worth around $91 million, allowing it to take ownership of 13 of 15 Bombardier Q400 aircraft financed by the Canadian trade finance agency.

Shares of SpiceJet ended 3.9% higher on Tuesday after rising as much as 7.2%.

"This settlement marks the biggest breakthrough in SpiceJet's financial restructuring efforts to date," the airline said in a statement.

SpiceJet has over the last few months reached settlements with multiple leasing companies, including AerCap, the world's largest aircraft lessor, as the company looks to restore its grounded fleet and return to full capacity.

The settlement is also the latest in a series of cost-saving exercises at the cash-strapped airline, which said these would result in savings of $68 million. Last month, the company cut jobs, saying it would save $12 million annually.

The liabilities were from a loan taken from EDC for the purchase of 15 Q400 aircraft in 2011, the airline said.

The export credit agency provided financing in the range of C$250 million to C$500 million to support the sale of Canada-based Bombardier Inc's 's sale of Q400 aircraft to SpiceJet, EDC said in an emailed statement to Reuters.

The EDC, however, did not disclose the settlement amount.

SpiceJet did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

As of March, the airline had an operational fleet of 39 aircraft, mostly Boeing 737s, and a few Bombardier Q400 jets. The airline's complete ownership of the Q400 jets would let it launch new flights on regional routes, it said.

(Reporting by Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Chandni Shah; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Sonia Cheema and Maju Samuel)
/NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES./

SASKATOON, SK, March 25, 2024 /CNW/ - Karnalyte Resources Inc. ("Karnalyte" or the "Company") (TSX: KRN) today announced its financial results and corporate highlights for the financial year ended December 31, 2023.

Karnalyte Resources Inc. logo (CNW Group/Karnalyte Resources Inc.)

2023  YEAR IN REVIEW

In 2023, Karnalyte continued work on the update to its NI 43-101 Compliant Technical Report including additional work to identify cost efficiencies, optimize construction and operation plans and enhance project sustainability.

POTASH  WYNYARD POTASH PROJECT

Market Update  The market conditions for potash softened in 2023 but remain positive. While capacity in Russia and Belarus following the Russian invasion of Ukraine are returning to normal, new projects in this region are still expected to face significant delays as compared to pre-sanction timelines. And in the long-term, demand is expected to stay strong especially for Canadian potash as continued geopolitical uncertainty make the Saskatchewan region an attractive supply jurisdiction.

UPDATE TO THE NATIONAL INSTRUMENT 43-101 COMPLIANT TECHNICAL REPORT

In January of 2022, the Company announced the appointment of Wood PLC ("Wood"), a leading global consulting and engineering company, as lead author of an update to its NI 43-101 compliant technical report ("Technical Report" or "Report"). Wood was appointed after a significant improvement in the market conditions for potash which began in 2021 and continued through 2022 and 2023.

Karnalyte has made diligent progress on this important step toward construction of its Wynyard Potash Project, despite unforeseen challenges that have resulted in delays.

There has been significant growth in Western Canada's economic activity over the past two years, and this, in conjunction with supply chain constraints impacting suppliers worldwide is, among other factors, causing delays to the update to the Technical Report. In conjunction with the update Karnalyte is also investigating certain capital cost efficiencies, opportunities to enhance sustainability and working towards getting more comfort on the assumptions used given the current market and economic conditions. In furtherance of these efforts, in the second quarter Karnalyte tasked Wood PLC with undertaking additional evaluation of costs savings related to the compaction, drilling and insulation areas of the potash operation. Significant progress was made during this evaluation during the last half of the year and to date. Karnalyte will provide a further update as appropriate once the Technical Report is finalized.

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"Karnalyte continues to focus on advancing the update to the NI 43-101 Compliant Technical Report and has continued making steady progress, despite challenges the mining industry is facing beyond our control and the Company's desire to move forward in a responsible way." said Danielle Favreau, interim Chief Executive Officer of Karnalyte. "The Company remains committed to following best practices as we work through this critical step, which will serve as a strong foundation for our Wynyard Potash Project."

To date, Karnalyte has achieved a number of key milestones in relation to the update to the Report. This includes engaging industry leading solution mining and engineering firm ERCOSPLAN ingenieurgesellschaft Geotechnik und Bergbau mbH ("ERCOSPLAN"), which provided Karnalyte with a positive review of core samples, and confirmation from Saskatchewan's Ministry of Environment that Karnalyte's previous Environmental Impact Study approval from 2013 remains valid.

NITROGEN  THE PROTEOS NITROGEN PROJECT

The Proteos Nitrogen Project remains under consideration as part of Karnalyte's future and may diversify our business by adding a second fertilizer product line. The Proteos Nitrogen Project is a proposed regional-scale nitrogen fertilizer plant to be located in central Saskatchewan, with a nameplate capacity of 700 metric tonnes per day ("mtpd") ammonia and 1,200 mtpd urea. Our primary target market is local, independent wholesalers within a ~400-kilometre radius of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, with a secondary target market of Midwest USA wholesalers near the Canadian border. There were no significant developments to report on this project in 2023.

Investor Relations

In February of 2024, the Company retained IR Labs, a leading investor relations firm in Canada to provide investor relations services. Danielle Favreau, Karnalyte's Chief Executive Officer stated, "We are pleased to retain IR Labs as part of our strategy to increase business development activities and enhance communication with investors  both existing investors and outreach aimed at growing our shareholder base. Our strategy includes engaging in investor webinars and other events with a goal to communicate the strength of Karnalyte and its projects and to outline the opportunities for growth to potential investors."

OUTLOOK FOR 2024

the Company plans to complete the update to its NI 43-101 technical report, to continue to work on identifying cost efficiencies, optimizing construction and operation plans, and enhancing project sustainability. Furthermore, the Company plans to increase business development activities to seek out and attract investment and strategic partners to move one or both Company's projects forward to development.

2023 Year End Results and Selected Annual Information

During the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company's focus was on updating its NI 43-101 Compliant Technical Report. On December 31, 2023, the Company had cash of $2.3 million, a positive working capital of $2.1 million, and no debt.

The following information has been summarised from the Company's audited financial statements. Karnalyte's 2023-year end financial statements, management's discussion and analysis, and annual information form are available at www.sedarplus.ca or on the Company's website at www.karnalyte.com.

Selected annual results

(CAD $ thousands)

Year ended December 31

2023 2022 2021 Total revenue - - - Interest and other income 133 62 19 Net and comprehensive loss (1,422) (1,728) (2,193) Basic and diluted per share (0.03) (0.04) (0.05) Total current assets 2,716 4,209 2,498 Total assets 8,378 9,883 8,393 Total current liabilities 572 628 884 Total liabilities 1,891 2,006 2,630 Total shareholders' equity 6,487 7,877 5,763











ABOUT KARNALYTE RESOURCES INC.

Karnalyte Resources Inc. is a development stage company focused on two fertilizer products, potash and nitrogen, to be produced and manufactured in Saskatchewan. Karnalyte owns the Wynyard Potash Project, with planned phase 1 production of 625,000 tonnes per year ("TPY") of high grade granular potash, and two subsequent phases of 750,000 TPY each, taking total production up to 2.125 million TPY. Karnalyte is also exploring the development of the Proteos Nitrogen Project, which is a proposed small-scale nitrogen fertilizer plant with a nameplate production capacity of approximately 700 metric tonnes per day ("MTPD") of ammonia and approximately 1,200 MTPD of urea, and a target customer market of independent fertilizer wholesalers in Central Saskatchewan. Also under consideration is the secondary magnesium compounds, on Canada's critical minerals list.

ABOUT THE WYNYARD POTASH PROJECT

The Wynyard Potash Project is a construction ready solution mining potash project located in Wynyard, Saskatchewan, with planned phase 1 production of 625,000 TPY of high grade granular potash, and two subsequent phases of 750,000 TPY each, taking total production up to 2.125 million TPY. All environmental permits remain valid, preliminary detailed engineering is complete, and the existing offtake agreement with Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals Limited remains in effect. Further development is dependent on improved potash prices and obtaining financing.

ABOUT THE PROTEOS NITROGEN PROJECT

The Proteos Nitrogen Project is an advanced stage development project consisting of a proposed small-scale nitrogen fertilizer plant to be located in Central Saskatchewan, having a nameplate production capacity of approximately 700 MTPD of ammonia and approximately 1,200 MTPD of urea, and designed to produce two products  anhydrous ammonia (82-0-0) and granular urea (46-0-0). Karnalyte's primary target market is independent local Saskatchewan fertilizer wholesalers within a 400-kilometer radius of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. A secondary target market is the US Midwest fertilizer wholesalers near to the Canadian  United States border. The proposed plant would be the first greenfield nitrogen fertilizer plant built in Canada in the last 26 years.

ABOUT GUJARAT STATE FERTILIZERS & CHEMICALS LIMITED

Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals Limited ("GSFC") is a leading Indian Fortune 500 chemicals and fertilizer company that has been in business for more than 50 years. GSFC currently operates one ammonia plant that was commissioned in the year 2000, and two urea plants that were established in 1969, at its fertilizer production complex in Vadodara, Gujarat State, India.

As the Company's strategic partner and single largest shareholder, GSFC remains committed to the Company and the Wynyard Potash Project and is fully supportive of the Company pursuing the development of the Proteos Nitrogen Project. GSFC has also confirmed to the Company that it will continue to support the structuring of the most cost-effective financing package for the development of the Wynyard Potash Project, as GSFC has consistently offered to the Company since becoming a shareholder in 2013.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain information included in this press release is forward-looking, within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "believe", "could", "estimate", "expect", "plan", "intend", "forecast", "future", "guidance", "may", "predict", "project", "should", "strategy", "target", "will" or similar words or phrases suggesting future outcomes or language suggesting an outlook.

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by Karnalyte, including, without limitation, assumptions as to: projected economics for the Company's planned potash production facility, the confirmation in an independent feasibility study of Karnalyte's assumptions regarding the technical and economic viability of the Proteos Nitrogen project, the ability of Karnalyte to obtain financing on terms favourable to the Company, and the ability of Karnalyte to receive, in a timely manner, the necessary approvals from the Company's board of directors, shareholders, regulatory authorities, and other third parties.

Karnalyte believes the expectations and assumptions upon which the forward-looking information is based are reasonable. However, no assurance can be given that these assumptions and expectations will prove to be correct. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this press release. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, readers are cautioned that the Company has not received a feasibility study prepared by a third party with respect to the Proteos Nitrogen project.

Actual results may vary from the forward-looking information presented in this press release, and such variations could be material. Risk factors and uncertainties could cause actual results to vary from the forward-looking information in this press release. Additional information on forward-looking statements and other factors that could affect Karnalyte's operations and financial results are included in documents on file with Canadian securities regulatory authorities and may be accessed through the Company's profile on the SEDAR+ website (www.sedarplus.ca).

These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Subject to applicable securities laws, the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances.

SOURCE Karnalyte Resources Inc.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2024/25/c9600.html
Under an incentive agreement with the City of Leander, Titan Development will build a 115-acre business park in the fast-growing city northwest of Austin.

The Leander City Council has approved an economic development agreement with Titan Development to build a 115-acre business park.

At full capacity, the yet-to-be-named business park is expected to deliver up to 1.3 million square feet of industrial space among the Austin region's continued strong demand for that type of space.

Brokers have said they expect demand for warehouse and distribution space in Central Texas to remain strong for the foreseeable future, fueled by large manufacturing, semiconductor and electric vehicle companies and related suppliers, as well as e-commerce and other industries.

Titan's development will be located at the northeast intersection of Hero Way and County Road 270. An official groundbreaking date has not yet been set.

Titan is expected to invest $84 million for the project. It is due to break ground in the third quarter of this year.

We are pleased to develop this park in partnership with the City of Leander. Leander and surrounding areas have historically been underserved by Class A industrial offerings, said Joe Iannacone, Austin-based Partner with TitanDevelopment. With access to (U.S.) 183A, a major highway, and in close proximity to a large highly skilled labor pool, this park is well positioned for success within Austins rapidly growing industrial market.

Following approval of Titan incentives at last Thursdays meeting, the Council also approved the annexation and zoning for the property.

City incentives include up to $3.575 million in cost-sharing reimbursements for improvements to County Road 270.

Full build-out of the Titan business park is anticipated in 2035. City officials say the development could generate $18.5 million in combined tax and utility revenues for the City of Leander over the next 10 years.

Titan plans to build out their project in three phases with 200,000 square feet of buildings and at least $24 million in capital investment identified for the first phase, which must be built within five years.

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Titan must meet the following performance criteria as outlined in the incentive agreement:

Phase 1  200,000 square feet of industrial buildings and $24 million total investment by 2029

Phase 2  400,000 square feet of industrial buildings and $48 million total investment by 2032

Phase 3  700,000 square feet of industrial buildings and $84 million total investment by 2035.

Bounded by the future extension of San Gabriel Parkway to the north and Hero Way to the south, Titans proposed location falls within the citys designated future employment center. As one of the communitys largest proposed business park projects to date, city officials hope it will spur renewed commercial and industrial developmentinterest in Leander.

Titans development will add significant resiliency to the Leander economy and should help attract future employers to our area, Leander Mayor Christine DeLisle said.

Titan Development is one of the largest and most active industrial developers in the Austin region, which is seeing strong demand for industrial space.

The firm has completed more than $3 billion in real estate development with over $400 million of assets under management, and more than 20 million square feet of developed real estate.

In fast-growing Leander, the population now stands at more than 80,000 residents. Leander was less than half its size just 10 years ago and has been ranked one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation since 2015.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Leander partners with Titan Development on 115-acre business park
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 26, 2024) - Mako Mining Corp. (TSXV: MKO) (OTCQX: MAKOF) ("Mako") and Goldsource Mines Inc. (TSXV: GXS) (OTCQX: GXSFF) ("Goldsource") are pleased to announce that they have entered into an arrangement agreement (the "Arrangement Agreement"), pursuant to which Mako will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Goldsource (the "Goldsource Shares"), in exchange for common shares of Mako (the "Mako Shares"), by way of a plan of arrangement (the "Transaction").

The Transaction will create a company that will combine Mako's highly profitable Nicaraguan gold operations and mine-building team with Goldsource's 100% owned Eagle Mountain Gold Project ("Eagle Mountain") in Guyana, South America. The combined company will bring together an experienced management team, proven in the construction and operation of scalable mines with low capital intensity profiles, and who have discovered new precious metal deposits across multiple jurisdictions over the last two decades. The new Mako will have the cash flow, project pipeline, proven management team, and district-scale exploration potential that will enhance Mako's current growth trajectory while creating a platform for rapid growth. Further details of the Transaction are outlined below.

Transaction Highlights

Geographic diversification and enhanced growth pipeline by combining Mako's high-grade and low-cost mining operations with Goldsource's low capital intensity Eagle Mountain project. Significant combined mineral endowment with district-scale exploration potential in both Nicaragua and Guyana

Leveraging Mako's proven engineering and construction teams to accelerate the development of Eagle Mountain. The January 2024 Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") for Eagle Mountain demonstrated potential for robust economics via a phased development plan with an after-tax internal rate of return ("IRR") of 57% and an after-tax net present value ("NPV") discounted at 5% of US$292 million at US$1,850 per ounce ("oz").1 The shallow open pit plan with an anticipated 15-year mine life is well suited for Mako's operating team

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Mako's robust free cash flow generation and access to capital help accelerate and derisk the development of Eagle Mountain. Upon completion of the Transaction, it is anticipated that cash flow from Mako's San Albino mine ("San Albino") in Nicaragua and its access to capital will be utilized to accelerate the development at Eagle Mountain and to reach a production decision as soon as practicable

Geological similarities between assets leverages recent mine building experience with near term development opportunities. Both San Albino and Eagle Mountain benefit from the advantageous geological structure of shallow dipping ore bodies, allowing for streamlined extraction processes and maximizing resource recovery. The plant flow sheet recommended for Eagle Mountain is nearly identical to the plant that Mako designed, engineered and successfully built themselves, which is expected to greatly reduce operational risk and potential for capex overruns

Proven team and Board of Directors unlocking synergies & creating value - Post Transaction, the consolidated company will be led by a strengthened board and management team to be comprised of Eric Fier (Chairman), Akiba Leisman (CEO), Steve Parsons (President) and Jesse Munoz (COO), with a proven track record and in-country expertise, including exploration success, mine building, operations, community engagement and monetization

Expanded capital markets presence & institutional shareholder base including key strategic investors - Concurrent with the execution of the Arrangement Agreement, funds managed by Wexford Capital LP (collectively, "Wexford"), Mako's largest shareholder, have provided Goldsource with a C$2 million bridge loan (the "Bridge Loan") to fund anticipated activities at Eagle Mountain through the completion of the Transaction

Akiba Leisman, Chief Executive Officer of Mako, commented: "This Transaction is a true "hand-in-glove" partnership. The scalability of Goldsource's Eagle Mountain is a direct analogue to that of Mako's San Albino mine. Both properties have district scale potential, with the ability to unlock that potential through cash flow. The teams have worked together as colleagues going back nearly two decades, which is expected to make integration of the two companies seamless. Lastly, this Transaction is the establishment of a platform for growth. The combined attributes of both companies are significantly better than what each individually brings to the table, and we expect to utilize this platform to grow Mako accretively and significantly."

Goldsource Executive Chairman, Eric Fier, CPG, P.Eng, stated, "Mako's successful approach to the development of the San Albino mine is something we watched closely during the 2020-2022 period, due in part because it is analogous to our plans for the development of Eagle Mountain, but also because we know Jesse Munoz and his construction team from prior projects that we've been involved with. This team has a solid track record and many decades of experience building mines, which is a unique offering for a junior gold producer and one that we believe is a great fit for our phased development plans at Eagle Mountain."

Goldsource Chief Executive Officer, Steve Parsons, P.Eng, stated, "The business combination with Mako offers Goldsource shareholders direct exposure to gold production and cash flow from the San Albino mine. The significant broadening of technical bandwidth, including Mako's mine development and construction expertise, is expected to expedite the timeline for establishing the Eagle Mountain Project as a near-term, low capital intensity development opportunity. Additionally, the business combination affords Goldsource shareholders exposure to Mako's aggressive exploration program at the high-grade San Albino mine and to the district-scale exploration potential which covers 28 km of prospective strike."

Benefits to Goldsource Shareholders:

Meaningful upfront premium of approximately 40.9% based on spot and approximately 52.1% based on Mako's and Goldsource's 20-day volume-weighted average price on the TSX Venture Exchange (the " TSXV ") as at March 25, 2024

Clear path to over 100,000 ounces per year of gold production with a demonstrated record of fiscal discipline and history of shareholder value creation

Access to a strong balance sheet and robust cash flow generation to rapidly advance Eagle Mountain while funding exploration initiatives

Exposure to the San Albino-Murra gold district with over 28 km of strike length, with orogenic style gold mineralization across hundreds of targets identified within the ~188 km 2 land package

Backing by key strategic investors, notably Wexford, which will be providing the Bridge Loan to fund near-term anticipated activities at Eagle Mountain

With the consolidation of management and resources, Goldsource's shareholders gain exposure to an accelerated timeline to Eagle Mountain development by securing access to a well-capitalized gold producer with mine building expertise

Benefits to Mako Shareholders:

Addition of a high-quality gold asset in Guyana, a mining friendly country undergoing rapid growth and development, which is expected to enhance Mako's operating platform

Exposure to robust project economics from the January 2024 PEA outlining an after-tax IRR of 57% and an after-tax NPV discounted at 5% of US$292M 2

Jurisdiction diversification reducing risk concentration associated with individual projects or regions

Exposure to an expected 15-year mine life, with a phased development plan and resources of 1,183,000 ounces of gold grading 1.18 g/t in indicated mineral resources, and an additional 582,000 ounces of gold grading 0.98 g/t in inferred mineral resources 3 .

Accretive on key operating and financial per share metrics

Transaction Terms

Pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Arrangement Agreement, the holders of the issued and outstanding Goldsource Shares will receive 0.2200 of a common share of Mako (each whole share, a "Mako Share") for each Goldsource Share held (the "Exchange Ratio"). Goldsource stock options ("Goldsource Options") that are outstanding immediately prior to the completion of the Transaction shall immediately vest and be exchanged for replacement options of Mako exercisable to acquire Mako Shares in accordance with the Exchange Ratio. Outstanding warrants of Goldsource will become exercisable, based on the Exchange Ratio, to purchase Mako Shares on substantially the same terms and conditions. The Transaction will be carried out by way of a court-approved plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia).

Upon completion of the Transaction, Mako will continue to be listed as a Tier 1 mining issuer on the TSXV under the same name and ticker symbol (MKO), and its common shares will continue to be quoted on the OTCQX under the same ticker symbol (MAKOF). Upon completion of the Transaction, the existing shareholders of Mako will own approximately 84% of Mako and the existing shareholders of Goldsource will own approximately 16% of Mako. As a result of the Transaction, Wexford's current ownership of Mako will be reduced from approximately 54.5% to approximately 45.6%.

The Arrangement Agreement contains customary deal-protection provisions including mutual non-solicitation covenants and a right of either party to match a superior proposal as defined in the Arrangement Agreement. Under certain circumstances, Mako or Goldsource may be entitled to a termination fee of C$1,350,000.

Officers and directors of Goldsource which hold approximately 4.5% of the outstanding Goldsource Shares and approximately 67.8% of the outstanding Goldsource Options, have entered into voting support agreements pursuant to which they have agreed, among other things, to vote their Goldsource Shares and Goldsource Options in favour of the Transaction.

Complete details of the Transaction will be included in a management information circular to be prepared by Goldsource and delivered to Goldsource securityholders in the coming weeks.

None of the securities to be issued pursuant to the Transaction have been or will be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws, and any securities issuable in the Transaction are anticipated to be issued in reliance upon available exemptions from such registration requirements pursuant to Section 3(a)(10) of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable exemptions under state securities laws. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities.

Conditions to Completion

The completion of the Transaction is subject to a number of terms and conditions, including without limitation the following: (a) approval of the Goldsource securityholders, as described below; (b) approval of the TSXV; (c) approval of the British Columbia Supreme Court; (d) there being no material adverse changes in respect of either Mako or Goldsource; and other standard conditions of closing for a transaction of this nature. There can be no assurance that all of the necessary approvals will be obtained or that all conditions of closing will be satisfied.

The Transaction is subject to the approval at a special meeting of Goldsource securityholders by (i) 662/3% of the votes cast by Goldsource shareholders, (ii) 662/3% of the votes cast by Goldsource shareholders and optionholders, voting as a single class, and (iii) a simple majority of the votes cast by Goldsource shareholders, excluding the votes cast by certain persons as required by Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions.

Bridge Loan

Concurrent with the execution of the Arrangement Agreement, Wexford, Mako's largest shareholder, provided Goldsource with the Bridge Loan in the amount of C$2,000,000 to fund anticipated activities of Goldsource at Eagle Mountain between the date hereof and the closing of the Transaction. The Bridge Loan is unsecured and will bear interest at a rate of 12% per annum, payable semi-annually, and will mature on March 26, 2025 (the "Maturity Date"). In the event that the Transaction has not been completed prior to the Maturity Date (other than as a result of a superior proposal of Mako or material breach by Mako of its representations, warranties and covenants under the Arrangement Agreement), the Bridge Loan will be repayable by Goldsource at 105% of par value, plus accrued interest.

Board of Directors and Management

Upon closing of the Transaction, the board of directors of Mako (the "Resulting Board") is expected to be comprised of seven (7) members, including two (2) nominees from Goldsource. Akiba Leisman will continue in his role as CEO of Mako, and Steve Parsons, current CEO of Goldsource, will become President of Mako. The head office will continue to be in Vancouver, Canada.

The Resulting Board is expected to be led by Eric Fier, as non-executive chairman, and is anticipated to include John Hick, Mario Caron, John Pontius, and a second Goldsource Nominee as independent directors, and Akiba Leisman and Paul Jacobi as non-independent directors. Mako also anticipates the addition of Mr. Ioannis Tsitos (currently President of Goldsource) and Rael Lipson (currently an independent director of Mako) in a technical advisory role.

Transaction Timeline

Pursuant to the Arrangement Agreement and subject to satisfying all necessary conditions and receipt of all required approvals, the parties anticipate completion of the Transaction in Q2 2024. Following completion of the Transaction, Goldsource Shares will be de-listed from the TSXV and Goldsource will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mako and cease to be a reporting issuer under Canadian securities laws.

Recommendations by the Boards of Directors and Fairness Opinions

After consultation with its financial and legal advisors, the board of directors of Mako unanimously approved the entering into of the Arrangement Agreement. Eight Capital provided a fairness opinion to the board of directors of Mako, stating that, as of the date of such opinion and based upon and subject to the assumptions, limitations and qualifications stated in such opinion, the consideration to be paid by Mako is fair, from a financial point of view, to Mako.

After consultation with its financial and legal advisors, the board of directors of Goldsource (the "Goldsource Board") unanimously approved the entering into of the Arrangement Agreement. The Goldsource Board recommends that Goldsource securityholders vote in favour of the Transaction. SCP Resource Finance LP provided a fairness opinion to the Goldsource Board, stating that, as of the date of such opinion and based upon and subject to the assumptions, limitations and qualifications stated in such opinion, the consideration to be received by Goldsource shareholders under the Transaction is fair, from a financial point of view, to such Goldsource shareholders.

Advisors and Counsel

Eight Capital is acting as financial advisor to Mako, and Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP is acting as legal counsel to Mako.

SCP Resource Finance LP is acting as financial advisor to Goldsource, and Koffman Kalef LLP is acting as legal counsel to Goldsource.

Qualified Persons

John Rust, SME, is a "qualified person" within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this news release on behalf of Mako. Mr. Rust has verified the data disclosed in this news release and no limitations were imposed on his verifications process.

Eric Fier, CPG, P.Eng, Executive Chairman of Goldsource, is a "qualified person" within the meaning of NI 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this news release on behalf of Goldsource. Mr. Fier has verified the data disclosed in this news release and no limitations were imposed on his verifications process.

Mr. Fier has also reviewed the technical report entitled "Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Eagle Mountain Gold Project, Guyana" dated March 1, 2024, with an effective date of January 16, 2024, which is available under Goldsource's profile at www.sedarplus.ca, on behalf of Mako. To the best of Mako's knowledge, information, and belief, there is no new material scientific or technical information that would make the disclosure of the PEA inaccurate or misleading.

About Mako

Mako Mining Corp. is a publicly listed gold mining, development and exploration company. The Company operates the high-grade San Albino gold mine in Nueva Segovia, Nicaragua, which ranks as one of the highest-grade open pit gold mines globally. Mako's primary objective is to operate San Albino profitably and fund exploration of prospective targets on its district-scale land package.

About Goldsource

Goldsource Mines Inc. (www.goldsourcemines.com) is a Canadian exploration company focused on the 100%-owned Eagle Mountain gold project in Guyana, South America. The Company is led by an experienced management team, proven in making precious metals exploration discoveries and executing on phased project development in the Americas.

For further information about Mako, please contact Akiba Leisman, Chief Executive Officer, at (917) 558-5289 or aleisman@makominingcorp.com, or visit our website at www.makominingcorp.com and our profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.

For further information about Goldsource, please contact Steve Parsons, Chief Executive Officer, at (604) 694-1760 or info@goldsourcemines.com, or visit our website at www.goldsourcemines.com and our profile on SEDAR+ www.sedarplus.ca.

Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-Looking information may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "targets", "expects", "is expected", "scheduled", "estimates", "outlook", "forecasts", "projection", "prospects", "strategy", "intends", "anticipates", "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or terminology which states that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "will", "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-Looking information in this news release includes: expected timing and completion of the Transaction; the strengths, characteristics and expected benefits and synergies of the Transaction; receipt of court approval; approval of the Transaction by Goldsource securityholders at the special meeting of Goldsource securityholders; obtaining TSXV acceptance to complete the Transaction; the anticipated timing of the special meeting of Goldsource securityholders to vote on the Transaction and the related management information circular; the expected delisting of the Goldsource Shares from the TSXV; the composition of the post-Transaction Mako board and management team; expectations regarding the potential benefits and synergies of the Transaction and the ability of the combined company to successfully achieve business objectives, including integrating the companies or the effects of unexpected costs, liabilities or delays; expectations regarding mineral resources, results of the PEA and future production; expectations regarding financial strength, free cash flow generation, trading liquidity, and capital markets profile; expectations regarding future exploration and development, growth potential for Mako's and Goldsource's operations; availability of the exemption under Section 3(a)(10) of the U.S. Securities Act to the securities issuable in the Transaction; and the companies' assessments of, and expectations for, future business activities and operating performance. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, intentions, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including information in this news release regarding the Transaction, contain forward-looking information. Statements containing forward-looking information are not historical facts but instead represent the companies' expectations, estimates and projections regarding possible future events or circumstances. The forward-looking information included in this news release is based on the companies' opinions, estimates and assumptions in light of their experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, their assumptions regarding the Transaction (including, but not limited to, their ability to close the Transaction on the terms contemplated, and to derive the anticipated benefits therefrom), as well as other factors that they currently believe are appropriate and reasonable in the circumstances. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is also based upon a number of assumptions, including the companies' ability to obtain the required securityholder, court and regulatory approvals in a timely matter, if at all; their ability to satisfy the terms and conditions precedent of the Arrangement Agreement in order to consummate the Transaction; assumptions in respect of current and future market conditions and the execution of the companies' business strategies, that operations in Mako's and Goldsource's properties will continue without interruption, and the absence of any other factors that could cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated, intended or implied. Despite a careful process to prepare and review the forward-looking information, there can be no assurance that the underlying opinions, estimates and assumptions will prove to be correct. Forward-Looking information is also subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to, failure to receive the required securityholder, court, regulatory and other approvals necessary to effect the Transaction; the potential for a third party to make a superior proposal to the Transaction; that Mako and its shareholders will not realize the anticipated benefits following the completion of the Transaction; that the special meeting of Goldsource securityholders to vote on the Transaction will not occur at the anticipated timeframe; that Goldsource will be unable to repay the Bridge Loan, and those set forth under the caption "Risk and Uncertainties" in Mako's management's discussion and analysis for the nine months ended September 30, 2023, Goldsource's management's discussion and analysis for the nine months ended September 30, 2023, and other documents filed with or submitted to the Canadian securities regulatory authorities on the SEDAR+ website at www.sedarplus.ca.

Although the companies have attempted to identify important risk factors that could cause actual results or future events to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other risk factors not presently known to them or that they presently believe are not material that could also cause actual results or future events to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking information. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information, which speaks only as of the date made. The forward-looking information contained in this news release represents the companies' expectations as of the date of this news release and is subject to change after such date. Mako and Goldsource each disclaim any intention or obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. All of the forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by the foregoing cautionary statements.

1 The PEA is preliminary in nature and includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the preliminary economic assessment will be realized. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. For additional information see the NI-43101 technical report entitled "Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Eagle Mountain Gold Project, Guyana" dated March 1, 2024, with an effective date of January 16, 2024, which is available under Goldsource's profile at www.sedarplus.ca.

2 See note 1.

3 For additional information see the technical report entitled "Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Eagle Mountain Gold Project, Guyana" dated March 1, 2024, with an effective date of January 16, 2024, which is available under Goldsource's profile at www.sedarplus.ca.

Not for distribution to U.S. newswire services or dissemination in the United States



To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/203108
Salt Lake City entrepreneur celebrated for exceptional leadership among top Utah executives

SALT LAKE CITY, March 26, 2024--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nursa, a nationwide platform that exists to put a nurse at the bedside of every patient in need, today announced that its Founder and CEO, Curtis Anderson, has been named a CEO of the Year by Utah Business, a premier publication covering tech and entrepreneurial interests.

Each year, Utah Business recognizes CEOs who have fostered innovation and growth within their companies and their respective industries. In addition to their organizations success, CEO of the Year honorees are also acknowledged for their positive impact on the community and across Utah.

Inspired by his love for technology and a desire to disrupt the status quo, Anderson launched Nursa  a digital marketplace headquartered in SLC that provides a hyper-local platform approach to meeting nurse staffing needs in communities nationwide  in 2019. Drawing upon his prior entrepreneurial experience to secure startup funding, he realized his vision for an ecosystem that offers increased flexibility and improved working conditions for nurses as well as tech-enabled solutions for hospitals and post-acute facilities seeking qualified caregivers.

"Its an honor to be recognized alongside Utahs most innovative and passionate leaders who are driving tangible and essential change in the state and across the country," said Anderson. "What Nursa has been able to achieve in the last four years has been a true team effort. We are galvanized by the goal of ensuring our nations nurses have the flexibility and opportunities they need to flourish and that patients have the bedside care they deserve."

CEO of the Year honorees are featured in the 2024 March issue of Utah Business. To view the full honoree list, click here. To learn more about Nursa, please visit Nursa.com.

About Nursa

Nursa is a nationwide platform that exists to put a nurse at the bedside of every patient in need quickly and safely, removing the financial strain and operational gaps of traditional staffing methods. Nursas real-time technology enables hospitals, health systems, skilled nursing facilities and community organizations to easily secure qualified, local nursing talent for per diem shifts. Founded in 2019 and built on the bedrock granite of Lake Bonneville in Salt Lake City, Nursa is trusted by a growing community of more than 1,500 facilities and 229,000 nurses nationwide and is accredited by The Joint Commission. For more information, visit Nursa.com.

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View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240326031682/en/

Contacts

Innsena for Nursa

nursa@innsena.com
When you buy a stock there is always a possibility that it could drop 100%. But on the bright side, you can make far more than 100% on a really good stock. One great example is Oil-Dri Corporation of America (NYSE:ODC) which saw its share price drive 137% higher over five years. And in the last month, the share price has gained 10%. We note that Oil-Dri Corporation of America reported its financial results recently; luckily, you can catch up on the latest revenue and profit numbers in our company report.

So let's investigate and see if the longer term performance of the company has been in line with the underlying business' progress.

See our latest analysis for Oil-Dri Corporation of America

To paraphrase Benjamin Graham: Over the short term the market is a voting machine, but over the long term it's a weighing machine. By comparing earnings per share (EPS) and share price changes over time, we can get a feel for how investor attitudes to a company have morphed over time.

During five years of share price growth, Oil-Dri Corporation of America achieved compound earnings per share (EPS) growth of 35% per year. This EPS growth is higher than the 19% average annual increase in the share price. So it seems the market isn't so enthusiastic about the stock these days.

You can see how EPS has changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).

Before buying or selling a stock, we always recommend a close examination of historic growth trends, available here.

What About Dividends?

It is important to consider the total shareholder return, as well as the share price return, for any given stock. The TSR is a return calculation that accounts for the value of cash dividends (assuming that any dividend received was reinvested) and the calculated value of any discounted capital raisings and spin-offs. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. We note that for Oil-Dri Corporation of America the TSR over the last 5 years was 175%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. And there's no prize for guessing that the dividend payments largely explain the divergence!

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A Different Perspective

It's good to see that Oil-Dri Corporation of America has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 95% in the last twelve months. Of course, that includes the dividend. That's better than the annualised return of 22% over half a decade, implying that the company is doing better recently. In the best case scenario, this may hint at some real business momentum, implying that now could be a great time to delve deeper. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 1 warning sign with Oil-Dri Corporation of America , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

Of course Oil-Dri Corporation of America may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of growth stocks.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on American exchanges.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
At its March 20 meeting, the Park Ridge City Council approved spending for the creation of the Uptown Master Plan and additional security features for City Hall.

In similar fashion to what neighboring suburbs have done by hiring architectural firms for design work in comprehensive master plans, the Park Ridge Council approved a $22,200 contract with a Chicago-based architectural firm to draw up a comprehensive master plan for Park Ridges Uptown central business district, and also approved nearly $90,000 for a contract for security upgrades to City Hall, using the same firm that designed the fire station near Cumberland and Devon Avenues.

City staff put out a request for bidders for the redesign of the Uptown area on Feb. 1, and directly reached out to 10 firms, according to Community Preservation and Development Director Drew Awsumb. According to city documents, Farr Associates was the only firm to bid on the master plan. Farr Associates would be responsible for creating technical graphics, maps and diagrams to illustrate a draft of the Uptown Master Plan document.

When asked why only one firm was bidding on the Uptown master plan, Awsumb said the Park Ridge plan was short-term and had a smaller budget of $25,000. He referenced Evanstons comprehensive plan update, for which the city paid around $750,000 to hire HDR Inc., and the Village of Niles 2040 Comprehensive Plan, which cost the village $150,000 to hire the Lakota Group.

In Park Ridge, we did almost all of the work ourselves, in-house, and with the elected and appointed officials, too. We feel that creates implementable, locally-specific ideas and recommendations in the plan, Awsumb wrote in an email. We need help drawing graphics, maps, diagrams and renderings that visualize and communicate the goals and objectives in the plan, he added.

According to Farrs website, Farr has experience in master plans for the Lathrop Homes on Chicagos North Side, a former Chicago Housing Authority property, a transit-oriented development for the Village of Wheeling and the Uptown Circle for the Town of Normal.

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At the State of the City address in February, Mayor Marty Maloney said that there would be safety improvements coming to City Hall. Weve had a couple incidents over the last couple of years Its a pretty open environment  open counters  and things like that So were gonna take some steps to make that a little bit more secure for our employees, Maloney said.

According to city documents, three bidders applied to provide construction management services for security upgrades at City Hall. Cordogan Clark, the firm hired by the city to redesign Fire Station 35 and oversee the construction of it, was recommended by city staff and tentatively approved by the City Council to design the safety features per a contract worth $89,498. Two other bidders also submitted their proposals at $193,320 and $139,745.

Cordogan Clark also scored the highest on the staffs evaluation for the project, based on criteria centered on experience, quality and relevance, detailed outline and approach to project activities, overall plan for continuity of City Hall operations and overall project costs.
BANGKOK, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- PepsiCo, a global leader in convenient foods and beverages, has reached a significant milestone in its vision of a digitalised future, having recently partnered with Dematic to integrate automation as a central feature of its expanded production and logistics facility in Rojana, Thailand.

PepsiCo Rojana Warehouse

PepsiCo's Rojana facility is a critical regional hub that produces a variety of products. With a growing demand for its products in Thailand, PepsiCo recognised the necessity to build capacity in both production and logistics.

Colin Matthews, Supply Chain Senior Director  IndoChina Foods, PepsiCo, says, "Rojana is one of our biggest plants, and it also has several different product platforms. We have potato chips, we have Stax-brand chips, and we have Fry Pack in extruded products as well. Those products are made at Rojana and are not only distributed nationally across Thailand, but also internationally to Vietnam and other neighbouring countries."

To support PepsiCo's growth and address space constraints and labour challenges, Dematic worked closely with PepsiCo to develop an automation solution to address their storage, throughput capacity, and productivity needs in their logistics operations. The solution centres around an Automated Storage and Retrieval System (AS/RS) with a direct link to both the production and order fulfilment areas.

"We foresee a manpower shortage being a major challenge for our local operations in Thailand," explains Charan Techapattaraporn, Logistics Manager, PepsiCo. "Automation, therefore, is the perfect solution to take on this challenge, whilst also improving our facility operations across the board."

The AS/RS stores pallets within five aisles of double-deep, high-bay racking with a total of 16,520 pallet locations. A network of pallet conveyors and Rail-Guided Vehicles (RGVs) receives pallets automatically at the end of the production lines and transports them for storage, then directs them from storage to despatch docks or to automatically replenished pick locations for full-case order picking. The solution includes Dematic Warehouse Control System (WCS) software to manage all the automation, the material flow, and the inventory as well as to provide real-time tracking and visibility of all transactions.

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"The AS/RS is at the heart of PepsiCo's strategy to enhance its production and logistics efficiency at the Rojana facility," says Phamondate Rukdee, Sales Manager, Dematic Thailand. "It provides an extremely space efficient way to store products between when they are manufactured and when they need to be assembled and despatched for delivery to customers."

The Dematic AS/RS provides fully automated high-density, high-throughput storage for pallets. It provides complete and real-time visibility of overall inventory, delivering the highest level of accuracy so stock cannot be lost or forgotten. With minimum manual handling needed, product damage and the associated cost and waste are also significantly reduced.

"Previously we had a very manual solution that took a lot of time for people to go around and understand exactly what products we had in the warehouse. In contrast, the Dematic solution is very intuitive. It enables our team to look across the whole of the AS/RS and understand exactly where we have the stock, and they can intuitively and quickly make any adjustments they need to. The AS/RS has more than doubled our capacity and the automation takes us away from the very manual operation we had before. This allows us to supply goods to customers with greater efficiency, leaving them very satisfied," explains Matthews.

Beyond the benefits described above, the Dematic AS/RS solution also improves warehouse operator safety by dramatically reducing the amount of forklift trucks and other materials handling equipment such as pallet movers, which in turn has reduced accidents, damage, and injuries to people and equipment.

The Dematic solution is designed with the future in mind and can be expanded to accommodate additional growth and adapted to changing business requirements.

"The partnership between PepsiCo and Dematic exemplifies the potential of automation to enhance operational efficiency and safety while also laying a solid foundation for sustained growth. Together, we have achieved great results and positioned PepsiCo for an even stronger future," concludes Rukdee.

To learn more about the pivotal role automation is playing within PepsiCo's Rojana facility visit dematic.com to view a video case study and to explore the technologies used in this project.

-ends-

About Dematic

Dematic designs, builds, and supports intelligent automated solutions empowering and sustaining the future of commerce for its customers in manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution. With research and development engineering centres, manufacturing facilities, and service centres located in more than 26 countries, the Dematic global network of over 10,000 employees has helped achieve successful customer installations for some of the world's leading brands. Headquartered in Atlanta, Dematic is a member of KION Group, one of the world's leading suppliers of industrial trucks and supply chain solutions. https://www.dematic.com

Disclaimer

This release and the information contained herein are for information purposes only and do not constitute a prospectus or an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in the United States or in any other jurisdiction. This release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Future results could differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements due to certain factors, e.g., changes in business, economic and competitive conditions, regulatory reforms, results of technical studies, foreign exchange rate fluctuations, uncertainties in litigation or investigative proceedings and the availability of financing. We do not undertake any responsibility to update the forward-looking statements in this release.

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As the firm continues to expand into the APAC markets, the appointment of George Khreish as Managing Partner in Australia underscores Info-Tech's commitment to delivering impactful, localised support through enhanced services. This strategic move will continue to foster technology-driven growth, resilience, and a competitive edge for IT leaders and organisations in the region.

SYDNEY, March 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In its commitment to extend service and impact across the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, Info-Tech Research Group, a globally recognised IT research and advisory firm, has announced the appointment of George Khreish as Managing Partner for APAC. This announcement underscores the firm's ongoing focus on guiding technology leaders through the transformative exponential IT era with unparalleled diagnostics, research, and expert insights tailored to the unique challenges and opportunities within APAC's diverse industries.

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Khreish's promotion is part of Info-Tech's broader strategy to deepen its engagement with key global markets and enhance its service offerings to meet the specific needs of organisations in Australia, New Zealand, and the broader APAC region. The firm is dedicated to helping its members across the world to leverage technology for growth, resilience, and sustained competitive advantage.

'George's exceptional leadership and tenure in senior CIO and technology roles positions him perfectly to help guide our APAC operations towards new heights of success,' says Byron Rudenno, Vice President, APAC, at Info-Tech Research Group. 'George's appointment is integral to our ongoing local expansion and efforts to meet the evolving needs of IT leaders within the region, providing them with thought leadership and actionable solutions to navigate the complexities of the digital age.'

As a change agent and innovator, Khreish has consistently led transformations to foster growth and enhance user experiences. As Managing Partner for the firm's APAC team, Khreish will support Info-Tech's mission to equip IT leaders in the region with the tools and insights necessary for achieving exceptional operational efficiency and fostering innovation.

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'In the past year at Info-Tech, we have significantly advanced in the way we serve our clients across the APAC region,' states George Khreish, the newly appointed Managing Partner, APAC. 'Our commitment to delivering actionable, research-backed solutions to transform complex challenges into tangible outcomes has been the cornerstone of our success. As we continue on this trajectory, I am deeply committed to enhancing our value proposition and ensuring that our clients and their teams have the tools and insights necessary to move their organisations forward. It's an exhilarating time to lead our APAC Advisory team, and I look forward to contributing to our collective achievements.'

Khreish brings to the role a deep understanding of both regional and global technology landscapes as well as experience in various industries, including the financial, media, retail, and technology sectors. With a proven track record of excellence in his role as Executive Counselor and previous experience as a CIO, CEO, and advisory board member, Khreish has driven success through product innovation, market expansion, and team motivation. His expertise in integrating Agile and Lean methodologies into business strategies has empowered organisations to swiftly adapt and thrive in competitive markets.

Info-Tech Research Group provides practical research and advisory services to support IT leaders and their teams in executing on their key initiatives. With over 25 years of deep industry experience and a localised perspective, the firm plans to continue to expand and invest in the region to help organisations succeed.

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 organisations.

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 pr@infotech.com.

For information about Info-Tech Research Group or to access the latest research, visit infotech.com and connect via LinkedIn and X.

Media Contact, Sufyan Al-Hassan, Senior PR Manager, Info-Tech Research Group, salhassan@infotech.com | +1 (888) 670-8889 x2418

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SOURCE Info-Tech Research Group
The Social Security war is on, as it is during every presidential election. The format is always the same: Democrats say Republicans want to wreck the popular retirement plan for seniors, while Republicans say Democrats want to keep the program going through unsustainable tax increases that will kneecap the entire US economy.

Its mostly gobbledygook, on both sides. But theres an important grain of truth in the latest Republican plan to shore up Social Security, which President Biden calls extreme. Its not extreme at all. Its actually sensible  and inevitable.

The Republican Study Committee (RSC), which represents most Republicans in the House of Representatives, recently published its blueprint for federal spending in 2025. One measure would be modest adjustments to the retirement age determining eligibility for Social Security to account for increases in life expectancy.

Sound crazy? It shouldnt, because it has happened before. In 1983, Congress passed legislation gradually raising the retirement age to qualify for full Social Security benefits from 65 to 67, over a span of 30 years. During the same period that the Social Security retirement age rose by two years, US life expectancy rose by more than four.

Biden, however, called the GOP proposal an extreme budget" that would cut Social Security and healthcare benefits for millions. "I will stop them," he declared. Other Democrats are piling on. Bidens close ally, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, lambasted the RSC targets as cruel and said they read like a wish list for Donald Trump and the GOP hard right. Instead of any changes to benefits or eligibility, Biden and his fellow Democrats want to raise taxes on businesses and the wealthy to keep Social Security fully funded.

Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) speaks during the Republican Study Committee news conference to unveil their FY2025 budget proposal in the US Capitol on Thursday, March 21, 2024. (Bill Clark via Getty Images)

This, in a microcosm, is why Washington never solves solvable problems until its nearly too late. Each side vilifies the other and the mudslinging makes it impossible for ordinary voters to know whats logical and pragmatic. Incendiary politicians appeal to fear rather than common sense, and a lot of the time it works.

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Back to Social Security. Within the next 10 years, the program is likely to run short of the money needed to pay all benefits in full. Thats because it will exhaust the Social Security trust funds, which are basically banked money, leaving only incoming payroll taxes to cover benefits. At the same time, enrollment in the program is swelling, and a declining birth rate is leaving fewer working people to pay for retiree benefits. Without any changes, the program will only be able to pay about 75% of obligated benefits by 2033, according to the latest estimates.

Medicare, the health program for seniors, is in a similar position, for similar reasons. That could actually run short of money a couple of years sooner than Social Security, with 2031 being the latest estimate of D-Year.

There are three ways to address these imminent funding shortfalls: Raise the taxes that pay for Social Security and Medicare, reduce benefits, or redirect money from general tax revenues to retiree programs. The last option would cause other problems, such as leaving far less money for all the other things the government pays for and pushing up the national debt when its already uncomfortably large.

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That leaves tax hikes and benefit cuts. Whenever Congress gets around to it, bolstering Social Security and Medicare will almost certainly require both. There are many proposals for how to do this. The compromise position is likely to involve gradually increasing the retirement age again, as Republicans want to do, while also raising the payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare, as Biden wants to do. The bar for eligibility could go higher, to exclude wealthier Americans who dont need the money. Tweaking other benefits could help close other budgetary gaps.

Political reality will likely prevent any changes that drastically harm voters. Any tax hikes will start with the wealthy first, such as lifting the ceiling on the Social Security payroll tax, which currently applies only to the first $168,600 in income. In fact, one progressive change would be lifting the income ceiling, so the payroll tax applies to all income, while exempting workers below a certain threshold from paying any payroll tax at all.

Any change in the eligibility age will occur gradually, as it did before. Any outright reductions in benefits would likely apply to future generations, not to people currently enrolled in the programs. Thats a time-tested way to ensure nobody loses anything they already have, which tends to upset voters, and especially seniors who vote in the highest numbers. It's less of a problem if it affects future beneficiaries who may not even be aware of the cutbacks.

Why dont politicians just come out and say, "This is what its going to take to solve our problems"? Because compromise solutions usually involve everybody giving up something, and most politicians are afraid to tell voters the truth. To some extent, thats rational. Democratic voters dont want to hear about benefit cuts, and Republican voters dont want to hear about tax increases. So their elected representatives tell them what they do want to hear.

When crunch time comes, and its no longer possible to delay the benefit cuts and tax hikes it will take to fix the nations retirement programs, politicians of both parties will tacitly admit the simple fixes they peddled for years were never going to be enough. By that time, however, they will have won another election, or two, or three, and theyll be telling themselves that fibbing to voters actually works.

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.

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(Bloomberg) -- Chinas efforts to counter the downbeat narrative about a structural slowdown in the worlds second-biggest economy got a boost from enthusiastic endorsements from chief executives of top global companies.

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Days after he opened an expansive new retail store in Shanghai and pledged a fresh investment in applied research in the country, Apple Inc. Chief Executive Tim Cook on Sunday gushed, I love it here, I love the Chinese people.

Its so vibrant and so dynamic here, Cook told journalists as he entered the opening session of the China Development Forum, a top annual gathering of business leaders and Chinese officials. Apple has faced expanding restrictions on iPhone use at government agencies and state-backed companies and sales of the smartphone tumbled 24% in the first six weeks of the year.

The CDF confab is one of a series this week that offer China a chance to rekindle overseas interest in the nation after an historic slump in foreign investment.

For global executives, the meetings are a chance to underscore interest in participating in the giant Chinese market despite deepening geopolitical tensions and moves in China to favor local competitors. Pfizer Inc. CEO Albert Bourla called China an extremely attractive place. Nestle SAs Mark Schneider lauded plans to boost Chinese consumption.

Premier Li Qiang delivered an address in the Sunday session, assuring attendees at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse that Chinas economic recovery has been improving, while recognizing some challenges. Later this week, Beijing hosts the Invest in China summit, followed by the annual Boao Forum for Asia on the southern resort island of Hainan.

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Read More: Chinas Premier Says Nation Off to Good Start on 2024 Goals

The glowing remarks by foreign CEOs featured in posts on social media by Hua Chunying, an assistant foreign minister, to her 2.4 million followers on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The China Development Forum, which ended Monday, attracted 81 global CEOs to attend in person, largely rebounding to pre-pandemic levels. Lis speech marked an upgrade of sorts  its usually a vice premier who delivers the keynote address  marking a contrast to the premiers cancellation of a high-profile annual press conference involving the international press earlier this month. A report that Li wouldnt attend a closed-door meeting with the foreign CEOs also spurred questions about his influence.

Scott Kennedy, a China specialist at Washingtons Center for Strategic and International Studies who attended the opening session, offered a mixed review.

Lis address was reassuring about demonstrating the Chinese government knows how serious domestic problems they face are  and the difficult geopolitical environment, Kennedy said. But there was still insufficient specifics and details around what changes to domestic policy theyll make, and really no recognition that Chinese policies are generating global anxieties and increasing geostrategic tensions, he said.

President Xi Jinping may offer his own remarks to executives later this week, with a potential sit-down on Wednesday. Meantime, Vice President Han Zheng is scheduled to speak at the Invest In China summit Tuesday.

For now, overseas business representatives were happy to endorse the messages received.

Read More: Chinas Inbound Investment Slows Again Despite Beijings Efforts

Nestles Schneider said Lis remarks on access for international companies and on bringing back domestic consumption were music to our ears. Bourla of Pfizer praised China for having a coherent, cohesive plan.

The Peoples Daily newspaper, an official mouthpiece for the Chinese Communist Party, touted the recent flurry of visits by foreign executives in a page-3 commentary on Monday that proclaimed the country as an indispensable market.

While International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva called at the forum Sunday for more pro-market reforms, the Peoples Daily characterized them as a nod to Chinas new-era of high-quality growth.

The IMF chief was joined at the forum by World Bank President Ajay Banga, helping add to an appearance of re-engagement between Washington and Beijing months after the US-China presidential summit in San Francisco. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen last year said the IMF and World Bank reflect American values. Yellen herself is expected to return for a visit to Beijing soon.

It marked a notable shift from last year, when a number of overseas corporate leaders were hesitant to attend the forum amid an escalation in US-China tensions.

It was very important to have the premier here and speaking to business directly, said Sean Stein, chair of the American Chamber of Commerce China. The China Development Forum was always seen as the premiers platform to talk with businesses on whats happening in the economy, and that exchange goes all the way back to Zhu Rongji days, he said, referring to a pro-reform former premier.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: The company logo for United Parcel Service (UPS), is displayed on a screen at the NYSE in New York

By Kannaki Deka

(Reuters) -United Parcel Service forecast 2026 total revenue above estimates on Tuesday, as the world's largest parcel delivery company unveiled a three-year plan prioritizing high-margin parcels and aggressive cost-cutting.

Shares of the company still dropped 8.2% in afternoon trade.

"The shares were down ... suggesting 2026 guidance was slightly worse than investor expectations (including anticipated capital spending) or the market is questioning that outlook," Morningstar analyst Matthew Young said in a note.

Following a post-pandemic slowdown in e-commerce demand, the package delivery firm intends to lean on its healthcare logistics segment and small- and medium business customers to drive volume and margin growth.

"After coming off a difficult market in 2023, the small package industry is poised to return to growth in 2024 and beyond," UPS CEO Carol Tome said on Tuesday.

Over the next three years, the company expects to spend about $6 billion on its plan, dubbed "Network of the Future", to further automate its facilities and using robotics to bag and sort packages.

"This will enable us to reduce our reliance on labor and drive the productivity flywheel, which should translate into about $3 billion in savings over 5 years with half of that by 2026," UPS CFO Brian Newman said.

Earlier this year, UPS had forecast 2024 revenue below Wall Street's target amid weak demand from its retail, manufacturing and high tech customers.

The company forecast 2026 revenue between $108 billion and $114 billion, above LSEG estimates of $102.12 billion. It expects to reach a consolidated adjusted operating margin growth of 13% by 2026.

Atlanta-based UPS said it expects total capital expenditures from 2024 to 2026 to be between $17 billion and $18 billion, about 5.5% of total revenue.

(Reporting by Kannaki Deka in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Devika Syamnath)
(Bloomberg) -- The US and UK accused state-backed Chinese hackers of targeting politicians, companies and dissidents for years, as well as stealing troves of British voter data, in the latest revelation of cyberattacks that Washington and its allies have linked to President Xi Jinpings government.

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US officials said seven Chinese nationals targeted members of Congress and officials working at the White House and agencies including the Justice Department, as well as candidates, campaign staff and US companies. The hackers, part of a state-sponsored group known as APT31, have been charged with conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Both the US and UK announced sanctions against two of those individuals, as well as a firm in Wuhan, China, called Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology Co. The US alleged it was a front that has served as cover for multiple malicious cyber operations and the hackers had worked there as contractors.

The UK also accused China of accessing details of some 40 million voters held by the Electoral Commission, according to Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden.

Read More: UK Sanctions China Individuals Over Hacks to Vote Watchdog, MPs

The revelations Monday add to a growing list of cybersecurity breaches that the US and its allies say are backed by the Chinese government as part of a broader strategic and economic competition worldwide.

New Zealand also established links between a state-sponsored actor linked to the Chinese government and malicious cyber activity targeting parliamentary activities there, Judith Collins, the minister responsible for the Government Communications Security Bureau, said Tuesday in Wellington. She said a compromise of the Parliamentary Counsel Office and the Parliamentary Service in 2021 was resolved quickly.

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China disputed the claims, with a foreign ministry official in Beijing calling the UKs accusations disinformation and a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington saying in a statement that the US has jumped to an unwarranted conclusion and made groundless accusations.

In January, the FBI said that it had dismantled infrastructure used by a Chinese state-backed group named Volt Typhoon, which targeted the US power grid and pipelines. Last October, security officials from the so-called Five Eyes  the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada  raised alarm about Chinese hacking and espionage in media interviews and public appearances. In 2015, security researchers suspected Beijing was behind the theft of more than 22 million US security clearance records.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Monday that an increasingly assertive Chinas support for the hacks present an epoch-defining challenge and the greatest state-based threat to our economic security. The head of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, Christopher Wray, called them continuous and brash efforts to undermine our nations cybersecurity and target Americans and our innovation.

Malicious Emails

According to US authorities, some of the hacking activity successfully compromised the targets networks, email accounts, cloud storage accounts and telephone call records, with some surveillance of compromised email accounts lasting years.

The hacking campaign involved more than 10,000 malicious emails sent to targets that often appeared to be from prominent news outlets or journalists and appeared to contain legitimate news articles, US authorities said. The emails contained hidden tracking links that would allow information about the recipient, including their location and devices used to access email, to be transmitted to a server controlled by the defendants and others that they were working with.

That information was the used by the group to carry out more sophisticated hacking, the US Justice Department said, including compromising home routers and other electronic devices.

Among the more alarming allegations, the US said that the hackers began targeting email accounts belonging to several senior campaign staff members for an unnamed presidential candidate in about May 2020. By that November, the hackers had sent emails containing tracking links to targets associated with additional political campaigns, including a retired senior US government national security official, according to the indictment.

US companies in the defense, information technology, telecommunications, manufacturing and trade, finance, consulting, legal and research industries were targeted by the group, and the victims include a provider of 5G network equipment in the US, an Alabama-based research corporation in the aerospace and defense industries and a Maryland-based professional support services company, according to the US.

In the UK, the National Cyber Security Centre said its almost certain APT31 conducted reconnaissance activity against British parliamentarians during a separate campaign in 2021  though no parliamentary accounts were successfully compromised.

Britain summoned the Chinese ambassador in London, and Foreign Secretary David Cameron said in a separate statement that he raised the matter directly with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

For the UK, the episode marks an escalation in tensions that have been growing after Hong Kong passed security legislation that the UK says erodes freedoms in the city, contravening the handover deal signed between the two nations when governance of the territory was transferred to Beijing in 1997.

--With assistance from Ryan Gallagher, Daniel Flatley, Sana Pashankar, Isabella Ward, James Mayger and Matthew Brockett.

(Updates with New Zealand officials comment in sixth paragraph)

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Certified bus drivers and new candidates are encouraged to attend March 28 event

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Zum , Reading School District's new transportation partner beginning in the 2024-25 school year, will host a hiring event on Thursday, March 28, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at DoubleTree by Hilton Reading (701 Penn St., Reading, Pa., 19601). Certified bus drivers and attendants/monitors  as well as those considering a new career who have yet to be certified  are encouraged to attend.

Zum, Reading School Districts new transportation partner beginning in the 2024-25 school year, will host a hiring event on Thursday, March 28, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at DoubleTree by Hilton Reading (701 Penn St., Reading, Pa., 19601).

Zum offers higher wages and modern benefits for all drivers and staff, as well as top-of-the-line buses, equipment, and technology to enhance safety and comfort for students and drivers and make drivers' day-to-day jobs easier and more enjoyable. Advanced training and certification programs include extensive ongoing training in transporting students with diverse needs and disabilities.

"Drivers are at the center of what we do at Zum, and we take pride in putting in place a culture and program that ensures we are the employer of choice," said Ritu Narayan, Founder and CEO at Zum. "Zum has solved bus driver shortages in many of the districts that we serve, which brings peace of mind to families and schools."

"Zum drivers and staff in Reading will drive brand new buses, work at state-of-the-art bus yards and facilities and receive elevated pay and benefits," said Mike Bottino, Regional Manager for Zum's operations in Reading. "Everyone is welcome at Thursday's hiring event, and we are excited to build a top-notch team."

Zum is a "Great Places to Work" certified company and encourages all existing drivers as well as new candidates to attend. If you're interested in driving or know someone interested that cannot attend one of Zum's hiring events, please apply here .

Zum manages and operates student transportation in Massachusetts, Maryland, California, Washington, Texas, Illinois, and Tennessee with significant operations launching this year in Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Connecticut. To learn more about how Zum is working with thousands of schools across the nation to deliver safe, reliable and modern student transportation, please visit Zum's website .

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About Zum:

Zum has modernized student transportation, the nation's largest mass transit system, and developed sustainable ways to charge the grid. Zum's robust operations and integrated end-to-end cloud-based platform provides a modern student transportation service for school districts purpose-built around the needs of kids and the expectations of modern families. Zum provides one seamless, real-time interface for parents, drivers, schools, districts, administrators, and operators to transport children safely and with increased visibility and personalized care. Always investing in the wellbeing of communities, Zum is also the only carbon neutral student transportation provider in the nation with plans to go Net Zero with its transition to EV electric buses. Zum is available nationwide, serving more than 4,000 schools across the U.S. Learn more at www.ridezum.com .

CONTACT:

Jenny Mayfield, Vice President of Communications - press@ridezum.com

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A 71-year-old Spotsylvania man was struck in the road by a vehicle and died last week in Culpeper County.

Virginia State Police are investigating the fatal wreck that occurred at 9:49 p.m. March 20 on Route 229 (Rixeyville Road), just south of Route 621 (Colvin Road), according to a news release from state police spokesman Sgt. Brent Coffey.

A 2015 GMC Denali was traveling south on Route 229 when it struck a pedestrian walking southbound in the road, Coffey said. The GMC was unable to avoid the collision and immediately stopped at the scene.

The pedestrian was wearing dark non-reflective clothing and was not in a crosswalk, according to state police. The pedestrian died while being transported to Fauquier Health.

His identity is being withheld pending next of kin notification.

The driver of the GMC, an 83-year-old male from Washington, D.C., was not injured. The crash remains under investigation, Coffey said.

In another recent fatal crash involving a pedestrian, Virginia State Police are seeking the publics help in identifying a vehicle that struck a man Saturday on I-81 in Shenandoah County.

Senior Trooper M. Brill is investigating the hit-and-run that occurred between the hours of 5 and 6 a.m. at mile marker 296. A pedestrian was in the highway when he was struck by an unknown northbound vehicle, according to state police.

The pedestrian, an unknown adult male, died at the scene. His remains were transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Manassas for an examination, autopsy and positive identification.

The hit-and-run vehicle did not stop at the scene and could possibly have front-end damage, according to police.

The crash remains under investigation.

Anyone with information regarding this crash is encouraged to contact Virginia State Senior Trooper M. Brill at 540/459-5141 or questions@vsp.virginia.gov.
Tuesdays collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore will have a major impact on traffic that uses Interstate 695 in Maryland.

The bridge collapse will force around 34,000 vehicles per day, including a high volume of freight trucks, to use different routes for an undetermined amount of time.

The Key bridge, which carries I-695 traffic, spanned the Patapsco River and the outer Baltimore Harbor leading to the Port of Baltimore.

The Maryland Transportation Authority tweeted on X around 10:30 Tuesday morning warning travelers to avoid the I-695 southeast corridor. The MDTA added that I-695 Outer Loop was closed at exit 2 and the Inner Loop was closed at exit 43.

The rerouted traffic will impact Interstate 95 traffic, at least in Maryland.

In a tweet on X, Marylands transportation authority suggested drivers use I-95 or Interstate 895 as alternate routes. I-895 traffic uses the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel. I-95 traffic uses the Fort McHenry Tunnel.

Both tunnels have restrictions for certain vehicles.

According to the MDTA, vehicles carrying hazardous materials, including propane with more than 10 pounds of gas, are prohibited in the tunnels. That traffic should use the western section of I-695 to go around the tunnels.

There also are tunnel restrictions for larger vehicles that need to find routes to avoid the Key bridge. Vehicles taller than 13 feet, 6 inches or wider than 8 feet are prohibited from using the I-895 Baltimore Harbor Tunnel. Also, the I-95 Fort McHenry Tunnel has a height restriction of 14 feet, 6 inches and width restriction of 11 feet.

As of late Tuesday morning there was no indication whether the bridge collapse and rerouted traffic will impact Virginia traffic.
The 20-year-old Fremont man who was saved from a burning car by good Samaritans after crashing into the Fremont Presbyterian Church on Nov. 19, 2023, has pleaded not guilty to 15 different criminal charges stemming from three different alleged incidents spanning a time period of seven months.

Jose G. Rodriguez is facing a total of 15 different criminal charges, including 10 felony accusations and five misdemeanor allegations, all of which have been bound over from Dodge County Court to the District Court of Dodge County.

Rodriguez is still incarcerated at the Saunders County Jail and is scheduled to appear in court at 9 a.m., Monday, May 6. He was appointed a public defender  Kenneth F. Jacobs, of Omaha  after telling court officials he had only $400 cash to his name and worked a job at Cargill in Schuyler earning $22 an hour.

Jacobs did not return telephone calls seeking comment on Rodriguezs not guilty pleas to each of the 15 charges.

The charges Rodriguez has pleaded not guilty to stem from three different situations or incidents spanning from early May 2023 through late November 2023. All occurred when he was 19 years old.

One incident is alleged to have occurred in May 2023, when police allege Rodriguez was accused of being present during an alleged armed robbery committed by another person inside of the Fremont Mall. Rodriguez is accused of helping drive another suspect in the alleged robbery to Fremont Methodist Healths hospital emergency room, where police were called to by staff.

In that case, Rodriguez has pleaded not guilty to suspicion of possession of a stolen firearm, a Class IIA felony; suspicion of possession of a defaced firearm, a Class III felony; and suspicion of carrying a concealed weapon, a Class I misdemeanor.

The second incident Rodriguez is facing charges in stem from his alleged inappropriate sexual relationship with a 14-year-old girl. Police allege Rodriguez was engaged in an illegal sexual relationship with the teenager that spanned several weeks in September and October 2023.

In that case, Rodriguez has pleaded not guilty to six different felony charges, including three counts of suspicion of sexual assault of a minor in the first degree; and three counts of suspicion of committing intentional child abuse without causing injuries.

Fremont police officials wrote in court filings that, during their investigation, the 14-year-old girls family members suspected she was engaged in inappropriate behavior with Rodriguez. Police conducted surveillance of the alleged victim and reportedly videotaped Rodriguez removing the girl from classes at Fremont High School for alleged sexual intercourse in a motor vehicle.

Because the alleged victim is younger than 16 years old and Rodriguez was 19 years old or older, the alleged sexual acts cannot by law be engaged in consensually, hence the criminal charges of alleged sexual assault.

The third incident Rodriguez is facing charges in relation to is the Nov. 19, 2023, fiery accident, during which he allegedly fled a FPD officer who was pursing him. Rodriguez then crashed his car into a doorway of the Fremont Presbyterian Church shortly after midnight on Sunday, Nov. 19, causing his car to explode in flames with him trapped inside.

According to Fremont Fire Department reports about the incident, Rodriguez was trapped in his burning car with a nearly severed foot and other injuries when local residents from nearby homes rushed to scene to rescue him from the flame-engulfed car.

Weeks after the incident, as Rodriguez recovered from his nearly severed foot injury at home, he was hit with six different charges  two felonies and four misdemeanors.

Rodriguez has pleaded not guilty to all six of those charges from the crash, which include suspicion of use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony, a Class II felony; suspicion of operating a motor vehicle to avoid arrest, a Class IV felony; suspicion of carrying a concealed weapon by a prohibited person, a Class I misdemeanor; suspicion of willful reckless driving, first offense, a Class III misdemeanor; carrying a concealed handgun under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance, a Class III misdemeanor; and DUI with alcohol, first offense, a Class W misdemeanor.
The Dodge County Attorneys Office will continue to vigorously prosecute parents whose children are truant from county schools for 20 days or more, officials said in a statement issued on Monday, March 25.

Dodge County Attorney Pamela Hopkins stated in the press release that the number of children considered truant from school has reached an all-time high in Dodge County.

The recent effort to hold parents accountable for their children being absent for 20 days or more in county schools has led to misdemeanor charges being filed against more than 25 different parents since early February.

During the Feb. 12 meeting of the Fremont Public Schools Board of Education, the change in approach to truancy was noted by Brent Harrill, the principal of Johnson Crossing Academic Center.

Harrill told the board during the meeting that efforts to hold parents accountable for their childrens absences had been unsuccessful until a new County Deputy Attorney  James McCave  began working on the issue. McCaves persistence on the issue of chronic absenteeism had led to a dramatic increase in the number of parents responding to outreach efforts made by school staff.

Chronic absentee status is defined by state regulations as a student being absent from school without a valid reason for 18 days or more in one school year.

FPS Superintendent Mark Shepard said in an interview in early March that the district only turns over students and parents to the county for possible prosecution if a student misses 20 days or more with no valid reason, such as a doctor-approved absence.

In the press release issued on Monday, Hopkins said past efforts to deal with truancy by working with the students themselves has been unsuccessful.

In the past, truancy response focused primarily on the child. However, that approach has been widely ineffective, expensive, and generally fails to hold parents accountable for their inability or refusal to get their children to school, Hopkins stated in the press release. Effective immediately, the Dodge County Attorneys Office will begin filing charges against parents who violate the states mandatory school attendance laws when their children accumulate 20 absences.

Once charges are filed, the accused parent suspects will be required to appear in court in front of a judge and explain why they are not getting their child to school, Hopkins said.

The misdemeanor charge more than 25 parents have been charged with is the compulsory education law, which has a maximum possible punishment of three months in the county jail for those found guilty of the crime.

In the press release, Hopkins said her office will offer mediation, diversion services and other community resources in an effort to assist parents with getting children to school where they can attend classes.

When students begin to miss classes for no acceptable reason, officials with FPS schools engage in a robust outreach effort to address the absences with parents. Once a child hits five days of missed classes, outreach efforts begin.

School officials make phone calls, send letters and even do home visits as students hit the five, 10, 15 and 20 days of missed classes thresholds.

Our hope is that parents will understand that they are responsible for getting their children to school, first and foremost, and that our office will expect them to take this responsibility seriously, Hopkins said.
A newly announced grant will bolster a cohort of local businesses in downtown and southeast Colorado Springs both looking to expand and rebuild.

Mayor Yemi Mobolade announced Monday afternoon that 12 local businesses and their nonprofit fiscal sponsors will receive a total of $372,000 to aid in their respective business operations.

Our small businesses drive our economic success.as well as define our communitys identity, he said during the grant announcement.

A Fresh Move, Felipes 109, Leave it at Your Door, Luxe Daquiri Lounge, Viva Marketing and Consulting and The Lighthouse Early Childcare and Education Cooperation received a total of $190,000 in partnership with the nonprofit Thrive Networks for their commitment to improving individuals health through healthy food, clean living spaces, access to child care, and protecting cultural customs.

Downtown Ventures was awarded $182,000 to support six businesses that enrich the creative district through music, art, design, food and welcoming spaces. These businesses include the Auric Art Gallery, Bosky Studio, ICONS nightclub, Ladyfingers Letterpress, Shugas restaurant and Yobel boutique shop.

The idea for the grant program grew out of the recognition that smaller, community-minded businesses have faced greater economic challenges recovering from the pandemic.

Downtown Ventures Executive Director Michelle Winchell explained that the grants are also intended to not only foster the growth the individual businesses, but their entire geographic region.

Many of these business owners are locals who are committed to our community, she said. And part of the application process is demonstrating what these businesses have done to give back and support them over the years.

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Each business will receive up to $30,000 to go toward upgraded or new equipment, increase efficiency, improve property or relocation costs. Their respective nonprofit will receive $10,000 to assist each of their recipient businesses for long-term success.

For the restaurant Felipes 109, owner Felipe Velasquez said he plans to open a new location in Old Colorado City after road construction and the temporary closure of South Academy Boulevard posed challenges to the business. He plans to use the funds to financially support new employees in addition to purchasing new equipment and relocation costs.

Velasquez said that an initiative like this would serve to increase overall exposure for all the businesses and their neighboring businesses.

This will really help us foster peace, Felipe said. A lot of people share these roads and I think this will help us grow and thrive so we can be there to support each other.

For other recipients, this funding means getting the chance to start their business anew.

Yobel, known for its ethically-sourced products and sustainable business approach, has been closed since early December due the devastating structure fire in December that wiped out their entire inventory and closed neighboring businesses that shared the building.

Owner Emily Ross says their plan is to move into a new location and continue supporting the community her family has lived in for the past 30 years.

It just feels so good to have the opportunity to stay here and lay our (own) roots, she said. Were hoping that wherever we move into will be our forever home.
Snow returns Tuesday into Wednesday with a short pause on Thursday before a 5-6 day snow event ramps up heading into Easter weekend and early next week.

Tuesday's moment of ZEN:

Recap:

On Monday, 2-6 inches of additional snow fell from lingering showers as the low pressure system from the weekend moved farther east.

Forecast:

On Tuesday, light powder awaits skiers and riders for first chairs mostly in the northern mountains. Snow should start developing again in the afternoon and is forecast to focus on the central, western and southern mountains, with between 2-4 inches, potentially up to 8 inches in the northern San Juan mountains, falling by Wednesday's first chairs. High temperatures will be in the 20s with wind chills below zero.

On Wednesday morning, more snow continues to accumulate for Thursday's first chairs, with another 1-3 inches possible.

Thursday is a transition day as Colorado will be between storms but temperatures remain more winter like with high temperatures staying in the high 20s and low 30s even with some sun peeking through the clouds.

Long Range:

Starting Friday, a broken-off wave of energy from a low pressure system off the Oregon coast is forecast to make its way into the interior west, bringing snow to the north and central mountains.

Early model runs from the ECMWF high resolution model have 6-10 inches falling in the central mountains, 4-8 inches in the northern mountains and 8-14 inches in the northwestern mountains for Saturday's first chairs. Steamboat and Aspen/Snowmass areas should see the most from this west to east flowing storm energy.

As the low moves further south along the west coast, additional storm waves will push inland toward the Four Corners region, with snow ramping up in the southern mountains as well for Monday's first chairs.

Additional snow accumulations between 3-6 inches in the northern and central mountains and 2-4 inches in the southern mountains is forecast.

On Monday, the low pressure system works its way into the Arizona desert and will push moisture into Colorado on southwest flows, creating a possible heavy snow event throughout the day into Tuesday.

Snow is forecast to fall for all mountain regions during this quick moving and stronger storm, with the potential for 10-18 inches accumulated by Tuesday's first chairs into mid-morning.

Wednesday and Thursday should be dry and sunny with warming temperatures ahead of a potential storm system arriving from the northwest on Friday.

Today's 24 hour snow totals from Colorado resorts:

Arapahoe Basin - 3"

Aspen Mountain - 2"

Aspen Highlands - 1"

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Beaver Creek - 2"

Breckenridge - 5"

Buttermilk - 0"

Cooper - 0"

Copper Mountain - 2"

Crested Butte - 0"

Echo Mountain - 0"

Eldora Mountain - 0"

Granby Ranch - 0"

Hesperus - Closed for season

Howelsen Hill - Closed for season

Kendall Mountain - Closed for season

Keystone - 2"

Loveland - 1"

Monarch - 1"

Powderhorn - 0"

Purgatory - 0"

Silverton - 0"

Snowmass - 2"

Steamboat - 3"

Sunlight - 0"

Telluride - 3"

Vail - 5"

Winter Park - 4"

Wolf Creek - 2"
The man accused of killing two people at a University of Colorado Colorado Springs dorm room is facing new charges after he allegedly assaulted an El Paso County deputy.

According to an arrest affidavit obtained Tuesday by The Gazette, Nicholas Jordan, 25, faces assault charges for allegedly punching a deputy in the El Paso County jail last week.

Jordan currently is being held in the El Paso County jail on a $5 million bond for allegedly shooting and killing Celie Rain Montgomery, 26, of Pueblo, and Samuel Knopp, 24, of Parker, in the early morning hours of Feb. 16.

Jordan and Knopp were roommates and students at UCCS, according to previous reporting from The Gazette. Jordan's arrest affidavit states that Jordan had made a death threat against Knopp over taking out the trash, and that campus security and housing had recorded multiple complaints about Jordan prior to the shooting.

According to the affidavit for Jordan's assault case, video surveillance captured Jordan punching Deputy Dustin Bentley in the face as he was opening his jail cell on March 20. The affidavit states that Bentley eventually pushed Jordan back inside his jail cell where he was struck in the face by the defendant several more times before being restrained by several other deputies who came to assist.

The affidavit states that the deputy received several injuries from the altercation including bruises on his face, arm and elbow.

Law enforcement interviewed Jordan after the incident, and the affidavit states that Jordan decided to assault the deputy over a dispute earlier that day. Jordan claimed that he had asked Bentley that morning for cleaning supplies to clean the toilet in the jail cell, but that Bentley ignored his request.

The affidavit goes on to state that the denial of cleaning supplies made Jordan "irate" so he decided to "swing" at Bentley the next time he opened the jail cell.

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Jordan was arrested at the jail on suspicion of second-degree assault and misdemeanor harassment. His bond is set at $10,000 to be released from custody.

Additionally, Jordan faces two counts of first-degree murder for allegedly shooting and killing Knopp and Montgomery earlier this year.

Jordan is scheduled to make his first appearance on his assault case in Colorado's 4th Judicial District Court on Wednesday afternoon.

At Jordan' most recent court appearance, his attorneys requested for a competency evaluation to be conducted, stalling the homicide case indefinitely. Jordan is slated to return to court for the homicide case on April 12, where his attorneys will provide an update on the ongoing competency evaluation.

The University of Colorado Colorado Springs confirmed on Monday that a legal team including former Colorado Springs mayor and state attorney general John Suthers will be conducting a policy review after the February shooting.

UCCS Chancellor Jennifer Sobanet said in an email that was sent to the campus Thursday and released to The Gazette on Monday that the university regularly conducts policy reviews after major incidents. She said the purpose of the review was to assess how the university's policies performed during the incident, and to "gain a more complete understanding of the facts leading up to and including the incident that occurred on February 16."

Suthers and former Colorado deputy attorney general Jason Dunn will conduct the review, with an "executive summary" of the findings to be published publicly at an unspecified date.
The University of Colorado Colorado Springs says that a legal team including former Colorado Springs mayor and state attorney general John Suthers will be conducting a policy review after the February shooting that claimed two lives on campus.

UCCS Chancellor Jennifer Sobanet said in an email that was sent to the campus Thursday and released to The Gazette on Monday that the university regularly conducts policy reviews after major incidents. She said the purpose of the review was to assess how the university's policies performed during the incident, and to "gain a more complete understanding of the facts leading up to and including the incident that occurred on February 16."

Suthers and former Colorado deputy attorney general Jason Dunn will conduct the review, with an "executive summary" of the findings to be published publicly at an unspecified date.

One UCCS student, Samuel Knopp, 24, was killed in the shooting along with Celie Montgomery, 26, of Pueblo. Knopp's roommate and fellow student Nicholas Jordan, 25, was arrested several days later and eventually charged with the murders.

The UCCS campus was under lockdown for hours on the morning of the shooting, with details emerging about the incident and the suspect days later. An arrest affidavit obtained by The Gazette showed that campus police had received previous complaints from Knopp about Jordan prior to the incident.

According to the affidavit, another roommate told police Jordan threatened Knopp's life over a disagreement over trash in the apartment in January. UCCS housing and police had three documented complaints about Jordan filed by Knopp prior to his death, the affidavit said.

Some students on campus have since raised concerns about the university's policies and security. A student-created petition on change.org has received nearly 900 signatures calling for increased safety measures on campus, including more surveillance around on-campus housing and parking lots.

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Jordan appeared in court March 18 for a review hearing to help determine if attorneys would be ready to proceed to a preliminary hearing at the end of the month. Instead, Jordan's defense attorney, Nick Rogers, informed the court that he had filed a motion for a competency evaluation.

Judge David Shakes granted the defense motion and ordered the evaluation, noting that he was "concerned" with Jordan's competency.

Jordan's case will be delayed until he is declared competent by a state psychologist. If he is found incompetent the case will remain on hold until Jordan is restored to competency.

Meanwhile, the university system's Board of Regents entered a discussion last week about the possibility of removing a concealed carry exception to the system-wide campus gun ban. The Gazette spoke with current students about gun policy at UCCS on Friday.

Students 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.

Suthers and the UCCS administration declined to comment on the review process on Monday.
In recent months, Colorado Springs City Councilors have heard repeated complaints from homeless people that Springs Rescue Mission, the citys largest shelter, is inadequate and unfair.

People have taken to the podium at meetings during public comment to criticize the food, which is based on an incentive system, and the rules, which do not allow people who act unsafely toward themselves, other clients or employees to stay there.

Some accuse the organization of forcing Christianity on shelter-seekers, some claim they are being turned out in bad weather or for minor infractions such as having candy in their backpack, some say they are ridiculed, others say their possessions aren't being returned when they leave, and some feel the environment is unsafe.

In responding to questions about such concerns at Mondays council meeting, Springs Rescue Mission President and CEO Jack Briggs refuted the allegations and said the faith-based, Gospel-driven 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization isnt going to change who it is or what it does.

Some people dont like rules. Theyll say youre forcing me to do something. We are totally voluntary; nobody is at Springs Rescue Mission mandatorily, he said.

I have had individuals that have come from other places tell me, Im leaving, Im going back to Denver. You guys have too many rules.

I say, OK, and congratulations on making that decision. For folks to say I dont like who you are, its who we are. Were safe, were secure, were clean, we take pets. You can get health care, vocational training, help finding a place to live. In return we ask you to be safe to yourself and others.

Briggs, a retired Air Force major general, said most people who claim the rescue mission is not safe have never been there.

I dont spend a lot of time trying to dispel something someone says, he said.

Briggs mentioned that before the rescue mission fenced off its 14-acre campus, 25% of clients were women. They're now 40% of clients, Briggs said, attributing the increase to improved safety measures.

Every month the rescue mission confiscates and holds hundreds of knives, many of which go unclaimed, he said, because they dont need it inside the campus.

Unlike living on the streets, people can sit or lie around the Springs Rescue Mission campus without fear of getting assaulted or mugged, Briggs said.

We take the aggregate, the big numbers, he said, adding that some people dont fall into the middle-of-the-road category.

For example, the organization doesnt have medical staff or aides to assist people who cannot care for themselves, if they have a condition such as an open wound.

We dont have the insurance or the expertise to care for somebody, he said, adding that respite care for homeless people is a hole in our community.

Anyone who becomes violent or threatening is escorted out, and while people can enter under the influence of alcohol or drugs, they cannot drink or use drugs on campus.

Our whole focus is to meet them where theyre at and help them with a better life, Briggs said, in disagreeing with the claim that some people are made fun of by staff.

He argues that clients are treated with dignity and respect and are not made to stand outside in severe weather but encouraged to use its day center.

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Are we being too hard? asked City Council member David Leinweber. This population is really challenged with saying yes to help. There are some things weve put around this population that makes life harder; is that compassionate?

It depends on what you want to incentivize, Briggs said.

The rescue mission helps people make decisions and have options, rather than see them as victims who have no agency to make decisions. That line of thought is consigning them to that role, he said. I dont think thats compassion.

In general, Briggs said, some people arrive with expectations that the rescue mission  one of more than 300 such facilities in the nation  doesn't meet.

Maybe they have a desire thats just not in our purview, he said. We have to think of whats doable with hundreds of people.

As to the complaint about Christianity, Briggs said no one is hitting people with a Bible. And theres no requirement of faith for anyone to receive relief services such as food and shelter.

We dont force it on people; we have plenty that come voluntarily, he said. No one argued someone into heaven. Thats not our purpose. Our purpose is exposure.

For those who dont like or want anything to do with its faith-based recovery programs, Briggs said there are other options in the community.

But the organization is not going to remove the Bible verses that hang on the walls in buildings.

Thats protected under the Freedom of Religion Act; we can post Scripture, he said.

The rescue mission spends the approximately $500,000 the city allocates annually from its budget, as well as state and federal funding, on relief services, not faith-based restoration programs, Briggs said. We dont comingle that money.

On Sunday night, 410 people spent the night in Springs Rescue Mission's shelter. An alternative standup warming shelter system run by Hope COS, another local nonprofit, did not open Sunday night.

The issue of people not being able to use Springs Rescue Mission or not wanting to go there came to a head during recent severe storms, when numbers at Hope COS also topped 400 per night.

Executive Director Melissa Oskin said Hope COSs mission is to provide shelter at local churches for people who are banned or for whatever reason wont use Springs Rescue Mission.

But Weve started seeing people leave there and come to us, when our purpose is to serve the population that isnt able to go to Springs Rescue Mission during winter weather protocols, she said.

So people who are able to stay at Springs Rescue Mission are being rerouted back there, she said, adding that Hope COS plans to limit capacity to 120 people during severe weather events.

The main concern, Oskin said, is that Hope COS does not currently receive city funding for its temporary shelters that churches and other organizations host and does not have the resources to continue serving masses of people.

City Councilor Nancy Henjum said options for shelters is best for the community.

I think we have to start looking at how does the city more broadly shape the city budget to weave in other shelters, she said, and not only see Springs Rescue Mission as the one and only option.
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -The Dali container vessel that collided on Tuesday with a bridge in Baltimore was chartered by shipping company Maersk, the Danish group said in a statement.

The ship carried Maersk customers' cargo but none of the company's crew or personnel were onboard, it added.

"We are horrified by what has happened in Baltimore, and our thoughts are with all of those affected," Maersk said.

Maersk's share price fell on the news, trading down 3.2% at 1019 GMT.

The Dali was set to depart Baltimore early on Tuesday and arrive at Colombo on April 22, according to a schedule on Maersk's website.

The vessel is owned by Singapore's Grace Ocean Pte, according to LSEG data, and managed by Synergy Marine Group.

"We are closely following the investigations conducted by authorities and Synergy, and we will do our utmost to keep our customers informed," Maersk said.

(Reporting by Louise Rasmussen in Copenhagen and Terje Solsvik in Oslo, editing by Stine Jacobsen and Jason Neely)
By Steve Holland and Nandita Bose

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan held a second day of talks on Tuesday with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant as the U.S. presses its case against Israel launching a ground offensive in Rafah.

The White House meeting came a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly blocked an Israeli delegation from meeting American counterparts when the U.S. allowed a UN resolution demanding a Gaza ceasefire to be approved by abstaining from a vote on it.

U.S. President Joe Biden is trying to prevent Israel from launching a ground offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah because of dire humanitarian conditions there and the risk of civilian casualties.

Rafah is the last refuge for about half of Gaza's 2.3 million population, many of them forced to cluster there because of fighting elsewhere.

More than 32,000 people have been killed in Gaza, Palestinian authorities estimate, since Israel launched an operation there in response to Hamas militants' killing of 1,200 people in southern Israel on Oct. 7.

White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre, briefing reporters on Air Force One, said Sullivan pledged "ironclad" U.S. support for Israel and that the two officials discussed the need for Israel "to do more to sustain and expand humanitarian assistance going into Gaza."

"It's critical that Israel do whatever is possible to prevent civilian casualties and to conduct operations as strategically and precisely as possible and target operations to protect civilians in Rafah," she said.

Biden, addressing a crowd in Raleigh, North Carolina, was briefly interrupted by protesters shouting for the need for an increase in assistance into Gaza.

"They have a point. We need to get a lot more care into Gaza," Biden said.

U.S. officials have been trying for weeks to negotiate a deal in which sick, elderly and wounded hostages held by Hamas in exchange for a six-week ceasefire and the release of some Palestinian prisoners.

A U.S. official said on Monday that progress has been made in recent days in the negotiations.

(Reporting by Steve Holland in Washington and Nandita Bose aboard Air Force One; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Marguerita Choy)
NBC News is purportedly preparing to drop former Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel less than a week after hiring her as a paid contributor.

The network is planning on axing McDaniel but has yet to work out the details, and McDaniel is seeking legal counsel, according to Puck News.

McDaniel's hiring, announced last week in a memo, caused an uproar at the outlet, with several on-air personalities on NBC and MSNBC decrying the former RNC leader being brought on as a paid analyst.

MSNBC leadership reportedly assured staff that McDaniel would not appear on the left-leaning cable network despite initial reports that she would make appearances on the channel.

McDaniel made her first appearance on NBC since the news of her hiring on Sunday for Meet the Press, where she was interviewed by moderator Kristen Welker in McDaniel's capacity as former RNC chairwoman rather than as paid NBC News contributor.

Later in the show on Sunday, NBC News's Chuck Todd blasted the network for hiring McDaniel.

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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, Todd said on NBC News's Meet the Press on Sunday. Thats where you begin here.

After Todd's on-air criticisms, several other personalities, including MSNBC's Jen Psaki, Rachel Maddow, and the hosts of Morning Joe, berated the network over hiring McDaniel.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Other politicos whom NBC has hired as contributors include Marc Short, who served as Mike Pence's chief of staff while he was vice president, and former Democratic Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill. MSNBC also has several former Biden administration officials working for the network, including Psaki, who was President Joe Biden's press secretary from 2021 to 2022.

The Washington Examiner has attempted to reach out to McDaniel and NBC News for comment.
When the final votes are tallied in the Woodland Park mayoral election April 2, the city will have a new leader. Mayor pro tem Kellie Case and former planning commissioner Jerry Penland are hoping to replace the term-limited Hilary LaBarre.

In addition to two years as Mayor Pro Tem, Case has spent 17 years as the citys finance director/treasurer and served on the City Council for four years. Penland, who served as planning commissioner for five years, is hoping his diverse career background and lack of affiliation with any special interest groups will be enough to convince voters he is the right person to be Woodland Parks next mayor.

Four seats on the Woodland Park City Council are also up for grabs.

Here's a look at candidates.

MAYORAL RACE

Kellie Case

What are your top three priorities for this office?

To lead the new council to bring them along and learn their jobs as newly elected officials.

Continue to support the staff and the community in their endeavors with regards to water, wildfire, mitigation, and continuing to find qualified staff to fill positions that are vacant. We need to support them with funding to be competitive in hiring great folks to work for the People in our community.

And to continue to keep a balanced budget and a solid funding source for the services that we provide to our citizens and pay off our general fund debt as quickly as we possibly can with reserves that weve been saving for sometime. We already paid off one debt issuance early actually 12 years early had a savings of over $700,000 in interest. Id like to continue that trend.

What do you think the citys largest challenge is, and how do you plan to address it?

We have two challenges that we have to always be aware of one of them is fire mitigation as we live in a forest. The other is our water resources and to continue to pursue the purchase of shares of water as we find them available and to continue funding and persevering, the construction of our new reservoir.

What makes you the best candidate for this position?

I have 30 years of experience in municipal government, first, for five years as an internal auditor for the city of Colorado Springs, and then 17 years as the finance director and treasurer for the City of Woodland Park. Ive served for six years now on the city council, the last two as the mayor pro-tem. I believe I have the knowledge and skills to this council forward to do great things for the people of our community.

We have some challenges that we need to be aware of and continue to monitor, but I believe that with a good group of folks that are community will elect we can make that happen.

Jerry Penland

What are your top three priorities for this office?

Be the driver to help move our city leadership to a Citizens Focused Government.

To ensure safe water sustainability that will support the collective Citizens Vision for Woodland Parks future.

And to use our Envision Woodland Park 2030 Comprehensive Plan, that was developed with input from hundreds of volunteers (including me) and survey responders, as a major driving force when making strategic decisions that will impact the future of our city.

What do you think the citys largest challenge is, and how do you plan to address it?

Our largest challenge is the same as most cities in the Western part of our nationsustainable safe water for the long term. I can help move this forward and help make sure each of our zoning decisions have a short-term and long-term water sustainability and other critical infrastructure components in our decisions.

What makes you the best candidate for this position?

My background, experience and skills do not stop at the Woodland Park city limits. I not only have local government experience as a Woodland Park Planning Commissioner for five years but I also have been a spokesperson at numerous City Council meetings as the Citizens Voice.

I have executed internal operating budgets for decades.

My career includes over 30 years, with the US Army, Corps of Engineers.

In the last decade of my career, I was responsible for executing over $25 billion worth of Army and Air Force construction projectsreportable to the US Congress.

I have the background, experience and skills to help move Woodland Park into the future.

CITY COUNCIL

When Woodland Park residents cast their votes for City Council, they will be choosing from a packed field that includes longtime public servants, relative political newcomers and one council incumbent.

Teri Baldwin, Frank Connors, Don Dezellum, Jeffrey Geer, George Jones, Eric Lockman, Tim Northrup and Steve Smith are vying for four seats on the council. Connors, the incumbent, is running for re-election.

During a March 5 forum, the candidates answered questions about zoning codes, the citys comprehensive plan, the voter-approved 1.09% sales tax to the schools and the school board, which has recently come under fire for a perceived lack of transparency and the adoption of the American Birthright social studies model.

Baldwin, Connors, Dezellem, Geer, Northrup and Smith shared with The Gazette their reasons for running and their respective visions for Woodland Parks future. Jones and Lockman had not responded to emailed questions at press time.

Teri Baldwin

What are your top three priorities for this office?

Fire mitigation, water resources, economic development and support of local businesses

What do you think the citys largest challenge is?

Keeping Andrew Wommacks desire to take over Woodland Park, at bay. Im running for City Council and hope to educate the community about the very real threat that AWM presents to Teller County and Woodland Park. Its not just about an unaccredited Bible college in Woodland Park.

The Ministry is well on its way to turning this County into a destination for Christian Nationalism. I believe very strongly in the separation of Church and State. That wall protects everyone on both sides of it.

What makes you the best candidate for City Council?

My integrity, my commitment to Woodland Park, my ability to consider different perspectives and make sound decisions, and my desire to serve all constituents.

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Frank Connors

What are your top three priorities for this office?

To create an authentic economic plan -- start a business retention program to enhance existing businesses, and encourage collaboration within the business community to draw vitality and unique experiences for our city guests.

Expanding and supporting Woodland Parks outdoor space to provide our city with generations of outdoor enjoyment.

I will also continue the new reservoir we voted for and approved. The need for securing an inclusive and sustainable water supply for our city is obvious.

What do you think the citys largest challenge is, and how do you plan to address it?

Water Security, creating modern day ordinances that outline our drought restrictions and also work to bring future storage solutions into reality. Much more to do

What makes you the best candidate for City Council?

I am the only candidate running who is an incumbent for city council. My 2 years experience on council and the one year as the Chairman of the citys Charter Review committee is experience the other candidates do not have. I am a proven servant leader proudly serving the citizens of Woodland Park.

Tim Northrup

What are your top three priorities for this office?

Continue to be an advocate who will listen to the citizen's concerns.

Restart regular meetings between the city, county, school, fire, etc. elected officials.

Good governance with fiscal responsibility and transparency.

What do you think the citys largest challenge is, and how do you plan to address it?

Planned growth for attainable housing with sustainable water is the city's largest challenge. The city has started on this process with a housing study and their comprehensive 2030 master plan. The city council will assist the city manager in guidance with the city's natural resources and planning departments.

What makes you the best candidate for City Council?

I have talked to over a thousand of our citizens in the past year or so listening to their ideas and issues in the city, bringing many of those issues in front of city council.

I have worked with the former city manager over revisions to a couple of contracts, and was an election judge for the city clerk, refining the election process.

I believe my former banking management experience, current involvement at city hall and other county group's board meetings, and trust from the citizens as their advocate, will bring me to the position of councilman in Woodland Park.

Jeffrey Geer

What are your top three priorities for this office?

Water security, infrastructure maintenance (potholes, water main breaks due to legacy infrastructure are two examples of this), and fire mitigation and wildfire preparedness.

What do you think the citys largest challenge is, and how do you plan to address it?

I think the largest challenge is responsible growth and how best to do that while preserving our water security. We have to grow to increase our tax base otherwise eventually tax collection will not keep up with the costs of running a city which would eventually require tax increases and I am opposed to any tax increases.

What makes you the best candidate for City Council?

Im a regular guy who cares about Woodland Park and its future. That means putting the citizens who pay taxes above all other outside influences or organizations that seek to exploit our community, and its services, for their own private and personal gain. This is a wonderful place to live and raise a family, but it will not remain that way if we dont have people on the council who will fight the good fight.

Steven Smith

What are your top three priorities for this office?

Water, roads and getting our community back together.

What do you think the citys largest challenge is, and how do you plan to address it?

Large outside entities trying to change our community.

What makes you the best candidate for City Council?

Our community, laws, and City Charter tell me how to vote on issues -- not how I feel or my opinion. That's why our community asked me to run.

Don Dezellem

What are your top three priorities for this office?

Growth- residential or commercial, does it meet zoning requirements and the 2030 Comprehensive Plan. Is it the right project, in the right place for Woodland Park and the future. Creating a budget-that provides for needs (infrastructure, safety, adequate reserve, debt reduction) while reducing mil levy and sales tax for the citizen. And water -- securing additional water rights, completion of the Boy Scout Reservoir, and implementing innovated stewardship of water resources.

What do you see as the citys largest challenge?

The major challenge to our community is the division in Woodland Park. This division has been creeping in our community over the last 6-7 years. We have become fragmented over tiny homes, Charis Bible College, and Woodland Park RE-2 District school board elections among the debated issues. When elected I will strive to provide for citizens and council members an environment to discuss issues with respect for the individual to reach solutions for the community. I will always make time to listen to our citizens over coffee, the phone, or during public comment at council meetings.

What makes you the best candidate for this office?

Im the best candidate for council due to being involved and knowledgeable on city matters. I have attended council regularly for the 6 years. I have served subsection chairman for the 2030 Comprehensive Plan, served on 2022 Charter Review Committee, graduated from Woodland Park Citizens Academy, and serve on both the Parks, Recreation, and Parks Advisory Board and Woodland Park Planning Commission.

I have been involved with the Pikes Peak Rotary Club helping to the wooden playground at Gateway, bell ringing for Salvation Army, was co-chair of the committee which established the annual scholarship for local high school seniors, and was Rotarian of Year.
Chief Jim Baird is Chair of the Colorado Human Trafficking Council, Vice President of the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police, and Breckenridge Chief of Police.
Walking into the Suzhou Art Museum in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, the eyes of visitors are immediately drawn to an artwork hanging high on the wall that depicts the collision of gold nuclei, giving the surface impression of a contemporary art piece.

However, upon closer examination, viewers will see that the luster of its shimmering lines belies the ancient craft of Su embroidery, which originated in the city more than 2,000 years ago.

"Viewers mistake it for an oil painting at first sight. We hope to imbue the traditional craft with contemporary expressions," says Zhang Fan, 48, one of the creators of the piece.

Next to the artwork are two Su embroidery works replicating abstract photos taken by US photographer Michael Yamashita. All of these works are produced by Zhang and his mother, Zhang Meifang, 78, a master embroiderer who created the collision piece in collaboration with established physicist Tsung-dao Lee.

In 2005, the Zhangs established an embroidery innovative center, applying the ancient stitching techniques of silk thread to modern art forms, including oil paintings, murals, sculpted reliefs and photos.

Known for its intricate techniques, elegant style and vibrant colors, Su embroidery usually focuses on birds and flowers, cats, landscapes and figures. Most embroiderers in the area have concentrated on these subjects for centuries, making it popular among both the nobility and the general populace for its exquisite needlework.

To give the traditional craft a modern look, Zhang Fan and his mother spent decades on innovating the threads they used, as well as the themes. They worked with prominent artists, such as Wu Guanzhong, a Chinese modern art pioneer, and Chang Shana, an artist and renowned scholar on the studies of frescoes in Dunhuang, Gansu province, as well as foreign photographers.

The charm of Su embroidery for Zhang Fan lies in its rich and vibrantly colored silk threads, which give a luster to the patterns stitched on the fabric.

"It's an art of light. The flowers can change color when you see them from different angles. They look as if they are dancing on the breeze," says Zhang Fan.

To achieve such a magic effect, they use threads of various thickness and of different shades of a single color. For certain applications, they even create their own special silk threads.

In a meters-long mural depicting a group of Buddhist deities, Zhang Fan and his mother used more than 20 stitching techniques, as well as countless colors of various shades. It took them six years to finish.

Zhang Fan says that his mother is always on a path seeking innovation and creativity. She was a deputy director of the Suzhou Silk Embroidery Research Institute, where lots of modern Su embroidery masters were trained and worked.

Last century, embroiderers from the institute learned the realism style from the West and blended it into their works, enabling them to produce photo-realistic work.

Zhang Meifang led the team charged with developing new techniques for Su embroidery. After she retired, with the help of her son, she focused her efforts on developing the traditional craft. The final mission is to integrate it with people's prevailing artistic tastes. They have worked with artists across the globe and their pieces are collected by museums and art institutions both at home and abroad.

While the Zhang family tries to explore a modern artistic expression of the centuries-old craft, the younger generation, like Guo Zizhou, 27, is using a popular method to introduce young people to Su embroidery.

Born into a family where all the women are good at Su embroidery, in 2019, Guo opened a themed coffee shop in Suzhou. The latte art comes from patterns frequently used in Su embroidery, such as birds, flowers and trees.

Guo displays many of his mother's embroidery works at the coffee shop and, sometimes, they will hold classes in Su embroidery and invite customers to try the stitching techniques.

Guo is now learning Su embroidery from his mother, Zou Yingzi, whose works are collected by renowned institutions, including the British Museum. Traditionally, Su embroidery is learned by women and passed down among the female members of a family. Guo is one of the few male exceptions.

"My friends all think what I do is chic and cool," says Guo in front of an embroidery stand, moving his needle fluidly through a piece of landscape embroidery.

Guo learned interior design in Britain and earned his master's degree in art in the United States. Only after he returned to China did he decide to inherit the Su embroidery craft from his mother.

Since childhood, the needle has been a common item in his life. Every day he saw his grandmother, his mom and her friends engrossed in Su embroidery.

"When I was a little boy, the needle was an item that could hurt my fingers. Now it has become a tool for me to continue the artistic mission of my family. I find that incredible," says Guo.

In the past few years, Guo has participated in his mother's team to produce large-scale Su embroidery works, two of which were collected by the China National Archives of Publications and Culture.

Each piece stands more than 3 meters high and is 1 meter long, featuring feitian (flying deities) and a traditional building that houses Buddhist sutras, derived from murals at the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang.

Guo helped his mother to finish the two art pieces, which took more than 100 embroiderers several months to produce.

"Without his help, I couldn't have finished the two large pieces. I'm proud of my son. He often gives me fresh and interesting ideas to create innovative Su embroidery works," says Zou.

The son adds that his ideas often collide with his mother's.

In Zou's 24 Solar Terms series, Guo often provides ideas on how to present the theme in a contemporary way. For instance, in the work Guyu (Grain Rain), Guo designed a giant grain while his mother planned to stitch the grains to scale.

Finally, Zou took her son's design, and believes that the piece turned out "amazing".

"I hope the craft can become more integrated into people's daily lives, rather than just being displayed as a decoration or art piece," Guo says.
Chinese artist Pei Xuehong held his solo exhibition titled Changjiang Symbol at the AD Gallery in Singapore on March 18, inaugurating its global tour.

The exhibition serves as an artistic presentation of the memory and reflection on the Yangtze River. In May 2004, Pei shot a series of photos just before the Yunyang Ancient Town in Chongqing municipality was submerged. Years later, employing his masterful artistic techniques, Pei meticulously reconstructed these photographs, which are being exhibited this time.

The photos and oil paintings on show profoundly record the everyday lives of the people residing along the banks of the Yangtze River in Sichuan and Chongqing, and portray the human condition amidst the backdrop of the monumental project of constructing the Three Gorges Dam, offering a reflection on the relocation experiences of ordinary individuals.

Through these works, audiences can gain profound insight into Pei Xuehong's artistic pursuits, his compassionate approach to humanity, and the narratives surrounding pivotal moments in China's history, including the reform and opening-up and the monumental Three Gorges project.

Pei Xuehong, born in Chongqing in 1967, has been engaged in painting and photography for decades. He was honored as an outstanding contemporary Chinese photographer at the 2005 Pingyao International Photography Exhibition.

Over the past 30 years, Pei has seamlessly integrated his artistic endeavors with the lived experience of common people, whose works reflect a deep commitment to capturing the authentic realities and spiritual essence of individuals in the contemporary era.
This photo taken on June 19, 2023 shows a demonstration of the Boeing 777X (down) and 737-10 during the 54th International Paris Air Show held at Le Bourget Airport near Paris, France. [Photo/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.
UN Security Council adopts resolution demanding cease-fire in Gaza for Ramadan

Xinhua) 08:47, March 26, 2024

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.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
You are here: China

An education campaign aimed at bolstering danger avoidance and self-protection awareness among primary school and secondary school students kicked off Monday, according to China's Ministry of Education.

In a circular regarding the weeklong campaign, the ministry urged local education authorities to guide schools in organizing education activities, so as to enhance the students' safety awareness and improve their ability to protect themselves.

The activities should cover various topics, including curbing school violence and bullying, fire safety, traffic safety and first-aid training, among others, wrote the circular.

The circular also requested local education authorities to jointly organize education activities with public security departments and fire brigades.
When a friend from church asked Kay Ingersoll in 2006 if she wanted some cleaning work, Ingersoll considered it like other part-time cleaning gigs shed picked up previously  a few hours a week, good money in exchange for tidying up a house.

But things changed when Ingersoll pulled up to the address her friend gave her and found her feet at the entrance of the Kinney Pioneer Museum, nestled next to the airport between Mason City and Clear Lake.

After meeting the museum board and walking out with the job, Ingersolls life changed. She took on the task of assistant director of the museum  becoming director in 2013  sparking a love for history, storytelling, and challenges Ingersoll tested every day.

Shes dedicated 18 years to not only cleaning the museum but also revamping exhibits, envisioning new layouts, and digging up so much history her fingers are figuratively covered in dirt. Ingersoll said she never imagined she would be the director.

I started with no knowledge; I didnt care about the history of anything, let alone Mason City or North Iowa, Ingersoll said. But once I got here and I was working, I realized theres too many stories not to tell.

After years of working on displays, chasing down local history, and making visitors eyes widen in wonder, Ingersoll has announced her retirement.

From the beginning, Ingersoll knew her strength: ambition. That translated to having a vision for the museum, its exhibits, layout, even its color of paint, and working hard each day to make a little more progress.

I just had a focus, Ingersoll said. How do you eat an elephant? Its one bite at a time.

Ingersoll wasnt alone in her endeavors, and she admits the museums success doesn't come from her alone but from the team of volunteers, historians, and workers around her, like Mason City Police Sergeant Greg Scott.

Scott is a local historian with a focus on Mason City fire and police history and has worked with Ingersoll for years, saying she's passionate and will be missed at the museum.

Shes a good steward of Cerro Gordo history, Scott said. Its going to be hard to fill her shoes. I dont know if theres someone so knowledgeable and bubbly who enjoys talking about history like she does.

Scott said for the last four years hes helped Ingersoll, getting calls about a new piece in an exhibit, answering police history questions, and working at the museum.

God bless her. I wish her goodwill in her retirement, Scott said. I think Kay took a lot of pride in her work. Shes always cleaning, she always has new ideas.

Ingersoll said she can tell what a visitor is particularly excited to see, whether it's the pioneer cabin, Dillinger's bank robbery display, or the vintage cars. She loves watching their eyes light up as she gives her tours.

I love giving tours. I really do, because the passion is here and the more I dig, the more I find out about things I can share, Ingersoll said. When I give tours people always say this must be my passion, and I agree.

The museum doesnt just take visitors back in time but to numerous instances in time with each exhibit. And with many exhibits -- like a vintage sweet shop, pioneer era workspace, an old Mason City fire truck, and nearly every decade of North Iowa history accounted for  the museum is littered with artifacts documenting the area.

Additionally, Ingersoll said she was blessed with amazing support during her time as director, namely from her late husband, Bob.

He gave me the strength to keep going, Ingersoll said. I could not have done it without him. He was my biggest cheerleader.

Until her last day at the museum, April 15, Ingersoll said shes working to make the transition for the next director, Faith Lawler, as smooth as possible, hoping Lawler can pick up where Ingersoll left off.

I just want the museum to be in a good place for the next director before I go, Ingersoll said. I dont think Ill be emotional until I finally leave.

From painting the space, believing in her vision, and becoming an ambassador for North Iowa history, Ingersoll said she hopes her tenure at the museum has preserved the history of where shes from.

Every single thing in here has a story to tell, Ingersoll said.
Artworks by some of North Iowa's most talented students are on display at MacNider Art Museum's 40th annual School Art Show, with the theme "Spark the Art!"

Through April 13, there are 57 pieces are on display at the museum to celebrate Youth Art Month.

Students from Belmond-Klemme Junior High School, Forest City Middle School, Hampton-Dumont-CAL Community Schools, Home School Group, John Adams Middle School and Lincoln Intermediate in Mason City, and West Hancock Middle School submitted art works. A total of 171 entries were judged with 57 on display.

Each year, the exhibit features creations by different age groups, with elementary, middle or high school student works exhibited.

Wilmarie Burgos Quiles is excited to have her chalk pastel drawing featured in the show. The piece prominently shows a moose wrapped in evening colors. Quiles hadn't worked in pastels before this assignment and was thrilled when her work was chosen.

"I like to draw and do other kinds of art, too," Quiles said.

There are two- and three-dimensional artworks on display. One table is filled with barn quilts, finished in a joint project between the industrial and fine arts classes at Mason City's Lincoln Intermediate. Display cases hold sculptures of varying sizes.

An awards ceremony was held at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, with art teachers handing out certificates to each student who attended.

MacNider Art Museum is free admission and open to the public from 9 a.m.-8 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Wednesday, Friday and Saturday; and closed Sunday and Monday. It is located at 303 Second St. S.E. in Mason City. Call 641-421-3666 with questions.
When MBA aspirants write how the particular school will help them become successful post-MBA

no matter how many times you skim the pages of MBA programs to take notes on the curriculum, nothing even comes close to the first-hand insight from current students and alumni ,

you need to seek out the subtle praises alumni have about the program, which will help you write an original story that stands out from the generic marketing material and the checklist of courses.

1. Recognise Your Academic Excellence gap

Compensating the academic skill gap

Most candidates wait until they are on the waitlist before taking a course to remedy their quant (or verbal) skills.

Quantitative scores are important, but a balanced score is required if you are pitching consulting goals.

2. Recognise Your Career Excellence gap

You decided to get an MBA after reaching the pinnacle of your career.

The admissions committee understands exactly what constitutes success in your industry.

Proficiency in your present job role is a predictor of your future success in a career change.

admissions team's limited knowledge of your professional prospects is the most potent tool you can leverage in the form of Letters Of Recommendation.

Compensating proficiency gap

Unfortunately, you can't spin the lack of proficiency at work. It is all the more difficult, it you have been in the same role for long and missed out on promotions.

I cannot emphasize this enough. If you are lagging at your job, start looking for the right exit opportunities before you apply to a Top MBA program.

3. Understand the Motivation behind applying

At Top MBA programs, undergraduates from Tier 2 colleges will often emphasize their work experience as the narrative's central theme to show that they are capable. As a Tier 2 undergrad with mediocre GPA, I have done this myself.

If an applicant's shining grace is solely attributed to the premier undergrad attended, rather than their contribution thereafter, the chances for such an applicant might be lower compared to an applicant from a Tier 2 college who is in the top 1% at work.

4. Overcome the Personality-Fit Gap

There is no greater truth than this. Your essays are shortcuts for Adcoms to discover your personality.

Through essays, admissions committees force you to narrate events that highlight your dominant personality traits.

In a business school, extraversion is a valued trait over introversion, also a reason why a large percentage of engineers are rejected.

If you cannot recognize all the elements of a successful event and the contribution of others to it, you would be incapable of managing the risk and leading an A-Team towards company goals.

They seek 'humble individuals' who can express the inner workings of their minds. The difficulties encountered when organizing, inspiring, or leading an A-Team would definitely pique the adcom's interest. Incorporate variety into your stories. While extroversion is valued in MBA programs, the capacity to ponder and introspect- the trait of a growth mindset, which is frequently associated with introverts, adds a very valuable dimension to your experience.

Get personalized advice tailored to your unique circumstances in the B School admissions process. Reapplying? Get a free ding analysis

Aanchal Sahni (INSEAD alum, former INSEAD admissions interviewer)
The town of Summerfield is disputing a formal complaint from the Greensboro NAACP alleging the towns restrictive zoning practices harm minority and low-income residents.

The Greensboro branch of the national civil rights group filed its complaint with the N.C. Human Relations Commission, part of the Civil Rights Division in the N.C. Office of Administrative Hearings, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on Feb. 20.

The agency notified the town of the complaint in a letter the town received March 4. The complaint references data from the American Community Survey conducted by the Census Bureau showing Summerfield to be a disproportionately white community, with 86 percent of the towns population being non-Hispanic white, compared to 57 percent in the Greensboro metro area and 47.5 percent in Guilford County.

Summerfields racial homogeny and relative affluence are no coincidence, according to the complaint. Rather, they are the direct and intentional result of Summerfields long history of exclusionary zoning ordinances and housing policies. Indeed, upon information and belief, Summerfield has one of the most exclusionary and discriminatory zoning ordinances in the country  an ordinance that, for decades, prohibited anything other than single-family homes, and still today allows a density of no more than one unit per acre.

In a statement issued Thursday, the town denied the allegations and announced it has hired attorneys from Maynard Nexsen, a national law firm with an office in Greensboro.

Those allegations are meritless; the town council takes its obligations seriously and has developed a Comprehensive Plan to ensure well-managed growth as Summerfield becomes an increasingly desirable place to live, according to the towns statement.

The statement continued: The town very much desires to engage in good-faith discussions with the Greensboro NAACP to hear their concerns and to explain its positions, as the town takes these allegations seriously. However, the town has not engaged in any type of purposeful or intentional discrimination  and its leaders look forward to an impartial review of its zoning policies and practices by the Civil Rights Division.

The investigation into the NAACPs complaint is expected to be completed within 90 days after the date of the complaint, according to the letter from the Human Rights Commission.

The commission will be tasked with deciding if the complaint will be dismissed or move forward to potential litigation if the town and NAACP do not resolve the matter.

Summerfield fights de-annexation

The complaint specifically mentions opposition among town leaders and members of the public to the Villages of Summerfield, a mixed-use housing and retail project proposed by developer David Couch that would include 600 apartments.

Town residents and some city leaders have expressed concerns about the density of the project. However, the NAACP has come out in support of the development.

In an April 2022 letter to Town Manager Scott Whitaker, then-NAACP President C. Bradley Hunt II wrote that Couchs development would remedy the lack of affordable housing options available in the town.

Such a measure was needed, Hunt argued, because Summerfields policies had made the town a grossly segregated community.

Summerfield Mayor Tim Sessoms responded with a letter of his own in May 2022 in which he argued Couchs project may increase housing variety in Summerfield but would not likely add new affordable housing.

When it comes to Couchs development, the pressure the town is facing goes beyond the Greensboro NAACP.

Sen. Phil Berger, the leader of the N.C. Senate who also represents the town, has filed a bill which would remove nearly 1,000 acres of Couchs land from the towns jurisdiction.

Summerfield Councilman Jonathan Hamilton said at a meeting in February that Berger told him the bill would come up for a vote when the N.C. General Assembly goes back into session in April.

At that same meeting, the council voted to fight back against Bergers de-annexation bill and to move forward hiring a public relations firm to help them do that.

Part of that effort included enlisting the support of other smaller communities. The town has posted resolutions of support from Oak Ridge, Stokesdale, the Village of Wesley Chapel located near Charlotte and the town of Archer Lodge outside Raleigh on their Saving Summerfield web page.

The pending de-annexation comes as the city government is facing a shakeup at key leadership positions.

In February, the town council voted to allow its contract with Town Manager Whitaker to end without renewal. It is still not clear when Whitakers tenure with the city will end.

In a text message Monday, Whitaker said: The majority council interprets my contract end date differently than the towns original drafting attorney. I am trying to resolve the dispute.

Town Attorney Robert Hornik also announced his resignation in February, effective April 1. Sessoms said the town has hired Jim Hoffman as the new town attorney. Hoffman previously served as an interim attorney for Greensboro in 2018 and 2019.
Krispy Kreme Inc. is taking its in-store partnership with McDonalds nationwide, pairing its melt-in-your-mouth original glazed doughnuts with a McCafe coffee.

The companies announced in a joint news release Tuesday a phased rollout of three Krispy Kreme favorites at participating restaurants thats set to begin in the second half of 2024 and be completed by the end of 2026.

The companies did not indicate which states or regions they would begin the rollout. Krispy Kreme said the companies will share details about each specific market as they come closer to launching.

However, Krispy Kreme noted the expanded partnership by offering a free original glazed doughnut at all U.S. shops between 5 and 9 p.m. Tuesday.

The partnership gave a monumental boost to Krispy Kremes share price, jumping as much as 40.8% during trading Tuesday to reach a 52-week high of $17.75 a share. The 52-week low is $11.52.

Josh Charlesworth, Krispy Kremes chief executive and president, has said McDonalds has about 14,000 stores nationwide, and Krispy Kreme could serve about 6,000 of those with its existing network.

Bank of America Corp. analysts have said the partnership could generate $350 million in annual sales, with Krispy Kreme likely getting 75% and McDonalds 25%.

Doughnuts would need to account for about 1% of McDonalds sales, or 4% of breakfast sales, to be considered a success, they said.

McDonalds began carrying three Krispy Kreme doughnut varieties  original glazed, chocolate iced with rainbow sprinkles and raspberry-filled  in October 2022 in Louisville, Ky.

Krispy Kreme expanded its menu collaboration with McDonalds in March 2023, as well as going from nine to 160 restaurants and into a second major Kentucky market in Lexington.

At that time, Krispy Kreme swapped out raspberry-filled with its chocolate iced-kreme flavor.

The three doughnut flavors will continue to be available individually or in boxes of six, starting at breakfast and continuing through the day as supplies last.

We know nothing hits the spot quite like a fresh, melt-in-your-mouth doughnut paired with your go-to McCafe order  and today, McDonalds and Krispy Kreme have a sweet update for doughnut fans everywhere, the restaurant chains said in a joint news release.

The companies said the 160 Kentucky pilot restaurants will continue to serve Krispy Kreme doughnuts during the nationwide rollout.

Since the launch of breakfast nearly 50 years ago, weve continued to offer new menu items, flavors and experiences that have made McDonalds an irreplaceable part of fans morning routines, said Tariq Hassan, McDonalds USAs chief marketing and customer experience officer.

This partnership is an exciting next step in that journey and a chance to unlock new business opportunities in the breakfast category and throughout the day.

Our fans love for Krispy Kreme runs deep, and we cant wait to make it even easier for them to satisfy their sweet tooth at McDonalds restaurants across the country.

Charlesworth said in the news release that the top request we receive from consumers, every day, is, please bring Krispy Kreme to my town.

Partnering with McDonalds on a national scale will provide our fans and doughnut lovers unprecedented daily access to fresh doughnuts and the joy that is Krispy Kreme.

Expansion plans

Krispy Kreme said in a separate regulatory filing on the partnership that it has agreed not to supply its doughnuts to any other quick-service or fast-casual restaurant in the United States through at least Dec. 31, 2026.

Krispy Kreme also has agreed not to assist any other person or quick-service restaurant or license or authorize any other quick-service restaurant in the United States to use any company brand.

However, the Agreement does not grant McDonalds any exclusivity outside of the United States.

The initial term of the Agreement begins on the Effective Date and ends one year following the last BU rollout and automatically renews for consecutive one-year periods. Either party may terminate for cause during the initial term or any renewal term and upon six months prior notice during any renewal term.

Krispy Kreme said in its fourth-quarter earnings report Feb. 13 that it had another significant gain in U.S. and global retail outlets during fiscal 2023, increasing 19.5% to 14,147 in 39 countries.

The company said Wednesday its ultimate goal is 100,000 global points of sales, including 15,000 in the U.S.

Charlesworth told analysts during the fourth-quarter conference call that the company is confident in its ability to expand its delivered fresh daily network in the U.S. and globally, including quick service restaurants.

Charlesworth cited the recent securing of production sites in existing buildings in Miami, Minneapolis and Los Angeles to keep up with demand. There also are plans to expand in New York and the Northeast.

The investments we are making are in broad support of the overall, not particularly dependent on McDonalds, he said. It make a lot of sense for our business going forward to bring Krispy Kreme to more people in those channels.

Were actually looking all over the country as we build out our plans for delivery fresh daily and quick service restaurants, he said.

He said some of its hubs have the ability to add production capacity as warranted with quick-service restaurants.

Charlesworth said Krispy Kreme is modernizing the making and moving of doughnuts to ensure high-quality, profitable growth.

That includes conducting pilot programs in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles of third-party delivery networks.

Symbiotic partnership

The deal to put Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnuts on a McDonalds menu could go beyond a test market to a symbiotic national relationship, according to Wake Forest marketing professor Roger Beahm.

Partnering with McDonalds offers Krispy Kreme a new go-to-market strategy that seems to offer strong upside potential, Beahm said.

This creates much greater access to the market virtually overnight, Beahm said. Consumers wont need to go so far out of their way to reach a Krispy Kreme sales outlet.

While the added convenience could cannibalize some of the Krispy Kreme factory store business, it will likely be more than offset by the incremental gains from the sale of products through McDonalds restaurants.

There already has been some wishful global thinking about how to put the glazed doughnuts to additional use  not unlike some food treats at the Carolina Classic Fair.

One website  King of Cheat Meals.com  has urged the restaurants to create a McDonalds + Krispy Kreme New Zealand doughnut burger, but nicknamed it the McKrispy burger.

The recommendation is for double meat patties, double cheese and crispy bacon between two original glazed doughnuts. There was even a Change.org petition to bring the McKrispy to Australian markets at the time.

However, McDonalds said there has been no McKrispy created to date.
A Lewis and Clark County District Court judge dismissed the Leon Ford deliberate homicide case on Tuesday at the request of prosecutors who said it would be in the best interest of justice.

The decision comes as a scheduling hearing for a retrial was to be held Wednesday. A four-week-long trial that began in May 2023 in which Ford was accused in the death of John Michael Mike Crites had ended with a hung jury.

Court documents submitted by former Lewis and Clark County Attorney Leo Gallagher asked District Court Judge Mike Menahan to dismiss and vacate all hearings and to exonerate existing bonds, which Menahan signed on Tuesday.

"After a thorough review and in consideration of all of the information and evidence related to this investigation, the State will not proceed in retrying this case," county attorney Kevin Downs said. "The State respects the decision of the jury as well as the cardinal principle that a person is presumed innocent unless and until the State can establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt."

Defense attorney Palmer Hoovestal said Ford's name is finally cleared. He said the prosecution realized their case wasn't going to get better.

"Leon Ford did not kill Mike Crites," Hoovestal said.

Ford was charged with felony deliberate homicide and felony tampering with or fabricating physical evidence on Sept. 11, 2020.

Crites, 48, of Birdseye, was killed in June 2011 and found by two U. S. Forest Service employees near MacDonald Pass in October 2011, dismembered in two garbage bags full of bones. His skull was found west of the Continental Divide near Elliston in September 2012.

The deputy state medical examiner said Crites death was from gunshot wounds to the head and found a projectile consistent with a 38 class, 95-grain hollow-point bullet. This bullet includes calibers in a .38 special, .357 Magnum, 9 mm Luger and 380 Auto firearms.

In October 2012, in Fords Oak Harbor, Washington, home authorities seized a Ruger .357 Magnum revolver, a Colt 380 semi-automatic handgun and a Smith and Wesson 9 mm semi-automatic handgun.

Ford was cited saying I did not kill Mike Crites, during an interview in 2012. I do not know who killed Mike Crites, if anybody did kill Mike Crites.

Court documents state there was tension between Crites and Ford for years before the killing, due to blocking road access filled with allegations like trespassing, assaults, intimidation, threats and weapon violations.

These allegations led police to send a letter in September 2010 to the residents saying what they would and would not respond to.

Neither the Sheriffs Office nor the County Attorneys Office is going to get involved in what should be civil disputes about access and easements, the letter read. People may wear sidearms on their person or carry a firearm without being subject to criminal prosecution even if the person in possession of the weapon gets into an argument with another."

Gallagher, who had been serving as county attorney at the time of the crime, came out of retirement to prosecute the case. Downs had been elected as the new county attorney. In an earlier report, Downs said it was a mutual decision to bring him back on for the case.

Gallagher prosecuted the case with Jessica Best from the county attorneys office.

The 14-day trial brought forward multiple people to speak on the witness stand, evidence consisting of autopsy photos and written letters and other forms of evidence due to the allegations made against Ford.

When a mistrial was declared, Hoovestal said, "Quite frankly, the state simply didn't have the evidence to convict."

"... Mr. Ford didn't kill or dismember Michael Crites. He did not do that, so he's disappointed that it was not a not guilty verdict, but he certainly wasn't convicted," he said.

Since the trial was met with a hung jury in 2023, the courts and county attorneys office set a tentative date for the case to continue in January 2024, but this was then continued further in the year to March.

Menahan said prosecutors have discretion to bring charges against a defendant. Even though this case was part of a jury trial the prosecution still has that burden of proving a crime was committed beyond a reasonable doubt as constituted by law.

Menahan added that he feels the public should be understanding of the states decision to propose the order because they provided all evidence in their possession for the case.
Are Montanas days as the nations Treasure State over? A century ago, the city of Butte was home to The Richest Hill on Earth, producing more than 25% of the global copper supply. Immigrants flocked to Butte seeking the opportunity made possible by Montanas mineral wealth.

The saying used to go: Dont stop in America, go straight to Butte!

Now, the Richest Hill on Earths premier Berkeley Pit is a toxic pond and a quirky tourist attraction. Montana is getting lumped in with Scenery States like Hawaii whose economies are becoming dominated by tourism. We just arent building and producing enough to live up to our Treasure State reputation. But that could change.

Quote If we choose to mine and build again, Montanas days as the nations Treasure State are far from over.

Exciting recent discoveries of Rare Earth Elements could place Montana center stage in a 21st century green gold rush, driving economic growth, and potentially once again making our mineral wealth the envy of the world.

Rare Earth Elements (REEs) are a set of 17 elements that have unique magnetic, luminescent, and catalytic properties that make them essential components for many technologies that drive the modern economy, including more than 200 high-tech products. REEs are necessary for making everything from wind turbines and electric vehicles to cutting edge technologies like semiconductor chips and defense equipment like the F-35 fighter jet.

The prospect of mining REEs in Montana is a big deal for the United States. Forty years ago, the U.S. had the largest global market share of REE extraction and production. By the year 2000, the U.S.s market share dropped to 6% while Chinas skyrocketed to 85%. Today, China effectively controls the market, making our economy and our national security beholden to a government with far less respect for individual freedom and the environment.

Thankfully, several locations in Montana have recently been identified as high quality sources of REEs. Exploration near Sheep Creek in the Bitterroot Mountains found REE samples with grades exceeding any other domestic source and purportedly with very low radioactive thorium concentrations, potentially reducing the environmental safety risks involved with mining compared to high-thorium sources in China.

And in a twist of fate, recent reports say the Berkeley Pit in Butte is a strategically vital source of REEs, and groups including the Department of Defense are studying the economic viability of extracting and processing the minerals. Of course, any modern mining would undoubtedly be done with greater environmental precautions than mining a century ago.

While mining REE minerals itself would create many high paying jobs, Montana has the opportunity to think even bigger. REE processing facilities could be built nearby deposits to further reduce supply chain costs. Montanas burgeoning semiconductor and photonics industries could take advantage of the local mineral supply chain to scale up production. Energy manufacturers producing solar panels and wind turbines, which are highly dependent on REEs along with semiconductor and photonics technologies, could set up shop in Montana to take advantage of this robust local supply chain. All of this would be accelerated by low taxes and business-friendly regulations.

In 25 years, Montana energy companies could be installing wind turbines and solar panels built in Montana, with semiconductors and photonic technology manufactured in Montana, utilizing Rare Earth Elements extracted and processed in Montana, to export clean Montana-made energy to power the nation.

Of course, there are many barriers to realizing this future. For instance, we need to reform our broken environmental permitting process so we can build again. But the point is, Montana isnt destined to be a tourism-dependent economy. If we choose to mine and build again, Montanas days as the nations Treasure State are far from over.
DECATUR  A man is accused of invading the home of a female acquaintance, strangling her and then hitting her so hard she blacked out.

Shaquil M.S. Cole, 31, is being held in the Macon County Jail on charges of home invasion causing injury and aggravated domestic battery involving strangulation.

He also faces a further charge of aggravated domestic battery and is due to enter pleas to the charges at a Macon County Circuit Court preliminary hearing scheduled for April 3. Judge Lindsey Shelton has denied Cole pretrial release on the grounds he is too dangerous to be set free.

Decatur police had found and arrested Cole on March 16 but the charges against him date to the night of Feb. 14. A sworn affidavit said the female victim said she heard the sound of somebody messing with her bedroom window and then heard the sound of Coles voice, and she yelled for him to leave.

Then she realized she had left the front door unlocked and dashed out of her bedroom to close it, but was too late. She is quoted as telling police that Cole beat her to it and forced his way into her home before locking his hands around her neck and squeezing to the point where he cut off her breath.

(She) stated she tried to get away by fleeing downstairs, however, Shaquil had ahold of her by her neck and somewhat dragged her down the stairs, said the affidavit, signed by Officer Ryan Ricker.

(She) stated while at the bottom of the stairs, Shaquil punched her on the left side of her jaw/face with a closed fist. She stated when she was punched she believed she lost consciousness and, when she came-to, Shaquil was fleeing in a vehicle.

Ricker noted visible injuries to the womans neck and jaw and the victim said it felt like the alignment of her teeth had shifted from the force of the blow.

2023 mugshots from the Herald & Review Lourash Hirstein Phillip Gehrken Joseph A. Williams Jetrevius O. Jarrett Edwards King-Woods Wilson Derrickson Colby J. Park
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
SPRINGFIELD  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.

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.

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.
A building that was formerly home to a Kmart department store in Conover will house a Rural King store later this year, according to the Jacobs Group, the company renovating the building.

The 89,783-square-foot site at 508 10th St. NW in Conover will undergo a renovation that is projected to cost over $1 million.

The store is expected to open around Aug. 1.

Attempts to reach officials with Rural King were unsuccessful.

Rural King is a farm and home store that sells products ranging from chicken feed to power tools to guns, according to the companys website. The company has been around since 1960 and has more than 130 stores across 13 states.

Rural King currently has one other store in the area, located south of Morganton.
A federal indictment against a Hickory man was dismissed after a 2023 search warrant obtained by the Hickory Police Department was deemed illegitimate, according to court documents.

On Thursday, the office of U.S. Attorney Dena King filed a motion to dismiss a federal indictment charging Javario Davon Robinson, 36, of Hickory, with possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. Robinson is a convicted felon, according to court documents.

U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell granted Kings motion and ordered the charge be dismissed on Thursday.

A hearing that was scheduled for Monday was cancelled. The hearing was to determine whether the search conducted by the Hickory Police Department was legal. After the hearing was set, Kings office reevaluated the search warrant, according to court documents.

The government confirmed that there was an assertion included in the affidavit at issue that should not be considered when assessing the sufficiency of the probable cause for the search in this matter, Kings motion stated. Further, the government concluded that the exclusion of this assertion in a corrected affidavit would fail to establish the required probable cause for the search.

The assertion in question was a statement made by Hickory police investigator Tammie Johnson in a request for a warrant to search Robinsons home at 430 S. Center St. following an accidental shooting on April 6, 2023.

When Officer attempted to secure the residence, Robinsons father who is heavily intoxicated slammed and locked the door, the search warrant affidavit stated.

Body camera footage from the scene showed the door was closed when officers arrived at the scene, according to court documents.

Hickory police seized seven guns and ammunition from Robinsons home during the search.

Federal defense attorney Rhett Johnson represented Robinson in the case. In February, Johnson issued a motion for the evidence collected in the search to be suppressed. In the motion, Johnson described the body camera footage.

Johnson included a photo from the body camera footage that showed Robinson lying on the sidewalk in front of his home. Three other people, including his father Arthur Robinson, were standing around Javario Robinson. The front door was shut. No one could be seen on the porch in the photo.

Johnson said that photo was from when officers initially arrived on the scene.

Johnson said after Robinson was taken to the hospital, Hickory officers requested access to the house to search for the bullet and other potential victims. Robinsons father Arthur Robinson said the door was locked and he did not have a key. Once the criminal investigations division arrived on the scene, the front door was kicked in to do a protective sweep, according to Johnsons motion.

Shortly after the protective sweep, Investigator Tammie Johnson applied for a search warrant. Once the warrant was granted, Hickory police searched the home and seized the evidence used for the federal indictment against Robinson, Rhett Johnson said in the motion.
In front of a packed audience, the Cabarrus County Board of Elections, during a preliminary hearing Monday afternoon, dismissed the election protests of N.C. House Rep. Kevin Crutchfield and Holly Edwards.

The five-member board unanimously voted to dismiss the protests because there was no probable cause to believe that a violation of election law or irregularity or misconduct has occurred, according to G.S. 163-182.10.

Both Crutchfield and Edwards filed protests last week alleging that the Cabarrus County Republican Party exercised undue influence over primary voters by encouraging them to vote for certain Republican candidates over others.

I filed the protest to defend the voters right to a free and fair election, Crutchfield, current House District 83 incumbent, told the paper in a statement last week. He noted the election was directly influenced and altered by the deceitful and improper conduct of his opponent Brian Echevarria and certain members of the Cabarrus County GOP Executive Committee.

Political parties, both Republican and Democratic, are not allowed to endorse or show favor to a particular candidate in the primary.

Edwards, a former chair of the Cabarrus County Board of Education, told the paper that she has received numerous written and verbal complaints from voters alleging possible misconduct by her opponent and the local GOP leadership.

The evidence of misconduct, in my opinion, is substantial, and it is clear to me that these alleged irregularities and misconduct possibly affected the outcome of the election, Edwards said.

At the heart of the matter for both candidates seems to be the circulation of a We The People yellow flyer. Crutchfield told the paper the flyers, which detailed a sample ballot of which GOP candidates to support, were heavily promoted by certain Republican candidates in the runup to the primary election and distributed to people as they prepared to vote.

The flyer stated at the bottom that the printing was paid for by Brian Echevarria, who ran against Crutchfield for House District 82. Echevarria won by only 167 votes.

Both candidates alleged that the flyer was taped inside a voting booth at one of the precincts. Holly Edwards even called Cabarrus County Board of Elections director Carol Soles to make her aware that a voter saw the flyer inside a voting booth at the Valor Preparatory Academy precinct.

The board seemed to be in agreement that its purview regarding any type of misconduct was limited to election officials and the actual process of tabulating the votes, as opposed to the actions of outside parties, such as observers or even other voters.

Board secretary Jay White noted there was no evidence from either protest showing that the integrity of the vote was in any way compromised. The process of allowing people to freely cast ballots was not obstructed or hindered, which is the chief concern for the board.

Crutchfield and Edwards said they each plan to appeal their protests to the North Carolina State Board of Elections.

While the Cabarrus County Board of Elections did not see their way to move this protest investigation forward, I believe that voter integrity and protection is under attack, Crutchfield said. It is the responsibility of my office to keep my promise to do what I can to protect our voters of Cabarrus County. To that end, I will be appealing this decision at the appropriate time.

We really want to make sure that all the voters voices are heard, Edwards told the paper after the preliminary hearing. There are a lot of voters that are upset over what took place on Election Day and those voices need to be heard as well.

Cabarrus County Republican Party chairman Lanny Lancaster, who was in attendance at the hearing and previously told the paper that the county GOP never favored any candidate over another, said he was already looking to the future. The Republican Party is ready to move on to November, he said.
Save Our Schools, the nonprofit organization that has been advocating for years against the closure of Beverly Hills Elementary School, filed a class action lawsuit Tuesday in Cabarrus County Superior Court against the Cabarrus County Board of Education for not following proper protocols regarding its decision last month to permanently close the school.

The plaintiffs, which are Beverly Hills parents representing themselves and more than 600 others, contend in the lawsuit, a copy of which was provided to the Independent Tribune, that the board acted outside its scope of authority under North Carolina law and abused its discretion in approving the closure of Beverly Hills.

Permanently closing a school is a decision of great magnitude which affects children, families, and entire communities, said John Scarbrough, attorney for the plaintiffs. As such, the decision should be made carefully and based on the thorough study required by statute. For some reason Beverly Hills did not get that consideration, which is why my clients filed this lawsuit.

In a statement to the paper, CCS said it has been made aware of this action, and CCS Board attorneys are currently reviewing this information. Cabarrus County Schools cannot comment further on any pending litigation at this time.

SOS President Lee Shuman, whose three children attended Beverly Hills and whose son is currently a fifth-grader, told the paper that the lawsuit was not something the group took lightly but there are processes in place and there are North Carolina general statutes and laws in place for a reason.

He added that the reasons there are specific protocols governing the closing of schools is because those are huge decisions to make which can change peoples lives.

The closure of Beverly Hills, a Title 1 school which first opened in 1954, will adversely impact the plaintiffs children, according to the lawsuit, depriving them of attending an established STEM program and increasing their school commute time.

The school board voted 4-3 during its Feb. 5 meeting to close the school. The plan is to turn Beverly Hills into a Pre-K center to replace the current Mary Frances Wall Center. A $50.6 million, 750-seat replacement school for Beverly Hills and Coltrane-Webb students will be built on the current Coltrane-Webb site. The hope is that construction can begin on the new school this year, assuming the county can provide the funding.

Students from Beverly Hills will be realigned next school year to W.M. Irvin, Winecoff and Royal Oaks. They will have the option to attend the new Coltrane-Webb school once it is built.

The lawsuit alleges that the board violated G.S. 115C-72 by not first conducting a thorough study of Beverly Hills, which must focus primarily on the welfare of the students to be affected by a proposed closing along with other key factors, including the inconvenience or hardship that might result to the pupils to be affected by such closing.

The plaintiffs are asking the court to enter into an order setting aside the boards vote to close Beverly Hills.

In the Boards haste to realign school boundaries in Cabarrus County, the Board neglected its statutory obligation to consider the effect of a school closure on Beverly Hills students, the lawsuit said, noting it never caused a thorough study of [Beverly Hills] to be made.

The plaintiffs contend that in approving the schools closure, the board was more concerned with implementing the county-wide boundary realignment plan, which called for closing Beverly Hills.

The four Board members who voted to close Beverly Hills, per the lawsuit, repeated the same theme: While Beverly Hills is a successful elementary school, its closure is in the best interest of the rest of the school district because it is required by the county-wide boundary realignment.

Shuman, who is not one of the named plaintiffs, said to the best of his knowledge no mention of a study was ever brought up by any board members.

The Board of Education, in voting for closing the school, would have referenced a study that they caused to be made and not once did I hear that nor have I seen that study, Shuman said.

The plaintiffs also allege that the school board violated its own policy by not giving proper notice of the Jan. 29 public hearing regarding the closure. A notice about the hearing was posted on the CCS website on Jan. 25, the lawsuit said, four days prior to the hearing, which violates board policy.

Per Policy 2330, which the lawsuit references: Notice of a public hearing shall be given a minimum of seven (7) calendar days prior to the hearing or as otherwise provided by law.

The lawsuit called the four-day notice of the public hearing unreasonable in time and scope and noted that neither CCS nor the board attempted to notify parents of Beverly Hills students about the hearing.

Such a notification would have been a simple task, as CCS regularly sends mass communications by text message to parents, including for events as mundane as a Future Jewelry Designer Contest, the lawsuit said.

The plaintiffs are asking the court to order the school board to comply with G.S. 115C-72 and make the decision on whether to close Beverly Hills on the basis of a thorough study focused on the welfare of the schools children. They are also requesting the board follow proper protocols in scheduling a public hearing. Once the hearing and the study have been completed, only then, per the lawsuit, can the board hold a vote on whether to close the school.

Simply put, any decision to close a school must be based on the welfare of the schools students and must fully involve the community, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit can be read in full below.
The Analytics Institute of Australia (AIA) has established an ongoing partnership with SAS, a global leader in data and AI, as the pair seek to build the nations analytics and AI skills workforce amidst a growing shortage[1].

AIA aims to educate future managers and leaders in analytics and business transformation, equipping graduates with ways to extract valuable data insights for inspired decision-making. In designing its course curriculums, AIA has heavily collaborated with SAS, integrating its data, analytics, and AI solutions into students education journey.

Dr. Andrew Podbury, Chief Executive Officer, Analytics Institute of Australia, said, "In response to the evolving data-driven business landscape, we've tailored our courses to meet pressing industry demands. Our strategic partnership with SAS is setting new educational benchmarks, ensuring students seamlessly gain SAS software proficiency through both technical and practical training.

Dr. Podbury continued, Companies across various industries, from banking to healthcare and retail, rely daily on SASs AI and data solutions for critical decision-making. As our students enter the job market, they will have a significant advantage with deep SAS knowledge and experience  its like having a golden ticket to the world of data analytics and, most importantly, the know-how for maximising its full potential. We have received excellent student feedback from our current cohort, underscoring the value of embedding real-world scenarios for SAS applications into the curriculum.

In a testament to this, Nguyen Yen Thai, an AIA student from Vietnam with aspirations of becoming an Investment Analyst, remarked, "SAS software has proven to be an essential tool in my analytics education at AIA. Its simple structure and powerful capabilities for statistical analysis have made learning both enjoyable and effective. Knowing SAS is a key requirement for multinational corporations makes me confident in my future career prospects in analytics."

Echoing this sentiment, Ishika Sharma from India, aiming to become an Information Officer, shared, "With my background in commerce, SAS's user-friendly interface significantly eased my learning process at AIA. The software's wide range of features, including automated scoring, has not only enhanced my data analysis skills but also saved time on tasks. I look forward to mastering more features and applying them in my future career."

The latest ACS Australias Digital Pulse report[2] reveals the next generation of technology professionals requires a mix of technical and people skills. They need to be equipped to work in diverse teams, rapidly adapt to changing conditions, as well as empathise with end-users to produce user-centric solutions. It also forecasts that 1.3 million new technology skills will be needed by 2030 - critical thinking, people skills, governance and practical use-case applications will become as important as coding and programming.

AIAs Bachelor of Analytics and Bachelor of Business Transformation courses seek to address these demands, producing graduates with a blend of technical and strategic skills, spanning expertise in using data science and modelling as well as extracting maximum value from AI tools.

Craig Jennings, Vice President & Managing Director of SAS Australia and New Zealand, said: "We are delighted to partner with the Analytics Institute of Australia, ensuring the next generation of managers and leaders truly lean into smart technology for answering critical business questions, discovering relationships, predicting outcomes and trends, as well as automating tasks.

With data, analytics, and AI technologies advancing rapidly, its crucial that we have a strong workforce equipped to creatively apply these in business and across our vast industries.

Mr Jennings added: At SAS, we work with businesses across all major verticals and part of the rollout process is training their staff on using SAS technology. Those already skilled in using our systems gain greater advantage, often able to capitalise on the solutions sooner.

Founded in 2020 with the goal of becoming Australias premier institution for analytics education, AIAs courses are delivering exactly what is needed to bridge the skills shortage, attracting applicants from 10 countries to date.

Phil Bolton, Chair of the Industry Advisory Board, Analytics Institute of Australia, commented: Industries are increasingly seeking candidates with a diverse skill set that extends beyond just technical expertise - they are prioritising strong communication skills, adaptability and business acumen. This broader, more comprehensive skill set has become critical given the breadth of impact data and AI/ML applications can have across a business. Our new courses have been strategically designed to address this need, as students are trained in developing data-driven solutions that align with organisational objectives and drive positive business outcomes.

AIAs courses are accessible to domestic and international students. For more information about AIAs courses, visit www.analyticsinstitute.edu.au/bachelor-of-analytics and www.analyticsinstitute.edu.au/bachelor-of-business-transformation

[1] ACS Australias Digital Pulse, A new approach to building technology skills, 2023, https://www.acs.org.au/insightsandpublications/reports-publications/digital-pulse-2023.html

[2] ACS Australias Digital Pulse, A new approach to building technology skills, 2023, https://www.acs.org.au/insightsandpublications/reports-publications/digital-pulse-2023.html
GUEST OPINION: Australian IT leaders are not having an easy time in 2024. They are facing waves of uncertainty and risk, leading to one of the most dangerous afflictions in a moment of radical technological change: paralysis.

The most apparent aspect of the current uncertainty is economic. Endava's recent surveys revealed that 51% of Australian businesses are grappling with deteriorated cash flow, and 45% are contending with increased costs. These financial pressures have led to an increasingly cautious approach, with over 70% of companies expecting to either decrease or maintain their current IT investment levels.

But the most challenging uncertainty comes from the fact that many IT leaders in the country feel scarred by poor results from past bets on digital transformation (DX).

Our data shows that almost half of Australia's businesses believe their technology solutions fall short of fully supporting their business objectives. A further 42% view their technology as slightly enhancing business operations, and only 9% see complete alignment between their technology capabilities and business goals. Most leaders are unhappy with the return on their investment in DX.

These experiences inform many decisions about Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) today. Most IT leaders know that there is a significant amount of hype and exaggeration behind the fundamental advances we're seeing in Generative AI.

When IT leaders are faced with the decision to invest fast, they know it's up to them to filter what is important and what is noise, despite all the market and, sometimes even internal pressures to act.

The difficulty, however, is that some of the opportunities and possibilities of AI and ML are real, and the chance of losing the march is not just marketing-speak from providers. Not acting generates genuine risks of missing out or being left behind by competitors.

Of course, most Australian IT leaders are conscious of this. That is why our surveys also show that 57% of them say they are gearing up to adopt AI and ML within the next two years. We're seeing even stronger numbers in the US and Europe, where 75% of leaders anticipate increased IT budgets to focus on these technologies.

The challenge is approaching this new wave of transformation while balancing action with returns.

Each project and company will be different and have dozens or hundreds of variables that leaders must evaluate when thinking about AI/ML projects, but there are universal approaches that can help any IT leader.

The most important is to resist the pressure and the hype to invest in large and transformational AI/ML projects that promise to change everything (have you heard this before?).

No matter how promising a solution is, it's necessary to start small, test, have a prototype, get internal buy-in, understand the barriers, and only scale based on tangible success. This method provides flexibility and minimises financial risk, allowing for strategic and sustainable technological investments.

As simple as this advice sounds, leaders will still be surprised to hear this from a consultant. Still, at Endava, we believe IT consultants that oversell or overpromise degrade trust and generate the challenges we see every time a new and important technology arrives.

Another critical action that every leader needs to take is to address any current gaps in the team. IT leaders need a group that can bring AI and ML to fruition. This may mean new hires or more training, but the proper knowledge and abilities will define the results and the investment return.

For IT leaders in Australia, the path ahead in 2024 will be marked by the need to strike this delicate balance between advancing technological innovation, managing economic realities, and achieving more results faster.

By starting with small-scale, manageable projects, learning from global trends, and scaling up based on proven success, they can ensure that investments lead to tangible benefits and sustainable growth and escape the uncertainty trap.
(circus flyer)

The circus is coming to town! And with it comes a flying trapeze, trainers of wild animals and funny clowns for all children, young and old, to enjoy.

Pop Circus, one of Japans most prominent circus groups, is set for a two-month run at the Uraga Dock in Yokosuka City from April 27 - June 23.

Since its inception in Osaka in 1996, Pop Circus has performed in over 170 cities in Japan.

Watch as 70 skilled performers demonstrate superhuman skills like flying trapeze, Death Wheel, aerial hoops and ribbon acrobatics. The show includes African Hand Voltage acrobatics from Ethiopia and High Bowl unicycle riders from China. Beyond the daring thrills, clowns, juggling and illusions will add touches of comedy and excitement. The two-hour performance has charmed more than 15 million spectators since its inception, according to the event provider.

Tickets are on sale now and available online (https://popcircus.tstar.jp/yokosuka2024). Grab a seat under the gigantic circus tent and enjoy the show!

About Uraga Dock

Uraga Dock is a historic brick drydock of the Sumitomo Industry Shipyard. The dock is the only of its kind in Japan and was built in 1899 before being decommissioned in 2003. Throughout its 104 years, over 1,000 ships were built or repaired there. Today, the Uraga Dock is preserved as one of the citys important historical assets, and facility tours are often provided by the city.

What to know

Location: Uraga Dock field (4-7-1 Uraga, Yokosuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture; a 20-minute drive from Yokosuka Naval Base)

Period: April 27  June 23

Performing hours: 10:20 a.m., 1:10, 4 and 7 p.m. (varies depending on the days. Check the homepage)

Tickets: College students or older, 3,000  4,200 yen (B, A, S and SS-seats), from three years old to highschoolers, 2,000  3,200 yen: Royal (panoramic-view) Box and Pleasure (ringside) Box are also available (check the prices and admission in detail at the webpage.)

For more info and ticket orders: http://www.pop-circus.co.jp

Promotion movie: https://youtu.be/z1BES2EFVjs

Tel: 046-845-4786
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Cheating on one's spouse may be a betrayal of the heart, but in New York State, it's long been a criminal offense.

But after nearly 120 years, a law against adultery - a misdemeanor in New York - could be scratched off the books. State lawmakers are advancing a bill this session to toss the rarely enforced section of the state penal code that since 1907 has defined adultery as a Class B misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $500 fine.

Assemblyman Charles Lavine (D), who sponsored the bill, said the law is out of step with modern society. He noted earlier this month to Politico that since the crime is only a B misdemeanor, those charged with it don't receive a jury trial, leaving it entirely up to a judge to determine their conviction and sentence.

"It doesn't serve as a deterrent," Lavine told Politico. "It's a celebration of someone's concept of their own morality."

Laws criminalizing adultery are on the books in a handful of other states but are rarely enforced. In most cases, they were put on the books at a time when adultery was among the only ways to obtain a divorce, according to Carol Faulkner, a history professor at the University of Syracuse who studies 19th-century America, women and social movements and authored the 2019 book, "Unfaithful: Love, Adultery, and Marriage Reform in Nineteenth-Century America."

After the American Revolution, New York State continued to be much more aligned with English laws, where it remained hard to get a divorce, Faulkner said. In the 19th century, only New York State and South Carolina had restrictions on divorce.

"In South Carolina, you couldn't get a divorce at all," Faulkner said. "In New York State, if couples wanted to divorce, they'd sometimes have to create an adultery claim."

Faulkner said as divorce laws were liberalized across the country and included new grounds for a claim, like ill-temperament or "alienation of affection," New York's bar for was so high - adultery - that couples would sometime manufacture cheating claims to be able to divorce.

New York lawmakers first tried to strike the anti-adultery law 60 years ago when a legislative commission tried to cull archaic laws and modernize the state penal code. Lavine, who could not immediately be reached for comment Friday, is not aware of any opposition to his bill.

The law has been enforced roughly a dozen times since 1907, when it first ensnared a wealthy railroad contractor who was an investor in the Dreamland amusement park at Coney Island and his mistress, a shopgirl from Chicago, according to an archive of the story in the New York Times.

At the time, the scandalous Patrick H. Hirsch had left his wife, Elizabeth, to live with Ruby Yeargin; Hirsch moved the young woman and her mother from Chicago and began living with them in New York. Hirsch also moved his young son by Elizabeth to live with him and Yeargin, telling the boy she was his mother.

Elizabeth Hirsch put private detectives on the trail before bringing her claims to the police, who arrested her husband and Yeargin.

Faulkner said New York repealing its adultery law signals a changing view of marriage.

"When we had Obergefell v. Hodges, the U.S. Supreme Court decision, the slogan was love is love,'" Faulkner said of the landmark case that legalized same-sex marriage. "Marriage should be about love, consenting adults and voluntary relationships. And if someone in a marriage decides they love someone else, in many ways we don't condemn that."

If there's no longer love in a marriage, Faulkner said, it should be okay - and legal - to end it. To that end, the elder Yeargin may have been on to something back in 1907: she defended her daughter's reputation, telling police, according to the Times, that Hirsch loved her daughter "better than he did his own wife."

"People who love each other should be married," Faulkner said, "and people who don't love each other shouldn't be."
 Two Louisville, Kentucky, roommates got into a heated dispute at their home, The Charlotte Observer reported, over an unlikely subject: Hot Pockets.

Clifton Williams, 64, was charged with second-degree assault after he allegedly shot the victim.

Williams "got mad he ate the last Hot Pocket and began throwing tiles at him," police said.

When the victim moved to leave the home, Williams retrieved a firearm and shot the man in the posterior. He remains in the custody of Louisville Metro Corrections. [Charlotte Observer, 5/23/2023]
I can't think of any big city in Europe where you wake up literally at "cock crow." In Tangier, Morocco  right across the Strait of Gibraltar from Spain  the roosters, even more than the minaret's call to prayer, make sure the city wakes up early. I spent a recent birthday in Tangier, and started my special day with the roosters.

I arrived in Tangier after a quick ferry ride from Tarifa, on the southern coast of Spain. Though its just a 35-minute boat ride away, Tangier feels a world apart from Europe. Like almost every city in Morocco, Tangier is split into a new town and an old town (medina). The old town, encircled by a medieval wall, has colorful markets; twisty, hilly streets; and the Kasbah, with its palace and mosque. The Grand Socco, a big, noisy square, is the link between the old and new parts of town. The city is light on museums and attractions, but it doesnt need them; Tangiers sights are living in the streets.

To celebrate my birthday, I spent a couple of hours alone, just floating through the back alleys. Wandering through the market, just off the Grand Socco, I came across a collage of vivid images. A butcher was making a colorful curtain of entrails, creating mellow stripes of all textures. Camera-shy Berber tribeswomen were in town selling goat cheese wrapped in palm leaves.

A man lumbered through the crowd pushing a ramshackle cart laden with a huge side of beef. He made a honking sound, and at first I thought he was just being funny. But it wasnt the comical beep-beep I'd make if I were behind a wheelbarrow. Small-time shipping was his livelihood, and his vocal chords were the only horn he had.

Around the corner, the click-click-click of a mosaic maker drew me into another tiny shop, where a man sat all day chiseling intentionally imperfect mosaic chips to fit a pattern for a commissioned work. As only Allah is perfect, the imperfection is considered beautiful.

In Tangier, many people cant afford private ovens, phones, or running water, so there are communal options: phone desks, baths, and bakeries where locals drop off their ready-to-cook dough. During my wanderings, I followed a colorfully scarved woman into a community bakery. She was carrying her platter of doughy loaves under a towel. The baker, artfully wielding a broom-handled wooden spatula, received her loaves, hardly missing a beat as he pushed and pulled the neighborhood's baked goods  fish, stews, bread, cookies, and pods of sunflower seeds  into and out of his oven.

After meeting up with my TV crew, we caught a taxi up to the Kasbah. Hearing a tap-tap-tap directly behind me, I turned around to see the back window filled with the toothy grin of a little boy. He had leapt onto the cab for the ride, legs and arms spread across its back side with nothing to grip. Realizing that the cab was about to make a sudden stop, his smile disappeared and he slunk back, hopping off the cab safely.

The Kasbah sits atop old Tangier. On Place de la Kasbah is the Dar el-Makhzen, a former sultans palace that now houses a history museum. The Kasbah is also the scene of a vivid gauntlet of amusements waiting to ambush parading tour groups: snake charmers, flamboyant water vendors, and squawky dance troupes.

The view of the ocean from here is not to be missed. The artist Henri Matisse traveled here in 1912-13, and the culture, patterns, and colors that he encountered showed up routinely in his art.

The vast majority of tourists in Tangier are day-trippers (from resorts in southern Spain). But I like to spend the night, experiencing the communal nature of a riad  a guesthouse typically found in the old town, with rooms surrounding a courtyard atrium. If youre here in the evening, make sure to be out and about in the medina after dark, when in the cool of the evening, the atmospheric lanes, squares, and people conspire to become even more alluring.

Tangier offers nonstop action and cultural voyeurism to the max. Theres so much to see here that it makes the  Star Wars cantina scene look bland. Recent upgrades around town have brought an affluent and modern side without abandoning its roots. Many visitors are impressed by the warmth of the Moroccan people. I particularly like how they touch their right hand to their heart after shaking hands or saying thank you  a kind gesture meant to emphasize sincerity.

Walking through the labyrinthine medina, dodging grabby salesmen, teasing craftsmen, and half-bald dogs, I think to myself, "How could anyone be in southern Spain  so close  and not hop over to experience this wonderland?"

(Rick Steves (www.ricksteves.com) writes European guidebooks, hosts travel shows on public TV and radio, and organizes European tours. This column revisits some of Rick's favorite places over the past two decades. You can email Rick at rick@ricksteves.com and follow his blog on Facebook.)
Students in the science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics course will learn about the Category 5 Hurricane Dorian that devastated the Bahamas. Students will be expected to learn block coding, and then utilize Sphero robots in collaboration with a chassis they must build to attach to the robot in order to carry "supplies" through an obstacle course created to represent the devastation that Dorian left behind. The goal is for students to understand the impact that humans can have in a positive way to help those in need, while accomplishing knowledge around the Engineering Design Process.
ProKidney Corp. said Monday it has added two officials to its executive-management team in Ulrich Ernst as executive vice president of Technical Operations and Lucio Tozzi as senior vice president of Global Clinical Operations.

Ernst joined ProKidney on Monday, while Tozzi was appointed on Jan. 22.

ProKidney said Ernst, 62, has more than 30 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry with a focus on process development, manufacturing and facility oversight, and supply chain operations in the cell space. Ernsts annual base salary is $450,000 and an initial target of 40% of his base salary, which will be prorated for the 2024 fiscal year. The company will provide relocation assistance of up to $159,000.

Tozzi also has more than 30 years of experience in international drug development and execution of clinical trials across multiple therapeutic categories. Tozzi previously worked head of Clinical Operations at Summit Therapeutics and Rain Oncology.

ProKidney is a late clinical-stage cellular therapeutics company focused on chronic kidney disease. It currently has 80 employees with announced expansion plans at its Winston-Salem facility and a manufacturing facility in Greensboro.

The company reported Friday ending a transformational year with a lower fiscal loss at $35.5 million. The company is not generating revenue at this point as a publicly traded company, although it had $22.1 million in interest income for fiscal 2023.
A Forsyth County man died Wednesday, after an off-duty police officer shot him in the parking lot of a Chick-fil-A restaurant in a town on the outskirts of Charleston, S.C., authorities said.

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) said Michael ONeal, 39, died at the scene after the officer fired on him during an altercation between the two.

The shooting occurred at the Chick-fil-A located in Summerville just off Interstate 26. The exit is about 20 miles northwest of Charleston.

Capt. Chris Hirsch of the Summerville Police Department said the altercation occurred about 1 p.m. Wednesday, but Hirsch said he had no information on what led up to the dispute.

During the incident, Hirsch said, it is believed that the off-duty police officer was dragged by a car driven by ONeal.

Summerville Police Chief Douglas R. Wright issued a statement on Friday in which he identified the officer in the case as Anthony DeLustro.

Hirsch said the police officer was taken to a local hospital for treatment and has been released. DeLustro is on administrative leave while SLED carries out an investigation. SLED is the South Carolina equivalent of the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation, and like that agency, handles the investigation of officer-involved shootings.

Berkeley County Coroner Darnell Hartwell said ONeal died shortly after he was shot:

First responders and medics got there and found very little signs of life, Hartwell said. Hartwell said the police officers injuries appeared to result from his being dragged by ONeals car.

ONeal was apparently by himself in the parking lot when he got into the altercation with the off-duty officer, Hartwell said.

ONeals death caused an outpouring of grief on social media here, with people talking about good times theyve had with ONeal over the years.

ONeals family issued a statement on Friday in which they said they appreciate the love and support of the communities and friends.

This is a senseless, difficult time and not deserved by anyone, the family said. Michael was hilarious, loving and the light of the room in any situation. We appreciate privacy at this time while we have a chance to grieve our loss.

Brandon Creason was among those commenting on ONeals death on Facebook.

He was my best friend and we have known each other for 25 years, he said in a telephone interview. He had the biggest smile that anyone can imagine. He was always there for me. He was a well-loved and likeable guy around town. Him not being here leaves a massive hole in our community.

ONeal was single and had no children, Creason said.

He was in Charleston because he took a job he got two weeks ago, Creason said. That was a move he got excited about. Im heartbroken that he is gone.

The Summerville police chief made a statement on behalf of his department in which he offered our thoughts and prayers to the ONeal family for the tragic loss of their loved one, Michael.

Yesterday, I spoke with Michaels parents and offered my sincere condolences, the chief said. Calling the incident a struggle for all who were involved, the chief said the officer and his family are in the departments prayers during this difficult time.

The chief said DeLustro began his law enforcement career with the New York Police Department in 1980 and retired in 2002 after 22 years. He became a police officer in Summerville in 2007 and stayed about two years, and had returned to the Summerville Police Department for a second stint in January of 2023.
Michael ONeal, the Forsyth County man fatally shot last week by an off-duty police officer in Charleston, S.C., suburb, had close ties to law enforcement here, relatives raising money for the family are saying.

ONeals father was a police officer in Winston-Salem for 30 years, Amy Nail said in a posting on the fundraising site GoFundMe. Nail and other relatives are raising money on the site for funeral and other expenses the family may face, Nail wrote on the site.

Records show ONeal was the son of Paul O. ONeal Jr., who worked as an officer in the Winston-Salem Police Department. ONeals grandfather, Paul O. ONeal Sr., who died in 2008, was a former police chief in Burlington.

This is a family that has a great deal of respect for law enforcement in general, yet is fully aware that no profession is free of bad actors, Nail wrote on the GoFundMe page. We remain optimistic that the SLED (the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division) detectives will find the truth and bring about justice.

ONeal, 39, had just gotten a new job in Charleston, a friend said, and was excited about the move. Last Wednesday around 1 p.m., ONeal was by himself on the parking lot of a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Summerville, S.C., authorities said, when he and off-duty Summerville police officer Anthony DeLustro got into a dispute.

A witness to part of the incident shot a video thats been posted on social media showing the altercation between the men. The video does not show the actual shooting. Summerville authorities have not said what led up to the dispute, but say that it is believed that at some point during the incident DeLustro was dragged by a car driven by ONeal.

The off-duty officer fired on ONeal, who died in the parking lot before he could be transported to a hospital. The police officer was treated for non-life-threatening injuries and released. He is on administrative leave during the investigation. No charges have been filed.

Although not technically an officer-involved shooting, since the officer was off-duty, the incident is nonetheless being investigated by SLED, the South Carolina equivalent of the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation, which takes over investigations of incidents involving police officers in this state.

Renee Wunderlich, speaking for SLED, said Monday that the investigation is active and ongoing, but couldnt say how long it may take investigators to resolve the case.

Meanwhile, Nail said on the GoFundMe page that while the family has many unanswered questions, the family is respectfully waiting for SLED to perform a thorough investigation, which takes time.

The fundraiser has a $30,000 goal and had reached about $13,000 Monday evening. Nail said the money would go for the funeral or memorial service, as well as meals, travel and potential legal expenses by the family.

We dont know how much they will need, this is uncharted territory for us, Nail wrote.

DeLustro began his law enforcement career in New York as a member of the New York Police Department. He retired in 2002 after 22 years with the department. He served two stints with the Summerville police force, the first from 2007 to 2009, and the second from January 2023 to the present.

Records from the New York Civilian Complaint Review Board show a complaint was made to that board that Delustro abused his authority in a 2002 incident involving a vehicle search. The complaint had no resolution because Delustro retired that year.
Jennifer L. Martin, the chief assistant district attorney in Forsyth County, will become a faculty member at the Kahn School of Law at High Point University, the university says in a news release.

Martin, 50, said last week that she plans to take early retirement in her role in the Forsyth County District Attorneys Office.

She will begin her duties as a clinical associate professor of law and director of clinical programs at the HPU School of Law in the fall.

Beginning in summer 2025, the Kahn School of Law at High Point University will operate in a new three-story, 77,000-square-foot building, the university said.

During its first year of instruction in the 2024-25 academic year, the law school will operate in other spaces on HPUs campus.

Martin has worked in the district attorneys office since September 1999.

I have enjoyed serving and working in this community for 25 years, Martin said. Its been incredibly rewarding.

District Attorney Jim ONeill appointed Martin as the chief assistant district attorney, making her the first female and first Black woman to hold that position, Martin said.

I thought it was an incredible show of faith on his part in appointing Martin to that position, she said.

Stacey Rubain, an assistant federal public defender in Greensboro, said Martin is a committed attorney.

Jennifer is a proud Stokes County native, and she entered public service because she was passionate about her community and committed to helping those less fortunate, Rubain said. And while she achieved the remarkable distinction of becoming the first African-American female chief assistant district attorney in the state, Jennifer would rather folks remember the compassion she showed to victims, and the integrity she always displayed in the pursuit of justice.

Her retirement is well-earned and well-deserved, Rubain said. I know she looks forward to starting a new chapter in her legal career, as a law professor and the director of clinical programs at (the) High Point University law school. I can think of no one more qualified or better suited to mentor and train the next generation of lawyers.

As the chief assistant district attorney, Martin has tried 80 jury trials, including 15 first-degree murder trials, the university said.

She has worked with law enforcement agencies in their investigations and met with grieving families to guide them through the trial process.

What I enjoyed the most was pursing justice for victims of violent crime and their families, Martin said. I hope they will get some closure in the death penalty and life imprisonment with a swift resolution of the appellate process.

Martin received a law degree from the Wake Forest University School in Law in 1999. Martin received a bachelors degree in English from Wake Forest University in May 1996.

At the law school, Martin also will teach criminal law, the university said.

It is tremendous honor to join the amazing team at HPU Law, Martin said. This is an extraordinary moment in time to join the collective effort of the law school to educate and train the next generation of lawyer-leaders.

Mark Martin, the law schools dean and professor of law, said that Jennifer Martin is an exemplary addition to the schools faculty, and she has an impressive professional background.

Jennifer Martin is not related to Mark Martin.
As the population of older people increases, the demand for eye care services will increase without a sufficient supply of ophthalmologists.1,2 The projected shortage of ophthalmologists is a looming predicament for ophthalmic patient care. Although ophthalmologists may have differing opinions on the matter, the authors note that a 2016 analysis by the US Department of Health and Human Services projected a potential deficit of more than 30% in ophthalmologists by 2025.3,4 In fact, ophthalmology was predicted to have the largest deficit of the 10 surgical specialties modeled, including orthopedic surgery and general surgery.4 If the deficit of ophthalmologists continues, eye disorders such as age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy could go undertreated.1,2,5

Integrating physician associates/assistants (PAs) into ophthalmology is a sensible way to help meet the demand. PAs have practiced in ophthalmology for decades. In the United States, 79% of practicing PAs work in specialty care, and successful integration of PAs in specialty care is evident in areas such as emergency medicine, trauma, orthopedics, critical care, and psychiatry.6-11

Similarly, NPs frequently specialize early in their education. But unlike PAs, NPs have successfully been thoroughly integrated into ophthalmology and are managing eye conditions in primary eye care settings, triaging ophthalmic emergencies in emergency settings, and delivering intravitreal injections.12-14 Peer-reviewed research about outcomes for NPs and PAs in specialty care has established a model for the successful integration of PAs in ophthalmology.

Fifty-two PAs were practicing in ophthalmology in 1990; that number increased only to 94 by 2019.15,16 Of the 7,740 PAs who responded to the salary and specialty questions in the 2022 American Academy of Physician Associates (AAPA) Salary Report, only 13 (0.002%) said they worked in ophthalmology.17 Underrepresentation of PAs in ophthalmology is likely because PA students receive little ophthalmology training and exposure in PA school.1 Other reasons may exist, such as lack of interest or available employment. Unfortunately, many ophthalmologists believe training PAs on the job is expensive and time-consuming.16,18-20 Ophthalmologists might hire PAs more frequently if the PAs were adequately trained in a postgraduate training program, despite state variations in PA prescriptive authority for prescribing corrective lenses, prisms, and contact lenses, all of which have specific fitting regulations.

The literature has limited descriptions of the benefits and ease of integrating PAs into ophthalmology practices. PAs can offer ophthalmic care in all 50 states, primarily subject to limitations set by their supervising or collaborating physician's delegation of ophthalmic care. However, some states impose restrictions on PAs in terms of performing refractions and operating lasers, so these regulations are not set at the practice level.1,16,18 Ophthalmologists prefer the surgical training PAs receive over that of other healthcare professionals, such as NPs, optometrists, or ophthalmic technicians, and feel more comfortable adding PAs to a call schedule.1,18,20

Other options to fill the gap include using other ophthalmic professionals and making policy changes. Optometrists can assist ophthalmologists in providing ophthalmic care. Optometrists perform routine eye care evaluations in ophthalmology settings but are limited by strong procedural restrictions in many states.2,21 However, because scope-of-practice changes require legislative and regulatory action, the process often is slow and faces challenges.21 Also, optometrists do not receive the same level of surgical training as PAs, although postgraduate training does exist.20 Eye care needs could be addressed by optometrists and ophthalmologists, but for ophthalmologists to adequately manage their tasks, a model incorporating PAs should not be neglected. PAs could shape their own role on the ophthalmologist-led team without disrupting other ophthalmic professions.1,20

NPs also could be excellent additions to an ophthalmology team, but many lack the surgical training preferred by ophthalmologists.1,18 Opticians and ophthalmic technicians are good additions to the team and operate diagnostic equipment efficiently, but unlike PAs, cannot bill for physician services.20 Administrators have successfully expanded medical schools in response to increased demand for physicians and increased ophthalmology recruitment, but increasing ophthalmology residency positions is a slow, arduous process.1,2,22

Because PAs receive medical and surgical training, they are in an ideal position to provide the ophthalmic care expected in the future.20 This model does not threaten the role optometrists, NPs, ophthalmic technicians, and medical students seeking ophthalmology residencies play in the ophthalmic care team. Instead, with proper training in ophthalmic care, PAs could define the role of a primary support professional for ophthalmologists.

Examples of PAs in ophthalmology in the literature include PAs performing preoperative medical evaluations for eye surgery in large eye surgery centers, PAs triaging and managing emergency and nonemergency conditions in ophthalmology practices, PAs managing patients as part of a consult service, and PAs performing intravitreal injections.1,18,23-25 Unfortunately, little research exists about the role of PAs in ophthalmology. Recent publications about PAs in ophthalmology have included survey instruments and methodologies that may benefit from further refinement. Additionally, no comprehensive research has investigated the training programs available to PAs in ophthalmology or explored their perceptions on the most effective approaches to training.15,16 This qualitative investigation was deemed useful to assist in continued quantitative instrument development and add to the body of literature.

To examine current training of ophthalmic PAs and optimal education for PAs interested in ophthalmology, the following research questions were developed:

What role and tasks do PAs working in ophthalmology perform?

What facilitators and barriers to education and training specific to ophthalmology do PAs working in eye care experience?

What do PAs working in ophthalmology believe would be optimal education and training to prepare them for careers in this field?

Although PAs working in ophthalmology lack sufficient eye care training in PA school and may consider postgraduate programs in ophthalmology to be the best option for pursuing a career in eye care, they also may desire to expand their role on the ophthalmologist-led team from a supporting member to one with more autonomy. Expectancy theory was used as the theoretical framework for this explanatory qualitative case study to examine barriers and opportunities related to ophthalmology training for PAs and optimal training for PAs in ophthalmology.26 A qualitative case study can help reveal the role PAs play in ophthalmology. A case study also can help identify optimal training for PAs interested in a career in ophthalmology, leading to policy changes that increase the pool of qualified PAs in ophthalmology.

METHODS

The study was reviewed by the A.T. Still University institutional review board and approved as exempt.

As is standard in case study research, this study focused on a specific, small group of participantsin this case, 17 PAs with experience working in ophthalmology (Table 1). Because in-depth information was sought from information-rich individuals, purposeful sampling was used, and data saturation was reached after 17 interviews.

TABLE 1. - Characteristics of PAs in ophthalmology Characteristics of PAs in ophthalmology Participants n = 17 (%) Degree Master's 16 (94.1) Bachelor's 1 (5.9) Years practiced in ophthalmology 0-5 9 (52.9) 6-10 6 (35.3) 11-19 1 (5.9) 20+ 1 (5.9) Years in current practice 0-5 10 (58.8) 6-10 5 (29.4) 11-19 1 (5.9) 20+ 1 (5.9) Practice setting Type of practice Hospital 5 (29.4) Private 12 (70.6) Subspecialty General 1 (5.9) Oculoplastics 3 (17.6) Retina 3 (17.6) Multispecialty 8 (47.1) Neuro-ophthalmology 1 (5.9) Pediatric ophthalmology 1 (5.9)

Study participants were selected using convenience sampling from a provided database assembled by a PA working in ophthalmology, using Doximity, and through online searches. Because case study methodology focuses on a small group of participants in closed context (PAs in ophthalmology), the researchers conducted semistructured interviews using a prepared interview guide. The interview guide covered topics including participants' roles as PAs in ophthalmology, opinions of PA school curriculum on ophthalmology, perceptions of optimal training, facilitators and barriers in current training programs, and attitudes about changes in the role of PAs in ophthalmology. To apply the concept of content validity to the interview guide, the researchers consulted content experts in the field of ophthalmology to improve the trustworthiness of the qualitative research instrument. Two reviewers who have published research about PAs in ophthalmology provided feedback to the researchers. The first is an assistant professor of ophthalmology and chief of an eye institute at a prominent US university, and the other is a senior director of PA and industry research and analysis at the AAPA.

Information was collected from participants by semistructured interviews, except from one participant who preferred to type responses to the interview questions in a word processing document. The exact interview guide was given to this participant and the participant was instructed to respond to each question in as much detail as possible. Any follow-up questions or questions regarding ambiguous answers were discussed via secure email with the participant. Before each interview, participants gave informed consent. To assure overall study quality and trustworthiness, attention to credibility, dependability, confirmability, and transferability were emphasized.27 Credibility was established through prolonged and varied interviews, thorough investigation and presentation of current topic literature on the topic, and member-checking with participants. Dependability was established by describing any contextual and methodological changes in the data collection that might occur.27 Credibility and dependability of each participant were established through confirming PA certification by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants, confirming state licensure, and confirming the existence of a practice website with participant biography, if available. Confirmability was established through reflexivity and triangulation. Weekly discussions were held with doctoral cohort candidates and the research project chair regarding methodology and coding strategies to implement reflexivity. Triangulation also was an important process that was applied using various techniques. Investigator triangulation and coder reliability were ensured by having authors code transcripts together and resolving discrepancies by debriefing with the doctoral cohort and considering the opinion of the more-experienced qualitative researcher.27 Theoretic triangulation was achieved by using the expectancy theory applied in the context of the proposed case study to generate propositions, construct codes, and validate findings. Finally, transferability was accomplished through extensive description of the research methods and by developing a comprehensive description of the study procedure.28 Transcripts were developed from audio recordings.

Interpretational analysis began by constructing deductive nodes based on existing literature and expectancy theory, followed by coding data in these deductive nodes. Next, open coding was implemented to inductively discover new themes, followed by grouping categories into broader themes. Codes were revised to review data for overlapping and uncoded material. Finally, major themes across inductive and deductive codes were formed to help answer the research questions. The coding and indexing of transcripts were carried out using NVivo software, version 12. Direct quotations from participants were used to support the identified themes.

RESULTS

The following themes emerged from the interpretational data analysis.

Primary ophthalmologist support

Themes extracted from deductive analysis when discussing the roles and tasks of PAs in ophthalmology included assisting in surgery, performing procedures, and seeing patients in the clinic. Most PAs in ophthalmology play an autonomous role in their practice of eye care under the delegation of an ophthalmologist. PAs reported they used this autonomy to take some of the, not say burden, but the load [off] the ophthalmologist. Illustrative quotes of PAs discussing their independent role included:

I have total independence. He doesn't even check my charts.

If I'm with the patient in the room for a follow-up there is total autonomy to let me see that patient, discuss with them what I wish, and get them for the follow-up.

I work with [the ophthalmologist] and I independently run the lasers while she's operating on the same patient.

I'm given as much autonomy as I feel comfortable with.

PAs in ophthalmology reported reaching autonomy from as little as right from day 1 when discussing treating eye conditions examined in PA school to up to 5 years for procedures and evaluations not described in PA school.

Range of procedures

When discussing the range of procedures performed by PAs in ophthalmology, subthemes included diagnostic procedures, therapeutic procedures, and cosmetic procedures (Table 2). As elucidated from the data, these subthemes highlighted the procedural nature of the PA profession. Most participants (n = 14) reported eventually performing procedures independently in as few as 2 weeks and as much as 1 year, which highlights the variety of procedures individual PAs perform.

TABLE 2. - Subthemes for procedures performed by PAs in ophthalmology and illustrative quotes from participants Subthemes for procedures performed by PAs in ophthalmology and illustrative quotes from participants Diagnostic procedures I also perform fluorescein angiographies in the clinic as well. We use a vegetable-based dye called fluorescein, and we inject that intravenously and basically take pictures thereafter.

I do the temporal artery biopsies.

I also perform RetCamera procedures. I am proficient in RetCam 4, RetCam 3, and Phoenix camera as well. Therapeutic procedures It's called aqueous release. If the patient has more than normal IOP [intraocular pressure], it's between 10 and 22. So let's say the patient has an IOP of 30 or more, we have to do an aqueous release, which just uses an instrument to tap the wound, the main incision, and let some fluid out. And then just make sure after you do that the wound is not leaking anymore.

I do all of the corneal cross-linking.

I administer monoclonal antibody intravitreal injections into premature babies in order to salvage the retina and prevent it from causing lifelong blindness. I think I'm the only one in the country that's probably performing that procedure. A lot of it has to do with the disparity in our location.

So, I actually run the lasers in my surgery center...it's a femtosecond laser...it does the capsulotomy, and it can help correct vision, so a significant correction, etc.

...intravitreal injection in a baby, which I perform as well, and do that at the bedside at the hospitals. I use a team of nurses. Cosmetic procedures We also have another handpiece that can do a lot of other facial resurfacing treatments.

I also do some Botox and fillers too.

Barriers and facilitators in current training

Major deductive themes extracted from the data for barriers encountered in training included lack of training opportunities, the training/education gap, ophthalmologists' negative attitudes toward PAs, and the lack of role precedence. Facilitators to education and training of PAs in ophthalmology produced major themes that were largely associated with supportive supervising physicians and previous training. Table 3 highlights direct quotes about what barriers and facilitators to training and education look like for PAs in ophthalmology. Considering the facilitators and barriers identified and although all participants recommended a career in ophthalmology to their peers, PAs in ophthalmology found that training was a deterrent to a career in ophthalmology.

TABLE 3. - PAs in ophthalmology quotes related to barriers and facilitators in education and training PAs in ophthalmology quotes related to barriers and facilitators in education and training BARRIERS Lack of training opportunities ...it's hard because we also have residents and I think a lot of times some learning opportunities go to the residents rather than the PA.

That would probably be the biggest limitation that I find is just a lot of the opportunities like surgeries because the residents need so many surgeries to graduate. Training/education gap Difficulties in my training I encountered were probably trying to catch up with the pathology. Trying to catch up with the education necessary. A lot of that took independent study.

A lot of it had to be self-done research. So, it's been hard to find resources. Since I didn't have a residency program, I didn't have all the textbooks. And all the different specialty is in that hardcore book training that people had.

...my biggest, I guess, flaw as an ophthalmology PA is that I didn't get good training in all of ophthalmology. Ophthalmologists' negative attitudes toward PAs I don't know if I want this out there, but there have been some physicians that I work with closely that are not supportive.

I would say that they're not willing to train.

With the ophthalmologist, there's a lot of proving myself because they didn't think a PA should do this or that. And over time I was able to do it, but definitely a slow start. Lack of role precedence I think initially, there was a pretty solid training plan laid out, but they had never done it before, and they'd never had PAs before and so we just kind of floated along.

...expanding the position was a bit of a barrier because a lot of people hadn't necessarily worked with a PA.

I think the main thing was since I was the first PA for this group, and the doctors themselves never treated with a PA. FACILITATORS Supportive supervising physician They only want me to succeed. It's been their focus here for the last 10 months.

...the amount of doctors that were willing to work with me in that clinic, because at any one point we might have had five physicians in the office that we were working with and I was the only PA.

It's been great. My supervising physician, I have two, and they're excellent. And, they really want to see me just go, and fly and they're open to new opportunities. Previous training I was a tech for 5 years and I had the technical skills that I needed. I just was missing the medical background and I guess that's why I guess it wasn't as difficult for me, that transition.

I've gone to academy where you're more geared towards technician, and surgical assist where I learned some skills in a more formal setting.

Optimal training

Overall, ophthalmic PAs identified four major vehicles for optimal education to prepare PAs for a career in ophthalmology. When asked what optimal training looks like for PAs interested in ophthalmology, most participants described a formal postgraduate training program. Some said changes to PA school curriculum would suffice, others described on-the-job training, and one described establishing a PA professional organization in ophthalmology.

Participants who said that formal postgraduate training programs were the optimal education vehicles for PAs interested in ophthalmology varied in their recommendations for an optimal program length (ranging from 6 months to 2 years), with most participants suggesting 1 year. Importantly, some PAs pointed out that changes to PA school curriculum would not be beneficial because to increase one little section in PA school is just not going to benefit everyone that is not planning to go into ophthalmology and until it gains a little traction by the ophthalmology community...this whole use of PAs, I don't see a real purpose to shape the curriculum. Table 4 highlights direct quotes about PAs' perspective of optimal training for PAs interested in ophthalmology and rationales and helpful topics that could be used in each training program. Most of the statements reflected that respondents believed implementing a postgraduate ophthalmology training program would have a positive effect in bridging the education gap of PAs stepping into a career in ophthalmology and reducing the burden of ophthalmic practices to train PAs.

TABLE 4. - Participant quotes related to optimal education for PAs in ophthalmology Participant quotes related to optimal education for PAs in ophthalmology Formal postgraduate training program You can do a 6-month fellowship. I think that would be really interesting. And I think it would be something to think about if the PA is doing more of a comprehensive ophthalmology. And you could kind of pair that with them following and doing what residents do, make them go to the hospital and see patients there.

...there's definitely been this discussion about creating physician assistant fellowships at our PA school in ophthalmology. However, it's going to be very difficult to do such a thing because I believe that could only happen at an academic institution and a lot of ophthalmology practices that would be willing probably to take on PA students and PA fellows. A lot of it is in private practice.

I think that that would be probably the closest thing we have to a good training program for physician assistants in ophthalmology is creating some sort of fellowship programs at a few different institutions across the United States, just like cardiothoracic surgery does and emergency medicine does.

...doing a fellowship program would help educate physicians on what PAs can do for them and maybe shine some light onto that. On-the-job training programs I think it would be very similar to a residency program like the first year that residents go to. In terms of lectures and being on call and seeing things in clinic, I think I would do it as a very similar model to what residents do.

...a national protocol with checkoffs during on-the-job training, after PA school, while you're getting paid. Changes to PA school curriculum I think offering preceptors in ophthalmology would be a great start. Letting PAs get exposure to a field that they never imagined is a possibility.

...any kind of lectures that PAs could attend would be great. Ophthalmology courses, things like that would be great. Creation of an organization for PAs in ophthalmology I think it would even just be beneficial to establish our own mini-academy, or sub-academy of PAs of ophthalmology. And then from there... Now, obviously it's a little tricky, with everything going on now with the pandemic. But having specific meetings, or training, or where you could work on hands-on skills, and that sort of a thing. Because I think that's probably the biggest part of ophthalmology that I felt limited, because you can read all the books, and learn all of the anatomical knowledge, and watch surgical videos and learn that it's actually the hands-on, just practicing using a slit lamp on a frequent basis, practice evenings, doing a direct, or indirect ophthalmoscopy, those types of things. I feel you see it, but it's a lot different when you're actually doing it. Or even injections and things like that.

Career effects

Another major theme revealed was career effects. Positive and negative career effects were subthemes during the data analysis. When PAs in ophthalmology discussed positive career effects, their comments were related to having a satisfying position, rewarding career, positive colleague relationships, honing skills and knowledge, and pioneering the role of PAs in ophthalmology. Comments about negative career effects focused on loss of generalist perspective and difficulty in finding employment (Table 5). Overall, practicing PAs were quite satisfied with their choice of profession, indicating a positive overall value valence.

TABLE 5. - Effects that practicing in ophthalmology has had on PAs' careers Effects that practicing in ophthalmology has had on PAs' careers POSITIVE EFFECTS Rewarding career A rewarding career... Knowing that over my career I've found a few brain tumors. I got patients to neurosurgery. I've had patients, that actually saved a few lives there.

The free program that we have is absolutely amazing. It tells somebody that they can get free glasses or free surgery is pretty amazing. Like, I feel like I'm Oprah. I'm like, Yeah, you get glasses, you get surgery. It's pretty amazing.

I think I've had really good experiences at my current job. Satisfying position Honestly, when I talk to the other people that I graduated with, most of them have already switched jobs once or twice in the past few years because they're unhappy. It's not what they thought it would be. They're not treated well. Something like that. And although I have changed jobs, but still doing the same thing, because somehow, I got lucky, and I found the thing that I really love doing right off the bat. And it makes me feel really just straight up lucky. Hones skills and knowledge Ophthalmology is linked to a lot of medicine, more than people think. It's not as narrow as you think. I feel like I've really homed in on a lot of my skills because you have to look at the whole patient when you see an eye disease.

I feel it's really pushing me to grow in my skills.

People who have seen eight other doctors who don't know what's wrong or don't want to touch it. They end up in our lab. And I love it. I love the high acuity, real medicine. I went to PA school for a reason, and I definitely don't want to end up being somebody who just does Botox and some cosmetics. Pioneering role The positive is that I get to bring awareness to what PAs can do in ophthalmology.

Sometimes the patients are unsure because it's not a normal field for a PA. However, with more and more PAs in other fields, it has at least given exposure to the PA in general and is usually a welcome from patients. NEGATIVE EFFECTS Loss of generalist perspective Probably, the longer I stay in ophthalmology, the more knowledge I'm losing for just general practice.

It's such a narrow scope of practice as far as what the boards require. I had to study harder and harder.

I think that it does kind of pigeonhole you into a very specialized field. So, it's hard if you've been in this field for 10 years, it's hard to just up and change, and go into emergency medicine, or women's health.

I'm terrified to re-certify. I think I'm just going to need to go back to PA school before I take the PANRE. Difficulty finding employment I feel like it would be hard for me to just move because I love ophthalmology now, but I couldn't just easily move across the country because there's just not many ophthalmology jobs.

I think it'd be difficult to find another job in this setting, here where I'm at, in this state.

DISCUSSION

An important finding in this study was identification of the role of the ophthalmic PA. The role involves assisting ophthalmologists in surgery, performing various procedures, and evaluating and managing ophthalmic conditions in the clinic setting self-sufficiently. However, a few PAs reported spending no time in the OR. This could suggest that some ophthalmologists and institutions might not fully implement the surgical role PAs can play, although other factors could contribute to this observation. Research conducted with PAs on multidisciplinary teams has supported that a mutual relationship between a PA and physician can lead to stability in practice, benefiting the ophthalmology team.29,30 An alternative explanation for a PA playing no role in surgery is that some procedures performed by the ophthalmologist, such as cataract surgery, do not require an assistant. Nonetheless, ophthalmologists have argued that with proper training, PAs could identify patients who are candidates for cataract surgery, leaving more time for the ophthalmologist to perform surgeries.23

Findings of this study also show that PAs in ophthalmology perform a variety of diagnostic, therapeutic, and cosmetic procedures. These findings highlight the procedural nature of the PA profession. The role of the ophthalmic PA parallels the role of PAs in obstetrics/gynecology and otorhinolaryngology, in which PAs independently perform procedures, manage patients' conditions in the clinic setting, and assist with surgery.30-32 Interestingly, PAs desiring to practice in these specialties can enroll in specialty-specific postgraduate training programs, unlike PAs seeking to practice in ophthalmology.

Because formal postgraduate training programs for PAs in ophthalmology do not exist and ophthalmology content in PA school curriculum is limited, determining the barriers and facilitators in existing training was essential. The participants in this study identified several barriers and facilitators in their training and in growing the PA profession within ophthalmology. The balance between barriers and facilitators expressed by participants in this study aligns with low expectations in expectancy theory.

Although all participants recommended a career in ophthalmology to their PA peers, they found the balance between barriers and facilitators to be unfavorable for a career in ophthalmology because training was a deterrent. This low expectancy may be due to having to find their own training opportunities and venues.

Most PAs in this study identified formal postgraduate training as a potential way to help bridge the education gap, allowing them to enter careers in ophthalmology with a more robust foundation and potentially reducing a practice's burden of training them. Graduates of PA postgraduate training programs have reported their improved attractiveness for the job market, higher compensation, quicker onboarding time, and overall enhancement of their careers as major reasons for choosing postgraduate residency training.33 Other methods of improving PA competence in ophthalmology, such as changes to PA school curriculum, on-the-job training programs, and constructing a professional organization for PAs in ophthalmology, could lead to an increased perception by PAs that they will perform well in the field of ophthalmology.

Changing PA school curriculum to accommodate more time for ophthalmology would be difficult. As one participant mentioned, PA school... [is] 2 years and you [must] jam pack everything else in there. Talking to my medical school friends, they only get a week. Findings from this study also support the idea that current on-the-job training programs are successful. However, the number of certified PAs practicing in ophthalmology has risen only slightly since 1990, making it obvious that ophthalmologists are not hiring PAs.15 The unwillingness of ophthalmologists to hire PAs likely is due to the cost of on-the-job training and PAs' lack of specialized eye care training. Under these conditions, some ophthalmologists may be more inclined to hire PAs who have obtained postgraduate training in ophthalmology, although other factors could influence their hiring decisions.20

An overarching theme important to the framework of this study is career effects. Extracting positive and negative career effects as subthemes from the data provided by ophthalmic PAs helped to determine if a career in ophthalmology satisfied individual goals for PAs. Most participants said they were satisfied in their careers and recommended ophthalmology as a career for PAs.

Expectancy theory involves analyzing the motivational force of possible behaviors based on an individual's perception of the chance of reaching a certain outcome.26 The findings of this study suggest formal postgraduate training programs for PAs interested in careers in ophthalmology could be a valuable approach to increase the likelihood of a successful career in ophthalmology, although further research and exploration of other options might be necessary. Research also is needed that compares the effectiveness and efficiency of PAs with other members of the ophthalmology team in a more quantitative manner, examining questions of productivity, patient satisfaction, job satisfaction, and team-based care.

LIMITATIONS

Because of self-reporting using an interview method, additional relevant themes may not have been identified due to potential bias affecting the data content. Given the small community of PAs practicing in ophthalmology in the United States, social desirability bias is possible because of anonymity concerns: respondents might have answered in a way they believe is acceptable or favorable rather than providing true opinions. The author addressed this possibility by ensuring each participant understood his or her personal data would be deidentified. Data were self-reported by PAs when asked about feedback given to them from their supervising physicians, and direct input from supervising physicians was not obtained to either support or refute the perceptions of study participants. One participant asked to provide written answers to the interview questions, and the inability of the researcher to interpose probing questions in that case may have limited data collection; nonetheless, written accounts in qualitative research should not be undervalued.34

CONCLUSIONS

The findings of this qualitative case study suggest PAs play a unique and autonomous role involving surgery, evaluating patients, and performing procedures in the clinic. An underrepresentation of PAs in ophthalmology over the past few decades has continued. The study findings indicate that the balance between training barriers and facilitators for PAs in ophthalmology is viewed as unfavorable. Unlike their PA colleagues in other specialties, PAs in ophthalmology do not have the option to develop foundational skills through postgraduate training programs. Study results demonstrate formal postgraduate training programs would likely have a positive influence on the underrepresentation of PAs in ophthalmology, reduce the burden of having to train PAs on the job, alleviate patient eye care demand, and provide PAs with the necessary skills to be successful in ophthalmology. Indeed, ophthalmologists, optometrists, and ophthalmic technicians all are vital parties in eye care. The findings of this study suggest the roles of PAs in ophthalmology do not hinder scopes of other clinicians of the ophthalmologist-led team. As the need for specialty eye care increases, PAs are a viable option to fill the projected healthcare gap with increased investments in training opportunities.
Two teachers from Lancaster County schools have been selected as state finalists for the prestigious Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching this year.

Miranda Orellana from Riley Elementary School in Lincoln and Thomas McChristian from Bennet Elementary School in Bennet, along with Megan Mullen of Paxton Consolidated Schools, will represent Nebraska for the award, which is the nations highest honor for K12 science, technology, engineering, mathematics and computer science teachers.

A Nebraska selection committee chose Orellana, McChristian and Mullen to be considered for the national award administered by the National Science Foundation on behalf of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

A national committee of mathematicians, scientists, education researchers, district level personnel and classroom teachers will choose up to 108 teachers to receive the award.

Those who are selected as awardees will receive $10,000, a presidential certificate and a trip to Washington, D.C., to attend several recognition events and professional development opportunities.

Top Journal Star photos for March 2024
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen will once again deploy members of the Nebraska National Guard and Nebraska State Patrol to the southern border.

The mission is in response to a request for emergency assistance from Texas, the governor's office said in a news release, and was made through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact.

A total of 35 Nebraska National Guard soldiers and airmen will be called up to active duty status and sent to aid operations in the area of Eagle Pass, Texas, beginning in early April for 90 days.

Ten state troopers will be sent to the El Paso area for two weeks in mid-April, according to the governor's office.

Pillen said he decided to answer Texas' call because "what happens along our nation's southern border affects us right here in Nebraska," putting the blame on President Joe Biden for what he described as "disastrous border policies."

"I am extremely grateful to the soldiers, airmen and state troopers who volunteered for this important mission," he said. "Their skills will help stem the tide of illegal immigration and keep deadly drugs off our streets."

Pillen has made multiple visits to the Eagle Pass area to meet with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, including as recently as February, where he has expressed his support for "Operation Lone Star."

Last August, he appeared with several other governors, including Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, for a news conference last August. All are Republicans.

According to the governor's office, the Omaha Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency reported an 83% increase in the number of fentanyl pills seized in 2023 compared to 2022, a figure Pillen attributed to a rise in border crossings.

Major Gen. Craig Strong, adjutant general of the Nebraska National Guard, said the organization was ready to continue supporting Operation Lone Star.

"The Nebraska National Guard is always ready to respond when our fellow Americans are dealing with an emergency, whether it is here in our own backyard, in another state, or overseas," Strong said.

Col. John Bolduc of the Nebraska State Patrol said sending state troopers to the border helps "keep American communities safe."

"This deployment is a continuation of that support and an affirmation that when our law enforcement partners call for help, they can count on the Nebraska State Patrol," Bolduc said.

While the cost of providing assistance through the EMAC typically has been paid by the requesting state, Nebraska has picked up its own tab sending members of the National Guard and State Patrol to the border in recent years.

Pillen last deployed 61 National Guard soldiers to the southern border between August and September 2023, at a cost of roughly $2 million, which came out of the state military department's budget, while the cost of sending state troopers ran to nearly $600,000.

Former Gov. Pete Ricketts also sent 32 state troopers south to Texas in the summer of 2021 at a cost of $334,000.

Top Journal Star photos for March 2024


Still from Fox video

The absurd appears to be alive and well when hearing about a judge's decision to make an illegal immigrant able to legally own and carry a firearm - and this too, from an Illinois judge.

From Yahoo.com News:

Last week, U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman in the Northern District of Illinois ruled that a federal prohibition on illegal immigrants owning firearms is unconstitutional as applied to defendant Heriberto Carbajal-Flores. Scott Sweetow, a 30-year veteran of the ATF, told Fox News the decision is "hugely problematic" for members of law enforcement. "This really throws a complete grenade into the enforcement of federal firearms laws by specifically ATF because of how far-reaching this is," said Sweetow, a former deputy assistant director at the agency's Office of Strategic Intelligence and Information. The district court's controversial ruling in U.S. v. Carbajal-Flores has divided gun rights activists and inflamed debate over where courts should draw the line on firearms regulations in a post-Bruen world. That landmark 2022 Supreme Court decision established a new standard to determine whether a law violates the Second Amendment, requiring judges to conduct a historical analysis and find it consistent with the nation's tradition of firearm regulations to be held constitutional.

This is hard to believe when considering that good citizens continue to be harassed over their Second Amendment rights, such as simple ownership and right to carry. There is a serious odor of misappropriated judgemental altruism as well as the potential setting of a dangerous precedent.

Sweetow said Coleman's decision was "illogical." He described how a friend of his, a law-abiding businessman who lives in Chicago, cannot legally carry a firearm in the city even though he has an Illinois state firearms owner ID card. "He has not been able to get a permit to have a firearm, but yet an illegal alien, who fired his gun recklessly  he's allowed to have a firearm. And there's just something illogical and wrong about that," Sweetow said.

With the ongoing battle against those who would like to see all guns 'disappeared' we see a ridiculous decision aimed at possibly multiple thousands of persons 'invading' our nation, with in most cases no easily traceable background other than in numerous instances a criminal past linked to prison or gangs - most certainly no viable claim to citizenship. Our constitution was written for citizens of our Republic - not for any and all denizens of this planet.

It is anticipated that this will be appealed and some sanity resumed.
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
KEARNEY  After many hours and much work done by state road crews, Interstate 80 has reopened completely, as of approximately 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.

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.

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.
Bristol School District will have an operational referendum on the April 2 ballot, asking voters to authorize exceeding the districts state revenue limit for a transfer of funds, not for new taxing.

According to the district, the ballot question seeks taxpayer permission to reallocate finds that were previously levied for the prepayment of debt. Bristol School is required by the state to receive voters permission to proceed in transferring funds from one allocation to another.

The district is asking permission to reallocate $700,000 per year for the next two years to protect and maintain current staff and educational programming, strengthen core academic curriculum and to proactively maintain and care for its newly renovated facility.

The mill rate for the district will remain at $4.70, since Bristol School is not introducing an additional tax levy.

The question will appear as: Shall the School District Number 1, Village of Bristol, Kenosha County, Wisconsin be authorized to exceed the revenue limit specified in Section 121.91, Wisconsin Statutes, by $700,000 per year for the 2024-2025 school year and the 2025-2026 school year, for non-recurring purposes consisting of expenses to maintain operations, facility maintenance and to update curriculum and educational programming?

Bristol School has an excellent foundation and no doubt is on an upward trajectory In my opinion, it is important to both the kids and community that we keep stacking on these successes, said School Board member Stephen Grimm. Without additional dollars, it will be difficult to maintain all of the above and will be even more challenging to continue the climb.

If the ballot measure fails, the district said it will have to take measures to reduce expenditures, which may include reducing staff, educational programming, electives and extracurricular activities; delaying purchase of up-to-date curriculum resources to meet the state academic standards and postponing facility maintenance and safety measures on the newly renovated building.

This is a pivotal moment where the support of our community can directly impact the future of our childrens education. Without the necessary funds, maintaining our current operations becomes increasingly challenging, putting at risk the quality of education weve worked tirelessly to uphold, said District Administrator Jack Musha. We are asking for support to continue to provide the education our community deserves and, right now, we can do this without increasing the burden on our taxpayers.

Additional information and videos informing the community about the districts needs and financial status are available on the Districts Ballot Question 2024 web page at https://www.bristol.k12.wi.us/district/ballot-question-2024.cfm along with voting and polling resources for April 2, 2024.

Questions may be directed to the District Administrator Mr. Jack Musha at musha.jac@bristol.k12.wi.us.
Songgwangsa Temple ()

Jogyesan Provincial Park is known as one of top 100 famous mountains of South Korea. The park is home to two significant temples that have been preserved for over 1,000 years.

Mt. Jogyesan

A visit to one or both temples can guarantee you a deeply therapeutic experience. The trail leading to these ancient temples is peaceful and easy to navigate. Midway through the journey, as you meander through the green forests, you can take a moment to dip your feet into the refreshing waters of the cool stream for some relaxation. The harmonious scene of the majestic forests, stream, and temples creates an atmosphere where you can forget worldly worries and soothe your soul.

Songgwangsa Temple

Songgwangsa Temple was built in the late Silla period during the 10th century and is one of the three principal Buddhist temples in Korea. This temple stands as the center of Korean Buddhist history as it has produced 16 National Masters, or Guksa, which are the highest rank a monk can attain. Many Buddhist practitioners around the world come here to cultivate their minds and participate in their temple stay programs.

Address: 132-2, Sinpyeong-ri, Songgwang-myeon, Suncheon-si, Naver Map Hours: 8 a.m.  6 p.m. (Apr. to Oct.) / 9 a.m.  5 p.m. (Nov. to Mar.)

Seonamsa Temple

Seonamsa dates to the 6th century and is a designated UNESCO World Heritage site. In particular, the temples Haewuso Hall is a must-visit place which houses many important Buddhist cultural relics.

The temple is also famous for the stunning views of the surrounding landscape, stream and Seungseon Bridge.

Address: 771-9 Jukhak-ri, Seungju-eup, Suncheon-si, Naver Map Hours: 7 a.m.  6 p.m.

Things to know

- Entrance to the temples is free. - Due to the proximity to Nakan Eupseong Folk Village, many travelers include these destinations on the same trip route. - There is a hiking trail that allows you to visit both temples within 2-3 hours. You can start at either temple and follow the trail leading to the other. For more details, ask staff at the entrance of a temple and pick up a map. - Planning to visit only one temple due to limit of time? Try visiting Seonamsa Temple if youd like to enjoy the landscape of Seungseon Bridge and wild tea. If you want to appreciate a magnificent temple in harmony with nature, head to Songgwangsa temple.

Wild Tea House Along the way to Seonamsa Temple, stop by the Wild Tea House for a nice cup of tea and traditional snacks in a lush forest setting.

Address: 450-1 Seonamsa-gil, Seungju-eup, Suncheon-si, Naver Map Hours: 9 a.m.  6 p.m. (Closed on Mon.)
As Emily Whitney, an associate professor of public and community health education, strolled through the Habitat for Humanity Restore in Onalaska, she got an idea.

Her light-bulb-moment led her to Amy Smith, the sustainability director for Habitat for Humanity, who suggested a dumpster diversion program collaboration. With the involvement of Andrew Ericson, UW-Ls sustainability program director, Scott Brown, the physical plant director and Lisa Walker, associate director for facilities, the program began to take shape.

The collaboration and teamwork from Andrew, Scott and Lisa have been vital to moving this project forward, Whitney says. It absolutely could not be done without them.

Ericson says that the diversion program will launch at the beginning of May. Five storage containers, or pods, will be placed near campus dumpsters, acting as collection sites for large items to be donated. The pods will remain for about two weeks, coinciding with move-out, and will be transported to the Restore to be sorted.

UW-L is part of the larger La Crosse community, Whitney says, and we should be working with our neighbors as well as local organizations and businesses to care for and give back to our community.

Beyond its community impact, the diversion program offers valuable educational opportunities for students.

This project has helped students in my Environmental Health class learn several skills such critical thinking, problem solving, communication, adaptability, social marketing and applying theory to program planning, Whitney says. The students specifically worked on developing social marketing materials with messages that aim to encourage students to participate in the dumpster diversion program. The theme for the dumpster diversion program is reduce, reuse, reimagine. 

Whitney sees the program as an opportunity for hands-on education experiences.

This partnership helps students from across disciplines to connect and care for our campus and well as our larger community, Whitney says. The initiative provides opportunities for faculty to create service-learning projects for classes that help students interact with course materials in a different way, while also connecting them to the La Crosse community.

The program aligns with the city of La Crosses Climate Action Plan, specifically its goals related to waste management and community collaboration.

Moving forward, the hope is this program will be sustainable and implemented every year, Whitney explains. By doing so, we will help divert items that can be used from ending up in the landfill, creating a more robust circular economy while also allowing new students to be part of the stewardship of our campus and community.
There are seven announced candidates for three open La Crosse Board seats. Only two candidates  Tim Alberts and Adam Manka  will appear on the April 2 ballot. The remaining candidates  Jake Williams, Kevin Lee, Jeremiah Galvan, Jim Bagniewski and Amber Peterson  are running as write-ins. Incumbents Annie Baumann, Brad Quarberg and Jeff Jackson arent seeking re-election.

Kevin Lee





Age: 56

Occupation: Retired Educator

Political experience/community service: I have not previously held publicly elected office. My community service has been enveloped with various projects completed as the lead teacher managing a special education program before my retirement in 2023.

What motivated you to run for school board? I spent my entire 31-year career being concerned with and advocating for the needs of students.

Ive been a special education teacher, teacher supervisor, adjunct teacher in the School of Education at UW-L and served on a program & facilities development team for the state of Wisconsin within the Department of Corrections.

The School District of La Crosse is facing difficult times: building closures and consolidations, declining enrollment and staffing issues and concerns. While challenging, I see them as an opportunity to work together and with the community to refocus and rededicate ourselves to our mission of delivering a world class education.

I am seeking a seat on the board because I believe the time to step up is now.

What talents and abilities would you bring to the school board? I have spent my entire career honing my student advocacy skills. As an Educational Case Manager for students with Emotional & Behavioral Challenges and mental health issues, I led teams of teachers, parents, administrators, specialists, social workers and counselors in developing and implementing individualized plans to enhance each students education. As a Department Chairperson and building leader, I represented the educational needs of all students when solving problems and crafting policy. As part of a program and facilities development team, I sought to find ways to build systems and institutions that would be able to meet our goals of enhancing the educational opportunities for all of our students.

I believe my experience, my collaboration and problem-solving skills, my creativity and my positive attitude and outlook will benefit the whole as we work together with the community to move the district forward.
Eight months ago, Dr. Chris Eberlein approached state Rep. Jill Billings about a dangerous drug called xylazine.

On Tuesday, Eberlein and Billings witnessed Gov. Tony Evers sign legislation they believe will protect drug users from fatal overdoses.

Evers, flanked by local firefighters, first responders, medical professionals and elected officials, signed a bill that decriminalizes the use of xylazine test strips. The signing ceremony was held Tuesday at Fire Station No. 2 on La Crosse Street.

Billings, a La Crosse Democrat, authored the bill along with state Sen. Jesse James, R-Altoona.

We know that xylazine test strips save lives, Billings said.

Eberlein, an emergency health specialist with Gundersen Health System in Onalaska, alerted Billings to the xylazine threat after learning about its spread in eastern Wisconsin. The drug, which goes by the street name tranq, is used primarily by veterinarians for sedation and anesthesia in large animals. However, the drug has recently been combined with fentanyl to produce an elevated effect for drug abusers.

Xylazine by itself doesnt produce the altered state of consciousness sought by drug users. But when used in combination with fentanyl, it extends the duration of the high.

Eberlein said the drug is often taken without the users knowledge. He said the drug is especially dangerous because its effects cant be reversed by Narcan.

If they knew (xylazine) had been added, it would give them pause, Eberlein said.

La Crosse mayor Mitch Reynolds believes addicts will take advantage of a tool that can potentially save their lives.

We know that test strips can help people who abuse drugs identify foreign substances in the drug that theyre normally using and make other choices, Reynolds said.

La Crosse County has already reported at least one death traced to xylazine.

Billings said there was no opposition to the bill and that the measure passed unanimously in both houses of the Legislature. She was gratified by how soon the bill moved to the governors desk.

We talked about the urgency of getting it through in a quick manner, Billings said. This bill is a perfect example of how government should work.

Evers traveled to La Crosse two years ago to sign a bill legalizing fentanyl test strips. He said the use of test strips represents a milestone in the effort to fight drug abuse.

I was proud to be in La Crosse to sign important legislation to decriminalize fentanyl testing strips, helping make sure folks can keep themselves and others safe by using the strips to identify if a substance is laced with fentanyl before ever taking it, Evers said. By making these strips available  we can help save more lives and help get folks on a successful path to recovery.

Evers said drug abuse remains a significant public health problem in Wisconsin. He said 1,464 people in Wisconsin died from opioid overdoses in 2022.
MADISON, Wis. (AP)  The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Tuesday let stand a lower court ruling that declared some delivery drivers for Amazon were employees as the state argued, not independent contractors as the online retail giant contended.

The court, in a unanimous decision, said the appeal was improvidently granted, meaning the Supreme Court should not have reviewed the case. That decision dismissing the case, issued after the court heard oral arguments, leaves a 2023 Wisconsin appeals court ruling against Amazon in place.

That ruling found that drivers in the Amazon Flex program are a part of the states unemployment insurance system and entitled to jobless pay if they are laid off. The decision means an Amazon subsidiary, Amazon Logistics, will likely be hit with a tax bill of more than $200,000.

Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, in a concurring decision, said the reason the court dismissed the case was that further review would not serve any meaningful purpose or any further development of the law. Justice Rebecca Bradley, in a separate writing, faulted Bradley for trying to explain the court's decision, saying it will only sow additional confusion.

The case was closely watched for what effect a ruling would have on workers in the gig economy.

Amazon spokesperson Steve Kelly said the retailer was "disappointed that the Wisconsin Supreme Court declined to weigh in and provide much needed guidance on these matters and are determining our next steps.

Labor unions, along with the state Department of Workforce Development, pushed for the Wisconsin Supreme Court to recognize the Amazon Flex workers as employees.

Stephanie Bloomingdale, president of the Wisconsin AFL-CIO, hailed the court's action, calling it a win for working people.

Far too often, especially in the emerging gig economy, big and powerful companies like Amazon use the misclassification of employees as independent contractors to deny working people essential workplace rights like minimum wages, overtime pay, and unemployment insurance, she said.

Courts across the country have been grappling with similar questions as states struggle with how to treat workers who are hired for a particular job, often at the push of a button through a smartphone app, to deliver food, groceries, packages or perform a variety of tasks.

The gig economy is clogging up the court with all of this stuff, all the time, said Samantha Prince, assistant professor of law at Penn State Dickinson College of Law and an expert on worker misclassification and the gig economy. Its just nuts. We really need this stuff to be resolved and stay resolved and stop with all the uncertainty for everybody.

Prince said the Wisconsin case will likely resonate through the other gig company court cases.

The more cases that find that gig company drivers are employees, the more companies are going to have to pay their rightful share," she said.

Every state has its own laws determining whether workers are employees or independent contractors, Prince said. Those laws set the rules for what wages and overtime the workers must be paid and, in this case, whether they are subject to unemployment benefits that the employer must contribute toward.

Employees who got approved for the Amazon Flex program could download an app for their personal phones showing blocks when they could deliver packages for the company. Workers would scan packages at the Amazon warehouse in Milwaukee and use their personal vehicles to deliver them, using a route suggested by Amazon.

After one Amazon Flex worker was fired, he filed for unemployment insurance. The Department of Workforce Development conducted an audit of more than 1,000 Amazon Logistics drivers between 2016 and 2018 and concluded the vast majority of drivers were employees, not independent contractors, and therefore eligible for unemployment insurance payments. The state told Amazon in 2018 that it owed more than $205,000 in unemployment insurance premiums.

The Wisconsin Labor and Industry Review Commission upheld the state DWD determination that the drivers were employees. Amazon Logistics sued and a Waukesha County circuit court judge ruled the drivers were independent contractors. Last year, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals overturned that ruling, agreeing with the state that the drivers were employees. That set up the appeal to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Many other states have looked at the issue.

A Virginia appeals court ruled in 2023 that Amazon Flex drivers were employees, not independent contractors, and ordered Amazon to pay unemployment insurance taxes and penalties.

A California state appeals court last year said app-based ride-hailing and delivery companies like Uber and Lyft can continue to treat their California drivers as independent contractors, allowing them to bypass other state laws requiring worker protections and benefits.

The U.S. Department of Labor enacted a new rule March 11 that aims to prevent the misclassification of workers as independent contractors, a step that could bolster both legal protections and compensation for millions in the U.S. workforce. That rule applies to wages and overtime, but not unemployment compensation.
The Supreme Court is hearing arguments in its first abortion case since conservative justices overturned the constitutional right to an abortion two years ago. At stake in Tuesday's arguments is the ease of access to a medication used last year in nearly two-thirds of U.S. abortions.
Dr. Jeffrey Gold may be known to many Nebraskans for having led two of the University of Nebraska's Omaha campuses, but he's also no stranger to the more rural parts of the state.

Last week, Gold, who is currently chancellor of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, was tapped as the regents' pick to become the next president of the NU system. A day earlier, however, he and other top UNMC officials were in Scottsbluff meeting with hospital executives, area educators and community leaders.

During his Panhandle visit, Gold and Mel McNea, CEO of Regional West Health Services, signed an agreement that will allow more health professions' students to complete clinical training rotations at area facilities. It's one of a series of deals UNMC is inking with hospitals across the state.

Also along for the ride was a steel beam that will top off a new $95 million health education facility in Kearney. It's been traveling the state this spring, giving Nebraskans an opportunity to sign a piece of the structure that will allow for expanded health professions education programs at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, which will be administered by UNMC.

While the phrase predates his tenure, Gold frequently reminds audiences that UNMC is a "500-mile campus." Although its primary site is in Omaha, UNMC also has campuses in Kearney, Lincoln, Norfolk and Scottsbluff-Gering.

"That's our mantra," said Dr. Dele Davies, UNMC's senior vice chancellor for academic affairs and dean of graduate studies, noting that university leaders regularly travel to those sites to gather feedback about programs needed in the state. "It's in our mission to support the whole of the state, and we take that very seriously."

Gold will have additional opportunities to traverse the state in the coming weeks. Under state law, he will be introduced to NU campuses and vetted over a 30-day period before receiving a final vote from the NU Board of Regents. Together, the university's four campuses in Omaha, Lincoln and Kearney enroll nearly 50,000 students, employ 16,000 faculty and staff and have a budget exceeding $3 billion.

While Gold acknowledged last week that there still are things he would need to learn in that new role as president, those who work closely with him said that he already has deep insight into other campuses and programs, as well as the state's workforce and economic needs.

Not only has Gold, 71, served as UNMC's chancellor since 2014, he also served concurrently as chancellor of the University of Nebraska at Omaha from 2017 to 2021.

And since 2021, he also has served as executive vice president and provost for the NU system. That position made him the chief academic officer for the NU system  with the chief academic officer from each campus reporting to him  and liaison to the regents on all aspects of academic affairs.

"I have every confidence that Jeff will be successful as president," said Dr. James Linder, CEO of Nebraska Medicine, UNMC's primary clinical partner. Linder is familiar with the job, having served as interim NU president from 2014 to 2015.

National stature and a 'big vision'

Linder said higher education today is under a lot of evolutionary pressures, with constituents wanting to make sure it brings value for its cost, that graduation rates are high and that degrees are relevant to the needs of society.

"Having Jeff as a seasoned academic leader can strike that balance between evolving the university to be ... efficient, if you will, and fiscally responsible, and still meeting the many needs that exist at NU," Linder said.

Linder has worked closely with Gold for a decade, and was involved with bringing him to UNMC. In 2013, Linder was chairman of the search committee seeking a new chancellor. After a failed search, the committee cast a wider net. Gold emerged as the top choice for Linder and other committee members, as well as NU's then-president, J.B. Milliken.

"The reason we were attracted to him was his national stature," Linder said. Gold was  and continues to be  involved in a number of national professional committees and organizations in medicine and higher education.

Gold was high energy and high commitment, Linder said. And Gold had a background in engineering, which committee members believed would aid him in problem-solving.

UNK Chancellor Doug Kristensen, the longest-serving chancellor in the university's history, agreed that Gold is ready for the job as president.

"He has a big vision, and that big vision includes what are the opportunities for the state of Nebraska, and not just Omaha," he said. "I think that big vision will be very beneficial and will help all of Nebraska."

Kristensen said Gold has been attuned to rural health needs for a long time, not just what hospitals or clinics need, but also what communities need. That includes health care workers. Gold, he said, has been a wonderful partner in helping UNK build on its health professions education initiatives. The new facility  the second in the Douglas A. Kristensen Rural Health Education Complex  will allow for expanded programs in nursing and allied health in Kearney and add programs in medicine, pharmacy and public health.

Training rural students close to home, Kristensen said, means they're more likely to stay. For the last two years, 25% of incoming freshman have expressed interest in health professions.

"I don't think I'm losing a champion at the med center," he said. "I'm gaining one at Varner Hall."

Nebraska's workforce and quality of life

Some may see Gold as serious and focused, Kristensen said, but he also has a compassionate, caring side. Gold has helped a number of people he knows who have had serious health issues connect with the services they need.

Henry "Hod" Kosman, chairman and CEO of Platte Valley Companies in Scottsbluff, said that Gold has worked since he arrived at UNMC to make the health of all Nebraskans  and access to health care  better.

"I'm very pleased that they would consider him a priority candidate," said Kosman, who serves on the board of Regional West and was among those who met with Gold and other UNMC officials last week.

Gold said his decade in Nebraska has given him opportunities to get to know the state. He's spent time in a combine and visited Gov. Jim Pillen's hog breeding facility. He's also been able to connect with rural residents through his appearances on "Rural Health Matters," a call-in show focused on health impacts on rural communities on RFD-TV. He is a co-convener of the university's Water Resources Advisory Panel, a 17-member group of experts established to provide guidance to the university on state water research needs, education and outreach programs.

Gold stressed last week that he knows that the state's workforce needs extend well beyond health care, as they do in many states, to fields as varied as engineering, technical agriculture and social work.

Gold said he and Pillen share a belief in the power of the university to build the states future workforce and improve quality of life.

"We need to compete, and we need to win," he said.

World-Herald staff writer Henry J. Cordes contributed to this report.

Photos: Historic UNL buildings University of Nebraska-Lincoln buildings; Architectural Hall UNL CBA building UNL Temple Building UNL Morrill Hall University of Nebraska-Lincoln buildings; Architectural Hall University of Nebraska-Lincoln buildings; Architectural Hall UNL Architecture Hall Cather Hall, Pound Hall
Israel and Egypt have ended 30 years of war with an historic peace treaty brokered by the United States.

The ceremony on the White House lawn in Washington was broadcast live on television. The two leaders sealed the deal with a firm handshake, watched by a smiling President Jimmy Carter.

Both President Anwar al-Sadat of Egypt, and the Israeli Prime Minister, Menachem Begin, described the ceremony as an historic turning point.

Mr Sadat praised President Carter as the man who performed the miracle.

Without exaggeration, he said, what he did constitutes one of the greatest achievements of our time.

Mr Carter, however, was more cautious, saying the treaty was a first step on a long and difficult road.

We must not minimalise the obstacles that lie ahead, he said.

Deep divisions between the two sides remain, and even in their speeches following the ceremony the two presidents revealed how far there is still to go.

Mr Begin spoke emotionally of how the city of Jerusalem could never be divided; while Mr Sadat was unreservedly frank about the question of Palestinian autonomy.

News of the signing ceremony was greeted with angry demonstrations throughout the Arab world. Crowds stormed the Egyptian Embassy in Kuwait, and there was a strike in the West Bank.

The PLO leader, Yasser Arafat, told a rally in West Beirut: Let them sign what they like. False peace will not last.

He accused President Sadat of betraying the Egyptian people, and said they would eventually eliminate him.

The normally moderate King Hussein of Jordan has now joined President Assad of Syria and President Hassen al Bakr of Iraq in calling a summit conference of opponents of the treaty.

Egypt is thought likely to be expelled from the Arab League as a symbolic gesture of anger at the decision to go it alone in negotiating peace with Israel.

Even in the West, the response to the treaty has been lukewarm. A statement from the nine European Community nations praised the efforts of President Sadat and Prime Minister Begin to make peace.

But, in a comment bound to anger the Israelis, it added that a settlement could only happen if the Palestinian people were given a homeland.

Courtesy BBC News

In context

Under the accords, Israel agreed to withdraw troops from the Sinai Peninsula in return for Egypts recognition of the state of Israel. Palestinians were also granted the right to some self-determination.

President Sadat died for his decision to shake hands with Israel, assassinated in 1981 by extremists in the Egyptian army opposed to the treaty.

The last Israeli troops left the Sinai Peninsula in 1982. Less than two months later Israel invaded Lebanon. There was little further progress towards peace in the Middle East until the Oslo Peace Process began in 1993.

In August 2005, Israel put into force its so-called Disengagement Plan and evicted Jewish settlers from the Gaza strip and began to demolish some settlements on the West Bank as well.
Last Saturday, 36 party goers were arrested for dealing or staging a drug party at a local karaoke bar, the Judiciary Police (PJ) announced yesterday.

Three people were charged with drug dealing, and the other 33  15 men and 18 women  with drug taking. The three alleged drug dealers are all non-local workers from Vietnam, respectively surnamed Lam, 27, cleaner; Tran, 36, security worker; and Tran, 30, cook.

The other 33 alleged drug takers are aged between 21 and 44. Of the 15 men, 13 are Vietnamese, and the other two are a local resident and a Hong Kong resident. All the women are non-local workers with a mix of nationalities.

Following intelligence about the possibility of a drug party in the karaoke bar, the police took action on March 23 and investigated the VIP room of the karaoke bar. Upon arrival, the police found the 36 people apparently looking under the influence who declined to cooperate with the investigation.

Searching the room, the inspectors found 1.31 grams of suspicious substances and a significant number of apparatuses for drug taking. The substances were later confirmed to be ketamine, of a value equating to about MOP1,000.

Further investigations have revealed that the alleged drug dealers had bought the substances for the price of MOP14,000 and organized the birthday party to distribute the substances to their friends. The police believed that most of the drugs had been consumed.

Drug tests confirmed that 24 people were positive for methamphetamine, ecstasy and ketamine. The police added that further investigation is needed to determine the source and original quantity of the drugs.

In another case, a woman has accused a man of sexual harassment, the Public Security Police Force (PSP) disclosed yesterday.

The police received the report of the case at about 10:30 p.m. on March 19. The suspect is surnamed Kou, 34, a local resident who reportedly works as a driver. The incident took place in an inner alley, the police added.

The female victim told the police that she was dragging a bag of trash to the collection point from her workplace. The bag was torn by the friction of the dragging, so trash started coming out of the bag.

She said that at this moment, the man approached her, saying that he could offer help. However, he reportedly grasped both of her hands. Feeling frightened, the woman called her boss for help. The boss arrived at the scene and the man left briefly, before returning to the scene to further disturb the woman. He then departed from the site.

Receiving the report, the police locked down the suspect using the public surveillance camera system. At about 12:40 p.m., March 20, the man was intercepted at Central District. Interrogations revealed that the man had consumed alcoholic beverages during dinner in Fai Chi Kei earlier that night. He said that he was tipsy, if not drunk, so that he forgot what had happened.

Another case had the PJ, PSP and Macao Customs working together to stop an illegal immigration syndicate and 14 people were arrested as a result six operators and eight illegal immigrants. Four of them were arrested in Macau. Among them, two are a local couple, with the husband surnamed Lei, 40 and the wife Mui, 33. The rest are two mainland men  surnamed Xiong, 40 and Wei, 46.

It was added that the eight illegal immigrants were reported to be coming to Macau for gambling purposes.

The police disclosed that the illegal immigrants made use of the Hong Kong-

Zhuhai-Macau Bridge island to conduct the activity.
Along a stretch of bush by a muddy river, laborers dug and slashed in search of bamboo plants buried under dense grass. Here and there a few plants had sprouted tall, but most of the bamboo seedlings planted more than a year ago never grew.

Now, environment protection officers seeking to restore a 3-kilometer stretch of the rivers degraded banks were aiming to plant new bamboo seedlings, clear room for last years survivors to grow and look after them better than they did the first time.

A successful bamboo forest by the river Rwizi  the most important in a large part of western Uganda that includes the major city of Mbarara  would create a buffer zone against sand miners, subsistence farmers and others whose activities have long threatened the river. The National Environment Management Authority estimates that the Rwizi has lost 60% of its water catchment area over the decades, and in some areas this winding river runs as narrow as a stream.

Once bamboo is established, it is almost like a net, said Jeconious Musingwire, an environment officer who was the projects technical advisor. The roots trap everything, including the surface runoff, and stabilize the weaknesses of the banks.

This East African country is seeing growing interest in bamboo, a perennial plant cultivated in many parts of the world. It can be burned for fuel in rural communities, taking pressure off dwindling forest reserves of eucalyptus and other natural resources. Its a hardy plant that can grow almost anywhere. And businesses can turn it into products ranging from furniture to toothpicks.

Some of the bamboo species grown in Uganda are imported from Asia, but many  like one whose shoots are smoked and then boiled to make a popular traditional meal in eastern Uganda  grow wild.

The Ugandan government has set a 10-year policy that calls for planting 300,000 hectares of bamboo, most of it on private land, by 2029 as part of wider reforestation efforts.

Thats an ambitious target. The Uganda Bamboo Association, the largest such group with 340 members, has planted only 500 hectares. Even with growing interest in bamboo farming, authorities will have to encourage more farmers in rural parts of Uganda to plant vast tracts of land with bamboo.

Signs are promising

Not far from the scene where laborers were tending bamboo plants sits a large commercial farm that includes seven acres of bamboo. The plants at Kitara Farm were well-tended, and a stockpile of 10,000 bamboo poles sat waiting to be sold.

Caretaker Joseph Katumba said the property has become something of a demonstration farm for people who want to learn more about bamboo. He recalled that when they first began planting bamboo in 2017, some people asked why they were wasting land by planting bamboo when it grows wild in the bush.

Katumba said thats changed, with skeptics now interested in planting bamboo because they have studied it and they love it. Unlike eucalyptus  a tall flowering plant widely planted here for its timber  there is no bamboo season. The more you look after it well, weeding around it, the more and more years you will earn from bamboo.

Bamboo grows faster than eucalyptus and regenerates like a weed. It also can thrive in poor soil. Kitara Farm stopped planting new eucalyptus lots while its bamboo acreage continues to expand, he said.

We have so many eucalyptus forests. But we realized that once you cut the eucalyptus trees, eventually they get finished, and once they are finished there is no more money, he said. But with bamboo, we investigated and found out that when you plant it  the grandkids and their grandkids and their grandkids will earn from bamboo.

A single bamboo pole brings a little less than a dollar, so farmers need to grow a lot to earn enough. Bamboo promoters are urging them to see a bamboo plantation as the same kind of cash crop as coffee or tea estates. Banks are offering bamboo plantation capital to clients, loans that promise ownership of substantial acres of bamboo.

Each person should actually plant bamboo, and a lot of it, said Taga Nuwagaba, a bamboo farmer and businessman who owns a bamboo furniture factory near the Ugandan capital of Kampala. He touts the plant as a a renewable resource that sequesters carbon, too.

You cut one, five will grow, he said.

Bamboo is easy to manage

Bamboo plants are normally ready for harvesting in three to five years, and a well-maintained plantation can be useful for at least 50 years, said Jacob Ogola, an agronomist who is working as a consultant at Kitara Farm. He said bamboo is easy to manage, and typically doesnt need spraying for pests.

Bamboo seedlings are now more widely available via private nursery beds.

Steve Tusiime, a self-described bamboo collector, owns one such nursery in Mbarara. Tusiime said hes been fascinated by the plant since seeing one as a boy. Before he got into growing, he recalls traveling to a farm in central Uganda to hug bamboo plants, and in 2018 spending his own money to attend a bamboo convention in China, where he got his first bamboo seeds.

Standing on another stretch of land by the river Rwizi where he and his partners have created a bamboo park in a recreation resort still to be commissioned, he waxed lyrical about how bamboo energizes him.

Each bamboo you see here has a story. It has where it comes from and it has different use and it has a different name, he said. When you come here the story is bamboo. You learn about different species, different uses. You see different features of bamboo.

Still, Ugandas bamboo plantations arent growing fast enough to build an industry around the plant. Tusiimes nursery has sold fewer than 10,000 seedlings in the past two years, confounding his own assessment of bamboo as an important cash crop which also happens to benefit the environment.

Bamboo can be a future tree for Uganda or for even Africa. For example, youve heard people talking about charcoal and firewood and this and that. Bamboo is a better solution, he said. You can produce the briquette, you can use it directly as firewood. Bamboo is going to be a game changer in Africa. You can eat bamboo, you can use it to build, you can create an industry for bamboo, you can feed it to your animals, and it can take care of your land. RODNEY MUHUMUZA, ALONG RIVER RWIZI, MDT/AP
Ireland is poised to get its youngest-ever premier next month after Simon Harris secured the leadership of the Fine Gael party on Sunday [yesterday, Macau time], replacing Leo Varadkar who announced his surprise resignation last week.

The 37-year-old Harris, who has been the coalition governments further and higher education minister, was the only candidate to put his name forward to succeed Varadkar, who had been Irelands previous youngest prime minister, or what Ireland calls its taoiseach.

Harris is expected to be formally elected premier in the Irish parliament in early April after lawmakers return from their Easter break.

In his victory speech in the central Ireland town of Athlone, Harris said this was a moment for Fine Gael to reconnect with the people and pledged to fight against populist forces in Irish politics.

I want this party to fight against populism and deliberate polarization, he said.

He confirmed Fine Gael as a proudly pro-European party, condemned Russias invasion of Ukraine and called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza.

There is a hell of a lot to get done in the time ahead, he said.

Harris said nothing about the coalition government, which came into place at the end of 2020, but has previously said that he would remain fully committed to the program for government agreed upon with partners Fianna Fail and the Green Party. He has stopped short of ruling out a general election this year, but insisted such a poll wasnt his priority.

Varadkar, 45, has had two spells as taoiseach  between 2017 and 2020, and again since December 2022 as part of a job-share with Micheal Martin, the head of Fianna Fail.

He was the countrys youngest-ever leader when first elected at age 38, as well as Irelands first openly gay prime minister. Varadkar, whose mother is Irish and father is Indian, was also Irelands first biracial taoiseach.

He played a leading role in campaigns to legalize same-sex marriage, approved in a 2015 referendum, and to repeal a ban on abortion, which passed in a vote in 2018.

He led Ireland during the years after Britains 2016 decision to leave the European Union. Brexit had huge implications for Ireland, an EU member that shares a border with the U.K.s Northern Ireland. U.K.-Ireland relations were strained while hardcore Brexit-backer Boris Johnson was U.K. leader, but have steadied since the arrival of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. PAN PYLAS, LONDON, MDT/AP
Tourists take selfies in front of a dragon-shaped installation to welcome the Chinese Lunar New Year at Hagley Park in Christchurch, New Zealand, Feb. 9, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi recently wrapped up his highly successful visit to Australia and New Zealand. He met with top officials, including New Zealand's Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters, promising to herald a new decade of greater development and trade and to strengthen inter-government talks on foreign policy. The tour came at the invitation of both Australia's and New Zealand's foreign ministers, and lays important groundwork for bolstering high-level engagements between China and two of its key partners in Oceania.

Look no further than the seventh China-Australia Foreign and Strategic Dialogue: both countries agreed to coordinate interests on trade and economy, and will actively work toward a maritime affairs dialogue. This is an important leap from 2022, when Wang and Australian counterpart Penny Wong pledged to strengthen coordination on critical aspects of their comprehensive strategic partnership. Now prospective collaborations include new energy, digital economy, green development, science and technology and other high-valued fields.

Given the value of substantial trade and economic interests, Wang's visit played an important role in deepening political trust and further stabilizing the Sino-Australian relationship. Scores of Australian business leaders and think tank heads attended the Australia China Business Council (ACBC) meeting, demonstrating their interest in advancing economic and shared market opportunities. Optimism runs high for elevated engagement across climate, digital trade, energy exports and green technologies, demonstrating the extent of "complementary advantages" between Canberra and its top trading partner.

Wang's constructive exchanges in New Zealand also merit significant optimism for long-term trade, policy and diplomatic success. After all, Wellington continues to work toward a new era of high-quality development with Beijing, given its continued participation in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and heightened prospects of multisector business engagement. Wellington also stands true to the foundations of the Sino-New Zealand relations, given its sustained compliance with the one-China policy.

For future bilateral cooperation, New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said that New Zealand is willing to deepen cooperation in areas including economy and trade, cultural and people-to-people exchanges, education, tourism, agriculture, technology and climate action as well as promote common prosperity of the two countries and safeguard regional and world peace and stability.

Years of progress provide a solid platform to scale up two-way trade even further. China serves as New Zealand's biggest trading partner and a major proponent of tariff elimination. Greater willingness to implement an upgraded China-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is a major takeaway from Wang's trip, as it highlights further ease in market access and streamlined trade flows. Welcome consensus to fast-track inter-government talks on foreign policy, trade and climate change has also played a role in New Zealand trade minister Todd McClay's reciprocal visit to China next month, strengthening mutual trust.

A recent series of bilateral high-level exchanges mirror China's goodwill on win-win cooperation with Australia. Australia has tempered the adverse influence of third parties on its China policy, and continues to meet Beijing halfway in reviving layers of strategic and bilateral dialogue opportunities. The ACBC meeting proved particularly noteworthy in this regard, as it repositioned Sino-Australian business interests at the center of government dialogue. As the Council's national president David Olsson recently suggested, more frank engagements with China's top diplomat served as an opportunity to improve one's own understanding of Beijing's true outlook on development and world affairs.

China continues to serve as a top supplier of competitively manufactured goods to Australia and its fast-expanding market hosts a range of Australian importers, including in wine and barley. Meanwhile, Canberra's supplies of iron ore, natural gas and lithium to Beijing indicate highly complementary strides towards the new energy frontier. In Penny Wong's own telling, the path forward for Canberra is a stable and constructive relationship with China.

Thus understood, Wang's high-profile visit delivered important bilateral gains, strengthened political trust and charted a new course for future economic trade and win-win engagement.

The author is a foreign affairs commentator, author and recipient of the Fulbright Award.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
Many lawmakers yesterday called on the government increase public hospital beds to cater to the growing needs of an increasingly older population.

The calls came at yesterdays Legislative Assembly (AL) session dedicated to the first part of a Q&A between lawmakers and the government officials.

The debate started over an inquiry by lawmaker Ella Lei on the need to improve rehabilitation services and staffing, seizing the golden period of treatment to support patients recovery.

In several interventions, lawmakers insistently called on the government to add more hospital beds to attend to those of older age who suffer from strokes and their side effects as well as fractures related to falls, among others.

Lawmakers claimed that it was unsuitable, in most cases, for senior citizens to return to their homes while receiving treatment from the hospital, noting the difficulties for their families in taking care of them.

In response, and also advancing that soon a higher number of beds will be available in the new hospital facilities that the government is finalizing, the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Elsie Ao Ieong, said that, in some cases, there are people that stay in hospital[] for treatment over fractures for as much as two years.

She said the government aims to transfer some of these cases, when that is possible, to nursing homes.

On the topic, Ao Ieong also said that the government has recently raised the financial support to caretakers by 3% but lawmakers insist that rather than subsidies what residents need is for the government to offer them quality public health services, as most of them cannot afford the price of the private services.

The Secretary added that she was happy that people prefer the public but added, but if they want a complete service that might not be possible as this [type of service] is only available to those that can afford it.

Still, Ao Ieong said that the government intends to establish a third level of medical care in Macau in between the hospitals and the healthcare centers. The Secretary said that as soon as the Day Hospitals start operating, the search for treatments, and particularly rehabilitation, should improve.

Response to cases of stroke according to standards

One of the matters that also raised wide discussion during yesterdays meeting was regarding the time taken to respond to cases of stroke.

As mentioned in the inquiry of Ella Lei, there is a so-called golden period for the detection and usage of an intravenous treatment to prevent serious damage or death in patients who suffer strokes.

According to Ao Ieong, Macau is meeting the international standards that she said was 60 minutes, while noting that the local response time is around 54 minutes.

Several lawmakers, including Ron Lam, rejected the statement, noting that the time statistics made by the public hospital take only into account the time of arrival of the ambulance to the emergency and not the time that mediates in between that and the application of the treatment. He also called on the government to push the time way back to a safer level to avoid unnecessary harm to residents.

On the same topic, the director of the Health Bureau, Alvis Lo, clarified that the Golden Period for the treatment of strokes is about three hours, from the first signs until the treatment.

He also said that in Macau there is not a great issue with this time as transportation [via ambulance] to the hospital is usually fast as Macau is small when compared with other places, reaffirming that local medical services are well on time.

Lacking therapists but some are unemployed

Another of the debated points was the alleged lack of therapists for several specialties such as physiotherapy and occupational and speech therapy.

According to the Secretary, Macau needs a lot more of these professionals and there are not enough locals who have qualifications for these posts. Lawmaker Chan Iek Lap, who is also the president of the Macau Chinese Medical Association disagreed, however, and stated that there are currently some of these therapists that are unemployed or working in a precarious situation.

Chan noted that there are enormous differences between the salary and benefits of the therapists who work in the private or the public sector.

Those in the private sector only earn a fraction of what those hired by the government are earning.

This discourages more young people from joining the profession, although the government is saying that it is working hard to promote it among them. Chan said the government should rectify this situation as soon as possible.

In response, Ao Ieong said that in some cases, such as Speech Therapy, the government outsources therapists from the private sector, something that, she said, can also happen to other types of therapists.

On the same topic, lawmaker Lo Choi In intervened suggesting, yet again, an unusual solution. For Lo since Macau is becoming an even more aging society, the solution would be to hire unqualified therapists as Therapist Assistants which would allow more young people to start in the profession without the need to waste time taking university majors that take a long time, she said.
Local drivers in mainland China on the northbound vehicle travel scheme are reminded to be mindful of their durations of stay as well as geographical boundaries, the Traffic Bureau (DSAT) has said in a statement. Under the scheme, a vehicle should stay no longer than 30 days on one trip each year 180 days in Guangdong Province, which is the only provincial jurisdiction open to the scheme. From the beginning of the scheme to mid-March this year, 15 vehicles stayed longer than 30 days, while in February this year, nearly 10 vehicles crossed the provincial boundary.

Related
The Philippines lodged its strongest protest against Beijing yesterday and summoned a senior Chinese diplomat over a water cannon assault by the Chinese coast guard that injured Filipino navy crew members and heavily damaged their boat in the disputed South China Sea, officials said.

Two Chinese coast guard ships hit a Philippine navy-operated supply boat with water cannons Saturday in the latest and most serious confrontation between the rival Asian claimants near the disputed Second Thomas Shoal, which is surrounded by Chinese vessels in a bid to dislodge Philippine forces from there.

The Chinese Embassy in Manila issued a statement by the Chinese coast guard that warned the Philippines against playing with fire.

Philippine Foreign Undersecretary Theresa Lazaro in a phone call with her Chinese counterpart 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.

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, the Associated Press has reported.

Philippine defense, security and foreign affairs officials convened a meeting yesterday to discuss new steps to deal with what they say is Chinas unacceptable and provocative actions in the South China Sea.

According to AP, their recommendations would be submitted to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and were not immediately released to the public.

On Sunday, Chinas Ministry of National Defense urged the Philippines to stop all infringements and provocative actions around Renai Reef in the South China Sea.

Ministry spokesman Senior Colonel Wu Qian made the remarks after Philippine ships illegally entered waters adjacent to Renai Reef, off Chinas Nansha islands.

China Daily reported that, Wu said on Saturday, three Philippine vessels illegally intruded into the waters during an attempt to transport supplies and construction materials to a military vessel that the Philippines intentionally grounded on the reef in 1999.

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, Wu said, adding that the incident was entirely provoked by the Philippines, and Chinas handling of the situation was standard, reasonable, lawful and professional.

China Coast Guard spokesman Gan Yu said in a statement issued on Saturday that just 18 days after the last round of resupply  which he earlier described as a temporary special arrangement out of humanitarian concern  the Philippines had broken its pledge to respect Chinas territorial waters and again dispatched two coast guard ships and one supply vessel to infringe into the waters near Renai Reef, attempting to carry out abnormal resupply operations and transport construction materials to the grounded vessel.

He said the Philippine side had provocatively seized the opportunity to infringe on Chinas rights and intentionally destroy the peace and stability of the South China Sea.

At the scene, the Philippine supply ship disregarded the Chinese sides repeated dissuasion, warnings and navigation control, and still forcefully intruded, Gan said.

He said that in response, the China Coast Guard implemented interception, obstruction and expulsion following laws and regulations, handling the situation in a reasonable, lawful, professional and standardized manner.

We warn the Philippine side: those who play with fire will only humiliate themselves, he said. The China Coast Guard is always on high alert, resolutely safeguarding national territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.

Wu emphasized that China holds indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha islands, including Renai Reef and adjacent waters.

Chinas sovereignty and territorial integrity are not to be violated, he said. MDT/Agencies
Poland demanded an explanation from Russia yesterday [Macau time] after one of its missiles strayed briefly into Polish airspace during a major missile attack on Ukraine, prompting the NATO member to activate F-16 fighter jets.

It was Russias third big missile attack on Ukraine in the past four days, and the second to target the capital, Kyiv.

The governor of the Lviv region, Maksym Kozytskyi, said on the Telegram platform that critical infrastructure was hit, but he didnt specify what precisely was struck. No deaths or injuries were reported.

Later, authorities said that rescuers had just put out a fire at a critical infrastructure facility in the Lviv region, which had been attacked with missiles and drones at night and in the morning.

The head of Kyivs military administration, Serhiy Popko, said Russia used cruise missiles launched from Tu-95MS strategic bombers. An air alert in the capital lasted for more than two hours as rockets entered Kyiv in groups from the north.

He said the attacks were launched from the Engels district in the Saratov region of Russia.

According to preliminary data, there were no casualties or damage in the capital, he said.

Armed Forces Operational Command of Poland, a member of NATO, said in a statement that there was a violation of Polish airspace at 4:23 a.m. (0323 GMT) by one of the cruise missiles launched by Russia against towns in western Ukraine.

The object entered near Oserdow, a village in an agricultural region near the border with Ukraine, and stayed in Polish airspace for 39 seconds, the statement said. It wasnt immediately clear if Russia intended for the missile to enter Polands airspace. Cruise missiles are able to change their trajectory to evade air defense systems.

Polish Defense Minister Wadysaw Kosiniak-Kamysz later told reporters in a televised news conference that the Russian missile would have been shot down had there been any indication that it was heading towards a target in Poland.

He said that Polish authorities monitored the attack on Ukraine and were in contact with Ukrainian counterparts. Polish and NATO F-16s were activated as part of the strategic response.

He said the missile penetrated Polish airspace about a kilometer or two (a half-mile to around a mile) as Russia was targeting the region around Lviv in western Ukraine.

As last nights rocket attack on Ukraine was one of the most intense since the beginning of the Russian aggression, all the strategic procedures were launched on time and the object was monitored until it left the Polish airspace, he said.

On the diplomatic front, the Polish foreign ministry said that it would demand explanations from the Russian Federation in connection with another violation of the countrys airspace.

Above all, we call on the Russian Federation to stop the terrorist air attacks on the inhabitants and territory of Ukraine, end the war, and address the countrys internal problems, the statement read.

Andrzej Szejna, a deputy foreign minister, told the TVN24 broadcaster that the foreign ministry intended to summon the Russian ambassador to Poland and hand him a protest note.

Henryk Zdyb, the head of the village of Oserdow, said in an interview with the daily Gazeta Wyborcza that he saw the missile, saying it produced a whistling sound.

I saw a rapidly moving object in the sky. It was illuminated and flying quite low over the border with Ukraine, he told the paper.

Since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago, there have been a number of intrusions into Polish airspace, triggering worry in the European Union and NATO member state and reminding people of how close the war is.

We have to come to terms with the fact that the war is taking place right next to us, and we are part of the confrontation between the West and Russia, commentator Artur Bartkiewicz wrote in the Rzeczpospolita newspaper Sunday.

In 2022, two Poles were killed in a missile blast. Western officials blamed those deaths on a Ukrainian air defense missile that went astray, but also accused Russia of culpability because it started the war, with the Ukrainian missiles launched in self-defense.

On Saturday night, one person was killed and four others were wounded in a Ukrainian missile attack on Sevastopol on the Russia-occupied Crimean Peninsula, city Gov. Mikhail Razvozhaev said on his Telegram channel. VANESSA GERA & TONY HICKS, KYIV, MDT/AP
Macaus eight Rotary clubs partnered with the local Blood Transfusion Service to hold their annual Rotary Blood Donation Day last weekend at the NOVA Mall. Now in its 24th year, the event aims to encourage regular blood donations, especially of negative blood types.

For over two decades, the collaborative effort has emphasized the lifesaving importance of maintaining Macaus blood reserves.

This year, donations were accepted throughout March at the NOVA Mall, which provided a high-traffic location to maximize outreach and allow for donations to be accepted over an extended timeframe, a press release from the organizers said.

Rotary Club of Macau president Joao Pinto thanked the mall for hosting and giving the campaign renewed visibility.

Blood donors offer the gift of life, he said.

Originally launched in 2001 by late Rotary Club president Alfredo Ritchie, a medical doctor himself, the drive has had a profound impact over two decades. The eight local clubs aim to ensure a robust blood supply through inspiring regular donations and emphasizing their role in public welfare.
Thailand delivered its first batch of humanitarian aid to war-torn Myanmar yesterday, 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 5 million baht ($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. MDT/AP
The former owners of Inka Heritage are opening a Peruvian restaurant specializing in seafood on Madisons Far West Side.

Daniel Rodriguez and Esmeralda Bascones plan to open Amar Peru at 610 Junction Road in what had been a Mr. Brews Taphouse.

Rodriguez said he put up a Peruvian flag outside of the future restaurant on Sunday that passing cars can see from Junction Road.

The couple plan to open by early June after Rodriguez gets the proper permits, expands the kitchen and makes some other renovations.

He said he likes the new place because it has a bar and parking.

Rodriguez said he wont use the furniture left by Mr. Brews because much of it is tall bar tables and chairs. I prefer, for a dining experience, to have small tables.

The couple opened the restaurant Pikkito in July in Middleton. The casual, counter-service restaurant is in what was Tucuma, a short-lived Brazilian cafe and bakery.

They owned Inka Heritage on Park Street from 2006 to 2016, and Estacion Inka near UW-Madison from 2016 to 2019. They closed Inka Heritage and sold Estacion Inka.

Rodriguez said Amar Peru will have a lot of art from Peru, and Bascones, who is the chef at Pikkito and will take on the same role in the new restaurant, is planning a trip there to find Incan decor.

Its going to be a thematic experience, Rodriguez said. Well, of course, the food as well. But we are going to be focused on the experience, the food at the same time.

Rodriguez said the name Amar  to love in Spanish  describes how Peruvians feel about their country.
In 2021, Jim Hickey started a walk across the state for a Cozad, Nebraska, 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, Wyoming, to Denver for a 21-year-old with cancer. He was at a bar in Fort Collins, Colorado, 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, Nebraska, 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 is returning to Denver to 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.

Pediatric cancer is on the rise, with some types becoming more common Pediatric cancer is on the rise, with some types becoming more common Groups most impacted by pediatric cancer Some cancers are becoming more common
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.
Madison police are looking for two people who investigators believe were involved in a shooting Downtown early Sunday that left a man in critical condition.

A criminal complaint filed Tuesday charged Kevin H. Brown, 39, of Madison, with attempted first-degree intentional homicide and Nicole H. Brown, also 39 and from Madison, with harboring or aiding a felon. Kevin Brown was also charged with possession of a firearm by a felon.

The relationship between the Browns was not made clear in the complaint. Other court records indicate they are husband and wife. Arrest warrants were issued for each of them.

According to the complaint, the shooting happened about 2:50 a.m. Sunday just outside Asian Kitchen, 449 State St., after the shooting victim and Kevin Brown had exchanged words inside the restaurant. The complaint does not say what the argument was about. The shooting happened on the side of the building facing North Broom Street.

The complaint states that the shooting victim was taken to UW Hospital, where police were told by doctors that he had lost a lot of blood. Doctors also said that six bullet holes had been found during surgery, including two in his chest, two in his lower extremities and entry and exit wounds in his right arm. He also sustained injuries to his liver and stomach. While he was in critical condition, doctors expected him to survive.

According to the complaint:

A friend of the shooting victim told police he had hung out with the man that night Downtown, but later, after they had split up, the victim called him and said he was headed to Asian Kitchen, so the friend started walking toward the restaurant.

When he entered, he told police, he was confronted by a man with dreadlocks who was yelling, and was followed out of the restaurant by a woman. The friend told police it became clear to him that his friend, the shooting victim, had been arguing with the man. As the victim walked past, the friend told police, the friend tried to ask what the argument was about, but the victim didnt give a reason and kept walking.

He said he followed the victim outside and noticed that the man with dreadlocks, later identified as Kevin Brown, went to a vehicle, and as he was coming back, the shooting victim put his hat on the hood of the vehicle and may have spat on the car as well.

The friend said as he turned to walk back into the restaurant with the shooting victim, he heard shots and turned to see his friend on the ground. The friend told police Kevin Brown then pointed the gun in his face. He told Brown to leave him alone and turned his attention to the shooting victim. The car, a Dodge Charger, then took off, the victims friend told police.

Police executed a search at the Brown home on Sunday and found a baby blue hooded sweatshirt like the one Kevin Brown was seen wearing at the Asian Kitchen.

Surveillance video inside Asian Kitchen showed a man with dreadlocks walk into the restaurant alone and go up to the counter. The shooting victim was already inside the restaurant. When the shooting victim got up and walked past the counter on his way to the restroom, it appeared he exchanged words with Brown. An argument lasted for 35 to 40 seconds and the two got nose to nose.

Afterward, Brown walked out the front door and the shooting victim stood in the doorway for a moment before going outside.

Based on the reaction of people inside Asian Kitchen, there was a fight outside the door lasting between 30 seconds and a minute, and then people in the restaurant were seen ducking and seeking cover.

Investigators viewing city street cameras were able to trace the earlier movements of a dark Dodge Charger that was seen on video driving away quickly from West Gorham and North Broom streets at 2:49 a.m. with its headlights turned off. The video revealed a license plate number that showed the car was registered to Nicole and Kevin Brown.
 Flash

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
A grilling of Quadren Wilson by lawyers for the state agent charged with recklessly shooting at him veered into an analysis of Wilsons rap lyrics, his history of selling drugs and the definition of a gangster.

Wilson took the witness stand Monday to describe being shot by state Division of Criminal Investigation agents during his 2022 arrest. That followed testimony earlier in the day from an investigator in a recent drug probe of Wilson.

The trial against Mark Wagner, 51, of Milwaukee, one of the agents who shot at Wilson, entered its second week on Monday.

Most of Wilsons roughly hour and a half on the witness stand saw him peppered with questions from Wagners defense team about Wilsons criminal history.

Youve always been a drug dealer, said Wagners attorney, Michael Steinle, who used racial epithets multiple times in a packed courtroom while quoting Wilsons rap lyrics. During other exchanges, Steinle questioned Wilson about whether gangsters carry firearms and about drug dealing slang.

Wilson, dressed in jail fatigues on the witness stand, admitted multiple times to having a history of peddling drugs and once shooting someone. But Wilson, 40, grew emotional as he recounted being shot at by Wagner and his colleague, Nathan Peskie, during a high-risk traffic stop on Madisons Far East Side in February 2022. Bullet fragments from Peskies AR-15 wounded Wilson.

Im happy to be alive still. I could have been paralyzed or dead, Wilson said.

Before Wilson appeared in court, the jury heard testimony about his alleged ongoing involvement in the drug trade, which landed him in custody just nine months after his release from prison following a conviction on other drug charges in 2022.

Earlier this year, DCI handed over fresh information and a confidential informant to investigators at the Jefferson County Sheriffs Office in order to avoid a conflict of interest during a new probe of Wilson, said Adam Kleist, a Jefferson County detective.

In February, the informant allegedly bought crack cocaine from Wilson, Kleist said. During the deal, Wilson shorted the informant by about 1.6 grams of crack and pocketed $150. In another controlled buy, Wilson sold the informant what Kleist described as organic matter, which appeared to be a pear.

On March 12, investigators arrested Wilson at DOCs probation and parole office on East Johnson Street. Dane County prosecutors have since charged him with delivery of cocaine as a repeat offender and selling fake drugs, both involving Jefferson Countys informant.

No phone before shooting

Before Wilsons testimony, most of the trial centered on the shooting and its aftermath. In testimony last week, another state agent at the scene, Brian Hawley, said a Halligan tool he used during the incident might have struck Wagners protective shield, making a sound that Wagner thought was a gunshot.

On Thursday, District Attorney Ismael Ozanne had combative exchanges in court with DCI officials over whether they followed protocol for police shootings and had kept the investigation from becoming tainted.

Peskie, who has not been charged with a crime but was granted immunity for his testimony, offered few new details on Monday. Peskie and Wagner have said they mistook a cellphone in Wilsons hand for a gun. In the freewheeling cross-examination by Wagners defense team on Monday, Wilson denied having the phone in his hand before Wagner and Peskie started shooting.

Thinking Wagner had been shot, Peskie testified, he put himself between Wagner and Wilsons car to shield his colleague from gunfire.

Peskie repeated a description of the sound of Wilson spinning out his wheels as being similar to a NASCAR race, a din that added to confusion about what was happening.

The impact of social media on the mental health of Gen Z The impact of social media on the mental health of Gen Z Social media affects younger people more
The only conservative on the Dane County Board is facing a concerted effort to oust him from the seat by Democrats in next Tuesdays election after a similar effort narrowly failed two years ago.

The Dane County Democratic Party is sending out volunteers to canvass the 20th District in support of candidate Andrea Andrews against incumbent Jeff Weigand. One of the boards most rural districts, the seat represents Marshall, part of Windsor and the towns of Bristol, Medina, Sun Prairie and York.

Weigands outspoken conservativism makes him a rare figure in a county where liberal and progressive politics reign. Thats led Democrats to mobilize more resources against him than two years ago when the county partys attention was spread across several board and school board races. In that last contest, Weigand narrowly defeated challenger Scott Michalak with 50.6% of the vote, an election decided by 33 votes.

I think its funny that they cant stand to have one dissenting voice on the County Board, Weigand said of the Democratic Party. Why are they so infatuated with why they dont want me to serve another term?

His opponent Andrews has served on the Marshall Village Board for six years, where she supported the development of a new village hall and police station. Her public safety record also includes backing the villages request for EMS service from Sun Prairie two years ago due to a shortage of local volunteers.

Ive always told my kids that if you dont like the way somethings going, youve got to stand up and do something about it and make the changes you want to see, Andrews said. I recognize that pivotal role that local government plays in our lives.

On the policy side, Weigand is campaigning on his own public safety record. In last years county budget, he lobbied unsuccessfully for the board to add a human trafficking detective at the Sheriffs Office, which he plans to push for again if reelected. Another budget amendment from Weigand, which did pass, required the Sheriffs Office to disclose how it uses license plate readers.

In his district, vehicle thefts and break-ins remain an ongoing worry for constituents, he said.

My message is that we need to continue to have a rural voice on the Dane County Board, Weigand said. What that really looks like tangibly is advocating for public safety, advocating for our law enforcement officers and advocating for a greater investment in transportation infrastructure.

Wed like to see him gone

Weigand is often the boards only dissenting vote on measures ranging from the budget and support of community projects to hot-button political issues. Hes voted against supporting abortion rights and declaring the county a sanctuary for transgender people.

Hes argued against county financial support for causes like a teen center in Fitchburg and a Ho-Chunk Cultural Center, calling them worthwhile projects that nonetheless dont merit more government spending. In an interview, he described county support of a mental health coalition for people of color and Indigenous people as exclusive and racist.

We are less than enthusiastic about the fact that this person gets a platform to espouse some far-right ideas, said Alexia Sabor, the chair of the countys Democratic Party. Wed like to see him gone. Wed like to send a message about what the Republican Party can expect here in Dane County come November.

Weigand said his stances reflect those of many of the countys rural residents and said government needs to get back to the basics of things like road improvements and public safety.

Theres a lot of times when theres an attempt by board members to pander to the most extreme far-left constituents in Dane County, Weigand said. When I go door to door, when I talk to people, these issues are not front and center.

The 20th District has tended to vote for Democrats in recent elections. In 2020, Marshall voted for President Joe Biden by 55% and in 2022, it went for Gov. Tony Evers and Democratic Senate candidate Mandela Barnes by 58% and 55%, respectively.

I feel with people, when Im knocking on doors, is I think that theyre as disappointed as I am with some of the efforts that hes been known for, Andrews said of Weigand. Hes definitely a smart person. I just think that his vision for what District 20 is about, and Dane County as a whole, is a lot different than whats going on in Dane County and District 20.

The spring election is April 2; see where the candidates stand The Wisconsin State Journal asked candidates for local office to tell us a bit about themselves and their priorities if elected.
NASHVILLE, Tenn.  Nearly a year after a shooting at a Christian elementary school in Nashville that left three adults and three children dead, the students and their families have formed tight bonds out of their shared suffering. They've also adopted a lot of dogs.

Among the adopters is Matthew Sullivan, who now cares for a Rhodesian ridgeback named Hank. He is the chaplain at Covenant School, which endured an all-too-common tragedy on March 27, 2023, when a former student shot through the exterior doors and kept going.

Sullivan isn't allowed to talk about what happened inside the building that day, but he says it, and the days that followed, are a blur anyway.

Some things stand out though. He remembers walking to safety with the students in a human chain and one of them asking, "Where's Evelyn?" He remembers the eerie feeling he got when he realized that Head of School Katherine Koonce was not responding on the text thread among the teachers.

He remembers the endless waiting at a nearby church as students were slowly reconnected with parents. No one had a comprehensive list of students; it took hours to make sure everyone was accounted for and with their proper guardians.

It wasn't until much later that evening that Sullivan learned which of his pupils and colleagues he would never see again: Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, all 9 years old; Koonce, 60; custodian Mike Hill, 61; and 61-year-old substitute teacher Cynthia Peak.

Family bonds

Now, as the school faces the first anniversary of the tragedy and moves back into the building where it happened, Sullivan says one positive aspect of the past year has been the bond that has grown between families.

"It's been an incredible cementing of community," he said. "Prayer groups have formed of moms, then of dads, and these people  that's now in their weekly routine without fail. Like, they can't miss it. They don't want to miss it."

One day a group of dads showed up at school asking for the teachers' car keys. They were there to wash and vacuum all the cars.

"That never would have happened before," Sullivan said. "Our dads were, I would say, relatively disconnected, but now they're really in touch."

Often they will drop the kids off but stay for morning chapel, sitting in the back.

"They bring their coffee and sing the songs and do the silly hand motions," Sullivan said. "It's really deepened us in ways that, I mean, it would have been great to not have to go through this to do it, but, here we are."

Houston Phillips is one of those dads in the back of the chapel.

"It is for community, but it's also one of those things where, as long as they're going to let me in the school, I'm going to try to be there because of what happened. I want to be close to my son," he said.

Like many other dads, he has become very involved with Covenant and close with other families.

"I was always kind of like, man, I don't have time for the friends that I already have, so making new friends is not something I was very interested in," he said. But after the shooting, he found the other parents were people he could talk to who understand what he is going through. "And having people who also are men and women of God and believe in the same things we do, so, it's kind of like the perfect storm of trying to heal."

Dog adoption

One less expected outcome is that the families have also adopted a lot of dogs. Sullivan said getting a family dog was one of the first recommendations of a counseling group that showed up to help after the shooting.

"We have seen over 70 dog adoptions since March, my family included," Sullivan said.

The Presbyterian minister graduated from seminary in 1999, the same year as the Columbine shooting, and said a scenario like this was not part of his training. He has been learning on the go.

"What we've been dealing with is just how to do school again, how to be myself, how to feel relaxed at school. What do I do when I'm freaking out? What was that loud noise?" he said.

One of his morning routines is to park at the far end of the lot and walk all the way through it to the school "because, invariably several times a week, there's a kid who just can't handle it, who's melting down in the parking lot, doesn't want to go in the building."

Sullivan said he has been told by his fellow teachers that his presence is like a security blanket for the children, in part because his is the first voice they hear at school every morning, welcoming them to chapel.

"So, you know, I kind of never take a sick day. I have not taken a sick day since everything happened, but I just try to just kind of be here as a presence and a voice," he said.

One year

School will be out on Wednesday, the one-year anniversary of the shooting, but Covenant will hold a modified chapel service for those families who wish to attend, Sullivan said.

"I'm kind of holding my breath right now because we're at the cusp of this anniversary and it's kind of, I feel like we're all just waiting to see how we do," he said.

In a few weeks, they will move from their temporary location back into their old school building. Some families will leave for other schools.

"They stayed here as long as they could," he said, but "they don't want to be on that campus."

Yes, it's getting worse: New data shows mass shootings are more frequent Yes, it's getting worse: New data shows mass shootings are more frequent Mass shootings have been on the rise steadily for the past 40 years While shooting incidents show a gradual upward trend, the number of those killed is rising at an alarming rate Injuries have likewise risen significantly; one contributing factor: assault weapons
A $50 million expansion by a Wisconsin Dells resort will include 21 luxury treehouses.

Kalahari Resorts and Conventions announced plans for the development of the Kalahari Treehouse Collection at Dawn Manor. The resort expansion will feature 21 luxury treehouses and 31 additional rental houses on the Lake Delton property along Highway A, where the historic house, which is being relocated, stood for more than 160 years.

The expansion is expected to open next year.

The resort partnered with Washington state-based treehouse designer Nelson Treehouse to design the treehouses, which will feature screened-in porches, kitchenettes and lake views. Nelson Treehouse is owned by Pete Nelson and his family, who starred on Treehouse Masters, a television show that aired on Animal Planet from 2013 to 2019.

Our family, along with our thousands of dedicated associates, have been bringing beyond-expectations experiences to millions of guests for decades, Kalahari CEO Todd Nelson said in a statement. We intend to continue that legacy with our new luxury treehouse resort by creating a truly unique experience for guests who want to escape from it all, surrounded by nature, while only being minutes away from all the amenities the Dells area has to offer.

Along with the 52 resort houses, Kalahari is adding Daylenes Supper Club, a 10,000-square-foot dining facility overlooking Lake Delton. A reconstructed beach area along the lake with 18 boat slips will also be part of the new resort addition, along with a gazebo and boathouse. A boat access to Wisconsin Dells Ducks currently on the property will remain.

Guests at the Kalahari Treehouse Collection at Dawn Manor will receive free access to the indoor waterpark at the main Kalahari Resorts and Conventions campus.

The original Dawn Manor house is being moved to a location on Ishnala Road south of the roundabout at Xanadu Road near the Mirror Lake Dam, according to owner Steve Uphoff. Uphoff, who sold the Dawn Manor property to Nelson in 2021, maintained ownership of the structure as part of the purchase agreement.

With the help of an Amish contractor and Architectural Design Consultants, Uphoff preserved 94 pallets of stonework, woodwork and other house components to relocate the house while maintaining its historic appearance.

We made the decision that we would basically cannibalize the building, removing from it every single piece of hardware, Uphoff said in 2022.

Kalahari is the second-largest resort to open treehouse-style cabins in Wisconsin Dells. Wilderness Resort opened the Treehouse Cabins, a series of eight five-bedroom cabins modeled after treehouses, last summer and fall.

The Kalahari treehouses will feature luxury cabins suspended by trees on the property.
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Stay humble, stay hungry, stay grounded: this is a mantra Cooper Smith lives by.

Its a testament to this community and how loving they are and their belief in change, Smith told the Times-News.

Smith is the director of Everybody Eats and hosts Everybody House, an event that takes place on the second and last Sunday of the month. In partnership with Clothes Helpers, a nonprofit founded by Emma Swenson, they collaboratively attend to the needs of the community by giving them food and free clothes.

The next event will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday at the United Methodist Church for the free community closet, while Everybody Eats will host a cooking class at 10:30 a.m. with guest chef Mark Owsley from St. Lukes. Lunch will be served at 1 p.m.

They are also sponsoring the Off the Wall Art Sale, put together by Jan Mittleider, vice-chairwoman of College of Southern Idahos Board of Trustees. They are having a grand opening from 5 to 8 p.m. April 19 and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 20. All proceeds will benefit food insecurity in the Magic Valley.

When I first moved to Twin Falls, I didnt have anything, said Smith, who is also a recovery addict. I came with a backpack, Chaco sandals, six cell phone chargers, no cell phone, and I came to the crisis center.

Following his arrival, Smith felt safe enough to eventually get to the Valley House and has seen the value of these resources.

Its humbling to be on the other side, Smith says. So through his experience, he wants to give other people hope.

Smith reached out to Swenson back in November offering her a space in the church so she could continue helping families get free clothes, after seeing her post on Facebook asking who would be willing to help her find a space for Clothes Helpers.

For two years, Id been trying to get a building in Jerome, and it just wasnt happening, Swenson said. ... Then Cooper called me and said he might have a place that we could set up.

The next morning, he got it approved in a board meeting and allowed Swenson to move into the building and join in on his mission. Nechelle Gray, board member and manager of Clothes Helpers, joined in to help Swenson not long after.

We had a soft opening that following Sunday and what was so special about it was that many people that had been coming to Coopers food program were not expecting clothes to be there, Swenson said. And many people that werent expecting that to be there were just crying. They were so grateful.

Many of these events are run by volunteers. This includes people from Chobani, Valley House and St. Lukes.

Knowing this and reflecting on his partnerships with Off the Wall Art and Clothes Helpers, Smith feels the support and is grateful for everyone who sees his vision.

Jan, shes a spitfire and when she says shes gonna do something, she does it, and Emma, you know, and she has a heart of gold, Smith said. Shes just got that quality that she just wants to take care of people so its been a blessing to be a part of it.

For more information about the event, go to https://www.facebook.com/ EverybodyHouse.
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Senator Imee Marcos expressed confidence that the Young Creatives Challenge (YC2) will open doors for young Filipino talents. She envisions it as a platform where the next generation of greats will emerge in music, literature, and fine arts, including the ever-evolving digital landscape.

During her speech at the grand awarding ceremony for the YC2 held on March 21 at the Samsung Hall, SM Aura in Taguig City, Senator Marcos spoke with pride about the Filipino talents who joined the competition and how the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the competitions lead agency, successfully pulled off the event.

This is the first time weve launched this award, and like any new endeavors, it took time to refine the competition process, Senator Marcos, a champion of the project, said.

DTI Undersecretary Rafaelita Aldaba delves into the importance of the competition in fostering creativity

Id like to congratulate all the participants for reaching this milestone in your artistic journey. In the face of many challenges and obstacles, you have indeed persisted, honed your skills, and unleashed your creativity in the most remarkable ways. Our lesson is one of hope. Panindigan mo ang sarili mo. Pangatawanan mo. Maniwala kayo sa talento ninyo, she added applauding the participants perseverance and talent.

This nationwide competition saw 579 entries showcasing Filipino talent in songwriting, screenwriting, playwriting, graphic novels, animation, game development, and even online content creation.

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The top three winners for the YC2s songwriting competition

Lambing by Rocky (Surigao City, Surigao del Norte) emerged victorious in the songwriting category. The screenwriting category, subdivided based on film length, awarded top honors to Fishing the Moon Out of Water by John Peter Chua (Quezon City) for short films and Bugkos: End of Childhood by Breech Asher Harani (Compostela, Davao de Oro) for full-length films.

Other category winners included: Playwriting: Ang Pagbuo ng Baliana by Esmeralda Albis (Minalabac, Camarines Sur); Graphic Novel: The Girl and the Tamaraw by AJRAVII (Quezon City); Animation: Ang Kampanilya by Meeproduction (Makati City); Game Development: High Times by YYM Danni (Manila City); and Online Content Creation: Rose Ann Factolerin Espina and Kirby Jay Factolerin Caragan (Cebu City)

Grand prize winners received a P1 million cash reward alongside support in registering their intellectual property and promoting their work for production or commercial release. Runners-up and consolation prizes were also awarded across categories.

Recognizing the evolving creative landscape, DTI awarded the best YC2-promoting TikTok content, highlighting the power of online platforms.

Undersecretary Rafaelita Aldaba, representing DTI, emphasized YC2s role in supporting the creative sector as a driver of economic and cultural development. She reiterated the goal of making the Philippines a leading creative hub in Asia by 2030.

This competition was formed in line with the Malikhaing Pinoy Program, which aimed to harness Filipino creativity as a key driver of economic growth through the development of a robust and all-inclusive creative ecosystem in the country. Our goal is to make the Philippines Asias leading hub by 2030, attracting talent and investment from across the region, Undersecretary Aldaba stated.

A distinguished panel of judges with expertise in each category ensured a fair evaluation process.

Building on this success, DTI announced a bigger and better YC2 next year, further solidifying its commitment to celebrating Filipino creative excellence.
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Jollibee Foods Corp. commands a dominant 65-percent share of the Philippine fast-food market and boasts thousands of branches nationwide. Filipinos, on average, visit Jollibee twice a week.

Did you know Jollibee founder Tony Tan Caktiong started with serving street food like siopao (savory buns) and sweet-and-sour meat along Ongpin Street?

Tonys father immigrated to the Philippines from Jinjiang, Fujian, when he was younger than 13. He honed his culinary skills working in a restaurant and later opened a modest eatery in Manila.

Despite its simplicity, customers returned for the delicious fare and warm service. Tonys father imparted a crucial lesson: Like a tailors clothing, food should be appealing.

Tony helped in his fathers restaurant after school, where he developed an interest in catering. In 1975, Tony graduated from college. He and his brother pooled resources to launch a small ice cream parlor within a cinema. They quickly repaid their debt, exceeding expectations.

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Recognizing the limitations of solely selling ice cream, Tony expanded the menu to include burgers, which proved highly successful. Within two years, they replicated this winning formula and opened five more branches.

In 1984, McDonalds entered the Philippine market, causing many local fast-food operators to abandon their businesses. Despite the challenge from this global giant, Tony remained determined and faced it head-on with Jollibee.

Jollibees success lies in its focus on Filipino taste preferences, affordability, and continuous menu innovation, allowing it to thrive even against global giants. Today, Jollibee brings the Philippine brand proudly to the world.
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WELLINGTON, New Zealand  The United States, Britain and New Zealand have accused Beijing-backed cyber groups of being behind a series of attacks against lawmakers and key democratic institutions  allegations that prompted angry Chinese denials.

In rare and detailed public accusations against China  Washington, London and Wellington described a series of cyber breaches over the last decade or more, in what appeared to be a concerted effort to hold Beijing accountable.

The US Justice Department charged seven Chinese nationals over what it said was a 14-year prolific global hacking operation designed to aid Chinas economic espionage and foreign intelligence objectives.

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco on Monday said the campaign involved more than 10,000 emails being sent, targeting US and foreign-based businesses, politicians, candidates for elected office and journalists.

Washington said a unit, dubbed APT31, was behind the attacks, describing it as a cyberespionage program run by Chinas powerful Ministry of State Security out of the central city of Wuhan.

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The hackers gained access to email accounts, cloud storage accounts, and telephone call records the Justice Department said, monitoring some accounts for years.

Hours later, London said that from 2021-2022 the same APT31 group had targeted UK lawmakers accounts, including many who were critical of Beijings policies.

With Britain expected to hold a general election within months, UK Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden also made a shock announcement that a Chinese state-affiliated entity had likely compromised the countrys Electoral Commission.

He said that both campaigns against lawmakers and the Electoral Office, while a real and serious threat, were ultimately thwarted.

It will not impact how people register, vote or otherwise participate in democratic processes, Dowden said.

Two individuals and one company linked to APT31 have been hit with UK sanctions.

In a parallel announcement, New Zealand on Tuesday said its Parliamentary Counsel Office, which drafts and publishes laws, had been compromised around the same period.

New Zealand, normally one of Chinas strongest backers in the West, blamed the Chinese state-sponsored group APT40 for the attack.

Recently elected centre-right Prime Minister Christopher Luxon admitted it was a big step to blame the cyber attack on China, his countrys 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.

In recent years, Western nations have been increasingly willing to expose malicious cyber operations, and to point fingers at foreign governments  most notably China, Russia, North Korea and Iran.

But China reacted angrily to the accusations, with embassies and in London, Wellington and Washington issuing denunciations.

The UKs hype-up of the so-called Chinese cyberattacks without basis and the announcement of sanctions is outright political manipulation and malicious slander, the Chinese embassy in London said.

China has never encouraged, supported or condoned cyberattacks the embassy claimed.

It was a similar message from Wellington, where the Chinese embassy accused its hosts of completely barking up the wrong tree.

As a matter of fact, China is a major victim of cyberattacks, the embassy said.

Both Russia and China have been accused of using cutouts and off-site groups to carry out cyberattacks, making attribution more difficult.

Conservative MP Iain Duncan Smith, one of the targeted UK lawmakers, said Beijing should be labelled a threat to the country.

He was one of several UK MPs sanctioned by China in 2021 because of criticisms of human rights abuses against Chinas Uyghur minority and in Hong Kong.

Britain and the United States operate vast cyber operations of their own, although rarely acknowledge them in public.

The two nations, along with New Zealand, Australia and Canada are part of the FiveEyes intelligence sharing network.
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Rep. Ron Salo of Kabayan party-list advised Filipinos who are illegally working in Kuwait to avail of the visa amnesty program that that countrys interior ministry recently announced.

Salo said the Kuwaiti government is offering the amnesty from March 17 to June 17 this year, adding that the program offers a lifeline to those with expired visas, providing them with the chance to rectify their status or depart the country without penalties.

This amnesty initiative by the Kuwait Ministry of Interior is a commendable step towards resolving the issues faced by our kababayans whose visas have already expired, Salo said.

It provides a path for (illegally staying) individuals to regularize their residency status or safely return to their home countries, Salo added.

Under the program, those with expired visas have the option to either legalize their residency by paying fines or exit Kuwait without

penalties.

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As chairman of the House of Representativess committee on overseas workers affairs, Salo emphasized the importance of this initiative for Filipinos residing in Kuwait.

We are actively coordinating with the Department of Migrant Workers and its officer in charge, Secretary Hans Cacdac, to assist Filipinos availing of this amnesty. Our priority is to ensure their well-being and provide the support they need during this process, Salo added.

He also highlighted the significance of bilateral cooperation between

Kuwait and the Philippines in addressing the concerns of migrant

workers.



I welcome this visa amnesty program and look forward to further

collaboration and strengthening of ties between our countries, Salo

stated.

In response to the influx of inquiries from Filipinos in Kuwait

regarding the deployment ban on OFWs by the Philippines to Kuwait,

Salo announced plans to visit Kuwait after the Ramadan or from April 20 to April 23.

My visit aims to assess the living conditions of Filipinos, aid in

the bilateral discussions between our nations and provide insights on

lifting the ban, Salo explained.

The Kuwait Ministry of Interiors amnesty program offers a vital

opportunity for our kababayans with expired visas to regularize their

status and avoid facing legal consequences. Salo said as he

reaffirmed Kabayan party-list groups commitment to support overseas Filipino workers and ensuring that their rights and welfare are protected.
 Flash

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.
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THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) has deported two Japanese nationals linked to the infamous Luffy gang to subsequently face charges of large-scale fraud and other criminal charges in Japan.

The deportees, Sugano Kazushi and Shimoeda Saito, boarded yesterday a Japan Airlines flight to Tokyo.

Kazushi and Saito were sent home for being undesirable aliens in the Philippines after the Japanese government tagged them as fugitives from justice for reportedly working as fraudulent callers for a criminal group operating in Japan.

The duo was said to be the subject of an arrest warrant issued by the Tokyo Summary Court for being part of a large-scale telecommunications crime ring.

The BI also believed that both may be part of the so-called Luffy crime gang said to be notorious in Japan.

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The two have been hiding in the Philippines since 2019. A manhunt was conducted against them and their cohorts following official communication from the Japanese government in February last year informing Manila of their criminal status.

Shimoeda Saito made headlines in November last year after being intercepted at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 while about to board a Cebu Pacific flight bound for Nagoya, Japan.

Upon knowing that he was being arrested, he resorted to alarming tactics, intentionally bumping his head on the immigration counter and feigning distress.
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The Philippines on Tuesday lauded the United Nations Security Council for adopting a resolution that calls for an immediate ceasefire in war-torn Gaza, saying it was long overdue and must be implemented immediately.

Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said the Philippines supports the resolution, which also calls for the release of hostages and aid provisions.

I welcome the Security Councils decisive adoption of a resolution for immediate ceasefire, unconditional release of all hostages, and unhampered humanitarian assistance in Gaza, Manalo posted on his X (formerly Twitter) account.

This is long overdue and must be implemented by all parties immediately, the DFA chief added.

On Monday, the Security Council adopted the resolution with one abstention from the United States, while the remaining 14 members voted in favor.

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This is the first time the US did not veto the resolution, as its policy in the Israel-Hamas war begins to shift with the escalating death toll in Gaza now reported at 32,000 of mainly women and children.

Reports also said some two million people have been displaced because of the ongoing violence and Israels bombardment.

The humanitarian crisis demands swift (and) unified action from the int(ernationa)l community, Manalo said on X.

The prompt implementation of the measures contained in the resolution will urgently relieve the suffering of innocent civilians caught in the crossfire, and bring forth prospects for lasting peace, he added.

The current war broke out after Hamas attacked Israeli communities last October 7, killing about 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, and took 253 into Gaza as hostages.

Of those taken, 130 remain unaccounted for after a series of releases, rescues, and the recovery of bodies.

Israel reacted angrily to the first UN Security Council vote to demand an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza war, after its closest ally the United States abstained, while fighting raged in the Palestinian territory.

After the vote, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres led calls for the resolution to be implemented.

Failure would be unforgivable, he wrote on social media platform X.

Immediately after the resolution passed, Israel cancelled the visit of a delegation to Washington, which the United States had requested to discuss concerns over a mooted Israeli invasion of Rafah, in crowded southern Gaza.

Israel said the United States abstention hurts both its war effort and attempts to release hostages.

It was a clear retreat from the consistent position of the US, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office said.

While diplomatic attention turned to New York, fighting continued across the Gaza Strip, with Israeli forces battling Hamas militants around at least two major hospitals.

Foreign military aircraft again dropped aid into northern Gaza, where the humanitarian situation is particularly acute and civilians are fleeing south.

It is a famine, said Mohamad al-Sabaawi who, like others, rushed to the seashore hoping for something that had floated down. He walked away with a small yellow can of fish.

Washington insisted that its Security Council abstention, which followed numerous vetoes, did not mark a shift in policy, although it has taken an increasingly tougher line with Israel in recent weeks.

The abstention meant that the resolution went through with all the other 14 Security Council members voting yes.

It demands an immediate ceasefire for the ongoing Muslim holy month of Ramadan, leading to a lasting truce.

The resolution, which drew applause in the usually staid Council, also demands that Hamas and other militants free hostages they seized, though it does not directly link a release to the ceasefire.

Hamas welcomed the Security Council resolution and reaffirmed its readiness to negotiate the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

The Palestinian Authority, which has partial administrative control in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, also welcomed the vote.

A top PA official, Hussein al-Sheikh, called for a permanent cessation to this criminal war and Israels immediate withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

Member states are obliged to comply with resolutions passed by the Security Council.

European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen said its implementation was vital for the protection of all civilians, while Jordanian foreign ministry spokesman Sufyan Qudah said Israel must abide by this decision. With AFP

Editors Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline PH welcomes UN Security Council resolution on Gaza ceasefire
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By Stuart GRAHAM

London, United Kingdom  The UK on Monday accused Beijing-backed groups of targeting democratic institutions and parliamentarians in two malicious cyber campaigns, unveiling sanctions and summoning Chinas ambassador.

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.

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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.

Parliaments 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 Chinas 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 Chinas Uyghur minority and in Hong Kong.

Chinas foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian on Monday insisted Beijing had been resolute in tackling all kinds of malicious cyber-activities.

The issue of tracing cyber-attacks is highly complex and sensitive, he added.

When investigating and determining the nature of cyber-incidents, there should be ample objective evidence, instead of smearing other countries without factual basis he said.

Head on

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.

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 countrys 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 countrys 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, parliaments 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.
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Tuxtla Gutierrez, MexicoAround 2,000 US-bound migrants in southern Mexico set off in a caravan on a Holy Week march to denounce what they called the cruelty of immigration policies.

The event, called the Via Crucis of the Migrant, has been held each year since 2010 in the state of Chiapas.

The procession carried a banner that read: Murderers of poor migrants as well as a large wooden cross.

Migrants continue to suffer the ordeal that Jesus suffered, said Heyman Vazquez, a priest who led the march.

Migrants were victims of robbery, kidnapping and extortion by criminals and authorities, who often force them to get off the buses to make their long journey on foot, he told the media.

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It seems that it is a sadistic government that enjoys the suffering of others. It enjoys that migrants suffer fatigue, the sun, the rain. It is something that we do not understand, but society cannot get used to human suffering, Vazquez added.

Thousands of migrants are waiting in Chiapas for permits allowing them to transit through Mexico, and they often organize marches and other demonstrations to try to speed up the process.

Many thousands of migrants fleeing violence and poverty cross Mexico every year heading for the US border.

The rising numbers have overwhelmed Mexican immigration facilities and shelters, and put the government under increased pressure from the United States to tackle the issue in an election year.
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The ball is now on Chinas turf.

This, after Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. challenged China to put its sovereignty claim to arbitration after it had warned  again  the Philippines to bear all potential consequences amid its actions in the South China Sea.

As Teodoro said, and we rally behind his statement, If they really want  if they are not afraid to tell the world of their claim, why not go into international arbitration so it will be clear to everyone what right does one have over the matter? Why are they hesitant to do so?

Teodoro maintained it is Beijing that is continuously intruding into the Philippines territorial waters.

Teodoro was clear, How are we challenging them? It is China that is intruding into our territory, whats the bottomline that they are talking about?

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No country in the world believes in their narrative. This is just their way of threatening the Philippines.

We agree with Teodoros reading of Chinas claims that other countries, like the United States, have influenced the Philippines as regards territorial dispute were a major insult to Filipinos since our territories are already being grabbed and the Philippines is just following what other countries say.

Teodoro is correct in declaring the Philippines can only be rightfully accused of doing provocative actions if it is doing these humanitarian and supply missions within the exclusive economic zones of other nations.

Adding muscle to Teodoros statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs also summoned officials of the Chinese Embassy to express the Philippines strong protest over the aggressive actions by the Chinese Coast Guard and its maritime militia against the rotation and resupply mission in Ayungin Shoal last weekend.

Chinas continued interference with the Philippines routine and lawful activities in the latters own exclusive economic zone is indeed unacceptable.

Blatantly, Chinas aggressive actions call into question its sincerity in lowering the tensions and promoting peace and stability in the South China Sea.

The DFA said the Philippine Embassy in Beijing has also been instructed to lodge the same demarche (formal diplomatic representation) with the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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 UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) and as affirmed by the 2016 Arbitral Award, it said.

As the DFA said Chinas aggressive actions contradict and put to waste ASEAN-China efforts to promote practical activities to foster peace and cooperation in the region even as the Philippines continues to engage China in dialogue and diplomacy at the bilateral and multilateral levels.
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Sydney, AustraliaAustralian police on Tuesday said no action would be taken against Taylor Swifts fathernicknamed Papa Swift by her adoring fansfor allegedly punching a photographer while disembarking a Sydney superyacht during her Eras tour.

Veteran photographer Ben McDonald claimed in late February that he had been taking pictures of the US pop star and her entourage during a late-night celebration at the end of her four sell-out gigs in the city.

McDonald alleged Swifts security detail put an umbrella in his face to prevent photographs as the group disembarked and walked down the jetty to a waiting vehicle.

He also claimed an older man, later identified as Scott Swift, confronted him and took it further.

He punched me in the chops, McDonald told Agence France Presse (AFP) at the time. It was a shock. Thats never happened to me in 26 years.

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McDonald lodged a complaint with police but Scott Swift left the country soon after, as the tour moved on to Singapore.

Australian police have since been tight-lipped about their investigation.

On Tuesday, they issued a terse statement to say officers had conducted an investigation following a report of an assault.

No further police action will be taken, they added, without offering details of what the investigation found.
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The age-old debate of nature versus nurture has long puzzled educators. But despite the arguments on both sides, its generally agreed upon that a childs environment significantly shapes the development of their inherent abilities and talents.

How a students environment can affect their future.

Among these environments, schools emerge as a major variable in a students path towards success.



Gillian Lynne, a celebrated choreographer renowned for her work on Cats and Phantom of the Opera, provides a compelling example for the premise of nurture. In her youth, her teachers often labeled her as a troublemaker, being unable to sit still during class discussion.



However, one insightful doctor identified her as a kinesthetic learner, someone who learns through movement. Instead of shunning her behavior, she was later enrolled in a dance academy where she would eventually create some of the most successful musical theater productions in history.



The journey of Lynne underscores the significance of surrounding ourselves with people that celebrates a students individuality and nurtures their enthusiasm for learning. By taking special care in choosing the learning environment, similar to choosing the soil in which we plant, we can help encourage our childs individual growth.

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As Sandy Arellano, currently pursuing her PhD in Education emphasized, Grades are just one aspect of school; it is important that we are able to cultivate a culture of inclusiveness that will help bring out a childs full potential. Unlocking capabilities and nurturing them to fruition should be the primary goal of an educator.

She highlighted how many traditional school systems tend to view students through a restricting mold into which they try to fit each student in.



It is commonplace in the Philippines for schools to typically adhere to the traditional educational system. Unfortunately, many students tend to struggle with having a smooth integration, often resulting in them feeling ignored or even experiencing depression.

This would eventually lead to the potential for these students development to be hindered.



Conversely, schools can improve their students overall well-being by fostering the freedom to learn more about themselves and provide the assurance to be accepted.

Embracing the diverse characteristics of each child can help previously withdrawn students come out of their shells and find confidence in themselves.



Incidentally, Arellano also serves as the principal of Montessori De San Juan (MSJ), a school that implements the Montessori Method  the same methodology under which Gillian Lynn eventually prospered.

The Montessori method emphasizes self-directed activities within a structured environment, and we complement this with a more progressive school system to foster a love for learning and self reliance. I have personally witnessed how our students time at school has become the highlight of their day, Arellano explained.



While the number of positive (and often very emotional) testimonials on social media detailing the experiences of parents with MSJ are appreciated, Arellano prefers to focus more on the core mission of their school.

A lot of these testimonials share the same narrative: children who were once dejected, unmotivated, and perennially exhausted in their previous schools have a night-and-day transformation in our school. Thats the goal, of course, because learning should be fun and transformative. But I sometimes gently remind some over-eager parents that our aim is not to compare ourselves with the other so-called big and prestigious schools, but to excel on our own terms, and let the quality of our graduates speak for itself, she enthused.



That said, employing a hybrid of the Montessori method and a progressive school system has allowed MSJs curriculum to stand out from the rest, as it includes personality development, etiquette, effective communication skills, leadership opportunities, as well as promoting mental and physical well-being.



The educational journey of Gillian Lynne, through the Montessori Method, and the principles upheld at MSJ serve as a reminder that when we invest in creating supportive environments for our children, we are sowing the seeds for a future where our children can wake up every morning happy and excited to learn.
NASHVILLE, Tenn.  In Republican-led states across the U.S., conservative legislators are refusing to reevaluate abortion bans  even as doctors and patients insist the laws exceptions are dangerously unclear, resulting in denied treatment to some pregnant women in need.

Instead, GOP leaders accuse abortion rights advocates of deliberately spreading misinformation and doctors of intentionally denying services in an effort to undercut the bans and make a political point. At the same time, however, some states are taking steps that they say will provide more clarity about when abortions can be legally performed.

The Republican-controlled South Dakota Legislature wants to create a video in which medical experts  and the state's attorneys  would explain to doctors and patients when abortions can be legally performed. The measure was passed last month and is now awaiting the signature of Republican Gov. Kristi Noem, who has indicated she will sign it.

The first-in-the-nation idea is wholeheartedly supported by SBA Pro-Life, one of the country's largest anti-abortion groups, which says the video will help to combat confusion caused by the abortion industry.

South Dakota is showing the rest of the nation how to protect womens lives from the misinformation surrounding abortion laws, said the organization's public affairs director in South Dakota, Kelsey Pritchard.

Oklahoma and Kentucky are also taking steps to clarify their abortion bans, though in both states the attorneys general, not physicians, are the ones dictating the terms.

In Oklahoma, the AG sent out a memo in 2022 informing prosecutors and police that doctors should have substantial leeway to provide certain abortions. Last year, the office added that patients don't have to be septic, bleeding profusely, or otherwise close to death  but reiterated a past warning that doctors should be prosecuted if there's evidence they violated the law by providing an abortion when a woman's life wasn't actually in danger.

Kentucky's attorney general has stated that miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies  when a fertilized egg grows outside the uterus  are both exempted from the state's abortion ban, but has been silent on the majority of other pregnancy complications that physicians and patients have pointed out.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion in 2022, states have been free to enact their own restrictions. South Dakota is among the 14 that ban abortion at all stages of pregnancy. The law does allow an abortion exception to save the life of the mother, but like similar statutes in other states, it does not clearly define which pregnancy complications are considered life-threatening.

State Republican Rep. Taylor Rehfeldt, a nurse anesthetist, said she decided to propose the informational video after hearing from physicians about the ongoing confusion. She said the video offered the best solution because any attempt to tweak the abortion ban itself would provoke strong disagreement among her GOP colleagues.

It remains to be seen how much help the video will be to patients and doctors, however. It's not expected to specifically list pregnancy complications that would legally qualify women for abortions, and it's unclear if it will contain a legal disclaimer warning that anyone who watches the video may still face potential criminal charges.

Its not going to deal with hard calls, said Greer Donley, an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law who is an expert on abortion law. They actually dont want to deal with the hard calls because their movement is not sure ... how those hard calls should be resolved.

South Dakota Republican state Sen. Erin Tobin, one of the measure's proponents, acknowledged to a Senate panel last month that the video will not contain specific examples.

Thats the problem with health care, is that there are so many different circumstances, that you have to allow doctors discretion, Tobin said.

As some states mull how to clarify  without weakening  their abortion bans, abortion rights advocates in several states continue to challenge the bans with lawsuits.

Twenty Texas women denied abortions are suing the state seeking clarification, while advocates filed a lawsuit in Tennessee arguing that the state ban's vaguely defined exceptions put pregnant women's lives at risk.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti pushed back. He argued that it wasn't the law, per se, that is harming women but rather other factors like doctors independent choices not to provide permissible abortions."

The lawsuit is ongoing, with attorneys expected to make their arguments before a three-judge panel next month on whether the state ban should be temporarily blocked as the legal battle continues or if the case should be dismissed entirely.

Donley spurned the idea that doctors bear the responsibility for endangering patients.

I completely reject any narrative that theres any sort of provider out there thats intentionally harming women and pregnant people for the sake of a news story, she said. Thats just not happening. But are mistakes being made because people are terrified? Yeah, probably.

The tools Trump could use to curb abortion access if he's elected The tools Trump could use to curb abortion access if he's elected
A Marion man has been charged with drug and gun crimes.

Timothy Allen Davidson, 37, of Marion, was charged with felonious possession of cocaine, felonious possession with intent to sell or deliver marijuana, two counts of felonious trafficking opium or heroin, felonious possession of a controlled substance on jail premises, possession of firearm by felon and assault by pointing a gun, according to a press release by the McDowell County Sheriffs Office.

On Wednesday, March 20, Deputy Caleb Baliles with the McDowell County Sheriffs Office responded to a restaurant on Harmony Grove Road in Nebo for a domestic in progress involving a firearm.

Baliles made contact with Davidson as he was attempting to flee the scene. A search of Davidsons belongings and vehicle turned up a handgun, cocaine, marijuana and pills. A further search, once at the jail, turned up additional cocaine and pills, the release said.

Davison has multiple previous convictions on charges of drug possession, driving while license revoked, carrying a concealed weapon and assault with a deadly weapon.

Davidson was placed in the McDowell County jail and was issued a $150,000 secured bond, according to the news release.
CATAWBA COUNTY -- A Shelby woman will spend a minimum of 20 years in prison in the death of a 72-year-old Hickory man she met at a strip club.

Bryana Salymar Martines, 25, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder during Catawba County Superior Court. She was sentenced to 20 to 25 years in prison, District Attorney Scott Reillys Office said in a news release.

On Dec. 1, 2021, Robert Bruce Godfrey was killed at his Hickory apartment at Preston Ridge on Startown Road. During a court hearing on July 18, 2022, former Chief Assistant District Attorney Lance Sigmon said Martines choked Godfrey with an oxygen cord then smashed a liquor bottle over Godfreys head.

Body found in 2021

Officers with the Hickory Police Department were called to Godfreys apartment on Dec. 4, 2021, after Godfreys son found his body. Godfreys son had been emailing and texting Godfrey for a couple of days with no response and went to check on him. The apartment was in disarray, and Godfreys vehicle was missing from the complex, the district attorneys office said.

Martines told the authorities she met Godfrey at a strip club where she was working. The two started a relationship in early 2021, according to court documents.

According to the documents, Martines said Godfrey would provide money and gifts to her in exchange for sex. The documents also said Godfrey gave Martines a vehicle, took her on trips and bailed her out of jail on multiple occasions.

Godfrey's missing vehicle found in Georgia

The missing vehicle was stopped in Camden, Georgia. Martines and a male co-defendant were in the vehicle, the district attorneys office said. The male co-defendant is Abraham Adon Jr., of Fort Mill, South Carolina, according to court documents.

Adon is charged with accessory after the fact, according to the documents.

On Dec. 7, 2021, Hickory investigators interviewed Adon.

Adon told investigators that the two dated for two months and during that time Martines confided in him that she murdered Godfrey by striking him on the head several times with a glass object, the district attorneys office said.

Martines was arrested on Dec. 8, 2021 and interviewed. Martines said that when her relationship with Godfrey ended, she struck him in the head with a bottle and killed him, the district attorneys office said.

Autopsy report

The autopsy report from Wake Forest Baptist Regional Medical Center revealed that Godfrey died from blunt force trauma to the head.

Adon is awaiting trial for his role in the case, the district attorneys office said. Adon is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Shanna Hudson, formerly of Hickory Police Department, led the investigation. Assistant District Attorney Nancy Lee prosecuted the matter for the state with aid from Legal Assistant Amy Bishoff, the district attorneys office said.
Xi hails new chapter of China-Nauru ties

09:30, March 26, 2024 By Cao Desheng ( Chinadaily.com.cn

President Xi Jinping holds a grand welcoming ceremony for visiting Nauruan President David Adeang at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday. FENG YONGBIN / CHINA DAILY

China-Nauru relations are based on mutual respect, equality, mutual benefit and mutual support, President Xi Jinping said on Monday in talks with Nauru's President David Adeang in Beijing.

Adeang is on a six-day state visit to China that started on Sunday, the first since the South Pacific nation cut ties with the Taiwan authorities in January and resumed diplomatic relations with China soon after.

Xi held a grand welcoming ceremony for Adeang at the Great Hall of the People on Monday. Both presidents witnessed the signing of a series of cooperation documents in the fields of joint construction of the Belt and Road, implementing the Global Development Initiative, economic development and agriculture.

During the talks, Xi said that Nauru's political decision to adhere to the one-China principle and resume diplomatic relations with China is in line with the trend of history and the times.

"Friendship knows no order of priority. As long as it starts, there will be a bright future. Cooperation knows no size. As long as it is sincere, there will be fruitful results. China-Nauru relations have opened a new chapter in history," Xi said.

China is willing to work with Nauru to create a bright future for bilateral relations and better benefit the two peoples, he added.

Xi emphasized that treating others on an equal footing is a distinctive characteristic of Chinese diplomacy.

China has always advocated that countries  big or small, strong or weak, rich or poor  are all equal members of the international community, he said, and it has always been a member of the developing world and its vote in the United Nations Security Council will always belong to developing countries.

He assured Adeang that China firmly supports Nauru in safeguarding its national sovereignty, security and development interests and in independently choosing a development path that suits its national conditions.

China is willing to strengthen exchanges and dialogues at all levels and in all fields with Nauru, continuously enhance mutual understanding and trust, and consolidate the political foundation of the bilateral relationship, he added.

Xi underlined the need for both countries to expand practical cooperation in trade, investment and infrastructure construction.

China is willing to provide assistance to Nauru for its independent and sustainable development "without attaching any political conditions", he said.

Xi called on both sides to strengthen exchanges in education, culture, health, youth and other fields.

China welcomes more young people from Nauru to study in the country, and is willing to provide assistance to Nauru in addressing climate change within the framework of South-South cooperation, he said.

Xi also expressed China's willingness to strengthen communication and coordination with Nauru in multilateral frameworks, such as the United Nations and the Pacific Islands Forum, jointly support a multipolar world and economic globalization that is inclusive and beneficial for all, and safeguard the common interests of developing countries.

Adeang said that Nauru's decision to stand on the right side of history to recognize and adhere to the one-China principle and, on that basis, to resume diplomatic relations with China is an important milestone in Nauru-China relations, and has opened a new chapter in Nauru's national development and bilateral ties.

He said that Nauru highly appreciates China's consistent adherence to the principle of equality among all countries, and is willing to abide by the one-China principle and deepen cooperation with China.

Nauru is willing to stick to mutual respect, enhance mutual understanding and develop a partnership of fruitful, mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation with China, he added.

Noting that the global initiatives proposed by President Xi are of great significance, Nauru's president said his country is willing to actively participate in the joint construction of the Belt and Road, implement the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative, and strengthen cooperation with China in addressing climate change.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Hongyu)
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Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that the deadly terrorist attack in the Crocus City Hall in suburban Moscow was carried out by radical Islamists, but many questions still remain.

"We know that the crime was committed by the hands of radical Islamists, whose ideology the Islamic world itself has been fighting for centuries," Putin said at a meeting on measures taken after the terrorist attack.

The Russian president said it is already known who carried out the terrorist attack, but now "we are interested in who ordered the crime."

He said that the United States, through various channels, is trying to convince everyone that there is supposedly no Kyiv trace in the bloody terrorist attack, that it is the Islamic State (ISIS).

However, Putin believes questions still remain. "It is necessary to obtain answers to a number of questions, for example, are radical, even terrorist, Islamic organizations really interested in striking Russia, which today stands for a fair solution to the escalating Middle East conflict," he said.

Putin also noted that it is necessary to answer the question of why the terrorists tried to go to Ukraine after committing a crime in Crocus, and who was waiting for them there.

Calling the attack an act of intimidation, Putin said, "the question arises who benefits from this."

The investigation into the terrorist attack should be carried out to the highest degree professionally, objectively and without political bias, despite the general desire to punish the perpetrators, Putin added.
More than 150 Nigerian schoolchildren, who had been held captive for over two weeks, were successfully rescued and returned to their home state in northwestern Nigeria.

This marked another instance in a series of mass abductions targeting schools across the West African nation. While the majority of the rescued children were in good health, six students remained hospitalized, and tragically, one staff member lost their life during the ordeal. The abduction occurred on March 7 when gunmen on motorcycles seized the students from their school in Kaduna states Kuriga town. A comprehensive rescue operation led by the military resulted in their liberation from a forest in neighboring Zamfara state.

Although details of the operation and any arrests made were not disclosed, the children were finally reunited with their families after enduring harrowing conditions in captivity. Upon their return, they were provided with fresh clothing, indicative of their first change since the abduction. However, some showed signs of exhaustion, likely from traversing long distances in the forest. While the childrens release was celebrated, concerns lingered about the persistent threat of kidnappings targeting schools in Nigeria. The government affirmed that no ransom was paid for their freedom, vowing to apprehend the perpetrators.

The incident underscores the ongoing security challenges in Nigeria, particularly in the conflict-affected regions where armed groups often target civilians for ransom and exploitation, perpetuating a cycle of fear and instability.
South Africas Democratic Alliance (DA), the nations second-largest party, has indicated its readiness to explore potential collaboration with the ruling African National Congress (ANC) should the ANC fail to secure a majority in the upcoming May elections, as stated by the DAs leader on Monday. Concerns over poor service delivery, unemployment, crime, and power shortages have led analysts to predict the ANCs potential loss of its legislative majority, a historic shift since the end of apartheid under Nelson Mandelas leadership.

DA leader John Steenhuisen emphasized the importance of assessing the ANCs policies and stance in any prospective negotiations. However, he refrained from confirming ongoing discussions. In contrast, the ANCs Deputy Party Secretary Nomvula Mokonyane has expressed skepticism about coalition governance, casting doubt on the effectiveness of power-sharing arrangements.

To bolster its electoral prospects, the DA has formed alliances with smaller parties, including the Inkatha Freedom Party, the Freedom Front Plus, and Action SA, each targeting different voter demographics.

Steenhuisen highlighted the challenges faced by the opposition coalition, particularly the need to prevent a potential alliance between the ANC and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), which he dubbed the doomsday coalition. If in power, the DAs policy agenda includes privatizing the electricity sector and simplifying regulations to facilitate private sector operations, departing from the ANCs race-based empowerment initiatives.

The DA aims to replace race-based policies with poverty alleviation strategies and rejects accusations of being aligned with white privilege. Instead, it emphasizes the broader benefits of accountable governance for all South Africans, particularly the marginalized.
Southern African Regional Troops Withdraw from Mozambique Due to Financial Constraints

The regional bloc of southern Africa, tasked with combating an Islamist insurgency in Mozambique, is set to depart the country due to financial limitations. Mozambiques Foreign Minister, Veronica Macamo, stated that the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) has been assessing its budget constraints. Macamo emphasized that Sadc views Mozambique as comparatively stable when juxtaposed with the long-standing armed conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Sadc has been engaged in efforts to quell violence in DR Congo since December of the previous year.

President Filipe Nyusi of Mozambique announced Sadcs intention to withdraw its forces by July but affirmed that this decision does not signal an end to the nations fight against jihadist groups. Nyusi mentioned on Facebook that bilateral cooperation offers from other nations remain an option if necessary, urging Mozambicans to remain vigilant and resilient in the face of this development.

Northern Mozambique has grappled with an armed insurgency for six years, with the Islamic State group claiming responsibility for some of the attacks. The insurgency, marked by assaults on civilians and security forces, prompted a military response in July 2021, initially from Rwanda, which deployed over 2,000 troops, followed by support from Sadc.
Speculations are rife that China may be planning to establish a second military base in Africa, which comes at a time when the United States struggle to maintain its military presence in Niger and African leaders are bluntly articulating and asserting their demands from bilateral partners and multilateral institutions.

According to a new report by Chatham House, for over three decades, every Chinese foreign ministers first overseas trip of the year has been to Africa, with the current minister Wang Yi having visited Egypt, Tunisia, Togo, and Cote dIvoire this January. While every one of these countries is coastal, none of them has featured prominently as potential locations for Chinas next military installation in Africa. Chinas long-term strategy around bases in Africa is unclear, but countries hosting them must also make political calculations, Chathams expert analysis observes.

Since 2012, China has been a significant player across the continent, primarily through extensive infrastructure projects, investments, and diplomatic engagement. Five years later, China marked its military footprint in Africa after it opened a base in Djibouti, with two main declared objectives being combating piracy operations and ensuring freedom of navigation. After a recent fallout with Nigers military junta, the US military is now exploring other points of presence for a drone base in West Africa.

The report also reminds that while hosting military bases has generated political capital for African governments, they can also be a political liability for African governments that host them. In any event, China is now facing an increasingly multipolar and assertive Africa that is pushing foreign powers to clarify their security interests as security for whom and from whom, the report concludes.
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Annual administration of a second dose of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccine five months after the initial dose results in fewer hospitalizations and deaths, according to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Chad R. Wells, Ph.D., from the Yale School of Public Health in New Haven, Connecticut, and colleagues examined the effectiveness of an annual SARS-CoV-2 vaccination campaign in an age-structured dynamic transmission model in the United States; the intervention included SARS-CoV-2 vaccination with an age-specific uptake similar to that of influenza vaccination.

The researchers found that in an annual vaccination campaign, the optimal timing between the first and second vaccine dose delivered to children younger than 2 years and adults aged 50 years and older was estimated to be five months. A second booster dose resulted in 123,869 fewer hospitalizations and 5,524 fewer deaths compared with a single-dose campaign, averting $3.63 billion in costs over one year.

"Our study shows that adopting an annual vaccination campaign with the provision of a second dose to children younger than 2 years and adults aged 50 years or older can be a suitable approach to protect individuals against SARS-CoV-2 infection and associated outcomes," the authors write.

More information: Chad R. Wells et al, Evaluation of Strategies for Transitioning to Annual SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination Campaigns in the United States, Annals of Internal Medicine (2024). DOI: 10.7326/M23-2451 Journal information: Annals of Internal Medicine

Copyright  2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
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Credit: Karolina Grabowska from Pexels

University of Queensland researchers have developed a method to predict if a child is likely to develop sepsis and go into organ failure.

Associate Professor Lachlan Coin from UQ's Institute for Molecular Bioscience said sepsis was a life-threatening condition where a severe immune response to infection causes organ damage.

"Our research involved more than 900 critically ill children in the emergency departments and intensive care units of four Queensland hospitals," said Dr. Coin, who is also a Professor at the Doherty Institute at the University of Melbourne. "Blood samples were taken from these patients at the acute stage of their infection, and we analyzed which genes were activated or deactivated.

"We were able to identify patterns of gene expression which could predict whether the child would develop organ failure within the next 24 hours, as well as whether the child had a bacterial or viral infection or a non-infectious inflammatory syndrome."

The study is published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health journal.

Professor Luregn Schlapbach from UQ's Child Health Research Center said sepsis is best treated when recognized early, so the finding could help clinicians in the future.

"Diagnosing sepsis is often challenging because many pediatric illnesses can present the same," Professor Schlapbach said. "Having precision markers that tell you whether a child is going to develop the condition is urgently needed.

"Currently doctors give antibiotics, fluids and increase observation of any child if sepsis is suspected, but unfortunately that means there are children who receive unnecessary treatment."

Professor Schlapbach said more research was needed before the findings could help clinicians to act pre-emptively. "Our next step will be to transfer what we have discovered to a point-of-care platform, which means we can potentially generate the results from a blood test within an hour," he said.

More information: Luregn J Schlapbach et al, Host gene expression signatures to identify infection type and organ dysfunction in children evaluated for sepsis: a multicentre cohort study, The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health (2024). DOI: 10.1016/S2352-4642(24)00017-8
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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. [Photo/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.
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Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

The US Supreme Court on Tuesday appeared poised to reject restrictions imposed by a lower court on an abortion pill widely used in the United States to terminate pregnancies.

Dozens of demonstrators gathered outside as the top court heard its first significant abortion case since the justices overturned the constitutional right to the procedure nearly two years ago.

A majority on the conservative-dominated court appeared skeptical during 90 minutes of arguments about the legal standing of the anti-abortion groups and physicians who brought the case against the medication, mifepristone.

Abortion opponents are seeking to restrict nationwide access to the pill, claiming it is unsafe and that anti-abortion doctors are being forced to violate their conscience by intervening on patients who suffer complications after using it.

"These are life-threatening situations in which the choice for a doctor is either to scrub out and try to find someone else, or to treat the woman who's hemorrhaging," said Erin Hawley, a senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom arguing for the anti-abortion groups.

Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, representing the administration of President Joe Biden, countered that such a scenario was "remote" and abortion opponents are unable to "identify a specific doctor who faces imminent harm."

"They have said that they fear that there might be some emergency room doctor somewhere, someday, who might be presented with some woman who is suffering an incredibly rare complication, and that the doctor might have to provide treatment," Prelogar said.

A conservative US district court judge in Texas, an appointee of Donald Trump, issued a ruling last year that would have banned mifepristone, which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2000.

An appeals court overturned the outright ban because the statute of limitations on challenging the FDA's approval had expired, but restricted access to the drug.

The appeals court reduced the period during which mifepristone can be used from 10 weeks of pregnancy to seven weeks, blocked it from being delivered by mail, and required the pill to be prescribed and administered by a doctor.

'FDA's gold standard review'

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, a liberal, said she was worried about a "significant mismatch in this case between the claimed injury and the remedy that's being sought."

"What (the anti-abortion doctors) are asking for here is that in order to prevent them from possibly ever having to do these kinds of procedures, everyone else should be prevented from getting access to this medication," Jackson said.

Justice Neil Gorsuch, a conservative, expressed similar concerns.

"We say over and over againprovide a remedy sufficient to address the plaintiff's asserted injuries and go no further," Gorsuch said. "We have before us a handful of individuals who have asserted a conscience objection."

Jessica Ellsworth, a lawyer for mifepristone manufacturer Danco Laboratories, said she had "significant concerns" about courts replacing the scientific judgment of experts and the "FDA's gold standard review process."

Only two justicesconservatives Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomasappeared sympathetic to the anti-abortion groups which brought the suit challenging the FDA's approval of mifepristone.

"You think the FDA is infallible?" Alito asked Ellsworth.

Both justices also raised the Comstock Act, an obscure 1873 law that banned the shipment by mail of "lewd" materials or anything that could be used for "producing abortion."

Medication abortion accounted for 63 percent of the abortions in the country last year, up from 53 percent in 2020, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

Some 20 states have banned or restricted abortion since the Supreme Court in June 2022 overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling that enshrined the constitutional right to abortion for half a century.

Polls show a majority of Americans support continued access to safe abortion, even as conservative groups push to limit the procedure or ban it outright.

The Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision in the abortion pill case by the end of Junefour months before the presidential election in which abortion is almost certain to be a major topic.

 2024 AFP
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Ahead of a total solar eclipse arriving April 8, new research finds there was a temporary rise in U.S. traffic accidents around the time of a solar eclipse back in 2017.

The area in the United States covered by the total eclipse seven years ago was relatively small (about 70 miles wide), but it was still tied to a 31% national rise in fatal traffic accidents.

"In absolute terms, this averaged to 1 extra crash-involved person every 25 minutes and 1 extra crash fatality every 95 minutes," said a Canadian team led by Dr. Donald Redelmeier of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, in Toronto.

His team suspects the rise in accidents didn't owe to any temporary change in visibility due to the eclipse. Instead, it more likely stemmed from a surge in people traveling to view the rare phenomenon.

In 2017, the total eclipse had an estimated 20 million people traveling to another city to view it, the Toronto team said.

More traffic danger might loom on April 8, however, since this time the eclipse "is within driving range for more than 200 million individuals within the US," the study authors said.

The new study relied on U.S. data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Fatality Analysis Reporting System.

Redelmeier's team looked at the three days before, during and immediately after the Aug. 17, 2017, total eclipse, and compared road accident rates during that period to three-day periods during the week before and the week after the eclipse.

Fatal crash rates rose nationally during the three days around the eclipse: 10.3 deaths per hour versus 7.9 per hour during the weeks before and after, the research showed.

Increased traffic density seemed to be key, since the rise in deaths "is similar in magnitude to the increased traffic risks observed around Thanksgiving, Memorial Day, or the July 4th weekend," the researchers noted.

They don't rule out other factors, however, including "travel on unfamiliar routes, speeding to arrive on time, driver distraction by a rare celestial event, drug- or alcohol-induced impairment from eclipse-related celebrations, and eclipse viewing from unsafe roadside locations."

Redelmeier and colleagues say driver precautions in and around April 8 could save lives.

Standard safety advice applies: Don't speed, wear your seat belt, don't tailgate and do not drive drunk or stoned, the researchers advised.

The study was published March 25 in JAMA Internal Medicine.

More information: Donald A. Redelmeier et al, Fatal Traffic Risks With a Total Solar Eclipse in the US, JAMA Internal Medicine (2024). DOI: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.5234 Journal information: JAMA Internal Medicine

Copyright  2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
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Model: Endocrine therapy-induced dormancy is characterized by a consistent epigenetic reprogramming involving a global increase in histone repressive marks. The dormant epigenome is unstable and through a progressive loss of the histone repressive marks (erosion), cells resume proliferation in a process that mimics patient relapse (awakening). Credit: Cancer Discovery (2024). DOI: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-23-1161

Scientists have discovered how breast cancer cells can "hibernate" to avoid treatment and "wake up" years latercausing a relapse that is more difficult to treat.

Their research, published in the journal Cancer Discovery, reveals the role of epigenetics in controlling how cancer cells can become dormantand suggests a strategy to target it before the cells wake up.

Epigenetic changes alter how your body reads your DNA, without changing the DNA code itself.

Patients with estrogen receptor positive (ER+) breast cancerwhich make up 80% of all breast cancershave a continued risk of their cancer recurring for many years or even decades after their original diagnosis and surgery. To reduce their risk of relapse, patients undergo five to 10 years of hormone therapy to target any remaining cancer cells.

The epigenetic mechanism

The team at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, found that this hormone therapyto reduce the risk of cancer returningcould in some cases play a role in triggering epigenetic changes that alter the state of some breast cancer cells, causing them to become dormant and evade treatment.

The team discovered that specific changes in key epigenetic regulators that control gene transcription, including the modification of histone H3 at lysine 9 (H3K9me2), were responsible for this dormant state. These changes remain until the cell "wakes up" and begins dividing rapidly again.

The scientists worked on the study in the Breast Cancer Now Toby Robins Research Center at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), having started the research at Imperial College London.

They found, in the lab, that blocking these regulatorsby inhibiting the enzymes that catalyze themprevented the cells from becoming dormant, and killed the cancer cells that were already dormant. They also found that in people with low expression of these enzymes, their cancer had a lower risk of coming back years later.

The role of H3K9me2

The team studied ER+ breast cancer cells that they tagged with unique barcodesan innovative way to study millions of cells through space and time.

They mimicked hormone therapy treatment on the cells and saw that while most cells died, others became dormant and stopped proliferating.

Using mass spectrometry, the team discovered that hormone therapy treatment triggered changes to histone modifications including H3K9me2 as the cells went into dormancy.

Histone modifications are chemical tags that are added to or removed from DNA, or the proteins DNA is wrapped around. Epigenetic modifications such as this are chemical changes to the three-dimensional structure of DNA, which don't alter the DNA code itself but can control access to genes.

Targeting G9a could prevent breast cancer relapse

The researchers set out to uncover whether blocking these epigenetic changes could prevent the cells from becoming dormant and evading treatment. To do this, they inhibited the enzyme G9a, which catalyzes H3K9me2.

The researchers first tested this on cells which had just been treated with hormone therapy and found that it prevented the cancer cells from entering dormancyin fact, it killed the cells.

Then, they tested it on cells which were already in a dormant state and found that inhibiting G9a killed dormant cancer cells.

To understand the importance of G9a in people, the researchers studied a cohort of patients with ER+ breast cancer. They found that for those who had low expression of enzymes such as G9a, their breast cancer had a significantly lower risk of relapse over the course of 1520 years.

Professor Luca Magnani, Professor of Epigenetic Plasticity at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, said, "After surgery to remove primary estrogen receptor positive breast cancer, patients are given five to 10 years of hormone therapy which aims to kill any remaining cancer cells. We know that this doesn't work for all patients though, as their breast cancer can return years, or even decades later. We wanted to better understand why breast cancer does return so we can hopefully find ways to stop itso people don't have to live in fear or face the devastating news of a relapse.

"Our research identified a key mechanism used by cancer cells to evade therapy by remaining in a dormant state, hibernating before they 'wake up' years later and begin to rapidly divide again. I hope our early findings will next lead to research to target these dormant breast cancer cells so that one day, without the need for years of hormone therapy, patients can be sure that their cancer will not return."

Professor Kristian Helin, Chief Executive of The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and a leading researcher of epigenetics and cancer, said, "This research adds to the growing body of evidence for the role of epigenetic regulation in cancer's complex behavior.

"We know that cancer will adapt and evolve to evade treatment, and this study shows how it will lie dormant to hide from treatment. Drugs targeting epigenetic modifications are already in development, and I hope that this research will pave the way to new treatments that prevent breast cancer from returning."

Dr. Tayyaba Jiwani, Science Engagement Manager at Cancer Research UK, stated, "Breast cancer survival has doubled in the U.K. over the last 50 years thanks to better detection and screening, but there are still more than 11,000 deaths from this type of cancer every year.

"Our research has made it increasingly clear that cancer cells can lie dormant in the body for many years before being triggered to reawaken, causing cancer to return. This study uses an innovative approach to analyze the genetics of these dormant cells and gain important insight into the mechanisms leading to dormancy.

"Although at an early stage, the findings reveal potential new targets for the development of innovative treatments that prevent breast cancer from coming back."

More information: Dalia Rosano et al, Long-term Multimodal Recording Reveals Epigenetic Adaptation Routes in Dormant Breast Cancer Cells, Cancer Discovery (2024). DOI: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-23-1161 Journal information: Cancer Discovery
A Lake County judge facing backlash over her handling of a child custody case tendered her resignation earlier this month, according to a letter sent to the Montana Supreme Court.

Judge Deborah Kim Christopher, who served as a county district judge for nearly 25 years, announced her resignation from the bench in a letter dated March 15. Her resignation is effective April 5. The letter, first reported by the Lake County Leader, is addressed to Montana Supreme Court Chief Justice Mike McGrath.

It has been my privilege to serve Lake and Sanders counties in the Twentieth Judicial District for almost 24 years, Christopher wrote. I still remain awed by the power and authority the citizens in Lake and Sanders counties entrusted to me in electing and reelecting me four separate times.

Christopher detailed her extensive legal career, including working in private practice, as a deputy county attorney in Cascade County and as the Lake County Attorney. She also served in the U.S. Army, but Christopher wrote, nothing is "richer" to her than being elected as a district judge.

As you also know I didnt get it right all the time and I was always thankful to know if I got it wrong, there were seven Supreme Court Justices who would fix it, she wrote. "Given the incredible power held by a district judge with people's lives, children, money, property and futures, the position always weighed heavily on me."

Christopher said shes most proud of implementing the Court Appointed Special Advocate program for Lake and Sanders counties, along with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, a project that's still in place today.

Christophers conduct in a Lake County child custody case was at the center of a complaint filed to the state Supreme Court last year. The high court removed her from the case, saying she erred in developing a parenting plan that wasnt in the childs best interest when she abruptly removed the 5-year-old from his mothers full-time care.

Soon after, the Daily Montanan reported Christopher was the subject of a misconduct complaint with the Judicial Standards Commission.

A voicemail to Christopher was not returned as of Tuesday morning.

Christophers term expires at the end of 2024. The secretary of states website shows Britt Cotter, Polson attorney, as the only other candidate running Christophers department. Gov. Greg Gianforte is required to fill vacant county district court judge positions. A letter from McGrath dated March 21 asked Gianforte to initiate the process as soon as possible to solicit applications to fill the vacancy.

Through his first term, Gianforte has assembled vetting panels made up of local stakeholders in and outside of the court system to forward him recommendations for appointments.
Life-saving Narcan spray will soon be available for free throughout Missoula.

Vending machines dispensing Naloxone spray and fentanyl test strips are going up at four locations around town, United Way of Missoula County and Missoula Public Health announced on Monday. Naloxone, commonly known as Narcan, is a nasal spray that reverses the effects of opioid overdoses, including those of fentanyl.

The vending machines are about making Narcan accessible to the public, Susan Hay Patrick, CEO of United Way of Missoula County, said in a phone call with the Missoulian.

We know law enforcement already carries Narcan, we just want to expand access to Narcan, she said.

The four machines are going up at the Johnson Street shelter, Missoula Food Bank and Community Center, Hope Rescue Mission and the Mountain Line transfer station downtown. The choice to put the vending machines in those four locations was based on data showing where people overdose most frequently in Missoula, Hay Patrick explained.

This is not a problem unique to unhoused, poor people, its a community problem that affects people of all backgrounds and income levels, she said, adding that law enforcement is a critical part of the illegal drug response, but prevention, treatment and recovery need to become more of a nationwide focus.

We arent going to arrest our way out of this public health crisis, she said.

Hay Patrick said its a small step her organization is taking to acknowledge people are dying from overdoses in Missoula, and she hopes tools like free Narcan can serve as a preventative measure.

The machines should be installed and ready for use sometime in April. Mountain Lines machine will be set up outside and available 24/7, United Way of Missoula County Project Director Shannan Sproull said at a Monday night city council presentation. Through research, Sproull said low-barrier or no-barrier access to machines is critical to getting naloxone distributed.

The machines come from a partnership between United Way of Missoula County and Missoula Public Health, with the Narcan supplied by the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services.

The fentanyl test strips (which allow people using drugs to test their supply and make sure theyre fentanyl-free) will come from the University of Montanas Students for Sensible Drug Policy group.

People who obtain their drugs illegally may not know whats inside them, and fentanyl is really getting into everything these days, she said, adding harm reduction is another piece of this project.

Leah Fitch-Brody, Substance Abuse Disorder Prevention coordinator at Missoula Public Health, said at Monday's presentation that opioids are driving the increase in Missoulas overdose deaths.

One of the reasons we are trying to address this issue in our community is because of the increase in overdoses in Missoula County over the past 10 years, Fitch-Brody said.

According to data she shared during the presentation, in 2022, Missoula saw 24 overdose-related deaths, up 71% from the year before. Accessible Narcan is a tool useable by anyone to combat overdoses, she said.

Information on Good Samaritan laws, which protect people experiencing overdoses or people who report them, will be posted on the machines, too.

Funding for the machines was provided by Independent Emergency Room Physicians Trust, a group that aims to alleviate overdose-related visits to emergency rooms, Sproull said.
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
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.
 Flash

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. [Photo/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.

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. [Photo/Xinhua]

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.

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. [Photo/Xinhua]

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.
In the current political landscape, Republicans have a supermajority in both houses of the Montana Legislature. In 2021, legislative leaders hastily passed an illegal bill in the final hours of the session, disregarding constitutional provisions designed to prevent such actions.

Senate Bill 319, a minor bill on campaign finance, was referred to a free conference committee in the closing days of the legislative session to resolve differences between the House and Senate versions. During the meeting, without public input, the committee added amendments to the bill preventing voter registration on university campuses and requiring judges to disqualify themselves from cases where a party or their attorney had made a legal campaign contribution. The amended bill was then rushed through the Legislature on straight party-line votes and signed into law by the governor.

The Montana Constitution serves as a check on legislative power, promoting transparency, participation, and debate for both the public and legislative members. The Constitution prohibits amendments to bills that extend beyond the original subject matter and restricts multiple amendments that exceed the original title of the bill. Despite this, the majority party jammed through Senate Bill 319 in the waning hours before adjournment.

Forward Montana, a citizens group composed of students, attorneys, and other interested Montanans, filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the law. The state attorney general failed to provide a substantive defense of the bill or the legislators actions, essentially acknowledging its unconstitutionality. In 2022, a district court in Helena ruled that the legislation was void because it violated the Montana Constitutions amendment provisions. The State did not appeal the District Court's ruling.

Forward Montana subsequently filed an appeal to recover attorney fees under the private attorney general doctrine. This doctrine allows citizens the ability to recover expenses when a lawsuit is necessary to protect the public from government actions that deny constitutionally protected rights.

The Montana Supreme Court ruled that Forward Montana was entitled to recover their attorney fees. The Supreme Court sent the case back to the District Court to determine if the $100,000 attorney fee was reasonable.

When the legislative majority abuses its power, there is a cost. Unfortunately, in this case, the taxpayers will bear the burden of the Republican leaders misconduct, which will compel Montana citizens to seek relief through the courts.
Amy Jackson-Kincaid, a trustee at Western Piedmont Community College, has been elected to the Executive Board of the North Carolina Association of Community College Trustees (NCACCT). She will serve a four-year term, beginning July 1.

NCACCT is the professional association for the approximately 800 trustees from the 58 community colleges across the state. The association focuses on three main areas  legislative advocacy, trustee training, and collaboration/communication with other community college partners, including the State Board of Community Colleges, community college Presidents and the NC Community College system office. The association holds statewide education opportunities for trustees and supports budget priorities for the community college system during sessions of the NC General Assembly.

The 18-member Executive Board for the NCACCT guides the work of the association and develops goals and strategies for assisting trustees to have the tools and information they need to lead their colleges effectively.

In his nomination letter, Western Piedmont Community Colleges Board Chairman Rod Harrelson said Kincaid has been instrumental in helping WPCC navigate through challenging times and achieve significant milestones.

Her two-year term as Board Chair was marked by her ability to foster collaboration, set clear objectives, and make tough decisions necessary, Harrelson stated in the letter. Under her leadership, WPCC made tremendous progress in advancing its mission of providing accessible, high-quality education to our community.

Julie Woodson, NCACCT President/CEO, said Kincaid has a strong background a big heart for our community colleges.

We look forward to Amy serving on the NCACCT Executive Board, Woodson said. She has participated in training opportunities offered by the NCACCT for several years, and she is well-respected by her fellow trustees across the state. She will be an asset to the Board.

About Western Piedmont Community CollegeWestern Piedmont Community College is a comprehensive, two-year public institution serving as a transformational community leader that empowers all individuals to achieve success. With a focus on equitable access and success, learning outcomes, completion and transfer, and post-graduate outcomes, WPCC offers a wide range of academic programs, continuing education opportunities, and support services to meet the diverse needs of its students and the surrounding region.
A nonprofit that has administered job and training programs for low-income people in Butte and five surrounding counties says it is closing after 38 years because of the states move to a single, corporate provider.

Career Futures doesnt have a closing date yet but says nine full-time employees and one part-time worker will lose their jobs and dozens of families who receive services will have to work with the for-profit company Maximus US Services.

Sarah De Money, executive director of Career Futures, said Monday she talked to Maximus about the possibility of sub-contracting services but it cant mesh its case-management and other operations with the companys plans.

She says she shared reasons for the closing with staff, legislators and the Career Futures board. Career Training Institute, a nonprofit that provides similar services in Helena, said last week it is closing after 41 years.

Bottom line  it is not financially feasible to sub-contract and it is not within our Mission Statement to work with clients in the manner Maximus intends to, De Money wrote.

It is with a sad heart that we have to close and dissolve the organization. Please know, we fought the best we could and we made an earnest effort in talking with Maximus.

She said shes waiting for the Montana Department of Health and Human Services, or DPHHS, to provide transition plans before she announces a closing date.

Approximately 45 to 50 families will have to work with Maximus as that is the current number (of clients) we are serving now, De Money told The Montana Standard on Monday. This number fluctuates throughout the year.

DPHHS disclosed last summer it was moving to a single, statewide vendor to oversee job programs for people receiving money through Temporary Assistance to Needy Families and food vouchers through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

The assistance comes with work and/or training requirements and for years now, 12 nonprofit organizations in Montana  including Career Futures and CTI  have administered the programs locally and regionally.

DPHHS recently announced it had chosen Maximus to oversee the multi-million dollar system statewide, saying the move would reinvigorate programs that put more Montanans back to work and drive their self-sufficiency.

Through a new and innovative pay-for-performance model, our ultimate goal is to help our clients find secure and sustainable employment and increase their independence, DPHHS Director Charlie Brereton said on the agencys website.

A group of Democrat state lawmakers joined De Money at a news conference in Butte last month and said Gianfortes outsourcing decision could cut 100 jobs at local nonprofit agencies and restrict access to people in need.

The governors decision to abandon the local, community-based nonprofits and instead opt for a distant, for-profit Virginia company will close these nonprofits in many cases and harm families across Montana, state Senate Minority Leader Pat Flowers, D-Belgrade, said then.

He said it was his understanding that Maximus would only have physical offices in Billings, Bozeman, Great Falls, Helena and Missoula. Offices operated in 14 or 15 other communities could be closed and its services provided by Maximus digitally and by phone, he said.

DPHHS told The Standard Tuesday night that Maximus will operate 21 "physical service centers" in Montana and additonal "pop-up locations to ensure convenient and consistent access for clients."

The pysical locations include "urban centers" in Billings, Bozeman, Great Falls, Helena and Missoula and 16 additional non-urban service centers in Butte, Browning, Cut Bank, Glasgow, Glendive, Hamilton, Hardin, Havre, Lame Deer, Lewistown, Libby, Kalispell, Miles City, Polson, Sidney and Wolf Point.

"The days and hours of operation of the non-urban service centers will be determined by caseload size and client needs," DPHHS said in an email.

"All service centers will offer services through a mix of in-person, virtual and digital platforms," it said. "The Department, through Maximus, is embracing a modern service delivery model that meets Montanans where they are, in part through technology solutions, and ensures that all clients have access to comparable, high-quality sevices regardless of where they live."

In response to CTIs announced closing in Helena last week, DPHHS told the Independent Record it works with local providers to meet the needs of TANF and SNAP recipients. It provided that same statement to The Standard.

Maximus has already reached out to every current provider, as well as other nonprofits, the statement said. They continue to welcome opportunities to meet with any community organization that is interested in subcontracting with them.

Maximus is confident they will have several subcontracts both with some current providers and some new organizations that are in Montana, but not part of the current program.

De Money said she talked to the company and it plans to have one case manager for every 35 clients, which she says is unrealistic. She told her board and staff that Maximus plans would not help keep Career Futures open.

Maximus will not have an office, will co-locate (we are thinking for free) somewhere like the Job Service or OPA, and will probably not go to our outlying counties as they have talked about having meetings by phone or online, she wrote.

There will not be any in-person job readiness training, fiscal management classes, or soft skills training  this would be done completely online through Maximus client portal.

Jasyn Harrington, executive director of CTI in Helena, said it didnt apply for the single state contract because it couldnt provide services to all 56 counties in Montana and a pay-for performance model was not doable for a nonprofit agency.

She said Maximus has indicated plans for a physical presence in Helena but she has no details about that. But after meeting with Maximus representatives, she said it was apparent that subcontracting was not feasible. CTI has 19 employees.

We have literally helped thousands of community members to improve their lives, Harrington wrote in a letter to community partners. I, and many others, have great concerns regarding the new service delivery model DPHHS has chosen and its potential devastating impact on clients.

DPHHS expects the transition of clients and files to occur between April and June, Harrington said.
The Montana Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the Republican Attorney General to, by the end of the week, defend his preferred language imposed on a ballot initiative explicitly establishing abortion access in the state constitution.

In a new round of litigation over what's known as Ballot Issue #14, Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights, the initiative's campaign organization filed an emergency petition with the high court Tuesday asking for Republican Attorney General Austin Knudsen's preferred language be stricken from the ballot statement in favor of MSRR's language.

Groups supporting the ballot initiative  Planned Parenthood Advocates of Montana, the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana and Forward Montana  blasted Knudsen for attempting to hobble MSRR's campaign.

Time is of the essence: In their filing, attorneys for MSRR said its signature gathering company on standby believes it will be "virtually impossible" to collect and submit 60,000 signatures by the June 21 deadline if collection efforts can't begin before May 1.

Emilee Cantrell, spokesperson for the Montana Department of Justice, defended Knudsen's language submitted to the Secretary of State's Office.

"The attorney general followed the correct procedures to revise the ballot statement and did so in a timely manner and in accordance with the Montana Supreme Courts directives," Cantrell said in an email Tuesday. "The revised ballot statement accurately portrays to Montana voters how the proposed initiative would change current law, which the proponents statement failed to do."

The language submitted by the two sides is certainly distinct.

From MSRR:

"(The initiative) affirms the right to make and carry out decisions about one's own pregnancy, including the right to abortion, in the Montana constitution. (The initiative) prevents the government from punishing patients, healthcare providers, or anyone who assists someone in seeking reproductive care, including abortion care."

And from Knudsen:

"(The initiative) amends the Montana Constitution to allow-post viability abortions up to birth and prohibits any state requirement for parental notice for a minor girl's abortion.  (The initiative) prohibits the state and the people from enforcing medical malpractice standards against providers for harms caused in providing pregnancy/abortion care."

The Montana Supreme Court already overturned Knudsen's earlier swipe at shutting down the ballot initiative in his statutory review of the measure. Knudsen then was put in charge of submitting the ballot statement that would appear to voters. MSRR said last week it was concerned Knudsen would further exacerbate the process with his language in order to rankle the ballot initiative's campaign.

"No politicians can make these personal decisions for Montanans  the ability to control their own bodies, plan their futures and make private medical decisions is on the line," Martha Fuller of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Montana, Akilah Deernose of the ACLU of Montana, and Kiersten Iwai of Forward Montana said in a joint statement.

The campaign comes as federal protections for abortion access fell in 2022 under the United States Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization. Access to abortion care remains protected in Montana after a 1999 ruling known as Armstrong that found the constitutional right to privacy included the right to make ones own health care decisions. Ballot Issue #14 would make that protection explicit.

Even if the Supreme Court rejects Knudsen's ballot statement, the measure will still be subject to legislative review. The assigned legislative committee would ultimately vote on the whether or not to support the initiative. That vote is largely symbolic; rather than advancing or blocking the measure from the ballot, lawmakers' vote would instead appear on the petition during the signature gathering process.
COLUMBUS JUNCTION  Last week as part of Iowa Ag Week, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig announced the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship had recently awarded 26 Choose Iowa grants  totaling $463,000  to farmers, small businesses, and nonprofits across the state.

Among those grant winners includes a Columbus Junction farm.

Acorn Bluff Farms, Inc., received a grant for $15,432 to be put towards the expanding of its cold storage capacity, allowing the farm to expand its direct-to-consumer pork sales.

It feels great to get this grant, said Kenan Todd. Its a huge gift to our farm and its going to allow us to add a walk-in freezer, which will instantly improve our ability to store our meat as well as keep an eye on inventory, overall making it easier for us to get our pork to our consumers.

He owns and operates the farm with his brother Seth.

According to the grants guidelines, the brothers will need to have their new walk-in freezer built and installed by April 30.

Asked if he and his brother planned on applying for a Choose Iowa grant again in the future, Todd said they already have ideas regarding what else they could expand on within their farm and would be interested in applying again.

Acorn Bluff Farms focuses on raising Mangalitsa pigs, an Old World breed that produces what Todd refers to as pork unlike any other youll ever have anywhere else, which he sells through the farms website.

We started in 2016, and we are now completely breeding and raising all of our own pigs, as well as selling feeder pigs and breeding stock on a limited basis, he shared. Its been a fun process for us.

As stated by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, the Choose Iowa grant is meant to help support products that are Iowa grown, raised and made as well as assist farmers, businesses and nonprofits within the state in either increasing or diversifying their products, expanding their markets and shortening their supply chains.

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 nonprofits build that supply, Naig said in a public statement. 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.

What Choose Iowa is doing, Todd said, is wonderful and that the other awardees also are well-deserving of the grant.

I think what Choose Iowa is doing is wonderful and we need more direct-to-consumer value-added products from farms in Iowa being sold, Todd said.

For more information on Acorn Bluff Farms products, including its subscription box, residents can visit https://acornblufffarms.com/. Free delivery of Acorn Bluff products is available within a 20-mile radius.
Muscatine Community College will host Latino Family Day, a celebration for the community and for education, on April 6. Current and prospective students and families of all ages can join faculty and staff on campus from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for fun kid activities, live music by the Muscatine High School Mariachi Ensemble and free food from Guadalajara sponsored by LULAC. Register for Latino Family Day online or by phone at 563-263-5701.
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 toward 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 there's another one over there," another neighbor said.

Officers from Waterloo, the Black Hawk County Sheriff's 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 Department's 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 didn't 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 break 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
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua apologized to former First Lady Mama Ngina Kenyatta for what he labeled bad politics during the 2022 General Elections.

Speaking from his Karen residence on Monday, Gachagua pleaded with Kenyas first lady to forgive the political fraternity for mudslinging her during the campaigns.

I apologize for involving Mama Ngina Kenyatta in the politics of the last general elections. She is our mother. Therefore, I ask for forgiveness on behalf of our team for any inconvenience caused to her. I will never allow anyone to demean her or anyone from the region, Gachagua told Kameme TV.

The DP also extended an olive branch to former President Uhuru Kenyatta, describing him as our son.

The former President Uhuru Kenyatta is our son. We worked together for 17 years and only disagreed for 2 years; now thats the past. I pray for him in his retirement. Uhuru is one of us. We shall talk with everyone.

Gachagua at the same time urged leaders to foster unity within the Mount Kenya Region and across the country.

Our unity is our strength and thats why I keep insisting that our generation should be protected. Anytime we are in the government we need to have unison in our thinking and loving one another.
High Court judge Nixon Sifuna has declared life sentences are archaic and incompatible with modern societal values.

In this landmark ruling, the judge stated that life imprisonment demeans convicts and undermines the right to human dignity enshrined in Article 28 of the Kenyan Constitution 2010.

For the aforegoing reasons, I find that the life sentence is not only archaic in the present civilization, but also unreasonable and absurd. It is also an undignifying sentence, hence violates the right to human dignity, guaranteed under Article 28 of the Kenya Constitution 2010, Sifuna declared.

The ruling stems from an appeal lodged by Justus Ndungu, who was convicted of incest under section 20 (1) of the Sexual Offences Act by a Kigumo Senior Resident Magistrate.

Ndungu was found to have committed the offense of defiling his 10-year-old daughter on May 18, 2017, at Wemba Location in Muranga County, resulting in his sentencing to life imprisonment.

In delivering the judgment, Justice Sifuna contended that life imprisonment is misleading and akin to a death sentence. He characterized it as an indefinite and immeasurable punishment that deprives the convict of any prospect of eventual release.

Whereas it is philosophically and supposedly imprisonment for a duration of time only, it is in actual sense imprisonment that is indeterminable, indefinite, uncompletable, mathematically incalculable, and therefore quantifiable only for the convicts entire remainder of his lifetime. It is a deceptive sentence, in that one commences it thinking that he will one day complete it and be released from prison.
Kirinyaga Woman Rep Njeri Maina has endorsed Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua to assume leadership of the Azimio La Umoja coalition as Raila Odinga pursues the chairmanship of the African Union Commission.

While backing Odingas candidacy for the AUs top position, the United Democratic Alliance legislator asserted that Karuas political acumen makes her the ideal candidate to lead the opposition.

During a Sunday mass at St. Monica Kiarugu Church in Kirinyaga County, Njeri portrayed Karua as a politically influential and capable leader with an untarnished record.

With Raila eyeing the AU job, I support Martha Karua to take over as leader of the Azimio Coalition so that she can continue championing womens leadership in the country Karua has a solid record of integrity that has not been tainted by corruption scandals, she said.

Martha Karua, who had previously stayed silent on the succession battle within the opposition despite serving as Mr. Odingas running mate in the 2022 presidential election, has recently broken her silence. She stated that as the second-in-command in Azimio, she is better positioned to lead the coalition in Odingas absence.

Additionally, the former Justice Minister has initiated regional consultative meetings for her party, to fortify Narc Kenya for the forthcoming succession battle and the 2027 elections.
 Flash

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.
Updated at 6:07 p.m. Tuesday  A vehicle pursuit that ensued after a theft from a downtown Napa store ended with a collision in Oakland and the arrests of four people, including three teenage boys, according to Napa Police and media reports.

Officers were alerted at about 4 p.m. to a theft of clothing from the Lululemon shop at 1220 First St., according to police Sgt. Keri Sedgley. Napa Police located a 2017 Lexus GSF reported to be connected to the theft and tried to stop it on southbound Highway 221, and a chase ensued, police Sgt. Andrew Oros said in an email.

Police then handed off the pursuit to California Highway Patrol officers, who followed the down Interstate 80, over the Carquinez Bridge and into the East Bay, according to Sedgley.

CHP officers continued the chase, but stopped the ground pursuit in Richmond and let a CHP aircraft continue to follow the fleeing car, authorities said.

The suspects eventually made it into Oakland, where their Lexus crashed into a parked vehicle about 4:45 p.m. near the intersection of Lakeshore Avenue and Beacon Street, near Lake Merritt.

The four suspects attempted to flee on foot but were soon arrested by Oakland police and CHP officers. No injuries were reported, according to ABC affiliate KGO Channel 7.

The four suspects  teens ages 15, 16 and 17, along with 25-year-old Carlos Trochez of San Bruno  were later brought back to Napa for booking.

Trochez was booked into the Napa County jail on suspicion of felony grand theft, evading police officers and criminal conspiracy, among other counts. He was released shortly after 3:15 a.m. Tuesday on $50,000 bail, according to jail booking records.

The three teenagers were booked into the Napa County juvenile hall, according to Oros of Napa Police.

The stolen clothing, some 200 pairs of pants worth more than $23,000, was recovered, police said.

With reports from Napa Valley Register city editor Howard Yune and East Bay Times reporter Harry Harris.

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A World War II-era ship born along the Napa River and tested in harrowing Navy and Coast Guard missions by the dozens looks to have a better future than the scrap heap.

Mark Doc Avraham is spearheading efforts to care for the decommissioned boat  named the USS Shackle while in the Navy and Acushnet during its Coast Guard service  at a marina in Tacoma, Washington. He envisions it being a place for homeless veterans to live and train for jobs, and a museum with a cafe.

And who knows  perhaps the Shackle/Acushnet could return to the county of its birth. Eight decades ago, Basalt built ships for the Navy at the site of today's Napa Pipe, recently renamed RiverSound and the planned site for hundreds of homes and a Costco.

I wonder if Napa has a place for a group like ours? Avraham asked recently.

A long list of honors

Acushnet is 213 feet long and powered by four diesel engines and twin propellers. It has a maximum speed of 14.6 knots, or 17 mph, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

As the USS Shackle, it served the Navy as a rescue and salvage ship during World War II in such places as Iwo Jima, Midway and Okinawa. Between April and September of 1945, it completed 55 salvage and rescue missions in the western Pacific Ocean for ships damaged in Japanese kamikaze air attacks.

The Shackle became the Coast Guard cutter Acushnet in 1946. In 1952, it helped rescue crews when two tankers both split in half off Cape Cod, Massachusetts. In 1978, it covered 18,000 miles in 82 days gathering data for the Global Weather Experiment.

Its honors are many  Presidential Unit Citation, World War II Victory Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, four National Defense Service Medals, six Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendations, Transportation 9-11 Ribbon and Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, to name a few.

The Coast Guard retired Acushnet in 2011 and the federal government declared it surplus property. A man bought it for $600,825 in March of that year, according to a Coast Guard historian.

Various reports, including one in seattlepi.com (Seattle Post-Intelligencer), said the buyer duped a widow out of money for the purchase. Initial attempts to find a new use for the ship failed.

Acushnet's glory days had ended, at least for a time.

Avraham and his son were looking for a ship about two years ago. They had a boat that they used to take veterans, at-risk youth and others fishing and crabbing, but wanted something bigger.

"One day my son and I were driving and saw a homeless vet," Avraham said. "We stopped to help, made a call to get him emergency shelter and while driving it hit us  we could do more. So we started looking for a ship that would allow us more latitude on what we could do."

They found Acushnet for sale. The asking price was too high at $230,000, but the owner sold it for $90,000.

The ship is structurally sound and seaworthy, Avraham said. The inside is about 93% in good condition, with such flaws as a hood for a range that doesnt work.

Avraham has already run a veterans' program on the ship. He talked of serving people who are looking for direction after leaving the military. The ship is a place to learn skills ranging from electronics to cooking in the galley.

We have four massive engines they can work on to get a maritime ticket for working on a boat, he said.

'A time capsule'

Volunteers help maintain Acushnet. Dan DeVaul is among them, taking on such jobs as working on electrical panels.

In 1978 and 1979, DeVaul served in the Coast Guard on the cutter Yocona, a sister ship of Acushnet that Basalt launched into the Napa River in 1944 as the USS Seize. The Navy sank Yocona in October 2005 as part of a training exercise.

When DeVaul helps with electrical work and other chores on Acushnet, he is reminded of his youth serving on Yocona. The two ships were nearly identical, he said.

Its kind of like going back in a time capsule when youre aboard, said DeVaul.

Hes taken another look at the past. In 2015, he was living in Sacramento and went to what remained of the Basalt shipyard in Napa. He saw such remnants as the four concrete drydocks and took photographs.

That was the most incredible feelingYou couldnt believe it was still there, he said.

Avraham is a San Diego native and went to high school in Sacramento.

"Im very familiar with Napa. A great place, he said.

But Avraham hasn't been to what's left of the old Basalt shipyard. He said he'd like to see the place where Acushnet was born.

Before Acushnet could be born, however, Basalt Rock Co. had to be born.

Where it all started

The attraction was the hills where today's Syar quarry is located. Basalt and rhyolite formed there from volcanic eruptions millions of years ago that sent flows down the Napa Valley.

Leo J. Alexander, the son of a pioneer, formed a company to mine the hills in 1914. By 1926, the company was called Basalt Rock Co., had 50 workers and provided crushed rock for paving and reinforced concrete.

Rock had to get from the hills to construction sites. The Napa River provided the transportation. Basalt built a cable tram system that carried buckets of rock for nearly two miles to the riverbank.

The cable crosses the state highway and frequently excites the interest and curiosity of travelers on the highway, said the 1926 book History of Solano and Napa Counties.

Albert Streblow soon joined Alexander in the quarrying operation and eventually became the companys first president. Today, his name graces Streblow Drive leading to Napa Valley College and Kennedy Park.

Basalt needed barges to move stones to projects in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 1938, it opened its own shipyard along the Napa River to build steel barges.

Then came World War II. During that era, 15 emergency shipyards were created in the state, 11 of them in the Bay Area. The Basalt yard became part of the war effort.

In August 1940, Streblow announced that Basalt had been awarded a Navy contract to build eight steel barges. That was only the start, with the company in 1941 constructing four dry docks to help with the undertaking. It went on to build minelayers and salvage ships for the Navy.

Here Acushnet was built as the USS Shackle. Its launching along with two other ships on April 1, 1943, made local headlines. According to the Navy, this marked the first one-day triple ship christening in the Bay Area since World War I a quarter century earlier.

The Basalt site has been home to other industries over the years, such as Kaiser Steel and Napa Pipe. Today, RiverSound is being built as a community of homes, businesses and a Costco. The industrial past is being traded for a slice of suburbia.

Still, that past isn't being wiped clean. The four drydocks remain at RiverSound as reminders of another age, when ships such as the Shackle/Acushnet were built there.

Meanwhile, Acushnet is at The Marina at Brown Point in Tacoma. Avraham said there are such problems as providing the ship with enough electricity.

My ultimate goal is to find a city or a place where we could park the boat, work on it, possibly go to drydock, start the program, do the museum work, do the homeless program, he said.

He's not limiting the search to Washington.

Were open to going back home to Napa. That would be great, Avraham said.

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
Camille Creek Community School in Napa joined Verizons Innovative Learning initiative this month to address barriers to digital inclusion. The program provides free devices, internet access, and science, technology, engineering and math learning programs to students in under-resourced schools.

Camille Creek, which is operated by the Napa County Office of Education, is one of 34 schools in the 11th group of schools to join the telecommunication company's program. The initiative is offered at 626 middle and high schools nationwide.

According to a news release, the programs mission is to keep students connected to wherever learning is taking place, working side by side with schools and school districts.

PHOTOS: Napa teens find home at Boys & Girls Clubs of Napa Valley Boys and Girls Club 12 Boys and Girls Club 13 Boys and Girls Club 11 Boys and Girls Club 14 Boys and Girls Club 4 Boys and Girls Club 1 Boys and Girls Club 3 Boys and Girls Club 2 Boys and Girls Club 5 Boys and Girls Club 6 Boys and Girls Club 7 Boys and Girls Club 8 Boys and Girls Club 9 Boys and Girls Club 10
Does Napa need another Starbucks? Because it looks like its getting one.

A new Starbucks cafe plans to join a retail center on California Boulevard in north Napa.

According to documents filed with the city planning office, the new Starbucks would be located at 3350 California Boulevard, Suite C.

This space was formerly home to a Mechanics Bank branch at the corner of California Boulevard and Permanente Way. A Walgreens is on the other side of the parking lot.

Project documents specify that the cafe would fill 1,706 interior square feet. Starbucks has asked the city for permission to host outdoor dining at the cafe. The outdoor dining would face California Boulevard. Based on the submitted map, the new Starbucks would not include a drive-through.

This would be the 11th Starbucks cafe in Napa, including those inside other retailers such as Target.

There are already several other Starbucks within walking distance of 3350 California Blvd. including inside the Safeway facing Trancas Street and the North Napa Target.

The landlord for this space is Kent Hallen of Pacific Properties Group of Chico.

In other Napa Starbucks news, a remodel and expansion of the South Napa standalone Starbucks (at 247 Soscol Ave.) was recently completed.

According to Starbucks, the number of U.S. Starbucks is expected to reach more than 16,300, with a 4% net new store growth planned for fiscal year 2024.

The Most Unionized Industries in the U.S. The Most Unionized Industries in the U.S. Union membership has sharply declined in recent decades The difference between union and nonunion wages has also declined 15. Administration of economic programs and space research 14. Pulp, paper, and paperboard mills 13. Administration of environmental quality and housing programs 12. Natural gas distribution 11. Administration of human resource programs 10. Sewage treatment facilities 9. Public finance activities 8. Foundries 7. Air transportation 6. Elementary and secondary schools 5. Justice, public order, and safety activities 4. Bus service and urban transit 3. Rail transportation 2. Postal Service 1. Labor unions
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
Armenias cooperation with its partners in the defense sector is not directed against any country. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said this in his interview given to the Kathimerini newspaper of Greece.

"The development of Armenias defense capabilities is aimed at protecting Armenias independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and guarding its borders," Pashinyan added.

Reflecting on Armenias cooperation with Greece, he emphasized: "Since the early years of the independence of the Republic of Armenia, the Armenian people have always enjoyed the support of Greece. I take this opportunity, once again, to express my gratitude to the Greek people and the Greek government for standing by us and supporting us in difficult times.

There is a long tradition of cooperation in the defense sector. In December last year (2023), the military-technical cooperation agreement between the two governments was signed, which entails the exchange of experience, knowledge and the development of joint projects. Many Armenian cadets have the opportunity to study in Greek educational institutions: these are just some of the points of cooperation in this field, and currently, regular military exercises are carried out. Despite the excellent cooperation in the defense sector, there is great potential for further development. In the near future, we hope that cooperation in this direction will be expanded."
 Flash

Chinese Premier Li Qiang holds a welcome ceremony for Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica Roosevelt Skerrit in the Northern Hall of the Great Hall of the People prior to their talks in Beijing, capital of China, March 25, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

Chinese Premier Li Qiang held talks with Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica Roosevelt Skerrit in Beijing on Monday.

Noting that this year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Dominica, Li said the two sides have been treating each other with mutual respect and equality over the past 20 years.

Bilateral ties have made substantial progress and seen fruitful cooperation in various fields, setting a good example for countries of different sizes to achieve mutual benefits, he said.

Li said China is ready to work with Dominica to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, strengthen political mutual trust further, and push for the new and greater development of bilateral relations and cooperation.

Li said China has always supported Dominica in safeguarding its national sovereignty and independence, and in following a development path suited to its national conditions. China is willing to enhance cooperation with Dominica continuously in areas such as infrastructure construction, agriculture and trade under the framework of the joint construction of the Belt and Road, Li said. It is also ready to develop new highlights in cooperation on new energy and the digital and blue economies, help Dominica improve its disaster prevention and mitigation capabilities, and share more development opportunities, he added.

He noted that China supports its enterprises in investing and doing business in Dominica, and it also welcomes Dominica and other Caribbean countries to actively participate in the fourth China-Caribbean Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum to open broader prospects for China-Dominica economic and trade cooperation.

For his part, Skerrit said that Dominica and China have always respected each other, cooperated closely, forged a profound friendship and set a good example for the Latin America-China friendship. Dominica abides firmly by the one-China principle, and resolutely opposes the interference of any country in China's internal affairs and the infringement of any country on China's sovereignty.

Skerrit said China is committed to safeguarding world peace and promoting common development, and noted that the global initiatives proposed by China are receiving more and more support from the international community. Dominica is willing to strengthen communication with China further, increase personnel exchanges, expand cooperation, work together to deal with climate change, and promote the construction of a Dominica-China community with a shared future.

After their talks, Li and Skerrit witnessed the signature of a number of bilateral cooperation documents on the joint construction of the Belt and Road, agriculture, green development, infrastructure construction and the implementation of the Global Development Initiative.
Armenia's Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, who is in Buenos Aires on an official visit, on Monday met with Argentina's Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship, Diana Mondino, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia informs Armenian News-NEWS.am.

The high level of political dialogue between the two countries, based on the long-term friendly relations between the peoples of Armenia and Argentina, was emphasized with satisfaction from both sides. The Armenian FM emphasized the role of Argentina in South America as an important partner of Armenia, noting that high-level mutual visits are also a clear proof of this.

During the meeting, both sides expressed willingness to explore new opportunities and deepen cooperation in domains of mutual interest, including trade, economy, high tech, education, and energy. It was noted with satisfaction that a wide legal contractual base has been formed between the two countries, at the same time stressing the readiness to supplement it in new domains in line with the expansion of cooperation.

The interaction between the diplomatic schools of the two countries was addressed, too.

In the context of promoting trade and economic relations between Armenia and Argentina, the importance of further encouraging investment programs was also emphasized.

In the context of the development of cooperation between the two countries, FMs Mirzoyan and Mondino touched also upon the role of the Armenian community in Argentina as a unique bridge.

Regional security was also discussed by the FMs of Armenia and Argentina. In this connection, Mirzoyan presented to his Argentinian colleague the latest developments in the process of normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the ongoing negotiations on the draft peace treaty. Ensuring the border delimitation process between Armenia and Azerbaijan based on the Alma Ata declaration of 1991, and generally adhering to the agreements reached at the highest level until now, was highlighted as well.

And in the context of unblocking regional transport and economic channels, Ararat Mirzoyan presented the Crossroads of Peace project developed by the Armenian government, pointed to the opportunities for economic and channel development provided by this project, as well as its potential to contribute to stability in the region.
The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), together with the OECDs Observatory for Public Sector Innovation and in close collaboration with the Armenian Government, launched the implementation of project "Democratic Institutions and Participatory Policies in Armenia" (DIPPA), informed the Embassy of Switzerland in Armenia.

Werner Thut, Charge dAffaires a.i. of Switzerland and equally responsible for the Swiss Cooperation Program in Armenia, Claire McEvoy, Lead of the OECD Observatory of Civic Space, representatives of the Office of the Prime Minister of Armenia, deputy ministers, and other international and Armenian stakeholders participated to the opening ceremony.

In his welcoming speech, Werner Thut recalled the fundamental rationale for the SDC to support the Armenian Government in strengthening democracy: "As a country at the crossroads of three major European cultures and in the past sometimes fundamentally challenged by geopolitical developments, we have had to learn to deal with diversity and strongly different views among ourselves. To achieve stability and economic success, we have had to establish a system based on consensus and listening to citizens on an almost daily basis. In my view, this is perhaps our country's greatest achievement. With this project, we endeavor to share this experience with Armenia."

"The Government of Armenia welcomes the project Democratic Institutions and Participation Policy in Armenia launched by the Government of Switzerland. We hope that the effective implementation of the project will stimulate the government's efforts to strengthen the principles of democracy and will contribute to the formation and dissemination of a culture of inclusivity in the field of public administration," said Lilya Afrikyan, Open Government Agenda Coordinator, Office of the Prime Minister of Armenia, on behalf of the Head of the Prime Ministers Office, Arayik Harutyunyan.

The Swiss financial contribution of CHF 9 million (if the financial situation of the SDC allows it over time) is envisaged for the period 2023-2033 and will set-up partnerships with an array of state institutions, notably the Prime Minister's Office, the National Assembly of Armenia, the Ministry of Finance, various line ministries, and select pilot municipalities. As non-governmental democracy stakeholders, selected specialized civil society organizations and impartial media outlets will be included in the project.

The project is structured around three primary goals:

Seeks to support public institutions to be more inclusive in their tasks of policymaking and budgeting at the national and the local level.

Empowers individuals and citizen groups to engage constructively and innovatively with these institutions towards balanced, broader-based policy solutions.

Strengthens the role of independent media in promoting public awareness and constructive dialogue.

The DIPPA project was designed in response to recent initiatives of Armenia's government to promote public participation. It aims at bringing about comprehensive enhancements to democratic processes by refining and expanding existing political and institutional mechanisms.

The project will build upon the international best practices and experiences of participatory governance, including from Switzerland. Based on the internationally recognized assessment methodology of the OECD OPSI, the SDCs key implementing partner in the first year, the needs and gaps of public institutions will be assessed. In close collaboration involving also civil society and independent media, the implementers will experiment with participatory policymaking and budgeting tools. In parallel, the OECD OPSI will assist with identification of specific sector and policy problems where innovative approaches and tools of participatory governance will be tested.

The project seamlessly integrates with existing SDC strategic objectives and projects in Armenia, It notably builds upon and deepens results on public participation efforts at the local level as achieved in successful project Improvement of the Local Self-Governance System in Armenia. Thus, the project further strengthens Armenias position as a leader in democratic governance among post-Soviet countries.
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Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan received Greek Ambassador Christos Sofianopoulos on the occasion of the Independence Day anniversary of Greece.

Welcoming the guest, the President, in the person of the ambassador, congratulated the leadership and people of Greece on their national holiday.

"We have warm relations with Greece, and this is also related to our history, our principles and beliefs. I would also like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude for the support we have received from Greece in these years and especially in recent years, when Armenia has been experiencing great difficulties. You have been by our side and continue supporting us during the period of overcoming these difficulties. I am confident that our cooperation and this quality of relations will continue," the Armenian President said.

Extending thanks for the reception, Ambassador Sofianopoulos noted: "It is a great honor for me to be here. Armenia is a friend of our country, relations with which go back centuries. Our bilateral relations are developing and deepening today. Greece fully supports Armenia's efforts to establish long-term peace, stability and development in the region."

During the meeting, the broad agenda of cooperation between the two countries was discussed. The steps taken toward the full implementation of the existing potential in the political, economic, cultural, military, high-tech, and some other spheres were highlighted.

The parties exchanged views also on the opportunities of further expansion of close cooperation between Armenia and Greeceboth on a bilateral basis and within the framework of the European Union and numerous other international platforms.

Both sides lauded the reforms being carried out to strengthen democratic values and institutions.

Over the course of the meeting, the sides touched also upon the general regional realities, as well as the details and principles of the peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan and, in this context, the current contacts on the border delimitation process.
 Flash

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Honduran President Xiomara Castro exchanged congratulations on Tuesday over the first anniversary of the two countries' diplomatic relations.

Xi pointed out that in March last year, China and Honduras established diplomatic ties, opening a new chapter in their bilateral relations.

He noted that during Castro's successful state visit to China last June, they held talks and reached important consensus, setting the direction for the development of bilateral relations.

Over the past year, the two sides have upheld the principles of mutual respect, equality, mutual benefit, and common development, ensuring that bilateral relations started to grow from a high level, he said.

Xi said he highly appreciates Honduras's firm adherence to the one-China principle, stressing that facts have proved that the establishment of the China-Honduras diplomatic relations is a correct political decision made in compliance with the historical trend and serves the fundamental interests of the two nations.

Xi said he attaches great importance to the development of China-Honduras relations and is willing to work with Castro to take the first anniversary of bilateral ties as an opportunity to consolidate mutual support, expand all-round cooperation, and jointly write a better future for China-Honduras relations.

Castro said that China, with a multi-millennial civilization and a major role to play in the historical process, is a role model for the world and an important partner of Honduras.

The past year saw China's dedication to innovative development, its participation in efforts to find solutions to global problems and strenuous assistance with worldwide poverty reduction efforts, she said.

Honduras firmly sticks to the one-China principle and is willing to develop ties with China that feature independence and mutual respect, she said, expressing her wish that the two peoples will enjoy a long-lasting friendship.
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said during a meeting in Tehran with Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh that Iran will not hesitate to support the Palestinian cause and the oppressed people of Gaza, IRNA reported.

"Ayatollah Khamenei praised the resistance of the people of Gaza in the face of Zionist crimes and atrocities, which he said are being carried out with the full support of the West.

The Supreme Leader said this "historic patience" is a tremendous phenomenon that has truly glorified Islam and made the problem of Palestine the first problem of the world.

Ayatollah Khamenei emphasized that the genocide in Gaza saddens every conscious person.

The Hamas chief, for his part, praised the Iranian people and the government's support for the Palestinian cause and gave a report on the latest developments in Gaza.

Noting that Operation Storming Al-Aqsa has shattered the myth of the invincibility of the Zionist regime, Haniyeh added that the Gaza war is a world war and the US government is the main accomplice in this crime.

He assured the Supreme Leader that despite all the genocide and atrocities in Gaza, the people of Gaza and the resistance forces will not allow the enemy to achieve its goals," IRNA wrote.
Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice, president and CEO of the Morehouse School of Medicine, will deliver the keynote address at Emory Universitys 179th Commencement, scheduled for Monday, May 13, on the Emory Quadrangle.

A renowned infertility specialist and researcher, Montgomery Rice is the first woman to lead the freestanding medical institution. She completed her residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Emory University School of Medicine and will receive an honorary doctor of humane letters degree from Emory during the Commencement ceremony.

Dr. Montgomery Rices achievements as a groundbreaking physician-scientist and university leader are an inspiration to so many in our great city and beyond, says Emory President Gregory L. Fenves. During her time as president and CEO, the Morehouse School of Medicine has flourished, solidifying its reputation as a powerhouse in the advancement of health equity. I cannot wait to welcome Dr. Montgomery Rice back to campus so we can present her with an honorary degree and hear her inspiring words and reflections.

Throughout her career, Montgomery Rice has been a dedicated advocate for equity in health care access and outcomes, including diversifying the physician and scientific research workforce. Her previous roles include serving as the founding director of the Center for Womens Health Research at Meharry Medical College, one of the nations first research centers devoted to studying diseases that disproportionately impact women of color.

The Georgia native earned her undergraduate degree in chemistry from the Georgia Institute of Technology and her medical degree from Harvard Medical School. Following her residency at Emory, she completed a fellowship in reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Hutzel Hospital in Detroit.

As I encourage the graduates in their next chapter, it gives me great pleasure to speak at Emorys Commencement. It is my hope that the graduates will consider how to ensure their position at the table while making room for others to be heard and seen, Montgomery Rice says. Inclusion is not just about recognizing our differences; it also involves embracing them and utilizing those differences as a means of co-creating richer solutions to problems that affect us all. I look forward to helping them transition into a moment of hope filled with opportunity, as they make plans to navigate their future endeavors.

President Joe Biden appointed Montgomery Rice to the President's Committee on the National Medal of Science in 2022. She is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, the Association of American Medical Colleges Council of Deans and the Horatio Alger Association.

Her numerous honors include the 2023 Scroll of Merit Award from the National Medical Association, 2017 Horatio Alger Award, the National Medical Association OB/GYN 2019 Legend of the Section Award, and multiple appearances in Georgia Trend Magazines 100 Most Influential Georgians, among others.

Her affiliations include participation on a variety of nonprofit and corporate boards, including the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Capital Financing Advisory Board and boards of directors for UnitedHealth Group, Wellpath, 23&Me, Nemours, Chartis Health Equity Advisory Board, Georgia Research Alliance, CARE USA, Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation and Moffit Cancer Center (Institute). Additionally, she serves as a special adviser to the chair, CEO and board of directors of GeoVax Labs, Inc.

Honorary degree recipients

During the Commencement ceremony, Emory will also award honorary degrees to Dr. Victor Dzau, president of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), and acclaimed violinist Robert McDuffie.

Dzau, an internationally renowned physician-scientist, will receive an honorary doctor of science degree. A visionary leader who has developed initiatives to transform and improve health care locally and globally, he will also be the keynote speaker for the School of Medicine's MD Diploma Ceremony

Dzaus seminal work in cardiovascular medicine and genetics laid the foundation for the development of the class of lifesaving drugs known as ACE inhibitors, used to treat hypertension and heart failure. He pioneered gene therapy for vascular disease and was the first to introduce DNA decoy molecules in humans in vivo. Under his tenure, the NAM has advanced efforts to improve health equity and address racism throughout its programmatic activities.

In addition to leading NAM, Dzau serves as vice chair of the National Research Council. He is chancellor emeritus and James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Medicine at Duke University and the past president and CEO of the Duke University Health System.





An Emmy award-winning violinist, McDuffie will receive an honorary doctor of music degree. While appearing as a soloist with renowned orchestras on five continents, he has also shared the stage with eclectic musicians such as R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills and Rolling Stones pianist Chuck Leavell. Philip Glass dedicated his Violin Concerto No. 2,The American Four Seasons,to McDuffie and he has performed it more than 100 times around the world.

In 2023, McDuffie received a Southeast Regional Emmy Award for A Night of Georgia Music with Mills, Leavell and the McDuffie Center for Strings ensemble, aired on PBS stations across the United States.

He is the founder of both the Rome Chamber Music Festival in Italy and the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University in his native city of Macon, Georgia.
Forty health professionals, clinicians and journalists from France and Belgium attended a March 8 presentation and tour of Winship Cancer Institute at Emory Midtown. The group toured several key areas of Winship at Emory Midtown to learn about the unique and innovative ways that technology is utilized and leveraged throughout the 17-story cancer care center to provide patients the most effective cancer care and the best possible experience.

Affiliated with Catel, a French health tech innovation incubator, the group of visitors was comprised of physicians, pharmacists and chief information officers of hospitals and health systems overseas. Attendees enjoyed a panel presentation and Q&A session led by Ken Cardona, MD, FACS, associate chief medical officer of Winship at Emory Midtown.

This tour helped us to bridge connections across the globe and have meaningful discussions around health care delivery models and technology innovations, says Amy Breakstone, MPH, project administrator for Winship Cancer Institute. I think Winship at Emory Midtown was selected and showcased for this event due to our innovative Winship Way patient-centered care model, where we place patients at the center of care that is aligned with innovative cancer research and advanced technology to enhance the overall patient and provider experience.

The facilitys Real-Time Locating System (RTLS) was one tech feature that intrigued the visitors.

The French delegation was interested in seeing how we integrated the RTLS system into our daily operations to help with patient flow throughout the building. They were also interested in the KPIs we have developed to measure the systems success, says Breakstone.

Research informatics was another of the groups key areas of interest, according to Ebonie Hardman, RN, MSN, MBA, assistant director of research informatics. She discussed Winship IT and Research Informatics Shared Resources offered to support researchers with the collection, storage, management and dissemination of data.

Some of the research technology tools offered include custom application development, data management services, population databases and consultation services.

I also discussed our external partnerships with the American Cancer Society, Caris and Accenture: Microsoft GPT, says Hardman. They were most intrigued with our recent Accenture Large Language Model (LLM) Pilot. This project reduced the time of pathology report review for the purpose of case finding and classification for our cancer registry from 20 minutes to two minutes, with a 96% accuracy rate over seven different disease groups.

She adds, I shared that our technical and clinical knowledge parallels with new cutting-edge technology. Because of this, Winship can deliver top quality solutions swiftly and often ahead of other academic medical institutions.

The visitors also toured the pharmacy to see how pharmacy technology has created further efficiencies that lead to improved patient satisfaction and a better experience for clinicians as well, according to Ryan Haumschild, PharmD, director of pharmacy for Winship Cancer Institute and Emory Healthcare.

The group was impressed with the way we leverage technology for the sterile compounding of immunotherapies and targeted therapies to ensure the highest standards of safety and sterility for our patients, Haumschild says. We also were able to share the innovative ways we are delivering medications to the patient care communities utilizing our medication elevators and inventory management system.

Attendees and presenters agree that the event was a success.

Breakstone says, We received feedback from Dell and the French Catel delegation that they were excited to experience firsthand the patient-centric and technology-driven care at Winship and that the session and tour provided valuable insights into our transformative care delivery model at Winship Cancer Institute.

The collaboration at our recent event with Catel, Emory Healthcare and Dell Technologies exemplified the spirit of global innovation that 11TEN champions, says Caleb Szubski, MBA, partner, 11TEN Innovation Partners, and executive lead for the Emory Healthcare Innovation Hub. Seeing leaders from Frances health care and IT sectors engage with the cutting-edge advances at Winship Cancer Institute was a testament to our shared commitment to advancing oncology care.

Szubski adds, We discussed the transformative power of data in health care decision-making, explored real-time tracking technologies that promise to enhance both patient and provider experiences and examined innovative pharmacy operations. The energy and ideas exchanged here will undoubtedly resonate through our ongoing work, spurring innovations that cross borders and boundaries.

Other panelists included Zachary Bercu, MD, RPVI, interventional radiologist and program director for interventional radiology and independent residencies of Emory Healthcare, and Nicole Bansavage, DNP, RN, OCN, interim VP of oncology nursing, oncology specialty director for Winship Cancer Institute.
09:47

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has voiced concern over the Indian government's notification of rules to implement the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), saying no one should be denied citizenship based on religion or belief.



Rules for implementation of the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) were notified earlier this month, paving the way for granting citizenship to undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.



'The problematic CAA establishes a religious requirement for asylum seekers in India fleeing neighbouring countries,' USCIRF Commissioner Stephen Schneck said in a statement Monday.



Schneck said that while CAA provides a fast track to citizenship for Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians, the law explicitly excludes Muslims.



While critics have questioned the government over the exclusion of Muslims from the Act, India has strongly defended its move.



"The CAA is about giving citizenship, not about taking away citizenship. It addresses the issue of statelessness, provides human dignity and supports human rights," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Radhir Jaiswal said recently, asserting that the law is an internal matter of India.



India in the past has also dismissed USCIRF's locus standi to comment on India's human rights record.



In his statement, Schneck said, 'If the law were truly aimed at protecting persecuted religious minorities, it would include Rohingya Muslims from Burma, Ahmadiyya Muslims from Pakistan, or Hazara Shi'a from Afghanistan, among others. No one should be denied citizenship based on religion or belief.'



However, India's home ministry says Muslims from these countries are also free to apply for Indian citizenship under the existing laws.



Last week, Schneck testified at a Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission hearing on this issue.



With the CAA rules being issued, the Modi government will now start granting Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who came to India till December 31, 2014. These include Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians.



The CAA was passed in December 2019 and subsequently got the president's assent but there were protests in several parts of the country against it.



USCIRF urged members of the US Congress to continue to 'publicly call out religious freedom issues in India, and to include religious freedom in discussions with government counterparts and importantly, during congressional delegations'.



USCIRF Commissioner David Curry said that as the State Department recently noted, respect for religious freedom and equal treatment under the law for all communities are fundamental democratic principles.



"USCIRF urges the US government to work with Indian authorities to release the human rights activists arbitrarily detained that advocated for religious minorities," Curry said.



India has previously said that the Commission continues to regurgitate such comments and India rejects the 'misrepresentation of facts' which only serves to 'discredit USCIRF itself'.



India has also asked USCIRF to develop a better understanding of India, its plurality and its democratic ethos.



USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the US Congress to monitor, analyse, and report on religious freedom abroad.



Meanwhile, the Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS), which focuses on policy studies, analysis, advocacy and awareness related to India and the Indian Diaspora, said that based on the 'factual analysis' of CAA, the provision in question aims to grant citizenship to persecuted religious minorities from India's three neighbouring Islamic countries.



'Contrary to misconceptions, it does not involve depriving or revoking the citizenship of or deporting Muslims in India. Therefore, it could aptly be called the 'Act for Expedited Citizenship for Religious Minority Persecuted',' FIIDS said.



'We trust that the USCIRF, other agencies and interested entities will find this information on CAA appropriate and find CAA directly addresses some of the concerns raised by the USCIRF regarding the situation of minorities in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan,' it said. -- PTI


Five Chinese workers killed in Pakistan suicide attack

Security officials inspect the wreckage of a vehicle which was carrying Chinese nationals that plunged into a deep ravine after a suicide attack. Photo: AFP

A suicide bomber rammed a vehicle into a convoy of Chinese engineers working on a dam project in northwest Pakistan on Tuesday, killing six people, police said, the third major attack on Chinese interests in the South Asian country in a week.



The first two attacks hit an airbase and a port in the southwest province of Balochistan where China is heavily investing in infrastructure projects.



The engineers were on their way from Islamabad to their camp at the dam construction site in Dasu in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Mohammad Ali Gandapur, the regional police chief, said.



"Five Chinese nationals and their Pakistani driver were killed in the attack," Gandapur said.



Dasu is the site of a major dam and the area has been attacked in the past. A blast on a bus killed 13 people, including nine Chinese nationals, in 2021.



Chinese engineers have been working on a number of projects in Pakistan, with Beijing investing over US$65 billion in infrastructure projects as part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor under the Belt and Road initiative.



Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi was pictured arriving at China's embassy in Islamabad within hours of the bombing.



"The enemy aimed its attack at the citizens of Pakistan's most trusted friend country," he said in a statement. "A robust response will be delivered to the perpetrators."



No one claimed responsibility for Tuesday's attack, nor was there a claim for the 2021 attack.



The attacks come a week before Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is expected to fly to Beijing, according to a source in the Prime Minister's Office. It will be Sharif's first visit since taking office following February elections.



Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar condemned the attack, and said the country would continue to fight back against militants. (Reuters/AFP)
Tel Aviv [Israel], March 25 (ANI/TPS): The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) reported that, operating with forces of the Shin Bet (Israel''s anti-terror General Security Service), it is continuing with what it called "targeted fighting" in the area of Shifa Hospital in Gaza city where Israeli forces have been operating for almost a week now, while avoiding harm to civilians, patients, medical teams and medical equipment. The IDF said that the current fighting is being led by combat teams of its 401st Armored Brigade and the Nahal Infantry Brigade together with the Shayetet 13 Naval commandos unit under the command of the 162nd Division. The Nahal Brigade continues to operate in the center of the Gaza Strip and eliminated a number of terrorists throughout the last day. As part of a "sniper ambush" carried out by its forces, a terrorist was identified coming out of a tunnel shaft near their sector. An IDF aircraft eliminated the terrorist. Also during the last day, Israel Air Force fighter jets attacked about 50 terrorist targets throughout the Gaza Strip, among them terrorist infrastructures and military buildings. In additional attacks by the Israel Air Force, combat helicopters and aircraft eliminated about 10 terrorists and attacked additional terrorist targets in order to help the maneuvering forces.(ANI/TPS)
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)
PNN Kochi (Kerala) [India], March 26: JAIN (Deemed-to-be University), Kochi, proudly announces the launch of its BSc Marine Sciences program, marking a significant milestone in the realm of marine education. Positioned as one of the best BSc Marine Sciences colleges in Kerala, the University endeavours to cultivate a new generation of marine enthusiasts and experts. With the marine industry offering boundless opportunities and the need for conservation and exploration growing, JAIN (Deemed-to-be University) recognizes the importance of providing quality education in marine sciences. The BSc Marine Sciences program is meticulously designed to offer students a comprehensive understanding of marine biology, oceanography, and environmental sciences. JAIN is very well destined to be one of the top marine biology colleges in Kerala, as the university is committed to nurturing a deep-rooted passion for marine sciences among our students. The program aims to instil in students a sense of responsibility towards marine ecosystems while equipping them with the necessary skills to excel in their chosen fields. The curriculum of the BSc Marine Sciences program integrates theoretical knowledge with practical experiences, allowing students to explore the diverse facets of marine life firsthand. From conducting research expeditions to studying marine biodiversity in coastal ecosystems, students are provided with a hands-on learning experience. JAIN (Deemed-to-be University), Kochi, believes in fostering a spirit of inquiry and exploration. Multiple facilities, experienced faculty, and industry partnerships ensure that students receive the best possible education and exposure in marine sciences. With a focus on academic excellence and practical application, JAIN (Deemed-to-be University), Kochi, stands out as one of the top marine sciences colleges in Kerala. The BSc Marine Sciences program is poised to empower students with the knowledge and skills necessary to make meaningful contributions to the field of marine sciences and marine biology. Prospective students passionate about exploring the depths of the ocean and contributing to marine conservation are invited to embark on this enriching journey with JAIN (Deemed-to-be University), Kochi. To join one of the best BSc Marine Sciences colleges in India and chart a course towards a fulfilling career in marine sciences. Visit: https://www.jainuniversity.ac.in/kochi/ or contact: +91 - 7593896798 / +91 7593896792 (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
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Five Chinese nationals and one Pakistani were killed in a terrorist attack in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province on Tuesday, the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan confirmed.

The attack happened at about 1:00 p.m. local time (0800 GMT) when a vehicle from the Dasu Hydropower Project, being constructed by a Chinese company in the province, was attacked by terrorists, the embassy said in a statement.

"The Chinese embassy and consulates in Pakistan strongly condemn this terrorist act, express deep condolences for the victims in both countries and extend sincere condolences to the relatives of the victims," the statement said, adding that the Chinese side has been working with the Pakistani side to make every effort to deal with the aftermath of the incident.

The incident happened in the Shangla area of the province, where the attacker rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a convoy escorted by five vehicles of security forces, sources from KP's police told Xinhua.

One of the vehicles of the 13-vehicle convoy caught fire and fell into a ravine, following the attack, the sources added.

The area was cordoned off for investigations and the injured are being shifted to hospital.

The Chinese missions in Pakistan have initiated emergency response work as soon as possible, requiring Pakistan to conduct a thorough investigation of the attack, and severely punish the perpetrators, the statement said.

The embassy stressed that practical and effective measures to protect the safety of Chinese citizens, institutions and projects in Pakistan should be taken by the Pakistani side to ensure that similar incidents will not happen again.

"The Chinese embassy and consulates in Pakistan remind Chinese citizens and companies in Pakistan to pay close attention to the local security situation, improve security levels, strengthen security measures, and make every effort to take safety precautions," said the statement.

No group has claimed the attack yet.

The incident has also been condemned by the country's President Asif Ali Zardari who expressed his condolence to the bereaved families and vowed that his country will never let enemies of Pakistan-China friendship succeed in their mission.
Indian engineering exports to Russia have nearly doubled, reaching a staggering USD 1.22 billion in the current financial year 2023-24 up to February, compared to USD 616.68 million in the previous fiscal year. Conversly, shipments to the US experienced a 7 per cent decline during the same period, with exports totalling USD 15.95 billion in FY24 up to February, down from USD 17.10 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year. According to data released by Engineering Export Promotion Council of India (EEPC), India's engineering goods exports to China also saw a marginal decline in FY24 until February, amounting to USD 2.38 billion compared to USD 2.40 billion in the same period of the previous financial year. However, amidst the challenging global trade landscape, engineering shipments to the UAE and Australia, with which India recently inked a free trade agreement (FTA), remained positive. Engineering exports to the UAE surged by 16 per cent year-on-year to USD 5.22 billion, while shipments to Australia increased by 5 per cent to USD 1.30 billion during this period. Overall, cumulative engineering exports showed growth, reaching USD 98.03 billion during April-February 2023-24, compared to USD 96.84 billion during the same period of the previous financial year, marking a 1.23 per cent increase. EEPC India Chairman Arun Kumar Garodia expressed optimism about the sector's performance, highlighting that India's engineering exports reached USD 9.94 billion in February 2024, recording the highest year-on-year growth (15.9 per cent) in fiscal 2023-24. He attributed this growth to the sector's steady performance in recent months despite global trade difficulties. "In the last few months, engineering exports from India have been on a steady growth path. In February 2024, India's engineering exports reached USUSD 9.94 billion recording the highest y-o-y growth (15.9 per cent) in the fiscal 2023-24. The remarkable performance of the sector in the last three months made it possible for the cumulative exports to also record a growth," said Garodia. He further said, "The FTA with UAE and the negotiations with GCC have been quite effective as West Asia and North Africa's share in India's engineering export basket increased from 12 per cent last year to 15 per cent this year. This performance has been possible despite the difficult global trade situation." Garodia also credited the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the UAE and ongoing negotiations with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) for the increased share of West Asia and North Africa in India's engineering export basket, rising from 12 per cent last year to 15 per cent this year. Amidst sluggish global trade growth, with 2023 witnessing the slowest trade growth in 50 years outside of global recession years, Garodia expressed hope for a positive turn in global trade dynamics, which could further boost India's exporting community. In February 2024, India's engineering exports achieved year-on-year growth for the third consecutive month, registering a rate of 15.9 per cent, the highest in fiscal 2023-24. The share of engineering exports in India's total merchandise exports also saw an uptick, reaching 24.01 per cent in February 2024 from 23.75 per cent in January 2024. "As India's current performance stabilizes, we are hopeful that with a positive turn of the tide in global trade, our exporting community will be able to lift up their export performance," Garodia said. However, not all sectors witnessed growth. In February 2024, 28 out of 34 engineering panels experienced positive year-on-year growth, while 6 panels reported declines. Sectors such as zinc and products, nickel and products, motor vehicles and cars, railway transport and parts, ships and boats, and office equipment faced setbacks. On a cumulative basis, 20 out of 34 engineering panels recorded positive growth, while sectors including iron and steel, non-ferrous sectors like aluminium, zinc, and nickel, as well as segments from industrial machinery and automobiles, experienced negative growth during April-February 2023-24. Regionally, positive year-on-year growth in February 2024 was observed across various regions including North East Asia, West Asia and North Africa (WANA), Latin America, the European Union (EU), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Oceania, North America, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Only ASEAN and South Asia reported declines. (ANI)
The assets were attached in connection with a money laundering case involving A to Z Solutions -- a firm alleged to be illegally operating an 'international call centre'.

ED initiated an investigation under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, following a First Information Report (FIR) filed by the Cyber Police Dehradun.

The FIR accused individuals associated with A to Z Solutions, including one Megha Rawat, of running a fraudulent call centre.

Operating under the guise of Microsoft Corporation, the call centre has allegedly duped foreign customers by providing fake online support services.

In a coordinated effort, the Special Task Force in Uttarkhand, along with state cyber police, busted the illegally operating "international call centre" located in a three-story building in front of MKP Chowk in Dehradun and recovered a total of Rs 1.26 crore in cash in 2022.

Subsequently, the ED identified the proceeds of crime (POCs) and issued a provisional attachment order for assets totaling Rs 1.26 crore.

"The ongoing investigation underscores the authorities' commitment to combating cybercrime and ensuring accountability for those involved in fraudulent activities. As the investigation progresses, authorities remain vigilant in their efforts to dismantle cyber fraud networks and safeguard the interests of citizens," said the ED. (ANI)
Actor, producer and entrepreneur Alia Bhatt is all set to host her first 'Hope Gala' in London. As per a source close to the actress' team, Alia will host Hope Gala on March 28 in partnership with the Mandarin Oriental hotel group at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London. This is in support of Alia's chosen charity Salaam Bombay which is focused on engaging Mumbai's most vulnerable 'at-risk' children through in-school programmes (leadership and advocacy) and after-school academies (skill building) that help build their confidence, self-esteem and commit them to stay in school. Reportedly, the Gala will be attended by prolific industrialists and philanthropists from India and London Meanwhile, on the work front, Alia has recently completed shooting for 'Jigra', which also stars Vedang Raina. Announcing the wrap, a few days ago, she shared candid photos from the sets of the movie on her Instagram featuring herself and Vedang.Sharing the post, she wrote, "jigra oh... abki teri baari ho @vedangraina & that's a film wrap on #JIGRA @vasanbala @swapsagram. See you soon... 27th September 2024 at a cinema near you." In the photos, Alia was seen in an all-new short hair look for the film. Alia and Vedang were seen in a candid mood as they sat beside each other. Vedang also shared the same pictures and expressed her excitement on his Instagram handle. He wrote, "And that's a wrap on Jigra @aliaabhatt. A film and a character that has given me as much as taken away from me. A journey that's meant everything. See you at the movies on 27th September." Helmed by Vasan Bala, 'Jigra' is co-produced by Karan Johar and Alia herself. The film is all set to hit the theatres on September 27, 2024. Director Vasan Bala has previously helmed films like 'Monica O My Darling', a crime thriller film 'Peddlers' and 'Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota'.'Jigra' was announced last year in September. The announcement video showed the film is a tale of a sister's love for her brother and how she would do anything to protect him.'Jigra' marks Alia and Vasan's first on-screen collaboration. Alia will also be seen in director Farhan Akhtar's film 'Jee Le Zaraa' alongside Priyanka Chopra and Katrina Kaif. The film promises to be another tale of friendship in the lineage of 'Dil Chahta Hai' and 'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara'. However, the work on the film has not started yet. (ANI)
Tripura Governor said, "I extend my wishes to the people of the state on the occasion of Holi..."

"Hon'ble Governor Shri Indra Sena Reddy Nallu Convey heartiest greetings to all on the festival of Holi,and this festival of colours will further strengthens the feeling of love and brotherhood among all the people and spreads happiness and prosperity in everyone's life." Raj Bhavan Tripura posted on X.

He also requested that the people of the state to vote in majority for the upcoming polls.

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar also extended warm greetings on Holi to the people of the country on Monday and said it embodies the celebration of life and the abundance of nature.In a message on X, the Vice President 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." (ANI)
"ICG Ship C-161 commanded by Asst Comdt Karthikeyan was sailed immediately from Porbandar after input from fisheries community regarding sinking boat received at Maritime Rescue Sub Centre Porbandar of Indian Coast Guard's Dist HQ -1 (South Gujarat Daman & Diu)," the Defence Ministry release said.

The Indian Coast Guard ship C-161 arrived in vicinity of Fishing Boat in short time and launched a damage control team for undertaking rescue and support mission.

"The efforts of team resulted in ceasing of flooding in boat temporarily and the half submerged boat was attempted to be towed with another Fishing boat in vicinity. However as fishing boat was already 75% flooded, resultant damages caused sinking of the boat 12 kms off Porbandar." the release said.

All five crew members were rescued by the ICG Ship and medical support was provided. The survivors were thereafter brought to Porbandar and handed over to Fisheries Association. (ANI)
On Monday, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan claimed that 'Bharat mata ki Jai' and 'Jai Hind' were first coined by two Muslims, challenging the BJP to renounce the slogans. "Now, in some programs we hear some Sangh Parivar leaders asking people to chant 'Bharat mata ki Jai'. Who coined the slogan Bharat mata ki jai? Was it some Sangh Parivar leader? I don't know if the Sangh Parivar knows this. His name is Azimullah Khan. I don't know if they know that he is not a Sangh Parivar leader," the Kerala CM said. He said, "He was the prime minister to the Maratha Peshwa Nana Saheb in the 19th century. We should know that he coined the term Bharat Mata ki Jai. I don't know if Sangh Parivar will decide not to chant the slogan since it was framed by a Muslim?" The remarks were made during a rally against the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in Malappuram on Monday. Lashing out at those leaders advocating for the extradition of the Muslims from India to Pakistan, CM Vijayan said, "Similarly, a former diplomat, Abid Hasan, coined the term 'Jai Hind'. So Jai Hind is also a contribution by a Muslim. Therefore, I want to say that the Sangh Parivar, who says Muslims should leave India, and be sent to Pakistan, should understand this history." The CM also said that let's unitedly move forward to defeat the communal forces and build a more democratic India. https://x.com/pinarayivijayan/status/1772164750580822214?s=20 In a post on social media platform X, CM said, "Joined the massive rally against the implementation of #CAA in Malappuram today. People turned out for the protest in large numbers, reflecting Kerala's deep-rooted secular heritage. Let's unitedly move forward to defeat the communal forces and build a more democratic India." Earlier in the month, the Supreme Court issued notice to the Centre on the applications seeking a stay on the Citizen Amendment Rules 2024, brought to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019. A day after the Central government issued the Rules for the CAA, Kerala-based political party Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) approached the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the implementation of the Rules. On March 11, the Central Government notified the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024, which effectively brought into force the controversial CAA of 2019. The 2019 Act amended the Citizenship Act, 1955, which makes illegal migrants eligible for citizenship if they (a) belong to the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian communities, and (b) are from Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan. It only applies to migrants who entered India on or before December 31, 2014. As per the amendment, certain areas in the Northeast are exempted from the provision. (ANI)
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Tuesday announced that the Lok Kalyan Marg Metro Station will continue to remain closed until further notice in view of the Aam Adami Party's call to 'gherao' of Prime Minister residence against the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. According to the DMRC, gate no 3 of Patel Chowk Metro Station and gate no 5 of Central Secretariat Metro Station will also remain closed till further notice. "Due to security reasons, entry/exit at Lok Kalyan Marg Metro station, Gate no 3 of Patel Chowk Metro Station and Gate no 5 of Central Secretariat Metro station will remain closed till further notice," the DMRC said. The road is where the prime minister's residence is. The Aam Aadmi Party has called for a 'gherao' at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence to register its protest against the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the liquor policy case on Tuesday. Meanwhile, security has been heightened with the deployment of police outside Patel Chowk metro station, in view of the protest. The Delhi Police, however, said that the party was not granted permission to protest. "No permission has been granted (to AAP for protest). We have made sufficient deployment at the PM residence and Patel Chowk metro station to maintain law and order. No march or demonstration will be allowed. No route diversions done," Deputy Commissioner of Police, Devesh Kumar Mahla said. "Considering everything, we have deployed security at PM residence and other important points. There is no restriction on-boarding/deboarding at all Delhi metro stations. 50 patrolling vehicles are present in the New Delhi area today," he added. The ED arrested Kejriwal on March 21 in connection with the Delhi Excise Policy case linked to a money laundering case. Arvind Kejriwal was on March 22, remanded to the custody of the Enforcement Directorate for seven days, till March 28, a day after his arrest. (ANI)
The Supreme Court had recently said that ordering a politician to refrain from taking part in political activities as a condition for the grant of bail would be a violation of fundamental rights. A bench of Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta set aside a bail condition imposed by the Orissa High Court to the extent that it barred a politician from political activities. The bench, in its order on March 22, stated, "We find that the imposition of such conditions would breach the fundamental rights of the appellant and no such conditions could have been imposed. We, therefore, quash and set aside the condition imposed by the High Court, to the extent the same is extracted above. Accordingly, the appeals are allowed." The order of the apex court came on a petition filed by Odisha Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Berhampur mayor Siba Shankar Das, who was earlier part of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) party and some criminal cases were allegedly filed against him after he switched parties. Das, who was elected as Mayor of Berhampur Municipal Corporation, challenged the Orissa High Court's order of January 18, 2024, which rejected his application for withdrawal of such a condition imposed in the order of bail passed on August 11, 2022. By August 11, 2022, the High Court, while granting him bail, directed that he shall not create any untoward situation in public and shall not be involved in any political activities, directly or indirectly. The High Court, in its order, on January 24, said that it would be unjustified to modify the condition of the bail permitting him to take part in political activities as he faced 57 criminal cases and a murderous attack by a bomb in October 2023. (ANI)
Upon receiving the information, fire officials reached the spot to douse the blaze.

No casualties or injuries have been reported in the incident.

The reason for the fire is yet to be ascertained.

Further details on the matter are awaited. (ANI)
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Bansuri Swaraj on Tuesday slammed the Congress party and asked top leadership to apologise over its leader Supriya Srinate's alleged objectionable post on actor Kangana Ranaut. Swaraj, a BJP candidate for the Lok Sabha elections, while speaking to ANI, hit out at the Congress, saying that the purported post on Srinate's social media shows "real mentality" of the party. "Congress Party should apologise for such an objectionable comment on a woman of this nation. It shows the real mentality of Congress. It's an anti-woman party. Sonia Gandhi herself is a woman and a mother of a woman. The top leadership must apologise," she said. Congress leader Supriya Shrinate hadcourted controversy after an alleged objectionable post on actor Kangana Ranaut appeared on her social media account, with the BJP slamming the leader and demanding action against her. The purported post from Congress' social media chairperson Supriya Shrinate on Monday, which featured a picture of Ranaut with an objectionable caption, has since been deleted. 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. Further, the Congress leader mentioned that some parody account on X has made this objectionable post. However, Bansuri Swaraj further said, "Supriya Shrinate is the chairperson of the social media department of the Congress party. If she cannot protect her own social media, then who is responsible for Congress' social media and who will protect Congress' social media..." 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," Ranaut 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," she added. (ANI)
Reacting to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan''s statement that Congress is "backing out" of a joint protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday termed the latter''s statement as "quite ironic." "Quite ironic. I wonder whether he doesn''t even have a staff member who can Google and find out the truth. The fact is that when the CAA bill was brought into parliament, I opposed its introduction and I spoke in the debate denouncing the bill, explaining why it''s unconstitutional and a violation of Article 14. The Constitution makes that explicitly clear that your caste, religion, language, place of birth, whatever is irrelevant to your citizenship, you''re on the same equal plane as every other citizen," Tharoor told reporters. The Congress leader said that the communist party''s contribution ''was ''minimal'' in the freedom struggle. "I know very well how strongly and how consistently Congress has opposed this issue. The communist party contributed minimally in the freedom struggle, and today they''re trying to reap its benefits and score political points in the most disgracefully dishonest way," he added. Earlier on Monday, the Kerala Chief Minister claimed that ''Bharat mata ki Jai'' and ''Jai Hind'' were first coined by two Muslims, challenging the BJP to renounce the slogans. "Now, in some programs we hear some Sangh Parivar leaders asking people to chant ''Bharat mata ki Jai''. Who coined the slogan Bharat mata ki jai? Was it some Sangh Parivar leader? I don''t know if the Sangh Parivar knows this. His name is Azimullah Khan. I don''t know if they know that he is not a Sangh Parivar leader," the Kerala CM said. He said, "He was the Prime Minister to the Maratha Peshwa Nana Saheb in the 19th century. We should know that he coined the term Bharat Mata ki Jai. I don''t know if Sangh Parivar will decide not to chant the slogan since it was framed by a Muslim?" The remarks were made during a rally against the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act in Malappuram on Monday. Lashing out at those leaders advocating for the extradition of the Muslims from India to Pakistan, CM Vijayan said, "Similarly, a former diplomat, Abid Hasan, coined the term ''Jai Hind''. So Jai Hind is also a contribution by a Muslim. Therefore, I want to say that the Sangh Parivar, who says Muslims should leave India, and be sent to Pakistan, should understand this history." Earlier in the month, the Supreme Court issued notice to the Centre on the applications seeking a stay on the Citizen Amendment Rules 2024, brought to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019. On March 11, the Central Government notified the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024, which effectively brought into force the controversial CAA of 2019. The 2019 Act amended the Citizenship Act, 1955, which makes illegal migrants eligible for citizenship if they (a) belong to the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian communities, and (b) are from Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan. It only applies to migrants who entered India on or before December 31, 2014. As per the amendment, certain areas in the Northeast are exempted from the provision. (ANI)
Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao on Tuesday advised the public to take measures to protect themselves against the rising temperatures in the state. The Karnataka Health Minister also informed that the Commissioner of the Health Department has instructed District Health Officers to ensure that all hospitals have medicines readily available for appropriate treatment in case of various heat-related issues. Taking to his social media handle, Karnataka Health Minister posted on X, "The summer heat is intensifying day by day in the state, and people are struggling to cope with the excessive heat. The maximum temperature has hovered around 40 degrees for the past month, leading to a surge in hospital visits due to various heat-related issues such as sunstroke, migraines, and skin problems." "Additionally, there has been a significant increase in bacterial and viral infections. In response to the rising number of cases, the Commissioner of the Health Department has instructed District Health Officers to ensure that all hospitals have life-saving medicines readily available for appropriate treatment," the post read. "I urge everyone to take precautionary measures to protect themselves from the heat. With summer coinciding with exam time, it is especially important for students to take extra care of their health," added the post. Meanwhile, the Odisha Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) last week urged all district collectors to prepare a contingency plan in view of likely heatwave conditions in the state from March to May. The Odisha SRC said that as the Election Commission has declared the schedule for the general elections, the National Disaster Management Authority Joint Secretary has communicated the need for effective heat wave management in the state. The SRC said that during the election season, there might be extreme heatwave conditions that may pose a challenge to health and the conduct of elections. (ANI)
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Tuesday said that Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and party leader Rahul Gandhi "sacrificed" the post of Prime Minister, adding that only the Gandhi family can keep the Congress party "united." Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister said that when Congress was in a difficult situation, Sonia Gandhi brought the party back to power in the country in 2004. In an interview with ANI Shivakumar said, "She (Sonia Gandhi) has been very successful in bringing the Congress government. The Congress Party was in a very difficult position. And she brought the Congress Party back to power. And she made Manmohan Singh the Prime Minister when all the MPs, irrespective of UPA, wanted her to become the Prime Minister. The entire UPA wanted her to be the Prime Minister. She sacrificed for an economist. That is the greatest sacrifice in the history of the world that a woman has refused to avail an opportunity to become the Prime Minister. For the sake of the country, she nominated Manmohan Singh. That is the biggest sacrifice the Gandhi family made for this country." Sonia Gandhi, took the reins of the Congress party as President in 1998, seven years after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, her husband and a former Prime Minister of India, and remained in office until 2017. When asked whether Rahul Gandhi would make the same kind of 'sacrifice' if the Congress party won the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Shivakumar said that the decision would be taken by the Parliament members of the party, adding that he (Rahul Gandhi) is fighting for the sake of the "unity of this country." "First, let us all join. The party and the parliament members will take a call. He (Rahul Gandhi) is our leader who is fighting for the sake of the unity of this country and for keeping that everyone should be united, whatever may be the price, He is fighting for the country. No one in the history of this country has walked as far as he has," he added. "A big sacrifice he (Rahul Gandhi) has made for this country. He could also have become the Prime Minister. He could have also become the Prime Minister after Manmohan Singh. He never looked at power. He wanted the party to be in power. He said, no. I want an economist (Manmohan Singh) and let him run this show. He (Rahul Gandhi) didn't look at power," the Karnataka Deputy CM said. Shivakumar further said that Rahul Gandhi is fighting for the party and Wayanad MP has given the party members a lot of strength. "There was an opportunity. There was pressure from among all of us that he (Rahul Gandhi) should take the lead. But still, he said, let Manmohan Singh run the country. See, one thing you should know. Only the Gandhi family can keep the Congress Party united and when the Congress Party is united, the country is united. This is the biggest strength of the history of the Congress Party. It has kept this country united," the Karnataka Deputy CM said. Shivakumar refused to comment on the possibility of Rahul Gandhi not willing to become Prime Minister, he said, "I will not comment on this. Let this Parliamentary election be over. I will not shy away from commenting later. I'll come and meet you again." Earlier in 2004, the BJP went in for early elections alongside launching an 'India Shining' campaign. The BJP managed to win only 138 seats, while the Congress won 145. CPM won 43 seats, SP got 43 seats and RJD won 24 seats. Others again ruled the roost with 157 seats. The BJP conceded defeat and the Congress then formed the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) with support from other parties and Manmohan Singh was chosen as the Prime Minister. Dr Manmohan Singh was sworn in as Prime Minister on May 22 after the 2004 general elections and took the oath of office for a second term on May 22, 2009. Notably, the 18th Lok Sabha elections for 543 Lok Sabha seats in the country will be held in seven phases starting April 19, 2024. The counting of the votes will take place on June 4. (ANI)
The Trinamool Congress has filed a complaint with the Election Commission of India against Bharatiya Janata Party leader Dilip Ghosh for allegedly making controversial remarks against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The Trinamool Congress said that BJP leader Dilip Ghosh has violated the Model Code of Conduct by making personal remarks. Earlier, while addressing reporters in Durgapur, BJP MP Dilip Ghosh said that wherever Mamata Banerjee goes, she calls herself the daughter of that state, and "she must identify her own father". "When Didi (CM Mamata Banerjee) goes to Goa, she calls herself the daughter of Goa. When she goes to Tripura, she says that she is the daughter of Tripura. She should first identify her own father..." Dilip Ghosh said. Citing the clause under the poll code, which states that "no political party or candidate should indulge in any activities or make any statements that would amount to an attack on the personal life of any person or statements that may be malicious or offend decency and morality", the ruling Bengal party urged the Election Commission to immediately take action against BJP MP Dilip Ghosh. "Mr Ghosh's comments not only cross the boundaries of decency but also perpetuate a culture of misogyny and disrespect towards women in positions of power," the letter to the poll body read. The remarks by the BJP leader have drawn sharp criticism from the TMC leaders. "Such mentality of BJP leaders humiliates Nari Shakti. He earlier made derogatory remarks against Maa Durga. He should be arrested under the POCSO Act for what he said about Mamata Banerjee..." TMC leader Kirti Azad said. West Bengal Minister Shashi Panja said that BJP leader Dilip Ghosh is such a petty man and such people should be defeated in the upcoming elections. "We are all the daughters of India. Wherever we go, we will be the daughters of India. Whichever state we visit, we will be its daughters. Dilip Ghosh is such a petty man. He is contesting elections and he thinks that he will win and become a public representative. Will such a man be the public representative?" "The BJP's DNA and its character are so bad that they are attacking women and Mamata Didi. They want to suppress and weaken women if they grow powerful. If this is the mindset of politicians, what will be the mindset of workers? What impact will it have on the ground level? If you insult women, atrocities against them will increase. Such people should be defeated. The Election Commission should take action. They are so greedy for power that they can stoop to any level. It is their frustration that is in action," she added. (ANI)
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, who scripted a thumping win for the Congress in last year's Assembly elections, is optimistic that his party will win at least 20 out of 28 Lok Sabha seats in the State in the upcoming general elections. The Congress leader, who is referred to as DKS has also claimed that JDS-BJP alliance is "not working well" in the state. In the 2019 general election, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won 26 of the 28 seats in the state. The Congress and JD(S), which were running a coalition government back then and fought the elections together, secured one seat each. It was a dismal performance for the Congress in the 2019 general election compared to the 9 seats it had won in the 2014 Lok Sabha election. However, the party under the DKS leadership swept up 135 of the 224 seats in the Karnataka Assembly polls in 2023. In an exclusive conversation with ANI, the Congress leader who is the current president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) said, "See, we work collectively. In the last three years, I have had the opportunity to be president. Now it is the fourth year. So, all of them cooperated. I believe in the collective leadership that we showed. Whatever we had, we still thought the party had to come to power." "Now, as far as Parliament (elections) are concerned, we are still hoping...," Shivakumar said. "We wanted a lot of our ministers to contest. But all of them wanted to stay in state politics. Now, I am still hoping that we will get nearly 20 seats," the veteran Congress leader said. Asked about an apparent 'Modi wave' and the reluctuance of Karnataka Congress ministers to fight parliament elections, DKS said "It is not like that. As far as Karnataka is concerned, any wave will not work. The Bharatiya Janata Party is crumbling. You know how many MPs--almost 10 MPs--could not get tickets. There was a lot of anti-incumbency." The BJP, he said, is in "very bad shape" in Karnataka. "They (the BJP) have changed and shifted the MPs and ministers. So, I think, compared to other parts of the country, the BJP is in very bad shape in Karnataka," claimed Shivakumar. Referring to a statement by the former Chief Minister and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy, Shivakumar said, "You see the statement of Mr Kumaraswamy yesterday has not been taken well. He has come out openly. All these things are there. Their alliance is not working well. People will not accept that alliance." Shivakumar reiterated his confidence in the people's mandate for the Congress party. "I am confident that with the way we look at local issues, we look at the local problems, When we do hard work, we have to look at the people's wishes, the problem of the people. Then they should have confidence on us. That is why they vote us. Otherwise, it will not happen." Voting for Lok Sabha constituencies in Karnataka will take place in two phases on April 26 and May 7. In 2019, the BJP won 25 seats with a vote share of 51.7 per cent. Congress won 1 seat with a 32.1 per cent vote share, while JD(S) and Independent won one seat each in Karnataka. The general election for 543 Lok Sabha seats will be held in seven phases starting April 19, with counting to be held on June 4. Karnataka has a total of 28 Lok Sabha constituencies, including five seats reserved for SC candidates and two for ST candidates. Voting across all seats in Karnataka will be held in the second and third phases of the elections on April 26 and May 7 respectively. (ANI)
Alleging the Bharatiya Janata Party of "trying to split the sections" in Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said that BJP is unable to "digest" the growth and development of Bengaluru. In an interview with ANI, the Karnataka Deputy CM alleged that the BJP is finding unable to digest the development of Bengaluru, hence 'creating problem for law and order in the state'. "We have a very strong, effective government in Karnataka which is a secular bound state. Bangalore is a very peaceful city and the current state is also a very good state. We have a state anthem which clearly tells that we have to take everyone together. Elections are approaching. BJP is trying to split every section of the society. They are not digesting the development and growth of Bangalore and the state," Shivakumar said. The assault incident on a shopkeeper who was playing a devotional song at his shop in Bengaluru took a political turn with BJP leaders accusing the Congress of indulging in appeasement politics. When asked about the BJP's allegations on the Karnataka government of failing on the grounds of law and order, Shivakumar said that the BJP which failed to get people's mandate in the last assembly elections is "trying to create an issue in front of media". "They have been thrown out from the assembly. They wanted to have their stake in the Parliament. So they are trying to see that law and order problem will be created. Just they are trying to make a lot of statements. Where no issues are there, they are trying to create an issue in the front of the media. According to me, nothing is there," the Congress leader added. The Police have till now arrested five people in connection with the incident. The accused are booked for criminal intimidation (IPC 506), attempt to murder (IPC 307), intentionally insulting with intent to provoke breach of the peace (IPC 504) voluntarily causing hurt, and unlawful assembly (IPC 147). A 26-year-old shopkeeper was attacked by a group of six men for reportedly playing 'Hanuman Chalisa', claiming that the loud music will disturb 'Azan' prayers. The incident happened at Siddannagalli in Halasuru Gate police limits on Sunday between 6 pm and 6.40 pm. The video of the incident went viral and netizens took to social media and poured in their comments. Taking to X, BJP condemned the incident, saying the Congress government in the state is 'anti-Hindu'. Hitting out at the Congress government in Karnataka over the law and order situation in the state, Bharatiya Janata Party MP Tejaswi Surya on March 19 said that one must wonder as to why nefarious elements who want to create disharmony in society feel emboldened whenever the grand old party comes to power. Referring to the recent incidents of the blast in Rameshwaram cafe, and the alleged raising of 'Pakistan Zindabad slogans' in Karnataka Vidhan Soudha, Tejaswi questioned the Karnataka government, "What message is this government trying to give?" "Two weeks ago, there was a bomb blast. A week before that, there were Pakistan Zindabad slogans. And today you have these unprovoked attacks on shopkeepers. What message is this government trying to give?" BJP MP said. (ANI)
Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma on Tuesday highlighted the state's development under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging voters to reflect on India's pre-2014 era characterized by corruption, appeasement-based politics, and rising terrorism. Addressing the nomination filing event of BJP leader Swami Subedanand, Bhajanlal Sharma said, "Swami Subedanand has filed the nomination for the third time from Sikar. You all need to remember the India that was before 2014. Before 2014, the way in which corruption in India, appeasement-based politics, and terrorism was at rise. After 2014, under the guidance of PM Modi, you all are witnessing the growth of the country." he said. Recalling the historical significance and presence of the BJP in the state of Rajasthan, Bhajanlal said "former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee gave reservation to the Jatta from the Sikar soil, because he could understand the pain, he could feel the pain of farmers. During the tenure of the BJP in the central government of Rajasthan, Atal Bihari Vajpayee ensured that various schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Sadak Yojana and credit cards for farmers were effectively implemented to benefit them," Sharma said. Taking a dig at the Congress government, Sharma alleged that the Rajasthan Congress has consistently misled the public by claiming to address the Yamuna issue to secure electoral victories. "The Rajasthan Congress has continuously fooled the people that they were doing something for the Yamuna issue and kept winning elections. They have always tried to fool the farmers. The Congress government hasn't even sent one letter to the central government citing the Yamuna issue," he said. The Rajasthan Chief Minister, earlier launched a scathing attack at the former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, for 'misleading' the people with the help of loot and lies. "On one hand, Sonia Gandhi is busy worrying about Rahul Gandhi and Ashok Gehlot is busy worrying about Vaibhav Gehlot, they are not concerned about the people of the country and the state. The people of the state will never forget the 'Yuvraj'. Now the people of the state are not going to fall prey to the tricks of the Yuvraj of Congress. The public knows that this is the same leader who had made a false promise of complete loan waiver," he said, while making an address in Jaipur. (ANI)
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) sent a notice to the government of Bihar over reports on the alleged delay in police action in the sexual assault of a minor girl in Darbhanga. According to an official release, the Commission has issued notices to the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police, Government of Bihar, calling for a detailed report within six weeks. It should also include the status of the investigation conducted into the matter. The response from the authorities is expected at the earliest but not later than 6 weeks. The NHRC took suo motu cognizance of a media report that in Bihar's Darbhanga, the police failed to know till the death of a 13-year-old rape victim that her parents and the village Panchayat tried to settle the case by asking her tormentor to pay Rs 1.25 lakh to the family, the release mentioned. Reportedly, after receiving the amount, the victim's family sent her to the house of the accused, saying nobody would marry her. She stayed with the accused for 5 days before being thrown out. Subsequently, she was sent to her elder sister's house by her parents, where she died 16 days later. As per reports, the assault happened on March 1, 2024. The Commission has observed that the contents of the media report, if true, amount to the violation of the human rights of the victim girl, as stated in the release. According to the media report, on March 19, 2024, the victim was sexually assaulted by a man from the same village when she had gone to graze the cattle in the area coming under the jurisdiction of Vazidpur Police Station in Darbhanga district. Reportedly, the victim was not provided with any medical treatment. The police exhumed the body of the victim and sent it for a post-mortem examination. (ANI)
Former Chief Minister of Uttarakhand and Congress leader Harish Rawat criticized the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday for the arrest of AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, saying that it's an attack on democracy. "This is an attack on democracy. They (BJP) don't want this parliament, they don't want this system, and they don't want this election process to happen," Harish Rawat said. He accused the BJP of attempting to emulate the tactics of Russian President Vladimir Putin. "They want to take the path of Putin," Harish Rawat said. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) in connection with the now-scrapped excise policy case. 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. AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh are in judicial custody in the case. Kejriwal's name has been mentioned multiple times in the chargesheets filed by the ED. The agency has alleged that the accused were in touch with Kejriwal to formulate the excise policy that resulted in undue benefits to them in return for which they allegedly paid kickbacks to the party. Meanwhile, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been moved in the Delhi High Court, praying for a direction to restrain Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal from issuing orders while in police custody of the Directorate of Enforcement (ED). Plea also seeks direction not to provide a typist, computer printer, etc. to Arvind Kejriwal while he is in the police custody of ED. Also, to direct the ED to register a complaint, investigate and prosecute Arvind Kejriwal as to how the directions or order issued by him while in police custody reached the possession of Delhi Minister Atishi. There is a likelihood that the order issued by Kejriwal in the capacity of Chief Minister of the NCT of Delhi may influence a fair and proper investigation. A fair and proper investigation is always conducive to the ends of justice and to establishing the rule of law. The petitioner, Surjit Singh Yadav, through Advocates Shashi Ranjan Kumar Singh and Mahesh Kumar, further stated that Arvind Kejriwal, while issuing directions and orders in custody, is breaching his oath of secrecy administered to him under the Third Schedule of the Constitution of India. (ANI)
The Union Minister first visited the Pochamma Temple and offered prayers, then campaigned with the locals in slums. He also met and held a discussion with the Atria 10 apartment resident.

Meanwhile, Union Minister G Kishan Reddy stated that the case against Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC K Kavitha was not politically motivated and was a case of corruption after she alleged that the case against her was not a money laundering case but one of "political laundering.".

G Kishan Reddy said, "The case against BRS MLC K Kavitha is not politically motivated. It is a case of corruption, a liquor scam, and something related to Delhi's AAP government."

He further said that during the investigation, her name came up.

"She went to Delhi and made a new group. She did business in liquor. She gave money to the AAP government. This has nothing to do with the Telangana BJP," he added.

Kavitha was produced before the Rouse Avenue Court on Tuesday at the end of her ED custody in Delhi excise policy money laundering case.

"This is not a money laundering case but a political laundering case. It is a fabricated and false case. One accused has joined the BJP, the second accused is getting a BJP ticket and the third accused has given 50 crore in electoral bonds. This is a political laundering case, we will come out clean," she claimed.

The Rouse Avenue Court sent BRS MLC K Kavitha to Judicial Custody till April 9, 2024. (ANI)
In response to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's statement, Congress MLA Abdur Rashid Mandal said that Bhupendra Kumar is the most successful president of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC), so there is no possibility of him leaving the party. "Many leaders from other parties are also joining the Congress; some are from the BJP as well.So, talking about our party president, Bhupendra Kumar, joining the BJP is not at all true. He is the most successful president of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee. He is fighting for Congress, for the poor, and for the interests of the people. He is on the right path to fight. So, there is no possibility at all that he will leave Congress and join BJP, as told by our Chief Minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma. This is election time, so he is making political statements to demoralize the Congress leaders and the Congress voters too," Abdur Rashid Mandal said. Earlier on March 25, the Chief Minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma, claimed that Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president Bhupen Kumar Borah will join the BJP in the first part of 2025. "I have made ready two seats for him (Bhupen Kumar Borah). All Trinamool members of Congress will join us. If I dial the candidate (Congress) for Sonitpur, he will join the BJP. But I don't want this. As of now, the Assam Congress is in our hands. It is just like a fixed deposit, when needed, we will bring it. When it is needed for Modiji, we will take them. Except for 1-2 blue-blooded dynasties, all red-blooded dynasties are ours," CM Sarma said. Abdur Rashid Mandal staunchly defended the party's influence in Assam, dismissing any notion of intimidation. "Our CM is talking about the intimidation of the Congress party in the state of Assam; this is not possible because Congress is in the blood of each and every Indian as well as in the blood of each and every Assamese. Congress fought with the Britishers and brought independence to this country. So, the Congress party can't be intimidated," Abdur Rashid Mandal said. Addressing concerns over the upcoming elections, Mandal refrained from speculating on seat numbers but expressed optimism about the party's prospects. "I will not comment on the number of seats Congress will win here, but the performance of the Congress party will be better than it was in 2019 because some powerful leaders are nominated by the party this time. I am very confident that four seats will be won by Congress, so our count starts after 4," Abdur Rashid Mandal said. Meanwhile, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma also claimed on Monday that Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's future is 'dark', adding that by 2026, there will be no more of the grand old party in the state. "Voting for the Congress party means voting for Rahul Gandhi; voting for BJP means voting for Narendra Modi. Those who love Narendra Modi and believe that India will become Viswaguru will vote for the BJP in this election. Those who believe in the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, also know that their future is dark. Even Rahul Gandhi's future is also dark and his followers' future is darker," CM Sarma said while speaking to reporters at Biswanath on Monday. "In the last one and a half months, you have seen a big erosion of Congress as many Congress leaders, workers joined the BJP and AGP. I believe that there will be no Congress party in Assam by 2026. I don't want to comment on Bharat Narah, because I am not in touch with him. But I believe that there will be no more of the Congress party in Assam by 2026, they will survive only in some small pockets," he added. The Assam Chief Minister also said many more good leaders will continue to join the BJP till the Lok Sabha election, and this joining process will be continued after the Lok Sabha election. (ANI)
The Chief of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, Swami Smaranananda Maharaj, died at 95 due to age-related ailments, according to Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed condolences on the death of the President of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission. "Srimat Swami Smaranananda ji Maharaj, the revered President of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, dedicated his life to spirituality and service. He left an indelible mark on countless hearts and minds. His compassion and wisdom will continue to inspire generations. I had a very close relationship with him over the years." PM Modi posted on X. "I recall my visit to Belur Math in 2020 when I had interacted with him. A few weeks ago in Kolkata, I had also visited the hospital and enquired about his health. My thoughts are with the countless devotees of the Belur Math. Om Shanti." PM Modi added. Meanwhile, BJP President also expressed his heartfelt condolences, stating that he was extremely saddened by the passing away of Srimat Swami Smaranananda ji Maharaj. "Extremely saddened by the passing away of Srimat Swami Smaranananda ji Maharaj, the revered President of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission. His profound insights and guidance impacted numerous individuals, making a lasting impression on the fabric of humanity. The enduring impact of his compassion and enlightenment will keep motivating future generations. My deepest condolences go out to Swami ji's followers in this difficult time." BJP Chief JP Nadda posted on X. Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also expressed deepest condolence to all Swami Smaranananda Maharaj's fellow monks, followers and devotees "Deeply saddened at the news of the demise tonight of Srimat Swami Smarananandaji Maharaj, the Revered President of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission. This great monk during his lifetime has given spiritual leadership to the world order of the Ramakrishnaites and remains the source of solace for millions of devotees across the globe. I convey my deepest condolence to all his fellow monks, followers and devotees" Mamata Banerjee posted on X. (ANI)
EAM Jaishankar concluded his visit to Singapore on March 25.

He was on an official visit to Singapore from March 23-25, the first leg of his visit to Singapore, Philippines and Malaysia.

Jaishankar called on Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong and also met with Lawrence Wong, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Singapore.

"They exchanged views on deepening engagement in the identified pillars of our cooperation, including fintech, digitalization, the green economy, skills development and food security," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

The EAM had several bilateral engagements with the leadership and the senior ministers of the Cabinet.

He also met Teo Chee Hean, Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security.

Moreover, Jaishankar held comprehensive discussions with Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister of Foreign Affairs, on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest.

"EAM also had a productive meeting with Gan Kim Yong, Minister of Trade & Industry, focused on bilateral cooperation in Trade and Investment, green energy and food security. He also met Mr. K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law to exchange views on strengthening our bilateral partnership," the statement added.

During his visit, Jaishankar also paid homage to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at the INA marker in Singapore.

He met members of the Indian community and interacted with them. He also witnessed a short video on the 'Saga of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose', created by members of the Indian Community.

EAM also attended an event organised by the ISAS (Institute of South Asian Studies), where he interacted with think tanks and policymakers.

His visit to Singapore presented an opportunity to further deepen the Strategic Partnership between India and Singapore and to take stock of progress in several areas of cooperation.

"Singapore is also the current country coordinator for India at ASEAN and was invited as a Guest Country during India's Presidency of the G20 in 2023," the MEA said in its statement. (ANI)
Reaffirming that the terrorist attack at the concert hall in Moscow was carried out by ISIS at Crocus, the United States said that there is no evidence that the Ukrainian government had anything to do with this attack. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Tuesday that this terrorist attack was conducted by ISIS and Russian President Vladimir Putin understands that. "This was a terrorist attack that was conducted by ISIS. Mr. Putin understands that. He knows that very well. And look, there is absolutely no evidence that the government of Ukraine had anything to do with this attack," she said. Expressing condolences, Karine Jean-Pierre said that she wants to step back for a second and offer her deepest condolences to those who lost loved ones, and those who were injured because of this horrific attack. "We continue to strongly condemn the heinous terrorist attack in Moscow," she stressed. "We're very clear about that. On March 7, we informed Americans in Russia, and did a public advisory, to be more specific. And ISIS bears the sole responsibility here," Pierre said. At least 133 people have died in the massive terror attack at the concert hall. United States has strongly condemned the "heinous" terrorist attack carried out by ISIS at Crocus City Hall music venue near Moscow and expressed condolences to the bereaved families. White House Press Secretary, Karine Jeane-Pierre, in a statement, termed ISIS as a "common terrorist enemy" and said that it needs to be defeated everywhere. "The United States strongly condemns the heinous terrorist attack in Moscow. We extend our deepest condolences to those who lost loved ones and to those who were injured or affected by these unconscionable attacks against innocent civilians. ISIS is a common terrorist enemy that must be defeated everywhere," the statement read. Moreover, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned the terrorist attack in Russia's Moscow and said that US stands with Russia in grieving the loss of lives. In a post on X, Blinken stated, "The United States strongly condemns the March 22 terrorist attack in Moscow. We stand in solidarity with the people of Russia in grieving the loss of life after this horrific event." (ANI)
The United States and Britain on Monday have sanctioned two individuals and one Wuhan-based company that allegedly targeted critical infrastructure sectors in the US as part of an expansive hacking effort. The US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology Company, Limited (Wuhan XRZ), which it said was a Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) front company that has served as cover for multiple malicious cyber operations. The Treasury Department levied sanctions against two Chinese nationals 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 China's top spy agency. "OFAC is also designating Zhao Guangzong and Ni Gaobin, two Chinese nationals affiliated with Wuhan XRZ, for their roles in malicious cyber operations targeting U.S. entities that operate within U.S. critical infrastructure sectors, directly endangering US national security," it said in a statement. Brian Nelson, the under secretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement that, "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." Additionally, the US Justice Department said that seven Chinese citizens have been indicted for their involvement in a China-based hacking group known as APT31 that spent approximately 14 years targeting US and foreign critics, businesses, and political officials for sensitive information. The action is part of a collaborative effort with the US Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Department of State, and the United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)." Furthermore, the US Department of State announced a rewards for justice offer for information on these individuals, their organization, or any associated individuals or entities; and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office implemented matching sanctions. Meanwhile, the UK government said that it has identified that Chinese state-affiliated organisations and individuals were responsible for two malicious cyber campaigns targeting democratic institutions and parliamentarians. In a statement, it said, "The United Kingdom, supported by allies globally, have today identified that Chinese state-affiliated organisations and individuals were responsible for two malicious cyber campaigns targeting democratic institutions and parliamentarians. Partners across the Indo-Pacific and Europe also express solidarity with the UK's efforts to call out malicious cyber activities targeting democratic institutions and electoral processes." The UK government said that the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) - a part of Government Communications Headquarters- assesses that the UK Electoral Commission systems were highly likely compromised by a Chinese state-affiliated entity between 2021 and 2022. However, it said the attacks did not have any impact on the democratic process or elections. UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron said that 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." Cameron called it completely "unacceptable" that state-affiliated organisations and individuals from China have targeted democratic institutions and political processes. Cameron stated that he raised the issue directly with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. "I raised this directly with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and we have today sanctioned 2 individuals and one entity involved with the China state-affiliated group responsible for targeting our parliamentarians," he added. The British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has today summoned the Chinese Ambassador to the UK. In the statement, UK government stated, "Zhao Guangzong, who is 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 who is 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." UK Home Secretary James Cleverly stated it is reprehensible that China sought to target Britain's democratic institutions. He further said, "China's attempts at espionage did not give them the results they wanted and our new National Security Act has made the UK an even harder target. Our upcoming elections, at local and national level, are robust and secure." (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a telephonic conversation with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo and congratulated him for the successful hosting of the First Nuclear Energy Summit in Brussels. The two leaders also reviewed relations between the two nations and discussed strengthening ties and advancing India-EU Partnership under Belgian Presidency. "Spoke to Belgium PM @alexanderdecroo. Congratulated him on the success of the First Nuclear Energy Summit in Brussels. Exchanged views on strengthening bilateral ties; advancing India-EU Partnership under Belgian Presidency; and cooperation on regional and global issues," PM Modi posted on X. https://x.com/narendramodi/status/1772587808495943956?s=20 Belgian PM De Croo said that the two leaders discussed growing commercial relations between New Delhi and Brussels including in sectors of semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and green hydrogen. He also said that Belgium will send a royal trade mission to India. "Called prime minister @narendramodito discuss the conflicts in #Ukraine & #Gaza and protecting shipping lanes in the Red Sea. We also talked about our growing commercial relations #semiconductors #pharmaceuticals #greenhydrogen and the upcoming royal trade mission to India," the Belgian PM posted on X. https://x.com/alexanderdecroo/status/1772587734705541250?s=20 Both leaders reviewed the excellent relations between India and Belgium. They discussed ways to further strengthen the bilateral partnership in diverse sectors, including trade, investment, clean technologies, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, green hydrogen, IT, defence, and ports, among others, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a release. The two leaders affirmed their commitment to further bolster the India - EU Strategic Partnership under the ongoing Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. They exchanged views on regional and global developments. They agreed upon the need to enhance cooperation and support for the early restoration of peace and security in the West Asia region and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The two leaders also agreed to remain in touch, the statement added. The First Nuclear Energy Summit was held in Belgium on March 21. Global leaders from more than 30 countries and the European Union (EU) met at the summit and emphasized the importance of using nuclear power to achieve energy security, climate goals and drive sustainable development. Earlier in February, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met his counterparts from Poland, Belgium, and Portugal on the sidelines of the Security Conference in Munich, Germany. In his meeting with the Belgian Foreign Minister, Hadja Lahbib, the EAM lauded the advancement in bilateral ties between India and Belgium. "Good to meet FM of Belgium @hadjalahbib this morning in Munich. Glad to work with the Belgian Presidency of the EU, as well as in advancing our bilateral ties," the EAM wrote. (ANI)
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has fended off the threat of immediate extradition to the United States after the latest ruling by the High Court in London, which has signalled it may allow him to appeal his case, CNN reported. Notably, if extradited to the US, the 52-year-old Australian citizen will have to stand on trial on chargesof espionage relating to WikiLeaks's release of classified documents relating to the US-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The trial could see him spend the rest of his life behind bars, according to Al Jazeera. The court gave the US government three weeks to give a series of assurances around Assange's First Amendment rights and that he would not face the death penalty. If the US fails to give these assurances, Assange would be allowed to appeal his extradition. At a two-day hearing last month, Assange sought permission to review the 2022 extradition decision signed off by the UK. https://x.com/wikileaks/status/1772581253239238764?s=20 A panel of two judges said in their Tuesday ruling that Assange would not be extradited immediately, giving the US a three-week window to provide assurances that he would enjoy similar legal rights as US citizens. "If those assurances are not given, then leave to appeal will be given and there will then be an appeal hearing," the judgement read. If the assurances are given, there will be a further hearing in May to decide if the assurances are 'satisfactory', before a final decision on leave to appeal, it said. The court said Assange had a "real prospect of success" on three of the nine grounds of appeal: that his extradition is incompatible with freedom of expression; that, if extradited, Assange might be prejudiced at trial due to his nationality; and that, if extradited, he would not enjoy adequate death penalty protection, according to CNN. Assange has long argued that efforts to extradite him have been "politically motivated", but the court refused to grant him leave to appeal on those grounds. "The judge found, on the evidence, that Assange had not shown that the request was made for the purpose of prosecuting him on account of his political opinions," it said. It said the judge had taken account of the evidence that the CIA had planned to kidnap Assange from the Ecuadorian Embassy - where he was holed up between 2012-2019 - but the judge "concluded that this was not related to the extradition proceedings." (ANI)
The Indian parliamentary delegation led by Deputy Chairman Rajya Sabha Harivansh held a bilateral meeting with the parliamentary delegation of Armenia led by Hakob Arshakyan, the Vice President of the national assembly, on the sidelines of Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) event, said a press release. Appreciating Armenia's support extended to India in all its multilateral initiatives, Harivansh said that the strong partnership between the two countries continues to grow and expand into multiple areas of cooperation. Referring to the parliamentary cooperation between two countries, Harivansh said that being parliamentary democracies, two countries have common ideas of governance which gives an opportunity to collaborate and share experience on journey of the two countries. The Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman further said that both India and Armenia have rich cultural heritages and the two countries could further enhance focus on promoting cultural exchanges, such as art exhibitions, film festivals, and academic collaborations, to foster mutual understanding and appreciation. Speaking about the bilateral relations between two countries, Harivansh said that there is an immense potential to explore various areas of engagement in parliamentary affairs. Exploring potential economic partnerships, particularly in sectors like technology, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, and renewable energy, will add a new dimension of economic relations of India and Armenia. Given the geopolitical dynamics in the respective regions, Indian and Armenian can come together for promoting peace and stability, as well as addressing common security challenges, Harivansh added. Deputy Chairman further underlined that shared democratic values, pluralism, and respect for human rights can serve as a foundation for strengthening ties and collaborating on global issues of common concern. "Enhancing people-to-people contacts through initiatives like student exchanges, tourism promotion, and youth programs can foster greater understanding and friendship between the two nations," he said Highlighting the importance of diaspora, Harivansh said that strong diaspora can contribute to strengthen bilateral relations of the two countries. He also underlined that shared democratic values, pluralism, and respect for human rights can serve as a foundation for strengthening ties and collaborating on global issues of common concern. Deputy Chairman also met the Inter-Parliamentary Union President, Tulia Ackson, the Speaker of the National Assembly of the United Republic of Tanzania. Harivansh congratulated her on assuming the charge of IPU President. He expressed hope that their meeting will renew their commitment and strengthen their collaboration with the IPU, and through it with the world parliaments. An Indian Parliamentary Delegation led by Harivansh, is presently attending the 148th Assembly of Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Geneva, Switzerland. The delegation is comprised of five members from Rajya Sabha namely; S Niranjan Reddy, Sujeet Kumar, Ashok Mittal, Prashanta Nanda and Sumitra. (ANI)
US National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said that she has heard conflicting information regarding the on-board crew and their nationality who were on the container ship that collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland. The Singapore-flagged vessel collided with one of the pillars of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Maryland, leading to its collapse on Tuesday. A 948-foot container ship smashed into a four-lane bridge in the US port of Baltimore. When asked about the crew on board and their nationality, NTSB Chair Homendy said, "The question is who was on board the vessel and their nationalities. I have heard conflicting information on that..." She further said, "I have seen information about crew members on board. We still need to verify the numbers of crew on board and their status." Earlier in the day, the shipping company, Synergy Maritime Group, said in a statement that there were 22 Indians on board and all of them were Indians. Moreover, the NTSB Chair highlighted that personnel from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore will be arriving in the US tomorrow. "I have been in contact with my counterpart in Singapore. The NTSB maintains relationships with our counterparts in other countries often and stays in close communication," she said. Homendy added that Chong is the director of the Transport Safety Investigations Board. "So the director and I have been in communication many times before on safety. So it was a good conversation. He is sending some personnel here tomorrow. Also, personnel will be arriving from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, which has the focus of being the regulator in Singapore," she said. Earlier today, US President Joe Biden said that eight people were unaccounted for after the Baltimore Bridge collapse, out of which two have been rescued, while the rescue operation is ongoing for the remaining six. Biden also said that the ship traffic in the port of Baltimore has been suspended until further notice and the channel will be cleared before the ship traffic resumes again. Addressing a press conference, President Biden said, "Officials at the scene estimate eight people were unaccounted for. That number might change. Two have been rescued, one without injury and one in critical condition, and the search and rescue operation is continuing for all those remaining as we speak." He, however, also specified that there is "no indication" that there was an 'intentional' act here. "Everything so far indicates that this was a terrible accident. At this time, we have no other indication, no other reason to believe there's any intentional act here," Biden said. (ANI)
Where are the best public middle schools in Pennsylvania? You can get a better idea by browsing the latest rankings from Niche, a website offering data on schools and colleges across the country.

Niches annual rankings are developed using reviews and data sources such as the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census, Civil Rights Data Collection and more. The school search platform, which is headquartered in Pittsburgh, ranks public middle schools through the following major categories:

An academics grade, which is based on state assessment proficiency rates, district academics grades, student-to-teacher ratios and parent or student surveys on academics

A diversity grade, which is based on a student racial diversity index, parent or student surveys covering culture and diversity and percentages of economic disadvantages and gender diversity

A teachers grade, which is based on academic grades, parent or student surveys on educators, teacher absenteeism, salary index, the portion of teachers in their first or second year of teaching, average salary and student-to-teacher ratios

Overall, Niche breaks down its overall grades using the following segments and weights:

Academics grade: 50%

Teachers grade: 20%

The school districts overall Niche grade: 15%

Culture and diversity grade: 10%

Parents/student surveys on overall experience: 5%

Just like the Keystone States top-rated public elementary schools, Pennsylvanias premier middle schools are mostly located near Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, just as they were in Niches 2023 rankings.

In Centre County, three schools earned overall A grades: Mount Nittany Middle School, Park Forest Middle School and Centre Learning Community Charter School. Bellefonte Area Middle School and Young Scholars of Central Pennsylvania Charter School rounded out the countys top performers with B- grades.

Each of the public middle schools comprising Pennsylvanias top-ranked performers in 2024 received an overall A grade or higher, according to Niches analysis. Heres a brief look at how the commonwealths top 25 public middle schools compare in 2024.

25. David E. Williams Middle School

Location: Coraopolis, Pa.

Grades: A overall, A academics, A+ teachers and B diversity

This Pittsburgh-area middle school offers a 16-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio for its 952 students between the fifth and eighth grades, Niche reports. The latest batch of standardized test scores indicate at least 57% of the schools students are at least proficient in math, while roughly 76% can say the same for reading.

24. Peters Township Middle School

Location: McMurray, Pa.

Grades: A overall, A+ academics, A+ teachers and C diversity

Ranked the top public middle school in Washington County, this Pittsburgh-area school instructs approximately 905 students and holds a 14-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio. Recent standardized testing indicates student body proficiency rates of about 54% and 84% in math and reading, respectively.

23. Lionville Middle School

Location: Exton, Pa.

Grades: A overall, A academics, A teachers and A- diversity

This school sits just east of Philadelphia and offers a 13-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio for its 1,031 students in the seventh and eighth grades, Niche reports. Lionville Middle Schools students produced proficiency rates of 59% in math and 81% in reading, according to recent standardized testing.

22. Quaker Valley Middle School

Location: Sewickley, Pa.

Grades: A overall, A academics, A+ teachers and B- diversity

This Pittsburgh-area middle school instructs 444 students between the sixth and eighth grades and offers an 11-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio. Recent standardized testing produced a large gap in its students proficiency rates: 45% in math and 80% in reading, Niche says.

21. Wissahickon Middle School

Location: Ambler, Pa.

Grades: A overall, A academics, A teachers and A diversity

This Philadelphia-area middle school offers a 13-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio for its 1,126 students between the sixth and eighth grades. According to state test scores, about 46% of those students are at least proficient in math, while roughly 78% of students are at least proficient in reading.

20. Strath Haven Middle School

Location: Wallingford, Pa.

Grades: A overall, A academics, A+ teachers and B+ diversity

Located in southeastern Pennsylvanias Delaware County, this middle school instructs approximately 863 students between the sixth and eighth grades and offers a 12-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio. Niche reports Strath Haven Middle Schools student body recently produced proficiency rates of 47% in math and 71% in reading.

19. South Fayette Middle School

Location: McDonald, Pa.

Grades: A overall, A academics, A+ teachers and B+ diversity

Back out near Pittsburgh, South Fayette Middle School boasts a 15-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio for its 822 students between the sixth and eighth grades. Recent standardized testing found about 57% of those students are at least proficient in math, while 85% are at least proficient in reading.

18. Hampton Middle School

Location: Allison Park, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A+ academics, A+ teachers and C+ diversity

This school in the Pittsburgh suburbs holds a 13-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio for its 656 students between the sixth and eighth grades. The latest batch of standardized test scores offer proficiency rates of 53% and 81% in math and reading, respectively, for the student body.

17. Infinity Charter School

Location: Harrisburg, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A academics, A+ teachers and A diversity

This public charter school instructs 256 students between kindergarten and the eighth grade while offering a 13-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio. Its students produced proficiency rates of about 67% in math and 87% in reading, according to state standardized test scores.

16. Carson Middle School

Location: Pittsburgh, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A academics, A+ teachers and B diversity

Approximately 659 students between the sixth and eighth grades attend this middle school, which offers a 12-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio. Recent state standardized test scores indicate about 41% of those students are at least proficient in math, while 77% can say the same for reading.

15. Mellon Middle School

Location: Pittsburgh, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A+ academics, A+ teachers and B- diversity

Also in Pittsburgh, Mellon Middle School instructs roughly 641 students between the sixth and eighth grades and holds a 12-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio. Those students produced proficiency rates of approximately 52% in math and 85% in reading, Niche reports.

14. Dorseyville Middle School

Location: Pittsburgh, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A+ academics, A+ teachers and B diversity

Dorseyville Middle School continues a run of Pittsburgh-area schools among Niches top-ranked public middle schools. It offers a 13-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio for its 957 students between the sixth and eighth grades. The latest batch of standardized test scores offered proficiency rates of 59% and 82% in math and reading, respectively.

13. Hershey Middle School

Location: Hershey, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A+ academics, A+ teachers and A- diversity

Niche named Hershey Middle School the top-ranked public middle school in Dauphin County. The central Pennsylvania school instructs 767 students between the sixth and eighth grades with an 11-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio. Recent state standardized test scores indicated proficiency rates of 72% in math and 87% in reading.

12. Fort Couch Middle School

Location: Pittsburgh, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A+ academics, A+ teachers and B diversity

More than 600 students attend this middle school, which offers a 13-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio for the seventh and eighth grades. Approximately 65% of those students are at least proficient in math compared to a 90% rate for reading.

11. Jefferson Middle School

Location: Pittsburgh, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A+ academics, A+ teachers and B- diversity

Jefferson Middle School offers an 11-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio for its 603 students between the sixth and eighth grades, Niche reports. Recent standardized test scores say those students produced proficiency rates of 55% and 89% in math and reading, respectively.

10. Boyce Middle School

Location: Pittsburgh, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A+ academics, A+ teachers and B diversity

Another Steel City school, Boyce Middle School holds a 12-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio for its 592 students in the fifth and sixth grades. The magnet schools students demonstrated proficiency rates of 70% and 87% in math and reading, respectively.

9. Welsh Valley Middle School

Location: Narberth, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A+ academics, A+ teachers and B+ diversity

Roughly 815 students between the fifth and eighth grades attend this Montgomery County school near Philadelphia. Welsh Valley Middle School offers an 8-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio and proficiency rates of 63% and 80% in math and reading, respectively.

8. Ingomar Middle School

Location: Pittsburgh, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A+ academics, A+ teachers and B diversity

This school boasts a 13-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio for its 547 students between the sixth and eighth grades, Niche reports. Recent state standardized testing suggests about 48% of those students are at least proficient in math, while up to about 80% are at least proficient in reading.

7. Tredyffrin-Easttown Middle School

Location: Berwyn, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A+ academics, A+ teachers and A- diversity

You can find a 14-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio at this Philadelphia-area school, which instructs about 1,052 students between the fifth and eighth grades. Those students produced proficiency rates of 66% and 86% in math and reading, respectively.

6. Bala Cynwyd Middle School

Location: Bala Cynwyd, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A+ academics, A teachers and A- diversity

This Montgomery County school instructs roughly 811 students between the fifth and eighth grades while offering an 8-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio. Recent state standardized test scores indicate proficiency levels of 66% in math and 84% in reading among those students.

5. Valley Forge Middle School

Location: Wayne, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A+ academics, A+ teachers and A- diversity

Ranked by Niche as the top public middle school in Chester County, Valley Forge Middle School offers a 14-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio for its 1,141 students between the fifth and sixth grades. Roughly 69% of those students are at least proficient in math, while about 87% can say the same for reading.

4. Marshall Middle School

Location: Wexford, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A+ academics, A+ teachers and B+ diversity

This institution boasts a 14-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio for its 800 students between the sixth and eighth grades. The school, ranked the top public middle school in the Pittsburgh area, produced proficiency rates of 55% in math and 81% in reading, Niche reports.

3. Radnor Middle School

Location: Wayne, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A+ academics. A+ teachers and B+ diversity

Approximately 828 students between the sixth and eighth grades attend this school, which offers an 11-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio. A recent batch of standardized test scores indicates roughly 63% of students are proficient in math, while about 87% are at least proficient in reading.

2. The Souderton Charter School Collective

Location: Souderton, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A+ academics. A+ teachers and A- diversity

This Philadelphia-area charter school instructs roughly 226 students between kindergarten and the eighth grade while holding an 8-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio. Those students produced proficiency rates of 67% in math and 92% in reading through recent state standardized testing.

1. Julia R. Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School

Location: Philadelphia, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A+ academics, A+ teachers and A diversity

This magnet school instructs nearly 1,200 students between the fifth and twelfth grades while offering a 22-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio, Niche reports. The schools students produced a proficiency rate of 95% in math and reading following state standardized testing.

You can find more rankings, data and reviews for Pennsylvanias top public middle schools by visiting niche.com/k12/search/best-public-middle-schools/s/pennsylvania.
Bryant University is putting into action a plan that's been on the school's agenda for years: a doctoral program in clinical psychology.

It's an effort to fill gaps in health care widened by the pandemic, during which mental health problems spiraled into a massive need that overwhelmed doctors. As Rhode Island and the rest of the country continue to grapple with the shortage in providers, Bryant accelerated its launch of the program, announcing it this week.

"Theres a shortage and a need for qualified behavioral health professionals in the state and in the nation, so we saw an opportunity to help contribute to that cause," said Joseph Trunzo, associate director of Bryant's School of Health and Behavioral Sciences. "So we really elevated our efforts to get this across the finish line."

Trunzo holds several other titles, including professor of psychology, clinical psychologist and president of the Rhode Island Psychological Association. He's witnessed the crisis unfold and seen its impact on some of the most vulnerable patients in the state.

Joseph Trunzo, associate director of the School of Health and Behavioral Sciences, professor of psychology, clinical psychologist at Bryant University and president of the Rhode Island Psychological Association.

"Just about every behavioral health professional that I know has a waitlist, and its been really hard to get access, particularly for populations in higher need like children and adolescents," Trunzo said.

Trunzo said the waitlist is shorter for those with the means to forgo insurance and pay out of pocket, but most don't have that luxury. As The Providence Journal has previously reported, obstacles for Medicare and Medicaid patients are even tougher.

More: Many RI dentists don't accept Medicaid. Those patients struggle to find care.

Months in crisis for one mother trying to find help for her child

Kirsten Hokeness is the director of Bryant's School of Health and Behavioral Sciences, which launched two years ago as part of the university's broader effort to expand its offerings and reinvent its image.

For Hokeness, the new psychology program is personal. Her daughter faced anxiety before the pandemic began, and it worsened over time.

"It probably took me three to four months, I think, to actually get her in to actually see anybody," said Hokeness. "And that was with someone who was willing to actually pay and has really good insurance and had the resources to keep looking and finding."

More: The doctor shortage is crippling health care. Could pharmacists help?

At Bryant, too, needs among students have risen.

"Even at our campus we have seen the number of students and the number of appointments our students are seeking with counselors have gone up significantly," said Provost and Chief Academic Officer Rupendra Paliwal.

According to Bryant spokeswoman Karen Greco, between the 2015-2016 academic year and the 2022-2023 academic year, "counseling services appointments more than doubled."

Kirsten Hokeness, director of the School of Health and Behavioral Sciences at Bryant University.

What will the program entail? And when will it start?

The five-year PsyD program, as it's called, differs significantly from PhD programs in psychology. Bryant's program will focus on preparing students for jobs  not research siloed in the academic world  and ready them to step out into the field and see patients.

In Rhode Island, the status of the mental health provider shortage is a murky picture.

"We actually have a decent number of psychologists in the state  but a number of those psychologists are research psychologists," Trunzo said. "Theyre centered at Brown. Theyre centered at URI. They arent necessarily providing clinical services in the community."

Bryant's program will offer students general studies and two specialization tracks: one in child and adolescent psychology and another in health psychology and behavioral medicine. The former will increase the number of providers serving children, and the latter will put psychologists in medical facilities like primary care offices. The idea is to cut down barriers to access and build convenience for patients.

From left, Kirsten Hokeness, director of the School of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Joseph Trunzo, associate director of the School of Health and Behavioral Sciences, and Rupendra Paliwal, provost and chief academic officer.

More: RI dentists warn of looming shortage 'superstorm.' Here's what's driving it.

The program will begin taking applications this September for its first cohort in fall 2025. Each cohort will be kept small, at around 15 students each.

But before Bryant can start advertising the program, it will need approval from a regional accreditor, which it expects next month.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Why Bryant University is launching a doctoral psychology program
President Joe Biden said Tuesday he expects Congress to fully cover the cost of rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, which collapsed overnight after it was rammed by a massive cargo ship.

It is my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge, and I expect the Congress to support my effort, Biden said in brief remarks at the White House before departing for a campaign event in North Carolina.

Were going to spend all the federal resources they need as we respond to this emergency... and were going to rebuild that port together, Biden added.

The office of House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) declined to comment on how Congress plans to address the disaster, which authorities are calling a mass casualty incident.

Theres a precedent for the type of assistance Biden has requested. After the 2007 collapse of the I-35W bridge over the Mississippi River in downtown Minneapolis, both chambers of Congress voted unanimously to send $250 million in emergency assistance to Minnesota to help with the cleanup and rebuild. The catastrophic failure of that bridge killed 13 people and seriously injured dozens more, highlighting the dangers of the countrys crumbling infrastructure.

But its unlikely that an increasingly divided Congress will be able to reach such a quick consensus on a similar disaster just less than two decades later.

The president also reiterated Tuesday that the crash seemed to be the result of a terrible accident and not an intentional act. Authorities say the cargo ship struck the bridge at roughly 1:30 a.m. after its operators lost control of the vessel due to a likely power failure.

The disaster sent cars plunging into the freezing waters of the Patapsco River and forced the closure of one of the countrys busiest shipping channels, the Port of Baltimore. Biden noted that some 850,000 vehicles are imported and exported through the port each year.

The bridge could cost hundreds of millions of dollars to reconstruct, and could take months, if not years, to rebuild, even on an emergency timeline. Construction on the 1-35W bridge in Minneapolis was completed in 14 months.

Built for roughly $110 million in the 1970s, the Francis Scott Key Bridge opened in 1977 as one of the longest continuous-truss bridges in the United States. More than 30,000 vehicles crossed the 1.6-mile span every day. The collapse snarled traffic across Baltimore, prompting Biden and other officials to promise an immediate response.

Im directing my team to move heaven and earth to reopen the port and build the bridge as soon as humanly possible, Biden said.

Arthur Delaney contributed reporting.

Related...
A new House version of a costly plan to change the Tennessee's franchise tax system would require the state to publicly list the businesses receiving refunds, an effort to inject some transparency into a process muddied by state officials' refusal to release records justifying the overhaul.

House Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland, filed the amendment to HB 1893, which received first passage out of a House subcommittee on Wednesday. The House version contains significant differences from the Senate's $1.9 billion plan, which upper chamber Republicans passed last week.

The House version would cost around $800 million, which Lamberth called "significant savings" for the state, split between a $400 million cost in the upcoming fiscal year and around $400 million in subsequent years. Companies who take a rebate from the state would also have to waive their right to sue over the franchise tax in the future, as lawmakers have argued they're pushing this legislation under the spectre of a potential lawsuit.

The franchise tax effort would alter the calculation the state uses to determine business franchise tax, eliminating a property tax calculation, which will cost the state $400 million in revenue beginning this year. The Senate version allows businesses to claim up to three years of tax rebates for previous franchise tax bills, while the House version only covers one year.

Lamberth's version would also create a specific carve-out to existing tax privacy law, which requires confidentiality for state tax information, to allow the state to reveal who is receiving a refund and how much they're getting.

"If a company is asking for a rebate, and that's money they're getting from the General Fund, then taxpayers should know who and how much," Lamberth said.

House Speaker Cameron Sexton and Rep. William Lamberth R- Portland speak to members of the press following session at the state Capitol in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, March 14, 2024.

Senate Republicans last week batted down an amendment from Sen. Heidi Campbell, D-Nashville, to disclose the businesses that benefit from a refund, arguing it would contradict state law requiring tax refund confidentiality. Campbell's amendment sought to make public any "record, document, or other information pertaining to a refund of franchise tax."

Lamberth said publishing the name and dollar amount could satisfy transparency concerns while keeping broader tax records and documentation private.

The House amendment would also require a company to use any Tennessee economic and development credits to "offset and reduce" their franchise tax refund.

The franchise tax break sailed through the Senate last week, where 16 of the 25 Republican senators present declared a Rule 13 personal interest before voting in favor of the bill. One Democrat, who voted against the bill, also declared a personal interest.

Senate Finance Chair Bo Watson, R-Hixson, said Thursday "nobody likes this solution," a familiar refrain from Republicans who have backed the legislation and argued the tax refund, and its gigantic price tag, is the best path forward to avoid expensive litigation.

Yet, no lawsuit has been filed, and there is no court order demanding Tennessee make these changes. Instead, lawmakers have continually touted a letter from a national law firm as the basis for the legislation.

State officials have refused to disclose the law firm's communication with the state, despite public records requests from The Tennessean. Officials have cited attorney-client privilege and the state law that makes tax information confidential. The Department of Revenue declined to release a redacted version of the law firm's letter.

Lamberth on Wednesday expressed skepticism about the legal issues with the existing franchise tax framework, but said he recognized Tennessee is "out of step" with most other states regarding the franchise tax policy."

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: TN House version of $1.9 billion franchise tax bill adds disclosure
California shut down the office that tracks telework in state service. But data from two previously unreleased surveys obtained by The Sacramento Bee reveal new insights about departments and agencies stances on remote work and return-to-office.

More than 110 departments participated in the two statewide surveys, which were conducted in July 2023 and December 2023 by the now-defunct Telework Compliance Office within the Department of General Services. Respondents were asked questions such as, Has your departments telework program affected your required office space? and Has your departments ability to retain and recruit employees changed as a result of implementing telework?

The Bee verified the datas authenticity with a source who had seen the information before, but who feared retaliation from their employer if identified by name.

Three agencies made headlines earlier this year with public calls to return state workers to the office: the California Environmental Protection Agency, the California Health and Human Services Agency and the Employment Development Department.

But the month before announcing the new two-day in-office rules, these departments highly praised the benefits of remote work in an internal survey conducted by the DGS telework office.

At least in early December, CalEPA, CalHHS and EDD did not indicate that they were planning to issue a two-day in-office order. By the next month, something changed.

Heres how the departments responded to the question, Will the departments working arrangements change or stay the same based on the review? Please describe.

CalHHS: The working arrangements for CalHHS will remain the same for the foreseeable future to allow for continued workplace flexibility, to provide work/life balance for employees, to be a competitive employer, and for recruitment and retention purposes.

EDD: The EDD plans for working arrangements to stay the same but may adjust based on operational needs. Increased in-office work would likely affect current employee retention and the ability to entice new talent.

CalEPA: We have seen that continuing to provide telework/hybrid work as an option has proven to be an efficient and effective way to conduct business, support worker retention and recruitment efforts, and has not negatively impacted operations. Based on our initial telework assessment and review of operations, eligible employees who meet criteria established through our telework policy and whose positions can be performed remotely will continue to do so. However, per our telework policy, CalEPA management and staff understand that they can and may be asked to come into the office for work purposes, as needed.

All three agencies declined to comment beyond the contents of their staff-wide memos released earlier this year.

A total of 110 departments and agencies responded to the December 2023 DGS telework survey. Use the interactive tool below to look up your employers responses.

Does in-person work yield more collaboration than telework?

All three departments cited the need for more collaboration and teamwork as reasons for bringing workers back to the office. But in their survey responses, CalEPA, CalHHS and EDD indicated that their employees collaborated quite efficiently through online platforms  even better than before the pandemic.

EDD Director Nancy Farias told staff in a Jan. 25 email: I believe purposeful time spent in an office will provide more opportunities for engagement between colleagues and increase collaboration, especially for our newer employees.

In contrast, the EDDs survey response in December stated: A greater number of staff collaborate today than historically on assignments.

Prior to telework and the use of virtual platforms, collaboration was often delayed or limited due to the availability of meeting rooms along with the expense and inconvenience of travel, EDDs response read. Today, teams that are geographically separated throughout the state can now meet frequently without the extra time and cost associated with travel. This improves the efficiency, collaboration, and diversity of project teams and improves cohesion of the groups throughout the department.

CalEPAs response called telework an efficient and effective way to conduct business and support worker retention and recruitment efforts. The response also cited a recent all-staff telework survey that found most employees felt they had effective team building opportunities while teleworking and were able to build great relationships with their coworkers. The agency saw a noted increase in employee engagement due to boards, departments and offices engaging their employees in a remote-centric work environment.

CalHHS conducted its own employee surveys in 2021 and 2023 and found that remote work allowed for improved employee collaboration, as well as better ability to focus and increased productivity.

Departments say telework improved recruitment, productivity and morale

State employees have repeatedly said that telework boosted their mental health and well-being, as well as their productivity. CalEPA, CalHHS and EDD noticed these trends too, the internal survey data shows.

Hybrid/remote staff generally report that they feel happier, healthier, and safer while performing their daily work, CalEPAs response stated. By embracing the telework and hybrid work model, CalEPA saw an overall increase in staff productivity and efficiency, faster development of policy goals, faster implementation of work product, and better overall employee and program engagement.

Employees at CalEPA have been especially critical of the impact of commutes on greenhouse gas emissions. The agency itself noted the benefits of keeping workers at home: As an environmental-based agency, telework supports protecting the environment by reducing emissions and carbon footprint.

CalHHS internal surveys found that telework provided employees with better work-life balance and helped people save money and time commuting. Additionally, since shifting to a telework environment, the agency says it has expanded its reach for both customer service and employee recruitment.

EDD admits that increased in-office work would likely affect current employee retention and the ability to entice new talent.

July survey shows telework increased productivity, decreased office space

Out of the 140 responses to the July 2023 Telework Program Evaluation Survey, here are some key takeaways:

Productivity: More than 25% of departments (37) indicated employees were more productive after introducing telework. More than half of the departments (71) noted that telework had no influence  negative or positive  on employees productivity.

Office space: More than 45% of responding departments (64) needed less office space as a result of telework. Forty-two departments required the same amount of space after implementing telework as they did before. (In the December survey, CalEPA noted some of its boards, departments and offices saved upwards of $2.5 million per year on lease agreements after full telework was introduced.)

Change in costs: More than 25% of departments lowered their operating costs through telework. But 16% of departments saw increased costs after implementing telework. Fifty-two departments did not see a change in costs due to telework.

You can explore the data using the interactive table below and see how your department responded to the survey.

The Bees Phillip Reese contributed to this story.

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Californias priority Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, has been extended, according to the California Student Aid Commission.

The extension  which is active immediately  comes after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1887, according to a news release from the agency Monday.

Students attending a four-year-university have until May 2 to complete the FAFSA application, and students attending community college have until Sept. 2.

All students attending a four-year-university in California qualify for the FAFSA priority extension, which applies to the commissions administered financial aid programs, including the Cal Grant and Middle Class Scholarship.

Making the path to fulfilling our students dreams of achieving higher education more affordable and accessible is among the highest duties of our state government, and Assembly Bill 1887 being signed into law is a way to honor that duty, Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes, who authored the bill, said in the Monday news release.

This new law will give California students more time to complete the FAFSA and gain access to the financial resources they need to begin their college careers in earnest.

What is FAFSA and why should I filll it out?

The FAFSA is an application that is required for all students seeking federal student aid. It is used to determine a students eligibility for such things as federal grants, work-study funds and loans, according to the U.S. Department of Education. In some cases, states and private colleges use the FAFSA information as well.

Need help filling out your FAFSA application?

Students and families can receive assistance on completing their FAFSA applications by registering in either one of the Statewide Cash for College Webinars, or attending an in-person meeting.

The dates for the upcoming statewide webinars are happening on the following dates, according to the California Student Aid Commission website:

March dates

1:30 p.m. to 2:45pm on March 26

10 a.m to 11:15 a.m. on March 28

April dates

6 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. on April 2

10 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. on April 6

5:30 p. m. to 6:45 p.m. on April 9

6 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. on April 15

5:30 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. on April 18

10 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. on April 24

6 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. on April 25

May dates

6 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. on May 1

What do you want to know about life in Sacramento? Ask our service journalism team your top-of-mind questions in the module below or email servicejournalists@sacbee.com.
California lawmakers are worried that taxpayers could be on the hook for a $300 million gap in a loan issued to Pacific Gas and Electric to keep the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant operational until 2030.

A flurry of letters between legislative budget leaders and the states finance department last week illustrate a growing conflict between proponents of loaning the utility more money and those advocating for additional accountability.

Budget committee chair Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, said more information is needed about how PG&E has spent hundreds of millions already loaned by the state. The tussle comes amid a budget deficit, which the legislative analyst warned could be as high as $73 billion.

We believe it is poor financial judgment to provide a loan of this magnitude to an investor-owned utility without having basic loan repayment information, Wiener wrote in a letter to the Department of Finance Wednesday.

In 2022, at the urging of Gov. Gavin Newsom, the legislature approved $1.4 billion in loans to keep the Diablo Canyon plant open to help maintain reliability of the states power grid. PG&E had been preparing to shutter it in 2025, in part, due to seismic safety concerns.

The measure, SB 846, authorized a $600 million transfer from the states general fund to keep the plant open with a plan to approve the rest later. PG&E was expected to repay the state loan with a federal grant from the Department of Energy.

But Californias finance department said the federal grant, which is not public, amounted to only $1.1 billion. Now the department is urging lawmakers to approve a final $400 million loan disbursement to the utility.

After letters back and forth, legislative leaders want more information. They warned that taxpayers could be left holding the bag for a $300 million wide gap and called for more transparency.

We remain concerned about the terms of the loan and the use of the General Fund as a source of finances, the leader from budget committee lawmakers went on to say, adding that the finance departments previous responses to their questions were limited in specificity and insufficient.

Senate president pro tempore Mike McGuire, D-North Coast, said While this issue is part of budget deliberations, the Senates position remains the same. Since state dollars were provided, PG&E needs to pay back taxpayers in full.

Beyond the $300 million question mark, some energy watchdogs warn theres little means to know whether PG&E is complying with the loan terms and not using it to pay shareholders.

Theres a gap here, and the administration wont own up to that fact, said Matt Freedman, staff attorney at The Utility Reform Network, a San Francisco-based consumer advocacy organization.

According to the loan terms, it can only be paid back by the department of energy or any leftover profits made by the plant. But Freedman believes the utility is wrongfully using state funds to benefit shareholders.

If most people knew that their tax dollars were going to subsidize PG&E and reduce the liability of its shareholders, they would be furious, he added.

The deputy director of water and energy, Delphine Hou at California Department of Water Resources, which has overseen the state loan to the utility, said in an emailed statement that lawmakers and critics are jumping to early conclusions.

It is incorrect to assume that the loan will not be paid back, she said. The Diablo Canyon loan agreement was structured in a way to be paid out over time, allowing DWR to verify costs and PG&E to meet regulatory deadlines.

PG&E spokesperson Lynsey Paulo said in an emailed statement that Not a single dollar earned in performance-based disbursements was treated as shareholder profit or paid out as dividends, adding that DWR independently validates the funds.

In response to the $300 million gap, Paulo pointed to the text of the 2022 bill, which said the state loan could be repaid using any excess market revenues in the final year of the extended operating period.

The finance department said in a letter that additional state funds are needed for inspections, refueling and other critical maintenance work at the power plant, warning that without the legislatures approval of the final disbursement, PG&E could risk eligibility for the federal grant.

While it is possible that some of the General Fund loan may not be repaid, at this time, (the department of) finance simply cannot say for certain, wrote the agencys director, Joe Stephenshaw.
Editors note: After publication, Flock Safety spokesperson Holly Beilin reached out to the Star-Telegram to correct her statement that IPVM tests license plate reading cameras in its indoor facility in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The text has been amended to reflect her correction.

Last July, a license plate-reading camera in Espanola, New Mexico, misread the 2 on Jaclynn Gonzales plate for a 7, incorrectly flagging her car as stolen while she was driving with her 12-year-old sister. Gonzales was 21 at the time.

The officer who pulled them over, however, did not double check for the machine error before handcuffing the sisters and putting them in the back of his patrol vehicle.

The experience was terrifying, according to Sheri Raphaelson, an attorney who is representing them and another Espanola resident in a pair of lawsuits against that city.

It was traumatic for all of them, she said in a phone interview. Espanola is a high-crime area, but her clients had worked hard to stay out of trouble. The kids had done everything right. They were in school doing well, no criminal record, and still. Being handcuffed and held at gunpoint by the police is really unfortunate.

The camera that misread Gonzales plate was manufactured and operated by Atlanta-based Flock Safety, with which the Fort Worth Police Department has also contracted to deploy its automatic license plate recognition cameras and run part of its newly revamped Community Camera Program.

The Espanola cases were not isolated incidents. Flock Safety was sued in November by an Ohio man named Michael Smith, who claims that he was wrongfully detained after his license plate was put on a hot list that incorrectly identified him as a human trafficking suspect.

In August 2020, police in Aurora, Colorado, detained a mother, her 6-year-old daughter and three other minors after a license plate reader mistook the plate on her SUV for that of a stolen motorcycle from another state.

And in October 2022, a police officer in Kechi, Kansas, was arrested after using the Wichita Police Departments Flock Safety license plate reader database to stalk his estranged wife, prompting concerns about the technology.

It can be really useful technology to the police, Raphaelson said. But they need to realize theyre getting information from a machine and not from a person, and the machine can make mistakes.

A Flock Safety license plate reading camera sits on a pole near Echo Lake in south-central Fort Worth in this photo taken on March 15, 2024.

Can Fort Worth trust license plate cameras?

There are currently 217 license plate cameras watching Fort Worth streets, and 20 more are set to be deployed soon, according to Sgt. Jason Spencer, a public information officer with the police department.

The ACLU warned against using surveillance products like Flock Safetys, citing the companys refusal to allow the independent technology evaluation and research group IPVM to test its latest technology, as the companys major competitors have done.

Based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, IPVM bills itself as the worlds leading authority on physical security, and its work has been cited in several major media outlets as an authoritative investigator of claims made by companies using artificial intelligence in surveillance technology. In order to maintain independence, the trade publication does not accept advertising, sponsorships or consulting partnerships from manufacturers.

Third-party testing is important because it provides police departments and the public with the assurance that the technology works as stated, according to IPVMs head of operations, Donald Maye.

If our team can get into Flock Safetys interface, see what theyre doing, see how the technology works, we can provide feedback to the public, to stakeholders, that helps them better understand what the system can and cant do, Maye said in a phone interview.

Its about ensuring transparency in policing, he said.

That way when limitations exist, its not something that the public or the taxpayer or the police departments that are buying these systems are unaware of, they can go in with a better set of information that isnt controlled by the company thats selling the technology, Maye said.

IPVM was able to test earlier versions of Flock Safetys license plate reading technology and found that it was inaccurate around 10% of the time. The site tried to get the software license to test the companys latest cameras, but Flock Safety refused, initially claiming it was due to product shortages, Maye said. When IPVM found Flock Safety cameras on eBay, the company refused to sell it the software license, claiming that the equipment was stolen.

Flock Safety spokesperson Holly Beilin said that the company refused IPVM access to its software because of its nature as a machine learning technology that is constantly updating itself with data pulled from real-world events on the street.

Theyre testing things in a Philadelphia indoor lab. Our cameras arent even deployed indoors, she said in a phone interview. Its literally just not accurate to put one of our cameras in a kind of a sterile indoor lab environment and expect that youre going to get the same kind of results.

On Tuesday, Beilin corrected her statement, saying that upon further investigation she misspoke.

Our sentiment remains the same  that controlled testing, at a single point in time, does not accurately reflect the dynamic, real-world conditions on the ground in Fort Worth, where FWPD and City leaders all agree that Flock technology is consistently helping solve crimes and keep neighborhoods safe, she said in an email.

Maye called her original statement absurd and incorrect.

Weve tested all of their main competitors. We tested in a real world environment on a street with cars passing by, he said. We dont test the system indoors, we test it on vehicles that are driving by. This fundamentally shows how Flock doesnt understand why independent testing is important.

Flock Safetys cameras have contributed to reductions in violent crime in places like the Las Vegas Trail neighborhood, Beilin said.

Even anecdotally  like finding Amber Alerts, finding kidnapped children, finding missing persons, solving homicides  all these things have been done in Texas and in Fort Worth directly with the help of this technology, she said.

Community leaders like Paige Charbonnet, executive director of the Las Vegas Trail Revitalization Project, and Fort Worth council member Michael Crain echoed that praise for the technology and its effect on public safety in the area.

People change their behavior once they know theyre being watched, said Crain in a phone interview. The cameras are part of what he called a comprehensive policing module that fills in gaps where police officers cant always be watching.

They obviously cant be everywhere all the time, he said. The technology can and allows us to maybe zero in, when needed, in a very efficient and quick manner.

When asked about issues of Flock Safetys applications in other cities and its refusal to allow its tech to be tested, he said, Bring me some examples from Fort Worth that are like that, and Im happy to figure out and address what the issue is.

Fort Worth police are likely better trained in the use of the technology than in other cities, he said. Crain gave anecdotes of license plate-reading technology aiding in the arrests of suspects in shootings and lost children in his district.

He also pointed to doorbell camera footage that contributed to the safe return of an 8-year-old girl kidnapped in Fort Worth in June 2019. Flock Safetys technology was not used in that case.

Anecdotes can often shroud broader privacy implications of this kind of technology, according to Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst with the American Civil Liberties Union.

Any success has to be celebrated, but you have to be careful making policy by anecdote, he said in a phone interview. Beyond the success story that boosters of the technology will point to, you have to ask, well, for every success, how many failures are there?

Flock Safetys technology gives officers real time data that the company says can aid police in solving crimes.

How does the Community Camera Program work?

Since 2016, Fort Worth residents have been able to register their home and business security cameras with the police departments Neighborhood Camera Program to be consulted in the event of a crime in their area.

In January, that program was rebranded as the Community Camera Program and expanded to include new ways to participate, one of which includes giving the police access to live feeds of security cameras at businesses.

So far only nine cameras at local businesses have been registered to stream their live feeds into the citys Real Time Crime Center, according to Spencer, the police departments public information officer.

Over 2,250 Fort Worth residents had registered nearly 8,200 home or business cameras with the police department as of March 9, according to a registry of the program obtained through a public information request. The addresses of the registrants were redacted due to privacy concerns, though their names were not.

The Community Camera Program helps responding officers gain real time context before arriving on the scene so they can more safely and successfully respond to incidents and gives detectives and investigators the tools they need to solve crimes, according to the programs website.

But private companies giving law enforcement access to live security camera feeds has broad implications for privacy and governmental power, said Stanley, of the ACLU.

Its one thing to have a camera that records if something dramatic goes down, but its a whole other thing to have live feeds all a watchable from a central location where law enforcement can, as the number of cameras gets more dense, gain a birds eye view of everything thats happening across a town or city, Stanley said. Thats just too much power for the government to have.

There are four ways to register a home or business camera, according to the programs website.

Registrants can provide the quantity and views of the cameras on their property so that law enforcement can request access in the event of an incident, as under the original Neighborhood Camera Program. This option does not give the police direct access to a residents camera or security system.

Business owners can choose to stream the live feeds of cameras on their commercial properties directly to the departments Real Time Crime Center. Spencer confirmed that this option is not available to private residences.

Other options include allowing the police department to view live and historical footage, with registrants choosing whether to allow that footage to be downloaded.

Beilin, of Flock Safety, assured the Star-Telegram that none of the companys technologies employ facial recognition software and that Flock Safety does not own the data collected by the cameras.

Its good that they say theyre not using face recognition, said Stanley. But at the end of the day, any video thats collected, you can always run face recognition on it later.

The police department does not run facial recognition on the live feeds shared with the department, but it does use the technology on recorded footage, Spencer said.

Our department has a quite strict policy on the use of facial recognition technology, which stipulates it can only be used to identify a specific suspect who is the subject of a specific criminal investigation, and requires special approval, he said. So it is possible, under those circumstances, that we would extract an image of a suspect to run through that technology. But its not scanning faces in real time like it scans license plates.

Stanley described the situation as a new frontier in public safety and advised caution and transparency.

These capabilities are things that human beings in the entire history of the world have never seen before, he said. They are brand new, they are very powerful, and we need to think very carefully about what theyre doing to our communities.
BOSTON  A Milford lawmaker says a House-passed bill is the first step toward really getting a better handle on the state's rapid growth of the emergency assistance shelter system, but Republicans still feel the measure is missing a key component: altering the states right-to-shelter law.

The $245 million supplemental appropriation bill not only funds the shelter system through the end of the year, but adds guidelines such as limits on the lengths of stays in a system that currently houses about 7,500 families.

Massachusetts is the only state with a right-to-shelter law, which guarantees housing for families in need.

The House bill's guidelines limit a familys stay to nine consecutive months, with additional months being granted to those employed or in training and those with conditions such as pregnancy or disability.

State Rep. Brian Murray says a House-passed bill is the first step toward really getting a better handle on the rapid growth of the state's emergency assistance shelter system.

'Keeps the spirit of the law': Proposed $245M for state's emergency shelter systems comes with reforms

The new requirements are a first step toward really getting a better handle on this program moving forward to try to get a more sensible operation, said state Rep. Brian Murray, D-Milford.

The Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities runs the states emergency assistance system, and works with care providers such as Worcester-based Friendly House Inc. and the Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance  each of which contributes supplies and services such as basic immigration paperwork, health care and work authorization.

CMHA leader says families view shelter system as 'last resort'

Leah Bradley, the CMHAs chief executive officer, said families view the shelter system as a last resort, with many of them living wherever they can before turning to the state.

You have to kind of lose everything to get into the system, said Trish Appert, executive director of Friendly House.

Appert, who works to provide emergency shelter and other social services in Worcester, said that among the 139 families Friendly House has sheltered since November, 43 were from other countries and 96 were from the United States.

Nearly half  47  of the 96 American families were from Greater Worcester, she said.

Were still seeing a lot of immigrants, but fewer of them, Appert said. We do see many, many more who are not seeking shelter, who are coming in for work permit authorization.

Bill requires Healey to petition feds for temporary work authorizations

The bill would also require Gov. Maura Healey to petition the federal government to permit expedited, temporary and provisional work authorizations for newly arriving migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. Bradley said migrants who have gotten work authorization at a Northborough hotel were able to find work within two to three weeks.

Families in shelters are also given access to housing counseling, with most eventually transitioning to more permanent housing. Appert said the typical family at Friendly House stays for 18 months.

She said an expensive and tight market makes it especially difficult for families coming out of emergency assistance to find housing, due to long wait lists for housing vouchers and other programs.

If youre a low-income family, getting all your ducks in a row for a landlord when theyve got five other people lined up for it with less paperwork, it kind of makes them less attractive tenants, Appert said.

'We want a better life': Haitian asylum seekers share their experiences in MetroWest

Due to the increased influx of families and a subsequent need to increase capacity, the state began renting out hotel and motel rooms. The House bill would require these overflow sites to be open daily until 9 a.m., and for all new overflow housing to be open 24/7.

More than half of the families in the state shelter system are housed in hotels or motels, according to the states data dashboard. Roughly 29% of these hotels are serviced by the National Guard, and not providers like CMHA.

Bradley said right now there arent enough workers to provide an optimal level of care at unstaffed hotels, but consolidating and increasing the density, she said, will help caretakers support more families.

We want 24/7 staffing at the hotels, she said. If you have a hotel that has 100 families in it, versus five hotels that have 20 families in it, the staffing is less. Its kind of (like) the economies of scale.

Republicans sought reforms to state's right-to-shelter law

House Republicans failed to win approval for amendments requiring families that enter the emergency assistance system to have been residents of the state for a certain duration. House Speaker Ron Mariano and Ways and Means Committee Chair Aaron Michlewitz have said Democrats are not interested in removing the right-to-shelter law.

State Sen. Peter Durant, R-Spencer, who has advocated for altering the right-to-shelter law, said migrants are attracted to Massachusetts because of the cacophony of free services. He said limiting who falls under the right-to-shelter law would prevent Massachusetts from being a magnet state, and reduce the financial stress on social services and the overall budget.

State Sen. Peter Durant, R-Spencer, said migrants are attracted to Massachusetts because of the cacophony of free services.

It costs $65,423 on average per family in the program, according to the EOHLCs latest report from fiscal 2023.

Massachusetts has to kind of come in line with everybody else and say, These benefits are not available for those who immediately just come in, Durant said. Its not going to stop the flow completely  but in general it would help us more evenly disperse people throughout the United States.

Healey and Massachusetts legislators have urged the federal government to provide aid to alleviate the emergency assistance system. Funding so far has been woefully inadequate, Durant said.

The United States Congress will have problems sending money to Massachusetts because they are the only state that has this right-to-shelter law, he said. So I dont think that its something that we will see this free flow of money coming from the government.

Changing the right-to-shelter law will not necessarily stop migrants from coming into Massachusetts either, Murray said. Ultimately, he said, the federal government needs to pass an adequate immigration law to equip states to deal with this crisis.

Approximately half these folks in the system, theyre not migrants, Murray said. Theyre Massachusetts families. I think thats something that has really gotten lost in the conversation.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Mass shelter assistance law 'first step' for changes, politician says